Disclaimer:

Turtlequeen2: It's that time of year again!

Kagome: The Holidays?

Turtlequeen2: Uh…well, yes, but that's not all!

Inuyasha: Keh! What the hell are you scheming now?

Turtlequeen2: Another one-shot! That's what! This time, I'm steering away from manga/anime canon-ness and going for an innocent fanon fluff.

Inuyasha: Why do I not like the sound of this?

Turtlequeen2: Oh, relax! I'm only pairing you with Sango!

Sango and Inuyasha: WHAT?!

Turtlequeen2: -snickers- Well, anyways…enjoy! Oh yeah, Inuyasha is not owned by me. He is owned by Rumiko Takahashi.

Inuyasha: Enjoy what?!

Special thanks to: Inu Youkai Wanna Be for editing once again!

Shippou: …Wait! Does that name mean that she wants to be like Inuyasha? Ah! Scary!

Inuyasha: -eye twitch- What the hell is that supposed to mean?!

Nightmares

'Kohaku…'

'Kohaku!'

'KOHAKU!'

Sango fought. She had always fought. From the moment she began training as a taijiya, she fought. She trained so hard because she wanted to protect her village. It was expected of her as the daughter of the head master of the Taijiya Village. Everyone there looked up at her strength and willpower. She never wanted to falter or get weak.

Hundreds of demons sailed down over her. She threw her weapon expertly with a shout of, "HIRAIKOTSU!"

She caught the boomerang bone quickly before throwing it again. By the dozens, the various youkai fell in pieces around her.

"KOHAKU!" she yelled, searching frantically for her little brother.

After destroying most of the demons, she finally found him standing above a bloodied body. Sango's eyes widened in horror as she began to realize whom it was.

"H-houshi-sama?!" she managed to gasp out before sinking to her knees beside the monk's body, momentarily forgetting about the boy.

Kohaku jumped a few feet away from the two, something within himself telling him to give her a little space.

His purple and black monk's robe was marred with his own blood, the clothing torn in various places. His violet eyes were glazed over by the kiss of death. His skin was pale while also stained with his crimson liquid.

She quickly dropped her weapon and grabbed onto the man she grew to love. She cradled his body close to her and placed her forehead against the top of his head. Instantly, her eye vision grew blurry with tears. "No! Houshi-sama! Please don't be dead!" she pleaded to no one in particular. "MIROKU!" she shouted, using his actual name.

Before she could grieve more, she felt sharp steel pierce into her shoulder blade. She felt her blood begin to pour out of the incision. Keeping the monk's body wrapped in her arms, the taijiya fearfully turned around upon hearing the chilling sound of a chain retracting.

"K-Kohaku!" she exclaimed, more tears falling from realizing that it was Kohaku who killed Miroku based on the similar slices made through the monk's flesh. In the back of her mind, she knew that he had done it, but it took her a while to let it sink in.

The young boy let out a creepy laugh, his soulless brown eyes twinkling with malice.

Sango felt unbearable anger course through her body. It didn't matter if it was Kohaku that killed Miroku. It was the fact that Naraku was the one pulling the strings. The evil bastard was controlling Kohaku, making him do the horrible deed!

She gently put down the monk's body and stood up shakily. She was beginning to lose too much blood and needed to win this battle fast. She gripped onto Hiraikotsu, to which was on the rocky ground.

"Kohaku! I love you, but this…" she trailed off, her black bangs covering her moist eyes. "This is unforgivable! Even if Naraku is controlling you…you can't go on doing this to people!" She looked up once more, her eyes blazing with rage. The anger was more directed towards Naraku, but she was also mad at the fact that her brother was breaking all of the codes of the taijiya. The taijiya swore to never harm humans, but to protect them from youkai.

She got into her battle position while Kohaku got into his own. He hastily threw his chained sickle, the hissing of the chain headed straight towards her!

Quickly, the older taijiya put the boomerang bone in front of her body, taking on full impact. Her feet slid back a few inches by the sheer force of the weapon. She then began to charge forward, throwing the boomerang bone with the shout of, "HIRAIKOTSU!"

The boy tossed the chain part of the sickle towards Hiraikotsu, the chain wrapping itself around Sango's weapon and making it fall to the ground.

However, this was what Sango wanted him to do. She ran in his direction more, pulling out her katana and tackling him.

Tears fell from her eyes as she began to realize what she was about to do to her dear little brother. She gripped the sword and raised it high above her head. Her hands began to shake as she hesitated.

What made her more nervous was how Kohaku never made any movements. He only stared blankly up into her eyes. It was almost as if he was testing her.

He then mouthed the words, "Do it." Though his eyes appeared foggy, he was still able to fight back against Naraku's control in order to tell her that.

"K-Kohaku?" she questioned, her grip lessoning on the blade. She gulped, knowing that he was right. She had to do it now. She sucked in a deep breath and shut her eyes tight as she slammed down the katana. The sword managed to pass through his heart while at the same time, removing the Shikon shard from his back.

Once she opened her eyes, his were beginning to close. "Forgive me, Kohaku…" she murmured, more transparent drops sliding down her cheeks.

"Thank you…" he whispered, a single tear falling from his eye before his eyes closed for eternity.

"Kohaku…" she could only manage to whisper. She pulled out the sword, the blade covered in her little brother's blood.

She cast a last look towards her former love and said, "I will be joining you soon…I'll be with you and my brother forever…"

Sango turned the katana towards herself and plunged it through her chest. Instantly, the crimson poured from her chest and she began to fall forward—

With a start, the beautiful taijiya awoke from her slumber, shooting up from her sleeping bag. There were evident tearstains on her face. She cried in her sleep again. Her breathing was labored and she clutched her chest as if her heart were wrenching with pain. She looked over to where Miroku lay sleeping and a small smile of relief crossed her face.

"Another…nightmare…" she murmured to herself. The moment she began to think back to the dream she had, more moist drops spilled onto her cheeks. "Kohaku…"

'Kikyou…!'

'Kagome…!'

Inuyasha fought. He had always fought. From the moment his mother died and he was alone, he fought. He trained hard because he was forced to. That was how cruel the world was towards hanyou. It was to kill or be killed. No one looked up to him. No one even wanted to be around him. Youkai and ningen alike avoided him like a plague, unless, of course, it was to attempt to kill him. If he was to falter or weaken, his fate was sealed.

Now, he ran in-between trees, trying to avoid getting killed by the woman he loved. Again.

He looked down at his hand and gripped the Shikon no Tama tight. He had no clue on how he ended up stealing it, but now he knew that if he stopped, he would die.

"Damn it all to Hell! Why is this happening again?!" he cursed to himself. It was all a repeat of what was happening those fifty years ago. The last thing he ever wanted to do was relive this horrible scene.

"INUYASHA!" Kikyou screamed, releasing another arrow from her bow. White light engulfed its tip as it sailed towards the hanyou.

The world seemed to go in slow motion as the arrow pieced through his chest, pinning him to the Goshinboku. The Shikon Jewel dropped from his hand and fell to the ground with a thump.

"Kikyou…why?" he murmured, reaching out a hand towards her.

Suddenly, her shape began to change. "What the—?" he choked out.

Her eyes began to soften into a rounder shape. Her face turned less stern and her hairstyle began to change. It was now wavy, shoulder-length hair, kept down.

"Wait…K-Kagome?" he exclaimed in shock before he began to lose consciousness—

Immediately, Inuyasha shot up from his reclined position in the tree he decided to rest in for the night. His fists clenched as he looked down at Kagome's sleeping form. He let out a quiet sigh of relief, knowing it was only another nightmare.

"Damn those fucking nightmares…" he cursed under his breath, his claws nearly drawing blood from his palms.

Looking down at the campsite again, he noticed Sango shooting up from her sleeping position and clutching her chest. He caught the scent of tears and knew that she had anther bad dream about Kohaku.

He silently jumped from his perch and walked to her. "Sango…" he murmured. "I take it that you had another nightmare?"

"I-Inuyasha?" she asked, looking up at him, startled. "W-what are you doing? How long were you awake?"

"Long enough to see you wake up from your dream," he replied simply. He sat back on his hunches much like a dog would do. "So…was it about Kohaku?"

She gave a small nod. "This time, Kohaku killed Houshi-sama…"

"Isn't that the third time you had that nightmare?" he questioned bluntly.

"Perhaps," she agreed. "Still, every time I have that nightmare, it's like experiencing the same hurt for the first time. I can never get use to it. It's much like the ones you have about Kikyou-sama and Kagome-chan…" she pointed out.

"Ah…" he trailed off. "I understand." He sighed, admitting, "Actually, I only woke up because I just had another horrible dream about what you just described…"

"It's just so—" she began.

"—Frustrating, depressing, and upsetting, right?" he finished for her.

"Yes. You just described every feeling I usually experience…" she said in a bitter laugh. "You forgot to add that they make you feel weak…"

"Oh yes, definitely…"

He had to admit that he had feelings for Sango, but they weren't as strong feelings as he had for Kikyou and Kagome.

It was the same for Sango. Ever since that night in the hut when they talked about how Kohaku was still her brother even though he was under Naraku's control, she had grown closer to him.

"You know, Inuyasha…" she began. "We are alike."

"How so?" he asked, clearly not getting the statement.

"Well, for starters, we seem to have the most horrible nightmares besides Houshi-sama…" She added, "Also, we are fighters. We always had to fight for our lives."

"That's true," he murmured. "I never thought about it that way before." He had to admit, that ever since the first time he was awake to see her shoot up in tears from a nightmare, he had felt a small connection towards her. It made a lot of sense that she thought that way about them. Maybe this was one of the reasons they got along so well.

"Sometimes they do get the better of me though…" she continued.

"You have to learn to not let them affect you," he stated.

"How I wish that I could do that. Though, you should practice what you preach…" she pointed out.

"Keh! Hey, I try!" he scoffed, crossing his arms.

"I do too…I guess I just don't try hard enough…" she trailed off.

"Damn…" she mumbled suddenly. "Now, I'm wide awake." She let out a small laugh.

"Heh," he snorted. "I rarely sleep because of those damn nightmares so it's nothing new to me. If I lose sleep then it's for the better."

An awkward silence settled in between the two until Sango looked up towards the sky. "It's such a pity that it's a beautiful night tonight…"

"Why is it a pity?" he asked.

"Because…it's not as if I can enjoy it…"

Just then, a cold gust of wind gusted through the pair, causing the taijiya to give an involuntary shiver. "Geez, it's so cold. It must be close to fall…" she remarked.

Keeping her stare towards the night sky, she was surprised when she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. A blush crept up to her cheeks when she looked over to see that it was Inuyasha's arm! She tried hard to push down her embarrassment since she knew that he could see her face clearly despite it being dark outside.

"Inu-Inuyasha…" she stuttered out. "W-what are you doin—?" she asked before getting cut off.

"What?" he questioned innocently, as if he had no clue of what he was doing to her. "I'm just trying to keep you warm…"

She raised her eyebrow in his direction. "Really, now?"

"Well, you're one of the best fighters in this group and it wouldn't do us any good if you get sick!" he explained hastily, a light shade of crimson settling on his own cheeks.

"Oh…" she only replied, a smile forming on her lips. "Thank you then…"

"What? Did you think I was trying to do something perverted?" he questioned, his eyebrow arched in suspicion.

"No!" she answered quickly. "Of course not. I know that you wouldn't try anything of the sort…"

"It's good that you don't suspect me then…" he huffed.

To make him calm down, she leaned onto his shoulder as a sign of trust. "I trust you, Inuyasha," she replied.

"Good."

Together, the two looked towards the night sky, a blanket of comfort draped over them. Their thoughts were the same.

'I will protect you from your nightmare.'

A/N: I hope that you liked it! Well, that's it for this Holiday gift! Sorry it was short, but I thought that it was a good place to end.

Innocent fluff can always brighten any day!

Oh, yes! Ningen means human.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Ja ne!