They'd done it! She was finally free! No more waltzing around the feudal era collecting shards and hunting down demons. She was finally able to return to her own time and be a normal 18 year old human girl again. As Kagome lifted her legs over the lip of the old well, she turned to see all of her friends giving her a true send off, having already said their goodbyes. With a heartfelt wave and tears in her eyes, she lept.

But it was not to be, and as she descended through the portal, the color changed from blue to red. The time slip whispered to her of great purpose, the importance of undoing a great wrong, the last phrase of "Warn him" ending on an echo all around her. Time slowed to molasses, thickened like honey, and when she finally touched the bottom of the well, she knew she wasn't home. Looking up, she saw blue skies instead of the wellhouse roof.

Grabbing ahold of thick overgrown vines that distinctly hadn't been there when she jumped in, Kagome lifted herself out of the well and looked around. No signs of any human civilization, no markers she knew immediately, so she started towards the meadow where the Goshinboku was. One glimpse of it as she came over the hill and she knew instantly that she was in deep trouble, because the once tall and proud God Tree was half of the size she knew it as. She must have been sent even further into the past.

After a solid ten minutes of sitting under the Goshinboku near hyperventilation Kagome stood up, gave her head a firm shake, and started walking down the path to where the village would be one day. She crested the tallest hill in the area and noted that the village was indeed missing, but that in the far distance large villages surrounded a vast fortress, gleaming in the midday sun.

"Well, one foot in front of the other," Kagome muttered to herself as she started forward, and it was nearly dark before she decided to make camp. Luckily, she still had her pack, some food, and her bow and arrows, but they were small comfort amidst the looming darkness outside of her small fire. She got what little, fitful sleep she could, tossing and turning and snapping awake with each bump in the night.

By daybreak she was exhausted, but eager to make it to civilization by nightfall. She could just see the faint outline of a city beyond the path she was traveling when she was assailed with a blinding ball of light and a demon appeared in front of her, the winds from his arrival buffeting her strongly that she was knocked flat. Once her vision returned she could tell that this was no ordinary demon, his fine clothes and armor denoting wealth.

But it was his golden eyes and long silver hair that made her gasp. For this was the image of Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's father, the Inu No Taisho. She had only seen him once, a vision from the afterlife after Sounga had been defeated. And now here she was, flat on her ass in front of the great daiyoukai and he was looking down at her in confusion.

"What is your purpose in my lands girl, and why is it you smell of my son Sesshomaru and a hanyou? And what in the name of the kami are you wearing?" His citrine eyes were furrowed as if trying to puzzle out a mystery. Looking down at herself, she blushed when she realized what he meant. She'd given Kaede back the miko robes she'd been wearing lately and had planned to return to her time in her school uniform.

Standing and brushing herself off, she knew that she needed to keep his attention in order to warn him. "The answer to all those questions is a long story, and I've traveled from the Bone Eaters Well to tell it. But first I need to know, have you met a woman named Izayoi yet?"

His eyes narrowed and he nodded. "How far along is she?" At his reluctant answer of 5 and a half months, she exhaled a relieved sigh. "So then we have some time before she gives birth." But after looking into his confused eyes she wasn't so sure.

"Hanyou pregnancies only last 6 months. But how do you know all of this child? Who are you?" She sighed and rubbed her temples in annoyance. She had less than two weeks to make sure she warned him of everything. It was a daunting thought, but she knew the kami sent her back for this. It was clear she needed to warn him of the upcoming battles he would face.

"My name's Kagome and I'll explain everything. But can I do so once I find an inn and some dinner? I haven't had a proper meal or real rest for a few days." He nodded and suddenly they were flying through the air, his huge arm clasped around her tiny waist. She gasped as she looked down and felt faint, so she clung tight to his arm, unknowingly showing his submission and trust.

"Where are we going?" Her timid question could barely be heard over the wind howling past them. Suddenly they stopped, touching down in a vast courtyard that was packed full of demons.

"Welcome to the Western Palace."