Chapter 4 - Worries

"This sucks!" Li stomped down the hallway in the upper level of Sakura's house, "I didn't really want to go the Grand Opening, but not because of something like this!"

"Hey, Kerberos-san, what's up?" Yukito walked toward him and picked him up, "Why aren't you flying?"

"Don't feel like it," Li mumbled.

"Hmm, and you're in a surly mood! That's not usual for you, Kerberos..." Yukito smiled, "Or should I say, 'Li-kun'?"

Li could feel his fur blush.

"Oh, no! You know?"

"You guys were pretty loud this morning! Although I did want to see for myself. It's hard to believe such a thing is possible, but you really are Li-kun in Kerberos' body!" Yukito turned Li in his hands inspecting him.

"I didn't want anyone to see me this way!" Li wailed as he dropped his head.

"Why not? I think Kerberos is cute! You're cute while you're being him!" Yukito told him. Yukito rubbed between the toy wings. Li arched his toy back in surprise at how nice it felt.

"So, Sakura and 'Li' had to leave you behind. I'll spend the day with you so you aren't bored!" Yukito offered, "So...what do you want to do first... 'Kerberos'?"

********

"Did you see the look on his face when I beat his high score! I rock!" Kerberos crowed as he and Sakura entered the house.

"Hi! How was the Grand Opening?" Yukito asked. He rocked on his heels himself with both hands clasped behind his back.

"Uhm...interesting!" Sakura replied, bending down to exchange her outdoor shoes for her house ones.

"Did you enjoy it, Li-kun?"

"Oh, yeah! Tomoyo has the most amazing electronic game set-up there...I spent the whole day playing video games I never even knew existed!" Kerberos replied.

"I thought...video games are a waste of time?" Yukito asked innocently.

"Uhm...well..that is..." Kerberos stammered.

"Relax!" Yukito smiled as he brought Li out from behind his back, "I know all about it!"

"That makes two!" Sakura told him, "Tomoyo-chan figured it out just like last time! Kero-chan is really bad at pretending to be Li-kun!"

"Yeah, that's because the kid is really boring. Too serious too!" Kerberos replied as he blushed.

Yukito noticed Li's wings droop at that.

"I don't think so. You don't always have to be cheerful and manic to be fun to be around, you know," he noted.

"Thanks, Yukito-san!" Li was gratefully surprised.

"Anytime, Li-kun! C'mon, Kerberos-san. There's something I have to show you!" Yukito stepped forward, put Li in Sakura's hands and grabbed Kerberos' hand.

"I don't think you're going to be too happy about it..." Yukito said as he hauled Kerberos from the room.

"Are you okay, Syaoran-kun? I was worried! Kero-chan is fun to be with, but I have to watch him every minute! He doesn't know how to behave at all. I really missed you today!" Sakura told him as she held him out at arms length. She brought him up against her cheek before hugging him. Li was thrilled at how completely Sakura could hug him while he was a stuffed animal. Li opened his little toy arms as wide as he could trying to hug her back.

"Oh, Syaoran-kun! I hope it isn't too awful!" Sakura said, feeling his pathetic attempt to hug her. Li noticed a tear start down her face and hastened to reassure her.

"No! It's not really that bad! Yukito-san was so nice today and because I am just a stuffed animal right now, I forgot to get embarrassed around him like I always do!" Li replied as he tried to brush her tear away with a paw. It absorbed into his fur. Sakura laughed, knowing that it was Li's deep affinity for Moon magic that made him so fascinated with Yukito. She wondered if that might not be the root of his animosity toward Kerberos, who after all, was the embodiment of Sun magic.

"What?!" Kerberos screeched from the other room.

"I didn't know my voice sounded so shrill," Li muttered.

"It doesn't usually. Kero-chan must be upset about something," Sakura told him.

"Why you...!" Kero stormed into the room and snatched Li from Sakura's hands.

"How could you?! It took me two years to earn that high score!" Kerberos started to squeeze Li tightly.

"Kero-chan! Stop it! You're hurting him!" Sakura yelled trying to pull Li from Kerberos' hands.

"Really! Is this any way for the Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards to behave?" Yue noted as he floated serenely into the room.

"He beat my high score! In one day! He doesn't even like video games!" Kerberos yelled at the Moon Guardian.

"I would think that you would be mature enough to understand that now you have something in common with Li Syaoran," Yue replied, "Consider: if he did not like video games he would not have spent the time to develop the necessary skills to beat your score."

"Yeah, I suppose that's true," Kerberos admitted, easing his hold on Li.

"Honestly, Kerberos, you more than anyone should know you can't strangle a stuffed animal to death!" Yue continued, taking Li from Kero's loosened grip, "Are you okay?" he asked in a markedly more gentle voice looking down on Li.

"Yeah, it just...pinched a little," Li told him.

"Good!" Yue slanted a warning glance Kerberos' way before magically folding his wings and transforming into Yukito.

"Come on! I'm starving. Let's see what Fujitaka-san's got cooking that smells so good!" Yukito urged, still holding Li as he dashed from the room.

"You should be hungry too, Kero-chan," Sakura told him, "and you can't simply stuff Li-kun's body with desserts! You have to eat a balanced meal!"

********

"We need to talk," Kerberos grabbed Yukito's arm after dinner.

"Certainly," Yukito agreed.

"Not here. It's Guardian stuff," Kero shuffled his feet, "I don't want Sakura or Li to overhear..."

Yukito smiled, "I understand. Meet me outside in ten minutes? Why don't you see if you can help with the dishes? Li-kun can't really do much the way he is and normally he helps Fujitaka-san clean up after dinner when he's here..."

"Really? I didn't know that..." Kerberos was surprised. Yukito waved and left the room. Kero wandered into the kitchen.

"Uhm...can I...help?" he asked awkwardly.

"Kerberos-san! Of course! I'd appreciate it," Fujitaka replied, handing Kero a towel, "I'll wash, you dry!"

"Oh, uhm...you know about...?" Kerberos couldn't help it. He was shy. He had hid his nature from Sakura's dad for so long only to find out that Fujitaka was actually part of Clow, his creator. Kero had never decided how that changed things between them. He usually avoided Sakura's father.

"The switch? Yes. Ever since Eriol-kun split his power with me, I'm rather sensitive to things like that," Fujitaka responded handing the first dish to Kero, "How are you holding up? I know that Li isn't too happy about it..."

"Oh, being human isn't bad. It's weird. I was actually talking with Yue about it a few days ago. Being human that is," Kerberos admitted.

"Really? How so?" Fujitaka seemed genuinely interested. The gentle questioning was so like Clow's that Kerberos forgot his shyness and spoke more openly with Sakura's father than he ever dreamed he could.

"Hmm. So your trouble is you can either be the full Guardian Beast or a simple stuffed animal. Yue-san on the other hand, can be a human if he wants, sort of, through Yukito-kun. I'm certain Clow-san didn't intend to make things hard on you..." Fujitaka noted a little while later. The dishes had been put away and they were simply talking now.

"Oh, I don't blame Clow-san. I was made before Yue, when Clow was weaker in power. He actually made me as a stuffed animal and charged me to full power with Earthy and Firey. Yue he was able to create at his full power from the start. Yukito, as you know, came after," Kero pointed out, "On the other hand, I actually produce magic. Yue has to absorb it. There are advantages to the way I was made."

Kero looked down at his feet, "I'm not unhappy with the way I am...it's just, sometimes...I get lonely."

"Oh, Niko!" Fujitaka cried out, pulling Kerberos into a sudden hug, "Come and see me when you need to! You shouldn't ever be lonely in this house!"

"'Niko'? 'Sunshine'...?! I haven't been called that since..." Kero's shock was muffled against Fujitaka's shoulder.

"Since Clow last called you that. I know. You don't have to avoid me, Kerberos. I'm not all of Clow-san, but I do feel some of his fondness for you, and my own fondness, too. After all, you helped my daughter. I won't forget that!"

Kerberos slipped outside a few minutes later with a lightened heart. Fujitaka was right, he wasn't Clow, but enough of the qualities that Kero had loved in Clow were there that he knew he could become friends with Sakura's father. Movement caught his eye.

"Yue!" he called, spying the Moon Guardian.

"Kerberos!" Yue responded politely, "You said you had Guardian concerns to discuss?"

Sakura's bright laugh floated out as she opened a window.

"Uhm..." Kero began uncertainly.

Yue smiled gravely, "I can take us to a more secluded spot." Kero nodded.

Yue stepped forward, wrapped one arm around Kerberos' shoulders and caught him up under the knees with the other arm. He sprang up into the night-time sky.

"There," Yue said placing Kero on the moonpath, releasing him and walking a few feet away, "Now what is bothering you?"

"I looked through Sakura's Cards. There are other Cards that are...missing aside from the Change Card," Kerberos told him.

"I wondered about that. I wasn't certain if you had the time to think about that given what has happened to you," Yue pointed out.

Kero was offended, "No matter what happens to me, I am Sakura's Guardian first!"

Yue's smile had genuine warmth, "As you should be! But, you can't do much the way you are now. You can't access your own magic and you don't know how to use Li's..."

"Huh, I hadn't thought of that. Do you think I could learn to use Li's magic?" Kerberos asked curiously.

"There is no reason you shouldn't be able to. After all, he uses Clow's Elemental magic. You might have some problems with Water I suppose, as your aspect is Sun, but you should be able to use the Elemental Cards..." Yue replied.

"I would never have thought of that! Li is really skilled though. I don't know if I can..." Kero seemed doubtful.

"You aren't willing to try?" Yue asked.

"Now, I didn't say that!" Kerberos lost himself in thought.

"What were you saying about Sakura's Cards?" Yue finally asked him.

"Oh, yeah! Change isn't the only Card that is blank. Sleep, Cloud, Dream, Illusion, Erase and Libra are gone too!"

"Really?!" Yue seemed genuinely shocked by that, "Does Sakura know?"

"I don't think so. We were in such a hurry today with Tomoyo's Grand Opening...I don't think she's really stopped to think about it. She knows that the Change is gone...Do you have any idea what is going on?! I've never seen an empty Card before! Have they rejected her?" Kerberos worried.

"Hmm," Yue closed his eyes. The moon glow around Yue told Kerberos he was doing something, even if he didn't know what it was.

"No. The Cards haven't rejected her. As the Judge I would know," Yue finally told him.

"It's not like they escaped either. Sakura's name is still on them," Kero reminded Yue.

"Then there is not much they can do that is damaging. They can't do anything Sakura wouldn't agree to."

"What?! Li and I were Changed..."

Yue stared balefully at him.

"Yeah, she probably would have done it too if she'd thought of it first. I know," Kerberos admitted, "But, she might be in danger. Someone or something has done something to those seven Cards. I can't do anything to protect her the way I am...and Li can't do anything to help her in my body either. Right now, you are her only Guardian!" Kero realized.

"We shouldn't leave her alone like this! We should go back!" Kerberos, in his agitation, sprang from the moonpath, forgetting that he was not able to fly in Li's body.

"Kerberos!" Yue remonstrated as he dove down and caught him, "I thought of that already! Whenever I am not there, and Yukito isn't either, Fujitaka-san is watching. I also asked Touya to return early from his trip if he could..."

"Do you think that is necessary?"

"You, yourself said it. You and Li-kun are not able to protect her as you normally would. Something has taken the magic of some of her Cards away from her."

"But...Li and I could wake up tomorrow and be Changed back..." Kero protested.

"Somehow, I don't think it will be that easy. I think you should try to learn to use Li's Cards as best you can and I think Li should learn whatever he can about being the Guardian Beast. I have a feeling...this is the beginning of a test. One we can't afford for you and Li to fail!"

Kero, in Li's body, cradled in Yue's arms, shivered.

********

"Did something go wrong?!" Yue stood, with his hands on his hips and demanded a few hours later.

Fujitaka closed the book he was reading and looked up mildly.

"Wrong?" he asked.

"With the Ritual," Yue clarified, "There are seven empty Cards! I have only five!"

"No, nothing went wrong. I realized that the Cards you asked for were fairly obviously Moon-aligned Cards. If only those were missing, given what you are doing, Kerberos or Li could figure out it is you behind what is happening. I don't want to mend one rift only to open another."

Fujitaka held out one hand as a Clow circle formed under his feet. First Libra, then Cloud appeared above his hand.

"Both of these share the Sun aspect, and yet they are Cards that Sakura doesn't use too often. I did not want to weaken her power any more than I had to. Libra and Cloud agreed to serve as 'red herrings' for what you are doing. I will return them to Sakura when we perform the Counter-ritual."

Yue's mouth actually fell open at Fujitaka's foresight. Finally he bowed and left the room.

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stargarde@stargarde.com

Next chapter teaser - Poor Li