&&&&&&&

Although her mind had not yet completely reoriented within her physical body, Sango thrust her blade with all her strength at Sesshomaru's heart. Reason erased, emotions now drove her, fueled by the outrage she felt over all that had been taken, no, ripped away.

Her parents.

Her siblings.

Her clan.

Her slender shoulders bore that weight bravely, every single day of her life.

But...

She had witnessed her dear friend Kilala's death by Kikyo's hand.

She had watched her friend InuYasha breathe his last.

Miroku, with as much as she had invested in him, had never really given her anything beyond false hope, but considering what she had been made to suffer in this life, even that was better than nothing; this too had been taken.

And now... and now…

A small chance at peace in the afterlife?

She had nothing more to give, and the demon-lord's decision had snapped her last nerve. Sango felt her mind crumbling as everything collapsed in on her at once, so she acted on pure instinct. Sesshomaru glared at the attacking girl, a snarl of impatience barely curling his lip, a look of incredulity at her boldness and impertinence. He easily dodged first one, then another of her attacks. The moonlight glinted off her blade. Sango huffed and puffed as she moved clumsily toward him once again.

"Bastard! You… you…"

Why weren't her muscles working right? She could barely take oxygen into her lungs, but she continued in herky-jerky fashion to try her best to make him suffer. To hurt him as he had hurt her. She would never be able to forgive him, so of course he had to die.

'I refuse to go on as one of his... abominations!'

She would leave this world once again, by her own hand, and try once more to find the peace that had slipped from her grasp, but not before taking him first.

"Sango!"

Kagome screamed at her friend. In a moment, all her efforts would be in vain if… if…

Sesshomaru dodged another attack, appearing as if by magic thirty feet away, next to Kagome, in the blink of an eye. He spoke coolly, but there was an edge to his voice that was unmistakable. For a frozen moment, their eyes met, his intent quite clear.

"Young miko, I have met your request. By her actions, this girl does not wish to remain among the living. I have no time for this, nor do you. Restrain her immediately, or she shall meet death once more."

This was all happening so fast! Kagome's heart pounded and her ears rang with the rapid sequence of events.

"Wait, please!"

She turned then, hoping the monk could somehow help diffuse the situation.

"Miroku!"

Kagome shouted before she realized that the monk had sped past her, heading for Sango as fast as he could run. The shock of seeing the peacefully sleeping warrior reanimated had by now worn off, and he had leaped into action at the sight of her, alive. Sango, still single-mindedly bent upon causing the tai-youkai's demise, saw Miroku's movement out of the corner of her eye, but it was as a blur. Her mind, warped within its own unique reality, quickly categorized him as simply another minor impediment to be disposed of, one that could prevent her from completing her deadly mission no more than might a gnat.

Sesshomaru turned back to the advancing Sango and grasped Tokijin. He would grant this girl her death-wish, then, if necessary, force the miko to revive his brother, even if he had to resort to taking one of her remaining friends hostage in order to do so. It was a crass, distasteful act, most certainly beneath him, and he didn't desire for Rin to witness it, but InuYasha must not be allowed to die now. Every second counted. His younger brother had to live.

Sesshomaru drew Tokijin just as Miroku intercepted her. The monk threw himself between them just as Sango's horizontal slicing strike found the space where Sesshomaru was, then was not. Miroku's staff caught most of the blow. However, he still received a deep gash in his upper arm as a result of her attempt to slit the dog-demon's throat. He shut the pain out of his mind as he tried his best to throw his arms around her.

"Sango, stop it! What are you doing?"

Only then could he look upon her face and see the heart-wrenching mix of misery and rage it displayed. As her heart retched its sorrow, each gush of tears made new tracks down her cheeks. And Sango almost never cried. Her eyes stared blankly, looking right through him. He became even more concerned for her, then.

'What is this? Has she witnessed something from beyond the bounds and come back touched by madness in some way?'

In spite of the pain in his arm, he wrestled with her, trying his best to get her to the ground, a difficult task as she was normally much stronger than he. Even in her current weakened state, she continually twisted and slipped from his grasp using a combination of Judo and Aikido escape moves that were second-nature to her. Her focus on her task blinded her to all else, even though in the deep recesses of her mind she now processed faint recognition of something familiar about this scent... this voice... this touch. Memories of their comforting influence began to float up to her consciousness. There were strong feelings connected to those memories. It was… it was…

No!

This restraining force, whatever it was, whoever it was, would not stay her hand in slaying the dog-demon.

"Sango! It's me! Sango… can you..?"

Did she even recognize him? Miroku frowned in confusion but remained undaunted. He grasped her by her shoulder armor and held on for dear life. He would not give Sesshomaru the chance to take her from him. The demon lord observed the struggle and immediately understood the monk's intent, exhaling an audible breath before sheathing Tokijin. Next, faster than the eye could follow, he was upon the two of them, and disarmed Sango in a flash, grasping her by the wrist until she dropped her weapon. Merely closing his grasp another fraction of an inch would have released the killing poison into her system, but he exercised great restraint and control as he understood now that the monk was important to Kagome, and the taijiya was at least as important to the monk, if not more. This situation could perhaps be salvaged after all.

Miroku took the opportunity to pull a temporarily surprised Sango off balance, taking them both to the ground in a heap with her on her back, and him on top of her. Sesshomaru momentarily examined her weapon, raising an eyebrow in what might have been read as mild contempt or disgust before discarding the blade, embedding it into the trunk of a tree twenty feet away with a mere flick of his wrist. He then turned to walk over to Kagome and Kaede, wanting to get on with the business at hand, convinced the monk could by now handle the subdued taijiya.

But Sango was a demon-slayer, and even unarmed, a formidable fighter. Once she realized that she lost her blade, she grasped Miroku's robes by the shoulders and, folding her knees beneath her, flipped him up in the air over her head. He landed on his back with a thud, knocking the air out of him. With every breath she took during the battle, fresh oxygen returned more and more of her strength and agility. Now that the monk was no longer in her way, she placed her palms on the ground near her ears, elbows pointing up, and thrust her hips and legs upward, flipping forward in the air to land on her feet.

Where?

Where was he..?

There.

"Don't you turn your back on me!"

She screamed at the demon lord as she attacked anew, prepared to leap onto his back, her single thought that she could strangle him with her bare hands, or die trying. Sesshomaru stopped walking toward the two mikos and turned his head in time to witness her feet leave the ground as she leaped at him. Miroku had by now scrambled to his feet, but the distance between them was too great. His breath caught in his throat. Kagome silently mouthed her name; she too was speechless as these new events unfolded.

Everyone saw the razor-sharp canine appear as the snarl raised his upper lip.

Oh no!

As time slowed to a crawl, Sango's impending death played out in front of everyone's eyes. Of course she would be cut down before she ever reached Sesshomaru.

"Rowwwrrrrr."

At the very last moment, just before the demon-slayer would have been sent once again from this life, Kilala threw herself between Sango and Sesshomaru, effectively knocking the girl to the ground as the taijiya bounced off the cat's broad side. For a third time today, Sesshomaru withheld a killing strike, clearly not something he was used to. The big cat then fell upon Sango and held the struggling girl down with both paws. The blow seemed to have an unexpected effect as Sango's eyes now flashed recognition.

"Kilala... alive?"

Kilala's soothing purr rumbled up from her chest as she then tilted her head to lick Sango's face, trying the best way she knew to ease her friend's distress. The others reached them. Sango blinked as she slowly came to her senses.

"M... Miroku?"

The monk exhaled audibly as his anxiety was immediately replaced with relief. He extended his hand and grasped hers. Kilala then moved, allowing Sango to sit upright. The neko-youkai still remained seated behind the demon-slayer, nuzzling her. Miroku grasped Sango's other hand and brought his face very close to hers, looking deep into her eyes.

"Sango, are you all right?"

"I... I don't... I'm not sure... what..?"

"Sango, I'm so relieved." Kagome grasped an elbow, helping her to stand. Something then occurred to Sango.

"InuYasha! Where..?"

She turned, searching frantically for him before spotting his body, right where he had fallen. The sight of him lying there brought back all the memories of the battle with Kikyo, and Sango's knees buckled.

"I'm sorry. Kagome... I'm so sorry. I couldn't help him. I tried... I..."

She was about to break down once more, but Kagome hugged her tightly, her own voice trembling with emotion as she spoke.

"I know you did, Sango. Please don't blame yourself. You were not the one who took his life. We may still be able to save him..."

"May we now proceed? I grow increasingly weary."

Sesshomaru's voice cut the reunion short, demanding immediate attention. Kagome broke her embrace with Sango, and walked back over to the demon lord. Sango looked at him, an unreadable expression on her face, but said nothing. Miroku hooked his arm around hers, and Kilala, now reverted to her small form, bounded up to nestle in her other arm. The monk then led her to the edge of the clearing, whereupon he looked up and called out.

"Shippo, it's o.k. You can come down now."

"Sango! I'm so glad you're back!"

With a squeak of relief, the fox-demon pup dropped out of the tree he was hiding in to land on Miroku's shoulder, causing the monk to wince as it aggravated the cut he had recently received. Sango looked at his arm then, as the sleeve of the robe had turned crimson where the blade had cut.

"Did... did I do that?"

"It's all right."

"No! Let me see it!" She helped him gingerly extract his arm from the sleeve.

Kagome had by now reached the tai-youkai.

"Arrigatou, Sesshomaru-sama..." She bowed in deference.

'...for bringing her back and for not taking her life once again.'

Her eyes met his again, and she was relieved that the look of imminent destruction she had witnessed before was now gone.

"What do you require of me?"

"One moment."

He called for his loyal retainer.

"Jaken!"

"Yes, m'lord!"

The wind had picked up and it had grown cooler since Sesshomaru and his party had arrived. The moon cast it's rays upon them in an eerie, chilly fashion.

"Retrieve the travel pack from Ah-Un, and remove two blankets. Wrap Rin in one and bring the other to me."

"At once, m'lord."

He turned to Kaede.

"Elder miko..."

Lady Kaede had lived a long life, and had fought off many malevolent demons as part of her life-mission, but her breath caught in her throat as the golden eyes of the dog-god bored into her. It was as if he were searching through each of the many secrets she had held close to her breast until he found the one he desired. She was suddenly almost afraid to answer him.

"Y... yes, my lord?"

"The ashes of the ogre, Urasue... retrieve them at once." He said with certainty and conviction.

"But... but how...?"

He cocked his head at her hesitation.

"Yes. Of course, Lord Sesshomaru. I shall retrieve them for you."

&&&&&&&

A/N: Again, I never intended for this to be as much about Sango as it turned out, but this is how this fic is writing itself...

Anyway, Kagome really does get to Hell to save you-know-who... next.

Cynical Chaos: My attempt at getting inside InuYasha's head in earlier chapters helped when I tried to work with Sango here and in the last chap. I hope it helps when I finally get to Kagome, who knows she has feelings for IY, but is not sure of their depth. Action sequences I have no problem with; as a writer, my weakness is still introspection. Anyway, thanks for your comments, as always.

kagomefire: Yeah, angst I'm kinda good at as well. You'll find out why Sess is frantic that his brother be returned to him soon. At least in the early eps of the anime, Kikyo was portrayed as selfish, and I tried to capture that here. In later eps, she almost has a heart of gold. If anybody can make a character OOC, I guess it's the creators. Thanks for your comments.

AriznGlori: Sorry this took so long. Hope you like where it's going. Like I said, angst and tragedy just come naturally to me for some reason. It's the other emotional dimensions I need to work on. Thanks.

atth99: Thank you. What happened to "The New Neighbor"?

ShortPoet: Architect Mies van der Rohe once said "God is in the details.", and I'm trying to add detail with each posting, although sometimes I get frustrated and post before it's quite "right". Don't watch "Buffy", so I'll take your word on that comparison, but the Vandread quote is right on. So hoping you're feeling much better than before... what... last May? (ehh, I've been busy...). I probably won't go much further with Sango here, this is still about Kagome and InuYasha (really!), but she is such a wonderful character, I'll probably devote a fic to her sometime in the future. Hope to see your latest submission soon!

Krazie-edge: dat's koreckt...

Silk Hope: thanks for your kind comments. I'm really trying with the cliffs, but sometimes...

Kiyana Va Sala: Who? Where? Identity theft! Anyway, she won't die again in this fic... And when are you gonna update, anyway?

Live la Vida Loca!

W.