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 14: Interviews...
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"Kero," said Sakura, settling at the edge of the bed, and getting straight to the point. "We came to ask you about Clow Reed."
"My painter?" clarified Kero.
"Your painter," Sakura confirmed.
The stuffed animal actually smiled. Dreamily. "Ah, Clow Reed," he said. "He was a brilliant magician. And if you keep working at your magic, Sakura, you'll be just as strong as he was." Then he turned on Syaoran, his tone flipping from bright to menacing. "And as for you, brat. I sense magic. But you're weak. Couldn't beat Clow Reed unless a miracle happened."
Syaoran blushed.
"Anything else?" asked Sakura, urging the animal to speak more.
"He was a marvelous painter, let me tell you that," Kero said, smugly. "How else could he make such a ferocious lion like myself? But his father never was very happy with Clow's paintings. He thought Clow should've gone into science." Kero scowled. "As if a brilliant painter and magician like himself needed that.
"So, Clow left. Took an art scholarship and left for England. Angered his dad even more."
"He went to England..." repeated Sakura, thoughtfully.
"And as far as I know, he's still there," said Kero.
The two teenagers exchanged glances. There were so many connections binding England to Tomoeda: Syaoran had been there about three weeks ago; before being led to Japan. Then there was Sakura's dad who was finally returning home, and now, Clow Reed.
"Mizuki Kaho," Sakura added, in a whisper.
"Oh, right," said Syaoran, almost forgetting the mysterious author. He dug out the spell Sakura had told him to bring, and spotted Mizuki's name at the bottom. Why was it there?
"What have you got there, brat?" Kero asked. He flew closer to the paper.
"None of your business," said Syaoran. He disliked being called a brat. He tried to keep the spell out of Kero's reach, but the stuffed animal was too fast. A second later, Kero was settling back in his seat, the spell in his little paws. Syaoran nursed several bitten fingers.
"'The Fountain of Youth,'" Kero read. Then he threw it back at Syaoran. "It's just a strengthening spell."
"Yeah, yeah," said Syaoran. "We know."
Sakura reached for the paper. "There's a name at the bottom," said Sakura, pointing at it. "Kero, do you know who Mizuki Kaho is?"
"Mizuki Kaho?" Kero clarified. "The Mizuki girl? Of course. Only other magic family in town; I believe."
Syaoran immediately forgot his fingers hurt. "Mizuki Kaho was a magician?"
"Yeah," Kero said. "She was... okay." Meaning, she was very good. "Very annoying. She was always bothering Clow when he was around. But, I don't know. I think they really liked each other. She followed him to England, that's for sure."
"So, Clow and Ms. Mizuki knew each other?" asked Sakura, her eyes fit to pop. Syaoran knew the thought that was running through her head: Why didn't they talk to Kero earlier?
"Yeah," said Kero. "He even did a painting of her. Not really one of his best though. She kept looking to the side for some reason; she insisted he paint her like that." Kero wrinkled his nose. "Horrid little snot."
Syaoran found that his fingers were trembling, and when he spoke, his voice was trembling too. "E- exactly what does Mizuki Kaho look like?"
"Long brown hair, brown eyes; absolutely ordinary," supplied Kero. "And she always wore these big fat pearls in her ears. 'Course her family's dead wealthy." Kero gritted his teeth. "I hated those pearls."
"That sounds exactly like the painting Eriol has in his library," Syaoran breathed. He explained to the puzzled Kero about his cousin's art collection.
"So he must've gone on to become a big time painter, eh?" said Kero. "Well, as long as he's happy, I guess, I'll forget that he forgot about us."
"He forgot about you?!"
"Well, okay," admitted Kero. "He didn't forget us. He left us to take care of his brother's family." He stuck out his tongue. "But then again, he FORGOT to tell his brother's family we were here."
"Brot-"
Ding dong!
Sakura shrieked. "He's here!" She rushed out of the room, hurled himself down the stairs, and jumped into the wide open arms of the man at the door.
Syaoran and Kero got to the door just in time for the man to say, "Hey- hi."
"I missed you, I missed you, I missed you!!" Sakura shrieked.
"I missed you too, Sakura," the man said sheepishly. He looked familiar, with those spectacles that flashed sunlight in several directions.
"That's him," whispered Kero. "That's Clow's brother."
"Mr. Kinomoto?" said a startled Syaoran. But if Clow was Mr. Kinomoto's brother, that made Clow a Kinomoto too... but his last name was Reed!
The man at the door had heard Syaoran. "Oh hello," he said. "Who's this Sakura?"
Or maybe, it was Mr. Kinomoto that was really a Mr. Reed... but why would he change his name?
"This is Li-"
"Mr. Kinomoto," Syaoran broke in, with a respectful bow. "Do you know Clow Reed?"
"Of course," Mr. Kinomoto said with a smile. "He's my brother."
"Your brother, Dad?" exclaimed Sakura. "But his last name's Reed!"
"That's just a pseudonym, dear," said Mr. Kinomoto. "His real name is Eriol."
"Eriol... Kinomoto?"
"Yeah," nodded Mr. Kinomoto. "He lives in England."
ERIOL?! Sakura caught Syaoran's eyes, and he knew she was thinking the same thing: Just how common was the name Eriol? He tried to think of anyone else he knew named Eriol, but he couldn't come up with anyone.
Could... could that then mean that the Eriol Syaoran knew, was the same as the Eriol Mr. Kinomoto was referring to?
No! Not a chance! The Eriol Syaoran knew was fourteen. He went to school, did homework: normal fourteen year old stuff. He couldn't be Mr. Kinomoto's brother, couldn't have done all those paintings, couldn't have gone to college. He was fourteen!! It wasn't him!
Ah, said the voice in the back of his head, but he DOES do things that normal fourteen year olds don't and shouldn't be able to do. He lives in a house all by himself. He destroyed the Kinomoto garden and fixed it in one night. He isn't a normal fourteen year old.
But, did that make him Clow Reed?
He was running his fingers over each other in thought, and he traced the spots where Kero had bit him. Because of that spell. That spell! Eriol knew exactly how it worked. Could he... could he have been hit with it?
Syaoran looked at Kero for confirmation of what Mr. Kinomoto had said. But it shrugged.
"Hey, we only know what we see and what we're told," Kero said. "Clow Reed never said anything about a pseudonym."
"If he's my uncle, Dad, why haven't you talked to me about him?" Sakura asked.
"Well, we haven't spoken in a long time," Mr. Kinomoto said. "We've been so busy with our own lives, dear. He just hasn't come up."
They needed a clincher question. A question that would immediately say whether Hiiragizawa Eriol, and Kinomoto Eriol were one and the same.
"Mr. Kinomoto," said Syaoran. What are the chances that he would know? The connection was so thin... "Are you related to the Li family in any way?"
Mr. Kinomoto stared him straight in the eye, unwavering. "My mother was a Li."
That was it. He needed to speak with Eriol right at this moment. Even if Mr. Kinomoto was on the other side of Li family tree, there were too many coincidences that supported the possibility. The paintings, the servants, the England thing. Only Eriol could provide evidence to the contrary.
He practically fell down the stairs in his rush to leave the house.
"I'm coming," said Sakura, and she nabbed a sweater from the closet before falling in step right behind him.
"Coming? Coming where?" asked Mr. Kinomoto. "Where are the two of you going?"
"I need to speak to my cousin," said Syaoran.
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Author's Notes: So that's it. That's the big secret. But of course, you already knew that.
Thanks goes out to ccsbrat (Sakura a missing link? You'll have to elaborate on that one...) and Serenity's Blaim (Confrontation about the kiss? But it was such a small kiss! And I assure you, Touya was really mad. His dad shut him up.)