Mei-lin stood calmly, waiting as the goblins looked
at them in confusion. Beside her the Beast card was
impatient to strike, while Sakura stood at the other
side, reddish brown hair disturbed by the evening's
breeze. "They don't look like that much of a threat,"
Mei-lin admitted, her long mane of black hair flowing
behind her.
"Individually they aren't," Sakura raised her staff,
studying the short, greenish skinned figures, "it's as
a group that they can hurt you. They're main attack is
swarming over a enemy, overwhelming them before
bringing you back to their den."
"I'll watch your back," Mei-lin said, tossing Sakura
a smile.
"Me, too." Sakura agreed.
With a ragged cry the goblins charged forward,
miss-shaped limbs dragging them across the cement
street with startling speed. Beast's body blurred as
she shifted to her wolf form, scattering the attack
with fang and claw even as Mei-lin hammered her first
foe, then kicked out to drop the next in a splatter of
dark blood.
'They aren't human,' Mei-lin firmly reminded herself,
killing another with a simple throw. Beside her Sakura
fought them with surprising skill, her battle-staff
spinning as she struck out again and again to fell the
goblins.
"We've destroyed their nest," Sakura used a
two-handed blow to crush another goblin's head, Beast
ripping into the band of goblins from the back and
preventing them from running away, "so this should be
the last of them."
"Where are Yukio and Tomoyo?" Mei-lin had to ask,
enjoying striking a final goblin down. 'And enjoying
being here with Sakura-san,' she thought privately.
"A late night editorial meeting," Sakura said,
calling the Beast back into her card. The feral,
almost animalistic woman seemed to want to resist at
first, but a intense look from Sakura and she gave in,
swirling into mist that reformed the Clow card.
Together they walked over to Mei-lin's car, leaving
the remaining Goblin bodies to rapidly dissolve into
black muck. "I'm sorry that Tomoyo had to miss this,"
Mei-lin said, though in all honestly she didn't really
mean it. It was nice to be all alone here with Sakura
at last, the two of them standing together out in the
cool night air.
"They'll be other monsters," Sakura said cheerfully
as she took off her concealing cloak, folding it up
and then setting it down in the back seat. She gave
Mei-lin a smile as she added, "Thank you for the ride,
by the way."
Mei-lin got behind the wheel, Sakura on the passenger
side. "I was wondering why you didn't drive?" she
asked as she started up the car.
Sakura actually chuckled. "I tend to sneak out and
use the Fly card," she admitted, "you'd be surprised
at how few people look up."
Mei-lin smiled, pulling into the little traffic that
was out this evening. "Do you need to go right home?"
she asked Sakura softly.
"Not really," Sakura blinked, looking at Mei-lin
curiously.
"I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with
me?" she asked. Mei-lin hurried to add, "I'd really
love to have some company."
Sakura nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, I'd like that." She
brightened, "Maybe you can tell me more about China
and the Clow cards."
'Well, it's not exactly a romantic dinner for two,'
Mei-lin thought as she drove, 'but it's a start.'
Aloud she said to Sakura, "But I thought the stories
that Li told me said that Clow Reed came from Hong
Kong?"
"Both Li and I are still researching that," Sakura
said with a wry smile, now sounding more like the
archeologist and historian that she was, "there are
contradictory records. Some of them say that Clow was
from China and visited Hong Kong, while others claim
he began in Hong Kong, traveled to China then returned
home."
"Must make researching him interesting," Mei-lin
mused.
"It's a lot like putting together jigsaw puzzles,"
Sakura agreed, "except that someone has mixed two
puzzles together and there are pieces missing."
"Well, I'm glad you and Li like this sort of puzzle,"
Mei-lin sighed, "I'm not quite that patient.". She
thought a second then said, "Well, in the tales I've
been told Clow Reed was a fortune teller, a wandering
mystic of great power." An impish look over to Sakura,
"And according to Li he was a capable monster fighter,
too."
"That's something I hadn't heard," Sakura blinked.
"If it's true, it's quite a coincidence," Mei-lin
cheerfully agreed as she smoothly drove, keeping an
eye on traffic.
"Assuming it is a coincidence," Sakura muttered
thoughtfully. "I need to ask Li to send me any of the
monster fighter stories he has," she mused.
"I'm sorry I don't remember more of them," Mei-lin
said to her sheepishly, "just something about Clow
battling a gryphon and binding it into his service."
"Gryphons were legendary half lion, half eagle
beasts," Sakura shook her head, "how could one have
ended up in China, I wonder?"
"That and he supposedly fought a fallen angel too,"
Mei-lin added.
"You're pulling my chain," Sakura looked at Mei-lin
in surprise.
"All truth," Mei-lin said firmly.
"Hoeee," Sakura blew out a breath. She looked
thoughtful, "Y'know, I think I saw a drawing of them
once, I just didn't recognize it before."
Mei-lin eased the car over, pulling in front of a
local restaurant. "Looks like we're here," she said,
parking the car then getting out and opening Sakura's
door for her.
"Thank you," Sakura smiled innocently up at Mei-lin,
taking her offered hand and then gracefully standing
up.
Mei-lin felt herself blush faintly, but fought down
her first reaction as she let her hand linger a
moment. 'Innocent,' she reminded herself, 'Sakura is
such an innocent.' Still, she held her hands they
walked towards the building together.
"Welcome to The Golden Dragon," the waitress beamed,
her slinky red dress clinging to her body. She
continued, "A waiter will be with you soon."
"My brother used to work here," Sakura confided with
a chuckle.
"Really?" Mei-lin asked as they were led over to a
table.
"He liked to supplement his allowance with part time
jobs," Sakura quietly explained. She looked impish, "I
would keep getting surprised as a little girl, finding
him working in different shops I went into."
"Must have been fun," Mei-lin admitted. Unconsciously
she pulled out Sakura's chair first then sat down
herself. "Do you have any preferences?" she asked,
gesturing towards the menu.
"The times I've eaten here have all been good,"
Sakura smiled, "you can pick."
Mei-lin ordered the food, then she looked over at
Sakura as the restaurant bustled around them. Even the
faux Chinese decorations in the booths looked good,
paper dragons, lanterns and other items giving the
place a tacky sort of charm.
"What?" Sakura asked, seeing the questioning look on
Mei-lin's face.
Mei-lin flashed a smile. "I was wondering," she
asked, "are you seeing anyone?"
"Eh?" Sakura blinked in confusion, "Yes.. I mean no,
I ....."
The girl's discomfort was so cute, Mei-lin had to
fight the urge to smile. "I guess it's a bit of a
confusing situation?" she asked her gently. When
Sakura nodded she continued on, "Would you like to
talk about it?"
"Please," Sakura smiled.
The waiter dropped off the food, leaving generously
filled plates and drinks in front of them. "Who is
it?" Mei-lin asked as they began to eat, silently
hoping....
"Well," Sakura blushed, "I think I like Tomoyo,
honestly, but...."
'Good,' Mei-lin thought, even though she knew that
Tomoyo would be a difficult rival to face. 'At least
Sakura seems to be open to girls,' she thought.
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