CCS/TRC/xxxHolic -- The darkest hours
Title: The darkest hours
Author: Nekocin/tyreling
Fandom: Card Captor Sakura (a bit prequel-ish to Tsubasa RESERVoir ChRoNiCLE and xxxHolic)
Focus: Keroberos, Yue, mention Yukito, Sakura, Syaoran, Yuuko, Touya and a Sakura Card. Mild Yukito(Yue)/Touya.
Other: might be spoiler-ish to TRC and XXXHolic. I've always wanted to write some behind-the-scenes kind of thing for CCS. <3
The piece of strawberry short cake was left untouched besides the armrest. It appeared to be in the same state the mistress had left a half hour ago before she went to bed; fresh and alluringly sweet. Yukito would have enjoyed it heartily, if Yue hadn't taken over his body once the Mistress had gone. His clothes whispered a silent song as he moved about the room to sit down on the couch near the fire place. In this house, he needed not to be so carefully quiet. In this house, he needed not to stand unnecessarily.
One of Keroberos' ears twitched sideways, the red jewel earring glittering ruby red--despite the badly-lit room he had chosen to ponder in--a sign to confirm that he knew about his presence. That he acknowledged him. Though that did not deter the Beast of the Seal to move from his place near the long window.
"Sakura-chan hasn't been sleeping well lately." Keroberos broke the silence. "It's those dreams again. Something bad is going to happen. To the near future and all the futures in the alternate dimensions." He flattened his ears sadly.
"She told you about them?" Yue asked, mildly surprised and maybe a bit miffed that he was left out.
"Not at all. I just happen to hear very well whenever she wakes up from those dreams. She sometimes tells that gouzou in uncertain terms, though." Keroberos stared at the slither of moonlight beam that escaped the shielding blinds of the study room.
"Dream has been working nonstop at night lately." Yue noted noncommittally, his silver eyes slid over to assess Keroberos' expression--he noticed the wry smile taking form on the other Guardian's face.
"Even though Sakura-chan is already a strong Seer." Keroberos said. In other words, Dream doesn't have to step in to show their mistress about the future which has yet to come.
"She's just worried about the Mistress' health." There's a pause. "It's that time, isn't it? Something big is going to come. Something beyond her control."
Keroberos looked away, his form completely hunched. "I don't have a good feeling about this, Yue."
Yue found himself lowering his eyes. In defeat. A lump had already made its way to his throat, threatening to burst out. "We can't do anything until the last moment, can we? Not unless she tells us so in the last moment."
"It's not her place to do so. The same way it's not Clow's place to explain everything until it hits us in the face," Keroberos sighed.
"... is she going to die?" Yue finally voiced the dreaded question.
"Of course not! Where did you get that idea?" Keroberos burst out unexpectedly, his head snapped around to glare at Yue. His annoyed expression deflated once he took in Yue's oddly uncomfortable and ashen face, and he turned away, staring at the spot between his paws. Of course. He shouldn't have snapped. Yue was just asking a simple question. The dreaded question that could lead to abandonment all over again. "Sakura-chan... she has been preparing herself for the impact, you know? She--I think she's trying to minimize the negative effect."
"How exactly? I haven't been here a lot to tell that." Yue tried to hide the bitterness from his voice but it still leaked out at the last minute. Because he had been too busy adjusting as Yukito and Yue at the same time; because he had been too busy adjusting with the Mistress's older brother...
Inwardly, Yukito frowned and gave him a strange burst of assurance. Which was ironic considering he and Yukito were one and the same.
"I think she's going to Yuuko." Keroberos shot him a strange glance.
"The Dimension Witch?"
"Yes, the Dimension Witch. You remember her, right?"
"Hmph." Yue crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
"Awww, don't be so sore. She was just kidding about taking you from Clow as a slave. At least she didn't say she was going to keep you as a spell doll in the attic as she did with me! I was horrified! I've had enough of stuffy attics and pretending to be a doll! Argh, after all-" Keroberos was about to rant some more at the unfairness and the audacity of being handled differently from his brother in Creation. Fortunately, Yue went back to their original discussion without a beat.
"So. What will the Mistress ask of the Witch?"
Keroberos was serious again, "... to protect those of the future which is yet to come."
"And the payment?"
The ears of the Sun Guardian lowered. "... the Star staff."
Yue could not help but inhale sharply at the answer and glared pensively in front of him. Giving up her staff meant losing part of her Star powers which the Mistress has accumulated over the years. Will she have enough power then to sustain everything else like the Sakura Cards and her very being after all that? Will the payment be enough to keep that wish until it's time? Unconsciously Yue thought of Touya. He couldn't comprehend the significance of thinking about the brother of the Mistress when the situation was in dire need of Mistress' tenacity to pull through.
"What should we do?"
"For now?" Keroberos frowned, "For now, we wait and let Sakura-chan handle this."
He then tilted his head to Yue. "Are you going to tell 'nii-chan about this?"
The Judge shrugged uncomfortably. "It's what Yukito would do."
"Hmmm." Keroberos left it at that and stared out of the window again. "I hope my worries are unfounded." Yue didn't answer him. He didn't have to, for he felt the same.
TheNekoTalks:
Written as a vent fic after that assumption that perhaps Sakura and Syaoran from CCS were the TRC!Syaoran's (late) parents, and re-written to fit the implication of horrors to come in TRC and what might come for CCS-timeline.
And really, there was a suspiciously familiar Star staff in Yuuko's attic.
.:Nekocin:.