Disquiet held Sango in its grip long after the others had settled down for the night. With only Kirara for company, she sat outside Kaede's hut and looked out over the darkened village and the forest beyond.
Inuyasha was out there somewhere, probably lurking near the bone-eater's well that led to Kagome's homeland. Perhaps he'd even gone through that strange portal; perhaps tomorrow he would bring Kagome back and their quest could resume. Then again, perhaps not. Only time would tell.
Somewhere else, lost in distance and shrouded in mystery, Sango's enemies were out there, too. Naraku, and the boy who had been her brother. Pain was a knife in her heart every time she thought of Kohaku—yet how could she not think of him on a lonely night like this? He was even more lost and alone than she. In Naraku's thrall, her sweet and gentle little brother had been twisted, warped into something beyond recognition… she knew better, but even now she could not escape the hope that the Kohaku she knew was still in there somewhere, that he might somehow be saved.
But with Kagome gone and their quest for the Shikon jewel stalled indefinitely, that hope was dimmed indeed. If Kagome didn't come back…
Despair beckoned, promising to become her constant companion if Kagome didn't return.
Kirara rumbled, though in her smaller form it came out as a gentle purr, and slipped from Sango's lap to rub against her hip; Sango wiped away tears born of frustration and loneliness and fear. With no imminent battles to fight and none of her more talkative companions around to distract her, it was all too easy to focus instead on her worries.
"Oh, Kirara," she breathed, speaking quietly so as to not wake the others. "What am I going to do?"
But the night held no answers.