Disclaimer:
I have no affiliation with Cardcaptor Sakura or any other of CLAMP's works. Also any similarities to real life events or people are unintentional unless explicitly stated.
Syaoran didn't go to Lecourt by choice; his mother, Yelan Li, ordered him to, no explanation given. His four elder sisters had the luxury of staying in Zhonguo since they were either studying in university or working. Hopefully when he eventually returned it would be as if nothing ever happened and he wouldn't be far behind the school curriculum.
They had arrived in Lecourt late in the afternoon after a long aerotrain ride and a tedious series of farewell breakfast, lunch and dinners from his family and classmates.
Syaoran's mother informed him on the butterfly-horse carriage ride to this uncle's mansion in Lecourt that they would be having a welcome dinner with members of the Amamiya Clan that she met while at university and their families.
He nodded and stared out the window. The buildings were different; many had columns, arched windows or flags on many little turrets. There were lots of people flying around on staffs, with wings or holding balloons. He didn't see any tram lines or rickshaws, and there weren't as many bicycles as there were in Heung Gong, the capital of Zhonguo. The fashions were strangely conservative here.
All Syaoran wanted to do was sleep, but there was unpacking to be done. But his new bed was really comfortable. A few minutes rest couldn't hurt…
"SYAORAN!"
A weight landed painfully on him. "What's wrong, Syaoran? Aren't you happy to see me, your fiancé, Meiling?"
His cousin came into focus, her face too close to his.
"Meiling," said Syaoran. She leant in closer. "Get off."
She reluctantly stood by the bed. "I haven't seen you since the New Year and I was just excited to see you. And your door was open so went I in."
Meiling spoke quickly fiddling with the her school uniform.
"I just arrived from club practice. When did you arrive?"
"Not that long ago," Syaoran's voice trailed off. Through the window he saw the sun setting. He looked at his rumpled clothes.
"We have to leave soon for the dinner! Haven't you cleaned up yet? Where are your ceremonial robes?" Meiling started opening his suitcases.
"Hey," he said, pushing her away from his luggage and towards the door before she could start scattering everything. "I can do that. You need to get ready too."
"Do I look like I arrived straight from training?" She honestly did, but Syaoran wasn't about to say so.
Meiling hit his arm when he failed to answer and marched out of the room, nose in the air. Syaoran sighed, massaging the forming bruise, and took his robes and towel from his suitcase.
He washed and dressed himself in the bathroom adjoining his room, then waited with his mother and Meiling's parents at the entrance. His mother fixed the back collar of his ceremonial robes.
"Meiling, hurry up!" called Syaoran's uncle.
"I'm coming," she called. A couple minutes of his uncle's foot tapping and vapid anecdotes from Meiling's mother later, his cousin arrived. She bowed in apology then latched onto Syaoran's arm.
"Let's go. We can't keep the Amamiya Clan waiting," Meiling said, leading him out the door.
Meiling prattled on in the butterfly-horse carriage ride there. She spoke about she couldn't wait for him to meet her friends who were Amamiya, about how excited she was take him on dates around Lecourt and about how she wasn't looking forward to the snow.
Syaoran had never seen snow before. He lived in the Heung Gong all his life and pretty much exclusively travelled during the summer.
They arrived at the Amamiya Mansion in the middle of some woods, which was as large as the Li Mansion back at Zhonguo.
Once inside, they were greeted by a lady with cropped hair.
"Yelan, it has been a while. How was your trip?" she said. "Is this your son? What a handsome young man. I'm Sonomi Daidouji."
"We found the journey quite enjoyable," said his mother in the Lecourt tongue. "Isn't that right?"
"Yes. Thank you for having us for dinner," he bowed. "My name is Syaoran Li." The foreign words sat strangely on his tongue. Meiling giggled.
"You have grown so much come in. We'll start dinner soon." She led the way through the richly decorated hallway, chatting to his mother, aunt and uncle.
They walked into the dining room where an elegant lady with long curly hair stood up to meet them. She looked vaguely familiar for some strange reason.
"Nadeshiko," his mother greeted. "How have you been?"
Syaoran realized that he saw some photographs of her on the cover of some fashion magazines his sisters left around the house.
"I have been wonderful. You remember my father," said Nadeshiko Kinomoto, gesturing to the elderly man who stood up hands outstretched to shake their hands in turn.
"Uncle," he corrected. "Masaki Amamiya, pleased to see you again."
"I consider myself lucky to be able to have had two sets of loving parents in my life, father," she said. She then introduced the tall man wearing spectacles, and two girls his age, one wearing green and the other wearing purple. "This is my husband, daughter and Sonomi's daughter. My son will join us later."
There was a mixture of bowing and hand shaking.
"I'm Fujitaka," said her husband. "Please sit."
Syaoran was seated next to Meiling, and across from them were the girl in green and the girl in purple respectively. The first course arrived.
"Nice to meet you," said the Amamiya girl dressed in green in the Zhonguo tongue. "I am Sakura Kinomoto."
"You've been practising your accent, Miss Kinomoto," said Meiling, food halfway to her mouth.
"Tomoyo has been helping me," said Kinomoto, switching back to her native language. "The teacher is being stricter this year with pronunciation."
"You did not need much correction," said the Amamiya girl in purple. She then spoke fluently in his language. "Welcome to Lecourt. My name is Tomoyo Daidouji."
Meiling elbowed him.
"My name is Syaoran Li," he said, moving food around plate.
The Amamiya girls looked at him then at Meiling, who was looking at him, then at each other before facing him again.
"So, Mr Li did you arrive today?" asked Kinomoto.
"Yes."
"You must be very tired. Doesn't the train ride from Zhonguo to here take almost a day?"
"I'm fine," he said even though he was still tired.
Meiling elbowed him again.
"What is it?" he said, loudly.
His caught his mother's cool glare. He mumbled an apology to the parents and ate another bite.
Kinomoto stifled a giggle. "By the way Meiling, I've chosen to do dreams as my research topic."
"Every year, the school requires us to do write a report about a magical topic that interests us," explained Daidouji. "It can be research or practical based."
"Are you a dream seer?" Syaoran asked Kinomoto impressed. He heard that members of the Amamiya were able to see the future in dreams.
"No. My mother and brother are though," she said. "And Tomoyo might be. She was telling me that a dream of hers came true recently."
"Really?" asked Meiling.
"It might have been one," said Daidouji, tilting her head to her right. "Last night I had a dream about eating a steamed bun, and today the chef packed me one."
"Really?" said Meiling.
The plates were cleared and the next course was served. The three girls chatted around him through the next couple of courses. He listened, but he was still exhausted from the travels.
After desert, which was a truly delicious cocoa cake, the adults started directing the conversation towards them.
"Miss Tomoyo," said Meiling's mother, "how are you choir activities?"
"They are going very well," replied Tomoyo Daidouji. "We have a recital that we are preparing for in a couple of weeks."
"My granddaughter is the lead soloist of the school choir," boasted Masaki Amamiya to Syaoran's mother.
"I'll admit that she's nearly as good as me," said Meiling, tossing her long hair over her shoulder.
"You are always welcome to join us," said Daidouji.
"But the Bartitsu club needs me," she said. Meiling turned to Syaoran excitedly. "You should join, Syaoran!"
"You should," said Kinomoto. "It's very fun."
"Are you in the Bartitsu club as well?" asked Syaoran's mother.
Kinomoto nodded. "My brother used to teach me the basics when I was younger, and I joined the club with Meiling when we entered the academy."
"You must be very good."
"I'm not really," the girl protested.
"No need to be modest, Sakura," said Sonomi Daidouji. "I know! Why don't we have a little exhibition match in the ballroom between Sakura and Syaoran? Yelan tells me that you're very good at martial arts."
Syaoran looked at the girl opposite him. Her bright green eyes were wide open.
"But," she began.
"Can I join too?" asked Meiling, standing up.
"I think that Sakura and Meiling against Syaoran would be fair," said his mother.
Syaoran didn't think it was fair his mother was speaking on his behalf. But somehow, the whole party move to the ballroom.
When he walked through the tall carved doors Syaoran thought that he stepped out into the garden with the night sky overhead. But a magic circle featuring a ten point star was etched into floor, giving everyone a soft glow despite no overhead lighting. If he focused he could make out the outlines of the curved wall and ceiling.
"I'm ready," Kinomoto had gone to change into her practice uniform. It was a white robe and blue hakama, similar to what Kurogane and Doumeki would wear when they were training in Zhonguo.
She handed her folded green dress to Tomoyo Daidouji who was standing to the side with the adults then jogged over to join where he and Meiling were warming up.
"Are you ready?" Sonomi Daidouji's voice called.
Syaoran nodded and the girls replied loudly. They went into their sparring stances. Syaoran noted that Kinomoto used a different one to his and Meiling's.
"So it's Syaoran against Meiling in an unarmed exhibition match, so don't beat him up too much, Sakura."
The girl's stance faltered for a moment.
"Ready? Go!"
As expected, Meiling charged straight in with a series of punches and kicks. He blocked and dodged his cousin's attacks and narrowly avoided being kicked in the head by Kinomoto.
Meiling was Syaoran's training partner while they were kids. Some of her combinations were different but she still favoured straightforward attacks over feints and spins.
He was surprised by Kinomoto. Her first clean kick to his stomach winded him. He shouldn't have underestimated her and her short stature. Her speed and acrobatic skills closely matched his.
After the second head kick, Meiling started to get rattled. Syaoran could predict her next move and she kept running into his attacks. A well timed push sent her to the ground.
"Meiling is out!" called Sonomi Daidouji, to his cousin's protests.
Syaoran focused his attention on his opponent, Sakura Kinomoto. She was in her sparring stance sweat beading on her fore head and breathing heavily. But so was he. He'd had to finish it soon.
He attacked. His kicks and punches were blocked or missed. He kept on the offense, not giving her a chance to attack, despite his screaming lungs and searing muscles. Only a little bit more. He saw the panic in her green eyes.
Syaoran was pushed from behind.
"Hey kid! What are you doing to my sister?!" A tall male in his early twenties stood in front of Kinomoto facing him in a fighting stance.
"Brother!" she yelled.
"So you think that just because she doesn't have any magical powers you can pick on her?" the girl's brother accused.
Syaoran was about to yell back. He doesn't pick on anyone.
"He doesn't know. Stop it!" She pulled on his arm.
"Son, they were merely having an exhibition match," said Nadeshiko Kinomoto, with a hand his other arm. She then handed Syaoran and her daughter a glass of water each. "I apologize. He is is a little protective over his sister. Why don't you introduce yourself?"
"This is my son, Syaoran," said Syaoran's mother, her hand on his shoulder. Syaoran bowed briefly at his name. He didn't want to give his first name to this person. "I am Yelan of the Li Clan. I met your mother and aunt in university."
"My name is Toya Kinomoto."
"You are very skilled," said Syaoran's mother to the girl.
"Thank you," she said. "I have my brother to thank for teaching me. Mr Li is extremely good too."
Toya Kinomoto relaxed his stance, but glared daggers at Syaoran. Syaoran glared back.
A chronometer began to chime.
"I think that it is about time for us to go."
"I'm sorry for my son's rude behaviour," said Nadeshiko Kinomoto.
"No need to apologize at all. We are simply tired from our travels and have much left to unpack."
"Then I apologize for keeping you out this late."
He saw his mother's expression soften. "No apology is required. It was a pleasure to spend time with you."
The horses were called and they said their thanks and farewells. Syaoran waited in the carriage with his cousin.
Syaoran was shocked when he saw his mother give Kinomoto a kiss on the cheek.
The girl spotted him and Meiling. She nudged her cousin and they both waved.
Syaoran recalled something.
"Hey, Meiling," he said. "She doesn't have powers, does she?"
His cousin was waving at her friends. "Miss Kinomoto? No, not at all," she said. "But does it really matter? She's still happy."
Syaoran was surprised by Meiling's answer. Being born into the Li Clan, they were under a lot of pressure to excel in their magical powers. Most people in the world had some level of magical power, but Sakura Kinomoto was born powerless into one of the great magical clans.
Author Notes:
- Thank you to the people who read the first chapter and an extra thank you to the people who reviewed. Once again, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for improvement, review or let me know =)
- CLAMP based Lecourt in their series Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles on 19th Century/Victorian England . Although I didn't really want to use those terms because there wasn't that much information on its history and those terms don't exist in the story's world. I hope I didn't confuse anyone with this.
- "Zhonguo" is an altered spelling of "Zhong Guo", the Mandarin for "China", and "Heung Gong" is Cantonese for "Hong Kong". I got this from Wikipedia and a travel guide, so don't quote me on it.
- "Bartitsu" is an actual martial art developed in the late 19th century by Edward William Barton-Write who spent three years in Japan and subsequently combined elements of Japanese and Western martial arts into one style. According to Wikipedia, it was one of the first martial arts school in Europe to offer self defense classes to females. =) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle mentioned the martial art in his Sherlock Holmes novels as "Baritsu". But yeah, I kinda did take some artistic liberties.