DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: This author has no financial or non-financial relation nor do they possess any right to "Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale" franchise. Full ownership of all characters is the sole intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 13

The Perfect Day

Several hours came and went. The fire was now simply burning embers and yet Sango remained awake. Her mind replaying the conversation from earlier on loop in her mind while the monk somehow slept soundly like it didn't bother him in the slightest. Maybe it was a trick. A lie. After all, she might have a violent profession but she wasn't a violent person.

Except she did technically thwack him - hard - the first time they met. It was a knee-jerk reaction to having her ass grabbed and fondled by a complete stranger but...but given everything...knowing now that they had been engaged to be married and horrifically separated, his reaction was understandable. Somewhat. On the other hand, by his own admission, he'd done that kind of thing with other women all the time. How on earth had someone like that won her over? Maybe he was right. Maybe she had settled for him.

"You need to sleep," Miroku's weary voice ordered although he remained facing away from her where he lay, "We have a long journey ahead of us. You want to visit your home do you not?"

The hardness of his voice as he referenced her 'home' didn't escape her notice. Neither did the thickness in his throat that indicated he'd been crying recently.

"I can't sleep," Sango admitted quietly as she drew her knees up to her chest, "Can't stop thinking about earlier."

"I didn't mean to upset you," Miroku sighed as he propped himself up and shook his head, "Or to lose my temper. Forgive me."

Sango sighed softly and shook her head.

"You did nothing wrong so there's nothing to forgive."

Miroku subtly rolled his eyes but elected not to argue. There was no point going down that road. Nothing, nothing hurt more than seeing the look of pity on her face and seeing the self-loathing which bloomed behind her eyes. Yes, she'd smacked him around a few times but that was just their dynamic and he didn't mind it. Most of the time he groped her knowing full well how she'd react. Arguably he was asking for it. A quick cost-risk analysis was routinely made and it was always worth the risk of a brain injury if it meant he'd get to fondle his favorite thing in the world. Looking back, a part of him cringed at how utterly disgusting he'd been back then. What had he even been thinking?

"I think...I think I know why I loved you," the slayer offered randomly after a long moment as she plucked a blade of grass and inspected it under the moonlight, "Although I don't understand why you'd love me, I think I understand what must have happened."

Momentarily distracted from his own awkwardness, Miroku glanced over his shoulder and waited for her explanation.

"Men are usually afraid of me," she began softly - and a little bitterly truth be told, "They're intimidated I guess by a woman stronger than them."

"Then they are fools. You'll find someone..." Miroku began as his throat tightened, "Someone worthy of you."

"That's just it," the slayer continued with a dejected sigh, "I think...I think I fell in love with you because you weren't intimidated. I struck you, which was wrong, but you kept coming back. You knew I was strong and saw that as a virtue rather than a threat. My strength wasn't seen as a danger to your masculinity."

Miroku snickered once despite himself.

"Why would it be?" he admitted with wry amusement, "And your blows were deserve..."

"They weren't," Sango interrupted, "You can say that all you want but what I did was wrong. I'm sorry for that."

Miroku didn't have a reply for that.

"I accept your apology," he finally sighed - hoping it would assuage her misplaced guilt, "Do not feel as though you must love me simply because a different version of you did so. Our relationship...well it was unconventional. Circumstances have changed. You are a different woman who will want a different man."

"Am I really that different?" Sango asked in a somewhat hurt tone.

"As I said you have changed but...but in good ways," Miroku admitted quietly as he looked down at his hands, "I am glad for the differences. Your suffering has been avoided."

"And yet you still love me," Sango stated more than asked and Miroku sighed.

"I just want you to be happy."

As Sango nodded like she knew that was what he'd say, a quiet followed that was strangely comfortable. A warmer than seasonal wind rippled the fledgling grass under the moonlight. Crickets chirped in a steady rhythm. An owl hooted in the distance.

"In the final battle, what happened?" Sango asked suddenly, "No one has really said...other than that we died of course. But other than that..."

Glancing at the slayer, the monk would admit he was surprised by the question.

"What more is there to know?"

"Inuyasha once said it was an ambush," Sango pointed out, "And I overheard you mention being distracted. Perhaps knowing what occurred would help us avoid those mistakes."

Miroku laughed bitterly and shook his head.

"Unless you want to characterize our group's day to day activities as mistakes and make radical changes to our eating habits, I doubt you will find much to alter," the monk clipped back much harsher than intended.

"So we were eating?"

Swallowing thickly, Miroku managed to nod as the scene played in his mind's eye. Honestly, it had been a beautiful day up until Naraku appeared. A perfect day.

"It was early autumn," Miroku began quietly as he looked up at the sky, "Kagome had brought some food from her time that she'd prepared."

His lips twitched upwards at the memory.

"If I remember correctly, it wasn't especially good but she was so proud of it. An egg of some kind. A few sausages," he laughed as he idly traced the palm of his hand, "And Inuyasha has insulted it in his way. She was upset and they were arguing."

Sango smiled sadly at the image.

"We exchanged an amused glance. You squeezed my hand," he sighed, "I made some comment. You laughed. And then a moment later the sky turned black."

Letting out a shuddering sigh, Miroku averted his eyes.

"Kagome didn't even have time to reach for an arrow when she was hit," Miroku explained softly, "A tendril pierced her chest. Inuyasha..."

The monk shifted and cleared his throat as the image of his friend's agony and terror flashed behind his mind's eye.

"Inuyasha was, of course, devastated. His brother had arrived and drew his attention away. I don't think he realized Kagome was a target until it was too late," he finished quietly as he willed the image away to no avail, "There wasn't even a moment for her to scream. I don't see how he could've foreseen such a deviation from Naraku's usual course or action but much of his guilt originates from that if I'm not mistaken."

Sango frowned as a tear welled in her eye.

"We were in shock, you and I," Miroku continued shakily, "It was so unexpected. The whole affair. Naraku targeted you while we were distracted and grieving ourselves."

Sango swallowed thickly.

"With you gone, I lost the will to fight," the monk added bitterly, "Naraku made a point to end you just as quickly. I believe that was due, in part, to the fact that you survived horrendous injuries in the past and still found the strength to fight. He wanted...he wanted to injure you do you would...so it..."

Miroku cleared his throat, "In any case, once Kagome passed, Inuyasha stood and looked at me. His sword refused to transform and then I knew no more. I woke up in my master's temple listening to him explain the fine distinctions of sake."

Biting her lip, a few tears streamed down Sango's cheeks at the imagery his story invoked.

"I apologize if I...if I have been acting strangely," the monk offered after a moment, "You always disapproved of my behavior. I thought...I thought if I acted more appropriately, what changed between us would occur more quickly but there was little efficacy of my actions. I was mistaken."

"Did we ever kiss?" Sango asked thickly and Miroku gave her a strange glance over his shoulder.

"No, of course not," Miroku replied with a soft resigned laugh, "You are very reserved. That is an aspect of yourself that is still very...very much..."

Trailing off, violent eyes widened as the slayer got to her feet and moved closer. Was she intending to...

"Can I offer you an apology?" she asked sheepishly and Miroku found himself nodding as his heart raced. Kneeling down in front of him, Sango gently cupped his face before dipping down to give him a chaste kiss with the lightest of pressure that had him melting. If this was the only token of affection he ever received from her, it was worth every moment no matter how much it might pain him later.

"I want you to act like yourself," Sango whispered as she pulled back and Miroku was stunned into silence, "I'll try not to hit you this time."

It was that statement that shook the monk out of his shock.

"I have no intention of behaving the same..."

"I know that," Sango reassured him as she caressed his cheek with her thumb and he subtly leaned into her touch, "But the way you've been acting hasn't...hasn't seemed natural. Maybe we have a chance if you don't try to be someone you're not."

Weary eyes searched her face for a moment before a soft smile graced the monk's lips.

"I will try."

"Good night Miroku," the slayer whispered with what the monk prayed was affection, "I look forward to meeting you."

Melting at her statement, the monk watched her move over to Kilala and smiled genuinely for the first time since his return.

Kagura was convinced she must be insane but until someone proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt, her plan was to just keep playing along with the blind ignorance Naraku was feigning. It seemed like every time Sesshomaru should have been on his radar her creator failed to notice. For that matter, he seemed blind to Inuyasha's little group as well.

Where the hell did Naraku think the jewel shards were going if not with that rag-tag commune of idiots? He knew they existed. He bragged of defeating them often but then it was almost like he was incapable of seeing them. Even when Kanna showed him images of the group finding a new shard and those morons were depicted clear as day, Naraku would play dumb like he'd never seen them before in his life. It was maddening. He knew who they were. By name. He knew what happened during the final battle. But somehow it was always a surprise that someone was hunting for jewel shards. Almost like he was seeing strangers in the mirror and their appearance changed depending on the hour of the day. Kanna had also noticed this uncharacteristic and frankly bizarre behavior. Kagura knew she had and for that reason alone, Kagura knew her suspicions had a basis in concrete evidence rather than just pure speculation. The little girl didn't speak much and rarely if ever reacted to odd events but just earlier that day, even the normally unresponsive child made a comment about Naraku's ignorance being by design.

Regardless of whether his ignorance was the product of something intentional, eventually Naraku would act and the final battle in which the bastard obtained ultimate power would occur, wouldn't it? After all, the jewel would very soon be complete and true to form, Naraku would inevitably go after the one who held it. Not that Kagura particularly cared what happened to that group of spoiled teenagers. It was more of a concern about how the emergence of a fully empowered Naraku would affect the people she'd wanted to save in the first place. Sure, they weren't targets right now but who knew what would happen to them in the century that followed Naraku's rise to ultimate cosmic power. There had been so much war and bloodshed in the years that followed. So many things that could go wrong and there was a distinct possibility that it wouldn't matter that she'd fixed the one thing that had sent that man on a downward spiral into madness because what Naraku didn't break this time, a stupid human battle could end in the blink of an eye. By the end of the century, due in large part to Naraku himself, demon kind was suffering terribly. Many of the powerful demon tribes refused to bow down resulting in eradication. Human hunting parties and raids took out the rest. A few rouges who went it alone still survived and here or there a few managed to find a relatively safe place in the world but most who teamed up might as well have painted a target on their back. Even if war, hunting parties or Naraku didn't get that little girl, old age would eventually get the brat and then...

Trying to stop herself from worrying about things that might not even be, Kagura shook her head and sighed.

What may or may not happen in the future aside, the only plausible explanation for Naraku's strange behavior was that the jewel got tired of being Naraku's prisoner and installed a failsafe to prevent him from obtaining it twice. But why send Naraku back if that was the objective? Why give him any memories of what happened? For that matter, why did those two insufferable teenage mercenaries make the cut? So they could defeat Naraku with the power of friendship? Or maybe, using their combined defining qualities of immaturity and depression, they could kill their enemy with cringeworthy smack talk? The only reason they'd gotten as far as they did was that combined they were a veritable four man army but all Naraku had to do to win was kill one and their whole unit fell apart. They were simple and co-dependent and weak. Anyway, none of that mattered because the point was she didn't make the wish for them so why had they been included? The only thing they did succeed in doing was help Naraku expedite his ascension to ultimate power.

Scowling into the darkness, Kagura couldn't help but feel cheated. She'd wanted one thing and one thing only. One. Damn. Thing. The jewel was the one who offered the rest. Who'd clarified. Probably to suit its own ends. Why else would it have reached out to the wind? How else would people she didn't care about be brought back like a package deal? It was maddening. All of it.

Sighing heavily, Kagura squared her shoulders and turned a corner while Kanna followed close behind. Casting a glare over her shoulder, an eye twitched at the little porcelain doll who had been glued to her side. Probably on Naraku's orders but a part of the wind sorceress had an inkling Kanna's stalking might have been out of affection. They'd been bound at the hip the first time after all, although for different reasons. And for someone who was supposed to be a void, there had been subtle signs of grief and this time around Kanna had been actively preventing her sister from straying too far off the beaten path and engaging in acts of rebellion. Almost like she thought...

In any case, the only blessing was that this go around Naraku had refrained from the one thing he'd always held over her after all. She had free will. She had her heart beating steadily in her chest. Maybe he knew it didn't matter one way or another or maybe it was because he clearly believed he was invincible with or without the jewel. There was no motive to keep her on a leash either because this go around she hadn't so much as thought of something truly treacherous. No insurrection was being plotted. Kagura fully intended to remain by Naraku's side. At least for now.

There was no other way to protect the man she'd wished for. It wasn't like he'd given her an opportunity to warn him. Maybe if he did, he could talk that little brat and flee before it was too late. This could all be a trap. Maybe it was Naraku she'd been speaking to and she just believed like the desperate idiot she was that her wish would be granted.

Maybe it hadn't been granted at all and this was just everyone's personal hell.

As they resumed walking through the dark cavernous tunnels towards where their master lurked, Kanna spoke to Kagura's silent ravings - making the wind sorceress jump.

"Your wish was granted Kagura."

"How would you know what I wished for and what I didn't?" Kagura snapped angrily before setting her jaw and gesturing towards the darkness ahead of them, "Say it was granted. What's the point if he remembers everything?"

"We are him and he is us," Kanna replied stoically - moving past her big sister and carrying on through the twists and turns of the mountain, "There cannot be one without the other."

"What does that even mean?" Kagura groaned in frustration at the random response - her hand clenching her fan so tightly her knuckles turned white, "I wished for him to get that stupid child back. That's all I..."

"That was not what you wished," Kanna pointed out in her usual tone and demeanor - her small feet continuing to move mindlessly forward - and Kagura bit her lip to keep from screaming.

"This one is yours," Inuyasha snickered as he thwacked Kagome upside the head with the pillow that smelled like decade old mold, "Deal with it."

"There's nothing wrong with this pillow," the miko giggled softly as she fluffed it and placed it under her head, "Its nice and soft and I'm happy to accept it."

"Good because you're gunna," Inuyasha snickered happily as he draped his arm around her waist and rolled his eyes, "I don't know why you thought touching a tree would do anything. Sometimes I wonder if you're just insane."

"Well, it has to have some type of power right?" Kagome replied with a bemused hum as she snuggled closer, "Why else would it be called a tree of ages?"

"Don't know. Don't care," Inuyasha teased as he scooted closer until their foreheads touched, "All I care about right now is that I get the good pillow."

"They're the same pillow," the miko argued with a happy hum and Inuyasha made a show of snuggling his head into his pillow before nudging her to signal she should roll over. And so she did and soon found herself in a loose spoon.

"Shows what you know."

It had been a good idea to distract him with something so stupid he wouldn't be able to resist finding humor in it, Kagome decided as Inuyasha snuggled a little closer on the too small for two pillow with their own pillow twin bed. His anxiety really was getting out of hand – not that he necessarily had control over it but at the same time, he had been letting it control his life for too long. Maybe while she was here she'd try talking to someone who would know what to do and do a little research at the library. Both things were probably long overdue anyway. While she'd gotten pretty good at snapping him out of his funks, it wasn't really helping him.

Maybe Mama would know something. Or Gramps. Gramps actually seemed the more likely candidate for helpful advice regarding trauma being a war vet and all but also seemed like someone who wouldn't handle the situation well. Probably would stage some type of intervention or try to force Inuyasha to talk to him or…

Regardless, even if Inuyasha did remain an anxiety ridden hot mess his whole life and nothing really made him better, one thing was certain. She loved him. More than anything. And she'd spend every minute of every day for the rest of her life trying to get him to smile and forget the bad things even if just for a moment…

Speaking of which…

"I love you," Kagome hummed happily as she lifted his hand and placed a kiss on it, "So, so much."

"You're only saying that because you want the good pillow," Inuyasha teased with a gentle kiss to the neck, "But no amount of I loves you will get it back."

"Again, they're the same pillow," the miko teased softly – her hand reached up to scratch the base of his ear making his eyes flutter closed. Toes curling, Inuyasha tried to keep his wits about him as his hand flexed around the edge of his fluffy prize in the likely event Kagome grabbed it out from under him.

"Don't you even think about it."

"About what?" the miko snickered. Opening his mouth with the intent of detailing how the shitty pillow smelled like ass, the words were plucked from his throat before they could escape. Inuyasha's breathing hitched slightly as her talented fingers hit the sweet spot at the base of his ear and a muffled moan soon followed.

And then he was lost when she dipped down and began placing linger kisses against his throat.

"You just..." he tried distractedly as his toes curled, "Smells like.."

"Same pillow. Just admit it," Kagome breathed against his skin earning a needy whimper and a not-so-subtly baring of his throat in a clear plea for her to continue.

"Kagome."

The miko giggled softly at how desperate that sounded and with a truly wicked smile leaned back to sit on her ankles.

"Inuyasha…"

With a groan of frustration, the half-demon reached back, gripped the 'shitty' pillow and chucked it as hard as he could across the room.

"There. Now you have no pillow," he hmphed indignantly as he settled angrily and glared over his shoulder, "Serves you right."

"Jokes on you," Kagome teased before laying down as close as humanly possible to his backside – her arm wrapping around his stomach, "Now we're have to share the 'good' pillow."

Sighing heavily, Inuyasha knew when he'd been beaten. There was no way he was going to give up this position just to prove a point and she knew it too. It didn't help his cause when her fingertips wormed onto the bare skin of his chest either – tracing his collarbone with the lightest of pressure while her lips began teasing his shoulder. If Kagome wasn't so innocent, he would've assumed she was trying to seduce him and he was fairly certain he wouldn't have it in him to say no.

"Stop that," Inuyasha tried to snap as he reached up to grab the offending hand and arched his back away from her, "Its late and you need to sleep."

"But I love you," Kagome giggled as he firmly guided and held her hand against his chest so she couldn't continue.

"If you loved me you'd sleep so you don't get hairbrained ideas like talking trees," the half-demon scoffed as he tried to settle down to sleep himself, "Or stealing my pillow."

"How many times do I have to tell you old man? They're the same pillow," Kagome snickered– her voice muffled from where her face was buried in his back, "I..."

"Oí! I'm not old!" Inuyasha huffed indignantly before his breath caught and his eyes widened in horror, "Wait, you think I'm old?"

"Aren't you a few centuries old?" Kagome laughed tiredly as she nuzzled his spine, "That makes you older than me, doesn't it?"

"I mean...I mean really I'm your age just in...in half-demon years," Inuyasha argued weakly before sighing and trying to push his fears that this would be the thing that convinced her to leave to the farthest darkest corner of his mind. She wouldn't leave him over something that stupid especially given that she was the one who brought it up. Kagom didn't care about that so getting worked up over it was stupid. That knowledge didn't do a thing to stop his heart from racing though.

"Worst case, I'm like... twenty in human years."

"Well if you are twenty that still makes you older than me," Kagome pointed out as she began her routine and pressed her back into his chest, "Good news is I always had a thing for older guys."

"You've been with other guys?" Inuyasha breathed while the thought of Kagome being with literally anyone else sent his heart plummeting. Which seemed pretty hypocritical given the whole Kikyo situation but that didn't change how he felt about it.

"Oh yeah totally what I meant," the miko snickered sarcastically before a particularly drawn out yawn escaped her, "But no, I...I never even went on a date before you."

Inuyasha scowled at her teasing and also at the fact she was so damn tired yet refusing to sleep. Watch her dumb ass get sick all over again because she would.

With that in mind, he rolled away and maneuvered her so he was the one doing the spooning.

"It was a fair question. Now sleep" Inuyasha sighed heavily as she leaned back into him. There were many things he'd come to expect from sleeping next to Kagome every night. The manner in which the miko cuddled was like clockwork. She'd coo happily when his knees cradled hers and flex her legs to move them where she wanted. The fingers of their free hands would intertwine and she'd hold them against her chest. There would be a few leans into him while she got settled and after the third or fourth time, she'd be out like a light. Without fail Inuyasha had found if he matched her breathing and focused on her steady heartbeat, he'd drift off shortly thereafter. The only downside was he'd gone from an extremely light sleeper who startled if an owl so much as hooted to one who wouldn't notice if a bomb went off in the distance. Bigger things, like demons or approaching footsteps, still woke him up but instead of being instantly alert, he'd wake up groggy. Normally, he'd be concerned about this new state of being but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Every moment he got with her was a gift and he wasn't going to let a few quirks get in the way of the privilege of holding her as she slept. Especially here in her time where no one was waiting in the shadows to kill them.

"Can I ask you something?" Kagome asked suddenly and Inuyasha let out an exasperated sounding sigh. What was with her tonight?

"You need to sleep. It can wait," Inuyasha chided - his arm gently trying to force her to snuggle further into him only to freeze when fear crept into her scent. Not just any fear either. He'd only gotten a whiff of it once and that's been more than enough. Right when they first met and she was running for her life with the jewel. When she thought he was going to kill her.

"But I...oh never mind," she mumbled tiredly as her fingers intertwined with his and she began her final lean, "Was a stupid thought anyway."

When Kagome's heart beat slowed and her breathing evened out, Inuyasha smiled softly and nuzzled the side of her neck with the lightest of pressure.

"You're such an idiot," Inuyasha laughed tiredly as he began to drift off himself, "Thinkin' your thoughts are stupid..."