Here's my Friday post! Thank you to all of the continuing readers of my story! I really appreciate all of your positive feedback! Enjoy this chapter!

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It was early morning on the other side of the well, and young Kaede slowly opened her eyes as the sun began to rise. There was a fair amount fog surrounding the nearby stream, and the sun's bright rays shot through it, making the fog look as though they were light and fluffy clouds rolling across the country side.

Kaede sat up slowly and stretched with a yawn. She looked around and saw the nearby stream and got up, walking to it's edges and kneeling down. She reached her hands down into the fast-paced stream and scooped up some fresh water, splashing it on her face and running it through her hair.

As soon as the girl was done with her clensing, she sat back down on the ground, closed her eyes, and looked up into the bright sunlight to warm her, now wet, face.

"I can't believe that I managed to scare Koga away that easily. I mean, I thought that the kindness thing would work, but I didn't expect him to run off as soon as I offered to sit down by the fire!" Kaede thought to herself happily as she remembered what had happened the previous night.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Koga asked confused.

"Listen, I'm tired of running,and I'm tired of trying to get the answers through your thick skull, so sit down and we'll talk this out!" Kaede reasoned.

"Ummm.. That's okay, I'll leave... but don't worry, I'll be looking for Kagome and if she doesn't know who you are, I swear I'll come back and find you!" Koga said in a rude tone of voice as he took off quickly and disappeared into the forest, Ginta and Hakaku following him.

Kaede smiled and looked back to the ground, openening her brightly colored eyes. She slowly stood back up and stretched a long, hard stretch through her body, then she gathered up her sword and her bow and quiver and turned towards a mountainous region, but not before her smile quickly dimished from her face.

"Demon!" A priestess stood acrossed the river from Kaede, aiming an arrow directly at Kaede's heart.

"Demon! I sense a strong demon aura from you! Who are you?!" The woman demanded.

Kaede didn't know why, but this woman seemed familiar to her.

"I asked you a question! Or do you dare defy me and wish to die by my hands?!" The woman became more fierce.

"My name is Kaede... And you are correct... I am, in fact, a demon... A dog demon to be precise," Kaede answered in order to get more time to think.

The priestess looked up from her aim on the girl with a shocked expression.

"You said... your name is Kaede?" The woman asked, "And... And you're a dog demon as well?"

Kaede didn't move an inch. She was sure that if she did, then the priestess would not slack on her bow skills, and she would surely shoot without missing her aim. And Kaede wasn't sure if she was fast enough to evade the arrow.

"Yes... That's right..." Kaede replied.

"I thought that I also sensed spiritual powers from you... Are you a priestess as well then?" The woman asked a little softer than she did before.

"Somewhat... I haven't been completely trained in the ways of a priestess my entire life, but I learned a good amount of the stuff," Kaede said easily.

There was a long pause before Kaede finally asked, "And who might you be, if you don't mind my asking?"

She could feel the strong spiritual powers of this woman, but she could not hear a heart beating, and she couldn't smell a human. The only thing she could smell were bones and soil...

"It couldn't be... could it?" Kaede thought quickly.

The woman lowered her bow, which relieved Kaede greatly.

"Nevermind who I am... Just think of me as someone who is trying to rid the world demons who only wish to posess sacred jewel shards, one of which, you are carrying with you!" The woman revealed.

"It really is her... It's Kikyou! I just need to try to convince her that I'm not an evil demon!" Kaede thought to herself.

"Yes, I do posess a shard of the jewel... And what of it? Are you going to kill me for it?" Kaede asked the woman.

Kikyou gave a half smile and said, "I don't know... Should I kill you? Are you going to give me a reason to kill you?"

"Well if I do say so myself, I don't believe that I've given you any reason to warrant killing me... You are after the sacred jewel though, aren't you?" Kaede asked.

"I do not wish to posess that vile jewel, I wish it to be destroyed, but all of the pieces must come together first... That way the jewel can be used for good and it will disappear completely," Kikyou stated in a lowered tone.

"Interesting... We have the same goals... I, too, wish nothing more than the jewel to be destroyed for good." Kaede said honestly.

Kikyou gave a small laugh and said, "Why would a demon, such as yourself, want the jewel to be destroyed?!"

Kaede looked down at the stream and said, "The jewel has brought my family and I nothing but pain... My mother and father were killed, needlessly. And I want nothing more than for their deaths to be for a more noble cause. Don't forget, too, that I am a priestess as well, and I've had to clean up the messes that the jewel has left behind. Some messes, though, can't be cleaned... You should know this as well."

The wind blew, and both Kaede and Kikyou did nothing but stare each other in the eyes for a moment.

Kikyou then gave another half smile and put her bow away.

"I do not believe that you are a threat to humans, but be on your guard, demon... The wounds that you have suffered because of the jewel will remain, and revenge will not always solve all of your problems..." Kikyou said as she and her Shikigami disappeared into the forest.

Kaede couldn't have ever known both relief and hatred at the same time like she knew now.

"So... so far I've met my mother's other suiter, and my father's ex-lover... I really, for some reason, don't want to know what could possibly happen next..."

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It was the morning of the third day and the ceremonies for Kagome and InuYasha were just moments away from beginning.

"What's the matter dear?" Kagome's mom asked her as she finished the last fixes to Kagome's kimono dress.

Kagome was constantly adjusting the sleeves of the dress. It was a white kimono with small cherry blossom prints all over.

"Just nervous I guess... I mean, I realize the situation I'm in but is this big ceremony really needed?"

"Well you didn't give me much of a chance to plan things well in advance, but I wanted you to have something to remember," Kagome's mom turned away from her and seemed to stare blankly into a wall.

Kagome turned to see her mother in the blank stare and said, "I'm sorry things went this way mom... I didn't expect all of this to happen. And I'm more sorry that you had to go through so much in so little time to plan things around my visits to the past. It's not fair to you."

Kagome's mom turned to her with a smile and said, "It's okay dear! I'm just glad that you gave me time until the baby was born instead of waiting. And I'm glad that you and InuYasha have decided to stay together."

The two women stared at each other with smiles on their faces.

"Oh! We better get going! We don't want to be late!" Kagome's mother insisted on her daughter as she hurried her out of the room.

InuYasha, Sota, and Kagome's grandfather were standing at the make-shift alter.

"Why do I have to wear this stupid outfit?!" InuYasha tugged at the formal kimono and tried his best to adjust it to make it more comfortable.

"Stop that! Just leave it alone and the sooner this is over with the better!" The old man scolded the dog demon.

Sota was nearly wiggling with excitement. His brown eyes were big and bright and his smile was wide. InuYasha was nearly annoyed at this.

"Hey kid, what's your deal? Can't you stay still?" InuYasha asked annoyed.

"I'm just so excited! After this, you'll officially be my brother!" Sota said happily.

InuYasha didn't even think about it that way and he said, "You know, I have an older brother too..."

Sota's eyes widened and he asked, "You do? So I'll have two big brothers?!"

InuYasha looked away for a moment and answered, "Well no, you'll probably never see my brother, and if you don't then you'll be better off... But maybe I can be a better big brother to you, than my older brother was to me."

Sota's smile widened even more as he said, "You really think so?!"

InuYasha smiled and put his hand on Sota's head saying, "Yeah... really."

The music of a nearby keyboard player started and Kagome's grandfather batted at InuYasha and said, "It's starting! Stand up straight now, and don't make a fool out of yourself!"

InuYasha could have strangled the old man right then and there, but something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Kagome, in her twinkling bright kimono. To InuYasha, she was the only one there with him. Her bright brown eyes lit up into his amber ones. She slowly walked down the aisle and nothing there seemed to be able to break the hold that the two had on each other's stares.

Kagome finally made it to the alter where InuYasha was and she said, "Hey."

InuYasha smiled and finally managed to say, "H-Hey yourself."

The music stopped and the ceremonies proceeded.

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It was now midday and Kaede had just finished up some extra training when she sheathed her Tetsusaiga and sat down on the ground to catch her breath.

"Well, I guess I better be going. I've gone out pretty far from the village but hopefully I can make it back before mom and dad do."

"Who are you?" A soft but low-toned voice suddenly broke Kaede out of her relaxed state.

Kaede stood up quickly and turned to see who it was with her hand on the sheath of her sword.

"I asked you a question. Who are you?" The man's cold voice asked a little louder this time.

Kaede knew the face of this man right away. There was no question in her mind about who this was.

"Sesshomaru!" She said in an almost relieved tone of voice.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at the girl.

Kaede noticed the look on her uncle's face and she remembered where she was.

"I-I'm no one of interest really," she lied.

At that moment Jaken, Rin and Ayoune showed up from behind Sesshomaru and they all stopped at the sight of this strange woman in front of them.

"Why is it that when I caught the scent of my lowly brother, I find a woman in his place? Are you a trap from Naraku?" Sesshomaru asked beginning to flex his poison claws.

"If I was a trap from Naraku, don't you think that you would smell Naraku?" Kaede asked.

"Perhaps Naraku is using the scent of my brother in order to trick me for some reason. If that is the case then I shall kill you."

Kaede knew that she was strong, but she still was not as strong as her full demon uncle, and if he decided to attack her she would be at a great disadvantage.

Just before Sesshomaru lunged forward Rin stepped forward and said happily, "Lord Sesshomaru! She looks like Kagome! Except her eyes are different!"

Rin ran forward to Kaede and looked straight up at her.

"You silly child, get back here!" Jaken scolded the girl.

Sesshomaru just stood for a moment and watched for the movements of the older girl to see if she was going to be a threat to his Rin. The little girl pulled the older woman down to her eye level by her arm and looked her over.

"Lord Sesshomaru! She has pretty eyes like you, but she has black hair like Kagome! Except for those bright streaks."

"Come back here Rin!" Jaken yelled again.

"Yes Master Jaken!" Rin said as she waved to Kaede and skipped back to the side of Sesshomaru.

"You... I thought I could smell InuYasha's human, Kagome too. And Rin seems to think that you look something like her... Who are you?" Sesshomaru asked again.

"...My name is Kaede..." the girl said unhappily.

"Kaede? I believe I know of someone by that name... but who?"

"Kaede!" The voice of a small child pierced through the conversation between Sesshomaru and Kaede.

They all looked to the air and saw a fox demon child riding atop a cat demon, who then landed on the ground right by Kaede.

"So, you are also a part of the group of InuYasha's friends?" The full demon asked with a sarcastic tone of voice.

"Shippo? Kirara? What are you two doing here?" Kaede asked, quite surprised by their appearance.

"We were worried about you, and didn't know if you were going to make it back to the village in time, so Kirara and me went out to find you!" Shippo explained.

Kirara stanched herself for a fight with a low growl.

"What's he doing here?!" Shippo asked in a scared tone of voice.

Kaede turned back to Sesshomaru and said, "Don't worry guys, he's just looking for the same answers that we are."

The girl turned to walk towards Shippo and Kirara when Sesshomaru said, "Tetsusaiga?"

Kaede's heart jumped as she realized that he recognized the weapon and turned back to look at him.

"You carry my father's sword with you? I thought that InuYasha was carrying it?" he asked.

"He... loaned it to me for a while... I'm trying to kill Naraku, just as you are..." she replied with a deep stare into Sesshomaru's eyes.

"Lord Sesshomaru! This may be the perfect opportunity to take back your father's sword! In the hands of a mere mortal, it would be like taking candy from a baby!" The imp chuckled as he spoke.

"I agree..." Sesshomaru stated as he lunged forward at the girl.

"Kaede! Watch out!" Shippo cried out.

Kaede easily jumped out of the way before the other demon even came close to her. The full blooded demon then raised his poison claws at the girl and struck at her but she smiled and moved before he managed to land a single hit upon her.

"How is she avoiding my attacks? It's almost as if she already knows all of my movements!" Sesshomaru thought angrily.

The man lunged forward at the girl, unsheathing his Tokijin and taking a swing at her with it.

"Kaede!" Shippo shouted, now extremely panicked.

Just before Sesshomaru managed to slice the girl with his sword, she also unsheathed her Tetsusaiga and she blocked the attack, unfortunately without ease of any sorts. All of her strength went into deflecting his blow to her and she was almost unable to keep from completely failing the deflection.

"You are no novice I see!" Sesshomaru admitted.

Kaede didn't let off of her grip on the sword as she looked into Sesshomaru's eyes.

"You're not too bad yourself, old man!" the girl said through her teeth with a smile.

Sesshomaru scoffed and then jumped back just before Kaede's strength would have failed.

"He... He stopped?" Shippo asked.

"You are a formidable demon, but do not expect me to let you off this easily the next time we meet..." The dog demon disappeared into the forest along with the young Rin and the angry Jaken.

Kaede sighed and sheathed her weapon. She turned and walked back towards Kirara and Shippo.

"Are you all right Kaede?" Shippo asked amazed that the girl had managed to stave off the full demon's attack.

"Fine, of course! Why do you ask?" Kaede said cheerfully as she scratched behind Kirara's ears.

"You just fought off InuYasha's older brother! And he's a -"

"Full demon... Yeah, I know.." Kaede said as she climbed onto Kirara's back.

"Well, shouldn't we be going then?" Kaede asked the other two.

Kirara took off from the ground and into the sky, heading back towards the village.

"Kaede, how did you manage to escape Sesshomaru so easily? Even InuYasha has trouble avoiding his attacks!" Shippo asked in an eager tone.

Kaede sighed and then asked, "Shippo, if I told you something, do you think you could remember well not to tell the others?"

The child nodded his head slowly.

Kaede looked forward away from the eyes of the fox demon and said, "After mom and dad died, my uncle Sota, Kagome's brother, tried his best to teach me how to fight, but he was never very good at it. After I had learned what little I could from him, I was only about twelve years old when I came upon a demon that was far superior in strength to my own powers. Even with the Tetsusaiga as my weapon, I was beaten, nearly to death by the demon. It was about to finish me off when a much stronger demon came out and defended me. He killed the demon that had nearly killed me."

"Who was the demon that saved you?" Shippo asked.

"It was my uncle... Uncle Sesshomaru..."

"Sesshomaru saved you?!" The child almost couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Yes, he could smell my blood and when he investigated what had happened he came upon me. After he saved me, he helped Sota nurse me back to health, and then said -"

"You will not survive unless you are trained properly... And as you are now, you will be destroyed by even the weakest demons. My brother may have been killed by Naraku, but I suppose there's no reason why you should have to die as well... So from this day forward, your training will come from myself only."

"- And so for eight years after that, he put me through the most brutal training lessons. He battled with me every day, trained me to hunt like a real demon, about how to use my senses like a wild demon would. He taught me things that I never thought I could learn. Even when I was stubborn he would beat the lessons into me until I did as I was supposed to do. My Uncle Sota was concerned for my well-being over the training and the lessons that Sesshomaru was giving me, but he also knew that it was for the best that I did it. He knew that since I was a demon, and nearly full blooded demon, that I needed to learn everything I could, even if it was in a bad manner of doing so."

Shippo was amazed at all of this, but was unsure of one thing.

"If you learned your fighting skills from Sesshomaru, then why didn't you tell InuYasha?" he asked.

"What do you think that he would have thought, or done, since he wasn't the one who had taught me how to use my demon instincts? He already feels like he's failed me in every aspect of my life because he and mom died when I was young, I couldn't tell him that the older brother that wants to kill him, and he wants to kill taught me everything I know now. I can't stand to see that look on his face when he learns this tidbit of information. It would break his heart!" Kaede said sadly.

"But wait a minute... If Sesshomaru taught you all of this, then why didn't he come with you back here?"

Kaede's eyes watered a little and she turned her head away from Shippo and said, "He was... killed as well... By Naraku... I tried to help but... he told me to run... He must not have had faith in my fighting skills and he told me to run! And like a coward, I did!... I had to be the one to tell Rin, at that point a full grown woman who had fallen deeply in love with Sesshomaru, and his faithful servant, Jaken... that I did not help him..."

"Hold on, if he had trained you for eight years after you were twelve, then that means..."

Kaede looked at the boy with volition and said, "Yes... Sesshomaru died just days before I left to travel here. It was just one more thing to push me over the edge... One more thing to give me a reason to be here and try and change everything."

Shippo was shocked, to say the least.

"He must have known that you still weren't strong enough to battle Naraku, and tried to protect you! You weren't a coward to run from Naraku himself! You had to live! And Sesshomaru knew that! Please don't be sad Kaede!" Shippo tried to reason and comfort the girl.

Kaede looked back to the fox child and said, "Thanks Shippo..."

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"Good Luck you two!" Kagome's mom waved InuYasha and Kagome off as they began entered the well.

"Bye mom! Don't worry! We'll be back sooner than you think!" Kagome waved back.

InuYasha loaded Kagome on his back, as he was also carrying her backpack, which was full of foods and candy from the ceremonies. The boy then leapt into the well and it glowed the normal blue glow, and they were gone.

Jumping out of the well in the past, Kagome noticed something.

"Where is everyone? They're usually here waiting for us," she asked, looking around.

"Yeah, it's kind of weird that they're not here... We better hurry!" InuYasha said as he began to sprint towards the village.

Arriving at the village InuYasha stopped when he saw something. He saw villagers walking around and doing their normal daily chores and activities. The children were running around and playing, and the middle-aged men and women were working around the village completing tasks as they always did.

"So... Nothing seems to be wrong, but where's Miroku and Sango?" Kagome asked looking around.

InuYasha sprinted up to old Kaede's hut and let Kagome off of his back easily then opened the blanket to the hut and was half expecting no one to be there but was greeted by Miroku, Sango and old Kaede.

"InuYasha! You've returned!" Miroku said nervously.

"How was the trip?" Sango asked to buy time.

"Don't try to act like nothing's wrong, I know something's going on, so just tell me what it is!" InuYasha could already sense the tension in his two friends.

"What do you mean?" Sango asked.

"InuYasha, I know you've been gone for a while but remember that we were here and took care of everything," Miroku tried to settle the boy.

"Where's Kaede?" he asked them as though he were a detective interrogating a criminal.

The three sitting in the hut were all silent. Kind of like one of those awkward silences where someone's about to give you bad news soon after. InuYasha turned quickly out of the hut and looked around frantically yelling for the girl.

"Kaede! Kaede, where are you?!" He started to bring the town's attention to himself and Kagome began to get worried.

"What is it already?!" Kaede yelled from behind the hut.

Kagome and InuYasha turned and saw Kaede, Shippo and Kirara walking out from behind the hut.

"Where were you?!" InuYasha asked loudly.

"Right here! Where else would we have been?" the young girl asked sarcastically.

Miroku and Sango walked out of the hut and were immensely relieved to see the girl along with Shippo and Kirara.

"As we were saying, InuYasha, we took care of everything and as you can see, everything is fine," Miroku commented.

InuYasha looked over Kaede as if he were looking for scratches and dents on a new car.

"What's your deal?" Kaede asked casually.

InuYasha stopped his inspection and said, "You mean to say that you stayed in the village?"

Kaede didn't like outright lying, but she knew that if she told the truth InuYasha would let her have it.

"Yeah, for the most part. Why? Was there some place that I was supposed to go?" She asked calmly.

InuYasha stared her down hard and then scoffed and walked back towards Kagome.

"So how did everything go with the family?" Miroku asked.

Kagome smiled and said, "It was just like Kaede said, it went better than expected!"

Kaede smiled and said, "Told you. You should really learn to trust me."

Old Kaede poked her head out of the hut and said, "If anyone is hungry, then I have made some dinner and you are all welcome to it."

"All right! Food!" Shippo cried out happily as he hopped into the hut.

Following Shippo was the rest of the group as they all piled in and settled for the night.

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For the Next Chapter!

It was still across a wide, open field and a large, fast paced stream. But after those obstacles was just a short walk up a steep mountainside to a large, gated village.

"Well, I don't sense any evil aura's... Do any of you?" Miroku asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Well what about you two? Do you sense any jewel shards?" InuYasha asked Kaede and Kagome.

"No, not at all, "Kagome replied.

Kaede just shook her head in reply.

"Perhaps the old priest was wrong then?" Miroku thought aloud.

"I don't know, maybe we should just check it out. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling when I just look at that place." Sango thought aloud.

"Yeah, let's go," InuYasha agreed.

The group walked across the wide field and as they neared the river Miroku and Sango stopped.

"There seems to be a strange fog around the village! Why didn't we notice this before?" Sango asked.

"I'm beginning to sense an ominous force!" Miroku said loudly