A/n: This whole story started off as a thought that was provoked by the music that I was listening too at the time. I thought it would be and interesting idea to try it out and see where I could get with it. I'm sorry it starts off kind of depressing, but its a Prologue, I have the rest of the story to go. That is if, I continue with the idea, I'm currently working on two CCS/TRC crossover stories at once. Anyway, hope you enjoy and don't forget to review.
Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura or Tsubasa RC, nor do I own the characters there in. I just do this for fun.
"Sakura! Watch out!" Was all the adolescent, raven haired director could cough out before her body, took its own steps to intervene in the card master's fate. Dropping her beloved camera hearing it shatter behind her. Tomoyo rushed towards her cousin as fast as her body would allow, pushing her forcefully out of harms way. Just as a powerful blast of black translucent energy, within the bounds of a circle shot up from the ground. Viciously it lifted the pale teen off her feet, allowing only for a fraction of a second, that her body, be suspended within the air. This causing a small amount of crimson liquid to exit from her lips, moments before darkness swallowed her entirety up and devoured her completely.
"Tomoyo! Tomoyo!!" The auburn haired girl cried out as she hurried to her feet, but it was far too late. Her best friend was gone. She fell to her knees and began to sob as her lover ran to comfort her; upon the very minute the winged guardian of the moon set him upon solid ground. The other winged beast of sun however made it over to his master first.
"Sakura…" Keroberos began but seemed at a lost for words.
"Bring her back!" The master of cards shrieked, tears falling heavily over her cheeks.
"Sakura!" Syaoran called as he finally knelt beside the tearful girl. He placed an arm about her shoulders pulling her closer as she collapsed into his chest. He couldn't help but feel that this was his fault; he was supposed to protect them. He had been rash in his actions because of what happen to his cousin, Meiling. Foolish, he should have remembered to keep collected, he failed and now Tomoyo had suffered for it. After a moment the Chinese male spoke again, he had to give her hope, even if there may be none; she always had for him, always.
"We'll get her back." He promised, but it only seemed to make her cry harder. He remembered how he felt when Meiling stumbled all the way back to his apartment, battered and bloody, only to collapse at his door. She had fought, according to her account of the event with a dark energy which took a form of a shadow figure in order to spar with her. This unknown force as she said she remembered spoke the words "She's not the one." As he stood over her defeated form before vanishing— it was obvious that there unidentified opponent was powerful, ruthless, and cunning, but as to what purpose and cause for its sudden appearance had still yet to be discovered. All the group had been able to put together was it was searching for, something.
"There was blood, Li!" Sakura muttered as a shiver ran down her spine it snapped Syaoran back from his thought. The card master hated to think it, but blood was never a good sign. Her mind couldn't help but begin to wonder whether the life of her friend was at all still existent. Truth be told, her life force could no longer be sensed, her essence was gone and this, this fact alone created a dismal void in the young magician's heart. The guardian of sun looked to his paler and more human counter, Yue. There silence however exchanged a whole conversation, it seemed.
She drifted, within a dark void no end in sight it was the epitome of obscurity or so it felt just so. Her body ached intensely, she couldn't move, not even to open her sapphire hues to view her whereabouts. Was she going to die? Or maybe she already had and if that was the case, was this all there was? Nothing…
"I'm sorry Sakura-chan" She whispered in the confines of her mind, she had to think about something, this pain was torture. However, the girl was unable to decide which pain was worse: the physical aspect of dying or the emotional prospect of dealing with death's eternal loneliness. Another thought crossed her mind and forced her to consider that, she would never see the cheerful klutz of a girl that was her best friend again, the very same girl who she had shared her childhood and the beginning years of her adolescence with. Even the others, Meiling and Syaoran…Eriol. She had grown with them too, it wasn't just Sakura, it was everyone, and slowly tears began to fill her eyes. Despite her thoughts, she felt the warmth of her heart was, beginning to cool. It wasn't her emotion; it was the life ebbing from her, staining her blouse a sinful red and chilling her body. The raven haired youth wasn't ready to die, there was still so much of life she hadn't experienced, yet at the same time, she was glad it was her that was here instead of her cousin.
"You shouldn't cry…" Tomoyo thought she heard a voice whisper from the depths; and just that faint sound was comforting. A tear escaped her lids and fell creeping down her paling cheeks tainted grey by the touch of death.
"Don't cry…" She heard the voice again this time closer, it sounded like a woman. "It's not your time." The voice sounded once more, before the youth felt a new warmth as something unknown embraced her and proceeded to fall into the abyss cradling her person.
"It's not?" Tomoyo thought her inner voice weak. "No." The voice answered to her surprise, she felt this essence wipe her tears from her flesh. Tomoyo didn't care at the moment who it was that kept her company and reassured her of her fate. The warmth was welcomed over the cold of death.
"Tomoyo…I've been waiting for you a long time. Due to your selfless act, you should be dead but I won't allow it. Without a second thought you sacrificed yourself, for your friend, but you don't want to die do you?" The voice was its strongest now and it was clear that it was a woman who comforted and inquired of the teen.
"No….but" The raven haired girl began, but stopped, it didn't matter the other presence already seemed to know her most inner and deepest thoughts.
"Nothing will happen to Sakura, she's safe. She needs you, you are important to her in more ways than one. Your presence matters. Now, dear child I have a proposal." The woman paused for a moment, before going on with her words. "I have the power to heal you, to take you back to the world of the living, but only if you do something for me in return." Again the other female presence fell silent.
"Hm…?" Was all that Tomoyo could manage to inquire at this point, what it was that this stranger wanted from her. She was exhausted. "If life is granted to you once more, you must find out your truths. This time, you will be complete." The voice declared, all in all, such a thing didn't seem hard to the teen. Not at all, she was nothing special not like her friends, what possibly could she have to discover that was all too astonishing?
"Do you accept then?" The presence questioned, though it seemed to know the answer already. "Hai." Tomoyo answered simply.
"Good." The voice answered cheerfully, before changing back to its normal tone. At the same time, Tomoyo felt a cool band form around the middle finger of her left hand. "So you don't forget our deal. I have given you a trinket-a ring. It is forever yours, bound to you by soul." The voice proclaimed. "Oh and one more thing, watch out for Clow." It warned. However before, the youth could question as to reasons why, she was overcome with a renewed sense of warmth, a bright light she could see flash even from behind her lids. She was no longer drifting endlessly and felt the soft embrace of something else, a mattress. A little fearful, she refrained from opening her eyes for a few moments unsure of near everything, was it a trick? A short time passed and the feel of the mattress still persisted beneath her, slowly she open her sapphire crystals to view a ceiling. Her thoughts collected some more and the raven haired girl realized this was her bedroom. She was home! Sitting up with haste, she noticed immediately the pains that she had felt in her dying moments, as well as the blood that stained her. Had vanished, it felt now as if the whole experience was all, just a horrible nightmare. Now, Tomoyo reached quickly for her cell phone, which she had left on top of her nightstand and quickly she hit the speed-dial for Sakura.
The auburn haired girl's cell rang from within the desk where Kero slept, but she didn't move to get it. She had missed school yesterday and she just couldn't bring herself to get out of bed. She wasn't ready to face the world without Tomoyo, it hurt too much. The ring sounded again, she didn't move.
"let it go to voice mail…" She thought, as she pulled the covers over her head. Kero awoke to the loud noise in his ear, the light from the screen as it continued to sing burning his eyes. As they eventually began to focus, he read the name scrolled across the device's window. He stared shocked for a moment, thinking he was still asleep or that he was seeing things.
"Ah!! Tomoyo!!" He shouted jumping up he hit his head, near knocking him out and causing the desk to vibrate slightly from the shock, as the ringing of her cell stopped. Sakura heard Kero's voice and the thud, and slowly slipped the covers from over her, reaching to open the drawer her little sun guardian slept in.
"Kero! Wake—" She paused, witnessing Tomoyo's name for herself upon the screen.
1 missed call.
"Tomo…" she muttered as the phone sounded its ring again and again the name came up. Sakura hesitated, to answer. She was fearful that if she answered, silence would answer back—that it was just some cruel trick.
The cell continued to rang and suddenly Sakura snatched up the device, pressing talk she placed it to her right ear.
"M-moshi, moshi." The auburn answered.
"Sakura-chan." The soft voice of her cousin came from the other end and her emerald hues widened in shock.
"Waaaaaaaaiiiiiiii!!" Sakura shrieked as she jumped up in both surprise and excitement her body upright she stood, her bare feet planted on her mattress. Hearing the screams loudly in her ear, Tomoyo had to pull the cellular device from her ear. Softly she giggled at the other's reaction, happy to know she was missed despite the dismal circumstance. "You're alive!" She heard the master of card speak even though her phone was still at its distance. Tomoyo, placed the device back in its place and spoke.
"Hai. Gomen, I didn't mean to worry you or the others." There was a paused, and then what sounded like a sob.
"Sakura-chan?" She asked after another moment.
"You really did, Tomoyo…" Sakura tried to wipe away the tears swelling up in her eyes. She didn't care how it was that her cousin returned and was speaking to her now, she only cared that she was back.
"Sakura-chan." Tomoyo spoke softly; it meant a lot to her that the other girl missed her. Not that she thought that she wouldn't, but it was nice to hear.
"Hai?" Sakura asked.
"Why don't you come over tomorrow, since we don't have school? We can hang out, go visit Li and Meiling and then you can spend the next couple of nights here." The raven hair girl declared.
"That would be great!" Sakura was excited once more.
"Call me when you are ready and I'll come pick you up." Tomoyo chuckled.
"I'm going to start packing now!" The auburn haired teen jumped down from her bed, flicked the light switch on, rushed over to her closet and starting to rummage though her clothes.
"Sakura-chan." Tomoyo said again hearing all the shuffling on the other end of the receiver.
"Sakura-chan." She mentioned again as her hues looked to the luminous red numbers on the clock, upon the nightstand. "It's one o' clock in the morning. Get some sleep, I'll be there bright and early tomorrow for you. Alright?" Tomoyo said.
"Wai…!" She heard again Sakura's trademark sound as she too noticed the time. She heard Kero snoozing, he really had knocked himself out after all and there was a knot on the top of his head to prove it.
"You promise?" Sakura finally said, and a new fear that Tomoyo wouldn't be there in the morning arose. The auburn pinched herself to make sure it wasn't a dream. "owie!" She muttered.
"I promise. Tomorrow. I'll be there." She smiled at her own words, confident they were true. "I'll see you in the morning, Sakura-chan. Good nite." She added.
"Good night, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura said softly as she then hung up and walked back over to her bed. She sat her cell on the nightstand as to prevent Kero from killing himself just incase she received another frightening call. Claiming into the bed, she pulled her covers up once again and drifted into sleep.
Tomoyo stare at the phone as Sakura hung up and ended the call. She too placed her phone upon the nightstand as it's screen still lit up from use. It was then that her azure crystals noticed a white gleam at her middle finger, which previously clutched the communication device along with its partners in hand. She turned her hand to get a better look at what it was. "A ring? It wasn't a dream?" She turned a lamp on to shine more light upon the trinket; it was a rather pretty piece of work. Sterling silver with entrechat design upon it's face which was bigger then the band itself, spreading like a hood, the face not only held wonderful swirling design, but a large cross within the middle of all the other décor. "It's pretty." She mentioned, but made no more fuss over it, she was tired and wanted to get some sleep in order to keep up with her friend's energy and be well rested for the day's events.