AN: So… I, the PoF, finally have my internet back. Which means twenty minutes after Em and I started talking, we had a plot going on. Yup, more crazy tales from the twilight hours…

Title: Shattered Time.

Rating: R, just to be on the safe side.

Authors: Emmie and the PoF (we sound like a rock band)

Synopsis: You'll see. The plot is pretty straight forward.

The AN's in the future will be longer. Believe me. I rant.

Enjoy!

Prologue

The sun was starting to set as Inuyasha and Kagome walked through the land that Kaede had always called "Inuyasha's forest". As they passed by the Goshinboku, he felt a shudder run up his spine, and his hand touched the Tetsusaiga on his waist, as if being armed might offer more protection from the spell that had once locked him there for fifty years. He looked instead at the girl to his left, with long brown hair and gentle blue eye that hid how often she could have an explosive temper. No matter how explosive that temper, deep down he knew that she cared for him and that she would never fall into the same trap as he and Kikyo.

Why would she? He had already accidentally hurt her so many times…

"So," he said, trying to sound bored, to keep hidden how much it would hurt to not see her for three days, to not have her calming presence and reassurance. "You have a test again?"

Kagome nodded. "Mm," she said narrowing her brows together. "Math. I really hate math and haven't been able to study for it too well, so I have to get my friends to help me otherwise I'll fail and-" She took a quick calming breath, and smiled her cheeriest smile up at him. "I won't let it get me down! I'll do just fine!" she told him, positively glowing with optimism, while inside her voice was nagging. 'Oh, more sleepless nights of study? Greeeeaaaatttt....'

"When I get back I'll work some more on purifying the shard," Kagome said after a couple of more steps walked in silence. "Try not to get too irritated by Miroku and Sango again, alright?" Kagome asked softly when they finally reached the foot of the well and she turned to face him, looking up into his molten yellow eyes.

He growled, remembering the last time that Kagome had left him all alone. Sango and Miroku had then decided to take time on their own for three days, leaving him alone with Shippo and Kaede. He had been not impressed, and when he tracked them down, they were rude enough to throw sticks at him. He certainly hadn't known that they didn't want to be interrupted! Did they have to leave him with Shippo and Kaede for three long, boring days? Inuyasha never wanted to see dried herbs again. He'd somehow been tricked into making them into a paste for Kaede…

For three long, boring days….

'It never takes us long enough to reach the well,' he thought, his gold eyes turning to it in disdain for a second. 'Damn well.' Looking back at Kagome, however, he slipped his hand around hers, not quite knowing what to say. He smirked at her, trying to be careless, but instead of some rude remark, he scoffed and said, "You'll be all right."

Kagome beamed at him. "Thank you for your belief in me Inuyasha! What are you up to?" She demanded a second afterwards with narrowed eyes.

Inuyasha was shocked. "I'm not doing anything!" He let go of her hand and crossed her arms. "Fucking women," he grumbled, "you try being nice to them and they think you have something up your sleeves!"

"Sit," was all Kagome could say.

FWAMP!

Grumbling something into the dirt, Inuyasha just hoped that she would still be there when the spell wore off. As he so often thought, at times like this, if it wasn't for the prayer beads around his neck, it would be a different game all together. But this one had rules, and complexity, something that made it more interesting to the human part of Inuyasha's mind rather than the demon one. Shaking the spell off, and sat back, and looked up at Kagome, relieved that she hadn't left while he was face-down in the first. Inuyasha dusted off his face, thinking of what to say. Did she know it was all an act? Could she see through all the times he relied on a macho attitude to hide his real feelings and his confusion?

"Why do you always have to think I'm planning something?!" he yelled.

"Because you usually are..." Kagome smiled pleasantly and offered her hand. "Plus, you made rude comments and I don't like it when you say 'fucking women'. Your mother was a woman; you should well remember that next time you complain about the female sex. Now, don't come in after me, ok? I have got to study."

He took her hand and she helped him up from the ground. He gave her hand a little squeeze, still hoping that maybe this time she might give him a little more than a friendly smile, a little more than 'try not to kill Shippo'. "If you're not back here in three days, I can't be held responsible if I happen to be in your house playing video games with Souta when the three days are up."

Kagome didn't even notice the step closer she took to him, or the fact that they were still holding hands. Neither letting go, or lightening the tight hold. "As long as you don't torture Bouyo or bother Grandpa... Souta likes it when you come visit." Kagome told him softly, wondering where exactly her usual voice went to and how come it was replaced with this more husky one. "What will you do after the three days besides playing with Souta?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.. flirtatiously. In that moment's time, Kagome had went from a young girl with a crush, to a woman in love and she was hoping that this time before she jumped in Inuyasha would make the move Eri and Yuka were always talking about. That maybe he would grant her something more then 'be back in three days wench!' and storm off.

Inuyasha's Adam's apple bobbed in his throat as he nervously swallowed. He wasn't as good at flirting –that was what they were doing, right?- as Miroku was, and perhaps hanging out with the monk for so long had done more harm than good. His bare feet shuffled nervously on the ground, and he leaned his head down to hers, touching her lips lightly. Her taste and scent were overwhelming to his closed eyes, and his lips lingered over hers for a moment. When he straightened his neck, there was a tiny smile on his face.

Kagome's eyes still remained closed as her mind stopped working. Finally, when it jump started she could only think: 'My first kiss... and it was with you, Inuyasha. I'm happy.' Kagome was in fact close to saying that, but all she could breathe out was his name.

Running her hands up to his forearms, Kagome could feel that they were on the brink of something. Great. Greater than all they had been through. Something richer and more exciting then even their travelling... If she could just take that extra step... And then her mouth parted softly. "Inuyashaa," she began, and felt the earth shake around her.

It took a minute to realize it wasn't her mental state causing her to shudder, but an earthquake. The earth around them was shaking like a water bed. "Inuyasha!" Kagome yelped, the spell broken as the earth between them split apart tearing them from one another and throwing her back. "INUYASHA!!!"

His ears could hear the screams of people all the way from the village. "Kagome!!" He watched, trying to settle his stomach and fight just to stay on his feet on the rolling earth as Kagome tumbled backwards into the well. The earth moved like the waves on the ocean and his legs kept shaking, his head swimming from the unusual movements. When he reached the well, he looked into it, rocks crumbling down to the bottom of the Bone-eater's Well, and he found it empty.

A second later, the bottom of the well caved in on itself, and the only thing Inuyasha felt was a brief panic when he realized the door through time had been closed, and then the Earth shook again.

Kagome hit the ground with a strong thud. And immediately ran up the well and leapt back in...

But she didn't travel through. She simply hit the dirt ground.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, her fingers digging into the mud. "Inuyasha?!" Kagome screamed clawing at the earth before repeating her earlier attempt and trying to jump back in, to the other side... But the door didn't open. The light didn't flash... She was home and couldn't pass through.

"Oh god... It's not working..."

The road to Inuyasha's Forest was closed.