Chapter Ten- Cake
~*~*~*~*~*~ = Sakura's POV
I==D====== = Syaoran's POV
------;---@---;------ = Eriol's POV
o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'o/'= Tomoyo's POV
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* = Nakuru's POV
'___' = Thinking "_____" = Speech
_ O! I feel so proud! ^-^ I'm actually making some progress with this story! Now if I can just stop slacking off between chapters...I may actually finish this!
Oh yes, and thank you Dacia! I realize this thing is pretty sketchy, I'll try to edit it more and fit the details in better. (as painful as it is to read over my stuff 'cus the more I do, the more confused I get...lol) Also, thanks very much to Lady DBLA for her unwavering support of me! ^-^
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I was tidying the bed as a light knocking came at my door. I'm an early riser, and had already dressed and freshened up. Today, I chose out of my roomy closet a pair of white capris and a beige, chinese, long-sleeved top. It was still January, and still a bit chilly outside, so I found a lavender jacket to go over it all. That closet is amazing! Every time I step in it changes! My hair was in a casual bun, slightly messy, but sufficient.
"Just a second!" Waves of sunlight cascaded through the gauzy half open curtains. I flung the windows wide open and a playful breeze bantered with the sheets. I hurried to the door, humming. Such a nice day, maybe later Sakura and I could go down to the garden again and explore that body of water I had seen reflecting the moonlight the night before.
"Ohayou! Tomoyo-chan!" Nakuru chirped.
I smiled. "Ohayou Gozaimasu, Nakuru-ch-brlblblbl" I blushed and looked down at my stomach, who obviously wanted to be fed. "Ah, gomen nasai." I said sheepishly.
"Heehee, I was just about to call you down to breakfast! Hope you're as starved as you sound, 'cus I made pancakes!"
"I'd love to try them, I'm sure they're very good." 'How does a butterfly make pancakes?' I shrugged off the question. 'Things are strange here, I just need to accept it.'
This morning, instead of going downstairs, we went instead down a few corridors, and turned onto a cozy, sunny room with windows that reached the floor, with lovely, white, Egyptian silk curtains to match. Comfy couches were spread out around the room with flowery throw pillows on them. Everything was either white or a cheerful pastel yellow, and vases of yellow daffodils dotted side-tables. In the center of the room was a glass, medium-sized table where there were five chairs. A slender, dark blue cat sat on one, and grinned when it saw us approach.
"Ohayou gozaimasu, Daidouji-san, Nakuru." The cat greeted.
"Ohayou gozaimasu, Hiiragizawa-san." I bowed a bit. "Gomen ne, I hope I didn't keep you waiting."
"It's fine, I just came here a little while ago."
"Anou..." I glanced at the two other empty seats as Nakuru and I sat down, well, actually I sat and Nakuru perched on a napkin. "Where are Sakura-chan and Li-san?"
"Oh..sleeping in probably." he smiled, a little too much? "Don't worry. Besides, since I woke up before Li-san, I got to choose the place we have breakfast. I think this little nook is a little nicer than the dining hall."
"It's very charming." I gazed around the room which was so bright and cheerful, it made me feel that way as well. I'll tell Sakura about the lake later when she wakes up.
"Here! Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes!" Nakuru fluttered anxiously over a towering plate of pancakes. "Try some!"
I took a bite of one, and Eriol did the same. Our faces were identical, calm, blank and....pleasant. Maybe he really felt like that, but inside I swallowed the chunk as fast as I could and fought with all my might against the tiny muscles of my face.
"What do you think?" Nakuru asked happily, obviously very proud of her creations.
"They're very um...sweet." I forced myself to grin.
"Yes, very, very sugary." Eriol agreed. For a split second his face revealed his true feelings, and I could tell they were similar to mine.
"Great I'm glad you like them!" the oblivious Nakuru giggled. "Have some more!"
"NO!" we screamed, then looked at each other with surprise. At the same time we sat back down, as we had both stood up to voice our opinions, and at the same time, collected ourselves and regained composure.
"I mean, they're very good, but um, but what are these?" I pointed at something, anything.
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"Oh! Those are creampuffs, I didn't make them, the kitchen did." Nakuru narrated.
"The kitchen made them?"
"Yeah! I'll walk you down their after breakfast and show you!"
I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Tomoyo silently. 'Smart girl.' I thought, then frowning slightly as I wondered if she'd get suspicious about where Sakura had gone. 'Ah well, I better help her with this charade.'
"We'll all go down and show you." I purred.
~*~*~*~*~*~Down in the cellar~*~*~*~*~*~
I woke up to the noise of a heavy pounding sound. "Tomoyo-chan?" I saw Syaoran throwing himself at the cellar door. 'Oh that's right, we're still in the cellar.' "Oi! Li-san! Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself!"
"You want to get out of here don't you?" He growled and went back to the door. "and besides, I figure they'll hear us sooner or later." There were already long gouge marks on the door where I was sure he'd been pawing at. His dark brown fur was already covered in wood chips and dust from the effort.
I bit my lip. With my magic, I could easily get us out of here, but I'm not so sure I want Syaoran to know about it.
I==D======Still Down in the cellarI==D======
I frowned. With my magic, I could easily get out of here, but I'm not so sure I want Sakura to know.
'Wait a minute..' I closed my eyes in concentration, then mentally slapped myself for forgetting. Sakura seemed to realize the same thing, too, because we both shouted at exactly the same time.
"YOU HAVE MAGIC!!"
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I laughed at the sight of the dark blue cat, sitting in the flour bag. He had tripped on the rolling pin I had dropped on the floor. "Gomen nasai! Hiragizawa-kun! Daijoubu ka?"
Fur standing on end, he managed a gruff. "Daijoubu." After breakfast we had all come down to the kitchen, where Nakuru showed me just how the kitchen made cream puffs, as well as the rest of our meals. All the supposedly inanimate objects down here, were clearly very much animate, and were whirring busily around the room as though they had minds of their own. It had taken a bit to get over the shock, but then it didn't affect me to much. After all, when you lived with Sakuru-chan, you got used to magic. That's when I had suggested baking a cake. And so, here we were.
"Ne, Eriol-sama, you look like a ghost!" Nakuru teased.
I was puzzled when the cat's eyes had dilated and in a low voice replied. "A ghost..yeah."
Nakuru seemed to understand though, because she said sorry, and then there was a silent period. Soon however, we forgot all about the ghost cat.
"Aiiiee!! Is it done yet? Is it done yet?"
"No, Nakuru-chan! We still have to bake it. Then, it won't be ready for decorating for another hour." I carefully placed the cake batter in the oven and fired it up. "Let's all meet back here in an hour, and the cake should be done by then."
"Sure." Eriol smiled, then said. "I need to go check on something anyway."
"I'll come with you!" Nakuru chirruped.
"Well, then I'm going to go take a walk." I decided. We said our see ya laters' and went our separate ways.
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I smiled as I gazed down into the viewing mirror. 'Well that took a while for them to figure out.' I thought.
"Shouldn't Sakura-chan have known about Li-san's powers before just now?" Nakuru voiced my own question.
"Well, yeah, I suppose.." I swished my tail thoughtfully. "She certainly is strong enough to, but then again, she didn't even notice I had powers either. Then again, she was probably just very confused when she just arrived here, not to mention how she flinches whenever Li-san is around....she probably never was able to calm down enough to sense anything. Until now of course." (A/N- I hope that bit mends some of the holes I left in the story! ^-^')
"So, does this mean that they can come out of the cellar now?"
I sighed. "Well, I'd really wanted to keep them in there longer, but as they've both realized each others powers, there's no way I can keep them in. Unless..." I smirked, for the second time in a long while, things felt just like old days.
"How exactly are you going to do this then?"
"Well, I won't exactly keep them in the cellar, but magic or not, I want to give them some alone time, just to get to know each other." pause for effect, followed by a sinister chuckle "And that is why, I'm transporting them to the labyrinth!"
The labyrinth was a huge and elaborate stone maze under the palace, which was created at the very start of the Li clan as a prison for their captured enemies. Until a regular prison was built, that was where they all went, and none ever got out. The more recent generations used it as a training arena.
"The labyrinth?" Nakuru asked skeptically. "But Li-san used to play in there all the time as a kid! He'll definitely remember how to get out!"
"Of course not. Yes, he did play in the labyrinth as a kid, but that doesn't mean he ever found his way out. Besides, it wasn't playing really, it was part of his training, and also, the labyrinth changes from time to time, so it's never always the same maze."
"Eriol-sama, since they have powers, can't they just blast through the walls?"
I smiled. "The maze will change every time you try to." (A/N- think of "The Maze" card)
"Well how are they supposed to get out?!"
"It's not impossible, just hard."
"...."
"I'll help them if they get really lost."
"...."
I sighed, and padded over to an dusty shelf. I carefully picked up a large bell, strung with red ribbons with my teeth. "Remember this?" (A/N note- same once as in the episode with "The Maze" card)
"Oh.....! But, how are you going to transport them to the labyrinth anyway?"
"I'm not totally weak! I can still manage it."
"It'll really drain you though, won't it?" Nakuru fluttered with worry and landed on my nose. "Master! Please don't use all your energy up like that! It's not good for you!"
"Don't worry, it's a piece of cake. Would you rather us stay like we are?"
"Well, no, but.."
"No buts, I'm doing it." I frowned. "Well actually, now that I think of it, I can't do it right now, I'll have to wait until 12 tonight, otherwise how will I hold the staff?" I mused aloud.
"Well, I guess I can't prevent you from doing that, but I will prevent us from making Tomoyo-chan wait any longer!" A small clock on the wall chimed signaling the end of an hour.
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"Aiieee! You're such a talented cook!"
Tomoyo smiled demurely. "No, I've just had a lot of practice at home, and besides, both of you helped me with it."
"It's true." Eriol agreed. "This looks very good, I could never have made such a thing by myself." He put one final strawberry in the center.
"Let's go show it to Li-sama and Sakura-chan!" I suggested. Eriol shot a warning look at me. "Er, I mean, let's save it as a surprise for...lunch?" Eriol shook his head casually."...no dinner." My master gave the tiniest of nods. "Right dinner! As dessert!"
"Ok, whatever you think is best." Tomoyo didn't seem to notice the awkwardness.