They arrived late that night in front of Kaede's hut. The old priestess came bustling outside to see what the commotion was about looking more than half asleep. Inuyasha rudely elbowed his way past her carrying a sleeping Kagome into the hut. He came back outside to find Kaede blocking his way. "Move it, hag."
"Inuyasha. Just what is going on here? What has happened to Kagome?!"
"What's it look like happened? I can't be babysitting people all the time!" He glowered and leaped from rooftop to rooftop until he got back to the forest where he could be alone with his thoughts. "Little idiot. Its not my fault if she gets herself kidnapped. I even told her to stay close, but does she ever listen to me? Feh! She deserves what happened if she's gonna be stupid. Feh! FehFehFeh!" He kept trying to 'feh' his thoughts into oblivion as he came to rest on a branch overlooking the well. He sighed and cradled his Tetsusaiga close. No, you're the idiot, Inuyasha. You couldn't protect her. This is all your fault. She knows it, too. She was counting on me to protect her, and now she can't even glance at me without a look of fear crossing her face. "AARGH!" He punched a giant hole through the tree trunk, the echo reverberating through the trees. Just being around me hurts everyone one I care about... All right, she's going home once she's well enough. Then I'm sealing the well. Then no one will ever be able to hurt her again. Inuyasha closed his eyes and one lone tear dripped down his cheek.
..
"And so we've been waiting for the majority of her wounds to heal before we brought her back. We wanted to take everything nice and so for her, she's been in a fragile state of mind lately." Miroku finished explaining to Kaede what had happened around the fire in her home.
"I see. When she wakes, I will talk with her and see what may be done. The splints look very well done, she should be up and walking in a couple more weeks. Now, ye both look tired. Why don't we all try to get some sleep?"
"There is one more thing, Lady Kaede, that Inuyasha mentioned. He said that when youkai mate and the female becomes with child, the male gains emotional control of her mind. He didn't know how such a union might affect Lady Kagome. Do you think she will be alright?"
"I do not think there is anything to worry about. Kagome is a strong miko; her powers would have prevented any daemon's conception within her body." Kaede pulled out extra sleeping mats for them to lie on, making sure that Sango stayed close to Kagome as that conveniently put herself between the girls and Miroku.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny with a faint chill in the air. Sango got up and stretched and walked outside. She stumbled over a log in the doorway that appeared to have strayed from the new woodpile stacked against the hut. Strange, these don't appear to have been cut with an axe. It looks more like claw marks on them. She shrugged. Oh well. It's too early to be curious. She made her way on to the outhouse.
Kagome woke the next morning from the sharp jabs of pain running up her leg. "OWWWW!"
"Forgive me, Kagome. I was just readjusting your splints." Kaede tied it back tight. "Your friends did a good job for ones not trained in the healing arts."
"Yes, Sango has been very helpful. She took good care of me."
"Oh? Did not Inuyasha and Miroku aid ye?" She sat cross-legged in front of her fire and began making a stew of some sort.
"Why would they want to? After all the trouble they went through to find Naraku, and then it wasn't even him they fought, just a puppet. I'm surprised they stayed as long as they did. Even...even Inuyasha has a look of disgust on his face every time I even glance at him. They must hate me for what I've done, Kaede." The tears began to slip from her eyes again and she stared into the fire.
"Kagome, what happened was in no way your fault. Ye must not allow yourself to think this way." She found a damp piece of cloth and wiped the tears away. "Naraku is a despicable villain. Inuyasha's disgust is not aimed at you, but at he which sunk so low to attack a defenseless woman."
"Thank you, Lady Kaede." She managed a weak smile. Let the old priestess believe that if she wished, but Kagome knew the truth. They all hated her and were just waiting until they could dump her off in the well and be rid of her. A feeling of queasiness began to rise in her stomach. "Erf...Lady Kaede, I need a bucket or something! I think I'm going to be sick!" Maybe they're trying to poison me off instead.
She finished emptying her stomach and Kaede went out to dispose of the bucket. Sango peeked in when she saw the priestess leave. "Kagome? Is everything alright?"
"Yes, I just had an upset stomach for some reason." Is that disappointment on her face?
"Alright. If you need anything, just call for us, everyone's outside."
"Thanks, Sango. I'll be ok for now though. I just need to be alone for a bit, right now please."
Sango nodded and went back out to join the men who were sitting together in the shade of the hut. She sat down and Kirara jumped into her lap mewing. She petted the neko youkai absently.
"Well?!" Inuyasha nearly spat the words out at Sango. He was glaring intently at her.
"Well what? She said she's fine. She said she wanted to be alone, so I left her alone."
"This is strange. The Lady Kagome has been trying very hard to keep you at her side every waking moment, and now she asks you to leave? Not that we do not enjoy your lovely company, Sango." Miroku flashed his most winning smile at her.
"Stuff it, monk. Anyone who throws up for no reason is not ok. And it is odd that she asked you to leave." Inuyasha glared pensively into the wall; as if he stared hard enough all the answers would be written clear there.
"Now that I think about it, she did seem a little eager for me to leave. Almost like she was angered or frightened of me."
Inuyasha just "Feh!"'d and leaped back into a tree where he could be alone with his thoughts. Of course she's angry with us. I betrayed her trust. I couldn't protect her.
..
Kaede returned to the hut to find Kagome apparently asleep. She quietly went about finishing her soup that she'd been cooking, waiting for Kagome to speak what was on her mind.
"Lady Kaede?" Kagome opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.
"Yes, child?" She continued to stir her pot.
"You know a lot about potions."
"Aye."
"And you know lots about a miko's energies."
"Aye."
"Ok. Thank you." She closed her eyes again. She just couldn't bring herself to reveal that she'd lost the ability to use her powers. It was too humiliating.