Chapter 2
"Timmy!" Cheresa said running into Tamara's room "what happened to you?" she asked sitting down beside the bed "she has a bit of a bump on her head that's all" Arashi told her "so she's okay?" Cheresa asked "yes she just needs her rest" Arashi replied "you can sleep in this room with her tonight if you want" she added, Cheresa nodded "yes please" Arashi got up and walked over to the closet and grabbed out some more blankets "what are they for?" Cheresa asked "I have to make your bed" Arashi told her "oh let me help" Cheresa offered getting up "thank you"
Once they had completed the bed Sorata walked in "let's go and see the others" he said holding snacks in one hand and drinks in the other "I'll take the drinks" Arashi said taking the drinks out of his hand "come on Cheresa-san, you won't be any help sitting there like a lost puppy" Sorata said, Cheresa sighed "okay" she got up and followed Arashi and Sorata out the door.
~^(*)^~
Sorata opened the door to the room the rest of the group was in "yo!" he called out as he entered the room with Arashi behind him, Cheresa slipped in and walked over to Kurogane "you didn't tell me she was hurt" she whispered.
"I thought you figured that out" Kurogane whispered beck.
"So you're all awake now!" Sorata said as Arashi closed the door, Cheresa turned away from Kurogane and listened to Sorata.
"Hey no need to get all tense, you came from Yuuko-san's place, right?"
"Yuuko-san?" Syaoran asked a bit confused "you know the witch of the dimensions, the far east witch. She's called by lots of names" Sorata explained as Arashi grabbed a blanket out of the closet.
"Here" she said handing it to Syaoran "ah! Thank you very much" he said taking it.
"I am Arisugawa Sorata" Sorata said introducing himself as Syaoran put the blanket over Sakura.
"I am Arashi" Arashi told him standing up.
"By the way, this is my lovely wife, I call her my 'Honey' engrave that in your minds" Sorata said, Arashi took the plate off his hand ignoring him, she then handed everyone a drink "I'm Syaoran" Syaoran said when she handed him his drink.
Sorata turned to Kurogane "if you flirt with Honey, I will kill you!" he said before spinning around with the bowl of snack in his hands "why do you say that only to me?!" Kurogane shouted as Sorata danced around saying "Rule! Rule!" he then turned towards Kurogane again and said "but I'm serious!" with a thumbs up "I WON'T FLIRT!" Kurogane yelled as Cheresa snickered in her corner of the room.
"Well…" Sorata started picking up Mokona "first of all, did Yuuko-san give you this?" he asked, Mokona put up one of its paws "Mokona Modoki!" Mokona said introducing itself, Sorata looked at Mokona "that's long, can I call you Mokona?" he asked as Mokona danced around on his hand.
"Agreed! Yeah!" Mokona replied.
"I heard your story from the man over there… I mean the blonde guy, Mr. Black over there is too mean looking to ask" Sorata said to Syaoran
"Shut up" Kurogane growled as Fai laughed.
"For one thing gentlemen… and lady, you are a little lucky" Sorata said now addressing them all.
"Hmm… in what way?" Fai asked.
"Mokona can't choose the next world, right? This is the first world you arrived at and there is nothing but happiness, this is the Hanshin Republic" Sorata announced opening a side door to show them a huge city with lights everywhere and big signs on top of building "Wow, I wish Timmy could see this" Cheresa said to herself.
~^(*)^~
"Where am I?" Tamara asked herself, she looked around but all she saw was darkness.
"Hello" A voice called out from behind her, Tamara turned around to find a mermaid sitting there "who are you?" Tamara asked "I am a Kudan of water" the mermaid replied "do you want my power?" the mermaid asked.
Tamara nodded "yes please" she replied.
"What would you do with my power?" the mermaid asked tilting its head to the side, its long black hair slipping to the side "I would fight to help my friends" Tamara said, the mermaid nodded "very well, from now on in this world I'm your Kudan, my name is Asshina" Asshina said before turning into a ball of water and floating inside Tamara's body.
Tamara woke up feeling lightheaded "I have a Kudan" she said to herself sitting up, the door opened to reveal Cheresa as she came into the room "Timmy your awake" she said closing the door "what did I say about that name Cheresa" Tamara said holding her head "yeah I know, anyway you should have been with us, Sora-chan and Arashi told us all about the country and-"
"Cheresa I know all about the country remember?" Tamara said cutting Cheresa off "yeah but you should have seen Kurogane's face when he got hit by Sora-chan's Kudan, it was hilarious"
[Flashback]
"And I have one more question" Fai said putting up his hand "where are we exactly? Who owns this room?"
"Good question" Sorata said "this is an empty room in an old traditional apartment house that my honey and I manage"
He answered pulling Arashi into a little hug before zoning out for a few seconds.
"You! Wake up! Sorata shouted at Kurogane who had fallen asleep, Kurogane then jerked forward like something whacked him across the head "what was that?!" he shouted jumping up, Syaoran put his arm over Sakura to protect her, Fai spun around to face Kurogane and Cheresa burst out laughing.
"I didn't feel an enemy! Who did that?" Kurogane said looking left and right.
"That proves what a good ninja you are" Cheresa said holding her stomach before bursting into fits of laugher again "shut up!" Kurogane growled before turning to Sorata "Basted! You threw that didn't you?" he said rubbing the back of his head.
"You were in a corner. If he threw anything, it wouldn't hit you there" Fai stated "it had to come from above"
"What?" Sorata said confused "it was my Kudan, what else?"
"Kudan?" everyone said but Cheresa who was still laughing.
"Shut up!" Kurogane yelled at Cheresa "shouldn't your friend be learning this too?"
Cheresa shook her head "nope, she already knows all of this"
[End Flashback]
"And then Sora-chan and Arashi explained what Kudan were before we got assigned rooms for the night" Cheresa said sitting on her bed, Tamara nodded "it wasn't nice to laugh like that though" she said lying back down "yeah but he deserved it after what he did to you" Cheresa said hoping into bed "yeah but he had the right and didn't know what would happen" Tamara told her as she turned to face her "he does now" Cheresa said.
"What do you mean?" Tamara asked a bit confused "after you ran out I told him why you are like this" Cheresa said, Tamara sat upright "Cheresa! You know I don't like people knowing why I'm like this" she said getting out of bed.
"Yes but I had to tell them tha-"
"Them?! You told them all?!" Tamara shouted, Cheresa sat up "just Fai and Kurogane"
"I need a drink" Tamara said leaving the room.
Tamara walked down the hall towards the stairs "hey brat"
Tamara turned around to find Kurogane walking towards her "I have a name you know, it's Tamara" she said "and look what ever Cheresa said to you before just forget, it's a bunch of nonsense" she added turning around, she was about to go own the stairs when Kurogane grabbed her arm "look about what I said, I'm sorry" he told her as she looked at him in confusion, Tamara smiled "thank you but I should probably be the one to say sorry, after all I was the one that teased you, threatened you and hit you in the head with a pebble" she said looking at her feet, Kurogane let go of her arm "right well goodnight" he said before walking back to his room "goodnight Kurogane" Tamara said loud enough for him to hear before going downstairs.
Once she found water and a cup Tamara went back to her room to find Cheresa already asleep "goodnight Cheresa" Tamara said before climbing into her own bed and falling asleep.
~^(*)^~
Tamara's POV.
I opened my eyes the next morning to find Cheresa gone "where is she?" I wondered.
I pulled myself out of bed and walked to the door, ignoring the throbbing in my head.
I opened the door and poked my head out, I spotted Syaoran closing his door and decided to ask him "umm, Syaoran-kun?" I called out, stepping away from the door, he turned to look at me "where is everyone?" I asked smiling.
"Oh their downstairs having breakfast" he answered walking up to me "I was just going down, would you like to come with me?" he asked, I nodded "yes please if you don't mind" I replied and walked beside him as he went down the hallway, should I tell him where the feather is? Or should I just let them find out on their own I mean if I tell them where it is we can move on faster, but they won't make the friends they made in the book and they-
"Is something wrong?" Syaoran asked cutting my thoughts, I shook my head with a smile "nope just a bit hungry" I told him, I stopped at the top of the stairs.
"Syaoran?" he stopped and turned to look at me "yes?"
"Why do you fight? Even if it's to protect someone what heart is there in fighting?" I asked truly wondering what the answer is.
"What do you mean?" he asked, I sighed "never mind, let's go and eat" I said putting on a smile, he nodded and we went downstairs.
As soon as I was on the bottom step I got bombarded by a missile named Cheresa "Timmy! I'm so sorry for telling them, please forgive me, pleeeeaaasssee!" she wined, hugging me around the middle.
I laughed as best as I could in my mood and she looked up at me with confused eyes "that's okay Chi just don't tell anymore alright?" I asked her giving her a fake smile that could rival Fai's.
Cheresa jumped back and nodded her head vigorously, her eyes filled with determination.
I smiled "let's eat" I said looking over at the table everyone was sitting at.
~^(*)^~
Cheresa's POV.
Something's wrong I thought the moment Tamara laughed, she only laughed like that when she was anything but happy, I looked up at her and the look in her eyes confirmed my suspicions.
"That's okay Chi just don't tell anymore alright?" she said to me and I nodded, determined to find out what was wrong.
I could see Syaoran still standing beside her with confused eyes staring at Tamara and I, I was about to say something when Tamara spoke up first "let's eat" she said looking at the table behind me.
"We are having fish" I said looking at Tamara to see her scrunch her face up a bit, I laughed "I'm not hungry" she said sourly and turned around to walk back up stairs.
"Wait Timmy-"
Tamara stopped in her tracks and turned to me giving me an evil glare that made me nervous.
"I mean… that is... we never properly introduced ourselves, maybe we should do that now seeing as how we're all together" I said waving my hands in front of me in defeat.
Tamara blinked, confused for a minute then realized that I was right "oh yeah how rude of us" she said rubbing the back of her head "I already introduced myself so you're the one that's rude really" I muttered, Tamara glared at me "I said how rude of us" she repeated with force, she then put a smile on "anyway" she walked over to the table with me following her.
"Um excuse me" she piped up to the others at the table, Fai looked up as Kurogane stopped what he was doing without looking up "I've noticed that I haven't introduced myself properly yet" she said as Syaoran and I sat down.
Kurogane looked up "isn't your name Timmy or something?" he asked and I snickered, Tamara gave me a glare and I stopped laughing.
"No" she said icily "my name is Tamara Warner and this is my friend Cheresa Chison. I hope we can get along during our time together" Tamara told them trying to sound nice and polite but failing miserably "now if you'll excuse me I'm not really hungry so I'll go to my room" she said turning around, I was about to say something when a low rumbling caught everyone's attention.
"What was that?" Syaoran asked looking towards Tamara who was facing away from us, Fai laughed "it sounded like Kuro-wan wan growling" he said poking Kurogane.
"It wasn't me!" Kurogane shouted and Tamara ran upstairs.
"What's wrong with Tamara-chan?" Fai asked looking at the stairs, I laughed for a second before answering "that sound we just heard was her stomach" I said grabbing a fish "but Tamara-san said she wasn't hungry" Syaoran told me, I shook my head "that's because she has very sensitive taste buds, you see Timmy-chan doesn't eat very often, probably just breakfast and dinner but she doesn't like a lot of food and this food…" I pointed to the food on the table "is food she doesn't like so she didn't want to sound rude so she said she wasn't hungry, but the truth is from what I heard from her stomach just now she's starving but… she's so stubborn she won't listen to me and try to eat this food" I explained grabbing another piece of fish from the table.
"Oh that's awful how can anyone live like that?" Fai said looking back over to the stairs.
"She doesn't care for her own wellbeing right?" Kurogane spoke up, his attention still on his food, I nodded "yes, how did you know?" I asked, he shrugged "the way she acted last night when I was looking for her" he answered then started eating again, I shrugged "From what I heard it sounded like she was in self defence mode. Well in any case she needs to eat, who knows when the next time we can eat will be, but she won't listen to me so what…" I trailed off thinking, I looked at the others and an idea popped into my head.
I grabbed a bowl and filled it with some steaming rice, I then turned around and walked over to Fai and placed the bowl in front of him.
He looked up at me confused "uhh-"
"Please take this to Tamara and get her to eat it" I begged cutting him off "I have a feeling she'll listen to you more then anyone here" I added.
"B-but why me?" he asked a bit surprised by the request, I shook my head "I'll explain later just please" I begged, he reluctantly agreed to go "yay thank you" I said with a big smile.
"I'm not going to force her to eat I'm just going to ask her to" Fai said standing up, I nodded "yep that's all I ask for" I told him as he walked up the stairs.
Once he was gone I went back to my seat "umm, Cheresa-san why did you send Fai-san up there?" Syaoran asked, I smiled "because Timmy-chan won't be able to refuse Fai" I answered with a grin before going back to my food ignoring the confused stares I was getting.
~^(*)^~
Normal POV.
Tamara entered her room and hit her stomach "shut up" she said walking towards her bed, she picked up her bag and looked through it for something to eat.
"What's this?" she asked herself taking out a letter addressed to her, she opened it and looked at the signature "oh it's the letter Yuuko gave me before we left" she read the letter, her eyes widened "huh?" she exclaimed.
'Dear Tamara,
I know this may come as a shock to you but you cannot tell the others who the enemies that you meet along the journey are.
It was Hitsuzen that Cheresa made those wishes- more like stupidity Tamara thought then continued reading.
'and its Hitsuzen that the others meet these enemies without you telling them, so until the time is right you cannot tell the others about the truth behind this journey, the enemies name or anything else you think they shouldn't know.
Keep them out of danger and remember this, because you know the future of this quest the enemy will be after you for that knowledge so be careful.
Take care,
Yuuko'
"What?" Tamara cried fishing the letter "I don't get this, what's the point of having me here if I'm not suppose to tell them anything, and when the hell is the right time?" Tamara scrunched up the paper and shoved it into her bag.
A knock sounded on the door and Tamara looked up "who is it?" she asked letting her hair down and grabbing her hairbrush out of her bag "it's Fai" Fai's voice floated through to her, Tamara's eyes widened what's he doing up here? she thought before calling out "come in"
Fai opened the door and walked in closing the door behind him "hi Tamara-chan" he said with a smile.
"Umm… Hi, why are you here?" Tamara asked running the brush through her hair, Fai held the bowl in his hands, Tamara stared at it "this is for you" Fai said his smile still in place, Tamara shook her head "thank you but I'm not hungry" she said but as if on cue her stomach growled 'Traitor!' she mentally yelled, Fai laughed "something tells me you are" he said making Tamara blush "well…" he added holding the bowl out a little closer, Tamara reluctantly took it "thank you"
Fai just smiled and sat down on the floor, Tamara started eating "why did you bring this?" she asked looking over at Fai who was looking around the room "oh I came because I was asked to" he replied turning his attention to Tamara "by who?" Tamara asked her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Cheresa-san" Fai said smiling, Tamara shook her head "figures"
Bloody bitch knows I don't like to refuse poeple Tamara ate a little bit more before sighing "umm… Fai?" she said quietly catching Fai's attention "yes Tamara-chan?" he replied looking at Tamara who was staring at her bowl "about your past…" Fai's eyes widened and Tamara looked up at him "I won't tell anyone about it but in case you want to talk to someone about anything I'll always listen" Tamara told him trying to avoid eye contact.
Fai gave a small strained smile "thank you Tamara-chan your very kind"
Tamara blushed "that's what I'm told, everyone used to say that I'm too nice for my own good and one day someone will use that against me" she said to herself forgetting Fai was there, she sat her empty bowl down in front of her "oh well, my life can't get any worse"
Fai stared at her in confusion "umm Tamara-chan?" he called snapping her out of her thoughts, she smiled "oh I'm sorry I forgot you were there" she said with a sad smile.