Strange Circumstances

VI

Kagome blinked as she examined the four cards in her hands, looking at the illustrations and feeling their magic with her own tentatively. She looked up at the man who sat very close beside her, and blushed before turning back to the cards. They all sat around a fire he had conjured with the 'Firey' card, on very nice chairs he had formed from 'Woody', though she didn't hold that particular card in her hand.

"They represent the four elements?" she asked, and he nodded readily.

"They are the core of what will be the deck. They are the most powerful of the cards I've made so far..." Clow said, smiling as she traced windy's picture carefully.

"Did they start out as blank cards?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"I made the element with my magic, created a physical form from it, and sealed them into the form of a card," he said, squinting slightly as he looked at the card.

Kagome looked up at him when she noticed him squinting from the corner of her eye.

"You have difficulty seeing, Clow-san?" she asked, biting her lip slightly.

Clow Reed watched the action of the small woman beside him, and turned away quickly, a light blush going across his nose.

"My vision is slightly blurry," he mumbled.

"Oh hell no, Kagome! I know what you're thinking!" Inuyasha growled from the other side of her, his hands on his knees as he glared at her.

"I haven't the slightest clue what you mean, baka," Kagome mumbled, blushing as she looked at the 'Watery' card.

"You're gonna bring back some of those weird ninja things, aren't you!" the man growled, making Clow blink.

"'Ninja things'?" he asked, and the woman sighed.

Clow watched as she turned her honey brown eyes to him, and felt a sigh escape his lips when he felt all of her attention shift to him.

"You...practice a different kind of magic than that of miko, so it's entirely possible you'll figure it out on your own. You seem almost like an alchemist anyhow," she smiled, and he chuckled.

"I practice rather unorthodox magics, it's true," he acknowledged, smiling down at her, smirking in satisfaction when a blush engulfed her face and she turned back to the cards.

"Fire melts sand. That is all I will give you," she said, holding up the fire element card for him to see, making him blink.

"Does it now?" he said thoughtfully, grasping the hand that held 'Firey' and placing a kiss on her wrist.

"You bend time in a way that I cannot, Kagome. But for you...I shall create 'Time'," the sorcerer said, and held out his hand.

Kagome stared at him for a moment, before putting her hand within his, and was shocked to feel the ripple of magic between their hands. She pulled her hand away quickly, and watched as the form of a card shimmered into being within her hand. She watched as the form of an old man holding an hour glass stared up at her calmly, before he turned to look at clow, and became an illustration.

"I shall need to examine what information you have given me, my Lady Kagome," Clow murmured, before vanishing in a swirl of wind.

The group all stared at Kagome, who just sat there in shock, staring at 'Time', not even noticing that the four elements had vanished from her hands with Clow.

VI