Chapter 1: Wishes
Author: XxArtemisxX
Editor: lady sovereign
~O~
A/N: I'm sorry the update took so long but I had a lot of things in my hand. New school, new classes have brought up a really hectic schedule. Plus, I'm participating in a manga completion and I've really got to finish it up before the end of this month. So, the updates for this and all my other fics might take some time. Sorry bout that.
Fai: Disclaimer: XxArtemisxX and lady sovereign do not own Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle or xxxholic. Neither do they own any of it's characters or most of the plotline of this chapter. All copyrights are reserved by CLAMP.
Me: Fai, you sound so formal. What happened to all the constant flirting you used to do with the readers?
Rei:…and sometimes the author.
Fai: Well, the author has very clearly stated in all her other fics that she no longer likes me. So, I'm not going to have any direct conversation with her.
Me: Real mature, Fai. Real mature.
Tomoyo: In any case, the song below is Life by SHINee. *whispers* Love those cuties.
Me: I know.
Rei: Shawols forever!
Sakura: Yay!
Kurogane: Just start the stupid chapter already!
Oh, when this passing life withers away, you come to me
The moment I touch your frozen heart, my life begins
When you're tired and having a hard time
Please let me stay by your side
So I can give back to you the love I had only received
Before this life ends
When I get on my knees and cry before the world
When I stop my tracks inside the storm
If you alone are standing
I can handle this much pain and suffering
(If only you) If only you
(Are with me) Are with me
"Are you sure about this, Aria?"
I nodded, not willing to say anything or take my eyes off the untouched cup of tea placed in front of me.
"Then your price…" The witch of dimensions said, "Will be the soulless vessel you have with you."
My head snapped up at her words, "Saya?" I asked turning to look at my sister, sitting right beside me. We were all outside on the front yard of Yūko's shop, the shop that sold wishes. This wasn't how I had seen Yūko conduct business normally and that had me wondering a bit in the beginning but I decided to let it go.
Saya was fingering the fondant a blue eyed bespectacled boy in a school uniform—who I guessed was the wish granter's assistant—has served her.
"You're supposed to eat that," Yūko explained to her.
Saya turned her innocent gaze on the crimson-eyed wish granter questioningly.
"Use the spoon," Yūko offered.
I averted my gaze, not waiting to see the results of Yūko's careful teaching, "Why Saya?"
"I require your most precious thing," Yūko said, "and Saya is your most precious, ne?"
I didn't need to reply. The answer was obvious but I didn't know what to do. I wanted my wish granted, but I couldn't just hand Saya over. She was my baby sister. How could I?
"Besides," Yūko continued when I didn't answer her, "She won't survive long out there. Saya has no soul and her body won't be able to take it for long. She'll be fine if she stays here though..."
"Alight," I said after a moment. There seemed to be no other choice left.
"Great," Yūko smiled, "We'll get started as soon as you're finished with your tea."
"Huh?"
Yūko didn't care to elaborate. She took another sip of her own tea and set it down
"Mm… so sweet," She took another sip, closing her eyes to savor the taste this time, "Watanuki, you're so skilled at making tea."
"Skilled! Skilled!" chimed in the two look-alike soulless vessels that Yūko had with her. One of them had short, unusual pink hair and the same shade of eye, while the other had blue eyes and curly long hair of the same color.
Even though, Saya too lacked a soul, she wasn't anywhere near as creepy as those two.
At the praise, the teen in the school uniform and glasses looked the other way although his cheeks flared with a mild shade of pink, "Praising me won't work," He said.
Yūko grinned, "Dislike is from inside your heart, but there's no conspiracy there…however," she added with an expression that clearly screamed that she was up to something, "I just want you to be in a good mood. But if you can help me mow the lawn in the backyard later, that would be great! Right?" the witch looked for approval in the eyes of her two soulless assistants.
"Right!" they agreed.
"You were scheming something just now, weren't you!" Watanuki—as I recalled Yūko called him—yelled at the guilty witch.
I smiled at the antics of the supposedly 'ancient' wish granter (although, I doubted she'd appreciate the 'ancient' part of the title).
"The tea really is goo,." I said.
Watanuki peaked up at that. "Really?"
I nodded and so did Saya by my side.
"Er, well, thanks," He seemed a bit embarrassed, not very used to complements I guessed, or just very humble, or maybe both.
Drip!
I looked up at the sky just as Watanuki did. The sun was up…but at the same time, it had started to rain! It was just a low drizzle though and maybe it'd fade soon, but then it picked up pace.
"Wasn't it a clear day?" Watanuki mused aloud, "Um, why is it raining on such a nice day?"
"The fox spirit, Kitsune, takes a bride," Yūko said. All present, soulless or otherwise stared at those enigmatic worlds, "It's when it rains while the sun is out."
"Huh?" I said intelligently.
"The fox spirit?" Watanuki questioned.
"On this kind of days you can listen carefully," Yūko lifted her tea to her mouth.
"What do you mean?" Watanuki was as puzzled as I was as he cocked his head to the right.
"Maru! Moro!" Yūko said. The two identical assistants fished out a small mirror and lifted it up in the air with an enthusiastic, " 'Kaaay!"
Yūko forwarded the mirror towards Watanuki, "You can use a piece of glass or a small mirror," She explained, "Hold it to your heart. Close your eyes, and the first words you hear is an omen."
"Tsujiura," I said, mostly to myself.
"Correct." Yūko smiled, "What I'm telling you about is a variation of fortune telling they call Tsujiura."
"You only need to wait for the day when the fox spirit takes a bride, "Yūko continued, "When the sun shines down on the rain, power and accuracy is added to the listening divination. As a result you get an omen that is almost a certainty."
"Want to try it?" she offered the mirror to Watanuki.
"Cose your eyes and open your ears," Yūko said and Watanuki did as instructed, "You don't need to concentrate or even think. You only need to listen for the first sounds."
A short silence ensued. We waited for what Watanuki would find to be his omen.
Outside the gates, a boy ran past and from behind him, someone reminded, "…today we will come. Be ready to welcome us."
Watanuki opened his eyes, "Today? What?"
He turned around, "Ah…I don't get any of this at all…" he said pointing to the gate of the shop. He seemed unsure about his omen. Even I was confused. Only Yūko understood all that.
"Is that so…?" Yūko stood up, although her tea wasn't finished, "Today?"
"I'm not saying…" Watanuki flapped his hand in a gesture of waving off his words.
"We have to be prepared," Yūko said with a distant look on her face, "prepared to welcome them."
Clow
"Sakura"
Clutching the body of his most precious person, Syaoran listened to the instructions of the high priest as best as he could.
He had to save Sakura no matter what happened. He couldn't, he wouldn't let her die.
He would go to the this different world that Yukido talked about, he find that person with the same power of the moon, the person who called herself the witch of dimensions and he'd restore the princess's memories, whatever the price may be.
Closing his eyes he let the rainbow swirls envelope him as he crossed through the barrier of this world to another.
Nihon
Kurogane struggled against the bonds of the tentacle-like things that were wrapping themselves around him. He was not going to give in without a fight.
"…but, there's some chance that we'll meet again, Kurogane." Princess Tomoyo's voice seemed a little clouded, a bit distant as the tentacles pulled him down, already working its way over his head.
"You!" he screamed at her, "I'll remember this!" and he would. He was not going to forget what she had done to him. After all, he had just been protecting her sorry royal ass from those assassins.
It was not his fault that they couldn't put up a decent fight and died as easy as they did.
And no matter what, wherever the little witch was sending him, he'd find his way back soon enough. He'd be back home…and then she'd have to pay, pay for what she was putting him through.
Celes
"At least," the mage said to the sleeping figure inside the pool of water, "you'll have a good dream."
Taking a deep breath, Fai lifted his staff to etch the runes he'd need to travel to the wish granter's shop. They trailed into existence in the air around him, glowing a deep blue, around the same color as his cerulean eyes.
There was no other way now. He had to leave, he had to leave the only home he had ever known for the sake of the sleeping figure underwater.
He had to go away, far away…to a world with no King Ashura.
"Well, I'm going," Fai said to no one in particular with a goofy grin plastered across his face, "To the witch's place."
The rainbow tentacles reached out for him from the runes he had drawn and soon, he was gone...and the journey began.
Japan
I thought for a second when Yūko retreated back inside without a word, that she had forgotten about my wish.
But just as she walked in, Yūko added, "Don't worry Aria. This is the start of the journey that'll bring about the fulfillment of your wish."
I didn't understand a world of that but it was reassuring to know that Yūko hadn't forgotten about me altogether.
"Yūko, your clothes are…" Watanuki began when Yūko returned shortly. I looked up to see that she had changed her getup to a something more 'witch-like'. I had seen her wear those clothes only when she was conducting something really serious.
"We're prepared," she said to no one on particular, "to welcome these kids."
The rain started to pour in faster and the sun disappeared behind the cloud as Yūko looked up at the sky, "They're coming."
I followed her gaze as a bulge formed in the sky. It expanded and stretched on until it almost reached the ground. Parts of it already had tears like gum stretched too thin. It burst in a shower of multicolored swirls, spitting out a young boy with a girl about his age in his arms.
"Are you the witch of the dimensions?" the kid asked when the dimensional barrier retreated. I could see that he had brown hair and determined amber eyes. He was dressed rather strangely and his arms clutched the unconscious body of a girl with auburn hair and she too was dressed in strange attire.
"Yes," Yūko answered the boy, "I have been called that."
"I'm begging you! Please save Sakura!"
A/N: So that's it.
If you like this chapter and want more, the only thing that'll motivate me to stick down in a chair for hours and compare the TRC and xxxHolic dialogs and plotline and merge it into A Wish for all Eternity would be the one and only thing that we all love: REVIEWS!
Rei: For anyone who reviews, we have a gift: hugs and kisses from….
Mokona: *drum roll*
Me: FAI! Since I no longer like him…
Fai: could you please not rub it in my face every five seconds?
Me: No can't do. This is my only source of entertainment.
Syaoran: What about those Korean dramas you keep watching. *whispers* with my hime who now only speaks of some yong hwa and lee honki and lee minho. Sob
Me: my net is kind of slow so while the video is buffering, I'm looking for alternatives to keep myself busy.
Syaoran: Uh, okay.
Rei: Well, the next part of the drama is all set and downloaded!
Me: Okay, got to go. Please, please, please, please, read and review.
Rei: You're starting to sound like Lee Gyu Won.
Me: hehe, does that mean I'll get Lee Shin?
Rei: idiot.
Tomoyo: REVIEW!