Second Generation
Cardcaptors 35
Akiko: We all had a long day last time. I was invited to go to a high school track
meet with Mizuki-sensei, Nakuru-san, Touya-san, and Yukito-san! Meeko, Makoto and Shinji went with Auntie
Sakura and Syaoran to go listen to an opera.
During the performances in both areas, Clow Cards attack! Mizuki-sensei and Nakuru aided me in
capturing the Flower, while Sakura and Syaoran helped the others capture the
very hard card: Sand. It swallowed up
the singer whole! (Syaoran: Much to my
delight. Sakura: *hits Syaoran upside the head* Mou Syaoran! You can be so mean sometimes! Besides…I got us two more tickets to next
week's performance. Syaoran: NOOOO!!!!)
Akiko:
Hee hee, well that's all, now we come to a very intriguing day: Meeko
and Makoto's birthdays!
Meeko
and Makoto, along with their parents and the little Kero, sat around the family
table to discuss their next moves…
"We have to
have lots of cake." Kero said, floating
above Syaoran's hand, who was writing down all the information.
"I know, I
know! You said that three times
already!" Syaoran growled at the
guardian beast.
"Then write
it down already!" Kero shouted back.
"Kero-chan!" Sakura admonished. Kero shied back a bit and floated back over to his mistress'
shoulder.
"As much as
we get, there would never be enough to fill your stomach." Makoto muttered under his breath.
"Why
you…!" Kero challenged, raising a small
fist.
Meeko
sighed. "When should we have it?" Their birthday was September 4th,
but they had school that day so…
"How about
the fifth? That's a Wednesday,
ne?" Sakura suggested, looking at her
small calendar. "And it's a half day
too."
"Alright!" Makoto and Meeko both happily agreed.
"C-A-K-E,
gaki." Kero said, once again above Syaoran's
head.
"I know how
to spell it!"
Akiko
laughed. "So, what do you guys want for
your birthdays?" She asked her best
friends.
"Oh, you
don't have to get us anything." Meeko
insisted.
"Yes they
do!" Makoto said. "Anything big and expensive…oww!" He exclaimed as Meeko elbowed him in the
ribs. "Alright, alright, I was
kidding!"
Now it was
Shinji's turn to laugh. Although he
laughed on the outside, he was a nervous wreck on the inside. It took all his powers to hide that fact
from Meeko, through their small link.
Makoto
frowned at Shinji's slightly odd behavior.
"Hey, why don't we stop in here and get some ideas?" He pointed to a shop that they were
presently passing on their way home.
Meeko
shrugged with a nod and walked with Akiko inside the shop.
Makoto
turned to Shinji. "What's up with
you? You look like you just spent an
hour fighting a Clow Card."
Shinji
sighed and stopped his relaxed behavior.
"I want to get Meeko something important for her birthday, but by
Kami-sama I don't know what."
"Hey, what
about me! It's my birthday too!" Meeko put his fists on his hips.
Shinji
waved away the concern. "I already got
your present."
"Oh." Makoto was taken aback, but then he smiled,
wrapping his arm around Shinji's shoulders.
"I'll help you out."
The young
angel boy looked up in surprise. "You
will?"
"Who knows
her better than me?" Makoto smirked.
"You guys
going to stay out here all day or what?"
Akiko giggled as both boys noticed they were still in the front door.
Shinji blushed
and quickly rushed into the store.
"Gomen!"
"I'm going
to walk Shinji home!" Makoto shouted.
"What
protection could you give him?" Meeko
teased.
Shinji
laughed. "Worried for me, Meeko?"
Meeko
blushed bright red and turned away.
"A-anou…e-eeto…"
Makoto
smirked and walked away with Shinji, quickly getting a small, harmless, but not
totally painless arrow in the behind.
He yelped in pain and jumped into the air.
That
would be for payback… His sister's
voice came to him in his mind.
Meeko
closed the door, and Makoto growled. If
only she knew why he was walking Shinji home, maybe she wouldn't be so
hard on her twin. He sighed. "Still haven't figured out what to get her?"
Shinji
shook his head in dismay. "I was
thinking about a necklace, but it just seems too…"
"Ordinary?"
"Hai, and
your sister is anything but ordinary."
"You're
telling me." Makoto sighed. "Let's go to Akiko's place and talk this
over with her."
Shinji
raised an eyebrow. "Won't she tell
Meeko?"
Makoto
shook his head. "She's Meeko's friend,
but knowing her secret would ruin the surprise, Abbadon himself couldn't pry it
out of her."
"Okay. Where should we go to get it?"
"Angel boy
still nervous?" Makoto teased.
Shinji mock
glared at him and crossed his arms.
"You gonna help me or not?"
"Yeah,
yeah, just hold your magical horses.
We'll talk to Akiko about that.
Come on."
"Kawaii!!" Akiko exclaimed, stars appearing in her
eyes. "A gallant hero buys a present
for his true love just to make her happy.
Hanyaan!"
Makoto
sweat dropped. "A-Akiko, it isn't that
big of a deal…"
Akiko
bonked him on the head. "Yes it is,
otherwise you wouldn't have come with Shinji-kun asking for help, now would
you?" She replied sweetly.
"Y-you
w-won't tell her, r-right?" Shinji
asked, unsurely.
Akiko
smiled. "Of course not. When she sees what you get her, I want to
get her shocked expression on videotape!
My Meeko-chan is so photogenic!"
She was seeing stars again.
Makoto
leaned over to Shinji. "It's times like
this you know she's Tomoyo's kid."
Shinji
agreed whole-heartedly. "So, what
exactly are we going to get her?"
Akiko came
out of her reverie. "Oh, well, remember
that shop we looked around in earlier?"
"Um…yeah,
but I wasn't really paying attention."
Shinji said, sweat dropping.
Akiko
rolled her eyes. "Well it's a good
thing you have me then, ne?" Men…couldn't
pay attention if their life depended on it. "Let's do some shopping!"
Makoto and
Shinji exchanged looks. What have we
gotten ourselves into?
Akiko
dragged the boys back to the store they had been in before and brought them to
a glass case, pointing to something. "I
knew it'd still be here!"
Shinji
looked and smiled. Inside the glass
case was a beautiful porcelain music box.
Atop it were two angel children, sharing a hug, dressed in pretty white
robes. The bottom of it opened out to
reveal a jewelry box.
"It's
perfect!" Shinji exclaimed, but then he
saw the price and was crestfallen. "I
don't have enough."
Makoto
smirked. "Don't worry. I'll pitch in the rest of my allowance. Like you said, it's perfect. You're not just going to let a gift like
that out of your sight now after everything we've been though to find it, are
you?"
"Iie." Shinji smiled. "Arigatou."
"Hey we're
friends, ne?" Makoto said.
"Hai."
"It's
settled then." Akiko said, turning to
the store's clerk. "May we purchase
this, please?"
The clerk
nodded and began to head over towards the trio. Just then, Shinji felt a Clow Card and it was very nearby. "Clow Ka-do no kehai." (I sense a Clow Card)
Makoto and
Akiko nodded and closed their eyes, spreading out their senses until they too
found it and tried to pinpoint it.
"What would
you like again, miss?" The clerk said
from behind the counter.
Akiko
turned around and gasped. "It's gone!"
Shinji
frowned. This is the work of the
Move Card. Definitely.
Without
a second though, Shinji ran out of the store and outside. Makoto soon followed and Akiko stumbled for
an explanation. "Gomen, never mind. We don't have enough for it anyway." She didn't wait for him to ask more
questions. Instead, she ran out and
followed her friends down the street.
The clerk
blinked in confusion as the children ran out of his store, then looked down at
the glass case and noticed something was missing…
Back at
home, Meeko also sensed the Clow Card and looked out the window. "Makoto should have been back by now. Where is he?" Just then the presence got stronger. "I'll have to fight it on my own." She called out her wand and the Fly card and took out of the
window.
Shinji dove
for the music box which was on the floor in front of him, but it disappeared
before he could do catch it.
Makoto was
climbing a tree and reached out, but the music box once again grew small wings
and disappeared from sight.
Akiko tried
to sneak up on it when it was behind a bush, but it sensed her and once again
vanished.
"This card
is really getting on my nerves!
How are we supposed to catch it anyway!?"
Shinji
tried to think, but was coming up blank.
"We have to sense it before it lands, so to speak."
"You think
we can do that?" Makoto asked,
skeptically.
"Well I'm
willing to give it a try!" Akiko said,
heroically. She closed her eyes and
went through the whole surrounding area.
They had been chasing Move for the last half hour and still couldn't
catch it! They had chased it all the
way back to the surrounding forest near Penguin Park.
Akiko
concentrated hard, using what she knew of her powers and focused on the color
of the card. Move swirled around the
area, appearing for brief glimpses here and there. Finally she sensed it was coming right towards her.
"Lock!" She called out suddenly. Lock wrapped a shield around Move and locked
it in place, making it unable to move or disappear again. "Yatta!"
She exclaimed happily and reached forward to get the music box from the
air in front of her.
That's when
Makoto's danger sense went off.
"Iie! Matte!"
But it was
too late. When Akiko wrapped her hands
around the treasure, a blue haze surrounded her and she disappeared with a
stifled scream.
"Akiko!!" Makoto shouted. "What's going on!?" He
asked Shinji.
He didn't
get a reply, and when he turned around, he saw Shinji make another dive for the
music box. When Shinji touched it, he
too disappeared. The music box floated
up and the Move…well, moved again.
"Shinji?!" Makoto wondered. Where did they go?
"Shinji!!"
Makoto
turned around and was shocked to see Meeko coming down using Fly.
"What are
you doing here!?" Makoto asked.
Meeko ran
to where Shinji had disappeared. "What
happened? Where'd he go!?"
"I don't
know, but I've had far too much of this."
He called forth his sword. "Upon
this key, I place a spell. Show me your
powers, within the sword do dwell!" He
closed his eyes and tried to do the same thing Akiko did and sense for
the card before it appeared.
Meeko did
the same thing and soon she sensed it coming right between her and her
brother. At the same time, both twins
called out: "Return to the shape you were meant to be! Clow Card!"
Meeko slammed down her wand and Makoto pulled down his sword.
Expecting
to have one card captured, two cards captured.
One at the end of Meeko's wand and the other at the end of Makoto's
sword. Both children gasped and held
out their hands as the cards floated to them.
"The
Move." Makoto said.
"And the
Erase!" Meeko exclaimed.
As Meeko
said this, the sleeping forms of Shinji and Akiko appeared before them. Meeko ran to Shinji, who began to wake up
and Makoto ran to Akiko.
Shinji
looked up and was shocked to see Meeko kneeling besides him. "M-Meeko!
What are you doing here?"
"Capturing
a card, what else? Obviously you
guys were having trouble." She said
sternly, yet with a smile.
Makoto saw
the music box also appear behind Akiko, just as she was waking up. He gasped and quickly scooped up the box,
putting it inside Akiko's jacket. Her
eyes went wide and she nodded in understanding.
Makoto
helped her up and Akiko waved her hand.
"W-well, I gotta get going. Mom
is making dinner tonight instead of the servants and don't want to miss out."
Meeko
frowned. "What were you guys chasing
anyway?"
Shinji
laughed nervously. "Oh, just a library
book that someone had left behind.
Probably why the Clow Cards choose it, because it was out in the open
and no one was coming back for it."
Makoto
gawked. How did Shinji learn to lie so
well? And could he give Makoto lessons?
Meeko
bought it and hugged Shinji. "I'm glad
you're okay!"
Shinji
hugged her back and replied softly in her ear.
"Nothing Clow Reed or Abbadon could keep me away from you."
Meeko
blushed and Makoto hesitantly split them up.
"We gotta get home now, Meeko.
Mom and Dad aren't done planning for Wednesday yet."
"Okay. Ja ne Shinji! Ja ne Akiko!" She waved
and walked away with Makoto.
"Bai bai!"
(bye bye) Akiko replied, then sighed in relief. "That was close." She
handed the music box back to Shinji.
"Yeah,
thanks. I owe you big time." He said, taking the undamaged present.
"No
kidding." She replied dryly.
Wednesday
came quickly for the magical twins and before they knew it, they were bent over
a large cake (much to Kero's delight) with eleven candles on it. Family and friends gathered around and sang
happy birthday. Kero just floated above
his mistress, waiting for the cutting of the cake.
"I wish for
presents!" Makoto shouted. "Oww!"
Meeko smacked him upside the head.
"You say it
out loud and it won't come true, baka."
She said, as-a-matter-of-fact.
"I already got what I want." She
added softly, eyeing Shinji, who blushed.
Akiko
giggled and kept the camera focused on Meeko.
"Blow out the candles!"
Meeko and
Makoto smiled and closed their eyes, extinguishing all the flame with one
breath.
"Yatta!" Kero exclaimed, diving head first into the
cake. Or at least he would have, if
Sakura hadn't caught his tail.
"Kero-chan. Chotto matte." (Please wait) She eyed him.
Kero gave a
hurt puppy (teddy bear?) expression, then sighed and flew off to the side.
"While I
cut the cake…" Syaoran said. "Start
opening your presents."
"Yatta!" Makoto said, diving into his presents from
Shinji and Akiko.
Meeko sweat
dropped and looked at her presents.
"Which should I open first?" She said, looking over at Akiko and Shinji.
"Open
Shinji-kun's first, Meeko-chan!" Akiko
said, from behind the camera.
Shinji
suddenly got tense as Meeko agreed with a smile and bent over to pick up the
elaborately wrapped package. She
carefully undid the red ribbon, and slowly removed the tape from the wrapping paper.
"You going
to take this long with all your presents?"
Makoto said, sweat dropping as he watched her.
Meeko
glared at him. "It's my birthday too
and I'll take as long as I want!" She
finally finished opening the package, and gasped at the present lying
inside. The hand crafted music box was
shining its brightest and held an elegant glow to it.
"Shinji…it's
beautiful." When she lifted the lid,
underneath the two angels, a song began to play. It was soft and beautiful and reminded Meeko of a small spring
brook, flowing towards the quiet ocean.
She closed her eyes and listened to the song and let it play out,
everyone staying quiet, also listening to the melody.
When it was finished, Meeko opened
her eyes and noticed there was another drawer beneath the one she had just
opened. Pulling it out, she saw a soft
downy white feather inside. It was one
of Shinji's feathers. She gasped at its
beauty and when she wrapped her fingers around it, she was overrun with a sense
of steady streaming love, strong and persistent. She automatically knew it was what Shinji had been feeling when
he pulled this single feather free.
Akiko
smiled and zoomed in on Meeko's shocked expression. I didn't mention that.
It was smart of Shinji-kun. I
would never have thought of it.
Meeko
smiled and held the feather close to her heart, letting the lovely sensations
fill her body and soul. Then, out of
nowhere, she leapt forward and pulled Shinji into a hug. "Domo arigatou gozaimasu!"
Shinji
hugged back. "Omedetto tanjobi." (Happy Birthday) He whispered into his ear.
Akiko
sighed happily, then shrieked as Kero popped into the camera's view. "Time for cake! Wai wai!"
Sakura
sweat dropped. "H-hoe…"