A/N –— This is just a little oneshot crossover between Gargoyles and Card
Captor Sakura. The main characters are Brooklyn and Sakura. Rating is
just to be safe, its really just a nice little talk between two people.
Feedback is greatly appreciated: Love it? Hate it? Tell me.
Time lines:
CCS: Spoilers for the whole series, really. I'm basing after the 2nd series(manga wise) So its after everything that happened with Eriol and his little group.
Gargoyles: Sometime after Hunter's Moon, but before TGC– Yet it uses elements from TGC . . . odd . . .
For those of you who know nothing about CCS *spoiler here* Sakura is the world's most powerful magician, or sorceress , if you prefer, but she's only 11, (huh– wish I was a master sorceress at 11) She is the master of the Sakura cards, formerly known as the Clow Cards, which each have their own special power like flying, and wind, and light. Umm . . . that's it, I think . . . So here goes . . .
Will You Catch Me if I Fall?
Brooklyn scowled in annoyance as faint sounds reached his ears from the room behind him. Broadway and Angela had been talking in there for the past hour or so, continuously laughing over things the red gargoyle couldn't quite make out. It wasn't as if he really cared what they were talking about, it was just the fact that he was not part of it.
Not part of it . . . The second-in-command snorted. He didn't know why he was so upset. Being alone was pretty much a normal part of his life. Everyone had their little groups now--no it was rather that the groups had changed, leaving him out. Before Angela and Alex had come along it had been Goliath with Elisa, Hudson with Bronx, and then there had been Lexington, Broadway, and himself, the trio. But now, everything was different. Broadway now primarily hung out with Angela, and Lexington with the child, Alex. Which left Brooklyn all alone. He'd probably die from shock if someone actually wanted to do something with him.
Moodily, Brooklyn shifted his eyes over to the tv set. Hudson, the old warrior, was asleep in front of it, curled up in the armchair. Bronx, ever the loyal dog-goyle, was sleeping at his feet. They made an interesting picture, one of fierce loyalty. The red gargoyle stared at them for a moment, before sighing, running a claw through his white hair, and leaving the room.
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"Hey, Brooklyn!" A voice called, just as the red gargoyle was preparing to glide off into the night.
He turned, surprised. "Hey, Lex. I thought you were babysitting Alex for Xanatos tonight?"
"I am. I was just heading there now." The small, almost amphibian- like gargoyle drew closer, his light green skin contrasting with Brooklyn's dark red. "I was just wondering where you were going. We aren't patrolling tonight. Goliath said we should take tonight off, to rest, you know."
"Yeah, I just . . ." Brooklyn hesitated for a moment, "I just need to get out a bit tonight, that's all. It feels cramped here . . ." Lexington blinked at that, then glanced around at the spacious Castle Wyvern. The taller gargoyle shrugged, "Well, you know."
"Ok. I'll see you then." Lex watched as Brooklyn took off into the night, a small frown gracing his lips before he sighed and went back inside.
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Brooklyn landed atop one of New York's higher skyscrapers, and dug his claws into the granite. The sky was dark, overcast, a sure sign of a storm. Oh well. It probably wouldn't be so bad that he couldn't make it back. Besides, it was probably just a spring storm, the kind that threatened to rain, and looked ominous enough to do so, but never really did.
A small droplet of water landed directly between his eyelids, contradicting him, and the red gargoyle scowled, glaring at it cross-eyed. It obstinately refused his telepathic message telling it to go back from whence it came, and merely continued to roll down his beak until it dropped, proceeding to fall down until it presumably hit some human.
Humans, the gargoyle thought, as the rain continued to fall, progressively harder. Humans . . . The only thing one could say for certain about them was that they were an extremely hard species to figure out, definitely more so than the other races, Gargoyles and the Fey, also known as Oberon's children.
If one were asked to describe gargoyles, one would predictably call them protectors, for that's what they did, protect. They showed fierce loyalty to those they cared for, never betraying each other. Each member of the clan was family, and there was no lacking in trust amongst them. Gargoyles were hesitant to get involved in other's battles, believing in honor and lacking in hostility unless their homes or families were threatened.
Oberon's children . . . Brooklyn shook his head. He'd dealt enough with them to last him a lifetime. The fey cared nothing for other races, only deeming them important when their aid was needed or when the mortals had done something to annoy them. Other than that, the immortals could care less what happened to everyone else. The only exception to that particular rule was Puck, but Brooklyn had a feeling the trickster was one of a kind, and not understood completely even by his own kind.
As for the humans . . . the only words one could safely describe them with was diversity personified. None was like any other. Some could be loyal friends, like gargoyles, but some, like Sevarius, were only loyal to themselves and their work. Some were extremely self-absorbed, like the fey, but others, like Elisa, were extremely caring about others. Some were evil, some were good, and some, like Xanatos, were a mystery in themselves. You thought you had them figured out, and then they did something and totally took you by surprise. They couldn't seem to figure themselves out either. They wanted order, but they needed chaos. Humans would settle down in a certain routine, saying they desired the order, but soon, they were desperate for a change. Perhaps this constant teeter-tottering of order and chaos was why they were the shortest lived of the three . . .
Brooklyn stretched his wings out, shaking them a bit to get the water off of them, then brought them over his head to keep the rain off of his head and grinned ruefully. No matter how you described humans, they were certainly easy to scare. That was why he was up this high. Were he seen, there would be mass hysteria, and that was something he'd rather avoid. Up here at least, he was away from prying eyes-
"Hello." Brooklyn jumped, so startled that he nearly fell off of his perch on the building. When he turned, he realized that the voice came from a young girl, no more than eleven years old, carrying an umbrella over her head, chestnut hair framing her fair face. The girl had obviously not yet realized that he was not human, otherwise she would be screaming, and running off to tell the police that there was a freak on top of the building. Brooklyn tensed up, closed his eyes and pulled his hands closer to his ears, waiting for the realization to sink in.
When no screams were forthcoming, and no cries of, "Monster!" were made, Brooklyn cautiously opened his eyes. Perhaps she was the kind who went into shock, or maybe she had already run off. But no, she was still there, her head cocked to one side, as if she was concerned.
"Are you all right?" The girl spoke again, and Brooklyn stared at her for a moment more then did a quick reality check.
"You're not screaming?"
The human blinked at that, then shrugged and rested her umbrella on her shoulder. "Nope."
"You're not running?"
"No . . . should I be?"
The red gargoyle stared at the girl again. Okay . . . "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! My name's Sakura Kinomoto. I'm on a school trip here from Japan." The girl bowed politely. "Who are you, if I may ask?"
"Names Brooklyn . . . I live here, in Manhattan. How did you get up here anyway? I didn't hear the door opening," he gestured to the door that led to the inner levels of the building, "Unless you were up here before I was?"
"No, I came up here, and you were just sitting there. At first I thought you were a statue, but then you opened your wings, and well, that kinda disproved the whole statue theory . . . By the way, when you open your wings like that . . . You looked really amazing. Beautiful, but in a kinda mysterious way." Sakura sat down on the ledge beside Brooklyn, swinging her feet in the open air and looking out into the mix of noise, light, and sound that was Manhattan.
The gargoyle turned around so that they were looking the same way, then glanced at the girl sitting next to him. "Be careful sitting like that. You don't want to fall."
Sakura glanced at him, a smile alighting on her face. "You mean you wouldn't catch me if I fell? Not that I'd blame you of course. I'd imagine if people here accepted you, you wouldn't be up here tonight. To you, I'd probably be just another prejudiced human down the drain."
Brooklyn glanced up at her, startled. "No, no I wouldn't! I wouldn't let anybody fall, not if I could help them."
"Not even your worst enemy? If you have one of course . . ." The girl turned to look back at the city, her white shirt flapping in the slight breeze that had started, blowing the rain into their faces.
The red gargoyle paused, his thoughts turning to Demona. If she had been in a situation where only he could help, would he? It would depend on what the circumstances were, he supposed. If she had been trying to hurt the Clan . . . Would it really matter, some part of his mind asked, A life is a life, after all. Would it really hurt to be merciful? But what about all that she'd done? To him, to Goliath, to the Clan, his family! She has suffered much . . . It gives her no right to hurt like she does! Yet does she deserve to die? Does anyone? I . . .I don't know.
"Brooklyn?" The gargoyle jumped, startled out of his mental argument. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Just . . .thinking."
There was silence for a moment, then Sakura spoke. "I trust you Brooklyn."
"What?" Brooklyn asked, confused.
"If I fell. You'd catch me. I'm sure you would. I trust you."
"That's a lot of faith you have in a monster there kid." Sakura turned to face him, a slight frown on her face.
"You're not a monster."
"Maybe not to you."
Sakura sighed, then glanced back down at the ground, before speaking again, unknowingly echoing Brooklyn's earlier thoughts. "People just don't like change, even though they need it." There was another moment of silence, until Sakura spoke again. "Why are you out here alone, Brooklyn? Do you have a family?"
"Yeah. My clan's back home." He shifted around in his seat, uncomfortable with this line of conversation.
"Why aren't you?" The girl queried.
Brooklyn shrugged. "I just wanted to get away from it all I guess."
"Away from what?"
Brooklyn, realizing exactly how personal this was getting, responded hastily, "Nothing in particular. Just . . . little things."
"Oh. Ok . . . Brooklyn? What do you do, when you want to talk to someone, but there's no one to talk to?"
"I dunno. Come out here I guess. Why?"
". . . You're never alone Brooklyn."
The red gargoyle turned to look at her again. "What do you mean Sakura?"
"Your family cares for you Brooklyn. If you're ever in trouble, they'll be there." Sakura's grin grew mischievous. "If you ever fall off of a building, they'll be there to catch you. Always. That's what family and friends are for."
Brooklyn looked at her for a long moment. How had she been able to discern what really troubled him so effortlessly like that? Maybe she was a magician or something . . . Finally, he spoke. "How would they know?"
Sakura shrugged, sending water droplets cascading off of her umbrella and onto the cement roof beneath them. "I don't know. Maybe it's a bond thing. But no matter how it works, they know. And they'll be there, to catch you if you fall."
Brooklyn grinned. "You're an extremely perceptive little girl." This sent Sakura into peals of laughter. Watching her, Brooklyn realized that he had never heard a human child laugh before. Which was kinda sad, if he thought about it. It was a beautiful thing, another reason to protect this world.
The gargoyle was shaken out of his thoughts by a quick rap to his head. "Ouch! What was that for?"
Sakura scowled at him as she stuck her tongue out. "I'm not little!"
"You are to me . . ."
"You're a gargoyle!"
"So?"
"So you're cheating!"
"Ow! What was that one for?"
"For cheating!"
"It's not my fault I'm this big! I was born this way!"
"Doesn't mean you can take advantage of it by calling me little!"
"I wasn't . . . oh never mind." Brooklyn threw his hands up in exasperation.
Sakura grinned cheerfully, then glanced down at her watch. "Oh! You'd better go. The sun's coming up soon, and your family's gonna be worried about you." Sakura blinked, then continued. "You do turn to stone at sunrise, right?"
Brooklyn stood up and stretched. "Yep." He turned to glance at the child sitting next to him. "I should take you home first though."
Sakura stood up as well, then shook her head. "Oh, no, that's all right. I'll get back the same way I got here. Besides, what would happen if you turned to stone while you were in the middle of the air? Then we'd both be in trouble!" When Brooklyn still seemed hesitant, she continued, "Brooklyn, go! Now! Or I'll call the police and tell them there's a monster up here and that he's trying to kidnap me." At this, she held her cell phone up threateningly.
Brooklyn sighed, then glanced again at the sky. He had to hurry, or as she said, he would turn to stone in mid-flight. He winced, imagining the consequences of that. "I don't like leaving you here alone."
"Brooklyn! Look, I'll call someone to pick me up. Please, you need to go home!"
Brooklyn stared at her for another moment, then shook his head. "All right . . ." He said reluctantly. "Maybe I'll see you around. Goodbye Sakura."
"Goodbye, Brooklyn." With that, Brooklyn took to the skies. It would be a struggle to make it through the storm, but he should have just enough time.
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Sakura watched him go for a moment, then, when she was sure he wouldn't see anything, she took a small key from around her neck. "Release!" she whispered, feeling Clow's magic–No, her magic glide through the key, transforming it into her wand. The pink handle grew long and slim, adorned on the top with a star within a circle, with two wings on each side and a red jewel underneath. She looked at it for a long moment, remembering all she and her friends had gone through, had suffered through, to get this far. Her friends . . . were going to kill her for leaving without telling them.
The young Master of the Cards smiled. It was good to know that somebody cared. She had come up here because she had felt a strange presence, something not human. She had thought perhaps it was another card, though she wasn't sure how that would be possible. As it had turned out, it was a lonely gargoyle, in need of someone to talk to. Sakura hadn't even known gargoyles existed before tonight, but with some of the things she had seen, she wasn't surprised.
Sakura glanced at her watch, then squealed. "Oh, jeez, they are gonna kill me!" Quickly, she drew out the card that had brought her here, then glanced around again to make sure no one was watching. A magic circle formed around her as she whispered, "Fly card! Release!" Two long, slim, white wings grew out from her back, and she took off, flying back to her friends, the people who cared about her.
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Brooklyn stood on his customary pedestal, waiting for the sunrise to come so he and the others could rest. When he had returned, the whole clan had been there, waiting for him to return. Apparently, Lexington had noticed that something was wrong, and had informed the others. They had wanted to come after him, but Goliath had told them to leave him be, that their clanmate had needed some time to himself. Sakura's words came back to him. Your family cares for you Brooklyn. If you're ever in trouble, they'll be there. If you ever fall off of a building, they'll be there to catch you. Always. That's what family and friends are for."
The red gargoyle glanced to his left and right, where his rookery brothers were. Both Lexington and Broadway grinned at him, then turned as the sun's rays hit them. Brooklyn turned as well, and for the first time in a while, he was happy
End
******* So? Tell me what you think? Review! Please?
Feedback is greatly appreciated: Love it? Hate it? Tell me.
Time lines:
CCS: Spoilers for the whole series, really. I'm basing after the 2nd series(manga wise) So its after everything that happened with Eriol and his little group.
Gargoyles: Sometime after Hunter's Moon, but before TGC– Yet it uses elements from TGC . . . odd . . .
For those of you who know nothing about CCS *spoiler here* Sakura is the world's most powerful magician, or sorceress , if you prefer, but she's only 11, (huh– wish I was a master sorceress at 11) She is the master of the Sakura cards, formerly known as the Clow Cards, which each have their own special power like flying, and wind, and light. Umm . . . that's it, I think . . . So here goes . . .
Will You Catch Me if I Fall?
Brooklyn scowled in annoyance as faint sounds reached his ears from the room behind him. Broadway and Angela had been talking in there for the past hour or so, continuously laughing over things the red gargoyle couldn't quite make out. It wasn't as if he really cared what they were talking about, it was just the fact that he was not part of it.
Not part of it . . . The second-in-command snorted. He didn't know why he was so upset. Being alone was pretty much a normal part of his life. Everyone had their little groups now--no it was rather that the groups had changed, leaving him out. Before Angela and Alex had come along it had been Goliath with Elisa, Hudson with Bronx, and then there had been Lexington, Broadway, and himself, the trio. But now, everything was different. Broadway now primarily hung out with Angela, and Lexington with the child, Alex. Which left Brooklyn all alone. He'd probably die from shock if someone actually wanted to do something with him.
Moodily, Brooklyn shifted his eyes over to the tv set. Hudson, the old warrior, was asleep in front of it, curled up in the armchair. Bronx, ever the loyal dog-goyle, was sleeping at his feet. They made an interesting picture, one of fierce loyalty. The red gargoyle stared at them for a moment, before sighing, running a claw through his white hair, and leaving the room.
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"Hey, Brooklyn!" A voice called, just as the red gargoyle was preparing to glide off into the night.
He turned, surprised. "Hey, Lex. I thought you were babysitting Alex for Xanatos tonight?"
"I am. I was just heading there now." The small, almost amphibian- like gargoyle drew closer, his light green skin contrasting with Brooklyn's dark red. "I was just wondering where you were going. We aren't patrolling tonight. Goliath said we should take tonight off, to rest, you know."
"Yeah, I just . . ." Brooklyn hesitated for a moment, "I just need to get out a bit tonight, that's all. It feels cramped here . . ." Lexington blinked at that, then glanced around at the spacious Castle Wyvern. The taller gargoyle shrugged, "Well, you know."
"Ok. I'll see you then." Lex watched as Brooklyn took off into the night, a small frown gracing his lips before he sighed and went back inside.
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Brooklyn landed atop one of New York's higher skyscrapers, and dug his claws into the granite. The sky was dark, overcast, a sure sign of a storm. Oh well. It probably wouldn't be so bad that he couldn't make it back. Besides, it was probably just a spring storm, the kind that threatened to rain, and looked ominous enough to do so, but never really did.
A small droplet of water landed directly between his eyelids, contradicting him, and the red gargoyle scowled, glaring at it cross-eyed. It obstinately refused his telepathic message telling it to go back from whence it came, and merely continued to roll down his beak until it dropped, proceeding to fall down until it presumably hit some human.
Humans, the gargoyle thought, as the rain continued to fall, progressively harder. Humans . . . The only thing one could say for certain about them was that they were an extremely hard species to figure out, definitely more so than the other races, Gargoyles and the Fey, also known as Oberon's children.
If one were asked to describe gargoyles, one would predictably call them protectors, for that's what they did, protect. They showed fierce loyalty to those they cared for, never betraying each other. Each member of the clan was family, and there was no lacking in trust amongst them. Gargoyles were hesitant to get involved in other's battles, believing in honor and lacking in hostility unless their homes or families were threatened.
Oberon's children . . . Brooklyn shook his head. He'd dealt enough with them to last him a lifetime. The fey cared nothing for other races, only deeming them important when their aid was needed or when the mortals had done something to annoy them. Other than that, the immortals could care less what happened to everyone else. The only exception to that particular rule was Puck, but Brooklyn had a feeling the trickster was one of a kind, and not understood completely even by his own kind.
As for the humans . . . the only words one could safely describe them with was diversity personified. None was like any other. Some could be loyal friends, like gargoyles, but some, like Sevarius, were only loyal to themselves and their work. Some were extremely self-absorbed, like the fey, but others, like Elisa, were extremely caring about others. Some were evil, some were good, and some, like Xanatos, were a mystery in themselves. You thought you had them figured out, and then they did something and totally took you by surprise. They couldn't seem to figure themselves out either. They wanted order, but they needed chaos. Humans would settle down in a certain routine, saying they desired the order, but soon, they were desperate for a change. Perhaps this constant teeter-tottering of order and chaos was why they were the shortest lived of the three . . .
Brooklyn stretched his wings out, shaking them a bit to get the water off of them, then brought them over his head to keep the rain off of his head and grinned ruefully. No matter how you described humans, they were certainly easy to scare. That was why he was up this high. Were he seen, there would be mass hysteria, and that was something he'd rather avoid. Up here at least, he was away from prying eyes-
"Hello." Brooklyn jumped, so startled that he nearly fell off of his perch on the building. When he turned, he realized that the voice came from a young girl, no more than eleven years old, carrying an umbrella over her head, chestnut hair framing her fair face. The girl had obviously not yet realized that he was not human, otherwise she would be screaming, and running off to tell the police that there was a freak on top of the building. Brooklyn tensed up, closed his eyes and pulled his hands closer to his ears, waiting for the realization to sink in.
When no screams were forthcoming, and no cries of, "Monster!" were made, Brooklyn cautiously opened his eyes. Perhaps she was the kind who went into shock, or maybe she had already run off. But no, she was still there, her head cocked to one side, as if she was concerned.
"Are you all right?" The girl spoke again, and Brooklyn stared at her for a moment more then did a quick reality check.
"You're not screaming?"
The human blinked at that, then shrugged and rested her umbrella on her shoulder. "Nope."
"You're not running?"
"No . . . should I be?"
The red gargoyle stared at the girl again. Okay . . . "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! My name's Sakura Kinomoto. I'm on a school trip here from Japan." The girl bowed politely. "Who are you, if I may ask?"
"Names Brooklyn . . . I live here, in Manhattan. How did you get up here anyway? I didn't hear the door opening," he gestured to the door that led to the inner levels of the building, "Unless you were up here before I was?"
"No, I came up here, and you were just sitting there. At first I thought you were a statue, but then you opened your wings, and well, that kinda disproved the whole statue theory . . . By the way, when you open your wings like that . . . You looked really amazing. Beautiful, but in a kinda mysterious way." Sakura sat down on the ledge beside Brooklyn, swinging her feet in the open air and looking out into the mix of noise, light, and sound that was Manhattan.
The gargoyle turned around so that they were looking the same way, then glanced at the girl sitting next to him. "Be careful sitting like that. You don't want to fall."
Sakura glanced at him, a smile alighting on her face. "You mean you wouldn't catch me if I fell? Not that I'd blame you of course. I'd imagine if people here accepted you, you wouldn't be up here tonight. To you, I'd probably be just another prejudiced human down the drain."
Brooklyn glanced up at her, startled. "No, no I wouldn't! I wouldn't let anybody fall, not if I could help them."
"Not even your worst enemy? If you have one of course . . ." The girl turned to look back at the city, her white shirt flapping in the slight breeze that had started, blowing the rain into their faces.
The red gargoyle paused, his thoughts turning to Demona. If she had been in a situation where only he could help, would he? It would depend on what the circumstances were, he supposed. If she had been trying to hurt the Clan . . . Would it really matter, some part of his mind asked, A life is a life, after all. Would it really hurt to be merciful? But what about all that she'd done? To him, to Goliath, to the Clan, his family! She has suffered much . . . It gives her no right to hurt like she does! Yet does she deserve to die? Does anyone? I . . .I don't know.
"Brooklyn?" The gargoyle jumped, startled out of his mental argument. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Just . . .thinking."
There was silence for a moment, then Sakura spoke. "I trust you Brooklyn."
"What?" Brooklyn asked, confused.
"If I fell. You'd catch me. I'm sure you would. I trust you."
"That's a lot of faith you have in a monster there kid." Sakura turned to face him, a slight frown on her face.
"You're not a monster."
"Maybe not to you."
Sakura sighed, then glanced back down at the ground, before speaking again, unknowingly echoing Brooklyn's earlier thoughts. "People just don't like change, even though they need it." There was another moment of silence, until Sakura spoke again. "Why are you out here alone, Brooklyn? Do you have a family?"
"Yeah. My clan's back home." He shifted around in his seat, uncomfortable with this line of conversation.
"Why aren't you?" The girl queried.
Brooklyn shrugged. "I just wanted to get away from it all I guess."
"Away from what?"
Brooklyn, realizing exactly how personal this was getting, responded hastily, "Nothing in particular. Just . . . little things."
"Oh. Ok . . . Brooklyn? What do you do, when you want to talk to someone, but there's no one to talk to?"
"I dunno. Come out here I guess. Why?"
". . . You're never alone Brooklyn."
The red gargoyle turned to look at her again. "What do you mean Sakura?"
"Your family cares for you Brooklyn. If you're ever in trouble, they'll be there." Sakura's grin grew mischievous. "If you ever fall off of a building, they'll be there to catch you. Always. That's what family and friends are for."
Brooklyn looked at her for a long moment. How had she been able to discern what really troubled him so effortlessly like that? Maybe she was a magician or something . . . Finally, he spoke. "How would they know?"
Sakura shrugged, sending water droplets cascading off of her umbrella and onto the cement roof beneath them. "I don't know. Maybe it's a bond thing. But no matter how it works, they know. And they'll be there, to catch you if you fall."
Brooklyn grinned. "You're an extremely perceptive little girl." This sent Sakura into peals of laughter. Watching her, Brooklyn realized that he had never heard a human child laugh before. Which was kinda sad, if he thought about it. It was a beautiful thing, another reason to protect this world.
The gargoyle was shaken out of his thoughts by a quick rap to his head. "Ouch! What was that for?"
Sakura scowled at him as she stuck her tongue out. "I'm not little!"
"You are to me . . ."
"You're a gargoyle!"
"So?"
"So you're cheating!"
"Ow! What was that one for?"
"For cheating!"
"It's not my fault I'm this big! I was born this way!"
"Doesn't mean you can take advantage of it by calling me little!"
"I wasn't . . . oh never mind." Brooklyn threw his hands up in exasperation.
Sakura grinned cheerfully, then glanced down at her watch. "Oh! You'd better go. The sun's coming up soon, and your family's gonna be worried about you." Sakura blinked, then continued. "You do turn to stone at sunrise, right?"
Brooklyn stood up and stretched. "Yep." He turned to glance at the child sitting next to him. "I should take you home first though."
Sakura stood up as well, then shook her head. "Oh, no, that's all right. I'll get back the same way I got here. Besides, what would happen if you turned to stone while you were in the middle of the air? Then we'd both be in trouble!" When Brooklyn still seemed hesitant, she continued, "Brooklyn, go! Now! Or I'll call the police and tell them there's a monster up here and that he's trying to kidnap me." At this, she held her cell phone up threateningly.
Brooklyn sighed, then glanced again at the sky. He had to hurry, or as she said, he would turn to stone in mid-flight. He winced, imagining the consequences of that. "I don't like leaving you here alone."
"Brooklyn! Look, I'll call someone to pick me up. Please, you need to go home!"
Brooklyn stared at her for another moment, then shook his head. "All right . . ." He said reluctantly. "Maybe I'll see you around. Goodbye Sakura."
"Goodbye, Brooklyn." With that, Brooklyn took to the skies. It would be a struggle to make it through the storm, but he should have just enough time.
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Sakura watched him go for a moment, then, when she was sure he wouldn't see anything, she took a small key from around her neck. "Release!" she whispered, feeling Clow's magic–No, her magic glide through the key, transforming it into her wand. The pink handle grew long and slim, adorned on the top with a star within a circle, with two wings on each side and a red jewel underneath. She looked at it for a long moment, remembering all she and her friends had gone through, had suffered through, to get this far. Her friends . . . were going to kill her for leaving without telling them.
The young Master of the Cards smiled. It was good to know that somebody cared. She had come up here because she had felt a strange presence, something not human. She had thought perhaps it was another card, though she wasn't sure how that would be possible. As it had turned out, it was a lonely gargoyle, in need of someone to talk to. Sakura hadn't even known gargoyles existed before tonight, but with some of the things she had seen, she wasn't surprised.
Sakura glanced at her watch, then squealed. "Oh, jeez, they are gonna kill me!" Quickly, she drew out the card that had brought her here, then glanced around again to make sure no one was watching. A magic circle formed around her as she whispered, "Fly card! Release!" Two long, slim, white wings grew out from her back, and she took off, flying back to her friends, the people who cared about her.
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Brooklyn stood on his customary pedestal, waiting for the sunrise to come so he and the others could rest. When he had returned, the whole clan had been there, waiting for him to return. Apparently, Lexington had noticed that something was wrong, and had informed the others. They had wanted to come after him, but Goliath had told them to leave him be, that their clanmate had needed some time to himself. Sakura's words came back to him. Your family cares for you Brooklyn. If you're ever in trouble, they'll be there. If you ever fall off of a building, they'll be there to catch you. Always. That's what family and friends are for."
The red gargoyle glanced to his left and right, where his rookery brothers were. Both Lexington and Broadway grinned at him, then turned as the sun's rays hit them. Brooklyn turned as well, and for the first time in a while, he was happy
End
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