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.

"It can't," he heard as they were getting close to the cave again and Earth froze in his tracks.

"What is it?" Kao asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Earth listened for a moment, hearing only the sounds of the forest, and then shook his head. "Nothing. I just thought I heard something."

He didn't hear anything but he couldn't ignore the uneasy feeling in his stomach. But he flashed his smile and pulled Kao toward the cave. "C'mon. Let's go rest."

"Please do. You're going to need all the strength you have."

There it was again!

"Did you hear that? I heard a voice! It spoke a whole sentence to me this time!"

Kao looked even more worried.

"Earth."

He whipped around to where he heard a voice behind him.

"Earth!"

Now it was in the other direction and Earth was starting to panic.

"What?! What do you want?!" Earth yelled into the air. He barely registered the other Elementals coming to them and forming a ring around them, as if shielding them from the unseen being.

"I want him," the voice hissed in Earth's ear.

Earth was getting dizzy, trying to follow the direction of the voice. He gripped Kao's hand tighter.

"You can't have him!"

"Just wait and see. I'm coming, Earth. I'm coming to take everything you love." The voice laughed and it echoed all around Earth, making him cover his ears and drop to his knees.

"Stop it! GO AWAY!" he screamed.

And then, just as quickly as it had appeared, everything went silent, leaving Earth a shaking, crying mess in Kao's arms.

"Earth! It's okay! Just breathe."

Earth could feel everyone gather around him as he took slow, shaky breaths trying to calm down.

"Could...could any of you hear it?" Earth asked, wide eyes scanning his friends' faces, but they all shook their heads.

"We couldn't hear or see anything," Fluke said, placing a hand on his friend's arm. "Was it the Darkness again?"

Earth nodded as Kao helped him to stand. His legs felt a little wobbly and he stumbled a bit as he took a step forward so Kao bent over and scooped him up and Earth wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Let's get you to rest, okay?"

Earth nodded again and buried his face in Kao's shoulder, trying to calm himself down as Kao carried him to their room.

Earth had never felt so helpless! He was a Guardian! He was supposed to protect others! But there he was, being carried like a princess by the man he needed to protect most of all. It made him frustrated and a little angry.

"Put me down, P'Kao," Earth said, picking his head up.

Kao stopped, looking down at Earth in confusion.

"But..."

Earth gave him a light smack on the shoulder. "Put me down! I want to walk!"

Kao obliged and Earth marched off toward the cave in a huff.

"Whoa! What's wrong?" Kao asked, catching him by the wrist.

"What's wrong? What's wrong is that I can't protect you! As a Guardian, I'm considered one of the strongest Elementals, but a stupid voice had me in the fetal position! I'm frustrated!" Earth yelled, yanking his arm free and turning on his heel.

He desperately tried to wipe away the tears that blinded him as he half-walked, half-ran to the cave, ignoring Kao's calls following him.

Stumbling into the damp room, Earth fell to his knees on the ground and pressed his forehead into the mattress, covering his head with his arms. He let out a scream of frustration, muffled by the mattress, and let the tears flow.

He hated this feeling! Sure, Kao was getting stronger every day, but what if he wasn't ready when the Spirit of Darkness showed up? His mind kept repeating the shadow's words over and over again.

"I'm coming to take everything you love."

He couldn't lose Kao. Not when Earth was finally getting all he had hoped for all these years.

Earth didn't know when Kao had arrived, only felt his gentle hand rubbing his back. Kao guided Earth's head so it was resting in Kao's lap and stroked his hair while Earth cried bitter tears into Kao's thigh.

"I...I'm sorry I yelled at you," Earth apologized sheepishly after he had calmed down. He sat up and Kao pulled him into his embrace, holding him tight.

"It's alright if you're angry. I can imagine your frustration. But you have to remember it's not your fault. You're not the one doing this. It's that thing. Someone once told me 'Don't blame yourself.'" Kao gently kissed Earth's hair.

Earth pulled back to caress the face he had only dreamed of touching.

"I...I can't lose you, P'Kao," he whispered. "I just love you so much."

Earth saw a wave of emotions wash over Kao's face just before he crushed his lips to Earth's and Earth kissed him back, showing him all of the feelings he never got to share with him before.

Earth was so lost in Kao that he didn't know how or when he ended up lying down, but he knew his shirt was in a heap on the floor and Kao was leaving little trails of kisses up and down his torso. He fisted Kao's hair as Kao kissed his way up Earth's jawline.

"Earth, my love. Please let me show you how much I love you tonight."

Earth started to tear up just gazing into the eyes that looked down on him filled with so much love.

Answering Kao with a kiss, Earth knew that all this time loving Kao from a distance, all these years of waiting, were worth every second.