Chapter 22: Moonlit Rendezvous

Meanwhile, Miroku ran through the forest as fast as his legs could carry him. 'Please Sango, be all right. I need you with me, always. Please be ok, One-!' The sight that greeted him was the last thing he had imagined to see. Sango was standing in a small clearing near the hot springs. Her kimono was tied very loosely and looked like it would fall from her shoulder at the slightest breeze. Miroku stood frozen in place as he watched the moonlight play across her skin and still wet hair, which hung loosely down her back. Miroku gulped out or nervousness as he slowly approached the blushing taiji. He was constantly checking the sidelines for her giant boomerang. 'That thing is like an extension of her arm, so where is it now?' When he wasn't no more than a foot away he noticed just how loosely her kimono WAS on. It hung down so far, it was revealing bare cleavage to him. Her skin looked so white due to the moonlight, with the exception of the lovely pink blush tinting her cheeks. She looked like a beautiful tennyo (heavenly maiden), that if he touched her, she would disappear forever, and he couldn't let that happen. "Sango?"

She looked up at him, a bit nervous, but she was defiantly determined. "I've come to a conclusion..We've known each other for several years now. Your hand is healed, so-to-speak. Kohaku is in peace and Naraku is gone for good." Sango felt her face heat up as she thought about how to word her next statement. "...Hoshi, what I'm wondering is..Do you still want children now that Naraku is dead?"

Miroku blinked a few times out of surprise from the question. "You know, I've been looking for a woman to bear my child all these years so if I failed, they could kill Naraku..I never thought, what if I succeeded, what then." He looked down into Sango's waiting eyes and saw several stars reflecting in them. 'She truly is a beautiful, spirited woman.' "But you know I honestly do want a family. Now more than ever, now that I know I'll be around to watch them grow up." Miroku reached up to caress her cheek but stopped short of barely touching her. 'I must be dreaming. Why would Sango be standing before me, almost naked and talking about children. It's not like her.'

"Miroku..Can I..Can I be their mother? Onegai?"

Miroku stared down at the woman before him. 'She just asked to be the mother of my children. Kami-sama, if this is a dream, please don't ever wake me up.' Everything seemed to have frozen, as he gently cupped her cheeks with his hands, almost expecting Hiraikotsu to find his head, when it didn't, he got bolder. He slowly slid his hands down her neck and to her shoulders. He fingered the edge of her kimono as it hung there by invisible threads.

Sango reached up and nervously untied his outer robe and tossed it behind her onto the ground. Leaving him in a loose robe before her. Sango looked up at him and forced out a lot of courage. "I love you Miroku!" She then leaned in, pressing her body against his and placed her lips on his.

The show of affection from his long time target had him stunned but he managed to return her kiss, and then some. His hand started to roam again, resulting in her kimono falling from her shoulders and landing in a puddle at her feet. At the same time his last robe had mysteriously disappeared (Sango of course). As each deepened the kiss, urging each other on, he slowly lowered Sango to the ground, surprised to find one of his robes lying there. As he lay over Sango the smell of the flowers that covered the small clearing floor brought on a brief memory. 'Kaoru - sweet fragrance. Like that of flowers.' Miroku looked down at his soon-to-be wife and smiled. "I love you too, Sango!" He then kissed her again, this time igniting a whole new passion that had been dormant in them both.