The next morning, Miroku woke up and found the sleeping Sango wrapped in his arms. He pulled her closer to his body, careful not to wake her, then continued to watch the one he loved sleep.
As Sango woke up, she moved slightly closer to the monk's body, snuggling into his chest, not realizing it was, in fact, the monk. When she opened her eyes, she was blinded by the brightness of the morning sun, which caused her to bury her face into Miroku's robes. Finally, when she dared to open her eyes again, to allow them to adjust, her eyes met Miroku's soft brown eyes.
Blushing, Sango looked away, embarrassed that she had slept the whole night in his arms, even though she enjoyed the feeling of comfort and security he provided. She casually began to get up, mumbling something even the most sensitive ears could not understand. She stood up, adjusted her kimono and began to make breakfast; Kagome had given her a few tools from the future, so she could accomplish the job easily. Normally, she would have said something, but at this point she couldn't come up with anything that wouldn't sound stupid and lame. Plus, she was too embarrassed she just wanted to avoid him, even though she knew that would be very difficult, since they were in a destroyed village with nothing much to do for entertainment anymore.
This caused her to think of when Kohaku, their father and herself were all together training, playing a game, or just having dinner together. The thought of this brought tears to her eyes, which she fought back to prevent them from falling, but when she realized that she couldn't fight them any longer, she made up an excuse to leave the hut.
"I'm going to go get some water. I'll be back soon," and with that she left the hut as quickly as she could. As soon as she was out of the hut she burst into tears, and ran to the near by hot spring, which had been commonly used for bathing. Once at the hot spring, she sought out a near by boulder and sat down on it. She brought her knees close to her chest, crossed her arms over them, buried her head in her arms, and cried.
Sango jumped when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked up to find the young monk looking down at her, his face filled with worry and concern.
Miroku, being the gentleman that he is, when he isn't being a hentai, had followed her. He silently placed himself beside her, and slinked an arm around her small waist, carefully pulling her closer to him.
Sango felt this and accepting the comfort she gave in, once again, and allowed the monk to hold her while she cried.
The monk could feel the girl in his arms trembling and shaking, as sobs racked her body.
After a few minutes of silence, except for the random sobs that escaped Sango's lips, Miroku said, "Sango, I know what this is about, and I know how you feel, but you don't have to be strong all the time. You should express your feelings more, talk about it."
Sango looked up at him with her tear streaked face, her tears had stopped, but her eyes were still bloodshot and her cheeks still damp. She said nothing, not really knowing what to say anyway.
"When my father died I tried to stay strong, such as you are doing now, but I felt scared and alone. I was scared because the only one I had ever looked up to had been devoured by his own wind tunnel and I knew that, that would one day be my fate as well. I thought that it would make me tougher if I didn't show any emotion, but one day, when I was staying with the village monk, I had a terrible nightmare and I realized that I was not getting any stronger. Since that day, if I have had a problem, or I'm worried about something, I find someone who will listen, who will care, and talk to them. It helps a lot," the monk rambled on, but he could see, in her eyes, she was genuinely interested. "If you ever need to talk to anybody about anything, I'll always be here for you."
"Thank you Miroku. That means so much to me," she said, tears welling up in her eyes again, this time not because she was sad, but because she was happy; she had someone who cared about her, maybe even loved her.
Instead of answering, the monk just pulled her into his warm embrace, holding her close.
Sango felt comforted by this and told Miroku everything that she was feeling, she may have even gone too far…
"Since my father was killed and the village destroyed, I've been having these awful dreams. Some are of that night when Kohaku killed our father and other the slayers, some are about meeting him again and him not remembering me, and some are about what Naraku has been doing to him. I fear that if we meet again, he will not remember me, and if that is so, it will break my heart. And Naraku could be torturing him or something worse. Oh, Miroku I don't know what I'm going to do!" she cried, tears falling freely, soaking the monk's robes.
"Is that all that has been bothering you, Lady Sango?" the wise monk asked, sensing there was something else.
"And to top it off, whenever we come across a beautiful woman you grope her or ask her to bare your child!" she cried, not really realizing what she was saying, but feeling the need to get it off her chest.
"Oh, and why would that bother you, Sango?" Miroku asked, curiously, not expecting that response.
"Because I love you!" she could not contain it any longer; as soon as the words escaped her lips she realized what she had just said, her face instantly flushed.
Miroku gapped in awe at her, shocked by this confession.
Sango stood up to leave, knowing what was coming next, she could hear the words in her mind, 'Oh, well then, you wouldn't have a problem baring my child. Shall we get started, my Dearest Sango?', then he would caress her ass. She shivered at the thought, she wanted someone who would love her, not someone who just wanted a child and was perverted. The thought that the monk would never return her love brought tears to her eyes as she began to run through the near by forest, leaving Miroku stunned.
Miroku, who was still trying to get over the shock, stood up, confused by why she had left so quickly, without his response.
'Maybe she regrets saying that. Maybe she doesn't mean it,' he thought, terrified that, that might be the case. 'I love you, Sango! I do!' his mind screamed out to her, desperately hoping she felt the same. He began to retrace her footsteps, hoping that they would lead him to her.
Sango had been running through the forest for what seemed to be forever, but it had only been about fifteen minutes. Exhausted, she stopped by a small stream that was flowing peacefully through the calm forest. She found a boulder and placed herself upon it, so she could watch the gentle flow of water, as it provided so many resources to both animals and humans. It had been their drinking water, their water to wash clothes and dishes in, among many other things it provided them with.
She watched the birds playfully dancing inches above the waters edge, and the deer come to get a drink and cool themselves from the afternoon heat. It was all so peaceful; she wished she could live like that, with no worries about demons or a certain perverted monk.