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: I use made up characters here. A few, but not as many as some other fanfics do... So, enjoy! ^_~
Wishing Well ~ Remembering the Past
"Syaoran? Syaoran? Hello?"
Syaoran jerked out of his trance to see Sakura standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him to answer. "Oh, sorry, Sakura. I just saw something out there." Syaoran pointed to the street.
Sakura walked forward, leant past him and peered out. "I don't see anything, Syaoran. What was it?"
Syaoran's eyes narrowed. "A dark grey blur, somewhat resembling the shape of that of a wolf. I think I found out what's happening."
Sakura's eyes widened. "Wolf?! Oh no! So it is true, the wolves, they're here in Tomoeda!"
"That seems to be the consensus. I think we should get moving as quickly as possible. Do you have any cards at all with you?"
Sakura shook her head sadly. "No, none at all. The elements escaped earlier this morning. They're probably roaming around somewhere." She looked distantly out at the town, seeing Keroberos and Meiling dip toward the town centre. "I only hope that we can find Touya in time... before the cards get to him first."
"We have to think positively. If we don't go, we might not be able to find him. Let's go," Syaoran said quickly and quickly went to his backpack and grabbed some ofudas and talismans. "The more we have to work with, the better. I want to be able to protect you. You don't have the cards with you, so you're vulnerable to attack. I'm not as strong as the cards, but I think I'll be alright... for now."
"Thanks, Syaoran," Sakura said gratefully. "I really appreciate it."
"Come on, let's go." Syaoran walked out the door, Sakura following behind him and shut it behind her.
Soon they were walking down the street, making idle conversation.
"How are your sisters?" Sakura asked.
"Okay, I guess."
"Your mother?"
"Good."
Sakura smiled slightly. "That's nice to know."
"Sakura, what are you wanting us to do about the cards?"
"I don't know exactly. We have to get to the bottom of this, find Touya, and reseal the cards."
"It's not going to be easy."
"I know, but I'm still willing to do it. Everything will turn out all right in the end."
Syaoran stayed silent, thinking to himself, I hope you're right, Sakura. I really do.
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
Oh, dammit! Pillars of fire rained down on them. "Sakura! SAKURA!" Syaoran cried.
Sakura moved out of the way, only inches from the fire that now raged.
He pulled out an ofuda. Fiery was not far from them. His spell probably wouldn't be strong enough to stop it, but since Sakura was already the current mistress, maybe she wouldn't need to weaken Fiery so much. Syaoran didn't have time to call it up, just use it. There was a second of opening where Fiery's guard was down.
Sakura raised her staff; her face fixed with intense concentration. Syaoran had done what he could; now it was up to her. "SEAL IT!"
"Fiery! Return to me!" Sakura shouted, lifting her staff up in the air.
Fiery restrained as it was being pulled into the staff.
Syaoran's eyes widened. He could sense something stirring within Fiery. "Sakura!" he yelled out to her, "Keep it up. Something's wrong with Fiery." Syaoran's eyes narrowed as he watched. Magic was radiating from Fiery as usual, but something was wrong, very wrong.
There was a flash of light that blinded him for a few moments. My eyes, Syaoran thought, blinking away the tears that the bright light brought up.
"Something wrong, Sakura?" a voice asked.
Damn.
It was that blasted English mage, Eriol Hiiragazawa.
"What is it with you and grand entrances?!" Syaoran shouted.
"Geez, Syaoran. Calm down. Who knew having you live in China would make you this uptight?" Ruby Moon said flippantly. "My master just saved your ass from Fiery, so I think you should take a chill pill."
"Leave it to you to be blunt," Spinel Sun said to Ruby in his usual monotone voice.
"Hey, I can't help it." Ruby flipped her long hair over her shoulder and smiled slightly. "It's what I do best. I can't help being smart."
"Could've fooled me," Spinel muttered under his breath.
Ruby's eyes narrowed visibly. "Suppi, what did you say?!" Ruby got out between clenched teeth.
"Nothing. And my name is not Suppi, it's Spinel." The words were said with disgust lurking from every single note of Spinel's voice.
"Look, it's great listening to the banter and all, but we need to get to the bottom of this," Syaoran interrupted.
Spinel and Ruby glared at Syaoran. Whoa, are Touya and I really that bad...? Who knew?
"Calm down you two," Eriol said. He was looking at Sakura. I swear... if he lays a hand on her. Damn, too late. He already did. He was touching her shoulder. Syaoran was seething. "Sakura, I understand what you're going through. We will find out in due time. We'll find your brother. We just have to have patience. When it looks like the stars are gone, they're actually sitting up there in the sky, overpowered by our sun. But when the day turns to night, the stars shine in their full glory."
I swear, I was going to strangle that blasted mage soon if he didn't stop soon with his damned riddles. They annoy the hell out of me. I like to know what's going on. It's different with him, because he always seems to know everything. It's so annoying! If he knows that we'll find Touya, then why doesn't he help us?
"I will help you," Eriol said to me.
Is Eriol a mind reader? Geez, it's freaky enough when my mother does it, but Eriol...? If that's the case, I won't be able to deal with it! Syaoran was looking horrified.
"Thank you, Eriol," Sakura said gratefully. "And thank you for helping to seal Fiery." She smiled and tucked Fiery away.
"You have to put a new binding seal on them. They've been infiltrated by some sort of ancient magic, and it's going to keep running amok in them unless you do something about it," Eriol told Sakura.
"Binding seal?" Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion. "Well... I don't know if I want to exactly. I trust the cards, and I don't want to put them through anymore."
"Sakura, just do what he says. He knows more about this than you do." Ruby was serious.
"Are you actually being serious this time, or is that just an act?" Spinel asked.
Ruby was back to the gritted teeth again.
Oh hell, this is going to be a long afternoon... Syaoran thought, sighing in exasperation. I know how she feels...
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
Keroberos turned his head to look in every direction. Meiling was also nearby checking every inch of the street for a sign of Touya. No such luck.
"Stuffed animal, had any luck?" Meiling called out.
Keroberos shook his head, deciding to let the remark go. It would not do him any good if he brought home a hurt Chinese girl. Syaoran would have his head.
Meiling groaned. Keroberos sighed. Just when it seemed like they had found something, reliability had gone straight out the window. Nothing on the street even remotely resembled a wolf. It didn't seem like they were going to have much luck today. Maybe they should just head home and see what the others found out.
"Hey, Meiling? You wanna go?" Keroberos asked.
Meiling shook her head firmly. "No. I stuffed up, I'm gonna make it right."
Keroberos sighed. May as well get back to searching then... he thought wearily.
"Hey! KEROBEROS! Over here!" Meiling called.
Keroberos looked over his shoulder to see Meiling waving frantically at him towards something that was in an alley. What was she so spooked about? Was it a cat? Be damned if it was. "Meiling, what are you going on... HOLY -!!"
"Sh," Meiling cut him off in mid-curse. "You wanna disturb him?"
Keroberos was bug-eyed, and he ceased to think. Here, right under their noses was one of the cubs. Obviously a baby one, but hey, a wolf was a wolf, right?!
"We can't tell the others about him yet. They'll interrogate him," Meiling said quietly.
"Are you crazy?!" Keroberos asked, his voice raising about an octave above normal pitch. "They'll go nuts at us if we don't tell them about the cub! Syaoran, especially!"
Meiling shook her head. "I don't care. I don't want Syaoran finding out about this cub, otherwise he'll destroy it. I don't want him doing that. This poor baby is defenceless." Meiling bent down and scooped the baby wolf up in her arms. "We'll take him to Wei's house and put him in my room. As long as he doesn't make any noise, he should be fine there."
"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Keroberos asked.
Meiling was determined. Even looking at her face like he was now, he could see the unmistakable stubbornness that could make her pull this off. He gave up and relented. "Okay, let's go then. Get on." He lowered his back a bit for her so that she could climb on without any problems.
"And remember, don't tell anyone, okay?" Meiling said. She stroked the baby's silky fur and smiled slightly. It looked so peaceful and serene. She only wished that her life could be like that... but it seemed like it wasn't to be. She had to deal with this and, unfortunately, this poor baby might become involved in it all. She felt some protective urge towards it. She shook her head to clear it. "Come on, we better get going quickly or they'll wonder where we are."
Keroberos sighed. "Fine." And they took off for Wei's house.
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
"Well, what did you find?" Syaoran asked as soon as Kero and Meiling got in through the door.
They looked at each other, exchanging a glance before Kero turned to Syaoran and said, "It's for us to know, and for you not to find out............. yet."
Syaoran must've picked up Ruby's habit sometime today. He began grinding his teeth. Are all guardians this annoying?! Oh geez...
Something pricked at his senses, and it was at his house. It felt like Sakura's brother, but how would he have gotten there?! Syaoran had to go check this out. "Guys, I'll be back soon. I have something that I need to check out."
Meiling and Kero exchanged glances again, worried.
"Hold on, Syaoran. I'll come with you," Sakura and Meiling said at the same time. They exchanged puzzled looks.
"Wait up, Syaoran."
"No, I'm going alone," he said bluntly, walking out the door and shut it behind him. His eyes went to the smoke again. Something was out there watching him, and he could feel it. It wasn't going to get the better of them. Not this time. He was going to make sure of it. But first, Touya...
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
"Keroberos, check the library for anything that might be of use to us," Yue instructed.
Kero floated to the basement mumbling something about ungrateful moon guardians and why couldn't Suppi do it because he was the book fanatic. He sighed, and starting passing down shelves looking for any sign of an old book that might hold the key to the knowledge of learning more about these wolves. The gaki hadn't known much, and he was keeping to himself. It would have helped them if he had, but maybe it wasn't meant to be. Maybe the gaki had something up his sleeve. Kero highly doubted it, but it was beyond his control, so he just had to deal with what he could do now.
Sakura was out with Meiling, chasing after Syaoran as he rushed down to his house, Kero could see it now even as he didn't put his face to the window. He pulled the curtains open so that some dim light would be let through.
"So many damn books..." Kero muttered. "How am I meant to work through them all? This is going to take me forever. If only I knew that finding spell, it would make my job a lot easier. Yue likes to see me suffer." Kero sniffed, wallowing in self-pity. "Why me? Why me?! I wish Sakura were here. I wish my pudding were here. Heck, even the gaki or Meiling would've been fine. I miss my pudding. Wah! What am I meant to do without my pudding?!"
"Have you found anything, Keroberos?"
Yue was at the top of the stairs.
Kero looked up, eyes narrowed and daggers shooting from every direction at Yue. "No," he said sulking. "I want my pudding. Give me my pudding."
Ruby Moon was behind Yue. "Look, Kero, you find info, you get pudding. Kapeesh?" she said.
"Fine..." Kero mumbled again and started floating along the shelves, looking at the titles of the spines of the books.
"Why are you always like that?" Spinel asked. He had come in too and was talking to Ruby.
"I don't know," Ruby replied, shrugging. "It just comes naturally, I guess."
"Right..." Spinel said sarcastically.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Kero yelled. "I'm trying to look, and your fighting doesn't help."
"Okay, okay. We'll go, but we're counting on you to find some info," Ruby said. She winked, grinned and left. Spinel followed behind.
Yue watched Kero a few moments more. The lengths that his brother would go to for pudding... it was saddening. Yue left the room and shut the door.
"About time they left..." Kero mumbled a couple of minutes later. Despite them being on the floor above, he could still hear Ruby and Spinel arguing with each other. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave four guardians in one house alone. Kero didn't know where Eriol was, he was probably out somewhere, trying to find out more information, maybe at his mansion, flicking through all the books.
Something struck at his senses. A familiar form of magic was pulling him towards a book. No, it couldn't be. He hadn't sensed that aura for hundreds of years. He had to look. Kero followed the sensation and came to an old bound book. The cover was a dark maroon, blank. Nothing written on it. Kero knew what this was. It had to be Takara's diary. He took the book into his paws and went to Fujitaka's desk which was situated at the opposite end of the room from the door. Kero placed the door on the desk, turned on the overhead light and opened the cover.
The pages were yellow from age. A name and a few words were scribbled on the first page. They were written in some old form of Japanese, and Kero quickly translated it to say:
Mitsu Takara
Apprentice of Clow Reed
This diary belongs to Takara. Her thoughts, worries, hopes and dreams are written in here. Read on at your own risk.
Kero remembered Takara now. The girl's bright blue eyes, brown hair, smiling face. It was all coming back. When Clow had passed, some of Kero and Yue's memories had been erased, including Kero's memory of Takara. He had missed her so much when she had run away from Clow's house. There had been something that she was running from. Maybe there was some clue as to why she had done that in this diary. There was only one way to find out. Kero turned to the next page and began reading Takara's first entry.
====================
In the past...
I've managed to finally obtain a book to write down in. Clow gave it to me for my twenty-fifth birthday. I'm so happy, I've been hoping to something like this for a long time. Clow's taught me how to read and write now, so I'll be able to study with him more, instead of him teaching me practical stuff. All the showy magic is fun and everything, but there are just some things that you can't learn, that you have to read from books. Books don't know everything, and I don't either, but that's never stopped me before, right?! Keroberos taught me how to use fire today. Yue's still acting like he usually does. I wish he'd loosen up, but he's still as moody as always. Kero and I are always making cracks about him. Moody like the moon... that's Kero's latest joke. I was giggling for ages before I could stop! I finally managed when Clow walked into the room though. He had his usual small smile on his face. Not to mention that he kept talking in riddles. It makes my head spin sometimes though. Kero's coming in through the door now. I have to go.
"Yo, Takara! You in here?" Kero asked.
Takara's head turned from where she was writing in her diary and she put her pen away and closed the book. "Yeah, I'm here. What do you want?"
"Wanna go poke fun at Yue?"
Takara shrugged. "I guess."
"Okay, let's go!" Kero crowed.
In his usual stuffed animal form, it was fun to poke at Kero too, but in his transformed state, he wasn't to be reckoned with. Countless times, he had singed Takara, so she'd learnt to be wary around him at all times. Takara followed along behind Kero, looking around for Clow. She had to talk to him about something. "Kero-chan, do you have any idea where Clow is?"
Kero shook his head. "No, but I thought we were gonna hassle Yue! Takara, you owe me! Come on, you took my last pudding and said that you'd do one thing that I wanted to do!"
"You know what, Kero? Sometimes I worry about your lack of sanity," Takara stated, shaking her head sadly.
Kero shrugged. "Makes life more interesting. So what? Already got a moody guardian, we don't need another one. I just hope that Clow doesn't go creating more things that me and Yue have to protect. The cards are enough. I still have to get revenge on the Little Card for shrinking me. That spirit is gonna pay!"
Takara sweatdropped while Kero punched a fist up in the air in some cheesy fighting position. "Get ready to do the victory sign when I'm finished," Kero told Takara.
"That's if Little doesn't shrink you again," Takara replied.
Kero fell out of the air. "That's beside the point!" A stress mark appeared on his head. "I already have a sarcastic conscience, I don't need a real one."
Takara rolled her eyes. "I have to go look for Clow. I'll play with you another time, okay?"
Kero sighed. "Fine, but you owe me."
"You always say that."
"It's true."
Takara groaned. "Don't remind me."
"I already did."
"Can it, stuffed animal."
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!"
"Too late, I already did."
"Damn kid."
"Is that the best you can come up with?" Takara raised an eyebrow.
"Du bist sehr doof."
"Really original, Kero-chan," Takara said sardonically. "Really original."
"Thanks."
"I was being sarcastic!"
"Oh." Kero sweatdropped.
Takara sighed, and shook her head sadly. This guardian was very clueless, even more so than Takara herself, and that was saying something. "Typical of you to say 'you are very dumb' in another language."
"Ich mag... Nachtisch!"
Takara rolled her eyes. "I already knew that, so stop with the German already."
"Blutiger aschlock."
"Nice, Kero-chan, real nice."
"Right."
Takara rolled her eyes again and decided to walk away to find Clow. It had been a little while since she had been through these parts. Takara never really remembered her parents, all she knew what that their names had been Kioko and Botan. Her last name was Mitsu. She knew that her name meant Shining Treasure. She didn't have any brothers or sisters that she knew of. Her family had been wiped out, and her mother had put her on Clow's doorstep when she was just a mere child. Twenty years later, here she was, alive and well and learning magic.
Clow had given her the love and family support than only a surrogate father could. It wasn't the same as being with blood family. Yet, he was all she had, so she lived with him and learnt from him. She was stronger because of it, and she was now able to protect herself. Clow had taught her spells and had encouraged her to help others to protect themselves too. She had dedicated her life to a study of Clow's ways.
But now, she just had to find him.
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
"Clow?" Takara walked into the home that she had lived in for so long. Clow Reed, Takara's surrogate father, was standing in front of a mirror, gazing into the depths of the shining glass that reflected the image of the room.
"Yes, Takara?" Clow asked. "What is it that you want?"
"What are you doing?" Takara asked. She was always fascinated when he started working on a new project to aid him in his search of knowledge. She'd been there when he'd created the Clow Cards, and Keroberos and Yue, but she had only been a small girl. Only six years old at the time, but she still remembered it very clearly.
"I'm looking into the future, Takara," Clow replied.
"What are you doing that for?" Takara asked again, furrowing her eyebrows. She'd seen Clow performing this sort of magic before, but it wasn't often that he did it because of the fact that it used up so much magic. Clow was still the most powerful mage of this time, but even he had his limits. He still had to sustain the cards, as well as Yue. Kero was able to create his own magic but, sometimes, when the sun wasn't out, Kero had no way to make magic, as he had to draw his power from the sun's energy.
"I'm looking to see whether I should go ahead with what I am wanting to do."
Takara was even more puzzled. "You know what, Clow? You're always confusing me. I don't know what you're talking about."
"You'll find out in due time, Takara."
Takara sighed. That was the equivalent to very soon. This wasn't going to be good. She didn't need to be able to see into the future to tell that much.
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
"Clow!" Takara called, clutching at the diary that threatened to escape her hands. Her dark brown hair blew all over the place and her sea-blue eyes were filled with tears that threatened to escape. The wind blustered in what was usually such a quiet place.
A howl echoed through the plains. Clouds gathered and began forming rain clouds and thunderstorms. The wind was at freezing temperature, and it was only by sheer determination that Takara was able to keep moving and not freeze to death.
"Takara, stay back! You'll get hurt!" Clow called, his voice muffled over the loud sounds of the wind.
"I'm sorry, Clow, but I have to do this," Takara whispered, brushing the tears from under her eyes away with her thumb before they froze and became mini icicles. Takara began running toward the wolves and she tackled the mother wolf, slamming her into the wishing pool that lay only a few metres away. The cubs followed their mother, afraid to be away from her. "Come on, in here you go," Takara muttered under her breath.
The cubs shimmied over the pool edge and went to nudge at their mother.
Takara slowly backed out and started chanting words in Japanese under her breath. Slowly, ever so slowly, the wolves' quivering bodies started to become coated in shining silver.
Within minutes, they were statues. Takara was a shaking wreck. Clow was stunned. His apprentice, Mitsu Takara, had overcome his own creation. She was a strong girl... in more ways than one. She had rendered her emotions contained.
"Takara, are you okay?"
Kero was the first to approach the shaking girl.
Words were spoken from her, but not above a whisper, "I can't stay here."
"What?!" Keroberos was shocked. "You were the one who stopped those wolves."
"I still can't stay here. Keroberos, please understand." Takara was still shaking, even as she got to her feet to address Clow as he walked over. "Clow, I must go. I thank you for all that you have taught me, but you must understand, I can stay here no longer."
Clow nodded. "Very well. Stand by your decision, and I will let you go. Just remember, I will always be here for you whenever you need me."
"T-Than-Thanks," Takara stammered. She was in shock, no it was more than shock, she was horrified at what she'd just done. She'd never expected that she'd be able to do something like it. She couldn't stay here. Even though she had very good memories at this place, she also had bad ones, and she couldn't deal with any more trouble.
Takara scrambled to pick up her diary and she went up to her room to pack, writing down one last thing in it, before she'd throw it in the lake.
It's too much, I can't handle it anymore. My hand is shaking even writing this. After containing those wolves that Clow created (I now know what he meant when he was looking into that mirror all those months ago) IO can't stay here any longer. I have to get out of here. For anyone reading this who is having trouble with the wolves, I know that they will break free from my spell at some time, and this will serve as a reminder of how I overcame them, they will only need to know this. Trust themselves. If they're doing it for the right reasons, then they will be able to stop them. Please, try to put an end to these wolves. I wasn't strong enough. I should have warned Clow... but out of my own stubbornness, I didn't. I knew that they were going to cause trouble but I thought that Clow would see that. I was mistaken. Please, don't make the same mistake that I made. I'm trying to make it right. I promise. I want to be there to help anyone put right to this wrong. I'll be there for you... I promise.
Takara closed the cover on the book, for the last time, and put away her pens and pencils and ink. She packed up her things and ran out the door. Using a teleportation spell that she had used, she quickly chanted it and appeared at the nearby lake. She ran to the edge and threw her diary in. "Please, let this go to the right people," she thought, before running into the forest.
Only a mere ten years later, she was killed when a stray arrow hit her in the back.
====================
Kero shut the diary with a shuddering sigh, making sure that no pages got caught up in the book and ripped. Her account was certainly very critical, much the way that Takara had always been herself. Takara had written down that she would be there to help when they needed her most, so maybe the only way to defeat the wolves was to track down Takara.
Meanwhile, there was still one of the wolves back at Syaoran's house, and he had obviously seen that something was wrong over there and had gone to investigate. Kero had a sneaking feeling that the baby wolf was holding Touya prisoner, or had taken his spirit and implanted it within its body. The whole feeling was a bit strange. Something was going on. Meiling probably wasn't aware of it, but she had caused problems that might now affect them all.
This wasn't going right. Nothing was going right. Syaoran was going to find out about the cub, probably kill it, and Touya's spirit besides, since the spirit was imprisoned within the body. That would mean that Touya wouldn't be able to live.
Kero had to find Takara. He just had to. As he left the diary on the desk and floated up the stairs, he went to go inform Yue about what he had found. They eventually decided to go search for Takara.
"Okay, Ruby, Spinel, you search east. Keroberos and I will search west," Yue said.
"They probably don't even know what Takara looks like Yue! Did you even think of that?!" Kero exclaimed.
"Follow any suspicious auras in this town that you haven't sensed before. That should do," Yue said. "Keroberos, we should go."
"Fine," Kero grumbled and they left. Spinel and Ruby followed soon behind. They talked briefly outside and left to search.
Little did they know, she was right under their noses.
Life is not something to be taken lightly. Even the smallest animal can make a difference.
To be continued...
So Takara is out there somewhere, huh? What's she got to do with all of this?
Review if you want to.
--Kari