A/N I only wish I owned Inuyasha! R&R please!

Chapter 1

At nine years old, Tammy Baker was considered very worldly among her peers. Her father, Steven Baker, was a CEO at Walker Enterprises, a major import company. That meant he traveled around the world doing... whatever CEO's did. Tammy wasn't too sure on the specifics, but she did know he was an important man. And that he loved his family so much, he brought them along with him.

Most of the time it was grand fun, traveling the world with her father. She rode an elephant in India when she was 6, had been to China and Europe as well. She loved her wild father dearly. So when he decided to move to Japan, she naturally begged and threw temper tantrums until her mother (with a long-suffering sigh) had agreed that the family would move there and start their new life.

"There won't be that much traveling to do sweetheart," her father informed her. "But it's time that you attend a real school and make some permanent friends." This, she knew, was the reason that she had been allowed to move in the first place. Her mother, Christy Baker, was not the adventurous type, and while she followed along on Steven's business trips and went along on the family adventures, her real purpose for doing so was always to look out for their daughter's welfare and keep the mischievous duo from getting into too much trouble.

But lately her mother had been pestering her father to allow her to enroll Tammy in a school where she could 'socialize and learn to interact with her peers' (Tammy snorted when she heard that).

So off to Japan they went. Nine year old Tammy was excited at this new adventure, her father, planning adventures for them as always, and her mother pensive. Tammy couldn't wait for school to begin so she could share her wealth of information with her new friends.

Having been home schooled since she was three, Tammy knew Japanese (it was important to understand the businessmen that Daddy sometimes had over for dinner. Though she was never allowed to dine with them, she was expected to greet them and exchange pleasantries) and figured school would be a breeze. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.

You can pick up on a language in a school or social setting relatively easy. Picking up an entire list of social customs can only be learned once you enter that culture. Having never been in a school setting was shock enough, but being the only blond haired, pale skinned child made her different enough that the other children went out of their way just to make fun of her.

So Tammy began avoiding the other kids, playing by herself on the other side of the playground.

This is where eight year old Kagome Higurashi found her. She convinced a wary Tammy that she was seriously interested in being friends, and that was that.

They were inseparable after that. Either Tammy was at Kagome's house, giggling with her about her grandfather's stories, or they were at Tammy's house, helping her mother plant herbs or make playhouses out of the giant sunflowers in the garden.

Through Kagome's friendship, some of the other children began to accept Tammy, though she was still regarded with interest and disdain for being so different.

Whenever Tammy was over at Kagome's, she was fond of exploring the old shrine, or playing next to the old tree. There was... something about the well that drew her towards the old well-house, a power that both frightened her and intrigued her. Her mother was adamant that she stay away from it, stating that it would be rude of her to trespass on sacred space, and Tammy agreed. Still, it was hard to ignore the pull. She invited Kagome over more, and Kagome was thrilled to go, as it got her away from her annoying baby brother, and the ordeal of her father's death.

It happened at Kagome's eleventh birthday party. They were playing a spirited game of hide and seek, and Tammy was looking for a good hiding spot. She ducked into the well-house , thinking no one would bother to look there. When Ishiko headed towards the old building, Tammy bolted towards the well, intending to hide behind it. She never saw the rock in the dark, and her momentum sent her sailing into the well, instead of around it. She was so panicked she never screamed, just closed her eyes and waited to hit bottom.

It seemed to take forever, and when she did, it was less painful than she imagined it would be. Still, she would have some bruises in the morning. Tilting her head, she spied some old vines that might just hold her weight long enough to climb out. Sure enough, she was able to escape the well with relative ease...

… Into a place that was not where she should be. Where was the house? Everything had vanished, leaving a vast open meadow. Maybe she hit her head harder than she thought? She gave herself a sharp pinch in the side, and gasped at the sting. Add another bruise to the list.

Tammy was never one to thumb her nose up at an adventure, real or not, and there was plenty of exploring to do. She began investigating the flowers in the meadow, working her way towards the forest. There was a tree there that looked a lot like Kagome's Sacred Tree.

She was so engrossed in her adventures that she failed to hear trouble before it had her by her hair. Literally. She had just finished making a ring out of the tiny meadow flowers when she was lifted out of the grass she'd been sitting in by her hair. She gave a painful yelp as she was brought face to face with three dirty, dangerous looking men. Seeing the look on their faces made her realize for the first time that she was a young woman, in an unfamiliar place, all alone.

"And what do we have here?" Asked one of the men. "I don't know. She could be a demon," answered the second man. "Nah," replied the third. "She'd have fought us by now. She's just an oddly colored human girl."

The first man grinned. "Bet she'd fetch a nice price." "You know," replied the third man thoughtfully, "It's been a long time since we seen any women. Itachi, why don't you have her first, since you saw her. Then I'll have her. Muga can have her last." The now-named Itachi nodded, looking at Tammy with anticipation in his eyes. "Sounds fair to me." The second man's eyes widened. "Why do I have to be third Raiden?" he whined. "Because you're weakest and dumbest." came the answer.

Tammy had grown cold with fear while listening to the exchange between the men. In polite society, such things as sex were not discussed with children. Rape was especially taboo. Tammy only had the vaguest idea of what these men were intending, and the full understanding that she did not want them doing it. So she took a deep breath, and let out the loudest scream she could.

The man holding her was so startled that he released his hold on her (she hadn't moved or made a sound since she had been hoisted up) and the instant she felt his hold lift, she was off and running. Unfortunately for Tammy, so were the men when they recovered from their shock.

She had almost made it to the forest line, the men starting to close the gap on her, when she slammed full-force into something fluffy and hard and hit the ground. Dazed, she struggled to her feet, only to see the object she slammed into regarding her with coolly inquisitive eyes. In the next instant she was lifted into the air, his having snatched her arm and moved her behind him too fast for her to understand. "You're in my way." was all he said.

"Hey you! Give us back our prize!" one of the men called out as he pulled to a puffing stop and pulled a sword. Tammy, peaking around her savior, felt a chill up her spine. She didn't want him hurt because of her. That fear increased as the other two drew their swords. Her savior only had one, which he hadn't bothered to pull. His free hand twitched; his other was still gripping her arm, seemingly forgotten for the moment.

"You dare challenge me? Die." The words, spoken in a bored tone, were the only warning that the bandits had. With his free hand, Tammy's guardian did – something (Tammy couldn't see from her vantage point). All she could see was a green light, and the dismembered remains of her three attackers. She felt tears run down her cheeks, and felt his cool eyes on her. "Do not waste your tears on them. They were vermin, intending to cause you pain."

There was something in his voice that gave Tammy strength. She tried to raise her hand to wipe her face, found that she could not. Her mysterious savior still had his hand clamped around it. His eyes followed hers and, seeing that they were still attached, quickly removed his hand. She winced as the blood rushed into her hand. The sting of feeling being returned was replaced by a burning sensation. She looked down to find blood seeping from where he had grabbed her. She hissed as the burning intensified, tears returning to her eyes.

"Poison. Too little to make you ill, but it will hurt for a while." The man began to walk away, to wherever he was going before he saved her life.

"Thank you," she called after him.

"Do not thank me," he replied, "you were in my way."

Alone again, Tammy did the only thing that made sense to her. Blinded by the burning in her arm and the tears in her eyes, she used the last of the adrenaline in her system to bolt for the well and threw herself down it without a second thought. She hit the bottom hard enough to knock her out this time.

That's where they found her later that evening, staring numbly off into space, cradling her broken arm, too tired emotionally and physically to do anything other than cry.

At the hospital, they put a cast on her arm, and cleaned her wounded arm. They gave her medicine for the pain that made her drowsy, and they quietly informed her parents that she had hit her head, and maybe that was what caused her wild hallucinations. They couldn't explain the marks on her arm, however.

Kagome's grandfather boarded up the well, and declared it strictly off-limits.

Tammy, always a bright girl, quickly learned to keep her story to herself, lest people think she was crazy. She closed in on herself, talking only to Kagome about school.

Two weeks later, Tammy's father died in a car crash. At the funeral, Tammy stared at the grave of the funnest, bravest, most intelligent man she had ever known, and she couldn't cry for him. She heard words whisper in the back of her mind: "Do not waste your tears on them, they are nothing but vermin." She hated herself in that moment. She had cried over vermin, but could not find a single tear for her own father!

Tammy was sent to the hospital once again, this time to the psychiatric ward. It was suggested that she be medicated for her own safety, and her mother decided to take her daughter home to the U.S. Tammy barely had time to say good-bye to Kagome.

In the States, Tammy slowly began to recover herself. She began writing and calling Kagome, who was thrilled her friend was doing better. Distance made the pain of losing her father lessen, and the memory of her strange adventure took on a dream-like quality. Sometimes she began to think it was a dream, until she would see the scars on her arm that never faded, and then she could remember his silky-smooth voice.