Myoga made good his escape at some point while Sango was laboring to ignite a campfire. Kirara alerted her to the flea's retreat with a tiny squeak, but Sango let him go. He had already told her everything he knew, so she didn't really need him anyway. In any event, circumstances had changed once again and she needed time to think, not to make conversation with a flea. If Myoga's theory was correct, then there still might be a chance to help Inuyasha.

Of course, she thought, I have no guarantee that Myoga's right about the new moon.

Sango knew for certain that Myoga was correct about at least one matter. Inuyasha's demon blood waned with the moon, until, on the night of the new moon, his human blood briefly gained control, transforming him into a mortal until daybreak. She had seen this for herself several times and had little reason to doubt that the transformation would still take place despite the curse of hunger that had been laid upon him. It was Myoga's other contention that she didn't entirely trust.

Perhaps, the flea had said, the curse may be flushed out of his system when Lord Inuyasha transforms into a human. After all, so far as I know the curse works only on demons, so it may be broken when his human side takes control.

It seemed feasible enough. Inuyasha was fully human during the new moon, so the transformation might free him of the curse. On the other hand, just because Myoga didn't think the curse worked on humans didn't mean that it was so. Furthermore, Sango had no way of knowing whether or not he would relapse back into the curse as soon as his demon side resurfaced.

Sango frowned, impatiently jabbing a stick into the slowly spreading flames. There were too many chances in this plan, too many variables. As a young demon slayer she had always been taught to reconnoiter, to gather information, to maximize every chance for her own survival before putting a plan into motion. But now that was impossible. Inuyasha's condition held so many unknowns, and the time she had to intervene was so short, that Sango would have to just plunge in and take her chances. She hated going into any situation blindly. It was just too reckless.

Too like Inuyasha, she thought, and the image of Inuyasha in all of his bravado and arrogance that suddenly filled her mind made her smile in spite of herself.

It was with this image of Inuyasha, Inuyasha as he once was, in her mind and heart that Sango began to formulate her strategy. The moon was but a tiny sliver in the sky, and by tomorrow night it would have vanished. That, at least, was good luck. She had only to prevent Inuyasha's further deterioration for one more day before she would know for certain whether or not he could be saved.

She had no choice but to simply hope that Kirara would pick up his scent in the morning, otherwise the entire plan would be moot. Sango had no intention of engaging Inuyasha unless absolutely necessary. She was well aware of how formidable he was, and in this state he would almost surely have a madman's strength in addition to his own, so it seemed far more logical to simply stay near him until nightfall, herding him away from the villages if the need arose. With any luck he would regain his lucidity when he changed into his human form, and then it would be a simple matter of waiting for morning to see if the curse would return with his demon side.

Hmpf There's no way it will work out that perfectly.

Sango frowned, holding up her smoldering stick and inspecting it idly before tossing it into the campfire. She was ill-prepared to handle Inuyasha in a physical confrontation, at least one of the kind that would be necessary here. Even if he did attack her, she would have to deal with him as sparingly as possible. If he could not be cured she have to think of ways to kill him, but for how she needed less injurious methods. Both her katana and the hiraikotsu were unsuited to the task of subduing Inuyasha without causing lasting physical harm. She winced at the thought of grievously wounding him with the hiraikotsu only for him to succumb to his injuries once he changed into his weaker human form and lost his demonic constitution.

Another matter nagged at her as well. She wasn't entirely certain whether or not Kikyo knew of Inuyasha's transformation. On one hand it seemed likely, for Inuyasha had been closer to Kikyo than he had to anyone else. On the other hand, the only reason Inuyasha's secret was known to the group was that he had simply been unable to hide it from them. Sango couldn't decide if she thought Inuyasha would volunteer something he considered to be such a great weakness, even to the woman he loved.

The woman he loved…

That thought echoed in her mind and Sango felt her heart sink. Those words sat heavily enough in her heart when only Kagome was attached to them; adding Kikyo made them almost unbearable. It was a long time before she was able to push the thought from her mind, but as the night wore on she realized that she had no choice but to get some rest before morning. Although she didn't really expect to fall asleep, Sango closed her eyes and listened to the crackling fire. Slumber claimed her slowly, with fragments of fantasy intruding on her thoughts little by little, gradually drowning out reality until Inuyasha's strong arms gathered her into a warm embrace and she knew that she was dreaming.

------------------

"The Self-Defense Force offered no comment today about the ongoing sightings of giant birds which have been reported throughout the country this weekend."

Kagome lay in bed staring up at the empty ceiling. Her grandfather was watching the eleven o'clock news downstairs and she could hear every word, partly because his failing hearing led him to keep the volume at an ear-splitting level and partly because the sound carried through the air conditioning vent. When she was a little girl she had always found that comforting. She'd had a lot of nightmares as a child, especially after the incident in Okinawa, and it was very reassuring in the middle of the night to know that her grandfather was there to protect her.

"On a similar note, scientists at Chiba University remain skeptical about the alleged sighting of a live Kameba turtle near Tokyo Bay on Thursday, citing that although a dead Kameba washed ashore at Hokkaido last December, no live specimens have been seen since 1970."

Kagome's hand wandered instinctively to the Shikon fragment that rested ingloriously in a fold of her nightshirt, and she toyed unthinkingly with the string that bound it around her neck. Listening to her grandfather watch the news had offered little comfort lately. In the past two weeks there had been a lot of sightings, people claiming to see enormous turtles and snakes, gigantic birds, huge mantises. Things like that were on the news frequently enough anyway, but this time it seemed different. Perhaps she was just nervous about keeping so large a piece of the Shikon Jewel in the modern era for so long, but all the reports of monsters popping up seemed like too much of a coincidence. And, of course, during the "earthquake" on Wednesday two flights of F-7s had gone over the city.

"The government doesn't send fighter jets to natural disasters," Kagome whispered to herself.

In the feudal era, she knew, the Shikon Jewel drew demons like a spiritual beacon. In modern times it had thus far attracted the attention of only two demonic beings, Mistress Centipede and the Mask of Flesh. Both had been unusual cases, as Mistress Centipede had come through the Bone-Eater's Well and the Mask of Flesh was a demon bound into a lasting physical form which had endured the intervening centuries. With very few exceptions, Kagome was unaware of even the presence of demons in the modern era. But in the modern era there were other things than demons. Things she had never discussed with Inuyasha, the reason that she had been nonplussed by the demons she encountered in the feudal age. Perhaps these things too were drawn to the Jewel, but Kagome couldn't be certain. She couldn't be certain, but she had a feeling.

For the past two days she had thought almost constantly about returning the Jewel to the feudal era, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Three times now she had stood staring into the well, and three times she had bitten her lip and forced herself to turn away. What could she possibly tell them? That she wasn't going to stay but that she was afraid of keeping the Jewel in her own time? A bitter half-chuckle escaped her at the thought. At any rate, she still wasn't ready to see them together, not for any reason. Maybe that was a little selfish, but it was true nonetheless.

No, she thought, I'm not going to take the Jewel back unless…

Kagome shook her head. In the gloom she held her left hand in front of her face, slowly opening and closing it. It popped and protested with every motion and she stared at it in silence, carefully flexing her fingers one by one. The first knuckle of each finger ached dully with the slight arthritis she would always carry with her, her souvenir from Okinawa.

"You," she said in a cold, quiet voice. "I'll return the Jewel to the past if you come back again."

For the first night in weeks Kagome didn't dream about Inuyasha. She dreamt of fog lamp eyes, blue fire, and burning buildings.