A/N: AWWWWWWWWWWW! Thank you sooooooooooooooo much you guys! (passes out cake) I'm surprised how many people like my story! Oh! And sorry for being gone so long without an update. I had a huge debate tournament to go to. (groans) Public Forum is not interesting. You have to talk for over half an hour with a partner against a group trying to persuade the judge that your right. Preparation and the tournament itself takes a lot of time. I had to debate on Friday from 4-9 and Saturday from 9-7! Ok, enough of my babbling, onto the story!
Disclaimer: My birthday is coming up, so I hope I can get him then!
Chapter 3: First Night
-Back In Feudal Japan-
Kaede races along the path towards the well. The battle had gone on for an agonizingly long amount of time and the group hadn't returned. She digs her heals into the horse's side, begging it to go faster. The other warriors of the village scramble to keep up behind her, arrows and spears in hand.
They break into the clearing by the well and Kaede's halts the animal to an immediate stop. The rotting carcass of the bear youkai lays in the middle of the field. But that's not what caused Kaede to lose the memory of how to breath. An arrow is stuck in the remnants of the bear's neck, the flesh around it almost gone from the purified weapon. It's obvious the youkai is dead, but one thing is missing from the youkai.
His right arm.
Kaede looks around the field. Blood is splattered everywhere. Trees, rocks, the grass, the well.
The well!
Kaede slides off the horse and rushes to the well.
The wood on one side is gone, only splinters remain. She looks inside and there lays the arm. The joint where the arm meets the shoulder is gone, causing it to be just long enough to fill the well to the brim.
The other village warriors scramble to her side.
"What's wrong lady Kaede?" A warrior pants.
"The well, the link to where Kagome came from. The group must have been pushed down the well by the bear youkai in a fruitless attempt to destroy them. But just as they fell, it's arm fell from it's shoulder, blocking the link for them to come back." Kaede says softly.
The warriors look at each other.
"What does that mean?" One asks.
"It means they are trapped in Kagome's time, and I don't know how long it'll be for the well to neutralize to a point where they can come back." Kaede says as she bows her head.
-Back In Kagome's Time-
Mrs. Higurashi leans back into her chair. Kagome had just told her about the problem, and now she was thinking about what to do.
She gives a soft sigh after a few minutes, then looks at her daughter's friends. "Well, you are all welcome to stay here until the well reopens. It may be strange with the time difference, but I think that's the best we can do."
Kagome sighs as well and looks at her friends. "I guess. We don't know how long it'll be till the well reopens, so I guess all we can do is sit and wait. We should plan on them staying for a long time though."
Her mother nods. "What rooms should they stay in?"
Kagome looks at the stairs a ways behind her and then at her friends. "Well, Sango can stay in my room, my bed is big enough for both of us. Miroku and Inuyasha can stay in the guest room, it's a queen's sized bed. And I guess Shippo can stay in Souta's room, he's small, so a cushion and baby blanket on the floor would do. " A soft mew comes from Sango's arms. "And Kirara is free to roam about the house as she pleases." Kagome adds with a smile. Kirara gives a happy chirp.
"That's fine. Why don't you show them around the house and explain some of the things we have in this time. Like the phone, T.V., and bathroom items." Her mother says. "Also," She eyes the weapons her daughter's friends poses. "You might want to put the weapons away. They don't need them, and I don't want Souta to get a hold of them."
Kagome looks at her friends and gives an audible sigh. This will be a very long day.
About five hours later, Kagome flops onto her bed. She had spent the rest of the day explaining the items in her time and only items! She has yet to explain traditions, school, jobs and some of the lingo!
Kagome groans, but cherishes the time alone in her room. It had been a lot harder then she thought to explain all the items in her time. She closes her eyes for a few seconds, hoping to have some time before going downstairs for dinner.
"Everyone! Dinner!"
That is so not fair! Kagome mentally screams. She gets up and walks downstairs. Everyone is seated at the table, squeezed together because the table is only meant for six at the most. Her mother and grandfather at the end, her brother to her mothers left, Shippo next to him sitting on a phone book, Miroku next to him, Sango sitting on her grandfathers left, Inuyasha next to her, and a small space next to him.
Wow. They've already figured out not to have Shippo or Inuyasha near gramps for a while.
She looks towards the kitchen and sees Buyo and Kirara eating out of bowls filled with cat nip and fat scraps from their dinner.
She sits down and looks at her friends.
"Well, dig in everyone!" Her mother says happily.
Kagome's family digs in right away, but her friends eye the food before eating.
"This is magnificent!" Miroku exclaims after tasting some dumplings.
"Yes, very delicious." Sango says.
Shippo and Inuyasha don't say anything, they're to busy devouring the food.
After dinner, Kagome decided to teach Sango how the shower worked. It didn't take long, it was just a matter of explaining how to adjust the temperature since she had been using the shampoo and some of the other items that Kagome had used in her time.
Kagome had just shut the bathroom door when she heard a loud cry.
"KAGOME!"
Kagome immediately races towards her brothers room, the source of the cry. She bursts into the room and sees Shippo on the ground, trying to back away from Souta's closet. The door is open, and all along the bottom lay his stuffed animals.
Kagome picks the terrified kitsune up off the floor and cradles him against her chest. "Shippo, what's wrong?" She asks gently.
He points at the stuffed animals. "A-All those poor animals! T-They're dead!" He studiers.
Kagome sighs. "They aren't real, Shippo." She says. "They're like dolls, made of cloth to look like animals"
He looks up at her and then at the animals. His gaze lingers at one in particular.
A red fox.
Souta had won it at a carnival a couple years ago. It's the size of a regular fox, but more so a plushie.
Kagome picks the fox up and cradles it in her arms next to Shippo. He studies it, touching its plastic brown eyes, petting it's fur, and squeezing it's leg. Kagome can see tears weld up in his eyes. No matter how long it had been since his father had died, it still hurt him. And now that a stuffed animal is next to him that looks so much like his deceased father, all of his memories return in a flash.
"It's ok Shippo. You can cry." Kagome says as she gently rocks him, hoping to comfort him.
He shakes his head, refusing to let his tears fall.
"Shippo, you can't be strong all the time. Holding back all those feelings only hurt you. It's ok to cry." She says softly.
He tries to hold back a sob, but it only causes his tears to finally start to fall.
He had held back all the anger and sorrow for so long, it feels good to let it all out. He wraps his arms around the stuffed animal's neck and burrows his head in it's fur.
Kagome cradles both in her arms while rocking them back and forth. Tears begin to fall from her eyes as well. Sympathy for his loss in each tear as they land on the toy's head.
After about twenty minutes, Shippo cries himself asleep. Kagome gently lays him on the cushion her mother had laid out along with several small blankets earlier. He gives a soft whimper from the sudden loss of warmth, but stops when Kagome tucks the blanket around him. She gives him a soft kiss on the cheek before leaving Souta's room.
Inuyasha leaps off the windowsill and into Goshinboku. Kagome's words repeat over and over in his mind. You can't be strong all the time. Holding back all those feelings only hurts you. It's ok to cry. Inuyasha shakes his head, trying to stop those words, but they're only replaced by the image of Kagome and Shippo.
He had lost his mother and father too. He never cried either. His father had died right after his birth, protecting him and his mother. He never knew him. His mother died when he was still a child as well. He couldn't cry then either, he had been chased out of his village and left to die, alone.
He looks up at the stars. They're the same stars that they had looked at in the feudal era, but they're harder to see.
Nothing's easy to see. Today was something we couldn't see. Our future is something we can't see. We don't know what's going to happen next. I guess the only thing we can do, is try to make do with what we can see in front of us. He sighs and looks at the windows of his new home. Lights are on in every room, except for one, Souta and Shippo's. Fate's strings have tied us in a knot, how are we going to untangle them?
A/N: Ok, that was a big awwwwwww moment, but I was just so tempted to write that. Also, a lot of you may think that Inuyasha's thoughts were OOC, but I personally don't think so. Inuyasha is complex. He had been abused by the distain hatred of hanyou all his life, so he had to build up some form of an optimistic view. Why else would he have taken a chance with Kikyo? She didn't share that hatred, therefore he took a chance. Also, he spent a lot of time with her, so eventually her views rubbed off on him, along with Kagome's. Also, several reviewers have asked for me to write more. Yah, these chapters are short, but they will get much longer, trust me. That's all! Review please!