Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Don't sue.

Author's Note: Yay! Back with a pow! Well, at least I hope it's a pow, 'cause it sure pow!-ed me a couple of times while writing it.

Anyway, over the Jewish holiday (yay if you celebrate it- hope you had fun), I was up in Boston looking at schools, so that's why I haven't updated. I think that that is a perfectly valid reason, and I should not be chastised for it. Thank you.

I really hope you guys like this chapter. I worked REALLY hard on it, and I think it's pretty good. PLEASE review with any feedback, negative or positive. (Just as long as I don't get any death notes- Flamers will be used to burn my teachers, so I don't suggest trying it.)

Thanks for sticking with me thus far, and I hope you enjoy! (We're almost at the end!)

Chapter 24, Realizing Strength

When Miroku awoke at dawn, he saw that Scarlet was already awake. He yawned hugely and stretched before heading towards the river they had camped near, just on the outskirts of the city.

Scarlet was there, her bare torso free from the water's currents, her crimson-tinted hair glinting in the morning sunlight. Her back was to Miroku, but she quickly became aware of his presence. Their eyes met and Miroku looked away quickly, the back of his neck hot.

"G-Gomen," he stuttered. He turned to leave.

"You don't have to go, Miroku," the miko said softly. Miroku risked a glance at her, and was greeted by the frontal view of her naked top half. This deepened his blush, but there was no denying that the image of Scarlet framed by the morning's rays was captivating.

She smiled coyly, as if guessing Miroku's thoughts, and stepped forward. "Come now, we both know this isn't the first time you've seen a woman with her clothes off. Maybe Kyoden oji was beating him considerably, but rumor has it that from the time Miroku oji hit puberty, he almost never went to bed lonely."

Miroku's lip twitched nervously. "Things chance when you've been spending such a great amount of time with a woman like, well, like-"

"Like Sango," Scarlet finished for him, raising an eyebrow. When Miroku's blush only deepened, she sighed and freed herself from the water's already feeble cover. "If I had known you'd become so spellbound by that girl, I would have taken you when you showed up at the brothel."

Miroku was confused. "What are you saying?" he asked. He felt like a child again, and he didn't like it.

Scarlet giggled and walked over to him, still dripping and bare. Then, she reached up and kissed Miroku on the cheek. Miroku's already red face turned as crimson as the phoenix tattoo on Scarlet's chest. Seeing this, Scarlet laughed and patted him on the cheek. "I'm saying you're cute, sweetie."

"Sorry, didn't realize we were interrupting," Jou called tauntingly from behind Miroku. Ton sat on his shoulders, bearing the same mischievous grin as his older brother.

"Oh no," Scarlet said, flipping her long hair over her shoulder in a carefree manner and stepping out from around Miroku. "You were interrupting anything at all." She reached out and collected the clothes Jou held out to her.

Scarlet's icy eyes found Ton's face, flashing dangerously. "I let Jou bring my clothes because he won't see anything. You, young man, are a completely different matter. I don't want you bringing my clothes to me again," Scarlet snapped. She sounded like a very overprotective older sister, or maybe even a mother.

Jou grinned devilishly. "I was just taking Ton out to enjoy the scenery," Jou remarked. "And I see we're not the only tourists on this fine morning." He nodded in Miroku's direction.

Scarlet thinned her lips. "Off with you two," she said. Then, she slipped into her kimono, securing the obi around her waist. Next, she pinned up her hair in an elegant, careful bun. Several beautiful pins kept it in place.

Miroku watched her thoughtfully—his embarrassment not forgotten—before he asked, "Why don't you dress as a miko? I see why you didn't before, but now that Sango and I know…"

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "A miko would attract attention once we're inside the walls, and that's something we don't want—not when you can be so easily recognized."

Miroku sighed. "That's actually what I want to talk to you about."

"Really?" Scarlet asked sarcastically. "And here I was thinking you dropped by for a swim."

Miroku frowned, which only made Scarlet giggle more infuriatingly. "Sorry, Miroku," she said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. She pointed at the springy grass that covered the ground. "Sit."

Miroku did as he was told, watching the miko intently. She smiled reassuringly and sat down across from him.

Miroku ran a hand through his hair. "Where do I start?" he wondered aloud.

"At the beginning," suggested Scarlet sagaciously.

"I've never been as good as Kyoden, as far back as I can remember. He was always the better son, the better hunter, and the better lover… I just couldn't compare, no matter how hard I tried. The only thing I did better than Kyoden was academics. I excelled here, and here alone.

"We were in constant competition, but I loved my brother." Miroku put his face in his hands, trying to hold back tears. "Kyoden always looked out for me; he was a friend in a world of enemies."

Scarlet's brow creased, but she said nothing.

Miroku went on. "I couldn't believe it when I heard he'd been killed. But when I saw him lying there amongst the ruins of Sango's home, I knew I'd lost my brother." A sob constricted his chest. "It was like a part of me died.

"I wasn't long after that that my…feelings for Sango became apparent. I tried to push them away, but…I couldn't. They were too strong, too overwhelming." Miroku was shaking now. "When I tell her, it'll be just as bad as losing her."

"You don't know that," Scarlet protested, reaching out to grip his shoulder.

"But I do!" Miroku argued, shrugging her hand away. "You saw how she reacted to your lie. Imagine how she'll receive mine!"

But Scarlet wasn't giving up. "You can't know how someone will react until you go for it! Miroku, you have to tell her. Imagine if we walk into the walls, and just one person recognizes you. Miroku, it'd be disastrous!"

Miroku seemed to consider this a moment and then whispered, "I know, Scarlet. I know."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Scarlet's lips. "So, you'll tell her?"

Miroku nodded. "I will."

Scarlet beamed and then threw her arms around Miroku. The prince, startled by the gesture, did not move for a moment. "You're a good person, Miroku. A really great person."

'Kyoden was a better person,' Miroku couldn't help but add in his mind.

(-)

They were almost at the walls when Miroku stopped and turned. His amethyst eyes, shining darkly with internal thought, found Sango's and held them. "Sango, can I talk to you for a moment, alone?"

Sango cast a glance at Scarlet, who smiled and nodded encouragingly. "Sure," Sango said, though she really wasn't so sure.

Miroku walked off into the cover of a few trees, Sango following a step behind. She felt like someone had poured a bucket of rocks into her stomach.

"I have something to tell you," Miroku admitted.

Sango didn't say anything, but it wasn't because she didn't have anything to say. In fact, she had a million things to say, and they were all scrambling over one another in her mind, each eager to be the first one out of her mouth. She didn't say anything because she had the instinctive feeling that if she did say anything, she would shatter Miroku's resolve to tell her.

Miroku's eyes left hers for an instant to glance at a log that had fallen across the clearing. "You'd better sit down."

Sango did as she was told.

Miroku didn't start right away. Instead, as she had expected, he closed his eyes and folded his hands in front of his face. Then, he ran a hand through his jet-black hair—a habit she had grown comfortably familiar with—and opened his eyes. "Sango, do you understand the meaning of a white lie?"

Again, Sango didn't say anything.

"A white lie is something you say to make a person feel better, or to protect them," Miroku explained. "You use white lies to protect an emotional tie you have with another person."

Sango lowered her eyes. She didn't like lies, in any forms. Lies were a bitter poison, and they ate away at the bearer. The more lies, the more ethereal the liar becomes.

"Sometimes, white lies can get out of hand, and go farther than the teller intended," Miroku continued.

He sighed hugely, as if unsatisfied with his approach, and then flung his hands out in front of him. "Sango, I need to tell you…What I need to tell you is—"

It happened so fast that Miroku couldn't comprehend it for the first seconds. One instant Sango was sitting on the log in front of him, and the next, she was gone. He whirled around, and caught sight of Sango's sleeve disappearing through the brush. "Scarlet!" he yelled wildly, beginning to give chase. "Jou, Ton, Yu!"

They streaked into the clearing, moving with deadly purpose. Yu assessed the situation with her quick, dark eyes, and began running ahead of Miroku. Jou followed his sister, with Ton on his shoulders, shouting directions. Scarlet drew level with Miroku as he ran. "What happened?" she demanded.

"She's gone! They took her!" Miroku roared in blind panic. "They've got her, Scarlet!"

Scarlet's icy eyes became pinpoints of rage. "We'll get her back, houshi. We'll get her back."

(-)

When Sango came to, her head was pounding so loudly that she couldn't hear. So, she lay perfectly still until the pounding lessened. What she heard first was the whisper of silk. Next, a gentle female voice was calling to her. Who was it…?

"Sango, Sango…wake up."

Sango opened her eyes. She was lying in the gardens on her back, and a beautiful woman was leaning over her. The passage of years had weakened Sango's memory of the face, but her amethyst eyes shone with their original perfection.

"Sango, you must come." The woman's voice had a level of seriousness that the young princess had rarely been addressed in. It was such a powerful force that Sango rose immediately to her feet.

"What's wrong?" she questioned, fear bubbling up inside of her.

The woman's face was pain-stricken. Sango remembered that clearly. She remembered every tear on the woman's beautiful face. "Come," she urged. She took Sango's small hand and led her away from the gardens, towards the palace.

The room that she brought Sango to was usually large and open, but now it was crowded with such a number of people that it was hard to breathe. Incense burned on a small altar. Her mother lay on a futon, her face pale and drawn and her sheets covered in blood. Her father was at her side, his face wracked with emotion.

"Hahaue!" Sango screamed. The woman holding Sango tightened her grip. "Hahaue!" Sango called again, fighting against the woman's hold.

Kawate Kinuko looked into her daughter's face and whispered coarsely, "It's alright, Kahori-san, let her come."

Sango was free. She ran forward to her mother's side, tears pouring down her cheeks. "Hahaue…" she rasped, touching her mother's kimono.

Kinuko smiled shakily. "Oh, Sango, don't cry. I was never strong, never strong like the others…"

"The others?" Sango questioned, trying her best to drown her sobs in the back of her hand.

"Never mind," Kinuko said. A contraction overtook her, and she shook badly for a few seconds, her face tightening. When it relaxed again, she looked even more tired than before. Sango took out a handkerchief to dab her mother's sweaty brow. "Sango, I need you to be strong now. It's so much to ask, I know. But I need to be strong for your father, and for your new little sibling."

Another contraction. This one was long, one of the last. When it passed, Kinuko was panting. She took her daughter's hand. "Sango, please, promise me you'll be the strength I never had."

Sango had successfully controlled her tears, but she was shaking like a leaf in a high wind. "I promise, hahaue."

Kinuko smiled, "Oh Sango, I love you so much."

"I love you, too, hahaue."

Then, the woman with the amethyst eyes was leading Sango away again, pulling her from the mourners and the incense. Sango walked with her head held high, a testament to the strength she was now to be. Then woman took her from the room, down the hall, and out into the gardens. The instant the cool night air hit her face, Sango broke down into tears.

Then woman with the amethyst eyes held her until she had cried herself to sleep.

Sango's vision cleared, the memory fading until all that remained were the woman's beautiful eyes. But even after she had blinked several times, the eyes didn't disappear.

And then, Takara Kahori began to talk.

- Ichimu