Disclaimer: Sigh. Inuyasha and co. don't belong to me. ^_^. I'm only writing about them 'cause I'm having so much fun.
A Lady Knight's Tale
Sango woke up the next day to the sun streaming through her open window feeling particularly good. She was having such a good dream about...Miroku. Oh just a few more minutes, she thought and pulled her blanket over her head as she smiled.
Then she heard a loud "thud!". Scrambling through the thick beddings and nearly tripping over pillows she made it to her sword which stood in a corner. She unsheathed quickly, thinking there was an intruder. Instead, there in front of her window was a small chest with intricate carvings, an "intruder" apparently threw it in.
"What the-?" Sango thought, was this still part of the dream?
"Ohayo Sango-chan!" Kagome's head popped out from over the top of the window, upside down.
"Ack! Kagome! What the heck are you doing?! You almost gave me a heart attack! Sango gasped, leaving out Kagome's title from her name and still unwilling to believe that this was not part of a dream.
Kagome grinned "Ei, keep your voice down, someone might hear." She said as flipped inside the room, landing perfectly.
"Where'd you learn that?" Sango said, now even more shocked than ever. It was not uncommon among the warriors, but from a noble like Kagome-- it was downright unlikely. Sango ran to the window and looked down. Her room was on the eighth tier for crying out loud!
"Lady Kagome, you could've fallen down! Sango chastised, what a way to start the morning, she thought.
"It's quite ok. Inuyasha taught me that." Kagome finished proudly. Sango just stared at her in surprise. It was rather daring.
"Not unlike what you're doing now." Kagome said, reading her thoughts. "In a way you are quite lucky, Sango-chan."
"Ok. let's get down to business!" Kagome chirped happily as she opened the chest she'd brought along with her.
"Do you like it?" Kagome looked over Sango's shoulder gleefully.
Sango smoothed the fabric of the ball gown thoughtfully. It was pure silk, a glimmering rose-tinted color. Ruffles everywhere but not too overdone, the bodice was very low and exposed the shoulders. It looked like something a real princess would wear, absolutely perfect.
"Well?" Kagome asked, worried that Sango didn't like the gown.
"It's really beautiful, Kagome-chan." Sango said at last.
"So you'll come to my party tonight and wear it?" Kagome said hopefully, noting the anxious expression Sango wore. It was Kagome's seventeenth birthday, although she wasn't in her own kingdom, the king had decided to throw a ball in her honor and also to celebrate the upcoming peace threaty with Naraku. She was, after all, his future daughter-in-law, and he was rather fond of her.
"I don't think I can, Kagome-- ". Sango began.
Kagome cut her off, "But don't you want to sweep Miroku off his feet?" Sango cringed, swept off indeed!
"It's a masked ball! He won't even see your face! C'mon Sango. For all your fighting, you seem to be awfully shy!" Kagome protested as she put her hands on her waist.
Sango frowned, thinking her options over. She didn't have anything to lose, right? "Ok." she said.
"I knew you'd agree! You'd be so pretty! Leave everything to me." Kagome stepped up the windowsill again. "I'll help you dress later, ok?" she said as she scaled the wall. Sango sighed and banged her head on a bedpost, why the heck did she ever agree to such nonsense all the time?
At the grounds later that morning, Miroku, Sango and the others were practicing. Just because the threat of war had abated didn't mean that they stopped and relaxed. On the contrary, they trained even harder. It was Miroku's idea that Naraku hadn't given up yet and was planning something.
"Hey Sango!" Miroku said "You're up early."
"Yeah well...whatever." Sango said as she threw her hiraikotsu and caught it again, all but obliterating a training dummy over a hundred yards away.
Miroku said nothing as he watched her catch her weapon easily. "How could I ever..?" he muttered as he continued stabbing at yet another training dummy, lost in his thoughts.
Sango rubbed her arm. They'd been training for more than four hours. "I'm going to take a break." she said as she started walking away.
Miroku stared out after her. "Sango." he said, " Are you coming to the ball tonight?" he asked suddenly, giving her a start.
"Eh? I...guess not. I have some work to do." she replied.
"Oh." was all he said as she turned to leave.
"Wow! You look lovely, Sango! I daresay you're wasting your time under all that armor." Kagome shook her head but smiled. "Just kidding!" she added.
The two of them spent nearly the whole afternoon just fixing up, Kagome had dismissed all her ladies-in-waiting, insisting that she'd fix herself up tonight. A box with two masks lay on the dressing room table beside them. Both were made of mother-of-pearl and had a few gems attached to the sides, Kagome's had sapphires while Sango's were rubies. The masks covered up the upper half of the face.
It was a nice change from all the routine things she did, Sango thought as she smoothed her hair. "Oh but Lady Kagome!" Sango said teasingly "You look much pretttier, Prince Inuyasha'd be so speechless!"
Kagome blushed at this. "As if he'd care...!" But Sango had caught her and they both fell into fits of giggles.
Suddenly at knock at the door surprised them both.
"Oh! Hide, hide!" Kagome whispered in panic as the knocks became more urgent.
"Where?!" Sango said looking around her in search of a place to hide.
"In a moment!" Kagome called out to whoever was knocking. "I'm still dressing!"
"Here!" Kagome half-pushed Sango into a large chest that stood in a corner.
"Oooomph!" Sango fell among a great deal of clothes.
Kagome finally made it to the door, opened it, and tried to look as normal as possible. It was a kitsune-page named Shippo whom Kagome was very fond of.
"Why Shippo-chan, it's you." Kagome smiled. "What brings you here?"
"You look so pretty Lady Kagome." Shippo said cutely. "Prince Inuyasha sent me to bring you this." he handed her a bouquet of long-stemmed white roses. Kagome gasped as she took them, they were her favorite.
"Tell him I liked it very much." she said.
Shippo looked past her into the room. "Are legs sticking out of that chest or am I imagining it?" the kitsune boy rubbed his eyes.
"Wha--!?" Kagome nearly fainted. "That's just ...er...a doll...oh yeah..you know..."she stammered, very much aware of the fact that she wasn't making any sense.
"Come" she said as she dragged him into the corridor. "Do go tell Inuyasha my message, will you?" Kagome smiled sweetly. She sure was acting strange, Shippo thought as he made his way.
"Sango-chan!" Kagome said as she helped her up from the chest. "I'm so sorry I had to push you in like that." she apologized.
"Don't mind it, Lady Kagome." Sango said as she tried to fix the clothes she had crushed when she fell in.
"I'll see you at the ball then?" Kagome said as she handed Sango her mask and put on her own. Sango looked at it for a moment and took it. "Yes, thank Lady Kagome. I'll see you there." she said as the two of them went in opposite directions.
The palace had transformed itself, Sango looked admiringly at the roses strewn on the chandeliers and the blazing lights around the palace. The servants had worked for nearly a week to achieve the desired effect. The ball had not officially started but the visitors had already coming in.
Sango sat down, observing Kagome and most of the royal house welcome the guests. She looked on with amusement as Naraku's entourage arrived. Naraku himself did not come but he sent representatives instead, namely Kouga and Kagura, with them was a pale looking little girl who seemed to look so empty. It seemed that Inuyasha had engaged in a snarling match of sorts with Kouga. Sango could not suppress a giggle as Kagome surreptitiously kicked Inuyasha in the shin in an attempt to make him behave.
"Might I know what a girl as lovely as you would find so funny?"
Sango froze as she heard the voice. It was...him.
Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews! This is just my first fic and I really wasn't expecting so much! Waii! Hope you all liked this chapter. ^_^ Ja ne!