Chapter 3
Warmth
CLAMP owns Tsubasa. XD Thanks for reviewing! Thank you so much, Oni the Great for giving me the translation. I couldn't give Sakura a Kudan coz I don't have any ideas for what will Sakura use her Kudan for, in this sleepy state. She just woke up so she's still sleepy. Here are the replies to reviews.
Sunel: Yatta! You reviewed again! XD SyaoranFan: It took lots of time. I don't think you guys would prefer waiting for the Kudan than getting the next chapter. Sararin: You are an over-enthusiastic Syaoran fan.
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Everything was dark. My eyes were closed; my eyelids felt heavy and I didn't have the strength to open them. The bitter coldness receded away as an abrupt pleasant sensation spread to my fingertips. I could feel an unfamiliar soothing feeling, like being caressed by strange intense warmth. But it didn't continue. It didn't last. It left. And I was by myself.
* * *
I know nothing of what was going on. I don't understand anything … I can hear muffled voices talking. Perhaps they were talking about me. I heard a soft rustle, a different comforting feeling brushed against my face. I wanted them to tell me what was going on; why I feel so blank … A few moments later … perhaps minutes, perhaps hours … I felt the cold … again. Why must the warmth disappear? There was nobody but the piercing, biting darkness to accompany me. It was like being locked in a vast unbounded cold room.
* * *
Warmth spread to my whole body. I felt like I was glowing for a few seconds. I opened my eyes for the first time since being plunged into the sea of darkness. The sudden light was blindingly vivid.
My eyes met a boy I hade never seen before. He was clasping my hand gently. "Anata … dare?"
He let go of my hand. I felt the soft texture of the mattress. He was sliding in and out of focus. The floor swayed like the deck of ship. Willing it to disappear, I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again. The fatigue had lessened considerably. I sat up unsteadily. The boy wore clothes that looked like they had been burnt and smeared with ashes. I noticed his brown hair and skin were somewhat scorched by fire. He took a moment to answer. Finally he spoke. "I'm Syaoran. You're Sakura-hime. Please listen to me calmly. You are a princess from a different world."
"Different world?"
"You lost your memories and because of that we have come to the different worlds to find it," Syaoran continued.
"By myself?"
"No, we came with friends," he answered politely.
"Are you also with me?"
"Yes."
"Yet we never met before?"
"Yes."
"Sakura-hime, we're meeting for the first time," said a pale-haired man, beaming. "My name is Fye D. Flowright. This is –"
"Kurogane," said a tall man with black spiky hair.
Fye's voice raised in ecstasy. "And this kawaii little fluffy thing is –"
"Mokona Modoki Sowelu!" Mokona was a strange fluffy animal, with long ears and feet but tiny eyes. "You can just call me Mokona."
Mokona sat in my lap. I stroked his furry ears, wondering, "Who held my hands when I was asleep? My hands … they feel so warm."
* * *
There was warm calm wind outside. The sky was turning to a light, dusky violet littered with tiny silver stars. I rested on the pane, gazing up at the heavens. It was still early but I was quite sleepy. The door behind me opened. It was Syaoran.
"So … how are you?" Syaoran said standing beside me. "Are you still sleepy?"
"I'm fine, just a little," I said. His question reminded me of his burns. His scorches were healing. I wanted ask him how did he obtain those injuries but instead I said, "How about you? Are you all right?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
We looked at the stars for a while. "There were more stars in Clow, ne?" I said. "I can still remember the stars. I'd always have a look at the sky at night before going to sleep …" The stars were part of the memories I had.
"Yes," Syaoran agreed. He seemed to want to say something, but hesitated. "There are a lot of stars in the desert …"
"I don't remember much of anything else though," I said thoughtfully. Syaoran didn't react.
The star-strewn atmosphere was beautiful. The misty streetlamps at either end of the alley flickered dimly. I looked intently at Syaoran. The silvery light was casting a silvery glow on his face. The silvery rays illuminated the serene night. Maybe he was concealing more fatal burns under his long sleeves. I vaguely remembered his arms were scorched. Syaoran swiftly got up and left. "Oyasumi nasai."
"Oyasumi … Syaoran-kun," I whispered.
* * *
After a few days we had to go.
"Wear this," Syaoran said, handing me an aged bottle green cloak.
"Arigatou," I thanked him. I put it on over my white dress. The cloak was a little large but it was warm. Mokona sat on my shoulder, beaming at everything in sight.
"Are you all right?" Fye asked me.
"Yes, I'm just a little sleepy," I answered. "But I will be fine." I clutched the cloak a little tighter.
We stood in the middle of the clearing in front the hotel. Mokona hung in the air, opening his mouth and spreading his magnificent wings. A circle with crescents and writing materialised on the ground. It was like being caught in the middle of a sandstorm. There was strong sucking wind coming out of Mokona's mouth.
"Really, arigatou for everything," said Syaoran.
"What? Don't worry about it!" said Sorata.
"Good luck in finding Sakura's feather in the next world," said Arashi.
Finally we were pulled into Mokona's mouth. It was weird. It felt like melting. There was a swirl of colour and I was on my own in darkness, flying towards one direction. A hole materialised into sight; a doorway to another world. I could see many people crowding in a place. I felt a force jerking me in. When my feet touched the ground, I heard thuds of the others. There was dust everywhere and I could just about see anything.
The dust cleared and I realised we had emerged in a marketplace full of people. There were screams and shouts of the villagers, creating an uncontrolled commotion. I glanced up to the leaden sky; there was a hole in the clouds where we had fallen through.
"Eh? Where are we now?" said Kurogane, getting up gingerly.
"Well, let's get up and look around for a bit," Fye said.
Mokona's wing melted and disappeared. He spun about in the air gleefully. "It's through Mokona's window of attention!" he proclaimed pompously, thoroughly irritating Kurogane.
"Meaning you've dropped us in another weird place right?" muttered Kurogane.
"Who the hell are you?!" bellowed somebody behind us. I whirled around and saw a burly man. Perched on top of his head was a ludicrous wig shaped like a lopsided fowl. "Where did you come from?!" His brawny hand grabbed my wrist hard, squeezing it painfully. My wrist was tiny compared to his oversized ones and he was most likely able to break it without effort too.
A second later Syaoran's foot landed straight in the man's face. The man let go of my wrist at once and his ludicrous big wig fell of his head revealing six strands of hair sticking out of his head at unequal distances. He toppled to the sand with a vast impact that shook the ground. Syaoran landed neatly before the man. Kurogane, Mokona and Fye were clearly satisfied by it judging by their expressions.
"You! Did you realise who you had just kicked!?" shouted a person on the roof.
Every face in the marketplace looked up. A young girl was glaring at the big man, her dress billowing in the light breeze.
"Whom are you messing with now? You idiot son!" she continued boldly.
The big man snarled. "Chunyan! Just who is idiot son, eh?"
"What, are there any other idiots around?" the girl said, looking around scornfully.
"You little …"
"How disrespectful!" shrieked one of the man's men. "This is the son of the Ryanban, ruler of Koryo!"
"Ryanban or not … Ever since last year, we're running through our Shinpan," said the girl.
"Is your father stupid? Does he understand what he's doing, opposing the Ryanban?" the Ryanban's son barked. "Well, Chunyan?"
Her face contorted with wrath.
"We'll pay you back!" he bawled angrily showing his clenched fist. He and his men began to leave. One of his lapdogs kicked the stock of one of the stalls and the woman screamed.
"Are you hurt?" Syaoran asked me.
"I'm fine. Arigatou," I thanked Syaoran. He smiled in return.
"Wow! What a showy entrance!" said Fye beaming at Syaoran.
"Syaoran's incredible! Kicking him like that!" Mokona remarked, doing an imitation of Syaoran kicking the Ryanban's son.
"Hmmph, they're like ants," muttered Kurogane complacently.
"Oh!" Syaoran noticed a heap of produce on the ground. "I'm sorry, your stock …" He started piling them back into the crate. The stall keeper waved to say it was no problem.
The rest started to help to, even Mokona. I started going lightheaded, not focusing on what they were saying. I kneeled on the sand and picked up some strange spiky fruit and potatoes. I paused to stare at Syaoran who was showing the same thorny fruit to a squealing Mokona. He seemed to be the most different compared to Fye and Kurogane.
"The faster the Shinpan come to this town, the better," said a drawn woman, sighing sadly as she rearranged her stock.
The girl who had been quarrelling with the Ryanban's son looked at us. I rubbed my eyes trying to rub off the sleepiness.
"You look weird!" she exclaimed with superfluous emphasis on weird.
"Ahaha, weird! She says Kurorin looks weird," Fye teased Kurogane unmercifully.
"If I'm weird, you're weird too!" Kurogane snarled.
"Hey!" she said. "Is it you?" Her eyes went wide. "Come on!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me with her. I ran along, rubbing my eyes.
"Matte!" I heard Syaoran call.
The girl brought us to a building with a flimsy made of wood roof that looked like she made herself. It was a house with a small dead garden without vegetation, surrounded by white walls.
The girl stared from me to Syaoran as thought she was expecting something. I stayed silent, unsure of what to say. Mokona was still on Syaoran's head, sitting in his messy hair quite with satisfaction.
"Ah … this place …" began Syaoran awkwardly.
"This is my house."
"Why did you hurry? …" Syaoran asked.
"Don't you people have something to say?" she asked exasperatedly.
"Eh … uh?" Syaoran murmured.
"Don't you?"
"No, all we did was just come to this country and met you."
"You really have nothing to say?" Chunyan scuttled closer.
"Do your best Syaoran!" Mokona cheered.
"No … nothing … but …" Syaoran mumbled uneasily.
I started to get tired again. The only sounds were from the steady flick-flick of Kurogane's magazine and his low growls of displeasure at the content. Fye trod around the house and observed his own light-haired reflection in the mirror looking bored.
"When I think about it, there's no reason you'd be the Amenosa," she sighed forlornly.
"Amenosa?" I muttered enquiringly.
"The Amenosa is a spy, separate from the government. Each respective Ryanban rules over a separate region but he doesn't indulge in their personal interests or greed," explained Chunyan. "He doesn't force people using political pressure either … His duty is to inspect and so he travels around to different countries."
"IT'S KOUMON MITO!" Mokona interrupted loudly. I hung my head questioningly. "Yuuko liked the founder Koumon most!" Mokona explained dynamically, sitting in Syaoran's palms.
I closed my eyes groggily and fell asleep for a few seconds. My eyes snapped open again and I wiped them crossly. The sleep didn't seem to go away, instead it seemed to get worse each time I rubbed my eyes.
"I see … so you thought we were these Amenosa," said Fye. "Chunyan-chan, is it? I'm Fye and this is Syaoran-kun. And this is Sakura-chan." He pointed to everyone in turn. "And he's Kuropuu," he quipped, gesturing at Kurogane who was still reading his magazine.
"It's Kurogane!" Kurogane bellowed angrily.
"So, you want the Amenosa to come because the ruler of this place is no good, right?" Fye continued.
"He's the worst!" Chunyan said irately. "My mother … he …"
There was a sinister howl outside, and the roof began to rattle. The fragile wooden walls shook.
"Is that the wind?" Fye said, getting up.
"Don't go outside!" Chunyan shouted.
The window burst open, letting a gust of powerful wind. The window cracked, and some of the roof tiles fell off. A patch of the sky was visible. I held on tightly to Syaoran. Chunyan's house became the centre of a tempest. The blustery wind wasn't natural. Somebody sent it.
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Welcome to the end of the chapter! ^O^ Wow! This chapter is very long! (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) Kirby dance!