InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Double Vision ❯ Chapter 37 ( Chapter 36 )

Miroku made his way into Edo as the sun was setting. The rice paddies that bordered the village reflected the orange and pink ribbons of the late-afternoon sky. Smoke from cooking fires spiraled upward through roof vents in the tiny, homely huts of his adopted village. He was so glad to be home. For a moment he allowed himself to imagine that Sango was preparing dinner in their snug little hut, chatting with Kagome and Inuyasha. In his imagination, his two friends were happily together again, and Sango greeted him at the door with a kiss. Perhaps soon, he prayed. If only I can be good enough, and never let anyone down again, it could all come true. He would say many prayers. He would make many offerings.

He went straight to Kaede’s hut, pushing past the bamboo screen that acted as a door. Inside, he found Kaede sitting, staring into the fire. She looked into his eyes. Her expression was strangely guarded. “Sit down, boy.”

Miroku sat by Kaede’s fire, as he had a thousand times in the past. Kaede gently said, “I have news for you. Some of it good, and some of it very bad.” She continued. “You have a new daughter. She is small, but seems to be healthy. Sango named her Kagome. She also named your other children, before she died.”

“Impossible! Sango is not dead, I met her on the road the other day, and she was fine.” Sango had to be fine. Hadn’t Amaya told him he had one more chance?

Kaede looked at him, the wisdom of a long, sad life reflected in her eyes. “I had to cut the baby from her belly. Her body has not been cremated yet. I was awaiting your return. I knew you would want to say good-bye to her.” Kaede lurched to her feet. It was getting harder every year. Soon she would need a cane to walk.

Miroku was beyond speech. He thought that there was a chance Kaede had finally gone senile, she was, after all, the oldest person in the village. He did not want to contemplate the other possibility. Sango’s hands, her lips, had seemed so cold. He knew only one other whose hands had felt so cold upon him, when she nursed him through the time when he was almost overcome by Naraku’s curse. Kaede’s sister, Kikyo. Kikyo, who was the walking dead. And then he knew. He would still look at the body of his wife, but he did not need to see it to know that Kaede was telling him the truth. His Sango was truly dead. He cried over her body. He kept a vigil at her side throughout the night in the cold, dark hut where she lay, sometimes stroking her hair, sometimes kissing her hand. In the morning, the village prepared for her cremation. He stood by the funeral pyre as her body was turned to ash.

Afterward, he went to Mayuki’s hut, where he met his new daughter for the first time. Kagome.

Many days later, a dispirited Rin limped into Edo, followed by the loyal Jaken. She would not speak of what had befallen her, and brought no news of Kagome, who had gone missing at the same time. In the course of the days that followed, Miroku spent much time with Rin. He became Rin’s only ally in the village, making sure that she ate properly and trying to involve her with the children, to distract her from her own sorrows. There was no sign of Inuyasha or Kagome.