"Inuyasha?" Sango asked quietly, as she looked outside. "Inuyasha, where are you?" There was no response. The taijiya frowned slightly. It had only been a moment, separating when he left and when she left, and yet he was already gone. "Inuyasha..." She murmured quietly, as her dark eyes scanned the area, looking for any sign of her hanyou companion.
"Mew?"
Sango jumped at the sudden sound, and looked down to see Kirara by her side.
The little neko looked up at the slayer, her large crimson eyes holding curiosity deep within them. Kirara tilted her head to the side slightly, then looked into the darkening forest. Turning to look at Sango once more, she mewed again.
"What's wrong, Kirara?" The taijiya asked, holding her arms out, indicating for Kirara to jump to her. And Kirara did just that; she jumped into Sango's waiting arms and nuzzled against her neck, mewing again. "What's wrong? Are you wondering where Inuyasha went, too?" Sango asked, scratching the feline behind her ears.
Kirara purred, then jumped to the ground again. The fire-cat then ran towards the trees, turned back to Sango, turned around in a circle, and mewed.
The taijiya blinked, "Kirara? What is it?" She took a few shaky steps towards the neko, "You know where Inuyasha is?" As she reached where Kirara was, she began to hear a faint voice. She couldn't make out who it was or what was being said, but the taijiya was pretty sure it was Inuyasha.
Kirara mewed and smiled a feline-type smile, glad that her mistress was finally catching on to what she was saying. She ran a few more feet into the forest, and turned to Sango once again.
"Okay, Kirara, I see what you're telling me. Inuyasha's in this direction, ne? Thank you." Sango said, smiling. She continued, at a slow pace, in the direction that Kirara was leading her, hoping to find Inuyasha soon. "You can go back to Kagome-chan and the others now, if you want. I think I'll be able to find Inuyasha on my own now."
The fire-cat looked at Sango silently for a moment, seemingly contemplating whether or not to leave. Finally, Kirara turned, and bounded back to the hut where Shippou, Miroku, and Kagome were.
Sango smiled, watching as her feline companion disappeared, before turning back towards the voice, which was getting louder.
Inuyasha, meanwhile, was oblivious to the fact that anyone was searching for him. 'What the hell happened back there?' He asked himself, 'She didn't know...She couldn't have known! What she said was...it was just a coincidence. It didn't mean anything.' He looked up at the night sky briefly, before sighing and looking at the ground again, "But if it didn't mean anything then why do I feel like this? If it didn't mean anything, then why did I kiss her in the first place? If it meant nothing then why...Why do I want her to know?"
"Want who to know what, Inuyasha?"
The hanyou jumped and spun around to find Sango. He stumbled back a few steps, but quickly regained his normal composure, "Sango! What the hell?! Don't do that! Jeez..."
Sango laughed a little and smiled, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"Keh! Who said anything about scaring me? You just...surprised me." Inuyasha replied, crossing his arms, "What are you doing out here anyway?"
The taijiya shrugged slightly, and leaned back against a tree, "You left so quickly...I just wanted to make sure everything was alright. I hope I didn't say anything to upset you..."
"Why...would you think that?" He asked, glancing at her, "Is it wrong to just want to be alone for a few minutes? Jeez...after spending all day cooped up watching you, anyone would want a few minutes of fresh air." He said, not really thinking about it beforehand. But as he turned to look at Sango again, he instantly regretted his choice of words.
She looked at him, her face not really showing any sadness. But her eyes were filled with that emotion. She looked down after a moment, "I...Am I really a burden to you, Inuyasha?"
The hanyou crossed his arms and looked away, mumbling something that Sango couldn't make out. When asked to repeat himself, he glanced at her and spoke a little louder, "I said...er...noofcoursenot."
"Eh..." Sango closed her eyes for a moment, repeating what he had said in her mind. After a moment, she seemingly figured out what he had said, though he had said it in a rush, "Well, I'm glad to hear that...I think. But, if you want to be alone, I'll go back to Houshi-sama, Kagome-chan, and Shippou." She smiled at her hanyou companion, then turned to leave.
But Inuyasha caught her wrist before she could leave, "Matte! Don't...don't go."
She turned back to him, tilting her head to the side slightly, "You said you wanted to be alone for a few minutes. I can go back to the others, Inuyasha."
"But...I don't..." He trailed off, not knowing how to finish his statement. He knew what he wanted to say; he wanted to tell her that he didn't want her to leave; that he wanted her by his side. But he wasn't sure what she wanted to do. So, instead of letting the silence between them get too long, he changed the subject, "...Are you doing okay? Kagome said you were fine but, I want to hear you say it."
"I'm fine. A little dizzy now and then, but otherwise fine." The taijiya smiled. Glancing down to his hand, which still held her wrist, she decided to take it one step further, "Besides, I would never break my promise. I told you I would live, and that's just what I plan to do. Even if I hadn't wanted to live for myself, I would've for the others...and you, Inuyasha."
He arched an eyebrow and felt the blush trying to rise to his face. His eyes narrowed in suspicion and he unintentionally pulled her closer to him, "Okay, that's twice now. Sango, were you awake when I...when I said those things to you?"
She smiled and looked at him, "I don't know if 'awake' is the right way to put it. I could hear your voice and I was aware of your presence near me. But I wasn't really awake, so to speak." She replied.
The hanyou shifted his gaze away from her, and let go of her wrist. 'Okay, so she heard what I said. That doesn't mean she knows that I kissed her...right?' He glanced to her, then quickly looked away again. He wanted to tell her that he had, in fact, kissed her. But, again, he wasn't sure how she would take it. He was well aware of what happened to Miroku whenever he tried something like that. But...she hadn't done anything like that to him when they had been alone. If anything, she had been acting the same way towards him. Still... he wasn't one to openly discuss his feelings, but for some reason, he wanted her to know more than anything. "She needs to know..." He whispered, without knowing he had even spoke out loud.
"Who needs to know what?" The taijiya asked, slightly confused,
He blinked and looked at her, "Huh? Oh..." He fell silent, trying to find a way to say what he had just been thinking. 'Shit...why did I say that?!' Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes momentarily before speaking again, "Sango...I want you to know something..."
"What is it?" She asked, moving closer to the hanyou. All traces of teasing was gone from her voice, she wanted to know what he wanted to say. Though she may not have shown it, it had been on her mind since he had first started to say something after he had comforted her on the night of the new moon.
He was once again silent, only this time it was for a reason. He listened closely to the sounds of the forest, making sure that they wouldn't be interrupted, again, by one of their traveling companions. Satisfied that no one was coming near them, and that there was no immediate danger near, he looked to the taijiya, taking particular notice to how close she had moved to him, "Sango, you once said you would stay with me regardless of what I do once the Shikon no Tama is complete. Is that still true?"
She nodded, "Of course it is. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. You're still with me, even after everything that's happened lately. I know I haven't been the best traveling partner, but you still let me stay with you. I know how you are when you transform into a demon, I know how you are when you become human, and I know how you are when you're just you; in your hanyou form. And whatever you do once you have the jewel, I'll still stay with you."
He smiled slightly, that was what he had wanted to hear. But he still had more to say... "I'm glad to hear that, because...I..." He paused to take a breath, "I want you to stay with me. After we all go our separate ways, once the Jewel is complete, I want you to stay with me." There, he had said it. Funny...it had seemed like it would be much harder to say when he was trying to figure out what to say. But, at the moment, it seemed like the natural thing to say. Now, he just had to await Sango's response.
His golden eyes lifted to look at Sango's face. She looked...surprised. Well, after a confession like that, anyone deserved the right to be surprised. Seconds turned into minutes; the silence between them growing in length. Inuyasha had faced many demons in his life. He had been sealed to a tree by the one who used to care for. And yet he had never been so afraid of silence before now. 'I shouldn't have told her. Dammit! I shouldn't have told her!' That phrase repeated itself in his mind several times as the silence continued to lengthen. 'Sango say something, say anything!' He silently pleaded, as he closed his eyes and turned his head away.
"I..."
His ears twitched, hearing her voice. Still, he couldn't bring himself to look at her; not without knowing what her answer was. And, lucky for him, he didn't have to wait long.
"Inuyasha, I...I want to stay with you too." She finally said, once the shock of hearing him say that wore off. She had never been so glad to hear anyone say anything, than she was at that moment.
The hanyou's head shot forward as he reopened his eyes, "Y-you do?"
She nodded and smiled at him, "Hai, more than anything!" She said, wrapping her arms around him, giving him a hug.
He let a rare smile spread across his face, as he returned the hug, "I've been waiting a long time to hear you say that, Sango." He said quietly.
They stayed like that for a while, holding on to one another, with only the normal forest sounds around them. Then finally, Sango pulled back slightly. She looked at him, her eyes glistening with tears of happiness, "As much as I'd love to stay out here for the rest of the night, I think we should be getting back to the others. We don't want them to start worrying about us."
"Why not?" The hanyou replied, giving the slayer a crooked grin.
She smiled and laughed slightly, "Because, the second Kagome-chan, Houshi-sama, or Shippou come out here, you'd be ready to pounce on them if they surprise you."
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow curiously, "What makes you think that?"
"Because," The taijiya began, "A-you hit Shippou when he asked you about what happened that night you stayed with me. And B-you were ready to attack Houshi-sama for interrupting our talk the other day. I don't think they'd appreciate that happening again, Inuyasha."
"Who gives a damn what they want." He muttered, rolling his eyes, "But, if you want to go back, then we'll go back. You should probably rest for a couple days too." He said, mumbling slightly on the last part.
She nodded, and smiled without saying anything more. And with that, the two headed back to the hut where the others were.
"Hmm...I wonder if Kagome-chan and Shippou have settled down yet." Sango said, once they were almost back.
Inuyasha shot her a glance before looking towards the hut again, "You mean from what I did?"
She nodded, "Hai. They thought it was hilarious. I thought it was cute." She said, causing the hanyou's face to redden slightly.
"Well you...you were...Wait, one thing before we go back in there." He said, as he stopped and turned to face her. "Sango, if you knew I was with you the whole time, and you could hear everything I said...Then..." He paused for a moment, and prayed he wouldn't get slapped for this, "Then you know I...I kissed you...right?"
The taijiya looked at him, tilting her head to one side, remaining quiet for a moment. Then, she smiled and reached a hand up, wrapping her fingers around the beads around his neck, "Baka hanyou." She said in an oddly innocent yet sweet voice.
The hanyou gave her a quizzical look as she tugged on the beads, causing him to lean closer to her.
Smiling still, she continued, "Of course I do." That said, she tugged on the beads once more and leaned up, pressing her lips to his.
Golden eyes widened slightly in surprise. But only a couple seconds passed before Inuyasha relaxed again.
She gave him another quick hug before pulling back and smiling. Then silently, she took his hand and walked the rest of the way back to the hut.
He smiled as well, as his eyes drifted to their hands momentarily. Even though they were only a few steps from re-entering the hut, he didn't care if the others saw them holding hands. If Kagome, or Miroku, or even Shippou had a problem with anything then...well, Inuyasha just didn't care.
Sango glanced over at Inuyasha briefly, that smile still on her face. 'I guess I was never really alone, after meeting Inuyasha and the others. They were always with me, through thick and thin. You were always there when I needed you, Inuyasha.' She looked ahead again as they were about to enter the hut, 'And I'll always be by your side when you need me, Inuyasha.'
AN: The end! Finally, I've finished another story! Yay! Okay, okay, I know I didn't write up the others' reactions, but you can imagine that up yourself, ne? Anyways, yes I'm starting on the sequel to this. And, unfortunately, it is still untitled. So, if you liked this story, just be on the lookout for a new story that says 'sequel to Gone' in the summary -;; As always, please review. Ja!