lostmoonchild: Okay, thanks for the reviews! I decided to update sooner than usual since I have a bit of a break today and I don't know when I'm getting another one. Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha or anything else unless I say otherwise. Now since I've swallowed my pride and admitted that -again-, ON WITH THE STORY!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"You two have been cooped up all day. How about going outside and playing?" Kagome suggested one warm afternoon.

"Yeah! We can play tag and a bunch of other games!" Shippo said excitedly grabbing Hana's hand and trying to pull her towards the door.

"I DON'T WANNA!" Hana signed angrily pulling her hands away from Shippo.

Kagome frowned slightly and looked stern as she stared at her younger cousin. "And why not?" Kagome asked.

"Because everybody goes easy on me!" Hana signed looking furious. "I HATE it when they go easy on me!"

A sigh escaped Kagome's lips as she stared at her two foster children. "You have to go outside for a bit, Hana." Kagome said calmly. "You wouldn't want to make your dear uncle Kurama sad that you don't want to spend some time outside, do you?"

"I'm going!" Hana signed quickly before grabbing Shippo and crawling as fast and as carefully as she could out the door.

"Works every time." Kagome said leaning against a wall looking proud of herself.

"Lady Kagome, how can you understand what she says simply by watching her hands?" Miroku asked.

Kagome looked surprised and she said, "I haven't really thought of it as watching her hands. I just think of hearing her talking with her fingers."

"So what was she doing?" Sango asked looking confused.

"She was talking with her hands. In my era, its called sign language." Kagome answered with a smile. "Deaf people and those who are mute use it to talk with others."

"Can you teach it to us?" Miroku asked. "So we know what she's saying when you're not around?"

Kagome nodded and said, "I'll start off with the alphabet then names."

After half an hour Hana came crawling back inside followed by Shippo. "Hi, mama!" Shippo said hugging Kagome.

"Have a good time?" Kagome asked with a smile.

"I'm tired." Hana signed before yawning.

"She tried walking." Shippo said simply.

"Good girl, Hana." Kagome said with a smile.

Hana smiled sleepily at the compliment and laid down once she managed to unroll her sleeping bag. "Here, you two." Kagome said handing Shippo and Hana a piece of chocolate.

"No hungry." Hana signed before pushing the chocolate back to Kagome.

"You feeling alright, sweetheart? You normally never turn down chocolate."

"My stomach hurts."

Kagome's eyes showed concern as she tried figuring out what was wrong with her little cousin. "Does your stomach feel tight?"

"not just my stomach, Ka-ka, my whole body feels tight! What's happening!" Hana signed starting to get scared.

Kagome hugged her little cousin gently and smiled. "You're just having a growth spurt. Don't worry, it's a good thing."

"Souta complained the last time he had one! Remember, he couldn't go to school for three days?"

"Only because his legs hurt."

"What if I'm too hurt to walk?"

Kagome sighed and gently took her cousin's hand. "Then I will carry you." Kagome signed into her cousin's hand, making sure to say what she was signing out loud.

When Hana had fallen asleep, Kagome taught everybody how to sign into her hand. It was helpful since contact with another person apparently offered the comfort that a voice alone couldn't give. Next, she taught them how to lead for when Hana began to walk on her own without help. They each admitted that it was weird having somebody holding onto their elbow while walking but even weirder to tell them which direction they were going.

Within a couple hours, they had learned enough to be able to handle a few days without Kagome around. When Hana woke up, she immediately tried to get up and held onto Miroku's hands for balance. Shaking slightly, she clung to Miroku before taking a small step. She knew that she was using Miroku to keep her balance, but she also knew that she was too unstable for the time being to stand alone.

Slowly, she began walking towards where her and Kagome's backpacks were before sitting on the floor and grabbing Kagome's backpack. "Check to see who's backpack is who's." Kagome said.

Hana nodded and ran her hands all over the backpack, setting it down once she was convinced it wasn't her bag before reaching out and grabbing her backpack. From the small squeal that escaped her lips, she was proud of herself. "Good job." Sango said knowing that praise helped people get more confidence.

Smiling proudly, Hana began humming as she took a book out of her backpack and ran her fingers over the bumps on the cover before crawling over to Kagome and sitting next to the young miko and running her fingers over the bumps on the pages. "Good story?" kagome questioned.

Hana nodded eagerly and handed the book over to Kagome, looking patiently in her direction. Laughing, Kagome took the book and began reading aloud for everybody in the hut to hear. They were amazed that Kagome could read the strange book and it took a little while to realize that Shippo and Hana were completely relaxed.

A while later both kids were hyper again and this time, Shippo was trying to help Hana find her cup without Hana hitting the floor. "Okay, go forward." Shippo said as Hana cautiously crawled forward. "Turn left… now!"

Hana turned and started to hit the floor but stopped when Shippo jumped down and held her hand down. "No, don't hit the floor." Shippo said trying to sound stern. "Trust me."

It was obvious that the ten year old didn't want to trust Shippo but from the look in her eyes, she saw that there wasn't exactly much of a choice to be made. She had to learn to trust the ones who were helping her and right now, Shippo was the one helping her. "Ha." Hana said after a few minutes of thinking through her options.

They watched as Shippo let Hana grab his arm and watched quietly when Shippo led the small girl towards her water. "Good job!" Kagome said with a proud smile when they got to the water.

Another proud look showed on Hana's face as she drank and saw Shippo looking proud. "You're practicing being her eyes." Kagome commented with a small smile.

Shippo nodded and said, "Yep! I'm gonna help out a lot!"

Kagome laughed and kissed her foster children gently on their foreheads. "Just as long as you two grow up to be good." Kagome said gently. "I love you both so much."

Both children smiled and hugged Kagome a little before starting to play a game. Smiling softly, they watched as the two children played until it was time to eat. After supper, they all stayed up a while longer before getting ready for bed and settling down to dream.

lostmoonchild: Okay, next chapter there's going to be a bit of Inuyasha/Kagome loving then Sango/Miroku loving so ya'll don't have to wait too long. So anyway, read and review and I'll finish up chapter eighteen. Ja ne!