I know it's been a while, but I had some horrible writers block, not to mention how busy I've been. When I finally got over it… my computer completely died! I AM SOOOO SORRY! I did publish another one-shot a while back. It's pretty long, but I think it's good. I hope that if you have the time, you'll check it out, since I wanna know what everyone thinks of it. Anyway, On with the story!

Relaxation and Recognition

The next few days passed by in a blur of movie marathons, video game tournaments, and trips to the beach. Kagome was still nervous about Saturday's trip, but she knew it would all be okay. She tried to be happy, but she knew her friends couldn't be fooled. To spare her feelings, however, they all pretended not to notice, while still letting her know she can talk to them whenever.

Meanwhile, the room was almost completed, and would be done by Sunday afternoon. Inuyasha wasn't worried about that, but about Kagome. She seemed really down, and he didn't know what to do.

When Saturday came, Inuyasha wandered downstairs to eat, taking care to move quietly. As he neared the doorway to the dining room, the Kagome's soft sobs reached his ears. Not wanting to embarrass her, he crept back to the top of the stairs, and walked normally. When he entered, she was eating cereal, looking happy enough that he wouldn't have believed she was crying moments before.

"Good morning Inuyasha."

"Morning Kagome."

He sat and poured some cereal, and the two of them ate in silence, until there was a knock on the window. They both looked up to see Sango and Miroku outside. Inuyasha left to let them in, while Kagome cleaned up. When Kagome joined the others in the hallway, they were debating whose vehicle to take.

"Inuyasha, you should drive, you've got the convertible." Sango was saying.

"We could take my Mustang." Miroku offered.

"Honestly Miroku… why don't you get a nicer car?" Inuyasha asked.

"Because I happen to like Mustangs!"

"Okay, well, I guess we can take mine…" Inuyasha sighed.

I should have known he could drive, but I didn't know he had a car… Sango and Miroku too…

"Let me go get the car then…" Inuyasha said, grabbing a set of keys from the hook on the wall.

Kagome and the others sat talking for a few minutes until they heard a horn outside. Grabbing their things, they rushed outside, and piled into Inuyashas red convertible. They took off for the city, and no one noticed that Kagome began to get nervous.

"Well, we're here." Sango said when they arrived at the theatre.

"We're early!" Miroku said, slightly surprised.

"So? Let's go in and get our tickets and stuff." Inuyasha said.

"What's wrong Kagome? You're awfully quiet." Sango said, concerned.

"Nothing Sango. It's just…this is near where I used to live."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Sango said.

"That's okay." She said, smiling just a little.

They entered the theatre, and bought their tickets. While they were on the way to find their seats, someone ran up to them. It was a woman, about 25 years old, judging by looks. Her straight blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, and she had on a pair of slim-framed glasses. She was wearing a knee-length khaki skirt, and a white sleeveless top to match.

"Kagome!" She said excitedly.

"Ms. Anderson?" Kagome said in wonder.

"What happened to you? You've been gone for so long! Everyone has been looking for you!" She exclaimed.

"Oh… well…."

"And who are these three? I've never seen them before!"

"OH! This is Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku. They're friends of mine. And this is my former English teacher Ms. Anderson."

"Ah… I see. Pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure is ours." Miroku said.

" I would like to speak with you a little more in depth… have you already seen whatever movie you came to see?" Ms. Anderson inquired.

"Um…. No we haven't…I'm sorry."

"Kagome?" Sango interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you go with her? We can meet up after the movie… unless you don't want to miss it. We can meet up on Bradley street later… like say…around 1:00, would that work?"

"I don't mind missing the movie… but I was supposed to come with you… and you already bought the ticket…" She said.

"Don't worry about it dear!" Ms. Anderson said. "I'll pay for the ticket."

"Please. It's no problem." Inuyasha said. "Go ahead Kagome."

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah. Do what you have to." Miroku said.

"Okay. See you later!" Kagome said.

"Bye!" The other three said.

Kagome and Ms. Anderson left and walked to a little ice cream shop, where they sat and talked.

"Would you like something Kagome?"

"No, I'm quite fine thank you." She replied.

"So tell me what happened to you. You disappeared for so long...no one knew where you went!" Ms. Anderson said.

"Well…. I… uh…." Kagome stammered.

"Kagome, I know some of what happened." Ms. Anderson said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"You do?" She said, faintly surprised.

Of course she does… she was the one I first told about what happened at home, about how he beat me. She helped me, and got more help. But that didn't stop him from getting drunk, and coming home to murder his own wife…

"Kagome, the bodies of your parents were found in your house, and so was blood from your body. No one could find you… and they knew you were hurt. We were very worried. Please… tell me what happened."

"He got drunk again… and when he came home, he was so mad…." Tears began rolling down her cheeks.

"It's okay…take your time…" She whispered.

"He came after me… and stabbed me in the side… Mom… tried to protect me… but he went after her…"

"….."

"I blacked out… and when I came to…mom was dead…and…. and… he was on the bed… he killed himself…"

"You were hurt…what did you do?"

" I tried to find help. I went to your house… but you didn't answer… so I kept going… I was so cold…and dizzy from blood loss… I got lost in the woods at the edge of town…"

"What happened next?" Ms. Anderson pressed.

"I wandered for a long time… I don't know how long… until I blacked out again…"

"Okay…"

"I woke up a long time later… in a warm bed, and I didn't hurt so much."

"What happened next?"

"Inuyasha was there… He had found me and brought me to his house."

"Where does he live?"

"Oak Tree Acres." She said. "All three of them live there."

"Oh? I had no idea."

"Yeah."

"So where have you been staying?"

"At Inuyasha's house."

"Alone with him?" Ms. Anderson asked, shocked.

"No. He lives with his grandmother."

"Okay."

They continued to talk until 12:30, when Ms. Anderson stood and offered to drive Kagome to Bradley Street. Kagome accepted, and they got into her car. When they arrived, Kagome immediately sighted the others, and began to get out of the car. Ms. Anderson stopped her.

"Hey Kagome?"

"Yes?"

"Would you take this? It's got my phone number and email on it… keep in touch okay?" She said, handing her a slip of paper.

"Of course."

Kagome ran to catch up with her friends, slipping the piece of paper into her pocket. When she reached them, she came up behind Sango and threw her arm over her shoulder.

"Hey! How was the movie?" She said, laughing when Sango jumped.

"Not bad…" She replied

"Are you kidding? It was AWESOME!" Miroku exclaimed.

"Yeah it was." Inuyasha agreed.

"What now?" Kagome asked.

"Shopping?" Sango suggested.

"Whatever." Inuyasha said.

"I'll got with Inuyasha, and Kagome can go with Sango." Miroku said.

"We'll meet here in a couple of hours… okay?" Sango said.

"Like around 3?" Inuyasha asked.

Sango nodded. They split up and went their separate ways. Kagome and Sango visited a few shops, and then stopped for smoothies. They sat at a table in the corner and talked about the movie. Sango did notice that Kagome seemed lost in thought.

"Kagome?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

"Uh…yeah…I guess…"

"You guess?"

"Well…. Seeing Ms. Anderson brought back some painful memories…"

"Kagome… we all know something horrible happened… but you don't have to tell us unless you are totally comfortable with it. No matter what, we're here for you…okay?"

"Thanks Sango."

They finished up their drinks and continued to wander around, until they ran into the boys coming out a video game shop.

"Hey guys!" Sango called.

"Hi! Good timing!" Miroku said.

"What did you guys do?" Kagome asked.

"Went to get something to eat…and played video games…" Inuyasha said.

"Oh. We went shopping for clothes and had smoothies." Sango said.

"Anything else you wanna do?" Inuyasha asked.

"Nope." The other three said, almost in unison.

"Then lets head home okay?"

"Sure."

They returned to the lot where the car was parked and got in, Inuyasha pulled out and started heading back to Oak Tree Acres. However, their progress was slowed by a sudden traffic jam. Inuyasha pulled onto a residential side street to find an alternate route.

Kagome immediately recognized the area, and felt her stomach turn. She didn't say anything to the others, and just waited for it to pass. The feeling did not fade as she expected as she watched her old home, still roped off by police tape, recede into the distance.

Wow… kinda long…but a lot of speech…. I'm going to put another chapter up right away, sorry again for the really long wait! Twilight