Kagome and Yukina slowly made their way up the well. Kagome was first over to find Inuyasha glaring at her. "Don't you even start with me Inuyasha. I have every intention on going back either later tonight or first thing in the morning." Once over the well she reached out and helped Yukina over the side. "Well Yukina. Welcome to the Feudal Era of Japan."

Yukina was amazed at how much the times have changed the area. They were standing on part of the shrine, but nothing was the same. It was like a paradise. "It is beautiful Kagome. But I wonder, how was I able to pass through the well?"

Kagome thought for a second. Then it hit her! It was her power over, and her connection with Inuyasha and the jewel that allowed her to pass through the well at will. Perhaps because Yukina was connected to Kagome because of the tear jewel that she gave her was why she was able to pass through the well. "I think it was this. This connected us, so you were able to pass because of this."

Yukina gasped in shock. "So if there is something that has meaning to you, that someone gives you, then if you go through with them, they could pass through the well as well."

"I guess so." Kagome reached out and took her hand. "Come on Yukina, I want you to meet Sango and Miroku. Then Kaede and Shippo. Oh Shippo will simply love you!" And she all but pulled the small youkai with her, both giggling.

Inuyasha yelled after them. "What the hell is she doing here?" He was already upset enough that she chose to stay with two male youkai. If they talked her into mating with them, then he was stuck at where he was. He would have to get Kikyo to help him find the jewel shards. And his friends, Miroku and Sango would turn on him.

The fact that one of them, smelled like some relative of the short youkai has come through the well with Kagome was unsettling. 'They can't start coming through. I won't have it!'

Sango looked up when she heard Kagome's voice. She stood and glared at the door to Kaede's house. "I told her to stay for a few weeks and have some rest. Why is she back?" Then it dawned on her that she was talking to someone.

Miroku stood next to her and asked, "I wonder who she is talking too?"

"I don't know."

Kagome brushed the door aside and smiled at an irritated Sango. "Don't worry I have a reason for being here, and WE are going back in the morning." She hoped that the plan she and Yukina came up with would let Sango go with her to the future!

She turned and reached outside and grabbed Yukina's tiny hand and pulled her inside. Smiling at her friends she said, "This is Yukina. She is a youkai from the youkai world of my time. Her brother is one of the spirit detectives in my time that are going to protect me from Sanosuke."

Sango bowed as well as Miroku to the small youkai. Sango was the first to speak, "Forgive me if I sound rude, but what kind of youkai are you?"

Yukina smiled as she explained. "I am an ice youkai. In the time and world I come from, my kind lives on a ice glacier that floats in the sky. There are no males there, only women."

Miroku was instantly in front of her holding her hand. "How on earth do they have children if there are not men around? Poor thing."

Yukina smiled and blushed. "Ice youkai's bodies go through the changes that they need to go through when it is time for them to become with child. I don't know how, but they do."

Miroku was on one knee now. "Oh Yukina, you poor thing. No male to keep you warm and protected….ah!" He fell back on his behind and rubbed the lump that Kagome left on his head. "I was merely trying to comfort her Kagome."

Kagome glared at the monk. "She has a male you know! His name is Kazuma and he is from my time and world. Also one of the ones that are going to protect me."

Inuyasha walked in on the end of that statement. "Along with a kitsune, a fire youkai, another ningen male, another ningen female and one, I don't know what she is."

Yukina turned cold eyes to him. Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru were her best friends. Dropping the temperature in the room to freezing she glared. In a cold hard voice that even Sesshomaru would have to smile about she said, "Don't ever talk about anyone that is protecting Kagome or who they are with in a negative tone around me. You won't live to regret it. If there is one thing that my brother taught me was how to harden your heart when you are fighting for those you care about."

Inuyasha nodded. He was not about to deal with her. If she could make him freeze when she was just angry, he did not want to see what she was like in a fight.

Sango looked at the pretty thing odd. The instant she looked away from Inuyasha, the cold hardness of her voice and eyes left. "You said your brother? I thought you just said that everyone from your time and world were women? How can you have a brother?"

Yukina sat down next to Kagome and smiled at the youkai slayer. She knew what that race was. They were not called youkai slayer's anymore, but now they were called Boarder Patrol. They patrolled the board between the ningen world and the youkai world. "Hai. I have a twin brother. He was a result of my mother leaving the glacier and being with a youkai male."

Kagome smiled at Yukina. Then she looked at Sango and said, "Yukina told me that when an ice youkai onna has a baby they shed a tear that turns into this." Then she showed Sango the necklace of Yukina's tear. "They are given to them when they are big enough as a necklace. She was talking to me after Inuyasha's visit. Something she thought mad her cry. She gave it to me. And then she was able to pass through the well."

Sango was astonished! How is it that she was able to pass through the well though? "Kagome. How was she able to pass through the well? Miroku and I have both tried it and we can't. As far as any of us knew, you and Inuyasha were the only ones that could do it."

Kagome smiled. "I thought that too. But I think it has to do with this." Kagome held up the jeweled necklace that Yukina gave her. "It is something that was given to me from her, I think it connected us so that she could pass through time with me. Sango, can I ask you something?"

"Hai."

"If it worked with Yukina, I was thinking that it might work for you and Miroku as well. Would you like to give it a try?" Kagome saw the shocked look on her best friends face.

Sango was in utter astonishment. The thought of seeing Kagome's world, her family, friends, and everything else was exciting to think about. She was not ready just yet to try it out. "Iie. Not yet. You are going to have to give me some time to adjust to the fact that things are different now. No offense Yukina."

Yukina giggled. "It is alright Sango."

"Kagome!"

Kagome turned in time to catch Shippo who was instantly in her arms. "Shippo! I want you to meet someone. This is Yukina. She is from my time!"

Shippo turned to the kind smiling face of the youkai. "Hello. Are you really from Kagome's time?"

Yukina smiled even bigger. "Hai. You are such a cute little fox." Looking up at Kagome she said, "I wonder what Kurama looked like when he was his age?"

Kagome snapped her head up. No one told her that Kurama was a fox youkai. "I didn't know he was a fox. He told me he was youkai, and the way he reacted when I flared my powers at Inuyasha I guessed he was. I didn't know that."

Shippo turned big eyes back to Kagome. "You know a fox in your time? Kurama? What is he like? What does he look like?"

Kagome held a hand up to stop his questions. "I have only known him for a few hours Shippo. Yukina would be better off to answer your questions about him and the other ones who are there to protect me in my time, and the ones who came with them."

Kaede walked into the hut and smiled. Kagome had figured out how to let other's pass through the well with her. 'Life is going to get interesting for sure now.'

Inuyasha left the hut and sat on the roof. Listening to Kagome laugh and talk with that Yukina youkai. 'I don't like this. I don't like this at all. One of them is going to take her away from me.'

x

Hiei looked at the oaf of a human across from him. He was loud. Rude. Violent. And ugly. But he did have to hand it to him. He did seem to really love Yukina. And the fact that he was sitting in there and never taking his eyes off the well spoke volumes to Hiei.

"Hiei."

"Hai."

Kuwabara never took his eyes away from the well. All his senses were turned toward the well. The blue light that Kurama said he saw, that the pulsing energy that came with it was what he wanted to see. "I was planning on asking Shizuru if she would take Yukina shopping one day, and have Kurama, Keiko and Botan get Yusuke away so that I could ask you something."

"What is it?" Hiei never really talked to Kuwabara and when he did, it was usually to throw insults at each other.

Kuwabara turned his eyes away long enough to ask this question and look Hiei in the eyes while he did it. "I love your sister Hiei. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want to ask her to marry me, but I am going to do it right. I have my honor code. Since you are the only family of hers that I know, I am asking your permission. When she gets back, do I have your permission to ask her to marry me?"

Hiei was lost for words. He always figured that this day would come, but never imagined that it would be Kuwabara asking about Yukina. He closed his eyes and smiled. "Kuwabara you have proved more to me tonight than you could have any other way. Yes you can ask her. I have been training her in fighting, and I am sure she will be able to handle you."

Kuwabara wanted to get him back for that. But the conversation demanded that he act like the man he was. He nodded and looked back at the well. "Thank you Hiei. I will protect her with my life. Always."

"Good." Hiei again looked at the well. His thoughts wondered to the onna with the sparkling blue eyes that showed her wisdom beyond her years. No doubt fighting youkai, crossing through time, dealing with that hanyou and protecting her mother, brother and Grandpa from what she was going through was responsible for that.

And then the story Yukina told right before the youkai attacked. He knew nothing of love, or mating. But he did know that for some unsettling reason, seeing Kagome cry over that bastard set his blood afire. 'I don't know why it happened. If I had been on the outside looking in I would have swore that would have been the behavior of a youkai protecting his mate. But she is not my mate.' Though the memory of her taking on the A class youkai and winning was a welcome sight.

She was obviously stronger than he gave her credit for and that proved it to a certain extent. He would see how she faired the next time. Then there was the little fact of she chose to protect Yukina than save herself. Why had she done that he wondered. After all Yukina and Kagome had only met that night.

For some reason every second he looked at the well, the more he hoped to see her face come out of it. With Yukina. 'Baka Hiei. What is wrong with you?'

Kurama sat in the kitchen with Sora, Sota, and Grandpa. He had said that he would not be called anything else. That since they were there to protect his granddaughter, then they were like family to him.

Sota was crying along with his mother. Kurama reached out and tilted his head up and said, "Don't worry about your sister Sota. I am sure that she is fine. She went through the well. Inuyasha is on the other side with other friends of hers remember."

Sota's warm and gentle eyes, turned hard at the mention of Inuyasha. He wiped his eyes and said, "I don't like Inuyasha. He makes sis cry too much and I don't like that. I use to look up to him like he was my hero. But then I saw how much he hurt sis. I won't like someone who makes her cry like that."

Sora smiled at her son. Already the man of the house when he had to be. Even down to protecting his older sister. "Sota, why don't you go and get ready for bed."

Sota nodded and hugged his mother and grandfather then turned to Kurama. "You will keep Kagome safe when she is home won't you?"

Kurama looked the small boy in the eyes. "Hai. I will keep her safe. Along with Hiei, Kuwabara and Yusuke. Nothing will happen to her as long as we are on call."

Sota nodded and walked out. He wanted to hug the man in his kitchen for protecting his sister. But he had to look strong. At least for a little while.

Sora watched her son walk up the steps to get ready for bed. "I have had to watch both my children grow up before their time and it drives me crazy to watch it. Sota is falling behind in school, because he is always checking with Kagome's friends to see what is going on in her grade. They send her school work home with him and he tries to do it." She could not keep going. She wished that she could go back in time and stop Kagome from ever going near the well.

Kurama reached out and placed his hand on hers. "Don't worry so much Sora. You are only going to make yourself sick. The sooner we figure out how Yukina was able to pass through the well with Kagome, the sooner we can all go back with her. Between myself, Yusuke, Kuwabara and especially Hiei. There would not be a foe that we could not beat."

Sora smiled a sweet thank you to the young man. "Thank you Kurama. I am going to bed now. Come on Grandpa you need to sleep as well. Wake me when she comes home if she comes back tonight."

"Hai." Kurama watched the two go upstairs as they dried their tears. He did not know how long it will take to get them to cross over in time. But he hoped it was soon. This family needed it to end. The strain it put on all of them, Kagome and her mother mostly, was beyond comprehension. 'This has to stop.' Getting up he left the house and headed to the well house.

Once inside he kept his eyes on the well. "Hiei I am going to go and see Koenma and see if he noticed anything about what happened when they passed through the well. If he saw how it happened or has a theory, the rest of us might be able to as well. I shall return as soon as possible."

"Hai."