Sakura ran her hand along the wall as she walked to keep her bearings. Kero had gone back into the bag; they didn't want to get separated. The silent hum of electricity reminded of the lab she had woken up in. Other than that, it was silent. There was not a sign of life except the dim light flickering beyond the end of the hall. Sakura moved towards it, taking the brush from her jacket pocket and clutching it by her chest. She stifled her breathing, making as little sound as possible as she snuck along.
The hallway led Sakura to a room lit only by a couple of torches. The air was uncomfortably warm and dry. There was a door on either side of the room, and a couple of ramps in the back that surrounded a balcony overlooking the small room. Sakura half expected to see the woman there, standing on the balcony with a cruel grin on her face. But there was no one there. Only another camera that watched the room from above. Sakura felt even more anxious seeing nobody around. She knew someone was there, watching her through the security cameras.
"Do you think we should go up there?" Sakura whispered.
Kero fluttered out of the bag and took a look around. "Um… Yeah. Let's take a quick look."
"Okay."
Sakura grabbed a torch from its sconce and started up the ramp. The ramps led to a small room that accessed the balcony from the room below. Aside from the torch Sakura was carrying, the room was lit by a set of monitors further back. There were a few shelves which held a small variety of books, and a desk and chair beneath the monitors. Sakura walked up to one of the shelves. Setting the torch down, Sakura pulled a book from the shelf. On its cover was the title The History of New Tomoeda.
"So. You came," said a voice suddenly. Sakura gasped and fumbled the book. It made a loud clang against the metal floor that echoed through the halls. The chair by the monitors swiveled around. Seated was a woman with long, tangled black hair and a dress that had been patched so many times, it was difficult to say if any of it was original material. It may have been the dim lighting, but she looked different than the woman they had seen at the castle. "I thought you'd never."
"Who are you? Why are you trying to steal my heart?" Sakura demanded. She held the brush out in front of herself defensively.
"You mean, you don't remember?" The woman took a dismantled security camera from her desk and held it up to her face like a camcorder. "Though, it's been a while since I last tried to steal your heart."
"T-Tomoyo-chan? It's really you? I… Everyone thinks you're dead."
The woman stood and set the camera back on the desk. "Yes. It's me. I'm sorry for letting everyone believe I was dead, but it's for the best. But, why are you here?"
"Someone kidnapped me and tried to take my heart. I'm trying to find her and stop her."
"It wasn't you, was it?" Kero asked.
"No. I didn't even know you were here until you two showed up on my doorstep," Tomoyo explained.
"Then, why are you hiding out here? Why pretend to be dead?" said Sakura.
"It's a long story."
"Do you have any idea who could be after Sakura's heart?" Kero added.
"I- I think so." Tomoyo picked the book Sakura had dropped off of the floor and set it back on the shelf. "After we wound up here, Okaasan wanted to learn the secrets of this world, and eventually find a way out. She set up a lab outside of town and began studying the world and the barrier that keeps us all here. She would tell me about the things she found. It was like a pocket universe, she told me. A small, isolated world. And once we got through the barrier, we would end up back in our own world. Until one day, she just gave up. That's when she started to have that park built past Main Street. I knew then that we would never get home."
"Why did she give up?" Sakura asked.
"She never told me. But I saw the records of her research. She believed that people who ended up here lost their own hearts. Not the physical heart itself, but more of a 'soul' heart. Without it, no one can cross the barrier."
"And that's why that woman wants mine?"
"I think so. But that monster wants it as well. With it, he can also leave this world and wreak havoc on both of our worlds. That woman you had a run-in with was likely Matsumoto Maki-san. She used to work with Okaasan in her research. But when Okaasan abandoned all hope of leaving, she continued to try to break through the barrier. This… caused some tension between the two of them. Matsumoto-san thought Okaasan was abandoning her people by giving up on the barrier. However, they still fought alongside one another when the monster appeared."
"The thinner disaster," Kero observed.
"Yes. They managed to defeat him, but Okaasan lost her life in the process."
"I'm sorry, Tomoyo-chan, I…" Sakura said.
"That was eight years ago. I've come to terms with it," Tomoyo replied. "But you need to get out of here. As long as you're here, Matsumoto-san and the blot's goons will be after you."
"I can help!" said Sakura. "Come back to Tomoeda. Let everyone know you're okay. Together, we can fight them."
"No, we can't. That monster is too powerful, and Matsumoto-san is too desperate. The best thing we can do is get you back to your world before they get their hands on you."
"You're just… giving up?" Kero asked.
"I'm being realistic. We can't win this fight."
"Going back won't work either! I was in the other world when the Blot pulled me into this one! At least right now we can face them together!" Sakura said.
"I see. Fine. But we must hurry," Tomoyo conceded. "And no one can know about me."
"Why not? Don't you miss everyone?"
"Didn't you?"
"Yes. I missed everyone so much. But at least I had people around to keep myself company instead of isolating myself on this awful mountain!"
Tomoyo glared at her. "Do you think I like being here? Scraping by on whatever food I can get and only having these books to keep myself company?"
"Then leave!"
Kero whacked them each hard on the forehead. "Stop it! Have you two forgotten who the real enemy is here?"
"I'm sorry, Kero-chan," Sakura said. "I just-"
"I don't want to hear it," Kero replied. "Whatever happened to the Sakura and Tomoyo I knew?"
"It's been over ten years, Kero-chan," Tomoyo said. "Things change. People change."
Kero sighed. "I get that. But this, this petty squabbling? Where does this get anyone?"
"I said I'd go."
"That isn't enough. If you two don't get along, you may as well be working separately. If you want to get anything done, you two need to make up right now."
"Kero-chan's right," Sakura said. "I'm sorry about what I said."
"I understand. I'm sorry, too," Tomoyo replied.
"Alright, that's better. So, where to, then?"
"Kodansha. It's the most isolated town in Tomoeda," Tomoyo said. She grabbed something from a shelf, which Sakura realized was a sword of some kind. She tied it to her waist with a strand of cloth. "Do you have anything to fight with?"
"I have this," Sakura said, holding out the brush.
"That paintbrush you tried to threaten me with when you got here?"
"Hey!" Kero interjected. "It's not just any old brush. It's a magical brush!"
"Ha, do you have any idea how ridiculous you sounded just now?" Tomoyo replied. "If I didn't know better, I'd probably think you were crazy."
"It's true, though!" Kero groaned.
Sakura and Tomoyo both laughed. "Alright, well," said Tomoyo. "Let's get going, shall we?"
