Disclaimer: The anime/manga InuYasha and its themes and characters do not belong to me. Characters that do not appear in Rumiko Takahashi's work and this story itself, however, do.

Mrs. Higurashi peered out the window of daughter's bedroom and saw the flashing lights of police cars in the not-so-far distance, heading towards the shrine. She breathed heavily and bit her lip. She guessed they had minutes at most.

"Do you have everything Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi flung the curtains shut as her daughter zipped up the last of her bags. Her daughter's hands were shaking, but her face was stern and ashen. Kagome looked at her mother and gave her a clipped nod. "Then come, we've no time to lose. If this doesn't work…"

She trailed off as they quickly descended the stairs and made their way towards the well house.

"If this doesn't work, we'll think of something," She muttered, trying to sound optimistic, as she opened the front door and peered out, looking this way and that, before rushing out, pulling Kagome by her sleeve.

Kagome remained silent as her mother led her, jaw clenched. Her mind was blank. She knew that she was in danger and her heart was pounding so hard that she could see her chest pulse with each beat, but there was a strange mechanical-like nature to her movements. It was as if her adrenaline had commandeered her mind and body as soon as she had heard from Eri that there was an order for her arrest. Eri's husband was a lieutenant in the Tokyo Police Department and though skeptical, was thankfully a sympathizer for Kagome, and had managed to keep her a step ahead of the police for as long as he could.

They could hear the sirens now, wailing in the distance. It was funny how frightening they became when one knew that they were coming for you.

"Come Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi hissed and tugged at Kagome's elbow when she had turned back to look at her home once more. Even if the well didn't work, this would still probably be the last time she saw her home again.

Her heart ached with sadness, anger brewed in her mind, and her skin prickled with fear and apprehension. Despite it all, however, she couldn't deny that a part of her was exhilarated.

The Bone Eater's Well hadn't worked for 8 years and only too recently did she feel that all too familiar tug at her soul, just hours ago. Perhaps it knew that she had nowhere to go? Perhaps it knew that if she stayed, there was a good chance she'd die. Kagome had nearly snorted when that thought brushed her mind. Who'd have thought that her era would be more dangerous than the monster infested Feudal Era? When she had shared with her mother that peculiar feeling, she had immediately raced about the house and starting packing bags.

Kagome was to go back to the Feudal Era and hide for as long as she needed to. Months, years, decades… it didn't matter, as long as she could get away.

Kagome and her mother stood next to the well, peering down in to the black hole with identical, grim faces.

"Kagome…" Mrs. Higurashi took her daughter's shoulders in her hands and searched her eyes, "I want you to promise me that you won't try to return immediately. We'll be fine on our own."

The young miko smirked, "Even if there's a miko-eating demon waiting for me on the other side?"

"Kagome," Her mother's clipped voice scolded sternly. "Promise me. Promise that you'll wait at least a year."

She looked away unhappily and eventually nodded begrudgingly.

The older woman's grip on her shoulders relaxed and she managed a tremulous smile. "Good, now go Kagome, I can hear the car doors slamming at the bottom of the stairs!"

Kagome shouldered and gripped her bags as she sat at the lip of the well and swung her legs over, shivering as the magnetic pull of magic began to tug at her. She looked over shoulder at the wonderful woman who had raised her and smiled, "I love you, Mama." She said as she leaned back and succumbed to the magic.

As she stood at the edge of the forest, she caught her breath and rested a hand against a large tree. She gazed out at the village of Edo with tears in her eyes and a trembling smile on her lips. She had really made it back. Back to her other home, back to her other family, back to the person she had loved so much for so long. The village had only changed marginally, that she could tell. There were lots of new huts expanding the village, and some larger looking building toward the center which looked like storage. They were cultivating a large new field and the old, worn, beaten foot trail that had led towards the woods on the other side of the village looked like a real road now.

Kagome hadn't realized that she had started moving until she slightly stumbled over a depression in the ground, and she was lightly jogging. Her friends were bound to still be there and they would welcome her with open arms! Maybe, there would be children running around too! Little Sango and Mirokus running amok with their Uncle Inu Yasha. Kaede would be birthing a child or maybe she'd be out collecting herbs. Or maybe everyone had actually left the village already? She remembered Sango mentioning going back to the Slayer's Village a few times 8 years ago. There was a good chance that she'd be there now.

Her light jog had turned into a sprint as she neared the growing village, and she tried to ignore the stitch in her side, and the way her lungs screamed for air. Damn, she was out of shape.

"Kaede!" She shouted, "Sango! Miroku!" She passed startled, frightened villagers as she made her way to the center of the village. "Inu Yasha!" Kagome was confused; nothing looked the same! She whirled around to the nearest person, "Where are they?"

A disapproving man pointed towards the Eastern edge of the village, pulling his children behind him. Kagome smiled and bowed quickly before rushing away. Oh! She was so close!

"Inu Yasha!" She yelled desperately. She thought she was going to die and when she first caught a glimpse of his silvery hair, she nearly tripped over herself in relief.

The expression on his face was so heart wrenchingly shocked that she paid the tears streaming down her face no mind, and stopped in her tracks, just feet away from him. He looked exactly the same as when she had left. His red clothing… his long, thick white hair… his luminous golden eyes… and his two, furry ears, trained on her… it made her heart ache.

"Kagome…" He breathed, staring at her in disbelief.

Her lips trembled in to a smile and she gave an abrupt nod. Her feet tried to take her closer, but something held her back. There was something wrong with this. Why didn't he look happy? Why was he slightly shaking his head? Had she… been wrong in coming back?

"Inu Yasha?" It wasn't her voice that questioned the hanyou.

Ice poured in to Kagome veins. She tore her eyes away from the man she loved and to the woman over his shoulder, emerging from the hut they stood in front of.

Inu Yasha was no longer looking at her when she flicked her eyes back to his.

That explained why he only just stood there. The Inu Yasha she remembered would have normally rushed towards her and maybe yelled at her for being away for so long. At the very least, he would have started towards her before stopping and crossing his arms across his chest with his nose in the air, offering a "keh!" before enveloping her in his strong arms.

The hanyou in front of her, however, kept his eyes cast down, his hands visibly clenching and unclenching as he seemed to be struggling within himself. He didn't need to look back or smell her to know who had appeared in the doorway of the hut. Hana.

His wife.

Kagome's breath caught in her chest, weighing her down with a mountain of emotions as she looked upon the very pretty, young woman that stared back at her with a measure of apprehension in her eyes.

"Inu Yasha?" Her voice was small and timid, much like her physique. Her husband's hands clenched tightly, his eyes hidden by his bangs as he stubbornly refused to look up at the woman from the future, and his past, in front of him.

Kagome's unconscious will to live managed tiny, shallow inhalations, coming quickly and painfully. Her throat felt closed off. Her head felt fuzzy. Her feet felt stuck to the ground. Her eyes burned. Her heart continued to thud… painfully.

She turned around quickly as soon as she felt the first tear tumble over her lashes, her back hiding the anguish on her pale face. Her lip quivered as her breath shuddered thickly in her throat.

"Papa?" Another voice from the hut.

Kagome eyes widened in horror as she heard that tiny little voice. She couldn't help the small gasp that wretched from her throat. She stiffened and her quadriceps flexed and she involuntarily rocked onto the balls of her feet as the overwhelming need to sprint as far away from there as she could poured into her muscles. Adrenaline made the blood roar in her ears; her heart thudding wildly. That little voice confirmed what she saw, while simultaneously shooting down every little optimistic hope her heart retained in a pathetic effort to excuse what her eyes told her.

After 8 years, Kagome's former infallible innocence and faith had become somewhat depleted as she experienced more of the world. She had matured and grown. She had changed. She knew without a doubt that everyone on this side of the well would had to have also, but there was one thing that she hadn't counted on.

Inu Yasha had moved on.

Whereas, she had not.

AN: Phew. And here starts my first fanfiction in two years. I may be a little rusty ;) Please enjoy.