CHAPTER TWO
Li walked along the hallways of his childhood home and stopped to look at some of the pictures that were hanging on the wall. He saw his sisters standing around a younger version of himself with an overzealous Meiling clinging to his side. Pictures of old relatives unknown to the boy made him think for a moment.
"Wow..." He said aloud. "Old people are boring."
"Hi, Li!" A familiar voice called, startling the boy.
"Meiling! Damn it, girl! What the hell's wrong with you!?"
The young girl giggled for moment. "Sorry. I know how much you hate that."
"Where's mother? Have you seen her?"
"I think I saw her in the temple."
"Which one? We only have like about a billion of 'em." The boy sarcastically said.
Out in the courtyard, Li's mother stood in front of a shrine and lighted candles on the display stand. As the wind blew and the moon shined, she could feel something in the air that was unsettling. Her son's oncoming presence, however, helped her to believe that all hope wouldn't be lost.
"Mother?" The boy started.
"Yes, my son?" She asked.
"I'm leaving tomorrow morning."
"Yes. I know." She finished lighting the last candle then faced her only son. "Back to Tomoeda."
Li nodded. "Back to Sakura."
"Is there something else you wanted to say?"
Li paused for a moment and really thought about it. "Actually..." He paused again. What he was about to tell her may shock not only the family but himself as well.
"Yes, my son. What is it?" The woman was now concerned.
"I want to marry Sakura." He said in a whisper.
"What?"
"I want to marry Sakura." He said again in a slightly louder tone.
"I can't hear you."
"I want to marry Sakura!"
"Wait, hold on..." The woman then removed two earplugs from her lobes and placed them in her pockets. "Damn ear infection... I'm sorry, what were you trying to say?"
Li took a deep breath and repeated himself. "I want to marry Sakura."
Yelan gave the boy a deep stare for a few seconds then smiled. She walked down the steps of the shrine and wrapped her son in a hug. "I can see no other for you to spend the rest of your life with."
"Me neither." He smiled back.
"When are you going to tell her?"
"When I return tomorrow."
"I suppose I shouldn't arrange anything until her father is well aware of the situation."
He nodded. "I just don't know how her brother's going to react!"
Just then, the wind picked up speed and alarmed the two. Yelan could then feel the uneasiness surrounding her once again.
"What's wrong?" Li asked his mother, noticing her awkward glances around the area.
¬¬¬¬¬ TOMOEDA ¬¬¬¬¬
At the dinner table, Fujitaka brought up the subject of his old friend and his request of the young girl. Confused, Sakura leaned back on her chair and thought about it.
"Me?" She asked. "But why?"
"Well, you are the official superhero of this town. It might be good to let the people know the real Sakura Kinomoto." Her father answered.
"Why bother?" Touya butted in. "All they need to know is what they print in the tabloids!" He then tossed a faulty tabloid magazine with Sakura's picture on the front. Sakura then picked up the magazine and flipped through a few pages, disgusted by what she read.
"What!? I do not sleep with a hockey mask and chainsaw!" Furious, Sakura's magic accidentally tapped into the Fire card and caused the magazine to burst into flames.
"Hey! Do I smell something burning!?" Kero called out as he flew into the dining room, startling Fujitaka. "Whoa! Sorry there, pops! I didn't mean to scare you!"
"That's... that's okay, Kero." The man said as he caught his breath. "I'm still getting used to seeing a flying, talking doll that's really a fire breathing lion in disguise."
As the fire died out, Sakura sighed and put her hands over her face. "Oh, I wish Li would come home sooner."
A knock on the door sent Kero flying right back up the stairs and into Sakura's room. "Save me some pudding!" He called out.
"I'll answer it." Sakura volunteered as she got up from the table. Upon answering the door, she was surprised to see a familiar face smiling back at her. "Eriol!"
"Hello, Sakura." He said as they gave each other a hug. "It's good to see you again."
"You too." She then stepped outside and shut the door behind her. "What's going on? More end-of-the-world business?" She jokingly asked.
"Sorry, Sakura. Not this time, I'm afraid." He joked along. "No, I just wanted to say hello to my new neighbor is all."
"New neighbor?"
Eriol then pointed across the street to a two-story house with a sign on the lawn that read: SOLD. Sakura gasped and hugged her friend again.
"You're staying for good this time!?" She smiled.
"Yes." He chuckled.
"Does this have anything to do with... y'know. That thing we've been talking about these past few months?"
Eriol nodded. "Yes, it does. I'm no longer going to live in fear. After all. She's just a girl."
"Yeah, that's what you said about me and look what happened! I kicked your ass and broke your spell!" She nudged the boy and giggled. "Didn't I?"
He nodded and chuckled some more. "Yes, I suppose you're right."
"So is it just you or..."
"Nakuru, Spinel, Kaho. They'll all be here."
A distant boom interrupted the conversation for a moment as the two looked up at the night sky. They couldn't see anything unusual or sense any disturbance so they just shrugged it off and continued.
"I wonder what that was..." The blue-eyed boy scratched his head. "Anyway, I should get going."
"Okay. Stop by tomorrow after school and we'll talk some more."
"Okay. Good night, Sakura."
"Good night." Sakura waved goodbye to her friend and went back inside the house. She then ran upstairs to her room to tell Kero the good news.
¬¬¬¬¬
Elsewhere in the city, the mysterious blue-flamed rider rode its skeletal horse above the tall buildings and looked down on the busy streets. The creature growled as it rushed to the surface, zooming past onlookers and leaving behind small traces of blue fire.
Amongst the crowds of people, some of which were fleeing from the creature, was Yukito. The young man had just come out of a restaurant when he noticed the panic on the streets.
"Oh, God. Don't tell me. Trouble." He said to himself as he looked up and noticed the rider. "Uh-huh. I was right."
In an instant, the young man transformed into his alter-ego and chased after the flying menace. The ancient warrior noticed the winged angel coming towards him and unleashed his mighty sword.
"A Demon Knight?" A surprised Yue asked as he dodged the creature's swinging blade.
In an attempt to lure the specter away from the public, Yue unleashed a set of magic shards towards him and provoked a chase through the darker parts of the city. The trick seemed to work as the rider galloped after the moon guardian, following him through every turn of every building available.
Yue flapped his wings at a rapid pace, desperate to prevent any innocent bystanders from getting hurt. The guardian then made a sharp turn past an office building and swung underneath the towering tracks of the railway system with his opponent in hot pursuit.
The demon then managed to catch up to Yue and immediately grabbed him by the wings, hurling him against a nearby building. The wings crashing against the brick wall managed to cushion the impact for Yue but still left him in a bit of a daze. The rider then approached the guardian, stopping his horse in midair.
"How... How did you escape?" Yue demanded to know.
"Foolish humans." He responded in that same raspy voice. "They should know better to leave things alone." The demon raised its sword once again and charged for Yue but the guardian proved to be too fast for him.
Yue grabbed the warrior by the neck and hurled him across another building, crashing through glass and brick. Luckily the building was empty and there was no one to get in the way of the two's magic attacks. Yue picked up the weary fighter and noticed the blue flames starting to blaze out of control.
"This isn't the end, Yue. I will find them all." The demon's voice crackled as it vanished from Yue's grasp, leaving behind a small clump of soot all over his hand
"They have returned." Yue said to himself as he noticed the police arriving amongst the crowd. The guardian transformed back into his borrowed form and hurried on home to warn Sakura.
"Excuse me." Yuki said as he ran past the night janitor, almost bumping into him.
The custodian flipped on the light in the room and noticed the huge mess of rocks, broken glass and various office supplies scattered across the room.
The man readied his broom and dustpan and shook his head. "Man, ain't this a bitch!?"