Trapped in the Threads of Fate

Disclaimer: I guess this is getting a little old by now, so PEOPLE PLEASE, DEFINITELY UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO I OWN INUYASHA! Besides, if I did, I probably wouldn't be writing fanfiction, I'd have much better things to do with my gorgeous Inuyasha! But the character of The Misty White Dragon does belong to me!

A/N: So sorry minna-san! I know I haven't updated in a while, so here's my excuses . I know there should be no excuses, but I do have them - and one of them is a very valid one at that! 1) I caught a VERY bad flu virus! And because we moved the computer in the basement like, the day before I got sick, I couldn't go do ANY writing! I couldn't breathe in the basement. 2) I got a little case of writer's block. Actually it was a VERY bad case! -_- 3) I also got a little lazy. Eheheheh, so sorry! 4) And I got a job that is taking up a lot of my time now! Please forgive me! I oh so very hope that this chapter can make up for all my faults! Well, on to the next chappie!

~*Recap*~

Sango was rapidly falling to the ground when Miroku gave his last bit of energy and dived to catch her just as she came within range. She landed none too softly in his outstretched arms, but they faced no real damage other than bruises as they tumbled to the ground.

~**~

Kagome had been thrown much harder and was still flying dangerously fast towards one of the castle walls. Inuyasha's sensitive ears had picked up her scream earlier, and he was cruising to her. He jumped out of a window and in the knick of time caught her as they both went crashing into the wall and down to the ground. Thinking fast, Inuyasha had quickly made sure that he would be the one to hit the wall and land on the ground, breaking Kagome's fall.

Kagome groaned when she started to wake up. Not being human, Inuyasha started to sit up first and try to see if she was alright. "The bush won't let us leave!" she moaned when she recognized her surroundings.

~**~

Chapter Six: Freezing Temperatures

Five days had gone by and Kagome was still stuck in the castle. So far, they knew that the possessed bush bordered the castle grounds and seemed impenetrable. They had tried setting part of it on fire, but they could never get a flame close enough. The wind would suddenly pick up and blow any fire they had out.

Miroku had even found a chainsaw in one of the many sheds near the orchard. But when he started cutting, the motor would go up in smoke or flames, which were promptly blown out, or the chain itself would get dull and useless.

Inuyasha had tried to use an attack called Sankon Tessou, but his nails were painfully ripped out leaving him a cussing youkai.

Sango ended up breaking her giant boomerang. Boy was she one pissed off exterminator!

And Kagome.well she decided to stay out of everyone's way.

~*Somewhere on Castle Grounds*~

'I wonder what's in here,' Kagome thought as she tried the door to a rather large stone building. But the door wouldn't budge, so she went in search of a window she could look through. She walked around the whole building before coming to the conclusion that all the windows were too high for her to reach.

"Why did they have to build them so high up?" she grumbled to herself. Then, with a determined look on her face, she set out to the back of the building where she had seen some empty barrels and crates before. 'Guess I'll just have to pile these up to a window! Oh well, I'll just have to put a little extra effort into it!' Since there were no windows on the back of the building, Kagome set about dragging crates and barrels over to the nearest one.

After piling as high as her physical strength would allow, Kagome started to climb. The pile was definitely not sturdy, so she had to climb with extra care. Once she was at the top, she still had to stand on the tips of her toes just so her hands would reach a foot to the bottom of the window.

"Kagome, what are you doing?"

Kagome jumped in her skin, which caused her to lose some of her balance. The pile started to sway a little while she tried to grip onto the stone wall. "Sango, don't DO that! You scared me!" Kagome scolded when she regained her balance.

"Sorry. you're not going to fall are you?" Sango asked as she watched her friend grip at the hanging vines below the window. She went to steady the crates that Kagome was standing on to make sure it wouldn't topple over.

"I'm fine! I just wanted to know what was in here," Kagome said. She found a foothold in the vines and hoisted herself up.

"Why don't you try the front door?" asked Sango with a confused look on her face.

"I did! It wouldn't open!" Kagome lifted herself so that her weight was supported by her arms on the windowsill. "Oh, I can't see ANYTHING through this filth!" Finding a secure place to put her left foot in the vines, she started rubbing part of the windowpane clear of dirt.

"Do you see anything?" a now curious Sango called up to her friend.

"It's kinda dark in there! But I can sort of make something out. It.it looks like.weapons? No.maybe gigantic bones? I'm not sure.I could be wrong on both guesses!" Kagome strained to see inside while unconsciously putting all of her weight on the vines. A loud snap was heard as the vines holding her gave way. "Oh no!!" Kagome quickly grabbed the windowsill as she felt herself fall.

"KAGOME!!" Sango yelled when she thought her friend was going to break her neck.

"Ouph," Kagome gasped at the sudden jolt of her arms. Her grip wasn't too firm, so she looked to see if she could jump onto the pile of crates below. Just when she was ready to let go, the crates and barrels went crashing to the ground, barely missing Sango.

"Whoa, that was close!" Sango whispered under her breath. Then, looking up to see the predicament Kagome was in, "Kagome, hang on! I'll see if I can find a ladder or something!"

"Okay, but hurry! I don't know how much longer I can stay like this!" Kagome said as she tried to get a better grip with her hands.

Sango turned in search of anything she could use to help. But just as she turned her back, she heard a shriek as Kagome lost her hold and fell.

It was a good thirteen foot drop, and Kagome knew it. She had squeezed her eyes shut when she felt her fingers slip. She was ready for the bone-crushing landing, but it didn't come. Instead, she felt something snake around her waist and gently place her on the ground. She could hear Sango let out a sigh of relief. Kagome opened her eyes to see a thick green vine unwrapping from her waist and retreating back to the mysterious building. It seemed to melt into the other ordinary-looking vines that covered the castle and every other building around the castle.

"What happened? I heard screaming!" Inuyasha asked while skidding to a stop in front of Kagome. He had seen the vine around Kagome's waist and was ready for a fight.

Kagome just looked at Sango in silent agreement that what just occurred was truly weird. "Um, I fell?" Kagome answered in an unsure voice.

"That's it? That's why you both screamed bloody murder? Because you THINK you fell?" Inuyasha was exasperated. "Remind me NOT to come next time there's trouble!" Inuyasha started to angrily stalk off when Sango grabbed his arm.

"She fell from up there!" Sango pointed to the window Kagome had been hanging from moments before.

Golden eyes ablaze, Inuyasha lost his temper, "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING UP THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?"

"I just wanted to see what was inside!" Kagome said with her head hanging.

Inuyasha roughly grabbed Kagome's wrist and dragged her to the door. In one swift movement, he moved a piece of stone from the top corner of the door. "Did you even TRY the door first?" he growled as he effortlessly pushed the door open.

"Yes I did, but it didn't open for me!" Kagome said trying to hide her embarrassment and stay calm at the same time.

"THEN YOU DIDN'T TRY HARD ENOUGH!" he yelled.

"Well, I'm SORRY I DIDN'T see that LATCH up there! AND I'M RIGHT HERE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL!" Kagome yelled back.

Seeing that Kagome and Inuyasha were probably going to keep arguing for a while, Sango sidled past the fuming two. They kept on yelling and throwing insults at each other, 'They probably won't even notice that I left!' She turned from the door to see the contents of the building. Looking around, her chestnut eyes widened with glee when they settled on the silhouette of a VERY large pile of bones. 'Oh, IhopeIhopeIhope that's what I think it is!' she thought as she hurried over to see close up.

In her rush, Sango didn't notice a discarded piece of wood and tripped. Thinking fast, she reached out to a nearby workbench and regained her balance. She was about to go back to her previous quest, when something leaning against the wall caught her attention.

'What's this?' Sango thought. She wrapped her slender fingers around the shaft, but when she tried to pick it up, it wouldn't budge from the floor. Looking down to where it rested, she noticed that there was nothing holding it down. So she pulled harder. After a couple of good yanks, Sango stumbled backwards when it finally came off the floor.

Immediately after, Sango heard a distinct grating noise coming from where she had just taken the shaft from. She looked closer and saw a small area of stone moving up to level itself with the floor. Kneeling down, she put her fingers to the area and pushed down. 'It's like a stone button. I wonder what it's for? This staff must have been holding it down!' Then when the stone piece finally leveled itself, from somewhere behind her, a loud CLICK resonated.

Sango jumped to her feet and spun around. 'That was unexpected!' Before she could ponder about the odd sound, the pile of bones came into her vision. She almost squealed with joy when she was close enough to recognize the bones as those from various youkai. Instead, she bolted for the door and almost bumped into Inuyasha.

Sango was about to say something when she realized that there was a deadly silence between Kagome and Inuyasha. "Um." she ventured a word.

"BAKA! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELF!" Inuyasha suddenly yelled, interrupting anything Sango was about to say and making her jump in surprise at the sudden outburst.

"I SAID I WAS SORRY ALREADY! AND DON'T CALL ME BAKA! I'VE TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES, MY-NAME-IS-KAGOME!" she screamed.

"Um.guys, I'm gonna-" Sango started.

"I'LL CALL YOU BAKA AS MUCH AS I WANT!" Inuyasha interrupted again. "BAKA-BAKA-BAKA!"

"CAN I JUST SAY SOMETHING!" Sango yelled as her patience was growing thin.

Miroku suddenly appeared beside her, "I already tried that! It won't work!" Sango gave him a defeated look. "But I do think I know a way to snap them back to reality!"

"And what would that be?" Sango asked in a dull voice.

"Well, if I grope Lady Kagome."

Inuyasha immediately peeled his eyes from Kagome and gave Miroku an evil warning look. While at the same time, Kagome started to walk back to the castle. Sango shook her head and rolled her eyes as she went to catch up to Kagome. Inuyasha walked a few paces behind the three and sulked.

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" Miroku asked as he fell into step with the two girls. "But what did you want to say, Lady Sango?"

Sango suddenly stopped walking, causing Kagome and Miroku to stop a few feet ahead and turn around. "Oh yeah! I wanted to tell Kagome that I had a way to fix my boomerang!" Sango had a wide smile on her face, "There are youkai bones in that building that are perfect for what I need to do!"

Forgetting about her recent fight with Inuyasha, Kagome clapped her hands, "That's great! Now you don't have to kill Inuyasha for his bones!"

"What?" came Inuyasha's dry reply.

"It was just a joke! Just a joke!" Kagome laughed and waved her hand to cancel the subject.

"Feh! That makes you even more of a baka!" he said as he walked past Kagome.

"I HEARD THAT!" Kagome yelled at his back.

"Good, I wanted you to!" said Inuyasha over his shoulder.

"They're at it again!" Sango complained.

"Yeah!" Miroku commented as Kagome went stalking up to Inuyasha, all the while throwing insults at each other. Then Miroku looked at the staff in Sango's hand, "What's that?"

"Oh this? It's just an old staff I found! Guess I forgot it was in my hand when I saw those youkai bones! I should go put it back, I have no use for it!" Sango turned to go do just that.

"NO! I mean.I'll.I know.I can." Miroku stammered.

"Miroku, do you want this staff?" Sango asked in an amused voice.

"If you don't mind!" Miroku said reaching out his hand to receive the staff. "I can fix it up and put it to good use!"

"Okay! I'm gonna go get my boomerang now. I want to fix it as soon as I can!" Sango said. A gust of VERY cold wind blew past the two, "And a sweater!"

"Good idea!" Miroku agreed as they rushed to get out of the suddenly cold air.

"Sure got cold out there fast!" Sango replied when they were safely within the confines of the castle.

"Yeah, and here I was thinking that summer had just begun!" Miroku stated.

~*In the Kitchen*~

"Why are you following me?" Inuyasha asked in an irritated tone.

"I'm thirsty! Is that alright with you, Your Majesty?" Kagome answered with a sarcastic curtsy.

"Feh! Do whatever you want! See if I care!" Inuyasha grumbled as he slouched in a chair at the table to glare at Kagome while she got some water from the tap.

Kagome let out a deep sigh after she took a big gulp of water. She turned around to face Inuyasha, "If it bothers you that much, I promise to always ask you for help before I try something that might be dangerous!"

Inuyasha's eyebrows furrowed together and he put his head on the table. "It doesn't bother me that much that you didn't ask for my help. What bothers me is that I wouldn't have made it in time if something did happen!"

"Oh!" was Kagome's reply. She was about to sit down when a scream resounded throughout the entire castle. "Was that Sango?" Kagome asked.

"Sure sounded like it!" Inuyasha said as he started for the door.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Kagome said as she grabbed the back of his red shirt.

"Fine! Get on!" he said as he squatted down to let her get on his back.

~*In Sango and Kagome's Bedroom*~

"That hentai's gonna pay!" Sango growled to herself as she finished slipping her pink shirt over her shoulders. "I'm not through with him yet! A black eye will not suffice my needs!"

She looked around the room for something she could use as a weapon. Her eyes rested on her broken boomerang, 'I'll fix you AFTER I FIX him!'

Sango swung the large wooden door open only to be met by Inuyasha and Kagome. Flames seemed to burn in her chestnut eyes, "He's gonna DIE!!" An unapproachable aura surrounded Sango, making the two back away as fast as they could.

Inuyasha hid behind Kagome as he saw Sango grab a spear from a nearby suit of armor. "She's scary!" he whispered to Kagome.

"Uh huh!" Kagome agreed.

They watched the deadly Sango bust down a thick door to a room that Inuyasha hadn't noticed before. Inuyasha's curiosity peaked as he watched her walk in with a menacing form.

A girlish but obviously male, "EeEeEeEeEkKk!" was heard. Along with the sound of the spearhead connecting with stone a couple of times. They could hear someone scrambling around the room. "Do you think she'll actually kill him?" Kagome asked.

"I'm not sure," Inuyasha answered in an unsure tone. The last thing they heard was a THUNK before a smug Sango came out of the room and placed the spear back in it's place.

"Is he.dead?" Kagome ventured.

Acknowledging her spectators for the first time, Sango replied, "Not.much!" She smiled a sweet yet eerie smile and walked into her room only to emerge with her broken boomerang and leave.

"Shouldn't we.check to see how bad he is?" Kagome asked as a cold wind blew through the castle.

"I'm not!" Inuyasha stated.

"Well neither am I! He might grope me if he wakes up!" complained Kagome.

"Fine! You don't have to cry about it!" Inuyasha said rolling his eyes.

"I'm not crying about it! I just don't want to do it, that's all!" pouted Kagome.

"Whatever," sighed Inuyasha as he looked around the corner into the strange room where Miroku lay flat on the floor. Inuyasha's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped at the things he saw.

Seeing his expression, Kagome rushed over to his side, "Oh my gosh! She killed him?" When she saw Miroku just lying there, face to the floor, Kagome went to him and checked his neck for a pulse. Feeling a strong pulse, she sighed, "He's fine! Just unconscious!"

"I could've told you that!" Inuyasha said having just snapped out of his daze. "I could hear his breathing!" he said pointing to his furry white ears on top of his head.

"Well then what was that shocked look for?" Kagome asked in complete confusion.

"Oh.that.well, I've never seen a room like this before!" he admitted.

"You haven't?! THAT'S DISGUSTING!" Kagome blurted. Then regaining her composure, "This is a bathroom."

"That means nothing to me!" he said giving her a blank look.

"How about The John? The Watercloset? The Powder Room? The Biffy? The Outhouse? The Laboratory? The Toilet? The Potty? The Wee-Wee Room? ANYTHING sound familiar?" suggested Kagome as she gave every slang word for the bathroom that she could think of.

"You have to remember that I was asleep for five hundred years," Inuyasha reminded her.

"Yes! But you must have had some place you went to do your business!" Miroku chimed in from his spot on the floor. He was sporting a very purple and swollen black eye, along with many other bruises and cuts all over his face and arms.

"My business?" a dumbfounded Inuyasha asked.

"You know, when you need to.relieve yourself," Kagome tried.

"You mean.you have a ROOM for that now? And it's right by where we SLEEP?! That's a little disturbing!" Inuyasha said astonished.

Miroku smiled, and with a dreamy look on his face he pointed to the bathtub, "And this is where we bathe. Ah, to see Lady Sango or Lady Kagome- "

::WHACK:: "Get you head out of the gutter!" snapped Inuyasha as he added to the bumps and bruises on Miroku's head.

"Anyway, you relieve yourself here," Kagome motioned to the toilet, "and then you press this. Like so." And she flushed the toilet, causing a loud noise and the water to swirl.

"YOUKAI!" yelled Inuyasha as he grabbed Kagome around the waist and tore out of the room.

Miroku was left standing by the bathtub looking at the now empty spot that Kagome and Inuyasha had occupied. When what Inuyasha had yelled sunk in, Miroku burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. He walked out of the room holding his sides to see Kagome giving Inuyasha a very annoyed glare.

Kagome gave Miroku a dull look when he came into view, "You do KNOW he did the same thing with the fridge, right? I leave the toilet explaining to you! I'm gonna go see what Sango's doing!" And with that, she left the boys to their own devices. 'He can be so clueless sometimes!'

As Kagome got closer to the stairs, it seemed to get degrees colder with every step. She started to shiver and soon she was able to see her breath. 'Maybe I should go back and put something warmer on!' she thought as she came to the top of the stairs.

"Oh.My.Gosh!" she breathed when she saw a white blanket of frost covering every inch of the castle in front of her.

Out of pure curiosity, Kagome slowly made her way down the staircase. Halfway down, she saw a huge ice cube at the foot of the stairs. But when she took another step, the icy stairs made her slip and tumble to the bottom. Kagome rubbed her head and looked at the huge ice cube she had crashed into.

"Sango?" Kagome gasped at the image she saw. There, frozen in the depths of the ice, was a VERY cold-looking Sango. She pressed her hand to the icy box, but quickly pulled it away when the ice seemed to grip at her hand, trying to consume her too. "Damn, it's too cold to touch!" she cursed to herself.

Kagome speedily got to her feet, "I'll be right back Sango! I'm gonna find a way to get you out of there." She ran to the kitchen in search of the ice-pick she had seen Miroku use earlier that day at lunch. 'Where did he put that thing?' she thought as she looked around. Spotting the drawer he usually kept it in, she ran to open it. "Damn ice!" said Kagome through gritted teeth when the ice sheet covering the whole kitchen wouldn't let her get at the much needed ice-pick. "Come.on. Open you.piece of.CRAaAaAP!" The drawer suddenly broke free, sending Kagome sprawling to the floor. The contents were spread all around her, along with the ice-pick.

Kagome snatched up the pick and raced to Sango's aid. "I'll.get you.out in a.jiffy!" she said while hacking at the ice.

'Oh, I wish someone could help me with this!' thought Kagome as chips of ice went flying through the air. She stopped whacking at the coffin of ice thinking how stupid she was. She took a deep breath, "INUYASHA! MIROKU! COME QUICK! IT'S SANGO! SHE'S IN TROUBLE!" Then she went back to trying to free her friend.

In almost an instant, Inuyasha and Miroku were at the top of the stairway. "What kinda trou-ble.?" Inuyasha started to ask when he saw the blanket of frost, ice, and snow everywhere. Then he took to the air and was beside the frantic Kagome in seconds.

"We have to get her out of there! She can't die! She's too young! She has to get married and have kids and get rich and-" Inuyasha cut Kagome's rambling off by gently taking the ice-pick from her.

"LOOK OUT!!" Miroku yelled as he came slipping and sliding down the banister. He had the butt end of his staff aimed at Sango's confinement. Weapon struck ice with a magnificent force, leaving a very nice crack.

Inuyasha had gotten Kagome out of harm's way and shielded her from the shards of ice shooting at them. Miroku began ferociously attacking the box of ice.

A white, cold mist came up behind Miroku and seemed to take the form of a dragon. "Stay here!" Inuyasha commanded Kagome while he charged at the misty dragon. He swiped with his newly regrown claws but all he got was air. He kept clawing at the dragon with no progress. The dragon would just dematerialize and then materialize after his claws left the mist.

'At least I can move this youkai away from Kagome and Miroku!' he thought as he and the youkai went further down the hall to the entrance of the castle.

"You fucking youkai. QUIT RUNNING AND FIGHT ME!" yelled Inuyasha as frustration finally took over.

"IS THAT WHAT YOU REALLY WANT? HANYOU!" boomed the voice of the dragon. It's blood-red eyes pierced through the white mist.

Inuyasha stopped his attacks and gave a cocky smile, "I'm waiting!"

The only word the dragon uttered before dematerializing was, "OUTSIDE!"

Catching the hint, Inuyasha slowly made his way outside. Not very far off he saw a solid white dragon with blood-red eyes. It was almost as big as the castle itself, and its claws were as large as Inuyasha himself. Its white scales glistened in the sun, and its fangs were intimidating. 'Now this I can fight!' he smirked.

The white dragon swiped with his armored tail, missing Inuyasha by five feet. "FOOLISH HANYOU! A MERE HALF-YOUKAI CANNOT HOPE TO DEFEAT A FULL-BLOODED YOUKAI! YOU MIGHT AS WELL DIE NOW!!"

Inuyasha gave a devilish grin, "YOU SHOULD PROBABLY WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF! IT SEEMS THAT YOU'RE A BIT RUSTY!" He dodged another attack by the dragon's deadly tail by jumping and landing on his armored neck. He clawed his neck, but there was absolutely no effect. The armor was much too thick for his claws to penetrate.

The dragon was angered at this. His short arms couldn't reach Inuyasha, so his only choice was to roll over and hope to squish him.

Inuyasha jumped once again and laughed at the sluggish movements of the dragon. He slashed at the eyes of the dragon, causing it to shriek in pain. "I thought I was supposed to be worried! And here I've found you're weak spot so easily!"

The white dragon quickly dematerialized into mist and engulfed Inuyasha. "NOW YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD NEVER CHALLENGED ME!" The mist became colder and colder to unbearable temperatures, even for Inuyasha.

Inuyasha tried to escape the freezing mist, but it followed his every move. Frost and ice was starting to form on his clothes, 'Damn dragon, show your weak spot! I WILL NOT fucking lose now!'

It was getting hard to breathe, and Inuyasha was beginning to move less and less. He curled into a ball to conserve the little body heat he had left.

"NOW YOU WILL SLEEP THE ETERNAL SLUMBER OF A CORPSE!" laughed the misty dragon. Thinking that Inuyasha was already a stiff, the misty white dragon let his blood-red eyes materialize as he left the cold boy.

"san.kon. tes.sou!" Inuyasha said with a hoarse whisper as he aimed for the eyes. His movements were slow, but he was able to connect claws with eyes.

A soul piercing scream was heard as the misty white dragon went from mist, to solid dragon, to dust in mere seconds.

~*At the Bottom of the Stairs*~

Kagome and Miroku had freed the lifeless Sango from the ice after much effort. Kagome was on her knees with tears in her eyes as she watched Miroku carefully pick up Sango and hold her tenderly in his arms. Kagome's left hand went to her mouth. "She was in there too long, wasn't she?" she asked in a choked whisper.

Miroku lifted Sango's head to his shoulder as the tears began to flow freely. He didn't answer Kagome. They both knew the ugly truth. Choking back her sobs, Kagome slowly made her way up the icy steps to the room she had shared with Sango.

As the frost, snow, and ice started to melt, Miroku brought Sango into a warm hug. "Why'd you have to go get frozen in ice? I had a feeling about you! You were more different than any other girl I've ever met! .why?" he whispered with a pained face.

Inuyasha had walked into the castle, being met by the strong scent of salty tears. He was now standing behind Miroku, mouth slightly agape and a confused look pasted on his face. "Why are you guys crying? Did something happen to Kagome?"

Sniffing back his tears, Miroku blinked. For the first time, he noticed that Sango's arms had slipped around his shoulders. His body stiffened as he realized she wasn't just going to be a memory, AND it wasn't just a dream. "Sango?"

"What kind of feeling did you have?" Sango squeaked in a small voice.

Inuyasha took his cue to leave and followed the fresh scent of Kagome's salty tears. When he got to the top of the stairs, his sensitive ears already picked up the sound of her crying into a pillow. He walked up to her door and quietly cracked it open.

He smelled for blood, just in case that's what the other two were really crying about. And just in case his nose had been effected by the severe cold. When he didn't smell any, he stepped into the room and closed the door.

Kagome was sprawled on the bed, face in her pillow, sobbing like there was no tomorrow. Inuyasha went up to the bed and quietly asked, "Kagome?" When he just got more sobs for his answer, he carefully sat on the bed beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. Giving her a concerned look which she didn't see, he asked in a more demanding yet still gentle tone, "Kagome, what's wrong?"

Suddenly, she just stopped crying. And breathing at that. It wasn't hard for Inuyasha to hear her strong heartbeat, so he wasn't too worried. Then she abruptly sat up. She turned around to face him, but she didn't realize how close they really were until she was an inch from his face. Moving back fast, she blushed and turned her face away.

"Kagome, you're acting weird!" Inuyasha said, concern showing through his tough exterior.

"You've never said my name before, and now you've said it three times!" she whispered in awe. Then she pounced forward and wrapped her arms around his chest, crying into his shoulder.

Inuyasha started to panic, "Stop crying! I promise never to say you're name again! Just stop crying!"

A tiny giggle escaped from Kagome's lips, "That's not why I'm crying!" With that said, she went back to soaking his shirt with her tears.

"Well then why are you crying?" Inuyasha asked in a frantic voice. She just kept crying, and eventually he put his arms around her and started to rub her back to comfort her. He remembered his mother doing this to him when he was feeling low as a child.

When she finally found the strength to stop crying, Kagome whispered, "Sango didn't make it!"

Inuyasha stopped rubbing her back and raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean? I just saw her and Miroku crying! I thought something happened to YOU!"

Kagome pulled away from the warm hug, "She's alive?"

"Yeah! When I defeated that misty dragon, his spell wore off on the castle! Including Sango's frozen state!" he said matter-of-factly.

Kagome once again wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's chest crying. "Now what is it?" he asked utterly confused by the strange girl's actions.

"I'm just so happy!" she laughed.

"Then why are you crying?" puzzlement covering his face.

"They're happy tears, Silly!" she said as she pulled him into a bear hug and stopped crying as he returned the hug in a less crushing manner.

~*Bottom of the Stairs Again*~

"I.you.I thought." stammered Miroku.

Still being incredibly cold, Sango nuzzled into his chest. "It's okay if you're confused or don't know!" Her fists clenched at the back of his black shirt. "As long as it's a good feeling, I'll be happy with that!"

"It's good! I promise!" he whispered as his hand wandered down the small of her back to her bottom.

Sango's eyebrow twitched, "BAKA!!" Being that she was still stiff, Sango grabbed Miroku's cursed hand and dug her fingernails in.

~**~

A/N: Well, there you have it! I think I'm finally out of my writer's block! I think I'll put a new character in the next chapter, I'm just not sure which one. If you'd like a certain one. you can choose from: Sesshomaru, Kirara, Shippo, Kikyo, or Kaede. I have definite plans for all of those characters in my story and it doesn't matter much which order they come in. But if there isn't a character there that you would like to make an appearance, tell me about it and I'll try to fit him or her in somewhere in the plot! Feel free to contact me through my e-mail if you must! I don't mind at all! Plus it would probably help me to get some more motivation to get the next chapter done. Again, I am VERY sorry that it took so long for me to post this chapter, hopefully it will not become a habit! Review cuz it helps me a whole bunch! Have a happy day!!

KrysTheAngel ^_^

July