The Elementals were immortal beings, ancient spirits that drifted endlessly from host to host. When one vessel passed, they would leave in search of another, carrying their power and purpose onward through the ages.
All except the Earth Elemental.
When Emma died, it did not move on.
Taking the form she had worn in life, the spirit settled beside her resting place and raised a sanctuary from stone, roots, and moss. A veil of emerald mist shrouded the land from the ravaged world beyond, hiding it from wandering eyes. At its heart stood a single orange blossom tree, untouched by war, untouched by time. No storm could break its branches. No fire could scorch its leaves. Beneath its boughs, Emma slept.
The Earth Elemental kept watch.
Waiting for someone who would never wake.
Only one living soul was permitted to enter the sanctuary.
The spirit remembered him well. It remembered the way Emma's voice softened whenever she spoke of him. The way she laughed at his jokes, her tender touches to his skin, the overwhelming love she felt in her heart for him. The way she trusted him without hesitation. To the Earth Elemental, Mikey had been precious to it's favorite host.
So the sanctuary opened its gates for him... and him alone.
Sometimes he came to tend the gardens that had grown around the tree, carefully trimming leaves and gathering fruit that would never spoil. Sometimes he simply sat beneath the blossoms, listening to the wind rustle through branches that never seemed to age.
He told Emma about the Resistance's victories. About their failures. About their family and friends. About the world they were still fighting so desperately to save.
Most of all, he told her how much he missed her.
How every victory felt a little hollow without her there to celebrate.
How every sunrise reminded him of another day she'd never get to see.
How he still caught himself looking for her in crowds.
"My angel," he would whisper, resting a hand against the roots of the tree.
Most days, the Earth Elemental sat with him in silence.
A silent guardian beside a grieving soul.
But on the days when Mikey's sorrow grew too heavy to bear, he would turn to the spirit and ask questions he already knew would never be answered.
"Does she know I was here?"
The Elemental never spoke.
It simply remained at his side, as steadfast as the stone beneath them.
And though Mikey never received an answer, he kept coming back.
Because in a world that had taken so much from him, this place was all he had left of her.
And perhaps that was why the Earth Elemental stayed as well.
Not to guard Emma's grave.
But to guard the people she had loved.
