Chapter 5

The Town's Gardens

Talida wasn't looking forward to the next day. It came quickly and she was on the coach before she knew it. In the school she could hide from her class mates but in the gardens she would have to be around people all day. She went to the back and sat on her own, she liked it that way but wasn't alone for long. Julian was the only one left without a seat and Talida was annoyed he sat next to her. But she let him sit there without any protest, it was either that or he would have to stand and the trip took an hour even on a good day. Tori was sitting beside Sakura and they were trying very hard not to argue.

At first Talida just stared out the window on the way to the gardens. She saw the skater gang in the school looking at her. They were kicking themselves that not one of them had signed up to go to the gardens and torment her. Julian and Tori made sure that no one told the gang about the trip so Talida would be safe.

"How's your arm?" Julian asked looking at it with concern. Talida saw this and used her coat to hide it from Julian's eyes. "Fine."

"Did you loose the gang yesterday?" Talida nodded. "How?" Talida sighed and told her story. Julian already knew what happened but had to pretend to be interested. "I hitched a ride on a tram to the top of a hill. They couldn't keep up and I skated down the other side before they even reached the top."

"That's clever." Talida shrugged her shoulders and for a while silence was all that could be heard between them.

The coach hit a speed bump and a bag from the shelf above fell off. It missed Julian but managed to hit Talida right on her left arm. She gritted her teeth so she wouldn't cry out in pain and breathed heavily clutching her arm. Julian put the bag on the floor and gently took Talida's arm in his hands. He had a bandage in his little first aid box just in case anything like this would happen. He pulled back her sleeve and bandage to see Talida's bruise was darker in colour. "It's okay to cry you know."

"Who said I was gonna cry?" Talida said defensively. "This really should be looked at. You should get rid of that board in case you injure yourself again." Talida looked away. "It's the only thing that keeps me safe from the gang."

"But your injury-"

"It wasn't from falling off my board ok, I lied!" Julian tried to look curious whilst he thought 'gotcha!' Talida sighed. "It was the gang that did it. They cornered me and I had to fight them. I was surrounded but held my own, until one got behind me with his board raised over his head. I managed to block his strike with my arm and thought he had broken it. But I know what that feels like. They ran away with a few scrapes and bruises whilst I left with this."

Julian looked angry. "You should report this." Talida looked amused and rolled her eyes. "There's no point, they'd only deny it and there were no witnesses." Julian took out a bandage and made a better support for her arm. "That should help you today." Talida studied her new support. "Thanks." Talida said looking ashamed. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry for talking to you the way I did after it happened."

"You were angry, it's perfectly understandable." Talida looked at Julian's smiling face and smiled back. "So what do you think Yue?" Julian was talking in his mind again. "I'm not sure. She diffidently has something familiar but I can't remember it." Then the coach had reached its destination and Julian was back to normal.

When they got off the coach sketch pads were being handed out. "There is going to be a little competition. Everyone is to choose a spot to draw in the gardens. Whoever captures the beauty of the gardens will receive a prize by the end of the day. There is also an archery field, if anyone is interested then please stay here." Sakura and Madison were excited whilst Tori rolled his eyes. Talida watched the two girls run off together whilst she stayed behind. It had been a while since she last shot an arrow and would like to do it again.

Tori and Julian were also staying behind. Chelsea and Zachary were also interested in the archery field.

When everyone was sure about what they were doing they were led to the field. Julian already knew how to do this and shot his arrow in the middle. He helped Tori and the others who didn't know what to do. But when he reached Talida she had already shot an arrow and people were staring at the target. Julian turned to see she had split his arrow right down the middle. Now Julian stared and Talida rolled her eyes. "Good shot." He said thinking she must have some magic ability now. "Thanks." Talida said in a dull way.

"How did you learn to shoot like that?" Talida turned away and looked sad. "I had a great teacher."

Chelsea still didn't like Talida and was the only one who made a snobby comment about it. "Huh, lucky shot. I bet she can't do that again."

"Is that a challenge?" Talida asked looking mysterious all of a sudden. Talida picked up another arrow and tilted the bow to one side a bit before letting the arrow fly. It split her previously fired arrow down the middle confirming Julian's suspicions about her. Talida looked at Chelsea who was staring with her mouth hanging open. "Now I would do that again, but I don't want to be thought of as a show off now do I?" Talida put the bow back down and started to walk off.

"Where're you going?" Chelsea asked commandingly. Talida didn't stop and just answered Chelsea with. "I'm going to draw a stupid picture!"

Julian tried to follow her but she was quick to loose him in a green house. This greenhouse housed flowers that bloomed at night and was therefore quite dark. But not too dark so you couldn't see the flowers and plants. She watched him closely as he smelled the flowers. He was coming nearer to her hiding place and there was no where to escape.

But then Julian started to sniff and his eyes watered. Talida realised she was sitting next to the same white flowers that made Yue sneeze all those years ago. Yue was talking to Julian inside his mind again and was also sniffing. "Yue? What's…going on?" Julian asked as he came to a complete stop beside the flowers. "I'm allergic … to those flowers beside you … for a reason."

"What?" Julian asked who as well as Yue were now on the point of sneezing. "You'll…find…out…later." Yue said in between deep shuddering breaths. Julian turned and was about to walk away when Yue told him to stop. "What?" The sneezy feeling started to leave Julian and he was feeling quite relieved. "Alidat is somewhere near you."

Blinded by wanting to find out the truth Yue made Julian brush past the flowers. Unfortunately this caused the pollen to leave as a cloud and rise up. Julian stopped as the urge to sneeze became too great. He had just enough time to take out his handkerchief and covered his face with it. "Haphhh…hmmpphh…hammpphh!" Talida saw this as her chance and ran out of the green house. Julian didn't see her and sneezed for a good few minutes before finally leaving the green house.

He sniffed and sneezed every now and again but Alidat had gone. Tori found him later and they walked around the garden.

Talida was sure Julian knew something about her but didn't let on that she knew anything about him. As she walked around she saw the others sitting in groups or pairs drawing their pictures and having a great time. She hid when she saw Julian and Tori walking by and crept even deeper in to her hiding place as Julian stopped to sneeze again. "You ok Julian?" Julian blew his nose and sniffed. "I ran in to some flowers earlier, I think I'm…heh…asshoo… allergic to them."

"No kidding." Tori said as they moved on.

When Talida looked in front of her from her hiding place she saw a lake. It reflected everything around it perfectly and was so still it made her relax. She drew the spot and even put a few of her class mates in it too. But Talida hid her picture, she didn't want the prize and to be deemed an artist by her class mates.

She was on her own for hours. A memory crept in to her mind when she spied a tree covered in cherry blossom. It was her first memory of ever going to her uncle's house and one she wasn't likely to forget. 'Again.' She added in a tired sort of way.

It was the day after Talida's fifth birthday. Her father and mother thought it was time to let her see Clow Reed. She knew about the magic her parents and herself held but didn't know about her uncle. "I have an uncle?" Her father nodded with a smile on his face. "Your mother and I are going there for the weekend, and you're coming too." Talida looked very excited and had a smile on her face all the way there.

They came to a stop beside his house. She could feel something and had a very strange look on her face. "What is it?" Her mother asked. "There's a lot of magic in there." Her mother smiled. "You're right Talida, and you'll see much more when your inside."

In the back garden Yue and Kiro were waiting for the family to arrive. Kiro loved the idea but Yue wasn't so sure. "What if she tells her friends?"

"She and her parents are magic themselves remember. She may be young but she knows not to tell anyone about her secret life." Kiro scolded Yue who still looked unsure about this.

In the house Talida and her parents had entered and met Clow Reed. Talida hid behind her parents not being too sure about this herself. The feelings were growing stronger making her feel very uncomfortable. But her uncle smiled at her and she felt better after she was introduced. "The last time I saw you was when you were a tiny baby. But you've grown a lot since then." Talida smiled and her parents breathed a sigh of relief.

Later her parents left Clow and herself in a room. This room held strange looking things and pictures of even weirder things. Nothing really grabbed her attention until she saw one of Kiro, beside him was a picture of Yue. Her uncle saw this and smiled. He took down the picture of Yue and gave it to Talida who looked curiously at the picture. Yue was standing beside the open door to hear. "Is he an angel?" Clow Reed had a smile on his face and held back a few laughs. Yue growled as he went back to the garden. "No, he's a guardian and I don't think he'll like it if you called him that." Talida nodded and kept that in mind.

Kiro looked up to see Yue looking a bit angry. "So?" Yue fought back the growl in his throat as he answered Kiro. "She asked if I was an angel." The sun guardian didn't hold back a long, loud belly laugh that seemed to make Yue even angrier. "It's not funny!" Yue growled. Kiro stopped laughing and sighed. "Your form is that of a human and you have wings. She's only five years old, what is she supposed to think?" Yue looked away with an annoyed 'hmph' before walking away.

Talida met Kiro later and was a little shy at first. But when Kiro rubbed his head on her did she feel more confident. Yue kept hidden, he still hadn't forgiven her for the little question in the room. However he had to admit that Kiro had a point, she was only five years old after all.

All the excitement had taken its toll on the little girl. She lay down on one of Kiro's front legs and fell asleep. Yue sat beside Kiro and observed the sleeping child. She had a smile on her face and so did Kiro. "Why so distant?" He asked Yue who didn't take his eyes off Talida. "How was she when you met her?" Kiro looked over to him. "She wasn't a giggly little nuisance if that's what you mean. In fact she was a little shy at first, but she didn't pet me like a common garden cat when I got to know her." Talida stirred but didn't wake.

Later her parents found her with the two guardians fast asleep. "So she's met you I see." Her father said with a smile on his face. He looked so much like Clow that Kiro nearly forgot he was Clow's brother. "She hasn't met Yue yet and is very grown up for her age. She's been a little angle." He glanced at Yue who frowned.

Her mother stood beside her father and smiled too. Dina Reed took the site deep in to her soul. Her hair was light brown and had green eyes which sparkled like emeralds in the moonlight. "I think we'd better take sleeping beauty to bed." She picked up Talida and carried her back to the house.

Yue was still not sure about meeting Talida and Kiro had already done the hard part. The next day came too quickly in his opinion and still didn't want to meet the child. He kept well out of the way and watched Talida playing a game of tag in the garden. Then she played a game which involved a blindfold. She had to find Kiro by only the sound of his voice then it would be his turn.

Kiro was having a great time until he saw Yue come out of his hiding place. "Go to her." He whispered and Yue complied. Talida had her arms outstretched and was going in circles calling Kiro's name.

Then she stepped back and bumped in to Yue. "Kiro?" She turned and felt Yue's robe in her hands. "No." She said as she walked around Yue and felt his long hair brush against her hands. "What long hair you've got. I give up." Yue crouched in front of her as she tried to remove the blindfold. "I can't get this off, can you help me please?" Yue removed the blindfold and the light instantly hit Talida's eyes. She put up a hand to shade her eyes against the sunlight. Yue looked right at her not sure what to say. "So you're Yue, nice to meet you." Yue nodded.

Talida saw Kiro and smiled. "Now it's your turn Kiro, unless you want to play Yue." Talida looked cautiously at Yue and so did Kiro. "I don't play games."

"That's ok; it works better with only two people anyway. The game's too easy if there are too many people playing." Kiro didn't get to put the blindfold on because Talida's parents showed up. "It's time to go home Talida."

"Aw, do we have to?" Kiro also looked a bit disappointed but Yue didn't seem to care. "Yes my little princess." Talida looked at her parents and sighed. "Bye Kiro, bye Yue. I hope to see you again soon."

Talida had gone back to the greenhouse to find out the name of the flowers. She kneeled down to see a label with a name on it. She couldn't read the Latin name so she skipped to the information. 'Also known as the moon flower. It only blooms at night when the moon is high but remains closed when the moon takes new moon form. Legend has it that it first bloomed in the heavens but was a joke by satin. At first everyone loved them until the angels started sneezing uncontrollably. So they were sent down to earth and stay here to this day. The moon flower is very rare and can be found in very few places in Japan's forests.'

Talida left the greenhouse deep in thought. 'Yue may not be angel but it has the same effect and Julian is just as vulnerable to them. I wonder if anyone else knows about this.'

It was lunch time now and Talida couldn't avoid it. The teacher was counting heads to see if everyone was at the picnic area. She sat on her own but Sakura and her friends joined her once again. They started to show each others pictures and Talida felt uncomfortable. Only when they had finished showing their pictures did they turn to Talida.

"Alidat? Have you drawn a picture?" Madison asked in a friendly way. "I don't feel like drawing." They didn't believe her and Tori looked just as suspicious as Julian. "But you're always drawing something at lunch." Talida didn't say anything else and ate her lunch. The others gave up and ate their lunch too.

But Tori spotted her sketch pad behind her back. He slowly moved behind her and opened it with out stretched fingers. He looked impressed as he gazed upon her work for a few seconds. Talida saw what he was doing and smacked a hand down closing it quickly. She put a finger to her lips and he looked confused, but he nodded just the same.

After lunch he gave Talida some advice. "You'll get in to trouble if you don't have something to show." Talida looked very uninterested. "So? It's not like I haven't been in trouble before."

"Really?" What kind of trouble?" Talida looked away. "Nothing you would find interesting." Julian looked at Talida sadly and she looked back. Then nothing more passed between them.

Later the competition was going to be closed. Talida took out her sketch pad to see her work. She was angry and started to breathe deeper and louder. Then she ripped the picture from the sketch pad and tore it in to tiny pieces. She threw them in the bin and felt less angry. She went to the others to see the winner of the competition to be announced.

"Well done for those of you that have produced a piece of work. But for the ones that hadn't bothered to will receive adequate punishments tomorrow." Tori couldn't stand by and watch Talida go down like this and had an idea.

He crept behind Talida and snatched her pad away from her. "Tori!" Sakura cried but Talida wasn't bothered at all. He showed the pad to her teacher and she took a look. "What is this?" She asked confused. Tori looked at the sketch pad to see it was empty. He looked over to Talida who winked at him. Tori took back the sketch pad and apologised for making a scene. He looked for Talida but she had gone.

Talida went back to her seat and sank down in to it. She had never felt so relieved that she destroyed the picture. Apparently Madison won the competition and received the award. She got the picture and herself in the newspaper and received a year's free pass to the gardens. Tori was going to search for Talida but was told to sit down where he sat last time. Sakura and Tori weren't happy again with the seating arrangements but didn't argue. Talida was grateful to the teacher for once, before realising she was going to sit next to Julian.

Julian sat beside her and knew he wanted to ask what was going on between her and Tori. But one look at Talida told him otherwise. She was looking out of the window and he could see her reflection looking right at him. She was angry and had a big frown on her face. She spotted Julian's reflection looking at hers and she was quick to avoid his eyes.

Talida could hear Sakura congratulating Madison on winning the competition. She didn't much care and wondered where she would go from here. When the coach stopped Tori waited for her. He took her away from the others and had a word with her. "Where's your picture?"

"I tore it up and threw it in the bin." Tori stared and looked angry. "Why? I looked like an idiot trying to save you from a punishment tomorrow."

"I didn't ask you to!" Talida said now looking as angry as Tori. She got on her board and went away from the coach as fast as she could. Talida was so caught up in her thoughts that she forgot about the skater gang. Fortunately they got tired of waiting for her to come back and left.

When she stopped to see where she was headed Talida noticed she was in the park's playground. She slowly cruised towards a swing and sat down. Her mind was going over the facts and it gave her a headache. She slowly went back and forth with her feet on her board. She was thinking of what to say to the teacher tomorrow but wanted to say something different. 'I tore it up and threw it away! No…that's not gonna work.' She was still angry at Tori's interference and wished he'd leave her alone. 'Note to self: kill Tori!'