A/NOk, I'm very sorry for keeping the next chapter away from you for such a long time. I just had to go through and make sure that everything was as I wanted it to be. Also, I had one person ask about the pairings of this story...well, it's a surprise! -

Ch.1Dreams

All of them slept, Miroku had fallen on his side during his sleep. His right cheek lie flat against the cold earth, his left hand gripped his staff and his right arm was buried under his chest. His legs were bent slightly for more comfort as he slept.

His breath started to quicken, but then caught in his throat before continueing with the even pace of sleep. "Mmmm..."

---Miroku's Dream---

He was walking alone through the forest. The trees were surrounding him. It was daytime, he could tell because sunlight was shining through breaks in the foliage giving the forest a dream sort of look. There were also a few birds flapping their way through the forest. He looked around and scanned the area. There was a doe to his left, a little fawn standing right next to her. It's innocent looking eyes shone brightly before both mother and child took off into the dense bushes.

He continued walking on his way when his breath caught. It was Sango, she was half hidden behind a tree, only her head and part of her shoulder and arm were visible to him. She smiled and held her hand to her mouth in a cute giggle. She then took off into the forest away from him.

Not one to take this opportunity lightly, he soon gave chase the hiding demon exterminator. "Sango," he called out in a sing-song voice, "where are you?" He heard a giggle ahead of him and peered around a wide tree. Sango was there in her regular kimono.

At the sight of him, she seemed to blush slightly. This caught the monk off guard and she used that to her advantage. She crawled through a bush and stayed hidden for several moments.

Miroku was confused as to what he should do, stay or follow. Likely if he followed she would hit him with her hiraikotsu or her fist, but if he stayed, he would never know what she was doing and it would likely be the death of him. With a sigh he called out, "Sango?"

On cue, Sango's hand emerged from the bush. With her palm facing up, she beckoned him to come as she seductively moved her fingers to signal him it was alright to follow now.

Miroku cautiously moved through the bush, the many twigs getting caught on his robes. He used the staff to pry any grabbing twigs away. When he emerged on the other side he wiped the leaves from his hair and the dirt from his robes. At the sound of a nearby giggle, his head shot up to look at his surroundings.

There was a steaming hot spring right at his feet. The entire area was surrounded by blossoming cherry trees, the petals falling onto the steaming water of the hot spring. The steam and petals gave the spring a very romantic look. But nothing had prepared him for what he saw next.

A sigh was heard and he turned his head. He could have sworn he started crying right then and there. For Sango was there, her body turned away from him but her head was turned to the side so she could look at him from the corner of her eye. She was wrapped in a towel, the towel hung seductively low on her back. She then turned to fully face him, her arms were in front of her clutching the towel to her chest.

Miroku could only stare at her as she walked towards him, her hips swaying a little. She stopped about an inch away from him, nearly pressing herself against him. "Sango?" Her eyes looked into his, both lost for a second.

Miroku laughed then and brought his left hand up to sratch the back on his head. "Would you bear my children?" He started to bring his hands to a defensive stance around his head, but her laughter gave him pause.

"Of course my love." Her bright smile almost made him faint from shock. She let the towel drop slightly and pressed herself against Miroku. Her hands let go of the towel, but it didn't move since she was pressing up against Miroku. Her hands circled around his neck and she stood on her tip toes.

That settles it...I've died and this must be heaven. For surely in no other place could something this grand happen to me. I think I'm going to cry out of pure happiness. He had watched Sango lefted herself so he could claim her lips. Who am I to deny what she wants? With that, he leaned his head down and captured her lips with his.

Her lips were so soft, like rose petals. The towel dropped from between them and he only held her closer, placing his hands around her back. Her body is full of contrasts. She's so soft and yielding, but yet she's hard and tough, she looks so helpless but she's quite able, AND SHE'S FINALLY MINE!

Somehow, without knowing it, Miroku and Sango wound up in the hot spring, both stripped of any clothing. Miroku was sure that he'd died by now, for how else could this be happening? His hands were rubbing up and down her back, one made its way down to grope her butt. So soft...

He started kissing a trail down her neck, playing on the skin with his tongue and lightly nipping with his teeth. He heard Sango moan and nearly lost it. He brought his mouth back to her lips and asked for entrance by tracing his tongue against her bottom lip. Without hesitation, she parted her lips and his tongue was free to explore. So soft...so sweet...

"Sango..." he panted out.

"Miroku?"

"Sango..."

"MIROKU!"

"Mmm...Sango..."

"PERVERT!"

------

Miroku woke up abruptly when a clenched fist made its way to his skull. He fell to the ground again rather roughlywith an irate Sango glaring daggers at him. He started to whimper and that turned into outright crying. WHY? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE A DREAM!

Sango stared at the pathetic monk whimpering on the ground like he had just lost everything by waking up from his dream. She sighed slightly and went back to sit down and leaned against her hiraikotsu. Her eyes stared at the night sky which was full of blazing stars. She wished her dream had been as nice as Miroku's, but she was not as lucky as the monk. All she had were her nightmares.

She placed her left leg straight out and her right leg bent so her hands could rest on her knee and her chin on her hands. Her thoughts went to her dream, her nightmares. It had been similar to every other dream she had had since the night her brother had been forced to kill her family and dear friends and had been brought back only to be used by Naraku.

Sango stared at the two demons still sleeping beside her. Even they seem to have better dreams then I do. She sighed and replayed the dream in her head.

---Sango's Dream---

She was walking through the woods, it was almost black which gave the forest a haunting look. Miroku was following her with lustfilled eyes as they roved down to her bottom. When his eyes made there way back up, he met Sango's glare and he visibly shivered from the amount of hatred burning in them. When will he stop staring at me like that long enough for me to show how much I feel about him? He's as much an idiot as Inuyasha is.

Inuyasha and Kagome were in the lead, walking silently side by side, but both looking in the opposite direction with angered eyes and arms crossed in front of their chests. It was the average night, nothing really missing except the fight between Inuyasha and Shippo that was bound to happen anytime.

Right on cue, "Inuyasha, you shouldn't pout like that, Kagome says only children pout." Shippo's voice hung in the silence. Inuyasha's feet stopped and he turned around slowly to look Shippo down. He bared his teeth in an angered growl.

"SHUT UP SHIPPO!" Shippo screamed and hid behind Sango's hair on her shoulder.

"INUYASHA! SIT! Don't you dare yell at Shippo like that!" She screamed at him. His body was about three feet down in the dirt, signifying she was really angered at the poor Inuyasha. She then added under her breath, "Especially when he's right."

Inuyasha pulled himself on the ground. Just as he opened his mouth to yell back at Kagome for the mouthful of dirt, and probably to call her a stupid girl and to mind her own business, his head turned towards the south and he let out a low growl. "Naraku..."

That was all the group needed. Kilala transformed with a brilliant flame into the big cat demon that she was with flames licking at her feet and hair bristled. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo jumped onto her back. Argument seemingly forgotten at the moment, Kagome jumped on Inuyasha's back and he sped off in the direction his nose had picked up the scent.

Everything was a blur then, she didn't remember how long it took to get to the clearing. The clearing was basically a wide area covered with dirt, some spurts of grass grew defying the choking ground. The area was completely surrounded by trees, creating a black wall around the clearing. Basically, it was your typical dream battlefield.

Sango looked around to see just what Naraku had sent them. There was Kagura, her fan held out in front of her as she stood there, seemingly waiting for them to make the first move. Someone was behind her, and they made there way in front of Kagura. It was...Kohaku...

The battle began. Hordes of demons were sent along after Inuyasha and the group. Miroku fought with his staff and Kagome with her bow and arrows. Inuyasha used the Tetsusaiga as much as he could without hurting Kohaku in the process.

Kohaku walked over to Sango and unshiethed his sword. Sango did the same and stared angrily at the boy, wishing things could be different. She knew that it was just a dream, but even in her dream it was like the real thing playing over and over in her mind. She guessed it was her minds way of torturing her for not being there when she was needed the most.

Their swords clashed together, over and over again. She dodged as many attacks as she could without hurting him in the process. He finally landed a slash against her side. She had screamed out in pain and Kohaku merely stared at her, sword held up to ready another attack on his own sister that he did not remember.

Sango held her hand on her wound to try and hold back the bleeding. She knew what she had to do, she knew what she was going to do no matter how much she didn't want to. She held up her sword and aimed at him. "Aaaah!" She ran at him with all her speed, he simply stood there waiting for her. She knew he was going to dodge off to the side, just like he did in every other dream.

Just as predicted, as she got there, he dodged to the side and her sword made contact with his shoulder, piercing through and forcing the jewel shard out of his body. Sango fell to the ground,releasing her sword on the way down. Her hands and knees shakilyheld her off the ground. She looked around and saw Kohaku's body lying near her. She crawled over to his already dead looking body and held him in her lap. "Kohaku, I'm so sorry." She whispered more to herself then to him.

"S...Sango...I'm...sorry." His eyes shone with life for an instant, then began to fade away right before her.

"Shh..it wasn't your fault, none of it was. It was all Naraku's doing." Sango smiled sadly down at her only family that she was now going to lose, yet again, in another dream and possible for real one day.

He coughed then, blood spilling onto his already pale white lips. "It...w-wasn't your fault...either Sango...I'm s-sorry you feel...guilty. Please Sango...kill Naraku before he can...do this to someone...else."

"I promise." She looked into his eyes and the life was gone, nothing was there. Tears burned her eyes as she stared at her lifeless little brother. Usually her dreams had ended there, but this one didn't. This dream had to take things way beyond what had ever happened in her others.

She looked up to stare at Kagura, she noticed that Kanna stood waiting behind her. She didn't know what this meant until Inuyasha used the wind scar. All the demons in front of Kagura were instantly killed, leaving none in its path. That is until it finally reached Kagura, but before that could happen, Kanna stepped out in front of her and reflected the attack back at Inuyasha with her mirror.

Inuyasha was badly injured, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo, and Kilala were all dead from the massive blast, their bodies lying in their own blood. Sango couldn't breath, no matter how much her lungs called for the life giving oxygen.

Inuyasha stood there all alone, looking at all of them. He gave and anguished cry, and that was when she had woken up. She had lost basically everyone that she held dear in the world, her brother, her love, one she considered her sister, and her best friend. They had all been taken away from her.

Even now, just thinking about had Sango fighting back the tears that threatened to spill out. She wouldn't let them however, she prided herself in being strong, and that meant not crying for everyone to see. She couldn't take it if they were all worried over her, it was too unnerving. Her eyes shifted to look at Shippo. I wonder what he's dreaming about...hopefully it's a happy dream.

Shippo was curled up in a little ball right next to Kilala. His tiny hands were grabbing at something in the air, what it was he was grabbing at was unknown. He smiled in his sleep and little giggles made their way to his mouth.

---Shippo's Dream---

It was wonderful, it was so lovely, it was...PERFECT! He was the luckiest fox demon in all of history. For here he sat with two handfulls of candy. That wasn't just all of it though. Shippo was sitting atop an entire mountain of candy, all sorts of candy. There was chocolate of all kinds, cotton candy, and much more.

Shippo took his time to lick a lollipop then cast it aside as he took another into his mouth. "This is the life!" He jumped down from the candy hill and slid down into another mound of candy. He was in tears of happiness from this wonderfully made dream.

He looked around and saw Kagome sitting indian style atop a small hill of candy. She looked at him and smiled warmly at him. Shippo ran to her and jumped into her arms which she brought around him to hold him lightly against her.

"Kagome, I missed you!" He snuggled against her chest to show how much he loved her.

"I missed you too Shippo." She smiled down at him and began to tickle his stomach.

His laughter was uncontrolled as the torture of being tickled continued down to his feet. Tears were forming in his eyes and he couldn't help but let them fall. When his face was red and he could barely manage to breathe, Kagome stopped her tickling and peered down at the kit.

"Kagome...um.." He stared down at his hands and his tail twitched nervously.

"What is it Shippo?" When Shippo remained silent she spoke again. "Come on Shippo, you can tell me what's wrong."

"Will you be my mama?" Shippo looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"You want me to be your mama Shippo?" She looked shocked that he would ask her that and then a smile graced her features. "Of course I'll be your mama if you want me to be."

Shippo was too happy to do anything for a moment, his happiness paralyzing him. Suddenly, he jumped into her arms yet again and looked at her face. "Wanna play...mama?"

Kagome merely nodded her head and they continued to play in the mounds of candy. Each of them throwing candy at the other. Shippo got a handfull of candy and pigishly stuffed them into his mouth. One thing he didn't get was how he could put the candy, wrapper included, into his mouth and once in his mouth, the wrapper would disappear. Not that he was complaining or anything. This is the life!

---End Shippo's Dream---

Sango's eyes lightened a little as she continued to watch the little fox's childlike grasps in the air, wondering just what he was dreaming about yet again. When a small laugh escaped his lips she smiled. At least he doesn't have nightmares, and he shouldn't. No one should ever have to have nightmares, especially ones like mine.

With a small sigh, she looked over to the cat demon laying on her side next to Shippo. Her two tails were twitching back and forth and small purrs could be heard. Sango watched with amusement as her paws began to move in a running motion. She's chasing something...but it looks like she's playing more then attacking. I wonder who she's playing with...

---Kilala's Dream---

Kilala was in an open field, the green grass to her shoulders in her transformed state. Her fangs shined in the sun, showing how dangerous the cat could be if angered. Her red eyes made their way to the woman in which she was playing with, her old master, her old friend.

The woman stood atop the hill. She wore a green kimono that was specially made for fighting. She wore a light chest armor, a sword could be seen at her side, and her purple hair shone in the bright sun.

My master is all right, Midoriko is all right! Kilala ran over to Midoriko, who in turn and smiled at the fire cat demon.

"Kilala, you have done well. You are a truly wonderful companion to those around you, and I thank you for protecting the village as much as you could, and also for protecting me when I was not strong enough."

Kilala wimpered a little and nuzzled Midoriko's leg softly. Midoriko's hand made its way to Kilala's ear and began to scratch and pet her lovingly. Without warning, Midoriko took off in a high jump, much like Inuyasha did at time; however, this was all play.

Kilala sprang after Midoriko, making sure she always stayed on her tail but never quite catching up to her. I am happy here. I wish Sango and I could play like we used to...but I know she suffers with the fate of her brother and family. I should have been there to protect them. I couldn't even protect the villagers from the evils of Naraku. A small growl escaped from her and Midoriko stopped.

"It was not your fault Kilala, you must never believe that it was. You have helped more then you know." Kilala's sad eyes looked at Midoriko. "Kilala, I must ask you to do something for me..."

Kilala purred, telling her to continue and tell her the request. "What I say here must never be known to any of the people that you travel with. No hints can be given, or it could ruin everything."

Kilala nodded her head in agreement that she would tell no soul what she was about to be told. Midoriko sighed and continued, "Kagome is not a reincarnation of Kikyo." Seeing the confused look Kilala gave her, she continued. "She is my reincarnation. The two look similar, but that is all that they share. Kikyo was only able to keep part of Kagome's soul because she has some priestess powers and there is the fact that Kagome has allowed her to do so. Kagome, with time, will grow far more powerful then Kikyo could dream of being, and maybe even more powerful then I."

Kilala wondered why this could not be known the group. Either way, it is not like I could just tell them. I can't speak their language.

"Now, my request is this," seeing that Kilala was now paying attention again, she continued, "Naraku is going to send his forces after you and your group when you return to the village. However, I need you to stall in getting there for as long as you can."

Kilala looked more confused then ever and transformed into her smaller version. She mewed for Midoriko to continue her explanation. "I can only tell you that something must happen to Kagome, otherwise, everything will be lost to the hands of Naraku. Kilala, I know it must be hard to trust me when I tell you you must leave Kagome to deal with the demons Naraku will send, but you have to trust me. Will you do this for me Kilala?"

Kilala thought about for a minute and mewed in agreement. "Thank you Kilala. I must go now, I have other important matters that I must see to. Please, remember to stall as long as you possibly can. The future depends on this. It was nice to see you again Kilala."

In front of Midoriko, a bright light purple light appeared with shining what orbs floating around it. Midoriko slowly walked into the light and disappeared. Seconds later, the light disappeared as well.

Kilala sat atop the small hill for a while, thinking about what she was asked to do and wondering what would have to happen to Kagome. I hope I am doing the right thing in obeying my old master. I know she would not lead me wrong...I will do my best. She stared into the setting sun and at the stars that were now appearing in the sky. "Mew..."

---End Kilala's Dream---

Sango stared as her friend mewed. It sounded so sad, I wonder what she's dreaming about. Hopefully it's not about the village. I couldn't stand if she were having nightmares too. Sango looked across the fire and noticed Miroku sitting up and looking into the fire, his eyes held no emotion except extremem concentration. I wonder what he's thinking about...

Miroku looked up and into Sango's eyes. So, she was staring at me...she looks sad. Maybe I should try and comfort her... Miroku slowly stood up, his staff jingling a little as he swung it to lean on his shoulder, and walked over to Sango. He light sat down beside her and place the staff next to her hiraikotsu. "What's on your mind?"

"Just thinking, that's all." Sango tried to give him a smile, but it faltered quite badly and she stared at the fire intently.

"Come Sango, surely you consider me a friend. Friends talk to one another." Her urged her silently to tell him what was wrong. He even kept his hands to himself to show her that he was serious by placing his hands on his lap.

"I had a dream about Kohako again."

Miroku merely nodded. He had figured she had dreamed about that again, that's all she seemed to dream about really, why would now be any different?

"But, this dream was different. It didn't stop after I killed Kohaku. Every one of you were fighting off the demons and I was watching from the side. Inuyasha used the wind scar and Kanna came out from behind Kagura. Her mirror reflected the attack and...and..." tears started falling down her cheeks.

Miroku couldn't stand to let her cry and brought his arms around her shoulders. Her head settled beside his neck as the tears freely spilled from her eyes. "Shh...it's alright Sango. It was just a dream."

"Everyone was dead, except Inuyasha, but he was almost dead...I saw Kagome and Shippo lying beside one another...Kilala was...in front of Inuyasha...and you...you were..." More tears fell from her eyes and onto his already wet robes.

"I'm here Sango, and I'm still alive. So is everyone else. Everything is going to be ok...trust me." He placed his left arm around her back, holding her to him, and his right hand stroked her hair to offer some comfort.

They sat there like that for some time until Sango finally cried herself to sleep. Well, at least she cares for me... he tried to joke with himself. He sighed and looked down at the face resting against his shoulder. "Sweet dreams Sango..." He yawned and got a little more comfortable and went back to sleep himself.