CH12: Turbulance


Sakura grabbed some clothes, though she was sure Tomoyo would have gladly have given her some, her toiletries, and her other essentials before racing off towards her cousin's house. As soon as she exited the gates, there was a flash of lightning as rain began to pour down. It continued to rain, getting heavier with each step Sakura took. By the time she reached the Daidouji mansion, she needed dry clothes anyway as the rain had soaked through everything.

Tomoyo, though surprised by the early hour of the visit, gladly invited Sakura to stay as long as she liked, and even provided a dry, though slightly altered school uniform for her to wear. Once Sakura's immediate needs were taken care of, Tomoyo questioned her about her situation. "Why are you no longer staying with the Lis? Did they throw you out?"

Sakura shook her head in denial, "No, worse. Much worse!"

"They didn't abuse you did they?" Tomoyo asked, concerned.

"No… Even worse than anything you could imagine." Sakura said.

"What could be worse?" Tomoyo wondered aloud.

"They… Syaoran… Engaged." Sakura shuddered in horror.

"KAWAII!" Tomoyo screamed enthusiastically, "When is the wedding? I'll make the best gown ever for you."

"No!" Sakura pouted, "I am not gonna marry that gaki."

"But… What about the dress?" Tomoyo asked with fear in her eyes, "I couldn't stand it if you wore a dress from a shop."

Sakura sighed and assented that Tomoyo could make her wedding gown, but insisted that no matter what, she was not marrying Li, whether on his eighteenth birthday, nor any other.


When it was time for school, Tomoyo had one of her bodyguards drive them in one of her limos. It was still raining heavily and the gutters were beginning to look like rivers.

"Hey!" A voice called out as they ran through the school gates. Li was standing there looking rather smug, though he was dripping steady rivulets of water.

"Hoe?" Sakura asked, hoping he would just leave her alone.

"You forgot something when you moved out." A yellow object was whipped at her and it splashed wetly into her chest.

"Kero?" Sakura asked, "What happened?" He was soaked through. He was so heavy with water that his ears and tail drooped straight down, not to mention the fact that the heavy rain made it all but impossible to fly.

"Mmmphpd emfd ee mp", Sakura removes a strip of duct tape that had beem keeping Kero from talking, and biting Syaoran, "… and then that baka brought an umbrella, but refused to use it." Kero grumbled, shaking off as much water as he could.


Sakura managed to avoid talking to Syaoran for the majority of the day, despite sitting right behind him in class. She was thankful, however, that he was not advertising their supposed engagement, even when other guys flirted with her. It seemed he was taking the engagement as hard as she was, but refused to admit that he couldn't handle it and would rather just pretend that both she and the engagement contract did not exist. Tomoyo, didn't think the same way they did. She was constantly forcing them into 'KAWAII' situations for video purposes. Twice she tripped Sakura at convenient moments to ensure that Li caught her and she was constantly trying to get them to admit feelings for the other. It was not working as well as Tomoyo had hoped. She had even tried asking Li to use The Libra, but he had declined the request without consideration.

By the time school was over, Tomoyo had given up… for the day at least, but the rain continued stronger than ever.

"Attention! Students are forbidden to leave the building due to dangerous flood warnings. Students must remain in their classrooms until further notice. It is likely that the rain will continue through most of the night, so be prepared to spend the night here. The cafeteria will provide evening meals, free of charge should they be required." The principal announced much to the dismay of students. Syaoran especially seemed uneasy at the prospect and began pacing irritably. Sakura remembered the hell that Syaoran had put her through when he had been forced to accompany her twenty-four hours a day when she had refused to reveal that she had opened the Clow book, and she was sure this situation would end up just as bad. Tomoyo seemed excited at the prospect and pointed out to Sakura that she had brought some outfits to school and asked if Sakura wanted to model them for the class. Sakura sighed heavily. This situation was getting worse, and worse, especially now that Kero was complaining that he was hungry again, despite having eaten all of Sakura's lunch and most of Tomoyo's. She was having trouble keeping him hidden.


By five o'clock, the water level had risen, not just covering the streets, but also the sidewalks by at least an inch. Water had begun seeping in at the ground floor and the janitors were busy plugging leaks.

"This isn't normal." Syaoran said to Sakura, "We never get this much rain." Sakura nodded. Despite her complaints about Li's character, and relationship with her, he usually ended up being right. She could certainly feel that there was something not right about this storm, and now that she thought about it, it actually felt sort of like a Clow Card.

"I sense a card." She confirmed. This prompted a squeal of delight from Tomoyo.

"Is there a problem Daidouji-san?" the Terada-sensei asked, "If not I would appreciate if you could keep the noise down."

"Gomen!" She said before sneaking up to the front of the class and whispering something to him. He gave her a rather embarrassed look.

"Kinomoto-san, please go with Daidouji-san" Terada said, and added after a few moments, "LI, if you have to go to the washroom so badly, just go before you wear a hole in the floor." Syaoran had no need to use the washroom, but took the opportunity to leave the classroom.

"How did you get yourselves out of class like that?" Syaoran asked Tomoyo as they headed towards her locker.

"I'll tell you…" She replied, "but you have to do something for me." Syaoran agreed, after insisting on some guidelines that would ensure that it was not going to be anything too bad. "I told him that Sakura was out of tampons."

"HOE!" Sakura exclaimed, "Why did you have to say something so embarrassing?"

"Well I told him I had extras. Well I don't actually, but I have something else to protect you from the wetness." She smiled as she flung open her locker door, revealing a pair of matching sets clothes inside. Both were bright yellow and made out of a waterproof plastic fabric. One was trimmed with pink and came with a skirt, the other was trimmed with green and came with short pants. Both had boots, hats, gloves and a long coat. She even had a little hat for Kero. She was prepared for everything. Syaoran wished he hadn't asked as she handed him the one with the green trim.

"No one better see me." He growled as he changed in the bathroom. Of course when he and Sakura had finished changing, Tomoyo was ready to video tape them. Unfortunately for them, they accidentally emerged at the same moment, reinforcing Tomoyo's notion that they were perfect for each other, as well as earning them a scream of 'Kawaii'.


Tomoyo taped from the roof entrance as Sakura, Kero and Syaoran raced to the edge of the building and leapt towards the center of the storm. She wondered what excuse she was going to use to explain their absence. She came up with the most kawaii thing she could think of: making up after a lovers' squabble. Sakura and Syaoran probably would be irritated, but it was too good not to use. Had she been able to film what was about to happen, the excuse would have been even better…

Sakura leapt from a particularly short building toward the roof of a particularly tall one. Unfortunately, the wind chose that moment to buffet her, throwing her off course and towards a much longer fall than she had anticipated. Luckily for her, however, Li was a few steps behind her and managed to direct his jump to intercept hers. This headed them in the wrong direction, but ended up with them headed towards a rooftop landing instead of a four story fall. Li had caught her bridal style, in a pose that Tomoyo would have loved to capture, looking as if they were to share a moment… that is until Li miscalculated the effect her extra weight would have on him. As he hit the roof, he stumbled, landing on top of Sakura and sending them rolling across the roof into a metal vent. After some loud and harsh words were shared between them, they retried their attempt to reach the top of the next building, succeeding without another incident.

"Sugoi…" Sakura gazed at the eye of the storm. its whirling clouds tumbled with the power of the high winds.

"There's something there!" Syaoran shouted over the cacophony of the raging storm. He took out an ofuda and aimed it at the dark mass in the center. "King of lightning, come to my aid!" a bolt of lightning shot from the ofuda, colliding with the dense cloud mass. For a second, the cloud mass disintegrated, revealing two figures sitting atop of clouds, silhouetted against the barely waning moon that hung low in the sky on its way to disappearing from sight. Just as quickly as they appeared, the two figures disappeared once again.

"What were those?" Sakura asked, amazed that two, so small, could cause so much water to fall.

"I know them. It is The Storm and The Rain." Kero said, "The Storm can be a powerful opponent, but The Rain is usually a playful spirit. They must be working together to create a storm of this magnitude."

"My attacks can't do anything from here." Syaoran said, "I am going to get closer and see if I hit them. He leapt towards another building, higher and closer than the one they were on.

"Syaoran!" Sakura cried as she saw a particularly strong gust of with knock Syaoran off course, causing him to fall between the buildings and out of sight with a scream. Sakura raced to where Syaoran had fallen as the darkness of night began to creep across the city. She peered down the gap between the buildings where Syaoran had fallen. Tears began to flow down her face, though no one would ever notice with the rain, as she looked down only upon the raging rapids that now made up the streets.