DM: Hey guys, I'm back again. Thanks for your reviews! I'm sorry that I've been updating my other CCS fic, Curses, like crazy, so I haven't had much time for this one. By the way, I got into Princeton! Yay! I'm so happy!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS.

Atlantis

Chapter Eight

Reminiscing

Chiharu sat braiding Sakura's hair in the garden. It was a part of the garden where huge walls jutted out from a tower, like spiral steps and grapevines wove their way around to the top. Hidden in a small valley between the walls, the two girls gossiped together about other members of the castle. Sakura was now a member of the court, being the resident magician and all, but she did not like those snooty aristocrats one bit. Chiharu was quickly becoming her best friend and confidante, similar to how it was with Tomoyo on the surface. But after two years in the city, Sakura was at last beginning to feel comfortable: she was not an alien anymore.

"So, Chiharu," Sakura began, grinning slyly, "What's this I hear of you and that kitchen boy?"

Chiharu was so surprised at that comment that she pulled the next loop of the braid way too tightly.

"Ow," Sakura yelped, massaging her scalp.

Chiharu didn't notice. She had turned crimson and was staring at her hands. They were wringing her apron in nervousness and embarrassment.

"You like him don't you?" she teased, "Yamazaki, was it?"

The other girl didn't reply, but her hands worked even faster at twisting, which Sakura took as an affirmative answer.

"You should tell him," she advised.

Still no response. Sakura sighed and continued:

"He likes you, or so they say—"

"They say wrong," Chiharu interrupted at last (much to Sakura's delight), "He likes…" she trailed off.

"He likes…?" Sakura prodded. The half-finished braid slipped loose around her shoulders.

"Meiling," Chiharu replied after a pause, "The princess."

Sakura fell over laughing. How could anyone like her? Sakura had never seen her treat anyone except Syaoran and Queen Yelan with kindness. What was worse, she sometimes suspected that Meiling knew about the romance between Sakura and Meiling's said fiancée. You had to feel sorry for her, though.

Something about Chiharu's embarrassment caused her to remember something from a long time ago. There was a time, she was sure, when she was in the same position as Chiharu. It seemed so far away now, the images fuzzy and blurred together in her brain:

"Come on now, Sakura, just give him the chocolates," her friend Naoko, a girl with short hair and glasses, was saying.

"Oh, but Naoko, he doesn't like me, he likes…"she had started to reply, when Naoko grabbed her hand and threw her towards an oncoming Eriol.

"You never know until you try, Sakura," she called, smirking.

How long ago was that? Odd, it seemed like decades. Sakura tried to recall who Eriol had liked. She had had short hair, but not like Naoko's, right? What was her name? Something with a T or a D maybe? Sakura gave up and turned to the still-blushing Chiharu.

"You never know until you try, Chiharu," she said, patting her on the shoulder.

Chiharu looked up, her blush fading, replaced by a look of determination. She nodded. Sakura smiled and walked off.

Best to leave Chiharu to her thoughts, she decided.

Strange, though, Sakura was suddenly remembering all sorts of things she had not thought about for a long time. How she came by the book and the cards. The little plush toy guardian she called Kero, a strange angel called Yue who shared a body with her teacher. And…Eriol.

Instead of heading to the library, as was her usual (she read from the diaries every Monday, when the library was closed to visitors from the public), Sakura went up to her room. After sifting through drawers filled with half-eaten cookies and love letters from Syaoran, Sakura finally found the photo of Eriol she had taken out of the Sakura book. She stared at it, marveling at how she had once loved this person. The drawer smelled strongly of dust, and another memory came to mind:

Sakura, twelve years old and incredibly bored, stalked down the isles of the public library. It was an old place, a little dingy near the back where nobody bothered to clean. She ran her fingers along the spines of the musty books, absently reading the titles to herself.

"So You Want to Fly an Airplane…Stories of King Arthur…Wait, this one doesn't have a title," she said aloud, stopping at a red and gold book.

Curious, Sakura took the book off the shelf. Clow, it said, on the front. Inside, instead of pages, there were odd tarot cards in a stack. She was about to touch one, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She started, still clutching the book and holding it to her chest.

"Oh, h-hello…"Sakura said, giving the intruder a fake smile.

It was the strange librarian. She looked at the book in Sakura's hands and frowned. Her face was so wrinkled that her eyes seemed to disappear whenever she showed an expression. Sakura was sure that she was at least a hundred years old.

"I don't remember seeing that book," the lady said.

She reached for the book, but, before she could touch it, it started to glow a menacing red. Sakura blanked out as a strange seal opened up beneath her. A voice…With an Osaka accent? Spoke out:

"Call out the name…"

The first card on the deck, the Windy, was rising up in front of her face. Sakura obeyed and repeated after the voice:

"Windy! Scatter the cards, lest they fall into the wrong hands!"

The words were out of her mouth before she even thought to say them. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a huge gust of wind. Sakura shut her eyes from the horrible gale.

Then the gale stopped. Sakura suddenly realized she had been floating. She then hit the ground.

"Ow," she cried out.

Rubbing her backside, Sakura noticed that the librarian had gone. She looked around the floor, feeling too tired to get up. There, in front of her, lay the book, open but empty. The Windy card floated down and landed in her hand.

"Finally," the Osakan voice said.

Sakura shrieked. A yellow teddy bear with wings was crawling out of the book!

"Kerberos. Guardian of the Clow cards. At your service."

And the rest was history. Now, even more memories came flooding back. Meeting her rival, Eriol, the direct descendant of Clow himself. He was very friendly, and, before she knew it…Sakura blushed a little as she looked at the engagement ring on her finger. How long had it been since she last thought of him?

Setting the photo down, Sakura silently and solemnly promised, that no matter how perfect Atlantis was, she would not forget the surface. Then she headed to the library.


Sakura had been dead for almost two years now. But it was alright. Everything was alright. Because Eriol had Tomoyo, whom he loved more every day. Together they were walking to the ceremonial grave that they had set up for her after the accident. Tomoyo held the bouquet of sunflowers carefully to her chest, and turned to smile at Eriol, who had his arm around her.

Eriol smiled back. He had never smiled like that in the few months after Sakura died. But now he smiled all the time. He was in love again.

The couple arrived at the grave in silence. Tomoyo knelt down and replaced the flowers while Eriol said a small prayer. They then stood in silence, looking at the grave.

Well Sakura, I hope you're not mad up there in Heaven, Eriol thought, But this sort of just happened this way. I still love you and think of you often, even though I am with Tomoyo now. Please continue to rest peacefully.

Tomoyo's thoughts went something like this:

I'm sorry Sakura, but I know that we both would want Eriol to be happy. I only regret that I must hide my past from him. But I promise you, woman to woman, that I will tell him someday. Maybe someday soon…


"At last. The final one," Sakura said to herself.

Although she knew how to speak and read and write Atlantician perfectly well (thanks to private tutoring sessions provided by Yelan), Sakura had not read much aside from the strange diaries. Now, at long last, the final book, the black one, was all that remained. She reached for it when someone jumped out from behind her.

"Boo!" the intruder shouted.

Sakura fell off the pouf she had been sitting on with a shrill squeal. She got up and glared as she heard the familiar laughter.

"I so got you!" Syaoran teased, laughing so hard that he was clutching his stomach.

"Jeez, Syaoran, you're terrible!" Sakura yelled, whacking him in the head with one hand.

She pouted and turned away from him, hiding her smile. Syaoran stopped laughing.

"Oh, Sakura, I'm sorry, did I really scare you that bad?" he asked contritely.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind. Smirking, Sakura turned around. She pulled her cheeks down and her eyes to the side, her tongue waggling.

"Boo!" she yelled.

Syaoran was so startled that he gave a yelp and fell backwards onto the floor. Seizing the opportunity, Sakura pounced, and pinned him to the ground.

"Got you back!" she teased.

Laughing, Sakura let herself drop, lying on Syaoran's chest, safe and warm. The book remained on the shelf, forgotten. Sakura looked at her ring finger. She couldn't take the engagement ring off. Correction, she wouldn't. She had sworn to always remember the love she and Eriol had for each other, even though she now loved Syaoran.

She sighed happily.

DM: Alright, so I think that's enough fluff. Next chapter the plot will really get moving (towards disaster), so get ready! Please review! Next chapter: Black Book.

Note: I am accepting beta-requests right now, so if you have a story you want me to help you edit please just PM me! Thanks so much!