Chapter 02:

Hearing tearful cries and multiple callings of someone name 'Rhode-sama', her eyelids lifted and she suddenly saw a familiar scenery below her.

She was airborne, on a flying broomstick with the winds of the night caressing her cheeks.

The one controlling and making the broomstick soar was a mysterious girl with dark blonde shoulder length hair. She gave off a otherworldly but comforting feeling.

Then the girl turned her head, looking back at her and smiled, gently telling her.

"Don't worry, I will help you capture that Clow Card -"

"-Sakura."

"Sakura."

"Sakura."

The young brunette girl was expelled from her sleep, by her best friend calling her name. Opening her eyes into the real world Sakura Kinomoto voiced, "Tomoyo-chan?"

Tomoyo Daidouji giggled, thinking of how cute her friend was. She wanted to snap a picture or maybe even record her. "Yes, it's me. It seemed like you dozed off. The bell rang for lunch, already."

Sakura's green eyes widened as she distinguished something about the magazine in the dark haired girl's hands. "Tomoyo-chan, who is she?" She pointed to the blonde girl on the front cover page of the magazine.

"Oh." Tomoyo glanced down to the magazine she held in her arms. "This is Suzana 'An' Croft. Known as the Fae of Music. She's a renowned child pianist and composer. A musical prodigy. The same age as us." She added, "she made one of my favourite songs, 'Open World', which I am going to sing in my club today."

"Suzana Croft." Sakura repeated. The girl who was on Tomoyo's magazine was definitely the girl who she had seen in her dream.

••••

"Hmm?" Suzana voiced, turning her head to look out the window of her abode.

Cassidy who stood in front of the black chalk board writing several more simultaneous equations inquired, "is there something you do not understand, An-sama? If so, I can go over it again."

Suzana gently patted the head of Sirius who was slumbering on her lap. She took a few seconds to respond. "...No." She paused then continued, "...I just thought I heard someone call my name."

"I see." Rhode's female creation continued on with the mathematics lesson. "What did you get for question number five?"

"x= 3 and y=2." The blonde child replied, twirling her white mechanical pencil with a yellow lily shaped eraser on top.

The red haired girl nodded her head at the answers.

Suzana Croft, she had always been home-schooled from since a young age, never once in her life attending a real educational institution. One of the reasons why Rhode Croft had made Cassidy was so the redhead could watch over, guide and teach her young daughter. It had even been Cassidy who had introduced Suzana to the lovely world of music. She loved and enjoyed seeing the blonde child absorb everything she taught her like a sponge.

After the lessons were done for the day, Cassidy had telepathically received a message from Rhode Croft. Picking up a notepad, she wrote on a sheet of paper and teared it from the pad, "An-sama, Rhode-sama said that she wants you to purchase these necessities from Cajin's Convenience Store." The redhead handed the sheet of paper with the list of necessities and a meticulously detailed hand drawn map.

Accepting them, Suzana said. "Then I will buy them, immediately." She was preparing to summon her broomstick from outside of her lily shaped charm that hang from her silver chained bracelet, but before she could, Cassidy divulged.

"Rhode-sama also said that you are not permitted to utilize your broomstick or any type of transportation or teleportation magic. She said and I quote, "walk by foot An-chan.", An-sama."

'By foot' blearily echoed in Suzana's ears. The nine year old girl had pondered why her mother suddenly wanted her to do some 'shopping', that Cassidy would usually do. She understood now. This was another one of her mother's so called tests for her.

Beads of sweat appeared on her hairline. "Then I'll be going now." Suzana reached and placed her hand on the doorknob.

Cassidy giggled, tilting her head to the side with a smile. "An-sama that door leads to the closet. You have to go out through that door." She turned the child around then directed her.

Suzana's ears became red, "oh, thank you, Cas."

Cassidy found it adorable. Suzana Croft, once it came to flying the child could pinpoint any place with even the vaguest set of directions, but once it came to traveling by foot, the young sorceress in training couldn't even tell left from right.

"No need for thanks, An-sama. It is my pleasure and role to guide you." Cassidy disclosed merrily. Seeing the girl this time head out through the correct door, the red head thought, 'Cajin's Convenience Store is only ten minutes away from here by foot. But how long will An-sama take to arrive there and come back home? Probably two hours at most. I should go over tomorrow's lessons plans. Ah, I ponder how much An-sama will learn.' Taking a seat behind the teacher's desk, she opened her lesson planner book, ready to make in adjustments if needed.

With earphones plugged in her ears from the MP3 player, music played. Scrutinizing the map, squinting her tawny brown eyes Suzana pondered which turn she should take. She had been standing here for the past twenty minutes and felt a headache coming on. She turned her head left then right. '....Why does everything look the same? Ok this way.' She finally decided.

One hour and thirty minutes jogged by.

Stopping in front of the tallest skyscraper in the area, the young sorceress in training distinguished something, glancing up at the building. Her ears burned, turning red. "....I passed this building .... for the sixth time."

At another location, gazing through a glass crystal ball with her chin resting on her ball hands, Rhode giggled. "Oh, my An-chan is so adorable! She's the cutest!!" The mother gushed. "Just look at her little wittle ears."

Back with Suzana, she heard a gentle voice inquire. "Are you lost?"

Her line of perception travelled from the skyscraper to the one who was crouched in front of her.

"....moon." She subconsciously mumbled as she took the earphones out of her ears. This person in front of her gave her the presence of the moon. 'He's not human?' Suzana thought questioningly.

"Sorry. I didn't hear you."

Suzana blinked, "oh. I am....lost." Her ears turned even redder, admitting this. "I think I made a wrong turn, somewhere." The blonde stated, showing him the map.

After taking a look at it, he smiled. "I just came from there. I can show you the way. By the way, do you have a favourite bread? I ended up buying too much."

"Banana." She replied.

"Then you can have this, this, this and this." Snacks related to bananas piled up in her arms.

•••

Suzana watched as Yukito waved good-bye to her and started to walk away, after she had thanked him for personally guiding her to the convenience store and for the treats he had shared along the way.

Throughout the trek as the two had chatted, Suzana wondered if he was human or not. She still couldn't determine what he was even now. The child knew even if he was human Yukito Tsukishiro was not normal. She came to this conclusion, because she could sense magic within him.

"An-sama!!!!!" A soft substance hit her face. "How could you leave me with that red-hair she devil who climbed from the pits of hell! Her only purpose to torture me!!!" Tears streamed from his eyes as he bawled, "I thought I was going to meet my untimely end."

Removing Sirius from clinging to her face, she patted his head and comforted him. "There, there Siri-kun. I am sure Cas is not that petrifying when you two are alone."

"That's easy for you to say!" He commented, trembling. "Please don't leave me alone with her again, An-sama!!!"

"Sure." She agreed, continuing to pet his head.

After his troubles were alleviated, he commented proudly. "Plus; I am the expert between us when it comes to land!"

Suzana smiled. "You sure are. That's why we're the best of partners."

Sirius laughed. "Heh! Heh! What can you do without me!"

Both of them entered Cajin's Convenience Store. Sirius flew into her lily shaped backpack. His head popped out from the part that was fully zipped.

As Suzana placed the items of the shopping list in the red plastic shopping basket, she decided to add a six-pack of banana pudding.

'Add some strawberry jello in there too!!!' Sirius mentally communicated with his partner.

'Sure. And I'll buy some Oreo cookies for Cas as well.' Suzana went out to the aisle with the cookies.

'That red-hair she demon don't deserve any cookies!'

Suzana giggled, 'you and Cas are really close.'

'Close?! Where are we close, An-sama?! She's my mortal enemy from my last life who assassinated me by stepping on me till death!!!'

••••

Laying on her stomach with her legs up slowly kicking forward and backward in the air, Suzana turned the page of an old thick brown book.

Floating onto Suzana's bed next to her , Sirius asked. "Why are you suddenly interested in this Clow Reed?"

"Because." She flipped onto her back, holding the book high into the air. "Before he died, I think he's the only magician who's abilities were comparable with mom's."

'And An-sama's dream is to become sorceress like Rhode-sama.' He thought.

"No, Siri-kun. My dream is to surpass mom." Suzana corrected as if she had just read her partner's mind. She said this without looking up from the text. "From what I have gathered, there are different aspects of magic which Clow Reed was better at than mom and the same for mom. There are aspects of magic which she is better at than Clow Reed."

"An-sama, how can you say that! Rhode-sama is the best at everything!" The wolf plush like being held his head high. "There are still many things about Rhode-sama's magic even I or the red-hair she demon don't know about. And many more things that hasn't been revealed to you yet."

Suzana thought, 'that is true with the last point.' Even though she was her daughter, the child still found her mother enigmatic. One would never know what she was hiding or had up her sleeves, unless she herself released it. She shut the book close, 'but the same could be said even more so about Clow Reed. Especially since I do not know him personally and all the knowledge I have of him are from others.'

Standing up, she opened up the case of one of her musical instruments and retrieved her violin and bow. She placed her chin on the chin rest. After she tuned it, only those who were magically aware could have hear the euphonious voice of Suzana's violin.

••••

"Huh?" Sakura looked up from the homework she was agonizing over then out of the window. "Did I just hear a violin?" She questioned herself. After concentrating for several seconds to see if she really had heard a violin being played, she heard nothing. The green eyed girl dismissed it as an auditory hallucination.

••••

Touya Kinomoto who was wiping the table of a closed restaurant looked at his best friend. He had heard something but couldn't make out what it was he had heard. "Yuki, did you hear something?"

Yukito perked his ears out to see if he could hear anything. "No." He replied.

••••

While stacking up a pile of papers, Rhode smiled as she closed her eyes, listening to her daughter's music.

"Croft-sensei, it seems like you're in a good mood."

"Yes, I am. I'm listening to the most adorable, talented violinist ever." She stated.

••••

Windows opened of their own and in blew the wind that carried Suzana's violin. Placing the teacup back down onto its saucer was the figure of a child obscured by the shadows. The future that his past incarnation had predicted was heading in a different direction due to the two added elements. The ends of his lips curved upward. "Let's see what the future holds."

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I wanted to add small slip ins with Syaoran, Syaoran's mother, Suzana's love interest, including Rhode's hearing the violin played by An-chan , but eh, I thought it would run on too much and it would be too much of an early reveal.