Submitted to IB4Y2.0 for Unified. Won second position.
Sango gazed at the full moon reflected in a puddle of water – shining like a drop of mercury in the blue breast of the sky. It was so peaceful and yet it radiated such melancholic isolation. Did it reflect a part of her soul? Sango shivered in the twilight chill.
The evening breeze sighed and whispered through the grove of the silver bamboo, like lost spirits from the yesteryears. The deserted taijiya village stood dark and silent in the dying light of the day.
The slayer sighed as she rose to warm up her lonely supper, her thoughts lingering on her former companions. They had been unified in their battle against Naraku, fighting shoulder to shoulder, melding their skills in fierce combat.
With the defeat of their enemy, each had gone back to their own isolated existence. Inuyasha chose to remain at Kaede's. Kagome returned to her side of the well. The monk had no doubt gone to a brothel and engaged the services of a beautiful geisha. The thought twisted a hot knife into her heart, while a tear trickled down her cold cheek. She had hoped he would ask her to stay back and become his wife. Instead, he had wished her good luck and sent her on her way. The taijiya pride ran strong in her – she would rather nurse a broken heart than beg and grovel before him.
A plaintive meow sounded from the unadorned doorway. Kirara peeped round the frame.
Sango smiled.
Kuranosuke was a distant memory. Miroku, a thorn inside her heart. But there was someone who would stay by her side through thick and thin. The two of them would be unified in all of life's battles.