A/N: Okay, next chapter. For the record, Caldina-san has an Osaka accent, so I am writing her dialogue with an accent like the one Kana had in Sakura Wars/Sakura Taisen in the English translations, since she has an Osaka accent too. I think Kana's accent is supposed to be Brooklyn, but it's hard to tell. Bottom line, Caldina is just supposed to have an accent. You can think of it as Brooklyn, Chicago, Southern, heck, if you want you can think of her as having a Spanish accent. Her Osaka accent is also why Caldina uses the honoriffic "-han", which is how "-san" is pronounced with that accent. Further translation notes will be provided at the end of the chapter. TRC still belongs to CLAMP. Hope you like the chapter!

Chapter 13: Defense

"I'm Caldina," the woman said. "Nice ta meetcha!"

"Hello, I'm Sakura," Sakura said. "These are Fai-san and Kurogane-san, who I'm traveling with."

"Well then, Sakura-han, wouldja like ta buy that gun?" Caldina asked.

"Um…" Sakura stammered, at a loss to explain her fascination with the gun, "I mean…I just thought it was pretty…I don't know what I'd do with a gun….I mean, those can hurt people, right?"

Caldina laughed. "You're a cute one, aintcha?" She said, smiling at Sakura. "Yeah, guns can hurt people. This one's diff'rent, though. It fires seals 'stead of bullets, so it only captures the person, and doesn't hurt 'em."

"I didn't know weapons like that existed," Fai said.

"They didn't 'till a few weeks ago," Caldina said. "This guy from outside the country started makin' 'em and sold me a few. Said he was tryin' to keep people from bein' hurt by guns. He was the High Priest of somewhere-or-other. Went by Yukito."

Yukito, Sakura thought. The name was so familiar. In her mind, she saw pale hair and glasses, edged in moonlight. The snowy, moonlit night she had seen while touching the gun flashed through her mind as well. Suddenly, she felt dizzy. She cradled her head in one hand, grabbing the shelf behind her for balance with the other. Her sudden movement knocked the gun onto the floor and sent it spinning in Kurogane's direction.

"Sakura, are you all right?" Fai asked, running over to her.

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "I'm fine," she said shakily. She took another breath and continued. "I think… I think I remembered something."

"Really?" Fai asked. "What?"

Sakura searched her mind, but it was as infuriatingly blank as ever. The images that had filled her mind only moments ago had turned hazy and indistinct. She tried to take hold of them, but they were as elusive and intangible as mist. "I lost it, I think," she said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it will come back to you," Fai said encouragingly.

Sakura wasn't so sure, but before she could say anything, Kurogane spoke up.

"Is this the one you were looking at?" he asked, picking up the gun from the floor.

Sakura nodded.

"It has your name on it," Kurogane said.

"Huh?" Sakura asked. "Really?"

"Yeah," Kurogane said, pointing out the eastern writing on the gun's barrel. "This is the writing Kyaku, the country I was born in, used. Those characters spell your name in our language. In Kyaku, "Sakura" is the name of a flower."

"Then that picture…" Sakura began.

"…is of a sakura flower," Kurogane finished.

"Wow," Caldina said. "Seems like that gun's s'posed ta be yours."

"But I don't have any money!" Sakura exclaimed. "And what would I do with-"

Kurogane placed the gun in her hands and closed her fingers around it. "You'd protect yourself, and the people important to you," he interrupted. "That witch said this trip would be dangerous, right? You might need this."

"Actually, it might not be a bad idea to buy weapons for ourselves as well," Fai put in. "I keep feeling like we're being watched, and all those things Yuuko-san said back in Marielle are starting to worry me."

"Fine," Kurogane said. "I'll buy the gun. But if you want something, buy it yourself."

"Kuro-puu is so stingy!" Fai exclaimed.

"Thank you," Sakura said.

Kurogane grunted.

Fai wandered the store for a few moments. At length, he pulled a staff out of a display. "I'll take this, please," he said.

"'Kay," Caldina said, naming a price. Fai gave her the money, and she put it into the cash register.

Kurogane approached her with the gun next.

"That's gonna come with this box of ammo, and, if ya want, you can buy somethin' else with it for half-off," Caldina told him.

"I already have a sword," Kurogane said flatly.

"Yeah," Caldina said, "but that's a special kind of sword ain't it? I can tell- it's for fightin' certain things. But you ain't likely to find many of those around here, an' it's no good to use a sword 'gainst things it ain't made to fight."

"You have a better idea?"

"This here's Souhi," Caldina said, pulling an eastern-style long sword out of a cabinet behind her. "'Less I miss my guess, it'll handle 'bout the same as that one you got there, 'cept that it'll work 'gainst about any enemy. Strong enough ta use your special techniques with, too."

"How'd you know about that?" Kurogane asked.

"A tall, grumpy man comes in here wearin' a sword with a dragon on its hilt, right after the knight Kurogane leaves Marielle on some sort of mission? D'ya think I'm stupid or what? The entire kingdom knows about your special techniques. 'Bout half of it had ta be rebuilt 'cause of them!"

Kurogane muttered something under his breath.

"And jus' for that, I'm raisin' the price," Caldina said, naming a figure.

"That much?" Kurogane demanded.

"Ya want 'em or not?" Caldina asked.

Kurogane sighed and paid her.

"Now, it's time ta give the girl some shootin' lessons!" Caldina announced.

Sakura stared at her. "Ehhhh!"

NinthFeather: Hope you liked the chapter! I am happy because Sakura now has a weapon! Yay! I can now have her actually do things other than just fainting during battles! Just for your info, all of those weird visions of snow and moons that Sakura had were her sensing Yukito's magic in the gun. Now, for your convenience, we will provide translation notes for some of Caldina's dialogue.

Ain't: isn't

Aintcha: Aren't you

'Bout: About

'Cept: Except

'Cause: Because

D'ya: Do you

'Gainst: Against

'Less: Unless

S'posed: Supposed

Ta: To

Wouldja: Would you

Ya: You

Caldina: C'mon, I ain't really that hard ta understan'! I don't see why ev'ryone says I have an accent. It's you all who got accents. D'ya even realize how hard it is ta understand ya? It's like you're speakin' in other languages!

NinthFeather: Hopefully, no one besides Caldina-san is insulted that I put up those translation notes. I just figured that some of you, especially those of you who don't speak English as their first language, might get confused by some of the phonetic spelling and dropped sounds. I didn't want anyone to have trouble with understanding the chapter because of it. Thank you for reading, and please review. I will put up another chapter soon, but no earlier than Wednesday. Bye!