InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Before the Dawn ❯ One-Shot

Lost Before the Dawn

By Penguine

Disclaimer: I don't own them. I just play with them.

AN: Song used in this fic is Lost Before the Dawn by Evanescence.

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Night had settled upon the land of Feudal Japan, draping it in a clock of dappled shadow and silver moonlight. As a warm near summer breeze danced through the air, caressing those gathered in a rural meadow, a single pair of amber eyes watched the rest from a comfortable perch within the lazy branches of a nearby tree. Inuyasha's company had settled for the night hours ago. By now, the only one left awake was him. He liked it this way, however.

This hour of night was his alone to do with as he pleased. He could mull in his thoughts without disruption. He could bask in the serenity of the world that lay peacefully sleeping around him. He could also draw enjoyment from simply watching Kagome sleep without getting caught and fussed at. With all that benefit, who in their right mind would want to waste it by doing something like sleep. Sure, he slept. Even youkai needed sleep. Sleep was a natural part of life. He just didn't need near as much of it.

Yet, tonight, the air was tainted with the smell of blossoms making use of spring. Try as he may to stay awake, Inuyasha found himself powerless to stop the gentle breeze's tranquilizing effects. Head slowly bowing to rest chin against chest, Inuyasha eventually gave in to sleep. There, within, he was granted passage into the world of dreams.

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Something in the night stirred drawing the hanyou to awaken at his perch. Eyelids parted to cast the gaze of rich amber eyes out upon the land in search of that which had awakened him as furry white ears perked towards the slightest noises. The first thing Inuyasha noticed was the fact that he was alone. None of his friends remained sleeping as they had been on the ground near his tree. Then again, this was not the same meadow they had settled in. Beyond his tree was a grassy slope that lead towards a gentle bubbling brook. On the other side of the brook, the land rose again in another grassy slope. At its summit was a line of trees leading into another forest.

Inuyasha found himself forgetting the absence of his friends as a solitary figure appeared at the edge of that forest beyond the brook. His ears twitching absent-mindedly, Inuyasha focused on the feminine form that was bathed in the gilded silver of ambient moonlight. Or was it that? The outline of that distant figure belonged to someone who tended to carry her own eerie ambience.

"Kikyou!" Inuyasha softly blurted as he thoughtlessly leapt from his place in the tree to bolt in the miko's direction. The time it took simply to reach the brook seemed like eternity. Eventually, his bare feet did, however, meet cool spring water before returning to the sea of grass. His footfalls rustled like leaves in the wind as he drew up the other slope.

"K-Kikyou! What.. what are you doing here?" He called out to the figure in the forest as he neared the top of the hill. The way he had said it, with such distrust, disturbed him. But then again, wasn't that how his relationship with her had somehow always been? Tainted with just enough distrust that someone like Naraku was able to split them so violently apart.

"Inuyasha?" came the miko's reply, tinged with slight surprise.

The hanyou once again remembered his initial thoughts upon awakening. Somehow, they stirred further emotions in him. "Why are you here? Where's Kagome and the others?"

"Inuyasha…" the miko started again, obviously taken aback by his questions. "What.. what do you mean?"

"Kikyou, answer me."

"But Inuyasha, I'm not Kikyou," came her rather shocked reply.

"What?" Inuyasha gasped as he drew nearer to the figure.

"Why do you call me Kikyou? I'm not Kikyou! I'm Kagome! Remember? I thought were passed all this!" the miko said hotly while a shift in wind direction brought the scent of fresh tears to Inuyasha's nose. Along with that scent came, not Kikyou's scent, but Kagome's, confirming the miko's words. Inuyasha's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he finally drew close enough to see that the girl was indeed Kagome and not Kikyou.

"K-Kagome! I.." Inuyasha started, unsure of exactly what to say. Kagome swiftly interrupted him.

"And, for your information, I came here because I was too stressed out about school and couldn't sleep! As for the others, they're back at Kaede's village where they always are when I go back through the well! Really now, Inuyasha! What the heck's the matter with you?!" the young miko reincarnate spouted with shoulders shaking in anguish. Inuyasha's worries of Kikyou having done something to Kagome died to be replaced with wonder of why he had thought up such delirious nonsense in the first place. How the hell he'd managed to, not only get confused about where he was and what was happening, but also get Kagome mixed up with Kikyou after having traveled with Kagome long enough to easily tell the difference was completely beyond his comprehension at this point. Then again, one look at Kagome's red tear streaked face brought him to no longer care.

Sighing softly, Inuyasha closed the distance between him and the girl from the future. His facial expression melted to one of soft repenting compassion as he moved, and Kagome could not prevent a gasp at seeing the look within his eyes glowing softly gold in the darkness of night.

"Kagome, I didn't mean it. I hadn't expected you back so soon and sensing your return… I guess I wasn't fully awake. For a moment, from that distance, you looked like her," he said, trying to carefully choose his words for fear of upsetting her further. Yet, despite his efforts, that's exactly what happened.

"Inuyasha! Just.. SIT! I'm sorry if I confused you! I'm sorry I messed things up for you. Go do whatever you want with her. I don't care anymore!" she spat despite that fact that she did still care. More than she was willing to admit. The earth shook as one hanyou swiftly bowed to unceremoniously kiss it with a grunt.

"K-Kagome! Dammit, would you just listen to me for once! It's not like that! I wasn't rushing to talk to Kikyou for the reason you think I was! When I saw what I had thought was Kikyou and didn't see you anywhere, I ran to her cause I was worried! I know she doesn't handle confrontations with you very well. Okay? Is that so wrong? Is it so wrong to be worried when thinking you could be in some kind of danger?!" Inuyasha shot back from his place on the ground. Kagome blinked with a gasp at his words as she stood there with a look of disbelief.

"Inuyasha…" she started in a state of stunned awe. As the rosery's spell finally wore off, the hanyou grumbled as he rose from the forest floor and dusted himself off.

"Well? Is that so wrong?" he asked again, bringing his piercing amber gaze to lock squarely upon her.

"N-no. I guess not," she admitted with furrowed brow as she turned her own eyes away from his sheepishly.

"Kagome, I didn't mean to make you mad. You just managed to startle me is all," he said as his eyes once again turned soft along with his voice. Kagome was then aware of exactly how close he was in proximity to her, barely even an arm's length away. Why hadn't she noticed that before?

"Inuyasha, I.. You're right. When you put it like that.. I guess.. I'm the one who owes you an apology. I.. I'm sorry," she repented as she bowed her head away from him, tears once again filling her eyes. Their reoccurrence did not go unnoticed by the hanyou standing so closely to her in the midst of the darkness.

"Kagome," Inuyasha whispered as he felt a surge of pain prick the flesh of his heart.

--- Meet me after dark again and I'll hold you.

Kagome's umber eyes, shifted to a Prussian blue by the light of the moon in the darkness of the forest, drew wide as they panned to regard the boy before her. His eyes softly met hers while his arms rose to encircle her and gently pull her to him in a tender embrace. She was sure he could feel as well as hear the heart that beat to wildly within her chest at his open display of affection.

"I'm sorry you couldn't sleep. Maybe you should stay here for the night. You always seem to sleep better when I'm around. You can always go back in the morning. I can wake you early enough that you can get back in time for school," he cooed, trying to soothe Kagome's frayed nerves.

--- I want nothing more than to see you there.

Those words inwardly surprised him as much as they did her. Here he was, for once, not only being open with her, but also offering to help her back home without a fuss in the morning. Kagome, for a moment, could only stand there gawking at him in disbelief of his words. Yet, Inuyasha refused to let his surprise at himself show. Instead, he continued to hold her, gazing warmly into her eyes in a way that told her he meant everything he had just said. Biting her lip, Kagome realized an occurrence like this might not ever happen again. Following that thought, she decided then and there not to let it go to waste.

Bringing a soft smile to her face, Kagome nodded in agreement to Inuyasha's offer. Her own arms rose to wrap securely about his waste as she let her head fall to rest with her cheek upon his chest. Kagome's eyes fell closed as she whispered softly his name, "Inuyasha."

Inuyasha felt his heart literally skip a beat as the miko he held so dear shifted within his arms to hug him back while snuggling to lay her head on his chest. Why was it that he felt so complete in moments like this? Why was it that his heart told him not to care about what the fuck everyone else said? Though, a the moment, he decided he really didn't care. All he knew was that he liked this, and if it damned him to open up enough to enjoy this one night with her like this, then so be it.

--- And maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away

Shifting, Inuyasha wordlessly swept Kagome up into his arms, placed one securely around her back, the other under her knees. Kagome started in surprise at his action.

"Inuyasha! What are you doing?" she sputtered with eyes wide as cantaloupes.

"Hush. Relax, I know what I'm doing," he retorted smartly. She eyed him with skepticism as his words. That is, till he shot up into the air to fly away into the night. Her question was instantly dropped as she repositioned her arms to hold securely onto him from around his neck. Though less than a minute after he'd taken to the sky, she relaxed her hold as she found herself feeling both safe and content here in his arms. Leaning her head, once again, upon him, Kagome allowed her eyes to close.

Sensing her grow relaxed and comfortable within his embrace as he sailed in bounds with her through the sea of moonlit darkness, Inuyasha, for a moment, cast his amber gaze down at the girl he held. Seeing peace of mind won so easily for her simply by his endearing presence made a smile spread upon his face. With her at peace, so, now, was he.

--- We'll be lost before the dawn.

In all truth, Kagome, really had no clue how she had gotten here. At one point, she remembered falling asleep in her sleeping bag in the small meadow she and the others had settled down in for the night. She remembered Shippou having curled up with Kirara. Sango had gone to sleep on the opposite side of the meadow from Miroku. Then, Inuyasha, as usual, had taken to sitting within the branches of a nearby tree.

The next thing Kagome remembered was waking up sitting at her desk back in her own world. The textbook smushed beneath her face told her she had fallen asleep studying. But when had she come back to her own time? Maybe all of that studying had gotten to her head.

Kagome had rose from her desk and gone to bed in an attempt to get some sleep to her malfunctioning brain. But all attempts to fall back into that peaceful oblivion became fruitless as insomnia saw fit to settle in, only managing to fray her nerves all the more. Grumbling, she rose and put on a robe over her pajamas before heading outside to take a walk. Somehow, without her knowledge, her feet had carried her to the well house.

Arriving in front of the musty smelling shed, Kagome sighed.

`Well, if I'm here, I might as well go see if anyone else is still up,' she thought as she opened the doors and descended the stairs to the well deck. Coming to stand at it's lip, Kagome simply shrugged before leaping fearlessly into the all consuming darkness of the well.

Once arriving on the other side, Kagome discovered everyone was asleep. That was with the exception of one annoying hanyou who had wandered off somewhere. Most likely, he'd gone to sulk after losing another battle to keep her from going through the well this afternoon. But why hadn't he come running when she'd arrived? She would have thought he would have been irritatingly overjoyed to see her back so soon. Decidedly too curious about this, she had set out to look for him. After what seemed like only fifteen minutes of walking, she'd arrived at the edge of that forest to get herself into that tangled mess of confusion at the same time she'd managed to locate Inuyasha.

Now, she was curled in his arms as he few in his usual giant yet graceful bounding leaps that made him seem as if he actually could fly and that that mass of silvery hair of his were his wings. The thought of Inuyasha sporting an angel's dove white wings brought an odd expression to Kagome's face. Normally, Inuyasha would be one of the last people she'd expect to picture as an angel. He was, after all, half demon. But, he was also half human. It was his human heart that allowed him to treat her the way he did on these rare occasions when he would open up to show his true self. If only he could act like this more often. Though, if he did, she realized, moments like this would no longer be the rare gems that they are.

--- If only night can hold you where I can see you, my love

How wonderfully fulfilled, Kagome felt right now. Beneath her ear, she could feel Inuyasha's heart beating within his chest along with his breathing that drew in time to his leaps. As she opened her eyes to gaze at him in the light of the moon's grace, she knew the person he was allowing herself to see this night was the true shape and colors of his soul. This was that part of him that had always protected her from harm. This is the part of him that had brought her unexpected comfort when she needed it the most. This was the part of him she had fallen so deeply in love with.

In was soon after that thought when she'd felt him come to a stop. Looking around, she noticed he had brought her to settle with him in the protective branches of Goshinboku. When she looked back up at him, she found him looking back at her.

"Better?" he asked softly as he now sat upon a fat branch, leaning against Goshinboku's trunk with her seated side saddle in his lap leaning against him. Kagome sighed contently and nodded.

"Mmmhmm," she murmured as she closed her eyes once more to drown herself in the warmth of his embrace and the sounds of his beating heart and gentle breath. If she were to die at this moment, Kagome realized she would still be happy for being the one who was held so close within Inuyasha's arms. Yes, it wasn't Kikyou he was holding now. It was her. Nothing in the world made her feel better than that thought did now.

--- Then let me never wake again.

Inuyasha smiled softly as he watched the girl he held relax once again. Some how, he got the feeling, even if Kikyou were to arrive at this moment, he still wouldn't trade what he had right now with Kagome for anything. Something about this night had his heart doing things he never expected it to.

The gentle moonlight bathing the darkness had set him at ease. The smell of flowers upon the breeze coupled with Kagome's scent intoxicated him. The feel of her warm body pressed willingly against him and holding him back as he held her made him feel warm and happy. Then, sitting nestled within the branches of Goshinboku made him feel the one thing he truly wasn't use to feeling. Security. It was as if the mighty tree had the power to let nothing disturb this precious time he had won with the girl who was stealing his heart at the same time she was mending it all without realizing it in the least. At these thoughts, his heart soared on its own newly grown wings.

--- And maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away

He thought over the picture all this formed together and felt awed. Here as they were, they sat enjoying a rare moment together as just themselves. There were no longer a self-loathing hanyou and a overstressed miko. They were simply a boy and a girl, taking one single night to spend time together enjoying the sharing of the love they each held in their heart for the other. Then, to, they were two people loving each other simply for who they were and not who they could have been.

That was the difference between Kagome and Kikyou. Kagome loved him for the hanyou whom he was, and not either of the people, human nor youkai, he could have been by the power of the Shikon jewel. Kikyou was incapable of loving him simply for that whom he already was. Thus, she was also incapable of truly curing his heart, and in turn, winning it. She had never truly trusted him. So, in turn, he was never able to trust her. Even if Naraku had never broke them apart, Inuyasha realized his relationship with the miko would still have never worked out. They would still have, at some point, been forced to part ways.

`No doubt', Inuyasha thought, `destiny would have still found a way to place me in Kagome's arms.'

He almost laughed at the unexpected pun that surfaced in his mind's words. He looked down at Kagome and smiled. Though she lay in that place between wake and sleep, she was still quite happy to be as she was. As Inuyasha gently squeezed her briefly with his arms in a hug that soothed him as much as it did her, so, too, was he.

--- We'll be lost before the dawn.

Feeling the hug, Kagome opened her eyes and turned to gaze up at her beloved with eyes pleading the gods for just a little more time with him. Though slightly guarded, his eyes of liquid gold held the same prayer within their depths.

"This can't be real. You're being too nice for this to be real. I'm enjoying this far too much for it to be real," Kagome said, gasping lightly when she realized she'd accidentally said it aloud.

"You're right. If this were real, you'd never let me do this. If this were real you would have sat me again and still stomped off mad. And I would never be able to stay with you this long without someone having to be and ass by barging in and ruining it," Inuyasha replied in agreement. Kagome blinked at his words and realized he was right.

"Now that you mention it, I did find it odd waking up earlier in a place I didn't remember going to," Kagome mused.

"Me too," Inuyasha blinked. Then he bit his lip and shook his head. "But I don't care. I don't care if this is real or a dream. All I care is that I'm being allowed to experience it. I'm not about to waste it just to figure out why it is the way it is. Don't put the devil on the wall. Moments like this are meant to me enjoyed while you can because they don't last for long."

"Again, you're right. How did you do that? Manage to be right three times in one night?" Kagome teased with a soft giggle.

"I haven't a damn clue," he said, unable to keep from grinning along with her contagious mood. Kagome giggled a little more in response to his words. But them, his grin caught her heart and played its strings like it never had before.

Before Kagome even realized what she was doing, she had closed her eyes and the gap between them to press her lips to his. She could feel his heart jolt to pounding in his chest, much like her own, beneath the hand she had splayed over his breast bone. That only made her feel that much more impassioned.

Inuyasha jolted when he found her lips suddenly pressed to his. Yet, taking his own advice, he didn't let any petty childish fears stop him from responding of his own accord. Tightening the hold his arms had on her, he felt liquid flame shoot through his veins as he returned the kiss. First, lightly. Then, slowly deepening it till it was as if their souls were kissing the same as their bodies.

--- Somehow I know that we can't wake again from this dream.

--- It's not real, but its ours.

In this moment, Inuyasha learned what the true nature of love was. It wasn't the lust that Miroku so loved to flaunt. Though, he would be a fool to deny the reaction this was getting from his nether region. No man could ever receive a kiss like this and not have stirrings of the body of some kind like that. However, that was simply the body's reaction to physical stimulation. Love was something deeper. Far, far deeper.

--- Maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away

Love was the stirring of the soul at the stimulations brought on by another. Love was the simple desire to be with another individual regardless of who the were or how there blood built their body. Love was the tranquility one felt when being in the presence of that other. Love was also the fire that was fueled by the presence and actions of that other. Love was also the single minded desire to protect that other and offer help when it was needed most. Love was the ability of that other to breathe new vibrant life into a soul that had been so dead inside that that soul's owner was even unaware of their spiritual condition.

Sure, love was a weakness. It brought people to do insanely stupid things far too often. It brought them to take down protective walls, making them vulnerable to attack in the part of them that was perpetually the weakest. It had been his father's downfall. It had also many times been nearly his own downfall. But, at the same time that it was a weakness, love was also a strength.

Love, as he saw it now, was the greatest power and strength in the universe. It was, after all, the reason why the complexity of life existed in the first place. Was it not? In trying times, love brought people to push their limits and do extraordinary things. Sure, love took lives. But it also saved them. It made them worth living.

All Inuyasha had ever fought for, bled for, and suffered through now seemed a completely reasonable price to pay for the kiss he now shared with Kagome. Even if he were never given the chance to kiss her again, he would still cherish this moment for all time. He had made sure to irreversibly burn it into memory.

Really, fools like his half brother Sesshomaru had absolutely no clue what the fuck they were talking about when it came to the subject of love. It made him laugh inside, seeing just how dumb they all suddenly looked to him. Then again, how could anyone ever preach about love if they hadn't experienced it to begin with. Inuyasha didn't doubt that his brother had found mates from time to time. But he was certain, Sesshomaru had never learned what it was like to truly love someone as his father had loved his mother and he now loved Kagome.

--- We'll be lost before the dawn.

The kiss that seemed so bittersweetly like a single moment and eternity all in one eventually came to end. The two participants parted from each other's lips to draw air and gaze upon one another. In that brief point in time, both were stripped naked of their walls to bare the truths of their souls to the other. Both, liking what they saw in the other for faults as well as strengths, smiled.

It was Inuyasha who saw fit to move on first. He knew that they had already used up a lot of how ever unknown much time they had been allotted to spend. One clawed hand moved to gently brush a stray lock of raven hair behind Kagome's here, taking care not to harm her.

"You should get some sleep while you still can. If I remember right, you don't do too well on those `test' things on a lack of sleep," he said with a soft wry smile.

"There you go again. That's four times you've been right about something tonight, Mister!" Kagome mock scolded while shaking a finger at him. She then broke into a grinning giggle.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, you've had your fun. Now go to sleep."

"Hmmmm.. Since this is a silly dream that isn't real, I want one more thing while I'm at it," she grinned wickedly. Inuyasha sweat-dropped with a gulp.

"What might that be? Dare I ask," he inquired with a warily cocked eye brow.

"This," she answered as she reached up to gently caress his furry ears of moonlight silver with her delicate fingertips. Inuyasha jolted and started to protest. But she swiftly shushed him with a second kiss. Seeing as there was just absolutely no way he was going to win, and losing felt way too good, Inuyasha caved to allow her to do as she pleased. He surprised her as while he returned her kiss, a soft doggy style purr rumbled up from deep within his chest. A soft moan of her own let him know just how well that sound melted her to instant mush.

Kagome gently raked her nails through the fur and folds of Inuyasha's ears a little more as they got in one more good round of tongue hockey. Then, she obligingly let go of his ears and broke the kiss to snuggle tightly into his arms, laying her head upon his chest. He smiled and hugged her possessively to him to earn a human type purr from her. He found himself melted just as easily to a pile of mushy goo by that sound as Kagome was. Inuyasha nuzzled the top of her head as he all but liquefied around this woman he loved so deeply even he could not honestly fathom.

"I love you Inuyasha," Kagome mumbled in a sleepy voice.

"I love you too, Kagome," as hard as he normally found such powerful words to utter, Inuyasha found himself pleasantly shocked when they rolled off his tongue so easily in the simmering heat of this one brief night he had innocently spent with her.

--- And maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away

In the wee hours of morning, two souls, normally perpetually at war with each other, sat together entwined. Only minutes after those all too important three, no four, including the name of their beloved, words had been spoken, the two lovers fell into sleep together. For once in their lives, they each slept feeling spiritually complete as they were loved by each other, and for tonight, secure to love one another.

--- We'll be lost before the dawn.

A few hours later, Inuyasha woke to notice the first bands of light bleeding out of the eastern horizon. His mind recalled the promise he had made hours earlier. Looking down at the girl so peacefully sleeping in his arms, he felt a bittersweet pang in his heart. He really hated having to be so cruel as to end this so soon. Yet, still, he had made her a promise. This time, he fully intended to keep it.

Slowly shifting, careful to not wake the slumbering miko, Inuyasha gathered her up in preparation to carry her away back to her own time. Ever so gracefully, he rose from his place in the tree and bid the Goshinboku a wordless `thank you' before leaping to sail away into the shadows of fading night. The trip back to the well went pleasantly uneventful and with one last glance tossed back to his forest, Inuyasha leapt into the well.

He felt the familiar rush of time like water flow past him. Then, a moment later, his feet touched cool earth at the bottom of the same well five hundred years in the future. Agilely, he bolted out of the well and it housing to the courtyard of the shrine that was Kagome's home.

Taking care to move without making a single noise, Inuyasha leapt up to Kagome's window and crawled through it. Once inside, he crept over to the bed and gently placed the sleeping girl upon it. He allowed himself the selfish pleasure of a simple kiss to her forehead as he tucked the covers about her. He then smiled as she smiled in her sleep.

Turning around, Inuyasha started to leave, but then a hand suddenly shot up to catch his. He spun to look at her with startled surprise written all over his handsome and seemingly young face. Kagome held his hand with an iron grip while her sleepy eyes gave him a pleading look.

"Stay. Just at little longer. Please?" she whispered. He slouched with a grunt and she let go of him.

"Baka," he said simply. As he walked away from the bed, Kagome's breath caught as she thought he was going to still leave. But he surprised her yet again by shutting the window. Returning to her bed, he walked around the side next to the wall then tapped her shoulder. Needing no words to understand, Kagome scooted to make room for him. He then hopped in to place his back against the headboard. Kagome smiled as she slithered her top half into his lap and wrapped her arms around his mid-section.

"Better?" he said for the second time in the duration of the time they'd spent together.

"Mmmhmm," she replied the same as she did before. All but seconds later, he noticed she was deep asleep again.

`Well, at least she'll get a little more good sleep this way,' mused Inuyasha's mind in last fleeting thoughts before he too fell back to sleep.

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Miroku awoke to a strange sound. Someone was snoring, and it wasn't him. Picking up his head, he glanced around in the waxing light of dawn. It wasn't Shippou. He hadn't moved from his spot last night with Kirara. It wasn't Sango. She was too far away on the other side of the meadow. Then, he saw them.

At some point during the night, Inuyasha had wound up in Kagome's sleeping bag. Kagome, had then wound upon snuggling tightly against Inuyasha with her seemingly frail arms holding strongly onto him the same as his strong arms gently held her. Upon further examination, Miroku discovered it was Inuyasha who was snoring. Actually, it was more like a slumbering purr but the effect was the same.

`Well, they do say that dogs only snore when they feel happy,' Miroku mused with a grin.

Silently, he rose and tip-toed over to Sango. Leaning down, he gently whispered into her ear, trying not to wake anyone else. "Psst! Sango! Wake up. You've got to see this!"

"Miroku, let me sleep dammit," Sango mumbled still half asleep. "Quit snoring," she added on after a moment.

"But I'm not the one who's snoring. Wake up and look at who the culprit is," he whispered, his grin evident in his voice. Sango groaned and woke up. Miroku then tapped her shoulder and pointed to the entwined mass that was Kagome and Inuyasha sound asleep and tangled in the miko's sleeping bag.

"Gee. They were up in a tree together earlier. The way Kagome had been attempting to sleep walk before that, I'm wondering if she even knew what she'd done. But this.. this is definitely interesting," Sango whispered in awe at the site.

"You're not kidding," Miroku agreed. "Wait! Up in a tree? Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because you or Shippou would have ruined it, you lecherous idiot!" Sango snapped while still keeping to a whisper. Miroku make a mock hurt expression. It was then that Sango noticed it was Inuyasha who was snoring. The sound wasn't loud, just enough to be noticed by those within the meadow who were awake enough to pay it attention. "I'll be damned," she said in wide-eye wonder.

"Yeah. That's what woke me up and made me notice."

"I see."

"Well, you know what they say. Only dogs that are truly happy ever snore," the monk smirked, voicing his earlier thought.

"True that," Sango agreed with a grin. Miroku grinned back at her.

"They look comfy. How about it?"

At that moment, a rather audible slap rang out in the waxing daylight kissed meadow.