The four made sure that they held on to one another tightly so they wouldn't be separated. The strange light that surrounded them only grew brighter as they passed through the well. Eventually, it was so bright that it was blinding. A strong wind suddenly picked up and blew the four around roughly. It threatened to separate them, and they only held on tighter.

The other side of the well seemed farther away than usual. Kagome and Inuyasha both wondered why it was taking them so long to get there. Something's wrong here… Inuyasha thought. Why is it taking so long? And what's with this light? The wind picked up again, this time, blowing with even more force.

Suddenly, Inuyasha felt Hailey's grip begin to slip. He quickly grabbed her with his other hand, but that slipped too. Unable to see, because of the light, he reached out quickly and felt for a body near him. He couldn't smell anyone's scent. All scents seemed to have evaporated. He tired to call out, but not a sound was made. Finally, he felt a hand and quickly grabbed hold. Inuyasha felt the arm wrap around his waist and hold on tightly. Good, he thought. If I hadn't have grabbed onto Hailey again, I would have heard an earful from Kagome!

Soon, the light began to dim and the wind stopped. Inuyasha could see the well in the Feudal Era. They were getting closer and he soon felt the ground beneath his feet. They landed softly. Inuyasha turned to Hailey and found that it was not Hailey at all!

"Kagome!" He said, shocked.

"Inuyasha?" She replied. "I thought you were Kouga!" He resented that remark, but put it aside for now.

"I thought you were Hailey!" He said. "What happened?"

"Kouga and I were separated by the strong wind," Kagome explained.

"Same here," Inuyasha said. He looked around the well. No one else was there. "We both let go of them."

"Oh no!" Kagome exclaimed. "Are they stuck in my time?"

"I don't think so," Inuyasha replied. "We were in between times when Hailey and I split…"

"Are you saying that they are stuck between times?" Kagome exclaimed. "How do we get them back?!" Inuyasha could only shake his head.

Before they could even begin to think of what to do, the bright light returned and remained for a short while. When it disappeared, Kouga was revealed, holding Hailey in his arms.

"Kouga!" Kagome said. She ran up to him. "What happened?" She asked touching Hailey's face.

"She just fainted," Kouga said. "She'll be fine in a bit. We should take her somewhere to lie down though."

Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kiara sat in Kaede's little hut discussing what could possibly be delaying Inuyasha and Kagome. Kaede had made some soup for them and had just left to tend to the fields.

"Maybe she does not wish to return," Sango suggested.

"I don't think that is the case," Miroku replied. "Inuyasha always makes Kagome feel like leaving for a bit, but she had always returned before."

"Plus," Shippo added, "they didn't even have a fight before Kagome left."

"Right," Miroku said, taking a sip of his tea. "Kagome just went back home to get a few more necessities. She'll be back soon."

"What if something happened between Kouga and Inuyasha?" Sango questioned. "I still can't believe that Kouga made it through the well," she added.

"Yes," Miroku agreed. "It is a bit odd…"

"Well, whatever fights break out between Inuyasha and Kouga," Shippo said, "Kagome will surely stop. Kouga's in love with her and will probably do whatever she says, and all she has to say to Inuyasha is one word and he's down!"

"Right this way," they heard Kaede say. "The others are inside." Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kiara watched as Inuyasha entered through the door, followed by Kouga holding a girl, and Kagome and Kaede. The room felt even smaller now.

"Rest her here," Kaede told Kouga as she pointed to a spot on the floor. Kaede and Kagome quickly sat down next to the girl and with a soft towel, wiped her face.

"Inuyasha," Miroku said as he and Sango came to stand by Kouga and Inuyasha, "who is that girl?"

"Kagome's cousin, Hailey," Inuyasha replied automatically.

"How is it that she's here?" Sango asked.

"She spotted us and Kagome told her everything," he replied. "She wanted to come back with us. I knew something would happen," he added. "I had a bad feeling."

"She just fainted," Kouga said. "Nothing 'bad' happened to her at all. Stop being so paranoid doggie." Inuyasha growled back.

"Why did she faint?" Shippo quickly asked, trying to distract the two before they started fighting.

"I don't know," Kouga answered. He looked at Hailey as she lay on the floor. "Maybe the trip was a bit too much for her…." There's something different about her now, he thought. Her scent has totally changed and she even looks a bit different. "Hailey looks different, right?" He asked. Kagome stopped wiping her face and really looked at her.

"Yeah, she does," Kagome answered. "Her hair is darker, back to its original color."

"Her scent has changed," Inuyasha added quietly.

"What?" Kagome said, not understanding what he meant.

"Yeah," Kouga agreed. "I noticed that, too."

"How has it changed?" Shippo asked out of pure curiosity.

"Before," Kouga started, "when we were in Kagome's time, she smelled human, but now-"

"Only a hint of human remains," Inuyasha finished.

"I was going to say that!" Kouga howled.

"Save it Flee-bag," Inuyasha barked.

"Wait," Kagome said standing up. "What do you mean by 'only a hint of human remains'?" She feared for her cousin. Kagome didn't want anything to happen to her. Perhaps bringing her here was a bad idea….

"Her scent has changed," Kouga tried to explain, "somehow. I know demons can sometimes change their scents by will, but I've never heard of humans who can do it."

"What are you saying?" Kagome yelled a bit frightened. "Are you saying that Hailey's a demon?!" Miroku and Sango quickly stepped in.

"I'm sure that's not what they are trying to get at," Miroku said quickly with a big smile on his face. "Why don't we go out and get some air?" He and Sango took both of Kagome's arms and began walking her out of the room.

"No," she said. "I should stay with Hailey!" Kagome tried to move away, but they held on tightly. Miroku looked at Kaede for some help.

"Uh…maybe it be better if ye all go for some air," she said. "It be tight in here. She needs space to breathe." Inuyasha and Kouga quickly caught on. They all moved outside for some air, but Kagome returned quickly.

"Kaede," she said, "do you think what Inuyasha and Kouga said could be true?" She took a deep breath. "Could Hailey's scent really have changed?"

"Ye must not worry about it," Kaede said lightly. "Surroundings can influence the sense of smell."

"So, they just think Hailey's scent changed when it's really the surroundings that might have messed with their noses?" Kagome thought about this. But both of them said they smelled two different scents on her. And they don't agree on things very often…

"What happened?" Hailey asked softly as she slowly opened her eyes. Everything was blurry and soon turned fuzzy.

"Hailey?" Kagome said. "Are you alright?"

"Kagome," she said. "I'm okay." Hailey closed her eyes then opened them; things began to come into perfect view. "What happened?" She slowly sat up.

"You passed out," Kagome explained, "when we were coming through the well. Kouga carried you here." Hailey leaned up against the wall and looked around the room. "Uhh…Hailey?" Kagome said hesitantly.

"What's up?"

"Your eyes," Kagome replied softly. A look of confusion spread across Hailey's face. "Can you see everything clearly?"

"I couldn't at first, but I'm fine now," Hailey said. "In fact, I can see things extremely clearly and I don't even have my contacts on!" She smiled but noticed that neither Kagome, nor the old woman with them, smiled back. "What is it?"

"Your eyes are different," Kagome said.

"How so?" Hailey asked, her voice a bit panicked. She watched as Kagome rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a mirror. Hailey took the mirror and looked at her reflection. Her eyes were no longer the brown eyes she had had her whole life. Her eyes were no color she's ever seen a person with. "They're purple!" Hailey said softly and Kagome nodded.

"Thy shall find Inuyasha and the others," Kaede said and she quickly left the room.

"And my hair," Hailey said. "It's back to its grown so long! And back to its original color! I just dyed it auburn a few weeks ago! How is this possible? The black couldn't have grown in that fast!" Hailey looked at Kagome, who had a worried look on her face. "Kagome, what is going on?"

"I don't know," she replied. Should I tell her what Kouga and Inuyasha said about her scent?

"What happened?" Inuyasha said as he entered, followed by Kouga, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo. They stopped dead in their tracks and stared at her. "Your eyes…"

"Purple," Miroku said.

"Her eyes were brown," Kagome explained.

"How is it possible?" Sango asked.

"And her hair…" Inuyasha said. "It's different…"

"Well, I think it looks good," Kouga said. Everyone looked at him. "You guys are all talking like this is a bad thing. The changes aren't bad…."

"We're not saying they're bad," Inuyasha said swiftly. "We're wondering what made these changes occur!"

"But the way you're all talking…" Kouga fired back. "You're probably making her feel like a freak!"

"Alls we're saying is that we want to get to the bottom of this!" Inuyasha barked.

"Well you don't have to put her down while you're doing it!" Kouga growled.

"Stop it!" Hailey finally said. There was a strange ring in the sound of her voice that caught everyone's attention. Everything went silent, even the noisy birds that were twittering outside in the tree nearby. Inuyasha and Kiara's ears twitched, and Shippo and Kouga quickly rubbed theirs for a bit.

"What the hell was that?!" Inuyasha said. "Your voice wasn't like that before!" He felt a cold look from Kouga, then added, "Not that it sounded bad or anything…."

Hailey stood up and faced the others. She didn't know what to say, but she knew what she felt. I feel strange, she thought. Something's very different about me. Maybe it's this place…. I need some fresh air. She looked at Kagome, then at the others.

"I need some air," she said softly. Hailey began to cross the room when Kagome stopped her.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"I'll be fine by myself," she replied. "Thanks anyway." Miroku and Kouga moved away from the door so Hailey could easily get out. Once she left, everyone in the room looked at Kagome.

"What's up with her?" Kagome asked. "Inuyasha," she paused, "Kouga, what's her scent like now?" Inuyasha moved over to where Hailey had been laying down and sniffed. Kouga, however, followed her outside.

He didn't know exactly where she went. Her scent was constantly changing, so he couldn't pick up on it. She couldn't have disappeared! Kouga thought as he picked a random direction and searched it. Poor kid. She's changing and doesn't even realize it…. Kouga stopped. That's it! He figured Kagome would want to be the first one to hear this and decided to go back to tell her. It was then that he found Hailey.

She was sitting high up in a tree, looking at something in the distance. Kouga thought he had better confirm his assumption before he went blabbing to Kagome. Silently, he crept up behind the tree and began to climb. He didn't even get halfway when Hailey began to speak.

"What do you want, Kouga?"

So I was correct…

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked lightly as he jumped up quickly to the branch she was on.

"I sensed you following me," Hailey said, not looking at him. "Plus you have a very distinct scent of wolf." He noticed that she gave a very small smile.

"You sensed me and you can smell my scent," Kouga reiterated. "This is something that you've been able to do for a long time, am I right?" Hailey nodded and looked at him.

"How did you know?"

"When you came into the temple that held the well in Kagome's time," Kouga started, "you knew exactly where Inuyasha was. You smelled him out and were heading in his direction. If you had not gotten distracted, you probably would have found us sooner than you did."

"Is it really that obvious?" Hailey asked. She noticed that Kouga was confused by this comment. "I've always been able to sense when things were about to happen and smell people's scents….but being here….something's different. I feel very different."

"You're not a normal human," Kouga stated.

"I know," Hailey said. "But then, what am I?"