Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or those character and never will. I also make no money from this work. The song by Celine Dion, Your Light, is not mine either and everything is used without permission.

Rated: PG

Author's Notes: MeiLi strikes again ^_^ Let's see, please no FLAMES! Thanks! This story deals in the CC universe when everyone is 11/12-ish. I'm not sure how the Light Card *really* works so I sort of made things up, but it makes sense! (*ehem* hopefully that is). The Arrow Card is also used. Now, I know that this card is used in the first movie and doesn't happen in the series. However, I needed the card. Therefore, if it makes you happy, pretend that this is an AU (Alternative universe) and then you don't have to worry about the Arrow Card usage.
Also, I used the American names and went with the idea that Meilin is an exchange student who lives with Li and his guardian. BTW- they aren't cousins in this because, as said before, I'm going with the American version because that's all I've seen.

Finally, I have to send a HUGE thank you out to American Cardcaptor because it was her use of the Light Card in her story The 2nd Clow Book that gave me this idea. I okayed the use of the Light Card with her and she was gracious enough to let me use it. THANK YOU!

Send FB to PhoenixB_82@hotmail.com or just REVIEW!!!!!

~*~

SHADOWS DESCENDING
By: PB (PhoenixB_82@hotmail.com)

~*~

"Whenever your hope is gone,
I'll give you strength to carry on
In the darkness of the night,
I will be your light."

"I'll give you something to hold on to,
when you can't find your way.
Like a fire burning bright,
I will be your light."


~*~

Meilin watched as Li's body was hurled into the air and crashed to the ground five feet behind her. She turned towards the Card with fire burning in her eyes.

"You'll pay for that!"

The young fighter braced herself in an attack pose and stood ready to battle the Card.

Li slowly rose to his feet after gaining his motor skills. He made his way up and looked at Meilin facing the Light Card. He was just about to move to her side when a movement above the Card caught his eye. He looked closer at the figure and saw it to be Sakura on the Fly Card. He watched, with growing concern, as she got closer to the Light Card. He saw her begin to prepare her wand for the capture.

"Sakura, NO!" His cry came too late and the Clow Mistress already began to plunge the wand towards the Card. Now Li changed his direction of warning towards Meilin, but he never got any words past his lips because he saw Sakura slam the wand into the Light Card. With only a second to react, the young boy threw his hands over his eyes and waited until he could sense the Card's capture.

A bright flash of light, which Li could feel the heat radiated from, passed over him for a brief second and then left him. With careful movements, he removed his hand from his eyes and slowly cracked them open. He looked to his feet and saw the Light Card lying on the ground; he bent over and picked it up. A smile crossed his face knowing he had readily earned this Card.

"Li?"

The boy raised his head and looked over to where Meilin was standing. He made his way over to his friend, ready to show her the Card she had helped him earn.

"Are you okay?" The raven-haired girl turned towards Li and he saw she was anything *but* okay. Her ruby-eyes were staring off into space; the emptiness clear in them.

"What did the Light Card do? I can't see a thing!"

Li turned his head upwards and looked into the bright street light above both their heads. Reality hit him; Meilin was blind. He moved towards his friend and grasped one of her hands; she looked in his direction.

"Li, what's happening?"

The young boy licked his lips. "Can you see anything?"

"Come on, of course not! The Light Card's blocked all the lights." Li looked down at the Card in his hand.

"The Card's been caught."

"But, then why can't I see?" Comprehension hit the girl and her sightless eyes widened. "Oh my god...I'm blind!" Meilin began to grope out with her hands and finally made contact with Li's chest. She felt him pull her closer.

"I'm *blind*! What am I going to do?!?" The girl's voice rose in hysterics as she began to grasp her entire situation.

A shuffle of footsteps made Li and Meilin turn their heads. The young boy felt his anger rise as he saw Sakura, Madison and Kero come closer. Obviously, after the Card had been caught and went to Li, Sakura headed off to get Madison, and now, had made her way back.

"Hey, little girl, why can't you just leave Li alone?" Kero smiled at his own joke.

Meilin looked in the general direction of the little Guardian, but remained silent. Li, however, did not.

"Because, you stupid stuff animal, she can't see!"

All the newcomers looked at the Chinese girl and, after closer inspection, could see her eyes never seemed to focus on anything; the young boy was telling the truth.

"But how?" Sakura questioned.

Li looked to the Clow Mistress with anger evident in his eyes. "When you caught the Light Card it let off its last bit of energy as light. If you knew *anything* about the Light Card you would have known that. Meilin was the closest to the Card and didn't know that she needed to close her eyes. The light was so bright that it burnt her retina and blinded her."

Madison gently spoke up. "But why didn't the light effect you or Sakura?"

"Because," Li answered, "I knew to cover my eyes and the captor doesn't see the light because of the magic surrounding them. I tried to yell to Sakura, but she didn't listen." He pointed to the Clow Mistress. "This is *your* fault!"

Meilin, who had been silent, grabbed one of Li's hands. "Don't. I just want to go home. Please." The young boy looked at the young girl's sightless, yet pleading eyes. He sighed sadly and grabbed a hold of her hand.

He slowly turned her away from the others, but not without once last glance at the group. He shook his head at them before turning back to Meilin. The two Chinese kids headed back to their home.

The other three spectators watched sadly as the young girl, who once fought the Fight Card, now had to be lead back to her home by another.

"I'm sorry!" Sakura felt a tear slide down her cheek. She *was* truly sorry, she never meant for any of this to happen and never would have wanted any of this to have happened.

Neither retreating student turned or acknowledged the cry of an apology, but instead continued to walk away.

~*~

The Chinese duo made their way slowly through the streets of the Reedington. All the while, both remained completely silent. Li made glances down at the raven-haired girl to make certain she was doing okay, however never once did he see any change in her expression. Meilin continued to stare straight ahead at nothing, while the young boy held her arm and guided her.

Finally, they came to the small home they shared with Wei and entered softly. Luckily the guardian knew about the cardcapturing at night and rarely waited up for the two; he knew they would be home when they would be home. Li gently moved away from Meilin to turn on the living room light; the young girl still hadn't moved when he returned.

"Meilin?"

The raven-haired girl looked in the direction of Li. "Yes?" The young boy frowned sadly as he noticed her eyes were looking way above his head.

He swallowed. "Are...are you okay?"

Meilin sighed, yet remained silent, and began to pull at one of her tails of hair. She fiddled with it and finally pulled it out of the pigtail, bun style. Li watched as she took down both sides of her hair and ran her hands through it. She finally stopped and began to slowly pace. Li watched as she avoided furniture and other objects.

"That stupid, *stupid* girl." Li was surprised to finally hear Meilin speak, and even more surprised with what she said.

"Who?"

The young girl let out a noise like a 'tut' before continuing. "Who do you think?" She left the rhetorical question in the air. "She doesn't know how to do anything right. I mean look at how she screwed up tonight."

Li had often heard Meilin talk about Sakura with a touch of attitude in her voice, but he had never heard her speak of the young girl with such distaste.

"My god Li, she doesn't know anything about the Cards. I swear she is completely useless. The only reason she has any of the Clow Cards is because you helped her." By now, Meilin's pacing had speed up a bit and Li was ever more concerned that she would run into something. The young girl threw up her arms barely missing a lamp.

"Look at what a mess she caused tonight. I'm blind, Li. Blind!! I cannot see because...because of that...that reject of a card captor." Suddenly, Meilin turned around and ran her foot into the sofa. Due to the momentum of her pacing, the young girl fell roughly to her knees. The raven-haired girl rolled to her bottom and began to elbow the offending piece of furniture.

"Stupid, stupid couch! Stupid Sakura! Damn it!" Instantly tears sprung to Meilin's eyes. "I...don't want this...I...I...hate this feeling of...of helplessness." She turned her sightless, tear-filled eyes towards Li. "I *hate* this."

The young boy moved to his knees and scooped Meilin to his arms. "I...I hate this..." Her voice dropped and Li heard a sob escape the young girl's throat. She began to cry into his chest while he gently held her. For minutes upon minutes, she sobbed into him releasing the anger and fear she had felt building.

Li held his friend closely and finally became aware of the fact that she had stopped sobbing and was breathing rather deeply. He looked down at her and could see she had fallen asleep; all the stress and exhaustion taking its toll. Li shifted his weight to a more comfortable position and leaned back against the sofa. He moved Meilin a bit and then closed his own eyes.

Within moments he, too, was asleep on the floor.

~*~

Li awoke to the sun shinning brightly in his eyes. For a moment he was disoriented, wondering why he was on the living room floor. Then he attempted to stand and felt a weight holding him down. He looked at his chest and saw Meilin sleeping on him. Suddenly, he remembered last night.

The young boy raised his hand and gently ran it over Meilin's head. She sighed and moved closer into his chest, but did not awake. Li smiled down at her and then placed his head against the back of the couch. He knew they were in trouble.

There was no way he could hide this from teachers and friends, yet he also couldn't leave Meilin at home because who knew how long this would last? Then, there was the problem of going to a doctor and trying to explain how on earth Meilin had be subjected to such a strong light. The more Li thought about it, the more hopeless and depressed he became. The only logical answer was to send Meilin home to her family in China, but then she would be completely on her own.

She, of course, had family that cared for her and loved her, but she didn't have many friends. And those she did have weren't close to her like Li was. He had been her best friend since he could remember. They always trained together and, even if he wasn't also the nicest or most social person, they always got along and shared most everything.

No, sending her back to China would do nothing for her but depress her and right now, Li knew, that was one thing Meilin didn't need. She was already angry and upset over everything and handing her depression could prove dangerous.

Somehow, Li and Meilin would have to make up a story that would suit the doctors, teachers and friends.

The young boy felt Meilin begin to shift and looked back at her. She was yawning loudly and rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning." The young girl, surprised by Li's voice, sat up quickly. She jerked her head in Li's direction and let out a groan.

"Geez, trying to give me a heart attack, Li?" The young boy watched as Meilin began to get to her feet. He, too, stood up and moved his sore muscles about.

"What time is it?" Li looked at the large clock on their wall.

"8:30. Would you like some breakfast?"

She shook her head. "I want to take a shower." Li watched as Meilin groped around until she found the wall. She moved her hands and took slow steps using the wall.

"Would you like some help?" The raven-haired girl turned around and stared at Li.

A flush crept its way over the young boy's face as he realize what that sounded like. "Um...I meant....help getting to...um...the shower."

Meilin let out a small chuckle. "No, thank you."

Li watched as she slowly turned at corner and made her way in the direction of her room to get her clothes. He heard the door close to her room and then headed into the kitchen. He was surprised by the change in Meilin's attitude. Oddly, she seemed in fairly high spirits and, maybe, she accepted the fact that she was blind. Li's head jerked up; something wasn't right. He knew Meilin better than anyone, and knew, she rarely accepted things at first chance. He moved out of the kitchen and went to her room.

"Meilin?" He rapped gently on the door. "Are you okay?"

When he didn't receive an answer he tried the door handle. When he found that to be locked, also, he did the only logical thing; he kicked in the door. He moved the door away and stepped into her room. Although outside the sun was shinning brightly, Meilin's room was dark due to the curtains that covered her window. He felt around for a light switch and illuminated the room.

"Meilin?" Li questioned again.

He moved deeper into her room and finally found her. The young girl was sitting on the floor of her room with her back against her bed and her knees drawn up to her chest. In her hand, Li saw a small penknife. He wasn't an idiot and knew why Meilin had the small, yet sharp knife.

He moved next to the young girl. "What are you doing?" His voice held no judgement or anger, only deep concern.

The raven-haired girl kept her eyes glued to the wall. "I don't want to be blind, Li. I *can't* be blind."

The young boy drew in a deep breath. "We don't even know if this is permanent. You can't say it is until we talk to someone."

A tear slide down Meilin's cheek. "But what if it is? What if I'm blind forever? I can't live like this. I can't live with this helplessness and awkwardness. Li, I'm a martial arts student, how can I fight anyone like this?"

The auburn-haired boy reached out his hand and grabbed Meilin's. He pulled the small knife away from her and then pulled her into a hug. This time, she didn't shed any tears, but rather, enjoyed the warmth and closeness of Li.

"Everything will work out fine, I promise."

The young girl sighed, but didn't accept or deny the boy's statement. She pulled away from him and moved to her feet. "I'm taking the shower now."

Li stayed on the floor as Meilin grabbed clothes and carefully made her way to the bathroom. Once he heard the water running, he ran a shaky hand over his face. He looked down to the small knife and began to feel physically sick. He couldn't believe that Meilin had the knife and even considered harming herself with it. He rose to his feet and place the knife in his pocket.

He swallowed the sick taste in his mouth and moved out to the kitchen again. Everything was happening too fast and Li didn't know how to fix everything. Meilin was not only blind, but emotional unstable and who knew what else she would try if she felt her situation was completely helpless. The young boy knew he had to get her to a doctor and then move from there.

By the time Meilin was clean and dressed, Li had already made an appointment and cooked breakfast. Luckily, thus far, the doctor, or rather receptionist, hadn't asked any questions regarding the appointment. It gave the young boy a bit more time to come up with a reasonable reason for Meilin's lost of sight. The only other saving grace in the whole disaster was that it was Saturday which meant the Chinese children had a few extra hours to get things organized.

Once the time came to 'face-the-music', Li prayed that everything would sort itself out because, if it didn't, the young boy was clueless about what to do.

~*~

Meilin held onto Li's elbow as he walked in front of her. She knew they were in a doctor's office, even if he hadn't told her the smell would have given it away. All doctor's offices and hospitals smelled the same- in a word- yucky. The young girl felt the boy in front of her stop and did so.

"Do you have an appointment?" A shrill receptionist's voice asked.

"Yes. Meilin Rae at 11:00."

The shuffling of papers followed and then the shrill voice again. "If you can fill out these papers."

Li took the forms with a sigh.

Meilin felt him move again and followed as they took a seat. For a few minutes he scribbled away at the papers and got up. The young girl wanted to follow him, but the logical part of her brain told her that he would just be gone for a second.

Just as she knew, Li returned and took his seat again. The two children sat in silence until a nurse called Meilin back. Her head quickly whipped around to Li's and she whispered to him. "Can you come too?"

"Of course." He stood and guided her towards the examination room. He carefully avoided the nurse's eye, but could feel her starting at him.

"In here." She directed to a room and the two entered. Li helped Meilin to the table and took a seat in the chair. Suddenly nervousness hit him; what was he going to say to the doctor? It was hard enough convincing the receptionist earlier on the phone that they would be coming in without a guardian. He had to give up a credit card number and had to have Wei tell them it was okay. Now, though, he had to explain to a doctor how his friend had suddenly become blind.

The door was opened and a small woman, no more than five feet, stood with a kind smile on her face. "Hello, I'm Doctor Kotz."

Li nodded his head in a greeting and the woman doctor moved further into the room. "Well," She said while looking over the near empty chart. "I haven't the faintest idea why you're here." She let off a soft laugh. "How about you fix that."

The young boy swallowed. "Um...Meilin...she...uh...that is...she can't see." ~Whew, that was the easy part~

Helen Kotz grabbed a light scope and moved closer to the young girl on the table. "Meilin could you just open your eyes wide for me?"

The raven-haired girl did so and Dr. Kotz took her light and began to examine the sightless ruby eyes. After a few minutes, she 'hmmed' to herself and switched off the light.

"Well, I'm not sure which one of you wants to answer this, but one has to." She began. "How is it that her eyes were subjected to a light so bright it actually burnt her retina?"

Helen looked at Meilin and then over to Li. The young boy swallowed again unsure how to answer. "Umm...."

"It was a dare." The quiet voice of Meilin turned the doctor around to face her.

"A dare?" Helen questioned.

The young girl nodded. "Someone- I'd rather not say who- dared me to stare at the sun through their telescope." Meilin began to fiddle with her hands. "I...um...don't like to turn down dares and...I did it."

Dr. Kotz shook her head. "That was a very stupid thing to do, but I think you already know that." She sighed. "I'm not qualified in eye car and therefore cannot tell you about things I have no idea about. I'm going to set up an eye appointment for you so we can figure out what to do."

Li nodded while standing to get Meilin down. Helen looked at the two.

"I also want to speak to your guardian who couldn't make it so he understands what's happening." The young boy nodded again and gave her their home number. Meilin slowly moved off the table and back by Li.

Dr. Kotz look at the pale face of the young girl and felt her heart suddenly soften. "I'm sure everything will be just fine." She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. Meilin turned to the doctor and gave her a soft smile.

The two children exited the room followed by Helen. She told the receptionist that she would be speaking with the guardian later and figure out payment. The older woman at the desk nodded and the two Chinese students left for home.

~*~

For the rest of the Sunday, the two sat in complete silence, but not the comfortable one they were use to. This one was filled with tension and sadness. Meilin stayed in the save chair staring at nothing while Li stared at her trying to figure out her thoughts (without success).

At five, the doorbell brought both out of the stupor. Li rose and answered the door, while Meilin sat listening.

She could make out another voice, but only heard Li's answers.

"Not now." He sighed.

"She's okay." She could hear him grit his teeth.

"Goodbye." Chances were the conversation was not over on the other participants' part, but it was down on Li's part and so he finished it.

The door shut soundly and Meilin could hear his steps as he moved back into the room.

"Who was it?"

Li looked to the young girl. "Sakura." He mumbled.

The raven-haired girl dropped her sightless eyes to her hands. "Oh." Was all she said and lapsed back into silence.

The young boy watched her a bit longer before releasing a breath and laying his head against the chair. He felt like he was living in a stranger's house. Normally, the nights were spent with the two of them joking around or even fighting, but tonight it was just silent.

He sighed again and looked back to Meilin. She had a look of defeat on her face and sadness. His heart went out the her, wanting to help her, but knowing he couldn't. Even his magic was unable to do any good at this point (not that the idea didn't cross his mind a couple times).

Suddenly, Meilin rose to her feet. "I'm going to go to bed." She said in a soft voice and moved in the direction of her room. He watched her go ready to help her, but not wanting to make her feel helpless. She finally made it okay and he put his hands into his head.

They were only twelve for goodness sacks! Why did he feel so...so old all of a sudden? Sure, he had grown up fast, he had to if he was going to be a Cardcaptor, but this...even he wasn't ready for this. Li propped his feet up on the table in front of him and closed his eyes. Tomorrow they had school which brought forth even more problems.

The doctor's visit had turned out okay after Wei talked to Dr. Kotz and explained why he couldn't make it and such. They also had an eye appointment for the young girl in a few days. Wei told the doctor he hadn't known about the dare and promised he would find out who did it and talk to their parents. All the while he spoke, Li stood by and listened carefully, making certain everything made sense and followed the story Meilin quickly created.

It did and, in turn, they secret was safe.

Now, school would be harder to explain and even harder for Meilin to make it through. Although they had all the same classes (they stayed with the grade) he wouldn't be able to be with her the whole time. He knew Sakura and Madison would help, along with others but still there would be those that caused problems.

Meilin was known for her fiery personality and had a few people that had clashed with her. They, of course, never fought the girl again, but know that she was at a disadvantage Li felt worried. The young girl already had it hard enough and to some people might not help any.

Li's train of thought was ended abruptly when he fell into a deep sleep.

~*~

"Time to wake up, Master Li." The voice calmly stated, but still cause the young boy to jump out of the chair.

"What time is it?" He questioned as he rose to his feet.

"Just a little after 8:00. Mistress Rae is done and you are welcome to the shower." Wei moved towards the kitchen. "Breakfast will be ready shortly."

Li said his thanks and headed to get ready. A few minutes later he was showered and dressed sitting at the table. He was busy eating his toast when the loud crash followed by the angry cry came. He glanced and Wei who shrugged, but didn't move. Li was at his feet and moving to Meilin's room.

He entered and saw the young girl sitting on her bed with her arms crossed against he chest. A hair brush laid a few feet in front of her where it appeared to have bounced off the wall.

"Meilin?"

She looked in his general direction and he could see her angry fad from her face replaced by a look of sadness. "I...I couldn't get my ha...hair up." She said in hitching breaths.

The young boy moved to her side and put his arm over her shoulder. She leaned into him with a sigh.

"Would you like me to do it?" Li assumed that he had seen her do it enough that he could handle the task.

Meilin softly nodded and straighten. A couple brushes and attempts later, her hair was done in her unique style. It looked a bit off, but good enough none-the-less.

The raven-haired girl ran her hand over it and smiled. "It feels right." Li also smiled in spite of the fact she could see it. Meilin stood and held her hands out to the side.

"Is everything on correctly?"

Li looked her over and found her uniform in place. At least she didn't have to worry about trying to match thing since the uniform was already matching.

"You're fine." He moved forward and took her hand. "We have to go."

She nodded and followed him out. Li grabbed their lunches and bags, handing the correct ones to her.

The duo made their trip towards school.

~*~

Meilin could hear the students' voices and felt her step falter. She couldn't do this! The young girl stopped her walking and stood in place. Li felt the lack of movement and looked back at her.

"We have to get to class."

She shook her heard frightfully. "I can't go. They...they'll laugh."

The young boy put his hand against her back. "They won't say or do anything. Wei said he called them and told the school that you had an accident. The teachers already know and won't let the other students do or say anything."

Meilin didn't look convinces and still didn't move.

"Please, you have to go, Mie." She looked in his direction at the old nickname.

"Promise things won't go bad?"

Li held on his hand and took hers. "Promise."

~*~

For the first time, he was thankful she couldn't see. The instant they entered the classroom all eyes fell on the pair. Everyone had, quiet obviously, been told about Meilin and curiosity caused them to stare. Li tried, at best, to avoid the stares and moved them both to their seats. They took them and faced the front of the room.

Meilin's face had taken a red tint because, even if she couldn't see them, she knew everyone was staring at her. She kept her sightless eyes aimed downwards and waited for the teacher to speak.

Without any indication that things were going oddly in his classroom, Mr. Terrata began his lesson.

The rest of the classes passed by in much the same fashion. The Chinese students would enter, be the center of attention and then the lesson would begin. Everything was going as smooth as possible...until lunch.

A six grader, Joseph Hunkler, had one day a little over a month ago, accidentally ran into Meilin in the hallway. It wouldn't have been a problem except Joseph (or rather Joe) had blamed the young girl and insulted her. He obviously didn't know Meilin. Less than a minute later, the two were involved in a verbal fight that the entire school could hear. To top it off, it was a verbal fight that Meilin was quite obviously winning. In the end, Joe left with his ego bruised and embarrassed- not only did he get put in his place by a girl, but a younger girl at that.

Today, Joe found his chance to exact his revenge. He had been watching Meilin all day, hearing something about her losing her sight. The entire school day she had been right besides that Li kid, but, at the current moment she was sitting by herself as he went to buy a drink for lunch.

The young girl was half-heartily eating her sandwich when the sound of heavy footsteps behind her caught her attention. She knew instantly it wasn't Li, but didn't turn around.

"Hello, Meilin."

The voice she recognized: Joe Hunkler, a bully that she had bested not too long ago. She felt him take a seat next to her.

"How are things going?" She could sense him smirking.

"Fine." Meilin answered with clenched teeth.

"Really?" Joe made a silent, but deliberate move towards her drink. The young girl was unable to hear him moving until she felt the drink spill on her lap.

She let out a surprise yelp and began to stand up. Joe, however, wasn't finished.

As the girl moved, he also stood and, grabbed the small dessert cake. Meilin stepped away from her table while trying to remove whatever juice she could.

"Meilin?" She looked up to where the voice had come from. Joe took the cake and promptly shoved it into the young girl's face and hair. He erupted in laughter as Meilin stood shocked.

Finally, she released a soft cry and turned. Moving as quickly as she could, the young girl ran in the direction of trees that she could hide by. She left Joe in the lunchroom laughing.

Meilin moved until she collided into a bench. Luckily she wasn't moving fast enough to fall and instead took a seat. She ran her hands across her face removing as much of the dessert as she could. The raven-haired girl put her hands in her face trying to forget how embarrassed she had just been.

A cough brought her head out of her hands. "Yes?" Her voice shook with pent up tears.

"Can we sit?" She recognized the sweet voice of Sakura and imagined the 'we' was her and Madison. Meilin nodded and felt two people sit.

"I wanted to uh...say...that I'm sorry for all of this." Sakura looked at the young girl and realized what a mess she was. Her uniform was splattered with a pink juice and her face and hair had white remnant of frosting. Her face also was a bright pink from, the young girl guessed, embarrassment. The sightless ruby eyes were glassy with unshed tears.

"This is all my fault and I'm...I'm so so sorry that I did it. If there is something...anything I can do I will."

Meilin sighed. She wanted to hate Sakura, she really did. Actually, at first she did, but suddenly found she couldn't hate the Clow Mistress any more. Why? That was beyond her, but she just couldn't.

"It's okay. I'll...I'll be fine."

Sakura sighed, thankful Meilin didn't hate her. Madison, who had remained silent letting Sakura say her peace, spoke.

"If you want, my house is really close and I bet we can get there and back before next period. I have a spare uniform you could wear."

The raven-haired girl tugged at one of her sticky ponytails. "Really?"

"Of course."

Meilin rose to her feet. "Good cause I feel really sticky." The other two girls laughed and made their way to Madison's house.

~*~

The girls did make it back in time for class with a clean Meilin in tow. Li had heard from another student what had happened and, not too nicely, let Joe know what would happen if he tried anything like that again. For the second time that year, the bully's ego had been batter by a younger kid.

By the time school was over, Meilin felt a little better and a little more confident, but still said little other than to Li, Sakura or Madison. Although the raven-haired girl had forgiven Sakura, Li still was angry with her and said little in the way of kind things.

The bell to end school came and soon Meilin was at home. While she had been away at Madison's and after Li had talked to Joe, a brilliant idea had hit him. One that would, hopefully, show Meilin that she could be just as she had before she lost her sight.

The young boy changed and then moved to the young girl. He grabbed her hand and began pulling.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he pulled.

"You'll see." Was all he answered.

Meilin allowed Li to dragged her throughout the house all the while attempting to protest.

"Li, this is pointless, what do you hope to do?"

The young boy continued to drag his friend along. "You'll see when we get there."

The raven-haired girl sighed, but stopped her complaining and walked along with Li. Finally, the two Chinese students made their way into the small workout room and Li let go of Meilin and turn on the light. The workout place was a simple room which consisted of a punching bag, a pull-up bar, and a long blue mat. The room was an addition Wei made long before either student transferred to Japan.

Meilin took a seat on the hard wood floor and waited for Li to get back beside her. He did so, and she leaned back on her elbows.

"Okay, so I'm here now. What do you want to do?"

The young boy didn't bother with the question, but rather began to move around the room again. The young girl listened carefully as Li fiddled with stuff, but couldn't make out any distinct sound that would tell Meilin what he was doing. She heard ringing of bells and cocked her head in Li's direction. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Nothing."

Meilin rolled her sightless eyes. "Yeah, sure."

For a couple minutes, the raven-haired girl listened to the ringing of the bells and waited for Li to tell her what was happening.

"Okay, I'm ready."

The raven-haired girl dropped her arms in exasperation. "For what?"

Li walked over towards Meilin and she could hear ringing of different bells with each movement. Finally, he stopped in front of her.

"I was thinking about fighting and how you said couldn't fight."

"Well, I can't! I'm blind, in case you missed it."

Li grabbed one of her hands. "Well, I thought of something. You might not be able to *see* your opponents, but you can *hear* them and all you need to do is learn how to concentrate on the sounds."

The young girl kept her eyes focused on Li's direction. "So, what's with the bells?"

Li smiled, even though the gesture was lost on Meilin. "Well, what I did was placed bells on my feet and hands. My feet are a deeper sound." The young boy rung the bells on his feet. "And the bells on my hands are higher pitched." He rung those to.

"Now, all you have to do is listen to the bells and you'll be able to tell where my attacks are coming from."

Meilin opened her mouth and kept it open. Then a large smile crossed her face; the first one Li had seen in a long time. "You," she reached out and tapped Li's chest, "are such a dork." Meilin leaned in and pulled herself toward Li's face. She gave the young boy a peck on his cheek. "But I love you none-the-less." He blushed to a bright red, but the young girl didn't notice.

Meilin took a few steps back. The raven-haired girl bounced on her toes for a few seconds and then got into a defensive stance. She smiled in her friend's direction. "Lets go."

Li jangled into his stance and stood ready to fight. "I'm going to make the first move." Meilin nodded and waited.

The young boy started slow and easy. Li took three steps forward to make Meilin step back to avoid him. The young girl did just that and moved out of Li's way. The young boy then swiveled to his right so that he placed himself on Meilin's left. Slowly, and with exaggerated movements, he brought his left arm across his chest in a fist and aimed to punch the young girl in her shoulder. He smiled when he saw her turn and block his movement with her forearm. She then completed the turning of her body so the two Chinese kids were facing each other again.

Li jabbed forward with his right arm and Meilin blocked again. He continued to aim punches at her, slowly picking up speed and intensity. He watched the young girl's face and could see her straining to hear and follow the bells. Finally, Li stopped for a second and made a low swipe at Meilin's feet. The young girl jumped over his foot and surprised the young boy by, as she jumped, kicking out with her left foot. Li only had a second to jump out of the way before Meilin's foot would have made contact with his stomach.

The young girl laughed as she heard Li let out a small gasp from surprise.

The young boy gave a small laugh. "Fine, you want to fight."

The young girl stopped her laughing and moved back into a defensive stance. Li moved at Meilin with a quick right punch. The young girl moved to the left and brought up her right arm in defense while she pivoted her feet. Meilin then bent her knees and did the same move the young boy attempted on her, however after he jumped over her foot she stood up quickly and kicked out with her other leg. Li caught the leg in his stomach and was pushed towards the ground; bottom first. He jerked his legs under him and landed on one knee. He tucked himself and did a small roll to move closer to the young girl and then, he paused a moment, before lunging towards Meilin.

Li quickly stopped his forward motion by turning his body and swiping at the young girl's feet again. This time, though, he made contact and Meilin crashed to the ground. She hit with a loud 'oof', but rolled backwards and moved to her feet. She stood ready again and, this time, Li could see the fight returned to her eyes. Though they focused on nothing, there was a spark in them that he hadn't seen since they battled the Light Card.

Li swiped his hair away from his eyes and the two went at it again. For nearly an hour, the two fighters battled, neither one winning. By the end, Meilin was fighting as well as she had even with her sight. The two, finally, collapsed to the ground in a mixture of sweat, pain, and pride.

"See, told you this would work. You fought just as well as you ever have."

Meilin smiled at the comment and felt a small blush come to her cheeks. "Thank you, but still no one I fight will be wearing bells. I just have to face the fact that things won't be the same."

Li bit his lip afraid that the young girl would slip back into the depression she had been in earlier in the week.

"It won't be the same, but," Meilin continued, "it doesn't seem like it's the end of the world. I can still do some things, obviously."

The young boy smiled at the small bit of confidence that he heard returned to the young girl's voice. As over-whelming as she could be with her 'I-can-do-anything-better-than-you' attitude, Li never realized how much he missed it and how much that made her who she was. The young boy saw that Meilin was *Meilin* because of her outlook on things. She always faced new problems with the idea that she would be the best at whatever the challenge was and, even though, sometimes that would make her look like a snob, or a fool when she failed, it was who she was. She was a confident, proud and successful young girl, yet when she became blind she lost all the confidence and pride and, Li watched, as he lost the old Meilin and found a scared, helpless young girl; the complete opposite of what he had grown up with.

The young boy looked at the raven-haired girl and smiled. He saw that she had accepted her handicap and, perhaps, even learn to live with it.

~*~

For the next week, school and other events had become easier for Meilin to handle. She had learned how to work past her blindness and keep life as normal as possible. The visit to the optometrist proved to be both helpful and not. He said that surgery was her only chance to fix the damaged retina. The bright exposure to the light had burnt her cornea, much like staring at the sun was known to do. The surgery that the doctor spoke of would be a laser operation. The only way to fix the damage was to attempt to almost re-burn her eyes back to their original state. The surgery would be easy, however, the chances of it being a success was only about forty-percent.

Both Meilin and Li took the news in stride, although it was disheartening. The thought of the young girl remaining sightless her whole life was not something they wished to entertain. Thus, the both quickly decided after leaving the doctor's that they would not discuss the idea of Meilin being blind her whole life until after the surgery. Then and only then they would begin to worry.

The appointment for the surgery was made two weeks from the visit and the pair of Chinese students still had a little over eight days left.

And so it was that Meilin and Li found themselves enjoying another peaceful evening at home together. Since the accident the Clow Cards had not been making a scene as much as they had in the past, and those that did come out were easily dealt with between Kero, Sakura, and Madison. Sakura still felt horribly about what had happened to Meilin and the guilt would not leave the young Clow Mistress even though both LI and Meilin had told her they forgave her. Thus, Li assumed, that even if she had a problem with the Clow Cards he would not be privy to it for Sakura was trying to give him as much time with Meilin as possible.

Surprisingly, neither complained about the added time together. Since the accident and since trying to learn to live with it, Li and Meilin found they had a bond deeper than they ever imagined. Well, Meilin already knew that her heart and soul belong to the young wolf, but ever so slowly Li was finding himself thinking about the raven-haired girl.

Had he truly been paying attention to his own feelings he would have noticed a small crush developing on his longtime friend, yet, he was too engrossed with life to take note. Therefore, he hardly noticed the way he would smile at her and she had no clue either.

It was this evening that the two Chinese kids found themselves enjoying dinner over a television show. The companionable silence they enjoyed was something that they found themselves treasuring more and more. It was...comfortable. And with all they had been through as of late, they both knew they needed a bit of comfort. Just as they were ready to clear the dishes the sensation hit Li. It was an odd thing to feel again, but something he knew he couldn't ignore.

With a quick halt her turned towards Meilin with a swift pivot. Though she couldn't see him, her ruby eyes were locked on his and she knew something was wrong.

"What is it, Li?"

The young boy carefully set the plate down on the table and rushed away in a blur of motion. Meilin huffed indignantly and placed her plate next to Li's. With movements that betrayed the fact she was blind, Meilin moved to Li's room where she could hear him making enough noise to wake the dead.

She moved into his doorway and stood against the frame. "It's a Clow Card, isn't it?"

Li stopped his frantic dressing into his robes to face her. "Yes." He answered simply and continued to get ready. Once down he stood in front of the smaller girl. She crossed her arms.

"No." Was all he said before moving past her.

Meilin was not deterred and turned to follow Li. "I won't do anything, I just want to come."

"No." Came the short answer.

The girl stopped and crossed her arms again. "Do you want me to try and follow you anyway? That would end up being a lot more dangerous for me, you know."

The young boy just a foot in front of her, cringed slightly. Of all the ultimatums to place one him... "I don't even want to think of you anywhere but in this house. If you stay here and do not attempt to follow me. Once I know what this card is, if, and I say IF, we don't catch it, you can come out tomorrow night with us."

The raven-haired girl blinked her sightless eyes running over the deal in her head. It was a risky one and assumed that Li and Sakura would not catch the Card, but she also knew it was the best she would get.

"Fine." Meilin held out her hand. "You've got a deal."

Li moved forward and grasped her hand. "If you come out, it's off." He warned and Meilin smiled slightly.

"I won't follow you. You have my word." With that, she quickly pulled Li's arm forward and planted a small kiss to his check. "Be careful."

The young boy blushed as he moved away from Meilin and out the front door. With a sigh, the young girl listened to the door shut and finally made her way back into the kitchen for a long night of waiting.

~*~

The night, Li realized, could only be summed up as a bust. The Clow Card that he felt barely made an appearance. He ran into Sakura, Madison, and Kero just on a random street. Obviously the Card had given everyone the slip. As a matter of fact, no one even knew what the Card was. Li really wouldn't have minded except for his small promise to Meilin. He knew that she had held onto her word and therefore he would have to hold onto his.

So, it was with a near groan that Li entered his home to find Meilin listening to music. She turned to his general direction and smiled.

"You didn't get it, did you?"

Li grunted a no and headed to his room to undress and get ready for bed. Meilin listened to him leave and then let off a small laugh. Sometimes, she loved playing the odds. Quickly, she followed Li's example and got ready for bed.

~*~

The day went by far too quickly for Li's liking and soon he found himself at home after class with Meilin. Throughout the day, the Clow Card's sensation had been growing in intensity which, of course, meant that tonight would be interesting. Soon the sun joined the horizon and Li knew it was time to move.

"Meilin, I just want you to be careful."

Meilin smiled at him as she straightened her outfit self-consciously. "I will." She promised and she meant it. Meilin understood that she was in no shape to fight anything (unless it had bells she thought with a smile). She only wanted to be out with those that would not judge her as useless. Although things at school had gotten better, the young girl could still sense the stares from others. She knew with the group of Card Captors that she would not be thought of as a handicap.

It was something, Meilin realized, she needed.

She needed to feel like nothing had really changed, when, in fact, everything was upside down. In a few days, her life would forever be decided; either she would gain back her eyesight or forever be in the place she was now. The young girl needed to know that things could be as normal as they were before the Light Card and this was the only way Meilin could really find out how that would work.

Deep down inside, she knew that somehow Li might understand this and thus the reason he was letting her come.

The pair made their way outside and down the street to the place where they decided to meet the others. The Chinese pair made it and Li noticed the others were already waiting. He had warned them ahead of time that Meilin would be joining them and even Kero kept his mouth shut.

Meilin was quite aware of this fact and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Maybe Li didn't know why she had decided to come along after all.

"Sakura figured out the Card." It was Kero's voice the brought the silence that had fallen.

Li turned to the Clow Mistress with raised eyebrows.

"It's the Arrow Card."

The young boy's eyes widened. Of all the Cards to have to deal with while having Meilin here...

"Are you sure?" He asked, hoping Sakura was wrong.

The Cherry Blossom nodded.

Li turned to Kero and saw that Guardian also nodding his agreement with Sakura. The Chinese boy sighed. This would not be easy, he knew.

Meilin stood slightly off to the side of the group letting them talk as she listened intently to the night. She had realize that since loosing her sight her other sense had become sharper than ever, especially her hearing. Due to the increase of this sense, Meilin realized something even over the conversation.

There was no other sound.

The night was still; nothing, not even a cricket, was making noise.

"Guys." Meilin's voice, however, was drowned out over the discussing of the Captors. Suddenly, there was a change in the night. There was a sound that Meilin listened closely too.

It sounded like a small projectile being shot through the air. Kind of like an...

"DUCK!" Meilin was on the ground just as an arrow shot over her head. The others, hearing the cry and acting on instinct, did as the young girl said, and they were saved from being impaled. Quickly, everyone moved to find covering and Meilin felt her hand being jerked roughly by another.

And then she felt herself being thrown in to a small bush. "Stay." The voice commanded her and she knew then that it was Li. Meilin attempted to rise to her feet, but was shoved back down.

"Stay here." Never had she heard Li's voice so harsh and instantly did as she was told as Li ran out back to the others. With a snort of discontent, Meilin crossed her arms and listened.

She could now clearly hear the sound of arrows being shot at her friends as well as their shuffled footing to avoid the dangerous items. The young girl wanted nothing more than to rush out there and help, but she knew that it was useless. She was of no help right now and could do nothing...

...except.

Quickly, the raven-haired girl moved around in the undergrowth attempting to find where exactly the exit was. She finally found the end to the plants and could tell she faced the scene of the battle. Meilin knew that her friends had no chance of being able to seal the Card while attempting to avoid it. Especially, since the only one with the ability to seal was Sakura and, Meilin could tell by the sounds of the footing, that Sakura was getting the more brutal end of the attacks.

So, the young girl made a decision. Neither the most sane nor logical, but she knew what she had to do. With a deep breath and a prayer to the gods, she stepped out of her hiding space.

At first, she knew no one, not even the Card, had noticed her movement. But then, she heard Li's deep voice.

"Get back, Meilin."

The raven-haired girl took a step further away from the safety she was in moments ago.

"Hey!"

Meilin's voice was unable to reach the ears of the Clow Card over the sound of the order Kero was giving, the slight screaming of Sakura, and the deep, commanding voice of Li. So, Meilin just tried again.

"HEY!" This time did it.

All at once the noise stopped as everything ceased to move. Meilin swallowed self-consciously knowing, even without looking, that everyone had their eyes on her. Still, she had come this far...

"You," she pointed in the general direction of the Clow Card. Or, at least, what she thought was the general direction, "stupid Card." Any other time in her life and Meilin would have found it absurd to be insulting a floating little girl with a bow and arrow. But, given the circumstance, she found nothing wrong with it.

Meilin took a few steps forward. "What do you think you're doing?" The girl's voice took an attitude all it's own. "You think you can just come into my town and everything will be fine?"

Sakura and Kero shared an odd glance while trying to put together what this young girl was trying to do. Li, on the other hand, was not as silent.

"Meilin, run." His voice held a dangerous air to it, but Meilin played dumb.

By now she had continued walking closer and closer to the Card. "You better know that if you're going to come to this town, you have to deal with Meilin Rae!"

All at once the Card pulled an arrow from its quiver and strung it. Li and Madison shouting out a warning to Meilin, but the girl was already moving. Hearing the rustling of the Card's clothing, the raven-haired young girl knew that could mean only one thing and was not ready to be strung up by an arrow.

Once fixed to the string, the Card let the arrow sail. Its path was true and aimed directly at Meilin, or rather, at where Meilin would be. Li yelled to the running girl to turn and she did so without a second thought.

The arrow 'thumped' harmlessly into the dirt.

Yet, another arrow was already on its way towards Meilin and the girl had to listening careful to the sound of the quick projectile to know which was to turn. It was an amazing site and one that Li would remember for years to come. He watched, almost spell bound, as Meilin, little blind Meilin, flipped, jumped, and ran out of the path of incoming arrows. Anyone watching would never have guessed the small moving body had no use of her sight.

Sakura and Kero, who until that point had been stumped by Meilin's actions, moved into position knowing full well what the young girl was doing. Finally, just as Meilin tucked and rolled around an arrow, Sakura came behind the Card.

"Return your powers. Confined!"

Meilin stood on her feet albeit shakily as she heard the fateful words. The Arrow Card, spared a glance at Sakura, knowing its fate was sealed and then looked out at the raven-haired girl. With lightning fast reflexes, it released its last arrow just as it was sealed.

Sakura watched in horror as the arrow traced its path to Meilin. All the while, the girl didn't move.

"Meilin!" Sakura cried hoping that the Chinese girl would move in time.

She did not.

The arrow found its mark just below Meilin right shoulder and imbedded itself there. The force of the impact sent Meilin crashing to the ground in a cry of pain and surprise. She had never heard that last arrow leave its bow.

Li was at her side in a second.

"Meilin." He gently lifted her head being mindful of the wound. Meilin shook her head.

"What happened?" She questioned feeling a throbbing pain where her head connected with the ground.

"Shh. You'll be okay, Mei. Don't speak."

The young girl blinked her sightless eyes in confusion. "Of course I'll be fine as soon as you let me up."

Now it was Li's turn to looked confused. She had been shot with the arrow in the...

For the first time the young boy looked at the arrow in Meilin's body. Somehow, the arrow had missed her shoulder and imbedded itself in the upper part of her clothing. She hadn't been shot.

She hadn't been shot, Li realized again.

"That was the stupidest thing ever, Meilin!" Since she wasn't shoot, she could get yelled at then.

The young girl cringed as the yelling echoed in her already pounded head. "But it worked." She rationalized.

"You could have been killed! You almost were!"

By this time Sakura, Kero, and Madison had made it to the two Chinese students' sides fearful of what they might find.

"But, I wasn't! And, please, you needed my help. There was no way you could have done that without me."

This was not what they thought they would find. Meilin was fine laying on the ground with Li still holding her. Both of them were near red in the face from yelling, but appeared fine.

Li looked down at Meilin again and felt his anger boil over. "Of all the arrogant things, Meilin. You. Could. Have. Been. Killed! Do you not get this?"

At once he stood up dropping the young girl back into the dirt without pretense. Meilin, unprepared for Li's quick movement, grunted in surprise as she hit her head to the ground again. In a matter of seconds, Li was gone.

The raven-haired girl ran a hand over her eyes as she felt the first inkling of tears starting to form.

"Meilin?" It was Madison's voice.

The young girl jumped off the ground and dusted herself off. "I'm fine." Was all she said before heading in the same direction of Li.

The other three standing under the night sky, shared a loud sigh, but did nothing to follow either of the retreating forms.

~*~

Li entered the house slamming the door soundly against the wall. He didn't bother to shut it behind him knowing that Meilin couldn't be far from him. Instead, he stormed up to his room and changed into something more reasonable than his robe. By the time he finished, he noticed Meilin standing in the center of the living room.

She heard the steps on the stairs and turned in his direction letting him come to her. Finally, he did so stopping just a few scant feet in front of the young girl.

"Li, I'm sorry." It was all she could think of to say. The entire walk home she had been racking her brain to come up with something better to bestow on Li, but found nothing.

The young wolf crossed his arms knowing full well the gesture would go unnoticed. "Sorry? You're sorry?" Meilin winced at his tone that was growing louder. "God Meilin, you could have been killed!"

The young girl sighed already have heard this point. "I know."

"Then why were you so stupid?"

That hurt. Meilin felt her fury slowly rise in her at the title 'stupid' that Li placed on her. She knew full well that she was a lot of things, but stupid was not one of them.

"Fine, Li. Then tell me just how you guys were going to catch the Card. I mean, you were all doing such a bang up job already."

"That doesn't matter!" Li stepped closer to Meilin his voice also raising. "The point is what you did was stupid. You can't see anything!"

Meilin threw up her hands in frustration. "I know that. I am well aware of the fact that I am blind as a bat, it's not something you miss. But, the point is that I helped out tonight. The Card could not have been caught without me. Everything worked out fine I don't see why you're worrying over it now. I'm alive and well."

"But you could have died and I couldn't have lived knowing that I never told you that I..."

It was then that Li threw a hand over his mouth in surprise. Meilin, also caught off guard by the near admittance, stepped back.

"Told me what?" The young girl asked hesitantly more afraid than anything to find out the truth.

Li swallowed the lump in his throat. Where did this come from, he wondered. Why did he almost say that he...he loved Meilin?!? The young man looked up to the raven-haired girl before him and...smiled. He did love her. He was honestly afraid tonight that he would loose her before he ever got to tell her how much she meant to him. That he would never be able to say that he loved her just as much as she loved it.

"I was going to say that I, um, I," and then he froze. He couldn't do this. He wasn't old enough to even be considering love. He couldn't do it. "I wanted to say that I, ah, care for you."

Meilin smiled towards the young man. "Thank you." She held out her arms and gently Li pulled her into a hug content to hold her as she slowly fell asleep. He knew, in his heart, that he loved this small creature he held, but he couldn't let her know. It was too soon...too soon.

Maybe another time.

~*~

After the Arrow Card incident, life, even to Meilin who still couldn't see, seemed boring and mundane. That was until the morning of the operation. All night the Chinese pair stayed up in each other's arms talking about how it didn't matter the outcome of this surgery because, either way, they would be there for each other. Li promised Meilin that he would be by her side no matter what and, the young girl graciously accepted this.

Although a part of her long with her entire being that everything would work out for her and she would see again.

It was some seven hours later that Meilin finally came around again. Instantly she noticed that everything was black and tears came to her eyes. But then she heard his voice.

"Mei? I'm here, Mei. You have bandages on your eyes now. In a few minutes the doctors are going to come in and removed them."

With a slightly strangled sob, Meilin squeezed Li's hand harder not knowing what to say. There was nothing she could say now. Then she heard the door open and listened intently to the instructions given to her by the doctor. And ever so slowly the bandages came off.

At first it was nothing but a blinding light that hit Meilin's sense as she tried to open her eyes. But, she realized, it was better than the blackness she had experienced. Then, things came into focus.

Rightly, the first thing her newly restored vision fell on was Li. Sobs racked her body and she looked at the young man that had stolen her heart in what felt like ages. Li moved to her and pulled her into an embrace content to simply hold the sobbing girl.

A gentle hand brushed her back until she felt that she had no more tears to cry. Finally, she looked and ruby eyes matched amber ones.

"I can see." It was said in an awed whispered and more tears slipped down her cheeks. Until now, Meilin did not realize how much she had longed for her sight and now that she had it back, she realized just how much weight she had been carrying around inside.

Li wiped a tear off her cheek and kissed her forehead softly.

"Thank you, Li."

The young man smiled. "Your welcome."

Then the two Chinese youngsters moved into an embrace that allowed them to forget all they had been through and gave them just a moment's peace with each other.

The young girl smiled.

One that reached her bright ruby eyes.

~*~

"Like a fire burning bright,
I will be your light."

~*~

Wait, some of you might be saying. Wasn't this suppose to be a Meili fic? What the heck happened? Well, what happened was that I realized this two were supposed to only be 12 at the oldest. Um, yeah, I don't really remember professing my love at that age and figured that would be pretty unreasonable. So, I just left little tidbits that showed that they both did love each other, but, for Li especially, there was no rush to express these feelings.

Just think, on the bright side, this left it open for a sequel ;)

Feel free to click that little review button and make my day.