Chapter 23 – To Tell

''You've been reading this during the whole evening, aren't you hungry?'' Sakura's concerned voice snapped Kagome out of her thoughts, making the miko look at her, surprised.

''Sakura-chan, I didn't even notice you were there!'' The girl smiled, making the youkai shake her head.

''Rin was concerned, she called you twice but you didn't hear, it's time to eat dinner already.''

''Really?!" Kagome's eyes widened when she stared at the window of the library and saw that the sun had set a long time ago. ''I apologize. I was just trying to memorize the spells I found here and got distracted, they remind me of what Kaede used to taught me in the shrine.''

''Just memorizing? Rin said that you were making a lot of orbs and they were flying around, she even caught one in her hands to show me and it moved like it had its own will.'' Sakura raised an eyebrow, making Kagome blush in embarrassment.

''I was trying to see how many purification spheres I could make before I got drained,'' Kagome muttered. ''Apparently I can make way too many… They were flooding the place and I didn't even sweat, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, they require very little reiki.''

''I've seen mikos using them in battle before, their orbs certainly didn't move at their own will. Rin was chasing hers when it disappeared, she got a little upset when she couldn't show it to Shippo.'' Sakura giggled.

''I'll make one for her to play later,'' Kagome laughed, getting up and putting the book back where she found it. ''That was the only one I gave what you can call of a will. It doesn't have a life of its own but it can follow an order I give in the moment of its creation.''

''It sounds interesting, I'm sure it can be very useful in the battlefield.'' Sakura hummed, following Kagome as she left the library and walked through the halls.

''It truly is, Kaede had this ability mastered. She could create a thousand spheres and give them all something different to do at the same time, I learned it with her.'' The miko said as she yawned. ''They are a physical manifestation of my reiki, you can touch it and grab it if you want. The one Rin was playing with had the task of testing how far away from me it could move, it disappeared because it reached it's limit.''

''Can you create one to play with the children? Do they burn youkai?'' Sakura asked, genuinely curious.

''Yes and yes, but they will only burn those who do not have a part of my reiki with them. It wouldn't burn you or Shippo, it would simply tingle because of the charm you both have.'' Kagome said, opening the door of the dining room and smiling when both children shouted her name.

''Kagome-chan! Shippo won't believe me when I say that you created a ball made of light!" Rin said as she pointed at the little fox, who stuck her tongue at her.

''Mama would've shown it to me already if she could do it, you're trying to prank me!" The kit spoke, making Kagome laugh as she sat between them and patted their heads.

''Don't be mean Shippo. If you two eat everything, I'll show you something very interesting.'' She smirked when saw Rin pouting. ''And before you ask, yes, you do have to eat your vegetables.''

Both children groaned, making Sakura giggle. ''They keep you healthy and also protect you! Haven't you heard of the tale of Midori, the human whose love for nature was so great that she became one with the Earth and turned into the first Earth Elemental?''

''Really?'' Rin's eyes widened when she heard this, making Kagome give her a knowing smile.

''Indeed. She loved everything related to nature and always thanked the earth for every single thing she took from it, and one day, while she was walking to take a bath in the lake close to her home, she was visited by Amaterasu!" Sakura said, and as she moved her hands, a green flame came to life and started to illustrate everything that she spoke, catching even Kagome's attention. ''The Kami told her to go back to that same lake in the night of the new moon, saying that she had achieved something no other human had before.''

''What happened with her?" Shippo asked, his eye sparkling with curiosity as he slowly ate the rice.

''It took a while for the new moon appear, and in the meantime Midori did what she had always done. She ate everything the earth gave to her, including vegetables, watered the flowers next to her house and took care of the little hurt animals she found in the woods.'' Sakura spoke, making Kagome stifle a laugh when she saw Rin pressing her lips together and glaring at the broccoli on her plate.

''When the night arrived, Midori left her house and went to the lake, but as she was arriving there, something happened." The flames in Sakura's hand now shone brightly as images of several warriors appeared an attacked the young woman, making Rin and Shippo gasp. ''A dozen warriors circled her, claiming that she had given her life to a demon and for that, she should perish. They burned her house down before coming for her and without waiting for an explanation, they attacked.''

The flame now showed the woman opening her mouth to scream, and Rin's eyes widened in fear.

''She thought she would die, but not everything was lost. When the first sword was about to pierce her flesh, a bright light appeared and embraced her, blinding the humans for a brief moment. When their eyes opened, it wasn't the human Midori that stood in front of them, but a daiyoukai with bright green eyes and dress made of a thousand different flower petals." Sakura said, smiling when she saw Shippo eating the carrot he had been glaring at initially without even noticing, too absorbed by the story being told.

''The humans trembled in the presence of the unknown woman, but they were not fazed by her. They tried to attack, but found out that the roots of the trees tied them down, and the youkai with eyes that seemed as green as the leaves around her simply shook her head and disappeared into the trees, fading into the realm of the Kami.'' Sakura finished the story as her youki faded away and Shippo pouted, making Kagome giggle.

''What happened next? Is she still alive?'' Rin asked, eating the last bit of broccoli from her plate and making Sesshoumaru, that stood silent during the whole time, smirk faintly.

''This is a tale for another day, have you both finished your meal?'' The green eyed youkai said as she finally started eating, giggling when both children pouted.

''Will you tell us the rest later?'' Shippo asked, and smiled brightly when the youkai nodded.

''Kagome-chan, I ate everything!" Rin said as she looked at the miko with hopeful eyes.

Kagome, who had just started eating too because she had been too caught up in Sakura's tale to pay the proper attention to her food, smirked at the little girl.

''I see, you both have been good today, so I'm going to show you a magic trick!" Kagome said, making both children look at her with wide eyes and Sesshoumaru raise a single eyebrow.

Taking a deep breath, Kagome closed her eyes and formed a bright sphere of reiki in her mind. When she thought that it looked acceptable, she pushed her will into the light, and as she opened her eyes, a pink sphere was bouncing right next to Rin as the girl clapped her hands happily.

As soon as the sphere caught Shippo's attention, it dashed across the table and both children ran to catch it, but it kept bouncing from a place to another and eventually, it left the room. Kagome giggled when she heard the children's squeals and laughs, and raised her head to meet a pair of curious golden eyes.

''Are you controlling it?'' The daiyoukai asked as he took a sip of his sake and Kagome shook her head.

''No, I gave it an order and it's simply following it.'' She answered, taking a bite of her chicken, and was pleased to see that Sesshoumaru was eating too. ''I think that's the first time I see you here, it's usually just me and the children.''

''What order did you give?'' Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the miko.

''Entertain.'' Kagome said and both women giggled. ''They won't be bored for a good while.''

''This Sesshoumaru eats regularly miko, you simply do not see it.'' The daiyoukai answered with a small shrug, and Kagome stuck her tongue at him.

Sakura stifled a laugh as Sesshoumaru stopped raising the hashi to his mouth to stare at the miko with a raised eyebrow, and the girl simply raised her eyebrow in return.

''It seems that the more time passes by, the less sane the miko stays.'' Sesshoumaru commented as he finished his meal.

''Did you just make a joke?" She said, raising a single eyebrow before shaking her head. ''Oh my, how the mighty have fallen.''

''It was an observation.'' Sesshoumaru dryly answered, making Sakura hold back her laughter.

Deciding against verbally assaulting the daiyoukai, Kagome ignored his last comment as she went back to eating her food. In between bites, she would mutter something about a certain someone being stupid, bringing amusement to those around her.

''Are you cursing yourself now, miko? Have you truly lost your sanity?'' Sesshoumaru asked after a moment, and this time Kagome did not miss the mischievous spark in his eyes.

''Why you-'' She growled, doing an almost perfect imitation of InuYasha in Sesshoumaru's opinion. ''The only reason why I'm not purifying you right now is because I need your help with something.''

''And what would that be?'' The daiyoukai asked, looking genuinely curious.

''A spell.'' It was the only answer the miko gave him, and the inu found himself wanting her to finish her food already so that she would tell him what she meant by spell.

Youkai were not known for casting spells, save for a few scholars that dedicated their whole lives to the pursuit of magic. Any kind of power they had was their own, innate to their being, so the intricacies of casting spells was lost to him. Just as he was about to ask her whats she meant by it, for he was clearly not the most well versed in the subject, she turned around and started a conversation with his healer once again.

''So, did Midori really exist or did you invent the whole story to make Rin and Shippo eat their vegetables?''

''It really happened, she was the first of my kind and we all are her descendants.'' Sakura spoke, giggling at the amazed expression Kagome had on her face. ''She still lives, though she does not leave her lands anymore and many think she either died or never existed. The part about eating the vegetables was obviously made up though.''

Laughing, the miko spoke. ''Have you met her? This is amazing, she met a Kami and was blessed by them!"

''I have, all the Earth Elementals are taken to her after they are born in order to gain her blessings. She is almost like a Kami to us and I don't think age will ever caught up with her, the last time I saw her was a hundred years ago and she seemed younger than ever.'' The youkai spoke, watching Kagome look at her in pure awe.

''Wow, this is- I don't even know what to say..." The miko breathed out, then asked, curious. ''Are there other elementals? Can they mate if they belong to different kinds?''

''Yes, there are Fire, Water and Wind Elementals too. They can mate, their children sometimes will turn to have an entirely different power, as it happened when a Wind and a Water Elemental mated. Their children were the first of the Thunder Elementals, nowadays there is an amazing variety of our kind, we have lost count already.'' Sakura said, and Kagome nodded before proceeding to ask even more questions.

Her food was now forgotten as she interrogated Sakura to know every single thing about her kind, and Sesshoumaru sighed when he saw himself forced to wait to discover what the miko meant by needing his help with a spell. It wasn't entirely annoying though, he realized that he liked to see the different expressions the miko made every time Sakura said something that sparked her curiosity, and his beast was pleased that the members of his pack were happy.

While he watched the miko laugh as the green eyed youkai told her a tale about the creation of the Fire Elementals, Sesshoumaru decided that in fact, waiting wasn't that bad at all.