Card Captors Again ...the card captors are back at it.

Epidsode 71: Sakura and the Strange Feeling

One thing you should know before reading: The whole family knows about the Sakura Cards.

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura, or anything related to it; I do own anything of my own creation that might appear in this story. This disclaimer applies to the entire story.

Sakura Kinomoto, a young, fifteen year old, grade nine student woke up to the last day of her second week of grade nine; the alarm clock above her bed vibrating from the volume the bells were sounding. The not-too-warm, not-too-cold April sun spread a yellowish light though the window of her upstairs bedroom—

"SAKURA GET UP!"

Sakura threw a pillow at the door in a sleepy attempt to hit her guardian who had just yelled in her ear. "Kero! I'm up already," she groaned. "God, I hate the first days of school, ohhh..." Slamming a hand forcefully down on the pink clock, she sat up only to be face-to-face with a floating yellow bear-like creature.

Kero shrugged and flew towards her desk. "Kinda looked like to me you were sleeping, Sakura. Wouldn't be surprised though. You were at the brat's pretty late last night. I didn't hear you crawl in the window till—owww. Can we stick to pillows, please?"

Kero rubbed the top of his head and eyed the thick pre-calculus text book just hurdled at him. Sakura could miss by a mile with a pillow, but the books always seemed to hit her targets.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the stuffed animal across her room as she did up her navy tie to the Senoji High uniform. "That was to remind you what happens if Touya finds out. Plus, if you must know, I had a very strange dream." Sakura crossed the room to her desk where Kero was sitting. She quickly got school supplies together, reaching over to where she threw her pre-calculus text book.

Kero passed her a pink pencil case overflowing with small, folded pieces of paper that could easily be identified as 'notes'. "And you wonder why you get more focus needed across your report cards." He shook his head. Sakura snapped her head towards her guardian in a warning matter. "Anyway, a dream you say? You haven't had one in a while. What happened."

Sakura titled her head to the side. "A really weird one."

"Well, tell me," Kero egged her on.

Sakura let out a small laugh. "Most of the dream was pretty unclear; black even, you could say. Actually, it was kind of like an newer version of a dream I used to have while I was capturing the Clow Cards. In the dream, I'm standing in this weird Tomoyo-inspired, fifteen-year-old version of the old costumes I used to wear during the card captor days. I'm standing with my wand and I'm holding a Sakura Card; I'm almost about to call upon it, when—"

"Sounds to me like you want to use your cards, or something."

Sakura rolled her eyes, secretly feeling guilty inside. When was the last time she had called upon a Card? "I call upon my cards whenever I can."

Kero shrugged. "Maybe it's some weird replay of an event long ago, but you're remembering as if it was in the present."

"I highly doubt it. This costume was...different. It was more my age, you know? And besides, only Tomoyo's mind could imagine such a thing!"

Kero's shoulders fell with defeat. "Are you suggesting that you're going to go capture the cards again?"

"Kero, that—," Sakura caught a glimpse of her watch, "oh my God. I'm going to be late!" Sakura ran towards her door. "Kero, Dad made breakfast for you; check the board because I'll be home..."

Kero sighed as he made his way towards the kitchen. Sakura would always be Sakura.

"Made it," Sakura cried out with relief as she collapsed at her locker door. Even for an athletic girl like herself, running at full speed from her bedroom to her locker door took almost everything out of her.

"Yes, you did; and with five minutes to spare, too!"

Sakura looked up, running a hand through her hair. "Morning, Tomoyo," she answered sleepily, throwing in extra books from her school bag to the bottom of her locker. She glanced at her time table for the next four periods and realized that she didn't have her science text book. She glanced up at the top of her locker and decided it was too far up today. "Tomoyo, can you pass me—"

Tomoyo passed her the science text book.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Thanks."

Tomoyo smiled. "Come on; we're going to be late for class."

Sakura looked around the empty hallway, grabbed her school bag and ran towards the last door on the right.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. She closed Sakura's open locker door and placed the lock back on. Sakura would always be Sakura.

"Class, we have a new transfer student," Mr. Tereda announced. "In fact, you might know him from previous years." The ninth grade teacher walked towards the classroom door.

Sakura yawned and slumped forward. School started just too damn early. She tilted her head back towards her boyfriend who sat behind her, who was sitting in his seat very stiffly. She let out small smile when she saw a small, glossy area just below his lower lip.

She bet a million dollars is tasted like—she glanced at the lip gloss in her purse she had packed this morning—mango and papaya.

She checked to make sure the teacher wasn't looking and leaned over behind her and used her thumb to wipe the lip gloss off. "Syaoran, you seem nervous—"

Syaoran leaned forward narrowing his eyes, darting them both ways before answering. "Sakura, who do we know that was a transfer student in Tomoeda all those years ago, hmm? I swear to God, Sakura, if it's him..."

Tomoyo, who sat beside Sakura and diagonally in front of Syaoran giggled. Sakura turned her attention towards her best friend and Syaoran turned his head to look at Tomoyo with an obvious annoyance. Tomoyo cupped her hand towards the couple and whispered, "Sounds like a family complex."

Syaoran grunted. "We're not family."

Sakura rolled her eyes playfully turning towards her boyfriend again. "Oh, Syaoran, it's been a normal here since the sixth grade. In fact, you could even say too quiet! It couldn't be—" Sakura stopped when she saw Syaoran's eyes widen. It took a moment for her to register his look."It's him isn't," she said more to herself than to her frozen boyfriend.

She whipped around and saw Eriol Hirrragazawa standing at the front of the class. "Eriol," she said a bit too loudly. The whole class turned around until Mr. Tereda coughed to get their attention again.

Eriol simply smiled innocently and gave one, slow, deliberate nod in Sakura's direction before homeroom was dismissed and Eriol was lost in the crowd of students all making their way to whatever class each of them had next.

To Sakura, the rest of the day, needless to say, was one big blur.

Or, should she say, her day was more like a big dose of deja vu?

It couldn't be. This couldn't be a Clow Card. It was impossible. There were 53 cards in total; yes, the last one was a surprise—but, still, how many surprise Clow Cards could you have? This had to be one of those made up feelings, Sakura reasoned. What, with Eriol back in town—who, by the way, she hadn't had a chance to talk too, yet; almost as if he disappeared...—and the whole Tomoeda-is-so-dull-lately dream, this feeling was just her imagination screaming for the excitement of her card captor days again.

Nonetheless, Sakura stood in the middle of the school yard at 10 pm that night, wand in her hands and cards in her pocket. She had, of course, alerted Tomoyo automatically, who was standing just a few feet away filming her and Kero, who in turn was standing a few feet away; he had already transformed into his true form and was eying his mistress with an uncertain look. She had called Syaoran and told him to meet her in the school yard in fifteen minutes; he had yet to arrive. All that was missing was—

Scratch that. Yue flew overhead Syaoran who had his sword transformed.

"Syaoran," she called out. "Yue."

"Sakura," they both acknowledged as they meet up with her and the others.

Sakura grasped her wand tighter. "I-I felt something a while ago," she mumbled to the ground as a way of explanation. "It felt almost like...a Clow Card. I know it sounds stupid but, it was so strong..."

Syaoran reached out and placed a hand on her chin, raising her eyes level with his. "If you felt something, you felt something."

Sakura nodded. "Kero didn't feel anything, though, and I guess that rules you Yue," Sakura reasoned. The moon guardian nodded yes. "So that leaves you, Syaoran. Did you feel anything?"

Syaoran's cheeks reddened. "Well, no," Sakura's shoulders slumped. "But it doesn't mean there's nothing out here," he added quickly.

Sakura nodded slowly.

Syaoran grabbed her shoulders. "Look, Hirragazawa is back in town and I wouldn't put it past him to do something like this. If he tries anything on you, I'll kill him personally."

"AWWWWW! CUTE," Tomoyo shrieked, who had remained silent until this point. The others jumped a bit, glancing at the starry-eyed girl. "Syaoran's love to Sakura is so great he swears to kill the man who dare interfere with her magic! It's SO adorable! I'll call it Syaoran's threat to Sakura's enemy."

Syaoran hung his head. "It was more of a threat to Hirragazawa, Tomoyo, but I suppose it can be—"

A sudden gust of purple wind appeared, and Sakura and the others felt themselves blown a few feet back.

Sakura shook her head and stood up, her eyes widening at the sight before her.

Everything she could see, including herself and the card captor gang, had been turned shades of purple.

Sakura was positive about what she felt now; there was no doubt in her mind at all. She felt the aura of a Clow Card. And it was strong. Really strong. She took a deep breath in and faced the speechless others.

"And so it begins again..."