Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Unrequited ❯ Chapter 5

Note: I know I'm taking too long with this. But if you know me well enough, you know exactly why. This keeps trying to turn itself into a songfic, and I'm not terrific at them, so I'm trying to avoid it. Gah.

Anyway, quite a bit of angst in this chapter, courtesy of good ol' Syaoran. Heck, the only one who doesn't get too serious is Nakuru…

Chapter 5

Syaoran Li was up before the morning sun even thought of rising. This in itself was not unusual. Often, he got a certain train of thought in his head, and it refused to be derailed by sleep. So he got up and did anything to keep it on track until it found a suitable location to let off all the passengers. Anything that would let the train progress to Sleepyville was a good thing.

Of course, it often was more complicated than it sounded, and this particular train ride was taking hours. He had a feeling he'd be good for nothing when Sakura woke up. She would forgive him, though, if he claimed to have been watching over her while she slept, but it was technically still their honeymoon, and he couldn't help feeling a little bit guilty.

Any feelings of guilt he had vanished when he sensed something on the early morning air, and his sword was in his hand before he'd even called for it. Something old and powerful…with a familiar whiff of…vanilla?

"Syaoran-kun."

He did not turn around. There was no need to. "Daidouji-san. Should I ask why you're here?"

"No."

"Then we'll just stick with the how?"

"I suppose."

He put the sword away. An instant later, he felt another presence. "You had to bring him?"

"I like Spinel," Tomoyo said firmly, petting her new Guardian's head. "He's sweet."

Syaoran decided not to ask what the attraction was. "You were going to tell me about the how?"

She came to stand beside him, on the edge of the balcony. "I've always wondered what it would be like, to have magic in me."

"You've always had magic in you."

She smiled at him fondly. "I mean REAL magic, Syaoran. And now I do."

"Hiiragizawa," he said with contempt and without hesitation.

Tomoyo frowned. "Why do you assume he had something to do with this?"

"Because he always does."

"That's not fair, Syaoran."

"No, it is not. And the sooner you admit I'm right, the sooner I'll allow you to change the subject."

Tomoyo scowled. "Sometimes I wonder if you practice in order to be this difficult."

"I'll never tell."

She sighed. "I found some Cards in his basement. Happy?"

"Hardly ever." He looked at her for the first time. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"So fine that you came all the way out here?"

"Do you not want me around anymore, Syaoran?"

His expression did not change. "It's not me you have trouble being around."

She flinched at his words.

"Daidouji-san. I will not even pretend to know what was going through your mind when you decided to come here. But I will say this." He turned away again. "You will be gone before Sakura wakes up, and she will not know you were here."

Tomoyo stared at him for a long moment. "Eriol didn't know about this."

"Then I take back what I said. And I am now sorely disappointed in you."

That hurt her worse than anything else he could've said.

"I know it's not fair," he said quietly. "But it is. You must accept that."

"You don't have to protect her from me, Syaoran."

"After tonight, I doubt I will ever believe that again."

Tomoyo wanted to say something, but Spinel suddenly tugged on her sleeve and shook his head.

Sakura yawned and rolled over to see Syaoran out on the balcony. She got up and padded over to him, slipping her arms around his neck. "If you tell me you've been watching the scenery instead of me all night, I'm going to be mad at you, Syaoran."

"I was just thinking…they don't have cherry blossoms here."

"No," she agreed with a smile, "but YOU do." She dragged him back inside.

"Well, that was close," Spinel muttered from several miles above the hotel.

"Let's go home, Spinel."

"Daidouji-san, are you-"

"I'm fine," she said shortly.

Spinel said nothing, but gently bumped her hand with his nose. Eventually, she scratched between his ears and sighed.

A moment later, they were gone.

* * * * *

Eriol woke up to find Nakuru poking him in the arm. Hard. "Stop that," he hissed.

"Look!" she hissed back.

He looked…and found Tomoyo fast asleep next to him. "I see."

"Good." Nakuru poked him again, grinned, and then left to start lunch, since they'd missed breakfast.

Eriol moved closer and kissed Tomoyo's nose.

Her eyes fluttered open. "Oh, it's you," she sighed, apparently disappointed. "I was having such a nice dream…"

"You don't have to dream." He spread his arms invitingly. "I'm right here."

She hit him with a pillow. "Go back to sleep."

"Tomoyo-chan?"

"Mmmph?" she asked, pressing her face into a pillow.

"May I ask where you've been?"

"Mmmf."

"I see. Then may I ask why you have my descendant's scent on you?"

She opened one eye. "You can SMELL him?"

"No. But I don't need to; you've just told me. What brought on this urge to see him in the middle of the night?"

"I didn't go to see him."

"I see." And he did.

"Good. Go `way."

"I will not. You've thrown away my pillow."

She rolled over, so that her back was to him. "There."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face into her hair. "Even better than usual."

"You shut up."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Sleep now."

And they did.

* * * * *

Spinel thought he would regret it. But he needed to talk to someone, and only Nakuru was awake and thinking rationally at the moment. With a sigh, he flew into the kitchen, where he found her cutting cookie dough into little star shapes.

Nakuru glanced up from her work. "Enjoy your adventure with Tomoyo?"

"Yes…and no." Spinel landed on the counter. "We visited Sakura."

Nakuru almost dropped her spoon. "What did she say?"

"We never got that far. The Li was awake, thank goodness."

"Then what?"

Spinel shrugged. "This is The Li we're talking about. What do you THINK happened?"

Nakuru frowned. "Is she okay?"

"I can't be certain. She said she was fine, but I'm not so sure."

"Is she going to keep the magic?"

Spinel blinked. "I don't know that, either. She looked drained when we got back. I didn't want to trouble her further."

"Eriol-sama wasn't worried. At least, that's the impression he gave. Do you think he knew she would come back?"

"All I know for certain," Spinel said slowly, "is that I'm worried about her, Nakuru. This isn't normal behavior. Not for Daidouji-san."

"Well, you should be worried," Nakuru replied. "You're her Guardian now, apparently."

"IF she keeps the magic."

"You think she won't?"

"After last night, I have my doubts."

"Admit it, Suppi-chan. You LIKE being her Guardian."

"It's not horrible," he sad at last, with a hint of regret. "But I much prefer being her friend." He was almost totally unaware of Nakuru's approaching hand until it snatched him up and rubbed him against her cheek.

"SUPPI-CHAN! Could it be that you actually care about someone other than yourself?"

Spinel sighed (and resisted the urge to transform). "I suppose I should be glad someone around here isn't wallowing in pity or worry…"

* * * * *

Eriol woke up to find Tomoyo standing in front of the mirror. "You're wasting your time," he called. "You'll only make it insanely jealous."

Tomoyo did not laugh. "I don't like what I've become, Eriol."

He sat up. "And what have you become?"

"…I don't know. But I don't like it."

"Does this have anything to do with what Syaoran said to you?"

Tomoyo didn't answer.

"The one thing I've always disliked about him," Eriol murmured, walking over to her, "is that no matter how cynical or blunt his advice may be, he's usually got a nasty habit of being right all the time."

Tomoyo's eyes drifted to his reflection. Upon finding it startlingly similar to her own, she looked away.

"Tomoyo-chan, I hate to tell you this, but Sakura's attraction to Syaoran has nothing to do with magic."

"Then…what is it?"

"Any number of things. Fate. Chance. Whatever it was that drew them together, it intends to keep them that way. And so do I."

"…you're going to take the magic back, aren't you?"

Eriol turned away from her. "No. That, I could never do. You found it for a reason. What you do with it is your choice. But realize that even the slightest bit of magic can have huge repercussions."

"Like last night?"

"Like last night."

"I'm sorry if I worried you, Eri-kun. I shouldn't have run off like that. It was…stupid of me."

"Of all the things I constantly worry about, Tomo-chan," Eriol replied softly, "your intelligence is nowhere on the list."

* * * * *

Lunch was strangely silent, save for the occasional swallowing and silverware against flatware.

Finally, Nakuru couldn't stand it any longer. "WILL SOMEBODY JUST TALK?!" she cried, flinging her fork across the table.

Eriol followed the fork with his eyes, and then turned to stare at his Guardian. "Is anything the matter, Nakuru-chan?"

"Oh, NO. Don't you dare patronize ME, Eriol-sama! You know as well as I do that things have been…just plain WEIRD around here the last few days!"

"I think," Spinel said quietly, "that Nakuru's trying to say she misses the usual conversation during meals. In her own loud, boorish way, that is."

"What would you have us say, Nakuru?" Tomoyo asked.

Nakuru blinked uncertainly. "Well…for starters, why is everyone so quiet?"

"I", Spinel responded, "simply had nothing to say."

"And I was merely pondering over recent events," Eriol added.

"I was wondering why I'm so hungry," Tomoyo muttered.

Eriol cleared his throat. "That would be another of the, um…repercussions we spoke of, Tomoyo-chan. You're now supporting several magical entities, including Spinel. In a way, you could compare the experience to…well…pregnancy."

Tomoyo, Nakuru, and Spinel all stared at him.

"It's not so far-fetched when you think about it. You merely add the number of cards to the number of Guardians you have, and that would equal the number of…ah…children you're eating for."

"But Spinel eats enough for twins," Nakuru interrupted.

Spinel glared at her. "At least I'M cute."

Eriol cleared his throat again. "I said you COULD compare it to pregnancy. It would certainly account for…some hasty, regrettable decisions that the user might make."

"…I don't want the Cards anymore," Tomoyo said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Spinel asked at once.

"No. But I don't want them, anyway."

"…well, now that that's settled!" Nakuru clapped her hands. "Who wants ice cream?"

"I wasn't finished, Nakuru," Tomoyo said softly. "I don't want the Cards…but I'd still like to keep the magic…if only just a little of it."

"For what purpose?" Eriol asked.

"One of the things I always regretted about taping Sakura's captures was that I could never help her. If anything was to go wrong…I'd be powerless. I never want to feel like that again."

"You do know that we would protect you if anything…happened?" Spinel asked, landing on her shoulder.

"Yes, of course I know that, Spinel." Tomoyo sighed. "But I don't want you to have to. I want to be able to defend myself. I've always been interested in magic, even back when I thought it was just card tricks and illusions. I'd like to know more, become more familiar with it. I need something to…occupy my time, and I think it would be a worthwhile cause."

"I feel I should point out," Eriol replied quietly, "that it will be quite taxing to support Spinel without any Cards, Tomoyo-chan."

"Although it might be a good test," Nakuru added quickly.

"A test?" Tomoyo asked.

"Well, yes," Nakuru said. "If you could ever strengthen your abilities to the point where you could support the little glutton, I would think that would be enough to defend yourself against any problems we might come up against."

"That's…actually not a bad idea, Nakuru-chan," Eriol agreed.

Nakuru smirked. "Naturally. I thought of it, didn't I?"

"Your only good idea to date," Spinel muttered.

"Does that mean you'll help me, Spinel?" Tomoyo asked, tickling his chin.

"You keep touching me like that and I'll do all the work FOR you!"

"Spinel doing work? Now I've heard everything," Nakuru giggled.