"Sakura's Peace"
A Card Captor Fanfiction
By: Bekah-chan
Rated: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captors or the characters therein.
Author's Notes: Hi! :) Welcome to the sequel to my previous Card Captor fanfiction: "What the Cards Were For". If you haven't read that one yet, you should do so, if you want to understand this one. Note: Time-wise it's been about 6 months since the end of the pervious story.
Chapter 1:
Sakura glanced covertly down at her arms where they rested on the desk. Were they glowing? Yes, they were. *sigh* Her skin was slightly luminescent. And, Sakura knew from experience, that a 'little' glow could turn into a *big* one very quickly. How had this happened? She had deliberately used Jump Card-magic to get to school that morning, just to avoid this. A few months before, that, along with the training (and fighting) she did at night, would have been enough to keep her skin from glowing all day. Now, she had barely made it to her third class. Did this mean her power was getting stronger? ~Oh Joy~ Sakura thought sarcastically ~More uncontrollable power. What Fun!~ *double sigh*
Sakura suddenly remembered that she was in science class, and quickly looked up again, hoping no one had noticed her wandering attention..... Too late.
"Sakura?"
"Huh?" Sakura met the eyes of her teacher, Ms. Stace.
"Did you hear anything I just said?" Ms. Stace asked sternly.
Sakura stood politely to answer her teachers question, bowing an apology, "No. I'm sorry Ms. Stace."
The teacher gave a long suffering sigh, and decided to cut her student a little slack. It was Monday after all. And they had not been going over anything new, just reviewing the periodic table of elements. To prepare for the next lesson plan.
"Just tell me what the symbol on the board means," Ms. Stace gestured to the chalkboard behind her, "then pay attention for the rest of the class, and I won't give you a detention."
"Thank you, Ms. Stace," Sakura gratefully looked away from her teacher and toward the indicated symbol.... and froze. Depicted there, almost innocently in white chalk, was the periodic symbol for water, H2O.
Eeeep!! Sakura couldn't say 'water' out loud!!! She didn't have enough control over her water magic yet! She, and the students around her, would be drenched. How could she explain something like that?!?
Sakura desperately tried to side-step the answer:
"The symbol represents two hydrogen molecules, and one oxygen molecule, Ms. Stace."
Had it worked?
"No Sakura. Tell me what it stands for."
No it hadn't. She tried again:
"H two O?"
"Sakura!!" Ms. Stace was getting annoyed, "I know you know this!"
Yes, she did know it. She just didn't want to *say* it. If she did, things would get inexplicably soggy.
"Sakura, just give me the answer!!"
Sakura took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to gain some control over her Water Card-magic. "Water," she whispered, "the answer is: water." The air around her condensed into droplets, clinging to surfaces and making respiration difficult.
"Louder, Sakura," the teacher ordered, "I can't hear you!"
Sakura could feel the discussed element heavy in the air. Above her she could sense the standing water in the fire-sprinkler pipes strain against the metal. "Water," she said again, just a little louder. Everyone heard the pipes in the ceiling crack. The windows now had so much condensation, that no one could see through the glass.
Some of Sakura's fellow students ducked under their desks, glancing nervously up at the ceiling, from which the noises were getting louder. But Ms. Stace was too angry to notice that anything was wrong.
"Sakura, tell me the answer so I can hear it, or I'll give you detention for a week!!" she yelled at her, seemingly errant, student.
"Alright fine! She asked for it!" Sakura mumbled. Then she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and called: "WATER!!!!"
**********KERPLOOOSSH*********
Sakura felt a shock as she was abruptly doused in a lot of cold water. She cautiously opened her eyes to take in the waterlogged panorama. Everything was drenched: Teacher, students, desks, books, papers, etc. She glanced up, then down again immediately. The ceiling was ruined. The water must have leapt out of the pipes at her call. And, judging from the 3 inch water level on the floor, she must have called the possibility of water from the air for miles around the school, as well.
Luckily, or unluckily, depending on where you were standing when you looked at it, the water was rapidly draining from the room. Flowing out through the open door, it soon made a river out of the hallway. Sakura managed to grab enough control over her Card-magic to kind of *nudge* the front tide of water so that it moved down the hall, out of the entranceway, and drained into the courtyard.
~There, that should pull most of the standing water out.~ she thought.
"SAKURA!!!" Ms. Stace sputtered (water you know) angrily.
Uh-oh!!
Meeting the furious gaze of her teacher, Sakura reflected that she perhaps should not have *yelled* out the answer, that last time. (AN: Ya think? :)
"Sakura! What did you do?"
Eeep! As Sakura faced the, very real, possibility of detention looming on the horizon, she tried to look on the bright side: At least her skin wasn't glowing anymore.
Dripping Home:
*squish*
Sakura tried to ignore the wet, squishy, sensations, and accompanying noises, coming from her feet.
*squash*
Her nice woolen socks, which had just that morning, seemed so perfect for the chilly spring day, were no longer warm and toasty.
*squish*
Quite the opposite, in fact.
*squash*
Every time her foot came down, the weight on it would force some of the excess water into the surrounding shoe.
*squish*
When she lifted a foot, to take another step, the water would be sucked back into the sock......
*squash*
.... Only to be squashed out again when the foot in question was next trod upon.
*squish*
Sakura was not a happy camper.
*squash*
The rest of her attire was not faring any better than her socks.
*squish*
Her school uniform was a saturated quagmire of fabric.
*drip*
That had been incessantly dripping.
*squash*
But that should stop soon, right?
*squish* *drip*
How much water could a few yards of cloth hold?
*drip* *squash*
A lot, evidently.
*drip* *squish* *drip*
All of the students in Sakura's ill fated science class had been sent home to change............
*drip*
..........Out of their wet clothes and into dry uniforms.
*squash*
Then they were to come straight back to school and finish the day.
*squish* *squash*
Syaoran and Madison caught up with her before she left school grounds. Sakura didn't know whether to be glad for them, because they had been in different classes and missed the Science Class Tsunami. Or miserably jealous, because they were dry, and she was not. She quickly decided on the former when Syaoran took her hand in his own. It was impossible for Sakura to be miserable when holding hands with Li Syaoran.
"Oh Sakura!" Madison called when Sakura stopped to talk to her friends, "Look at you!" she tried not to laugh as she looked down at Sakura's soaked uniform. The only thing Sakura had on, that was dry, was her school blazer, which she had left in her locker that morning. And even that was starting to absorb the moisture from the wet fabric underneath. All three friends looked down at Sakura's sorry clothes then their gazes turned to look behind them at the trail of water Sakura had left in her wake.
"Everyone is saying that the pipes in the ceiling broke," Syaoran told her, "but I felt magic. So tell us what really happened."
Sakura told them the events that had occurred in class when she had tried to avoid saying the dreaded 'W' word out loud.
"Oh! Poor Sakura!" Madison exclaimed, still trying to hide her laughter, "Why don't you come over to my house later. You can bring Kero. It will cheer you up."
"I don't know Madison. I was going to do some magic practice this afternoon," Sakura admitted, "Ironically," she glanced down at her ruined school uniform, "Kero was going to try *again* to teach me control over the W-A-T-E-R magic."
"Please Sakura? I think you've had enough experience with water today. And we're going to have a full English tea."
"Why?" Syaoran wanted to know.
Madison's expression got a little weird before she answered, "I have a cousin," she said, "visiting from England. The tea is in her honor."
"English tea?" Sakura blinked. ~Since when did Madison have a cousin??~
"Yep. With finger sandwiches, cookies, and those little cakes. Kero should like that."
Well, Kero *would* like that, but..........
"Wait you never told me you have cousins in England."
"I don't have any relatives in England Sakura, what gave you that idea?" Madison asked.
Sakura and Syaoran shared a confused glance.
"But, Madison," Sakura ventured, "you just said you have a cousin visiting from England."
"Yes, I want you to meet her."
"You have a cousin........," Syaoran tried next.
"No I don't have any cousins, Syaoran."
"..... visiting you from England." he finished.
"Yes, cousin visiting from England."
It was then Sakura realized that, whenever Madison spoke of her 'cousin' her eyes went glassy, like she was in a trance. She could tell from Syaoran's expression that he had noticed the oddity also.
"So, you're saying that you have no cousins whatsoever....." Sakura clarified.
"Nope. Never have had cousins, never will. Both my parents were only children. I just told Syaoran I didn't have any. What's up with you two today?"
"....... and you want me to come meet your cousin 'visiting from England?'"
"Oh, you can come? Great! I've told my cousin visiting from England all about you! I'm sure you'll like each other." Madison looked at her watch, "I gotta go, class is starting soon. You should get a move on too, Syaoran, or you'll get a detention." Madison turned and dashed back to the school, waving to her friends over one shoulder, "Bye, Sakura! See you this afternoon."
Sakura and Syaoran, still holding hands, stood quietly (except for the *dripping* sound coming from Sakura's clothes) for a few moments after their friend left. Neither knew what to think of the situation.
"Syaoran?"
"Hmmm?" Syaoran absently gave Sakura's hand a comforting squeeze, his gaze still contemplating the door through which Madison had disappeared.
"That seemed weird to you, right?"
"Yes, it did," Syaoran now gave his Cherry Blossom his full attention. When their brown and green eyes met, his bore a serious, worried, expression, "Be careful, okay Sakura? When you go to Madison's this afternoon, be careful."
Sakura winced and closed her eyes. Madison's house had always been a safe haven for her. After her mother died, she had spent more time there than at her own home. What could have happened to Sakura's best friend that would make Syaoran doubt her continued safety there? The worst of it was, that Sakura's own thoughts had been running along the same path. She had a bad feeling about this. She recalled, from scant moments before, Madison's blank stare as she recited the tale of her 'cousin visiting from England' by wrote, like an automaton following orders.
A light touch on her face pulled Sakura out of her thoughts. She opened her eyes to find Syaoran's face only inches from her own. His hand, the one Sakura wasn't holding, was cupped softly around the side of her face, his brows were drawn together in concern.
"Sakura? Maybe you shouldn't go."
"No. Whatever is wrong, Madison is right in the middle of it. I have to go, I need to see what's going on."
"Do you want me to come with you?" he offered, completely ignoring the fact that Madison hadn't invited him.
"Syaoran," Sakura's hand came up to cover his own, which was still cradling her face, "I'll be okay. Kero will be with me....." Syaoran snorted at the suggestion that the stuffed animal would be sufficient protection, Sakura ignored him, "..... And I'll be careful."
"You promise?"
"Yes, I promise."
"And you *will* call me, if you need me?"
"Of course, Syaoran! I know that you will always be there for me, just like I'll be there for you." They both blushed slightly at the subtle reference to their shared feelings for one another.
"You're right," he confirmed, "I will *always* be here for you Sakura." The two Card Captors gazed into each others eyes for an endless moment, both of them smiling a little and blushing. Then Sakura's knees turned to water, and she had to take a step back to compose herself before she threw her arms around his neck and never let go. Syaoran allowed her to move away, his hand dropping from her face with a light caress, but he kept his other hand clasped tightly around hers. Neither of them was ready to give up that contact yet.
Sakura looked down at their feet, trying to keep herself from blushing anymore. Her eyes examined the ever widening puddle on the pavement caused by her still dripping clothes. Which reminded her of what had happened in science class, and the odd conversation with Madison.
"We're probably just being paranoid," Sakura returned her gaze to Syaoran's face, "about the Madison situation, I mean."
Syaoran sighed, "I hope you're right, Sakura. But be safe anyway, for me?"
As Sakura nodded her assent to his request, they heard the tardy bell ring from the forgotten school behind them.
"I guess I'll be getting detention after all," Syaoran sighed again, "Just be careful, and call me later, so I know you're alright."
Sakura nodded again and Syaoran parted their reluctant fingers, "Good luck," he gave her a light kiss on the cheek, and was gone.
To Be Continued ^_^
End Note: I've just started school again, and college is *hard* so don't expect this fic to be updated regularly. I will try, but it will most likely be a week or two before the second chapter comes out. So, no flaming! And tell me how you like this chapter :)