A/N: I want to thank all of you who took the time to individually send me reviews and emails asking me to continue. It means a lot to know that some people actually care and are affected by my writing. Thank you.

I'll finish this story. I will. I have the entire thing planned out, and it'll be fun. I won't disappoint.

Elements

Chapter 10

Jaken watched carefully, paying close attention as the girl carefully picked a flower, holding it tightly and concentrating. Incredibly, the flower began to sprout and grow, getting longer, its stem curling and thickening. Other blossoms bloomed along the stalk, their stems winding and weaving around it, forming a thick, flowery wreath as Rin fused both the ends of flower brocade together.

Jaken looked up at Sesshomaru carefully, his face expressionless.

"And this is what the miko has taught you to do, m'lord?" he asked, his tone completely neutral. "She taught you how to play with... flowers?"

Rin giggled, draping the wreath around Jaken's neck, who struggled in dismay, snapping at her to remove it, while Sesshomaru pinched the bridge of his nose tightly.

How had it come to this?

Granted, he had known when Kagome had told him that manipulating the earth's energy wouldn't always be so easy, that it would be a challenge to fully master the elusive element, but he hadn't known it would be like this.

After the initial surge of power he had used to save Rin, Sesshomaru now found that the supply of energy for his use had dwindled to a mere trickle, the promise and taunt of more tickling at his senses whenever he tried to use it. Kagome has said that the earth wasn't about to just let anyone use its power so wildly without a good reason. The earth had to spoken to, convinced, its trust gained before its power could be constantly freely used.

However, since Sesshomaru's main desire for this energy was so he could channel it into his youki to make him more powerful than ever, perhaps powerful enough to be able to destroy an entire village with one whip of his lash, Sesshomaru and the earth were hardly getting along.

Sesshomaru scowled at the fire, poking at it moodily with a stick in a rare show of aggravation.

Mastering the earth would take time and patience, and he was not a patient man.

Lifting his eyes from the fire, he turned to Jaken.

"There is more to the earth that making flower wreaths, Jaken," he informed him. "You can channel its energy, manipulate its growths, and even control the very ground you walk on, should you so desire."

"Indeed, m'lord." Jaken's eyebrows rose. "And the reason my lord did not choose to display these new abilities in place of flower-making as a suitable demonstration is because...?"

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps this Sesshomaru did not wish to weaken himself for a superfluous demonstration for your pitiful sake, Jaken," he said curtly. "You would do well to remember your place."

Instantly, the kappa fell upon its knees, realizing its insubordination and apologizing, while Sesshomaru subtly tried to use his newfound powers to coax the weeds behind the kappa to grow and reach over and strangle the noisy frog, of course, to no effect.

Sesshomaru turned away from the prostrate youkai to look at Rin, who was happily making some flowers braid themselves into her hair, before picking another flower, concentrating on making another wreath.

Idly picking a flower of his own, a wreath instantly forming in his hands, Sesshomaru looked at it flatly, before turning back to Rin, who was working on her fourth.

Stupid earth. Only thing it was really good for, anyway.

Rin seemed to sense his gaze and looked over at him to smile cheerfully.

"Isn't this fun, Sesshomaru-sama?" she grinned. "We owe Kagome-sama many thanks for teaching us this!"

"Kagome-sama?" Jaken squawked in dismay, though Sesshomaru turned away, looking off into the distance, regarding the sunset with dispassionate eyes.

"Tomorrow Kagome and her pack will return to their shard hunt," he said aloud. "The hanyou's ill effects will have reverted by then, and there will be no further reason for them to delay any longer.

Jaken looked over, curious, though ignoring the curious mention of the hanyou.

"Will we be following them once again, m'lord?" he asked dutifully. Sesshomaru nodded.

"We will follow them until Kagome and I have completed our exchange," he told him. "After that, we will continue our search for Naraku."

"Continue?" Jaken asked, alarmed. "Pardon me, my lord, but I thought we were following Kagome and her pack in order to find Naraku."

Sesshomaru paused. "That, too," he conceded. "But the miko and I have made a bargain, and I intend to follow her until it is complete. So far, I have only learned one element, and barely at that. She is to teach me all four."

"Teach you all four?" Jaken repeated. "Forgive your lowly servant for asking, m'lord, but why has she only taught you one?"

Sesshomaru's eyes hardened. "The baka onna refuses to teach me another until I have gained better skill over the first."

"She has only taught you one that you cannot adequately use?" Jaken summarized. Sesshomaru turned to shoot him a glare, before deciding against it, clenching his claws moodily. What was the point? It was true, anyways.

"Apparently, there is more to this process than merely understanding it," Sesshomaru said curtly. "This Sesshomaru is limited in his use of it until he can speak to the miko about it."

"My lord is going to ask the ningen about this?" Jaken said, his incredulousness staining his voice. "My lord, pardon your humble servant, but aren't you expecting an awful lot from this one woman? She is only human, while you are an all-powerful taiyoukai lord. Surely you can find some better way to achieve your goal than continually depending on this one girl..."

Sesshomaru scowled. It was true, he thought with disgust, a vein pulsing in his temple. He had come to depend on the girl for an awful lot, even though he had known her for that long. Such a thing was unhealthy, relying on someone besides himself for so much, let alone a human woman.

Clearly, something was wrong. Sesshomaru never developed attachments or needs for people, and he never gave anyone his help, let alone freely offer it. Yet, here he was, bound to an exchange with a woman to teach him mystics and powers, while he would teach her control in return.

Sesshomaru scowled at himself angrily. He was growing entirely too soft these days.

"This Sesshomaru depends on nothing from anyone," he said sharply. "This Sesshomaru only asks the miko when he absolutely has to, and even then, he is loathe to do so."

Jaken shrank back, cowering, while Rin looked over at him thoughtfully.

"Sesshomaru-sama, you don't want to ask Kagome-sama for help?" she asked innocently.

A vein pulsed in his temple. "No."

"Then why don't you just ask the earth, then?" she said simply. "I'm sure it'll help you, if you ask."

Sesshomaru turned to stare at her.

"Ask the earth?"

"Sure," Rin shrugged. "It'll be willing to help you, and then you can figure it out on your own."

Sesshomaru paused, considering.

Asking the earth... would that even be possible?

Perhaps the earth could communicate, he supposed, if it deigned to, in the wordless sort of way he had experienced before. It might respond if he asked it, especially if he showed an interest in it, but then again, it might not.

Well, he supposed, mentally sighing; there was only one way to find out.

Mentally reaching out to the slightly shifty presence that he had felt appear and lurk in his mind, Sesshomaru wordlessly extended his own energy to it, focusing on keeping in mind his request.

A feeling of golden liquid flooded his hand, and Sesshomaru opened his eyes uncertainly, examining, before tentatively putting his palm to the ground.

A hole opened up in the ground beneath it, the size of a small youkai's burrow, before the walls closed again, perfectly controlled by his will.

Sesshomaru smirked to himself. He was making progress already.

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"Kagome! Kagome! I'm hungry!"

The miko sighed, looking down at the little fox kit, her eyes patient.

"We're all hungry, Shippo," she said gently. "But first we have to set up camp."

Shippo looked dejected, before perking up and scampering off to go find some firewood. Kagome watched him go, reflective.

When she had returned late that morning, InuYasha had been in a fit, stomping and storming about the camp, yelling that she couldn't just wander off like that, that they were on an important hunt for Naraku and that nothing, nothing should ever come in front of that.

Kagome had bitten her tongue to refrain from making a smart remark about his own sudden departures to see Kikyo, instead pointing out that his human-tinged appendages had yet to fully revert back, making travel in this condition an unwise idea. InuYasha had just 'keh'ed and rushed them all off on one of the strangest journeys they had even taken.

InuYasha had attempted to keep them at their normal, grueling pace, only to periodically tire out suddenly, panting for a minute or two before hurrying off again in an entirely different direction. The pace was jerky, abrupt, and highly tiring, especially after about ten or so such stops, and no one dared to comment that InuYasha's sense of smell was clearly not helping them to find Naraku in any way. However, at long last, the irate hanyou had given in to exhaustion, literally falling over unconscious and collapsing in the middle of a clearing. The others had quickly taken advantage of the opportunity and immediately began to set up camp for the night, hurrying to finish before InuYasha woke up once more.

It was quieter, calmer, and more subdued than it would have been, had InuYasha been awake, and Kagome relished the silence.

"Kagome!! I'm hungry!!"

Well, more quiet, at any rate.

Sighing, Kagome turned to the young kitsune resignedly.

"Put the sticks and kindling in a circle in a spot without any grass," she instructed, exactly as she had done a million times before. "Then, go get a bucket of water, in case the fire gets out of control."

Shippo nodded solemnly, before dumping his twiggy mess into a heap and running for the nearby stream. Kagome sighed, crouching down to arrange the mess into an acceptable pile. Her mind wandered as she shaped it, drifting back to a certain taiyoukai lord.

Some unknown emotion within her surged and abruptly the kindling caught fire, as if her hand had been a spark. Kagome hurriedly pulled back, cradling her hand in disbelief as the flames crackled merrily, much stronger than they should have been.

Kagome snorted to herself. Fire was the element of raw emotion, that which could not yet be explained or put into words. And while she knew she felt something odd for the taiyoukai lord, she hadn't expected it to be so strong to escape her control.

"Kagome-sama?"

Kagome turned to see Miroku looking at her curiously, his conversation with Sango paused.

"Is everything alright, Kagome-sama?" he asked, his eyebrows raised. "The fire seemed to suddenly surge out of control. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Kagome said quickly. She held out her hand. "See? Not burned."

Miroku looked strongly as if he didn't believe her, but after a moment, he let it pass.

"If you're sure," he said, turning back and resuming his conversation with Sango once again.

Moving quickly to keep her mind busy, Kagome rummaged in her bag to find her cooking things, casting a glance at InuYasha. He was still asleep from exhaustion, showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. Biting her lip and praying he wouldn't, she got out some rice and spices, opting for a more filling meal than the ramen InuYasha always insisted on.

Waiting for Shippo to return with the water, Kagome looked down at her hands, sighing. How was it that things had spiraled out of her control so fast? She'd thought that forming a friendship with Sesshomaru would be a good idea, giving her someone outside of her own little group to talk to when she needed to sort some things out. Now, however, Sesshomaru's involvement was making things more complicated than ever, and she had only herself to blame.

What was it with the taiyoukai lord that got to her so? He was arrogant, assuming, and aloof, as if he was the best thing in the world since cultured rice. He was cold and curt, insulting at the best of times, invective at his worst, and it was all too plain to see why he didn't have many (if any) friends.

Yet, Kagome's mind whispered traitorously, there seemed to be more to him then that. He treated her as an equal now, despite her humanity, and he'd only tried to kill her the once, where she proved her power to him. And then he had gone to her that night, her power spinning out of her control, and tried to help her...

Kagome shook her head violently, focusing on the fire once more. These puzzling thoughts were getting her nowhere, and it was better if she didn't think of them.

But still...

Casting a long look at the fire, Kagome sighed, mentally dredging up the image of the taiyoukai lord once again, the unfamiliar emotion coming forth once more.

Carefully, ever so slowly, Kagome reached out her hand to the fire, before thrusting it directly into the center, letting the flames lick at her hand.

There was no pain; just a slight, tickling feeling, as the fire burned around her hand. Trickles of flame danced up and around her hand, creeping up her wrist and curling around her palm, and Kagome could feel the heat from the fire against her face.

She held it there for a long time, just watching the fire blaze against her hand, before slowly pulling it out and examining it for damage.

There was nothing. Not even the slightest burn.

Kagome bit her lip, contemplative, before moving to ready the rice, determinedly turning her thoughts from the implications of her act. Still, she couldn't help but think...

Everything had gotten a lot more complicated than she'd thought.

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So, love it? Hate it? Too short? I doubt it was too long...

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