AN: Hi there.
Here's the fourth chapter of Journey's End!
(sniff) I'm going to miss this story after the next update (chapter five), it was a blast to write.
But I have finished its sequel, it's called Dream Catcher, which I hope you all go and read and review once chapter five of this story is posted!
Thank you to my reviewers: Fai'swingedchronicles, strange'eagle, and StalkingAShadow!
You guys are my heroes and I dedicated this chapter to you.
-Tenshi
The reason Sakura, Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane and baby Kimihiro patiently waited in Yûko's native country of Japan was because the white Mokona and black Mokona had created a nest and mated; thus making mini-Mokonas. The baby Mokonas were born a week after the travelers had arrived, but the "mommy" and "daddy" Mokonas were protective of their little ones.
Yûko, Fai, and Sakura gushed over the seven babies. Kurogane, Watanuki, Syaoran, and Dômeki had just stared at the babies; not quite sure how to react, but Watanuki and Syaoran offered the white and black Mokonas their congratulations. With some help from Yûko, Fai, and Sakura, the white Mokona and black Mokona named the little ones: Yume, Ariel, Edmund, Imriel, Theo, Bella, and Yuki; all had the "last name" of Modoki.
It also gave Yûko the chance to regain her strength; the ceremony of binding Kurogane and Fai together had taken its toll on her body and taxed her magical resources. It also provided Watanuki with the time to dig up the hand-held calling-mirrors from the "Treasure Room" - one for him and his boyfriend, one for Fai and Kurogane, one for Sakura and Syaoran, and one for his boss and the Mokona (and a spare one Yûko hadn't told him who it was for). Although Fai had yet to tell anyone, he had a suspicion he was pregnant again, so the extra time was nice for him to relax and adjust to being pregnant again.
During which time, the travelers decided that Sakura and Syaoran would be the first to return to their home; seeing as Sakura's older brother - the King of the Kingdom of Clow - would most likely be ecstatic to his younger sister in one piece.
It was another two weeks before Yûko regained her strength completely and had enough energy to transport one pair of the travelers. Seeing as Sakura and Syaoran decided to travel first, Watanuki threw together a farewell celebration, during which Yûko presented the couple with a calling-mirror, and the Mokona parents presented them with Yume, their middle child, who was a soft silvery color with blue eyes.
Following breakfast the next morning, Yûko appeared in her Dimension Witch dress and boots, gently smiling at the brunette young woman and brunet young man; both dressed in the clothes they had arrived in the first time they had seen her. In two suitcases were the rest of their clothes from their travels.
As soon as Watanuki finished hugging the brunette princess, Yûko smiled at the two, asking, "Are you ready to return to Clow now?"
Both Syaoran and Sakura nodded, a silvery colored baby Mokona tucked safely in her arms.
"Yûko-san?" began Syaoran, "why can't Yume-chan take us to Clow?"
Yume Modoki, the silvery colored baby Mokona, chirped happily from Sakura's arms, while Yûko's ruby eyes fell on the little one and explained: "Yume does not possess the power to cross dimensions just yet. In time, Yume will learn."
Looking up at Syaoran, she continued, "There is also something I need to… explain… to his highness, King Tôya, and the High Priest, Yukito-san."
Smiling, Syaoran accepted her answer. It was then that a pure white Mokona with a black mark in the shape of a crown bounded into the room. Yume happily chirped, "Yuki!"
"Yuki go wit Yume! Yuki go! Yuki go!" came the loud announcement. "Yuki present!"
Yûko understood what the youngest of the seven Mokona children was attempting to tell them and picked her up, "Alright, Yuki."
Turning to Watanuki and Dômeki, she said, "If I do not return by sundown, ask one of the Mokonas to take you to me in the Kingdom of Clow."
With that said, Yûko closed her eyes, then waved her left arm away from her body, and the designs of the portal of time-space and inter-dimension travel appeared beneath her feet.
"Step onto the portal," Yûko told Sakura and Syaoran.
Following her orders, the two stepped onto the designs, then moved closer to Yûko. Sakura flashed a smile at Watanuki, his boyfriend, her adoptive parents, Fai and Kurogane, and her "baby brother," turning to look at Syaoran, she clutched his hand like a lifeline while trying to hide the tears threatening to spill from Fai and Kurogane. The portal flashed as ribbons of light shot up from the edges of the designs, before encasing Yûko, Syaoran, Sakura, little Yume and little Yuki, who then disappeared along with the portal.
The Kingdom of Clow
It was in broad daylight, shortly before noon, that Yûko, Sakura, Syaoran, Yuki Modoki and Yume Modoki appeared in Clow. The group had landed right outside of the palace, where the guards jumped in disbelief, startled to see Yûko in her Dimension Witch garments.
"Y-y-your m-ma-majesty…" a brave one stuttered, eyeing Sakura then flickering to Yûko, before bowing, "welcome home. The High Priest told us you would arriving today."
Sakura gave the six guard a 100-watt smile as she greeted them, "Thank you! I am quite happy to be home!"
Gesturing behind him, the guard said, "Let us guide you to the palace."
"Thank you," Yûko calmly replied, before Sakura could pout and tell them she knew her way around the palace.
Many of the servants and maids came out to greet the trio; Yume and Yuki were showered with "how cute!" exclamations by the servants and maids. Some of the elder servants and maids warily eyed Yûko, but made no move to comment on her arrival in Clow.
It was then that Yukito, the High Priest, and Tôya, the King of Clow, came rushing forward, both disheveled (it was unlike either of them). Sakura blushed when she realized they must have interrupted her brother and his lover, while they were keeping themselves preoccupied. It wasn't a secret in Clow anymore; although she was unaware of this fact.
"Sakura! Thank the heavens!" Tôya ran forward, hugged her, then happily swung his sister around in a circle before gracefully putting her back on her feet. "And who is this little one?"
The silvery Mokona gleefully announced, "Yume Modoki!"
Tôya chuckled as he "shook hands" with the little silvery Mokona, "It is a pleasure to meet you. May I just call you Yume?"
Yume nodded excitedly, "Yume is Yume!"
Then he looked up, prepared to greet "the twerp" also known as Syaoran, his sister's chosen one, but his blue eyes traveled from the brunet young man to the black haired woman standing beside the "the twerp". His expression of happiness fell away immediately; blues eyes hardening and glaring at the her with an unparalleled hatred. He gently pushed his younger sister behind him.
"What are you doing here?" he spat out, his voice sharp and cold. It scared Sakura, surprised Syaoran, and earned the young king a look of deep sorrow and pity from his lover.
Yûko curtsied, her ruby eyes saddened. "It is an honor to meet you, Tôya-osama-sama (King Tôya)."
Tôya sneered and began a hurtful remark, but was cut off by Yukito, "It is nice to see you again, Yûko-ouhi-sama (Queen Yûko)."
"You were Queen of Clow, Yûko-san?" Syaoran asked, his eyebrows furring in mix of confusion, concentration and thoughts. "I never read any records of you."
A melancholic smile crossed Yûko's face. "That was because Clow-osama-sama (King Clow) erased them when my body died in this dimension."
Yukito slipped his hand into Tôya's and laced their fingers together, gently squeezing his lover's hand in comfort and silent support. They exchanged quiet looks of confusion before the light haired High Priest calmly replied, "Perhaps we had best talk about this in a room more private than the ballroom, Tôya?"
The dark haired King nodded as he gently squeezed the hand in his own back. He turned his blue eyes to one of the nearest servants and barked orders for food and drinks to be delivered to his private study. The servant dashed off to the kitchens. Then Tôya quickly turned on his heal, Yukito right beside him, making their way to Tôya's private study opposite his bedroom. Yûko, Sakura, and Syaoran quickly followed the two men.
Yûko took a seat slightly away from Sakura, Syaoran, Yukito and Tôya. Sipping some of the tea offered to her, the Dimension Witch cleared her throat softly, "Before we get started, Tôya-kun, Yukito-kun, may I present you with Yuki Modoki? Yuki wants to be your personal Mokona. She can translate for you as well as communicate with Yume, as well as their parents and siblings, in case you need Sakura-chan, Syaoran-kun, Watanuki, Dômeki-kun, Fai-san, or Kurogane-san."
Yuki, white with only a black crown mark, bounced out of Yûko's arms and into Yukito's open hands. A pair of surprised gold eyes and a pair of startled sapphire eyes peered down at the small Mokona. The proud little Mokona announced, "Yuki is Yuki!"
Yukito smiled, while Tôya continued to stare at Yuki. The High Priest then said, "It's nice to meet you, Yuki. My name is Yukito and this is Tôya."
While they munched on some snacks, the group treaded on lighter subjects, mainly Sakura and Syaoran asking Yukito and Tôya about the happenings of Clow in the year and half of Clow's time that they (Sakura and Syaoran) had been on their multi-dimensional travels for Sakura's feathers. Once the already-uneasy conversation lulled, Yûko cleared her throat.
"You never met Hiiragizawa Eriol-kun, did you, Tôya-kun?" his mother asked. When her son shook his head, Yûko continued, "When Clow's previous incarnation died, he divided his soul and magic. A man named Kinomoto Fujitaka-san was the first of Clow's reincarnations."
Yukito's chocolate eyes widened at the recognition of the name and he spoke up, "It would be correct to say that the Fujitaka-san you are referring to is not the same one that lived in Clow, is it, Yûko-san?"
Yûko shook her head, "No, Yukito-kun, the Fujitaka-san of this dimension and the Fujitaka-san of the other dimension share similar souls, but not Clow's - I will explain why shortly."
She paused to take a deep breath and a sip of tea, before bulldozing ahead.
"Now, Hiiragizawa Eriol was the other reincarnation of Clow. Eriol-kun held Clow's magic and memories, as well as half of his soul, while Fujitaka-san held the other half of Clow's soul. Eriol-kun befriend one of Sakura-chan's other selves and asked her to separate Clow's soul and magic, which was then equally divided Clow's soul and magic between Fujitaka-san and Eriol-kun. Do you understand what I have told you so far?"
Yukito, Tôya, Sakura, and Syaoran nodded; but the four were still unsure as to what this had to do with them.
Sighing, Yûko frowned somewhat, attempting to find an easy explanation. "When Fujitaka-san and Eriol-kun passed away, allowing for Clow to be reborn, his magic and soul were permanently separated. Now, just before your father-" she pointed to Sakura and Tôya, "-passed away, he separated his magic and soul once again. This time, he allowed part of his magic and soul to be bound to a jar. That was just after I "died" - before that happened, he erased the textbooks of Clow of my name. I was never aware of the fact that my previous, well, my life prior to being the Dimension Witch was the Queen of Clow and mother to you and Sakura."
"W-what?" Tôya stammered, his blue eyes narrowed in confusion, "Father wouldn't - no - he wouldn't have-"
Yûko raised a hand to stop her son's ranting. "Clow did; and in doing so, he sealed part of my memories within the jar that contained the other half of his soul and magic. The jar was given to Fai-san and Kurogane-san, they opened it, undoing all of the magical seals… which is why I now have the complete set of my memories. Enough on that discussion.
"Now, as I said, Clow separated himself before he died. When he died, Watanuki Kimihiro was born. Watanuki is the first of the two reincarnations. The other reincarnation of Clow is also named Kimihiro, and he was born to Fai Demetrius Flowright, Kurogane Ryuichi Toushi, as Sakura and Syaoran well know."
The brunette teens gasped, emerald eyes and chocolate eyes turning to look at each other; amazement clearly written on both of their faces, before they slowly turning their gaze back to the Dimension Witch. Sakura softly cleared her throat to ask, "Does this mean that Watanuki-kun was correct in saying that if Kurogane-san and Fai-san had stayed with Kimihiro-chan in your dimension, that Kurogane-san and Fai-san would die?"
"In a way," Yûko replied. "Hitsuzen would have determined whether or not Kimihiro-chan's life would have been similarly paved to Watanuki's."
Yukito frowned before he asked, "Hitsuzen?"
Yûko gave a small smile to the puzzled High Priest before she replied, "There are no such thing as-"
"Coincidences," Tôya and Yûko said simultaneously. "There is only hitsuzen."
Tôya's deep sapphire eyes turned down to his hand laced with Yukito's, comforted by rubbing the knuckles of his lover with his thumb, before he muttered, "Father said it all the time."
Yûko's smile saddened some what as she peered down to the now-cold tea in the cup cradled in her hands. "Yes, Clow wanted both you and Sakura-chan to realize there are events that are inevitable. Your father wanted you to accept them as well as learn from them."
Tôya leaned back in his chair, a frown marring his face while he studied his hands.
"Then you - technically - are not my mother," he softly said before he turned his sapphire eyes to meet those of ruby.
Yûko's ruby eyes were melancholic as she equally softly replied, "Yes and no, Tôya-kun. In essence, I am your mother; after all, I was not reincarnated, but rather reverted to child form and sent into another dimension. I deepest apologies, Tôya-kun."
The Space-Time Witch then put the cool cup of tea on the table in front of her and stood. "If you will excuse me, I will be taking my leave."
She then swept out of the room, not leaving room for anyone to reply. Sakura jumped to her feet upon realizing Yûko was no longer there and raced after the black haired woman.
"Yûko-san!" the brunette princess cried as she caught up with the Dimension Witch. Yûko paused in her trek and turned to await Sakura.
Panting, Sakura gasped out, her emerald eyes shining with hope: "Yûko-san, I - I have one more wish."
Yûko softly smiled at the girl who was her daughter, but was also not. "What is your wish, Sakura-chan?"
"I-" the emerald-eyed young woman inhaled deeply before she blurted out: "I want my memories of Syaoran-kun."
Yûko began to shake her head, but Sakura interrupted the ruby eyed woman, "I want to exchange the Tsubasa for my memories."
The Dimension Witch's eyes widened considerable at the declaration.
"Sakura-chan," Yûko softly said. "You realize what that means, don't you?"
The Princess of Clow affirmed the question with an eager nod. "I want to establish a connection from Clow to your Japan and from Clow to Kurogane-san's Japan, and from your Japan to Kurogane's Japan. That way we will never truly be separated."
Yûko nodded her head ever so slightly. "It is a fair trade. I will have to accept the wings of Tsubasa before I can return your memories of Syaoran-kun, Sakura-chan."
Sakura replied, "Whatever it takes."
The Space-Time Witch smiled at Sakura's courage; mentally, the black haired woman compared Sakura's courage to that of her apprentice's. 'Perhaps it is their strength rather than their courage,' Yûko thought.
"Alright, do you have your calling mirror and Yume with you, Sakura-chan?"
Yume popped out of the hood of Sakura's robe, "Yume is here!" and Sakura handed Yûko the calling mirror.
Levitating the calling mirror, Yûko wrote signs in the air with finger around the mirror. Her voice whimsically commanded: "Watanuki Kimihiro, put your physical body into a peaceful slumber and enter the realm of dreams with me."
In Yûko's shop, many dimensions away, Watanuki's physical body relaxed, collapsing into his boyfriend's arms, allowing Watanuki to cross dimensions through his dreams to the Kingdom of Clow.
Kingdom of Clow, with Sakura and Yûko
"Yûko-san, there had better be a good reason for dragging me out of my body!" the dual-eyed teen cried once he appeared in the Kingdom of Clow in a ghost-like manner beside Sakura.
Yûko merely smiled at her apprentice's temper before she turned to Sakura, "Are you ready, Sakura-chan?"
Nodding, the brunette teen stepped forward as the Dimension Witch, who was now standing on the designs for the portal, effectively temporarily stopping time in Clow -as well as all the other dimensions- as Sakura stepped onto the designs.
Yûko, as the Dimension Witch, softly spoke to Sakura, "Keeper of the Wings of Tsubasa, what is your wish?"
Closing her emerald eyes, Sakura began to float and the wings of Tsubasa opened behind her from her shoulder blades. Opening her eyes once again, Watanuki flinched as he thought of them as being glazed over and it seemed as if the Sakura he knew was asleep and another being was in control of her body.
In a mysterious voice that didn't quite seem to be Sakura's, the answer came, "I, the Keeper of the Wings of Tsubasa, under the name of Reed Sakura, wish for the memories of one Kinomoto Syaoran in exchange for the Wings of Tsubasa to join the dimension of Nihon and the dimension of Clow to the dimension in which the Dimension Witch permanently resides."
"I will grant your wish, Keeper," Yûko replied, nodding to the Keeper of the Wings of Tsubasa.
The Keeper then replied, "Watanuki Kimihiro, apprentice of the Dimension Witch, Ichihara Yûko, do you recognize this wish being granted and will you honor it when you accept the mantel and title of Dimension Witch?"
Watanuki nodded immediately and found himself saying without second thought: "I, Watanuki Kimihiro, acknowledge this wish being granted and will honor it, Keeper of the Wings of Tsubasa."
The Keeper smiled in Sakura's body, making Watanuki shiver at the detached smile, but he clamped down on his fear to turn and run away. Suddenly, Sakura's body lurched forward, her face contorting in pain as the wings of Tsubasa were slowly pulled out of her body in the dream realm in which Yûko, her physical body, and the ghost-like Watanuki were on.
The Wings of Tsubasa, in all their multi-colored glory separated themselves into two equal halves. The right wing was given to Yûko, who wrapped it in protective bonds to prevent it from being tarnished. The left wing floated over to Watanuki and he accepted it before Yûko then sent him through the realm of dreams back to the Dimension Shop, where -as instructed by Yûko- Watanuki wove the wing into the fabric of the shop and allowed for communication through one of the full-lengths mirrors in the shop.
Smiling, the Keeper of the Wings of Tsubasa closed Sakura's lifeless emerald eyes, stepped off the dimensional design on the ground, allowing time to resume where it had left off. Sakura wobbled a moment then opened her emerald eyes and smiled at Yûko. Yûko returned the smile as she handed Sakura the last of her white feathers.
"Thank you, Yûko-san, thank you so much!" Sakura told the Dimension Witch before the portal opened and the smiling black haired woman disappeared.
Sakura's body froze on the spot upon accepting the last feather. Her emerald eyes glazed over while fragments of her time spent with Syaoran as kids until they vanished rushed back into their proper memories.
At that moment, Syaoran rushed into to see Sakura collapse. Darting forward, he caught the love of his life before she fell to the floor. He cradled her to him, unsure of what was going on; he whispered her name and gently shook her shoulders to wake her up.
"Syao?" she whispered softly upon opening her eyes once more.
Syaoran's amber eyes widened at the nickname - he hadn't ever expected to hear it from her lips again. Smiling, he held her tighter and choked back the sob that weld up in his throat.
Upon the portal reopening in her Wish Shop, Yûko heard the tail end of Kurogane grumbling about her. "You know the instant we sit down to eat, that bitch-"
"Will return from Clow," came Yûko's soft, melodious voice as she stepped into her shop.
Watanuki frowned; his boss seemed quite despondent compared to her normal self. He broke out of his boyfriend's embrace and went to help her, but she shooed him into the kitchen, ordering him to bring out a bottle of her expensive sake with dinner. Sighing, she told them to start dinner without her, as she would change before she joined them.
Looking up at Dômeki, who shrugged, Watanuki sighed then went into the kitchen, the archer following behind him. Taking out seven sake glasses and handing them to Dômeki, who placed them on a tray, the spirit-seer then turned to dig around for the expensive sake Yûko had requested. Once he found it, he dusted himself off, replaced the taken out alcoholic bottles, then went back into the dinning room with his boyfriend on his heals.
Kurogane eyed the glasses and sake the teens brought in. Looking at Watanuki, Kurogane pointed to his bonded and said, "He won't be having any sake tonight."
"Oh?" Watanuki said, his lips forming a small 'o'.
Fai then whined, "Kuro-koi is soooooooo mean to me!" and faked tears.
Of course, baby Kimihiro thought it was funny, clapping his hands in delight. Fai winked at their son then cuddled the black haired baby, pressing their checks together. "Isn't daddy mean, Kimi-chan?"
Kimihiro's wide blue eyes opened to peer up at his daddy, who was glaring at his mommy, then looked back at his blonde haired mommy, before placing a chubby hand on top of Fai's abdomen and smiled brilliantly at the mage. Then baby Kimihiro clearly announced, "Mommy!"
"Fai-san, um, are you pregnant?" Watanuki asked, his bi-color eyes turning to look at the mage.
Surprise danced across Fai's face, but he realized that it probably wasn't unusual for Watanuki to see must also be able to see the magic around his abdomen, like Serentiy-ouhi-sama had. The blonde knew that his face had grown a rose tint to it and he locked his eye onto Watanuki's before nodding, confirming the spirit-seeing teen's question.
Smiling, Watanuki said, "Congratulations! Is there something else you would like to drink?"
Watanuki and Fai missed the shocked look Kurogane had thrown at Dômeki, who shrugged and replied as he sat down, "I can't see the things, magic or not, ghosts, spirits, or whatever that Kimihiro - either of them - can see. I can feel them floating or hovering around him, but I'm just an exorcist."
Grunting his approval, the ninja poured them both a glass full of sake. Both raised their glasses in a silent toast and drank, but they didn't manage to hide the toast from Watanuki, who vehemently shouted, "NO GETTING DRUNK BEFORE DINNER!"
Fai and baby Kimihiro giggled at the spirit-seer's fierce reaction just as Yûko swept back into the room, wearing a pink, crimson, and violet colored kimono, Maru and Moro at her heals, who repeated Watanuki's statement happily, "No getting drunk! No getting drunk!"
"Watanuki," Yûko chided, although her ruby eyes glinted with humor, "let them have their fill of sake."
Watanuki glared at his boss, before muttering things about drunks and that they could rot their livers for all he cared. Stomping, he went back to the kitchen and he made his way back to the group with two glasses of orange juice and joined them for dinner.
AN: The concept of Clow Reed splitting his magic and soul between Hiiragizawa Eriol and Kinomoto Fujitaka comes from Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow; if you're interested, go ahead and read it. The part about the King Clow splitting his magic and soul between Watanuki Kimihiro from xxxHolic and baby Kimihiro (Fai and Kurogane's son) is my own idea.