He was ghostly pale and smelt of wet wood and grime. I was pleased to see his Kimono made of fur was still intact, but it too smelt disgusting. He was slumped over; completely lax and his back took an unnatural arch. In the light of the moon it was over obvious to see that his face was smudged with blood and dirt, shadowed by his dull, greasy hair. From his position, I could see the shades of blood most of his body was painted with, contributing to the stomaching churning smell.

His image got blurry, and I had to blink my eyes to clear it. Upon opening my eyes, a tear trailed down my cheek. I could see bruises and scratches both deep and shallow littered across his pale skin and faded red Kimono, but compared to the dark and gloomy forest (Which also had a certain moist sent) he glowed. And despite his rather perished looks, he was the most beautiful thing I could see right now.

I rushed to his side, grabbing his left shoulder. That was all it took to send his body falling face first. The others rushed to his side as well. All worried about him. He was so still, so limp. We all feared the worst. Shippou was crying loudly, and Kirara mewing in despair. It took me that long to realize I was also sobbing, Sango's hand on my shoulder.

I turned to the girl with tears streaming down my already damp face. Dirt smeared. She didn't say anything, just gathered me into a hug and helped me stand. She held me for a while and supported me. My knees felt weak, and if she wasn't there, I was sure I would've fallen. I cried into her chest for a few minutes feeling gross and responsible for what had happened.

"Sango," Miroku had said after a few moments. She didn't release me, but I could feel her head shift to look at him. He waited a moment before speaking again. "Take her and Shippou to the nearest hot-spring. Me and Kirara will take Inuyasha back to our camp."

Sango took a step away from me, but held onto my shoulders as she gazed into my eyes. I could see now that she was also crying. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked, to which I nodded while swallowing a hiccup. She wrapped her arm around me and we unsteadily began to walk away.

I could feel Sango stumble, causing me to snap from my depressing thoughts and look at her, surely looking surprised. Shippou climbed up from her arm and rested on her shoulder, too tired to continue on his own. Sango silently agreed to carry him. I took a look over my shoulder to see Kirara transform in a whirl of blinding fire. Looking on I seen Miroku wrap Inuyasha's arm around his shoulder and was surprised to see Inuyasha vaguely nodding to the words I couldn't hear the monk say.

I watched Inuyasha slowly tuck his knees under himself and then rely on Miroku to help him stand. The dark haired monk said something else, Inuyasha nodded again and then his head rolled forward, and he dropped and almost brought Miroku down with him.

I tensed, my legs locked, ready to spring to Inuyasha. Sango stopped me. She shook her head and whispered "Not now" I knew she was right. Something inside of me knew that by seeing his eyes, my heart would break. So supporting each other, Sango, Shippou and I continued to hobble to the spring.

The water was relaxing. The heat burned off the sweat and tears that gathered over the days. It was embarrassing to see how much I left myself go. Now that I was in the water and cleaned I felt better. The water lapping onto my body gently massaged all tenseness away, and I finally felt good enough to sleep. Sango sighed and leaned against a cool rock. She was tired, and pale.

Now that I had time to relax and think I knew I was being pretty selfish during the duration of Inuyasha gone missing. Moping around all day and feeling sorry for myself didn't give me much time to worry about how the others were taking it. Sango was close to Inuyasha. She felt obligated to stay by him through the good and the bad.

"I'm sorry."

She looked at me, her beautiful eyes showing a mild shock. "Pardon?" I smiled at her, sorrowfully. I then turned my eyes to the water, and continued my apology.

"When Inuyasha went missing, I didn't really pay attention to anyone else…" The smile on my face dropped as I spotted my reflection, wavering. Shippou floated by on the floatation device I had provided for him (We had stopped by at camp to gather bathing supplies) and rippled my reflection. He was sleeping already. "I just only though about myself… About Inuyasha…"

I jumped as I felt Sango wrap her cold and wet arm around my slumped shoulders. My eyes scanned over the girl with a gentle smile on her face. "Kagome-Chan." She murmured. "You weren't the only one. We all thought only of Inuyasha and ourselves while he was missing. No one blames you."

During her speech, I couldn't help but cry a little and nod thankfully. I was about to voice my gratefulness when a loud rustling in the bushes caught our attention. Sango removed her hand from around my neck and crossed them over her chest.

I dipped lower in the water, covering my own chest. As expected, Miroku walked out of the bushes and outstretched his arms. "May I accompany you two?" His smile was innocent, but perversely placed. I could hear a low rumble produced by the girl next to me, causing me to wonder when she learned to growl. A fond smile possessed my lips as I thought over how normal things had become now. Inuyasha was back.

…Inuyasha…

"Inuyasha!" I screamed, grabbing a towel from the shore bank. I ran frantically to my bag and ripped it from its position on the ground. While running into a bush I heard Shippou awaken and Sango begin to scream at the monk. I didn't care at the moment; instead my thoughts repeated the single name of my love.

Be safe.