Chapter 5

I managed to uncover Sango's body during the night, without any interruptions. I'm glad because I can't imagine how that would have gone. Actually, that's a lie. The entire time I was digging I was envisioning different scenarios in which I was caught stealing Sango's body.

They went from 'Who goes there?' 'No one! Just your friendly spirit of death.' To 'What are you doing?' 'Nothing. Just uncovering the body of my dead sweetheart, so that I can make passionate love to her dead body.'. It only got worse from then on. So, I was extremely grateful that no one confronted me while I was making off with Sango's body. I took her body to the first place I could think of—the forest—and sat down next to her body to wait for the witch.

Sango hadn't really begun to decompose much, but she had begun to smell slightly and her neck was covered in dirt and caked blood. There wasn't anything I could do though, so I just held my nose shut and waited. The witch appeared a few minutes later and, upon seeing Sango's body, ordered me to follow her. She lead me to a cave and told me to place Sango's body in the center. I agreed and, to my surprise, the witch began to pile sticks on top of Sango's body.

"What are you doing?" I asked as the witch began to pour a foul smelling liquid over Sango's body and the pile of sticks.

"I can't use flesh in the spell. It only needs ashes. Besides, if I conduct this spell, she will return with an uninjured body."

"Oh."

"We'd best go outside." The witch sighed. "The fire is bound to get out of control and burn the entire cave."

Closing my eyes, I turned my back on Sango and told myself that it was for the best. When we had left the cave, the witch set a rag on fire and tossed it inside the cave. Letting out a sigh, she sat down next to a large area of mud and began to create a life-size doll.

"So, you're in love with the girl, aren't you?" The witch asked, catching me by surprise.

"Yes." I nodded. For some reason it was easier to tell others than it was to tell Sango.

"Did she know?"

"No." I sighed, waving a hand in front of my face to push away the smell of smoke and burning flesh. "I made sure she never suspected."

"I see." The witch nodded. "It's always like this, you know."

"What is?"

"People who want me to resurrect someone. They never come to ask about a friend or family member. It's always a lost love. Sometimes the love knew and sometimes they don't. Strange."

"Is it?" I asked. "Love is a powerful force."

"But it's also the emotion that is most often ignored or denied."

"Perhaps." I agreed and we lapsed into silence. After a minute, the witch threw a bucket of water into the cave and swept up some of the ashes. She placed the ashes into a jar and put the clay Sango into the cave.

"Well. That's finished." The witch smiled, turning to face me. "All I have to do now is say a spell, sprinkle some ashes and she's all yours."

"Really?" I gasped; I almost didn't dare to believe it was true. I felt that any second I would awake, lying on some flimsy mat in a cheap room with an empty bottle of sake lying next to me and Sango would still be dead.

"Of course. Well, after you finish your payment."

"What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"I'm afraid I don't know."

"You're a man. I'm a woman. I'm lonely and my bed is cold." The witch smiled. I could feel the blood drain from my face. She wanted me to sleep with her. I hadn't slept with anyone since I realized my feelings for Sango. Nodding slowly, I watched the witch walk to a small tent near-by and enter it. I looked back at the cave where Sango was being reborn.

"For you, Sango, and only for you." I whispered and followed the witch into the tent. She was sitting on a cot waiting for me. Beckoning to me, she took me in her arms and kissed me on the check.

"Come Houshi." She whispered in my ear. "Fulfill your end of the bargain and I will fulfill mine."

I nodded to show I understood, but I did not speak. Simply touching her made my skin crawl. My mind screamed at me to leave. It told me to run and stay away. It told me this was wrong, so wrong, and I should flee. But I could not. Closing my eyes, I emptied my mind and envisioned that it was Sango holding me in her arms, kissing my face, whispering in my ear.

I held the witch to my chest, but I didn't see her. I only saw Sango.

I kissed the necromancer's lips, but they weren't hers. They were Sango's lips.

The witch pulled at my robes, but the hands weren't hers. They were Sango's hands.

My hands touched the necromancer's waist, but it wasn't hers. It was Sango's.

I lay the witch on the cot but it wasn't her. It was Sango under me.

I moaned a name, but it didn't belong to the necromancer. It was Sango's.

I made love to a woman, but it wasn't the necromancer. It was Sango.

It was Sango I kissed. Sango I hugged. Sango I wanted. Sango I needed. Sango I loved.

I came down from the heaven I had made with Sango, but it wasn't Sango who was with me.

I lay next to a woman, but I knew it wasn't Sango. It was the witch.

I felt arms around my waist, but they didn't belong to Sango. They belonged to the necromancer.

I could feel my stomach rebel and I wanted to cry.

"Why do you cry?" A voice asked. "Do you regret what you did?"

"I regret nothing I do for Sango." I whispered, not looking at the woman.

"Then why do you cry?"

"I cry because I betrayed the woman I love. I cry for her." I whispered and the hands I did not wish to see wrapped me in a hug.

Closing my eyes again, I saw Sango's hands, Sango's arms, Sango's embrace. And I was happy…...... for a little while.