Authors Note (A/N): This story takes place about a year after Sakura defeats Eriol. She is 12 in this story and in the sixth grade. Li never confessed to Sakura, and the 2nd movie didn't happen. Things in italics are either thoughts or emphases.

Chapter 1: Stumbling in the Darkness

"Sakura! What are you doing? What's going on?"

"Li… help me. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Li threw out his hand, attempting to rescue Sakura from the dark hole that was enveloping her. He felt the magic and rushed to find her as soon as it had appeared. "Hang on! Just a little further. I'll get you out!"

"Please hurry! It hurts, Li!"

The blackness surrounding Sakura deepened to a black darker than the deepest night. It was pitch black and nothing could escape it. Li held on, refusing to let go of the girl he loved the most. "Sakura! I won't let go. You've got to hang on!"

Sakura felt immense pain. It was as if she were being torn apart. She also felt the magic, dark powers that had been invoked to take her away. Who it was that wanted her, and how they could possess such strong magic, she neither knew, nor cared. She was too busy struggling against the dark power that threatened to tear her from her world.

Abruptly, a strange thought came to Sakura. Let go. I am all powerful, you cannot escape. The thought was not her own. It was as if someone was in her mind, speaking to her, thinking at her. She thought back, No! I won't let go. Whoever or whatever you are, get out of my head! The blackness grew even darker. The magic was strong and Sakura couldn't do anything about it. The pain was too intense. She let go of Li's hand and was sucked into the blackness, losing all consciousness.

When she awoke, everything around her was black. It was the black of the moonless night, a night that would never retreat, a night heralding doom. No! I must find a way back! Sakura started walking around. She reached into her pocket. She felt around in her pocket, feeling for her Cards. Huh? Where did they…no! I just had them! She started to panic. Feeling powerless and alone, she fell to her knees, sobbing, crying for the loss of her cards, crying more for the loneliness she now felt in this strange new land.

"No, I can't have lost them." She whispered to herself. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a boy appeared, shrouded in darkness. The boy held a lantern and spoke with the voice of the alien thought that had invaded her mind before she left her world.

"Don't worry too much. You're here now. Worrying will only make things worse." His voice was demanding, as if he expected her to agree with him under all circumstances. He spoke with an eerie confidence that whispered he could do anything.

"Wh… who… who are you?" Sakura asked, timidly, trembling on the ground, fearing the strength of this boy's magic, enough strength to rip her from her world.

"Who I am is of no importance to you right now. You will hear and obey, understand?" His voice grew angry. "You will not struggle or attempt to escape. If you do, I promise you will find yourself longing for the pain you felt when you first came here!"

What have I gotten myself into? Who is this guy? He can't be that strong! Sakura struggled to get her words out. "I… I… ok…" She started to cry, submitting to her fear.

"Stop crying! I'm warning you!" The boy said. He seemed to grow taller, more monstrous, as an aura of dark magic surrounded him. The aura threatened to snuff out the light that he was carrying. His magic! It's so powerful. Even the light seems to acknowledge it. Oh… I wish someone would save me. I wish I had my cards!

As if responding to her thought, the boy said calmly, "You want your cards? They're over there." He gestured to a table that Sakura hadn't seen before. "You can have them back. You'll need them."

Sakura wondered what he meant by that, and, against her better judgment, blurted out, "What do you mean I'll need them?" She immediately regretted her words as anger flashed through the boy's eyes.

"Trust me. You'll need them. Don't ask anymore questions. We wouldn't want you to get hurt now would we?" he asked in a half mocking voice.

Anger raced through Sakura's mind. She leapt for her cards, released her star rod and cried "Shot!" Before the card had a chance to attack, the boy waved his hand dismissively and the card, along with Sakura, flew backwards. Sakura landed on her back, a little more than three yards from where she was standing a second ago. Ow! What was that?

The boy approached Sakura, while Sakura backed away, never turning her back to him. She suddenly felt a wall behind her. As she realized that she was trapped, she turned to face the boy, putting on a mask of determination despite the fear eating away at her. "What are you?" she asked, again regretting the words as they sprung out of her mouth.

The boy calmly answered, "You don't need to know. But, since you're so curious, I'll give you my name. I'm Shadow." The boy looked her up and down, as if considering what to do to her. Finally he said, "I'll let that go this time. Savor it. Next time, you won't be so lucky." Seeing that his words had made an impact on Sakura, who lost what little self control she had left, he turned and started to leave.

"Wait!" Sakura said. Shadow stopped. "What do you want with me? Are you just going to leave me here?"

Shadow turned around to face her. After a few more minutes of staring at her coldly, he said, "Yes, I will leave you here. Unless you'd like to follow me, of course."

Sakura stared at him perplexedly. What am I supposed to do? What does he want? Thoughts raced through her head. Shadow turned and started leaving again. Hesitantly, Sakura got up, and, deciding that it was a good idea to keep an eye on Shadow rather than let him sneak up on her, followed him.

"I see you've decided to follow. Good" What is with this guy? He's talking like he knew I was going to. Oh… What does he want with me? Struggling between her thoughts and her fear of the boy who called himself Shadow, she kept silent.

Shadow stopped at a doorway. "This is your room. You can escape through the window if you have enough courage to try."

Sakura stared at him, mouth hanging open. She couldn't believe how arrogant he was. What I wouldn't do to wipe that smile off his face! Shadow responded, too, to this thought.

"Wipe it off then. I sincerely wish you good luck. Here, let me get you started. I'll choose the card for you. How bout this one… Fiery?" he said, taking the card out of Sakura's deck, naming it without once glancing at it.

Sakura stared at him in horror. He can read my mind! She thought, unsure if it was a question or not. Slowly, she began to give in to hopelessness.

"That's right. I can. Now… you were about to 'wipe this smile off my face', if I recall correctly. Why don't you proceed? Or are you too afraid of the consequences?"

Sakura knew he was just trying to get her mad. She also knew that if she got mad, she might do something she would regret and struggled to suppress her anger. He's stronger than me. If I attack, he has a reason to hurt me. He won't hurt me without reason. I know he won't!

Shadow chuckled at her. "Well? What are you going to do?" He held out Fiery in his hand.

Sakura took Fiery from Shadow, walked into her room, sat down on the bed and put her head down on the pillow, resting her head as the day's events floated through her mind. A smile touched Shadow's lips. "There's a bathroom over there and dinner will be ready at eight thirty." Tossing Sakura a watch, Shadow finished his short speech and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

The room was rather large. It was at least as big as her room back home. The walls were made of hard stones and there was a bed in a corner and a door leading to what Shadow claimed was the bathroom. It didn't have any electric lights, but instead, a nice lantern as well as a bunch of unlit candles hung on the wall. You might have thought it was a well-decorated dungeon in a medieval castle if not for the digital clock that stood on a lamp stand beside her bed.

Looking around the room, she got up and paced the length of the floor, letting her thoughts wander. What am I supposed to do? He said eight thirty, its seven right now. He can't be all bad. He gave me a room and he's offering dinner... What am I supposed to do? I don't get him! He got mad at me for asking questions, and then he answers half of my questions, creating even more! I'm so scared. Li… He'd know what to do. I guess I'll go to dinner. Wait! He never told me where! Argh! I can't believe this. How did I get into this? Sakura lay down on the bed, beginning to cry. No…Crying won't do anything for me. I'll be alright. She decided she would go take a shower before dinner. Then, another thought hit her. If I take a shower, I wouldn't be able to change into anything, so why would it matter? As these thoughts occurred to her, a small dresser sitting in the corner suddenly caught her eye. Slowly, disbelievingly, she opened it and found clothes that fit her almost perfectly.

She carefully picked out a few clothes and went into the bathroom to take her shower, bringing the digital watch with her, so she wouldn't lose track of the time. Undressing, she went over the entirety of the events that had begun with her dream.

She had woken up that morning, ready for school. She went downstairs after dressing quickly and waited for Touya to call her a little monster as he always had ever since she was little. Oddly enough, he didn't that day and instead greeted her with a simple "Good morning" Smiling at her he added, "You look nice today. Trying to attract the attention of every boy in your school?" She was wearing her regular school clothes.

"Stop that Touya!" she said in a mock angry voice. They both started laughing. Touya put her breakfast on the table and she ate it, savoring every bite of the delicious bacon and eggs. "I had one of those weird dreams again Touya," she said.

Touya looked at her concernedly. "You keep saying that. I think you're just a bit paranoid. You're just expecting something to happen, now that everything's slowed down. I think you want things to happen."

Just then, Kero came down. "Good morning! How's everyone?"

"Sakura had another dream. She's worried about it."

"Tell me about it Sakura. Maybe I can figure out what it means." Kero said as he poured himself a large bowl of frosted cereal.

"Well, I keep having this dream that I'm in a really dark place all by myself. Then, I come across a pool of very dark water. But, when I look into the water, I don't see my reflection; I see the reflection of another girl, someone I don't know. Then I look up, and I see the other girl floating above the water, saying something to me. I can never make out more than the words, 'be ready for…' Then the girl disappears and I see a boy standing there. He's just standing there, staring at me. All of a sudden, a dark aura surrounds him and he uses it to throw me into the freezing cold water, and that's when I always wake up."

"Hmm… well Sakura. Here's what I know about the dream."

"Really? You know something about it? What is it?"

"Well…"

"Well what? I've had this dream for a while now. I've gotta know what it means!"

"I know that…"

"KERO! What do you know?"

"I know that your dream doesn't mean anything to me."

Sakura fell over. Then, she jumped up, screaming at Kero. "KERO! DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN! NEXT TIME YOU DO THAT, I SWEAR I'LL USE MY SWORD CARD TO CUT OFF YOUR RIGHT EAR!"

"You don't have to yell. At least I tried to help, unlike this pile of trash over here." Kero said, pointing to Touya.

"Whatever. Hey, Sakura, you coming? You'll be late for school. You'd think that being in 6th grade would cure that, but of course not."

Sakura calmed down, her face still red. "I'm coming. Just give me a second."

She put on her rollerblades and pads and chased after her brother, who just left on his bike. She was looking forward to seeing Li in school today. She hoped that he would have the answer to her question about her dream. She had kept it from him until now, but she decided that it might be a good idea to ask him. Besides, I like Li. I should let him know if I have any problems…

Just as she made it to school, the bell rang for class. Not again! She thought. She was always late for school, but this year her math teacher wasn't so nice. She ran to her locker, got her books and ran to her classroom. "I'm sorry I'm late Mr. Nelson. It won't happen again."

"Sakura! I'd like to see you after class."

"Yes, sir."

"As I was saying, if x equals…" Sakura couldn't help ignoring the teacher who had recently arrived from England to, as he said, "interact with the students of Japan and learn the culture." She had too much to think about and lazily jotted down the notes that were on the board and looked at the clock, waiting for the bell to ring again.

"Class, before you go, you have homework. Tomorrow you will have a small quiz," the teacher said as the bell rang. "Class dismissed."

"Li, I need to talk to you. Can you wait for me while I speak with Mr. Nelson?"

"Sure thing Sakura, but if you make me late to my next class…" Li said jokingly, knowing that his next class was gym with Sakura.

"Sakura, how many times do I have to tell you? Get to my class on time! If you don't I'll have to give you detention. You wouldn't want that would you? Sakura? Sakura!"

"Huh? Oh… sorry Mr. Nelson. No I wouldn't want detention."

"What's on your mind? I saw you sitting there, completely spaced out. If you keep this up I'll have to send you to the principles office."

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I promise"

"Very well. I'll see you tomorrow then." Sakura quickly walked outside, eager to avoid the penetrating gaze of the tall man that was her math teacher. She had been so caught up in getting out of Mr. Nelson's sight that she didn't hear Li until the second time he called her name.

"Sakura! What are you doing? I thought you wanted to talk to me." Li had finally gotten her attention. She looked up at Li. Staring into those amber eyes, she couldn't help thinking how lucky she was. You idiot! Just tell him how you feel! A voice in her head said. No, I can't! What if he doesn't like me? Besides, it's customary for the boy to say so first, isn't it? "Well Sakura? What is it?" Li was growing impatient, even if their next class was the same.

"Li," she said, struggling between telling him her feelings for him and telling him what she had wanted to tell him. "Li, I've been having a dream these past couple of days, and Kero says he doesn't have any clue what they're about. It's the same dream every single time, and its kinda scaring me."

"What's the dream? Sakura? Why are you crying?"

Sakura had begun to cry. She didn't know why. She just cried. She walked over to Li, gave him a hug of gratitude and started telling him about the dream. When she finished, Li was standing there holding out a handkerchief for her. "Here. Don't worry about it Sakura. I don't know what your dream is about, but we'll face it together."

Well, she thought, so much for facing it together. She had just finished her shower and changed into a nice pink shirt and some jeans. I wonder where dinner is. She looked at her watch. It read '8:15'. Well, better get going. I'll probably find it somewhere… She walked out of the bathroom and let out a small scream when she found Shadow waiting for her, sitting on her bed.

 she thought She had just finished her shower and changed into a nice pink shirt and some jeans. . She looked at her watch. It read '8:15'. She walked out of the bathroom and let out a small scream when she found Shadow waiting for her, sitting on her bed.

"Well, are you ready for dinner?"

Suddenly startled, Sakura replied, "I… I… didn't… keep you waiting t-too l-long did I-I?"

"I just got here. Don't be so nervous. I won't hurt you. Too much." He added the last part with a quick chuckle. Sakura smiled nervously at him. "Well, let's go. I suppose that you'll want some food." He held out his hand for her.

Sakura took his hand. "Yes, please. Umm… do you mind if I ask a few questions?" she asked tentatively, fearing the answer.

Sighing, Shadow replied, "depends, what questions?"

"Well, I just want to know how come your being half-nice and half-mean at the s-same t-time… wh-why are you s-staring at m-me l-like that?" Shadow had begun to glare at her after she has said the words "half-nice."

"Would you rather I not be nice at all?" His stare penetrated her. All of a sudden, Sakura felt like a two-year-old child facing up to a giant monster. She was too scared to move. She just stood there, her eye's wide with fear. "Don't start crying. Come on. Let's go get you some food." He took her hand, walking her to the dinner table. He motioned for her to sit where she liked.

They were in a nice little room, not too different from her own. There were candles lighting everything, and a nice, tall candle, like one you might find in a restaurant, in the middle of the small square table where Shadow had asked her to sit. On the table were two plates, both identical, with rice and chicken. Next to the plates was what looked like a menu. Sakura decided that she'd look at that later and sat down, looking at the delicious looking meal in front of her. I wonder what he did to it. I bet it's poisoned or something. I wonder what he wants with me.

Responding to her thoughts again, Shadow let out a sigh. "It's not poisoned. Don't worry. I'm not trying to get you killed."

At this, Sakura gave another start. "Whe-where did you learn to read people's minds?"

Shadow stared at her. She looked at him, wondering if she had done something wrong again. "I didn't 'learn' to read people's minds. I just do. Now, are you going to eat, or do I have to send you back to your room?"

She stared at him, decided that it was a good idea not to let the food get too cold, and took a bite. "This is the most delicious chicken I've had in my life!" she exclaimed loudly. Just as she did so, fear struck her as she realized that she had spoken without being asked. Oh no! I hope he doesn't get mad at me for that… Sakura looked down at her feet, trying to avoid that deadly gaze she imagined coming from the boy sitting across the table.

"Thank you. I made it myself. You know, Sakura, you're a bit jumpy. Are you afraid of me?" he asked mockingly.

"Uhh… umm… Maybe… I mean no… I mean yes… I don't know!" she said the last with a bit of energy, which caused her to shrink back into her chair yet again.

"Sakura," Shadow said, his voice lightening to a more casual, conversational voice, "You've got the most beautiful eyes."

Sakura looked up at the boy. "Thank you." She said hesitantly, blushing as she dropped her eyes back down to the ground.

Shadow smiled. He got up and walked over to Sakura, putting a finger under her chin to lift it up. Sakura stared into those dark brown eyes. So dark, you could hardly tell they were brown. Shadow wasn't very tall. He was about a head taller than Sakura, and about an inch or two taller than Li, so she had to look up to talk to him. He wore a dark grey shirt with black, baggy pants. His clothes blended perfectly with the room and his personality. He had straight black hair that was combed neatly, in no particular direction, and seemed to complement his clothes rather than the other way around. Sakura couldn't help feeling safer in his presence. Then, she remembered the power that he held. She froze completely, afraid she might get him mad. "Eat. Don't be so scared. I felt you lose that fear for a second. Try to keep it that way."

Sakura couldn't take her eyes away from his gaze. Shadow walked back to his seat across from her. "If you'd rather have something else, you can look at the menu. There's not much there. I'm not that great of a cook."

She diverted her gaze to her food, unsure of what to do. She took another bite of the juicy chicken that lay in front of her. Maybe things won't be so bad. She finished her food quickly. "Thank you for the meal," she said, wanting more.

Shadow gave a quick laugh. "If you want more you can ask."

Sakura stared at him, caught off guard again by his mind reading ability. "I… I'm… I'll be fine. Thank you anyways."

Somehow, Shadow knew she was lying and got up. "I'll go make you some more. Sit down."

"Sorry," she said, looking down at the floor again. Moments later, Shadow came back with another dish of the same food. Just looking at it made Sakura hungry again. She took it from Shadow and began eating it again. When she was finished, she was rather full and unable to eat the dessert that Shadow had brought her.

"This is where we'll have meals every day. If you'd prefer to dine alone, then I'll leave and you can eat here by yourself." Sakura looked at him, baffled. Why did he bring that up? I never even thought of wanting to eat by myself. Unless he thinks I'm that scared of him… She gave a quick nod. "I'll take you back to your room now."

Shadow walked her to her room, where she flopped onto the bed, tired from the day. "Good night," he said, and closed the door as he left.

Sakura lay there. After a while, she turned to look at the clock on her lamp stand. It's eleven, and I'm still not asleep. I just can't fall asleep. I don't get it. Everything today didn't make any sense. I wish I knew what was going on! She continued going over the days events from where she had last left off.

Walking along with Li to gym class, Sakura felt reassured. I feel so much better. I wish I had the guts to tell Li I like him. I wonder if he likes me. He's always listened to everything I have to say. I hope he likes me… They made it to their class just as the bell rang. She absentmindedly did everything in gym, still lost in her own train of thought.

The rest of the day went by in roughly the same way: she did her work quietly and didn't really hear what anyone had to say to her. Tomoyo had tried talking to her, but she didn't hear her. After a few tries, Tomoyo had finally given up talking to her. After school was over, she walked home. She was too lost in her thoughts to even put on her blades. When she got home, she only half noticed that Kero was reading a book rather than playing games. She went up to her room and stared at her phone, wondering if she should call Li. Her eyes began to droop as sleep rolled upon her.

The phone rang, waking her. She gave a start and then walked over to pick it up.

"Sakura? It's Li. Do you feel it? The power that's pulsing down in the center of the city. We've gotta go see what's going on. I'll meet you there."

"Ok Li." Yawning, she hung up. The phone rang again and she picked it up impatiently. "Hello?"

"Hey Sakura! It's Tomoyo. What happened today at school? You seemed so spaced out."

"Tomoyo, Li's detected some magic down in the center of the city. Call back later." With that, she hung up. She quickly grabbed her blades and went to the center of the city. She was surprised when she saw Tomoyo standing there waiting for her with a costume in her hands.

"Well, you said it involved magic. So, change into it." Tomoyo smiled at her friend.

"Alright. Give me a sec." Sakura changed into it quickly. It was the same one she wore when she fought the shadow card. Tomoyo got out her video recorder and started taping Sakura as usual. They walked towards where the pulses originated, Sakura leading the way, with her wand already in hand. Suddenly, a large hole seemed to open up in space, eveloping Sakura.

"Sakura!" Li cried as he appeared on the scene.

Well, that's that. I wonder what Shadow wants with me. Oh well. I've gotta get to sleep. For all I know, he'll wake me up tomorrow at six. Why do weird things have to happen to me? With that last thought in her head, Sakura slowly gave in to her fatigue and fell asleep, wondering what would happen the next day.

Did you like it? Questions? Comments? Email me and I'll be happy to answer any and all questions about the story, but I won't give away what happens next. You're welcome to guess. I'll tell you if you're right.