Fate of the Forest (A KaoEarth Story)

Ten: Earth

The next several days felt like a blur to Earth. Every day, Kao worked with the Elementals to strengthen his focus on the energy and eventually he was able to hold his focus long enough that he could almost control the energy. Earth had worried because after what happened the first time he tried, Kao was afraid to try it again.

"What if I hurt you again?" Kao asked when they returned to the cave after the incident. There was a sadness in his eyes that broke Earth's heart. "What if I hurt someone else?"

Earth placed a hand on either side of Kao's face and looked him directly in the eyes.

"I'm fine, P'Kao. I promise. Don't worry. We couldn't expect you do do it perfect the first time."

"Then I shouldn't have tried feeding the energy to you if I wasn't ready."

"That was my fault, P'Kao. I was the one who told you to do it." Earth locked his hands behind Kao's head and pressed his forehead to Kao's. "I'm sorry. Please don't blame yourself. It's not your fault."

Earth felt Kao relax as he wrapped his arms around Earth's slim waist to pull him close. Kao took a deep breath and let it out slowly and Earth smiled, placing a quick peck on his lips.

"We will practice and everything will be fine. I believe in you."

Earth could see the improvement after only a few days of work and he beamed with pride. They had just finished a long day of training that ended with a dip in the lagoon to cool off.

Kao's focus had gotten immensely stronger Earth had noticed but he had yet to try feeding the energy directly to anyone again. Earth could tell he was still a little nervous but the more confident he became in his abilities, the less uneasy he was.

Earth smiled at the thought as he floated on his back in the middle of the lagoon, his eyes closed. He was so proud of the hard work Kao had been doing and it made him happy.

"What are you smiling at?" he heard Kao's voice break through his thoughts.

"You," Earth responded, not opening his eyes.

He heard Kao let out a chuckle before he felt a gentle hand support the back of his head under the water. Earth felt a slight pressure on his forehead and opened his eyes, momentarily going cross-eyed as his gaze focused on Kao's chin resting against his forehead. Earth let out a deep, contented sigh.

"I'm so proud of you," he whispered to Kao and Earth could feel him smile.

They floated around the lagoon like that for a little while, not paying attention to how much time passed by, just feeding off of each others' energy.

Earth opened his eyes again when he felt Kao's lips against his forehead and he smiled.

"It's starting to get late. We should start to dry off," Kao said, guiding a still-floating Earth toward the shore.

"Prem!" Earth called as they pulled themselves up out of the water. Prem picked his head up from where he was relaxed by the lagoon with his head on Boun's lap. "Will you air-dry us please?"

"Sure!" he said with a flick of his wrist. As he laid his head back down, a strong breeze started to blow around Kao and Earth, drying them off in only a few minutes. Kao thanked Prem, who stopped the wind with another flick of his wrist.

Earth slipped his hand in Kao's and gave it a squeeze. "Shall we go for a walk?" he asked, flashing his signature smile, which got a smile back from Kao.

"That sounds wonderful."

They strolled hand-in-hand around the lagoon, talking about nothing in particular; just enjoying each others' company and Earth wished it could be like this all the time.