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: This is no longer in first person. ^_^ 'tis now in third person. So... enjoy!
Wishing Well ~ Recalling Mistakes
This was it. He was on the plane, his cousin beside him, and he was heading to Japan. Syaoran sat down on his seat, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He was finally going to find out what was going on. He couldn't talk much to Meiling about the cards or anything on the plane, because people who were near them were bound to think that we were crazy, and most of them wouldn't believe them that magic was real in any case. It was the exact opposite. Magic was real, and it was around everyone, even though it didn't seem like it most of the time. Each person had at least a little bit of magic within, the power to control their destiny, and the magic of free will. Syaoran may be able to control his powers, and they may be stronger than most humans, but that doesn't make him any different to the next person.
Take Meiling for example. She's been overcoming the odds for as long as I've known her. She fought against a magical fighting spirit, and kept an even match. The spirit had an advantage being that it could keep on going and not get worn down, and Meiling could. Yet she held on and stuck it out. She's determined, I'll say that much. Meiling is not one to contend with. She can keep pace with me as well...
"Syaoran?" Syaoran heard a soft voice speak from beside him.
His head turned slightly and Syaoran looked at Meiling. "Yeah? What is it?"
Her face was cast down, into shadow, making her strong features look unusually scared. Her voice was still soft as she spoke. "I think I know what happened to the cards."
His eyes were widened slightly. "Really? What?"
A lone tear slid down her cheek. "I have a really bad feeling that I was the one who caused this to happen." I could see that she was trying not to look at him. Her voice shook as she continued speaking. "I was down at the wishing pool before you were."
Syaoran was shocked. He could only imagine. I mean, how can this happen? Meiling, causing this? No... I refuse to believe it, she'd never do something like this...
Her eyes shut tightly, as if she was trying to push away the memory. Her voice and face were both full of remorse. "I made a wish down at the pool. I wanted to go back to Japan... and that's what I wished for. And all this came out of it, I don't know what to do anymore. How can I right this? It's all his fault..." Meiling's shoulders started shaking. "I'm scared, Syaoran. I don't know what to do... I want to help, but what can I do? I have no magic that I can give. I'm so sorry for all of this... I didn't mean for any of this to happen..." She trailed off, not knowing what more to say.
Syaoran instantly felt a rush of sympathy for Meiling and he hugged her to him. "Shh... it's okay. Everything will turn out all right in the end..." Syaoran whispered. I hope, adding this silently to himself.
"I'm so sorry," she murmured. "I don't know what else I can do."
"It's all right. We'll find out what we can do when we get to Japan. It won't be long before we're there." Syaoran loosened his hug with Meiling and pulled back, wiping the tears away from her cheek with his thumb. "Meiling, I'm just glad you told him. With this, I think we'll be able to help Sakura better. I need you to tell him more though. I need to know what happened on that day. Can you remember?"
She nodded slightly.
"Do you mind telling me?" I asked.
She shook her head a little.
"Okay. Can you start?"
Meiling nodded. She took in a deep breath, exhaled slowly and started to explain.
~~Flashback~~
Meiling stared out the window, her eyes on the stream that ran through the property. She sighed softly and leant on the windowsill, her hands under her chin and her elbows resting on the sill. She blinked a few times and heard the birds twittering in the trees. Petals from the nearby blossom trees swirled around on the wind. The sky was a mixture of blending shades of blue. The odd stretch of white cloud lazed across the sky with the gentle wind. The yard was bathed in the sun's warm rays.
A laugh echoed through the yard. Meiling looked down to see Fei Mei and Fan Ran running through the yard on the way to the gardens to pick some flowers, no doubt to brighten up the room. Meiling sighed again. She should be somewhere else other than cooped up inside. It was a nice day to be outside training... but she didn't feel like it. She'd been working too hard lately.
Where she really wanted to go was to Japan, but like that was ever going to happen. Meiling began walking out of the room and she walked out to the gardens, following in Fan Ran and Fei Mei's path. She could see the baskets swinging from their arms and their giggles still echoing through the gardens. It added to the singing of the birds.
She should have been enjoying the peacefulness around her, but for some reason, she just wasn't in the mood for it. Something was bothering her, and she wasn't very sure what it was. Meiling sighed again. She felt a little weary. Maybe it was all the practice that she'd done this week. She'd been training for about four to five hours a day with little else to do. She had slept well, but still felt sluggish. Maybe it was something else that was wrong...
The cool grass swayed in the gentle wind. Pretty flowers of every kind and colour were surrounding Meiling. She could see Fei Mei and Fan Ran a little further ahead. To avoid running into her cousins, Meiling chose to go down a different path that would lead her to another place in the gardens. She'd never been down there before, but she'd overheard Xie Fa talking about it to Syaoran one day. "There's the wishing pool down there," was what she'd heard Xie Fa say. She hadn't heard Syaoran's response because she'd walked away. Meiling didn't really like eavesdropping, but those words had been imprinted on her mind for the longest time. She really wanted to find out what was so special about this wishing pool. Fan Ran had once told her that it granted wishes. She'd just shrugged it off, figuring that it wasn't real, but Xie Fa's words said otherwise.
"Should I go there or shouldn't I? I really want to find out if what Fan Ran said is true, but I have a really bad feeling that just won't go away. I've always been told to follow my instincts, and that's what I've done but something just seems to be pulling me there, and it just won't leave me alone. I'm too curious about it, I have to go, otherwise this feeling will never go away," she thought, walking slowly through an arch that was covered in white fragrant roses.
Meiling's feet kept moving along slowly and she took her time walking down the path. Her mind was clouded with thoughts that refused to go away. Something was really affecting her and in a serious way. She just didn't know what it was or how to deal with it at all.
Soon she arrived at the wishing pool. Her eyes were wide open in awe at the beauty of the sight before her. The fountain had a statue of a wolf mother and her cubs centred within it. Fan Ran had also told her once that at certain times at night, the wolves came to life and roamed around the surrounding area, only to return at sunrise and turn back into their statuesque forms. No one in the neighbouring areas had seen anything like it, but then again, they refused to believe in anything that was unexplainable and didn't happen without reason.
A pool of water was contained within the circular concrete edgings of the fountain. There were cherry blossom trees surrounding the whole of the area. The very smell flowing around the place was from the scent of the small pink flowers. The wind carried the aroma around everywhere. In the gentle breeze, quite often small pink petals were blown away from the flower and tree that they resided in and joined together with other petals in the wind to form little petal twisters that twisted, turned and swirled around everywhere. There was no place more beautiful that Meiling had ever seen but here.
Small birds fluttered from tree to tree, their singing shattering the silence. Wind blew through the trees, carrying with it more petals and pollen from other trees. Gentle rising hills sloped up from an otherwise flat land. Long grass swayed and flax swung in the wind. There was a lot of beauty to this land and it was undisturbed. No one around to disrupt the balance.
The thing that caught Meiling's eye was definitely the fountain that contained the wishing pool. She walked over to it, examining its features. The thing that haunted her most was without a doubt how lifelike the wolves looked. They sent shivers down her spine.
Meiling felt something grow cold within the depths of one of the pockets in her jeans. She put her hand in to discover a coin. As she pulled it out, it glinted silver in the sunlight and Meiling felt a sudden urge ti make a wish from her heart. She succumbed to it and with no hesitation dropped the coin into the wishing pool. It dropped to the bottom with a soft thunk and Meiling made her wish. "I want to go to Japan. I wish to go to Japan. I wish I could, but I don't know how... I just wish I could help in some way..." Meiling looked down at the coin, shining within the depths of the water.
There was a sudden rush of violent wind. The cherry blossom trees bent right over and Meiling shut her eyes tightly and took hold on the edgings of the wishing pool. She held on tight. Meiling felt soft fur brushing past her shoulder and within a few moments the wind stopped blowing and Meiling was able to stand up. What shocked her most when she opened her eyes again? The wolves were gone.
~~End of Flashback~~
As Syaoran listened to the end of Meiling's explanation, his eyes widened. He was shocked. Then it hit him. The wolves hadn't been there when he had gone to the wishing pool. Syaoran had a sinking feeling in his stomach that they had something to do with it. The result once he got to Japan? It wasn't going to be pretty.
He just sat there waiting until it was time to leave the plane.
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
It was about five minutes until the time that Sakura was meant to meet them. After hearing Meiling's story about the wolves, Syaoran had gotten a sinking feeling. Meiling was sitting down on one of the seats in the airport lounge. He was worried about her, it seemed like a huge burden had been taken off her shoulders when she had told him about the pool and wolves, but she was still quiet and not saying much. She was avoiding his gaze and ignoring him whenever he tried to get her attention. Syaoran had thought she would be talking more now, but it didn't seem like that was the case. He was getting really concerned...
Syaoran sighed deeply, still watching Meiling. His mind went back to the wolves and the cards. Was there a connection between them that he wasn't aware of yet? He had to find out. Maybe, if the wolves were out there somewhere, maybe, just maybe, they had come to Japan and were going to help them. Syaoran wasn't sure. He had seen the look on the wolves' faces when they escaped from their statues. They loved freedom.
His eyes went back to his watch. The seconds were ticking away slowly. Sakura should be here soon. Syaoran needed her help to find out what was wrong with Meiling. She wasn't speaking to him, but maybe she'd open up to either Sakura or Tomoyo. There was only one way to find out. He had to speak to both of them.
Meiling was looking down at the floor. Syaoran was still watching her out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to help her out of this slump, but he didn't have any idea on what he could do. He'd have to wait.
"Syaoran! Meiling!" Syaoran heard a voice call out their names. He instantly knew who it was, even before she came up and hugged him from behind.
A flash of joy rushed through him. It had been so long since he'd seen her in person. Three years had been far too long to wait. "Hi, Sakura."
Meiling had looked up and was still looking remorseful as her eyes landed on Sakura and himself. Sakura was clearly happy to see them, but Meiling looked like she was still feeling guilty. "Meiling? Are you okay?" Sakura asked.
She turned her face away and stayed silent.
Sakura pulled away from him and went over and crouched beside Meiling. Syaoran couldn't hear what they were saying, but he had a sneaking feeling that it was something about the cards. He began to hear snatches of the conversation between them, but Meiling wasn't saying much. Sakura was doing most of the talking.
Syaoran heaved a sigh and his eyes wandered to the window. He sunk into a trance and began meditating silently. Sakura and Meiling were probably going to be a while and he was exhausted from the flight. Syaoran hadn't gotten much sleep and it was obvious that they all needed some shut-eye. Sakura looked as, if not more, tired than Meiling and himself. The cards must have been keeping her up a lot lately.
Syaoran wondered where the stuffed animal was. Usually he was hanging around Sakura, or in her bag, but she didn't seem to have one with her this time. He must've stayed home. he really needed some sleep or else he was probably going to fall asleep halfway through helping Sakura, and that wouldn't be such a good thing. Syaoran felt himself drifting off, and struggled against it for a few moments, but finally gave into the darkness and fell asleep.
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
Syaoran's eyes opened and he felt himself waking up. He was still a little nauseous from the plane trip. Syaoran sat up slowly and rubbed his temples with his fingers. He had a splitting headache. The room slowly came into focus and he felt like drifting right back off to sleep again, but that wasn't an option.
"Hi, Syaoran. Feeling better?" a voice asked.
Syaoran nearly hit the roof. He hadn't been expecting anyone to see him for at least the next few minutes. His eyes went to the person who asked the question.
"Oh, it's you, Sakura. Yeah, I'm feeling better. What happened?" Syaoran asked. All he remembered was Meiling's story, leaving the plane and sitting down in the airport lounge.
"You fell asleep. Meiling and I were talking and when we went to get you about ten minutes later, you were asleep. We had to carry you to my house." Sakura grinned.
His head bowed in shame. "Sorry, Sakura. I should have tried to stay awake. I just felt myself drifting off and I couldn't stay awake any longer."
"It's okay. After we arrived back, Meiling told me everything that she'd told you. I was shocked at first, but I know that she didn't mean to do it. She apologised repeatedly and I said that she'd done nothing wrong. Kero is upstairs talking to her now. He's interrogating her. I told him that I'd tell him later, but he didn't want that to happen. They'll probably be talking for a while."
Syaoran nodded and lifted his head up, staring at Sakura. "What about Touya?"
"Touya?" Sakura asked. She averted her gaze, unshed tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't know where he is. I want to find him, but I don't even know where to start. Yue's out there now, looking, but he's found no sign of Touya at all. All he saw were some magical creatures streaking across Penguin Park. I didn't think that they were of any significance so I didn't try tracking them down."
His eyes widened and shock covered his face. "Magical creatures?! By any chance, did they look like wolves?" This was important. He had to know.
Sakura shook her head slowly. "I don't know. Yue didn't see them too well. He described them as a blur of dark grey. They weren't easy to see at the time because it was dark."
"When did he see them?"
"I think it was sometime late last night. I'm not too sure though," Sakura replied, looking back up at him. "Do you think they had any role in Touya's disappearance?"
Syaoran sighed, got up from the couch and walked to the window, staring out into the rising sun. "To be honest," he said, turning away from the sunrise and toward Sakura, "I honestly don't know."
There was a loud knock on the door and an enthusiastic cry of "Hello?!". Sakura grinned at him while Syaoran just smiled wryly. They both knew who was behind the door.
"Come in, Tomoyo, bring the stuffed animal with you too," Syaoran said.
An indignant reply came almost instantly. "I - AM - NOT - A - STUFFED - ANIMAL!!"
Syaoran shrugged. "Whatever."
"Stop it you two," Sakura said quietly.
Kero shut up. Syaoran looked away.
Tomoyo was the first to speak. "Okay, I missed a lot, so what's been happening? I know about the cards. I don't know about the cause."
Syaoran looked at Sakura. "You want me to explain?" I asked.
She shrugged. "It's up to you."
Syaoran took in a deep breath and looked at Tomoyo. "There's been something strange happening here in Tomoeda. I've heard some things about it from Sakura and we're trying to piece together what might have happened with the cards. Kero there hasn't had much luck, but Yue saw something that might be of significance."
"What did he see?" Tomoyo asked.
"A blur of magical creatures."
"So you think that these creatures are behind the reactions of the cards?" Tomoyo asked.
"We don't know that yet." Syaoran looked at Sakura, watching her reaction to what he was saying. "But I have a strong belief that something from China might be behind it."
Sakura looked up at him in shock. "The wolves? How?"
"I don't know how they're involved, all I have is a theory." Syaoran looked down at the floor. "It's not fully formed yet because I don't know much. I've learned things from what Meiling has told him, and also the history of that wishing pool. There's a story behind it that I think has become true. It's not a prophecy as such, but I have reason to believe that something like this has happened before."
"Have you talked to Eriol about it?" Tomoyo asked.
"Not yet," Sakura put in. "I was going to ring him, or Kaho, when Meiling and Syaoran got here. I've been managing to reseal the cards, but they keep on escaping. I don't know what to do anymore. If they stay out much longer, they're going to flatten Tomoeda and risk the lives of everyone living in this town. Most people have left already. 'tou-san asked me to come with him, but I said that I had to resolve this. And then Touya said that he'd stay with me. That was on Wednesday. And the day after, he goes missing. I don't know where he is and I really want to find me. It's Saturday now and he's missing still..." Sakura looked like she was about to cry. Syaoran went down, sat beside her on the other couch, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him.
Tomoyo looked like she was thinking. "I think we should try to track down Touya today."
Syaoran nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea, Tomoyo."
"Where should we start?" Kero asked.
"Search for the presence of the wolves. That'll probably be our best bet," I replied, looking around at Tomoyo and Kero.
Syaoran looked down at Sakura, who was still leaning on him. "Sakura, do you want to come with us?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yeah." She straightened up. "Kero, find Yue and bring him over here. You, him and Tomoyo can take the east part of town, Syaoran and I will take the west."
"I want to go too," a voice said from the door. Syaoran's eyes went from Sakura to the doorway. He was surprised to see Meiling standing there.
"I made this mess," she said, "and I want to help right it. It's the least I can do."
Sakura smiled. "Sure, okay, reform. Kero, you and Meiling can search downtown. Yue and Tomoyo can take the part of town east of the centre. Syaoran and I will take the rest. Kero, make sure that you find Yue first. I want him to stay with Tomoyo at all times and not leave her."
Kero nodded and transformed. He walked to the door, folded his wings so that he could walk through, and once he was through, he opened them again. "Tomoyo, Meiling, get on his back," he instructed. Both girls complied and Keroberos took to the sky. His head turned as he looked around for Yue. Obviously having spotted him, Keroberos took off.
Sakura and Syaoran were standing in the doorway, watching them go. "We should go," she said quickly. "I just need to go upstairs." Syaoran watched her hurry and turned back to the door, watching the street. Things had really changed since he'd last been here. Thanks to the rampage of the cards, there was smoke rising up everywhere. He watched Keroberos and Yue meet up, and converse briefly. Soon Tomoyo was with Yue and they were heading in the opposite direction to which Sakura and himself were going to search. Keroberos and Meiling descended towards the middle of town.
This was going to be a hard and lengthy search. Finding one person in the town on Tomoeda. It could take a lot of time. Syaoran hoped that, for Sakura's sake, it didn't take long.
Suddenly something caught his eye. A dark grey blur raced down the street outside Sakura's house. His eyes widened. What the... Was that a wolf?!
The one who makes many mistakes is not the annoyance. It is the one who does not learn from them.
To be continued...
Well, was that a wolf or not? Only one way to find out. *points to next chapter button* ^________^
Review if you want to.
--Kari