A/N: Been a while, huh kids? Not much here, but I felt like there were some loose ends that could stand to be tied up, and concepts I never fully addressed in the body of the story. Thus, we have that epilogue I talked about back in March. Hope you all have enjoyed this little project of mine, and that you enjoy this just as much. Peace, all, and please feed the author if you are so inclined.

Epilogue

"When I feel I'm slipping further away, I remember that every day I get a little bit closer to you..."

"You're gonna burn a hole in it like that, man."

The demon started, straightening up abruptly and with enough force to strike the branch above him with a pronounced thump. He hissed, scrunching one eye closed as he rubbed his sore crown and maple leaves drifted down upon his shoulders.

"Damn it, Urameshi ya' right lil' bugger," he grouched, expression a disgruntled pout that only made the detective laugh that much harder. "Ya don' be sneakin' up on people like that, man!"

Yusuke only snickered helplessly, much to Jin's ultimate chagrin. "Not my fault your reflexes are slow," the former detective said, grinning. "You should have felt me coming a mile away."

Jin eased back against the trunk and screwed his face up into his most pointed glare, which, Yusuke noted, still wasn't all that intimidating. "I's busy is all, lad," Jin grumbled.

"Busy?" Yusuke wondered aloud, glancing back toward the well house. "Busy what, stalking?"

Jin flushed visibly, his mouth slack for a brief moment. Why did they always seem to come back to this? "I don' stalk, man!"

"Right, right," he replied, waving his hand dismissively. "You observe, I forget." The wind apparition looked as though he might have a retort on the tip of his tongue, no doubt full of carefully placed expletives that Yusuke wouldn't be able to understand. Jin was impossible to decipher when he really got going; hell, it had taken Yusuke months to understand most of the heavy Irish dialect the demon spoke in normal tongue. Pushing it through at 90 miles per hour was still beyond his capability.

Yusuke was decidedly smart enough to cut him off before it reached this point. "Relax, man. Relax," he placated. "S'not why I'm here. Keiko and Kagome wanted to make sure you guys are coming tonight. It's dog boy's last hoorah in the world of indoor plumbing, and Keiko's gonna be pissed if anybody misses the goodbye bash. They've been working on this thing for weeks."

Jin was aware of the situation. Painfully so. It was just too dangerous to keep the portal between worlds open when it was no longer necessary. Their line had been drawn in the sand, and those that had the choice had made it.

At least, he hoped so.

Yusuke followed the demon's troubled gaze as it settled once more on the small, wooden building and sighed. "She'll be back," he spoke quietly, giving the unnamed fear voice for the first time. "She always comes back."

It was true, and Jin knew it, but it didn't ease the lingering doubts seeping into his mind like a fog. The last year hadn't been exactly easy for either of them. He'd known from the beginning that he loved her, but no matter what the depth of his feeling, he couldn't love enough for the both of them. She might have accepted this, along with the knowledge of who he really was, at the river's edge that day, but that certainly didn't mean she was just going to fall into his arms and they would live happily ever after like some ridiculous human pixie tale…or was it fairy tale…Jin could never manage to keep it straight.

Regardless, life simply didn't work that way. He hated to admit it, but Sango was…well, damaged. More than he could have ever realized at the time. The course of her life's path had taken her through atrocities that most humans could not fathom, much less relate to, and while she had remained proud and strong on the surface, she had suffered immeasurably beneath the skin. It had taken its toll, and for the first few months, especially, Jin found her withdrawn and often vengeful. Sometimes, she was just down right paranoid.

And despite the strides she'd taken in the time she'd become acquainted with Inuyasha, knowing that her dead love lurked beneath the surface of a creature she was taught from birth to hate and distrust had not helped matters any, for either of them.

This was particularly hard for Jin to swallow. It was difficult to live with the knowledge that your soul was not entirely your own. It wasn't easy to live your life while in the shadow of another's. It was painful to wonder if, when she looked at him, it was really him that she saw.

The knowledge of it often made him jealous and terribly insecure, guilty in the possibility that he'd trapped her within an arrangement she might have only taken because of who he had once been, angry with her if that were indeed the truth. They fought, and fought often, and it was his shame to know that in these instances he was seldom kind.

However, he hadn't been lying to her when he'd told her that he'd be there, no matter how it was she needed him, and Jin had learned the meaning of patience and humility better than most.

Eventually, all that had been left unsaid between them was said; eventually, Sango's scars began to heal; eventually, she smiled when he entered the room, and thus, his scars were on the mend, as well.

Still, it was difficult to remember when he stared into the unending black of the portal to her world. He sighed, knowing faith was his only friend at the moment. "Aye lad," he said softly. "She does."

"So, what have you got to worry about?" Yusuke asked in a tone that gave Jin the impression he was trying to convince himself just as much. Jin raised a brow at this, and Yusuke huffed. "Look, if you're so worried, why don't you just hop on over and get her? Not like you haven't been back with her before."

Also true, Jin noted. As a matter of fact, it was the first time Jin had not gone back with the slayer since she had determined to face her past and journey back through the well. It pissed Yusuke and Kuwabara off to no end that they couldn't get through to see what lay beyond, but they hadn't the connection that Jin had.

Still, he wasn't about to make use of it now. Sango hadn't told him, but she hadn't had to. This time, this trip was different. This time, she was saying goodbye.

He grinned to himself a little, digging up the courage he did not feel to tell himself that it was the right decision for her—that this was what she wanted. "Nah," he said. "Not this time, boyo."

He wouldn't have had to, as it turned out. Voices emerged from the well house, just then and Jin slipped down from his chosen branch to the ground, carefully avoiding the one he'd cracked his head on earlier, and Yusuke cuffed him on the arm as two familiar figures appeared in the light of the doorway.

"See," the detective beamed at him, relief evident. "Told ya!"

Jin resisted the urge to roll his eyes as they meandered across the lot, closing the distance between Sango and Inuyasha, the latter shifting the weight of a rather heavy looking bag on his back and making it a point to bitch as much as possible.

"I told you I'd carry it, Inuyasha," she said, more amused than annoyed by the sound of it.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to make it back sometime this week," he replied with a half-hearted scowl. If Jin hadn't known them any better, he might have been jealous. "Besides," the hanyou grouched, casting a look in her direction before abruptly flinging the bag at Yusuke. He caught it, though just barely, and lost his footing. "Yusuke needs something to do besides stand there and look stupid."

"Hey listen here, Dog Boy," Yusuke snapped, having just found his breath again. "You may be leaving, but that doesn't mean I ain't got time to kick your ass good one more time first!"

"I'd like to see you try it!"

"Oh yeah—"

"Honestly, gentlemen," Sango interrupted, lips upturned lightly. "Don't we have more pressing matters? We've got a party to get ready for if I remember correctly."

"Whatever," Yusuke grumbled. "You guys are coming, then? Cause Keiko and Kagome are gonna take it out on me if I tell them you'll be there and then you don't show, you know that right?"

"Good," Inuyasha remarked snidely. "They'll make it a point not to be there."

Yusuke glowered at him but wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of a response.

"We'll be there, lad," Jin said with a smile. "Cross m' 'eart."

The detective looked pacified, and turned toward the shrine steps. "Good," he said, struggling to adjust the heavy bag onto his back. It didn't look like much, but the distribution was awkward. "Cause you'd be about the only ones who weren't there. Kurama said Hiei is coming back from the border, and he's bringing a chick. Can you believe that shit?" Yusuke laughed, and Jin glanced out of the corner of his eye to Sango. She chuckled, and he felt something in his heart stir and then let go when she did not appear to be bothered at the news.

"Chu and Rinku are supposed to be dropping by, too," he continued, oblivious to the turmoil he'd set loose and dispersed only a moment before. "Touya is supposed to be bringing the booze…"

Jin tuned him out as the others made to follow him from the grounds, though he paused when he noticed the half-demon reach out and tug Sango's arm. She glanced in his direction and motioned for him to keep going.

"We'll catch up," she said.

It made him uneasy, to be honest, but the wind master would respect her wishes, and turned to make his journey up the stairs, stopping to meet Yusuke at the top.

"What's with them?" he asked.

The demon shrugged, though he thought he knew, and while he tried not to eavesdrop, he couldn't really help the bits and pieces of conversation that drifted into his attention. At least, that was the story he was going to stick to if she noticed.

"You sure?" he heard him ask, looking at her hopefully. "This is it, Sango. There's no turning back this time."

Jin could smell her tears as much as see them, and he detected Inuyasha shuffling nervously on his feet. He almost felt sorry for him; Inuyasha was even less adept at handling crying females than he was.

She reached out to him, took his hand gently and squeezed. Neither of them had been very much for goodbyes, that much Jin knew, and he suspected this was as close to a hug as either of them would grant right now. She glanced in his direction, and Jin felt that knot of unease tighten back up into his stomach. Was she really? Was she sure?

She smiled, and Jin felt warmth flood through his face and into his chest.

"I'm sure," she said. And somehow he just knew that, indeed, she was.

"Hey!" Yusuke yelled, giving Jin cause to jump for the second time that day, though thankfully, he did not concuss himself this time. "What's the hold up?!"

"Keep your shorts on, asshole," Inuyasha growled, making his way toward them with a glare of overall disapproval. "We're coming."

Sango smiled as they reached the top, letting Inuyasha walk on ahead with Yusuke, who was making it a point to mutter impatiently. "Bout damn time," he said. "I wanna get there early."

"We've got plenty of time," the half-demon fussed.

"Yeah, but if I know Kuwabara he'll already be dancing by himself by the time we get there," Yusuke supplied, amusedly. "Bet ya five bucks he'll be puking by ten."

Inuyasha smiled openly, and Jin couldn't help but think if he were staying, he and Yusuke might have been better friends than they had allowed themselves.

"Feh. You're on."

But Jin had better things to worry about, and as their voices grew distant, he let them go, content to twine his fingers with hers. And when she tugged him back for just a moment, and brushed her lips sweetly against his, there was no more doubt. All was well.