Disclaimer: I don't own Yugi-Oh or Inuyasha!

AN: Fic is for DarkAngel048. My first Kag/Atem (a.k.a Yami Yugi) pairing. May I say, Wow! Thank you all for the reviews. Thank you all! I didn't expect it to get this popular, it is my most popular story!

AN II: I am so going to call Kagome's dad, Akeno. Just so you know and no-one gets confused.

AN III: Happy Happy Belated Birthday Angel! XD

Last Time: He knew that it wasn't Kagomes' fault but that didn't make the pain any less evident and couple that with the fact that he had to grow up without him. It made the hurt worse. He wished his father was there now. He would be able to help them all.

He had forgotten just how many steps there was on that staircase leading to the shrine. If he would have climbed them he wouldn't have been very happy. That would put a damper on his only day with his family. Meeting them after all of these years apart would be a damper enough. Hopefully they wouldn't be afraid of his presence. Kagome would have told them he was coming but still it would be different with him actually there in person. As she was already quite distraught it was possible that the thought may have slipped her mind.

He made his way around the grounds, taking it all in. Drinking in all of the memories; growing up with his eccentric father and his legends of demons, wanting to be a teacher instead of a priest of the shrine, the arguements it had caused. Even though they were upsetting each turned out to be quite precious. All so precious and loved, the day he proposed to his wife, the day Kagome was born, the day his mother had died, when he was surprised with the pregnancy of Souta, all the way back to the day he had been killed.

(FLASHBACK - 10 Years Before)

"Daddy, can I come please?" Little Kagome asked her father.

"Ask your mother." Akeno said to the little girl.

Little Kagome had ran over to her very pregnant mother. She was barely to the older womans' ribs and laid her head on her abdomen as she asked if she could accompany her father. Her mother shrugged and Kagome made a pleading pouting face to her. Her mother laughed and admonished her, causing her to pout more.

He could make out Kagome saying please over and over again. She really wanted to go but if her mother said no, he knew she would drop the subject and go to her room. Her mother then asked her something. By the sad look on his little girls face, he knew she had been told no. It was afternoon and he was sure that she hadn't fed the kitten she had begged for and promised to take care of. Her mother had reminded her and Kagome was accepting that she couldn't go because she hadn't done her chore.

He had patted her on the head and promised her he would bring her back a surprise. She had smiled and ran off to feed her kitten. He kissed his wife and left. All he had done was drive. There was a movement in the rear view mirror and he glanced to the back seat. He saw brown eyes, black hair, and a star on a brow; then he was in a panic as the car was being twisted and ripped. He remembered nothing after that but hearing the voices of his family as he had been in the coma then he was gone.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Akeno breathed in deeply as he stood under the God Tree. He laid his hand on the trunk of the tree. He could feel the ancient power coursing throughout the bark. It was invigorating to be alive again, even though it was only just. It was time to see them. They needed him for tonight and tomorrow they would be saying good-bye all over again.

When he had been told that he would be going back for a day, he had thought that this would possibly be doing more harm than good. Even if it did he knew that in the long run it would be for the best for them, now more so for Kagome than for the rest of them. She needed him more than the others as she blamed herself for his demise.

Now was the time and he had to buckle down his courage and go in. He would rather have it all over at once than run into them seperately. He prayed to the kami not to see his father first as it was not yet time for him to meet his maker. A deep breath later he found himself walking down his former hallway to the nerve center of the home, the kitchen. Even before his death it had always been the place everyone discussed problems and possible situations that was going to befall the family.

It was the right place to reveal his temporary return to the living. As he moved to the kitchen, he heard nothing but the shuffling sounds of people within the room. Then Buyo ran out of the room and right at him. The once calico kitten stopped and meowed at him, winding herself around his legs; meowing loudly. The cat was going to be announcing his arrival before he could and did.

"Buyo, what is it?" a boy said.

The teen came around from the kitchen and looked at him. Akeno noted that he looked just like him, only a younger version. It was Souta, his son, the child he never got to see.

"Who are you?" he asked, "Mom, there is a man standing in the hallway."

A loud shuffling came and then his family and a young man he didn't know was standing in the hall in disbelief. It was a lot to take in. Rightly so, anyone would be overwhelmed by the dead suddenly returning.

"Daddy." Kagome said quietly from the back of the group.

"Mom, is that dad?" Souta asked.

"Akeno, son, is that really you?" Grandpa asked.

"Hi, dad." Akeno said to him.

The elderly man engulfed him in a tight squeeze. He had missed them all so very much. Akeno scanned their faces; Souta was confused and happy, his wife was looking at Kagome, and Kagome was beside the young man he didn't know. When his eyes met hers, panic tore through them and she ran upstairs.

"Kagome!" the man called after her.

Akeno only watched her ran and the man follow her. Was she that overwhelmed? She knew before the rest of them did and was still this unprepared?

"She'll be fine. She has been so upset about all of this. Guilty as well. She blames herself for all of it." his wife explained to him.

"That's ridiculous. It may have been her wish but it was for the better of the world." Akeno retorted.

"Yeah, Sis is taking all of this pretty hard. She has been very sad all day since she defeated Naraku." Souta added.

"Naraku?" he asked.

"We can only tell you so much." Grandpa said to him.

He led the way back into the kitchen. As tea was being made; Grandpa launched into Kagome's tale the best he could and shared what he knew.

Atem had followed her right to her room. Kagome was just collapsed on the floor next to her old bed. Her emotions were raw and turbulent so much that anyone could feel them whipping and lashing out at anyone that was too close. If they had been tangible, Atem was sure that he would have many lacerations upon him with the distance he had between them, barely a foot.

He sat right across from her. She wasn't crying or in complete hysterics, she was just in a panic! A sheer maddening panic, bordering on hysteria! It was obvious that she hadn't prepared herself enough for her fathers return. Her turmoil was focused on how devastated she was on the unintentional part she played in his death and on her fathers possible feelings. She was too afraid to find them out just yet. She needed to calm herself down and think for a few minutes. Gather her courage as well and try to be understanding of everything that had happened. That was going to be hard for her to do.

Understanding the madness of the Kami would surely drive her mad! She would never understand why they put her in the position to sacrifice anothers' life without them having a say of protest. It wasn't right even if it was to maintain the balance of the cosmos, of good and evil. He should have atleast gotten to have a say in it. It was his life they were taking after all.

"How can you prepare yourself for this?" she asked aloud.

She knew he was there. He would never let her deal with this on her own. He would have to be either insensitive or stupid not to atleast listen to what was going on in her head about it all.

"You can't. Best course to take is to face it head on." he answered.

"I know but after not seeing him for so long and then the wish... I just couldn't prepare myself for seeing him again. I thought I had but not well enough. I have missed him for so long and now all of this. I just couldn't face him at the moment. I just needed to calm myself down a little." she responded.

"That's understandable. Let's return downstairs." he said.

"Ok, I don't even know why I'm up here." she said, honestly.

"It is your safe place. You needed to think and now you're done." he answered.

"I guess so. Ok, I'm ready." she said.

She took a deep breath and they returned downstairs. As they reached the kitchen, Kagome stopped outside the door and just listened. No matter how much she really wanted to return to her family, she found it best to just listen for a few minutes. They needed time with him without her "drama". Time to hear it all fold out for themselves and he was the best one to answer any questions that would possibly arise.

AN: YAY! This chapter has been done for a little while but I've had class and tests and everything!