Rebirth (Cardcaptor Sakura: Eriol & Clow)
Title: Rebirth; or proper selves Author/Artist: dropsofviolet Fandom: Cardcaptor Sakura (/xxxHOLiC) Pairing/characters: Clow/Yuuko; Eriol & Fujitaka gen Rating: PG Warnings: (canon) character death; transgenderism Prompt/challenge you're answering: Eriol and Clow: transformation of some kind (genderswitch? body swap? species shift?)
Excerpt: Clow dressed in layers. It was the only way he was comfortable-- to be as separate from his skin as possible. He tied his hair back and wore the thick robes, and even Keroberos and Yue never saw him without them.
"I will have no children of my own. I have Keroberos and Yue," Clow said in a steady voice, the day he walked away from Yuuko.
"They are your children," she replied, "and you did not have to bear them for this to be so."
"They will be Sakura's," Clow replied, and Yuuko sighed.
"There is nothing wrong with giving birth. Life does not often give us the opportunity for such easy miracles."
"You have never given birth, Yuuko-san," Clow said, and Yuuko tilted her head to one side.
"You could not give me children," she whispered.
He turned on his heel and strode away.
*
She didn't have to say it like that.
*
Clow dressed in layers. It was the only way he was comfortable-- to be as separate from his skin as possible. He tied his hair back and wore the thick robes, and even Keroberos and Yue never saw him without them.
Clow had a secret.
And he wasn't giving birth, ever.
They were for Sakura, even though he loved them. They were Sakura's children, the ones who wouldn't go away, like her son(s) would.
*
When Eriol and Fujitaka were born, they looked at each other, and they saw two young people who were very much alike. Glasses, dark hair-- they could almost be brothers by blood, rather than by design. Fujitaka wore a confused expression, since Clow's memories had mostly come down to Eriol.
Eriol knew what he had to do. And furthermore, he knew he was he, and first he breathed a sigh of relief. The first part of Clow's plan was complete. He had reincarnated properly, in the right body, the way he should have been able to live his life the first time.
He wouldn't have to hide himself now, and nor would Fujitaka.
"Come with me," he said, taking Fujitaka's hand, and Fujitaka followed. He knew where to take him, where Fujitaka could acquire the Kinomoto name, to gain a family.
Eriol would be making his own family. Not giving birth to them, but creating them, just as Clow had created Keroberos and Yue, but this time they would be his own. They didn't even need genders, unless they wanted ones. It was a novel idea, and Eriol liked it.
"We have much to do," Eriol said, his voice deep, and he walked towards Clow's new future.