Chapter 13-Spinel
I don't really know who it was that offered him the Chinese drink. Eriol-sama had a hunch that it might of been Xuyan. He may be young, but really, Chinese people are very tricky, sly as foxes. Although I guess it's only those who lived in China for more than two years.
I don't really know. Maybe it was Xuyan. If it was, the child never admitted, nor would dare to. Because it was more than Syaoran getting drunk and possibly making a fool of himself.
Li-san and her daughters took us all home. The reception was still going on. Syaoran didn't eat too much at the reception, and the alcohol went through his blood faster than we realized. Perhaps it was because we never knew he was so thin, so weak and frail. His clothes always covered his skin, and his eyes made us misjudge the fullness of his cheeks. Because it was his eyes that blinded us all, just like Yue's Moon Influence.
The child threw up along the way, laughing and giggling, choking and coughing. I was disgusted. Xuyan was silent, watching Syaoran, with some queer light in his eyes. We were in a large van, so all of us were in it, including Meiling.
Meiling was actually a nice girl, now that I think of her. It was a great pity, because she never deserved anything bad. Syaoran grew so delirious he flung his magic everywhere, practically roasting the car with his lightning. And then,
Some kind of fireball aimed out of his hand straight at Meiling. The girl died instantly. Sakura nearly stood up in alarm. Syaoran's eyes glowed a little, and Meiling's body burned like a torch. The car seat lighted. Li Yelan called out for the driver to stop.
He stopped at the wrong time. Right in the intersection of the streets. The cars bumped into him, and the car behind us crashed into us. The four sisters of Syaoran fell forward and broke their necks. Then everything went so fast...
Yue instantly sensed something was wrong and transformed. Xuyan opened the car window and leaped out, oblivious to Syaoran and Yue's relationship. The car bursted into flame. Eriol grabbed me and told Nakuru to get out. Out we did, out she did. Sakura used the Through Card and went through the roof of the van. Kero was with her. Touya followed afterwards.
There was an explosion, just as the Card Mistress flew out. And then
everything became bright white. Something glowed, not in the van, but in Eriol's
hand. Eriol-sama took it out.
" It's the Stone of Renague," He looked in the car.
There was a scream. A horrible, scream of pure terror, as the earth suddenly shook. It was Sakura. Because Yue and Syaoran was still in the car. She ran towards the van. Touya held her back. Suddenly, there was a roaring. A horrible roaring of flames. The ground was filled with dirt, but that didn't stop the fire for some reason. Perhaps because there were patches of oil and gasoline, I do not know. It was Syaorans' own fire. The Stone of Renague glowed like the sun. It blinded the flames.
Then the fires spread. We had to move further away, and each stop made Hope fade a little more. We had no time to despair. It was so sudden. The flames leaped from car to car, and the van behind us, also of the Lis, also leaped into flame.
I remember catching a sight of a black shadow with eyes more golden than the flames. He stood amidst the fire, his shadow rippling, and suddenly, he ran. He ran as fast as the Dash Card, faster than Yue, towards us, smoothly, gracefully, as if there was nothing in his way. Something swooped down, the wings fanned the flames, so that they went down before bursting larger than before. It was Yue. He caught his child. They glided over to us, and, having no chance to land, collided with the ground.
When we reached them, Yue was crying. I have never seened him cry, not even when Clow Reed died. He was crying, whimpering in pure apprehension, cradling his sons head, which was pink from his blood. The green aura was gone, completely gone, and the Stone of Renague nearly exploded in Eriol's hand with its light.
The Moon Guardian was crying. Nakuru rushed over to him. Xuyan stood beside Sakura, his face pale, his eyes blank, his lips in a tight line. Sakura left him to run to the moon guardian, but Yue didn't let her touch Syaoran. He probably wouldn't let any of us, not even Touya or Eriol-sama, help him save Syaoran. His love was that strong.
" He's dead." Yue was weeping in distress. " He's dead. I know it. He ran, he leaped, I caught him, and than he clung onto me. We crashed. He, he hit his head, his skull was split. He's dead."
Amidst the roaring flames, all was quiet. After a few minutes, the firemen came. We stood there stunned. There were shouts, breaking in the roaring of fire. But in our circle, all was quiet.
Syaoran was never our main focus. Sakura was. Eriol was. Kerberus and Yue was. But not Syaoran and Tomoyo. Not Touya. They were on the side, the minor members of the group. Ones we can do away with. Yet they were the most important. Syaoran had the closest relationship, along with Tomoyo, with Sakura. Touya was her brother. Quite frankly, we are all connected to Sakura. It was what had brought us together in the first place. Or so we must have thought. Maybe it was like that.
But at that time, that night, the night of the concert with the Shanghai Philharmonic, the night Syaoran got drunk, killed his cousin, lit the fire, it was like the magician had shouted the words. Alakazam! And we realize, Sakura wasn't the center of the circle. Despite her powers, despite her name, she is just the same as everyone else. All trapped in the same world and blinded with the same fog, the same darkness. The impact of her death may have been the same as the impact of Yue's. The impact of Kero's. The impact of Eriol's. Of Touya's.
We are each our own different person. Every one of us is different. No one is the same. Some are more different than others. Some are less. We are all different. Yet we are the same. All human, all part of the same world, all depending on others no matter how much we may hate or like it. All part of the same life. And when one is gone, it strikes an unknown fear, an unknown sorrow. An unknown wonder and awe. But for those within the magic circle of Clow Reed, we have formed our own world. We stood more apart than the rest, even though we are still a part. And when one is gone, we feel the impact more strongly. As a family will.
That night, we realized it wasn't because of Sakura that we had come
together.
We were all related in some way. All connected.
Syaoran broke the connections with him that night. He broke off Yue's connection, Sakura's connection, and Eriol's connection. He broke off Kero's newfound connection, Touya's connection, and Nakuru and mine. At the same time, he broke off a few others. He broke off Yue's connection with everyone else. He broke off Sakura's connection with everyone except Touya and Kero. He broke off Tomoyo's connection with Touya and Eriol. Just by dying.
For the first time I understood Yue. I remember the words Syaoran had said
to me.
" Daddy fears because he knows. And yet he doesn't."
Yue feared Death.
We were transported into the hospital to examine for injuries. Of course, Kero
and I had to hide. Sakura got a few scratches, Yukito had none, and Touya got
some second degree burns. Eriol was fine. Nakuru got cut by the car door. All of us
were a little sick from the smoke, except for Yukito.
The hospital managed to save Syaoran, who came back to life on the ambulence, even if it was weak. It had nothing to do with the machines or the EMS. Eriol had pointed out that as soon as Syaoran was back, the Stone stopped glowing. It was the stone. The stone had saved him. The blank and dullness was only a side effect, but the stone was meant to save Syaoran. The dead wanted to protect him.
Syaoran came back to us that night. And all connections were mended. The circle was full again, but very shaky. We feared Syaoran's fate. We feared what was to come. Yue stayed by his child all night and the next day, never leaving him, and the doctors knew they shouldn't try.
The Li sisters were burned, their ashes scattered among the dirt. Meiling's family was also killed-they were in the van behind us. Xuyan's family was alright, a little shaky, with some third degree burns.
Li Yelan was found, her body in pieces, clutching her shattered heart. Her skin was burnt black, her hair singed short, her bones pure white like the ashes of Buddha.
