Touch the Sky

The Cure (Chapter 6)

"I think you should see this," Jakotsu says one morning. He holds a pink shard in his hand, "This came out of me."

"What do you mean, it came out of you?" Melody asks.

"This was the jewel shard in my neck," he explains. "I woke up and it was sitting on my pillow."

"Huh," Melody muses. She checks his neck, "There's no hole."

"I know, it's weird right?" he prompts. "But I feel fine, better than fine."

"Well that's good," she says.

"Has this happened with Bankotsu's?" Jakotsu asks.

"Not as far as I know," Melody notes. "Pretty sure he still has his."

Bankotsu enters the living room in his pyjama pants, his hair tied in a loose ponytail.

"What?" he cocks an eyebrow at them. "You two were just talking about me, weren't you?"

Jakotsu holds up the jewel shard so he can see it, "It came out of me."

Bankotsu goes and sits with them at the table, inspecting the shard.

"How is this possible?" he wonders. "The Shikon Jewel is what brought us back."

"You know what I think it is?" Jakotsu inquires. "Living here. It's making us better."

"That's a theory," Melody confirms.

Bankotsu nods as he continues to turn over the pink jewel.

"You know what else?" Jakotsu adds. "I think that you're making us better, Melody. For me personally, I've never felt more content anywhere. This is home."

She smiles, "I'm glad you feel that way."

"What do you think, Bankotsu?" Jakotsu asks.

"You might be right," Bankotsu replies. "It would explain quite a lot." He touches his throat with his fingers, "I still have mine."

"I wonder if my mom might have something in her books that'll help," Melody gets up from her seat.

She goes over to the bookshelf and starts searching through her mother's magic books. She pulls out one and starts flipping through the pages.

"I'm going to have a bath," Jakotsu says. "Good luck with your search."

Bankotsu goes over to where Melody is, watching as she continues to search.

"Have you found anything?" he prompts.

She lets out a breath, nodding her head from side-to-side. "I think so, but it's very unorthodox."

"How so?" Bankotsu asks.

Melody glances up at him and lowers her voice to almost a whisper, "It's sex magic."

His cheeks redden and he clears his throat, "It's our only lead so far?"

She nods, "It's known as a make-or-break cure. Meaning if it doesn't work, nothing will." She lets out a breath and continues to read, "It's to be done right at midnight. We'll need red candles, a circle of salt, and cinnamon sticks."

"You have all those things, right?" he asks.

"Yeah," she assures him. She lets out another breath, "I'm just worried."

"What about?" Bankotsu prompts in his gentle tone. "Whether or not it'll work?"

Melody looks up at him, "If it fails, I'm not sure what else we can do to...." her voice trails off and she drops her gaze from him.