Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Kaito stared fixedly at an indefinite area of the garden, as flashbacks of his conversation with Akiho earlier in the afternoon reoccupied his mind.

She said she wasn't mad at him, but something in her eyes and voice told him she wasn't saying the truth.
And that made him restless beyond his control.
Dissimulating, concealing...he painfully realized he didn't like being given a taste of his own medicine.

His thoughts were interrupted by Syaoran's voice calling him, a few meters nearby.
“Is everything ok? Can we continue?”

“...Yes, sure, I'm sorry.”
Kaito smiled and walked towards Syaoran, whom was slightly panting from a session of magic sparring.

“So, what I want you to work on is the ability to build magic stamina before starting the time-freezing spell. You shouldn't summon your magic while casting the spell, because it's counterproductive. You must already start building up your magic supply while you're fending off the opponent's attack... I know it's difficult to handle the two things at once, but it's mainly a matter of focus.”

Syaoran nodded. “I see, that makes sense.”

“It's like splitting your mind in two. One side must be focused on the opponent, the other on your body. Feel every speck of magic that's coursing through your veins, and gather it. Here, in the center of your torso,” Kaito's hand hovered above his own stomach to show him the area, “this is where you build up your magic reservoir. You have to gather as much of it as possible. It's only when you have started the spell that you can direct it into your hands, and subsequently into your magic tool—in your case, your jian.”

“Wait, why not gathering it into my hands from the start?”

“Because the spells work better with a consistent, steady supply of magic. Your hands serve as the medium that channels the magic into your tool, but your reservoir must be in a more central area of your body, so the magic can reach it faster from wherever it's being summoned.”

Syaoran kept nodding, making a mental note of all the precious advices Kaito was giving him.

“Come, let's try again.”

The two faced each other in the middle of the garden, summoning or getting their magic tools ready. Kaito was the one to get the ball rolling, darting towards Syaoran and then deviating his trajectory, jumping on a nearby tree, destabilizing his opponent who was already preparing to fend off his attack from the front.

Heck, this guy really loves heights, Syaoran thought frustratedly as he turned around and pointed his jian at him. Kaito didn't waste any time and flipped his staff upsidedown, unleashing a single string of heavy chains towards the younger magician. Syaoran avoided it with quick reflexes and crouched on the ground, holding an ofuda in front of his sword. “Fuuka, shorai!”

Kaito swiftly jumped down to avoid the small tornado that engulfed and violently shook the tree he was on. “Start now, summon your magic,” he instructed loudly as he landed on the grass, “while I'm preparing my next attack.”

Syaoran complied immediately, trying to divide his focus between Kaito and the tingle he felt in his body. His magic was promptly reacting to his call, and he started feeling a burning sensation in his stomach—it almost felt uncomfortable.

“It burns, right?” Kaito said, smiling knowingly as he swung his staff, a series of smaller versions of his magic circle appearing in front of him. “Remember your goal. Remember why you're doing this.”

Sakura.

The idea of Sakura being targeted by anyone made Syaoran's insides clench painfully. He couldn't sleep at night at the thought of it.

He knew time magic was something dangerous to deal with, but he also knew it was the best chance he had to repel any undesired attention from other magicians. Kaito told him that if he limited himself to time-freeze, and only for five seconds maximum, the consequences on his lifespan would be negligible.
Syaoran had been honest when he explained to Sakura what learning this technique entailed, but the advantage the spell gave him, pausing any offender long enough for him to deal with them, was simply too compelling to dismiss. Earlier that afternoon he had managed to sustain time magic up to four seconds. But it still wasn't enough. He needed to push on.

Determination flashed through Syaoran's eyes as he felt the magic flowing much faster in his veins, the burning sensation in his stomach was now pretty much unbearable.

“Tina Rie...Lachesis”

Kaito pronounced the incantation gravely, giving birth to a dozen of shiny purple darts emerging from the mini magic circles in front of him. Unceremoniously, the darts lunged at full speed towards Syaoran, who promptly stood up. His amber glare met Kaito's narrowed dark violet eyes—both knew it was time to cut to the chase.

The younger magician flipped his jian over, sticking it into the ground, as his magic circle shined with a dazzling green light under his feet. His voice chanted, confident and solemn.

“Time, stop!!”

The darts froze immediately mid-air. As everything turned green and a deafening silence fell one more time over the area protected by Kaito's barrier, Syaoran could feel the familiar weight dropping onto him again.

But this time, something was different. His movements were still slowed down, but far less than before. He could distinctly perceive the magic rushing out of his hands, flowing steadily from that reservoir that was burning in his stomach, and he desperately hastened to straighten his sword, holding his ofuda in front of it. In the corner of his eye, he could see that Kaito was quietly counting.

The increasing fatigue threatened to engulf him and snuff out his burning flame again, turning this into yet another fruitless training session. But he refused to bear another failure.

Gritting his teeth, he kneeled to the ground, still holding his sword upwards. And then, as if in a daze, he saw them again—Sakura's sweet smile, her bright jade eyes.
They violently took over his mind, reminding him what was at stake. All of a sudden, he couldn't feel the weight or the fatigue anymore.
With the last drops of magic flowing out of him, he confidently recited “Raitei...shorai!”, hurling a powerful thunderbolt towards Kaito, pulverizing the frozen darts.

“Whoa…!” Kaito laughed nervously as he jumped to the side to avoid the leftovers of Syaoran's attack, which had continued their run by inertia in his direction, missing him by a whisker and plunging into a big bush of roses, incinerating them.
The man frowned at the sight—he was particularly zealous about his roses.

In that moment, the green hue dissolved and time resumed its normal flow.

Syaoran dropped the sword and sat down on the grass, leaning back on his hands, panting and sweating profusely while observing with a pleased smile the result of his counterattack. He could feel his entire body trembling from the effort. “How long?” he asked, this time with a much more upbeat tone than all the previous times.

Kaito walked towards him, smiling, as he reverted his staff back into his pocket watch and hastened to cast a spell on the damaged areas of the garden. “Five seconds, almost six. Congratulations, well done,” he said as he handed him a bottle of a sport drink, sitting down on the grass next to him. With a snap of his fingers, he took down the purple barrier around the garden too.

Syaoran drank immediately from the bottle, feeling tired, but so much lighter and fullfilled. He sighed, mind going immediately to a certain girl. “I can't wait to tell Sakura about this. I wonder what the girls are doing right now...I'm sure they're enjoying their time together,” he commented with a gentle smile. He didn't notice it, but Kaito slightly flinched at the mention of the girls.

“At first, I admit I was a bit dejected when Sakura told me she wasn't coming to the training session of today,” the younger magician said lifting his eyes towards the clouds above, “but I realized it's so much better like this. I hate to show people my failures. I don't even want my mother to attend my training sessions, when I'm learning something new.”

“Hmmm, I see,” Kaito murmured distractedly, his gaze fixed on the grass in front of him.

Syaoran peered at his teacher from the side, recognizing a familiar gravity in the way he was silently staring at the grass—with narrowed eyes, as if he were analyzing it. So silent that he could barely perceive his breath. He pondered for a moment if he should ask. Then he decided to go for it.

“Did something happen with Shinomoto?”

Kaito glanced up at him, surprised by his question. “No, she's fine. Why?”

“But something about her is bothering you, isn't it?”

Kaito stared, stunned, unsure how to reply. He wanted to ask how he knew that, but the amber-eyed young man was quicker than him.

“No need to ask me how I know. Sometimes I think we're pretty similar. Maybe it's the moon magic,” he said, giving Kaito a brief amused smirk.

Kaito exhaled through his nose, thinking how to arrange his thoughts before pushing them out of this mouth. For some strange reason, the younger magician's straightforwardness always made him want to open up and talk. A lot more than his average.

“Things are...complicated. I think she's angry with me. Last night it became clear that she's still processing what happened four years ago. I honestly can't blame her.”

“But you... don't regret it, right?”

Kaito's eyes widened, caught off guard for the second time in a few minutes. It was apparent that was just a statement dressed like a question. He smiled, appreciating the empathy coming from the other side. “Must be the moon magic, hm?” he said, an ‘exactly’ implied in his smirk. “I hope one day she'll be able to forgive me completely. I don't want this to haunt her for the rest of her life.”

“Well, what you did is not insignificant. Both in a positive and in a negative way, I guess,” Syaoran commented with his proverbial bluntness, looking at him with a slightly raised eyebrow. “It might take a while to elaborate everything. But I'm sure she will eventually make peace with it.”

The young man paused, as his mind was suddenly occupied by what happened the evening before. The truth is that, after his restoring nap, he had inadvertently overheard the last part of Sakura and Akiho's conversation as he was approaching the dining room. Feeling uneasy, he thought it would've been better to wait in silence to give them space and enough time to talk, so he didn't show up immediately at the door. But that gave him the chance to partly hear what was bothering Akiho lately, so when he spoke again, he couldn't help but keep into consideration what he had involuntarily heard.

“Just...make sure she knows you want to move forward from that past. Reassure her. Let her know how you feel about her.”

Kaito's gaze shifted to the grass again. He had realized, over the years, that no matter how more aware his heart was of his feelings for Akiho, he simply wasn't good at expressing them straightforwardly with his voice. He wished he could deliver some beautiful lines like those of the romantic books she loved so much. But he just couldn't bring himself to, there was something preventing him from doing so. Hence why he tried to express his feelings in any other way he deemed appropriate—little notes, food, acts of service in general. He wanted her to know, in every waking moment, that she was loved.

He wanted her to know that despite the past, the hardships, the travels and the distance from the people she had bonded with, she was loved. He loved her and had always loved her above all else. Even if in an imperfect way.
He wasn't sure whether it could be enough for her, but it was all he felt he could give. They surely had come a long way, because thinking back to their situation four years ago, even this little was unimaginable. But he had learned the hard way how destructive it could be on a person's mental health to believe that no one loves them. He would've never allowed her to feel the way he had felt.

And yet, despite his best intentions, it seemed as if lately life had decided to play havoc with his head once again, leaving him worried, confused and lost.

In the latest period he struggled to recognize the Akiho he had always known. He could see her very well, and yet he couldn't see her anymore. Where was the small, poised, sometimes insecure young girl he used to know?

Her body had slowly changed under his nose because of that unbridled magic known as adolescence, and that petiteness was by now nowhere to be found. The process had been so smooth and natural that he really didn't realize until...one day, it became too apparent for him to ignore.

She was taller, the top of her head finally reached his shoulders. Her blonde curls gently swayed past her shoulders now, but not as long as her mother used to wear them. Beauty had flourished on every inch of her, in and out. The insecurity had long given way to assertiveness and wit, while always retaining a sweet and kind disposition towards others.

Despite he knew she still was Akiho, that wasn't Akiho anymore, in a way.

Contrary to her, his appearance was static, crystallized in time. For a twist of fate, their appearances now looked more similar than ever—there was just one part of him that escaped the spell that still had its claws on him. Evolving, progressing, growing with each passing day.

His feelings for her were always the same, but simultaneously he knew they weren't the same anymore.

He felt there was something that was insinuating itself in the depth of his stomach like an unwanted guest, and everytime he absentmindedly looked at her long enough to kick his overbearing rationality out for a while, that something bit down hard and burned his insides. Her azure eyes had discovered the power to take his breath away, and weren't afraid to use it. Everytime she took his hand and confidently pulled him down a library's aisle in search for another rare book, or whenever she retorted to his involuntary irony, his heart lurched almost painfully.

The pull he had always felt towards her, that irresistible force that had set in motion their destiny many years ago and had already changed shape multiple times, was about to morph once again, he could feel it in his bones.

And he was afraid of what he could find once the change was completed. He was afraid to find another piece to the puzzle of what it meant for him ‘to love someone’, and with all the thoughts that had started festering his mind as of lately, he wasn't sure he should've been allowed to feel that way. He felt like he needed to keep this at bay. He couldn't allow it to change any further.

“I've had a lot of thoughts, lately,” he said after the long pause, capturing Syaoran's attention again. “It's been four years, and we haven't found a magic spell that can restore my lifespan and my health conditions back to a decent degree. I've started to wonder if we ever will.”

He looked up at the clouds that were being tinged of orange and pink hues, as sunset gently accompanied Tomoeda into the night. The sight, for some reason, did nothing but worsen his melancholy.

Syaoran stared at him for a moment, his expression turning pensive. Kaito's situation was certainly not easy, but somehow he knew that wasn't truly what was concerning him. “Are you worried this is affecting her in some way?”

“She never says anything to avoid upsetting me, but anyone would be exhausted by now. When we started our journey, I promised myself I would've done this right...making her happy for the rest of her life, in the way she wanted to. And I still want to do that. But I'm not blind, I can't be, getting to this point.”

“What do you mean?” Syaoran asked, frowning, his voice perturbed by a bad feeling settling in his gut.

“I don't want to... keep dragging her along in this mess I've put myself into. I don't want her to feel like she's bound to do this, or miss out on a lot of good things because she's too busy checking magic books on the other side of the world. I know this is what she decided to do on that day, but after four years, I can't help but wonder...whether I should set her free or not.”

Syaoran's eyes widened at the frank reply—he noticed that Kaito's hands had turned into fists, conveying perfectly well how the mere thought was ripping him apart from the inside. It took Syaoran a few seconds of pondering to realize that, when put in front of the choice to drag the love of his life along in his misery, or set her free, he would've found himself in the same limbo Kaito was in right now.
He couldn't help but empathize with him; just thinking about separating from Sakura—forever—made his skin crawl. He shut his eyes tight to wash the uncomfortable feeling away.

But they didn't need to go that far. Despite understanding his dilemma, there was fundamentally one big difference between Kaito and Syaoran: the latter knew better than jumping immediately to separation. Remembering again Akiho's words from the evening before, he tried to put out the fire before it burned the whole house down.

“I understand where you're coming from, the thought of dragging the people we love into a dark situation is unbearable. However...love doesn't bind two people like a chain. I don't feel like I'm ‘chained’ to Sakura and neither does she, I think. It's more like...” he paused, his fingers curling on his chin while he searched for the perfect image in his mind, “...it's like a magnet. I feel this constant magnetism coming from her...next to her is where I want to be,” he said, smiling without realizing it, “I suppose this is what they call ‘attraction’.”

Attraction. Kaito digested the word carefully. Could that be that mysterious something that was growing and changing inside of him, too?

“But Sakura doesn't bind me in any way. Similarly, I believe Shinomoto does not feel ‘chained’ to you, and she does what she does because she wants to.”
Syaoran shifted uncomfortably on the grass. “Well, this is just my opinion, there's no better way to know than asking her directly. You should ask her how she feels about all of this,” Syaoran concluded, putting deliberate emphasis on the last few words.

“Hmm...” was all Kaito could reply. Easier said than done, he thought, the mere idea was dreadful to him—he was an introvert, he hated confrontation, despite what his reputation had spread around. Yet he knew that was the right way to go about it; all those years Akiho patiently tried to teach him how to communicate their issues and needs had not been in vain.

“Is that the reason why you haven't officialized your relationship yet, until now?”
Syaoran's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, bringing a confused expression on his face.

“What do you mean?”

“Well...I've never heard you call her your ‘girlfriend’, despite it's apparent to anyone what's going on between you two.”

Kaito's eyes got wide like saucers. If he were anyone else, he would've probably started slightly blushing by now. But he was Yuna D. Kaito, so he just sat there, gawking at Syaoran for a moment, before replying.

“Well, yes. That, and also...you know...because I'm older than her.”

Syaoran eyed him, his thick eyebrows furrowing with puzzlement. “You don't really look older than her,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“I don't mean physically.”

“Well, no offense,” Syaoran raised his eyebrows now, “but even mentally...it doesn't really look like you're far apart. Why caring about that anyway? You're the only ones truly knowing what's going on.”

Damn, the Li's and their bluntness, Kaito thought as he grimaced, slightly piqued by the merciless remark. But Syaoran had a point. Akiho always said their supposed age difference didn't matter to her or concern her in any way. The more they looked physically close in age, the harder it was for them to remember there was a supposed age difference between them at all.

However, what Syaoran said had also ignited another thought. Something he hadn't considered before and now worried him far more than anything else.

His expression became so distressed as he ruminated that Syaoran, seeing the sudden change, couldn't help but feel guilty for what he said.

“Hey, I'm sorry. I did say I didn't mean any offense with that...it was meant in a good way. You two have a lot in common,” he clumsily tried to patch things up, but Kaito smiled forcibly at him, feeling like it was time to wrap up their chat. He suddenly had lost all willingness to talk about this matter.

It was in that moment that Kaito's phone beeped, startling him. Akiho's name stared at him from the notification that popped up on the screen. He excused himself with Syaoran and tapped on it, feeling his heart pulsating in his throat.

His gaze ran wistfully multiple times over the few words she wrote to him.
His heart was already clenching painfully with longing—he wasn't used to not have her at home for dinner. They were almost always together. He foolishly felt like he was already missing her, and almost considered joining them.

But he knew what the few words concealed, too. A concern for his health, a fear of him having one of the (by now) sporadic seizures that afflicted him, while she was having fun outside.

See, this is what I'm talking about.

He couldn't stand the idea of her limiting her life because of his situation.
Moreover, he wasn't a child. He could handle a seizure by himself. He certainly did so, before. Countless times.

As Kaito pressed the ‘send’ button next to the terse message, a cold feeling gripped his stomach. He was just going to take a shower and go to bed, yes. He didn't even need to eat dinner. He just wanted to curl up on his bed and sleep.

He was probably making a particularly worrisome expression again, because he heard an increasingly uncomfortable Syaoran asking “Is something wrong?”.

Kaito turned to him, plastering on a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Why not. I don't need to be alone, after all.

“Do you have any plans for dinner?”

The key turned into the lock slowly and Akiho stepped into the foyer carefully, quietly, almost as if she were afraid to make any noise. The pendulum clock showed it was half past 9 pm. Before closing the door, she could see Fujitaka's car on the street starting the engine, directed back home. She wasn't sure whether Kaito had already gone to sleep or not—all the ceiling lights were off and she could see that the only ones still on were those along the hallway, so she quietly took off her ankle boots in the semi-darkness, put on her home shoes and walked towards the hallway.

The moment she turned left to head for the bedrooms, she squealed in surprise as she almost bumped with her whole face into Kaito's chest. The sudden encounter had startled him too—he expected her to still be removing her shoes at the foyer. His hands instinctively went to hold her shoulders. “I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.”

She stared at him, eyes wide. Seeing him made her feel strange. Her heart was kicking against her ribcage like a runaway horse.
The surprise. His cold, long fingers on her shoulders, sending shivers down her spine. The proximity of his body, in this hallway that was so spacious but somehow now felt like such a cramped space, making it hard to breathe. The light scent of shampoo and the night robe over his pajamas, indicating he had already taken a shower and was ready to go to bed. Yet he was still here, awake, and had been clearly on his way to greet her. Had he been waiting for her?

The whole situation overwhelmed her, cheeks flushing red as the intoxicating yearning came back with a vengeance. She felt lucky her labored breathing could be passed off as just the consequence of the surprise, but if he kept his hands on her any longer, she felt she wouldn't be able to answer for her actions.
She wasn't used to spend the evening away from him, so eventually she had started missing him, and with the rising tension that the curt messages didn't help to mitigate, she desperately felt the need to have his arms and hands around her.

Holding her, cuddling her, comforting her, telling her everything would be fine between them. Maybe even cradling her face while he….

“Akiho-san, are you okay?”

His concerned voice snapped her out of her inappropriate thoughts, sending her into an even worse state of agitation. Her eyes darted everywhere but on him, struggling to push an answer out of her choked throat without sounding like an idiot. “Y-yes, i-it's nothing, I'm fine.”

He looked at her flustered face, the way her eyes refused to meet his own, the struggling expression that resembled a frown. The quiver in her voice. In his head, there was no doubt—she was still angry with him. His expression saddened, and it was in the awkward silence of that moment that he realized.

Your hands. Your hands are still on her.

Slowly, reluctantly, his fingers let go of her shoulders, going back to his side. He didn't notice her quiet intake of breath as his hands brushed past her arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her skin.

She started, voice still trembling. “Uhm, so, I….”

He wasn't ready to let go of her, yet. He wasn't ready to let her go to sleep without doing something for her, anything at all, that could make up for the fact that she clearly still was cross with him.

“Would you…” he interrupted her, internally grimacing at how desperate he sounded, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

The unexpected invitation caught Akiho off guard, making her finally look up into his eyes. Her facial features relaxed, even if just a little.

“Yes...I would love that.”

Akiho sat down at the small table of their kitchen, watching Kaito busying himself with the activity that was pretty much his strongest suit during his butler days. Needless to say, he had continued to brew tea for her every single day, even after the butler facade was dismissed forever.
Akiho had understood, over time, that making tea for her was a love language, too. Even now, she knew he was trying to tell her something, with his elegant gestures, his careful measuring.

She saw him pouring the water into the teapot and setting the kitchen timer at two minutes and thirty seconds. After all, his pocket watch was still stopped, so he couldn't use it for that purpose like he used to.
The kitchen fell into an awkward silence, save for the tick-tock of the kitchen timer; Akiho decided she wasn't going to spend the next two minutes like this.

“How did the training session go? Was it successful?” she inquired, surprising Kaito who turned around to look at her. He thought she would rather not hear anything about it.

“Yes, I'm glad to say it was. Li-kun managed to keep time magic up to a little further than five seconds, successfully countering my attack,” he replied with closed eyes and a gentle smile.

“That's good,” Akiho commented with a pleased tone, the corners of her mouth slightly curving upwards, “I expected nothing less from Li-kun. But I'm sure that...having a skilled teacher had its merits, too.”

He stared at her, blinking like a fool as it took him a handful of seconds to register that yes, she had just praised him. He started to blabber his usual jibber jabber that he didn't do anything special, that he actually felt like he was a bit rusty, but thankfully for both of them the kitchen timer intruded loudly, prompting Kaito to end his self-belittling and return his attention to the tea, which he poured immediately into the cups.

Akiho took the cup she was offered and it was only in that moment that the girl noticed he had used the tea set with the cosmos flowers. Her heart fluttered at the realization. If he was trying to reconcile, he was on the right track.

“Thank you very much,” she said softly, before placing her lips over the edge of the cup.

The scent was unmistakable—jasmine tea. She loved jasmine tea, it was one of her favorites. She closed her eyes and slowly savored the flowery aroma. As the tea went down, it warmed her inside, relaxing her nerves further.

Kaito sat down in front of Akiho with his own cup of tea, but when he glanced up at her, he felt his heart skipping a beat.

For the first time that day, he could see a beautiful smile blossoming on Akiho's lips.

“It's delicious,” she said sweetly, looking at her reflection into the cup, a pale blush appearing on her cheeks.

He stared at her, feeling like the Earth was spinning a little slower. Like the room had gotten a little warmer. Like he could melt right there and then.

“Thank you. I'm glad you like it,” he said softly, his eyes never leaving her.

Goodness, how he loved her smile. It was the most beautiful thing in the world, to him. It was his oxygen, the reason why he woke up in the morning. He felt like he could live off her smiles for days, without touching any food or drink.

Likewise, he was sure that without her smiles he would've withered away in no time. He knew it. He had been there before.

You're a fool.

How could he afford the luxury of having such thoughts, when he was considering setting her free?

He loved her so painfully much, and yet he was so insecure about what to do, about their future. Letting her go had seemed so much easier when he wasn't aware of his own feelings. Sure, even in the form of a dragon, his conscience had shriveled into a shell of himself, wishing to do nothing but sleep. Sleep to not feel.

But now? There was no way he could survive the pain that would've resulted from letting her go. His body would've lived forever. But his heart and mind would've died screaming.

You're a fool.

His destructive thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Akiho's voice asking him about his evening. He took the opportunity to tell her that he invited Syaoran to stay for dinner, and Akiho seemed relieved to hear that.

But there was still an awkward atmosphere lingering between them, so they didn't chat much past that, and focused on enjoying their tea.

As they quietly walked down the hallway that lead to their bedrooms, Akiho stopped in front of the patio door that faced their garden, looking at the full moon outside. Its light was particularly intense that night. She basked for a moment in it, and felt like it was filling her with courage, confidence.

She turned around, locking eyes with Kaito, a radiant smile on her face.

“Can we...go for a walk, here in our garden? There's a beautiful moon outside, and…”

She hesitated, her precious smile fading a little bit.

“...I need to talk to you.”

Chapter Text

Everybody says it's terrifying when someone you love tells you “we need to talk”.

Whenever Kaito heard someone say that, he couldn't honestly understand what they were talking about. He used to think that “they just need to say something, that's all. What's the fussing about?”

Oh but he understood it, now. 

The shiver that went down his spine, the blood running cold in his veins. The unreadable expression Akiho had on her face. He felt and understood the whole terror of that simple phrase.

And yet, he knew he couldn't keep running away from this.
Swallowing hard, he nodded and gestured towards the door facing the patio. “Sure.”

The grass scrunched quietly under their feet, as Akiho and Kaito slowly retraced the path they had walked four years before.
Just like that significant night, the moon was majestic in the sky, illuminating their way through the garden. It brought back a sense of nostalgia in Akiho's heart, but also made her realize how different things were now. How her awareness, her understanding of things had changed. How her relationship with Kaito had changed.

Beside her, Kaito was a quiet bundle of nerves. Waiting for her to begin talking started to feel agonizing. He glanced at her from the side, noticing she was lost in contemplation, and strangely decided to break the ice. “How did they go? The afternoon and dinner at the Kinomoto's, I mean,” he asked as they kept walking, his eyes now on the grass.

“Oh, I've spent a wonderful time, as usual. Kero-san wanted me to play some games with him, but you know that I'm terrible at that, so even if I gave my all, he still won everything in the end,” she chuckled, the golden guardian's deafening cheers were still echoing in her ears. “Then, Fujitaka-san sat down with me and Sakura-san to have tea...he was so kind to me. He wanted to hear everything about the Stadstbibliotek, as well as the other libraries we saw around the world.”

She recounted everything with a calmness that felt almost uncharacteristic of her. Kaito thought it was strange. She usually was so psyched whenever she talked about people or things she had affection for. “He's always such a hospitable and kind person. I'm glad to hear that,” he commented.

“He wants to see you. He wants to make your acquaintance,” her head turned towards him, so as to look him in the eyes. “I believe he wants to check who's this young man traveling with his other ‘daughter’,” she added, smirking playfully.

He responded with a light chuckle, feeling his nerves easing up at her irony.
Well, things aren't so bad if she's willing to make humor, he thought.

“...I wonder what should I introduce you as?” she pondered emphatically, her gaze turning to the moon.

Kaito's relaxed expression didn't really last long, as his eyes widened and the smile quickly faded, suddenly feeling that icy shiver running down his spine again.

“Travel companion? ...Maybe as a brother figure? Or a father figure?” she chuckled over the last option, locking eyes with him again, “But maybe that wouldn't be very believable, would it?”

The last two options, even as a joke, made him shudder with discomfort. There was no doubt he considered her his home, the closest thing to a family he ever experienced. But he was also sure she knew their mutual feelings far exceeded what could be considered a familiar love, and there was a part of him that was vehemently protesting at the mere insinuation of the contrary...despite all the thoughts that weighed him down lately. Despite the fact that things would've been so much easier, if that was all there was between them.

But he felt like her eyes weren't asking to reconfirm the nature of their feelings for one another...they were leading to another kind of question, driving him into a corner. 

He couldn't hold her stare any longer, so he went back to look intensely at the grass. Maybe if he focused enough he'd wake up in his bed, making all of this just a scary dream dictated by his fears. He tittered nervously, unsure if she wanted a real answer or what.

Akiho waited in silence for a while as they kept walking, her eyes never leaving him, even when he tried to elude them. However, she quickly understood they wouldn't make any progress if she expected him to drive the conversation forward, so she quietly took a deep breath and made her next move. 

“I was thinking I might introduce you as my partner,” she dropped the bomb, matter-of-factly. 

Kaito stopped in his tracks, causing Akiho to do the same a few steps ahead, turning to face him. 

He was pale as a ghost, and the candid moonlight did nothing but accentuate that paleness. This brings back memories, Akiho thought. She kind of expected this reaction, but she needed to strike while the iron was hot. It was useless to keep tiptoeing around this matter—she needed her answers tonight.

“Is that ok? ...Unless your feelings for me have changed, of course.”
The tone of her voice was suddenly serious, strained with anxiety.

How to reply to that? How could he explain that his feelings had changed, and he felt like every day he loved her more than the day before? That the love he felt now was loaded with new nuances he wasn't sure what to do with?

He had no choice but to lie. At least to a part of it. “They haven't.”

“Then…why do you look like I'm pointing a gun at your head...?” Akiho asked, her voice slightly quivering as she brought her hands over her chest, somehow trying to keep her emotions in check. She saw him visibly stiffening, her mind assuming immediately the worst. “Please don't leave. Even if it's clearly making you uncomfortable, I beg you to hear me out on this one.”

He clenched his jaw and stiffened even more, feeling like shit. Beg. He hated that word, and he hated even more the idea of her resorting to beg him just to be heard out. He felt like a jerk for driving her to that point. It was one of those moments when his worst enemy, his self-loathing, came back knocking at his door.
“...Fine,” he said quietly, fighting the disgust with himself.

“I just...want to...bring what we have one step forward,” she started cautiously, “I know we have never defined our relationship, despite knowing our feelings, because we implicitly agreed that we needed more time. I was younger, we both needed to figure ourselves out...I get it. But I feel like I am ready, now. I want to fully support you and be by your side as your partner.”

Her hands started to shake and she clutched her shirt—she desperately needed to hold, grasp onto something. “I...would like to express my feelings in more ways than what I'm doing now…” she felt the heat quickly rushing to her cheeks, hoping he would understand what she meant by that, “but if it makes you uncomfortable, I won't impose my wish on you. I'm just... tired to make up excuses wherever we go. I'm tired of wondering what we are to one another...if we love each other, I think it's just natural at some point to want to solidify our relationship,” she said, ending her speech with a trembling sigh. She closed her eyes.

I want to scream to the world that I love you. That you are mine, and I am yours. Please, allow me to do so, she prayed silently in her heart.

For a few moments, the only sound that could be heard in the garden was the rustling of the tree branches in the quiet night. Then, Kaito's laconic reply came crashing down upon Akiho like a cold shower.

“I don't think we should.”

Akiho's eyes snapped open. She felt her heart cracking all over, threatening to shatter in a thousand pieces if he uttered just one more word. Still, courageously, she asked the question she dreaded the answer of.

“...Why?”

“I just... I don't feel it's fair on you. Keeping you tied to me. You're so young, why should you waste all of your prime years on me? Searching for something that we don't even know if it exists?” he said as he frustratedly ran a hand through his raven hair, pain dripping from every word he released. “It's been four years, Akiho-san. Because of this, you're constantly changing school. You can't build a consistent social life because you're busy changing country every few months. Why would I even do that to you?”

She stared at him, dismayed—she couldn't believe what was reaching her ears.

“I love traveling with you!” she retorted, almost offended by his statement, “And my friends in Tomoeda don't love me any less just because I'm not here all the time. I'm fine with all of this!”

His gaze drifted down, glued to the ground. He couldn't look at her. Not when the gravity of what he was about to say was crushing his heart too.

“...What do we do if we never find a solution? It might seem easy now that we look the same age, but what are you going to do twenty years from now, when society will scorn you because your partner is someone who looks so much younger than you, and we won't be able to tell anyone the truth? Am I supposed to see you in misery for the rest of your life?”

I'm so worried for you. Terrified of leading you to misery, rather than the happiness you deserve.
He was growing more distressed and more exhausted by the second. He thought his heart had understood what you're supposed to do when you love someone, but now that their path had brought them to the brink of the next step, he was realizing he wasn't sure he really knew anymore. 

She was asking him for something he wasn't sure he would've ever been able to give her. A happy, fulfilling, normal romantic relationship. When their situation was anything but normal. Despite his feelings pulled him towards her, he felt like their future was too uncertain, now. Was he supposed to follow his heart and crush her in a suffocating embrace, or give way to his rationality instead? Because he knew his concerns were very, very real.

Akiho let his quiet outburst sink in. She realized that after four years he had started growing insecure about the future. Maybe, she briefly reasoned with herself, the exhausting search was taking its toll on him. She studied his pained expression, his dark eyes filled with a torment she had only partly noticed before that night. She could see how concerned he was for her and her happiness, and she would've been lying to herself if she didn't admit that once in a while, in the gloomiest days, the thought had crossed her mind too. What if we never find a solution?

“Look at me...” she pleaded softly, a painful lump stuck in her throat, choking her words at first.

She was met with silence, his eyes fixed on the ground.

“Look at me, Cristaux!” she demanded more sternly a second time in their mother tongue, the tone and the severity of using his real name forcing him to look up to her.

“I don't regret my choice, just like you don't regret yours. I never will. I'll search for this magic and I will find it, even if it'll take my entire lifetime to do so,” her stare matched her sharp words, piercing through the dark violet fog that filled his eyes, reaching straight to his soul. She knew he needed firmness. He needed an unwavering resoluteness to quell his fears. “Did I ever say that my being with you is conditional to restoring your lifespan and restarting your time?”

He clenched his jaw and closed his hands in fists, unable to reply, unable to contradict her. She did not, in fact, say any of those things. But his fears were so vivid, so real. He couldn't understand how she didn't seem worried about the evident problems he raised.

His elusiveness was driving Akiho up a wall. She surged ahead and clutched both of his arms, startling him.

“I love you, you blockhead!”
Her cheeks instinctively colored, despite both her tone and her expression were dead serious. He stared at her agape, dumbfounded.
“Maybe you think this would make things easier for me, but you haven't considered that my soul belongs with yours, now! My happiness is being with you. I'd rather live the rest of my life in the scorn of society, than one single day without you...and you know I mean it, because I already know what it feels like…to live without you. I can't go through that again.”

His eyes softened at her outburst, feeling like her words had shattered something stiff inside of him—he could feel the pieces crumbling down and tingling inside his chest.

“Be honest…are you unhappy? Is this actually the reason why you don't want a relationship with me?” her voice started to crack, face screwed up in pain. The unbearable doubt was now eating away at her soul.

Kaito could feel Akiho trembling in his arms. “What...what are you talking about?” he frowned, stammering in genuine confusion. “This is not about me. I am the happiest I've ever been, with you…I never dreamed I could be so happy, so complete with another person by my side.”

He reached for her cheek, out of instinct. His fingers stroked softly her warm skin, as if he could smooth her stiffened features. He hated seeing her like that. In that very moment, he realized with shocking clarity that he hated it a thousand times more than any other fear that was gripping his heart.

“Reassure her.
Let her know how you feel about her.”

“If that's true, why are you pushing me away? Why don't you reach out and take what's already yours?!” she cried out in his arms, frustration stifling her breath.

His stomach clenched at her exasperated cry. Painfully at first. 
But then the pain turned into a sweet warmth that filled his entire chest. The pace of his heartbeat quickened, hand in hand with the one of his breath, as he felt something strange, but at the same time familiar, violently taking over him and making him lean forward.

The next thing he knew, his lips were pressing on hers with reckless impulse.

She tasted like jasmine tea. The same he had carefully brewed for both of them after she came back home—sweet, flowery, delicate. 

Her mouth felt so soft and warm against his own, a sensation he couldn't compare to anything he ever experienced in his entire life. He had been so afraid to follow the lead of his instinct, but in the depths of his heart, a part of him now knew he wouldn't be able to live without experiencing this feeling again. Without feeling her so close, so intimately close.
His head just kept spinning, completely stunned by what his body had just made him do.

Akiho's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden ‘invasion’, fingers clutching the fabric of Kaito's sleeve so tight that her knuckles turned white, in an attempt to withstand all the overwhelming sensations that simple contact had triggered in her. 

It all lasted less than the time a butterfly would need to flutter its wings, but both of them distinctly perceived like it lasted way, way longer.

As if they had triggered a spell. As if time had stopped on its own.

Their lips parted with a soft sound, snapping both of them out of their reverie. Unsurprisingly, they were both panting like they had ran a marathon.

He pulled away and stared at her distraught, half unsure of what he had just done, half desperately searching into her eyes for an answer to the questions that were drilling a hole into his brain.

Did I cross a boundary I wasn't supposed to? Does she hate me, now? 

He was about to apologize, but his breath caught in his throat.

He watched in horror as Akiho's bewildered eyes welled up with tears, like a river in spate. The salty drops trickled down her cheeks copiously as she stood motionless for a couple of seconds, before blinking confused at Kaito's dismayed face. That's when she whimpered and brought one hand to her cheek, wiping the tears away in shock—she realized she was crying.

She stared at her wet fingertips, then at Kaito again, before freaking out.

“NO! This is not...god, why do I always have these reactions!!”, she frustratedly clenched her fists against her forehead, “This is not what it looks like...”

She frantically searched for the words, but she found out that all the terms of all the languages she knew were jumbled up like a messy salad in her head. Her ability to put a coherent explanation together had been completely destroyed by the feeling that was still burning in her chest.

His face looked so wrecked with the misunderstanding that was occurring—there was just one way. Just one way to get across what she was trying to say.

She hastily tugged at the collar of his robe and stood on her toes, pressing her lips against his again. 

She tasted salty now. That was the only thing that Kaito's brain could register in the midst of the chaos that was happening between them. He closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down and take the moment in—he was at least starting to internalize that she didn't hate what he had done. Partly relieved by that, he awkwardly let his arms go where he felt they were yearning to be, wrapped around her back. He pulled her against himself, feeling something like electricity coursing through his entire body.

Akiho interlaced her fingers over his nape in response, and indulged into the kiss, savoring the calming feeling of his cool lips against her trembling, swollen, wet ones. All the frustration, the pain, the fear of losing him dissolving into the night.

After the initial moment of confusion, it was now so clear to her—her tears were only ferrying out of her system so many overwhelming emotions that she had bottled up for years, ever since in her fantasy of a teenager she had started dreaming about kissing the love of her life one day. For long time, that had been her secret desire. She had waited, and waited…and that desire had grown along with her, turning into a full-blown yearning as of lately.

But now it was as if his lips had finally made the cap pop off and relieved the pressure on her emotions, making them flow out of her in an unstoppable stream.
She felt lighter, relieved. So her cheeks inevitably reddened with embarrassment when she parted from his lips with a sigh she couldn't control, one that echoed of contentment.

“...Was that your answer?” she asked, slightly breathless.

He stared at her, still a bit awestruck. “...I guess it was,” he answered with a tone that sounded more like having finally found peace of mind, rather than defeat. His thumb brushed with gentle slowness over her cheekbone, wiping her tears away.

“You can't rewind your way out of this,” she smirked while sniffling, “there's no way I could ever forget this happened. Don't even try.”

He smiled back, her teasing sending tingles across his heart. “I don't intend to. If that's not what you want, I'm not backing out.” 

“It's not fair, though,” she protested, but her voice was soft with endearment, “I'm always a mess around you, but I have never seen you blush. Even a kiss couldn't make you do it.”

He kept staring into the blue of her moonlit eyes as he took her right hand, which was resting on his shoulder, and guided it over his chest with his own. Akiho could feel his heart through his shirt, pounding crazily against his ribcage. She stared in wonder at it, mesmerized by the steady rhythm. Her blush deepened in realization, emphasizing even more the gentle moonlight that was reflecting in her twinkling eyes.

“I believe everyone has different ways to show how they feel,” he whispered, his voice hoarse for the raw emotions that still lingered in his throat.

She looked up into his eyes, feeling her heart welling up again with a surge of love. Their faces were still so close. Her gaze fell on his lips—she wanted to kiss him again, and again, the temptation almost impossible to resist. 

But she reined in her impulse.

She knew she should not overwhelm him, and he needed to let sink in what had just happened between them. Something she could've also benefited from, as so many emotions had rocked her world that night.
Breaking the brief silence, she spoke again.

“At first...I thought you were being unreasonable, making decisions for both of us again...but I see it now. You knew there was no turning back once we crossed this line...and you didn't want to allow yourself to cross it, because you wanted to leave me a choice. The choice to back out from this situation…from us, at any time.”

Her fingers brushed gently across his cheek; her voice was so quiet, as if she feared she could burst the perfect moment they were immersed in, if she spoke any louder. “But that's never going to happen. No matter what lies ahead, I want to be with you. This is my choice.”

“Are you sure...you wouldn't want to experience a simpler relationship with someone else?” his question felt heavy and strained with concern, but he had to make sure one last time.

“If you doubt me again, I'm going to get very, very angry,” she frowned, her voice brooked no argument. “But what about you? What do you want?”

What did he want? He never really gave himself the chance to pause and think about what he truly wanted, under the thick layers of worry and paranoias...he didn't think he had the luxury to. He only knew he wanted to make her happy—that had always been his beacon in the night. But now that she was asking this question, now that he could look into her breathtaking azure eyes, the answer seemed so simple...it bubbled up from his heart so effortlessly.

“I want to be with you. Until my last heartbeat.”

Her expression broke into a beaming smile. “We are on the same page, then. You have no idea how long I've waited...for this to happen. I'm so happy...” her voice softened, mellowed by the unspeakable elation that made her feel over the moon. Her arms circled his chest and hugged him tight.

He returned the embrace, one hand stroking her hair with tenderness. “Thank you for waiting for me,” he whispered.

The full moon was watching over them as the only witness to the vows of love they exchanged.

Waiting was challenging, sometimes frustrating, sometimes painful. But it always bore its fruit. Akiho couldn't imagine a happiness greater than what she was experiencing right now. And even if she focused really hard and tried to imagine it, she couldn't see any happiness that wasn't with him. The man who persisted, stubborn as hell, in loving her more than his own life.

“I always will.”

Chapter Text

The next day, Kinomoto home.

“Oh gosh…is that what he said?”

Sakura carefully placed the tray with the tea set on the coffee table in front of the couch, looking at Syaoran with a sad frown.
In the quiet of her living room, the clang of the teaware resulted almost too loud.

“Yeah…I had no idea he was going through that.” For a moment, Syaoran didn't return her stare, but simply kept his eyes glued to the ground, bits and pieces of his conversation with Kaito playing back in his head. “I'm not sure anything of what I told him yesterday was truly effective, but I tried.”

“He's going to break Akiho-chan's heart again like that,” Sakura sighed as she moved a cup in front of him, “I get it, he's worried and he's thinking about her future. But Akiho-chan is so strong, he has no idea of the mountains that girl would move for him. They need to talk so, so badly, I'm sure that would solve most of their problems.”

“That's what I told him too,” Syaoran paused to sip on his tea, “she has the right to express her say in this. He can't just…give it all up before he even hears what she truly wants.”

“Besides,” she sat down next to him, taking her own cup from the table, “I have faith this situation won't go on for long. I can't explain it, but that's what my intuition tells me.”

Syaoran smiled at her. By now, Sakura had learned not to dismiss the intuitions and warnings of her special sixth sense, and was starting to grasp how to “decode” them, especially when they came up in foretelling dreams. She had become a much more self-aware magician, and he was conscious of that, even though it was basically impossible to ask him to stop worrying about her.

He put his cup down, as his expression rapidly became more serious, almost solemn. He reached for her free hand, gentlemanly holding it over the palm of his own. “Sakura…”

The girl put her own tea cup down on the table and immediately turned her puzzled eyes to him—the simple gesture and the tone of his voice had been enough to convey the sudden shift of mood in her boyfriend.

“Listen…my conversation with Kaito made me think about a whole lot of things. Although he's been too hasty about it, I understand his doubts and fears and I can't hide I would've been in front of a terrible dilemma too, if I were in his situation. He and I are very similar in that aspect.”

Sakura's eyebrows slightly furrowed. “Not because we are afraid of commitment,” he continued, shaking his head, “but because we are afraid of what that commitment might entail…for our most important person. We would never do something that could bring misery to you.”

His thumb started stroking Sakura's fingers, still resting on his palm. “But at the same time…it reminded me I'm incredibly happy I get to be by your side…and be…your boyfriend,” his cheeks slightly colored now—even after all these years it was still a bit embarrassing for him to say it aloud. “So happy that I could scream it to the world. And that's when I realized there's a part of my life that doesn't know much of this happiness I'm experiencing every day.”

Sakura felt her breath catching in her throat, eyes widening. His fingers closed over hers, holding her hand tight.

“Sakura…come with me to Hong Kong, this summer. I want to introduce you to the Li Clan.”

“E-eh?”

He heard her gasp in shock. His face was tomato red, just like hers, but he strove to hold her stare, as he felt that if he weren't at least brave enough to look her in the eyes as he uttered those words, he didn't deserve to ask her something like that to begin with.

Sakura brought a hand over her mouth, as if she wanted to prevent a storm of emotions from flowing out of her lips and eyes at any moment. Her eyes were still glistening, though, trying to defy her attempt. It wasn't like he asked her the big question, but inevitably she knew what meeting his extended family would mean in the long run.

Syaoran raised his free hand. “I know I have to ask your father if he's ok with this, and I know it's still too soon to get officially engaged, there's so much we have to finish up first…I'm painfully aware of all of this, that's why that will have to wait. But…I want to be very clear with my clan about who I'm introducing to them, when I'll bring you over. I want them to get to know you. I want them to know one day you're going to be part of the family too…if you want to, of course.”

Sakura's vision slightly blurred, she literally felt like something inside her could burst at any moment. Meeting his family, his sisters, in particular his mother (whom she had just seen in video-calls, till now) had always been a wish of hers. She leaped enthusiastically forward and hugged Syaoran on the couch, a muffled “yes, of course I do” emerging from the space where her face pressed against his chest.

Syaoran instinctively held her and chuckled, still impossibly red in the face. After a moment, though, his common sense regained a hold of him and he embarrassedly whispered “Sakura…your father is in the kitchen,” which prompted the girl to jump away from him, slightly out of breath. She laughed sheepishly, before the doorbell intruded loudly on the awkward moment.

She thanked Akiho in her head a million times. “Oh, they're here!!” she exclaimed a little too loudly, then stood up and rushed towards the kitchen, peeking in. “Dad, Akiho-chan and Kaito-san are here!”

*

Outside the door, Sakura greeted warmly the two guests, followed by Syaoran. Akiho, in particular, realized her best friend was holding her hands a bit too tightly, as if she were barely containing some kind of excitement. The girl didn't understand exactly why, but the warm welcome nevertheless made her feel all giddy inside.

Fujitaka appeared at the doorstep, and as soon as Akiho saw him, she suddenly felt an outrageous amount of nervousness hitting her all at once. Her body tensed, reacting instinctively before her brain could even register why she was feeling that way.
But as she heard herself speak, a part of her mind quickly understood the reason why.

“Fujitaka-san…” she started, her voice slightly strained as her hand gestured nervously towards the young man standing beside her, “this is Kaito-san. He's been my travel companion for long time. And…”

Her voice fizzled out like a burned sparkler, crimson red hue spreading over her face and neck. She felt like her throat was being squeezed by invisible hands, but she still strived to finish her sentence. “And he is…my…”

She panicked. Her throat couldn't emit any more sounds, sabotaged by the uncertainty of whether she could really say what she wanted to say.

What if what happened the night before was all just a dream? After all, he had behaved like usual that morning, and none of them really went back to the subject. What if he had changed his mind? Maybe she could go for the safer route and define him her “most important person”? Anxiety was definitely messing with her head, and as she glanced around in distress, she became aware of Sakura's worried eyes on her.

But before her friend could ask her if she was okay, Akiho perceived Kaito next to her taking one step forward with a secure, elegant movement.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Kinomoto-sensei. I'm Yuna D. Kaito,” he said with that smooth, enchanting quality of his voice that she knew could instantly charm people, “I'm Akiho-san's boyfriend.”

A sudden gasp of shock escaped Sakura's lips, which she tried to reign in by holding her hand over her mouth, but everyone—except an equally surprised Syaoran—chose to ignore her, as to not worsen the already pretty awkward situation.

Akiho's eyes widened as she released the breath she was unwittingly holding and turned to stare at Kaito.
He was smiling placidly, not a single trace of nervousness or uncertainty in his demeanor. The word had rolled off his tongue so naturally that she almost wondered if he had been secretly practicing it—something that, she immediately reasoned with herself, would've been more typical of her and not him.

It all felt so surreal. Being with him really was like riding roller coasters, sometimes. One day she was crying frustratedly at the prospect of separating from him and the next he introduced himself as her boyfriend as if it were the most mundane, normal thing of this world. Which evidently confirmed his resolve and the vows he made the night before.
She felt like she wanted to cry out of relief, but for the sake of avoiding any further embarrassment, she managed to keep her composure. Her eyes shifted to Sakura again, whom was now staring at her with a “you need to tell me everything!!” look, which contributed to worsen the burning feeling on her cheeks.

“The pleasure of meeting you is all mine, I'm Fujitaka Kinomoto. I've heard a lot about you, I was looking forward to make your acquaintance,” Fujitaka replied in his typical laid-back manner before bowing, choosing to not really question what was happening with his daughters and why he could feel some kind of tension in the air, so thick you could cut it with a knife. After all, it's not like what he heard was anything new—he had understood since long time what tied his acquired daughter to the young man in front of him.

“I wish I could say that I trust what you heard is all positive, but I'm afraid I can't dare to hope that much,” Kaito said with an apologetic smile after returning the bow, effectively breaking the ice, as his ironic comment left everyone chuckling.

“Well, the look on Akiho-san's face whenever she speaks of you is enough for me to know you're a good young man,” the professor replied, trying to reassure the magician, but also causing Akiho's cheeks to color up again. “Let's get inside. We need to celebrate the positive result of Syaoran-kun's hard training, don't we?” he said then, ushering everyone inside.

*

The living room that had been so quiet till a few moments before took life, as it became filled with the lively chatter of the four friends, with Kaito recounting the most salient moments of Syaoran's training and Sakura nodding enthusiastically to every detail, eyes filled with admiration and pride for the love of her life. Fujitaka came into the room bringing a new piping hot teapot, cups and saucers on a big tray, placing it on the coffee table for Sakura to do the honors and serve the tea to their guests. Then, he excused himself again. “I will also bring you a cake I made this morning, just one moment.”

Kaito suddenly rose from the couch, drawing everyone's attention. “Please, let me help you serving the cake.”

Fujitaka was a little taken aback, but he could read something more in the way Kaito looked at him, waiting for his approval.

Akiho, whom was also slightly surprised at first, was now smiling amusedly at his gesture. “He just can't help himself. Let him help you out, he's very skilled with these things. He can balance multiple dishes on one arm,” she said, backed by Sakura's cheerful “yep, can confirm!”.

Fujitaka chuckled, accepting the help. “That's very kind of you, thank you. This way,” he said, leading Kaito towards the kitchen.

As soon as the two disappeared from sight, Sakura didn't waste any time, getting straight to the point. “So?? What happened? Did you two manage to talk?” she asked Akiho with sparkling eyes, her smile so big it reached her ears.

Akiho jumped slightly on her seat, face flushing at the speed of light. “Ah…yes. When I came back home last night, he was there, awake and waiting for me…I followed your advice and spoke honestly to him, asking him to hear me out for once. And, well…it worked,” the last words left her lips barely above a whisper, as she fidgeted with the hem of her blouse. If she and Sakura were having a girl talk in private, she might have opened up more about what else happened the night before. But for now, she decided she wanted to treasure the privacy of that significant moment a little bit longer. It would've been their little secret for now.

“I'm so glad for both of you, Akiho-chan,” Sakura said, looking at her with genuine satisfaction, “it's wonderful that you two talked it out and cleared your situation. I was sure you could do it.”

“Yeah, I'm very relieved too,” Syaoran chimed in, “I found Kaito to be a bit absent-minded during our training session yesterday, so I'm sure he…had his own good share of ruminations as well,” he said, trying to be vague about how much he knew. “He looks like a whole new person today.”

“I know, right? And he's so confident about it too. Honestly I'm a bit envious, I still get nervous when I have to introduce Syaoran-kun to someone new!” Sakura chuckled sheepishly, eliciting a mirrored reaction in Akiho.

“Yeah, I'm kinda…shocked about it too, but then again, maybe I shouldn't be. He can be like that; once he made up his mind about something, it's like he's starting anew with a clean slate. He goes full steam ahead,” the girl commented with a tender smile.

*

A luscious dark brown delicacy was sitting on the kitchen's counter, waiting to be sliced. Kaito made a sound of appreciation, marveling at the exquisite white chocolate decoration enriching the cake. “It's really impressive. It looks delicious.”

“Thank you very much. I thought chocolate would hopefully meet everyone's taste,” Fujitaka replied, placing five little plates and forks on the counter, “I've heard wonders about your cakes too. You seem to have a natural talent in the kitchen, judging by what Akiho-san says.”

“She's just too generous with me. It started as a necessity, but I found along the way that I really enjoyed mixing ingredients and see what would come out of it. It's fun. And…” Kaito paused as a smile crept on his lips, “…I really enjoy watching her reaction every time she eats something I made.”

Fujitaka stared kindly at Kaito, quietly observing how, except for his eyes, he didn't change a bit from the brief exchange of stares they had during the school's Parents Day, four years prior. Back then, the intensity of his eyes had caught his attention, and for some reason he lingered in his mind even in the following months, even if he had no idea who he was. As if some kind of sixth sense was trying to tell him that refined young man would be relevant to his life in the future.
Now, he could see it for himself, it was really like his daughter said—it was as if his time had completely stopped.

Kaito kept staring at the cake, his expression growing serious as heavy feelings clouded the smile that the mere thought of Akiho had sparked so effortlessly. His stare shifted on Fujitaka, poignant and contrite.

“Kinomoto-sensei…I'm aware that Akiho-san and Sakura-san informed you of what happened four years ago, after everyone recovered their memories. I still owe you an apology for that. The way I went about it was presuming and high-handed…I'm truly sorry,” he said as he bowed slightly his head.

Fujitaka was once again taken aback, but finally understood the ulterior motive hidden behind the young man's eyes when he offered to help, back in the living room.

“I admit the full understanding of what happened was above my comprehension skills, but I remember that in the middle of all those complex words, all I heard was ‘Kaito-kun cared very much for Akiho-san and chose for her a family full of love where she could live in'.”

Kaito's eyes, still meeting the floor in self-reproach, widened at the soft-spoken reply.
Warm, comforting, not a trace of judgment. This man had all the right to be mad at him—a stranger, the one who imposed such a big responsibility on him, without considering anything else.

And yet, he seemed to understand him and his reasons so well…he wondered if that was how it felt like having a father figure. A dull ache gripped and twisted his stomach, as he raised his head once again. “I was in a desperate situation. I could only think about giving her a safe and loving place to continue living in when I'd be gone. But that doesn't excuse that I presumed to know it would be what everyone wanted.”

Kaito's words of self-criticism tinged Fujitaka's smile with heartfelt compassion. He knew it very well, the feeling of having the best intentions at heart, the purest feelings guiding every action, but still messing up, still daring more than what's sensible and allowed, and as a result finding yourself perceived as a menace, with the situation and appearances working against you.

He gently shook his head. “On the contrary, I wanted to thank you for the honor of entrusting your most important person to me. And I promise you that I will always take good care of her when she's here. She may have chosen to live her life elsewhere, and I'm sure she's happier that way, but she will always have a safe harbor here.” He turned to the cake and sunk the cake server in, cutting the first slice, perceiving Kaito's astonished stare on him the whole time. “I know what that feels like. Having no support, both emotional and practical, during the most vulnerable part of your life…it sticks with you. You get used to the idea that you'll be fine on your own, and you shouldn't bother other people, asking for help.”
He held the slice of cake on the server, as Kaito shook out of his bewilderment and hurried to bring a plate closer.

“But…it doesn't matter how your life started…all that matters is what you're going to do from now on. And if you have the blessing of meeting someone special, someone who trusts you and loves you for who you are, despite everything…” Fujitaka said as he slid seamlessly the slice of cake on the plate, “then allow yourself to trust them, love them in return. You have to cherish that relationship like one of the best presents life can give you. Only then, you will truly know that everything you experienced till that moment had been worth something.”

Kaito stared at the slice of cake as Fujitaka's words resonated deep within him, the feeling accompanied by a painful lump forming in his throat.
In the clutches of fear he had been so reckless, so ungrateful for the present that life gave him, he was fully aware of that. But he was determined to stop the vicious circle, stop being afraid—he would receive that present with both of his hands, eagerly, unreservedly, as he was meant to.

Words finally found a way out of his choked throat, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Thank you so much, Kinomoto-sensei. I won't forget that.”

After that, Fujitaka and Kaito continued chatting on a lighter note, shooting the breeze as every slice of cake was matched with a plate and its own fork. When they were done, Kaito insisted in carrying three plates, one for both of his hands and one balanced on the right arm, and once the two men returned to the living room, the “oohs!” of amazement at the cake were so loud that they reached Sakura's bedroom upstairs. Just like clockwork, Kero-chan stormed into the living room, loudly protesting for not being called immediately as the cake was being served.

“Next time turn your eyes away from that Switch and come down greeting our guests!” Sakura reprimanded him, which prompted Kero-chan to finally take notice of the other three sitting on the couch. “Yo, Akiho! Oh, you brought the magician too, today,” he said as he flew down on the coffee table, in front of the big slice of cake that Fujitaka had just put down for him, “you're lucky big brother ain't here today, he said he's gonna mess you up if he sees you,” he added, pointing his fork at Kaito.

The magician just put on his trademark grin, without responding, but that didn't stop Akiho from growing quite nervous at the idea of Touya meeting Kaito.

“Kero-chan!!” Sakura yelled at him, irked and embarrassed at the lack of politeness of the beast.

“Now, now. Touya-kun might seem scary sometimes, but he's all bark and no bite,” Fujitaka smiled, trying to calm the waters before his daughter strangled the mini golden beast. “Well then, shall we eat the cake?”

Everyone responded with a loud and cheerful “okay!”, and as they savored the chocolate treat, Syaoran even took courage to ask Fujitaka permission to take Sakura to Hong Kong later that summer. As Akiho and Kaito were basically family, he didn't feel uncomfortable doing so in front of them—actually, that resulted in the two merrily congratulating them, after Fujitaka gave his predictable blessing.

“Akiho-chan, when are you going back to Stockholm?”

As the sparse clouds reflected the pink hues of sunset on the surrounding area, Sakura and Syaoran stood outside the gate of the house to see Akiho and Kaito off on their way back to the Shinomoto/Yuna mansion. Fujitaka had insisted they stayed for dinner, but the two politely declined, saying they needed to start packing their things.

“Well, Kaito-san told me he has just one more lesson with Li-kun to consolidate what he learned, so I think we might leave in two days. We would like to go back in time for Valborg.”

“Valborg?”

“Yes, it's the festivity commonly known as Walpurgis Night. Swedes love to celebrate the arrival of spring lighting bonfires…they do it to ward witches and evil spirits off, but Kaito-san told me the occasion brings an increased activity in magic communities too, in spite of the original meaning of the holiday.”

“Magicians can be very defiant creatures, what can I say. Take it or leave it,” Kaito commented beside her, with a knowing smile. Akiho couldn't help but chuckle softly, rolling her eyes at his humorous remark.

“I think I've encountered mentions of that festivity, in my studies of the European magic scene,” Syaoran nodded with interest, “do you intend to take part to those activities?”

“Yes, we would like to participate to one of those gatherings to see if we can obtain any information about the spells we're looking for,” Akiho replied.

“Is it safe for you to take part to those rituals, though?” Sakura asked a bit apprehensively.

Akiho's smile broadened in reassurance. “There's nothing I fear by his side,” she said, turning briefly to look Kaito in the eyes with a very soft expression, prompting a loving stare from him in return. Her gaze returned to Sakura, however, when she felt the girl taking both of her hands in hers. Her green eyes were sparkling with a confident light.

“You know I don't say these things lightly, but…I feel like soon you'll find what you're looking for. I can't explain what is making me say this, or when exactly that will happen, but you won't have to struggle much longer. So always have faith, okay?”

Akiho, initially surprised by her best friend's declaration, nodded with relief. Both she and Kaito knew that nothing Sakura ever said with that confident tone had to be taken lightly. Because there was a very high chance it could just be a premonition waiting to happen.

“Sakura-san.”

“Yes?” Sakura turned to Kaito, with a tiny hint of nervousness now peeking through her voice. It didn't happen often that he addressed her so directly.

“By now you reached a level of magic that makes it difficult for you to keep flying under the radar of the magic world. What happened before we came here could happen again.”

His eyes held her stare with the heavy awareness of someone who had seen all the sides of the magic world. “Considering the level of your experience and the spiritual connection you reached with your magic, I would advise to add a brief period of training while you're visiting the Li clan this summer.”

The advice surprised Sakura, who turned to Syaoran with a concerned expression, to which he nodded in reassurance.

“I would be honored to train you myself,” Kaito continued, “but unfortunately I am not blessed with the power of clairvoyance, so I cannot do anything for you in that regard. I'm sure the current head of the Li clan would be a much more fitting teacher for this task.”

Sakura's gaze lowered for a moment, deep in thought. “I've never taken this option into serious consideration, and I'm not sure how well I would handle it.”
Even after all this time dealing with the magic world, she still felt kind of an “outsider”. She had long embraced the natural gift she was born with, and felt secure in the execution of a good number of spells with her inseparable Cards, but she was still uncertain about discovering the whole picture of the magic world.

“You don't need to be afraid. You're a wonderful person, and I trust that destiny will lead only good intentioned people to you. But I'm also sure that you are perfectly capable of protecting yourself, should that turn out to be not true in every single instance,” Kaito said confidently, wanting to reassure her, but also not sugarcoat the state of affairs.

Sakura seemed to perceive his intent, and smiled. “Thank you so much, Kaito-san. I will definitely keep your words into high consideration.”

“Moreover, you have this formidable watchdog by your side, I'm pretty sure his barking will be enough to scare any undesired attention away,” Kaito said cheerfully with a cheeky grin, earning from Akiho a sigh and disapproving side-eye.

“Hey... what's that supposed to mean,” Syaoran snapped back with his trademark scowl, “I'm not a watchdog?”

“I love dogs,” Sakura announced happily next to him, “they're very affectionate, intelligent, loyal...and some can make you feel very safe too,” she explained further, smiling at her boyfriend with the very same grin that Kaito was wearing in that moment. One could swear the two were almost sparkling by how bright their foolish grins were.

Syaoran couldn't really stop the blush that crept up from the base of his neck up to the top of his head. He cleared his throat, grumbling something unintelligible while averting his eyes from any of the other three.

Kaito chortled at the scene, but pressed his lips together to suppress it when he heard the warning “Kaito-san” coming from Akiho next to him. He glanced at her, feeling her icy blue eyes incinerating him on the spot, and murmured an unconvincing “OK, I'm sorry” in apology.

“Joking aside,” he cleared his throat and switched to a more serious tone, but at the same time warm and soothing, as Sakura and Syaoran turned to him, “if you need anything, if anything arises...call us. We'll do everything we can.”

“Yes,” Akiho chimed in, nodding next to him, “we'll try our best. We keep owing you a lot…you're always there for us when we need it...we never feel alone even if we're on the other side of the world. But please know that the thing is mutual, you can always count on us, too.”

“Akiho-chan…” Sakura threw her arms around her friend and held her tight, reciprocated. It was always hard for her to separate from the ash-blonde girl, almost as if she had to separate from a part of herself. But in her heart she knew she would never be too far away from her. She would be waiting for her to come back whenever she wanted to. She would be her other place to call “home”.

At that moment, Fujitaka walked outside the front door, joining the group at the gate. He held carefully a pink pouch that he handed to Akiho. “A little sweet souvenir you can bring back to Stockholm. There are cookies inside,” he said with a smile, causing Akiho's entire face to light up with joy at the unexpected present. “Thank you so much, this is so nice of you!” she said as she looked enthusiastically at the cute bag in her hands.

Fujitaka then turned to Kaito. “You also have a safe harbor here, Kaito-kun. Don't forget that,” he said, extending a comforting hand on Kaito's left shoulder, which brought once again a brief expression of surprise on the younger man's face. He thanked Fujitaka, unsure of which expression would be best to make. He definitely, definitely wasn't used to this.

Sakura stared at the scene with glistening eyes, heart filled with a warm, tickling feeling of happiness.

“I'm Akiho-san's boyfriend.”

As they walked back home, with their long shadows stretching on the road ahead, Kaito's words of earlier that afternoon echoed in Akiho's mind once again.

God, he really said that. She still couldn't believe he had finally spelled out that word—in front of people important to her, at that.
After so much waiting, after so many struggles, after holding back for so long…she was almost tempted to pinch herself to check if this was another one of those romance-filled dreams she sometimes had of him. The way her chest still felt so tight and filled with warmth made her want to scream in the streets. No one would've given a damn that the guy next to her had finally started to call himself “her boyfriend”—after all, seen by outside, they looked like any other teenage couple. By all appearances, there was nothing unusual about them.

No one knew the struggle they went through. No one truly knew how difficult and complex their situation was, or the years worth of trauma and personal insecurities they had to dismantle to be where they were today. Even Sakura and her loved ones, as much as they cherished them, were only aware of a part of that struggle. No one could fully understand.

Except maybe one creature. One who had known both of them for long, long time. Witnessed their afflictions, listened to their deepest secrets, assisted them in what they wanted to do.

Akiho looked up at the orange-tinted clouds, thinking their fluffy shapes reminded her of a soft plush.

Momo. Can you hear me?

Among the stretch of fluff, she spotted a cloud that looked like a bunny's head. She smiled.

I'm so happy, Momo. I'm sure you remember how much I wished for this, how much I fought my insecurities for this. All the times I believed I was no good, and yet yearned to be with him more than anything I ever wanted in my life.

I feel like nothing can separate us now, and the thought makes my heart burst.

But…

Her smile waned, as her eyes fell prey to melancholy.

I wish you were here too, right now…

I feel like this happiness isn't complete without you. There's so much I want to tell you, so much I'd want to ask an advice for. I strive to be brave, Momo, and I'm learning all on my own…I'm sure this is what you wanted for me. Experience life, find first-hand the answers I am looking for…because you trusted that I could find my way, and make the change happen. No one else could do it for me.

It's just that…I miss you, Momo. And in the same way I strived to get Kaito-san to open up to me, I will work hard to find you and Alice in Clockland too.

Wait for me, Momo.

As they turned a corner, Kaito noticed how quiet and pensive Akiho was next to him, and couldn't help but ask in light concern. “Is everything ok, Akiho-san? You're so quiet.”

Akiho stopped watching the clouds and turned her head to look into Kaito's eyes.
Meeting his gaze roused the butterflies in her stomach once again, and the feeling brought back a spontaneous, big smile on her face. Her left hand reached for his right one, intertwining their fingers in a firm lover's hold. He was taken aback by the gesture for a moment, but then returned the hold with a kind smile. She grinned at him.

“I'm great. Let's hurry up, our suitcases are waiting!”