This is the edited version of this chapter. (I edited the whole story.)

As always, Inuyasha does not belong to me no matter how much I may want it to. Let's give the credit to the hard working lady, Takahashi Rumiko, shall we?

This is it's own storyline. It diverges from the original in a big way. All the characters that appear for the first time in this fic are mine, such as Sakura, Shinhaku and Yumemi. You'll probably notice them when you see them. :) And I explained why people talk a certain way in the prologue. But enough rambling, on with Chapter One!

The Next Best Thing
Chapter One: Sakura
by Laura Hoak-Kagey

Petals of the cherry blossoms fell as Kagome watched the clouds in the sky. It was already April again. Time seemed to pass so quickly...

Kagome put aside her thoughts and went back to sweeping the stone path in front of her. She still lived with her family at the Higurashi Shrine, which meant that she always had responsibilities to fulfill. Some years ago Kagome had been faced with a decision, and she had decided not to go to college, but to stay at the shrine instead. She didn't mind at all. If only...

However, at that moment Kagome heard a scream, followed by a child crying. She put down her broom, and raced to the side of the house.

"Mommy! It huuurrrtttssss!" A little girl said through her tears, which were filling her light, golden brown eyes.

Kagome smiled and kneeled in front of the girl. "Well, Sakura, that's what happens when you fall down. Come here, mommy'll give you a hug and it'll feel all better."

Just as Kagome opened her arms wide, Sakura jumped into them, and slowly started to calm down as Kagome stroked her head.

"Sakura, did you see the cherry blossoms? They're starting to fall off already! Did you want to go for a walk through the woods? I know you like to sneak out there whenever you get the chance." Kagome paused long enough to playfully mirror her daughter's astonished face. "Yes, I know about that. You can't get anything past a mommy, and you should know that. So, how about it?"

Sakura nodded, wiping the last of her tears away. Her mommy seemed to know everything, but never really punished her for it. Maybe it was because she was the only child. Sakura never thought about it too much. Her mom loved her, which was enough.
Kagome smiled, brushing Sakura's light, sky-blue hair away from her face. She had never imagined the blue highlights from her own hair would give her a blue-haired child, but then again... [No. Put it aside already, Kagome...]

"Alright, just let me change and we'll go, okay?" Kagome said as she put her daughter down. She grabbed Sakura's hand and started for the house.

*~*~*

Kagome could hear Sakura in the living room, watching TV as she waited for her. Sakura was safe, and even if Kagome had looked like she hadn't been bothered by Sakura's crying, well, the truth was that every little thing concerned her. If anything ever happened to her daughter, Kagome didn't know what she would do.

As she changed her clothes, and pulled back her hair, she began thinking to herself. [Well, it's almost Sakura's birthday again. Yet another year...I wonder if she'll start to wonder where her father is. She's never asked about it before, probably because of Souta and Grandpa being here, but I'm still not sure what to tell her. Inuyasha...]

It had been nearly six years since Kagome and Inuyasha had jumped into the Bone-eater's Well together. However, once Kagome had realized that she was alone in her world, she had become hysterical. She had tried everything she could think of at the time to go back to the world on the other side of the well. She didn't want to be alone, nor did she want to leave Inuyasha alone again since she would be the second important person to him to do so. It had been her younger brother, Souta, who had found her screaming and crying at the bottom of the well. If Kagome hadn't been so exhausted from crying, she probably would've put up more of a fight. But, since she had been exhausted and able to do nothing else, Souta and Grandpa had helped her out of the well and into the house.

For the next few months Kagome tried every chance she had to go back to the Warring States Period, but it was all for nothing. She would often sit at the edge of the well, close her eyes, and relive her memories of Inuyasha and her friends. She wasn't able to go back, and the longer she was apart from Inuyasha, the more her heart had ached. Because Kagome had been in the Warring States Period, she had missed junior high graduation, as well as the entrance exams for high school. Instead of high school, she had spent the time helping out her family, but after two months, Kagome started to wonder about what was wrong with her. She knew that girls could be irregular until they reached about the age of 20, so Kagome took no heed of missing one of her periods, but as she missed the second, and then the third, she knew she needed to see a doctor.

When Kagome saw the doctor, she told her what Kagome had already expected. She was pregnant, nearly three months. The doctor told her that if she didn't get out of the depression she had been in for months, it could damage her baby's health as well as her own. Kagome hadn't paid attention to the rest of the doctor's recommendations because her head had been filled with thoughts about her baby. It was hers and Inuyasha's baby that was growing inside of her. As she had unconsciously put her hand across her stomach, Kagome had smiled for the first time in three months.

Her daughter had come to be the best medicine for Kagome and her broken heart. She had chosen the name Sakura, which in English means "cherry blossoms." In Japan, when the cherry blossoms bloom in the beginning of April, it signifies a new beginning, a new start. Because her and Inuyasha's daughter had been born in April, and because Sakura had become a new start for Kagome, she had chosen the name. Even though Kagome always missed Inuyasha with all her heart, because she had had Sakura, proof of their love for each other, she had managed to live an almost happy life.

As Kagome finished tying up her hair, she smiled at a memory. She remembered the day Sakura had been born. Not only had she been ecstatic that her daughter was born healthy, but she had been relieved when she had seen that Sakura appeared to be a normal human from her appearance. Since Kagome knew that Sakura would be one-fourth demon, she had hoped that Sakura wouldn't inherit her father's ears. The last thing she would've needed would have been trying to explain that!

Realizing she had been taking a long time to get ready, Kagome grabbed her purse, and headed for the living room.

"You ready, dear? Sorry mommy took so long to get ready!"

Sakura nodded her head, and a smile appeared on her face. "You always take so long to get ready! When I grow up, I'm never gonna take that long! Then I'll have more time to play!"

"Oh, just wait until you do grow up, Sakura. Then you'll want to take a long time to get ready. I'll end up waiting for you!" Kagome's smile mirrored Sakura's. She had been told many time that despite Sakura's light blue hair they most definitely looked like mother and daughter.

Kagome shouted, "Anyways, race you to the door, and then to the woods entrance!"

Sakura's face lit up, and the two started running.

*~*~*

Sango looked over at Miroku, who was reading on the veranda, next to her. "Hey, Miroku, dear, when do you think he's gonna come back? He always goes on his adventures, but, this time he's been gone a lot longer than normal."

Miroku stopped reading in order to answer Sango. "Well, I don't really know. He seems to disappear on a whim and return spontaneously. Why do you ask, my dear Sango?"

Sango sighed, and then laid her head on Miroku's shoulder. "Well, I don't know, really. I just have a feeling like he should be here. And for more than the simple reason Shinhaku and Yumemi love him to death. Inuyasha hasn't been the same since that time when Kagome went home. Being torn from someone he loved for the second time in his life really hurt him. I also wonder what happened to Kagome...she would have come back if she could have, I know it. Why...."

He put an arm around her shoulder and gave Sango a hug. "If I knew the answer to that, my darling Sango, then life would be all too easy. Inuyasha will surely find a way to reach Kagome's world again. He has been trying all he could for the last five or six years."

She looked up to him, and smiled. "You're right. I always worry too much, huh?" She was about to kiss her husband when they both heard a set of voices.

"Yumemi, you're such a baby! Why're ya crying?" It was a little boy's taunting voice.

The second voice was that of a little girl. "Shinhaku, you're so mean! You always pick on me! I'm gonna tell mama on you!"

Miroku whispered, "It seems that they're at it again. I believe it's your turn to see to them, isn't it?"

Sango nodded as she got up. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see what's wrong. The twins are always a handful, aren't they?"

She left Miroku on the porch, alone. He could hear her asking them what was the matter, and smiled. His and Sango's twins, a boy and a girl, looked as if they were going to be as adventurous and strong-willed as their parents, if not more so, and they were still only three going on four.

Even though Miroku was by himself on the veranda, he couldn't go back to reading. He began to wonder just where Inuyasha was these days...

*~*~*

Kagome and Sakura had been walking along the path for a while. Since she didn't need any memories to upset her again, Kagome had managed to avoid the tree where she had first met Inuyasha. Soon Sakura had begun to look tired, so Kagome had started back. She wanted to carry her, but since Sakura was nearly five, she was too heavy for Kagome. The last six years had made Kagome look more like an adult, but thinner than she had been before.

As the pair of them exited the woods, she heard a cat's voice. "Geez, Buyo, even when you get old, you still get into trouble. Where're you this time?"

Sakura rubbed her eyes. "Mommy, who're you talking to?"

"No one, dear. But before we go back inside, is it okay to find Buyo? I'm not sure what he's done this time."

Kagome saw Sakura nod, and then listened carefully to the sound of the cat's voice. He was to the left...Kagome found herself standing in front of the shrine that housed the Bone-eater's Well. Hadn't this happened before, Kagome thought to herself. [Well, no choice but to go in. I haven't been back here in nearly a year. Only on Sakura's birthday do I come here and try to go back...to see him.]

She opened the doors and brought Sakura inside with her. Kagome wasn't going to take the chance of being separated from her daughter if the well did indeed work.

Kagome listened, and from inside the well she heard Buyo's cries. She was about ready to ask aloud how he had gotten in there when she noticed one of the boards on top of the well. It was pushed aside just enough to have a cat to get through.

"Well, we're going to have to go in. I want you near me, okay, Sakura? I don't want you standing here by yourself."

"I know, I know. You've said it before, Mommy."

Kagome moved the boards aside. Why did she have a strange feeling about this? Every other time she had tried to go back to the Warring States Period, the well had remained nothing but an usual, dried-up well.

After getting the boards off of the top, she stooped down and motioned for Sakura to get on her back. So much for her being too heavy, Kagome noted.

Kagome carefully crawled down the rope ladder, reaching the bottom. She was about to pick up Buyo when a nostalgic light surrounded her. She could feel herself falling down. Kagome managed to get Sakura off of her back, and hugged her close tom her body. She wasn't going to lose Sakura for anything. Was she really going back? Would she get to see Inuyasha again? All she could do was wait until she reached the other side...
========
A cultural note: It is true that in Japan cherry blossoms signify a new beginning. Not only for life, but school starts at that time as well as job transfers, and the list goes on. If someone passes an extrance exam, there is a term for it, "Sakura saku" which means the cherry blossoms will bloom. This is a bit off...but just thought I'd share it. :)
June 2001
http://animeforever.com/inuyasha