PERFECT IMPERFECTION 11

'Milady?'

Khyber swallowed nervously. She quickly shut the box, hiding its macabre contents from sight. 'Yes, Tetsumi?'

'What's in the box?' The little girl asked, climbing into Khyber's lap and tilting her head cutely.

Khyber's eyes widened; Tetsumi hadn't seen! She couldn't tell the girl what was really in the plain looking package; it would only give her more nightmares. So, the winged girl decided to lie.

'Yesterday I noticed that some of my daggers were cracked and getting dull, so I'm wrapping them up so I can send them off to a friend of mine, who will fix them for me.' Tetsumi nodded wisely. 'Oh, okay. When are we dropping them off?'

'He lives very far away, so tomorrow morning I'm going to make a quick trip to a nearby village and hire a messenger to deliver them for me. I'll have to get up really early, so I'll probably be back before you even wake up.'

Tetsumi smiled up at her. 'Okay.' Then the child yawned widely and blinked. 'I'm sleepy. I'm going back to sleep, okay milady?'

'Sure,' she told the child with a small grin. Tetsumi went to the other side of the fire, rolled herself in a blanket, and promptly fell back to sleep.

Khyber heaved a sigh of relief, and noticed that the rest of the group was staring at her.

'What?' She growled; it had been a long day and her patience was at its end.

'Did you really want to kill Tetsumi's mother?' Sango asked, eyes wide.

Khyber closed her eyes. 'Yes, I did. When I first found Tetsumi, I saw how tormented she was, and I foolishly wished that I could kill the horrible person who had caused a child to experience so much trauma and pain. But eventually, I came to realize that if I did kill her, nothing would change. The people of Tetsumi's village would still be dead. Tetsumi would still have those awful nightmares. And, because I would most likely die accomplishing this goal, Tetsumi would be left alone.'

She paused for a moment to look at the sleeping girl and smile softly. 'So, I decided to make sure she wasn't a threat, but not by killing her. I would simply bind the woman from doing harm to others, or herself, while allowing her to retain her abilities. It took me ages to figure out how.' She gestured towards the plain box with the woman's remains. 'Looks like that was a lot of time wasted.'

'Hang on,' Sango said. 'You mean you figured out how to stop demons from hurting people without killing or sealing them?'

'Yeah, but it's not easy, and not everyone can do it because it takes a huge amount of spiritual energy.' She looked at Kagome. 'Come to think of it, you may be able to do it.'

'Really?' Kagome blinked. 'Do you think so? It would be a good thing to learn, it might help us in some of our battles.'

'I could show you,' Khyber offered. 'But not right away; we'd need to strengthen your reserves first, or else you could pass out from using up all of your energy.'

Kagome was fascinated by the prospect of becoming that strong. 'How do you do that?' she asked.

'Well, the easiest way is through meditation,' Khyber responded. 'Come over here; I'll show you.'

Kagome scooted around the fire until she was sitting next to Khyber. Then, following the winged girl's example, she sat cross-legged and braced her elbows against her thighs, lacing her fingers together and meeting her thumbs to form a triangle.

'Now close your eyes and picture yourself in a meadow. It's warm and sunny out; flowers are growing everywhere, and you can hear a stream nearby.' Khyber's voice became low and smooth, almost hypnotizing, as she lulled the young girl into a deep trance.

'Now it's getting dark. Do you want it to be dark, Kagome?'

'No, I don't.' The priestess answered in a monotone.

'Exactly. You don't want it to be dark, but you have no means of creating a fire. Think, Kagome. What else makes light?'

'My powers.' Kagome murmured.

'Good. Now, concentrate. Feel the blood in your veins, the electricity in your skin. Focus on that feeling; let it surround and immerse you. There is nothing but that feeling.'

To the amazement of the group, Kagome had begun to glow a light pink. White and lavender lightening was sparking into existence all over her arms and torso.

'Excellent, you've got it!' Khyber said as Kagome's eyes blinked open and the pink glow receded, the lightening sparking into nothing.

'I… I did it?' she questioned. The she grinned. 'I was tired before, but now I have tons of energy. I feel like I could run a marathon!'

Khyber chuckled. 'Yeah , this type of meditation has a nasty habit of doing that to you, which is why I usually do normal meditations before bed. We'll do this every morning, starting tomorrow, for about two weeks. That way you'll have an easier time waking up and traveling in the mornings too.'

Kagome grinned. 'That's awesome!' Then her face fell. 'But I should probably get back to studying for that test right now.'

Khyber looked startled. 'I can't believe I forgot to mention that part!' She turned to Kagome. 'With this type of meditation you also improve your ability to retain information.

Kagome looked blank. 'Eh… translation please?'

Khyber sighed. 'You learn faster and remember better.' She responded.

'Cool!'

After a bit more small talk, the group turned in for the night. Khyber decided she would dispose of the box tomorrow, before sleep claimed her too.