*Angel Writer2 walks out and ducks* Ok, so I haven't updated in a REALLY long time. Let's just say that life's a bit crazy right now, and I'm going through major writer's block. So...here's the first part of chapter 8! Hopefully part 2 will be coming soon and will be longer!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Kagome. The rest of them belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I don't own them. Happy?

Whom Do You Love, Who Will You Choose?

By: Gretchen

Chapter 8: The Return (part 1)

Miroku and Sango finally made it back to the village. Both ran in yelling.

"Inuyasha, Kagome! Kouga's back agai..." At this point they spotted Kouga standing in the middle of the street with a bewildered look on his face. Sango grinned at Miroku and walked up to Kouga.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" She asked, waving her hands in front of his face. She got no reaction. The evil grin on her face widened and she rapped her knuckles on Kouga's head. Still nothing.

"I think his mind's finally snapped." She said.

"Let me try!" Miroku said enthusiastically, managing to wave a hand in front of Kouga's face and grab Sango's butt at the same time.

"PERVERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed, pulling hirakotsu out of thin air and smacking him upside the head with it. "You were supposed to mess with Kouga! NOT grab my ass! ARGH!!" She growled and stomped off, presumably to find Inuyasha and Kagome.

Crap, he thought to himself, I blew it again!

Sango stomped through the placid forest, disturbing its peace by cursing the monk in ways that would make a demon cringe. She turned around every so often to see if he was following her, even if he just wanted to apologize. After about 10 minutes with no sign of him, she decided that she would just search for Kagome and Inuyasha by herself, before it got to dark to see. The sun had already sunk low in the sky, so it wouldn't be soon before she had to go back again.

She walked slowly deeper into the forest, as the light became less. She glanced around, watching for any signs of movement or threat between the trees. Then, realizing her jumpy state, she grinned slowly to herself. These last few years have made me SO paranoid! She thought.

Sango had just turned her head to investigate a small sound when she ran into something solid, lumpy, and warm. And it was definitely NOT a tree. She looked up slowly, but the shadows hid the things face. She was just raising hiraikotsu to attack when it spoke, in a voice comfortingly familiar.

"Damn, Sango, watch where you're walking!" It said, in a gruff, and yet much quieter than normal voice, as though it was frightened of disturbing someone.

"Inuyasha!" she yelled in relief. "But where's Kagome? Is she alright? Has she been hurt? Did you find her?!"

She continued like this for quite some time, ignoring Inuyasha's frantic shushing, that is hindered by a bundle in his arms. She finally notices and quiets her voice. Then she turns to look at the "bundle" that he's carrying. In the dim light she sees Kagome's peacefully sleeping face. Sango immedeatly calms down, and mentally hits herself. Of course Inuyasha would never let anything happen to Kagome!

"So THAT'S why you wanted me to quiet down." She said softly.

He glanced down at Kagome to be sure that she was still sleeping peacefully. She was smiling happily, and as he watched, she snuggled into his kimono. He allowed a soft smile to grace his features, and his golden eyes showed more emotion than in all the time he had loved Kikyo.

Sango saw this and grinned inwardly. She had known all along that Inuyasha and Kagome were meant for eachother, now it looked like they had realized it too. Now if only Miroku...no, she would not finish that thought! He was just a stupid lecherous monk, so why should she care about him? She turned around before Inuyasha could see the look on her face, and wordlessly led the way back to the village.

Inuyasha watched her walk off, slightly confused. Then he shrugged, and followed her to the village to deposit the sleeping girl that was still in his arms.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Review Replies:

Nokomarie the snake: Thank you for reviewing! And...I need Kikyo, that's all I can really say at this point. If there wasn't a purpose for bringing her back, then she would've stayed dead. And remember, she was never actually "at rest" when Inuyasha killed her the last time... Well, that's all for now. Once again, I'll hopefully have part 2 up here soon!! One more thing...I LOVE REVIEWS!