Twin Star
Chapter 11: Catching Up
"Would any of you like anything to drink?" Offered Wei, looking over at Tomoyo, Eriol and Umi. Sakura had excused herself and went to change out of her orange juice-stained night gown. Xiaolong had escaped to his room, deciding to let the others catch up on old times and what not.
"I just want some water," Umi smiled, her hands clasped together in her lap in a lady-like manner.
"I'll take water as well," said Tomoyo, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Soda, please," requested Eriol.
"But daddy! Soda is very bad for you!" Protested the little girl, looking over at her father.
"Oh very well," he sighed good-naturedly. "Water it is."
"I'll be right back," smiled Wei, disappearing into the kitchen. He reappered moments later with a tray consisting of four glasses of water. A couple of second later Sakura dashed downstairs, dressed in a long dark green skirt and a three-quarter sleeved shirt of a lighter shade of green.
She moved over to the sofa and sat down next to Umi, grabbing the fourth glass of water off the tray Wei was balancing in front of her. He then disappeared, mumbling something about preparing rooms and checking up on a sick-in-bed Ayame.
"Alright," smiled the emerald-eyed girl. "Explain how Umi was able to make herself light as a feather, and how she knew about Xiaolong."
*
Upstairs, Syaoran's twin had just exited the bathroom and began making his way down the hallway towards his room when he heard his name mentioned from downstairs. He walked over and sat down at the top of the staircase, listening intently.
*
Tomoyo smiled back as if she had been waiting for the question all along.
"Long story short. Eriol's grandmother (by marriage mind you) came from a family of sorcerors and sorceresses. I guess the 'magic gene' skipped two generations and decided to show itself in our little Umi."
"Wow," breathed Sakura, looking down at the dark-haired girl beside her. "That's awesome," she smiled. "But why didn't you tell me you had a child? And how can she possibly be 4? You guys left 2 years ago after your's and Eriol's wedding."
"I'm faster," grinned the little girl.
"What she means to say," explained Eriol, "is that she doesn't grow at normal speed. She grows a lot faster."
And as if to prove it, Umi's form flickered a bit before changing into that of an 8 years old's.
"Cool! I'm 8 now ^.^" She announced happily, gathering all her hair to one side, examining how much longer it had gotten.
An awed silence followed...
"That's the first time we've seen her change," said Tomoyo, blinking a couple of times.
"How come her clothes didn't rip?" Sakura asked in a hushed whisper.
Umi looked up.
"They grow with me," she smiled, scratching her neck, completely unaware of the fact her hair was quickly putting itself up in a ponytail.
Snapping out of her reverie, Sakura turned towards Eriol.
"Will she always grow so fast?"
"Well, from the information we found in a diary left behind by my grandmother, Umi will keep growing at an alarming speed till she...you know...gets her monthly and all. Then the growing process will go about normally."
"Well did the diary say around what age sorceresses usually get it?" Asked Sakura, a bit TOO interested.
"No it didn't," sighed Tomoyo, absentmindedly stroking her daughters long shiny hair.
"I'm gonna get it when I'm 15 and a half..." mumbled Umi, yet it seemed no one had heard since they had gone on chattering about everything and anything.
"When exactly was she born then?"
"Three days ago..."
"Oh my lord! Really?"
"Yes. I was in labor for less than an hour and surprisingly there wasn't THAT much pain..."
It was well past one in the morning when Umi slipped away unnoticed and ran up the stairs. Emerging at the top, she found that the one named Xiaolong was sprawled on the floor, obviously asleep.
"Xiaolong," she whispered, poking him repeatedly in the chest, sitting on his stomach.
The young man groaned, blinking his eyes open and lifting hishead up and inch or so off the ground.
"Who the hell are you?" He mumbled, letting his head fall back down.
"What? You've already forgotten me? Oh the paaaain," Umi cried out exaggeratively, clutching at her heart.
"Umi?! What the fuck?" He said, recognizing her only slightly changed voice.
"What the fuck!" Umi mimicked, grinning like a maniac as she waited for a reaction.
"Oh shit! Don't say that!" He exclaimed, sitting up abruptly, causing the dark haired girl to slip off his stomach and onto his lap.
"I know I know," she chanted, waving her hand up and down in a bored-like expression. "You shouldn't either though."
"You can't tell me what to do, kid," grinned the handsome young man, ruffling the girl's hair.
"I just did," she replied, pasting the same grin on her face before standing up and off his lap, ruffling HIS hair.
Chuckling, Xiaolong got up as well, stretching a bit before making his way to his room, Umi following closely.
"So you really do grow faster than normal," he stated, flicking on the light switch. "I thought I was hearing wrong."
"Nope. I've been living for 4 days now and I'm already 8," explained the light-blue-eyed girl, plopping down on the enormous bed.
"That's cool," muttered Xiaolong, rummaging through his drawers for a pair of long comfy shorts to sleep in.
"They're in the third drawer on the left side underneath your black underwear ^^," smiled Umi, kicking her dangling legs back and forth.
Yue Moon: *sigh* So bored. Nothing really to comment about. What do you think of Umi?