Chapter 6
Nadeshiko seemed even more delighted to meet the Card sprites than Sonomi had been but in her case the Card Sprites actually seemed delighted to meet her. Even the usually grumpy Fiery seemed to want to please her, showing off how he could take on different forms as well as make fireballs that looked like trees and even people instead of just destroying things. And instead of being frightened like Sonomi was when Earthy came out of the ground, she hugged the savage looking figure and praised her for providing the beautiful flowers and trees with someplace to grow. Earthy in turn made the trees all bow to her which made her giggle happily as she bowed back.
Fujitaka paid less attention to the Magical Sprites than he did to the sight of his thrilled and delighted wife. He seemed to find this sight more interesting than all the Magic that was being done.
"Mom is such a special person!" Sakura quietly said to Tomoyo. "I can feel how the Cards really like her. Her Magic is wonderful!"
"Indeed it is, Sakura." Tomoyo said as she wondered at the unusual feel of Nadeshiko's Magic. Then she turned to Sakura's beautiful mom and asked if it would be all right if she probed her mind to get to know her better.
"Of course, Tomo-chan. But you should remember doing this before."
Her words triggered Tomoyo2's memories of Nadeshiko to run though Tomoyo1's mind.
It seems Nadeshiko was already using Magic when Sonomi had arrived in the past. But since she had no idea what she was doing, she kept burning up her own bodies energy powering it. And this was what made her body so weak, clumsy and prone to illness.
Her special talent was connecting to other minds and using it she could not only communicate clearly with nearly anyone, she also could also strongly influence both people and animals. She did unconsciously use her power to get what she wanted but being the sweet gentle person she was, she more often used it just to make the people around her feel happier than they would normally. Of course, the side effect of this was to make her very popular in school which she enjoyed in spite of the fact that the attention of so many people annoyed her Sonomi-chan.
Soon after Sonomi had arrived back in time she figured out what Nadeshiko was doing and how it was harming her. So she began to work with her beautiful cousin, teaching her how feel her own Magic so she could control it and keep it from draining her energy.
Nadeshiko soon found that learning to turn her Magic off wasn't nearly as hard as breaking the habit of using it without thinking. But with many reminders from Sonomi, she did finally break the habit, and as she used her Magic less and less she grew stronger and healthier.
At the same time Sonomi was trying to teach Nadeshiko to draw Magic power from her source. And since she seemed to have a love affair with the Sun, Sonomi started there and in time it proved to be the right choice. Then when Nadeshiko was able to draw on the vast Magic power of the Sun she was not only healthy, but strong and athletic enough to beat a laughing Sonomi at running.
Sonomi was also proud that once Nadeshiko had learned how she was influencing people she stopped it. Except for animals. She still liked to call the little animals out of the woods and have them come up close to her so she could pet them. And then there was that one time when a man tried to rob them on the street.
Nadeshiko had made him drop his knife and just sit on the ground until they had gotten a police officer. Sonomi's story that the man had just come at them with a knife and then suddenly dropped to his knees and stared at nothing seemed very strange to the officers, but they didn't question the truth of the story partly due to Sonomi's social status and partly because the man was already wanted for robbery.
Despite the memories however, Tomoyo couldn't resist gently probing Nadeshiko and feeling her power. "She certainly has quite a lot of Magic power. It's just different from Sakura's and mine." Suddenly Tomoyo1 remembered that Nadeshiko had the power to talk to and understand anyone, no matter what language that person spoke! "Wow! That's amazing!"
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Nadeshiko was happily dancing with Flower when Sakura got to Fly and remembered how much Sonomi had enjoyed flying.
"Mom! How would you like to fly with me?"
"I was hoping you would ask me that! I was so envious when Sonomi told me about how she flew with Tomoyo."
"Well, I can't let you use my Fly Card since I want to fly with you, but you can use Tomoyo's Fly Card. Is that okay, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked with a smile.
"I don't think so. My Fly Card is real hard to use, not like yours at all. How about if I flew with your Mom?"
"But she is my mom. I should be the one who flies with her! Okay, what if I use your Fly Card and she uses mine. I shouldn't have any problem, since I've been flying for years."
"Sakura, you don't seem to be listening. This Card isn't like yours. It's really hard to control!"
"Please, Tomoyo?" Sakura pleaded and through their mental link Tomoyo could feel just how much her love wanted this. So she sighed and handed Sakura her Dragonfly Card.
"Take it real easy at first! It takes a while to get the feel of it!" she cautioned Sakura as Nadeshiko sprouted big white bird wings. Without seemingly hearing Tomoyo's warnings Sakura sprouted her dragonfly wings. In a moment, a brightly smiling Nadeshiko took off straight up followed by Sakura who left with a roar and both of them vanished as Sakura used her Illusion Card. But since the Card did not affect Tomoyo's Magic sense she could tell that Sakura was in trouble. She went up and down a couple of times and then spun in a circle while Nadeshiko shot away in a straight line, appearing in a moment to Tomoyo's eyes as she left the range of the Illusion Card.
"I hope they get back together. It's really bad for Nadeshiko-san to be flying in plain sight. It could cause all sorts of problems. Hopefully Sakura will quickly figure out how to control my Card."
"I hope she does too. I really don't want to have to explain to the police just what we are doing here." Fujitaka finished with a smile.
"Hopefully they will be back soon so you can take a turn."
"No thanks Tomoyo-san. I really don't like flying inside an airplane. I don't even want to think about flying without an airplane." Fujitaka gulped.
xxxx
Two old ladies who were talking as they waited for a bus, were stunned by the sight of an amazingly beautiful woman with long wavy hair and big white wings flying over them, laughing and squealing happily. "That's an Angel!" The first one announced.
"Yes it is! But what is she doing? AAAAAH!! It's the end of the world! She has come to take all the good people to heaven!"
"I hope not! She passed right over and didn't even look at us!"
"AAAAAH!!!" The second woman cried again, as she fell to her knees on the sidewalk. "It wasn't my fault! He tempted me! I never meant to be unfaithful! Please believe me!" She cried to the sky.
"So it was YOU!" The first woman accused.
xxxx
Of course as soon as Nadeshiko had gotten over her initial 'high' from finally flying, she went back looking for her daughter who was, of course, invisible. However Nadeshiko was also looking with her very fine Magic sense and found her very frustrated Daughter just shortly before she came zipping past her at an amazing speed. After a bit more chasing of each other Sakura got the hang of controlling dragonfly wings and managed to get together with her mom and actually enjoy the flying experience. It seemed that Nadeshiko loved flying at least as much as Sonomi and Sakura loved making her Mom so happy. So not surprisingly they wound up staying out way past lunch time.
xxxx
Later after Sakura and her mom had eaten and everyone was having tea, Sakura described the Clow Book to Fujitaka and asked if he had ever seen such a book."
"Why didn't I think of that!" An embarrassed Tomoyo thought to herself.
Unfortunately, he didn't remember seeing any such book. "But I do have a number of old books that have locks on them, perhaps we should look?"
So they did look very carefully, and found nothing that looked like the Clow book and certainly nothing that felt like it with Tomoyo's Magic sense. "Well, it was a good idea anyway." Tomoyo said sadly as they walked back to their room, then abruptly changed the subject. "Do you still feel confused with the two sets of memories?" Tomoyo asked.
"Sometimes, but it's not as bad as it was at first. And I really don't mind at all because the memories from here are so neat!" Growing up with my mom...and you...was just... so wonderful!"
"Yes, it was." Tomoyo1 said dreamily. "My mom was so happy with your mom living here. I still think it is amazing how your dad doesn't seem to mind the arrangement."
"My dad isn't just an ordinary guy. He is super special! And he loves mom so much he would do anything for her."
"I guess so. Well, I was just going to suggest we work on your homework, but I remember now that you have already done it in this timeline."
"Oh yeah!" Sakura1 said happily. "Growing up with you has all kinds of advantages, like having better grades than I had before!"
"And we are going to the same school here!" Tomoyo1 was delighted to remember.
"Yes! So it won't be bad at all, going back when summer break is over."