Chapter Nine
The Well.
The air was warm, but the chilly breeze swept through the clearing often causing the leaves to shake and shutter, leaving goose bumps on exposed skin. Memories flooded in and out of her mind, replaying them over in the open clearing that she was standing in. The close-call battles they had near the well, and the memories of her and Inuyasha, jumping in and climbing out of the well, filled her head. Kilala's soft purring became the background noise and it was comforting.
Her hand traced the old, worn wood of the powerful well; looking down into the darkness and the unknown causing the doubts and the 'what-ifs' to pour into her mind. It frightened her that she might not see her mother, Ji-chan, and Souta. What if 75 year past in the future like it had here in the past; that scared her most. The tears threatened then and she swallowed at the knot in her throat trying not to let the tears escape; her grip, on the well's edge, tightened in the effort. Kilala meowed and Kagome's hand came up to run her finger through her soft fur.
She nearly jumped when a hand touched her shoulder with her heart in her throat she turned around quickly and saw emerald eyes staring back at her.
A sigh eased past her lips, "Shippo." Kilala meowed her hello and jumped onto Shippo's shoulder, purring.
She wiped away the tears that had strayed from her eyes with the back of her hand. She narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't do that, you scared me." He laughed while petting Kilala.
"Sorry, but you're just easy to sneak up on," he teased and tilted his head as he looked at her. He crossed his arms and became serious, "You alright?" Kagome blinked, she smiled, but it did not reach her hazel eyes, he noticed and raised a red eyebrow. Kilala jumped from his shoulders and landed near Kagome's feet and then jumped on the well's edge.
She saw that he didn't believe her, but then again she wouldn't have believed herself anyway, another sigh escaped. "I miss them so much. I'm worried I won't get back to them. I know the Jewel is with me, but," she paused, "I don't know, I'm probably over complicating things, but I have my doubts."
He did not reply right away, just looked at the well absentmindedly.
"You know, if you can't get through the well, you have a family here." He said softly. She smiled slowly and pulled him into a hug, "I know, Shippo." He chuckled and swung her around and she tightened her hold on him as she let out an excited squeal, he put her down as he said, "We should get back, the pup is givin' Kasumi a rough time."
Kagome shook her head, "He needs to spend time with other people beside Inuyasha and me, before we head out on the road." She didn't admit that she wanted the baby with her at all times and kept silent as she turned toward the well and Kilala jumped into her arms then and started her way back to the village, Shippo following in step beside her.
"Speakin' of which, when are we gonna start travelin'?" Shippo asked, pushing a hand through his red hair. Kagome didn't look at him as she replied softly, "I want to try the well first, before we leave. I want to try soon, but I want Inuyasha there with me when I do." Shippo nodded, silently agreeing as he walked.
As they entered the village Kilala jumped out of Kagome's arms and went the direction where the children of the village usually played and she smiled. A smirk rose on his face as they walked closer to the Kohana's hut and he looked like Inuyasha in that moment. "What?" Kagome asked curiously, raising an eyebrow when she did. "The pup stopped cryin'."
Kagome blinked and laughed, "Did Kasumi spoil him with milk?"
Shippo chuckled as he said, "Nope, Inuyasha got him." Kagome nearly stumbled, she was beyond surprised, but she couldn't get the smile off her face.
The walk was silent the rest of the way and when the hut came into view, she had to try and not run the rest of the way; Shippo couldn't help but laugh at her eagerness.
She looked over her shoulder through narrowed eyes and Shippo attempted to control the laughter that wanted to escape as she looked at him. She then looked away as she hurried up the stairs and pushed the reed door away in time to see Inuyasha holding the baby hanyou; his back facing them and the baby's golden eyes looking at her over Inuyasha's shoulder. She saw the baby smile at her just before Inuyasha turned around.
Kagome blinked and then blinked again, Inuyasha's expression was something she hadn't seen before; it was a pure fatherly feature. She was proud of the look and then it disappeared as fast as she saw it.
"'Bout time you got here, the pup wouldn't keep quiet and he took a dump, its stench is worse than the demon's we brought down a day ago." Inuyasha said, walking to Kagome and giving her the black haired hanyou. He was full of smiles even before Inuyasha gave him to her, seems the baby was enjoying his time with the grumpy hanyou. Kagome smiled at the thought.
She turned toward Kasumi, who was being teased by Shippo while trying to make lunch for everyone, their eyes met, "Thank you." Kasumi smiled and nodded and then went back to trying to ignore Shippo while trying to hide her smile.
Inuyasha sat in his usually corner and watched the hut while Kagome began to change the smiling babe. The cloth diaper was something she wasn't used to, she wished she had her times diapers. It would easier than washing dirty diapers and then reusing them, but with practice from Kohana she mastered it.
She had to get new diapers every so often; he was growing faster than a human baby. Inuyasha had explained that he had done the same thing or so he was told by his mother. Shippo added another comment saying that demons at a young age grow faster until they reach a point and then they start slowing down and then the growth spurt starts up again around a demon's 100th year, but that was just the canine's section of life.
It had only been three weeks and the new born hanyou looked at least five or six months old. She wondered what he would look like when his 'growth spurt' stopped, she wondered if she was going to be able to see him as an adult.
With those thoughts, she took the droopy-eyed babe in her arms and then made her way over to Inuyasha has he made comments about Shippo teasing Kasumi, but was quickly shut his mouth when Kasumi teased him about Kagome and Shippo laughed at Inuyasha's reaction. She smiled at him when he glanced up at her and then he turned to reply another snarky comment that had Kasumi laughing and Shippo blushing harshly.
She sat down next to Inuyasha and she felt his arm come up behind her and around her shoulders, she smiled as she leaned into him while he turned his head just a fraction where his nose brushed her forehead and he softly inhaled her scent.
Looking down at the babe, her hand came up to trace the bridge of his nose and the golden eyes smiled up at her and he grabbed her finger in his small fist as he playfully growled at her. She turned to look at Inuyasha when the older hanyou made his presence known by letting out a low growl of his own. Inuyasha glanced at Kagome and the corner of his mouth twitched upward in a smile and then looking back at the black haired babe. Kagome followed his gaze and found the baby smiling up at Inuyasha and then letting out a higher pitched growl as he reached a fist toward Inuyasha.
She did not look up at Inuyasha when she asked, "What did he say?"
Inuyasha put his clawed hand on the baby's head while running his finger through the black hair, "Pup said he likes you, that you're pretty."
She looked at Inuyasha, "And what did you say?"
"I agreed with the pup, pup said he liked me too." He said without looking up at her. She smiled and watched as the baby pulled her finger closer to his mouth until he was sucking on her finger.
Her smile widened again as she said, "I agree with him." Inuyasha snapped his head up when she finished and a smile creepy onto his lips and she returned it.
IIIIIIIIIII
Sorry for the long, long, long, long wait, but I came up with writers block and I reread the chapter and didn't like it. So I redid everything! The chapters will be shorter because writing longer chapters gives way to more mistakes and takes too long. So the chapters will be shorter, but I will be able to update more quickly. I do have a plot and things will start being put into place, so bear with me!