Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

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Void

Nine: Until

He could see Sango so clearly in the boy. The way he stared into space, the way he pursed his lips in thought or dejection. This was surely Sango's brother.

The jewel was complete.

Polite, he was. He expected no less. He kindly thanked Miroku for his care as life dwindled out of his body. Kohaku's head resting on Kagome's lap, Shippou holding his hand,Miroku kneeling over him and praying,Kohaku was dying and all he could do was thank him?

Miroku didn't think he could take this, being here and watching as his last obligation to Sango crumbled within his reach. He was unable to do a thing.

Even the wistful, accepting smile he had on his mouth as he died was the same as hers.

It was strange, recalling that permanently etched memory and remembering being so young and fearful of dying. Now he felt so old, yet so accepting of life.

--

In a distant part of his mind he wondered if this was morbid, the way he was waiting, hoping, expecting her.

By this time, he should have become accustomed enough to the fact that she was gone.

At least, when she returned, she could finally be complete in the afterlife, and tell him that she was fine as well.

It would be enough for him to know she was at peace.

Kohaku was buried at the furthest point west in the ruins of the taijiya village, where the backdrop of a rising sun could most prominently be seen. A broken legacy, a dwindling dream; that's what was left of the demon exterminators.

When he laid Kohaku's blade atop the freshly turned soil, he first wrapped it in the strips of white cloth he had used to tend to the boy's self-inflicted wounds. To him, they symbolized pain, healing, and the young man who had never wanted to kill, fated only to surrender his will.

He was alone as he performed the rites, Kirara obediently sitting beside him, two tails swishing. With the completion of the jewel and the destruction of Naraku, many frayed threads of their struggle had yet to be mended.

He vaguely remembered a conversation amongst their forever incomplete group, shortly before going their separate ways.

Himself, to see to the burial and write the last chapter of a story of a working class of warriors. Kirara followed him.

Kagome, to realize where her place in time was, Shippou accompanying her, free to wander and grow.

Inuyasha, to bid his final farewell to the shell of a past love, to sit in a tree and not sulk, but grieve, and to make a decision he had hoped he would never have to make.

The rainfall of the previous night had brought forth a midmorning mist that curled against the snapped planks and fallen roofs, that fell and pooled in the ridges from a youkai attack that had swept the village so long ago. The last time they had returned here, Sango had planted a few trees as some faint symbol of rebirth, of life amongst the remains.

It was here, leaning against the now young plants, that he waited.

The first violent rays of sun nearly blinded him, but he stared defiantly, filled with a desperate sort of need. He gripped his staff and stared intently at the mound of dirt beneath which there was a body.

A flash of light, brighter than that currently straining his eyes, and she was there. He hadn't seen her descend, fall from the heavens as a glowing star the size of a pinprick. The sun had risen, in front of Kohaku's grave, and she was there.

As it faded, there was a soft clinging as a metal staff dropped swiftly to the ground, forgotten.

Still, he could not bring himself to move, to speak, to smile, which had always been so easy . . .

She was so clear, flowing, pale . . . ethereal. Surely even in death her beauty was surpassed by none. To him, no one could surpass her.

A familiar smile, blush, small wave hello. As her hair caught the sunlight it became a palate of copper, mahogany, chestnut. So real . . . so heartbreakingly real he knew that she was a reawakened soul, if only for a moment.

Even as she spoke, her milky rich voice sounded to him as though it emanated from a far away place.

"I hope you've been behaving yourself, Miroku-sama."

Footsteps fell heavily on the moist ground, his legs becoming heavy with his effort. In the end, it was worth it because he reached her, drawing his hands up her arms, expecting her skin to be cold beneath his touch; finding it instead warm and glowing beige.

She accepted him as he lowered his lips to hers, holding the back of his head and begging the deities above for one last favour in letting him have her yet another time.

Crushing her lean body against him, his hands frantically rushed to feel every part of her, solid, warm and everything but real. Tangles formed in her hair as he twined it around his fingers, bringing his fists to his face and inhaling.

"You knew I would appear. You waited. Alone."

He did not let go. "I knew there was a chance. To see you. There was a chance."

"What if I didn't appear? Would you have sat here surrounded by graves, until you wasted away and lost your mind?" Her fingers grazed his chin.

Amazing. Even when he could not string a coherent sentence together for her, she understood.

"If you knew I was waiting, if my prayers reached you, you would descend. You'd do it for Kohaku."

She lowered her head to press her ear against his chest, trailing a lone finger up his sleeve and along his arm, tracing circles in his hand.

"I've heard everything, your thoughts, prayers. I kept watch over all of you in battle. I keep watch over you. I always will."

"I'm sorry. I am sorry - "

She quieted him. "This is where his life amongst the living ends -- for real. You could only ensure that he has come to terms with his life."

"Still...he was so young. Too young."

"Miroku, you brought him here, you took care of him until the very end. You taught him why the sun rises and the sun sets, why a seed grows into a tree. He has managed to buy back some of the time as a youth that was stolen from him. That was more than I could have ever asked for."

Her eyes fell shut as he cupped her face between his sweating palms, lowering himself and kissing her gently. The wind rustled around them as the sun steadily rose, the natural sounds of life abound but unnoticed.

"What will you do now?"

"I am merely fulfilling the wishes of a prayer . . . a final plea in death."

"And then?" he breathed, swallowing.

"And then I will return to the heavens. Until that day you return to me. In the end, we will be together."

His body grew cold as she drew away slowly, smiling and kissing him on the cheek, lowering a hand and stroking Kirara. He watched as she bent towards Kohaku's grave, reaching down and drawing out the lingering soul of her brother.

She would guide him to their life together.

They became two sibling sparks against the sun, rising until they could no longer be seen, burning in the sky as they faded.

Thank you, Miroku.

Life would always leave him with a void.

He could fill it with women, intoxication, money, pillaging . . . the list could go on and on.

Or he could fill it with a second chance.

Sango, a rising wind over the ocean, a falling red leaf in the Fall, a single snowflake in a storm, all rushing past him so quickly he could not close his eyes and revel in the sensation of falling away.

He knew loneliness and he knew freedom.

And all that she had given me.

The final line in his historical account written, he bound the sheets together for the last time.

Void: Until - October 31st 2004

Yes, that is the original completion date. I just found it, believe it or not. What a crappy ending, if I do say so myself. I sort of rushed the editing and post-reconstruction.Feel free to purge all memory of it and use the previous chapter as the end, which I think I did a little better on, believe it or not. I know this sort of makes Sango's sacrifice sort of pointless if Kohaku does die at the end, but I think she knew that Kohaku didn't have many options at the end. Really, she would bring Miroku his life back and give Kohaku a little time as well. She wanted him to have a peaceful death and to be surrounded by friends.Thanks to everyone who's been reading this, since the first chapter, which I re-read and realized how much I think I've improved. Yeah. Improved. Sure. I'm just happy I finished something. Direct all hate mail to aprill may at yahoo. Thanks again.

-- May