a/n: Well, here's another chappie. :D I did get a few very helpful reviews and changed my writing style a little bit to try to acknowledge the all to true reviews; such as periods inside the quotes vs at the end of the sentence and capitalizing Tenseiga. Not major stuff, but still... Newayz, Miroku may be introduced in the next few chappies as well as the reasoning behind the San/Sess pairing(besides it being my favorite :P). Pasts will be reveiled and the truth will come out! ...Soon.

Chapter 4- The "Boring" Journey

When morning arrived Sango awoke to find herself wrapped in Sesshomaru's loving embrace and her baby held gently in his arms. She sat up with a yawn and stretched her sore body to work out all the kinks caused by the previous day's battle coupled with a night spent on a cave floor.

She smiled sleepily at Sesshomaru who looked up from their son to return her friendly greeting with a dazzling smile of his own. It had taken the longest time for Sango to get used to seeing the other side of his cold demeanor. Very few were privileged enough to see the minimum emotions; she was blessed with the right to the full range. However, he only smiled when they were alone which brought to mind an interesting question.

"Where did Inuyasha go Sesshomaru?" she asked with a quick look around the cave to be sure she hadn't overlooked him somehow.

"He returned to the mansion to see what was left," Sesshomaru stated flatly.

She knew what that meant. Inuyasha went back to see if any of the household servants or guards had survived. She prayed that Somio had somehow managed to escape but it wasn't likely; she had seen Takusi slice his claws into the elderly woman's body herself. Few young women could survive injuries that severe, no old women could. Saddened by the fact that her own thoughts had severed her last ray of hope, Sango shook her head to try to rid those thoughts from her mind.

"Sango?" Sesshomaru questioned, "Is something wrong?"

"No Sesshomaru. I'm fine. I was just thinking about Somio."

Sesshomaru was about to reply when Inuyasha walked in to the cave with a grave expression. Sango was immediately worried; a serious Inuyasha was a very bad sign.

"There was no one left Sesshomaru. The bodies I found were charred beyond recognition and I doubt that even Tenseiga could revive them. I also picked up on the trail of the bastard that attacked Sango but the rain washed away what little scent I could pick up after only a few hundred yards."

"I see. Thank you Inuyasha. We will be leaving shortly," Sesshomaru replied calmly, but Sango could hear the anger in his voice.

Knowing that that was her cue to get ready, Sango stood to her feet only to nearly collapse as he legs buckled beneath her. Thanks to Sesshomaru's quick speed and lightning fast reflexes he was able to catch her before she fell to the floor.

"Sango!" he said in a voice slightly loader than his normal tone. Not a yell, but almost.

She could see that Inuyasha had also moved forward to help her when he'd seen her start to fall but Sesshomaru had moved quickly and had caught her before Inuyasha was ever needed. She was touched by his concern though.

"I'm f-fine. Just a little weaker than I thought I'd be," she said as Sesshomaru sat her gently back to the ground.

"You don't LOOK fine Sango! You're as white as a sheet. We need to get you to Kagome so she can see what's wrong with you," Inuyasha said in his normal aggressive, no-nonsense tone.

"Inuyasha is right Sango. You rest and take care of Kohaku, Inuyasha and I will take care of the rest," Sesshomaru said as he handed his pup carefully over to her; worry filled his golden eyes despite his emotional mask.

Sango looked away knowing she could not keep anything from him when those golden eyes were burning into the depths of her soul. Instead she nodded and set about taking care of little Kohaku. Sesshomaru was frustrated by Sango's denial that anything was wrong but knew that he'd find out soon enough and decided not to press her.

When Inuyasha said he'd run to the stream to fill their canteens with water Sango took the opportunity to feed Kohaku again. She was amazed at how quiet and well mannered he was for a two-day-old.

'Then again, he is his father's son,' she thought wryly.

Kohaku had not cried once, while she was awake, since they'd made it to the cave. She was fairly certain that he could already sense the auras in the air around him and could feel that he was safe.

Thoughts of his fearful cries led her mind back to last night's horrible battle that nearly led to her untimely death, as well as that of her newborn. Hate filled her mind as the image of Takusi swinging his sword specifically towards her baby took precedence in her thoughts.

'I will never let that bastard get you Kohaku,' she swore, 'I will slaughter him with my bare hands if he ever comes near you again! That is, if your daddy doesn't get him first.'

She was pulled from her dark thoughts by Sesshomaru approaching. The look in his eyes told her that it was time to go. She wrapped Kohaku in one of the smaller blankets a placed him securely in the crook of her left arm. Sesshomaru gently picked Sango up and turned towards Inuyasha who was just returning with the filled canteens.

"We are ready Inuyasha," Sesshomaru stated.

"About time!" Inuyasha smirked, "Let's get going."

Sango laughed lightly at Inuyasha's very "Inuyasha-like" behavior. It'd been quite some time since she'd seen him, or Kagome for that matter. She was busy with the baby preparations and Kagome had taken over Kaede's place as priestess for the village; as such neither had very much time to spare. She was quite looking forward to seeing Kagome again for the first time in months. She continued along that train of thought until Inuyasha lengthened his stride to match Sesshomaru's.

"I need to know what happened at the mansion Sango, and the battlefield Sesshomaru."

So Sango told Inuyasha exactly what had happened while Sesshomaru had battled the northern soldiers. She didn't miss how Sesshomaru's hold on her body tightened ever so slightly when she retold how Takusi had slashed her from behind with his claws, and again when he swung his sword towards little Kohaku. She looked up from her place in his arms to see the edges of his eyes beginning to bleed red.

"It's ok Sesshomaru. We're both ok now," she said in a quiet and calming voice while lifting one hand to touch his face.

His eyes slid down to look into her big brown eyes for a moment before he looked back up to the road that he was quickly moving across. She smiled at seeing his eyes return to their normal color as he looked back up to the road, and she brought her hand back down to adjust Kohaku to a more comfortable position.

After a few minutes Sango began to dose off. She could vaguely hear Sesshomaru telling Inuyasha the details of the battle and tried to listen but her fatigue doggedly pulled her into unconsciousness. Oh well, she could always ask him later.

The group was nearing Kaede's village when Sango suddenly awoke violently, clutching her chest, and began screaming in pain. Sesshomaru's eyes flew to his mate's tiny form that he held gently in his arms and scanned her body trying to discover what was causing her harm.

"Sango! What's wrong? What's happening?"

He was answered by another agonizing scream from Sango. Little Kohaku began to cry as his mother's pain filled screams filled his ears. Sango, despite her current agony, had not tightened her grip on the pup at all; Kohaku's distress was purely from sensing his mother's pain.

"Hurry Sesshomaru! We need to get her to Kagome," Inuyasha yelled as he ran ahead to warn Kagome of Sango's condition so that she'd be able to treat her immediately.

Sango felt as if her entire body was on fire. The only thing she could feel besides the all-encompassing pain was Kohaku's tiny body that she held in her left arm. Her right hand, however, was tightly clutching the clothing just above her heart.

She focused the entirety of her being on keeping her left arm still. This pain was excruciating but it would be nothing compared to the heartbreak she would feel if she unwittingly crushed her baby.

Barely feeling as Sesshomaru lay her down on the matt in the floor of Kaede's hut, she was immensely aware, however, when her babe was removed from her arms. It was then that the last scrap of self-control left her and she let herself fall into the sea of unending agony.

a/n: Ahhh! What's wrong w/ Sango now?! That's for me to know and you to find out. HEHEHE! I'll try to update again as soon as I can but it may not be until Monday. I have the SAT to take tomorrow and I have to help my mom with a craft show and my sister in law has a baby shower... PLUS, I work Sunday... UGH! So much for a weekend. But newayz, I'll try to update ASAP!!!

Please read and review!!! I love u reviewers!!!