Walk a Moon in Her Moccasins
By Mei-Mei* * *
Hi, everyone. I'm new to the fanfiction world, so I'm very open to constructive criticism!! Please R+R!! Also, I'm looking for a better title for this fic, so please share your ideas.
Disclaimer: None of these characters or trademarked items are mine; they are belong to their respective copyright owner, i.e. CLAMP, Nelvana, etc.
Author's Note: I KNOW they didn't really capture the Sand Card this way, but I was just taking some creative license here, k?
* * *In the dimly lit kitchen, Li Syaoran shuffled to the hard wooden chair and plopped down with a sigh, plunking his mug of tea down on the oak table. His shoulders slumped and he leaned forward, deeply inhaling the steam wafting from the mug. He leaned back with another sigh. It had been a long day. Even though Sakura's magic was growing stronger, they had failed to capture the Sand Card again. Syaoran was not used to failure.
He had other worries as well. Since Meiling had returned to Hong Kong, life had been, almost, well…boring. And Sakura…well, he was too tired to go through that complicated mess of feelings again.
Knock, knock, knock. "What the…?" Syaoran looked up, startled. "I'm coming!" he called softly, almost knocking over his chair in a hasty effort to reach the front door of the apartment. He turned the knob, opening the door just a crack, when…
Whoosh! The door flew open. A flash of red and black was all that Syaoran saw as the visitor attacked him, pinning his arms to his sides. Raven hair whipped at his face as his ears were pierced with the scream, "SYAORAN!"
"Wha…Huh…Meiling??" Bewildered, Syaoran struggled to free himself from her grasp. He grabbed her shoulders, pulling her back so he could look at her.
"Oh, Syaoran, I'm so happy to see you!" She finally released him. "I know you weren't expecting me, but the Elders thought it was for the best, and…"
"Shhh, Meiling, Wei's asleep," he managed, numbly closing the door. "What are you doing here?"
She was making herself comfortable on the sofa, taking off her red traveling cloak. Her brown carpetbag was at her feet. "Well, Syaoran, the Elders thought that you could use some support, so you weren't so lonely, and I was perfect for the job. You need me so much more than they do!" She paused and peered at him with her ruby eyes. He was still staring in shock. "Aren't you happy I'm here?"
He startled out of his daze. "Wha…oh, of course I am," smiling hastily, "It's just a really big surprise, and I…it's been a long day." He suppressed a yawn. "Let's go to bed, and we can talk about this in the morning."
"Sure!" said Meiling brightly. "See you in the morning, Syaoran!" With one last hug, she cavorted down the hall towards the spare bedroom, bag and cloak in tow.
Syaoran sank down into the couch with a sigh.
* * *
"Syaoran! Wake up! It's time for school!"
Syaoran opened his eyes a few centimeters to see a pair of huge ruby eyes staring back at him, inches from his face. "Ahh!…oh, hi Meiling." He struggled to recall the events of last night…Meiling was back…the Elders had sent her…
Meiling straightened up. "Good morning, Syaoran!" She was already dressed in her Tomeoda uniform. "I made you breakfast."
He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Gee, thanks, Meiling."
She started to leave but paused in the doorway. "Hurry up, slowpoke, we've got a lot to catch up on." With that impish smile of hers, she turned and left, shutting the door behind her.
Syaoran smiled in spite of himself and began pulling on his uniform.
Meiling was sitting at the table when Syaoran came out. She had already eaten. She placed a bowl in front of him when he sat facing her. "Eat up, Syaoran, before it gets cold."
Syaoran felt awkward, eating while she just sat there smiling at him. He put his chopsticks down. "Meiling, why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
Her smile quavered. "You're not happy I'm here?"
"Of course I am, Meiling, but why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, it was really spur-of-the-moment; I didn't even have time to pack. The Elders just kind of decided, and …" she trailed off. Syaoran was staring hard at her. She looked down. "And I was afraid you wouldn't let me come because I would just be in the way again," she finished in a small voice.
Then she lifted her head defiantly, ruby eyes glistening with unshed tears. "But the Elders told me to!"
"Shh, Meiling, it's okay. I really am glad you're back. I guess I just don't like surprises as much as you do." He gave her one of his rare smiles.
The smile returned to her face as she blinked away the tears. "We're going to be late," she admonished, rising from her chair. "I'll pack your lunch."
Meiling was clinging to his arm with a triumphant grin when they entered the door of classroom 5-2. Kinomoto would know she was back to claim what was hers.
Sakura was sitting at her desk, chatting with Tomoyo. She lifted her head to greet Syaoran and…her jaw dropped. She stared blankly for a few seconds, her eyes shifting between the two. "Meiling?"
Meiling tossed her hair. "Hmph. I told you I'd be back, Kinomoto."
Syaoran sighed. That old rivalry again.
Recovering, Sakura jumped up and rushed to embrace Meiling. "Wow! It's so great that you're back! Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" She was too excited to notice Meiling's overwhelmed look. She turned to Syaoran. "Why didn't you tell us she was coming?"
Syaoran was a taken back. "Hey, I didn't know myself!"
Tomoyo rose and bowed slightly. "Welcome back, Meiling," she said, smiling politely.
Others had noticed the commotion. The students circled around Meiling.
"Nice to have you back, Meiling," exclaimed Rika.
"Glad to see you again," enthused Chiharu.
In the center of the cluster, Meiling was clearly enjoying all the attention, smiling proudly and still clinging to Syaoran, who looked less than enthusiastic. He breathed a large sigh of relief when Tereada-sensei entered, because the students took their seats and he was able to escape to his desk.
Syaoran and Sakura both found it very hard to concentrate on schoolwork that day.
Lunch seemed shorter than usual. There was so much to talk about! The foursome sat and chatted under the sakura tree while eating. Sakura wanted to know how the Li clan was doing, why Meiling was back, if she had continued studying martial arts, and on and on. Meiling, in turn, was very eager to know the status of the cardcaptoring.
"It's going alright," said Sakura, smiling tentatively. "Except for…"
"Except for what?" Meiling pounced.
"Well, we were doing fine until the Sand Card showed up two days ago," said Syaoran. "We've tried to capture it twice, but, it was just…too powerful." He looked away.
Meiling jumped to her feet. "Well, I'm here now so that Sand Card better watch out! We'll catch those Clow Card twice as fast as before!"
Sakura giggled. "It's good to have you back, Meiling."
* * *
Well, what did ya think? I know the beginning's not that great, but keep reading!! It gets better, I promise!