Chapter 7
Home
Sesshoumaru returned to camp by mid-morning the next day. When Kagome and Miroku saw him emerge through the trees, they both ran over to him, and bombarded him with questions while InuYasha watched silently in the background.
The youkai lord silenced the woman and the monk by merely holding up his hand; they then stared at him anxiously.
He told them everything; from his bargain with Kagura to his attack on Naraku, and then the absence of Sango's memories.
Miroku's eyebrows drew together. "You mean. . . she wants to stay with him?" He looked defeated.
Something tugged at Sesshoumaru's chest. "Remember, Miroku - he has tricked her. He has the power to take away memories - "
"But you're sure they were. . . you know. . . ?"
Sesshoumaru nodded grimly. "I saw it clearly."
Miroku sighed. "It's hard to imagine her with. . . with someone else. . ." he blinked his eyes and shook his head, turning away from everyone to face the brook.
"Miroku. . . " Kagome said weakly, following him, then reaching out to touch his shoulder. He turned to face her slightly, and forced a smile.
"This must be hard for you. . ." Kagome said softly.
Miroku shrugged, trying to pull an InuYasha and act tough. "I'm all right. You know I'm all right. . ."
Kagome just looked at him. After a heartbeat, she turned back to Sesshoumaru. "What do we have to do to get Sango back? I'm getting sick of this. I want to take action *now*!"
Sesshoumaru gazed at her. "We shouldn't force her to come back here. No matter what we do, there is nothing that can make her remember us. Naraku must give her memory back."
"We'll *make* him!" Kagome exclaimed. "We should go there now, and demand it! If he was so easy for you to attack, then he must be easy to kill - "
"Sesshoumaru's right, Kagome," Miroku cut in sternly. "We cannot force her to come back. Naraku must let her go."
Kagome seethed at him, then turned to InuYasha. "Well - what about you?!"
He looked at her with surprise. "Me?!"
"Yeah, what do *you* think we should do? You've been awfully quiet!"
"I. . . " he stammered. "I think we should wait. . ."
Kagome's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Isn't anybody else sick of this?!"
"Yes!" Miroku barked suddenly. Kagome quieted.
"I'm. . . I'm sorry, Miroku," she said weakly.
He looked at the ground, the anger disappearing from his face quickly. "It's. . . It's all right. You're just feeling desperate. I am, too, Kagome."
Silent tears spilled from her eyes then, and she ran to Miroku, and hugged him. They remained that way for a few moments, Sesshoumaru and InuYasha watching empathetically. When Kagome began to cry even harder into Miroku, InuYasha visibly jumped, and bounded forward to tap her shoulder. Miroku gave her to him easily, and she just turned from the monk and into the hanyou's arms weakly.
Miroku wanted to speak with Sesshoumaru some more, so he left with the youkai lord to discuss some sort of plan. They left the clearing to InuYasha and Kagome.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kagome didn't know what was wrong with her; she just could not stop crying. She hugged InuYasha even tighter around his middle, her face buried into his chest. "I'm - I'm sorry," she managed to choke out.
He just shushed her and smoothed her hair, resting his chin on the top of her head. Months ago he would not have known what to do in this situation but beg Kagome to stop crying. Now, thanks to her, he learned quickly what to do when a woman cries: shut up and comfort her. It was so simple, he had overlooked it.
He just held her for a little while longer, and when she looked up at him, he smiled down at her and wiped her tears from her face. "Done?" he asked.
She nodded. "I don't know what came over me - I don't usually explode like that. . . "
"It's all right," InuYasha said, his voice soothing. "You're just worried about her. We all are. I may act like I don't care, sometimes, but Sango is just as important to me as she is to you. We will get her back - don't worry. Come here - " He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the brook, sitting down beside it. She joined him on the ground.
"I've been thinking," he said to her, "Sesshoumaru would have known if the Naraku that he attacked had been a dummy. He's just got that sixth sense. So why didn't the real Naraku fight back? He's so powerful, he could've dodged Sesshoumaru claws with ease. . . What if I weakened him, Kagome? What if he isn't as powerful as he used to be anymore?"
Kagome's eyebrows drew together. "That doesn't make any sense. He wouldn't be able to erase Sango's memories, would he?"
InuYasha considered the question, then gave up with a sigh. "I dunno. . . It was just a thought." He shrugged.
Kagome shot him a half smile. "Although. . . I wouldn't be surprised if you did weaken him. . . a little. . ."
InuYasha looked back at her, and smirked as well. "Yeah, he was pretty bad off, wasn't he?"
She giggled and nodded.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sesshoumaru and Miroku walked together in silence. Sesshoumaru stared at his feet every now and then, with things on his mind.
"Did she look very happy?" Miroku asked suddenly.
Sesshoumaru looked up at the monk, surprised slightly. "'Very happy. . .?' Not when she saw what I did to him."
"I mean when you saw them, in the window."
Sesshoumaru stared at the air in front of him. "She looked. . . heady. Not happy. . . she didn't smile, but she let him touch her openly."
Miroku squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. "Has he taken her yet?" he asked, controlling his voice.
"I do not know."
Miroku ran a hand though his hair. "I can't see her with him. It's not right!"
Sesshoumaru was quiet. "You love her very much."
Miroku nodded. "She's. . . she's My Sango."
"You know. . . " Sesshoumaru stopped and turned to the monk. "You remind me so much of someone I used to know."
Miroku looked at the youkai lord with surprise. "Who?"
Sesshoumaru looked to the ground sadly. "It doesn't matter," he replied, continuing to walk. Miroku watched him for a moment in confusion, them caught up with him.
"This person. . . they meant a lot to you?"
Sesshoumaru said nothing. He didn't wish to discuss him right now. . . He didn't want to remember. . . But it was hard when he was around the monk. Miroku was so much like *him*. . . "How long do you want to wait before we try to retrieve your Sango?" Sesshoumaru asked to change the subject.
Miroku looked down, ashamed at himself for prying. "I do not wish to wait too long. I want her back. And I want Naraku destroyed."
Sesshoumaru looked up with a thought. "If Naraku is truly as weak as he acted, then retrieving her should not be a problem. But I don't feel that we should trust his actions so easily. Do you think he is tricking us?"
Miroku looked at Sesshoumaru with doubt. "I'm not sure. After all, it is Naraku. . . All he knows is trickery."
"But still. . . I'm confused as to why he was so easy to injure. Usually, he is quick, even when given no sign of an attack. . . Is it possible? Did InuYasha really do so much damage as to take away most of Naraku's powers?"
Miroku's eyebrows drew together. "It is plausible."
"And what does he really want Sango for?"
"His own sick, twisted purposes, it sounds like, " Miroku said bitterly.
Sesshoumaru nodded. "But I wonder if there is more. If this is a plan to steal the Shikon no Tama. . . Where can he possibly be going with this?"
"Perhaps it is a trap to lure us to him."
"He has done so already. Why has he done nothing, then?"
Miroku shook his head in frustration. "I don't know!" he sighed. "Naraku is confusing, he has always been confusing!"
Sesshoumaru considered the possibility that Naraku might actually be as weak as he had pretended to be. If that was the case, he could destroy him quickly. Sango's spell would vanish, and she could return to her friends.
The youkai lord doubted still, but only slightly. Why did he feel that the unbelievable possibility was more likely to be true? Was it possible that for once, Naraku was no longer tricking them?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Are you hungry?" Naraku asked Sango around mid-day the next day.
"No," she replied. "I am worried about you. What if that youkai comes back, like he said he would?"
Naraku looked away from her. He was still lying on the futon in his room, and he was still in pain. The wounds had healed only slightly; the poison was slowing the healing process drastically. "I am not going to lie to you, Sango," he began. "If the youkai returns, there is nothing I can do. I am powerless."
"But can't you take us somewhere? Somewhere far away? You can travel with incredible speed -"
"Not while I am injured."
Sango stopped, and her expression turned hopeless. "It will happen eventually, won't it? Whoever these people are, they want me back as soon as possible. And when they do come they will take me away from you. . . You're all I know, Naraku."
He looked at her with confusion, a suspicion forming in his mind. "Sango. . . do you remember your life before you came here?"
She looked at him as if he should know the answer. "Well, no. . ." she answered simply, truthfully.
His confusion grew to worry. "You do not remember your brother? The monk? The hanyou? Who I was?"
She shook her head. "Why do you ask me this? I do not know who you speak of."
Naraku tried to sit up, but grimaced when his wounds protested.
"Lie down! What are you trying to do?!"
"Something," he said, trying to get up still, despite his pain, "is not right. You should remember them. Why are you acting as if you didn't have a life before me?"
"I don't know," Sango said, gently trying to push him back down. "Those are questions I try not to ask myself now days."
Naraku finally succeeded in sitting up, but it was paining him to do so. Panting, he looked over at his lover. "How did you forget?" It was a rhetorical question.
Sango gazed at him, not understanding why he was acting so worried. "What is wrong?" she asked, her hands still on his shoulders. "Why don't you lay down?"
"Your brother, Kohaku - do you remember him?"
"Naraku!"
"Do you remember?!"
"I - I. . . a little. . . "
"And the monk! The monk that kissed you. . . You must remember him!"
"I'm trying!"
"It is imperative you know who they are, Sango! When I am gone, you'll need someone to go to! Do not forget about them, don't let yourself! You may be trying to forget about your life before this, but you can't! Nothing lasts forever, you can't just throw away your past!"
Sango squeezed her eyes shut and began to cry, some internal battle warring in her head.
Unable to move from the pain, Naraku could only watch her. "Please. . . " he said softly, "Try to remember. Don't forget those you love."
"How did I get here. . . I can't remember. . . "
"I kidnaped you."
"You. . . yes. . . "
"It was the only way to get you to listen."
"It was. . . " She opened her eyes. "Can I see them? Will you let me see my friends?"
He sighed with relief; she had let herself remember. "Yes. You are not a prisoner here. Just come back to me."
"Of course." She peered at him through her tears. "Will they let me come back?"
"They do not own you."
She looked down at her hands. "Yes. . ." She looked back up at him, and moved closer to him, so their noses touched. "I love you. I will come back to you." She kissed him them, and let her lips linger on his sweetly. She touched his face and pulled away, then got up. "I will go now. I need to apologize to them. And tonight, I will sneak away if I have to. I will come back to you."
He watched her turn away, and laid back down.
Sango stopped in the doorway. "Rest now. And if I do not return by tomorrow morning, do not worry. And please do not come looking for me - You're not strong enough. Sayonara." She stayed there until he closed his eyes, then left the castle.
Outside, she realized why the village seemed so familiar to her. It hit her hard, the reason why she recognized the place. Now wonder she knew the house she had visited.
This was her old village.
As she walked through, everything came rushing back to her. The street market; the hut the doctor had used; and her old house. Her home. Home, where she had lived with Kohaku and Father. And everyone else that she had known all her life, her father's friends. The other exterminators that she knew as if they were her siblings. Everyone who had died by Naraku's evil.
Sango could not look at the place anymore, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. She started to run; she ran clear out of the village, and did not look back, the only thing giving her the strength to go back in there, ironically, the fact that Naraku was there.
She walked down the hill and towards the woods, where she knew her companions would be hiding out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sesshoumaru heard it first, that familiar voice calling for everyone.
"Do you hear that?" he asked Miroku.
"No," Miroku regarded him with an odd expression. "What do you hear?"
"Shh. . . " The youkai lord's eyebrows furrowed, and he stood very still, listening, barely daring to breathe. Then he heard it again. "My ears. . . they never deceive me. I hear Sango calling us," he said seriously.
Miroku looked up with wide eyes. Knowing better than to lose track of her voice by yelling for her, he stayed quiet, and let her com closer. Moments later, he could hear her as well, calling everyone's name.
The monk and the youkai looked at each other for a moment with shared expressions of delight. Miroku turned away and yelled, "SANGO!!! WE'RE HERE!!!"
"MIROKU? IS THAT YOU?"
"YES, SANGO! IT IS YOU!"
"I'M COMING!!!" she yelled as she got closer. "KEEP TALKING, I CAN'T FIND YOU!"
"WE'RE HERE, SANGO! RIGHT HERE!!!"
Soon enough, Miroku could hear someone moving in the bushes, and watched with wide eyes as Sango emerged out of the trees. They both stood there for a moment, simply staring at each other, Sango breathing heavily from running, Miroku breathing heavily from sheer exhilaration. He then rushed forward quickly and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing his eyes shut, nearly crying.
"I can't believe it. . . you're here. . . " he whispered into her ear.
She hugged him and closed her eyes, a safe feeling washing over her. "I'm glad to be back."
Miroku stepped back, but kept an arm around her waist. "He let you go, then?" he asked excitedly.
An odd expression came over Sango's face. "I was never his prisoner."
Miroku looked back, a little confused. He decided to ignore her statement, and hugged her again. "I was so worried about you!"
"We have all been worried," Sesshoumaru said from his stance in the clearing.
Sango's eyes snapped open and found him. "Sesshoumaru." She said his name with venom in her voice. Miroku didn't seem to notice.
"Yes, Sesshoumaru has been helping us find you!" he said. "If it wasn't for him, I don't think we would have gotten anywhere!"
Sango nodded, then turned back to Miroku, getting rid her hateful expression. She smiled at him.
He smiled back and began to laugh.
She started to giggle as well, and suddenly, Miroku picked her up and swung her around several times, Sango squealing delightedly. When he set her back on her feet, he grabbed her face softly and kissed her.
She did not kiss him back. Instead, she pulled away awkwardly, and forced a smile at him . "Where are Kagome and InuYasha?"
Miroku's smile faded, and he said, "They're uh. . . they're back at the clearing. . ."
"Then take me to them! I have missed them!" she said happily.
Miroku forced a smile, and nodded. He noticed Sesshoumaru shoot him a nearly worried look, and Miroku returned the glance. He and the youkai then showed Sango the way back to the clearing.
Sesshoumaru returned to camp by mid-morning the next day. When Kagome and Miroku saw him emerge through the trees, they both ran over to him, and bombarded him with questions while InuYasha watched silently in the background.
The youkai lord silenced the woman and the monk by merely holding up his hand; they then stared at him anxiously.
He told them everything; from his bargain with Kagura to his attack on Naraku, and then the absence of Sango's memories.
Miroku's eyebrows drew together. "You mean. . . she wants to stay with him?" He looked defeated.
Something tugged at Sesshoumaru's chest. "Remember, Miroku - he has tricked her. He has the power to take away memories - "
"But you're sure they were. . . you know. . . ?"
Sesshoumaru nodded grimly. "I saw it clearly."
Miroku sighed. "It's hard to imagine her with. . . with someone else. . ." he blinked his eyes and shook his head, turning away from everyone to face the brook.
"Miroku. . . " Kagome said weakly, following him, then reaching out to touch his shoulder. He turned to face her slightly, and forced a smile.
"This must be hard for you. . ." Kagome said softly.
Miroku shrugged, trying to pull an InuYasha and act tough. "I'm all right. You know I'm all right. . ."
Kagome just looked at him. After a heartbeat, she turned back to Sesshoumaru. "What do we have to do to get Sango back? I'm getting sick of this. I want to take action *now*!"
Sesshoumaru gazed at her. "We shouldn't force her to come back here. No matter what we do, there is nothing that can make her remember us. Naraku must give her memory back."
"We'll *make* him!" Kagome exclaimed. "We should go there now, and demand it! If he was so easy for you to attack, then he must be easy to kill - "
"Sesshoumaru's right, Kagome," Miroku cut in sternly. "We cannot force her to come back. Naraku must let her go."
Kagome seethed at him, then turned to InuYasha. "Well - what about you?!"
He looked at her with surprise. "Me?!"
"Yeah, what do *you* think we should do? You've been awfully quiet!"
"I. . . " he stammered. "I think we should wait. . ."
Kagome's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Isn't anybody else sick of this?!"
"Yes!" Miroku barked suddenly. Kagome quieted.
"I'm. . . I'm sorry, Miroku," she said weakly.
He looked at the ground, the anger disappearing from his face quickly. "It's. . . It's all right. You're just feeling desperate. I am, too, Kagome."
Silent tears spilled from her eyes then, and she ran to Miroku, and hugged him. They remained that way for a few moments, Sesshoumaru and InuYasha watching empathetically. When Kagome began to cry even harder into Miroku, InuYasha visibly jumped, and bounded forward to tap her shoulder. Miroku gave her to him easily, and she just turned from the monk and into the hanyou's arms weakly.
Miroku wanted to speak with Sesshoumaru some more, so he left with the youkai lord to discuss some sort of plan. They left the clearing to InuYasha and Kagome.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kagome didn't know what was wrong with her; she just could not stop crying. She hugged InuYasha even tighter around his middle, her face buried into his chest. "I'm - I'm sorry," she managed to choke out.
He just shushed her and smoothed her hair, resting his chin on the top of her head. Months ago he would not have known what to do in this situation but beg Kagome to stop crying. Now, thanks to her, he learned quickly what to do when a woman cries: shut up and comfort her. It was so simple, he had overlooked it.
He just held her for a little while longer, and when she looked up at him, he smiled down at her and wiped her tears from her face. "Done?" he asked.
She nodded. "I don't know what came over me - I don't usually explode like that. . . "
"It's all right," InuYasha said, his voice soothing. "You're just worried about her. We all are. I may act like I don't care, sometimes, but Sango is just as important to me as she is to you. We will get her back - don't worry. Come here - " He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the brook, sitting down beside it. She joined him on the ground.
"I've been thinking," he said to her, "Sesshoumaru would have known if the Naraku that he attacked had been a dummy. He's just got that sixth sense. So why didn't the real Naraku fight back? He's so powerful, he could've dodged Sesshoumaru claws with ease. . . What if I weakened him, Kagome? What if he isn't as powerful as he used to be anymore?"
Kagome's eyebrows drew together. "That doesn't make any sense. He wouldn't be able to erase Sango's memories, would he?"
InuYasha considered the question, then gave up with a sigh. "I dunno. . . It was just a thought." He shrugged.
Kagome shot him a half smile. "Although. . . I wouldn't be surprised if you did weaken him. . . a little. . ."
InuYasha looked back at her, and smirked as well. "Yeah, he was pretty bad off, wasn't he?"
She giggled and nodded.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sesshoumaru and Miroku walked together in silence. Sesshoumaru stared at his feet every now and then, with things on his mind.
"Did she look very happy?" Miroku asked suddenly.
Sesshoumaru looked up at the monk, surprised slightly. "'Very happy. . .?' Not when she saw what I did to him."
"I mean when you saw them, in the window."
Sesshoumaru stared at the air in front of him. "She looked. . . heady. Not happy. . . she didn't smile, but she let him touch her openly."
Miroku squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. "Has he taken her yet?" he asked, controlling his voice.
"I do not know."
Miroku ran a hand though his hair. "I can't see her with him. It's not right!"
Sesshoumaru was quiet. "You love her very much."
Miroku nodded. "She's. . . she's My Sango."
"You know. . . " Sesshoumaru stopped and turned to the monk. "You remind me so much of someone I used to know."
Miroku looked at the youkai lord with surprise. "Who?"
Sesshoumaru looked to the ground sadly. "It doesn't matter," he replied, continuing to walk. Miroku watched him for a moment in confusion, them caught up with him.
"This person. . . they meant a lot to you?"
Sesshoumaru said nothing. He didn't wish to discuss him right now. . . He didn't want to remember. . . But it was hard when he was around the monk. Miroku was so much like *him*. . . "How long do you want to wait before we try to retrieve your Sango?" Sesshoumaru asked to change the subject.
Miroku looked down, ashamed at himself for prying. "I do not wish to wait too long. I want her back. And I want Naraku destroyed."
Sesshoumaru looked up with a thought. "If Naraku is truly as weak as he acted, then retrieving her should not be a problem. But I don't feel that we should trust his actions so easily. Do you think he is tricking us?"
Miroku looked at Sesshoumaru with doubt. "I'm not sure. After all, it is Naraku. . . All he knows is trickery."
"But still. . . I'm confused as to why he was so easy to injure. Usually, he is quick, even when given no sign of an attack. . . Is it possible? Did InuYasha really do so much damage as to take away most of Naraku's powers?"
Miroku's eyebrows drew together. "It is plausible."
"And what does he really want Sango for?"
"His own sick, twisted purposes, it sounds like, " Miroku said bitterly.
Sesshoumaru nodded. "But I wonder if there is more. If this is a plan to steal the Shikon no Tama. . . Where can he possibly be going with this?"
"Perhaps it is a trap to lure us to him."
"He has done so already. Why has he done nothing, then?"
Miroku shook his head in frustration. "I don't know!" he sighed. "Naraku is confusing, he has always been confusing!"
Sesshoumaru considered the possibility that Naraku might actually be as weak as he had pretended to be. If that was the case, he could destroy him quickly. Sango's spell would vanish, and she could return to her friends.
The youkai lord doubted still, but only slightly. Why did he feel that the unbelievable possibility was more likely to be true? Was it possible that for once, Naraku was no longer tricking them?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Are you hungry?" Naraku asked Sango around mid-day the next day.
"No," she replied. "I am worried about you. What if that youkai comes back, like he said he would?"
Naraku looked away from her. He was still lying on the futon in his room, and he was still in pain. The wounds had healed only slightly; the poison was slowing the healing process drastically. "I am not going to lie to you, Sango," he began. "If the youkai returns, there is nothing I can do. I am powerless."
"But can't you take us somewhere? Somewhere far away? You can travel with incredible speed -"
"Not while I am injured."
Sango stopped, and her expression turned hopeless. "It will happen eventually, won't it? Whoever these people are, they want me back as soon as possible. And when they do come they will take me away from you. . . You're all I know, Naraku."
He looked at her with confusion, a suspicion forming in his mind. "Sango. . . do you remember your life before you came here?"
She looked at him as if he should know the answer. "Well, no. . ." she answered simply, truthfully.
His confusion grew to worry. "You do not remember your brother? The monk? The hanyou? Who I was?"
She shook her head. "Why do you ask me this? I do not know who you speak of."
Naraku tried to sit up, but grimaced when his wounds protested.
"Lie down! What are you trying to do?!"
"Something," he said, trying to get up still, despite his pain, "is not right. You should remember them. Why are you acting as if you didn't have a life before me?"
"I don't know," Sango said, gently trying to push him back down. "Those are questions I try not to ask myself now days."
Naraku finally succeeded in sitting up, but it was paining him to do so. Panting, he looked over at his lover. "How did you forget?" It was a rhetorical question.
Sango gazed at him, not understanding why he was acting so worried. "What is wrong?" she asked, her hands still on his shoulders. "Why don't you lay down?"
"Your brother, Kohaku - do you remember him?"
"Naraku!"
"Do you remember?!"
"I - I. . . a little. . . "
"And the monk! The monk that kissed you. . . You must remember him!"
"I'm trying!"
"It is imperative you know who they are, Sango! When I am gone, you'll need someone to go to! Do not forget about them, don't let yourself! You may be trying to forget about your life before this, but you can't! Nothing lasts forever, you can't just throw away your past!"
Sango squeezed her eyes shut and began to cry, some internal battle warring in her head.
Unable to move from the pain, Naraku could only watch her. "Please. . . " he said softly, "Try to remember. Don't forget those you love."
"How did I get here. . . I can't remember. . . "
"I kidnaped you."
"You. . . yes. . . "
"It was the only way to get you to listen."
"It was. . . " She opened her eyes. "Can I see them? Will you let me see my friends?"
He sighed with relief; she had let herself remember. "Yes. You are not a prisoner here. Just come back to me."
"Of course." She peered at him through her tears. "Will they let me come back?"
"They do not own you."
She looked down at her hands. "Yes. . ." She looked back up at him, and moved closer to him, so their noses touched. "I love you. I will come back to you." She kissed him them, and let her lips linger on his sweetly. She touched his face and pulled away, then got up. "I will go now. I need to apologize to them. And tonight, I will sneak away if I have to. I will come back to you."
He watched her turn away, and laid back down.
Sango stopped in the doorway. "Rest now. And if I do not return by tomorrow morning, do not worry. And please do not come looking for me - You're not strong enough. Sayonara." She stayed there until he closed his eyes, then left the castle.
Outside, she realized why the village seemed so familiar to her. It hit her hard, the reason why she recognized the place. Now wonder she knew the house she had visited.
This was her old village.
As she walked through, everything came rushing back to her. The street market; the hut the doctor had used; and her old house. Her home. Home, where she had lived with Kohaku and Father. And everyone else that she had known all her life, her father's friends. The other exterminators that she knew as if they were her siblings. Everyone who had died by Naraku's evil.
Sango could not look at the place anymore, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. She started to run; she ran clear out of the village, and did not look back, the only thing giving her the strength to go back in there, ironically, the fact that Naraku was there.
She walked down the hill and towards the woods, where she knew her companions would be hiding out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sesshoumaru heard it first, that familiar voice calling for everyone.
"Do you hear that?" he asked Miroku.
"No," Miroku regarded him with an odd expression. "What do you hear?"
"Shh. . . " The youkai lord's eyebrows furrowed, and he stood very still, listening, barely daring to breathe. Then he heard it again. "My ears. . . they never deceive me. I hear Sango calling us," he said seriously.
Miroku looked up with wide eyes. Knowing better than to lose track of her voice by yelling for her, he stayed quiet, and let her com closer. Moments later, he could hear her as well, calling everyone's name.
The monk and the youkai looked at each other for a moment with shared expressions of delight. Miroku turned away and yelled, "SANGO!!! WE'RE HERE!!!"
"MIROKU? IS THAT YOU?"
"YES, SANGO! IT IS YOU!"
"I'M COMING!!!" she yelled as she got closer. "KEEP TALKING, I CAN'T FIND YOU!"
"WE'RE HERE, SANGO! RIGHT HERE!!!"
Soon enough, Miroku could hear someone moving in the bushes, and watched with wide eyes as Sango emerged out of the trees. They both stood there for a moment, simply staring at each other, Sango breathing heavily from running, Miroku breathing heavily from sheer exhilaration. He then rushed forward quickly and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing his eyes shut, nearly crying.
"I can't believe it. . . you're here. . . " he whispered into her ear.
She hugged him and closed her eyes, a safe feeling washing over her. "I'm glad to be back."
Miroku stepped back, but kept an arm around her waist. "He let you go, then?" he asked excitedly.
An odd expression came over Sango's face. "I was never his prisoner."
Miroku looked back, a little confused. He decided to ignore her statement, and hugged her again. "I was so worried about you!"
"We have all been worried," Sesshoumaru said from his stance in the clearing.
Sango's eyes snapped open and found him. "Sesshoumaru." She said his name with venom in her voice. Miroku didn't seem to notice.
"Yes, Sesshoumaru has been helping us find you!" he said. "If it wasn't for him, I don't think we would have gotten anywhere!"
Sango nodded, then turned back to Miroku, getting rid her hateful expression. She smiled at him.
He smiled back and began to laugh.
She started to giggle as well, and suddenly, Miroku picked her up and swung her around several times, Sango squealing delightedly. When he set her back on her feet, he grabbed her face softly and kissed her.
She did not kiss him back. Instead, she pulled away awkwardly, and forced a smile at him . "Where are Kagome and InuYasha?"
Miroku's smile faded, and he said, "They're uh. . . they're back at the clearing. . ."
"Then take me to them! I have missed them!" she said happily.
Miroku forced a smile, and nodded. He noticed Sesshoumaru shoot him a nearly worried look, and Miroku returned the glance. He and the youkai then showed Sango the way back to the clearing.