Part 8: Kaede

          Old Kaede sighed, her back was paining her again. She stood up from the herbs along the path, placing a hand against her lower back and stretching. "Kaede, my girl you're getting old." She told herself with a sigh.
          "Feh, you've been old for a long time." A gruff voice broke her concentration. Inuyasha leapt down from one the tall trees along the path. The girl on his back looked terrified. Kaede just shook her head.
          "Inuyasha. It's been a while, hasn't it." She remarked idly and began gathering the soft herbal leaves again.
          Kagome let go of Inuyasha with a whimper, and landed on her rear on the ground. "Never ever, ever, ever again." She mumbled, flopping backwards onto the grass. "Never, never, never." She repeated, staring up at the sky, and relishing the act of not moving.
          "That's all the greeting I get, then?" Inuyasha smirked. "No hellos no how-ya-beens? That's it?"
          Kaede shook her head. "You're lucky I don't purify you, that's the honest truth."
          Inuyasha laughed and scratched his head awkwardly, "What did I ever do to you?"
          Kaede stood staring at him levelly, "I seem to recall someone tearing the roof off my poor house when they jumped through it. I also seem to recall someone completely destroying my dried herbs!"
          Inuyasha dropped one ear and reddened in embarrassment, "Well I did tell you the smell was bugging me."
          Kaede rolled her eye, "Inuyasha, what do you want?"
          "That's just wrong! Maybe I just came to say hi to my dear old friend."
          "It was never your style to drop in and say hi, unless you wanted something. Besides, why else would you have a human girl with you. Especially one that's so obviously not up to keeping up with a wild hanyou!"
          "Fine! Have it your way." Inuyasha snorted. Kagome stared up at him from her position on the ground. She was sure he was going to drop her at some point in their mad dash, but he hadn't. In fact, she was fairly sure that she'd never been in any danger whatsoever. "The girl, she came through the well."
          Kaede stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if he was lying to her. "Nay, you must be lying. The well's been sealed with talismans for years! It would take some incredible power to break through it. Besides, what would a human be doing in the Bone-Eaters' well?" She remarked.
          Inuyasha nodded, "Some great power. Something like this?" He asked, pointing to the perfect pink jewel on a chain around Kagome's neck.
          Kaede's eye widened in astonishment, "What is that. . . Is that the. . ." Kaede stuttered.
          Inuyasha smirked, "The Shikon No Tama!"
          Kaede stared at it with a mix of wonder and horror. "How did you come across that jewel? It was destroyed centuries ago, along with the Inuyasha's body!"
          Kagome stared at her, "Inuyasha's not dead. How can it have been destroyed with his body?"
          Kaede laughed, "Inuyasha's only named after the legendary warrior. He's nothing more than a hanyou with the same name. His mother had a great fondness for the old story. But tell me, how did you get that jewel?"
          Kagome swallowed nervously. "My grandfather gave it to me. It was all black, but when I picked it up, it turned pink. He said that I purified it, and that I had to protect it."
          The old miko stared at the girl for several moments, then finally decided she was telling the truth. "You have done a terrible think, child, by bringing the jewel here."
          "I didn't mean to!" Kagome protested, "I fell!"
          Kaede shook her head, "Come on then, both of you. I've got a great many questions for you. Especially you Inuyasha. The first being, where exactly is my old bow? That's a very powerful weapon, and I haven't seen it since you hid it from me three years ago!"
          Inuyasha blushed in embarrassment. "The bow, heh, right. . ." And he and Kagome followed Kaede toward the village.