"Fine, go home! What do I care?"

He shouted as his temper flared to a peak, only to start diminishing into the all too familiar regret that swept over him every time such lies were emitted from his mouth as freely as the air he breathed.

And as she did every time, she simply packed up her things, hoisted the heavy bag on her shoulder's and ran off towards the Bone Eater's well. The well which seemed as ordinary as any other well, yet mysteriously held the magical ability to transfer the girl between the two worlds of different time.

She sighed as the familiar pain crept into her and made its way through her chest where it savagely attacked the part of her anatomy which had become so accustomed to such violence since she first met the hanyou, the part of her which no longer belonged to her. The tears which had threatened to fall from behind her eyes now made their way freely down her face now that she had put some distance between them.

Away from the man she had grown to love so much, away from the one who held her heart, hell who was she kidding, her entire soul in his hands.

The one and only..

"INUYASHA! QUIT BEING SUCH A JERK AND GO AFTER KAGOME!"

The small kitsune shouted at the hanyou and crossed his arms in disappointment. The kit had come to love the girl much like a mother, and was definitely getting tired of the hanyou chasing her away from caring for him. After all, how was he suppose to care for himself, he was only a child!

"Quit yer whining will ya shippou!" I didn't ASK for her to leave, she threatened me!"

Course, she most likely would not have done such if he hadn't blown up at her for being nice to that damned wolf, but he wasn't about to admit that to the others.

"I just let her do what she wanted to; besides, it isn't like I give a damn! I'm not her keeper or anything!" His companions just rolled their eyes as they began to set up camp in the small clearing they had come across.

'There you go again Inuyasha, spouting off lies. Since when did you become such a liar anyways?'

The hanyou's mind had a will of its own, and it pissed him off to no end. He let his lips curl into a small snarl and stuck his nose in the air, as if denying the entire thing, not only to himself but to his companions as well. And as if to answer its previous question, his mind simply stated.

'That's right. You became a liar to yourself and to everyone else the day that girl gave you her heart..'

Inuyasha's hand instinctively came to rest near his heart where he took the object that he sought into his palm. He felt the small golden chain run down his chest to where it reached the small heart shaped lump at the end of its journey. He frowned as he remembered the day she gave him that pathetic locket, the most precious item he had ever received. His mind drifted back to that day.

'What are you doing?' Inuyasha sat with his arms in his haori as he watched Kagome fiddle with something in her hands.

She sat on the trunk of a fallen tree as she continued to fiddle with the small pictures. 'We might as well keep these pictures of us together. Look.'

She finished cutting the small photo into the shape of a heart and placed it into a small golden lump of something he wasn't sure of just yet.

'There, it's all done.' She smiled softly as she looked at it. On one side was his face, pulled back into a shout as he went to slice up the "photo booth" thing as Kagome had later on called it. On the other side was a photo of Kagome's face, yelling at him to quit being stupid for wanting to beat up something that wasn't there.

She closed the small pendant softly and stood up. 'Here.'

'Huh? What's this for?' Inuyasha was baffled by what she was doing as she began to place it around his neck.

'A locket, promise you'll never take it off.'

He looked down at it as she stood in front of him. 'Yeah? How come?'

She put a finger to her mouth as she thought. 'Uh, well cause it will grant your wishes for one thing."

He smirked and shook his head. "Right." His voice was so sarcastic as he let that word flow off his lips.

"Oh yeah, believe me it works much better than the sacred jewel!" She smiled.

"Liar." He began to take the pendant off his neck and shoved it at her, frowning as he did so. "I wouldn't be caught dead with a thing like this."

"What's wrong with it!" She shoved it back at him, giving him a scowl. She turned from him as she crossed her arms. "You are a jerk."

He chuckled to himself as his flashback ended and shook his head.

'I was a jerk that day..and pretty much every day that I spend with her. I just can't help myself sometimes..I get so..'

Kagome had showed her affections to him many times over, yet he was still unsure of it all. That locket seemed to be the symbol that he held on to ever since she gave it to him. His thoughts simply cut off and he sighed to himself. Without a word, he stood, and left his companions and their newly formed camp as he made his way back to his forest. Back to the place where they first met..back to his heart, his Kagome. He knew where she would be, and he intended to be there when she needed him.

"Inuyasha is such a jerk!"

Shippou crossed his arms and pouted as he lied down with his back resting on the small form that was Kirara. They had finished setting up camp and made their beds on opposite sides of the camp. It wasn't until Shippou said something that the demon slayer had decided to enter in the conversation that had now ceased to exist.

"Miroku, do you think Inuyasha and Kagome-chan will ever learn to get along?" Sango had an irritated tone in her voice as she spoke. Yet again, their journey was once more put on hold until Inuyasha could right his wrongs with the miko.

"I'm not sure dear Sango, but I do know that Kagome-chan and Inuyasha won't be able to set aside their differences until they learn to confess their feelings towards one another. Besides, it is Inuyasha's jealousy and possessiveness that always seems to upset her so." Miroku sat with his hands folded into his robes, his staff resting against his chest in preparation of a fight, just in case they had unwanted company. What he spoke of was true after all, yet it seemed as though only the companions of the 'not-so' couple could see just how they really felt. Sango sighed dejectedly and shook her head.

"Well, I wish there was some way to make those two get passed all this stubbornness. It is getting rather tiresome watching Kagome get so upset as she does when Inuyasha's jealousy takes over. I mean, I know he isn't as well behaved about it as he could be but at least he's showing her how he views her somewhat, even if he won't say it."

She crossed her arms in frustration, coming from her friend's predicament as well as her own with a not so far off houshi. It's not like he ever claimed he loved her, yet couldn't resist and even made it a point to show affection to her body..just not the part that mattered the most to her. She hid her face from view lest the lecherous monk notice..

"Wait Sango! That's it!" Miroku's sudden outburst was enough to jolt Sango from her thought's as well as send shippou flying behind the small fire cat in fear.

" What are you talking about Houshi-sama? What's it?" Miroku stood from his place on the ground and walked through the camp to Sango, pulling her up into a frantic hug before pushing her away to face him. When she looked at him with a look of mass confusion on her face, she found the most evil of grins on his lips. "Don't you see, our journey may never continue unless those two get over their feelings or act upon them! And since we know they cannot get over them, they must act!"

Sango raised a brow, about to protest about how they already knew the obvious when Miroku once again cut her off.

"So we must force them to act upon their feelings! We must get them to admit them to one another!"

Sango just stared at him, wide-eyed and in utter disbelief that Miroku would even consider such a thing. "Miroku..?"

"OH! I get it now! You want to get Inuyasha and Kagome to become mates then right?"

Shippou suddenly joined in on the conversation as he picked himself from the forest floor and stood in front of Kirara now, facing the two adults. Miroku just laughed nervously and a slight blush crossed Sango's face as to what that word actually implied.

"Well," Miroku started. " For now we just want them to know that they think about being mates..what they do with it is their own business..eheh.." He looked to Sango who was now not only blushing but scowling at him for mentioning such a thing to the young kit. He heard her mumble something about him wanting it to be his business, but he shook it off with a nervous laugh. That's when Shippou once more interrupted.

"Well I'm in Miroku! Let's do it! I can only imagine!" The little fox's mind wandered off into happier thoughts, painting a picture in his mind of his two parental figures finally liking one another. Kagome being a great mother, bringing him chocolates from her world along with other sweets and goodies, and the strong Inuyasha, teaching him to fight and being nice about it instead of always beating up on him like usual.

"Shippou!" Sango once more was in disbelief at the small kit's determination to join and participate in such a plot. "They are our friends you know..we can't just butt into their business like this..They would be..so angry!" Her thoughts didn't have time to think of how nasty this could backfire when she felt a familiar hand creep it's way down to stroke her backside attentively. She growled before her hand smacked the monk firmly against the cheek and he sighed as he rubbed his now darkening mark of shame.

"Sango, think of the possibilities..with those two finally together..or at least ridding themselves of the burden of secrets they carry for one another..we wouldn't have to deal with all of this running off and waiting for days until Inuyasha decides to go apologize for his wrong doings! Think of it dear Sango.." He only grinned as he watched the demon slayer stare, think for a moment then groaned.

"I just know somehow, this is going to backfire.."

~*~

Kagome sighed once more as she hoisted her bag over the edge of the well and looked to make sure none of her family was around. She pulled the small mirror from her pack and began wiping away any signs of her distress away. It was like this most of the time when she returned to her time, the same routine. Clean herself up so that her mother wouldn't worry , say hello, have dinner, and then a nice bath. She smiled at the thought of it, it wasn't often she got to come back and take such a luxury for granted. Hot springs were nice, but they just didn't do the trick.

'Ok Kagome, game face on.'

She smiled brightly as she dragged the pack to her house, half running so she seemed excited and burst through the doors to her home.

"Mama! Souta! Grandpa! I'm home!"

Almost immediately she heard footsteps racing towards her and braced herself for the usual welcome committee, but after a moment the footsteps ceased and she was still there, alone.

"Hm, I wonder where everyone is.." She started to walk to the living room, only to trip and fall flat on her face. She groaned as she rubbed her cheek which was beginning to become quite red and turned to look at the obstacle which caused her discomfort.

"Mow!"

The fat cat sat with a confused look on his face as he stared at the girl lying eye level with him. He tilted his head as he watched her get up. Silly Buyo, she should have known. With a grin she picked up the obese feline and snuggled him close. "Well at least one of you care enough to greet me!" The cat purred his delight as his owner had finally returned to keep him good company. Kagome kept the feline in her arms, stroking his ears absent mindedly as she walked through the house.

"Souta? Mama? Hm..Buyo where is everyone? "The fat cat stopped his purring as he jumped from her arms and onto the table in the living room. There was a small piece of paper dangling from it as he pawed away at it, meowing to get her attention. She followed and giggled at his childish antics and moved him from the paper as she sat on the couch and sighed in relief.

Kagome,

I just had a feeling you would show up tonight. I hope everything is going well for you. Please enjoy being back at home; I don't know when we will be back. I had to take on a call out of town and decided to take Souta and your grandfather with me. If your still there when we return, I would love to make you dinner. We will be home next weekend sometime.

Love you dear!

-Mama

P.S Hope Inuyasha is doing well! Souta says to tell him hello!

Upon reading that last part she crumpled the note into a tiny ball and groaned as she threw it into the trash.

"I doubt Inuyasha will ever be "well".

She grimaced in mock annoyance before shrugging it off and turning her attention back to the cat.

"Well Buyo, looks like it's just you and me for a few days..I doubt I'll be here for a week but it will sure be nice to enjoy some time alone."

She giggled as the feline simply gave a 'mow' and then raced upstairs to her bedroom. She smiled and grabbed her things as she followed, threw them into her bedroom and got ready for her bath.

'Besides..A few days without Inuyasha will probably be good..and maybe he can get over being so mad at me while I'm gone..'

She filled her bath and slowly put her hair up, sinking into the water with a content sigh as she dozed into a light sleep in the steamy water.

~*~

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had finally made it back to the well and he stared at it with desperate longing. The moon seemed to light everything on the ground in a light luminous glow. His hand still fondled the small locket around his neck. He argued with himself for what seemed like hours as to follow her through or not, his doubts of himself keeping him from leaping over the side and holding the only thing that was most precious to him.

'What if she really did mean what she said..that she was going home to get away from me? Am I that terrible?'

A sigh emitted from his lips as he dropped to the ground, holding the locket and peering over the side of the well, waiting, watching as if she would appear right then and run into his arms and fulfill that desperate need he just couldn't seem to fill himself. His ears slicked back across his head as he started to feel his chest constrict at such a thought.

'Damn that woman for making me feel this way..'

Slowly his sadness began to fade and be replaced with annoyed anger and he growled lightly before sticking his nose in the air.

"To hell with this.." He took the locket and carelessly tossed it into the well, not thinking anything of it whilst he did so. It wasn't until the locket glowed and then disappeared through time to Kagome's world that he began to frantically panic and leapt over the side after it, fearful it would be damaged somehow.

'Damn, now what the hell did I do that for! If that locket is damaged..I'll have lost the only thing Kagome has ever given me..'

He shuddered at the thought as he awaited the magic to take him to Kagome's time. The magic soon faded and he was at last staring at the bottom of the well. He looked up and saw the familiar surroundings of Kagome's time above him. He sighed in relief and soon began digging around, looking for the small lost trinket. Upon finding it, he smiled and placed it around his neck and back into the folds of his haori, right above his heart. He felt somewhat complete again as he then debated what to do with himself. He could go talk to her, patch things up, but he doubted she would even want to see him. He sighed as he slowly fell back into that sadness he felt whenever she wasn't around.

'I can't go see her right now..she's probably still angry with me..'

He gathered himself up and leapt up into the court yard of Kagome's time. He turned to see the Goshinboku in Kagome's yard and he stared long and hard at it. He could plainly see the scar where he was sealed all those years ago. He smiled lightly, remembering when Kagome first released him from it. With ease, he leapt to the branches above and sat down. He could smell her scent everywhere around him, floating on the wind as it brushed his face lightly.

He closed his eyes as he took in the familiar scent, and fell into a relaxed state of mind as his thoughts never strayed from the dark haired blue eyed girl. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep, his hand still over his heart, holding the locket she had given him.

~*~

Kagome sighed as she finally awoke from her short slumber and stretched as she then began to finish her bath. With a towel wrapped around her slim form, she put another around her hair and walked to her bedroom. She sighed as she then stripped from her confines, dried her hair as much as possible and sat down on her bed with a brush in hand, slowly working it down her dark lengths as she smiled lightly.

'Maybe I shouldn't have gone off so badly at Inuyasha..He can be a real jerk sometimes but I know most of the time he doesn't mean any harm to it..He's just..worked up over something that I just can't explain. Or maybe it all has to do with Kikyou somehow. Oh, I don't know, I'll give him a few days to calm down before I go back, if he doesn't come here to retrieve his precious shard girl first.'

At the last thought, she threw her brush against the wall and scowled in frustration as she pulled a nightie over her head and crawled into bed. Her head snuggled into her pillow and the cover's pulled tightly under her chin was all it took before the young woman was fast asleep, dreaming of the only thing she ever dreamed of nowadays. Little did she know the center focus of her dream was just outside her window, sleeping on the sacred tree, dreaming of none other than the miko inside.

~*~

The sun rose over the plains in Sengoku Jidai, and four companions were already up and moving towards the village right outside Inuyasha forest, where the other two member's of this merry group were dealing with their own issues through the well and in another time. Miroku hopped off of Kirara as soon as they reached Kaeda's hut and smiled as he walked through, bowing to the old priestess as he did so.

"Ah, Kaeda-baba, it is nice to see you once again."

The lecherous monk was on his best behavior in front of the old one, he may be a lecher but he was still a gentleman after all. Sango and Shippou walked in a moment later as Kirara shifted from her large demon form to her ordinary house cat form and walked in quietly and lied down in the corner of Kaede's hut.

The old woman smiled widely at the return of her well known friends and bowed. "It is good to see ye again my children."

After a quick inspection she frowned as she noticed the missing pieces of this wild puzzle.

"Tell me, where be Inuyasha and Kagome? Has something happened?"

The terrified look on her face made Sango feel even worse about their plan and she silently glowered at Miroku. She then took Kaede's hands in her own and shook her head.

"No, nothing has happened to them..At least not yet." The old one's look of confusion quipped Shippou to crawl up Miroku's robes as he shouted with a gleeful tone.

"That's right Kaede-baba, we are going to get Inuyasha and Kagome to admit they want to be mates!"

Miroku laughed nervously as Kaede seemed taken aback by the young kit's words and waved his hands in front of him to discourage the thought.

"Well, what shippou is meaning to say is that we have decided that our journey is getting tiresome with those two acting so childish about their feelings towards each other. "

Kaede stared at them with a look of pure confusion before a smile made it's way across her lips.

"I think that is a wonderful idea indeed, if ye can pull it off that is."

Sango gaped at her with amazement.

"Kaede-baba not you too! I tried to tell them all this was a terrible idea..I mean, I am tired of those two and their antics also, it keeps us from continuing on our way..But to mess with feelings, I don't think either Kagome or Inuyasha will be pleased with us." She fidgeted nervously as she still had this feeling of impending doom once the couple found out about their little stunt. She could see Inuyasha bashing Miroku over the head, which wasn't such a bad idea of course, someone should.

Yet, it was the image of Kagome yelling at her and not speaking to her that made the girl uncomfortable. Kagome had become like a sister to the girl, and was really not looking forward to breaking that bond by something as petty as interfering with their emotions.

"Don't worry dear Sango, I believe ye all will do a fine job in helping the two. Besides, I think the outcome of it all will make them completely forget any of ye ever interfered at all."

Kaede was stirring one of her famous soups as she motioned for them all to sit around the fire and relax. Their bowls were soon filled and the three were eating whole-heartedly, happy for a good meal after being on the road for so long.

"So, my children, what do you intend to do with our little problem then?" Kaede sat across from them, an interested look expressed on her features as Miroku once more took his queue and spoke, setting his bowl down.

"Ah, well you see, we thought about keeping them in Kagome's time to spend alone, since with all of us here, it would make it much harder. Besides, it will seem less suspicious of us if they somehow remain in Kagome-chan's time, but I am not to sure on how to go about that. We cannot destroy the well as that would seal Kagome and Inuyasha both in that world.."

Kaede shook her head.

"Indeed we cannot do that, it is their destiny to help destroy Naraku and rid us of the evil he leaves in his wake."

The old one thought for a moment, the groups once bubbly nature to set this plan through now falling short of their expectations.

"Well, what about putting something over the well so they can't get out when they come through?"

Shippou's small voice was hidden behind all the food he was engulfing into his mouth but Sango shook that idea off quickly.

"No I don't think that will work Shippou, Inuyasha would just break through even the biggest rock we could place there, besides, I don't think we could even get something that big over the well anyway."

Shippou groaned in defeat and stared at his bowl once more. It was then Kaede who spoke next that brought the group from their disdained spirits.

"I know! Ye could place some sort of barrier upon the well so that it would be sealed but not forever. A temporary spell that blocks access to and from the well would cause them to not be able to cross back over, but would only be for a short amount of time."

MIroku started shaking his head in agreement as he grinned.

"Your right Kaede-baba, all we need is a temporary small time sutra to block the well's magic powers." He began going through his robes until he found a few small paper's with their mantra on them.

"Aha, I believe these barrier spells should do the trick. For a temporary situation of course." He grinned as the group finally was set and they finished their bowls with a hearty expression on their face.

The four made their way towards the well.

"I sure hope you know what your doing Miroku.."

Sango couldn't help but worry as they finally arrived at the well.

Shippou was now bouncing up and down as Miroku pulled his spells once more from his pocket and grinned at shippou.

"Time to teach those two a lesson."

~*~