Disclaimer: I can only wish that I owe CCS and sadly, I don't. If I do, I would draw/make another manga/anime series focusing on the beautiful love between Syaoran and Sakura, but I guess they did just that with Tsubasa Chronicle though. That certainly quenched my thirst! (Or maybe not since I'm writing this...Going off topic it seem, anyway) But currently, this seems undoable since I am a poor student and that is why I 'Unleash My Imagination' here.

Summary:They met when she was in high school at the sweet age of sixteen. Their encounter was purely by coincidence, but is there such a thing in this world? Now, two years later, at the tender age of eighteen, as the world is shook to a bloody end, Sakura meet him once again. How can love prevail and for them to be together forever when the end is so near? SxS

Pandora's Heart

Chapter 2

The night sky is beautiful. It took my breath away. The stars that nobody can see without having a hard time suddenly shone brighter than the surrounding city lights. The earth rumbled and cried for help. An earthquake. A sign. The world shall end.

Awoken to a deafening silence, Sakura rubbed her eyes and rolled over, hoping to go back to sleep. Today, classes were cancelled. The disaster that took place last night put many people in a state of panic and attending school or college was the last thing on anyone's mind.

"Come out and see this!" Sumi said, her voice conflicted, filled with excitement, but also tainted with fear, curiosity and nervousness. Looking at her, Sakura felt as if she could literally see the fear pumping through her adrenaline, slowly seeping from the core of her heart and reaching out toward all edges of her body.

Lazily and not quite as curious or excited, Sakura slowly dragged her feet to the lounge room. Surprised at the number of occupants, but with low blood pressure in the morning, Sakura silently acknowledged the people in the room as she settled down onto the sofa.

"So you made it kaijuu." Touya taunted. Too tired to reply, Sakura brushed off his reply with an energetic glare.

Sumi grabbed the remote and raised the volume of the television as everyone watched in silence. The screen was dominated by a man in suit who had a frown pasted on his face. The screen soon transited to a large building out in Tokyo and it was obvious that camera was not able to hold its ground as it shook vigorously and fell over. The people in the background was yelling, obviously panicking as they ran all over the place, hoping to find shelter. They looked like lost sheep as they ran aimlessly, falling constantly as they were unable to stand against the shook.

Booming above the noise was the voice of the man in suit from before, elaborating on what people already know, "Outside Tokyo where at the time of happenings, many people were occupying the street, we were able to film the incident. The ground was shaking ferociously; people were unable to stand firmly on the ground, falling constantly. What should be noted is that the earthquake was too sudden, no research was able to predict and reports show that this earthquake has the largest magnitude we had in the last century. Interestingly, despite this, it had no effects whatsoever in the affected areas. Reporting live: prefectures affected included Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido and Hiroshima amongst others. There were no splits on the ground, collapse of buildings or even any casualty. It was as if nothing has happen. Here with us is Doctor Yamamoto who might be able to ex..."

The screen flashed back to the man in suit, now joined by 'Doctor Yamamoto' as they began discussing the odd earthquake occurrence. Sumi had turned off the television, interrupting their discussion as she turned to the occupants of her apartment.

Finally, Sakura revived some of her energy and scanned the room once again. She realised she was sitting between Touya and Tomoyo, with Yukito standing behind the sofa. To her left, a single seat sofa was occupied by her friend, Rika, with Sumi seated on her right. Rika decided to stay over Sakura's place after the earthquake as advised by Yoshiyuki Terada, now her fiancée. Gripping the armrest worriedly, she hasn't heard from Yoshiyuki since last night after the phone conversation. He has said that he will come over to see her as soon as circumstances allow. Even Yukito has abandoned his assignment and rushed over at an early hour. Standing against the wall with his arms crossed, not far away was Yue. He felt he shouldn't leave Sakura on her own at such a moment.

"What do you guys think happened last night?" Sumi asked.

Sakura sighed heavily, "Sumi, what's for breakfast?"

Sumi walked over and smacked Sakura's head – well, attempted to, but was stopped by Touya's glare as her hand hover over Sakura's head. Hesitated, she withdraw her arm and dropped it beside her, "You piss me off."

"Yoshiyuki..." Rika whispered. She was more worried about his delayed more than anything else. She hasn't given much thought on the odd event; the only thing occupying her mind was where Yoshiyuki could possibly be right now.

Sighing, Sumi walked back to her seat and entwined her fingers, "I'm scared." She whispered, and though softly, did not escape anyone's ear. "It's strange. The earthquake... it was so strong. I thought for sure I was going to die last night and when it stopped, it's like nothing even happened. There were no consequences! It doesn't make sense!"

"Are you telling me you want buildings to collapse and people to die?" Sakura commented. That was simply a thoughtless comment, but it seemed to offend Sumi as Sumi sent her a death glare.

"I'm just saying that this is like the peace before a storm. And this storm will be greater and worst than the amount of people or buildings that we could have lost last night."

Sakura yawned loudly, making no attempt to hide her annoyance at being awoken for such trivial reason. Tomoyo sweat dropped, knowing Sumi will be further pushed on edge. It's a wonder how the two of them could be sharing an apartment together.

"You think this is trivial?" Sumi snapped, "Sakura! This is a bad omen!"

Ignoring Sumi, Touya turned to Sakura, "I called father last night when you went to sleep, and he's all right. He said he didn't even noticed the earthquake; seems he was asleep."

"How carefree." Sakura smiled at the thought of her kind father.

"No!" Sumi interrupted, "How can you guys be so carefree? You know... this could mean... well..." Sumi stumbled on her words.

"The world is coming to an end?" Sakura suggested, smiling, feeling helpful. This attitude did nothing except further agitate Sumi. Although Sumi was slightly taken aback by Sakura's blunt outburst, her annoyance towards the honey haired girl overruled any surprise.

Sumi opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Sakura's statement has simply ended the conversation, leaving the rest to each imagination. Nothing more can be said. There was no proof for or against her words. People simply need to take a stand now.

"I don't understand." Finding the lack of replies in the room, Sakura didn't quite understand the depth. "Everything is bound to end. We all know that. So why is it that people are still so afraid of something that they have expected to happen all this time?"

An awkward silence hung in the air, deep in their thoughts and nobody even realised a conversation was dying. Suddenly, from the wall, Yue walked over to the couch and placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder, "Breakfast?"

Feeling happy that someone noticed her hunger, Sakura smiled sweetly at Yue, "Yes, please."

"Go freshen up and I'll be ready when you're done." Yue started making his way towards the kitchen. Silently, Touya stood from his seat and approached Yue as Sakura went for privacy.

Sensing Touya behind him, Yue decided to ignore his presence until the dark hair man decides he would start speaking. Yue pulled out a rubber band from his pocket and swiftly wrap up his beautiful long silver hair, trailing behind him.

Though appearing ignorant, Touya knew Yue was waiting for him to speak. Scrambling and deciphering jumbled up words in his head, Touya was not sure where to start. Touya was not even sure about the silver hair man's feelings. Is it all right to assume the worst already?

"Yue..." Touya began.

Wordlessly, Yue turned around to face Touya. For awhile now, he has been expecting a – hopefully – civil conversation with Touya, but decided against it when Touya seemed unsure. Yue had an idea where this conversation may lead to and was prepared to carry it to the end.

"Tell me your disposition towards Sakura." Touya decided getting to the point right away was the best choice. Frankly, he doesn't like any men getting near his sister, no matter how good-looking or suitable. His baby sister, if it were up to him, will forever remain his baby sister. No man on earth is worthy of having her and the thought of a strange man possessing his loved one drives Touya insane. Touya knows that if Sakura so desire to, he would be powerless in stopping the developing relationship... with a currently faceless man. But, to his last breath, he is unlikely to ever treat that particular faceless man with civility.

Touya played a huge part in bringing Sakura up after the loss of his mother, Nadeshiko Kinomoto. He watched her grow from a gorgeous baby into a beautiful young girl, if not a physically bigger baby. But, yes, she is still a girl, far from being a woman. He was there the moment she took her first step, spoke her first word and ran her first metre. He watched her move from elementary school, to middle and now, high school. He saw her grow into her first crush on Yukito and saw it faded when she entered middle school. He saw Sakura's heart which was once filled with energy, turned into a distant and cold one. Touya detested himself whenever he thought of that and it further infuriate him that he couldn't save her from whatever she had tangled herself in. So now, the very least, he wanted to make sure that she will not be harmed by any men; his boss or not.

He planned to draw out and confirm Yue's feelings and prevent any further advances if his suspicion was confirmed to not be simply suspicion. And Touya had every intention to execute his plan.

XXXX

With shaking hands and a wild imagination, Rika pulled out her cell phone and dialled Yoshiyuki's number. Why is he so late? What could possibly be delaying him? "Yoshiyuki... Yoshiyuki..." Rika muttered repeatedly. After the fifth ring of her eighth call, Rika was getting even more anxious. Her heart was racing, thumping loudly, loud enough to make her feel as if people can hear it. Her fear tore at her. Frightened, Rika collapsed as silent tears trailed down her face and she held her face in her hands.

Tomoyo quickly approached the distressed girl and pulled Rika into her chest. Softly patting her back in hope of soothing her, Tomoyo frowned. Where could Terada-sensei possibly be? Knowing no comfort words can cheer Rika; Tomoyo simply held onto Rika and be a form of support for her.

When the bell rang, without hesitation, Rika sprung and swung the door open, "Yoshiyuki!"

"Rika!" Looking dishevelled, Yoshiyuki was obviously out of breath.

"Yoshiyuki!" Rika jumped into his arms. Yoshiyuki quickly gathered Rika into an embrace and squeezed her tight as Tomoyo retreated to give them privacy. When he realised she was stranded in the middle of Tokyo when the earthquake occurred, all blood was drained from him. The fear that he might not see her again scared him senseless. Now that she is in his arm, her warmth emanating from her and wrapped around him, his heart was calmed and he couldn't be happier.

Worriedly and reluctantly, he pulled away and searched Rika for any possible injuries, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"No, no, I'm fine. What about you?" Struggling against his hold, she attempted to search her beloved for any wounds, but he quickly grabbed her wrists and pulled her into his arms.

"No, no, you're fine and that's the only thing that matters!"

XXXX

Sakura enjoyed the feel of water drops on her body as she closed her eyes. She wetted her hair and slowly patted it. The droplet of water felt as if it massaged her shoulder and removed the tension that has gathered on her back. Breathing a sigh of pleasure, hinted with regret, she turned off the water faucet and stepped outside the tub. She wrapped a large pink towel around her body and walked towards her cupboard. With little care, Sakura picked a knee length white dress and draped it on. Grabbing a brush from her vanity mirror, she quickly untangled her hair with speed and ease. When she caught her eyes in the mirror, she paused and stared at her reflection. Although the reflection was hers, she found the person she saw strange and somewhat unfamiliar. Slowly, she reached out, forgetting that all she could reach would be a cold, hard base. Sakura traced her index finger on the glass, as if with a little patience, her finger could go through the mirror.

"Sakura!" Yue interrupted her trance. Sakura quickly stood up and made her way back to the lounge room.

As she walked out, Sakura ignored the swell of emotion somewhere in her chest, like something creeping and twirling as if teasing her emotions. Not aware of the premonition this emotion was trying to tell her.

XXXX

"Breakfast, breakfast, what's for breakfast?" Sakura sang cheerfully. Beautifully set in front of her in the middle was a steamed bowl of rice with a bowl of miso soup on the right hand side. Not too far from it, shining a little brighter than the other two bowls was a bowl filled with tamagoyaki. Sakura squealed, "My favourite!"

"I thought kaijuu don't discriminate."

Sakura sent Touya a glare, "Onii-chan..." she growled. Quickly remembering the chef of the morning, Sakura was sidetracked from her insult and gave Yue a warm and shy smile, "Thank you, Yue-san."

"No problem." Yue then walked out toward the lounge and stood against the wall near the kitchen where he is still able to keep an eye on Sakura.

After taking a couple of spoonful of rice and a sip of miso soup, Sakura glanced up. She noticed Yoshiyuki sitting on the sofa with Rika in his arms. "Terada-sensei is here?"

Sitting opposite from her, Tomoyo nodded, "He panicked; seems like something bad was holding him up."

Sitting next to them was Sumi, still silent and has not moved an inch since Sakura left to her room. She didn't seem to be in this world anymore and was simply staring out into space and didn't make any indication of noticing the new presence of Yoshiyuki and the snuggling couple beside her.

"What's your plan for the day?" Sakura initiated a conversation with Tomoyo.

Tomoyo's eyes immediately twinkled with excitement, "I was actually thinking of designing a new outfit for you!" then sighed sadly, "But with the earthquake, everyone is so heated up, even Yue-san decided to close the restaurant for the day. I decided to rush here as soon as I heard the news."

Sakura nodded.

Tomoyo then sent her a haughty smile, "Though I must say I'm surprised to find Yue-san here. What happened?"

Unaware of Tomoyo's layered intention; Sakura answered by providing her with facts, "We were on our way home after work when the earthquake happened. Then after shaking for an hour or so, we were too shocked to move." With the magnitude of the tremble, no one could really stand straight and even if they did, they would be kissing the ground soon after. Despite the obvious result, people still panicked and splattered all over the place. Cars stopped, ignoring all traffic lights and what they have learnt from their driving instructor, in the middle of the road after one, two, three, four and maybe more lost control and crushed against the sideline. Being more prone to giving up, Sakura, Touya, Yue and Rika grabbed onto a nearby pole and sat down for better measure. Touya and Yue were acting as barrier for the girls as they stood behind with arms and body hovering above Sakura and Rika while looking out for the slightest signs of building collapsing or any danger approaching. If so, even if all they could do was to crawl, they had every intention of dragging the two girls away.

"You're exaggerating, Sakura." Tomoyo smiled, "It was 16 minutes."

Sakura smiled, "It felt like an hour." Tomoyo giggled, "Or so." Sakura added as an afterthought. "Then Touya being Touya insisted on coming over to my place for the night. Yue-san decided to join him. And I'm not one to question my boss." Sakura smiled sheepishly now. "Rika was also with us at the time. Yukito was already here when I woke up before."

Deciding that there was no way of getting through to the emerald-eyes girl; Tomoyo simply chuckled to herself and drop the teasing process. As they continued chatting, Rika approached them, "Yoshiyuki and I are thinking of staying with you, Sakura, Tomoyo. He said he had a bad feeling and he found this incident odd so he thought it's better to be in groups."

Sakura nodded, understanding Yoshiyuki's fear, "Of course. That would be great! I would like to..." Sakura trailed off as her attention is diverted.

From the wall, Yue immediately straightened his back as he felt a strong aura; a strong, powerful aura. Sensing great danger, he turned sharply towards Sakura, his grey eyes piercing and his mind ran through a thousand possibilities of this aura. The aura was familiar, but at the same time, completely different. He noticed Sakura's mid-pronounced sentence and her absentminded staring. Worried, Yue took a step closer to Sakura and was taken aback as Sakura dashed towards the entrance doorway. Maybe due to the sudden nature of the circumstances, with no time for hesitation, Yue followed suit.

"Sakura!" "Sakura-chan!" "Sakura!" Her name was being thrown in the air with urgency. Worried and confused, Sakura's family and friends had little time to wonder as they quickly ran after her. Even Sumi, although unsure of what was going on, quickly ran out, fearing being by herself at this moment.

"Let's follow her!" Yoshiyuki muttered as he let Rika go with a soft push so she could run ahead. They still have not noticed the disaster taking place.

Eyes greased with concern, Rika nodded and ran after her friends. Yoshiyuki, obviously wanted to follow after his beloved, but his steps were interrupted as a scorching pain ran through him. Yoshiyuki groaned and pressed his hand against the left of his stomach. Slowly, he removed his hand when he felt something damp and a clingy feeling. Staring down at his hand, blood was running from the tip of his fingers, down his palm then wrist and under the sleeve of his jacket. Yoshiyuki bit his lip to stop himself from groaning out loud and against his wish – as he fought the temptation desperately – Yoshiyuki fell to the ground and blacked out.

A glint outside the window had caught her eyes and overcame with a strange sensation, Sakura dashed out. Not exactly sure where to go and what she was looking for, Sakura blindly carried out her search purely based on instinct. Something is coming, the thought haunted her even when she was unsure of what was it that was coming. Closer and closer. I can feel it! Despite the lack of stamina, Sakura ran as if her life depended on it; as fast as her legs could carry her.

While being inside the comforted home of Sakura, no one had noticed the approaching tornado that was consuming the city lights. Cars were being sucked in, twirling round and round as metal bins, poles, even trees and people followed suit. Fearing what would happen to them if they were sucked in, people ran away, yelling, screaming, fear consuming their thoughts and their survival instinct was being stretched to its potential. Finally, in hearing distance, from the major wreck of the city, they heard unintelligible screams and in front of them were a scene purely encapsulated from a painting with the theme of disaster.

When Touya was able to spot his little sister running not far from his standing, he raced after her, "Sakura!" He didn't even notice Yue was a couple of feet ahead of him already. What no one realised was how could Sakura possibly run for this long without Yue or Touya catching up? The length of their legs is an obvious point, but more importantly, their stamina was considerably different.

Without warning, Sakura froze as she took long and loud intakes of breath; panting. She didn't know why or how she knows it, but she knew. Where she is standing will take her to where she wanted to be. Grabbing onto the shiny pink chain around her neck, she muttered to herself, "O the key that holds the power of the stars, reveal your true form to me." Shining brightly from beneath her, appeared a large circle with a star in the centre, a crescent moon on the left, a detailed sun on the right and complex patterns. The light from her eyes faded, as if under possession as she loses consciousness, "I, Sakura, command thee under contract, release!" The once small rounded shape key chain turned into a long pink wand with little wings spread on top. If this was on an ordinary day, people would be staring at her with awed and terror, but now, too scared for the safety of their life, no one noticed anything else.

Grabbing her arm, Yue called out, finding Sakura looking a bit unusual, "Sakura!"

Startled by the sudden interruption, Sakura regained the light in her eyes, but stayed frozen on her spot as the circle beneath her disappeared.

"Sakura!" Yue turned her around, facing him. "What's wrong? What are you doing? That light..! No... Are you okay?" Yue raised his voice, trying to stay above the sound of their surroundings. Yue was rendered speechless when he looked into Sakura's eyes. She seemed distant and far, obviously not hearing a word he had said.

Sakura was not attentive, not even realising the things unfolding around her. All she could hear was the sound of the approaching tornado, wheezing and gentle. She closed her eyes to shut down her consciousness and the last thing she remembers was a tender pair of arms caged around her protectively.

XxSxSxXXxSxSxX

Author's Note:

Phew posted as planned!

First of all, I am so happy about the 2 reviews I got from MusicAngel92 and krazypig91! Very encouraging and positive! I hope you will continue to enjoy the story.

This chapter was a bit slow, but guess what! They're meeting again next chapter! LOOK FORWARD TO IT! I AM! YAY! I so want to go straight into the meeting part and just start writing about their romance, but that might ruin the plot so I;m building up to it. xD/T.T I felt that this chapter didn't explore Sakura very well, but at the same I thought it did. Contradicting... xD

I will update the next chapter as soon as I can. I just need some smoothing out and editing at the moment so it shouldn't be long. Although I have a lot of homework, its fine, since its homework. xD

One last thing, i changed the summary a bit since i thought it suited the story more, but thats not important so just ignore it. I thought i just mention it here.

Anyway, thats it! Hope you enjoyed it and please review!

Ja ne

angel 0f darknes