Hello everybody. I just had a great idea for a CCS/Young Wizards crossover. ~Pauses~ Well, I think it's great anyway. Oh go on. Laugh. Everyone else does. I know I've been putting off a lot of other stories. ~People cheer~ Well, honestly. They aren't that bad. Anyway, I think this is my best one yet. Please review.

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"Tadaima!" Nita called out as she walked in the door and dropped her backpack.

Her family looked at her uncomprehendingly.

"It's Japanese for 'I'm home'," explained Nita, grabbing an apple out of the bowl. "I'm practicing for when Kit and I begin our assignment."

"What assignment?" asked her mom.

Nita hesitated. "Um. . . it's a wizard's assignment. We just found out about someone in Japan that needs help. She's about to become a wizard and needs guidance that she can't get from trial and error. The manual was a bit vague about what needs to be done, but we definitely need to go. The tickets are already paid for," she added hurriedly.

Her parents looked less than pleased, to say the least. "Honey," said her mother in concern, "I don't think you should go. Remember what happened in Ireland?"

''Mom, you don't understand. The Powers want us to go and are going to arrange it somehow. We can't turn down an assignment. It's our job to make sure things go the way they should." Nita was feeling desperate. She didn't want to go against her parents' wishes, but no wizard could turn down a job without good reason and 'My parents won't let me' was not a good reason.

"I know, I know, Neets." Her mom sighed and grinned ruefully. "At least school will be out in a few days for summer vacation." Her expression became suspicious. "When were you planning on telling us anyway?"

"After I talked to Carl," she answered nervously. And asked him if he had some time to sell she added silently.

"I suppose there's no stopping you," her dad said wryly.

"When are you leaving?" questioned her sister, Dairine, who was putting the milk away.

"In five days. Isn't it exciting?" said Nita.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Dairine told her seriously, "but I can't come with you. I guess you'll just have to find a way to deal without my expertise."

Nita rolled her eyes and turned to her parents.

"You'll understand if I never come back, right?"

~*~

Sakura Kinomoto was lying under a sakura tree in the park, gazing up at the petals. A gentle breeze blew, toying with her hair. She tucked an excess strand behind her ear and sighed.

What did the dream mean? she wondered. It's important, I know.

It had started with a book, one more powerful than Create. But it didn't look like anything special. Then there were images of many people, but the only ones she recognized were herself, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Eriol on one side of a chess board. In the background she saw Touya and her father. And on the other side of the board there was a great, shapeless evil leading a group of creatures. There were few humans. In fact there were few of any one race, but together they matched the number of people on the opposite side. As they stormed across the board the stench of rot and decay flooded her senses. And that was when she had screamed.

I don't want to have anything to do with it, she thought fiercely. I'm taking a break. That's why I sent Kero and Yue with Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun to China for a vacation.

All of a sudden she heard a voice say, "Sakura?" and Syaoran appeared in her view.

"Hoe!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Are you okay?" asked Syaoran in a rare show of concern.

"Hai. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing important," Sakura lied. "What are you doing?"

"I was walking to the bookstore. Do you want to come?" asked Syaoran.

"Sure," agreed Sakura.

Syaoran helped her up.

"Arigato," she said and brushed herself off. "Are you okay Syaoran? You look red."

"Hai, I-I'm f-fine," stuttered Syaoran blushing as red as a tomato.

Sakura shrugged. "Okay then. Let's go."

They walked in companionable silence for a couple blocks until they reached the store. Once they were inside they split up and went in different directions. After fifteen minutes they met in front of the register.

"What did you find?" asked Syaoran.

Sakura showed him the book. It looked old, but it was in pristine condition. The title read 'So You Want to Be a Wizard.'

It was the book from her dream. She knew it. It pulled at her and that made her nervous.

"Let's invite Eriol and Tomoyo over tomorrow. Then we could all read it together," suggested Sakura. If anyone knew about it, Eriol would. And she couldn't leave out her two friends. Besides, Syaoran made her feel stronger, more confident in herself.

"Sure, if you want," agreed Syaoran confused.

Sakura gathered together all of her courage and gave Syaoran a quick hug.

"Arigato," she said hurrying home leaving him standing there, blushing madly.

~*~

"So why did you want us here, Sakura?" asked Tomoyo.

"I wanted to show you guys this book I got yesterday," said Sakura cheerfully. She studied Eriol carefully, but he didn't seem to think the book was unusual.

"Whoops!" she exclaimed as the book fell from her hands. Eriol picked it up and looked at the page it had fallen open to.

"Listen to this," he said in a puzzled voice. "'In Life's name, and for Life's sake, I assert that I will employ the Art which is Its gift in Life's service alone.'" He stopped as something tugged at his senses.

"Don't stop in the middle of it!" exclaimed Tomoyo. "Here." She took the book out of his hands.

"'I will guard growth and ease pain. I will fight to preserve what grows and lives well in its own way;'" she read. Then she paused as a strange silence descended around her. The noise others made seemed far away and unimportant.

"What is it with you guys? Give me the book," demanded Syaoran and he began reading. "'and I will change no object or creature unless its growth and life, or that of the system of which it is part, are threatened or threaten another.'"

He paused and looked around for the unfamiliar power he had sensed. Sakura, who was looking over his shoulder, finished the last sentence.

"'To these ends, in the practice of my Art, I will ever put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is fit to do so - looking always toward the Heart of Time, where all our sundered times are one and all our myriad worlds lie whole, in That from Which they proceeded....'"

The words seemed to be speaking instead of Sakura and as she neared the end her voice slowed and quieted until she ended barely above a whisper.

The tension slowly drained away until the group sat limply inthe various chairs and couches.

"What just happened?" asked Syaoran tiredly.

"Well, my dear descendant, perhaps we should read the book and find out," suggested Eriol cheerfully. Well as cheerfully as you could be when your glasses hung askew, you didn't have the strength to fix them, and it felt like gravity had been multiplied by about 100.

Syaoran didn't have the strength to do more than glare at the half reincarnation. "Come over here so I can strangle you," he said gritting his teeth.

"Syaoran, that's not nice," admonished Sakura.

He blushed bright red and muttered something incomprehensible.

Eriol smirked and Tomoyo giggled and exerted great effort to train the camera on Syaoran.

"Kawaii," she murmured focusing the camera first on Syaoran and then on Sakura.

"Hoooeeee," said Sakura looking confused.

*~*

"Whose bright idea was it to make us catch the early flight?" asked Kit.

He and Nita were walking a bit ahead of tneir parents through the airport at 5:00 in the morning. Kit was carrying two suitcases and they looked heavy.

"You know, you don't have to pretend they're so heavy," said Nita as she tripped and almost fell head first into a chair.

"Who's pretending, Clutz?" asked Kit. "They are heavy. You should have heard my mother when I was packing." He tried to imitate his mother's voice. "Did you remember your sunscreen? I heard it can get hot in Japan. Don't forget sunglasses. Oh, and make sure to pack your bugspray. You know how bugs love you." He shook his head, at loss for words.

Nita giggled. "But what was wrong with a spell to make luggage lighter?" she questioned.

Kit looked thunderstruck and then sheepish. "Not one word," he told her. "Don't say anything or I will kill you."

Nita guffawed as he recited the spell silently, but then she had used up all of her energy and shuffled on, as sleepy as ever.

After what seemed like forever they finally reached their gate.

"I feel like I conquered Sweden," muttered Kit as he flopped down on a chair.

Nita didn't waste her breath talking.

"I'm going to get something to drink, anyone else want something?" asked Mr. Callahan, coming up behind them.

"Caffeine," said Nita in a muffled voice, fluttering her hand weakly.

Everyone else gave him their order and sat down to wait.

At about 7:00 they boarded the plane. Their parents looked worried, but there wasn't anything they could do about it.

"Try not to get into too much trouble," said Nita's mother as they hugged.

"I'll try Mom, Dad," said Nita. She turned to see Kit being talked to in a steady flow of Spanish. Finally Kit extricated himself and joined her.

"What was that about?" asked Nita as they waved sadly one last time before boarding.

"Last minute instructions," replied Kit wearily as they turned to go.

"Ah."

"So what's the schedule, Neets?" asked Kit.

"We'll stop in Seattle for an hour before continuing on to Japan," she told him as they got settled in their seats. Nita took the window seat and Kit sat next to her. "How long does it take to get to Seattle, anyway?" asked Nita.

"About six hours."

"Okay," said Nita, glad that she had thought to bring a few books.

Kit began an animated conversation with the plane (silently, of course) and Nita drifted off to sleep. When she awoke they were halfway there.

"They just announced that breakfast would be either an omelet or a cheese blintz," Kit informed her.

"Arigato," she said absently.

"You're welcome," he said. "Hey, I found a quickee language spell. You just have to input what language and for how long. But you also need an object from that country."

"So we can't use it 'til we get there," stated Nita in disappointment.

Kit shook his head morosely. "Nope," he confirmed.

"Crud."

Just then the stewardess brought by the breakfast cart. "What'll you be having?" she asked with a smile.

"Cheese blintz," said Nita.

"Same here," said Kit.

Nita picked at her meal trying to discern what it was. Finally, she tried a tiny bite.

"I guess it's okay," said Nita doubtfully. "But where's the cheese?" She tasted only apple, cherry, and the dough.

Kit looked a bit sick after trying the scrambled eggs that came with it. "Why don't we be grateful that it isn't there?" he suggested.

*~*

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" groaned Syaoran.

"Well, from the looks of it, these Powers That Be thought that our prior knowledge of and ability to do magic would help greatly, we've taken an Oath without knowing about anything, become wizards, and agreed to a strenuous and deadly Ordeal where survival chances are exactly 71.2521%," summed up Eriol with cheerfulness that got on Syaoran's nerves, just as he had intended.

"The question was rhetorical, Hiiragizawa," Syaoran said, giving him his famous death glare. It didn't work very well on Eriol, who just smirked.

"Alright. That's enough you two," Tomoyo cut in. "Let's figure out what to do first."

"Let's try the Copy-Cat spell so that we can each have a manual," suggested Syaoran.

"Good idea, Syaoran!" exclaimed Sakura. "But who's going to read it? None of us knows anything about the Speech."

"The spell isn't too long and there's a pronunciation guide after the Oath," said Tomoyo. "I could do it, but it will be a bit slow."

"Don't worry about it, Tomoyo," said Sakura. "I know you'll do a good job."

Tomoyo flashed her a grateful smile and began reading, flipping constantly between the pronounciation guide and the spell. It seemed to them as if, as soon as the Speech was spoken, many different presences leaned in closer wanting to hear the words that seemed to speak to the soul.

As soon as she finished reciting there were three soft 'pop' sounds and three other books appeared on the table next to the original book.

Tomoyo stared for a moment before letting out a glad shriek. "Having magic is so much fun!" she shouted.

Eriol and Sakura laughed and even Syaoran had to crack a smile.

*~*

"Finally," said Nita as she stood up and stretched. They had arrived in Seattle. "My legs were falling asleep."

"Yeah," said Kit. He looked a bit ill. "I knew I shouldn't have had that sausage."

"Serves you right," said Nita unsympathetically. "Didn't you learn anything last time at the Crossings?"

Kit groaned as they walked up the ramp into the airport. "Don't remind me."

"What time does the plane leave for Japan?" asked Nita, changing the subject.

Kit glanced at his watch. "Twelve. That gives us about an hour."

They began walking toward their gate.

As they were about to check in they heard on the loudspeaker, "If anyone would like to give up two seats for this family to be able to travel, we have a plane leaving tomorrow at noon."

Nita and Kit exchanged glances and nodded. Wanting to help others was part of what had made them suitable for wizardry.

Later, after exchanging tickets and calling home to tell of the change of plans, the two partners sat down in an available seat and sighed.

"What do we do now?" asked Nita.

Just then a tall, nervous looking girl with straight brown hair and green eyes came up to them.

"Are you Christopher Rodriguez and Juanita Callahan?" she asked.

"Yes," Nita replied cautiously.

"Oh good," she said looking relieved. "I mean, dai stiho. I'm Kimberly."

"Dai," said Nita. "Call me Nita."

"And I'm Kit."

"Come with me," said Kimberly. "I was sent to take you to the Red Lion Inn. Carla wanted to tell you about something unexpected that happened, that may make your assignment easier or more difficult, it's hard to say. Then I could take you sightseeing or something. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we felt it necessary for you to know. Do you have all of your stuff?"

"Yes," answered Kit.

"Then let's go. Here are the coordinates for Carla's room," she said showing it to them.

They arrived within minutes and were met by a tall energetic lady. She had short red hair and bright green eyes.

"Dai stiho," she said warmly. "Would you like something to drink? Pop, water, juice...."

"I'll have some water," said Kit. The other two nodded in agreement.

After they had gotten settled Carla began talking.

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but we felt you had to know about the change in your assignment."

Nita and Kit listened attentively.

"Originally you were only supposed to guide Sakura Kinomoto, but her friends have taken the Oath as well. Now you have three others to guide besides her. Syaoran Li, an exchange student from Hong Kong, Eriol Hiiragizawa, an exchange student from England, and Tomoyo Daidouji, Sakura's best friend, daughter of Sonomi. They have been adjusting to this remarkably well. The manual suggests a prior use of magic, but we can't know for sure. You must teach them about wizardry, as much as you can. They'll need the knowledge soon. Especially the Speech, and a wizard learns faster when taught by one more experienced." She finished her explanation and watched for their reaction.

They looked at each other.

"Well, I think this is more interesting than anything we've done before," stated Kit.

"And bound to be more dangerous, life-threatening, and ultimately more satisfying," sighed Nita.

"Great! When do they start?" asked Kimberly with fake enthusiasm, pretending to look forward to it.

They laughed.

"So what do you guys want to do?" asked Kimberly.

Kit shrugged.

"There's the Spaceneedle, Science Center, Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center...."

"How about the Spaceneedle and then the Science Center?" suggested Nita.

"Sounds good," said Kit.

"Okay."

They waved goodbye to Carla and disappeared.

They reappeared on top of the Spaceneedle.

Nita yelped and grabbed on to anything to keep her from falling.

Kimberly quickly finished the Sticky Finger spell that she had prepared so that no one would be in danger of falling off.

"Cool spell," Kit commented.

Once Nita had calmed down they sat back and enjoyed the view.

"There's Safeco Field. And down there's the Science Center. That's where we're headed next."

They popped down there when they finished looking around. Kit was fascinated with the robots, while Nita found herself liking the Imax theater and dinosaurs.

*~*

The next day they arrived at the airport at 10:00 Pacific Time. They had spent the day before sightseeing and taking pictures.

"Well, it's been fun," said Kit awkwardly as they prepared to board the airplane.

"I'm glad we got to stay," Nita agreed.

"Come and visit again. I can show around. You can meet some of my friends," suggested Kimberly.

"Maybe we'll stop on the way back."

"Give my regards to Sakura," said Kimberly.

"You know her?" asked Nita in surprise.

"Yes, and I can see why the Powers wanted her whole team. She tips the scale in our favor," said Kimberly.

Nita and Kit looked puzzled, but didn't press for information.

They waved to their new friend as they walked toward the plane and a new assignment.