Planning

Meilin woke up in the early morning. The fog still clung in the street clouding the view to the opposite side; the sky was clouded grey with some orange streaks produced by the rising sun trying to shine through them despite the thickness of the obstacle. She got up and covered herself with a coat before going to the window and looking out. She had to wipe the window from the layer of mist produced by the cold air clashing with the warmth of the room before she was able to look. The street was still dark in many places and the sun hadn't risen to the point where lights would not be needed anymore, which told her it was still too early.

Taking advantage of that fact, she decided to get an early shower and then get on with the unpacking. The previous night she had unpacked the clothes she'd need. Now it was the turn for the rest of the trunks, more specifically, those she had brought back from her visit to her cousin. She prepared her things and crossed the hall to the bathroom and when she came back fifteen minutes later she was already dressed and ready for the day. First, she decided on the biggest trunk. She laboriously moved it out into an open space on the floor. It was a slow process, the trunk was so heavy that it had taken the combined effort of her and Ryusuke to load it in the trunk of the car and then haul it into the house. She wondered whether Nakuru would've been able to lift it up the stairs to her room on her own. She realized she didn't know anything about her abilities. Being a guardian, she naturally had to have many more abilities than a normal human being but she never saw her display any sort of superhuman skill so she didn't know what the extent of them was. Well, it was only a matter of asking her or Tomoyo or Spinel about it.

She lifted the lid of the trunk and the reason for its weight came in view; the entire space was covered in books, notebooks and papers. On top of the content there was an envelope addressed to her. She took it and opened it to find a letter from her cousins inside. Her face broke into a tender smile as she read it. Each one of them had written in it words full of encouragement and love for her and congratulations on her upcoming wedding. They had all shown their support from the start and they were still as affectionate as ever. It was them who had gone into their cousin's house to retrieve the rest of her belongings when they learned she would be staying in London permanently. She didn't know what kind of obstacles her mother had posed to them but they went ahead and took everything she had and carried all themselves to Japan, where Syaoran handed it all to her on her visit. When she learned what they'd done for her, she had so wanted to thank them in person but their mother had soon taken them back to Hong Kong after a brief visit to their nephew so they wouldn't tire the mother with their constant cuddling and fondness. This meant that when Meilin arrived with the Hiragizawas they had just gone back and she had had no chance to thank them. This letter brimming with their feelings for her filled her eyes with grateful tears. She'd have to thank them properly on her wedding day, they were to be part of her train after all.

She left the letter lying over the papers and reached out for another trunk, placed it in the floor and opened it. The girls had made a thorough job of stripping her room from its possessions; here was piled neatly in stacks all of the contents of her desk and drawers. Boxes for small things, folders for her papers and notes, the fragile items all wrapped up in paper and the wrapping bubbles. Even her favourite lamp was wrapped up and stacked there, the light bulb on a box beside it. After a light perusal of the objects, she turned her eyes suspiciously at a box in a corner. Had they dared? Meilin went over and cut the tape and opened it. Only her shoes and other bedroom things were inside. After this assurance, she went over the rest of the luggage checking on things until she was certain of all the contents. Only a couple of things weren't there that by their sheer size and value she was sure her mother had strongly objected to their removal. It was fine, she didn't need them. She didn't need half of the things there but the girls had taken so much trouble to get her that much she couldn't turn them down. Meilin closed again the trunks with the things she didn't need at the moment, leaving only the one with her desk things open which she started removing and placing in her desk. When she was opening the boxes, she found inside one of them one of the missing objects. Well, only the core of it; she took the hard drive in her hands. When she had left her house, she'd taken her notebook with her containing all of her personal information, but she had to leave her desktop computer and all of her works in there because she couldn't carry it. She'd never thought of taking the hard drive, she was too upset to think much. Apparently, her cousins were cleverer than her or her mother and seeing they were banned from taking the whole thing had opted for removing the information from it. That took a weight off of her mind, for even if she could get the arrangement to finish her career there, she dreaded to think of all the work she'd have to redo without her information. Now she could actually focus on her future without having to worry about the past.

The clock struck nine at that moment. Time for breakfast. Meilin got up and headed to the dining room to find Tomoyo already sitting there with Spinel by her side and Nakuru bustling about with things.

"So when do we start?" was Meilin's response to Tomoyo's greeting as she sat down to breakfast. She wanted to start right away with the search. Nakuru served the tea and went to the kitchen to get her plate.

"I'm sorry, we don't." Tomoyo said sadly. "I can't go with you."

"What? Why?"

"I spoke to Eriol and he agreed to lend you a hand. He will get all the information from the case and keep Ryusuke from finding out what you're doing. But in exchange, I have to stay out of it. He forbade me from going with you." Tomoyo explained quietly.

Meilin's face of disbelief turned into disappointment when she grasped the concept of what she said.

"He's worried about our safety. Two women alone searching for a killer is foolhardy. It's too dangerous and so he won't let me go." Tomoyo was speaking calmly, as if she was talking about the weather only.

"I don't understand." Or rather, she didn't want to believe it. Somehow of late, she had come to consider Tomoyo as her best friend. She had been nursing the idea of hanging out with her in the same way as Sakura used to do it. This new enterprise would be just like that, one of those old time adventures that they used to go out to when they were kids, only this time she'd be the protagonist not Sakura. She'd be the one the attention would focus on. And she'd have a loyal friend to help and encourage her.

She thought about what she'd do, what she'd wear, how she'd act, and suddenly remembered the real reason she was doing all that. She remembered Ryusuke's drawn face, his tired eyes, his persistence and neverending spirits. He was working so hard to help others without looking for any gratefulness. She felt ashamed of herself instantly. She was thinking about having fun and attention while the man she loved was working for everyone without getting any recognition for his efforts, and still that's the way he'd have it. He was working to keep her safe. She shook herself and made up her mind.

"I'll go, even if I have to go alone."

"You won't be going alone. Nakuru will go with you, as your bodyguard." Meilin opened her mouth, still unable to grasp it, but didn't know what to say to that. Tomoyo continued explaining calmly in detail. "The plan is that Nakuru will be accompanying you as an assistant as you go about doing the arrangements for the wedding, visiting florists, confectioneries, decorators, etc. All in different parts of London. Meanwhile, in between those scheduled meetings, you and she can drop in one or two places along the way to take a look or just casually have a chat with people on the area. Nobody would suspect of anything if you're just two women with shopping bags. And if things become dangerous, Nakuru can protect you much better than I'd be able to do it with any amount of bodyguards. Besides, you will need someone on the outside who can give you the information on where to go and my office is quite protected." She finished smiling.

"You thought up all this last night?" Meilin asked impressed. It seemed that every detail was thought of.

"Actually, it's Eriol's plan. He thought it up last night. In order for Ryusuke not to get suspicious, the one helping you should be myself, not him, and thus came the idea of having an outside base of operations. It's easier to communicate that way in case of emergency. So, what do you think?"

Meilin was about to answer but a voice interrupted her from behind.

"We'll have so much fun! We'll go everywhere together and see everything, and I'll protect you, don't worry." Seemed that Nakuru was all set for the adventure.

"Well... If you don't have any problems with it, I guess it's fine." Meilin gave in seeing the guardian's eagerness.

"You'll see! We'll have so much fun together!" Nakuru hugged Meilin until she couldn't breathe any longer and was waving her arms to be released. Tomoyo ran to her rescue and the girls went on making plans while having breakfast.

In the meantime, Spinel was doing his best to go unnoticed by the women. His master had asked him to look after them just in case. That didn't mean he was in any way going to get into their projects.

NA:

Gomenasai! I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I've had too many personal problems in my life that kept me in a constant state of stress hard to bear, not to mention the mental blockage it caused which lasted for over a month with not a single word coming out right from it. Let's hope it's over and I can return to a better writing schedule now. I want so much to make this story move on.

I hope this chapter turned out well, since it was made during that blockage and likely to be riddled with errors. So if you see anything at all you wish to comment on, good or bad, please do so. It'd be a tremendous help. I need your reviews to help me improve. Onegai!

Arigato!!!