Title: sister's keeper
Rating: PG (minor swearing)
Characters: C!World!Touya, C!Sakura. Mentions of Syaoran/Sakura and Touya/Yukito
Summary: It's a brother's duty to protect his sister and make her happy. Sometimes he has to choose between one or another. The story of Touya from C!Sakura's reincarnation universe, and the choices a brother has to make.
AN: One thing that interested me at the end of Tsubasa was the alternate universe into which C!Syaoran and C!Sakura were born, and in particular the mention of their families. Which made me wonder about that alternate version of Touya, and what he thought of the whole thing. Because Touya is Touya, and sealing his little sister in an alternate dimension will not make him happy.
sister's keeper
0
Touya has magic. It's brutal and strong and manifests in portents and a deep-ingrained intuition that will never be proven wrong.
When he's six years old, he has a dream that shapes the rest of his life.
A tall man with dark hair, dressed in deep blue robes, stands before him. His face is younger than Touya's father, but the graveness of his expression adds years to it.
Touya doesn't like him, but anything that this man says, Touya knows he will believe.
"You have a baby sister coming," says the man, his eyes closed behind his glasses. "Are you excited?"
Touya shrugs. He is, but doesn't feel the need to actually come out and say it, especially not to a man who already knows everything about Touya at a glance.
"You'll be a good big brother to her, won't you, Touya-kun?" asks the man, looking over his glasses at Touya in a way that reminds him uncomfortably of Fujitaka. He can feel the power within this man, and the fine chains that this man has constructed to restrain such power.
Outside of dreams, when people ask him that question, Touya simply rolls his eyes and hms a noise of confirmation.
But the question is very important to this man. Beneath the calm there is a slight, desperate hope that must be soothed.
"Yes, I will." Touya says instead.
"Promise," he adds.
The man smiles with something like relief.
"I agree. You are very much a protector, eh, Touya-kun?" One long, pale hand ruffles Touya's hair. "Your sister has a very important task ahead of her. Always be a good brother to her, Touya-kun. Even when you don't want to be."
And with those ambiguous parting words, the man vanishes, and Touya awakens.
0
Sakura is the most adorable creature to ever grace the face of the Earth, with the prettiest eyes and the sweetest disposition.
There is nothing she can't do with a beaming smile and good heart.
There is also something that is very definitely off about her.
It will be years before Touya understands why, exactly, this is so. But he doesn't question her oddness. The man in blue reappears every now and then, praising his behavior, and telling him to keep up the good work as Sakura's big brother.
In some ways, it's a lot harder than he thought it would be. Sakura sometimes scares him, the way her eyes unfocus, staring out the window for hours at nothing, and when she turns to look at him and doesn't to realize he's there.
It's unnerving, and it makes him harsh, trying to keep her from acting so strange. He teases her, to jolt her out of her spells and back to normal. Sometimes he makes her cry. He always apologizes afterwards, and she always accepts his apologies, but it never feels quite right.
0
After Sakura starts her schooling, things get better. She makes friends; three girls who couldn't be more different in temperament or be closer to each other. She is still dreamy, still unfocused, but it's better now, and Touya finds himself relaxing, after years of uptight, alert brothering.
Besides, he has his own life to live. He is the soccer star. One of the top students in his grade. And in high school he meets Yuki.
Yuki is unlike anyone Touya has ever known. Yuki is sweet, good-natured, and wields a magic stronger than Touya's.
It's a little odd, realizing he's in love with Yuki. He tells Yuki so and, fortunately, Yuki responds in kind. His parents are completely accepting of his relationship, and adore Yuki wholeheartedly.
Touya's personal life is certainly enviable.
But then Sakura is fourteen, and goes on her first school trip.
To Hong Kong.
When she returns home, Touya can see the change before she even opens her mouth. Her eyes are brighter, her smiles are even sweeter, and she laughs, light and giddy and beautiful.
She tells them she met someone in Hong Kong.
A boy.
She's practically glowing.
Li Syaoran.
Touya hates him before he even hears the name.
Touya's magic is not so powerful as to see visions, but he can predict the pivotal role this Li boy will play in Sakura's life and doesn't want his little sister to have anything to do with him.
He can guess that this boy is the reason for Sakura's early strangeness.
But he's a good big brother. And big brothers protect their little sisters; they don't smother them. They don't make them unhappy.
So Touya clamps down on his feelings and watches Sakura in love.
Sakura writes to the boy every day, sometimes more than one letter, and spends the rest of the time waiting anxiously for replies. And every day, they are waiting in the mailbox.
Touya comes to resent the neat characters, both Chinese and Japanese, decorating the envelopes.
0
When Li Syaoran first visits the Kinomoto household, Touya's hatred takes on dimensions.
It isn't the boy's personality: he is pleasant, if reserved.
It isn't his manners: they are exquisite, particularly in regards to Sakura. If Sakura's muddled explanations are to be believed, they are the result of Li's education as the son and heir of an extremely wealthy and revered family.
It isn't even the magic: the only unsettling element of the boy's magic is that it is disturbingly like the magic of the man in blue.
Yuki puts it best, while they watch Li and Sakura interact from a distance.
"It isn't that Li-san and Sakura-chan are alike at all in personality," he comments, keeping one hand pressed on Touya's shoulder when Li presents Sakura with the gift of a rabbit doll, and she thanks him with a kiss. "But they seem like such kindred spirits, eh?"
Touya understands what that means far better than Yuki does.
The aura that sets Sakura apart from the rest of the world also possesses Li. Touya believes in soulmates, and even if he didn't, the way their auras mingle, without the couple even being aware of it, confirms his growing suspicions. Even though they have only been together physically in the same place twice, they share an intimacy far beyond anything Touya could have expected.
He hates it. He realizes that this boy will take Sakura away from him, make her vulnerable, and that he, Touya, is expected to stand aside and let it happen.
Because a good brother lets his sister have her happiness.
And this boy would make her happy.
0
The pair marries right after high school. Touya isn't entirely sure how the arrangements are made, what with the Li clan being rather too powerful and important to let a nameless, if sweet Japanese girl become the wife of the heir, but he suspects that most of it has to do with hitsuzen. Magic runs deep in Clow Reed's relatives, and hitsuzen is no mere superstition to be brushed aside.
He knows a lot more these days about magic and Clow Reed than he ever wanted to know. Spending time in Hong Kong means he has become well acquainted with the dead magician and his legacy. He remembers the dream from childhood, and wonders briefly but irritably if the magician, who apparently had a whimsical turn of mind, was simply matchmaking from beyond the grave, rather than preparing Sakura for something great.
Touya doesn't cry at her wedding, and Sakura's joy is such that he finds it within himself to smile and mean it when he wishes her happiness with her husband.
But during the reception, he makes sure to pull the groom away from his fellows.
He drags the boy out into the great hall, directly in front of Clow Reed's portrait, which Touya believes is only appropriate.
"I don't like you, and I probably never will." he tells Li (no, Syaoran) off the bat. The boy, now a man, inclines his head in acknowledgement. He is still reserved, still grave. But he loves Sakura. That's all Touya needs to know.
Touya takes a deep breath.
"I wish she wasn't getting married now. But she loves you, and you love her. I will never say anything to her about it. Take care of her to the best of your ability, and I will be satisfied."
His gaze doesn't waver—Touya will give Syaoran that much, at least.
"I promise." Syaoran says in response, and nothing more. But his fervency, and the conviction in his eyes, satisfies Touya's remaining doubts.
That night, he watches as his little sister leaves her old life behind.
0
In time, there is a baby.
Complications occur, and despite Sakura's letters and phone calls to the contrary, the family worries. Touya's magic is enough to sense that she is not in danger, but the circumstances make him uneasy.
The child arrives: a son.
The news is joyous, but there is an undercurrent of sorrow in the couple's words.
Yuki notices Touya's mood. He doesn't say anything, doesn't try to ask what's wrong. But he stays by Touya's side, and it is better, at least for a little while.
0
Touya only sees his sister a few times a year. He doesn't talk much with his nephew, though from what he can see, the boy is strong and happy.
However, the familial aura is entirely too strange. The bonds, of magic and otherwise, which connect the Head's family do not make sense, do not follow normal patterns.
He tries not to think too deeply about such troubling facts. But his subconscious puts the pieces of the puzzle into place when he is sleeping. When Clow Reed appears and waves his scepter, the dream presents the answer, and it is almost more than Touya can bear.
His little sister was never meant to exist as she does. Neither was Syaoran. And yet their son, their child, is also the very reason for their existence in the first place. This child who is also Syaoran.
The only thing that Touya can understand from the situation is that there is malevolent force in the world that is fucking up the universe, especially when he learns that in order to save it; the boy must perpetuate the crisis in the first place.
It gives him a headache.
Confronting Sakura doesn't help. She hides nothing from him, and helps his understanding of the situation. But the resigned composure throughout her person enrages him. Why should his sister have to suffer? Why will she do this, when the time comes for it?
"Hitsuzen," she says, her eyes sad, but her expression calm. "We must find a way to break the cycle. Our other selves can do that. Yuuko-san has given us a life together. Now, we must help our other selves find the same peace."
Touya can't bring himself to say what he thinks about that.
What about your family? He pleads silently. What about your life with us?
"I love you, nii-san. Don't ever think I don't," Sakura's voice falters, and she hugs him tightly. "But we need to set things right."
0
" 'S not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more," he half-quotes half-slurs at Yuki in a nearby bar, disoriented and more intoxicated than he has ever been in his life, and it's still not enough to lessen the heaviness weighing on his soul, dragging at his innards. "Jus' replace the names, and 's a perfect match."
"I'm not sure that applies in this case, To-ya," says Yuki, gently taking the bottle out of his hands and pushing a cup of water in its place.
"More 'r less," Touya grumbles, "She still picks 'im. And I'm gonna help her."
He knows that absolutely. He knows as he has known these past twenty-some years, when he dreamed of a mysterious man who asked him to be the best big brother he could, in the best way he knew how. He hasn't failed so far.
Yuki simply rests Touya's head on his shoulder, one hand running through his hair. He understands, even if he is not happy.
No one's happy with what's coming.
0
When the time comes, Touya takes the scepter to the Dimension Witch. The woman holds the same sorrow in her eyes as Sakura does, but says nothing against their transaction. He follows his sister's every instruction to the letter, and does not question them.
When her aura vanishes from the world entirely, Touya does nothing. He restrains himself carefully, and tells Yuki that he will be fine.
He doesn't know what to tell his parents, frantic when they learn that their daughter and her family vanished into thin air.
Perhaps they already know.
What should he tell them if they don't?
0
The night Sakura disappears, Clow Reed reappears in Touya's dreams. He looks tired and older and sad, despite the smile on his face.
"Thank you, Touya. You've done well."
"No thanks to you," says Touya. His arms are crossed, and he glares at this man who has taken so much from him.
The man only sighs. "That is more true than you know, Touya-kun."
Touya can feel the man's guilt and grief—it roils about him, interwoven with every bare strand of power he possesses. He knows, as one always knows in a dream, that this man is part of the core of the problem which his sister must unravel.
"I want her back, when this is all over," Touya's voice is calm. He's being reasonable.
"I cannot promise anything, Touya-kun," says Clow Reed, gently. "I can put the events in order; I can do my best to give them an easier journey. But I cannot set up the conclusion we want. That is for them, and their companions, to decide."
Touya says nothing. The desperation, the fear he has been keeping locked away is cresting. Everything feels heavy; the blackness surrounding them both is welling up, dark colors bleeding through.
"I don't care that she was a clone, you know, and should never have been born." he says, his voice thick. "She's still my sister. She belongs in this world."
"I am not saying she doesn't. If it makes you feel any better," says Clow, quietly. "There is more than one Touya, watching over her. More than one Fujitaka. More than one Yukito."
He smiles, truly.
"There are things I cannot do, Touya-kun. But, there is a small spell that might help you, when you miss your sister the most."
As he speaks, Clow starts to fade away at the edges, fraying right before Touya's eyes.
"What is it?" he asks desperately.
"Everything will be all right. A small spell, but sometimes it is the smallest spells that hold the most power. " Clow closes his eyes, still smiling as he fades to nothingness, leaving Touya alone in the black.
"Everything will be all right," he whispers.
A plea. A prayer. A wish.
It's all he has to give, now.
0
end