A knock at the door roused her from her doze. Kagome had come home from work and crashed, too tired to do anything. She'd had a particularly rough day with the kids and Inuyasha had seemed in a bad mood this morning so she'd been dreading seeing him when she got home. Fortunately he'd made himself scarce, simply mentioning that he wasn't hungry and not to worry about him. She had a sneaking suspicion that he was messing around on her computer, trying to understand how it worked. She just hoped he didn't try to take it apart to see the inner workings. Another knock had her up and moving to the front door of her apartment. "Who is it?"

"Kagome, let me in!" Her friend Sango's voice told her something was up. She opened the door and her friend was storming in without warning. "Well you at least look better." Kagome blinked sleepily at her. "You haven't called me in over a week!"

Kagome instantly felt guilty. Her best friend had been understandably worried about her and she'd been so tired and busy dealing with Inuyasha that she hadn't even thought to call her. "I'm sorry, Sango, I've been so busy..."

"Kagome, who's here?" Sango's face became confused at the male voice coming from the other side of the apartment and Kagome's eyes widened in realization. Sango knew nothing about how drastically her life had changed in the last week.

"Who..." Inuyasha came out of Kagome's room from the balcony where he'd been using her laptop. "Who is this?"

"Um... Sango, this is Inuyasha. Inuyasha, Sango." The two stared at each other in surprise and vague indifference, respectively. "Sango is my best friend, Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha... Like, the hanyou Inuyasha? Your parents made an interesting name choice."

Kagome was stunned. "You knew about Inuyasha and you didn't say anything?!" Sango glanced between them with a baffled look on her face. "Sango, this is the guy from my dream!" Sango openly gaped at them both.

"I thought you didn't know his name and you said your dream guy was human. The Inuyasha from the story is hanyou, this guy is human..." Kagome blushed fiercely at referring to him as her "dream guy." Luckily Inuyasha was focused on other things.

"Not supposed to be. Thanks for rubbing it in," he harrumphed.

"Inuyasha was hanyou when I released him from the tree. Some of the leftover energy from the monks - and me too I guess - purified him. So now he's human."

Sango took a deep breath as though to settle into the strangeness of the situation. "Not permanently though." Both of them shrugged at her. "How long has it been?"

"Too damn long." Both women sent him a faint glare. "Almost a week."

Sango looked thoughtful. "I've never heard of a hanyou's youki being suppressed that long." Inuyasha sighed, flopping down dejectedly on the couch. "It doesn't mean it won't come back. It was, I'm presuming, keeping you alive and young for... What? Fifty years? You may just have to wait for a trigger."

"Maybe if you got out and did some sparring, with Miroku or something? He was trained as a warrior monk."

"You've made all kinds of new friends since I talked to you last," Sango said with a not so subtle look. Kagome flushed under her friend's pointed stare. With a glance in Inuyasha's direction, she dragged Sango through her room and onto the balcony, closing the door behind them. "Is he staying here with you?" Sango ask incredulously. Kagome nodded, suddenly feeling nervous. "Kagome, that's so unlike you!"

"Now wait a second! He didn't have anywhere to go. He's been asleep on a tree for the last fifty years. As far as I can tell, all his friends are gone or very old. He has no family that I know of."

Sango put her hands on her friend's shoulders. "Whoa, Kagome, whoa. I wasn't scolding you. I'm just surprised. You've never really let a guy into your space like this before."

"He's different." Sango gave Kagome a look that clearly said she knew he was different. Kagome sighed. "I don't know what it is about him, Sango. We just have this connection. Even in the dream, Kaou said..."

"You went to Kaou?! Kagome! You could have died!" Kagome waved her hands at Sango to hush.

"His hearing is still very good! Keep it down! He's... protective." She took a deep breath and explained everything that had happened since she'd gone to see her before coming up with her plan. Sango was from a long line of tajiya, and she was very knowledgeable about all kinds of youkai. She didn't practice youkai slaying herself, but she knew the trade and knew the stories. Kagome had finally confessed her dream to her friend after months of Sango worrying over her health. She had mentioned Kaou off-hand, but she had never thought Kagome would go through with something so dangerous. "Kaou said the line of fate between us was very strong. I can't imagine why it would be if I wasn't supposed to help him."

"I only know a little of his story. There's a lot of conflicting ideas. Some say he attacked the priestess and she was only strong enough to seal him, not kill him. Some say they were tricked and it was another youkai altogether that attacked both of them. There's even some that say they were involved and a jealous monk was to blame, that she loved him so she couldn't muster the strength to kill him."

"None of those make any sense on their own."

Sango smiled a little. "No, they don't. As stories often go, there's probably a little truth in all of them, it's just a matter of what part is true in which story and how that fits with the other facts." Sango looked thoughtfully toward where they hoped Inuyasha was still sitting on the couch. "He doesn't remember what happened?" Kagome made a face and sort of shrugged. "Shame. It would certainly help clear some things up."

"The little he remembers doesn't give any sort of timeline. He knows Kikyo has to have shot the arrow that sealed him and he doesn't remember attacking her. He does know that the thing that tried to convince him it was Kikyo was definitely a youkai."

"So another youkai tricked them and Kikyo didn't realize it until it was too late."

"That seems to be at least part of the story. We still can't understand why and if Kikyo did realize it wasn't Inuyasha, why didn't she release him?"

"She may never have known. From what I understand, she died less than a day after the attack." Kagome nodded sadly. Part of her ached for Inuyasha's loss. It seemed as though the two of them had been close, possibly romantically. The other part of her was horribly jealous and hurt by any mention of the deceased miko. She couldn't understand it. Even when her best friend in high school had managed to lure a boy right from under Kagome's nose, she had never felt this kind of jealousy and anger toward another woman. This kind of betrayal. She had no claim over Inuyasha, and she was very aware of the fact that he had no real interest in her. She couldn't blame him. She'd done a little research on the internet and she was startled to see how similar she and Kikyo looked. She wouldn't want to look at someone who shared a face with the person who betrayed her either. "Kagome, are you two..."

Kagome gave her friend a sad half smile. "I was just thinking about that. No. I-I look too much like Kikyo and I don't imagine he'd want to get involved with another miko anyway."

"But you're interested." Kagome looked away, a flush coming to her cheeks. "This guy has a lot of baggage, Kagome."

"I know that." She sighed. "He's not even kind of interested, so I'm not going to do anything. He'll get on his feet soon and then he'll want his own place." So he can move on and meet another girl, her mind provided snidely. Kagome tried to hide her cringe at the thought.

"And if it turned out he was interested? Then what?"

Kagome shook her head. "Sango, I just don't think that's going to happen. Anyway, he's still learning the ropes of this time. Computers, cell phones, the VCR..." Sango chuckled.

"He might as well give up on the last one and so should you. No one owns VHS tapes anymore, Kagome, except you."

Making a face at her friend, Kagome glanced up through the sliding door and thought she may have seen the end of a dark tail of hair disappear through the doorway of her bedroom. Kami, I hope he didn't hear that. She was distracted by Sango asking about this monk she had met and trying to get out of her what her plans were to deal with her new roommate situation.

For once, the new moon didn't bother him. Normally, becoming human made him irritable and frustrated. Now he was already weak and without his senses, so what did it matter? "Popcorn?" Kagome asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts. She was less nervous around him, which made him glad. After the incident a few days before in the bathroom, and the conversation he'd partially overhead from the bedroom yesterday, he had been worried she would avoid him. Not that there was much space for her to avoid him in. At least he wasn't camped out on her balcony anymore.

"Sure," he replied. She quirked a little smile and plopped down next to him on the couch. He had been becoming more familiar with the television in the last couple of days, but he hadn't seen her use the other contraptions attached to it. Television in color was pretty cool, he had to admit, and the picture was far clearer than he ever remembered. The advances in technology were impressive. He had only vaguely gotten into using her computer while she was at work the last few days and he had a feeling he had a lot to learn when it came to that machine.

Kagome had decided they needed a night doing something simple and normal, something where there was no pressure on either one of them to really talk or interact. A movie seemed the perfect option. After dinner, Kagome had set up the tv and popped some popcorn so they could share it. Not having to go out to a theater was a novel experience for him and he found he liked the convenience and the intimacy of watching a movie in her apartment.

As she grew more and more tired, Kagome leaned closer and closer to him. He wasn't sure she realized what she was doing. Inuyasha struggled not to do anything she would feel uncomfortable with, but found he couldn't resist sliding his arm around her shoulders and bringing her up against his side. There was no one to see, no one to complain that they were being too familiar. It seemed that men and women spending time alone together was nowhere near as taboo now as it had been fifty years before. Inuyasha couldn't find a single thing wrong with that.

As she fell deeper asleep, she even curled up like a cat into his chest, one of her small hands gripping his t-shirt. "What am I going to do with you, huh?" he murmured into her hair where he'd rested his nose a moment before. She only breathed out a sigh and snuggled closer. Inuyasha didn't realize he was even sleepy until he awoke with a jolt, dawn light shining in his eyes. He felt odd. The young woman in his arms, one leg thrown over his hip, shifted restlessly and he had to take a deep breath to focus on anything but the way her whole body was pressed against his front. The tingling sensation he was feeling from his toes to the top of his head was not excitement, as he'd first thought. Something was happening. "Kagome..." he murmured, a little bit frightened despite himself. She stirred again, his reaction more pronounced. He felt a growl rumble in his chest as he tried not to move against her.

Him not moving was apparently an invitation for her to do just that. Kagome's leg slid against his hip, slight warmth seeping through his pants as she tried to get closer and she whimpered faintly. He wasn't sure if she was still asleep or not. He was definitely awake when he felt her lips against his for the first time in the real world. Soft and slightly parted, her mouth drew him into a kiss his body didn't feel ready for. He felt like bees were buzzing under his skin, tingles and electrical surges in his blood. He found himself responding to her kiss as though commanded, his tongue curling against the slick underside of her upper lip. What felt like a tiny static shock pinched the sensitive tip of his tongue. Kagome jumped slightly, now awake. "What... Kami-sama!" Kagome's eyes flew open in shock and she stared openly at him. He frowned, not sure why she looked so stunned. "You're back."

"Back?" he asked with a wince. Everything seemed too loud, too intense. The taste of Kagome's lips on his tongue made his chest feel tight. He breathed deeply and found the scent of Kagome nearly overwhelming. The edge of want on her was sharp and it pulled at his nose, his body. Then, "Shit. I'm me again!" he said, laughing and grinning. He practically dumped Kagome off the couch as he jumped up to look at himself in the bathroom mirror. Everything was back to the way it should be. Silver hair, dog ears on top of his head, amber eyes, fangs, claws, the works. He'd never been so glad to be a hanyou in his entire life.

He rushed back to the living room where Kagome was blinking at him, her dark eyes wide and uncertain. He swung her up into a hug, caught in his euphoria at having his youki and his senses back. Unlike Kagome, he just barely caught himself before kissing her, suddenly worried. Would she not want him to touch her now that he was hanyou again? He quickly set her down, barely catching the way the smile melted off of her face. She seemed genuinely happy for me. But being happy for him wasn't necessarily the same as wanting to be touched by him. An abomination.

He coughed, turning his eyes away. "Keh."

"I... I'm glad you're feeling like yourself again," she said softly, the hurt in her voice clear. Inuyasha wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. No matter how close they had gotten over the last few days and how much he wanted to keep it that way, he had to let her go. Kagome was the one at risk for ridicule, hate. That was his fate. But to bring someone else down... Like his mother had been. Like Kikyo had been. No. He couldn't do that to another woman who cared about him.

Sparring in the rec room at the community center had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Get out some of their aggression, release some tension and, as a side bonus, train Kagome to better fight any youkai that might attack her. Now that they were fully in the swing of it, Inuyasha was regretting the suggestion. As always when in battle, he'd taken to insulting and name calling to get a rise out of his opponent. Angry opponents get sloppy. Kagome, irritated with him over his perceived rejection the day before, took his teasing too seriously and had become even more angry. More angry for her apparently meant less control of her miko energy. He was struggling to keep out of the way of her chaotic bursts of reiki, unable to predict their paths. She wasn't hitting anything on purpose, but she definitely wasn't defending herself all that well either.

"You're so heartless!" she finally cried, flinging a wobbling blob of pink energy in his direction. Inuyasha was able to dodge it, darting in close enough to grab her as it weakly hit one of the weight machines and made the weights clink together. He was stunned to notice that her aura didn't burn him like he had assumed it would. He'd prepared himself to deal with the burns or being human, but this was a surprise.

"I'm not," he growled, wrapping his arms around her as he heaved for air.

Kagome's eyes filled with irritation and hurt. "It's like you don't care about what happened. There was no thank you..."

His hand was rough at the back of her neck at first, but gentled when he had her close enough. His breath still left him in harsh pants, matching her own labored breathing. "Thanking you will never be enough," he murmured. "What you did for me..."

Kagome's face slowly softened, her irritation leaving her. "I had to. But I wanted to."

Inuyasha rumbled softly before pressing his forehead against hers. "You could have had Kaou remove the connection. You never would have had to deal with me." Kagome shook her head in denial. The part already so drawn to her clawed at him to bring her closer.

"You pushed me away yesterday," she whispered, her hurt returning.

The scent of her upset was cloying, and Inuyasha struggled to keep his instincts to fix everything in check. "Not because I wanted to," he admitted, glad when her scent softened slightly.

"Then why?"

Inuyasha sighed, but kept her close to be surrounded by her scent. He could read her much more easily that way than by trying to read her face. "Everyone that ever cared about me has had their lives destroyed because of me, then died. I can't... couldn't watch that happen to you too."

"It wouldn't. It won't," she told him. Her easy certainty made him feel more sure himself.

"Kagome..." A soft shuddering breath left her and it was enough to put him past his tipping point. His hand at the nape of her neck, he pulled her mouth against his, finally tasting what he had craved from the moment she appeared in his nightmare, had barely had a hint of within it and had been seeking ever since she woke him. Kissing her while human just wasn't the same. Her scent didn't fill his nose the same way and he couldn't taste her as well as he could while hanyou. Her hands rose to his shoulders, gripping him to her almost desperately. He felt like she would climb him if necessary to keep in contact. Enabling exactly that, his free hand slid under her thigh, lifting her against him at the same time he pressed her into the wall. A soft groan left her and her fingers tangled in his hair, tugging on it roughly. A stronger growl left him at the aggressiveness in her passion.

"Inu..." she murmured when his mouth left hers to nip her throat and slip his tongue over the light marks he left behind. Inuyasha found his hips pressing into the cradle of her thighs, his body seeking what he had not even thought to yet. Her fingers skimmed against his spine as she pulled his t-shirt out of his hakama. He groaned into the hollow of her throat, tongue darting out to slide over the nearest ridge of collar bone. The door opening behind him froze them both, yet neither moved to part. "Go away Miroku," Kagome said much more evenly than he thought himself, or her, capable of. Inuyasha pressed his nose against her cheek, closing his eyes to try and calm himself down.

"Sorry," the other man said in a stunned voice. "The priestess in charge of the center is here to see you."

"Right now?" the inuhanyou asked, startled. He slowly released Kagome to slide down the wall, but kept himself between her and the man at the door. Partially a possessive move, Inuyasha couldn't deny it was also a stall to get himself under some kind of control. Kagome's eyes looked up into his, almost drawing him back in. "Keh. We'll be out in a minute."

"Inuyasha..."

"I said a minute!" he snarled. Miroku put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

"Oops," Kagome whispered, a mischievous gleam in her eye. Inuyasha smirked in response. Letting out a deep sigh, he ran his fingers through her hair one more time before he backed away from her. Her hands reached for him but he shook his head.

"If I don't stop now, I won't be able to." He saw her nostrils flare and her pupils dilate in response to his suggestion. He barely swallowed a growl. "Let's go talk to this priestess."

The pair found an older woman speaking in soft tones with Miroku in the courtyard. She seemed familiar to Inuyasha, but he couldn't pick out why. She was dressed in miko garb, her black and steel gray hair was pulled back in a traditional miko style. She looked formal, serious and comfortable all at the same time. "When Kenji told me, I didn't quite believe it." Inuyasha's head tilted in confusion. This priestess had long proclaimed his innocence, claimed to know the real story, but he couldn't recall meeting her. Her mouth turned up in a faint smile. "You don't recognize me, do you Inuyasha?" she said with a laugh, as though reading his mind. "I was younger, and much smaller then." He took a deeper sniff to catch her scent and felt his face stretch in surprise.

"Kaede? You're Kikyo's kid sister?" Kaede's smile turned wry.

"Certainly not a child anymore, but yes." Inuyasha was floored. This was his first real reminder of how much time had passed. Kaede had been... five, maybe six when he was imprisoned. Now she was grown and well into middle age. It was startling and a little overwhelming to see. Kagome's hand on his arm was the only thing keeping him anchored. "You must be Kagome," Kaede said with a small bow. "I am so glad to finally meet you. Kenji's letter didn't quite do you justice. Your aura is quite strong." Kagome could only bow in response, surprise stilling her tongue.

"Kaede-sama and my father have long been friends. They were both around when you were trapped, Inuyasha." The pair could only stare at Miroku. Inuyasha did not miss the faint inflection in Kaede's scent when the monk spoke. Something like sadness, but covered with something else. He pushed the thought aside to focus on what she was saying.

"Let us sit and you can ask any questions you have and I will try to tell you anything I remember." Inuyasha couldn't think of anything specific he wanted to ask, at least, not anything that he really felt ready to hear the answer to. After a short awkward silence, Kaede clearly felt the need to get the conversation going. "This place is a safe haven, as you have seen, for people of all races and kinds of power. We have fought to keep a foothold in this part of the city because of the mixing of youkai, human and those of holy power."

"I thought they didn't like mixing," Inuyasha put in.

Kagome made a soft noise. "It isn't exactly voluntary anymore. People go where they can afford and, without the restrictions that used to exist on who could live where, humans and youkai have begun overlapping in their choices of where to live."

"There are definitely still places that are severely segregated, but they are less volatile because there is less youkai/human interaction," Kaede supplied.

Inuyasha contemplated this change. When he was growing up, his mother had been forced to live on the very edge of what was considered "human" territory because the landlords there tended to be looser about following the laws and allowed her to live there with her half breed son. Now it wasn't like that. Inuyasha mourned for the life of hardship his mother had to lead because of him. She never would have let me think that way, he reminded himself. What she did, she did out of love. Inuyasha found his eyes straying to Kagome. She would smack me if she knew I was pitying her for her choice. He wasn't entirely sure if he was thinking of his mother or Kagome in that moment.

Miroku interrupted his thoughts with a soft cough. Kagome hadn't noticed him staring, but apparently the bouzu had. Inuyasha glared at him but turned his eyes away. "The center not only provides a safe place for everyone, we do outreach in the community as well. There are several youkai on staff here that help us reach those in the youkai communities that are not as opposed to integration." Kaede smiled. "We have not yet found many hanyou who are willing to work with us." There was an obvious pause in which everyone looked to Inuyasha and he sat there, blinking innocently.

"What?"

"Nothing, Inuyasha," Kaede replied with a small grin and a shake of her head.

"Why bother with all this? People will figure it out, or they won't. Things are definitely not like they were in the Sengoku Jidai or even later. Youkai aren't running around eating everyone and miko aren't running around sealing youkai without asking questions..." To their credit, the others didn't wince as they watched his words sink in. "Usually."

Kaede took a deep breath. "There is a prophecy that surrounds the birth of a new era, a step further toward peace." Her voice turned a little soft. "The legend states that a hanyou will be born who will meet their destiny. A person of great holy power. Their union will bring forth into the world a child, one of youki and reiki in perfect harmony. The balance of powers that no one thought could coexist before. The sign that this silent war is not necessary." The inuhanyou, miko and houshi all sat in silence, taking in what the older miko was telling them. "It has long been my belief that whoever sealed you, Inuyasha, feared that this prophecy would come true when your relationship with my sister changed." Inuyasha caught the way Kagome flinched out of the corner of his eye. He had never made it clear to her what his relationship with Kikyo was really like.

He scowled, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest. "They wasted a lot of energy. Kikyo and I would never have fulfilled any prophecy. Especially when she wanted me to become human," he said, trying to remain matter of fact and not sound bitter. The three holy people he sat with all looked stunned, Kagome in particular.

"I did not realize that it was still an issue for her. But I imagine that was why it was so much easier to trick the both of you back then." Inuyasha only nodded. It might be embarrassing to admit, but the old miko was right. Had he and Kikyo been as close as, perhaps, the unknown youkai was worried about, they would not have been so easily fooled into thinking they each had been betrayed by the other. Inuyoukai relied very heavily on scents and once the imposter was close enough, he knew it was not Kikyo. The fact that the thing wearing Kikyo's face had been emitting youki was only icing on the cake. But by then, it seemed, the youkai had already fooled Kikyo and set in motion the events that followed.

Clearing her throat, abruptly breaking the awkward silence, Kagome spoke up. "So the hanyou and the person of holy power could be anyone. It just so happened that Inuyasha and Kikyo were... close... at the time and someone maybe thought they were the ones." Kagome bit her lip and flicked her eyes to the inuhanyou at her side. It could be us. She flushed slightly and tried not to think that way. "More hanyou have been born in the last twenty years than in all of history before that."

First pulled in by the scent Kagome was giving off, Inuyasha was shocked back into reality by her factoid. "That still can't be that many," he scoffed.

"Several hundred, I believe. That's nothing to sneeze at." Inuyasha was startled, but fought not to show it. There were hundreds of others like him out there? And no one had tried to kill them like they had him when he was little. Most of them probably had at least one parent living, if not both. Obviously things had changed even more than he'd thought. "As far as the prophecy goes... I was under the impression that hanyou were sterile." Kagome said softly, shooting an apologetic look in Inuyasha's direction. This time he couldn't hide his stunned look. He'd never even thought about the possibility of trying to have children as a hanyou, he never thought he'd have the chance, so he felt he shouldn't be that surprised. It was still a slightly painful realization, even not having planned on it before.

"Many have come to believe that. There are a few, very few, hanyou who have mated with youkai and there have been children of those unions. If a hanyou has been with a regular human, no one has made note of it. It could be that the child had such a low level of youki as to be negligible. It would be easy to blend in among the mostly human population." Kaede seemed to think about it a moment longer. "It could be that the union of two people with power, reiki or youki, is the trigger that allows for the physical unity that would not normally occur."

Kagome watched the expressions on Inuyasha's face and found herself feeling near tears. He seemed so surprised. That he had maybe wanted children of his own and was now being told - by a silly human girl - that he might never have the chance, broke her heart. It was only what she had read, not what she knew to be absolutely true, but it pained her to see the loss in his eyes. His golden gaze locked with hers again and he muttered something she didn't quite catch before gently wiping away the tears clinging to her lower lashes. "So this... prophecy. If things have changed, no one should still be trying to prevent it from happening, right?" he asked, still staring into her eyes.

Miroku cleared his throat with a glance at the elder miko sitting in amused silence. "I wish I could say that was the case, but I know my father and Kaede-sama have been keeping an eye on some of the holy groups who are opposed to the integration of youkai into the rest of human society. There are some groups of youkai who are equally opposed, but we do not have access to watch them in the same way." It took a moment for Inuyasha to process what the ex-monk was saying before he could pull his eyes away from Kagome. "There is a good possibility that all the hanyou that have been born are being watched by at least one of these groups and that any one of them could try to prevent what they see as undesirable."

"So no single one of them is safe?" Kagome breathed.

"I would guess not. There haven't been any open attacks on hanyou or their families for over ten years, but that doesn't mean they couldn't happen." Miroku shrugged.

Inuyasha felt conflicted. Part of him still felt that the best thing he could do would be to remove himself from any contact with Kagome to keep her safe. At the same time he couldn't imagine leaving her to be protected by anyone else. He wouldn't trust anyone else to keep her safe. She might not have to BE protected if I leave her alone. While his mind thought this reasoning was good, his gut instinct and his youkai half clearly thought otherwise.

"I can't imagine the families of hanyou and the hanyou themselves don't know they're in danger. Unless this prophecy isn't well known..." The uncomfortable looks that met her statement made Kagome sigh. "In no way would I want to discourage anyone from pursuing a relationship with someone they care about, but I think that all hanyou should know the risk they might be taking without realizing it."

"What about people with holy auras, aren't they at risk?" Inuyasha wanted to know.

Kaede and Miroku shared another look. The pair were so obviously worried about one another. "I am sure that they could be, but since hanyou still hold a somewhat precarious status in society, it is more likely that they would be the target and not anyone with reiki. That is why what we do here is so important. We want to reach out to those hanyou, to warn them, educate them, but so many of them stay hidden."

"Hanyou get the shit end of the stick, that's for sure," Inuyasha grumbled.

Kaede motioned for the others to give them some space and he hesitated to let Kagome leave with the letch. Miroku was a good guy, but he was basically living out his teenage years in his late twenties when it came to women. Inuyasha didn't trust him to keep his hands to himself. But Kagome definitely won't let him get away with anything, he thought with a smirk. "I am sorry that no one was able to release you before now, Inuyasha. You didn't deserve to have all those years stolen from you." Despite feeling like he had missed out on so much, he couldn't help feeling grateful for what he'd woken up to. "My sister was... too weak to release you before she passed." Inuyasha flinched at the old pain in her voice.

"What happened to her?"

"The other youkai that tricked you both wounded her severely. The wound released miasma into her body hours after the injury itself. By the time she realized what it was doing to her, she was too weak to cleanse the miasma in her blood and she was too stubborn to ask for help," Kaede almost growled. Inuyasha was surprised by the vehemence in her tone. As far as he'd known, Kaede did nothing but idolize her older sister. "She was too far gone, even once she knew it had not been you, to release you from the tree."

"Keh."

"Iwao did not help matters. He tried to convince her to fight against the contaminant on her own, as if she had to prove her purity, and continued to blame you even when it was obvious that she no longer did."

Inuyasha tried to remember anyone by that name. "Who?"

"You met him the day you awoke, though you knew him then too. He is the monk who did not want to let you leave. He was very obviously in love with my sister and jealous of your relationship." Kaede paused to take a calming breath. "He was always vocal about not letting you near the temple grounds when you were not around. If it had not so obviously been a youkai that attacked you both, I would have had my suspicions about him."

"Sounds like you still do." Kaede sighed. "So what about now? Do I need to make myself scarce? I doubt news hasn't spread about me not being a tree ornament anymore."

The older miko eyed him carefully. "No matter what, if you are near her, there will be assumptions. But, if you choose to pursue what is so obviously in your heart, then you must be watchful." Inuyasha gaped like a fish, mouth moving without sound coming out for several moments. Kaede smiled a little. "The affection between you is obvious to anyone paying attention," she said with a faint chuckle. "Do not let your relationship with my sister, no matter what it may have been, keep you from what is so obviously right. Kagome was able to release you for a reason and the connection between you is strong."

"Do you think she's Kikyo's reincarnation?" he asked bluntly.

Kaede's face became thoughtful. "It is possible. It might explain why she was able to remove the arrow when no one else could. However, she is very different from my sister. I loved Kikyo very much, and losing her was painful. Kagome is everything my sister should have been. Lovely, intelligent, strong and kind."

"Kikyo was that too."

Kaede's face again became wistful. "Yes, but her heart was not open to all people the way that Kagome's so clearly is. My sister was not accepting and understanding in the way that Kagome is. Her training made her rigid in her beliefs. My sister could never have loved you as fully as Kagome surely does," she finished in a soft whisper for the hanyou's ears only. Inuyasha was stunned. He knew from the moment he smelled her that Kagome was very different from Kikyo, he just hadn't realized how different and how incredibly important that was.

As if feeling his sudden need to be near her again, Kagome returned with Miroku in tow. "Are you sure you would not reconsider, Kagome-sama?" The glare she shot him made it quite clear she had no intention of even considering anything he had suggested a first time, let alone a second. Inuyasha fought down a growl, Kagome's hand on his shoulder a balm for his irritation. If he didn't understand the bouzu's sudden feeling of freedom, he might have killed him already. As it was, he was severely tempted to string him up by his toes and make it clear that he was never to touch Kagome again.

Riding on the coattails of that thought was the need to touch Kagome himself and make sure any iota of the bouzu's scent was gone. He couldn't get close enough in public to really tell if Miroku had touched her, so he wanted to get her alone so he could tell and possibly do something about it if he had. "You are both welcome here whenever you wish. Don't hesitate to use the resources provided here."

"Thank you," Kagome said softly, her face holding some sort of odd emotion Inuyasha couldn't place. Kaede seemed to understand perfectly and reached out to grip Kagome's hand. "I'm sorry," Kagome whispered.

"No need for apologies, child. You are your own soul and your own woman. Don't ever regret that. If it is so, I truly believe my sister would be very proud to be a part of the person you are. Accept it and continue on your path." Kagome's gentle smile calmed his unwarranted anxiety and he tugged her elbow to get her moving toward home. He needed her to himself, and soon, or he was going to... I don't know what's wrong with me. I need to be surrounded by her scent, only hers. He tried to shake off the feeling but found himself lifting Kagome onto his back and practically racing toward her apartment at breakneck speed.