"What Could Be"

An Inu Yasha Fanfic by Nozomi

[A/N: It's my first chappie and 2 reviews already!  ^_^  Thanks to IsleofSolitude and KellyChan for their encouraging reviews.  I actually didn't have Chapter 2 ready today when I logged into FF.NET (writer's block, go figure) but the reviews helped me put my thoughts together.  So again, a BIG THANKS to you both!  ^_^  By the way, I had to up the rating to PG-13 due to the language used in this Chapter.

KellyChan: I actually just had an idea in mind when I wrote this, but currently, I'm at a loss where to take it.  I'm playing with 5 different scenarios (how the heck will I decide?), and putting in ideas as they come along, so let's just wait and see.  *grin* ]

Disclaimer: Inu Yasha and company belong to Rumiko Takahashi.  But *I* own this fanfic, muahahahahah *megalomaniac laughter*!  So there!  *Whacks lawyers on the head with Akane Tendo's mallet*

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Chapter 2: Wounds Take Time to Heal

The battle had been an ordeal for all of them.  Sango tested the strength in her legs as she walked gingerly around the clearing.  It was not an easy task, considering that the ground was littered with mutilated demon entrails and parts.  Miroku had earlier tended to her leg injury, and was now tending to Shippou's wounds.

She felt herself blush, remembering how Miroku had treated her.  He had fussed about infection, scars, and other nonsense as he carefully cleaned the long gash in her leg, which he declared would probably leave a scar running down from her mid-thigh to her ankle [A/N: what the heck do you call the section behind the shins?]  He had a reddish tinge across his cheeks the whole time he worked on her, and to her pleasant surprise, he had not attempted to grope her at all.

Kagome had actually already begun to treat Sango's wounds when Miroku suggested that she take care of Inu Yasha instead and leave Sango to him.  Sango had been apprehensive at first, fearing that the lecherous monk would try something, but when she saw how Kagome gazed longingly at dog demon's limp body, she told her friend that she would be alright.  And Kagome had given her a thankful glance before going over to Inu Yasha.

"Does it hurt much?" Miroku had asked her as he disinfected her leg.

And she had winced as he applied the liquid Kagome called "alcohol" before telling him it didn't.  She voice broke on those words though, and Miroku had looked up to find her biting her lip.  He smiled gently and bent his head down again, examining the wound.  Then, as if he had meant to do it all along, he blew onto it.

The rush of air on the cooling alcohol made the burning sensation bearable.

"Does that help?"

She had nodded at him, and let him continue his ministrations.  She would have to remember to ask him about it later on.

Sango sighed, the blush never leaving her cheeks, and stopped walking.  Looking up towards the sun that was beginning to rise over the mountains, she wondered how she would have the heart to leave him when they finally parted ways.

On the other side of the clearing, Miroku sneezed.  Shippou had regained consciousness the moment the alcohol touched his skin, but once he regained his wits, the little fox had kept the pain in check and had bravely resorted to small whimpers (as opposed to screaming as children would) and allowed Miroku to tend to him.  His cooperation had made Miroku's task easier, and they were soon finished.  It was thankful that Shippou had minor injuries, and his demon blood was helping him heal faster.  It only took Miroku a few minutes to clean and apply bandages on Shippou before he was satisfied.

He now sat on a rock, also facing the sunrise, the cloth which sealed his cursed hand lying unraveled in his lap.  He examined his right palm, which no longer had the air void.  In the spot where the black hole had been, was a circular wound, which was lightly bleeding.  He lightly ran his left index finger over it, unbelieving that the void was finally gone.  When finger touched palm, his right hand felt like a hundred needles were pricking him.  He winced.  The air void in his right hand had been ripped many times, due to demon insects and his using it when he shouldn't have.  The circular wound was probably a result of those times his air void had been ripped, and from the looks of it, it would take some time before he would be able to regain full use of his palm again.  He would have to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on his palm till it healed completely.  However, he was grateful that the curse of the air void was lifted the moment Naraku's jaki disappeared from the face of this earth, and he would no longer have to worry about being swallowed up.

He wrapped the sealing cloth again on his right palm and mused about how he would have to stop this habit, then stood up and gave a silent prayer for his late father and grandfather.

"Father, Grandfather…you have been avenged.  May your souls rest in peace."

He continued to offer some more prayers for his predecessors, when he felt Sango's presence behind him.

"Would you please offer one for Kohaku as well?"

Miroku was still for a moment, remembering how they had found Kohaku.  Rather, Kohaku had found them.  He had been trying to stop them from approaching Naraku's castle in the mountains.  The forest had been very dense, and Kohaku was blocking their only path onwards.  One of Naraku's puppets had been standing behind the boy.

~~~ Flashback ~~~

"Kohaku!!" Sango exclaimed as their party tore across the path that would lead them to Naraku's castle.

His eyes had been glassy and empty when he looked up to her.  By now, Sango had understood that the real Kohaku was still somewhere inside this zombie, but the boy she now faced was not her brother.  She wanted to keep still and silent, to watch how Naraku would use Kohaku so that she would have another reason to kill the evil bastard, but the sister in her made her speak.

"Kohaku, snap out of it!"

"Go."

The puppet commanded Kohaku, and he ran with lightning speed towards Sango, his weapon raised in front of him as he moved in to attack.

"You bastard, you're still using Kohaku as a shield," Inu Yasha growled, his hand moving to Tessaiga.  Sango's hand stopped him.

"This is my battle with Naraku, Inu Yasha."

They let Sango take the front of their party, and she stood waiting for Kohaku with her hand ready at the Hiraikotsu.

She whipped the Hiraikotsu in front of her as a shield and it caught Kohaku's weapon as it came down to slice her.  Before Kohaku could drop to the ground, she pushed against the boomerang and jumped, causing Kohaku and the weapon to go back flying into the air.  She went after him, dodging the attacks that furiously came at her.  Kohaku's weapon was very sharp, and if she lost even the slightest bit of concentration, she would get hurt.  She had to get rid of it to accomplish what she needed to do!

But a person controlled by unknown forces could do more than an emotionally trapped sister, and Kohaku had this edge over her.  In Kohaku's mind, he knew his master would be pleased to be rid of this annoyance for good, so he didn't give her a chance to pause.

"Get rid of her," his master's voice resounded in his head over and over.  "Kill her."  It repeated over and over until the voice that commanded him multiplied in number.  "Destroy her!" they urged.

"Kohaku, please," Sango's pleading voice tore through the hazy echoes.  He put his left leg forward and swiped at her.  Right foot forward and jab.  Left food forward and strike.  And all she did was dodge or block his attacks.

"Why isn't she attacking you?" a small voice suddenly made itself known inside his head.  He kept advancing on the woman who kept calling him Kohaku like she knew him.  The voice had distracted him, however, and he hesitated.

Sango took the chance to try again.  "I don't want to see you get hurt!"

"Why not?" the small voice inside his head asked him.  "Why does she care?" it added, and this question overpowered the murderous voices inside his head.  It made him stumble backwards and stop.

The woman who kept calling him Kohaku quickly used the boomerang against him, it's rounded edge nicking his fingers.  It caused him to drop his own weapon.  There was a pregnant pause as they looked at each other for a moment, then Kohaku spun around to run.  He immediately fell to the ground as the woman threw herself at him, her arms going around his waist in a tackle to keep him from running.

"Get up!  Finish her!" the voices screamed at him.  He struggled to get up from the ground, shoving his body left and right to shake the woman off him.  Finally, she rolled him over to look at her, his wrists trapped in her hands.  He looked up at his captor and found tears brimming in her eyes.

"Kohaku!  You didn't kill Otousan or our comrades!  Do you hear me?  YOU didn't kill them!"

And then the woman released his hands and embraced him, holding him tightly to her.  Kohaku went very still when she embraced him, and he deftly stole the knife she had tucked into the sash at her waist.  His hand was raised, ready to stab the woman with her own knife when she spoke again.

"You didn't kill them."

It may have been her words, or the tone of her voice, but something went off in his head, silencing the murderous voices, replacing them with the visions he had been trying to run away from.

As he ran to help his comrades, he felt something prick his neck, which made him stop in his tracks.  His mind went blank, and he felt himself raise his weapon and attack the Taijiya.  One by one, he used his weapon to strike fatal blows on all of them, including his father.  And then he had tried to kill his sister…

His sister.

Kohaku's eyes widened.  The glassy look disappeared and he felt his eyes burn.  His body started to shiver.

"Kohaku?" the woman holding him had pushed him away from her so she could look into his eyes.  Behind her, Kohaku's grip on the knife loosened, and the blade fell harmlessly to the grass behind her.  He looked into the woman's eyes and realized why she always haunted his thoughts.

"Anee-ue," he whispered.  He saw Sango's eyes widen in surprise and watched as confusion then joy played across her face.  The memories came flooding back to him, threatening to destroy whatever ounce of sanity he had left as waves of anguish racked throughout his body.  He wanted to block them out, didn't want to see them at all.

The voices saw their chance of recapturing Kohaku into their darkness.  Yessss… they hissed at him.  Forgettt… you don't need to remember all thattt… we'll help keep you safeee… forgettt…

But the small voice decided to speak out, and five simple words permeated the blackness in his mind.

"You did not kill them."

"Anee-ue, I'm sorry!"

It killed the voices.  The emptiness inside of him, the nothingness… they were all replaced by a tugging at his heart which he had not felt before.  He had never been able to feel anything before.  And then he was crying.  The pain he had wanted to remove from his being washed over him, and he cried harder.  He cried like his heart would stop at any moment.

Then Sango took him into her arms again.

"Kohaku, it's alright."

The warmth of her words and her embrace humbled him, and he turned to the comfort that his sister offered.

"How touching."

The taunting voice was back.  They had forgotten the kugutsu.

"I've had about enough of you," Kagome bit out.  She stepped forward and pulled out one of her arrows.

The puppet laughed.  "I have no reason to dally here.  I will take what is mine, and await you at the castle, should you somehow manage to stay alive long enough to face me."  Tentacles suddenly sprang from the kugutsu's body, and rushed towards them at blinding speed.

"Sankontetsou!!!"

But while Inu Yasha's attack had severed many tentacles, more sprang forth from the puppet, and the ones Inu Yasha weren't able to destroy made their way to their target.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Kohaku's body was ripped from Sango's embrace, and she was too stunned to do nothing more than watch as his body was flung fifty feet into the air.  The tentacle that had attacked Kohaku slithered back to the puppet's body.  She and the others stared in horror as blood spurted out from the gaping wound in Kohaku's back, where the Shikon shard had been.

"You BASTARD!" Sango screamed.  Within seconds, the hiraikotsu flew across the path towards Naraku's puppet.

Sango's mark was true, but Naraku had not finished playing with them yet.  His poisonous bees burst forth from the kugutsu, taking the Shikon shard along with them.

Ironically, Inu Yasha had jumped up to catch Kohaku's body when the bees flew past him, and with the boy in his arms, he could not launch an attack to stop the bees.  They all watched helplessly as the Shikon shard and its carriers disappeared into the mountains above them.

"Anee-ue," Kohaku breathed out as Inu Yasha laid him gently on the ground in front of Sango.  "I- I'm scared.  I- feel- s-so slee- epyy."

"I'm here, Kohaku.  Go to sleep.  Get some rest.  We won't leave you."

Her words seemed to have calmed him, because Kohaku gave a weak smile and closed his eyes slowly.

Sango felt her body convulse with shivers.  She was glad Kohaku had closed his eyes and could not see her in this state.  She had known for a long time that he would not survive without the Shikon shard, known that she would have to remove it from his body after she made him understand that the deaths of the Taijiya was not his fault, but she had not been prepared for the emotional reunion she was able to have with him before he died a second time.  Her body began to tremble due to both happiness and despair, though the former weighed more.  She was glad Kohaku could finally rest in peace.

Kohaku never got to hear her shout his name.

~~~ End Flashback ~~~

Miroku bowed his head at the memories, and looked over his shoulder to find Sango smiling sadly at him.  He extended his hand out to her.

She accepted his hand, and felt his other arm go around her as she took a few steps towards him.

"Yes, I already have.  Soothe your heart, Sango.  He is in a better place," he whispered to her.

Sango's arms hesitantly wrapped around the monk's waist as she accepted his solace, and she buried her head in the crook of his neck when their bodies touched.  They both knew it would be a long time before the pain would go away, but for now, everything was better.

Kagome looked over to the embracing couple silhouetted by the sunrise, then turned her head away, her attention once again on the dog demon who was resting beside her.  She had a silly grin on her face as she brushed some strands of silver hair from Inu Yasha's forehead.

Some wounds were already starting to heal.

[A/N: *phew*  ^_^  Hope you liked it!  Some vocabulary:

kugutsu = puppet

Anee-ue = another term for older sister ]