Past Incarnation
By Azi
Chapter 7: Escape
THE DISTANT NORTHWEST
The sun was near to rising as two figures reached the top of a little hill near what looked to be a main highway.
"They're not here yet," a feminine voice shot out.
"We're early, Angel," the male calmly replied.
The girl shot him a look as she responded. "I'm here and I'm in a dress – why am I in a dress anyway?" She scowled at the long off-white dress she was wearing.
"Image."
She scoffed. "I'm trained to fight, a diplomat if I must – not that I enjoy it – but choir girl I will never be."
The boy grinned. "Calm down, Ria. You're an angel through and through and you know it. You've just got to look the part." He laughed to himself as his friend shook her head and rolled her eyes. "It's not the dress you're worried about, you know." Another dirty look went flying his way. "They're trustworthy, I promise."
"And if they're not?"
"If they're not?"
"We could be leading his people straight to our friends and family. So far the Island has been safe. What happens if that safety is breached? We can't afford to be found, Tate."
"There are more of us than of them. If they're not, we'll do what we must."
"I won't kill. I won't have any of you kill. We cannot stoop to his level. How can we fight his evil if we resort to his methods ourselves?"
They heard a noise in the distance and both looked to the left. They could see a car coming, slowing down as the occupants searched for the meeting place. The sun finally made its appearance behind the two figures on the hill as the car came to a full stop.
All three occupants of the car gasped as they saw the girl on the hill. The morning sunlight reflected off Ria's hair and dress, creating a glow around her. A light breeze played with her hair, causing it to flow behind her.
"She looks like an angel. I'm sure we can trust them."
A male in his late forties turned to look at his daughter who was sitting in the back seat. "Tate was a friend of your brother's when they were in university. He thought much of him so there's no reason we shouldn't trust him."
The family left the car and proceeded to climb the hill.
Ria turned to Tate, "Three? I thought there were only two?"
Tate looked rather sheepish as he replied. "I forgot about the daughter. Still safe though, she's a sweetheart. Reminds me of you."
"I am not a sweetheart." Tate snorted in response to Ria's statement.
The two stopped talking as the family reached the summit if the hill. Tate stepped forward to greet the newcomers. "Mr. Keane, Mrs. Keane," he shook their hands, "Ayla." The girl blushed when Tate nodded at her. Ria bit back a comment about his being a charmer – this wasn't the right time. "Glad you could make it. You're right on time. This is Tenshi," he motioned to Ria who nodded, "it means 'Angel' in Japanese."
The girl now identified as Ayla whispered, "I can see why," then gave Ria a timid smile in response to the small one Ria gave her.
"You will refer to her as such until you have earned the privilege to call her by her real name." Ria's small smile was replaced with a scowl as Tate continued. He almost laughed when he noticed. She had put a good fight, but had been out-voted on the issue.
Before Tate could continue, Ria interrupted. "I have a few questions, then I'll decide if you come or stay." Mr. and Mrs. Keane nodded for Ria to go on. Ria's eyes flicked to Ayla and back to her parents. "She's adopted, isn't she?"
Tate looked surprised. 'That wasn't one of the original questions.'
Mrs. Keane studied Ria for a moment before responding. "Yes she is. How did you know?"
"Later." She held her hand out to Ayla, "Come here, will you?" After a few seconds hesitation, the girl walked to Ria and took her hand. Ria knelt down in front of her, not caring if she got the dress dirty. "How old are you?"
"Almost twelve." She was rather timid for her age.
Ria smiled at her again, "Just what I thought. Don't worry kiddo, we'll get you someplace safer than here."
Ayla relaxed a little, knowing that Ria wasn't as strict as she appeared. "But what about-" her eyes drifted to her parents as she left her question hanging.
"We'll see love, I've got more questions to ask." With that, Ria stood up and faced the two adults once more. "Do you believe in magic?"
This time Mr. Keane spoke up. "If you ask about party tricks and such, then no. If it's the more unexplainable things that we consider rather mystical, then yes. Both our children have been involved in things we can't explain even with science. Besides, the first Decision Makers were picked with magic and up until now, there have been no problems with that system." His wife clasped his arm and looked up at him proudly, showing both Ria and Tate that she agreed with him.
Ria acknowledged the answer with a nod before asking her final question. "If I told you that I had the power to give you anything you wanted – power, money, a farm on a hill, whatever – what would you ask for?"
Beside her, a voice whispered, "To know about my real parents," and pulled at Ria's heart. She gave Ayla's hand a squeeze and thought 'soon.'
Mrs. Keane gave her daughter a sad look before answering, "I want only to know that my children and happy and safe."
Her husband placed his arm around her as he added her response. "The only thing I regret is not paying enough attention in history class. I suppose I would ask for the resources to study the history of our country and perhaps the rest of the world."
Ria tensed. "Why?"
"There's so much that has happened to our world that we don't know about. I just think that if we knew about our past, we would understand ourselves better and we could learn from our ancestors' mistakes."
Tate nodded to acknowledge the answer, "Honourable." He looked to Ria for their next move.
"Let's go, shall we? I need to get out of the…" Ria's eyes flicked to Ayla before she continued, "dress. Besides, the sun's definitely up. If we don't hurry, Little Bird will throw a fit." Ria started leading Ayla down the hill to the car.
As they made their way to the base of the hill, Tate sighed. "I still can't believe 'Mother' let Rynn come. She knows darn well that this is dangerous."
"She also knows darn well that our Little Bird is strong. Stronger than Sara and near as strong as Will or I. Besides, you know rather well that when she makes up her mind, there's no changing it. Now chitling," Ria's attention switched to the girl beside her. "Where will you sit? I happen to prefer the passenger side. Cars and I don't get along."
Ayla smiled up at her, "I'll take middle. That way I can sit between you and Tate." She was still a little shy, but Ria knew that once she met the other girls, that would change.
Once everyone was seated in the car, Mr. Keane turned from the driver's seat and asked for directions.
"Head for the ferry terminal."
"The terminal's closed, isn't it?"
Ria's voice changed from commanding to a tone of relative innocence. "Oh, right. It is." She didn't say any more and the Keanes waited for her to expand on her comment.
The ensuing silence was interrupted by Tate's laughter. "What she means is that she does know that the terminal is closed and that's still where we are headed."
At Tate's words. Mr. Keane started the car and headed for their destination.
Ria leaned against the window before sucking in a deep breath. "Tate?" His head jerked up to look at her. "Did I ever tell you I had an older sister?"
"No, I don't believe you ever did." Tate was only partially surprised since very few people knew much about Ria at all. She liked her privacy.
"Yes, well she was my parents' first mistake. There's a long line of this particular mistake – goes straight back to Eria. Always girls. They weren't quite married before she was born. They always held it against her. They planned for my brother. I think I've told you about him?" She paused and Tate nodded. "Yes, I thought so. I was the second mistake. They had their son and they were happy. They hadn't planned on another child. There were miffed when they found out I was a girl. We seem to cause more trouble.
"Anyway, when I was little a distant relative came and claimed to be my protector of sorts." Ria grinned. "His last mane actually was Reed. It seems there are a few left still. He was a couple years older than my sister. They became rather close." She caught Tate's questioning look. "My line is so many generations of daughters from the Reed line it's like we're not even related." He nodded and she continued.
"So when I was about nine or ten and she was sixteen, they got a little carried away. Our parents decided to be hypocrites and kicked her out. She packed up and left without even saying goodbye to Symon. She wrote to me often; told me not to follow or tell anyone where she was. We had a method of send letters that didn't need addresses.
"Months later, she told me I had a niece. She put her up for adoption and kept in contact with the family that adopted her. I received pictures for years. The last ones I got were from near six years ago. She sent me almost two dozen pictures of the girl's sixth birthday party. Then everything stopped. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find her or my niece. There was never any word or announcement, but I knew I would never see her again."
Ayla tugged on Ria's arm when she stopped talking.
"What is it chitling?"
"Do you still have the pictures?"
"Of course I do. I'll show them to you when we get to the Island."
"Did your niece look like you?" Ayla was very curious about this little girl.
"No Ayla, she looked just like her mother and she
still does." Ria's final comment confused Ayla a little but she settled
into the comfortable silence and even allowed herself to be lulled to sleep
after they boarded the ferry.
THE DISTANT WEST
It had been weeks since Symon and his companions had been shut up in that room. They managed to free themselves on the third day by using a combination of magic and brute force. They were careful to make sure not to mortally wound any of their captors – both Symon and Kuai Hua were adamant that they not stoop to Belen Nawat's level.
They had been on the lam ever since and had witnessed much of the devastation that corrupt leaders could cause. People lived in fear that their towns would be the next target. The air was this with smoke as whole communities were burnt to the ground. Those captured were be forced to perform manual labour or were trained to fight.
Still, the small group of escapees managed to find help in remote places. There were many areas that had avoided damage. One village told them the story of how their families saved them by hiding half the population. The other half left willingly and their homes were spared. That particular village became a safe haven for refugees.
Along the way, the group had picked up several traveling companions. Many had magical abilities and wished to escape the fate waiting for them: join or die. Others had managed to escape labour camps and knew that getting caught meant a fate worse than death. Belen Nawat may be insane in their opinion, but that didn't mean he was clueless when it came to torturing people. If anything, it made him worse.
They traveled towards the East Coast in cars they had picked up along the way. They took different routes at different intervals, always trying to appear inconspicuous. When asked why they didn't aim for an island off the West Coast since it was closer Symon merely answered that, "They are there."
His answer left many confused refugees in his wake, but Kuai Hua voiced her approval noting that, "Maybe meeting the girl will help to solve the puzzle."
Finding that all roads crossing the border to the North were closed, they headed toward a ferry terminal that, after crossing, would put them no more than six hours away from the Island – a place that Symon deemed safe. If they were lucky, they could catch another ferry to a neighbouring province and cut their time to the bridge by a few hours.
Symon's car was the first to arrive at the terminal, only to find that the ferry was nowhere in sight. The driver and other passengers sighed in frustration, wondering what they would do now. Symon motioned for the others to remain in the car while he left to talk to a man he had noticed.
He approached carefully, not knowing if the man was friend or foe. He made sure the man knew they meant no harm before speaking. "May I ask when the ferry is due back?"
The man appraised Symon, the answered, "Stays on the other side now. Only crosses for special trips."
Symon's eyes narrowed. "What kind of special trips?"
"More like for special passengers." Symon raised an eyebrow, urging the man to continue. The man sighed, "Fine, you have to answer two questions correctly in order to cross."
"Skill testing?"
"Character questions."
Symon nodded. "Go on then. Ask me, then summon the ferry. We're waiting for quite a few people, but they should all be here by the time the ferry crosses. I'll make sure everyone cooperates if you feel the need to ask everyone."
"A'ight then. First question: do you believe in magic?"
A smile slid onto Symon's as he made the parking lot look like a field of wildflowers. "How could I not?"
The man nodded, "Pretty impressive illusion. If I let you cross, you'll be an asset to the cause." He paused for a few seconds to collect himself. "Okay, if I told you I could give you anything you wanted, what would you ask for?"
Symon restrained laughter as he answered, "I would ask to see my daughter if even just once." He looked to the man for approval and was relieved to see that he accepted that answer. "By the way, it's 'If I told you I had the power to give you anything you wanted, what would you ask for?' It helps to give suggestions like power, wealth and fame too." He gave in to his desire to laugh when he saw the man's gaping jaw. "It's an old family question used to find trustworthy strangers. It's good to know that Ria's protecting her borders."
"Right, well don't tell Tenshi I got it wrong and
I'll let you off for laughing." The man himself was laughing and shaking
his head as he entered the terminal to call for the ferry.
JAPAN
The cherry blossoms were nearly off the trees that Sakura passed on her way to Tomoyo's house. It had been a month since Adan had started making arrangements to go home and his substitute had finally arrived yesterday. Sakura was on her way to wake her friends up before they took Adan to the dock to see him off.
Sakura let herself in and crept silently through the halls, aiming to surprize her victims. She shielded her aura to ensure that Syaoran didn't notice she had arrived. No one was awake to notice the smirk on her face as she opened the door to Adan's room. She slid in between the door and the frame and quietly shut the door behind her. It took two steps for her to cross the room and before she could say 'Clow Cards,' she was bouncing on the bed, trying to wake Adan up.
"No Ayla, it's too early. Let me sleep a little longer," Adan mumbled in his sleep as he rolled away from the shifting indentation in his bed.
Sakura stopped. "Adan-kun." She shook his shoulder rather roughly as she spoke. "Hey Adan-kun, wake up. Who's Ayla?"
Adan rolled over again as he answered even though he wasn't entirely conscious, "She's my little sister, Sakura." He paused, then one eye opened, followed by the other and then he blinked a few times. "Sakura, you're on my bed."
Not at all embarrassed, Sakura agreed with him, "Yes, I am."
"Why?"
"Well, if somebody didn't wake you up, you might miss your ship and who knows how long it would be before we could arrange passage on another one for you."
"Right. Well, in that case…" Adan's statement drifted off as he wrapped a sheet around himself then picked Sakura up from the bed and deposited her on the other side of the door.
"What was that for?" Sakura demanded as Adan shut the door in her face.
"If I don't get dressed right away, I could be late."
Sakura could only stutter in response as she realized that she had been on his bed – beside him – while he was wearing next to nothing, and with the door closed, no less. It was a good thing no one noticed, otherwise she could be in for a lot of –
"Here for an early morning rendezvous?" Syaoran smirked at Sakura as he caught her being dumped outside Adan's bedroom door.
"Hardly," Sakura bristled for a moment, but decided not to let Syaoran get the best of her this morning. "I was merely waking him up. You were next on my list, you know."
Syaoran took a step closer and leaned against the wall in front of her. "Really? And how were you planning on waking me up? Perhaps a nice massage? Or maybe you were going to jump on me."
Sakura sucked in a shaky breath before flashing a teasing grin and quipping, "I was thinking more along the lines of Watery. Now, since you're already awake, let's go deprive Tomoyo of further sleep." She gently shoved Syaoran away from her and walked past him on her way to Tomoyo's room.
Syaoran only laughed as he placed an arm around Sakura's shoulders. Both were unconscious of their actions as Sakura leaned her head on Syaoran's shoulder and he tightened his hold on her. "So does that mean you love Keane more than you love me? Really, jumping in bed with him while only pouring water on me."
"I just wanted to see you wet. Besides, who said anything about love? Now be quiet or we'll wake Tomoyo before we mean to." They fell silent as they walked through the corridors until Sakura couldn't take it any longer, "And I didn't jump in his bed, I jumped on it."
"Better be quiet Sakura, or we may wake Daidouji-san." Unfortunately for Syaoran, he didn't notice the fist aiming for him until it actually hit.
While Syaoran was distracted, Sakura slipped away from him and slowly opened the door to Tomoyo's bedroom. She paused before entering and turned to look back at Syaoran who noticed she looked a little uncertain.
"What's wrong, Sakura?" Syaoran questioned as he joined her at the door.
"Something just doesn't feel right," Sakura shook her head as she continued, "never mind though, let's just go in."
Sakura and Syaoran finally turned their attention to the interior of Tomoyo's room to find Tomoyo sitting upright on her bed with her eyes closed. Sakura rushed to her friend's side and attempted to wake her.
"Tomoyo? Come on Tomoyo-chan, don't scare me like this. Wake up, please." Sakura was shaking Tomoyo gently as she spoke but it didn't help. She stepped back and looked at Syaoran with desperation plastered all over her face.
On instinct, Syaoran stepped closer to Sakura and pulled her into an embrace as he tried to calm her. "It's okay Sakura. She's probably just seeing something and will snap out of it when the vision's over."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. Look, she's smiling now. It must be something good."
A knock sounded on the door and Adan's voice called out, "Hey Tomoyo, have you seen Sakura and Syaoran?" Adan entered the room as he asked and immediately noticed the state Tomoyo was in.
"She's been like that since before we tried to wake her up." Sakura's shaky voice gave away that she was still worried about her friend, regardless of Syaoran's assurances.
While the two young men focussed on calming Sakura, no one noticed when Tomoyo's stiff body relaxed a little and her eyes opened.
"They made it."
Three heads snapped towards the bed, all eyes wide open as if they couldn't believe they just heard Tomoyo's voice.
"Tomoyo! You're okay!" Sakura flung herself at the bed and practically landed on Tomoyo.
"Sure, she jumps on everyone's bed but mine."
Adan turned to Syaoran with a wry grin, "Jealous?"
Syaoran shook his head, "Of course not, she wanted to see me wet."
"Sakura!"Tomoyo shot her best friend a surprised look.
"I was going to use Watery to wake him up, that's all. Anyway, what did you mean by 'they made it?'"
"Oh, the people I had that vision about before…you remember?The ones who escaped from that room." Tomoyo paused to wait for everyone to acknowledge remembering. "Well, last night, they finally got to a safe place. Or if it didn't happen while I was watching, it will soon enough. That means a whole group of people escaped the terror in the Distant West."
"Good. Now if you don't hurry and get dressed, we'll
have to leave without you. I'm not about to miss this opportunity to make
sure my family's safe." Adan left the room as he finished talking. Sakura
followed him out while dragging Syaoran behind her.
A couple hours later, the four friends stood on the dock Adan would be departing from and watched as the crew loaded the last few crates in one of the cargo bays. The adults had already said their goodbyes and were currently eating breakfast.
"Well, I guess this is it." Syaoran and Adan performed the handshake they developed – at Adan's insistence – then Syaoran took a step back as he continued speaking, "Don't forget to practice on a regular basis. Remember to meditate. Oh and continue to work on your –"
Syaoran's string of reminders was cut off as Sakura pushed the boy backwards and started her own goodbye. "Take care of yourself, Adan-kun, we want you back in one piece…preferably dry." She hugged Adan,then pulled away a little. "I hope your family is okay and in a safe place. Be careful, please Adan-kun." Sakura turned to join Syaoran, but was pulled into another embrace.
"You're so much like her, it's amazing Sakura." Adan tucked a few stray strands of hair behind Sakura's right ear and shook his head to Sakura's silent question of 'who?' "Maybe one day I'll tell you all about her and you can meet her – if she survives." He let Sakura go, then turned to Tomoyo, who had approached while he was talking to Sakura.
"She'll be fine, you know." Adan's gaze snapped from behind Tomoyo to her eyes. Tomoyo stared back steadily as she continued, "If she's anywhere near as much like Sakura as you say, she's a fighter and she'll be on her way back home when it's all over."
Adan muttered, "With her shield or on it," mostly to himself, but Tomoyo heard.
"What does that mean?"
"It's just something I remember her saying when her friends walked into a battle of any sort – even verbal. 'Come back with your shield or on it.' It comes from Ancient Greece. The women of Sparta, I think, would say it to their husbands when they left during wars. If they came back without a shield, it meant they dropped it while fleeing from the enemy. I suppose it means don't back down or maybe fight to the end." Adan looked over his shoulder as the man beckoning him to hurry up before turning back to Tomoyo. "I have to go. Take care of them Tomoyo, and I'll see you all in a few months."
Tomoyo leaned forward and gave Adan a small kiss on his cheek. "Travel safe and be careful when you get there."
Adan smiled, "Always."
Tomoyo joined Syaoran and Sakura as they waved to Adan before he turned around and boarded the ship. The three of them stayed on the dock to watch as the ship cast off and ended up staying until it was out of sight.
When the ship finally slipped out of sight, Syaoran
turned around and grabbed both girls by the hand. "Now we train some more."
He started walking, pulling the girls behind him and ignoring the fact
that the girls were walking backwards.
"Syaoran-kun, I like seeing where I'm going, please."
"Sorry about that, Daidouji-san." Syaoran dropped Tomoyo's hand which allowed her to turn around.
Sakura frowned, "Hey, what about me? I don't like walking backwards either."
"I have plans for you."
"What sort of plans?"
Syaoran turned Sakura around so his arm was on her shoulders again and whispered in her ear, "I was thinking we could go get something to eat before we started." He turned his head to look atTomoyo, "How's breakfast sound?" After he spoke, he noticed that Tomoyo wasn't paying attention. "Daidouji? Hey, Tomoyo!"
Tomoyo snapped out of her trance and shook her head. "Sakura, promise me you'll stay away from bridges for a while, will you?"