Note: This is set after Shakugan no Shana: Approaching War (which is the 'end' of the Himura and Elena story); and I've decided to have CardCaptor Sakura: Trouble in High School as an interlude, so that I can continue to use Julius Ragnar as a character. You needn't read either, as anything that refers to these stories will be explained in this one. In any case, enjoy!

Prologue

"Sakura-chan! Are you busy after school?" Chiharu asked the copper haired girl who was standing up from her seat and bringing her bag's strap over her head.

"I don't have any plans. Why?" The girl responded, dropping the strap down onto one shoulder so that it fell diagonally across her chest. Chiharu waved a fistful of tickets at her.

"Yamazaki-kun got some tickets for the newest film in the cinema. Rika and Naoko are coming and we have a couple spare." Sakura hesitated, glancing over at Shaoran who was fixing the clasps of the bag closed. Chiharu followed her gaze and made a noise as if she had forgotten something.

"There's a ticket for Li-kun too." She said and Sakura noticed that she was holding two tickets out to her. Sakura took the tickets and beamed.

"Sure! Are we going now?"

"Yup! We're meeting by the front gate so I'll see you there!" Chiharu waved and ran out the door. Sakura wandered over to Shaoran and held the tickets out to him.

"Chiharu-chan and Yamazaki-kun had a spare pair of tickets." She explained and Shaoran took one to glance at the film title.

"Ah, I was hoping we could go see this one. It had good reviews. So, are we going then?" He looked up from the ticket at her and Sakura still felt her heart jump even after all this time. Unbeknown to her it was the just the same for Shaoran.

"I told Chiharu-chan we would. She said they'll meet us by the gate." Shaoran heaved his back onto his shoulder and they walked towards the door together. As Shaoran's right arm moved forwards the sleeve pulled back a little to reveal the end of a still healing scar. Sakura saw it and memories came flowing back to her, shocking her and paralysing her.

"Sakura?" Shaoran had stopped and turned towards her, his face wore a concerned expression. He followed the girl's gaze and pulled his sleeve back. "It's alright, it's all healed up. It's only a scar." He assured her but she didn't respond so he moved closer to her.

"That battle was three days ago, Sakura. You don't need to think about it anymore." He soothed quietly, taking her hand and squeezing it lightly. The girl seemed to wake from her stupor and rested her head on his chest.

"I don't want to remember it but I keep seeing it all happen again." She spoke tearfully and Shaoran wrapped his arms around her, bringing him closer to her. The classroom had emptied long before and they were alone.

"Don't worry; you won't ever have to see war again. It's over, we won. Remember?" Shaoran murmured into her ear. They disentangled and Sakura nodded, rubbing the tears from her eyes. Shaoran offered her his handkerchief and she cleared away the tears that had already rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Shaoran. I'm alright now." She forced a weak smile and Shaoran smiled back comfortingly.

"Come on, they're waiting for us."


Hours later the couple were walking home along the paved pathway through the park. They crossed the bridge and continued on, stopping by the playground. Many memories were held here for them. When they had been capturing the Clow Cards, when Sakura had had to deal with the various problems Eriol created for them so that she could change the Clow Cards into Sakura Cards, when Sakura had unloaded her sorrow upon Shaoran before their final fight with Eriol.

And then the events two years later. Their battle with Fate alongside Elena Mithran and Himura Imanda; and then after they had gone their battle alongside Julius Ragnar who had returned to England for a few months.

Sakura rummaged in her bag and looked at the Sakura Cards she had brought out. Shortly after Elena and Himura had left the Cards had returned to their previous state and Shaoran had been unable to use them as he had during their battle with Fate.

"Daidouji will be back soon, you know." Shaoran murmured and Sakura looked up from the Cards, a little startled.

"Yeah. She sent me an e-mail from England. She said she and Ragnar-san would be coming back in two weeks' time." Sakura put the cards back in her bag and as they were about to continue on she spotted a huddled figure lying on the ground at the far end of the playground.

She ran at the low metal barrier and vaulted easily over it, not stopping as she quickly covered the ground between the path and the woods surrounding the playground. She knelt down by the body, for that's what the shape was, a body of a boy their age. She rolled him onto his back and recognised him instantly.

"Shaoran, come here!" The boy had only been seconds behind and knelt down beside her. He too found the boy's face familiar.

"What's he doing here?" Shaoran demanded; but Sakura could supply no answer. The boy's shirt was cut open from the right shoulder almost down to the left hip. In the rip a livid pink scar was visible, looking as if it had been cauterised immediately after an injury had been made; and it looked fresh. The immediate clothing around the scar was stained red and blood was splashed on the boy's chest and was drying on his chin, having dribbled down off his mouth.

"I don't know; but look, he's hurt! We need to get him to a hospital." Sakura pointed to the scar and Shaoran leaned forwards to peer at it. At that moment the boy's eyes flickered open and he gazed up at them with glazed eyes.

"I-I'm…. al….ive?" He croaked with the voice of someone who had barely escaped death by drowning.

"What happened, Himura-san?" Sakura asked but the boy's head had already lolled back as he fell unconscious.

"I'll call an ambulance." Shaoran said and reached into his blazer, pulling out a mobile phone and dialling the emergency number. As he spoke Sakura looked down into their friend's face.

He and Elena had come to them from another world to protect them from something far more powerful than them; and they had in return fought with the couple's allies against a tremendously powerful enemy. The memories of real battle stilled haunted Sakura and Shaoran still bore the scars on his arm and back but they had won in the end.

"Ambulance is on its way." Shaoran said as he hung up the call and slid the phone back into his blazer. "But what happened?"

"Maybe he can tell us when he gets better; but I wonder where Elena-chan is if he's here?"


Elena Mithran sat at her desk and stared aghast at the huge pile of paperwork that had been laid out before her. Her commander, Sir Bryan, was patting the top of the pile while sipping from a mug of coffee. He looked exhausted, even his uniform looked like it was tired, pristine and yet somehow looking in need of a clean.

"We won the war and now they want us to do all their paperwork too?" Elena demanded, gesturing at the huge pile. Sir Bryan pointed at his desk which was overflowing with folders and great pillars of paper. The floor space surrounding it was also covered.

"You've got it easy, Elena." He spoke enviously with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Why do we have all the paperwork to do though? Surely the governments can do it themselves?" Elena insisted but Sir Bryan just shook his head in resignation.

"They're too busy sorting out the paperwork to bestow all kinds of honours upon us; and upon Himura." The last part was spoken quietly and an immediate hush spread across the room. The hustle and bustle of the offices continued but the place had become silent in respect of the great hero, who had not been found after taking a fatal wound in the final battle against their singularly most powerful enemy.

"Regarding that-" Elena started but Bryan patted the paperwork again and cut in before she could finish.

"You do your paperwork before you go looking for him." Bryan said and plodded towards his own desk, collapsing in the seat. "Incidentally, most of this stuff isn't additional work. Himura did most of this himself." Elena eyed the piles of paper.

"So you made him your secretary, huh?" She asked and Bryan laughed sadly.

"No, he chose to do it. That's why everything is in such a mess now. With him gone, half of the force behind the Guardians has disappeared."

"You're the commander, Bryan." Elena reminded him and the boy laughed again.

"I may be; but there's no doubt about who really ran things around here." Bryan turned to look straight at her. "I've done some thinking, since we last saw him. I had this odd feeling and I went over the official report. It was pretty sketchy, everyone was too shocked about what happened to investigate with a clear state of mind; but there was a trans-planar energy spike just before he disappeared." Elena's face brightened with hope.

"So he did teleport!" She exclaimed. Bryan nodded; but he lacked her jubilant response.

"The question is, why did he go to another world in that state? His wound was fatal so he must have done it for a reason."

"I'll ask him why when I find him." Elena stood up but Bryan waved her down.

"I have a team looking into it now. They're tracking the path of the teleport but it'll take some time. For now, you can help us with all this he left for us."