CHAPTER 6: The New Tessaiga

Tessaiga was warm, warmer than she remembered and it stayed transformed in her shaking hands. The ancient sword pulled her powers forward until they danced on her skin, licking at her in beautiful blue waves against Tessaiga's reds, oranges, and yellows. The powers of nature and beast danced in beat with the hidden life stream of the universe and the two colors wrapped around each other, wound like a fine thread.

"Tessaiga feels different," Kagome whispered. "As if it's been upgraded. Was it reforged?" Even as she spoke, she could not take her eyes off the sword.

"When my brother died the sword cracked down the middle. It was necessary to have it reforged with my own fang."

"It didn't reject you?" As she asked, Kagome could feel the part of Tessaiga that would forever be Sesshoumaru. It blanketed her body, surrounding her in warmth.

"We had come to realize that it was not my pure blood that caused my rejection but my brother's heart. Towards the end of his life we reconciled our differences and found peace with each other. When he passed, Tessaiga was given to me to hold until my son was worthy of it. The sword and I are in accord."

The boy on the table woke from the pain-induced sleep with a scream, breaking the trance everyone was in.

"Nissa! I hurt!" The boy called for his nurse.

"I'm here child. Be strong. It shall pass," the old raccoon demoness cooed.

"Nissa, it burns!"he cried again.

Koishi's nurse looked to Sesshoumaru for guidance when the child began thrashing. Everyone watched as little Kioshi's skin bubbled and smoked. Green puss oozed from his sores and he screamed his nerves lit on fire from his melting flesh.

Screams filled the round room, echoing off the walls, making the pain more agonizing for the nurses and the visitors.

Kagome ran to the child's side. "You said, Tessaiga helped them like Inuyasha. Here, give it to him." She held the sword out but Sesshoumaru pushed it away.

"You must put it back in the center. The children cannot bear to hold it. They can only absorb the power it releases."

The miko's heart broke as she watched the Kioshi's skin continue to melt before her eyes and all anyone could do was watch as his spiritual powers rose to the surface, attempting to do away with the threat of his youki. "Why are we here if we can't do anything to help?"

Nissa spoke up. "Lord Sesshoumaru can calm the demon inside the boy but it is not his demonic side that overpowers him now. It is the spiritual side, inherited from his mother. It is purifying him as we speak."

Purify. Demon. Spiritual. Fighting.

There was something in Kagome's past that nagged at her. Something in an emergency situation concerning a newborn and a house call. Holding hands. Sharing.

"Isn't there someone you usually keep around to help? Someone with holy powers?"

"The priestess we keep has fallen ill and is resting at home. I had not been informed until we arrived."

Images of past jobs ran through Kagome's head. One of her very first missions for healing came to her in flashes. "Sesshoumaru, I'm going to put my hands back on Kioshi. I need you to put Tessaiga on my hands when they're in place." Kagome removed the sweater she wore, leaving her in a tanktop. She needed as much skin as she could stand to show.

"What is your plan, miko?"

Kagome pulled her hair into a bun and scrubbed down at a sink near one of the doors. "I had to do this once for a test. It was more of a surprise test as I found out later." Two dainty hands were placed on the boy's body, one at his head and the other at his stomach. "Sword me."

Sesshoumaru halted at her words, realizing what she meant – to give her the sword and not stab her with it. Honestly, the phrases she used even now, still befuddled him. He removed the sword from the center energy pillar, not realizing how dark the room was after the power source had been removed and lay it across the top of Kagome's hands. He did notice, however, that there was another light in the room and it came from the blue glow of Kagome's skin.

Her spiritual powers were blue tendrils, reaching out for whatever they could touch. Many of the younger nurses backed away in fear. They had never been so close to such a powerful priestess in their lifetimes. Nissa was the only demon other than Sesshoumaru who stayed near the child.

"Do you mean you have only attempted this once?" Nissa's voice waivered as she struggled to remain still while her young charge was being handled by a holy one. Her instincts yelled at her to take the boy away from the danger, but if Sesshoumaru was not only standing and watching but aiding her, Nissa would not interfere. She had come to love this little boy and would follow her lord's example.

"Yeah. There was a surprise child at the shrine where I studied. One of the refugees was a miko… she didn't realize her boyfriend was a demon. I think he was a fox and lion mix. Who knew. I mean, the girl didn't even-ugh. I swear that young people aren't taking enough responsibility these days."

Nissa watched in fascination as Kagome's aura mixed and weaved with Tessaiga's again. "How did you know what to do?" There was a slight glow coming from Kioshi's body now that everyone could see in the dark. Where Tessaiga was the colors of fire and Kagome was an ocean blue, Kioshi's aura was split into two colors, mustard yellow and forest green.

"Can you see his split aura battling itself?" Kagome asked. The yellow and green colors looked like two cobras snapping at each other. "The green color is his spiritual powers and the yellow is his youki. The first time I saw this, during my pop quiz, it reminded me of how my brother and I would get into fights when we were younger. Most of the time I would be the dominant one out of the two of us, but every once in a while my brother had other plans. We would fight, a lot like miko/demon hanyou energy does but my mom would always calm us down and tell us we needed to learn how to get along. The thought came to me that I should try that on the two fighting auras."

Sesshoumaru was intrigued. "You are teaching his two halves to co-exist?" It was such a basic concept, how did no one thing of this before?

"It's basically the whole Yin and Yang thing. Each are separate but they intertwine with each other and fill in the holes. Tessaiga is my yang for tonight and I'm going to show Kioshi's energy how to get along and ultimately play nice. Both parts of his being don't realize they're the same person. That's why they're fighting."

One of the nurses who had shied away from Kagome's energy came to stand next to Nissa at the table. "Do you know why this normally happens?"

Kagome shrugged. "All I can figure is that the parents of these children did not have strong bond, whether they were together for only a short time or never really got along. I had seen one case where the child was a product of rape and had nearly died because of her accidental parentage."

Another nurse who had been silently watching Kagome mend the boy's soul together, stepped forward. "Is there a permanent solution to this, child? Or are all the children here fated to die as those before them?"

Kagome took a deep breath, allowing Tessaiga to weave even more with her aura. The boy was calm now and his skin was not smoking any more. His wounds were still severe but his spirit spoke of having achieved peace, even if it was for this short time.

"I think that the parents are the ones who will have to teach these kids. Demon mating bonds were so much stronger in the past than they are today," the miko mentioned and a few eyebrows rose in question.

"And how would you know about the past, human?" Another nurse sneered at her from the corner.

Sesshoumaru turned a glare on her. "Do not speak of things you know nothing about as you are yet a child still. This miko has been under the protection of my family for years and has seen more difficulty and hardship than you could ever experience." The other nurse shrunk towards the back of the room, away from Sesshoumaru's piercing gaze. "This miko journeyed with my brother when he was but a pup. You are lucky you still have a tongue."

"It's okay, Sesshoumaru," Kagome tried to calm him down. "She doesn't know and it doesn't matter."

"I will not stand for disrespect to those who deserve it."

"But that is impossible! Your brother has been dead for a few centuries and this is a human child that stands with us today." Nissa was already under the employment of Sesshoumaru when Inuyasha was in his final years. She did not see this miko woman then.

Kagome was oblivious to the conversation at hand. She had finished calming the boy's split auras but she was not done. "Come on Tessaiga, please?" She wanted to use some of Tessaiga's power to heal Kioshi's body but Tessaiga refused. "I know that's not what you were made for but for old time's sake?"

"What is it you are asking of Tessaiga, Kagome?"

Kagome kept her eyes closed, still in the process of asking Tessaiga to lend her the healing powers she had discovered woven into its new make-up. "I can't believe how stubborn this sword is now! Just how many teeth did you have to use to re-forge this thing?"

Sesshoumaru huffed. "I assure you that only half of a canine was needed."

But Kagome wasn't listening. She smiled. Tessaiga finally agreed to help her. "That's a good sword. I'm going to polish you, the next time I come up here."

"You can speak to the sword? What magic is this?" Nissa, realizing the liberties that Sesshoumaru allowed Kagome in speaking to him, changed the way she addressed the young miko immediately.

"It's not magic. Just a healthy and very old relationship." At her smile, Tessaiga pulsed and the women gasped as they felt it come alive. It pulsed again and this time something on Sesshoumaru's hand echoed it back.

A wisp of white light came from an ivory ring on Sesshoumaru's left hand and joined with the red of Tessaiga's power. Kagome looked back to Sesshoumaru and realized that the white light was the same color as Tenseiga. But the light came from his hand or rather a ring on his finger. Had the great Inu Lord melted his sword down into a mere ring? There was no way he could have or would have done that! Kagome saw the curious look in his eye before he realized what Tessaiga was doing. Golden eyes met blue as they made a request for her silence.

Kagome set her eyes back on the boy and concentrated in pouring more of her energy into the boy's body. Bleeding stopped, sores closed and there was a healthy pink coloring to his newly formed skin. The moment Sesshoumaru's command came for her to stop, Kagome pulled her energy back into herself and she could feel herself falling backwards.

Where she should have met the floor, she was met by a strong arm instead. Two glowing eyes stared at her in pride. Sesshoumaru was the only one who noticed her stress levels during the procedure. He would not allow her to attempt this again. They would find another way. Towards the end, Kagome started pooling her own life force into her hands without realizing it. No, it was too dangerous for a second attempt.

"Nissa, check the boy. I will take Kagome home to rest. None of you will reveal to anyone what has happened today. If you fail to obey, you will be dealt with accordingly." Sesshoumaru lifted Kagome against his chest with one arm while returning Tessaiga to its place. As soon as his other hand was free, he held her bridal style with both arms, to where Jaken would be waiting for him in the garage.

Thoughts swam and fought for dominance in Sesshoumaru's mind. Where had Kagome learned these healing abilities? Where did she learn to control and manipulate auras and how was she able to communicate with Tessaiga? Did she always have the ability to speak to the sword? So many questions, no answers. Kagome's heartbeat returned to normal but her body would not wake until it replenished its energy. It would be a long night of waiting until the miko would wake. He would get his answers then.

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Thank you for such great reviews. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to everyone yet. I know this chapter was kind of short but I wanted the events of this chapter to have its own section. And I didn't want the time between updates to be far apart.

Thank you to the two readers who noticed my flub-up. I fixed it before anyone else read lol. Thank you again for being such great reviews and readers.

Echo