Kikyo watched in fascination as the lovers exchanged words. It was rather odd, she felt, but she felt it in bigger words, clearly. She smiled, realizing how happy InuYasha was. She hadn't solved things, but she was given another chance to make things better. She knew now that the gods hadn't smiled on Sango, but on her, giving her a third chance at her quest. She smiled.

Thank you

As she thought that she swore she could make out a head, an arm, and maybe part of a leg.

"Kagome?" She asked, gritting her teeth at the very thought of going to others for information. She heard a faded whisper of someone asking her something, but that was all. She was still getting used to feeling things that were said. She didn't really have to listen; she could feel for the meaning. This time the meaning was to faint, to far from her to make out. Maybe if she listened this time she'd understand.

"Kagome?" She said again, this time making it clear she wasn't really asking. The face turned to her, and she could see through it. Was this how Sango saw her?

"W…?" Was all she could make out. She smiled to herself. Perhaps as a miko she retained some of her former power. Seeing ghosts was never easy, but she set her brain – or, to be fair, her mind – to that task. It may take her a long time, but she'd get to her own reincarnation after all.

…

Dawn broke. Quickly Fate rushed over to glue it together again, but now it was broken.

Sango yawned, unaware of the broken-ness of dawn, and she smiled around herself.

Life, as she knew it, had been over for a long time. A new life had begun, and she was grateful for every moment of it, though sometimes she couldn't see that. She looked at InuYasha who was poking the fire with a stick. He had an annoyed expression on his face as he squatted there. Sango smiled; that 'squat and glare' was familiar. A sense of something she could use in the same sentence as 'a feeling of home'.

"Good morning, Lady Sango!" Came an all too cheerful voice from behind her. She was ready at any moment to have her hand on that mans face, but the opportunity never arrived. However she knew he was doing his best not to get InuYasha's wrath after a fire that won't get hot has already annoyed him. She looked around for her more… Spiritual companions. She saw Kagome, her ravaged spirit still missing pieces of it. She also saw 'Kagome', who gave her a feeling in her stomach that made her want to clean herself from the inside out. She looked around for Kikyo, and when she found the woman she saw her more as a person. She was nearly solid looking. It was a bit unnerving, since she knew she could walk through her. Eventually InuYasha was sitting next to her, and, she noticed, his foot was burnt.

"Why is--?" She began.

"I can't cook…" He said, looking away from her quickly. She smiled. When he realized she was leaning her head against him she felt him jump. Public displays of affection had never really been either of the two's 'thing', but it seemed all right, somehow. There was no comment from anyone, other than InuYasha.

"Sango, can we talk?" He asked. Sango nodded. Even though he couldn't see her, she knew he could feel her head. They wandered away, into the forest as Miroku took over the cooking.

…

"Refresh the ignorant me. Just why are we tricking Kagome?" Asked InuYasha irritably. There was a comfortable, and above all familiar feel when he was being snappish.

"Right." She said dreamily, though she didn't understand quite why. "That's not really Kagome. It's Naraku, I think." She said. At InuYasha's blank stare she explained more clearly. She knew he would believe her after a while.

Eventually he got it, after the third time through.

"Oh." He said dumbly once he understood. "Okay, that… Okay." He said. They stood in total silence aside from the sniggering from Kagome that only Sango could hear. Kikyo wandered over, and Sango held up a finger to InuYasha, turning to her.

"Anything you two need?" She asked.

"What do your 'invisible friends' want now?" He said. She smiled, knowing that he intended to say something more along the lines of 'I can't even tell when we have no privacy! I want some!' Kikyo smiled.

"What are the prayer beads around his neck for?" She asked, knowing already.

"Um… Those are… Those are for Kagome to say 'sit' and he'll be sent to the ground."

"Sit." Said Kagome. InuYasha looked around as if he felt slightly dizzy, but nothing more happened.

"I suspect the control over them remains in the body." Said Kikyo. "Pick them up off his neck." She commanded. Sango looked confused.

"I can't take them off…" She said. "I'm just human! Not even a priestess!"

"If I lend you my powers you can do it. All I need is a physical form." She told her. Sango closed her eyes and sighed.

"All right, we'll see." She said, walking over to InuYasha. She placed her hands on InuYasha's necklace. The beads glowed pink in resistance, and she felt them scream at her through her arms, but aside from that, there was nothing that stopped her from raising them over his head.

Self destruct in three seconds

Well, aside from that. She dropped them, and there was a soft 'click' noise as they landed back on InuYasha's shoulders. She turned to Kikyo.

"Um, explanation, please?" She said. Kikyo was, conveniently, not there.

…

Naraku was amazed at the things he, or really she was thinking while inside Kagome's body. There was an odd urge to go buy clothes, and cute fuzzy things. There was also the near need to throw up every time Miroku touched her, but she did her best to ignore that, and keep up the charade. She really hadn't thought it through enough, had she? Perhaps it would be better just to give up on the body and let it go?

She shook her head.

Again she was letting the body think. Mercy wasn't something Naraku thought, that was Kagome's body thinking. Mercy was stupid. If she were it give up on this she'd first destroy the body. Naraku pulled up the side of her mouth in her trademarked grin. She stared at her hands. Power of all types, and more than was bargained for.

…

Sango wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but she was wrapped in InuYasha's arms, and he in hers, standing there, as if promising always to be there for each other. It was a wonderfully romantic scene, and would have been even more romantic, had there been no Kagura there to attack them…

End Chapter Twenty-Two

Lala! Love you all! Sorry about the A/N thing before, that was bad of me…

Miko-chan.