The Element Children
an excerpt

"We haven't had anytime to really think about it after the whole waking up thing, and dealing with Perun, but..." An'ei spoke up along the way. "You kissed me."

Kara felt his face warm up again. He looked away, really needing to fix that sometime. "And I did before...back home. It just felt right to."

"So...um...what does that mean for us?"

"I dunno."

"Well..." An'ei paused, trying to think of a way to say it without sounding really stupid or being embarrassed. He couldn't so he just went with it. "Do you *like* like me? I can't remember what that might mean up there, but here it means a relationship. More kissing and um...things." he waved his hand halfheartedly. "I...I think I could."

They ducked under a low lying branch, turning onto a small worn footpath that would wind up the hill. "Should we? There's just so much happening now with trying to dodge Chi and figure out why Lightning exists..." Kara trailed off, realizing how weak he was sounding. He was only running from a complication, and if he couldn't deal with this and solving the problem of the Children, then how was he going to finally stand up to Chi? "I shouldn't say that. Running away never solved anything."

"But its useful when you're scared as hell." An'ei replied. "Liking someone does seem kinda scary, but is it that bad?"

"It's just all this emotion..." They climbed up a steep curve in the footpath, and Kara paused to take a breath. Up here the wind was beginning to tousle their hair, seeming to caress Kara's more. "...what's scary is getting lost in it. Feeling that once you give in, you'll never get back out. It'll absorb you, and you'll lose everything it means to be yourself."

"And yet everyone tells you its so easy." An'ei replied, a knowing look in his eyes. "Just seek out and claim it, tell the Shadows that you're boss. Only that when I do try and open up to them, I feel myself slipping away. I don't feel normal anymore, like I could fall over the edge at anytime. At least this doesn't seem like it can drive me insane."

"Just wait, it might still yet." Kara replied ruefully. "But I see your point. Okay. But...I don't know how to try."

Taking a step over, An'ei put his arms around Kara squeezing lightly. "Neither do I. Guess we'll have to figure it out."

To get to the wind they crested the top of the hill. Reaching the highest point Kara could feel it moving around him, investigating this being who was one of their own. In this form he wasn't instantly recognizable, but they would push past the layers of flesh to understand and when they did wisps of breeze curled around him like a happy feline. "Yes yes..." he said softly, "I missed you too."

The pollution wasn't as bad up here. The wind kept moving so was only slightly affected, it whimpered about the dirty particles and ozone making it so hot, but otherwise contentedly flittered about. It was more unhappy in other areas. There was a distinct crying far to the south, Kara was betting it was around LA. Going that way would be really uncomfortable for him, even when encased in this human form.

"Yes, I saw. Let's try something, alright?" Eyes closed, Kara held his arms out before him and cupped slightly, as if holding something rather wide. He gently coaxed the wind to move out over the hill, swirling above town. You always had to be careful with the wind, breezes existed all over and if you shoved at one you'd cause a domino effect of winds colliding into each other all over the world. Mistakes like that caused freak windstorms that devastated towns. A previous version of himself had accidentally done this and caused a bundle of winds to crash into a good sized rainstorm. The resulting disaster went down in history as the Protestant Wind, which destroyed the whole Spanish Armada. But if you gently coaxed the wind to move, and asked breezes in the area to either join or slide out of the way as was their will, a lot could be accomplished with no side effects.

An'ei from his lying down position in the golden grass watched Kara at work. Kaze had always been the most graceful of all the Children; Mizu being the only one who could ever come close but she too had her moments of sudden, violent action. With the sun shining down on him, golden tints creating a halo through his blonde hair, An'ei thought that if angels existed Kara would give them a run for their money. He didn't envy the easy way Kara seemed to pick up again on his control of the element, but mostly because Shadow would never respond in the same way. The only thing the shadows ever listened to was anger and fear. But Kara looked very nice standing up there, communing with the winds.

Slowly Kara brought down his arms, thanking the winds for being so helpful today. He was tired, and his arms hurt from holding them in one position for so long. Turning around he found An'ei lying back in the grass admiring him, and instantly felt self-conscious. "...what?"

"I just like watching you." An'ei replied, amused.

Kara collasped in the grass next to him, rolling onto his side. "I know. You do that alot. I feel like some rare treasure that's never been seen by other people."

"Well, you probably are..." An'ei took Kara's hand, lacing his fingers through, "but I'd rather keep it that way. More for me." He pulled the hand to him and kissed it.

"Selfish."

"Or I know a good thing when I see it."

"I still think you're misguided." An'ei had always been attractive, Kara thought to himself. The long hair, and the outlandish clothing gave him a rebel air that it seemed women loved. He had a pretty face, not overly masculine which tended to make him look a bit exotic. And then there were the ever present shaded purplish glasses. If he hadn't been given such an unfortunate repuation by idiots Kara was sure he'd have been popular. More than someone normal looking like him at least. He gently removed An'ei's glasses, watching the shadows in his eyes go running for cover along the edges.

"Gah, bright." An'ei made a face, shading his eyes.

Kara lifted himself up so he could lean over An'ei who rolled back, shading his face from the sun. "There, better?"

"A little...still can't see you very well."

"I guess you'll just have to get used to the light."

An'ei rolled his eyes. "I'm Shadow, I'm not supposed to like it."

"Why should that stop you?" Kara continued to admire him until An'ei spoke up again.

"You know what else you could do up there?"

Kara eyed his lips. "Mmm, thinking about it." After a few more moments of thought, he descended. He was increasingly growing to like kissing; it had a comfortable, languid feeling to it that was alot like his current relationship with An'ei only better. Also the knowledge gained with remembering his status as a Child meant he already knew how to kiss and didn't have to worry about awkward banging of teeth. It was a good kiss, as An'ei was grinning when they finally parted.

The slight tensing of An'ei's body below him should have been his warning. Next thing he knew arms had wrapped around him and rolled them over, so that he was now on his back in the tan grass looking up. "Much better." An'ei said, trying not to laugh.

"Brat."

"You always say that."

"You're always trying to get your way."

"'Cause my way's better. Now I can see you AND kiss you." To prove his point, he did so. Kara considered conceeding it to him, but only because they were much closer this time. It was better than leaning over; he made a note to try it himself.

"Think this is what they mean by rolling in the hay?" An'ei asked jokingly a moment later, waving at the dried patch around them.

Kara rolled his eyes. "No, but I'll tell you when we get to that part."