Chapter II: Return

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha. I never will own Inu-Yasha. That is a good thing.

A/N: If some of my reviewers were waiting for this, I'm TERRIBLY sorry! It was originally an English assignment, but I liked the story so I turned it into a one-shot. An idea popped into my head today so. If any of my original reviewers read this, feel free to flame me for being so late. God knows I deserve it. Other than that, please enjoy and thanks in advance for any kind of review whatsoever.

Reviewer Responses:

Shikon: I've decided to write another chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

MirokuHoushi: A-a-are you s-s-serious? Author Alert? I feel so honored. Here's another chapter, I hope you enjoy it!

And thanks to everyone else:

Demon-angel

Playmer

Greeneydgrl74

Shadow Walker 340

Gwen the Goldfish

Warbeak

Catesy

Jeanne-chan56

SaMY

Orion Kohaishu

If any of you still read this, enjoy!

Now that I've bored you enough, on with the story!

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Sunlight flared through the Sunset shrine to awaken the sleeping inhabitants from their deep slumber. Higurashi Kagome was awakened in an instant. Although sixteen years have passed since she was forcibly awakened at dawn, it stuck with her faithfully, for it was another reminder of him and their time spent together. She knew fairly well, of course, that she had many more reminders of his presence. When her family moved out, she took the master bedroom. Her, no, their first son, Shippo, took Sota's room, and her old room was reserved for their second son, Ko-Inu-Yasha. Kagome briefly passed both rooms, just admiring her family-no-life. She smiled a bittersweet smile as she recalled her first love, and the last time they spent together. As Kou began to stir from his sleep, however, she left the door and proceeded down the stairs.

Moments later, Kou stumbled out from his room and down the stairs, rubbing his neck.

"Sleep well, hon?" Kagome asked.

Kou, sending a mock-glare at his mother, sighed and replied, "Yeah, as well as one can sleep after being dragged down to the ground by the neck at 20kph."

Kagome chose not to honor that statement with an answer. Instead, she changed the subject, "So, what do you want for breakfast?" she asked.

Kou went to open his mouth to reply, but was stopped by his mother.

"Lemme guess, you want chicken ramen for breakfast, right?" she half stated, half asked. Kou just nodded.

What they say is true: some things never change.

Ms. Higurashi just giggled at that statement, and went on preparing breakfast. As the scent of ramen drifted up the stairs, a totally unexpected thing happened. When the scent reached Shippo's, who was still asleep, nose, an odd thing occurred. What was once the body of a twenty-year-old kitsune changed into the body of an eight-year-old. Still asleep, he rose from his bed and dragged himself down the stairs. Kou and Kagome, who were carrying on a pleasant conversation, were shocked to no end as a pint-sized Shippo walked into the kitchen.

"Kagome-chan, ramen again? Why don't you just tell that dog-boy no? Uh-Oh! Where is he? He's going to hit me again!" Shippo sleep-talked as he sat down at the table, and was instantly asleep again. Kagome slightly giggled, but Kou was sent into full-blown laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! That was hilarious! Onii-san is pint-sized! HAHAHAHA!" Kou exclaimed. Kagome sent a glare at him and walked over to Shippo.

"Hey, Shippo-chan, wake up," she cooed, "Breakfast is ready."

Shippo, who was now in full consciousness, blinked warily, "Okaa-san? Kou? How'd I get down here?"

"HAHAHAHA!" Kou bellowed again, "Look at yourself! You're chibi-Shippo!" Shippo quirked an eyebrow and looked down. He blushed in embarrassment as he found himself at the size he was when they left the Sengoku Jidai.

Slowly returned to his normal size. "So, what's for breakfast?" he asked.

Kou quirked an eyebrow, "You came down here complaining about ramen and how dog-boy was going to beat you up, remember?"

Shippo's eyes widened in shock.

"Are you feeling okay onii-san?" Kou asked, "You know mom only lets me have ramen for breakfast once a year." Shippo sent a pleading glance at Kagome, who happily interrupted that line of questioning.

"Here 'ya go, guys!" She exclaimed, giving them the rame, "What's on the agenda for today?"

"Well," Kou replied, "Today's Sunday, so I don't have to go to school. I'm free for anything. Any ideas Shippo?"

Shippo just sighed and started playing with his food, off in his own little world.

"Shippo-chan, are you okay?" asked a worried Kagome, " You haven't been eating much lately, and you're moping a whole lot."

"Yeah ni-san, what's up?" asked Kou.

Shippo threw caution to the wind and just simply said, "I miss home."

"Home? What do you mean home? You are home!" Kou was baffled, "Do you mean before mom adopted you?"

Shippo just sent a pained expression at Kagome and repeated, "I miss home."

Kagome looked thoughtful for a second, and then hurriedly exited the room, calling out, "Finish your breakfast, I'll be back in a minute."

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Kagome ran up to her room and shut the door. 'Shippo looks really sad. It was pretty unfair to keep him only in this time for the last sixteen years. Besides, I wonder how they are doing.

Sighing in defeat, Kagome walked over to the cordless phone stand in her room. She picked up the phone and searched through the phone numbers in memory. 'Let's see. Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, Kou's school, Kou's friends, Shippo's friends.'

"Where the heck is it?" she asked herself. "Oh, there it is!" She clicked enter twice and the phone automatically dialed the number. She put it by her ear as it rang and rang and rang. 'Where the heck is she?'

"Moshi Moshi?" came the voice of an older woman through the reciever.

"Hey mom!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Kagome, dear, how's life been treating you?" her mother asked, "And how are my favorite grandsons doing? Are they eating well? Is Kou getting good grades?"

"Argh, mom, quit with the twenty questions okay?" Kagome pleaded, "They're doing fine, Kou's grades are fantastic and Shippo's job is going well. Happy?"

"Sure honey, but why did you call?" her mom asked.

"What, I can't call my own mother and talk?" Kagome asked, feigning hurt. She was met with dead silence. "Anyway, mom, can you do me a favor? Can you stay at the shrine for a few days? I want to go back."

"."

"Please mom? Just for a little while? I haven't seen my friends in ages! Kou has never met his real uncle, not-to-mention his "adopted" aunt and uncle!" she continued to plead.

"Are you sure you're up to this, Kagome-chan?" Her mother finally asked.

"I'll be just fine mom," she assured, "With Kou there to protect me, I'm sure nothing is going to happen!"

"That's not what I meant and you know it Kagome," her mother pressed.

"I'll survive mom, I'll survive," she replied.

"Fine, I'll be there in about two hours. Can you wait that long?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"Sure mom, we'll see you in two hours," Kagome said as she hung up the phone. She exited her room and went to Shippo's, whose door was closed. She knocked twice.

"Shippo-chan, may I come in?" she asked in a motherly tone of voice.

"Sure," he replied. Kagome slowly opened the door and walked into the room finding Shippo laying face down on his bed. She walked over and sat on the side.

"Shippo, dear, I have something to tell you," she said as she absent-mindedly started stroking his hair. Shippo didn't even stir.

Kagome, getting a tad frustrated, pulled a leaf out of his hair that gave him his human appearance. Shippo gave an eep of surprise but didn't do much else. Now really frustrated, Kagome grabbed his tail. Shippo pulled it out of her grasp and looked at her angrily.

"What do you want?" he whined.

"You can sulk all you want, but I suggest you get your stuff together," she replied, "I don't know about you but I'm going home, and I'm leaving in three hours. So, if I were you, I'd get ready." She said as she stormed out of his room. Before she exited, however, she gave him a smile and a wink. Shippo jumped for joy.

Kagome now had the tedious process of describing to Kou what they were going to do. Because of the emotional strain, she had been putting this trip of for 16 years, and Kou knew nothing about the past. When he asked about his father, she just told him he would always protect her and they fell in love, yet in the final battle against a powerful youkai, he died. He never knew anything about Sango or Miroku, Kaede or Kikyo, nor did he know about the search for the Shikon no Kakera. He never knew how his uncle probably hated him, how that world would've shunned him, or the evil that was Naraku. Most importantly, he never knew about the absolute power of the Shikon no Tama, or the time traveling capabilities of the Bone Eater's Well.

She arrived at his door and knocked twice. "Kou, may I come in?" she asked.

"What do you think?" he asked. Kagome just walked right in.

"Kou, I need you to pack some clothes, we're going on a trip!" she told her son.

"A trip? To where? What about school?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"We'll say you're sick and won't be in for awhile," she told him. He still looked apprehensive. "Just leave it to me, okay?"

"Keh, whatever," he replied.

"Oh, that reminds me, you are to wear your father's haroi and hakama, and Tetsusaiga."

"Tetsusaiga?" he asked.

"Your father's sword," she replied, "Wear your father's sword."

"Oooooooookay, whatever you say mom," he said.

Kagome then exited his room and returned to her own. She dug into her closet looking for something she hadn't seen since she graduated high school, and the last thing her dearest friends saw her in-her school uniform. Surprised that she could still fit in it, she put it on and looked in the mirror. Besides maturing a bit, she looked just like she did so many years ago. While she was reminiscing, she heard a knock at the door.

"Okaa-san, may I come in?" she heard Shippo ask.

"Sure Shippo, what's up?" she asked Shippo as he walked in.

"Don't be mad at me," he said, "But I've kept this ready for the last sixteen years." Shippo produced the yellow backpack that had accompanied her so many times to the Sengoku Jidai.

"Wow, Shippo, thanks!" she praised him as she started looking through it. In it was her sleeping bag, bathing supplies, instant ramen, and various other items she always managed to have with her. "Oh, and Shippo? You can call me Kagome if you want, you know that."

"I know," Shippo replied, "I'll probably start doing that again once we go back home." Kagome nodded her approval. "But Kagome, what are we going to tell Kou?" he asked, "You never told Kou about the Sengoku Jidai, right? It could take awhile to tell."

"Well, we'll give him the gist of it now and elaborate when we have to, okay?" she asked.

"That should work fine," Shippo agreed. They made their way to Kou's room.

"Kou, are you ready yet?" Kagome asked when they reached the door.

"Yeah, but I thought we weren't leaving for another two-and-a-half hours?" he asked.

"We're not, but we have something to tell you," Shippo said.

"What do 'ya need to tell me?" he asked.

"Son, just keep in mind that all we are about to tell you is 100% true." Kagome told him.

"Okay, but you guys are freaking me out," Kou cautioned them.

"I told you how I met your father on my fifteenth birthday, right?" she asked.

Kou nodded his head. "A demon attacked you and he saved you, right?"

"Well. when I was leaving for school, your uncle Sota was in the well house looking for Buyo. I went in there after him, and while I was by the well, something came out and grabbed me. It took me down the well which dragged me five hundred years into the past."

"The Sengoku Jidai?" he asked. "You're trying to make me believe that you were in the past?"

"Be quiet and listen!" his mother scolded. "Anyway, I used my miko powers to get her away from me, and climbed out of the well. What awaited me was a giant forest, and I was completely lost. That's when I saw the Go-Shinboku. I walked to it thinking I could find my way home. That's when I saw him." Kagome trailed off as her eyes started to water. Shippo put a comforting arm on Kagome's back that urged her to continue. "Your father, Inu-Yasha, was pinned to the Go-Shinboku."

"WHAT?" he shrieked. Kagome dismissed it.

"You remember about the Shikon jewel, right?" she asked him.

"Yeah, that's the jewel you have around your neck that otou-san helped you protect, right?" Kagome nodded. "What does that have to do with otous-san being pinned to the tree?"

"Well, I'm getting to that. As it turns out, the Shikon no Tama was formed by a legendary priestess called Midoriko. When fighting hundreds of youkai that merged into one, she sealed their souls into her heart which burst from her chest. If used for good, Midoriko's soul is in control, making the Shikon pure. If used for evil, the youkai's soul is in control, and the jewel shines with a malevolent color. Fifty years before I arrived there, a priestess called Kikyo was given the Shikon no Tama to purify. Your father met her and they "fell in love". They were going to use the jewel to make your father human so they could live together. However, fate wasn't on their side. Kikyo was harboring a bandit called Onigumo. Onigumo had burns all over his body and his legs were broken. Kikyo took pity on him and took care of him. Onigumo began harboring desires for Kikyo, and the day before they were going to use the jewel, he sacrificed his body to hundreds of demons. He called this new hybrid Naraku. Naraku tricked Kikyo and Inu-Yasha into betraying each other. The result was your father being pinned there for fifty long years."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~1 ½ HOURS LATER~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Phew, that took awhile" Kagome mumbled, "So, do you think you have the gist of it now?" she asked her son.

"Okay, so you're saying I'm the son of a hanyou that lived 550 years ago!? Just how gullible do you think I am?" Kou paused to sniff the air. "Oba-san's here! She'll tell me the truth!" Kou dashed down the stairs and opened the door before Mrs. Higurashi had the chance to knock.

"Hi Kou!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed as she grabbed her grandson into a bear hug. "Ooooh, you have you dog ears out!" she cooed as she started fondling the furry appendages."

"Oba-chan, okaa-chan and onii-san are going INSANE! They think that mom was in the passed for a couple years and that otou-san is from the Sengoku Jidai!" He exclaimed, looking for some sense of shock in his grandmother's eyes.

"Oh, so they've finally told you, have they?" she asked. Kou almost fell over.

"Hey mom!" Kagome shrieked as she ran to and hugged her mother.

"Hi Kagome, how've you been lately?" she asked her daughter.

"Fine, just fine," she replied.

"Where's my other grandson hiding?" Mrs. Higurashi wondered aloud, "Shippo-chan, come give your oba-chan a hug!" she commanded. Shippo wasted no time obeying his adoptive grandmother's orders.

"How've you been oba-chan?" he asked.

"Just fine," she replied, "Word on the street is that you guys are going home?" she asked.

"Yep! We're going to see Sango-chan and Miroku-san!" Shippo exclaimed.

And so, the next hour was spent catching up on the present as well as catching Kou up on the past. As they were off, they each kissed Mrs. Higurashi goodbye and stood before they Bone Eater's Well. Kagome had her backpack and arrows; Kou had his haori and Tetsusaiga; and Shippo had his and Kou's backpacks. Kou held his mom's hand as they all jumped into the well. A bright blue sky shone overhead, and Kagome let out a sigh of relief.

Higurashi Kaogme - The Shikon no Miko - Had finally returned to the past.