A QUESTION OF INCARNATION

CHAPTER 7: To Realize Oneself

A/N: Ta-Dah! I did manage to update on time afterall!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, any of the charecters, or plotlines. Only the time-wasting nonsense below.

'It is one thing to acknowledge what one must do,' Inuyasha thought in a rare moment of clarity, 'And quite another to actually do it.' As much as he loved, treasured, cared for, and slightly feared (the anger of) Kagome, for once he was lost for words. And something this big was not anything he could simply brush aside, getting his point across crudely without letting down any of his inner walls down, by swearing or some such nonsense. Telling Kagome his true identity was something that required finesse, a true heart-to-heart conversation of how he really felt. And quite frankly, he knew that was not exactly his strong point. As much as it pained him, he would need to ask the fox for help. And while he didn't exactly relish the prospect, it was far better than the alternative. "Shippo- I...umm...I...need your...umm..."

"Yes?" Shippo responded politely. He was not stupid, he knew exactly what he was asking. He was simply enjoying his moment of power.

Inuyasha's answer was spoken so quietly he could barely hear it. He asked once more. "You need my...?" Ah, the fringe benefits of moral exploitation were wonderful. He would have his revenge for all those times he had been whacked upside the head.

"Help." Inuyasha heaved a sigh. It was of no use. "Can you just tell her that I read about what happened on the internet or whatever? I think the newscaster said that Miroku's mauscript was put on the web soon after it was discovered. Just tell her that you thought she could trust me enough to go with her to the feudal era. Fill her in on what happened while she was gone, I guess." He couldn't bear to meet the kitsune's eyes.

Shippo would not be distracted however. "She needs you there to support her. She's going through a lot. She gave everything up when she left the feudal era, and thought she would be able to move on with her life. And now it's all coming back to haunt her. Kagome is a compassionate person, and you already know that she feels responsible for what has happened. Do you really think it's fair to keep her in the dark just because you can't get up the courage to explain yourself?"

'Gee. Thanks Shippo. Like I already didn't feel like a total ass.' Inuyasha resisted the impulse however. But there was a limit to his patience. "Would you just do it?" He shouted. "I just...I just want to do what's best for her. And I don't think that's necessarily me." He tacked it on in a whisper. "Besides, do you think she can handle the truth at the moment?" He jerked his head towards her delicate form, silouetted against the noon-time sun, her shoulders slumped, legs dangling off the side of the concrete chunk, like that of a young child.

Although he didn't think it was the really the right thing to do, Shippo agreed.

Miroku sat relucantly in front of the demonslayer. "You need your bandages changed, and that's final. Now sit." Sango demanded. Miroku couldn't argue with a face like that. Not only did he fear her wrath if her chose not to obey, she was just so cute when she was angry.

"I can change my bandages myself, you know." He murmured, more to himself than anyone as he took a seat in front of her. He knew it would do him no good.

"No. You can't." She muttered around a mouthful of safety pins. Before Kagome had left she had been using them to pin a hem of one of Sango's skirts, which she planned to shorten a few inches after she got tired of her complaining about the heat. The project had never been finished, but they certainly worked better than knots in the cloth bandages. They were one of the few things Kagome had left behind. They were all precious, goodness knows how much she treasured that lip gloss. "Look at how loose these are. How did you even keep them on your arm?" She gently unwrapped the layers of bloody cloth from his muscular arm, emitting a small gasp as she realized just how deep the gash was. It must have been 4 inches long, and an inch wide. It was huge.

"Sango?" Miroku asked, hearing her sharp intake of breath. He knew this would happen. Now she would feel guilty. But hey, better his arm than her stomach- right? Those bandits were nasty, throwing knives out of the trees without even a decent warning. Yeah, sure, rob people, he could understand that. He was willing to bet that at least 90 of them were simply farmers put out of work by the constant wars, just trying to get enough money to put food on the table for their families. But you just don't just chuck knives at random passerby out of the blue and try and steal from their corpses. Even bandits ought to have morals, at least to some degree. "Sango- what's wrong?"

What he was expecting was a sharp blow to the head for admitting his worry about her. What he got was a few drops of wetness falling onto his shoulder without a sound, her hand hovering an inch above his arm. The monk turned to face her.

Sango's bangs formed a dark curtain around her eyes, hiding them from Miroku's own inquistive ones. 'No,' she corrected herself, 'Worried.' She couldn't bear to tear her eyes away from the ground. It was too dangerous, this uncharted territory. She was so glad for her hair right then. It was a shield against the one thing she feared more than any demon. Herself. To see herself reflected back in those amythyst orbs, she could't face it. Is eyes only spoke of concern she didn't derserve.

Miroku's eyes softened. "Sango- I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He cringed as the words came out. He waited for her to tell him the opposite- she wasn't worried about him- why should she be? 'I don't deserve her. What have I ever done but betray her trust in me?' "Sango- stop crying. Please. I'm not worth your tears."

Her response was muted. "Yes, you are. You saved me. I'd probably be dead right now if you hadn't acted so quickly. And I never even thought to ask about how you are, or thank you. I'm the reason you're hurt." The words were coming out quickly, all wrong. She needed to stop now. It would only end in disaster. And yet her mouth wasn't responding to the paniced messages her brain was sending it. "Another three inches to the right and that would have your heart! Your lung! You could have died! Why did you do it? Why? Tell me! Why am I worth so much to you? Why does this keep happening? Why do you care? I'm nothing! I have no home- no family- no money! Why do I matter to you?" The confession came out faster and faster, the voice getting louder, until she was shouting at him, tears running down her cheeks as she finally lifted her gaze to meet his own. "Why?"

He gently lifted his uninjured arm, wiping the tears away from her beautiful face. "Because I love you." And he knew she understood. The bandages lay on the ground forgotten, as he pulled her into an embrace and she sobbed into his chest.

"I love you too." She murmured.

"I know."

A/N: Voila! Fluff! What I tell ya'? This chapter was a bit more humerous than most of them. Well, if we're being entirely honest here, maybe it just had some funny bits. It was by no means a comedy. I guess well just settle on... feel-good. How's that work? I surprise myself constantly with this thing. I really LOATHE angst, and parts of it don't make much sense. It really needs more revising. But what the hell. I'll post it anyway. Please don't make too much fun of me. And no. Inuyasha's hair color will not change. He will not turn into a demon again. He was Adrian Hasayuni (Anyone notice the anagram? It's almost spelled backwards, but I had to switch the last two constanants for it to make some sense.) for quite some time, and is firmly a human. However, I think the tetsusaiga will still work for him though. I'll have to think on why exactly that is though.

A/N/N: Thanks to all the kind people who reviewed! And- Avelyn Lauren- that was a pretty long one too. I think you set a new record. Also- sorry for the short chapter. But I didn't think I'd even be able to post today at all, it was just a lucky quirk that my grandma decided to go to see Harry Potter with my mom, and vacated the computer room. (WHO'S BRIGHT IDEA WAS TO MAKE THE COMPUTER ROOM AND GUEST BEDROOM THE SAME PLACE?) So yeah. I'm still undecided about some things (Bad me. I really should have this all mapped out- it would make more sense that way...), and so the present and feudal era haven't quite connected yet. But they will next chapter. I think. I really shouldn't draw this out much longer...

A/N/N/N: How many N's do I need. Heh. Heh. Sorry about the long A/N. It's almost ¾ of a page on my word-processor. ("And that children, is what we call, IRONY. Say it with me... I-ER-KNEE.")