Wishing Well

by emmadotlouise

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?

4. Identity Crisis

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: Not much to say. Thank you to all of the reviewers thus far. Thank you very much. ^_^

Wishing Well ~ Identity Crisis

"Suppi, any sign of that Takara girl anywhere?" Ruby called out. Her head was searching, her senses on alert for anything that seemed slightly unusual. That meant many things, because there was usually something unusual going on in the town of Tomoeda. It wasn't known why, but it just seemed that Tomoeda was prone to trouble.

"No, I haven't. And my name is Spinel," Spinel replied. "You know I hate that name."

"What do you think of what's going on? I mean, you and me never knew this Takara girl. We don't even know what she looks like, so how are we going to find her, let alone sense where she is."

"It's called using your senses, Ruby. I thought you of all guardians would know that by now. I guess I was wrong."

"Hey! That was uncalled for!"

"I know. That's why I did it."

"Old fart," Ruby muttered under her breath.

"You know what, Ruby? You're as bad as that incompetent guardian, Keroberos."

"What?!" Ruby huffed. "I so am not! You're getting guardians mixed up Suppi! I was actually thinking more along the lines of your being like that."

Spinel rolled his eyes. "Right, Ruby. Let's just keep looking for this girl, okay?"

"Fine..."

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

Syaoran was near to his house. He could see the building just metres ahead and the feelings that were pulling at his senses were growing stronger by the moments. The feeling was so strong... he couldn't ignore it now. This might be the only potential lead that they had. It had to be followed up; otherwise it would probably slip out of their grasp. That couldn't happen... no, he wouldn't let it. He'd already let down everyone once before and he wasn't about to do it again.

Meiling and Sakura weren't far behind. "Sakura, I have something to tell you!" Meiling called out while running.

"Yeah?" Sakura's head turned. "What?"

"It's about," she took a moment to regain herself, "it's about what Syaoran senses. I can't feel it in any way, but I'm pretty sure that I know where he's going. Sakura, he's going to kill one of the wolves."

Sakura's eyes were open wide in alarm. "Where is the wolf?!"

"That's the hard part. The cub is at home."

"Your house or mine?"

"Mine." Meiling looked down and stopped.

Sakura stopped along side her. "You're sure about this?"

Meiling nodded. "Yeah."

"We should get moving then."

"Yeah, there's no telling what Syaoran might do."

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

"Keroberos?"

"Yeah?"

"What was in that book that you were reading?" Yue asked.

"Why would you want to know?"

"I'm just curious. That's all."

Keroberos looked away from his brother guardian. He knew that he should be telling Yue all about what he had read in Takara's diary, but something seemed to be holding him back. He didn't know exactly what it was, but Takara had always told him that should he ever come across her diary, he should not tell Yue about anything. Keroberos guessed that it was all a matter of loyalty. He had always obeyed and kept secret those things that were entrusted to him. Maybe it was destiny for him to find that book, he didn't know exactly. So many things had been confusing him... not just Meiling, the cards and Takara's diary, but also the changes that were happening around him. Sakura growing up... her feelings for the gaki becoming stronger... it was all a matter of change. Heck, even Ruby Moon had found fun! Not something that happened often though.

"I'm worried, Yue. What if we can't resolve this issue and put the wolves at bay? Even with Eriol and everyone else searching, the odds seem highly stacked against us. I don't know if we can pull this off. Takara hardly managed to all those years ago and she was the one with all those years of training behind her. She was the only one who was able to seal the wolves away again. She promised that she would be there for us to make everything right, but so far we haven't seen any sign of her at all. It all seems hopeless, Yue."

"Keroberos, yes, the odds are stacked against us, but we know much more about these wolves than Takara did when she sealed them. So maybe we can do what she did. We have to believe, Keroberos. We have to trust in those around us to help us seal them away."

"And if we don't?"

Yue's face was solemn. "Then we all perish."

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

The young cub woke up wrapped in a blanket on a chair. His brown eyes blinked a few times and he yawned sleepily. He had been sleeping peacefully until some rude human had awoken him from his slumber and his mother, brothers, and sisters had fled. Little Kado had no way of finding his mother. He stretched and yawned again before moving into a sitting position on the chair. The cushions were comfortable, and Kado could easily drift back off to sleep again, had it not been for the restlessness that churned inside him. It seemed that the spirit that he had 'borrowed' earlier was worried about something. Kado couldn't blame it.

The spirit had been from some teenager wandering around the streets in the darkness. Kado had followed him in the shadows, as the wolves needed spirits to survive. He hadn't meant to take one from a living body, but had ended up doing that somehow. He didn't know how he had accomplished it.

Kudos to his mother for surviving this long. Ever since that brat of a girl had sealed them up ages ago, their mother had been itching to get out again and wreak some havoc. That idiot, Clow Reed, had created the wolves without even thinking of the consequences. Not an overall good look at all.

Kado heard something stop at the other end of the door. His fur went static and his back arched. Kado's lips curled back to reveal sharp pointy teeth. A low growl escaped his mouth. The thing that opened the door was not going to get a very nice surprise.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

"He's here."

"No he's not."

"Yes he is."

"Is not."

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Can you two shut up please?!" Kaede looked at her three cubs, Nyoko, Akeno and Hoshi, who were still squabbling over where their brother, Kado, was. Nyoko had been sure that she had seen her brother being carried off by some human girl and a lion-like beast. She had known the lion, but not the girl.

"Fine..." the cubs muttered in unison, instantly sulking. They stayed silent for a little while.

Kaede was grateful for the peace. She was worrying about Kado enough as it was, and she didn't need more chaos carried around with her. Kado had been separated from the others when they had fled from the scene with the spirit. No doubt the cub had suddenly become very tired and wanted to sleep. Kado was definitely the one of her cubs that had the least energy, and sometimes, Kaede was grateful for it. The other three were very hyperactive and dealing with them was enough.

Now she just had to find Kado and hopefully everything would be all right.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

Syaoran carefully opened the door to his house and he was met by two sets of sharp teeth. Syaoran backed out again and shut the door quickly behind him.

Behind the door, smiling in satisfaction was Kado. He had attacked the person coming in the door and the person had made a hasty retreat.

He went back to the chair again, curled up, and went back to sleep.

Syaoran opened the door slowly and quietly again and saw the cub sleeping. So he had been right... there had been a wolf there... now he just had to find a way to get it out.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

What's happening to me...? Meiling thought. Everything I do just seems to be going wrong, and now that Syaoran has found the wolf, I fear for the little one's life. Meiling shook her head to clear it and waited outside the door of the house with a shaking sigh. Syaoran was going to yell at her so much for this. She had to think of some way to calm him down...

Meiling heard the door opening and her eyes went to the person who had just come out of it. "Syaoran, I can explain."

"Don't, Meiling. I don't want to yell at you more than I have to." Syaoran left the hall, leaving those words on the air.

Meiling sank to the floor. "I can never do anything right," she murmured to herself. "Why me?"

Because you're the one who's going to turn this around... The words drifted to her on the air.

"What?!" Meiling's shriek alerted Sakura.

"Meiling, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, opening the door.

"Did you hear that?" Meiling asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Hear what?"

"That freaky voice."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. "No, I didn't hear any freaky voice. Come inside, you must be hungry."

"Yeah... thanks," Meiling muttered, still startled after the words that she'd heard.

And there watching, while Sakura and Meiling entered the house, was a spirit. It watched them leave and then vanished in a twist of cold wind.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

Meiling was looking at her bowl of food with narrowed eyes. Something had been there with her when she had been in the hallway by herself. She had felt chills run down her spine. Although she didn't have magic, even she knew when she was being followed. Meiling watched Sakura eat some food, wondering if the girl could sense if ghosts were around, like Syaoran could. She dismissed the possibility immediately. Meiling knew that Sakura was scared of ghosts, she should have known that already.

"Well, what voice did you hear out there?" Sakura asked, putting her bowl aside and leaning forward slightly to listen to Meiling.

Meiling was taken aback by Sakura's direct question. She would've thought that Kinomoto wouldn't have liked to talk about freaky voices and ghosts. "I don't know exactly... I need to ask Syaoran to see if he could sense if it was a ghost or not, because I'm not exactly sure..." Meiling trailed off, catching Sakura's visible shudder. "Kinomoto, if you're too scared to talk about this, we don't have to."

"No, I need to learn to deal with stuff like this. Please, Meiling, go on," Sakura said.

"You know that Syaoran can sense ghosts, right?" Meiling asked.

"Yeah." Sakura nodded.

"Well, for some odd reason, I get funny feelings whenever he says that he senses ghosts. And even sometimes when he doesn't. Syaoran says that I could just be thinking of stuff like this, because I don't have magical powers, but Kinomoto, I don't know what's going on. Am I going crazy?" For some strange reason or not, Meiling felt at ease, confiding in Sakura. She didn't know what, it was just something about the other girl that made her feel like she could trust her. Heck, maybe she was going crazy.

"Meiling," Sakura said, putting a hand on the girl's arm, "I don't think you're going crazy. You come from a family that has magical powers running through it, right?"

Meiling nodded, staying silent.

"Meiling, I think you might have magical powers. Maybe just dormant, like mine had been in the past. There's only one way to find out." Sakura smiled at her.

"And what's that?" Meiling asked, already fearing the answer.

"Meiling," Sakura said seriously, "I think it's time that you took on one of the Cards."

Meiling's yell was heard all throughout the house. "WHAT?!"

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

"Come on, Meiling! Just try a little bit more!" Sakura called encouragement while Syaoran watched on, his arms crossed. His cousin was doing better than she had fared last time she had fought against the Fight Card. Another wolf was embedded within the Card's spirit.

Meiling heard Sakura's words and instantly grumbled to herself. True, she wasn't trying all that hard, but then again, what had she done to get herself in this position. The answer was easy. Absolutely nothing. She wished that she didn't have to be here doing this, but it seemed that she would have to... darn it... Meiling watched her cousin out of the corner of her eye. He seemed unlike his normal self. He had been more cold to her after he had found out about the wolf inside of their home. Now she didn't know whether had got the baby out of their home or not, because he refused to speak to her about anything. The silence between them was driving her crazy.

Fight managed to get a punch past Meiling's listless blocks and it made contact with her cheek. She felt sure that there was going to be a bruise there. Fight was going to pay for that. Suddenly Meiling switched from defence to offence. She managed to get a couple of punches in, and while Fight's attention was drawn to guarding its head, Meiling swung around and aimed a reverse turning kick right for Fight's side, making contact with her heel.

Fight was knocked off balance, and nearly fell to the ground, but managed to break-fall in time and roll back up to a loose fighting stance. It started bouncing lightly on the balls of its feet. Meiling went back into a defensive position, and she watched closely for any indication that Fight was about to attack. She found none. At least, not for about three minutes. Fight was just standing there bouncing, bouncing, bouncing... Meiling was getting impatient, and she moved forward. That had been a mistake. A very big mistake.

Fiery's fist came at her face. Meiling managed to duck in time. She hadn't known what had told her to do that, but something in her mind had been pushing her to defend all this time. It wasn't right yet... Fiery still had too much energy left.

"Come on, come at me," Meiling whispered as she began bouncing a little on the balls of her feet while moving backwards. "Only a little bit further..."

Meiling's face showed no signs of emotion, but her lips drew up into a smirk when she knew that she had Fight had. "Kinomoto! Do you have the Power Card with you?" Meiling yelled up at the Card Mistress.

Sakura's response was a shake of her head. "I have no Cards with me, only Fiery! Fiery won't be any help against Fight."

"Great, just great," Meiling muttered. "Time to do some wolf extracting then." She lunged forward and tackled Fight to the ground.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

"What's going on...?" Keroberos wondered aloud, voicing his thoughts.

"I don't know, Keroberos. But there is a new energy arising from somewhere within Tomoeda, and it's not the wolves," Yue said, looking in the direction of the spiritual force. "And our mistress is there as well."

"Yeah, I sensed that already. But that presence feels so familiar..." Keroberos whispered. "Yue, do you think it could be...?"

Yue's face was impassive. "Let's go."

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

Kado was having a blast of a time. He was ripping up the cushions at Syaoran's house. Okay, so he had feathers and fluff and everything between his teeth and all throughout his mouth now, but at least it all made for good fun. He might as well make the most of the freedom now while he had it, because by the way things were going, he wasn't going to be free much longer.

These damned humans were so insistent on sealing him and his family up again, what was the point after all? They were only going to get loose again. That was part of the spell that the Takara girl had put on them when she had managed to seal them away. Kado was still angry about that.

A howl echoed through the town of Tomoeda.

Kado perched his paws on the window and looked out into the sunset. It wouldn't be long now.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

Meiling placed her hands on Fight's shoulders, still while struggling to hold the spirit down.

"Come on, Meiling! Not far to go now!" Sakura called.

"Well, you get down here and do this!" Meiling yelled back. "I need you to seal Fight. The wolf is fine!"

Sakura blinked, and she jumped down from building to building slowly.

"Well, take your time, why don't you?!" Meiling yelled. "Hurry up, Kinomoto! Come on!"

Sakura was nearly there. She raised her staff. "Fight! Return to me!" she called.

Meiling stayed in place, keeping a firm hold on the wolf. This one was older than the one that she had found in the alleyway and there was no way that she was going to let it go.

After Fight was sealed, she dropped the wolf on the ground and pointed her hand at it. "Speak," she commanded.

Akeno rolled his eyes at the demanding idiotic person. He hadn't the time to deal with anything like this. His mother had told them to cause a distraction while she went for Kado, and so he had. He'd imprisoned the spirit of the "Fight" Card, and found it to be no use at all. The spirit was absolutely useless, even when going up against this pitiful human.

"You really want to know what happened?" the wolf asked, speaking in Chinese.

"Speak, so that Sakura can understand you too," Meiling commanded.

Akeno rolled his eyes again. "Fine..." he complained, and started speaking in Japanese, while shooting glares at Meiling. "We were freed by your wish, you wanted to go to Japan, you went, now we're having a bit of fun. Oh, and by the way," Akeno directed at Sakura, "my brother has your brother. Can I go now?"

"No," Meiling said.

"Don't care," Akeno replied. "Besides, nothing you can do to stop me."

"You really think that? I'll seal you away again."

"Yeah, right."

"Watch me," Meiling said with a smirk. She lifted a hand, which was glowing silver.

Akeno recognised the gesture. His eyes widened in fear. He fled.

There wasn't anything that Meiling could do to prevent it. She let him go.

"What did you do that for?!" Syaoran yelled in frustration. "We could have had them!"

Meiling turned to look at them all. Her head was cast down. Her voice was soft as she spoke. "I think it's time that you all know."

"Know what?" Sakura asked.

"What I've been keeping from you," Meiling replied in the same soft voice. "The same thing that I've been keeping from you for the whole entire time that I've been in Japan. I've known... and I haven't done anything about it. I should have done this earlier. Please forgive me, I'm only trying to do what's right."

"We forgive you, Meiling," Sakura replied, curious, "but what have you been keeping from us?"

"You're about to find out," Meiling whispered. She began glowing with silver light. Her head cast back and she closed her eyes and let the magic within her run wild. It was time for them all to know who she truly was.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

Keroberos and Yue were closing in. They could see silver light pouring out from one spot. There were Sakura and Syaoran standing there, watching some sort of transformation. They closed in and landed.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

They were all dumbfounded.

When the light vanished, a small girl was standing there, her eyes still closed, her head now covered with brown hair where Meiling's had formerly been black. She opened her eyes and suddenly Keroberos was hit with recognition.

"Mitsu Takara, what in the world are you doing here?"

Never judge a book by its cover. Some day it might come and hit you in the back.

To be continued...

Well, she's finally revealed herself. And Meiling being Takara? That's a little strange, huh? Well, anyway, Takara is to Meiling as Yue is to Yukito. If that makes any sense. ^_^;;

Review if you want to.

--Kari