Guardian Beast of the Seal, Wimpy, Scaredy Cat

by Dr Megalomania

Um, okay so... It's raining, Kero gets cold, and wet, and feverish, and then he keels over... not quite dead, but enough to freak out Yue and gang... so what happens? It's E.R only Cardcaptor Sakura Stylin'...

13. I Have A Bun In The Oven

Well, hello! And Welcome to My Little World of Weirdness!

I state for the record that, despite the fact I really, really wish I did, I don't own any of the characters that will grace this story; it's all CLAMP's! Always has been, always will be!

Also I don't pretend to have any Mastery over the language of Japanese or any clue as to correct grammatical structure. I put it in and hope it gets across the point I'm trying to make! AND apologies for the Joan Collins pun, it was originally about the Queen Mother but one of our Princess', Princess Margaret, died on Saturday, R.I.P Margo!

"Speaking"

*Stress/emphasis*

//Thinking//

Guardian Beast of the Seal, Wimpy, Scaredy Cat.

By Dr Megalomania.

Part Thirteen: I Have A Bun In The Oven

[p.s – All the Touya/Yue here is completely dedicated to MorganD. (Read her fics! they are soooo good!) you did ask for it!]

Eriol sighed a brief sigh of relief as he reappeared, "Safe!"

He glanced around the kitchen, there were at least sixteen racks of cooling cookies lining the counters, he looked at the oven, which held a further three batches. Finally his gaze fell upon the kitchen table, Yue was sitting there, head rested on his folded arms. He looked completely exhausted.

"Yue?"

"Shh!" Touya stood from behind one of the counters, "He's asleep!"

"Oh. . ." Eriol looked at Yue, the pale angel looked more than slightly drained, it didn't help any that the night would be a new moon. "How long . . .?"

"Since about an hour now," Touya pulled the oven door open, "I haven't had the heart to wake him. . . hmmm. . . These are almost done." He pulled the trays out slowly, "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check where Yue was . . ." Eriol walked softly over to his moon guardian, he lay a hand on the pearly white hair, "Now Keroberos is better, I think it's about time we started to pack up camp . . ."

"Hmmm. . . I got a letter from our father, he say the expedition are encountering even more delays . . . he might not be back for another month . . ."

"He's having the time of his life!" Eriol grinned.

Touya eyeballed him, "How do you know?"

Eriol smiled knowingly, "He and I are connected . . . I can feel his thoughts and emotions . . ."

"Really?" Touya scoffed, "And how can you prove that?"

"I could tell you about the time he found you rolling naked on his lecture notes and squealing---"

"Thank you very much!" Touya shoved him out of the door.

Eriol laughed and shook his head, and walked towards the stairs.

Sakura smiled, as Keroberos' deep purr rumbled across his now clear chest. He sounded perfectly healthy to her, as she held a large beaker of cool water to his mouth. He lapped at it contently, his temper had been soothed as Tomoyo assured him that their watches over him were purely observational, and that in a few more days if there were no upsets he would be discharged and free to resume his daily life of mind altering video games, bad daytime TV and hourly pudding and snackings. Sakura smiled again, their life would begin again normally and she would never have to worry about her guardians falling ill ever again.

Thunder cracked outside the window.

"Hoe?" Sakura blinked, as the rain pounded down and the storm moved closer. Eriol stepped into the room, and stared out the window.

"That's not my fault, are you letting the Storm card out?"

"Nope. . ."Sakura shrugged, "Must be natural. . ."

Eriol smiled, and sat beside Keroberos, "How are you feeling, old man?"

"I'm not old and I feel fine!"

"Good, good!" He petted the lion, "Well, this is the last day my guardians and I will be staying. . . I feel we have imposed on your hospitality long enough. . ."

Sakura blushed; "No, it's all right! It has been interesting, I've learnt things about everyone I never knew. . ."

"Such as Yue's twitch!" Keroberos snickered.

"And your painting abilities!" Sakura scratched between his ears.

He sat up slightly, "How. . .?"

Eriol smiled, "I still have Clow's diary. . . he kept a lot of paintings from you and Yue in it. . ."

Kero snorted, "Of course he did. . . mine are masterpieces!"

A serious glint took over Eriol's eyes, "Kero. . . Clow has something to tell you before we leave. . ."

"Nani?" Kero blinked, "Like what?"

Eriol smiled, "No. . . Wait until Yue wakes, then I want you to join me in the kitchen . . . it's about the both of you . . ."

Three hours later, Kero padded down the stairs. The storm had grown worst and it was pelting down. He wondered what it was that Eriol had to tell Yue and him. What did Clow have to tell them . . .? He gasped, as he quickened his pace, //Maybe it's that secret recipe to making the perfect pudding!!//he stepped into the living room. It was now clear of the bedding, and the sleeping bags, Meilin and Syaoran were in their battle costumes as Tomoyo inspected the age-old clothes. "Hmmm. . . Syaoran, your sleeves are going to need a little work and. . ." She looked over Meilin's, ". . . so will yours, your bells could do with a small bit of tightening."

The sound of footsteps made him turn, Ruby, Spinel and Eriol were descending the stairs, also in their normal robes. "Is that everything?" Eriol called to them.

"Yes!" Spinel mumbled around his bag, he stopped in front of Kero, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I could beat the stuffing out of you and Ruby anytime any place."

"Oooh. . . I didn't know that being so ill could turn you into a competent guardian!" Spinel smiled slightly and nipped at Kero's ear affectionately. "Welcome back!"

Kero smiled as he returned the gesture, "Thank you. . ."

Ruby dumped her bag in the hallway, it was almost up to her hip. "So. . . Goldie, how ya doin'?"

"As I was telling your brother. . . I could take you on easy!"

"That's good to know. . ." Eriol smiled as he placed his bags in the hallway next to Ruby's oversized rucksack, he looked at it then at Ruby, "Ruby, sweetie . . . that's not how big your bag was when we arrived . . ."

Ruby was about to answer when there was a shout from upstairs interrupted her, "Ruby!!"

"What?"

Touya came pounding down the stairs, "Where has my clothes gone?!"

"What clothes?" Ruby blinked at him sweetly.

"My entire underwear drawer has been *ransacked*!"

"And what's to say I did it?"

All eyes fell on her oversized rucksack, "Oh come on! That's *circumstantial* evidence!"

Eriol chuckled, as he patted Kero's head, "Please . . . accompany me to the kitchen?"

They pushed the door open; Yue paused in his icing to glance at them. "Kero? What are you doing up?"

Keroberos blinked, Yue looked very, very pallid. Even for a new moon night.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You look awful!"

Yue turned back to his icing, "I'm fine. . . it's just the new moon. . ."

Eriol shook his head and sat at the table, he sighed and clasped his hands in front of him as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, it was clear Eriol wasn't exactly Eriol anymore. "Yue? Kero? Please. . . have a seat. . ."

Yue and Kero exchanged glances as Kero jumped up on to a seat and Yue leaned on to the kitchen counter, "I have a bun in the oven. . ." he said as Clow raised a questioning eyebrow.

Clow, desperately resisting the urge to make a joke about Yue and his bun and then run away, sighed, "Oh, all right then . . ." he clear his throat, "Um . . . you remember the night I died. . .?"

Touya grumbled quietly to himself as he escorted Ruby out of his room, "Now. . . my underwear is my underwear and not yours got it?"

"Can't I just keep the black silk--?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

Touya rolled his eyes, "Yuki gave them to me!"

"Oh. . ." she sighed, "are you sure you wouldn't rather have someone more vibrant than the Snow Rabbit and Mister Personality Disorder?"

"Yes."

"But-"

"No!"

"But-"

"I said no!"

She sighed, "Fine then!"

"Thank you!"

They passed his sister's room, Sakura was fast asleep on her bed, and Syaoran had joined her. He lay beside her, one giant floppy gold and green sleeve almost completely covering her frail frame. Touya smiled, and Ruby sighed, "Now wouldn't you like to be like them . . .?"

"No!"

"But-!"

"I said no!" he pushed her hard and they continued down the stairs.

Meilin smiled, "You're pretty good at this!"

Tomoyo smiled as she sewed the bell on tightly, "Lots of practice."

"From making Sakura's costumes?"

Tomoyo nodded, "I love making her happy . . . she's so—"

"Kawaii! I know, Syaoran hasn't been able to talk about her to his sisters without uttering that word at least a billion times . . ." she rolled her eyes good naturally, "I'm glad they finally got it together!"

Tomoyo paused, "Really?"

Meilin winked at her, "It's the same sorta thing you had when you realise ol' cherry blossom wasn't . . . *that* way inclined . . ."

Tomoyo blushed slightly, "Oh . . ."

Meilin laughed, "Boy, it'll be good to go back to the way things were . . . this has gone on for far to long as it is!"

Tomoyo smiled and chuckled, "I can't wait to start editing my films!"

There was a loud crash from the kitchen, as the door suddenly sprang open, Yue ran out and sped out into the corridor, Keroberos was hot on his heel. "Yue! Yue, come back!"

The two girls blinked, "What the. . .?" Meilin murmured.

Touya and Ruby stood in the middle of the stairs as a white blur of feathers and hair steamed past them, they blinked, and Ruby turned to Touya. "What was that?"

"That was Yue!" Kero panted from the bottom of the stairs, "Someone go after him please!"

"Why--?"

"PLEASE!!" Kero shouted before passing out, the run had exhausted him already.

Sakura frowned in her sleep as a strong aura rushed past her sense, she opened her eyes to see her room was empty but the window was wide open.

Touya stumbled into her room, "Kaijuu? Where's Yue?"

"Yue? I only just woken up . . . what happened?"

But Touya wasn't listening to her; he leaned out the window and shouted, "Yue?!"

She blinked as Ruby carried Kero in, he was panting deeply. "What happened?"

"I don't know . . ." Ruby sounded unnerved, "Yue just ran past us and Kero passed out at the bottom of the stairs."

Tomoyo and Meilin ran in, and Syaoran awoke, "What's going on?" The three asked at the same time.

Spinel padded in, followed by a very sad looking Eriol. He hung his head, "I'm so sorry . . . I thought I broke it to him gently . . ."

"What?" Sakura looked at him.

Eriol didn't answer, "Someone should go after him . . ."

Touya looked up, he could sense that Yue was sitting on the roof. He sighed, "Everyone stay here, I'll deal with this . . ."

He didn't care about the rain, he didn't care about the cold, he didn't care that he was beyond tired. His master had died on them . . . on purpose! He clutched his knees closer to his chest; Clow had left him on purpose. He didn't die by accident, or by natural causes he died because he wanted too . . .

"Yue?"

The rain suddenly stopped, he looked up. Touya's large blue umbrella covered him. "That's pretty pointless," Yue murmured, "I'm already soaked . . ."

Touya sat beside him gently, "What happened?"

"Clow talked to us . . ."

"And wasn't that good?"

Yue's face creased up, he was so tired, and he was so cold, and wet, and drained emotionally. "He said he didn't die because of the cold . . . he had the power to get better the whole time he was sick!"

Touya wrapped an arm around the shivering moon guardian, "He obviously regretted it . . . Eriol's down there right now on the verge of tears . . ."

"Then why did he do it?!"

"All things die . . . it's part of the natural cycle. . ."

"But we're not natural! Clow wasn't—"

"He was human, wasn't he?"

"Yes but—"

"And it must have hurt to see all his friend and family die all round him, knowing that he would survive them all. . ."

"He had Keroberos. . . he had the cards. . ." Yue spread his wings and covered them from the harsh rain. "And he had me!"

"No human wants to live forever. . ."

"What about Joan Collins?"

"Pardon me?"

"Sheesh! the woman just won't give in! then again. . ." Yue paused reflectively ". . . I don't think she's human anymore . . . and then there's Darth Vader!"

"Darth Vader is a fictional character. . . and he's a jedi!"

"But-!"

"Yue, look I know you're upset. . ."

"He left me. . . because he was bored of us."

"No. . . he left you because he knew you had to move on. . ."

"On to what?"

"If Clow was still around, and that's excluding Eriol and my father, would you have even dreamt of giving Sakura a fair chance at defeating you?"

"I tried to be as harsh at her as I could!"

"Yes you did, but at no time did you try anything underhanded . . . you didn't try and cheat her."

"I didn't . . ." Yue looked down, "but Clow . . ."

"I'm not as powerful as he was . . . and I can't promise I'll live forever, but I love you."

Yue's eyes flickered up at him, "I'm sorry . . . I love you as well; I should try and remember that before going on about how much I miss Clow, huh?"

Touya smiled, "Yuki once told me that it would be nicer to have loved and lost and found new love with him, rather than just being lost . . ."

"That doesn't make a word of sense," Yue snorted; "then again Yuki never makes any sense. He's just one huge oxymoron . . ."

"Well, oxymoron or not, I love him, and you. . . a lot." He brushed a kiss over Yue's lips, "And I mean a lot."

"What did you say?"

Eriol turned away from the window to face Sakura; she looked . . . not exactly angry, more on the disappointed side. "You told them, didn't you?"

Eriol sighed, and glanced at Keroberos, the lion's new health was still fragile and the weeks of non-exercise left him lacking. "Yes, I did . . ."

"Couldn't you have waited?" Syaoran folded his arms, "You couldn't have waited at least until the full moon, and the storm had gone?"

"If I didn't tell them now, I seriously doubt Clow would have plucked up the courage to tell them later."

Sakura nodded, part of her agreed, but another thought it was a little cruel of him to tell them just as they were recovering from such a serious shock. She looked at Kero, Tomoyo said he had just lost consciousness from lack of air, and that his temperature was still normal. However it was still disconcerting to see the large lion out cold again. She suppressed a shiver; the wind gusted through the open window.

"Here." Meilin wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, Sakura smiled at the black haired girl.

"Thank you!"

"No problem."

Ruby sat on the windowsill, "I can't take this pansying around anymore . . . they've been up there for an hour!"

Spinel grabbed the white hem of her long skirt, "Give them some time. . . you know Yue is. . . complicated like that. . ."

She sighed and retracted her wings, "I just don't think he's strong enough to maintain his form up there. . ."

Spinel smiled knowingly, "You're worried about Touya, aren't you?"

"No!" Ruby snapped, "I'm really worried about Yue. . . you don't seriously believe that he could manage to maintain his form in this weather do you?!"

Spinel shook his head, "No. . . I don't. . ." he glanced at Sakura and Eriol, "Master?"

Eriol looked up, "Hmm?"

"Permission to go get them. . .? the storm looks like it's taking a turn for the worse. . ."

Eriol glanced at Sakura, "Do you mind?"

"I don't think I want them out there anymore either. . ." she nodded at Eriol's guardians.

-----------------------

And Now It's Time For LEAVE IT TO DOCTOR MEGALOMANIA!!!

DrM: Konnichiwa!!

Darth Vader: [breathes] how did I . . . [breathes] . . .end up here?

Luke: I don't know. . .

D.V: Luke. . . I am you father. . .

Luke: NOOOOOO!!!

3-CPO: oh my! We have appeared to have stumbled in at a rather bad time! Oh, what are we going to do?

R2-D2: [whistles]

3- CPO: I don't think that would help. . .

R2-D2: [whistles]

3- CPO: no, I don't think that would help either. . .

R2-D2: [whistles]

D.V: DrM! We meet again!

DrM: hey, Darth Vader, my man!! How's the kids? [Hands him a beer and stretches back on couch] And how's it hanging!

D.V: [takes off helmet, cracks open bottle of beer] Well, Luke's going through this phase where he's rejecting me. . . [Both look at Luke, who's still yelling 'NOOOO!!] And. . . I've got A New Hope . . . got a feeling the Empire's gonna Strike Back against the pay cuts . . . although I gotta say I'm not welcoming the Return Of The Jedi . . .

DrM: [nodding] yeah. . . that Phantom's. . . gawd I tell ya! He's real Menace!

Clow: what the hell. . .? People, love of sanity, review this girl . . . if only to stop the insanity and the really bad, bad, BAD star wars references!!!

DrM: yeah, please . . . it hurts if you don't! I worked really hard on that last chapter!!