Chapter 2: A battle of love
Flashback
"Bye you guys! Good luck with your search!" Sango cried as she waved goodbye. Then she turned around to face Miroku.
"I hope we are doing the right thing. I don't like this idea. We shouldn't split up." said Miroku looking around nervously.
"Don't be silly! This will be great. It will finally give those two some time alone. I think it will be good for them," Sango said as a smile crept onto her face.
"Sango, what do you mean?" asked Shippo as he jumped around impatiently.
"Oh nothing," Sango replied.
"Let's go," Miroku said sternly. "We still have some work to do. I think we should go to the nearest village. That way, we could have a warm place to sleep and maybe even get some food. Then we start looking for Naraku."
And with that, the trio set off down the dust road. They hadn't traveled far when a huge dirt cloud became visible. It looked like something big was coming. And it was headed straight for them. As the cloud got closer the group realized they should get out of the way. Sango jumped off the road and Miroku grabbed Shippo and followed her. Miroku landed on top of Sango and she was just about to slap him when she was distracted as a huge group of terrified people ran past them. Whole families looked like they had packed up their entire houses and were now carrying their belongings while they ran. Miroku quickly jumped out of the ditch and stopped an old man.
"What's wrong? Why are you all running?"
"Are you blind?" The man replied. "Look behind you."
When Miroku turned around what he saw astounded him. A giant eye youkai was floating in the air above the village. Even worse, it seemed to be sucking up the village into a hole in its center. The pupil of the eye was lined with teeth and was rapidly erasing the village from existence.
"Come on!" Miroku screamed as he ran towards the village. Sango and Shippo followed behind him. As they neared the village the noise became deafening. The wind picked up Shippo and started to drag him towards the eye.
"Miroku, do something!" Sango yelled at the top of her voice. She was picked up by the winds as well. Everything was being drawn towards that abyss in the giant eye. Miroku got an idea.
"I'll fight wind with wind." And with that, Miroku took the rosary off of his wrist. "Wind tunnel!" He screamed. Everything stopped traveling towards the eye. The noise was so loud that even shouts could not be heard. Miroku could not see Shippo but he saw Sango. Everything had been trapped between the two vortexes. Sango was suspended in air. The wind tunnels were equal in strength so Sango and the other items were held up between them. Though Miroku was overjoyed that his idea had worked and that Sango was all right, he was quickly tiring. The eye turned to look right at him. It was so repulsive that for a moment Miroku thought he would be sick. The eye slowly started gliding towards him. The closer it got, the stronger the wind became. Soon the eye was almost above him. He could feel the energy draining out of him. He was getting weaker. Miroku sunk to his knees while trying to maintain the strong wind that was coming out of his hand. The eye was winning. Sango started to move closer to the eye's center once more.
In desperation, Sango cried out "Miroku, please! You have to stay strong. I believe in you."
Miroku did not hear her. He saw her mouth move though. He saw she was in pain. He couldn't let anything happen to her. He stood up and intensified his concentration. The eye seemed to realize how much he cared for Sango. It turned all of its power on her, trying to suck her into oblivion. It quickly became a battle for Sango. The winds were so powerful. A nearby tree flew up from the ground and when caught in the powerful winds, it was split into two pieces. Miroku suddenly realized that Sango couldn't survive this much longer. She was being torn apart. Her face displayed her great pain. Suddenly, everything seemed to stop for a moment. It was quiet for one infinitesimal second. Just long enough for Sango to say her final words. And just long enough for Miroku to hear them.
"Miroku……………………….. I love you." Sango said in barely a whisper. A single tear slid from her glazed eyes. It seemed like it took forever for that one tear to gently glide down her face and fall to the ground. Then a great light came from Sango's body. A small shining ball burst from her chest. From nowhere a figure jumped and caught the small ball and then disappeared without a trace. It looked like a man with a monkey head. When the man disappeared, the eye and the wind suddenly stopped. The eye slowly sunk to the ground and when it had landed, it burst into flames. The entire village quickly caught on fire. Everything around them was enveloped in flames. Sango's body floated in air for a minute and then plummeted to the ground. Miroku put his rosary beads back on just in time. Even though he was weak, Miroku gathered all of his strength to run over and catch her. Sango landed on him and they collapsed. When Miroku had regained his breath he sat up. Sango was not moving. What was that light? Who was that man? And most importantly, did he hear her correctly? She loved him? Miroku had realized his feelings for Sango a long time ago. He hadn't said anything because he knew she could never return his love. Had he been wrong? He turned Sango onto her back. She still wasn't moving. He put his ear next to her heart. At first he heard nothing.
"This can't be happening," Miroku thought. "She can't die!" Miroku was becoming panicked. He put his ear against her chest again. This time he could faintly hear a heart beat. Her chest moved slightly. Miroku sat back. "Ok at least she is alive. Now that I think about it where is Shippo?" Miroku started to search around frantically. His eyes caught on something underneath the burnt remains. Shippo's vest, or what was left of it, was stuck under a smoldering house. Miroku searched even more hysterically. He couldn't find Shippo's body anywhere though. A noise broke through the silence. A blue fire shot up into the air some distance from the village. It reminded Miroku of Shippo's fox fire. He couldn't go and check out the source though because he had to stay with Sango no matter what.
"At least there is some hope," Thought Miroku. He was exhausted. He looked at the devastation around him. He looked at the woman he loved. She lay there so peacefully. He went to check on her again. She was freezing. Her whole body was ice cold. All color had left her face. Miroku didn't know what to do. The severity of his situation hit him. He was losing everything that mattered to him. He was so tired and weak. His love was going to die and there was nothing he could do. He fell to his knees. His heart was breaking. He could physically feel his soul tearing apart. Tears streamed down his face. In his desperation, he didn't know what else to do.
"Sango," he cried. His voice cut through the forest. He lowered his head and wept.
End of Flashback
"That's what happened," Miroku said. Just telling the story seemed to drain him. Tears had welled up in his eyes again.
Inuyasha and Kagome were speechless. Kagome was the first to move. She ran over to Miroku to hug him.
"Miroku, I had no idea. You poor thing." Miroku let himself be embraced by Kagome. Inuyasha was still speechless. He stood up slowly.
"Miroku, we will get her back!" Inuyasha looked tense. He was ready for a fight. "I don't know how, but we will find out what happened!" He was almost shouting. Kagome had to calm him down.
"Inuyasha, I know that you are mad but calm down. Miroku needs support right now." Kagome turned back around to face Miroku. He was still wrapped in her arms. He looked so tired. His face looked old and worn out. "Miroku, you need sleep. I'll stay with Sango tonight. In the morning we will sort everything out. Ok? She asked.
"No Kagome, I'll stay with Sango tonight. Don't worry I will be fine, just as soon as we get her back." Miroku settled in next to Sango. Within seconds he was snoring.
"Wow he must have been exhausted," Kagome said as she turned around. "Where did Inuyasha go?" She wondered. She didn't want to leave Miroku and Sango but she didn't want to sit there alone. She started to walk towards the forest.
Flashback
"Bye you guys! Good luck with your search!" Sango cried as she waved goodbye. Then she turned around to face Miroku.
"I hope we are doing the right thing. I don't like this idea. We shouldn't split up." said Miroku looking around nervously.
"Don't be silly! This will be great. It will finally give those two some time alone. I think it will be good for them," Sango said as a smile crept onto her face.
"Sango, what do you mean?" asked Shippo as he jumped around impatiently.
"Oh nothing," Sango replied.
"Let's go," Miroku said sternly. "We still have some work to do. I think we should go to the nearest village. That way, we could have a warm place to sleep and maybe even get some food. Then we start looking for Naraku."
And with that, the trio set off down the dust road. They hadn't traveled far when a huge dirt cloud became visible. It looked like something big was coming. And it was headed straight for them. As the cloud got closer the group realized they should get out of the way. Sango jumped off the road and Miroku grabbed Shippo and followed her. Miroku landed on top of Sango and she was just about to slap him when she was distracted as a huge group of terrified people ran past them. Whole families looked like they had packed up their entire houses and were now carrying their belongings while they ran. Miroku quickly jumped out of the ditch and stopped an old man.
"What's wrong? Why are you all running?"
"Are you blind?" The man replied. "Look behind you."
When Miroku turned around what he saw astounded him. A giant eye youkai was floating in the air above the village. Even worse, it seemed to be sucking up the village into a hole in its center. The pupil of the eye was lined with teeth and was rapidly erasing the village from existence.
"Come on!" Miroku screamed as he ran towards the village. Sango and Shippo followed behind him. As they neared the village the noise became deafening. The wind picked up Shippo and started to drag him towards the eye.
"Miroku, do something!" Sango yelled at the top of her voice. She was picked up by the winds as well. Everything was being drawn towards that abyss in the giant eye. Miroku got an idea.
"I'll fight wind with wind." And with that, Miroku took the rosary off of his wrist. "Wind tunnel!" He screamed. Everything stopped traveling towards the eye. The noise was so loud that even shouts could not be heard. Miroku could not see Shippo but he saw Sango. Everything had been trapped between the two vortexes. Sango was suspended in air. The wind tunnels were equal in strength so Sango and the other items were held up between them. Though Miroku was overjoyed that his idea had worked and that Sango was all right, he was quickly tiring. The eye turned to look right at him. It was so repulsive that for a moment Miroku thought he would be sick. The eye slowly started gliding towards him. The closer it got, the stronger the wind became. Soon the eye was almost above him. He could feel the energy draining out of him. He was getting weaker. Miroku sunk to his knees while trying to maintain the strong wind that was coming out of his hand. The eye was winning. Sango started to move closer to the eye's center once more.
In desperation, Sango cried out "Miroku, please! You have to stay strong. I believe in you."
Miroku did not hear her. He saw her mouth move though. He saw she was in pain. He couldn't let anything happen to her. He stood up and intensified his concentration. The eye seemed to realize how much he cared for Sango. It turned all of its power on her, trying to suck her into oblivion. It quickly became a battle for Sango. The winds were so powerful. A nearby tree flew up from the ground and when caught in the powerful winds, it was split into two pieces. Miroku suddenly realized that Sango couldn't survive this much longer. She was being torn apart. Her face displayed her great pain. Suddenly, everything seemed to stop for a moment. It was quiet for one infinitesimal second. Just long enough for Sango to say her final words. And just long enough for Miroku to hear them.
"Miroku……………………….. I love you." Sango said in barely a whisper. A single tear slid from her glazed eyes. It seemed like it took forever for that one tear to gently glide down her face and fall to the ground. Then a great light came from Sango's body. A small shining ball burst from her chest. From nowhere a figure jumped and caught the small ball and then disappeared without a trace. It looked like a man with a monkey head. When the man disappeared, the eye and the wind suddenly stopped. The eye slowly sunk to the ground and when it had landed, it burst into flames. The entire village quickly caught on fire. Everything around them was enveloped in flames. Sango's body floated in air for a minute and then plummeted to the ground. Miroku put his rosary beads back on just in time. Even though he was weak, Miroku gathered all of his strength to run over and catch her. Sango landed on him and they collapsed. When Miroku had regained his breath he sat up. Sango was not moving. What was that light? Who was that man? And most importantly, did he hear her correctly? She loved him? Miroku had realized his feelings for Sango a long time ago. He hadn't said anything because he knew she could never return his love. Had he been wrong? He turned Sango onto her back. She still wasn't moving. He put his ear next to her heart. At first he heard nothing.
"This can't be happening," Miroku thought. "She can't die!" Miroku was becoming panicked. He put his ear against her chest again. This time he could faintly hear a heart beat. Her chest moved slightly. Miroku sat back. "Ok at least she is alive. Now that I think about it where is Shippo?" Miroku started to search around frantically. His eyes caught on something underneath the burnt remains. Shippo's vest, or what was left of it, was stuck under a smoldering house. Miroku searched even more hysterically. He couldn't find Shippo's body anywhere though. A noise broke through the silence. A blue fire shot up into the air some distance from the village. It reminded Miroku of Shippo's fox fire. He couldn't go and check out the source though because he had to stay with Sango no matter what.
"At least there is some hope," Thought Miroku. He was exhausted. He looked at the devastation around him. He looked at the woman he loved. She lay there so peacefully. He went to check on her again. She was freezing. Her whole body was ice cold. All color had left her face. Miroku didn't know what to do. The severity of his situation hit him. He was losing everything that mattered to him. He was so tired and weak. His love was going to die and there was nothing he could do. He fell to his knees. His heart was breaking. He could physically feel his soul tearing apart. Tears streamed down his face. In his desperation, he didn't know what else to do.
"Sango," he cried. His voice cut through the forest. He lowered his head and wept.
End of Flashback
"That's what happened," Miroku said. Just telling the story seemed to drain him. Tears had welled up in his eyes again.
Inuyasha and Kagome were speechless. Kagome was the first to move. She ran over to Miroku to hug him.
"Miroku, I had no idea. You poor thing." Miroku let himself be embraced by Kagome. Inuyasha was still speechless. He stood up slowly.
"Miroku, we will get her back!" Inuyasha looked tense. He was ready for a fight. "I don't know how, but we will find out what happened!" He was almost shouting. Kagome had to calm him down.
"Inuyasha, I know that you are mad but calm down. Miroku needs support right now." Kagome turned back around to face Miroku. He was still wrapped in her arms. He looked so tired. His face looked old and worn out. "Miroku, you need sleep. I'll stay with Sango tonight. In the morning we will sort everything out. Ok? She asked.
"No Kagome, I'll stay with Sango tonight. Don't worry I will be fine, just as soon as we get her back." Miroku settled in next to Sango. Within seconds he was snoring.
"Wow he must have been exhausted," Kagome said as she turned around. "Where did Inuyasha go?" She wondered. She didn't want to leave Miroku and Sango but she didn't want to sit there alone. She started to walk towards the forest.