A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't gotten around to updating this. I've been really busy in the last couple of years. A lot has happened, but now I'm back and trying to finish this up! Hoping to get the entire thing done and posted. Is anyone else excited about the news of the Inuyasha reboot?

"Maaya, time to get up!" Kagome put on a smile, forcing it to meet her eyes before she called up the stairs to the girl who she knew was still sleeping. Returning to the kitchen, she started to work on making omelettes for Maaya's breakfast and putting together her bento box for lunch. She got through an omelette and still didn't hear anything from the room upstairs. With a sigh, Kagome walked up three of the stairs and called out again. "Maaya! Feet on the floor!"

Two thumps and a groan made her laugh before she returned to breakfast and lunch, trying to force her focus to the food she was preparing rather than the shrine and well. Finally, hearing footsteps and floorboards creak, she packed the boxes in the cloth and tied them for storage. Kagome used a cloth with penguins on it and smiled, remembering the trip they had taken to the store and that had been the fabric she'd picked out.

"G'mornin' momma." The child was dressed - at least her skirt wasn't wrinkled. Maaya smiled up at her mother, rubbing her eyes with a sleepy yawn. "What's for breakfast?"

Kagome turned and put the sliced omelette on her plate as well as some sausage in the shape of octopus and a breakfast rice ball.

"Orange juice or apple?"

"Apple!" Kagome smiled before she poured the glass of apple juice and sat down with her daughter to eat breakfast. It was always like this in the mornings, Maaya reluctant to get out of bed, breakfast, then off to school. Sometimes, like this morning, Maaya was too tired to talk much before she finished her meal. Other times, she was a chatterbox and Kagome wondered how she could eat without choking.

Their meal complete, she got to her feet and ruffled her fingers through the young girls dark hair. "Why don't you go to my room and we'll get your hair done?"

"Okay!" Maaya loved having her hair brushed, and it was something Kagome made sure that she did whenever possible. To be honest, it helped to calm her as well - helped to give her hands something to do. Into the bedroom they went, the eight year old skipping and giggling, while her mother followed at a much more sedate pace. "Can I use your hair sticks?"

She was pointing at a pair of silver chopstick like items laying on the top of Kagome's vanity. "That's why I got them out for you. You will need to be very careful though, Maaya.. They're special." She knelt behind her daughter as she sat squirming on the low chair and started to run a brush through her waist length hair. Kagome loved the feel of her daughter's hair - the silky strands really didn't need much brushing, they never seemed to tangle. Unlike her own hair.

Kagome listened to the song that her daughter sang, getting through brushing her hair before gathering it up in her hands. Leaving two pieces down on either side of her face, she quickly wrapped the hair tie around it and then sat to braid the pieces at either side of Maaya's temple. "What do you have today, Maaya?"

"Oh! Well today we're gonna go to the library!"

"And what are you going to do there?"

"We're lookin' at the ark.. Arki.." Maaya struggled with the word before Kagome giggled, finishing one braid and moving to the other side to work on the other.

"The architecture?"

"Yea! That! We're lookin' at the architecture! Cause it's old and stuff." Kagome laughed, enjoying the talk and finished the second braid. Taking both of the dark strands, she pulled them back into her daughters ponytail and twisted everything together, popping the silver hairsticks in to hold it all in place. "Momma?"

"Mm?" The sound was hummed more than spoken as Kagome worked to get the sticks to stay so they wouldn't fall out while Maaya ran around.

"Why are they so special?"

"Why are what so special?"

"Your hair sticks? You said they were special an' I should be careful with 'em!" The question brought Kagome's fingers to a halt before she smiled and forced herself to return to what she was doing.

"They were a gift to me.." Before Maaya could open her mouth to ask, the ex-Miko looked in the mirror at her daughter and smiled. "They were a gift from someone who was very special to me…" The woman finished what she was doing and gently spun the young girl around to look at her. "How beautiful. You'll be the prettiest girl at school." With a gentle tap of her finger to Maaya's nose, the woman got to her feet and held out her hand. "Ready?"

"Yea!" With the exuberance of youth, Maaya grabbed Kagome's hand and bounced back down the stairs into the kitchen. "Whadja make me for lunch!?"

"It's a secret, go get your bag." When the backpack was returned, Kagome carefully packed the bento lunch into the top and then made sure the flap was secure. "Turn around." Maaya giggled as she did so, and Kagome put the bag on her shoulders. "Race you to the steps!"

It served to do exactly what she wanted - her daughter squeed and took off out the door. Kagome went after her, but much slower. She always let the girl run off some energy before the walk to school. Down the shrine steps the pair went, and down the sidewalk. Maaya, now much more awake than before, was chattering happily to Kagome as they walked to the stop for the bus.

Once the bus arrived, Kagome smiled brightly at the girl before returning back to her shrine. At the top of the steps, she saw the red tori gate and frowned, resting her fingertips on the wood. "You need a fresh coat of paint soon.." Hair blowing in the wind, Kagome returned to her home and took a moment to stop at the tree that was housed carefully on the grounds. Years had passed from the time she had rescued Inuyasha, the spot where he'd been pinned had grown over with bark.. But she rested her hand against the roughness anyway. "Happy anniversary, Inuyasha.."

Tears fell down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the tree. Memories flooded back - years past how she had done this exact thing. This time of year was always the worst.. Her anniversary to the half demon as well as the anniversary of her removal from that world.

She didn't notice the presence behind her, but she DID notice the strong, warm arms that wrapped around her waist and pulled her back into a chest. Before she could struggle, silver strands of hair fluttered in front of her. Silver strands she would know anywhere. "You know I can't stand your tears.."

"Inu….yasha?"