From up close, the bottle was just as large as it seemed. It was over three times as wide as Sakura was tall, and a stream of green ooze dripped out of the base of the seal. The seal itself was nothing more than a plug on the bottle's opening. Sakura tried to push it in a bit, but it was so large that she couldn't get a good angle to push it from. She stepped away. It was better to leave it be until Tomoyo arrived than to go messing around with something so dangerous.

She sat against a rock and examined the burns on her arm and legs. The burns she had suffered outside Nakayoshi were still red, and the dead skin was peeling. She picked at it uncomfortably and groaned. How am I ever going to explain these to Syaoran? she thought. It was bad enough she had been missing the entire day. She knew Syaoran would worry if he found out what had happened in this world.

"You're only going to make it worse if you do that," Kero advised.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it," said Sakura. She looked up at the bottle. "I'm just trying to keep my mind off things."

Kero sat down next to her. "You want to talk about those things?"

She leaned forward and rested her arms on her knees. "I don't know what Syaoran will say if I tell him about this place."

"Heh, I'm sure the kid won't say you're crazy."

Sakura shook her head. "That's not it. I'm afraid he'll worry about me after everything that's happened."

"Are you going to lie to him, then?" Kero asked.

"I…" She thought about that for a moment. Of course she didn't want to lie. She was always as open and honest with others as she could be. But knowing everyone else they had known back in Tomoeda were in some tiny, barren world could burden him as well, and she didn't want him to have to deal with that. "I don't know."

"Hm," said Kero. "This is serious, then."

Sakura sighed. "There's something else bugging me, too."

"What's that?"

Sakura replied, "Um, I don't really want to talk about it right now. At least, not until I get it figured out myself."

"Wha-? Then why'd you bring it up?"

"Sorry." Sakura shut her eyes. She tried to remember that vision she had in the manor again. Somehow this bottle reminded her of it, why? Was the room she saw somehow related to it, or the world in general? It was always so hard to remember something when you wanted to. Still, she regained a faint recollection of the room in her vision. It was dimly lit and lined with shelves of books and miscellaneous jugs and bottles, although the details on these were fuzzy. The walls were an undecorated white plaster. A mirror was hung over a fireplace, or at least she recalled one. Then there was the table in the middle of the room, the one something had been dripping from. A spill of some kind.

A spill. Sakura looked back up at the bottle. What does that have to do with this world? she thought. Was it me? Did I… cause this? Please, what does it all mean?

She tried to remember more. What else was on the table? The brush? Was it there as well, or was her memory playing tricks on her? She saw herself, younger, carelessly playing around with it. She wanted to chastise that girl. She should have known better. But was it a vision, though? Or just her imagination? It felt strangely real. It was then that she knocked that bottle over, spilling its contents all over the table and onto the floor. And… What else? She wracked her brain for answers. A model of some kind? She could not remember the details of it, but there was some strange model on the table as well.

Sakura shot to her feet with a gasp.

"Huh? What's wrong?" asked Kero.

It had to be impossible, right? It was the same feeling she had the night she discovered the Clow Cards. Even after meeting Kero, chasing down a giant bird-like creature, and soaring over the city, she still couldn't believe it. It wasn't until the next morning that she truly accepted that it was all real. That was different, though. She'd never make a mistake like that. Or maybe it really was a memory? The disaster happened eight years ago, so she would have been sixteen. A sixteen-year-old wouldn't have been so careless. Even if she'd not seen her friends or family in two years.

It did get pretty lonely. Syaoran was there too, but they were both so busy it was hard to meet up. All she wanted was a break. But once those guys in the suits offered to make her famous, all it was was work. No time for friends or family. Then, when Sakura was fourteen, the ones she still occasionally heard from disappeared from her life as well. And now, here they were, in a world of her destruction.

"Sakura?" Kero said.

"I can't believe it," Sakura muttered. "I… don't want to believe it."

"What do you mean? Sakura?"

"Hey!" Tomoyo sprinted up to rejoin the group. "What are you sitting around for?"

"We were waiting for you!" Kero growled.

"Wait, so you already beat it?" said Tomoyo.

Kero nodded. "Yep. I think we have Sakura to thank for that. You should have seen her!"

Tomoyo chuckled. "Man, I wish I had gotten that on video." With an exasperated look from Kero, she added. "I'm kidding!" She walked up to the giant bottle and placed her hand on the seal. "I wonder what kind of power is contained in here."

"I don't," Kero muttered.

Tomoyo glanced quizzically at Sakura. "Something the matter? You should be happy. We won. You can finally go home!"

Sakura forced a smile, but it quickly collapsed. "I have something to tell you. I…" She had never found anything as hard to say. It was the same issue she was facing with Syaoran. Though it would only serve to trouble Tomoyo, she knew it would be selfish to keep it a secret from her.

"You don't have to apologize," Tomoyo said. "I understand wanting to go home."

Sakura groaned. "No, that's not it."

"What's on your mind, then?"

"I think… I think the, um…" Sakura stammered. Tomoyo deserved to know. She deserved to know, even if it meant she would hate Sakura for it. "I think that the Thinner Disaster was my fault."

Both Tomoyo and Kero's eyes widened. "Um," said Tomoyo, with a stern look. "That has to be a joke, right? Well, it isn't funny."

Sakura just shook her head. "I don't know how to explain it. I remembered it when I saw the bottle. It was an accident. I was in this… um, this workshop of some kind, when I spilled something. From what I can remember, it was a model of some kind, but it might have affected this place as well."

"But you aren't sure, right?" Tomoyo asked. "Right?"

"I thought it was a dream at first, but the more I think about it, the more I believe it actually happened. I can't keep it from you." She held up the brush. "I even saw this there."

"I'm pretty sure you imagined it," Kero said dismissively.

"Even if I did, you both deserve to know."

Tomoyo shut her eyes and clenched her fists beside her. She was trembling. "I don't believe this. I've lived… like this… because of you?"

Sakura took a step back. "I'm sorry. I really am."

"Sorry? What about my mother? I'll never see her again, thanks to you!"

Sakura shrunk back. "I…"

Tomoyo continued. "This… This naivety… It was fine back when we were kids, but you need to learn to grow up!" She slammed her fist against the seal.

"Tomoyo!" Kero shouted. She reluctantly gave him her attention. "Look, I don't like this place any more than you do. And, I admit, I am a little disappointed to hear this as well. But you shouldn't argue like this. What will it accomplish?"

Tomoyo sighed. "I know. I just… I miss her."

She jumped as the bottle lurched violently, as if whatever was inside suddenly wanted out…. in a big way. There was a loud roar that seemed to come from within it.

"What was that?" Tomoyo gasped.

"I… I thought we beat the Blot?" said Sakura.

A crack began forming, expanding as the bottle lurched over and over, as Thinner began seeping out. Tomoyo urged the others to retreat. There was nothing that could be done. The seal burst, and a torrent of Thinner came spewing out of the bottle, running down the mountainside until it all gathered together. From that pool rose a beast of Thinner that dwarfed not only the Shadow Blot, but almost the mountain as well.

"W-what is that?" Sakura cried.

Tomoyo just stared up at it in disbelief. "This… This is the thing that attacked Tomoeda eight years ago. This is the Blot."

"Wait," said Kero. "I thought we just beat the Blot!"

Tomoyo just shook her head. "This is impossible. Then the one we came here to fight… was nothing more than just another blotling?"

It was not long before the Blot caught onto their presence. It scanned Sakura's group, then lifted its giant hand towards them. Sakura wanted to run, but she was paralyzed. Her body refused to move.

"Get out of the way!" Tomoyo shouted. She shoved Sakura to the side just as the Blot reached her, but did not have enough time to escape herself. The Blot grabbed her. She struggled to escape, but she was trapped.

"Tomoyo!" Kero yelled. He took off into the sky, but before he could do anything the Blot snatched him up in its other hand. With the same hand, it pointed at Sakura.

Sakura knew what it wanted. She could give up her heart and save them but let the Blot into her own world, or flee and let her friends perish. Either way, there was no way she could conceivably stop it. Sakura tossed the brush aside. It was useless against something of this magnitude.

"Sakura-chan! You can't!" Tomoyo gasped, still vainly trying to break free. "Don't give it what it wants! If… If you surrender your heart this way, you might not survive!"

Sakura ignored her. I've caused you so much sorrow, she thought. I won't forsake you now. She stepped forward and stretched out her arms. I'm sorry, Syaoran. I don't think I'll make it home tonight… It's up to you now, Tomoyo-chan.

The Blot shot a spike of Thinner from its fingertip that struck her chest. It felt as though a thousand needles pierced her heart. It drew out something from within her, a formless object that gave off a faint glow. The Blot, having collected its ransom, tossed Tomoyo and Kero back onto the mountaintop nearby.

Sakura grew faint. Her head was swimming, and the world faded into a blur. She could hear Tomoyo and Kero calling her, but their voices were muffled. Her legs gave out and everything went black.