Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura or any of the characters associated with it. I am simply playing and making havoc in their otherwise – whatever lives they lead – lives.

Synopsis: Set after the second movie, when Sakura is twelve years old. Sakura and Syaoran are almost together after before a certain magical tragedy occurs – again. Unfortunately for the little couple, this is all Sakura's doing, and she doesn't know what she did. Worse yet, she thinks Syaoran is the problem here. This leads to an estranged relationship, where the couple is apart for three years. It'll be a rocky road to understanding each other again, and setting all the wrongs right.

Ignorance, Salvation, Redemption, Love

by lianneharmony

Chapter 4

And when we meet

As I'm sure we will,

All that was then,

will be there still,

I'll let it pass,

And hold my tongue,

And you will see

That I've moved on…

-------Dido (White Flag)

When one says the past helps change your future it's true. If you look at it, every little action creates a bigger action, that helps change the lives of a person, which in turn affects another person, and so on, hence changing the world. It may not be so significant, but it helps change destiny. In this way, life seems like a board of dominos.

For which Syaoran was determined to control.

And for which Sakura was determined it would not affect her, but she forgot one thing:

You can't run away, nor can you hide from your past, for you won't – you can't – escape fate and cheat your destiny.

A wise Indian chief had once said, "We do not weave the web of life. We are merely part of it. Everything we do to the web, we do to ourselves."

Their destiny was intertwined. As much as they'd do anything to direct it, perhaps, inwardly, they knew it was futile to fight fate.

Fate hath had it will, and will continue to do so.

"He's here!" Tomoyo cried.

Sakura leapt from the couch where everyone was sitting. "Hey, guys, it's Eriol!"

Eriol Hiiragiizawa looked the same as ever. His dark hair – so dark it almost seemed electric blue – was neatly messed up, if ever that was possible. He still looked about Sakura's age.

"Well, happy birthday!" He said with the warm smile he always had. It was a comforting, trusting smile, so much that none except for Touya had doubted the intentions that Eriol had in causing Sakura misery by forcing her to transform the Clow Cards into Sakura Cards, and then that was because of special brotherly intuition.

Sakura hugged Eriol. "Thanks for coming," she whispered happily. Tomoyo smiled, as she videotaped the whole thing. "I know what I'm going to call this," she told Kero, who was also – with the rest of the group – watching the scene, but with a huge box of donuts, which was quickly being emptied from the box into Kero's mouth. "The reunion of the people involved in the whole Cardcaptor Episode."

"Why don't you just call it the Cardcaptors' Reunion?" Kero said lazily, and was barely audible due to his mouth being stuffed with the remains of the donuts.

Tomoyo smiled at Kero. "That's a good idea." She continued videotaping the scene, and smiled again when Sakura hugged him again after he gave her birthday present. "But it wouldn't really be a reunion now, would it?"

Kero stopped shoving his mouth with food. "What do you mean?" He asked, looking expectantly at Tomoyo, whose eyes still focused on the scenes that ensued afterward; Touya saying, "You're too old to be a monster anymore," followed by Sakura's still whining comeback, "I am not a monster!", and they started arguing about how Sakura's now older and that (in Touya's case) she should not be acting so childish and monster-like anymore – how could she just jump onto her guests, and (in Sakura's case) she was old enough and was never a monster to begin with, and besides, she hadn't seen Eriol for a long time, and had missed him.

"It's not Eriol she misses," Tomoyo sighed. "It's Syaoran. And no reunion of Sakura's would be perfect without Syaoran around. She still misses him. I still don't get how she got so angry about the whole card-tearing issue that she actually stopped speaking to him. She's not that type of person who takes offence easily."

"Touya, I am not a monster! You are the monster, and a great big bully besides!" Sakura yelled in the background.

Kero raised his doll-like eyes. Tomoyo quickly altered her sentence.

"Except when it comes to Touya, at least. She hates it when he tries to tease her. It's not like that with Syaoran. And he wouldn't dare to do anything to upset her. He cares about her too much," she said, hurriedly.

"She must have overreacted," Kero commented.

"She did. I wonder what made her overreact."

"I have a clue, but I'm not sure. That brat can surprise you, you know." Kero said.

"Brat? Who's the brat?" Sakura said, overhearing the last part. "I bet it's Touya."

"In your dreams, monster," Touya calmly replied.

"I am not a monster!" Sakura yelled.

Tomoyo shook her head, then noticed Eriol walk in their direction. "Oh, hello Hiiragizawa!"

"Hello, Tomoyo. And you can still call me Eriol, you know. We're still friends."

"All because of her," she sighed, looking in Sakura's direction, as she was stopped from retaliating further to Touya's comments as Yue and Fujitaka restrained her from actually trying to lay a blow (that she definitely would regret after that) on Touya.

Tomoyo shook her head. "Sometimes I'm worried about her."

Kero scowled annoyingly, whilst Eriol smiled his friendly smile. "You already said that, Tomoyo," Kero muttered. Then, realizing that his donut box was emptied, he gave a shrill wail: "Oh no! I'd better get some more from Sakura! Sakura!" He flew off, looking for Sakura.

Eriol looked amused. "I can't believe Kero is egging Sakura to use the Create Card to provide herself with a smashing birthday party."

"She didn't want to. But it's a really special birthday, because Miss Mizuki is coming soon. And the rest of the gang is coming later."

"Rest of the gang?" Eriol arched his eyebrows.

"You know, Yamazaki, Chiharu, and the rest. Is Nakuru here?"

"No, she's still in England. Oh, and is Yamazaki and Chiharu still arguing?"

"No," Tomoyo said, giggling. "They're a couple now!"

"Eh?" Eriol looked confused. Clearly he had not expected the news.

Tomoyo only giggled more at his reaction. "It's true. After Syaoran and Sakura argued (she said this in a whisper), Yamazaki suddenly showed his 'softer' side. And Chiharu stopped nagging at him. They're so happy now. It's as if they're soulmates."

Eriol's voice had a tinge of panic to them as he said that. "Say what? They got together so soon?"

Tomoyo frowned. "So you expected this?"

"Not in that way," Eriol said, shaking his head. "Remember what I had expected would come out of the whole of the old episode? It wasn't supposed to end like that. Of course, I believed that Yamazaki and Chiharu would end up together, but only after a major event – a fight, I believe. – Tell me," Eriol said, changing the subject. "Did you notice anything weird happen after Syaoran and Sakura stopped speaking to each other?"

"What, so you think their relationship had an effect on Yamazaki's and Chiharu's relationship?" Tomoyo said, barely audible and in shock.

Eriol looked confused, but instead he said, "I just scent a strange aura of magic around here."

Tomoyo looked confused, and was about to say something, but Eriol told her, "It's confusing."

"Not that I can remember," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, I know something's at work here. And I believe it's been here for a long time, and is going to erupt soon. And as far as I can trace its source, I think it was after I left."

"Lots of things have happened since then," Tomoyo pointed out. "What are the odds it has to do with Syaoran and Sakura?"

"I don't know," Eriol said shrugging. "Since Kaho –"

"Kaho?" Tomoyo interrupted.

"Miss Mizuki to you, remember? Since she –"

"Were you romantically involved with her?" Tomoyo said bluntly.

Eriol smiled. "No, she was my associate in England who took an interest in Sakura. We had met as acquaintances in England through mutual friends. When I found out about from sources that she was a contact of the new Cardcaptor – who was Sakura, as I later found out – I contacted her. She gave me some information about her, and I revealed to her that I was the half-reincarnation of Clow Reed and needed to help Sakura with her newfound abilities. So we became friends."

"Oh," Tomoyo said. "So, how old are you exactly? Are you Mr. Kinomoto's age?"

Eriol smiled. "Much younger. About Touya's age. Since he was born earlier, he couldn't receive all the powers due to him, and it was passed to me, but only about two decades later, when Touya was born, which was when I could come into this world."

"Oh."

"But that's beside the point. Tomoyo, will you please look out for any strange happenings that may occur? It might point us in the direction of that strange aura. And try to – discreetly – find out whether Kero or Yue or Sakura has been able to sense this aura. It might help us," Eriol looked at her earnestly.

Tomoyo was surprised. "Of course."

Eriol smiled at her. "Thank you." He stood up. "Now I better go. I have some unfinished business to attend too." He walked off in Touya's direction.

Tomoyo stared after him. And I too.

Syaoran Li could hardly believe he was back in the Li Residence at Tomoeda. It seemed so strange, unfamiliar – did he really live here before? His room where he had spent so much time in – wondering why he was ever here in the first place? About halfway during his stay in Tomoeda he realized that fate must have brought him here to meet Sakura, not to increase his own magical abilities. Crushing, it would have been to him, had he not met Sakura. But he did, and he was glad Fate had set him up to meet her. But when they fought – and in this very room, no less! – he had to reconsider Fate's motives. It was disconcerting. He wished he would know what God was ordering Fate. But that was impossible. His hands instinctively went to the locket Sakura gave him – the one over which the argument stemmed. He had carried it around with him, just as he carried his sword – well, his magic sword in disguise, of course.

"Strange, isn't it? To be back here where she –" came Meiling's voice all of a sudden, surprising him, and which checked itself in the end.

Syaoran turned around. Meiling was behind him, leaning against the doorway of his room. Syaoran smiled at his ex-fiancee/cousin. He had become fond of her, and more appreciative of her support of him, and the relationship they now had was purely platonic.

He smiled at her. She seemed so nervous after she had unintentionally referred to her. Syaoran knew she wouldn't want to hurt his feelings, so he smiled. "It's okay, Meiling."

"Tell me the truth, Syaoran," she said, sitting on his bed. "Do you still care for her? Is she the reason why you decided to return to Tomoeda?"

"The reason why I decided to return was because mother told me I could come here," Syaoran told his cousin.

"Liar! Syaoran, you lie," Meiling replied whiningly. Apparently, she still retained a few of the characteristics that she had when she was ten. "How can you lie Syaoran? Your eyes deceive you. It plainly shows that you haven't gotten over her. You still love her," Meiling said, emphasizing on the word love.

"If you knew the answer, why bother asking the question?" Syaoran asked coldly.

"Now, now Syaoran. Don't take that tone with me. You haven't spoken to me like that since we were eleven – don't start now. I only wanted to hear it from your own lips that you still care for her."

"Whatever," Syaoran muttered.

"And since I'm your favourite cousin, I've got a surprise for you that you can't turn down."

"Do as you like," was Syaoran's only reply.

"Why are you so moody?" Meiling whined. "Anyway, I'm going to force you over to Sakura's house. It's her birthday, remember? Then you can see her and make up, and say 'I love you' and live happily ever after and stop being so moody. What do you think?"

"Stupid idea. I can't believe you're still acting petulant, Meiling. I thought you outgrew that. You hardly acted like this back in Hong Kong."

"Old times brings back fond memories I suppose." Meiling shrugged, and then grabbed Syaoran's sleeve. "So come on, Romeo. Make up with Juliet, and his happily ever after."

"Firstly, our names are not Romeo and Juliet. It's Syaoran and Sakura. And secondly, I don't want to end up like them two. They died needlessly. The whole tragedy is stupid."

"Fine, whatever," Meiling told him. "Just come with me. Wei, we're leaving!" Meiling said, tugging on Syaoran's sleeve, and told the butler.

Inside, Syaoran couldn't help but feel a tiny bit happier at the prospect of seeing Sakura again, that was for sure. But he had a reason to be worried –

What if Sakura still was angry with him?

"Well, we're here. 5 o' clock. You'd better do your thing, Romeo –" And Meiling rattled off with her advice on what he should do once he saw Sakura.

Syaoran wasn't listening. All he could concentrate on was how little the Kinomoto house had changed, and he was wondering whether Sakura had changed. Had she forgotten him already? Had she found a new person to love?

He looked inside a window. Everyone he met since meeting her was there, in the Kinomoto house. They all looked happy. But where was Sakura? There she was –

Sakura hadn't changed much. She had longer hair, she was taller, definitely, and she looked happy, smiling. Was she so happy ever since he left? He was hardly able to smile since they parted; it was always forced, and always a rare sight. It was so dazzling to see her smile – he'd nearly forgotten how he used to feel butterflies whenever she graced him with a smile.

He couldn't meet her; not now. He could ruin her vision of happiness – he never wanted to see her sad, ever. So while Meiling wasn't really paying attention, he sneaked off.

He would only observe. He didn't want to ruin her happiness. Perhaps a glance of her – that was all he wanted.

He noticed Meiling turn to speak to him after she finished rattling of with advice, right after she had knocked on the door. She was confused, the realization dawned upon her. But it was too late for her to run. Fujitaka Kinomoto had already opened the door and stared at her when he saw her, but smiled. His mouth formed what Syaoran thought was something like, "Oh Meiling, I didn't know you were here in Tomoeda."

Syaoran turned away. Again, his hand went to the locket she gave him.

Sakura felt happy and relaxed. Everyone was here, including Miss Mizuki, who was no longer staying in Tomoeda, but hinted she might return. Everyone was here, except for him. Still she smiled and affected happiness –

It was stupid to be thinking of him at this moment, and she chastised herself for doing so. She had argued with him, for what she thought was privately a stupid reason, and he left Tomoeda for Hong Kong with Meiling, not to return.

But oh, how she wished he was here! But that wasn't her who was thinking, she chastised herself yet again – it was someone else, a shadow of herself. He had argued and was jealous of her, and she was convinced he never truly loved her. This was all puppy love and fondness of their shared memories together. She would try to remove those memories again, after the party, by use of her magic, which had consistently grown stronger.

She had to detach herself from those memories. She couldn't help but contemplate over the whole situation, even years after she saw him. What would she do when she saw him was a constant question that played in her mind, but that question had been answered long ago. She would pretend that nothing had happened; she would show him that without him, she could still survive. It would be simple, she thought, to detach herself from what really was. Still –

It was then that she felt a comforting aura. It was so safe, so comforting, she almost let herself be enveloped in the safe feeling she suddenly felt from it, almost magical –

Magical! Of course, it was an aura of magic! It seemed so familiar – where had she felt that aura before?

Her eyes widened in shock. It can't be, she was thinking, thoughts muddling as she began panicking on what she was to do. When he wasn't here, it was so easy to contemplate on what and how she would respond, but now she knew he was here –

Why did it come true? Why did her wish that she never wished for come true?

Think clearly, she forced herself to think. Act happy, as if he was never part of your life –

Easier said than done, she secretly retorted, but she had to force herself. All she could remember out of the argument now was fuzzy, woozy – all she could remember was that she was angry and heartbroken after that. A knock on the door brought her back to reality.

He's here.

Author's Note:

Well, this has been my longest chapter by far (cheers)! Hoping that you guys enjoy reading and reviewing, even if the review is nothing more than, "Whoa!" It just means a lot to me. I might not be able to update soon, but the reviews would motivate me to write faster, lol. It's IGCSE this term, that's why, and I want to score 10 As in it. Impossible? Unsure, but willing to try it!