AN: I suddenly decided to rewatch some eposides from CCS. I guess I felt really touched by the Mirror card's emotions towards Touya, and suddenly an idea of this fic came to me. The title "Green Ribbons" is just from that eposide where Touya and the Mirror Card go and buy Fujitaka a wallet for Christmas, and Touya gave the mirror card two roles of green ribbon to tie her hair! Hope you enjoy minna-san! S+S, T+M (Touya+Mirror)~!
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS or the characters, they officially belong to CLAMP.
Green Ribbons
Chapter One: The Necklace
Written by xx tainted kisses xx
To stare at you
Is to stare at my inner most feelings
A reflection of my heart
The clock beside her smooth white surfaced desk ticked unanimously, letting time slowly seep away from her world as she rolled over on her pink sheeted bed with a sigh of flickering hope.
"Mou....what to do, what to do!!" She scratched her auburn haired head in frustration, causing the strands of fine silky hair to stand up on end as if it had just been hit by lightning.
The calendar hanging lazily above her drawers of clothing was flipped open to July, a month to go to the beach, park, and to plainly have fun! And she did do all that, but now she was stuck on one particular day.
"July 13...." Sakura Kinomoto pushed herself up into a sitting position while crossing her dainty legs and propping her chin on one hand. "Onii-chan will surely not let me go out.....espeically if he knows it's with....Shaoran!!" Sakura turned a faint rosy pink in her cheeks as she hugged her pillow tightly. "Hanyaan!!"
One of the white drawers from her desk flung open and out came a flying bear with a lion's tail. It looked curiously at Sakura before yawning and letting his tummy growl, not showing any sign to hide the fact that he was hungry. "Ssssaaakuuuuuuraaa."
"Neh?" Sakura raised one eyebrow at him, wondering what he was going to ask for this time.
"I think I heard something just then...."
Sakura sighed and sweatdropped, waving a hand at the guardian beast. "Kero!! You just ate an hour ago!"
"One whole hour!!?? That equals 60 minutes!! 60 minutes equal uh....uh...some thousand billion seconds??" Kero added thoughtfully as he floated slowly over to Sakura's side.
"Hai hai," Sakura nodded while falling back onto her bed, still hugging her pink pillow tightly to her chest. She sighed once again.
Kero looked at her with his round beady eyes. "Daijoubu Sakura?"
"Hoe......" She swung her legs in the air as she shook her head. "I can't think of something!!" She cried out loud like a child trying to solve one plus one, but getting no where near to the conclusion.
"Of what??"
"How to get out without onii-chan knowing! I know he won't let me go out with him," Sakura let out a slow breath as she rolled over to her side, clutching the pillow in one hand while the other hand started fiddling with a strand of long auburn hair.
Kero's eyes glinted, "Who's him?"
"Shaoran of course!" Sakura suddenly brightened up at the mention of her boyfriend, Li Syaoran. A look of happiness crossed her emerald eyes as she thought of the boy that had been of so much help to her eversince they were 10.
"Why are you going out with that gaki?!!" Kero clutched one tiny fist with his eyes flaring.
"Hoe!! Shaoran is not a gaki!! He's...really really really nice...caring..." Sakura placed one hand under her chin thoughtfully. "And a whole lot more..." She giggled.
Kero stared at her in disbelief. "How can someone fall in love with that...that thing! Ridiculous!!"
"Kero!!" Sakura pouted, but soon her worries went back to July 13.
"But why do you need to go out with him that day?"
"It's his birthday!! Of course I'm going to spend time with him...." Sakura's voice trailed off into the distance as she racked her brain for some sort of idea. "But otou-san is out at another excavation...which only leaves onii-chan to give me permition!"
The guardian beast levated closely to his mistress' side with his small paws crossed. "And you're sixteen." He sweatdropped.
Sakura frowned, "Mou! Onii-chan is just to protective...I mean I'm learning how to drive in a month already and he still gets all worried..." She jumped off of her bed, wrinkling her once smooth bed sheets as she walked over to her dresser.
Her hands found their way to the pink comb on the dresser as she stared with boredom at her reflection. "Tomorrow is his birthday...."
She blinked, and she watched her reflection blink.
She sent the brush gently down her hair, watching as one strand came loose and was left floating in the air. Her reflection obviously did the same.
Suddenly her eyes lit up, as if someone had lighted a spark inside of her. "Hoe!! I got it!!"
"You did!? More pudding?!" Kero's eyes sparkled with hope.
"Iie (no)!!" At once Kero's eyes went normal and he frowned, but Sakura twirled around as if she was a ballerina while clapping her hands together in delight. "I can use the Mirror card!!"
"Mirror?" Kero asked in confusion.
Sakura nodded happily at her latest discovery. "That way onii-chan won't really think I'm gone and I can go out with Shaoran and then sneak back in.....and everything works out!!"
"And you leave me back here with nothing to eat," Kero cried.
"Aw Kero!! I'll bring you a snack then!" Sakura said giddily as she danced over to her one particular drawer in her desk and flung it open.
A pink covered book with intricate designs floated out of the drawer and into Sakura's open hands. She smiled as she opened the book and a bunch of cards came gliding out, circling her in their warm embrace.
"Konnichiwa minna-san," Sakura greeted while looking at all the cards. "Now where is Mirror..."
One card floated forward to meet Sakura's gaze. She opened her palm and let the card slip into her hands while the other cards danced once more around her before returning to the book.
"I swear your onii-chan (brother) will be able to tell it's the Mirror card," Kero pointed out.
"Of course not! He doesn't have magic anymore, remember? He gave it all to Yukito-san..." Sakura frowned, remembering how at that time her magic was not enough for her other guardian, Yue. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. That was the past! Now everything is fine! She said confidently as she placed the Sakura Card on her desk.
"So what are you giving the gaki?" Kero asked curiously, wondering if it was something edible.
Sakura stared at Kero for a while before blinking her eyes. "......HOE!!!!! PRESENT!!!!!!"
".....Oh gosh Sakura! You forgot?" Kero stared at his mistress and sighed. "You're impossible!"
"I am not impossible!!" Sakura jumped up and down as if she was a bouncy ball before leaping into her closet and pulling out a jacket and a purse. "I'll be back before dinner!" She cried out as she headed for the door in a hurry.
"But it's your turn to cook tonight!!" Kero reminded.
Sakura stopped in her tracks and sweatdropped. "Hoe!! Than I'll be back to cook dinner!!"
"Hayaku (hurry) Sakura-chan! Gambatte!!" Kero cheered as the disappearing figure of Sakura headed down the stairs.
The room had no light except for the tiny particles of it seeping in from the half open screen door that led to a small balcony outside of the room. The little light showed the green carpet of the room and the forest green color of the curtains blowing gently from the small breeze.
It was silent except for the occasional sound of a sword, and the glint of silver flashed now and then between the darkness of the room. One would find it odd for someone to be particing with a sword in the dimly lighted area, but that was a habit of Li Syaoran's. It made him concentrate more, and it made him feel more at peace.
Suddenly there were no more sounds of a sword breaking through the empty silence, but only the panting breath of a person and the clanging of a sword being placed back into its sheath.
A figure walked out onto the balcony, squinting from the sudden light issued to him. Li Syaoran ran one hand through his messy and sweaty mass of dark brown hair as he leaned against the cold railing that kept him from falling down a ten story high building.
Tomorrow is my birthday....The thought played itself in his mind as he crossed his arms, letting the whole railing catch his weight.
A smile played on his lips as he leaned his chin on one hand, a certain image of a sixteen year old girl came spinning into his thoughts.
"Sakura........" He whispered into the setting sun.
"Hoe......hoe......hoe!!!" The sixteen year old anxious girl skated around the corner in her light pink rollar blades, her eyes full of worry as she slowed down on the busy streets.
Her eyes twinkled as she looked into all the store windows, all full of display cases and advertisements. She sniffed the air full of a mix of aromas coming from the different stores, the smell of sweet cakes to the smell of perfume.
"Kirei!!" She watched as the street lights came on one by one and was glad that she had remembered about the present...if she hadn't, it would had been terrible!
Her pace slowed as she paused in front of one particular store that caught her shimmering emerald eyes.
She placed her gloved hands on the polished glass, breathing lightly onto it causing the area to fog up. Sakura quickly rubbed it to clear her sight as she looked at the display case with mild interest.
With a jingle of bells from opening the door to the store, a elderly man looked up from the desk and smiled calmly at the sudden entrance of the girl. "Konnichiwa."
"Gomen neh," Sakura replied as she brushed off a strand of hair hanging in front of her face. "I was wondering if I could take a closer look at that necklace thingamabob on the display case?" She explained rather quickly in short breathes as if she had just ran a marathon.
The man nodded in amusement as he took slow, yet long strides to the window and reached around it to the item Sakura had asked to see. "The one with the sword pendant I persume?"
"Hoe?" Sakura blinked in wonder. "How did you know?"
The man's eyes seem to dance with mischeif as he returned behind the desk with the necklace in his wrinkled hand. "I just do." He answered as if it was a simple thing to know what a costumer wanted without them stating it.
She looked at the man in wonder and awe but decided that she had no time to ponder for she had to get home to cook dinner.
Sakura placed the necklace in her hand, her eyes scanning the necklace from its very thick silver chain to the sword pendant hanging in the center. The hilt of it was a dark dark green and the blade glinted in the light, showing her reflection in a deformed way.
"Hmmm...is it possible to add something to the sword?" Sakura questioned thoughtfully as she imagined a picture in her mind.
"Hai, here let me show you the things we can print into them," The man bent down slowly and pulled out a tray that seemed to be filled with tiny stamps. "You can pick one and we can simply imprint it into the silver of the sword if you wish."
Sakura smiled greatfully, "Sugoi!!" She searched through the mass of stamps like a cat pawing at a mousehole.
In the end, Sakura had three stamps laid out in front of her, and she couldn't decide what to choose. "Hoe...this is so hard!" She cried out loud.
The old man chuckled at the young lady in front of him. "You cannot decide between a wolf, cherry blossom, or peony?"
Sakura nodded and sighed, "It is a very hard descision because each of them have their own significance
!"
"Well..." The old man pushed his glasses up while staring intently into Sakura's emerald orbs. "A wolf indicates a brave, cold, and a strong willed person....the cherry blossom..." The man looked at it in interest. "That's an interesting combination. A cherry blossom indicates life, happiness, and a time of joy. Almost in contrast that of the wolf."
Sakura nodded in awe at the old man's explanation. The old man, seeing the sudden shine in Sakura's eyes, chuckled. "I do believe this gift is for a special person."
This shocked Sakura even more. How did this old man know? Could he simply read her mind? She shivered at the thought but somehow she felt safe under his warm and calm gaze. She nodded curtly. "Hai."
"Well then, you would obviously need the wolf to indicate that special person," The old man said matter-of-factly. "Demo (but)...the wolf would not be complete without the cherrry blossom..."
"Hoe?" Sakura tilted her head.
"And the peony...I do believe it's another symbol for that peron? Or is it you?"
Sakura felt a faint blush cross her face as she shook it away. "It's...his favorite flower." Sakura uttered in embarrassment.
"Ah...then the wolf is not complete without the cherry blossom, and the cherry blossom would not be complete without the peony. Ah, then the problem is solved," The old man said cheerfully.
"It is?" Sakura felt confused at the strange old man in front of her, yet he didn't seem to be insane.
"I will go and imprint all three of these symbols onto the sword," The old man explained while taking the necklace out of Sakura's hands and carrying the three tiny metal stamps with him into a small room at the back.
Sakura scratched her head. "What a strange strange man..." Her voice trailed off when her eyes landed on the old grandfather clock that was across the room from her. "HOE!!!!!"
"Is something wrong miss?" The old man's voice called from inside the room.
"I have to go home!! Onii-chan is probably fuming already that his dinner isn't prepared!!" Sakura exclaimed in despair. "Can I come by tomorrow morning and pick it up?"
"Of course," Came the man's voice from inside.
"Domo arigatou!!" Sakura called out as she left the store, leaving the sound of jingling bells as the door opened and closed behind her.
The noise of the house could have been almost deafening. From the cries in the kitchen and the occasional shouts from brother to sister, and the hungry cries of a particular guardian beast, someone would surely have a headache being in the center of the chaotic noise.
Yet the calm and peaceful spirit of the Mirror Card laid undisturb on her mistress' desk filled with eraser bits and scented paper scattered about, for the Mirror Card was not only peaceful at the moment, but awfully happy.
Soon, she would be able to see him again. How she loved it when her mistress called upon her...and it even made it better when she got to spend time with the mistress' brother.
A musical laughter filled the room as the card sparkled a marine aqua, with a picture of a girl with closed eyes and two long tails of hair wrapped in green ribbon, her very first gift from her very special person.
The laughter ended as abruptly as it had started, only the shimmering of the green ribbons entwined in her hair gave a sign of any life in the card.
AN: I know that it is kind of boring at the moment, but it's kind of an introduction ya know ^_^J Hehe, chapter two will be about S+S going out for a date for Syaoran's b-day. But what about Mirror and Touya? Well, they end up awkwardly going to a date too, and guess what? They end up in the same place as S+S. Eek, is that a good thing or a bad thing?