A few days after the foreign yokai joined the group, enough priests and mikos had come from surrounding temples to aid the healing villagers. Rin and Sango felt it would be safe enough for this village if they returned to Edo. A small contingent of forest dwelling yokai had agreed to keep an eye out for their human neighbors.

Shippo had asked for the privilege of courting Rin and begged for Sesshomaru's forgiveness for any possible untoward behavior, but the Inu lord had not responded with anything more than growled threats. Yet. Sesshomaru could smell that his daughter's purity was intact, and had every intention of allowing the kit to make his request to Rin… He just wanted to make the boy sweat in retaliation for not coming to him first.

InuYasha continued to hover over Kikyo, practically waiting on her hand and foot. Kikyo still failed to exhibit any signs of being a reiki wielder, to the consternation of those who knew her well. Inari kept a close watch over the pair, so much so that InuYasha started to lash out at her. He quickly found not only his half brother blocking his attack, but Calian as well. InuYasha grumbled and growled, but kept his claws to himself. Inari maintained her vigil.

The new additions to the group were more accepting of human companionship than certain other yokai and had come to know Miroku and Sango quite well. Sango remained confused by some of their interactions and Miroku only said that she would understand when their new friends were more comfortable.

Two weeks after Calian and his group had helped defeat the strange dark creatures, they followed Miroku, Sango, and the others to Edo.

It was nearing dusk, and the travelers could see an odd light coming from the area of the Bone Eater's Well. Miroku's curiosity was piqued, as was Shippo's. As soon as it was decided to detour, they all felt a strange magic flood the area. The yokai of the group sped to the meadow to see a shaft of light pouring from the old well. By the time the humans, with InuYasha and Kikyo trailing behind, had made it to the edge of the meadow, flames started to rise from inside the well.

This snapped InuYasha from his apparent trance at Kikyo's side. He gasped in terror and tried to run to the well, but was stopped by Inari and Elias. They held him in place beside his mate.

"You will only do more damage if you go," Inari whispered beside his ear.

InuYasha was unsure of her meaning, but he knew that well, what it was, where it lead, and stayed still even as panic gripped his heart.

Sango buried her face in her husband's shoulder at the sight of the flames. Miroku's shoulder was soaked by her tears rather quickly as he watched flames pour out of the only way they had of seeing Kagome again. Rin huddled just behind his other shoulder, tears streaming down her face as she clung to Sango's hand at his back.

The yokai surrounding the well were shocked by the feel of gentle purity rolling from the flames. As recognition dawned on Shippo, a shaft of fire erupted from the well. He stepped back, knowing this would be good.

As they all watched, a plume of flaming feathers crested the well. Within seconds, a body followed the feathered plume and a phoenix emerged in all her glory. The Phoenix flew up until her tail passed the wood of the well, then with a flaring of wings the flames went out as she shifted her form. A humanoid female body landed lightly on one edge of the well. She had barely glanced at the surrounding crowd before her foot slipped on the damp wood.

She flailed in an attempt to keep her balance, but before she could fall two pairs of warm hands grasped her own.

Kagome had closed her eyes when she slipped. She opened them to two yokai holding her in place on the ledge. She quickly looked to the hand she recognized, since it had tried to kill her on several occasions, then to his eyes. She thought she saw a hint of concern there, but if she did, it was hidden quickly by disdain and anger. The Inu lord dropped her hand upon recognition and stalked away.

Quickly, Kagome looked to her other rescuer and found herself looking into glittering gold eyes. She knew Nitika from time spent training together in the dream plane. Still holding on to the small eagle's hand, Kagome stepped down from the edge of the well and hugged her friend before turning to yell back down to Aya.

"Come on up, Aya," she called. "They're all here!"

Shippo was startled by a voice coming from behind him. No one else had seen her either…

"I'm already out, sister." Aya said with an audible eyeroll. "You might want to get on with the introductions. That is one very pissed off puppy over there." She pointed in the direction Sesshomaru had just gone, hearing his very vocal reaction to her comment.

Kagome looked thoughtful for a moment before she responded. "I forgot you could do that…"

Kagome almost jumped when she saw the yokai Aya stood beside. She stared at him for a moment before asking outright.

"Who are you? I haven't seen you here before."

Shippo shrank with disappointment. He looked at her with hurt shining in his eyes. "I thought you'd always recognize me, Mama." he said quietly.

Before he had a chance to turn, Kagome was in front of him, glaring.

"Don't you dare try to say your're my little kit." she scolded. "My Shippo is a child, not a near adult." Kagome raised a single finger glowing with reiki. "Tell me who you really are," she growled at him.

Miroku and Sango ran to stop Kagome from possibly hurting her own son, but were too far away.

With a flash of white, Sesshomaru stood between the kitsune and miko. "Maybe you should stop assuming things, Miko." the demon lord growled.

She glared up at him, and in a fit of temper, punched him in the jaw. Before he could be stopped, Sesshomaru threw Kagome across the clearing. She disappeared in midair. Kagome reappeared as she stepped from a small portal directly in front of the big dog. As quickly as he stepped back to retaliate, Kagome was surrounded by two pairs of feathered wings and had been pulled behind Shiriki and Dyani.

Glowering at the group, Sesshomaru growled. "She has been gone for nearly a full season and expects nothing to have changed." He stepped away, so Shippo could be seen at his side.

"You come into her presence only now," he pointed at her as he continued, "and defend her when she attacks her own adopted son," here, he gestured to Shippo. "He did nothing to deserve such treatment from the one he calls mother." He looked to Shippo. "Kit, you best come clean. I will not defend you again. Your request has been jeopardized by your lack of honesty." With that, Sesshomaru stormed off into the forest.

As the adrenaline calmed, Miroku, Sango, and InuYasha came to stand between Shippo and Kagome. Rin had stayed behind with Inari, Elias, and Kikyo.

Kagome glared at her friends. "One of you wanna explain what the fuck that damned fur ball was talking about and who the hell that is behind you?" She gently brushed away the wings that held her and pushed past Shiriki and his mate.

Kagome stepped forward until she was nose to nose with her hanyo best friend. "Yasha," she spit with an expressionless face. "What. The. Fuck." InuYasha's ears flattened against his skull. Mentally, he prepared himself to be subjugated into the afterlife.

Miroku cleared his throat and rested a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Kagome, there really is a lot we must discuss."

Sango spoke immediately after. "Like why are you wearing a Phoenix battle dress, coming out of the well in the guise of a Phoenix yokai, when we can all feel your reiki?"

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A/N: Stopping point. Next chapter should have some things resolved. No, Sesshomaru doesn't know about her training… Yet. Currently taking advantage of craptastic winter weather while I'm off daytime duties at work and my kiddo is safely home to write, write, write. As always, self edited. Please be gentle…

If you're curious about that dress, it should be mostly described next chapter, but I'll tell you here because I really don't know how to work all that in without boring myself, and this way will be much more complete.

In my head, everything sight based works out to images from Hollywood… Kagome's dress started out like the one Alice wears in the first Resident Evil movie. To become the battle dress, the color not only shifted, but the dress gained a sleeve. For the purpose of the story, a Phoenix yokai's battle dress resembles flames, to some extent. So take the thought of Alice's dark red asymmetric dress, remove the strap at the left shoulder and shift the colors from that red at the bottom point to an almost ombre through various shades of red, orange, and yellow to a super pale yellow at the right shoulder. The wrist length bell sleeve mimics the coloration of the body of the dress, with the short part of the sleeve stopping just below Kagome's wrist and the oversized bell dropping to the same length as the bottom of the dress when her hand is at her side. This sleeve conceals a small sheath of needle shaped darts and a pair of palm-sized throwing knives, which she was trained with during her extended stay in the future. She does still have the black shorts and knee high combat boots that conceal other weapons, as well as a dagger (possibly two, I haven't fully decided yet) strapped to her thigh.