Author's Notes: I've decided not to turn this into a crossover. But the ending is still in doubt. Please don't hurt me.
Chapter 30-Syaoran
It took some time. It was after school anyway, so we took all the time we needed, which was a lot. I, being Syaoran, didn't participate in any of the explaining. Sakura looked really cute, stammering, frustrated that she couldn't explain it right. It was a delight to watch her.
Later, I got home, Xuyan and Sakura with me, still dressed in our outfits. I didn't really care how people stared at us, I was pretty much deaf and blind to everything. When I got home I just went to the couch and sat down, not caring. Sakura and Xuyan sat next to me, while Eriol, who also had followed us, sat down at a chair. I was so tired I didn't really care if robbers come in, as long as they leave me alone. And then Ring ring, went the phone. I knew who it was. I was so tired, but I picked it up anyway.
" Moshi moshi?" I asked.
" Syaoran!" Yukito's voice sounded surprised, and than relieved. " Are you alright?
Was Xuyan fooling around or-"
" Iie, he wasn't. I died." I said it so flatly it was almost funny. But Yukito didn't
laugh. " Only for several minutes. Sakura and Xuyan helped save me. I don't know
how."
" The Dream Card." Sakura called.
" Hai, the Dream Card, I guess." I was ready to collapse. I was so tired.
" Thank goodness! I was so scared, I called again and again and no one was home. I
called Sakura's, I called Eriol's, that is, when I thought soccer practice was over. Did
it happen because you're tired? Try not to run too hard, you're the goalie most of
the time, and don't get so excited, it's bad for your heart, and with all the pink blood
in your system you shouldn't use that much energy. Do you drink enough water?
Are you alright? How do you feel?"
" I'm okay now." I wasn't going to answer all the others.
" Do you want me to come home? I'm so glad you're alright!"
I smiled. It touched me to know that someone cared so much about me, no doubt
Yue had felt what Yukito did, since they are the same person. I considered the offer.
" Would it bother you? I mean, with your classes-"
" Why the heck are you worrying about that? Of course not!" Yukito was so
relieved his voice cracked. " So do you?"
" I would like it." I admitted.
" Alright. I'll get there as soon as I can. You know, when Xuyan called, I was so
dumbfounded I didn't even realize what he said. It's when To-ya asked me when I
finally woke up. It was so weird. Anyway, as long as you're alright, everything is
fine. Do you think you can stay that way?" There was humor in his voice, he had
calmed down.
" Of course." I smiled. " Arigatou, Yukito-san," I don't call Yukito ' Father' because
Yukito's the one that's eighteen.
" Alright. Take care of yourself. When I get home, tell me everything." Yukito said
warmly.
" Hai." I smiled. " Ja."
" Everything's settled down?" Xuyan asked, still in his robes, which fitted him nicely
but he looked stupid in the present setting.
" Yeah." I had switched to Cantonese with him. " You know," I continued, in
Japanese this time, " It was weird. I forgot almost everything."
" Hai, me too." Sakura looked at Xuyan. Xuyan nodded in agreement.
" I don't remember how you managed to come back. How we came back." Sakura
looked at me.
" Me neither." I shrugged. " I certainly don't know where these clothes came from."
I looked at myself. " These are not my robes."
" Tomoyo-chan would never be able to make these." Sakura looked at herself. " For
once, normal and not, well, weird."
" I perhaps look the worst out of all of us." Xuyan looked at me. I grinned and
nodded. I smile so much now.
" Hai, you look so stupid. Wu huang wan sui wan wan sui! Bi xia!"
" Shut up!" Xuyan was blushing. " Although being an Emperor would be nice-"
" Don't even think about it." I turned.
" Be quiet, isn't it enough I'm wearing this stupid thing? Wait a minute, why didn't I
think of it? I'll be right back." Xuyan got up and hurried upstairs.
" He went to change." I smiled.
It was strange. I was the only one laughing. No one else was. Perhaps the trip to the dead made me lighthearted. Happy. Which I hardly was. I felt hyper. So hyper, and no one else understood why.
We read the inscription, Eriol looked over at all of us, over and over again. Then, it was late, he went home, Sakura went home, that was that. I changed, Xuyan was in his regular clothing but I never stopped teasing him about it. And I wondered, where did I get these feelings? I guess other people wonder too. Why was I so cheerful?
By the end of that week, which was Friday, Eriol had the whole thing figured out,
the whole thing about why we were dressed the way we did. It took some two days
work, by which Yukito hadn't come home yet.
Somehow the trip to the dead had enhanced our powers. Xuyan had black magic, but he was actually a sorceror of the dead, making him control the forces of the dead realm. Sakura was already powerful to begin with, but now she no longer needed her staff to summon the magic of her cards, and she had learned, through that one trip, how to combine them. Windy and Earthy, Firey and Watery, Light and Dark, Mirror and Shield. How to summon all of them at once, she doesn't know, but she knows its possible. The staff, no longer really needed, is now here to show her status, the Mistress of Cards.
I had more powers than usual, but Eriol believed that I was favored by all immortals except, perhaps, the monks that had just gone. I was spared the responsibility of handling a lot of magic, because I was protected. He didn't know why I was favored, but I was favored, and that was all that's important.
And he had a feeling that there was something coming. Something much bigger than monks or sorcerors, immortals or beasts. Something large was coming, and the dead are uneasy.
I stayed home the next Monday and Tuesday. Yukito called every day in the
morning and evening. He had several major tests that he couldn't miss. I told him it
was alright. He could stay there for as long as he needed to.
I really wanted to go to school, of course, not because it was fun, because it was not. Quite frankly, I was always tired by the end of the day. But Japan is not like America, after all, and there was always something going on each day. Something new in Science. Japanese History. Math. Japanese. I didn't want to miss any of it, but what can I do? The disease frightened my friends more than they let on. And Xuyan promised to shave my head into Cang Xi style if he sees me anywhere but at home, quite kind of him.
And I was so tired, so tired. I was tired of all the medicine, all the chocolate which was beginning to make me sick, and all the fuss. I wanted it to get over with. But the three sorcerors still didn't find a cure. At least they stopped pouring things into my head. They realized I didn't need it anymore. I had wondered, is this a good thing?
And good old Sakura-chan, the kawaii little mistress with all her nice costumes went so far as to ask Kero to make sure I stay there. I sometimes wondered if I should feel bad, because this may mean they don't trust me. But what can I say? One does not get friends like these all the time, and Sakura had just jumped into my life without me being aware-wait, it was the other way around. I jumped into her life without her being-I'm not sure which way it was anymore. Somehow, I had gotten a rare chance. It took me a long time to realize-I was no socializer. Sometimes I wondered, how did I fall in love? And I see all the care Sakura gives, all the love, all the joy, and it's hard not to understand. But she has to be careful. The world no longer accepts such people. She needs to be on guard-
Yet it wouldn't be Sakura, would it?
One Monday night I had a dream. I'm not the one who has dreams, neither is Eriol,
anymore that is, for Sakura was the one who sees such things. But this time my
dream turned out to be real. It was dark, darker than night, almost as dark as the
gate to the dead world, but in the dead world it was darker than dark. There was no
light nor darkness. But this time, the dream was full of something, full of...
I remember the air was still, dead and still, but it was cool enough not to choke on, and there was something in the air. A faint smell of water and age. Far far away, on a smooth, high wall, made of stone, pure stone, there was a carving. No, carvings. Large and detailed, there was unmistakably a carving of Clow Reed, of Otou-san, of Kero, Ruby-san, and Spinel-san. All in their true forms. There seemed to be the book of Clow; I don't remember very well, but it all led to a girl, small, young, about three years old, who became older, about ten, with a cute staff. Next to her was-me? With my sword drawn, and there was a sword sliced into my heart, which was very visible, but there was a cloud beside it, as if I was heartbroken without knowing it. Sakura became the Card Mistress, Otou-san was there, and then there was a carving of Eriol inside Clow Reed, all very clear and very understandable. Eriol had his eyes closed behind his glasses, his hand held out in front of him, like the cards he had made, one hand a staff, the other a card, to signify who he was. The big Clow Reed, much taller than Eriol, held the staff and card with him. Victory to Sakura, her staff on the ground, standing tall and proud, and there was my carving, my head bowed a little, smiling, but holding the sword in my heart, still very visible. I was barely visible behind Sakura, for some reason. Yue and Kero were standing beside her, making me even harder to see. Eriol was smiling, no longer inside Clow Reed, holding out his hand to Sakura, his staff in his other hand, his body sideways.
On Tuesday, Yukito came home.
End of Book I
