Author's Note

Thanks for the reviews! They mean a lot to me! I know where I want to go with this story, but it's not going along as easily as I had hoped. Mainly because Inuyasha and Kagome are Mated. Can you say WRITERS BLOCK? But even though writers block is kicking my a-double-s I'm going to forge on for you guys. I know you want to see some Kouga and Kagome going on. That's just going to take time. I'm currently working on three stories right now. So if you're interested in either Thor(Loki & Darcy) or the TV SHOW Constantine check out my other stories:

(Thor) - Chit Chat Romance Distaster

(Constantine) - Just Can't Fight Fate and Fighting Fate

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Chapter Three

"Are you sure he's not going to hurt him?" Kagome asked.

Sango folded her arms, watching father and son battle it out in the clearing. "No, Miroku is actually well versed in training children. Hard to believe, I know."

"I wasn't talking about Miroku." Kagome said, her lips twitching.

Sango arched an eyebrow before chuckling. "Well...like mother like son."

Kagome watched the duo out in the clearing. Miroku was instructing his and Sango's son in the art of battle. From the looks, the young boy was holding out fairly well for his age. The young boy was fighting back with ardor, dodging his fathers every attack and following the instructions that were given.

Kagome's words rang true when the boy threw out a weapon much similiar to Sango's straight toward Miroku, who easily side-stepped it. The weapon spun in the air like a boomerang and came back, catching Miroku behind the knees and sent him flat on his ass.

Kagome and Sango burst out laughing as Miroku's staff was taken in victory.

"Not in front of the ladies, son, never in front of the ladies." Miroku said from his position on his ass, his tone defeated. He much preferred to win when there was an audience. He could lose when they were in private.

Sango shrugged innocently and turned to Kagome. "I think I taught him well."

Kagome hid her smile behind her hand. Miroku liked to think his lessons were domineering over Sango's fighting skills but they all knew better. If anything, he was teaching them the patience of a monk. And household skills. Sango was, after all, a Demon slayer.

All of that groping must have paid off because Miroku had won Sango over and before they'd even been married nine months, Sango had given birth to her first son. Not even a year later she gave birth to a second. Looking down at Sango's protruding stomach, she knew the third was well on its way. They were hoping for a girl this time.

Kagome sighed softly, watching the by-play between father and son. She wanted a family of her own someday. She wanted...

"What's wrong, Kagome?"

She lifted her head at Sango's inquiry. "Nothing."

"I've known you for how long, Kagome?" Sango said, bending down to pick up the small boy who held up his hands. She knew Kagome. When she was quiet, something was wrong. When she sighed something was wrong.

Kagome shrugged off the insecurity. "You look so happy." She said softly. She couldn't think of any other way to put it.

Sango smiled. "I am happy." More happy than she had thought she'd ever be. Miroku may still be a groping pervert, but he was her groping pervert who knew she'd cut off his groping hands if he groped anyone else but her. She silently laughed at the thought. If someone had said this was to be her future, years ago, she would have laughed in their faces. She had a wonderful husband and two children, plus one on the way. "But that doesn't answer my question, Kagome."

"I just...I always thought..." She fidgeted with a strand of hair, her smile dying away.

Looking at her friend, comprehension dawned and Sango wrapped an arm around Kagome's shoulders. "I know." She said softly.

She knew, but did she really, Kagome wondered. "Can I tell you something?"

"You know you can, Kagome."

"I saw Kouga the other day." Kagome admitted. That wasn't all that was on her mind, or what she had wanted to say period, but the thought was there and it came out.

"We are near the East." Sango murmured. "Kohaku seems to be one of Kouga's biggest fans." She almost pitied Kouga when he came around. Her son wouldn't let Kouga out of his sight. He always wanted the Wolf Demon to play the bad guy or good guy and he had to "beat" Kouga into the ground. At least Kouga was willing to submit to her sons wild imagination.

They'd all had a hand in defeating Naraku and in the long journey they'd all become...like family.

"I know you, Kagome. You're being vague."

Kagome sighed again. "Inuyasha was at Kikyou's grave again."

Sango wasn't sure how to answer that. Inuyasha and Kikyou had a history, one that was written down in history.

A grimace crossed Kagome's face. They all had secrets. Dark secrets. Miroku had his past. Sango held the memory of watching her entire family and village be slaughtered. Kouga had nearly lost his entire pack. Inuyasha had Kikyou. She had traveled back in time and lost her entire family to the future.

She was jealous over a dead woman.

But there was more to it than that. Much more.

Sango hunched down and set the other boy on his feet. "Go defeat your daddy. He's the bad guy. Go for his ankle." Watching her son jolt across the clearing with a battle cry, she felt a small smile curve her lips before turning to Kagome. "Let's go inside."

Kagome nodded and followed Sango into the small hut, ducking as she did so. Time was taking its toll on her. Dropping into one of the wooden chairs surrounding the table, Kagome looked to the closed door. "You promise you won't tell? Not even Miroku."

Sango kept her expression vague. Not tell Miroku? She pondered that over for a moment. She had no secrets where Miroku was concerned. She didn't want secrets between them. She'd made that clear when she'd demanded honesty from Miroku. But Kagome looked...disturbed. She nodded.

Sango knew so much of her life. From the bits and pieces of her future, even if the slayer didn't understand them, to the few secrets she had shared with the slayer. Kagome was an open person. She rarely had anything to hide.

"Inuyasha gave his mark to Kikyou."

Sango stared, not sure what to make of Kagome's words. Her silence must have said as much, because panic crossed Kagome's face.

Maybe it was Kouga's words that had opened up something inside her. You always seem to astound me. Even after all the pain she's caused you, you still give her a place of peace.

"When demons mate, they mark their mates. They...bite them." Inuyasha may be half demon, but he still had demon blood and those demon urgings. Looking at Sango, she wished she had kept her grievings to herself, but now that the damn had broken, it was broke. "We haven't...we can't..."

Inuyasha had marked her. That mark was on her shoulder. He'd given her all that he could. It was a thick scar where he'd bitten her. He'd hurt her intentionally, but it was the only way to form any semblance of a mark on her body from him. Her skin had grown over, but it was still viable.

"I can kill Inuyasha, you know that, right?"

Kagome covered her face with her hands. "I don't want you to kill him."

Inuyasha never was smart. Sango would fight to the death for Inuyasha and on many occassions, she had. But the half demon had never been very smart where common sense was concerned. Sango looked at the situation and the other few secrets she knew of Kagome. She hadn't expected...this.

"You remember when that boar demon attacked and nearly broke my arm? When Miroku had to go get Inuyasha?"

Sango nodded.

That was because Inuyasha hadn't sensed the pain she'd been. Oh, he'd smelled her blood and went into a rage, but he hadn't sensed or felt it. God, did she envy Sango? It was no secret that she'd fallen head over heels for Inuyasha.

"It's just, I look at you and Miroku, you look so happy. You have a family. And then I see Kouga-" Kagome was babbling, she knew that.

"What does Kouga have to do with anything?" Sango asked softly.

"He reminded me why I never did like Kikyou." Her tone wasn't harsh, it was just low and soft.

In the past, it hadn't mattered how many times Inuyasha had left Kagome to run to Kikyou. She hadn't uttered a single word against her. Not even all the times she had found Inuyasha in her arms. The Gods knew Inuyasha deserved it, but Kagome's heart was just too kind. Sango inhaled, trying to find the words.

"What did he say?"

Kagome opened her mouth and then closed it. She grimaced. "You always did astound me." She quoted softly. "Even after all the pain she's caused you, you still give you a place of peace."

Sango pondered those words. Did the Wolf Demon still care for Kagome? But it really didn't matter, did it? Inuyasha had already claimed Kagome for all intents and purposes. That was just the way of demons. "He always was smarter than Inuyasha." She added in after thought. "Except for the times he was throwing you over his shoulder or fighting with Inuyasha."

Kagome gave a soft laugh at the reminder. That was true. If she could have 'sat' Kouga into submission when he acted a fool like Inuyasha, she would have.

"Why did you tell me all this, Kagome?"

Kagome looked down at the table. Why had she? How could she answer a question like that? "I don't know." She answered honestly.

Sango leaned across the table and cupped Kagomes cheeks in her hands. "I'm here, Kagome. You're like a sister to me. I swear, if you want me to kill him, I will. No excuses needed."

Kagome wasn't sure if Sango was joking or not. But she was sure she was. Her laugh when it came was a little more woobly than she would have liked. "No, you can't."

Sango wanted to hit Inuyasha. She really did. Hit him with her boomerang and then with Miroku's staff. He'd really pledged himself to Kagome when a good portion of his soul had died with someone else?

"You said Kouga was there. You were talking to him about...this?"

"What? No, he was just...ugh, there." She couldn't talk about this with Kouga. She couldn't even talk about it with Inuyasha. She was barely managing it with Sango. For some reason her control had just...snapped.

"What was Kouga talking about?"

"Ah...nothing. That was all he said." For the most part. And he'd said she was beautiful when she blushed. Ye Gods, he was an idiot sometimes. She could feel her cheeks heating at the reminder. So many reminders there.

Sango stared at her, her expression. "Nothing?" And then the heat on her face, the way her cheeks reddened. And then Sango, "Oh." Her eyes narrowed before rounding. "OH...Kagome, you didn't."

Kagome felt her eyes grow wide in shock at Sango's accusation. "What? I didn't!" She didn't see any mean harboring in Sango's eyes, nothing but sadness and confusion. She could feel her cheeks grow even hotter because at one time, she had. May the Gods help her, but she had. She covered her face with her hands and groaned. She felt like crying.

She heard Sango's chair scraping the floor before the slayer was at her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I don't know what's going on with you, Kagome, but when..." She hadn't expected that admission. It was there in the guilt on Kagome's face, in her flushed face. Ye Gods, Kagome and Kouga? When had that happened? She was surprised that Inuyasha and Kouga hadn't come to blows over it. She wondered how Kouga had managed that. He'd been crazy about the priestess at one time. She trusted wholly in the fact that it had been willing on Kagome's part because she could have purified Kouga's wolf demon ass in a heartbeat.

But how could have Kagome did that to Inuyasha? Inuyasha was a fool, but even he didn't deserve that. Two wrongs didn't make a right.

How had the bitter truth come out?

"It was before, not after." Kagome whispered.

"Ah..." Sango murmured, understanding dawning. So it was before Inuyasha and Kagome had "mated". "When?"

"Does it really matter?"

"I guess not."

Kagome looked up. "You can't tell Inuyasha." She shook her head. "Please." That was a secret she was going to take to her grave. A secret that had stolen her very breath.

Sango nodded but wondered if she could really keep this from Miroku. But if she told him, he probably would tell Inuyasha.

Inuyasha and Kagome were growing apart as only time could do. A commitment that wasn't there was forcing a rift between the two. Looking at Kagome, Sango knew her dear friend was struggling to come to grips with that truth. She cared for the half-demon, but Sango had the feeling that infatuation was starting to wear thin.

She wrapped Kagome in her arms, offering her what little comfort she could. "I still can't believe that you and Kouga..." She said, trailing off, her words muffled in Kagome's hair. Kagome groaned.

"As over-bearing as Kouga can be, at least you know he's still there no matter what." Even after he'd gotten what he'd wanted, though Sango kept that part to herself.

And that was the problem. Kouga should hate her. Kagome wasn't so sure she would have been able to stand him hating her, though.

"Do you like Kouga?"

Kagome shrugged at the question. That wasn't something she wanted to discuss. But she'd already discussed worse, hadn't she? "Apparently." She said, her tone dry as she withdrew from Sango's arms.

Sango sighed. "We're all a little messed up, aren't we?" She understood Kagome. She really did. No one deserved to live a half life. "If I could set you back with Kouga, I would." But that was all in the past. At least she knew Kouga would be true in every aspect.

Kagome groaned. "Shut up." Her and Inuyasha hadn't even been together for a full two years but she'd known this truth from the beginning. It was numbing and she was starting to wonder...did she still love the half demon?

Author's Note:

You may notice a few changes, but they keep the story going along. I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I've been struggling with it the past couple of hours. Excuse any typos. There were some vague hidden meanings in this chapter. They will come into play and be revealed in later chapters.

Kagome has lived with this burden for almost two years. Remember, when she fell in love with Inuyasha she was a GIRL. She's beginning to realize that all may not be what it seems. It may be a little late, but hey, they all have to make decisions that they later pay for, right?

Thank you for reading and don't forget to review!