Sakura: Knight of the Clow: Sixteen
Sakura Kinomoto gently took the fine brush to the piece of stone carving, the red-brown haired woman carefully shifting the dust of ages aside. It was a difficult task trying to reveal the intricate carvings beneath while not damaging any of the fragile material itself. Then the slightly dusty young woman delicately set it down on the white cloth, moving away before taking a camera and snapping off a few shots for their records while being careful not to step on her white lab coat.
Deep beneath the Tokyo Museum the restoration rooms were almost Sakura's private domain, well, hers and the rest of the specialty staff. As an archeologist and historian Sakura often helped research the correct context in which to place the new artifacts in as well as lending a delicate hand in cleaning them up, despite her own modesty about her skills.
"Miss Kinomoto," the new assistant Yue Susanoo asked curiously, his blue hair falling into his eyes, "where did you want this?" In his hands he held up a circular clapper, a type of ceremonial bell that Li had sent to Sakura as part of her Clow exhibit.
"Let me," Sakura took it then nearly dropped the golden artifact as the power pulsed through her. It was clearly a artifact of power, one that her senses told her was connected to Clow Reed, though what it's power might be eluded her.
"Is there something wrong?" Yue asked softly, seeing her stiffen in surprise.
Taking a deep breath Sakura shook off her surprise, smiling at him weakly. "It's all right," she reassure him, "just gathering wool for a moment." With reverence she set it down on a work bench, "I'll be taking a closer look at it later."
"Of course ma'am," Yue nodded.
Sakura noted the time as she stretched out, smiling tiredly. "I think we need to pack it up for the day," she said, "we can always get back to it after the weekend's over." She pulled her labcoat off, dusting off her pants and shirt as she continued, "Thank you very much for your help in sorting out this latest shipment, Yue."
"It was my pleasure, ma'am," Yue answered as he followed Sakura outside and they locked up behind them.
"If you keep calling me ma'am I'm going to have to get violent," Sakura said impishly, "just call me Sakura, please."
Yue hesitated then he nodded, "Sorry Sakura." Bidding her farewell he strode off, soon disappearing into the twilight.
Sakura blinked in surprise as she saw a familiar sportscar waiting at the bottom of the steps up to the Roman designed museum. "Tomoyo?" she asked, smiling at the dark haired reporter who was casually waiting, leaning up against the side of her car.
"Hello Sakura," Tomoyo pushed off from the side of the car then she hesitated, fidgeting a bit. "I was going to call, but since I have to ask a favor I thought I'd do so in person," she said with a self-conscious sort of amusement.
"What kind of favor?" Sakura asked, feeling faintly amused to see the usually bold Tomoyo looking so nervous.
"Let me give you a ride home," Tomoyo opened the door gracefully as she said, "and I'll tell you all about it."
"Curiouser and curiouser," Sakura said as she climbed in, Tomoyo taking the driver's seat and starting up the purring engine. "So what's going on?" she asked.
Tomoyo kept her eyes on the road as she said uncomfortably, "I've mentioned before that my mother Sonomi and I are a bit... distant."
"Yes," Sakura nodded.
"It's Sonomi's birthday this weekend," Tomoyo smiled wryly, "and I've kind of been guilt tripped into going. I was sort of hoping you'd be willing to come along as my guest."
"Would I regret asking why?" Sakura asked gently.
"My mother and I tend to snip at each other automatically," Tomoyo sighed, "I'm sort of hoping a new guest will induce us to be on our best behavior." A slight smile, "And considering how close your mom was to mine, it might be a nice gift for her to meet you."
Sakura reached out to put her hand over Tomoyo's, squeezing it softly. "You really care about your mom, don't you?" she asked.
Tomoyo shrugged uncomfortably, "I guess so, though we sure have an odd way of showing it." She smiled at Sakura as charmingly as possible, "You haven't said yes or no?"
"Yes, I'll go," Sakura laughed softly.
"Thank god," Tomoyo chuckled. She pulled up to the road in front of Sakura's house as she said, "The party starts at seven on Saturday, so I'll be here to pick you up at six?"
"Makes sense," Sakura frowned slightly as a thought occurred to her then asked, "how should I dress, by the way?"
"These parties aren't too formal," Tomoyo reassured her, "you could try wearing that outfit I got you for dinner, maybe?"
"I'd like that," Sakura smiled as she got out of the car, Tomoyo standing beside her under the soft glow of a streetlight. She smiled with amusement as she confessed, "I haven't been out on a Saturday night in ages."
Tomoyo looked surprised, "Seriously?"
"I've kind of been busy with my career and before that, university," Sakura explained.
Tomoyo got back into her car, starting up the engine as she said cheerfully, "Then you can just consider this a date."
Sakura chuckled to herself softly, smiling as she walked up to her house. "A date, huh?" she murmured, wondering if Tomoyo had meant that literally.
Across the city the young man who called himself Yue Susanoo entered his apartment and locked the door behind him, puffing out a sigh. The illusion of humanity faded and his wings reappeared, his eyes now hawklike as he ran a hand through his hair and called, "I'm home."
"About time you got here," the redheaded young woman bitched as she strode in, the slightly taller woman dressed in a simple gown, "I'm starving."
"Huh?" Yue blinked in shock.
The redhead gave him a look, "It's me, Keroberos."
"Kero?" Yue squeaked, blinking. He cleared his throat, vaguely surprised at his own reaction then managed, "I'm sorry, it's just a bit of a surprise."
"Well," Kero pointed out reasonably, "I've got to leave the apartment sometimes, and it looks a little odd having two men living together."
"True," Yue admitted.
"So, we're going out or getting delivery again?" Kero asked eagerly.
Yue gave her a frown as he reminded her, "We shouldn't be using magically created money so much, it's dishonest."
Kero scowled, "Do we have a choice? Or is your new job going to pay well enough to fund this apartment and feed us, too?"
"No, not yet," Yue sighed. They ordered the food and ate hungrily as they talked, "Sakura finally unpacked the bell, and I'm certain she recognized it."
"So she now has most of the major artifacts of Clow," Kero softly mused, "but is she wise enough to use them?"
"That would be the question," Yue nodded. He looked off in the distance, his expression oddly remote as he said, "The cards are starting to emerge... once she captures the minor houses, the other elements will appear."
"And that's when things will get really crazy," Kero munched glumly. "I'd really like to just reveal ourselves to Sakura..."
"No," Yue shook his head, "we need to be sure if she's worthy first. If we awaken the full powers of Clow in her, it could be disastrous if she's not ready."
"So we watch and wait," Kero summarized grimly.
To be continued...
Sakura: Knight of the Clow: The Party
"You're actually nervous," Kaho Mitsuki sounded faintly surprised as the long brown haired woman reached out to place a hand on her lover's shoulder comfortingly.
Sonomi Daidouji ran a hand through her shorter and dark hair and sighed. "Tomoyo and I always fight," she reminded her, "it's almost a law of nature."
"Maybe this year will be different," Kaho said to her gently, "she did say she was bringing a friend along."
"Maybe a professional referee?" Sonomi joked.
All around them people were finishing the final preparations for the party at the mansion, laying out the food and setting up drinks just before the first arrivals were due to arrive. Then silently the caterers and maids faded to the background, waiting to be called on to serve as needed.
Sonomi was firmly in her hostess mode as she greeted close friends and various business associates, her smile coolly welcoming and manner kept entirely professional. Kaho still couldn't get over seeing the many sides of her lover, how she could be the perfect business woman yet also such a passionate lover, too.
Kaho blinked in surprise as she saw a familiar figure smoothly glide into the entrance way, her black hair up in a fine style. "On behalf of my grandmother I thank you for inviting me," Mei-lin said as she bowed formally to Sonomi, "and I'm certain that she looks forward to working more closely with your company."
"The honor is mine," Sonomi answered with her own graceful bow, "and I hope you have a good time tonight."
"I occasionally forget how well connected Mei-lin's family is," Kaho murmured as she moved up to stand beside Sonomi, exchanging a smile and nod with the younger woman who moved off to circulate through the crowd.
Sonomi squeezed her hand gently, smiling back as they waited till Mei-lin had moved on. "They have contacts all over Hong Kong and China," she agreed, "inviting Mei-lin seemed a small enough thing to earn some good favor."
"How you holding up?" Kaho asked, seeing a flicker of nerves in her eyes.
"Just wondering when she's going to get here," Sonomi quietly admitted, "or even if she's really coming. Tomoyo isn't the type to be fashionably late."
Kaho paused as they saw a flicker of movement near the entrance then said, "I think your question just got answered."
There are some people who need to wear finery, to purchase glitter and bangles to highlight whatever natural beauty they had, but obviously Tomoyo wasn't one of them. Instead she had gone for subtle elegance, wearing a simple black dress, a touch of makeup and little silver earrings. Beside her a lovely reddish brown haired woman walked beside her, holding on to Tomoyo's arm as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Dr. Kinomoto?" Kaho blinked.
Sonomi smiled slightly as she whispered, "Remind me to talk to my investigators... they clearly missed the relationship between them."
"Good evening mother," Tomoyo said quietly as she neared them, "happy birthday."
"Thank you," Sonomi said as she took a small package from Tomoyo. She smiled at Tomoyo's companion, "May I ask...?"
"Like you don't know," Tomoyo murmured back with a wry smile. Louder she said, "I'd like you to meet Doctor Sakura Kinomoto."
"Just Sakura, please," she smiled as she tossed Tomoyo a amused look, "I think she gets far too much pleasure tossing my doctorate around."
Tomoyo smiled slightly, "You should be proud of it."
"It's nice to meet you, Sakura," Sonomi purred. She studied her a moment, "I think I may have known your mother, Nadesico...?"
"Yes," Sakura nodded with a faint bit of regret in her expression as she asked, "Tomoyo tells me you were cousins?"
"We were very close," Sonomi agreed.
Tomoyo frowned slightly, giving her mother a warning look. "Why don't we get some refreshments," she said, "I'm sure Sonomi has other guests she needs to see to."
"I look forward to seeing you later,." Sakura smiled as Tomoyo led her off.
"You have the oddest look on your face," Kaho said as she gently pulled Sonomi to a private corner of the grand reception hall.
"I feel like I saw a ghost," Sonomi confessed softly. She smiled wryly, "Sakura is the very image of a younger Nadesico..."
"And you were in love with her," Kaho guessed.
"Yes," Sonomi admitted, flagging down a waiter and retrieving a glass of fine wine. Taking a sip she said, "I never told her, of course."
"First love," Kaho sighed. She looked at Sonomi thoughtfully and asked, "So you've never met Sakura before?"
"I was an ass about her marriage to Kinomoto," Sonomi admitted with a sigh, "that's why we were out of touch for a while... then she died, and we never had a chance to make up."
"I'm so sorry," Kaho said, squeezing her hand gently.
Over by the buffet Sakura and Tomoyo were loading up their plates while talking together softly. "I don't think I was quite expecting a mansion," Sakura admitted, smiling faintly as she looked at Tomoyo a bit worriedly.
"Maybe I should have warned you," Tomoyo conceded the point, sipping her drink. Softly she said, "It's got fifty rooms including an indoor sauna, a ball room and a dining hall that can serve over one hundred people."
"And you grew up here?" Sakura asked.
"Sort of," Tomoyo shrugged, "in between boarding schools." She looked off into the distance, "I think I have fonder memories of the bodyguards and maids, honestly."
Softly Sakura said, "Are you all right?"
Tomoyo looked at her in surprise, then reached up to wipe at her eyes. "Sorry," she said, "coming here always makes me feel odd..."
Sakura took her hands, squeezing them gently. "From what you've told me I can understand," she said softly.
Tomoyo met those caring eyes and was surprised to feel her heart skip a beat in a most pleasant way. She opened her mouth to say something...
...when a familiar voice said, "Fancy seeing you here."
"Mei-lin," Sakura exclaimed as the elegant looking Asian woman walked up to them, her eyes sweeping over the two of them.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Mei-lin said apologetically, her lips twisted in a half smile.
"That's quite all right," Tomoyo answered, sighing. She had no idea what might have happened between her and Sakura before they were interrupted, but it was clearly too late to do anything about it now. "I wasn't expecting to see you here," she added.
Mei-lin smiled calmly, "My grandmother is a business associate of Ms. Daidouji, so naturally I was invited."
"Ah," Tomoyo nodded.
"It's good to have another friend here, isn't it?" Sakura offered cheerfully.
Tomoyo smiled wryly, "I suppose so."
Mei-lin's eyes twinkled with amusement as she asked, "So what do you think of Sonomi dating the boss?"
"Hoee?" Sakura looked startled.
Tomoyo smiled at her gently, "There's been a rumor around the paper that Kaho and Sonomi are seeing each other." She nodded towards where the two older woman stood close together, "Looks like it may be true."
To be continued...
Sakura: Knight of the Clow: The Party Two
Sonomi took a small drink of her glass of wine, being careful not to over do it as she walked out of the building and into the gardens. The dark haired woman circulated through the crowd outside, smiling and nodding to familiar faces, then slowed as she neared the buffet tables. The center piece of the table was a ice sculpture, probably something the catering company ordered, a lovely image of a woman bursting free of the water.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Kaho remarked softly. She smiled slightly as she added, "Though not half as lovely as you are."
"Flatterer," Sonomi laughed softly, smiling up at the slightly taller, light brown haired woman with obvious love.
"Just the honest truth," Kaho answered honestly, taking a moment to steal a kiss.
As both woman walked away from the table they were unaware that the sculpture had cracked on one side... the eyes of the woman's face glowing brightly in the twilight as the liquid trapped in the ice began to swirl about under it's own power.
Tomoyo returned to Sakura's side within the building, giving the smaller reddish brown haired woman a sympathetic smile. Several of her superiors from the museum were here too and she had found herself being introduced around the city's elite like some kind of new toy.
"Thank you," Sakura took the drink with a relieved sigh.
"Sorry," Tomoyo gave her a gentle smile, "I didn't really expect that to happen."
"Not your fault," Sakura smiled at her warmly. She took a drink, then visibly stiffened as her eyes widened slightly.
"What's wrong?" Tomoyo asked, unconsciously moving forward to hold Sakura's arm as the other woman swayed suddenly.
"Clow card," Sakura breathed out, "there's a Clow card here."
"Oh hell," Tomoyo cursed softly... just as the sounds of screams began outside.
Without another word Sakura and Tomoyo raced out through the glass double doors, looking around wildly as people tried to ruin in all directions, fleeing the chaos. In the middle of the open area a column of water swirled in place, on top of it a beautiful woman made of the same water gazed about with a expression of pure irritation.
Sakura looked up at the constantly shifting figure as she breathed out, "Water.. it would almost have to be."
"Do you have your Clow cards with you?" Tomoyo asked as the last of the people raced by them inside, the sounds of cars roaring off heard in the distance.
"Yes," Sakura nodded, "but none of the cards I have will help us against a Element card... especially water. I need to contain it, somehow."
"How?" Tomoyo asked reasonably.
"It looks like that ice statue," Sakura noted as she pulled her necklace out, chanting softly and causing the key to transform to her battle staff, "freezing must contain it."
"So someone deliberately sent Water to my mother?' Tomoyo frowned, her reporter's brain already speculating on possibilities.
"Wish I knew why," Sakura muttered as they moved forward cautiously towards the visibly angry elemental being.
Standing nearby Water and trying to keep two other women back was Mei Lin, the lovely young Asian woman growling, "It's too dangerous."
"Like hell it is," Kaho Mitsuki answered, "it's news!" Then she got a good look at Saukra and the staff she carried and her jaw dropped, "You!"
"I forgot that Yukito got a few good pics of you and your staff in action," Tomoyo murmured to Sakura regretfully.
Sonomi looked at them with a scowl, "What's going on?"
"Sakura is the city's protector," Kaho growled before fixing Tomoyo with a glare, "and your daughter has been keeping it a secret."
Before anything else could be said Water decided she did not want to be ignored. Lashing out with powerful streams of fluid she slashed into the earth, missing them by bare inches. "You, keeper of the Clow," Water hissed, "why are you here?"
'Well, this is one of the more talkative Clow cards,' Sakura noted, holding her staff steady in her hands. "I'm here to honor the birth of someone who is close to me," she said to her diplomatically, "and what of you, Water?"
Water tilted her head to the side, her fin-like ears appearing from beneath her long, liquid hair. "I don't know," Water finally admitted, "I remember flowing freely in the rivers of this place, then such cold... and I found myself here."
"She's talking to it?" Mei Lin blinked.
"For now," Tomoyo shrugged, wishing she had a camera with her. 'And where is Yukito when I need him?' she wondered.
"Those two," Water turned glowing blue eyes towards Sonomi and Kaho, "they insulted me... and they must pay."
"What!" Kaho was surprised a moment then she blushed as she remembered their little conversation nearby the sculpture.
"What did you do?" Sakura asked softly.
"I said that Sonomi was prettier than Water," Kaho softly admitted. Looking up at the visibly agitated Water she said, "While Sonomi is indeed lovely, so are you m'lady."
"Yes," Sonomi gritted her teeth but continued, "I don't think I could rival your beauty."
"Really?" Water suddenly reminded them of a eager teenager, rather than a dangerous elemental being. "You mean it?" she looked between them.
"You're stunning," Sakura chimmed in.
"And thin, too," Tomoyo's lips twitched wryly, "women and men like that."
Getting into the spirit of the thing Mei Lin said, "Your blue eyes are lovely, and your skin shimmers beautifully beneath the lights."
Water shifted her focus away from Sonomi and Kaho, instead flowing over towards Mei Lin. "Do you mean that?" she asked, studding her face.
Mei Lin blinked, "Well, yes."
Water reached out to touch Mei Lin's cheek, her gaze thoughtful. "Prove it," she said after a moment, "kiss me."
"Hoeee?" Sakura squeaked.
"Shhhh!" Tomoyo hushed her, watching eagerly.
"Kiss?" Mei Lin looked at Water, her eyes wide. Recovering from her surprise she stepped forward, reaching out to touch Water's soothingly cool form. "All right," she nodded.
Cool lips made of semi-solid Water met flesh, the two women standing there in a circle of pure stillness as they kissed. They separated after a moment, Water smiling as she stroked Mei Lin's cheek. "Thank you," she breathed out, "I will not forget this."
"Nor will I," Mei Lin admitted softly.
"Uhm, excuse me..." Sakura intruded uncomfortably.
Water looked at Sakura with a frown, her voice terse. "Keeper of the Clow," she said, "it's time. Bind me back into my card form."
"Water Card! Return to the form that you were meant to be," Sakura tapped it with her staff as she finished, "Water!" The outline of a card appeared in mid-air then Water flowed into it, filing it as the card solidified, the image of Water forming on it.
"Thank god that's over," Kaho sighed.
Sakura hesitated, holding the card, then calmly she passed it to Mei Lin, "I think this is yours."
"What?" Mei Lin looked surprised as she reflexedly took the card.
"I get a sense from the cards sometimes," Sakura shrugged, "she wants to be with you." She smiled, "Though I hope you'll let me borrow her."
Mei Lin nodded as she reverently took the Water card, "Certainly."
Tomoyo sighed, giving her boss a sheepish smile, "I guess we have a lot to talk about."
"That we do," Kaho agreed with deceptive mildness.
To be continued...