Cardcaptor Nadeshiko

 Chapter 4

 by 

 Amazoness Duo

 and

 G.P.

 amazonessduo@hotmail.com

 pearsong1954@yahoo.com

 

 I.

 Nadeshiko sat huddled by the windowsill, intent on the rays of sunshine filtering through the

 glass. With emerald eyes, she scrutinized the delicate crystal swan cradled in her hands. Suddenly, the light caught a new facet of the beveled wing, showering the tatami mat with a 

 fiery rainbow of color. The little girl let out a shrieking squeal of delight at this latest

  display. Fascinated by the morning’s little light show, she remained oblivious to the 

 footsteps growing louder on the stairs. Nor did she notice the gentle rapping on the door 

 that soon became a frantic pounding. Not even the worried voice of the old man could rouse 

 her,

 

 "Miss? Little Miss? Are you all right? Please open the door. I’ll have to break it down if...,

  oh, oh, it’s not locked. Forgive me, Miss, but I am opening the door now. Oh, I hope she is 

 all right. I hope she is all right."

 

 

 Through wars, typhoons, and earthquakes, the old man had served three generations of 

 Amamiyas, but rarely had he known such fear. Peering into the enormous sunroom of the 

 family's summer cottage, he saw the little girl curled up into a ball by the shimmering 

 picture window. She was utterly still and motionless, and his heart sank. Tottering over 

 as quickly as his ancient legs would go, he reached with a trembling hand and gently touched 

 her shoulder. In a halting whisper he asked,

 

 

 "Nadeshiko-sama, are you all right?"

 

 

 Reacting to the tentative touch, the little girl suddenly whirled around, all smiles. In 

 a cheery, sing-song voice she replied,

 

 

 "Hai, ojiisan. Look at all the colors! Aren't they beautiful? Where do they come from? Are 

 the colors inside the crystal? How do they get out? How do they all fit in? Does the sunlight

  unlock them somehow? I have to ask grandfather, but he won't be back until tomorrow. I know!

  I'll ask Teddy-chan. He knows lots of things." 

 

 

 Clutching the crystal swan, the girl dashed down the hallway to her room, silvery hair 

 trailing like the wisps of a little cloud. The old man slumped to the floor, letting out a 

 slow, relieved breath. Smiling at last, he thought, "I hope her imaginary friend has better

  nerves than I."

 

 Except that this particular imaginary friend was anything but. Teddy-chan, or Kereberous, as he

  preferred, spun the top and watched with glee as it zipped across the floor. Hovering in the 

 air like a hummingbird, he followed the spinning toy on its journey across the parquet floor.

  When the breathless girl burst through the door, He jumped in surprise, then smiled with

  satisfaction at the thought, "The legendary Cardcaptor. And I found her."

 

 Standing before him, catching her breath after running down the lengthy hallway, the girl

  suddenly burst out,

 "Teddy-chan, what makes the colors in my swan?" 

 

 Then, remembering her manners, she suddenly dipped a bow before continuing, "Ohayo, 

 Teddy-chan. Do you know what makes the colors happen when the sunlight is on my swan? I was 

 going to ask grandfather, but he won't be back until tomorrow. Do you know?"

 

 

 Folding his arms and bowing his head with thoughtful concern, the Seal Beast called upon 

 his ageless wisdom to answer his eager pupil,

 

 "Colors, yes, of course, of course. The colors happen because, well, it is hard to explain

  exactly why the colors happen the way they do. Perhaps you could show me which colors you 

 mean?"

 

 The little girl gleefully produced the sparkling crystal, and shifted it in the morning light

  streaming through her window. Suddenly, a dazzling blue-green ray flashed forth, lighting up 

 the wall in a tiny rainbow. Teddy gaped in wonder as Nadeshiko giggled in delight.

 

 "How, how did you...what is that?" He stared in amazement. At first, the girl had seemed 

 the unlikeliest of Card Captors. Had he not seen the capricious Flower obey her without

  hesitation, he would never have believed it. No one would pick her out of a crowd as the

  successor to the fearsome Clow Reed. His memories of the great magician were vague and dark,

  much like the man himself. He remembered a quiet and reserved figure who could command with a

  glance, and force submission with the slightest of gestures. One by one, the mightiest of Hong

  Kong had challenged him, and in the end all had failed. His power seemed without limit, and in

  the end it twisted his soul and he became fell and frightful. Hazier still were the Beast’s

  feelings for his master. Sometimes at night he lay awake and the memories took him, memories 

 of fear, love, and awe. And now, bringing him more confusion was this girl. 

 

 

 Guarding the Cards for so long, he had nearly forgotten his purpose, the last command of his

  Master. Though every sign pointed to her, he still could not shed his doubts that something had

  gone wrong, and that this girl, though obviously connected to the Cards, was not the one. But 

 he had made his choice, and would stick it out to the bitter end. And bitter it would be should

 she fail. Shaking off these hidden doubts, the fluttering beast returned to his learned lecture,

 

 "This magical light is a mystery, and hard to explain. But as you gather more Cards, and

 more power, it will all become clear to you."

 

 With wide eyes the girl stared at him, smiling in delight. Suddenly she grabbed him, squeezing

 the little creature frantically as she sang out,

 

 Oh, thank you, Teddy-chan! I can’t wait to have more friends. I love Jump and Flower so much!

 When do you think we can find more Cards? Where do you think they are?

 

 Squirming away, the blushing, exasperated Beast of the Seal struggled to maintain his cool, 

 

 “I don’t know where they are. They, they have their own minds, and some of them are a bit, well,

 erratic. But they won't all be as easy to find and capture as Jump.”

 

 Nadeshiko gazed earnestly at the ruffled Teddy-chan, 

 

 “That’s all right. I know we can find them if we try our hardest.” The girl rose and walked

 lightly to the window that overlooked the forest encircling the lake. Lost in thought she

 whispered to herself,

 

 “I wonder if there are any in there?”

 

 

 II. 

 Nadeshiko sat on the grass and arranged the folds of her voluminous blue satin dress. It was a

 gift from her grandfather, and Teddy said that a Card Captor should be properly attired so as to

 impress the Cards with her grandeur. This was the grandest thing she could think of wearing,

 though it made walking through the tight undergrowth of the forest a little difficult. Finally

 satisfied, she unpacked her o-bento. The chef had made it for her, delighted by the oohs and 

 ahhs of his appreciative audience of one. She nibbled the cold, sticky rice with her chopsticks

 and listened to the distant rumble of a summer thunderstorm. But here it was sunny and bright; a

 hot, humid, lazy summer day that lulled the senses. Crunching on a pink, pickled radish, she

 thought of all the cards that might lie in wait inside the woods. So eager to begin looking that

 she rose before dawn, then slipped out of the summer mansion with only the chef knowing she was

 awake. Even Teddy-chan snored through it all, she thought with a giggle.  

 

 Nadeshiko yawned and stretched, running her fingers through the green blades of grass in the

 little dale. All that morning and much of the afternoon she searched the woods with no sign of

 the cards. The forest was so much larger than she remembered from walks with her mother and

 grandfather. It was also hard to get one's bearings. There were so many wonderful trees! Each 

 one looked and somehow felt different, and yet it seemed like she was seeing the same trees 

 while walking about. This was an odd puzzle, but it really didn't matter. Here was a beautiful

 day, and she was eating a yummy lunch on the soft, soft, grass. That she was hopelessly lost

 never occurred to her, and even if it had, the thought would have left her placidly unconcerned.

 Full after eating only half of the delicious o-bento,  the girl carefully re-wrapped it and then

 curled up in the shade of a massive oak tree. Sleep came swiftly, and as she drowsed the

 afternoon away, squirrels and birds peered in silent amazement at the strange little sleeping

 beauty.

 

 All was not silent at the Amamiya summer mansion. After the disappearance of little

 Nadeshiko-sama became known, the household was in chaos. The tearful chef only knew she had 

 taken her o-bento dressed in a beautiful blue outfit that was entirely inappropriate for out of

 doors. But a thorough search of the massive mansion had turned up nothing, and the searchers

 reluctantly expanded their scope to include the grounds and lake. With fear and trepedation they

 phoned Amamiya-sama, who rushed to the mansion. Stepping out of his limousine, he quickly took

 charge of the frantic servants and organized search parties to find his missing granddaughter. 

 In his wake was a stunned-looking Sonomi, who had insisted on accompanying him when she

 discovered his reason for leaving the family's long-planned Sunday dinner. As the large bearded

 man grimly set the gardeners to dragging the lake, Sonomi slipped away and rushed to the room 

 her cousin had been staying. Bursting through the door, she found a nervous Seal Beast peering

 out the window. Without pause she demanded frantically,

 

 "Where is she?"

 

 Teddy-chan spun about in surprise, then slumped to the ground,

 

 "I don't know."

 

 Sonomi snapped back angrily,

 

 "What do you mean, you don't know? I thought you were her guardian or something?"

 

 Teddy looked to the side, avoiding the ice-blue eyes of the furious child. In a quiet voice he

 replied,

 

 "She left while I was asleep. I heard the chef telling them she got her lunch before it was

 light. But nobody knows where she went. I heard someone say that with the lake she may have..."

 The words died in his throat.

 

 Sonomi dropped to the floor, her anger giving way to despair. For several minutes she sat on the

 floor, trying not to sob. Finally, she blinked her eyes and spoke to the Seal Beast in a

 carefully measured tone,

 

 "Nadeshiko-chan would never go swimming all by herself, so she didn’t drown in the lake. She 

 must be somewhere else. Did she give you any clue? Did she say anything at all about where she

 might be?"

 

 Looking up in surprise, Teddy chan suddenly grew thoughtful. He spoke slowly, struggling to

 remember every detail, 

 

 "Last night she was talking about the cards, asking me where they might be. Oh, yes, she said

 something about wondering where they might be while she was looking out the window."

 

 Revelation spread across both their faces as they simultaniously sprang up and ran to the 

 massive picture window. The vast forest spread out before them, a fiery red carpet of trees lit

 by the westering sun. The girl and the diminutive Seal Beast looked at each other and nodded.

 Sonomi whispered, 

 

 "It’ll be dark soon, so I’ll go find a flashlight. We can't tell them why she went there, so 

 make sure nobody sees us."

 

 With that, the girl dashed out the door. In a few minutes she returned, flashlight in hand. In

 stealthy silence, the two slipped out of the house and vanished into the woods.

 

 III. 

 

 Still as a statue, the little girl sat bathed in moonlight. It helped when her eyes were closed,

 so she was oblivious to the little cloud of fireflies dancing about her head. There was no doubt

 that a Clow Card was nearby. It was sort of like being hungry before the big New Year's dinner.

 Even if you weren’t allowed in the kitchen, you could sense the delicacies being prepared. In 

 the same way she knew the Clow card was nearby, it's scent wafting in from the forest. She could

 feel it watching her, hesitant but interested. At first, she had pursued it through the

 impenetrable forest, but the mysterious card always stayed a step ahead. Laughing quietly to

 herself, she wished she had Sonomi's speed so she could run and catch it. But with all the trees

 everywhere, such speed probably wouldn't be very useful, anyway. For the same reason, she had

 rejected the idea of using Jump. So she resolved to simply sit and wait, and let the card come 

 to her when it wanted to. It was like meeting someone new at school.  At first, they would be 

 shy and hesitant, even if they wanted to be friends. She was certain the card would like to meet

 her, but perhaps it was afraid, too. So, instead of chasing and scaring it away, she sat down in

 the little clearing and waited. She was a surprisingly patient girl, and could be very good at

 waiting when she wanted to.

 

 Further away in the forest, Sonomi was also sitting. But unlike her cousin, she was not waiting

 patiently, but thinking frantically. All that kept a river of tears from flowing was her

 desperate resolution to find Nadeshiko. She willed herself not to cry. Crying would be an

 admission of defeat and an acknowledgement that something terrible had happened to her beautiful

 cousin, and neither possibility was acceptable. So instead, she sat deep in thought, puzzling 

 out the girl’s disappearance. Finally she looked up at the hovering Seal Beast and asked,

 

 “Where is the Clow Card?”

 

 The fluttering creature, startled by the sudden break in the silence, gave her a curious look,

 “Eh?”

 

 She repeated herself patiently, “Do you know where the Clow Card is that she is looking for?”

 

 Shaking his head, Teddy-chan scanned the dark woods and answered, 

 

 “My powers are diminished in this form, but it seems to be over there somewhere.”  He gestured

 towards the Northeast with a little paw. “But even if she is following it, she could be

 anywhere.”

 

 Sonomi frowned as she stood, dusting off the leaves from her skirt. With a quick breath and a

 smile, she faced the flying creature and said, “No, she isn’t anywhere. She has to be somewhere.

 But we’ll never know just where by sitting here. She must be following the card, and if it’s

 that’s where it is, then she is, too. Let’s go.”

 

 With that, they plunged into the forest. After a few moments, Teddy-chan stopped and pulled a

 small strip of blue fabric from a bramble bush. Holding it out to Sonomi he asked, “What’s this?”

 

 Sonomi took the fabric and turned it over in her hands. It was made of sleek satin, colored a

 vibrant cobalt-blue. The girl instantly broke out in a broad grin and exclaimed, “That’s

 Nadeshiko’s! It’s from a dress grandfather gave her for Christmas, I’m sure of it! And this 

 break in the trees looks like some sort trail. She must have gone this way.” 

 

 The Seal Beast smiled and nodded, and they both rushed down the pathway. As they walked, 

 Sonomi’s flashlight illuminated other scraps of Nadeshiko’s dress. Following these inadvertent

 little signposts, they eventually came to edge of a clearing. There they stopped, both staring

 open-mouthed at the moonlit scene before them. 

 

 At the other end of the little dale, perhaps a hundred feet away, Nadeshiko sat in her tattered

 dress. In front of her stood Flower. The strange woman was fidgety, shifting back and forth as 

 if standing still was unbearable. Practically entwined with her was another woman, all clad in

 green, luminous and shimmering, gently swaying in the breeze that rustled through the branches

 above them. Nadeshiko’s musical laughter carried over the field like a bell. When the shock of

 this sight wore off, Sonomi let out a shout mingled with relief and exultation and began to run.

 The green-tinged woman was startled, and seemed ready to bolt, but Flower hugged her tightly,

 soothing her with reassuring caresses. Nadeshiko turned about, smiled as she rose, and leapt 

 into the arms of her onrushing cousin. 

 

 The two girls embraced in joy and relief. After several minutes they separated, and Sonomi gazed

 at her cousin in horror. The pretty face was bruised and scratched, a trickle of blood on her

 pale, slender neck. The silvery-gray hair was in disarray, entangled with twigs and leaves. Her

 dress was torn and ripped, and one shoe was missing. Trembling fearfully, Sonomi somehow managed

 to whisper, 

 

 “Nadeshiko-chan, are, are you all right?”

 

 Holding her cousin’s hands, the disheveled girl smiled and burst out enthusiastically,

 

 “Hai! I feel wonderful. I just knew that Wood-sama was here somewhere, and that she was afraid.

 That’s why I asked Flower-sama to talk with her, to let her know that I just wanted to be

 friends. Isn’t she beautiful, Sonomi-chan? Oh, I’m so sorry, I haven’t introduced you.

 Sonomi-chan, this is my wonderful new friend Wood-sama. Wood-sama, this is my very best friend

 and cousin, Sonomi-chan.”

 

 The auburn-haired girl looked slightly flustered as she bowed. Flower leaned over and giggled as

 she whispered something in Wood’s ear. Wood blushed as she bowed, eyeing Sonomi curiously. A

 little coughing fit interrupted the proceedings, and Nadeshiko quickly added,

 

 “Oh, and this is Teddy-chan, the Beast of the Seal, who is also my friend.”

 

 “Long time, no see,” The flying figure announced in a suave voice. Flower curtsied and again

 whispered into Wood’s ear, reducing them both to giggles as they regarded the diminutive

 guardian. Teddy ignored this possible affront to his dignity as Sonomi, still looking at the

 battered Nadeshiko, spoke up,

 

 “We should get home. Everyone is very worried.”

 

 Nadeshiko placed her pointer finger to her cheek, trying to figure out just why anyone had cause

 to worry. Speaking with authority, Teddy addressed the silver-haired girl,

 

 “Nadeshiko-chan, there is something that still needs to be done. Do you have your staff?”

 

 The girl brightened, nodding her head enthusiastically as she answered, “Hai.”

 

 Stepping forward, straightening out the remnants of her cobalt-blue dress, she bowed to the

 verdant woman and spoke,

 

 “Wood-sama, if I may?”

 

 Wood took a tentative step forward. She looked carefully at the little girl and smiled. Crossing

 her folded hands on her breast and closing her eyes, she waited. Nadeshiko glanced at the Seal

 Beast, who nodded, and then carefully touched the woman’s forehead with her staff as she spoke

 the chant,

 

 “Clow Card, return to your true form.”

 

 The light burst forth, swirling, and eddying around The Wood. As if she had turned to liquid, 

 she flowed into a shimmering card that appeared out of nowhere. The card dropped to the grass,

 and Nadeshiko picked it up. As she did, Sonomi heard Teddy mutter to himself,

 

 “They won’t all be this easy.”

 

 IV.

 

 For punishment, the cousins were confined to their room for the weekend. It wasn’t much of a

 punishment, as the pair chatted and played the days away as if at a slumber party. After a long,

 soaking bath, Nadeshiko looked as good as new, save for a few scratches and a bruised shoulder.

 Reassured, Sonomi offered to comb out her tangled hair. Nadeshiko sat on the futon, facing away

 from Sonomi who sat cross-legged behind her. It was difficult work, with many a tug and pull,

 despite her gentle care. Through it all, Nadeshiko was silent, without so much as a whimper.

 Working a particularly stubborn mat with her fingers, the auburn-haired girl said,

 

 “Nadeshiko-chan, your hair is so fine and so long, this is almost impossible. Please don’t ever,

 ever do that again.”

 

 “Do what again, Sonomi-chan?” the girl asked.

 

 Sonomi considered her answer carefully. She knew she wanted Nadeshiko to give up this crazy card

 capturing. Never had she been so frightened as yesterday. But even if she wanted to control

 Nadeshiko, she just couldn’t. It would be like caging a beautiful bird. You could make her safe

 by taking away her freedom, but you couldn’t make her happy. And nothing meant more to

 Sonomi-chan than her cousin’s happiness. With a reluctant little sigh, she replied softly,

 

 “Don’t go running into the woods with your hair all loose. Let me put it up into braids or

 something.”

 

 “I’d like that, Sonomi-chan. I love when you do my hair.” The girl snuggled comfortably against

 Sonomi’s legs as they sat on the futon. Sonomi found herself blushing as she added,

 

 “And please don’t go after the cards without me. Please tell me before you go, because I want to

 be with you.”

 

 In her sweetly musical voice, the little Card Captor answered, “I’d like that. It’s nice to be

 with Sonomi-chan.”

 

 “Promise?” Sonomi asked.

 

 “Hai, I promise.” The lilting voice replied.

 

 Sonomi placed the comb and brush down and hugged her cousin, laying against her back, closing 

 her eyes and nestling her cheek in the girl’s sparkling, silvery hair. Still as a fawn in a

 moonlit clearing, Nadeshiko whispered,

 

 “I love you, Sonomi-chan.”

 

 Sonomi caught her breath and opened her eyes. Trembling, her heart racing, she hugged the 

 slender form fiercely and closed her eyes. She was ecstatic, relieved, and uncertain. At long

 last, she could cry.