Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, I wish I did but I don't. My eternal thanks to Rumiko Takahashi, her imagination has brought much joy into my life!

Miroku opened his eyes. The hut was dark, apart from the small fire in the floor pit. He must have slept all day. He glanced around. Shippo and Kaede had gone home and his children were sound asleep. Sango was leaning upright against the wall, head slumped to the side and eyes closed. Asleep? Or just exhausted? In any case, it brought back memories of the countless nights a certain hanyou slept sitting up, cradling the Tessaiga almost like the teddy bear Kagome had brought home for Shippo that one time.

"Sango? Darling?" He spoke quietly, afraid to wake the children but unwilling to move. She awoke instantly.

"Miroku," she whispered, relief flooding her features. "How do you feel? Do you need water? Medicine? Tell me what you need."

"I need to hug my wife, come here." Sango silently crawled over and helped him to sit up. The moment she did, Miroku pulled her into an embrace and tangled a hand in her hair. His warm breath on her cheek never failed to make her shiver.

"I'm so sorry my love," Miroku murmured in the low velvety voice she adored. "I'm sorry I frightened you."

"I'm just glad you're alive." Sango answered. She wanted to hold him so tightly he couldn't breathe, unfortunately that would likely kill him if she did it now. She settled for pressing a fierce kiss against his lips. When they broke apart some minutes later, Sango answered the question before he could ask it.

"Kagome has gone after Inuyasha. She and Kirara left a few hours ago." Miroku sighed with relief. He took Sango's hand and kissed each fingertip.

"Thank you for staying here with me, I know it was a tough choice." The look on his face made Sango's heart ache.

"You made the right choice coming back here." Sango told him. "We have to trust that Kagome will be able to find him." She put on a brave smile, "Go back to sleep." The raised eyebrow Miroku showed her before obeying told her that he wasn't fooled; Sango was scared out of her wits that the pair wouldn't make it back. That made two of them.

Inuyasha looked around. He was in a field, looking up at a Buddhist temple. An ominous wind blew and the clouds were rolling in.

What the hell was happening now? He brushed his cheek experimentally; the cut from Sango's sword had vanished and so had she. A mighty wind exploded from the ground ahead of him, sucking everything towards it. He'd know this feeling anywhere, though he hadn't felt it in over three years; Miroku's wind tunnel. He stayed rooted to the spot.

I remember this, the day the mantis demon cut Miroku's hand and he came here for help. But we saved him! This is wrong!

He heard Kagome's scream from up ahead. Instinct took over and he charged towards the void.

"Kagome!" He called. "I'm coming!" Inuyasha arrived on the scene just in time to see Shippo sucked into the void of Miroku's hand. Then Kirara and Sango. Then…

He didn't have time to scream before the void exploded and everything went black, the final cries of his friends ringing in his ears.

Kagome walked beside Kirara, eyes scanning constantly for any sign of Inuyasha. This forest was seriously giving her the creeps. There were no signs of life, no birds or squirrels or anything. Only the sound of the eerie wind rustling through the trees and the chilling suspicion that she was being watched. Why, why was this forest so familiar? Kagome tripped over a root, only to be caught by the quick reflexes of the fire-cat. She smiled, about to thank her when she noticed the root following her like a snake.

Kagome shrieked and batted away the root with her bow. She leapt onto Kirara's back and she rose a few feet off the ground. From here, Kagome could see the ground was teeming with these moving roots. They seemed angry that she was no longer in grabbing distance. Her eyes widened. She remembered now.

Kikyo's face was cold as she took the shards they'd worked so hard to collect from around Kagome's neck. Kagome was in such shock, it didn't occur to her to fight. She stared in disbelief up at the priestess as the roots took her deeper and deeper into the pit and began to torment her with images of Inuyasha and Kikyo together.

He was inside the cocoon of the demon Gatenmaru. The screams of the women outside filled him with such rage, he barely felt the pain in his gut. The wound bubbled and hissed with the poison but he ignored it. His vision began to turn red and the transformation took a hold of him. A small voice in his head tried to tell him this had to be a memory, but it quickly faded to the back of his mind as his demon blood surged forward and took control. He sliced through the cocoon with a snarl and charged.

TBC

Thanks for reading!

Shooshkipoo