Revenge, A Dish Best Served Bent

Chapter 2: Love letters and illusions

::Drags self up to keyboard:: uughh…I've had a loooonnnggg couple of days…but I'm back now…and with a new (really strange -_-;) chapter for your err enjoyment…am I being optimistic? Read, review and tell me…Ooh!! Many thanks to:

Digi-riven, kawaiipup, Kiki, Lian Leviathan, UnicornHime, masterofwords, AA-chan, Wings of Fire, richelle, PrincessLesse, Azi.

for the reviews! You all rock you legendary people you!! ^-^ Anyway, thanks muchly for the wonderful reviews…heres the next chapter so you can review that too!! ^-^

~~~~~~~

Sakura's POV:

"camera"

"Check"

"Sakura cards and key"

"Check, check"

"Love letter"

"Che-what?!"

I bit my lip, trying to ignore the rather funny shocked face Syaoran had twisted his features into. "Oh right, I was supposed to leave that in your apartment…here, can you hold this for a second?" I didn't wait for an answer, instead dumped the remaining objects into his hands (his face was still frozen; jaw almost hitting the ground, eyes widened…you know, completely shocked…) and grabbed the letter. I scratched my chin and looked thoughtfully at the piece of paper. *…hmmm looks too new…need to make it look worn…*

I scrunched it up, then opened it up and folded it a few times giving it a worn appearance, as though it had been in someone's pocket for a long time, and had been folded and unfolded a lot. Smiling with satisfaction, I used a bit of my magic and sent it back up into Syaoran's apartment. "There!" Syaoran's face hadn't changed one little bit.

I shook my head and tapped him lightly on the side of the face. "Hello? Anyone in there?"

He blinked, his mouth finally shut and looked at me with a slightly hurt confused look on his face. "Wh-wh-what love letter?"

I smirked slightly. He's so cute when he's jealous. "It's a fake. I copied your handwriting, made up something really sweet and mushy. I just sent it up to your lounge room…they'll find it and think it fallen out of your pocket and get really mad because they'll think they're missing out on something juicy." I paused, smirked and patted the camera. "And Tomoyo can't tape anything either."

He blinked a few times. "Wait, why did it have to be from me"

I just shrugged and continued to walk down the footpath. "I dunno, seemed like a good idea at the time."

I ran to catch up to me. "Just what exactly did you write in this anyway? It better not have been…too mushy"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on Syaoran, where's your sense of romance? I just wrote something I thought you'd say…you know…" I paused and put on a caveman like male voice. "me big man, me hit bad people with metal stick, me like you…" I trailed off and burst out laughing at the grumpy looking frown on his face. "Oh come on! I was joking!"

"What did you write?"

I sighed. *Someone's being defensive…*

"Well, if your wounded pride needs to know that much…here, I've got a copy…"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Eriol…err…Eli's POV:

I scowled slightly at the image in the mirror. The long dark blue haired female scowled back. "This won't do…this won't do at all…" I gathered some of my magic as Tomoyo…sigh…Tom walked in sniffling slightly, tugging at the bottom of his puke-green top. He blinked as I examined myself in the mirror. My long waist length hair was now short and neat, in an unusual style that complimented my now delicate features. I smiled and pushed my glasses back up my nose. "Aww, much better."

Tom's soft voice broke the silence as I tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ears. "Um, what are you doing?"

"Well, if we're going to be stuck like this for a while, we might as well make ourselves look presentable…now about these clothes…" I concentrated and reached out a hand glowing with magic.

ZZZZZAAAAPPPP!

"OOWWW!!"

I waved my smoldering hand around as Tom looked at me with an eyebrow raised and replied in a dry tone. "Wow, we're looking better already…"

"Syaoran…must have put a spell on them so we couldn't use magic to change them…oww…he knows me too well"

Tom crossed his arms over his chest, "Well, if he's going to be like that then I'm going to borrow some other clothes…" He plucked at his shirt in obvious distaste and strolled out. There was a startled gasp, "ERIOL!…I MEAN ELI…COME LOOK WHAT I FOUND!"

Frowning I walked out and stopped in the lounge room. Tom was holding a scrunched up piece of paper like it was his most prized possession. "Do you know what this is?!" He shoved the paper in my hands. It was smudged and looked like it had been in someone's pocket for a long time. The writing was easily recognizable as Syaoran's, and many of the words had been crossed out as if he couldn't easily decide on what to write. It reads follows:

{AN: Hiya!! Usually I don't do authors notes, but for this thing I had to. In the letter any words or phrases that are underlined and italicized means that they are supposed to be crossed out (strike through doesn't work on this format) okay!! That's all!!}

'Sakura Ying Fa My dear cherry blossom,

Firstly, I know I'm a sissy wimp coward because I can't say this to your face, but it's the only way I can get the words out without stuttering like an idiot and blushing like someone's flashed me, I'm severely sun-burnt I'm really embarrassed. But that's the effect you have on me. You don't embarrass me, I embarrass myself, because I can't look at you without feeling like every fibre of my being is being blessed simply by being in your presence. You make me feel like my whole body is on fire, burning with passion, with love. 'You may only be one person to the world, but you may be the world to one person.' I read that a long time ago and I honestly didn't think it could be true. Until I met you. You are my world Sakura, my one and only and I love you with all my heart. My only wish is that you are forever happy, whether that is with me by your side, or whatever lucky soul you deem worthy of your attention. I am truly blessed to be with you,

Forever yours in soul and body mind, body and spirit

Syaoran Li'

Tom's mouth opened and closed for a second, then his eyes widened, familiar stars appearing and he squealed. "THAT'S SO KAWAII!! HOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" It sounded a little strange considering the voice was so low for such a familiar phrase. "Ooh, I knew he had it in him…ooh, if only he would actually give it to her…"

~~~~~~~

Sakura's POV:

Syaoran's cheeks were a little red, but his eyebrow was raised as he replied in a dry tone. "Aren't we being modest..."

I grinned and pocketed the copy of the note I had shown him. "Like I said, I was just writing what I thought you would."

"And you seriously think they'll buy it?"

His next sentence was cut short by a squeal of 'THAT'S SO KAWAII!! HOHOHOHOHOHO!!!'

I smiled and replied loftily, "Hook, line and sinker." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "And what makes you think I'd write something like that anyway." I noted, trying to hide a smile, that he was again sounding awfully defensive. "Well, what would you write then huh?" * heh, he walked himself right into that one…*

"Uhh..well…not that"

I glanced in his direction and noticed the 'I want to drop the subject but I'm too scared/polite to ask' face. So, for his sake, I changed it. "Well anyway, we need to get to Tomoyo's place quickly to drop off another note, they'll be there soon…"

At his questioning eyebrow I continued. "I put a spell on they're clothes so that they can't change them with magic. Tom will probably just borrow something of yours, but Eli will have to go to Tom's place to get something there. So we need to leave this note" I waved the envelope in front of him, "so they know what to do next."

"What exactly do you mean by 'what to do next."

I grinned and answered in a question that was more a statement. "Aren't treasure hunts fun…"

~~~~~~~~~

Eli's POV:

People were giving me weird looks. It was rather unsettling. But I suppose I would too if I saw a girl dressed in a puffy pink taffeta dress that was designed to resemble some sort of flower. I also had a whole new respect for Sakura, well…more than I already did. She put up with this for years, with hardly a complaint, just to keep her friend happy.

Trying to ignore the looks and whispered comments around me, I turned to Tom. He had borrowed some clothes from Syaoran's closet (green cargo pants and a loose black button up shirt) and had 'accidentally' managed to flush the other ensemble down the toilet. (He had said that the outfit was 'evil and we needed to rid the planet of its' blasphemy').

"So, how are we going to get into your house if they won't recognize us?"

Tom paused, his frown creasing in slight worry. "I never thought of that…darn this just makes things harder…oh hang on…" He paused and shuffled through the purse I had to carry. I second later, he pulled out his cell phone. "Perfect…"

"They won't recognize your voice…"

"Well, logically, I should be able to imitate my own voice…look it's worth a try…unless you want to stay dressed like that all day. Although, it does look awfully kawaii on you…"

"Ah no…let's try shall we…"

I tell you, his voice just sounded weird, but the person on the other end seemed to buy it. ('…Tomoyo? What's wrong with your voice? Do you have a cold?' ) So it was organised. 'Tomoyo's friends 'Tom' and 'Eli' where dropping by to pick up some clothes for a play, and Tomoyo couldn't do it herself because she was stuck organizing rehearsals'. Well, something along those lines anyway.

When we arrived at the mansion, the maid gave each of us a slightly suspicious look. "I take it you are Tom and Eli?"

Her gaze hovered over the dress I was wearing.

"I uhh…lost a bet." Tom kicked me discreetly in the shin. *…note to self: don't make fun off Tomoyo's/Tom's outfits…*

"Umm, Miss Tomoyo's room is upstairs to the right…her name is on the door. Just call if you need help with anything…"

Tom thanked the maid and pulled me through the door and up into her room. He disappeared into the closet and I took the time to browse around the bedroom.

It was then that I noticed a letter on the bed.

It was pink and had little cherry blossoms printed on the border. It was addressed simply 'Tom and Eli'. Which meant they had dropped it in recently (i.e. it couldn't have been through the post). I stopped the maid that had answered the door as she passed the bedroom. "Umm excuse me, but did Syaoran and Sakura drop by recently?"

She shook her head. "No, I haven't seen them all day…are you supposed to meet them?"

"Oh no…it's nothing, I was just curious…"

The maid returned to whatever she was doing (after giving the dress I was still wearing another weary look) and I stepped back inside to read the note.

'Tom and Eli,

Welcome to Syaoran and Sakura's Treasure hunt 'o fun'. That's right kiddies, you're going on a treasure hunt! And what's this treasure I hear you ask? Why, it's the Gender Card! Find the card, and you can be back to yourselves. ^-^ ^-^

So anyway, you're first clue:

I am an Emperor, I am a fairy, I am many other things, but you know me as the king. Find me and the next clue will be yours. Bring proof that you've been there and happy hunting! ^-^

S and S'

You know that sinking feeling you get when you suddenly realize that you've pushed someone too far and now you're getting (or very soon about to get…) your comeuppance?

Well I had that feeling a long time ago…

This was something else…this was absolute, unadulterated fear.

I'm just finding out now, that Syaoran is a very scary person when he's been pushed too far. Oh. I knew he was behind all this. Sakura is too sweet a person to pull off something like this. That's what's happening here. He's convinced her somehow that all this is for the best…a bit of harmless fun. Yeah, that's what's happening here…

Tom appeared back out of the closet a few seconds later laden with various outfits, and dumped them on my lap. "What's that?"

"Letter from Syaoran and Sakura…it seems we have a bit of work to do before we get back to our…usual selves."

He frowned and read the letter as I shuffled through the neat bundle and pulled out something that took my fancy. Choosing a shortish light blue dress with long white stockings (which had this interesting leafy pattern sewn into the tops of them) I went to the closet to change as Tom frowned and started to mutter to himself about the clue.

"Emperor…fairy…king…emperor…fairy…king…hn…emperor emperor penguin? …and there's a fairy penguin… king…must mean King penguin?…King Penguin Park! Hey, I'm pretty good at this… "

I chuckled at his excited squeal as I strolled back out completely changed. Tom looked up and grinned. "Wow, you look so kawaii in that!!" He instinctively reached for his bag to get his camera...

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!" A very Tomoyo-ish sounding scream ripped throughout the house and a worried looking maid burst through the door. "What's wrong! I heard a scream."

I stepped in front of Tom (who was having convulsions) to hide him from the maid and tried to smile guiltily. "Uh…that was me…I uhh saw a uhh…spider! Yeah! That's right…a spider! …I'm-err-deathly afraid of them…darn this arachnophobia…"

She gave me a suspicious look, then bowed slightly. "Okay miss, is there anything you need?" She tried to look around me to see Tom. (He was starting to make interesting wheezing noises)

I moved around to block her vision, "Oh no..no, we're fine…uhh thank you for your concern."

The maid hesitated, but finally left. I sighed in relief and turned back to Tom.

"::twitch twitch:: I'm gonna kill him…::twitch:: he took my camera ::twitch:: my camera! That's thievery! ::twitch twitch:: oooh he's going to pay…" I frowned and plucked what was left of the note out of his wringing hands. "I thought you of all people would have more than one camera…"

He blinked…the twitching stopped. "Oh yeah…"

He grinned and went over to the entertainment section of the room, opened a cupboard and

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!"

I unblocked my ears and leaned out the bedroom door. "Sorry! Saw another spider! Err might have been the same one…darn these things are following me…"

Like some modern parody of 'Old Mother Hubbard' the cupboard was completely bare…not one camera in sight.

"That good-for-nothing-thieving-sack-of-shit." This was followed by a string of curses that I think would make Eminem blush.

I bit back a snort of laughter. Tom wasn't the sort of person that would loose his temper easily. In fact, from all the time I've known him, (even when he was a her), he's never sworn once.

Oh yeah, he was angry.

If Syaoran thought Sakura was scary when she was mad, he ain't seen nothing yet.

Tom was making small snarling type noises, so I thought it best to calm him down before he started imagining that I was actually Syaoran and attempted to rip me limb from limb. The way he was clenching his hands was starting to get unnerving.

" Tom, I believe, before you maim anyone, that we go to King Penguin Park and see what they've left us."

~~~~~~~~~

Syaoran's POV:

I watched a bit uneasily as Sakura tried to stuff the next-to-last camera into her already overflowing closet. It was quite mind boggling to find out how many camera's Tomoyo actually had, but what was even more disturbing was that Sakura had actually managed to cram them all in her closet. I tell you, it defied physics.

"There…now, let's go!"

I followed Sakura in the same daze I had found myself in ever since we had left the note in Tomoyo's bedroom. She had this all planned. Every last detail. She seemed to know exactly what her friends would do. And she had this evil little glint in her emerald eyes the whole time. Hello Sakura's 'dark side'. Right now, I could quite accurately say I'd seen Sakura in her best and her worst and I had long since come to the realisation that I was completely, madly, wholly, utterly (take your pick) in love with her. She could say 'jump off a cliff' and I would do so with a triple summersault to boot. She could say 'stand on that table and sing a Wiggles song' and I would not only sing, I'd dress up in a brightly coloured polo and do the dance steps too.

Oh yeah, I was completely hopeless, but at least I was happy.

We arrived at King Penguin Park a few minutes later and she pulled me into the bushes after she deposited another note on the Penguin's crown. "Now let's see…how do I use this thing…" She chuckled gleefully to herself on finding the right buttons then gazed up into the leaves of the tree we were hiding behind.

"Hmmm…"

"…Why do I get a sinking feeling now whenever you say 'hmm'…"

"Don't be silly, you spend most of your time in trees…nothing new to you." She tucked the camera securely into her backpack and jumped up to grab a tree limb. Swinging her legs out to get a bit of momentum, she flipped up and somehow managed to grab another branch before smacking into the tree trunk. She disappeared into the foliage. "Well? Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to get up here? They'll be here soon…"
I shook my head and bounded up into the leaves, landing lightly on the branch next to her in one go.

"Hm…show off…"

I gave her a strange look as she pulled out the camera and positioned it to capture anything that happened on the King Penguin Slide. "Umm, not that I want to question your obviously so thought out plan, but won't 'Eli' be able to sense us?"

She turned to me with a slight smirk on her face. "Of course I thought about that." With that she pulled out her key, recited the incantation and called out the shield card. I was about to comment that 'Eli' would be able to sense that too when she shot me a look that stopped any forming sounds from escaping my voice box. As she muttered something under her breath; I wasn't entirely sure if it had something to do with me or the shield card, a transparent white bubble appeared around her. Instantly the feeling of her aura, as well as that of shields' magic disappeared. She looked smug and asked. "Does that answer you question?"

I didn't answer her, instead shot her one of my least potent glares. She giggled, then extended the shield to cover me.

Then we waited.

And waited.

There are only so many little cranes you can make out of tree leaves. So that left me alone in my thoughts.

Not. A. Good. Thing.

Enter shoulder Devil and Angel.

Shoulder Devil: a tiny replica of me sporting red clothes (with compulsory horns and forked tail) and a black pitchfork. Shoulder Angel: tiny replica of me wearing something that looked too much like a dress for my liking, little white wings and a harp. Something I'd imagine Tomoyo would make me wear if I ever had the sudden overwhelming urge to dress up. In other words, if I ever lost my sanity.

Anyway, Shoulder devil spoke up first in his quasi-evil, quasi-gruff voice that sounded like he'd (or I suppose, more accurately, I'd) swallowed gravel. * :: sing-song voice:: Syaoran and Sakura, sitting in a tree…c'mon, you know what happens next…*

*Don't you have something better to do?*

* I could, if you'd get off your pansy ass and kiss her already. I mean, it's really quite pathetic. You've been fawning all over her for years but you're too much of a wimp to do anything about it. *

*…I do not fawn…*

*…you do actually…*

I mentally scowled at my other mental apparition. * I thought you were supposed to disagree with everything he says…*

* Yeah, well usually he doesn't have such a good point…*

I sighed out loud and ran a hand through my hair, getting Sakura's attention. She stopped humming to herself and looked at me curious. "What's wrong?"

"Uhh nothing…" * just my total inability to make a move… * If I could have smacked myself in the head without looking like an idiot, I would of.

She gave me a funny look, then her head whipped to the side. "Ooh…I can sense Eli!! They're hhhheeeeerrrrreee!!" She giggled gleefully then settled down to watch the goings on through the camera screen with rapt attention.

Eli, wearing a different outfit to the one Sakura had picked out, pointed to the King Penguin Slide, then climbed up as Tom stopped and watched.

I leant over and whispered in her ear. "So what did you write in this one?"

"Oh, just another clue to send them to the other side of town…"

My eyebrows shot up in slight surprise. "You're sending them on a wild goose chase?"

She turned to me, a bright smile on her face and replied in a happy whisper. "Yep! Fun huh."

~~~~~~~~

Eriol's POV:

I sighed and sank into the chair shaded by a big blue and red umbrella. The clue at the penguin park ('I scream, you scream we all scream for Ice cream' as well as the 'bring proof that you've been there') was vague. There was more than one ice cream shop in town, (thank Kami for telephone books) but it had taken a little bit of deducting to figure out that it was actually 'Holler's Ice cream Parlor' on the other side of town. And we couldn't take a taxi. We 'conveniently' didn't have enough cash on us.

And I had the sneaking suspicion that we were being followed.

Anyway it had taken us about an hour to walk to the shop, and my feet were starting to hurt. These shoes were quite uncomfortable. The sun had finally broken through the endless cover of grey and the day was starting to get awfully humid. Tom came back with the ice creams and another note and sat on the seat opposite. He dropped a business card onto the table (we had taken a flyer from the message board at King Penguin Park that was saying something about extending on the King Penguin Playground) and started to eat his ice cream thoughtfully as he glanced at the envelope. "Here, I figured out the last one, it's your turn."

I placed the little tub of ice cream onto the table and picked up the envelope. There was something strange about this one. It was thinner, lighter than the others... It didn't even feel like it had a note in it.

And I couldn't help feel that there was something magical about it.

I slid my finger under the seal and flicked it open…only to slam it shut straight away as the open envelope started to sing (or more accurately, bellow) out 'Under the sea' song from The Little Mermaid. People within hearing distance (which doesn't say much, the envelopes' outburst was rather loud.) gave us strange looks. I was getting used to it. People had been giving us strange looks all day.

I cleared my throat and looked pointedly at the envelope. "So, the envelope sings 'Under the sea'…"

We looked at each other and simultaneously came to the answer. "The aquarium."

"Which just happens to be back on the other side of town."

I sighed and picked up the spoon and ate another scoop of ice cream. "So what do you think is the point of collecting all these items?"

Tom shrugged. "I'm not sure, maybe they're a clue in themselves and they'll lead to the Gender card…But then again, how do we know that we've got the right items?"

"Mustn't be that then…must be something else…no matter…shall we go?" I stood and offered an elbow. Tom gave me a strange look.

"What?"

"You have no idea how strange that looks when you look like a girl." None-the-less, he took my arm and we strolled off. I could have sworn I heard a giggle as we passed a large marble water feature, but didn't think anything of it.

~~~~~~~~~

Sakura's POV:

Syaoran covered my mouth with his hand to smother the giggles that threatened to erupt and pulled me back behind the fountain statue out of view. I had been taping the particular scene and hadn't noticed that I had started to come out from behind the statue. Our two friends disappeared around the corner and I let out an excited squeal. "Ooh this is so much fun!" I grabbed Syaoran's hand and pulled him along and into an alley where I called upon the jump card. The little wings appeared on both our feet and with a happy cackle I bounded up onto a shop roof. Syaoran was still on the ground looking up. "Come on you slow poke! We don't want to lose them!" He scowled and jumped. "Why do we have to follow them around, I thought the point of the whole thing was to make it as painful as possible for them, why do we have to virtually do the same thing?"

"You're not having fun?"

He looked a bit uncomfortable as we leapt form rooftop to rooftop. "Well…maybe a little…"

I grinned. "A little?"

He blushed and tried to avoid eye contact, I jumped in front of him to face him grinning (so I was jumping backwards.) "Okay…maybe a bit more than a little…" I laughed and spun around mid-jump…and almost jumped right off the edge of the last shop and onto the very two people we were supposed to be secretly following. And I would have if Syaoran hadn't have grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back. Tom and Eli stopped and looked up at my small startled squeak but Syaoran had managed to pull us away from the edge before they saw us. I sensed the couple walk on and I sighed with relief…almost choking on it halfway when I noticed Syaoran still had me in a sort of backwards hug.

"Um"

He looked down and noticed the predicament. His eyes widened and his arm darted back. "Uhh…" His face turned crimson.

~~~~~~~~

Syaoran's POV:

"Uhh…"

Any coherent thought on my part dissolved. And it really wasn't helping that my shoulder devil and angel were both starting to sing "Can't take my eyes off you". (* 'You're just too good to be true…can't take my eeeeeyyyyeeess off of you…you feel like heaven to touch…I want to hold you so much…'*

Thankfully, Tom and Eli's voices echoed up onto the roof before I could do something stupid…like start pounding my head on the nearby wall.
"Are you sure Sakura's not planning some of this…I mean that note was obviously made by her…I don't think Syaoran has that sort of magic…"

"Does Sakura seem like the sort of person that would willingly do something like this? No, it's just not in her personality…"

I glanced at Sakura. Her nostrils where flared and a couple of veins were starting to appear on her forehead.

"…Yeah, you're probably right, she's way too nice to do something like this…hmm I wonder what Syaoran has to bribe her to help him with this…"

They were too far away now to hear the rest of the conversation. I glanced back at Sakura to see if she wanted to follow again, but she didn't make any indication that she wanted to move. She was clutching the camera so tight that her knuckles were going white. And she was muttering something.

I leaned closer to try and hear.

"…too nice…I'll give them too nice…::evil cackle:: eh-hehehehe…" My body sub-consciously took a few steps away. "Uhhh…are you okay Sakura..?"

She continued to cackle for a second, then suddenly turned to me with a smile that looked more demonic than cheerful. She leaned forward and I leaned back as she all but purred. "Syaoran…"

"Uhh…yes Sakura?"

"I've got an idea…"

* uh boy…what now?* "Umm…and w-w-what…would that be?"

She leant forward and whispered the plan in my ear. It seemed logical enough. Send them somewhere with more people…make them do something they normally wouldn't do…and it wouldn't matter that no-one would recognise them because it would be more a form of 'personal torture' as she had put it. But it wasn't until the last thing that she mentioned that my eyes widened in shock and I almost choked on my own saliva.

Then my vocal chords and tongue seemed to rebel with my comatose mind and said before I could stop myself, "Pretend? Just pretend?"

She wanted us to pretend to be a couple.

Her brow furrowed slightly. "…yeah…what did you mean…just pretend…"

I had quite effectively backed myself into a corner. So I did the only thing I could.

I went forward.

"Umm…I..err…was just-umm-thinking that umm we don't necessarily have to-err-umm-pretend…"

* Jeez, you'd think this would get easier when you know a person…Isn't one of you supposed to be giving me some good advice right now? *

* Why? It's so much more entertaining to listen to you make a complete twot of yourself…*

"…I mean I'd prefer…that is if you wouldn't mind…umm-we could…not pretend…" I trailed off, dragged my gaze from my feet and looked up at her through the hair covering my eyes.

~~~~~~~~_^~~~~~~~~~

Eli's/Eriol's POV:

We had been to the aquarium, got a free shark sticker and found the letter in the walk-through aquarium. But the clue there was different…it was rather blunt. 'Go to the 'Karaoke Café' and talk to the ladies at the desk'. This one didn't even have the usual 'bring back proof that you've been'. Luckily this one was fairly close; it was only about a 15-minute walk from the aquarium. The ladies at the desk were young and cheerful and smiled when we strolled through the door. Off-key singing blared through the speakers and I glanced at the darkish room. It was filled with people lounged on the many couches and cushy chairs occupying the floor space. A stage was against the wall furthest from the entrance and to the right was the counter where people could buy drinks and cakes etc. There were to ladies behind a desk just next to the door. The one on the left had a nametag that said 'Suzie' the one to her right was 'Fiona'. Fiona smiled and chirped "Hello! Welcome to the Karaoke Café! Do you have a booking?"

"umm no…we were told to come here…My name is Eli, and this is Tom…I think you're suppose to have a letter for us…"

Realization dawned on her face and she smiled. "Ohh yes Tom and Eli! You're friends dropped off a letter for you…" She looked down at her something in front of her then handed Tom a ticket. "You're on in about 5 minutes…and you", looking at me, "are on right after. You're songs have been chosen for you so all you have to do is find a seat and wait."

I blinked, looked down at the ticket in my hand, then back to the cheerfully smiling secretaries. "Umm…wait…we don't want to sing, we just want to pick up the letter."

Suzie sounded sympathetic "ohh I'm sorry, but they gave us strict instructions." She turned to Fiona. "The girls' name was Sakura wasn't it?" At the nod, she continued, "Yeah, well Sakura said that we couldn't give you the letter until you both sang the songs" Fiona nodded. "Yes, and her young man seemed very adamant that their instructions were followed to the letter. He was all very polite about it…had a nice smile too "

Tom' eyes widened as I spluttered. "He was smiling?!"

Suzie nodded then sighed and rested her chin on her perfectly manicured hands. "And he was such a gentleman too, he opened the door for her and everything…::sigh:: I wish my boyfriend was that nice…"

"Boyfriend…do you mean they were a couple..?!"

Fiona nodded. "Oh yes, it was obvious, they were holding hands when they came in…"

"Uh huh, it was so sweet too. When they left, just after they went through the door she dropped something and when he picked it up and handed it to her he gave a her a kiss on the cheek."

Suzie sighed and said wistfully. "Ahh, young love…"

Tom was awfully quiet through all this. I turned to him, anticipating the high-pitched squeal of 'kawaii' and/or scream of outrage at missing the moment. But he was looking thoughtfully at something in the corner of the roof.

"Umm, I know this might seem a strange request, but I don't suppose you lend out your security tapes do you?"

~~~~~~~~

Sakura's POV:

I smiled and snuggled further into Syaoran's grasp. After sneaking back into 'The Karaoke Café' through a staff entrance (so the secretaries wouldn't slip that we were in the vicinity) and positioning the camera in an inconspicuous spot (where it wouldn't be found but could capture everything that happened on the stage), we had snagged the only remaining seat (a big cushy couch at the back) and got comfortable. I sensed Tom and Eli arrive and mentally checked that the shield was still up and working before settling down to watch the stage. The last group finished their rendition of 'We are the Champions' and jumped off to the applause of everyone in the room. The chatter and laughter was interrupted by the DJ. "Okay next we have Tom who will be singing…'Baby got back'. Give him a round of applause ladies an gentlemen!"

Above the cheers and clapping a screeching male voice rang out. "WHAT?! I'M NOT GOING TO SING THAT" I smothered a giggle and watched as Tom, red in the face, was all but dragged up onto the stage by the grinning DJ. Eli was off on the side, rubbing her temples.

Tom stumbled onto the stage and looked at the microphone like it was something he'd never seen before in his life.

The intro to the song started through the speakers…'Oh my God, Becky, look at her butt, it is so big…"

If it was really possible, his face just got whiter.

Syaoran chuckled, "You're so evil…"

I grinned. "flatterer…"

He was right though, I was evil, but it was just so much fun. Tom and Eli had to sing otherwise they'd never get the letter and never get the Gender card and therefore never get themselves back to normal.

I bit my lip and covered my mouth as Tom stumbled over the first few lines of the song. "I uh like big butts and I cannot lie…" The look on his face was just a classic. He looked like he was going to be sick. One down…one to go.

Syaoran picked up his (big) mug of hot chocolate and tried to hide his face with it as he tried (and failed) to hold back his laughter. I elbowed him when his snort of laughter got Eli's attention. We were in a fairly dark part of the café and we were partially hidden by a big group of people so thankfully Eli turned didn't get too suspicious and merely glanced briefly in our direction before continuing to gaze around the room.

A few minutes later a very re in the face Tom left the stage to loud applause and cheers. The DJ smiled and took back the mike. "Okay, now up next is a lovely little lady who's going to sing… 'Strawberry Kisses!'"

If you think Tom's face was white when his song was announced, then you should have seen Eli's. Her face was so white it was almost blinding.

Oh yeah, I was really evil…

Eli has a particular aversion to that song. Ever since Ruby moon heard it, thought it was 'awfully kawaii' and brought the single…then proceeded to play it full blast at all hours of the day. Although I had a feeling that she got sick of it herself and just continued to play it just to get on everyone's nerves.

~~~~~~~~

Eli/Eriol's POV:

I watched behind weary eyes as the sun sank below the horizon. We were sitting on a bench back at King Penguin Park and we were both exhausted. After our 'debut' at the 'Karaoke Café', we had been sent everywhere from the school, to the library, to a video store and finally back to the King Penguin Park. We passed by Chiharu and the others at one point, they of course didn't recognise us, and we overheard part of their conversation. They had spotted Syaoran and Sakura out and about and apparently they had been walking arm in arm, and Rika was commenting on how she had never seen Syaoran so happy. Tom was on the verge of bursting into tears.

I plucked the note from underneath the bench seat.

'Congratulations! You have followed our instructions correctly and are in the last leg of your journey. Your reward is back at Syaoran's apartment, in the lounge room. Kero will be there to give you the key, but he won't give it to you unless you show him the proof that you've been to all the places as well as a chocolate bar. ^-^ ^-^

S & S'

I sighed. "We've been all around town and it ends up being right were we started…why am I not surprised."

Tom let out a long sigh and replied as he got to his feet. "Let's just go…I want to get this over and done with."

The moon was high in the sky by the time we got there. Kero was sitting by the door, looking slightly bored but slightly irritated. "Took your time, do you have any ideas how long I've been standing here?"

"Uh sorry Kero…but it's been a rough day…um I apologise if I'm being presumptuous but you seem awfully ticked about something…"

Kero glared at me as he floated off, munching on his candy bar after he gave us the key. He was muttering something about the 'stinking gaki' and 'not taking his dirty mitts off of Sakura' followed by 'just holding hands my ass'.

The apartment was empty (of people) but we found the 'reward' quickly. There was a small green box sitting on the coffee table in the lounge room but no matter how hard we tried, it wouldn't open. Tom flopped back on the couch with a growl of frustration. "Argg!! Why won't it open!"

I was mid shrug when a slightly far away voice replied, "Because you haven't asked yet."

We both looked around the room. That was Sakura's voice. "Hey! I'm down here!"

We looked down at the box.

A tiny illusion of Sakura, only about a foot tall, was sitting on the box next to a tiny illusion Syaoran. They were both looking up at us with slightly smug expressions.

Syaoran crossed his arms over his chest and said "So, did you two have fun today?"

I sat down on a chair and rested my arms on the armrests. "Depends on your definition of 'fun'. Now, why won't the box open?"

Sakura smiled "Well that' because you haven't put in the password yet!" She turned and pointed to the pile of 'proof' and muttered something. The pile glowed and formed a keypad that had both numbers and letters on it. Like something from an electronic lock. It landed on my lap. "Find the right password and you'll get your reward!" With that they both disappeared.

Tom looked at me and then down at the key pad. "Well…let's get started…"

~~~~Minor Time Gap~~~

"BBAA-BBBAAAOOOOWWWRRR INVALID PASSWORD!"

I growled through my teeth. I was getting sick of that noise. Oh occasionally Syaoran's all too smug voice would say 'HA HA WRONG PASSWORD STUPID!" or "MAN ARE YOU WWWWWAAAAYYYY OFF, MAN I THINK A TWO YEAR OLD WOULD HAVE GOTTEN IT NOW!" I had given the keypad to Tom for a while, but the results were much the same, (although Sakura's comments were mainly a cheerful 'I'm sorry, that's incorrect, please try again).

I ran a hand through my hair and punched in the code 'Syaoran is a stupid moron'…a rather childish cheap shot but you have to understand, I was beyond frustrated. Sakura's voice spoke out this time. "Now Eli…that's not very nice…"

I growled and threw the keypad across the room.

"Now now, you should know that violence doesn't solve anything"

I glared at it and set it on fire with a quick spell, in which Syaoran replied 'Nor does magic'. The keypad, slightly melted around the edges, floated over and landed on my lap again. We had tried birthdays, names of people, names of the cards, things in a different language, clever puns, anything clever or tricky I'd have thought they'd have used, but nothing had worked. Then I thought of something. It was so simple and stupid that you'd think of it then thought, 'naa, they'd never use that one.'

I blinked and punched in the words 'Open Sesame'.

The box opened.

Tom's spluttered in a slightly strangled voice. "'Open Sesame?'…that was it? 'Open Sesame'…" His eyes started to twitch again.

The keypad disappeared and I placed the box onto my lap and looked inside.

There was a note and two photographs.

'I said you'd get your reward, I never said that it'd be the Gender card…Why? Did you think you'd get off that easily?'

"::twitch twitch:: it's not there…::twitch twitch::"

I didn't see the look on Tom's face…I was too busy staring at the photographs. It was a picture of my robes…tied to a chair…surrounded by logs…like same strange parody of witch being burnt at the stake. AS I watched, the logs caught fire and the robes, the hat and the staff erupted into a ball of fire. Then the image returned to the beginning and started again. It was on a loop. I watched my robes get burned about 3 times before I managed to get out a sound.

"::high pitched girly scream::AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

~~~~~~~~~

hehehe…I think I'll leave it at that for now…

D

Don't worry, there's still about a chapter left in this story, so I've got lots more chances to be evil…Anyway just a few things I thought I'd add:

1) Are S + S an actual couple or are they just pretending? Well I know but I'm not telling! Ha!

2) No offense meant to anyone who likes Nikki Webster and her music, it's just that she makes me twitch so that's why I added it in for Eli's/Eriols Karaoke debut. Call me weird if you want to…(most people do ~_^)

3) Why the 'Syaorans' shoulder devil and angel'? I dunno…I personally thought it was kinda cute. And besides I think that everyone has an 'evil' and 'good' side to their thoughts…so hence the inclusion. ^-^

Anywho, that's about it for now…please review and I'll get the next chapter up a.s.a.p.!

Ciao!!

StarDragon ^-^