Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters.

Chapter 3:

The ground started to form back under their feet, and the walls of the ancient well became solid around them. The sun was shining down on the young couple, and both their spirits seemed to lift. Inuyasha turned to Kagome and wrapped his arms around her waist, than lifted them both out of the well. He quickly let go of her, and took a step back. The surety he had felt at the Higurashi shrine started to fall away as he looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. They were in his time now, and he knew that no matter how much he cared about her they would never be accepted as a couple. How could he put her through that kind of isolation?

Before Kagome could express her confusion out loud a shout rang out from the trees. "KAGOME!"

A blurred shape ran towards her, a flash of red hair all that anyone could see. Kagome braced herself, ready to catch the young fox demon against her chest. She almost fell over when instead he wrapped his arms around her waist, and pressed his head into her stomach. He had grown from the little boy she remembered, and now he was a little man. The innocent child that had followed there group around wasn't so little any more.

"Oh Shippou, look how big you are." Kagome murmured, kneeling down and pulling him into her arms. She held him close and looked up at Inuyasha, unsure what to do. She didn't know this boy, this grown up boy.

"Kagome you were gone and I didn't know what to do and Inuyasha couldn't get to you and there was so much blood we thoughts you were dead, and Inuyasha was so upset, he got so mad, and I why didn't you come back?" He wailed, holding her closer.

Kagome's heart broke and she held him a little closer. "I couldn't get through either Shippou. We were both trapped. I'm so sorry, shhh, it's ok. I'm not leaving anymore." She started to rock him, and looked back up at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha sighed, and shrugged. He didn't know what to do, or what to say. He'd kept himself so isolated these last few years, he barley remembered how to be civil, let alone how to comfort a distraught child. He had to try though, and he knelt down in front of Shippou and Kagome. Gently he placed his hand on Shippou's back, and said softly, "Ah, she really is back for good. And look, she's alright!"

It took a little while longer, but slowly he started to calm down. Just as he started to relax he turned and saw Inuyasha. Shippou's sad eyes suddenly turned to angry, and he jumped on Inuyasha yelling "You bastard! I went to get you something to eat and you were gone! You haven't left that damn tree in years, and I come back and your GONE! Why didn't you tell me. I thought you were…"

Inuyasha picked Shippou up by the collar and held him off. "Stop hitting me already! You wanted me to wait? What if the damn well closed and I couldn't get to her?" Inuyasha yelled, glaring at the young boy squirming in front of him.

"Inuyasha, don't yell at Shippou, he was scared! How'd he know you were going to be coming back?" Kagome snapped, plucking Shippou out of Inuyasha's grip.

There was a moment where all three of them went silent and than Shippou grinned. "Well I guess nothing's really changed all that much…"

Kagome let out a small laugh and hugged him quickly. It was nice to see that no matter how much time had passed, some things never really did change. With a smile Kagome let go of Shippou and stood up, brushing the dirt off the back of her jeans. "Speaking of food, I'm starved. Lets go see what Kaede's got cooking."

They headed off towards the village, looking altogether like a mismatched family. Shippou stood in between the two adults, and chattered about what he'd been doing the last few months. Kagome tried to listen closely, but she kept on getting distracted by Inuyasha. He was paying close attention to what Shippou was saying, and every once and a while would snort in contempt. "That's all they've been teaching you? What do they think you are, made of glass? Geez, I thought you'd be learning something with those morons." Inuyasha scoffed, shaking his head.

"That's what I was trying to tell you earlier Inuyasha! If you had stayed long enough to listen to me, I would have told ya sooner! They haven't taught me anything we didn't do when we were fightin Naraku. You taught me way better than them." Shippou said, he's tone almost a exact match of Inuyasha's.

Kagome couldn't help but smile. It seemed they hadn't really seen each other in years, but Shippou still looked up to Inuyasha. He was even trying to walk like Inuyasha. It was sweet, and she tried her hardest not to smile.

Inuyasha peaked out of the corner of his eye to look at Kagome, struggling not to smile at their conversation. Inuyasha didn't need to read her mind to know she was thinking something he probably wouldn't like.

"Inuyasha, since Kagome's back and everything, do you think maybe I could come back and learn from you again?" Shippou asked, everything coming out in a rush.

Inuyasha first instinct was to snap at him, and say hell no. He just got Kagome back, he didn't need some runt following them around. Plus Shippou was getting older. He needed to mark out his own damn territory soon.

Kagome beat him to saying anything though. "Of course you can come back Shippou! You can come and live with me! I still don't understand why you were sent away in the first place." This was followed by a glare at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha just glared back. They were not getting into this fight right now, because he would so win. He didn't want to have to tell her 'I told you so' so quickly after she got back after all. That would rude.

Shippou let out a loud shout, and skipped his way back to the village, leaving them behind as he went to tell Kaede the good news. Kagome smiled after him, completely unaware of the conflict she had just caused Inuyasha.

"Kagome, where do you plan on living anyway?" Inuyasha asked, realizing that they really didn't have a place to live.

Kagome paused, and looked over at him, her head tilted slightly to the side in confusion. "I-I don't know. I never really thought about it. I just figured I could built my own hut or something?" Now that Kagome really thought about it, she wondered what she had been thinking. Did she think that just because she came to live with him in the past Inuyasha would want to live with her? All the self doubt she'd felt when they had been together years ago came back to her, and she started to wonder if he even wanted to live with her. She'd just assumed that they would. You know what they say about people who assume.

There was an awkward silence as they tried to figure out exactly how to bring up where they were going to live. Inuyasha sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Even if you get your own hut Shippou really shouldn't stay with you."

Kagome immediately felt hurt. "What, you think I can't take care of him? That I wouldn't be good enough?" She asked, glaring at him. They had paused just outside of the village.

The villagers for a moment were going to go welcome Kagome's return, until they saw the expression the two companions had on their faces. They knew better than to go over there when that kind of conversation was going on. They had a tendency to get very volatile.

"Damn it Kagome that's not what I meant!" they heard the nice half demon boy yell. Any villagers with the idea to welcome her back quickly turned back, and went back to their work. Now would not be a good time to approach the couple.

Kagome was stomping her way towards the village, her emotions once again diving down. "Not even a day back and you already had to tell me that I can't handle something, or I'm not good enough at something. God Inuyasha, some things really never change." She snapped, heading towards Kaede's hut without looking back at him.

She would have just kept on going without a second glance, but he jumped over her and landed lightly in front of her. He put both of his hands up, signaling for her to stop, and he gave her a slightly pleading look. "That is not what I meant Kagome, just give me a second to explain."

Kagome stopped and crossed her arms defensively in front of her. She wasn't nearly this insecure with anyone else in her life. He was supposed to be the person who always made her feel like she could do anything, not the one who made her want to cry. With a resolve she'd developed after loosing him so abruptly and having to move on with her life, she walked forward until they were just a few inches apart. She leaned her head back and looked him straight in the eye, anger written all over her.

"Inuyasha, we need to have a place to live. Shippou needs someone to take care of him. If you don't think I can do that, well damn it, I can. I'll do my best, and you will just have to help me. Understood?" She took another aggressive step forward, and thought she saw something spark in his eyes, before he closed them with an exasperated expression on his face.

Inuyasha couldn't believe she was this close to him. Since they had come through the well they had both kept their physical distance, but here she was, standing in front of him ready to defend her relationship with Shippou to the end. Something in side of him seemed to spark. He wanted to do…something. He wasn't sure what, but he knew that something had changed.

He covered it up, sure that she wouldn't want to deal with his feelings right now. They were fighting, not exactly the right moment to pause and ask about what an emotion might mean. Not that he'd ask her anyway.

"Kagome, Shippou can't live with anyone. He's way too old to live with his parents, he needs to find a territory of his own. He could build his own hut, but he needs to do it on his own. He can even stay in my forest, take a corner of it for himself. It has nothing to do with you." Inuyasha explained, trying to keep her from moving past him.

"He's only a kid Inuyasha! He's not old enough to live on his own at all." Kagome countered, glaring at him. They were still only inches apart, and she stood on tip toe to growl low, "Not to mention he hasn't any kind of parent for 3 years. Don't think I missed the fact that he was sent away. We'll talk about your reasons later, but right now he needs his family!"

Inuyasha growled back, leaning down until she was forced back flat on her feet. His instincts had taken over, and he couldn't allow anyone, not even Kagome, to look him in the eye and try and dominate him. He was a dog demon, and he would not let anyone act like that with him. Kagome refused to remove eye contact, but she could feel him taking control of the situation. He was not going to let her walk away without some form of submission.

As her anger started to fade, Kagome realized just how close they were. His face was inches away from hers, and he was looking down at her like he would do anything, anything, to get her to back down. A low warmth started to spread through her, and she couldn't take her eyes from his for a whole different reason. She could feel him right in front of her, and the full force of his eyes made her knees suddenly seem weak. Her breathe hitched, and she couldn't remember why they were fighting. All she knew is that he wanted to make her back down, and she couldn't look away from him.

Inuyasha needed her to look away. He could feel the change, see how she was softening, her breathe was coming out in shorter bursts. Her scent had a whole knew spice to it, and if she didn't stop looking at him like that he was going to do something that would make them both uncomfortable. He knew what he wanted to do, but she wasn't anywhere near ready for that, and if she didn't look away he was going to burry his hands in her hair and drag her forward until she gave him a whole different kind of submission.

"Look down Kagome." Inuyasha's voice came out as a growl, lower than normal, with a harsh side that she didn't know he had. It took everything in him to say that, to try and stop what was happening. He crowded closer to her, using his whole body to aggressively try and make her back down. "Look down!" He snapped.

Kagome's eyes flew to the ground, her head turning slightly to the side, exposing the long length of her neck. Inuyasha took three very large steps backwards. That was too close, that was way too close. Back for half a day and she was already messing with his instincts, drawing out the side of himself that he tried the hardest not to remember.

Kagome took a small step forward, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. "I-Kagome, you really need to stay back. Just, stay back there." Inuyasha muttered, not looking at her. His eyes were closed, and he was turned a little away from her, his hands buried in his hair.

Kagome stayed were she was, waiting for him to explain what she should do next. She wasn't going to move until he told her to. He had won their battle, and now she had to do what he said, for the next little while at least. She also needed a moment to collect herself. Whatever had just happened was important, she just couldn't figure out exactly what it was that happened.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome murmured, trying not to be too invasive, but wanting to know what to do next.

"Shippou needs his own home. He might look like a child, but Kagome he's well over the age that a demon is expected to create his own territory. I was on my own a lot younger than he is, and I survived."

Kagome felt a flash of guilt as she remembered what he had been through. Of course he would think Shippou was old enough to live on his own, he had been thrown out on his own when he was much younger, and he wasn't given any help. "Can he live with me for a little while?" Kagome asked hopefully.

"No." Inuyasha growled, and he knew that he should have brought that out less abruptly, but he was still trying to calm down his demon, and she was asking to live with another demon in the house? That was not going to happen. Inuyasha sighed, and took a moment to calm himself down. "He can't get used to it. He knows what's expected of him. The fact that he even asked shows that he's trying to go back to how things were, but it's too late for that. He cannot live with you."

Kagome nodded, trying to hold back the tears. She knew that he would be older, but she had thought they would have a few more years of him being a baby before he would leave. She'd missed what his people would consider his childhood, and now she needed to treat him like an adult. Her heart broke a little at the idea, but she knew that Shippou would stay close, that he would still let her cuddle him whenever she wanted.

"He can stay in your forest? Build his own place?" Kagome asked softly, hope making her voice soft.

Inuyasha just nodded, not wanting to talk about it anymore. "We'll talk it out. He'll understand."

"Thank you."

Inuyasha just muttered a soft "keh" and started heading towards the village. They needed to talk, really talk, and soon. In fifteen minutes she had managed to break down all of his barriers. He knew that part of it had to do with the fact that he hadn't dealt with people in so long he was out of practice, and he would work on that. Now that it had started though, he knew it would be almost impossible to stop. His demon side had acknowledged her, and either he went with it, or he would spend all of his time fighting it. He didn't plan on fighting it, but that wasn't the point. He needed her to understand what she did affected him more strongly now.

Three years at this stage in a demons development were crucial. He had gone from the young adult he was, to a more mature demon, who was ready to take on all that that entailed. He was ready for things that he hadn't been before, and one of those things was the finding and keeping of a mate. He knew what he wanted, and he was pretty sure she did too, but that didn't mean it was just going to fall into his lap. They had to get to know each other again, but until than, she needed to stop pushing he's damned buttons. Did human males not react like this at all? Didn't she understand that by defying him she was begging for him to make her submit? He could still see the light in her eyes, when the anger had turned to something else, and he couldn't help but smirk a little.

She would learn, and she would know when to give in. He would teach her the easy, or the hard way, but either way she would know the difference between when to stand up to him, and when to stand down. He smirked a little, knowing that if she didn't he would take great pleasure in showing her exactly how to give in.

He came back to himself when they reached Kaede's hut, and he wasn't exactly sure how they had gotten there. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had just followed were Kagome had lead him. He snorted to himself. Yeah, follow the girl without paying a damn bit of attention. Yup, take control Inuyasha.

Kagome gave him a strange look. He hadn't looked her in the eye since the had entered the village, just followed behind her and thought about god knows what. She wasn't sure if he was upset with her, or if he was just trying to calm down, but she was thankful for the momentary break. She was still trying to catch her breath after being so close to him, and having all that intense concentration focused on her.

Kagome hesitantly knocked on the side of the hut, poking her head in to see if there was anyone in there. There was a small fire going in the center of the hut, and a pot simmering on top of it with a wonderful smelling stew cooking inside. Sitting beside the fire was Kaede, the same as she always had been, stirring the contents of the pot with a calm expression on her face.

Tears started to blur Kagome's view of the hut, and before she knew what was happening she was hugging Kaede gently, crying into her shoulder.

Kaede slowly stroked Kagome's back, laughing softly and letting the young woman cry. "I missed ye too child. Now here we are, back together again. See, all is well, hush."

Inuyasha stood next to the door, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Kagome reunite with the old hag. He couldn't believe how emotional she was getting. He didn't like it one bit. She needed to stop crying and eat something damn it. He shifted uncomfortably and glared at the two women. Kaede smiled at him, shaking her head to keep him from coming over.

Kagome finally calmed down, and settled in next to the woman who had meant more to her than she had expected. She thought maybe it was a residual connection from when her soul had been Kikyou, and Kaede was her sister, but she also knew that she had created a relationship all her own with the gentle old woman.

Kagome and Kaede caught up, and Inuyasha ducked out of the hut, letting them do whatever it was they wanted to do. He was still full from breakfast, and thought maybe it would be better to ease back into regular meals. It took him only a moment to figure out what he wanted to do, and even less time to locate Shippou.

Shippou was just a few huts down, gathering some wood for the cooking fire. Inuyasha sighed and decided to take care of this instead of leaving it to Kagome. She had enough to deal with, she didn't need to feel guilty about turning out Shippou.

"Hey, runt, we need to talk." Inuyasha said gruffly, pulling Shippou aside.

Shippou lowered his head, knowing what was coming. He was getting too old, and there was no way Inuyasha was going to let him stay anywhere near Kagome until they'd worked out there crap, and all demons knew how possessive dog demons got. At least he'd been able to see her for a little while before Inuyasha drove him out of their territory.

"Look, Inuyasha, I get it. I'm not a dog demon, I'm not a kid, and you need me out of your territory. Can I at least say bye before I head out?" Shippou asked, sounding a lot more mature than when he'd talked to Kagome. His head was turned away from Inuyasha, looking out across the rice fields.

Inuyasha snorted, and glared at the little shit head. "You really need to let Kagome hear you talk, and not sound like you're still a brat. She thinks you can't handle being on your own, that you'll fall apart without someone to take care of you."

Shippou nodded, smiling a little. "I missed her taking care of me."

"Here's the deal, you can't live with us. You know you are way too old to be living in anyone else's home. We can go into my forest, and you can pick out a small territory in it. Conditions are that you need to build your own house, without any help. If I'm going to just give you your first territory you need to damn well build your house on your own. You can visit us, but you can't stay for longer than one night, and you can't come out of your territory until you have completely finished building your hut. Understood?" Inuyasha looked Shippou in the eyes. This was the test all demons had to go through. Usually they had to fight to break out their own piece of territory, but he was willing to give Shippou that part of it, because they were family. Even if it was a little bit of an odd family.

Shippou couldn't believe what he was hearing. What Inuyasha was offering was the equivalent of what the oldest child of a demon got, and only after they had fought and proved themselves in battle. "Inuyasha, that's…are you sure? Do you wanna at least fight me for it or something? I mean, not that I want to fight you, but something?" Shippou stuttered, not sure how to accept without sounding ungrateful.

Inuyasha just raised an eyebrow, looking at Shippou like he was nuts. "I just handed you the perfect deal, and you want to fight over it? What? Seriously, because I think accepting it and just thanking me would be enough."

Shippou nodded, and muttered, "Thank you Inuyasha."

Inuyasha nodded, and pushed Shippou towards Kaede's hut. "Go talk to Kagome for a while, then we'll go stake out your territory. Hurry it up."

A/N:

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.