Disclaimer: what's mine is mine, what's not is well… not
Syaoran's Angels 2: Angels ForeverChapter 1: A day in the life of…
"I'm scared."
Marcus looked at her strangely.
"Excuse me?" he asked confused.
"I'm scared," Meiling admitted softly.
"Umm… why?" Marcus frowned in confusion as Meiling looked up at him, her ruby eyes dark with anxiety.
"I can't protect her from this," Meiling whispered leaning against her fiancé's chest, "She has to face this on her own and what happens if she can't deal with it? I mean I want to be there for her always but I can't."
"Meiling…" Marcus began gently.
The Asian Angel ignored him as she continued her little rant.
"I know she's going to do well but it's not always going to be smooth sailing. I'm afraid that one day something's going to happen to her and I won't be there… and she'd be all alone and she'd be upset and… and… and…"
Marcus leaned forwards and kissed her gently on the lips, effectively cutting her off.
"Number one, Lily's going to do fine," Marcus said softly as he pulled away, "Number two, she's going to school not going off to fight in a war or something… and number three, she knows we'll always be here for her."
"I know it's just…" Meiling sighed, "I don't know…"
"Oh please, stop worrying," a familiar voice said from behind them.
Meiling and Marcus whirled around.
"Hi, Sakura," Marcus greeted.
Sakura smiled at him.
"Hey, Marcus," she turned to Meiling, "Meiling, chill. Lily's going to do great."
She walked up to the couple and smiled as she saw the small group of children milling around in the schoolyard. All around them stood other parents, some just as anxious as Meiling.
"Why are you here?" Meiling asked confused.
"Why am I here?" Sakura repeated incredulously.
"Please, like we're going to miss Lily's big day!" another voice said from their left.
"Tomoyo!"
The Japanese Angel smiled at them as she moved to stand beside Sakura.
"This is so cool," Sakura beamed, "Lily's first day of school."
"I've got a camera," Tomoyo grinned holding up said device.
Marcus laughed as Meiling sighed.
"I'm still worried," Meiling said slowly.
"She's fine," Tomoyo pointed to something behind them, "See? She's already making friends."
Marcus and Meiling turned around and saw what Tomoyo had seen. Lily was talking excitedly to another a young girl, both children practically bouncing off the ground with excitement.
"She's going to be fine," Sakura reassured them, "And anyway, anyone teases her we'll kill them."
"I think that's illegal," Meiling said distractedly, the bulk of her attention still on Lily. A small smile appeared on her face as Lily looked up and waved excitedly at her.
"We'll teach Lily how to fight then," Sakura continued.
Her emerald eyes suddenly lit.
"She can be a mini-Angel!"
Meiling smiled at the thought as Marcus laughed and shook his head.
"I don't think the teachers would appreciate Lily beating up someone just because they give her a strange look," he reminded them.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tomoyo asked teasingly, "It's not like we beat up everyone that gives us a strange looks."
"Yeah, because half of L.A. would be in intensive care if Meiling acted like that," Sakura added jokingly.
"You'll be in intensive care if you don't be careful," Meiling shot back, "And what was that supposed to mean?"
Sakura rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Oh please, after you got engaged you were walking around with this bizarre grin on your face. Everyone was staring at you," she smirked, "And oh! You kept running into things."
"Yeah," Tomoyo agreed, "Remember that time she almost got hit by that car?"
Meiling flushed as Marcus glanced at her.
"You almost got run over?" he demanded.
"Almost," Meiling repeated defensively, "All. Most."
"Yeah, like the time she almost ran into that pole…" Sakura trailed off, "Oh wait, she did run into that pole."
"You told me you got that bruise from training," Marcus remembered glancing at Meiling who suddenly find the sky very interesting, "Uh oh, you're lying to me already and we're not even married… should I be worried?"
"NO!" Meiling yelled loudly.
All the parents around them stared at her as Sakura and Tomoyo smothered giggles whilst trying to look innocent. Meiling glared at them before turning to Marcus who was grinning widely.
"Just kidding," he said reassuring his fiancée, "Don't worry, I really don't care about such little things… unless there really is a deep dark secret you want to tell me… is there?"
Meiling rolled her eyes.
"Yes," she said sarcastically, "I forgot to tell you that I'm having a sordid affair with Xiaolang."
"Hey!" Sakura yelped as Tomoyo and Marcus laughed, "Hands off my man!"
"Oh dear, possessive little thing isn't she?" Tomoyo teased, "My man?"
Sakura glared at them and opened her mouth to hurl a verbal barb back at them but was cut off as the school bell began ringing.
"Oh!" Tomoyo's arm instantly swung up, camera attached, as teachers began appearing, "There she goes!"
They stood in silence and watched as one by one the group of children began disappearing into the school building. Meiling was torn between beaming with proud and bursting into tears as Lily gave them one final wave before skipping in through the doorway. Sakura had a small smile on her face as Tomoyo continued recording this special event. As the final child entered the school, Tomoyo closed her camera off and turned to look at her friends.
"Okay, so what now?" she asked cocking her head to the side, "Anyone feel like grabbing something to eat?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Sorry but I've got to go prepare for my next lecture," he explained apologetically, "I should've done it last night but I… uhh… got distracted."
Sakura raised an eyebrow as Meiling and Marcus blushed under their friends' scrutiny.
"Translation: they were going at it like bunnies," Tomoyo muttered under her breath as Sakura laughed.
Meiling and Marcus ignored them.
"Alright, see you this afternoon then? We're picking up Lily together, remember?" Meiling asked raising her head for a kiss.
"Of course I do," Marcus said with a small grin before kissing her gently.
He smiled at Sakura and Tomoyo before walking off towards his car.
"He likes his new job at U.C.L.A. doesn't he?" Sakura asked watching the man drive off.
"Yeah," Meiling nodded, "He really loves teaching."
"That's good," Sakura smiled, "He finds something he loves to do again. I mean I thought he was going to take up being a lawyer again…"
Meiling shrugged.
"Too many bad memories I guess," she said gently, pulling a face, "But being a law professor is good. He doesn't waste his law degree and the students really seem to like him."
"The female ones especially?" Tomoyo teased.
"Not if they want to keep their limbs," Meiling huffed.
Sakura laughed.
"And you call me possessive?"
"So wanna grab a bite to ea…" Tomoyo began but was cut off as their mobile phones began ringing loudly, "Hold that thought."
Simultaneously all three girls pulled out their phones and glanced down at the glowing screens.
"Syaoran," Sakura murmured, "Looks like it's work time."
"Think it's about that file we picked up last week?" Tomoyo asked as all three girls began walking towards their cars.
"Most definitely," Meiling nodded.
She unlocked her car door and slid in.
"See you soon?" she called.
Sakura and Tomoyo nodded as Meiling slammed her door shut and turned the ignition. Soon the air was filled with the sound of three running engines as the Angels drove away to their headquarters.
"Good morning, Angels."
"Good morning, Syaoran," the three girls chorused.
"I've had a look on the files you picked up in New York last week," Syaoran told them, "They were interesting to say the least."
"So what's the sitch?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Apparently the man who was trying to obtain those files is known as Evan Solomon," Syaoran informed them, "Look."
A soft click filled the air as a set of wooden panels set into one of the walls slid downwards disappearing into the plaster, revealing a large TV screen underneath. The girls watched as a grainy black and white image flashed onto the screen.
"Evan Solomon, petty crook really," Syaoran told them, "He's been in jail before but only for little crimes: breaking and entering, robbery, drug possession… it's a pretty long list but mostly petty things."
"Why would someone like Evan try to mess with a powerful organization?" Tomoyo asked frowning, "I mean the crime syndicates in New York can be pretty vicious."
"That's true," Syaoran agreed, "But Evan wasn't working for himself, recently he became part of another as yet unnamed crime syndicate."
"What's on the files?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Delicate U.S. military documents," Syaoran told them, "I'm sorry but I can't reveal that kind of information even to you."
"Whatever," Meiling shrugged, "So what are we supposed to do?"
"The police were transporting Mr. Solomon to a secure maximum security prison but the envoy was attacked and Solomon was kidnapped. Several of my sources seem to indicate that he's being held right here in L.A.," Syaoran informed them.
"Let me guess, we break in and retrieve him?" Sakura asked raising an eyebrow.
"Exactly."
"Where is he being held?" Tomoyo asked getting straight to the point.
Syaoran laughed.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
The Angels exchanged puzzled looks as Sakura sighed.
"Why do I have the feeling I don't want to know?"
"This is my kind of place!" Meiling smirked.
"Oh god, we're so dead," Sakura moaned.
"Couldn't they have just taken him to an abandoned warehouse like they always do?" Tomoyo muttered, "But no… they had to choose this."
"It's called a fighting dojo," Meiling reminded her.
"Full of black-belt martial art experts," Sakura gulped, "Yay, us."
"So, let's do this," Meiling said firmly with a vicious grin.
Tomoyo closed her eyes.
"Next time, I choose the plan."
"I agree," Sakura whispered.
Meiling shot them sidelong glances before stepping through the rice-paper door leading into the main area of the fighting dojo. All around them, heavily muscled men dressed in white robes were sparring with each other, intense looks of concentration on their faces.
"There he is," Tomoyo whispered glancing off to her left.
Sakura and Meiling followed her eyes and saw a tall Asian man standing in the corner, watching over the dojo with calm black eyes. His robes were ebony black with golden dragons sewed into the fabric.
"That's our man?" Sakura murmured.
"That's him."
"Let's roll," Meiling muttered.
She immediately began walking over towards him as Sakura and Tomoyo hung back. They watched on as the Asian Angel confronted the man.
"Aikio Nasuka?" Meiling asked.
"Yes?" the man glanced down at her.
"I'm looking for Evan Solomon," Meiling smiled up into his shocked eyes, "And judging from that look on your face, I think you know where he is."
Aikio glared down at her.
"You're messing with dangerous things, little girl," Aikio growled.
"Little girl?" Meiling laughed, "I can kick you ass."
Aikio lashed out at her with a left atemi arm strike. Meiling blocked the blow before throwing a left hook at him. He ducked under the blow before leaping back up and hitting her with a right punch. Meiling stumbled backwards as all the other men in the room charged at her with a loud roar.
Sakura and Tomoyo immediately waded into the fight as they lashed out with arms and feet striking head, chest and legs as they fought back to back against the ring of trained fighters.
Meiling and Aikio were caught in a deadly duel. They traded punches and kicks with deadly speed and precision, only instincts and reflexes saving them from punishing blows. Meiling connected with an uppercut that sent him flying backwards, he hit the ground as Meiling charged at him with a flying kick. He rolled away as Meiling's knees smacked into the ground painfully, Aikio tried to kick her but Meiling leapt to the side springing back up to her feet before hitting him with a one-two combination to the chest.
Sakura ducked as Tomoyo rolled over her back, double-kicking a man in the face. He fell away as Tomoyo landed blocking a rain of deadly kicks that smashed down onto her defences. Sakura threw herself into a back flip, dodging a wild swing before landing and punching the man in the face.
He dropped to the ground as another fighter took his place.
"Damn it!" Sakura growled, "There's too many of them."
"The more the bloody merrier," Tomoyo growled as she grabbed a man's arm and threw him against a support post.
He slid to the ground as the two Angels continued to fight against their attackers. Meiling and Aikio continued to spar as Meiling fell to the ground, her legs knocked out from under her by a leg-sweep. Aikio raised his foot and snapped a backwards kick at her trying to hit her with the back of his heel. Meiling's arms shot out grabbing his heel and fling him backwards, he hit the ground as Meiling flipped back up onto her feet.
"MEILING!" Sakura yelled out suddenly, "DUCK!'
Meiling instantly reacted as a man sailed past overhead thanks to a powerful roundhouse kick by Sakura. The man hit the ground painfully as Aikio lashed out at her with a spinning kick. Slightly off-balance from the hurried duck, Meiling was unprepared as the man's foot snapped into her chest. She was sent flying through the air, crashing through a rice paper and wood floor as Aikio laughed in victory.
"That's what happens what little girls get for mess with things that do not concern them," he smirked as he stalked towards the hole in the wall.
Meiling slowly crawled to her feet, ready to take him on again. A soft whimper from somewhere behind her forced her to turn around, ruby eyes widening in shock as she took in the sight before her.
Evan Solomon was tied to a chair, a piece of duct tape gagging his mouth as rough ropes bound his limbs. His eyes were glazed over with pain, his shirt stained with dried blood as Meiling's eyes took in the brutal black and blue bruises that marred his skin.
"Bastard," Meiling spat as she turned around to glare at Aikio, "Jeez, you're a big manly man aren't you? Beating up someone who's tied down."
"Oh, him?" Aikio laughed, "Don't worry, he'll live."
"Oh and here I was thinking you were some kind of sick twisted psychotic freak," Meiling sighed, "What's wrong Aiky sweety? Mommy and daddy didn't give you enough kissies and huggies when you were young?"
"Don't talk about my parents that way!" Aikio snarled.
"Oh, don't worry I don't abuse animals," Meiling shot back.
Aikio leapt at her with a growl as Meiling leapt to the side, the black-robed man crashed to the ground as the Angel elbowed him in the face. The man was now feral with rage, lashing out indiscriminately with wild blows as Meiling parried with him, trying to spot an opening.
She grimaced with pain as one quick strike stuck her in the chest.
"Ouch!" she muttered stumbling backwards.
A second blow knocked her to the ground as Aikio fell on her with wild punches that crashed into her body. Meiling grimaced with pain as she tried to fend him off but the man grabbed her around the throat, strangling her viciously as the Angel's vision began to dim.
"Hey!" a voice cried from behind them.
Aikio whirled around only to have two fists slam into his face. He dropped to the ground as Meiling slowly crawled to her feet, rubbing her neck gently with a pained grimace.
"Took you guys long enough," she muttered wincing as gingerly touched her neck.
"Jeez, how about nice to see you? Thanks for saving my life?" Sakura asked with a sigh, "Some people, totally ungrateful."
"Man, that guy has a hard face," Tomoyo noted rubbing her knuckles gently, "Hmmm… must've something to do with his thick head."
The three Angels shot one last disdainful look at the knocked out Aikio before turning to Evan Solomon. The man gazed up at them with unfocused eyes.
"Ouch," Sakura whispered seeing the man's injuries.
"We need to get him to a hospital," Tomoyo murmured as she began untying him.
Sakura moved to her help as Meiling look on. Supporting the bleeding man between them, the two Angels slowly helped him up.
"Okay, what do we do with them?" Meiling asked glancing around at the damage they had caused.
"Call Syaoran, he'll take care of it," Sakura told her.
Meiling nodded and pulled out her mobile, which was surprisingly intact even after the knockdown, drag-out fight she had just gone through. Punching in a series of numbers, she waited as it began ringing.
"Syaoran?" she asked as someone on the other line picked up.
'Meiling?'
"We've just retrieve Solomon but the dojo's kind of a mess. There's a whole bunch of knocked out crims hanging around," Meiling explained.
'Don't worry. I'll handle it.'
"Thanks, we're going to take Evan to the hospital then we're heading back to headquarters," Meiling told him.
'Alright, I'll talk to you Angels then. See you soon.'
"Bye," Meiling hung up as she turned to her friends.
Sakura and Tomoyo looked at her questioningly.
"Let's blow this joint."
And with that the Angels left.
"It was like something out of a Bruce Lee movie! I mean, there we were three girls against a bevy of men and it was a total melee! I mean a full on no mercy brawl!" Sakura said excitedly.
Xiaolang laughed as Sakura mimed a couple of quick punches, hitting the air with a quick volley of strikes.
"Okay, I think I got the picture," Xiaolang grinned, "So what did Syaoran say?"
"Oh, Syaoran told us that he had someone talked to Evan but it's going to take a while to actual sift through the stuff he gave us. Apparently he was pretty incoherent but given the beating he received from Aikio…" Sakura shrugged, "Well, you know."
"I think I know," Xiaolang said sagely.
Sakura eyed him suspiciously.
"Are you humouring me?"
Xiaolang gave her a mysterious smile before taking a sip from his glass.
"I think you are," Sakura continued.
"Your salad's wilting," her boyfriend reminded her.
"Nice try at distraction," Sakura informed him, "Not working."
Xiaolang sighed.
"I can't win, can I?"
"Nope," Sakura grinned at him impishly as she speared a piece of lettuce with her fork before bringing it up to her mouth.
Xiaolang watched as she began chewing on the piece of the vegetable, a look of deep satisfaction on her face.
"You look happy," Xiaolang observed.
Sakura grinned at him.
"Why shouldn't I be? Mission completed and I'm having lunch with my hot hunk of a boyfriend."
"Hot hunk?" Xiaolang repeated with a raised eyebrow, "I swear I can't be held responsible for what I do to you in the heat of passion."
Sakura merely smiled at him sweetly as she continued eating her salad.
"A little public nudity is always good," she added teasingly.
Xiaolang laughed.
"Tease."
Sakura shrugged and continued eating.
"Your food's getting cold,"
Xiaolang shook his head and bit into his pasta as Sakura glanced around the restaurant. Her eyes lit up with delight as she spotted a familiar face.
"Di!" she cried as Xiaolang jumped in surprise, "Di! Over here!"
Her friend's head snapped around, blue-grey eyes roving until they noticed her.
"Sakura!" Diana Armstrong rushed over and beamed at her friend, "Hey Xiaolang."
"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Embarking on the daily ritual of eating lunch," Diana smirked, "What do you think?"
"With Kevin?" Sakura teased as her friend blushed.
"Umm…" Diana hedged as she began fidgeting nervously.
Sakura's question was answered as Kevin Lacuray, Diana's boyfriend, stepped through the door of the restaurant. His blue eyes lit up as he spotted Diana.
"There you are," he walked over to them, dropping a quick kiss on Diana's lips before turning to Sakura and Xiaolang, "Hey, fancy seeing you guys here."
"Small world ain't it?" Xiaolang mused.
Kevin laughed.
"Sure is."
"We have a problem."
"What problem?"
"You know that fighting dojo we've been monitoring?"
A puzzled looked was thrown his way as the grey-haired man sighed.
"The one we think has a connection with the case we're working on?"
"Oh! Yeah that… what about it?"
His partner dropped the bombshell.
"It's been raided.
"What?"
"Someone's come along and trashed it. Aikio's arrested."
"What? He was our best lead!"
"Well, what can you do about it?" the grey-haired man said, shrugging helplessly, "It means he's now basically useless to us."
"Now what?"
"Well, we've got to start looking for a new lead straight away."
"Oh man, this sucks," he took a deep breath, "Do you know who trashed the place?"
"Well… we got some vague descriptions…"
"Tell me."
Yukito eyed his partner, CIA agent Touya Kinomoto, carefully as he slowly replied.
"Apparently, it was done by three young women."
CLIFFHANGER! Yes, Yukito and Touya are going to be in the sequel but wait… isn't Touya supposed to be dead? (check the prequel… I forget which chapters)
Next chapter:
The Angels are sent on a mission to investigate the mysterious documents that were in Evan Solomon's possession. However what does this have to do with a kidnapped scientist? As the Angels head back to a familiar place, they can't help but feel that something is going to go horribly wrong… familiar faces return in An American Angel in Paris.