Healing of the Heart

By Sango-chan

Chapter 2

Broken Hearts, Broken Souls

Inuyasha walked through the misty forest, as of yet untouched by sunshine. Only the patter of dew from the trees accompanied him as he moved onward. 'Maybe it would be faster if I flew…' he wondered, and then gave a noncommittal shrug. What was the point? He'd still get there eventually, and more than anything he needed to drag this quest along as much as he possibly could. It had a way of…taking his mind off things.

Sshhk.

Most people would ignore the slight, almost inaudible sound, but Inuyasha was far more than 'most people'. Now he strained his ears even more, and he could make out the unmistakable sound of footsteps. This demon, whatever it was, was skilled. But for that one noise he would never have noticed its quiet approach.

Rising and falling, the flow of words was almost indistinguishable. Inuyasha couldn't hear anything, but that voice…it certainly didn't sound like a demon. It held none of the coldness and malice that subtly underlined the voice of a demon, and this one was almost familiar…he'd heard it somewhere. With a sudden jolt he knew it was Sango.

Hiding himself behind trees, Inuyasha silently cursed the demon exterminator for following him. Stupid humans, always so sentimental and stubborn. He now fervently wished that he had left her trapped under that snake demon. He wanted to be alone, not with yet another ridiculous mortal.

Pressing himself against the tree's rough bark, Inuyasha realized just how conspicuous he was with his bright red kimono. 'Baka!' he mentally hissed at himself, 'of course she'll notice!' He was right, for the second Sango came into view she stared right at the spot where Inuyasha stood.

"Don't you get the message?! Leave me alone, Sango!"

Sango took a deep breath and steadied her voice. She wasn't going to turn back now. Forcing herself to remain calm, she spoke quietly. "I came…for answers."

Inuyasha froze. 'Answers? What answers? She's a fool, to bring that up again. No wonder humans are always getting themselves killed, always trying to open up old wounds to find their answers' he thought wildly, his mind racing in all directions even as his feet remained rooted to the ground.

"I'd like to know what happened…on that day," Sango continued, and noted the splatter of a teardrop on the fallen leaves. To her surprise, she found that they were the same ones that ran down her cheeks. Bowing her head and letting her bangs cover her eyes, the demon exterminator hoped Inuyasha wouldn't notice. She needed to remain strong for this, she couldn't cry.

'Kagome used to cry like this…she always cried for me…said she cared for me…but…' Inuyasha remembered suddenly, looking at the tears that he knew the girl in front of him tried to hide, just as he had tried to hide himself. 'Cared for me? What a joke! She betrayed me…and why, then, should I trust her tears? All false illusions…'

"I told you already, leave me alone!" Inuyasha threw back, trying to sound forceful, but even to his ears his statement sounded like the whining cry of a spoiled child.

This time, Sango was ready for the rejection. Looking right into his eyes, she said, "No. I need to know." The determined ring of her words surprised even her.

"Feh." Inuyasha replied with a half-hearted mutter, and turned, ready to leap into the sky. Running forward, Sango grasped the edge of his kimono and repeated, "I need to know!" Not replying, the dog demon shot her a venomous glance and jumped, his speed tearing her fingers away from the cloth. Not bothering to think about it, Sango cried out, "Kirara!" and her loyal cat transformed, shooting under her to take her on her back. Chasing after Inuyasha in the sky, Kirara slowly edged up on him until they were neck to neck. "You…won't…run away…from me!" Sango shot out at him through gritted teeth, the wind whisking her words away the second they left her mouth. Reaching out in Inuyasha's direction, she grasped a handful of the silvery-white hair and hung on tight.

It was a ridiculous predicament. Inuyasha struggled to free his hair from the demon exterminator's viselike grip, which made Sango hold on even tighter. Their struggles slowed both down the hanyô and firecat's flight, and all three began to descend slowly until they were only yards above a small lake. Cursing and snarling at his captor, the yôkai's feral golden eyes locked on her face and he growled. "I'll tear you apart if you don't let go, bitch!"

He looked like he meant business, and with a quick word to Kirara, Sango let go of his hair. Not prepared for such a maneuver, Inuyasha fell the last few feet, giving a strangled yelp before he plunged underwater. Watching the surface of the lake intently, the demon exterminator watched the bubbles rise and Inuyasha's head popped out of the water. Despite the gravity of their situation, Sango couldn't stifle a giggle at the sight of the hissing, cursing, sopping-wet half demon. 'He looks exactly like a drenched puppy!' she thought with a snort of amusement—which Inuyasha heard very distinctly, causing him to bristle even more.

Still chuckling, Sango nudged Kirara down to the lake and picked the angry Inuyasha up by his collar, chiding him as they flew off. "Now, you don't want another dipping, do you?" she asked him. Burning with embarrassment, the hanyô maintained a sullen silence. Noticing that the sun was now completely up, the demon exterminator yawned, remembering her lost hours of sleep. First plopping Inuyasha down, she slid off of Kirara's back. "I need to get some rest," she murmured, and sank down against Kirara's warm flank.

*****

Inuyasha watched from the corner of his eye as Sango's chest rose and fell slowly, evenly, and her breath relaxed. He could tell that she was completely asleep. Now was the chance to escape from her and her ridiculous questions about the past. But…like all demons, Inuyasha could see the faint glimmer that announced the Shikon no Tama's shards, hardly noticeable but for his position so close to where they lay. Checking again to make sure that the huntress was truly sound asleep, he reached for the small ribbon that attached them to her sash. Inuyasha furtively grasped the edge of the cloth – just as Kirara's strong jaws clamped down around his fingers.

Staring into the other demon's eyes, the firecat growled a little. Kirara clamped down slightly harder, still not drawing blood, but to prove that she could hurt him if she wanted to.

"Damn…" he cursed quietly, and withdrew his hand. Kirara settled down more, but she was ever alert, watching him as she guarded her master.

It wasn't the lesser youkai whom Inuyasha feared, for he could easily defeat her. Only that her alarms would have woken the girl, too. The hanyô wasn't prepared to face yet another tiring and possibly humiliating struggle, and so he leaned back against a tree to wait for her arousal. Anyone watching might have thought that he, too, slept, but the golden eyes slit open ever so slightly, resting upon the silken ribbon of his desire.

Inuyasha was still awake. Waiting for his chance.

*****

When Sango finally opened her eyes, she closed them again quickly against the glare of the midday sun. She hadn't realized that she'd overslept so long, and the demon exterminator gave a small inward groan. 'The next village is too far away to reach by nightfall…looks like no bed tonight.' Resigning herself to another outdoor bed, Sango rose, rubbing a cramp in her leg that had come from her awkward position. As she moved toward the lake, Inuyasha's eyes snapped open immediately and glared directly at her. Startled by his piercing glance, she flinched a little, guiltily remembering how this had happened the night she was contemplating stealing Tetsusaiga. Sango was astonished that he hadn't left already, but decided not to voice her surprise. Instead, she tried to act as normal as possible—or as least as normal as you can be with a half-demon's eyes following your every move. Inuyasha's steady, unchanging gaze made her feel like…like a hunted animal.

Clearing her throat to try to dispense some of the tension in the air, Sango outlined her plans for that day, leaving the unspoken question of Inuyasha's decision hanging. The hanyô rose abruptly and nodded curtly in her direction. "I'll be coming with you."

As they traveled, Sango on Kirara's back and Inuyasha flying a few feet away, the exterminator glanced in his direction a few times, not sure of what nagged at the corner of her mind. Inuyasha hadn't changed that much…same red kimono, white hair, amber-gold eyes, Tetsusaiga at his waist…but Sango couldn't get rid of the uneasy feeling that she was with a completely different person than she had known. 'Wait…the Tetsusaiga…' Frowning, she stared at the familiar sword that hung by Inuyasha's side. It looked neglected and unused, the cloth wrappings in ragged tatters and the normally obsidian-black sheath covered in a fine layer of dust that turned it smoky gray.

'Looks like Inuyasha hasn't been using his father's sword for a long time…but if he's been hunting Shikon-empowered demons as I have, then how come he hasn't used the steel fang? Or maybe…' With a jolt, Sango remembered that the magical properties of the sword stated that it could be used only to protect humans. Otherwise, the fang stayed in its untransformed state, a rusty, derelict blade. For the first time, the girl realized fully how bad Inuyasha's relationship with mortals had grown. Maybe that feeling of his change wasn't a product of her imagination after all, Sango pondered, remembering the bitter emotion in the yôkai's voice the first time she had seen him and the comment about Kagome.

Inuyasha turned and gave her a strange look, reminding Sango how long she had been staring at his sword. Blushing, she glanced away quickly, hoping fervently that dog demons weren't mind readers.

Later that night…

They arranged themselves around the campfire, Sango lying down to sleep and Inuyasha remaining sitting. Despite the silence that endured between the two, Sango couldn't help feeling happy to be with a companion once again. Kirara was wonderful, but she wasn't enough. The teenager needed another human—or at least half human.

Closing her eyes, she could hear the quiet, steady rhythm of the hanyô's breath. It seemed to hold a friendly note to it, one that rang of the warmth of having someone close by, and, halfway to the world of slumber, she smiled.

Inuyasha weighed his options. He could go and gather more shards himself, then come and take the demon exterminator's, or he could steal hers now. But Sango was already skilled, and if he allowed her to gain even more experience by fighting demons for Shikon shards…well, there was the chance he might not win. Tetsusaiga was now useless to him. He decided to stay and wait for a chance.

Turning his thoughts to the possibility of a complete Shikon no Tama, Inuyasha daydreamed about what he would do. 'I wonder how it'll feel to be full demon. With all that power I can finally make Sesshômaru pay, make all those idiots who taunted me pay…power is what it's all about. But…' Inuyasha finally let himself face a reason for becoming full demon that he had been trying to deny to himself. '…what I really want to do…' a small voice whispered in his mind, '…is forget. If I become a true demon, I can harden my heart so that it will never be led astray by another woman again…'

A memory mocked his thoughts. Miroku, sitting across from him, his expression serious. "…That in exchange for gaining the power of the jewel, the bearer loses his soul…" Memories, fragments of illusion, hopes, thoughts, melted into dreams as the yôkai slipped into sleep. Kikyo appeared before him, and her features changed subtly, forming Kagome's familiar, happy face. Her mouth formed into a smile, but the words she spoke were grim.

Inuyasha, will your soul still belong to you…?

A/N: Despite the fact that I update so slowly, Healing of the Heart is actually my favorite fanfic. I'm an avid Sango/Inuyasha shipper…XD Of course, Kikyo/Inuyasha is also wonderful and Kagome/Inu fuzz is always welcome, though I rather think Kikyo deserves Inuyasha more (read Second Chance for more of my "Kikyo and Inuyasha!" rant)… Enough about that! Well, I have an idea forming for the next chapter, so...just a little more patience now!