Chapter Three:

Chapter Three:

"What's with that look?"

Eriol raised his eyes thoughtfully and glanced towards Nakuru, sitting before a roaring fire in the fireplace. She stared at him, as if interested in him.

"Look?" he asked innocently.

Nakuru rose, her long maroon hair falling down her back. She flipped the braid around absentmindedly as she came close to sit next to his knees. "Yes. The expression on your face. The look." She emphasized.

Over by the window of the living room a small animal with droopy eyes lifted his head.

Eriol smiled at her and shrugged.

"He has a bet. With his descendant." The creature said emotionlessly, and he looked about ready to drop his head back down comfortably.

"A bet..?" Nakuru asked, eyes shimmering with her new interest. "What kind of bet?"

Eriol still didn't answer, content with staring at the fire.

"A bet to see who can land the Card Mistress first." The animal answered for him. And this time he did drop his head back down.

"Spinel Sun?" she asked, more in disbelief than to call the creature by his name. And then she looked at Eriol. "Really?"

"It's a little game." Eriol said with a shrug of his slim shoulders. The fire reflected off his glasses as he looked down at her. "One to…wake him up to the possibilities. Because really…" he sighed, "he won't do anything if we leave him be."

"And whose idea was it?" Nakuru inquired. "Just yours?"

Eriol paused, cocking his head. "Mostly Daidouji-san's…" he answered slowly.

"Oh, that name again…" came the muffled voice from the small huddled figure of Spinel Sun. He rolled over so that his butt was facing them.

Eriol stared at him absentmindedly. "Well, isn't that just the slightest bit disrespectful…"

"And how is it going, then?" Nakuru asked, bringing him back to the subject at hand.

Eriol pouted a bit. "It's going well. For me." He answered after a moment. "My descendant isn't willing to risk anything, really."

"Then it isn't really a game…" Nakuru said, let down the slightest bit. She looked over towards the fire longingly, the crackling soothing them if only a bit. "Well, you can always just come up with more ingenious ways to get them together."

Eriol smiled at the suggestion, the way she purred it. "You suggest…the cards." He said for her and when she whirled to look at him happily he was already looking at her.

"You've been wanting to try them out for a little fun, haven't you?" she asked. "This is the perfect time."

"Right now? This very moment?" he murmured. And he became silent as he mused over the possibility. "Well, I suppose it is a good time. It's a weekend." He decided slowly.

"I'll choose a card!" Nakuru volunteered and she closed her eyes and lifted a hand, sitting up straight and facing him with her legs crossed.

Spinel Sun sighed from the window.

Eriol held out his hand, fingers pointing outward and in his hand a fragile black light splintered outward as something appeared in mid-air, falling into his palm. "They're still weak. They're not going to last."

"It's alright." Nakuru shrugged, eyes still closed. "They're not the real cards anyway, not anymore."

Eriol settled a bit further into his armchair and holding the pack between fingers and thumb, he spread them out like a fan. "Go on."

Nakuru leaned forward, reaching out playfully. And then she peeked an eye open and plucked forth a card. "Here!" she said, holding it out towards Eriol who would have sweat dropped had it been in his nature.

He glanced at the card and smiled. "Well, then. Let's see how they do."

"Pastries! And pastries! And more pastries!" Kero-chan cried, popping out of Sakura's backpack.

Sakura instantly swung her backpack around to her front and squashed him with both hands, hoping that she could suffocate him. "Kero-chan!" she hissed, glancing around and seeing no one noticed.

"I'm hungry, Sakura-chan…" he whined, his voice coming out muffled between her fingers.

"I don't care!" she whispered and she shoved him right back in, zippering it over his protests. "I will get you sweets as soon as I find a store!"

"Talking to yourself again?"

She whirled around, eyes widening to look up at the new arrival. "Hoeee…"

Touya had an eyebrow arched at her, his body bent forward over his bike. Beside him Yukito waved, also on a bike, eyes closed in a cheerful smile.

"Ah, Yukito-san." She said quickly, skipping right over the answer to Touya's question. "Your bike is fixed!"

The light haired boy nodded, the sun reflecting off his glasses. "Yes, this morning. I went in to see if it was done and it was. I was missing it, too."

Sakura nodded happily.

Touya looked around, scanning the park and the benches quickly. "Where are you off to?" he asked, finally looking back towards her again.

From her backpack came the low rumbling of a hungry stomach.

"Uh…" Sakura quickly clapped her hands over her own stomach and laughed nervously. "I am really hungry. I was just off to see Tomoyo-chan but I figured I'd stop along a store somewhere and pick up something small to eat." She rubbed her belly as if to further her point.

Touya wasn't believing a word of it, she could tell. Beside him Yukito was smiling as if he understood perfectly well.

"And you two?" she inquired.

"Just out for a ride." Yukito answered. "It's a wonderful day."

Sakura almost agreed with him. Almost. Because it was at that moment that off to the side, in between the small space of two trees, a figure moved. She paused, blinking wide eyes in surprise. It wasn't possible, was it? No, of course not. It couldn't be. Because…because…

Because the card was hers now.

"Sakura." Touya said and from the tone of his voice it was obvious this was not the first time he had called her name.

She looked at him, distracted. "What?"

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" Yukito asked worriedly and her heart melted. He always worried over her. It wasn't fair for him to always worry and never remember.

"Nothing." She said quickly and then to reassure him, "Really. Nothing. But I have to go…"

Yukito frowned at her and strangely enough it was Touya who came to rescue. "Go ahead." He said quietly, the look on his face that of understanding. "Go on. Just…be careful."

Sakura stared at him for a moment, stunned.

You know…don't you…

And she smiled at him, a quick grateful smile. "Arigato, oni-chan." She said and she waved good-bye at Yukito, who merely waved back hesitantly.

"What was that about?" Yukito asked Touya who merely shrugged and prepped himself to ride off. He watched his friend ride off and then looked at the departing girl thoughtfully.

Arrow Card. Arrow Card. Arrow Card.

The name swept through her mind as she ran, taking a corner without slowing her pace. It wasn't possible but it had been. It had been her. Only further proven by the fact that she had carried something in her hand, something that had looked like a long bow.

Her wand was in her hand a moment later as she called on it. "Release!"

The figure burst out of the trees just ahead of her, small cries and shrieks ringing out from several people sitting on benches. Hair lifting the slightest bit with a gentle breeze the Card lifted her bow, pulling back an arrow on the string. She let it fly a moment later.

Sakura saw it glow and split into three separate arrows before she ducked her head and dived. She hit the ground hard, sliding across it and she felt the wind of the arrows as they flew over her, missing her only by a few inches.

Too close. Waaaaay too close…

She slapped her hands down, her right clutching her wand, and she rose to her feet, lifting eyes to the Card. All around people stared in wide-eyed horror at her and the Card, especially when the Card lifted another arrow. She had to do something, now, to stop them from seeing.

She twirled her wand, lifting it above her head. With her other hand she flung a card into the air, one of her own cards. "I call on your power!" she cried and she swung her wand down, almost striking the card with it. "Sleep!"

Mist burst from the surface of the card, shooting into the air. At the same time the Card let loose with the other arrow, taking a step back a moment later as the mist from Sakura's card became a tiny figure. She was a small faerie, the Sleep Card, and she was nimble. She easily dodged the incoming arrows, intent on leaving her trail of moon dust over the innocent people in the park.

Sakura wished she were just as agile. She threw herself backward, hitting the floor once more and she saw the arrows as they flew over her. "Not fair, not fair, not fair…"

Underneath her came an indignant shout. "Oi! Sakura! Let me out!"

Sakura nearly sweat-dropped. "Kero-chan! Gomen!" she said and she slipped off the backpack, setting it aside. "Just wait there for a minute, I'll be back-"

The small thumps at her feet alerted her to the fact that the Arrow Card had not backed down. She lifted her head to see several arrows lined in a row leading up to her feet. "Hoeeeeeee!"

Sleep was returning, floating to a stop before Sakura as she made her way to her feet. She smiled sweetly before her figure became distorted in smoke and mist. Sakura grabbed the card that formed and tucked her away, turning her attention back to the scene.

Sleeping bodies lay everywhere, slumped over benches and littering the ground. Well, that was one problem taken care of. Now all she had to do was-

The Card lifted the bow once more, anger forming on her face.

Sakura threw out another card, swinging at it. "Fly!" she shouted, willing the creature to rise from the card a little faster.

A sudden force seized her from behind and she looked over her shoulder to see two long white wings form at her back. Barely wasting a moment she flung herself into the air and the wings obeyed her command, lifting her gently. Arrows shot by her feet, missing her with a little more space then before and at least for that Sakura was thankful.

Now to trap the Card.

"Freeze!"

From the card she tossed forth a creature sprang to life, a large beast of ice and crystal. Ice shards burst from the ground, heading towards the Arrow. She backed up a step and then frantically shot as the ice came towards her. Her arrows burst through the shards, shattering them but the Freeze was upon her instantly, a single shard shooting up under her and flinging her aside as if she weighed no more than a feather.

Sakura flew forward, her wand spinning in hand. She paused before the Arrow Card, several feet away, hovering in mid-air, and she stared at the Card in confusion. "Who are you?" she asked, and she felt Freeze come up behind her almost protectively.

Arrow rolled over, whimpering in pain, and then raised blank blue-gray eyes at her in fury.

Sakura lifted her wand. "Return to thy true-"

The Card's bow materialized in her grasp once more and she pulled a single arrow along the string, letting it fly with a cry.

Sakura felt it, the moment the arrows hit.

"Sakura!"

And she didn't know who cried out her name. All she knew was that she felt a pain throughout her entire body and yet she also felt that the pain wasn't hers. A shriek resounded around her, deafening her and she couldn't seem to grasp what was going on, what exactly she was feeling. But she knew, whatever it was, it was not good.

The Arrow raised another arrow, a small smile forming on her face.

And then a body slammed into the Card, tackling her and flinging her to the side in a flurry of green and white.

"Syaoran…" she whispered. It was all she could do, she couldn't seem to move her limbs. And there was still a soft wail ringing in her ears, all around her.

Syaoran rose, Chinese uniform hanging down around his lean frame and he lifted his sword, holding it out before him with both hands. He shouted an incantation, releasing a burst of lightning from the blade.

Arrow shrieked, caught by the current. For a moment she stood stiffly, blue-white light seizing her and coursing throughout her body. Syaoran gritted his teeth, forcing more power and the lightning shooting from his blade burst with light, forking and striking the Card.

"Syaoran!" Sakura cried, tears rising in her eyes.

She almost thought he ignored her. But then the lightning ceased with a small spark, Syaoran swinging the sword down at his side.

Arrow's eyes closed and she slipped to the floor wordlessly, unconscious.

Sakura exhaled thankfully and then looked towards Syaoran as he turned slowly to look at her. The color drained from his face, lips parting and he stared up at her with a pained expression.

"I can't feel anything." Sakura said quietly, a tear slipping down her face.

Syaoran was grateful that she couldn't feel anything. He took another step forward, gazing up at her figure in horror.

Arrows protruded from the wings of Fly, pinning Sakura to Freeze's large body. She was held several feet up, her body hanging from both Cards.

"Sakura." He said urgently and he came to stand directly before her, almost feeling as if he were paying homage to something. "Sakura, call back the Cards." He said, lifting both hands up to her.

She nodded wordlessly, tears now falling freely down her face. "Return to thy true form. Fly." She whispered.

Mist burst from her back, shooting up into the air with the cry of a bird. Sakura slipped, released from the arrows and Syaoran caught her, cradling her against him and looking up. The mist became a funnel, swirling into the form of a glowing rectangle.

"Freeze." Sakura called weakly, her head buried against the symbol on Syaoran's chest.

The large ice creature also dissolved into smoke, swirling into a miniature cone and forming a glowing card. Both cards flashed once, turning at last into true cards and they floated down to hover before their Mistress.

Sakura gazed at them for a silent moment and then she released Syaoran with one hand, reaching out with trembling fingers. They floated into her grasp, light dancing across their surfaces. She stared at them for another moment, Syaoran looking at them sadly also.

And then Sakura pulled them against her, tucking them against her heart.

All around, the sound of a bird shrieking suddenly echoed, along with it a low murmur of pain from the Freeze Card. Sakura closed her eyes leaning entirely against Syaoran who wordlessly accepted her weight. He slowly knelt, bringing her with him and Sakura sat, cradled in his arms, frowning in concentration.

Take my strength to heal thy wounds…

The Fly Card cooed as light rose from Sakura, a soft gentle power washing over both cards. Freeze remained quiet but she knew that the cards were thankful for the power, for the healing light that was her love.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…

Beside her she suddenly became aware of a large creature, a golden cat with pieces of armor decorating his powerful body. She looked over and more tears stung her eyes. "Kero-chan…gomen…"

Her Guardian nodded, pressing a furry muzzle into the side of her face in understanding.

Syaoran looked over his shoulder towards the Arrow Card. And he stiffened as he saw her form glowing brightly, a figure of light. And then, inexplicably, she melted into that light, her form becoming smoke and rising into the air to be one with it.

"What…was she?" Sakura asked reluctantly and he looked down at her to see her tear-streaked face gazing at the spot the Arrow Card had just been. Beside her, Keroberos was frowning in quiet anger.

"I don't know…" he answered, arms tightening around her. "I don't know…"

"Too powerful…" Eriol murmured thoughtfully. "Perhaps I made the Cards too powerful."

"Which would explain why they don't last." Nakuru nodded and she stared at the fireplace. Only a small piece of that space had been cut out, taken over by a view of Syaoran cradling Sakura as they looked toward the spot where the Arrow Card had been.

Eriol exhaled to himself. "I'll know better next time."