A/N: Okay, I am going to explore my odd little Sesshoumaru/Yuka pairing that I kind of got going, as well as Miroku and Sango's rather confusing relationship…however, there will be a couple elements from other chapters. Some of you have already noticed the missing piece to the puzzle…however, others of you haven't quite caught on to it yet. That's okay, though. You'll see in this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think!

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My Only Hope
Chapter Thirty-One

"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered. "Yuka's asleep…"

"Why would I care if your friend is asleep?" Inuyasha smirked.

Kagome sighed. "Turn around and look, Inuyasha…" she pointed to Sesshoumaru, who was cradling the sleeping Yuka in his arms. "You see what I mean?" she persisted.

Inuyasha's eyebrow rose. "Yeah…but now I'm confused…"

Kagome laughed, but soon stopped in her tracks. She gasped.

"Someone get them out of here!" screamed Inuyasha. He pulled his sword from its sheath, and the Tesseiga glistened threateningly in the sunlight. "Hurry up, damn it! Run Shippo!"

"Inuyasha, you don't have to stay! Go!" Inutaisho commanded. "We'll hold them off!"

"It's my family, damn it!" Inuyasha growled his response.

"But Inuyasha!" Kagome sobbed.

"Kagome!" Above her, Sango was riding Kirara, and waiting for her to jump on. Shippo joined the demon slayer after a fearful look at his father. "Come on, Kagome…" Sango whispered. "We've got to get you out of here!"

Kagome shook her head. She had a baby in each arm. Inuyasha stood protectively in front of her and his pups. "Inuyasha, please, don't…" Kagome pleaded. "Come with me!"

"They'll be killed, Kagome! I have to help protect you and the pups!" Inuyasha retaliated.

"You'll be killed too, damn it!" Kagome screamed.

"Kagome, just go! I'll catch up with you later! I…"

Inuyasha yelped, and Kagome screamed. She saw the sharp edge of the sword sticking out of Inuyasha's midsection. Its wielder pulled it back, and Inuyasha coughed and dropped to his knees, looking very surprised.

"Kagome!" Sango screamed.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried. "Get up…I've seen you take more than this! You'll be all right! Get up, damn it!" she screamed at him.

He coughed, smiling at her and slowly beginning to get to his feet when he yelped again and fell back to the floor. Kagome didn't see the arrows until it was too late. Again, she screamed.

This time, she had seen who had released the arrows. She was shocked.

Kagome gasped, and blinked. She was sitting on the forest floor, and Inuyasha had her by the shoulders.

"Kagome, what happened?" he worried. Everyone else had stopped to worry about her as well.

Kagome frowned. "Inuyasha…I saw…I mean, it can't be…I thought…" Kagome stammered, on the verge of tears.

"What was it, Kagome?" Inuyasha repeated, slightly more firm than the last time. "Tell me what happened! Are you all right?"

Kagome took a deep breath. "Inuyasha…that dream again…" she began.

Jin frowned. "Damn. I was hoping it wasn't that."

Kagome nodded. "It was." She sighed. "We can't go back to the village, Inuyasha. One of the villagers was the one who hurt you, Inuyasha…"

"If that's the case, then we have to go back." Inutaisho frowned.

"They wouldn't hurt Shippo, would they?" Kagome realized.

Inuyasha's expression darkened. "They better not have."

"I don't understand what you're saying," Sesshoumaru piped in. "After all, let's think about that. This village has always been a demon friendly one. Why, all of a sudden, would one of the villagers want you guys dead?"

"There was more than one, there…but I only saw the one that hurt Inuyasha." Kagome admitted. "Inuyasha was saying 'they', so I have to guess that there had to be more than one."

"Odd…" Sesshoumaru whispered. "You're sure?"

Kagome nodded. "Unfortunately."

"We have to go back and get our mothers, Shippo, and Eri. I will not leave them behind just because there are a few safety concerns…."

"This isn't something to joke about, Inuyasha. I watched a villager kill you. A villager. It wasn't Naraku, or Takemaru, or Jiro…it was a villager."

Inuyasha sighed. "We'll just see about that."

"Inuyasha…" Kagome sighed.

They finally came out of the forest. From the hill, as they had for nearly four years, they could look down into the village below. Everything in the village on this particular day seemed completely normal. The various villagers were set in their daily tasks, and outside Kagome and Inuyasha's hut, Shippo was playing idly with one of his tops.

Kagome took a deep, nervous breath. "It looks all right…"

Jin nodded. "Yes, it does…"

Shippo glanced up the hill, and seeing his family staring down at him, he began to run up the hill to greet his mother and father.

"I'm so glad you're home!" Shippo jumped into Kagome's arms, and Inuyasha nearly growled.

"Shippo, be careful, okay? Kagome's side got injured pretty badly. She's okay, but she needs to be taking it easy for a while until the wound is fully healed…"

Shippo nodded, and jumped into Inuyasha's arms. "Okay." He smiled.

"Shippo, has anything odd happened in the village while we have been gone?" asked Sesshoumaru. "Anything you can think of?"

After a moment, Shippo shrugged. "Nothing that I've noticed…except…" Shippo paused.

"Except what?" asked Rin.

Shippo let out the breath he had been holding. "Well, it's weird…the bone eater's well is back…"

Inuyasha blinked. "Are you sure about that?"

Shippo shrugged again. "I went with Grandma Akira into the forest yesterday, and it was there like it had never been demolished before. Grandma Akira started to cry, though, so I thought we should leave…"

Jin looked upset. "Where are Akira and Izayoi?" he asked.

"In mommy and daddy's house." Shippo pointed.

Jin let out a sigh of relief. "I'll go talk to them. Maybe we can figure out how in the hell the well managed to resurface. There was a reason it was demolished in the first place, so that makes me a bit uneasy…"

Inutaisho agreed. "Although, besides what Kagome saw, I don't really think there is any more threat to worry about."

Kagome took Taka, rocking her back and forth. "Yes…well, maybe Gramps will finally get to meet the twins. At least something good could come out of the well's coming back…"

"You aren't going near that well until we figure out how it got there." Inuyasha snapped.

"Really?" Kagome smirked.

"If the well does work, I am going to return home." Eri came out of their hut and smiled.

Yuka shrugged. "You can go, but I think I still want to stay here." She glanced at Sesshoumaru and smiled. "I think I really like it here."

Kagome couldn't help but laugh.

Inuyasha frowned. "I would love to know which one of these lovely villagers is planning to stab me in the back later…" he grumbled to himself. "Or maybe we can just hope that Kagome's vision was wrong…" he sighed. "Although I doubt it. I just wish we had some other way of knowing…"

Taka laughed, and grabbed hold of Kagome's hair. She began to pull and chew on Kagome's hair, and Kagome frowned. "Inuyasha…" she giggled. "Could you get her off?"

Inuyasha smirked. "Aw, it's kind of cute…don't you think?"

"Yeah…and it'll be real cute the first time one of them gets a good strong hold on your hair….don't you think?" Kagome retorted.

"All right…" he smiled.

Jin walked out of Kagome and Inuyasha's hut with Izayoi and Akira on his heels. He looked at the group. "We have made a decision about the well." He announced.

"What is it?" asked Sesshoumaru, one eyebrow slowing rising in anticipation.

Jin cleared his throat. "Kagome and Inuyasha can take the twins back to her time to visit her grandfather…but one of us is going to go with them…just in case…"

"I'll go." Sesshoumaru volunteered. "I would like to see this modern world…"

"I'll show you around…" Yuka offered, smiling.

"The rest of us are going to stay here and investigate what's going on around this village…we're going to try to find some evidence to support what Kagome has seen." Jin finished.

Inutaisho nodded. "Makes sense to me. When are you guys leaving?" he asked.

Kagome shrugged. "Now?" she suggested.

Eri, Yuka, Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Kagome, the twins, and Shippo all started to head in the direction of the bone eater's well. As soon as they were gone, Inutaisho turned to Izayoi and smiled.

"Izayoi, see if you can talk to the villagers and find out if there are any problems around here. I guess there's always the possibility that the culprit is from a nearby village, but we aren't going to know that until we talk to people…"

Izayoi sighed, and nodded. "All right. I can do that."

"Jin." Inutaisho turned to his friend and smiled. "We should search the area surrounding the village. We need to make sure that we have figured this out before Inuyasha and Kagome get back with the twins. I don't want them to have to deal with anymore danger. They have a right to live their lives happily now."

Sango cleared her throat. "What should the rest of us do?"

"Anything that you possibly can to figure out what's going on around here." Inutaisho answered. "Come find us if you find something of interest."

"We will do that," Sango agreed, glancing to Miroku. "Let's get going." She whispered.

Kagome sighed with relief as she crawled safely into the modern era. The well house was brighter than she remembered it, and the sun was seeping through the doors with little to no effort. Inuyasha followed her, and a very confused Sesshoumaru climbed out after him. The last to come into the modern era were Yuka and Eri.

"We're actually back here." Kagome smiled, her voice barely above a whisper. "I never thought we'd get to see my grandfather again…"

Eri pat her friend on the back. "Well, I guess you were wrong, huh?"

Kagome nodded, and slowly slid the door to the well house open. Standing directly outside the door was her grandfather, beaming at her.

From his place on Inuyasha's shoulder, Shippo smiled. "Hi!" he waved.

The twins were strapped comfortably to a baby carrier that clung to Kagome's shoulders. She removed Taka and Toku from their places in the carrier, untied the baby carrier, and smiled back at her grandfather.

"Hey Gramps…" she nodded.

"Kagome! I can't believe you're here! I thought I would never get to see you again! And you brought your children…" Her grandfather stared at the twins and Shippo, beaming proudly as his eyes began to water.

"How old are the babies?" he asked.

"They were born a couple weeks ago. Actually, they share their father's birthday." Kagome smiled.

Gramps nodded with enthusiasm. "Really now? Isn't that a lovely coincidence?" he laughed. "Well, get out of the well house and come inside for some tea!" he demanded. "How long do you and your friends intend to stay?"

"A couple days, Gramps. There is something going on in the feudal era." Kagome explained.

"What is it?" he asked, worried.

"I'm not sure. I think it has to do with that dream I had, though. My father and everyone else decided to stay behind so that they could try and figure it out…"

Gramps shook his head. "I don't understand why everyone keeps messing with you all. Why can't they let you live your lives in peace?" He paused. "You know, if you lived in this era, you wouldn't have to worry about constant attacks…"

Kagome sighed. "Yes we would, Gramps…they would just be a different kind of attack…"

Sesshoumaru frowned deeply. "Are there not demons in this time?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "No, unless you count those ones that Kagome accidentally brought back with her a while ago."

"I see…" Sesshoumaru nodded.

The mood within the group began to get very thick. Kagome shifted her weight nervously from one leg to another, and sighed deeply. Yuka, realizing that things were about to get complicated, cleared her throat loudly.

"Ahem…." She coughed. "I think I would love some tea, Mr. Higurashi." She said after a moment.

The group nodded and followed the old man into the house.

Sango groaned, stomping up to Jin and Inutaisho with a pouting look plastered to her face. She crossed her arms and huffed a bit before clearing her throat.

"What is it? Have you got any useful information?" Jin asked.

Miroku shook his head. "The villagers love Kagome and Inuyasha. They depend upon Kagome's miko powers to protect them from demonic threats. None of them are planning to hurt Kagome, Inuyasha, or their family in any way anytime soon. One villager actually suggested that they ought to make Inuyasha and Kagome an even bigger hut. The villagers don't want them gone," he sighed. "They are willing to do just about anything to ensure that they stay."

Akira sighed. "I am now officially really confused." She whispered. "I have no clue what's going on."

"Have we considered the possibility that Inuyasha's death was an accident?" Everyone turned in surprise. It was Rin who was speaking. She cleared her throat and continued. "You said it yourself. This village comes under attack a lot. Could it be that Inuyasha's death was an accidental occurrence owing to an unrelated demon attack?"

Kohaku blinked. "You know what? After what Miroku just said, that could make sense."

"I'm glad you agree." Frowned Rin, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Why is that?" asked a slightly skeptical Inutaisho.

Miroku frowned. "Because there is a rather large concentration of demonic energy heading straight for us…"

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A/N: Well, I hope you liked it, and I hope that you find it interesting enough to review over!