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: Heh, cracks against Kero. Love it! Enjoy!
Wishing Well ~ Meeting Old Friends
"I am here for a reason, a purpose, which you are not to be aware of yet, Keroberos, but it is good to see you again, my old friend," Takara replied.
"Old? Old?! I'm only six hundred, thank you very much!" Keroberos answered as he looked away and harrumphed.
"Still as indignant as every," Takara said with a laugh as she turned to look at Yue. She had to look up; she was so much shorter than he was. "And you, Yue? How are you? It's been a long time since we've seen each other, ne?"
Keroberos snorted. "Ha. All that time gone to your head, Takara?"
Takara ignored the implied insult and waited patiently for the moon guardian's response.
"You know, Yue, we don't have all day. Just answer the girl!" Keroberos exclaimed.
Takara turned around, and with a look strikingly bearing some resemblance of a glare that Meiling used to use on her face, said, "Shut up, teddy bear."
Keroberos was scared out of his wits. What had happened to the sweet girl that he had known all those years ago? She must've obtained some of Meiling's personality traits. Damn!
Yue looked down at Takara. "I'm fine, Takara, but you have to tell us what to do about these wolves."
"Um," Sakura chimed in, "what's going on?"
Two guardians and one very ancient girl turned their heads to see three very puzzled looking ones.
"Sakura, I'm just as confused as you are," Syaoran said.
Takara's smile faltered for a second. "You two are Clow's descendents, aren't you?"
Both boy and girl nodded.
"Yeah, we are," Sakura said. "I'm Kinomoto Sakura. – "
"Mistress of the Clow Cards," Takara completed. Seeing Sakura's shocked stare, she elaborated, "I already knew. Sharing a body with one of the Li family affords me certain privileges, including learning all about the latest magical gossip. Yes, Kinomoto, including learning about your spirit cards."
"You know about my brother as well?" Sakura asked.
Takara winked and grinned. "'course. We'll get him back, don't you worry about that. You young'uns have too much ahead of you to be worried about the past. You leave us oldies to do that, right, Keroberos, huh, huh?" She elbowed him playfully and laughed.
"I am not old," Keroberos repeated in a monotone voice, sounding much like Sakura using her favoured sentence to her brother. Of course, everyone knows what that is.
"You keep thinking that, Kero-chan," Takara replied. She turned to everyone else and clapped her hands together. "Now, about these wolves."
"You're going to help us?" Syaoran asked.
"Sure! That's what I came here for, isn't it?" Takara pondered, tapping her finger against her chin in a thoughtful pose.
Silence.
"At least, I think it is," Takara said.
Sweat drops all around.
"Do you guys remember what I was thinking about?" Takara asked, grinning sheepishly.
Keroberos fell over, anime-style. Is it humanly possible for someone to be that clueless? he wondered.
"Let's just move this along," Takara said. "I'm pretty sure that I sense a wolf in your house, Syaoran."
"Call me Li."
"Whatever, Li."
"And I already know about the wolf," Syaoran said, indicating the set of teeth marks on his arm.
Takara craned her head around to see and grinned. "Looks like he got you good. Did he latch onto your arm?"
"I guess you could call it that."
Sakura was standing beside Syaoran. "Syaoran! Are you sure that you're okay?" she asked, examining the wound.
"Yeah," he replied, turning his head away so that she wouldn't see him blushing.
Takara had a knowing cheesy grin on her face and had opened her mouth to taunt Syaoran, but Keroberos beat her to it. Stupid teddy bear... That stuffed animal could get on her nerves so easily sometimes, and the urge to taunt Syaoran was becoming too hard to resist. She knew that Touya would have wanted her to strangle the 'gaki', as he was telling her to do now.
Unbeknownst to the others, Takara had a link with the wolves. She was the one that had sealed them, and she was the only one that knew the full spell that had been used, save for the wolves themselves. That was why Akeno had fled when Meiling had lifted her hand glowing silver. He had realised that Takara had been hiding within Meiling, just quietly watching, waiting for the right moment when to reveal herself. She had known that the others would probably be a little impatient with her because of the fact that she had not helped them sooner. Takara only hoped that they wouldn't blame Meiling for what happened, as it was not her fault in any way...
Yes, it had been Meiling who had released them, but indirectly. Something had been influencing her then, because Takara had felt a different presence within the girl, aside from herself. Being suppressed, like she had been, there had been no way that she could have helped Meiling, and she was definitely regretting trying not to do anything about it. Now that she thought about it, there would have been a couple of things that she could have done to try not to get the influences on Meiling. Then the wolves wouldn't have been released, and Tomoeda would have not been what it was now... There was still a long way to go before it could ever be restored to its former glory.
"Kara-san, please help me!" a voice called.
Takara looked around wildly, her eyes widening with disbelief. That voice, she'd heard it before. She just didn't know where...
"Kara-san, please hurry up! Time is running out. I need to be released soon, otherwise I will perish."
What's going on? Takara thought.
Keroberos noticed the look on her face and cocked his head a little. Something was going on; he could see it within every aspect of Takara's face and aura. She was distracted by something, and it had to be mental. Any physical or magical distractions, and someone else would have picked it up. Takara was the only one being sidetracked though. There was definitely something up...
"Kara-san, I beg of you, please help me..."
'What can I do?!' Takara called out, hoping to reach into the mind of what was calling her. She had no luck, nothing responded. She only received one last message, before the connection was abruptly severed.
"Please... help... me..."
"No, don't go!" Takara cried out.
"Kara! What's going on?!" Keroberos asked in alarm, when he saw the tears leaking down her face.
Takara was breathing heavily, her hand on her heart, feeling the fast beat. Her eyes were widened in alarm, tears sparkling as they flowed down her face. "It... was... someone... needing my... my h-help," Takara whispered. She looked up at the others who were looking at her strangely after hearing her cry.
"Who was needing your help?" Keroberos asked. He walked over to the small girl and put a paw on her back. "Can you tell us that?"
Takara shook her head, gasping in breath. That session within her mind had taken all the air out of her. She had received such a shock during that reflection... She had been vulnerable then and someone had been reaching out to her... The only things that had communicated with her before had been the wolves, but they never called her Kara... they called her Mitsu-sama... what was going on?
"N-no..." she replied. "I don't know who it was at all... I didn't recognise the voice, even though I knew that I had heard it before, I saw no figure... it was unlike any telepathic conversation that I've had before... Someone was reaching out to me. It was someone who had been very powerful, as they were unable to totally reveal themselves to me. I tried to get them to talk more, but the connection was severed..."
"As if something or someone had been blocking it..." Keroberos completed. "Sakura-sama, can you send out two cards as scouts? I think we need to find out what's going on."
Sakura nodded. "Which ones?"
"Send Silent and Shadow," Syaoran stated.
Sakura looked at him in surprise.
"They're the most inconspicuous, Sakura. They should be the ones," Syaoran returned, seeing her face.
"Okay..." Sakura trailed off, really too astonished to speak. Syaoran had been so silent the whole time... he hadn't been really saying much at all. Sakura pulled two cards out of her pocket and whispered to them, "Please go scout for the presence that Takara-san has been talking about..."
"Okay..." the cards whispered back before leaving Sakura's hand and appearing as the spirits in their true glory. "We will be back soon, Sakura-sama."
"Farewell for now, friends," Sakura said quietly, waving at them.
The spirits left, stalking off into the evening night without a sound.
Takara ran through the conversation in her mind again. They had called her Kara... they had asked for her help... but they hadn't been specific in any way. She had to get to the bottom of this... more than ever now... "Guys," she voiced up, earning five looks. "I'm going to go check this out."
"No, you don't, missy!" Keroberos voiced. "You're not going out there by yourself. You need to have someone go with you."
"Let Yue take her," Sakura said. "He can take her home."
"But, Mistress..." Yue whispered.
"Yue, I need you to do this for me now, please. Takara-san is in trouble. I've had dreams again. I had them last night... we have to protect Takara-san. Something is going to come after her," Sakura replied. "Please, Yue, do this for me."
"Okay, Mistress..." Yue resigned and walked over to Takara, spreading his wings and taking the small girl into his arms. "Please try and keep still," he said to Takara. "I don't want to drop you while we're in the air."
"Okay..." Takara replied. She was exhausted. She was far from tired. She was beyond it. She knew that if she didn't go anywhere soon and get any sleep, she would drop to the ground of tiredness and fall asleep, not to awake for at least fifteen hours. This body had not slept in so long...
Yue took to the air.
"Yue, be careful with her!" Keroberos called. "We need her!"
"Be careful, Yue..." Sakura whispered.
Syaoran looked at the other three. "We should get moving..."
Tomoyo, Sakura and Keroberos nodded their affirmation.
"I hope that Takara-san will be okay," Tomoyo said. "She looked so tired..."
"What did you see in that dream, Sakura?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura looked away. "I don't want to talk about it. I have to tell Takara-san first. Can we just look for my brother now? That wolf said that his brother had my brother. I guess that wherever his brother is, is where Touya will be too..."
Syaoran watched Sakura, seeing the conflicting emotions on both her face and her aura. "Sakura, I understand how you feel, but we need to know what's going on." He tried prying it out of her, but it was obvious that she was not going to budge one bit from her decision, so he desisted. He would wait until she had talked to Takara...
"The wolf's name was Akeno," Keroberos said to Sakura. "We should look for any magical being of that name. You should see if any of the cards know about a magical creature of that name. Windy links all of them through communication, so it's probably logical to check with her first, don't you think?"
Sakura nodded her affirmation. She produced the deck of her cards from her pocket and whispered to them. "You all heard Keroberos, do you know what is going on?"
The deck glowed and then Dash's spirit appeared. "I know what's going on," it said. "And I know where the wolf is. Akeno was a friend of mine when Clow created the both of us. I knew the family of wolves very well. The other cards didn't like them. I was the only one who went near them... out of all of Clow's creations, and I don't want to see them get hurt. Please tell me that you won't hurt them."
Syaoran talked to the spirit. "We can't confirm that, Dash. I'm sorry."
"Will you tell us where the wolf is?" Sakura asked.
Dash took in a breath. "Okay..."
+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+
"So where are we going again?" Syaoran asked Sakura, as they ran down the street.
"My house," Sakura said. "Dash said that there was a chance that Kado would be there, so I think that we should check every possibility. There's no telling what the wolf might do. You saw what Akeno was capable of. With my brother's spirit in him, there's no telling what Kado will be able to do to us. We have to seal the others up first and then get to work on Kado."
Syaoran nodded. "Okay. How did Dash say to seal them up?"
"Dash said that Kero had found Takara's diary in the library in the basement of my house. I don't know exactly what it contains, but it might hold some vital clues that may help us." Sakura looked down. "We just have to get there quickly. Before those wolves do."
"Right. Then we should hurry," Syaoran stated. "Call over Keroberos. He'll be able to get us there faster than with us running."
"Right," Sakura nodded. "Keroberos! Over here! We need to get to my house, and fast. Please, hurry!"
Keroberos slid down beside the two from where he had been flying in the air. "Get on my back," he said.
Sakura reached a hand over and took hold of the ruff of fur where she knew it would not hurt the beast. She hauled herself on and slid just behind Keroberos' wing joints. "Syaoran, grab on!" she called out, making sure she had a firm grip on Keroberos, and reaching a hand out toward Syaoran. He took hold and she pulled him up as Keroberos left the ground, flapping strongly in the fierce wind that threatened to topple them.
Something terrible was going to happen. They all knew it.
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Takara opened her eyes to see a shadow standing in the corner of the room. She stirred a little and sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes and blinking a bit to see clearer. When her vision was back to normal, she turned her head toward the shadow. She'd know that silent cold presence anywhere. It was one that she was so familiar with. "What are you doing here, Yue?" Takara asked. "I thought that you would be out helping the others."
"My mistress told me to stay with you. So that is what I am going to do," Yue said, continuing to look out at the twilight. The sun was setting fast; it would soon be by moonlight. A full moon, he noted. A good time to recharge his dwindling powers. He was starting to feel a little weaker than usual, and more light-headed than before. He hadn't been in his true form so much since he had been with Clow. Usually when his mistress wanted him to appear, he was in his true form for little more than a day. It had been two days now, and the constant usage of his powers was beginning to tire him.
"Are you feeling okay, Yue?" Takara asked. She had noticed his rare weakness, and was concerned. It was hardly often that Yue didn't have a lot of magic in him. He liked to keep his reserves up, but the constant demand had obviously made him feel a little weary. Her eyes watched him for a few moments. His wings were gone. He must have folded them so that they could fit in the room.
"Fine," he answered. When the moon rose, he would be able to help his mistress a lot more. It would only be minutes now, and he would be free. His magic would be flowing through him freely again and he wouldn't be stuck around doing nothing. He had been feeling more than a little useless lately, but had neglected to mention it to his mistress, as it was not his place to do so.
"I'm just worried about you... that's all," Takara whispered. "I worry about you, Yue. We all do. You're just so quiet, and you don't speak much..." she watched the moon guardian for his response, for some harsh comment that might come from him, but she knew that none would. Yue was not the type of being to react harshly to some remarks that might have come his way. He would only obey his current mistress' orders. That was what set him apart from others. It didn't really shock Takara to hear the cool silence between them.
Yue closed his eyes. "My first priority is to protect my mistress," he said quietly.
Takara heard anyway. "I understand that, Yue. But aren't some things more important than promises? Sometimes promises are meant to be broken, like the one I used to have with Kero, so that whenever I took his pudding, I would play a game with him later. It never happened." She smiled, reflecting back on the memories. "What I'm trying to say, Yue, is that I care for you. We all do. We worry, Yue. It's part of being who we are. Just, if you're ever in trouble, don't be afraid to risk your pride and ask for help. I do it a lot. Back when Clow was still alive, I had to ask my worst enemy, Haruka, for help. I absolutely hated her, but I was stuck in a ditch and couldn't get out. She helped me after she was convinced I couldn't get up, and she rubbed it in my face afterward... but that's beside the point. I want to help you, Yue. So whatever it is, ask it. I'm not afraid to risk myself."
"I don't need any help right now, Takara." Yue looked away. Maybe there was some truth to her words...
Takara looked down. "Okay, Yue, but don't forget, I'm here to help you whenever you need it."
Yue nodded and looked out the window again to watch the moon rise.
"Takara!" a voice said hurriedly. "What are you doing here?!"
Yue's head jerked up. He knew that voice, but it had been so long since he had heard it.
Takara's eyes widened. That voice, she knew exactly who it was as well! Even though it had been hundreds of years, she would recognise it anywhere. "Clow?!" she said in alarm. "What in the world are you doing here?! I thought that you were gone!" It had been so long since she had seen her foster father. She knew that he was only here in spirit right now, and that half of him existed within the English mage, and the other half in Sakura's father, but she had had no idea that his spirit was still alive...
"Precisely what I asked you, Takara," Clow said. "But we have no time. There is going to be another world opening to us, and you need to find the key to it before the key discovers itself. It is not far. I can sense it, but just barely. You need to warn Sakura and the others. They have to find it."
"Clow-sama," Yue addressed. "Why have you appeared here? Is there no more for you to say?"
Clow's spirit looked from Takara to Yue. "Ever the inquisitive one, Yue," he said. "But I am only here to give you that message. Hurry. The world depends on all of you. There is much more at stake than you realise. I wish I could help you, but there is nothing more that I can do. Good luck, and the spirits will side with you. Make good use of them, as their trust is not easily gained. For if you lose, the bond between humans and spirits will be forever broken. Please, help them. Their world is in jeopardy, not just ours. Those wolves mean more to this world than you realise. Good luck and please defeat them..." his voice faded and so did his presence.
Only, even though they had each other in the room, Yue and Takara felt more alone than ever.
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"We're nearing your house, Sakura," Keroberos said. "We should be there in no time at all."
"About time," Syaoran grumbled. He had been getting impatient, and he felt a little airsick, even though they had only been flying for about ten minutes. Tomoeda sure was a big town... His cousin, or should he say Takara, was with Yue at Sakura's house.
"Syaoran, do you feel that?!" Sakura asked in alarm. She usually felt that presence now whenever her father or Eriol was near, but she knew that they were far away from her house. This presence, however, was within her house. She had no idea why Clow Reed would want to be there. He was gone, wasn't he? He was reincarnated, half of him in Eriol and the other half in her father. That was how she came to have her magical powers. "It's Clow Reed. Yue and Takara are at my house, and even though Yue was created by Clow Reed, he emits partly my aura now. Something is going on... we have to find out. Keroberos, is there any possibility that you can go faster?" she asked the sun guardian, quickly noticing the setting sun. "It will be night soon, and we can't afford to be out on the streets in the dark."
"I can go faster, Sakura, but it will drain away some of your magic."
"We'll just have to take that risk. On we go!" Sakura called.
Keroberos flapped his wings a few times strongly and a sudden burst of speed was put on. It wouldn't be long now...
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Kaede looked from her daughters. She had released her son to perform some diversion, and he had not yet returned. This made her believe that the worst had happened. Her older son was gone. It could not be though, as she had not felt the magic of the sealing that usually took place. She had sensed the arrival of Mitsu Takara, and that was not going to be good. She had had no idea that the young girl would appear in this time, and if she had, her family would not have caused half as much trouble as it had. It seemed that the whole world now knew of magic, and the difficulties that lay ahead of them would determine who was the strongest. Beast or human.
Her other two cubs were rolling around playing in the back and Kaede shook her head sadly. They found fun and amusement in playing. They didn't have time for this. They had to find Kado and Akeno. It was going to be hard though.
"Come on, you two!" Kaede said hurriedly. "We have to go find your brothers!"
The two cubs didn't really seem to care, but they decided to follow their mother. After all, there wasn't much that they could do.
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Kado stretched again and walked out of the door of Syaoran's house. He was getting bored in there anyway, and he was hungry. That spirit that he had taken was bugging him again. It kept wanting to get out, and he had known that it had tried to contact someone else. Kado hadn't known that this spirit knew how to do that. He was learning new things about this spirit with each passing hour that the spirit remained in his body.
A few presences tugged at his senses, and his eyes narrowed when he felt his mother walking closer to where he was. She was going to find him soon, he knew that, so he had to avert her at all costs, or else they would all go down together. He couldn't afford that happening. There was only one thing that he could do. He took off toward Sakura's house.
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Yue and Takara were in the room with stunned silence. They were still absorbing Clow's appearance. He had warned them about something. But it wasn't clear what...
Takara heard the door opening and she realised that it was Syaoran and Sakura entering the house along with Keroberos. But there was also something else on the way. And Takara had a funny feeling that she knew what it was. She folded the covers over off the bed and slipped out, making her way to the door and down the stairs. Yue stayed up the top.
"Li, Sakura," she greeted. "We've had some news."
"What is it?" Sakura asked.
"Clow Reed appeared to Yue and I. He said -"
All of a sudden, Takara was cut off as wind blew fiercely throughout the room, signaling the arrival of one of the wolves. A shadow had appeared at the door. A baby wolf. Takara quickly realised it as being Kado, son of Kaede.
"Kado, what are you doing here?!" Takara asked.
"You know their names?" Sakura asked, her face covered with surprise and shock.
"We have to get them!" Syaoran went to lunge at Kado, but Takara held up a hand, making Syaoran dead-still.
"I'm sorry, Li, but I think that we should hear Kado out." She looked at the wolf. "Continue."
Kado took a deep breath, having a strange feeling that he would somehow regret doing this. "I want to help you."
People should not be judged on what they are, but who they are.
To be continued...
I'm tired of typing, so I'll probably stop after the seventh chapter.
Review if you want to.
--Kari