Disclaimer: Didn't own Inuyasha last chapter, don't own him now... and surprise surprise I won't own him next chapter.

I'm not too sure on how consistantly I will be updating, but as long as my muses keep talking I'll keep writing. Hopefully it will be once or twice a week. R&R!

Thanks to Pupetta, scribblenumba4, Chibi Senshi of Saturn and Kagome M.K. If you like the story, you should thank them too, I'm writing because they reviewed! Thanks to all my reviewers.

CH. 2

With her first joyful laugh in nearly 8 decades, Kagome bent her knees and propelled herself out of the well with an inhuman jump. Her knees bent slightly with the impact of her boots on grass and she dropped her bag and breathed deeply. She analyzed the smell of things around her. First she smelt someone approaching it smelt like earth and something candy and childlike. And then she smelt a warmer, more mature earth scent and a forest after rain. The latter was so familiar to her, even after 80 years. No one could smell as much like home as her hanyou. Her heart beat on rapid fire almost immediately, he was still alive and he was coming this way.

"KKKAGGGOOOOMEEE!!!" A child's voice tore through the air and Kagome turned in slow motion to see an orange blur heading straight for her. Her mind was immediately gelatin. Her instincts made her hand fly up and catch the child around the torso. She held him at arms length and she nearly fainted when she looked into the unchanged face of a Shippo. His eyes wavered in confusion for a moment and then he launched himself onto her again hugging her neck tightly. "You came back early!" He squealed.

"Wha..." Kagome breathed out and her mind didn't comprehend anything. 'Early?' She thought.

"You smell different." He said as he sniffed her. "You look different too."

"Uhh..." Kagome said again unintelligible.

Then Kagome's heart stopped and she fell to her knees. There he was standing a yard or two before her. "Oi, wench." He said gruffly. "Why didn't you stay your extra two days? Sango said you wanted ten, I was going to let you have break." He ended in a mumble. Then his eyes fell on her position on the ground. "Hey, Kagome, you okay?"

Kagome began to shake. And she became cold very suddenly. "How long have I been gone?" Kagome asked very quietly, using her voice for the first time.

Inuyasha's eyes filled with worry as he strode to squat before her. "What's wrong?"

Kagome began to shake more violently with confusion, hope and fear. Did the well give her a second chance? "How long?" She demanded quietly.

"Eight days, Kagome. Please what's wrong?"

Kagome shook her head. "Shippo. Go back to the village, please."

"But you just got back..." he began to whine.

"Shippo. Go. Please." Kagome pled weakly.

He backed away from her with hurt eyes and walked dejectedly away. Once he was out of sight Kagome let out a long shuttering breath. She reached out and wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's neck pulling herself against him. He slowly returned the embrace uncertainly.

"Kagome?" he asked concern lacing his voice. He breathed in her scent only partial acknowledging the slight taint. He pulled her tighter and rested his forehead on her shoulder as she nuzzled into him. He opened his eyes and looked directly at a scarred bite mark. A deep growl grew in him and he recoiled from her. "What the hell!?" He bellowed with a deep snarl.

Kagome scanned his face but his eyes were locked on her neck. Her hand rose to the side his eyes burned into and felt the two raised scars. 'Oh...' "It isn't what you think." Kagome said in her defense looking at him pleadingly.

"What do you mean, it isn't what I think!?" He grounded out. "That's a fucking mating mark, Kagome. Don't try to tell me its not. I'm a demon for Kami's sake."

"Its not." She said simply as she reached out to him.

"The hell it isn't!" He retreated from her hand. "That's why you smell different. Shit, Kagome, you were only gone eight days!"

Kagome mentally flinch at his insinuation that she was loose. "Inuyasha." She began growing tired of his insensitive ranting. "You're trying my patience." Kagome said in a cold voice that years of being who she was had developed. His head snapped to look in her eyes. "For you, I have been gone eight days." She swallowed hard. "But for me, Inuyasha, it's been eight decades."

"Eighty years. Feh! I'm not stupid." Inuyasha growled out. "You haven't aged at all."

"Oh course I haven't you baka. Kami! Will you listen to me for once in your life? I know you trust me in some way, Inuyasha. I'm not lying about this." Kagome cried out frustrated for the first time since she had been turned. "I'm not human anymore. Look at my teeth." She opened her mouth and he reluctantly looked.

"What? Fangs?" He questioned holding open her mouth to look closely. He let go and looked at her questioningly.

"Claws too." Kagome added holding up her hand.

"What..."

"Happened?" Kagome sighed. "Inuyasha, do you know what a vampire is?"

Inuyasha nodded and then froze, his eyes widening in comprehension. "No..." he whispered in horror.

"When I went down the well, eight days ago for you, I was bitten by my sire, Cyrus. My miko energy somehow purified the demon that I should have been, but I'm still a vampire, just not dead."

"Not dead?"

"You held me Inuyasha; I'm not cold to the touch. I'm not another cold dead bitch." Kagome bit out with a small growl. Kikyou. Kagome never wanted to think about her again and now she was. "I haven't seen anyone that I knew here in Japan past or present in 80 years. My family has died. I thought you all had died. Finally I talked Cyrus into letting my come home and I headed straight for the well. It gave me a second chance. It let me have a chance at my life."

"You live with this...Cyrus?" Inuyasha asked jealousy only mildly apparent.

"Stop it. I already told you it's not a mating mark. He watches out for me Inuyasha." Kagome said quietly. She watched him warily, aching to reach for him again. She could smell his scent so strongly; it smelled so much like home that Kagome couldn't resist throwing her arms around him and buried her head into his chest.

"Kagome, what...?" He stuttered uncomfortably.

"Get used to it." Kagome demanded as she held him tightly breathing in his scent. "Kami, I've missed you." She whispered. But he heard and hugged her back. "I should go talk to the others too." She said after a moment of swimming in his warmth.

"Hmm..." he mumbled into her hair.

Kagome smiled and she felt him smirk in return. She pulled back but the hanyou stopped her at a foot. His other hand came up and looked at the half completely Shikon jewel. "You still have it."

Kagome nodded. "We will finish it, I am stronger now."

"Feh. You'll always be weak and need protection." He said gruffly as he let her go and put back up his tough guy façade.

Kagome easily ignored his comment. So many years around him had made ignoring his attitude easy most of the time. And some many years away from him made it easy for her to forgive. For the first time in a long time, Kagome felt at ease. "Race ya." She shouted as she darted toward the village, duffel bag in hand.

That night Kagome retold her story. Her reunion with Sango was painful for Kagome; she had missed her very much. She held Shippo the whole time, trying to make up for the neglect earlier. The kit easily fell asleep in the lap of his adopted mother. Kagome on the other hand was slowly remembering how it felt to care for a child. She was also gradually remembering how it felt for her friends to care about her. Cyrus was almost obsessed with his creation and Kagome could never see him as anything else other than the creature that took away her life. After she completed her story and answered their questions, Miroku nodded in understanding and offered his apologies. They all apologized for it, but Kagome just waved them away, it was her own fault. Kaede was intrigued by Kagome's change and asked to test her abilities tomorrow.

"Of course." Kagome said immediately. "I would like your opinion." Kagome then sighed. "Cyrus is gonna kill me." She said after a moment. All eyes turned to look at her. "He told me to meet him at our hotel. He'll find my motorcycle tonight, I'm sure, and boy will he be pissed. He barely trusts me at all; I hope the well won't let him through." Immediately Kagome's blood froze. "What if it lets him through?"

Silence reigned in the room for many minutes when Sango uncomfortably cleared her throat. "You feel up to the hot springs?" She asked uncomfortably.

Kagome shrugged. She wasn't too fond of the idea, not really being used to her old life again. But she forced a small smile that didn't reach her eyes and said. "Sounds good." When Sango looked hurt Kagome wanted to kick herself. "No." She amended quickly. "I really wanna go, Sango. I'm just not too used to everything yet, I would love to go."

Sango brightened as much as Sango ever could and stood with a warning glare at Miroku and exited the hut. Kagome stood too. She dug her toiletries bag out of her duffel and then paused. She reached into her bag again and withdrew two packs of ramen. She tossed them to the hanyou in the corner. "Couldn't resist buying them." She muttered at his surprised look. "Their pretty uncommon now, but I..." Kagome trailed of suddenly uncomfortable at going out of her way to please Inuyasha.

"Thanks." Said hanyou mumbled, an almost invisible blush staining his cheeks.

"Welcome." Kagome replied quietly as she swept out of the hut with a very vampiric grace.

Sango stood on the other side of the bamboo mat waiting. They walked toward the spring in silence. Kagome could see the small glances Sango was stealing towards her. Kagome wondered just how much she had changed in her friends eyes. It was hard to remember what she had been like when she was still human. No one had questioned her on her new appearance either. She knew that they were all curious about, especially by the looks they had given her. Kagome had slowed down and Sango now walked a little in front of her. Her hair moved to give Kagome a view of her neck and her heart clenched. 'Kami, it's hard to resist. Even after all these years.'

'You did keep yourself away from humans for the most part.' Her mind whispered to her.

'I purified the demon. It can't control me; I don't need to drink blood like it would.' Kagome's human heart argued back calmly.

'Doesn't mean it wouldn't taste good.' Her mind teased.

'No.' Kagome sighed. It was going to be a long...she wondered how long she would remain with her friends.

"We're here." Sango's voice dragged her back to reality. She hadn't even noticed that they now stood on the banks of the spring.

"Oh. Sorry. I was lost in thought there." Kagome muttered shaking her head. "Shall we?" Kagome asked with a smirk as she undressed. Sango smiled and followed suit. Both women lowered themselves into the water with contented sighs. A comfortable silence fell on them for many minutes as they relaxed and washed up.

"Was your life very hard?" Sango suddenly asked.

From the look on Sango's face Kagome knew that she expected an affirmation. Instead Kagome surprised her by shrugging. "Not as hard as you may think. I was taken to America, an ocean away from home. It made adjusting easier. Cyrus made my human past seem like a different life. He forced me to hold no regret at what I left behind. It made me angry and spiteful at first." Kagome shrugged again not continuing.

"So you just forgot about us?"

'Not entirely.' "In a way." Kagome dunked her head underwater and then resurfaced with a splash. "It was easier. That's why it's gonna take a while for me to get back into the swing of things." Kagome realized that she probably sounded harsh. The look on Sango's face proved her thoughts. Kagome mentally groaned. "Sango. I want to pick back up our friendship, but I beg you to realize that I am not the same Kagome you knew a week ago. I never forgot about you. I just tried not to think about you." Kagome stood and grabbed a towel to dry off. Sango reclined against a rock. Once she finished dressing Kagome said, "I'm gonna head back, okay? Don't stay too much longer; you don't want the pervert to worry." She teased as Sango's eyes snapped open and her mouth moved to deny, but Kagome was already walking away.

Sango sighed. The new Kagome was going to take some getting used to.