Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or its characters.

Chapter 6

The fire crackled calmly as Sango tended to it. To her right, InuYasha was still eating his portion of the quail he had caught for their supper before it got too dark. Hers was still cooking since she couldn't eat her bird as raw as Inu could. Kirara was napping next to InuYasha having already eaten her meal.

Sango looked out the hut that had been her childhood home. Inwardly, she smiled at the improvement one day's work had accomplished. After pulling all of the weeds, she had helped InuYasha and Kirara dispose of the rest of the useless debris. Sadly, they hadn't found too much usable rope and would need to weave some before going to bed. However, they had found plenty of chains that were like new. They could easily find a blacksmith to bind them together, or they could, as InuYasha suggested, get Totosai to do them a small favor.

"You're awfully quiet," InuYasha said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Just thinking about everything we got done and making the rope," Sango said softly.

"Oh…" InuYasha discarded the bones of his quail to the side and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He cleared his throat. "If you show me how and my claws don't get in the way, I'll help you make the ropes for the pipes."

Sango blinked. "Really? Don't get me wrong, it would definitely help, but you don't have to."

"I want to," he simply stated. He sniffed the air. "Watch out, or your birds going to burn."

"Oh! Thanks." She lifted the cooked quail out of the fire and blew on it. Once it was to her satisfaction, she hungrily ate the wild bird. As she ate, silence came over them, and she noticed InuYasha tending to the fire for her. "InuYasha…"

"Yeah?" Inu looked up from the flames at her.

For a moment, Sango was lost in InuYasha's eyes. His amber eyes seemed to dance from the fire's flames. She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts.

"It's just…. Thank you," she sighed softly, "for everything you've done to help me."

Inu snorted. "What are you talking about? Of course I'd help you."

Sango blinked, taken back by the statement. "Oh? In the past, I've never seen you voluntarily act the part of the good Samaritan."

Inu hmphed with the faintest of blushes on his face. "This is different. You're my friend… a fellow warrior who needed help. Besides, I needed a place to stay, just as we agreed on before."

Sango smiled softly. "Of course," she said and went back to eating her supper.

They sat next to each other in comfortable silence after that, watching the bright stars above.