Author's Note: I return! That was quite a semester, let me tell you. Work was no less intense. Anyway, I've come back to update the last chapter of this fic and an epilogue. Admittedly I was planning to expand on it a bit more, but I decided to make the ending a bit more concise and cohesive instead. That and real life due to catch up with me quite soon. I'm going to be very very busy. XD Any information about the spoilers from xxxHolic, Cardcaptor Sakura, Kobato, or Tsubasa Chronicle can be found on wikipedia if you want a more in depth description of the context in which I've used them (if you haven't read one or all of the manga series, that is).
Otherwise I hope you enjoy this last installment of Keeper of the Key! It's been fun. Thank you to all of my readers, anonymous or otherwise, and reviewers. You made writing this fic worthwhile. ;)
Gemini24: Thanks for sticking around to read the entire story. I really appreciate it. As for the red string of fate, the Japanese seem willing to have it tied around any part of the body depending upon what fictional context it's being used in. That must have been an quite interesting movie you saw. The bit with Tomoyo was there in order to build up a minor discovery she's going to make in this chapter. And to partially explain her penchant for matchmaking in general. She is some kind of cupid in an odd sense, just a human one. Be seeing you. I hope you have an awesome New Year. :) I'm going to miss seeing your interestingly inquisitive reviews about each chapter.
Aristana: Actually Touya just takes it in stride. I'm actually quite sad that I can't expand more on how she explained it to him. After what he's witnessed with his own visions and ability to see ghosts though, it wouldn't have seemed all that strange to him. I just put it there to explain Tomoyo's penchant for matchmaking and a small discovery she's going to make during the course of this chapter. Thank you so much for staying to read the entire fic. It means the world to me that someone would keep reading it despite the sporadic updates I gave it. Incidentally, I hope your holidays went and that you have an awesome New Year. ;) I'm going to miss your cheerful reviews, they were fun to read and always motivated me to write.
PuppetPrince: I'm so glad you stayed to read the entire fanfic. Your reviews, while short, definitely helped to motivate me to see this fanfic through to the end. I tried to make everything fit together a much as possible and I'm glad that, in your positive opinion, I've succeeded in this task. I will miss your consistently positive reviews. I hope your holidays went well and that you have a good New Year. :)
Gingershavesouls: I was surprised and pleased to see a new reviewer check out my story. Unfortunately this is the last chapter that I'll be posting for this fic. I'm also posting an epilogue along with this, that shows where the characters are a few years after these events. So I hope you enjoy reading both of these. Thank you very much for both reading my story and sending a review. I regret that I won't see many more reviews from you as the story had come to an end. However, I appreciate the positive review you sent me and am glad you liked what you've read so far. I hope your holiday season went well and that you have a good New Year. :)
Yuko nibbled precariously at her pipe and eyed her glass of sake warily. It had been five hours since she'd sent Watanuki to accompany Doumeki to Tomoeda after the stoic teen had received a request to cleanse the local temple of a wayward spirit. Watanuki's presence would put Doumeki more on his guard and the teen would be less likely to take the job for granted, no matter how mundane it seemed. Yuko had strongly suspected, and rightly so, that any unusual happenings in Tomoeda were directly connected to the remaining loose Clow Cards. It was likely that Doumeki would be unable to do anything about the situation if this were true, so Yuko had prodded Watanuki into going with him in the hope that his inner magnetism would catch the attention of any local spirits or supernatural beings. In particular she wanted Eriol Hiiragizawa's guardians to take note of Watanuki's appearance. The sorcerer was bound to detect Clow's aura about the teen as his existence was the direct result of Clow's meddling, because of this Watanuki held a small piece of Clow's soul within him. He was not, in fact, one of Clow's reincarnations, however his magical signature was similar to the wizards in the way that Touya Kinomoto's was.
"Alright! Alright! We're here. Now you can ask her yourself!" came the voice of the sprite Ame-warashi, from shop's back garden.
Yuko's mouth quirked upward at sound of it. It seemed as though one of her more spunky clients would again be paying her a visit momentarily. The day was looking up after all.
"Visitors!" Maru exclaimed entering the room.
"More visitors!" Moro said following suit.
They danced around before settling to sit beside Yuko and proceeded to watch the goings on with interest.
"Greetings, and welcome to my shop once again" Yuko said as the sprite appeared before her, accompanied by the fair, blue haired Zashiki-warashi. "What can I do for you?"
"She insists that Watanuki's aura has suddenly disappeared and wants me to help her find him" Ame-warashi explained in a disgruntled tone. "I assume since you're the boy's employer, that you'd know where he was."
"I'm uncertain as to his exact location at the current time, but I can tell you where he was headed" Yuko said with a mild grin. "For a price."
Ame-warashi groaned and slowly untied her black hair ribbons. They were protection wards that helped her against demons and Zashiki-warashi's guardian goblins. Not that she needed anything to help her keep those little punks in line, but the wards themselves kept anyone with any sort of negative intent from bothering her. She had a job to perform after all and didn't like being disturbed by something so trivial.
"Will these do?" Ame-warshi asked holding the ribbons out to the witch.
Yuko nodded and took them from her hand.
"I've already found a use for them" the witch said with an unnerving lilt to smile. "Watanuki is currently in Tomoeda with Doumeki purifying the local shrine. Though I doubt their efforts will be of much assistance in banishing the cause of the temple's current discord."
"Useful! They're going to be useful to mistress!" Moro commented.
"Very useful!" Maru added.
Ame-warashi nodded and left just as quickly as she'd come with Zashiki-warashi following close behind.
Yuko sighed and shook her head. She was fond of Ame-warashi in her own way and would miss the sprite's friendship when the day came that time once again overtook her. The dimensional witch was no fool, she knew that eventually Clow's as well as Fei Wong Reed's machinations would catch up with her. Her death was edging closer with every turn of the hour hand on her wall clock. Once she had made that deal with Touya Kinomoto she knew that there would be no turning back after this. Time move forward on a whim all its own that no one else could ever truly seek to control.
She tucked the ribbons away in a small box of things she was saving for new apprentice. In exactly one year, Kohane Tsuyuri would enter their lives, ready and willing to be rescue from the intentions of her overzealous mother.
The witch mused to herself about the price Zashiki-warashi would pay for the information she'd been given. The two sprites had been in such a hurry, neither had thought to question the fact that Yuko hadn't asked about Zashiki-warshi's price. Perhaps they simply assumed that what Ame-warashi had given would be enough to cover the tab. Yuko almost wished she could see the look of realization on Ame-warashi's face when the time came.
00000000
"So you're saying that we came all this way for nothing?" Watanuki asked Eriol irritably.
"The inhabitants of the shrine, Kaho's family, do not understand what is truly going on" Eriol explained. "Purifying it will not help the situation in any way. I don't want you or your companion to come to be harmed by the Clow Card."
"Magic cards. Makes sense." Doumeki commented, earning him further criticism from Watanuki. "Can we help in any way."
"You might as well accompany the card's master to the shrine, now that we know where it is" Eriol said after a moment's consideration. "We'll need to ensure the place is well warded against any interference while he attempts to seal it."
00000000
After a brief phone call to the Kinomoto residence Watanuki and Doumeki found themselves following Kaho back to the Tsukimine Shrine. They were just in time to see Ame-warashi and Zashiki-warashi arrive at the front gate.
"Where the hell have you been?" Ame-warashi wanted to know. "This one has been looking for you everywhere and is apparently worried about you!"
"H-hello" Zashiki-warashi greeted.
Doumeki instinctively wrapped an arm around Watanuki's shoulders.
"Hey, you big oaf! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Watanuki protested, though he didn't make any move to shift Doumeki's hands away from him.
The effect was not lost on either of the sprites, though Ame-warashi seemed just as happy to ignore it. Zashiki-warashi looked as though she was bit disappointed by this development, but seemed happy for Watanuki in the same breadth. After all, her entire reason for coming down from the mountains in the first place was to meet him and find different ways to make Watanuki happy.
"W-well I'm glad you're okay" Zashiki-warashi continued. "Both of you. I-it would be t-terrible if something happened. Y-Yuko told us that t-the person in the shrine i-isn't something you can fight."
"It isn't" Watanuki agreed. "I wish she'd told us that before we came all the way here. Stupid Yuko."
Doumeki nodded slightly to acknowledge her concern. At least the sprite was being polite, unlike some of the women who visited the shrine on occasion to wish for reciprocated feelings they might never receive, even if it meant breaking the heart of those whom the person already held dear.
"What're you all doing here?" Touya asked as he and Yukito approached the shrine's gate.
"These people were here at the behest of the local temple priest" Kaho explained. "Two of them are associates of the dimensional witch. I don't know about the other two ladies though."
"We're sprites" Ame-warashi answered in a highly annoyed tone. "The only reason I'm here is because this one" she pointed emphatically toward Zashiki-warashi "insisted we check on Kimihiro Watanuki to make sure what's in that shrine hadn't killed him already."
"W-we c-could stick around to help" Zashiki-warashi offered.
"So could we" Sakura said, coming up behind Touya, along with Tomoyo and Syaoran.
Touya put a hand to his forehead.
"I thought I told you to stay home" he growled.
"I've learned a lot these past few months" Sakura insisted. "I can keep it from harming Kaho's family and Syaoran can help."
"I'm just here in case anyone get's injured" Tomoyo said holding up a first aid kit.
Touya rolled his eyes.
"Fine, I can see you're not going to listen to me, are you?"
The three of them shook their heads.
"We can handle ourselves" Syaoran said glaring at Touya. Touya glared right back.
Two more cards slid out of the deck in Touya's pocket, surprising everyone. Yukito rapidly transformed into Yue in reaction to several of the moon guardian's subordinates being stolen away.
"We should move fast" Kaho told them.
Events happened in rapid succession after that. The mysterious card attempted to use the other Touya cards she'd captured against the anyone who entered the shrine. Fortunately Kaho had kept her Moon Bell on hand and quickly prevented the card from summoning the others against the Cardmaster.
Sakura and Syaoran went inside the temple, with Watanuki and Doumeki following suit to guard them, and were able to successfully locate and evacuate Kaho's family before they came to any harm. However, the card began to lash out by levitating objects and sending out strong waves of magic power like great gusts of wind. One of these nearly hit Zashiki-warashi and would have sent her flying had Tomoyo not grabbed her hand and yanked her out of the way.
"That was close" Tomoyo said with a serious expression. "Are you at all injured?"
Zashiki-warashi turned to reply, but noticed the card glance in their direction as she began to build up some of her magic once more. Then she let forth another intensely bright upsurge of power directly at Tomoyo as if further angered by her earlier interference.
Tomoyo blinked in surprise as Zashiki-warashi stood in front of her and deflected the blow with her magic. In that moment she saw her own red string begin to stir slightly. It wasn't moving to connect with anyone else's cord, but Tomoyo knew that any activity from it at long last must mean something important.
"Be careful" Tomoyo whispered.
Zashiki-warashi offered her a shy smile and a nod, before turning to see that Watanuki and Doumeki were safe by the front gate.
The exorcist and spirit-magnet had managed to escape the card's outburst as well were watching tentatively as Touya and Yue approached the card.
"Clow created you for a reason-" Touya told the card calmly she turned to glare at him.
"Then why was I forgotten!" the card screamed. "Why was I left in that cold, dark place all alone!"
"We were all left alone!" Yue shouted back, stopping the card in the midst of yet another outraged reaction. "Clow sealed us away because something happened that he blamed himself for and in the end he shut us all out. Every one of us were sealed away inside the Book of Clow for years until we came to Tomoeda. I didn't even realize who I was someone broke the enchantment Clow had placed on me!"
Touya stared in disbelief at Yue's outburst. It wasn't often the moon guardian put his true emotions on display. He reasoned that it was because Yue truly understood the card's suffering as they had all been left behind when Clow Reed had sealed them and gone to another world with his own death in mind.
"You-you're lying. You have to be..." the card said sorrowfully. "Why would he leave us?"
"Because he couldn't live with himself anymore" Yue said, frowning, furling his wings around him. "He didn't think he deserved to live after he did made a error in judgment. His attempts to make amends for it eventually resulted in his death."
The card was shaking now, but no longer seemed as determined to lash out at those around her.
"Cl-Clow died?" she said in disbelief.
"We all felt that way after we found out" said one of the cards she'd captured previously. "Then our new master offered us a home. I'm sure he'd be happy to have you as well, so we can all be together again."
"We have faith in him" another card told her. " You should too. He's already proven himself."
The card stared at Touya and Yue for a moment as she deliberated on what to do next. Then she nodded.
"I'm go with you" she said to Touya. "As long as you give me what I ask in return."
Touya nodded and allowed the card to encircle him with her magic. He said the phrase that allowed him to turn her into a Touya card and was then freed from her hold.
The Faith Card appeared before him in two-dimensional form.
"Thank you" Touya heard the card whisper as he slipped her into his deck. The other cards the Faith had stolen from him also returned to their places.
"It's finally over." he said turning to Yue.
"For now" Yue agreed rewarding the Cardmaster with a small smile. "We'll have other conflicts ahead of us."
"Will you be there by my side, Yue? For as long as we're both here?" Touya asked the moon guardian nervously.
"I meant what said when I made that bargain with Yuko" Yue told him. "My lifetime will only be as long as yours now and I will stay by your side for as long time will allow."
Touya smiled upon hearing his answer. It was as close to a confession of love as Yue was going to give at the moment, but the Cardmaster knew that, if given time, the moon guardian would feel more secure about opening up to him and furthering their friendship into a true relationship.
00000000
After ensuring that Kaho's family was safe and the minor damages to their home were repaired, the Kinomoto's along with Yukito and Syaoran left. Sakura had already invited Syaoran to dinner that night, much to Touya's chagrin. Kaho stayed behind to explain matters to her family and to help re-ward the perimeter of the shrine. Watanuki and Doumeki also beat a hasty retreat by bus back to Tokyo as they had school the next day.
Tomoyo however remained to say good bye to Zashiki-warashi. Ame-warashi didn't seem all that interested in speaking with a simple human girl, but she stuck around long enough to allow her companion some time with the human who'd aided her and vice versa.
"You should come to the Nadeshiko Festival this summer" Tomoyo said. "Most of the town is in good spirits during the preparation leading up the festival itself, so you won't have to worry too much about evil intent."
"H-Hey really? Y-you w-would do that for me?" Zashiki-warashi asked a smiling Tomoyo, as she stared down at her fingers, plucking at them nervously.
"You'll love it" Tomoyo insisted. "I'd like us to be friends, if that's amenable. So, would you be okay to attend the festival with us?"
Zashiki-warashi nodded, rewarding Tomoyo with a heartfelt smile and placing a tentative hand in the girl's outstretched one. Tomoyo closed her own around it briefly responding with her own cheerful expression as the sprite's accepting her invitation to return.
Ame-warashi stared at the two of them with an expression of awe. She had been convinced that no one would ever be good enough for Zashiki-warashi and that despite her apparent, though unrequited, crush on Kimihiro Watanuki the sprite was fated to remain singular in her existence in her quiet dwelling in the moutains. Ame-warashi was no seer or aura-reader, but she knew that in that moment a potential bond, possibly fate itself, had formed between Zashiki-warashi and this girl. One that would not be easily broken.
00000000
A week later Touya with Yukito at his side entered Yuko's shop.
"We've came just like we promised" he said took the purple keychain from his pocket and transformed it into his staff. Then he handed it over to the dimensional witch with a pang of regret. "I can use the cards without it. Now that we've located the last of them."
"Yue and I are ready to give you our power" Yukito said as a spur of feathers surrounded him and he became Yue.
"I'll put them both to good use" Yuko said sipping her sake. "I'm sure Touya's visions will tell you what I cannot. Eriol was here earlier this week with his part of the payment."
"Did you find the third mokona?" Touya asked curiously.
"Now that I can answer" Yuko said with an odd smile. "Since you are the one who found him first. I can now count them one mokona, two mokona, three mokona. But then I have to stop, because there's only three."
"That we know of" Yue said speculatively.
"This is true" Yuko replied with a wink. "The third mokona came to my shop with a very special request. I was able to grant it, but I'm afraid he owes me a favor."
"You're going to send the travelers to that world as well" Touya remarked.
"Some of them" Yuko said secretively. It wouldn't do to let them know everything after all. She couldn't tell anyone that she'd already planned to send the clones of Syaoran and Sakura there after their journey was completed. Never mind the fact that in this time they were already there and their son was several years away from beginning a journey of his own.
"Take care of them" Touya said before he and Yue bowed and exited the shop.
"I don't have much of a choice" Yuko replied as they walked away. "I can't look away any more than you can, Touya Kinomoto."
Touya flinched slightly at this, causing Yue's wings to tense up. The Cardmaster held up a hand and the moon guardian relaxed slightly.
"She's right" he said. "There's nothing more we can do now."