Author's Note: The pressure should be off with four 2nd Cards remaining. Anyway…it's the holiday weekend and since I'll be on vacation, there will be a brief hiatus. But I'll be back. Believe me when I say I'll be back sooner than later.


Cards captured so far: Fly, Windy, Hole, Water, Replay, Light, Oil, Thief, Ice, Fog, Lightning, Iron, Nightmare, Magnet, Invisible, Acid, Sonic, Pie, Power, and Mirage


The Book of the 2nd Cards: Part 21


Hours passed. This was exactly what Sakura was hoping for…at least part of it. Since the Summertime Resort was located right by the beach, Sakura didn't waste any time in going for a swim. As much as she enjoyed swimming, after an hour she just stopped…and floated for a while.

She wanted to forget. She really did. But she couldn't get the 2nd Cards out of her mind. Sakura definitely took comfort in the fact that there were only four left. But what she didn't take comfort in was knowing that one of the 2nd Cards found her on the road. However, it didn't go after Sakura…for long. It stopped targeting Sakura at the first sight of Li and went after him.

If it was three years ago, Sakura might have felt a bit insulted. Wasn't she the chosen Cardcaptor? This wasn't three years ago, though. But Sakura wondered what had really changed. Was it that Sakura saw the Mirage Card coming after Li? Or was it that she cared about him enough to notice?

Maybe she should talk to someone about it. Sakura decided to swim back to shore and talk it out. But not with Li. She couldn't bring herself to talk to Li…not yet, anyway. Sakura decided to talk about this with…

"I'll talk to you right now, Sakura. But first, let's just put our bags down."

Sakura literally didn't waste any time going for a swim. She hadn't even seen the room yet. So Sakura went with Madison to drop their bags off. The first thing Sakura noticed was that the four beds were huge. And why not? The room was huge too. Just the closet looked bigger than Sakura's entire room. She almost felt sorry that she didn't buy more things to take along. Sakura shook that off and dropped her bags into the closet.

"OW!!"

No. That muffled voice sounded so familiar. Sakura didn't want to believe it was him. She couldn't believe that he would stow away like this. Sakura opened her bag and found…

"KERO!!"

"Can't you be a little more careful?" Kero asked, completely ignoring Sakura's anger. "I could have been squashed."

"What are you doing here?!" Sakura demanded.

"What?" Kero asked innocently. "I just wanted to get out of the house for a little while. There's no harm in that, is there?"

"What's the real reason you're here, Kero?" Sakura growled.

"Just to be here in case any 2nd Cards decided to follow you here," Kero answered. He then pulled a grape out of the bag and ate it. "And of course, to have a great meal outside the house."

"Well, you can't stay!" Sakura shouted. "I can't have anybody seeing you here. You're going to have to stay in the bag!"

"You'll be sure to feed me, won't you?" Kero begged.

"We'll see," Sakura said dryly. She closed the bag and sighed. "Now…what did I want to talk about again?"

"Don't you think it was a little strange, Madison?"

Madison shook her head. "I can't understand it. Maybe they recognized him."

"But I thought I was the chosen Cardcaptor," Sakura said. "I'm the one with the wand. So why did the Mirage Card just ignore me and chase after Li? It doesn't make sense."

Sakura and Madison looked out into the ocean. They could clearly see Li swimming around. Even after all these years, the comparisons were still there. Everyone still wondered who was the better swimmer between Sakura and Li. But Sakura didn't think about that. She thought about the fact that he was alone.

"Madison? Where's Tommy? I thought he was out with Li."

"He said something about trying to find a place for dinner…for him and me."

"What?" Sakura asked. "What about me? What about Li? We have to eat too, you know."

"Actually," Madison added. "I sort of told him to make it that way. You don't want me and Tommy around. Especially if you want some time alone with…you know."

Sakura didn't think of that. This may have been her chance to be alone with Li. Things couldn't have been any better. But that day, a reality hit her. Something she hadn't thought of before.

"I think I'll talk to him tonight."

The reservations were made for tonight. Tommy could only wonder why Madison didn't want Avalon or Shoran to go with them. But it didn't matter. This was perfect. It was definitely a sure thing that Madison would be out of harm's way. The only problem was Sakura Avalon. She could get caught in the crossfire. But Tommy shook that off. If Avalon got nailed, then so be it. He couldn't take any chances.

Tommy was down to four 2nd Cards. Luckily, the four that remained were among the most dangerous and lethal. He wondered which one he should use for tonight. But suddenly, one appeared right in front of him. A 2nd Card had found him.

"What's wrong with you?" Tommy demanded. "You're lucky there's nobody around."

The card just stayed there, floating around. Tommy soon recognized which card this was and a smug grin started to grow on his face. There would be no way Shoran could escape this one, even if that other mysterious Cardcaptor came to help him.

"Never mind," Tommy sighed. "I'm actually glad you're here. I've got a job for you."

Sakura sighed. She couldn't believe she was really about to do this. She continued walking on the beach, leading Li behind her. It looked like Li had no idea where they were going. She couldn't blame him though. Sakura didn't really know where they were going either. Then she found what she was looking for. It was a log, set up on the beach.

Sakura sat on the log, and Li sat right next to her. She looked up into the sky. Sakura couldn't have asked for a better night. The moonlight shining down on the beach was just beautiful. It was even…romantic.

Sakura finally broke the silence. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"What?"

"The moonlight. I can't…describe it, but the way it shines down on everything is just breathtaking." Sakura sighed again. "Li, you have no idea how much I've dreamed of us spending a night alone like this. For a while, I thought it would never happen."

"Me too."

"Huh?"

"I never thought this would happen, either," Li clarified. "I kind of wanted to have a night like this with you too, Sakura. I've wanted to ever since I left Japan the first time. I just never thought I'd actually come back."

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you back. I've missed you so much."

Li seemed surprised. "You have?"

"There's rarely been a time in the last three years where I haven't thought of you. I've always wondered what it meant. I didn't want to think what I was thinking, because I knew I'd never see you again. I'm…sort of still afraid to say anything about what I feel."

"Why?" Li asked curiously. "What are you afraid of?"

"Li, you came back to help me seal the 2nd Cards. And now there are only four left. But what happens when they're all sealed. Will you just leave me again? Will you just go back to Hong Kong and forget about me?" Sakura started to shed a tear. "Will I ever see you again?"

Li sighed. "Sakura…it's not like that. Really. I know you think I'm going back to Hong Kong when this is all over, but…"

**BZZZ**

Out of nowhere, a laser beam split the log between Sakura and Li. It was shot out by a floating orb. It was a 2nd Card, but more specifically it was the Laser Card. It clearly caught both of them by surprise. Sakura managed to roll out of the way. She couldn't believe this. Finally, FINALLY, she had a night alone with Li and a 2nd Card had to show up. Why did this have to happen to her?

Sakura braced herself for another shot from the Laser Card, but she then noticed it wasn't coming after her. The Laser Card started aiming for Li. It shot out a flurry of laser beams at Li, but he was able to duck behind a rock. Unfortunately, the rock was sliced and diced by the lasers, leaving Li unprotected.

Sakura had to do something. She pulled out her magical key. "Key of Clow. Power of Magic. Power of Light. Surrender the wand. The force ignite. Release!"

Sakura didn't point her wand, though. She just wanted to get the Laser Card's attention. She grabbed a rock and tossed it at the floating orb. The Laser Card turned around and set its sights on Sakura. It started shooting out laser beams at Sakura. Since she had nothing to deflect laser beams with, Sakura could only run.

"Sakura!" Li called out. "Over here."

Sakura ran over to Li. He looked like he had an idea…sort of.

"We have to regroup," Li said. "Use the Invisible Card."

Sakura pulled out the Invisible Card. "Invisible Card! Make us vanish! Release and dispel! Invisible Card!"

She didn't know if it took effect. Sakura saw the Laser Card looking right at them, but it didn't fire. It couldn't see them. It drifted off, trying to find them.

"Ok, now what?" Sakura asked.

"It's after me," Li pointed out. "It doesn't want you, it wants me. And that's where we'll get it. I think we can get it if we have the right stuff."

"Like what? I don't have anything that can stop lasers."

"But we have something close to it," Li replied. "What about the Pie Card?"

Sakura didn't think of that. She knew the Pie Card could help them. She recalled the Invisible Card and pulled out the Pie Card.

"Pie Card! Create two mirror pies! Release and dispel! Pie Card!"

In each hand, Sakura had a mirror pie. She tossed one to Li and they came out to fight the Laser Card again. Sakura hurled another rock at it and it turned around. It turned to Sakura, but it abruptly changed course and went after Li again.

The Laser Card shot out a laser beam and Li held up the mirror pie. The laser beam deflected off the mirror pie and went another direction. Sakura ran to the laser's path and held up her mirror pie. She deflected the laser beam towards another direction. Sakura managed to tilt the pie enough to change the laser's trajectory so that the laser nailed the Laser Card.

The Laser Card fell to the ground with a hard clunk. It was obviously taken out by that sudden shot. And it was immobile long enough for Sakura to finish the job.

"Laser Card! Return to your power confined! Laser Card!"

The Laser Card was sealed, but Sakura wasn't feeling any better. The mood was totally killed and Madison and Tommy were due back any minute. Besides that, Sakura couldn't bring herself to say anything more to Li.

It didn't occur to her until a few hours ago, but Sakura couldn't start something with Li. He was only here to help her with the 2nd Cards. And there were only three left. There wasn't anything that said Li wouldn't go back to Hong Kong when this was all over. So Sakura figured it'd be easier to spare herself the pain of seeing a loving relationship end so abruptly. She wouldn't start one at all.

She just wanted to go to sleep. So Sakura just walked out.

Li couldn't understand it. He was so close to showing his true feelings to Sakura. Then the Laser Card had to mess everything up. But he couldn't get off his mind what Sakura said to him.

She thought he was going back to Hong Kong when the 2nd Cards were all sealed. That was the decision that haunted Li since he first came back. He had to decide between going back to Hong Kong or staying here with Sakura.

He didn't want to leave. Li wanted to stay here. He had to tell Sakura. That was probably the only factor keeping him from telling her how he really felt.

But Sakura had already gone to sleep for the night. Maybe Li could tell her tomorrow.


Author's Note: There are only three 2nd Cards left, but it doesn't get any easier. Look for a twist to occur in the next chapter. I'll be back soon…possibly on Monday.


Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below.