A/N: Thank you Sliver-moonstar and Vickietori for your nice reviews! A big arigato to you both! Anyway on with the fic!

Every story has a beginning. Our story takes place not in Tomoeda, Japan but in Hong Kong, China three thousand years ago.

"Come back here girl!" yelled the owner of a food stand as he ran after her at full force

"Darn" complained Tao as she ran at lightning speed while still clutching on to two tomatoes "He's gotten faster! Oh well it won't matter".

Tao stopped running and turned to face the man.

"What the heck is she doing?" silently asked the food stand owner

Tao then put a smirk on her face and then took off at lightning fast speed.

"Not this again!" complained the owner of the food cart "She runs like a demon!"

The man then turned around and started to head back to his cart to make sure that nobody else stole from it.

Tao, who was cleverly hidden in a dark alley, looked back at the man running back to his cart. She smirked and said, "I don't run like a demon, it's you who runs slower than turtle".

Tao's attention then focused on the tomatoes.

"I better get these to Enlai before they start to spoil"

Tao then took off again.

Tao finally stopped when she reached an abandoned old house that was practically hidden in the shadows of the tall buildings surrounding it. Tao stepped inside and called out "Enlai! I brought you some food!"

Then a little boy stepped out who was not a day older than seven. He had short dark brown that looked sort of messy. He stared at Tao with his big brown eyes.

"Hi little bro" welcomed Tao "I got you something for your birthday!"

Tao handed him a tomato. Enlai's eyes sparkled and he snatched the tomato out of Tao's hand and said with his mouth full "I can't believe it! Thanks Tao! The last time we had tomatoes was ..along time ago!"

When Enali was done with his tomato he wiped the juices off of his face and asked Tao "Tao could you tell me the story of mom and dad again?!"

Tao smiled and put Enlai in her lap as she started the tale "Well once upon a time there was a man who had a ship and everyday he would go out and catch a pile of fish that some people say was as high as the clouds!"

"Hurry and get to the part about me!" commanded Enlai

"Be patient" scolded Tao "Anyway there was also a woman who sold jewelry. There was a rumor that she even made jewelry for the emperor! One day the man met the woman at the market one day and started talking, pretty soon they realized that they loved each other! They got married at a quiet little temple. 1 year later they had a little baby girl that ."

"they named Tao!" interrupted Enlai

"That's right!" said Tao "Well Tao was an only child for 6 years and was getting very lonely so the man and the woman had a little baby boy named Enlai!"

"Yeah!" cheered Enlai "That is my favorite part!"

"Well they were a family for around two months and they were all very happy that they had each other. Then the woman got very sick and the man had to work extra hard so that they could pay all those trips to the doctor and Tao and Enlai barely got to see their father and spent all their time watching over their mom. Their father said that he heard of a plant that could cure any kind of disease. The next day he headed of to the mountains to look for the plant but he never did come back. Then that day when mother slowly died Tao promised that she would take care of Enali until their father returned but so far he hasn't returned."

"Will daddy ever come back?" asked Enlai

"Of course he will you just wait one day we will all live together again!" answered Tao

Enlai yawned.

"It looks like it's time for someone to go to bed!" said Tao

"Good night Tao"

"Good night Enlai"

When Enlai fell fast asleep Tao stared up at the moon above and said to herself "Face it Tao dad's never coming back! But it would be nice if I could just fly up to heaven and see my mom again. I miss her!"

Tao then fell asleep.

But what was so special about this night is that it was the night that a new year would begin and at the stroke of twelve a.m. When the twelfth hour came a million different fireworks lit up the sky but one little firework was aimed too low and hit Tao and Enlai's house. Fires quickly grew.

Tao smelled smoke and quickly got up and saw the flames. She ran to Enlai and tried to wake him up. When he wouldn't wake up after shaking him she took Enlai in her arms and jumped out the window.

Villagers dumped buckets and buckets of water on the burning building. Tao stood there paralyzed on the city street watching the house that their father built burn to the ground. Tao cried silently as Enlai slept peacefully in her arms.

Enlai woke up and asked "Tao what are we going to do now?"

Tao looked at him and said "I don't know"

The next morning the fire was out and Tao and Enlai stood were their house used to be. Tao took the house's ashes in her hands and cried not knowing what to do.

"Hello there" said an unfamiliar voice.

Tao turned around and saw a man that was dressed in Chinese clothes and had small glasses on the end of his nose.

Tao got in front of Enlai and demanded, "Who are you?!"

"I have many names: genius, brilliant, madman, and menace are just a few of them but my legal name is Clow Reed" answered Clow Reed.

"I noticed that you've lost your house" continued Clow Reed

"My aren't you smart!" sarcastically answered Tao

"I 'm offering you a job" elaborated Clow Reed "as my apprentice and a roof over your head".

"How much are thy willing to pay?" asked Tao raising an eyebrow

"100 yen a day" answered Clow Reed "Your salary might increase over time"

Tao thought it over '100 yen isn't that much but it's better than nothing and I have a roof over my head while I can search for a higher paying job'.

Tao then said "Mr. Clow I'm willing to accept your offer!"

A/N: Sounds interesting huh? Well review if you want but you don't have to. I would greatly appreciate it if you do.