Disclaimer: Don't own anything from Inuyasha, just borrowing them for my own amusement. Not making any money so please don't sue!

A/N Thank you for all the lovely reviews! Don't worry I will continue this story. Hope you like it. Have no idea where I'm going yet but we'll get there!

Chapter 3

Aiyo and Gaia seemed to adapt to their new surroundings fairly quickly. They met Kagome's old friends with the politeness she thought them. Yet she could see the spark of excitement in Aiyo's eyes. Gaia was of course more apprehensive but the trust she had in her mother gave her the confidence to approach them.
It wasn't long before they all sat down in the clearing of the well, telling stories of the past 3 years, while the children played with each other. Aiyo and Gaia were very careful, they knew how to play with human children. They learned, though not always without accidents, while playing in the park. Kagome couldn't help but smile as she saw her 2 girls play hide and seek with the twins and Shippou.

The conversation quickly turned to the subject of her life. And she happily explained what she had done in the past 3 years. She told them she finished school, and had planned to go to an university, until the well suddenly opened again.
"Why do you think it suddenly let you through again?" Sango asked, her left eyebrow inched up inquisitively.

"I'm not very sure." Kagome responded, taking a deep breath before she continued. "I think it's because my unfished business in time was over. I brought my family honor by finishing school, and finally there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to return to this time forever."

"You doubted?" Inuyasha turned his face to her slightly as he sat beside her.

"No, not really. I knew I wanted to stay here. And spend my life here. But….Not finishing school would bring a great dishonor to my family. People would treat them differently. Let alone that I wasn't legally an adult yet, so my disappearance would be investigated as a crime. There would be questions asked, people would whisper. Maybe they would even think that they killed me." Kagome's eyes closed as she thought of the pain it would have brought them.

"Well then, this was the perfect time for you to return?" Miroku not as much asked her as he just stated an obvious fact.

She just simply nodded.
"You guys have no idea how much I missed you! All of you! I thought about you guys every day."

"And we missed you Kagome." Sango practically lunged forward to give her friend a hug, which she happily returned.
"It's pretty clear that Aiyo is Inuyasha's daughter, but….." Sango trailed of a bit as she looked at the little girls now playing tag, probably having had enough of hide and seek. Not really an appropriate game if your nose is so sensitive, but they seemed to enjoy themselves none the less.
"Yeah…" Inuyasha closed his eyes, deep in thought.

"Gaia is special. But yes, she's a full demon. I can't really go into it now. I don't want her picking up any of the conversation as I'm pretty sure she can hear all we're saying." Kagome whispered as the others inched closer to hear her.
Quickly changing the subject Kagome asked how Kaede was doing. And again the conversation ran rampant with stories of the past few years. Kagome smiled, and nodded her head as she listened to the voices of her friends. Feeling finally at peace.

Dinner was served at Sango and Miroku's house, after much insistence from the couple of course. Aiyo, apparently starved from all the play, was eating like a small pig. Gobbling everything in, almost not chewing at all. Kagome sighed, she had tried teaching the girl some table manners, an mostly succeeded, but when the girl was hungry, all bets were off. A small glance to the left had her slapping her hand to her mouth to keep from laughing. Next to Aiyo sat Inuyasha, doing the exact same thing as the small girl beside him. 2 pigs, slurping and stuffing their faces. It wasn't long before the whole room noticed the similarity.

"Wwwhhaatt?" Was Inuyasha's mouthful response as he noticed the eyes on him. Aiyo stopped stuffing as well and looked at her dad.
Ok, that did it…Kagome burst out laughing, rolling on the floor while holding her stomach. Sango and Miroku not far behind. Even Gaia was snickering uncontrollably. Both Aiyo and Inuyasha's face turned a pretty shade of red as they sat in silence, now eating their dinner a bit more modest.

Aiyo and Gaia were both put to bed next to the twins. For tonight that would do just perfect. There was still a very large elephant in the room. And her friends were dying to know, she could see it in their eyes.
Kagome suggested they would talk in Kaede's hut, the old miko might even be able to answer some of Kagome's of questions about Gaia's existence.
As they all sat around the fire pit, nobody dared to speak, all inching closer and locking their eyes on Kagome. The whole deal made her a bit nervous.

"Gaia…..is my daughter. I might not have given birth to her but I raised her, I love her as my own." She started. Nods of approval all around.
"I don't know how, or why, but the day Inuyasha and I returned to my time when the jewel was destroyed she came into my life. I found her just after Inuyasha disappeared. I heard a cry coming from the well and there she was at the bottom of it. Engulfed in the light of the jewel."

"You mean like the jewel was inside of her?" Inuyasha asked.

"No like she WAS the jewel itself. I've been thinking about the for the past 3 years and that's the only way to accurately describe it. I don't know more than that. Except she has extraordinary powers."

"Tell me, dear child. What powers does she possess?" Kaede spoke to her.

"Well first of all she has everything a normal demon possesses, strength, agility, speed and increased senses. She's very intelligent, learning to speak and walk way before she was a year old. I don't even think she has shown me all she can do, she never uses her powers for anything if it's not necessary. But if she gets really upset her demon aura gets so strong I can hardly breath. Luckily she doesn't have a temper and she calms down very quickly."

Kagome sighed a bit before she continued.
"The first time I noticed something was when she was about a year and a half old. People would stare at us, it was clear they weren't thinking very nice things…" Inuyasha visibly tensed, he didn't like the idea of his family being mocked or shunned.
"But then something happened….Gaia would just look at them and suddenly their faces lit up, like they suddenly wished me all the best in life." Everybody in the room suddenly became confused.

"I had my suspicions so I asked her…And she just told me; 'Mommy, they were thinking bad thought so I changed them into good ones'. I was shocked of course, and I told her that controlling somebody's mind wasn't the way to go. But she countered me; 'Mommy, I don't control their minds, I'm only putting bad thought back and bringing the good'. And she was right, she never controlled them she just changed them, she didn't put things in their minds, she didn't let them think things they normally wouldn't, she just removed the bad thoughts. That's not so bad is it?"

She looked around the room, and saw the wheels turning in all of them. She couldn't blame them for having to think about this. She had needed a long time to come to understand it.
"It wasn't until she did it to me once, that I understood. I was very sad, I was thinking about you guys, how I could no longer be with you all. She walked up to me and placed a hand on my cheek and suddenly I was overwhelmed with the feeling of happiness. Images flashed before my eyes of all the good times we spend together. How good friends we had become. And suddenly I wasn't sad anymore. She took away my bad thoughts and made me see the good ones. "
As she looked around the room again, a weight fell off her shoulders, they understood. Looks of understanding were directed her way.

"Gaia is special. She's an amazing girl, she might be shy and a bit distant. But once you get to know her she's loving, caring, protective, loyal. She will say what's on her mind when she needs to, but keeps it to herself if she doesn't. She will stand up for the weak without a second thought. And kami knows she loves her sister." Kagome smiled. "But I do wonder sometimes…..Where did she come from? Why is she here? Why was she given to me?"

"What do you think child? You have been thinking about this for 3 years. You must have come to some possibilities?" Kaede's one eye sparkled with anticipation of her answer.

"I…..I did have a few thoughts but none seemed plausible. But then, one just seemed to pop back into my mind. I keep thinking it's absurd and it just couldn't be but…my mind just won't let go of it."

"What is it child?"

"That she is a reincarnation. But not of a human of demon soul, but of both. A reincarnation of all the soul inside the purified jewel. When the jewel disappeared, she was created. With the strength of the jewel itself but inside a demon body."

Some gasped, but Kaede seemed unfazed. She simply looked at Kagome. A few minutes of silence passed as all the occupants seemed to close their eyes to think about the whole idea.

"Do you sense the jewel in her?" Miroku suddenly asked.

"Not always. I think I only sense it if she lets me. I think Gaia knows a lot more then she's telling me but I figured she would if the time came that I needed to know. Once we were at the zoo and she wandered off. I lost her and suddenly I could sense the jewel and was able to find her. It's like she wanted me to find her. Now every time I sense the jewel, I know she's looking for me or wants me to come to her."

"Smart girl." Sango asked with a smile.

"Yeah, and she's only 3…." Kagome stopped mid-sentence, her eyes wide with realization. "O my…How could I be so stupid." She slapped her hand to her face so hard it made a loud 'smack'.

"What is it?" Inuyasha asked concerned.

"I forgot, it's her birthday tomorrow. I forgot her present back home. She doesn't really like parties but she always loves her birthday."

"O now that won't do, don't worry Kagome. We will help you, we still have time!" Sango shot up and carefully strolled up to Kagome's side. Placing her arm over her shoulder and squeezed.

"Yeah no problem! I love organizing parties!" Shippou cried out from his seat next to Miroku.

"Then let's get going you idiots! We have till sun up!"

Everybody widened their eyes at the sudden outburst from Inuyasha. But as they all looked at the determined look in his eyes they knew he was not about to let a little girl down on her birthday!