Fountain of Age
Summary: AU. Syaoran and Eriol are on the trail of the Fountain of Youth... a trail that would lead them inevitably to Tomoeda... and Sakura...
Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura. None of it: manga, anime, little plushie Keros; I own nothing.
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Chapter 7: In Sakura's Garden...
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On the way to Sakura's house, the radio fritzed again. Sparks poured like water, smoke spouted upwards and Nakuru glared at Eriol so hard, it was surprising that he hadn't shriveled up in fright yet.
"Go," she ordered Syaoran. "Take Sakura back to her house."
The two teenagers exited the car, frazzled.
Sakura was shaken in particular, since she hadn't been present when the radio had acted up the first time. "What are the chances of that?"
"Apparently greater than we thought," muttered Syaoran as he led Sakura up to her door. It was certain that the radio's sudden malfunctioning wasn't an accident. Something was going on. Something beyond his abilities.
"Well," Sakura said, with a smile, "it was very kind of your cousin to invite us to dinner."
"Yeah," said Syaoran, and he felt compelled to mirror her smile, letting his mind stray from the quirky radio. "I just hope your brother doesn't kill you."
Sakura laughed, understandably. "Oh, don't worry," she assured him. "He just missed the bus, and hasn't got enough money for a taxi. He won't get home in a while."
"Huh?" Syaoran managed, giving her a confused look. "Did-did you take his money so he couldn't get home?"
She laughed again, and stepped closer to him. Her voice dropped just the slightest. "I'm not that mean," Sakura said, and she frowned at the thought of her brother. "Even if he is mean to me. No, I just know because I know; you know."
"No, I don't know," said Syaoran, and he took a step back away from her. Something was going on, and he hated the fact that he was completely clueless about it.
"Didn't you notice?" asked Sakura, now confused. Her words rang his ears, almost like an echo of someone else's words. Eriol's words. So Sakura noticed it too! But what in the world-
BOOM! There was an explosion, and the cinder blocks that formed the wall around Sakura's house splintered as if they were nothing but pencils.
"What the-?!"
It was a teddy bear. A teddy bear pretending to be Godzilla. It was doing a good impression too; in mere seconds, Sakura's garden was in complete ruins.
The teddy bear turned its horrible beady little eyes on the tiny girl on the steps. It's threaded lips were frozen in a sickening smile. Slowly, as if having trouble with its joints, it brought it's arm up.
Syaoran knew what it was about to do. "Watch out!" he yelled at Sakura. He grabbed her arm and hauled her closer to the door.
There was a swish as the arm broke the walkway in the exact spot they'd been standing in.
Syaoran pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Lightning!" A white hot bolt shot out. A black circle appeared where it struck the bear on the shoulder. But it was as if the bolt was a tiny fly: the bear was completely unfazed. Instead, it set its beady eyes on Syaoran.
"No!" Sakura shouted, and she pulled a pink stick out of seemingly nowhere. "It needs to be stronger! Lightning!"
A streak of light smacked the bear right on its ear. Shielding his eyes from the brightness, Syaoran watched the bear frizzle with the electricity, then topple over. It was tipping away from them... and towards Eriol's car!
"Shrink!" yelled Sakura, and she pointed the pink stick at the bear. The stuffed animal pulled in on itself. For a moment Syaoran lost sight of it. All he could hear was the cracking sound the branches made as it fell.
Sakura rushed forward to meet it. She swung the pink stick behind her. "Fire!" Its starry end flared to life. "Incinerate!" She connected with the bear. It was catapulted into the light of the moon where it disintegrate into nothing.
And just like that, it was over.
Sakura wiped her forehead. "Phew!" She turned to Syaoran who looked back blankly. She smiled.
"You know magic," stated Syaoran, and the truth of these words dawned on him.
She hugged the pink stick to her chest, and he could clearly see the encircled star on its tip. It was a wand.
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The violin music seemed to fit the occasion perfectly. It was a bit like a dance, watching the bear destroy Sakura's garden, then try to attack the two teenagers.
"Ugh!" cried Nakuru, craning her head out the car window. "I can't see a thing! The bushes are blocking my way."
Eriol snorted. He had his eyes closed, and Nakuru knew that he was watching the events as if they were pasted on the inside of his eyelids.
"Supi, order the bear to cut off those bushes!" Nakuru knocked on the car roof. Supi, who was sitting on top, gazed at her with disdain.
"No. Eriol's orders were specifically to terrify the children."
"Eriol!"
"It doesn't matter, Nakuru," said Eriol. "It's almost over."
As if on cue, the bear popped into the air, and wasted away in the breeze.
Nakuru clapped enthusiastically. "Wow!" she said. "She's awesome!!"
"She's awesome," agreed her master, finally opening his eyes. "She didn't even need the help of her housekeeper."
"Or that bear," added Supi from his perch.
"Yes." Eriol nodded, and smiled in the direction of the garden. "Sakura's going to be something someday."
"Children grow up so fast," Nakuru told Eriol, fondly.
"It's been a long time, Nakuru," Eriol said, with a roll of his eyes. "Of course Sakura'd grow up."
"W-"
"Quiet," said Eriol quickly, and he pointed at a dark shape hurtling toward them.
It was Syaoran. His face was contorted with anger.
"What was that?!" he yelled at Eriol's window, which was up, perhaps to protect him at this very moment.
"What was what?" Eriol asked, innocently, his voice muffled by the glass. Behind him, Nakuru reached up, and hid Supi out of Syaoran's sight.
"That thing LOOKED EXACTLY like your bear," Syaoran hissed, eyes narrow in accusation. "YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS."
"Well, you couldn't see it for yourself," Eriol said, shortly. "I had to show you."
"Wha-what?"
"Nakuru," said Eriol.
"Yes?"
"State the laws of detecting magic."
"Aye aye!" Nakuru saluted Eriol with a smile and a wink. "All magicians can detect magic. They can detect magic in other magicians if the magician in question is, one, weaker than the magician doing the detecting and/or, two, purposefully exhibiting his or her magic. Strong magicians can, however, overcome that, and hide their magic-"
"Stop!" Eriol declared, and he glared at his housekeeper. "I didn't ask for the whole thing."
"Oops," Nakuru said sheepishly. "Sorry."
Silence. Nakuru and Eriol both watched Syaoran expectantly.
He looked like the wind had been taken out of his sails. The one thing he'd never told anyone… Eriol knew; the eyes behind the glass were telling him so.
"L-lack of practice," Syaoran excused.
"Oh please," dismissed Eriol. "It's only been a week. There isn't any time for your magic to lessen."
Syaoran's nails cut into his palms, his fists balled. He refused to say anything. He felt as if his cousin was playing with him.
"You never noticed," Eriol said, quietly. "You never noticed that Sakura had magic because she has more magic than you. And she's not even the heir to one of the greatest magic clans in Asia."
Syaoran remembered that strange look Sakura had given him on his first day of school. She must've noticed. And he hadn't.
But this incident also proved one other thing: Eriol was a magician. The teddy bear, the fact that he knew about Sakura; he had to be. And he was a more powerful magician than Syaoran could fathom. Maybe even stronger than Sakura. No, Eriol WAS stronger. Otherwise, he wouldn't know about Sakura's magic. Sakura had never mentioned Eriol; either it meant the topic just hadn't come up or she hadn't noticed at all. But somehow, Syaoran felt that if Sakura had noticed Eriol's magic, she would've said something.
"How," Eriol wanted to know, "could the Li heir allow himself to be such a second rate magician?"
Syaoran bowed his head in shame. Stupid Eriol; exposing him like that.
"You ruined Sakura's garden," he said, lamely.
"Sakura's garden was never ruined," said Eriol. He shifted in his seat. "Come on. That's enough for the night."
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Author's Notes: All right, I stole the teddy bear thing. Sorry. I've been seeing that fight in my head for too long. I couldn't possibly change it. (Maybe rubber duckies would've been better…)
Ahem, anyway, I extend my thanks my reviewers fae, inuyashafan65 (glad you like it), White-Destiny-Pure-Snow (I would suggest hiding the sugar) and ChibiYuffie1 (as always; Yay!). And lonelysparrow who's out there keeping track of me, apparently… waves
Additionally for fae who's extra long review deserves an extra long response: First off, you are far too kind, leaving me three paragraphs worth of comments. I'm glad you're really hooked on the plot; I just hope I covered all the holes. (Ouch!) Let's see… what can I give away, what can I give away… Okay, nothing obviously (and I've just wasted more of your time.)
Here's a hint though: It's all about perception. For instance, you want to know what makes Sakura special? Some people might say, at the end of this chapter, that it's because she's magically stronger than Syaoran. Some people might say that it's because of something greater. If you ask me, I'd say it's because she can make some of the weirdest clothes in history look all right. And if you ask some of the characters in this story (Syaoran and Eriol are noteworthy) you'd get different answers for that too…