Hey there, faithful readers! My apologies for the extreme lateness of my recent updates, I've been working on a few things outside of this story so it's been a little while since I could write another update. But fear not! I don't plan on leaving things in the middle of the story! Thank you for sticking with my story for this long!
Oh, and while I'm at it, I may as well throw another disclaimer in here too!
Disclaimer: I do not own "Inuyasha" and have never claimed so in any chapter of this story that I write. This Parody is based off of my own idea, based on the original anime "Inuyasha". Any other trademarked name or item in this story is also not claimed as my own.
Enjoy!
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The others finally arrived at the village where old Kaede was waiting.
"Hi Kaede!" Kagome yelled happily.
"I thought that all of you would be showing up sometime soon," the old woman replied.
"What do you mean by that?" InuYasha asked.
"Just a few hours ago, I saw young Kaede run through the village as if she were running out of time for something. Tell me, what's going on?" the old woman asked.
They had all settled into old Kaede's hut and they explained to her what they had experienced.
"I see... So she did not tell ye why it was that she had to leave so suddenly?" the old woman asked.
"No, she just said that she would explain everything when she got back..." Kagome said sadly.
"I'm afraid all we can do now is wait... Kaede will most likely return, but we've returned to ensure that when she does, we'll be here waiting for her," Miroku commented.
"Where did InuYasha go?" Sango asked.
"I think he went to the well..." Kagome thought aloud.
InuYasha was, indeed, at the well. He was sitting beside it just as he had always done when Kagome would leave for her time. Every once and a while he would think that he would hear a noise and would look down into the well, but would see nothing.
"Where the hell are you!?..." InuYasha thought to himself.
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Shippo began to wake up. He could feel the warmth of a hot, burning fire. And he could smell the scent of medicinal herbs being cooked and roasted. He was under several blankets and could feel bandages wrapped tightly around him. Opening his eyes, he couldn't see anyone, and because of the strong odor of the herbs, he couldn't smell anyone either.
Sitting up a little, Shippo felt the pain of the injury to his stomach and winced.
"You're awake!" a woman came out of the kitchen and into the sitting room.
Shippo looked up and saw Kaede as she knelt down to him.
"How are you feeling?" she asked with a smile.
"Aren't you supposed to be going somewhere?" he asked, glaring at her.
Kaede wasn't faded by this comment and said, "Right, I should have left for the past and left you here to die... Forget it! You came close to death, I couldn't ignore that!"
Shippo looked at the floor and smiled a little, "You're just as stubborn as InuYasha, and you're just as caring as Kagome... I never realized it back then..."
Kaede looked at him with a wondering look, "Are you burning a fever too?" she asked leaning forward to put her hand on his forehead.
Shippo laughed as he laid back down on the floor.
"What's your deal?!" Kaede was confused.
"I don't know why I didn't see how much like them you are! It's just..." and he stopped looking up at her and sitting back up.
"It's just like being around them again! Like having my family back!" he said happily.
Kaede was almost worried about his behavior but then she understood what his meaning was and she smiled.
Shippo tried to move but the pain in his stomach stopped him and he shivered.
"Stop that! You haven't had time to fully heal!" Kaede scolded the boy and then went back into the kitchen to fetch some medicine.
Walking back out of the kitchen, Kaede carried a small, steaming bowl of herbal soup. She sat back down next to him and handed him the bowl.
Shippo inhaled the smell of the soup and looked back to Kaede with amazement.
"It smells just like the old woman's soup!" he said astounded.
"Well, old Kaede taught the recipe to mom, and mom taught it to me. It's really not that hard of a recipe. Now just drink it down," Kaede said happily.
Shippo took down the liquids eagerly and took a big breath, "That was great!"
Kaede took the bowl back to the kitchen and then yelled, "Now you can get some rest and I can find my uncle!"
Shippo almost didn't catch that last part but then shot up from laying back down and said, "What did you just say?!"
"Well, everything's okay now, so I can go look for Sota and make sure he's all right," she said from a distance.
Shippo looked at her with a grim look and said, "No!... No no no! Everything's not fine! What makes you think that you're not putting yourself in danger by going back out there?!"
"Well I thought about it while I cleaned you up. You took that hit for me..." she said, sitting back down next to him.
"And?!" he asked impatiently.
"Well, I was probably supposed to take that hit to the gut, not you. So you saved me from being killed! So I can go back to looking for Sota before going back to the past!" Kaede said happily.
"Idiot! What if going back to look for Sota is what gets you killed anyway?! No! Forget it!" Shippo said crossing his arms as though he had put his foot down on the subject and that would be it.
"So what am I supposed to do?! Go back to the past and pretend that my uncle doesn't exist?!" Kaede asked getting slightly angry.
"You're supposed to go back to the past and change the future so that it's not so dangerous anymore!" Shippo tried to make the girl understand.
Kaede was taken back by this and looked at him with a shocked expression.
"If you change the future, then we'll all be safe and alive! You really are the only one that can change everything... Not trying to put the world on your shoulders or anything, but you need to understand the importance of your own life!" Shippo explained.
"If other people die, then what's the point of trying to save the future if no one will be there to be a part of it?! My life is worthless if there's no one there with me!" Kaede said as she stood up and walked away.
"Where are you going?" Shippo asked.
"To look for Sota!" She replied as she stomped out of the room.
Shippo shot up from sitting down and painfully walked into the kitchen.
"No you're not! You're going back to the past!" Shippo ordered as he watched the girl pack up her backpack.
"You're not the boss of me! I've lived here my whole life, and I know how to get around it!" Kaede packed the last bit of items into her bag and closed it off, loading it onto her back.
Before Kaede got out the door she was stopped by the boy tugging on her backpack.
"Wait a minute..." Shippo sighed.
"All right, but I'm going with you..." he said reluctantly.
"You can't go! You're injured!" Kaede said in a scolding tone.
Shippo reached up and barely backhanded the girls' side and watched as she flinched in a great amount of pain. She nearly fell to the ground before Shippo caught her and held her up.
"So are you... You can't go alone!" Shippo reminded the girl.
As soon as the wave of pain passed, Kaede stood back up and looked to Shippo as if she were about to smack the living daylights out of him for doing that to her, but she knew that he was right. If she went alone, she could be attacked and be at a disadvantage. If he went with her, then together they could probably fend off any attack.
"All right... Do you need any extra time to recover before we go?" Kaede asked.
Shippo was extremely glad that she had asked, because he wasn't sure that he could walk for more than a few feet, let alone for an entire day.
"Let's just stay here for the night and get started in the morning... That should do us both some good," Shippo decided.
Kaede sighed and put her bag down on a nearby counter.
"I suppose you're right... Come on, we better get some sleep," the girl helped Shippo back into the sitting room where she had him earlier.
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The stars were shining brightly in the past, and it seemed that the travelers were still playing the waiting game. InuYasha was staying diligently by the well, while the others stayed warm in old Kaede's hut. Kagome didn't know what to think of what has happening in the future and it was worrying her.
Sango and Miroku could see the worry in Kagome's eyes and Miroku decided to break the silence.
"I wonder if anything has changed in the future?" he asked aloud.
"I'm not sure. Hopefully it's changed in Kaede's favor," Sango replied.
Kagome didn't budge a muscle. Her eyes stared into the fire, while she was holding a plate of untouched food.
Shippo jumped into Kagome's lap and looked up at her with bright eyes and said, "Don't worry Kagome! If Kaede lived in that era for so long, then she'll most likely be okay for a few days alone!"
Kagome smiled a little and said, "Thanks, Shippo. I hope you're right. I just can't help but have this feeling as though we... may never see her return..."
Miroku and Sango couldn't help but feel helpless as well.
"Shippo's right Kagome. We keep underestimating Kaede's own strengths, but look at how often she's managed to overcome all of the obstacles here. She can shoot an arrow through Naraku's most powerful barrier, she fended of Kagura on several occasions, and her spiritual powers are astounding! I'm sure she'll be fine, so don't go and hurt yourself or your unborn over worrying," Miroku tried to persuade Kagome into having faith in her future daughter.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess I just worry too much..." She said looking back into the fire.
"Are you coming back?...Please be safe..." Kagome thought to herself.
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It was the middle of the night in the future, and Shippo slowly awoke, feeling that something was amiss. His eyes slowly opened and he looked around to see what he thought was wrong. The room was quiet, and the fire was slowly dying out. But one thing was missing.
"Kaede?" the boy sat himself up and looked around.
"Kaede?! Hey! Kaede!" Shippo got himself up, feeling that his wound was starting to heal and walked into the kitchen.
Shippo could smell the girl's scent but couldn't decide where it was strongest so he started to search for her. She wasn't in the kitchen so he walked down the halls and looked upstairs, where some of the damaged portions of the house were. He walked upstairs and saw that one of the bedroom doors were closed.
"Kaede?" Shippo opened the door a crack and saw the image of the girl lying in a bed, asleep.
The boy sighed in relief, at first fearing that the girl had decided to leave without him, but now was wondering what she was doing all the way upstairs. He was about to wake her but then a strong scent hit his nose. He looked around the room and could smell it from every crevasse of the room.
"Is that... Is that Kagome's scent? And the other scent must be InuYasha's... Yes! I'm sure of it! It's definitely their scents! I remember now! When I lived here, years ago, this was Kagome and InuYasha's room..." Shippo thought as he looked down at the sleeping girl.
"It's obvious why she's here then... her senses are probably even stronger than InuYasha's... She can smell them too! Which means she was practically drawn here at the scent of her parents... This is, after all, where she spent the last happy moments as a child before her parents died..." Shippo thought to himself sadly.
He couldn't help but feel a small amount of the same sadness that she did. He had cared for everyone as though they were his own family, and they had to be separated, partly because of Kaede's birth, but otherwise they would have survived if it had not been for Naraku... And they could have been a family again after the girl had gotten older and strong enough to fight in the past with them.
Shippo sat down next to the bed and put his back against it. He'd feel better if he could keep a watch over her, just in case she needed someone to be there when she had to awaken from the sweet dreams of childhood...
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For the Next Chapter!
"Let's go!" Kaede said confidently with a smile as she turned and walked out of the back door.
Shippo smiled along with the girl and strolled outside as well, both of them looking up at the bright, blue sky.
"Wow, it's looks really nice here! It's been a while since I've seen this place in the light of day instead of under a cloud of darkness..." Kaede said with a half smile looking back to Shippo, who was also amazed at the surroundings.
Kaede looked to Shippo and said, "Well, we're never going to find Sota by staring at the scenery!"
As Kaede walked away Shippo walked to her quickly and blocked her for a moment.
"What is it?" she asked as she stopped and looked up at his serious face.
"I just want to make sure that you want to do this. That you know how dangerous it will be and that you know how against this I am..." Shippo said firmly.
Kaede sighed and looked up at the boy saying, "I'm sure I want to do this. Yes, I know how dangerous it could get, and I'm more than fully aware about how against this you are, okay?! Can we go now?"
Shippo put his hands down from blocking Kaede's way and stepped aside as she strolled by him quickly. He watched her walk away and wondered what was going to happen next.
