Pink snow. Dancing gently in the soft
breeze. Descending gracefully to the ground as a final bow. For as long as I can
remember, they've always been a comfort to watch. Their dance creates a
blanket of relaxing warmth, engulfing me with comforting memories.
SWISHSLASHSWOOSH
They flurried about my
sword, showing their indignation at the interruption of their dance. I
watched in half-attention, fascinated at their attempts to cling to the air in
desperation. As they tried to regain their graceful composure before cruel
gravity pulled them closer to the ground.
"Aiyaa! Are you still
at this?" Fu-die's melodic voice chorused through my concentration.
"Perfection can only be achieved by practice," I echoed one of Wei's
favourite sayings, without breaking my pace
"And you're still reading this as well?" My sister continued as she
took a well preserved ancient journal in her hands.
I paused long enough to give her a warning glare, "If you rip that, I will
never forgive you!"
Fu-die raised an eyebrow, "Hmph! And I was about to do something nice like
inviting you to have some freshly baked cake with me."
More like, use me as a guinea pig. "I'm busy," I replied out loud,
annoyance lacing my voice
"What? You have time to spare for practice and a dead person's journal and
none for your beloved sister?" Fu-die cried out in mock indignation.
"I'm NOT interested!"
"Are you sure?" Fu-die sing-sang sweetly, "It's
chocolate..."
Sisters are the epitome of demons. No matter how much you try to avoid them,
they always find a way to torture you.
"It's
good, isn't it?" Fu-die cooed through her over-emphasized smile as I took
my first bite
"You didn't put anything weird in this, did you?" I mumbled with a
frown
"What
makes you think that I would do that?"
"You're acting like you're expecting me to suddenly grow a second head of
something."
Fu-die covered her mouth and laughed, "Xiao-lang, Xiao-lang. My beloved
cute little brother. Even if I could do that, you know your sweet Shan-jie will
never do anything like that to you. Your beloved Shan-jie only wants her
wonderful baby brother to be happy and enjoy some freshly baked delicious
chocolate cake and tea that she made JUST for you."
It suddenly became clear, "Ah...You're still trying to get Hahaue to let
you go to that concert tonight."
With those words, my sister froze as visible beads of sweat popped out from her
forehead, "Heh-heh... and you think I would go so low as to bribe my
beloved baby brother, whom I love very dearly, into taking my side with
chocolate cake?"
"You're doing it now, aren't you?"
"So will you?"
"No. But thank you for the cake."
"It's not fair!" Fu-die moaned pitifully and buried her face on the
table, "She knows that I've wanted to go for a long time! Come on, Didi,
help me out. I'll even let you tag along with me."
Yeah, right. The last way I want to waste a Sunday evening is to tag along to a
concert full of screaming girls by some gay-looking American singer who can't
even sing, "I have to study. Wei is testing me on that journal when I come
home from school tomorrow."
Fu-die reached over absent-mindedly to flip the book open and run through the
delicate pages, "What is this one about, anyway?"
"Some notes he left about the Clow Cards."
"Hmmmm... you know, I don't really understand why this Clow Read person is
so important. Old grandmother didn't even want to hear his name mentioned."
"Well, Old grandmother wasn't too happy about her favourite aunt running
away to marry a foreigner against everyone's wishes."
"I guess, he was still family. Even though half the family treated him more like
a dangerous virus than a human being when he was still alive. Not that I blame
any of them," Fu-die continued as she continued to flip through the pages
of the book, "These Clow Cards are powerful and scary stuff. Only a really
strong magician can master all of these."
Only a really strong magician...
"Shan-jie..." I began hesitantly
"Hmmm?"
"Do you think... I'll be... someday..."
Fu-die lifted her head and watched me thoughtfully for a few seconds before she
straightened up on her seat and reached her hand out to me, "Finish your
tea then give me your tea cup."
I obediently handed her the porcelain cup and tried to keep a straight face as
she melodramatically peered at the message at the bottom.
"Aaaah! I see it! I see your future!" Fu-die began in a deep unnatural
voice, "I see a quest! A very important journey to a faraway land. And I
see a little wolf cub surrounded within a hail of... cherry blossoms!"
"You're just making that up."
"Am not! That's really what I see here," Fu-die replied defensively as
she shoved the cup over my face, "See? Look for yourself. Tell me what you
see."
"I see," I began, "Jasmine tea leaves in a cup held by my silly
sister who is just trying to cheer me up."
"You forgot ultra-beautiful and super-intelligent."
I simply rolled my eyes.
"But did it work?"
"Not really," I sighed, "But another piece of chocolate cake
might."
Fu-die obliged my request with a big smile, "You know, Xiao-lang. I don't
think it really matters."
"What does?"
"I think Hahaue will still be happy no matter what."
"Hmmm..." Somehow, it didn't feel too convincing. After all, none of
my sister had the same rigid training that I did ever since they learned how to
walk. None of them went through the rigid extra lessons ever since they learned
how to read and write.
"I know I can never understand how you feel about this. None of us will.
Sometimes, it feels that you act older than the four of us combined,"
Fu-die continued with a small laugh, "But I understand well enough to know
that this is very hard for you. Inheriting it from Hahaue without someone like
Baba to help you deal with it. I strongly believe that... someday, you will meet
that person who will understand you whole-heartedly. But still, I just want you
to know that... We all love you. And all of us will try our best beside you
until then."
I gave my cake one embarrassed poke before attempting to look up at my sister,
"Xie xie."
"HWEEEEEEEH!?!?!?!?! YOU ATE CAKE WITHOUT ME!?!?!" Fei-mei's shrill
voice shrieked, totally destroying the moment, "Shan-jie! Didi! You two are
soooooo MEAN!"
"I was doing you a favour," Fu-die retorted mischievously,
"You're starting to pack on some meat around the waist and the
thighs..."
My
sisters arguing and the falling pink snow. Dancing gently in the soft
breeze. Descending gracefully to the ground as a final bow. Their dance
creates a blanket of relaxing warmth, engulfing me with comforting
memories.
Not quite the same situation as today, but they're a comfort to watch nonetheless.
Because underneath the ridiculous thick blanket of uncontrollable
pink swirling mass...
...was my
goal.
"I
see you," The Rashinban glowed ominously in my hands, "The one with
the Clow Card's energy."
End of Part 2
Continued on Part 3: By the
Root of the Tree
Return to Part 1: Plums and a Little Wolf
Ina-chan's Squawk:
FINALLY! I got my act together and finished
chapter 2. No new terms that didn't show up in my previous chapters' side note dictionary. I'm
trying hard not to follow the usual re-telling of the storyline. ^_^. So the Li
sisters are going to pop out once in a while. I hope Syaoran doesn't stray too
OOC. Heh-heh... I finally completed the 12-volume manga and the 70-episode TV
series (all I'm missing is the 2nd movie now) so I guess I'm in a bit of a
disadvantage on trying to keep Syaoran's character intact at the exact moment he
is in the storyline.
Well, reviews, comments
and criticisms will be very much appreciated. Actually, I would prefer some
challenging constructive criticisms for creative purposes. Since I don't belong
to any CCSMLs and am hungry for discussion. I'm also open for private mail CCS
discussion. Someone to bounce ideas around with. You can reach me via ina_chan@yahoo.com!
Ja!
Ina-chan
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