Settling of Scores by firestar385. A Cardcaptor Sakura story.

Summary: An enemy from the past seeks revenge on Clow's reincarnation. Sakura and friends have to solve the mystery before history repeats itself for Eriol.

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing the Cardcaptor Sakura characters, who belong to CLAMP. Plot and original characters belong to me. None of this is making me any money. Any similarities to other works is strictly a coincidence. All mistakes are mine.

Please read the Author's Notes at the end of the chapter for special information concerning this work.

CHAPTER ONE

Eriol Hiiragizawa set down the letter with a shaky hand before removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes squeezed shut. He concentrated on breathing deeply until he could think calmly again, but what little peace he had managed to find was shattered when his over-energetic guardian flounced into the room, startling him.

"Guess what, Eriol!" Ruby Moon exclaimed, skipping over to the desk where he was seated. Eriol barely managed to slide the letter under a book by the time she reached his side. Without waiting for a reply, she continued, "Eddy Smith asked me to go on a date with him!" She clasped her hands together under her chin and her eyes were wide with excitement. For a moment Eriol was confused, but then he realized that it was not actually Ruby Moon he was talking to, but Nakuru Akizuki, his guardian's disguise. He also remembered that Eddy was her current love-interest, though they never lasted long with her. She fell in and out of love as easily as some people change their clothes. She was, however, fiercely loyal to her master.

Eriol mentally cursed himself as he tried to think of something intelligent to respond with. His current distraction, coupled with his decreased magic, often left him in situations where he was caught unawares. He hated it. He never wished to take back the magic he had given to Sakura's father, but right now he really wished he had most of it, still. For one of the first times in his life, he felt insecure.

As excited as she was about the cute British college student that she'd meet a few weeks ago, it didn't take Nakuru long to realize that something was bothering her master. Later, Spinel Sun would patronizingly inform her that something had been bothering Eriol for a while now, but she didn't pretend to be as observant as her feline counterpart.

"What's the matter, Eriol?"

"Oh, it's nothing. You just surprised me, is all," he answered, retrieving his glasses and putting them on so his guardian looked much less blurry. He was proud of himself for sounding much calmer than he felt.

Nakuru knew that it would be pointless to pressure him into talking to her. In all of the years since her creation, Eriol had never once caved in and told her more than he wanted to. Instead, she opted for the safe, "You know you can always talk to me."

"Thank you," he replied sincerely. "So, tell me about Eddy." He had never met the young man, but he was sure that by the time Nakuru was done talking about him, he'd feel like he'd known the other man for years.

When Nakuru finished her long-winded account of everything that Eddy had said or done the last time she'd seen him, she decided to leave Eriol alone, knowing that he valued his solitary time. Eriol pulled the letter back out and re-read the words, assuring himself that they hadn't changed in the past fifteen minutes. They hadn't; it was still the same confident, masculine handwriting that he was becoming alarmingly familiar with.

Clow Reed,

I become stronger every day. It will not be long now until I make my return,

and then I will destroy you as you failed to destroy me. I know that your magic is

weaker than it was before. You will not defeat me again.

Sincerely yours,

X

The stationary held the taint of strong, malicious magic that convinced Eriol that this was not some idle threat. Besides, no one who knew that he was Clow Reed's reincarnation would write him threatening letters. The magic stirred a memory of Clow's, but it was an incomplete one that Eriol couldn't make any sense of.

Just to make sure, Eriol looked again at the front of the envelope. As he suspected, it was addressed to Eriol Hiiragizawa.

It had been hard for the sorcerer to adjust to being Eriol again after his mission to help Sakura had completed. For so long he had been virtually consumed by Clow's soul and magic that he had nearly lost himself. After giving half of the magic to Fujitaka Kinomoto, Eriol had fallen back into himself. The past two years had been spent trying to reconstruct his true identity, separate from that of Clow, yet still strongly connected. He started to age again, but it was as if time had simply picked up where it left off - it did not try to catch up to where it should have been. Therefore, Eriol only looked fourteen, instead of the forty plus years he really was. To his annoyance, despite his mind's maturity and understanding, his body acted his age, so the sorcerer was being forced to suffer through puberty, just like his descendents. He was a constant source of amusement to Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon as his voice changed and his clumsiness increased. Sometimes he was suspicious that he was more accident-prone than his "cute little descendent."

Now, without the powerful comfort of Clow's complete magic, Eriol felt alone. He still had enough magic to defend himself and help others, but he didn't have the same confidence to deal with problems like he had when he'd been acting for Clow. He was therefore understandably rattled by this threat. He felt like a fourteen year-old trying to deal with the accumulated problems of a century or two-old adult.

Trying to ignore his rising paranoia for the moment, Eriol stood up and carried the letter towards the locked safe on the other side of the study. Within the safe were four other letters, each bearing a similarly cryptic message for Clow Reed in an envelope that was addressed to Eriol. Even as he walked he couldn't help looking fleetingly towards the windows and door.

In short, he was scared.

He was nearly half-way across the room when a sudden pain seemed to engulf him from the inside out. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to cry out or move his arms to catch himself before toppling to the hard wood floor. The last thing he heard before his entire world went black was the sound of a small explosion and crumbling brick.

"What's wrong?" Touya asked as Yukito stilled for a moment, looking lost. This happened enough that Touya knew Yue had noticed something that made him pause. It would only be a few seconds before Yukito would be able to explain.

Yukito blinked and shook his head slightly. "Did you say something, To-ya?"

"I asked you what happened," Touya informed him.

"Oh, I'm not sure." Yukito frowned. "I thought I sensed something, but now it's gone. It wasn't something very strong, anyway."

"Ah. Was it something magic?" Very rarely did Touya miss his ability to sense the presence of magic, but during times like these, he wished he could share the burden with Yukito. He didn't like it when his best friend looked upset.

"No, but it felt like it affected something magic."

"Sakura?"

"No, not Sakura. If anything had happened to her, I would have felt it acutely," Yukito assured him. "Besides, Kerberos is with her."

"Good."

"Yes, and I don't think it's something to worry about. There is so much magic in this world, and sometimes it fluctuates. That is probably all that happened," Yukito explained. Touya nodded. Both young men were able to easily forget about the strange occurrence and return to their dinner. Outside, the snow continued to fall without any indication of letting up soon.

Sakura swung her legs back and forth, letting the backs of her feet thud against the front of the sofa every few seconds. None of the other young people in the room seemed to notice, and if they did, no one made any comments. All were equally as worried as the Card Mistress. Or, asleep.

Syaoran slept deeply on the couch beside her. No one blamed him for falling asleep, as nothing exciting was happening in the house as they waited and he was struggling to recover from a nasty cold that had plagued him for over a week. Even now, his breathing sounded a little rough and his nose was pink from contact with too many tissues.

The other two people in the room were Tomoyo and Kero. Tomoyo was usually content to daydream, thinking up new costumes for her friends and how to best edit her new movies, but Sakura's tension and her own worry was distracting her. Besides that, she was having a difficult time deciding on what to make next for Syaoran. She thought the couple looked extremely cute when dressed in matching outfits, but Syaoran didn't always think that was the case and unlike Sakura, he would refuse to wear something he didn't like. In the two years that had passed since changing the last Sakura Card, she had gotten to know the boy much better, so was better able to gage his likes and dislikes. She was sure he wouldn't be too fond of the male version of Sakura's newest adorable outfit.

Kero, the animated plushie, was quietly mourning the lack of anything sweet to eat. He was mourning quietly since Sakura had scolded him for being greedy and loud. She didn't want him to wake up Syaoran and she was too concerned to care about his craving for sugar. Personally, Kero didn't care if he woke up the brat or not, but he didn't want to upset Sakura any more. He waited impatiently for Kinomoto Fujitaka to return with food, but the weather was keeping Sakura's father out later than normal.

The weather was the main reason that the three friends and the guardian were suffering from worry in the living room of Sakura's home. It was snowing hard, to the point of zero visibility, so it was too dangerous to try to travel. The weather hadn't been quite as bad when they'd arrived after school, but it had grown progressively worse as the evening progressed.

"It's almost snowing hard enough for this to be a card," Sakura commented, even though it was impossible for the weather to have come from a card; all of the cards were securely put away in her bedroom. "I'm worried about my dad." The last comment seemed non-sequitur, but each conscious person had already been thinking about where the single father could have disappeared to. It was now past the time that he would have arrived home, even with staying late at work and being delayed by the snow.

"Your father is very resourceful and smart, Sakura-chan. I'm sure he is fine," Tomoyo assured her.

"Thank you," Sakura said with a genuine smile. She loved to hear people say nice things about her loved ones.

Just then, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the house. Sakura jumped to her feet and darted out of the living room. The other two followed her, eager to see the man for themselves, and Kero wanted to make sure that the delayed man had brought food. He had never really been worried; as a creation of Clow, he would have known if something had happened to the magician's reincarnation. Sakura's father was still trying to shake the snow from his hair and coat when his daughter launched herself at him. He caught her with a laugh and pressed a wet kiss to her warm cheek.

"I'm so glad you're safe, Otou-san!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Thank you, Sakura-san." He released her down so he could removed his snow-covered shoes and hang up his coat, hat, and gloves. He then took inventory of the teenagers watching him expectantly. Two fourteen year-old girls and a floating plushie. He had expected there to be one more. "Where is Syaoran-kun?" Fujitaka asked his daughter. Despite the dislike that Touya pretended to have towards the tousled haired Chinese boy, Fujitaka genuinely liked the boy. That didn't stop him, however, from hoping that Sakura's infatuation with the boy was just a phase, much like her crush on Yukito had been. He ignored the fact that Sakura's feelings towards Syaoran hadn't changed in the two years since they'd admitted their love to each other.

"He is in the living room," Sakura answered.

"Ah," Fujitaka responded. "Well, shall I make some hot soup? I need to thaw on the inside, too, I believe."

"You just returned home, Otou-san!" Sakura protested. "I can make soup and Tomoyo-chan can help me."

"That would be wonderful," Fujitaka agreed. Sakura beamed at him and he couldn't help but smile in return.

"Come on, Tomoyo-chan! Let's make dinner." Now that she had a task to complete, and one that involved caring for her family, her worry was immediately forgotten and she had regained much of her positive energy. Tomoyo eagerly agreed to help, and the disguised guardian followed them, making numerous suggestions.

Fujitaka bypassed the kitchen and silently entered the living room. True to Sakura's word, the young Chinese sorcerer was within, still fast asleep. Fujitaka knew that the boy had been ill for awhile; the trio of friends had been spending a lot of time together at the Kinomoto house recently. At the Kinomoto house, everyone knew all about the cards, so they didn't have to be as secretive as they were around their classmates and Tomoyo's mother, and it was lonely at Syaoran's apartment. His mother had agreed to let him continue his schooling in Japan for a while longer, so Wei had also returned to act as a legal guardian. Besides that, Fujitaka liked having the couple close, where he could keep an eye on them.

A hand on Syaoran's forehead revealed that the boy's temperature had risen marginally again, and the fact that he didn't waken with the influx of a new magical energy coupled with that to make Fujitaka frown slightly. For the moment, he decided that it would be better for the boy to sleep than to wake him for dinner. Unlike when he had first started to get to know Syaoran, the teenager was too big to be picked up, so Fujitaka gently nudged his shoulder until Syaoran's bleary eyes cracked open to see who was bothering him. Two years ago, Syaoran would have snapped awake in a nervous fit to find Sakura's father leaning over him, but now he simply sighed sleepily and slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"You are home, Kinomoto-san," Syaoran murmured, trying to wrap his fuzzy mind around the fact that the long wait was over. He blinked a few times to clear his vision. Fujitaka sat down next to the teenager and took his turn being concerned. He had noticed over the years that the Chinese boy was much more susceptible to common illnesses than Sakura or Tomoyo, but usually Syaoran bounced back quickly and never let his temporary poor health slow him down. His current behavior was very out-of-the-ordinary.

"Hie," the older man replied.

The head of the Kinomoto family was still getting used to his own magic that had been returned to him at the end of Sakura's trials. It had been something familiar and foreign at the same time, though he was able to gain control of it more quickly than he might have been able to if he wasn't Clow's half-reincarnation. Taking a deep breath to control his emotions, Fujitaka placed one hand on Syaoran's forehead and used the other to grasp one of the teen's. Syaoran predictably tried to pull away, but Fujitaka was stronger. Connected like this, Fujitaka could literally see the boy's magical aura. It was diminished somewhat, no doubt from his physical weakness, but Fujitaka thought he caught a glimpse of something yellow tinting the edges of the green aura. As soon as he tried to focus on it, it was gone, and he couldn't glimpse it again. He quickly convinced himself that he had only imagined it, or that it was reflection of the light coming from the lamp behind the teenager. He pulled his hands back to himself.

"Have you taken any medicine recently?" Fujitaka questioned.

"Sakura-chan gave me something," Syaoran answered. He found the plastic cup that she had brought him the dark liquid in and handed it to Fujitaka. Sakura's father recognized the small remains of liquid and couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Syaoran asked suspiciously. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open and he didn't like it when people seemed to know something that he didn't.

"She gave you cold medicine that will also help you sleep, instead of the kind to help you stay awake," he explained, ruffling the back of the boy's hair. "Come, you should lay down some more to let the medicine wear off." He stood and pulled Syaoran to his feet as well.

"Sleep medicine?" Syaoran was not happy about that, despite knowing that Sakura wouldn't have done it on purpose. Sometimes she was just that oblivious. He absently let Fujitaka guide him towards the stairs that would lead upstairs. It took most of his concentration not to trip over his own feet.

Fujitaka had to pass by the dining room and kitchen to reach the stairs, so he paused briefly to tell Sakura and her friends that he was taking Syaoran upstairs. Sakura looked very worried to see her friend still looking so miserable, but Fujitaka assured her that it shouldn't be too long before Syaoran was well again. He also asked with a laugh, "Did you mean to give him the night-time medicine?"

"Hoe!" Sakura exclaimed, covering her O-shaped mouth with her hands. Tomoyo and Kero couldn't help but laugh at Sakura's shocked expression, though Tomoyo quickly stopped to assure Sakura that no harm would befall the Chinese sorcerer and remind her that their dinner was about to burn. Fujitaka left with Syaoran, taking the youth to Touya's old room, which was empty since Touya and Yukito had found an apartment together, closer to heart of Tokyo.

By the time Fujitaka had made sure Syaoran was comfortable in Touya's narrow bed and had returned downstairs, the steaming soup was ready to eat. After dinner, he would call Wei and Sonomi to let them know that their children were safe for the night. It would do no one any good to try to travel in the bad weather.

tbc...

Author's Note: Thanks for reading this far.

Here's the deal with this story. I said I wouldn't start posting this before it was done, but here it is, Chapter One. The reason I changed my mind is because I haven't worked on this story in a while. In fact, I've started a new story in the Inuyasha fandom. So what I'm going to do is post what I have of this story (23 completed chapters, a start on the 24th 75,000+ words) every so often to see if people are interested. If there seems to be an interest, I'll finish the story. If not, then it was fun writing, anyway.

Also, this story was not written with chapters. The "chapters" are every 5 pages or so, whenever there seemed to be a natural break in the story (or a good place for a cliffhanger). This said, some chapters may be longer and some shorter. Just a heads up.