Li watched as the star shot across the sky silently.
There was no doubt about it; his mother had known that there was
going to be something here, and had sent him here to do his rightful
work. Yet, he still didn't understand.
His entire family had known that Sakura was in this
university, yet they still pressed him to come here to Tomoeda.
He hadn't known of their intentions, not until he had seen Sakura
with his very own eyes. That had led to a slight confusion between
the him and her. But now
He shook his head, trying to focus on reading the
stars in the sky. Born with the gift of magic that been in his
family for decades, he had the ability to use his magic to capture
any Clow cards when he had been a cardcaptor and also the ability
to do fortune reading.
Slowly, he closed his eyes, focusing all of his attention
on reading the stars. There was something going on, he could see
as he tried to even his breathing to get a clearer reading. Something
was going to happen soon. Somewhere in Tomoeda to someone he knew.
His eyes snapped open. He had no idea who this person
was and what would befall him or her, but something in him suggested
that it could be one of his close friends. But who?
He scanned the sky for more signs of what he had
just deciphered a moment ago. There were none; but he was sure
that something was bound to happen soon. It wouldn't happen immediately,
he knew. Soon.
He stood up, taking his lasin board in his hand as
he went into his apartment. He had to be on the alert for any
suspicious signs for any visible Clow cards. That wouldn't be
hard, for the rest of the Clow cards had been changed into Sakura
cards after Sakura had passed the judgment by Yue.
Sitting down on his bed, he took his sword and brushed
off the dust that had settled on his all these ten years when
he had lived like a normal kid. Holding up the sword, he knew
that he bore the hope and the responsibility of the Li clan as
he was the only male in his entire family. His father's death
when he was still young forced him to shoulder the gigantic responsibility.
But with Sakura around
He shook his head again, trying to banish the brown
haired girl from his thoughts. She was the main cause of his distractions
lately, especially when he saw her. He had to stop all of these
thoughts if he was going to capture the two remaining Clow cards,
he knew. He had to focus all his attention on this.
And not on Sakura
-------
Sakura turned, trying to get the news that she had
heard out of her mind and go to sleep. It was impossible, she
knew as she sat up. She couldn't rest until she had fulfilled
her duties as the chosen cardcaptor and capture these two cards
that she had yet to know their identities.
A sudden thought of Li Syaoran suddenly appeared
in her mind, causing her to furiously blush all of a sudden. She
had no idea that she could even blush with no one in the room,
except a snoring Kero who was sleeping in the one of the drawers
of the table beside her.
She felt somehow comfortable with the silence of
the room, only to be interrupted once in a while by Kero's slight
snoring. Getting up from bed, she pushed the sliding door that
led to her balcony open. Feeling the night breeze that immediately
blew in, she closed her eyes.
There was a Clow card around, there was no mistake
about that. Using the abilities that had been given to her by
Kero, who was one of the guardians of the Clow cards, she could
feel the aura that only could be emitted by Clow cards.
She opened her eyes, wondering if Li could sense
the Clow cards too. Excluding Yue, Kero and Eriol, he was the
only other person that could sense the Clow cards with the magic
powers that he possessed. A slight feeling of envy came over her
as she tried to imagine how her life would be if she was born
with the same magical gift as him.
Her hand rested on the railing of the balcony as
she looked at the starry sky. "I wonder if Li-kun is looking
at the sky now too?" she spoke to herself as she touched
the cold metal of the railing. She couldn't forget Li, she knew.
She had known him too long just to forget him like that. But she
couldn't go on like this
Carefully inspecting the Clow key that she kept in
her pocket, she recalled its use when she captured all the Clow
cards. An unexpected surprise had hit her though, when she realized
that the judge of the Clow cards who was also the other guardian
of the cards resided in Yukito, her brother's best friend.
She had thought that all of that cards had been captured,
but with the latest news that was recently shown on the television,
evidently not. There were two more Clow cards for her to capture,
making the number of the Clow cards add up to fifty five, including
The Void or The Hope and the two cards that had recently appeared.
Pocketing the Clow key, she turned to return to her
warm bed and try to get some sleep, but not before having a last
glance at the starry sky. Watching a shooting star dash across
the sky, she remembered the superstitions that bore the story
that a wish could come true if the person saw and wished upon
a shooting star.
Closing her eyes and hurriedly making a wish, she
smiled slightly at the thought of how ridiculous her wish seemed.
Before pushing the sliding door shut, she wondered if she could
ever get any sleep tonight.
-------
"Ne, Sakura"
Sakura looked up, her eyes filled with wonder as
Li stood in front of her. A furious red blush spread across his
face as he stuttered on his words.
"Has it anything to do with the sudden appearance
of the two Clow cards?" she spoke, fingering her assignment
slightly as she tried to avoid looking at his eyes. "If it
has, I've already heard about it, Li-kun"
His face took on its normal frown as he pulled a
chair from another table and sat down. "Don't you think it's
a little odd for two Clow cards to avoid Yue's judgment?"
he spoke, the bashfulness from his face gone, now to be replaced
by his usual seriousness. "Even so, how could it manage to
avoid The Void when it collected all the Sakura cards?"
"I have one idea of what may have happened,"
Sakura told him, her green eyes meeting his amber ones for split
second. "I don't think The Void could have balanced all the
positive cards by itself. True, all the Clow cards use the yin
yang concept, but I think that"
"That these two cards may actually be the ones
that can join up with The Void to form the yin part of the Clow
cards?" he cut in, his eyes flashing. "That may be true,
but I don't think Clow Reed would have created so many Clow cards
to balance the other fifty two positive Clow cards. The Void had
enough power to stop whatever card you tried to use on it."
"So what do you think, Li-kun?" she suddenly
spoke up, looking at him straight in the eye. "If these two
cards managed to escape The Void, what do you think might have
happened to the both of them?"
"Eeto, I've been thinking about that for quite
a while. I think that these two cards might have escaped The Void
because they weren't Sakura cards. They weren't sealed which made
it hard for The Void to simply steal them in their card form."
Sakura nodded slightly. "Hai. But Li-kun, if
these cards were Clow cards, why doesn't Kero-chan know anything
about them?
He frowned at the mention of the Clow cards guardian.
"You asked that little toy about this? Why didn't you just
ask" his voice trailed off.
"Nanda, Li-kun?"
"Nothing, Sakura-chan. Nothing."
Yamazaki watched as he left the library hurriedly.
Li knew that his very own emotions were getting out of hand, he
noted, watching his face take on the familiar red blush. He couldn't
remember his best friend ever acting like that when they were
in fourth and fifth grade together. Still, all that had happened
almost ten years ago.
That didn't matter, he thought as he leaned on the
bookshelf behind him. Somehow, he hoped that Li would eventually
realize that his time was running out if he kept running off like
that every time he saw Sakura. He couldn't keep on doing tat the
rest of his life, anyway.
He smiled slightly at thought of Sakura and Li together.
Now that he had put it this way, it didn't look as bad as he thought
it would be
-------
Tomoyo's eyes widened as Li brushed past her on his
way out from the library and promptly caught her sleeve. Dragging
her to a secluded corner in between the lecture hall and the library,
his face was grim.
"Li-kun? What's wrong?"
He let go of her. "Gomen, I have to drag you
into this, Tomoyo-chan, but I really have to talk to you. It'surgent,"
he spoke, his face colouring slightly as he let go of her sleeve.
She smiled understandingly, knowing fully well that
this had something to do with Sakura. "Sakura-chan again,
Li-kun? Why don't you just tell her what you truly feel?"
He shook his head. "I can't tell her that, Tomoyo-chan.
It's not well"
"You don't like her anymore?"
"Iie!" His eyes widened painfully as he
looked down. "It's just that every time I see her, I suddenly
can't speak or do anything without feeling like an idiot. You're
the only one who understands how I feel about Sakura other than
Meilin, Tomoyo-chan. Even she is encouraging me to go after Sakura."
The mention of Meilin made Tomoyo raise an eyebrow.
"Meilin's in Tomoeda now, Li-kun?" she questioned, trying
to see his face so she could identify what his expression was
at that moment. Oh, if she only had brought her video camera!
"Hai. She just arrived yesterday." The
silence told Tomoyo all she needed to know. Li was terribly torn
against his feelings just to forget Sakura or tell her what his
true feelings were.
"Li-kun, daijobu desu ka?"
she spoke gently, watching him look down. "Is every thing
all right between you and Sakura-chan? Or are the both of you
having a fight?"
"Iie," he spoke softly, clenching his fists
tightly. "You've heard about the two Clow cards that have
recently appeared, ne? I'm worried that Sakura might get hurt
while trying to capture these cards. It's not that I want them
for myself; I'd have no use for them as she is the chosen cardcaptor."
"So what are you so worried about, Li-kun?"
"I don't want her to get hurt," he spoke,
looking up. "I can't always be with her to protect her. I
want to, but that's impossible for me to do. Besides, those cards
are dangerous"
Tomoyo nodded. "Hai, Li-kun. I understand. I'll
try my best to keep her out of any type of danger, ne?"
He smiled at her. "Arigato, Tomoyo-chan. I knew
I could trust you," Li spoke, taking out something from his
pocket. "Eeto, Meilin asked me to give this to you."
She took the envelope, wondering why Meilin would
want to see her for. "Sa. I'll try to keep Sakura out of
trouble, but you have to promise me something, Li-kun." She
looked at his seriously before giving him a slight wink. "That
you must tell Sakura how you feel before the year is over."
Li bit his lip slightly. "I don't think I can
do that, Tomoyo-chan"
"Anothen I don't have to keep Sakura-chan
from running into trouble, Li-kun. You'll have to promise me before
I fulfill my part of the promise, ne?"
He grinned at her. She had the amazing ability to
help him yet also manipulate him at the same time, he noticed
as he nodded to answer her. "Hai," he spoke. "I'll
keep my part of the promise. Demo, you must keep yours too!"
Tomoyo nodded as she walked away. "Hai, Li-kun.
And remember, before the year is out, you have to tell Sakura
how you feel about her!"
Li laughed before shouting a "Hai!" to
her. Maybe he could really finish what he had been longing to
finish all these years
-------
Eriol watched as Sakura left the library. He had
to warn her, for he knew what danger she would be in if she tried
to capture the two Clow cards that had been creating havoc in
Tomoeda Park the day before. Besides, there was no telling what
powers these two cards possessed.
That was the real reason why he had come to Tomoeda.
Kaho had told him that something was going to happen here, and
he didn't want it Sakura or Li to be injured. So, he had caught
the next flight all the way from England to Tomoeda to see what
could happen following Kaho's prediction.
He hadn't expected that there would be anymore Clow
cards on the loose after The Void was transformed into The Hope.
However, a suspicion had formed in him overnight that these cards
could be much more dangerous than The Void, judging by the amount
of damage they had created.
"Sakura-chan! Matte!" he called, wondering
how he could tell her that she was imposing a big risk on herself
and Li by wanting to capture these Clow cards and change them
into Sakura cards.
She didn't hear him. Instead, she was deep in her
own thoughts about Li's strange behaviour this morning. Mumbling
something under her breath, she continued walking, unconscious
of him calling her.
Eriol sighed. Li most probably knew of the dangers
if Sakura went and transformed the Clow cards into Sakura cards,
but he didn't know if Li had actually spoken to her about that.
The possibility of her getting in danger while trying to capture
the two new Clow cards seemed to loom up on him as he shrugged.
How could he tell her that she couldn't capture the
cards that he himself had created about a few decades ago?
-------
Sakura was deep in her own thoughts as she walked
along the path. Why was Li suddenly acting so strange that morning?
First, she had thought that he was going to act like how he was
ten years ago when they were still capturing Clow cards, all serious
and sarcastic.
He had suddenly changed, then, into his normal behaviour
that he had been putting on for the past few days. The seriousness
and grimness that she had seen had suddenly disappeared from his
face and was replaced by his usual self that he had been for the
past few days.
Yet, he wouldn't say why. He had been acting so odd
lately, she speculated dully. Could it have something to do with
the two Clow cards that have recently appeared?
But that was impossible; what would he want with
the Clow cards? He knew very well that it was her duty as the
chosen cardcaptor to capture all the Clow cards and transform
them into Sakura cards!
A sudden bump pulled her back to the real world,
and for the first time, she realized that she had bumped into
someone. "Gomen nasai! I didn't see you. Gomen"
"Daijobu, Sakura-chan. Daijobu desu ka?"
She blinked at the person who pulled her up from
her sitting position and bent down to collect her books before
handing it to her. The face of this person was so familiar, yet
who was she?
"Don't you recognize me anymore, Sakura-chan?
I leave you for a few years and you forget me already?"
"Meilin?" Sakura frozen in her position
as she viewed the girl that stood in front of her. She looked
so different with her long black hair considerably shorter than
how it was, but was Meilin all right
"Hai." Meilin smiled as she studied Sakura.
"Eetoso how are things between you and Li-kun? Anything
special that I should know?"
A blush spread across the other girl's face as she
looked down. "Ano, Meilin, I don't think this is quite the
right time to speak about Li-kun"
"Don't worry," Meilin assured the other
girl with a friendly smile. "I'm sure Li-kun already informed
you that we're not engaged anymore, ne? He's no reason to hide
that from you."
Sakura immediately shook her head. There was nothing
that Li-kun would hide from her, was there?
"Meilin, what are you doing in Tomoeda? Aren't
you supposed to be in Hong Kong? Or are you actually"
Her voice trailed off as she dismissed the thought angrily, but
some afterthought did linger in her mind regarding her sudden
thought.
Meilin seemed to sense the her discomfort; she immediately
smiled at her. "Don't you worry, Sakura-chan" she spoke
as she stood up and stretched. "Li and I are just cousins,
and he's my tomodachi, of course. Don't get any wrong thoughts
about him. He's fine as he is."
Sakura blinked.
"?"
"Taidama, Sakura-chan. I have to help Li-kun
finish something that he should have long ago"
Sakura watched as Meilin walked away. Wondering what
she had meant by 'helping Li-kun finish what he should have done
a long time ago', she shrugged before walking off.
-------
An oddly dressed woman and a man stood on top of
the building, their arms folded. "We'll have to handle the
two cardcaptors in Tomoeda before we can redeem all the Clow cards.
Those two can't stop us from bringing the disaster to this earth.
After that, nademonai!"
The woman simply nodded, her eyes focused on Tomoeda
University. She wanted all her friends back, especially The Void
since the both of them had spent decades sealed under Clow Reed's
house together. Since that day when Clow Reed's house was half
demolished and The Void free, she had lived in loneliness.
"Remember, I won't take any gentleness from
you when we destroy Kinomoto Sakura and Li Syaoran. I want you
to destroy Sakura the most, for she is the mistress of all the
Sakura card. Li Syaoran, as you know is the descendant of Clow
Reed, must be destroyed too."
-------
"Li-kun!"
Li jumped slightly at the sound of Meilin's voice
as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Meilin! What are you
doing here on campus? I thought I told you not to come to the
university to look for me"
"Nani, Li-kun? Since when am I not allowed to
come and see all my old friends here in Tomoeda?"
He blinked before frowning. "Meilin, I thought
I told you not to come out and wander around campus. You don't
know anyone here except some like Tomoyo, Chiharu, Rika, Naoko,
Yamazaki, me and" His trailed off as he blushed at
the mention of Sakura's name.
"Sakura-chan? I bumped into her a minute ago.
Seems that you haven't done anything yet, Li-kun. Nani?"
"Wakarimasen"
Meilin smiled secretively at him as she waved to
Tomoyo that stood not far away from them. "You'll understand
soon, Li-kun. Now, I have to speak to Tomoyo-chan about something"
She brushed past him, leaving him frozen in surprise.
What did she mean by saying that he 'hadn't done anything' and
'would understand soon'? Shaking his head, he returned to studying
the book that he had been reading earlier.
-------
Meilin smiled at Tomoyo as she waved. The two girls
shook hands heartily, as they had been good friends since fifth
grade and had always kept in touch even when Meilin and Li had
returned to Hong Kong.
"Okaerinasai, Meilin!" Tomoyo smiled as
she viewed Meilin. It wasn't hard to recognize Meilin, for she
was the only one on campus that had long black hair and those
slightly mischievous eyes.
"Konnichiwa, Tomoyo-chan," Meilin greeted
in return as she sneaked a peek at Li who was sitting alone. "Tell
me, why hasn't Li-kun told his feelings to Sakura-chan yet? Didn't
he come to Tomoeda just for that?"
"He has to," Tomoyo spoke decisively. "He
wanted to keep Sakura-chan safe from the two new Clow cards, so
he came to me to ask for help. I made him a promise that if he
told Sakura-chan his feelings by the end of this year, I would
take care of her and keep her away from danger as much as possible."
Meilin frowned as she turned her attention back to
Tomoyo. "But how are you going to do that, Tomoyo-chan? You
and I don't have magical powers and we both know that Sakura-chan
and Li-kun can't be pushed into doing things that they don't want
to do."
"That's where we come in, Meilin. You and I
are going to have to try to pair them up together. After all,
you did promise me that you'll come back to Tomoeda with Li-kun
and finish what we almost completed, ne?"
Meilin grinned as she nodded. "Hai, Tomoyo-chan.
Li-kun and Sakura-chan are perfect for each other. We can't let
anything to happen to their relationship, ne?"
Tomoyo gave a nod. "We can ask the help of Chiharu-chan,
Naoko-chan, Rika-chan and Yamazaki-kun. They already know about
the relationship between Sakura-chan and Li-kun and have been
trying to help, but the both of them are simply too stubborn."
"That's when I come in," Meilin spoke as
she watched Sakura walk towards Li's direction. "I have never
understood why Li-kun chose to return to Hong Kong rather than
stay here in Tomoeda to reveal his true feelings to Sakura-chan,
but now that he's in Tomoeda, we'll have to make the best of it,
ne?"
"If we're lucky, we can make them both be what
they almost were in fifth grade. Anodo we have a deal, Meilin?"
"Hai!"
Meilin smiled as she watched Li and Sakura's face
colour as she brushed past him. Their eyes met for a split second
and she froze before shaking her head and walking off.
Yes, they definitely needed some pairing up, Meilin
thought as she watched Li look longingly after Sakura's retreating
back. They still had feelings for each other; she could see that
by their expressions at the mention of each other's name.
-------
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as she threw herself
down onto the bed. She hadn't expected to run into Meilin after
all this time, much less even to get a cheerful response from
her. Her eyes wandered around the room, resting on some photos
that showed herself and her friends when they were still in fourth
and fifth grade.
Reaching out a trembling hand, she gently brushed
the dust off and old photo that she had kept since fourth grade.
It was when she had gone for a summer camp at the beach that was
held by her class. There, she had noticed that there was a Clow
card which later turned out to be The Erase.
She smiled slightly at the memory of how she had
almost freaked out when Rika, Chiharu and Tomoyo had vanished
into thin air, erased by The Erase. Then, Li showed up and had
told her to calm herself down and try to sense the Clow card.
They had just used The Float to cross the stream when he had started
to disappear too.
He had been kind enough to tell me not to care about
him and to focus on capturing The Erase, she reflected as she
studied his serious face. Always being there for her, he had protected
her when she needed him, especially when he offered to go first
during the judgment with Yue.
He had always been kind to everyone despite how serious
and quiet he was, she noticed for the first time. He had carried
Meilin to the finishing line when she had tripped when they had
been trying to capture The Loop and had also saved Tomoyo when
she had been trapped on top of the wall of a maze that had been
caused by The Maze.
Then, he was always there for her. He was always
there for her when she was in trouble or in need for help, even
when it concerned Touya, her brother, who was definitely not a
friend of his.
How could she ever forget the time when he had helped
her to find Touya who had been tricked by The Mirror and when
she had been sucked into the past by The Return? If he hadn't
showed up, Sakura didn't know where her brother would be by now!
He had also allowed her to capture other Clow cards
that he himself knew well he could take for himself. The Power,
for instance, had only been able to be captured with his help
of freezing time to make her win the tug of war between her and
The Power.
She placed the photo back onto his original place
as she sat up and wrapped her hands around her knees. Could Li
really hate her for forcing him to make a promise that they wouldn't
have any deeper contact than mere friends?
It was then Kero popped out of the drawer. "I
think I know what the two remaining Clow cards are," he confided
as he floated up in the air impatiently. "After some time,
I do remember that Yue and I was created also to make sure that
three special Clow cards didn't escape from under Clow Reed's
house. Unfortunately, they have."
"Three?"
"One of them, is of course, The Void, which
you have captured and changed into The Hope. These three cards
are the yin energy of the magical circle, while all your Sakura
cards are yang cards. This makes the Sakura cards again in danger
as all three cards have only one objective."
"Nanda?"
"They want to switch all your Sakura cards back
into Clow cards again. If they do, you'll have to recapture all
the Clow cards once again and pass another of Yue's judgment."
"Matte, Kero-chan. You're saying that if these
two cards were actually able to gain control of all the Sakura
cards, they can actually reverse the transformation?"
