Here's to all you patient people out there who love me. Of which there is none of I'm sure. *grumbles* The things an author has to do to please her audience. Anyway, I know there are more of you that read this than review. Just click the button down there [\/], and tell me what you think.

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"Cinnamon gum is like mochi. At first it's soft, but as time goes on it gets harder."

-Mystical Magician

All:sweatdrop

Eriol: "Our author is an idiot."

Syaoran: "I think she lost a few marbles."

Mystical Magician: "Hey! You can call me weird and psycho - it was one of those moments that made me think up this - but I am not an idiot."

Tomoyo: mutters: "Sounds like one to me."

Sakura:nods

Mystical Magician: sobs: "Everyone hates me. ~brightens~ Some reviews might make me feel better."

Sakura: "Something tells me that you're going to be pretty sad for a long time."

Mystical Magician: pouts

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            Sakura looked up at her father who was currently washing the dishes.

            "Dad, I'm a wizard now," she informed him.

            "I thought you were the most powerful sorceress in the world," commented Fujitaka absently as he scrubbed a plate.

            Sakura opened her mouth to answer, closed it, and opened it again. "Well, I am. I think Nita and Kit said I was really powerful too."

            Fujitaka paused and his voice deepened. As a half reincarnation he was subject to these moments brought to him by Clow. "With great power comes great responsibility. Trust your guides and they will trust you, but beware the Maker of Lies and break the news to your friend for she will need to know and you will need her help."

            Sakura raised her eyebrow questioningly.

            Fujitaka dropped the dish back into the sudsy water. He turned to his daughter, wiping the water off of his glasses. "He did it again, didn't he?" he asked with a sigh.

            Sakura nodded silently.

            "Be careful Sakura. And warn us if you're going to be gone for more than a day. I'll try to break it to Touya somehow."

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            Nita and Kit were awoken at some ungodly hour the next day by a loud squealy voice.

            "What the-," mumbled Kit as he pushed the tangled bedsheets off of him.

            "Where's the fire?" asked Nita sleepily, sitting up.

            They could faintly hear noises coming from the kitchen.

            "What the hell...here?"

            "They...me to..."

            "Go back...Hong Kong. I...guests...don't know...are."

            "But Eriol..."

            "I SAID GO BACK! I DON'T CARE IF YOU GIVE THE LI CLAN, KERO, YUE, AND SPINEL HELL! I DON'T CARE IF YOU KILL THEM! JUST GO!"

            In the dead silence they could hear the girl say, "Um, Eriol. I need your magic to get there."

            They could feel his embarassment from where they were above him. "Make sure...the Li clan...you there."

            Nita and Kit listened for a moment, but the girl made no sound, so they decided to make sure that she wasn't dead.

            "Ohayo minna," said Eriol cheerfully from his place at the stove. He was frying sausages and making scrambled eggs at the same time. "You're up early."

            "What happened? And do you make it a habit, because I happen to like my rest," said Kit.

            Eriol dropped his frying pan and just barely managed to catch it. Neither Nita nor Kit in their half asleep state realized that it should have burned him.

            "Oh that," he said blandly. "Sakura called and asked if we wanted to go on a picnic with her." He left out that Nakuru had appeared soon after.

            Nita raised her eyebrows. "And for this you bit her head off? And what did Hong Kong and - what were the names- Kero, Yuu, and Spiney? - have to do with a picnic."

            Eriol choked back a laugh with great difficulty. "Kero, Yue, and Spinel. And she wanted to pop over and visit Li's family in Hong Kong."

            "Oh yeah. That would be hard to explain how we got there," said Kit with a nod.

            Eriol coughed in an attempt to keep from laughing. "Er...yes, that might be hard to explain."

            "So do you want to go on the picnic?" he asked while scooping breakfast into their plates.

            "Su-."

            "Sorry, but we have some business to take care of. School and such," interrupted Kit.

            "Oh, yes. The joys of high school," said Eriol making a face. "Well I have to go get my stuff together for the picnic." He stood and undid his apron as he left.

            "What are you talking about?" hissed Nita. "We already enrolled in Tomoeda High."

            "I want to find out what they're hiding. I have a spell in mind that will make us invisible," replied Kit in a low voice.

            "Oh no," said Nita firmly. "I'm not doing this."

~*~

            "I can't believe I'm doing this," muttered Nita as she drew a circle around the last ingredient for the spell.

            Kit glanced out the window and saw Eriol closing the door. "We have to hurry Neets."

            "Well then, let's go," she replied and together they read from the pages of what had become their life. The final syllable hung in the air, like the ringing of a tiny bell.

            "Hurry," urged Nita, the only one who could see Kit since she was also invisible from the same spell.

            They followed Eriol at a distance from habit.

            "Now I know how Rhiow feels," said Nita as she dodged someone who was coming at her full on and was jostled by the elbow of someone else.

            They sighed in relief when Eriol reached a secluded section of the park in a grove of trees, bushes, and blackberry plants.

            "We were beginning to wonder if you would show up," remarked Syaoran, looking less than happy to see him.

            "Ah, but how could I disappoint my cute little descendant?" said Eriol gallantly.

            Nita and Kit exchanged puzzled glances from where they sat at the edge of the clearing. They shrugged at this little quirk and turned back to watch them.

            Sakura and Tomoyo were forcibly holding Syaoran back as he strained to reach Eriol.

            "Both of you knock it off, damn it!" shouted Sakura. "We've been through this a million freaking times!"

            Syaoran and Eriol stared at her in shock.

            "Since when did you start swearing?" asked Eriol cautiously.

            "Since you two won't shut up!" She levitated Eriol so that he was positioned over the blackberry bushes and then fixed Syaoran with a glare that could compete with his own.

            Eriol briefly tried to counteract her magic, but when Sakura put her mind to it, no one with less power could escape her wrath.

            "Now you are going to apologize to each other, and you're going to do it correctly," snapped Sakura. "You've had your warning, so don't make me mad."

            Tomoyo giggled. "Someone got up a bit too early this morning."

            Sakura looked quickly at Tomoyo and grinned. "I wanted to ask everyone before I forgot."

            Consequentially, Sakura forgot she was still levitating Eriol above the blackberry bushes and let go, in a manner of saying.

            There was a crash and a large thump.

            "Ow," said a weak voice.

            "Oh my gosh," gasped Sakura and levitated him out of there and in front of her. "Gomen nasai! I'm so sorry! Daijoubu desu ka (are you all right)?

            "Luckily I remembered how to summon a wizardly shield. They're a bit stronger than my usual ones," said Eriol wincing.

            Tomoyo picked a thorny branch out of his hair and tossed it behind her. "Shouldn't we be practicing more wizardry and less sorcery?" she asked.

            Sakura grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I know sorcery better than wizardry and tend to use it more.

            You look like a fish out of water, sent Nita to Kit.

            You don't look much better, he retorted. So they have used magic before. I always thought there was just wizardry.

            So did I.

            "Hey," said Sakura as she popped a blackberry in her mouth. "Let's pick the blackberries and then I can make a pie or something. Kero's not here, so we can actually make it without a guard."

            Eriol chuckled. "Yes, let's."

            "Why don't you see if the cards want to come out?" suggested Tomoyo as Syaoran summoned some baskets using the Beam-Me-Up-Scotty spell, slowly and laboriously looking up each pronunciation.

            "Okay," said Sakura brightly and reached into her pockets.

            Nita and Kit exchanged dazed glances. Whatever happened next couldn't be more surprising than they had already found out.

            They were wrong.

            Sakura brought out the whole pack of cards and pushed them clockwise with her right hand so that they formed a circle around her. Then she summoned her star staff.

"Key of my star with

Powers burning bright

Release the staff and

Shine your light!

Release!"

            The cards began to float and sway around her as they felt the pull of the staff.

            "Those who wish to be free of their power confine may do so. Release!"

            Sakura raised the staff above her head and light surrounded her. When the light died down she held out her hand in front of her and many of the cards stacked up in her hand. She put them away and looked around satisfied and only slightly out of breath.

            Bubbles and Watery were splashing in the creek at the edge of the grove. Light, Dark, Windy, Mirror, Escape, Clone, and Mist were helping pick blackberries. Firey, Sand, and Erase were near the creek conversing. Firey hissed as water droplets flew at him. Fly and Sleep were perched on a tree branch above the picnic basket. And Dash nuzzled up to Sakura who laughed and petted him while Thunder lay basking in the sun, content.

            I think I'm dreaming, said Nita, awed.

            Then we're both dreaming the exact same things, sent Kit.

            Hey, it could happen.

            "Dash!" exclaimed Sakura pretending to be angry. "If you keep eating all of the blackberries we pick, we'll never have enough to make a pie with."

            Dash gave her a quick lick, his tongue purple from the berries, and bounded off. He paused near Syaoran and ran up onto his head.

            "Hey!" protested Syaoran as Dash reached his head and jumped onto Eriol's shoulder. Eriol gave him a quick pat on the head before he leaped over to Tomoyo who was nearest Kit and Nita. He settled onto her shoulder and wrapped his tail around her neck like a feather boa.

            "Hello Dash," she greeted him, slipping him a blackberry.

            Just then the wind changed sending Kit's and Nita's scent towards the group. Dash sniffed the air and looked directly at Kit and Nita.

            They can't see us, can they? questioned Kit.

            How should I know? snapped Nita tensely.

            They relaxed when the small, animal-like creature turned back to Tomoyo.

            Who's out there?

      Tomoyo looked down at Dash in surprise. "Did I just understand you?"

            You did! You did understand me! Youdid, youdid, youdid!

            He made a noise akin to a giggle and licked Tomoyo's face.

            "What did you mean, who's out there?" asked Tomoyo curiously.

            Someone's there. Two someones. Cloaked in magic. Do I get a berry now?

            Tomoyo laughed. "Of course. Let's go over to see Sakura. She'll need to know about this. I'm guessing they're not dangerous if they haven't attacked yet."

            They walked over to where Sakura had her hand on Thunder and was conversing with him, mind to mind.

            "Sakura," called Tomoyo softly, "Dash says that there are two people cloaked in magic over there." She tilted her head slightly in the direction.

            "Yes. Thunder and some other cards said the same." Then what she said sank in. "You can talk to the cards?!"

            Tomoyo was silent and listened. For once she heard the murmur of the cards talking to each other. "It just started now," she said in wonder.

            "It must be the wizardry," said Sakura cheerfully.

            "Yeah," agreed Tomoyo.

            Eriol, Syaoran, we have company.

            I never noticed their auras, said Syaoran in surprise.

            Neither did I, said Eriol.

            Well, we were kind of - er - distracted, Tomoyo sent. She looked surprised. How did I do that?

            Eriol chuckled. "Now where might these visitors be?" he said aloud.

            Nita and Kit appeared, much to their surprise, thanks to Sakura.

            "I suppose we could make them forget...," suggested Sakura. "Eriol?"

            He summoned his staff and pointed it at the two. "Forget," he intoned.

            Nita's and Kit's views blurred for a moment and then steadied.

            "What...?" said Nita in confusion shaking her head to clear it. She immediately regretted the action and put her head in her hands.

            "Hihhhh," muttered Kit, a word he had learned from Urruah.

            "Kit," said Nita, giving him a look almost equivalent to the time she had caught him saying sswiass.

            "Hmph. It didn't work Eriol," growled Syaoran.

            "Maybe Erase," said Sakura thoughtfully, looking over to the trio next to the creek.

            "No," said Eriol, his voice deepening. "They have proved to be teachers we need and for them to help us with our Ordeal, they need to know what they are working with. And Tomoyo needs to know as well."

            Tomoyo looked up startled. "What?"

            Eriol sighed and said in his normal voice, "Clow did it again, didn't he?"

            "He did it last night too with my dad," informed Sakura.

            "What is going on here?" demanded Kit.

            "Well," said Sakura hesitantly. She sighed and then plunged right in. "Eriol is the half reincarnation of one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world, Clow Reed. Syaoran is a descendant of Clow Reed and a member of the Li clan in Hong Kong, most of them magic-users. Tomoyo is daughter to Sonomi Daidouji, the owner of Sonomi toys. She is also an enchantress in her own right, her power having lain dormant for most of her life. And I." Sakura gave a wry grin. "I'm the most powerful sorceress in the world. Our wizardly talents reflect our own magical talents as you can see."

            Tomoyo was almost as shocked as Nita and Kit. She was an enchantress?

            "Oh, uh." Kit didn't get much farther than that.

            "Please don't treat us like celebrities or anything," said Sakura hastily. "We're just regular kids like you."

            Nita snorted elegantly. "And what's all this?" she asked gesturing at the grove. "These cards or whatever you called them."

            Syaoran spoke for the first time. "It all started with an idiot named Clow Reed," he began.

            Eriol glared at him.

            Sakura looked at Syaoran warningly and he hastily went into te technical details of how the cards were made and how they were captured by Sakura and then changed into Sakura cards.

            Then Sakura explained about her adventures in the U.S. as an exchange student with Kimberly and the Bind cards. (AN: For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, read my fic Book of Secrets)

            "And these cards," said Sakura with a certain fondness, "these cards I made. She showed them Love and Hope. Then she took out Fix. "Kimberly made me this one as a Christmas present. She thought it would be useful. Especially since I was just learning to levitate dishes," Sakura informed them with a laugh.

            "All this...," murmured Nita. Then she remembered what Kim had said.

'I can see why the Powers want her whole team. She tips the scale in our favor.'

            "I wonder why the Powers haven't made you a wizard before this," said Kit.

            "Maybe to give her a chance to hone her skills," suggested Syaoran.

            Eriol cocked his head to one side as if listening to a voice. "To be honest, I don't think they knew. Or at least they didn't know very much. We've certainly kept to ourselves and Clow and Misshitsude have also helped keep the secret in their own ways. After all," he said with a grin, "they're still great magic-users and not really dead."

            Tomoyo shook her head. "I've never understood how that works."

            I don't think Eriol does either, said one of the Sakura cards.

            They giggled.

            Eriol glanced at them, but couldn't tell which one it was.

            "They can talk?" questioned Kit.

            "Of course. If you know how to listen," said Sakura.

            "How long have you known about my magic?" asked Tomoyo dangerously.

            "Um, since I started training," Sakura told her cautiously. "The magic in the costumes was so subtle it took me a while to notice it."

            "Magic in the costumes?" echoed Tomoyo.

            "Yeah. You sing while you sew, don't you?"

            Tomoyo nodded.

            "It kept me safe during my adventures. Thanks. We didn't say anything because we didn't know how you would react. We were going to tell you after giving you a bit more training and rousing your magic a little more."

            "Training?"

            "Eriol's been training you without you knowing it. You've been practicing singing more, you know. You have to be perfectly tuned for your song magic to work," Sakura told her.

            Tomoyo thought about it and realized Sakura was right. She had been singing more than usual and she was getting the notes she wanted.

            "Now Eriol will train you when Nita and Kit aren't teaching us the Speech and the spells," said Syaoran.

            "A warning," said Nita. "During your Ordeal you can use sorcery and enchantments, but the final confrontation must use wizardry. I always thought it meant we couldn't use mundane means, but now I know it meant other forms of magic also."

            They were silent and the cards returned to what they had been doing.

            "Would you like to join us?" invited Sakura. "We're picking blackberries and later I'll make a pie or two with them."

            "Sure," agreed Nita and Kit nodded in agreement.

            It was a new experience using wizardry freely for Kit and Nita. Everywhere they looked berries or branches or even people were levitating in an effort to get the best blackberries.

            "Do you do this often?" asked Nita, laughing as she tossed a blackberry at Dash.

            "Every once in a while we make it a point to invite the cards out and make a party of it," explained Sakura cheerfully. "I love the cards and they love me as their mistress. I don't only want to use them to fight. I want them to have fun. After all, they deserve it."

            "Can other people use the cards, or just you?" questioned Kit.

            "I don't know," said Sakura thoughtfully. "Maybe if they have enough power and the cards like them... What do you think Eriol?"

            Eriol looked deep in thought. "I assume so. They may work for Tomoyo, Syaoran, and me, since Tomoyo is Sakura's best friend and has been there for almost all of the captures and conversions, Syaoran is a descendant of Clow Reed and has captured several of them. Also, he lov-" He stopped as he felt Syaoran's murderous glare. "I mean, works with Sakura. And I am the reincarnation of their creator. Also, we all have power and hang out together. Of course, it would take a lot more out of us than if Sakura used them. We should experiment sometime."

            Kit looked around at the beauty of it all. The friendship and happiness was almost tangible. This is what wizardry was meant to be like.

            Nita was having very similar thoughts.

            I wish Tom and Carl could be here to see this.

            Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Eriol felt magic flare right before two men appeared.

            Sakura and Eriol immediately summoned their staffs as Syaoran summoned his sword and Tomoyo pushed the record button on her camera.

            Meanwhile Thunder bounded in front of Sakura, teeth bared, fur standing on end, and lightning appeared to dance across his body. Dash tensed from his perch on Tomoyo's shoulder and the other cards stood alert and ready.

            "Tom? Carl? What are you doing here?" asked Kit.

            "What did you two do?" asked Sakura.

            "We were just wishing - oh," said Nita.

            "Oh? What's 'oh'? And who are they?" demanded Syaoran.

            "They're Tom and Carl, our Area Seniors. We sorta wished they were here. I guess with all of the magic centered in this area it magnified the wish and turned it into a spell," explained Kit sheepishly.

            The group relaxed and Thunder lay back down keeping a watchful eye on the newcomers.

            "Nita, Kit, who are they? And more importantly, what are they?" asked Carl, watching cautiously as the staffs became keys once again. (AN: Tom and Carl have performed other language spells in the past and since they're permanent they can understand Japanese).

            Tom nudged Carl with his elbow. "Manners, Carl," he reproved him.

            "I'm Sakura Kinomoto. This is Syaoran Li, Tomoyo Daidouji, and Eriol Hiiragizawa. We're new wizards."

            Carl always liked to look up the statistics of wizards he was dealing with and this was no exception. He took his Manual from storage and flipped through the pages. When he came to Sakura's listings he frowned. "Run a virus scan on the listings," he told the book in the Speech.

            "No virus found," said the book in soft monotone.

            "Run check for any interference to proper functions."

            "No interference found."

            Carl showed his findings to Tom as the group looked on in curiosity.

            Tom's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "How old did you say you were?" he asked.

            "14," answered Tomoyo, faithfully filming everything.

            "They're extremely powerful," said Nita quietly. "It took Sakura half a week to summon us with the Calling."

            Tom gave a low whistle.

            Carl crossed his arms and closed his eyes concentrating on the spell he was preparing. When he opened his eyes everything was glowing. He was now able to see auras.

            Carl circled Sakura and then examined Syaoran, Eriol, and Tomoyo in turn.

            "Ah," said Carl, collapsing the spell. His partner looked at him curiously.

            "As well as wizards we have an enchantress, two sorcerers, and a sorceress. But these," he turned to the cards, "these I know nothing about."

            "They're Sakura cards formerly known as Clow cards," explained Eriol jovially. "I'm the half reincarnation of their creator, Clow Reed."

            Tom and Carl gave a start at the mention of the name.

            "Fujitaka, Sakura's father, is the other half," continued Eriol. "Syaoran here is a descendant of Clow Reed and a part of the Li clan. Tomoyo has just recently learned of her powers."

            "Like, today," interrupted Tomoyo.

            "And Sakura is the Mistress of the Cards as well as being the most powerful sorceress in the world, followed closely by Kimberly in Washington state."

            "So that must be what all the fuss was about," murmured Tom. "The Manual never mentioned anything about this."

            "Well, we had some help," mumbled Sakura.

            "Really? Who?"

            "Clow and Misshitsude. We like our privacy," said Syaoran.

            "Clow? He was a great magician. Didn't want to become a wizard though he was offered many times," said Tom thoughtfully.

            "Really?" said Nita. "I never read anything about him."

            "No, I don't expect so. It's not information given lightly," said Carl.

            "So that must be the western magic," said Sakura.

            "Yeah. I don't have those memories, though. I must have a talk with Fujitaka soon," muttered Eriol.

            "Half reincarnations." Carl shook his head. "Jeez."

            "Yeah," said Syaoran wickedly. "He was a bit kichigai."

            Eriol chose to ignore that comment.

            "Would you like me to send you home?" asked Sakura timidly.

            "Sure," said Tom easily. "It'll be a new experience."

            "Sorry for getting you into this mess," apologized Kit.

            "Yeah. We didn't realize how all this magic would amplify our own," added Nita.

            "Don't worry about it," grinned Carl. "We do this more than you think. And I must say, it has been an experience."

"Key of my star

With powers burning bright

Reveal the staff

And shine your light!

Release!"

            Sakura twirled the staff expertly and then thrust it upward.

"Teleport! Take these two to their homes! Release and dispel!"

            "And no funny business," she called after it as Tom and Carl disappeared.

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Hello everybody! So sorry for the delay. Our computer had a virus so I couldn't update and we couldn't get anyone over to fix the computer. Sorry again. And if you want to know who it was that Nita and Kit heard Eriol arguing with, it was Nakuru, not Sakura. The Li clan sent her back for clinging to various members, making Suppi drunk on sugar, chasing Yue and Kero, and just basically making life hell. Of course she can't come back until Eriol says they can, so Hong Kong must put up with her as Li clan members are dying right and left from overexposure. Ja ne!

-Mystical Magician