Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. I never have and I never will. I think the idea has probably been used quite a few times, but hey, oh well. Can't win everything. *shrugs*
Summary: It is believed that a coin cast into a wishing well grants wishes. With a small splash, the coin lands in the water, slowly sinking to the bottom. Syaoran tossed his coin in and asked a wish... and he got an answer. Thing is, was it the right one?
Notes: So I rewrote the thing. Sorry. The chapters were a little short, so I extended them, and added some things to make it less confusing. Sorry if some of you still find it confusing. Anyhow, since I'm short for time, I'll get this moving quickly. Enjoy!
Wishing Well ~ Wish of Indecision
"Syaoran! We have to head back!" Syaoran heard the familiar voice of his cousin calling him. She was good like that. She always let him know.
Syaoran turned and nodded, putting away the sword that he had been training with. His eyes cast to the sky as his thoughts wandered without him. His head was here, in China, but his heart was back in Japan, the place that he had left over three years ago. He kept in regular contact with a girl named Kinomoto Sakura via e-mail. Syaoran had helped her capture a set of magical spirits called the Clow Cards, and he'd been with her all along the way as she transformed them into her own. Unbeknownst to himself at the time, he ended up falling in love with her as well. He'd never had the courage to tell her. Maybe it was the fear of rejection, or the fear that the feelings he had for her wouldn't be mutual. Syaoran didn't know exactly.
Syaoran felt a tap on his shoulder and a voice barged into his thoughts, "Hello? Earth to Syaoran? You there?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin, but then he noticed that it was only Meiling. This was his cousin, Meiling Li. She was a feisty girl, but he'd seen the sides of her that were gentler. Her reddish brown eyes stared steadily at him, and her black hair was in its usual odango style. Syaoran began edging away a little to put the other sword away, but he tripped over his own feet and fell ungracefully on the ground. Not very good at all.
"Need some help up?" Meiling asked, holding a hand out to help him up.
He nodded and took her hand and she hauled him to his feet. Meiling was very strong when it came to martial arts and physical strength, and she was smart too. Even though she had no magical lineage, she had definitely been a help during the time of capturing the Clow Cards.
"I need to go check my e-mail," said Syaoran. "I'll be in my room, Meiling." He turned and left, leaving Meiling puzzled at his abrupt departure.
Syaoran walked into the house, opening the door and shutting it behind him. His room was upstairs and he saw two of his sisters in the kitchen. "Syaoran!" Fei Mei called. "Where are you going?"
"Upstairs," Syaoran stated. He started walking up the stairs, Sakura constantly on his mind, and he almost walked right into his mother. Syaoran hastily stepped back to avoid bumping into her again. "Sorry, Mama. I wasn't looking where I was going."
"Quite all right, Syaoran," his mother said, and she walked past him. She never seemed to lose the regal air that she held, and her aura that he could constantly sense. It was strong, very strong.
Syaoran stepped aside and opened the door to his room. He walked inside; heaving a sigh of relief as the door clicked shut. Syaoran flopped down onto his bed, staring at the ceiling, when he felt a sudden calling. It sounded a bit like Sakura's voice, but he couldn't exactly hear the words that she was saying very well because her voice was so faint. He guessed that was a result of him being in China and her being in Japan. As his eyes went to his computer, he felt something pulling him to it, so he got up from his bed and went to sit in his computer chair.
Syaoran turned on the computer to see the New Mail icon flashing at him. He suddenly got a sinking feeling in his gut that the e-mail was from Sakura and that it wasn't going to be good. His intuition was telling him that. He knew it with certainty. He had to see what it was. Syaoran clicked the new mail icon and his e-mail inbox appeared. Sure enough, there was the e-mail from Sakura. The subject was titled 'Urgent!'.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It had to be for her to e-mail him at this time of day. Usually she waited until later in the night, when she knew that he would be online to instant message her. This must be urgent. He opened the e-mail and began reading. His eyebrows creased even more. Here is what the e-mail said:
Hi, Syaoran,
I know that I should have talked to you later, and I was going to call, but I had a feeling that you wouldn't be home, so I felt that e-mailing you would probably be the fastest way for you to get this message. Sorry for any inconveniences that I've caused you! Anyway, I have a BIG problem. I was talking to Kero about it this morning, when he suggested that I tell you about it too.
There's been big trouble here in Tomoeda. The Cards have been going wild, and I've managed to contain them so far, but I don't know what to do! On top of it all, Touya went missing this morning and I don't know where he is! He usually leaves a note or something. It's night here at the moment, and he hasn't returned... I'm seriously getting worried. I think that Touya's disappearance could also be linked to the Cards' strange behaviour. I don't know what to do Syaoran!
Oh no! Kero's started going strange too! Syaoran, I have to go now. I need you here in Japan! Can you come? Please, say yes! I need your help! I have to go.
Sakura
There was a knock on his door, but he was still deep in thought after reading Sakura's email. This was definitely very urgent, and needed dealing with. She asked him to come to Japan... but could he go back there? He was needed here...
"Hey, Syaoran?" Meiling poked her head into the room and for the second time today, Syaoran jumped. She had scared him.
His eyes narrowed a little. "What is it?" he asked. "I'm in the middle of something."
Meiling was about to answer when her eyes widened. She'd obviously caught sight of the e-mail that was still on his computer screen. Syaoran hastily tried shutting it off. Meiling walked into his room and stood beside him, holding his hand still so that she could read the e-mail. When she was finished, she shut it off and looked at him, bewildered. "Syaoran, what's happening?" she asked.
He looked away from her piercing stare. "I don't know exactly," he said quietly. "You read that she asked me to go back to Japan, but I'm needed here, aren't I?"
"Of course!" Meiling said, but a smile twitched at the corners of her lips. "But... that's never stopped you before, has it?"
Syaoran looked back at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
Meiling sighed. "Geez, Syaoran, you can be as dense as Kinomoto sometimes! Just because you're needed here doesn't mean that you can't go back to Japan! I'll make up your excuses, you should just go!"
He looked away again. "I don't know..." Syaoran whispered. "I have to think this through." He stood up and brushed past Meiling, closing the door on his way out.
Syaoran heard the words that she called from behind his door; "It's your choice, Syaoran! Don't let us hold you back!" He smiled at her words. She'd really changed in the past few years. When I arrived back from Japan, I'd broken our engagement, feeling that I could never marry her. My heart belonged with Sakura, and with her it had always stayed, even over the three years that we hadn't seen each other.
Syaoran shut the front door behind him as he wandered out of the house, absorbed in his thoughts. Maybe it was time to pay a visit to a place that he hadn't been in a long time...
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
Syaorna sat down under a cherry blossom tree and focused his eyes into looking at the water, looking through his reflection into the bottom of the pool. It had been a long time since he had last been here, and he welcomed the familiar sights of the fountain, the park, the water, the trees... it was such a beautiful place.
He pulled out a coin and tossed it into the wishing pool. It landed with a soft thud at the bottom and settled on the hard concrete with all the other coins that were there. His wish was simple, but the outcome of it would be hard to do. "What should I do... go back to Japan or stay here?" he whispered.
His eyes went from the water to the sky and a picture of Sakura's laughing face filled his mind. Then came the stern faces of the elders, looking disapproving. However, the image of Sakura won out and his mind was made up. He stood. It was time to go back to Japan.
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
He sighed. The news was going to be very hard to break to his family. Syaoran knew that Meiling would be overjoyed because he'd finally made up his own mind without any outside influences, but could he say the same for his mother...? No, telling her would be a whole new story. His sisters would probably be very happy for him; they seemed to know everything that's on his brain, maybe that's part of being family. Strangely enough, Mama always seems to know everything that he's thinking too. Could she read minds? He wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. Maybe she taught his sisters how to do it too... Hm... it could be a little more difficult than he first originally thought.
His mind went back to Sakura and Japan. What was going on over there? Sakura had been very vague in her e-mail and he knew that she wouldn't have enough time to call him on the phone. It sounded like she was dealing with a lot over there and Syaoran didn't exactly want to bother her in her search for her brother. No, he had to call her. It was probably the only way that he'd be able to really find out what was going on.
He walked inside the house and to the phone receiver. Fuutie was talking on the phone to another of her friends, and Syaoran was jumping from foot to foot, waiting in anticipation for her to finish up her call. She finally caught sight of him just as he was about to give up hope of ever being able to go on the phone. She cut short her conversation with her friend and hung up. Syaoran jumped for the phone, but with her being taller (and older) than him, it was a bit hard for him to reach it. Fuutie had held the phone high above her head.
"What do you want, Syaoran? I was having a nice chat to Aiko, back in Japan," Fuutie stated.
Syaoran jumped again, but to no avail, he still couldn't reach the damned machine. "I need to talk to Sakura. Now can I please have the phone?"
Fuutie was looking surprised. "You mean Sakura, as in Kinomoto Sakura?" she asked.
He nodded hastily, jumping for the phone again. This time Syaoran was able to grab it as Fuutie relinquished her tight grip. "Thanks, Fuutie!" he called as he quickly dialled Sakura's number and ran up to his room while it was ringing. There must've been about ten or eleven dial tones before a breathless voice said, "Hello?"
His heart jumped. It was Sakura. No, he had to get down to business. He had to find out what was going on. "Sakura, it's Syaoran. I'm in China," he quickly said. "Listen, I'm coming to Japan, but I need to know what's going on."
He heard a sigh at the other end. "Syaoran, I don't have much time here, Storm has just gone from its card and I need to find it before it wreaks any havoc. I was just on his way out when you rang. I have to go, Syaoran. I'm sorry that I can't talk later, but this is just the way that it has to be. I'll talk to you when you get to Japan. Meet me at the airport at five tomorrow morning. I'll probably be up early chasing the cards anyway. Have to go now, I can see Storm's spirit in the sky. Bye!"
Syaoran heard the sound of a disconnect and the abrupt monotone of the ending call severed his only communication with Sakura. It was settled, he had to catch the earliest flight to Tomoeda that he could. Syaoran was certain that his mother could help.
He hung up the phone and stared at it for a few moments.
"There's a fire around here somewhere," a teasing voice said. "I can smell the smoke."
Syaoran looked up with a start to see Meiling. "What? What do you mean?" he asked. "Fire? Where?!"
Meiling walked him through to the dining room. "I was just kidding you know..." Meiling stated, as she saw him rushing off to get his sword and talismans. She grinned. "You looked so down and serious, you hardly ever smile these days. Geez, what's wrong? Did something happen to Kinomoto? Have you made up your mind whether you're going to Japan or not? I'm going to have to make something up to tell your sisters either way, so you'd better tell him now, otherwise I'll just phone Kinomoto and find out from there." Meiling cocked her head. "Hello, are you going to answer me or not?"
He shook his head to clear it.
"I guess I'll take that as a no then," Meiling replied, going to walk into the kitchen. "I'll just be on the phone to Kinomoto then."
His brain finally registered what Meiling was saying. "Meiling! No, please don't do that! Sakura's really busy!"
"So, are you going to tell him or not?" Meiling asked again, placing her hands on her hips, looking calculating. She seemed to be in another of her extreme curiosity moods again.
Syaoran nodded. "Yeah, I'm going. You don't have to tell his sisters or his mother anything, I'll tell them myself. I think it's only right if I tell Mama... I don't want her to worry." He cast his gaze to the floor, scuffing at the floor with his toe.
"Hey, Syaoran? Look at him, okay?" Meiling asked.
Syaoran looked up, surprised to see her facial expression full of understanding. "M-Meiling?"
"I'm going to come with you," she stated, searching his eyes with her own for any signs of resistance.
His head and heart were saying 'no no!', but really, Syaoran felt grateful that she wanted to accompany him to Japan. She'd be able to help him through anything. She'd always been there for him in the past, and he knew that she'd always be there for him now and in the future. "Are you sure?"
"Kinomoto is my friend, Syaoran. I want to make sure that she's okay, and I can't stay here worrying about you either. I'm coming, no matter what you say," Meiling promulgated quietly, so that he could just hear. She hugged him, and he could sense that she was smiling.
"Thank you, Meiling. I really appreciate it," said Syaoran quietly.
"It's no problem, Syaoran," she replied, stepping back from her embrace. "Now, weren't we going to tell your mother about our impromptu trip to Japan?"
He'd rather bang his head on a desk than say that to his mother's face, but what had to be done had to be done. Syaoran gulped, swallowed his fear, tried to empty his mind of all things that would hold him back and prepared to be face to face with his mother for the second time today. This was going to be very hard...
Syaoran felt a poke in his back. "Yo, Syaoran. Let's get moving," Meiling said, poking him again between his shoulder blades.
Syaoran inched forward a little bit. "Okay okay! I'm going!" he said. His feet went automatically up the stairs, heading towards his mother's room. He wasn't looking forward to this at all, not one bit. Talking to his mother always freaked him out. He froze and whenever he tried to speak, his voice always gave out on him, making him look like a fool. Meiling and Syaoran were soon standing outside Syaoran's mother's room. Even without casting his senses through the door, Syaoran knew that she was in there. The very air that emanated from this room was from his mother. She had a regal aura that followed her wherever she went.
His hand was poised to knock on the door. Syaoran looked back at Meiling. Her face was encouraging.
"It's okay, Syaoran. You can do this," she said quietly.
His mother probably heard that anyway.
"Come in Syaoran, Meiling," a serene voice said from within the room.
Syaoran gulped again and opened the door to reveal his mother sitting in a chair, peering at him from her desk. "What is it that you want, Syaoran, Meiling?"
"Mama, you know what's going on in Japan, don't you?" Syaoran asked.
She nodded. "Sakura's powers are going awry. I feel that something bad is going to happen within the next week or two."
His eyes were wide. "I'm going to Japan, Mama. Meiling wants to come with him. I received an e-mail from Sakura this afternoon asking me if I could go to Japan and when I rang her moments ago, she was capturing Storm. Her brother has gone missing also, and since he doesn't have his powers anymore, he could be in grave danger."
His mother nodded. She seemed to be taking in all that he was saying. "Syaoran, Meiling, you both have his permission to go to Japan. However, I expect you back when you are done and Sakura's powers are safe. Meiling, you are to stay out of trouble."
His eyes slid to Meiling. She was always in trouble. Trouble was her middle name. Meiling Trouble Li. Okay, maybe that wasn't quite true, but it certainly seemed that way sometimes. "Thank you, Mama," Syaoran said before backing out of the room, Meiling close behind him.
"It looks like we're going to Japan. I'll go talk with Wei and see if he can arrange a flight for us. We'll have to leave tonight, won't we?"
Syaoran nodded, affirming that fact. "I'll go pack. Don't take too much, Meiling. We don't have much time and it's hardly likely that we'll able to stay for long. We'll be at Wei's house probably."
"Okay, just give me a couple of hours and I'll be ready," Meiling said and she walked off in search of the phone, which was most likely with Fuutie again. She seemed to talk to that friend of hers, Aiko, a lot of the time. She usually had the phone.
Syaoran walked away from Mama's room and into his own. His mind went back to that e-mail. He sat down on his bed to think, but found that he couldn't. It was impossible, what with all the negative energy in his bedroom. He needed to be outside, and he knew just the place too.
Within minutes, he was walking barefoot through the long grass at the back of the house. The paddocks had horses all through them. He had to jump the occasional pile of horse manure to get to where I wanted to go, which was just on the other side of a small stream that ran through the property. To his left were rising mountains, cloaked with rocks and the odd tree. He was up to his ankles in cool water, feeling the round stones that sometimes floated down from the mountains. To his right was the place that he wanted to go. A gentle rising hill with cherry blossom trees atop of it and one in the centre of the rise.
There was plenty of shade around here and Syaoran was only too happy to lie down and relax. All the tension that had built up within him today was slowly easing away. His mind was still full of thoughts of Sakura and what might happen in Japan, but he had to push them aside and get some sleep for the next couple of hours, because he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be having much if not any sleep in Japan.
Syaoran lay down on his back on the hill and watched the white fluffy clouds roll along the sky in slow motion. He wished Sakura were here to see this with him. She'd be so happy here...
His eyes drifted shut and he fell asleep with the birds twittering around him and the sun's rays shining gently on his face.
It was well into the evening when Syaoran awoke again. The sun was setting and all the hues of red, pink, orange and yellow were settling in with each other. Soon the sky was going dark blue, then purple, then grey... and finally black. It was time to head home. he got to his feet and began dashing home.
Take not one wish, but two. One is sure to be answered.
To be continued...
You guys know the drill. ^_^
Review if you want to.
--Kari