A/N: I LOVED THIS! It's so sad though! It wins first place for my fanfic contest.

Disclaimer: I do not own this; Lady Sango 7 does, however Lady Sango does not own Inuyasha and neither do I.

The Loss of a Mother

Lady Sango 7: Okay, this is my contest story for Demon-Slayer13's story: A Series of Serious Oneshots and Poems. Hope you like it! )

- - -

"It wasn't until he was gone I realized how much I missed him. See that star?" Kagome asked pointing to the North Star; Sango nodded. "It's my father's star, he told me whenever I felt lost, I could see this star and it would guide me. I felt as if it went out when he left." Kagome wiped her eyes and said, "I guess that's all."

Neither noticed in the bushes stood InuYasha and Miroku.

"I never knew"

Miroku started. "I didn't either," InuYasha replied.

Sango smiled reassuringly and put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Kagome-chan, thank you for telling me this," she said.

"You're welcome. Actually, I think it helped me out too. Now it's your turn. What happened to your mom?" Kagome asked.

- - -

Sango's face fell and she stared hard at the ground. She had to tell Kagome about her mother. After all, Kagome confessed about her father, Sango just couldn't break her promise. She swallowed hard and realized she had been clenching her fists. She loosened them and she let her feet dangle into the water. The chestnut-haired girl looked up at the raven-haired girl and her hazel eyes locked with those green eyes. She swallowed again and her voice shook as she began to speak.

"Well..." she took a deep breath. "It all started twelve years after Kohaku was born and we had returned from a battle..."

--

Sango peeked around the corner and saw Kohaku sitting on their wooden porch outside – he was playing with Kirara. She snuck up on him and placed her hands over his eyes.

"It's you, ane-ue." Her little brother laughed.

"Yes, it is me. How are you feeling, little brother?" Sango giggled and she sat down beside him.

"Okay, I guess. My wound from battle is still hurting, though. Mother was tending to it." He replied and continued to stroke their neko-youkai's fur coat.

"Where is Mother anyways?" Sango asked as she scooted closer to him and she stared out at the Taji-ya village spread out in front of her. "I haven't seen her since we returned from battle... Maybe she is just out hunting?" she suggested with a smile, which faltered as she saw Kohaku's grim look.

"I don't know, ane-ue, I have a bad feeling that something bad has happened to her..."

At that moment, their father came running out; he had a worried look on his face. He held the front of Sango's kimono.

"Where is your mother, Sango? Did she tell you where she was going? Or where she is?" he demanded.

"No, I figured she would've told you, Father."

He released her from his grasp and he wrung his hands anxiously.

"No..." came his husky reply. "What worries me is, some of the men in the village told me that bandits came in while we were out in the battle and took some hostages...they were all women and young girls..." Sango stared at him as her jaw dropped. "I thought nothing of it – I had thought she was fine and that she could have been gathering food for our return..."

Tears welled up in Sango's eyes and she turned to see Kohaku's pale face. He was furiously wiping his eyes and he finally ran up to her and embraced her tightly. She knew he was sobbing.

"I will go and look for her." Sango spoke up. Kohaku glanced at her and volunteered to join her immediately.

-

Sango pulled the strap of her bone boomerang over her shoulder, in case they should meet an uninvited visitor on the way. Kirara hopped on her shoulder and Sango walked outside to meet Kohaku waiting for her; he too had changed into his demon slayer suit like his older sister had. They hurriedly said a quick farewell to their father and ran out from the gates of their village. Kohaku hadn't said anything for a while now and Sango took a quick look at him. His face was its normal color now, but his eyes were red and puffy from his sobbing.

Kirara transformed into her larger form and Kohaku and Sango jumped on her back and they took off skyward. Sango looked behind her and Kohaku looked in front of him.

"See anything suspicious yet?" Sango yelled over the noise of the wind rushing through them.

"No, nothing yet!" Kohaku called back.

Sango said nothing more and continued her monotonous searching. She spotted some movement under a tree below and she motioned Kirara to drop down.

"I hope Mother is okay!" Kohaku said in a tight voice as Sango looked at him sitting in front of her. She nodded her head in agreement. Kirara's front paws touched the solid ground and the two siblings jumped off her.

Sango pulled the bone boomerang, Hiraikotsu, in front of her and Kohaku pulled out his sickle weapon too. Kohaku saw a flash of dark green fabric whipping down behind the tree and he lunged at it, only to find that it had disappeared. Sango helped him up and found that under large clumps of grass was a hole big enough for a full-grown man to fit through it. She crawled down into it and Kohaku followed closely. The hole was a long tunnel leading to an underground room. Sango slipped on a wet section of the tunnel and went colliding downwards into the room.

It was practically empty (and it was big enough to stand up), except for two men sitting against one of the dirt walls. One of them was wearing dark green robes. They saw Sango lying sprawled out on the floor and grinned at each other in a sick-minded way. Kohaku came crawling out seconds after they stood up and shouted at them.

"Leave ane-ue alone!"

The two men burst out laughing and as one of them started to lean back against the wall, it gave way and showed that their was another room that was meant to be hidden.

"Oh, shit." He gasped and the other man lunged at Sango and threw his arm around her throat and applied pressure to it. She was losing air quickly and she tried to kick him, but she missed. Her eyes widened as she felt his hand rubbing her hips and heading downwards.

"You pervert!" she yelled as she kicked him on the foot and she jumped away from him. She could hear the other man creeping up behind her and she swung Hiraikotsu backwards and a sickening crack could be heard. The man lay unconscious on the ground.

"Sango!"

Sango looked in time to see Kohaku throwing his sickle and she dived at the ground as it came flying past her and hit the other man. He, too, was unconscious and landed on his fallen comrade.

"Let's look back here..." Kohaku suggested and Sango followed him. He pulled back the curtain hiding the room and both of their jaws dropped and Sango covered Kohaku's eyes with her hands.

There were more people in here, although it wasn't like they thought they'd see. Now Sango knew why those two men didn't want her or Kohaku to find this room.

"This is where they keep the hostages..." Sango whispered as she continued to cover Kohaku's eyes and he didn't protest either. There were more men in here with the women, and they were raping them. "Oh, my God...how can men like this be so sick??" she asked herself. Then her gaze fell on a woman with straight dark brown hair, wearing a magenta kimono. "Mother!"

Sango hadn't realized she had yelled that out loud. Now all the men in the room saw Sango and Kohaku. Sango's mother didn't move though, or made a sign to show that she heard her daughter. Sango's stomach tightened; one reason for that all the men now knew that she and her brother had found this room and the second reason for that her own mother hadn't made any sign to show she heard her own daughter. Something was wrong...

Sango clutched onto Hiraikotsu and swung at the on comers and Kohaku did the same. After about ten minutes, there were men sprawled across the floor and most of the women were running out, thanking the two siblings. All the women had been leaving the room and a woman with short black hair came over to Sango and Kohaku and beckoned them to a corner.

"I just wanted to thank you for rescuing us; it was very kind of you." She then glanced back over to where one woman who had not left was curled up in the corner. "Is that your mother?" Sango and Kohaku nodded slowly. The woman sighed and she wrung her hands together. "Two of the men were ganging up on her. She put up quite a fight, but she just wasn't strong enough against two men..." her voice trailed away.

Sango now noticed that her mother's kimono was covered in blood and there was a pool of blood around her, too. The woman saw Sango staring with a horrified expression.

"They raped her and it was just too much for her. She had lost a lot of blood to begin with...but afterwards, she began to bleed even more... I don't know how to say this, but...your mother is dead..."

"NO!!" Sango screamed and she buried her face in Kohaku's chest. Tears came pouring from her eyes and Kohaku was sobbing loudly as he kept gripping at his sister.

"I'm sorry, I truly am... I only wish that Kiyoko was still alive..." the woman said as she wiped her eyes.

Sango stopped. This woman...she knew her mother, she just had to. She knew her mother's name. Kiyoko was Sango's mother's name.

"Mizuki-sama?" Sango whispered. It had to be. Mizuki was Kiyoko's long-time friend and companion. "Is it really you...?" The last time Sango had seen Mizuki was when she was seven years old. That was nine years ago. Mizuki had aged only a little bit, but it was hard to tell.

"I'm so sorry, Sango! And to you, too, Kohaku!" Mizuki pulled the two siblings together in a tight embrace.

-

Sango, Kohaku, Mizuki, and their father all kneeled beside a grave and prayed for Kiyoko. Sango stayed a long time after the others had left and a lone tear dropped onto her mother's burial place.

"I love you, Mother, and I will never forget you. One day, we will all be together again. I promise..."

--

Sango stopped speaking and her head hung as her hair fell over her face. Tears were now streaming down her face. Kagome pulled her into a hug and patted her back.

"I am so sorry, Sango. It must've been so hard for you." she cried in a hoarse voice and stroked Sango's head. Sango muffled an "it's okay; it wasn't your fault" and clung to Kagome like a little child.

InuYasha motioned for Miroku that they should leave and Miroku nodded slowly. He could hardly bear to see Sango cry and that he was now walking away. InuYasha managed to pull him off towards camp.

"Then a few months after that, Father and his comrades died, because Kohaku was possessed and...killed them..." Sango sniveled as she looked into her best friend's face. "Oh, Kagome, I'm so glad you're here with me! It really means a lot that I have you here to comfort me. It really does,"

"Thanks, Sango-chan. Are you feeling a little better now?" Sango nodded. Kagome stood up and helped Sango stand and the two girls walked together back to the campsite, only to find InuYasha sitting with his back against a tree and Miroku sitting Indian-style in front of the fire, for it had now grown dark outside.

"I'm just glad that they didn't hear anything that we had to say!" Kagome whispered in Sango's ear. InuYasha glanced at Miroku and grinned. Better hope that Miroku doesn't open his big mouth...

-Owari

A/N: Wasn't that sad? It made me cry. There was only one mistake I think I found was Kohaku eleven or twelve when he was possessed? I think he was eleven but I'm not sure. Okay so what do people think of Lady Sango 7's sequel to family Portrait? This was one of my two entries and my very close winner