There was a serene kind of beauty as Rika Sasaki lit two candles with the long matchstick. Watching on peacefully, Tomoyo followed the nun-in-training into prayer, bowing her head and clasping her hands together. After a moment of silence, Rika rose from her kneeling position to face Tomoyo.
"God shall watch over Eriol-san and Sakura-san," Rika told her with complete faith. Tomoyo nodded in thanks. "Night Magician and Saint Star have the Lord on their side."
The fears were abated for awhile, at least. "I only hate the fact that they're rivals," confessed Tomoyo. "Sakura-chan's competitive and Hi-kun has his pride; if it weren't this way they could be good friends."
Considering this, Rika suggested, "Perhaps they don't have be rivals at all. Wouldn't it be much better if the Magician and Saint were allies?"
"Having a friend in the profession would be safer," Tomoyo agreed and an idea sparked within her. "What they need is a chance to talk to each other... get things in the open," she mused as a slow smile reached her face. Working out the final details in her head, she looked up to the sister-in-training.
"Sasaki-san, I have a plan. I will need your help."
"This just in. Star and Night yet again pulled off another heist. In they went; out went the Tear and Tiara. Here is even better news: the police was able to apprehend a criminal for fraud and illegal possession of a gun. Forget a rumble tumble and let's go for friendship. Who doesn't say a Magician and Saint partnership isn't a great idea? But are these rumors true? Are they together or not? You'll know when Moko-chan knows!"
"Good morning," Eriol greeted his older twin cousins as he set the table for breakfast. Ruby and Nakuru Akizuki were completely identical twins- down to the same over-excited personalities- but the only difference was their hair. Ruby had colored her hair in a bright shocking pick while Nakuru remained with the natural chocolate brown. Together they made a demanding, intimidating force: not even Uncle Clow had been able to stop them.
"Did you see? Did you see?" Nakuru excitedly asked as she bounced in her seat.
"Un, they were gorgeous! So lovely!" Ruby turned to her sister with a grin. "Remember that fragrance?"
"Vividly," nodded Nakuru. "Remember when we ate them with the sugar cookies oji-chan made?"
"Oji-chan?" repeated Eriol, picking up parts off their off-tangent conversations. "Uncle Clow?" Immediately the twins stopped their chatter, both looking extremely guilty. Almost sighing, Eriol said, "Alright, out with it. What is it and when did Uncle Clow steal it?"
Launching into an explanation together, Ruby started, "It was beautiful and we wanted it, so we asked oji-chan to get it-"
"-there was a handsome prince with a love that could not be contained, so a bed of roses sprang from his grave-" Nakuru chattered alongside her.
"-but we didn't want the one oji-chan grew because it wasn't as lovely-" continued Ruby.
Nakuru swooned: "-and his beloved princess made a jam out of the rose petals-"
"-so oji-chan stole it and replaced the roses with the one he grew!"
"-and that's how Night Magician's first caper went!"
"I see," Eriol nodded slowly. "So, the 'Sweet Candy' roses at the CLAMP Botanical Gardens?"
"Yeah!" Nakuru nodded exuberantly. "But no one knows about it."
"'Cuz oji-chan didn't send a calling card then," Ruby explained. "He wasn't planning to turn into a regular thief."
"But we changed his mind, didn't we?" grinned Nakuru to her twin. "Oji-chan couldn't say no."
"I'm thinking we should make rose jam in his honor!" Ruby suggested. "Let's make some biscuits to go with it..."
Eriol simply smiled to himself as he left the dining room to a non-descript hall. Pushing gently on a wall, it fell back to a secret room. It was a rich gallery of stolen items and countless fakes: memorabilia of Night Magician. Something brushed against his leg, and Eriol chuckled to himself when he discovered it was only Spinel. He reached down to stroke her, murmuring, "I thought you were over at Tomoyo-san's..." Fingers brushed on a collar around the wild feline's neck but he didn't question it.
Eriol found what he was looking for: the glass case lined with velvet with a glistening diamond in the center. Opening the display case he replaced the genuine Polar Tear with the counterfeit diamond that he had stolen from the night before. Slipping the real jewel into his pocket, he filtered over ideas in how to return in. At least this time there was no hurry to give the diamond back; stealing the roses for his next heist would be discreet. But where was the real…?
Eriol left the secret room as the thought occurred to him, and on the way to the manor's gardens he grabbed the Gardens Magazine. In the back of the gardens he compared the roses of his garden to the glossy photos of the magazine. They were one and the same all right. To think all this time the 'Sweet Candy' roses were growing in his back yard!
"Good morning," a voice smiled.
Almost startled, Eriol was glad to see Kaho from the other side of the brick wall. "Good morning," he responded with a charming smile, hiding the magazine behind his back. "Kaho-san, would you like to accompany me 'Sweet Candy' roses exhibit?"
"Good work everyone! See you next week; have a fun weekend!" PE teacher and cheerleader coach Yukie Kimura said as she waved off the team from practice.
Sakura took a big gulp of water to cool down as Fanren wiped her face with a towel. "So why have you been avoiding my brother?" She casually asked.
After gulping to quickly the water went down the wrong pipe. Coughing, Sakura fought down the blush that rose to her face. "I haven't been avoiding him!"
"Little brother!" Fanren called when she spotted him across the hall. Sakura froze when she caught sight of him too, and out of instinct, she turned and ran the other way.
"Where is she going?" said Syaoran when he reached Fanren, glancing after Sakura's long braided hair.
Fanren half-smiled to herself, realizing the sudden retreat a guilty flag. "Oh, Sakura-chan had something to," she waved off flippantly. Then she gave her little brother an once-over. "Since when do you ask about someone from the cheerleading team?"
A slow smile reached her lips as she watched him look up, slightly confused. "What?" he said. Fanren shook her pretty little head, knowing full well about his dense head. Looks like she has a little matchmaking to do…
"…and so the heartbroken princess took the roses from the prince's grave and made a jam out of the petals. She ate the rose jam faithfully every day until she died, remaining true to the man she loved," Eriol narrated as he helped Kaho down the stone steps of the CLAMP Gardens.
The tall red-haired live-in teacher smiled softly. "That is such a romantic story. Heartrending, but romantic. Are these the roses?"
Eriol couldn't help but smile at the way her eyes lit up at the sight of the flowers. Kaho held a charming quality; a comfortable atmosphere that simply enveloped her surroundings. "They're gorgeous," she said as she delicately tilted a stem for a sniff. "I wish I could take some home."
"That could be arranged," Eriol said with a wry smile.
So, about five hours later with a timely distraction from his guilt-ridden twin cousins, a sneaky switch between rose bushes (coupled with the return of the genuine Polar Tear), and a few more precious moments with Kaho Mizuki, he presented her with a dozen stems of Clow's reproduction of the 'Sweet Candy' roses.
"One more for good luck?" Kaho teased and he obliged. She thanked him for inviting her to the exhibit as he dropped her off at the Daidouji Manor.
Tomoyo had just finished her leg exercises –her doctor constantly reminded that even though her paralysis occurred from the waist down, there was still a possibility the feeling could come back. Even though the legs weren't being used, the muscles still needed to be stretched. "Wow, who are the flowers from?" she asked the woman she practically considered to be her sister.
"From Hiiragizawa," and Tomoyo's face brightened like the pale moon from a dark night. "Shall I put these in a vase?"
"No need," Tomoyo took the roses eagerly. "I can do that. You should go rest; you seem tired." Feeling giddy, she trimmed the ends and touched each rose with reverence before placing them carefully in a hand-picked vase.
Kaho, on the other hand, discreetly took the thirteenth rose and stuck it in a simple glass filled with water. She touched the soft pink petals for one last time, knowing that even if she left the flower on her bedside it would still wither and die away. But she left it as it was, locking truth away in a little box, waiting for the day when the last petal would drop.
Meanwhile, a thought occurred to the pleased Tomoyo as she surveyed her handiwork of the dozen roses in a vase. Wheeling herself to her room, she focused on the large computer screen that was currently running a web search.
Keyword: Night Magician.
Tomoyo browsed through all the articles that had popped up, but not one connected the Magician to the same 'Sweet Rose' exhibit held almost ten years ago. In fact, the original Magician started his stint after the exhibit left town. Clow's exploits as Night were numerous, ranging from the theft of Duklyon costumes from the theatre department to the wacky kidnapping of a world renowned chef.
Then Spinel jumped onto her lap and Tomoyo smiled. Unlatching the collar around the feline's neck, a pendant with an ornate cord, she plugged it into the computer. "A mini camera that snaps a picture every ten seconds…" she explained to Spinel as the images loaded one by one. Finally the treasure load appeared- the items in Night's secret vault. "...one of Daidouji Inc.'s best work, isn't it?" The last picture appeared on screen.
Tomoyo smirked. "Perfect."
"Mokona-chan thinks it has been unnaturally quiet today. Where are the robberies? Our good little thieves? No news is just boring news. Well, in other updates, the Botanical Gardens have seen the only action they'll ever see today. Two sexy bunnies rampaged around the gardens; or didn't you know Halloween was coming early this year. No damage done, except the quick return home of the 'Sweet Candy'. Just wait another ten years to see the rose exhibit. You know you want to. Until next time, this is Moko-chan signing off!
A/N: Thank you so much to LadyCrazyMonkeyPants, Neco-chan, Thimble, girlpresses, Lily887787, StarAngel02, Skitty-san and tearsfalldownmycheeks for reviewing. They always make my day!
Skitty-chan: Nope, (grin) still lots more to come!
Lily887787 & tearsfalldownmycheeks: I love triangles and plot twists. What did you think of this chapter and the relationships hinted?