Hello everyone! Welcome back to the latest chapter of Card Captor Megumi! I know its been some time since I posted anything and I do apologize, but life has a way of getting in the way sometimes. Plus, I will admit I struggled a bit with this chapter as it is an important one in my mind. But I finally managed to get it done! So without any further ado let's get on with the show!

Chapter 5: A Family's Duty

"Ohhh nooo…" Megumi moaned. She was frozen in place and had no idea what to do or how to handle this turn of events. She had been afraid of this very thing, that someone would find out that she was running around with a magic wand and a living stuffed animal trying to catch a bunch of escaped magic cards. The last thing she had been expecting was that it would be the new girl Asuna Diadoji to be the one to catch her at it, and on video no less! But then something clicked in Megumi's mind, Asuna didn't seem to be freaked out in the slightest. Then came the realization that Asuna had called Glow by its name! Which meant she already knew about the cards! Before Megumi could say anything or puzzle any of this out Asuna ran up and wrapped her arms around Megumi in a big hug which really threw her for a loop. Megumi looked at her with an incredible amount of discomfort on her face.

"Oh I can't believe you're the potential new master of the cards Megumi! I was so surprised when I figured out who you were, but then it has been years since we've seen each other, so it's no wonder I didn't recognize you at first, the glasses alone threw me off! I was hoping it wouldn't take me long to find you! But to find out you're the one that's capturing the Sakura cards, well, it's just so unbelievable! Fate can be so funny sometimes!" Asuna rambled this all off at once as she pulled back and gripped Megumi's shoulders, a huge smile across her face.

"Hunh? Wha…? I don't…" Megumi began to stutter out. At least this strange girl wasn't hugging her anymore, but she was saying a bunch of things that didn't make any sense to her. Megumi was trying to regain her composure but was finding it rather difficult. For the second time in two days she was feeling completely overloaded and a little out of control. Asuna completely let go of Megumi at last and settled down.

"So, where's Kero? I could have sworn I saw him trying to get out of your bag back in class when I was introducing myself, but I thought I was imagining things at the time. I know he was with you while you were chasing down Glow, I saw him on camera. I've always wanted to meet him!"

"Right here!" Kero said as he popped out of Megumi's bag, much to her chagrin. He flew into the air in front of Asuna and did a little bow mid-air. "It's a pleasure to meet you milady!"

"Charmed, I'm sure!" Asuna said with a giggle as she did a little curtsy.

"I'm getting a headache…" Megumi mumbled. She put a hand over her face and shook her head a little. "So, you know about the cards?"

"Oh yes, our family has known all about them for generations."

"But, but how?"

"Hunh? Why my great-great-grandmother Tomoyo of course, didn't Kero tell you about her?"

"Well, he mentioned her now that I think about it." Megumi said thinking back to the conversation she had with Kero during lunch earlier in the day. "We didn't get into the particulars though."

"Well that's fine, I can explain everything back at my place."

"Your place? But I should really be getting back home and all." Megumi tried to start walking away, she wanted nothing more than to get away. But Asuna didn't seem to be listening, she just grabbed Megumi's arm and led her to the waiting limo. Nearby, unseen by Megumi, Haruna and Saki watched as Megumi reluctantly got into the back seat of the limo followed by Asuna. They had just arrived and missed the earlier exchange between the two girls. Kero had also been out of sight as he had ducked back into Megumi's bag so as not to be spotted by the limo driver.

"Okay… this is getting stranger by the minute. Who was that girl with Megumi?" Saki asked.

"She seemed really familiar." Haruna scrunched up her face in concentration for a moment before her eyes went wide in surprise. "Wait, was that. No, could it really be her?"

"What? You know who that is?"

"Maybe, if it's really who I think it is, it could be one of the best things that's happened for Megumi in a very long time. At least it could be if Megumi is willing to let someone in for once."

"Here, have something to drink." Asuna said, handing a bottle of water to Megumi who nodded her head in silent thanks. Megumi had to admit that it was a pretty swanky car. The interior was illuminated by blue back lighting that ran in two recessed strips along the roof of the car. The seats were soft and comfy. There was a small fridge and who knew what other perks hidden around the space. As she looked around Megumi opened the top of the water bottle and gratefully took a big swig. "You must be thirsty after chasing after the Glow Card like that. I'm guessing hungry too. I'll have our cook whip something up when we get to the house. Oh, that reminds me, I have cake for you back at home Kero."

"Yeah! Cake!" Kero cried out cheerfully as he crawled back out of Megumi's bag. The window to the front of the limo was closed so the driver couldn't see in the back. Asuna tapped a control pad on a nearby armrest. Almost immediately a keyboard and holo-screen folded out from the side of the car in front of her. Asuna logged in and typed a few commands in. Megumi couldn't quite tell what was being displayed since it was backwards from her point of view. Asuna had removed the control goggle from her head and placed it next to the hover cam which was resting in its charging cradle.

"So, I know you have Glow and Jump." Asuna said as she continued to type away at the keyboard. "Have you found any others yet?"

"Uh…" Megumi wasn't sure how much she should tell anyone about any of this. She was very wary at the moment, as well as still being very confused about things, like how Asuna seemed to know all about the cards or why she acted like they had known each other their entire lives.

"Just Windy. She only started capturing the cards last night." Kero blurted out all of a sudden. Megumi shot him a look of dismay at his apparent lack of discretion.

"So that was that magic spike I picked up last night!" Asuna said as she slapped her fist into her palm. "I thought it might be the book being opened!"

"Hunh? What are you talking about? How do you even know about this stuff? And how did you know I was after a card tonight?" Megumi asked.

"I get it, you must have a million questions! Don't worry, I promise I'll explain everything when we get to my place. Better to talk about it someplace with more privacy. Oh, it's so good to see you again Megumi!" Asuna shut down the computer she was working on and it folded back into the wall of the limo. Her earlier enthusiasm had returned in full force and for a moment Megumi was afraid she was going to be on the receiving end of another awkward hug. "I've wanted to get in contact with you for so long! I don't know how many times I searched for you on the net! You don't have any kind of social media presence. And for the life of me I couldn't remember the names of your older siblings. Your older sister, is her name Hotaru?"

"No, it's Haruna." Megumi said slowly.

"Haruna! Of course!" Asuna slapped her forehead. "I was close, but not close enough. I couldn't even remember your brother's name. It doesn't help that there are a lot of families named Ishida either. I had no idea if you had moved, I am so glad you didn't! Otherwise I don't think I would have ever found you!"

"I, uhhhh." Megumi was lost. She was beginning to think that Asuna had her confused with someone else. At least that seemed like the most plausible explanation. But she couldn't be sure there wasn't something more going on. Asuna didn't even seem to notice her trepidation and confusion. She didn't think the dark-haired girl was that thick headed, she seemed really smart in fact. Maybe it was just her excitement blinding her?

"Ah here we are!" Asuna said.

"Oh cool! You guys still have the old house!" Kero said excitedly. Megumi's jaw dropped at the sight of the large mansion set in front of a wooded area. She had heard of this place before, but had never seen it in person. The story she had always heard was that it was owned by some rich family that didn't live there. That was no longer the case it seemed. The limo glided through the front gate onto the grounds and stopped in front of the main entrance. A couple other vehicles were in the driveway as well. A moving van obviously made sense, as did a couple of cars from local construction and plumbing companies.

"You better hide Kero, the staff doesn't know about you, we don't want to freak them out." Asuna said. Kero quickly dived back into Megumi's bag. The limo's driver opened the door a moment later and Asuna hopped out followed by Megumi. The two girls walked up to the ornate double doors which were opened by a pair of maids who bowed as they entered. Asuna led them upstairs to a room with a solid oak door. "Here we are, my humble room and control center!" She said brightly. She opened the door to a room dominated by a large four post bed with a canopy, an expertly carved clothes dresser and a full-length mirror standing in one corner of the room.

"Hey, this is Tomoyo's old room!" Kero said as he poked his head back out of the bag once Asuna had closed the door behind them. "The furniture is different obviously, but there's no mistaking it! Got to say I like what you've done with the place!"

"Glad you approve!" Asuna said brightly. "So Megumi, let me see if I can clear things up a bit. Like I said my great-great-grandmother was Tomoyo Diadoji, she was Sakura's cousin and best friend, the two of them grew up together. Shortly after Sakura started collecting the cards Tomoyo saw Sakura as she was capturing one of the cards and recorded her doing it. From then on she followed Sakura on her adventures to find all the cards and videotaped her as she did it. She also made costumes for Sakura to wear when she did."

"That was one of Tomoyo's various talents. Besides having a real eye for fashion, she was an amazing singer as well." Kero chimed in. "Hey, didn't you say there would be cake?" He asked as his stomach rumbled. Asuna gestured to a chocolate cake sitting on a nearby table.

"It should still be warm, I called ahead and asked out chef to make it. I figured you would be hungry."

"Yes! Fresh grub!" Kero cried in joy as he dashed through the air and dug into the provided dessert. Just as he did there was a knock at the door and Asuna went to answer it. She kept the door partly closed to block the view into the room and when she came back she was carrying two trays with plates of food on it.

"I hope curry is okay. I wasn't sure what you might like to eat."

"Curry is fine, thank you." Megumi said. She was just now realizing how hungry she was and dug in. The food was really good, which wasn't much of a surprise considering the family had their own chef on call. "So, Sakura and Tomoyo were really close then?" Megumi asked as she ate.

"Oh, yes. For many years, until… Well, it's hard to explain."

"What happened? Did they have some sort of falling out?"

"I guess you could say that. It's a sad story really. But I don't think we really have time to go into it fully at the moment. Let's just say some events happened that drove them apart and never got settled."

"That doesn't really explain much." Megumi said.

"I know, but like I said it's a long, complicated story and involves several people you're not really familiar with yet. It can wait until you're more up to speed and there's more time to go into it. But for now, let me show you this." Asuna opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a framed photograph. "This was one of the things that's part of my duties anyways, to return this photo to you Kero."

"Oh hey! I was looking for this at the house last night! I thought it was lost for sure!" Kero said. He came over as he wiped his mouth off having finished off the cake in under two minutes. Megumi took in the picture. It was a group shot in front of what looked like the abandoned Kinomoto house, only it wasn't in ruin. She instantly recognized Sakura in a light blue dress. Kero was also easy to pick out, as he was floating in the air over Sakura's shoulder. Next to Sakura was a solemn looking young man with slightly messy brown hair in a button up white shirt and black slacks. Next to him was an excited looking girl whose black hair was done up in pair of buns with a ponytail hanging down from each one. In the center on the other side of Sakura was a beautiful young woman with long purplish flowing hair that looked a lot like Asuna, she had an air of serenity and grace about her that was hard to miss. Then there was a young man with dark hair, glasses, and a mischievous grin on his face. A woman with long brown hair, maybe in her late twenties stood next to him. Over the dark-haired man's shoulder floated a creature that looked a lot like Kero, only it was all black with more pointed cat like ears and blue eyes. The last two were even stranger then Kero, there was a woman with pink hair and black and pink butterfly wings on her back. The other was a man in white robes with long white hair and white bird wings on his back. For some reason he seemed kind of familiar to Megumi, though she couldn't say why.

"Tomoyo retrieved this from Sakura's house shortly after she passed. This was the last time the entire group was together." Asuna said. "Apparently not long after this picture was taken is when they fell apart."

"Yeah, it was." Kero said a little sadly.

"Let me point everyone out so you know who's who at least. That's Sakura right there and you obviously recognize Kero."

"I recognize Sakura from a picture back at her old house."

"Oh good, so you're already a little familiar with her. Great, that makes things a little easier. Okay, so the guy in the white shirt next to her is Syaoran Li, his family are descendants of Clow Reed. At first he was Sakura's rival in trying to capture the cards. But he slowly overcame his competitiveness with her and after Sakura was named the card mistress, he became a close ally and friend. He eventually fell in love with Sakura."

"Okay, keep going." Megumi said.

"Next to him his Meiling Li, Syaoran's cousin. She didn't have any magic powers herself so she wasn't a candidate to become master of the cards. But she was a master martial artist and did her best to help Syaoran. She didn't like Sakura at first, she saw her a as rival for Syaoran's affections, but she was eventually won over by Sakura's kindness and the two became friends."

"Okay, so who's the guy with the glasses? He looks like he was trouble." Megumi asked.

"That's Eriol." Kero answered.

"Oh, so that's Eriol. You mentioned him last night. Said he was the reincarnation of Clow Reed, right?"

"Yes. Eriol Hiiragizawa, After Sakura became the master of the cards Eriol showed up to put challenges in front of her so she would transform them into the Sakura Cards. The black creature that looks like Kero and the woman with the butterfly wings were his Guardians, Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon." Asuna explained. Megumi wanted to ask more about the whole reincarnation thing as she hadn't gotten anything from Kero the previous night, but Asuna pressed on before she could get any more information. "The woman next to Eriol is Kaho Mizuki, she was kind of a mystery at first. She showed up while Sakura was capturing the cards. As it turned out she had dated Sakura's older brother at one point. She had Clow Reed's bell and could have been a candidate for card mistress, but that wasn't her goal. It was later revealed she was working for Eriol as his assistant and she had been sent to observe events as they played out. At first that's all there was between them, but in later years they ended up getting married."

"What about the guy with the bird wings? Who's he?"

"That's Yue. The other guardian. Where he is right now, who knows." Asuna said with a shrug.

"And it will stay that way until he decides to show himself." Kero said.

"Why is that?" Megumi asked. Asuna looked at Kero who just rubbed the back of his head, and not for the first time Megumi felt like she wasn't getting the whole story. "What are you not telling me?" She asked.

"Let's just say Yue has his job to do just like me. Don't worry about it right now, it's fine. He'll show up when it's time." Kero said with a dismissive wave of his paw. Megumi knew there was more to it, it was obvious to her at least, but figured she wasn't going to get the answers to all her questions right then so she let the matter drop.

"So what about the girl with the hair and eyes like yours Asuna?" She asked instead.

"That's my great-great-grandmother Tomoyo. Now we're getting to the heart of things. Like I said there was an incident I guess you could call it. Some things were said and a lot of complicated emotions were involved and things between all of them were never the same after everything happened." She looked at Kero who was now completely engrossed in licking the crumbs and chocolate frosting from his arms. "I only have Tomoyo's side of things from her dairies and from what she wrote she never held any ill will towards Sakura, but she could never bring herself to talk to her again." Megumi wasn't sure what this had to do with anything. There seemed to be so many pieces to this puzzle and she didn't know how they all fit together yet. "Now despite everything that happened Tomoyo was looking ahead towards the future, and she knew that one day after they were all gone the cards would make a return at some point. So, she decided it would become our family's duty to be ready for that inevitability. That it would be our family's job to do everything in our power to support whoever Kero choose as the candidate to become the next master of the cards. Personally I think it was her way of trying to make up for what happened." Asuna went and stood in front of the large mirror. Megumi wondered what she was up to. Asuna put her hand on the mirror and spoke in a clear, strong sounding voice. "Asuna Diadoji, password: magical girl." A slight hum that was barely audible began to come from the mirror. Megumi let out a gasp of surprise as a green laser beam appeared from a point near the top of the mirror and began to scan Asuna's face. At the same time she saw a glow coming from behind the mirror's surface as it scanned the dark-haired girl's palm.

"Woah, what is that?" Kero asked.

"It's a biometric security system built into the mirror." Megumi said who was more than a little impressed at the setup. She turned her head to look at Kero. "It reads her facial features and palm print as well as analyzes her voice pattern to confirm her identity."

"Wow, that's pretty cool." Kero said.

"She's definitely serious about her security." Megumi said.

Once the mirror finished its scan it shut off which was followed by a section of the wall to begin to slowly slide into the ceiling with a slight rumble revealing a hidden room. Megumi got up from where she was sitting so she could get a better look at the now revealed space. It was a stark contrast to Asuna's bedroom, which had a very homey, comfortable feel to it. The hidden room reminded Megumi of a high-tech lab, stark white walls, and industrial equipment. It wasn't a very big space either, maybe fifteen by fifteen feet. To one side of the room was control consul. In the center of the room was a four-foot-high column with a clear domed top and on one wall was a bank of machinery. Megumi had no idea as to what the purpose of the equipment was but everything in the room appeared to be state of the art. Just seeing all this Megumi began to understand why Asuna had called this her control room.

"Wow…" Megumi said involuntarily as she stepped inside.

"I'll second that." Kero said as he floated above her shoulder.

"As you can see, we've made some improvements to the old place." Asuma said with a bit of a giggle. She went and stood beside the domed column. "Anyways, like I said Tomoyo started to prepare for the eventual return of the cards. She created a database of all the cards as well as tools to help in tracking them down. Now she didn't know when they would reappear, just that they would at some point. So she passed the duty to her son, my great grandfather who passed it to my grandfather who passed it to my father who passed it to me. Well, I should say I insisted I get to take it over. Ah, this is so exciting! I always wanted to be the one to help with the return of the cards!"

"You mentioned something about picking up a magic spike last night." Megumi said feeling a little exasperated.

"Oh, right. Last night I was in here settling in and checking the equipment when the arcane tracker registered a huge spike in magical wavelengths. It was completely off the charts. Before I could even grasp what I was seeing there were dozens of smaller signals shooting off all over the place." Asuna said.

"I'm sorry, arcane tracker?" Megumi asked. Kero also had a quizzical look on his face.

"It's a device Tomoyo designed, what she called mage tech." Asuna went to the control console and tapped a command into it. The column hummed to life, the glass dome lighting up. Megumi went over to it, looking inside she saw a holographic display of Tomeda and the surrounding area. As she examined the map she could see little yellow blips coming and going. "You see, the arcane tracker picks up magical energy and displays it's general location and strength on the holomap." Asuna came up beside Megumi and looked at the map with her. "What you're seeing right now, those yellow blips, is background magical energy. It just kind of builds up suddenly and fades just as quick."

"Awesome!" Kero said. "It's like a high tech lazen board!"

"That's where Tomoyo got the idea." Asuna explained. "She came up with the concept of combining magic with modern technology. It uses magic glyphs and energy to function."

"But how'd she pull that off? Tomoyo didn't have any magical powers of her own." Kero asked.

"She worked with Eriol to get it functioning. The group may have fallen apart as a whole, but Tomoyo still kept up good relations with him and Kaho. Eriol agreed with her that preparing for the return of the cards was a good idea. His family and ours stayed in contact for a while, but at one point they just seemed to disappear off the face of the planet."

"You said you can pick up magical signals with this thing. Does that mean you can find all the cards right now?" Megumi asked.

"Not really." Asuna said. "The arcane tracker has its limitations. For one it can't home in on the exact position of a card like the lazen board can. It's just not that precise. At best it'll get within maybe thirty meters of its location. And there's a limit to its range, about fifty kilometers give or take. I've been studying the plans and notes Tomoyo and Eriol left behind and I am hoping that I can find a way to extend the range and tighten the focus, but that may take a while, if I can even do it at all. Plus, if a card is dormant or hiding itself it won't show up at all and there's nothing I can do about that."

"Well, that's better than nothing I suppose." Megumi said. She tried and failed to stifle a sudden yawn. "Sorry, I'm kind of tired. It's been a long day."

"Oh of course! Sorry, I can get a little long winded sometimes. I'm sure you need some time to process all this as well. I'll have the limo give you a lift home." Asuna shut down the arcane tracker and sealed the control room once they were out. She put in a call to the limo driver on her wrist cell and took Megumi back downstairs. "I'll see you tomorrow Megumi!" Asuna said outside the mansion's front doors. She once again enveloped Megumi in a fierce hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you again! I've missed my best friend!"

"Uh… yeah." Megumi said. If Asuna picked up on her trepidation she didn't show any sign. Megumi sat in silence in the back of the car, trying to piece together the nights events. It was still so confusing for her, especially Asuna's puzzling familiarity with her.

"I guess we're lucky you know Asuna. I think she's going to be a huge help to us. How come you didn't tell me you two were friends?" Kero said from his hiding place in Megumi's bag once they had gotten out of the limo in front of Megumi's house.

"Kero, before today, I've never even spoken to Asuna Diadoji. I've no clue who she is or how she knows me!"

And with that this chapter comes to an end! I hope you all enjoyed it! As always please leave a review to let me know how I did! I'm already working on the next chapter and it's one I've been looking forward to! With that said!

Next chapter: Before Megumi can even begin to try and fully comprehend the mystery of Asuna or how she seemingly knows her a mysterious, non-stop rain storm drenches the town! That's right folks, next time it's the Rain Card! How will Megumi handle this rather mischievous card? Tune in next time to find out! Till next time, this is Shocklance, signing out!