Authors Note: Before we start this chapter let me just say, forget everything you thought you knew about this fic. ^_^ Now enjoy… (If you want to know what the title means just ask!)

Chapter Five

A Glimpse

To say Miroku was confused would be a sever understatement… the last thing he could remember was the pain of his Kazzana ripping him apart… and now… That crater should be his grave, but… Sango was there… had she done something to bring him back? What could she have done? None of this made any sense.. He was just so glad to be back… He moved around the crater to get closer to her, maybe even, in the heat of the moment, to hug her, but something stopped him… She was… moving away from him… and that look she was giving him…he never seen that look upon her face before.

"So it has happened last." said a voice just beyond the bushes.

Both Miroku and Sango turned to see where and who the voice came from.

"Yume?!" Sango shouted in surprise. "You know what's going on?"

"Who the hell is Yume?!"

"Yes she does know something and it's about damn time she finally spoke up!"

"Kento… we've been through this before…"

"Hold it! Hold it! HOLD IT!"

Everyone stopped in the middle of their arguing and stared at Sango in bewilderment. Her warrior aura was raging and she was very close to hurting all of them… "Will someone please tell me exactly what the hell is going on?!"

Yume was the first to regain her composure and speak. "Oh Course Sango…" she said quietly with a small apologetic bow… "Please, I suggest we all make our way back to the Dojo… I fear this will take a very long time…"

~~~

Some time later… after much persuasion and confusion the group managed to make their way back to Yume's Dojo and sit down for, what promised to be, an enlightening dinner.

"This is a very god meal you've cooked us Yume…" Miroku said in his usual tone of voice. He seemed relatively calm for someone who had been dead for five years… His mind was a wash of questions. He had died, he was sure of that. But… why was he back…? How long had he been gone…? What had changed…? Had everyone left him behind…? Perhaps it was simply shock… Whatever it was… behind everyone's cool mask… there was a thick tension.

"Arigato, Miroku…" Yume trailed off, trying to pick her words carefully…"I suppose I should explain myself now…" There was a not so subtle cough from one corner of the table. "Kento… don't start.." Yume warned before continuing. "First, I think it would be best to explain to Miroku exactly where he is…"

"No need Miss Yume, I know this area well. It holds many people of my class. It did not take me long to figure out this was a temple," he paused to look around the room for a moment, "And a very well funded one might I add."

"My parents were very well born as some would see it…, but that is not the point. Yes, Miroku, this is a temple, but to you it is a very special one…"

"How so…?" Miroku asked, half expecting to get hit by Sango for his constant interruption… but none came… She'd been avoiding his eyes since the first moment he saw her… Somehow… she looked different… could ti be possible that… he'd been gone a long time… That she'd moved on from the time of her life that included him… Was he better off as a memory…"

As though she could read his mind, and maybe she could. Yume spoke up again. "Yes Miroku, you have been gone a very long time… You see, exactly five years ago today was the morning you left Sango, knowing your imminent death and wanting to spare her life if you could. You were ripped up into your Kazzana and your physical body died… Because of earthly obligations and spiritually unfinished business, however, you spirit hung around in a void between the worlds. Many would call this limbo. You were to strongly attached to the life you had left behind to be reincarnated… you could do nothing but wait… wait to come back…"

There were undoubtedly more questions than had been answered pushing themselves upon the minds, but shock alone held them all noiseless. "You see," Yume continued, "That one night when Sango reached out to help you.. And you ended up…" Yume was becoming a little flustered, obviously uncomfortable and unsure of exactly how to phrase her next words… "Sleeping together… Well, when a person is about to die, their spirit comes close to the surface, ready to depart for the next world… and that's why so many people pay priests and priestesses so well to protect dieing relatives… because … under rare circumstances.. A soul can leave a piece of itself behind… in a desperate attempt to stay… An incomplete soul can't be reincarnated however… most of them just float… in limbo forever… Miroku had such a strong bond to his comrades that some of his spirit was drawn to the surface, manifesting itself in his rosary… The hand you had wrapped around Sango."

Yume pause just long enough to catch her breath, but not long enough to be interrupted, "When you died, and left the rosary behind, Sango picked up, and has carried it with her all these years. Unconsciously protecting it from unfriendly energies. She spent one night here after your death, traveled with your companions for three more years, until Naraku was defeated. Then she came here. She's been here for the last two years… coming to peace with your memory… Today however, she was the very reason you came back… You see, she never abandoned your Rosary… and tonight is the new year…. As autumn approaches the veil between worlds grows thin for the dark half of the year. When Sango went to your grave, with the rosary, and began thinking about you, she unknowingly called your energies to her… Every alignment was perfect for the energy shift… and your soul became whole again… You see, I have very strong physic roots in these hills and know most of what goes on without ever having to leave this temple. I foresaw you death Miroku, and decided to bring Sango here right afterwards… to forge some small bond that would bring her back here… all in the hopes that this would occur… But even with this … miracle Miroku could still die when spring comes…"

"NANI?!" came Kento's shout from the other side of the table.

Yume winced, anticipating she'd spend more of the night arguing than sleeping… "Miroku was destined to die then… and changing destiny doesn't come easy… There might be things that could occur to make the change permanent… but mortals, even priestesses, were never meant to know them… so that is where any help I could offer falls away… and the rest is left to you…"

The room fell silent then… like a vacuum had pulled away all their breath and will to speak. All were deep in there own thoughts. It was like that for times longest seconds until Sango got the nerve to break it. "W-Well… That is quite… an enlightening speech… I think I'll go to bed early tonight… we obviously have… a lot to decide tomorrow… excuse me…" With a slight bow Sango walked quietly from the room, though it was no secret she wanted to tear herself from it as fast as she could…

Miroku looked after her for a second with a very pained expression… It was about thirty seconds later when he nodded his goodbyes to his… odd hosts... and ran after her.

"Sango!" he cried, nearly swinging into the railing of the hallway as he jumped from the room. She heard him but she kept on walking… she just… couldn't look at him right then. "Sango!" He cried again, only louder. When she still didn't respond he ran up in front of her, blocking her way. "Sango!…. Please… talk to me…" Sango's gaze fell to the floor… and stayed there… "You have barely looked at me once since I came back… won't you even tell me why?"

"Just… Just go to bed Houshi-sama! We'll… We'll deal with you in the morning!" she yelled at him with an unreadable took in her eyes. Reaching under her shirt, she ripped the beads from her neck, sending lose ones in every direction as the remains splayed themselves at Miroku's feet. She didn't even stop to see the look on his face, she just turned and ran…

"Sango…" Miroku whispered… sinking to his knees in the darkness… he was just better off as a memory… if she didn't want him alive… what was the point…?

~~~

A porcelain tea cup careened passed Yume at unheard of speed, just barely missing her. Meanwhile, she sat serenely sipping her own tea. "I've done something to upset you Kento?" She asked calmly.

"Why the hell did you even do all this if there was such a big chance it wouldn't work?!" The words were whispered but they lost non of the effect of shouting. "You're… You're insane, you know that?! You must like seeing people in pain! How could I have worked for such a monster all these years?!" As his overwhelming hatred and rage consumed him, he drew his sword and lowered it to Yume's neck. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you for bringing them all this pain!" he hissed, and his words struck her like acid…

Yume, who had lowered her head, shielding her eyes from his view, brought it upwards again. Small shimmering crystals rested heavily on her eyelids, and she didn't move a single finger to defend herself… Struck by the sight before him, for Yume had always been hot tempered when it came to defending an action she felt to be right,… Kento, very slowly, lowered his sword. "How could I not have done it Kento? If I hadn't, Sango may never have come here… and she would never have this chance… this one glimpse of happiness." She paused to stand before continuing. "How could I deny her this one last chance to live with or say goodbye to the only person she's ever loved… You may not know the fear of living everyday and not knowing whether the one person you cared about most would ever know of or return your feelings… but I do…" Without another word, without even turning around, Yume backed out of the room, and slid the door closed behind her. Kento just collapsed in a heap on the pillows surrounding the table. This was a perfect mess they'd gotten themselves into now… what would become of them all?

Authors Note: And thus ends Chapter Five. Anything coming into focus yet?