It was back. It was back, and it was watching her. This time, nothing else was in the pitch black room but her, and it. The spotlight still shone yellow, casting the shadow of it on the ground behind it. The purple strings still glinted, leading up to the invisible ceiling. The smile was still crooked, painted, and menacing. The hand still beckoned. And the girl still moved forward.
This time, though, the girl found that she held a staff in her hands - a pink staff, with a star on its end. A bulge in her pocket was revealed to be a deck of strange cards, a few pink and the rest a reddish-brown. The pink cards glowed, and the girl found that she received strength, the strength to fight the power of the marionette. Gritting her teeth, the girl planted her feet, raising her staff above her. The pink cards flew out from the confines of her pocket and circled around her, six in all. The cards formed a six-pointed star around her, and the girl found she could move her mouth into a smile. But the puppet beckoned again, and the girl lurched forwards.
Circling frantically around her, the cards glowed stronger as the girl continued to fight the puppet's grasp. One by one, the cards turned grey and fell to the ground. The star staff shrunk to a key and slipped from the girl's grasp. Again, the girl was jerked forwards, and this time she could not fight. The remaining cards in her pocket grew heavy, and weighed her resisting movements down. From above, laughter was heard. She would be destroyed.
A pure white light shone in the darkness. The girl squeezed her eyes shut against the blinding brightness, and the marionette cowered into the shadows.
Do not worry, child. A gentle voice sounded throughout the room, but the girl knew that it came from the light. You are the Mistress. Already, some of the Cards are yours and yours alone. They and the remaining Cards are on your side. The Gentle One is with you as well, as she has been for many years. You have released the Sun Lion, even if he is confined to his false form for the moment. You will release him fully eventually. You must find the Moon Angel. He is near you, yet hidden to your senses in his false form. He is your other guardian. The Fighter is coming, and behind her walks Little Wolf. You must take them in and make them your friends, for they will prove to be important allies in the coming battle. Later, the Clever One will appear. He is hidden to me now, but he will aid you in the future, even if it seems he works against you at first. I, too, will stand beside you. That is, if you can find me. A chuckle sounded, but, unlike the one of the puppet, this one was warm and inviting. The girl found that she could move freely again, and that the evil that had earlier hindered her was completely vanished.
You must go now, child. The Gentle One is calling you. Do not be afraid. I am with you, though, even if at times you may not feel me. The girl detected the humor in the voice, yet she could not detect if the voice was female or male, old or young. It was warm, though, and the girl started to panic when it began to fade.
"…Kura..."
The girl looked wildly around. What was that? It sounded again, this time completely.
"…Sakura..."
The girl felt herself being taken away from the warmth of the white light, and she began to struggle again the presence she felt pulling her back.
Go, child! It is okay. After all, you are my little Cherry Blossom.
"Sakura, you have to wake up!"
The girl relaxed as the light swept over her, and slowly closed her eyes as around her the blackness began to melt away. She was okay. The light was with her.
I slowly cracked my eyes open and gazed around me. There was purple everywhere! Even the blanket in which I was wrapped was purple.
"Gosh Sakura, you sure take a while to wake up! Maybe I should use Touya's method of dumping water on you!" From beside me, a bright voice sounded. Turning my head, I was met with violet eyes.
"Tomoyo wouldn't dump water on me, she's too nice. She's the Gentle One. The light said so." I murmured, closing my eyes again. Why was I so hot? I struggled to kick off the blanket, and chirped in pleasure as someone did it for me. It was still hot and muggy, though, and I opened my eyes again as I lurched out of bed and stumbled towards the window.
"Sakura, wait! It's freezing out there." Tomoyo gently ushered me back to her bed, and I was surprised to find my clothes were sticking to me from sweat.
"Feel her forehead, Tomoyo! She's burning up!" Kero exclaimed, drawing his small paw away from my forehead. In a quieter voice, so just I could hear, he continued, "I should've never let you transform the Fight and then battle it, especially with your arm like that! And when it was so cold outside too. You probably have pneumonia or something. Some guardian I am."
"It's okay, Kero! I got no noo-moen-ya." I slurred, trying to reach up and pat him on the head. My vision went double, and I ended up falling backwards into Tomoyo as I was knocked off balance. What did he mean by my arm? It felt perfectly fine to me!
"Sakura!" Tomoyo cried, straining to lift me up as she cradled my head in her arms, her cool hand on my forehead.
"Tomoyo, your hand's so cold! Feels nice." I muttered, closing my eyes again. Tomoyo wrenched her hand away in alarm, and turned to Kero.
"She's definitely not okay. We should get her to a doctor."
"Guys, I'm fine!" As I said this, I realized it was true. The heat was gradually beginning to leave my body, and my energy was coming back. My heat-fogged brain was clearing, and I shook the last traces of stupor from it. Placing Tomoyo and Kero's hand/paw on my forehead, I let them know physically that I was doing fine.
"She was burning up five minutes ago. How can she be this cool?" Kero questioned, looking frantically at Tomoyo, who hesitantly shrugged, worry in her eyes.
"Told you two!" I stuck my tongue out childishly and sat up in Tomoyo's bed. "In fact, I'm getting a bit chilly. Kero, can you pass the blanket?" I indicated the blanket Kero had thrown on the floor for me earlier, when I felt as if I was melting. Now my body was beginning to shiver with cold.
"T-Tomoyo," I stuttered, my teeth clacking together and my lips beginning to turn blue, "Do you have a p-problem with your heating and c-cooling systems? Because now I'm f-freezing." I cocooned myself in the blanket and pulled part of it over my head, so I looked as if I was and old woman.
"Not that I know of…" Tomoyo trailed off as she noticed my breath was foggy. I had noticed it earlier, and was trying to take my mind off the cold by blowing steam from my nose and mouth. A tingle of heat was beginning to creep into my spine, and I stopped shivering. My breath gradually turned invisible again.
"Nevermind." I was begging to slur my words together again as the heat kicked in. "I'm warm now. Hot, actually." I slowly shoved the blanket off of me and slowly, ineffectively fanned myself with my hand. My movements were too sluggish to create any sort of breeze.
"Sakura, what's wrong? First you were hot, then you were freezing, and now you're back to hot again! Kero, help her!" Tomoyo turned frantically to a startled Kero, and looked at him with pleading purple eyes.
"…I'm not sure myself what's going on. It might be a spirit that Clow neglected to capture or forgot about. In that case, Sakura's the only one who can get rid of her temperature swings; I'm just not sure she's in a state to do so." Kero looked helplessly at me as I started to sweat. My collar soaked again, I pushed up my pant legs and my shirt sleeves, trying to expose as much skin to the cool air as I could without becoming indecent. Tomoyo wouldn't care, but I was still getting used to Kero.
At the mention of a spirit, my attention was drawn to Kero. "I could capture a spirit." I spoke with excruciating slowness, but my words were firm. My movements were sluggish from the heat, but I still managed to hook my hand around my star key necklace. With a soft cry of "Release!" the key turned into a staff, and I brought my other hand to it. Though that hand should be well unable to move, I found I could do so. I was so hot, though, that I didn't pay any attention to my seemingly healed arm. The heat I was feeling inside was beginning to become unbearable, and I needed a reprieve of any sort. Drawing two cards from my deck of Clow Cards, I held them aloft in front of me.
"Sakura, wait! You're in no state to transform cards!" Kero cried, frantically trying to draw my raised arms down. I was known for my stubbornness, though, and I refused to give up, even if I was too weak to do anything to get Kero off my arm.
It's my job to capture spirits, and protect them and the people they might harm! I screamed inside, but I could no longer open my mouth to speak. The heat continued to swell up inside me, so much that I thought I might catch fire if it continued. With a great effort, I managed to tap my staff to the two cards in my hand, and begin my first duo transformation.
My pink aura surrounded the cards, and they began to glow golden, a glow that traveled up the length of them, hovering somewhere near the top. Gritting my teeth, I glared at the cards and heaved my staff up a bit higher, willing the cards to change completely. I was oblivious to Tomoyo and Kero's frantic tugging on my arms, and their fearful begging of me to stop. Once I started something, I would finish it, no matter the cost.
Finally, the golden glow encompassed the whole of both cards. It exploded outwards, and two spirits were drawn out from their cards. The former Clow Cards were now pink Sakura cards. Fatigue hit my body, but I knew I couldn't stop now. I still had to capture the spirit.
The first figure was huge; it crouched down to avoid touching Tomoyo's smooth ceiling. The spirit itself was a great contrast from what lay on its card. In front of me was coiled an ice-dragon, a blue jewel crowning its forehead. On the card was a picture of a sharp-edged icicle-fish, the same jewel on its forehead. The ice-dragon was an ice-blue color, with large, jagged icicles framing its head. Slanted, feline-like eyes gazed steadily at me.
The second figure was smaller, but no less intimidating. A woman with pure white skin gazed regally at me. Her hair and eyes were pure white as well, and she wore a white kimono. The sash of blue on her kimono was the only color on her body.
Both of them radiated cold from their bodies, and I welcomed it. They were The Freeze and The Snow, respectfully.
Given strength from the cold air now circulating the room (poor Kero and Tomoyo were shivering), I called out, "Freeze! Snow! Please, help me!" The ice dragon, Freeze, began to gently wrap himself around me, and I took comfort in his coldness. The wintry queen, Snow, enveloped me in an awkward chilled hug, and I hesitantly wrapped my arms back around her. The solemn Snow actually cracked a small smile, and I hugged her a bit tighter. The hotness began to flee my body and I found myself able to move freely again. Sensing I no longer needed their power, Freeze and Snow gave me one last rigid squeeze before they returned to card form. The two pink cards drifted into my deck, which I had moved from the pocket of my bathrobe (when I had started burning up, I had taken it off) into the pocket in my sleep-pants.
"Sakura, look up." Kero murmured, and I followed his instructions.
Above me was an impish figure, who looked to be a pointy-eared, young girl. She was clad all in various shades of red, and her skin was a pale pink. Her eyes were a fiery magenta; her hair was the same color and styled in twin, jagged pigtails. Reddish-brown overalls went over a red undershirt, and her small pink feet were bare. She glared at me as she shivered in some non-existent cold, and her glare brought me back to my senses. (I had been too busy staring at the spirit that had appeared from seemingly nowhere.)
Raising my staff above my head, I channeled my energy through it and towards the weakened spirit. Wisps of white began to appear around the sprite-like girl, swirling around her until she began to dissolve into wisps as well. When the fog cleared, a pink card drifted down into my hand. On it was the picture of the girl-spirit I had just captured, grinning impishly up at me from the picture. Next to her was an empty space. Where the name should have gone at the bottom of the card, there was another blank space. I was just beginning to ponder why the card was incomplete when the cold hit.
I was freezing. Shivers racked my body, and I was unable to support myself. Falling to the ground, the unfinished card drifted from my hand. My fingers were barely able to keep closed around the staff; they were stiff with cold. I could tell this cold was not caused by either The Freeze or The Snow, and I wondered if it came from the other half of the mysterious card. Tomoyo was instantly at my side, helping me to sit up. Through bleary eyes I noticed she had her favorite camcorder in one hand as she supported me with the other.
I wonder if she's video-taping all this… My thoughts trailed off as my brain began to shut down. I was already exhausted from transforming two cards at the same time and capturing a third, and now the coldness paired with the tiredness was causing my body to go into hibernation. Warmth began to spread into my veins, but this warmth was off. If I had been coherent, I would've known that this was a bad thing. Instead, I took joy in the welcome heat.
From somewhere in the distance, I could hear Kero and Tomoyo calling my name. Kero was also mentioning something about "The Firey." I couldn't hear them clearly. I was getting warmer, and the room around me was growing darker. The warmth was all that mattered right now though - the fake warmth that was slowly killing me.
From my pocket, real warmth began to emanate. It chased away the fake warmth, and fought back the rising cold in my body. My eyes fluttered open, and I gazed in awe as an angel clad in fire hovered above me. Her hair was red and orange flames, and it was held back with a red headband, a golden jewel in the middle. She was clad in nothing except for flames, which covered her lower torso and legs. Two flaming wings sprouted from her back. Long, thin-ended ears gave her an elfish appearance. She had a wild, youthful beauty. Though she wore a scowl, her eyes softened a bit as they gazed upon me. She was a true free spirit.
With a bit of a sigh, she glided down to me and burned my fingers as a punishment for calling her out so informally. I watched in wonder as they began to blister. Then, with a smile, my fiery angel began to quell the flames around her hand and reached out to me. I took her hand and gasped as a pure heat flooded my body. The angel just grinned wider, and continued to fill me with warmth. This heat was different from the excruciatingly painful one I had experienced earlier. Though they were both almost unbearably hot, this new warmth had a bit of a caring feeling to it. Leaning in, the fiery angel planted a light kiss on my forehead, leaving a small burn but also chasing away the last of the deadly cold. Her kiss was both a saving and savage gesture. She was the strangest angel I had even met, yet I was thankful for her presence; she gave me the same feeling as sitting inside on a wintry day in front of a warm fire, the popping, crackling, bright heat lulling you into a sense of security and peace.
White light gathered around the flaming girl as she turned back into her card form. The pink card came to rest in my hand, still warm. Smiling, I looked at the name of the card. "The Firey."
This time I was ready when above me a figure appeared. This spirit was a male child, and he looked to be the opposite of his female counterpart. Where she was red, he was blue. Pale blue skin made him look as if he had been frozen. Blue spiked hair sprouted from his small head, and his droopy eyes were an ice-blue. He, like the girl, was clad in overalls, except his were a navy blue with a sky-blue undershirt. Lethargic, he hovered in the air, barely able to keep himself aloft. His eyes were starting to close when I raised my staff and started to turn him into a Sakura Card.
From the floor beside me rose the card I had created earlier; the one with the red girl-child on it. The blue boy began to turn into tendrils of white smoke that flew into the shining card. When the process was finished, the card flew into my hand. Next to the girl, where the empty space had been earlier, a picture of the boy now rested. While the girl wore an impish smile, the boy stared up at me with solemn eyes and a flat line for a mouth. The card had been named, and in the blank space at the bottom "The Temperature" was written in the same flowing script that all the other cards had.
"Oh, thank gosh Sakura! I was so scared when you suddenly collapsed!" Tomoyo squealed, causing me to turn suddenly and look right at…
…The lens of Tomoyo's favorite camcorder.
"Tomoyo, did you get all of that on tape?" I complained, trying to duck away from the piercing gaze of the lens.
"Of course! I only wish I could've gotten you into a costume… Oh well! There's always next time! By the way, how's your arm? You fell pretty hard on it earlier." To my surprise, I noticed that I could freely move my injured arm around. I silently took off my sling, experimentally bending the arm back and forth. There was no pain. Could this have anything to do with the strange light in my dream?
"Sakura, are you feeling alright? You did capture two spirits into one card, and you transformed three cards, including two at once!" Kero commented, flying over to me and laying a paw on my forehead.
"I'm fine, Kero! Never been better!" I chirped, giving him a wide grin before I sank to the floor, eyes fluttering as I hovered between wakefulness and slumber.
"That child…" I heard Kero mutter, before small hands were taking my left arm up, supporting me. Delicate hands supported my right side, and Kero and Tomoyo led me to the latter's bed. I clutched The Temperature in my hand as Tomoyo tucked me in. The star key was back around my neck, and my cards were in my pocket. My dreams were filled with icy palaces ruled by snow queens and guarded by winter dragons, and skies in which I flew with a hot-headed angel of flame. I didn't notice the two pairs of purple strings on the ground disintegrate to ashes and scatter around Tomoyo's room.
