Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "InuYasha" or "Avatar: The Last Airbender". InuYasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and ATLA belongs to nickelodeon.

NOTE: Also, in this AU, there is no Republic City. It's up to you to decide wether or not this takes place before the time of Aang, or if the events of the ATLA series happened at all.

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Drama, and Friendship Rating: T (Teen) Book One: The Jewel of WaterPrologue

Screams resinated throughout the cramped dwelling as a young woman continued to give birth to a new life entering the world. Old lady Kaede had never seen so much blood during a birth in all of her years as the Southern Water Tribe's healer. Unfortunately, this meant that either the mother, the child, or both would not survive this ordeal. It wasn't a possibility, it was a guarantee. The old healer could still remember when the soon-to-be mother was brought to her. Unable to stand on her own due to the contractions that racked through her body, the woman was carried in by the men. The young lady wore strange clothing, telling Kaede right away that the woman wasn't from either of the two water tribes.
"Alright, child. It is time for ye to push. It's almost over," the eye-patched healer instructed, positioning herself so that she would be able to catch the head of the nearly born babe when the time came.

"Ugh, o-okay...I-I'm re-ready..." answered the woman, gasping in pain.

"Ready? And push!"

The screams resumed, disturbing the otherwise tranquil peace of the South Pole. They continued to echo through that snowy landscape for an hour, the haunting shrieks of pain embedding themselves in the ears and minds of the villagers for years to come, until finally, it stopped.
"It's a girl!" Kaede proclaimed triumphantly, as she wrapped the squirming newborn in a fuzzy blue blanket. She went over to the new mother and kneeled down next to her. The young mother, sweaty and exhausted, lazily rolled her head onto her right shoulder to see her child, a weak but loving smile gracing her features.

"She's beautiful..."

"Aye, that she is,"

"Thank you for your help, Lady...?"

"Kaede, child,"

"Lady Kaede. I thank you for your aid, but I-I m-must ask of y-you a f-favor..."

"Of course, child. What is it?"

"First, I m-must a-ask th-that you t-take t-this..." The young woman took hold of a half of a small, pure white jewel that hung from around her neck and placed it in Kaede's free hand. The healer gasped in astonishment.

"But this is-!" Kaede stuttered.

"Yes. It is t-to be g-given to my baby on h-her si-sixteenth bir-birthday..." Blood seeped out the woman's mouth and her gaze was becoming more unfocused.

"Child-!" Kaede exclaimed, noticing the blood as well.

"Second, I-I'd l-like y-you to t-teach her w-waterbe-bending w-when the t-time is ri-right,"

"Child, are ye sure?"

"Yes. I c-can tell y-you are a st-strong wa-water bender, L-Lady Ka-Kaede. Y-you are e-exactly who m-my child n-needs to tr-train her. Will y-you do it...?" Her voice was no more than a whisper now. She was losing the fight. Kaede was silent for a moment as she considered the dying mother's words. A small whine drew her attention to the restless and crying baby still clutched in her arms. Kaede knew the mother didn't have much time left, and that the child would need a gaurdian. With a wave of resolve, Kaede looked the weak young lady in her death bed and gave her answer,

"Yes, child. I shall do it,"

The woman smiled and allowed a lone tear to slide it's way down her pale and ashen cheek, "Thank you..." she replied gratefully.

"Would ye at least like to name your daughter before you go?" Kaede asked hesitantly. The mother nodded weakly.

"Kagome. Kagome Higurashi..."

With that, the woman breathed her last breath, before going limb completely, no longer one of the living. For a moment, Kaede just sat there, the babe's cries and wheals the only thing that could be heard in the now eerily quiet dwelling that not too long ago was the place of unyielding screaming and chaos. The old woman then looked at the half of the broken jewel, wondering how and why the now deceased woman had it in the first place. When Kaede made her way out of the dwelling, many of the men of the tribe, including the headman, were waiting outside for her.

"How's the mother?" The headman asked.

"She's gone," Kaede answered, shaking her head regretfully. Many of the men lowered their heads mournfully, but the headman looked over the babe being held in the healer's arms, grimacing when she turned her large, innocent blue eyes to him.

"And I suppose that's the offspring?" His tone was bitter, almost harsh, and many of the men shifted uncomfortably at his tone towards the infant. Kaede narrowed her gray eyebrows at him.

"Aye. What of it?" She pushed.

"Get rid of it," he demanded.

"WHAT!?" Kaede, as well as the men, shouted, stunned and appalled at the notion.

"That child is not one of the tribe, nor is it from our sister tribe. You all saw the mother's cloths; she was obviously a foreigner. That child does not belong here," he finished, his tone leaving no room for argument. However, old Kaede was having none of it.

"I shall not just leave an orphaned child to fend for herself out there on her own! Especially in an unforgiving place such as this!" Kaede shot back, outraged at the headman's logic to why they baby couldn't stay.

"Than where do you expect that child to go in the village? All the women have their own babes to watch after along with chores, and our men are either away on trade, hunting, or too old,"

"I will look after her! I promised her mother that I'd train her in water bending and I plan on keeping such a promise!" Kaede concluded resolutely, meeting the headman's hard gaze head on. They stared each other down for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a few long moments, Kagome's cries the only sound to be heard. Finally, the headman stepped back in defeat. He breathed in, composing himself before he looked to the elder woman sternly.

"Very well. From this moment onward, I decree that you, Lady Kaede, are hereby this child's new gaurdian and Bending Master. She is now your responsibility,"

Kaede nodded and with one last cold glare thrown her way, the headman turned and stocked away, the other men who remained silent through the whole ordeal following after him warily, throwing worried looks over in Kaede's direction. Kaede breathed a sigh of relief as her posture sagged. A small cry brought her attention back to the small bundle in her arms as her old, gray eyes clashed with striking blue. The healer brought the baby closer to her until their faces were leveled to each other. Small, foaming bubbles oozed out of Kagome's mouth, making Kaede chuckle.

"I have a feeling that there is more to ye than meets the eye, little one,"

Kagome's only response were gurgling sounds. To be continued...