Chapter 01 - Homecoming
"I'll see you again, right?"
Sakura's five words repeated themselves in Syaoran's mind like echoes.
Syaoran rested his head on his fist as he looked out of the car window, recalling the memories of their card capturing days. The happiness, the laughter, the people he met... It was so hard to believe that he left it all two hours and several hundred miles behind him. To him, it seemed like lightyears. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and felt the card which Sakura gave him.
It was not fair. Why did his family have to take him back? Why couldn't he stay there in Japan? But then again, that would just be selfish. Life was never fair. He did not want to interfere with Sakura's life any longer. He just had to live with it.
"Are you okay, master Syaoran?" Wei asked, seeing his face in the rear-view mirror.
"Yeah" Syaoran continued to stare emptily outside at Hong Kong's quiet streets.
Heavy raindrops pelted unceasingly on the window, as if accusing Syaoran of something while the wind sang his usual song, except louder, voicing the regrets of foregone spirits. The sky was just plain dark.
This weather perfectly reflected Syaoran's mood.
***
The car arrived at the Li mansion, which looked like something out a horror film in this light. Not that Syaoran cared.
Walking outside, Syaoran felt the cool raindrops descend upon his face, dampening his spirits even more. The clear, cold air surrounded him in a still embrace, while his hair, weighed down by the rain, clung to his head protectively.
He was finally home.
Suddenly, he felt the rain stop above him.
"Here." Wei kindly handed him an umbrella.
"Thank you." Syaoran accepted the umbrella, and started walking towards the tall, almost intimidating building. Just when he was about to press the doorbell, the door burst wide open, almost off its hinges.
"Syaoran!" Meiling jumped out towards her cousin, grabbing him. "Welcome back!" she said, hugging him tightly, almost to the point of suffocation.
"H-hi, Meiling" Syaoran struggled to say, winded.
"Meiling." A commanding voice warned as Meiling got off at once. Syaoran looked at the imposing silhouette standing before him.
"Hello, mother" Syaoran bowed. The silhouette walked forwards, revealing herself as Yelang Li.
Unlike most Chinese women, Syaoran's mother was very tall, standing out among her peers. Her long, flowing black hair very much resembled Meiling's, and any stranger would have easily mistaken her as Meiling's mother. They would be right to a certain extent though; she looked after Meiling like her own daughter.
"Welcome home, Xiao Lang."
***
The Sun descended below the horizon, looking for his long lost lover the Moon, while she chased above the horizon seeking the Sun. So cruel was life that they were fated to continue this futile search for each other eternally.
It was night.
***
The Li family was seated at a long table, eating dinner quietly. Yelang sat at the end of the table, as she had the highest status in the room. Meanwhile, Syaoran, and Meiling sat along the side. An uneasy silence filled the room.
"Xiao Lang" Yelang began, "how was your stay in Japan?"
"Fine" Syaoran muttered in reply.
"The Clow Cards?"
"All transformed successfully." Syaoran looked down through the table.
Yelang smiled. "Haizi, I am proud of you for aiding the Cardcaptor."
"So, did you tell Miss Kinomoto in the end?" Meiling asked eagerly. Syaoran blushed deeply and hung his head in silence. Meiling was, after all, a gossiper.
Outside, the storm that started earlier got worse as thunder joined his friend rain, dancing a lonely waltz together under the barely visible moonlight. Thunder sobbed violently while rain weeped unceasingly, bemoaning their long separation. Louder and louder they sang together until they reached the end of the crescendo, arriving at the cold climax.
Indoors, where the Li family sat, the sad song of rain and thunder were reduced to mere buzzes as Syaoran surveyed the scene. Everything was the same as when he left; the familiar furniture was in the familiar layout. Even the scent was unchanged. However, it did not have that warmth, that safe, happy feeling. It no longer felt like home.
When Syaoran finished his meal, he went straight to his bedroom, which like the rest of the house, was also unchanged. Changing quickly, he lay carelessly on his bed.
"I wonder what she is doing right now..." he thought, alone in the quiet darkness.
***
"Yi." Syaoran lifted his sword to shoulder height, grasping the hilt backwards so the blade was concealed behind his arm.
"Er." He drew his arm across his body, still holding the sword backwards. Simultaneously, he also stepped across with his right foot.
"San." He stepped forward again, extending his free hand forward with his index and middle fingers pointed in a jabbing position.
"Si." He put together his legs and half-crouched, holding the sword in both hands in front, the blade pointing upwards. He balanced in this posture for a while.
"Wu." He tipped his hands, and pointed the sword downwards.
It was a bright morning today as if the sky was trying to compensate for yesterday's storm. Syaoran was doing his daily sword training in the huge Dojo, as usual, when he was disturbed.
"Hey, Syaoran!" Meiling entered, "your mom wants to speak to both of us about something, and she said that it's important."
Syaoran looked up as his sword disappeared in a ball of light and magical energy, leaving the black orb hanging from his hand. Since it was allowed to disrupt his training, he figured that it must be big news, so he followed his cousin to the main hall.
On the way, they passed a long coridoor. Meiling saw the row of portraits depicting their ancestors. Though they were long gone, their images still had an imposing feel to them, and she had an overwhelming urge to pull faces at them, which she resisted.
"Here we are." Meiling turned the knob on a heavy oak door at the end of the coridoor. It creaked open painfully slowly, allowing them into the seemingly endless main hall.
"Good morning, Xiao Lang, Meiling." Yelang was already waiting at a table, indicating towards two chairs. They sat down together.
"Xiao Lang, have you decided where to go in terms of school, now that you have returned to China?" she began.
"No, mother" Syaoran replied. He could already see where this conversation was going.
Yelang paused for a while. "Well, your sisters have all moved to Beijing to study, so..." she paused again.
"I understand. So you want me to go to Beijing to continue my studies."
"Yes. Your sisters go to the best school in the country, and I am confident that you would have no problem joining."
"But, you would be alone here."
"Thank you for your concern" Yelang smiled, "but I still have Mimi to keep me company" she gestured at a cat sleeping by her foot.
Mimi was a stray cat who Syaoran took in two years ago. She was seriously ill at the time, and because Syaoran treated her and cared for her until she became better, she had taken a liking to the Li family. Now, she was somewhat like their family mascot.
Syaoran thought for a while.
"I'm going too, that is, if you choose to go" Meiling added.
After a while, Syaoran spoke.
"Alright."
"Yeah, we're going to Beijing!" Meiling cheered.
***
"It's a good job you didn't unpack since arriving, right, Syaoran?" Meiling asked as she zipped up her final suitcase.
"Hmm" Syaoran half-replied, not really listening.
"Zhima School, the most prestigious in the country" Meiling said excitedly.
Just then, the door to Meiling's room creaked open, causing the two to suddenly look around.
Nothing was there.
"Miao..." As they looked down, they saw Mimi crawling towards them.
"Aww, Mimi wants to say goodbye" Meiling cooed, crouching down and stretching her hand towards the cat.
Slowly, Mimi crawled up to Meiling's hand, and started sniffing it, raising her head in a curious manner and examining the scent. Satisfied with identifying the scent, she crawled off, uninterested.
Instead, she moved towards Syaoran's legs, and without even sniffing them, started wiping her face on them, and then leant on them, lying on his feet and purring contentedly. Syaoran gently stroked her head, his fingers brushing through her fine, brown fur. Looking at the green eyes and the brown hair, he was briefly reminded of someone, but he quickly brushed the thought away.
"Hey, no fair" Meiling said indignantly, "why does she ignore me?"
Still purring, Mimi looked at Meiling lazily with her emerald eyes and let out a long, slow meow.
As if following the meow, Yelang appeared at the door.
"Are you both finished packing?" she asked.
"Yes, mother" Syaoran replied.
"Ah, good" Yelang sighed. "I have just arranged your flights for tomorrow."
"Thank you" Syaoran looked at the bags of luggage.
***
"Say hello to your sisters for me" Yelang reminded. The other people had almost finished boarding, leaving Syaoran, his mother, and Meiling.
"Yes, mother" Syaoran replied.
"And take care of yourself and Meiling. Don't overwork" she added.
"This is the final call for passengers boarding the flight ZH/182 for Beijing, would all passengers on this flight please make your way to the boarding gate" the intercom announced.
"Goodbye, Xiao Lang" Yelang leaned forwards and kissed Syaoran on the forehead. He used to hate it, but now...
"C'mon, let's hurry" Meiling interrupted.
"Goodbye, mother" Syaoran said, looking at Yelang. He noticed that within her black hair, white hairs started to show. Things did seem to have changed here while he was away, but he decided not to tell her.
For the second time this week, he was leaving home again...
---Language/Cultural Notes---
(References to Japanese and Chinese language and cultures go here)
1. Lack of honorifics - In China, there are no honorifics, unlike Japan. This will become apparent in the next few chapters.
2. "Haizi" (hai zuh) - Chinese Mandarin for "my child", a term of endearment.
3. "Yi, er, san, si, wu" (ii, ur, san, sr, wu) - The numbers one to five in Chinese Mandarin. The moves described are actually part of a real martial arts form (sequence) belonging to the Tai Chi family.
4. "Xiao Lang" (shyao lang) - Chinese Mandarin pronounciation of "Syaoran". The meaning of this name will be explained in a later chapter.
5. White hair - A sign of wisdom in Chinese culture. Also a sign of stress in medical terms.
---Author's Message---
Hi! This is my first (and maybe last) fanfiction here, so it's probably different from the others.
Well, I wanted to do a romance/adventure (and of course, with some humor too) story for Cardcaptor Sakura, so I decided to write a continuation from episode 70. As I was writing, I wanted to explore more about the history of the characters and the Clow Cards, hence the title "Echoes of the Past". I can't tell you much about the storyline at this point, as that would just spoil it, but I have made a plan, so that's sorted.
Sorry if I bored you with all the Chinese. You see, I'm Chinese myself, so it's easy to get into the style.
Also, I noticed how I kept personifying stuff. That may have been because I was reading Virgil's Aeneid earlier. If you don't like it, then please let me know, and I'll change. (I mean, even I feel pretty weird reading it myself)
I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may ask. (That is, if any are left in the reviews section. Answers will be posted at the end of chapter 2)
Hope you enjoyed this and I look forward to seeing you again in chapter two.
Bye!
Michi Kobayashi