"Class, we have a new student. Everybody welcome…Hiiragizawa Eriol."

Nadeshiko's Cut

"And then, she walks up to Gabriel and goes, Excuse me? I didn't see you doing any work. And believe it or not, God himself pardoned him. can you imagine?" Nadeshiko joined in laughing along with the rest of her friends.

"Ne, Nadeshiko, you're so naïve and innocent!"

"Aren't we all? I mean, wasn't that the pass to get in here?"

"Well, some people positively abuse the privilege." The group of angels paused and then broke out laughing.

"Nadeshiko, what's going on with your daughter and those cards?" She paused a moment.

"Well, she caught them all. And nothing bad has happened since then."

"Don't say anything, you'll jinx it!" But Nadeshiko wasn't listening.

"Seems like it's already too late," she said, pointing with one slender finger. Down below, Kinomoto Sakura was running like mad from torrents of water that she could not control.

"Oh, Nadeshiko...that's okay, she'll turn out fine!" The angel grimaced when Sakura was narrowly saved from serious injury by Kerberos. She turned to the mother, a weak smile on her face.

"Nadeshiko? Nadeshiko?" she turned to the group of angels.

"Someone's trying to hurt my Sakura-chan...someone's gotten on my bad side..."

"Nadeshiko! You can't leave! You know the rules..." it was too late, as she took off towards the ground, hurtling along at breakneck speed. The rest of the angels facefaulted.

"Ne, I feel sorry for whomever that was..."

~*~

Hiiragizawa Eriol watched as the group ran away.

"Mou, she can't even summon her staff? This is going to be harder than I thought."

"Ruby Moon, you know your only duty is to stop the Mistress' brother from revealing Yue to his false form."

"That's right! I get the fun of being with my TO-YA-KUN!" The other two sweatdropped at the sight.

"Spinel Sun, did you get the reading for the remaining cards?" And for the town?" The cat nodded.

"I estimate half a year for the rest of the cards, before they begin to have serious troubles. And for the town itself, it's strang-AAAAH!" He found himself suddenly pressed, hard, against the tree trunk. Looking out of the side of his eye, he saw that Ruby was in the same condition, while Eriol-sama was slightly less effected.

With great effort, Eriol threw off the paralysis. Standing at guard, he looked around.

"Dare? Come on out!" A feather landed on his sleeve, and he looked up. It was a...ghost? But ghosts...

There was no time to think about it. He barely moved away as a beam of light blasted through where he had been just milliseconds before, destroying everything in its path. He shot a ring of fire, but the lady simply sidestepped it and threw out her hands. Instantly, Eriol could feel his body freeze. What had knocked him before was mere grains in comparison to this attack.

He willed himself to collapse, and when the lady reduced the power, he threw it off and called out a sealing spell. She brushed it off like cobwebs and shaped her light power into a stick vaguely resembling his staff. She was...mocking him.

Eriol stopped for a second then raised his own staff high. He screeched a High Seal command, feeling the intensity of it seriously reduce his magical reserves. His throat was extremely sore, and he would have to fix that soon if he wished to be able to speak within the next month. He stopped, relaxing for a bit and watching the still form of the lady. Who was she?

Eriol's eyes widened as the seal began to crack. Within seconds, it shattered. She looked around hurriedly, then gathered up all that power and blasted it back at him. The force of the impact slammed him against the bottom of the tree. Instantly she was upon him, a frozen spell levelled right at his neck. He wouldn't be able to survive an impact at this proximity, and he spread out his arms in surrender. The lady backed away, cautiously, and he placed his staff before him. He'd beat her later; now, the pressing thing was figuring out who she was. He heard two soft thumps behind him, and his two guardians stood beside him.

"Onamae wa?" The lady unfroze her spell and dissolved it, taking her time to make sure no remnants were left. Then she touched him with the end of her stick, and he felt his throat numb.

::Watashi...Kinomoto Nadeshiko des.:: Eriol looked at her.

"Demo...you...died..."

::Hai.::

"Then..?" Nadeshiko answered with a question of her own.

::What were you doing to my daughter?"" Eriol smiled.

"Your daughter must transform all the cards into her own in order to keep them imprisoned."

::And...onamae wa?::

"Hiiragizawa Eriol des...the reincarnation of Clow Reed." Nadeshiko stopped, then burst out in cheerful peals of laughter.

::Ah...gomen-nasai. I've talked to Clow-kun. Cheerful chap, but I daresay I didn't see the similarity until now.::

"Iie. I take it then I have your permission to help your daughter?"

::Of course! Just do me one favour,:: she leaned in furtively, ::help that little Li Syaoran boy with his...feelings for my daughter.:: She straightened and laughed. Eriol held out one hand.

"Kinomoto-san, I believe this will be the start of a beautiful friendship."

::Watashi mo, to 'Nadeshiko' ii.::

"Hai, Nadeshiko-san." Eriol watched as she drifted up, slowly dissipating. Then, he turned to his guardians, who both looked quite shell-shocked.

"Staffs, crushes, overprotective ghosts with psychic powers...well, I think that's enough for one night!"

~*~

AN: So...What did you think? I like it, personally, although the scene with Nadeshiko was a bit rushed and hasty until I added the bit about meeting Clow-san in heaven. The Japanese is just put in there, I don't guarantee and sort of correctness. For the record, this is what I think...

Dare - Who [is there]?
Oname wa? - Who are you? (this is different from dare, which is what Sakura uses in her dreams a lot.)
___ des - My name is ___
Watashi (mo) -- (same with) me/I
to ___ ii - ____ is fine (in Japan, you call people you don't know well by their surnames/family names)
Gomen(-nasai) - tell me you know this one...Sorry, and the nasai is optional.
Demo - but
Ano - Um
Hai/Iie - Yes/No

Well, I don't know how right that is, but it would get you across. I have in mind just 2-3 more chapters, so this is going to end soon. And that means I have to figure out what to write next...I have all these things, just have to type them up.

Please review, and thank yous to all who have already.

Until next time,
wicherwill ^_^

P.S. I'm kinda on the pathway to being really sick, so if I don't update tomorrow like usual, it's prolly cause of that.