-Authors' Note-

Bluerain: no singing in this chapter. Just fun, a recap for people who aren't paying attention, and lots of mush!

SirLarry: And an early happy Valentines Day to yall!

Chapter Four: The Intermission, and Sango's Heart Revealed

The curtains came down as the Intermission began. The audience, still in shock at the realistic scene they'd just witnessed, were clamoring about and exclaiming over every detail, every performance. They were loving. Just as Li Zhou planned.

"Tea!" Yami cried as he ran out on stage and raked through the wrecked and mangled pieces of the chandelier.
"Joey, you'd better be alive or I'll kill you!" Mai yelled, sweeping away broken crystal.

"Relax, me and Tea are fine," Joey said as they walked up from stage right.

"How did you escape the chandelier?" Mokuba asked, having come down from the rafters, where he'd been working the lighting.

"Shippo popped up us and saved us." Tea said.

"That's right," Shippo said proudly as he pointed out two broken clay figures under the chandelier. "I switched them just before it hit."

"Magnificent!" Pegasus cheered as he came out on stage. "Stupendous! The audience doesn't know what to think! You're doing quite wonderfully."

"Pegasus, this must end!" Yugi/Yami said. "Tea and Joey were almost killed! Bakura and Li Zhou have taken this entirely too far."

"He's messing with Sango's feelings, he's switching props," Kagome said, her hands on her hips. "He's driving us all crazy!"

"Am I?" Bakura/Li Zhou said, appearing from the shadows. "Or am I delivering the performance of a lifetime?"

"Li Zhou! Well done!" Pegasus said, patting him on the back, "The audience loves you! I'm going to make you a star, my deliciously evil friend, a star!"

"PEGASUS!" they all cried.

"Sango! Dear dear Sango," he siad, taking her hands, "You've captured the hearts of everyone on the audience! Your chemistry with Li Zhou and Miroku are electrifying! I could have sworn that lecherous was professing eternal love for you!"

"So could I," Li Zhou said as he got between Sango and Miroku. "Sango is mine, so stay away from her."

"Sango is my friend," Miroku said, stepping up and facing the demon down. "And I won't let someone as evil as you hurt her or stand between her and the people who love her."

"Love?" Li Zhou said. "Who could love her more than I? I who am bound to her more than any of you ever will be?"

"STOP IT! Everyone! I don't know if I can go on with this! Li Zhou… If you really love me, you'll release Bakura," she said to him, pleadingly as she started to cry.

"Release him? My dear… I've never bound him" he replied, grinning. "DOn't you know that he and I one and the same? Why do you think, in spite of the span of time I have never left his side? Bakura needs me just as I need him, and just as the two of us need you."

"It's true, Sango," Bakura said, switching back. "It's all true. Li Zhou and I have been working together this whole time. I only meant for the show, though." his hands reached out and took hers, "I never meant for anyone to get hurt. But you saw the audience's faces as the chandelier came down. There isn't a better actor than Li Zhou. I couldn't have gotten where I am today without him."

The tears streamed down her cheeks as Sango heard her boyfriend's words. "Oh Ryo…"

"Bakura," Yugi.Yami said, "You must listen to reason. We can't let Li Zhou continue to have free run over this production."

"Just why not?" Pegasus asked, "He's doing wonderfully!"

"Buy this guy a clue," Kagome said.

"All I'm saying is that he's portrayed the Phantom like no man in history has ever portrayed him. He brings out the pain, the fear, the torture-"

"That's because I'm a tortured soul," Li Zhou said, taking back control, Sango's hands jerling away from his touch. "Tortured for my love for Sango and my hatred for all things good in this world. It tears me in half and leaves me wanting…"

"And just what is it that you want?" Joey asked.

"Power," Li Zhou said, making a fist, "For what is power when you have no one to share it with? Sango…" he said, turning back to her, "I am asking you to share power with me. I hold the audience in the palm of my hand, and soon I'll have the world. This play will circumnavigate the globe, and I with it. Millions will come to adore me. Though the other players will change, you and I alone will conquer the hearts of nations! That is what I can offer you, Sango. I offer you the world! The world bowing at your feet! Could a second rate monk do that?" he said, glaring at Miroku.

"Sango, don't listen to him and his lies," Miroku begged. "don't forget what he is and who made him! He is every bit a monster like his creator; he lives to drive people who love each other apart."

"Love?" she asked, her pain intensifying. "What is love? Everyone whose ever loved or cared about me is dead!"

"That's not true Sango…" Miroku said, his eyes filled with compassion, hurt, and longing. "I'm still here."

"Miroku, you love all women," Shippo said.

"Be quiet!" Inu-yasha snapped, knocking the fox on the noggin. "You're ruining the moment!"

"Ow!" Shippo cried, rubbing the resulting bump.

"What are you all standing here for?" Pegasus said. "The Intermission is almost over and we still haven't set up for Masquerade yet."

"Will you forget about the stupid musical!" Kaiba growled, picking up Pegasus and shaking him by the collar. "This is serious! This is more important than some two bit song and dance show!"

"We could just watch this," Tristan said, "This is more entertaining than the actual musical."

"Do you understand anything that's going here?" Rex asked Weeval.

"No, but I wish I had some popcorn."

"Yeah a soda would be nice," Rex said.

"Let me clue you guys in," Serenity said, taking the befuddled extras aside. "You see Bakura is possessed by the spirit of an evil demon who was created 500 years ago by an even worse demon named Naraku, who wants to kill Inu-yasha, Kagome, Miroku and Sango."

"I'm even more confused than normal," Hojo said.

"I don't get it, what's Yugi and the gang's involvement in all this?" Yuka asked.

"Oh well that's easy," Serenity said, "Yugi's also possessed by a Pharaoh who saved the world 5000 years ago, and Li Zhou's after the seven Millennium Items, one of which Yugi has around his neck."

"And why are we involved?" Eri asked, frightened.

"Because Hojo and Ayumi are reincarnations of Naraku's servants, too," Serenity said.

"WHAT!" the two girls screamed. Hojo went white, as Ayumi slapped and shook her head.

"I didn't know anything about this!" Hojo said.

"Way to go, Serenity," Ayumi said, "Now are you gonna tell them that Inu-yasha's a half demon. Oops" she said, realizing her mistake. Yuka, Eri, and Hojo started screaming.

"Way to go, you stupid girl," Inu-yasha said. "If I weren;t in my human form I'd!"

"Inu-yasha, don't make say the word. It still works even when you're human." Kagome warned.

"What word?" Hojo asked.

"Sit," Kagome said. "Oops!" FLASH WHAM, Inu-yasha was eating floor.

"I still don't get it," Rex said.

"At least we get this show for free," Weeval said.

"Speaking of which," Rex said, "Where did Miroku and Sango go? They disappeared"

"WHAT!" Everyone exclaimed, looking around.

"D+ it!" Li Zhou said, swirling his cape and disappearing into the shadows.

"That lecherous monk! He's run off with our leading lady!" Pegasus groaned as everyone split up to look - and to set up for Act Two.

-Transition-

While Serenity was recapping everything, Miroku had taken Sango further backstage during the distraction. He had to convince her that his feeling weren't just idle lust.

"Sango," he said, looking in her eyes as they were surrounded by costumes and props, "Can you honestly say that after the moment we shared out there in front of all those people that my feelings for you are not genuine?"

"I don't know what's real anymore," Sango said.

"Then let me be your reality," Miroku said, getting on his knees, looking up at her, his entire world embodied one woman. "I once made you an honorable proposal of marriage… I would make it again. Marry me, stay with me, teach me what it means to love one woman and one woman alone. Sango," he said, raising a hand to touch her face. "You took my heart when we met, but tonight you took my soul with it. Please… say yes."

She looked down at him, her face unreadable. He could already feel his heart breaking at the smallest doubt that she would say yes. Still, he did not break his gaze from her eyes. Hoping… hoping…

"Oh Miroku," she sighed. She fell to her knees in front of him, and embraced him. Miroku was stunned, but only for a minute. His arms enveloped her waist, and he rested his head on her shoulder, content in this one moment with the woman he loved.