Friends and Lovers By Sarga Miroku jogged lightly after his half-demon friend who carried the monk's

lover on his back. They still hadn't found Sango since she had left with a huge chip on her shoulder, and since his discovery with Kagome several nights ago he was lost and directionless. Where they would go from here was in question she hadn't said anything about returning to his arms or his bed and he hadn't pressed the issue. Still, Miroku's heart felt like it was on fire. Kagome hadn't even rejected him, she had just... stopped... and now he was going though the most severe withdrawal he had ever faced. Shit! The sound of the half-demon swearing wasn't that unusual in and of itself, but the urgent fury that he bore in his expression: that was new. Try to keep up, monk. When you lose sight of me just follow the trail... Before Miroku could ask what trail Inuyasha meant, the half-demon was gone in a flurry of red and silver, Kagome on his back and just hanging on for dear life. With only a moment's confusion, Miroku bolted after his friend. He found the trail. Blood. It was everywhere. Spattered on bushes, smeared along tree trunks, it was like some gruesome form of poetry, each broken plant a gruesome word in the narration. When Sango was still missing. Miroku pushed himself harder, lungs and legs burning as he heard the sound of Inuyasha's mighty fang tearing gashes in the terrain and hopefully demon corpse as well. Hand catching on a snarled branch as he pushed through the foliage, Miroku stumbled into the fray. Sango! ...was battling Naraku. Inuyasha blasted his red Tetsusaiga at the barrier that kept them from being able to offer Sango support. The surrounding lesser demons were providing enough of a menace that they had no way of remaining focused on one point of the barrier, Kagome was too busy purifying demons behind

Inuyasha's back to break the barrier. Naraku was playing with Sango at this point. Knowing she was too far gone to truly defend herself from Naraku's next genuine attack, it boiled Miroku's blood to see the monster bat her around, drawing more and more blood from her already drained body. Her legs were wobbling, her stance showing how desperately she just wanted to sink into the earth, but she still battled on. In frustration and rage, Miroku attacked the barrier, his own holy powers aided by a sutra from his robes. Rebuffed once, twice, thrice, Miroku tried a fourth time, this time earning the aid of Kagome's purifying arrow to break through the filthy half-demon's barrier. Virtually flying across the space that would allow him to protect his friend and comrade, Miroku was awash in lavender hues of spiritual energy normally reserved for keeping his wind tunnel in check. Unleashing a torrent of blows, he forced Naraku back into the trees until the enormous half-demon monster could go no further backward without shirking some part of himself. Arrow, staff and fang merged in a brilliant display of light and power, the merging demonic and holy magic forming the ultimate weapon against such vile evil. Wind roaring around their ears, the trio obliterated the half-demon who dared threaten the life of yet another friend and family member. First duty dispatched, Miroku rushed back to Sango who had collapsed some time after he had engaged the enemy. Miro... ku. Sango's hand was weak and she was bleeding from wounds too severe to be fixed with band-aids and kisses. She was on borrowed time now and he would do everything to ease her passing. Hush, koishii, he whispered, recognizing that she should feel as treasured as she was. Taking Sango's hand into his own aching and trembling ones, Miroku brushed his lips softly on her raw and bruised knuckles. Kagome... I... You should marry her... Sango looked desperate, her eyes wild and full of fearful tears. The past few months she had been so bitter to her friends. All because of jealousy. If they were to separate because of her mistake, her inability to see the good in the love that they shared... Please, promise me! A trickle of red blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and her breaths were raspy. Please, Sango, Miroku begged. He couldn't make promises for the heart of another. I will treat her well, but I cannot promise this. Please, understand. Sango used more of her remaining energy to deny him. The strain was taking its toll and Miroku was

hard pressed not to clasp the dying woman tightly to him. Not... me... not because of... me... Sango was whispering now, her heart so openly mournful because of the rift she felt responsible for forming. Kagome clasped the jewel pieces in her hand, the few missing shards from Kouga and elsewhere preventing her from wishing what she wanted most in this instant. Sango, Miroku breathed, deceptively giving her a look of longing truly meant for another. It's because of you that I can love at all. He kissed her knuckles and held her bloody hand to his cheek. It is enough that I feel love. This gift you have given me will not go to waste. His eyes spoke volumes, pleading with her not to make him promise what he could not fulfil. In a flash of insight only available to one who is about to die, Sango realized the truth. Miroku was not refusing to marry Kagome. He was refusing to force her into the arrangement out of guilt. He felt that her feelings were less than whole-hearted and Sango wasn't sure that he was wrong. Then love freely, Miroku. Sango coughed, her eyes blanking out as she struggled desperately to stay with her friends for one more moment. Her breath was shallow now and in one great shuddering intake, her last words were spoken. I would have born your children... With a wistful smile, Sango was dead. ---------Kagome stroked the hand of her sister lovingly, the blood and grime that had coated her washed away with care and gentle hands. When she was finally wrapped in her makeshift death shroud composed of Kagome's sleeping bag and some twine, Sango would weather one last journey to her home where she would meet her final resting place. Guilt racked Kagome's mournful soul as she remembered the last words of her soul-sister. Sango had loved Miroku to her dying breath and because of her own selfish desire for a man she could actually have as opposed to the one she wanted, Kagome had pushed her best friend into her own death. And Miroku had loved Sango back. As she stroked the now clean skin of her sister, dressing her in her own spare clothing, Kagome wished with all her heart that she had not been so foolish. She had offered an easy out for a man with too high a libido to deny her and in the process she had broken two hearts, Sango's and Miroku's.

Clothing straightened at last, Sango's serene expression wrenched at Kagome's heart. Never had she seen her sister so at ease in life. It took death to wipe away the crease of worry and the strain of guilt over her brother's fate. Kagome kissed her sister on the forehead and called Inuyasha into the abandoned hut to finish preparing her for the journey. He would go ahead and lay her to rest alone. It would take them far too long on foot if they went at a human's pace. Miroku and Kagome would meet him at her village as soon as they were able to catch up. Letting the men have their privacy, Kagome exited the dilapidated hut and knelt next to an overgrown vegetable garden, losing herself to her morose thoughts. After an indeterminant amount of time it could have been five minutes, it could have been an hour Kagome felt Miroku's warm body slide next her hers, his deceptively relaxed stance at odds with his stormy eyes. Kami, Kagome hoped he could forgive her some day. Without a word they sat watching the sun dip beyond the trees, still casting enough light to be early evening, but the long shadows of the trees making it feel more like late night. Miroku shifted his arm across Kagome's shoulders, hoping the small gesture of comfort would allow the girl to mourn. She looked so lost and hadn't cried in his presence although her eyes had been conspicuously puffy when she had finished bathing and redressing Sango's body. Kagome's bone-deep sob had Miroku breathing a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to worry about her going catatonic after all.. Pulling the sobbing girl into his chest, Miroku rubbed soothing circles across her back until her insistent hiccuped words drew his attention back to her. The sun fully set now, the darkening moon cast eerie shadows across the face of Kagome's former lover as she tried to pull herself together. I'm so sorry, Kagome sobbed out, knowing the mere platitudes would do nothing to ease the hurt of his broken heart. Miroku took a deep breath, shaking his head in dismissal. Do not apologise, Kagome. Naraku's evil was not under your control. But my body was! Kagome's self-directed anger pushed her tears to the wayside. If I hadn't thrown myself at you when I knew that you both had feelings for each other she would have been around and you would have been able to love her like you should have been able to. Because of me, the both of you

lost a chance at love... Kagome choked on her own words, the feeling of defeat pounding in her ears. Here's where he would tell her it was her fault. He would make her feel as shitty as she should feel... Miroku's lips on her own startled Kagome into silence. In a desperate plea for forgiveness, she gave herself over. If he wanted her body in place of Sango's who was she to deny him. Kagome moved in to deepen the kiss. If he wanted her, she would give him all the passion and fire he deserved! Slipping her tongue boldly into his mouth, Kagome revelled in his tantalizing flavour. Passion stoked, the strain of mourning too great for one body, Miroku swept kisses down the side of Kagome's jaw, nipping and tonguing the flesh until soft moans and shallow breath gave way to panting and grinding. Sliding the robes off of Miroku's shoulders something she had done very rarely Kagome brushed her hands across his chest, drawing a moan from the monk as he drooped his head back and enjoyed the attention. Slipping her own clothing from her body (and fingering the off-colour birth control patch she had recently applied) Kagome sat before him in supplication. A humble offering to appease his broken heart. Except, unknown to Kagome, Miroku's heart wasn't broken. A friend had died, however his lover the one who stood before him baring herself for the first time in over a month had returned. While he held a profound sadness at the loss of one who they had all held dear, he knew the solace that could be found between panting bodies and it was so easy to slip into the familiar. Shifting Kagome so that she was sitting on his robes, Miroku leaned her back, his throbbing hardness weeping as his eyes had done earlier. She clasped him in a vice-like grip and he hissed at the sensation. He hadn't been touched by another person in far too long and he could feel his body respond to the stimulus. Reaching between them, Miroku leaned forward, knowing he would have to address Kagome's accusations. Pressing his head into Kagome's slick entrance, Miroku panted with the exertion of not thrusting himself to the hilt. Instead he rolled his hips gently until he was fully seated in her welcoming depths. Now was the time... I never loved Sango, Miroku whispered softly, laying enough of his weight on the startled woman so that she couldn't easily scramble away. I told her she showed me how to love, Miroku pulled out slowly before pushing back in and pausing again. She showed me what it was to love a person like family. Her heart was always focused on Kohaku. Another languorous thrust. It was turning into a eulogy. She was like a sister to me. Miroku pulled back and pushed in again a little too quickly, forcing his own moan of desire. You have my heart. Kagome froze under Miroku. Surely she couldn't have heard correctly. Was he saying.

Kami, Kagome, Miroku groaned as he started slowly repeat his movements in a fluid motion. She was so tight around him it was like she was gripping him on purpose. Thrusting more and more until her fingers curled into his hair and his release was just around the corner, Miroku offered himself to her, the battle he had been fighting within himself lost as she rippled and fluttered around his thrusting length. I love you, Miroku whispered in her ear as she came. He followed his words with a flurry of movement that made his own head spin. Crashing into his lover, the one he had given himself over to completely, Miroku rode the waves of his orgasm, his hot seed spurting into the very depths of her. Panting, Miroku pulled out and rolled onto his back next to Kagome, hoping she believed him. It was true, after all. Did you... Kagome's voice was small, her tone uncertain. Did you mean it? Miroku rolled onto his side, his stormy eyes looking fully into her own for the first time in weeks. Yes. I love you, Kagome. Kagome believed him. She had never been so scared in her life.