A/N: WHAAAAAAAA! Thank you so much for all of your reviews while I was away! I love you all soooo much! I'm finally back from camp now, and luckily, I got a few idea's while I was away. (why do I always want to type well instead of while?) I think I'm gonna start this chapter off with review responses, after my disclaimer, of course.

Disclaimer: Sticks and stones can brake my bones, and so can InuYasha. Unfortunately, I don't have enough money to buy either of them.

Review responses:

AinoMinako: Well, the thing is, this story is supposed to lead up to the epilogue of the origonal story, and that's what happened in the original story, so I've got to have that happen, however, I think once the epilogue is up, you will be satisfied.

Cornelia1715: umm... incase you haven't noticed, the first 2 suggestions you made already happened. Oh, and it's spelled Kaede.

TheDarkAngel101: I could tell you, but I think the overall experience would be better if I left you hanging on some cliff by the grand canyon.

Little-dog-ed: OMG! You're so nice! thanks sooo much for the praise! Marry me! (No, really, don't, that was a joke... Sorry, I wouldn't put this but some people out there are mentally ill or just plain desperate, you never know.) Wow, I sound kind of like a dog huh? Haha, anyways, thanks for the compliments, but really, I feel I have a long way to go. I'm still often out of character, and I feel I'm lacking in ability to write things other than comedy. But I'll just keep writing and learning I suppose. Because, now that you mention it, sad as it may seem, I do love to think. haha, this is dragging on, i have a tendency to do that, sorry.

Miichan: Damn right you should have reviewed sooner. Now if only Ha-chan would review...

Heymary: please read my first review response.

Chapter 10: When Alice Left Wonderland

'Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Right foot,' Kagome watched her feet move forward as she tried to keep her mind off of what was ahead of and behind her. Sango and Miroku had left for Sango's village, so that Sango could bury Kohaku and mourn his death. So now it was simply the three of them, Shippou, InuYasha, and herself, of course. 'Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Right foot,' No thinking about what lay before them, no thinking about when she had to go. She loved InuYasha, but her family would be horrified if she never came back. They would think she had died. She simply couldn't do that to them. Always the one to put others before herself, Kagome simply decided she had no choice but to go home. Really, if she let her mind wander, she knew her resolve would break.

InuYasha knew what Kagome was going to do, they had discussed this before. They never really reached a decision, or an agreement, but he knew the kind of person she was. The only problem was, that in putting others before herself, she had to exclude the others that would be upset if she didn't put herself first. 'How can she be so smart yet so damn stupid at the same time?' He wondered.

Shippou looked back and forth between his guardians, for once not hitching a ride on anyone's shoulder. He was scared, and he wasn't afraid to admit it, as others, mainly InuYasha, were. What would happen, now that they had the jewel, and that Naraku was dead. Would Kagome leave for good? Would she still be able to visit? What about him? 'Does she even care? Will she really abandon me?'

'Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Right foot,' Kagome's mantra continued to drone on and on. Ignoring space, ignoring time, not even realizing that ignorance is not always bliss.

"We're here." InuYasha said at last, once they reached Kaede's village. Kagome had wasted the precious moments she had, had walking, in silence.

Kagome headed straight for the well, knowing the longer she procrastinated, the harder it would be to say goodbye.InuYasha and Shippou followed wordlessly behind, simply watching and waiting. As they reached the well, Kagome turned to look at her friends one last time. No one moved. No one spoke. Inuyasha finally took a small step forward, leaning forward on his front foot.

"I- "

"I know" interrupted Kagome. "I love you too."

"What about me?" asked Shippou solemnly "Are you really gonna leave me here? With him! "

"I wouldn't if I didn't trust him Shippou, but I... I have no choice." At this InuYasha could hold his temper no longer.

"You idiot! Of course you do! You're so busy trying to put others before yourself, that you don't even seem to realize a lot of people would be happier if you did put yourself first!" He yelled.

"And let my family take me for dead!" She screamed back at him. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself, and her voice found a much quieter tone. So quiet as too almost be... pathetic. "I-" a tear streamed down her cheek "I just can't" And another, and another followed that one as well, and so on it continued until a torrent of tears was falling down her face. InuYasha came up to her and kissed her.

"I'll miss you." He said. She took the Shikon jewel out of her pocket and placed it gently in his hand.

"Be happy." She replied, and kissed him on the cheek before turning around. She didn't look back as she slowly, but determinedly walked towards the well. Swallowing a sob, she jumped through it.

InuYasha fell to his knees the moment she was out of sight. For the second time in his life, InuYasha broke down and cried. (A/N:Spoiler! Think episode 124) Shippou's wails pierced the air, the essence of mournfulness and agony.

"Shut up." InuYasha said, wiping away the last of his tears. Shippou ceased wailing and looked towards him. InuYasha got up and went to the edge of the well. "Maybe... maybe it still works." He said. But even as he said it, even as he jumped in, he knew it wouldn't. After his pitifully failed attempt, he simply left the clearing. And so Shippou sat alone, staring at the place where he had last seen Kagome, and once again wailed, bursting into tears.

Kagome hopped out of the well and went into her house. "I'm home!" She called. Her mother walked out of the kitchen towards her.

"Hello dear." She said, then, noticing her daughter's puffy red eyes she added, "what's wrong?"

Kagome stared at her mom for a moment, then dropped her backpack, and started to cry, latching on to her mother as though for dear life itself.

Kagome and her mother sat under the Goshinkibu, as Kagome relayed the previous events to her. "Go back." Said Kagome's mom. Kagome looked up at her mom in surprise. "Kagome, I love you." She said "All I really want is for you to be happy." Kagome looked up at her mom and smiled, but her face quickly fell.

"I can't." She said. "I gave the jewel to InuYasha." And as Kagome resumed crying, burying her face in her mothers shirt, Kagome's mom held her daughter tightly, providing all the comfort she could possibly give. Looking up at the God Tree, she hoped that it could help give her daughter guidance, as it had done so many times in the past.

A/N: Man, I had this finished, then word perfect stopped working and closed, so I ended up losing the last scene and a half of the story, it doesn't sound like much, I know, but the ending was so much better before. I just couldn't remember exactly what I had written. Man, it sucked. Anyways, I'm sorry this chapter was so short, and wasn't so funny, but I felt I had to lead up to the epilogue on a more serious note. The next chapter is the epilogue from the previous story, extended and edited. Ja ne! And whenever you finish a story, remember to save!