Disclaimer: This is based on 'Inuyasha', owned by Rumiko Takahashi. No copyright infringement intended or implied.

When Morning Comes

If Miroku was startled by the tear sliding down Inuyasha's cheek, after he had welcomed back his friend, he gave no indication, save to tighten the grip of his right hand on the hanyo's shoulder, where it rested underneath Inuyasha's. He stood there, waiting, until Inuyasha moved, reaching up to rub his eyes.

"Sorry," the hanyo muttered. "'m tired."

Miroku patted the red-clad shoulder. "I'm not surprised, my friend. You've been gone three days. I don't imagine, whatever was going on, you had any rest."

Inuyasha shook his head, looking away. Miroku removed his hand, shifting his position, then patting the opposite shoulder before turning the gesture into a gentle shove.

"Let's go back to Kaede's," he suggested. "She'll want to see you, and you can sleep in her hut tonight."

Inuyasha responded to the shove, though he stumbled at bit. "I guess," he responded after a noticeable delay. Miroku sighed a little, his eyes concerned.

The walk back was silent, until Inuyasha's ears started to twitch. "The village ... it's banging..."

"They're still working on the huts damaged by pieces of Naraku," replied Miroku.

"Oh, yeah." After a short silence, he added, "Anyone hurt?"

"No."

"Good."

That ended the conversation. They continued to walk slowly. As they walked past the fields where people were working, and then the outer-lying huts, people would pause in their work and whisper to each other. Inuyasha's ears started twitching, then sank lower and lower as they approached Kaede's hut. Miroku cast worried glances at his companion, but said nothing.

Inuyasha stopped short of the hut. Miroku looked sharply at him, but before he could speak, Shippo burst past the bamboo curtain. "There you are!" he cried. "Where's Kagome! Why didn't she come back with you!" He bounced up onto Inuyasha's shoulder. "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

"That's enough, Shippo," snapped Miroku as he reached up and plucked the kit off Inuyasha's tensed shoulder by the back of his vest. "He told us she is safe--I assume she is with her family, recovering from her ordeal."

"But when is she coming back!" wailed Shippo. "I want to know when she is coming back!"

"I - don't - know."

=-=-=-=-=-=

Shippo wriggled out of Miroku's hold and leapt back onto Inuyasha's opposite shoulder, continuing to shout and wail that he wanted to know where Kagome was. How long the tantrum might have continued before Shippo wore himself out or he managed to penetrate the hanyo's distant frame of mind became a moot point when Kaede came outside and curtly ordered the kitsune to be silent. In short order, after a single, sharp glance at the subdued Inuyasha, she dispatched Kohaku, Rin, and Shippo out on a gathering expedition to the woods, while Sango was sent with a request to the headman. At her gesture, Miroku half-pushed Inuyasha inside the now empty hut, and set him down next to the fire pit. Kaede joined them on Inuyasha's other side, holding a cup full of water, which she held out to him.

"When did ye last have food or water, Inuyasha?" she asked, when he took the water, but only stared at it. "Or sleep, for that matter."

"Dunno," he answered. He stared at the cup a moment longer, then raised it to his mouth. The first swallow was tentative, but then, as if a spell broke, he tilted his head and drank the contents down in one breath. Holding the cup out with one hand, he wiped his mouth off with the other. "Thanks," he said, sounding slightly more alert. "More?"

"Oh, aye," she said, walking back over to small barrel that held her supply. She brought it back, along with a basket. "And here is the basket of food I intended to send with Kohaku for your friends' supper. They insisted on waiting near the well for you to return, you know."

"They--did?" Inuyasha took the cup, but looked over at Miroku. "For--me?"

"For you and Kagome," Miroku acknowledged. "We knew you wouldn't come back until you made sure she was safe. I admit, we'd hoped that she would be back with you, but if she's safe in her own time, that's good, too."

Inuyasha continued to stare at Miroku. "I heard ... some of the villagers whispering," he said finally. "They were wondering ... what I had done to Kagome-sama."

"Ignore the gossips, Inuyasha," said Kaede firmly. "They'll not say a word once I'm done with them. Now, eat something, and then try to get some sleep."

"But--"

Miroku reached up and lightly rapped Inuyasha's skull with his fist. "You not going to try to deny you need to rest after everything's that happened, are you? I'm sure that Kaede and I could come up with some spells to seal you up in a shed again, if you insist."

Inuyasha gave Miroku a dirty look at the reminder of that last time they had used spells against him for his own protection, and then looked away and grabbed the cup. Draining it, he investigated the basket, eventually munching his way through about half the contents before pushing it away. Ears at full droop and his eyelids heavy, Inuyasha made no protest as Kaede pointed to the space behind the divider she had erected and bade him lay down. He curled up on his side, clutching Tessaiga to his chest, and dropped off immediately.

Kaede and Miroku watched as the hanyo's body relaxed into sleep, then glanced at each other and silently retreated to the fire pit. Miroku stole one of the remaining rice balls in the basket while Kaede mounted a small pot of water above her fire. Setting the rest of her tea makings on the floor, she kneeled with a sigh.

"Do you think Kagome will return?" she asked in a whisper.

Miroku looked down at the rice ball in his hand. "I hope so, for Inuyasha's sake. When Inuyasha jumped into his own meidou, I feared we would never see either of them again, but I told myself to hope; to believe that Inuyasha would rescue her and return. But, I never really thought I'd see him return alone."

"She has family and friends on the other side of the well," mused Kaede. "If the Shikon no Tama has truly been destroyed, then her time here may be done, whatever anyone wishes."

"In that case, what of Inuyasha?"

She shook her head, watching the fire. "That depends on him, does it not? He has greatly changed since Kagome freed him. But will that be enough, for him to live a--contented--life without Kagome at his side?"

"We must pray and hope that it is."

"And continue to be his friend, lord monk. He will need all our friendships, I think."

Miroku smiled. "That, I can promise. Before I met him and Kagome, I had no real hope of survival. Now I have a future, and hope for a real family. And I will do anything for Inuyasha."

"Good." Kaede leaned forward to check the pot. "Then all we can do now is wait, and rest ourselves. When morning comes, and he awakes, we shall see how he is."

=-=-=-=-=-=

When morning comes.

As night fell, Miroku rubbed his own eyes as he bade Kaede good-night before retreating. He hadn't had all that much sleep himself, he reflected, as he pulled off his outer robes to make a bed cover. Who could sleep when friends had disappeared into unknowable danger? No matter how much one clung to hope, the sheer anxiety made sleep difficult, if not impossible.

But, tomorrow was a new day. The first day, truly, of a new life. A life with no Naraku, with no Shikon no Tama, with no wind-tunnel.

Regrettably, a life--apparently--without Kagome.

But with Inuyasha. A stubborn, rude, hot-tempered hanyo who had gone from being a suspicious competitor for the Shikon shards, to being a firm friend. A best friend. And if he couldn't do much to ensure the hanyo's happiness, he could at least make sure he gave Inuyasha all his friendship, and that he always had a place to be, and a family which accepted him.

And Miroku hoped that, someday, he could do more.

Author's Note: This one-shot was written for the LiveJournal community "At First Tweak" (firsttweak), for the theme "Hope." It won first place. It was originally published on February 9, 2009. It was moved from "Little Bits."