Let Me Blow Ya Mind

It is a Tale Told By an Idiot

Eriol sighed, and folded the paper sharply.

"It's bull." He said. Sakura swallowed her sob.

"But… h-how could anyone know about this?"

"Well, for starters, no one is psychic. Did you write this down, or tell anyone at all?"

"…I did write it in my diary…" She said slowly. "But only once, and no one knows where I hide my diary." She added quickly. Eriol nodded.

"Did you bring your diary with you?" He asked. A wave of realization hit Sakura.

"Oh my god! I didn't even think about it!" She gasped. Eriol shook his head.

"Note to self, Sakura… no one is psychic. I'm sure with a little bit of searching; she could have found it. It's probably with Kaho or Meiling this very second." He sat down next to her, and hugged her. "It doesn't matter though. Kaho and Meiling will have quite the time finding us." He whispered, rocking her back and forth. She was frozen, tears subconsciously streaming down her cheeks.

"I can't believe it… I'm so stupid." She muttered. Eriol didn't say anything; he just hugged her tighter. "How did you know it was a fake?"

"Nakuru's paper was always scented rose, not lavender."

"She could've been out of rose."

"It's a possibility. But, knowing her…" He started, but didn't finish. Sakura put her arm around him.

"Did you love her?"

"…Not in any romantic way. No one had ever bothered to try to be a mother figure in my life… then she came. She wasn't exactly the idyllic mother, because she snapped at me a lot, and she didn't comfort me. But I think that's what made her like a mother. She wouldn't let me grow soft."

"You don't seem hard and cruel to me."

"It's who I am." He replied, standing up and stretching. "Good night, Sakura." He said, and walked through the door into his room. Sakura stared at the door, almost reminded of her brief romance with Eriol. But then it went quicker than it had come, and she picked up the box. Inside was a lot of tissue paper. Sakura pulled it away, and there was Nakuru's rose ring, and a small piece of paper the size of a fortune in a fortune cookie.

Don't give in to selfish false emotions

***

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

-Macbeth

Kaho laughed, reciting the old fragment of literature. Meiling scowled into the small mirror above the washbasin in the room they shared.

"And this time, it will be different." Meiling said, turning on her heel. Kaho shook her head.

"You're trapped, Lady Macbeth." She said in a hushed voice.

"Stop calling me that!" Meiling shrieked. Kaho laughed again.

'I have to change the topic. Or else I'll go mad from her ranting.' Meiling thought. "Are you ready for tonight's show?"

"Obviously not. Do you see me in a costume?"

"To everyone else, it looks like it's Halloween everyday for you." Meiling said, applying her eye makeup. Kaho glared, and threw a pillow at Meiling. Meiling dodged it. "Well anyway, get ready, because last time you didn't get enough offers afterwards."

"What do the offers have to do anything?"

"More money for us. And we need to pay Houji."

"I know… but I hate it! We aren't hookers, Meiling!"

"We'll have to be for now if we want Houji to keep working for us."

"What's so great about Houji?" He is just a guy. He can't do much.

"Well, we know he can't make his move yet, but so far he's deceived that Naoko girl, fooled everyone, given up his old girlfriend, and is going to be enduring at least six months of living with people he's going to be killing soon." Meiling replied smartly, putting away her mascara and slipping into a lacy, slutty looking garnet red slip.

"…You're actually being considerate for once."

"He's hot like Li."

"If you hadn't dropped out of school, you'd have been the school slut."

"No duh. I can't help it, I'm a fast lover, and I like guys for their looks. I admit it, I'm shallow. But soon, I'll be rich and shallow." Meiling pulled on black fishnet stockings, and stepped into garnet red high heels. Kaho sighed, and pulled off her jeans. She grabbed her own black outfit almost identical to Meiling's.

"Six months… Sakura's child will be born by then." Kaho said. Meiling nodded.

"By then, Eriol will have definitely let his guard down."

"Good plan."

"And don't I know it?"

The two villains walked out onto the small stage in the Chinese bar. Men were getting drunk on Tsingtao, a Chinese beer, and even a few were drinking Asahi, a Japanese beer. Meiling stepped up to the mic, with Kaho right behind her. She waited for her intro.

"I'm sitting here alone up in my room, and thinking about the times that we've been through" Her mouth was dry. Kaho backed her up.

"Oh my love, I'm looking at a picture in my hand, trying my best to understand" Meiling came around with…

"I really want to know what we did wrong with the love that felt so strong"

"Oh my love" Kaho came in.

"If only you were here tonight, I know that we could make it right" Meiling continued. Then their voices broke into two loud sirens.

"I don't know how to live without your love."

"I was born to make you happy."

"Cause you're the only one within my heart…"

***

Why would anyone steal a diary? What good would sending a letter to Sakura do?

Eriol stared out his window at the midnight sky, these questions plaguing his mind. His head ached from all the confusion. Who was the blue rose?

I'll bet it's me.

***

There she was, an angel all in white smiling and holding a baby boy, who had startling emerald eyes and thick patches of unruly brown hair. She was sitting in a garden of white roses. The sun shone on her, her hair gleaming. He was almost able to taste the honey in its shine. The baby boy, though his eyebrows were furrowed, was smiling. Syaoran could only watch as a familiar face held her. The black hair, the crystal blue eyes…

Meanwhile blue roses were growing. Syaoran took a step towards the happy couple, and suddenly red splattered all over the pure white roses. Sakura screamed, and Eriol pulled out a gun-

Syaoran shot up, sweating. He clutched his dirty shirt, gasping for breath. He tried to swallow, but he still hadn't taken in enough air. Somewhere, birds shrieked. Early dawn shone through the palm trees. Syaoran rubbed the sandy soil off of his jeans. The cool air chilled his sweat, and for once in a week, he shivered from the low temperature. Nights were cold in the rainforest. Especially in January. Was it still January? He had no idea. Was this even a rainforest? He, once again, had no idea. He didn't know where he was going; all he knew was that since he had been following the sun where it began, he must be heading east.

"Hello!" He yelled. No answer. Not that he had expected one.

He sighed, and started walking. He was starving. Luckily, he had been able to steal some water from the old base, or whatever it was that he had escaped from-

"Hi!" A high pitched voice said behind him. He whirled around to see a short Chinese girl of about fourteen. Her thick straight black hair was tied in two cute little pigtails on top of her head. She was wearing low riding camouflage pants, and a black tank top that ended just above her belly button.

"H-Hi…" He said slowly. The girl cocked her head.

"How can you understand me? You speak Chinese?"

"Yeah… isn't that where we are?" He asked slowly. The girl hit him over the head.

"It's January, stupid! In China, it's so freakin cold that my mom's toes a are freezing off! I mean, I guess she was exaggerating, but-"

"Where are we?"

"Singapore, stupid! How could you not know?"

"…I'm supposed to be in Japan." He replied, blinking. She cocked her head.

"Really? Wow, you're way off course! I mean, we're below China, even! And Japan is even further up north!"

"…Where are we?"


"Singapore!"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" The girl clapped her hands over her ears to avoid going deaf. Syaoran lowered his voice. "Sorry. But, are you serious? Are we really in Singapore?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Syaoran groaned, and looked up at the purplish sky. "Well… my name is Kidkoume, if you were wondering." She said quietly. Syaoran exhaled, a sarcastic kind of smile on his face.

"First thing on my mind." He said sarcastically. Kidkoume frowned.

"You were being sarcastic! Nobody likes a cynic!"

"Nobody likes a cynic," He mimicked.

"What's your name?"

"…Li."

"You're Chinese then?"

"Last time I checked."

"You know, I'm Chinese too!"

"Obviously." He replied, leaning up against a tree. The green leaves on one particular bush reminded him a lot of a certain someone's eyes, and it was really getting on his nerves…

"Tell me about yourself." Kidkoume ordered, sitting on a rock. Syaoran shrugged.

"What's to know?"

"…Okay… how old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Really? Okay, that's one." She made a notch on an imaginary scoreboard with her finger. "…Next… why are you here?"

"…You'd never believe it. I have trouble believing it myself." He said quietly. Images of his dream flooded back.

"You'd be surprised at what I believe." She replied, edging closer.

"…I was…" He started, but then thought carefully. Why was this girl being so friendly to him? She could just be one of Meiling and Kaho's henchmen. He stared out into the distance, trying to think up some story.

"I ran away." He said finally. Kidkoume cocked her head.

"Why?"

"Because… See, I'm a high school dropout. I dropped out of high school to support my prostitute mother and my little sister. For two years, I worked three different part time jobs, never actually having time for myself. Then, my mother decides to stop working. So, I look for more work. Finally, my little sister dies because she is raped and murdered. My mom still wants me to work. I'm tired of it, so I run away."

Technically, he was telling the truth. That actually was his history, but that wasn't why he was here. So, he was meeting her halfway. Good enough.

:::Sniff:::

He looked over to see Kidkoume sobbing.

"That… was the saddest… story… I have ever…*hic* heard!" She sobbing. Syaoran scowled. Not another crybaby. He searched his pockets for a tissue, but found none.

"Sorry, I don't have a tissue…" He apologized.

Kidkoume reminded him of a younger Sakura. Kind of as if Sakura had been his little sister. He looked away.

"Why are you looking away?" She asked. He sighed.

"I hate seeing girls cry." He replied, knowing full well that his ears were going red. He had to change the subject. "Now it's your turn."

Kidkoume smiled.

"I've got five brothers, all of who care way too much for me. My mother is in charge of us all. I'm fourteen, and at the end of this year I'll be going to high school!" She replied cheerfully. Syaoran fought a smile at her cheerfulness. "Oh yeah, and the reason I'm all the way in Singapore is that my class was on a field trip, but I got separated."

"Where's your uniform?"

"I go to public school, stupid! With five kids and only one parent, how do you expect my mother to afford private?"

"Yeesh, sorry."

Syaoran had a feeling that this was going to be one hell of a day.

***

Seeking warmth, Nakuru curled up in the arms of whoever it was. The familiar scent of peppermint polluted the air, and she rolled over. A familiar cool voice broke the silence.

"We thought you were dead." The English accent wafted through the simple phrase, and Nakuru knew who it was instantly.

"Eriol." She murmured, looking up. And, sure enough, there he was, his blue-black hair that always seemed to appear wet hanging in his face, those steel blue eyes practically boring a hole right through her.

"We thought you were dead. You killed me because I thought you were dead." He said again. Nakuru shook her head.

"I am dead." She replied, fingering his white button-up shirt, the two top buttons open. He always did have good taste.

"Then I must be going mad, because last I checked dead people didn't talk." His voice was cold, and Nakuru didn't like it, so she changed the subject.

"Where are we?" She knew they were outside; the pale fingers of dawn were creeping up the horizon. The ground beneath her was wet; it soaked right through her nightgown.

"In the countryside."

"Oh. That's all I wanted to know."

"But what I'm wondering is, what are you doing in the backyard of the hideout, soaked in blood in your nightgown, asleep in a tree?!" His voice was panicky now. Nakuru looked down. The arms of her nightgown were soaked in blood. She could feel a shiver go through Eriol. He never did like the sight of blood.

"Well, I don't know. I wonder how I could possibly have managed that." She replied sarcastically. Eriol growled.

"Nakuru…"

"Well, last thing I remember I was getting ready for bed. I had just come back from giving Rika a present to give to Sakura, as I had had this vision of myself dying-"

"And of roses." Eriol cut in. Nakuru sighed.

"You are just so nosy, you know that? Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, I was preparing to die. I figured I could just be murdered in my sleep. Then, when I awoke, I was lying on some cold mildewed floor. I fell asleep, and then I woke up here." She finished her story, and looked up at Eriol. He was looking at a window on the small house. Then, in a whisper, "I had a feeling Sakura would have to go into hiding."

The curtains were drawn, and the light of earliest dawn reflected off the window. Nakuru watched Eriol frown. He let go of her, stood up slowly, and made a mad dash for the house. Nakuru propped herself up on her elbows to watch as Eriol climbed up a particularly convenient gutter that ran up alongside of Sakura's window. Five seconds later, three bodies flew out of the window, landing on the ground with a thump. Nakuru grinned as Eriol then jumped out again, to make sure that they were dead. Sakura's head poked out of the window. Nakuru waved. Sakura gasped. Eriol was calm. He picked Nakuru up, and carried her in through the back door. Sakura came in through the kitchen door, with Yamazaki, Terada, and Houji at her heels.

"Hey everyone!" Nakuru said cheerfully. Yamazaki's almost opened, Terada blinked, and Houji yawned. "Oh my god! I can't believe it's you!" Sakura hugged her despite the blood, and by accident her elbow jabbed into Nakuru's side. Nakuru gave a tiny cry. Sakura retracted immediately, and Eriol pulled her away.

"Sorry, pow wow later." Eriol said quickly. He shooed them all into the living room. They crowded around the closed kitchen door, peering in the keyhole.

***