Ruby Moon: HEY! WE'RE BAAAAACK!
Nakuru: The lovable guardians are here!
Suppi: Still don't know why we have to do this…
Aimee: Well, do you want to go back to Eriol's birthday party?
Kero: With all the yummy sweets! Of course!
Nakuru: *bonks Kero on the head* Baka, we have to do this first!
Kero: I knew that! I'm pointing out that I'm giving up sweets to do this favor.
Aimee: Oh, don't make it sound like you're doing this for me.
Yukito: *sweat drops* It seems like everybody wants to go back to the party.
Nakuru: To Touya-kun!
Yue: To escape confinement.
Ruby Moon: Lighten up, Yue! You're a disgrace to us fun-loving guardians!
Yue: And you're a disgrace to the guardians of the moon.
Aimee: *sweat drop* Okay, I've had enough. Spinel?
Suppi: And we're back on track with the main story. Chapter Nine of The Magic of the Present.
Kero: Aimee changed the title, see.
Nakuru: Here, we return with Cho, where Harry meets his twin- Eli, Cho's brother!
Ruby Moon: And the couple Chelsea and Zachary come back!
Yukito: Some things are revealed about the Cho's past.
Yue: And two unidentified girls reveal their part of the story.
Aimee: Also, three women are sent to meet Eriol!
Suppi: Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Delusions of Meetings and Memories
Ginny Weasley woke up to find that it was already half past nine. 'Well, I shouldn't be surprised, after everything that happened yesterday.' As she got up and changed her clothes, Ginny heard a doorbell ring. 'That sounds so familiar' she thought, forgetting that Hogwarts had no need for doorbells.
~~~~~~(-_-" the author sweatdrops, oh well)
"People should be up by now!" Eli said, irritated. "I can't believe that Cho has to wait for a six hour train ride just to get to school!"
Zach stayed quiet, deciding not to say that it actually took two hours; Eli just slept through the first time they reached the school. Eli was feeling considerably better, now that he regained his magic back. The first thing he had done was frown at the barrier -with *his* stolen magic, meaning he was back to his old mischievous self, albeit still worried for his younger sister.
"Kaho said Ginny stayed back for the break," Chelsea spoke up. "Ring a doorbell or something, Ginny will answer it."
Eli turned to the front doors, and saw that there was no doorbell. 'Well, might as well make do' he thought as he conjured up a doorbell similar to Kaho's old one.
Zachary finally spoke. "You know with doorbells, in the Middle Ages-"
A loud sigh was sound from his wife, with her fist poised, "When will you ever learn NEVER to tell lies?!"
Eli smirked and snapped his fingers. Even if he couldn't hear the doorbell, he knew that it was ringing on, and on, and on, and on, and on…
~
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley walked out of the room Jade was still, *still* sleeping in. Harry tuned out everything else as he headed toward the room for Cho. Then he stopped and nudged his friend.
There was light metallic violet-blue barrier {aren't we all tired of barriers by now?!} surrounding the room. Harry recognized the same colors that he had seen when Cho had done something to the barrier around Hogwarts…
*sigh* 'It's gonna be another long day…' They thought as they reached for the doorknob…
~
"Coming!" Ginny shrieked, as she reached the front doors. The doorbell ring kept ringing persistently, and it was getting annoying by now. Hand on the door; Ginny recognized the familiarity of the ring. 'It's the same doorbell that Kaho's house had!' The ring was more persistent now, and with an annoyed look, Ginny threw the doors open and the sound ceased.
She came face to face to that smile of Cho's brother, and Ginny said dryly, "I see that you're not interested at all to see Cho, ne?" Then she was grabbed into a hug.
"Ginny!" a woman's voice squealed, and with shock Ginny realized that Chelsea was hugging her.
"Why am I the only one you're abusive with?" Zach said, feigning unhappiness, as Ginny turned and stared at him. Unnoticed, Eli fell into a daze as he saw a vision, or maybe it was his past since he'd seen it happened before.
Nevertheless, he needed to get to Cho as soon as possible. Sharply, Eli said to Ginny, "Where's Cho's room?"
Ginny understood him, and ran to the direction of Ron and Harry, the others following her.
~
The barrier flickered dangerously as the doorknob was turned and Harry heard a distinct "Don't touch it!" but it was too late.
Harry and Ron were thrown backwards and they closed their eyes for the impact of their fall to come… but it never came. A voice chuckled and said, "You can open your eyes now."
The first thing they saw was a pair of dark mauve eyes, and Ron yelped, "The hell, it's you again!"
The boy stood, smirking. "This is the kind of greeting I get from stopping your fall? Ah, Cho always said it would be mistake if I ever did helped anyone."
"Come off it, Eli," an older woman said with brown hair, rolling her eyes and lending a hand to Ron to help him up.
"Hey, it's you, Harry Potter! How's life now? The last time I saw you was on the kitchen roof, I think," a man joked, pulling a shocked Harry up.
"Who are you?" Ron asked suspiciously to the boy who looked like Harry.
"He's Cho's brother," Ginny spoke up. "Eli Chang."
Eli grinned at the boys' open-mouth expressions.
"But- but- but you and Cho don't even look alike!" Ron sputtered.
"Yeah, I've always wondered that too…" Zachary said, running his hand through his hair, grinning.
"Well, answer me this, how does Harry look like Jade when they're not even related?" Eli said with a raised eyebrow.
Harry and Ron stared at him with silence. Ginny timidly said, "Eli, they thought Jade was Harry's sister."
Eli frowned as Ron's gaze shifted to his sister. "You mean Cho just let them assume? 'Not *again* Cho…' Eli thought, annoyed.
"Are you Zachary and Chelsea Tereda?" Harry asked the last two.
"Alive and in the flesh!" Chelsea smiled.
Still shocked Ron looked at Harry, then the married couple. "Wasn't Tereda the ones that were killed…?"
Chelsea snorted in a very un-lady like way and muttered, "Honestly, you'd think it's getting old, how many times have I heard that already?"
"Chelsea," Eli grinned, "It's not everyday we see the dead 'alive and in the flesh' as you put it… how exactly did you pull it off?"
"Speaking about the dead, did you know that fairies called "death-fairies" {I was tempted to put death-eater fairies} Zach started.
Chelsea shook her head, and said, "It's gonna be a long marriage," and smiled.
"Ahem!" Ginny cleared her throat. "Eli, what exactly is this?" she looked pointedly at the dark blue barrier.
Eli, Chelsea's, and Zachary's smiles vanished. Eli, with a deep frown, asked his cousins, "Do you remember the last time…?"
They nodded, and Zach said, "If we can see it, does that mean it's really strong?"
Eli sighed and said, "Unfortunately, yes."
"Eli, could you explain here?" Ginny said impatiently.
With a grim smile, Eli said, "This is the second time that it's happened." He conjured up a small mirror, enlarged it, and a scene was pictured.
\\The Mirror Scene~
A door labeled with Chinese characters was shown and a little girl with brown hair came into view, carrying a tray. A boy with black hair the same age followed her. They were both twelve at the time.
"Did you know that in the Middle East, there would be elephants as big as this house, Chelsea? And that it can carry as much as a thousand-" young Zach said.
Chelsea rolled her eyes and shifted the tray to her left so that she could open the door. "Sure, Zach, sure." Her face was turned to Zach, so she didn't see that as soon as she touched the door a blue wall appeared. She turned the knob and then- bam! she was thrown back into Zach, and the force of her made Zach fall. The tray of food was spilled over her front.
A woman with dark brown hair helped them up. "Chelsea and Zach, are you two okay? I'm sorry, I should have told you about Cho, it must've slipped my mind."
Chelsea wiped the food off her arms. "Yuck."
"Talk about heavy," Zach grinned to Chelsea. Scowling, Chelsea wiped the food into his hair.
"Aunt Naoko, what just happened? I was just going to give Cho some food and I opened the door and boom!" Chelsea said.
A man with black hair answered. "Cho's locked herself in with her magic, preventing anyone to come in. If you try, it'll just push you away."
"Magic." Chelsea scrunched up her nose. "But why did Cho do that?"
Naoko looked at the door sadly. "She just wants to be alone for now."
The man looked at the door too. "She's been in there and ignoring her lessons. It's not the end of the world."
"Tzao, she's only a child! She needs time to understand and overcome this. Just leave her alone. Not everyone has their loved ones taken away from them," Naoko said angrily as she stood up. Chelsea and Zachary exchanged glances and silently left the scene.
Tzao just sighed and hugged his wife. "I'm not angry; just frustrated. There's nothing we can do and we've waited for a child so long…"
Naoko buried her head in his chest. "Have you tried to break in?"
Tzao kissed her forehead. "Surprisingly, it still holds. She's using sorceries I haven't mastered."
"The worst part is that we can't ask for their help."
Tzao tightened his hold. "We're not asking for their help, Naoko."
Naoko sighed. "I wonder how they're doing."
Tzao looked at the door sharply. "Cedric, what are you doing? Stay away from the door; you'll get hurt if you don't. My sister will kill me if you get-"
Ten-year-old Cedric tentatively put his hand on the door. Nothing happened. He touched the doorknob. The barrier appeared, its flickering a warning. "Cho," Cedric said. "Cho, we're worried about you. You've shut yourself in your room and won't come out. It's been a week already, we haven't seen you eat. We hear you cry every night. Cho we're hear to listen-" Cedric slowly turned the handle and the door opened slightly.
The something was thrown at the door, making it shut. "Leave me alone!" a little girl's voice screamed. "I hate you, I hate all of you, I hate my life…" she choked on her sobs.\\
A sick turn came to their stomachs. Ginny glanced at Eli. He was looking at the barrier, studying it and frowning. Zachary and Chelsea had their heads bowed as another scene was produced.
\\Ten year old Cedric marched into a room. "Go away," a little boy's voice came from the shadows.
"Eli, you and your sister have gone long enough. There's nothing you can do to change what is about to come."
"Go. Away."
"Look, I understand-"
Angry Eli came into the light. "Understand? You can't understand half of what we feel. You weren't there, you didn't feel, you are not us. You think we *like* this?"
Cedric didn't falter. "To suffer is to be human. You need to get over it."
Eli barked out laughter. "You think we have to get over it? You'd think five years would be enough, wouldn't you? Yet, look at me and Cho! Cho's barricaded herself with her own magic. We don't want this."
"Which is exactly why you need each other," Cedric's tone rising. "You can't just shut yourself from the world; you two have a purpose which you need to fulfill."
"Which is why we're like this! We hate our destiny, especially my sister! It was stupid destiny that took the Potters away, it was stupid destiny that separated our parents, and it was destiny that took us away from our family! Do you think Cho liked seeing that vision? Do you think I wanted to see the Potters killed? Do you think we wanted Jade to be taken away from us? And think about what is about to come! Does Cho really want this? Does she want to be the middle of this? Do you want to die because of Voldermort? Do like the fact that this was planned out from day one? Do you like _the fact_ that we _were meant_ to be like this? Do you, Cedric? Do you?"
Silence was held; Eli's defiant eyes, Cedric's sullen ones. "Eli," Cedric started in a calm voice. "No, I don't like my destiny any more than you do or even Cho. But just because Lily died or you saw the Dark Lord kill them or your family was stripped from you, doesn't mean that your life is over. There can never be rainbows without rain, Eli. Your life will have its best moments too, and even the worst moments are to be remembered. If you can't prepare yourself now, the future will be most definitely tough.
"Now go help your sister. Your powers neutralize her own, and she's been in her room since Arabella came."\\
The scene disappeared from the mirror, and it disappeared in Eli's pocket. Eli was still studying the barrier. "We need to break this as soon as possible. There are three options. One is to have Cho willingly let us in; but I doubt she wants to see any of us. And even if she does let us in, it probably when she's running low on magic and too frail and sick to take care of herself. The second idea is to neutralize this barrier to let us through-"
"Eli, we've seen how much power she has. All of us combined wouldn't even break through," Ginny argued.
"The last is to use our willpower to force our way in."
"Eli," Chelsea said sadly, "Cho's the strongest telepath known. Her will and mind are as strong as the foundations of this school."
"Yet its founders still crumbled, didn't they?"
"Well then, how are we going to help Cho?" Harry said testily. He didn't fully understand what was going on, but he knew that something was seriously wrong with Cho. Her and her brother had a rough past, as he saw in the mirror, and it seemed that it was haunting Cho up to today. But what did Eli mean when "he saw the Potters die"? Or when Cedric said, "they had a purpose to fulfill"? What about when Tzao said "sorceries"? And who was "them" that Naoko was speaking of? So many questions at the time…
"Do all three," Zachary suggested and shrugged.
Eli looked as if to consider it. "How, Zach?"
Chelsea shook her head. "Eli, we're completely non-magical people. You have to do the work, not us. From what I heard, we're just the doctors."
"We do all three," said a voice. "by trying to persuade Cho to unknowingly weaken this barrier while we force our way in with both willpower *and* magic."
Every turned and saw the speaker was a very awake Hermione. Everyone looked like they wanted to hug her, especially her Ron.
Hermione smiled and spoke briskly. "You two," she looked at Zachary and Chelsea, "You must know Cho very well, right? Then you must know what affects her the most; try and persuade her to come out or let us in."
Hermione looked at Eli. "You must be someone powerful to be Cho's brother, am I correct? You also destroyed her previous barrier, so you will have to lead us in breaking this."
Hermione smiled slyly. "Harry, you seem very persistent in trying to help Cho. I suspect that your will power is the strongest here, so focus everything on helping Cho, you hear?
"As for the rest of us, let's just try keep the three balanced, okay? We have to want to have Cho lower her defenses, we have to want to help Cho, and we have to want our spells to break through."
They nodded and started on their tasks. Chelsea and Zachary repeated words of what Cedric did before, saying how everyone was worried about her and Cho needed to overcome her depression. Harry fired the first spell; it just disappeared into the barrier. Eli followed him, muttering words and incantations that fired against the barrier.
Ginny stared at Hermione. "You look like you *like* directing us, 'Mione!'
Hermione shrugged. "A whole day's worth of sleep can do that to you."
Ron stared too. "You knew you were sleeping?!"
"Ron, focus on the task!"
Then Hermione felt something rubbing against her leg. Hermione knelt down. "Yes, Crookshanks?"
The cat pointed its nose towards a window, where Hermione looked and frowned. 'Damn. Cho is using the Hogwarts barrier to strengthen her *own* barrier, making Hogwarts vulnerable.'
Crookshanks looked at his owner with questioning eyes. An intelligent cat; always an intelligent cat. It turned and left to get something. 'Wait. No Crookshanks!' Hermione's frown deepened, but she couldn't do anything. Sighing, she turned to help break down the barrier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Groggily Eriol Hiiragizawa woke up from his sleep and checked his watch. 'Does the Hogwarts train usually take this long to land?' Four hours ago he was at the Hogwarts School. {Nyaha! He missed the first time he reached the platform! Like f- never mind^-^} He had gotten on the train, and as soon as he had settled in a compartment, Eriol had this overwhelming sensation sending him to sleep. He *had* not been sleeping well, so this slumber was apparently needed.
He looked up to see the amused glance of Minerva. Embarrassed, Eriol tried to make himself presentable to the older woman, but failed.
The hilarity of this amused Minerva even greater, but she suppressed the laughter. "I suppose you had a restful sleep, Eriol?" He sheepishly grinned and nodded. "Well, the train will stop in a couple minutes."
At this, the Hogwarts train started to slow down to a stop. Eriol stared at the woman suspiciously, studying her. She seemed so familiar.
"Hiiragizawa," Minerva said gently, breaking Eriol out of his reverie. With a flick of her wand, Minerva passed Eriol's floating suitcase into his hands. With the other hand she held the compartment door for him.
"Oh, thank you," Eriol said, stepping off the train.
"It's a pleasure," Minerva said following him. "May I ask why it was so urgent to take this trip?"
Eriol smiled wryly. "I'm trying to find some answers."
"The truth is not always pretty, Eriol," she said softly.
"I know."
Minerva put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Prepare yourself, Hiiragizawa. Sometimes things are just meant to be."
This wasn't clear to Eriol. "Come again?"
Minerva smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I am just suggesting another restful slumber. There shouldn't be any need for you to hurry. Have some fun before going back to Hogwarts."
Eriol nodded slowly, still not understanding. "Okay. I'll see you back at Hogwarts, then. I'll make sure I have a fun vacation." He walked away, suitcase in hand.
Minerva watched his receding back drift away. 'There are no coincidences, no coincidences, no coincidences.' she repeated. Sadness filled within her. 'But for what we were born for- it just seems that the inevitable is what we dread. I can't blame others, or myself however. I can't blame it on destiny either. Hiiragizawa, my hope is with you. For you will be caught in this long waged war.'
Sighing, Minerva used her mind-speak connection with Arabella. "Bella, I've delayed him the best I can. Be gentle with him, Bella. I can guarantee, however, that little Ying Fa will be back for him. She'll be at waiting for him when he comes back."
It wasn't until later Eriol had settled into a Wizarding hotel room that he realized Minerva was so familiar to him.
She reminded him of the same mysterious atmosphere that surrounded Kaho.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{Gah! Minerva was so OOC!!! *slaps head* Well, that part didn't make much sense to me either. @.@''}
She didn't need to be awake to see Cho tortured by horrible memories. He was forcing her to. He wasn't there, but his presence was. Like always.
"You want to help, don't you? Go ahead," he hissed.
The only movement was her breathing. 'Remain steadfast to the plan. For her.'
"You'll just let her suffer like that? Clow always came to the rescue."
She was lucky he wasn't powerful enough to penetrate his mind, or the plan would have been foiled. He would have known long time ago, or else he would have attacked her to have everything his way.
'Or maybe he already knows and he's using you for a new method.'
Was that Dream speaking, or was that her fear?
"You care about her. But not enough to help her, I see," he spat.
'I will not. This is for the one I dedicated my life too.'
"Clow cared for her too, and he clearly showed it. But he was just too much of a coward to actually tell her."
Anger rose within her. How dare he insult the great Clow Reed?
'Hey, calm down. I'm the fiery one, remember?'
She calmed. Listening to Firey joke like that was a bit reassuring.
He narrowed his eyes. His attempts were useless. "I'm not done with you yet." He left.
'But he's not gone. He will never be. Not until someone dies.'
She still couldn't tell the difference between Dream and fear.
`'`'`'`'`'`'`
She didn't need to see Cho either. She could feel the intense magic in the air. She jumped a bit. Ancient magic, even before Clow was being used? Who?
Using her wings she perched on the windowsill.
Crookshanks? What was he doing? Sighing, she knew she couldn't use he magic for he would notice. Then, as a flash of insight, she saw a symbol. Her heart sunk. She didn't know much about the subject, but… the future looked bleak. That symbol just sealed it.
Glancing at the figure in the room, her heart sunk even lower. She was supposed to be her guardian, after all. But her mistress would have to do this alone. She already had enough faith in her to believe that she wouldn't give in. But she already had a suspicion that something worse would happen than her mistress giving in.
Then there was Cho… there goes that depressing thought again. Cho had been through so much. She could remember the day they saw that green flash. It caused so much pain for Cho that she tried to ignore it, but that didn't work. Then she relied on magic on blocking those certain memories… now that barrier was broken. How Cho would cope with a barrage of memories she wanted to forget… well, she was still trying to block them off with the new barrier now. But she knew Cho, and Cho would eventually accept it. It was just the matter of time.
*sigh* Being powerful doesn't mean you don't have anything to worry about. It just means more.
'Get used to it,' her other "counterparts" told her.
Well, at least she would be assured company for the time being.
There goes that ancient magic again- wait... Cho's barrier is broken!
'Don't go anywhere,' the wisest counterpart said.
But- but, it's Cho!
'You want to be caught? You can't do anything unless you use your magic. Magic that will be easily recognized by him. Magic that is unneeded at this time. Do not move.'
But Cho needs me!
'She needs to accept; by herself and by herself alone.'
You don't understand, you don't understand at all!
'I say this the last time. Do not go and help her.'
I don't have to listen to you!
'You will, for you have to. If the urge to go and help her is too great I will knock you out myself and take over. You will remain close to our mistress, you hear?'
She was crying, being unable to help Cho. But she didn't move, for she didn't want to be hurt, even if was for her own good.
'Shh...' another counterpart soothed. 'Don't worry; Eli is there for her. You can trust him, right? After all, he's Cho's brother and the two suffered together.'
'For the most part.' the other counterpart interrupted. 'But Eli didn't go through what both Jade and Cho had to do together.'
'Hush!'
Cho, why must we all suffer like this? Why must it be us?
…yeah, I know, we know the answers to those questions. But that doesn't mean we willingly want to, even though we have to, ne?
Cho, I miss you more than anything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another spell from a certain someone's wand was the ultimate straw. Cho trembled. 'No! I want them out, out, out!' Silent tears spilling down her face. She couldn't see clearly anymore, and her head was fogged with what she was trying to forget all these past years. She couldn't depend on her acute senses either, and Cho was breathing heavily.
Everything was too hot, but inside she was shivering from bitter coldness.
Cho hugged her little kitten close. "Give me strength," she whispered before Midori went limp and still.
The barrier was long gone by this time. They were all in.
With the extra energy, Cho cried out, "No!" her telepathic sense went haywire. "All of you, out!"
Cemetery... Fujitaka Kinomoto, beloved husband and father, motionless in a casket... everyone is wearing black... "Ying Fa should be here..."
Chelsea was thrown out the room by an invisible force.
"Bye Mommy, bye Daddy! I'll get good grades in school, I promise!"... the last words I ever said to them... two coffins lowered into the ground together...
Zachary was also thrown out.
No, that's not dad... mom, why are we moving? It's not because of me, is it... "Sayonara, Japan..." I'm going to miss you, big brother... Egypt…
Hermione was knocked unconscious.
Big, very big spider, very, very big... "However, I cannot deny my children fresh meat when it has so willingly walked into the forest..." six, no eight, black furry legs... out to eat... thirsts for blood... our blood...
Ron collapsed to the floor outside of the room, mind asleep.
Tom, I find my robes splashed with blood and paint... Tom, I think I'm the Heir to Slytherin... "Would you tell someone the bad news even though it would hurt her?" …the young wolf... dead...
Outside, Ginny fell to her knees, sobbing, for the psychic attack brought up painful memories.
Green flash, screams, wailing, haunting laughter... "Lily, take Harry and go!"
"No...!" Cho sobbed. Exhausted of magic, she couldn't move the source to stop from her reading his mind. Breathing heavily, she didn't want this to be remembered, not now, not ever.
"Come on children, time to say good bye to your mother." "Mommy!" "Mr. Chang, I command you to go back to your room!" ...a green flash... "Can we go to Japan, can we, can we?" "Tzao, she won't even let them see Kinomoto-san's funeral! Can't we do something?" an evil smile... "The Dark Lord wants you, Cho, only you..."
Cho now had her hands over her face, cupping her tears. "Get it out of my head, I don't want to hear it, I don't want it!" With the last of her magic, she tried to move the two people whose memories hurt the most, but she only succeeded with one.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With surprise, Harry found that he was outside with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Chelsea, and Zachary. Since Zachary was the one with the doctorate degree, he was checking the physical status of Hermione and Ron. Chelsea was comforting the shaking Ginny.
"Why don't you just leave me alone?" Harry heard Cho's soft, hoarse voice from inside the room. The door was wide open, and the barrier was broken. Cho was sitting on her bed, sobbing.
Something touched Harry deep within him, and he was about to go back inside, if Chelsea hadn't reached out and grabbed him back down. "No," she mouthed, shaking her head.
"There was a reason Cho threw us out," Zachary said seriously. "She's trying to accept things that she has been denying herself for the past years. She can't handle the emotional stress that she can read from us using her telepathic sense at the same time."
"But Cho's in the same room as Eli," Chelsea said softly. "She's reading his memories, which are also her memories."
"Eli, please!" Cho said.
Eli was moving closer, enhancing the memories even more. A sad frown was on his face. "Cho, you can't be hiding behind barriers the rest of your life," he said in a firm voice. "You need to move on."
"I don't want to! You don't know how it felt, Eli, to see it happen and not be able to anything," Cho was just barely audible.
"You do realize that some of us saw the same thing?" Harry could tell that Eli's anger was rising, but he was trying not to show it. "But did we have a barrier to block them from us? No. Do we all like the way our destiny had been planned? No. Did we accept it as truth? Yes.
"Now you have to do the same, Cho. You can't hide from your fate but you can control it to some extent. Stop hiding, Cho. You have a job to do, and you can't do it shielding yourself. You have to take the chances. You have to take the consequences. You have to follow through."
As moving as his speech was, Cho still said, "No!"
Eli's anger broke. "For goodness sakes, Ying Fa! It can't always be about you! You're not the only person who cried over the death of Lily. You're not the only person who foresaw that night. You're not the only person whose destiny dictates their life, either! You realize, that while you're sitting here, crying, wasting your tears that should have been done years before now, that a certain cousin of yours is still trapped in her unconscious sleep? Whenever I see you, your motto has always been to "do the best you can do for your cousins". You've kept life long promises with Cedric. You've protected Xiaolang to the best of your ability. You've helped Zachary and Chelsea. You defended Draco. You saved-" here Eli broke off.
"What I'm saying is that Jade may need your help right now. And what are you doing? You're crying, and all you can think about is yourself. Selfish needs are what got us here in the first place," Eli said in a tight voice as Cho stiffened. "But if you're going to dwell in your self-pity, then I will take it that you don't care for Jade as you have always said."
Cho had stopped crying by then, and was staring forlornly at her hands. Eli's angry look ceased, but a frown still remained. Not hearing an answer from Cho, he took it as an act of defiance. Saddened, Eli pivoted and started to walk out of the door.
Cho's head shot up, and the image of someone leaving her was too frequent in her memories. She jumped off her bed and ran to Eli. Her arms wrapped around her brother. "Don't leave me like the rest of them, please, Eli," she said, as the tears started to fall again. Eli stopped walking, but he didn't respond. "I promise, Eli, I promise, from your own sister, that by tomorrow I will figure out something with Jade, I… promise…" when her last word was said, Cho had no strength left. The headache grew larger and darkness consumed her as she loosened her grip on her brother and fell.
Eli turned quickly and caught his sister in his arms. Feeling her temperature rise quickly, he said quite desperately, "Zachary! Cho's fever has been relapsed!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Pace, pace, pace, stop. Glance at the door. Pivot, pace, pace, pace, stop. Glance at door again.
"Argh! Stop, Eli! I swear, you're gonna make a hole in the floor," Ginny said. It was getting annoying, the way Eli was pacing in front of the door. The door was closed again, but it was because Zachary and Chelsea didn't want Eli to be in the same room while they went over the medical procedure.
"She'll be okay," Harry tried to console his look-alike.
"You don't get it," Eli took a sharp glance at him, taking Harry aback. "The last time, when she had her barrier up, I could break through it easily because Cho was raging with a fever, and her concentration was broken. She was stuck in bed for a week! She already blocked herself into her room the week before, and for half a month she had to stay in her room! It was entirely fault, for if I hadn't waited a week to confront Cho, she wouldn't have been sick then. And if she hadn't been sick, then maybe the fever wouldn't be as bad now."
"Don't blame yourself, Eli," Ginny said softly.
"Why don't you wake Ron and Hermione up," Harry suggested.
"Oh no you won't," Ginny warned Eli. Turning to Harry she said, "You want to trust your best friends lives to someone who is more concentrated on the life of his own sister? I wouldn't. So I suggest you wait until we have some news about Cho."
At that moment, Chelsea and Zachary came out of the room, as Zachary took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Everyone looked at them expectantly.
Chelsea smiled. "Cho is alright. All she needs is some rest, and she'll she up and moving in no time!"
Eli relaxed a bit. "How sick is she?"
Zach grinned wryly. "I think she was serious about keeping that promise, Eli. Cho's sick, but not too sick, and every second she's getting better. By tomorrow, I can guarantee that Cho will be better. All she really needs is sleep and the proper care."
"And the food!" Chelsea added. "I'm starving. Where's the kitchen?"
Hunger also grabbed Eli. "I never had breakfast either."
"Ugh…" Hermione groaned with her hand at her head. Everyone turned.
"Well, this proves it, Eli. If Cho's well enough to undo what she did, then she isn't *that* sick. You didn't have to blame yourself," Ginny said.
"Still, you must feel disoriented from someone messing around in your mind," Eli said to Hermione. "Need help?" he said as he extended a hand and Hermione weakly took it.
"Ahem!" someone's voice said a bit threateningly. It was Ron. Eli caught the tone of jealousy in his voice and slyly smiled to the redhead, and helped Hermione up, leaving Ron to his seething.
"So where's the kitchen?!" Chelsea demanded. "I want chocolate cake, and I'm going to make it for myself!" Everyone looked at her strangely, but Eli and Zach more suspicious than weird.
"The kitchen's behind the painting with the fruit basket," Ron said, while Eli, Zach, and Chelsea looked blankly at him.
"Ron, they've only been at this school for an hour. They don't even know where the bathroom is!" Hermione said.
~**~**~**~**~
Her blue-green eyes scanned the open restaurant. She truly didn't like whom she was with, but she had to let go. For Meiling.
Nichole Granger turned her attention back to her table. Tucking back loose strands of her light brown hair, she tried to join the conversation.
"I don't like being here either, you got that, *Jennifer*?"
"You're just a b****, *Genevieve*. You'll always be. I don't know how we were friends in the first place, but thank goodness we aren't," Jennie cussed.
"At least I'm
Nichole, or Chloe, as she rather liked to be called, sighed. We were just here five minutes ago and the conversation is still the same. Chloe cleared her throat. The blond (Eve), and the brunette (Jennie), looked at her expectedly, though a tad bit with loathing.
"Look," Chloe said. "We've been friends and we've been enemies. But we have been friends longer than enemies. We need to let go of this stupid grudge. We've gotten our revenge, and that's it. We can be friends-"
"Heck no," Eve said.
"I usually don't agree, but Malfoy's right. We can't be friends. Not again," Jennie said, with a bit of apologetic tone to Chloe.
Chloe stayed quiet, mixing her drink. True, she was the one with the smarts; she was the one who passed it on her daughter after all. However, she was human, and she made mistakes, and was not, *not* the one who knew the answer to everything.
"If not the close friends as before, how about just the acquaintance level," Chloe said slowly, still focused on her cup.
Jennifer Potter stopped drinking and put her cup down. She knew what Chloe was talking about. Since they wouldn't acknowledge their previous friendship now, Chloe still wanted a part of that to remain. At least as acquaintances, she meant, where they still would talk to each other, albeit not as comfortable as before, but would have to be polite to each other.
"Acquaintances… hmm, by all means, Grang- I mean Chloe- I mean-" Jennie broke off.
Chloe's blue-green eyes met with Jennie's wintry blue ones, as understanding, conflict, thanks, and letting go flickered in both of the eyes. "Nichole. Only close friends are allowed to call me Chloe."
However, Genevieve Malfoy was not so keen. She looked at all of their left hands and saw the rings- diamond with a blue gem next to it. Just like hers. Anger flared, but she controlled it. She couldn't blame it on the both of them, if she did, she would have to blame herself also. No, she mused. Grang- *Chloe* wasn't right. We never did get our revenge. A part, but not all of it.
Eve looked up with her cerulean blue eyes to see eyes similar to hers- eyes of the closest friends she ever had. With these eyes the sea green and the winter blue were pleading to have another chance for their friendship. Eve broke the connection, looking away.
"Eve- Genevieve…" Jennie started. "At least try. For Meiling. Meiling had no part in this, but for her let's at least be contacts for her."
Eve's eyes rose again, and then gave a curt nod. "Fine. For Meiling only. But call me Eve. I *hate* that name, Genevieve. I prefer Eve."
Nichole smiled, eyes dancing. "If you call me Chloe, I will."
The two looked at the black haired girl. Jennie was looking at someone who just had sat at one of the tables at the restaurant. Eve and Chloe followed her gaze. It was the second time of their lives that all three girl's gazes had come across a male at the same time.
But it was the first time that all three women's blue eyes had encountered eyes like theirs- eyes of sapphire.
"That's him," Jennie said, her voice lowering for no reason, but not breaking her stare, her heart pounding because he looked like James. "The one Meiling told us about. Eriol Hiiragizawa. Arabella said to stall him at least for the rest of the day."
"The reason we met together in the first place," Eve said dryly.
"God, he looks so hot," Jennie breathed.
"Jennie!" Chloe shrieked, but not too loudly. "He looks exactly like James!"
Jennie grinned at Chloe, her first smile ever since she sat at the table. "I know, and I look like James, so that's why I think he looks so good."
"Narcissist," Eve hissed, but she smiled too.
"And this is coming from a Malfoy?" Chloe mocked.
"Hey, guys, we've got ten seconds to cook up a plan to delay Hiiragizawa, since we've been arguing since we met," Jennie said.
"This is my department," Eve said, as the three women huddled for the plan.
~**~**~**~**~
The Guardian's Corner
Kero: And here's the best part of the story: Kero-chan's corner!
Ruby Moon: *bonks Kero on the head* Baka, it's the Guardian's Corner!
Kero: *swirly eyes* ouch…
Suppi: *shakes head* There's nothing that I can do…
Yue: You mean nothing we will do.
Kero: You're mean, Yue! You're supposed to be on my side!
Yukito: *sweat drop* Well, we have five reviews to respond to: Piccoleia Star, Sakura68, shadow, and Silver Little Kitten, and Shini no Tenshi.
Nakuru: And the reward for the most dedicated reviewer is Shini no Tenshi!
Ruby Moon: Thank you for reviewing! *clapping enthusiastically*
Kero: For a prize, you get to have Suppi's books!
Suppi: What?! No! You get to have all of Kero's puddings and his games!
Ruby Moon: How about we give Shini no Tenshi all the books, pudding, and games!
Kero and Suppi: NO!
Yue: Just give her all of Nakuru's clothes.
Nakuru: NO! How about we give you to Shini no Tenshi instead, party pooper!
Yukito: -_-"
Aimee: Poor Yuki, you have to put up with this insanity. I know! I'll invite Touya the next time! Now everyone, get back to work!
Nakuru: Okay! Piccoleia Star: Here's the next chapter! Did you like it! Because I did! Eli is kawaii! He's like a chibi-Touya!
Ruby Moon: To Shini no Tenshi's first review: you're welcome for answering your question! We'd like to answer more questions, if anyone has them, because Aimee is so boring here she won't let us do anything…
Aimee: HEY! *glares at Ruby Moon*
Kero: To Shini no Tenshi's second review: of course we'll answer your questions!
Yue: To the first comment, Aimee has figured out a way to bring most of the people back, but not all…
Aimee: I'll figure it out! Just wait!
Nakuru: And yes, Eriol does not know… *giggle* because he left that night.
Aimee: See , if you did the math (which I had to do) Cho and her brother came into the world nine months after Eriol disappeared…
Yukito: And the children: Hisui (or Jade) and Xiaolang are Sakura's and Syaoran's children. (Touya didn't like that at all- sister complex) They're also the youngest.
Suppi: Harry, of course, is Lily and James' child. In the second part of Without You it does say something about a miscarriage of a sister…
Ruby Moon: Ying Fa (also known as Cho) and Eli is Tomoyo's children and the father is very easy to figure out…
Kero: Chelsea is Chiharu and Yamazaki's daughter.
Yue: And Zachary is Yoshiyuki and Rika's son.
Ruby Moon: To Sakura68's review: thanks for coming back and reviewing! And yes, there will be people coming back, but Aimee (being the kind of person she is) does not how to bring everybody back yet.
Aimee: Eureka! Wait… that's won't work… hmmm……
Nakuru: To shadow's review: thanks for reviewing! Thanks for the encouraging words! We'll make Aimee keep writing and continuing.
Suppi: To Little Silver Kitten: Let's see, if I'm Aimee, update yes, soon no.
Aimee: Hey! Is this guardians pick on Aimee day or something? I updated twice in a week!
Yue: For the first time.
Aimee: Well, I was on spring break!
Yue: Well, for the last and recent review: Shini no Tenshi, we'll just have to see if Aimee updates soon or not, won't we?
Yukito: Yue, be nice to Aimee. She's trying as hard as she can to post it as fast as possible.
Aimee: Straight up!
Kero: Okay, Aimee, we're done. Can we ppppppplllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaassssssseeeeeeeee go back to the party now!
Yukito: Yes please, I'm hungry!
Aimee: Okay! Let's go! Happy Birthday, Meiling and Eriol!