Fate's Phoenix

Disclaimer: I love Card Captor Sakura, but sadly I do not own it. My use of it's characters is purely for fun. (Though if Clamp happens to read this and think it is brilliant... well that would be great too. XD) Anyway... I am poor, so no suing. Thank you. :)

Summary: Read within... I am not spoiling it for you. :3

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

Rating: T

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol

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Sakura whizzed through the air as the elements chased after her. A tidal wave on one side, a spiral of flame on the other. She deflected an oncoming lightning attack mere seconds before it hit her, diving down through a barrage of stones as though dancing in the air.

The Fly had given her the wings to get off the ground the second Eriol had started his endless tirade of magic. It seemed effortless, a single person with the ability to command the powers of the cosmos. He barely moved at all, save to get better vantage points on her constantly moving figure, assaulting her with long-range magics that were far more frightening now than they had been in training.

The dark mage was ruthless, moving nimbly around the area as he threw one thing after another at the girl who flew aloft. She was lucky that The Fly was one of her oldest and most trustworthy cards... or else she might have been done for a long time ago. This was entirely unlike the judgment that Yue bestowed upon her... where he had been attacking her from a close proximity with his limited powers. Even if Sakura wanted to fight back, Eriol was too quick to even get close enough for an attack.

Fast, strong, and deadly, the earth itself spiked upward around her in an attempt to unseat her while the wind blew insistently against her airborne form. Sakura barely shielded herself in time as a storm of flaming meteorites suddenly burst down upon her from above.

So many magics that she had never seen before... beams of destructive light lancing outwards from his fingertips, dark creatures of the elements bursting forth from her surroundings.

How could anyone believe she might have won?

Shaking her head, she reprimanded herself. 'No... I can't give up. There has to be a way.'

Sakura called out The Mirror and The Illusion, she'd need a distraction for what she was planning next.

'I have to get him to see the truth... somehow. And in order to get his attention, I have to get close...'

The Sakura clones sped outwards in separate directions, casting spells and commanding their own elements at Sakura's command.

Eriol, not appearing to be too concerned about the sudden multiplication of Sakura, continued his assault on each of the clones.

The Illusion's copies kept getting sliced and destroyed... yet at the same time the card's power allowed it to produce more and more duplicates in response. Each of these copies were perfect look-a-likes, and even were capable of casting spells, though clearly illusory, they were convincing enough until Eriol's own spells bypassed them entirely.

The Mirror had a different approach, it acted exactly as the real Sakura might (it had much practice with this), and dove about in the air in a perfect imitation of what the real Sakura had actually been doing moments before. Though it couldn't call the cards to help it, it was skilled enough at evasion to be believable.

The real Sakura was nowhere to be found, though Eriol tried to sort out the fakes, they all seemed to be exuding the same magical aura, which made sense, as the cards were all in tune to her own power. Nonetheless, he threw as much as he could at them, hardly breaking a sweat as his magic poured out.

"TIME!" Sakura's voice shouted, suddenly from nearby. Before Eriol could react, everything froze, including himself in mid-cast. Thoroughly impressed at how much power she had to be using to freeze him he waited patiently as she drifted down in her own time-free bubble to come level with him.

She smiled serenely into his cold stare, unaffected, and reached forward with her index finger to touch his forehead.

Everything went white.

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Groggily, the dark mage awoke in a strange area, surrounded by wildflowers and cherry blossom trees. Unsteadily, he managed to get himself up from the ground, deciding that he must be within a dream, being forced upon him by Sakura and The Dream card. He smiled, then checked himself...

He... could feel? He wondered curiously on the topic, reveling in his emotions with pleasure. It was then he took the time to notice his clothing... he was wearing black from head to toe, instead of his usual dark blues. His flowing robes were stream lined with gold, giving him a very dark and evil appearance. This must have been the effect of his lack of emotions on his clothing... and yet he could feel... so why hadn't they changed back? He supposed he would find out during the course of the dream.

With that in mind, he glanced around to see if he could figure out where to begin the mental maze Sakura had sent him into, wondering what she would have in store for him here. Off in the distance he spotted a young girl with long flowing silver hair. Thinking that he recognized her, he decided to head towards her to find out what he had to do to be free of the dream.

As he got closer he realized he did indeed know the young girl waiting at the edge of the flower field. It was none other than The Void... one of the most dangerous cards Clow had ever created. 'But... she is The Hope now... Sakura helped to complete her...' Ending this line of thought, Eriol realized what Sakura might be attempting... and walked towards the girl, even more confused. 'She doesn't really think this will work... does she?'

Eriol came level with the child, and froze in place...

The scene just beyond where the spirit was standing... was quite different from the one he'd just walked through.

It was like looking through a one-way glass, seeing what was on the other side without being able to do a thing.

The Time had suspended things only temporarily... and apparently, now that time was no longer frozen, the battle was about to come to a close...

Sakura lay in a crater, her body scorched by his own devastating power. She was unmoving as he watched himself approach her, katana in hand.

Eriol wanted to dive through the image and stop himself before it was too late, but he knew that this part of himself could not reach the one below... Fate had seen to that.

The child turned to him, clutching a winged heart-shaped plushie to her chest. She smiled at him, "What do you want Eriol?"

"What do you mean?" Eriol asked, feeling helpless for the first time in his life.

The Hope turned back to the image as the heartless Eriol raised his weapon to strike. "It doesn't have to end this way you know. She isn't the only one with the power to change the future."

Eriol frowned in contemplation, not understanding. "Surely you don't mean me. I don't even know where I am, much less how to get down there! There isn't any time..."

"There is always time for you, Clow Reed." Hope replied serenely, waving her hand. In an instant, the vision froze in place.

Eriol narrowed his eyes, anger flooding his veins. "I am not Clow!"

"No? Then why do you insist on behaving like you are?" Hope retorted.

Eriol was taken aback. "What?"

"With Clow it was always, future this, and I can't interfere with that! You're so indecisive it's a miracle you even get out of bed in the morning!" Hope chastised.

Understanding flowed slowly through Eriol's veins. He shied away from the reprimand, looking guilty. "It is not my place to intervene..." though he forced himself to say it, he knew he would wish for nothing more than to do exactly that.

Hope glared at him openly now, pointing a finger at the frozen image. "Do you want this?!" She demanded angrily.

Eriol didn't even have to look. "No!" he insisted fiercely.

"Then why?" Hope asked. "Why not intervene? You can change this Eriol, I know you can!"

Through Hope's words Eriol heard Sakura's voice resonating. It was as though she was performing a sort of ventriloquism, with The Hope acting as the dummy. These, he could tell, were Sakura's true thoughts and feelings passed on to him directly from Sakura's heart, which believed in his with all of its strength.

Eriol was truly touched that Sakura thought him so flawless. He considered Hope's words in his mind. Could he really change this? Before Sakura had changed The Void, Eriol would have believed it impossible... but now, as he stared at the peacefully smiling youth before him, he understood. This was Sakura's world-changing power... standing before him in spirit form, her power to truly and honestly believe in the good of all people, and the future of all things. The simplistic purity blinded him, and he stood in awe.

"Though hope is frail... it's hard to kill." Eriol quoted softly, thinking of all the things that Sakura had been through... to still have such a strong faith, especially in him, was a power greater than Eriol had ever fathomed.

Taking a decisive stance on the precipice of his world, which he now realized was within his true body, he summoned all of his strength. Beneath his feet, Clow's original sealing circle appeared, the central sun seeming to radiate its own glow from the center of the golden power source. Eriol drew in the air with his index finger, forming strange golden symbols in the air around him.

"I created this contract, a lifetime ago... it is long since time I broke it." Eriol said with finality as he finished, the golden symbols floating around him in a secondary circle. He reached forward, and the symbols linked to one another creating an effective barrier. "I will do Clow's bidding no longer." He said confidently, closing his hand around the chain, it glowed brilliantly in defiance. "From now on, I will make my own decisions, regardless of the outcome."

He yanked the chain with all of his strength, and it broke. The instant the circle was broken, the pieces wrapped themselves up his arms and down his body. Surprised, he staggered backward, the golden circle beneath him vanishing as did his imaginary surroundings. The golden symbols raced across his being, growing and multiplying till nothing remained of him but a brilliant spark of golden light.

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Sakura waited quietly, incapable of movement. She didn't want to watch the silver katana as it ended her life. She figured, if nothing else, her death would serve as the ultimate catalyst to break Eriol free of Fate's hold... he could fight her, with help from The Hope card and end all of this tragedy once and for all.

Idly, she wondered what had happened to Syaoran... he must have been turned into a statue like the others... Sakura was the only one who would be killed by someone who had the power to do so. Fate's power was truly only illusory, Sakura knew now that there had never been any deaths, only enactments of them for her benefit. The only thing Fate had really done was freeze everyone in time... none of the rest of her friends had even been given the opportunity of the choice bestowed upon Syaoran and Eriol... the choice to stay behind and watch as Sakura struggled to bring them their freedom from Fate's cruel hold.

Sakura pitied Fate... the poor woman only wanted the love she deserved. Too bad that the only one who might have been able to grant her wish had died thousands of years ago. Sakura was determined against the idea that any of this had been necessary. Fate had wasted her time chasing Eriol... she should have known nothing could come of it! If she truly held the threads of destiny, she should have read it... and then none of this would have had to happen.

Then again... maybe Fate did read it, an then ignored it anyway, refusing to believe she could not have what she wanted after waiting so patiently and fighting so underhandedly. She had tried earning Clow's love the peaceful way... what other option had she been left with?

Sakura shook her head, 'She could have just let it go... Eriol didn't deserve this... and neither did I.'

A few more minutes passed, and Sakura realized she was still alive. She opened her eyes cautiously and stared disbelievingly at what she was seeing.

Eriol was glowing a brilliant gold, the color burned outward from his skin eating away the blackness of his mage's outfit, disintegrating the katana in his hand.

Once the glow faded, it revealed the new color of his clothing to be dove-white, decorated with sky-blue moons and suns. His ocean-blue eyes blinked slowly as though he wasn't entirely sure what was happening, and as Sakura looked into them she knew she had won. Looking back at her in wonder was the spirit that Sakura knew and loved, peering outwards from the windows to his soul.

He looked horrified as he stared upon her injured form. Then, with an apologetic look, reached his hand forward to help her from the floor.

"I am so sorry..." he began, chastened, but was interrupted by a gentle finger to his lips. Surprised, he waited as she re-arranged herself, feeling nothing from her but an aura of pure happiness. Her tear-filled smile was more than enough to prove his suspicions, but nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.

She shifted her fingers across his chin, her soft skin tugging against his as she drew herself forward, then her lips were on his and there was nothing to say. Tears of joy slid down her face and tickled his chin where theirs touched, and Eriol felt a powerful connection flare within him, brewing to life as the initial shock died.

When Sakura finally pulled back, Eriol was speechless, completely at a loss for what could possibly describe what he had just felt. The most magical feeling... grander than anything he'd ever experienced before in his life or even past-life.

Sakura smiled sheepishly, blushing. "You promised you wouldn't interrupt..." she reminded him softly.

Stunned that she even remembered that conversation, Eriol smiled back. "I suppose I should have taken my own advice" he shrugged, then grinned wolfishly, "But... as long as I'm breaking promises..." he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her to him and wrapped her lips in his own, shocking her right back. His was not so chaste as her own, passionate and full of a power he didn't even know he possessed.

Suddenly the magic surrounding them was broken by a bloodcurdling scream.

Sakura and Eriol broke apart, sharing twin expressions of horror as Fate bored down upon them, fury radiating from every fiber of her being.

"THIS ENDS NOW!" She screeched, power gathering as she whipped out a deadly pair of shears. Sakura's heart skipped a beat and she lunged forward, only to be held back by Eriol's arm. Confused, she stared worriedly into his blue eyes. "We have to stop her!" She almost asked.

Eriol shook his head, a peaceful smile settling on his features. "No... that is a mistake I won't make any longer. Sakura... what is real?" He pressed, reaching to brush his fingers across her cheek. "I think... a large part of what happens in life, is directly related to how we believe it will happen. I once allowed my heart to be stolen from me because I thought there was no other way. I believed in the power of Fate. But now I know different... Sakura we must not give in to her illusions... we must believe in the power of ourselves."

Sakura stared at him in amazement, then realized she understood what he was saying, she had practically said it herself. They could change this future... it was certainly in their power to do so.

She took his hand and together they stared Fate down. Their faith in one another and the future they would survive to see unwavering even as Fate drew a thread between her shears.

"If I can't have you, no one can!" Fate declared, crushing her fingers into the shears as she willed them to snap the thread in half.

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Nothing

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Fate stared at the thread lying unbroken within her weapon, its soft golden glow only now catching her attention. She stared in speechless disbelief, uncomprehending the small hole in her shears that curved carefully around the thread leaving it untouched. Enraged she sliced at it again, and again, but the thread remained whole and unmarred. "Impossible!" She cried desperately, rapidly turning her scissors into swiss-cheese. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

Eriol grinned widely nodding his head, "Of course it's possible Fate... if you hadn't been deluding yourself for so long, you might have seen it before I did."

Sakura smiled knowingly, "What is real? What is illusion? It's all in what we believe to be true. Nothing else matters. If someone honestly believes something of theirs is lucky, then that object truly has that quality. If two lovers put complete faith into their relationship, their bond will last forever. It is something that we see time and time again in the world, and also something that is often overlooked by those of logical mindsets."

"It's always 'perfectly good explanation' this, and 'here's the solution to' that. People are the worst in matters of the heart. Nothing is stronger than will power... and the belief that something is true or false is more often than not the deciding factor in what makes it so." Eriol continued.

Sakura stepped forward, opening her arms to the distraught young woman, "I know you didn't mean to cause all of this trouble... you only wanted someone who would love you. But you went about it the wrong way. You tried to force someone to care about you. If you really want someone to love you, you have to love yourself first, and believe that out there somewhere is a person who will be attracted to you for being exactly the way you are."

Fate shrank in defeat, kneeling on the ground like a child who was being told the reason for their punishment. "But... I thought Clow saw me that way."

"Maybe he did, once... but to try to mold me into his image was not only wrong, but pointless. You knew that taking my heart would never win me over to you... you would have to keep it prisoner my entire life! That's not the way a relationship should be. Sometimes you just have to let things go. If they come back to you, then you can be certain they are truly yours." Eriol replied kindly.

Fate nodded numbly, hardly noticing Sakura kneeling beside her.

"I think it's time you put things back the way they were... start over from scratch. It's not so bad." Sakura urged.

Fate nodded, then for the first time that evening she smiled at Sakura. "I'm... sorry."

Sakura shook her head, "It's over. There's nothing left to apologize for."

"But... I broke you. You and that boy with the brown hair." Fate insisted.

Sakura managed a tight smile, "But then again, that was your fault to begin with... wasn't it?"

Eriol could only stare in wide-eyed amazement as Fate nodded her head.

"I never intended to give Eriol his wish... I thought that if I did he would never even look at me. Setting the events into motion that brought Syaoran to you was too easy... the direct descendant of my only love, it seemed the perfect choice."

Sakura nodded and summoned her staff back into the corporeal world. "Let there be peace and happiness for you, from now on."

Fate nodded.

"Fate... return to your power confines." Sakura ordered, and the woman evaporated into card-form.

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Rozu