Just an Illusion?
Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura does not belong to me.
Sakura looked up into the blue eyes of the man before her. Lei smiled back at her and she lowered her eyes, blushing. It was their wedding day and she felt very happy. Lei was a doctor who had been her classmate during college.
Everyone in her family approved of the marriage. She could see her brother Touya standing behind Lei. He gave her a reassuring smile. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Tomoyo standing near her as the maid of honor. She had worked very hard at designing Sakura's dress and her eyes had shone with pride when the young bride had finally put it on for her. As usual, she thought that her Sakura-Chan looked totally 'Kawaii.'
Everyone was ready. They were all waiting and very happy for her. Just last night, her best friend and Lei's sister Mey had said to her, "Sakura, you are the world's luckiest girl! You wouldn't believe how much my brother loves you. I am sure he will keep you very happy!"
Yet, Sakura did not feel the joy and anticipation felt by every girl who is finally being united with the man she loves. She felt as though she was forgetting something, that something very important was missing. Somehow, it did not seem right.
All of a sudden, she realized that the priest had turned to her. This was it. Just two words-'I do' and she would be Lei's wife, bound to him by the eternel vow, but somehow she couldn't get herself to say them.
'Is this what I really want?' she asked herself. 'Am I doing the right thing? Is Lei really the man I love?' The realization that all eyes were upon her jolted her out of her meditations. Flushing, she opened her mouth when all of a sudden.......everything started turning black. The walls, her family, her friends, the guests, all became colorful swirls and started fading away.
Last of all, she could see her bridegroom's figure but that too faded away like all of the others and she found herself staring instead, at a winged human figure, dressed all in white and silver, with long silver hair. She knew she had never seen him before yet her heart disagreed. Somehow, she had a feeling that she knew this man.
As she stared at him, the figure extended a hand towards her making her realize that she was lying on cold, hard stone and every part of her body was screaming with pain. She took his hand and slowly manged to get her aching body into a sitting position.
"Took you long enough." the man said with a smile. "How are you now, Sakura?"
She looked up at him in surprise. "You know me?" He looked at her with concern starting to fill his eyes.
"I see" he said "that Mey's spell hasn't worn off yet. Here, let me see what I can do about it." He put a hand to her head and closed his eyes. She couldn't explain it but somehow his touch felt familiar to her. A strange feeling of warmth washed over her and with it came memories.
"Yue!" she whispered. He retracted his hand and looked at her with a look of speculation. "I am glad you remember me! What else do you remember? Can you tell me what happened here?"
Sakura shook her head. She remembered about the Clow cards, now called the Sakura cards and some other things related to them that she now knew and had never known before. She told him about so.
He looked at her with a worried expression. "Is that all?" She nodded.
"Well for now, all you need to know is that a dark sorceress by the name of Mey is after the Sakura cards. She already has some of them. She stole them from you some time ago. Are you sure you don't remember anything about her?" When she shook her head, he continued. "About a week ago, you and Syaoran found out about....."
"Who is Syaoran?" Sakura asked.
"You don't remember him, either?" Yue asked her, somewhat surprised. "Well, he is a descendant of Clow Reed himself. You should have remembered him since he was your contender when it came to be decided who should control the cards. Right now, he is a prisoner in a place some distance from where we are now. Mey has him captive in a web of magic which I cannot get through but I don't think that she is strong enough to create something that the Mistress of the Clow Cards cannot penetrate. So come with me and I will lead you to him. You can hear the rest of the story from him." With this, he turned and started walking towards a clearing to Sakura's right.
She got up and followed him the best she could. When she got there, her first impression was that the clearing was completely empty, but in a moment she knew that she was wrong. She could sense a net of very strong magic that concealed a living thing. Yue led her to the spo where the web started and then stepped aside.
Sakura was at a loss for a moment, not knowing what to do. She put out her hands and started to feel for the mystical threads. She found them, knotted together and horribly tangled. At first, one would think that the person who put them together was in great haste but Sakura knew that they had been knit like that on purpose, to make their unraveling impossible without the aid of very strong magic.
Sakura summoned the sword card. She closed her eyes and with its help, started cutting the invisible threads one by one. One wrong cut and the whole mess could come tumbling down upon the person inside. Finally, she felt the the net dissolve between her fingers.
She opened her eyes to find herself looking straight into a pair of amber colored eyes. Before she could react, she felt two arms encircle her waist and pull her close to the person before her. He had barely embraced her when she pulled away.
"What's wrong, Sakura?" She heard a deep male voice say and looked up to see a tall, brown-haired man, about the same age as her looking at her with concern. He tried to put his hands on her shoulders, but she stepped back.
Yue stepped forward. "Syaoran, she is under Mey's spell. She does not remember you.":
Syaora looked shocked for a moment but his expression quickly changed to that of anger and then as he looked at the somewhat frightened face of Sakura, sadness filled his eyes. "Is this true?" He asked her in a gentle voice. "You really don't remember me?"
Sakura looked him straight in the eye, but upon seeing the expression on his face she looked down and said in a firm if somewhat uncertain voice. "I am sorry, but I do not know you. If Yue says I do, then I believe him but I do not recall having seen you ever before."
"But I am your husband!" He exclaimed. "And..." He stopped and a look of resolve came upon his face.
Sakura looked at him with incredulity. As she spoke, her tone was cold. "That is impossible! I am unmarried! In fact today is my wedding day! I am supposed to get married to Lei...."
"Sakura," Yue interrupted her "that was all an illusion. None of it was true. Lei is Mey's brother. They wanted to trick you into marrying him so that they could gain possession of all the Sakura Cards. You married Syaoran two years ago, in fact....." He cut off as Syaoran put up his hand.
As much as she trusted Yue, Sakura could not get herself to believe that what he said concerning Lei was true. After all, she had known him for so long. Never, ever had she seen even the faintest trace of something evil within him. He had been the perfect person. Maybe almost too perfect.... She quickly shook the doubt from her mind. She couldn't just start thinking that her future husband was a dark sorcerer who only wanted to marry her because she was the Mistress of the Clow Cards. The Clow Cards!! How come Sakura had forgotten all about the Clow Cards when she had been with Lei. Where were Yue and kero?
"Let's take her home." He said "Maybe Yukito will be able to change her mind." With this, he turned around and retrieved his sword. Then he led them back towards the direction from which they had come.
There was complete silence on the way. After walking for nearly two hours, they reached a small house located in another clearing. It was surrounded on all sides by trees and a little stream made its way through the ground near it. It was a beautiful spot but somehow it did not seem to her that they were anywhere near Japan. Several questions welled up inside her mind, but she decided to restrain them for the moment.
The inside of the cottage was very neat and clean with little furniture. Sakura immediately took a liking to it.
Yue, who had meanwhile taken a more normal form, made his way to the small kitchen to the side. Sakura heard him talk to someone who answered in a high-pitched, familiar voice.
"Kero!" She cried as the small guardian beast made his way into the room. His face lit up with joy and he flew to her and embraced her. Before he could say anything, however, Yue tapped him from behind and Kero followed him silently out the door.
Syaoran walked over and whispered. "Follow me."
Sakura followed him without question down a corridor with doors on both sides. On the second door to the last, he stopped. With a gesture telling her to follow, he entered the room. Inside, it was dark with only a pair of windows letting in the moonlight.
As she stood watching, he walked over to the bed and picked something in his arms. He brought it over to Sakura and she saw that it was a baby boy roughly nine months old. She looked at the child. She could not recall having seen him ever before but she felt a starnge pull towards him. Without a word, Syaoran put the infant in her arms. She felt a strange feeling of warmth come over her. He had a face very similar to that of the man standing before her with the chocolate hair and everything, all except for the eyes. His eyes were emerald green. Very familiar to someone who had seen them every day in her mirror. Once again, she felt the tug of distant memories upon her mind. Memories hidden deep within her mind yet very close to her heart. She looked at Syaoran and found him observing her very closely. She turned to the baby and as she looked into his eyes, she could control herself no longer. Pressing him close to her chest, she collapsed onto the ground. Sobs shook her body.
Syaoran kneeled beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura!"he whispered "Now, do you remember?"
There was a pause and then she looked up and shook her head. "No." she whispered in a cracking voice "But whether I remember him or not, I know that this is my baby."
Author's note: Yes, this theme has probably been used by someone already, but I tried my best. Please Read and Review. Any suggestions or comments would be welcome.