Hey guys its another one-shot. I got this idea actually from one of my friends and decided to take her up on it. So I hope you like it. R&R please.

"What's all this food Kaede?" Inuyasha asked as he saw the piles outside her hut.

"From the villagers for Kagome. Today is the anniversary of her appearance here."

Shippo added, "She's also turning sixteen! So her friends are throwing her a party. Kaede, can we please have one too? After all, we have all this food here! What do you think Inu..." Shippo started to ask but the dog-demon had already left.

Feh. A party. Maybe I should go take a look he thought to himself as he headed for the well.

"Hi Kagome!"

"Hello!! Come on in!" Kagome invited her friends in.

"You said your party is finishing around 4? That's pretty early!"

Kagome stammered, "Yeah... I've got to go somewhere." Back to the feudal age, sigh

"Are you seeing Hojo?"

Kagome blushed furiously, "No, of course not!"

The girls laughed. "So, Kagome," one of them teased, "sweet sixteen and never been kissed?"

Kagome blushed even more. "That's so not true!" she retorted. I hope I can lie better than my grandpa

Inuyasha sat outside listening as the girls gossip, talking about various guys. Who is this Hojo? he asked himself. He fumed, thinking how shallow these girls were. He stared as Kagome opened her presents, hugging each girl in turn. Feh, why bother He made his way back to the well, disgusted.

"Sango, is everything ready?"

"Yes," Sango sighed, tired with all the cooking she had been doing in preparation for Kagome's party.

Shippo went on, excited, "I've never been to a party before, have you?"

"No," Sango smiled this time at the kitsune, who was running around like a headless chicken. She shook her head as she wondered how she had ended up with such a group. When her parents were killed, she thought she had fallen into a bottomless pit. Yet these people (and demons, she corrected herself) helped her find her way out, and now there was a new cheerfulness in her manner which had surprised everyone, though it was not unwelcome. If I could get Miroku to like me, then life would be... sigh

The entrance of the person aforementioned broke her concentration, and she almost dropped the plate she was holding. Miroku stared at her strangely before smiling, "So, have you got anything for Kagome?"

Sango nodded, "Yes, nothing too fancy. I didn't really have much time." The group had decided since the food had been given by the villagers, it would be fair to invite them along and as Shippo insisted, "The more the merrier." Sango asked Miroku, "What about you?"

"That, my dear, is a secret," Miroku grinned, then left the kitchen, leaving Sango sighing at the strange turn of fate.

"You can come out, I know you're there."

"Feh, how did you know?"

"If my job's to kill demons, then I would be pretty good at telling when one's about." She paused, "So, where have you been all day?"

"None of your business."

Sango sighed again, just as Shippo burst into the kitchen. "Kagome's here! Kagome's here!" He barely stayed long enough to notice who was in the room before he rushed back to wish Kagome a happy birthday for the 29th time. Sango looked at Inuyasha and said, "Aren't you coming?"

"Feh. Maybe later," he promptly headed off in the opposite direction.

The evening passed pleasantly away, mostly spent in eating and laughing. A few of the children sang and danced. Too soon, the villagers retired, leaving Kagome with her friends.

Shippo asked, still rather hyper, "Kagome, did you like the party? Would you like your present now?"

Kagome laughed and said, "Of course I want my present! Thank you everyone, it's been a great party."

Sango handed her a small packet. "This is from Kaede and I." Kagome opened it carefully and pulled out a silver chain with a small pouch attach to it. "It has some magic sand in it. It's to keep you safe."

"Wow, this is really nice, did you make it?" Kagome fingered the silk pouch as she pulled the chain around her neck. Shippo was becoming impatient holding his present, and now he shoved it into her hands.

"Mine next!" he cried, rather excited. Kagome smiled and opened the little boxed.

She took a look at what was inside and laughed, "Shippo! That bow is just too small! Same for the arrows!"

"No, take them out!" Shippo insisted. To Kagome's surprise, once she did take them out they become life sized. Shippo explained, "You're always losing your bow, so I thought this would be..." Kagome hugged him, and thanked him.

"So you like it?"

"Of course I do!" Kagome said happily. She put it into her pocket and patted it, "Perfect."

Sango asked, "Miroku, what did you get for Kagome?"

"I didn't have time to wrap them. I was too busy fighting demons." Miroku reached into his pockets and pulled out three shards of the Shikon Jewel and handed them to Kagome.

Shippo looked on, "Wow, where did you get these from?"

Miroku tried to look unconcerned, "Just an unfortunate demon who was going past."

"Hey! Stop that!" Kagome slapped him. Miroku looked around, pretending he was innocent as he removed his hand from Kagome's backside.

Kagome and Sango glared at him. Yet they both knew that he had given away his own shards, the ones he had treasured so much. Kagome asked, changing the topic, "Where's Inuyasha?"

Shippo volunteered, "He said he didn't want to come. Ouch!" He cried as a stone hit him on the head.

"Idiot. I never said that," Inuyasha grumbled as he hopped down from the tree.

Kagome smiled and asked, "Why weren't you here earlier?"

"Feh, as if I would care about something stupid like this." Then he deliberately turned away from her.

Kagome's smile turned into a frown and her eyes became moist. It's my birthday! Why can't he be nice for once?

Shippo nudged Inuyasha, "So what's your present for Kagome?"

"Huh?" Great, he didn't even get me anything Kagome thought bitterly.

"Present!" Shippo insisted.

"Feh. There you go." He offhandedly passed something to Kagome.

The smile returned to her face as she stared at the hair clip in her hands. Even in the dim firelight, the gold shone and the gems glittered. "Where did you get this from? It's really nice. Thank you..." Kagome paused, not knowing what to say.

Everyone gathered around to take a look. Myoga gasped, "Why that's..." He didn't get a chance to finished as Inuyasha squashed him with his fingers. "Shut up, flea." Then he walked off, as Kagome stared after him.

Suddenly everyone had excuses to be elsewhere, leaving Kagome standing there holding the clip. "Inuyasha, wait!" She ran up to him. "I really like this. Thank you so much." He didn't stop walking. "But please, tell me where you got it from."

"Feh. It's nothing," he replied, not even looking back. Kagome followed. They ended up back at THE tree. Kagome looked around, reliving her first moments in the feudal age, esp. her first encounter with Inuyasha.

"Kagome," Inuyasha began, and they turned to look at each other. "If... if you could go back to a year ago, would you wish for things to change?"

"You mean, would I prefer not having come here?" Inuyasha nodded. "If I haven't, my life would have been as boring as it was! I mean, looking for the shards are dangerous, but it's sort of fun..."

Major pause.

"Also," Kagome continued, taking in a deep breath, "I would never have met you..." She glanced at Inuyasha, afraid to keep going. However, she wouldn't have had a chance to, since Inuyasha leaned forward to kiss her, wrapping his arms around her. When the kiss ended, she smiled and asked again, "So where DID you get this clip from?"

A dark look entered his eyes as he stared at the clip. "It was my mother's... a present from my father..."

She looked back at him unbelievingly. "Then are you sure you want me to keep this?"

"Yeah, why not? It's a present right?"

"No I mean, it must mean so much to you, I can't..." Inuyasha silenced her with another kiss. Kagome wished that the time would stand still and they could remain like that forever. Finally they pulled apart, and held each other tight.

"Guess I'm not sweet sixteen and never been kissed anymore," Kagome joked, and Inuyasha's reply was to kiss her again.

The End