A/N: gosh, gee wiz, oh boy! dont you just love working parents? well i sure do! my moms gone away for the week for work, my dad and brother are both working midnight shifts. this means i have the whole house to myself in at night... though it will definately be a little unnerving when i actually go to bed cuz i have one of those over active imaginations that will go all 'somethings going to happen! someones gonna try to break it...'. sad but for now i enjoy it cuz i can stay up on the computer all night and write chapters. even though i should be reading 1984 for english... i personally dont care.

so i've kinda decided that im only going to work on this story until its finished then pick up on Starting Over cuz once this is out of my head, i'll have room for other ideas. so if you read Starting Over (which i encourage you all to do... yes i like to pimp my stories) you'll have to wait for this one to be finished.

And don't forget about the mini sequel to this story too! i cant wait to write that one. its gonna be oh so much fun! (im hyper agian... sickness plus lack of sleep does this to a person. its not good... stupid cold... stupid 6 hours of sleep)

SHOUT OUTS!!!

sakura1221: no Kouga doesn't remember that day at all (i'm guessing your talking about the dream here...). i know it sounds like a movie, but come one, who doesn't like a good old movie!

Spirit Demon: (high pitched squeel) i cannot, cannot, CANNOT wait! and I read KagomeHigurashi66's stories all the time. great writer she is. i was so happy about last chapters longness! yay! and blabberings fun... i do it alot... see... look at me go! blabber blabber blabber ... (im so sorry for this, i cant control my mind!)

koga-jr: YAY!! I cant wait for the new chappie!

baby Inu: HUZZAH! i feel bad for Kouga... he realizes his feeling only to be shot down. poor guy...

KagomeHigurashi66: I think we all would have. but this makes it a much more interesting story.

phantomoftheflame: your quite welcome. i had to laugh, i was starting to write the shout outs when you reviewed. it seemed ironic to me... maybe im weird.... oh and by the way... i like your new story two and again... i have issues with reviewing apparently... i like periods... can you tell? lol!

Onwards!

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The month dragged on slowly. A lot changed over that time. Ayame slowly began to forget about her problems back in New York and adjusted to life in New Orleans pretty well. She met another chef named Jacque. He was French, tall, blond with big blue eye. Oh and he was gay. He was her best friend down there. She called Sango and Kagome 3-5 times a week, and when she didn't call them, she called her grandfather. What surprised her the most that month, was how Sango actually started dated the leech, Miroku. How he managed to convince Sango to date him was a complete mystery to Ayame but she was happy for them. Kagome on the other hand was arguing with Inuyasha like they were an old married couple. Ayame found that rather amusing seeing as Kagome so obviously liked the guy and he just as obviously liked her back. As for Kouga... Well, she hadn't heard anything about him.

The night before Ayame's return home Sango and Miroku went out for a night on the town. It was getting late, well past midnight. They were walking down the road hand in hand toward Sango's apartment, the dim light from the street lamps casting a rather romantic to the quaint little area that the apartment was located.

"So have you been talking to Ayame recently?" Miroku asked.

"She calls almost everyday," Sango laughed.

"Has she said anything about coming back?" He asked.

Sango hesitated for a moment. She had completely forgotten that she and Kagome had told the guys that Ayame didn't know if she was coming back. She felt kind of bad actually. Kouga hadn't been himself since she left. Sango sighed, she figured that Miroku would discover for himself that Ayame was back if he was around her and Kagome enough. "No not a word..." She lied.

Miroku nodded silently. He too was feeling quite guilty, but about something completely different, yet related, to what Sango was guilty about. He hadn't told her about his and Inuyasha's dare. He hated lying to Sango when it had been partially his fault that Ayame had left in the first place. "Sango..." He started quietly, unable to look her in the eyes at the moment. "There's something I need to tell you."

Sango looked at her boyfriend, what ever he had to say, sounded serious. "What is it Miroku?" She asked in a soft, caring voice.

"What Kouga did... was sort of... mine and Inuyasha's fault..." He said slowly, not exactly sure what to say.

Sango stopped walking, Miroku doing the same, and turned his face towards hers. "What are you talking about?"

"That night... Kouga and Ayame's anniversary... after he left her with you and Kagome, he came to V6 and..." Miroku stopped, he did not want to get Sango upset, but she had a right to know.

"And what Miroku?" She asked, giving him a suspicious look.

"When Inuyasha and I discovered the events of that night, I suggested that it may have been possible that Kouga was falling for miss Ayame, and Inuyasha agreed. Kouga, being the stubborn man he was, denied the fact. So Inuyasha told him to hook up with that girl. Kouga would never let me and Inuyasha be right about something like that so he did it..." Miroku explained. He closed his eye, letting the story sink in and waited for the possible beating or shouting that would ensue.

Sango blinked at him. He looked scared that she would do something. She just sighed and looked down. She took his cheek in her hand and looked him in the eye. "It's not your fault, Miroku. Kouga should have known she would find out eventually. He shouldn't have done it, whether it bruised his ego or not." She leaned up and placed a short, but sweet kiss on his lips.

Miroku smiled at her and wrapped one arm around her waist as they continued their walk. Of course, this was Miroku, his hand slowly made its way to her butt.

"HENTAI!!"

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Knock Knock

Kagome rushed out of her bedroom to get the door. She looked at the clock, it was only 11:30 am. She couldn't imagine who would be knocking on their door this early. There was another knock. She open the door and nearly gasped at what she saw.

"Surprise!" Ayame yelled holding her arms out. In each hand there was a bag.

"Ayame! I thought your flight didn't get in until 4!" Kagome exclaimed, hugging her friend.

"I managed to get an earlier flight." Ayame said with a shrug. She pulled away from Kagome with a huge smile. "Presents..." She said holing out one of the bags in her hands to Kagome.

Kagome squealed and took the bag. "For me! Ayame you didn't have t- OMIGOSH! It's beautiful!" Her eyes were sparkling as she looked at the gorgeous dress she had pulled out of the bag.

"There's matching earrings in there too." Ayame said proudly, walking into the apartment. "I got Sango a different one."

"Who got me what?" Sango asked coming out of the bathroom as she tied her hair up in the usual high ponytail. She stopped dead spotting Ayame. "Ayame! You're flight wasn't supposed to be her 'till-"

"Until 4, I know. I got an earlier flight." Ayame explained yet again.

"Oh..." Sango said, giving Ayame a quick hug. She eyed the bag that was still in Ayame's hand. "Is that-?"

"For you?" Ayame cut in as she handed Sango the bag. "Yes."

Sango gave Ayame another hug before opening her bag and pulling out her outfit. "Wow! Ayame, it's so pretty! Thank you so much!"

"No problem, anything for my two best friends." Ayame said with a huge smile.

The girls sat down on the couch and started chatting about the few things they hadn't talked about on the phone. After an hour or two, Sango decided to put on a dress and Kagome said she was going to treat Ayame to a home cooked lunch, which basically meant Eazy Mac. Ayame remained on the couch, watching some news program, twiddling her thumbs.

Knock Knock Knock

"I got it!" Kagome called walking from the kitchen to the door. She looked the peephole. "Sango! Miroku's here," She called over her shoulder before opening the door. "Hello Miroku," she stepped away from the door and he let himself in closing it behind him.

"It's nice to see you Kagome, you look lovely as usual." He said, turning to sit on the couch. He, like Sango and Kagome had done, stopped dead at the sight of Ayame. He blinked a few times. "Why, Lady Ayame, you have returned."

Ayame sighed. "Yeah I know, I'm only a few hours early though." She said with a shrug, looking back at the television.

Miroku looked at Ayame with a confused expression. "Only a few hours early?" He asked sitting down beside her.

"Yeah, no one was expecting me until 4 but I caught an earlier flight..." She said beginning to get confused at Miroku not understanding what she meant.

"Oh so you must have called last night to tell the girls that you were coming back today." Miroku said, thinking he had figured out what she had meant.

"No... They knew all along I was only going for one month." She said getting more confused by the minute.

Miroku cocked an eyebrow. "But Sango and Kagome said you didn't know when you were coming back...?"

"They did, did they?" She asked, understanding his confused state now. She looked at Kagome who was standing in the kitchen holding a bowl full of Eazy Mac, looking wide eyed at the two on the couch. "Well Miroku, I think you were misinformed."

Sango entered the room at this point. The looked great on her. She choked when she saw Ayame, who was wearing a rather smug smile, sitting on the couch with Miroku.

"Sango... Did you happen to tell the guys that I wasn't coming back?" Ayame asked all to innocently.

"Uh... heheh... er, possibly." She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head.

Ayame laughed, as did Miroku. Sango sat down Next to Miroku who slung an arm around her shoulder.

"So Ayame how was New Orleans?" He asked.

"Wonderful. It's beautiful down there. Amazing night life too." Ayame giggled. "Did Sango tell you why I went down there?" Miroku shook his head no. "I was offered a job as a chef in a restaurant being built here in New York. The owner had on in New Orleans all ready and he wanted me to train there for a month before this one opened. Tomorrows the grand opening actually. They're going to have a red ribbon ceremony and everything..." She giggled again. "I get to cut the ribbon!"

Miroku laughed at her excitement. "That great, congrats." There was a short silence. "He hasn't been the same, you know... since you left." Miroku said sadly.

Ayame felt her gut twist into several knots as her smile slowly disappeared. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat, forcing a smile to appear on her lips. "Well, I hope he's changed for the better." She said coolly.

"Depends on how you look at it I guess." Miroku said looking at Ayame. "He barely leave his house, he doesn't talk to anyone, no matter how hard we try to get him to something, he refuses."

Ayame's gut twisted again with guilt but her expression remained as hard as rock. "He'll get over it eventually, I have." She said, try hard not to let anyone see that she really just wanted to burst out into tears and be with Kouga.

Miroku looked at her incredulously. "How can you say that?" He yelled. "The guy loved you, cant you see?"

"Than he'll learn from his mistakes!" She yelled back as she fought back tears.

"Come on Ayame! You can't tell me you don't feel anything for him!" Miroku said, his voice sounding almost desperate.

Ayame sat back and crossed her arms stubbornly. "I want nothing to do with the jerk." She lied.

"Don't be so-" Miroku began

"Miroku, I think it would be best if you go now." Sango said calmly, getting out of her seat and taking his hand. Miroku looked up at her, looking hurt that she seemed to be taking Ayame's side. Sango gave him an 'I'll explain later' look as she dragged him to the door. "Look Miroku, I've known Ayame a long time, she's not going to give in." She said once they were out in the hall

"Don't tell me you believe her." Miroku said.

"Of course not. I know Ayame as well as I know myself. She loves Kouga, that's obvious." Sango said in the same calm and collected voice. "What we need to do, is let Kouga know she's back."

"He won't believe me if I tell him." Miroku said.

"That's why you're not going to tell him." She said. Miroku gave her a questioning look. "That red ribbon ceremony is going to draw a rather large crowd. You need to get Kouga off his butt and out there. If he sees her, he can't deny it. And if she sees him, I'm sure things will work out."

Miroku nodded. "I'll try, but getting Kouga out of his house is going to be tricky..." He said doubtfully.

Sango gave him a kiss. "I'm sure you can do it." She said with a smile.

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A/N: Oh my, did that take a while to actually write. I had to rewrite most of that first scene. It just seemed wrong. I'm pretty sure Miroku was OOC in this chapter... meh, it had to be for it to work.

by gum im tired... its not even late out. geeeeeze. ok so the next chapter probably will be up on Friday or so but to hold me to that cuz im not 100 sure. I am sorry it took me so long to get this one out. Between school and much need sleep and a cold and minor writers block, it hasn't been easy for me to write. and now im tired so after i post this im gonna check a few things than sleep.

so i hope you enjoyed the chapter. I beleive it's a longer one. YAY! i think next chapter is going to be relatively short. but the one after that should be long. and than its the last chapter... then the epilogue. then its on to the sequel. YAY! or boo... i dunno.

i hate finishing stories, afterwards i feel like i should be writing more but its finished and i shouldnt be. IEE! ok so i have to stop the AN now cuz i still gotta run this through spell check and than post it before i can go to sleep... and for some reason i can barely keep my eyes open. so. RR! Toodles!