Chapter 5
"Mom! You're ALIVE!" With this, Sakura1 forgot all about Kero who fell and then hovered nearby watching a very excited Sakura who was hugging her beautiful mom. "I'm so confused, but it's okay. I have you and Tomoyo here so nothing else matters."
"All seven of us are here together and everything is wonderful." Nadeshiko assured both daughters she could feel inside the girl she was holding. (hugging Sakura put Nadeshiko inside of the natural shield that Tomoyo keeps around herself and Sakura)
After Sakura had settled down a bit she was able to talk with her parents, though she seemed unable to let go of her mom's hand.
"Is there any problem besides Sakura's confusion?" Sonomi asked her daughter.
"No. We are well. But it turns out that we got more than just memories, we are now two different people!"
"I was hoping that would happen. I really didn't want to lose my second Tomoyo any more than my first one. Is it a serious problem?"
"No. Not for me anyway, both of us are rather fascinated by the experience in fact. It's kind of neat for us to be sharing the same body as well as exchanging memories. Though the newcomer Tomoyo-one has a lot of nasty ones that I don't really want to know about. She was really messed up in the other Timeline." Tomoyo2 finished.
"I wasn't that bad...okay, maybe I was." Tomoyo1 admitted reluctantly.
"Tomoyo-one?"
"That is our name for the Tomoyo who just arrived from the other world. She thought of it first so she got to be one. I'm Tomoyo-two, the daughter who was just eating breakfast a few minutes ago."
"Could you two drop your shield so I can get a better idea of how my two daughters are doing?" Sonomi asked politely.
"What if I just include you inside of it? There is always the possibility of an attack, and I want to stay prepared." Tomoyo1 said
"Tomoyo-two thinks that Tomoyo-one is paranoid." Tomoyo2 finished with her usual grin.
"She looks so different!?" Tomoyo1 suddenly realized, then Tomoyo2 cut in.
"She looks the same as she has always looked."
"But she looks so young!" And in fact the forty year old woman did look like she was in her early twenties. "And beautiful too! I don't remember ever noticing just how beautiful she is. I suppose the softer and less severe hairstyle helps but maybe not as much as the joyful smile I've so seldom seen on her."
"She says it must be her Magic that is keeping her from aging. Nadeshiko hasn't changed since as far back as I can remember either." Tomoyo2 explained.
"Wow! That should mean that Sakura and I... This is -so- neat!!"
"But poor Fuji-san hasn't been so fortunate as you can see. With no Magic at all, he looks old enough to be Mom's father." Tomoyo2 finished as both Tomoyo's realized their mom was still waiting for her to say something.
"So you remembered what I told you was going to happen... Even after all the years it's been for you." Tomoyo1 commented with some astonishment still in her voice.
"Of course. I'll never forget the day I was sent back and the things you said, but actually, I had forgotten the exact time. So today we just all gathered and waited for you and Sakura to suddenly vanish and appear out on the lawn. And so when you did vanish I scanned that area and felt your Magic Shield in the front yard. And I could even feel the two of, or rather four of you in it." Sonomi finished proudly.
"That's right!" Tomoyo1 burst out in surprise as she pulled up Tomoyo2's memories. "Nadeshiko has Sun Magic!"
"Which explains why she looks so young too."
"Of course." Sonomi laughed. "But if...Tomoyo-one hadn't awakened my Magic, it would likely still be sleeping. And then my years with Nadeshiko would have been quite different..." she said softly, then continuing in a firmer voice, "I hope you two can merge in time."
"I don't know. It's kind of neat in a way to be both Tomoyos. Now that we recognize each other and cooperate controlling this body we share. After all, I am never alone! I always have someone intelligent to talk with!" Both Tomoyos finished with a laugh.
"Could we all go back in the house and continue breakfast?" Nadeshiko asked. "My Sakuras are terribly hungry."
So with everyone smiling except Sakura, the family went back to the breakfast table. When Tomoyo got there a Tomoyo2 memory popped up. "I was just sitting there and eating. But I am really hungry. Ah! This body hasn't eaten anything. So I might as well..." Sitting down at the place where she had just been eating, Tomoyo2 looked at the partially eaten breakfast and remembered that she was just about to take another bite when she was suddenly moved to the front lawn. Smiling, she continued eating, and in a moment, Sakura did the same. Fresh hot tea was brought out and as soon as the maid was out of the room, Kero started in on the Danish rolls while Sakura piled more of a fish and rice dish on her plate.
"I am really hungry! Maybe it's from using magic..." Tomoyo1 thought to herself before glancing across the table at Sakura and her mom. "Kami-sama! They look more like sisters than mother and daughter... But then I guess that applies to me and mom too. Wow! This has worked out so incredibly wonderful!" Then after a shiver of joy she noticed Fujitaka sitting down next to Nadeshiko. "He really does look like her father. That's so sad. And he is such a sweet wonderful man too."
Then a moment later she looked at the Kinomoto "girls" again and realized something else. "Nadeshiko is even more beautiful than she looked in the pictures!
She's not THAT great. Is she?" Tomoyo2 cut in.
"Oh yes she is! You're just used to seeing her all the time. With that fantastic hair of hers she looks more like a fairy tale princess than a real person." Then Tomoyo1 smiled to herself. "With a mom like that, no wonder Sakura is so beautiful!"
"So for you it has just been a few minutes since you sent me back?" Sonomi asked.
"Well, yes for Tomoyo1." And then she grinned her usual Tomoyo2 grin at her mom."
As Tomoyo and Sonomi were silent for a moment, they heard Nadeshiko speak: "And you must be Kero. Sonomi-chan told me about you." Then they both grinned as Kero proceeded to tell Nadeshiko and Fujitaka all about the great and extremely cool Seal Beast between bites of sweet roll.
"This is for Tomoyo-one. Can you feel how happy this world has been for you?"
"Oh yes! My memories of here are so wonderful; it is hard to believe that this is me too." Tomoyo1 replied.
"I still remember the day you sent me back like it was yesterday. It was so wonderful! My wildest dream come true! The first thing I did was leave my office and head for the Kinomoto residence as fast as I could get there. I was SO excited when I saw Nadeshiko!" Sonomi laughed. "After I settled down a little, I told her what had happened, and she simply accepted every word, then thanked me for coming all the way back into the past just to save her. She is such an amazing person! The best part is, we have been very close ever since then... But of course you know all this because you are both of my Tomoyos now, right?"
"Yes, Mom. It still feels strange, but I remember this life and your story about how you came back in time to save Nadeshiko very clearly as well as my other life. And this one has been so different! There are so many wonderful memories of the four of us! And even the five of us!" With this thought Tomoyo1 remembered Sakura's dad and glanced at the middle aged man who was now carefully examining a very unhappy Seal Beast, while Sakura was trying to describe Kero's large form.
"And you and Sakura alone?" Sonomi grinned. Tomoyo blushed but couldn't help smiling too. "That's okay. Nadeshiko and I have made many beautiful memories as well. My old life seems dim and far away now like something I read in a sad book. Magic is -so- wonderful!"
"Yes it is, but having the Cards is not so wonderful. It's a terrible responsibility."
"A very terrible responsibility. I don't think we can afford to just ignore the threat of Kutong. If he exists in this world, he is likely to discover that we have the Cards sooner or later. And if he attacks us without warning, he may well kill us and get the Cards. So we are going to have to find him before he finds us. If he exists... We need to contact Ieran and see what she knows before we do anything. I really don't want to just sneak into North Korea blindly and look for him. He may not even be there in this Timeline. But since in this world, Ieran doesn't know us, we are going to have to introduce ourselves. I SO wish we could be just the normal girls that we were in this Timeline and not have to worry about saving the world! But if we don't save the world from Kutong, who will?" Tomoyo1 thought to herself as Tomoyo2 was pouring through Tomoyo1's memories of capturing the Clow Cards with Sakura.
"Are you doing better now, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.
"I guess so. I still feel like there are two people in my head but at least we aren't arguing anymore. And I have the most wonderful memories! I'm so happy in this life!" Sakura1 finished.
"It's the same for me, but I'm afraid we can't just relax and enjoy ourselves now. We have responsibilities so we need to do some investigating while we are still on summer break."
"What investigating? Sonomi asked.
"Remember that evil sorcerer who killed Sakura in the other world?"
"Oh... yes."
"We need to find out if he exists here and what he is doing. I'm afraid he is looking for Sakura's Cards right now and we can't allow him to catch us by surprise or we will likely be dead." As the memories of Tomoyo1's adventures with Kutong and the Sakura Cards ran through her head Tomoyo2 was shocked.
"There is a big difference between hearing Mom's stories about this and remembering it like I had been there. It was -scary-!"
"This is so frightening! I wish you hadn't brought those cards with you!" Sonomi sighed and Tomoyo2 echoed that thought.
"The problem with that is we were afraid that Kutong might have won in this world and would have the Cards. We didn't know. So by bringing the Cards with us, we expected the corresponding Sakura Cards to vanish, just like the other Sakura and I vanished. But since she never found the Clow Cards and transformed them, we don't know if her Sakura Cards caused the Clow Cards to disappear or not. So now we need to go to Hong Kong and see Ieran. I want to ask her about Kutong and the Clow Cards."
"What about Eriol?" Sakura1 wanted to know.
"I had him found and while on a business trip I visited him. He still lives in London but seems to be a normal high school boy with no Magic at all." Sonomi informed the girls.
"So I guess since I didn't find the Clow Cards, Clow was not reborn in this World." Sakura1 reasoned.
"And that may mean that The Clow Cards weren't found at all in this Timeline. Or... Of course it may mean nothing at all, we have no way of knowing... But I expect Eriol saw that he didn't have Magic and Clow's memories in Timelines with Nadeshiko alive in them, and that is why he lied to us." Tomoyo1 suggested.
"We can't blame him for that. We didn't want to be erased either." Sakura1 said sadly.
"Well, we can't do anything about it now. So we will just have to do without him and his knowledge. I just hope Ieran is still a powerful Mage and is as friendly as she was." Tomoyo1 sighed.
"So now we need to go to Hong Kong?" Sonomi changed the subject.
"I would prefer that Sakura and I went alone, just in case there is any trouble."
"And I wish to speak to Ieran and find out more about Magic. I tried contacting her years ago but she would have nothing to do with me. I expect once she learns just how much Magic power Sakura has now she will be more friendly.
"I would love to talk with a master of Magic as well. But this is my time with my Fuji-chan at the cottage. So perhaps if you become friends with Li Ieran, we can all go visit her next summer?" Nadeshiko wondered out loud.
"Perhaps. Or she may try to trick us and take our Cards. We don't know her in this Timeline. So we must be careful." Tomoyo1 warned.
"Paranoid again." Tomoyo2 mentally commented.
"Okay. And 'being careful' means you should go into possible danger with just another sixteen year old girl?"
"Sakura is hardly "just another sixteen year old girl." She carries the power of a nuclear weapon in her pocket."
"Okay... So she does, but does she have the wisdom and experience to use her power to best advantage?"
"Okay, that is a point." Tomoyo reluctantly agreed. "But if you come along we will have one more person to protect."
"One adult with many years experience dealing with people, who also can tell when someone is lying, and who speaks fairly good Chinese. Remember we don't know if Ieran speaks Japanese in this Timeline. And, I have a strong Earth Magic Shield as well." Sonomi argued.
"Okay." Tomoyo took a moment to digest this news. "But how did you test your shield's strength?"
"Nadeshiko-chan can't touch me through it."
"Which proves nothing. We don't know her relative power to penetrate Shields. I would have Sakura-chan test it, but Ieran only taught her killing attacks and it is far too dangerous to play around with those." After a moments more thought Tomoyo1 weakened. "Okay. I guess it wouldn't exactly be suicidal, but it still worries me to have an extra person of unknown abilities along, going into an unknown situation." Just then, Tomoyo1 remembered something. "If Sakura and I get in trouble, we can fly away."
"True, but what is the likelihood that we will need to fly away? And even if we do have to fly, Sakura still has Float, doesn't she?" Sonomi countered.
After a sigh, Tomoyo realized that she couldn't win against her mom. "Okay, you can go with us." Then she thought of something else. "Perhaps Sakura's Dream Card can give us a clue what will happen there."
"Sounds good Tomoyo-chan! I'll use Dream tonight."
"Then we won't decide anything until tomorrow." Sonomi announced, then smiled as she remembered something. "Well, life still goes on. In spite of jumping from one world to another with Magic and threats from evil sorcerers, I still have a company to run and I had best get there and do it. Have fun! I'll see you tonight." Then, as soon as she had kissed everyone goodbye, she was gone. (And this did include a kiss on the cheek for Fujitaka. Despite her aversion to men, she couldn't help but be influenced by her Nadeshiko's powerful love for her husband.)
"I have an idea!" Sakura suddenly said. "Remember the fun we had showing all the Cards to your mom? Let's go out in the woods so I can show them to my mom and dad!"