A/N:If it wasn't already evident: I'm more excited about this story than is likely healthy. So surprise! You get a moderately early post! I encourage for you to comment, I love to know what you think - it might also influence my ideas of how I'll proceed. Also, I tried to avoid info dumping as much as possible, but I had to write the chapter like I was assuming the reader didn't really have any background information just in case there are people like that who end up reading this. Please be patient with me - I promise it doesn't happen often.

Chapter 3

My vision was blurry when my eyes opened so I tried to mentally take stock of the rest of me. I was supine on what felt to be a coarse sheet of cloth on a hardwood floor. Nothing hurt but I was starting to feel a little sore from all the stress I'd been through before, and as I sighed I felt the black hole that was my stomach.

"Ah, I see that ye are awake."

My head whipped to the left to see a stout old woman dressed in a white kosode and red nagabakama. Her back was hunched with age and her weathered face was lined, but the one eye that I could see was brown and kind.

Why was a woman who was dressed like she came from feudal Japan wearing a pirate eye patch? Seems she got her costumes a little mixed up.

"Where am I?" I struggled to sit up, my weak arms shaking from the strain.

The old woman looked away from me to stir something in a huge cast iron pot, "The village, child. When Inuyasha had brought ye, ye'd been unconscious. I imagine ye must have been through quite an ordeal."

I winced and the dried tracks of my tears pulled at my cheeks, "Yeah."

More lines depressed the cheek I could see, deepening others and making something of a network as the corner of her mouth lifted, "I took a look and ye should be fine, but ye must be hungry."

I looked down to the creased fabric of my skirt and pressed a light hand to my sunken stomach, "Yeah, thank you."

The old woman huffed a laugh and I heard metal and wood clinking, "I have prepared stew so ye may have some of that."

I turned my head to her but dropped my eyes as my cheeks warmed, "Thank you."

I heard her shuffling about and soon she was kneeling in front of me, a bowl of the steaming liquid proffered in her right hand and a wooden spoon in the left, "I am Kaede, the priestess of this village as my sister was before me. By what name are ye called child?"

I looked up to her gaze to accept them both but didn't drop my eyes again or move to eat the stew, "Hisako."

"Hisako," she smiled again and sat back on her heels, "a pretty name indeed."

Having introduced myself, I dropped my eyes again, "Thank you."

"Ye wear the same strange clothes as Kagome. Do ye know her?"

My stomach forgotten, I put down the bowl and spoon to clench my fists in my lap as I looked up at the old priestess, "You know Kagome too?" My face crumpled, "Where is she?"

Kaede's eyes softened and she picked up the bowl and spoon to push them gently back into my hands, "Ye needn't fret child, she will likely be here soon."

I dropped my head to look down at the cooling stew, my shoulders tensing.

I felt like a lost child, waiting for her mother to pick her up. I was almost an adult, so why couldn't I act like it?

A gnarled hand touched my back and I lifted my head to look at Kaede's wizened face, "It will be alright child, but ye must eat if ye are to get stronger."

I looked back to the warm stew in my hands and dipped the spoon in, "Right, thank you."

The gnarled hand rubbed my back then she was standing and shuffling away from me.

~o0o~

The stew was so hot and delicious I almost asked for seconds but then I stopped.

How could I be thinking of stuffing my face at a time like this? I needed to find Kagome. These people knew her so clearly she'd been to this strange parallel universe before, but I worried about her. She must have been so scared, thinking I was dead, then beside herself if she realized I'd instead fallen through to this strange, barely hospitable place.

I put down my empty bowl and spoon and held my knees to my chest.

I didn't want her to blame herself for the mess I'd gotten into, but I knew she probably would.

I looked up to the darkness that filled the frame of the door.

It was still night so I likely hadn't been out long, but that just meant that Kagome was probably stumbling around those dangerous woods alone in the dark.

No. I had to do something.

I pushed myself to my knees. I had to go find her. I definitely couldn't do it alone, but maybe I could ask that boy who'd saved me to help. I would not leave Kagome out there to fend for herself.

The sound of hurried footsteps was soon punctuated with the high sound of a young, feminine voice and I froze on my knees.

"Kaede?!"

Then she was in the doorway, like a beacon in the night.

"Kaede? Inuyasha told me he found a girl lost in the woods and brought her h-"

Her scanning eyes stopped on me, rumpled and on my knees nearly in the back corner of the hut and her face crumpled, "Hisako!"

She dashed to me and I raised my hands to her, my voice nowhere to be found. She dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around my waist, "Hisako, oh my god I'm so sorry."

My hands reached around to cling to the material covering her back and I dropped my head to her shoulder, whispering, "Kagome."

She hugged me tighter but even though it made it hard to breathe I didn't stop her, "I'm so sorry. I should have waited for you. I should have never left you alone," she pulled back just a little to run her eyes over my worn face, "Are you okay?"

I pulled her back to me and clutched her shirt tighter, "Yes I'm fine."

My shoulders hunched as I clung, "And don't you dare blame yourself – none of this is your fault. I was the idiot who poked my nose where I shouldn't have."

Her shoulders shook, "But-"

"No," I pulled back to stare her in the eyes, my gaze intense, "This is not your fault. It's mine. I saw the lights on in the kitchen but I ignored them to snoop. If I'd just gone straight to you like I should have, I wouldn't be in this mess."

"Come now child, it's not so bad as all that is it?"

We both turned to look at Kaede who'd been sitting with her back to the opposite wall, watching us.

"Ye are unharmed, if a little shaken, and ye've been given the opportunity to meet new people – to see a new place. This is an occasion to learn, ye mustn't view it negatively."

I deflated at her soft, weathered face and sighed, "Yes, I suppose so."

Kagome pulled back from me to turn to Kaede and bowed her head, "Thank you so much for taking care of her Kaede."

The old woman laughed as she stood, shuffling to the door, "T'was no trouble at all Kagome, she is a sweet girl."

My cheeks warmed and I dropped my head to hear the old woman shuffling out of the hut, "I will go and tell little Shippou that ye have returned. He has been asking when ye would be back with the candy ye promised."

Kagome straightened as she breathed a laugh, sitting back on her heels, "Thanks Kaede."

Then we were alone.

"Kagome."

She turned to me, her pale face still repentant.

"That boy, who saved me."

Her eyes lit from within, "Inuyasha? What, was he rude to you?" She frowned, "He can be obnoxious sometimes but I promise he's really a nice guy."

I took in her animation and I studied her carefully, "No, he was nice to me."

She sighed, her dark brows evening over her chocolate brown eyes, "Oh good."

I gripped the sleeve of my shirt at the wrist. Was it okay to ask this? Would it be rude to? How would I even go about it?

"What- how…he looks different."

Kagome tensed, then quite suddenly all the fight seemed to leave her and her face was drawn, "Yeah. He's different."

I gripped my sleeve tighter and forced my vocal chords to cooperate, "Why?"

She sighed, "He's a half-demon."

I stiffened, "A what?"

Her sad eyes lifted to me, "A half-demon."

The blood drained from my face, "There are such things as demons?"

She winced, "Yeah. Inuyasha told me about the boar that attacked you – that had been a demon."

My breaths were barely a whisper and I looked down to the floor, "Oh."

"But Inuyasha's not bad. I swear he won't hurt you."

I looked up to see Kagome's miserable face, "No I know. I told you, he was nice to me."

She let out a breath and smiled at me, "Oh. Then what's wrong?"

I swallowed hard, "There are demons in this world, and I know they're not all as nice as Inuyasha. What is this place Kagome?"

She bit her lip and looked down, "When you fell through the well, you were taken back in time to the feudal era."

My hands dropped to my sides, lifeless, "The what?"

She swallowed, "The feudal era. Five hundred years in the past."

My face slackened as I flopped back onto my calves, "Five…"

Her eyes lifted to mine, pained as they were, "Yes. I'm not sure how you got here; why the well took you here, but I'm glad it did or you probably would have died."

I tried to find some saliva in my mouth to speak, "But why are you here Kagome? Why do these people know you? You've been coming here haven't you – enough for one of the children to be expecting souvenirs from you."

She winced and dropped her eyes again, "Yeah. I'm sorry I never told you about it, but you shouldn't have ever had to be mixed up in this."

My brows lowered over my eyes and I clenched my jaw, "But why have you been coming here? This place is not safe Kagome."

She bit the full, rosy mauve of her lower lip and wrung her hands, "I know, but I don't have much choice."

My shoulders dropped and all I could feel was the strain in my eyes as I stared hard at her, "Why don't you have a choice? Is someone forcing you to come back here?"

Her eyes flashed to mine, like saucers in her small, heart-shaped face, "No! No one is forcing me to do anything. I have to do this, it's my fault that things got messed up so I have to help fix them."

My brows relaxed and I tilted my head just a little to the side, "'Messed up'? What happened?"

Kagome's eyes shifted down to the side, "When I first came here, it was because a centipede demon sensed something called the Shikon jewel in me and pulled me here through the well. Many people want it because it gives tremendous power and when it's complete it can grant one wish. Any wish at all."

I frowned.

"The centipede demon took the jewel from me and after some confusion it was taken by a crow demon. I tried to shoot down the crow to get the jewel back, but I hit it instead and it shattered."

My eyes widened.

"So now I have to help gather the jewel shards again before they fall into the wrong hands and change the course of history."

The breath left me. Jesus this was heavy.

"How did the jewel get into you in the first place, and how did that centipede get it out?"

She winced, "That's kind of a long story, but the gist of it is that a priestess, Kaede's elder sister, was supposed to guard it. But when a terrible demon, one of the strongest of them all, came after her to take it, some things happened and to protect the jewel she had it burned with her body when she died."

She paused, looking up at me.

"I am the reincarnation of that priestess."

I furrowed my brow, "So you were born with it in you?"

"Yes."

My forehead was starting to hurt from all this glaring, "But that's not how biology works. From what you're saying it doesn't seem she even had any children so it's not like the jewel was passed down through them. And either way, foreign objects don't just travel with genetics to get remade with a new baby. None of this makes any sense."

She sighed, "I know it doesn't seem to and I can't really explain it, but the jewel is magic. It just happened."

I thought for a moment, then levelled a look at Kagome, "You didn't tell me how the centipede got the jewel out of you."

Her eyes shifted to the side, "Ah, well..."

"Kagome."

"She was angry, so she ripped it out of my side."

My shoulders that had risen in my agitation dropped, "She ri-"

Kagome was already standing to walk to the door, "Don't worry about it, I should go find Shippou anyway."

I shot up and grabbed her hand, "Wait - don't leave. I've been worried sick about you, please don't leave me."

She turned, her face soft as she reached to hug me, "It's alright now. We're both alright. I won't leave you."

I dropped my head to her shoulder and gripped her to me, "Thank you." I breathed, "I'm really happy you're okay."

I could hear the smile in her soft voice, "I'm happy you're okay too."

I stepped back then pulled her to sit with me again, "So if you came through the well before because you had the jewel in you, how did you come through today?"

She pulled a clear little jar strung around her neck from her white blouse, "The easy answer would be that the shards we've found let me pass through," she dropped the jar, her hand coming to rest in her lap again, "but honestly I don't know. Around the time I first met Inuyasha, the only shard we had was stolen by a demon who controlled the hair of the dead, but I was still able to go back home and Inuyasha was able to come to the future to bring me back here."

Kagome lightly chewed on her bottom lip and turned to look absently out into the night through the open door, "Actually, I wonder if Inuyasha being able to use the well doesn't have something to do with the prayer beads?"

This just kept getting more complicated. Seems it'd been quite an eventful life Kagome had been keeping so under wraps.

"What are prayer beads?"

She released her lip but her eyes remained thoughtful, "Some beads Kaede enchanted to help control Inuyasha when he was still a little wild."

I wasn't even going to think about what she meant by 'wild', "Control him how?"

"With the word of subjugation," her eyes finally reconnecting with mine, "when I say it, it physically restrains him if he gets out of control." She shrugged a thin shoulder, "I figure if the well works for me, then that connection to me might make it work for him too."

I was silent for a moment, processing this, then I furrowed my brow, "I find it hard to believe that the well-functioning for you is an accident though, it doesn't feel right to just dismiss it as happenstance. I think maybe you being the reincarnation of that priestess might have something to do with it."

Kagome hummed her acquiescence, "Maybe."

I rubbed my fingertips lightly into the skin of my thigh, trying to use the physical sensation to help ground my emotions, "But then why was I able to get through?"

Her face was grave as she looked at me, "I don't know, but I'm betting we're going to find out soon."

Before I could divine something to say to that, a ball of sand coloured fur bounded into the room. I lifted a hand as it shot for Kagome but before I could stop it, she caught it in her arms. The fur stretched out and I saw that it was attached to a tiny boy in a pale blue kosode with white polka dots, a navy blue hakama and a tan vest-like haori.

"Kagome, you're back!"

She laughed, "Hi Shippou."

His little arms reached for her shoulders and he was so fidgety he was almost climbing her, "Did you bring the chocolate Kagome? Did you?"

Her eyes were soft as she looked down at him, "No I'm sorry Shippou. I didn't get a chance to. I had to hurry here to help my friend."

He frowned, then lifted his button nose to sniff the air. When he turned to me I saw that he had a mop of reddish-brown hair and his green eyes seemed to nearly take up half his face, "Who are you?"

When he spoke I saw two little fangs poking out of his mouth.

I wasn't used to his clear deviation from humanity but he was just so small, the size of a baby only a few months old though he looked to be at least 7 or 8, I couldn't help but smile at him, "I'm Hisako. Kagome's friend."

He wriggled from Kagome's arms and the little paws he had for feet made hardly a sound as he padded over to look up at me. He sniffed the air again then looked into my eyes, "You're pretty."

Heat shot to my cheeks and my eyes widened. Struggling to remember my manners I smiled again, "Thank you."

His eyes were shrewd as they scanned over me, "Do you have any chocolate?"

A small laugh bubbled out of my chest, "No sweetheart I'm sorry. My journey here was a bit unexpected."

He pouted and returned to curl up in Kagome's arms, but it seemed he couldn't sit still for long as he looked back up at her, "Kagome, why is she here? You've never brought any of your other friends here before."

Kagome's face fell as she looked everywhere but at me and the boy, "She fell through the well Shippou."

"But I thought that only worked for you."

She sighed, "I thought so too, but we're going to find out how this happened and keep her safe."

He stood in her lap, looking up at her, "Does that mean she's going to travel with us?"

Travel?

I hadn't even considered how Kagome had managed to get the other shards, but the idea of travel made sense. People would likely have found some and scattered with them to the four winds. But in the chaos of all the information I'd been swamped with, I hadn't thought about what I would do here or if I'd even be able to get back.

I admit I kind of wanted to try going back to the modern era, but at the same time I hated the idea of leaving Kagome here. Her sense of responsibility had bound her to this place and I didn't want her to shoulder that burden alone. We might not know exactly how or why I'd managed to come to this place, but maybe it'd happened for a reason bigger than my reckless curiosity.

Kagome hadn't yet answered as she turned the question over in her mind, but I'd already decided.

"Kagome?"

She looked up at me, clearly not having expected me to speak.

"I'm coming with you."

Her spine shot ramrod straight and her eyes flared wide, "What?"

I stared her in the eyes and maintained my tone, "I'm coming with you."

"What? Why? No you can't – it's not safe."

I quirked an eyebrow, "But it's safe for you?"

She hesitated, "Well- well I travel with the group and they protect me."

"Wouldn't I be travelling with the same group?"

She shifted her eyes and huffed, "But I can do archery, I can defend myself in an emergency."

My eyes softened, "I can learn to use a weapon too, Kagome."

She kept huffing, out of options, then deflated, "What will your parents think?"

I looked down at my lap, "What does your mother think?"

"She…she knows the whole situation. She knows I have a duty to keep coming back here and fix what I did. She's accepted it." She touched my knee, "But you don't have that duty Hisako. You don't have to be here facing danger every day to fix a mistake. You haven't done anything wrong."

I looked up into her soft brown eyes, "But that doesn't mean you should have to do it alone either. I know you have people here to travel with you, but I could help you too. I know it's not really my problem but it feels wrong to know all of this, then leave you here to fend for yourself. Besides, what if I can't get back?"

Her eyes widened, "I hadn't thought of that."

"If I can't go back I'll need something to do anyway. It's better if the something I find to do is the most productive."

She frowned.

"And if I can get back, then I'm at least good for this weekend before my parents start asking questions. After that I can try to work something out…or find some excuse to give them."

She stared hard into my eyes, then when I didn't give she sighed, "Fine," she clenched the fist not touching Shippou, "I just hate the possibility that you'll get hurt."

My smile was bittersweet, "How do you think I feel?"

Throughout this exchange Shippou had been quietly looking up at us, and now that we'd reached a decision he jumped over to my lap and took my hand, looking seriously up into my face, "I look forward to working with you."

The smile split my face and I brought my other hand to cup his downy cheek, "Ditto."

Shippou's little face screwed up at the unfamiliar word, "Kagome, what does-"

A tall man with dark hair was suddenly walking through the doorway with a dark haired woman in tow.

I looked up at them, dropping my arms around Shippou instinctively. My expression was closed as Kagome stood to greet them, "Sango, Miroku."

The man was lightly tanned where the woman was a little paler, his eyes dark and his skin smooth. His bone structure was a touch effeminate, though despite having a slightly wider jaw than Inuyasha he managed to look softer. His hair was a little long with most of it swept back into a short ponytail at the base of his neck, and he wore purple and black monk robes.

He stood back as the woman embraced Kagome, and his eyes were calm though calculating as he surreptitiously looked me over, "Kagome, how have you been? It's good to have you back."

Kagome stepped back from the woman to smile at him and I wondered why she didn't hug him too. Maybe they weren't as close?

Seizing the opportunity her attention gave him, he turned the full force of his gaze on me though by now I was already looking at the woman who curiously watched me from beside Kagome, "Who is this lovely young woman, Kagome?"

The woman's thin, dark brows dropped into a glare but her features smoothed when she saw that I was watching her. Her hair was long, a rich dark brown that she'd gathered into a very loose ponytail that was barely holding on at the end. Her pink kimono and green apron were large on her and casual, but something about the way she held herself belied the civilian her clothes proclaimed. Her dark brown eyes were pleasant, but observant, her skin smooth and her lips and cheeks full. So she was likely fairly young, hardly any older than Kagome or myself but I could see in her eyes that experience had taught her maturity.

"This is my friend Hisako. She fell into the well by accident and we're trying to find out how it brought her here."

The monk sauntered over to me, laying down his staff as he knelt to hold my hands, "What a beautiful young woman you are Hisako. It's very nice to meet you."

I mumbled an appropriate response and watched the woman unable to tear her eyes away from my and the monk's joined hands.

Ah, it seemed she had a thing for the sleazy monk.

"You're such a quiet little flower, are you shy?"

My eyes flitted to the monk and I hummed a response.

He smiled and leaned closer to me, wrapping his other arm around my back even as I stiffened and Shippou jumped from my lap, scampering to Kagome's arms to avoid being squashed in the strange caricature of a hug, "That's quite alright. I'm sure once we've spent some time together you will flourish like the beautiful blossom you are."

I looked back to the woman whose expression had completely shut down. For all intents and purposes she was a brick wall.

This must be so hard for her. How did she stand it? Why did she even want him?

I felt the hand on my back graduate until it was flush with my bottom, the beads around his cloth covered hand pressing into the softness.

My skin prickled as all the little hairs stood up at attention, and my spine whipped into such straightness that it began to arch away from him.

"Why, I think it would be a wonderful idea for us to spend some time together. I would be happy to shower you with attention if that is your wish," his brows lowered, his lids dropping half-mast as he smiled into my stiff face, "and I'm certain you would enjoy it very much. Will you do me the honour of bearing my children?"

The air bled out of me before I could stop it, thin and high, and I pushed hard against his chest. Even as he fell back Sango was marching on him and pulling him by the ear to stand by the door.

Turning to me, she bowed, "I'm terribly sorry about that. He just doesn't know when to stop."

My whole head was hot but I forced my voice into even tones, "Don't worry about it, it's not your fault."

She lifted her head and smiled at me, "My name is Sango," she turned to scowl at the sheepish man on the ground, "and the idiot who just molested you is Miroku."

Seems I'd passed the test by rejecting him.

I worked on forcing the surplus of blood from my head as I stood to shake her hand, "It's nice to meet you."

Kagome sighed, holding a squirming Shippou as she turned to Sango and Miroku, "Guys, I know this is sudden but because Hisako was able to cross over and we're not sure why or if she'll even be able to go back, I've decided to keep her with me. If it's alright with you, she'll travel with us."

The monk's face lit up like Christmas had come early, "How wonderful. Of course we don't mind – the more the merrier."

Sango's bittersweet smile was a stark contrast to Miroku's enthusiasm, "It'll be nice to have you."

I smiled at her before cutting the monk a look that he chose to ignore.

"Hisako's been through a lot today and I'm sure it'd be nice to relax."

I turned to Kagome, "Relax?"

She smiled, "There's a hot spring nearby if you want to go."

I frowned, "I'd love to, but I have nothing on me to bathe with."

Kagome smile widened, "Don't worry, I always keep extras here in case of anything."

"Sango what about you?"

Her eyes positively shone and it baffled me why the lecherous monk would proposition girls when he already had such a pretty one pining after him, "Certainly."