Waiting at the Well

Home...

She climbed out of the well, lugging her bike over the ledge, heaving for air. Silently she started towards her house, exiting the shrine.

They had done it again. Inuyasha always pushed her buttons, setting her off at points and often times making her unbearably frustrated at him.

But then he would always protect her and their group would travel, trying to find more shards and becoming closer on the way.

Why did they always fight?

She opened the door to her house and ran in, expecting her mother to be in the kitchen making dinner.

"Mom, I'm home-"

She froze, the room empty.

"Sota?"

"Grandpa?"

Only silence. She walked out to the yard, only to find their car gone.

"Well, they must have gone to eat," she sighed to herself, which reminded her...food. She was finally back at home with normal food! Smiling, she ran back to her kitchen and opened the fridge.

Her smile turned to a grimace, only finding old leftovers on the cold shelves. So that's why they went out to eat.

"I'll just surprise them with some more food and a desert for my return!" She ran up to her room, taking out money she had saved, for the town market.

Walking out and locking up, she started down the sidewalk, observing the neighborhood she knew so well. The familiar buildings surrounded her and the sounds of traffic blared in the distance. She didn't miss that.

She entered the store, found everything on her list and was about to leave until she found a bag of chips on the shelf. These were Shippo's favorite kind.

She stared at them longingly and grabbed them, along with Miroku's favorite dish and Sango's favorite treat. She even took Inuyasha's instant ramen.

"I'll get these for them when I... go back..." She trailed off and stared at the items in the cart. She had told herself she would stay, but her heart ached when she thought of her friends. They were probably missing her. Inuyasha popped into her mind, his laugh and his mean comments, making her push away her second thoughts. No, she wouldn't be going back.

She checked out, exiting the store with bags on her arms.

Looking both sides of the street, she started crossing, towards her home. It was strange being back. She had spent so much time in feudal Japan, it had become... her home.

She stopped at the next intersection, before her last crossing. It was her home. She cried, her shoulders trembling. She had made a mistake deciding to leave. Though he never admitted it, Inuyasha and her group needed her. She loved him and that's why she didn't try to take him away from Kikyo, because she wanted him to be happy.

As it was her time to cross, she started running, thinking of Shippo, Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha. They were part of her life now and she loved-

Her thoughts broke apart, interrupted by the blaring horn of a swerving truck, heading straight at her.

She could only scream and hold her arms in front of her, no time to move out of the way as the headlights sped towards her.