Card Captor Harry

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Card 11, The Sword: Going In Circles…

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. I own a couple of pictures and books. Just like the rest of you…

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Fei Lee, a descendant of the great Clow Reed, wannabe jonin shinobi of whatever Hidden Village she felt like it at the moment– Hidden Mist tonight– member of Slytherin House, and currently freezing her rear off, was not having a nice day. First, she'd been release-deprived for days. Second, a Clow Card had barged in during her Potions class, blowing her cauldron to bits. Third, she'd lost another Clow Card to Potter, the bloody Card Captor. Now, she was currently thigh-deep in freezing water of questionable purity while trapped with the last person she'd want to be with, and a glow-in-the-dark sprite wearing an Umi Ryuzaki knock-off outfit.

She was really hoping things didn't get worse.

And promptly berated herself. That was just asking for trouble!

She wasn't sure how it happened, but she, Potter, and Fight were currently making their way down one of the corridors of the intersection they'd found themselves in. Wading through thigh-high water wasn't fun, especially when your clothes were soaking wet. Add in the fact that it was the middle of the night, and Fei felt more like homicide than search and rescue.

She tried to keep from shivering as she walked, but it was a losing battle. Her clothes were completely soaked through, not to mention sticking to her skin, and the water swirling around her legs wasn't helping. Not for the first time, she cursed the fact that the Clow Cards had to turn up in bloody England. Why couldn't it have turned up somewhere else, like, say, the Caribbean? Or even that little place in Japan her cousin had been sent a few years ago. Anywhere but the country where you get spring, summer, fall and winter in the same frickin day!

She tried not to nod off as they turned yet another corner into yet another torch-lit corridor. It had been a long night even before this little escapade started. Fei was running on practically empty. Distantly, she felt her eyes closing as she continued to walk. She'd just rest them for a few moments. Yeah, that's it, just rest them a while. After all, you didn't need your eyes to walk. Winter didn't…

Fei was abruptly sent back to the Waking World as something struck her square on the face. Reflexively, she caught, glaring at Potter, who was looking at her in annoyance through droopy eyes. "Stay awake, Lee! I don't have time to carry you around. And put that on! You're freezing your arms off!"

Fei's glare of annoyance turned into a blink as Potter turned around, and looked at what she'd caught. It was Potter's raincoat. For a moment, she debated whether to just drop it into the water, but another shiver quickly killed that idea. Trying not to think of who it belonged to, she put the oversized covering on. It's size allowed her to wrap it twice around herself, letting her trap in her body heat. It wasn't much, but it helped.

It crossed her mind to check the raincoat for jinxes and curses, but decided that if there were any, at least they would make her mad enough to wake her up and maybe raise her body temperature.

She stared at a torch they passed, eyes glazed over, and was just turning away when something finally clicked.

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Harry knew the minute Lee stopped walking. He let out an annoyed sigh, and was about to turn around when Lee said, "Don't turn around, Potter!"

Predictably, he ignored it, and immediately wished he hadn't.

Fight was standing next to Lee with an amused look in her eye. In her hands she held the raincoat Harry had thrown at Lee, plus a wet robe and a wet vest. Lee was looking at Harry coolly, halfway through taking off her shirt.

Which, wet as it was, was sticking to her like a second skin and leaving nothing to the imagination.

Harry stood staring for about two seconds before he 'eep'-ed, turning around and rubbing his eyes. "AHHH! MY EYES! THEY'RE TAINTED!"

Try as he might, Harry could not get the image of a half-naked Lee wearing a sports-bra and a wet shirt that clung very tightly to her lithe frame out of his head.

ARGGGHHH!

Behind him, he could here Lee laughing slightly, a low, throaty laugh that sent a shiver up his spine. He tried not to connect the sounds he heard as being related to her stripping her shirt off, but sadly, he wasn't that good. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING, AND WHY NOW?"

He heard water dripping on to the floor. "I'm drying out my clothes! What does it look like I'm doing, you idiot? Should have thought of it sooner, but the cold and your stupidity both went to my head!"

Harry heard a torch being removed from the wall, and realized what she was up to. "Be careful not to burn your clothes," he said, trying to sound mocking. "It'd be a shame if you had to walk around in nothing but your underwear."

He heard a sniff. "You'd like that, wouldn't you, you pervert?"

"Hey, you're the one who just stripped!"

Harry heard Lee about to send out a response, but Fight said, "Mistress, be careful. If you drop your clothes into the water, we might not be able to find them again, or do anything about them if we did."

"Be quiet!" he heard Lee snap, and annoyance flashed through Harry, annoyance and something else.

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that! She's just trying to watch out for you!"

"Shut up, Potter! I'll deal with Fight my way! Keep your nose out of it!"

"It's alright, Lord Potter," he heard Fight say. "My Mistress is right to be angry with me if I displease her."

"Did you just call him LORD?"

"He is the Card Captor, Mistress, and deserves respect, even though he did not manage to pass my test."

"I FORBID you from ever calling him that again!"

"Mistress, be careful! Your clothes!"

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Later, a slightly dryer Lee, still wearing the raincoat, a slightly amused Fight, and Harry were once more walking down the corridor. Fight held the appropriated torch in her hands, and was holding it close to Lee to keep her warm.

"Do you have any idea where you're going, Potter?" Lee said.

"Yes," Harry said. "This way!"

"And how do you know that this leads out of here?"

"And which way would you have us go, hmmm?"

"You're just getting us completely lost!"

"Hey, you've got a better idea?"

…

"Didn't think so!"

Fight giggled, and Harry glanced over his shoulder. Yup, Fight had definitely giggled.

"What's so funny, Fight?" Lee growled.

"It's nice to hear the two of you talking like this again," Fight said. "I've really missed it over the past few days."

Harry blinked, and he saw Lee do the same. "You've heard us fight?"

Fight nodded. "Of course! Mistress always carried me around with her, and until a few days ago, I always enjoyed listening to the two of you. I'm sure my siblings have enjoyed listening as well, Lord Potter."

Lee growled. "I thought I told you not to call him that!"

Fight inclined her head towards Lee. "Your pardon, Mistress. Still, it was nice to listen to you two. Why did you stop?"

Harry grunted as the reason why recalled itself to his mind. "Busy-bodies kept hanging around," he growled, as if crushing the words between his teeth.

"Damned Weasley prat," he heard Lee mutter. Unconsciously, he found himself agreeing with her description of Percy.

"I… see," Fight said, clearly unsure of what to make of their answers. "Well, it's nice the two of you are talking again. The two of you are really enjoying yourselves."

Harry and Lee nodded at that, then froze as they realized what they were nodding to, and who they were nodding with.

"Hey!" they chorused. "I don't enjoy talking to that (double censor)!"

The two glared at each other.

"Stop mimicking me! No, you stop! No, you stop! No, you! No, you! You! Yo-"

"Um, jinx?" Fight said. The two turned to look at her, and she smiled weakly. "Just something I heard the Lady Winter say."

"It's Moon," Lee corrected grumpily. Then frowned. "Why do you call her 'Lady'?"

"You obviously hold her in high regard, Mistress, and I did not wish to disrespect her person," Fight said.

"I get that," Lee said. "But why do you call Potter here-" her face twisted in disgust "-'Lord'?"

"He is Master Keroberos' chosen Card Captor, Mistress, and thus worthy of respect. Further more, even though he did not pass my test, he was obviously able to best many of my siblings. Earthy and Windy in particular are very powerful, and Time is not easily defeated."

Harry blinked. "You know which ones I have?"

Fight nodded. Lee's eyebrow twitched.

"And you didn't tell me this before because…?" she said.

"You did not ask, Mistress. You only asked me to train you."

"How many?" Lee demanded.

"Counting Rain, fourteen, Mistress."

Lee looked at Harry in disbelief. Harry grinned, drawing his Clow Cards from his pocket and fanning them in front of him. "Read 'em and weep, Lee."

Lee glared at them for a moment, before turning and walking the way they were going. "Come on, Fight! We don't have all night!"

"Um, Mistress, didn't you express doubts as to whether this path would lead to the exit?" Fight said.

Lee stopped and glared at Fight. Harry snickered.

"Not much of a Mist Nin, are you?" he said.

"Shut up, Potter!"

"Ooh, witty comeback! Got any more?"

"Grrrr!"

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"Um, Mistress, I think we've been here before," Fight ventured about ten minutes later.

Fei looked at her. "That's impossible! We've been walking in a straight line!"

"Got a Ryouga Hibiki-complex, have you, Lee?" Potter said, smirking at her. "Getting lost in corridors now?"

"Stuff it, Potter," Fei growled, not in the mood. "There's no way we could be back where we started! We didn't take any turns, and we've been walking straight!"

"But I'm sure this is the bracket where we got our torch, Mistress." Fight said, pointing to an empty bracket.

"No, it isn't!" Fei said, forging ahead at a faster pace, or at least, as fast as the water would let her. "We keep moving!"

Much later, however…

"That's the fifth time in a row we've passed an empty bracket!" Potter said. "That can't be a coincidence!"

Fei pursed her lips. She'd finally have to admit that maybe Potter and Fight had a point. The bracket had the crack she'd had Fight make on the last one they'd passed when her suspicions had started getting the better of her pride. Something was seriously wrong here.

"I think I remember reading about a Clow Card that had this kind of effect," Fei mused, rubbing her chin. "Fight?"

"Loop is capable of producing this effect, Mistress," Fight confirmed.

"Who?" Potter said.

Fei sneered. "What's wrong, Potter? Don't you know your Clow Cards?"

Potter glared at her.

"The Loop Card can cause a place to close in on itself, changing it into a cylindrical three dimensional closed space," Fei lectured, enjoying the fact that she had the one-up on her rival.

"Like the 'Art of the Never-Ending Place'?" Potter said suddenly.

Fei gave him a look. "Yeah, kind of like that."

Potter looked the way they were going, than the other way. "We're in trouble."

"'We, Gryffindor?" Fei said. "I know how to get out of this."

"Actually, Mistress, you will need his help," Fight said. "He must Seal Loop. There is no other way to escape."

Fie glared at her.

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Harry growled as he walked down the corridor alone. He was supposed to be checking the walls for some kind of discontinuity. Since the walls were composed of cut stones whose pattern didn't repeat, the place where things started to 'loop' would be inconsistent. At least that's what bloody LEE said! She'd also said- and Fight agreed with this- that because of the background magic The Maze Card was putting out, they wouldn't be able to just 'sense' The Loop Card's presence.

They'd gone in opposite directions to search, so that they'd be able to cover more ground. Harry wasn't quite sure how he'd ended up agreeing to this, but he had.

Sighing, he wished Kero were here, if only to keep him company. At least Lee had Fight. He was all alone…

Abruptly, Harry slapped his forehead. No, he wasn't! He had his Clow Cards with him! All it would take to have company was a wave of his magic wand…

Without really thinking about it, Harry pulled out a Card and activated it.

A burst of light later, and The Light Card was standing in the hallway with him, her soft glow lighting up the area around them.

"You called, Master?" she said, seemingly unruffled by all the water.

Now what?

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Fei kept grumbling as Fight followed behind her. A part of her mind that sounded like her cousin told her that if she didn't calm down, she'd miss the spot she was looking for, but she ignored it. She was too distracted being cold, wet and sleepy.

"Mistress?" Fight said, looking at her worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Fei said sharply. "I'm just cold, that's all."

Without warning, Fight hugged her from behind, and Fei stiffened as the Clow Card's hands enfolded her, holding their bodies close together. She was warm, Fei realized, compared to her anyway. "Fight, what are you doing?"

"Trying to warm you up, Mistress," Fight breathed into her ear, and Fei shivered. "That helps, but exchanging body heat is better."

"Fight-" Fei started to say, then gasped as she felt the sprite's cheek rubbing against hers. Shakily she tried again. "Fight, what the (BLEEP) do you think you're doing?"

"Serving my Mistress," Fight said, putting a slight twist on the final word. Another shiver wracked Fei's body upon hearing that.

She opened her mouth one last time, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted when Fight tilted her head to the side and back and kissed her.

Her brain promptly crashed, rebooted, then crashed again in rapid succession. By the time she was able to get it back up in 'safe mode', Fight had turned her around and was leaning against the wall, while gently running her hands over her Mistress' back. The hands migrated, down her arms and over her neck, then back again, repeating the process over and over.

Fei started shivering like crazy, but it wasn't from the cold. Nope, definitely not cold.

Fight broke the kiss, and Fei struggled to get air back into her lungs, even as Fight's hot breath blew over her face, as the sprite began to leave butterfly kisses over her face, from her forehead, down her cheeks, across her chin and neck, and up the other side. "Fight…" she tried, and failed to say.

"Shh, Mistress," Fight said, as her fingers caressed Fei's face and her mouth nuzzled her neck.

One last sigh from Fei before Fight went back to her mouth, and she knew she wasn't going anywhere soon. That was her last thought as her brain crashed, again…

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A little later, a warmer, slightly wetter, slightly sleepier Fei, followed by a serene Fight, carefully checked the patterns of the stone walls, looking for a discontinuity in the pattern of rocks.

Pausing, Fei focused on a specific part in front of her, narrowing her eyes. After a few minutes, after she realized she was about to fall asleep, she sighed and decided 'what the heck'. Pulling out her sword, she was just about to slash the line she saw when Fight said, "Pardon, Mistress, but your sword won't be enough to cut Loop. We will need Lord Potter and Sword to do so."

She tried to glare at the sprite, but decided she was too tired. "Heh, fine. You call him."

Fight nodded, and raised her voice. "LORD POTTER, WE HAVE FOUND THE DISCONTINUITY!"

They waited, and Fei made sure to keep her sword between her and the sprite, just in case she tried anything. The Fight Card only smiled serenely, causing Fei to blush.

After a while, a slightly flushed Potter approached from the direction they were going. "What?" he said, and Fei raised an eyebrow. He sounded… snappish.

Fei pointed. "There it is. Care to cut and Seal it?"

Glaring at her, Potter, pulled out a Card from his robes. "SWORD CARD!" he yelled, and his Sealing Wand transformed into a sword, the same sword that had possessed Fei only a few nights ago. With one slash, Potter cut the Loop, and the view around them shimmered slightly. Thankfully, or perhaps not, they were all standing at the same side of The Loop, so neither of them suddenly disappeared.

Potter deactivated The Sword Card and raised his Sealing Wand. "LOOP CARD!"

A light show that made Fei want to close her eyes and fall asleep later, a Card drifted down from the end of Potter's Wand and knocked against Fei's head, only to be caught by Fight. That jarred her awake.

"Oh, right," Fei said, taking the Card. Since she had been the one to get the idea of how to find the Loop, she was the one- technically- who defeated it. That meant it was hers.

"Congratulations," Potter said sarcastically, and she smiled as she realized she'd gotten under his skin. "But don't celebrate yet. We're still trapped in here remember?"

She smiled. She'd been considering that very problem, and she finally remembered a little something about how to deal with this situation. "Relax, Potter," she said, as she slipped The Loop Card into her robes. "I know how to get out of here…"

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- To be continued...

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A/N: Cheap and short, I know, but MAN, it's been a while since I did that!

Somehow, I'm seeing Fight as Fei's sidekick. The Chachamaru to her Evangeline. I don't know why…

The 'Art of the Never-Ending Place' comes from volume five of Negima.

Please review, C&C welcome…uh, I can't seem to think of anything snappy to say about flames…

By the way, what does 'tsubasa' mean?

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.