A Blessing and a Curse
A Card Captor Sakura fanfic
Prologue: Fujitaka and the Ghostly Visitor
Fujitaka Kinomoto hummed contentedly to himself as he prepared breakfast for himself and his two children. It felt like an unusually pleasant morning, although he wasn't sure why that would be - the weather had been clear for several days now, and the first clouds were just returning to the sky above the Tomoeda District. But in a way he couldn't describe, he felt like some form of dangerous yet thrilling excitement had recently ended, leaving the land and its people in peace.
But it was just another day for him; a day that would be filled with preparing lecture notes for the upcoming semester of his archaeology class and light housework. He could hear the children moving around upstairs, getting dressed and preparing to make the most of their last day before classes began. The usual morning noise always reminded him of his late wife's description of the "pitter-patter of little feet" that she had longed to hear, and her immeasurable joy when their son Touya had taken his first steps. Perhaps she was lucky that she wasn't around to hear what had become of that pitter-patter over the years; Touya's description of Sakura's daily descent of the staircase as "elephant feet" wasn't as far off as Sakura liked to believe.
He turned to smile at the picture of Nadeshico that sat on the dining room table. "They've grown up, dear," he said as if speaking to his wife. "I did my best to raise them well."
"I think you did a wonderful job," replied Nadeshico.
Fujitaka turned around to face the spirit of his long-dead wife. "Good morning, Nadeshico."
Nadeshico stepped back and smiled sweetly at him. "It's a special morning today, Mr. Fuji. Do you remember why?"
He shook his head. "You were the one who kept a calendar for all your important dates. I'm lucky I can remember lunch every morning."
Nadeshico giggled. "Silly man! It's our anniversary today!"
Fujitaka blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry! I completely forgot. I didn't get you anything...." His blush deepened as he realized what an absurd statement it was. "Of course, there's not much I could give you."
Nadeshico stepped forward into his arms and kissed him deeply. "You've given me everything I could ask for."
"I'm glad we can finally be together again," said Fujitaka. "For the first time in years, I can see my sweet Nadeshico again on our special day."
"It's going to be even more special than that," said Nadeshico with a sly smile.
"Why is that?" asked Fujitaka.
"Because soon, I'll be coming home for real!"
Fujitaka's face paled. "What do you mean, for real?"
"You'll see!" Nadeshico put a finger across his lips, then faded to nothing.
"Wait! Please, tell me!" he shouted. But Nadeshico was gone.
Fujitaka pulled out his chair and sat down heavily. He always enjoyed the brief visits from his wife's ghost, but this vision had delivered a strange message as well as the usual hug and kiss. What could she have meant? She had seemed happy about the news, and he supposed he should be happy as well, but something terrified him in a way he couldn't understand.
He felt a pair of eyes on him and looked up to see Touya watching him with concern from the doorway. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
Fujitaka shook his head. "No, everything's fine," he replied.
Touya sat down in his usual seat and turned the picture to face him. "You saw Mom again, didn't you?"
"How do you know about that?" asked Fujitaka before he could stop himself.
"I could see her, before," said Touya. "But I had to give up that ability. I can't see spirits anymore."
"I haven't seen any other spirits," said Fujitaka. "Only Nadeshico. But when she appears to me, she seems so real, exactly the way I remember her."
"She is real," Touya told him. "Her spirit lives here and watches over all of us, especially Sakura."
"I know," replied Fujitaka. "I know that what I see and hear isn't my imagination. But this time, she said something that -"
The sound of footsteps running down the stairs cut him off, and Sakura burst into the dining room with her usual good cheer. "Good morning, Dad! Good morning, Touya!"
"Could you be any louder?" Touya asked dryly. "It would take two monsters to make as much noise as you do coming down those stairs."
Sakura's face turned red with anger. "I am not a monster!" she shouted. "Take that back!"
Fujitaka glanced at Touya, who returned the look with an indication that the topic was closed while his younger sister was present. Sighing, he let the matter drop and went to the kitchen to get plates for everyone, just catching Sakura's final groan of exasperation that marked the end of the morning's requisite argument with her brother. She sat down and turned the picture to face her, as she did every morning. "Good morning, Mom! I hope you're still happy. I can't wait for school to start so I can see all my friends again! I'm going to be in sixth grade! Isn't that wonderful?" Her bright smile seemed rather ironic, since she clearly couldn't see Nadeshico standing behind her, or feel her mother's hands lightly massaging her shoulders as she listened intently to her daughter's every word. Who knew what Sakura thought when she addressed the picture? Did she know that her words were reaching her mother, or did it merely please her to pretend that she had a mother to talk to every morning, like most of the other girls at school?
Fujitaka found himself thinking about these things far too much lately, ever since Nadeshico had first appeared. But life had to go on, and his family needed to eat. He brought the plates into the dining room and placed them on the table. One for himself, one for Touya, one for Sakura, and one for...
"Dad, you brought four plates," Sakura observed.
"Why, so I did," he replied. "I must be used to Touya's friend Yukito eating meals with us. Speaking of which, how is he doing? I haven't seen him for a while."
"He's fine," said Touya. "He doesn't get hungry as much anymore. Or as tired."
"I'm glad to hear it," said Fujitaka. He returned to the kitchen to put the plate he'd brought for Nadeshico back in the cabinet. He didn't want the children to worry about him, particularly Sakura, but he couldn't hide his fear from himself. As an archaeologist, he'd encountered dozens of myths about what happened after death, and several of them were consistent with what he knew to be true of spirits remaining to watch over their loved ones. But few of them had ever talked about the dead returning to life - and none of those had anything good to say about the living dead. They all either consumed human flesh for sustenance or were completely unrecognizable due to the decomposition of their bodies and minds after death. Yet Nadeshico had seemed happy about her imminent return. She wouldn't intentionally hurt him.
So why was he so afraid of what was to come?
The peaceful day he'd so been looking forward to was gone without a trace.
*************************************************
The alarm beside Tomoyo's bed rang loudly, and she sleepily reached over to shut it off. It was the last day before classes began, and Sakura had invited her to go shopping for school supplies. Of course, Tomoyo had purchased hers months ago, but Sakura was the type who always left things until the last minute. Still, it would be fun to accompany Sakura and film her as she made her way through the crowded stores, being jostled and bumped aside by much larger customers, shrieking in that incredibly cute way she always did when she discovered that the last pink notebook was gone, or that the last copy of one of the books from the required reading list was gone, or saw a poster that reminded her of an assignment she had yet to finish. Well, there were no assignments over the winter break, but it would be just like Sakura to forget something like that. Who knew? She might "remember" an assignment that hadn't actually been assigned and become so flustered....
Something felt wrong in the room. Tomoyo sat up as she tried to figure out what was drawing her attention, but there was nothing unusual to be seen. It was more of a sound on the edge of her hearing, a rasping sound like paper tearing, followed by a cascade like the pages of a book flipping. It could be someone breathing into a paper bag, or... no, she'd heard that sound a few times when her mother's business associates came over for dinner and a game of Poker or Bridge. That was the sound of a deck of cards being shuffled. She pushed the covers aside and swung her feet over the side of the bed - and the noise stopped. She sat still, waiting, but the sound did not resume. She shook her head to dismiss it and pushed herself off the bed.
She heard a loud clatter as the alarm clock fell off the nightstand and landed on the floor. She blinked in confusion - she would have felt it if she'd knocked it over, wouldn't she? - and bent down to pick it up, but stopped at the sound of the pictures atop her dresser crashing to the floor in unison. Her blanket whipped off the bed and began to float through the air, circling lazily around her in an eerie lifeless dance. Tomoyo backed away from it, but a gust of wind from behind grabbed her hair and her nightie, whipping them up as it blew past. She quickly stepped forward again, right into another harsh breeze that tore at her face and brought tears to her eyes instantly. She backed away carefully, but she could feel the wind all around her now, forming a tornado with her at the center, as the noise began to rise in pitch until it sounded like a whistle. The air in the center of the funnel was getting thin, and she could barely feel the floor under her feet - and then it wasn't there anymore, as she rose into the air. She screamed and reached for the bed below her, hoping to get a handhold on something solid, but she missed it as the tornado picked her up and flung her into the ceiling. As her back hit the hard surface and the air rushed out of her lungs, she formed a silent prayer of gratitude that she'd bent over as far as she had - otherwise, it would have been her head connecting with the ceiling. Even so, she had no breath left to call for help, and the wind had her pinned helplessly in place, her nightie whipping around her face and the rest of her body exposed to the elements. The smaller objects in the room flew past, occasionally hitting her and leaving aching bruises.
The rough ceiling scratched her back as the force of the wind finally shifted, pulling her along the ceiling as the tornado slowly moved toward the center of the room. The loose end of her nightie ripped free and spiraled into the vortex, leaving little more than the collar between her body and the powerful gusts. The mattress finally tore free from the bedframe and slowly slid along the floor until the wind caught its stride and pulled it up to join the rest of her room in flight. It slammed into the ceiling right next to Tomoyo, kicking up a cloud of plaster that covered her face and made her cough, but all she inhaled was more plaster. The bedside lamp flew free of the spiraling storm and smashed loudly against the wall. She could only pray that someone had heard it.
The doorknob turned, and before Tomoyo could think to shout a warning, the door flew open, nearly ripping off the hinges in the force of the wind. Her mother screamed as the vacuum pulled her into the room, but her fingers clenched tightly around the handle just in time. She made a grab for the handle with her other arm, but missed, leaving her dangling by one hand in the wake of a force more inexorable than gravity.
"Mother!" shouted Tomoyo, feeling the wind draw the breath right out of her as soon as her mouth opened.
Her mother shouted something back, but Tomoyo couldn't hear it over the rushing wind. It sounded like a train was charging through the middle of her room, and the sensation of the air passing around her was what she expected it would feel like to lie on the tracks under that train. She was afraid to move for fear of being torn apart by tons of speeding metal, but her mother was in danger. She couldn't sit still any longer. Slowly, she labored to lift an arm from the ceiling and push herself over, flipping onto her stomach. The objects flying below her found targets on every inch of the undamaged skin, but she forced herself to her hands and knees and crawled toward her mother, who stretched her free hand toward her daughter even as her fingers began to slip from the door handle. Tomoyo reached for her mother's legs, which were much closer, but still far beyond her reach. She pushed herself to her knees, but the powerful wind threw her back up onto the ceiling, pinning her to the flat surface.
A powerful hand closed around Sonomi's wrist, and she turned around to see one of the bodyguards holding her firmly, secured by a long rope to the staircase banister at the far end of the hall. She pulled the woman out of the bedroom, ignoring her protests and attempts to reach Tomoyo. "I'll come back for her!" she shouted once they were outside the room. Then the guard pulled the door closed, and Tomoyo was alone in the deathtrap once again. But this time, she knew a rescuer was coming, and she pulled herself slowly toward the door with hope in her heart. The door opened again, and the guard floated into the room at the end of a triangular tether, held off the floor by the suction of the tornado. She swung upward, letting the wind pull her away from the wall, until she could grab Tomoyo's waist and pull her down into the crook of her arm. Then she pulled on the tether, winding herself in until she could grab the doorframe and pull herself out into the hall. She braced her legs on the frame and pulled the door closed, finally bringing Tomoyo's ordeal to an end. Free of the wind's power, they both fell onto the floor, panting heavily. Tomoyo shivered and curled into a fetal position in the guard's arms, trying to forget the horror she'd been through.
The adjacent closet door opened, and Sonomi scooped Tomoyo up into a hug. "Oh, my precious baby! Are you all right?"
Tomoyo was crying too hard to respond. The wind continued to howl in her bedroom, but she wasn't scared of it anymore. What scared her was the power that had undoubtedly caused the tornado to appear in the first place - one of the magical cards that Sakura had tamed and bound to her own power and name, the Sakura Cards. But this was not the work of a tame card... which left only one possibility: the rogue JOKER. The last time it had been active, it had led Tomoyo on a wild adventure before finally turning into a card and surrendering to Tomoyo. But it had never purposefully tried to hurt her, especially when Sakura wasn't around. If this was truly JOKER's work....
"We need to find out what's happened to your daughter's room," the bodyguard cut in. "I've never seen anything like it before."
"You certainly seemed well prepared for it," said Sonomi.
"It's my job, Ma'am."
"Well, I still plan to see that you get a pay raise, effective immediately," announced Sonomi.
"Thank you, Ma'am," replied the guard with a bow.
"Now, please give me a moment to speak with my daughter alone," she ordered.
The guard saluted quickly and left the hallway.
Once they were alone, Tomoyo's mother put her down and carefully wiped the tears from her eyes. "Tomoyo... it's all right now, isn't it?" She sounded unsure, as if she wanted Tomoyo's assurance.
"Sakura..." sobbed Tomoyo. "I have to talk to Sakura."
Sonomi hugged her daughter tightly. "Of course. Sakura can make whatever is bothering you go away, can't she?"
Tomoyo felt relaxed as the soothing tones of her mother's voice reminded her that she wasn't alone. "Yes. Sakura will keep me safe."
"I don't understand the secret that you're hiding from me," Sonomi continued, "but I trust you... and Sakura."
Tomoyo felt compelled to look into her mother's eyes at that moment, as she felt the mother-daughter bond stronger than ever before. "You're not afraid?"
Sonomi shook her head. "I don't know why... but I'm sure that being with Sakura is the safest place for you right now." She smiled warmly. "Let's get you a dress from the attic and take you to Sakura's house. I'll call her father and let him know you're coming."
Tomoyo gave her mother one final squeeze. "Thank you so much!" Behind the closed bedroom door, the wind continued to rage, the first of many curses that JOKER would surely bring to bear against Tomoyo. But she had survived this one, and trusted in Sakura to protect her from whatever lay in store in her future.
It was going to be a very interesting beginning to her sixth grade year.