AN: Nope, Inuyasha does not belong to me in any way, shape or form.

~*~

"Talk to her Inuyasha. Comfort her Inuyasha. You say you know what she's going through. Keh!" Inuyasha spat, crossing his arms as he stood up and went to find the demon slayer. "Damn monk. I make one little comment and automatically I have to be the one to talk to Sango. Jeez…" He mumbled, though in reality, it didn't really bother him.

Night had fallen, and the group had settled down for the night. As usual, Sango had volunteered to make sure no demons were around. And nobody argued with her. The now-temporarily-human-hanyou walked into the forest, in the direction he had seen Sango go a few moments earlier. And it didn't take too long to find her either. She was sitting on the lake-shore with her knees pulled up to her chest, just staring out at the waters surface.

"What do you want, Inuyasha?" Sango asked suddenly, her voice low and calm.

Inuyasha paused before continuing forward and sitting beside her, "How'd you know it was me?"

"You always leave the group on this night." She replied, pointing up to the night sky, "New moon, you turn human, right?"

Inuyasha nodded slightly, "Yeah…it's the drawback of being a hanyou. Heh, you looked really confused the first time it happened after you joined us."

"Yeah, I remember." Was Sango's only response.

Inuyasha sighed and looked at the water for a moment. Finally, after a moment of silence he turned back to the taijiya, "Sango, you can't go on like this. You're going to get yourself killed if you do."

She wrapped her arms around her legs and sighed, "It doesn't matter anymore…if I live…if I die…"

He blinked, then looked down slightly, trying to decide if she really meant what she had just said, "Sango…what do you mean 'it doesn't matter'? Of course it matters!"

"To who?" She asked, turning to look at Inuyasha. "Naraku has taken everyone away from me. I won't be missed."

"Don't be stupid, Sango!" He said, sharper than he had intended, "Of course you'd be missed! What about us? Kagome, Miroku, Shippou? We'd all miss you."

The taijiya didn't respond for a while. Finally, she gave a quick flick of her wrist, causing the blade concealed under her armor to reveal itself. She brought her arm closer to her face and just looked at the blade for a few seconds before speaking, "Inuyasha? Remember when you stopped me from killing Kohaku and then myself?"

The human-hanyou nodded slowly, glancing at the blade and then back to Sango's face.

"You said that I didn't need to do that, because there was still hope for Kohaku." She slowly turned her head and looked at Inuyasha, "Would you stop me again?"

"What?! Of course I would!" Inuyasha responded, surprised that she would actually say something like that. "You can't just give up on life! If you do that, then Naraku will win. We'll get him, Sango!"

"And what then? Go back to my village, where I'll die alone anyways? Watch as my only friends left walk away from me forever? What's the point? Either way, I lose. Naraku has already won." Sango said, looking down once again.

Inuyasha frowned, narrowing his human-colored eyes, "You know what? Yeah, he has won. But its only because of you. Naraku would love to see you like this, because this is just what he wanted." He shook his head slightly, his tone becoming angrier with every word, "I was wrong about you, Sango. I always thought you were a great fighter. But I was wrong. You're not a fighter. If you were, you'd be wanting to find Naraku and kill him, not yourself. But if you want to think that way, that's your choice. The rest of us are leaving first thing in the morning whether you're there or not." That said, he stood up.

He was planning on returning to the campsite, but Sango stopped him. She suddenly grabbed a hold of the sleeve of his haori. "Inuyasha wait…don't go."

"I've already said what I thought and I'm not going to apologize for it. Like I said, we're leaving in the morning, whether you decide to come with us or not." He said, not looking at her.

"I…I wasn't going to ask you to change your mind about either of those things…" She replied, tightening her hold on his sleeve, "I don't…want you to leave." The taijiya shook her head slightly and clutched onto his arm as if it were a lifeline of sorts, "Don't leave me alone…I'm scared to be alone, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha looked down at her, surprised. He had never seen her acting like this. Her voice was shaky, and even though she was only holding onto his arm, he could feel her trembling. The human-hanyou instantly regretted everything he had said. "Sango…" He sat down again, though the taijiya continued to hold onto him. "Calm down…I'll stay here with you."

More silence passed as Sango continued to clutch onto Inuyasha. And finally, she spoke, "Inuyasha…sorry…I didn't mean that…I don't know why I said it…Its just…its so hard! Everyone I knew and loved is dead…"

As she spoke, the human-hanyou felt an unfamiliar and unexpected ache in his chest…especially at her last statement. But he quickly shook it off as he looked down at Sango, remaining quiet.

"Once the Shikon no Tama is completed, everyone gets what they wants and leaves happy; Kagome-chan gets to go back to her country and stay there, Houshi-sama will find himself a wife, Shippou will probably stay with Kaede-sama, you'll become a full demon…And I…I'll be left alone…" The taijiya said, whispering the last part, as she tightened her hold on Inuyasha's arm, burying her face in the sleeve of his haori.

"Alone?" Inuyasha blinked as he struggled to pull his arm away from her grip. He then put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her face, "Sango, you're not going to be alone! Kirara will always be with you…And we're not going to leave you alone. Why would you think that?"

Sango looked at him, trying her best not to cry. She shook her head as her gaze turned downwards, "I don't know…but isn't it true? Kagome-chan will leave. And, unless she takes the Jewel with her, she'll never be able to come back. With no curse to bind him, there's no telling what Houshi-sama will do. And unless I stay around Kaede-sama's village to exterminate any demons, I won't be able to see her or Shippou." She paused and drew in a shaky breath as she slowly looked back up to Inuyasha, "And…and you…Inuyasha, if you become a full demon, will you remember me? Whenever you transform, you don't seem to remember anyone. Will it be that way if you use the Jewel to become a demon?"

"I…Well I…" Was all the human-hanyou could say. He wanted to say no, that he'd always remember her as well as the others. But he couldn't truthfully say it…Sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment, "Sango…I can't say what will happen once Naraku is defeated and the Jewel is finished. But will you stop and listen to yourself? Come on Sango, we can sort out everything once we kill Naraku once and for all. What he did to Kohaku was wrong. You're not going to let him get away with that, are you? You're not going to let Kohaku's death go unnoticed, are you?"

"Of course not! How could you think I'd do that?!" Sango shouted, letting go of Inuyasha and turning around so her back was to him.

Inuyasha blinked. She hadn't spoken that loudly since Kohaku had died. It surprised him, but at the same time…he was glad. "Sango, of course I don't think that. But you sounded like you were giving up."

The taijiya shook her head, "You're right…that's what it sounded like…but that's not what I'm doing, Inuyasha. I'll never give up…not when it comes to Kohaku. I'll never forgive Naraku for what he did to him…It was his first extermination…he was scared, but I told him everything would be okay…I was so stupid…"

He looked at her, not saying anything for a few minutes. He didn't know why, but at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to hold her and tell her everything would be alright. He would never openly tell anyone, but he admired the exterminator. She was strong, stronger than most humans he had met. And what she lacked in strength, she made up for in determination. Shaking his head slightly, Inuyasha snapped back to reality and looked up at Sango, "How could you have known what would happen? You were only assuring him. Its not your fault." The human-hanyou said softly, as he reached out and put his hands on the taijiya's shoulders.

Sango jumped slightly. She hadn't expected him to do that. Miroku, she would've expected something like that from…but Inuyasha? Not that she minded though… "Maybe I wasn't the one who shot him with those arrows…But I should've seen it before. The spider web…The way the castle lord was enjoying our fighting…I should've realized he was a demon…I could've killed him before anything happened…"

"Stop…don't do this." Inuyasha said, as he pulled her back against him. He felt her tense, but when he put his arms around her shoulders, she relaxed again. "Stop blaming yourself. If you would've tried killing him, his guards would've killed you."

Sango sighed and unconsciously leaned back against Inuyasha, "At least I might've been able to save Kohaku… Maybe saved him from Naraku."

Inuyasha tightened his hold on her slightly, "Don't worry. We'll get him. We'll get Naraku and make him pay for what he's done. I swear, even if it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure he pays."

The taijiya only nodded, as she closed her eyes. For the first time since everything had happened, she felt…warm. She felt safe, with Inuyasha there. And his words, though she had heard them before, brought comfort.

Minutes passed and neither warrior said anything. "Go ahead and sleep, Sango…I'll make sure nothing happens to anyone tonight." The human-hanyou said quietly, finally breaking the silence.

Once again, Sango nodded. She was already falling asleep anyways. "Don't leave…" She mumbled, wanting to make sure he knew she wanted him to stay with her.

"I won't…I won't leave you alone." He assured her. Then, with a slight smile, he added to himself, 'You'll never be alone…I'll always be with you.'

~*~

AN: Awww…. ^-^ Stay tuned for the next chapter.