Alright…..I had been KIDDING about the 50 reviews. Seriously, I get a warm fuzzy reading them and did not expect to actually get that many...you almost hit it though. blush I sat at my computer about 2 hours after I posted the last chapter and had like 19 reviews, not to mention the seven more that came in while I sat there and surfed the net. I sat there and giggled for forty-five minutes, pure delight. My mood ecstatic from then on. Thank you all so much. I have the greatest readers.

Sesshomaru4ever, tessie-fanfic, Baily89,FieryFoxDemon, Babygurl1, Kagomelover2009, CoNfesSiOnS, PadfootCc, FoxStar2k2- Thank you for all your kind words. I am so glad you all enjoy my story so much, (shamelessly basking in praise, getting a huge head) Look what you are doing to me. Thank you so much.

Inu/Kag4ever- end sappy mush? Sigh my mind is on overdrive, running away with this story. I could end it soon…or drag it on for a while. I haven't decided yet. Happy ending? Yes. Sappy? Probably a little. Completely perfect ending? No. That is all I am saying.

Daddy'sPixie- I never aim to make anyone cry…but personally if a fic makes me bawl like a baby…it immediately becomes a favorite. The one exception…it is a really sad, depressing fic. I had my bout of depression in my lifetime…I don't need it again. Typically for me crying is a good thing, emotions are good. Oh and I love that Tim McGraw song…why??? My hubby and I had our first kiss when it played in the background...probably TMI…sorry.

NefCanuck-blush What a compliment! Thank you so much.

Moonmage- I haven't decided on the whole miko power issue yet, right now I am leaning towards bringing it out. We will see which direction my head decides to take when the time comes,(which will probably happen next chapter) Thanks.

Crazer-wiping drool off story Hope this satisfies you for the moment...I know as soon as you are done the salivating will begin again. sigh LOL

EternalSerena- the reviews helped. I never knew how, um...godlike reviews make someone feel until this last couple of chapters when they rolled in. LOL I am attempting to contract my words more. I know, especially with these characters (save Miroku) it is important. As I have said before, it is a force of habit now (that will need to return soon) for working on my novel. Darn this writers block. It is horrible when you know where the story is going…even have some of the scenes written. Just aren't sure how to get it to where you are taking it. Oh well, I just needed a short break.

ParanoiaCentral- Umm…Not telling…but as I have said before-not listed as tragedy/angst!

Last but not least, Paws-LMAO- All nine chapters read and review in one night…no wonder I had so many reviews this time. If my bribe got more reviews, than obviously it was worth it. I have now OFFICIALLY become a review junky. Personally, I think that Inu-hanyou's with big ego's are the best. I hate cliffhangers too, except my own (muhahaha). I am glad you are enjoying the end commentary. I enjoy writing it, but it can be difficult. I am proud of todays. I think it is one of the more amusing. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I am a horrible artist. That is right. I can draw only passable pictures of cats, dogs and the occasional frog. I can in no way shape or form draw an adorable dog demon named Inuyasha. Don't sue me.

Shippo: I can draw.

I know Shippo. You are talented. In fact, I have one of your drawings as wallpaper on my computer.

Shippo: Here! Look at the pictures I made, Sarah.

Oh…dear…um Shippo? Don't show these to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha- Oi, Gimme that! I wanna see it…..HEY Why is Kikyo filled with arrows?

snickers about time

Shippo: sigh Because Kagome saw you two together again. She got mad.

Miroku: Inuyasha? Did you go see Kikyo again? Is Kagome angry with you again?

Inuyasha: Oi! (hits kitsune over the head) No! I haven't seen her in weeks. Hey what's with the red blob in back?

Shippo: sigh we tired of you hurting her all the time. We decided to kill you for it this time.

Hmm…Can't say I blame them.

Inuyasha: (chasing Kitsune) Stay out of it, Bitch.

Chapter 10

We thought he would return to the village later that evening. Our reasoning? He would get hungry eventually. Even a powerful hanyou had to eat. He did not return that evening, or the next. I wish I could say that he returned the following evening, but he did not. Apparently, Kagome had left a couple of snacks in her backpack. Being a hanyou, he required less food to sustain him. Those small snacks lasted him eight days. He didn't move from his place in the well the entire time.

They almost made another trip to the well to check on him. Kaede had held them off on day five, saying he needed space. By day eight, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo found themselves determined to drag him home by his demon dog-ears that Kagome had so adored. Luckily, the ragged hanyou came walking into the village as dinnertime approached on the eighth day, they hadn't needed to go after him.

"Inuyasha!" Shippo bounded toward the Inu-hanyou cautiously. The kitsune had found himself without his surrogate mother, Kagome. The transition had been difficult for the young fox demon, he cried for Kagome every night. He had also missed Inuyasha, though he would never admit it. "Are you back for good?"

Prepared to haul out and hit the kitsune, Inuyasha looked down at the young demon and stopped the downward motion of his fist. "Why the hell would I stay here?" He grumbled.

"Take me with you! I miss Kagome." Shippo cried, launching himself against the hanyou's legs.

Much to the bigger demon's surprise, the kitsune knocked him down. "Oi, Shippo! Whattya doing? Knock it off. You can't live in the well with me."

"Why not?" The kitsune cried, standing on the hanyou's chest, grabbing the two stray locks of hair on either side of his face. "I promise I will be good. Lemme stay with you."

The dog demon stopped, startled by the kitsune's begging. Prying the kid's hands from his hair, and away from himself. "Leggo Shippo. Oi, what makes you think I want you with me?" He asked, holding the kitsune in front of him, by his tail.

"I miss Kagome!" the little kitsune cried, his paws covering his weeping eyes.

Inuyasha found himself taken aback; he knew the little kitsune to be attached to the pretty schoolgirl. He hadn't thought about exactly how her disappearance would affect the kit. For the first time in eight days, he found himself thinking about someone else besides himself, Shippo. He had lost yet another mother. Inuyasha could relate; he had lost him mother once, years ago. To lose one twice though? Sighing, he placed the kitsune on his shoulder. He felt sorry for the kit. "You will be fine. Sango and Miroku will take good care of you. I am sure she misses you too, Shippo." Guilt flooded him, how could he have forgotten about the kitsune's parental attachment to Kagome?

He sighed, looking for Miroku in the village. He wanted to grab some food and head back to the well. Every moment he stayed away from it, he stressed about it opening while he was gone. He knew he should put a little effort into looking for his friends before heading back to his new home.

As they approached Kaede's hut, he noticed a young man sitting on some firewood outside. A knife and small piece of wood in his hands, he slowly shaved away at the piece of wood. His face expressionless, his eyes hollow; the boy would not be healing anytime soon it appeared.

"Kohaku!" Shippo yelled, leaping off Inuyasha's shoulders and bounding toward the young man. Kohaku gave a half-hearted smile to the kitsune and then looked at Inuyasha. He notice surprise flash within the boy's eyes for a moment before they dulled back to the expressionless one's he had held previously. He turned back to his shaving as Shippo ran back inside. Sango's brother hadn't said a single word.

Inuyasha heard Shippo screaming in front of him, as he ran through the hut, "Inuyasha is here! Inuyasha is here!" Following close behind the kitsune, Inuyasha found himself facing the first of the only friends he had. The one that he last saw in a murderous rage directed entirely at him. Sango looked ragged and worn. There was stress evident in her eyes from across the room; she did not look to be happy. She turned around at Shippo's incessant screeching.

"Oi, Shippo! You are hurting my ears!" He growled, reaching for the kitsune's tail again. "She heard you the first time. Shaddup!"

An amused smile crossed the taijiya's face before resettling into the stressed one again. "How are you Inuyasha?" She asked quietly, glad he had finally left the well.

"I got hungry." It was the only answer he could come up with, and the truth. He would have remained there if he hadn't run out of food.

Sango raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Even you can't go this long without food, Inuyasha."

"Keh," He scoffed. "Kagome left a few snacks in her backpack; they came in handy when I got hungry. Where's the monk?"

"Houshi-sama is helping with the construction. He should be home in a little while."

Construction? "What construction?" Curiosity got the best of him; he had to ask what she was talking about.

"Our home. We can't stay with Kaede forever, Inuyasha. The quest is over and Naraku gone. He is building a home for us. Maybe someday Kohaku and I will rebuild the taijiya village, but he refuses to even visit there right now. Not that I blame him, but he is worse off than I ever imagined he would be. Miroku had been a traveling monk before we met him; this is the closest thing he has had to a home for a long time. He decided to build us one here."

Inuyasha felt his mouth drop open, "W..what?" Dumbfounded at the news, he hadn't actually thought the pair would go through with the whole relationship.

Sango's eyes smiled for the first time since his arrival, "Houshi-sama and I have come to an agreement. He can touch me without risk of pain. If he touches anyone else, I have free reign of whatever I feel to be best."

"Keh, this should be interesting." He scoffed, amused at the thought of how the arrangement would pan out. The combination of the lecherous monk and prideful taijiya screamed of disaster waiting to happen to him.

Sango narrowed a glare at him, "Why don't you go find Miroku and drag him home for the evening? I am sure the rest of the villagers have left for the evening." Sango pointed him in the right direction as she picked up Shippo to cuddle the still upset kitsune.

Kohaku remained lost in his own world as Inuyasha left the hut. Reminding himself to ask Miroku about how the kid was handling the trauma he had been through. If anyone could help the kid, it would be the monk.

Sure enough, Miroku had started the beginnings of what appeared to be a large house. The young monk, something Inuyasha would never call him if he had never seen that he actually had spiritual powers, noticed the hanyou approach. "Inuyasha I am glad you have arrived. I am in need of your strength for a moment."

"Oi, I am not your slave monk."

Miroku eyed the hanyou before handing him a stack of logs, ignoring his complaints. The monk then turned and walked back to where he had been working. Inuyasha followed and sat next to him, helping with the foundation of the home. "We wondered when we would see you again."

"I got hungry." It had fast become his answer to any question they had.

"There is nothing wrong with leaving the well for a short time, Inuyasha. I understand why you remain there. It must be difficult to lose someone you care about so much."

Inuyasha could only glare at his friend, he was wrong. The well could very well open while Inuyasha was gone, and then close again. He would miss his opportunity to get Kagome back where she belonged, with him.

Miroku sighed, realizing reasoning with the hanyou typically ended up being a difficult task that ended in a headache for the monk. The state of mind Inuyasha was in right now proves it impossible. Instead, he changed the subject. "How was Sango when you saw her?"

"Stressed, what have you done to the girl?"

Miroku stared at him in disbelief, shaking his head at the hanyou. "Nothing except make her happy. Everything else has been dragging her down."

"Keh?"

Understanding the hanyou after all of this time, Miroku continued, "I understand you may not be thinking about anyone other than yourself right now-"

"Oi!" Inuyasha yelled, offended.

Miroku ignored the hanyou and continued with his conversation. "Sango is not having an easy time. Her brother is not the kid he was before Naraku had his hands on him. Apparently, the boy used to be very talkative and happy. Right now, he wishes he hadn't been saved at all, wishes he died instead. His memories are back, and he is devastated. We are afraid his guilt toward Sango will cause him to run away any day now."

Inuyasha nodded in understanding, the monk continued. "We have now adopted a very needy kitsune who lost his second mother. He is having difficultly grasping the fact that she is gone. Not to mention the fact that Sango has lost the only female friend she has ever had. Kagome was like a sister to Sango. Last but not least, one of her best friends is pining away for the woman he loved, in a well. He stays there hoping she will return and she worries about him. Did I miss anything?"

Nope, he thought, it cut a path of guilt straight through my heart. No wonder Sango looked so stressed, I am not the only one hurting right now. I am such a selfish bastard. He didn't say anything out loud, just worked alongside Miroku until all of the work was done. They walked back to Kaede's in silence for dinner.

Inuyasha moved out of the well that night, and into the sacred tree.

Another picture Shippo?

Inuyasha: Oi! What's this? (holding kitsune by tail)

Shippo: Umm…Kagome and her new boyfriend?

Inuyasha: (hits kitsune in head) Kouga?!

Shippo: (running as fast as he can) At least he can tell her how he feels! He loves her!

Inuyasha: Like hell he does! (leaping after the kit)

Shippo: Kagome!!!

Kagome: Inuyasha! Stop chasing Shippo. Osuwari!

Inuyasha: You are dead, bitch!