Chapter Six-You Unagi, I Unagi

Sakura hummed distractedly as she leaned over the sink, rinsing the rice once, twice, three times before adding two cups of water, covering it, and setting it on the stovetop to boil. 'You know, you'd think I'd be enjoying this,' she thought. Syaoran and me cooking. Domestic bliss. But... there was an insistent niggling at the back of her mind, as if she'd overlooked something important. "You know, I haven't seen Kero since this morning."

"I wonder what that stuffed animal is up to." Syaoran huffed. "You're in a weakened state. His place should be here, protecting you." One could tell by the tone of his voice that he was not impressed with the Sun Guardian's behaviour. The loud angry chopping noises that punctuated his words also went to show that when Kero finally decided to show up, Li was most likely going to have a word with him.

Sakura opened the fridge and bent over, searching for the eel her brother had said he'd purchased for dinner the night before. Due to the panic she'd caused yesterday, it had gone uncooked, hence the need to use it up. "Kero knows that he's not supposed to leave the house during the day. He could get caught. I was thinking that maybe he went to school looking for me, but...." She ripped the package open and picked up the long black amphibious creature within, placing it on its side. It was still fresh, she noted with appreciation. She could almost swear it was still breathing. "School ended hours ago."

Syaoran stopped chopping and turned around to face the girl behind him. Her skin was paler than usual, and her hands were trembling. He put down the kitchen knife he was holding and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Sakura, likewise, dropped the cleaver she was holding and spun around in an instant, clinging to him.

She, he realized suddenly, felt good. Holding her with her body pressed against him- her hair smelling the way it did, like spring flowers and soap... he wanted to be with her just then. He wanted to envelop her in an embrace that involved nothing less than the deepest physical contact, yet held more weight than a thousand words. He wanted....

"Syaoran...." Sakura squeaked. "I love you and all... but time's passing by, and I need to get to the fridge... the eel's in there."

The Chinese boy's eyes popped open. "What? Oh! Yeah. Sorry." He blushed deeply. 'I need to work on my control,' he thought to himself. 'I haven't been practicing my techniques for a while and it shows.... I used to hold back all my emotions before Sakura showed me that the most important things in life weren't just getting stronger and becoming powerful. However... getting caught like that is embarrassing. What if this new threat is something I need to protect her from? You're getting rusty, Syaoran, and it shows.'

"It seems a bit odd to just come up here and make dinner," the girl spoke as she picked up her cleaver and made her way over to the cutting board. "It doesn't feel right, somehow." She lifted the meat cleaver in her left hand, and brought it down in one fell swoop-

"DON'T CUT ME!!" The eel shouted suddenly, springing upwards and backing away from Sakura.

"Waiiiii??!" The brown-haired girl shrieked.

Li spun around, gaping in awe along with his girlfriend as the eel began to edge slowly towards the sink.

"P-p-please turn on the cold water," it begged.

Sakura, blinking, plugged the sink and did as she was told. The eel slithered into the sink, sighing. "That's better. I thought I was gonna die in there!" It was then that they realized it had an Osaka accent. **Kero-chan in the Japanese version of the anime has a big-town accent that surprises everyone at first. Just imagine being from a small town in the U.S. and hearing someone talk with a New York accent. It's like that.**

"K-K-K...."

"Keroberos! What happened to you?" Li shouted. What kind of cruel joke was this?

"Kero-chan!" Sakura finally gained her voice. "Who did this to you?"

"I don't really remember." The eel admitted sadly. "I remember going to sleep last night in my drawer. Then this morning, I remember waking up feeling very cold, and I remember that I screamed, but nobody came. Eventually my voice froze up and I couldn't even call for help."

"B-b-b... the eel... Onii-chan said he bought it yesterday afternoon. I saw you this morning! How?"

In sudden inspiration Syaoran pulled the cupboard under the sink open and dug in the trash, soon producing a second brown package. He unwrapped it to reveal another eel cutlet, only this one was filleted, with the bones removed and the head chopped off. "I think our enemies set us up," he nodded in Kero's direction. "I guess they thought it would be funny to see the Card Mistress eat one of her own Guardians."

If Sakura looked sick the day before, she was really green now. "I know I said I wouldn't perform any more magic tonight, but I can't just leave Kero this way."

"I don't think any of the Cards can fix this," the Chinese boy reminded her.

"Aw, c'mon!" Kero whined. "You're supposed to be almost as powerful as Clow, and he'd be able to do somethin'! You can't just leave me like this!"

Hmm... what Card would be able to fix this? Sakura wondered. Illusion? But what if this spell they did on Kero was an illusion, how could another illusion fix it? And what if he really was an eel now, and he needed to stay in the water to breathe? Return could take her back to a time when Kero wasn't an eel... but she couldn't talk to anyone or change the past in any way, so what was the point of that?

The doorbell rang. "Shit!" Li exclaimed. "This is not good!"

***

Eriol-kun was rapt in the land of memory, which would have been okay, if he had not been experiencing wild visions of murder and mayhem for the last 45 minutes. Falling to his knees, the young man took a deep breath, blinking rapidly. "Oh, God. The Wars. How could I have forgotten?"

*~*

A flash of green, a scream, the spurting of blood. "RUN!!"

*~*

Shell-shocked, Eriol sat himself down at the desk in Sakura's basement. His head throbbed. Absentmindedly running his fingers over the faces in a photograph of Sakura and her father, he wondered at the similarities between Fujitaka and Clow. Did that mean he was going to look like Fujitaka when he grew up? He didn't think so. He wasn't growing fast enough, for one thing. His cute little descendant was already getting a bit

taller than him....

*~*

The woman turned to him then, and watched in horror as Clow began shaking green blood off the wings he'd attached to his shoulderblades with the Fly card.

"I really don't know you anymore, do I?" She croaked.

Clow shrugged in an irritated motion. "I don't think anyone knows anyone else, completely...." His expression changed. There was a dark shadow massing.... "Megumi! Behind you!"

*~*

Eriol snapped out of that vision with a jerk, knocking the photo he'd been looking at off the table. He grimaced and picked it up, using his magic to mend the broken glass. The truth was, he could have claimed the cards and Sakura's guardians for himself, if it weren't for the visions. Just like Clow, he was beginning to lose control over them. It made him feel... sad to realize just how old he was. A chunk of his soul wailed with stress, tired, as if by being reincarnated he was being stretched too thin. He had been alive for too long. And yet, a good part of him... still wondered why he'd never gotten to experience his own childhood. The teenager in Eriol was weak, however, and knew better than to go asking because he knew there was no good answer.

He walked over to the trap door that held his clan's fiercest enemy underneath it, and was about to refresh the binding spell on the two beings held within, but---

*~*

Laughter filled his ears. Clow Reed was the happiest magician alive. He had the secrets of the moon and sun under his command, he had the cards, and he had his love. How rich he was to wake beside one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen, a being of his own making. His one, his only. His everything!

Yue.

And yet he wondered, was it folly to fall in love with one's own creation? But how could he resist those pleading eyes, that lonely look? And when Clow shared his energy with him... the glow that filled his heart was beyond compare.

"But Clow...." The light-skinned figure pulled away. "What about your betrothed?"

Oh. Yes. That. How could he explain such a thing? He and Megumi had grown up together as children, and as boy and girl, when they had come to that certain age, it was only natural that they'd start to explore their feelings for each other. But now he realized that Megumi wasn't right for him. How could she be? She was merely a fortune-teller, a disgrace to the family at that. "It's an arranged marriage...." He soothed. "I could cancel it if that would make you feel any better... but the Li clan wants me to father some children, that's all." But something in the back of his mind told him that perhaps he was only deluding himself. Had he allowed his pleasure in his own sorcery get to his head? Did he only love Yue because of the power and perfection represented? Was Megumi his real, true love?

Yue saw the hesitation in Clow's eyes, and knew it could only be bad for him. "Don't you dare tell me that it means nothing!" He shrieked.

"Don't yell!" the young magician halted as he recognized the harshness of his tone. More softly, he said, "it's uncharacteristic of you."

"Don't lie, Clow! It's not like you, either! What's happened to you? I saw your mind when you made me! When you fashioned me from your own energy as well as that of the moon, on the first night of the summer equinox, there, I saw her! In your mind, like a beacon of hope! Of course, foolishly, I simply dismissed her presence in your consciousness as the remains of a lost love. How was I to know it was your cousin in China?" The moon guardian was crying now.

"And I didn't know until yesterday, but I couldn't confront you when you bade me here... I was afraid... it would be the last time...."

*~*

Eriol stood frozen, tears sliding down his face, his mind frozen in memory. It was horrible. Clow Reed was supposed to be a good person... he, Eriol, was Clow... he was a good person, wasn't he? What was the point of it all, if he wasn't even....

***

Sakura's eyes darted towards the black slithering form that was now Kero. "Upstairs in Onii-chan's room there's an old fish tank he doesn't use anymore. It's in his closet. Can you take him to my room while I take care of whoever that is?"

He met her eyes and nodded, then sped off.

The girl sighed. It was all happening again, only she sensed things were more dangerous now. It wasn't just training anymore. Mizuki-sensei and Eriol-kun would be there, but they wouldn't be able to control it, in fact, she had a strange feeling that they didn't even know what it was. "I'm coming! Please wait a moment!" She called out.

"Hurry up, monster! Yuki looks ready to eat a whale!"

Sakura paused. Touya... he knew about her Cardcaptor business, and even a little about what had happened last night, but did she really want to let him in on everything that's been happening lately? She thought on this. If she did tell him, she knew what his reaction would be... he'd probably freak out and try to forbid her from going out at all....

And he really wouldn't like knowing about those creatures they had locked up downstairs.

Oh well. What he didn't know, wouldn't hurt him. Hopefully.

She flung the door open, smiling widely. "Come in, Onii-chan, Yukito-san!" She chirped, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, because Yukito looked surprised.

"I thought... you were sick... are you making us dinner, then? That seems unfair... gomen...." **Note: In Japanese, "gomen nasai" means "very sorry"**

Sakura laughed, leading them into the living room. "You know, it was nothing, I just needed some sleep. And as for dinner...."

"-It's almost ready." Syaoran informed them, popping up out of nowhere. "Stir fried eel with rice and bitter melon. Just give us five minutes to cook it."

"Gya! That... that... gaki can cook?" Touya exclaimed. **Note: In the Japanese version of CCS, Touya calls Syaoran "gaki", or "that brat"**

"Did you think I would let Sakura feed you two all by herself today?" Syaoran snapped back.

"Ah ha ha !" The brown-haired girl giggled, placing herself between her brother and her boyfriend before they decided to kill one another. "Onii-chan, why don't you sit down? You too, Yukito. We'll be with you in a minute."

Dinner passed with little event. Touya was surprised by the quality of the meal, and had even swallowed his pride enough to compliment Syaoran in his own backhanded sort of way. "Well, Sakura, at least that gaki can cook. By the way, where's that stuffed animal of yours? I thought he'd be hungry?"

"Ah! He's upstairs playing video games," Sakura answered quickly. It had become a tradition for her and Touya to make extra food for Kero when it was their turn to cook, although their father just thought it was so they'd have food for lunches later. Sakura wasn't quite sure when Touya found out about Kero-chan, but she could see that Li was holding back on congratulating her older brother for making the same observations as him. "He'll come down and get some for himself, later." She said.

Touya shrugged. "Whatever, he's your pet, not mine."

Yukito looked very sad throughout the entire meal, and really only picked at his food. He had one serving, and he didn't finish it. Everyone noticed this, but nothing was said. There was something hanging in the air, a feeling that each pair knew something the other didn't, but wasn't going to say anything about it. Eventually, the two men excused themselves, leaving the youngsters to clean up. Sakura was surprised, because normally Yukito offered to help out when he stayed for dinner. Touya, on the other hand, was a complete jerk that always did his best to load his chores on her whenever possible, but she was used to that.

She glanced at the watch her brother's best friend had given her. "I wonder where Mizuki-sensei and Tomoyo-chan are?"

Syaoran shrugged. "We should stay and guard those creatures until she comes back to look at them. Until then, let's see what we can do about changing that eel back into a stuffed animal."

"He's not a stuffed animal!"

"Yeah. Right now, he's an eel."

"Oooh!"

***

Meanwhile....

Fuu of the Lizard Clan was not stupid. When he heard the crash, followed by silence, and loud giggles and sobs, and then, distantly, farther off, the sound of people shouting and feasting off in the distance, he was able to gather some very important facts.

First of all, he wasn't far from people. Secondly, from the muted sobs and giggles coming from up above him, their guard wasn't the most stable of people. Probably very skilled, and most likely well-versed in the ways of magic, but overall, no more than a filthy, stinking human with a heart that was soft, like tofu. And thirdly... that once he was able to get himself free of whatever infernal spell it was that held him, the walls weren't very strong. At least, not strong enough to be soundproof, and that was all he needed.

But the smoke rings were going to be a problem. No matter, he reassured himself. All in good time. "Lao Han!"

"Yes, Fuu?

"Ah! I see the petrification spell is wearing off you as well. Unfortunately, these blasted smoke rings still have their hold on us. Can... can you move your foot?"

"Can barely talk."

"Huh."

"Sure is dark in here." The small drakeling observed. "Tiny. Like a cell."

Fuu rolled his eyes. He sent a silent prayer up to Obad-hai, God of all that was dire and foul, that in light of his faithful service he might be sent a better partner. Because praying for patience was for feeble, sissy gods. "Oh, you think so? Ever think that maybe that's because we're IN A CELL!"

"... I'm hungry. I haven't had manflesh in decades, and now I can smell it all around me, but I can't eat!" The small dragon whimpered.

"Oh, you'll feast soon enough. On the marrow of the Li clan's bones, after I've fried the flesh off them, one by one."

"Aww... couldn't you just lightly braize them?"

Fuu facefaulted.

"C'mon! I mean, the meat is the best part! You can't just go about wasting good food like that, it's... well, wasteful, for one thing."

A short silence followed Lao's last remark. Finally, Fuu spoke. Quietly. Patiently. Ever so softly.... "Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"When your parents dropped you on your head. As a child. Did it hurt?"

"Aw, gosh, Fuu. My parents never dropped me on the head when I was young. I'd sure remember that!"

"Just. Shut. Up. I think I've got a plan."

***

Sakura sat at her desk searching for any information she could find on lizard people or dragons using the Internet. (Her father had given her a computer back in the sixth grade, a few months after Syaoran had left.) It had been an attempt to cheer her up, and it did-she and Li had started e-mailing one another and using chat programs immediately. They'd used paper letters, too, but mostly for the intimacy of having something that the other one had touched. Plus paper could be scented with perfume or cologne, and drawn on.... Her mind drifted... sometimes she'd save her allowance and use the money to send him cookies or stuffed animals. He'd sent her a ceremonial dagger with a cherry tree branch engraved along the left side of the blade, a pair of hair ties with small pink flowers on them, and lots of hair ribbons....

"Find anything?" His voice called suddenly, halting her trip back down memory lane. She shook her head to clear it. "It was a long two years, wasn't it?"

Syaoran blinked. "Huh?" Then he realized that she was thinking about them. He turned a deep crimson. "Oh... yeah. But we got through it. And I'm not leaving any time soon."

The girl smiled. "I'm glad." She cast a disparate glance in the direction of her computer screen. "I can't find much on the Internet. It's mostly very cute sites aimed towards children with artwork and stories... although... wait a minute, what's this?" She went silent, her eyes darting down and up, right to left, reading.

"Tell me when you find something," Li said, turning back to Care of Magical Creatures. His hands were bandaged but they'd finally managed to get it open. Or rather, Sakura had opened it. One try, it took her. One try!

*~*

She'd come back into the room after fetching them some dessert to find him wrestling with the heavy leather tome on her bedroom floor. She'd shrieked, "Stop fighting!" and without a moment's thought grabbed the book away from him (and some of his hair with it, those teeth could BITE), and started petting the shaking tome, almost as if it were a small animal. When she stroked along its spine, the book flopped open almost obediently. Dumbfounded, she handed it back to her boyfriend, who was watching her with an open mouth.

"H-how did you do that?" He had asked, dumbfounded.

Sakura shrugged. "It was acting like Dash did that time it was injured and wouldn't let me capture it. Remember, often magical objects are more afraid of you than you are of them."

"Yeah. Unless they're a dragon."

*~*

"I'm going to go downstairs and phone Mizuki-sensei's temple. Tomoyo-chan has been gone for a long time!"

"Okay. I'll keep reading."

"You'd better hurry up! I'm getting hungry!!" Kero called from his tank. Sakura gave her Sun Guardian a sympathetic look as she backed out of the room.

"Don't worry," Syaoran snickered once he heard his beloved cherry blossom's footsteps reach the bottom floor. "I'm sure we'll be able to find you some bugs in the meantime."

"BUGS! What the hell would I want BUGS for?"

"Hah! What did you think eels eat?"

"I don't care what Sakura says, you're still a jerk. The minute I get my old form back... ooh... you're gonna get it!"

***