secrets

Secrets: Fatherly Advice #2
By Shirono

Syaoran was sitting upside down on the couch in the living room. Thinking.
He didn't even hear the doorbell. He just heaved a sigh, closing his eyes.

Sakura answered the door, Nadeshiko in her arms.
"Onii-san. Right on time."
"Of course," he said, coming in, "where is he?"
Sakura silently pointed to the direction of the couch.
"Jeez...." said Touya.
"Yeah, " she said, "He has been like that all morning...."

Touya walked over and leaned over him, his face right above Syaoran's.
Touya cleared his throught , and Syaoran's eyes shot open.
"IIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!" He howled, flailing his arms and falling off the couch onto his head.
Touya burst out laughing, but stopped as Syaoran rubbed his head and growled "that was scary...."
Touya helped the bruised warrior up.
"I didn't hear you come in," he said.
"Of course you didn't, " replied Touya, walking to the door, "all your blood was rushing to your head and clogging your ears." He laughed.
Syaoran turned to his wife before he stepped out the door with his brother-in-law.
"Where will I find you?" he asked.
Sakura smiled, "I'm taking Nadeshiko over to Yukito's home to play with Chibi-Li. We can meet up there when you two are done bonding."
Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "I do not plan on "bonding..."
Sakura nodded sarcastically and pushed him out the door.

Syaoran put his face in his hand and leaned on the car doorhandle as Touya drove him to a cafe in Kyoto. He sighed, and looked incredibly thoughtful.
Touya, still being a hard-core-clueless-male, didn't know how to approach this whole thing. Sakura wanted answers. He had to get them.
"Um...Syaoran, I was...you know...we should...er...."
"I'm alright. Don't worry," said Syaoran flatly, continueing to stare out the window.
Touya put on a defensive face.
"I'm not the one worried about you, you brat."
Syaoran turned quickly and arngrily. With a sudden fire in his eyes, he shouted,
"WHY THE HELL do you still call me a brat when I'm a married adult with a child!!!??"
Touya slammed on the brakes and looked at Syaoran, who was slightly red with anger.
Fortunately, there was no traffic this early, and he slowly pulled over to the side of the road.
"Give me a break! " Touya growled.
"WHy dont YOU give ME a break for a change!?" Syaoran shouted in reply,
"What the hell do you want from me! You've hated me since I first met your sister, and even now, married to her, fathering her child, still!"
Touya continued to get angry, instead of considering Syaoran's reasoning for sudden fury.
"I don't hate you, but now you are being irrational! All I did was call you a brat! I don't need to be here!"
"Well," Syaoran said, opening the car door, "if you dont wan't to be here, and you don't need to be here, I'll get out of your way!"

With that, Syaoran slammed the door and walked furiously away from the car.

Touya growled again, and slammed his head on the steering wheel.
"Dammit!" he yelled.
Why didn't I think of it! I'm the last male figure he's got to look up to. I just let his last hope go. DAMMIT!

~

Tomoyo ran into the bedroom.
"Eriol-sama! Come quickly! It's an emergency!"
Eriol jumped out of bed.
"The children?" He ran with her to the babie's room.
"Its Ihyou! She...has...."
Eriol looked over the wall of the crib. He gasped.

Ihyou had tiny, feathery, dewey silver wings!

~

Sakura pulled up to Yukito's home. She turned to Nadeshiko.
"I hope you understand how long the car ride is, an appreciate the gas money I spend driving you to see Usagi."
She took her out of the car and inside.

"Sakura-chan! Nadeshiko!" Yukito squealed, "Nice of you to drop by!" He planted a little kiss on Nadeshiko's forhead. "How's the little cutie-pie niece of mine?"
Sakura laughed and brought Nadeshiko into the family room.

Chibi-Li looked up.
"Nadeeeesaaaaiiikoooo!!!!"
"OOOsaaagi!"
Naseshiko squirmed in Sakura's grasp until her mother plopped her on the floor, wherefore, she crawled over to Chibi-Li and began babbling.

Sakura and Yukito sat down at the coffeetable and made thier tea.

"It's so nice for them to have a friend, huh?" She commented.
"Yes," Yukito said, grinning, "and they get along so well."
"Yeah, nice pick you made."
Yukito laughed. "Crazy kid, though. He always wants to play in the sunshine."
Sure enough, Sakura just noticed, he was playing with the sun hitting his back from a nearby window.
"Oo."
"You know, Sakura-chan," said Yukito, "Its a little strange. At first, the child looked a little unappealing. But something made me look to him again."
Yukito was serious. He put down his cup.
"It was like something inside me yearned to have him. Like he was the only one that would fill the void inside of me."
Sakura became thoughtful as well.
"Yukito. This "void" that you talked about, that you said came about when Touya worked late, are you sure thats what it was?"
Yukito picked up his cup again, continuing to look at Li.
"You think it has something to do with Yue dissapearing, don't you?"
Sakura nodded. "Exactly."

Sakura recalled that night. Two years and 84 days ago.

They were at the park, standing in front of the swings.
Keroberos looked at her. "Sakura-chan, now is the time we part ways."
Sakura shook her head, in tears.
"Don't leave me , Kero-chan! Please!"
"NO, Sakura, I must leave. I am not worth your energy anymore. You have no more cards to capture. You dont need my guidence. Its time to live a normal life with your family."
"Kero.." she sobbed, "What will happen to you??"
Keroberos put his large paw to her face, wiping away a tear.
"I will find a new place to exist. A new soul. I will be reborn as a new magical creature, with a new destiny and a new mission and magic to guard."
"Kero-chan...." Sakura cried, "Please, consider one last time!"
Kero smiled. He raised his wings and looked up to the sky. His wings glowed, and in an instant, he was a tall, handsome man, resembling Yue in some aspects.
He put his hands on Sakura's face.
"Sakura, we will both be happier. Now is the time that Yue is abandoning Yukito as well. We must separate from our bodies together. You must be strong and go on without me for now. Maybe one day, we will meet again."
Syaoran had been in the a tree, watching.
Kero leaned down and looked into Sakura's eyes.
"Keroberos...." she stammered, "You are...."
"This isn't me. Just another body I can look like."
Sakura embraced him hard.
"I'll...miss you....."
He put his face close to hers. "I'll miss you too. Maybe, one day...we will meet again."
With that, he put his lips to Sakura's, and engaged in a passionate kiss.

Syaoran stood up, shocked at the display, trying hard to restrain himself from going down there.

Sakura didn't hold back. She kissed him, holding him tighter.
He began to glow. He began to fade.
He pulled away from Sakura's lips, and whispered "I love you...." as he dissapeared.
His earring clattered to the ground, and Sakura began to sob again.
Syaoran silently walked over to Sakura and picked up the earring, putting it into his pocket before she noticed it had been there at all.
He stared down at her, as she finally noticed his presence and looked up at him.
He didn't look happy.

Sakura shook the awful memories out of her mind. They got worse as she went along. She stopped thinking about it and turned to Yukito.

"Kero dissapeared too. I felt like I missed something too, but...I got over it. I always had memories, and felt his presence when I touched the Sakura cards he once inhabited."

Yukito nodded, but wasn't looking at her. He was squinting in the direction of Chibi-Li, who was playing some unintelligeable version of patty-cake with Nadeshiko.

"Oh my God!" he cried.
He stood up suddenly, and walked, anxiously over to his son.
He picked Li up and pulled his shirt off over his head.

Sakura screamed.

Next:

Uh oh. Touya has to find Syaoran and make things right. If he says the right things, Syaoran may reveal the biggest secret yet!
And what is this all about? Ihyou and Chibi-Li have wings! And Sakura thinks she knows what's going on!
And what happened after Kero dissapeared? What did Syaoran do to Sakura after he saw what happened between them!? And how was Yue's breakup with Yukito and Touya??