A/N: I used the synopsis from www . usagi ~doi/sakura/movie1999 . html . I've never seen the movie and don't intend to. I know, I'm awful, yadda yadda, but, it's like asking me to watch a Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood movie that's 74 minutes long. Sure, the man was awesome, his show is great, but for a certain audience, you know? And I'm not that audience.
Blood and Duty
Chapter Seven
"I don't know, I knew better than to do it," Sakura wept, and Yue could not bear to blame her when she was already blaming herself.
"You were tired." From helping Syaoran with your Dream Card. "It was a powerful spell. We can still save them."
"But Syaoran-kun..."
Yes, Syaoran. There was nothing that could be said; nothing meaningful, anyhow. They had figured out what might have been going on: long ago Clow Reed had come to Hong Kong, and met with a fortune-teller. He taught her magic, which she then abused, transforming herself into a mighty entity that terrorized the area. Clow Reed had confronted her and locked her away to die, but her spirit must have persisted, because there was really no other explanation for it.
"We need to find a way to get to where she took them," Kero explained.
"The well, where I tripped the first time," Sakura breathed, referring to when she had gotten drenched after following the birds, "That must be the entrance. It was on the book cover I had opened."
Yue wasted no time. "Let's go."
Unfortunately, the well was protected by a powerful force barrier, and Sakura was at a loss as to how to break through. She was currently trying to use the rashinban, but having had less practice than Syaoran, she was not having much luck.
"Source of light with ancient spin,
Send forth the magic power within.
Oracles of Gold, Wood, Fire, Earth,
Cloud, Wind, Rain, & Electricity.
Force know my plight,
Release the light!"
Nothing.
"Keep calm," Kero intoned, which was almost comical, because Yue did not want anyone to be calm. Yue was not calm. Right now, Syaoran could be dying, wherever he was. There had been so much blood, and he had been fighting that fortune-teller, and every second they wasted trying to get to the well was an extra second closer to death and Yue did not know what he would do if Syaoran died from this, not like this, not like this—
"You can do it, Sakura-chan,," Tomoyo insisted.
Sakura took a deep breath, and tried again.
Then, light some sign from the gods—Clow Reed had always described miracles as such—the lasin board glowed, and a beam of light sliced through the force field, powered by Sakura's own magic.
Yue dove through first.
Sakura came right after him.
They came upon a world between worlds, and Yue wanted to pull his hair out; it was like every dimension was trying to get between him and Syaoran.
"Where are we?" Sakura asked, sounding small and afraid.
Yue's instincts surged, and he found himself siding close to the girl. She was young, only slightly older than Syaoran, just as lost and confused by all this as he would be.
"We are in a world between worlds," He told her, "Time is meaningless here, space is meaningless here. This is not the place we need to go to. We need to concentrate on getting to where we need to go—you need to concentrate on getting where we need to go."
Sakura was frightened, but she nodded with determination, and shut her eyes to focus.
Yue waited with bated breath. With people like Sakura, who had a lot of raw power but not a lot of finesse, it was hard to say if any spell would work within a given timeframe; she would master any spell she needed to master, but the question was when, and in this world between worlds that could mean anything. Not to mention, they could materialize in the wrong world...and that presented its own problems.
Their environment shimmered. Color bled in, and Sakura opened her eyes when their surroundings solidified. Grass. Trees. Sky. No Tomoyo, no Kero. Nothing moving around them.
"...I think we went to the wrong place," The girl worried her lip.
Yue frowned. He was not so sure. Something was out there..."Follow me," He ordered, heading toward the source.
It was not Syaoran. Syaoran was nowhere, and neither was Touya. But it was something familiar, and Yue was not going to let the fortune-teller get away with this. Never mind that she should have been dead for thousands of years. He was going to tear her apart with his bare hands if he had to—
The world shimmered again. Yue's wings spread out as he braked himself. Sakura came running behind. He looked ahead, spotting her; long hair free under a black headdress, red robes trailing a white skirt and long white sleeves.
"Why did you imprison her, Master? I thought you loved her."
"I did, Yue, and I still do. I wish I could have spared her." Silence, thereafter, though Yue kept raising questions of—
"Madoushi," He growled.
Madoushi, the sorceress who once broke Clow Reed's heart, snarled at him and Sakura.
"Why did you return?" She snapped in Chinese.
Sakura held her wand in front of her. "Let everyone go!"
A hint of a smirk lifted the corners of Madoushi's lips. "If you want them back," She stated, this time in Japanese, "Bring Clow Reed here."
Yue hissed. "We can't bring him here. He's—"
"I've been waiting for him."
Without warning, she unleashed an attack. Instinct had Yue rolling Sakura into his arms and spinning out of the way. They flew up, and the woman followed, silks trailing behind her like a Chinese goddess.
"Where is Clow Reed!?"
I am out of practice. Flying with Syaoran had never consisted of dodging spells like this. Thankfully, his guardian reflexes remained unchanged over the millennia, but his heart raced all the same, and he was not sure if he was suffocating Sakura as he held her tight.
"Where is he?! Where is Reed?!"
"He's gone," Sakura choked out, "It's been centuries, he's been dead for thousands of years!"
The spells paused only briefly.
"That's a lie, a lie! You filthy little liar!"
He sensed her come up to him and threw Sakura aside as a spell collided. He hardly felt any pain, but the momentum threw him off course. It took several flaps of his wings to right himself again, during which time Madoushi dove for Sakura. He dove for her in turn, striking her to the side and spreading his wings out to shield Sakura.
"She speaks the truth, for I am a Guardian of Clow." The wind almost blew him off balance again, and he exerted an effort to remain steady. "Clow Reed has been dead for millennia, and I would know, for I have wandered this realm for all of those years. You strike at his heir, the Card Mistress, and you hold his descendant captive." He summoned his energy bow, which he pulled back to form an arrow, aiming directly at the woman's throat. "Release them, now."
She seemed to see him for the first time, and her eyes flickered between the head of his arrow and his face. A laugh burst out of her, hysterical, not unlike Syaoran's when he had been overwhelmed in the nightmarish setting of the massacred Li clan.
"You are lying," She laughed again, "He can't die. There's no way he can die. Millennia—" She broke off, her arms lowering to settle limply at her sides.
Yue's heart was still pounding, his vision red with Syaoran's blood. Sakura's gentle face was more of a shock than any lightning could cause.
"Gomen nasai," She said softly, "I know this must be hard for you. You've been waiting for him, haven't you?"
"I've been waiting for him all this time," Madoushi's voice grew quiet. "All this time. I used all the power I had to wait for him, however long it took. I used everything."
"You really loved Clow, didn't you?" Sakura whispered. She reached out for her. "He's been gone for a long time. People have mourned him. Yue had too."
Yue blinked, feeling a little dazed. When did Sakura become so perceptive? The energy bow dissipated in his hands.
Madoushi stared at Sakura, and Yue was not sure if she was staring at her or through her.
"Is Clow Reed really dead?"
Sakura nodded solemnly. "Hai."
Madoushi looked away. "I had waited all this time. There was something I wanted to say...but I guess it's too late." Her eyes lowered and closed. "Gomen nasai."
Her figure started breaking apart right before their eyes, turning into wispy tendrils of air and mist. Around them, the world was also breaking apart. Yue grabbed Sakura and pulled her to him as everything shattered.
"Yue, get up."
Yue opened his eyes. They were back by the well, now devoid of magical aura. Kero was shaking Yue's shoulder.
The guardian leaped to his feet. They were back. Were the others—
Touya was cradling something close. Yue's heart turned to ice, and his world tunneled in to that small form, limp and pale, clothes coated with blood.
"Yue, he's still bleeding—"
"We need to call the ambulance—"
"—what's the number for the ambulance? Is anyone around—"
He was grabbing Syaoran, who was too limp—he was far too limp, even when the boy was in exhausted sleep, he had never been so limp. Touya was shouting at him.
"Yue, you and Kero are the only ones here who speak Cantonese and you're the only person here who knows what emergency number to dial, Yue, snap out of it, we need to get him to a hospital!"
"Xiaolang?" The boy was completely unresponsive. Though he was taken in a water world, his hair was dry and his skin was dry and the only parts of him that were wet were his clothes, which were dark and stained, and he was still bleeding someone mentioned he was still bleeding where was he bleeding—
"Yue!"
White pain burned on his cheek. He looked up, more startled than angry. Touya was holding a phone, and he grabbed the guardian by the collar.
"Ambulance, now," He ordered, shoving the phone into his hand.
Yue's fingers were red, and when he dumbly punched in the numbers the buttons were similarly stained.
"This is...please state...your emergency?"
"I need an ambulance, my son is dying." It felt like someone else was speaking those words.
"Please state your location sir."
"Wh-where are we?"
He had asked this in Chinese, so he had to repeat it in Japanese, which was stupid because how were Touya and Sakura and Tomoyo supposed to know where they were if Yue did not? But they managed to tell him anyway, since the signs were written in English, and Kero flew up to survey the area and give them better directions.
Touya pulled Syaoran from Yue, and at first the guardian wanted to protest, but it turned out the teen was just trying to stop the bleeding. Meanwhile, the operator was inquiring as to the status of his son, how he was injured, and giving instructions; keep calm, press on the wound, try to control the bleeding, control the area—Sakura was crying, Tomoyo was hugging her, Touya was getting blood all over himself, there was blood everywhere—
"He has lost a lot of blood. We are giving him a transfusion, hopefully he pulls through." The doctors were grim but brisk. So many patients to take care of, not enough hours in a day. "He does not appear to have lost the critical amount of blood," Whatever that meant, "So for now, give him time."
Evening hung dark and solemn outside the windows, glittering though it was by city lights. In a few hours it would be midnight and Syaoran's birthday. The boy looked like he might disappear into the white cot underneath the wires and tubes; oxygen near his nose, heart monitor beeping. He had undergone arrhythmia earlier, and they had to defibrillate him. For now, however, he seemed stable.
"Visiting hours will be over in an hour," The doctor said sympathetically, "You can stay if you don't mind sleeping in a chair; not enough beds, I'm sorry to say. Your friends will have to leave though, otherwise this place will get too crowded."
"That's fine," Yue said dully. "I'll tell them, they're Japanese so they don't know what you just said."
"Oh. Well, you let the nurses know if you need anything, sir."
The guardian nodded, and the physician left them. Kero translated everything to the group, while Yue took a seat next to the boy.
"Kero-chan can stay..." Sakura offered, looking uncertain. The other guardian seemed willing to follow through.
Yue shook his head. "Iie, we'll be alright. If anything happens...it's not like he can help." This was not something the sun guardian could tackle with a fireball, or Sakura could use a spell for. She might be able to, one day, but not now. Not when it mattered.
"Are you sure?" The girl asked, "I don't want you to be alone."
She was so honest and genuine. Yue looked up at her, musing that it was probably no wonder that Clow Reed strove so hard to make her a Card Master. In his bitterness and disappointment following the Final Judgment, he had forgotten that Clow Reed had always done what he thought was best for others. He might not have seen Syaoran, but he might have thought Sakura would make a good master because she was so kind and open. Better secure her, rather than risk Yue selecting a master who was competent but cruel. He reached out and touched her face.
"I'll be alright. He and I...we were enough for each other for five years." Kero would never understand. Sakura would never understand. Yue looked back at his charge. "I don't need anyone else."
He knew his words hurt, though he was not of the mind to fathom why. Touya guided his sister to the other side of the cot.
"There's still an hour," Said the teen, "We'll stay until then."
As Tomoyo and the Kinomotos took their seats, Kero on Sakura's lap, Yue continued to regard the child that brought happiness back to his life for the last six years.
"He will be alright," He insisted, half to himself and half to others. "You know, when I first met him, he was hurt worse than this—had a fever and a broken leg, swam away from his captors, thought I was going to kill him. He was five. I mean," He held his face in his hands, "He can't die from...from some ghost."
"The kid's strong," Touya said gently, "He was a gaki all the way till the end—I mean till he was unconscious. Kept mouthing me off when I was trying to save his sorry butt."
Yue laughed, then choked back a sob and allowed silence to descend.
I had completely forgotten about him to save Sakura. He was reaching for her again in the water, pulling on her small form, while Syaoran sailed forward to confront Madoushi. I did not even think about protecting him at all.
I had failed him.
He only wished the boy would not suffer from that failure.
Syaoran was playing with his wings.
"I wish I had wings. These are pretty."
"You might one day." Visions of Syaoran as a future Card Master danced before his eyes, though the image was blurry. Right now, Syaoran was a cute little six-year-old boy. Probably not an appropriate candidate to wield all the Clow Cards.
The little imp was moving his wing at the joints, trying to find all the points of rotation, the attachment at the scapula, the short humerus, the radius and ulna. Yue allowed him, lying on his stomach on the bed. He usually did not like to spread his wings out when he was not using them; they felt awkward and large, rather useless when he was not airborne. For the boy though, he was doing all sorts of things he normally would not do, and it amazed him sometimes how content he felt, listening and feeling the child going around, an ever-present companion now in his life.
The boy was starting to attempt bending where there were no joints as well, just to investigate thoroughly. His short little arms barely had the strength to tickle Yue, let alone hurt him; the guardian was stronger than the average human male, and his wings were made of magic and not something even a wrestler could snap—but Yue made a show of groaning, and reacting as if he were in pain, just to scare the little youngster. Syaoran jumped, looking horrified and ready to apologize. Yue dove onto the child and tickled his tummy.
"What are you trying to do, you mischievous brat? What are you trying to do?"
Syaoran giggled. "Stop! Stop! No, stop! Hahaha!" And Yue stopped before he could make the child cry.
Still giggling, Syaoran squirmed, scrunching up the bedcovers under him. Yue released him, moving to the side so they lied next to each other. The child cuddled close.
"Yue, I love you."
Yue, I love you.
Yue, I love you.
He woke. The hospital was dark. In the moonlight, he saw that the clock read several minutes after three. Syaoran's heart monitor continued beeping. He could hear nurses going about outside, sleepy residents and attendings yawning.
Then the beeping suddenly accelerated.
"Aughhhhhhhh..." Syaoran groaned, and his body writhed a little against the tubes. His next groan was choked, and the pain was clearer this time.
Yue wasted no time assuring the boy he was there. "It's alright, Syaoran. I'm here." He pressed the button for the nurse, then took the child's cold hand. "I'm here. You're alright. You're going to be alright."
The nurse came quickly, and they turned the lights on. Syaoran moaned again in protest, but started making more pained noises. An attending showed up, this one different from the doctor from earlier. He looked over the charts before declaring that he was going to give Syaoran some pain medication.
"Has he said anything?"
"No."
"Mm." Yue had no idea what to make of that. "Alright, we'll give him intravenously and see what happens."
Syaoran fell asleep after they dosed him, which the doctor seemed disappointed about.
"Probably for the best though," He said, "Let him recover a little more before waking. He was in a lot of pain."
No kidding. Syaoran had been incoherent with it. The doctor tucked the boy in, the sight piercing Yue profoundly—this person cares, this person cares, oh god what have I done—before leaving with the assurance that Yue could call them anytime he needed.
The guardian sat in his chair and held his head in his hands again, feeling full to bursting with...something, but he was not sure what. He felt very lost and alone, and though he did not want Kero with him, he wondered if rejecting Sakura's offer had been so wise after all.
What do I know of being a parent? What did he know of love? What am I supposed to do now? How was he supposed to cope with this?
He wanted Clow. He suddenly missed him as keenly as Madoushi did. He would give anything—short of Syaoran, for Clow to be here again. Clow would know what to do. He would have the power to save this boy, who was his own descendant, shared his own blood. In his mind's eye he could see the old sorcerer tending to Syaoran and seeing all the wonderful things Yue saw in him. Clow was always so wise, he would know what to do. He would save this boy, be able to take away his pain, prevent this from even happening.
Clow has been dead for centuries...millennia...thousands of years...
Yue breathed in and tried to clear his thoughts. He stared at Syaoran for a moment, then rested his head down near that small, cold hand.
I'd give anything for you to be well. Anything. Life. Magic. Self.
He just wished there were a way to buy that wish.
Syaoran woke the next morning feeble, but in good spirits.
"Oh good so the lasin board did help out," He rasped, wincing as he drank some warm water. "Which incantation did she use?"
"The one you liked better."
"I knew it. What's with the 'King of the gods' nonsense anyway?" He stared at the intravenous line. "This thing hurts. Can I take it out?"
"If you think you can eat."
"What if I can't eat?"
"We'd have to poke you with the needle to get it back in," The attending walked in, having heard part of the conversation, "And this time you'd be awake."
"Do the needles hurt?"
"They're much bigger than acupuncture. Someone's looking chipper today. Hi, how are you? I'm Dr. Wei."
"I'm Li Xiaolang."
"How are we feeling?"
"Like my stomach exploded."
"Ah," The doctor made a sympathetic noise, "I imagine so. You had us worried for a while, little one. Your dad here stayed with you all night."
Syaoran did not react much to that. Yue supposed that for him, he had expected as much.
"I don't remember much..." The boy looked at him, a clever way to ask what story they gave the hospital, "What happened?"
They had said they did not know what happened, which was true in a way. All Yue saw was the aftermath, the blood floating in the water. He was not sure how Syaoran received his injuries. All the hospital could decipher was that Syaoran had been stabbed by something. The doctor reached out to ruffle the boy's hair.
"I'm going to run a few tests, just to check on how you're doing. Do you know the date?"
He conducted a few more tests, at the end of which Syaoran was exhausted. The doctor gave Yue a reassuring pat on the shoulder and declared that the boy should recover reasonably well. "He seems to be in good mental health," He reported, "No signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. Just take it easy with him and be supportive. Children are resilient."
A stab in the abdomen, frankly, would hardly warrant a nightmare for Syaoran, let alone post-trauma. Yue was more upset that this happened under his watch. The doctor had no way of comprehending this, and left without saying much more. Touya brought the others to visit a few hours later.
"We bought cake..." Sakura said awkwardly, hoisting a fat chocolate cake that was bigger than her head. "I wasn't sure if you could eat it, but we bought it just in case."
Syaoran made a pinched expression, as if the very smell made him nauseous. Considering his wounds, he likely did not have much of an appetite.
"Can you put that away?" He asked plaintively, "I'm sorry but I think I'm gonna throw up if you don't and I don't have the energy to do it."
"Doctor mentioned something about vagal reactions," Yue shook his head, "All I got was that solid foods are probably not a good idea right now."
"I appreciate the thought though."
"No problem," Sakura was a little disappointed, but not offended. "If it weren't for you, I don't think we could have solved the problem."
"Pfft. I didn't do anything."
"You got the lasin board," Sakura pointed out, "And you went home for it. It must have been very hard, but you did it anyway."
Unused to praise from anyone other than Yue, Syaoran squirmed under the tubes and wires, blushing.
"We need to redo this birthday," Tomoyo declared, "Properly. With cake."
"I have a gift for you," Sakura said happily.
"Nani?" Syaoran blinked.
"It would have to wait until after you leave the hospital though. I don't think we're allowed to bring something like that here."
Yue looked at Touya warily. "What is it?" He asked under his breath.
"You'll see."
Syaoran looked intrigued. "You really know how to motivate a patient to recover," he said to the Card Mistress.
Sakura just winked.
