SPRING BREAK IN AMERICA

Chapter 3

"Brace yourselves," Meiling warned as she exited the plane. Those who hadn't already met Sayoran's sisters visibly braced themselves.

"KAWAII!!!!!""LOOK HOW ADORABLE THEY ARE!!!"

"OH THEY'RE SOOO CUTE!!!!""I WANT THEM!!!!"

From inside the plane, the Sohma males paled. Eriol and Tomoyo chuckled. "Shall we?" asked Tomoyo. Sakura went first and they all filed out, forming a ring around the vulnerable Sohma males.

The remaining young woman watched, amused, until she caught Meiling's eyes and a hand gesture that was quickly hidden. She was thin, on the tall side of average height with long wavy red-golden brown hair and blue eyes. The young woman clapped her hands for attention. When it was silent, the young woman smiled, "Good afternoon. My name is Meredith Summer. Before all of you introduce yourselves, why don't we all go inside, out of the sun," she gestured to the building behind her. Everyone nodded and trooped inside. Meiling rushed to the young woman and hugged her, "Meredith! How have you been? Has your magic grown?" She and Meredith laughed until they cried at the expressions on the faces of their companions.

"B-b-but," Eriol stammered, "But I should've sensed your aura!"

Meiling giggled, "I guess your magic has grown if you can hide your aura from the great Eriol!"

Meredith giggled too, holding her sides from laughing so hard, "Yes my magic has grown. My father says that I am very close to being the strongest sorceress in America. But my magic is somewhat different from Mr. Hiragizawa's which is probably why you couldn't sense my aura. My aura only shows itself when I have active magic going. Only empaths can sense my aura when my magic is dormant. At any rate, I'll tell you more about myself when we get to my home where you'll be staying for as long as you're here in America. Could you please introduce yourselves now? Oh, and boys and you two girls, I can give you temporary solutions for your condition if you tell me specifically how it effects each of you."

The Sohmas looked at each other, but at this point they were beyond being surprised.

Kagura stepped forward first, "My name is Sohma Kagura. I am cursed by the spirit of the boar. For those of us here, our family curse manifests the same way. We change into our animal forms when we are hugged by someone of the opposite gender, stressed out, or sick. I am nineteen years old and was home-schooled through high school so I have few friends outside my family."

The rest of the Zodiac Sohmas introduced themselves one by one until only Hatori was left. Shigure and Ayami watched Hatori expectantly, knowing that he would have questions for this mysterious young woman.

Hatori introduced himself at last, "I am the family doctor for the Sohmas, Sohma Hatori. Tell me Summer-san, what is this temporary solution you spoke of? Is it something that could possibly harm any of my family members?"

Meredith smiled, "No, it could not harm anyone's health. You are the dragon, are you not?" Hatori nodded without surprise. "But it does not manifest as a dragon does it? That would be rather awkward even if you rarely transformed. Let's see…I believe your spirit manifests as a…seahorse…yes?" Once again Hatori nodded without surprise. "Good. That gives me the information I need to decide what would be the best for the situation. I will explain the possibilities after all the introductions are finished."

The rest of the FB gang introduced themselves: little Momo barely said a word, Tohru babbled on about how she didn't want to be a burden and how she hoped Summer-san would be able to help with the curse, and Hana was her usual mysterious self. The CCS gang didn't take long to introduce themselves; Meredith already knew all about the magic through Meiling and her own powers. Lastly, Syaoran introduced his four sisters: Fanrei, Fuutie, Feimei, and Sheifa.

Finally Meredith said, "Come, we should go to my home. My parents have food waiting for you."

The entire group filed onto a large charter bus and Meredith told them about the sights on the way to their temporary new home.

Several of the group were startled to realize that they were driving through gates onto the driveway of what appeared to be a single enormous home. It was even larger than Tomoyo's mansion in Japan and it looked lovely with a single candle lit in each of the upper floor windows and the first floor brightly lit.

As the bus stopped, Meredith said, "Everyone please leave your luggage. It will be brought to your rooms while we eat."

As they got off the bus and began to climb the wide, grand staircase, no one said a word. Even Kyo and Syaoran seemed to be awed. Tomoyo was beyond words, and the rest seemed to be simply stunned.

When the double doors were thrown open, the group from Japan gasped. Inside, the floors were gleaming hardwood. The spiral staircase was carpeted in bronze and the banisters were of the same wood as the floors. The walls were painted a soft golden yellow with stonework about four feet up from the ground. The stones were of irregular shapes and a blue/grey/green/ turquoise color. The room was lit with a huge crystal chandelier and bronze and crystal sconces on the walls. There were also large pictures of apple and cherry orchards on the walls.

Meredith smiled, amused, as everyone gaped. "Welcome to Eternal Summer Orchards," she said. "Come, I will take you directly to the dining hall since I know my family is waiting there four us. You can tour the place tomorrow."

The group followed Meredith in silence. The dining hall was floored with the same hardwood as the foyer, but the walls were painted a rich olive green. The windows were framed in curtains a lighter shade of olive green. The chandeliers and wall sconces were crystal and silver. The table was made of wood so dark it seemed almost black. Standing near the table were four people. It was obvious that the older man and the woman were Meredith's mother and father.

Meredith was an exact replica of her mother but for her height and her hair color. Mrs. Summer had deep brown hair and was a good eight inches shorter than her daughter. Mr. Summer was about six feet tall. His hair was the same color as his daughter's, but shot with gray. He had a neat mustache and beard, penetrating blue eyes, and a powerful build.

The two young men could only be Meredith's brothers. Both were taller than their father, although one was taller than the other by about three inches. Both had dark brown hair that had a reddish sheen. Both were athletic looking. The taller one had dark blue eyes and a mustache. The other had pale, ice blue eyes and was clean shaven.

Once everyone was inside the room, Meredith gestured towards the quartet standing by the table, "Everyone, I would like you to meet my family. Micha and Celene Summer, my mother and father; and my older brothers, Nathaniel and Perrin." To her family she said, "These are the students who will be staying with us. You, of course, remember Li Meiling, don't you?"

The four bowed slightly, and Celene Summer said, "Meiling, darling, how good to see you again. Tell me, how have you been?" Meiling smiled, "I've been fine Celene. Your home has changed since I was last here. I would like you to meet my cousins: Fuutie, Fanrei, Feimei, Sheifa, and Sayoran. These are my friends Kinomoto Sakura, Daidouji Tomoyo, Hiragizawa Eriol, Takashi Yamazaki, Mihara Chiharu, Sasaki Rika, Nomura Naoko, Sakura's brother Kinomoto Touya, Tushkiro Yukito, Akizaki Nakuru, and Kereberos and Spinnel."

Yuki stepped forward, "My name is Sohma Yuki, and we are from the other school. My brother is Ayame, and nearly all the rest of my group are my cousins: Hatori, Shigure, Hatsuharu, Ritsu, Momiji, his little sister Momo, Kisa, Kagura, and Kyo. The others are Honda Tohru, Uotani Arisa, Hanajima Saki, and Kimura Duo. Thank you for sharing your home with us."

Each person bowed as they were named.

Micha Summer said, "You are most welcome in our home. Please, be seated and dinner will be served."

Once everyone had been served, Meredith stood up holding several things in her hands. She walked around the table giving one of what she held to each of the Zodiac members. They were silver charms, in the shapes of the Zodiac animals, strung on thin black chains. She didn't speak until she got back to her seat, "When you put on those charms, they will force your auras deep into your cores. It is my belief that what causes you to transform is your auras reacting to auras that are non-magical. Before you put on the charms, however, I would like to try a little experiment."

She leaned into Hatori, who was sitting next to her, resting her head on his shoulder. The Sohmas and Tohru tensed, waiting for him to transform. To their surprise, he didn't. Meredith smiled, "As I thought. Sakura, would you do the same thing to Kyo?"

Sakura obliged, and Kyo didn't change either. Meredith's smile broadened, "Eriol, would you be so kind as to do the same thing to Kagura? Syaoran, would you please hug Kisa?" Both young men did as they asked, although Syaoran blushed. Neither girl transformed. Shigure, amazed, asked, "Meredith-san, do you know what's going on? Why don't they transform?"

Nathaniel chuckled, "Isn't it obvious?" he asked in his light tenor, "You aren't transforming because your auras of those who have magical gifts."

Meredith nodded, "Nathaniel is right. Now I'd like to test the charms. Please put them on." The Sohmas obeyed. "Good," she said, "Now to test them. Tohru, would you please hug Hatsuharu? Tomoyo, why don't you hug Yuki? Rika, will you hug Momiji please? And Duo, please hug Kisa." They all did as they were asked, some of them blushing. No one transformed.

Meredith's expression was victorious, "Tomorrow, I'll teach the spell to Eriol, Sakura, Sayoran, Fuutie, Fanrei. Feimei, and Sheifa. The charms will have to be renewed everyday or they will lose their effectiveness."

Celene smiled at her daughter, "Sweetling, what spell did you use?"

"The frozen heart."

Her family nodded. The others just looked confused or worried, Celene smile reassuringly, "Don't worry, it doesn't effect your emotions or health or anything. It's called the 'frozen heart' spell because it locks your aura inside your heart. You may feel a little lightheaded at until you get used to it, but if you breath deeply and slowly, the lightheadedness will soon pass. If it doesn't by the time the spell is renewed tomorrow evening, please come to me." With that, everyone began eating with very little conversation.