note: When Midoriko is in control, Inu Yasha’s body will be referred to with her name.

At dawn’s first light, the group of females, for all intensive purposes, headed back to Kaede’s hut. The trip itself was relatively silent due to an uneasy feeling of foreboding that hung in the air. Upon reaching their destination, Kagome ran to Shippou’s side. Miroku still sat in the corner, sipping tea.

"So you have returned." The archaic healer sat next to the worsened kitsune. Shippou had stopped speaking. In fact, he no longer did anything. Kagome picked up the comatose figure and looked to Midoriko.

"Are you sure you can help him?" Midoriko nodded and placed her hand on Shippou’s chest. The familiar white light lifted him out of Kagome’s arms. When all was finished, he landed gently in Kagome’s arms. When the light dissipated, Shippou took in a deep breath. No sooner had he released it, he began to scream.

"HEEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPP! Kanna took Kirara, and Naraku came out of her mirror, and he beat me, and he said the only reason he let me live was that someone had to be alive to tell them where Kirara was and .... and ... and." Kagome comforted him.

"Sh..sh...it will be okay. We have Kirara back, and Midoriko took care of Naraku."

"Sniff..sniff..sniff. Midoriko?" Shippou was clearly confused.

"Well, it seems that Inu Yasha is the reincarnation of Midoriko’s spirit, and she was brought out when Naraku hit her..er..him with the jewel shards." Shippou turned to look at his mentor. The orbs on his face grew with fear and surprise.

"Hi..his eyes." The white eyes clearly scared Shippou.

"It seems to be alright child. It was he..um..she who healed you." Kaede interjected. "By the way, over the past evening, it has become apparent to me, that our friend in the corner has lost his memory. I think that it is because of the injury on his head." Kaede made a jerking motion towards Miroku.

"I will do this, but I will need rest afterwards. The last healing took much out of me." Midoriko walked towards Miroku who swallowed deeply.

"What? When did you find this out?" Sango was almost devastated by this news

"Well, part of it had to do with his groping me, but I at first attributed this to delirium. The other was when he began asking all sorts of questions about who you were, and if you were with anyone." Kaede said to her.

"What are you talking about?" Midoriko asked curiously. Sh had Miroku against the wall with a ball of white energy against his forehead. "There is nothing wrong with his memory, his bruise just happens to be deep. It seems that he was fooling you."

"WHAT!" Sango thundered.

"Hee...hee. Um, how so I put this?" Miroku wanted to choose his words very wisely. " I overheard your talk with Shippou, and I was just enjoying your attention so much."

"You selfish, uncaring, ungrateful....ugh. Excuse me, Midoriko, but have you healed him as of yet?" Sango was fuming.

"Yes, and of you don’t mind I need rest." Midoriko headed to an opposite corner of the room.

"Good," Sango hissed, "Houshi, you have until the count of three to leave." She glared daggers at the doomed holy person.

"Let me explain." He was trying to bargain with her.

"One.." she pulled her weapon from her back and put it into both hands.

"Wait.." He was getting very nervous.

"Two.." She snapped it into attack position.

"Ahhh!" Miroku ran from the hut.

"Three!" She ran after her target with extreme vigor. "Monk, I hope you remembered how to pray because as soon as I catch up with you, you really will have damage to your memory." Repeated sounds of an intense beating could be heard outside. Kagome just laughed, she placed a now slumbering Shippou onto the floor and covered him with his blanket. She picked up another blanket and headed for Midoriko. Her eyes were in shadow, Kagome suddenly noticed her previously steady breathing become erratic. A claw reached up and grasped the hanyou’s chest. Suddenly, the shadow disappeared, and Kagome heard a low growl as she spotted red eyes

"Eep." The scream was caught in Kagome’s throat. The fully demon Inu Yasha looked around the room with his fiery red eyes.

"Where is that bastard?" Growling in his throat never ceased.

"Inu..Inu Yasha? You are under control?" He stopped the growling, and turned to her with a look of confusion creeping across his visage [another word for face:).].

"What are you talking about? Where is Naraku? When did we get back here?"

"Look." Kagome stated, and pointed to his hands. He looked down and gasped at the elongated claws that adorned each digit. He put both hands in front of his face and examined them a little more closely.

"But, but, how?" There was fear behind his red-curtained orbs.

"It was Naraku, he put six jewel shards inside of you, but instead of being under his control, Midoriko’s spirit emerged from within you. Apparently, you are her reincarnation, and now we have to get those shards out of you before something really bad happens." Inu Yasha took in this information, and considered it for a moment.

"That would make sense, I’ve always had a feeling that someone was sleeping inside of me, but I always figured that it was my demon blood. At least now I know that it was Midoriko’s restless spirit. It makes a lot of what has gone on in the past few months a little easier to understand. Her spirit mixing with the shards is probably what is keeping me under control in this form." He flexed his arm and cracked his knuckles. He then sniffed the air. "I can even smell blood without wanting to spill it myself. Hmm. Sango must have caught on to Miroku’s little act."

"What? You knew about that?" Kagome was the one to be surprised now.

"Of course, so what did he slip and say to expose himself to someone else?" He smirked at the thought of what Miroku had said to him before they left.

"Actually, it was Midoriko that did it, and of you’re smelling his blood, my guess is that Sango is taking out a lot more than anger on him." She half laughed, half worried over the trauma that her friend was most likely going through. "I hope he’ll survive this one."

"Most likely, but I thought that he was supposed to be kept safe for a week." He seemed a bit concerned.

"Actually, Midoriko healed him before she fell asleep. I guess when one spirit is sleeping, the other awakens." She placed her finger to her lips in thought. There was still a lot to get used to.

"Then that must mean I only have about a day to be like this. You know Kagome, though I do have a little more control than I usually do, there is one urge that I am just unable to ignore."