"Huh?" Kaede knew Inuyasha had figured out what happened the previous day.

Her father gave her a stern glare, "You forget. You may be a human, right now, but I'm still demon. I smell him all over you."

Kaede sighed. She might have guessed.

"Shippo had to save you because I couldn't get there in time.." Inuyasha growled slightly.

He thinks Shippo saved me! ... I don't want to make this messier than it already is.."No. Shippo was at fault for the whole thing," Kaede admitted, "He used his fox magic to distract you so he could talk to me without showing himself."

"And you were in on this?!" Inuyasha asked.

"Hardly. When I realized it was him, I gave him hell for it. Causing all that trouble just to let me know he was here in the past with me."

Kaede looked up and saw Inuyasha hovering over child Shippo who was sleeping, comfortably, with Kagome. He rolled up his sleeves, "If I hit him enough, maybe he'll feel it as an adult!"

"I don't think waking everyone up will help, "Kaede brought her hand up and cracked her knuckles, "Besides, it's already been taken care of, "an evil grin passed her face.

Inuyasha stopped, recognizing his own evil on the face of his human kid. He smiled, sitting back down in his spot.

A few moments of silence passed. Kaede was about to lay back down just as Inuyasha asked, "Hey.."

"Hm? Yeah?"

"Is... Is there a reason you don't call Kagome and I 'Mom and Dad'?" He looked to her.

Kaede looked into the cracklin light of the lantern across the room, "I... I guess it just feels odd to me... You're the people I remember but it feels like a lifetime ago that I've seen you... I think, at some point... I even started forgetting what you looked like... forgetting what I once had.."

"...I'm sorry..." Inuyasha looked as though the guilt was going to crush him under his own weight.

"Don't..." Kaede looked away, "Don't say that."

"I just know how it feels, is all. I never would have believed I would have done the same to any child of mine," Inuyasha said quietly.

Kaede got up to her feet in a flash and growled. She walked past her confused fa, slid open the door and turned to look at him, "I never asked for an apology!" slamming the door shut again.

"What's her problem, anyway?" Inuyasha was left even more confused.

"Inuyasha, "Miroku broke his thoughts, "Kaede seems to wish nothing more than to hide from her own past. Whenever the subject of her memories comes up, she tries to whitewash them away, keeping you and Kagome in the dark. Could it be that there is something she feels guilty for?"

"Huh? What could she feel guilty over?" Inuyasha asked aloud.

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Kaede found a tree to sit under. The stars twinkled in the night, making it easy to stare out into the depths of space. She wanted nothing more than to escape from her own mind.

She revisited what Inuyasha had said a moment ago.

I just know how it feels, is all. I never would have believed I would have done the same to any child of mine.

"I don't want to hear it!" she yelled into the night sky, clenching her teeth.

Especially since... It was my fault...

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A young girl, blue kimono, black hair with silver streaks and amber eyes runs across the Higurashi shrine grounds. Her eyes are blurred with tears, her legs running as fast as they can. She's carrying a small fragment of the Jewel of Four Souls. She runs behind the coveted Tree of Ages and stops, wiping the tears from her face. Catching her breath, she hears the familiar voice of her mother call out to her.  

'I don't want to be found!' she looks down at the jewel shard within her small hand.

Her mother calls out to her again, getting closer. She gasps, turning to run further. In her sights is the shrine which holds the bone-eaters well. She realizes what she is to do, jumping in front of the shrine and entering. She remembers how her mother and father drove home the rule of her never going near the shrine, brushing them off and jumping down the steps to the edge of the well. The well has been sealed with scripts and a small, but heavy boulder.

The young girl hears her father, this time. She holds fast on her thoughts and uses her demon strength to push the boulder off of the well, breaking the scripture seals with her priestess magic and hopped, without a thought into the depths of the well.

A strange, blue light formed around the girl. She felt as though she were falling, gently with no end of the fall in sight. She looked up, seeing the inside of the shrine disappear in front of her eyes. "Mommy! Daddy!" she realized she had made a great error.

Suddenly, her feet felt soft dirt as she slowly regained her footing onto the ground. She fell over slightly, settling into a crawling position. She gave a few seconds to regain herself and her surroundings before looking up to the opening of the well.

Bright, natural sunlight broke through the trees overhanging the well.

"Sunlight?" The girl had only ever heard of the tales of the well. Maybe they were true?

The small child used her demon strength and hopped to the lip of the well, holding onto the side as she viewed her surroundings. The area was nothing as she remembered it to be mere moments ago.  The well was surrounded by a grassy pasture.  There were trees as far as the eyes could see.  A soft breeze blew through, causing the tree branches to sway gently.  It was so quiet. She had never experienced this kind of peace before.  The air was fresh, unlike the air of living in the city. No, this place had been left untouched by man.

The girl put her feet to the ground, standing with one hand holding onto the lip of the well.  She turned and looked down into the secret passageway she had just come through.  It looked just like the bottom of a dry well.  Nothing but dirt and old bones of some kind of creatures at the bottom.

'How can this be?' she asked herself as she turned to look at her surroundings once more.

The girl allowed herself to step away from the well, taking slow and cautious steps.  She looked above the tree line and noticed one, very large, tree that stood amongst the rest.  She smiled and ran towards it, stopping beneath it's protective shade.  The bark on the tree looked as though it had worn down in one spot.  It was the familiar Tree of Ages!  She smiled up at the tree, feeling it's peaceful graces.  She sat down at the base of the tree and looked around.  This certainly wasn't anything she remembered.  But she felt calm and satisfied by being here.  Her back touched the tree as she leaned into it, her eyes suddenly feeling heavy, she allowed herself to fall into slumber.

The girl awoke a bit later.  She opened her eyes slowly, thinking she'd awake to the dreamy scene she fell asleep to.  Instead, she realized she was lying in her own bed.  She sat up, quickly looking around in a haste, realizing that she was, indeed, in her own home.

"Was it just a dream?"  She asked herself.

The girl could, suddenly, hear the quiet voices of her parents downstairs.  She crept over to the door and cracked it open just a little, listening to their words.

"We'll just have to lock the jewel shards away, so she can't find them," her father insisted.

"Inuyasha, she broke the seals on the well and reopened it, don't you think she'll find a way to get them again?  And remember-" her mother stopped and softened her voice as though to cover it from her ears in case she was listening, "Remember what she told us happened next?"

Her father let out a concerning sigh, "Yeah... I remember..."

"What do we do, now?" her mother asked softly, "We never got the chance to kill Naraku for good after she was born. Now what?"

'Naraku?' the little girl thought.

She saw her father turn slightly, from the bottom of the stairs, his amber eyes turning to look in her direction.  She quickly moved out of sight so as not to be seen.

"I'll go back," he said, "I'll go back and take care of him, myself."

"If you're going, then I'm going with you!" her mother demanded.

"Kagome, this isn't the time for you to -"

The adult form of Shippo appeared to the girls' side, "What are you doing out here, alone?!"

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Kaede suddenly awoke from under her tree next to the Inn. Her eyes popped open, looking over to her left to see Shippo standing over her with his arms crossed.

It took her just a moment to realize what was going on, "Shippo?"

"What do you think you're doing?  AND you don't even have the Tetsusaiga with you!" he scolded.

Kaede frowned, "If you haven't noticed, I'm still human!  It wouldn't matter if I had it with me or not!"

Shippo sighed and sat on the ground next to Kaede, "You're still not invulnerable to changing into a full demon when you're without it."

"I wouldn't get too close to me, if I were you, "Kaede warned, "Inuyasha smelled you on me, yesterday.... He knows."

Shippo jumped with fear, "H-he knows??"

Kaede smirked, "Those arm bands are good for covering your scent, until you touch something and leave your scent on things like me.  He picked you up after you carried me over to the stream."

Shippo trembled a little and then straightened up into a false proud stance, "Well then, "he cleared his throat, "It's not like it matters.  I'm a fully grown demon, now. AND I'm a full demon versus him being a mere half demon.  So good luck to him if he thinks he can touch a hair on MY head!"

POW

Shippo was suddenly punched on the head, sending him to the grass, "OW! Even as a human you hit just like-" he turned and saw an annoyed Inuyasha standing over him, "your dad..."

"I'm going to do more than that!" Inuyasha chased after Shippo running around in circles as Kaede sat under the tree and just watched the two banter back and forth as Inuyasha made promises to harm Shippo.

Kaede sighed, "I tried to warn him."

Shippo managed to dig a leaf out from his bag of tricks and placed it on his head, suddenly turning into a large bird and flying away, "I'll see you around, Kaede!"

"GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME!" Inuyasha yelled after the fox demon.

Kaede watched as Shippo fled from the beatdown he was definitely going to receive from her father.  Inuyasha walked over to her, sitting on the ground next to her, handing Kaede her sword.

"You left this behind," he said.

Kaede took the sheathed blade, "It's not like I can use it, right now."

 "It's better than nothing, "He simply stated.

Kaede sighed, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Inuyasha asked.

"I got upset over nothing.  I shouldn't have just blasted you like that," Kaede explained.

Inuyasha was silent for a moment. Kaede could see that he was thinking about something.

"Kaede, "he suddenly said, "If there's anything you feel guilty for, "Kaede's heart jumped up into her throat, "I just thought I should say that you should know that your mom and I wouldn't ever want you to think that you have to go out of your way to make up for it.  Especially doing anything that puts your life at risk."

Kaede looked down at the grass, "I've already told you.  I'm responsible for putting everything back to normal."

"What could you have possibly done to believe this was your fault?" Inuyasha asked firmly.

Kaede held a solemn look on her face, "The day before Naraku killed you and mom.... I broke the seals my grandpa put on the well, and went through it with a jewel shard.  I was the one who broke the seals which allowed Naraku to sense me through the other side of the well and come through.  I started all of this..."

Inuyasha was shocked.  Kaede had broken through the well and gone to the Feudal era on her own?

"Why did you go through the well?" he asked.

"I... I don't remember, "Kaede lied, "I remember I had a jewel shard and was curious about what was on the other side.  You guys never really talked much about it.  Every now and then Uncle Sota or Great Grandpa would bring something up about it and the two of you would shut down the conversation.  At least around me you didn't talk about it."

"...Kaede..." Inuyasha had so many thoughts and feelings about how he wanted to tell her none of this was her fault, "You-"

"Inuyasha," the stern voice of Sesshomaru suddenly burst through both of their thoughts.

Inuyasha got straight to his feet, putting his hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga, "Sesshomaru!"

Kaede stood up quickly as well.

"To what pleasure do we owe a visit from you?!" Inuyasha growled.

Sesshomaru looked past his half demon brother to the woman standing behind him, specifically to what she was carrying at her waist, "So it's true.  I've heard the rumors that two Tetsusaiga's were in circulation."

Kaede gasped, realizing he'd noticed her sword.  Inuyasha rushed to block Kaede from view, "It doesn't matter anyway! You can't even hold ONE Tetsusaiga let alone two!"

"She's human, "Sesshomaru remarked, "That should make it much easier to take the Tetsusaiga than it was before, "he jumped up and over Inuyasha, heading for a landing on Kaede.

"Oh no you don't!" Inuyasha brandished his sword, jumping up and making a swipe at his older brother.  Sesshomaru changed course and jumped away, landing off to the side.

Inuyasha looked to Kaede, "Get out of here!"

"But-" Kaede started, her father turning to give her a glare, "Y-yeah, sure.."

Kaede turned and ran towards their room at the Inn they had been staying at.  She turned to see that Sesshomaru had unsheathed Tokijin, preparing for a battle.

"I have to get the others!" Kaede thought as she picked up speed and ran to get her friends.

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For the Next Chapter!

As Kaede caught her breath, she'd forgotten Kohaku was still behind her. She stood up, staring at her blade, a mix of awe and confusion passing over her.

"KAEDE!" Kagome shouted, "WATCH OUT!"

Kaede turned to see Kohaku raising his sickle just above her, no time to move.

"NO!" Inuyasha rushed forward, knowing he would be too late.

Time seemed to slow for Kaede. Kohaku bringing down the sickle upon her seemed to last a lifetime. She could hear her father calling out to her. Sango cried out to the boy, begging him to stop. Kaede closed her eyes, preparing for the blow, she had no time to react.