Disclaimer: The only things I own are Aldrea and the plot. The rest belong to their respective owners.
A/N: Just finished revising this ch. Enjoy and review!
Aldrea's Trip
Chapter I: Going Away
It was a quiet spring afternoon. The whispering of the trees, the soft creak of a rocking chair, and the silent slap-slap of a blue floral patterned dress against a leg were the only things that broke the silence. Aldrea sighed with content as she rocked back and forth on her chair in the screened porch. Life was perfect; she had a loving husband, a beautiful son, and the space-time continuum was, for once, in order. (Time machines had been discovered during the last century, distorting time and space.) Nothing could become any better than what it was now.
"Mom!"
Well, maybe it could. Aldrea stood up from her seat on the screened porch. "What is it, dear?"
A young child with tear filled brown eyes, untidy black hair, and wearing a white t-shirt and black pants, ran up to the house and onto the porch. He dropped his ancient cloth, nonmetal backpack, and latched on to Aldrea's legs. "Mom, the kids on the hover bus were teasing me again!" He then burst into more tears.
"What am I going to do with you?" Aldrea scolded, "You are thirty six years old and it is a one hour flight from the hover stop to our house. Just because you inherited the way my body ages Gohan, it does not mean you may act like the seven year old body you have."
Gohan sniffed, looked down, and then muttered something inaudible.
"What was that?"
"I said, yes mother."
"Good. By the way, what were the children teasing you about?" Aldrea put an arm around Gohan and guided him off the screened porch.
"About my tail," said Gohan as Aldrea closed the door with her tail. She looked sharply at Gohan and he cringed.
Aldrea laughed gleefully, dispelling Gohan's fears. "Well, if you had only kept your tail closely furled around your waist, they would not have seen it," she explained as she brushed a wisp of her brown hair that had fallen from the French braid she wore, which reached down to her ankles, out of her hazel eyes.
Gohan pouted, but when Aldrea glared at him he quickly ceased, then sat beneath one of the nearby trees.
"I had fallen asleep after a set of taxing questions."
"What questions?" Aldrea retorted. If anyone receives information about me . . . no, I cannot let it happen again. I will not be caged and displayed as a circus' side show for a second time.
"Don't worry. It wasn't anything important. Just some questions like, why do you live in the middle of the forest; why does your house have such an ancient design; is it true your mom wears rags; and other various questions about silly rumors concerning us."
Aldrea visibly relaxed as Gohan lazily rose, retrieving his backpack from the porch, and brought out his holographic homework organizer. Aldrea gave a sharp, inhaled gasp. "I thought I had made it clear that you werenot tobring that home!" she hissed. "You know metal drains my power!"
Gohan sat down beside her again and calmly explained that the holographic device, which he had made himself, was entirely of wood; he had simply painted it with a metallic paint. "After all, it would be suspicious for a seven year old kid to carry around a complex machine made of an 'endangered' species of oak."
Aldrea thought for a moment, and then agreed that it would look extremely suspicious. She thought about how much people bothered them because they were so different, and then she had an idea. "Gohan," Aldrea said while standing up, "please go and retrieve your father Goku while I see to a few things."
Gohan gave his mother a puzzled look, shrugged his shoulders, andemerged from his sitting position.
"I believe Goku is at the training site," continued Aldrea. "It is approximately 100 meters to the north and you will need to fly for the path disappeared 50 years ago."
Gohan acknowledged Aldrea with a simple nod, charged up his ki (spiritual energy), and flew off to the training site.
Aldrea stood still for the single moment Gohan was visible, then turned and strode towards the house. /Plants/ she began in thought speak/could you erect the barricades near the Beware signs? I shall be leaving for a short time./
/Certainly./ Replied the trees and plants. /Giving you a part human body doesn't begin to cover the amount of help you've given us./
/Thank you./ Aldrea smiled. Now I only have the house to take care of.
Tokyo, Japan - 1997
"Kagome!" shouted a small boy with black hair and brown eyes, "Your boyfriend's here!"
A haggard looking fifteen year old girl, wearing a green and white Japanese middle school uniform, appeared at the top of the stairs to shout at her pajama clad brother. This was Higurashi Kagome. "Sota, how many times must I tell you: Inuyasha is NOT my boyfriend?" Kagome dragged an overstuffed pink backpack behind her as she beganto descendthe stairs.
A silver haired, golden-eyed teenager with white dog-ears on top of his head, who waswearing a red kimono shirt and pants, was waiting impatiently at the foot of the stairs for the fifteen-year old Kagome. "Come on wench! I haven't got all day ya know!" the teenager shouted rudely.
Kagome yelled back at him, her black hair bristling with anger. "My name's Kagome, Inuyasha! Use it!"
Inuyasha just folded his arms and turned his head away with his nose in the air. This made Kagome really mad.
"OSUWARI!"
The necklace that Inuyasha wore, which was made of black glass beads and youkai fangs,glowed red andpulled himface first into the ground. This action was fallowed by aloud thud. "Hey! What'd ya do that for?"
"Well,because you're an obnoxious jerk. Now let's go Inuyasha."
They left Kagome's house and proceeded towards the shrine that was part of her mother and grandfather's house. It held the Bone Eater's well, which connected Kagome's time with Inuyasha's. Inuyasha picked up Kagome, backpack and all, and jumped into the well, traveling back in time to Japan's Feudal Era.