VictorianPearl: Hello, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and that you'll have a Happy New Year.
Li: Apologies for the long delay in posting the story. But two funerals and a full house cleaning just cannot be ignored.
VictorianPearl: I hope you all enjoy the second chapter.
Living Metonymy
Chapter 2 Returning
Eriol and Tomoyo were sitting in a tree watching the scene before them.
"So, Fugitaka found the necklaces." Eriol said.
"Is that a good thing?" Tomoyo asked.
"Yes." Eriol replied, "I don't know what they are, but I can feel Clow's magic radiating from them."
"Come on," Tomoyo said, "we shouldn't be watching them."
Eriol then took Tomoyo to his house. She had agreed to help him search Clow's library for some guide or explanation to the necklaces. They were both up in the library searching when they heard crashes from the kitchen below.
"Shouldn't you stop Nakuru and Spinel from destroying your kitchen?" Tomoyo asked Eriol.
"No, it's only Nakuru who's destroying; besides, Spinel learned a cleaning spell to clear all of her messes." Eriol said.
"MASTER! TOMOYOOOOOOOOOO!" Nakuru shouted.
Tomoyo and Eriol glanced at each other. They heard Nakuru bounding up the stairs. The door to the library burst open. Nakuru walked in, carrying a tray with two glasses of lemonade. Spinel dizzily flew in; he appeared to be covered in flour.
"I made lemonade for you!" Nakuru said, setting the tray down on the table.
"Why thank you Nakuru." Eriol said.
"Come on Soupy!" She cried, grabbing Spinel's tale, "Let's get you some SUGAR!" Nakuru bounded out of the library and slammed the door behind her.
Tomoyo giggled, "I hope Spinel will be okay." She said.
ooo
Eriol and Tomoyo spent the whole of the next day searching books for some clue to the necklaces. They wanted to wait until they found some information first and then give Sakura the full story at once.
Unfortunately, time was a very small option. They both agreed that if they found nothing to give them any leads, they would tell Sakura the next day. But if they found information, they would tell her right away.
Tomoyo gave a cry and collapsed on the table. "We've been searching for hours and still nothing!"
Eriol sighed and closed the book he was looking through. It was 7:00 pm, they had started their search at 10:00 am that day. Nine hours of searching! That was not including the time they spent searching the day before.
"Come love," Eriol said, going to Tomoyo, "let's go and get some dinner, stretch our legs, and take a break."
"Okay," Tomoyo said, standing up and stretching.
They told the two guardians that they were going out, they then walked down to one of Tomoeda's restaurants.
ooo
Sakura played with the necklace around her neck, twisting it, looking at it from different angles. She could feel Clow's magic in it, but she didn't know why.
Sakura had tried calling Eriol, but he never picked up. He hadn't called back either. She asked Kero, but he didn't know anything about Clow and the necklace. She was waiting for Yukito to get off work at the university. He would get off at 7:30pm. Sakura looked at the clock, only 30 more minutes and she would find out if Yue knew anything or not.
Sakura had told Touya about the aura of Clow in the necklaces. Because Touya no longer had magic, he couldn't tell anything from it. He had suggested to Sakura to call Yukito after he got off work. Touya had to leave for work at 10:00am. He was excited about a vacation; he was getting a few weeks off after that day and he was going to enjoy it.
Touya was about to enter his senior year at Tomoeda University. He had waited four years before applying. He spent those four years rising up money. In the end, it had all been worth it.
Sakura sat in her room; Kero was glued to the Angelic Layer video game. Only thirty minutes, then she could call Yukito.
ooo
Touya had gotten off work at 7:00pm. Because he was about to have a lengthy holiday, he was required to work a little longer the last day. Afterward, he decided to go and relax at a restaurant and enjoy the beginning of vacation.
Touya decided on a new restaurant in town. It was very nice but not too expensive. Touya walked into the door, he was about to give the waitress his name when he saw Tomoyo and Eriol about to be seated. They caught his eye and waved him over.
Touya sighed, "Well, I might as well join them." He thought, then as an afterthought, "Maybe he'll know about the necklaces." He slid into the booth, sitting across from Eriol and Tomoyo.
"Hello Touya." Tomoyo said, "How was your work today?"
"Tiring," he said with a sigh.
"Ours too," Eriol said.
Touya looked at Eriol, Tomoyo, and then back at Eriol. "What was it that was so tiring?" He asked them.
"We were searching Eriol's library all day for information to the necklaces you and Sakura received." Tomoyo said.
Eriol elbowed her in the side. Tomoyo was confused at first, and then realized her mistake. Touya's eyes narrowed a bit.
"How do you know about the necklaces; Sakura told me she couldn't get a hold of you." Touya said.
Eriol cleared his throat, "Well, you see-" but he was saved by the waitress who had come to take their orders. While Tomoyo and Touya were ordering, Eriol thought of something. Eriol could have smacked his head in stupidity. He hadn't come across some huge conclusion, but he thought of something that made him feel stupid.
He, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Sakura were not going to be the only ones involved in this new evil. Touya would be included, then there were the guardians and he had a feeling there was somebody else.
"So, how did you know about those necklaces?" Eriol was jolted back into the conversation with Touya's question.
"Umm…we kind of watched you open the package through the window." Tomoyo said sheepishly.
"You spied on me and Sakura?" Touya asked, somewhat shocked. He always knew that those two were cracked.
"I wouldn't call it spying," Eriol replied mistily, "I would call it 'watching-a-scene-one-is-not-apart-of'."
"Besides," Tomoyo said after the look Touya gave Eriol, "Eriol felt Clow's aura from the box, he wanted to know what it was."
"Did you ever think of asking what was in the box? Touya asked, "That is always a very effective method. Much better than watching someone's business with your nose pressed against their window!"
"Actually, we were in a tree." Eriol told him.
Touya was now wondering just how Sakura ended up with friends like these when their dinner arrived.
ooo
"I can't believe it!" Tomoyo wailed. "Touya probably thinks we're nutters, he'll never let me see kawaii Sakura again!"
Eriol and Tomoyo had just gotten home from dinner. It had been far from smooth. At least nobody could talk while eating.
"You over exaggerate." Eriol said.
Tomoyo sent him a little glare, "You're not helping." She told him.
Eriol sighed, "Look, Touya isn't going to stop you from seeing Sakura, and he probably still thinks your brain is in tact." Eriol gave Tomoyo a little hug.
"It's all the reading," she said, "It's finally getting to me." Tomoyo fell into a dizzy spell, clinging to Eriol's shirt.
"Come on," Eriol said, picking her up into his arms, "let's get you to bed." He took her up the stairs and laid her to sleep in his bed. "Goodnight love," he kissed her forehead and went back to the library to keep searching.
ooo
Sakura hung up the phone sadly. Yue know nothing about the necklaces. Sakura had taken a little nap; she meant to get up at 7:30 pm but had accidentally overslept and got up at 8:30 pm instead.
"Stupid Kero didn't wake me up." She muttered. Kero was still glued to Angelic Layer.
Sakura had called Yukito and asked to talk to Yue. She told him about the necklaces. He did not know anything but told her to show him the necklaces the next time she saw him.
Sakura heard the door close, Touya was home. She walked downstairs, "Hello onii-chan. how was work?"
"Fine," Touya replied, "I've already had dinner, so you'll have to make your own kaiju."
"Touya, I'm seventeen! I think kaiju is a little outdated." Sakura said, rolling her eyes.
"I saw Eriol and Tomoyo at the restaurant." Touya said, ignoring his sister's comment, as usual.
"You did?" Sakura asked, her eyes widening.
"Yeah, and I asked them about the necklaces." Touya replied dryly.
"Is something wrong?" Sakura wondered.
"Yeah, something is definitely wrong." Touya said, "They both already knew that we had the necklaces because they were both sitting in a tree spying on us when we opened them up!"
Sakura looked at him a little blankly, "I can picture Eriol spying on me, but it's a little hard to see Tomoyo doing it."
Touya gaped at her, "You mean to say you don't mind your friends spying on you?" Touya was now debating whether or not he should put bars on Sakura's window.
"Well," Sakura pondered, "Eriol spied on me all the time while I was transforming the cards, and Tomoyo always did like to video tape me."
"Anyway," Touya said, trying to get off the topic, "Eriol and Tomoyo have been searching his library but have found nothing."
Sakura sighed, Syaoran might have known, but there was no way of asking him at the moment. She fumbled with the necklace; maybe she wouldn't have to wait long to ask him, and maybe he would come home soon.
ooo
The next day was a slow one. Eriol and Tomoyo searched as long as they could stand in the library. Sakura went onto the internet to see if she could find any information. Both search parties failed at finding anything.
"We have to tell them Tomoyo."
"Can't we look a little longer?"
"You're not even looking, you're only pretending to so that I won't get mad at you!"
Eriol and Tomoyo were arguing, Eriol wanted to go and tell Sakura and Touya about the new evil. Tomoyo, on the other hand, wanted to continue "searching".
"Please Eri-kun?" Tomoyo asked with wide eyes, using his nickname.
Eriol sighed and looked at the clock, which read 4:40pm. "We'll keep looking and then go to Sakura's house at 5:00." Eriol decided.
"HANYAN!" Tomoyo cried, giving Eriol a bear hug.
"Tomoyo!" Eriol choked, "I can't breathe!"
"Oops!" Tomoyo said, releasing him from her bear hug.
ooo
Sakura was sitting on her bed brushing her hair. She had decided to have a training lesson with The Fight. Once she was done she had taken a well-deserved shower.
The doorbell rang.
"COMING!" Sakura cried, running to the door. Touya had gotten there first though. When Sakura came down the stairs, Touya was standing with the door open and Eriol and Tomoyo standing outside. He was debating on whether he should shut them out, when Sakura pushed him out of the way.
"Hello Eriol, Tomoyo," Sakura said cheerfully, "come in."
Sakura seated them at the table while Touya went to go relax on the couch, listening to their conversation.
"Did you guys find any information about the necklaces?" Sakura asked hopefully.
They both shook their heads. "Sorry, we didn't come to talk about that." Eriol said.
"Oh?" Sakura questioned.
"We wanted to tell you about an approaching evil." Eriol said, "A dark aura is coming to Tomoeda. I don't know what it is but… It's going to involve all of us."
"But-" Sakura stuttered, "I haven't felt an aura."
"You haven't looked." Eriol said simply, "I think your mind has been a little occupied lately." He gave Sakura a wink, which caused her to blush. "Try searching for it now."
Sakura nodded, a little unsure but closed her eyes and concentrated nonetheless. Now that she was searching, she could feel a dark presence, but something was-
Ring
The phone snapped Sakura back to reality. "I'll get it." She said, she would try searching the presence again later. She picked up the phone.
"Hello?" What Sakura heard made her gasp.
"Sakura, it's Syaoran. I've just arrived at the airport, can you pick me up?
ooo
VictorianPearl: Voila! There you have it. And because disclaimers seem to be in style, I think I'll say one.
Li: Victorian Pearl does not own the characters of Cardcaptor Sakura, please do no sue because that would make her extremely unhappy.
Victorian Pearl: Well done, I'll see you next time.
Both: Ja ne!