Neither I nor Kinz.911 own Inuyasha or Detective Conan. I, however, own a cookie for whoever reviews!

"The waters that streams from birth
Is something that cannot be caught in just one hand
But if one suddenly tries to capture it
It will slip through your fingers and be lost, but
Even if the light of day is dim there is still hope

My words of prayer have always been:

'Give us each other...'

And let the flower petals now scatter..."

- KAT-TUN (Butterfly)

The sun was bright, impossibly bright as it shined down on the clearing where the well that went through time sat. A wind blew through the air, enough to stir the green grass a little and toss Kagome's hair as she walked. The clouds above were puffy and white, full with the prospect of a beautiful sunset.

"A beautiful day, neh?" Kagome spoke up cheerfully.

The group traveling with her smiled hesitantly. Sango exchanged a look with Miroku.

"Neh Kagome, maybe you should stay with us for the rest of the day," suggested Sango tentatively.

"Please???" Shippou hugged Kagome from where he sat on her shoulder.

"You know I would if I could," said Kagome quietly, carefully as if she was hurting and trying to prevent anyone else from hurting, regret etched into the shadows of her voice. "But it's time for me to go home."

Shippou looked at her with big, sad, eyes that only small children can make. "Kagome!! I don't want you to leave!" he wailed.

"Now, now Shippou-chan, I'll be back very soon, you know that," said Kagome, smiling gently at him and touching his nose, bright cheer a little too evident in her voice.

"B-But…" Shippou sniffled.

"And if I can't come back, you know I'll be alright, and I know you will too, because you're a very strong kitsune warrior," said Kagome bracingly, with a big encouraging smile.

"I-I'm nothing without you Kagome!" Shippou wailed.

"Shi-Shippou-chan!" Kagome exclaimed in surprise, reaching out and hugging him fiercely. "Don't be like that, you're something always, you're definitely something to me."

Shippou sniffled, wiping his nose as they made it to the well.

"Shouldn't we wait for Inuyasha?" asked Miroku hesitantly.

Kagome looked down at her feet, her vision blurring. She shook her head quickly. "Iie," her voice sounded strained, she swallowed. She suddenly felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She blinked, looking up. Sango looked at her with concerned eyes.

"Even if he chose Kikyou-sama in the end, I'm sure he would want to talk to you Kagome-sama," said Miroku gently.

"I…I just don't know if I could handle seeing him again…" said Kagome quietly. Sango pulled her into a hug, warm, safe, compassion and care welling for each other, Shippou patted her back. The girl pulled back from the hug, tears in her eyes, but they were grateful ones instead of hurt.

"All of us are so grateful for what you've done here," said Sango, treading in her words, avoiding bringing up anything about the prospect of Kagome not coming back.

"Arigatou, all of you have been so helpful to me, I…I'll see you soon," Kagome said. "I thought I'd just tell you though, before I left."

She hugged Shippou one more time. "Be good."

"I'll try for you Kagome," said Shippou, sniffling, not even attempting to puff out his chest bravely.

Kagome turned to the well.

"Kagome-sama," Miroku spoke up.

Kagome looked at him.

"A word of advice. Don't be held back by your love, but be honest with yourself," said Miroku. Sango's eyes widened and then she smiled proudly at Miroku, beaming.

"Arigatou!" Kagome hugged the monk.

BAM! Sango sighed, pulling back her boomerang.

"It was for old time's sake," said Miroku sheepishly.

Kagome shook her head, smiling at them all one last time, all of them standing together like a happy family, then jumping over the ledge of the well, tears in her eyes. A feeling of resignation hit her in the stomach when she felt the familiar tug as time pulled her in. She had hoped distantly that the well would have stopped working, made her stay with them, her friends who were so dear to her, but she knew that if she stayed she would have had to deal with Inuyasha and she wouldn't be able to see her family anymore.

'I'll get to see my family after so long!' Kagome tried to cheer herself up, she embraced the image of seeing her family again, used it to make a smile come back to her face, after all, even if she may not be able to go back, life wasn't over. Why should she be sad? But she was. She savored the feeling of weightlessness, wishing she could just be carried away like this, off into the distance, warm and safe, light and happy, no burdens.

Suddenly she felt a strong gust of air pushing at her. She put up her hands, trying to shield herself at the sudden onslaught. It grew in power and size and she cried out as she flew backwards, off to the side. It felt like small, sharp needles were raking over her as she flew. "Doushite-" Kagome suddenly hit the hard ground with a thump, her butt feeling bruised. "Itai!" she complained as she straightened, looking around. Where was she?

It looked like the inside of the well, like normal. Smelt like it too, same musty scent rising into the air, felt damp…Yes, everything seemed to be normal. But…what had happened in that time space…it was certainly not normal. Was it…because it was the last time she could go through the well? Had she been pushed over to a different kind of portal that would close up behind her? It made sense…But she felt so…tired all of a sudden. It was then that she noticed the weight of her backpack was gone.

"Mou…Another thing I have to explain to mama…Dumb wind, throwing me like that," she said childishly, standing up. "Eh?" The ladder that had been put there to help Kagome get out of the well was gone. She frowned, looking indignant, she huffed a sigh. Why had someone moved it? She looked up. Maybe no one had... She blinked at the thought, shaking her head and cupping her hands over her mouth.

"Sooooouta! Sooooooouta!" she repeatedly called the name until she heard the sound of the door opening. "Ah-Souta! Could you help me get out? The ladder's not here anymore, if you just lower it in then I should be able to get out," said Kagome.,

"Hai. I'll help you out Kagome," she heard her mother's voice say.

"Eh? Oh! Souta must still be at school, ne?" said Kagome sheepishly.

"Mm." A rope ladder dropped down. Kagome climbed up and stepped out.

"And he's going with his friends to the arcade after this," Kagome's mother smiled.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Kagome hugged her, she really had missed her.
The teenager sighed as her mother held her without question, a sigh releasing from her. "I'm sorry for being gone so long…But Naraku is dead now and the jewel is gone…So I can stay home now," said the dark haired girl.
Her mother's eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion, "Kagome…You've only been gone for a few hours…I'm just glad you're home safe, you didn't tell me you were leaving before you left, who's Naraku?"
Kagome blinked, "I've been gone for over two months…It's the longest I've ever spent in the Sengoku jidai…" She looked up at her mother, her expression confused as well.
Kagome's mother looked puzzled, "You've only started going there for about a week and a half…But…you do look older." She looked at her.
"I'll be turning 16 in 3 days…" said Kagome softly.
Her mother's eyes widened, "You turned 15 only 9 days ago!"
Kagome's eyes widened. "Eh?"
"Kagome…what happened?" the woman asked.
"When I was coming back through the well…I was blown off course by a wind," said Kagome. "I must have gone back in time! But…not far enough to end up in Inuyasha's time." Kagome blinked. "Wait! Does that mean…There are two of me?"
Kagome's mother shook her head, "I didn't see you this morning."
The girl sighed, confused about the entire thing. "How could I not be here?"
"Maybe because you're only one person and you can't be in two places at once?" suggested her mother.
"Mm…But I existed now and I will in about a year too…How can I not be here now-I mean…" Kagome was getting a headache.

"Why don't you lie down Kagome…Maybe going to that time is too much for you," said her mother, steering her gently outside.

"I don't think so…" said Kagome, but she didn't object as she was led into the house. Her mother stopped in front of the stairs.

"You go rest for a while, ne? I'm going to go run this whole situation by Ojiichan, see if he knows the spiritual side of this," she winked at the last part of her sentence, smiling and leaving.

Kagome resisted the urge to call her back. She was so overwhelmed by all of this, it made her head feel heavy. She tiredly walked up the stairs leading to her room. How could this have happened? Why? How could time mess up? She had always thought the well had worked for a purpose. For her to finish Kikyou's job as keeper of the Shikon no tama. What could be the purpose for her going back in her own era?

Opening the door with a heavy feeling of resignation in her chest she looked in. The only thing different was the extra amount of hello kitty related objects and…she noticed her big yellow backpack sitting in the corner of her room. She blinked, walking over to it and opening it up, pulling out her things. She looked at the expiration of one of the ramen packs. It would have been expired if she had ended up where she belonged. She stood up, walking over to her desk and putting all of the hello kitty items away in the drawer of her desk, so her room didn't have that weird combination of familiar and unfamiliar. She looked around the room again and set her clock for an hour, lying back against the pink covers of her bed…

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A strange woman…Her image wavering and blurring in front of her eyes. It was a mask! That crime scene. Kagome turned away from the awful crime, this time the coverings that hid the atrocities that happened were gone. Blood. No head. That was the woman from earlier! Those people…Their bodies had been devoured by a youkai…

She felt an anger, a fierce determination to avenge them all of a sudden. She blinked when she felt a throbbing in her heart and her eyes blurred as she looked at the source of it. A small boy was standing near the edge of the crime scene. Her vision came back into focus. He had such a serious expression as he watched the crime scene. He ducked under the caution tape. A flash. Those eyes were wide with fear, the image was tinted purple in her mind. He was sweating, she could see more of the scene now. He was running, running as fast as he could.

That mask! It was chasing after him! Suddenly he tripped and that tiny boy…His eyes went, if possible, wider and blood… Blood… That crime scene. Blood. Death. Pain. Agony. He cried out and she watched as the light faded from his eyes.

s

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Kagome's eyes opened. Her heart was pounding. She looked miserably around her room.

"What a bad dream…"

Like I said. Coooookiiiiiie! The authors put cookies inside of the "review" button.