Readers Guide:

words in italics - flashbacks

words in "" - dialogue

words in 'italics' - thoughts

She was extremely excited. She was finally returning home and the plane ride seemed to be going ridiculously slow. It had now been over six years since she'd seen Inuyasha and all of her other friends that she had grown up with. It hadn't taken her long to learn that a telephone really can't replace having the people you love right in front of you. After being away from them for such a long period of time, she now longed to see them again, even more to be held in Inuyasha's arms once more. Even if she knew it could be no more than a friendly hug, she'd take whatever she could get. Although she was a bit scared to face him once again, she knew that she would have to do it eventually. The way that she looked at it was, there was no point in delaying it anymore than was necessary. She let out an exasperated sigh at just the thought of the golden eyed, silver haired half demon she admired and loved so deeply.

They had known each other since they were in kindergarten and during the years before she left for Osaka, they had become quite fond of each other in an even more intimate way. She could still remember the breezy autumn night and the full moon's light that covered over their forms as Inuyasha had asked her to be his girlfriend, giving her a beautiful 4K white gold ring with a small ruby surrounded by two smaller diamonds adorning it. Now, she gazed upon the ring with a distant smile on her countenance as she was reminded of the first, tender kiss they shared that night under the moonlight. Inuyasha was and had always been a fiery one, with a short fuse, and perhaps, if possible, an even hotter temper. It took so little to set him off that Kagome often found herself weighing her words when relaying to him stories of say, trips to the mall or clubs or even the movies with Sango, where they may have been hit on by other men. Knowing Inuyasha as she did, had she given him the whole story with even little to no detail, the hanyou she loved so much would have doubtless sought out the poor soul and ripped his esophagus right out of his throat.

She smiled lightly though at the thought of her silver haired protector who seemed to think that she couldn't handle herself if the situation presented itself. She had, on more than one occasion, been left to fend for herself and had in the process, developed her own line of rejected males. At first, she'd hoped that if Inuyasha saw that she would not betray him or that she could take care of herself, he would not fly off the handle every time some guy approached her. However, it only made him even more jealous, as if he felt he had to put every last one of them in the hospital just for glancing her way, whether intentionally or otherwise. But even though he had his quirks, Kagome had loved him more than anything and regardless of what the rest of the world saw as a fault, she relished in the fact that he was different from most others - that he was a hanyou. She had never judged him, and for that, he had thanked her on more than one occasion in often sorrowfully joyous outpours of emotion. She tried to imagine how he would look now; six years later, wondering if he had changed as much as she had, although she doubted it. They were both twenty six now, and she imagined that though he may have changed physically, he was probably still the immature Inuyasha she knew and loved.

She sighed before turning to her left and looking to the small child who slept in the seat next to hers. She smiled lovingly as he shifted in his seat to get more comfortable against her shoulder. Lifting her hand to his forehead, she brushed his light brown hair, matching neither of his parents' from in front of his eyes. She leaned her head back onto the head rest and closed her eyes before she continued to think of her head-strong ex-boyfriend.

Kagome had long ago resigned herself to the fact that her golden eyed lover was jealous and stubborn, and he would always be that way no matter what anyone said or no matter how badly she wished to change him. She recalled with a heavy heart the last fight they had had - it was over this very matter….

Kagome had just entered the large mansion in which Inuyasha resigned with his mother and half older brother, Sesshomaru when she saw the ends of a long silvery mane round a corner. She ran towards the owner, wrapping her arms tightly around him and resting her cheek on his back.

"Hey, you. Are ya ready to get going?" They were supposed to be going to Ayumi's house for a party that night and since they were going to ride together, she had come to meet him there.

"Pardon, Kagome." Her eyes flew open, her thoughts being cut off as she was greeted with a disturbing revelation at hearing the male's smooth voice. "But I do not seem to remember having plans to go out with you tonight," the silky voice stated bluntly. She swallowed hard as she recognized the owner of the voice not to be that of her hanyou. Pulling away slowly, she looked up to meet Sesshomaru's gaze as he turned to her, stoic and cold as ever.

A light blush crept across her cheeks under his intense stare. She put her head down, suddenly becoming very interested in the ring that graced her finger. "S-Sorry, Sesshomaru… I - I thought that you were… Inuyasha…" her voice trailed.

"You need not make excuses, Kagome. This Sesshomaru knows how irresistible he is to the female species, and I expected that in due time, you too would succumb to your natural womanly desire and would leave the half breed to come to me," he finished confidently. Her brows furrowed into a confused frown as she gazed back up at him and an amused smile graced her lips at the same time. Sesshomaru had always been known to have his pick of women wherever he went, but Kagome had never seen him as anything more than an older brother and even at times, a nuisance.

"Excuse me?…" He smirked, a gesture that was reserved for a blessed few. Before either of them could say anything more, another voice rang through the air and pierced the silence.

"Sesshomaru, you jerk!! What are you doing with my Kagome?!!" Kagome gaped at him, turning to him in disbelief.

"Your Kagome? What am I, just some possession to you now?!" she spat back at the enraged hanyou with just as much anger flared in her eyes at being referred to as an object. He turned his attention and enraged glare to her.

"Oh, like you can act all high and mighty! What were you doing here with him anyway?! Don't think that I didn't notice that little display of affection you showed towards that idiot just now!" Bringing her hands to her hips, she stood before the inu in defiance.

"Oh, please! Of course you notice that little mistake, but not the explanation! If you were listening, you would've heard that I said I thought he was you! It's kinda hard to tell who's hair belongs to who if you hadn't noticed, ya jerk! And if you used even a little of the half of a brain you've got, you'd also know that I would never intentionally do anything to betray you, or your trust!" Sesshomaru simply watched the pair in amusement, crossing his arms and nonchalantly leaning up against the wall behind him with a grin of satisfaction plastered across his beautiful features.

Inuyasha growled and he felt his blood boil at the thought of his Kagome in his brother's arms, cringing inwardly at the very insinuation. "You little wench! How dare you speak to me like that! And how am I supposed to know that nothing was going on between you two?!" He raised a hand to her, about to backhand her for her insolence, but something stopped him as she cringed and closed her eyes tightly. He looked at her expression and was suddenly confused. Not at her, but at himself. Was he just about to hit Kagome? Was he actually going to strike her? Harm her? What the hell was he doing?! She felt the sting of tears welling up in her chocolate orbs and the pull in her stomach became stronger as she desperately fought them back.

She brought her now sad eyes to meet his confused golden gaze that were transfixed on her but seemed to be elsewhere as the sorrow in her heart ate at her. He really didn't trust her. Was that it? Or did he just let his own insecurities cloud his judgment? She couldn't tell. Either answer made her heart ache for him, and yet hate him for it at the same time. "Inuyasha… Do you truly believe that I would betray you? And with your own brother, in your own house?… Do you have that little faith in me after all this time we've been together?…"

"Huh?" He felt some of his resolve and most all of his anger dissipate at the hurt in her tone and his tense muscles relaxed. His eyes turned almost tender as the woman he loved and respected so brought her fists to her eyes and broke down before him. And it was his fault. Knowing that it was truly his fault that she was in such distress broke his heart and made him want to comfort her. He hadn't meant it in that way, had he? What had he meant by it? Not even he knew the reason. "Kagome, I -…" He reached out to comfort the sobbing woman but she stiffened and turned away from him, making the guilt in his heart deepen even further.

"It's alright, Inuyasha…" She wiped her eyes with one final sweep over her eyes before smiling at him with fake optimism obvious in her expression, her eyes still a bit shaky, as was her voice when she spoke. "I'll just go on ahead. I'll see you there, okay?" Hearing the despair in her voice once again left him at a loss for words, which was extremely rare for the hot tempered hanyou.

She turned heal and left the house with a weary heart. Later on that night, after conferring with Sango, Eri and Ayumi, they had decided that Inuyasha's jealousy and temper combined was too dangerous for Kagome to be the brunt of any longer. She had argued and fought them about it, but in the end she knew that it was true. He almost hit her, and who knew if he would stop the next time? Sighing, she stood from the bed that the four of them had rested on, followed by her friends and emerged from the room and into the party.

That had really been the last time she had a conversation with Inuyasha. Not long after that, she left Tokyo to live in Osaka - her job had relocated and needed her to come along with. She had been reluctant at first, with having to leave her hometown, her friends and everything she knew. But in the end, she had accepted it as being a good change for her, though she'd never forget her childhood friends. Her and Sango spoke everyday on the phone. Occasionally, if Miroku was at her apartment, she would talk to him for a few minutes. Every once in a while, she would call Sesshomaru just to hear another familiar voice, but she only spoke to her other friends every once in a while and mostly communicated with them through emails. Her and Inuyasha had emailed each other occasionally over the 6 year period that she had been gone, and she longed to see him again; to hear his voice. She knew that they may not be able to salvage their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend, but she still didn't want to lose him as a friend. He was, after all, the only person who knew her better than even Sango did.

Sango. She thought with a smile on her face the last phone conversation she had with her most loved girl friend before she left her home in Osaka…

"So everyone's doing okay, then?"

Oh, yea. Everyone's fine, Kagome. Don't worry about anyone.

"And you haven't killed Miroku yet?… I won't have to help you clean up the mess when I get there, will I?…" she teased. Sango laughed.

Ahaha. Not as far as I know, unless I'm a sleepwalker.

"That's good. And how's Inuyasha? I haven't heard from him in a while; I'm starting to get really worried about him."

…

"Sango?… Are you there?"

Yea… Well… I - I think you should wait until you come and find out for yourself.

She tilted her head a bit in confusion. "Sango? Is there something wrong?"

No! No, Kagome. Look, I just think that you should be the one to talk to Inuyasha yourself.

"Alright… If you say so. That might be for the best in the long run, huh?…"

Yea, probably.

"He's not having problems with Sesshomaru again, is he? Those two always find something to fight over," she mused, giggling a bit and rolling her eyes at the thought of the two half brothers yelling at each other for no real reason in particular.

Sango laughed as well. Well, you know, Kagome. Last time, it was over you.

"Oh, come on! It was over me! It was… just a misunderstanding!"

Well, you know even without you there, one of them is always picking a fight with the other. She laughed at the truth in her friends words.

"Well, anyway! Let's try not to think about that! I have to go now, babe, but I'll see you in… 2 weeks?"

Yup! Can't wait! Love ya!

Reality set in as she was brought back to the present and she realized how fast those 2 weeks had flown by. Sango was her best friend and her heart jumped knowing that she was soon about to see her once again. Kagome had missed her deeply; she had made friends in Osaka but none nearly as good as Sango. The so called friends she had there she knew would have betrayed her in a minute if given the opportunity, but she knew that she could trust Sango with her life.

She wondered how Sango was getting along with her lecherous boyfriend of the past 8 years as well. Kagome hadn't really liked him all that much when Sango had first introduced her to him. He openly flirted with her and any other pretty girl that just happened to pass their way, even going as far as to ask them to 'bear his children'. And right in front of Sango no less! She would quickly put him in his place, but still, just the fact that he showed such disrespect for Sango had been extremely upsetting to Kagome. But eventually, after years of having to deal with the lecher, she had grown to love him just as deeply and knew that, no matter what he showed in his actions, he would never betray Sango, maybe even for fear of knowing what she would do to him if he ever did.

Her body was becoming even more anxious as the plane landed and slowly came to a bumpy halt. She felt her legs begin to bounce beneath her hands that rested atop her purse in her lap as she could no longer contain her excitement in anticipation on seeing her most beloved friends who were like family to her. She gently shook the young boy to wake him and told him to get ready to leave as the plane came to a full stop. When the "fasten seatbelt" light was still lit and no one moved to leave, she lifted her eyes over her seat to try and see what was holding them up while her lips moved and she whispered "come on! come on!" silently to herself.

A loud ding erupted through the cabin, signaling that it was now safe to remove their seatbelts. Quickly, she unclipped her own along with the boys and they both stood, ignoring the "thank you" speech that sounded over the loudspeaker and they made their way towards the front of the plane to be first in line. Once they reached the front of the plane, she stood behind the boy, her hands on his shoulders in front of the door, anxiously waiting for it to pop open and lead into the small tunnel that would lead to her friends. The child was surprisingly silent as she waited impatiently with him for what seemed like hours before the little speech was over. A stewardess approached them and as the door finally opened, she bowed to Kagome.

"Thank you for flying with us, Ma'am."

Kagome smiled at her and nodded before grabbing his small hand and running out the door and through the tunnel. Did she say no running? She couldn't say; her mind was too focused on seeing her friends again. When he was a little slow going, she bent down and lifted him into her arms before continuing to run towards the end of the long tunnel, rounding the sharp corners when necessary. She came to the end of the tunnel and looked around the large terminal for any sign of her friends. She caught sight of a high, black ponytail and her face lit up.

"Sango!"

PLEASE READ MY AUTHOR'S NOTE! VERY IMPORTANT!!

AN: Hey all!! This is my first story in a long, long, LONG time lol This is also my first EVER Kouga/Kagome pairing, so be sure to let me know what you guys think as you move along. Before you get too into this story, I wanna warn all readers, that I do have a bad habit of not finishing my stories and I get terrible cases of writers block. Hopefully, I'll be alright with this story, for a while anyway. I made sure I got really far with it before I posted it, so you won't have to worry about my writers block for a while lol Anywayz. Enjoy!!