Chapter Two: Strong Feelings

The morning sun rose behind the snow filled mountain reflecting each ray more brightly than the last. Everyone woke up bright and early that morning with the exception of the tired monk who was still effected by the medicine.

"Miroku…Miroku!" Sango shouted, as he didn't respond the first time. "Wake up it's close to noon and we should be leaving soon."

"Noon? Why didn't anybody wake me?" He got up frantically running around the room to get prepared for their long journey.

"You needed your rest. These last couple of days have been hard so we just decided to let you sleep." She too began to collect her things in preparation to leave the large and beautiful home, but more importantly to find out more about the people that were described as her lost family and friends.

"That was very kind of you Sango, but we really should figure out if your family is really alive or not." He dashed out of the house leaving everyone else dumbstruck as they stared in confusion.

"Wow Sango I think Miroku cares about this as much as you do." Kagome walked out of the room, patting Sango's shoulder on the way, and followed after Miroku.

"Keh…stupid humans…" Inuyasha followed as well.

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The group continued their late starting journey after discussing the whereabouts of Sango's missing family. The old man pointed in the northern direction near the mountains that could be seen from miles away. Kagome's earlier predictions of snow were later confirmed after she spotted the first snowflake of the season.

"Everybody does have a change of clothes right? Like warmer ones I mean." Kagome dug through her never-ending backpack.

"I do…" Sango confirmed.

"I don't need any…." Inuyasha snorted.

"Um actually I don't." Miroku plainly stated, "But I assure you I'll be fine in what I have." He smiled after spotting the worry in Sango's eyes. It disappeared afterwards and the group continued their journey, reaching the base of the mountain by nightfall. There they found a cave to safely camp in for the night.

"Hey Sango do you really think your family is still around?" Shippou asked curiously as he too unpacked his heavier clothes.

"Maybe Shippou…I don't really know what to think right now. I'd be happy if they were alive, but…" Her voice trailed off.

"But you'd have to go back and live with them right?" Miroku finished. She nodded.

"I don't want to think of it now though. We're not even sure if we'll find them at the top of this godforsaken mountain."

"I agree." Miroku stood and headed outside. Sango followed quietly behind just for safe measures. Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippou decided not to bother them seeing as it was none of their business.

Outside, Sango had followed Miroku quietly for a few minutes seeing that his only intention was to gather firewood before the snowstorm became too fierce. For a while now he had realized her presence, but refused to let it be known. He suddenly came to a halt, surveying his surroundings.

"Miroku what's wrong?" She risked a few words.

"Miroku?" She took a step closer.

"Shh!" She froze at his demand, still confused as to why she needed to be silent. Miroku stood still as well, hesitant to make a move of any kind. He closed his eyes, breathing in frigid air and listening to all the sounds of the forest. Steam came from his mouth in long even breaths as he focused to the disturbance he sensed since he first noticed Sango following.

*crack* Sango had accidentally stepped backwards cracking a twig in half. In that instant, about a dozen bloodthirsty wolves jumped ferociously out of hiding and went straight for Sango. Miroku's suspicions were seemingly true.

"Sango MOVE!" Miroku threw down the firewood and dashed as quickly as possible to the unsuspecting demon slayer, roughly shoving her to the side so she would not be harmed.

"Miroku are you alright?" She sat up rubbing her head, only to see that her monk was not next to her, but already up and fighting their new foe. "Miroku be careful!" She got up and ran to assist him before she noticed he was already positioned to use his wind tunnel. "Miroku no you'll hurt your…!" She wasn't able to finish before he had already begun.

"Kazaana!" He unleashed his deadly curse, sucking in every last one of their predators, not realizing how difficult it was to brace his wind tunnel with a broken wrist. Sango quickly ran to his aid seeing his face scrunch up in pain. She easily wrapped the prayer beads around his right hand and continued to help him recover his composure. They stood for a moment letting the wind and snow settle before they headed back. The weather had become fierce and all they could think about at that moment was keeping warm by the fire they intended to start. Though Miroku had other things on his mind at the moment.

"You okay Miroku?" She asked hesitantly.

"I'll manage…" An awkward silence filled the air making Sango feel very uncomfortable. "Are you angry with me Miroku?"

"No…why would I be?" He hoped she would bring up their conversation from earlier. He didn't want her to leave him. She had only recently agreed to live with him and bear his child. How could she turn her back to such a promise?

"About me following you." He let out a heavy sigh. Then again felt the effects of over using a broken wrist. He stopped and held his wrist for a moment, trying to relieve himself from the throbbing, and began once again to collect the firewood he had carelessly thrown to the ground.

"Here let me get that. You shouldn't be doing much with a broken wrist like that." He stood silently as he watched her gather each piece he had dropped. "Sango I'm not incapable. I'm sure I can handle it."

"Just let me do it. The weather is getting worse and I'm sure Kagome and Inuyasha are worried about us." She looked into his eyes sensing his anger and frustration, but refused to deal with it at that moment. As they got back to the camp, Miroku let out a heavy sigh as they had already successfully started a fire.

"You two alright?" Kagome worriedly rushed over to her teammates, as they appeared to look a little more roughed up then when they left.

"We had few problems, but Miroku saved me." Sango looked a little guilty as she answered Kagome's questions and continued to retrieve some medical supplies to re-bandage Miroku's wrist. All was silent as she carefully wrapped his wrist back up to try and lessen the pain. It took no time at all to finish.

"Feel any better Miroku?" Sango asked putting her supplies away.

"Yes it is just fine. Thank you Sango." He stood up walking to the other side of the now freezing cave in hopes to go to bed early. He sat down against the cold stone wall hoping sleep would soon overtake him. Sango could only sigh as she imagined what was going through his mind. Kagome walked over to find her friend in deep thought.

"Sango, I think I know what's wrong with Miroku." She sat down next to Sango, in attempts to console her with her problems. She had never seen Sango this upset before, nor had she seen Miroku. "He cares about you a lot Sango." She turned her head in response to Kagome's kind words.

"I know." She said very solemnly.

"And he doesn't want you to leave him. Though he would never tell you. He'd rather see you happy then keep you all to himself."

Sango's eyes widened. How could she have been so blind to his feelings? If she had realized it sooner… she would have told him how she felt. Miroku really cared for her and that meant something. She wasn't just like all the others.

"I think you get what I mean." Kagome stood up and left to go find Inuyasha. He had been exploring the rest of the cave while the whole ordeal was going on. She figured she'd better fill him in so he doesn't say something hurtful later.

Meanwhile Sango herself stood up after Kagome had left. She peered over at Miroku who was now fast asleep. And shivering at that. 'He must be so cold…' She thought to herself. Spotting one of Kagome's blankets, she walked over and placed it around Miroku so that he wouldn't catch cold. Though not before snuggling next to him. She had to show him somehow that he could trust her.

Miroku peeked open a sleepy eye only to find his shivering had settled down a bit and he had something else keeping him warm. Once he saw who or what it was, his heart almost leapt out of his chest in delight. The first thing that came to mind was that everything was going to be ok. She wasn't going anywhere.

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"Kagome let me go! We need to see what else is in this stupid cav-" He abruptly stopped to a finger over his mouth.

"Very quiet…" She whispered to him, as they came in to see Miroku and Sango soundly sleeping against the far wall closest to the entrance.

"What's their deal?" He said as quietly as possible.

"They're happy now," Shippou said hanging off of Kagome's shoulders.

Kagome contently smiled and went over to catch some shuteye herself. It was dark now and all that was heard outside was the howling of the wind as the storm began to slow down. Snow was no longer falling, meaning that their journey could continue in the morning. Hopefully Sango's family was waiting just at the top of this mountain and finally… a hole in her heart could be filled up once more.

She sat down against the wall with a blanket around herself. She almost gasped when she felt two strong hands pull her closer so that she was sitting in between his lap. She smiled as the shy half-demon closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, keeping her warmer and happier than ever.

"Yep…they're happy now." Shippou smiled and fell contently asleep, cuddled next to Kilala.