AN: Thanx for the reviews, I'll do shoutouts next chapter. BTW, I don't know Captain Black's real first name. My memory is telling me Gus, but please bear with me. If you know, send me an email or leave a review. Arigato. Also when *~Previously~* appears it is referring to the fight that began last chapter with the last sentence. There will most likely be an episode of the fight each chapter until all is explained.

Raining Hard

Chapter 4: "...the errors of great men are venerable because they are more fruitful than the truths of little men..." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Elemental had not been heard from in two days. Jade was curious, Jackie was worried, but Captain Black was the worst. From the moment she didn't turn up overnight he went into full overprotective guardian mode. Elemental was not one to just drop off the face of the earth, and Black knew it. The only reason she didn't contact you was for your safety or she was hurt too badly. Black hoped and prayed that it was not because she was hurt.

This Tuesday morning found Black staring at a white mug of coffee, while tapping his pen on his desk. If Elemental didn't turn up tonight, he did not care how much she would hate him, he would call Alexander, her best friend, and the only one that could find her should she happen not to contact people.

However fate would have differently. This morning there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Black called.

"Captain Black," began the man, "You have a letter." He placed the letter on Black's desk and left.

The envelope had no stamp on it nor did it have markings from the post office. It simply stated "Captain Black" on the back in print. He did not recognize the writing style. Black opened the letter and read the two lines:

Elem is found, you don't need to worry about her, however, there are a few issues that need to be resolved. Please come to her home in San Fran and all will be explained.

Black sighed in relief. This note had to have been written by one of Elemental's students and she was all right. Thank you Supreme Being up in the sky.

Captain Black raced out of his office and straight into Jackie.

"Sorry Jackie."

"Captain Black, have you heard anything about Elemental? I'm really worried that she hasn't turned up for a few days."

"As a matter of fact, I just got a note from one of her students and I'm headed over to her residence to find out what is going on."

"Good, I was starting to worry."

"Yeah, well, she always turns up sooner or later. At least this time she didn't wander into my office with a deep cut in her side."

Jackie's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Yeah. One time she decided it would be great fun to tail a person that had been stalking a friend out to San Francisco. Turned out this person was working for her archenemy. There was a battle, but all in all, it wasn't as bad as I had seen her before."

"As bad as you had seen her before?"

Captain Black smiled. "She has a stubborn mind about her. All Elemental wants to do is help people, and sometimes she helps so much that her life almost gets lost. One thing is for sure, you can't say she doesn't follow her creed."

Jackie looked at Black puzzled. "Her creed?"

Black put a hand on Jackie's shoulder. "You'll understand once you get to know Elem. She is a jewel, albeit, not a polished one, but close enough." Then with a smile Captain Black headed to Elemental's residence.

*~Previously~*

Elemental had gotten first hit. She hadn't been first in her class for nothing. The figure did not seem to notice, like it was immune to pain. Then the blood began to flow out of the wound. The blood was the color of darkness, if darkness had a color.

"What are you?" Elemental asked.

All she got was silence and a sword held at ready. Before Elemental knew what was happening, a sharp pain went through her left leg. She cried out and switched her weight to her right leg and looked to see what had happened. The figure was holding its blade out.

"Fine. You want wizardry. We can do wizardry."

Overhead the clouds began to rumble.

*~End~*

Captain Black walked up the steps to the quaint home of Elemental. San Francisco was definitely one of the most expensive places to buy a house, but with what Elemental had eight hundred thousand was nothing. He rang the bell and heard the chime on the inside of the house. Hesitant footsteps were heard at the door, and then the door was opened to reveal a slender, Japanese girl with auburn hair.

"You are?" she asked.

"Gustaf Black. I'm looking for-"

"Sensei. Yeah, come on in." The girl moved away from the front of the door to allow entrance.

Once inside the girl introduced herself. "I'm Sakura, one of the students."

Black nodded his head in understanding. "Where is Elemental?"

Sakura's emerald eyes got dark. "I'm not going to lie to you, she is, to the untrained eye, in bad shape. Her left leg is a mess, her upper back is a mess of cuts, not deep though, and her the scarred wound on her left shoulder is open on both sides, which means that there was some magick involved the battle."

Black's mouth fell open. The note had said not to worry. But Sakura wasn't done.

"The good news is Alex-san is here, so she will heal quicker. But for the time being she is unconscious."

Black felt a hand on his shoulder guide him to a chair, which he practically fell into. He was numb. This was the worse he had seen. How much more would there be before this was all over? He leaned over and placed his head in his hands, and let everything sink in.

After a few moments of truth and silence, a soft voice said, "Do you want to see her?"

Black nodded his head in his hands when he looked into the face of Elemental's other student. He felt her hands guide his shoulders, after he stood, towards a door. Black opened the door and found his worst nightmare. Elemental was lying on a raised bed, seemingly sleeping peacefully, but a blind man could have seen the blood soaked bandages on her body. A man was sitting in a chair on the right side of the bed with his elbows on the bed. One hand was holding Elemental's and the other a drooping head. His sad eyes seemed to be searching for any sign of life.

Sakura came into the room and put a chair on the left side of the bed for Captain Black. Then both students left and Black was left alone with the man, Alexander, and a wounded Elemental.

Black sat down and looked at Alex. "Have you gotten any sleep?" The man shook his head. "Why don't you get some? I'll watch her."

Alex looked at Black. "I can't."

"Why?"

"Because she would do the same for me."

Black nodded and they sat in silence for the next several hours: guardians over a battered Elemental.