"Things do not seem to be going well for them, Watanuki-sama," Kikuko said in her soft, monotone voice.
"No, they certainly don't," Watanuki said. They were sitting outside of the house. Mokona sat in Kikuko's lap, who sat beside Watanuki. Maru and Moro stood on the other side of Watanuki, looking quite solemn.
"Watanuki-sama?"
"Yes, Kikuko?"
"What will happen if neither Yori nor Ren pass the Final Judgment?"
"Many things Kikuko. The Cards will likely be sealed away forever, or released wild again until someone comes along who can capture them and pass Yue's judgement. Depending on the stipulations Sakura added, however, they may even be destroyed."
"What will happen to Yori-kun and Ren-kun?"
"Well, all the memories of the Cards, and everything that was said and done, will be forgotten. And since Ren and Yori knew nothing about the Li Clan's magic, they will likely forget they wield such power, if they don't lose that power in the first place."
Kikuko seemed to contemplate his words. "Watanuki-sama," she said.
"Yes, Kikuko?"
"Is there no way to give them a second chance?"
"There was once…but I don't know if it will work for anyone but Sakura. Sakura changed much of the magic that Clow Reed created, and the item used to give Sakura her second chance merged with the staff- it's gone." Again Kikuko was silent for a few moments, before she turned to look at him.
"Watanuki-sama," she said even quieter.
Watanuki smiled and turned to meet her gaze. "What is it, Kikuko?" he asked gently.
"I think it would be quite sad to lose one's memories of someone important."
"Yes, Kikuko, it would be quite sad," Watanuki replied, nodding and smiling. "Which is why we must hope that Yori-kun can pass the Final Judgement and complete Sakura's spell." After several moments, he stood up. "Come on, Kikuko."
"Where are we going, Watanuki-sama?"
"There's a spell we need to find, and you need to prepare to visit Arata-kun again." Watanuki began to walk inside, then paused. "Oh, but first, Kikuko…" The young girl looked up, with Mokona on her shoulder. "There are some errands you need to run." Kikuko and Mokona looked at each other as Watanuki handed her a list.
It was still early in the day as Kikuko walked through town, Mokona riding comfortably in her bag. "What's next on the list, Mokona-chan?"
"Let's see! A red garnet from beneath water and earth. A feather of white and of black. Something about a sacred arrow…a scale of someone who dreams of flying…"
Kikuko stopped and looked in her bag. "What is all that supposed to mean?" Suddenly Mokona's face twitched.
"Ooooh! Mokona senses something! Look up up up!" Kikuko stopped walking and looked up. Sure enough, something odd began floating down her way. It fell very slowly but gave off a very faint glow.
"What an odd looking feather," Kikuko said as she held out her hand. The feather landed perfectly in her palm. Indeed, it was an odd looking feather. It did not quite look like a feather at all. "It just appeared out of the sky. Ah, someone else is coming," Then, Kikuko turned around to her right, just as a group of odd travelers appeared, quite literally, out of thin air. The boy in the lead, a tall youth with brown hair, spied Kikuko, casually looking at them, holding the feather.
"There it is!" he shouted, pointing at Kikuko. He ran towards her, but Kikuko stepped out of the way, causing the boy to nearly fall over. He regained his balance quickly. Kikuko bowed.
"I am Kikuko," she said. "Might you be looking for this?" Suddenly Mokona sprang up from her bag.
"Syaoran!" the little creature shouted.
"M-Mokona?!"
"Mokona-chan!" came two voices from behind Kikuko. One, a very tall blond-haired man, who was smiling and holding another Mokona, a white Mokona, and the other a young woman with brown hair and green eyes.
Kikuko blinked. "Ah, Sakura-sama," she said, bowing slightly. "This must be yours," Kikuko said, holding out the feather. Sakura walked towards her, smiling.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"Well this was much easier than the others we've been chasing around recently," said the tall black-haired man whom Kikuko thought looked rather gloomy. But as Sakura reached out to take the feather, it did not disappear. The white Mokona bounced up to inspect it.
"It is Sakura's feather," it said, "but it's not our Sakura's feather," it added sadly.
"What do you mean, Mokona?" Fai asked.
"Mokona doesn't know…"
The black Mokona, which was now sitting on Kikuko's head, piped up, "It is Sakura's feather, but not the Sakura from Clow Country!"
Kikuko stared at it. "Do you think our Sakura, the Sakura of Yori-kun's dimension, sent it to us?"
"Watanuki would know!"
Syaoran stared hard at the feather in Kikuko's hand. "So this one… is a false feather?"
"It is not false, Syaoran-sama," Kikuko said, "it is simply meant for a different person."
Suddenly both Mokonas twitched, just as a second white feather, much smaller than the first, appeared into the air with a quite obvious pop! Syaoran and Fai gasped and ran towards it, but a wind picked up and pushed it out of reach. "Oh no!" Syaoran said as it floated gently past Kikuko.
Kikuko looked down at the feather in her hand, and wrapped it gently and placed it in her bag before giving chase.
What seemed like hours later, they finally caught up with the feather, which at one point was stolen by a bird, dropped into a lake, stuck to a fish and buried in sand. Kikuko was able to sense it more clearly than even Mokona, due to her abilities within her world. They caught up to it finally. A tiny little field mouse in a simple shift was using it to dust the front porch to her tiny mouse hole in the base of a tree.
Kikuko leaned down. "Excuse me, Mouse-san, but that lovely broom you are using belongs to a friend of mine."
The field mouse looked up. "Oh dear, dear! I am so sorry, I just saw it floating by and decided my porch could use a bit of spring cleaning! Sorry about that," she said as she handed the feather to Kikuko, who took it graciously. The mouse peered at her closely. "Oh dear! I know you!" the mouse said excitedly. "The foxes said that you are Watanuki-sama's apprentice, is that right?"
"Why, yes it is."
"Oh then it is so good to finally meet you! Please, if you ever need my assistance, don't hesitate to ask!"
Kikuko bowed her head slightly. "I am honored. Thank you, Mouse-san." The mouse nodded and ran back inside her home, while Kikuko turned to give the feather to Sakura, who touched it and it disappeared. When it did, she closed her eyes and collapsed, but Syaoran caught her. The group looked at Kikuko.
"Thank you for your help," Fai said, bowing. Kikuko bowed back. Fai reached into his robe and brought out a small dark red stone. "Here, please take this for your troubles, you may have need of it," and tossed the stone to Kikuko, who caught it. The two Mokonas ran to each other and hugged each other before the White Mokona returned to Kurogane and whisked them away.
As Kikuko watched them leave, it started to rain quite heavily. She looked up to the sky. "Oh what lovely weather this is," she said, holding out her hand. "Though it is rather inconvenient that I do not have an umbrella." Just as she said it, an umbrella appeared over her head. She looked up at it for several minutes, contemplating.
"Well are you just gonna stand there all day staring? Like you've never seen an umbrella before."
Kikuko turned her head to see a young woman looking quite haughty, in Kikuko's opinion, with her red hair in pigtails. "Oh, hello Ame-warashi-sama," Kikuko said.
Ame-warashi glared at her. "You really are spacey for just standing there during a downpour. And not even a thank you for the umbrella?"
"Oh yes, thank you very much Ame-warashi-sama."
"It's not like I don't have anything better to do, you know. And I don't give out my umbrella to just anybody. You just looked so pitiful here in the rain, is all."
"Of course, Ame-warashi-sama," Kikuko said as the two began to walk. "Was there something you needed me for, Ame-sama?"
"What, you think I'm so helpless that I need help from the likes of you? Or that stupid, egg-headed master of yours?" Ame-warashi stuck up her nose. "Like I would."
"My mistake," Kikuko said simply, and the two walked for a ways. "It seems as if it will rain for some time," she remarked.
"Well if you want the umbrella just say so!" the rain spirit said, over-dramatic as usual, it seemed to Kikuko. Ame-warashi grabbed Kikuko's hand and shoved the umbrella into it and turned around to walk off.
Kikuko bowed. "Thank you very much," she said. Then she remembered. "Oh, Ame-warashi-sama, please take this as a thank you," she added and reached for the small red garnet. "It matches your hair I think."
Ame-warashi looked at it and took it. "I guess it is quite pretty. Very well this will be adequate," she said and walked off in the rain as Kikuko bowed again. Mokona was fast asleep in Kikuko's bag, clutching the feather tightly.
Later that night, Kikuko was walking back home, with Ame-warashi's umbrella under her arm, and was staring at the feather so hard, she ran head first into a ramen stand.
"Dear me, I do apologize," she said as she stood up.
"No need to worry, my dear," said the fox.
"Thank you," Kikuko replied. "How are you doing this evening? May I inquire as to how your son is doing?"
"Ah, he's doing well, quite well! Would you have something to eat, and sit a while? The Mouse told us you were out and about this day."
"I thank you for your hospitality, but I really must be going."
"Before you do, please take this to Watanuki, and do enjoy some for yourself." The fox brought out a large box, wrapped with cloth and certainly filled with food. Under instructions to always bring home whatever the foxes gave her, Kikuko accepted it graciously.
"Thank you," she said again.
"No need to thank me, my dear. I owe a great deal to Watanuki-sama and Yuuko-sama. I only wish I could visit more often." He sent her off with a nod and smile, and Kikuko nearly forgot all about the other two things she needed to find. As she walked, she listened to Mokona hum.
"Hey! Kikuko! Wait!"
Kikuko turned to see the fox's son running towards her. She stopped to face him. "Greetings," she said, bowing slightly.
The fox's son bowed in return. "I have payment for you! To give to Watanuki!"
Kikuko held out her hand and the fox dropped a small, broken arrow into her hand. "Sorry it took me so long. It was hidden in my box near the bottom."
"Oh? I see, thank you."
"Yes, it is a special arrow. Watanuki gave it to me long ago but I think you may need it more than we do now. It's brought us a lot of luck already."
"Thank you," Kikuko said, then a thought crossed her mind. "Might you know of where I could find a black feather?"
The young fox thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Sorry, no. I don't have one, so unless you asked a raven or crow, I couldn't say." Kikuko bowed her thanks and the two parted.
"Yes, it certainly is one of Sakura's feathers," Watanuki said. "But it is very different. This feather was created by Li Sakura, Yori and Ren's great-grandmother."
"So how did it appear here, and why were Syaoran-sama and Sakura-sama following it?"
Watanuki smiled. "My guess is, Sakura could not interfere with Yori and Ren directly, so…perhaps she created this and sent it amongst all the feathers of the Clow Country's Sakura. All of our dimensions are connected; especially those concerning the Reed family and the Li family, as well as ours because of the nature of our shop." Watanuki's eyes seemed to glaze over a bit, but he blinked and returned to the feather. "You see, it is a much bigger feather than all the rest. This feather holds a great many memories within it, not just one from a single person."
"What will we do with it, Watanuki-sama?"
"You must deliver it to Yue," he said with a smile. "But you must keep it in your possession. There is a memory that he must have before the Final Judgement, but he cannot take all the memories. There are many people relying on this feather. Can you do that for me, Kikuko?"
"Of course, Watanuki-sama," Kikuko said.
"Oh, and take this too!" Watanuki showed her a large bell. Kikuko took it gently and stared at it. "That is a replica of the Moon Bell created by Clow Reed to give Sakura her second chance at the Final Judgement. I have no way of knowing if it will work, I discovered it in the shed. It doesn't ring," he added, "but maybe it isn't meant to until it is needed. Take care that Yue does not see it."
"Yes, Watanuki-sama," Kikuko replied.
Kikuko stood outside, with Mokona on her shoulder and her bag slung across her chest. In the bag was the bell, the feather gently wrapped in cloth, the umbrella from Ame-warashi (which for some reason Watanuki had told her to keep) and several banishing spells, warding spells, and other such charms that Watanuki had created for her.
"Safe travels, Kikuko," Watanuki said, "and good luck."
"Thank you, Watanuki-sama," she said as Mokona bounced up and down, waving. "I will contact you regarding the situation."
Kikuko bowed, then closed her eyes. She drew up a clear image of Yori's Tomoeda and shared it with Mokona. Then she searched for and settled on the Guardians' presence, and the presence of the Cards, to make sure Mokona brought them where she needed to go. Then, she disappeared.
"Much more is at stake than what Yue believes. Not just their world, but ours, and Clow Country's as well," Watanuki said as he and the twins went inside.
A/N: Okay, an extra special chapter that I just wrote for everyone reading this! I thought you might enjoy it, I wrote it to take place after the chapter I'm currently writing in but I thought it would be okay to post it as a special. I tweaked it a bit and added some more stuff to make it stand out from the rest of the story while still be relevant. The part with Ame-warashi really has little to do with anything, I just wanted to have a short cameo. The TRC team also had a cameo! Yay!
So, enjoy, and as usual I will see you in a week with a new chapter!