Well, hello! And Welcome to My Little World of Weirdness!

I state for the record that, despite the fact I really, really wish I did, I don't own any of the official characters that will grace this story; it's all CLAMP's! Always has been, always will be! I *DO*, however, own Marcibay Hilligans and Hei-ying Reed!! I also own Lord Maduokai, and the three of the dragons, T'listia isn't mine but on loan from one of my favourite reviewers and writers, Tam Chronin! And what the heck . . . I own both of the mansions (The Reed/Hiirawagizawa and the Tsukimine) as well! [Laughs] Also I don't pretend to have any Mastery over the language of Japanese or any clue as to correct grammatical structure. I put it in and hope it gets across the point I'm trying to make! And I don't pretend to be able to write any sort of accents so please don't hate me!

 "Speaking"

*Stress/emphasis*

//Thinking//

Extended~ [basically odd letters that the characters extend the sound of or in Ruby's case, sings]

In This Tainted Soul . . . Find Redemption . . . 

By Dr Megalomania

Chapter Thirteen: Silence

[A/N: *rubs Tush* Owww… *stares meaningfully at Tam Chronin and Nakuru and SPISMN* Thank you for that… Ahem… Well, I am the first to admit, it has been a damn long time… a VERY long time since I last updated… and somehow I doubt that many people who started reading this oh-so-long-ago are still with me… if you are, I am really impressed… I wouldn't stay with me if I had left myself in WIP hell… Anyway, here be the next part. My Thanks to Clow'd9 and Bluegoo for they are patient when dealing with me and my stories. Me grammatical inconsistencies two. ANd mey oarfull splellinge mustakes. Thank you for putting up with me and I promise to cook for you Blue, and to rant with you, Clow'd9. well, it's been a while so … I present to you …]

In This Tainted Soul . . . Find Redemption . . .

Recap: [For those of you who have forgotten what happened before…]

In the cold of winter; Clow Reed's darkest angel, the star guardian known only as Hei-ying, returned from his grave. At the same time it was discovered that Clow Reed and his dearest friend, Marcibay Hilligans, had also mysteriously vanished from their final resting places. How and why remained unknown until it became increasingly clear Hei-ying had not returned of his free will. While Yue was overjoyed by the prospect of giving his elder brother a second chance in life, Keroberos remained deeply suspicious of the broken angel. To save the waning life of Hei-ying, Touya agreed to allow Hei-ying to become his guardian so that Touya could learn to be a true magician and Hei-ying could have a purpose in life.

While Hei-ying works hard to become a good guardian for Touya, there are many in the household who do not believe that Hei-ying can ever fully redeem himself. Yuki and Yue meanwhile have their own complications, while they agree on some topics they disagree on others …

Meanwhile the Magicians have larger problems to contend with.

Madoukai Kuei, a mysterious magician from China, claimed he could help them to discover the whereabouts of Clow Reed. He brought with him two mortal servents, four magical creations and a skull.

In a magic spell that used much of Sakura's magic and almost drove all of the guardian insane, Maduokai certainly managed to find Clow Reed.

He brought the powerful magician to life, and revealed that he had also kidnapped Syaoran's long-dead cousin, Meilin, from her grave.

Now the Cardcaptor and her friends are left with three mysteries on their hands…

… Why has Maduokai done this? To what end do he wish to use Clow Reed's powers? And why does he have Meilin?

… What will happen when Clow Reed awakens from his slumber?

… and for how long can they keep Clow and Hei-ying from driving each other insane again?

----

In this Tainted Soul … Find Redemption…

Part Thirteen: Silence

"So . . . It really was Mei-rin we saw . . ."

Sakura grasped her hands in her lap together tightly, anger welling up in her heart as Syaoran spoke. In the days just after the Incident with Maduokai, he'd received a call from his mother in China, confirming that Meilin's grave had been disturbed, that her skull was missing after all. Yulan noted with some disgust as well that the rising of Clow from the grave seemed to have had a wide spread effect as well.

The bones of Meilin's murderer, the indescribably foul dragon Saurian, had begun to vibrate and rattle at the bottom of the Li Clan's famous Carp pond.

Syaoran sank down beside Sakura and rested his hand on her. He was angry too, very angry but he was also exhausted. The burial of Hilligans was something that had affected him profoundly and he had begun to wonder if the frailty of the old man, whom Eriol had described as a very stout hearted man, a very strong man when Clow had known him, was going to affect Meilin as well. He couldn't bear to imagine that she was lying, dying somewhere all over again and he wouldn't be able to help her in any way.

He glanced to the window; Touya had left before he'd gotten off the phone.

At his glance, Spinel looked back from the window seat and tilted his head; Master Kinomoto went to fetch his guardian from the cold . . .

Keroberos made a quiet rumbling noise from where he lay by the fireside but said nothing.

Since the burial of Marcibay Hilligans and after they had eaten a sombre dinner and received a phone call from China, the magicians and their guardians had gathered in the downstairs study to think and discuss the events of the past two weeks.

The effect of Clow Reed's presence dominated much of their thoughts yet they didn't speak of him, they were too afraid to contemplate what effect it would have on Hei-ying and the guardians seemed to want to mull it over. They were all too deep in thought about what it meant to them.

The Clow Reed they'd brought home was not exactly the same as the man they were used to seeing in visions and the like. After Touya had done a examination, it transpired that Clow's body was between the ages of twenty to twenty five. This was because, Eriol explained, that all magicians' physical ages stayed where their magic peaked. And unless they allowed some of that skill to ebb away, some would be forever kept at that age. Hence why Eriol was a ten year old for so long, and why Sakura though much older now, still had the youthful appearance of a sixteen year old. Clow's magic skill had peaked when he was twenty-three, a few years after he'd created the cards and Hei-ying, but before he'd created Keroberos and Yue.

After their creation he'd begun to allow his magic to ebb away, whether consciously or not, thus he seemed to age very slowly, but never beyond the age of fifty as Keroberos and Yue remembered him being by the time Clow announced his imminent and abrupt death.

A riddle within a riddle . . . with Clow's memory most likely to be like Hei-ying's, almost completely blank, what reason would Maduokai bring back one of the most powerful magicians in the world when it would take him years, maybe even a century to teach him the techniques need to create the cards . . . even if the cards were his main objective, in which case why not just steal them like Kyree had attempted to? But then, if he knew of Kyree's attempt then he would surely realise that if the reincarnation of Clow reed could not take the cards from the card mistress, then what hope did he have?

A heavy silence fell upon the group as they tried to work out this riddle in their own minds.

Eriol glanced over at the window and then at his wife. She was pouring tea into some delicately looking, but hardy china cups. They were something he'd given her, Sakura-blossom decorated cups, part of a similar tea set. She brushed a lock of her long hair back; a troublesome lock that escaped her bun of elegantly set hair. The very sight of her brought a smile to his face and reassured him again.

As she picked up a cup and brought it over to Sakura, she caught his look and smiled warmly at him. "I think . . ." she said quietly, "Sakura-chan and I should go check on Clow again . . . Ruby-chan should wait with Spinel-san by the door for Kinomoto-san then go to bed, perhaps Kero-chan should see Yue-san off to rest as well . . ." She nodded toward the window, "We haven't seen much of the sun or the moon for a few days . . . I should think you are all feeling a little tired . . ."

Yue pursed his lips and glanced at his elder brother, Keroberos was snoring not so quietly in front of the roaring fire now. Ruby yawned and got up as Spinel pranced a little quickly from the window seat. "I think I agree . . ." Spinel glanced at his brethren, "You know she's right, what use are we in this exhausted state . . .?"

Eriol nodded his agreement, "Syaoran and I shall wait up for your brother, Sakura-chan." He nodded to her, "And in the morning, may I suggest we have a meeting to discuss our next moves . . ."

The card mistress didn't answer for a long moment, staring into her teacup lost in thought. Yue glanced at her as he passed her seat and walked over to the fireplace. He nudged Keroberos with his foot and hissed at him to wake up, while Syaoran rested his hand on her knee and shook it slightly. "Sakura?"

"I won't give up . . ." Sakura said quietly, looking up from her cup into his eyes. "Meilin-chan was precious to me; she did a lot to help me when I needed her . . . more than that, she is my friend. I'll never give up . . ."

Syaoran could help but smile a little at her determination.

"I know."

"Never." Sakura nodded determinedly, "Everything will be okay, for sure this time!"

Just as Eriol found his reassurance in Tomoyo's warm smiles, Syaoran found his hope in Sakura's emerald eyes. For a moment, all around him was forgotten and the usually reserved Little Wolf leant forward and kissed Sakura urgently on the lips.

Yue discreetly waved his hand and levitated the cup Sakura was holding out of her hand so she wouldn't spill any hot tea on herself as her fiancé surprised her. Her emerald eyes widened at first, then began to shimmer with unshed tears. Eriol glanced up as his wife sat on the arm of his chair and watched the unusual display of emotion with a secret smile.

"I bet you wish you had your camera . . ." Eriol whispered teasingly.

Tomoyo simply smiled and whispered back, "Sometimes, just memories are strong enough to last forever . . ."

**

Yukito glanced about as he came around again.

He was lying in a steaming hot bath with no memory of how he got there. He sighed and closed his eyes again as he reasoned that Yue must have fallen asleep and given over control back to him. Indeed, the angel's favourite hairbrush sat on the closed lid of the toilet, along with a closed book, Yukito's own glasses and a tall glass of . . . he reached over and picked up the chilled glass, sipping from it gingerly. Yue didn't often drink, and the things they liked were very much different. He winced at the bitter taste of lemon and put the glass back down again. Well, at least he could enjoy the bath and wash away the heavy troubles that seemed to weigh down his shoulders.

He wondered if Touya was still standing outside in the rain with Hei-ying.

His lover had been very concerned lately about Hei-ying's mental health. He'd spoken to Yue and to Yukito about it while they lay in bed. They were too preoccupied to make love, Yue with Clow upstairs, Touya with Hei-ying's mind and Yukito with the weight of problems on them all.

The hot bath did a lot to unwind his stressed body and he felt the coil of tension on his mid-back, where the wing joint was begin to unravel. He stared at the tiles above him, the curious mix of colours and shapes. Red roses for Ruby, blue butterflies for Spinel, bright yellow sunflowers for Keroberos and snowflakes and snow white rabbits for himself and Yue. Hei-ying's contribution was around the mirror, an assortment of spring flowers hung about it delicately.

Yukito lay there, trying hard not to think.

Later he would talk to Touya, what they would do about Hei-ying. It seemed to the wise snow rabbit that they should try to strengthen Hei-ying against his old memories, his anger against Clow because the Clow that Hei-ying would deal with was not the same one as before.

Hei-ying's memories and fears were more of a danger to himself and to Clow, than Clow was to Hei-ying.

He smiled and slipped off into a light doze, as Yue murmured that that was a good plan.

**

Tomoyo ran the brush though Clow's hair one last time and then got up. She glanced at Sakura who waited by the window, looking out vainly into the darkness for her elder brother and his guardian.

"Do you think they are okay?"

Her best friend yawned delicately as she stood and put the brush onto the table before turning to walk over to Sakura's side. "I'm sure they are fine . . ."

"Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked quietly, turning away from the window. Her question died on her lips as Tomoyo gave another discreet yawn. "You should have told me you were tired!" Sakura scolded lightly, the other girl began to wave it off but Sakura shook her head. "No, come on, it's time to go to bed for the both of us . . . a lot has happened to day, too much for us to ignore . . ." She wrapped her arms around Tomoyo and hugged her tightly, "Eriol's right, we should talk about it more tomorrow."

Her best friend gave Sakura a thumbs up, "That's my Sakura-chan! Sa-ku-ra! Gan-bat-te!" She raised her fists and shook them up and down, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"To-Tomoyo-chan . . ." Sakura chuckled a little helplessly and began to push the tired and yawning girl out of Clow's room. "And I thought I was too old for cheerleading . . ." She sighed as she yawned herself and turned off the light to Clow's room as they stepped out. "See you have me at it!"

 She pulled the door closed, without noticing the pair of deep blue eyes staring at her with sheer amazement . . .

**

"I wonder why it's taking so long for Touya to bring Hei-ying in . . ." Syaoran turned from the window and frowned deeply at Eriol; "Do you think something has happened?"

"No . . ." Eriol mused quietly from his seat, "We would have felt it. And Touya is not defenceless, perhaps Hei-ying is just mourning . . ."

Syaoran folded his arms and returned to gazing out the window. The rain was still falling heavily, and there was still no sight of the moon or the stars. It seemed that the weather was focusing all its might on adding to the dreary atmosphere, and was intent on not providing them with any fashion of distraction at all. He shook his head; tomorrow they would talk about how they would rescue Meilin. After all, he couldn't just leave her. Like Sakura, he was determined never to give up on her. She was revenged, and her body should have been left to rest peacefully . . . but now that she was reborn, she should be with her kin, her family. He pressed his lips into a hard line and shook his head again. He wouldn't let this Maduokai keep his cousin, no matter how much as a child she had irked him, she was and always had been his cousin.

Behind him, Eriol lifted his hand and the teapot's lid jumped up as a spoon drifted over to stir the brewing tea inside it with a soft sigh, Eriol waved his hand again and the teapot began to pour into two cups. He glanced over as Syaoran started to pace a little, back and forth before the window, clearly lost in his thoughts. The blue haired boy nodded tiredly, and waved over the two cups.

"Here . . ." Syaoran blinked, startled by the floating cup in front of him. He glanced over at Eriol as the English magician sipped his tea. He took the tea from the air and went to sit in the chair opposite Eriol's. He stared into the fire for a moment, before he drank the strong English tea.

"We also have to wait for Clow Reed to awaken; we can't do anything and leave him unprotected." Eriol looked over at the fire, the bright embers and flames reflecting in his wide rimmed glasses, "we might play into his hand if we leave Clow open while we seek Meilin. "

"We cannot just leave her!" Syaoran snapped but relented at Eriol looked. He stood, suddenly uncomfortable with the seat and stared into the fire with an agitated look.

"We must wait for Clow . . . you know that." Eriol murmured quietly. The Chinese man crossed his legs and sank down easily before the fire, choosing to sit on the floor beside Eriol's chair. The two had grown much closer since Eriol's first trial of Sakura, strengthened their relationship during the attack of Kyree, and now this problem offered Eriol the unique chance to advise Syaoran again. He sighed and arched his fingers, "The question is . . ." he tilted his head and stared into the fire, "How much will Clow Reed remember of his life when he wakes up? Clearly, he has basic magical abilities . . ." Eriol frowned, "Not as finely tuned as his later life, but he knows basically what to do . . ."

"He's still a novice; I would suggest his magic skill is no more advanced than his age." Syaoran sipped his tea again, allowing the conversation to drift from the subject of his missing cousin. It wouldn't help if he grew frustrated now; he had to reserve his energy to rescue her. He looked up at Eriol as the other stared into the fire thoughtfully. "Do you think his memory loss will be as extensive as Hei-ying's?"

"Perhaps. Hei-ying did mention it seemed like Hilligans recalled who he was . . . maybe, like Hei-ying the memories come back, therefore that would mean that Hilligans was brought back first . . ."

"Maybe because Maduokai experimented on Hilligans, as he did on Hei-ying . . . it would make sense . . . first the unknown human, then the creation . . . both are easily controllable . . ." Syaoran watched the reflection of the flames in Eriol's wide glasses. "Finally he brings back Clow Reed, but why? What advantage would he gain from Clow Reed's reincarnation? The cards?"

"The cards cannot leave he who hath signed upon them his name."

Eriol and Syaoran glanced up and looked over to the doorway, Hei-ying looked a little wearied by the day's events. The dark angel was dripping wet from the rain outside. Touya wasn't much drier and sighed as he shrugged out of his damp magician's cloaks. "Dry yourself by the fire Hei-ying," Touya ordered softly, "I'll go get you some hot soup and tow—"

"It would be improper." Hei-ying interrupted quietly, he pulled Touya's cloaks from him and stepped back. His wings stretched out from his body as he transformed quickly. His false form was noticeably drier, although Tomodachi's damp brown hair was more limp than usual. As he had done to his true form, Hei-ying had made changes to his false form. Tomodachi was no longer simply a dark haired version of Yukito; the false form now had rich brown hair that tumbled down to his hips. It was loosely tied at the bottom of the neck, and then tightly bound into a tight, whip like ponytail. The front fringe of his hair was much like his former true form's hair style, falling heavily over darkened forest green eyes, then swept back into to the main part of the hairstyle. He favoured clothes that were more traditionally English, long waistcoats, and straight-legged trousers. Tomodachi looked more like Yukito's older brother than a clone, and Touya had to admit he preferred it this way.

The taller magician sighed, "Tomodachi . . ."

The dark green-eyed being before him lifted a monocle to his right eye, and fixed it there. He shook his head and stepped back, "I will bring hot soup for the both of us, then accompany you to your bed, Master Touya . . ." The older version of Yukito's voice spoke softly as he turned to leave, "Then I will retire and dry myself properly."

"If you must be so stubborn . . ." Touya shook his head, "Fine then. Bring a fresh pot of tea as well."

Tomodachi waved his hand and nodded, his magic carefully shutting the door as he padded out the first floor study.

As the muted voices of the masters began again behind the closed door, Tomodachi raised a pale hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh," he murmured, "I'm too old for all of this . . ."

He felt Touya's aura of magic begin to move back to the door and Tomodachi moved away quickly. Touya's cloaks were wetting his sleeve and he didn't want to worry Touya too much already. He walked down the corridors, strongly resisting the urge to merely float along them. The feeling of the shorthaired carpets beneath under his shoes reminded his true form strongly that he was not trapped in the old mansion. He paused half way along and looked around. The sweet smell of musky cinnamon, apples and spices seemed to hang in the air quite freshly and memories assaulted him.

Suddenly, Tomodachi found himself somewhat alone in the dark.

The muted voices of Touya, Eriol and Syaoran had faded away sometime ago and there were no other sounds in the house aside from the persistent rain and the sound of dripping from Touya's cloaks.

The dampness on his arm where he folded the cloaks kept him grounded in reality, and forced him to remember of where he was. He was in the hallway of the Tsukimine Mansion, carrying his new master's wet cloaks downstairs. He breathed in and half closed his eyes.

Lights clicked on in the hallway he stood in and down the stairway he was going to take to get to the main hall and through to the main kitchen. 

Frowning darkly and muttering something even he didn't really hear, Tomodachi walked to the stairs and staunchly ignored the old smell that hung fresh in the air . . . even though it got stronger, fresher as he stepped down the stairs. He sighed and shook his head, walking down the stairs with his head down and his thoughts half in the past and half in shadow.

He stared at the rich, red carpet as he walked, not really taking in anything and missed the sound of bare feet quietly slapping against the main hall's floor. His thoughts turned away from Clow for a moment and back onto his task at hand, true his heart wanted to dwell on what he could remember of his death, it was a strange notion to contemplate your own death, but Hei-ying found it infinitely interesting. He could only see it as an outside looking in now, the concept of him being dead and alive at the same time was all too confusing so his sharp mind simply rewrote his memory so he could look at it as if he was viewing someone else's dying moments.

He missed the sudden intake of breath from the hall, the sudden swish of clothing as the owner of the feet spun.

Tomodachi raised a hand and pinched the arch of his nose again, soup. He was supposed to be getting soup. Not musing the merits of his own dying words. Soup. They had left over soup from dinner, surely. Keroberos didn't seem like he was in any mood to finish it; but then again, the old lion was unpredictable when it came to the manner of food. The soup that was there wasn't packed with sugar, however it was a very hearty soup, much like the noodles that Keroberos insisted were the best in all of Japan.

He'd gotten halfway down the stairs when he finally became aware he was not entirely alone.

First he glanced up, frowning, his hackles rising as he realised he was being watched. The first floor was utterly dark; the lights had been switching off as he walked down. He glanced down the stairs quickly, toward his destination. The kitchen was already lit and no shadows paced back and forth.

He blinked and looked toward the front doors when a quietly bemused voice caught his attention.

"Excuse me . . ." There was a heartbreakingly familiar chuckle, "But where am I?"

**

Humming caught his attention.

Yukito's eyes shot open as he realised he was no longer alone in the bathroom.

"Aah!"

 He sat up, sloshing water and foam out of the bathtub as Nakuru continued to hum to herself and brush her teeth. Her brushing slowed to a stop as she looked at him through the mirror and smiled manically.

"Yue will kill you!" Yukito blushed deeply and chuckled, "What are you doing here?"

"You realise you've been in that bathtub for the last three hours, right?" Nakuru mumbled around her toothbrush. As Yukito frowned, she spat and gargled with some water.

"Have I?" Yukito looked into the bubbly water, "But the water's still hot."

"Yue's enchanted it, hasn't he?" She shrugged, the shoulder of her bathrobe slipping off slightly. She plucked a towel from the rack and threw it on the floor where water had splashed out, and then plucked another one to fold twice more and balanced precariously on the edge of the tub where she sat. "Don't splash . . ." She warned him, waving her own wooden hand hairbrush at him threateningly, "Or Yue may find himself several hairs short of a comb over."

Yukito rolled his eyes and chuckled inwardly as he felt Yue growl mentally.

Nakuru, in the meantime, pulled out several soft rollers from her deep pockets and set them on the closed toilet lid. She began to hum again as she started to brush out her long hair. "How are you feeling?"

Yuki blinked and smiled; "Much better, well rested . . . I could sleep for a good few days!"

Nakuru yawned widely and started to work in the first roller. "Really? Isn't it a bad thing when you feel like that?"

"Huh?"

"I mean when you were fading, you kept falling asleep . . ." she tilted her head and stuck out her tongue as she groped for the clip. "I just thought . . ."

"No, I'm fine really . . ." Yukito chuckled, "I suppose I meant Yue could sleep for a good few days."

Nakuru paused and straightened slightly, she glanced at him strangely for a very long moment. "Are you sure?"

Yukito blinked owlishly. "Yes, why?"

"It's just . . ." Nakuru stared at him a little harder, "You . . . confused yourself for Yue . . ."

"I'm tired," Yukito shrugged, not really understanding her point. "We have been through a lot for the last few days . . ."

"I know but . . ." Nakuru went back to fiddling with her roller. "Hm . . . It must just be me . . ."

"Probably." Yukito smiled warmly. He leant back and picked up the glass of juice from the toilet lid and sipped it. The bitter lemon was oddly sweet as he swallowed it, and he sighed. "What do you think of all of this?"

"All of what?" Nakuru's answer was somewhat distracted. "What do you mean? The burial, or the whole caboodle?"

"The whole caboodle." Yukito smiled and chuckled at Nakuru's slang. "From the moment it all began."

"Kinda weirded out, I suppose . . ." she murmured, and hissed as she pulled a roller too tightly. "Maybe a little excited. It has been four years since we all last did something . . . big, y'know? Although I wouldn't mind it being less scary, why can't anything that wants to take us on be like Eriol and just kinda play funny jokes on us?"

"You realise some of those jokes weren't so funny to us, right?" Yukito opened an amber eye, "That time you lot tried to force Sakura to change the wave card, and almost drowned one of her friends, that wasn't so much fun."

"Eriol would never hurt anyone, he would have stopped it before it got so bad . . ." Nakuru huffed slightly, "Besides you got to see me in a cute outfit didn't you? And I had roller-skates." 

"Clow forbid I forget that . . ." Yukito chuckled as he closed his eyes again.

Nakuru giggled, "It was around then you stared to get really jealous, wasn't it?"

"I was not jealous." Yukito opened his eyes again and stared at her, "I was concerned for Touya's sanity!"

"Schyeah, whatever . . . I saw the green eyed monster in you rise up!"

Yukito stared at her blankly, "Hei-ying?"

She rolled her eyes, "No, not him . . . envy? Envy and jealousy are said to be green eyed monsters . . ." She put a finger against her bottom lip and glanced up, "Though now you mention it, it's kinda kooky that Hei-ying's green eyed and he went insane from his jealous of you, Yue and Clow . . ."

"Don't say that." Yukito tilted his head seriously, "Hei-ying . . . Hei-ying's just not well."

"He tried to kill you both, tried to kill everyone . . . you can't tell me he's completely sane now." Nakuru stared at him sincerely, "There's always going to be something wrong with him, he is the third guardian."

"No, he's not." Yukito's voice dropped a littler lower, surprising her. He spoke with the inflections of Yue, his voice sounding a little like a harmonised mix of the two. "If you blame the laws of triad for Hei-ying's behaviour, then you are utterly wrong." His eyes seemed to seep a little, turning a little violet. For a moment, Nakuru couldn't really tell if she was speaking to Yue through Yukito, or Yukito through Yue. "I'm the third guardian, the last created. I don't know what happened to Hei-ying that made him this way, but I know that you can't just blame him . . ."

Nakuru continued to stare at him before she returned to brushing her hair, "Sure . . . now, Yukito, tell me what you think . . ."

"Huh?" Yukito frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"That's what Yue wants, isn't it? To have a whole family? But you . . . you're not him?" She looked at him with her dark brown eyes, "You've always been slightly apart from Yue . . . what do you think of it? Of Hei-ying? Aren't you worried about him being Touya's guardian?"

Fine grey eyebrows pulled together in thought, as the snow rabbit recalled his conversation with Hei-ying and Touya, and to some extent, Yue . . . to be honest it had been a little worrying to realise that because of Hei-ying's partial dependence on Sakura's magic, there was still the slightest possibility that Yue and Hei-ying could still be drawn to each other.

Nakuru watched him as he thought.

Finally, Yukito looked up. "I love Touya. Yue loves Touya. We both love him." He paused and looked down, and we know that Touya loves us, he loves Yue and he loves Yukito . . ."

As the snow rabbit paused again, Nakuru stared at him with growing shock. A drop of water from the tap was the only noise as Yukito stared into the water and thought. He blinked and looked up at her, "But Hei-ying . . ." he pursed his lips, "I don't know what Hei-ying wants from all of this to be honest, Yue is telling me that he wants to live, wants to be our brother again but now that Clow reed is back . . ." he sighed, "I can't tell anymore and . . ."

"I know." Nakuru looked down and slowly began to pull hairs from her brush, "It's weird . . . I wonder how they will react to each other? Do you think Clow will . . . I dunno, try to kill him?"

"Kill him?" Yukito looked up at her with surprise . . .

**

. . . and stepped back at the fury in his brother's voice.

"You should kill him for what he's done!"

He stared at the door for a long moment before shuffling forward again and pressing pale, bandaged hands against the door. He tilted his head slowly, closing his eyes as he tried to make out what was being said. It was Clow and Keroberos, they were arguing . . . or rather, Keroberos was . . . Clow's voice was too soft, too weakened, too disheartened to speak up properly. But everything he said, anything he said forced Keroberos to react to each and every word with more anger than before.

"You can't be serious!" Keroberos roared. "The man's a fucking maniac!"

The lion's sheer rage surprised him, making him blink his eyes open. After a while of staring at his white, ragged fringe, he leant toward the door again and strained to hear Clow's response. He could imagine the scene; Keroberos would be stood in front of Clow, in his full form, while Clow would be slouched in his chair. Not quite meeting Keroberos' golden eyes. Clow was sad about something. He always seemed to be sad nowadays, as if he hated his life so much that he wished it would all disappear. This made him sad too. He thought he had been a good boy, he thought he made Clow happy. He always used seemed happy when he showed him his pictures.

He turned away from the door and limped down the corridor. The injuries he had were still painful, despite the care Clow and Keroberos had given him. Maybe, his eldest brother had been right . . . maybe his creation had brought hell to their family. He sniffed, as the tears rolled down his young cheeks. Perhaps, if Yue went away, if he tried to be Yukito all the time, if being a human like Clow . . . perhaps Yukito would make Clow happy again. He paused as he past the locked room. He was in there. Clow had locked Him in there.

"I know you're there."

He jumped in shock as his eldest brother called to him through the door. The young boy knew he should have left, just left and walked on but he stayed. He sat down, and stared up at the large black door, as his brother continued to speak.

He was listening, like every good boy should . . .

**

"Yukito?"

The snow rabbit jumped and sloshed water, but Nakuru didn't seem to care. She stared at him with barely concealed concern, "What happened? What's wrong?"

He stared at her for a while, not really understanding what he had just remembered, what memory it was. He wasn't supposed to have any memory of Clow and Keroberos, those were all Yue's //ours// memories. Yukito stared at the foam bubbles and wondered what was wrong with him. There was something wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He couldn't put voice to this nameless, innate wrongness because in many ways it also felt familiar and right.

"You can't hear him, can you?" Nakuru's voice was soft and careful, as if by raising her voice she would break something. He blinked and looked up at her, almost confused by the sudden silence that had descended on the house. The dripping tap, even with its slow, irregular dripping was too loud for the room. He swallowed, "Hear who?"

"Yukito . . ." she whispered and his eyes widened. That was it.  That was what was wrong! He raised his hands, and stared at his fingers. They were wrinkled from being in the water for so long, and pale but . . . but . . . were they his fingers . . . who was 'he'?! He wanted to say he was Yukito, smile and chuckle softly at his cousin for her silliness but then . . . the urge to snort disdainfully and toss his head almost overrode that, roll his eyes and state that he was Yue. It frightened him that he didn't know. His mouth worked for a moment as he stared at her.

The silence.

It was horrible but nice for once.

There wasn't the constant babble of Yukito nor the cool distain of Yue there was simply . . .

//I know you're there.//

Nakuru jumped as Yukito's body suddenly jerked unnaturally, as if someone had slipped a hairdryer into the water. She almost screamed as he slid under the water for a moment and she thrust her hands to catch him. She needn't of worried, Yue's wings suddenly extended and flapped hard as the survival trait of the guardian kicked in and lifted the body out of the water.

Yue coughed and spluttered for a moment, and he gripped the side of the tub with pale hands tightly. His eyes were wide as he caught his breathe and Nakuru pressed a hand against his shoulder. "Are you. . ."

"I'm Yue." He coughed, he shook his head, "I mean, I'm fine . . . I'm fine . . ."

And just as quickly as he had appeared, Yue transformed back into Yukito. The grey haired boy started to get out of the tub and fumbled around for a towel. Still shocked by what she had witnessed, Nakuru quietly helped the snow rabbit. She wrapped a towel around him and slid his glasses back onto his nose. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly, unsure of what response she would get from the grey haired boy with his expression so lost looking. Yukito blinked and stared at her for a moment before turning away to look in the mirror.

Nakuru stood behind him and put her hands on his shoulders, "Yuki . . . Yue was here. . ."

"Was he?" Yukito's voice sounded far away as he lifted his hand and wiped away the steam on the glass. He swallowed and some recognition began to come back to his eyes. He turned slightly and looked at her. "Clow . . ."

Nakuru tilted her head.

"Clow could never kill Hei-ying . . ." Yukito said quietly, "He never had the heart to hurt him, no matter how deeply Hei-ying hurt Clow . . . Clow could never kill Hei-ying . . ."

**

A throaty growl and a slight shifting at the end of her bed made Sakura open her eyes to darkness.

She stared upwards for a while as the throaty growl muttered something and then the legs of the shifting thing at the end of her bed started to kick slightly. Sighing, Sakura reached out and flicked the switch on her bedside lamp. "Kero-chan!" She chuckled as she reached down the heavy lion and petted his head. His helmet lay on the floor, while his long tail was curled up along the side of the bed. Sakura shook her head and shook him to wake up; his growls were getting louder and seemingly more violent. The young mistress of the cards frowned as she heard Keroberos speak in English, his Osaka accent nearly disappearing. Over the years she had learn at least a little English, it was necessary to understand some of the books Clow had left behind.

Keroberos was talking to someone and, by the sounds of his tone, was getting increasingly angry at them and their response. Reaching out slowly again, Sakura got to her knees and tried to shake her sun guardian, "Kero-chan?" She asked worriedly, "Kero-chan?"

". . . you can't be serious . . ." Keroberos muttered, then his face curled into a furious frown, "The man's a fucking maniac!" Sakura shook Keroberos a little harder as his expression grew darker, "You can't do this, he's got to be killed . . . you can't just seal him away!"

"Kero-chan!" Sakura snapped, getting scared now as she realised that Keroberos was talking about Hei-ying. The old lion's golden eyes snapped open and he stared dully for a moment, you're making a mistake, "Clow . . ." he whispered to the darkness before his eyes refocused and he glanced up at Sakura. "Nani?" He asked, his Osaka accent returning and the old Kero-chan Sakura knew and loved so dearly reappeared. "Sakura-chan . . . what's wrong?"

"You were dreaming . . ." Sakura murmured, "Dreaming about an argument . . ."

Keroberos' golden eyes narrowed slightly and he dipped his head down again to rest on his paws. "It's nothing; he said finally, just old memories rearing their ugly heads . . ." the lion yawned widely, "please go back to sleep . . ."

Sakura pursed her lips, unwilling to let it go but she knew how stubborn Keroberos was when it came to matters of the past. "Why are you here?" She asked, changing the subject. "Couldn't you sleep in your own bed?"

He lifted his head and nodded to the window, "I'm worried about the rain . . . it's not . . . a good sign." The lion sighed and looked at her, "So I thought that I'd come here and lie down with you . . . I don't like that rain and I'd rather know you were safe . . ."

Sakura smiled warmly at his thoughtfulness but couldn't resist teasing him a little, "Uh-huh . . . are you sure it's not that you are just scared of rainstorms?"

Kero-chan jerked his head back, playing into her tease, "Me?" He snorted, "Ha! I'm fearless, there's nothing that can scare me!" He nodded as if he'd successfully closed that argument with that. He padded up the bed and lay down beside her, nudging her neck with his muzzle, "Now, go to sleep. Have sweet dreams . . . Oyasumi."

Sakura yawned and smiled tiredly, "Oyasumi Kero-chan . . ."

He watched her quietly as she drifted back to sleep, it was something he had done countless times for years and it was something he never really took for granted. His new mistress was so special; it was almost too easy to forget his past.

Looking up, Keroberos stared at the large mirror before him.

Clow Reed was alive once more. Hei-ying was alive once again. Yue and Yukito were here. And outside, rain fell relentlessly.

It wasn't the rain he was scared of.

It was snow . . .

It was the cold.

Cold feelings that had been stirring in Hei-ying lately.

A cold feeling of dread that awakened in Keroberos' stomach that had nothing to do with hunger. He didn't want to feel it yet he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of satisfaction in the fact that he may have been right. These feelings he'd felt from Hei-ying, those cold smiles . . .

. . . he'd seen them all before . . .

The dead yet sharp eyes, the nimble sure hands like claws.

. . . floating over a frozen pond, breaking the thin ice with jade green ripples of magic.

Keroberos didn't fear the rain; Keroberos feared the snow, the cold . . .

. . . and the silence.

----------

And Now It's Time To LEAVE IT TO DOCTOR MEGALOMANIA!!!

DrM: [picks up story and blows dust of it, grinning sheepishly at Yue, who tries to blow the cobwebs out of his hair]

Yue: [glares at DrM]

DrM: Erm … I was busy, with Hei-ying … in another story …? [points of her other cast of characters, Hei-ying glares at Doctor Weatherbye who is just grinning inanely back at him]

Weatherbye: [waves at everybody] Hei-ying, darling, love of my mortal life … why didn't you introduce me to the in-laws …

Hei-ying: [levels Glare #7 at him]

Yue: [glares harder]

DrM: I'm a busy uni student?

Yue: [glares the hardest he can]

DrM: [melts under his gaze, and not in the good way either, pitifully] I'm sorry … please say you forgive me!!

Yue: [mutters] Please R&R… if only if you want to ensure that DrM doesn't get the stuffing beaten out of her by me … [glares at Puddle of DrM] How DARE you spend the last five months working on a story that did NOT involve me! [kicks DrM] Bad Evil Overlord, VERY bad evil overlord!!

Weatherbye: [watching the ensuing violence, but does nothing to prevent it] Oh, my … that's certainly going to hurt …

Hei-ying: [rolls eyes] Just … review… stop the madness. Remember, Reviewing makes DrM feel really guilty about not updating regularly … Feedback and guilt equals more story for all.

Weatherbye: [nodding wisely] Don't ask what this story can do for you, but when the next chapter is due. [grins widely and pokes Hei-ying] hey, that rhymed!