A/n: Hey, everyone! I know, it's been forever and I must apologize. I've been very busy and working on another fic. I'm sorry I neglected this one, but I'll try to make it up!

Chapter 4

It has already been a day since they left Nekomi's village. They headed east and didn't stop until nightfall. The villages became scarce, so they decided to take camp in a sheltered, vast forest. Inu-yasha and Miroku surveyed the forest and found a perfect spot to make a small camp for the group.

It was a dark night, filled with thunder and lighting and yet no rain. The group sat around a fire, eating the fish that they caught in a lake not far from their area. They each filled with thoughts as they ate their food

Shippo felt very frightened hearing the simple thunder and winced every time it appeared. He was not one for hard weather at all. He kept thinking how wonderful it could be if they were all in Nekomi's home once more eating their belly full and taking naps. He could not wait till their journey was over and they could live a happy life like they did the past week.

Kagome looked over at the melancholy Sango. Since they left, Sango has been in this sudden slump. She barely ate her dinner and the taijiya just stared blankly into the fire. The high school girl sensed an eerie feeling in her friend and only shown concern for her. She wondered if it had anything to do with Nekomi or Miroku. Kagome picked up her fish quietly, and thought carefully of the visit to Nekomi's village. Something inside that had to be the reason why her friend was in such a distress state of mind.

Inu-yasha looked between Miroku and Sango. The distance of their sitting beside one another has changed. The dark brunette has taken a seat between Kagome and himself. It was odd, but also, he could sense the change of the environment within the group. He had to get to the bottom of this. If the relationship of the group has changed, then the teamwork of their journey will alter as well. Inu-yasha twitched his ears at that moment and vowed to try his best to fix everything.

Miroku looked within the flames as he ate his fish. He thoroughly thought of the last night he was with Nekomi. Holding her, as he smelled her soft, lavender hair gave him more hope and determination than he ever thought. His lips formed a smile as he remembered the nervous yet demanding farewell kiss she slipped him when everyone walked away. He also remembered the ribbon she gave him when she wrapped it around his beads to his hand. He carefully picked up his hand from his lap and observed the light blue ribbon. He really did make the right choice, didn't he? He knew he did. As he slowly realized that, he thought of Sango, as his glances made his way to the young female fighter.

Sango petted the meowing Kirara as she continued steadily gazing into the fire. She was lost in her own mind and thoughts as she tried to pick up the pieces. What went wrong? She could not understand when did her relationship between Miroku changed. She always felt he would leave her for another girl, but to really have it happening made the young fighter weak. When she saw Nekomi and Miroku kissed, that's when she felt her heart die in a way. She could not believe all the time she was chasing after him, trying to believe that he would change, believe that the proposal was true, and that he really love her, was actually a lie. She knew now that it was all just a dream, an occurrence that came and went. She gave a long sigh as she rose from the ground.

"I'm going to take a walk," announced the taijiya to her comrades.

"Are you sure that is safe? It sounds like rain is coming soon," questioned Kagome looking at the older girl.

"I'll be fine. If it become too havoc, I will return," simply answered Sango as she began her way through the forest with her weapon on her back.

As they watched the departing taijiya, Miroku became concern with the woman. He should be ashamed of himself with his feelings for Nekomi since he never talked to Sango about the occurrence. Sure, the feeling he discovered for the quarter demon doctor was sudden, but they had a better connection. Sango was his best friend in the group, and they discussed everything together; everything except their feelings, but it was almost a given to know how they felt about each other.

"If you have something to discuss with Sango, Miroku, you better go do it now," spoke Inu-yasha as he closed his eyes.

The group looked over to the hanyou who simply ignored the gazes. Miroku gave a sheepish, nervous laugh and was about to reply with ignorance, but he finally understood that statement; Inu-yasha knew what was going on and just felt it that the houshi should go talk to Sango. He understood how Miroku felt, and in a way, if Inu-yasha were in the same shoes, he would simply discuss to the girl who lost his affections about why. Yes, Sango deserved that.

Miroku picked himself up, bowed to the group, and made his way to where he saw Sango leave. He slowly walked through the vast fields of trees as the clashing thunder and the swift breeze began to pick up. Was the weather trying to say something? He picked up his pace, shielding himself with his lavender and blue robe, hoping to catch sight of the taijiya.

"Sango…. where could have you had gone?" thought the young man feeling the wind press onto his arm.

At that sudden moment, his ear picked up a faint yet daggering strike of crying from yards away from him. The moment he heard the cry, he felt a shudder of despair and worry crept within his body. The wind was so forceful with the daring, mischievous thunder and lightning that he could barely hear, but once he picked up the sound, he knew who it belong to. The houshi picked up his pace as he ran toward the crying; shielding his face from the drifting twigs and branches.

"Sango-chan, I am coming," stated Miroku, really only to himself.

When he reached to his destination, Sango sat on a couple of rocks beside a vast lake. Droplets of rain began to hit the lake as Sango continued to look up into the night sky. Her eyes, fierce with anger and sorrow, dared the heaven to increase their turmoil…. and yet her chocolate eyes invited the destruction within the weather. Miroku stood firmly beside a tree, observing what message her eyes carried, but as he made a detailed observation, he could see the tears flowing down her cheek. Her tears trailed down her face as she fought back from yelling and screaming. She looked more than hurt.

"Sango-chan."

At first, Sango did not notice the voice calling her. She could only see the sparks of lightning and hear the crash of clouds reflecting her own mind and heart. It was not fair, it should not be this way, but in reality, this was it. As she began to feel the breeze pull onto her hair wildly, her ears captured her name from the man she dreaded to see. Once her view turned to him, she snapped.

"Sango- chan, we must go back to the camp. It is not safe here," stated Miroku walking up to her.

She watched him take a couple of steps to her, gripping slightly to the ropes on her hiraikotsu. She took the weapon off her back, sliding it down ready to strike.

"Sango-chan?"

She bit her lips, feeling the hot tears pour down her face, but her eyes—Miroku could see the anger in them. It scared him.

"Don't you ever talk to me in that tone ever again!"

With that, she rushed toward him, swinging the demon bone boomerang around, waiting to feel the touch of body. Miroku fell back, quickly pushing his body to defence while keeping his staff in front. Sango picked up the pace, feeling her anger rise every time she missed. Rain began to play with the fight as well, pouring onto them heavily and quickly. But it did not stop Sango—oh, no, she would give her hit in soon enough.

Miroku quickly escaped Sango's swing from above his head, pushing the ground underneath his feet. He could not believe the woman who he felt most respected in this world, attacking him on mere sight.

"Sango-chan, we need to stop, please," he spoke trying to find a way to seize the dilemna.

Sango huffed, throwing her hiraikotsu at him. She watched him roll away, dodging the flying weapon until she gripped the strap when it came back to her.

"How could you? How could you forget me?" He did not know if she was talking to him or just ranting—he made no sign of replying, just defending. "I was there, always watching, always pushing those incidents away when you flirted with other women. But I loved you! I loved you more than anything!"

He voice became louder, almost shreiking the last part when the noise of thunder tried to over power her. She turned to him, setting up to throw again. Miroku felt himself become less alert. When he turned to get out of the way, he slipped on the moist rubble under him. He gasped a little when he felt himself fall on his back. This was it—an opening.

Sango took this chance, retreiving her weapon to finish the job. The rain pour on top of her body, drenching her hair. Her soft, natural locks tried to capture her vision, but a small opening for her eye permitted the girl to see the houshi on the ground. She stood over him, feeling all the anger and hatred she had for him for the moment. She tried, but it was not good enough. She wanted to hurt him more just as he hurt her. She held up the boomerang over her head about to strike, but as she felt the right time to take him, she saw. Miroku shielded his hand over his face—she saw a drench light blue ribbon tied around his shielded hand.

The ribbon held so much—a promise of trust and love, she knew that. It was with Nekomi in her hair, so it had to be hers. He tied it to his hand to remember what he was going to come home to. A wedding was waiting for him, a love that he chose to have was praying for his safety. Nekomi was in that ribbon.

"Sango?"

The taijiya heard the familiar, husky voice, turning her only slightly to see. Inu-yasha stood, his sword in his hand ready to attack. Once he heard yelling, he felt that the two were being attcked. He would have never known that the both of them were fighting each other.

The hanyou looked onto the girl before him—she pulled away from attacking, rubbing her head. She felt all her emotion wanting to build into one swing. She heard the houshi rise from the ground—how embarrasing. She was a woman of tradition, a woman of strength, yet she let her emotion overpower the logic in her mind.

"Sango, are you alright?"

How could he be so kind? The man she was attacking asked of her safety. Sango quickly dropped her weapon to the ground and ran.

The two men watched the girl run away, unaware of what should be done. Inu-yasha looked to Miroku, wondering what he was going to do. Yet, he stood there, holding tightly his hand to his chest.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked the hanyou, feeling his anger rise. "You just gonna stand there and let her do somethin' stupid?"

Miroku looked over to his companion, knowing he should be on pursuit of the taijiya. But he could not. "I can't."

"What the hell, Miroku?"

"She'll just do it again, " he sighed, looking to the darkeness of the rain.

"Keh—Sango deserves better than that—she deserves your attention."

Miroku glance back to his friend, watching the silver hair boy, carrying the hiraikotsu, run after the woman he almost trully loved.

Inu-yasha heard his lips curse the weather, the lateness of the night, and particuarly Miroku under his breath. Sango was a strong warrior, but even fighters had emotions. She felt safe and protective with Miroku, but he let her down, falling in love with another woman without telling her beforehand. Of course, he should not be one to speak, yet Sango did not deserve it.

Once he reached the opening of the forest, he saw a glimpse of Sango sitting on a grassy ledge. Her kimono was totally drenched, her hair a mess, and the creeping of sobs was lurking within the atmosphere. He stood, collecting the vision of her in her lowest. It was so cruel to be in this state, he thought. He thought for a moment if he wanted to disrupt her, but she beat him to acknowledging presence before he could.

"What do you want, Miroku," she cried, not letting her head turn.

He cringed—somehow Inu-yasha figured that she hoped that it was him. "Keh, I'm not that nasty houshi!"

Sango looked over her shoulder, collecting the image of the hanyou walking to her form. She should have known—her attack on him pushed him away. He would not want to be around her.

Inu-yasha took a seat beside her, placing the weapon over their head to shield the rain. He did not care about his health—ultimately, he would be fine. But humans were sensitive to moisture just as this night.

Sango looked over to him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." They sat there for a moment, looking out to the rainy sky. It was slightly clearing up, but the droplets kept hitting.

Sango sighed, feeling quite embarrased to even want to bring it up. "Is Miroku okay?"

Inu-yasha looked down to her—she was so loyal. "Yeah—whatever, you should have hit in the head."

Sango clutched her form, wrapping her slender arms around her kimono. "I was being so stupid."

"No, you have every right—"

"I'm talking about since the beginning with Miroku." The hanyou kept his mouth shut, letting the woman beside him say what she needed to say. "The signs were there—he was a lecher, a pervert, flirting with any girl—I should have known he would leave me."

"No, don't say that."

Sango sighed, brushing strands of hair behind her ear. "Nekomi, she was goregous—smart, too. She was quite polite and very understanding."

"And so are you!"

Sango looked up to Inu-yasha, a serious face he had, but she only continued. "The way he looked at her—it was something so different. I should have known."

Inu-yasha looked at Sango—it was pathetic to feel so low in self-esteem. "There is better out there."

"Inu-yasha, did you know, he proposed to me—a while ago." She sniffed, feeling the tears come. "To think, he hasn't even rejected me vocally, but I know."

"Miroku." He started thinking the best way to put it. "Guys are scared to hurt people precious to them."

"But he did!"

Inu-yasha winced. "I mean, they don't mean to. Miroku is weak sometimes when he should be strong—he likes women, but he should have been stronger when you two were together."

Sango clutched her chest, feeling hurt. "He should have…"

"But when he met Nekomi—it was something different." He winced knowing what must be said. "You might not like this, but I think Miroku didn't know what love was until he met Nekomi. When a man can not think of another woman, that's when he trully loves."

Sango kept quiet, thinking back to the stay. When Nekomi was there, Miroku stayed calm, almost the way a monk should be. It was different.

"You guys weren't really good for one another anyways." The girl looked up to Inu-yasha, but he smirked. "You deserve a strong man who can be loyal and straight forward—he needs a passive woman who will tend to him but also keep him loyal."

The taijiya looked down from the ledge, thinking of Inu-yasha words. It was true, she always dreamt of a strong husband, and Miroku seemed to be allured with women who tended to him. Nekomi was a very feminine girl who would do such a job.

"I guess you are right." She bit her lip, feeling a tear drop. "But it hurts so bad."

Inu-yasha juggled the weapon in his hand, letting his index finger wipe the tear away. "Aw, Sango—you're a strong woman. I know you'll find happiness when it really comes."

She nodded slowly, surprised to have felt the hanyou's touch on her. It was only a quick help to her eye, but it stuck to her memory. His hand was so warm, she thought.

She looked up to him, wiping any other moisture on her face. "I'll try to be a little stronger."

Inu-yasha nodded his head, a smirk pulling on the end of his lips. ":That's all you need to do."

His smirk was quite infectious—she felt a smirk pull onto her as some of her emotions were placed away. Of course she would not be healed within minutes, but she knew it was step by step method. It would be a slow ride—but it seemed she had a company who along the way.

"Hey, look, it stopped raining."

Inu-yasha placed the hiraikotsu down, glancing up to the night sky. Diamonds of stars presented themselves, tilting downward on the two fighters. Sango took in the scenery, feeling how much she missed seeing the sky with houshi. But having the hanyou there was not bad at all.

Inu-yasha felt Sango on his arm, leaning on him for support. He looked down, but her chestnut eyes only graced up to the heavens.

"Thank you, Inu-yasha." So genuine her voice was, he thought.

"No problem, Sango-chan." He never really called her that, but from his lips, it had a nice ring to it.

A/N: Dear Lord! Sorry for waiting so long to update. I fell out of this fic, but now I love it so much! I really want to continue because I still love the pair. Please continue to read and please comment because if that happens, it'll motivate me to write on.

Peace!