InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Not-So-Broken Dreams ❯ 3 ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Not-So-Broken Dreams

Chapter 3

"Kagome! Help!"

Shippo's half-frantic, half-laughing cry drew Miroku out of his reverie. The monk glanced towards Kaede's hut, just in time to see a kitsune-shaped shadow come racing through the doorway with an Inuyasha-sized one close behind.

Kagome followed them for about two steps, her posture indicating frustration. "Inuyasha!" she called, but the hanyou merely ignored her as usual and continued to chase Shippo around the hut.

Kagome apparently gave up and returned inside-- she knew Inuyasha wouldn't truly hurt Shippo. And if the kitsune had started his teasing in her presence, she probably felt he deserved a little scare.

Her relationship with the hanyou had been strained ever since they'd managed to leave the world on the other side of the mirror. Well, maybe not quite at that particular time, but at least since they began to head for Kaede's village. Kagome had insisted she remembered nothing, especially not a kiss, while Inuyasha covered his own embarrassment at the events of the day by denying how it had affected him.

Kagome had hardly said two words to the hanyou over the rest of the day. In fact, Miroku was surprised she hadn't headed for the well and her own time as soon as they reached the village.

But then again, Kagome was a good friend, and he was positive she had stayed for Sango's sake and not her own.

At least Sango had Kagome for support and comfort. The girl from the future would have provided the same for him, had he sought her out. But he'd been living with his demons for years, where Sango had only recently acquired hers. He could continue as he was, but there were times he feared the demon exterminator would be torn apart by her own grief and sorrow with no one there to lean on. She was strong, and he greatly admired her for that, but there were times when she just wasn't strong enough to bear the weight on her shoulders.

If only it were him that she would turn to.

He sighed and mentally berated himself for the thought. He couldn't let himself think that way until things were over. When Naraku was defeated, he would be free to court Sango, free to tell her how much he--

No, he wasn't going there. Things weren't finished, and he wasn't at liberty to voice such words, even to himself.

When things were finished-- only then.

But he'd thought his torture was finally over mere hours before, up until the point that he and the others realized a horrible trick had been played on them, all for the sake of Naraku's gaining even more power than he already possessed.

And by then, it was too late.

Miroku's gaze remained absently fixed on the hut as he once again went over the events of the past few days.

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Looking back on it, he wondered how none of them realized everything, or _almost_ everything, had gone according to Naraku's plan. There had been so many clues, yet none of them realized until it was too late that this was not the end they'd been hoping for.

They'd been chasing Naraku for hours, somehow managing to keep up despite his usual tricks. They followed his movements through the forest, having to rely more on Sango's tracking skills than Inuyasha's waning demon powers, and finally cornered him in the early hours of the morning. It could have been merely a puppet they were chasing, yet none of them believed that to be the case. This had to be the real thing.

They attributed it to good fortune, or perhaps believed their enemy was on the verge of one of his own "weak" periods of time, as Inuyasha was inevitably going through his own with the absence of the moon. Whichever the case, none of them questioned their unusual luck, instead taking advantage of the opportunity to possibly end the long battle once and for all.

Of course Inuyasha hated missing his chance at the action, but he couldn't risk their enemy figuring out what night brought his own weakness. He waited impatiently, hoping the sun would rise and bring back his demon powers with every breath he took, hoping nothing would happen to his friends, especially Kagome, while he wasn't there to protect them.

Sango and Kirara slowed Naraku down slightly, herding him towards Miroku. What fitting punishment it would be for their enemy to be sucked into the air void he, himself, had created, or so the monk thought. But he'd momentarily forgotten that Naraku's presence usually meant the arrival of poisonous insects perfectly content to be sucked in. He sealed off the kazaana in time, but was too slow to avoid his opponent's attack. Naraku had the upper hand, along with Miroku's throat.

Surprisingly enough, Kagome not only managed to catch Naraku off guard in order to save Miroku, but the second arrow she fired also hit its mark, the holy energy blasting a hole in the demon's chest.

Naraku had changed, revealing what appeared to be his true form-- a giant spider complete with huge red eyes, eight hairy legs, and the distinctive scar on his back. Miroku and Sango knew they needed to immobilize the demon in order to have a fighting chance.

The enormous arachnid began chasing Kagome and Shippo, intent on capturing them as it demolished anything in its path, including the small shack Inuyasha had taken refuge in.

The sun rose as the dust cleared, as if heralding the arrival of a great hero sent by the gods to rid the world of such evil. And yet what was revealed by the dispersing cloud was one very earthly hanyou bent on destroying his enemy, smirking and brandishing a gleaming Tetsusaiga.

With apparent ease, Inuyasha broke the barrier surrounding spider-Naraku, allowing Sango and Miroku to take out the demon's legs. But taking the Shikon shard buried in Naraku's back took a bit more effort.

Their enemy reformed when he was cut or hit with blessed energy, as they'd seen him do many times before. He attempted, and failed, to absorb Inuyasha's body and powers into his own. Neither side appeared to be making any headway.

But Naraku was growing cocky, taunting them even as he pulled himself together yet another time and displayed a more humanoid figure.

Miroku tossed his staff to Sango, who bound it to Hiraikotsu, flinging the combined weapon at Naraku's torso. Before he had the chance to reattach himself to the tentacles spread across the ground, Inuyasha unleashed a Kaze no Kizu. At the same time, Kagome let fly a purifying arrow. Both streaks of energy hit Naraku head-on, resulting in an explosion that lit up the sky as if the sun had come crashing towards the earth.

And then Naraku was gone. Or at least it had appeared so. Not a trace of their enemy was left on the slightly scorched earth revealed when the light faded.

Miroku glanced around warily, afraid to believe it was true. His hand gradually began to feel curiously light, the muscles in his palm twitching slightly. His heart began to pound loudly in his ears at what he thought it meant.

He was afraid to look, but it had to be done; it was the only way to be certain Naraku had truly been defeated. Anxiously, he pulled off the beads and the cloth covering the cursed hole. He then stared, wide-eyed and shaking slightly, as the last swirls of the vortex died away, leaving behind the flesh he'd been born with.

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If several dozen beautful women had suddenly fallen from the sky at that moment, he didn't think he would have noticed. He'd had to sit down to avoid falling down, and his mind had gone blank.

He didn't really remember the others gathering themselves for the return trip to Kaede's village, nor setting up camp for the night. He had the impression of high spirits and excited conversations going on around him, but nothing concrete.

Of course he did recall taking a walk in the general direction Kagome and Sango had gone off, catching a young man he'd never seen spying on the girls in their bath, and subsequently appearing as if _he_ were the one watching them as he tripped down the bank of the hot spring.

The boulder Sango had launched at him had actually brought him fully back to his senses, once he'd reawakened. He supposed he should thank her for that, at least. He didn't quite think she'd find as much humor in the memory as he did, however.

That night, he'd sat near the fire as the others drifted off to sleep, staring at his hand. He kept prodding the skin of his palm with the fingers of his other hand, trying to find some left-over sign that the kazaana had been there just hours before, searching for some tiny hole, and yet finding only solid flesh and bone.

And then it hit him, what the disappearance of the kazaana truly meant.

He'd thought it was all over, that his father and grandfather had been avenged, that he and his family line were finally free of the curse. Even the others had believed Naraku was gone, with the proof of his hand returning to normal. Of course, it had been too good to be true.

He'd gone to visit Mushin and pay his respects to his father and grandfather, calling on each of their graves in turn. Over the days he spent with the old monk and the tanuki, Hachi, the battle and its ending replayed over and over in his mind. And it sunk in that he would be able to look forward to the future and wonder what he could do with the time he now had, instead of worrying whether the next day would bring about his death.

Of course, he'd lived a life of wandering for so long, it was hard to let adventuring go. He'd decided to investigate the strange lunar occurrences which had, incidentally, also been mentioned in the will his grandfather left with Mushin, to be given to Miroku when Naraku was destroyed.

And that had led him back to his friends; not that he'd intended to separate from them permanently. They'd each gone their separate ways in the aftermath of Naraku's defeat, but he knew they were all merely trying to tie up loose ends before continuing with the search for the remaining Shikon shards. They had grown close over the months they'd traveled together, had shared experiences that made them stronger as a unit. Certain relationships had been forged that were not easily dropped, even if they had temporarily moved to the back of their minds.

As luck would have it, he'd met up with Sango first, in the cave mentioned in his grandfather's will, rumored to hold a mirror and another artifact needed to release the moon princess Kaguya, who was sealed inside the mirror itself.

Miroku hadn't truly realized until that moment how much he'd missed Sango during the time they'd been separated. He could finally let himself recognize the emotions that hit him upon realizing the woman about to bash him with a rather large weapon was Sango. He'd merely stared at her for a good long moment, drinking in the sight of her face greedily. "I missed you," he'd blurted before reaching out and dragging her to him, wrapping her in his arms. He'd enjoyed the feel of her against him, oblivious to the onlookers that she'd noticed were staring at them confusedly. Of course, he didn't really think Kohaku and Hachi, the tanuki, could blame him for ignoring them under the circumstances.

And he'd never been one to let a moment go to waste, allowing his formerly cursed hand to rove on its own while Sango was still struggling to push him away.

He'd had to do it, had to know what it felt like when he had the full use of his hand.

Of course, Sango had been predictably outraged and he'd gotten the expected slap, but it had been well worth it. He knew, if given the chance, he'd do the same again, although he did wish she wouldn't hit him quite so hard. Surely the progress in their relationship would warrant even the end of her retaliation for such actions. He didn't quite think she'd see things his way.

After that bright spot in his life, things had gone downhill.

They'd felt a strong malevolent presence and followed it to the source-- a castle which had apparently sprung up from the middle of a large lake. The predictions made by his grandfather seemed to be coming true.

They'd attempted to gain entry to the castle, but were fought off. Miroku had never thought of the kazaana as a blessing, but battling enemies without it available to use brought home how much he had relied on its power.

With the arrival of Inuyasha, Shippou, and another young man Miroku thought looked vaguely familiar, things progressed a little more quickly. Inuyasha, with a little help from Kikyou, who'd shown up out of nowhere and left as mysteriously as she came, defeated the hydra guarding the castle and went inside without waiting to see if anyone followed him.

Shippou explained the events leading up to how he, the young man, and Inuyasha had arrived on the scene as the others took a few moments to recover from the battle before heading towards the castle in the hopes of aiding Inuyasha in rescuing Kagome. The girl had apparently been kidnapped after putting herself directly in line to take an arrow meant for the hanyou.

Yet before they had time to enter the structure in the middle of the lake, things around them became still, living things paralyzed in place, as if caught in a single snapshot of time. Only the bandages they'd used from Kagome's time had saved the four left standing from the spell-- Sango, Shippou, Kirara, and Miroku, himself. It seemed as if the items from the future kept them immune to the time-stopping spell that had been cast on the rest of the world around them.

As they stared in surprise at the stillness surrounding the lake, the scenery shifted. The castle disappeared, and Inuyasha reappeared in its place.

The hanyou seemed a little disoriented, but he seemed to know what they needed to do next. The castle hadn't fully vanished into thin air, rather it had switched sides of the surface of the lake. The water was frozen, unmoving, and seeing the structure on the other side, as if in the reflection on a giant mirror, sent chills down Miroku's spine. It was then that he realized they'd defeated Naraku, only to have a being who could possibly pose an even greater threat to life on the earth be unleashed in his place. Naraku, at least, had yet to make time stand still for a possible indeterminate amount of time.

Inuyasha had made a small hole in the unmoving surface beneath their feet using the barrier-breaking red Tetsusaiga, allowing them all to pass through.

They'd stormed the castle, relieved to see Kagome bound, but unharmed. Inuyasha rushed headlong into battle with Kaguya, and was rewarded for his efforts by the loss of his sword.

Miroku, Sango, and Kohaku joined in the fray as well, each receiving their own injuries and falling back. They watched in growing horror as Inuyasha's human side was drained away into Kaguya's mirror, leaving his demonic powers to take over his body permanently. Inuyasha struggled to subdue the transformation, but was fighting a losing battle.

Sango had tried to stop Inuyasha's changing, but Kaguya easily held her back before she had a chance to destroy the mirror. Miroku, himself, had tried to reason with the hanyou, only to have Inuyasha strike him. But he knew that Inuyasha would listen to Kagome, when none of the rest of them could get through to him. If anyone could bring him back to normal, it was her.

Shippou managed to get her free of Kaguya's magical bonds, using the power of the Shikon shards. Kagome then made a beeline to Inuyasha, hoping to reverse the transformation, if only with her presence alone.

Miroku hadn't realized the bond between the half dog demon and the girl from the future had grown so strong. He watched, somewhat envious at the apparent closeness, as Inuyasha appeared to respond, calming in Kagome's embrace.

If only he could get Sango to cling to him the way the other girl held onto Inuyasha, he thought. But of course, the youkai exterminator dodged his advances, making sure Kohaku was unhurt to keep him at bay.

Inuyasha wasted no time in retrieving Tetsusaiga and unleashing a Kaze no Kizu at Kaguya. Her arm was destroyed, and then reformed, exactly as their old enemy's had. If Kaguya was like Naraku, they could destroy her. They'd done it once, they could do it again.

Yet just when they'd thought they would be able to win against Kaguya, and the world was going to be fully safe, Naraku had returned. He appeared from the least expected place, though they should have seen the signs. The palm of Miroku's hand began to ache and sting, as if something were trying to break through. Dreading the only thing it could mean, he'd removed the beads and unwrapped the covering on his arm, then stared at the growing hole in his hand in shock. Shippo's frantic warning broke him from the temporary paralysis, and he sealed the kazaana before it could destroy himself and the young kitsune.

The air void had almost been welcome during the battle, but for the reason it had returned-- Naraku was not fully destroyed as they had believed. He'd shoved the thought to the back of his mind and concentrated on the fight at hand.

Once they were free of Kaguya and Naraku had escaped, they'd returned to Kaede's village. Miroku had kept up a brave front, but, as always, it had merely been a cover for his inner turmoil.

In a matter of moments, he'd been given new life, and in the same short space of time, it had been taken away. He'd hardly had time to enjoy the first taste of freedom he'd had since he was a young boy.

And now he wanted more. He'd long ago given up on dreaming what he'd do once the curse was lifted. But he'd had the chance to allow those wishes back into his heart, to believe he had many years left ahead of him.

Damn Naraku and the cursed kazaana! he thought, pounding his fists into the ground on either side of him. And damn his grandfather, too, for falling for Naraku's tricks!

Of course, he couldn't blame the old man. Miroku, himself, had gotten into trouble more times than he could count because of a beautiful woman. If Naraku had disguised himself, as he'd been told his enemy had, how would his grandfather have known he was falling into a trap? Inuyasha and Kikyou hadn't discovered until it was too late that the other wasn't who they appeared to be.

His breath caught in his throat as the next idea flitted through his mind. If Naraku somehow found out about his and Sango's growing bond, and the demon wore Sango's face, would he know it wasn't her? Would she recognize that it wasn't him?

Had Naraku studied Kikyou's and Inuyasha's personalities, to know how to affect their attitudes? Surely he had-- at least enough that he could do a fairly convincing immitation and trick them into believing what he said while wearing his disguises.

Inuyasha could probably pick Naraku out by smell, now. And Kikyou could surely sense it was him, and not Inuyasha. In both of their cases, however, they were looking at the situation with hindsight.

He and Sango could tell by the evil energy Naraku gave off that their enemy was close, but if the demon chose to trifle with their hearts, would they realize it before things went wrong?

Miroku sighed and allowed his head to fall back against the tree behind him with a slight thunk. Here was yet another reason he should hold back and not allow his heart to rule his head when it came to Sango. Aside from the fact that he didn't know what would eventually become of himself, whether they would defeat Naraku in time or if he would be sucked into the air void before then, they would never be able to ascertain just how much their enemy knew about them. Nor would they quite be able to tell what he was fully capable of.

Miroku had told himself time and again that he couldn't allow Sango to get any closer than any of the other women he'd known. But it was harder to keep her from invading his thoughts when she wasn't someone he left behind in the last village. She'd proven time and again that she didn't need him or any other man to protect her, which made him want the chance to do so even more.

And just lately, he'd begun to daydream that things would work out in the end, that they'd defeat Naraku. He'd get the chance to have a family, something he hadn't realized he'd missed until joining up with Inuyasha and the others. Mushin and his father had done their best when he was young, and he'd been content. Traveling on his own hadn't been hard when he didn't know any other way. But now he wanted more than that; he wanted a wife and children of his own, to care for, and have care for him when the time came. He wanted to build a home somewhere, and watch as it filled with laughter and hope, things that had been mostly lacking in his life up to this point.

He wanted Sango to be part of that dream.

But right now that's all it was-- just the foolish daydreams of a wayward monk who had nothing to offer except an uncertain future.

"Um, Miroku-sama?"

Miroku opened his eyes and blinked up at the speaker in the dim light that filtered through the trees above.

"Sango said she wanted a bit of time alone earlier, after our bath," Kagome murmured from where she stood a few feet away, "so I told her I'd come get her when the food was ready. Would you mind telling her for me?"

He nodded in response and pushed to his feet, stretching as he stood straight.

Even if she couldn't see the bob of his head, she seemed to take his standing up as an agreement with her request. "Thank you," she said, before returning the way she had come.

He absently watched her rejoin Kaede, Inuyasha, and Shippo in the old miko's hut, then turned to follow the well-known path to the hot spring.