Porcelain by Juul

Chapter Ten: Revelations

Miroku paced back and forth, occasionally looking into the sky for any sign of Kagura or that blasted feather of hers. It had to be near midnight by now. Miroku sighed and put a hand to his forehead. It was getting pretty late, and he didn't want Inuyasha, Kagome, or Shippo to wake up and come looking for him. If they did, things might not go as smoothly as he hoped. Miroku knew he didn't have to worry about the two-tailed cat demon, though; Kirara had stayed in Kaede's village. The fire-cat seemed to refuse to go anywhere without Sango.

The young monk glanced behind him, thinking that he heard something. He didn't know why he was so paranoid all of a sudden-- perhaps it was because Sango was missing... or the fact that he was in a deserted, destroyed village, all alone. He was about to turn around and leave, but he looked up in the sky at the feeling of the wind blowing through his hair.

Kagura was indeed there. She had kept her promise, and didn't even seem to have any yokai swarms or saimyosho with her. Miroku was starting to think that maybe she wasn't as bad as she seemed, and maybe Naraku sent the saimyosho with her only to make sure she didn't do anything he wouldn't approve of.

She hovered gracefully down to the ground, and got off of her feather, tucking it safely back in her hair. "I see you actually trust me enough to meet me here," she said, raising an eyebrow at the monk.

Miroku nodded. "It's nothing about trust. You're just the only person I can communicate to Sango through. So, how is she?"

Kagura shook her head, slowly, meaning that something had indeed happened. "Well..." said Kagura. "She's alive..."

"Damn you, witch!" said Miroku. "My patience is running low, so you'd better tell me what happened or else I'll suck you into oblivion!" He clutched his right hand and held it up in defense.

"Calm down, monk... Miroku," said Kagura, finally using his name. Miroku lowered his defenses in surprise. "Like I said, she's alive. But she's not all that well." The wind sorceress nervously glanced up at the sky. "I'd better tell you as much as I can before Naraku realizes that I'm gone... But, anyway, Naraku's made sure that she's as uncomfortable as possible. And I'll just leave you with that. Sango's definitely worse for wear."

Miroku put a hand over his mouth in shock. "Wh- What do you mean?" he asked in a startled voice.

Kagura leaned against a hut and took out her fan. She halfway covered her face with it, not wanting to tell the monk the whole story. "Let's just say that you'd might want to keep an eye on her when she's free. I just wish that I could be free."

"No you don't," said Miroku, "you're completely loyal to that bastard, Naraku."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that..." Kagura folded up her fan and stuck it back into her robes. "I'm not as loyal as some might think. I really do want to be free of him..." She looked dreamily up into the stars. "And one day, when I am free of Naraku, I'll be free to love... free to hate... free to do whatever I please..." Kagura shook her head, snapping out of her daydreaming, then she pulled her feather out of her hair.

"Kagura!" shouted Miroku. "Don't leave yet! I'm not through with you!"

"I said that I couldn't stay long," said Kagura as she got on her feather. "I'll come for you, the miko, and that ignorant hanyou again soon... I'll bring help and we can all take down Naraku."

Miroku was so surprised at this. I had no idea she hated Naraku this much. I always knew she was rebellious and liked to piss him off, but I never knew she'd go to this extent... Miroku was a little relieved that Sango was okay, but the part about her not being "all that well" worried him. The monk was shocked that Kagura was actually willing to risk her life and help him and Inuyasha of all people, defeat Naraku. And what exactly did she mean by "I'll bring help?"

Drowziness was starting to overcome his senses, so Miroku began the trip back to the camp he had set up with his friends. He was just glad that it wasn't that far away.

"Don't worry, Sango. We'll save you," said Miroku, "I'll save you."

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All was silent in the castle of Naraku. The only thing that could be heard at all was if you were in a certain hallway, where a certain demon was walking around. Rouge gritted her teeth and continued walking around, trying desperately to find a way out of this hellhole. She turned around a corner, and saw a balcony through a doorway. Not caring what would happen, Rouge walked through the door and stood there, looking out over the balcony and into the starry night sky.

Is what the wind witch says true? Is Naraku really the one who killed my family? Rouge sighed and stared out in front of her. Everything was quiet again, but only for a few moments. Rouge was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of screaming and crying, and the sound of rushed footsteps. She spun around and held her sword out in front of herself.

The taijiya came running through the doorway, right onto the balcony, screaming hysterically. She did not look all that good; she was holding what appeared to be what was left of her kimono in front of her, in attempt to hide her body; there was a bruise under her left eye, and a small trail of blood trickling down the side of her mouth.

The hysterical woman made a move to jump over the balcony, but something told Rouge to stop her. Rouge did the only thing she could.

"TAIJIYA!" she shouted, dropping her sword and walking towards the crazed girl. "Don't you dare jump!"

Sango looked at Rouge, with tears in her eyes. "WHY THE HELL SHOULD'NT I?" she screamed.

Rouge took another, more threatening step towards Sango. "I don't care or anything, but don't take the easy way out."

Sango made another move to jump over the railing. Rouge sighed and swung her arm out, swiftly hitting Sango in the side of her face. The demon slayer fell backwards, and onto the floor, where she lay shaking uncontrollably.

The fire demon stood over Sango, eyeying her with emotionless, violet eyes. Sango could no longer control herself. She crawled towards Rouge, and put her hand around the demon's ankle. Looking up into her eyes, she said, "Kill him! Please! Kill Naraku! I can't do it! I can't take this anymore!"

Rouge tried to keep her face free of expression, but all of a sudden she remembered something for a moment. And that one memory re-awakened something inside of her.

Fourteen year-old Rouge sat leaning against a tree, watching Ami and her fiancee, Damian. Yokama sat beside her, his arm around her shoulders.

"They're so happy, aren't they, Rouge?" asked Yokama.

Rouge nodded and smiled at him. "Ami's finally happy, so I approve of Damian. She's never been so happy. I just wish that I could be that happy..." the demon girl looked off, a dreamy look on her young, innocent face.

The young demon boy looked away from her for a moment, blushing, then he summoned up his courage and turned to face Rouge. Yokama held both her hands in his and looked into her violet eyes.

"Rouge?" he said.

Rouge looked at him, surprised. "What?"

Yokama closed his blue eyes for a moment. "Rouge," he said, "I have to ask you something..."

"What is it, Yokama?" asked Rouge.

"Will you...?" he sighed and decided to let it all out at once. "Will you marry me, Rouge? Will you marry me and bear my children, Rouge?"

Rouge slowly pulled her hand away from him. "Yokama..." she said. "...I'm so... surprised... Are you sure you want to do this?" The demon boy nodded. "Yes! Of course I will, Yokama!" Rouge leaned into him and hugged him as tight as she could.

Meanwhile, Damian waved to Yokama, giving him the signal that he was ready to leave. "Sayonara, Rouge," said Yokama, his face turning red, as he turned and ran to his mentor, who smiled and shook his head. Ami walked slowly and gracefully towards Rouge.

"So, little sister... what was all that about?" asked the bat demon, sitting beside her "sister."

Rouge blushed and said nervously, "What do you mean, Ami?"

Ami smiled and pulled Rouge into a hug. "You know exactly what I mean, Rouge." Rouge tried to get away, but soon gave up. "Yokama finally proposed to you, didn't he?"

Rouge nodded and nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah... I guess he did..."

Ami continued smiling at Rouge, her blue eyes full of concern held for her younger sister. "I approve of him. He's a good guy. Damian was just telling me how crazy Yokama is about you."

"Now I know how you feel, I guess," said Rouge, laughing a little. "I feel kind of weird, though. I mean, I'm engaged now. It's sort of weird. But I think that's just 'cause I'm only fourteen."

Ami grinned at Rouge. "Rouge," she said, "I want you to have this." She reached for the sword that she always carried around with her. She handed both the sword and the sheath to the younger demon.

"But Ami!" said Rouge. "That's your sword! What're you gonna do if you need it to fight with?"

"You need it more than me, sis," said Ami, "Besides, it was your real mother's sword. She left it to me to look after until you got older. I'm just giving it to it's rightful owner."

Rouge took the sword from Ami, and unsheathed it. The handle was gold, with an amethyst jewel in the side. It also had her family's symbol on it-- a heart with a ying-yang design on it; the same symbol on Rouge's forehead. Rouge looked up at her older sister. "Thanks, Ami. It means a lot. I'll never let it out of my sight. Ever."

Rouge was jerked out of her memory. She couldn't let Sango kill herself! She probably had family that cared about her! All of that just dawned on Rouge. She picked up her sword, then looked at Sango. "I can't let her die... I won't let her die... She didn't kill my family..." Rouge tightened her grip on her sword.

"NARAKU DID!" screamed Rouge as she tore off around the corner, looking for any sign of Naraku.

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Kagura arrived at Naraku's castle only about an hour after her secret meeting with Miroku. She got off of her feather, and returned it to her hair. Something wasn't right.

Usually Kohaku and Rouge were waiting for her to arrive whenever she was gone. Maybe Naraku found out that she was gone? Kagura shuddered at the thought. Naraku would surely kill her this time... if he found out...

She heard a scream coming from inside the castle.

"NARAKU! WHERE ARE YOU?" screamed someone. Kagura recognized it as Rouge.

Sounds like she finally realized the truth... Kagura then realized with horror that the plan she was thinking about was ruined... She knew that Rouge was hellbent on revenge now. From the sounds of it, she was going to kill him right now. Kagura ran into the castle, looking desperately for Sango.

"Sango?" she asked, looking into her room. No one. The witch ran across the hall to her own room. "Sango?" she called once more. Kagura continued running frantically around the halls looking for the taijiya.

Kagura found her only moments later. She was laying on a balcony, shaking, covered by what was left of her clothing. "Sango!" said Kagura. She rushed over to Sango and kneeled down beside her. "Are you okay?"

Sango sat up and leaned against Kagura. "She's... she's going to... kill him..." said Sango in a raspy voice. "Rouge is going to kill... Naraku..."

Kagura gently helped Sango to her feet. "Listen, if you can..." she looked into the hall, searching for any sign of Kohaku, Kanna, Naraku himself, or the enraged fire demon. Not a soul was there, but Rouge's angry cries could be heard from a distance. "Sango, I talked to that monk, Miroku."

Sango's eyes suddenly lit up with hope. "You did?" she asked. Kagura nodded. "How is he? Is he okay? What about the others?"

"They're all fine," said Kagura, "But for now, we've got to go get you cleaned up and find Kohaku before Rouge does. I am a demon, and I do know that many demons, if they're angry enough, will kill anything in their path just to get what they want. And we don't want to risk your brother's life because that stupid fire demon can't control her anger."

Sango nodded. "Let's go," she said, attempting to walk on her own, "so what did Miroku say?"

"I'm going to go get him sometime soon. I'm going to go find him and the rest of your group, and I'm taking Rouge with me, and we're going to come back and fight Naraku together. I just need you to stay here and protect Kohaku."

"Why'd you wait so long to tell me about this?" asked Sango.

"I had to wait until Naraku sent me on an errand so that I could talk to the monk," said Kagura."I also had to wait for Rouge to finally realize that Naraku's the one to blame for her sister's death. She may be on a rampage now, but Naraku won't kill her. She's too powerful. She comes from a family of fire demons, and is the last one alive; her mother being killed by Naraku when she was only a child, and her father dying before she was even born. Naraku could use someone like that as one of his mind-controlled slaves."

"I thought he was already using her?" asked Sango.

"Not really. He was just testing her power. She still has some of her memory, unlike your brother," explained Kagura. "Of course," she added, upon seeing the look of dissappointment on Sango's face. "Naraku's spells can be reversed. It will just take a lot of time and patience."

"When are we going to go through with this plan?" asked Sango.

Kagura paused for a minute. "I'm not sure... but we'll have to wait a while. Naraku's going to be on edge for the next few days because of Rouge's little mood swing. I know it's not easy, but please hang on for just a little longer. You've got to save your little brother. I bet that he was once a good boy... until Naraku corrupted him. But he needs you now more than ever. You've got to be strong for him."

Sango let all of Kagura's words sink in for a moment. A look of determination set on her face, she nodded, earning a smile from Kagura. The demon and the demon slayer went into Kagura's room, and attempted to improve Kagura's plan to escape from Naraku, unknowing that at the exact same moment, Miroku was telling Inuyasha and Kagome of this plan and was deciding to keep searching for Naraku's castle.

A/N: I know this chapter wasn't that interesting, but I promised myself that I would put more emphasis on Miroku's thoughts, and Rouge's past. Well, it's near midnight, and I'm tired, but I hope this was worth reading; I spent two hours writing it.