lostmoonchild: Sorry for not updating yesterday but I don't think anybody's gonna be too upset with me since I updated at least. So thanks for the review
Chapter Twenty Eight
"Are you absolutely sure?" Miroku questioned looking at the innkeeper.
The innkeeper nodded and said, "Saw it with my own eyes. A glittering shard and a demon had it as a necklace."
"Thank you. You've been most helpful."
"So where are you and your wife traveling?"
Sango internally winced at being called Miroku's wife and was going to correct the old man but changed her mind. She was holding onto a sleeping Shippo with Kirara sleeping next to her and didn't want the old man to think that she had slept with a demon but from the way he was acting around her, he already got that impression despite her saying that he's the adopted son of a friend of theirs.
Miroku patted Sango's hand before saying, "We're trying to catch up with some friends of ours. They went ahead of us since their daughter was ill and they had heard of somebody who would be able to help."
The old man nodded a little before saying, "Your wife says that the kitsune child is your friend's adoptive son?"
"Yes. Our friend wanted a child and Shippo here had lost his parents so she adopted him. When Shippo's sister got sick, our friend left him with us so she and her mate could take their daughter to get better."
Sango shook her head a little at Miroku at how easily he could come up with such stories. She guessed though that some things just never changed no matter how much you wanted them to change.
Kagome watched the fire quietly before looking down at Hana. The small girl was sound asleep, sucking a little on her thumb. "What are you dreaming, my little flower?" Kagome asked before feeling a pair of strong arms around her.
"She looks peaceful." Inuyasha commented. "Hard to believe she's a terror."
"It's a family trait. We look innocent until invoked. Then we're nightmares to be reckoned with."
Inuyasha chuckled a little before saying, "I can believe that."
"Did you find anything out about any Shikon shards?" Kagome asked.
"Yeah. There's a demon who was wearing one of the shards as a necklace."
"As a what?!" Kagome asked looking surprised.
"Yeah."
Kagome laughed a little and moved so she could look Inuyasha straight in the eye. "What are we going to do, Inu?" Kagome asked.
"About what?"
"Everything. The Shikon no Tama, raising a family…" Kagome asked. "We live five hundred years apart, how are we going to make this work?"
"I could live in your era…"
"No. Inuyasha, you hate my era. You know it makes your nose hurt."
"I'd be willing to live there if that means you're going to be happy."
Kagome rested her head on Inuyasha's chest and listened to his heartbeat. "No, I'll stay here. This era's good for Hana and I love it here." Kagome whispered. "Besides, who's going to keep you company at night?"
Inuyasha grinned a little and hugged Kagome. "I knew there's a reason I love you." Inuyasha said with a smile.
"You mean, other than me looking like Kikyo?" Kagome questioned.
"You're prettier. Much prettier."
Kagome smiled a little and leaned into Inuyasha's touch. She loved him and would willingly do anything she had to just to make him happy. "We should probably get some rest." Inuyasha said with a smile.
"Yeah. We're going after the shard tomorrow so I guess we're going to need our rest."
Kagome smiled again and let Inuyasha hold her near as sleep overcame them.
The next morning both groups started walking towards the village. Shippo and Hana both picked up the other's scent and took off running. "SHIPPO!" Sango shouted as she and Miroku ran after Shippo.
"HANA!" Kagome shouted running after Hana with Inuyasha in close pursuit.
Shippo and Hana both managed to avoid getting caught until they ran into each other literally. "I missed you!" Shippo and Hana shouted hugging each other.
"Kagome-chan! Inuyasha!" Sango shouted.
They all smiled and started chatting happily with each other, putting the shards they had all found together. "Okay, three shards from Miroku and Sango, two from Inuyasha and me." Kagome said watching as the shards fused together. "Well, we at least got something."
"Other than the same rumor?" Inuyasha said with a grin.
Kagome laughed a little before picking Shippo up and hugging him. "Come on, kids, let's go see if we can find a place." Kagome said.
Going into the village had to be the strangest thing they had ever done. Instead of being stared at for there being a hanyou with their group, the villagers just glanced at them and waved. "Ka-ka, I can smell hanyous." Hana whispered eagerly. "Is this like the village in the Makai? Remember? That nice village that was in Raizen's territory?"
"I remember, baby, I remember." Kagome said with a smile.
Hana ran ahead and began talking happily with a couple children before running back to Kagome. "See? That's my momma with my little brother." Hana said happily talking with the kids still. "The silver hared guy is my daddy and the two humans is my auntie and my uncle."
Hearing Hana call them her family was strange. Miroku and Sango looked at each other and smiled a little knowing that they had both been accepted. "Welcome to our village." An old man said coming towards them.
Kagome bowed a little showing her respect before saying, "Thank you. We're travelers checking up on a rumor."
"What are you doing?! Do you want the whole village to know what we're doing?" Inuyasha asked before saying, "Tell us what we want to know or.. OOMPH!"
Kagome smiled a little before saying, "You'll have to excuse Inuyasha. He's a little rough around the edges."
"And when Ka-ka says 'a little' with somebody, she usually means 'a lot' of something." Hana said proudly.
"Hana, hush."
The old man nodded a little and said, "My village and I hide nothing. We have heard of Inuyasha so we know you mean us no harm."
"Thank you." Kagome said with a smile. "We all heard a rumor that somebody in your village has a Shikon shard. We're trying to put all the shards back together before Naraku does."
The old man nodded a little before saying, "Yes, I'm aware of the reputation Naraku has gained and we will do everything we can to help. Come, we will go eat and we will get you all settled in."
They followed the old man once Inuyasha had gotten up and saw that they were staying in the old man's house. "What kind of village is this?" Miroku asked. "I've never seen a village where demons, hanyous, and humans all lived together in perfect peace."
"We are a peaceful village. We believe that everybody is the same in the eyes of the Gods." The old man said.
Kagome nodded in agreement and said, "In these kinds of villages, everybody believes that everybody goes to the same place, unless of course they've done some unspeakable act. Most of the time, you see villages like this one destroyed by others who are either afraid or they're disgusted."
"I see you have an understanding of our village. May I ask how?"
Kagome didn't speak for a minute so Hana said, "There was a village like this in the Makai. In King Raizen's lands…"
"Hana!" Kagome said covering her cousin's mouth.
"King Raizen eats humans, little one, I hope you'll have sense enough to remember that."
"He does not! He fell in love with a human and promised never again to eat another human for as long as he lived!" Hana shouted pulling away from her cousin and glaring at the old man.
"Little kids…" Kagome said trying to smile as she telepathically warned her cousin to keep her mouth shut. "Interesting imaginations. Now, Hana, I want you to apologize for being so rude."
Hana looked ready to protest but she could feel her cousin's energy. She could feel the anger and didn't want to risk anything so she bowed her head and mumbled, "I'm sorry for being so disrespectful."
The old man nodded a little unaware that Hana was blind. "So tell me," the old man said, "what exactly did you all hear?"
"We heard that a member of your village found a Shikon shard. We would like to take the shard to help fight against Naraku." Sango said honestly.
"Of course. Excuse me for a minute so I can get the person who has it."
They watched as the man got up and left the room only to come back a few minutes later with a woman. Kagome's eyes widened as she looked at the woman's face, into the eyes she had often stared into whenever she was at her aunt's house. But this woman, this woman wasn't her aunt. The sober eyes filled with confusion wasn't her aunt's eyes. This woman's eyes held only confusion, no real understanding on how a person could be dealt a bad hand. "Auntie Atsuko!" Hana said happily.
Kagome grabbed Hana's shirt and pulled the small girl back. "That's not Aunt Atsuko." Kagome said before looking sorry at the woman. "I'm sorry. Hana thought you were somebody else. Didn't you, honey?"
"But… that's Aunt Atsuko! I'd know her energy anywhere, Ka-ka. I know it is."
"Of course, I understand. Children wear out easily, especially hanyou children." The woman said handing them a shard. "Here, we have no need for such things that give power."
Inuyasha handed the shard to Kagome and offered the miko a smile that said he trusted her judgment. "You will rest here tonight and we'll talk more in the morning." The old man said, his voice changing to a tone of coldness for a second.
A second that didn't go unnoticed.
They nodded a little, silently agreeing that they'd keep their guard up during the night incase something happened. Quietly, they went to their rooms and pretended to go to sleep.
In the dead of night, they heard somebody walking around outside their rooms and checked to see who it was. It was the woman they had met earlier that day. "What do you want?" Inuyasha asked.
"Please," the woman whispered, her eyes frantic, "you have to get away from here tonight. At dawn the old man is planning on killing all of you."
"Why are you helping us?" Inuyasha demanded.
"Because, I have a feeling about all of you. Please, you must leave this place."
They nodded not really having any reason to doubt the woman. Silently, Kagome and Sango picked the sleeping children up and they all quietly left the inn. "Thank you for your help." Miroku said looking grateful.
"Just leave this place while you have a chance."
Nodding, the group left in the dead of night as the half moon loomed overhead. They didn't know what waited for them but they would find out soon enough. A couple days later they heard that the old man had been killed and the others that lived in the village had fled to the Makai. "Do they stand a chance, Ka-ka?" Hana asked innocently.
"Yeah... I think they do."
They got to Kaede's village not too long after and started getting ready for another adventure that would go across time. An adventure that would take them to Kagome and Hana's era.
lostmoonchild: okay, that chapter is done. Read and review, flames are accepted and will be used to burn down the school since I'm proud to admit that I'm a pyromaniac.