Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. For a full disclaimer look in Chapter 1.
A/N: Well I'm still "beating around the bushes," or at least I think so. I do not know too many American expressions. I think it's American. Am I right? This is short. I just have to remove a character and add some conspiracy. One more thing! Can someone teach me to write?! I swear that this is no better than a second year's (8th grade) work. Being a year older does not help. Thank you Alucard's Familiar. May I ask why did you chose such a name?
Stolen or Taken?
By: Meaningless Colors
Chapter 7: Memories Evoked
A nightmare. Yes that was what it was. Kaho took the cream-colored card off her vanity with a trembling hand. No. This was not supposed to be how it turned out. Tomoyo. Oh, why her?
Eriol had walked into her room without her noticing until she heard his startled voice.
"Kaho! You're pale was milk." With that same trembling hand, Kaho handed Eriol the piece of paper in her hand. The color was quickly drained away from his face. "Oh."
"This was not supposed to be how it ended. She was not supposed to go that way!"
"Kaho, there is no 'supposed' in this world. She is gone and you'll just have to accept it." His voice was still as steady as it usually was, though his eyes were filled with anger and incomprehension.
"I feel so guilty. It's like her spirit is nagging me."
"You're—"
"She wasn't meant to die that way!" There. It was out. Kaho still did not feel the shadow loaming over her leave though.
"Kaho it's not your fault. She was—"
"Murdered. Yes. Murdered. Just like my mother was." Kaho at this point lost her fight with her emotions and tear after salty tear slid down her cheeks onto the invitation. Tomoyo was so innocent. She was just not meant to leave that way.
She watched her mother twitch once or twice in pain. The blood, her mother's blood, formed a large puddle, staining the wooden floor of the Tsukimine Shrine. After those few twitches, the body went limp. Kaho was kneel-sitting next to her mother's body. She did not understand what happened. She had screamed earlier when she first saw her mother in the shrine. She was just supposed to be sweeping and now that broom laid abandoned on the floor, neatly cut into two. Her father came rushing in after she had set of the alarm. He did not weep. He just bowed deeply in respect for his wife and carried her body away from the bloody pool.
"Kaho-chan, clean up and find me afterwards. We have to talk my daughter." The priests left her in peace. Kaho cut neat squares of silk to clean it up. She felt it was a way to honor her mother's memories instead of using rags. The wiped and scrubbed the floor until her hands were raw.
'My mother did not die here. My mother did not die here. My mother died peacefully from a weak heart. At home.' Her hands were stained red. She folded the squares and placed them into a bag to be discarded. She washed her hands furiously and felt ashamed of herself. It was as though she dishonored her mother's memory and was placing a lie over her very person. In place of her very person. She went back and examined the broom. A clean cut. Skilled and graceful. Someone who must possess the skill of a samurai cut this broom with such a elegant curve. It was as though Kaho could see the scar of the blade in the air. She remembered and rushed over to the cherry wood box and opened it. She sighed relief that the bell was still there. Whoever taken her mother wanted this bell. They wanted to sabotage fate. Her mother was stolen not taken and she would never forget despite her wishes.