Entwined Destinies: Chapter 3

"Syaoran-kun! Wait up!" Meiling whined as she hurried to catch up. Totally unaffected by the cold glare he shot her, she just slung her arm around his neck, grinning from ear to ear once she'd caught up, completely ignoring the two behind.

Getting ticked off, Ryu turned to look at the Li's family retainer, Wei. "Tell me, I thought Meiling had accepted my proposal. Or was that just a figment of my imagination?"

Amused at his charges antics, Wei covered his chuckles with a polite cough. "I'm sure that was not just your imagination, Ryu-san."

"But then, with the way Meiling is hanging off Syaoran, it might as well be him that's engaged to her!" Ryu gritted out his words. He was seriously starting to see red at how Meiling and Syaoran were walking so close together. And this wasn't the first time either, ever since he proposed to Meiling…

"Damn it!" He kicked a pebble lying innocently on the pavement.

"Worry not, Ryu-san. From what I have seen, Master Syaoran only has eyes for one other." Wei reassured him, as calm as ever.

"The Mysterious Cardcaptor?" Ryu raised as eyebrow, clearly showing his disbelief.

Wei nodded just once in response.

Ryu couldn't help but snort, "For you maybe."

Looking up to glare once more at the present heir of the Li clan, Ryu just couldn't warp his mind around the fact that someone managed to capture the attentions of the cold, stoic leader.

"But don't forget, apart from Meiling, no one from this generation ever saw hide or hair of this 'Mysterious Cardcaptor' of yours. And even if that cold hearted leader of ours once had feelings for her, who knows if any remained." Grumbling, he added softly. "If he was even capable of feeling through that thick wall of ice you call his heart in the first place…"

Wei just shook his head. He could not blame Ryu for those words, regardless of the obligation he had to defend the heir. Because how hurtful those words may be, it was the truth.

Sakura-san had no idea how big a change she had wrought upon the stoic, unfeeling heir of the Li clan. Not only did she manage to get him to open up, she had also managed to worm her way into his once stone-cold heart and even reduce him to a blushing, stuttering mess without much effort.

"Who knows? Even if she–" He jerked back violently in shock as Meiling had her hands in a choke-hold around his neck.

"She who? Ryu-kun~" Meiling purred just below as whisper beside his ear-lobe. It would have been considered seductive if not for the tightening of her hold around his neck, and the threatening undertones that belied within those words.

"It had better not be a girl I don't know about." The 'or-else' went unsaid, yet clearly heard by all.

It started with a scene of a forest, fireflies flickering next to the darkened leaves, barely a hint of the ruffled breeze disturbing the mesmerizing dance of the glowing lights.

A teenager with the deepest brown eyes and matching windswept hair stepped into the clearing, anything other than his eyes hidden by the darkness of the night.

'Syaoran-kun!'

The teenager just stared at his hands, eyes never wavering, his eyes filled with only one emotion.

'Resignation.'

A buzzing sound suddenly echoed around the eerily silent clearing, its volume increasing with each passing second. The teen just looked up, the light of the moon now shining upon his stone cold face, like a piece of beautifully crafted marble.

No surprise could be seen even as blood splattered across the clearing, covering the vision with nothing but a deep crimson red. Nothing, not even the moon nested among the night sky could be seen now.

'No…'

'Please, don't.'

'Syaoran-kun!'

'NO!'

A picture of the crescent moon flashed just once before consciousness enveloped her whole.

"Syaoran!" Sakura cried out heartbrokenly.

Curled up on her side, Sakura wept silently for the vision she saw, crystalline tears escaping from her emerald orbs. Her body shuddering with each wave of helplessness and desperation she felt when she couldn't stop the scene from happening.

Kero, her ever faithful guardian, couldn't do anything other than whispering soft words of reassurance and trust, rubbing small circles around her back with his tiny paws. This was not the first time his mistress had such a reaction from one of her dream-visions.

And yet he still could not do anything but watch whenever this occurs.

Kero never hated Clow Reed anymore then he did right now.

A pulse of magic echoed around the room, and all movement halted for a second. Bated breath awaited the resulting action from that strong pulse of magic.

Sakura's sobs now reduced to a mere sniffle as she tried to gather her wits together to deal with whoever was emitting such an depthless pulse of magic. Sakura shuddered, this time from how that pulse just felt to her senses. The sheer endless depth of that magic would have drowned a more inexperienced sorcerer.

"Kero-chan…" Sakura breathed out shakily.

"Yea, I know. This magic… It's ancient. Older than even the ancestors of Clow who would come to visit him from time to time when he was still alive."

Sakura shut her eyes as she allowed herself to see the world through her magical senses. Outlines of auras from the other inhabitants of the house showed up as she continued ot expand them.

It went past the front door where numerous people once stood upon waiting, past the shrine grounds. Past the Goshinboku tree and its ethereal aura, always flickering around the grounds. And into the well house…

Sakura's legs gave way as she collapsed back onto her bed, eyes wide and lips a pasty white.

"Sakura? Sakura! Get a hold of yourself!" Kero gave his mistress one hard shake, releasing her from her shock induced daze.

"Sakura, look at me. Tell me, what happened?" Kero looked into Sakura's emerald eyes, his beady black eyes showing weariness and concern for his mistress.

Once Sakura's breathing evened out, she suddenly stood up. One hand grabbing her hand bag which contained all her cards and a few other essentials, while the other grabbing hold of her floating guardian, rushing out of the house, making a bee-line for the well house.

Somehow, something was urging her to approach that ancient, powerful aura. She knew, the moment she felt that pulse, somewhere deep within her heart that that was where the vision she had just bear witness to, would happen.

Opening the wooden door leading straight into the well house, Sakura released Kero from the tight hold she had subjected him into just now.

Her eyes and mind was so focused on what would happen once she took the first step into fulfilling her vision that she didn't even notice the worried Kero glancing over at his mistress.

"Keroberos, would you help me?" Her voice sounded weak and desperate, totally unlike how she usually was.

Without hesitation, Kero replied. "Of course! You know that we would do anything for you Sakura-chan."

Grasping a hold of Sakura's sleeve with his paws, he continued. "You shouldn't even have to ask."

"…Thank you." Sakura whispered to her now silent companion as she unzipped her bag and attached the holder containing her Sakura Cards on her hip before slinging the bag over her shoulder, just as Tomoyo had designed it to be.

Stepping into the well house, Sakura took a deep breath before swinging herself and the clinging Kero over the well's edge and into the well itself.

As the luminous blue light filled her vision, Sakura couldn't help but feel that everything would be alright… Eventually.

"Master Syaoran." The owner of those golden eyes bowed on one knee, head tilted downwards.

"Rise, Shusei. Have a seat." Syaoran looked at the demon before him, gesturing to a armchair opposite to the one he is occupying.

Despite what his clan elders says, Syaoran still firmly believed that demons are not just tools, born to serve those of the sorcerer race. They had pride, this much was evident, as well as an innate intelligence and wisdom that sometimes, even sorcerers could not fathom. If this was not so, that accursed plushie should have been dead from the hands of the Li Clan the moment Clow passed on, and not have become the revered guardian of the book.

'Sakura…'

"My lord?" Shusei questioned, worried about the long silence that stretched between them.

Looking up into the worried eyes of the demon, Syaoran waved away his concerns. "Do not worry, I was just… lost in my thoughts. Proceed with your report Shusei."

"Yes, my lord." Shusei replied automatically. "I went to check on the Higurashi shrine as you have ordered, and there was one more inhabitant than what was stated in the report."

"One more?" Syaoran now looked at Shusei, curiosity piqued.

"Yes. The newest inhabitant appears to be a relative of the Higurashi." The demon hesitated to say further.

"What about her name?" Syaoran questioned the hesitant demon.

"I'm sorry my lord. I only managed to get her first name. I—"

Syaoran cut the obviously panicking demon off before he could continue. Somehow, this scene just further proved how much the Clan Elders needed to be removed from their position. Shusei was a demon bonded to him as a protection since this will be the first time he is sent for a demon extermination in the middle of Tokyo. They supposedly had Shusei trained just for this purpose.

Now Syaoran was just waiting for the demon to finally feel comfortable around him to finally find out exactly how he was trained by those Elders.

"Shusei, stop panicking. It was not your fault that I gave you a time limit. I'm not going to blame you just because you could not get the full name of the person." Syaoran said calmly, not a hint of anger or accusation in his tone. "Now, calm down and tell me the name, and even a vague description of the person if you are able to."

"Y-yes. Her name is Sakura from what I heard. She has brown shoulder length hair and deep green eyes." Shusei stopped to look in worry at his master.

Syaoran visible jolted when he heard the name, but when the description was reported by Shusei… He just did not know what to think.

'Sakura, with brown hair and green eyes? Just how many Sakuras in the world fit that description?' Syaoran covered his eyes and asked Shusei a question.

"Tell me, when you saw…Sakura." There, Syaoran had to bit his lips just to stop his heart from racing out of his control. "Did you, by any chance, see a yellow plushie with wings anywhere?"

"…Yes." Came the soft reply of Shusei.

"Do you know her Master Syaoran?"

"Yes." He replied, a soft smile now present on his face. "You are dismissed, Shusei. You are free to wander around the city if you like, the credit card is still in your possession, am I right?"

Shusei just nodded, standing up. Walking past his master, Shusei hesitated for just a split second before he enveloped his master in an embrace.

"Please, Master Syaoran, if you have any worries or concern. Don't just keep it bottled up within you."

Grinning for the first time in what seemed to be years, Syaoran uncharacteristically ruffled Shusei's hair, looking at him with a smile. "Don't worry. For the first time, it seems like everything is going the way it should be."

Getting up from his position, Syaoran watched until Shusei is no longer visible from the window, now lost within the bright lights of the city.

"Master Syaoran, is everything done?" His ever faithful servant Wei asked from his position near the door.

"Yea…" Syaoran looked at Wei, his usual dark amber eyes now filled with hope of seeing his dearest Cherry Blossom again, after so long…

A/N: Sorry for leaving all of you hanging for so long!

It's been over…two years since I've last updated… Opps? I looked through my folders last night, and found that I had this chapter half-written since last year, October. =P I must admit that it's been a long time since I last saw the actual anime/manga for Inuyasha and CCS, so please inform me if there's any mistakes.

A thousand thanks to all my reviewers who helped kick my butt into gear and start writing this story again. =D

So now, the plot is finally starting, and the pieces are moving into place…

Please read and review!