Sakura Kinomoto took a low, slow breath as she stared at the caverns before her. She was in, well, rather simple clothes, for once. Tomoyo wasn't with her, either. Kero was, but he looked uneasy about the whole thing.
The rumors had been getting worse, about the ghost in the caverns. People had been getting hurt, falling in the caves, or having them collapse. These tunnels were defunct.
So of course something could be sensed there. And it was too dangerous for Sakura to go alone. So she'd called a few people and, eventually... Naru hadn't been busy!
So now she stood outside the mouth of the cave, rocking back and forth nervously.
In the grand scheme of 'good ideas', this is probably pretty low on the list. Still, Naru couldnt let Sakura go alone, that would just be silly. She's prepared, this time, for the potential of cold, wet and muddy. Anything that discusses caves and caverns seems highly likely that there's going to be cold, wet and muddy. Boots and a rain jacket and Naru even has mittens, for the moment.
Naru approaches where Sakura is waiting, glancing around as she approaches, a flashlight in her hand, and a notebook in her pocket, she looks rather more like Nancy Drew at the moment, than a magical girl. "So.. remind me of what you've been noticing here?"
Sakura Kinomoto glanced up and let out a sigh of relief. She opened her mouth to speak.
Kero flew in front of her, his paws crossed. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors of people coming to this cave and seeing ghosts and phantoms. No one has been attacked, but plenty of people have been hurt. One person was almost killed. Chances are... it's a clow card. Or a ghost."
Sakura eeped and whimpered, her hands shaking, the wand shivering in her grasp.
"We're here to determine that. Sakura called you because, well... she's scared to go in alone. Can't imagine why."
"I'm voting card." Naru replies to Kero with a nod. "Although if it is a ghost, we'll want Jiaying rather than me. That's her balliwick." She reaches a hand out to settle on Sakura's shoulder. "It's alright. I know ghosts make you nervous, you can hide behind me.. but honestly? If you're here, and there's things going stupid, I'd bet on card rather than ghost. Odds are in our favour on this one." She flickers what she hopes is a reassuring smile to Sakura, all efficient confidence.
"How have they been hurt, .. Kero is it?" Naru asks fo the small flying lion.
Sakura Kinomoto stares up at the girl with big, wide, 'You're the most awesome person in the world' eyes. She then nodded. "Y-you're right. And... and as long as we're here together, we can handle anything, right?" she said happily.
"These caves are trecherous. They don't even let people spelunk in them anymore. A bunch of kids wandering in, hoping to see people they lost over the years? A few are bound to get hurt." He shook his head. "That's why it's so importantly we find them now."
"Yep, we got this." Naru is pretty confident that there are a really very large collection of situations that she can think of that they Do Not Have, but her smile doesn't speak to any of those when she nods to Sakura and those wide eyes.
"Right, so slips? Falls? Cave ins?" Naru mmms softly and nods a little, a soft murmur really only for herself thanking whatever gods are listening that she's not claustrophobic. Heights are unlikely to be much of a problem in collapsing tunnels. "So we need to be careful." She turns to Sakura. "I have a flashlight and some rope." She pats her satchel, no doubt it holds other useful things she thought of too. "But let's see how far we get just being careful. Alright? If the fates are kind, whatever card is wreaking havoc on people is doing it right near the entrance and we won't be trying to text people to dig us out."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, taking her hand and smiling. "Okay. I--" She blinked. Slowly her cheeks turned red. "A... flashlight?" She looked down at herself. She hadn't packed so much as a band aid. She'd only brought the cards!
"I'm an idiot... sorry Naru-san," she said weakly. "Here I'm trying to be smart and dependable like all the rest of you, and I still keep making such stupid mistakes," she muttered. "Thank you for helping me with everything."
Once they stepped inside, Sakura moved a lot closer to Naru. Her hand squeezing the other girl's. It was pretty obvious she was scared, even if Naru couldn't feel her pulse pounding through her hand. The caverns were old and damp, with dripping water. There were paths, but many had long since collapsed or been abandoned. There were even 'do not trespass' signs all over the place. Mosto f which had been knocked over or ignored. So many people risking their lives over whatever was in here. A little water dripped down Sakura's back and she buried her head in Naru's side, barely suppressing a scream as she shook, clutching the older girl tightly.
"I've only had magic for a short time." Naru points out as they venture into the caves. "So I'm still in the habit of not relying on it, unlike everyone else I know."
Naru holds Sakura's hand as they start down the paths. "It's alright, it's just water.. cold water, but it's just water." Her voice is quiet, utterly calm, steady and reassuring as she flickers the flashlight over the different paths, following each until they either turn, or are collapsed. She ignores the 'No Trespassing' signs, just as so many have done before. "Shhh. It's alright." She considers their path options, gaining a mental map of the place as best she can as she does. "Let's try this one first." She shines her flashlight down a relatively open path. "It looks the most stable and well used."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded and, after a little bit, she started walking a little away. Not too far, but enough. "Right," she said softly. "It's... just water. And... and I've got good magic, right? So..." She grinned up at her. "If... if it is magic, or a card, I-I just need to deal with it. Though I think you've had magic longer than me. I've just never gone cave spelunking."
The path was long and windy, though it did seem safer. There were even the remains of a camp, trash littering the ground. But still no sign of this fabled ghost.
"I think... it'd be a lot funner if there wasn't a ghost. Maybe when all this is over... spelunking in a normal way would be fun. Daddy would probably like it."
The tunnel split. There was a damp, wet tunnel that descended deeper into the earth at a steep incline, and then another one that was thin and narrow, they'd have to hunch down pretty low to get through it and it was filled with stalagmites and tites. Alas, no kunzites or zoisites.
"I've had control of my magic for about.. mmm.." Naru has to think about that for a moment. "Eight weeks. Less then, really." She smiles at Sakura's self talk and keeps up the conversation if only to distract the younger girl from obsessing on the bits of this that terrify her. "If it's a card or magic, you've got this." She agrees.
"I've gone exploring in caves before, but none quite this tight." Naru admits as she gives the camp a good once over as they pass and then stop in front of the divide in the tunnel. "I have to admit, I'm very tempted by the little tunnel, as we're both rather petite, but if we're trying to follow where others have gone, and see what they saw.. they are likely to have taken the larger tunnel. Not many would fit down that one." She is cautious as she moves a little closer to the wet sloped tunnel, evaluating if she needs to tie her rope to something to not fall. No kunzites or zoisites, just one hyalite.
Sakura Kinomoto blinked a few times, mouthing the words. "Only eight weeks? Wow... but you're so confident and smart! I thought you'd have had so much more experience with it!" she said, staring up at her. She then gulped, lowering her eyes and staring.
"It's so dark down there... is it... safe?"
A rope for support could be useful, but it wouldn't be needed. Unless it got steeper. A very real possibility. Sakura took a step forward and then-- She let out a scream and grabbed naru, her eyes wide. "Ghost!" she yelled, hugging the girl. She'd bumped into a rock with her back.
... There was a rumble from up above and, if they looked up... the roof was beginning to shake slightly.
"Confidence is a whole different kettle of fish." Naru comments as she flashes her flashlight down the tunnel to make it less dark, at least briefly.
"No, it's not particularly safe, that's part of why we're here." Naru points out as she reaches her hand to to grab to Sakura as she screams, trying to find what the devil she's on about with a ghost. "That's a rock." She reminds and then looks up. "But we'll soon be trapped if we're not careful." She nudges the girl towards to what looks like a stable part of the cave, or at least more stable, as not to get trapped under rock.
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, whimpering and holding her hand as she was directed. "S-sorry," she said softly, chewing on her lower lip and then following her guidance. Off in the distance there was the sound of more rumbling. She glanced towards her for a moment, trying to keep her nerves calm.
Finally, she asked. "Who... would you want to see? If you could see anyone in the whole world, down there?"
"Deep breaths." Naru advises as she guides them, cautiously, to somewhere that doesn't feel like they're going to have the whole cave system down on their heads in a moment.
"Well if people are seeing those who have died, then I'm not much good at seeing people." Naru replies as she flashes the light around, keeping an eye on their surroundings. "I'm very lucky, those who mean the most to me, I'm like to see at supper or later this evening."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, giving her hand another tight squeeze. "Really? So... there's no one, then?" She gave a soft, gentle sigh. "It's always nice to see those who mean so much to you, right?"
The cavern was widening out a bit, though it was also getting more damp. As thye traveled she'd be able to see more signs of cracks and destruction. She could even make out one tunnel that the floor had collapsed in, revealing a chamber of sharp, pointed stalagmites below. No wonder people had been getting hurt and needing rescues.
"I've had very little death directly in my life." Naru comments as she tries to pick the driest path, but with more concern for safety than keeping her feet dry. Boots help a whole lot at least. "If everyone seens differnet people, it seems even less likely to be a ghost, doesn't it?" Naru comments thoughtfuly.
"Mind your footing." Naru flashes the flashlight over the collapsed floor. "I'd rather not have to pry either of us up out of /that/ sort of thing." She moves carefully to the edge, to flash the light into the chamber below, taking just a moment to admire the beautiful rocks.
Sakura Kinomoto nodded. "You're right. Unless it's a bunch of ghosts," she said softly. "Thank you, Naru-san. I... I never could have done this without you. I would have been too scared and just... thank you."
Kero snorted. "I would have been with you, regardless," he said with a huff. "And I would have kept you safe from any stupid rock. I--" He let out a yelp when Sakura grabbed and hugged him to her chest.
"I know, Kero-chan. You're always here besides me too, no matter what. So... with both of you here... I don't have to be afraid, right?" More rumbling, though it sounded like it was happening closer. The tunnel they were in suddenly stopped, a cave in ahead.
But... there was a narrow tunnel, that went straight down, besides it. She could even see the frayed pieces of rope nearby.
"A bunch of ghosts, and we've not seen any so far?" Naru sounds skeptical and there's a little shake of her head. "Doesn't seem terribly likely." She smiles at Kero's protests and watches him get glomped.
The rumbling makes Naru pause, the flashlight flickering to overhead, to check on the state of where they're standing and then around again, to watch for new cracks. "Mmm." She comments, moving carefully to the edge of the hole that goes down, flashing the light down it.
"Wary is appropriate, it /is/ dangerous, but afraid is overkill." Naru agrees and then looks to Sakura. "Alright, so what card of yours would be most useful at the moment." She asks. Apparenty it is magic pop quiz time. Naru really /is/ taking a page from Kunzite's playbook.
Sakura Kinomoto glanced back, obviously getting a little nervous by the rumbling. Then Naru said that and she glanced over. "W-what? Oh, ummm... if we're going down... we'd... want to go slowly. So that means..." She paused, then her eyes lit up. "Float!" she said, drawing the card. "Float, carry us down!" she called, before hitting the card. An orb of light would envelop the two, lifting them up and then, slowly, carrying them down. As if they were going down an invisible elevator.
Into a chamber filled with water, and a few intersparshed islands that were a fair distance apart.
There were quite a few tunnels... one of which seemed to be glowing.
"Excellent." Naru nods as Sakura draws out the card and activates Float. "How well can you direct it?" She asks curious, flashing her light around as she watches them sink towards an underground lake with tunnels and islands. That seems likely to be very very cold.
"Just on a hunch." Naru gestures towards the glowing tunnel. "If something was going to want us to go a specific direction, I expect it would make it glow. Shall we follow the obvious path first and see where that takes us?"
Sakura Kinomoto nodded. "I'm getting really good at directing the cards, now. They don't even tire me out must, usually." She then turned to it. Giving her hand one more squeeze. "Of course! As long as I have you besides me, there's nothing I can't do! We're a team, right?" She then took a slow, deep breath and ran. She leaped from the first island to the next, her athleticism making it almost easy as she went.
She then turned and giggled. "Keep up, Naru-chan, you don't want to fall behind, do you?" she asked with a big grin... before slipping and falling on the next one, landing on her butt. "Owie..."
"We're a team!" Naru agrees as she watches Sakura jump from island to island and moves to follow the younger girl. She's really not all that much taller, but she is athletic in her own right and hopes from one to the next. "Careful. I really don't think we want to go swimming." She cautions, glancing into the dark water.
"I've discovered that magic takes its own sort of energy, that was a surprise when I first was getting the hang of it." Naru comments as she comes up alongside the younger girl and offers her a hand up.
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, taking her hand. "Its own magic? Like what? Like... when you eat? Or sleep? That kind of energy?" she asked with a big grin.
Kero nods. "It does help that many of the cards are still powered by Clow's magic. Even though he's been dead for hundreds of years, the bond still continues."
Sakura nods. "Which is good for me. If I had to use these by myself, I don't think my magic could hold them at all!"
"Not yet. But your magic is getting stronger every day."
Sakura blushed and rubbed her head. "Eh heh heh." And then, the glowing. The chamber has a big pit, with stalagmites and tites all around. However, standing in the center of the pit was... a woman. With long, gray hair. And wearing a white, flowing gown. Her arms were open as if she was awaiting a hug.
Sakura froze in place, her eyes going wide as she stared. The sound of her wand clattering to the ground could be heard. "Sakura?" Kero said. Sakura took a step forward, her hand drawing free from Naru's. She stared with wide eyes.
"Momma?"
"It's a little different for everyone." Naru explains, glancing to Kero as he mentions Clow's magic still fueling the cards. "You do have a /lot/ of cards." She comments thoughtfully.
Naru lingers at the entrance to the chamber as she watches a figure appear over the pit and her attention snaps to it. There's a frown as Sakura pulls free of her hand and drops her wand, and the frown only deepens at the next word from Sakura.
"Remember Sakura.. everyone sees something different down here. That isn't your Momma." Naru's voice is calm, careful and she reaches out to try and touch Sakura's shoulder, to try and keep the girl from racing into a pit to get that offered hug. "Who are you?" She calls to the figure in the pit.
Sakura Kinomoto blinked, staring up at the woman. A strange look had formed over her eyes and she tried to move forward, regardless of what Naru says. She took another step forward, pulling away from Naru and... she was walking closer to the edge. "Momma?"
Kero raced forward. "Sakura, don't--" And then he let out a shriek as he hit... something. An invisible barrier of sorts, between them and sakura! Where did THAT come from?! The woman just smiled, hands out as... Sakura walked towards the edge.
The words that Naru mutters are nto really fit for print, as she watches Kero hit an invisible wall, and saves her the trouble of finding it herself. She's transformed into Hyalite on her next step foward, coming up to that barrier in a more controlled fashion, holding a hand out to find it before she slams into it.
"Sakura! It is not real!" Naru calls out, trying to get her attention. "It is trying to make you fall, and if you are trying to be all confident and smart, you'll look down and notice that!"
Sakura Kinomoto just kept walking forward. That weird, glazed over look in her eyes. The woman smiled to her, none the less. Waiting. Sakura's feet made it to the edge and... and then she stopped.
Her breathing stopped, for a moment and... and she took a step back. "Naru-san?" she said softly. The image flickered and... so did the barrier. Just for a second, but a weakness.
"Momma?" sakura asked softly, reaching out towards the woman, the glazed look struggling to return to her eyes as she took one more step forward, one foot on the edge...]
Hyalite's hand is pressed against the barrier, feeling it flicker, she pushes forward, to overwhelm it and bully her way through to be able to rush up to Sakura and grab for her.
"Oh no you don't." It's one figure in white who is actively rebelling against the reality put forth by another figure in white, and Hyalite aims to yank Sakura back from the edge. "No falling on my watch. That is /not/ your mother. I don't know what it is, but nothing good." Her voice is sharp, crisp and authoritative, there's no arguing with that tone.
Sakura Kinomoto reached out a hand, her foot going over the edge... and then she was grabbed and dragged back. "N-no! MOMMA!" she screamed, struggling against the grip, tears in her eyes. But she was just a little kid. "MOMMA!" she screamed again, tugging on her hands as the tears began to flow down her face. "L-let me go! LEt me go! Momma!"
The image flickered though, revealing a strange... design? In its place. KEro's eyes widened as he groaned, picking himself up. "Sakura! That's a clow card! You have to deny the image! It's the only way to break the illusion!"
Sakura shook her head, struggling helplessly in the grip. "MOMMA!" she pleaded, her hand struggling to reach for the woman who just stood there, arms out. The barrier was gone now, though. Hyalite's smashing throughi t collapsing it.
"I know.. I Know.." Naru's voice is gentle. "You want to see her but she's in your memories. She's not /here/, she's with you always but she's not here and you have to realize that."
Naru has a firm grip on the girl, crouching down to better be able to turn her towards where the design is, while still holding her tight. "Listen to Kero. He's never lied to you before. Listen to what he's telling you." At least she's hoping like hell that Kero has never lied to Sakura.
Sakura Kinomoto sobbed and bawled, her hands reaching for her as she tried to reach her mother's hand, struggled against the stronger girl.
Then... finally... the hand lowered. She stared up at it. "M-mommy..." she said weakly, her heart shattering into a hundred pieces. "You're... not... mommy."
And the image broke, revealing a strange symbol within, a pattern flowing along. A lotl ike those pictures you stare at that eventually become a space ship.
She sobbed and collapsed in naru's arms, if her grip was loosened enough, she'd turn and hug the woman, bawling into her chest, the tears flowing down her face. "I... I know s-she's not coming back. I-I know I'll never... I'll never... s-see her... again and... and I... I..." She collapsed, sobbing onto the older girl helplessly as all the strength seemed to leave her, collapsing into her arms as she wailed.
"I know..." Naru murmurs softly, her arms loosening enough to let Sakura collapse into her, sobbing on her shoulder. She holds the girl close, letting her sob out the fresh hurt of her mother being taken away from her.
Again.
Naru isn't about to rush the tears. It's normal, natural and expected. She holds Sakura close as the girl cries, her murmurs comforting while she pats the girl's back. "She knows how much you love her."
Sakura Kinomoto sobbed, wailed and snotted all over poor Naru. But, eventually it gave away to just weak, delicate hiccups. She wiped her eyes, sniffling a little as the puffiness showed in them.
"I-I must l-look s-so stupid, huh? W-what kind of m-magical g-girl cries, r-right?" She stared up at her with a pathetic little smile. "A-and here I-I wanted to be s-strong and brave, like you, N-Naru-san..." She gulped and looked back., The card hadn't moved. As if it was waiting.
"Can... can I have my wand back?" She could get up and grab it. But... she didn't want to let naru go. Not now.
"You have clearly never met Sailor Moon." Naru comments with a quirk of a smile. "Who cries when she's sad, when she's happy, when she's frustrated, when she's thinking about something sad. Or happy. Or frustrating. You're not even getting close to the amount of tears I've had on my shoulder over the years."
Naru passes the girl a tissue first, before leaning over, stretching just a bit to be able to reach Sakura's wand without letting go of the younger girl. "Blow first. Then you should get the card." She nods towards the patiently waiting card.
And then we should get out of here before the cave falls on our heads." Naru adds, pragmatically.
Sakura Kinomoto blinked a few times. "R-really? S-sailor m-moon cries? B-but... but she's so amazing... I-I met her once a-and she seemed so... awesome." Then paused. "Though... I think she might have c-cried now that I think about it..."
She nodded and then took the wand and tissue. She blew into it, before turning to illusion. She lifted the wand. "R-return to your true form! Clow Card!" Once again, card took the form of a, well, card, and drifted to her.
She stared at it for a long while. "Naru-san... do... do you think... mom is... watching me now?" she asked softly.
"I am pretty sure that if she didn't have magic, she could use tears as her superpower." Naru laughs softly, her expression when discussing Sailor Moon is utterly fond. "She is awesome. Tears and awesome are not mutually exclusive, you can have both."
Naru stands as Sakura does her thing with the card, folding her arms across her chest and quietly waiting.
"Of course she is." Naru just sounds certain on that fact, as if Sakura had asked if the sky was blue, or if water was wet. "She's in your thoughts, and your memories and part of your love, and that means that she's always with you."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, taking out her pen and once again writing her name on it. She then stared at the cards. "Do... you think... she's proud of me? Who I... I am and... who I've become?" she asked, looking up at her with that insecure expression of a child who needed an adult they weren't a screw up. "And what I'm doing?"
She slowly pocketed the cards, slowly walking back with her. However, as they went... "These tunnels are dangerous, aren't they?"
"I think she would be." Naru answers after a moment's thought. A considered reply, not simply one given by rote out of expectation. "You are learning, and growing and trying to be the best person you can be every day. Any mother worthy of that degree of tears would be proud of that in their child."
Naru starts back the way they've come, keeping an eye out for potential collapses, cave ins and any other calamities that might impede their way back out. "Yes. They are. We'll have to be careful going back."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, looking up at her. "T-thank you. I..." She went silent for a moment. "Do... you think... I should... seal these caves when we get ut of here?" she asked softly. "I... have earthy now. I... I think I can..."
Kero cringed. "Sakura, that might be pushing your magic a bit much. You don't want to--"
"But what it more people come here? What if they keep looking for Illusion? It's over now so... why not let it end?"
"There will always be some people who are curious. Who are willing to accept the danger to see something cool, Illusion or not." Naru explains as they hop back over the islands, away from the glowing cavern. "Without Illusion drawing them, the interest will die away quickly enough. There won't be anythign compelling them to come further in."
There's a thoughtful moment, a quirk of Naru's head. "Collasping them entirely is probably too much of a stress on the whole system. Caves are all interconnected, and a collapse here might set things in motion far futher down and we won't know the extent of it. Although you did just say seal, I could probably help Earthy if he could provide me with more mud. I can sculpt it into something convincing."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, listening accutely to everything she said. With float, they were able to make their way back up the tunnel. There was the occasional rumble, but not anything too bad.
"You're right. I'd probably cause a lot of damage doing that..." She shuddered at that thought, before smiling to her. "Oh! Mud! Yes, I can make all the mud you need! My magic is strong enough for that!"
"Excellent!" Naru nods, still in henshin, even if she's terrible at remembering her new name. It's new. Always a hazard.
"If we block it off too early, people will just break it down." Naru considers each set of tunnels as they come through them back again, towards the entrance. "A little bit of adventure, and then an 'unfortunate blocked tunnel', that just makes it wildly inconvenient. I think that second tunnel, where the first was tiny, but the other we can mud up a cave in, I dare say." She moves forward, finding the spot easily enough.
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, grinning wide. Once she was there, she took out her cards and tossed it. "Earthy! Give us some mud!" she ordered. And... within moments they were waist deep in it. Sakura just glowered at the card. "That wasn't funny," she snapped in annoyance, glowering at it.
Kero snorted and you could almost hear the cards laughing too.
"I am /so glad/ I am in henshin for this." Naru mutters as she ends up, yet again, covered in mud. At least it cleans itself up magically when one transforms.
"Thank you Earthy." Naru calls out at a more normal volume, wriggling her way to kneel on top of the mud, and scooping it to start scupting it up into something that's less 'waist deep everywhere' and more 'rock slide'. The mud might be fairly goopy when they're wading in it, but Naru coaxes it into having a bit more structure as she sculpts heaps of rocks, hiding the corridor.
Sakura Kinomoto would slowly make her way out of the muck, using float to kind of float over, on top of it, as she watched her work. She stared at naru for a long moment.
Finally, she had to ask. "Naru-san? What are your powers from? Like... I noticed a lot of powers are just... different. So where do yours come from?"
"Everyone's powers are different." Naru agrees as she smooths mud into clay, and clay into 'rocks'. "There's similarities, certainly. All of the senshi, for example, draw on their planets, but Jupiter's are very different from Mars' are different again from Mercury's and so on."
"My powers seem to be connected, somehow, to Earth. The planet, not like Earthy. We're really nto entirely certain of the details though, it's mostly speculation at this point, but so far nothing's come up that says otherwise." She turns, and there's a smile. "I am a bit of my own thing."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, watching her work. She cocked her head to the side, staring at her creations. Her eyes went wider and she let out an excited little gasp. "Wait... so it's like you ARE the earth? Taken physical form? That's so cool, Naru-san!"
She stared down at her. "Are you going to get a awesome magical girl name, too? Or will you just be Naru-san? Or... Magical girl Naru? Or magic girl tera fera? Or... whatever it's called? Sorry..."
"No. I am not the earth." Naru shakes her head with a soft laugh. "I draw on its power.. I think.. seems likely.. but I am just me." She shakes her head. She is no Sailor Earth, that's a whole different character.
"Hyalite." Naru replies, and there's just a faint note of pride in her noting what her name is, crouching down to pat another rock into place. She might not be the earth, but fortunately she's fairly good at sculpting rocks. Boring, blending in, rocks. "It relates to my stone. I couldn't decide, and Endymion was kind enough to offer it."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded. "Ohhh, draw on its power? Like I do with the Clow cards?" she asked with a big grin. Then...
"Highlight? Like for your hair?" She stared at the girl's hair. "But... ummmmm..." She scratched her cheek. "Are... highlights a big thing in the earth? And is there anything I can do to help?" she wondered if it would be rude to say she made such good rocks.
"Hyalite." Naru corrects ever so slightly and then she quirks her head and giggles lightly. "Although, I /am/ an artist. Never underestimate the value of good highlights too. It is a type of opal." Why the type of stone is important enough that Naru might have been named for it, she doens't explain precisely.
Naru gets to her feet, well muddy and considers her work. "What do you think? Convincing enough?" Some of the mud has even changed colour, not just texture, making the rock illusion all the more convincing.
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, glancing up and down at the rocks. "I think it looks perfect. You're so skill, Naru-san," she said, holding out her hand to the woman and pulling her up, onto the mud, float's magic extending over her. "Once we get outside, I'll use bubble to clean us up, okay?"
She'd still hold her hand as they walked, though after a bit she sighed. "Naru-san... can... can you... keep what happened... quiet from the other girls?" she asked softly. "I... I know i'm really... n-not as experienced as the others yet. And... and I'm a lot younger. But... I want to be able to stand by everyone. To... to help do good things with them. Not just be protected by them. To help as much as you've all helped me and... I think if they... just think I fall apart so easily they'll just see me as a little girl. Nothing else..."
"I'm an artist, making something look like something else, is one of the few things in my skill set." Naru replies as she accepts the hand up, floating first and then coming to be walking.
Naru holds the other girl's hand and listens to her request. She's quiet a moment, and there's a slow smile. The words could have been, have been in the past, her own to others. "First off, there is no shame in being new. Or so I keep being told. None of us learned our powers full off, right off the top. It's okay to be learning. It's also okay to be protected. Everyone has their strengths, and in every fight and encounter, it's a whole new situation to figure out how they all play together. I need protecting in just about every fight I'm in. You've even protected me, when Madison was exploding things." Naru points out gently. "I won't tell them, but there's no shame in being emotional over missing your mother. That's being human and we all understand that."
Sakura Kinomoto nods, slowly getting through the tunnel and, once they were on clear ground, "Bubble!" she called. Funny how she ALWAYS seemed to draw the card she needed, when she needed. She never even seemed to look at the cards. It was as if they just flew to her hands when she reached for them.
Her cheeks burned. "I-I know. But... I just... I want to be able to stand by all of you I know I kind of... broke there. And I'm afraid if they saw me like that they'd... just think I can't handle this. I-I can handle it, thoguh. I can be strong... really, I can." She let out a sigh of relief once they were outside, grinning to her. Before giving her a tight hug. And holding it.
Finally, soft as could be... "Do... you think... she misses me... too?"
"I'm pretty confident that they'd want to give you a hug, and be terribly sympathetic, especially the ones who have loved ones /they/ miss terribly too." Naru gives the younger girl a tight hug. "Of course you can be strong."
"I expect that your mother wishes she could have so much more time with you, just as much as you with her." Naru assures her quietly.
Sakura Kinomoto held onto her for a long time, just hugging the girl and feeling her with her. She wasn't alone. Not now. The cards were scary sometimes, but she had so many friends who were there besides her, the whole time.
She could be strong. She would be strong. But... sometimes she couldn't be. And when those times came, she was happy she had someone like Naru to stand besides her. She slowly pulled back from the hug and took her hand, walking back towards the city. "O-okay! Let's go back home! thank you for all your help, Naru-san!"
There's a reason why people work in teams, and the ability to let any given person have a rough day and be supported is a large part of it.
Naru gives Sakura a squeeze and then takes a step back. "Let's head home. You're welcome." She watches the younger girl. "Do you want me to walk you home, or are you alright?"
Sakura Kinomoto smiled up at her. Had a really big team now! They just weren't technically hers. "Ummm... if you don't mind going with me... I'd... like it if you walked with me." She held that hand gently as they walked. Not to be safe. Just so she could feel close to someone...