InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Firefly Wishes ❯ Chapter 4 – Dead Man in the Desert ( Chapter 4 )

Author's Note: Dun Dun Duuunnnn. The time has come, time to discover if it truly is Miroku or is it someone else. What will our intrepid band of friends do when they find the body? Hold onto your knickers, you never know what is going to happen……….ha ha ha haaaaaaaaa.

P.S. I also want to thank those individuals that have taken the time to leave reviews for this story. I really appreciate your comments and will endeavor to keep this story going.

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any part or characters of Inuyasha with the exception of this fanfiction.

Firefly Wishes

By DBZ Vegeta

Chapter 4 - Dead Man in the Desert

~~*~~*~~

The air felt superheated. The sand, so fine, that particles floated restlessly on the air with every step we took. We had to wrap our faces to keep from inhaling the salty grit. There was no turning back, Sango was determined to find the body and see if it was Miroku. Nothing I could say would dissuade her from this task. We had to adopt a pattern for traveling or we would never make it back alive. We would travel for three hours and then rest for one and travel again for three hours, not stopping even when night fell across the land. Even with this schedule it took us most of two full days to get near to the location where I had left the body.

It was late afternoon on the second day, the sand shifting beneath my feet as I could see the pitiful mound of clothes in the distance, I knew at the rate we were traveling we would be there in about 15 minutes. Halting, I turned back to the two women trudging wearily behind me. Kagome, her back bent from fatigue, was watching her feet carefully as she placed them gingerly against the shifting sand, trying to keep her balance. Sango, on the other hand, ploughed on determinedly not looking down, staring straight ahead towards the distance. She caught up and almost passed me, but I put out a hand and stopped her, as I had to do every time we needed to take a break. She would have continued on if I hadn't forced her to stop.

"Sango, Kagome, its time to stop and rest." I said, my hand on Sango's shoulder. I spun her around to face me as I waited for Kagome to draw near. I didn't want her to catch a glimpse of the corpse up ahead. When Kagome stopped, I motioned for her to get the gear out to setup camp. Forcing Sango down onto the blanket that Kagome quickly spread out, I helped erect the two small shelters that we had devised to give us some minute protection from the scorching sun.

Wiping a hand across my sweaty brow, I glanced over to see Sango already asleep, fatigue and stress catching up to her quickly. Motioning to Kagome, I lead her a short distance away from Sango, so that she would not overhear our conversation.

"Kagome, we're here." I said, in a low voice. I watched as her head popped up and quickly scanned the area around them.

"Where is he? I don't see him." she said, a slight tremor to her voice, as if her worst fears where about to become true.

"The body is just up ahead, I can see it from here. It would take us about 15 minutes to get there, but I wanted Sango to be rested and you to be prepared before we got there." I also didn't mention that I needed to be prepared, just in case it was truly Miroku. More and more of my memories had been returning and I realized that even though he was a pervert, Miroku had become one of my friends, my family. If it was him, it would be like losing a piece of my heart and I didn't want to frighten the girls but becoming too upset and going youkai on them when I got angry. I needed to be prepared and calm, and then maybe I could find out who did this and be able to avenge his death. ~ Man, I am getting ahead of myself. It may not even be Miroku. I just need to wait and see. ~ I thought to myself.

Kagome had been watching silently as the emotions had run the gamut across my face. Reaching out she placed her soft hand against my check, drawing my attention back again to her.

"Inuyasha, you need to rest also. Please don't worry, whatever we find, we will all will deal with it together." she said as she slipped her arm about my waist and rested her head on my chest. I instinctively gathered her close to me and buried my face in her soft hair, inhaling the sweet fragrance that was tinged slightly with the smell of salt and sweat. Turning slightly I slowly guided her back to the unoccupied shelter and helped her down to the blanket.

"Don't go." she called as I turned away from her. "Please stay with me. You haven't stopped since we entered the desert. It won't do Sango or I any good it you keel over from exhaustion. You still need rest from your previous ordeal." her soft eyes begging me to listen to her for once.

Looking down, I knew that I could not deny her request. Tiredly I sat down close to her under the tarp. She smiled and patted her leg, indicating that I lie down and use her lap as a pillow. Unable to refuse, I laid down, smiling softly to myself as I felt her hand begin to rhythmically stroke my long hair. Her touch provided such a calming effect on my tortured soul, that it was not long after I laid down that I fell fast asleep, under the watchful gaze of the women that I knew I loved above all else.

~~*~~*~~

A soft cold breeze played over her skin, a relief from the oppressive heat that had encompassed her during the day. Shivering slightly, she snuggled closer to the comfortable warmth of the body next to her. Sighing lightly, she knew that she was not going to be able to go back to sleep again. Slowly sitting up so not to disturb Inuyasha, she looked down at the sleeping hanyou, who had his head still cradled in her lap. He looked so peaceful, so handsome. Reaching out a hand, she brushed back the beautiful silver hair that had fallen over his face during their sleep. His eyes lazily opened the gold of them gleaming in the moonlight pouring down over them.

"Hello, sleepyhead." she said, smiling down at him. "Did you rest well?"

"I always rest well when you are near." I said as I reached a clawed hand up to gently stroke her check.

"We should probably wait until morning before we investigate the body. I only hope that Sango will be willing to wait that long." she said reaching up to cover the hand on her check, bringing it to her lips so she could caress his palm gently with them. His slight gasp was music to her ears. She had wanted for so long to touch him this way, but he always seemed so unapproachable, untouchable to her. As if he wanted to keep her at arms length from him, not showing his feelings. Maybe this knock on the head was a blessing in disguise, if it allowed her to get closer to the man that she loved so much. She just hoped that when his memories came back completely that he would stay the way he was now, caring and open with his feelings.

"What are you thinking about?" I said as I watched several confusing emotions race across her face.

"Huh, oh nothing. I'm just tired, I guess." she said, smiling lightly down at his confused expression. "I just woke up because of the breeze." she shivered again slightly as the cold wind stirred under the tarp, making it rattle slightly.

I felt her shiver as the cold wind blew through the tent. Sitting up, I took my hakori off and covered her shoulders with the shirt. Her hands came up immediately to mine as I dropped the cloth across her, smiling up at me. "Thank you." she said, her eyes caught mine, the moonlight reflecting in those dark pools, making me feel as if I was drowning in their depths.

His soft cream colored undershirt seemed to glow around him as she stretched out her hand and softly caressed his check. His silver hair lightly stirring in the breeze, a single lock fell over his shoulder, brushing her hand lightly. I reached out and gathered her close to me, our faces only inches apart.

"Inuyasha" "Kagome" our voices echoed together as we spoke at the same time. I focused on her lips; unable to stop myself as I leaned forward and softly brushed hers with mine. Her soft gasp was intoxicating to my ears and I slowly deepened the kiss, enjoying her response to me as her arms curled up around my neck.

The kiss seemed to go on forever, softly whispering back and forth across time and space, until I finally had to lift my head to gasp for air. Looking down I saw that she also was breathing heavily. "Inuyasha." she said as she leaned forward in my embrace, her head over my shoulder. "I love you" she sighed lightly into my hair.

My heart felt as if it leapt in my chest, skipping several beats before speeding up to race furiously within me. My mind became clouded and I could not think. This wonderful woman had just said the most wondrous words that I had never dreamed of hearing from her. I clasped her tighter to my body, burying my face into her neck and hair.

"Kagome, I. . . I . ." I stuttered, trying to get the words out from within my heart. I felt her stiffen suddenly in my arms. Leaning back I looked down into her startled face.

"Inuyasha." she said, anxiety coloring her words, worry spread across her face. "Sango's gone."

"What?" I said as I whipped my head around to the other tent behind us to discover that Kagome was correct. Sango was no longer lying under the tent we had erected over her earlier this evening. She had disappeared.

~~*~~*~~

With the darkness covering the land, it was nearly impossible to find any sign of Sango's departure. I found tracks leading away from the tent, in the direction of the corpse, but even the slight moonlight illuminating the desert and my good eyesight, I still could not see her near the body. I could see the ragged heap of clothing, but still no sign of Sango anywhere. We would have to wait until daylight to investigate her disappearance.

Turning back to the tents, I sank down to the ground next to the shaking Kagome, I encircled her shoulders with my arms and pulled her into my lap, cradling her. "We'll find her, I promise." I whispered comfortingly into her ear, rocking her back and forth as she began to cry against my shoulder.

"But, why. . ." she stuttered between sobs. "First Miroku disappears and could be dead and now Sango. What it going on, Inuyasha? Who would want to do this?"

"Shhh, my love. We'll find out tomorrow if that is Miroku and then we will find Sango." I lightly caressed her hair and back trying to calm her sobbing. I held her close as her sobbing slowed and she fell deeply asleep in my arms. I knew that no matter what happened tomorrow, I was not going to let anything else happen to them. No one was going to take her away from him, if he could help it. Staring off into the darkness, I waited for the night to end and the new day to arise.

~~*~~*~~

Kagome lagged behind Inuyasha as the pile of clothing containing the body of the dead man became closer. She didn't want to look at it and find that it was Miroku, but she knew that she had to. She was the only one that could identify him, at least until Inuyasha's memories returned. She watched as he stopped next to the body and halted, afraid of going closer. She had seen death before in their travels together, but this was different. This could be one of her close friends now, not some demon or impartial stranger. Steeling herself, she set her shoulders back and strode forward to gaze down at the desiccated corpse. Gasping, she fell to her knees next to the body.

The dark robes where exactly like the ones that Miroku always wore. The face was unidentifiable, due to the exposure to the sun and elements, the skin had withered and dried over the bones and some unknown animal or insect had feasted upon the softer tissue of the eyes and mouth, the dark sockets gaping blankly towards the sky. The dark hair was disarrayed and tangled, sand had covered a majority of the body, leaving only the torso, head and right arm exposed to the light. She felt tears sliding down her face as she gazed down at the dead man.

I knelt behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Is it him?" I asked softly.

"I am not sure, it is hard to tell." she motioned to the figure in front of her. "I could be, he had the same robes, the same dark hair, the same. . ." she stopped looking pointedly down at the right hand of the man.

"Inuyasha." she excitedly squealed. My ears flattened at the sharp sound. "It's not him!"

I watched as she jumped up and bounced excitedly around in a circle, before jumping into my arms. I looked down at her happy face. "What, it isn't Miroku?" I said puzzled. "How do you know, you just said you weren't sure."

"But I am, look." she pointed to the right hand of the corpse.

"And I am looking for what." I said annoyed, she had forgotten that I couldn't remember much about Miroku.

"His right hand. He doesn't have a glove or the rosary beads to seal the Air Void. It isn't Miroku!" she gestured toward the naked hand lying in the sand. "That means he has to be alive."

"Yesssss, heeee isss alivvvvve" came a hissing voice from the sand near them. I snagged Kagome and jumped back several paces from the sound of the voice. We watched as the sand around the body began to boil and suck the body under as it coalesced and formed into a solid form, rising steadily and shaping itself into a man. The man was wearing a long fur covering his entire body and a mask of a baboon's head covering his features.

"Naraku." Kagome hissed angrily at the man in front of them. "What have you done to them! Where are they!"

~~*~~*~~

Author's Note: Sorry of the long time between updates, but this chapter was a doozy to complete. I was up until after 1 am working on it. Why is it that I always seem to get the best material for each chapter as I am trying to go to sleep? Well anyways, we finally know, Miroku isn't dead, but now Sango has disappeared and it seems that Naraku is behind it all. What will happen now and what does Naraku want from Inuyasha and Kagome, it might be more that you think it is……

Remember please review. Your reviews give me inspiration and without them I cannot continue to write. Thanks for reading.