I hope this next chapter gives you a few surprises... it should help strengthen the plot too...This chapter reveals a lot so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Disclaimer: Me no own Inuyasha and Co. I own Youki, Amara! Muahahahaha... BEAT THAT!

Chapter 2 : Powers Revealed

As Kagome shut the doors of the well house behind her she sighed heavily. She'd thought she was used to fighting with him, but their recent argument left her feeling as hurt as ever. 'I wish Inuyasha could understand...' she sighed once more as she reached her modern house and started towards her room. Kagome lay down upon her bed after unceremoniously tossing her bag aside and began writning in the journal she bought during her last stay at home. She was writing her first entry as she listened to her CD player and failed to hear her window opening. Inuyasha silently sat next to her desk as she fell into a quiet slumber. Once her breathing evened out he crept closer and noticed the red journal she'd been writing in. Kagome's fingers rested lightly upon its cover, and they clenched tighter around the pen she had been using as she entered dreamland.

Inuyasha gingerly removed her hand and picked up the journal. He gave a quick glance back at her angelic face, and he leapt out her window and into the branches of Goshinboku, The God Tree. It was his one source of comfort in her time being that it existed in both eras. He took up residence upon his favorite limb and removed the journal from his haori to study it. The cover was a brilliant red, and matched his fire rat clothing exactly. The kanji inscribed upon its surface read 'Love' in the same shimmering silver as his hair. Inuyasha turned the cover and was met with her first entry.

I went shopping to help clear my mind... who would've thought I'd find a journal that only filled my mind with more thoughts of him? Inuyasha, the amber eyed hanyou that confuses me so entirely. Just when I think I might have a place within his heart, something happens between us to squash the spark of hope within my soul. Doesn't he see how much I care? Oh Inuyasha! Why can't he see? I wear my heart upon my sleeve like a fool and he continues to rip it to pieces. Am I a fool for dreaming he feels anything for me, when I know he must think of me only as his shard detector? Sango says I'm no fool, and that Inuyasha cares as deeply for me as I do him, but how can I believe it? I'm too afraid to ask him the truth. When Kikyo returned to death after finding her peace I thought there was a chance for me in his heart, but with every cold stare and every hurtful argument a little piece of my heart breaks. Will Inuyasha ever care for me as I do him?

Kagome

Inuyasha stared in disbelief at the journal in his hands. 'She cares for me. Kagome cares for me, and I hurt her.' His eyes softened as he chanced a glance through her window. Kagome had stretched herself out upon the bed and was lightly drooling. When he saw the cute pout upon her face he couldn't help but smile. The hanyou jumped back into her room and returned the journal to its previous position on her bed. 'I'm sorry Kagome. I care for you, but how can I tell you? I don't want to hurt you...' Inuyasha flicked off the lights as he exited Kagome's room and shut her window behind him. With his mind working frantically to find ways to show his emotions for the young miko the hanyou returned through the well to await her return.

The next morning when Kagome woke she felt as if she'd missed something important. She rubbed her bleary eyes and groggily wobbled to her dresser. She changed from the kimono she'd fallen asleep in, into a pair of jean shorts and a white tank top with the words 'Top Dog' on the front in red lettering. Kagome ran a brush quickly through her black hair and pulled her hair into a high ponytail similar to the one Sango commonly wore. She took one last look at herself in the mirror, giggled, and bounded down the stairs to greet her family that had been out to dinner when she returned from the Feudal era.

"Hi Mom, Souta, Gramps!" piped Kagome as she grabbed a piece of toast and sat on the overstuffed couch.

"Back so soon, Kagome?" inquired Kagome's mother, Aiko as she stirred a pot on the stove.

"Yeah, I took the week off to take exams."

"Your mother and I need your help in the shrine after school. We've been having a lot of visitors lately." said Kagome's grandfather as he sent an accusing glare at Souta, Kagome's 15 year old brother who was talking to his girlfriend using the instant messenger service on the computer. "Someone has been going out on too many dates instead of doing his shrine duties and we are a bit behind."

Kagome smirked and ruffled her brother's short brown hair. Souta whined as he sent the wrong message to his girlfriend instead of his best friend. "You made me send Yura the message I was going to send to Daisuke!" Kagome giggled, and her sparkling blue eyes widened considerably when Souta leapt from his seat at the computer and screamed, "Noogie!" He performed the dreaded "noggie" he'd learned from an American friend, and left a very shocked Kagome still sitting on the couch as he ran upstairs to his room. Aiko hid a smile, and Kagome's grandfather shook his head. Kagome huffed and ran her fingers through her hair to remove the knots Souta had caused.

"Did you wash my uniform, Mom?"

"Yes, Kagome. It's hanging in your closet."

"Thanks Mom!"

Kagome walked up to her room and as she passed Souta's she glared at him causing him to burst into laughter. She sighed and began to look through her closet for her uniform. She smiled when she found it and ran into the bathroom to take a quick shower. Kagome dressed and brushed her hair, smiling at her reflection in the mirror. She looked at her alarm clock and realized if she didn't leave immediately she would be late for school. She rushed down the stairs, shoved on her shoes and left the house yelling a quick "goodbye" to her mother who was waving at the door.

"Hey guys!"

"Hi!" chorused Kagome's friends Eri, Yuka, and Ami.

"Are you well enough to take exams, Kagome?" questioned Yuka.

Kagome sighed as she remembered all the illnesses her grandfather had invented to give to the school when she went to the Feudal era. She wished he could make up a simple disease or cold, but he always chose the worst diseases for her to have.

"I'm fine! See?" Kagome twirled around as she smiled one of her radiant smiles and continued to walk towards school. Her friends exchanged glances but knew that arguing with Kagome would get them nowhere.

"Hey, Higurashi!"

"Hi... Hojo..." sighed Kagome. Hojo was a boy about the same age as Kagome. He always brought her gifts to help her overcome her "illnesses", and he asked her out continuously although she always refused. She'd only gone twice with him, and both times she'd been forced into it by her friends. Kagome smiled a fake smile, though Hojo was too excited to notice.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, Hojo."

"Kagome, I was wondering...Um...Wouldyougoonadatewithme?" Hojo asked in one breath. He shifted from one foot to another as he waited for her answer.

"Hojo, I can't go out with you."

"Of course she CAN!" exclaimed Eri. Eri leaned towards Kagome and whispered, "Go out on a date, Kagome. He's such a good guy! Much better than that two-timing guy you've been seeing..." Kagome had given her friends a modified description of Inuyasha when Kikyo was still alive. She'd changed the parts where Inuyasha was a half-demon, who kept returning to the dead miko/walking corpse's side, and that they lived in the feudal era.

"No... I don't like Hojo like that... I'm not going to mislead him..." Kagome answered. She turned back to Hojo and said, "I like someone else, Hojo." Eri and the other girls frowned at this but said nothing.

"Oh... that's OK Kagome..." Hojo smiled a small smile. "This doesn't mean I won't stop trying... I'll see you around." Hojo said in a determined voice. The other girls smiled and waved to Hojo.

"You should've accepted Kagome."

"I don't like Hojo as more that a friend. I would be leading him on, and I can't do that to him." Eri, Yuka and Ami all sighed dejectedly and followed Kagome into the school building.

Kagome chewed on the end of her pencil as she tried to remember how to solve the last problem on her math test. She was never good at math, and her teacher had given her class a surprise review test to take before exams. The last bell rang as she finished the problem with what she hoped was the correct solution. Kagome sighed and brought the test up to her teacher's desk. He took the test and placed it with the rest of her class's.

"Ms. Higurashi, I'd like to speak to you after everyone's left." He waited until all had gone from the classroom and said, "You've been absent quite often this semester, but you have managed to raise your grade to a B+. Congratulations, I'm quite impressed."

"Is that all, Sensei?"

"Yes, I'm sorry to have made you wait, but I thought you'd like to know."

"Arigato! I'll see you tomorrow, Sensei." exclaimed Kagome happily as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, goodbye Higurashi."

Kagome ran out of the classroom and found her friends waiting for her outside.

"Well?" chorused the three.

"I raised my grade to a B!"

"Wow Kagome. You're not that good in math either." breathed Ami.

"Yeah! I thought for sure you were in trouble..." Yuka said with a glint in her eyes.

"Why would I be in trouble?" asked Kagome.

"For daydreaming all day about a certain guy..."

"I was NOT!" Kagome blushed prettily and hid her face with her hair.

"Kagome's blushing!" giggled Eri in a sing-song voice. Kagome's eyes widened a bit but she didn't answer. All three of her friends began laughing and Kagome soon joined them. By the time the reached the Higurashi shrine all four girls were giggling madly.

"Are you sure you won't go to Wac Donald's with us?" questioned Eri while she wiped the tears that had formed due to their mirth from her eyes.

"Yeah. I've got to take care of some stuff at the shrine. Souta's got a girlfriend so he doesn't do any of the chores..." huffed Kagome as she glared in the direction of the shrine.

"Alright. Bye Kagome!"

"See you tomorrow, Kagome!"

"Have fun!"

"Bye guys!"

Kagome' mother greeted her as she walked into her house. She kicked off her shoes and set her backpack next to the couch.

""I'm going to meditate under Goshinboku until dinner is ready." Kagome called as she changed into a plain black fighting kimono and a pair of silver baggy pants that she'd affectionately named kimos.

"I'll come and get you when it's ready, dear."

"Thanks, Mom!" yelled Kagome as she walked out the door.

Once Kagome had found her favorite meditation spot between two large roots of Goshinboku she began expanding her aura, and touching the aura's of people near her. Kaede had taught her the technique so she could detect youkai when they were in range of her powers for protection. As she concentrated, she felt a powerful, but unthreatening youkai nearby. Kagome was startled out of her meditation. Kagome had never run into youkai in her era, and Inuyasha had not detected any with his nose since he began coming to her time through the well. Kagome and her companions had decided that if there were youkai in her time, then they had adapted abilities to keep them hidden from the human world.

Kagome stood and looked around the grounds of her family's shrine. Standing near the gates was a young woman who appeared the same age as Kagome. She looked as though she'd been crying, and when she noticed Kagome's eyes on her she looked in her direction. Kagome was startled when her azure eyes met with brilliant gold. As the woman stared at one another their aura's began to glow. Kagome's pale pink pulsated in time with the young woman's deep blue. The glowing stopped and the stranger dropped to the ground in a faint, her fiery hair cascading around her body like a protective shield. Kagome reached out to touch the stranger's forehead and immediately pulled her hand back. A small sun had appeared on the woman's forehead where Kagome's fingers had touched. Kagome woke from her stupor to the sound of her mother's frantic voice.

"Kagome! What happened!"

"I... I don't know..."

"Let's get her inside."

Mother and daughter struggled to carry the young woman inside their home, and once the placed her upon the couch they both sighed heavily.

"She's...(pant)... a lot heavier...(pant)... than she... (gulp)... looks." observed Aiko, as she fell onto the brown leather recliner and ran one of her small hands through her short, brown hair. Her green eyes took in her daughter's features, and she frowned when she noticed a small star had appeared on her daughter's neck, right bellow her left ear. "What happened to your neck?" Kagome didn't answer as she stared at the slowly waking youkai woman in front of her. While she couldn't see any markings she knew that the woman before her had a youkai aura. Aiko shrugged off her daughter's silence and returned to staring at the young woman she'd found fainted in the shrine.

The young female youkai woke to the stares of mother and daughter and cocked her head to one side. She studied their faces and realized the two women were related and smiled. As she watched the older examine her with a confused expression she remembered what had happened.

"I'm sorry to have caused you any trouble." the youkai's calm voice interrupted both Higurashi women's trances.

"Not at all. You may call me Aiko, and this is my daughter, Kagome. We own the shrine."

"I'm Youki, Amara. Call me Amara." the youkai woman smiled, and her delicate features showed her refined beauty.

"You're youkai." stated Kagome as Amara's expression changed to one of confusion.

"Youkai, Kagome?" asked a very confused Aiko.

"Yep... I know a youkai aura when I sense one."

"You're miko, Kagome?"

"Uh huh. I thought there weren't any youkai in this era..."

"Well I'm here, so I guess that changes your theory." giggled Amara.

"Where are you're markings?" Aiko wondered out loud. "Kagome told me youkai had markings..."

"OH! My concealment spell is still up! Hold on a second." Amara's face relaxed and two blue stripes appeared on each of her cheekbones. Her ears became pointed as well, but both humans gasped as a long, red tail appeared. The tip was silver, and the red was the same color of her hair.

"Wow! You're beautiful!" exclaimed both Kagome and her mother as they stared at the female demon before them with awe.

"Um... thanks..."

"Uh... sorry... I couldn't help it!" stated Aiko as she looked at the floor.

"It's alright."

"Why did you faint?"

"I'm not sure, Kagome. Did you feel the power that surrounded us when we were glowing?"

"Yeah. It was very intense. Do you have any idea why that happened?"

"No, I don't. It was really strange..."

"Do you know why a sun appeared on your forehead when I touched it?"

"A sun! Do you have a mirror?"

"A star appeared on your neck, Kagome." Mrs. Higurashi remarked as she listened to the conversation.

"A star! On my neck! Follow me, Amara." Kagome grabbed Amara's arm and ran to her room. She stopped in front of her floor length mirror and gasped. On the left side of her neck there was a small silver star, right below her ear. Amara's eyes widened when she saw her own reflection. In the middle of her forehead was a small gold sun. Both girls looked at each other and asked at the same time,

"WHAT HAPPENED!"

"The sun appeared on your forehead when I touched you, and I didn't have the star on my neck when I went outside to meditate, so it must've appeared then too..."

"May I go for a walk outside?"

"Sure, Amara. Do you mind if I come with you?"

"Not at all. I'd like to see if there are any clues to what happened by the tree."

"Let's go"

Kagome and Amara made their way back downstairs where Aiko was waiting for them. "I turned on the outside lights for you. It's got quite dark while we were inside. I'll warm up dinner for you when you come back inside. Amara, you're welcome to stay." Aiko smiled warmly and held the door for Kagome and Amara.

"Thanks, Aiko. I'll think about it when we come back inside." Amara bowed and followed Kagome onto the shrine grounds. A small building immediately caught the youkai's attention and she began moving towards it. "What is inside that building, Kagome?"

"Oh, that's the well house. It's empty except for an old dried up well. There isn't anything interesting about it." Kagome said, praying the female youkai would leave the subject.

"Can I look in it, please?"

"Well, I suppose you can, but I'll come with you."

"Thanks Kagome!" piped Amara as she gave Kagome a quick hug and darted through the well house doors. "Wow...the well is deep!" Kagome giggled at the youkai's childish behavior.

"Are you done looking at noth-AMARA!" Kagome screamed as she watched the youkai get pulled into the well by a bright light. "I'm coming!" Kagome jumped into the well in time to see Amara disappear in the flash of blue light that signified her trip through time. When Kagome arrived Amara was not in the bottom of the well. She climbed up the vines and looked around the field to see the youkai staring up at the moon 10 feet away.

Kagome walked over to Amara and touched her shoulder. Hundreds of miles away the lord of the west woke from his light slumber. 'The powers have returned...' He quickly dressed and made his way through the halls of his palace to his study. The taiyoukai took an old scroll case from the wall and sat behind his desk. Lord of the West, Sesshoumaru, unrolled the scroll and read the prophecy that had been given one hundred years before. 'It's time.' He rerolled the scroll and left his castle on his cloud of youki. Sesshoumaru set his course for his hanyou brother's forest, the forest in which the bone eater's well resided. He would fulfill his duty to the old seer, even if it meant meeting with his brother.

TBC

Sesshoumaru: Narria... is that what you call an introduction?

Narria: Um... well you see Sesshy... you get more time next chappie to introduce yourself, OK?

Sesshomaru: ...

Inuyasha: Keh! Spoiled moron!

Sesshoumaru: This Sesshomaru will not tolerate the hanyou's insolence...

Narria: Sorry Sesshy... INUYASHA!

Inuyasha: What?

Narria: SIT! Inuyasha slams into ground

Inuyasha: Shit! How'd you do that, wench?

Kagome: I gave her power over the rosary too! (Narria grins evilly)

Inuyasha: Uh oh...

Narria: SIT BOY! Kagome, you turn!

Kagome: Inuyasha, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT!

Sesshoumaru: This Sesshoumaru thinks this situation is entertaining.

Narria: We'll see how entertaining you think it is next chapter... (laughs maniacally) Thanks for reading!

Well! How was it? Please R+R people! Chapter 3 was put on rush due to reviews! Hope you had fun reading.

Adult fan fiction reviewers:

bettychan: Well, was your hunch right? Hope you liked the new chapter!

DEEP SERENITY: Hope you like the turn of events! I don't like how Kagome and Inuyasha usually act so Inuyasha will get better... He has an opportunity to improve and he's NOT going to miss out. I can promise you that!

Kagsyasha4ever: Hey! Thanks for reviewing! I'll see you Monday!

Narria