Author's Note: My updates should be a little more frequent from now on (but not by much) since I just received my new laptop. Hopefully, I'll be around more often. And YES this does mean I will be starting my new story soon.
Summary: When a bubble bath goes overboard, Sakura and Kero can't help but look back at an old card capture.
Episode 51- Recalling the Bubbles Card and a Load of Bubbles
Kero woke up and flew out of his desk drawer. He looked over towards the bed to see that Sakura was sound asleep. The sun was barely rising and Kero knew that if the eighteen-year-old girl wanted to sleep in, who was he to wake her up? Especially with the tremendous stress of that dream she had. So Kero didn't want to bother her by telling her he needed to wash up.
Sakura's father left early to the university and her brother had his door locked. Kero knew this was his chance to get cleaned up, so he flew to Sakura's bathroom. While Kero didn't have too much with the bathroom seven years ago (including an embarrassing moment where he almost flushed himself down Sakura's toilet), he was getting used to everything now. He was just a little frustrated that Clow Reed had never bothered to show him the many features of the room known as the bathroom.
Kero stood on the sink faucet and found his target: the bathtub. Kero flew over and turned on the water, letting the fresh hot water pour down. The steam made the guardian beast feel a little lightheaded, so he turned the cold water on as well. But there was still something that kept Kero from jumping into the water. Then it hit him.
Kero quickly flew over and retrieved the box of bubble bath that Sakura always used. If Sakura could enjoy a bubble bath once in a while, then why couldn't he? Kero wanted to be careful, though. He carefully tipped the box over…unfortunately, Kero lost his grip and the box completely tipped over. The pink flakes all fell into the water. Kero looked into the box to see that it was now completely empty.
"Um…that…doesn't look good."
Unfortunately, the water was still running and there were far too many flakes in there. And that meant…the height of the bubble bath was beginning to rise. And soon enough, the water had overflowed. The bathroom was quickly becoming flooded and Kero's hopes of taking a simple bubble bath had been shattered.
"Sakura's gonna kill me!"
Kero did the only thing he could do. He desperately tried to turn the water off, but the faucet was stuck. It wouldn't budge.
As Kero continued to try and turn the water off, he couldn't help but think back to seven years ago. Kero hadn't seen this many bubbles…since Sakura sealed the Bubbles Card.
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Flashback: Sakura's Bathroom
P.O.V.: Kero
Kero looked in the mirror and did just like he did every single day. He wondered how it ever came to this. He wondered why he had to continue to be in this form.
~* She's sealed just about every card. Why couldn't one of those have been the Earth Card? *~
Kero knew that if only Sakura could seal the Earth Card, he could be his old self again. And he was aching to be in his true form again. But he knew that such a goal could only be achieved by one person. And as if on cue, the bathroom door opened and she came walking in.
Sakura Avalon came in wearing her pink robe and slippers. It was a familiar situation as it looked like Sakura had just come in after living another day as a ten-year old, meaning it was time for her to wash up. The difference was, she didn't bother to look around to see if anyone was in the bathroom. Sakura walked over and turned the water on, letting it fall into her bathtub. And just as Sakura was about to remove her robe…
"Sakura! Guardian beast in the room!"
Sakura gasped and turned around. She finally found Kero. "KERO! GET OUT!"
Kero gulped as Sakura reached for a brush to swing at him. Sakura then chased him out and as quickly as that, the bathroom was empty and Kero and Sakura were both in the bedroom.
"Don't you know I need my privacy?!" Sakura snapped.
"Hey, it's not my fault you just walked in!" Kero shot back. "I thought the house was empty!"
"Well…I'm the only one here right now," Sakura replied. "And I thought you were asleep."
"It's not like all I do is sleep. Can't I look in the mirror once in a while?"
"Why would you look in the mirror? Are you thinking about being in your true form again?"
Kero couldn't lie to her. "It'd be nice to be my old self again. I tell you, Sakura. My true form is REALLY cool! I'm really…BIG…and…COOL! Words can't really do it justice. You have to see it for yourself."
"So all I have to do is seal Earth?"
"That's right. You'll get it sooner or later. There aren't even that many cards left."
"That's another thing I meant to ask you, Kero," Sakura pointed out. "How many Clow Cards are left?"
Kero thought about it and then gave his answer. "Well…with Wave being sealed, that leaves you with…three."
"Oh. ………HOE?! THREE?!"
"Yeah, I almost surprised myself with that number," Kero said casually. "But you only have three left."
"So…which ones are left?" Sakura asked.
"Hmm…let's see…there's obviously Earth. There's Libra. And there's one more I'm forgetting."
But Kero's train of thought was soon cut off. There was a moment of silence while he and Sakura both heard a trickling sound…and the sound of running water.
"THE BATHTUB!!" Sakura screeched. "I forgot!!"
Sakura opened her bathroom door…and was immediately met with a flood of water and bubbles. Kero simply floated in the air and looked down, shaking his head.
"You kinda overdid it with the bubble bath this time around," he noted.
Sakura blinked. "I…didn't put any bubble bath in this time. That's weird. And…it feels like a Clow Card!"
"Hey, I sense it, too!"
Sakura looked up at the guardian beast. "What other card did you say was left?"
Finally, it hit him. "That's right! The Bubbles Card!"
Sakura sweatdropped. "I should have known." She walked over and got her Clow Key. "Ok, let's get this over with. Key of Clow! Power of magic! Power of light! Surrender the wand! The force, ignite! Release!"
Sakura took her wand and it looked very odd to see Sakura in her shower robe and holding her sealing wand. It looked like the kind of unusual picture that Madison would love to have in her collection. Sakura opened the bathroom door and immediately saw what had to be Bubbles in her visible form, a short mermaid-like spirit.
Sakura smiled. "You don't look like you want to cause any trouble. You just want to make bubbles, don't you? So…can I just seal you and I'll let you make all the bubbles you want?"
Bubbles wasn't exactly going to go quietly. Instead there were only more bubbles being created and Sakura almost fell over with the immense level of bubbles. Sakura tried to walk through all the bubbles, but the bubbles filled the bathroom and she found herself being forced out back into her bedroom.
"Hmm…I think Bubbles likes your bathroom," Kero thought.
"She can't stay in there!" Sakura cried. "What if my dad comes home?! She has to come out!"
"So what are you going to do about it?" Kero demanded, trying to light a fire in his Cardcaptor.
Sakura reached for one of her cards. "Windy! Release!"
Windy came out and tried to push her way through the bubbles. At first, Windy wasn't meeting with much success. But Windy persevered and made a path by pushing through the soft bubbles. Sakura followed Windy and made her way into her bathroom. Windy stepped to the side allowing Sakura to come through and hold up her wand.
"Bubbles Card! Return to your power confined! Bubbles!"
Sakura struck down and sealed the Bubbles Card. The bathroom suddenly cleared of all bubbles…but not of all the running bath water. Sakura's bathroom was flooded.
"Well that was a pretty easy capture," Kero nodded.
"Yeah…but what about my bathroom, Kero?" Sakura pointed out. "What'll I tell my dad?"
"You could tell him another pipe burst," Kero suggested. "He bought it last time."
"I don't know, Kero. The same excuse twice?"
"Hey, you're the one getting grounded, not me."
"Ok, ok! I'll tell him another pipe burst! I just hope I won't have to lie for too much longer. How many Clow Cards do I have left, Kero?"
Kero smiled. "Only two left, Sakura. I never would have imagined we'd reach this point, but…here we are."
Sakura almost had a blank stare. "Yeah…I didn't ever think we'd get here. It's almost over."
Kero's expression suddenly turned somber. "Yeah…over…"
~* But it's not REALLY over, Sakura. Not until you meet Yue. *~
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Kero knew how the meeting with Yue turned out, so he looked back at those days with a smile. But he wasn't smiling now. Kero still couldn't get the faucet off and the bubble bath was starting to spill into the hallway. But just then…
"What is this?"
Kero suddenly went into stuffed animal mode because he recognized that voice. He heard Sakura's big brother, Tori, coming into the bathroom. He saw the running water and turned it off. He shook his head and looked over towards the floor. He saw the little guardian beast on the ground and picked him up.
"Squirt."
Kero couldn't help but feel bad. Tori must have thought it was Sakura who did all this. But it wasn't like he could say anything. He just let Tori carry him into the kitchen. Tori placed Kero gently on the table.
"I'm sure the squirt will find you there…"
Tori then made his way towards the front door and was about to walk out when he turned back one last time.
"…Kero."
Kero could only let out a soft, inquisitive moan as Tori walked out the door. The guardian beast was in shock. Kero had always had his suspicions, but never before had Tori identified him by name. This was a first and Kero didn't know what to think.
"He knows who I am," the guardian beast said softly. "This IS serious."
Whether this had anything to do with the prophetic dream Sakura's been having, Kero couldn't tell. But he knew one thing was for sure: Tori was finally letting Kero in on the fact that he knew about him. And that meant one thing…
…it wouldn't be long before Tori came clean with Sakura. There would soon be no more secrets.
Any comments? Come back next time to see the capture of the Libra Card. In the meantime, go ahead and review below!
