AN: This part was split into two chapters. Because, hey, why have one big update when you can have two smaller updates at once! Sexual content based on a story I actually overheard once from a girl I sat next to in school. Hope you get as amused and grossed out as I did.

The emergency lights still worked as they climbed the emergency staircase. Their footsteps echoed, but nothing bad seemed to happen when they made noise, so they talked. They walked steadily, seeing as there were a lot of stairs to climb, and running would wear them out.

"That fire spell was amazing, Li!" Sakura exclaimed, climbing ahead of her male acquaintance.

"It's pretty basic," he shrugged, "With more training, even you would probably be able to do it."

"Yeah," she mumbled, scratching her head, "I haven't gotten training on much magic since I came here…"

"Cerberus hasn't trained you?"

"Well, the only things he knows are in the Book of Clow, and most of the spell in there are, like, explanations of each card, how to use a scepter wand, and some other stuff I can't do yet…and there are a lot of blank pages too. It's weird."

"Really? Blank pages?"

"Yeah…the handwriting in the book kinda stops halfway through the book."

"Strange."

"I know!"

"So…is this your apartment building?"

"Um…no I live in the one on campus. This is my brother's place. What about you?"

"Me? Meiling and I live off campus."

"Off-campus? Can you even afford that?"

"Well…my mother sends us the money we need."

"Oh wow, that's nice! Stove and everything?"

"Two bedroom. Two bathroom."

"That is nice. Tomoyo and I have to…well…had to share the bathroom."

"That must've been strange."

"Not really. Even if Tomoyo liked me…you know…like that, she respected my space. It was pretty easy sharing the bathroom. And I got the duty of cleaning it. That and doing dinner."

Syaoran was silent, so Sakura turned around for a moment. He had an eyebrow raised, as if confused.

"Who does dinner in your apartment?"

"Well…I kinda do the cooking."

"All of it?"

"Yeah. Cleaning too. Except laundry. Meiling won't let me touch her laundry. Not that I want to, but you know…"

"You do all of the cooking and cleaning?!" she exclaimed.

"Huh? Well…yeah…"

"That's so strange! We split the duties and traded off every now and then. Why do you do all of it?"

"Meiling…well…her cooking's…kinda…"

"Oh…that bad?"

"Yeah."

"What about cleaning?"

"She never really did it, and I didn't want to fight her on it, so I just kind of did it."

"That doesn't seem very fair though. You should've said something."

"Yeah…but it's no big deal…"

"Well…I guess it's kind of cool that you know how to cook and clean. I hear some stories about male partners, weapon or meister, that don't even pick up after themselves."

"Yeah…some of the guys complain about, 'My girl won't stop nagging me about the dishes!' or some bullshit like that."

"Locker room talk?"

"Yeah…I don't get involved."

"I try not to either."

"Still…you'll hear some funny stuff."

"Yeah…oh! Like, this one time, some girl was telling this story about having sex with her boyfriend…"

Syaoran's face went bright red. He never was comfortable talking about this subject.

"Ummm….Do I really want to hear this?"

"No, trust me. This is pretty funny."

"…okay…go on…" he sighed.

"Okay…so anyways, she was talking about having sex with her boyfriend, and they didn't have a condom, so instead they…pfftt…."

"What? What is it?"

Sakura was snickering.

"They…Instead of a condom, they…they used a sock!"

Syaoran nearly fell down a step.

"WHAT?!"

"I KNOW! They grabbed, like, a SOCK off the floor and…

"Oh God, that's gross…"

They stopped on the flight of steps they were on and started laughing. This went on for a short while before they started climbing more stairs.

"That's just…wow…" Syaoran chuckled, shaking his head in disdain.

"I KNOW! It's so gross…"

"I have, like, twenty questions."

"So did Tomoyo and I. We laughed about it for days."

Sakura sighed, and they got quiet.

"Do you miss her, Kinomoto?"

"Yeah…I wish…I wish she didn't feel the need to protect herself from me. She's…she's my best friend. I know she wouldn't hurt me. I don't know why she thinks otherwise. Still, I can't help but feel like it's my fault somehow."

"…I don't think you should blame yourself. It won't get you any closer to trying to help her."

"But…what can I do? I know I have this…anti-demon whatever, but I don't even though what that is!"

"I think…since you're her friend, you just need to be there for her when you can. Knowing that your there will probably…be more than enough."

Sakura turned around to look at him. They made eye contact for a split second before Syaoran looked away and scratched his head.

"You're a lot nicer than I think we've given you credit for, Li," she said before continuing up the stairs.

"I'm just…sigh…glad I could help…"

They continued until Sakura turned to a door at the beginning of one of the staircases.

"This is the floor we need to be on," she whispered. Syaoran nodded and readied another light before they slowly opened the door and disappeared into the darkness.

As soon as they reached the apartment, Sakura fished for her key and opened the door. The door creaked open, and they were greeted with a room left in shambled. Parts of the floor were missing, with black voids warping underneath. Parts of the walls and ceiling seemed to do the same.

They walked around the voids in the apartment, as they reached the living room. With the dim lighting of Syaoran's flame, Sakura noticed a familiar pouch on the floor. She grabbed it and handed Syaoran his cards back.

"Found them?" he whispered.

"Yeah," she replied, "And we won't have to whisper for much longer."

She pulled out the card she wanted and whispered the spell.

"Make us unheard by our Enemy. SILENT."

The SILENT obeyed, and their world around them was now without sound. Sakura stomped on the floor. No sound. And then she yelled.

"HHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYY!"

Syaoran nearly jumped out of his skin, but there was no reaction from the spirit after she did this. Syaoran sighed in relief.

"Good call."

"Thanks!" Sakura chirped, "It probably won't last very long, so we'll probably have to hurry."

"Yeah…I think it's safe to say that the spirit's definitely in this specific room."

"You sure?"

"Check next door to see if their apartment looks like this."

Sakura used THROUGH peeked next door. It looked normal, aside from some broken glass and some other messed-around items from the chaos.

"Nope. No weird void things."

"Then, my guess was right. Let's start looking."

They wandered the apartment, and came down a hallway, where the spiritual energy was the strongest. Unfortunately, they came across a large gap too big for them to jump.

"I can use FLY," Sakura suggested.

"Maybe, but just to be cautious, let's use a quieter way to get across," Syaoran added. He pulled out The FLOAT.

"Here," he said, handing her the card, but she shook her head.

"Let's use it together," she said, "It'll be more effective than if I just did it."

They both grabbed the card.

"FLOAT!"

A bubble formed around them, carrying them safely across. With a soft landing, they were now on the other side.

"Where to now?" Syaoran asked. Sakura shut her eyes to sense the spirit. She opened them in surprise.

"There are two…"

"What?"

"There are two of them here. They're in the same place…"

"Well…where are they?"

"They're…in the guest bedroom…where I sleep when I come over here…"

"They're waiting for us."

Sakura opened the door to see what she sensed: two spirits of Clow. One of them was a woman (at least that's what it looked like) in a jester costume and mask. She was making things disappear and reappear using some sort of cape. The other spirit was a small girl in a black bubble. Her hair was long and curly, with wings floating above her head. She wore a long grey dress and a dark, circular gem on her forehead. Her skin and eyes were pale and sickly. She was smiling and clapping at the jester woman's tricks.

The jester woman looked up to see Sakura and Syaoran ready to fight them. Her mask turned from a creepy smile to a frightening frown, and she disappeared from their sight.

"Damn!" Syaoran hissed, and soon he started to see that he was fading away.

"LI!" Sakura cried in distress.

"CALM DOWN. It's going to be fine. Just concentrate!"

Sakura's heart was pounding in her ears as she looked around the room. She saw a picture frame glowing on the dresser ahead of her. The young girl spirit merely watched with interest as Sakura ran towards it. It was a picture of her and Tomoyo smiling. She opened the frame, and out popped the jester, cover in diamond shapes and no longer wearing a frightening mask.

"She found me, VOID," the jester said and she warped into a golden bauble before Sakura's eyes. She pulled out a blank card and chanted the spell to seal it away. The jester woman appeared on the card, holding her mystical cape. It read The ERASE. Syaoran immediately stopped fading and returned to normal.

"You found her," the small spirit said, and Sakura and Syaoran turned their attention to her.

"And you found me," she continued. Sakura noticed that the room hadn't returned to normal.

"Sadly, I cannot go with you yet, Ms. Sakura," she added, "I must wait until you've gathered them all. Clow Reed says I must stop you, but I must deliver a message of my own."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, as did Syaoran.

"Release us," she echoed, "We are doomed to wander this limbo forever if we stay here. Release us. We are scared to be alone."

The dark bubble around her went completely back, and she vanished out of sight. The apartment then returned to normal as the lights flickered back on.

"Well, that was odd," Syaoran commented walking over to Sakura.

"She said 'us.' Do you think she meant her and the other spirits?"

"She probably messing with us," he shrugged, but Sakura didn't seem so sure.

"Sakura?" a familiar voice called out, "What's Ms. Meiling Li doing in the living room?"

It was Yukito.

"Sounds like he doesn't remember disappearing," Syaoran shrugged.

"Meiling probably won't remember either then," Sakura giggled.

"We better get out there."

"Yeah…. Hey! Do you wanna hang out with us for the rest of Christmas Eve?"

Syaoran seemed unsure.

"It's only eleven. At midnight, we turn in so that we can enjoy a late Christmas morning. You can stay for a little while. You and Meiling."

"I dunno…"

"I promise I won't let Kero-chan or Touya try to kill you," she teased.

They could hear Syaoran's stomach grumble with hunger.

"Well, I guess that settles it," Sakura chirped before hollering at Yukito, "SHE AND LI ARE JOING US FOR CHRISTMAS EVE! IS THAT COOL?"

"No way! I don't want that brat anywhere near me!" she could hear Touya yell from beyond.

"It'll be fine, Touya," Yukito cooed.

"Don't make such a fit over it," Sakura's father sighed.

Sakura opened the door and they headed out to the rest of the group.

"I'm just glad they're all back," she murmured to herself, smiling with relief.

"Saku…Kinomoto?" Syaoran began.

"Hmm?" Sakura turned to him.

"I've been wondering. How come you call me by my last name, but you don't call Meiling by her last name?"

"Well…I figured it'd get confusing, but mostly it's because you call me by my last name. It seems only fair, right?"

"I guess…"

They walked down the hall, heading to the living room. Syaoran felt stupid for it, but his face was going red, and he wanted to at least saying something.

"Sorry I couldn't help you back there…or…"

"What are you talking about? You helped me a lot! I don't think I would've gotten a hold of myself if you hadn't snapped me out of it. So thank you!"

Syaoran was even redder than before. He didn't know what she was doing to him, but he found it extremely annoying, and he wished his heart would stop beating so fast.

It only got worse when he saw Yukito, and he stayed like that for most of the evening. Sakura grabbed some desserts, including some eggnog, bread pudding, and a homemade cherry pie, as her father helped her. With much coaxing, Sakura, Meiling, and Syaoran used The SNOW spirit to make it snow outside for Christmas Eve. Everyone enjoyed the rest of the evening, even the small girl spirit, as she sat outside the window. She smiled longingly at the happy group inside, feeling the warmth of the room come through the window. She basked in it before disappearing into the night.