Last time, Syaoran agreed to baby-sit Sakura while she would be too helpless in her drugged state. But late at night, he woke to find she had been poisoned! A strange woman appeared and admitted she poisoned her, but Syaoran killed her. Sakura lay dying on the couch, when a strange woman came and cured her instantly, even removing the scar. She says she is from… the future!

1.1 Chapter 9

"Seven Years?!" Sakura and Syaoran exclaimed at once. They looked shocked. "H-h-how are you here from the future?! Why?!" Sakura questioned. "To ask for your help." Syaoran looked curious. "Help? Help with what?" He asked. "It is a long story." She sat down on the sofa. "Let me explain a few things. This may be confusing, but you must know." Syaoran thought for a second. "Well, you did save Sakura's life. I'm extremely grateful for that. So let's hear it. Maybe we can help you." "Alright. Here's where it all begins: Since the beginning of time, there was an evil wizard by the name of Sadin. Sadin was capable of traveling through time. Normally, when traveling through time, a person's body would age along with whatever time had passed, back in time or forward. But Sadin, you see, is ageless. He is no older today than he was 20,000,000 years ago. He is extremely evil. He has searched all over time and space to find ultimate power." "Ultimate power?" Syaoran interrupted. Sakura grabbed the Clow Cards and pulled them close to her chest. "You don't mean…" Mia looked her in the eyes. "That's right. The Clow Cards. He believes that he can absorb the power of the cards and gain so much power that he could rule the entire universe." Syaoran and Sakura stared at each other and quickly back at Mia. Sakura stated, "But if he is that powerful so he can control time, how come he doesn't just come here himself and try to take them from us?" Syaoran added, "Yeah, why does he send a bunch of lackeys to do his bidding?" Mia looked him in the eyes. "That's why he wants those cards!" "Huh?"

"Sadin doesn't exist in any one time period. He just exists. He has his own little world. But he can control time here. He can see any time he wishes. That's how he learned of the Clow Cards. He can't get to this planet though, in any time. He can only create time portals large enough to send a few men and women through. The men and women in black tuxedos with the dark eyes are his creations." Syaoran added, "So, that's where those guys are coming from." "It's not where they are coming from, but when. Let me explain it a little better. Sadin thinks that if he can get his hands on the Clow Cards, he can use their magic to open a portal from his world to ours. Using his power and the Clow Cards, he could rule not just the world, not just the universe, but all of time itself!" They gasped. "We can't let that happen, Syaoran!" "I know, Sakura. But if he can't get to our world, how can we get to his? And if he's that powerful, how can we defeat him? Besides, didn't you say that if we travel through time, we'd age? So if we tried to transport ourselves to WHENEVER he is, we'd either die of old age, or be shrunk down to before we were born?" Mia shook her head. "Normally, yes, but I have a plan! You see, in order for a portal to be opened from our world to his, the gate must be opened from our side. So in a year, Sadin will have created an army powerful enough to rule this planet. And he will. If time flowed like he changes it, the army of demons in the black tuxedos will destroy almost everything. Cities will be toppled, people slain, technology erased from time, the world will be sent back to the Stone Age. The worst part, you two were killed." Syaoran and Sakura gasped. "What?! Me and Sakura… KILLED?!" "How can you expect me and Syaoran to fight someone we know will kill us?!" "That's the beauty of my plan. You see, according to the grave I found of you two, you were killed four years from now, and Sadin had taken over the world completely in seven years. Since he had the total control in seven years, that's sorta where he set up his base of operations. He has the Clow Cards then, and is setting up five shrines. When each shrine absorbs enough power from the Clow Cards, a portal will open that will take him from his world to ours. MY theory is that if we can put these in the place of the Clow Cards, it will reverse the portal, and take US to him!"

Mia grabbed a shining green stone out of a small leather bag tied to her waist. It was the same color as Sakura's eyes.

"These are magic absorbing stones. If we can put them where the Clow Cards should be, then it should destroy the shrines. When all the shrines are destroyed, the portal to his world will allow us to go to his world, but he won't be able to come into ours."

Syaoran thought of something. "But if we travel to the future, won't the Clow Cards still be with us, so the shrines won't be built?" "No, they'll be there. Sadin knew that he should have the world under his power by the seventh year, so he had his minions start to construct the shrines, even before he killed the two of you and stole the cards in four years. And if we can destroy Sadin in his own world, time will revert back to when he first interfered with the flow of time, namely, the day that you met the first black tuxedo in the park. And here is how we can get to those shrines: Sadin has left a portal open in this town. That's where the tuxedos are appearing from. He kept the portal open so that maybe he could find a way to steal the Clow Cards from you. It's the same portal I snuck through to get from the future to now! He is rather impatient. He doesn't want to wait for his minions in the future. Ironic, isn't it? All the time in the world and he can't wait a minute? Anyway, we shall show him his mistake of his impatient manner by using his own time portal to travel to the future when the shrines are finished! We travel through the portal, destroy the shrines, defeat Sadin, and then everything will be restored! And since we only travel seven years into the future, our bodies will only age seven years! With that age, the four of us will be even stronger!"

Syaoran and Sakura looked at her confused. "FOUR of us?" Sakura asked. "Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I brought back a friend of yours from the future. I believe you already know each other well!" Sakura's eyes widen when she saw her old friend walk into the room. "TOMOYO!" She squealed. Sakura jumped up and ran over to her and hugged her. She was dressed in a dress very similar to Mia's only black. She looked exactly like the Tomoyo from the current time. "I'm so glad to hear you were… or will be… whatever in the future!" Tomoyo smiled. "No, I'm the one who should be glad. I… I… I saw you and Syaoran killed in the future by a black tuxedo. It was horrible… I couldn't sleep, knowing I watched your end… But when Mia told me and the rest of the mages that there was a way to go back in time to rescue you, how could I not come?!" Syaoran stared at her with a weird look on his face. "Did you say… mages? Are you a mage?" Tomoyo smiled. "Yes, Mia is a Blue Mage, who is a healer, and I'm a Black Mage, who uses offensive magic to keep the tuxedos away. When all the technology and science records were destroyed, the remaining humans had to find some way to survive. Eventually, some people stumbled upon ancient scrolls in temples of lost civilizations. So, humans used those scrolls to learn magic. Watch!" Tomoyo kept her hands a few inches apart and concentrated. "Fire!" A tiny fireball appeared between her hands and started to fly around. "Using magic like this, and combined with the Blue Mages healing and shielding power, the remaining population was able to keep pretty safe from the tuxedos. But sadly, we aren't powerful enough to even think about trying to destroy Sadin."

Syaoran asked Mia, "So, you're a Blue Mage of healing? Is that how you healed Sakura? Even the scar on her face?" "Yes, I know many healing spells. The scar was easy to heal. And I've seen that kind of poison used before. I already knew the right spell to cure it. Which is a good thing, since Sakura would be dead now if it weren't for that spell." "Then I thank you for saving her life once again. We gotta repay you. Sakura! I've already decided. I'm going. What about you?" Sakura looked at him angrily. "How could I stay here knowing the entire world is in jeopardy?! Of course I'm going! Besides, I couldn't let you go alone, could I?!" Mia and Tomoyo smiled. "Alright, let's go, the portal is in the center of the park. We should try and get there soon. If anyone saw us, then who knows what could happen?" Mia said. "Besides," Tomoyo asked, "what would I say if I saw me?" Sakura and Syaoran thought, "Man, all this time travel stuff is confusing! My head hurts just thinking about this. But there's no time to lose! …Wait! If we don't hurry, we will lose all the time in the world! Literally!" And with that, they ran out the door.

"Wait! Mia! Shouldn't we wake up Kero and Touya and everyone?" Syaoran added, "Yea, they were knocked out, apparently during the fight." "It wouldn't make a difference. There isn't enough power in the time portal to send any more than the four of us through. They will have to stay here. Even Kero. Come on, let's hurry!" And they rushed off to the park.

A few minutes later, they were shoving their way through the jungle of trees in the park. Soon, Sakura saw an opening. She shoved her way through, and there on top of a hill was a gateway to the future. It looked like a purple whirlpool floating in mid air. They stood at the entrance of it. "Come on! Let's go!" Mia said. She and Tomoyo jumped into the portal, and disappeared almost instantly. "Syaoran, I'm scared!" "I am too, Sakura, but we must go!" She grabbed his hand, and he blushed. "Well, here goes nothing…" He jumped into the portal, dragging Sakura in with him.

They disappeared.

1.1.1 To be Continued…

Now, the real story begins…