Title: Reminiscent (7)

Title:  Reminiscent (7)

Author:  Yih

Written:  April 2001

Dedication:  To following Reviewers- Helen, Rhea, phoenix_angel_fire, SinButterfly, OneWeirdMoNkEy!, ~*blue-eyed angel*~, ~*~Cutie Blossom~*~, Sherry, James Birdsong, Anna, platinum man, Sakura1301, Akira, ~*~Sakura-chan~*~, SAKURAnTOKYO, ThatKidMinako, Lullaby, aurora manda, The_MANinTHe_BoX, angelwings2001, GoddessSakura, Empress Sarah, obiwankatie, Jana, Maire, Silver, and Fairy Empress

20+ Reviews before I release again. 

Disclaimer:  All rights are exclusively Clamp except for ACC- Dangyun, Faa, and Shaolin. 

"I feel so strange!" Tomoyo exclaimed.  "I'm the only girl here!" 

"Hey!  Don't you remember that Syaoran was once a princess?" Kero reminded her. 

"I forgot about that!" she cried out.  "I can't believe what great photos and tapes I got from that affair!  It was fabulous!"

"Princess?" asked Shaolin.  "Why was Syaoran a princess?  Shouldn't he be a prince?" 

Syaoran grumbled and said nothing.  

Tomoyo laughed. 

Eriol averted his gaze elsewhere, trying to look like he knew nothing of what they were talking about.   

"It's a long story," Yukito finally answered.  "We'll tell you about it when we get to the restaurant.  How far away is it?  I'm starving." 

"Not too far," Tomoyo replied. 

"You're always hungry," muttered Kero.

"You are so different from Yue," said Shaolin with amazement.  "I don't understand how you--you can transform into Yue!"

"Well, he can, so that's that.  Besides, Yue only did it so he could sneak underneath my awareness and to keep close to Sakura.  It worked too," Kero replied thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.   

"But why?" Shaolin questioned.

"Because Clow Reed made Yue the tester to make sure that Sakura was the one.  But even then, Clow only did it so that Yue could go on.  You know how Yue was… he didn't want to be without Clow Reed if he didn't have a purpose.  So Clow Reed gave him a purpose, something for him.  Boy!  You should have seen the look on Yue's face when that purpose was taken away from him in the end," Kero blurt out.  "I don't even want to know how he felt inside.  He must have been pretty hurt.  I would be too, if Clow Reed had done that to me." 

"Well, am I that different?" injected Yukito all of a sudden.  "I wouldn't know…" 

"Trust me, you're different," Kero affirmed.  "You're much looser than Yue, and you sure like food better than he does.  He doesn't eat.  He doesn't do anything that isn't necessary, wouldn't you agree Yue?  I know you're in there watching me with those disdainful eyes of yours!  I can just imagine how--" 

"Kero!" Tomoyo reprimand sharply.  "Be nice or no dessert for you!" 

"Aww… you wouldn't do that would you?"

"I'm paying, aren't I?" threatened Tomoyo, her sharp eyes focusing on the stuffed animal in her palm. 

"Is she paying?" Kero asked the other fellows. 

"I'll pay," Eriol offered benevolently. 

"No, you're a guest!" Tomoyo exclaimed.  "I'll pay for this meal," she insisted.  "This dinner will be a dinner in your honor!" 

"We can have one later," Eriol murmured.  "Someone's missing for that to be complete." 

"Sakura…" Tomoyo whispered understandedly.  "Do you think that this will be a hard battle?  I'm worried that I won't be able to whip out the costumes as fast as I did before.  I used up so many good ideas back in those days!  I sure don't want to redo anything I did before!  That would be a fashion disaster.  I'll get to the drawing boards as soon as I get home and pour through my magazines!  I'm sure I can find enough original ideas to make Sakura looked absolutely gorgeous as she fights!  You did say this was elemental battle?  That will be the theme then…" 

"Tomoyo, be serious!"  Eriol interrupted her.  "Sakura may be the strongest magician in this time period, but she's never tackled anyone like Dangyun before.  Not only is he dangerous, he's undeniably gifted in his alignment.  He poses a threat not only physically but mentally.  This will be the hardest battle she will ever face, much harder than I was." 

"I can't help but want Sakura to look ravishing when she fights!" cried out Tomoyo.  "I suppose for a fire…"

"Tomoyo!"

"He's right," Shaolin added.  "Even my onii-chan had problems with fighting off the ritual challenges that Dangyun issued whenever he thought his newest spell, creation, or skill could possibly defeat Clow Reed and make him the unprecedented power in the magical world.  He's a tough person to beat in anything.  He's pretty much an all-round magician." 

"Eriol," barked Syaoran. 

"What?"

"Eriol--I'd like to be the third defender."

"You can't," replied Eriol.  "I'm sure that Dangyun will pick you and Shaolin as the prize--price."

"He doesn't know about me," Syaoran said logically.  "He only knows that Shaolin is here.  What if Sakura hadn't met me yet?" 

"True… but I'd be more of a help to her than you," Eriol stated.  "Even at half my previous strength I'm more than a match for you.  And I'm sure that Dangyun knows you're here.  You forget he isn't a normal person that fights well.  He's probably one of the strongest magicians of all times!" 

"I'm not asking you," growled Syaoran, "or requesting this!  I will be the third defender!"

"Let's have Sakura decided," Yukito said, popping his head in between Syaoran and Eriol. 

"Yes, Sakura should decide," agreed Tomoyo.  

"After all, it's her battle," uttered Shaolin with sadness tinged into his voice. 

"FOOD!  Lovely, delicious food!" screamed Kero in delight.  "We have arrived!  Ohhh!  I can't wait to pick out all my favorites since Tomoyo's paying!"

"WE'RE HERE?" Yukito asked loudly.  "I think I'd like a SUPER-SIZE order of shrimp sushi rolls!" 

"Can all you guys think about is food?" Syaoran growled his question. 

"I thought I was paying," Eriol said confusingly. 

"I'm paying!" Tomoyo said not taking no for an answer. 

"What does Japanese food taste like?" inquired Shaolin. 

"DELICIOUS!" cried out Kero and Yukito in unison as they ran into the restaurant.  

"The rain's stopped," Tooya commented.  "How about we go for a walk and talk about things?" 

Sakura smiled brightly.  "Are you sure?  I'm sorry, but I've just been so restless!  We don't have to if you don't want to…  It would be perfectly fine to talk here, you know.  I'd like to know everything about you!"

He blushed slightly at her outspoken comment and cleared his throat.  "I'd like to know everything about you." 

"So would you rather stay here?"

"We could go on the walk." 

"We don't have to!" she insisted.  "I know you must be tired, since you just got here and all!" 

"I'm not tired at all.  It would be a real pleasure to walk with you," he said sincerely.  "So, have you got a lot on your mind?  Are things really busy now that you're going to be a high school senior next year?" 

"That's an understatement!" she exclaimed.  "Come on!  Let's go!" 

"Awww… so eager, to be that young and innocent," he said faintly, "I wish people never had to grow up.  I remember that time long ago; I wasn't much different than you are." 

"Well, you can be a kid with me again!  You're just like my uncle!" she exclaimed. 

"I hope I'm not that old," he said huskily, staring into her with shimmering golden brown eyes. 

No, you're not that old, she thought to herself, and that's what I'm afraid of.  You've got something about you that makes me feel for you so deeply that it scares me.  It's the same kind of feeling that I get when I see Syaoran--Shaolin.  It's like we were suppose to be together.  But how can I feel this way about two different people?  Or is Tooya just so close to my okaasan that I want to be close to him so I can have a part of her near me? 

No, that's not it.  It's something deeper than that.  It's the same feeling I had when I met Syaoran for the first time, I knew him.  I know this Tooya.  Is he someone special from my past?  If Shaolin proves anything, I'm suppose to be with Syaoran.  But what if I made the wrong decision back then?  What if the one I was suppose to choose wasn't really Shaolin or Syaoran?  What if it were him--Tooya?

OR what if there is no right answer?  What if anything I choose could turn out wrong because I don't have someone that right for me?  No, I can't think that!  I'm going to think positive!  And if I had to choose right now, would I choose Syaoran?  Yes--but, is Shaolin really the same person as Syaoran?  He seems the same, but the intensity I feel when I'm around him--it overwhelms me.  And now things have only gotten more difficult with--with Tooya here…

Why is love so difficult?

"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked with a warm concern.  He reached out to touch her face in a seemingly romantic caress but stopped short from actually touching her.     

"Yeah," she replied absently.  "I've just got too many things on my mind." 

"You should let out the things that are on your mind," he advised her.  "It isn't healthy keeping things to yourself all the time.  It builds up something ugly--"  

Sakura stared at him with incomprehending eyes, not knowing why he suddenly stopped talking.

"Well, your onii-chan is here.  We can leave now.  Is there anywhere special you'd like to go?  A mall, a shop?  Perhaps the local park?  Choose the place and I'll follow you anywhere," he murmured. 

"The park," she answered swiftly.  "I haven't been to the park in a while." 

"Figures, the kaiju can never get over that gigantic penguin," retorted Touya. 

"Stop calling me that, onii-chan!  You're the kaiju not me!" she yelled at him, trying to stomp on his available feet.  

"Penguin?" asked Tooya with puzzlement.

"You've got to see it!  It's such a great slide!" Sakura said enthusiastically. 

She grabbed his hand in her eagerness to get moving and felt a sudden electric shock, a connection to him that spread throughout her body in a lightning second.  It tingled through every single vein in her body.  It was like her body had been just cool but now was liquid hot with a burning fire.  She still held on to his hand, not knowing if it was her imagination or this had really happened.  She glanced carefully at Tooya's face, studying his expression to see if he felt the feeling she had just felt of--of Recognition.  

She saw nothing.  It crushed her. 

Touya glared at Tooya from behind the older man's back.  Whatever was going on with this guy, he didn't like him anymore than he liked Shaolin.  This older man was getting way too flirty with Sakura.  Talk about age difference, he thought with brotherly protection.  If he wasn't okaasan's close friend I'd teach him a thing or two about flirting so openly in front of me with Sakura! 

"Shall we go?" Tooya questioned, motioning with his other hand. 

"Yes," Sakura tried to respond lightly as she felt her mouth water with disappointment and a keen sorrow. 

Why do I feel this way?  Sakura wondered. 

Tooya's hand closed over Sakura tightly. 

I feel strange with him near me.

He'd never let her go. 

I don't want him to let me go. 

Author's Note: I hate complaints on how slow I write.  IF you readers try writing 5,000 words per week and manage it successful tell me HOW you do it!  This series has one of the LONGEST chapters I've written so stop complaining and weekly means weekly: I release only once a week! 

P.S. I'll eventually finish this series, no worries there, k? ^_^

Remember: Reviewing is Doing the Giving to Caring authors Slaving over Working on Writing fanfics!