Chapter 17.- Soulmates.
Sakura and Shaoran turned to face the speaker, quite surprised by the sudden outburst, it was one of the elders, the second in importance.
"How can a foolish little girl be more powerful than my Seika?" The man asked. "Than the Shin Clan's Heiress. It is just impossible."
"Stop this grandfather." Seika said seriously. "She won fair and square, it is obvious she's way more powerful than me."
"You deceive me Seika, giving up so easily." The man said bitterly. "You aren't worthy of our clan anymore."
And to everyone's surprise he shot a beam of energy, right at his own granddaughter!
"Iie!" Sakura cried out.
She moved faster than even the energy, positioning herself between Seika and the attack, receiving it full-force.
"No!" Seika was in shock.
"Sakura!" The English wizards cried out in panic.
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo and Naoko were in panic.
Shaoran and Eriol remained silent.
There was a great question in many minds of those present at the moment: Why had the bride protected her challenger from the Elder's attack?
There was a sudden change in the air around them and the dust cleared almost immediately. In front of Seika there was standing Sakura, her hands extended to the front; and to everyone's shock, she was holding in them the attack the elder had thrown!
"How…" The Elder was in shock.
"Your granddaughter accepted her defeat with courage." Sakura declared seriously. "You say she has deceived you, that she isn't worthy of being a part of your clan anymore. The only one unworthy of anything in this room is you! Attacking your own family, your own blood is the most heartless thing anyone can do. You have no honor."
And before everyone's wide eyes she closed her hands around the beam of energy, dissolving the attack as if it were nothing but dust.
"Impossible…" The Elder was in shock. "You…you…"
Fearing he might try to attack again Shaoran immediately went to stand right next to his fiancée, ready to protect her.
And he wasn't the only one. In a second Tomoyo, Eriol, Naoko, Draco, Harry and Hermione were gone from their places and standing in the fighting arena, standing in a circle around Seika, Sakura and Shaoran, all their senses on high alert, ready to fight.
Those present were quite surprised at seeing this, it was almost as if those six teens were in formation ready to fight and protect those in the middle of their circle.
And indeed, the sorcerers, sprite and half-sorcerers were quite ready to fight the moment anyone tried to attack any of them.
"Li Xiao Lang." The Leader of the Elders called seriously. "I understand you may feel that your betrothed's life has been threatened, but I would still like an explanation for the other teens' attitude."
"We're merely here to make sure no one will try to attack Sakura-chan or Seika-san again, sire." Tomoyo said respectfully, but never lowering her guard.
"I suppose all of you have magic, even though it's obvious not all of you are sorcerers." The First Elder said.
"That's right." Eriol nodded. "I am Hiiragizawa Eriol, a Sorcerer."
"Daidouji Tomoyo, Enchantress."
"Yanagisawa Naoko, a Sprite."
The other three decided to follow their lead to introduce themselves:
"Malfoy Draco, wizard and half-sorcerer."
"Granger Hermione Jane, witch and half-sorceress."
"Potter Harry James, wizard and half-sorcerer."
"A very mixed and strange company." The First Elder commented. "I would like to know who you really are Mistress Li Ying Fa. The powers you have demonstrated today have surprised most if not all of those present; yet when we first saw you the level of your aura was much lower than it is now, and I suspect you are still holding yourself, is that true?"
"It is, sire." Sakura nodded.
This surprised everyone.
"Tell us, Li Ying Fa, who are you?" The First Elder insisted.
Sakura doubted, how would the things change once they knew all the truth about her?
"Tell them, Sakura dear." A low voice ordered.
They al turned to see Yelan, she was sitting on a wheelchair, still very weak, her daughters taking care of her every moment. She shouldn't be there, but she had insisted on being there, she had wanted to see Sakura's fights.
"You know who she is Yelan-sama?" One of the other elders asked.
"Of course I know." Yelan replied in a low yet serious tone. "You don't suppose Xiao Lang would have gotten engaged to a woman without me knowing exactly who she is, do you?"
The Elders and other members of the Eastern Council had to admit what she said made sense, a lot of sense in fact.
Sakura turned to look at Shaoran, still a bit doubtful, Shaoran just nodded.
"It is time." He whispered to her.
"Here." Tomoyo brought out a folded cloth. "I just finished it two days ago."
Sakura seemed to know what it was because she nodded.
Tomoyo stepped right behind Sakura and clasped the piece of cloth around the green-eyed sorceress's neck, then she stepped back.
Sakura gave several steps forward, coming out of the circle formed by her friends and extended her left hand, now holding her star-key. The piece of cloth, a cape, seemed to unroll at the same time she transformed her key into her staff:
"Oh key that holds the power of my star, show your true power to Sakura, who has accepted this mission with you. Release!" Sakura recited.
Instantly her magic seal appeared at her feet, and even though it vanished once she held her Star-staff, all of those present could still see it, because it was sewn with golden thread into the soft-pink cape Sakura was now wearing over her ceremonial clothes; also, at the moment her staff appeared her aura finally flared freely.
"Though I have been given the name of Li Ying Fa, my true name is Kinomoto Sakura." She declared seriously. "Belonging to no magic clan I still have magic, I am a Sorceress by my own merit. Using the power of what most know as the Star Cards, though their real name is the Sakura Cards." She brought them out. "You may recognize them easier if I tell you they were once known as the Clow Cards."
This made many of them gasp.
"I am the Card Mistress." Sakura declared seriously.
And as if she had given some silent order, right then all of the cards flew from her hand and began floating around her.
"The Card Mistress…" Some murmurs began.
"You're the Card Mistress?" The First Elder asked, though it was in fact a rhetorical question, she had said so herself.
"That I am." Sakura nodded moving her staff lightly. "You've seen me, my seal, my staff, my cards, it's obvious you've felt my aura. You need more proof?"
"Of course not." The First Elder said.
"But then if you're the Card Mistress that would mean you are…" Another of the elders didn't even dare finish his sentence.
"She's one of the Supreme Sorcerers, the leader in fact." Eriol said.
At that moment the rest broke their previous formation. Harry, Hermione, Draco and Naoko remained behind while the other three stepped in front; Shaoran to Sakura's right, Tomoyo and Eriol to her left.
Shaoran just took hold of his talisman, concentrated and his sword appeared (the talisman tied around its handle). As he was already wearing his ceremonial clothes there was no real change in him.
"Key with the power of the darkness, show your true power to Eriol, who has done a pact with you. Release!" Eriol recited getting a hold of his pendant.
A shadow seemed to envelope him and when he emerged he was dressed in his dark-blue robes and holding his sun-moon staff.
"I summon the infinite power, to blossom like this Crystal flower. Release!" Tomoyo recited as she brought out her key.
A soft mist enveloped Tomoyo and when it cleared she was wearing a long dark-purple dress, with long triangular sleeves and with a semi-transparent light-purple open skirt on top, in her hand laid the crystal-flower staff.
"We are Supreme Sorcerers too." Tomoyo said in a singsong voice.
The Elders seemed to notice perfectly well who they were, but their shock was too great for them to say it, so Naoko decided to do the honor.
"The Reincarnation of Clow Reed." She began doing a short bow to Eriol. "An Enchantress." She did the same with Tomoyo. "The Master of the Elements." She repeated the motion to Shaoran. "And of course the Card Mistress." She repeated it once more. "Here before you stand four of the Legendary Supreme Sorcerers, shall all of you honor them and respect them as what they are, the most powerful Magical Users of the whole universe."
She needed to say no more. That was enough. Practically all of those present immediately dropped to their knees and did a deep bow, their foreheads touching the ground.
Naoko and the other three didn't kneel down, though they did bow to the sorcerers.
Sakura and Tomoyo were quite flushed at all the attention they were getting but knew they had to remain impassive; they had finally revealed to the Eastern Magical Society who they were, and they had to act their part.
Shaoran and Eriol didn't say a thing, they had already known for some time something like that would happen when they finally revealed themselves, though they had expected that the Fifth would be with them by then.
What they didn't know was that the Fifth was there at the moment, standing behind a statue, watching everything in silence, an unreadable expression in the face until after shaking the head the last Supreme Sorcerer just turned around and left.
.---.
Dream
She was once again standing in the middle a beautiful garden, under a moonless night-sky, the glow of the stars reflecting beautifully in the different flowers, mainly the roses that were in full bloom at top of a nearby hill.
And just like the previous time she noticed she wasn't alone, there was once again that same woman standing between the roses; she wore a long and elegant light-purple dress, her long dark hair cascading down her back and almost reaching the ground; and it was that hair that shadowed every faction in her face and made it impossible for anyone to see the true color of her eyes.
"Tsubame-san…" Tomoyo whispered as she went up the flowered-hill.
"Tomoyo …" The other woman whispered to her. "You haven't yet talked to Eriol about your feelings…"
"I know…" Tomoyo lowered her head ashamed. "It's just that I don't seem to be able to find the right time. First with all the classes, and the constant fights against Voldemort and his minions, then Yelan-san sick, and Sakura-chan is getting married and…"
"And you're driving yourself crazy." Tsubame finished for her. "Tomoyo, you're so selfless you're hurting yourself. If you continue putting others before you, waiting for the 'right time' to follow your own dreams that time will never come and you'll stay all alone."
"Then maybe it was my destiny to be alone."
"That's what I need to make you understand. Your destiny doesn't lay in loneliness but so much more, it is out there, waiting for you to take that step and reach it." Tsubame sighed. "But it won't wait forever, nothing waits for us forever. You must make up your mind now and decide whether you'll continue sitting back, watching the life pass by or you'll finally give that decisive step and become a part of life yourself. It's all up to you."
"What if Eriol doesn't feel the same?"
"Oh Tomoyo…you have never doubted your love before. Not when he left for England and you had to remain in Japan, not when you believed him to be a great sorcerer while you were a simple girl, not when he was a teacher and you his student, not even when he pushed you away believing it to be the best for you."
"I don't know what to do anymore Tsubame-san. Even when it pains be to be apart from him, what if I'm the only one who wants to go back?"
"That's not true and even you know it Tomoyo. That's not really what you're afraid of."
"It seems you know me even more than myself Tsubame-san. That's right, I fear that even if we find a way to get back together something else will come break us apart. It's hard enough for me to go on right now even having the hope of returning to his arms; I don't think I would be able to endure another separation if such a thing were to happen."
"But if you fight for your love, if you both fight side by side nothing shall be able to pull you apart. You are right when you say I know you well Tomoyo, and that is because we're more alike than you may imagine."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll understand in due time. Right now you must open your eyes and jump, take the chance destiny has given you to return to your beloved's arm. I promise you once he catches you he'll never let you fall again."
"Oh Tsubame-san, how can you be so sure?" Tomoyo sighed. "How can you be so sure he really loves me that much?"
"You know it Tomoyo, you're just not seeing it, but you soon will. After all, that's how things work when soulmates are involved…"
"Nani…?" Tomoyo seemed to react at the last part, she extended her hand and tried to reach the already vanishing enchantress. "Soul…"
End of Dream
"…mates." Even as Tomoyo woke up she finished speaking, and she finished the motion she had begun in dreams.
For some reason Tomoyo didn't seem to notice she had been moving the entire time she dreamt, except she hadn't climbed up the flowered hill but stairs to the top of a tower in the Li Manor; and as she gave that last step trying to reach an Enchantress that was no longer there her foot touched nothing but air. Too late she noticed, she was already falling, with no way of stopping herself.
.---.
Eriol couldn't sleep, no matter how hard he tried it just seemed to be impossible. And so he decided to take a night-stroll through the beautiful gardens of the Li Estate. He was doing such until he reached a part very close to the highest tower. For some reason he couldn't understand he turned to the sky right then, but what called his attention wasn't the sky but the figure falling from the tower.
'Tomoyo-chan!' Eriol's mind cried out as he identified the person's aura.
He didn't think about it, he just ran as fast as he could toward the tower, in the last moment he jumped as high as he could, catching Tomoyo in his arms and then using magic to soften his return to the ground, so as not to hurt her in any way.
"Tomoyo-chan, Daijoubu?" Eriol asked.
Tomoyo's eyes fluttered open slowly, her lavender orbs locking with the deep-blue of the Sorcerer holding her, and when watching closely he could see the deep concern reflected in them, and when relaxing a bit more she could also feel the strength with which he was holding her in his arms.
"Eriol…-kun…" Tomoyo managed to whisper his name.
But before a single word more left her lips the weight of everything that had just happened took its toll on her and she fainted in Eriol's arms.
.---.
When Tomoyo recovered conscious the first thing she noticed was she wasn't on the ground, nor in the gardens, but she was laying on a bed, in fact it wasn't any bed but her own bed, she was back in her bedroom in the Li Manor. And to add to her surprise, she noticed someone was holding her hand tightly.
'What happened?' Tomoyo wondered.
And the moment she opened her eyes and turned around to see Eriol sitting in the bed next to her holding her hand it all came back to her: the dream, her conversation with Tsubame, the sudden realization she had walked in her sleep, how she had fallen from the tower…fallen, no, she had practically thrown herself. The realization that she had been about to die, about to kill herself was too hard for her to bear. She began crying.
It was until he heard Tomoyo's sobs that Eriol noticed she was finally awake; he hadn't noticed before with his eyes turned to the window and debating to himself what could have happened that lead Tomoyo to the situation in which he found her.
"Tomoyo-chan?" Eriol asked sitting on the bed, right next to her. "Doushitano?"
"Just hold me." Tomoyo whispered between sobs.
"Nani?" Eriol seemed quite confused at her sudden request.
"Just hold me, onegai…" Tomoyo murmured embracing him right then. "Hold me and never let me go."
Eriol didn't say anything anymore, he just held her tight, close to him, just like she asked, just like he had wished to do for so long, ever since he had given up on her, believing it would be the best for them, for her… But now he wasn't so sure.
They remained like that for what seemed like hours, though in reality they were but a few minutes; minutes in which the enchantress and the sorcerer felt closer than they had ever felt before in their entire lives.
Finally Eriol noticed Tomoyo seemed to be able to calm down, at least enough to stop crying and breathe normally.
"Tomoyo-chan." Eriol said seriously. "Listen to me, I need you to tell me exactly what happened before I found you. You almost died; and I want to know exactly who did it. Who pushed you off that tower?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you…" Tomoyo told him softly.
"Tomoyo-chan, onegai, tell me." He insisted. "Shinjite iru yo (I believe you)."
"It was Tsubame-san…" Tomoyo finally answered.
The silence that followed that answer was so thick anyone could feel it.
"But Tsubame-san, she is…" Eriol didn't know how to put it, just the mere mention of that name already had a great weight on his soul.
"Dead, I know." Tomoyo nodded. "But I know it was her. I've dreamed her several times. And the last two I got to talk to her."
"Talk?" Eriol asked, confused. "About what?"
"Mesu (her)…Watashi…Anata…"
"I?"
"Hai."
"Demo…You mean Tsubame-san tried to kill you?"
"Iie. She just gave a little push to do what I had wanted to do for so long but didn't dare."
"I'm afraid I don't understand."
And Tomoyo didn't explain her, instead, she showed him. She held Eriol by the back of his neck and pulled him to her, capturing his lips with her in a tender yet passionate kiss, pouring all the emotions she had kept locked inside of her for more than a month: the pain, the doubt, the fear, all overpowered by the strongest emotion ever known: the love.
Eriol, even when he was deeply astonished at the beginning, couldn't ignore his own emotions for too long, in the end he answered the kiss with just as much emotion as she had used.
They kissed for a very long time, until they had to break up just so they could breathe once more; but even then they didn't let go from each other.
"Tomoyo-chan…Watashi…" Eriol didn't know what to say.
"Don't worry Eriol-kun." Tomoyo shushed sweetly. "I know it all. I know why you did what you did."
"Nani?" Eriol was confused.
"I told you I had talked to Tsubame-san." She reminded him. "She told me about her, about how she was killed protecting you."
Eriol lowered his eyes at the memory, even after so long it still pained him to remember what had happened that day.
"She told me just how much she loved Clow…" Tomoyo continued. "And that made me understand why you dumped me. You felt like you were betraying Tsubame-san's memory by being with me."
"And you just confirmed it to me Tomoyo-chan." Eriol interrupted her.
"Iie, in fact I did exactly the opposite." Tomoyo said as a matter of fact. "She was very specific to me about this. She loves Clow…not Hiiragizawa Eriol but Reed Clow."
"You mean…"
"She explained to me that it's something that happens sometimes with reincarnations. Even if the one who has reincarnated needs to call upon the powers of the previous life, it doesn't mean they have to do everything the same way they did on the previous life. They don't have to live the same way, and especially, they don't have to fall in love with the same people. I may have been married to another man in a previous life, but that doesn't mean that I have to be with him again, the same applies to you. You are Hiiragizawa Eriol, you live that life, even when you use Clow's power, you live your life, not his."
Eriol was still confused at everything, but that changed to surprise with had happened right then. It was as if, just for a second, Tsubame had taken Tomoyo's place. She looked like Tomoyo, she even felt like Tomoyo, except for that special tinge in her aura Eriol knew perfectly well could only belong to one woman: Rose Tsubame.
"Tsubame-dono…" Eriol couldn't help but call her the same way his past life used to, centuries ago.
"Hello, Eriol." Tsubame smiled at him.
"What happened to Tomoyo-chan?" Eriol asked.
"Don't worry, she's fine." Tsubame assured him. "I just took over her body for a moment. I know Tomoyo has already explained you what I talked to her, and I could notice you still don't fully believe what she said."
"I would never believe her a liar."
"I never said that. You don't doubt her Eriol, you doubt yourself, and that's even worse, you know?" she sighed. "If you continue doubting, you'll end up pushing her away, and you'll be all alone."
"At least that way she'll be safe. She won't be killed protecting me, the way it happened to you that day."
"The problem Eriol, as I see it, is that you insist in carrying blames that don't belong to you."
"Even with what you said to Tomoyo, I still feel like Clow, I believe that I'm still Clow, in a way or another."
"Even then, it wasn't Clow's fault either. What happened to me that night, it was just meant to be. Whether you may believe it or not, I was meant to die that night, just like my sister. We were meant to die so we could teach a lesson to future generations, so everyone would know how dangerous the kind of power we possessed is. Magic isn't something to be taken lightly, you know it as well as I and my sister. But back then, most families didn't have that care, that respect for the magic they themselves possessed. But it all changed after Midori and I died. Our tragedy seemed to make them understand what could happen to them is they weren't careful. Our story made them understand just how dangerous things could become if someone with great powers wasn't well instructed."
"You mean to tell me you died so others could change their way of living?"
"I mean to say that Midori and I didn't die in vain. I know how much you suffered with my death, I suffered just as much with the fact of losing you; but we have to get over that Eriol, we have to go on. We can't change the past, but you can correct the present, you can make a better future, for yourself and the one you love."
"Tsubame…"
"Good luck Eriol. And please remember, I loved Clow, and we both know he loved me; just like you now love Tomoyo and she loves you. Don't lose m…her again. I know you're meant to be together."
"You sound so sure…"
"I am. I know how to identify soulmates when I see them."
"Soul…"
"Farewell Eriol…"
And before he could make her any questions, her essence seemed to leave Tomoyo's body, and the real Tomoyo emerged once more.
"Eriol-kun?" She asked when seeing Eriol all spaced out. "Daijoubu?"
"Daijoubu ka, Tomoyo-chan." Eriol finally turned to look at her. "It's all just fine."
He embraced her tightly again and gave her a quick kiss.
"Eriol…" Tomoyo was at a loss of words by his sudden actions.
"Onegai, forgive me for all the things I told you before." Eriol told her, holding her hands tightly. "I was a fool for believing things would be better with each of us going on their own, but I was wrong. I can't live without you."
"Oh, Eriol-kun." Tomoyo was about to cry once more. "Aishiteru yo, itsumo (forever)."
"Watashimomata aishiteru." Eriol replied. "To death, and afterwards…"
And with that promise made, they kissed once more, expressing all their feelings, all their care, all their love.
And without them knowing two ethereal figures floated right outside the bedroom window, holding hands, the clear picture of lovers; one a tall man with dark hair dressed in a dark-blue tunic and wearing a big hat; the other a beautiful woman with long waving hair and an elegant purple dress.
True love…
True Soulmates…
Yes! The Elders finally know who Sakura truly is, and she'll be marrying Shaoran soon! (Next chapter to be more precise). And, now that we're in that topic, do you want me to really go into their wedding, or just the important part? To be honest with you all the wedding is not really relevenat to the story, what is relevant is what will be happening once they're married.
And Eriol and Tomoyo are back together! I couldn't leave them apart, it pained me too much. And also I think I've given more clues than enough for you to understand what one of the important points will be in this story (Besides kicking Voldemosrt's$$ once and for all). I'm still thinking about revealing the first Rose in one of the upcoming chapters. Give me your opinion about that too.
And so, leave reviews, the more reviews I receive, the sooner I will update.
P.S. One last thing, are any of those around here a Yu Yu Hakusho fan? It's just that I recently began publishinga fic of that ánime called Youkai Love and thus far no one (and I mean really no one) has reviewed it. And that makes me so sad... So, if any of you're interested please visit my profile page, alright?
Well, that's all, see you next update.
