Shippo's face peered curiously at her, as she balanced on the well's ledge.
"Momma! Don't go, please. You have to stay with us! Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango need you, and so, so do I!"
She smiled sadly at the cluster assembled together in front of the well, and bowed her head.
"You all know I wish I could continue to stay with you in this world, but its not my home. I would give every thing that I own to remain here, but I wish to free Midoriko from the jewel."
Shippo stood next to Inuyasha, and clasped his hands together. He looked up at him with watery eyes.
"Kagome," Inuyasha spoke. "I will be waiting for you."
"Inu…Inuyasha. I love you!"
Tears welled in the inu-hanyou's eyes, but he would not release them.
------
'And that's how I got here, here in my own era.' Kagome sat beneath the Goshinboku's foliage and stared up into the azure sky. 'I wonder how Shippo and Inuyasha are, God, that look in his eyes last I saw of him, it still haunts me to this day. I can't believe its been seven months since I saw them!'
Kagome stood and made her way to the well house, humming a tuneless song, hoping to suppress her doubts. She quietly slid the door open, made her way down the well steps, and to the well.
"I don't know what I expect here, but I hope its something good." Kagome spoke aloud..
She sat down upon the lip of the well, and gazed intently into the dank darkness.
"Inuyasha, Shippo, I…"
Something glimmered in the shadows, and caught the miko's eye. She smiled in anticipation. Kagome leaned over the ledge of the well, and gently plucked the blade from the ancient wood. 'I wonder what this is! Maybe its something from Inuyasha, or Shippo?'
"Shippo!"
'Kitsune magic surrounds this dagger, but how could it be? Shippo, are you still out there? What does this blade symbolize?'