Fate of the Forest (A KaoEarth Story)

Nine: Kao

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Kao absentmindedly traced little swirls up and down the arm draped across his chest, smiling.

"What are you thinking about?" The owner of the arm looked up at him with his wide, chocolate-brown eyes.

"Everything," Kao said, planting a kiss on the top of Earth's head.

His mind had been running all day, or really since the moment he had stepped into the Meadow. Who knew that his whole life could change in only two days. Who knew he could have fallen in love with the man tucked under his arm. He didn't even know himself until that morning when his heart dropped the moment he saw Ohm carrying Earth's seemingly lifeless body down the side of the hill. The crippling fear struck him when he realized he may never see the sparkle of those chocolate-brown eyes or hear his twinkling of laughter again. He offered to stay by him not only to take care of him, but to sort out his own feelings as well.

Kao had sat by Earth for hours, waiting to see those shining eyes again; watching him for any sign of movement. Gently caressing his cheek, Kao realized he didn't think he could survive without Earth. Not anymore. Was he crazy? He'd only met Earth yesterday! But he knew what he felt: the beautiful boy had captured his heart and Kao knew he loved him.

The pure terror he saw in Earth's face when he regained consciousness was alarming. The fact that that terror stemmed from the fear of Kao leaving pained his heart more than he could describe. Kao swore to himself he would do everything in his power to keep Earth from experiencing that kind of fear again.

Kao still had so many questions about...well, everything.

"Feeling better?" he asked, gently rubbing the back of the small body molded perfectly to his side. Earth nodded and crawled his way up Kao's chest, placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Much better," Earth said, those molten chocolate eyes melting Kao's heart. He looked better, Kao had to admit. The life was back in his eyes and he seemed much more like his usual, bubbly self.

"Good," Kao said, capturing his lips again. Earth laughed against his lips as Kao sat up, taking Earth with him, neither willing to break the kiss. "I love you," Kao whispered, rubbing his thumb across Earth's cheek.

Earth squeezed his eyes shut, his beaming smile wide as he wiggled with excitement in Kao's arms, making Kao chuckle.

"Are you ready to go talk to everyone?"

Earth took Kao's hand in his, intertwining their fingers and placing a soft kiss on the back of Kao's hand. "You love me. Knowing that, I'm ready for anything," Earth beamed, making Kao's heart swell. He pulled Earth to his feet and squeezed his hand.

"Let's go find the others," he said, leading Earth out of the cave and into the midafternoon sun.

When they found the other four boys, they were by the fire watching as Ohm played with it, making little flame figures dance and twirl. Fluke stood up to embrace Earth as the two approached the group.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Ai'Earth! I was so afraid!"

Earth laughed as he pulled away and he and Kao positioned themselves on one of the logs around the fire. "I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry I had you worried. I don't really know what happened."

"Are you alright to talk to us about what happened, Earth?" Boun asked, gently.

Boun could be quirky and silly, but it was times like these where Kao saw what a good leader he was for the Guardians.

Kao gently covered Earth's hand hidden between them with his own and gave it a little squeeze, to let him know he was right there. And so their intertwined hands played a game of tag while Earth explained everything: Earth squeezing Kao's hand if he got to a particularly painful memory which Kao returned by gently caressing the back of Earth's hand with his thumb for reassurance.

"So do you think the Spirit of Darkness is after you in particular?" Prem mused, deep in thought.

"I don't know," Earth said. "It may just be because of my weakened state right now and I was the easiest to get to. But we may never know until it comes."

"Kao, do you feel any difference since your abilities have awakened?" Boun asked.

Kao shook his head. He really didn't feel any difference, except maybe a new sense of purpose. "What am I supposed to feel?"

"We couldn't tell you that," Ohm piped up. "It's different for all of us. You may just need to relax and search for that feeling."

"Try closing your eyes and just...listen...feel," Fluke said.

Kao looked at Earth who nodded.

"I'm going to let go so you're not influenced by my abilities, but I'm right here," Earth smiled and gave his hand one last squeeze and then let go.

Kao closed his eyes, warily at first. He had never done anything like this before. As he sat quietly, listening, he could feel all eyes on him and it made him nervous.

Apparently it showed because he felt a light pressure on his shoulder and felt Earth's breath as he whispered in his ear. "Just relax, P'Kao. Focus more on feeling than listening. Feel for the energy."

Kao inhaled deeply, catching whiffs of the forest and slowly exhaled, feeling himself starting to relax. He tilted his head to the side...listening...feeling...and then there it was! The only way Kao could describe it was as a deep, silent hum. A vibration that connected everything. He reached for it, the hum feeling more prominent until--

*ZINGG*

Kao latched on to the hum and it became taut like a guitar string and buzzed through him.

"I think I have it," Kao said, realizing he was out of breath. He opened his eyes, keeping focused on the hum in the back of his mind.

Earth took him by the shoulders to face him. "Okay, P'Kao. This is where it's going to get tricky. Now you need to gently direct that energy toward me to help amplify my abilities. Just focus."

Kao nodded and Earth moved his hands around as vines started to wind their way around the log they were sitting on. Ever so carefully, Kao felt for the hum and focused the energy toward Earth.

"It's working!" Earth exclaimed as the vines started to race along the ground and wrapped themselves around each of the log benches.

Kao focused on the hum but soon he noticed it was getting harder to keep it under control.

*SNAP*

Before Kao knew what happened, he heard a grunt and Earth was on the ground, his arms wrapped around his middle in pain. Kao was at his side before anyone else could make a move.

"Earth! Are you alright?"

"Too...too much energy," Earth managed to squeak out, wincing as he struggled to take a breath in.

Kao helped him to sit up and instructed him to take in slow, deep breaths until his breathing returned to normal.

"I'm so sorry, Earth! I couldn't hold the focus for that long." Kao pressed his forehead to Earth's. "I'm so sorry that I hurt you."

Earth let out a small smile, but Kao could tell he was exhausted. "It's alright. I know you didn't mean to. It just knocked the wind out of me. Now we know that is what you need to work on first: your focus. But if you look around, you can see that it worked!"

"Yes, Kao!" Boun spoke up. "We know the energy is there and you do have the ability to amplify it. We will work on strengthening your focus until you can control it."

The five Elementals all looked at him with smiles of confidence, but thinking about what he could have done to Earth, Kao wasn't so confident himself.