Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha but I do own this story so please, no copying. Thank you!
Two lonely shadows walk slowly together along the glimmering sidewalk. Side by side, neither of them talking but only helplessly looking at the hard concrete pavement below their feet. As they slowly enter the empty park the sun is just about to set and suddenly, a bright orange sunset brushes across the open sky.
"Wow…it's beautiful isn't it Sango?" asked one shadow.
"Yeah…" replied Sango quietly staring at the sunset.
It's beautiful, but it always makes me want to cry…
"Why so glum? Cheer up a bit why don't you? Is it because I'm here that you're acting this way? Tell me the truth." Replied the first shadow demandingly.
Should I tell him the truth? I don't know…
"…It's not you Miroku…" started Sango. "…It's just that…what am I saying? You wouldn't be interested in something like this…"
He wouldn't listen anyway…
"Like what?" asked Miroku.
Something's telling me that I can trust him…I think I'll tell him the truth…
"……A long time ago when I was just about five years old…my mother died…" started Sango.
Flashback
"Sango! Hurry up or we'll be late for my appointment!" shouted a young woman from the doorway.
"Mommy! Mommy! Wait!" shouted a little girl grabbing onto her mother's skirt.
"What is it Sango? Please hurry! I'm feeling a sharp pain in my stomach. What is it?" asked Sango's mother.
"I can't find Kirara!" cried Sango.
"All right all aright, it's ok Sango; we'll find her. Look, there she is; right under the sofa. Hurry now, grab Kirara and hop into the car." Said Sango's mother in pain.
In the Car
"It hurts…"whispered Sango's mother quietly to herself.
"Mommy? Are you alright?" asked Sango clutching onto Kirara tightly.
"Yes Sango…just bare with me…here we are. You wait in the car, Sango." Said Sango's mother as she wobbled painfully into the building. After fifteen minutes, an ambulance quickly parked in front of the building and three people ran in. After five minutes, they came running down with a person covered with a cloth on a carrier.
Sango looked through the back window and saw a dangling hand coming out of the cloth; her mother's hand.
Hospital
"Emergency! Emergency!" shouted the people carrying Sango's mother into the hospital. Sango went with her mother onto the ambulance; that's how she too arrived at the hospital by her mother's side.
"I'm sorry darling but you'll have to wait here in the waiting room. Would you like to make a phone call?" asked a nurse offering a phone card. Sango gradually excepted and new exactly who to call.
"Hello?" answered the person on the other line.
"Daddy?" asked Sango.
"Sango! What's wrong? Why are you calling me?" asked Sango's father.
"M-mommy's…mommy's at the hospital…" cried Sango with flying tears.
"It's ok Sango, calm down, I'm sure mommy will be fine. I'll be right there." Replied Sango's father. After twenty minutes, Sango's father finally arrived at the hospital.
"Sango!" shouted her father.
"Daddy!" cried Sango.
"Thank goodness! Sango, I'm going to go take you home first, come on let's go." Said her father.
"No!" yelled Sango. Everyone turned to look at the furious girl. "I'm no leaving mommy!"
"Sango…" started her father before he forcefully picked up the tantrum girl and drove her home. After hours of waiting at home. Sango ran outside the front door to see if her father had arrived home yet. Finally, her father parked in the back garage and walked into the house. He found Sango outside the front door in the pouring rain and called her in.
"Sango! Come inside or you'll catch a cold…" yelled her father worryingly.
"What's wrong daddy? Where's mommy?" asked Sango.
"…mommy's…far away…" replied her father slowly.
"But where daddy?" asked Sango.
"…She's in the sky…" replied her father sadly.
"Y-you mean…mommy's dead!" cried Sango with hot wet tears streaming down her face.
"No…not dead. Her body may be dead but her soul is the sunset. Your mother loved the sunset and so now whenever we see it, we know that she's watching over us…"replied Sango's father dolorously embracing Sango.
End of Flashback
"…I guess what I'm trying to say is…that whenever I see the sunset, I can't stop thinking about my mother…and how it was mostly my fault that she died…" ended Sango.
"…Sango…" whispered Miroku sadly as he sat on the next swing over from her.
Oh no…I can't hold back my tears any longer!
"…I'm sorry, I-I…I just can't stop crying…" sniffled Sango cupping her mouth as she couldn't hold back her tears any longer and cried mournfully. Miroku looked at the crying girl before him and some strange feeling, made him want to…want to embrace and protect this girl. So he did, he slowly wrapped his arms around the shaking girl; embracing her closely and never letting go. She looked up with tears forcing their way out and stared into the eyes of the person whom was holding her. She had never felt this kind of feeling before, the feeling that she wasn't alone, that nothing was her fault, that she could just cry freely and let it all out. She had never felt this way and it felt good.
"It wasn't your fault…" started Miroku.
"Sniff H-how do you know if that's true? You weren't there when it happened! You didn't experience the pain and suffering I felt after my mother died! You wouldn't know!" shouted Sango crying hysterically and still embraced in Miroku's arms.
"…I know I can't prove anything but…I don't think it was your fault…" continued Miroku as he stroked Sango's silky brown hair.
Yeah right…sniff…liar!
"You're lying…" sniffed Sango as she began to calm down.
"No…I'm not. You're right about the fact that I wasn't actually there but you're wrong about the feeling part. I have felt that awful acrimonious feeling before…when both my parents died in a shooting, a shooting where I shot them.
What? Miroku…killed his own parents? That can't be true…
"You couldn't have…why would you…you couldn't! You just couldn't have!" shouted Sango as she raised her tone.
"…I did…I killed my parents…but not out of anger, out of sadness and loneliness. Ever since I was little they wouldn't let me go outside, and so I didn't have many friends. I felt lonely and unimportant, that one day when I had the chance, I ran away from home. When my parents found out they were hysterical; for four years I lived with a gang and grew up into what I am now…" started Miroku looking up at the sunset.
Miroku…
"One unfaithful day, another gang was closing in on our territory and we had no choice but to bring out the heavy metal. We loaded our guns and fired. Many members in my gang fell…and finally I was the last standing. There were five more members of the other gang with loaded pistols. I was all–alone and at that moment, when all five triggered their guns, I really thought I was going to die. So I shot as well just to try my luck, but two agile shadows blocked six of our shots total and landed on the hard wet ground with a thud. I stared helplessly at the two shadows, only to realize that I had just shot my own parents…" continued Miroku quietly.
Flashback
"Mom…dad…why?" asked a confused boy.
"Son…you're not alone…we didn't let you outside for a good cause and never imagined that…you'd run away and join a gang…"said the boy's father in pain.
"I-I'm so sorry! Mom! Dad! Please forgive me! I'll never leave the house again, I promise! Just please! Don't die…" cried the boy.
"Don't say sorry…for what you did was right. Your father and I…should really be the one's apologizing..."started the boys mother.
"Yes…it was our fault that we didn't let you have friends…we were just concerned…" continued the boy's father.
"Miroku…please, please forgive us and I'm afraid we won't be going home with you today…so please..." started Miroku's mother one last time.
"Please forgive us…our son…" both parents lastly said as their souls slowly escaped their bodies and flew into the dark cloudy sky.
End of Flashback
"Miroku…do you feel regret, anger, loneliness and sadness in your heart?" asked Sango quietly gazing at the ground.
I never knew…
"…yeah…" replied Miroku.
That I could feel…
"…me too…" quietly confessed Sango as she slowly turned her head to face the boy whom was still embracing her closely. They gazed into each other's eyes longingly, their
noses a centimeter apart, lips, just about to touch, eyelids slowly fall, and they kiss.
Free…
AN: Okay that was chapter three! Please tell me what you all think! Please review! I don't know about all of you but I felt like crying after I read what I had written…well, hope you all enjoyed it! Remember, please review! Thank you all
for reading "Swinging Sunset"!