Of Light and Dark

Yes well, we go to Dark's theft tonight. Enjoy -waves flag half-heartedly-.

Chapter 4: My Wings of Black

"Hiwatari-kun!" Sakura called out, spotting the blue-haired boy amongst the crowd. She pulled Tomoyo and Syaoran with her towards Satoshi.

"Can you explain it one more time to us please?" She asked sheepishly, looking down at her feet. Satoshi sighed.

"What you need to do is to try following him throughout the museum as he attempts to get away. Start in the room of the artefact and you must stop him from getting to the roof. Use any means possible, and remember that he has a thing for young woman." He looked at Tomoyo and Sakura coolly, who quivered under his gaze.

"I don't care if it's degrading, shameful, or humiliating. As long as he's stopped." He ordered, not noticing the redness on the two's face.

"But why the roof? It's not like there are any other roof tops he can get away on." Syaoran frowned, not liking the plan very much.

"Because he is no ordinary thief." He replied shortly. "Get to your positions, it's nearly 8 o'clock." Satoshi turned away again to face the museum. "And maybe we can do this without interruptions." He muttered to himself.

Sakura had to remind herself that Satoshi was only her age, and that it must be a lot of pressure for a 14 year old to handle all these things. He acted so mature though, it was no wonder she felt slightly afraid of him.

"Come on Tomoyo-chan." She pulled on the hand of her friend while waving to Syaoran. "We'll see you after Syaoran-kun!" she called, running off towards the museum.

"Be careful!" Syaoran replied, still frowning. He didn't like the thought of leaving them alone, so he looked around for a way to be able to watch what was happening.

"Ah ha!" Quickly, Syaoran climbed up a tree at the back of the museum, and he sat there, watching the roof where they were bound to turn up sooner or later. "Be careful Sakura-chan."

---

Dark smirked, flying through the night sky towards the museum. The first theft was always the best; the police wouldn't know what hit them.

He imagined most of them were a lot like old Saehara back in Azumano; thinking he was just some petty thief whose 'wings' were actually just a rope dropped down from a nearby building.

Dark snorted, swooping down so that he was in full view of the people of Tomoeda. After all, he needed to announce his presence before he got to work.

The effect was pleasing. Even with all this noise, he could hear the collective gasps of the crowd as they saw his wings. The police were merely gaping, useless people standing around the museum. They were so gullible, those people.

He smirked. "Time to get to work."

---

"It's so…dark…" Sakura whispered, looking around her fearfully. She and Tomoyo were in the exhibit containing the Tear, waiting for the Thief to show up.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan." Tomoyo told her reassuringly. "You've been through much worse than this before! Plus, you have the Cards with you don't you?"

Sakura nodded slowly, but it still didn't help her feeling of unease. "But all these artworks seem so scary in the dark. And we're trying to stop a thief too! What if he tries to kill us, or something like that?.!"

Tomoyo laughed at her friend's nervousness. "Don't worry; I'm sure Hiwatari-kun wouldn't put us here if this thief was dangerous. And the art isn't that scary; just think of it as the results of the artists' emotions and you would probably feel much better."

"It doesn't help…I keep thinking that they're going to lunge out at me. It makes me think that they're alive…" she trailed off, remembering what Daisuke was talking to her earlier in this very exhibit.

"Art is alive in many ways. They all have souls, and feelings, and they can't just be dismissed as nothing. How much does it take for people to realise that…?"

She shivered; Daisuke had seemed so earnest when he had said that, almost as if he was talking not to her, but to the actual art itself.

Sakura noticed a dark shadow flit across the room out of the corner of her eye, but she payed it no attention. "Tomoyo-chan? What time do you think it is?"

There was no answer.

"Tomoyo-chan?.!" Suddenly, she felt a gloved hand close over her mouth.

"Don't move or I might have to get rough…" A low, playful voice whispered in her ear, accompanied by a low chuckle. Sakura's eyes widened. This voice seemed familiar…

"Daisuke-san?" She asked, struggling to turn around and look at her captor. He seemed surprised, also a little fearful.

"What?.!" He hissed, struggling to keep her still. "What are you talking about?"

She managed to pry his hand off her mouth and she turned around, coming face to face with him. "Are you the one I met at the museum earlier?"

Sakura wasn't too sure, but she thought she saw his face visibly relax when she said that. But, whether it was there or not, it didn't seem to matter anymore as a playful smirk reached his face.

"You could call me that, but I suggest that you clear that out of your head. Let me introduce myself."

He stepped back, long purple hair dancing around his face. His eyes seemed to glitter like amethysts in the dark, filled with a mischievous sparkle.

"I am the Phantom Thief Dark."

---

Sakura gasped. Impossible! Was it?

"So…that was you that I saw at the museum?" she whispered disbelievingly. He smirked in reply.

"Wait…what happened to Tomoyo-chan?.! What did you do to her?" she half-yelled, looking around frantically for her best friend. "TOMOYO-CH--mph!" she found herself reacquainted with the gloved hand as Dark hastily moved closer to silence her.

"Quiet! You wouldn't want anyone to hear us now would you?"

She didn't know how to reply, instead just focusing on looking for her friend.

"Why are you here anyway? Fans normally wait for me outside." He winked at her. "That is, most of them do."

He freed her mouth to let her speak, but did not let her out of his grasp. She frowned at him.

"We…we were told by Hiwatari-kun to come and try to stop you, so that means I shouldn't be standing around talking to you…"

"Ah, I see…he's trying this trick again isn't he?" Dark smirked, shaking his head. "But don't you think it's more, ah, fun talking rather than trying to stop me? I certainly don't mind…"

Sakura blushed furiously. "N-n-no! Let me go! What happened to Tomoyo-chan?.!"

Dark sighed, obeying her and letting go. "All I did was make her go to sleep…it's not like I hurt her or anything. Just gave her a little bit of rest."

"But…where is she?.!"

"She's up on the roof…that seemed to be the best place for her to rest so there." He replied loftily, already beginning to break the code on the Tear. Sakura didn't notice.

"How? You couldn't have got her up that quickly."

Dark smirked, holding the Tear in his hand. "Don't be too surprised, Miss Sakura. There are many things in this world that would probably startle you if you were to know."

Sakura gaped. "Are…are you talking about magic? And how do you know my name?"

Dark only grinned mysteriously as he strolled towards the exit of the gallery. "I've been around for a long time, and I know many things. And yes, I am talking about magic. However did you guess?" he gave a little shrug, standing directly under the light shining above the hallway. Only then did Sakura notice what he had been doing during their conversation. "No need to answer, Miss Sakura. It's been a pleasure meeting you. I might see you again soon." He winked, then disappeared down the corridor.

It took a few seconds for Sakura to realise that he had left. Another few seconds to realise that she hadn't stopped him. And 2 seconds to wonder how on earth he had done everything so quickly and quietly. Or maybe that was just because she wasn't paying attention. And it took just one second to realise that she should be chasing after him.

She ran down the corridor, Hiwatari's words ringing in her head. Whatever you do, do not let him get to the roof. She continued to wonder why as she caught sight of the end of a flowing black cape disappearing around the corner.

Glancing to her left, Sakura noticed a doorway she had remembered seeing earlier that morning. From what she could remember, it led directly to the…

Minutes later, she burst off a door on the roof, looking around for any sign of the Thief. She sighed in relief. It seemed that he hadn't reached the roof yet. Sakura looked around and caught sight of her long haired friend, immediately running over to her.

"Tomoyo-chan!" she cried, kneeling down beside her. She checked her pulse; she was alright. It seemed Dark had been true to his word, and the only thing she could do now was probably to wait.

"Well, well, well…when I said soon, I meant in a few days time, not a few minutes." A teasing voice came from behind her, and she turned to see Dark slipping out of the shadows. "There's certainly more to you than it seems, not that many people would notice it, hm?"

Sakura blushed, hoping he didn't somehow know about the Cards. "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about."

He laughed. "Of course not…" he stopped to scan the night sky, looking for any sign of disturbances. "But it seems that my job has been done, and its time for me to leave now. Do tell Hiwatari that old tricks really don't work on me." He smirked. "Goodbye, Miss Sakura."

"W-Wait!" Sakura shouted, running after him. She jumped forward and caught onto his arm. He looked back at her, surprised.

"Why are you taking the art?.! Why are you taking away something so valuable and precious, the person who created it will probably be really sad! Please, don't take it away, you don't have to steal it. Don't steal it because you're going to make someone really upset!" she pleaded with him, emerald eyes looking into his amethyst ones earnestly.

Dark looked at her, wide-eyed, before smirking almost sadly. "Sorry to ruin your impression of this person, Sakura, but these artworks are dangerous. They were made by dangerous people, and it could put many lives at risk if they are not taken care of. Do you understand?" he looked her straight in the eyes, and he could see that she was shocked.

"B-but…how can art be dangerous?"

"Because…art is alive."

"Huh?"

Without warning, Dark slipped out of her grip and ran to the edge of the roof, climbing on the ledge. Sakura wasn't shocked anymore, she was just frightened.

"W-wait! What are you doing?.! The ground is too far from here, a-a-and if you jump you might hurt yourself!"

Dark smirked at her ignorance. "Don't worry, I'm not going to jump…why should I, when I have much better methods?"

"What…what do you mean?"

He didn't answer, instead he leapt face first off the roof, plummeting down through the air. Sakura ran towards the edge of the roof, looking down at him. She couldn't help it, she screamed. A loud, piercing, frightened scream.

She was about to call on her Cards when she noticed that he was no longer falling. In fact, he wasn't even going down anymore, but up. And, she noticed with a gasp, that there was a pair of large black wings sprouting from Dark's back, filling the air with feathers.

Within seconds, he had disappeared into the night.

Sakura stood there watching in disbelief for a minute or two, before remembering Tomoyo and running to her aide. She was just beginning to stir. As she helped Tomoyo sit up, a thought occurred to her.

Black Wings…the same as the one in her dream.

---

Syaoran watched from the tree, gasping. That…that person…he was no ordinary thief. Definitely not. He could sense the magic practically dripping off him, and it was no doubt that he was very powerful. And his wings…

Without a second thought, he jumped down from the tree and ran after the direction the Thief had gone in. He silently hoped that Sakura and Tomoyo would be ok getting back home alone, but now, he had a Thief to get some answers from…

---

Ah…how was it? I know, I know, Satoshi's 'plan' was very stupid and inefficient, but then again, that was all I could think of. And Satoshi himself didn't really make an appearance in stopping Dark…let's just say that he was preoccupied with a few matters (coughkradcough). So yes, that's my 'brilliant' description of the theft, which really sucked. I'm bad at writing Dark's thefts…but please R&R!