Author's Note: Alright, so this is my very first fanfic to actually finish and post, so I hope it's okay. It's a little angsty in the first chapter, but this will turn into a SangoxMiroku story in the second chapter, because that is my favorite pairing for the entire series. I would very much appreciate reviews and constructive criticism, but PLEASE no flames-it's my first finished fanfic, and I don't know if I can handle flammage right now. Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own InuYashsa or any of his friends (although I may soon own an InuYasha messenger bag if I can ever remember where I saw it...)

Sango's Silent Struggle: Chapter 2

The next day, Sango said very little to the rest of the group. She had thought it best to begin disengaging from them now so that when she was gone it would not be so hard on them. When they stopped for the evening, she sat on one side of the fire, as far away from the others as possible, hoping to avoid them. The others must have sensed that she was trying to avoid them, because they didn't make any pushes to get her to talk, for which she was grateful. When she eventually looked up from her food, her eyes locked with the monk sitting across the fire from her. Such brilliant eyes, she thought somewhat dreamily to herself, such an intriguing colour. For as long as she looked into those eyes, he never looked away. Suddenly, as if waking from a dream, she looked away. No, I'm trying to disengage from him-from all of them-, and staring into his eyes as if in a trance in not the way to gain the distance I'm trying to place between myself and the othersSango mentally reminded herself. She refused to look at any of them for the rest of the night. Later, she silently went over by Kirara and laid down, though she didn't fall asleep.

Some time later, Sango heard a soft rustling. Her first instinct was to attack out of fear that it was a demon, but she decided not to.It's probably just some animal. And if it is something that would harm me-well, I won't have to do so much work later as far as ending my life,she thought. Then she felt something move near her, brushing her long hair from her ears. "Sango," A voice whispered gently into her ear. "Sango, are you awake?" She rolled over to see Miroku kneeling next to her.

"What is it Miroku?" she asked him.

"Sango, would you come with me please?" Seeing the suspicious look in her eye, he quickly added "I won't do anything lecherous, I promise. Monk's honor."

Even though she didn't entirely believe him, and part of her mind was trying to remind her of how she was trying to avoid the others, she nodded. He offered his hand and helped her to her feet. They began walking away from the camp and, to her surprise, he did not release her hand. "Miroku, where are we going?" She asked.

"To be honest, I'm not exactly sure," He replied.

"Then why did you ask me to come?"

"I was hoping that we just might be able to go for a walk and talk about things for a while. There were some things I was wondering. For example, why you are avoiding everyone. Don't try to say that you aren't, because it is quite obvious that you are." She considered coming up with some lame excuse, like that she wasn't feeling good or something like that. For some reason, though, she feel a sudden urge to tell him everything-what she had been thinking the previous night and her plans of suicide. Two parts of her brain wrestled for several moments before there was a clear winner.

"Sango? Did you hear me? Is everything okay?" Miroku asked, worried, as he tightened his grip on her hand just a little. Suddenly, Sango felt some sort of strength come to her, and she suspected it had something to do with the monk walking beside her.

"I heard you," she replied softly. "And-and everything isn't okay." she told him, as tears started to fill her eyes. All of a sudden, she spun around quickly to face him, throwing herself into his arms. "Miroku, there's so much I want-need-to tell you." She said into his shoulder as she began to cry.

"Its okay Sango, you can tell me everything," he said softly as he stroked her dark hair. When Sango seemed like she was done crying, they sat next to each other in the grass and she told him everything, how she missed so many people so much, her realizations about Kohaku and how she would be alone once he was dead, how she hadn't been able to sleep because she was thinking about all of these things, even her plans of suicide. For some reason, she felt she could share all this with him, a lecherous monk, more openly than she would have been able to share them with even Kagome, and after telling him everything that had been bothering her, she felt some sort of a change come over her. Almost immediately, she was beginning to feel as if a great weight had been lifted off of her, as if there was some good still left in this world, and she just needed to rid herself of the shroud of sadness that she carried with her to see it.

She was grateful for Miroku's silence, for his patience, for his genuine concern for her. Occassionally, he would flinch with disturbance as she told him of how many horrible thoughts had consumed her lately, but he continued to silently listen to her. That is, until she brought up a particularly grave subject. When she told him of the final item of concern, but perhaps the most disturbing of all her concerns, her suicide, she could feel him stiffen. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the shoulders so she was facing him. "Sango, please don't talk that way. I-I wouldn't be able to live if you killed yourself. You have so much to live for. Please don't throw your life away."

She looked into his eyes, seeing his shock, horror, and sadness at what she had told him. She saw his true caring for her, how deeply his concern for her well-being ran. After several moments of looking into his beautiful eyes, she took his hands off her shoulders, held them in her own hands, and replied, "Don't worry. I no longer have any intention of killing myself, not since I have talked with you. You have saved me from a terrible mistake. Thank you." When she stopped talking, Miroku took a few moments to soak in what she had said, and then he flung his arms around her and held her close to him.

"But my dear Sango, what did I do to change you mind?" he asked into the cascade of her dark hair. "I didn't say anything, I just listened." Sango looked up at him, gently placing her hand on his cheek.

"Don't you see?" She asked. "By you making me come with you, I was able to tell you everything because you simply listened. I had no excuse to be silent anymore, and by telling everything to you, somehow it made the difference for me to change my mind." Sango gave him a small smile, and he returned it.

They sat there for a while, and eventually Sango fell asleep for the first time in what seemed like days. Carefully, Miroku gathered the sleeping Sango in his arms and carried her back to the camp, placing her gently next to her demon-cat companion. He reached down to brush a few strands of hair off of her face, and, on impulse, lightly kissed her forehead. "Good night my dear Sango. Don't ever feel you have to be silent again."

End

Author's Note: So, what did you think? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Please send me a review to let me know what you thought and to give me any constructive criticism you would like to offer. No flames please, as they would break my poor little heart and I may never write again. (JK, I'll write again, but I'd be very sad for a while)

Thanks for reading!

Leia Sango Organa Tonks (My full nickname, isn't it amazing?)

aka RebelDreams