Complete and Unconditional Chapter 4: Slaying, an inuyasha fanfic

AN: No comment today… too tired from typing up the responses! ::stupidly happy smile:: And woot for finally being able to update!

Quistis88: I always try to keep it up. But it can't be done. If only I could earn a living writing fan fics… -- (What a perfect world that would be).

Kirara242: Was? But… but… it's not done yet!

Ninalee-chan: I also enjoyed the playfulness. I maintain that sex should be fun, and contrary to the belief of mass media, not everybody find what they portray as being fun. And, well, Miroku is just a sex god. But maybe I'm slightly biased in that theory.

FuryouOokami: Yay to future chapters as well! Myself… I don't like this one as much as I did DW. There was too many possibilities, too many years I had to try to discuss. I mean, already two years have passed, and I'm sad that I couldn't have talked about what might have happened in that time, but, sadly, that would make this fic impossibly long. -- All in all, I like to think of this as an exercise in self-restraint.

Iscis: While I can't say I enjoy nitpicking and having every error shoved under my nose (who does) I wouldn't mind any grammatical points. Spelling, as I spell check my work and run a spell check, is either something that was accidentally (obviously) overlooked, or it could be the British-American opinions of how to properly spell coming into play. But, grammar, on the other hand… please, give me some grammatical criticisms! I might not understand it, but maybe one day it'll sink in!

Xichiathik: Hey, I'm in university, and I'm still writing!

Lightsword: You've hit the head on the nail. Er, nail on the head. But this time, those chapters will just have Inuyasha and Kagome as the secondary couples. The two influence each other, but as far as being chapters solely on Inu and Kag, that's the one and only chapter.

Starzki: Thank you very much! Normally my friends criticize me that my lemons aren't lemony enough! They say it's too fluffy. And you know what? I don't think I could have waited either.

Bob: Enjoy your weekend yourself. - And that's a nifty story. It certainly is hard to forget. My nickname… well, most people think it's my first name. I dunno why.

Hoshiko: Hopefully you will find this chapter lives up to your expectations. -

Snow-Queen: But if they have kids… then their sex lives will go down.

Siren: I am also glad that you thought the sex was realistic! I am so glad that I'm not the only one who disagrees with the portrayal the media sets out regarding sex. (Stupid media.) And I haven't had sex either. ::shrugs:: This is what I get for having an unhealthy interest in biology and finding that lemons are the best information I can find regarding sex. Sad, isn't it?

Fireblade: That's wedding sake, you're opening. Man, if I get married, I'm totally getting non-alcoholic wine and watching people think they are piss drunk when they aren't.

Meres: of course I do! If I didn't, it would be false advertising.

Lily Thorne: I don't know. I rather like the last chapter of DW.

Iggy04: There will eventually be some angst in the story (I think it starts the next chapter, actually), so it won't be all fluff. In regards to the jewel thing, I'm still not clear on the jewel shards myself. A lot of people seem to have come to the conlusion that Kagome is able to purify the jewel by making a wish on it. Rather than diviate too much from fandom, as this is a canon fic, I just made it that she wished they would always be able to remain together. Now the jewel is destroyed and the four of them can stay together. And I try to update once a week or so. Essentially, I update when I finish another chapter. - ::realizes that answered nothing and sweatdrops:: (But I try to write a chapter every one-two weeks.)

Enjoy!

Chapter Four: Slaying

Laying on the futon, staring up at the ceiling, my labored breathing echoed in my ears. The room was empty at the moment, but I knew that Miroku wasn't very far away. He had never been very far away from me, never since we had met. We were always looking out for each other, even when we were physically distant. It was nice. It gave me moments to think without being distracted by him, by his calming attitude and his tender smiles. And, of course, after we had just been married, by an uncontrollable desire to simply be intimate with him.

But laying there on that mat, staring up at the ceiling, thinking of times past, the memories surged forward. They were uncontrollable. The memories washed over my mind, occupying my thoughts as I wondered how I had come to feel so weak.

Chaos made the streets swarm with people as they ran in from the fields, screaming for their lives, running for their families. They screamed of a demon attacking them, following them into the fields and demanding the Shikon jewel. I awoke at the first sounds of screaming, rolling out of the mattress and grabbing my discarded clothes. I nudged Miroku, and found him already awake as well.

I smiled at him as I tossed him his armor. This was why I was supposed to always wear my armor, even while sleeping. It took a long time to suit up. But in the six months since I had been married to Miroku, I had been getting faster than ever at putting on my armor in record time.

Groaning as I twisted to put on my armor, Miroku's hand touched me gently, and he finished putting on the pink armor for me. I smiled at him thankfully, and Miroku's cheeks went a bit pink. I, in turn, finished putting on his armor for him, and passed him his shakujo. He still fought with it, though in the past year and half he had been developing his talents with other weapons. One day, one day soon, he'd be able to beat me with swords, and he could already do so with daggers. The staff of a monk was simply the weapon with which he felt the most comfortable. I picked up my own weapon, and the large boomerang wavered a bit as I held it.

"I'm sorry for making you so sore," Miroku whispered as the crowds parted to let them pass. Children young and old joined us, wearing the same armor as Miroku and I.

Recalling the wonderful night we had just had, I turned and grabbed him, kissing him tightly and taking his breath away. Lowering myself off my toes, I studied him, still surprised at Miroku-sama. His black hair was unbound from our sleepless night, curling about his hears and his neck, entwining with the wide, open collar of his shirt. His muscles were purely visible underneath the skin-tight black material, and it was still interesting to see his legs. He had very nice legs. Miroku smiled at me, and I felt my cheeks go red, as our students teased us.

Inuyasha appeared in the crowd, Kagome on his back and rubbing her eyes. It seemed we weren't the only ones who were tired from a busy night. Or, maybe it was just that Kagome had grown accustomed to the old—or is it new?—way of life, where danger wasn't waking her up early every morning. Inuyasha had changed much. "Hey! Are we going to stand around here all day, or are we going to go and kill something?"

"Actually, Inuyasha," Miroku said wisely, rubbing the head of a young slayer near him affectionately. "Usually we let the children take care of the demons, if they are weak enough. Now that we don't have to worry about the Shikon shards showing up, the children are more than capable of taking care of themselves."

The half demon grunted, apparently unimpressed. Still, years of knowing him allowed Miroku and myself to see the appreciation in his gold eyes. Miroku leaned closer to Inuyasha, and wiggled his eyebrows. "So… what did you do to Kagome to wear her out so much? Hm? Did you do number seven or number eight on the scroll I gave you?"

One of the children glared at Miroku before tugging on my arm. "Sango-sama, Miroku-sama is being a pervert again."

Her companion sighed, her eyes lingering on my husband as he overhead the tattle and grinned, trying not to look too guilty. She touched her pink cheeks, and I was amused to recognize the expression in her eyes as that of a girl with a first crush. "But Miroku-sama is such a cute pervert," she told her friend. Apparently, she was not aware that I was so close to her as she then continued. "Sango-sama is so lucky to have found a man like that and be able to marry him."

I felt the color rise to my cheeks, and I turned to face the direction of the fields, where a large demon was slinking across the fields, calling for the Shikon jewel. We had not had many demons coming to look for the jewel, as we had destroyed it as soon as it was whole, before someone else could try and steal it. Sadly, not all demons had heard about the destruction of the jewel. When they didn't find it, they had a tendency to fly into a murderous rampage.

Miroku made the first move. "Yugo!" The boy he called out scurried to the front, looking slightly nervous. Miroku's face softened, silently telling the boy not to look so anxious. "What type of demon is attacking the village?"

Yugo peered at the demon from our holding position at the edge of the village. He took one sniff of the wind and held his nose. "Ew. It's a stink demon."

"Kari!" The girl who had been staring at Miroku earlier snapped to attention. I was a tougher teacher than Miroku was with the children, and I let her be as nervous as she wanted to make herself. As far as I was concerned, it was up to Kari to make herself learn to remain cool in a fight scenario, but I still respected and loved the way Miroku handled the children. "Kari, how do you handle a stink demon?"

Her pert nose wrinkled in disgust. Like anybody else, she was disgusted at the idea of attacking a stink demon. "Ah," she stammered, thinking. Normally, I would have snapped something about being quicker, that people could have died from the way she was stalling, but Kari was still new. She had only been with us two months. "With water?" she asked uncertainly.

People in the crowd snickered at her timid question, but I smiled at her, and touched her light brown hair gently. "That is absolutely correct. Inuyasha, if you would please keep the demon from attacking any further." Inuyasha nodded, and left Kagome behind to draw his Tetsusaiga and attack the demon.

Miroku picked out someone else, a new girl that had been with us two days and hung around the back, playing with the pommel of her sword. "Sakura," he said soothingly. He cracked a grin and motioned for her to come closer to the front with a look in his eye that would make Kari be jealous. Miroku treated all the girls that way; he gained their trust with his soft voice and with glances that made each girl feel he was looking sorely at them. "Sakura, why is sending out Inuyasha to stop a stink demon such a good idea that can lead to high complications?"

She looked at Inuyasha, and then turned her large eyes back up to Miroku as she answered. "Well, it's a good idea because it's just like what Sango-sama said. He's strong, right? So he can stop the demon from advancing and ruining any more field. But at the same time, because he's a half-demon… um… wouldn't the stench of the demon threaten to knock him out?"

"Precisely. Miroku-sama," even after all the time we had spent together, I still called him that in public. "Why don't you take all those who have their masks fitted, and take care of the demon while I teach these ones about stink demons?"

He nodded, and then realized what he had forgotten to bring. His cheeks began to burn. "Ah, Sango-chan?" I knew what he was going to say and tried to keep from smiling at his cute way of admitting that he had screwed up. "I'm afraid I seem to have forgotten my mask"

I handed him mine as some of the older boys laughed. They knew that Miroku was going to get an earful later on. He leaned over and kissed my cheek before marching with the kids with masks into the field. "Alright boys and girls," I said with my hands on my hips. My eyes inadvertently snuck to look on Miroku as he walked. "Gather close. Stink demons are really sludge demons. They smell so much because they survive by eating feces. Many centuries ago, these demons were actually helpful to humans, helping to take care of old manure, demon feces, or human feces in cities. However, all that changed when war increased, and they began to feed more on battle grounds than on cities. The battlegrounds almost seem to have made these demons insane, and they are now more harmful to humans.

"To destroy a demon, we need to use just what Kari suggested. We need to use water. That's why Miroku and the others are trying to get him to back up to the water. Now, can anybody guess what will happen when the stink demon enters the water?"

Nobody answered, until one shy boy raised his hand. "Um, will it disintegrate?"

"Yes, it will," I answered, giving the boy a smile. "That also means that the water will become contaminated. Now, how do we stop contamination?"

This time, not even the shy boy answered. I eventually gestured to Kagome. "Luckily, we have a priestess with us. The priestess can cleanse the water of illnesses for us, and return it to the way it is now."

Kagome gestured to her bow and arrows, looking confused. "Sango, why don't I just take care of the demon right now? I can purify it with one arrow, and it will disintegrate from that. You don't have to worry about contamination if it's been purified into nothingness."

"I know, Kagome," I said gently. I wished I could have asked her to do that, so that I could save time and go back to bed, take my weight off my aching legs. "But after Kaede-sama leaves us, and I pray that won't be for years yet, there won't be a priestess at the temple until one is found and trained. That could take a long time. I want my students to know how to take care of these things by themselves, so that they can defend places that have no priestess because they won't be relying on their powers."

"But then," Kari slowly asked, "Sango-sama, how do we heal the water if there's no priestess?"

I was proud of her for seeing the problem. "That is what makes these demons so difficult to kill. You see, the reason why it's so hard to destroy is because it's covered in feces. On one as large as this, there can be three feet of feces to cut through until you hit the demon, and then there is their tougher skin to contend with, and aiming for a vital spot is difficult because you can't see where you're aiming. As the demon steps into the water, his true form is revealed and it's easier to kill him. If we didn't have a priestess, then we have three options. One and two, because we have so many of you fighters, is to dump water on him as we fight him, to try and reveal the skeletal demon buried under all that slime, or we can fight him in shifts until it rains. The most common answer, however, is drive him out of the city and find an isolated water system and force him into it."

There was a cry from the field as the now brown water popped and gurgled as the skeletal body of the demon sank to the bottom of the swiftly moving water. I saw Miroku thanking each of the students in turn and nodded to Kagome. She went down and in the blink of an eye, the water she touched with the tip of her finger returned to sparkling blue. I was glad at this sign… it meant I could go back to bed.

I pounced on Miroku as soon as he entered our house. I wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms around his shoulders, and my lips found his neck. I moved up to capture one of his earrings in my mouth, tugging on it gently. He was surprised, but as soon as my lips touched him, he knew who it was, and his arms rubbed mine as he sighed my name. "You forgot your mask," I teased. His hands began to rub down my legs, allowing me to lean up so my hands could rub his shoulders for him.

He made some type of affirmative noise, throwing my mask on whatever was closest. Watching it clatter on the table, I thought of my brother, how he always used to forget his mask, and I felt a stab of longing to see him again, to know how he was doing with the girl he had grown to love, the girl we had found him married to when we had last visited him. I shook the feeling away. I would see Kohaku again when I was meant to see him again. Now I was with Miroku, and my hands were rubbing the muscles of his shoulders, feeling the pain from my legs being removed by his soothing hands.

I loved his hands.

"Miroku," I purred, rubbing my cheek against the back of his head. I stopped rubbing his shoulders to start kissing him again. My breath moved over his ears, my lips touching him as I spoke, kissing him between my words. "Miroku, make love to me."

"Again?" he asked before thinking.

Pouting, I tossed my long hair back, so that it hung straight down my back. I switched and moved to the other ear. "Please Miroku?" I asked like a little child. "I wouldn't be asking, but you look so good in this uniform, and we were so rudely interrupted… I like it better when I can wake you up in the morning with kisses and by…"

"Sango," he said gently, "you couldn't even walk after last night. If we do that again, then…."

I slipped off his back and walked around to face him. My smile had disappeared, and now I was worried, and appeared as if I had been wronged. I felt has I had been. I wondered to have sex with my husband. I could barely believe that Miroku of all people was not allowing me that. "Miroku, are you actually telling me no?"

His hands reached around me to cup my cheek. His dark eyes were intent, and happy, feeling me with a sense of pride that made my blood pump faster and my legs feel weak. I licked my lips, and found his eyes following my tongue. He leaned down, kissing my neck the same way I had his, as my hands gripped his shoulders, starting to peel off the armor. "Of course not…I was preparing you for what you were getting yourself into."

"Miroku…" I giggled when his tongue licked the sensitive spot at the bottom of my chin. I threw the armor to the ground before my hands began to work at undoing the armor around his waist. "You've been bad. I'm not going to let you have all the fun."

I wiggled away from him, and pushed him to the ground. I was pleased to see his face light up as I began to strip, and when he realized I was only going to get down to the black outfit, he pouted. His finger spun in the air as he looked up at me pleadingly. "No dancing?"

"No dancing," I answered. I felt the blush rise to my cheeks as I knelt down and began to take off his boots for him. "I know that you want to, Miroku. I know that you want to see it, and I want to make you happy, but I… I don't feel comfortable doing that."

His hands gently took my shoulders and drew me up so that I was laying between his legs, my hands resting on his hard chest. His voice was the soothing kind that made me relaxed and made me want to purr, to cuddle up against him and be satisfied by his hands rubbing against my body. "Then…"

"Meow." Kirara's voice alerted us before she pounced between us, landing on Miroku's chest and butting my chin with her head. Kirara was such a close friend and so fluffy that it was hard impossible to be mad at her for interrupting us. I laughed, and picked her up.

"I'm sorry, Kirara," I told her, kissing her fluffy ears. I accidentally held her so tightly that she told me it hurt, and I had to loosen my grasp. I felt like I had been ignoring her lately. She spent her time with other people than myself. When once she slept with me all the time, she now spent all her time with Shippo, and occasionally one of the other students. I couldn't begrudge her time with another fellow full-demon, but at the same time, I missed her. As much as I loved Miroku, he couldn't make up for the purring sounds of a cat as I fell asleep, memories of years of companionship, or the warmth of a tiny body curled up under my neck.

Someone knocked, and Inuyasha's voice echoed inside our house. "Yo, Sango! Miroku! Can we come in?" He sounded grumpy. No doubt poor Inuyasha was still trying to figure out a way to rid himself of the smell of the sludge demon. Still, I was amazed at his lack of swearing and his politeness. Living in Kagome's world, with an impressionable younger human and a mother looking over his shoulder was a good influence for him.

Miroku told them they could come in, and I crawled off of him, sitting cross-legged on the floor and stroking the cat in my lap, apologizing to her quietly for spending so much time with Miroku. Inuyasha and Kagome entered our house, and when Kagome saw the armor pieces strewn about on the floor, and the color in our faces, she knew what they had interrupted. Inuyasha, of course, was clueless.

Inuyasha joined us on the floor, his hands disappearing into the long sleeves of the red fire rat armor he wore when he was here. "I wanted to talk about that stuff that you guys had mentioned before we left last time we were here. I didn't get much of it, but it was something about pre-training." Kagome slid down next to him on our strange little circle, and Inuyasha's arm slipped around her waist.

My husband, seeing this, moved closer to me, and his fingers slid through my dark hair gently, telling me, promising me that when all this was over, he was still interested in being with me. "Ah, yes. You see, what we were thinking of doing, is taking the older kids out to Inuyasha's Forest, and maybe having them try and hunt you as a group." Inuyasha's gold eyes widened at this idea, and we were uncertain if he was interested or horrified. "It would be non-lethal, for obvious reasons. It's just that this would give the students the opportunity of tracking down a strong demon who knows he's being hunted. They would have to work together to protect themselves from your retaliation, work together to hunt you down, and then to capture you. We've worked with the students before on tracking and team work, but never in this kind of context. Once or twice we might have taken a small group out and had them track Sango or I, but never a half-demon."

Kagome's eyes fell on the cat in my arms. "What about Kirara?"

I nodded, understanding her question. I held my friend a little tighter, and answered for her. "She's getting old, Kagome. Kirara is already more than nine hundred years old. I've asked her, but she's… tired, more often these days, and it takes a lot of energy to transform into her full form. Still, she'll still be here long after I am, but it's usually her and Shippo now. But it's good like that. I have a husband now, so I'm far from lonely, and Shippo has a full demon companion, someone who understands him better than Miroku and I ever could. Shippo really is lonely when you're not around, Inuyasha, and without Kirara hanging around him, I wonder what we ever would have done to cheer him up."

Inuyasha thought about our offer for a long time. Eventually, the subtle strokes I had used on his ego won, and he agreed. Apparently living with Kagome must have changed him, and for the better, as he actually agreed to work with them every weekend that he came back. We were all beaming with pride when he told us yes. We really were a village drawing together to make a better future for people.

Kagome sighed wistfully. "I only wish I could help teach them too, Sango. Unfortunately, I spend most of time here taking over for Kaede at the tasks of a priestess."

I hugged her tightly, letting Kirara sit by me while my hands were occupied before I picked her up again. I grinned when I saw Shippo sneak his way in and crawl into Kagome's lap without any sign of notice from Inuyasha. I loved it when we were able to see all of our friends like this, reunited, healthy, and happy.

"Don't worry, Kagome," I told her as she stroked Shippo's hair. "You have your hands full and all, and what you're doing is important. I'm not going to ask you for anything else. Besides, I can understand what you're going through right now. I feel horrible when you're spending the weekend and I'm not behaving like I used too, and spending all my time with you and Shippo. But I have duties too. It's enough to know that you would help us train our students, to know that you're helping the village in a way I can never understand, and to know that you're happy."

Little Shippo rolled his green eyes, which looked tremendously happy, despite his attitude. "Aw man, I had to come into the middle of the conversation right at the mushy part."

Inuyasha still seemed to have taken no notice of Shippo's presence. He scratched one of his erect ears, his lips twisted as he tried to figure out what duties I was talking about. Shippo saw his confusion and rolled his eyes again. He was still sarcastic. Miroku and I would have to work on that with him. "She's talking about sharing a bed with Miroku, stupid!"

The half-demon raised a hand to strike Shippo for his insolence and for making him feel stupid, but he stopped. It wasn't Kagome that stopped him (as she had long ago removed the necklace with the subduing spell), he simply suddenly realized how much little time we had been spending with them since we had gotten married. His hand fell back to his lap. "Miroku… you two fuck that much?"

Kagome flicked his arm for putting it so crudely. Miroku, however, my wonderful, perverted husband, was already lowering his head and answering him in a solemn voice. "Yes, Inuyasha, we do. Sango just can't keep her hands off of me. Sometimes I'm surprised I can even walk because her beautiful voice keeps me up all night crying for…"

"Miroku" I slapped him as hard as I could, the hardest I had slapped him in almost two years. He lost his balance and fell over but I couldn't care less. I think the red I was seeing at that moment was reflected from my own face.

Now, even Kagome was interested. She tried to hide a smile as she looked at me. "Um… how often do you two have sex, if you don't mind my asking?"

Still having not learned his lessons, Miroku pointed at the ceiling and righted himself. "Well, whenever we don't do it at night, she always wakes me up with kisses and by touching me in the morning. It's a wonderful way to wake up the morning. I mean, how could I complain about waking up and the first thing I feel is the hand of my beautiful wife around…"

"Miroku!" I punched his shoulder again and he lost balance again. I inched away from him, trying to distance myself from his wandering hands.

Even on the ground, he laughed, and looked up at Inuyasha. "You see? Even know she can't stop herself from making me sprawl myself out on the floor purely for amusement." Rather than risk my anger further, he lounged on the floor, and stayed there so I couldn't punch him again. Kagome called the pose "very Inuyasha-like". I could understand her reasoning. Miroku carried on. "And then there are the times when we do it at night. Sango says that it helps her fall asleep." There was a slight pout on his face, making it sound like it made me go to bed because he was a boring lover.

I dropped the arm that had been about to reach over and slap him. I felt my cheeks darken again, and I looked down at the ground. "Well," I protested. "It does. Sex expels as much energy as demon slaying, so really, it's like slaying a demon right before bed time, and then Miroku's tired and right there and we can fall asleep together. There's nothing wrong with it…"

Miroku was already continuing. "And then there all the times of opportunity. Like when we're the first couple in the village to wake up and the bath-house is all ours, so that we can bathe together."

Shippo suddenly pouted and clambered out of Kagome's arms to sit closer to Miroku. "Hey! How come you don't come and get me when you two are bathing together? I mean, you told Kagome and Inuyasha that you were going to take care of me, and be my family! Mommy and Daddy and I always used to bathe together, so why can't I join you and Sango?" His little face pouted, his hands turning into fists, and his fluffy tail thumped on the ground lightly.

My wonderful husband reached out and drew Shippo to his chest, kissing his forehead lightly. His face softened, and Shippo curled about in his arms, getting comfy and using his bicep as a pillow. "I'm sorry, Shippo. I wasn't aware of that fact. Do you really want us to wake you up before sunrise to bathe with us?" Shippo shook his head so hard that his hair tickled Miroku's nose, and he smiled gently, the hand not supporting Shippo's head brushing his hair. "All right, Shippo. We'll be glad for your company."

Her lap freed from Shippo, Kagome moved closer to Inuyasha. The dog demon yawned and laid down much the same way as Miroku, using Kagome's lap to support himself. She, in turn, was able to play with Inuyasha's ears. Quickly, the pleased sounds from his chest were a pleasant background noise in our comfortable house. Kagome smiled at me. "You know, if you need to have sex more than three times in a day, it makes you a nymphomaniac. I think. It could be more than three times a week."

"I'm not addicted to sex!" I protested. My cheeks began to lessen in color. At least this was a topic I felt more comfortable about, though I was rather sad to be ruining the surprise for Miroku. "I had always thought I would rebuild the slayer village where it used to be. But… if we moved there, we'd have to start over from scratch, and with so many children still learning how to use their weapons, it would be next to impossible. It would only lengthen the amount of time it takes them to learn how to use their weapons. Plus, it's so far away that we'd never be able to see you or Inuyasha. Even if it were closer, you're needed here. It is your shrine, after all, Kagome." I managed to let out a little laugh.

"The village here needs us too. The demons seem to have calmed down now that the jewel has been destroyed, but there are still a few who haven't heard about it at all. So, seeing as how we were here training, and you were still coming here, I thought… maybe it was a good idea to have a child now, while we're settled."

Miroku's eyes widened. I hadn't told him about it at all. Looking at him, I patted his hand. "I wanted it to be a surprise. I hoped that one day I would miss my period, and I could tell you and have it be a wonderful surprise. Then we could have a child before we started moving around. If you thought Kagome and I could get cranky when there was no hot water, rocky ground, and with walking all day, imagine what it would be like if I were with child at the same time." The males shuddered at the idea.

"And then there's Kagome and Inuyasha. Eventually, they'll stop coming and seeing us so often. No, Kagome," I shook my head, "you will. School will move you further away from the well, you'll need to start working to live, or maybe you and Inuyasha will even have children. Either way, soon twice a month will become once a month, and once a month will become every other month. I want you to see what your niece or nephew looks like, I want to be able to tell my kids that their aunt used to play with them, and hold them, and tell them all about you."

Kagome took a moment to realize what I was saying, and she suddenly burst out. "Oh, Sango!" She threw her arms around me and I held her fiercely. Inuyasha was spilled out to the floor and he grumpily picked himself back up. Kagome, as of the night before my wedding, had become my blood sister, so why should she not be the aunt of my children? Aunt Kagome. Uncle Inuyasha? Alright, the later was a stretch of the imagination, but the first sounded just perfect.

I began to feel worried as I continued on in a muted voice. "But so far, there's been nothing. Six months, and I haven't been able to conceive yet. I want a baby, Kagome. I want a child now…"

Kagome peeled herself off of me and glanced at Miroku as he held Shippo, staring at us both proudly as we talked in whispers and hugged. "Kagome… We both know of Miroku's reputation. Don't be so upset. Miroku has slept with how many women and yet we never had anybody claim him as a father? It might be that Miroku is impotent…"

Staring at her a second, realizing that she didn't have any idea about Miroku's little secret, I started laughing. I laughed so hard I was crying, holding my stomach. No one knew what it was that made me laugh so hard. Miroku? Impotent? What an irony! That's why I was laughing. I was laughing at the impossible idea that made me so sad, I had to laugh to cover up my real sorrow.

Everyone else thought I was laughing because our group was reunited again, we were safe and warm and comfortable, and a family.

If Kagome was right, it might be the only family I would ever have again.