A/N: Ok so first things first. I would like to apologize profusely for the ridiculous amount of time since I last updated. There's just been so much that has happened I haven't been able to sit down and concentrate enough to write anything.

I recently found out that I am pregnant. Already 10 weeks in. And at the age of 18, its definately not something I had been planning on doing any time soon. But everything happens for a reason and I am actually very excited. The only problem is, now I'm spending all my time worrying about money and all the things I need to have when the baby actually arrives.

So once again, I'm sorry this took so long to come out and that it's not that long, but I felt bad and wanted to give you guys something at least. I'll try my best to get another chapter out as soon as possible.

Kagome tossed and turned in the bed that she had rented for the night. "No… no…" she mumbled, struggling against some unknown.

Tidus watched her for a few seconds before moving forward to shake her awake, "Hey, Kagome, wake up we're gonna leave soon. Kagome."

She bolted up with a gasp, grabbing Tidus' wrist in a deathgrip.

"Woah! Hey relax, it's just me, Tidus."

"Tidus?" she looked up at him and blinked a few times until her vision cleared. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you did I?" She immediately released his wrist and put her hands in her lap.

Tidus tested his wrist and smiled at her, "Nope, everything seems to be in working condition. Now, are you alright? You seemed to be having quite a dream…"

"Oh, yes… it was nothing. It's just… hm…"

"Kagome?"

"Huh? Sorry, I got lost in thought for a second," she smiled disarmingly, "So, when are we leaving?"

"Soon, we're just waiting on Yuna now. I think I'm gonna go and see if she's awake yet. Auron wants to get moving."

"Auron… yes, he doesn't like to stay in one place for too long. He gets restless." She got out of the bed, unconcerned of the fact that she wasn't wearing any pants. Completely oblivious to Tidus' bright red cheeks, she bent over and picked up her only pair of baggy pants and pulled them on. She tightened both belts and pulled on her shoes before turning back to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, noticing his still pink cheeks. She reached up and placed her hand on his forehead, "You're not getting sick are you?"

"Y-you… uh… n-no," he cleared his throat and looked away quickly, "I'm not getting sick, it's just a little warm here with all the electricity in the air."

If Kagome thought his words didn't make any sense, she didn't say anything and he breathed a sigh of relief. "C'mon, everyone's already outside waiting." He led her to the group before running inside the temple, all without looking at Kagome.

Auron watched the youngest male with a raised eyebrow before turning to look at Kagome, "Something happen?"

Turning to look at her old friend she couldn't help the softening of her eyes, how she had missed him. But she still didn't like the fact that he was unsent, he should be able to rest in peace. She shrugged. "Don't think so. He just woke me up and then I got dressed before he brought me out here."

He chuckled, "And what weren't you wearing when you got out of bed in front of a young teenage boy?"

"Your pan- Oohh…" She laughed then, finally realizing what was wrong. "I probably shouldn't have done that huh?"

"I'm sure he didn't mind the eyeful that you gave him."

Before she could retort, Tidus returned with a disheveled Yuna in tow.

"Yo sleepyhead!" Wakka called with a grin.

"I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

"There's no rush, really. Here, your hair…" Lulu moved forward with a comb in hand.

"A summoner with bed hair! What's the world coming to?" Wakka teased.

"You could have woken me up!" she pouted. At that point Kagome realized just how young this summoner really was.

"We tried waking you up, but with all that snoring…" Lulu shrugged.

"What is it today? Everyone's picking on me!"

Everyone laughed, even Kagome managed to force a chuckle.

"You too Sir Auron?"

"Once Yuna fixes her hair we'll leave," he joked.

As they all headed for the bridge, Kagome fell back to walk near Tidus, she smiled softly, "I apologize, for this morning. I didn't realize how my actions would… affect you." She giggled when his face reddened. "It's just that I'm so used to being alone, I tend not to think about things like that."

"It's ok," he murmured. "But what about before? When you traveled with Auron and my old man?"

"Oh then? Well, then I was barely 17, they were all at least twice my age. Jecht, he really loved his wife, the entire time I knew him he never strayed. Auron, well sometimes he's just a stick in the mud, he took his position as guardian too serious, he didn't have time to look at women. And Braska, well he was my Papa, like I said, he would never think of me that way. Besides, I'm not much to look at."

Tidus frowned, he completely disagreed. Her thick blue-black hair was long, swishing past her butt whenever she walked. Her heartshaped face was almost angelic, and her cerulean blue eyes twinkled with knowledge. She was short, by far the shortest in their group but she had a nice body, he found out when she got out of bed this morning. It was a shame that she covered it all by wearing such baggy clothing. "We need to get you some new clothes," he blurted suddenly.

"What?"

"Those clothes can't really be good. I mean, they might be comfortable, but they have to get in the way when you move and fight don't they?"

"A little," she admitted.

"Well then, let's talk to Auron and see if we can't get you some new ones."

"Kweh!"

Kagome jumped, startled when the chocobo jumped in front of her. "Oh, hello. I'm glad to see that you weren't harmed in the attack." She reached up and patted its neck before moving around it to continue walking.

"Kweh!"

Looking behind her she was disconcerted to find the big yellow bird following her. Pausing she turned to it, "Now now, you have to stay here. Go back to your owner."

Instead of listening, it moved closer and nuzzled its beak into her baggy shirt, "Kweh!"

She frowned and glanced at Tidus, who was watching everything with a grin. Her frown deepened before she was struck with an idea. In the blink of an eye she was off, running as fast as she could she caught up with the main group and then past them until they were between her and the chocobo. She smirked, satisfied, until her eyes widened in horror.

The damn bird just ran, jumped over the entire group in one leap and landed in front of her, "Kweh kweh!" it chirped happily, flapping its wings. She swore the thing was grinning at her!

Tidus quickly caught up with everyone and started laughing, "Looks like you have an admirer Kags."

She flinched at the nickname before quickly covering it with a glare. "It's not funny. I don't know why this chocobo is following me! But a little help would be greatly appreciated."

"Hey! Wait! I'm not letting you make off with our chocobo again!" a feminine voice screeched.

Everyone turned to see a uniformed woman running towards them, 2 others following her. "That's the girl that stole the chocobo before captain!"

"Stole? Hardly. I only borrowed him for a bit. I returned him in the same shape as I borrowed him. Besides, I'm not trying to take him again. He just… won't leave me alone…"

"And why would we believe that?"

"It's true. She tried to tell it to stay and when that didn't work she tried to run, but it just followed her," Tidus spoke up.

That's when the 3 uniformed people noticed Yuna and her guardians. "Oh, off so early Lady Yuna? You must be exhausted after working all night."

"I feel I've rested enough. Will you be leaving as well?"

"Yes, we will be heading north in search of chocobos to replace those we've lost. Unfortunately, this one is one of the few that survived the attack on Sin."

Throughout their conversation Kagome was trying to sneak away from the chocobo. She ended up behind Tidus, using his body to hide from it. He couldn't help but laugh, it obviously wasn't working, as the bird just followed.

Kagome groaned, it was impossible. She was doomed to be chased by this obsessed chocobo forever. She looked up when footsteps approached them. The uniformed man stepped closer and grabbed a hold of the chocobo's reigns and gently coaxed it away.

"Thank you!" she beamed at him, she laughed quietly when his face reddened and he stumbled slightly when he looked back at her.

"Well now that we've got our chocobo back we'll be off. Lady Yuna I wish you good fortune."

They all watched as the 3 ran off. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief before turning to the rest of the group just as Tidus asked, "So where to next?"

"We cross the Moonflow," Lulu answered, indulging the boy.

"Gotcha! Moonflow baby, here we come!"

Kagome laughed at his antics as she easily fell behind them, unnoticed. As they started down the path that would lead them to the Moonflow, Kagome kept an eye out for the smarter fiends that would try to sneak up behind them when they weren't paying attention or were already fighting other fiends.

They were getting used to fighting the fiends, falling into a steady rhythm. Tidus would take care of the wolf fiends, Wakka, the flying ones, Lulu the elementals, and Auron those with thick armor. Yuna would heal whenever anyone was injured and Kimahri picked up the slack, sticking close to Yuna.

Kagome still felt like an intruder, a stranger to the group. Even after her display of powers on the chocobo eater, they didn't believe she could fight. All because she didn't have a chosen weapon. It wasn't her fault that nothing she picked up seemed to feel right, she liked how the weapons made from her ki were weightless and adjusted to the situation.

Everyone was surprised when, after they were already a good distance away from the temple, they were attacked. It wasn't the attack that surprised them, more the fiend. An Ochu, and by the size of it, an old Ochu, had decided to step in their way and attack. It stood directly in their path and it was much too large to try and avoid. Everyone struggled, trying to damage it as much as possible, but things seemed bleak.

"Yuna, summon Ifrit. You need to practice more with your aeons if you wish to be accepted by Bahamut," Auron ordered, jumping out of the way as a vine came whipping towards him.

With a quick nod the summoner went through the motions and in a matter of seconds Ifrit appeared in a whirl of flames. He took in his surroundings and quickly assessed the situation.

Everyone was shocked when Ifrit jumped in front of Kagome, taking the hit that the Ochu had aimed at her. For the remainder of the battle, Ifrit stayed close to Kagome, only moving when Yuna was in danger.

When the Ochu was finally defeated Yuna tried to dismiss Ifrit, but he remained, much to her confusion. The giant firebeast turned and crooned at Kagome, lowering himself so that his face was even at height with hers. The constant flames and heat that surrounded him detracted and dwindled until they were nonexistent. Only then did the aeon dare to move closer to the tiny female.

Kagome smiled warmly when he pressed his giant face against hers. She calmly brought her hands up and ran them through the long red hair, careful to avoid the still hot black horns.

"Hey," she whispered, "You shouldn't leave your summoner. What if she gets hurt while you're trying to protect me unnecessarily?"

He huffed and she laughed slightly when the warm air messed her air. He butted her chin with his nose and grunted.

"I'm fine. I spent some time with your brother in his temple yesterday. He kept me company and comforted me a little." She smiled when he growled. She fingered the beads around his neck, "What are you guys planning? He wouldn't tell me…" He buried his nose in her thick hair and breathed in deeply. He let out a small whimper before pulling away from her. With another huff he backed up and in a flare of flames disappeared.

"What in Yevon's name just happened?" Wakka asked dumbfounded.

"What?" Kagome asked in confusion, trying to hide the fact that he had startled her. She had kind of forgotten that they were there.

"Ifrit jumped in front of you, protecting you when it should never have left Yuna's side," Lulu stated as if it were obvious. Which it was, to everyone but Kagome and Tidus.

"The aeons are protective of Kagome. This isn't the first time it's happened. They used to do it all the time whenever Braska summoned them. Although Ifrit is much more protective than the others," Auron explained.

"I told him that he shouldn't leave his summoner's side, but he was worried."

"Worried?"

"I think Ixion said something to him about my visit to him yesterday. Ifrit tends to overreact."

"What do you mean you visited him yesterday?" Yuna asked suspiciously.

"I'm not a summoner if that's what you're thinking. You don't have to be suspicious, it's not like I'm going to sabotage your pilgrimage or anything."

"Then what were you doing in the chamber of the fayth? It's against the teachings to enter if you're not a summoner," Wakka interjected.

Kagome shrugged, seemingly uninterested with the conversation. She repeated what she had told Maroda the day before, "I don't lead my life following the rules spoken by hypocrites." She ignored the outraged look Wakka sent her. "Besides, who are they to decide who should be allowed into the chamber of the fayth? They don't own the fayth nor do they control them. Therefore I believe it should be up to the fayth to decide who are allowed in and who are not.

"Anyways, I just went to relax in the chamber after Sin's attack. I wasn't feeling too well and I knew that going to visit him would make me feel a little better. His voice is beautiful isn't it?" She smiled, remembering the way his deep voice soothed her pain away. Then she laughed, "I never would have taken him for the singing type."

"You speak as if you're familiar with Ixion," Lulu stated, more than a little curious and suspicious. Who exactly was this girl that they allowed to travel with them?

"Ixion?" She looked confused for a moment, "Oh, you mean Sesshomaru? Sorry, I'm still not used to their aeon names yet."

"Sesshomaru?" The name was chorused by all in the group, even Auron.

"Yes, that's his real name, the fayth of Ixion. His element should have been ice though, it would have been much more fitting, but don't tell him I said that, he won't appreciate it," she laughed again, this one a little sadder than the last.

"You know Ixion's fayth personally?" Yuna seemed shocked at the prospect.

"Yes." Kagome answered shortly, her tone stating that she was done with the conversation. She had just realized that she was letting too much of herself become known without knowing how they would take that information. It wasn't good to run into a situation blindly, Sesshomaru had taught her that well.

Auron, knowing Kagome the best, quickly changed the subject of their conversation. "We will reach the moonflow in a short while. We can rest there and restock our supplies before we cross to Guadosalam."

So there it is. Please review. And feel free to be mean and tell me that you hate me because its been so long and this is all I gave you.

There's the Kagome-obsessed-chocobo that BEBEPANTHEON asked for.

And a little interaction between Kagome and Ifrit. I'm sure you all know who that is.