storypaint | Take Care (Syaoran and Tomoyo gen)

Title: Take Care
Fandom: Cardcaptor Sakura
Subject: Li Syaoran and Daidouji Tomoyo
Theme(s): 27. Practice
Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP.

Summary: Tomoyo usually just watches when Syaoran teaches Sakura martial arts, but one day he suggests that she participate.

Syaoran and Sakura began regular sparring sessions after Syaoran's return from Hong Kong. He wanted her to be able to defend herself, should any magician come along who was jealous of the Sakura Cards and try to take them. He was a skilled and gentle teacher, and soon Sakura had a working knowledge of the martial arts.

Some nights, Tomoyo would come and watch as they practiced their grabs and kicks in the park. There was a beauty in their dance, even if Sakura did fall down a lot.

One night when Tomoyo came out, Syaoran was waiting and she sat down on the bench next to him. Sakura was running late, as usual. Before too long, she called to beg off their nightly session-- she'd forgotten she had a test tomorrow in music and she wanted to study. Tomoyo rose to go, but Syaoran stopped her.

"Do you know any martial arts, Daidouji?"

"A couple of catches that my bodyguards taught me when I was younger," she said, smiling. "I really had no need of the skills."

"Show me," Syaoran said, rising as well, and after only a minute his foot darted out towards her face. Her body reacted instinctively, and muscle memory helped her stop him (though she knew he wouldn't have actually hit her). She held his foot for a moment in shock and then dropped it.

"Good reflexes," he said. "Do you know how to follow through on that?"

She shook her head.

"Okay, do the same thing to me," he said, lifting an eyebrow. She kicked in his direction; he grabbed her foot and twisted her around in a move that would have slammed her to the ground had he not caught her. He let her go carefully and she sat down on the cold concrete. After a moment, he sat down beside her.

"Someone like you should know how to take care of yourself," he said. "With your family and all. You might get kidnapped."

"Three attempts," Tomoyo said quietly, "all foiled by my bodyguards."

"But they can't always be there," Syaoran returned. He looked around. "They're not here now."

"If I call, they will be here within two minutes," Tomoyo said, "though if I were being kidnapped, that would probably be plenty of time..."

"You need to look out for yourself sometimes, rather than look out for Sakura," Syaoran said. He elbowed her a little. "If I wanted to kidnap you, you'd be in the truck of a car just like that," he said, snapping his fingers.

Tomoyo laughed. "I hope your trunk is roomy, Li-kun, because my mother wouldn't pay ransom to one of my friends."

"I'm just saying," he continued after a moment, "take care, okay?"

"I will," she said, smiling. "Would you teach me a little?"

He said he would, and before long, it was two on one, she and Sakura against Tomoyo. The day they finally defeated him, Sakura sat on his stomach and tickled him mercilessly.

"See if I ever teach you anything again," Syaoran said, trying to catch his breath after she let him go.

"But a girl should know how to defend herself, shouldn't she, Li-kun?" Tomoyo asked, and of course he gave in.