Disclaimer: For the last time, Inuyasha and co. don't belong to this insane fic writer. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi and the companies involved..^_^
A Lady Knight's Tale
After a week or so of journeying, they finally made it to Naraku's castle. It stood near a ravine and its massive stone walls looked indestructible.
"I guess we have to sneak in somehow." Miroku said, surveying the perimeter carefully from their position among the bushes. There were several youkai guards, if those guards were somehow alerted to the presence of intruders, it would not be long before the whole army descended on them.
"But those walls are too high. How do you suppose we'd ever get in?" Kagome said worriedly.
"We could wait until nightfall." Sango suggested "It would be much easier if it's dark."
"No, we can't possibly wait that long...the Shikon..." Kagome said, but her sentence was left unfinished as--
"Intruders! A hanyou and three humans!" a distant voice shouted.
It turned out that they had were too preoccupied with planning of ways to get in that none of them had noticed that two of the patrolling guards had already spotted them.
"Huh?!" Inuyasha drew his sword and was about to go after the guards but they were already too far away. Miroku put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
"It's no use. We just have to get in as quickly as we can now." he said.
"Alright then." Inuyasha frowned. They would get in if he had anything to say about it. "Kaze no kizu!!" His three companions braced themselves as the portion of the wall in front of them crumbled.
"You should have warned us, Inuyasha!" Kagome said as she dusted off her skirt.
"You sure now how to make an entrance." Sango said dryly.
"Let's go!" Inuyasha said as he tugged at Kagome's arm. Kagome was explaining something to Miroku as Sango checked out the area.
"Yes, I understand." Miroku said, "We will try to catch up with you two later."
"Nani?! What do you mean we have ten minutes?" Sango said as she hurled her boomerang at the newly arrived youkai horde for the upteenth time.
"Yes, that is what Lady Kagome said before she left, something about the Shikon Jewel self-destructing. So it is important that we rescue your brother first." Miroku said as he too battled with the monsters of Naraku's army. Inuyasha and Kagome had gone ahead toward Naraku's castle, leaving Miroku and Sango on the grounds.
"We have to hurry! But there are so many of them! Won't this ever end?" Sango said as she rubbed her arm, pausing a bit. Just you wait, Kohaku, I'll save you yet. Sango thought, fighting with renewed strength. Then she felt a particularly strong breeze, looking up, she saw the Wind-User, Kagura.
"I'm coming for you, you bastard!" Inuyasha practically flew up the flight of winding stairs toward the top of the tower with Kagome on his back.
"We have to make this quick, Inuyasha! The Jewel will self-destruct in about ten minutes, I don't exactly know how, but I can feel it." Kagome said from his shoulder. "If we don't kill Naraku before that happens, it will fuse with him, that I am certain of."
They finally reached the top, it was a large expanse of black marble floor and no walls or furniture. The atmosphere was bleak, grey and misty, it was as though there was no sun at all.
"Kukuku...the hanyou Prince from the neighboring kingdom, eh? A figure at the edge of the room stood looking at the battle taking place outside. "With your little friends outside, two of them? Against my whole army?" Naraku mocked. He held up the Jewel that was attached to a necklace with clawed fingers, "Looking for this?"
"Shut up!" Inuyasha charged at him furiously, not giving Naraku time to react.
The Tessaiga sliced though Naraku's thigh, cutting off the entire leg cleanly. Even Inuyasha was surprised, but drew his sword up, refusing to believe that this was the end of it. He was right. Even as he stood there, another leg grew in its place.
"Is that the best you can do?" Naraku stepped forward menacingly, drawing his own sword. Its thin blade darkened malevolently. "I will be rid of you soon, hanyou."
"It's Kagura!" Sango shouted.
"As if we didn't have enough problems already." Miroku said.
Kagura swooped down on them and landed gracefully. "We did not come to fight you." she said "On the contrary...we have come to help you." There was an odd howling sound-- Kouga and his tribe.
"I don't understand. What will you get out of this?" Sango asked.
"Consider it a gift." Kagura said as she went to work on the remaining, but still numerous youkai.
Miroku and Sango left them for the castle, not bothering to pester Kouga or Kagura for their real motives for helping them.
"Maybe they really liked that potion I had you give them." Miroku said mischievously.
"You pervert!" Sango said, but she smiled as she continued running.
Sango's brows furrowed as they reached the castle, it was huge! How would she ever find Kohaku in less than ten minutes?
"Hey, you go on ahead, I'll look for my brother." Sango said, worried about Inuyasha and Kagome. Miroku shook his head. "I'll help you, Sango. They will be just fine without us."
"What are they, on a suicide mission?" Sango said, as she searched the dungeons frantically. "We can't allow that, can we?"
"Let's split up, I'll look over here." Miroku said when he noticed a separate route.
"Kohaku! Kohaku! Please say something if you're there! " Sango shouted into the long corridors that seemed to go nowhere.
"Nee-san!"
Sango tried to look for the direction of the voice among the cells, but there weren't any people inside.
"He's here, Sango!" Miroku walked toward her, holding Kohaku in his arms.
Kagome concentrated, trying to aim for the jewel without hitting Inuyasha or Naraku. Actually, if she hit the latter, it wouldn't matter, but it would blow her chance of destroying the jewel without him noticing, plus it would do no damage at all.
"Steady, steady..." Kagome told herself, setting the arrow in position. It flew toward the jewel but missed by a hair's breadth, turning Naraku's attention toward her.
"Little miko...." Naraku said, rolling his eyes grotesquely as he said the words. "Die!" He said as he threw a dagger, burning with what looked like black flames at her.
Thwap The weapon clattered off harmlessly as Sango used her boomerang as a shield.
"Sango!" Kagome said, very much relieved to see her.
"Stay here, ok?" Miroku put Kohaku down gently then walked over calmly to Naraku.
"What can you puny humans do?" Naraku snickered. "This is just a waste of time." he wasted no time in sending beams of dark energy at the pair.
Without a word between them, Miroku and Sango went straight for Naraku simultaneously. Using the wall as a springboard, their movements, like an elaborate dance, were so in synch that that it was difficult to see either one of them, much less hit them.
"What?" Naraku seemed surprised, "I thought you were dead already...but no matter.."
It was a confusing spinning attack at dizzying speeds that even Inuyasha had not seen before. Two swords flew straight toward Naraku's eyes, blocking his view of them momentarily. "Inuyasha, now!" Miroku shouted, flipping backwards, out of the way.
Inuyasha lifted the Tessaiga and sliced through him, black fluid gushing through the inflicted wounds. "Kagome, your turn!" he shouted.
"I won't die this easily!" Naraku said stubbornly, as the pieces of skin started regenerating again.
"Lady Kagome!" Sango said, "You can hit it!"
Kagome's arrow glowed strangely as she released it. True enough, it hit its mark, shattering the jewel until it was no more than tiny specks of dust that flew upward, filling the room with a faint light. Then castle started crumbling down, the blocks of stone falling everywhere.
"Whew! I thought we'd never get out alive!" Kagome said as they all watched the castle decay into nothingness. It was twilight and the orange sunset was magnificent backdrop.
"I'm glad it's over." Miroku said, still carrying the sleeping Kohaku on his back. Sango thought he looked sweet like that and told him so.
"You think so? Actually, I love children. I want to have lots of them!" he said as he looked at Sango who was blushing and wondering why on earth she brought the topic up.
"Those two are so cute." Kagome said as she fell back in step with Inuyasha who was walking behind them somewhat.
"Uh-oh." Inuyasha said as Miroku's hand crept up to Sango's behind. "That had to hurt." he said as Sango returned her boomerang in place after using it on Miroku.
"Oh my. He has to get rid of that habit though. Come on, Inuyasha!" Kagome said as she ran ahead into the sunset.
One year later....
Sango was sleeping peacefully in her room one night, her peaceful form blissfully unaware of what was going on around her. A shadowy figure crept inside, hovered over her and clamped its hand over her mouth. Sango, instantly awake, resisted the urge to scream her lungs out. Calmly gathering her wits, she opted instead to find out just who this intruder was.
"Sango." a muffled voice said.
"You baka!" Sango said as she pushed him away. It was Miroku.
"Gotcha!" he grinned, then he sat down on the bed beside her.
"What are you doing here at this time of the night!?" she demanded MUST put bars on those windows. Sango noted mentally remembering the time Kagome let herself in too.
Miroku said nothing but scooped her up in his arms and walked out the door into the hallway.
"What are you doing?!" Sango whispered angrily. "Put me down before anyone sees us! And get your hands off my butt now, sukebe!"
"Huh?" Miroku said, trying to look innocent. But he moved his hands to her knees nonetheless.
Miroku did not stop until they reached the castle tower, from there they proceeded to the roof. Sango gasped at the view, she had never been up here. All the stars were out tonight, and Sango could see all across the kingdom.
"Inuyasha told me the view was nice up here." Miroku said, sitting down.
"Oh. You should have told me instead of coming for me like some thief." Sango huffed, taking a place beside him.
"Then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?" he said seriously.
The two of them just sat there, admiring the view. Sango could see the faint lights from the houses, and the moon reflected on the still waters of the castle moat. Later, she felt Miroku's eyes on her, she coughed nervously.
"Ne, Miroku... What are you thinking?" she asked earnestly, avoiding his eyes.
"Stand up, Sango." he said
"Huh? Why?" she asked, puzzled, but she stood up anyway, thinking there was something in the landscape he wanted to point out.
To her shock, Miroku dropped down on one knee in front of her. "Will you marry me, Sango? Be the mother of my children?" he asked, holding up a ring.
"....Miroku...." Sango pulled him up and hugged him, burying her head in his chest as he enfolded her in his arms.
Unbeknownst to the two....
"Aww...Isn't that sweet?" Kagome whispered from her hiding place. Behind her was the entire palace staff, most of the royal knights and ladies. Some of them tittered appreciatively. "Keep it down, people." Kagome shushed them.
"Feh. I don't know why you keep dragging me into this." Inuyasha grumbled beside her. "They seem to do well enough on their own."
"Don't you think it's romantic? I swear, Inuyasha, you don't have a sentimental bone in your body." Kagome pouted.
"Idiots..." Inuyasha said, rolling his eyes.
~The End~
Author's Notes: Cough, cough Eh...sorry about the waff overload. I just couldn't resist. Anyway, it was really fun writing that fic!
I just want to thank: DemonBlade, Kaylana, Nuklear Firefly, Nana, Geldyn Eyes, nymph, Purple Elf, Pen, Miss Maggie, Mystikat, Kittenwithclaws, skypie, Wizardess Gal, Hanamaru, sora, Quacked Jimbob, bLue-gRaffiti, Erisu L., Li Kasumi, Icy Discordia, mama, warriorGL, tsukii-chan, Queen of da Nile, aika-chan, lanlan, ViRgO, AoiHyou, Araki-chan, Crystalina, Friend, UkyoHibiki, Martina, fizzi tyleprin, Silver Dagger, acidic green, Nightswift, DarkflamesSolitude, Sylver Angel, fireblazie, Laurie Hall, Nightswift, coherentidiot, LadyKnight, Jenny, shadow priestess, Rei Spiegel, FranZ, Pi-chan, Mynuet, Fire-Phoenix Archer, eDWaRd, DarkRoseAngelScarlet, liz, Crystalia, evl_kitsune, Kotoko, ezcooler, keika, vivi, Idioticus Retardus the Rappin' Whigga, Miaka, Diana, fangirl (LonelyAngelofSadness), I'm a Retard (not!^_^), Jack, Gannymeed, Insane Kitten, Karisu, evl fizzi, Phoenix-dancer 111, lanlan, Neko Jewel, tsukii-chan, taijyasango for reading my fic and reviewing. Thanks, it really meant a lot to me ^_^
Did I leave anyone out?
Thanks for reviewing! You people really made this frazzled student very happy...
Oh, and to those who noticed the abruptness of it all, I'll have to admit, I originally intended this fic to be a LOT longer, like, say, 20+ chapters, not letting Miroku find out that quickly. But then again, that was too ambitious of me, with schoolwork and all. I had to rush things so I could finish it. My apologies for that.=( I guess I won't be writing another fic until April, maybe. Oh well. It doesn't matter 'cause I really enjoyed writing this, despite it. ^_^ I actually have ideas for a sequel but I have to stop myself and focus on my studies more...even if I love you people. Sigh...pardon me...
Well, to those who asked if I've read "Alanna", I haven't yet, but I might because it does sound interesting. The main inspiration for this fic was actually "Mulan".
Anyway, hoped you liked the whole story. See you soon. Bye! ^_^