A/N: I said I would finish this story, and I will. It'll just take time. Thank you for being so patient with me!

Elements

Chapter 11

The next day, Sesshomaru awoke to an odd prickling in the back of his mind.

At first, he tried to ignore it. It was still incredibly early, with the weather chill and the cold, and anyone with any sense of sanity would still be asleep. The feeling continued to niggle at him, however, and, finally, Sesshomaru sat up, more than slightly annoyed at being roused from his sleep, to look around and locate the source of the problem.

It was before dawn and misty out, the time where dew settled upon the leaves, and the air was thick with moisture. He glanced around, before his eyes settled on a vaguely familiar figure standing on a hill a ways away, appearing more to be a shadow than a person against the gray sky. Sesshomaru squinted, the fog making it hard to see, trying to puzzle out who it was to his still dormant mind.

Suddenly, a shield was dropped, and a familiar powerful presence immediately assaulted Sesshomaru's mind, a scent catching on the wind. The shield was immediately replaced mere moments later, but it had been enough for him to recognize the figure a top the hill.

Kagome...

What was she doing here?

Sesshomaru had practiced his skill over the earth long into the evening, fueled by his determination to prove he didn't need Kagome to help him at all. He'd mastered growing things, opening it up, and even shaking it to a degree, managing to create small earthquakes and tremors in the ground below. He'd eventually stopped late in the night, succumbing to exhaustion, figuring he'd continue practicing in the morning.

It appeared, however, that his efforts had been noticed.

His eyes narrowing, Sesshomaru forced himself not to react as a tendril of wind wrapped around him, chilling him, touching his face. It was almost ghost-like in the way it moved, curling around him as opposed to blowing past him with the rest of the breeze. He watched as the figure on the hill made a gesture, and another tendril of air joined the first in flitting around him, forcing his attention to focus on them, before darting away.

Phantom air? Sesshomaru was far from stupid, and he knew that air didn't move around on its own or focus on anyone in paticular. Little ghostly breezes, a quiet way to get someone's notice without waking others up, an open display of control over the atmosphere, made to arouse his curiosity.

Sesshomaru smirked.

It appeared it was time for another lesson to be learned.

Getting up, Sesshomaru moved off his pelt, wrapping it around him and over his shoulder instead. Opting to leave his armor off, he glided over silently to the girl, the dark green of a skirt and midnight black of her hair coming into view. She turned to look at him, shivering slightly in the cold, undoubtedly sensing his approach.

"S-Sesshomaru."

"Kagome."

Sesshomaru watched as she shivered, her arms wrapped around herself. It was puzzling, Sesshomaru reflected, wondering why the girl would come out here when she was obviously so cold, but then she spoke, and he pushed the matter out of his mind.

"InuYasha was in a foul mood yesterday," she said quietly, still holding her arms in the cold. "He was mad because I came back so late. I figured if we started earlier today, I'd be able to get back in time before he noticed."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. Kagome was being quiet, much more docile than usual, and Sesshomaru found himself wondering at her submissiveness. Only recently, she'd been raging at InuYasha, possessing and forcing her own will upon others, but now she was so quiet, as if afraid to attract anyone's notice.

The irony bit at him. He'd worked so diligently the previous day to prove to her that he didn't need her help, to justify himself over her, and today she was being so docile that an infant fish youkai could have overcome her.

It completely took the triumph out of his victory.

Kagome blew on her hands, rubbing them together violently, obviously cold. Looking at her, his amber eyes holding her blue, Sesshomaru noted the veiled depths to them, seeing something flickering inside of their seas. Something was obviously plaguing her mind, occupying her mind, keeping her quiet.

Sesshomaru was surprised to note he missed her playful bantering, her teasing. A Quiet Kagome was a new one for him to meet, and one he didn't care for much.

"I figured we could do air today," she said, shivering slightly as she hugged herself, stamping her feet, rubbing her legs to keep warm. "It's too misty out to do fire, and there's no real springs or water around, so air was only logical..."

"Air would be fine," Sesshomaru found himself interrupting, off-put by her justification of her reasons to him. She'd never bothered justifying herself to him before. Something must really be off.

Kagome nodded and shivered, before pulling a feather from behind her ear. "A-a trick I took off Kagura," she said, dropping it, watching it grow. "I'll take us up on it, using the wind, and then teach you, and we'll float around until you can control the wind e-enough to take us where we want to go."

She moved to step onto the feather, but Sesshomaru found his hand darting out, catching her arm. She turned quickly, her eyes looking to his, confused, and Sesshomaru nearly cursed himself for such an open display.

"...here."

Pulling his pelt from his shoulder, he wrapped it around her, letting the soft fur envelop her with the warmth from his body, using it as a blanket. Kagome flushed as he guided her down onto the feather, making sure the pelt kept her firmly encased in its heat. Her cheeks coloring prettily, she looked up at him as he sat down as well, facing her, and a small smile touched her lips, some of her sparkle returning to her eyes.

"...thanks."

And suddenly, Sesshomaru didn't feel the cold at all.

¸,ø ¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°°º¤¸,ø¤

In science class, Kagome had learned many things. She'd learned the parts of a flower, what made chemical bonds, how the human body worked, and that heat rose because of its structure.

As she shivered more and more violently as they ascended even further, the temperature dropping noticeably, Kagome wondered what else she'd been lied to about.

Steering the feather higher, Kagome wondered why she was even out here at this ungodly hour doing this. She felt like crap; what was the point in flying around in the chill air besides making her feel even more crummy?

Abruptly, Kagome realized she was wallowing in self-pity. She'd get nothing done just sitting there, moping. Annoyed with herself at her lack of action, she decided that she wouldn't freeze in the cold any longer.

InuYasha had been positively evil upon waking to the smell of something that distinctly was not ramen, she reflected. He'd lashed out, berating her for being ignorant and not knowing anything and not doing what she was told. A simple "sit" command had curtailed the worst of his rage, but his words still managed to get to her. He was supposed to be her friend, and she was only trying to be nice, really, by making sure they all ate a balanced diet, but no, he didn't care, he just wanted his stupid noodles and wanted to yell and scream and make everyone feel like utter shit no matter what.

Her ire rising, Kagome felt her eyes narrow, annoyed. Who did he think he was, anyway? Yelling about everything and nothing and her "unnatural obsession with his brother". What was so wrong if she enjoyed spending time with Sesshomaru? He was certainly more interesting and kinder than him, at any rate. And what did it matter if she had no idea why their friendship had suddenly grown so much so quickly? It wasn't as if it were a bad thing.

Reflecting on this, Kagome tilted her head and watched Sesshomaru, who was looking out into the cloudy mist stoically, apparently deep in thought. He looked much more approachable without his armor, and the absence of his pelt made him seem almost... well, almost normal. Like someone she could talk to, someone she could be friends with, someone she could hug and laugh with and do more-

A sudden flare ignited at Kagome's fingertips, and she yelped, more from surprise than anything else.

Sesshomaru whirled around, his eyes widening, quickly moving to put the fire out, but Kagome held it back from him quickly, well aware he was about to extinguish her only way to get warm. He looked at her incredulously, and Kagome found her face flaming.

"It doesn't hurt," she told him, bringing it forward, so he could see the fire crackling in her palm. "I made it. It's to get warm. I'm fine."

Sesshomaru gave her a look. "If you made it," he said flatly, "then why did you shriek?"

Kagome made a face. "I didn't shriek," she informed him. "I made a slight noise of surprise. I hadn't thought the flame would flare quite that much."

The taiyoukai raised an eyebrow. "What made it flare, then?" he asked, his tone curt, disbelieving. Kagome rolled her eyes. Couldn't he just admit he was curious?

"The emotions and feelings associated with fire are those that are raw, those not fully understood," she explained. "Anger, hatred, things you can't recognize, the like. When I started thinking along lines to purposely create the fire, I hadn't expected that much of an emotional output."

Sesshomaru just looked at her. Kagome flushed slightly, wondering if he could read her mind and tell exactly what it was that had caused her emotions to flare out of control, before he smirked.

"I thought you were teaching me air today," he remarked, and Kagome couldn't help but smile a bit at the teasing comment.

"You're just jealous," she assured him, before setting the fire down (carefully) on the feather, making sure to keep a rein on it in the back of her mind. Steering the feather up a bit more, coaxing the wind, she let them coast along at a steady pace for a while before turning to look at Sesshomaru.

"Air," Kagome began, "is the element of determination. It's the element of courage, the element of persistence, the element of power. Everything you can get from sheer determination, air is."

"That's likely why it's your dominant element," she reflected, partially to herself. "Your determination to be the best, to overcome every foe, to master every power you can... you're practically living the air's philosophy yourself."

"I fail to see how the air is determined," Sesshomaru commented, his arms folded. "The air seems rather weak for something meant to represent such unwavering persistence."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Have you ever seen a tornado?" she asked. "Or a hurricane? Or the damage from a windstorm? The air may be relatively low-key, but when it decides it wants to do something, it gets it done flat-out."

Sesshomaru appeared to reflect for a moment before nodding once, slowly, and Kagome rolled her eyes to herself.

"Okay," she said. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to drop my control of the feather so we're free-falling down. You're going to try to seize control of the air around the feather and stop us so we don't crash to the ground and die."

Sesshomaru looked at her sharply, incredulous, and Kagome couldn't restrain a giggle. "We won't die, of course," she assured him. "If you can't get it in time, I'll retake control and steer us back up to try again. The free-falling is just so you feel the abject panic of hurtling towards the ground and the sheer determination and courage it'll take to control the air and force us back up."

Sesshomaru looked like he was wondering why he had ever bothered to get out of bed that morning, and Kagome had to restrain another giggle.

"Okay," she said. "Let's go."

¸,ø ¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°°º¤¸,ø¤

Sesshomaru did not like many things. Naraku, his father, humans in general, having to put up with foolish vassals, fleas, the uncanny urge to kill InuYasha whenever he made Kagome mad, and natto. His list was relatively stable; if he didn't like something once, he didn't like it ever, so there were few changes to his mental list over the years.

Now, however...

Sesshomaru was fast considering adding impulsive mikos and heights to his list.

"Come on, Sesshomaru!" Kagome yelled, her voice barely heard over the wind rushing past them. "Get control! Make it stop!"

"I'm trying!!" he snapped back, his stoic control long since vanished with the feeling of plunging down headlong towards the earth. Reaching out mentally, grasping at anything he could, searching for the wordless understanding that had come with the earth, Sesshomaru frantically tried to fine a wind or something he could talk to, get to stop the feather, his efforts becoming more and more jagged as they fell faster and faster.

They were going to die. Sesshomaru was sure of it, he could see the ground below them, they'd left the clouds, they were going to hit the ground and their skulls would fly through their feet with the force of their impact, leaving brains splattered on the forest floor...

"That's enough."

Abruptly, the feather stopped falling, catching a soft wind that curled it in a long arc, spreading out the force of their fall, before coasting back up into the heights of the atmosphere once more. Sesshomaru shot a sharp look at Kagome, who was looking at him with a tired smile on her face.

"I was about to get it."

"I'm sure you were," she said easily, her eyes dancing. "Because you weren't panicking at all. Because Sesshomaru never panics. Ever."

Sesshomaru gave her a curt glare. "There is a distinct difference between a healthy amount of fear and pure panic," he informed her.

"Yeah," Kagome agreed, hiding a laugh. "And you were panicking."

Exasperated, Sesshomaru opened his mouth to retort, only to be cut off by Kagome.

"C'mon, Sesshomaru," she said, her tone somewhat pleading. "You've manipulated the air before, through your youki. It basically the same thing, only now it's direct. It's the same in essence. Why can't you get it now?"

Her eyes were looking at him earnestly, some part of him dimly noticed. Blue orbs shining at him, so hopeful, and Sesshomaru found himself unable to describe how the thought of her crashing to the ground turned any concentration or determination he had to sheer panic.

"I'm trying," he growled, and Kagome, to his dismay, laughed.

"I can tell," she teased. "But you need to try harder, Sesshomaru, if you're ever to master this. It's not even an emotion that should be too hard for you to express."

Without so much as a warning, Kagome abruptly dropped the feather again, and Sesshomaru felt the air screaming in his ears as it flashed by, his thoughts abruptly fleeing his mind as they hurtled toward the ground.

Determination, he told himself sharply, deliberately not looking at Kagome. Determination determination determination I will stop this stupid feather I will I will I will-

Kagome's hair was flying in the air, making her look like a banshee, and tears were streaming form her eyes just from the force of the air rushing past her. She looked dead, she looked like a ghost, she looked like she'd already crashed to the ground-

"Come on, Sesshomaru. I know you can get this."

The feather stopped again abruptly, coasting in an arc as it ascended again, and Sesshomaru glared at Kagome, his eyes narrowed.

"You didn't warn me that time," he said curtly, and Kagome shrugged.

"I thought maybe if you didn't know what was coming you'd just react and not have time to think and process it through so much," she said, uncaring. "Now, come on. We're going to try it again-"

"I am trying," Sesshomaru said nastily, trying not to let his frustration seep into his voice. Kagome frowned.

"Now, that's no good," she said. "Frustration leads to exasperation which leads to giving up, which is not anything close to the emotion we're looking for. Shall we take a slight break?"

Sesshomaru gave her a look, and Kagome smiled a bit.

"Okay," she said. "Break then."

Reassured that Kagome wasn't going to abruptly drop the stupid feather again, Sesshomaru stood and stretched carefully, feeling as though he'd shrunk an entire foot from the downward force on his spine. Sighing as he felt his joints pop back into place, he turned to look at Kagome who was watching him, playing with the fire absently. He raised an eyebrow.

"You're staring at me."

Kagome flushed slightly. "Forgive me if you're more interesting to look at than the clouds," she said, her cheeks tinged. "I forgot I'm supposed to ask permission before doing that sort of thing."

Sesshomaru ignored her sarcasm, sitting back down. "What did you mean by your previous remark?" he asked, folding his legs. "The one about my emotions."

"Oh." Kagome shrugged. "It's just that you rarely show any emotion at all, so it's understandable if this sort of thing is hard for you. It's just that the determination for the air shouldn't be such a challenge-"

"Emotions make you weak," Sesshomaru cut her off. "Emotions make you weak and lose your head or they-"

"Or they can make you stronger," Kagome said calmly. "Look what your emotions did you protect Rin the other day. I wouldn't call that weak, you know."

Sesshomaru scowled. He'd felt weak at feeling that terror, even if he hadn't been.

"Think of it as a challenge," Kagome said, twirling a piece of her hair idly. "You have the exact opposite problem of me. My issue is that I feel too much and get too powerful, making everything spin out of control, where your problem is you can't feel enough, can't let go of enough of your control."

"I was trained to keep every emotion I had under constant control, if I even so much as felt them," Sesshomaru informed her. "You're asking someone who's lived in a dungeon their entire life to unlock one door as if that will make everything better again."

"Don't get so depressing, Sesshomaru," Kagome chided. "You did it before with the earth. Perhaps you just need the right stimulus, like with Rin. Or maybe you just need to find one emotion to feel right now before unlocking all the other ones."

"Feel an emotion?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know." Kagome cocked her head, tilting it, looking at him. "Can't you feel anything now? Even in the slightest? Annoyance at the cold, wonderment at the fire, anything?"

Sesshomaru sighed, glancing at the fire, trying to find an emotion deep inside of him he could stir up. The fire, however incredible, was still just a fire. It wasn't anything to be in complete awe of.

Though, then again...

The fire had been burning for quite some time, Sesshomaru noted, all without consuming any fuel. A fire always needed fuel to burn off of, wood or the like, but this one had none. That meant...

Well, that meant that Kagome had to be sustaining it. With whatever emotion or power had let her start it in the first place.

Glancing up at her, Sesshomaru wondered. He'd thought that her anger at InuYasha had been the emotion raw enough to start the flame, but surely her anger couldn't have lasted this long. Kagome was much too low-key to hold onto a grudge for so long, especially when the source wasn't around.

Was she angry at him, then? No, that didn't make sense. If she was, she'd be biting his head off with curt, sarcastic comments and rolling her eyes and huffing all over the place. Plus, he had a feeling that a fire fueled by that would be a lot larger, more brilliant and angry than a small steady glow from a constant source.

Kagome turned slightly to look at him, and Sesshomaru found his eyes meeting hers, amber touching blue. Her eyes widened slightly but remained on his, and Sesshomaru found he couldn't look away.

There was something in her eyes, he saw; something hidden and misunderstood and longing and powerful that she didn't want to admit. It was veiled, covered, feared, and Kagome's cheeks were colored, as if in denial or embarrassment at such a thing. Sesshomaru inexplicably found himself reaching for her, as if to cup her face and wordlessly reassure her that it was all right to feel such a thing.

Her eyes widening sharply and sucking in her breath, Kagome's face flamed, looking at him in disbelief, unsure, waiting, nervous and anticipatory. Sesshomaru found himself moving closer, unsure himself of what was going on, dimly aware that something akin to nervousness was flitting about his veins as well as he leaned in. And then, suddenly,

The fire went out of control.

Sesshomaru yelled as he felt fire burn his legs, breaking the spell, and he saw Kagome instantly become aware of what was happening, yelling at him to get away, that she'd try to control it. Quickly moving behind her on the feather, stamping out his singed pants, Sesshomaru watched as Kagome winced, trying to control the fire, only to watch in horror as the feather burned away, the fire too far gone for her to rein it in.

Sesshomaru and Kagome looked at each other, a single look passing the knowledge between them of what had just happened.

And then they began to fall.

"Stop us!!" Sesshomaru yelled at Kagome as they plunged towards the ground. "Use the air! Make us stop!!"

"I'm trying!!" Kagome yelled back, wringing her head as she fell headfirst. "I'm trying, but the fire's still getting to me! It's hard!!"

Growling, Sesshomaru despaired for a moment that it was utterly ridiculous to only be able to control one element at a time at such a moment before yelling at Kagome to hurry up and let go of the fire already and save their lives.

"I'm trying!!" Kagome said frantically, and she looked near tears. "It doesn't work that way, though! I can't just suddenly stop feeling one thing and switch over to another, Sesshomaru!"

"This is insane!" Sesshomaru fumed, his anger escaping his control for a moment. "You took us up that high even though you might not have been able to have complete control??"

"I'm sorry!" Kagome cried, her voice next to a wail in the wind. "I didn't know other things were going to fly out of control! I'm sorry!"

Recalling that Kagome's fire had spiraled out of control at his provocation, something akin to guilt settled down on his shoulders. It wasn't her fault she'd lost control; it was his for pushing her in such a precarious situation in the first place.

Kagome was crying, Sesshomaru noted, and he felt an odd calm descend upon him. Kagome was convinced she was going to die, and that it was entirely her fault, when the blame actually lay with him. She was going to die hating herself, unforgiving, and Sesshomaru knew he couldn't let that happen. He just couldn't.

Something touched his mind, whispering, and Sesshomaru abruptly seized it, spinning it around, as if it were a wide cord. The wind suddenly rushed up to meet them, breaking their velocity, sweeping Kagome up against him, where he quickly righted her and held her in his arms. Kagome gaped at him, her mouth open in astonishment, but Sesshomaru was too busy controlling the wind, careful to taper off their speed horizontally, bringing them coasting back down to the ground in a gentle arc, the wind beneath their feet feeling like a floor.

There was a slight bump as they landed, his feet once again on hard ground, and Sesshomaru looked down at Kagome, who was looking up at him with wide eyes, her mouth agape, stunned at what he'd just done.

"I think we need to work on your control," he told her, gently shutting her mouth with a finger. Kagome blinked, swallowed hard, and nodded.

It appeared that he would be the teacher next time.

¸,ø ¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°°º¤¸,ø¤

Read it? Please, review! Reviews encourage the author like nothing else, further motivating them to writing more. Please, review, and leave me your thoughts! It's always greatly appreciated! Please, review!