Chapter 9: Fierce Memory
(by Hayama, added on 2005-10-15 11:20:23 AEST) [Discussion Topic]
The dimension travelers and the victorious Merowa returned to the peaceful village deep in the disconnected forest. There, Sakura waited.
When she saw Syaoran, Sakura ran to him and threw her arms around his neck.
“Sa-sakura hime!” Syaoran stuttered, turning pink.
“You’re not hurt, are you?” Sakura asked, standing back to look him over.
“No,” Syaoran lied. Even as he denied it, however, a slight wince gave him away.
“You are hurt!” Sakura realized, brushing her fingers over a bruise on his cheek and eyeing the hastily bandaged claw-marks on his arms.
“I’ll be fine,” Syaoran promised. “What’s important is that we got your memory back, Sakura-hime.” He held out the glowing feather and it sank into her.
ooo
“You’ll never beat me… Kaiju!” a tall, dark-haired boy teased. (kaiju = monster)
“Nii-chan! That’s no fair! You always win when we have a race.”
Touya grinned. “That’s because I’m bigger and stronger and faster than you’ll ever be.”
“It’s not FAIR!”
“Is the Kaiju gonna throw a tantrum and stomp everyone?”
“I’m not a Kaiju!”
“Fine,” Touya said with a laugh, “You’re a baby kaiju who can’t hurt anything.”
Touya walked away, laughing.
Sakura clenched her little fists. “You’re so mean Nii-chan!” she shouted after him. “I’ll beat you someday, you’ll see!”
ooo
As Sakura fluttered back to reality, she saw Syaoran standing before her, smiling warmly.
“What did little kitty remember?” Mokona asked, jumping up and down.
Sakura frowned. “I was much younger than I am now. My nii-san was teasing me because I lost the race, and I got very angry.”
“I see…” the Merowa king whispered.
Syaoran looked at him. “What?”
“Memory contains emotion, powerful emotion. If Sakura was angry, memory was angry. That why my brothers so enraged by feather. Feather had powerful feelings of anger,” the king explained.
“But Sakura-hime wouldn’t…” Syaoran started, only to be interrupted by Fai.
“We all know Sakura-chan is a kind and gentle person, but everyone gets angry. I’m sure she would never hate her brother, but a child who feels like they aren’t strong enough gets frustrated,” Fai explained. “Perhaps this shows how dangerous it is for these memories to be loose. Inside Sakura-chan, it’s a long forgiven fight with her brother. Outside Sakura-chan, the emotion is enough to incite a war between brothers.”
“I understand!” Sakura said, leaping into a fighting stance. “I have to find my memories so they won’t cause trouble!” But even as she declared her intentions, she half-fainted.
Syaoran caught the falling princess. “Don’t worry, Sakura-hime, were here to help you get your memories back.”
Sakura couldn’t help but smile up at Syaoran.
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After a very festive, joyful feast, it was time for the travelers to go.
“Sorry Merowa were rough with you,” the king told Fai, bowing slightly and moving on.
Fai grinned widely. “Don’t worry about it.”
Kurogane frowned and wrapped an arm around Fai’s waist. “Be more careful next time.”
Fai smiled up at the ninja. He knew Kurogane was talking to him, not the retreating Merowa king. “I will, but I have Kuro-yi…. I have Kurogane to protect me now.”
Kurogane almost blushed at the sound of his name. “I-if you like those silly names… you can still use them… it doesn’t really bother me anymore.”
Fai giggled.
Meanwhile, the king had moved on to the other travelers. He bowed deeply as he thanked Syaoran and Sakura. “Thank you for removing feather and restoring peaceful balance.”
Syaoran bowed very formally to the king, “Thank you for the supplies.”
“I’ll miss you all,” Sakura said quietly.
Suddenly they heard Mokona squeal. “Mokona is ready!”
“Goodbye!” Sakura shouted over her shoulder as she and Syaoran walked towards Mokona.
The king waved and the other Merowa watched silently.
“Oh!” Syaoran shouted back, “I almost forgot. What is the name of this country?”
“Country?” the king asked, confused.
Syaoran laughed. “I suppose it’s just ‘the nameless country of the Merowa’ then.”
The king couldn’t reply before Mokona swallowed the travelers up. “Nameless…” he whispered to himself. |
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