Chapter Three:

We touched down on the other side, it was cold here too. It must have snowed. Inuyasha leapt onto the mouth of the well and lowered his hand to me. I grabbed it and he pulled me up to sit beside him. He looked at me for a long minute, not letting my hand go. I felt my face flush. He leaned his face forward, was he going to kiss me? I stayed still, holding his eyes with mine. Our faces got closer and closer and for a moment my heart fluttered in my chest. Ive kissed him before, but it was awkward and strange and kisses never happened too often between us. But I wanted it. So dangerously close now...

"Let her go!"

I heard a voice yell, Inuyasha stopped coming toward me as a sutra clung to his face. He blinked at me and disappointment flashed behind his golden eyes. He wanted to kiss me too. I almost kissed him anyway, but refrained. I looked toward the direction where the sutra had come from and sighed as I saw Miroku standing in the snow, Shippo next to him in battle stance.

"Are you serious?" I asked them.

Inuyasha let my hand go and took the sutra off of his face, he turned it in his hand. "An exorcism?" Inuyasha asked. "I'm half DEMON you idiot."

"Inuyasha, you're okay?" Shippo asked, he relaxed and crawled up Mirokus robes to sit on his shoulder. The small Kitsune looked at the two of us oddly.

"Yes I'm okay." Inuyasha said with aggravation in his voice. He threw the sutra into the snow. The ink started to run down the paper. I slid down off of the well and into the snow, Inuyasha stood next to me. I let my pack fall and picked up the piece of paper.

"You know this wouldnt have worked, right?" I said to Miroku. Shippo leapt onto the ground and came at me. He jumped up and hugged me around my neck, I smiled and put my hand on the back of his head. The little Kitsune was like a brother to me. He was only nine or ten by human standards.

"Welcome back, Anayame." Miroku said with a bow. I walked up to the monk and hugged him. Knowing Inuyasha was keeping a good eye on where the monks hands went. But he hugged me without incident and I let him go.

"I'm sure Inuyasha has told you everything?" Miroku said. The half demon walked up to us and stood beside me. I walked up closer where they couldnt see our hands. I took Inuyashas hand in mine. Surprise flashed across his face but then it turned normal and he held my hand tightly in his. I squeezed it reassuringly and let it go.

"All I heard about was a powerful demon attacked, nearly killed him, he transformed, Kikyo couldn't bring him back. Then he said he got enough control of himself to fall down the well and look for me." I said with a nod.

"I see." Miroku nodded as we walked back to the village. I put my pack on my back and Inuyasha put his hands in the sleeves of his fire rat kimono. My hands went into my sweatshirts pockets. Shippo sat on my shoulder underneath the messy bun that was still damp at my neck.

"Kikyo took off then?" Inuyasha asked, looking at the snow at his feet.

"Yes, after you disappeared." Miroku said solemnly. The tension between the two men was enough to choke on. I could tell by the tone in Miroku's voice that he wasn't at all pleased with what happened. But I wondered if he ever voiced that concern with Inuyasha. Who was I kidding? This was Inuyasha, he wouldn't listen to him even if the monk had tried!

"Well I'm glad." Shippo stated, I smirked at him. "I'm serious! She wasn't you, Anayame. She didn't like me sleeping on her pillow at night. Not like you do."

"It's okay, buddy. You can sleep on my pillow anytime you want." I told him. When we reached the village gates, I stopped walking and smiled. It was like coming home. Children played in the snow. Building snowmen and making snow angels never looked so appealing. Shippo jumped off of my shoulder and ran to join them. Miroku kept walking.

"Ana, you okay?" Inuyasha asked, he stopped next to me. I looked at him and kept smiling.

"Just didn't realize how homesick I was." I said simply. He smiled at me. "Inuyasha, I missed you a lot more than I care to admit."

"I know." He replied with a smile and moved a strand of red hair out of my eyes. "I'll never let it happen again. I promise."

"Good, cause if you did, I'd come back and kick your ass." I joked and went into the village. Inuyasha followed me. The snow was just as deep here as it was in my time. It soaked the hem of my jeans and turned my brown boots white. Siari looked up from her snowman and ran to me. Her nose and cheeks were red. My little friend grinned from ear to ear before abandoning her project and running to me. The other children, seeing their friend come toward me, followed after her. I laughed as I hugged each of them.

That night, I stepped outside. The moon was high over the village. Behind me, Kaedes hut was quiet. Everyone slept soundly. Shippo was spread eagle on my pillow, snoring softly. Inuyasha sat against the wall next to my mat. It felt good to be back.

Suddenly, pain ripped through my body. I clutched my shirt and leaned back against the support beam of the porch. I saw flashes in my mind, from the snowy rooftops of the village to some place dark and threatening. I shook my head, trying to clear the images, but they only got stronger as did the pain.

"Inuyasha." I choked out and fell forward in the snow, cold came over me and so did darkness. It cradled me into unconsciousness.