CHAPTER 5
Mixed Blood

Sesshoumaru did not know who would have the honor of breaking the semi-comfortable silence that filled the space between him and the miko. He followed as Kagome wandered the back yard wordlessly, only stopping every once in a while to examine different flowers. He did not have to wait long. The miko he remembered had a hard time being silent and the miko beside him seemed to have not changed in that way.

"I never thought I would see you all again," she said in almost a whisper.

"We were afraid that Inuyasha's information was incorrect as to when you were to appear. We kept a close trail on the shrines as time passed though it proved a bit ineffective when the only information we had on you was that you traveled through a well. It was destroyed during the many wars the land had suffered."

Sesshoumaru nearly missed a step when the scent of Kagome's tears wafted in his direction. If he wasn't a demon, he would have missed her whispered question.

"He didn't tell you my last name?"

The sorrow, an old pain, hung heavy around Kagome, clouding the aura he had come to know as hers. He did not know it was caused by her joy in hearing they had looked for her. "When asked, Inuyasha did not know it. It seems the depth of my brother's idiocy ran deep." Sesshoumaru felt something in him lurch when he heard Kagome choke on a sob. "What ails you, miko?"

Sesshoumaru was unaware that calling her miko sent her back into a time when she was happy, which made the tears come faster. After living many centuries with Rin and having hundreds of years to practice on several of her litters, Sesshoumaru learned what to do in these situations. He walked up to the miko and wrapped his strong arms around her shoulders, pulling her into his warmth.

The first time he had held someone like this was when Rin lost her second child. Shippo had been far in the south for business and Sesshoumaru was the only source of comfort when Kimiko passed. Little Rin had made so few requests of him throughout her lifetime that when she asked if he could just hold her, Sesshoumaru could not refuse. It was the first time he had ever seen Rin cry but it would not be the last. Now it was the miko that he held, cradling her like Rin, giving her warmth and strength, the only two things he could offer in such a situation.

"After a while, my mother refused to acknowledge that I had even been to the past. I was lost in time again, but this time in the one I'd been born in." Her tears were shed silently with only the sounds of sniffling escaping her. "Thank you for looking for me though. I felt more alone here than I ever had when on my own in the Sengoku Jidai."

Sesshoumaru tightened his grip on the slip of a woman in his arms. He had imagined holding her like this before, but the situation was no where near the same as the one he had conjured up in his mind.

"It seems little miko that-" Sesshoumaru was interrupted by a buzz in his pocket. Of all the times to receive a call, why now? "Please excuse me," he said while unfolding his arms to find his phone.

"No, thank you for letting me cry on you. But you might want to change your clothes so my scent's not all over you."

"It is of no consequence," Sesshoumaru replied while flipping his phone open. It was the hospital. "Hn. I see." Just as quickly, Sesshoumaru closed his phone and put it back in his pocket. "Something has come up in the hospital." He led Kagome back into the house. "I am sorry about the interruption, Kagome. I wish that I could stay and continue our talk."

Kagome sniffled again and cracked a smile for him. "Well, I'm not sure that there was a lot of talk happening exactly."

"Nevertheless," he insisted. "Under normal circumstances I would never allow the interruption of personal time. However, something has-Rin," Sesshoumaru's attention shifted when he saw her in the kitchen. "Please take care of Kagome. The hospital called for-"

"Father, why don't you take Kagome with you. I'm sure there is some way she can be of help."

Sesshoumaru paused long enough to look between the two women and weigh the option in his mind. "I will be there overnight-one of the children has taken a turn for the worst."

Rin raised both hands. "Overnight bags for the both of you."

Sesshoumaru's eyes softened. A long time ago, Sesshoumaru had no need for anyone to take care of him, but over the years he had come to appreciate Rin's sensitivity to his needs and to him. It was an accomplishment for none other. Now, he wasn't sure what life would be like without her.

"And before you say anything else I packed dinner for the both of you. Get going. Run to the hospital and I'll send Jaken to pick you up tomorrow."

"Rin." There were words to describe the appreciation he felt for his surrogate daughter but with Rin, no words needed to be said. His eyes warmed and a hint of a smile crossed his lips.

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Kagome followed Sesshoumaru out to the lawn and her jaw nearly dropped as he squatted and turned to look at her.

"I believe this was the preferred way to travel, was it not?"

Something stirred to life deep in Kagome's soul as she stepped closer towards the taiyoukai on his haunches. The closer she got, the more tears threatened to spill. He stood again, looking larger than life. She imagined him dressed in white with two swords at his side, his beautiful silver hair floating in the wind.

"If you prefer, I could carry you in my arms but it would take us longer to arrive."

"No," Kagome wiped her eyes. "I…the back is fine." She watched in shock as Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands, the most powerful demon she knew, squatted to give her his back.

Kagome held onto his shoulders and lifted her legs to wrap around his waist. Her legs tingled when Sesshoumaru's hands grabbed them to readjust them into a more comfortable position.

"Do you have the bags secured?"

"Yeah." Why did her voice sound so weak? "I have all three of them."

"Hold on tight. I am faster than Inuyasha."

He should have told her that he invented mach 5. They were going so fast that Kagome struggled to move her head down until it was shielded by Sesshoumaru's broad shoulder. It was too hard to breathe otherwise. She tried to open her eyes but the wind stung as it never had before. Within several breaths the wind stopped howling in her ears and her hair stopped whipping behind her.

"We are here." Sesshoumaru helped her off his back and held her arm until she was steady enough to walk on her own. It looked like they were in a parking garage and she was being led to the elevator. "We will go to my office first to drop these off before we head to the children's wing."

Still a bit shaken up over the incredible ride, Kagome couldn't focus again until they were already on their way to the children's wing. "What's the situation, if you don't mind me asking?" As the feeling made its way back into her body, the mindset of being a Life Assistant made its way to the forefront of her mind.

"Rin and Shippo were the first miko/demon pairing in recorded history. We did not find out Rin was a miko until their second child, Kimiko, was born and she inherited both her parents abilities. Did you ever know the real reason that demons and mikos were made enemies?"

The real reason? There had been a reason behind all the hatred? It wasn't just more blind prejudice? "No, I don't."

Sesshoumaru pushed through the double doors that led to what looked like a nursery. "Welcome to Heaven," he said as soft music flowed through the room. Flowers were painted on the wall, butterflies and birds hovering over them. Little stuffed animals lined the bookshelves against the walls with TVs and gaming system stations in every corner.

"The two are fundamentally incompatible. If the two auras of the parents are not fully blended when they conceive, the child has little hope of surviving. The two parts of its soul will battle until one is entirely wiped out, in which case the children have usually died." He led her through a hallway in the back.

"Well, what about the parents? I mean, don't they check these things before they start having kids?"

Sesshoumaru had thought the same thing but over time realized something about children of this specific coupling. "Most of the time, it is hit or miss. Most children born to miko/demon couples are miscarriages. If the bond is strong enough, a child will survive the development stages and be born. Even then when born a hanyou, most of the youki is weak in the babes and the children have very little or no spiritual power at all. The children who live here are the exception."

"How have these children survived and others have not?" Kagome wondered as she saw hallways full of doors and windows.

"Each unit has four children residing in them with one nurse," Sesshoumaru told her as they passed several units. "These children are not as severe as other cases so they are kept in the outer hallways."

"How are they stabilized enough to stay here without injury?" If what she was saying was true, there had to be some power that kept both parts of their souls under control.

"I tell you this because of the history we share and because I know you can be trusted," Sesshoumaru said, looking for reason not to continue on. When he did not find one, he said, "I doubt my father knew the reaches of Tessaiga's influence, but I have found a great use for it since it has come into my care. There are three levels to this wing and this is the lowest level. Step in here." A camouflaged door slid open, revealing a large elevator. "This will take us to the highest floor where our most severe cases are."

"So you were saying something about Tessaiga?" Now she was very curious. What could Inuyasha's sword do in the medical world?

"Yes. After Rin's bore another child similar to Kimiko, she immediately rushed back to my home. Kimiko, their second born, died at four months, the longest any recorded child under these circumstances has lived. Their seventh child, Nobuhiro, was born with the same condition and through much trial and error, we discovered that Tessaiga worked for him the same way it worked for Inuyasha, with a few side effects." The elevator chimed and the door slid open. "Welcome to the highest level of Heaven."

If this is what heaven looked like, Kagome never wanted to leave. The most posh hotels in the world had nothing on this place. "How much would it cost to rent a room in here?"

She missed Sesshoumaru's grin. "You must pass a very difficult application process. You must first give up your life but I would much rather have you on earth." But Kagome was too enchanted by the odd-glowing chandeliers to catch Sesshoumaru's hidden meaning. The lights glowed but not with electricity. The further in the entry they walked, the more she felt it. "What is that...power?"

"Does it not feel familiar?" Golden eyes watched blue ones and saw recognition within them.

"Is that Tessaiga?"

Sesshoumaru inclined his head. "The patients on this floor are the most severe cases we have which requires them to be within a certain distance of Tessaiga, hence the reason for the room being round. The children are old enough to know their boundaries and they do not stray far."

"The poor children. But-wow. I mean...how does it all work?" How did one capture the power of a demonic sword and spread it throughout the wing?

For this, Sesshoumaru led her around the room. "The chandeliers and light fixtures you see are actually special crystals I commissioned Totosai to forge. They draw power from the sword and spread it like light around the floor. On the lower levels we also have these fixtures but because of the distance, the effect is weaker."

Just as he finished telling her about the crystals, they reached a bright room in which there was a glowing cylinder in the center. "Tessaiga is the heart."

The nurses in the room informed Sesshoumaru about the child's condition and he ordered them to bring the boy in here.

Kagome in the mean time had walked to the center of the room where Tessaiga floated tip up above a stand meant to hold it. "Tessaiga. I've missed you all these years." In close inspection, Kagome could see the many battle scars that Inuyasha's body never allowed on itself manifested on the blade. She knew how most of the nicks and scratches came to be. There were a few that must have been made after she left. The sword seemed to know she was near and recognized her right away. It pulsed and sent a stream of energy that wrapped around her outstretched arm.

"No ma'am. You musn't touch Tessaiga!" But the nurse paused in awe as the sword began to sway.

Tessaiga spun on its tip wider and wider until the hilt positioned itself perpendicular to her body. With the hilt at her waist, Kagome had no choice but to touch it, her curiosity would allow nothing else. When her fingers were no more than a hair breadth away, she paused and looked back to Sesshoumaru with questions in her eyes.

He merely nodded once, curious as well to see what Tessaiga had planned.

Kagome reached for the aged hilt with frozen breath.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

Hello. I'm sorry that it took this long to get the next chapter out but I decided to cut what I had for this chapter in half because I was just too tired to continue on. Thank you everyone for the many reviews you have sent and for all the favs. Hopefully the next chapter will be out by next week. Good luck with school for those of you who are still in school (not me, I'm free!)

Echo