A Walk Down Memory Lane

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Hope you will enjoy this chapter and please R& R. Thanks.

Kilala followed Ayame as she rushed into the house. She skidded to a stop right behind Ayame and looked over the red head's shoulder into what were formerly the dojo, sauna, change rooms, and billiards room. The walls have been knocked down and the furniture smashed to splinters. The billiards table was in several pieces and these various pieces were located in different locations, in short, the men have demolished one side of the house.

"I take it that Kouga didn't like the décor." Kilala mused.

"What on earth have you guys been doing?" Ayame asked advancing into what was formerly the dojo towards the form of her mate.

Ginta and Shippou were helping Kouga sit up against the wall while Shippou was apologizing profusely. Kouga waved aside Shippou's apologies and grinned sheepishly at the approaching form of his very angry wife.

"Uh… sparring," Kouga answered dazedly and promptly fainted. Ayame was about to deliver a well deserved kick to the limp form of her husband when she felt someone grab her elbow. Spinning around, she saw that it was Kilala who was trying to hold in a laugh and shaking her head.

"Ayame, at least let me have a look at him before you finish him off." Kilala pleaded.

"Oh, alright, be sure that he has something left for me to finish off." Ayame fumed. Turning to Ginta and Shippou, "you two might as well tell me what happened." She snapped. "Since," sparing a glance at Kilala who had managed to revive Kouga, "he's in no condition to tell me."

"It's my fault really, "Shippou said stepping forward. "Kouga and I have been out of practice for so long that we thought we both might benefit from some actual fighting…" Shippou trailed off.

"You mean it was Kouga's idea." Ayame said throwing a nasty look at her still dazed husband and Ginta who had gone to see if Kilala needed any help before turning her attention back to Shippou. "So what went wrong?"

Shippou gulped, "I guess we got a little carried away about half way through. We were out of practice." Shippou grinned sheepishly.

"That was something you picked up recently, wasn't it Shippou?" Kouga asked coming up behind Ayame holding an icepack to his head with Ginta and Kilala supporting him. "It wasn't in your repertoire the last time I sparred with you. You've got to show me again." completely disregarding the deadly looks that Ayame was now shooting at him.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It.!" Ayame growled.

As if finally noticing how angry his mate was and the extent of the damage done to the house. Kouga raised his free hand trying to pacify Ayame. "It was an accident, Ayame. At least we didn't completely bring down the house." turning to Shippou and Ginta in turn for support, Kouga continued brightly. "Besides, dearest, didn't you say you hate the billiards room? Now you can completely remodel both the billiards room and the dojo."

Ayame rubbed her temples and let out a frustrated growl. Shippou, sensing that the worst was over, remarked to Ginta that if he was going to be killed by Ayame, at least let him clean up first, so he won't make the mess even worse. Upon hearing this, Ayame let out an exasperated sigh and ushered both Shippou and Kouga where they could clean themselves up leaving Ginta to keep Kilala company.

Ginta gestured for Kilala to precede him out of the demolished room. Once out of the room, Ginta took Kilala's arm and led her to the kitchen where they could sit down to wait for their friends.

"Don't worry about it, Kilala." Ginta said chuckling, as if guessing what was on Kilala's mind and handing her a cup of tea. "It's not the first time that Kouga did this, nor will it be the last."

"Really, what on earth were you three doing in there? Those two must have gone full out to utterly decimate the dojo and the billiards room." asked Kilala bringing the cup to her lips.

Ginta just waved the question aside and simply said, "You really don't want to know about it or else you would have to killed Shippou." giving her a sly smile and gave her a little salute with his cup before taking a drink.

'Men!' thought Kilala as she gave up trying to find out what had happened knowing that she would not get the story out of those three.

"What were you guys talking about?" Shippou's voice came from behind them, the two turned around to see that Shippou had on a change of clean clothes and was smelling strongly of soap. "By the way, where's Hakkaku? I haven't seen him since I've gotten back." He asked as he settled into a chair beside Kilala, rubbing his hair vigorously with a towel to dry it.

"He's busy with the finalizing the details of the gala, but he'll be here soon." Ginta answered as he came back to the table with another cup of tea for Shippou.

Shippou received the cup from Ginta with a nod of thanks. "I don't know about you guys, but after all that sparring I'm starving" Shippou remarked looking wistfully at the cup of tea as if hoping that food would magically appear in its place.

His expression caused Kilala and Ginta to laugh out loud. "Well, I guess I'll see what Kouga has in his refrigerator. I'm sure that Ayame has something edible in there, because Kouga is always hungry." said Ginta winking at his friends, as the three of them got up from the table to raid the refrigerator.

Kagome stepped outside the kitchen door to breathe in the fresh morning air and to take in the warmth of the early morning sunshine. She had always loved the outdoors, especially during early morning when the sun was just starting to warm the earth. She wondered what Souta was up to in the shrine grounds, last night before going to bed, he had asked for her help in a summer project. As if her thoughts summoned her brother, Souta came running to the kitchen door, smiling when he caught sight of her.

"Ohayo, Kagome," panted Souta bending over to catch his breath. "I was afraid you'll go to the shrine grounds yourself."

Kagome shook her head in dismay and grinned at her brother. "You said to meet you here Souta, why would I go anywhere else. Now what is it that you need my help for?"

Souta smiled, grabbed her hand, and started dragging her towards the direction that he had just come from, "Come and see. I bet you could never guess what it is."

Looking down tolerantly at Souta's antics, Kagome allowed her sibling to lead her onto the shrine grounds. When the two of them got here, Kagome felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes when she saw the scene before her and looked at her brother for explanation.

Souta had set up various targets on the shrine grounds for archery practice that was similar to the practice grounds in the Sengoku Jedai.

"I thought I'll sign up for the archery club at school in September." Souta mumbled head bowed as he shuffled on his feet. "So I want to get a little practice before then and since you learned how to shoot there, so I thought I'll ask you to teach me, Kagome."

Looking up at his sister, Souta added, "I thought I would make it more comfortable for you if you had a similar environment where you learned. I also thought…."

"What is it Souta? You can say it." whispered Kagome.

"I know how much you missed it there and since you couldn't go back, so I thought to bring a little bit of the past to you..." Souta trailed off.

Kagome turned and caught Souta in a tight hug as her tears threatened to spill out. It had not occurred to her that her longing for the past was that obvious to her family. "Oh Souta." Kagome said simply holding onto her brother.

Souta wiggled out of her grasp and ran to the side and came back with a set of bow and arrows in his arms. "Look Kagome, I even got Grandpa to help me find a bow that was similar to the ones they used back then."

Kagome took the bow from Souta. Closing her eyes, she held the weapon in her hands feeling the wood beneath her fingers and remembered the times which she had used the weapon, a weapon which had brought her and Inuyasha together. Opening her eyes, Kagome smiled at Souta and reached out to ruffle his hair. "I'm not a great shoot at this either, but I'll teach you what Kaede had taught me and with practice, you will definitely be a better archer than I am." and proceeded to show Souta how to hold a bow and arrow.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled fondly as she stood at the edge of the grounds watching Kagome correcting Souta's stance and teaching him how to get a good aim. "So I guess Souta's idea worked." Grandfather Higurashi said as he came to stand beside his daughter with a broom in his hand.

His daughter smiled and answered, "Yes, I believe it did."

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and inwardly frowned. He looked around his room trying to identify what had awoken him. Seeing a ray of sunlight shining into the room and the curtains drifted in the gentle breeze reminded the youkai lord that it was the weekend and he had nothing to do. Realizing that sleep was going to elude him, Sesshoumaru got out of bed to get ready to pass yet another empty day.

Sesshoumaru walked into the kitchen where Myoga promptly bowed and set a cup of green tea on the table for his master. Upon hearing the entrance of his lord, Jaken immediately prostrated himself at the taiyoukai's feet to await the day's orders.

"What has the kitsune been up to besides going to neko youkai's clinic?" Sesshoumaru asked after taking a sip of the tea.

Jaken raised himself off the ground, but continued to keep his head bowed, answered, "The kit has spent the entire day with the neko youkai and that miko at the mall yesterday."

Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow at the information, it seemed that the kit had asked the neko youkai to attend the event with and somehow had gotten the girl to take part as well. Not that he cared who the kitsune would go with as long as he does not embarrass him or his company was all that mattered. Finishing his cup of green tea, Sesshoumaru ordered Jaken to make certain that the dojo was ready for him to use.

After running through to his practice fighting routine a few times, Sesshoumaru felt that it was enough practice for one day and ordered Jaken to clean up the dojo. It was really too bad that no one dared to challenge him anymore, Sesshoumaru thought as went to clean up. His position had been too well established, those who had coverted his position and seek to take it from him in the past were all long gone while the other youkai lords were busy with their own lives. He could have used a fight or two to test out his reflexes. One of these days, he would get the kitsune to come in and give him a good fight. Training Shippou had been an experiment on his part, he had intended to find out what on this earth possessed the miko to travel with his bastard half brother and adopt a youkai for a son. He was also curious as to what a youkai would turn out to be like if raised by a human. But when he saw how the kitsune generally accepted by humans living at the village and how Rin was constantly with him, the taiyoukai realized the kitsune could potentially be of use to him Although he would never admit it, taking the kitsune under his wing and training him to his full potential had been, well, an enjoyable experience. Not to mention seeing the trouble and headaches that Rin, Kohaku, and the kitsune had caused to the exterminator and the monk. The taiyoukai had never seen this mischievous side from his ward while she was under his care and was more than happy to see others suffer from it.

However the memories of Rin and her friends somehow always turn his mind back to the kitsune's adopted mother. The way she managed to control the power that drove both human and youkai to insanity, the scent of her tears, and the gentle smile which she bestowed on him when she thanked him for his help, all came to mind in perfect detail. Sesshoumaru felt a surge of anger rising inside him which he promptly suppressed; it would not do to be known, even to himself, that he, Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands was affected by the mere memory of an insignificant human, no matter how powerful.

Throwing open the door of his room, Sesshoumaru found Ah and Un waiting outside. Seeing their lord come out, the two beings bowed in unison. The dragon youkai had attained human form to better help guard Rin's descendents as time went by. Although the youkai had two separate bodies in their human form, they still preferred to be in close proximity with each other. Now that Rin's family had died out, Sesshoumaru left them at the estate to help out Myoga.

Sesshoumaru strolled passed the dragon youkai and the two fell behind him silently. The taiyoukai walked the hallway to the part of the house where the kitsune used to lived. Without turning his head or breaking his stride, Sesshoumaru asked Ah-Un whether the kitsune had come back to retrieve any of his things. The youkai answered a negative. Although Ah-Un and Myoga cleaned here regularly, it had been fifty years since he last set foot in this part of the house. The last time he had been in this part of the house was at the request of the kitsune to view the museum which Shippou had put together in memory of his friends just before he left. Whatever the kitsune was withholding from him, Sesshoumaru hoped to find a clue in the kitsune's former quarters

'Thank you for coming Sesshoumaru-sama.' Shippou said bowing to the taiyoukai as his mentor strolled into the room which he had turned into a museum to housed various memorabilia from over the years. These items included little toys and crafts which the children of Rin and the exterminator had made for the kitsune and vice versa.

Sesshoumaru gave a cursory glance at these items and turned to look at the kitsune. 'I assumed that you did not have me come here to view these insignificant items.' He commented coolly. Shippou gave him a mock bow and grinned, 'Of course not, Sesshoumaru-sama. I would not dare to waste your valuable time on such childish things although I must admit everything here, no matter how childish, are dear to me.' Shippou said as he picked up a toy from one of the tables and looked at it sadly.

It was then that the youkai lord sensed a deep sadness permeating from the kitsune's aura, but promptly disappeared when the kit set the toy back down. This scene sharply reminded Sesshoumaru that he had sensed a similar aura, under the Goshinboku on a night like this, almost five hundred years ago. Shippou looked up at his mentor and gestured for the youkai lord to proceed to the back of room where the sheets were covering parts of the wall.

'This is what I wanted to show you.' Shippou said as he began to pull away the sheets that were covering the walls. Under the first sheet, he revealed was a painting of Inuyasha as a human with Kikyou by his side. The second one was of the exterminator, the monk, and the old miko together in the front of their house at the human village. The next painting was of Rin and her mate on their wedding day. When Shippou pulled the final sheet away, Sesshoumaru was stunned by the life-likeness of the painting, even though he did not show it. Shippou had clearly put his heart and soul into it.

It was Kagome. Dressed in her outlandish garments, smiling brightly, with one hand stretched out as if to invite the viewer to take her hand and join her in the green meadow behind her.

Sesshoumaru spared a glance at the kitsune standing beside him who was looking up at the painting with a wistful look on his face. 'Of everything here, this one meant the most to me. You are probably wondering why I did all this.' without waiting for Sesshoumaru to reply, Shippou turned to his mentor, green eyes bright with moisture, 'I did it so that you won't forget.'

Stopping in front of the doors to Shippou's former quarters, Sesshoumaru thought to himself, 'No one can deny this Sesshoumaru of what he wants.'

Turning away from the practice range that Souta had put up, Kagome turned looked up at the Goshinboku. Who would have thought that her annoying little brother had a sensitive side. He had given a taste of a past she sorely craved, but was never meant to be hers in the first place. Even though the practice range was far from the ones in the Sengoku Jedai, it was similar enough that for a little while, she could pretend that she was there. Reaching out, her hand touched the spot where Kikyou had pinned Inuyasha with an arrow. Kagome's hand automatically went to her hip where the shikon no tama resided and sighed. All because of this jewel, she had gained much and lost even more. In the time that it took to utter those sixteen words, a part of her life was lost to her forever with no way of proving that it had even existed except the vivid images in her own mind and her broken heart. While her own heart was shattered to pieces, at the same time, she had shattered the hearts of many others, especially the heart of the orphaned kitsune who had depended on her as his sole source of love and care. Although she cannot deny that she was never supposed to be a part of Sengoku Jedai anyways, it had been sheer bad luck that Mistress Centipede had sensed and somehow gotten through the bone eater's well and kidnapped her. Now looking back, Kagome could see the irony of the whole situation. To be honest, it was her, Kagome, not Naraku who was the cause of the despair in the lives of the inhabitants in the Sengoku Jedai fifty years after the death of Kikyou. If it was not for her appearance, the shikon not have reappeared at the time and Naraku would not have been able wreck so much havoc. But ironically she also was their only hope. Really, the fates must hate her with a passion. She heaved another sigh, there was no use in shedding anymore tears for she had none left to shed.

"Kagome?" Hearing her mother's voice, Kagome turned around and smiled a watery smile at her mother. Kagome could swear that her mother had a sixth sense when it came to her children, for she always appeared at the moment when Souta or her needed to be comforted. Mrs. Higurashi reached her daughter and put her arms around her child. Kagome buried her face in her mother's neck soaking up the comfort like parched earth soaking in rain water.

"I'm sorry, Okaa-san. I really am. I did try, but…" Kagome whispered. Mrs. Higurashi stroked her daughter's hair gently, "You are a part of this world, as much as you were of the Sengoku Jedai, Kagome. There is no need for you to try and forget that part of your life." Mrs. Higurashi said softly.

Upon hearing her mother's words, the tears that Kagome thought she could not cry anymore came spilled out of her eyes and down her cheeks. Mrs. Higurashi's heart clenched at the sound of her daughter's desolate sobs. She knew where Kagome's difficulty lied. Souta' idea could only a temporarily solution, alleviating a part of Kagome's despair. Something more permanent had to be found in order for Kagome to recover completely. But how could anyone heal a patient but whose body lied in one world when her heart lied in another?