The dimensional tide bursts around them and they fall the small distance to the ground, relieved to be so close to it.
Syaoran is the first to stand up, shaking his head to clear the sand from the last world which had swept up as they left. Fai is next, pulling Kurogane up from beneath him and dusting him off apologetically as Mokona hops back onto Syaoran's shoulder.
"I wonder where we are this time." The boy muses, looking around.
They seem to be in a garden of some kind.
There is short grass on the ground, intermixed with moss and small flowers in pale yellows and pinks and creams, sandy earth peeking through around that. Just a few metres away is a wall which curves behind them and ahead of them, a small arc cut into the part in front of them so a small stream can flow through, a small arched bridge across it made of stone and shaded by a wooden slatted roof.
The paths on the ground seem worn into it, curling strangely and interconnecting with others so form green islands, some house some kind of tree or shrub, nothing taller than about the height of the wall and clothed in full coats of green.
It's summer at least, is the most that the four of them can make out.
The wind is soft, pleasant with the heat, and Fai doesn't bother putting his coat back on.
"Well this seems more peaceful than the last place at least." Kurogane says warily, relaxing just a little when nothing immediately attacks them.
There's a whisper of fabric behind them and they turn as one, Kurogane summoning his blade, Fai readying his magic and Syaoran tucking Mokona inside his cloak as he prepares to summon his own blade.
They stop abruptly as they see Yuuko walking next to a tall man with blue hair and glasses, both wearing heavy looking robes for the weather.
The two stop and look at them confusedly and Syaoran remembers that this man is Clow, the one who once was the ruler of Clow country, had been Sakura's father for a time.
"Yuuko-san?" Mokona asks, peeking out from Syaoran's hood, almost crying.
The woman starts a little, frowning at them as Clow smiles.
"I think that you are out of time here." He says gently.
Fai and Kurogane pull in closer around Syaoran, not preparing for attack yet but ready to at a moment's notice.
The three of them are pale as they remember finding out that Yuuko was dying, Watanuki's face as he talked to them afterwards, the way it had taken them years of travelling to see him smile again with only the slightest trace of sadness.
"Who are you?" Kurogane asks, at the front of the group, almost a growl.
Clow doesn't stop smiling, holds his hands up as a sign of peace that doesn't ease anyone's worry aside from Syaoran who places a hand on Fai's shoulder.
"It's okay." He says quietly.
Fai lets him pass, and then Kurogane, and Syaoran bows low, politely, straight-backed, as he'd been taught so long ago.
"We're sorry for intruding." He apologises, standing and finding himself looking again at Yuuko.
She looks much the same as she had the first time they met.
Clow smiles, shakes his head once.
"Not at all. As much as you are not fated to be here it is not your fault either," he says, "I am Clow Reed and I am sorry that this meeting must be so short but I really do have to send you away now before the future is unfixable." The magician says, summoning a staff into his hands, taller than him and almost blinding in the sun.
"Wait? You're the idiot who started all this?" Kurogane shouts, Fai holding him back gently by his flesh arm.
"Now isn't the time." He says, feeling the magic start to move around them, power far larger than he could ever wield coalescing until it tastes thick on the air.
"I will be someday I expect. I'm sorry for that, as little as it means." Clow tells them, genuine regret in his eyes as he slams his staff into the ground and the world around them begins to glow so brightly that they have to shade their eyes.
Soon the darkness of the dimensional sea begins to spill over them again, holding them close as they hear Yuuko's voice with their own ears for the first time in so long.
"I'm sorry that we aren't ready to meet you yet." She says as they are torn away from the garden, ribbons of light dispersing to reveal empty space.
She turns to the man beside her, smiles softly, sadly.
"I suppose we shall have to forget this?" She asks him, eyes drifting to the spot where the people had been.
"I'm afraid so." Clow replies, drawing from one of his pockets a slip of paper, a sketch of a young girl on it , hair long and face gently sad.
It fritters away to nothing and the two breathe in and then out, looking at each other confusedly for a moment before Yuuko steps forward.
"What were we-" She trails off, looking ahead of her as if there is something she should be noticing.
A trace of sand shifts on the ground and Clow frowns, unable to find meaning in it.
"I think," he says, pausing, eyebrows furrowing, "I think that we were just going for a walk." He says.
The sky above them is clear and blue.
A butterfly flits over the surface of the water, dipping low enough that it ripples slightly in its passing.
The two continue to walk.