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.
Author's Notes: I almost abandoned this story, but I had too much fun not to finish it. So here's the end, and I can't think of anything else to say because I'm too tired. Sorry. Any responses to reviews (if any) can probably be read on either my lj or the author profile. Toodles.
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Chapter 16: In The Lit Dark...
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Syaoran and Sakura rushed into Penguin Park as though their lives depended on arriving there. By then, the lights burned steadily, and the buzzing noise they created was dim enough to go unnoticed.
Nakuru waved to them from where she was standing next to the bench. Sitting on it was a man with long black hair. His head was bowed so that they couldn't see his face, and he wouldn't stop shivering as though it was winter, instead of nearly summer. Supi's eyes glowed from the man's knee.
"Hello, children," said Nakuru cheerfully when the two approached the bench. They both acted as though they hadn't heard her; they were busy gaping at the forlorn man beside her, shocked.
"Eriol?" Sakura breathed. She couldn't bring herself to say "uncle."
Nakuru patted the man's shoulder. "Dear," she said, almost like a nurse. "The children are here."
It took a few more prods, and a few more "dear"s before the man on the bench would stop shaking. He gave one last shudder then peeped at them through his long hair.
"Hi," he said.
Syaoran whistled. "No wonder you knew the effects of that spell," he said. "You got hit by it, didn't you?"
Eriol laughed; a small weak one. "You could say that," he said. His usual smile was starting to pull at the corners of his lips.
"So, why are you old again?" asked Syaoran. He spoke with a steel voice. Eriol was a nasty liar, and even if he was twice, three times his age, Syaoran didn't feel like showing him any kind of respect.
"I found the Fountain of Age," Eriol answered triumphantly.
"What?!" exclaimed Syaoran, and he came closer, as if short of throttling him. "Where is it?!"
"She left," said Eriol, laughing.
A frog croaked.
"I might be going deaf," Syaoran said, "but I think you just said 'she.'"
Eriol laughed again. Syaoran was such a monkey. "She left, all right. As in, she came, and walked away. Probably forever."
Syaoran and his niece were looking very confused.
"So, the Fountain of Age was a woman," Sakura said.
"Close enough," Eriol said with a nod. "Younger though."
"A girl then."
"Yes, a specific girl."
Syaoran was losing his patience. "Are we ever going to get a straight answer out of you? " he barked, and his hands seemed close to grabbing Eriol by the collar and rattling him. "If you want to tell us who the Fountain of Age is, just say so!"
Eriol looked at him blankly. "Tomoyo."
Sakura gasped. "What?!"
Syaoran just stood slack jawed, almost forgetting he was angry with Eriol. Almost. He crossed his arms, and stared his cousin down. "Well, I- I think it's time you gave us an explanation," he said.
"Explain wha-"
"Explain everything," Syaoran cut him off. "Just everything. From the beginning. And please-" he added, as Eriol opened his mouth "- no lies."
Eriol stood up, majestically, like a king from his throne. He towered above Syaoran by a good head. He was even taller than Nakuru.
"I guess," he said, seriously, "we could start with you Syaoran."
He looked directly at the boy. "You went to London to search for the Fountain of Youth. You told me that your mother had instructed you to find a book pertaining to the fountain. Whatever book she was referring to, it was not Youth."
"It wasn't Youth?" said Syaoran, faintly. He felt sick remembering how he'd forced himself to read it anyway.
"She was probably referring to any number of books that discussed the Fountain of Youth," said Eriol. "Although, none of those books would've told you anything different from what I already did. No book exists that would've just given so private a secret. I was sure you weren't going to find anything all, but you found Youth, and you thought it was the answer to your problems."
"But it wasn't," said Sakura.
"No, it wasn't," agreed Eriol. "What Syaoran actually found was the answer to my problems. A lead to the Fountain of Age. I didn't tell Syaoran then, because he wouldn't have come to Tomoeda with me. He would've stayed in London where he might've actually found something. I couldn't let that happen."
"Why not?"
"I'll get to that," said Eriol. "But, I allowed Syaoran to come to Tomoeda and pursue the fountain. Who would've dreamed that my quest for Fountain of Age would bring me back to this place! Back to the place where I grew up, the place where I first met Kaho, the place where-" he smiled at Sakura "-my brother's wonderful, beautiful family was living. The last time I was here was the year Sakura was born. I haven't seen you guys in so long, I almost didn't remember about those painting servants I left. They would've recognized me, and I didn't want them to give away my secret. Not yet. Not when I wasn't ready." He patted his niece.
"Kaho wrote Youth to help her communicate with Tomoyo. She used my drawing of the fountains as a marker. Tomoyo left a note in Kaho's copy so that Kaho would know where she was, and that is the note that Syaoran found."
"But why would Kaho want to talk to Tomoyo?" asked Syaoran, confused.
"You don't get it yet?" said Eriol, and he laughed.
The boy scowled. "Just tell us!"
"Kaho is the Fountain of Youth, Syaoran," he said. "The person you've been searching for. She is as inextricably linked to Tomoyo as the head of a coin is linked to its tail. She was the one who reduced me to my fourteen year old self."
Syaoran's voice popped out strained and squeaky. "You weren't hit with that spell at all?"
Eriol shook his head again, and rummaged around in the pockets of his coat. "The two of us invented that spell before I left for England. I didn't know she'd played around with that thing until she came back with my copy of the spell." He extracted a piece of paper from a pocket. It was the spell, and Kinomoto Eriol was written at the bottom. "I suppose she was trying to waylay people so that they would think this thing was the Fountain of Youth instead of herself."
The two children were now too shocked to speak a word.
Eriol smiled at them bittersweetly. "Kaho and I," he said, "have known each other for years. We fell in love when we were in college. I always thought that I'd end up marrying her, but she didn't agree. She would never let me kiss her, and for a long time I thought it was because she didn't like me. But that wasn't it." He held out his hands, presenting himself to the two teenagers. "It was because she knew she... she'd, well, shrink me."
Sakura sniffled. Syaoran looked at her oddly. Was she threatening to cry?
"It was an accident," said Eriol. "She tripped, and I caught her, and..." He didn't want to continue. He knew the kids would understand.
"Afterwards," he said, "she left. She left, and the only thing she gave me was that book. I became obsessed with the Fountain of Youth, and read everything I could about it. I learned about the Fountain of Age, and decided that I would find it. And when Syaoran- when you came, you found that book, and you brought us here."
The wind whistled.
"That's it," finished Eriol, lamely.
Another sniffle escaped his niece. "What- what about Tomoyo? Did you kiss her by accident too?"
"Tomoyo?" Eriol asked, wrinkling his nose. He found it strange that Sakura was hooked on that fact. Well, she was her friend. "No, Tomoyo kissed me on purpose. She made me immune too."
"Immune to what?" snapped Syaoran, as tears became visible on Sakura's cheeks. Women...
"Immune to both of them," said Eriol. "I can return to Kaho, and we can get married if we wanted to. Or..." He remembered Tomoyo's smiling face.
So did Sakura. "Did you," she wept, "Is that why you went out with Tomoyo? Just because she's the Fountain of Age?!"
"N- no!" said Eriol as an onslaught of tears rocked Sakura's frame. Syaoran grabbed Sakura protectively before Eriol could touch her. He glared at his cousin who continued to explain himself. "I went out with your friend, Sakura, because she is a brilliant young woman. Mature beyond her years. It wasn't because she was the Fountain of Age. I didn't even know she was the Fountain of Age until I saw her handwriting. Please! You must believe me..."
Eriol stopped. Sorrowfully, he watched his niece sob into Syaoran's shoulder. Syaoran, for his part, looked simply murderous.
He thought about how he was no longer fourteen. He thought about how Tomoyo still was, and how kind she'd been. "It would be wrong," he said, quietly. "It would be disrespectful to Tomoyo if-"
"If what, sir?" A voice interjected. Everyone looked around to find the speaker. They found Supi sitting on Eriol's knee. "You can change back if you want."
"What?" Eriol asked his servant. "I'm immune now, Supi, you know that. Kaho can't shrink me back."
"You can use Kaho's spell," said Nakuru.
"Yes, but it takes too much magic. And we don't even know if it works. It's just a stupid thing Kaho came up with to mislead people."
By then, Sakura's tears had dried. She stared at the piece of paper in his hands as if it was glowing.
"We could do it," said Sakura. "We could change you back. Syaoran's got loads of relatives, right? And my dad's back now so-"
"But it wouldn't be right," insisted Eriol. "I'm not fourteen, I'm-"
"Age is a relative matter," said Nakuru. "Tomoyo herself isn't really fourteen. She has existed for years; beyond even you."
"We can change you back," said Syaoran. "It's all up to you."
It was up to him. He couldn't help but smile a little at his relatives, and his servants, all of who waited for his answer. They seemed so determined, so ready to try anything for him.
But that left him with the choice. The choice he'd refused to make in front of Tomoyo. London, or Tomoeda? Youth, or Age? Kaho or Tomoyo?
Sakura, Syaoran, Nakuru, and Supi all lapsed into a discussion of the minute details they needed to care for if they were to undertake the spell. He watched Syaoran take Sakura's hand in his, and Sakura squeeze back.
He smiled. No matter what happens to me, he thought, Syaoran, you found your source of strength, didn't you? It is not a spell, or any kind of fountain. Not youth or age.
Just love.