A/N: Wow. A year and an half before an update. That has to be a fanfiction record. I'm not THAT bad of a procrastinator, really. I guess I just kind of drifted away from fanfiction writing for a while and explored new interests. I promise I won't do that again, though. At least not for a while. :) Thank you for everyone that has reviewed any of my fics in the past. I am not worthy. bows

Disclaimer: Over a year later and I still haven't managed to conquer the franchise. sigh

It took only a few minutes before we reached the small village. There was nothing really out of the ordinary about it, except for the people. It seemed like they were deathly afraid of us, and they would glance suspiciously from the doors of their homes as we passed by. We were used to the weird looks we got because of Inuyasha, but this was different. I guess I could understand, though, given what was going on.

An elderly man approached the woman who was leading our group. His eyes passed from one of us to the next, in silence, as if he could discover our true intentions just by looking at us. After he was done, he turned back to the woman.

"Who are these people, Natsuko?" His voice was demanding.

The woman just smiled. "They are going to help us, father. They are going to find our children!"

The man just stared, dumbfounded. I thought these people would be happy that someone would want to help them, but these people seemed like they did not want us.

Miroku broke the silence. "We have some suspicions, sir, about who might be behind this. We only wish to help."

Inuyasha coughed, and muttered something under his breath. I didn't catch it, but Kagome must have because she shot him a dirty look.

This did not go over well with the man, because he suddenly became very angry and thought that the "dog demon thing" was insulting him and a fierce argument ensued between him and Inuyasha.

I glanced at Miroku, and he gave me a little smile. This was going to be fun.

After much apologizing from Kagome and some creative persuasion from Miroku, we were allowed a place to stay the night. Inuyasha was still in a bad mood, hunched over in a corner. He kept "feh"-ing and muttering. He would have made us leave by now if it wasn't for Kagome's insistence that this must be tied to Naraku, that she kept sensing something. This didn't make Inuyasha any less grumpy, however.

Natsuko was the only person in the village that would actually talk to us. She was very kind; she brought us food, and she checked in on us a few times to make sure we didn't need anything.

The night was starting to approach, and all of us were pretty tired, even if we didn't show it. I was sitting next to Miroku, with Shippou beginning to slumber in my lap. I ruffled his hair, and Miroku smiled at me.

"You would make a great mother, Sango." He said it quietly so no one else would hear.

I blushed so intensely I thought my face was on fire. This just made him laugh.

"Someday, Sango, you'll see." Miroku was about to say something else when Natsuko entered the room.

"Does anybody need anything? I could get you some blankets, if you are cold."

Kagome smiled. "We are completely fine, Natsuko. Thank you. You don't need to be so kind to us, you know."

"Oh, it's just... I'm sorry for the way the village has been acting. They really are grateful for your help, it's just.... we've been a little wary of strangers, as you can understand."

"We understand completely," Miroku smiled reassuringly at her, "and we thank you for your help. Please rest, and tomorrow we will begin to look for your children."

Natsuko burst into tears. "Oh, thank you, houshi-sama! I can never repay your kindness!" She practically flung herself into his arms. Miroku looked a little stunned, but he attempted to comfort her nonetheless. I felt the heat begin to rise in my body.

Of course I wasn't jealous.

I mean, she leapt into him, just like she did on the road earlier. It's not his fault. He's just trying to be nice and make her feel better.

Maybe it was just the way he was rubbing circles into her back, and speaking in a calming, smooth voice, the type that makes you feel so warm and peaceful that everything just seems to float away. The voice that I thought was just for me.

Who am I kidding? This has happened plenty of times before. I've seen him do this. It had not happened in a while, but I had still seen him do it before.

It still hurt, though.

My face was turned away from them and I couldn't look back until I heard Natsuko move away from Miroku. She uttered a few more thanks, left the room, and it was silent.

Inuyasha "feh"-ed again and Kagome decided it was a good time to settle in for the night. My face was turned away from all of them. I didn't want him to see the tears that were stinging at my eyes.

I heard him walk towards me, and he placed a hand softly on my shoulder. "Sango," he whispered gently. "What's wrong?"

I didn't know what to do. Keeping my face turned away from him, I placed Shippou down next to Kagome, and left the room to go outside. I heard him follow me, and I cursed quietly.

"Sango... you're angry at me. I can tell."

I sighed. "It's fine. It's not your fault that the women throw themselves on you."

"I'm sorry, Sango. What did you want me to do? Just push her off me?"

I turned around. "Maybe."

"Sango, you can't be serious."

"Maybe I am."

"Well maybe you're crazy."

"Maybe I just don't want other women crawling all over my future husband," I sighed, but blushed a little bit at what I had said. "Is that so crazy?"

"No." Miroku smiled. One of those sweet, gentle smiles that I love so much and make you want to melt into a little puddle of warmth. I can't stay mad at him. No, Sango, no, don't give in! NO! You're melting! MELTING!!! Don't give in! You're smiling back! NOOO!!!!!!

Damn.

He walked towards me, sensing that I was a little calmer now, and took me in a warm embrace.

"You know that you're the only woman I love, Sango. You shouldn't be jealous." He kissed my cheek gently.

"Jealous? I wasn't jealous!" I blushed madly, but calmed a little when I warmed up to his hug. His hugs were the same as his smiles.

He lets go of me and sits down on the ground, motioning for me to come sit in his lap. I do so, and snuggle up to him as his arms wrap around my waist.

"The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?" He kisses my neck, and looks up to the sky.

"Yes." I close my eyes, blissful. There is nothing like being held to make you feel at peace... like nothing bad could ever happen to you as long as you stay wrapped up in their arms.

I wish I could have stayed like that forever.

The castle walls were dark and moldy, hardly visible underneath all the shadows that seemed to encompass everything. It was silent, except for the buzzing of a fly.

A hand shot across to the wall to smack the poor creature where it had landed. The room was silent again, just the way Naraku liked it. Deathly silent. Not even the children in the nearby room were making a peep, unlike when they first arrived. Kagura had fixed that, however. Now all was still.

He glided across the room, and sat on a small cushion on the floor. He closed his eyes for a moment, almost as if in some form of meditation.

"Kagura." His deep voice cut across the chilly air like a knife.

"Yes, Naraku." She approached him slowly, but could not see him in the shadows.

"Is it done?"

"Yes." Her voice was quiet, unwavering.

"Good. Send the message."

"Yes, Naraku." She disappeared as quickly as she had come. Naraku smirked in a twisted sort of way.

The game was about to begin.

To be honest, I think this could have turned out better. I'm probably OOC because I drifted away from the series for a while. I'm still regaining touch with my inner Inuyasha, so hopefully it will go better. And yes, I know a certain thing in this fic is a little outdated in regards to recent manga events, but I don't care. This takes place before that, I guess.

And I promise the next update will be sooner than the last :)