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Timewriter: I think you may be the only one following this story now . You're the only review I've gotten in the past two chapters. :(

Chapter 11: Deepening Bonds

The following morning, Saya awoke to an empty hut. Glancing around, she grabbed her bag before changing as fast as physically possible—who knew if or when someone might return? Once readied for the day, Saya ventured outside. People were milling about the village, but she found no trace of any of her traveling companions. Even Shippo and the animals were gone! She wandered her way through the village until a new sensation fell over her senses. It felt different than a Shikon fragment; instead of all her senses being on alert, this sensation brought about a sense of calmness, compassion, a deep connection…it seemed to call to her… So consumed in her attempt to understand and make sense of this new sensation, she stopped walking unknowingly.

The villagers that were behind her were forced to abruptly change their direction in attempt to avoid a collision. Some were not fortunate enough to stop in time. Saya paid no attention to them. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she strained to pinpoint the source of the new feeling. She was just beginning to get the feeling that it was close to her when a familiar voice snapped her back to reality.

"Yue, wait up!"

Saya turned toward the voice and was rewarded with an armful of kitsune. Yue crawled onto her shoulders before draping herself across them, mewling happily. The young pup even nudged Saya's face affectionately. This was quite the drastic change from even a few days prior. All thoughts of the strange sensation disappeared as she turned her attention from the pup on her shoulders to Shippo when he finally caught up, bent over in attempt to catch his breath.

"Geez, when'd she get so fast?" Shippo muttered to himself. When he looked up after recovering, he blinked in surprise. "That's why you ran off." His attention turned from the white pup to her resting place. "Morning!" He greeted with a grin.

Saya smiled warmly in return. "Good morning. You wouldn't happen to know where everyone is, would you?"

The young demon nodded. "Yeah, Yue and I was just there until she ran off."

She nodded slowly. "Do you think you could lead the way back?" She paused before adding, "You don't have to walk; hop up." She chuckled quietly at his relieved expression. For the second time that morning, Saya found herself with an armful of kitsune. While she walked in the direction Shippo pointed, the child began to regale Saya on what had transpired earlier that morning.

Apparently, Yue had gotten used to the early training sessions because she had woken up—only to discover she was the only one awake. Shippo had awoken not long after when he had felt something gently pawing at him. The two went outside to play, as to not disturb the others while they continued to sleep. Inuyasha made his appearance a short while after; he had jumped down from the tree the two were playing near, scaring Shippo in the process. Sango and Miroku followed not long after. Kaede had managed to shanghai Inuyasha into helping her carry some heavier objects around the village, while the other two found small tasks to accomplish. Shippo and Yue had followed Inuyasha and Kaede around until Yue had taken off. Once he finished his tale, Saya asked Shippo what he meant by that.

"We were playing around, and then she just stops! She looked toward the village, and then she just…took off," he said with a shrug. "She didn't stop until she jumped into your arms. It was difficult to keep up with her, ya know. She kept running around people and things. I could barely keep up!"

Saya chuckled at how exasperated the child was. "I'm certainly glad you did, otherwise I would never have known how eventful your day was!"

Shippo seemed to puff up a bit at the exclamation. "It was crazy!" He grinned as he jumped down, causing Saya to stop as well, to face her with a boastful look on his face. "I bet I could handle anything now! Even Inuyasha!"

Saya bit back a smile when the hanyou in question appeared before them. The child took no notice, as his back was toward Inuyasha as he talked to Saya, but kept going on about how he could kick Inuyasha's butt. The hanyou seemed to have enough of Shippo's boastful talk and made his presence known. "Ya wanna test that theory, runt?"

Saya could no longer hold back her laughter when Shippo instantly tensed, turning to find Inuyasha squatting down behind him. The child then beat feet over to Saya and jumped into her arms again. He attempted to keep face, but his voice began to waiver as he spoke, "You don't scare me."

Inuyasha smirked and opened his mouth to say something, but Kaede stopped him before he could. "Inuyasha, do you not have some place to go? One of the villagers is in need of the load in your possession. Kindly take it to them." The hanyou grimaced before hefting the large load of straw over his shoulder and stalked away. Shippo stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha's retreating back. The elderly miko turned to the two fox demons resting upon Saya. "Young Shippo, why don't you and Yue go play? Come to us when it is time for supper." The two happily agreed and jumped down before running off in the opposite direction of Inuyasha. Kaede made her way to Saya before smiling. "Good to see you are awake now. Might I trouble you to help this old woman?"

Saya stared at the elderly woman with a start. "I'm sorry. Did I sleep long?"

Kaede smiled kindly. "No child; the others simply rose much earlier."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I worried I slept super late." The two shared a smile. "What is it you need help with, Kaede-sama?"

"Nothing too strenuous. These old bones do not bend as they used to. It is becoming difficult to collect the herbs I require these days."

"Not a problem! Would you like for me to go on my own so you can rest?"

"Thank you, child, but I believe it easier for both if I accompanied you."

Saya nodded, and the two set off for the field nearby. While there, the elderly miko taught her what herbs were good and which were poisonous, which herbs would help what ailment, and which herbs would mix together to create remedies for specific problems. Thus far, Saya had learned the remedies for mild poisoning, sprained appendages, and stab wounds. The elderly miko was exceedingly knowledgeable and shared her wisdom easily with the young miko in training.

"Are you ready to return?" Kaede's voice disrupted Saya from her wandering thoughts. Quickly gathering the picked herbs, she stood and moved to join the other female. Compiling their bushels into the basket Kaede brought, Saya grabbed it before assisting the elderly miko back to the village.

Saya smiled as the sinking sun warmed her face as they made their trek. Upon their arrival, Kaede taught her how to create several of the medicinal remedies she had been told about previously.

"Mix these two herbs together with a small amount of water, apply to the poisoned wound, wrap in bandages, and your patient should recover from mild poisoning within the next day."

Saya's eyes widened in wonder. There was so much to learn. Saya agreed to help the older woman the following morning in caring for the villagers that required medical attention. She figured it would be a wise decision to invest time into learning the art of herbal remedies on the off chance that she ran out of supplies in the medical kit from her time. She had no intentions of doing so, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"What about a remedy for more severe poisoning?"

Kaede chuckled at her enthusiasm. "We can continue the lessons tomorrow. Right now, we have to dry these herbs and start working on supper." Saya agreed with a sigh and set to work drying out the herbs as Kaede instructed while she worked on fixing dinner for those who remained of their traveling companions. As Saya finished with her task, Shippo ran up to her, jumping into her arms with a cry, causing her to drop the few remaining herbs to the ground.

"Saya! Inuyasha's gonna get me!"

At her name, Saya looked to see the hanyou in question approaching with an extremely irritated expression upon his face. Saya raised an eyebrow when he stopped before her and glared at the small kit cowering in her arms. Yue followed a short distance behind; however, instead of jumping onto the miko's shoulders, the young pup remained on the ground, choosing to lie near her. "What happened?"

"The annoying, little brat made a spinning top appear on my head."

At that moment, Saya felt like she was dealing with two children instead of just the one. For a moment, Saya quietly wondered how her mother could handle it, but then remembered that her and Daichi were nowhere near as bad as these two behaved. Heaving a sigh of exasperation, Saya asked, "What did you do to him first?"

"I didn't do nothing to that brat!"

"Liar! You took the apple I was going to eat!"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to retaliate, but Saya beat him to the punch. "Boys, enough. I think I understand what happened well enough. Inuyasha, you shouldn't have stolen his apple if he had it first. Shippo, you shouldn't have retaliated with your fox magic like that. You could seriously hurt someone doing something like that."

"There's no way anything could get damaged in that head…"

Saya forced herself to keep from laughing or showing her amusement on her face—a feat that was growing exceedingly difficult with the look that was currently plastered all over Inuyasha's face: a face of utter indignation that was gradually transforming into rage.

"What was that, runt?"

Before Shippo could dig himself any deeper, Saya decided to intervene. "Shippo, why don't you go and see if Kaede-sama needs any help?" She even tossed the child in the direction of the hut to aid in distancing the two. The girl from the future sighed before facing the annoyed hanyou. And he was extremely annoyed.

"Why did you do that?! I was finally gonna teach that brat a lesson!"

"Do you really think he would have listened? Because I certainly don't. I think he just likes to push your buttons—and he does an excellent job, by the looks of it." She sighed again and massaged her temples. Inuyasha grunted at Saya's words.

Inuyasha scowled as the annoying wench turned away from him and walked back into the hut with the others. It irritated him to no end to realize that she was right; the annoying runt would not have listened to him had he just beat him over the head. Talking to him didn't work either, though. There seemed to be nothing that would work for getting that brat under control. As the hanyou began to walk away, he heard the soft voice of Saya speaking to Shippo. He paused to listen to the conversation.

"Shippo, I need to talk to you."

"What is it, Saya-chan?"

"About what you did to Inuyasha..."

"But he started it!" It was evident from his voice that Shippo was pouting.

"That may be true, but you shouldn't have responded the way you did."

"Why not?! He always attacks me!"

Inuyasha heard Saya sigh again, and figured she was rubbing her temples as she had just done with him. There was a pause in conversation before Saya quietly said, "Shippo, if you can behave for a while and not start anything, I will give you a sucker. For every day without a fight, you get a sucker. Deal?"

"Alright! Suckers!"

"But only if you're good and don't cause any trouble with Inuyasha." There was another pause. "I mean it, Shippo. No trouble. I don't care if he starts it, no fights for the rest of the day."

Inuyasha quietly huffed before walking away. If she was going to bribe the kid into not fighting, there was no point in sticking around to hear anything else. He made his way to the forest and waited out the rest of the time until dinner in a tree.

Saya sighed a little in relief as she got Shippo to agree to not argue with Inuyasha. She knew it wouldn't last, but at least it would save her from a headache for a little while. The rest of the group returned to the shack once dinner had finished, and there were no other disturbances—much to Saya's delight. As the group finished their meal, Hiyori entered the hut and instantly turned her attention onto Saya.

"Once you finish your meal, we may begin your second attempt in accessing your powers." She turned to exit the building, but paused to look back at her charge. "I shall wait for you outside. Please, do not dawdle."

Saya scowled at Hiyori's retreating form. Sango leaned over and whispered, "Would you like me to join you this time as well? Just in case something happens again?"

Saya smiled appreciatively at the demon slayer. "Yes, please." The two shared a smile before quickly finishing their meals. Saya gathered her miko garbs, and the two females exited the hut to join Hiyori outside. The light miko glanced at Sango.

"Good to see you joining us again, Sango-san. Come, we have much to accomplish but not much time in which to achieve it." Hiyori then led them back to the waterfall and instructed Saya to change into her miko garbs. Once accomplished, Hiyori requested the Shikon fragments from around her neck as well.

Saya gripped onto the small jar around her neck. "I was told to never remove them."

"Under normal circumstances, I would agree. However, I sensed a spike of a dark presence within those shards while you were training last. I believe that to be the reason you had the experience you did. I will keep them within a purification barrier—it should function just as well at keeping them pure without putting yourself in undo risk of repeating last night's occurrence."

Saya hesitated momentarily before releasing a small sigh and handing the shards over to the outstretched hand of the light miko. Saya watched in surprise as Hiyori held the jar before her by the string and her other hand was engulfed by her white-gold, shimmering power. The light miko's eyes narrowed in focus on the container before her. Her ring finger and pinky curled down, leaving the other fingers outstretched, and in an instant, the glow transferred from her hand onto the container of the shards.

"Wow…" Saya and Sango breathed out in awe at the same time.

Hiyori gave a satisfied smile before turning back to Saya. "There, now, shall we begin?"

Saya sighed before taking her place within the waterfall. Steeling herself with a shaky breath, she closed her eyes and began to focus internally. At first, she only saw black again. The fact frightened her, but she felt the presence of the pendant around neck slowly emanate a slow pulse that warmed her and soothed her fears. Taking another breath, she delved deeper into her subconscious.

Sango waited anxiously next to Hiyori while they watched over Saya. When the only change to occur within a decent span of time was Saya furrowing her brows, Sango leaned over and asked in a whisper, "Shouldn't something have happened by now?"

Hiyori shook her head. "The time is different for each miko. I was taught at a young age what to do with my powers, so the time for me was relatively short. Saya, however, has not had such training—not in the same respects that I have. It could take her some time before she even finds her powers—let alone gain the ability of releasing them."

Sango sighed. "At least there shouldn't be any accidents from now on. Last night was frightening."

Hiyori nodded while a frown appeared on her face. "Indeed, it was. I will never allow such a situation to arise again to put Saya in that predicament. You have my word."

Sango nodded slowly. "I'm grateful."

A moment of silence passed between the females as they refocused their attention back to the young woman beneath the waterfall. Sango was surprised when Hiyori broke the silence with a shaky whisper.

"Last night shook me more than you both realize. I never had any intentions of ever placing Saya in any environments during her training that would cause her harm. Despite what you all may think, I care for her deeply. She is more like a sister to me than you all realize. I push her because I know she can handle it. I 'torment' her because I know it will make her stronger, faster, and more likely to be able to defend and protect herself. I may not show it very often, but I do care." Hiyori was silent for a moment, and Sango glanced over to see her blinking away a tear. The light miko glanced at the demon slayer. "She will figure all of this out in her own time. If you tell her before that time, I will deny all of this to my grave." The two were silent for a moment before they broke out into quiet laughter.

Sango had several questions; the one that occurred most, was how the light miko could possibly care for Saya so deeply in the short span of time. However, Sango could understand; she and Saya had only a short while longer together before Hiyori appeared, and the demon slayer cared for the girl from the future quite a bit already. Sango was lost in her thoughts until a sudden gasp from Saya instantly redirected her focus.

Saya had continued to dig through her subconscious until she was suddenly faced with a large, light periwinkle sphere. She slowly approached the sphere and wearily stretched out a hand to place upon the surface. She felt like it was vibrating with energy—almost as if a great storm resided within the confined barrier. Then the sensation switched to a calm and loving feeling. It was a rather odd sensation and drastic change—it startled a gasp out of her. Saya was about to attempt to reach her hand inside the barrier, but was pulled back to reality when she felt someone shaking her shoulders.

Snapping her eyes open with another gasp, Saya quickly surveyed her surroundings—only to realize that Sango had been the one who had gently shook her shoulder. Taking a calming breath, she asked, "What's up?"

"We heard you gasp and were worried something happened again. You are alright, aren't you?"

Saya smiled in thanks. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just surprised is all." She redirected her attention to Hiyori, who stood a short distance behind Sango. "I think I found my power."

"What did it feel like?" Hiyori asked the same time Sango asked, "Are you sure?"

Saya described how the sphere vibrated with pent up energy. Hiyori was silent for a minute before she muttered something beneath her breath with a relieved sigh. Saya caught a couple of words: caught, better, time, and something that sounded eerily like her mother's name. Before she could think much on the subject, Hiyori announced the training session was completed for the night. They would resume training again in three nights so they could all get enough rest for resuming their journey. The trio of females returned to the village to retire for the night.

Okay! Here was the next chapter in the story. I'm sorry it took so long. I would love to give this profound reason as to why it took over four months for me to update, but sadly, I don't have one. I've been trying to work on this story, but I've gotten a little bored with it. I haven't been getting as much feedback as I used to, and my life is getting a little crazy with work and everything else going on. I have gotten chapter twelve completed, but I need to finish writing chapter 13 before I will be willing to post again. I also have started working on some other stories as well as this one, but I find the inspiration for this story lacking as time keeps going. I want to finish this story. I really like it, and I like where it's going and where it could go. I just need a little more support from you guys. I'm sorry that it takes so bloody long between updates. I really don't have much of an excuse other than the fact that I have a life outside of writing this story. (Believe me, I would much rather be a stay at homebody and just work on my stories and art all the time, but sadly, I cannot. Bills to pay and all that. Yay adult life! XP

Anyway, I would really appreciate some feedback with this story. It will help motivate me to get the next chapter written, edited, and posted.

Until next time,

Saph