CCS+MGLN: The Shard Card

Summary: The MGLN cast returns to Earth due to suspicion of Lost Logia only to find that it was Sakura and her cards. When they arrive, Li goes crazy over all the new mages and Sakura realizes that he just has a large magic fetish. (Check!)

Tomoyo acquires magical energy when a jewel seed binds with her (without negative effects) and both she and Sakura decide to go to Mid-childa. (Check!)

Eventually they join section six and Sakura learns that she actually loves Tomoyo while noticing Nanoha and Fate's official relationship. (Check!)

This can be humorous or dramatic and you can add enemies if you want or not. (Erm, check?

Of course Hayate and Tomoyo needs to become great friends and show everyone the power of cosplay (Almost there, check!)

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

:\ I need more fodder if I'm going to keep this going... Help!

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 Eight

"Sakura..."

"Tomoyo..."

"Fate!"

"Nanoha!"

At the space port only a shuttle's trip away from the main base, two couples embraced. One would be leaving for the first time, another safely returned from a long trip.

Tomoyo looked down, muttering for the nth time since she had heard the news, "I wish I could go with you..."

Sakura laughed nervously and said, "It can't be helped. Even though it's my first 'mission', they're only taking the smallest number of personnel to make it workable."

"Come back safely, promise?"

Sakura smiled and nodded. "I will, I promise. It's not a very dangerous mission to start with- and it's on a non-magical planet as well. But sometimes those take the longest to complete, at least, that's what they've been telling me."

"I'll..." Tomoyo bit her lip, wanting to stop talking, to send Sakura off with a smile, but she couldn't help the edge of worry in her voice. "I'll... miss you."

"I'll miss you too. That's why I'm coming back for sure." Sakura grinned, holding up two fingers in a 'victory' pose. "So you take care, too, okay?"

Tomoyo nodded quietly.

"Sakura-san, come on, it's time to go!"

Sakura looked over her shoulder at her colleague and waved. She turned back to Tomoyo, whose forlorn look had taken on a particularly sad turn. On a moment's impulse, Sakura leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, close to her ear. "I'll be going now."

Tomoyo looked up and did her best to smile, although it was obvious that she was straining. "Have a safe trip."

Sakura nodded, waved to Nanoha and Fate not far off, and ran to join her colleagues that she would be spending the next several months with.

As Sakura faded into the distance, becoming a speck on the horizon, Nanoha and Fate walked over to Tomoyo.

"It'll be all right, Tomoyo-chan." When Tomoyo looked up, Nanoha smiled encouragingly.

Tomoyo closed her eyes for a moment, but there was a fresh smile on her face when they opened again. "I know. I know it will. I just can't help but feel a little lonely."

Nanoha nodded. "You two have been especially close recently. It's only natural. But there's nothing more to do here. Let's go back?"

Tomoyo nodded, following close behind as Nanoha and Fate conversed lightly.

"Did you take good care of my baby?"

Nanoha grinned. "Yup! I only got one nick in it this time."

Fate stopped and looked at Nanoha, aghast. "You... you... Nanoha no baka!"

To which Nanoha laughed and hugged Fate tight. "Mou, Fate, I was just kidding. I've hardly driven it, actually. And besides which, I drive safer than you do any day."

"You... you were just teasing?" Fate looked like she was about to cry. "My baby's okay?"

Nanoha smiled up at Fate. "She's just fine, Fate. Want to drive back so you can see for yourself?"

"You brought her?" Fate's eyes instantly lit up as she hugged Nanoha tightly. "You're an angel, Nanoha. Tomoyo, come, let us hurry to the car."

Tomoyo nodded listlessly, picking up the pace as Fate made Nanoha walk faster. She heard Nanoha fill Fate in about the very latest news around TSAB and their network of friends through a filter, as if in water, as she immersed herself in her own thoughts.

It had been like a dream come true when Sakura had told her she loved her back. It was as if a great burden had been lifted from her heart and she began to converse more freely than ever, with TSAB personnel, but especially Sakura. Things she had kept secret from Sakura for so long, now became the subject of mental chats while cuddling before sleeping. And Sakura had taken it all in, never once giving any sign that it affected her love for Tomoyo in any negative way. This in turn only made Tomoyo love her more and want to reveal more, for so much of her likes and tastes were so closely linked with her obsession over Sakura that she had been terrified in the past to reveal them. But in this new world, this new position in society, this new life where Sakura was hers and hers alone... such secrets seemed quite petty and frivolous. So she had come clean, all the more to make room for new memories with her one and only love.

Sakura had done her own share of revealing secrets Tomoyo hadn't even realized she was hiding. She admitted that, had she known about Tomoyo's feelings back on Earth, for example, in high school, she may not have been broad-minded enough to fully accept her feelings as they were offered. Even with Shaoran, it had taken her a long time to get used to the idea of seeing a friend as anything other than a friend. With Tomoyo, it took even longer, for she was not just a friend, but more like a sister to her.

And yet, being around the people of TSAB, especially Nanoha's closest friends, Sakura had started to become closer to her own feelings, questioning why she had been so resolute to follow Tomoyo to the point where it had become impossible to spend even a day with Shaoran without thinking of Tomoyo at least once. The test involving Signum and Shamal's relationship had opened her up even more so to the realization that here, same-sex relationships were not frowned upon, especially when it regarded those who were fully capable of defending their own reputations. If anything, the fact that they were so irrevocably off-limits only increased their popularity.

It was especially so in the case of Nanoha and Fate. Between the time that they had become open with their relationship and Fate had first left on her long mission, Fate had received so many love confessions mixed in with "well-wishing" that Nanoha had taken the time to painstakingly copy the most lovey-dovey messages onto paper just so she could have the pleasure of ripping it into tiny pieces and setting it afire in front of Fate. Fate, monogamous as she was, only laughed when Nanoha displayed such signs of possessiveness. As the couple Sakura and Tomoyo spent the most time around, especially when Vivio was involved, Nanoha and Fate became Sakura's role models in a sense. They were strong, undeniably so when their limiters were off. But it wasn't strength just in a magical sense- they were secure in their relationship with each other, and brave enough to dare anyone to stop them from loving each other. No one ever did try to stop them. Not seriously, at least. The males, in fact, were glad of it, because it meant no other guy would be claiming either of them any time soon.

One night, Sakura had told Tomoyo that she hadn't wanted to tell Tomoyo about her own feelings until she was sure that if they did have an open relationship, they would be strong enough to withstand temporary separations and possible conflicts, should they arise. Tomoyo had felt the same, and had taken her acquiring of an intelligent device as a measuring stick for how capable she was to stand on her own. She, too, believed the best relationships came when they could live on without each other, but were far better with each other.

It was remembering this last bit that gave Tomoyo a reason to smile as she stepped into the back seat of Fate's car, refocusing on her surroundings as Fate affectionately hugged her steering wheel.

"Tomoyo," Fate looked at her through the rear view mirror. "Do you mind if we go grocery shopping on the way back?"

Tomoyo smiled and shook her head. "Of course not. Is there something you want to cook?"

As they included her in the conversation, Tomoyo couldn't help but think with resolute finality that everything really was going to be okay. As Sakura said so often in her youth, "It's going to be all right for sure! (Sounds so much better in Japanese)"

--

It was a quiet day at TSAB. The sun was shining, the people were smiling, Nanoha was beating the hell out of her new recruits to train them for their future missions- it was all well and good. It was an especially good day, for Nanoha ended up finishing her work early and had come to Vivio's school to pick her up.

The scene that Nanoha walked in on when she found Vivio at the clinic, however, was not so good in comparison. A woman of caramel brown hair and green eyes had her arms wrapped around a dazed and confused Vivio.

"Vivio-chan! Don't you remember me?" The woman leaned back and looked Vivio squarely in the eye. "Vivio... I am your mother."

Nanoha wasn't about to take this lying down. Closing the clinic door with a decisive bang, she stepped forward. "Vivio-chan."

Vivio saw Nanoha and her face lit up upon recognizing her. Wiggling out of the stranger's grasp, she ran over and hugged Nanoha. "Nanoha-mama!"

The stranger slowly stood up, glaring daggers at the newcomer. "So you are the one."

Nanoha placed a protective hand on Vivio's head and moved her so that Vivio was slightly behind her. "Is there something I can help you with, Miss...?"

"Kaku Mei. You can help me by giving Vivio back to me."

Nanoha's eyes narrowed. "And why might I do that? Just who are you?"

Kaku smiled as benevolently as Nanoha the White Devil did when blowing something up. "Me? I am Vivio's true mother. I am the one who created her. If you need evidence, just look at her eyes! I made it stay that way... because they are proof... proof that she is the product of my and Fate Testarossa's love. It's a fine thing you've done, taking a woman's child from her while she's been hospitalized. But no longer. I've come to take her back."

Nanoha didn't know what she was angrier about. The fact that she had never thought to check Vivio's DNA against Fate's, so inconceivable as it was that Fate would have anything to do with a child they found in an alley, or the fact that this stranger was implying that Vivio was hers and Fate's, not Nanoha's and Fate's.

"Na...noha-mama? Are you all right?" Nanoha looked down to see Vivio staring up with large, concerned eyes. Eyes that were green and red. Nanoha wanted to take faith in that Vivio accepted her as her mother, but the evidence, however easily replicated, was there.

She turned to the stranger. "Well, Kaku-san, if what you say is true, you wouldn't mind following me to the TSAB main base? Fate should be getting off work soon."

To which Vivio exclaimed, "Fate-mama finished early today? She'll be home for dinner?"

Nanoha chanced another smile at Vivio, although she kept her eyes on the stranger. "Yes, Vivio-chan. That's what Fate told me before I came here."

Nanoha took surprising pleasure in the way Kaku grit her teeth with her fists shaking at her sides. But Kaku was not to be beaten so easily. Putting on another sugary smile, she turned to Shamal and Tomoyo, who Nanoha hadn't noticed until then (though she wasn't surprised by their presence). Kaku bowed respectfully to the two as she said, "Thank you both for your hospitality, although my stay was short. All right, White Devil." She smirked upon seeing Nanoha flinch at the nickname as she walked towards the door. "I shall follow you into your lair." In a quiet voice, she whispered to Nanoha upon walking past, "But in the end, it will be me who goes home with my Vivio... and more importantly, my Fate-chan."

It was at that moment that Nanoha experienced precedence. Never had she felt more gleeful at the prospect of using Starlight Breaker against an opponent that obviously did not have very strong magic, if any at all.

No one was going to take away were her Mid-Childan family away from her. Least of all someone who irked her so.

--

Fate frowned as she hurried down the hall. She hadn't quite known what to expect when she had called Nanoha to tell her she was on her way only for Nanoha to demand that she come straight home before hanging up. Nanoha had looked upset, not to mention preoccupied. It didn't look like it was something Vivio had done at school either; Nanoha was rarely as openly upset when it came to Vivio.

She wondered if it had to do with the laundry. She knew Nanoha was a little anal sometimes about her habit of leaving wet towels on the floor, but Nanoha never complained when it let Fate join her in bed that much sooner.

But Fate had to toss that idea out. They hadn't had a chance to do anything of the sort recently and as such Fate had been very neat about where she put her clothes. Was it cooking then? Had Vivio broken something precious and Nanoha hadn't known how to scold her without giving way to her emotions? But there was nothing so precious in the kitchen that-

Fate stopped. The cups. Nanoha and Fate had bought them on their first shopping trip together after getting assigned the same room. They were matching cups and very cute, but not very expensive at all. Even if they did hold sentimental value, Nanoha would hardly get so worked up over it...

But then what could it be? Why did Nanoha want her home so badly? Fate sighed. She had reached their residence. Well, she was about to find out, for better or worse. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Fate opened the door and started, "Nanoha, I'm ho-"

"You bitch! How dare you imply such a thing!"

Fate blinked rapidly. It was a rare occurrence for Nanoha to curse like that, let alone be so livid. She turned to look at the person opposite her, and felt a strange nostalgia come over her.

Kaku smirked at Nanoha, not having noticed Fate yet. "What's wrong? Did I push a button? Don't think I didn't do my research before coming here, Takamachi Nanoha. Although I do suppose I have to thank you a little. Your inability to keep your hands off my Fate-chan in public allowed me to track you down through the grapevine. I hadn't been out of the hospital for more than three days before I caught wind of what you had done."

Nanoha growled, placing a foot on the coffee table. "You have no right to claim Fate as yours. She's-"

Fate cleared her throat loudly. "-right here, Nanoha."

Nanoha nearly bit her tongue as her head swiveled around to see Fate. There was something instantly calming about seeing her, for Nanoha's anger melted into a short reprieve of happiness. She ran over to hug Fate, and was understandably startled when, at the last minute, Kaku literally butted her out of the way and hugged Fate first.

Nanoha was about to snap again, but Fate started talking. "Mei... Mei-chan, is it really you?"

Kaku smirked in Nanoha's direction. One point added to her score- Fate did in fact recognize her. Smiling sweetly at Fate, she replied, "Yes, I'm so glad you remember me, Fate-chan. Nanoha-san was being so rude..."

Nanoha shifted her weight to the other foot as she confronted Fate. She knew Fate would clear this up. "Fate, who is she to you?"

"Who...?" Fate smiled, realizing this was another case of Nanoha getting jealous again. That was happening a lot more often recently. Today seemed particularly bad. "Mei-chan is one of the people I rescued back in my high school years. You remember, don't you, Nanoha? That day there was a fire at the airport?"

Nanoha frowned. "I remember..."

Fate nodded. "We kept in contact for some time after that... but then Mei-chan said she was moving to a place that didn't allow correspondence like ours, so we stopped talking... how have you been, Mei-chan?"

Kaku smiled with open cheerfulness, so unlike the sneer she gave Nanoha just moments earlier. "Ah, I was hospitalized for a long time after my home was destroyed in an explosion, but I'm fine now. Full recovery! I'm so glad I found you again, Fate-chan."

Fate smiled, thinking everything was cleared up now, but then she saw that Nanoha still looked sour. Going over to her and hugging her, Fate asked, "Nanoha. Is there something else wrong I need to know about?"

Nanoha growled softly, glaring at Kaku from over Fate's shoulder. "She claims that Vivio is the product of you and her."

Fate froze. Now it was clear why Nanoha was so ticked off. She was scared that it might be true and that Vivio might be taken away, while at the same time she was antagonized into being on edge. Fate murmured quietly. "If that's true, I never knew about it. But speaking of Vivio, where is she?"

Nanoha muttered, "Tomoyo-chan was with us. After listening to Kaku-san on the way here from the school, I knew I wouldn't be able to stand it much longer. So I had Vivio-chan stay with Tomoyo-chan until this was resolved."

Kaku took a step forward. "And it will be. After you give Vivio back to me."

Fate was now defensive. "Mei-chan... if you have the time, won't you sit down and tell us the whole story? Because I'm sure I never heard any mention of Vivio from you before today."

Kaku gave a lopsided smile at Fate while looking at Nanoha. "I was just telling Nanoha-san my story before we got... distracted. I'll gladly tell it again for your sake, however, Fate-chan."

As Nanoha was clearly at her wit's end, Fate held her hand as she led them back over to the sofa. Fate was about to ask Nanoha to put on some tea, but with her current level of animosity, Fate realized this would be a bad idea. She might even poison Kaku's cup, given the chance. After making sure Nanoha and Mei were seated a fair distance from each other, Fate announced quietly, "I'll go make some tea. Mei-chan, what would you prefer?"

"Ah, black tea would be nice, if you have some."

"We do. Sugar?"

"Two cubes, please."

Fate nodded and waited until Nanoha met her eye. "Same as usual, Nanoha?"

Nanoha went back to glaring at Mei. "Yes. But with no sugar."

Fate raised an eyebrow, and then smiled and shook her head as she walked to the kitchen. As if to make conversation, Fate called back, "So Mei-chan, how did you find your way here? If I remember correctly, you don't have a permit for using magic, so flying is out of the question."

Mei, even while determined to not lose the staring contest, explained, "I have a special R&D pass from my time working before the accident. But I hitched a ride with a few people I knew who were going towards the city."

Fate hummed noncommittally as she waited for the water to boil. "So your way back home isn't entirely within your control?"

Mei sighed. "I'm not going home. Not there at least. There's nothing left after that explosion wiped out all our research. I was lucky to survive. Vivio was luckier to have escaped as far as she did. Though I'm told she was captured for a short time before she slipped away from them."

As Fate came back into the room with a tray with three tea cups and a teapot, she asked, "We know Vivio is an artificial life form, but how do we know that she is really what you say she is? Her story is not entirely unknown to those in the public who care to know."

Nanoha seemed cheered that Fate was on her side, but Mei kept on as if she had the upper hand. "It was a deal I made with the scientists in the east. I would help them create a powerful artificial human with the DNA gathered from the strands of hair I had from my time with Fate, and in return, they would make her with half of my DNA as well, and I would have legal guardianship over her. However... I was double-crossed. They used the explosion as a cover up when they took Vivio-chan away from me. My only time I spent with her was inside the lab, but I did get her to speak to me before anyone else. I'm the first person she ever called 'Mama'."

Nanoha was about to say something, but as Fate sensed that it would only be derogatory, she held up a hand to stop her. Continuing at her own pace, Fate asked, "When we ran tests on Vivio, there were signs of high magical energy, but nothing like mine. Why-"

"But she has the capacity for greatness, does she not? Fate-chan, few children show their full prowess at such a young age as she was when we were separated. And remember, my genes are in her too. My overall influence may have been greater than yours. That is why Vivio-chan showed no special affinity for anything for quite some time. That's why the scientists I was working with were angry. They thought I had failed them. But I know better. Given a few years more, Vivio-chan will prove her greatness- at least that on level with her mother, Fate-chan."

Nanoha suddenly burst out, "And she will grow up with that greatness here with us! You can't give Vivio-chan what we can! And I won't let you take Fate away from me!"

Flabbergasted, Fate looked between Nanoha and Mei. "Nanoha, what...? Whoever said I was going to-"

"I did." Mei was solemn in her response. "Because that's what Vivio deserves. She should live together with her true parents- Fate and me. Nanoha-san is extraneous."

"Mei-chan... I think you've made some sort of mistake..." Fate closed her eyes, gathering herself before starting. "First of all, my life is here, with Nanoha. I made that decision long before I ever met you. I'm not going anywhere. Second, you can hardly say 'true parents' when you used my DNA without ever even telling me what you were doing. Also, Vivio no longer remembers you, if you had many memories together at all. Third... and most importantly, Vivio recognizes Nanoha as her mother. I doubt she will want to be separated from her, even if you really are 'the one who created her'. Although that role is... a special role, it is not all that an adopted child has to look back on. You can come here to see Vivio, but Vivio is not going to be leaving with you. Is that understood?"

Mei started to protest, "But I-"

"And another thing." Fate firmly wrapped an arm around Nanoha's waist. "Could you kindly stop antagonizing my wife? It's not good for my baby."

Nanoha looked at Fate with such a shocked look, she nearly missed an identical look on Mei's face.

Smoldering with anger, Mei stood up, drained her tea cup, and slammed it down. "You have made your message very clear. I will be taking my leave now. But make no mistake- you will see me again. And soon."

Without further fanfare, Mei walked towards the door unhindered, the door soon sliding shut behind her.

Fate sighed with relief and leaned back, contentedly sipping her tea. "Well that's that. At least we know the full story of Vivio's creation now."

Nanoha said nothing.

Fate noticed and looked over, seeing her stunned look. Smiling, she set down her cup before scooting closer to Nanoha. "Nanoha... you didn't honestly think I would just up and leave you, did you?"

Nanoha shook her head. "It's not that. What you said just now... Two things... you said... you called me..." A deep redness was spreading over Nanoha's cheeks as she squirmed. "Did you really mean it?"

Fate grinned, realizing what Nanoha was dwelling on. "Well, that depends. Do you want me to mean it?"

Nanoha slapped her arm, although it had no strength behind it. "Mou, Fate, don't tease me..."

Fate leaned over and kissed Nanoha's nose. "I'll say it again when the time is right. Just now, I thought it would be the perfect chance to test how it sounded. Calling you my wife."

Nanoha was still blushing as she whispered expectantly, "And...?"

"And..." Fate paused, wondering if she should tease Nanoha a little more or let it go. "And I didn't hate it. What about you? Do you dislike it?"

Nanoha shook her head vigorously.

Fate laughed and wrapped her arms around her. "Good. But you know, it was Chrono who I first heard it from. He would say, every night when I said I was going to call you- you know, while I was away from home- that he wouldn't want to get in the way of me calling 'my wifey'." Fate paused, and then giggled, remembering it.

Nanoha leaned into Fate's shoulder, hiding her secretly extremely pleased smile. "And... and the thing about the baby?"

"Partially a ploy to get her to leave you alone, to tell her that I wasn't interested and I had no reason to be tempted, but also, I kind of switched gears mid-sentence and was referring to you."

"M-me?"

"Mmhmm. Although I know you're not a baby or anything. That was another one I've secretly been wanting to try out. When I heard the guys talking about their girlfriends back home"

"Mou, Fate, you hang around too many guys."

Fate chuckled and kissed Nanoha again. "What are you talking about? When I'm at home, it's like I'm surrounded by nothing but girls. Girls who like other girls. I think that's a fair bit more dangerous, don't you think?"

Nanoha shook her head. "But our friends are all taken. And happily so. I have nothing to worry about here. Well, I thought I didn't until today."

"You still don't," Fate insisted. "Here or when I'm off on missions, you're the only one I think about that way. Really. I promise."

Nanoha still pouted, although she started playing with Fate's hand as she usually did when she was in a decent mood and they were alone. "You sure?"

"Yes. Just as I have nothing to worry about leaving you here by your lonesome, right?"

Nanoha froze and then sniffed derisively, although a bit of hurt trickled into her voice. "As if anyone would be openly interested in the White Devil."

"I'm openly interested in the White Devil."

Nanoha glared half-heartedly at Fate. "You're different."

"And how am I different?"

"I'm interested in you, too."

Fate let out an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, thank goodness. I was beginning to worry for a second there."

For which Nanoha started tickling her, only to giggle twice as much when Fate turned the tables on her. Within minutes, however, Nanoha had successfully pinned Fate, although they had tumbled to the floor in the process. "Say 'mercy'."

"Why?" Fate smiled daringly. "What will you do to me if I don't?"

Nanoha grinned evilly. "This." She pinned Fate's hands with one of hers while the other hand slowly peeled off her sock.

Fate's eyes widened in almost true-horror. "No... you wouldn't..." She started squirming against the hold.

"Say 'mercy'." Nanoha poised her bare foot for action after pulling up Fate's skirt just enough so that there was no resistance from her high stockings.

Fate whimpered. "All right, all right. You win. Mercy, mercy. Just don't..."

Nanoha smiled and loosened her hold on Fate. As she lowered her foot to a more comfortable position, she started, "Good girl. Now-"

But Fate interrupted her with a stifled shriek as Nanoha's foot grazed her leg. "NANOHA! For the love of all that is sweet and holy, buy some freaking foot warmers, please! I'm begging you."

--

"5 x 5?"

"25!"

"Good!" Tomoyo smiled as she flipped through the flashcards. "This one's hard. 7 x 9?"

Vivio scrunched up her eyebrows, trying to remember. "61?"

Tomoyo winced. "Ooh, sorry. You get deducted one cookie."

"No, no! It's 63! 63!"

Tomoyo paused, her hand holding a cookie in mid-air. Smiling, she placed it back on Vivio's plate. "See, you can do it when you try."

Vivio nodded. "And I can eat these, right?"

Tomoyo considered it. "Well... only if you answer the rest of these. Now then, on to the division ones."

"Awww, division?"

Tomoyo coaxed, "You get two cookies for every one you get right."

Vivio smiled excitedly.

"But you also lose two every time you say a wrong answer."

Vivio instantly looked depressed.

"It won't be so bad. Just concentrate. There's no time limit after all. Alright 9 divided by 3."

"3!"

"Good, good! You're off to a fine start, see?" Tomoyo transferred two cookies over. "And Kero-chan don't you even think of stealing Vivio-chan's hard earned cookies."

Kero instantly wilted, weakly flopping down on the table top. "But you've been doing this for over an hour... I want cookies!"

"Kero-chan!"

But it was too late, the effect had been done. Vivio looked up with watery eyes. "Tomoyo-san... I'm hungry..."

Tomoyo sighed. "Oh all right. You can have a few of your cookies. But we'll continue while you eat, all right?"

Vivio nodded, quickly picking out the biggest cookie and biting into it.

"10 divided by 2?"

"5."

Tomoyo nodded and transferred two more cookies over.

"33 divided by 3?"

"11."

"169 divided by 13?"

Vivio nearly choked on her cookie. Tomoyo offered her some milk, which she gratefully gulped down. "Tomoyo-san! We have learned the 13s yet!"

"All the better to see how well you understand the concept of it. You can use a paper if you like."

Vivio pouted. "But I don't like long division..."

"If you give up without trying to answer, you forfeit four cookies."

"What?! No, I'll answer, I'll answer! Umm..." Vivio took a piece of paper and started writing it out. "What's 13 divided into 39?"

Tomoyo smiled. "I don't know. What times 13 is 39?"

With a frustrated whine, Vivio worked it out one by one. "13 + 13 is 26... plus 13 is... 39! I got it! So that's 3... so 169 divided by 13 is 13!"

Tomoyo clapped and transferred over two more cookies. "You're really very good at this, Vivio-chan."

Vivio grinned, brimming with confidence as she downed another cookie.

"All right. 52 divided by 4."

Vivio sighed, knowing that it was long division again. But this one was much easier, so she was quick to shout out the answer.

Another two cookies went to the victor.

Vivio giggled. "I hope I get all the cookies."

"Don't say that, Vivio-chan. You might jinx yourself. Okay, this is the last one, so it's all or nothing, okay? If you don't answer correctly on the first try, you give up half of your cookies. If you can't answer at all, you lose all of them."

Vivio was agog with the impossibility of it all. She was on such a roll too! "All of them?"

Tomoyo nodded. "All of them."

Vivio readied herself. "Okay. Shoot."

"What is 3 divided by 0?"

At first, Vivio was excited that the numbers were so small, but then she realized that she didn't know what 0 could be multiplied by to equal three. Didn't anything times 0 equal 0? "Zero?"

Tomoyo winced and started counting out cookies. "No, sorry, that's not right."

Vivio whined, "I don't know! It's impossible!"

Tomoyo paused and raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that or are you giving up?"

Vivio froze, wondering if she had just been given a clue. Tomoyo never said that the other times she had given up. "I'm sure! You can't do it!"

Tomoyo sighed, pushing her plate over. "All right, you win. But your parents will get mad at me if I let you eat all these cookies by yourself, so share with Kero-chan, okay?"

Vivio paused and looked at the mountains of cookies. "Will we play this game again? I have a spelling test next week."

Tomoyo chuckled. "I may find something healthier to bargain with than cookies, but yes, we can play again."

Vivio cheered as she offered Kero-chan some cookies. But then she was aghast at how many he was packing away every second, and she eagerly tried to stuff just as many in her mouth to prevent him from getting them. But human mouths were not meant to compete with that of guardian beasts.

"Vivio! Slow down! Your tummy will hurt if you keep going like that! Kero-chan, you too. Stop being a bad example or else I won't give you any cake the next time I make some!"

Kero-chan instantly slowed down, although there weren't very many cookies left at that point. Having had her fill, Vivio slowed down as well, drinking more milk to wash it down. "Tomoyo-san, are we making cake again soon?"

Tomoyo smiled and nodded from the kitchen as she washed the dishes from the cookie making. Although they had an automatic dishwasher, she felt an odd sense of pleasure from doing it by hand. "Yes. You're welcome to help if you like. It's Hayate's birthday soon."

Vivio grinned and laughed happily, before she remembered something. "I thought you didn't like Hayate-san, Tomoyo-san?"

Tomoyo sighed as she looked off into the distance. "I used to... but then we bonded over a very important topic to the both of us and... well, I'd say we're good friends now."

"A very important topic?" Vivio tilted her head to the side, questioningly.

Tomoyo smiled. "You'll probably see for yourself if you come to celebrate Hayate's birthday with us, Vivio-chan."

As Vivio cheered again, Tomoyo absently wondered if the karaoke machine she had ordered had come in yet.

A/N: Rawr it's messing up again! . Stupid extra 1000 words... oh well.