Chapter Five:
Sakura came down the staircase
slowly, frowning at the mess. What had happened? She had left the house so
clean two days ago. After the incident with the false Arrow Card she had
dropped off to sleep a bit and now…now…
She entered the living room and
nearly died.
Oni-chan was home, sitting on
the couch. He glared across the coffee table at Syaoran, who was looking back
just as menacingly. Beside Touya Yukito was smiling cheerily, eyes closed into
crescent moons, a band-aid on his forehead.
Tomoyo was chatting to whomever
was listening, going on and on, all the while wrapping up Kero-chan's entire
stuffed body with gauze strips.
"K…Konnichi wa…" Sakura said,
smiling carefully. Her hair squeezed out a sweat drop slowly, balancing it precariously
at the tips.
"Konban wa, you mean." Touya
growled, turning his head to look at her. "What the hell happened here? I'm
gone for like five hours and this place gets demolished!"
Tomoyo grinned even after having
been rudely interrupted. "Sakura-chan! How are you feeling? You look better. At
least now you have color to your face."
Sakura definitely felt color in
her face. "I'm fine." She said and she yanked Kero-chan from her grasp, undoing
the gauze strips. Faintly she heard him exhale deeply as she uncovered his
mouth.
"Arigato…"
"I don't even know what I'm
doing here." Yukito said smiling just as brilliantly, as he spoke. "But here I
am."
Syaoran dropped his head into
his hand.
"Sleep." He said simply,
mumbling it into his palm. And he looked at Sakura.
Sakura looked at him blankly
before getting his drift. With a nod she turned and wandered into the kitchen.
"Oi! Sakura! We're not done here
yet!"
Sakura sighed, holding forth her
hand as she stopped in the middle of the kitchen. "Release." She commanded
quietly. And as her wand came into being before her, "Sleep Card, come forth."
A card materialized in the air
before her and it flickered once, shining brilliantly, before wind erupted from
its surface. Then out came the little faerie, small mouth drawn into a smile.
"Again, please." Sakura asked of
it, motioning toward the living room. And she waited as the faerie flew out of
the room.
"Hey, look!" Yukito-san could be
heard. "A faerie!"
"Nani-"
Then came the hard thump of a
body hitting the floor-
"Ooh…that's going to leave a
mark…"
And Sakura knew her brother was
out cold. The faerie returned after a moment and Sakura held her hand out below
the pixie as she once again returned to Card form. "Is it safe?"
Yue appeared at the door, scaring
the daylights out of her as she turned.
"Y…Yue-san!"
His light eyes held his usual 'Go
ahead and piss me off, see what I'll do to you' look. "I suggest, my
Card Mistress, that next time you alert me to the fact that you will be using a
card on my false form."
"Oh, gomen ne, Yue-san. Did it
start to work on you?" she asked sympathetically.
Yue arched an eyebrow. "I never
said that." And he turned around to join the group in the living room
again.
Sakura felt that same sweat drop
from earlier fall right off her head. But she followed him out to confront the
group.
"How are you feeling?" Kero-chan
asked, flying up to her as she came out of the kitchen.
"What happened?" she demanded
and she looked at the group in its entirety. Yue was leaning against the wall
now, arms crossed over his chest. Oni-chan was stretched out on the couch, fast
asleep. Tomoyo-chan was still looking at Kero-chan rather strangely, her
fingers twitching slightly on her camcorder.
Syaoran looked up wordlessly
from the couch, elbows bent on his knees.
"Someone answer me." She said
coldly. "And I'm not talking about the house because I think I know what
happened there."
"You mean about…the Clow Card."
Syaoran said quietly.
Sakura looked at him. "It was
a Clow Card, wasn't it." She asked in a tone that admitted she knew the answer
to her own question. "How is it possible?"
Kero-chan floated down to plop
on the arm of the couch. "Maybe you should ask Hiiragizawa-kun?" he suggested.
"He is part of the original creator of the Clow Cards."
"I'm sure he doesn't know
anything." Tomoyo-chan said quickly. "Eriol-kun gave that up a long time ago."
She looked at Sakura, sending her a look that asked that she please believe
her.
"Who else is there to ask?"
Syaoran asked with a dark look on his face. And Sakura knew the look only too
well. It popped up whenever he got really annoyed. "Who else has that kind of
power, to bring cards to life?"
"They're not as powerful, if
anything." Yue added from his corner. He was looking towards the windows, at
the slight rustling of the curtains with the evening breeze. "The card died
there, without being summoned back into Card form. Whoever made the card isn't
as strong as Clow Reed was."
"Then I'll talk to
Eriol-kun." Tomoyo said and she stood up, reaching for her backpack.
"Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked with
a frown.
Syaoran watched her also, a
suspicious look on his face.
Tomoyo nodded. "I'll go over
right now and ask him if he knows anything about the card and if there's a way
for him to get information on it." She slung her pack over her shoulder,
cradling her camcorder and started making her way to the front door.
"Tomoyo-chan." Sakura called
after her, taking a step. And when the girl turned to face her questioningly,
"You…wouldn't hide anything from me…would you?" she asked almost pleading.
Syaoran looked from Sakura to Tomoyo warily.
Tomoyo blinked, caught totally off-guard. She glanced toward Syaoran who merely looked back blankly. "No, of course not, Sakura-chan." She soothed in a faint whisper. "How could you think that?"
Sakura shook her head, looking apologetic. "No, I don't. I'm sorry I even asked." She said and she smiled. "Be careful, Tomoyo-chan."
Tomoyo smiled gently and then turned and left, door closing quietly behind her.
Yue came off the wall, standing up straight. "I'm taking my false form home. I think he's been through enough today." He also began to walk towards the front door.
"Yue-san, you're going out-"
The door slammed shut behind him.
"…like that..?" Sakura finished weakly. And she sighed.
Kero-chan looked around keenly. "Maybe we should clean up? Before 'ni-chan wakes up? That way we can say it was all a dream?"
Syaoran stood and for a moment Sakura thought he was excusing himself to leave as well. "Sounds good." He said instead and he looked at Sakura.
She smiled at him. "You don't have to. I'm sure Kero-chan and I can handle it."
"Eh?" Kero-chan snorted rudely.
"No, it's all right." He shrugged. "I've seen the entire mess. You'll be working for hours."
Sakura hung her head and sighed.
"So come on." He said and he smiled lopsidedly.
Eriol opened the door, surprised to see Tomoyo standing outside. "Daidouji-san." He said calmly. "What brings you-"
"What did you do?" she asked him quietly, eyes wide.
"…here. Say again?" he said politely. And he turned and walked back into the house, leaving the door open for her to follow him.
"What did you do, Eriol-kun? Did you send the card?" she asked, closing the front door behind herself.
Nakuru came out to stand behind Eriol, a small smile on her lips. "Welcome, Tomoyo."
Tomoyo looked at her, bowing a bit. "Konban wa." She said quietly.
"The card was mine, yes." Eriol answered her. "It was Nakuru's idea to use them. Just to throw them together. Make them work together again. Like the old days."
Tomoyo swallowed. "You could have hurt Sakura-chan. Li-kun. The Sakura Cards."
"I control the cards, Daidouji-san. I would not have let Arrow go any further. Hurting them wasn't what I had planned."
Tomoyo nodded, cautiously. "What do you have planned, Eriol-kun?" she asked slowly.
He smiled at her, a soft smile that while still eerie, did reassure her the slightest bit. "Something less dangerous." He said and he pulled out a card, holding it out to Tomoyo.
She took it into her hand, staring down at it.
"The Dream card..?"
"Push!"
Sakura put her shoulder to one side of the bed, Syaoran crouching at the other corner and together they shoved Sakura's bed back against the wall. It slid safely there and Sakura whooped happily, flinging herself on top of it. "Yay!"
Syaoran grinned, plopping down beside the bed and taking a breather.
"Arigato, Syaoran!" she said, rolling over so that her head hung over the side of the bed next to his.
Syaoran faced her, exhaling. And paused, just staring at her from inches away. She beamed at him, upside down, looking so cheerful it almost broke his heart.
The smile slowly faded as he continued to stare at her until it was just a shadow of what had been. And then her green eyes were staring into his brown ones, blinking innocently.
Sakura gazed at him, realizing that his eyes were beautiful. Tilted at the tips, thick lashes. So dark she could fall into them, already was falling into them. When had he gotten so tall? So handsome? She scolded herself at that last thought.
He had always been handsome…
And he was leaning into her, as if unaware of what he was actually doing. Her heart skipped a beat, pulse suddenly racing.
H-hooeeeeeeeeee…
"Sakura."
He was so close now. She voluntarily closed her eyes, knowing it was coming and yet scared that it was. She'd never kissed anyone and Syaoran was going to be her first. Of all people, she always thought it would be…
Yukito-san.
His mouth brushed hers, just a mere touch. But it sent shivers straight down her body, tingling in her feet. And from far away she was sure she heard someone calling her. Him. He was calling her, she could hear his voice, recognized it to be his. How wonderful, to know that she could hear his voice in her heart…
But he sounded frantic. His voice was frantic from wherever he was calling. Scared.
And she broke away from him, recoiling backwards and breaking the spell.
"Sakura!"
She opened her eyes, blinking awake and Syaoran's face came into view above her, dark eyes wide.
"Sakura!"
"Syao…ran?" she asked, frowning and she suddenly felt something, inside her body. Like a fluttering feeling in her chest. She found herself on the floor, Syaoran's lap under her, his arms wrapped around her.
"It's inside you!"
"N…Nani?"
"The Card! It's inside you!" he said and he motioned to his chest.
That fluttering feeling she had. It was inside, beating almost as rapidly as her heart. As if…as if…
"The
Dream card!"
As if she had a butterfly trapped in her heart. She sat up a bit and then grimaced, shaking away the remnants of her dream.
How unfair, that it had been a dream. She suddenly wanted it to be real…
Something began to shimmer, a light breaking out of her chest. She stared down in fright as the light rippled, like the surface of water broken by a pebble. Then a brilliant blue butterfly emerged from the light, wings beating frantically.
"Trap it!" Syaoran ordered, clutching her tightly.
And she stared at it as it hovered before them.
"Sakura!"
She shook her head. "No." she said quietly. She lifted a hand, feeling Syaoran shift under her. "Go home. To your master. You don't belong to me." She said to the butterfly.
The Card hovered for another moment. Then it turned, its body flattening into a two-dimensional figure. When it spun again it was a Clow Card, red back gleaming in the light of her room. And as she lifted a finger to touch it, it vanished, melting away into nothing.
She was left alone with Syaoran, a hand extended.
He had been scared, from the beginning. The whole talk he had had with Daidouji-san, it had all come flying back to him when they had stepped into the room. The Card had already been there, waiting. The moment she had stepped in, it had flown at her, striking her and then phasing into her, taking control of her. He had caught her on the way down but she had already been unconscious, eyes flickering in her sleep.
"I'm all right, Syaoran." She said again, nudging him.
He looked at her thoughtfully. "I know. I just…wish I knew what was going on and who was behind it. I'm thinking it's Eriol-kun but if I'm mistaken…"
She smiled at him, nodding. "I understand. Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out."
He didn't reply to that, instead just rising to leave. "Oh, one quick question." He said as he put on his shoes in the hallway.
"Nani?"
He cocked his head. "What did you dream about?"
He noticed she went beet red but instead of an answer she shoved him. "Go home!"
So off he went, waving goodbye as he left.
"Oh, Syaoran." She called after him. And as he turned she smiled at him from her front door. "Arigato."
He smiled back at her and waved goodbye once more as he exit through the front gate.
Sakura closed the door and then leaned on it, nearly slipping to the floor.
"Hanyaaaaaaaaaaaaaan…"