Dedication: This is dedicated to my older sister, Freedom who wasted hours in teaching me Japanese and the proper way to introduce myself. Well, I'm still a long way from speaking fluent Nihongo, but I'll get there.

Well

Author: hitokiri_tomoe

Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura and respective characters all belong to CLAMP. This fanfiction has no intention on rights infringement.

It happened so slowly, and yet surely. Like man's steps towards Death's door. Steady, steady, unwavering. I looked at my cash box and saw the coins slowly vanish. I was living, but barely. My fortunes were no longer an interest to people. I was only a figure of the past; him' of the future. Him. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be facing poverty; I wouldn't be forced to face this harsh reality. I felt the hot tear roll down my cheek. And another. And another. My vision blurred and I had to blink rapidly, but the tears wouldn't go away. A handkerchief appeared in my line of vision and I turned quickly to see who it was. It was him. That hated being who took my business away. But why? Why did he smile at me so? And... Why did my heart suddenly quicken? I turned away from him. Walked away. I did not dare turn, for fear of--- fear of what? I didn't know, I just did not know...

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Daylight. Why did it have to come so soon? Again, I would have to subtract from my depleting funds. Breakfast. I could not do without. I would not be able to tell fortunes if I do not eat. Tell a fortune? Ha! Fat chance! I grabbed some coins and headed down.

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"A cup of sake..."

The shopkeeper handed me a brown paper bag, I handed her the coins and she waved them away. "Someone already paid for your purchase."

I gazed, astonished, at the shopkeeper. "Who is it?"

"He chooses to remain anonymous. He said you might give your purchase back if you knew. But, he is very handsome," the shopkeeper chuckled and I stuttered, "Th-thank you very much. Please, say this to him, too."

I headed out of the shop and saw him leaning on a pole, his long dark hair tied near the end of its length. Our eyes met. In that moment, I saw the universe reflected in his eyes and almost got lost in it, but I turned my eyes away. He tilted his head and smiled his strange, benign, beautiful smile.

"Good morning."

I only looked at him, and turned away, walked away, leaving his greeting unanswered. I did not look back. I could not.

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I sat on my chair, glumly staring at the basin of water in front of me. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and only two customers have had their fortunes read. Two! When I used to be flocked with people 'til nighttime! All because of him. My emotions rolled all over me and I had to fight the feeling of despair falling over me.

"May I have my fortune read?" a soothing male voice above me spoke.

I looked up and my breath caught in my throat. Him again. "Huh?"

He saw the tears on my cheeks and wiped them away with his thumb. I quickly turned my face away, cleared my throat, and he took a step back. I concentrated on the water and reading his fortune.

"What do you see?" he asked quietly into the silence.

"Cherry blossoms..."

"A book..."

"That's enough." He snapped his fingers and I lost the images in the water and blinked.

"W-what?" I asked quietly.

"You have very strong magic."

My response was a glare. "Let me prove it to you."

"What" he asked in that cultured voice of his.

"Clow Reed, I challenge you. I challenge you to a duel of magic!" I did not know that I have stood up, toppling my chair. He laughed, and outrage poured on me like a wave. "W-what? You are not man enough to face me, Clow Reed? You mock me, because you are afraid."

He laughed louder. And then he was serious. "Leave nothing unsaid. Regret is a strong emotion, spanning hundreds of years."

He placed a bill on the table and walked away, leaving me to ponder his strange statement.

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It was the same time, four days after our last conversation. He has not talked to me since then. Business was still dying. But I did not have to worry about meals anymore. I still did not know who my benefactor was, but no matter, I was grateful. I looked at the busy street of Hong Kong, with no one even bothering to look at my business. He passed by me and stopped a few feet away from me. Everything else seemed to blur and he was the only one there. He turned to me with his beautiful smile and greeted me.

"Hello."

My response was to get up from my chair, run to him and grip his shoulders as if my life depended on it. "What did you mean? What you said, that last time? What did you mean?"

He gently removed my hand from his shoulder, his smile still fixed. "I meant what I meant."

And with that, he walked away. I stood, confused, for a few minutes. But then, I regained my senses and started running 'til I was sure I was within his hearing range.

"Clow Reed!!!" I shouted and he turned to me, so did other people. I paused a moment to catch my breath, then resumed speaking. "Clow Reed, I reissue my challenge to you! Fight me, Clow Reed, in a duel of magic!"

People started whispering, but I didn't care. I blinked, then he was in front of me, his eyes gentle, his smile kind.

"You do not want to do this," he whispered to me, holding my wrist.

"B-but?"

He placed a finger on my lips. "Shh… go home, Mistress of the Water, no one else will have their fortune told today."

I shook his hand away and ran away, the tears flowing freely down my cheeks, my mouth cursing that benign, enigmatic bastard.

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The shopkeeper was smiling more than usual as she handed me my usual parcel from my unknown benefactor. She winked at me as I turned away.

Back in my room, I was about to throw the now empty package of food when a piece of paper caught my eye. I took it and read:

Why do you hate me?

I ran out of the room.

Outside, I did not have to search long. He was in Bird Street, calmly looking at a pair of doves inside a cage. I walked briskly up to him and stood by his side, fuming. He did not turn around, but he knew I was there, anyway.

"Birds are very faithful companions, did you know that?"

I forced him to look at me. "It was you, wasn't it? It was you who paid the shopkeeper, who wrote that note. It was you! Answer me!"

He chuckled, then started walking away.

"So what if it was me?" I heard him say.

"W-what??!" He did not hear it. He had already turned the corner.

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The well. Where I got the water to tell fortunes. I looked down into it now, thinking, reflecting. Why? Why was he being so kind, so gentle, so good? He robbed me of my business. Is that why he was being that way? To make amends? Footsteps interrupted my thoughts, and I turned to the sound. It was he. "I knew I'd find you here."

He closed the gap between us. "So, answer my question."

I took a step back. "W-what? What question?"

He looked up at the sky, then back at me, and I saw the universe again. "Why do you hate me?"

"I… I don't hate you."

He chuckled. "You do, or at least you did. Tell me why."

I turned to the well, took a deep breath. "You know why."

Again, that same, beautiful smile that made me want to run up to him and--and what? I shook the thoughts from my head.

"No. I do not know why. That's why I'm asking you to tell me."

I sighed.

"Everything was going right, Clow Reed, I told fortunes. Many people came to see me. But more than that, people looked up to me. I was a good magician. People said my name in awe. And then you came. You aren't a fortune-teller, Clow, but you have this aura. People are attracted to this aura,"

He laughed at that.

"You hate--hated-- me, because of money?"

I looked at him with disgust and dislike. "Damn you, you arrogant... arrogant... Oh!"

I threw up my hands in disgust and tiredness. He stopped laughing. There was silence for awhile.

"Why do you have to be a better magician than I?" I asked in the stillness.

He put his hand on my shoulders. "Shh… Everything's going to go back to normal."

I looked at him with distrust. "H-how?"

"I am leaving tomorrow."

I turned to him quickly. "But?!"

He silenced me. "I shall see you again tomorrow, before I leave."

He turned to go, but I stopped him. "Where? Where are you going?"

"My kind never stays in one place too long. It is better for you not to know." And with that, he left, leaving me with tears in my eyes, and not knowing why I was shedding them..

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The next day. The day. He was leaving. Leaving me to run my business and to prosper. Leaving me to repair the tatters of my pride. So why did I feel like dying? And the day was supposed to be special, for reasons other than him. I stared into the well and sighed. I should be happy… His footsteps heralded his arrival and I tried to smile. It came out looking weak and strained. In his hands he held a beautiful hair ornament. He handed it to me. I drew back.

"I don't see why you should be doing this."

"Why not? It is your birthday, so--"

"Why?"

"It is your birthday." He pushed the gift into my hands and I had no choice but to accept it.

"Thank you..." I said so quietly that it seemed as if I wished him not to hear it.

But he did hear. Strange, that he could hear such a soft remark while my challenges, spoken in a voice that could wake the dead, seem not to reach his ears.

He nodded, saying, "I have to go now," then started walking away. (I have to go now.)

"Clow Reed?" He stopped and turned to me, now a few feet away.

"Will I... will I see you again?"

He shook his head, and smiled his gentle, but now sad, smile.

"Fare thee well, Madoushi."

It was the first time he ever said my name, and it was both bitter and sweet. Suddenly, his words flashed in my mind: Leave nothing unsaid. Regret is a strong emotion, spanning hundreds of years.

I was startled.

"Clow Reed?" I called out loud. But it was too late. He was gone. I'll never see him again.

"Farewell, Clow Reed..."

I said the words softly, tears standing in my eyes, then falling on the hair ornament he gave me.

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