"." - Talking (NO Duh!) ^.^ - Language (e.g. ^Japanese^ means that all dialogue after that is in Jap until I change the language or there's something I write there that is NOT in Jap, like if I write han yu pin yin after ^Japanese^, that bit or romaji after ^English^, that bit is Jap, capish?) (.) - My daft self . - Singing/Battle Chants CAPS - Shouting or emphasis on that word *Note: '-' will be replacing those dot dot dot thingies since dot dot dots show as only one dot on ff.net.

Disclaimer: I don't own CC/CCS.

Note: kaado = card in Jap

Aoi Youkai

*Chapter 3: Aoikaado*

~*~ Flashback ~*~

Aya and Aki found that they fit in quite well, and found themselves rising to the ranks of 'Popular' thanks or no thanks to the fact that they were already accepted as part of the gang.

~*~

Thursday came (as in the first Thursday after Sept 1, which we'll juz say is a Mon) and the gang were hanging out at the Li's backyard bored half to death. They were sprawled over tables, chairs, the ground and Tsuki was hanging upside down on one of the cherry tree's branches. Yong Li glared at the sky as Sen sighed, "I never thought I'd say this but I wish they gave us more homework, or at least more CHALLENGING homework."

They all sighed as the sliding door opened and Sakura & Eriol appeared, sweatdropping at the site of their wonderful backyard littered with bored teenagers. There was an "EEP~!!" and everyone scrambled to get up, only to fall over each other again. Sakura giggled and said, "Aoi, we need to talk to you."

Aya pulled her new best friend up and unseen by anyone, slipped something out of her pocket. She slapped him on the back causing him to stumble forward, "Well, go already!"

She slipped an earpiece into her ear, connecting the other end of the wire to a small black cube. Only then did she notice Aki glaring at her and grinned and innocent grin, "Nande, itoshii onii-chan?" (What, beloved brother?)

He smirked and turned away, as they returned to sprawling all over the backyard. Aya, however, had other plans. Once she was in a sufficiently comfortable position, she started paying attention to the conversation Aoi was having with his mother and Eriol. (Yes! You're right! She bugged him!)

"Aoi, about the cards, you know you DO have to change them." (Sakura-san)

"Do I have to go through what you did, okaa-san?" and under his breath, "Please say no, please say no."

Eriol answered, "No. (YES!) The Sakura Cards are different from the Clow Cards. But don't get too happy. There's something else in store for you."

"Yes. Instead of what I had to do, there are conditions. You'll have to change them all at once and soon."

"But if I change them all at once and if I don't have enough energy, won't that mean that..."

"I'm afraid so. You'll die." Came Eriol's deep voice.

"But if we could channel energy from somebody, he might be able to pull it off."

"Maybe, but the process alone will take up too much energy, won't it, okaa- san?"

"But there IS one way..." Aya could almost see Eriol smirking.

"What is that? Whatever it is, if it works, we'll do it."

"Oh yeah, Sakura? You really think he'll be able to concentrate on changing the cards with someone kissing him at the same time?"

"NANI??!!!"

"Well, THAT idea's scratched then. And if you want to know, yes, that is one method that involves a non-energy-consuming process, but obviously unusable in this context."

"So now what?"

Aya smiled, 'Haven't they thought of THAT yet? Ah well."

She got up, and everyone diverted their gazes towards her, "I'm going to the bathroom."

She walked in casually and followed the three auras until she got to a room. She knocked the door and went in, "Hey. I think you guys forgot something."

Sakura and Eriol were looking at her in surprise, "But how did you know what we were talking about?"

She smiled, "As I told dear Aoi-chan on Monday, bask in the wonders of modern technology." She walked over and picked a small device off Aoi's shirt, "Bugging. The best part is, no auras involved." She grinned.

Eriol shook his head, "Is there anything about this girl that won't surprise us?"

Aya smiled and said, "Yes, everything. Anyway, you guys forgot about something."

"What may that be, AYA-CHAN?" Aoi glared at her, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"If existing spells don't work, make your own."

"Make your own?" Eriol stared at her, wondering if she was crazy.

"Sure don't you guys do that all the time? I know I do. More complex stuff would probably take me about at the most a day to do (They gaped at her some more) but the simple ones I can do in about a minute." (They gaped EVEN more) "Um, what are you guys staring at me for?"

"I don't know if you know this, but it takes a very strong sorcerer to create something without aide as far as I know." Aoi blinked a few times.

"Really? I don't think so. Clow Reed did it, didn't he? Although it WAS a pity that he died right after sealing everything. Ah well. Anyway, since you guys seem so reluctant, why don't I do it? Seriously. I'll be done by the end of today, since all I'll have to do is make something to open this sort of portal for the energy to flow. So I'll pop by after dinner then? Besides, I gotta get home. My friends are waiting for me online."

"Um, ok."

As she left, they turned to stare at each other, then at the door, as silence reigned until Eriol spoke up, "I think she may well be the strongest sorceress this world has seen since Clow Reed."

*Time skip*

By now, everyone had heard, somehow or other about what was happening in a few minutes and the gang was gathered at the Li's. When Aya opened the door, Elle bombarded her, "AYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!!! YOU HAVE GOT TO WEAR THIS OUTFIT I MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE~!!!!"

Everyone sweatdropped and Tetsuya smirked, "She went machine-happy again."

Aya grinned, "So THAT'S what happened to Aoi, " referring to the sulking, glaring boy slumped on the couch wearing something identical to what his father wore during the days of Card Captor Sakura, only in blue, "I thought he was preparing to go join the clowns in the circus in case he fails in his task and is too ashamed to see us again."

He glared at her, making everyone laugh. Aya continued, "We'd have to wait a bit for the spell to settle. It's still a bit unstable, so we've got a bit of time on our hands."

She entered a bathroom and emerged in an outfit that was a bit like Meiling's battle costume, only it was completely deep red and it had a red phoenix climbing up the side of her pants (As in only the basic cut is copied, everything else is different).

She folded her clothes as Elle and Tomoyo erupted into a joint "KAWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!" She sweatdropped and picked up her pouch (the same one as on the first day). She tossed it in the air a few times and examined it closely, "Yup. It's done." She yanked on the drawstring, releasing hundreds of tiny red marbles that circled her at eye-level. She turned around with her and raised ready to grab today's spell. Occasionally, she would move her hand as if to snatch one of them out of the air but decide against it. Then, she found it. She snatched it from the air and the rest returned to the pouch. She looked at the others, "Ready?"

They nodded as they walked up the stairs into a large room with parquet flooring and mirrors all around. Even the door was mirrored.

Aya asked Aoi, "What's everyone here for? Watch the show?"

"Yup."

"Huh? What show IS there to watch anyway?"

"Mainly to see if your spell works."

"Is it really THAT fascinating?"

"Yes."

"Stupid question, stupid answer. And by the way, I'm not sure if you're interested, but I think I know a way to make things easier."

"What?"

"Your own mark."

"Huh?"

"Or whatever that thing is called. Clow's mark was that round thingy with the sun in the centre, Sakura-san's has the star in the centre, and if you decide to have your own, yours will have a moon in the centre."

"How do YOU know?"

"That's because your get your power from the moon, like your dad. Tsuki gets hers from the sun, like Eriol-san, which is really quite strange, to tell the truth. I mean, you inherited yours from your dad, but Tsuki didn't get hers from your mom, but from someone COMPLETELY different. Then again, you could always put it this way. Seriously, the sun's a star isn't it..."

"Stop it. You're rambling. You sure it'll make things easier? How DOES one make it, anyway?"

"Picture it. It's not exactly the same as what your mom did, but you're not her, so it's explainable. Now will you hurry up already? If you need any help, the spell will open a link between us during the process. Although I'm not exactly sure if there will be any side effects, but we'll talk about that later."

"Whatever."

He stood in the middle of the room, "Ready when you are."

Aya had gone off to tell Eriol and Aoi's parents about what they plan to do and double-check the process, and then returned to Aoi, "Ok, ready?"

"More than ever."

"Just relax first." She stood behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She felt it relax slightly and then more and more. The Sakura cards lifted slightly off the floor and floated upwards to surround Aoi. Aya felt him completely relax and lifted her hands off his shoulders, drawing the spell from her pocket. She closed her eyes and held the round marble between her palms for a few seconds. As she drew her palms away from each other, a glow appeared (like ki blasts, you know? Actually technically it IS a ki blast) (Haz. I found ki in the Jap dictionary. It's Jap for qi) and grew. When it was sufficiently big, she brought her hand back and shoved the blast into Aoi's back, making him falter the slightest bit. She pressed her palms (one over the other) to his back as the spot glowed crimson. After a while, the glow subsided and the portal was opened.

(BTW, the following convo is going on in the heads of Aya and Aoi k? So no one else can hear it)

"Aoi, you there?"

"Yup."

"Good. Now, concentrate and picture the mark in front of you."

"But how the hell am I supposed to know what it looks like?"

"Yue was the one who supported Clow the most, Likewise for Eriol-san & Li- san and Sakura-san. It's likely that YOUR support will come from your sister, Tsuki. Try something exactly like Clow's and Sakura-san's except with a moon in the centre and a sun around it."

HE tried, but it, "DIDN'T WORK!"

"I realise that, thank you. But it's not possible... is it?"

"Is what possible? Whatever it is, TRY IT."

"Seriously. If I'm right, The Chens draw their power from the moon, like you, Hoshi, Ryo, Yong Li, Elle and Tsuki draw theirs from the sun, Aki draws his from his star, Tetsuya draws his from the moon, and I draw mine from my star. It won't be a moon. Eriol-san said that you need something different to compliment your powers and it can't be a sun, we tried that already and it DEFINITELY won't be Aki. No, can't be. Try again."

She could almost feel him grinning, it practically radiated off him, "What? Can't believe that it could be you? Alright then." He tried again, but as expected, it didn't work.

"ARGH GODAMMIT! Try it again!"

He smirked, and tried, but a different one. Instead of the sun, he imagined a star, and it worked. Aya felt the energy flowing through her into Aoi, "Good it FINALLY worked."

"What do you mean finally? Take a closer look."

She felt for the mark and saw what he meant, "Oh bloody."

"So, like it or not, I guess you're gonna be my support."

"Bloody hell. Just change the cards already."

"Yes ma'am."

*Outside*

They watched in amazement as the mark appeared glowing brighter than ever. Aoi raised his sword and yelled out the names of each card in turn, as he changed them, every second as strong as he was the last. Everyone watched in awe and no one noticed Aya's energy level plummeting. When he finally finished changing the last card and the glowing subsided, her hands dropped to her sides, "I guess it needs a little tweaking." and she fell, unconscious. Aki dashed to catch his sister, and glared at Aoi to back off, as he too had turned around to catch her before she fell. They fussed over her and Tomoyo whispered to Syaoran, "You know, they bear a striking resemblance to Touya and Sakura."

He smiled and nodded, "Looks like we've got another sister complex to deal with. Pity. I have a feeling that he'll have to start letting go of her and trusting Aoi very soon."

YAYZ!!! DONE!!!! Anyhow, I'm BEGGING!! As far as I know, I STILL dun have any reviews *whimper, whimper*. Ah well. Anyway R+R! Ja ne!