"What are you doing still up?" Kagome smiled, walking to the palm tree upon which he was still sitting and watching the skies, the moon high in the middle of the sky. "Can't sleep tonight?" She stopped a foot or so from the tree, and tilted her head up.

"As if." Inuyasha scoffed before his expression softened and was neutral again. A moment of silence passed before he spoke again. "The stars are the same... But you can't see them as clearly anymore. They don't shine as bright here."

Kagome nodded, not that he would see it. "The air is more polluted than it used to be. Humans have recklessly expanded their industries, without regard to the detrimental effects to nature. It's a shame. It's easy to say that urbanization should be done in moderation, but that is the truth. The spirits are disturbed and angry... Perhaps this is why..." Kagome trailed off with a worried expression, and Inuyasha jumped off from his perch, landing soundlessly by her side. The two headed to the dying fire, walking shoulder to shoulder in silence.

Taking a seat on the sand, she leaned against Inuyasha, staring into the fire with a vague smile on her face. "Remember all those times we stayed like this for the night? It seemed so long ago... But I'm glad that's over."

"Yeah." Inuyasha answered tersely to both questions. He removed the Robe of the Fire Rat and draped it over her shoulders, before pulling her closer to him by the waist, watching the flickering flames dancing about, the occasional crackle greeting them.

A rosy hue crept up their face from the close proximity. Even though they were married in yōkai terms, they were technically mates, not a married couple. Kagome absent-mindedly fingered a lock of her hair, twirling it on her finger before her finger tips landed on a concealed bite mark on her neck, sending a jolt through both their bodies.

Immediately turning to Inuyasha, a warmth enveloped the two as they gazed into each others' eyes, immersed in the endless depths of love for the other. Leaning forwards, Inuyasha whispered to Kagome in a low tone. "You haven't forgotten our promise, have you?" A brighter shade of crimson painted their faces at this.

"O-Of course not." Kagome responded, closing the gap between them. "If we get this over with, I'll do as promised. I don't go back on my word." Her eyes finally shutting, as did Inuyasha's, their lips met, casting a long shadow on the ground of one figure.

The two stiffened and withdrew when they sensed company, but relaxed upon identification of who it was. Sango and Miroku walked hand-in-hand to join them by the fire, a hearty grin splitting their faces.

"I hope we didn't interrupt anything major. My apologies." Miroku joked, enjoying the look of frustration on Inuyasha's face as the couple sat down next to them. "Feel free to continue though. I don't mind showing a trick or two-"

Sango glared at him, effectively shutting him up, as he waved both hands in the air as a sign of surrender before they leaned against each other, staring into the fire with a nostalgic look on their faces.

"Well this certainly looks familiar." Sango quipped with a reminiscent smile, turning to look at Kagome, who nodded.

"Yeah, I miss this. We spent so many days out in the wild, per se. Under these same stars, the same heavens... We've sure been through a lot, huh?" Kagome chuckled a bit at the understatement, and the others did too.

"But we're missing some." Inuyasha gruffly remarked and Miroku nodded in agreement.

"It'd be nice if Kirara and Shippo could come. But I don't think, from what you've told us, that this would be a very suitable fighting environment for Shippo. And, we didn't want him alone, so Kirara stayed with him and Kaede. And the children."

A moment of silence passed through the group as they relished in the companionship they shared. Finally, Kagome spoke up. "Hey, remember that time when we were at that hot spring? When we thought someone was peeping?"

Sango laughed. "Yeah! I remember, we had-" The gist of the conversation was vaguely remembered, as Miroku rubbed his head from the phantom bump on his head. How violent the two had been! He still remembered how much it hurt to this day! And he was legitimately protecting the two of them from someone else! Granted, it looked somewhat suspicious, but he still insisted that such a harsh punishment was not necessary at all.

The rest of the night, the group of four talked on, remembering times past, laughing, joking and even a fair amount of tears and hugs were shared. Eventually, Kagome and Sango fell asleep in the strong embrace of their respective partners, a peaceful look on their faces.

Inuyasha and Miroku shared a knowing look before they too, fell asleep. Yes, just like the old times.

A/N: Updated on October 18th, 2014