Chapter 1: Meeting

A young woman was walking along a dirt path licking an ice cream cone, while holding onto her son's hand.

"Momma?" asked the little boy with red hair and green eyes as he slurped up his ice-cream happily. "Can we go to the toy store later?"

"Shippo," replied the woman wearily. "Momma is very tired and we have to meet Uncle Sota for dinner soon. Besides we went last week."

"Yeah I know," said Shippo trying to give her the puppy dog eyes to win her over. "But I just want to look around."

His mother just raised her eyebrows before saying, "Nice try. But you know that those puppy dog eyes don't work on me anymore."

Shippo hung his head disappointed, "Right, I forgot." But he immediately brightened up and said, "I had to try right?"

Kagome laughed. "We'll go next weekend," she promised. Kagome walked through the park finishing up her treat as Shippo was going on and on about what he was going to do when school started. "Momma? Is kindergarten really gonna be hard?" he asked nervously.

She smiled at her son, "Don't worry Shippo," she answered kindly. "You're going to make a lot of new friends, and have a lot of fun. Even if it's hard, your friends and me will be there to help you."

"I'm so glad that you're gonna be my teacher, Mommy," he said smiling even wider. He went on asking about what school was going to be like as he and Kagome sat on a red park bench to rest their feet.

As Kagome answered her son's questions for a short while until she noticed something happening by a swing set right in front of them. A little girl that looked no older than 5 or 6 years old was sitting on the ground and was crying.

Kagome looked around, trying to see if the girl's parents were coming over to help her. But she and Shippo were the only ones around as far as she could see. She looked back towards the little girl and grew worried that maybe she had hurt herself on the swing set. "What is it Mommy?" asked Shippo's voice. He looked where his mommy was looking and saw the girl sitting there and crying.

Kagome stood up, "Come on, Shippo," she said. "Want to go and see if we can help that girl?" Shippo jumped down and took his mother's hand. "Let's go!" Kagome smiled proudly. Her son always tried so hard to help out. (Especially when it came to girls.)

The pair of them made their way towards the girl who continued to sob. "Excuse me?" she asked in a gentle voice. The little girl raised her head to see who was talking to her. "Are you hurt or something?"

She was an adorable little thing, with long white hair, and innocent purple eyes. She had the sweetest little smile when she shook her head. "No, I'm not hurt."

The girl wiped her tears away before she stood up. "Hi, my name's Shiori." said the child.

Kagome smiled kindly at the girl and said "Nice to meet you Shiori. My name's Kagome. And this here," she gestured towards Shippo, "This is my son, Shippo."

Shippo stepped forward so that he could shake Shiori's hand. "Hi!" he said so cheerfully that Shiori started to laugh. "Nice to meet you! I'm Shippo! Shiori, let's be friends alright?"

Shiori blinked in surprise before she nodded, "Yea! I made a new friend!" she cried out happily. Kagome smiled before she remembered that the child was alone. "Shiori? Where are your parents? Aren't they here with you?"

Shiori's eyes suddenly started to tear up. "I can't find my daddy," she said as the tears started to fall. "Daddy, told me not to wander off, but I didn't listen. And now I can't find him." Shippo walked over and gave her a hug. He held her Kagome knelt down in front of them trying to calm her down.

"Shiori?" asked Kagome. "It's going to be alright. We're going to help you find your daddy."

Shiori's head snapped up. "You will?" she asked.

Kagome smiled as she nodded. "Sure," said Shippo. "I'm not going to let anything happen to my new friend. We'll help you find your daddy."

Shiori rubbed her eyes on her sleeve before choking out a muffled thank you.

"Ok Shiori," said Kagome as she stood up. "Where was the last time you saw your daddy?"

Shiori then thought for a moment. "He was at the payphone and was talking to grandma."

'The payphone?' thought Kagome, smiling. There were a set of payphones near the entrance of the park, he must be there. "I think I might know where your daddy is. Come on, let's go," said Kagome. As she reached for Shippo's hand, she felt Shiori's hand intertwined with her own fingers on the other side. Kagome looked at Shiori in surprise before giving her a big smile.

"Come on," she said to the children and the three of them headed towards the entrance.

*Inuyasha*

A young man was staring around him, trying to find his daughter. He had told her not to wonder off while he was on the phone. He had called his mother, making sure that she could watch Shiori while he was at work tonight. When he had hung up, he's little girl had disappeared.

"Shiori! Shiori, where are you!" yelled Inuyasha. He looked around in a panic but she wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Shiori!" yelled Inuyasha, trying to find any trace of his daughter. The park caught his eye; Shiori had asked him if they could go on the swing set when he was finished talking with grandma; but she must have gotten tired of waiting and went on ahead without him. Without wasting another minute, he started running towards the entrance.

*Kagome, Shippo, Shiori*

"And then mommy started to yell at Uncle Sota for being a big baby and to go ask Miss Hitomi out for dinner. But then Uncle Sota got all tongue-tied and couldn't say anything. Luckily, Miss Hitomi asked him to go out and all he could do was nod."

As the two began laughing at Shippo's imitation of Uncle Sota stuttering a yes, Kagome was looking around her trying to see where Shiori's father could be. That was then she realized that she had no idea what her father looked like.

Deciding that she needed some answers on what Shiori's father looked like she asked in a gentle tone, "Shiori, what does your daddy look like?" Kagome asked looking down at the children.

Suddenly Shiori got a big smile on her face. "Daddy has gold eyes and white hair!" she said jumping up and down in excitement. "Daddy also has doggy ears on the top of his head! Daddy even lets me touch them if I ask nicely!" Kagome smiled at the child's excited attitude.

'Shiori's sure seems to love her father. But I wonder why she hasn't said anything about her mother,' Kagome wondered as she flashed a big smile at the little girl.

Apparently, Shippo was wondering the same thing. "Hey Shiori, what's your mommy look like?" Shippo asked with a curious look on his face.

Suddenly the happy child seemed to go back to being sad and scared again. Shiori looked down at the ground and clutched Kagome's hand tighter. It seemed that Shiori's mother was a touchy subject. Finally the young child spoke "Daddy said that Mommy went to heaven a long time ago. The kids at school pick on me about not having a mommy." Shiori's eyes began to water and she started to cry.

Kagome felt a sudden pity for the small child. And her son went over to hug her. "It's alright," he said. "I don't have a daddy; but I still have mommy," he looked up at Kagome and smiled. "Better to have one parent than none, right?"

Kagome's eyes teared up as she bent down to wrapped Shippo and Shiori in her arms. Softly she smoothed Shiori's hair and whispered comforting words to her. She understood what the girl was going through. Her own mother had died when she was very young; and ever since, her father had become very protective of her and her brother. She remembered the cruel words from the children that picked at her for not having a mother. She remembered how her father always swore that he would never remarry, except in heaven with his wife. She knew how much it hurt to not have a mother.

Soon Shiori's tears stopped and the child hiccupped until she calmed down.

"There, there," she said when she was sure that Shiori had calmed down. "It's going to be ok." She pulled away and began to wipe Shiori's eyes with a tissue before continuing, "Now let's find your father, I'm sure that he's…"

"SHIORI!" yelled a deep voice from out of nowhere. Kagome jumped and spun around to see a tall man with long white hair standing as if frozen behind them.

Inuyasha had been all over the park, trying to find his daughter. He was starting to worry that something horrible had happened to her while he was wasting time on the phone. "SHIORI!" he cried out. His little girl was lost and he had to find her or else he would lose his mind.

'Shiori, where did you go?' he thought to himself.

"There, there…" said a musically beautiful voice from somewhere behind him.

He turned in the direction of that voice, and stopped dead when saw that a young woman was wiping his daughter's eyes with a tissue and a small boy with red hair was talking to her. Shiori was smiling and talking to the other two calmly.

As soon as he saw that his girl was safe, Inuyasha let out a huge sigh of relief. Normally he would be angry that she was talking to strangers, but this time he'd make an exception. He took off running towards the trio.

"SHIORI!" he yelled. He saw the woman jump up and spun around in surprise. As soon as he saw her face, he froze. Standing in front of him was a beautiful woman

His daughter looked up to smile at the woman before she ran to Inuyasha with her arms open.

"Daddy!" she yelled as she ran up and hugged her father.

Inuyasha bent down and gave her a bone-breaking hug. He breathed in her sweet, floral scent as if it were the most wonderful thing he had ever taken in. After a few minutes he pulled away and gave his daughter a stern look before saying in a scolding tone, "Shiori…"

"Papa," she said, with her head held down.

"Shiori what where you thing going off on your own like that?" Inuyasha asked, clearly waiting for an answer. Shiori looks down at her folded hands in shame.

"I wanted..."

"That was dangerous Shiori, you could have been kidnapped… possibly even…" He didn't want to even think about that next part.

"I'm sorry papa... I just wanted to go and play in the park," she said mutely.

"Then why didn't you wait for me to get off the phone?" Inuyasha questioned.

Kagome saw that Shiori was starting to cry again. "She said she was sorry," Kagome cut in. "I think she feels bad for what she did, and I think you should let it drop."

"Yeah," said Shippo agreeing with his mother. "Leave her alone!"

Inuyasha looked up at the sound of the voices; first looking at the little kid, before looking up into the face of the woman. He stood up so that he could get a better look at her.

Her ebony hair falling only about half as far down her back in soft curls, which accented her dark, mysterious but warm brown eyes set within a kind, heart-shaped face She wore a shirt the same color of the sky, outlined in blue velvet, accenting her shapely figure and slim waist.

'She's beautiful,' he thought to himself.

Shiori took this moment to run over to them while saying to her father, "Papa! This is Ms. Kagome and Shippo! They took care of me and helped me find you!"

Shiori came skipping up to Kagome and grabbed her hand and Kagome had to bend down slightly as Shiori led her and Shippo to her father. When they stopped and Kagome was able to straighten her posture she got a good look at the man. (He seemed six foot because he was taller than she was) He had long silver hair and two adorable dog-ears on the top of his head. He had honey colored eyes she knew she could get lost in.

'I guess this is where Shiori gets her looks,' she thought. Shiori spoke up again.

"Ms. Kagome, Shippo, this is my Daddy," she said smiling up at Kagome.

To not seem rude Kagome stuck out her hand and smiled, "Pleased to meet you, I'm Kagome Higurashi. And this is Shippo."

Shippo gave him a cheerful smile and a small wave. "Hiya!"

"Inuyasha Takashi," said Inuyasha as he took her hand. "Thank you for taking care of Shiori."

Kagome smiled and Inuyasha's heart seemed to skip a beat (or maybe he was just imagining it.) "It was no problem," she said. "I think that she is just adorable. I was happy to help."

"Mommy?" said Shippo suddenly.

Kagome looked down at him. "Mommy? Can we stay and play with Shiori a little longer?"

Shiori's eyes lighten up at the thought and she gave her daddy the bambi eyes. "Can we, daddy?" she begged. "Can I stay and play with Ms. Kagome and Shippo? Please, please, please?" Both Shippo and Shiori pouted at the worried looks on their parents faces.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome grimaced, then sighed. He bent down to Shiori's level and said in a gentle voice, "I'm sorry, Shiori. But daddy has work tonight and you have to go to grandma's."

Kagome then told Shippo, "And we have to go and meet Uncle Sota at the restaurant in about 15 minutes."

"But mommy," began Shippo before putting down his head. "Right." He looked over to Shiori and said, "But we can still be friends right?"

Shiori's eyes brighten up at that and said, "YES!"

"OK," said Inuyasha, hating to break up this cute scene. "Shiori… we have to go now. Grandma's probably wondering where we are."

Shiori nodded before taking Inuyasha's hand. She looked back at Kagome and Shippo and said in the sweetest little voice, "Thank you for helping me."

Kagome gave her a big smile. "You're welcome." As the children began saying their goodbyes, Kagome looked up at Inuyasha's face again. She seemed to be mesmerized by his beautiful honey colored eyes… they seemed familiar…

"Have we… have we met somewhere before?" she asked him suddenly.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. "I don't think so. Why?"

Kagome shrugged. "I don't know. But something about you seems familiar. Like I knew you from somewhere before…"

Inuyasha started at her face for a moment before he realized that she was right. He did seem to know here somewhere… but that was impossible. After all this was the first time the met… right?

"Papa?" said Shiori's voice. "Are you ok?" Inuyasha shook his head before coming back down to earth. "I'm sorry," he said to Kagome. "I just zoned out for a moment. Anyways thanks again," he then began to pull Shiori's towards the exit.

"By Ms. Kagome! Bye Shippo!" cried Shiori as she and her father waved until they were out of sight.

Kagome and Shippo waved back, even after they were long gone. Kagome put her hand down half-heartily before she remembered that they were supposed to be meeting Sota at the restaurant. She took Shippo's hand and began to walk in the opposite direction, towards another exit, where their car was parked.

"I'm going to really miss Shiori," said Shippo suddenly. He looked up at Kagome and said, "Do you think that we'll meet them again?"

Kagome smiled at him and said, "You know Shippo… something tells me that we will."

She looked up again, 'Inuyasha…'

"Papa, Shippo is really funny. And don't you think that Ms. Kagome is pretty?" Shiori asked her father as they headed out of the park gates.

Inuyasha didn't even pay attention to what his daughter had just said; there was only one thing on his mind at the moment.

'Kagome'

(Well? What do you think of this story? Do you think it should continue? Please let me know what you think of it!)