Amehana: Awwwwwwwww, here it goes…
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha® or any of it's characters, oKaY?! Good. Glad we got that settled.
If this isn't filler then I don't know what is, but I truly cannot help myself.
Chapter XVII– All You Wanted
"It was so cold…
So I took your hand and we figured out
That when the tide comes I'll take you away
If you want to
I can save you
I can take away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted was somebody who cared."
–Michelle Branch
"All You Wanted"
Kagome yawned and stretched her arms above her head as she walked on the stony path to the hot spring; therefore banishing the tiredness from her body.
The multicolored and abstractly shaped rocks made a soothing, crushing sound as they rubbed against each other under her bare feet. It was a beautiful morning in Feudal Japan and the sun was shining fully in the sky, but the shade of the trees above cooled her path.
Kagome smiled to herself as she set her bag (full of the necessary things to take a bath) on a rock that sat on the rim of the hot spring. The steamy water lapped upon its smooth surface as the wind blew softly. Only last night she had slept perfectly comfortable in Inuyasha's arms. She loved the way his body was so warm, the way she could his heart beating, and the way his scent seemed to lull her to sleep, and then energize her as she had awoken that morning. She giggled. It was amazing how wonderful he could be if he just gave loving a chance.
Not far away was the aforesaid himself. Inuyasha smiled unconsciously and leaned back against the tree in which he was sitting.
'She's so beautiful…' he thought as he watched her in the morning sunlight, undetected by the young woman.
(A/N: oh, gawd, here I go…sorry kids but I have 2 do this commits Hara-kiri)
That's when Kagome reached up and unbuttoned the two clasps to her one-piece dress kimono, her eyes straying over the scenery of the place.
Inuyasha's eyes widened and he sat bolt upright. Uh-oh, he had to leave now, he couldn't watch her; she'd kill him if she ever found out! And besides, he really wanted to respect her…well, part of him did, anyway.
The youkai gulped and watched as her clothes came sensuously off her perfect body. He couldn't stop watching– no matter how hard he tired.
Below, the miko smiled slightly as she stepped into the warm water. She stood there for a second getting used to the temperature as it rippled from her descent into the pool. Then she took a breath and dove under the water to drench herself fully, only to surface once more.
Then it was even worse, his keen eyes watched as the water ran down her skin like small waterfalls until they rejoined the pond's surface, which barely even reached her waist –for she hadn't waded in very far– causing his attention to be attracted to that certain area.
Kagome gathered her hair and slowly pulled it over one shoulder– the water had turned the black tresses with blue streaks into small wavy ringlets. The hanyou ran her fingers through her hair to comb out the tangles.
Inuyasha gulped again as she did that, her dark wet hair in contrast to her, pale, flawless, skin, covered as it was in beaded water droplets…no no no! He couldn't think like that! The demoness ducked under the water once more, moving her huge amount of hair to her back.
She surfaced…and then it happened. Without even looking in his direction Kagome calmly said, "Why don't you join me, Inuyasha?"
Apparently he wasn't so undetected. He jumped up on all fours on his perch, digging his claws into the wood. He leaned back, a (cute) distressed look on his face. 'Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!' was the only thing his panicked mind could produce.
But before he could even try to get away Kagome said a single word softly: "Sit"
The prayer beads around Inuyasha's neck pulled him ungracefully down into the dirt below.
For a second Inuyasha didn't know what had happened. Then he remembered the spell, and realized something: Kagome hadn't used her oswari power over him in a long time.
He stood and brushed himself off, knowing he couldn't get away now. And even if he could, Kagome would chase him and, with her speed, most likely catch him. It was for the best anyway– he owed her an apology.
In a couple of jumps Inuyasha had landed on all fours on a boulder right in front of Kagome.
He bowed his head, feeling like he had just screwed up something without it even getting very far. She'd never give him a chance to redeem himself now. "I'm sorry." He alleged, trying his best not to sound miserable.
Kagome blinked in surprise at his apology.
Then he closed his eyes and waited for the slap he knew he deserved. Like Sango always did to the lecherous monk. Erg, he had sunk that low.
But it never came. Instead Kagome placed a gentle hand on his cheek. "Don't be."
He opened his eyes to find that she was…smiling at him. The inu-oni blinked "N-nani?"
Her smiled changed from a loving one to a playful one. "I always wanted you to watch me anyway." (A/N: it's true! Sango figures this out in Manga # six, or something…)
At first Inuyasha was confused, then ever so slowly a smile crept across his face. He grabbed her caressing hand and in a few seconds he had enlaced their fingers together, then with his spare arm he gently pulled her closer to him. He was finding it exceedingly difficult to avert his eyes with each passing second.
"You little vixen, you were torturing me!" he said with a smile.
Then he bent down and gently pressed his lips to hers, closing his eyes. Kagome closed hers reflexively, and willingly gave into the kiss.
When they pulled away Inuyasha leaned forward with his perfect balance and nuzzled her neck.
Kagome giggled. "Well, yeah. I had to find out if you would." Her waist-long black hair was now covering her front in many sections, (in an honest attempt to regain her modesty) some wide, some tiny, others in between in a sinfully sexy sort of way.
He blinked in confusion and pulled away a little, but only enough to look into her eyes. "What do mean?"
She glared slightly and let go of his hand. "Isn't it obvious? All those times you said 'I have no desire to look at you naked' or 'I was looking for the Shikon shard' or… whatever"
He looked at her like she was crazy. "And you believed me?!"
Kagome's risen temper dissolved. "Well…yeah."
He stared in amazement.
"I'm no warrior babe like Kikyo!" Kagome blurted out before she could stop herself. She blushed furiously, embarrassed and a little angry for revealing how much that constant self-comparison used to haunt her.
In reply, Inuyasha just shrugged. "I wouldn't know".
Kagome clamed down and blinked at him once, looking at the boy suspiciously "You mean…you never…with her?"
At that the youkai almost fell off his rock; fortunately he steadied himself. "Hell no! I never did that with her! Kagome…" he looked at the girl in front of him, wishing she would realize how amazing she really was. "She's not like you…she didn't like me being half-demon, she…she barley let me hold her… I've never done that with anyone…"
Kagome gave him a scrutinizing look; he was male after all, and she had no idea if his half-demon side gave him more restraint on his hormonal demands, or if it boosted them. Either one could be possible, considering his record.
"Really!" He exclaimed under her silent interrogation, "It's not like I haven't wanted to, but I was stuck to a tree for fifty some-odd years, just in case you forgot that fact …"
As Kagome slowly believed his words, Inuyasha smiled slightly and bent down close to her again. "And besides, I'm glad I never did anything with her…because if I'm going to let anyone have me, then I want it to be you, my Kagome." he said softly into her ear.
Her eyes widened slightly, her mind processed the promised fidelity in his phrase, not the narcissism. "Really Inuyasha?"
"Hai." he whispered, and then kissed her once more.
He wanted to be with her! And, if inu-youkais, like their canine forebears, wolves, mated for life, then…then could he be suggesting he wanted to stay with her…forever?
Kagome's eyes dawned a loving look when they pulled away. She smiled. "Thanks, Inuyasha."
She leaned forward and placed her clawed hands on the rock and kissed Inuyasha, who all-too-willingly gave in.
After a few seconds Kagome reached up and grabbed his haori and easily pulled Inuyasha into the water with her hanyou strength, just before she broke their kiss.
She laughed wildly as she watched him collided with the hot spring's surface, sending water splashing all over her.
"What the hell was that for!?" Inuyasha yelled, when he had stood up, soaking wet.
But he wasn't truly angry; she could see it in his eyes. Kagome waded up to him. She slipped her arms around his neck, pressing her bare body to his clothed one. He blushed slightly.
She looked into his amber-golden eyes. "That was for lying to me all those times." she watched the water streak down his cheek.
Inuyasha forgot about being mad and grinned. The blood in his cheeks retreated. Then he placed one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. The long sleeves of his soaked red haori covered her fair skin.
The youkai smiled a little. "Gomen…this is for letting me watch you"
He kissed her once more, but this time it was different. He parted his lips and ran his tongue across lower lip, begging the demoness to let him show her just how much he loved her, which she gave him, wanting to know.
Her lips parted, their tongues intertwined with one another's, and their heads titled each to one's own side.
Their hold of each other tightened. So warm…it felt so good…
They both wished the moment could last forever. If their bodies didn't need to breath in order to continue functioning, they never would've broken that kiss.
Inuyasha smiled slightly after catching his breath. He gently brushed some wet hair away from her face. "I love you, Kagome" the look in his eyes more than proved his words.
The reasons she couldn't explain, Kagome ran her tongue vertically across his lips. It must have been a demon thing because Inuyasha seemed to enjoy it. "I love you back, my Inuyasha."
Kagome leaned her head softly on his shoulder, she sighed, feeling warm in his arms, even though he was all wet.
And they just stood there for many moments holding each other, letting the world around them dissolve.
Finally, Inuyasha smiled self-consciously and remembered that he was in his clothes in a hot spring, soaking wet, and that the naked body of a female was in his grasp. It does things to you.
He brushed one last kiss against her lips when she looked up at him. "See you later, 'kay?"
She smiled "Okay"
He let go of her jumped up on the nearest rock. Inuyasha held up a parting hand before leaping back to the shore and disappearing in the woods. He wrung out his hair with his hands, the smile on his face never once faltering.
Kagome sighed and commenced to take a bath. Immediately she sunk into the water so that it was above her shoulders. She wondered why she was being so bold, I mean, she had just French kissed him in a hot spring! Naked!
…Maybe it was her demonic instincts. Inuyasha had told her about them one day while training. He had said that there were different instincts that controlled different things and kicked in at different times. He had told her that some were good, and some were bad if they ever took over her conscious mind. He had told her that she would have to learn to control them. She remembered him smiling then and saying that they would both have to learn to control them.
Kagome smiled once more as she worked some shampoo into her long hair. Oh well, she didn't really mind being bold about her feelings anymore. No matter what they made her do, she silently confessed with a smile.
"And now, for something completely different." –Monty Python
It was dusk. The mountains were black against the dark pink, and slowly fading into the orange of sun set, sky. The trees were a deep green in the fading daylight.
Sango carefully set her white teacup down on the blanket beneath her, willing it not to spill. The green liquid rippled slightly, then smoothed over. Once assured of the stability of her tea, the slayer looked up, and began to absently study the hoshi sitting across from her.
She only got a few minutes, however, to speculate over the question in her head, because Miroku looked up. He was surprise –and a little frightened– to find that she was staring intently at him.
"Nani?" Miroku asked cautiously.
A smile played across Sango's face. "You're up to something."
He smiled back innocently. "Whatever makes you think that, dear Sango?"
"Perhaps because you've behaving yourself lately…" Sango replied coyly.
True, the usually lecherous young man before her had refrained from acting like his normal self of late. When was the last time he had done something to earn a slap across the face?
Miroku forced himself to look hurt. "Now I feel loved." But the attempt was futile; it just made him look cute instead.
Sango giggled without restraint. Her tension of suspicion dissolved. A smile graced her features as she drew her legs up to her chest and circled her arms around them. She rested her head on her knees.
"Truly." she began bluntly, "What has hindered your perverted ways?"
In return he smiled stealthily, "Well, I don't need to anymore, do I? I mean, now that Naraku is gone, my family's curse has been lifted–
That thought threw her down memory lane, all right. She remembered a few days after Naraku's death, after all the energy had returned to their bodies from the long and draining fight, when they had finally been allowed by Kaede and the other nurses to move once again.
She remembered how he had yelled in alarm when the purple cover suddenly spilled off his right hand. He had grabbed his wrist in attempt to stop the vacuum of winds that was sure to start up immediately. Except it didn't.
They had all been there to witness it, that circle of cohorts, they had watched the monk as he stared with wide and disbelieving eyes as the black void disappeared, leaving only a slightly red scar on his otherwise flawless palm.
He smiled. He smiled brighter and truer than any of the gang had ever seen him smile before.
Sango remembered how Shippo broke the silence and jumped in the air shrieking with joy. She remembered Kagome gasping in delight and grabbing Inuyahsa's arm, holding tightly to him. She remembered seeing Inuyasha's smile.
She remembered herself screaming in victory and running as fast as she could into Miroku's arms…
She blinked and came back.
"Therefore, I don't need to need anyone to bear my child anymore…well…not as soon anyway…" Miroku added.
Sango's eyes narrowed in a piercing glare.
"Okay, okay!" Miroku exclaimed, throwing up his arms defensively. "So I overdid it, a lot…" Slowly he let his self-protection disperse.
The monk sighed, somewhat sadly. He looked away to the left of him to the dimming sky. The dark trees of the forest's edge that the two had set up their way station by was blocking his view to the right. "I suppose it's just not worth it anymore…" he trailed off.
Sango looked at him with curiosity. What was that lonely look in his eyes for? "Why isn't it 'worth it anymore'?" the young woman questioned hesitantly.
"It's not worth it because…" He looked at her, his eyes were like the ocean, deep, warm, and pensive all at the same time. "Because it made you angry with me…" The heart-filled confession was surprisingly calm.
Her eyes widened, she heard the rush of wind in her ears as it blew stray leaves across their path from the forest around them.
Was he saying? …
Sango looked at him with slight apprehension in her eyes. Sango was afraid to find out if Miroku had put her feelings before his personal escapades, because that would signify a terribly frightening cause. She changed the subject. "I was afraid…"
A soft breeze rippled the grass around them.
"For a while I didn't want the final battle with Naraku to come, because I was afraid that when it did…we would all go our separate ways. I was afraid of that."
Her deep brown eyes were painfully legitimate as she spoke. "My life hasn't been the same since I've met you and the others. It's different than the life I used to lead…and yet the same…I like it that way, I think."
Miroku nodded and turned his handsome face to the beautiful waning day and the large clearing that the pair was occupying. "I understand that, I think."
Sango continued, glad for the forest and the field's distraction, so she didn't have to meet his eyes. "I was afraid –I am afraid– of a lot of things. I didn't want to leave you…you and everyone else." Her speech was faltering.
He lowered his gaze back to her, intoxicated, almost, by her words.
"…There is still a lot of things to worry about, things that need fixing. Like –I never told her this– but, I wonder if what Kagome-chan did was right, when she allowed the Jewel to turn her into half-demon, and I wonder if she should try and give it –the demon ness– back, but, then what if she does? …We would still have a problem on our hands…" She didn't even condescend and address the Shikon No Tama by its' name– the thing had caused more than enough trouble to earn itself a bad reputation.
Finally Sango moved her eyes to lock with his; she shifted her stance, twisting towards him in pleadingly. Both of her hands she pushed palm down on the ground.
Her body was stiff with determination; she looked directly into his eyes. "We need to stay together…"
Slowly she softened and leaned away from him slightly. "…Especially some of us…need to stay together."
The slayer drew back her confrontation, and straightened her legs in front of her once more. The girl leaned back her arms. She occupied her eyes with the sky. The top was now painted with dark blue and dotted with a few stars.
Expressions played across Miroku's face as he allowed the subtext of her words to register.
Then he smiled warmly. "Hai…you're right. There are still many fears ahead of us, separation being one of them."
He looked at the setting sun, the golden globe barley visible now. "Still, it puzzles me that you would fear the final victory, Sango, it's so unlike you." He chuckled lightly.
Seconds passed, many seconds.
When Miroku finally looked back at his companion he saw that she was idly gazing ahead of her, her dark eyes blank. A tear slid down her cheek, then another, and another. She was crying.
"Sango?" Miroku asked obviously confused, but not so much so that he was skittish.
No, he moved closer to her as she titled her head down. She wasn't making much sound, and her shoulders weren't moving, but she still was crying, he observed.
Then the huntress felt a warm arm slip around her shoulders and a soft question whispered in her ear.
"He wasn't there…" she whispered in return.
Miroku waited, knowing that if she wanted to talk then she would do so on her own.
And apparently he was right. "Kohaku, he wasn't at Naraku's fortress…"
Suddenly Miroku understood what had caused her mysterious outburst of emotion. Secrets kept inside breed heavy hearts.
Sango raised her head and laughed weakly. "I don't know why I thought he would be…stupid of me, really."
"Iie, iie" Miroku soothed, drawing her closer regardless of whether she wanted him to or not. "He was your brother, you loved him. A will to save another is never misguided."
Sango's tears commenced, but this time she buried her head in Miroku's chest, her hand clutched his robes as if they need something to hold onto to– to make sure there was still something to hold on to…
He wrapped his other arm around her. After holding the slayer for a few gracious moments he felt he had to add to his commentary, to give her a logical explanation to fall back on. "He most likely fled with Kanna and Kagura when Naraku's power began to decline."
Sango relaxed against him, but instead of slipping away she rested her head on the monk's shoulder.
After a while she whispered with closed eyes: "I'm going to have to fight him someday, sō? I'm going to have to kill him." It wasn't a question.
A shadow of regret flickered in Miroku's eyes, bit then it cleared. "Let us confront that when it comes, and not until then, ne?"
Sango looked up at his smiling eyes, and she was never more a where of his arms encircled around her body– she liked it.
The huntress nodded, sighed, and then lowered her head to rest gratefully on his shoulder once more.
It was dark by then. The sun was set, but the pair was warm with their bodies being so close.
"Miroku." She whispered into the darkness.
"Hmmm?" he replied.
"I love you too"
Owari Chapter Jūhachi
Author Notes:
What can I say? I am a sucker for this type of thing, so therefore I write it!
Review! I'm out of here! Walks off singing 'Miracles Happen'