Composed by deko
Translated by Yuki Neco
Shone by the full moon, racoon dogs encircled the open space in the forest. There was a big fuss; a big bear drummed its chest excitedly, antelopes were hitting their antlers each other, and parent and child monkeys were cheering. There came a beautiful rabbit with long ears, and on the opposite side a plump racoon dog walked in. While the two opponents were exchanging glare, the other racoon dogs drummed thier bellies excitedly. In the extraordinary situation, a girl was watching the center of the spot in the same excited feelings.
“Give it your best shot, Rabbita. You would be regret it for the rest of your life if you didn’t win Lull.”
The objective female rabbit sat on the stump on the elevation. This is a dual in the wild life competiting for the partner of wedlock. When the moon was covered by a cloud, two opponents who had been watching each other at a certain distance started straightly to the center. It was quick. On getting in the reach, Rabbita kicked the racoon dog’s stomach with his hind legs.
“Way to go, Rabbita!” screamed Rumi.
On the other hand, the female rabbit on the stump looked bored, saying to herself, “This is ridiculous. Being with those creatures made him revert to the ancestor style or what?” Lull’s boredomness was not heard by Rumi who was totally delighted for her friends’s victory.
It was snowing, when in the Amamiya’s villa Rumi was excitely talking to the people in the villa about the dual between animals for their romance at stake.
“Rabbita was awesome,” said Rumi excitedly, “Goron, the unpleasant racoon dog, will never try to make up to Lull.”
“Wow, that’s why they are in a good mood,” Sakura responded.
“Fighting for the love,” Tomoyo said with starry eyes, “What a nice phrase. Don’t you think, Syaoran?”
“Yeah, I do,” Syaoran nodded.
Wei and Sonomi came in the room with cups of tea on the trays. At this time, Tomoyo’s father said, “Honey, Granddad is still having his guest? Sorry for him not to hear about this great romance in the nature.”
“Can’t be helped,” Sonomi replied, “he’s got to hear about the pregress from the scientist who he invested the money on the research.”
At the moment, Rumi mumbled, “Dad...”
On the other hand, Kero would not say a word about the rabbit for he didn’t like him since the night before.
Satoshi Nakagawa just finished his progress report to Masaki who sat deep in the sofa. “That’s unbelievable, but there’s no other way than to believe,” Masaki replied. There were several notebooks on the table in front of him, but Masaki didn’t like to examine them.
“Something at the footstep tends to be overlooked any time,” Satoshi said, “I didn’t even expect they were hiding behind the giant stellar body.”
“How long do you like to continue?”
“The system shall start as soon as the South Africa station establishes the initilization...” Satoshi replied.
“That’s not what I mean,” Masaki said, “I am wondering when in the world you are going tell the truth to your daughter. I’ve been asking this same question whenever I meet with you.”
Organizing the notebooks on the table, Nakagawa tried to find the right answer to talk to the investor, but he couldn’t. “I can’t. I’d rather be a mute if I had to tell her about her mother!”
“That’s why you keep away from your daughter. Then, how’s your wife?”
“No idea,” Satoshi replied sadly, “Currently, I don’t even know what her disease is.” At this conversation, the man was just a father who was struggling in difficulty without helping hands. He looked quite painful to the old Masaki, so he offered, “How about this? Leave your little girl to me until the system starts up.”
“Thanks, but it’s too bad she’s afraid of meeting new people, and...” Satoshi quietly replied.
“There’s no worry about that. I found the appropriate temorary parents for her,” Masaki smiled and said gently and determinedly.
A car traveled on the snowy street, in which Misako was looking at Satoshi, the director of her laboratory, with a smile, when he was looking at the picture of his family in his hand.
“Yoshiko, Rumi’s got her temporary Dad and Mom. You wonder what kind of parents? They are nice young lady and getleman, that’s for sure,” he thought to himself.
In the kitchen, Sakura and Syaoran were helping Wei and Sonomi making dinner. “Hurry up, Sakura, and place the plates on the table,” Sonomi hastened Sakura with a gentle smile.
“Yeah... but those lightning...” Sakura mumbled.
“What? I guess you were not scared of lightning,” Syaoran rolled his eyes.
“But today, lightning brought her bad luck,” Tomoyo explained.
There was a lightning, and at the same time, a tea container fell off the cupboard, and then... Sakura’s scream followed the thunder.
“Oh, no. That happened again?” Wei frowned worriedly.
Rumi who was preparing dinner for the rabbits giggled and explained, “Those lightning were the jealousy feelings of the girl who knows Mom.”
The people looked puzzled at the word, but Rumi went on, “I know she was here from time to time. Looked like she was so mad.” Her word made Sakura and Syaoran remember they saw a girl in the traffic accident* at the first day of the semester.
NOTE: See the epilogue of Ancient Girl.
“You gotta use the Return Card to...” said Tomoyo, when Sakura and Syaoran and Wei were scared of the lightning mumbling some sort of spell. Then the loudest thunder ever roared.
“Stop goofing off! You and Syaoran, place the plates! Tomoyo, you stir the salad, and Wei, call Granddad. He’s got to have dinner early today.”
“Is he going out?” asked Tomoyo.
“Yes, he’s visiting his old friend,” Sonomi answered.
Mt. Souen was over the snowy weather, and now starry sky was seen all above. Four people: Rumi, Sakura, Syaoran, and Masaki, were walking on the path where the snow had been cleared away. “Sorry for the trouble. He is such a geezer that he told us to visit him on foot,” Masaki said kind of sheepishly.
“But that makes sense. We came in this mountain to see stars,” Syaoran said.
“Does your friend wear splitted beard?” asked Rumi.
“Oh, you know him?”
Rumi carried on Masaki’s shoulder replied cherrfully, “Yes! Everybody knows him around this place. He always wears white coat and comes down the hill on his bike.”
“You mean, he comes back and forth this path?” Sakura widened her eyes, and looked through the steep mountain path that extended boundlessly.
In the midnight, in the control room of Advanced Communications Laboratory, there was one person working with a console. It was Dr. Satoshi Nakagawa. “If there’s another gravitational field near its path, Crommelt comet would not pass the calculated perigee. Then its arrival time would be changed,” Satoshi mumbled. He inputed commands to the computer, then a new curve was drawn on the screen but very slowly.
There began a blizzard all of a sudden in Mt. Souen at night. Everything around the place was covered white by the snow in the blink of an eye.
“Whoa!” Masaki staggered when he temporarily lost his vision, but he kept his attitude to protect Rumi from danger. He held her tightly from the swirling storm. “It’s too funny. This sudden blizzard,” Sakura whined
“Card! Sakura, use your card!” Syaoran shouted.
“Yeah, but... I hear somebody calling me.”
“What?” Syaoran turned to Sakura, before he called upon his fire magic. Li family’s incantation card turned into a flame to protect them, but the blizzard too fierce. At this time, “My baby... Where’s my baby?” Sakura heard a faint voice and shivered in fear. Getting back to herself, she took a key to the seal and casted a spell.
“The key that holds the power of the stars, reveal your true form to me. I, Sakura, commands thee under covenant. Release!” A big magic circle glowed, and Sakura decidedly stood for the task to protect her family: Masaki, Rumi, and her precious young man.
“Shield!” Sakura shouted, and an unbreakable barrier appeared. When she subsequently released the Firey Card, the Wisdom Card whispered to her, “It’s no use, mistress. That is a residual spirit, without its body.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Keep the Shield Card at work, and show it that you care for Rumi. Then the spirit will be calmed down.” the Wisdom advised. The advice was right. The blizzard ended, swirling of snow became calm and the snow gathered to form a human figure. The figure was beautiful with a transparent white skin, purely white hair, and it showed so gentle a smile that it even reminded Sakura of her mother.
“She’s so pretty,” Sakura gulped.
The beautiful illusion faded away, and they regained the sight of the mountain path, when Sakura stood toatlly fascinated. Syaoran was disgusted by how she acted and said, “You don’t know what you just saw, do you?”
“No, why?” Sakura leaned her head slightly to the right.
“It was a snow lady*.” replied Syaoran.
At his answer, Sakura faded and collapsed.
NOTE: Legendary Japanese monster that looks like a beautiful woman in kimono, causing a blizzard to freeze people to death.
At the top of the Mt. Souen, in Nozaki’s private observatory, Masatsugu Nogami, the old man with splitted beard like Rumi talked about was laughed out loud, “Yahahaha! You guys saw it. I thought there was no worry about it, and I didn’t pick you up. Gomen, gomen, forgive me,”
The kids enjoyed the warm milk served to them, but to Sakura the old man looked like King Kuna*.
NOTE: See “Ancient Girl.”
“Have you been here in this observatory for your research, mister?” Syaoran asked the old man. Masatsugu saw pure interest in his eyes, and smiled at Syaoran, “There a celestial body that I’ve been longing to see once again. It was 56 years ago that I fist saw her, one of those days of the deadly war against your homeland, boy.”
“Star world is very very huge. Can you see the same star again?” Sakura wondered and said.
“Sakura, once this guy put something in mind, he cannot see anything else,” explained Masaki.
“But Masaki is my good friend who understand this stubborn me,” said Masatsugu, “Thanks to him, I’m sure I can succeed in the reunion. Anyone in the world but us don’t know this.”
“Then what they talk about the comet...” Masaki began.
“They miscalculated. They miss an important factor,” replied Masatsugu, “Now, are you ready? I’m going to show you the fascinating stellar field.”
Even though a chilly winter wind came through the slit that was opened, the children were looked through the telescope joyfuly.
“Wow, those blue stars are pretty!” Sakura exclaimed.
“They were called the Pleiades, a cluster of yong stars,” Masaki said gently.
“This one’s bright!” Syaoran exclaimed when he peered in the eyepiece.
“Sirius is the brightest star in the celestial globe. It’s one of the nearest star to our solar system. It’s only 9 light years apart,” explained Masatsugu.
“Nince light years? What?” Sakura turned to look at the old man.
“It’s far away in the distance of 9 years by the speed of light,” Syaoran explained, “In other words, the way we see it is the way it was 9 years ago.”
“So the light departed the star much before we first met,” Sakura said with starry eyes.
The telescolpe shifted from one spectacular celestial body after another, replying to the children’s request. Finally, the telecope caught a beautiful nebula.
“This one looks familar,” mumbled Rumi.
“That’s a major nebula, Orion, isn’t it, Dr. Nogami?” said Syaoran.
“That’s not what I mean,” Rumi shook her head, “I kind of think that I saw it more closely. There was a red star near it...”
Sakura who now acted like her mother, wiped tears off Rumi’s eyes, and caressed her so tenderly.
“Thank you for showing such beautiful stars. I’ll be back to enjoy the stellar night with every one,” Sakura said a gratitude. The clock tick past the midnight before anyone noticed. The children walked to the heated room, and two old men remained in the dome.
“Now, let’s prove it,” Masaki began.
“There’s no mistake in my calculation!” Masatsugu said controling the telescope so that the aperture faced down the floor. The old scientist laughed and said, “This telescope synchonizes the comet’s orbital motion. OK, let’s play chess before it rises from the horizon.”
The old men starts to play chess, but whoever expected that at that time scientist all over the world had a great fuss.
In the vast universe, by a red giant star passed a space ship, in the bridge of which a woman stood giving a command, “Fleet quarters command each space ship. Proceed into the star gate in the second quadrant to carry on warp.”
Next early morning, the two old men were sleeping in the dome of the observatory, where the monitor of the telescope showed a clear vision of the comet. Rumi who just secretly walked into the dome was watching the monitor, with anxiety in her lovely face, when she said, “Mom, I’m scared.”
At this time, in the Advanced Communications Laboratory, Satoshi Nakagawa was looking at the monitor with his unshaven face. Most of the monitor arrayed in the control room showed the beautiful comet. “I knew it. Dr. Nozaki predicted the correct time of its return. Really impressive,” chuckled Satoshi.