A/N: Here we are, the bitter end. I wrote this because it can happen in any relationship. People are not perfect, and there is no such thing as a perfect relationship, perfect anything. I wanted to write about M/S as people and not just a way for me to stick them into my silly fun world (at least this time). There is life after love, my dears. byeloveyou!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, even though he does not appear in this story at all. Hee.


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

L'Espoir Faux

Chapitre Quatre: Conte de Fées

A fanfiction by May

Previous disclaimers apply.

Pour Wendy

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Somewhere inside was a deep satisfaction within himself.

In his subconscious, he had wanted to call to attention the fact that there was something missing; there was something more he needed.

Here she was, standing before him and asking him, actually asking him what he wanted. As unsteady as she was, he promised her a relationship that was her speed. He did this for her.

She acknowledged him, but at what price?

"Sango, right now we are nothing. But I want, and I've always wanted you."

"We don't always get what we want." Her voice cracked, and he was losing her. It was as though she was a fading signal, and he desperately twisted the tuner to catch the remnants of her song.

She rubbed her hands together furiously, wondering where her gloves were.

"Sango, are you - "

"I'm not. I'm not fine, I'm not okay. And if you ever, ever once, felt that you loved me, you wouldn't be either."

He chanced another step. "I do love you."

She hugged herself. "And as much as it pains me to admit it, I love you. I can't give you up as easily as you did me. I'm not as desperate to forget you as you are me."

"That's not true," he said, shaking his head. "I'm not ready to give up."

She turned her head, the soft glow of coloured lights moving across the contours of her face. "Then do I have to ask why?"

He came so close that she felt her back press against something solid, and looking up, her eyes met with the bare branches of trees laced with shimmering lights and lanterns. A snowflake fell upon her eyelids. A blizzard was on the way.

"Do you forgive me?" he whispered, holding each of her hands and trying to bring warmth to them.

When she didn't answer, he persisted. "Everything is fine, we're fine. You still need me, we're still together, one day we'll be married and it will be the happiest day of our lives." He reached up to stroke her hair. "Just like you wished for, just what you've always wanted."

"Don't play with my head like this." She grabbed his wrist.

"Sango, my Sango. I made a mistake. I know that. Please, this is killing the both of us. Please."

His voice dipped lower as he angled his face. "I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened, and a sickening crack sounded in the night.

He took a few stunned steps backward, holding his cheek.

" 'I'm sorry?' That's the best you can do?" she exploded, not caring who was around them. "Well, fuck Miroku! That's fucking great! Because two words won't change anything! Two words that you can only offer now!"

She rose to her full height, ablaze and fire alight in her eyes. "Then I'd prefer you don't. Don't fucking apologize, because it means nothing. It never meant anything!"

"Sango . . . "

"What do you want me to say? To do? What do you expect? I tried, I devoted my whole fucking life to you! I'm trying to finish school, to get a real job so I can do my part. So that one day, I could pay you back and we could have that wedding we'd always dreamed of . . . or maybe it was just me."

She smiled at him bitterly. "It was just me, wasn't it? I was stupid."

"Sango, that's not true," he said firmly.

"Wake up, Miroku! This is not some fucking dream world where you can compromise my trust and expect everything to be rainbows and sunshine once again. I . . . I did nothing. The women - and I - I did nothing. If there were problems, I just wanted you to tell me, to love me enough that you could tell me. Not make-believe."

Tears fell from her eyes along with the words from her lips, joining the chaos and the mess he had created around them. He was angry, angry at himself for doing this to her and angry at her for not seeing how he felt.

"You looked at me in my eyes, you looked in my fucking eyes, and lied straight to my face. And I overlooked - I even believed you - I believed you because I loved you, I loved you more than life." She pronounced every word slowly, letting them echo between them as they pierced his heart.

"And if this was all about sex, Miroku. Maybe, just maybe we could have done something about that. Help me understand. "

"Sango, that wasn't everything!" His tone elevated in frustration.

"Then what was it, Miroku?" She stepped towards him, narrowing her eyes, angrily swiping tears from the corners. "You want freedom? You want to be your own man again?"

The sky was so very empty, as if they had scared the stars away.

She held out still hands, willing him to see the precious stone in her palms. A ring that symbolized his promise, and would unlock the chains that bound him to her forever.

"Here. Take it. Take it and leave."

She dropped it at his feet.

Freedom swept over his body and weighted him down to the ground.

"Don't." A final plea, a final whisper.

She moved out of his reach.

"I can't handle anymore. I am broken."

She fled, her form disappearing amongst ice and snow, a silent night, which he surrounded himself with in solitude. Hope fled with her.

The night, so very silent.

The sky, so low it could crush him.