CCS+MGLN: The Shard Card

--Plot thought up by Yoshilord, found on Shoujoai website

Shorter Summary: Things go from weird to worst and back again as Tomoyo suddenly falls ill. Ignoring that her wedding to Shaoran is in less than a week, Sakura does her best to care for Tomoyo. But who are these new people who claim to know how to cure Tomoyo's incurable illness and what is this "Jewel Shard" that they speak of? CCS meets MGLN. Shoujo-ai centric.

Pairings: Sakura/Tomoyo, Nanoha/Fate, Hayate/Harem (as per requested)

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura anymore than I own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and the associated characters. I don't even pretend to claim credit for this plot prompt. I am merely a writer- a bored writer looking for something to pass the time with this summer.

Review as you will, tell me what you like, what you don't like, I'll probably write whatever I want anyway, but if you hit me when I hit peak boredom, you just might see me take an idea or three. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

"… very simple route actually. See, you would start at the main house- you've been there before, but this time you'll be able to see a lot more of it. Then you would go down the way to Old Man Xua who owns a really nifty potions shop. He's descended from someone who is said to be Clow Reed's best friend back in the day. From there, it's a bit of a hike, but the scenery is so beautiful, you would go to the Shrine of Li-Shui and…" Meiling looked up from the map she was using as a guide and saw Sakura daydreaming while looking out the window at passerbyers. Excitement effectively deflated, she finished quietly, "And… you're not even listening to me, are you?"

Which was Sakura's cue, of course, to snap out of it. "What? Hm?" Sakura rubbed her eyes, feigning tiredness. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something…"

Meiling smiled, propping her elbow on the edge of the table. "Really? Do tell."

"It's okay. I really shouldn't bother you with…"

Meiling waved off her excess sentiments. "No really, tell me. What's been going on recently? To tell you the truth, you've looked kind of out of it since I first saw you here."

Sakura sighed, leaning back into the plush seat. After taking a sip of her milkshake, if only to decide how to word what she was about to say, she started. "We- Tomoyo, Shaoran, and I- We met some new… people last night." Sakura gestured meaningfully at the map, and Meiling nodded in understanding. "Tomoyo-chan… she'd come down ill with something that the local doctors could not understand… well, that's because it was something from… from where these… foreigners are from. Ah, they weren't the ones who brought it here, but they knew how to heal it. Except… by the time they were allowed close enough to Tomoyo-chan to do anything… it… her body had already accepted the foreign substance and had bonded… benignly."

"So she's all right now?"

Sakura nodded, but her continued distress hinted that there was more to the story. "But even if it is benign, it gives her… the potential for power that she didn't have before. The foreigners said they need to take her back with them to train her. Assimilation rehab, in a way, I guess. And… they said that while I had something similar, because it is native to here, they have no need to take me with them. So…"

"So you'll be separated from Tomoyo-san." Meiling breathed a sigh, now knowing what was the trouble. "Wow… have you two ever been apart for even a year?"

Sakura mumbled, having already thought of this the night before, "The longest was a month, when I went to go visit Shaoran's family that one summer."

Meiling nodded. "Well, maybe it's a good thing." At Sakura's grieving, scathing look, Meiling amended, "I mean that it happened now. Yes, Tomoyo-san will be far away, but you'll have Shaoran, won't you? You'll be married by then, and the honeymoon touring China's finest-"

"Ah… about that…"

Meiling sighed, although a bit of a hopeless smile tugged the corners of her lips. "What now?"

"I was thinking… maybe I could go with Tomoyo-chan to this foreign land for my honeymoon… make sure she's at least well settled in before… going back and living with Shaoran."

"You want to abort the China tour?" Meiling's astonishment was much like Shaoran's the night before, Sakura noticed. "But we spent weeks- no, months planning it! These are very busy people, you know, but they were willing to set some time aside for when you came-"

"I know, Meiling, I know! But…" Sakura sighed, looking off to the side with a sad smile. "Tomoyo… Tomoyo-chan has always been by my side… we were probably together in the crib for a while too, considering how close our mothers were. I know this is my wedding and my honeymoon, and everyone's been so helpful with helping me keep it all together, but… but this… I can't just ignore it…"

Meiling was silent for a long moment, simply staring at Sakura as she tossed things around in her head. Eventually, she sighed once more, and then looked up with another I'm-stupid-for-caring-about-such-a-hopeless-person smile. "Well, you're the bride; I'm just a bridesmaid. It is ultimately your decision to make. I just have one question for you to think about during this last week before the wedding. 'Who do you care about more? Shaoran or Tomoyo? Given the choice, who would you rather spend the rest of your life with?'"

"That's two questions."

Meiling rolled her eyes. "It's essentially the same question asked two different ways."

As Sakura nodded and started to brood, Meiling stood up, placing some money on the table as she did so. "Come on; let's go. It'll be better for you if you keep yourself moving. Is Tomoyo-san meeting us later as planned?"

"She might. I think she will." Sakura slowly stood up and gathered her things.

"Call her?"

Sakura nodded, moving almost robotically. When she was about to speed dial Tomoyo's number, however, she stopped.

Meiling noticed. "What's wrong?"

"Tomoyo… Tomoyo-chan is speed dial number one."

Meiling looked at the phone in question and then snorted. "Well it is a Daidoji cell phone after all. And you have no need to call Shaoran most of the time because Mother taught you two how to use some of that telepathy, right? So why wouldn't Tomoyo-san be first on your phone?"

Although her argument made sense, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if this was really her answer. After all, Shaoran rarely used the telepathy, or the phone… or any telecommunication device really, because he said it was too much of a bother. Maybe she should start a movement to get them to communicate more frequently… Wasn't there a saying that communications was key to success?

They were heading out to the car by the time Sakura finally dialed Tomoyo's number. She was met by Tomoyo's perky announcement of Sakura's name.

Sakura smiled, even though she knew Tomoyo wouldn't be able to see it. "How are you feeling?"

"Great! Nanoha-san taught me how to create a ball of light with my magic and I've been practicing with it all morning."

Sakura's smile faded into a frown as she bunched up her eyebrows. "Tomoyo-chan… you did sleep last night, right?"

"Hm? Of course I did! It was the best sleep I've ever had, actually. In fact… I think I feel healthier than I ever have before. Which is odd, because I've almost always been healthy to start with. But never mind that. Are you just finishing with your breakfast with Meiling-chan?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, we were just leaving. She's still with me since we're going straight to another place."

"Oh? Tell her I said 'good morning' then."

Sakura covered the mouthpiece and whispered to Meiling, "She says 'Good morning' to you."

Meiling mumbled as she watched the road, "Tell her I send her the same."

Sakura went back to talking to Tomoyo. "She said 'good morning' back. Um… Tomoyo-chan? Are you coming with us still to try the guest complimentary pastries at Midori-ya?"

Tomoyo giggled. "Of course I am, silly. I'm the one that knows where it is, aren't I? Come by my place at two and we'll set off from there."

"All right." Sakura paused, and then thought to ask, "Are you sure you're okay, Tomoyo-chan? You seem a bit… overenergized."

"Mother said the same thing! But no, I'm fine. Maybe I'm just… really happy at being able to use my own magic. It's… an exhilarating experience, you know. Kind of like… like… a child who has been told stories about Christmas for 20 long years and is finally getting the chance to experience it for herself."

Sakura couldn't help but smile at that. "Well then, Merry Christmas." Sakura ignored the questioning look Meiling shot her for saying Merry Christmas in June. "When we see them again, let's practice together, okay?"

"Okay! Actually, Fate-san said she would stop by the day after tomorrow to see how I am. I don't know if she'll teach me anything new though. She said my magic really doesn't fall under either of their specialties."

"A pity."

"Yeah… but it's okay. I really want to see this world of theirs. You know I've already started trying to decide what to pack? I don't really know what I need there after all. Do you think our technology would work there? I'd love to bring my video collection- ah, the compressed, DVD format of course- but if there are no players over there… or, Heaven forbid, electricity at all, I don't know what I'll do. I have to make a list of things to ask Fate-san when she comes…" When she trailed off and Sakura didn't butt in, Tomoyo asked, "Sakura-chan? Are you still there?"

"Yes!" Sakura coughed and said in a lower tone, "Yes, I'm still here. I was just thinking… you're really excited about leaving… will everyone be able to make do without you? Your mother? Your company?" Me? But Sakura wasn't about to say that one out loud, especially with Meiling within earshot.

"... Oh, Sakura-chan, I'll miss you, too, but," How had she known? Sakura shook her head. Was it intuition, or was Tomoyo merely voicing her own thoughts? "But I talked with Nanoha-san last night and she's able to keep in touch with her family even while working for the military. I'm sure I can do the same, and once I learn how, I'll be sure to find a way to talk with you every day, or the equivalent of such. I'm not sure how many light years away their world is; it sounded like a lot from what they told me. But even still…"

"Thank you…" Sakura wondered what she was thanking her for. For reassuring her right to the very end? For thinking ahead when she couldn't? For wanting to keep in contact at all? She sighed and tried to change the subject. It would do no good to dwell on this. "Is Midori-ya far?"

"Mm? Not really. It's on the opposite side of Tokyo, but geographically, it's not that far at all. It's only the traffic that's a bother."

"Oh… okay then. Um, is it a big place? Like a factory?"

"Heavens no!" Tomoyo giggled. "It's actually a family run little bakery, but they make up for a small staff with handmade quality. It's really quite good. A friend of my mother's introduced me to it, and I've always stopped by when I was on that side of town ever since."

"I see…" Sakura trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Usually, she could go on and on with Tomoyo about absolutely nothing but still feel satisfied in the end. Now… "Tomoyo-chan, we're almost at the gift store, so I'm going to go now, okay?"

"Okay then." After a pause, "Sakura-chan… are you sure you're all right? Did you get enough sleep?"

"Of course I did! I'm fine." Sakura laughed nervously, which she realized in hindsight probably marked her lie. "I'll see you at two."

"Until then."

Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding the moment she hung up.

Meiling raised an eyebrow at her, clearly amused at her distress. "We're not even in the same neighborhood as our destination. Were you that desperate to hang up?"

Sakura glared pitifully at Meiling. "It's your fault."

"My fault? How is it my fault?"

Sakura sunk low in her seat. "You made me start thinking."

"Oh you're right. I'm a monster. What could I have been thinking, making you think of all things?"

They shared a silent glance, and then they both burst into laughter.

Sakura mumbled, feeling a little better, "Sorry."

"It's fine." Meiling made a smooth left turn. "It's not like I've never felt like blaming other people for things that haven't gone my way in the past."

Sakura murmured, "You've mellowed out a lot since I met you."

"I've grown older since we met." Meiling smiled as she shook her head. "Ten years can do a lot to anyone."

Sakura smiled back, slowly turning to look out the window. "Yes it can…" Mentally she added, And being best friends with someone for twenty does twice as much.

--

"Okay, I placed the 'Gone for Lunch' sign up." Miyuki said as she walked into the living room with Kyoya close in tow. "What's up?"

On one couch, Fate and Nanoha sat next to each other with Vivio between them. On the opposing couch, as if they were squaring off against each other, were Nanoha's parents, Shiro and Momoko. It was obvious that there was a steady level of tenseness in the room.

Nanoha waited until Kyoya and Miyuki had taken seats as well before starting, her hand squeezing Fate's behind Vivio's back for mental support. "Well, first, I suppose I should introduce this girl. Vivio…"

Vivio piped up, "Vivio T. Takamachi! Pleased to meet you!" One could almost see her tail wagging and waiting for approval.

Fate smiled for her sake and kissed the top of her head.

Nanoha coughed and went on to explain, "We… Fate and I… we came across Vivio during one of our dangerous missions. She had no family to return to, so after much consideration… I decided to adopt her. And Fate is her godmother, I guess you could say. We've… been raising her together."

There was complete silence for several painstaking minutes. Then…

"So I'm really a grandmother now?"

Nanoha nodded slightly.

"Does that make Fate-san the 'father'?"

Fate flushed at Shiro's question, but only answered, "Vivio sees Nanoha as her mother more."

To which Vivio had to protest, with a hug for Fate, "Fate-mama is Vivio's mama too!"

"She's so cute." Miyuki had to say it again. "And she looks like the two of you. Are you sure you didn't find a way to-"

"NO!" Fate and Nanoha glanced at each other, both having protested at the same time, and Nanoha finished lamely, "It was a coincidence. Very much only a coincidence."

"But you two… you are a couple, aren't you?" Kyoya scratched his head. "I don't mind being an uncle and all but how am I supposed to explain it to the guys? My little sister just 'felt like' adopting and her best friend conveniently agreed to help raise her…?"

Again, Fate and Nanoha shared a glance and a blush. Fate coughed and cleared her throat. "I… we… I already care for two others that have been adopted into my family, but Vivio's most special to me…"

"Because you're raising her with Nanoha, right?"

Fate looked at Kyoya with a silent blush.

Kyoya held his hands up in defense. "Hey, I didn't say it was a bad thing or anything. It's a very noble cause. I just want to know what to tell people when they ask. I don't like hiding anything- it just makes it seem as if there's something worth keeping secret. So what do you want me to say?

Miyuki jumped in, now excited, "Speaking of which, have you two ever even kissed before?"

The mutual blush and refusal to look at each other in the eye told its own tale. Vivio looked between her mothers and wondered what they were so embarrassed about. She'd seen them do weirder things than kiss. If they wanted her to say so for them…

Vivio looked at her parents again and then decided against it. They had told her earlier to keep her mouth shut after all. And Nanoha-mama was fierce when she was disobeyed. Vivio shivered. Even though they were invisible, Vivio swore she still had scars from the last time it had happened. Vivio liked it when Fate-mama kissed Nanoha-mama. Sometimes, the morning after, no matter what Vivio did, Nanoha-mama didn't get the slightest bit upset, as if she was in a daze. Fate-mama was her lifesaver sometimes. It was very good that she had two mothers and not just one.

Momoko voiced, "Nanoha, you're an adult now, so I just want you to know that any decisions that you make are all right with us. We still love you just as much…"

When Nanoha looked up with a relieved smile, Shiro added, "Yes, yes. Although I have to wonder. Is there any chance that Vivio-chan will ever come back to inherit the Midori-ya? It's quite troublesome you know, since we were planning on leaving it to you, but of course you have a whole other life to lead somewhere else…"

Nanoha shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't even know when we can visit again... every time a war starts up somewhere between here and there, transportation is limited except for military-related excursions."

Fate added, "And there have been so very many turf wars… We were lucky that this mission came when it did…"

Momoko asked, "Are you currently in the middle of something?"

"An identify and return type mission. We already did the first half. We'll be taking someone with us when we return."

"How long until you leave again?"

Nanoha smiled. "We were given a week's allowance."

Shiro clapped his hands. "Then you'll be staying here then? Perfect, now I have a chance to convert Vivio-chan to our side. Vivio-chan, would you like to learn how to bake your own cookies?"

Vivio was in the process of cheering excitedly when her conditioned training kicked in and she stopped and looked at Nanoha-mama. Pleasesayyes, Pleasesayyes, Pleasesayyes…

Nanoha sighed and looked at Fate. "Have I really been that bad?"

Fate smiled indulgently. "It doesn't make you a bad mother. And it does keep Vivio from complaining too much. Besides, what could it hurt? She still needs us to order the ingredients, even if she learns how to make something out of them."

Nanoha turned to Vivio. "All right. Go on with Grandpa. You get one week to learn, Vivio. If you think you can do it, you can do it."

"And when we get home?" Vivio knew she was pushing her luck, but she had to ask.

"We'll see."

Vivio did her best to hide her whoop of joy. "We'll see" usually translated to "yes" if she could convince Fate-mama to help her. After a parting hug to both her mothers, Vivio slid off the couch and followed Shiro back into the shop.

Momoko sighed and asked, "We don't have much room here anymore… can you three fit in your old room, Nanoha? I did put in a new, bigger bed for you, but I don't know if it's big enough for…"

Nanoha smiled. "Don't worry, Mom. We'll figure something out."

Momoko nodded. "You'll be helping out at the store while you're here, won't you? The truth is, we have a wedding order for this weekend and we'll need all the trained help we can get."

Nanoha nodded. "I'll do what I can. What are you making for them?"

"They want our Chinese-Japanese hybrid rice pastries," Miyuki explained. "The bride and her friends are coming today to decide what filling she wants in them."

"Why not make a variety?"

"Because we have fifteen different varieties now and we don't have time to separately bake them? The tastes will mix and clash if we baked them together."

"Oh. Right." Nanoha smiled and stood up. "All right. Just tell me what needs to be done."

Kyoya looked at Fate. "Fate-san will be helping us too, right?"

"I think I'll leave the baking up to the experts," Fate smiled. She turned to Miyuki. "But if you need help elsewhere…?"

Miyuki gasped and started clapping and giggling. "Ohmygod I've always wanted to see what Fate-san would look like in one of our waitress uniforms. Yes, yes, let's go get you one! You should be able to fit one of my spares…" As she stood up and led Fate away, Nanoha could hear her ask, "What size did you say you were, Fate-san?"

Nanoha sighed as she walked with Kyoya and Momoko back to the store. "Kyoya, how is the dojo these days?"

Kyoya nodded slightly. "It's doing all right. We have a few biters, but not many return year after year. It's more like a practice ground when our friends visit so…"

Nanoha was about to ask more but when she walked into the store from the back entrance, she heard a familiar voice coming from the front door.

"Well, here it is, Sakura-chan. I hope you like it as much as I do."

And sure enough, their eyes met across the room and Sakura and Nanoha both exclaimed aloud upon realizing that they had met again.

--

Tomoyo smiled as Fate walked her to the dojo, having had permission to turn it into a practice space once the necessary protection spells could be cast on the place. "It's funny how the world works, isn't it? Who would have thought that Nanoha-san's family would be preparing pastries for Sakura-chan's wedding?"

Fate chuckled. "Stranger things have happened. I hope you were able to find things to your liking?"

Tomoyo nodded, obviously pleased upon remembering. "I was the one who had recommended this place to Sakura-chan. And she likes the pastries here, too. I think she likes the strawberry one the best."

"Really? How can you tell? She didn't say anything."

Tomoyo laughed as they stopped in the middle of the dojo. "She doesn't have to. I can tell just by watching her face when she eats."

"Is that so?" Fate looked politely skeptical. "It looked as if she liked all of them."

"Oh, I'm sure she did- they are all very good. But I happen to know that strawberries are, in general, her favorite so…"

"Ah." Fate smiled. "The home team advantage."

Tomoyo nodded in agreement. "Does Nanoha-san have a favorite among her own creations?"

"Among her own?" Fate considered it and then shook her head. "I don't think so. Not by a wide margin at least. Besides which, she rarely eats her own baking herself anymore. If she bakes, she only eats enough to make sure it's edible and then she gives it to whoever she had baked it for."

Tomoyo chuckled. "Enjoying the gift of giving more than eating?"

"I think it's also partially because after growing up here surrounded by sweets she realizes how hard it is to work off those few extra pounds here and there and how much it can slow one down in the long run."

"Ah."

Having finished setting up the barriers, Fate now settled down for the practice. "All right. Nanoha taught you how to make a ball of light, right? Have you had time to practice?"

Tomoyo nodded, holding out her hand palm up. She concentrated for a moment and before long a small sphere of light had been conjured in her hand.

Fate smiled and clapped. "Very good! Especially considering it hasn't even been 24 hours since you learned how to do it- very good. Would you like to do some exercises with it now?"

"Exercises?" The light started to fade.

"Ah! Keep the light steady." When the light strengthened again, Fate asked, "Do you know how to juggle?"

Tomoyo nodded. "I've never been able to do more than three at once though."

"That's fine. Well, let's start with creating two balls. Make one with your left hand the same way you did in your right. Make sure neither go out. It's okay if you need to take your time; you are just starting out, after all."

Tomoyo nodded again and concentrated energy into her left hand. To her dismay, the energy would not conjure on her left hand at first, and when it did, it seemed to suck energy from the other ball, making both small. When she grunted in frustration, both lights were snuffed out.

Fate smiled despite seeing her defeated look. "I've seen worse things happen than just the light disappearing, Tomoyo-san. You can try again, or you can do some warm-ups first to get your blood running faster."

"My blood…?"

Fate nodded. "Our magic is potential waiting to happen. Good circulation is important for getting the potential energy to go where we want it to go. So things like push-ups, sit-ups, stretches… they actually boost performances a little."

Tomoyo nodded. "I'll try."

As she did sit-ups without counting how many she was doing, she starting asking Fate questions again to get her mind off of the exercises. "How old were you when you first learned magic?"

Fate smiled a sad smile that made Tomoyo regret that she asked. "I'm not sure- my childhood was a bit complicated. I was young; I know that much. It's actually easier to learn when you're young, but most young people don't have the magic capacity needed to start training just yet."

"Like Sakura-chan?"

"Did she train?"

"She was pushed to use her powers to change Clow Cards to Sakura Cards so that they would accept her as their new power source. And she practiced a lot with how to use combinations of cards to achieve the effect she wanted."

Fate nodded. "Then yes, I suppose Sakura-san is an exception to the general rule as well."

"And Nanoha-san?"

Fate nodded more resolutely this time. "She was very talented for her age- she still is, actually. And she's an incredibly fast learner." Fate was silent for a moment before she looked up with a smile. "Would you like to try again now?"

Tomoyo nodded and sat up, opening both of her hands palms up. Deciding that the best way to do this was concentrate on both hands at the same time and steadily make both spheres larger, she worked on doing such. To her delight, it was working as planned, but once she'd gotten them to half the size her first ball had been, they refused to grow any larger.

Noticing this, Fate smiled. "Don't mind it; that's fine for now. Don't make them any bigger than you think you can maintain them. Now imagine throwing them into the air like real balls… gently now…"

Tomoyo slowly tossed one ball into the air, or at least tried to- but it remained on her hand as if it was glued there. Frustrated, she moved her hand up and down harder, trying to unstuck it, and gasped when it flew off and shot towards the ceiling like it wasn't planning on ever coming back.

Luckily, or unluckily as the case may be, Fate's shields had forced the ball of light to bounce back to them once it had hit the barrier and Fate was ready to catch it. Gently, Fate let it slide back onto Tomoyo's hand, although it hovered close to the surface regardless of who was holding it. "Try again," Fate said, "Remember, gently. This light is powered by your strength of mind. Believe that it can do what you want it to, and it will."

Tomoyo tried again, and this time got it to make a little origami-frog level jump. Amazed at this potential bounciness, Tomoyo flicked her hand again and the light obeyed, flying up a little higher than before.

She kept doing this until Fate interjected. "Good, good. Now try doing it with the other hand, and slowly bounce them both at the same time."

This was much easier than getting thus far, and soon Tomoyo had two bouncing balls of light on her hands. "Can I try to juggle them now?"

"If you think you can, go for it. While you're at it, you can also practice summoning the balls back to you if you were to temporarily lose track of it?"

"I can do that?"

"You can do anything you set your mind to," Fate repeated.

Experimentally, Tomoyo tossed one ball into the air, quickly tossing the second into her newly freed hand before catching the first. At least, that's what would have happened if she hadn't missed both. Her concentration was good enough that they didn't disappear when they hit the floor, but when she tried to summon them back, the light split into smithereens and dispersed that way. Tomoyo sighed and collapsed on her back.

"Are you tired?"

Tomoyo shook her head. "I'm all right. But… I do wonder where all my energy went. I had a lot more when I woke up."

"It was probably the magic circulating your body, getting used to its new surroundings."

"You say that like it's alive."

"You don't think it is?" Fate paused, and then amended, "Well, it's not alive like a snake crawling through your body or any such thing, but I do believe Lost Logia are intelligent. Especially ones that know how to preserve itself by seeking users."

"It… it sought me out? But I didn't have any magic before this…"

"Perhaps being so close to Sakura-chan allowed some to rub off on you. No, the potential for magic is in everyone, but only a few on non-magical planets like this one ever learn to harness it so that it's noticeable."

"Then, on the planet you came from, everyone has magic?"

Fate shook her head. "Not everyone. In the military, yes, the magic is highly concentrated. But there are plenty of civilians who simply enjoy the benefits of living in a magic infested world. As well as the downfalls."

"Downfalls? Like what?"

"Well-" Fate stopped, and then shook her head. "It's getting late; we should stop."

Tomoyo frowned. It couldn't have been that long. She looked at her watch as Fate took down the shields. Her eyes widened. "Three hours?! But it hardly felt like…"

Fate smiled knowingly. "Time flies when you're having fun."

Tomoyo was about to protest that there was nothing fun about failing, but she stopped and let thoughts she had ignored earlier filter in. And she realized using magic was a lot of fun. It was tiring to learn, and she did mess up several times, but that didn't stop it from being fun. As she stood up, she swayed a little and Fate approached her to steady her. Looking up at the foreigner with long blonde hair, Tomoyo smiled, hoping to express even a fraction of the gratitude she felt. "Thank you… thank you for introducing me to magic."

Fate winked as she opened the door for them. "Technically, it was Sakura that introduced you to magic. We only helped you learn how to cope with something we'd tried to prevent."

"Is it such a bad thing to have magic?"

"Only when it kills you from the inside or people try to kill you for possessing it." When Tomoyo stopped short, clearly frightened, Fate smiled. "That's why we're only here for a week. You'll be much safer surrounded by other mages who are much more likely targets for attack."

"I… I don't want anyone to get hurt for me…"

"And I doubt they will, as long as you learn how to control your magic."

Tomoyo walked for a while, but then slowed to a stop as they arrived at the entrance to the main house. "Fate-san…"

"Hmm?"

"Mid-childa… do you think I'll like it?"

"Enough to live there? That's up to you. I hope you like it though; it's a very nice place most of the time."

"Will I like it…" Tomoyo paused, and then looked up at Fate, finally expressing her true fear. "… Enough to forget that Sakura-chan will be married by then?"

Chapter 4