Being a woman, she couldn't quite get used to the thought of the scent of demon blood on her body despite her years as a talented slayer. It was a messy job, but when traveling with friends and ample opportunities to stop and bathe, it was senseless to look and smell fresh from the battlefield all the time.
A sense of gentleness lingered in the forest although it was gray from being encased in hot, ghostly mist. Even the rocks surrounding the water's edge seemed shining clean. Beside them she set down a pair of yellow flip-flops she was carrying, and untied a blue-and-white patterned cloth at her neck. And there was no way she was leaving the Hiraikotsu behind; the massive boomerang weapon carved from a demon bone was at least a foot taller than she.
Sango's tall, lean curviness was enunciated by her lavender and magenta robe, and the vibrant green skirt that kept it together. Slipping them off and arranging them on the ground neatly in nice folds, she began to unfasten a skin-tight black body suit with pink pads on the shoulders and knees, accented with matching sashes. Standing now as natural as she was at her birth, the strikingly pretty young woman entered the soothing heat of her bath, beginning with just one dainty little foot.
Clear water loosened her muscles, sluicing between and around her every curve when she sat down, making her too exhausted to splash happily as she imagined she was going to. She was rejuvenated by the steam shrouding her hair and her face, and the way the water's flow made her feel weightless. Lazily, she fixed her caramel gaze on her hand; slender fingers swayed and sent large ripples curving out far enough to reach her toes before vanishing into the steam.
She couldn't see past her outstretched legs very clearly, but upon focusing she took notice of a peculiar dark black outline, and the ends of someone's midnight hair, streaking purple even in the dimmest light, soaken and being feathered out in the water like silk ribbons in wind.
"E-excuse me," she began, drawing in her shapely legs and holding her hands to her chest humbly. "I hope you don't mind me being here. I'm sorry if I'm bothering you."
Something faint pewter and snake like emerged from seemingly nowhere, breaking up a little of the cloudy screen and carrying orbs of light in crustaceous little arms. Sango recognized the woman sitting behind it, lily-white and gloomy as if it were impossible for her to smile. But Kikyo's beauty had long been fading. There seemed to be no sun left in whatever kind of false life she possessed now. Only slightly thinner than Sango, she had more sleek and shining onyx hair and eyes so deep they were almost just as black.
"You're a friend of Inuyasha," the priestess said without meeting Sango's eyes, softly rubbing her lithe arm. The smokiness over the water only barely concealed her resurrected body, still so young. But the bitterness in her expression was like that of a forty-year-old spinster.
"And you're Kikyo," Sango replied solemnly, thinking of dressing and leaving.
"Why are you here?" Yet just then, Kikyo's eyes soften and she looked at the other girl's face. "I suppose we are in a rather awkward position that neither of us needs. Don't be angry with me in a moment of respite. I should go now."
"It doesn't matter." The demon-slayer shook her head, feeling somehow that she could not be rude to one who spoke to her so civilly, even Kikyo. "I'm not in any way involved in your personal affairs with Inuyasha and Kagome."
"So that girl is still beside him. That means there is so little hope left for me." Kikyo's voice was deep for that of a woman supposedly so youthful and lingering on monotonous. "Maybe I couldn't get him to truly care for me in life or death.... The truth is that I want him to love me," Kikyo half-snapped, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes. "And the girl from another era is endangering that."
"Don't talk that way. It won't help." Sango suddenly felt a deep yearning in her heart not to let the desolate priestess beat herself down. "But... that doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be here."
Kikyo laughed, but sadly. Her chuckle was hollow; she was hiding her pain. Yet somehow Sango saw Kikyo in quite a different light, having never spoken to her privately before. She started thinking of the way Miroku often irritated her, and how painful she'd never admit it was to watch him make himself available to any young woman he saw in their travels. If the truth be told, she knew they were both torturing themselves carrying on so stubbornly, even though Sango could do so little because it was apparently not just caring affection Miroku was after.
"In fact..." Sango began with a sigh, "I know you're hurting, but from experience I know that what you should do is support Inuyasha and hope for the very best. With you being... what you are, dwelling on your pain instead of moving on will only hurt more. I watch someone I love do whatever kind of foolish things he wishes, but... when I see him gain his victories, I know he is serious and motivated, and as long as we're together in a cause against Naraku, I couldn't be happier."
The corners of Kikyo's lips upturned just slightly, as if she had seen a prevailing flower in the middle of harsh, deadly snow. Or maybe that was her straight and tranquil face; Sango couldn't quite read the expression.
"We're both women with similar sorrows and just on opposing sides, then. So alike. But somehow through our webs of friends and adversaries, we ended up enemies too."
"We don't have to be. What I'm saying can make no difference at all if that's how you want it to be, but I think supporting Inuyasha and letting him live to defeat Naraku will heal more of your old wounds than your solution. There's probably nothing more in the world that Inuyasha wants than to avenge you. It's not just about the Jewel Shards, you know." Sango slipped into a pensive thought, hanging her arms around her knees and resting her chin on them.
Only a light fluttering in the treetops, and the faint calls of birds saved them from silence, and without words they sat for several minutes, breathing and reflecting on what the other said. The snake-like soul collectors orbited around Kikyo's body, and Sango stifled her heavy breathing as she thought of the priestess's passion, and the dark world that seemed to remain hidden within her.
Kikyo could see Sango only barely, keeping her chin pointed down and looking mostly at her legs and feet that had traveled great many distances for which everything and everyone around her indirectly told her was worth nothing in the end. She decided that this woman she spoke with now was far better off than she, and in spite of her violent jealousy of the living, no other third party could rouse such raw emotions from within her, and so easily.
"Then, here. Let this be a token of my support, but please don't let Inuyasha know. I think it would be better if we kept this quiet." Kikyo stood, and it occurred to Sango that her body was real and borrowed from some magical ordeal. The priestess crossed over and knelt before her, placing a hand on her knee. "Please take this." Her face was only a few inches from the demon-slayer's, and Sango felt strangely warm and welcoming to the stranger that made Inuyasha and Kagome tense with frustration. In her hand Kikyo placed something small, shiny and purple.
It was a Shikon Jewel Shard, sharp but surging with power. They had both had their share of experiences with these, and knew that someday all the shards would have to come back together with something.
"I feel no need to prolong destiny longer than I already have. It is the jewel this shard came from that tangled our lives together. Goodbye..."
Sango gasped, blushing furiously and dazed. "Why, I--thank you... I don't know what to say. I--"
"I do not need to know your name." Kikyo gave her another uneasy smile. "Remember me however you like, but at least do not forget that I bestowed that upon you. After what you've told me, I only hope it will be used well. Inuyasha will be happy to see that shard. He is of complicated character, so good luck to you."
Sango nodded, clenching the jewel shard tightly in her hand and enjoying the feel of it pulsating. She only wished that there was a way Kikyo would receive Inuyasha's gratitude.
"Where is Inuyasha headed next? For that is of where I must steer clear of going." Like a water goddess, she appeared so beautiful and innocent just now, with long wet hair hanging down and adding to the appeal of her flawless body.
"Ooyama Village."
"It is foolish of me to ask, but... just outside of there is another hotspring just like this, where I might be. And......" She could not bring herself to say the rest, but closed her hand over Sango's for only a second, so that they might feel the chilling warmth of a new and peculiar bond.
"I understand. Thank you." Sango blinked, and in that short time Kikyo was out in the distance again, gathering up her clothes: a white traditional blouse and pair of red hakama. As if they had never met, she dressed and walked away tall, proud, and focused. But Sango would never know how she scrambled the other girl's thoughts. It would be awhile before Kikyo would draw up the bravery, but somehow, from what she felt that day, she would have to see her again.