Travelling New Paths: Chapter One

By: Sakura

This had all began a little over two months ago, when Mizuki Kaho received a strange letter, the return address from an unheard of place called Markham, in England. As a new student teacher, she knew of no colleagues in England and had no ties there to begin with. Who could possibly write to her? Curiosity overcame her and she opened the envelope. Instantly, the entire room seemed to transplant to another dimension, one where the stars were so close that one could almost reach out and touch them. Kaho found herself standing on a milky-white opaque walkway, the night sky surrounding her. This place…it seemed so familiar to her…

Kaho remembered a time when she was very young, and had accidentally stumbled across an old trunk in one of the closed off areas of the shrine she grew up in. The trunk was locked tight, as far as she could see, but when she reached out to touch it, the lock disintegrated instantly and the lid swung open. With wide frightened eyes, and yet still with an air of curiosity, she looked into the trunk and found nothing but a little bell. It was golden and crescent-shaped, with long multi-coloured ribbons attached to one end, and the character for 'moon' in kanji, engraved on the front. Kaho dubiously picked up the bell and traced the character lightly. It was very pretty, no doubt about that. But in a flash of light, the walls of the room disappeared and she was sitting on the edge of an odd opaque walkway, milky-white in colour, her legs dangling over the edge.

Where she was, Kaho had no idea. She had hardly ever left the shrine before, much less into another world like this - for little Kaho was certain she was in another world. The sound of footsteps suddenly drew her attention and Kaho looked up, only to find a very tall man, in her eyes, hidden by shadows and dark robes. She couldn't see his face at all, and yet she knew he was smiling kindly at her. Standing up, she walked until she was directly in front of him and, with eyes blinking innocently, asked, "Who are you?" The man merely placed one hand on her light auburn head and patted it gently, almost lovingly.

Bending down to her level, though still covered by shadows, he affectionately stroked the little girl's cheek as he replied, "You're still small, aren't you, little one?" Kaho puffed her cheeks out indignantly.

"I'm not that little anymore," she protested. "I'm seven and a half now, really. And I'm only small compared to you." The man only laughed, but at her speech and not at her. He lifted her hands, the ones that clutched tightly to the bell, and smiled at her again.

"Take care of this for me, little one," he said softly. "You'll need it in the future, when the time calls for it." Kaho looked at the bell for a long time. The object felt warm and comforting in her hand, the immense power it held could be felt even by a person with minimal magic. It was obviously no ordinary bell. And he wanted her to take care of it, no one else. This would be a big responsibility. When Kaho finally turned to face the man again, she was nodding vigourously.

"I promise to do my best," she replied. Her next action came as a sudden surprise to the man. The little girl flung her arms around his neck in a hug and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "I like you," she whispered. "You're really nice." A look of confusion crossed the man's features for a moment, but he waved them away. Placing his hand on her forehead, he placed a spell on Kaho that made her instantly fall asleep.

"And take care of yourself," added the man lightly. "I won't get to see you for a long time, but when the time comes, little one, I'll summon you."

When had Kaho woke up, she had found herself sitting in the room again. The trunk that had been sitting in front of her had vanished entirely and she began to wonder if she dreamt it all. But the small bell, still clutched tight in her hands, along with a rolled up letter, proved it had not been a dream at all.

Footsteps echoed in the strange world now, almost exactly like that time twelve years ago, waking Kaho from her sweet reverie. She didn't turn around when she heard the footsteps pause behind her, but merely smiled and said, "Hello, again, Clow-san."

Clow Read laughed. "Your magic is most definitely infinitely stronger than the last time I met you, Kaho-san," he said, rather pleased. "Tell me, how did you know who I was?" Kaho turned about to face him, and saw that his entire self was again completely cloaked by shadows. He was still very tall, though not as tall as he had been to a seven-year-old child's eyes. He was just as mysterious, his silhouette unchanging, and his aura as powerful as ever. She could still feel its familiarity even after so many years. It had always been a comfort for her to think of when times were hard, to think that someone like him could think her important enough to entrust something as valuable as his bell.

"Because you had inscribed your name to the handle of your bell," answered Kaho with a wry smile.

The older magician laughed again as he said, "Then introductions aren't necessary." The atmosphere abruptly turned serious when he continued. "I want you to come to England, Kaho-san. It's time that you furthered your studies in this particular field… Your powers are strong, but they can still be developed much further. Will you give me the pleasure of seeing you in England, in two months time?"

Though she didn't know what to expect from the letter, Kaho was startled by his request. Leave Tomoeda? But what of her obligations here? Not only to herself, but of her assistance to Kinomoto Touya, a rather anti-social boy that cast himself away from everyone because of his powers. Clow had asked her to watch over him years ago in the letter he had given her the time he gave her the bell. She hadn't understood what he meant until after she meant this boy named Touya. Now he wanted her to leave… Clow always meant something when he made these requests, as Kaho had learned from her time with Touya. So perhaps this request should be acknowledged and accepted as well…

"I'll be there, Clow-san," she replied, hesitation disappearing.

"Then I'll see you soon," said an obviously delighted Clow. The world began to fade away and Clow as well. "You'll find a map accompanied with my letter. Until then, Kaho." In a swirl of robes, the world and the man disappeared, leaving Kaho standing by the desk in her own room, where she had first opened the letter. A map fell out of the envelope she held and landed in the palm of her hands. So she was to leave her home…and really, for what?

Even more than two months later, Kaho was still unsure of why she left. Logically, her mind told her there was no reason for doing so, that she should have stayed in Tomoeda and continued teaching, but her heart told her otherwise…and she had always been taught to follow her heart. Her otousan hadn't objected at all, telling her that he trusted everything she did. But she hated to leave him alone at the shrine. She resolved to make it up to him when she returned home - yes, Kaho was certain that she would return to Tomoeda again, when this chapter of her life ended. However, it still had yet to begin.

Markham, as Kaho had discovered, was a very beautiful place, but was very, very far from the city. Hardly anyone she talked to had heard of it and apparently no taxis went that far out. The taxis would only take her as far as the county of Scarborough and Kaho would have to find her way from there. She was quite lucky to find a seamstress that lived in the tiny village of Markham and she agreed to take her to the post office there, on her way home from Scarborough. Upon reaching Markham, however, everyone there she had talked to had never heard of Clow Read, which surprised her. Was this magician that much of a recluse that he never once mingled with his fellow neighbours?

The map Clow had sent her was taken out and Kaho could see that she had quite a way to walk before she could reach his home. At least the weather was nice. She had no idea what to expect from this magician, really. She had heard of his rather twisted personality and the power he possessed, but that was all. After walking for several minutes, she chanced upon two large iron gates and an area closed off by a high brick wall. Was it Clow's home? Her map told her it wasn't. Curiosity made Kaho take a glance through the gates but all she could see were trees, and wondered briefly if the person that inhabited that place was a recluse as well. So she continued along her way, her thoughts wrapped up in the inhabitants of this home, not knowing that she would get acquainted with the owner very soon.

A gently breeze came across, catching Kaho off-guard and the map flew out of her hand and far away. And as if to make things worse, a storm squalled along its way, happening to pass through the same way the shrine maiden was walking. Kaho had been prepared for such an occurrence and immediately whipped out her umbrella and opened it, shielding herself from the droplets of rain. But she had not been prepared for the sudden wind that blew up along with the rain and it turned her umbrella inside out. In desperation, Kaho tried to turn it back but to absolutely no avail. No map, no idea of what direction now, an uncooperative umbrella, and the wind and rain temporarily blinding her vision, Kaho thought it couldn't get any worse. She was right. Instead, she heard a light chuckle and whirled around, trying to find the source. But with her eyes stinging from the wind and rain, Kaho couldn't see anything. The rain abruptly stopped beating down against her, but as she could still hear it falling, so she knew it hadn't stopped yet. Pushing her long auburn hair away from her face and rubbing her eyes, she didn't know what to think of the sight before her.

Someone was holding an umbrella over her, his chuckles reduced to a mere harmless smile. He only looked to be about eleven or twelve, and yet his bearing was very mature and he seemed to have a warm aura surrounding him. His hair and eyes were both the same, with the bluish-black shade of the night sky, and glasses were placed gently over his eyes. Smiled kindly at her, he asked, "Are you okay? Are you lost?" Kaho nodded, feeling a little foolish.

"I can't seem to place any trust on my umbrella," she said with a laugh, "and I've lost my map to this area." She granted him a sheepish smile over her mistake. "Perhaps you can help me? I'm looking for-"

"It's over there," he interrupted, pointing to an area off to the right of the path. "You just have to continue down this lane and turn to your right on the first pathway intersecting this one." The shrine maiden could only stare at him with confusion for a moment, no words leaving her lips.

"It's right that way," repeated the boy, smiling kindly at her again. "It's a rather stately mansion. You can't miss it. Here," he added, pushing his umbrella into her hands, "you can use mine."

"Thank you…for your help…" murmured Kaho, still mystified over his words. She turned to see where he had pointed and squinted her eyes. She could make out some sort of building in that direction, but with the rain, it was rather difficult to see. All of a sudden, she turned to face him again, a question burning on her lips. "Who are-" But the boy was gone. He had disappeared into the rain and had left his umbrella with her. "Strange," she thought to herself. "He had a really odd power about him… It wasn't strong, but I could still feel it…" Taking his word for it, Kaho continued down the path he indicated, alone, wondering if she would see the little boy again, and concluding that she would make sure to find him.

The "boy" watched her leave from above, sitting on the tree branches as he was accustomed to. With a golden staff in his hand, he held it out to the sky and the rain suddenly stopped, the sun bursting out in all of its glory. The staff resized itself seconds later until it could be held easily in the palm of his hand. "She's almost as I expected," he said, his voice suddenly much deeper, as he took off his glasses and cleaned the water from them, smiling softly. "Almost."

Author's Note: Um…yeah…weird chapter… -_-* Gomen nasai! Gomen, gomen! *Sakura's sort of in Souma Ritsu mode…sweatdrops* My mind is so frazzled that I have no idea what I'm doing anymore. Um, I'll have to get back to that age thing regarding Eriol/Kaho in another chapter, okay? *plops down on her bed in exhaustion…and reminds herself not to write at two am anymore*

And "Markham" is non-existent in England, I think. I figured that if England could have "Scarborough", than "Markham" is a possibility, ne? ^_^ But really, there's no such village. (Wow, first time I made up a town/city/area for a fic; I think… Star Wars doesn't count.)

As usual, I have individual notes to a few of those who reviewed and one last note to everyone at the end. =)

Author's Note to kawaii-cherrychan: Hai, hai. =) See you around the CCU MB. It's so nice to find someone else there that loves the E/K coupling. ^_^ You should stop by the Star Boards, sometime, too. =)

Author's Note to Rocke&Roll: Hoe? What "others" are you referring to? *Sakura has a bad memory* o_O Gomen ne…

Author's Note to hannagrace: Hanna-chan, I was going to say this when I posted the next chapter to "The Guiding Star", but since I don't know when that chapter will be complete, I'll say it now. You are my pillar of support, especially when it comes to writing fan fiction. *hugs* Thank you for everything.

And thank you, dustbunnY, rakko-chan, CCSobsession, Mei-Lin, Minku, Snowdazed, and everyone else, for your reviews. =) I really appreciate them, whether good or bad. ^_^

*Sakura
~The Animé Archives Team