AN: Nope, I am not dead. As was mentioned over on Kakera no Ai, my power got knocked out a few weeks back by an ice storm. Then, once power was restored, my computer died on me. But, it's back, and I'm back, so things are looking up. Sorry, but there won't be any replies to reviews now, but it will pick up again next chapter. Thanks for the reviews!

Oh, and one person figured out where the song came from. It's called MU-NRAITO Densetsu, or Moonlight Legend; the opening for the first four seasons of Sailor Moon. Translated, the lyrics are: 'Guided by the light of the moon, we meet each other again and again. By counting constellations blinking, we forecast the outcome of this love. We were born in the same country...' That's where I cut off in the story, but the next line would've been 'Miracle Romance'.

So, without further ado... here's chapter 14!

Sango sighed, and reached up to rub her forehead, before crossing her arms over her chest, "Inuyasha, are you sure you know where you're going?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and gave an agitated sigh as well, "For the last time, Sango... yes, I do. We'll get there faster if you'd quit asking me that too."

"We would've already been there if you would have let me bring Kirara." The taijiya replied, glancing at him, before turning her attention to the path ahead of them.

"So you're saying you don't like spending a little extra time with me?" He asked, sounding more than a little offended at the comment.

"I never said that."

"It's what you were implying."

"Was not."

"Was to."

She looked at him once again, frowning as she saw the serious expression he wore, "Inuyasha, you know that's not true. I only mentioned it, because last time we visited Shippou and Kaede-sama, you were in a hurry to leave. I don't mind spending the extra time with you, though... Actually, I like it."

The hanyou gave her a quick, side-ways glance and raised an eyebrow slightly, "Really?"

She nodded, and smiled slightly, "Really."

The night had passed without any more incidents, and morning had come about quickly. Sango had awoken to the surprise of finding Inuyasha waiting for her outside of her hut. And, she had received another surprise from him, when he asked if she wanted to see Shippou and Kaede again.

Needless to say, she had accepted, and the two had set out; once they had told a few villagers of their plans, and left Kohaku and, to Inuyasha's dismay, Yukio in charge until they returned. And, even though he didn't like the choice of leaving Yukio in charge, Inuyasha had stayed true to his promise to Sango, and he had ignored the young man throughout the short conversation.

That, however, was a while ago. The hanyou and taijiya had spent the better part of the morning walking to Kaede's village.

"Well, you can see the village now." Inuyasha said after a moment, wanting to change the subject, "I told you I knew where I was going." He added with a satisfied smile.

Sango looked up and nodded, but before she could say anything, another voice shouted out.

"Sango!"

That was the only warning the taijiya received, before being attacked by a bundle of fur; also known as Shippou.

"I thought that was you and Inuyasha I saw! I was wondering if you were ever going to come back." The kitsune continued, clinging onto Sango, much like he used to do with Kagome, "I guess Inuyasha's still staying with you then?" He asked, glancing over to the hanyou.

Sango smiled once she realized that her 'attacker' was only Shippou, "You guessed right, Shippou. I guess you can say he grows on you after a while." She said, giving the hanyou a slightly teasing smile.

Inuyasha folded his arms across his chest, but met her smile with a grin of his own, "Oh yeah? Well, don't be expecting to get rid of me too easily, Sango."

Shippou blinked a few times, before scurrying from Sango's arms, up to her shoulder, "Um... speaking of getting rid of... you two aren't going to leave right away, are you? Last time, Inuyasha took off as soon as he got here. Can you stay a little longer this time?"

The taijiya looked at Shippou; as best she could with his current position on her shoulder, then turned to Inuyasha, giving him a curious look. She knew the reason why Inuyasha didn't like to stay at Kaede's village too long; he had told her the last time they had visited. But... she wasn't sure if he still felt the same way now...

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, looking from Shippou to Sango, before looking down for a moment. "We'll stay as long as we can. But, we have to be back home before nightfall. Deal?"

Shippou smiled ear to ear at that response, and nodded happily, "Sounds great, Inuyasha! Doesn't it sound great, Sango?"

Sango nodded and smiled, continuing to look at Inuyasha, "It sure does."

The hanyou, again, raised an eyebrow, before abruptly shutting his eyes, "Keh! So are we going to just stand around here or what? Because, if that's all we're going to do, I'll leave right now!"

Shippou's smile turned into a frown, and he pointed accusingly at Inuyasha, "Hey! You can't go back on what you said!"

"I can do whatever the hell I want to do!" Inuyasha replied, sending a quick glare in the kitsune's direction.

Shippou growled slightly, as his paws clenched into fists, "No you can't!" He shouted, his voice raising in pitch a bit, "You said you'd stay for a while, so you're staying!" Then, putting on an innocent look, he nuzzled his face against Sango's cheek, "Right Sango?"

At that, Sango couldn't help but laugh, "Of course, Shippou. Inuyasha and I will stay for a while."

"Yay!" The young kit cried happily, grinning once again. Looking to Inuyasha, however, his grin turned into a smirk, "Told you!"

Inuyasha merely rolled his eyes and snorted in reply.

-

It was a while later; a couple hours after noon, when the pair said their goodbyes and set out to return to the taijiya village; after promising to come back soon, of course. Most of the journey back was filled with silence, though when they began nearing the village, Sango spoke up.

"Next time, we'll have to bring Kirara." Sango stated, glancing at Inuyasha, "Since Shippou said he wished he could've seen her to, I mean."

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders, before crossing his arms, "I guess. Though it's not like she's changed much."

She shook her head a bit, and nudged him in the arm, "That's not the point. They miss each other."

The hanyou merely shrugged again. He understood that, even though he wouldn't admit that aloud. It was just... he enjoyed being with Sango, and only her. Aside from the times he'd catch her sitting outside the village gates, there were always other people around.

"Well, if you object to that, maybe we should bring Shippou back to the village, and let him stay with us for a few days." She continued, once Inuyasha had made it clear that he wasn't going to say anything.

He stumbled slightly, surprised, before giving her a confused look, "What? Why would you want to bring that brat back to the village?"

She smiled and shrugged, "I was only suggesting it, since you didn't seem like you wanted Kirara to come with us next time. And, he might enjoy a little training, since it doesn't seem like he gets much living with Kaede-sama."

"Training? Shippou? Keh!" He spat, wrinkling his nose, "I don't think any amount of training will help him." He added, rolling his eyes.

"He's stronger than he looks, though." She replied, "Besides... I think we did pretty well when you helped with the trainees. I'm sure Shippou could learn a lot."

He snorted and glanced at her again, "That may be, but when we were working with the trainees, I only let you think you caught me off guard. It won't happen next time though."

She raised an eyebrow, hearing that, "You're still saying that? I'm telling you, I can take you anytime and anyplace."

"Oh yeah?" He asked, as he stopped walking and grabbed her arm to stop her as well, "Care to test that theory out?"

"Now?" She asked, blinking slightly, "But, Kohaku and Yukio are expecting us back."

"Kohaku won't worry, he knows we're alright." The hanyou replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He knew Kohaku wouldn't worry about them... And Yukio? Well, Inuyasha didn't care what he thought. "Besides, the village is just past those trees; well within hearing distance. If anything happens, we'll know."

"Well..." She looked in the direction of the village for a moment, before turning back to Inuyasha and nodding, "Okay then. You're on!"

"Great!" He said, grinning, as he let go of her arm and took several steps back, "Let's go then."

Sango nodded again and leaned down slightly, moving her right leg back slightly as she dug the heel of her foot into the dirt, preparing for Inuyasha's move.

Inuyasha watched her closely; looking for any sign that she wasn't on guard, any small weakness he could use to his advantage. "You make the first move... Unless you have a problem with that, or something."

The corner of her mouth turned up slightly in a small smirk as she gave a slight shake of her head, "No, no problem at all." Despite her slight protest, she intended to make good on her word. She shifted the weight on her leg, so the toe of her foot was pressing into the dirt rather than her heel. Her eyes never leaving Inuyasha, she suddenly pushed herself forward, running towards him. When she was close enough to make a strike, she punched.

Inuyasha easily ducked to the side, avoiding the hit, but she was still ready. She immediately dropped to the ground, landing on one knee and stopping herself from falling with her hands. With her free leg, she kicked out, trying to trip Inuyasha much like she had done during one of the trainee training sessions.

The hanyou, having already fallen for that move once, was prepared for it and he sprang forward, putting his arms up to catch himself. As soon as his hands touched the ground, he pushed up again, flipping back to his feet. Immediately, he turned to Sango, who was just standing up as well. He caught one of her arms before she could make another move, and turned her around slightly before pulling her back against his chest and crossing his arms in front of her, holding onto both her arms. "Got you! I already saw that move once, Sango. You should know it wouldn't work on me a second time."

Sango instantly tried to free herself from his grip. But when that failed to get her free, she instinctively jerked her arm back, elbowing him, not too gently, in the chest.

Inuyasha gave a short, surprised grunt as he released her, and took a few steps backwards. His golden gaze remained focused on her silently for a moment before he spoke again, "Getting a little rough there... eh, Sango?"

"I guess the exterminator in me got the better of me on that one." She replied, bringing her arm up to wipe her forehead as she did so, "Why? You want to quit now?"

He shook his head, as he leaned down a bit, preparing his next move, "Not a chance." He said, as a mischievous glint began to show in his eyes. If she could take things up a notch, why couldn't he? That thought in mind, he ran forward again. When he neared Sango, he drew his arm back.

Before he could throw a punch, however, she suddenly ducked, causing him to go past her and the would-be punch to go over her head. Then, putting an arm down to steady herself, she turned on her heel and stood up fully, throwing another punch at him.

As soon as he had figured out what she was doing, Inuyasha had turned as quickly as he could, skidding backwards in the dirt slightly before jumping back to avoid her hit. But, instead of backing off as she had done before, she continued to come at him, so he continued to jump back; each of her punches coming only as close as he let them.

Sango growled, impressively for a human, as she continued trying to get a hit on Inuyasha. Now he was just toying with her. She knew it. And, even though it was Inuyasha, it was getting irritating.

The hanyou couldn't stop the slight grin that came to his face when he saw Sango's frustrated look. He was having fun doing what he was. But, not wanting her to get too upset with him, and wanting to take things up a little more, he let her get close before ducking to the side again and hooking his foot around hers, successfully tripping her.

The taijiya let out a short, startled gasp when she suddenly found herself falling forward, and she instantly put her arms out, but that didn't do much to stop the fall. She took a couple breaths, before wiping some of the dirt off her face and looking over her shoulder to Inuyasha, "Now who's being rough?"

He merely shrugged and raised his eyebrows slightly, "That mean you want to quit?"

She pushed herself up off the ground and turned to face him, "Not at all." She replied, her eyes narrowing slightly as she backed up until she was about six or so feet from him. There, she began to walk a slow, yet steady circle around him; studying his form and looking for anything she could possibly use for her advantage.

His eyes were on her as well, as he watched her move. But, instead of turning to watch her when she walked behind him, he remained as he was, facing forward. His ears flicked every few seconds, though; listening intently to her precisely placed footsteps as she continued to circle him.

She raised an eyebrow slightly, skeptically, when she saw that he wasn't turning to follow her movements. However, that didn't deter her. Her footsteps continued to fall until she had walked a complete circle around him. And, as soon as she had finished, she continued walking; beginning another circle. This time, though, when she walked behind him once again, she intended to take full advantage of his turned back. And, as soon she was out of his sight, the taijiya veered off her circle path, and ran towards him.

Inuyasha wasn't the least bit surprised, however. He had purposely given her a false sense of security, having assumed what she would do when given a seemingly clear advantage. As soon as he heard her footsteps fall out of sync, he hunched down slightly, then jumped, flipping backwards and landing behind Sango.

Sango turned as quickly as she could, but it wasn't quick enough. Inuyasha caught her arm and pushed her back before catching her other arm as well and bringing them above her head as he pinned her against a tree, "Now, I got you." He said.

She took a few, quick intakes of air; breathing harder than usual due to the short scuffle they had had. "Yeah... yeah, I guess you do." She said finally, looking up at him. She wasn't sure how much time had truly passed, but when it seemed a couple moments had, and he still hadn't moved, she spoke up again, "You can let go of me now, Inuyasha."

He nodded slightly, "Yeah... I guess I can." He said, though he remained as he was, keeping her body pinned between the tree and his own body. His eyes remained locked on hers as well, as yet another few seconds passed in silence. Then, finally, he moved. But, he didn't move away from her. Instead, he moved closer, leaning down until their faces were mere inches apart. There, he hesitated a moment, unsure... of anything at the moment. He wasn't sure what he was doing, or even why he was doing it. The only thing he was sure of, was that he was there with Sango. And that was all that mattered to him.

"Demons!"

The silence that had settled around them was shattered when the sudden cry came up from the direction of the village. And, both Inuyasha and Sango turned their heads to look in the villages' direction.

"The... village." Sango said quietly, turning to look at Inuyasha again. And, at the same time, trying to will her heart to stop beating so fast, "Inuyasha."

Inuyasha glanced to her, before nodding once again, "Right. Let's go then." With that, he moved back and let go of her. Then, he immediately turned and ran back towards the village.

Sango remained where she was only a few seconds longer, before running after Inuyasha. She was a little surprised that he had left without offering to carry her, as he had done before. But, given the... circumstances, she wasn't sure if she would have accepted anyway...

'What in the HELL were you doing!' Inuyasha's mind screamed to himself. He shook his head and clutched his hands into tight fists, until his claws were digging into his palms, 'Shit, what were you thinking!' He growled quietly to himself, until he noticed that Sango was now running beside him. He threw a quick, questioning glance in her direction, before realizing that he had subconsciously slowed down to allow her to catch up. The hanyou blinked, then frowned to himself, though he continued to run at her pace.

AN: There you go. Remember how I said things would get interesting? Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg.