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Chapter 4

Battles of Heart and Strength

Sango strode through the forest in the darkness, angrily. She was supposed to be Miroku's fiancée, his intended. Soon she was supposed to be his wife. He told her he loved her, but he went chasing after every beautiful woman that came within ten feet of him. Naraku was defeated about a year ago, and Miroku's wind tunnel closed up. Miroku wanted to make Sango his wife then, but she held back after finding him with a village girl. She ran into the forest then, seeking refuge, and seeking time to think about what to do next. She resolved to wait to become his wife, and see if he would change his lecherous ways for her, but time and time again, he failed her. Tonight was the final straw. She would tell him in the morning that she didn't wish to be anyone's wife. She could live happily now that she had her brother returned to her. She remembered that day clearly.

After Naraku was defeated, Sango clung to her dead brother. She turned and watched as the only person who could save him started to walk away from the fight. A fight that he had fought so valiantly. Sango stood up, angry, frightened, and with nothing to lose.

"Sesshomaru!" she yelled as she positioned her boomerang in attack mode. If he didn't comply with her wishes, she would fight him to the death. He turned and looked at her curiously over his shoulder. She walked up to him, tears in her eyes. "Please bring my brother back! I know you can use your tensaiga, please!" Sesshomaru turned his head forward again, and continued walking.

"Sesshomaru! Don't turn your back on me!" and with that, she threw her boomerang, barely missing him. He was next to her in a moment, raising his sword to finish her off. She grabbed her sword, and the two fought, Sango matching Sesshomaru's skill, move for move. This surprised Sesshomaru, but he didn't show it. Finally, her energy drained, only being a human, and he knocked her backwards, her sword turning somersaults in the air. He sheathed his, and dashed to her, grabbing her by the throat and dangling her above ground.

"Worthless human. Did you think you could fight me and win?" He raised his poisonous claws, ready for the death strike, and he looked into the eyes of his prey. She stared back at him with anger and longing for death in her eyes. She wanted him to kill her.

"Why do you not fear me?" He questioned in a calm voice.

"Just shut up and do it if you are going to!" she hissed, daring him even further. "Either kill me or save my brother!" Sesshomaru looked toward Kohaku, and noticed Rin there, crying over him. His tensaiga started to throb, and Sesshomaru looked at the woman exterminator. He dropped her and walked to the dying boy, as the others were rousing. He slashed the underworld demons, and walked away, without a backwards glance to any of them, Rin and Jaken following him.

Sango sat on the back of a small creek, hugging her knees to her chest. She was grateful to the demon lord, but when she turned to tell him, he was gone.

It was strange, but she knew he lingered nearby somewhere. She was a demon exterminator, and trained to sense youkai. More than once when she was alone, pondering what course of action to take, what path to lead her life on, she felt the demon lord somewhere near, but when she sought him, he vanished. After a while, he didn't frighten her anymore, but she always wondered why he was near.

"I know you are here, and I know you have been near me for a while now. I know that you follow me…and I know that you protect me." Sango whispered into the night, remembering an occasion a few months back. Miroku angered her, and she fled to the forest to gather her thoughts. A strong centipede demon took her by surprise, and she blacked out from the blow. When she awoke, she was leaning against a tree, and the demon lay, melted in a pile of green acid a safe distance away. She looked into the sky, and spotted a small whiff of white cloud racing away. Her eyes widened, knowing who had saved her, and her mind was in a constant state of turmoil since that time. She was confused, and intrigued. He not only saved her brother's life, he saved her own.

"Why does one as strong as you are let that monk weaken you?" A voice roused her from her thoughts. She peered into the reflection of the water, and saw the demon lord standing over her, peering into the same pool. His face held indifference, his manner was cool and calm, as she expected from him.

"What?" She whispered, and jumped to her feet, suddenly angry. "It isn't any of your business!" She gasped and put a hand to her mouth when she realized who she was talking to. He was the Lord of the Western Lands, and she did owe her life and her brother's life to him, not to mention, he could cut her in half with those poisonous claws of his, any time he felt like it. She gazed into his eyes, suddenly aware of his interest, and the nature of the question.

"Why does that concern you, Sesshomaru? Why do you care?"

The only change in Sesshomaru's face was the widening of his eyes, but that was for an instant. He stared down at this human, asking himself the same question. Why did he care about this female? Why did he continue to save her, and follow her after that fight against her? Honestly, he was intrigued. Her fighting skills were beyond compare. He held nothing back against her, and she matched him, blow for blow. It was nothing like fighting his brother. He went easy on Inuyasha because, like it or not, he was part of his blood. He looked into her eyes, and saw bravery, fearlessness, and strength, reflecting through them, all in the form of this woman before him. He never fought anyone, man or woman, demon or demoness, who possessed such strength of will and could match him in weaponry-swords at that. The fact that she was only a human, and a woman, surprised him, and he wanted to know more of her. He began to follow her. He began to wonder about her…and he protected her, but she did have a weakness. She cared for someone who didn't deserve her, and she let it break her heart. He thought all of this, as he stared at her. Uncomfortable with thinking about her so much, he turned away, and began walking, cursing his mind, because he knew that like Rin, he had let this woman become a weakness of his, and he hated it, because he hated humans. Rin and Sango were contradictions to his principles. It would be easier to kill the woman than to let her haunt his thoughts, but as the thought skimmed his mind, he knew he would not do it, any more than he would kill the girl he considered his daughter.

"Even the strong are weak in some manner," he stated simply, without emotion as he continued to walk, snickering to himself that even for as strong as he was, he also had weaknesses. This angered Sango, and she stripped her kimono off, revealing her exterminator outfit. She was without her boomerang, but she had her blades.

"Sesshomaru," she growled, as he turned somewhat expectantly, "I told you once not to turn your back on me and I meant it!" She ran toward him, her sword in her hands, ready for battle. 'This will take my mind off of Miroku!' she thought, somewhat gladly as she came within striking distance of the demon lord. He only stood there, looking somewhat bored. He brought tokijin out to ward off her blow. Like before, they fought, blow for blow, swords clanging into the night. Sango realized her chance, and she brought out the blade on the sleeve of her uniform to surprise Sesshomaru, while knocking tojikin out of his grasp. His eyes widened in surprise, but his expression soon replaced itself with the usually boredom as he lashed her arm with his whip. He smirked when he noticed blood coming from the scratch he inflicted. Sango stood back, holding her arm and glaring at Sesshomaru, while she dropped her sword. She quickly dodged when Sesshomaru sent another attack with his whip, but he wasn't prepared when Sango threw her chain around the whip, and forced it out of his hands. She threw the whip into her free hand, intending to use it against the demon lord, but she should have known better. The poison on the whip burnt her hand, with immense pain causing paralyzing her for a split second. But a split second was all Sesshomaru needed. He immediately used his superior speed, and pinned her to a tree by her neck. He still retained the bored look as he looked into her eyes, but Sango noticed something flash through them, but it was quickly gone. What she saw numbed her worse than the pain in her body.

'Admiration?' she thought, before she let the darkness consume her.

Sesshomaru felt the exterminator go limp in his grasp, and he did something unusual. He let her go, and gently wound his boa around her, and picked her up, bridal style. He summoned his flying cloud, and swiftly headed for his domain. The western lands.