Chapter 1:To Return or Not to Return?

"Don't cry," he said to me.

It seemed like a lifetime ago.

I can remember those golden eyes staring into mine, beautiful and wise. I can remember the way the sun's rays hit his silver hair and made him into a god, not just my best friend, the hanyou Inuyasha. I can remember the feel of his clawed fingers on my lips, murmuring my sobs and his rough hands brushing my tears away, so tenderly. I can remember so many things about that day. But nothing will be more special that when we kissed for the second and last time.

God, it felt like forever since I had kissed him then.

I had forgotten how his lips were dry, but warm. Sweet, but passionate. I had forgotten how he liked to touch my hair, and hold me close afterwards. How he liked calling me a baka for being so silly. I had forgotten up to that point, how much I loved him.

You may think I'm crazy for forgetting that. But I did. Up until that final kiss used to soothe away my tears and tell me all the truths I had been secretly yearning to find out, I had forgotten how fast my heart could beat at his nearness. I had forgotten how good he smelled, like the forest after a rainstorm. I had forgotten how handsome he looked with the sun setting behind him. I had forgotten so much that my heart had simply buried the fact that I loved him. My first love.

I felt the pulse of the Shikon jewel as I stared into the Bone Eater's well. It had been almost seven years since we had defeated Naraku and found the rest of the Shikon jewel shards. Hard to believe that I had left all of my friends and my first love there. Harder to believe he had let me take the completed jewel with me. And hardest to believe was that he had let me go at all. The one boy, well hanyou actually, that I loved and understood and wanted to be with forever…let me go… like I was coming back tomorrow. That why I was crying that day, the day that he kissed me. Maybe he thought I would come back the next day.

The darkness of the well seemed to echo throughout the small well house. I felt it creep up my spine slowly, like a bug. Swallowing, I wiped a stray bead of sweat from my forehead. Summer was brutal in the feudal era I remembered, hooking a hand on the silver chain that the Shikon jewel was strung on.

I felt it pulse in time to my heartbeat, which ba-bumped slowly. I put a hand over my heart, taking a deep breath. The Shikon jewel hadn't pulsed like this since my last day in the feudal era. But this morning, I had awoken to the extra thud of it tuning into my pulse. This had led me to conclude that something was happening in the feudal era.

I backed up from the well, sitting on the bottom step to contemplate my return. There was no obligation to stay now, college being out for the semester break and y family not being around anymore. Last year, Souta, Mom and Jii-san had moved out to take over another shrine in Kyoto, which apparently was infested with evil spirits that needed to be cleansed. That left the shrine to me. My childhood home was mine. My only obligation was to my part time summer job which helped to pay tuition to attend Tokyo U.

Amazing to me that I had gotten in. After defeating Naraku, I was supposed to be taking my high school entrance exams, but I was so behind, I had to wait for almost a year to take them. I worked hard through my heart ache. And after 3 grueling years of high school, spent mostly studying and working, I was accepted to Tokyo U.

I blinked, snapping out of my thought like trance. The well seemed to stare at me, mocking me slightly. I stood, steeling myself. I was not that little middle schooler any longer. I was a young woman, mature, beautiful and successful. Buyo twined about my legs and gave me a start, making me fall flat on my face in front of the well. I could almost hear Inuyasha laughing.

I muttered, "Osuwari," and stood, brushing off my black cargo pants and green v-neck shirt as I did so. Taking a deep breath, I mounted the edge of the well, twisting my now extremely long hair back into a loose ponytail.

I squeezed my eyes shut and whispered, "Wish me luck, Buyo." My cat meowed in reply and I jumped into the well, without a second thought.

The stream of time hadn't changed. I flew through it, its silent winds running its ghostly fingers through my hair, pulling it free from its restraint. The world around me was blue and violet, a beautiful universe.

And then, there was the ground under my feet and the smell of earth and decay all around me.

I waited for a moment, letting my legs adjust and then stood, tilting my head back to look up at the well's opening. It was just white light there so there was no telling if I had gone back to the feudal era or not.

It's now or never, I thought, starting the climb to the top. It was slow going, my arms slightly out of shape. "Something to work on when I get back," I said aloud, my voice echoing around me, reverberating off the well's walls.

Finally my head popped out, and I pulled my body slowly out of the well. While waiting for my eyes to adjust I wiped the sheen of sweat that had formed on my brow.

Finally, things came into focus. I was back in the feudal era alright. I took a breath of the clean air and looked up at the almost cloudless sky.

"Beautiful, is it not?" a voice said from behind me.

I jumped, flying about two feet into the air and fell face first into the ground, less than gracefully, cursing myself for deciding to return.

Embarrassed, I picked myself up form the ground, not bothering to turn towards the voice and brushed my clothes off. "Yes, it's a beautiful day. I had forgotten how much cleaner the air is here," I replied nonchalantly.

Finally, when my blush had cooled, I turned to face the voice.

My jaw must have dropped because the man looking at me smirked.

Deep blue eyes, long black hair and purple robes made him out to be an unearthly handsome monk.

He stepped forward, taking both of my hands. I eyed him curiously and then he said, "Lady time-traveler, would you do me the honor of bearing my child?" Two minutes later, after my stare and dead silence, a giant boomerang appeared out of nowhere and soundly thanked the monk in the head. He fell to the ground and I laughed. And then I realized I recognized the monk.

My laughter stopped as I saw a fairly pregnant woman in a pink and green kimono come storming out of the forest. Her dark maroon eyes were fiery as she picked up the giant boomerang. Then she noticed me.

"Oh! Excuse my husband stranger. He didn't mean it. He's just a hentai," she said casually.

My jaw dropped.

"Sango?" I said

The lady blinked. "Erm…yes?"

"And is that…Miroku?" I said, pointing to the now rousing monk.

'Yes…" she said moving a little closer to me. "Do we…know you?" Miroku stood up, taking his place beside Sango. I almost cried.

"Guys…It's me! Kagome!" I said, tears threatening to spill onto my cheeks.

Miroku's and Sango's jaw's both dropped as they both stuttered," K-k-k-kagome?"

I nodded and we all hugged, Miroku groping Sango, which got him a fierce slap from the pregnant demon slayer.

"Oh god Kags, I didn't recognize you!" Sango exclaimed, looking at me. "You've grown up so much!"

"You too!" I said, patting her pregnant tummy. She flushed, looking even more radiant.

"So, how've you been?" Miroku asked, leaning on his staff.

"I've been…healing," I replied, trying not to wonder where Inuyasha was.

"We thought…you'd died," Sango said, looking at Miroku, who nodded his head at her.

"What!" I said, taken aback.

"Well you never came back…" Sango said, looking uncomfortable.

"So we just assumed the worst and though we were heartbroken, tried to move on," Miroku finished for her, taking Sango's hand.

"Oh…even…" I swallowed, pausing and finally found the courage to say his name, "Shippou?"

The two looked at each other and nodded. "He was so heartbroken. He though of you as a mother to him. If Inuyasha hadn't been here, we think he might've died of a broken heart," Sango said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I-i-i-inuyasha?" I said, stuttering over his name.

"Yeah, he basically adopted him. Even built a little hut in the village so Shippou would have a stable home," Miroku said.

"He's changed a lot Kagome…you'd be surprised at him," Sango said, taking my hand. "He's going to be so surprised when he sees you're here. I think his heartbreak was almost as bad as Shippou's…he even blamed himself…you were his best friend Kagome."

I nodded; closing my eyes and taking a breath, feeling the familiar tears prick at my eyes. "Yeah, I know," I said softly.

"So how long are you staying for Kags?" Miroku said, breaking the sad tension that was building.

"Oh…I'm just here for the afternoon actually… I didn't bring any clothes with me, otherwise I would stay longer," I said, taking my hand from Sango's and slipping both into my pockets.

"Well, you could always borrow some of my clothes," Sango said, grinning. "We could have a slumber party!"

I smiled.

Miroku enjoyed that idea.

'Yeah and we could invite Inuyasha, Shippou, and maybe Rin will come as well!" Sango said, laughing like a child and clapping her hands together. Gone was the girl who was so broken hearted over the loss of her family. And in place of her was a light-hearted lovely woman, warm hearted and compassionate.

Miroku then frowned, his hentai mind shutting down. "Aww…Sango…you ruined it!"

Both Sango and I then promptly beat the crap out of Miroku with some giant sunflowers.

After the beating, we began walking back to the village.

I wasn't listening to the couple's conversation closely as I stared at everything around me. Nothing had changed it seemed…

I caught a glimpse of the old Go-shinboku tree. Looking at the two in front of me, holding hands and talking in low whispers, I figured they would appreciate a few minutes alone and I quickly began to jog through the woods toward the tree.

When I finally reached it, I stopped just before it, gazing up at its huge branches. This tree was so old, eternal in its life. I took a step forward, my hand reaching out to touch its bark when a voice called out from its top branches, "Touch it, and die!"

I was startled and moved back away from the tree. Shading my eyes, I looked up, trying to spot the person who had yelled to me. "Hello!" I called, searching the sunlit branches.

"Go away!" The voice returned, in a different spot now.

"Umm…no!" I called back, uncertainly shifting my feet.

"Stupid baka!" The person called. There, a blur of black!

I tried to find that same blur but couldn't.

"This tree is haunted!" The voice called again, echoing a few howling moans for effect.

"Um…no! The last time I was here, seven years ago, it was just an ancient holy tree!" I called back, laughing a little the voice's antics.

I heard a thud and turned quickly around and almost fell the ground as the person charged me, sniffing me all over.

I didn't get a good look at him, but from what I saw, it was a man, with a black haori on.

I whimpered a little, slightly scared of this person. Finally, it relented and it got up and turned its back to me. I stood shakily.

"Why is her scent on you!" He cried, his arms folded.

"What..?" I said, confused.

" I said, why is her scent on you!" He said, turning and coming at me again, pushing me against the tree. His hand, which had nails sharper than daggers was against my throat. "Did you kill her? Bathe in her blood? If you don't tell me I'll rip your throat out!" He cried again, his eyes full of pain as he looked at my face.

I let out a gasp, which was hard because of how close his claws were to me. His eyes were golden in color, a soft amber and his face…it had changed, grown older…but it was him. My first love. His hair was shorter now, more shaggy than long. It looked like it had been cut extremely short but had grown out since it was last cut. The filtered sunlight lit it, casting white streaks in its silver beauty.

Inuyasha.

I felt the Shikon pulse harder, in time with my heart and his ears quirked at the sound. He let go of my throat and sank to his knees in front of me, covering his ears, as if the sound hurt him. "Who are you?" he whispered, his voice raw.

I couldn't answer him.

"Tell me your name…and why you smell like MY Kagome!" He cried, looking up at me. His eyes were brimmed with tears.

"Kagome…" I whispered, my voice rough.

"You can't be her! She died!" he said, speaking through clenched fangs.

"I am! I DIDN'T DIE! I LEFT!" I screamed, my heart shattering.

Pain busted anew in his face and he shook his head. "You can't be her…she was only fifteen...she was gangly, immature…she only wore her school uniform here…you can't be here, you can't be here…" he almost chanted.

"But it's me," I whispered, clutching at my heart with my hands. "I've grown up…I'm only in college now…we don't have uniforms…It's me, Inuyasha…Kagome…" I felt the tears spill down my cheeks. I sank to my knees leaning back on my haunches against the tree. The sun was getting a little lower. Sango and Miroku must be worried about me, I thought.

Inuyasha looked at me, sitting there under the tree. My cheeks were stained with tears. He remembered the last day he had saw her. She had been crying then too.

"Kagome? It's really you?"

My heart broke yet again as I heard the hopefulness in my first love's voice.

"It's me, Inuyasha. It's only me."

He was there so fast I wasn't able to say anything more. His mouth was on mine, his hands were twining in my hair, and I never felt more alive as he kissed me.

And when he pulled away, I looked into his eyes. "I've missed you so," I whispered, reaching out and touching his lips with my fingers gently.

He nodded and pulled me onto his lap, cradling me and kissing my hair and smelling me, over and over again. "I've missed you too Kagome-chan…I've missed you so much…when I thought you had died…I blamed myself…I wasn't there to protect you, like I promised. I killed you, I had thought…but now…you're alive…and you're…back…and mine," he said, stroking my hair. I looked up into his face, nodding and he kissed me again, more gently this time. His lips were soft and dry still, warm and pleading. And then, there was the foul stench of worms.

I blinked.

I had fallen asleep under the Goshinku tree.

A rotted foot was two inches away from my face. I shrieked and stood up and ran away, from the dead zombie which had crawled up on me while I was sleeping. I shuddered and soon found myself back at the path. Sango and Miroku were no where in sight. I sighed and continued the trudge to the old village, my stomach rumbling. The sky was a beautiful sunset now, so I had been sleeping for a least two hours or so. I couldn't wait for that slumber party. I was starving.

His green eyes stared out over the horizon. He was crouched on the roof of the hut, his red hair loose for once, and it blew about him as a gentle breeze came through the village. From where he was sitting, he could see the tops of the Goshinku tree as well as the road into the village. About two hours ago, Sango and Miroku had dropped by, inviting himself and Inuyasha to a sleep over, dinner and breakfast included. They had a surprise they had said. All Shippou could do was wonder what it was.

He sighed, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. Yesterday had been his birthday. Almost seven years since he had heard of Kagome's passing. The name brought back a flurry of emotions in his teenage heart. Love, friendship, sadness, loneliness and missing her. He remembered how lovely she had been, her pretty brown eyes and dark black hair and how she had treated him like a son. He had thought of her as a mother. It hurt a little to think of her now, but he let it come and go, taking it as a new step in life.

The sun was setting.

It painted the sky pink, red and orange, a mixture of feelings for all. He sighed again and began to get up from his post on the roof of his and Inuyasha's home. They would be leaving soon for Sango's and Miroku's hut. He supposed he should pack some kind of gifty thing, as well as some clothes for him and Inuyasha. He turned to face the other direction where a crescent moon was rising. Inuyasha would be home soon with a skein of rabbits, to no doubt. He just hoped his adopted father was in the mood for company.

Kagome was glad when she caught sight of Sango outside of their home. Sango looked relieved and hurried over.

"Ah! Kagome, are you all right?" She exclaimed.

"Oh…I'm fine…I wandered off for a bit on my own and fell asleep under the Goshinku tree...unfortunately, a zombie decided to ruin my wonderful dream," I replied, sighing.

Sango arched an eyebrow and then shook her head. "Well, I'm just glad you're safe. Now come on, lets get you outta those dusty clothes and into something more comfortable!" Sango grinned and dragged me into her hut, me protesting all the way.

An hour later, I was utterly grateful for Sango's offer of clean clothes. And better yet, I got a free bath outta the deal! After not being able to even run a brush through my twig and dirt encrusted hair, Sango had Miroku go and get me bath water, which I used graciously for a half hour. When I was finally done, Sango let me borrow a deep green kimono she hadn't worn for about three years. It was made out of soft silk and embroidered with golden thread on the sleeves. It was beautiful. I slipped it on and clipped my long hair out of my face and smiled at Sango.

She nodded her head. "You've gotten so beautiful over the years Kagome. I'd laugh if Inuyasha didn't drop dead at the sight of you. Ah! You haven't even seen him since his hair was hacked off have you!" Sango giggled. "He looks like a total bishie now! Its grown a little, considering it was done about four years ago, but its still short enough that makes him look so handsome!" Miroku yelled something from the living room area of their hut and we both rolled our eyes.

"Men," we both muttered at the same time and then grinned at each other. It was like I had never left.

"So we can go right?" Shippou said, his eyes level with the hanyou's.

Inuyasha, dressed in a black haori, and his prayer beads still on his neck, shrugged his shoulders and looked away from the young fox demon's eyes. "I don't care...its probably just some kid we met way back when we were jewel shard collecting..." he said, trying to calm his heart beat.

Ever since around lunchtime, just after he had set out to get the rabbits, he had this eerie feeling that somebody was back who couldn't possibly be back. He wasn't worried...he just didn't want to go through another heart break. He turned his back on the fox demon and said to him, "Get your stuff together quickly-"

Shippou produced two overnight bags, completely packed. "Let's go already! Betcha Miroku is making something gross!" The young teen rushed out the door, leaving one bag for Inuyasha to carry. He smiled, and shook his head. "My son," he whispered, hefting the bag onto his shoulder. He ran a hand through his short hair and shook his head again. "My adopted son."

I was sitting under the tree in front of Sango's hut.

I took a few deep breaths, pushing back my bangs from my face. I looked up at the sky, seeking out the first star. I found it, smiling with pleasure. It winked at me, beautiful against the soon to be velvet black sky. I reached out to touch it, but as it always had been, I couldn't quite reach. I would never have a star of my own. I felt that though prick a memory in me and sighed helplessly as I felt tears come to my eyes. I wish he remembers me...I wish he still feels for me...I wish that...he can trust me and be my friend again...I thought, feeling the loneliness sweep over me again.

I leaned back against the tree, and closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths of the cool air.

Shippou stopped dead in his tracks on the path. Inuyasha pricked his ears up. "What's wrong, Ship?" he called to his adopted son.

He sniffed the air and caught it. A familiar scent.

Jasmine and citrus. Kagome.

Inuyasha shook his head.

"Do you smell it?" Shippou called back, turning to Inuyasha.

He nodded. "It's probably just the wind...or something..." he said, more to himself than Shippou. The fox demon nodded and continued on the road and then stopped again, maybe twenty yards from Sango's house.

"Inuyasha!" He half screamed, half whispered. "There's...a girl! The scent...it's coming from her!" He scampered back to Inuyasha. Inuyasha smirked. Even though he had gotten old enough to defend himself, he often still clung to Inuyasha for protection.

Inuyasha continued walking to Sango's hut.

And then he felt it.

The pulse of the Shikon jewel.