It had been so many years. What seemed like an eternity. She never thought in her wildest dreams that she'd ever see him again. Well- maybe her wildest.

"M-Myouga?"

"Mrs. Hirugashi-sama! You certainly are alot...." He was going to say older, but he decided that might not be the right word to use, "... you've changed alot."

"Hai..."

Mrs. Hirugashi was still shocked. She finally gained some amount of composure, and began to try to speak the questions forming in her mind.

"Is... he here with you?"

"He? Oh... no."

The room was silent.

Finally, Myouga cleared his throat.

"Mrs. Hirugashi-sama, I came here for an important reason."

"You know where Kagome is?"

Myouga's eyes went wide.

"She isn't here with you?"

"No. She's missing from the hospital."

Myouga had a look of fear in his eyes now, and he spoke quickly.

"We have to find her. Inuyasha-sama-"

"Sama? Inuyasha-SAMA?"

"Yes. Now we have to-"

"Typical of you Myouga. You always called him that too. Tell me, do you still call him that, or have you wisened up yet?"

Myouga became very quiet. Finally, in a low, and sad tone, he spoke.

"Hiroshi-sama.... died years ago."

Mrs. Hirugashi was silent. She suddenly found it hard to breath, and her heart seemed to have stopped. Hiroshi.... was....

"Mrs. Hirugashi-sama, we must find your daughter, she-"

She snapped back into reality when he mentioned Kagome.

"Yes we must. Tell me, the way... is it still the old well?"

"Hai."

Mrs. Hirugashi walked over to the counter and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen from the top drawer to her left. She began to write.

Sota,

Since you will find this before grandpa,

make sure he reads this.

I've gone looking for Kagome, I'm sure

I know where she is. Don't worry about me,

I'll be back in a few days at most. And yes

Sota, you can have some cookies, so you

don't need to try and sneak some.

I love you both very much.

She signed her name at the bottom, and put the note on the cookie jar, knowing that would be the first place Sota would look in the morning. Then, she turned around and headed out the door.

She walked down over to the old well-house, and slowly opened the door. She took a deep breath. She had avoided coming down here for more than a decade, and she never thought she might come back again.

She walked to the edge of the well and looked down into the blackness. She remembered the last time she had been here.

"You.... should have.... waited for.... Myouga." He said out of breath. He watched her gazing into the depths of the well.

"Scared are you?" He asked her.

"Last time..." She drifted back to what seemed an eternity ago, when she had been at the bottom of that well, digging, desperately hoping that the barrier would open, to be back....

"Last time it was sealed. The seal has been broken. Your daughter broke it."

"How?" She asked with a tear in her eye. If only she had known how to break it, she would have given anything.

"It's compicated. Look, I'll explain later. Just jump."

"But what if-"

"Just jump."

Mrs. Hirugash took a deep breath, and jumped.

"For Kagome." she told herself as she neared the bottom.

She closed her eyes, as she was about to hit the hard dirt below her, and waited to make contact. But she never did. Within moments she found herself at the bottom of the same well, but in a very different time. She climbed up the vines, and looked around her. Her breath caught.

It hadn't changed. It had stayed the same. Over the years she had changed so much, but here, this place, had remained unmarred by time. She was finally back.

After a few moments, she remembered why she had returned, and why she was there.

"I know we have to hurry, but...." she paused, "I want to see something first."

Myouga barely had time to hop onto her shoulder before she began wandering off into the forest ahead of her.

After about a half an hour, and many unexpected turns and bends, Myouga began to wonder where she was taking them.

"Where is it...." Mrs. Hirugashi mumbled to herself.

Finally, she saw a tree ahead of her that had markings engraved on one side. 'H.H.'

She smiled when she saw the markings and ran forward. She turned to see an old, delapidated building in front of her.

"It's still here." She whispered.

She walked slowly up to the door, and peered inside.

Two old futons lay in the corner, next to an old fire pit that still contained ashes. A small cradle lay next to the wall nearby. A few old dishes lay in the opposite corner, and there was a pottery jar that still had water in it. The roof had holes in it, and the floor was covered in dust and dirt. But it still smelled just the same. Mrs. Hirugashi walked over to a scroll on the wall. It was written in fading kanji, but it was still readable. It was just one word, but it had been all the decoration she had needed. It read 'Home'. Mrs. Hirugashi walked over to the opposite wall, and touched the cradle making it rock back and forth. She smiled. She knelt at the side of the futons, and touched the fabric. The softness had worn off, but she suspected they would still be warm, if they were used. She then turned and noticed a small chest in the shadows. She walked over, and hesitated. Then she opened it. She reached inside and pulled out a kimono. A beautiful silk Kimono. She smiled. She folded it nicely, and set it on her lap. Then she pulled out a fan that went with it, setting it gently on her lap. She then reached for the last remaining object. It was a Gi. It had retained all of it's softness, and even it's smell. She unfolded it with a sort of reverance, and very carefully, placed it over her t-shirt, and tied it on. It was too big for her, very obviously a man's. She placed everything else back in the chest, and walked out of the building.

She closed her eyes and a tear fell from her cheek.

"I'll be back." She promised, and walked away, back past the tree that had told her where they were.

She glanced again at the 'H.H.', and as she began walking again, a soft whisper came across her lips.

"Hiroshi... Hirugashi."

................................................................................................

Inuyasha woke and adjusted his eyes to his surroundings. He could smell Sesshomaru as plain as day. He tried to stand, and that's when he realized he had been bound. His hands and feet were wound in thick, heavy, and needless to say, TIGHT rope. He tried to pull himself free, thinking that a little bit of rope couldn't stop him.

After a few moments of struggling, some strands of Inuyasha's hair fell into his face. At first he paid no attention and kept strugglling against the rope. He couldn't afford to be distracted. He needed to get free. Then, as more of his hair fell, his eyes widened, and he suddenly felt very vulnerable and weak. At first he had paid no attention to his hair, but now he noticed the difference. He no longer had long, silver hair, but long, black hair intead. He turned his head to look at his hands, tied behind him. No claws.

He heard a laugh coming from the other side of the room. He couldn't see the figure standing in the shadows, but he knew the voice.

"Sesshomaru!" He shouted, hatred boiling in his veigns.

"Well, well. If it isn't my 'kid brother' Inuyasha the hanyou. Or should I say for now, human. How does it feel? To be human. Defenseless, powerless, and a captive to the person you hate most in the world right now?"

"I'll kill you."

"I'm sure you want to, after what I did to your woman, but then that's what I was aiming for. I want to kill you, knowing that you wanted to kill me, with everything in your soul."

"What do you want from me!?!" Inuyasha yelled.

Why hadn't he killed him yet? He was human, defenseless, and bound at his feet. It was the perfect opportunity.

"Of course, I could kill you now, which is probably what you are expecting me to do, but I want to fight you. Of course you are off your game now. You're human. Which helped in capturing you, but it won't do in a fight."

Inuyasha's blood was boiling.

"In the mean time, why don't you keep a friend of mine company?" Sesshomaru laughed. "I'll tell you what, I'll unbind your feet. Maybe that will help you, but I doubt it."

Sesshomaru bent down and cut the cords binding Inuyasha's legs. Inuyasha, waiting for the opportune moment, kicked his brother in the face as soon as the cords fell. The smile faded from Sesshomaru's face.

"Jaken!"

The little green creature ran in to his master's side.

"Yes Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Bring him in."

Jaken ran off, and in a few moments, returned, cowering at his masters side. Inuyasha suddenly felt a rumble, or vibration in the ground. He looked up at his brother, who had a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

Within a few moments, a youkai stood on the opposite side of the room. He wasn't huge, but he could definately inflict severe damage on someone who wasn't able to defend themselves against his attacks.

"Inuyasha, this is who you'll be spending the next couple of hours with, I suggest you find some way to protect yourself. He doesn't like humans. Or hanyou's for that matter." Sesshomaru smiled again.

"Oh," said Sesshomaru as he turned and walked out the door, locking it behind him, "We call him Taro for short."

Inuyasha stared up at the youkai that was just a short distance in front of him. Though he was tired, and sore, he jumped to his feet. He had to protect himself. He had to defend himself. He had to stay alive.

The youkai smelled the air and watched Inuyasha jump to his feet. A smile came to the youkai's face. The youkai charged, and Inuyasha jumped out of the way. Things were just plain harder when he was human. The youkai turned around and repeated it's last movement. Inuyasha was forced to roll out of the way, bruising his shoulder as he rolled. The youkai charged again before Inuyasha had the time to stand up, and it's giant claws ripped through his skin. His back was now bleeding. Inuyasha pictured Kagome, laying in that hopital bed, waiting for his return. He pulled himself up and moved out of the way, just in time to miss the youkai's next attack. Inuyasha ran to the other side of the room, and waited for the next attack. The youkai ran at him, raising his left claw to strike at Inuyasha. Inuyasha moved to the right, to avoid the attack, but the youkai expected his movement, and struck him with his right claw. Inuyasha was knocked against the wall, hitting his head. Now his chest was bleeding, and he had cut his head. He blinked his eyes violently, trying to bring them back into focus. The youkai struck him again, this time, causing his right leg to bleed. Inuyasha didn't know where to move. He was so exhausted, it was hard to move, and the pain that he was feeling was making it hard to move too. Not only that, but his vision refused to come back into focus. He close his eyes. For a moment he was back with Kagome, holding her hand. Pictures of her kept going through his mind. One final image passed through his mind, that made all the difference to him, a vision came to him. He opened his eyes, and dodged the youkai's swing, with renewed hope and motivation.

Inuyasha didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew that he had to stay alive. He had seen a vision of Kagome. Kagome holding something more important to him than the whole world. He saw her holding his son. And with that vision in his mind, he knew he could do anything.

.................................................................................................

A/N: Hello again, I spent forever on this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it! This was one of those, "Where do I want this story to go" type chapters. I had to finalize some ideas I had. So... I hope you like. :D Anyway, thanks so much for your reviews!

-RenaissanceGrrl, thanks for your review, it made me laugh. ;)

Have a WONDERIFIC, INUYASHA FILLED summer! =D