A/N: I know, I know. I just wanted Kags to be able to see her family again. Her family's fun to write in. (And I wanted to see her mom's reaction to baby Kuro!) So, voila!

Chapter 12: Home Again

"Are you sure this will work?" Inuyasha asked, as they neared the well the next morning. He didn't really know where Kagome got this information, all he remembered was a much shaken Kagome waking him up at who-knows-what hour at night and telling him she knew a way to make the well open for one day.

This had better work, he thought. Or I'm never gonna believe her next time she gets a crazy idea in her head. Others, including Kaede, had been skeptical when she told them she could make the well open. She had told them that she 'suddenly had an idea' but Inuyasha suspected it wasn't. He had asked her about it, but it was clear she wasn't telling. She told him it was nothing to worry about; just something he didn't really need to know. He growled when he thought of that. He hated it when she kept secrets.

Kagome looked down into the bone eater's well. She hadn't been near it for about a year, ever since it was closed by the shikon no tama. She had her doubts about whether she would be able to get back to her time. But Midoriko said she would be able to open it, so she had to put trust in that.

She sighed. Now how do I do this? Midoriko said…My want must become a need. I need to go home, I need to see everyone!

She looked down at the well. Nothing happened.

"Well?" Inuyasha asked.

"I'm trying!" she growled. She got another idea. "Here," she said, giving Inuyasha Kuro. "You hold Kuro."

He took the baby, now looking at Kagome with curiosity. "What are you going to do?"

She didn't answer. She knelt down, and closed her eyes. She placed her hands on the side of the well. She drew deep into her miko powers, like she did every time she fired a purity arrow. She could feel that power flowing through her. Please…I must…I need to…go and see my family. For one day…Just for one day…

She felt her miko powers growing. Just to visit…for one day…she repeated, ejecting her powers from her into the well.

"WHOA!" Inuyasha stepped back, startled. A pink light had come from Kagome and was now dancing around the well. It fell into the well and the blinding pink light grew until it settled down. Then everything was back to normal, and Kagome was leaning against the well, panting.

Inuyasha went up to her, not even caring that Kuro was now pulling his long hair. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Y-yeah…" she said, trying to stand. He helped her up, and noticed she was a bit wobbly on her feet. "It's okay," she said, noticing his reaction. "I'm just a bit dizzy."

He looked down into the well. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Only one way to find out." Kagome said. With a deep breath, she jumped into the well. Inuyasha followed, holding Kuro to make sure he wouldn't fall. They had expected to meet the dirt bottom, but what surprised them both was when the colors around them began to whirr like they did whenever they traveled through the well.

They hit the ground of the well. Kagome looked at Inuyasha, amazed at what had just happened. "I-Inuyasha…are we…?" They looked up, and saw a roof over their heads.

She gasped, and instantly ran towards the ladder, as she popped over the side, she knew the building instantly. They were in the well house. All she could do was stare as Inuyasha climbed out of the well carrying Kuro. Kuro looked all around him, sniffing at all the different and new scents.

Kagome said nothing as she walked to the door, intent on opening it, but she was stopped. "They…they locked up the well house." She said, her voice shaking.

"Don't worry about it." Inuyasha said, handing Kuro to her. He pushed on the door, applying a ton of strength, until finally, the chain and lock broke and the door slid open, crashing into the other side.

"I'll be surprised if no one heard that." Kagome said, walking outside. When she got outside, tears filled her eyes. She was home, back in her own time, like she should have been. Her eyes had forgotten how big Tokyo was, or how loud. She stood there, shaking as she looked on her house that she had lived in for so many years before she went to live in the Sengoku Jidai.

On the sidewalk by the shrine, middle-school kids were walking home. Kagome reminded herself that if she were still in her time, she would have been in 11th grade now. If she hadn't gone with Inuyasha, she probably would still have been worrying about exams and grades, still chatting with her friends about boys, still coming home to see her mother, brother, and grandpa. But…I wouldn't give up what I have with Inuyasha now for anything.

She looked at her front door. She wanted to go in, to say hello to everyone, but she was a bit afraid. She was afraid of what everyone would say after not seeing her for a year, and now she was back, and she brought back with her a baby. Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Inuyasha, maybe I should go in first because…you know." Her eyes fell on Kuro, who was looking all around and sniffing the many different scents.

"Huh?" he also looked at Kuro. "Oh, yeah."

She walked up to her door, and with a deep breath, slid it open. Her house looked normal, despite the fact that she heard no one in it. Almost dreading it, she walked into the kitchen. Where she saw mother standing over a cooking pot. It had been so long since Kagome had seen her that it was almost surreal. She could barely say, "M-Mama…?"

She heard a gasp, and slowly her mother turned around, her eyes widened as they locked on her, almost as if in disbelief. "K-Kagome?" she asked.

"I'm here Mama." She said, walking closer.

"Kagome!" her mother ran toward her and hugged her. After all, she hadn't seen her for a year. "It's been so long since you left!"

"I know…and so many things have happened since then…" Kagome said. "But I had to come back and see you all again." They broke away, with tears in each of their eyes.

Her mother looked at her clothes. Kagome was wearing a yellow yukata tied with a blue sash. "I see you've grown out of your school uniform."

Kagome smiled. "I couldn't keep one outfit for an entire year, Mama."

"Hey, aren't you forgetting about something?" Inuyasha said, coming in with Kuro. Mrs. Higurashi stared at Kuro.

Kagome knew it was time for some explanation. She blushed a bit. "Well…uh…you see, Inuyasha and I…this is Kuro." Was about all she could say. She passed the baby to her mother and she couldn't help but tweak his dog ears.

"How old is he?" she asked.

"A month and a half." Kagome said.

As her mother looked down at Kuro, Kagome could tell she was happy at being a grandparent. She looked back at Inuyasha, who was silently dreading what Kagome's mom would say. After all, he thought. It is sort of my fault that we ended up with Kuro.

"It seems you have been taking care of then." She said, with a smile. "Too much, in fact."

That surprised him. "Uh, yes, Kagome's mom." She smiled.

A little boy walked into the kitchen. "Nee-chan? Inuyasha Nii-chan?"

"Souta!" Kagome said, running up and hugging her brother.

He looked over at the baby, now sniffing him. "Who's that?"

"This is Kuro." Mrs. Higurashi said with a smile. "He's your…" she stole a glance back at Kagome and Inuyasha. "He's your nephew."

Souta looked at the small hanyou, and back at a furiously blushing Inuyasha and Kagome. "What? You mean you two had a bab—"

"Uh-huh." Kagome said, cutting off his sentence to keep her and Inuyasha from further embarrassment. "Where's Jii-chan?" she asked.

As soon as she asked, her grandfather had walked into the kitchen. "Jii-chan!" Kagome said, hugging him.

"Kagome?" he asked. "You're back?" He took one look at Kuro, and said, "I think I need to lie down…"

He walked out of the kitchen, leaving everyone in there very puzzled. "I'm sorry, Kagome." Her smiling mother said. "He's been sick the past week."

In that instant, Kuro began to wail. Kagome sighed, knowing what that cry meant. "He's hungry." She said.

"I'll feed him." Inuyasha said, taking the baby.

Kagome stared. "What are you going to give him?" But that question was answered when he started searching the cupboards. "RAMEN?" she yelled.

"What?" he asked. "He can eat it! He's got teeth!"

"Yeah, only his fangs! The rest won't grow in for a while, remember?"

"He'll be able to drink the broth, won't he?"

"BAKA! You just want to eat some ramen!"

"Of course I do! But I thought I'd share a bit with him!"

"You can't go feeding a baby ramen!"

"Look, can't I just let him sip on the broth?"

Kagome was fed up with the arguments. "FINE! But he had better only have that!"

With a grin, Inuyasha grabbed a ramen cup from the cupboard. Kagome rolled her eyes.

Kagome looked back at her mother; she was suppressing a small laugh.

"What's so funny?" Kagome asked.

"You two." Her mom said, looking back at Inuyasha making ramen. "After all, I knew it was only a matter of time before you two got together."

"Mama!" Kagome yelled.

Souta nodded. "Remember when you two were kissing in Nee-chan's room?"

"WE WEREN'T KISSING!" Inuyasha bellowed, blushing.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled again. "Although, I didn't quite expect grandchildren quite this soon!"

"Well…uh…" Inuyasha said, his face still bright red.

"By the way, Kagome, your friends have been asking about you. About where you went. Jii-chan's been trying to find excuses, but he seems to have run out."

Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha. "Oh, just tell them I ran away with my violent, jealous, two timing boyfriend."

"WHAT was that?" Inuyasha asked.

"Oh, right, I forgot, you're not two timing anymore, are you?"

The hanyou growled. "You…you…"

Souta rolled his eyes. "Come on, Inuyasha Nii-chan, can't you see she's joking?"

Inuyasha grumbled while trying to spoon-feed Kuro some ramen, but to his amazement, the baby spit it out. "What?" he tried again, and again, Kuro rejected it. "No son of mine would refuse ramen!"

Kagome laughed. "It seems your ramen addiction doesn't run in the family. Good thing he won't be craving them 24/7." She yawned. A sudden tiredness had come upon her. "I'll be upstairs. I just…need to go to my room for a bit."

She left the kitchen and walked upstairs. When she reached her room, she stared at the door for some time. Somehow…it's hard to open it… But she grabbed the knob and turned it.

She walked into her room, and stared around. It had been so long since she was in it, that she had forgotten some of the floor plan. She walked to her bed and sat on it, smoothing out her yellow yukata. She looked up at the ceiling. This room…holds so many memories… But when she closed her eyes, dwelling on the past, the only memories that came to mind were the ones of her and Inuyasha. All the times Inuyasha came to see her, the time when she was sick and he took care of her, the time he saved her from the no mask…all those times came to mind. Inuyasha…

"What's with you?" A voice said, Kagome opened her eyes to be staring into the amber ones of her hanyou.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just memories."

Inuyasha took a seat next to her. "You miss it here, don't you?"

"Of course." She said. "This is the time period I was born into. I lived here for fifteen years, and I do kind of miss having a hot bath ready."

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably. He looked at the ground, and then back at her. "Do you…do you want to stay here? And I'll stay too…"

She stared. "As in…forever?"

He nodded.

She closed her eyes. Stay here…? "No. I mean, yes, I miss it, but…" she looked back at him. "Where I belong…isn't here. I belong in the Sengoku Jidai, with you. That's home."

He smiled. He thought he wouldn't really mind staying with her here, but somehow, he knew he would never really belong. Even though he was happy with her decision, he still felt uncomfortable. "But Kagome…you've given me so much…I've never given you anything in return."

"Yes, you have." She said, leaning against his chest. "You've given me your love. That's all I ever wanted from you, Inuyasha."

He smiled, and then wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. They broke away, looking in each other's eyes, and then his lips crashed down on hers. Kagome was instantly reminded of the day a year ago, when he almost kissed her in this very room. And just like that day, her heart could still race whenever he was around, in fact, it was racing more than usual…

Inuyasha suddenly pushed away. "Kagome! You're hot!"

She stared, blushing slightly. "Uh…thanks, Inuyasha, but is it really the time for this?"

He rolled his eyes. "Keh. Baka. As if I'd yell that out for everyone to hear." He felt her forehead, and then his. "You've got a fever."

"What?" she felt her forehead. "But…I don't feel sick…" but she did notice she felt tired. "Wait…holding the well open…it's draining my miko powers."

Inuyasha didn't want to just drag her away from her family, but he knew keeping the well open for much longer wouldn't be good for her. "C'mon." he said. "We gotta get back before you faint or something."

She stood up shakily, and he helped her down the stairs. Once they came back into the kitchen Inuyasha took Kuro. "Sorry, but we have to go. Kagome is…she needs to get back before something happens."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded. "I understand." She came over and gave Kagome a hug. "Well, I'm glad you stopped by." As she parted, she wiped a tear. "And, I hope many more years of happiness on you."

"Thank you, Mama." Kagome said, in a shakey voice.

"Bye Nee-chan!" Souta said. "Inu no Nii-chan! Nee-chan and Inuyasha Nii-chan's baby! I can't wait to tell the kids at school that my sister has a baby with dog ears!"

Kagome laughed. "You can tell them that Souta, but I doubt they'd believe it."

"Bye, Kid. Kagome's Mom…" Inuyasha said, and they walked out the door to the well house.

Inuyasha noticed that Kagome was getting worse rapidly. She needed help getting into the well. Please, Kagome…hold it up for a bit longer so we can get home…

As they jumped in, to both their relief, the colors around them swirled once more, and they landed in the bottom of the well. They looked up, and the sky was up ahead.

"We're back." Kagome said. "We're back…home…" she said, before falling to the ground in a faint.

A/N: I'm sorry for being so late on this chapter. I found out that for AP classes, there's homework over the summer. (Ya think they could have told us EARLIER!) And so some other chapters may be late as well. I'm sorry for this and seriously, I'm suffering as much as you are. (I'd much rather be writing fanfiction then some stupid book report!)

(Just a note: The "You're hot!" line is a joke between me and my friends. It's a joke because in Japanese, whenever someone is "burning up" as in fever, they always say "atsui" which means "hot". Which is hilarious whenever Kagome notices that Inuyasha's body seems to be "burning up" XD. Okay, I'm done now.)