"Everybody ready?!" Soun Tendo called out as he entered the front room dressed in his kimono and ready for the summer festival.

"I'm ready father!" Akane replied while Kasumi looked around in worry.

"Where's Ranma and Kagome?" The eldest Tendo sister asked.

"Ranma's probably out setting fires in the backyard." Nabiki answered. "Kagome said she was going out to talk some sense into him."

\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Ranma you've been at this for hours, it's time for a rest." Kagome said exasperatedly as she watched Ranma crouch in front of an open fire. The girl was dressed in a bright red kimono with golden patterns and white dogs. Ranma, who was looking as frazzled as he could be, shook his head stubbornly.

"No, not yet. I think I almost have it." Ranma grunted.

"Oh ho, does that mean you've mastered the 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire' technique groom?" Cologne said as she lept into the Tendo's yard. Ranma growled like an angry dog.

"Listen you old ghoul..." Ranma started when he was cut off by Cologne teasing the Phoenix Pill in front of him. After another unsuccessful attempt to get the pill, Cologne demonstrated the technique in question perfectly.

Kagome frowned as Nabiki and Kasumi 'ohhhed' and 'awwwed' at the performance. She didn't approve of this attempt to force Ranma into an unwanted marriage and had voiced as much to Cologne when she found out about it. However they came to a certain understanding. If Kagome didn't interfere with Ranma's quest to get the pill too much, then she could have unlimited ramen when she came to the shop. For a limited time of course.

Kagome would admit that it felt a little scummy to sell out like that, but cravings were hitting hard and Kagome was a frugal girl. On the bright side she didn't take Cologne's other offer where she could have unlimited ramen all the time if she helped get Ranma and Shampoo together. Kagome drew the line at that. She felt that Akane was a better match for Ranma and they had feelings for each other even if they refused to admit it.

Plus, given the young martial artist's skill, she was confident that he would be able to overcome this. If it looked like he was struggling, well there was nothing in their agreement about giving helpful advice. And it seemed like Ranma really needed it.

"What do I do?! What do I do?!" She wailed in frustration as she pounded her fists on the ground.

"Buck up Ranma!" Soun Tendo said as he patted the girl/boy on the back and Ranma looked up at him. "You'll find your cure at the festival."

Ranma perked up hopefully. "You mean...?"

"Absolutely!" Mr. Tendo said optimistically as he held up a finger. "The festival will help you forget all this craziness!"

Ranma's face dropped into a deadpan look. "Oh right!" He grumbled. "Like forgetting is going to fix anything!"

"Soun has a point." Kagome interjected. "You've been going at this for hours with no success. It'll be good for you to step back and take a break so you can come back to this refreshed and ready to go. Maybe you might even find a better approach to the problem."

Ranma huffed but nodded, albeit reluctantly. "Fine, I'll go to the festival. But I doubt I'll enjoy a second of it!"

/

Kagome watched with disguised amusement as Ranma ran from one booth to the next having the time of his life.

'And he said he would have fun.' She thought as she munched on ikayaki (grilled squid on a stick). While Ranma moved from one carnival game to the next, Kagome stuck around the food stands enjoying the food provided.

"Poor Ranma. Trying so hard to pretend he's having a good time." Kasumi sighed. Kagome couldn't help but snort while Akane sweat dropped.

"'Pretend' isn't the word I'd use." Akane stated and Kagome added her own two cents.

"That's for sure." She said. "The kids having the time of his life."

Glancing down to see she'd finished her ikayaki and was still hungry, Kagome got up and went to the next booth on her list while Akane and Ranma moved to the goldfish booth. As she glanced around the takoyaki stand, she let out a groan.

"All this food is going to be murder on my funds." She said as she glanced at her wallet that had been growing thinner and thinner through the night.

"Don't worry about it little sister." A familiar voice piped up and Kagome's head shot up to come face to face with a familiar demon who grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "We've got it covered."

"Ginta!" Kagome cried out and went to hug him only to be stopped by the grill between them.

"Hang on a moment." Ginta said and he then began maneuvering himself out of the booth finally coming to stand in front of her. In an instant she was giving him the tightest hug he'd ever had.

"It's so good to see you." Kagome said then released him to glance around. "So where's Hakkaku? I've never seen you without him, you two always seemed joined at the hip."

Ginta laughed. "You actually just missed him." He said. "We've been having so much business that he popped out to get some more supplies. Should be back soon. Speaking of, I should get back to my stand."

Once he'd returned to his place behind the stand, Ginta started cooking takoyaki as Kagome settled into a bench nearby.

"So, making and selling takoyaki eh?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, it's a living you know." Ginta said. "Things aren't like they used to be so Koga thought it would be a good idea for us to mingle with humans more. We're still a pack and we help each other out, but wolf demons and even wolf demon groups have jobs now. Hakkaku and I are running the takoyaki stand, there's another demon from our pack who cooks yakisoba and you can find Koga and Ayame at the dango stand."

"Sounds like things have been going well for you guys." Kagome said as she accepted the freshly cooked takoyaki that Ginta handed her. Ginta shrugged.

"We've had our ups and downs, but we're still here." He said. "So how have you been? It's been centuries since we last saw you."

Kagome chuckled at his small joke. "Well after I came home permanently, I was a little depressed at the prospect of never seeing Inuyasha again." Kagome explained. "So mom sent me to live with my cousins the Tendos and I'm in my fourth month of pregnancy."

Ginta did a double take. "Really? You're carrying pups? I thought you were bigger than normal."

"What was that?!" Kagome snapped, shooting Ginta a sharp glare. Sensing that he'd stepped into dangerous territory, the wolf demon immediately amended his previous statement.

"Nothing, nothing. Just thinking about how much you are glowing now." He said quickly and he passed her more takoyaki in an effort to appease her. "Here, have some more."

"Thank you." Kagome said as she plucked the food from his hand and Ginta sighed in relief. Crisis averted.

"So, I take it that they are Inuyasha's?" Ginta asked casually and Kagome nodded sadly.

"Yes. He was very excited when we found out and we spent an entire afternoon discussing names." Kagome then paused in confusion. "Wait, you keep on using plurals when referring to my pup, why?"

"I'm a five or six hundred year old demon, give or take a few years, and I've seen a lot of pregnancies." Ginta said sagely. "And one thing I've learned over the centuries is that the child doesn't become so prominent so quickly unless you are expecting multiples."

Kagome rubbed her now prominent bulge thoughtfully. "So I'm expecting twins?"

"Or triplets." Ginta pointed out with a shrug then brightened. "Hey look who's here now?" He cried as he pointed in a certain direction. Quickly approaching the stand was a familiar demon with a mohawk.

"Hey Hakkaku! Look who's here!" Ginta called out as the demon in question jogged over.

\\\\\\\\\

After catching up with Hakkaku and paying for her meal (the two insisted that she get a discount since they saw her as a member of the pack) Kagome made her way to the dango stand to eat dessert and catch up with Koga. Needless to say, the pack leader was very ecstatic to see her again.

"So, what happened after I left?" Kagome asked after Ayame finished cooing over her pregnancy. "I assume you kept in touch with all my old friends."

"We did." Koga said as he supplied her another stick of dango. "Or at the very least kept track. Knew that one day we'd run into you again and that you'd like to know how your friends turned out. Sango and Miroku got together and raised a family. Twin girls, a boy followed by another girl and finally a boy. They lived most of their lives as you'd sort of expect and died of old age surrounded by their descendents."

Kagome smiled softly. "That's good. I'm happy for them."

"Figured you'd be." Koga said with a grin of his own. "They told their children stories about you. Tales of the brave and powerful Miko who slayed the most evil demon to walk the earth. Their family line still passes down those stories to this day."

Kagome's smile was now tinted with tears and as she went to wipe them, she let out a dry chuckle.

"Of course they would do that." She whimpered sorrowfully as she grasped her necklace. "They were the best friends I could ask for."

There was a moment of quiet as Ayame sat beside Kagome and helped wipe her tears away. When she was done, the female wolf demon lifted her head to make the mourning girl look at her and gave her a kind smile.

"You know it's not all sad news we can share." She said softly. "Want to hear about Shippo?"

Kagome nodded. "Yes please, I'm ready."

"Okay then, well after Naraku's defeat, the little squirt went to the fox demon academy to learn more." Koga continued. "He graduated top of his class with honors, you would be proud."

"I wish I'd seen it." Kagome said, imagining what a fox demon graduation would look like. "So what about relationships? Did he ever find anyone to settle down with?"

"While he was growing up there were girlfriends as you'd expect." Koga said with a shrug. "But after he graduated, he met up with a demoness who became the love of his life. You remember Soten?"

"Little sister to Hiten and Manten right?" Kagome asked and Koga nodded. "Yeah I remember her. Not very well, but I do remember her. What about it?"

"Well as it turns out she developed a crush on our little fox demon after that first encounter." Koga said with a grin. "Turns out, Hiten and Manten were actually banished from the thunder demon tribe for their mannerisms. And because she looked up to them, Soten ran away to join them, found out that they were dead and you know the rest.

"When she learned of Shippo's choice to train, she returned to the main house to train as well and when she completed her training, she came back to woo him. At first Shippo was hesitant given his prior experience with thunder demons, but he gave her a shot and the two of them started a whirlwind romance. They're married now and live in this huge castle in the mountains that's filled to bursting with kids."

Kagome laughed. "I imagine that they've both got their hands full then."

"Yep." Koga said, popping his 'P'. "It doesn't help that they have the mischievous nature of fox demons and the high energy and passion of thunder demons. Plus the combination of the two elements those demons command, fire and electricity. Shippo and Soten call them their little thunder foxes."

By this point I was laughing until my stomach started hurting. "Oh my gosh, that is just so good. I need to remember to pray for them next time I'm at a shrine."

"You do that. They need all the help they can get." Koga said, only half jokingly. It took awhile, but eventually Kagome calmed down and with her heart light, she dared to ask the question that she hadn't dared before.

"What about Inuyasha?"

Dead silence followed and dread started to creep into Kagome's heart. Finally, Ayame broke the silence and answered the question.

"To be completely honest, nobody knows where he is or what happened to him." She said and Kagome's heart froze in shock.

"Yeah, about a decade and a half after you left he disappeared without a trace and nobody's heard from him since." Koga confirmed.

"How?" Was all Kagome could get out. The two shrugged their shoulders.

"Like I said, nobody knows how." Koga said. "And believe me, I looked into it as thoroughly as possible. I may not like the mutt, but he is your mate and as an honorary member of our pack, that makes him a part of the pack too. I basically took it upon myself to look after him in your place. The only clue I could find was that he was talking to Sesshomaru a lot around the time he disappeared, but that guy was pretty tight lipped on the matter."

Kagome didn't say anything, couldn't say anything. Her emotions were such a mess that she didn't know what to say or even how to feel. As she slowly pulled her thoughts together, one such thought pushed through the haze of emotional torment. Did she dare? Could she even dare to hope against hope that Inuyasha was alive and still out there? Before she could voice these thoughts however, a voice calling out to her drew her attention to the approaching group.

As the Tendos and Saotomes drew closer, Koga appraised them one by one. "They your cousins?" He asked.

"Most of them are." Kagome said. "The red headed girl and the panda are the Saotomes, an old friend of my uncle." As they drew closer, Kagome noticed one little detail.

"Are those piranhas?" She asked, pointing to the dazed and teary eyed Ranma as she was being led by Akane.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Akane brushed her off. "It's getting late, so we're going home. Coming?"

"In a second." Kagome replied then turned back to the demon couple. "I'll see you again sometime, right?"

"Of course. We'll make the effort to come see you when we can." Koga said with a thumbs up. "Promise. And we'll let Shippo know where you are so he can see you too."

"That would be great." Kagome gushed and gave them both goodbye hugs. "I'll see you two later then. Bye!"

As Kagome caught up with the group, Kasumi glanced back then turned to her cousin with a questioning look.

"So who were they?" She asked.

"Oh just some old friends of mine."

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Kagome sighed as she tried to relax. They were at the beach so they were supposed to be relaxing and having fun. But as was usual, the Tendos and Saotomes were raising a ruckus. This time, the latest fuss was some sort of watermelon splitting contest.

"How could he!?" Soun cried with streams of manly tears. "Already he is cheating on Akane!"

Kagome looked up from her book on multiple pregnancy and took a minute to take in the situation. Once she had a better grasp of what was going on, she frowned.

"If you were paying any attention old man, you'd notice that the prize is also the Phoenix Pill." She said irritably. "Ranma isn't 'cheating' as you put it and you are not listening to me are you?"

She sighed as she watched and while the spectacle was entertaining, she was still annoyed at the idiocy of the Saotome and Tendo patriarchs.

"They are such morons." Kagome grumbled as she bookmarked her book.

"True, but you've got to admit it's fun to watch." The sudden comment made Kagome jump in surprise and she turned to the young man that settled beside her. He had long red hair that he had braided, green eyes and a mischievous grin that promised trouble. Kagome grinned.

"Shippo!" She cried as threw her arms around his neck.

"Hey Kags." The now older kitsune greeted and hugged back. "How you doing?"

"Great, now that you're here." Kagome said as she pulled out of the hug. "So, did you come here to see me, or is this just a happy coincidence?"

"Little bit of both actually." Shippo answered with a shrug. "When we found out you were at the beach, we decided it would be nice to take a break from the kids."

"I take it that means Soten is here too." Kagome guessed and Shippo nodded.

"She's at the stands getting some food." He confirmed. "We were going to sunbathe, but this is much more entertaining."

"Yep." Kagome said and they settled down to watch the battle unfolding before them. A few minutes later, a young woman with long black hair and bright red eyes joined them.

"Hey, what'd I miss?" She asked as she distributed food and when she noticed Kagome, she smiled. "Oh hey Kagome, long time no see."

"Hey Soten, nice too see you too." Kagome replied as she accepted the snow cone the thunder demon passed to her. "As for what you missed, the watermelon duel ended in a tie but Ranma and Cologne are still fighting. They've struck a sort of bargain, if Ranma wins she'll give him the Phoenix Pill and if Cologne wins he'll marry Shampoo."

"And does he want to marry this Shampoo?" Soten asked.

"Not really, but he needs that pill if he wants to return to his true form." Kagome answered and when the two demons gave her questioning looks, she elaborated. "Ranma has this curse where if he's doused in cold water he turns into a girl and hot water reverses the effects. Unfortunately the old lady pressed some pressure point that made his body extra sensitive to heat so he hasn't been able to turn back into a boy for a while now."

"Well that doesn't seem very fair to the boy." Soten commented with a frown. "Back in my day if you were interested in someone you courted them properly. Not force them to marry you."

"And the cherry on top of this cake is that Ranma is already in an arranged marriage with one of the Tendo girls." Kagome said. "The only difference is that they clearly are interested in each other but their acting so childish and stubborn about it. Not to mention Shampoo isn't the only one pursuing either of them and I have a feeling things are going to get really convoluted in the near future."

"No kidding?" Soten asked in shock and a little horror. Kagome nodded and Soten sighed. "Have times really changed so much that humans are fighting over potential partners like children? And without any thought to how their potential partner might feel towards them?"

"Nope, near as I can tell it's just those two." Kagome sighed. "I can tell that if people just left them alone, love will blossom between them. That's why I'm doing what I can to help them out."

"Well I'm sure that with your help, they'll stand a much better chance." Shippo added.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Hey Shippo, is that a shark?" Kagome asked.

"Yep." The fox confirmed.

"Just checking to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me." Kagome said a little numbly. "Somehow that doesn't feel very fair."

"I agree." Soten added.

A few minutes later Kagome grinned smugly. "You know Akane can't swim at all. Matter of fact, she sinks like a stone in water."

"A yet she lept into the water after Ranma." Shippo caught on with a grin of her own.

"And yet they are oblivious of their true feeling to each other?" Soten asked.

"Uh-huh. Akane also gets crazy jealous when she thinks Ranma is getting too friendly with other girls." Kagome said.

"How are they not a couple?!" Soten demanded.

"I ask myself that every day." Kagome answered. "You're just getting a taste of my internal frustration."

"You must be some sort of saint or bodhisattva to not push them into each other." Soten declared with awe.

"Hey Kagome, why is he taking a girl with him into the water?" Shippo asked. Turning back to the fight, Kagome only needed a moment to recognize the girl in question.

"That's Shampoo." Kagome explained. "She's cursed similarly to Ranma only when she's doused in cold water she turns into a cat."

"Where are these humans getting these curses?" Shippo asked incredulously.

"I'll explain later, I want to see this." Kagome said as she lleaned forward. "Ranma's terrified of cats because of some stupid training his old man put him through and now when his fear of cats reaches a point it activates his ultimate technique...which takes time to activated it seems."

"Well then, I suppose we can help speed that up." Shippo said with a smirk. With a single gesture, two familiar cats approached. "Kirara, Kuroro, go get him."

The two disguised demon cats in question galloped down the beach and tackled the screaming martial artist. Upon seeing what got him, she shrieked even louder but still didn't change until Akane shoved Shampoo into his face. The show that followed after that was impressive as expected.

"You know sometimes I can't help but draw parallels between Ranma's cat fist and Inuyasha's demon mode." Kagome sighed.

Shippo didn't say anything, just placed his arm around her shoulders and gave her a firm comforting squeeze. When Ranma lept into Akane's lap afterwards, Soten let out a frustrated roar.

"Again, how are they not a couple!?" She roared and her companions laughed. After getting her giggles under control, Kagome gathered her things, stood up and dusted herself off.

"Well looks like the fights over." She said casually. "Care to join us? I could introduce you."

"We would love to join you." Shippo accepted.