Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

I do not write for reviews, but I sure enjoy compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think. I apologize for the clumsy descriptions. I'm not very good about working that kind of stuff in.... --;;; - Raya

WARNING: Spoilers for "A Little Snow Fairy Sugar" ahead! You have been warned. There are also some spoilers for CCS, but that has been out in the US longer than Sugar so I don't think you're at as much risk....

Cherry Snow

Part II – Gatherings And Meetings

----------- April 2 (Day After Sakura's 16th Birthday) -----------

"What? You're going to a piano recital? How boring," Kero said as pounded the controller buttons for his racing game. "Grrr.. Come on... Faster. Faster! Hu-a!!! Beat THAT Supi!" He danced and posed in front of the TV a moment, then looked over at Sakura. She was standing by her desk, dressed for the concert in the simple, green, calf-length dress with white lace at the neck and cap sleeves that she had received for her birthday. Around her neck was the gold locket she had received from her grandfather. Her gaze rested on the Sakura Book, and she looked troubled.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Kero asked flying over to her.

"Oh nothing. Just some weird dreams I've been having lately."

Kero gave her a serious look, then settled onto the desk. "Dreams that worry you. Which means something must be coming. So spill. What are they about?"

Sakura looked at him with sad, serious eyes. "There's a hallway. It's clear, like crystal, but you can't see through it. Kinda strange. I see myself in a mirror. Then I hear a scream. There's yelling and crying and evil sounding laughter. Then, a Card floats in front of me. But it has changed. I don't remember which one it is, or how it changed, but it scares me. And just as I wake up, I hear a voice scream "Give it back!"

Kero looked down at the desk and rubbed his chin in thought. "Something that transforms the Cards, huh. You didn't see anyone?" Sakura shook her head, brown hair brushing her shoulders. "Uh-uh. Just myself in the mirror and the Card."

"Right," he said with determination. "Guess that means I'm going to the concert, too."

"Hu-e?" Sakura said in surprise.

"If something's coming, and it affects the Cards, I'm not letting you out of my sight!"

"But Kero-chan! I'm going with Rika-chan and some other people. You can't come! You'll get bored and cause a mess!"

"I will not!"

Sakura studied the determined and offended guardian a moment, then sighed with secret relief. "Fine. Just don't snore." "Hey!" he cried in an offended tone as Sakura picked up the book and pulled out a card. She took off her key, transformed it into her staff, and then used the Little Card to make the Sakura Book compact enough to fit in her dress handbag. "There. Now you hide in my coat pocket, ok?" she asked looking at Kero. "Right," he replied, and flew to his hiding spot.

Picking up the coat, handbag, and shoes she intended to wear for the night, she turned off the light and TV, and then walked out of the room.

-----------

"Hey, Sugar! Pepper! Hurry up!" a small white clad fairy called as he flew down the sidewalk over the heads of the pedestrians.

"Salt! Wait up!" Another white clad fairy and a green clad fairy, both women, raced after the male fairy. "What's the hurry?" Sugar grumped as she flew along.

"It's a surprise," Pepper said sweetly as she put on a little extra speed and pulled ahead of her pink haired friend. She smiled as Sugar continued to grumble about missing the final snowfall in Muhlenburg for the year. Somehow, Sugar had managed to get herself put permanently on the list for at least the first and last snows in Muhlenburg, and she always tried to get as many others as she could. It had taken quite a bit of persuasion from Salt and Pepper to get her to Tokyo this year instead. In fact, they had had to pull out the big guns. She smiled again as she thought of Sugar's secondary surprise. "Hurry up, Sugar! We'll be late!" she called, and turned the corner.

"Mo! Wait UP!" Sugar called. "I don't know where we're going!" She flew around the corner, then had to perform some emergency maneuvers to avoid crashing into a tall, black haired man. "Sorry! Excuse me!" she called out automatically never taking her eyes off of Pepper's green dress. "Pepper!"

Yukito's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the Kero-sized woman fly off down the walk. "Eh? Yuki, what's up?" Touya asked as he climbed down the ladder.

"Oh, nothing. Just some unusual little creatures flying around tonight. Are you about done there? We're going to be late for Sakura-chan's second birthday party."

"Yeah, just let me put this ladder away." Touya carried the ladder inside, then came out putting on his blazer. "So, why are we going to this again?"

Yukito laughed. "Because her friend Rika-chan invited us, and I like piano music. And, you lost the chess game," he responded with a grin. They began to walk in the direction of the concert hall. Yukito smiled widely, as Touya grumbled softly about white-haired guardians who had too much time for learning foreign strategy games.

-----------

Sakura managed to separate herself from her friends and find an isolated corner in the entryway. "Kero-chan!" she whispered looking down into her pocket. "Hurry! I have to check my coat. Why don't you see if you can discretely go find a place to watch the concert?"

Kero huffed at her as he levitated out of her pocket. "I can be discrete," he grumbled. Then he looked at his mistress. "Where are your seats?"

"Um... I think Rika-chan said that they are in the balcony." She looked around nervously, and spotted Chiharu looking for her. She stepped in front of Kero and waved as she caught her friend's eyes. "Just find a place to hide and stay out of sight, ok?" she pleaded as she began to walk back towards her friends. She heard Kero make another rude noise behind her, and felt his aura fly off. She gave a small sigh, and slipped back into the group.

Tomoyo looked at her and raised an eyebrow in question. At Sakura's resigned nod, Tomoyo inched her way over to Sakura's side. "Why is Kero-chan here?" she whispered. "I told him about a dream I had last night, and he's feeling protective," Sakura whispered back.

"Dream? More trouble?" Tomoyo's eyes lit up, making Sakura hang her head a moment. She lifted it back up, and looked Tomoyo in the eye. "Not yet," she whispered. "But soon?" Tomoyo whispered back hopefully. Sakura sighed, and shrugged. Tomoyo's eyes glazed over as she mentally began preparing new costumes for her best friend and model.

After she had traded her coat for a claim ticket, Sakura felt a strange aura enter the concert hall. She looked around, but just missed seeing the three fairy friends as they flew though the curtained doorway and into the main concert area. However, she was in time to see Yukito and Touya enter the hall. "Onii-chan?" she asked in surprise.

Yukito spotted her at the same time and raised a hand in greeting. Sakura turned to Rika. "Um, Rika-chan, how many people did you invite?" she asked in a puzzled tone. "Chiharu-chan, Yamazaki-kun, Naoko-chan, Togashi-kun, Terada-sensei, Tomoyo-chan, Minoru-kun, Yukito-san, my brother..." She blinked as her father came in. "My father, too? It's looking like my birthday party all over again. In fact, the only ones missing are..." She trailed off as Eriol, Shaoran, Nakuru, Kaho, and Meiling walked in. She turned back to Rika who was smiling in pleasure at her surprise.

"Haha, don't look so worried, Sakura-chan," she laughed. "I just thought it would be fun to have all your friends here. Everyone bought their own ticket. I didn't realize Hiiragizawa-kun and the others were going to be in town, or I would have invited them before last night. It's a good thing that they already had tickets." At Sakura's puzzled look, she continued. "Apparently, Hiiragizawa-kun saw Bergman-san in Germany a few years ago, and when he heard that she would be having this concert during his visit he arranged to get tickets. And someone got Meiling-chan's ticket. I'm not sure if it was Tomoyo-chan or Li-kun. So we were all able to come together after all. Isn't that great?" Rika smiled with pride and pleasure at Sakura's stunned look.

"Ri... Rika-chan... I... I don't know what to say..." she stuttered, blinking around at the grinning people who surrounded them.

"Hmph. Just say 'Thank you', monster," Touya put in as he passed her to check his and Yukito's coats. Her surprised look became an irritated glare directed at her brother's back. Then, she turned back to her friend, and smiled. "Thank you, Rika-chan. This is a wonderful birthday present!"

"Sakura-chan!" Another voice floated over the crowd causing the Kinomotos and Tomoyo to turn their heads. "Oh Sakura-chan, how pretty you look," Sonomi gushed as she joined the group. She managed to tear her eyes of her beloved cousin's daughter to give her own daughter a proper motherly greeting.

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As they flew through the curtain and into the main concert hall, Sugar looked around in surprise. "Eh? What's this? Are we going to see a play?" Her naturally curious nature finally overcame her sadness at not being in Muhlenburg for the final snowfall of the year. She looked around the hall with wide, expectant eyes.

"Something like that," Pepper responded with a light laugh. "Come on, let's go sit over here. Oh, please excuse me," she said humbly as she barely avoided plowing into a golden flying creature.

"Hey, watch it!" Kero said at the same time as he pulled up short. The four flying creatures stared at each other in surprise a moment as they floated gently up to the ceiling.

"I really am so sorry," Pepper said sweetly. "I wasn't watching where I was going. Please forgive me."

Kero looked at the polite fairy in surprise. "Uh... No, that's all right," he said with a laugh. "I wasn't watching either. So... What are you guys?" he asked a little suspiciously as he studied them.

'Powerful, inactive magic,' he thought to himself. 'But they feel more like elementals than an enemy or a construct.'

"Oh, please allow us to introduce ourselves," Pepper said, as Salt sighed impatiently. "I am Wind-Fairy Pepper." Her long brown hair floated around her as she bowed her head, held out the skirt of her green peasant dress, and curtsied. He decided that the little woman with dark purple eyes, glasses, and shimmery transparent wings did have Windy's gentle spirit, and that her magic did feel similar.

"This is my friend, Cloud-Fairy Salt," she said, indicating a brown haired man dressed in a long white tunic and pants. The white hat sitting on his head looked like a fluffy marshmallow in Kero's opinion. The jester tails somehow did nothing to detract from that image. The man glowered at him impatiently with dark blue eyes, reminding Kero more of Fiery than Cloud, even with the shimmery, transparent wings.

"And this is my other friend, Snow-Fairy Sugar." Kero eyed the woman with short, pink hair. She was clothed in a long, white, short-sleeved, old-fashioned European dress and a fur-edged white cape with shimmery, transparent wings sticking out of it. The tiny piano clasp holding the cape closed and the musical note gracing her white snow hat made him think that she was the one who was most interested in this concert. Her light purple eyes studied him just as intently, though they shone with curiosity. Her magic felt more like Flower's, but there was some Snow in there, too.

"Hi," Sugar piped. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Flying Bear."

"Eh?!?! I'm not a bear!" Kero hollered indignantly. "I'm Cerberus, the Guardian Beast!"

The three fairies looked at him un-fazed and unimpressed. "Ke-ro-be-ro-s?" Sugar repeated curiously.

"That sounds like such a big name for such a small bear. Hey, why do you have a long tail?" Salt put in, as he flew around to Kero's side to get a different view. Sugar agreed as Kero sputtered. She flew to look at his other side. "He looks more like a Kero, than a Keroberos."

"Sugar, Salt!" Pepper pleaded in a whisper, then turned her attention back to Kero. "Um, so Mr. Kero-bear, what is it you guard?" Sugar and Salt giggled with delight as Kero roared indignantly. "It's Cerberus! Not Kero-bear!"

Pepper blushed at her mistake. "I'm so sorry. Mr. Keroberos, what is it you guard?" she asked again softly.

Kero drew himself up proudly. "I guard the Sakura Cards." He waited expectantly for the ooo's and ah's of admiration. Instead, all he got were blank stares. "The what?" Pepper asked in puzzlement.

"The Sakura Cards. Come on. Don't tell me you've never heard of them! They are the cards created by Clow Reed to control various elements and ideas. My mistress, Sakura, converted them all over to Sakura Cards years ago."

The fairies continued to stare at him with blank expressions. "YOU know!" he went on in an aggravated voice. "Firey, Windy, Watery, Earthy, Snow, Cloud, Flower...." The fairies' eyes got wider. He thought he was finally getting through to them.

"Never heard of them," Sugar said, causing his jaw to drop. "Are they really powerful?"

Before he could answer, he heard a familiar chuckle behind him. He spun around and found his archrival, Spinel Sun, floating behind him. "Oh, that is too funny, Cerberus," the black guardian said still chuckling.

"Eh, who's this?" Sugar asked flying over to look at Supi. Supi looked at her in surprise then introduced himself in a dignified voice. "I am Master Eriol's Sun Guardian, Spinel Sun."

"Hey, Supi, what're YOU doin' here?" Kero growled in mock anger. "I thought you'd be home trying to beat my score."

"Supi?" Sugar asked in surprise, then laughed. "Kero-bear and Supi-cat! Hi! It's so nice to meet you!" She flew over and gave Supi a kiss on the cheek before he could move out of her way. He and Kero stared at her in shock, allowing her to give Kero a kiss as well while Pepper giggled and Salt looked disgusted.

"Sugar. Salt. Pepper. Hurry up!" a familiar voice called. Sugar turned in surprise and cried out in delight. "Ginger! Turmeric!" The red-headed rain fairy clad in blue and the blonde cloud fairy dressed in white smiled at the enthusiastic greeting.

"What are you doing here?" Sugar continued curiously, flying over to stand in front of them. The two older fairies smiled even wider. "Why, we wouldn't miss this for the world, Sugar," Ginger replied mysteriously.

"What? What? You wouldn't miss what?" Sugar asked, beginning to dart around as if she were an apprentice fairy again. Another familiar chuckle made her gasp and spin around.

"Well, if you'd just come over here, sit down, and wait a few more minutes, you'll see what," another pink haired snow fairy said with a gentle smile.

"Mother!!!!" With a squeal of delight, Sugar flew towards her mother with outstretched arms. As soon as she was wrapped in her mother's embrace, she began to sprinkle her face with kisses as if she were a child again. This caused her mother to laugh at her playfulness.

"Sheesh," Salt mumbled, looking away in embarrassment. "You'd think it were years since she saw her mother, not a week." Pepper and Ginger just giggled. "And that she were just a kid again," Turmeric added, staring at the two snow fairies in fascination. "At least she isn't sulking anymore," Pepper said with a smile. Salt looked at her, smiled, and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's a definite improvement."

"Now we'd really better hurry," Sugar's mother said as she stepped away from her daughter. "The concert will be starting in just a few minutes." She paused and looked at Kero and Supi. "Who are your friends here?"

"Mother, these are Kero-bear and Supi-cat," Sugar answered in her cheerful voice. Kero growled, while Supi winced. "I'm Cerberus the Guardian Beast of the Sakura, and this is Spinel Sun," Kero said abruptly.

"My, I didn't realize the cherry blossoms had their own Guardian Beast," Sugar's mother said in surprise. Kero stared at her blankly, while Supi blinked and began to chuckle again. "How do you do? I am Sugar's mother, Snow-Fairy Powder. It is very nice to meet you." She bowed politely to the two beasts, then continued. "Would you like to sit with us? We have special seats up front."

As soon as she said the word seats, Kero abruptly remembered that he was hovering in plain view of the entire hall. "Arrrgghhh!" he cried. "Sakura's gonna kill me! I'm not supposed to be seen!" Slowly he turned his gaze to the balcony, and caught his mistress glaring at him.

"Relax," Spinel said. "We're so high up, no-one down there can see us if they aren't looking for us. Unless you keep yelling down the house like that, I mean." He also turned and looked to Sakura, and then to his master, missing the surprised looks on the fairies faces.

"Normal humans can see you?" Sugar asked a little sadly. At their surprised nods, she sighed. "So lucky," she muttered, then turned to her mother with a determined, happy smile. "So, where are we sitting again?" Her mother smiled in sympathy. "Up by the stage lights. The Elder is holding our places."

As Ginger and Turmeric led the younger fairies away, she turned a stern glare to Kero and Supi. "If normal humans can see you and hear you... You'd better be very quiet. This is a special concert, and we've worked very hard to get Sugar here to enjoy it. If you mess it up...." Kero and Supi felt a wave of magical cold and looked at the fairy with wide-eyed respect. "If you mess up, I'll turn you both into snowmen, Sun powers or no Sun powers. Do I make myself clear?" The two magical beasts nodded slowly. "Good. Then come this way, if you would like to sit with us." The wave of cold disappeared. She smiled her gentle smile, and led the way up to the lights in front of the curtained stage.