Hi, welcome to the next chap. Again I own nothing but the original characters and the general plot line. In case you didn't understand the Sakura in my story is mine, she's not the Sakura Avalon from the Cardcaptor series! I hope you like and please review.
The Li Clan
Sakura opened her eyes slowly. That had to have been the weirdest dream she'd ever had in her whole life. Boy she must have unknowingly ate something Duo had made to have caused it. Imagine dreaming that the book was really magic and that inside lay cards with magical powers and a wise cracking stuffed animal with a really big mouth. Oh ya, she was going crazy all right, Sakura thought as she sat up. Only someone insane could dream that kinda mumbo jumbo up and now she was seeing things because there was no way in hell that stuffed animal was sleeping at the edge of her bed. Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand she sighed then looked again. Dang, it was still there. Wearily Sakura slipped noiselessly out of bed to hunker down beside the end of her bed. Slowly she reached out and laid a finger upon the sleeping animal. "I think I'd rather be insane then right." Sakura mumbled as she realized that it hadn't been a dream. It was all horribly true. Looking up at the ceiling as if to say "Why God?" Sakura got up and walked over to the window. Gazing out for a minute Sakura tried to comprehend what had happened. The book was magic. It had been sent to her from God only knows who and now she was stuck catching the cards she'd accidentally released. She was now the owner of a bunch of troublesome cards and a smart ass guardian who she had a feeling wasn't to pleased with the arrangement.
"Hey, Sakura." Sakura turned to see Kero standing on her bed watching her as though nothing were out of the ordinary.
"Hey yourself." Sakura said walking over to him. Sitting down Sakura studied the guardian. If she'd created the book she'd have picked someone a lot more tough looking and definitely a lot bigger. If I'd have picked the card captor I'd have chosen someone with a lot less attitude and ego Kero thought at the same time as he gazed up at his new mistress. Resigned to her fate Sakura smiled down at the newest thorn in her side and turned to look at the clock. "Oh man." Sakura said jumping up. "I'm not going to have time to go for my run now." Shaking her head Sakura lamented her loss as she went around the room picking up several items as she went. "I'm going to go have a shower. You stay here and when I get back I'll bring you some breakfast. What do you eat exactly?"
Kero grinned. "My diet consists of anything with sugar in it." He replied grinning innocently, wondering if he could get away with it. Grinning back Sakura winked before turning around to head for the door.
"Maybe you and I will get along after all seeing as that's my kind of diet too. You'll really fit in at this house" Turning around one last time to make sure he was staying put Sakura smiled and headed for the shower.
"It's goood." Kero said taking the last bite of his yummy pancakes. Happily mowing down on his breakfast Kero watched Sakura straighten her bed up. She was also trying to braid her hair at the same time. "Hey come over her and I'll do it." Kero said not realizing what he was saying as he said it. It kind of popped out.
"What?" Sakura said blowing one of her bangs out of her eye.
"Your hair, I can braid it for you. I used to braid my former mistress's daughters' hair all the time." Sakura looked at him and shrugged. It did always look much better when someone else did it. Nodding Sakura sat down on the floor beside her bed and handed the comb and elastic band to Kero. Carefully Kero parted her hair then began to braid. "So was that big lug that fell on you your brother?" Kero asked curiously.
"Solo? Oh no, my brother Brad's in University. Solo's the son of one of my god fathers, we share the house with his family." Nodding Kero began to fancy up the braid hoping it would count for desert credits.
"So how are you related to the Li Clan, Sakura?"
"The Li Clan? I've never heard of them. Is that where you're from?"
Kero looked down, startled. Could she be serious? "Well I guess you could say I'm kinda from there but I don't understand, you have to be a relation to the original Sakura."
"Why do I have to be?" Sakura asked, turning her head slightly.
Looping the band around her hair Kero frowned. "Sakura and the Brat casted a spell that said that only a descendant of hers would take over the book."
"We'll I guess it could be possible. We know nothing about my father's family tree so maybe there was a Li or two in there." Sakura suggested, her interest piqued now.
"Why don't you know anything about your father's ancestors? Is he dead? My Sakura's mother died when she was just a little kid."
"Oh no, he's alive, it's just that that he was orphaned when he was two and he's never been able to find any records of who he once was." Sakura said quietly. She knew how much her father wished he knew where he'd come from and she'd give anything to be able to tell him. Maybe this card captor thing wasn't so bad. If it would solve the lack of family tree knowledge then she was ready and willing to play ball.
An hour later Sakura walked quickly down the halls since she was going to be late meeting Leah and that was never a good thing. Putting her long legs to good use she ran as fast as possible without causing a stir as she zig zagged through the crowded hallways. School was back again and no one was particularly please, least of all her. "Thank God this is my last year." She said when she finally reached her locker. Grinning at her expression Leah opened their locker so she could stuff her stuff in.
"Sleep in, Sakura?" She teased, watching Sakura struggle to get all her textbooks in order.
"No, late night. So what's up with at the Chang residence?" Sakura asked, closing their locker with a bang.
"Nothing much." Leah answered, handing her the lock to seal it up tight. "Mom and Dad got into another argument about me helping you out and my darling younger brother nearly blew up his room with that chemistry set Ki gave him for his birthday." Sakura grinned, life was never normal at the Chang residence. They almost made her family seem normal, almost. "So are you ready for your history test, Sakura?" Leah said watching the huge crowd surge by like a bunch of cattle being led to the slaughter.
"Of course." Sakura said winking at her. "I'll ace it."
"Whatever. I'll see you at lunch?"
"Naw, I've got some stuff I have to do at home and I promised my dad I'd make him some MS cookies for his meeting tonight." Sakura said smiling back at her friend.
"Okay then catch ya later, alligator." Leah said as she prepared to join the masses in their race to get to class.
"In a while, crocodile." Sakura chimed back as she squeezed her way into the crowd.
"At the zoo, kangaroo." Leah yelled back as she too entered the crowded hallways.
Sakura felt a yawn coming on but quickly inhaled so it came out sounding more like a choking then a sign of sleeplessness. "Sakura, are you all right?" Sakura nodded at the teacher and went back to pretending to study her textbook. She probably should've been reading it but she was just too tired and had too many things on her mind besides math. Feeling the teacher's eyes on her Sakura quickly began to scribble on a piece of paper as if taking notes from the book. When she felt the Mrs. Himoki's gaze shift without criticism Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Looking down she realized that she'd been scribbling down the names of her new cards over and over again. I should probably make a list of all the cards and there powers so I'll know what to expect when I meet them, Sakura thought. Pulling out a new piece of paper Sakura listed her seven cards and what they could do.
"Hey, Sakura. Can I borrow a pen?" Sakura quickly looked up from her writing at Lyn, her seat mate.
"Yea sure." Sakura said reaching into her school bag. Unfortunately she'd accidentally kicked it behind her and smiling an apology Sakura turned in her seat and snagged it off the ground. Pulling out her pencil case Sakura grabbed one of her pens then turned around to give it to Lyn.
"Hey, Sakura. What's this a list of?" Sakura bit her lip as she realized Lyn was holding up her list.
"Oh that's just a list of characters from a computer game." Sakura said thinking fast.
"Really, I don't recognize it? What's it called?"
"Ahh I don't know yet. A friend of mine's designing it and he hasn't decided yet." Sakura said weakly, lying on the spot never having been one of her strong points.
"Well it sounds cool. Thanks for the pen."
"No problem, Lyn." Sakura replied happy to have gotten out of that sticky situation. Seeing Mrs. Himoki walking towards her Sakura realized with a sinking feeling that round two was about to commence as she rapidly tried to come up with an excuse about why she hadn't started her work yet.
Heading home Sakura quickly adjusted the strap on her backpack then continued running across her school lawn. "God only knows what Kero's been up to." Sakura muttered as she picked up speed, sending fallen leaves flying in her wake. She didn't trust the little bugger and she was dreading what she'd find when she got home. Luckily she had the two last periods off so she could get home before everybody else, at least then she'd have time to fix most of whatever havoc he'd created. Coming to the edge of school property she looked both ways and then quickly crossed the street. At a dead run she could get to her house in a little under six minutes and with a sinking feeling predicted she'd probably need every second. Jogging now Sakura walked quickly down the lane to her house. Coming to a stop Sakura resisted the urge to throw her hands up in thanks, her house was still standing. Mumbling the prayers her mom had taught her as a child Sakura quickly walked through the walkway and up the stairs. Fishing her keys out of her pocket Sakura took a deep breath and placed the key into the lock and turned. Cautiously she opened the door to peer around the corner. "Well the front entrance looks okay. Maybe I'm over reacting." Sakura said slipping off her jacket to hang it on her peg. Placing her keys back in her pocket Sakura walked down the hallway, absolutely quiet. "Anybody home?" Sakura yelled finally deciding to take the silence as a good sign. When nobody answered Sakura breathed a sigh of relief then silently thanking her maker Sakura grabbed her backpack off the floor where she'd dropped it and calmly walked down the hallway to the stairs.
Not even wanting to think about what had happened at the bottom of the steps last night Sakura quickly hopped up the stairs and headed towards her door. Happily she punched in her code and with out a sound opened her door. No one had managed to figure out the combination yet and Sakura couldn't be happier. It was nice not having to worry about her weapons and underwear disappearing from her room and it saved her the embarrassment of getting it back. Boys, especially those born of her godfathers were far from Sakura's favorite people and Sakura loved how frustrated they got over the fact that they could no longer enter her domain without her permission. Not bothering to lock the door behind her Sakura walked up the stairs leading to her loft. It was actually half of the house's attic but she preferred to think of it as a loft and lord help anyone who contradicted her on it. "Kero, are you there?" Sakura yelled as she jumped over the last few steps.
"Hey, Sakura." Kero called out, not even bothering to look up. Kero had found her video game collection, Sakura thought with a grin as she recognized the sounds coming from her room. The little guy was sitting on the floor in front of her TV, rapidly banging on the control stick.
"Are you winning?" Sakura asked, sitting down beside him on the floor.
"You betcha. It's been a while but it's all coming back to me. Course I'd probably do a lot better with some chocolate in my system." Kero added, grinning into the screen before looking over at her with an adorable look on his face.
"I take it that's your way of saying you're ready for some lunch, Kero?" Sakura said dryly, standing up.
"Oh ya! Dang! No, nooooo." Kero yelled as his plane burst into flames and Game Over flashed across the screen.
"Don't worry, Kero, I'll teach you how to play." Sakura said grinning wickedly at him. "Care to join me for lunch?" Sakura added with a smirk in her voice.
"I don't need you to teach me anything!" Kero huffed kicking the offending controller with his foot. "Sure, lets go." Kero continued, still slightly peeved.
"Okay, lunch for two coming up." Sakura drawled, giving Kero a little bow.
Sakura felt her eyes go wide and her jaw drop. Never in her entire life had she thought she'd come across someone who could out eat her brother and Uncle Duo. Boy had she been wrong. Watching Kero stuff yet another sandwich into his mouth Sakura couldn't help but grin. "For a little guy you sure do eat a lot." Sakura said picking up her all ready empty plate.
"Being a guardian beast is really hard work you know, Sakura and besides, I haven't eaten since this morning." Kero said swallowing the rest of his first course with a big gulp. "What's for dessert?" Sakura couldn't help it, she just had to laugh at that. Kero watched curiously as his new mistress broke into uncontrollable laughter, hanging onto the table for support. She sure is crazy enough to be a Li, Kero thought as he shook his head. "And what's so funny?" Kero asked when she finally came up for air.
"You. I've lived with guys all my life but I've never seen any of them put away as much food as you do. I think I'm going to have to start coming up with some really good excuses because the way you inhale food we'll be broke in a week."
Kero glared at her, which only made her start laughing again at his expression. "Oh hush up." Kero groused grabbing for an apple out of the bowl on the table.
"Sure, Kero. Whatever you say." Sakura said drying her eyes. "I'm supposed to make some MS cookies for my dad's meeting tonight. If you help me I'll let you mow down on a few."
"So why do you call them MS cookies, Sakura?" Kero asked as he flew over to hover at her shoulder a little while later.
"Because it's shorter then saying Madison and Sakura cookies." Sakura said blowing her bangs out of her eyes.
"Did you say Madison?" Kero asked, landing on the counter which just happened to have a couple chocolate chips lying on it. "Who's Madison?" Kero added, popping one of the chips into his mouth.
"Yeah. Madison and I created the recipe for these cookies and so everyone calls them Madison and Sakura cookies aka MS cookies." Sakura replied stirring the mixture in the bowl. "And she's my best friend. She used to live down the street but she moved a couple years ago so I don't see her very often. She'd love you." Sakura said thoughtfully, walking over to the counter where she'd set the trays down.
"Really? I had a friend name Madison once too. Madison Taylor before she married the other Brat." Kero commented after wiping the chocolate from his face.
"That is so weird." Sakura said, setting down the trays.
"What do you mean?" Kero said looking up at her.
"Well my Madison's middle name is Taylor, Madison Taylor Reed."
Kero stared at her. This couldn't possibly be a coincidence . Before he hadn't been sure but now he knew. The past was repeating its self in this new time period. "I'm not sure what's going on, Sakura but something 's fishy about all this."
"What do you mean, Kero?" Sakura asked, rolling a piece of dough in her hand.
"There just too many parallels here to be a coincidence. The new mistress has the same name as my other mistress and my Sakura had a best friend named Madison, just like you do " Kero explained, shaking his head.
"So what do you think is going on?"
"I'm not sure. I guess the only thing we can do is watch and see who else shows up."
"Who else would show up if you're right?" Sakura asked nervously, setting down the dough.
"Well we've got you, Madison and possibly a Tori so that would leave the Brat, Brat 2, Julian, and Melin." Kero answered thoughtfully as he tapped his cheek, smearing chocolate there.
"And who are they?"
"Well Tori was Sakura's older brother and the Brat was a Li clan member who came to take the cards from Sakura and ended up marrying her. Julian, Madison and Melin all helped Sakura with the cards. Brat 2 was the reincarnation of my original master."
"So do you really think that history is repeating itself?" Sakura asked, not liking the idea of marrying a Li at all. If they were half as bad as Kero made them sound they didn't produce much in the ways of prime marriage material.
"I don't know, it looks that way. But don't worry, Sakura, we'll figure this out somehow."
Sakura smiled at the guardian, pain or not, he wasn't that bad. "Thanks, Kero. I'm going to put these in the oven and then change. Why don't you set up the video game and we'll play until they're done baking, okay?" Kero grinned back and agreed.
"Hey, Solo, over here." Breathing hard Solo Maxwell quickly threw the ball over to Jake Barton who jumped up and sent the ball straight into the hoop with a satisfying swish.
"Yes!" Solo high fiving Jake as they traded places to guard their opponents.
"Come on, Kyle. Let's show them who's boss." Chris Peacecraft called over, bouncing the ball.
"You're going to eat our dust, Peacecraft." Solo said moving to cover him as he tried faking him to the right.
"In your dreams, Maxwell." Kyle Chang shot back, trying to break away from Jake's cover.
"Oh yeah, Chang? Seeing as you can't even watch your little brother, what makes you think you can do any better here huh?" Jake teased, preventing Chris from getting a clean pass.
"Look, it wasn't my fault the kid tried to blow the house up. All I did was turn my back for a second." Kyle growled, angry that he couldn't out race Jake.
"A second is all it takes." Chris said faking to the left, just managing to break through Solo's cover. Lining up the shot he took it and swish, into the net with a perfect arch.
"Nice covering, Maxwell." The guys turned to see Sakura leaning against the picnic table they'd left their gear on.
"Oh hey, Sakura." Chris called out, grinning at her. He was always happy to see his cousin.
"Nice shot, Chris." Sakura replied, returning the grin.
"Hey, if you wouldn't mind, were in the middle of a game here." Solo said glaring at her.
Sticking her tongue out at him Sakura rolled her eyes. "Seems to me you'd welcome a relief from your slaughter. But if it's so important I just have to give something to Chris and Jake and then you can go back to your stupid game."
"What do you need to give us, Sakura?" Jake asked, walking over to her with Chris at his heels. Grinning Sakura handed each of them a paper bag. Raising his eyebrow Jake stuck his hand into the bag but the scent was enough to tip him off. "God I love you, Sakura. I swear you are the greatest thing since chocolate." Jake continued as he pulled a cookie out of the bag.
"Gee thanks, Sakura." Chris added stuffing a cookie into his mouth with a grin.
"Hey why do you love Sakura, Jake? Last time I checked she was still the same bad tempered hellion she's always been" Kyle asked, puzzling. How anyone could love Sakura or any girl for that matter as much as Jake sounded like he did was beyond him. Sakura was family so of course he loved her but it wasn't like he'd ever advertise the fact.
"Because she's the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful girl in the world." Jake said giving her a half hug with his free hand. Pleased at the appreciation Sakura grinned smugly at the cookieless boys.
"We'll at least somebody appreciates me." She said smiling up at Jake.
"Are those MS cookies I smell?" Kyle demanded to know, suddenly coming alert.
"Well I'll see you guys later. Bye guys." Sakura said walking away towards the school.
"She gave them MS cookies." Solo said in disbelief.
"And she didn't give us any either." Kyle said, bouncing the ball harder then needed.
"Nope, she gave them to us." Chris said holding up one of the cookies.
"Hey no fair, what about us?" Kyle said glaring at Sakura's back as she crossed the parking lot. The injustice of it all.
"Guess she just likes us better." Jake said taking a bit out of another cookie.
"You know the polite thing to do would be to offer us some of those." Kyle said with a growing glare.
"Really and what does a Chang know about manners?" Chris said slowly bringing another cookie to his mouth.
"I'll show you manners, pretty boy." Kyle said running at him. Grinning Chris and Jake took off running with the others not far behind.
Moments later Sakura stared at the fountain with a mixture of laughter and pity. "I could be wrong, Mr. Wing, but I don't think the fountain's supposed to do that."
Mr. Wing turned and shook his head. "You're damn right it's not supposed to...ahhh..excuse my language, Sakura."
"That's okay, Mr. Wing, I've heard worse." Sakura said turning back to the fountain. "It looks kinda of cool this way though." Sakura added as she watched another batch of bubbles come flying out. At the same time she felt that familiar shiver go up her spine. A Sakura Card was nearby if she was reading it correctly. Odd that I would be so sure, almost like I've done this before, Sakura thought to herself. "Why don't you go check and see if someone put bubble stuff in the water tanks. I'll stay here and make sure no one starts messing with it." Sakura added, trying to look as angelically sweet as possible.
"Thanks, Sakura, that would be a big help. I'll be right back."
"Oh don't hurry on my account." Sakura said under her breath as she watched the custodian walk out of sight. Shaking her head Sakura waited a couple seconds then released her wand. Holding the wand in one hand Sakura slowly walked around, concentrating on her newly developed card alarm system. Funny she thought, it always gets stronger when I'm near the fountain. Cocking her head Sakura walked towards it watching the bubbles fly. Then a strange thought came to her. "No way the most powerful sorcerer of his time would waste his energy to create a card that does nothing but produce bubbles. Or would he?" Sakura said, thinking out loud. Well I guess there's only one way to find out. Now what would you call a card that makes...well duh. Bubble card.
"Okay there's something seriously wrong with a guy who makes a card that's only purpose is to make bubbles. Okay key, I need you now." Saying the chant Sakura lifted her hand and grasping the magical wand turned and faced the fountain. "Windy, capture the Bubble Card into your wind, release." Sakura smiled as a yellow and white nymph appeared and began to spin around the top of the fountain. As it spun bubbles began to swirl to form a huge bubble cyclone. Well this is interesting, Sakura thought as she watched it swirl, getting rather dizzy doing it. When she was convinced the card had to be as dizzy as her she prepared to seal it. "Bubble Card, return to your power confine. Release." Sakura shook her head as a mermaid like creature appeared from the bubbles and came flying out towards her. Holding the wand securely Sakura watched the creature become another card for her collection. Grabbing the card out of the air Sakura tucked it into her pocket. Hooking the now normal sized key onto her necklace Sakura wondered how she was going to explain this to Mr. Wing.
"Sakura! Did it work?" Sakura turned to see Mr. Wing running towards her, wrench in hand.
"Well there's no more bubbles shooting out of it." Sakura said weakly.
"Sakura, look out!"
Sakura turned around and gave a gasp as she processed Mr. Wing's warning. The fountain, which had been plugged full of bubbles was now bubble free and the repressed water now came shooting out. Unfortunately the warning had come to late and Sakura was drenched to the bone along with everything near its base. Spitting out ice cold water Sakura shook her head causing water to fly from her hair. "Looks like I won't be needed a shower tonight." Sakura said dryly which was the only thing about her that was dry. Turning back towards Mr. Wing Sakura pushed away her wet bangs and smiled. "Thanks for the warning, Mr. Wing?" Sakura raised her eyebrow as Mr. Wing continued to stare at her as if he'd never seen her in his life. "Mr. Wing, are you okay?" Sakura said walking towards him.
"What? Did you say something? I..Sakura I.I..your shirt.."
Sakura was puzzled by his words, that is until she looked at her shirt. "Oh sugar." Sakura said, immediately crossing her arms in front of her wet chest. She'd just had to wear a white shirt today.
"Ahhh Sakura... I." Sakura watched Mr. Wing stutter as she gazed around for something to use to cover her chest. Spotting the boys still running after each other Sakura took a deep breath and hollered at the nearest one.
"Solo get your butt over here now...please!" Sakura felt a few choice Japanese swear words come to mind as he deliberately took a long time to get to her and the still stuttering Mr. Wing.
"Ya, ya what is it, squirt?" Solo said when he was a couple meters away. When she demanded he give her his shirt Solo felt his eyebrows hit his hairline as he took in the note of desperation in her voice. "We'll gee, Sakura I didn't know you felt that way about me but I'm afraid I'm just not interested."
"Solo Maxwell if you don't give me your shirt so help me God I'll stick you in a rocket and blast you into space to slowly die from lack of oxygen! Now give me the stupid shirt."
Solo grinned even more. God it was fun to rile her. "What do you want my shirt for any way, Sakura? And why are you all wet?" Solo added, curiosity finally getting the better of him as he took the whole picture in.
"Because I got soaked and I'm wearing a white tee shirt, you imbecile. You can see right through my shirt!"
Solo felt his eyes go to the size of saucers as he stepped closer and took in the revealing view. On conformation Mr. Wing promptly fainted which was better in his opinion than Solo reporting to Mr. Yuy that he'd been ogling his daughter's chest. "You mean..."
"Ya know give me the God damn shirt." Moving faster then he had in a long time Solo quickly wiggled out of his shirt and threw it at her. Turning her back to them Sakura quickly slipped on the shirt then turned to glare at him. "Took you long enough, you jerk."
"Hey if you'd just told me why you needed the shirt I'd have given it to you." Solo resorted, trying not to stare at her as she stood there in his too big shirt. She looked kinda cute, Solo thought as he bit the inside of his cheek to stifle the laugh.
"Well seeing as you've never had a problem taking your shirt off in public before I figured you wouldn't have a problem."
"Well jeez, don't get your shirt in a knot."
"If you weren't so empty headed you'd realize I'm wearing your shirt. Now go back to whatever it is you were doing and I'll head home and change."
"Yea well too bad you didn't change your attitude too, Sakura." Solo resorted as she walked away.
In China
His head flew back as the punch hit home. Head spinning from the shot he hadn't seen coming he doubled over in pain as he looked in disbelief at his opponent before falling to his knees and then flat on his stomach. Syaoran shook his head. Jet had said he would pose a challenge. Rolling his neck Syaoran walked over to his unconscious opponent.
"Jeez, Syaoran you're the best."
"Way to go, Li."
"Boy you really showed him huh."
Syaoran shook his head. He really needed to do something about all these groupies he seemed to be getting. They were really starting to get on his nerves. Getting down on bended knee Syaoran turned him over and sighed. "He's out for the count, Jerry." Shaking his head in disgust Syaoran climbed dejectedly out of the ring. How was a guy suppose to work off his frustration if his punching bags kept keeling over on him?
"Great match kid, great match. A little short but I was expecting that."
Syaoran rolled his eyes. "He didn't even last one round, Jerry." He said pulling off his boxing gloves.
"Ya I know, kid but since that girl almost beat you at that tournament two years ago you've been hitting them hard and fast. They just don't stand a chance." Knowing Jerry was right but not wanting to admit it Syaoran threw his gloves of his gym bag.
"Syaoran?" Syaoran turned and winced as his mother hurried over to him. "There you are, I've been looking all over for you. Your grandmother needs to speak with you right away."
Syaoran raised his eyebrow. "What about?"
"I'm not sure but I think it's something really important. She's practically locked herself in the temple and this is the first time she's so much as stuck her head out the door."
Syaoran smiled at the exasperation in his mother's voice. She never had been able to figure out her slightly eccentric mother in law and she was a constant source of confusion for her. "Just let me change and I'll head straight over." Syaoran promised, planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Better add a shower to that too." She resorted with a grin. "Gotcha."
Emerald watched as her young grandson approached. He was very handsome like his father and walked with the same warrior's grace. But he was not happy and though he walked confidently there was a hint of sadness in his stride. Sad for him Emerald moved away from the window. Perhaps in his mission Syaoran would find some peace. Hearing his footsteps she walked over to the entrance to greet him. Smiling widely Emerald held out her arms to her grandson and enveloped him into a big hug. "How are you, Syaoran?"
"I'm fine, grandmother. You asked to speak with me?"
"Yes I did. Come in and sit down. It shouldn't take long." Syaoran raised an eyebrow at his grandmother's expression. Flopping down onto a chair Syaoran accepted the cup of tea then turned to face her as she sat down across from him.
"So what's up?"
"Well you know that the Clow Book is missing don't you?"
"Yes." Syaoran stared at his grandmother. Both he and Jet had had a bad feeling she was responsible for that and he was sure what he was about to hear was bad.
"As you probably already guessed I'm the one who stole the Book. Before you ask I no longer have it and therefore cannot return it. I've return it to its chosen mistress." Emerald said, biting back a smile at the look on the poor boy's face.
Syaoran stared at his grandmother. This was worse then he'd thought. "But why, Grandmother?"
"The book belongs to her. Besides, she's the only chance we have to restore the Clan to its former glory. You cannot do it alone." Emerald added in a patient and reasonable tone of voice.
"And you think this girl can do all that?" Syaoran said skeptically.
"Yes I do. But she'll need help. Your help."
"My help?" Syaoran repeated grimly. He didn't know what she had planned but it couldn't possibly be good.
"Yes, you. Here is everything you'll need."
Syaoran took the large envelope from his grandmother wearily. Reaching in he pulled out several sheets of paper, a set of airline tickets, passport and a strange looking necklace. "What's with this, grandmother? This passport isn't even mine!"
"Actually it is, dear. That is what and who you'll be when you arrive in America to join Sakura's school." Emerald replied with a chuckle.
"What do you mean, who and what I'll be? I don't look anything like this. Further more, what do you mean enroll in Sakura's school? Who the heck is Sakura?" Syaoran felt a chill roll down his spine at the smile that overtook his grandmother's face.
"Sakura is the name of the new mistress and quite possibly your second cousin." Syaoran stared at her slowly shaking his head. His grandmother had finally done it. She'd lost it. "Here's a picture of her." In a daze Syaoran took the photo from her and struggled to focus on it. "Isn't she kirei?" His grandmother said proudly like she'd had something to do with how the girl looked. She was in fact beautiful, Syaoran admitted focusing on her image. She had dark brown hair and beautiful sky blue eyes. The photo looked like a school picture and he guessed that's why she was wearing a uniform. She was staring right into the camera with an almost challenging look and there was a sparkle in her eye that said she was up to no good. Under normal circumstances Syaoran would be happy to ogle a picture of a hot looking girl but he was not exactly happy with the female species right now. And even if he was his grandmother had mentioned something about them being related though how that was possible he had no idea. "Well what do you think?"
Syaoran shook his head. "Sorry, grandmother but I'm not interested in your matchmaking schemes."
"We'll of course I'm not matchmaking, young man. I just told you I think you're related and besides, if I were matchmaking then wouldn't I want you to go as yourself?"
She had a point, Syaoran admitted looking down at the passport he'd dropped on the table. If she were matchmaking she'd want him to look his best and not like some shrimpy nerd. "But, Grandmother, why don't you send one of the other cousins?" Syaoran finally asked, trying to figure out what was going on and how to get out of it.
"I want you to help her. You're the most experienced in these matters and it's very important to all of us that she succeeds. Would you entrust this important a mission to one of your cousins? Can you say for sure that none of them might be tempted to betray her." Now that was the kicker. He had a hard enough time imagine himself being able to do this but one of his cousins? If she were truly the intended mistress of the cards then she'd need someone cool and capable by her side. Someone powerful and strong enough to take whatever the Li Clan would throw at them. Unfortunately that ruled out pretty much all of his cousins. As much as he hated to admit it but he couldn't allow the task to be passed on to another. He was the best man for the job and there was no way he could justify his decline knowing the odds. Not while he was still alive and breathing anyway.
"America, here I come."
"Aishiteru, Sakura."
" Aishiteru too, Daddy." Sakura grinned at her dad as she watched him practically inhale the cookies he'd snitched from the cookie jar. She'd just finished returning Solo's shirt and had left it in a heap on his floor. Serves the jerk right, she thought with a satisfied grin. "They won't run away if you take time to chew, Daddy." Sakura said, her grin growing wider by the minute.
"I don't see you chewing much either, squirt." Heero replied lightly tugging on her braid affectionately as he turned his attention back to eating.
"We'll that's only because I didn't want you to eat them all on me." She resorted.
"Ha, you ate twice as many as I did."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Children, children please. I could hear you from the driveway." Relena called from the doorway as she walked in with a tired but happy look on her face when she saw two of her favorite people.
"Hi, Kirei (beautiful). How was your day?" Heero said pulling her into his lap when she got close enough to grab. Winding her arms around her husband's neck Relena grinned.
"Not bad. How did your test go, Sakura?"
"Pretty good, mom. Did you manage to talk Methero into seeing things your way?"
"I'm working on it. Are those MS cookies I'm smelling?"
"Yup and I hid some for you so that there'd be some left when you got home." Bouncing out of her chair Sakura walked over to a cupboard and standing on tippy toes pulled a tin out and turning around Sakura rolled her eyes at the sight that greeted her. Dad was obviously a good kisser, Sakura thought with a smile. "Well Dad that's one way to try and convince Mom to share her cookies." Tapping her foot while she waited for her parents to come up for air, Sakura mentally counted the minutes going by as they ignored her completely.
"How many minutes?" Duo said walking into the kitchen to a familiar sight. Sometimes he had a feeling that Relena had the philosophy that she could improve Heero's attitude one kiss at a time. Who was he to argue?
"Twenty-three seconds and counting." Sakura said shaking her head.
"You two really know how to kill a moment, don't you?" Relena said from Heero's lap as the two glared at their interruption. Sakura grinned at her dad's still slightly stunned expression and barely resisted commenting.
"Sorry." Sakura said hopping back into her chair.
"That reminds me, what was in the package that was delivered for you yesterday?" Relena said as she helped herself to a cookie. Sakura blinked, dang her mother knew about the package.
Thinking quick Sakura smiled. "It was just an old present that got lost in the mail I think."
"Really, what was it?" Duo asked taking a seat as well. Trapped Sakura quickly thought of a believable excuse.
"Oh just a book and some cards. No big deal."
"Someone sent you a book for a present? They obviously don't know you very well. What kind of book." Heero said raising an eyebrow. His girl had never been much of a reader and unless the book was about something other then cards he couldn't see the appeal.
"Oh an old musty one, the cards go with it. I think the idea is to collect all the cards. I only have 7 out of the 54 cards. I think I'm supposed to try and find the others. Kiddie stuff." Sakura watched her family watch her, waiting for one of them to call her on her lie. "Off topic how'd you guys sleep last night? I slept like a log."
Later Sakura flopped down onto her chair. Heaving a sigh she flipped on her computer and went straight for her mail. Scrolling down Sakura made a mental note to set up some more extreme junk mail alarms. "What's this?" Sakura peered at the name before her. She never gave her personal e-mail out to anyone she didn't know and yet this return address wasn't familiar to her. Clicking on it Sakura called up the e-mail and quickly scanned it then frowning read it again. "Kero, come here." Kero quickly flew over from the beanbag chair to land beside her shoulder.
"What is it, Sakura?"
"Listen to this."
"Dear Sakura,
I'm writing to you because you possess the cards and having already released Keroberos you already know of the Li Clan. I am a member of the Clan but you have nothing to fear from me though I cannot say the same for the rest of my clan. There are several Lis who intend to take the cards from you and I cannot allow this as the cards are rightfully yours and I intend to see them remain with you. To do this you will need help and that is where I come in. I will be arriving at Kimoni Airport in two days at approximately two p.m., it would be a good idea if we were to meet there first. I mean you no harm and hope you will be there. I've already looked you up so just wait in front and I'll come to you. Till then, good luck with your captures."
"Well what do you think, Kero?" Sakura said pushing her chair so that she was facing him.
"I don't know. Not all the Clan could possibly be bad but this could be a trick." Kero answered with a thoughtful look on his face.
"I don't know, Kero. The airport would be a really busy place so its not like he could do much and I don't know, call it a gut feeling but I think he means what he says. I say we meet him but we don't leave with him alone until were sure of his intentions, and we should just bring the cards and not the book, that way we'll have a bargaining chip if something goes wrong."
"Good idea, Sakura. Meanwhile we'll catch as many cards as possible to even up the odds."
2 Days Later
"Hey ya, squirt, where do you think you're going in such a hurry?"
Sakura felt her blood begin to boil. Of all the times for Solo to notice her leaving the house and asking where she was going it had to be today. "None of your business." She resorted making for the door.
"Hold it, young lady. Where are you going?" Oh you're going to pay for this Solo, Sakura thought as she turned around to answer her father.
"Oh just out, Daddy. I 'll be back in time for supper." Heero raised his eyebrow at the Daddy, something was up.
"Exactly where is out, Sakura?" Solo asked, sensing she didn't want them to know and however big a pain she was he still had to look out for her and didn't want to see her get hurt.
"None of your business, grease monkey. So can I go, Dad? I'm going to be late but like I said I'll be home for supper."
"Late for what?" Heero asked crossing his arms against his chest. Arm crossing, bad sign.
"I'm meeting a friend at the airport. I offered to give her a ride. That's all."
Heero looked at his daughter who stared back at him. Knowing from experience that the best thing to do was to meet his gaze Sakura waited and hoped he'd believe her. "Okay but be back in time for supper okay." He finally said. Promising Sakura smiled at him. Success. Waving at Solo in glee she quickly picked up her bag off the couch and ran out of the house before he could change his mind.
"You're a pretty good liar, Sakura." Kero said, sticking his head out of the bag.
"I didn't lie, he could be a girl."
"Yea right." Kero said as they entered the garage. Pulling her keys out of her pocket Sakura quickly unlocked the convertible's door and slide in, setting her bag and Kero down carefully since he was just a little guy. "Nice car. Now lets head to the airport."