Chapter
Thirteen:
"It just flew out!" Nakuru cried, on
the phone with Eriol. "I wasn't expecting it and it was just a joke."
"She was making fun of you." Spinel
Sun murmured in the background.
She whirled on him. "Die, cat!"
she shrieked before returning to the matter at hand. "It went to find
Sakura-chan. I told it to. I didn't think it would listen! I thought it would
only listen to you!"
Eriol was nodding on the other line.
"All right, Nakuru. Calm down. Which card was it?" he asked, trying to sound
soothing.
Nakuru hesitated and he felt
something shift uneasily inside him.
"Nakuru?"
She sighed after a moment. "The
Sword Card…" she said slowly, reluctantly. And he could see her in his mind's
eye, hunching her shoulders and grimacing as if expecting a blow.
Eriol's eyebrows lifted as he looked
at Tomoyo beside him.
"We're dead." He mouthed to
her.
"Who are you?" Syaoran asked,
winding around Sakura. She matched his movements, staring at him coldly through
blank green eyes. He cocked his head, jaw clenching, but her expression didn't
shift in the least.
"I am your partner." She answered
after a moment. And then, quietly, "I am your enemy."
Syaoran recoiled at the icy tone of
her voice. "Nani?"
Sakura took a step forward, causing
him to back away. "I am your enemy." She repeated, eyes flashing. And that was
the sign. She suddenly lunged forward with a cry, swiping with the sword.
Syaoran's jaw dropped open for a
moment. Then he snapped to life, lifting his own sword to block the blow. Their
blades clanged together, the sound echoing throughout the park around them.
She backed away a moment later,
sword held before her gracefully.
Sakura doesn't know how to use a
sword, he thought faintly as he stared at her. He also took a stance,
facing off.
"I am your punishment." She
whispered then, face blank of any expression. "I am the blade which strikes you
down."
Syaoran didn't waver although he was
sure the earth had shifted under him. His punishment. How fitting. Maybe he
should let her strike him down. He knew he deserved it.
She attacked again, swinging the
sword down and he easily deflected it, shoving the attack aside. But she didn't
stop there. Her body spun, hair flying around her face and she came at him
again, swiping sideways.
Syaoran backed away, tip of the
blade missing his nose by centimeters.
She meant business.
Sakura took a stance again, leveling
cold green eyes at him. He stared at her and then at the sword. He doubted his
sword was any match for hers. He had seen it at work. The Sword card cut
through anything. He would only end up sacrificing a family heirloom if he went
up against her full force. But he couldn't afford to put it down either.
Without a weapon he was powerless.
She darted forward into a front
stance, stabbing almost angrily. Syaoran dodged it, using his blade to fling
off the attack.
This was going nowhere fast. He was
going to put a stop to this here and now.
With a deep breath he swung at her
with no intention of hurting her. He just needed to disarm her. This was the
Sword Card, all he had to do was get her grip off the blade and everything
would be all right.
Sakura lifted her blade above her
head to block his attack but he was stronger and she went down on one knee,
both hands clasping the hilt of the blade above her. Her lips parted,
displaying glinting teeth. His jaw was also clenched, both hands holding his
sword. She was strong, he had to admit. Sakura never did anything to display
any kind of physical power but now that he thought of it, with all the after
school activities she took up, he was surprised she wasn't kicking his butt
right then.
With an angry shriek she rose,
flinging off his sword and it went flying from his hand, stabbing into a tree
trunk. He looked at it and cursed under his breath.
"Damn it…"
He turned to face her again and she
was pulling the blade back at her side, prepared to run him through.
A light burst from her suddenly,
time slowing. Syaoran caught a movement in the white glow, Sakura seemingly
frozen.
A card spun in the air between them,
Syaoran gazing up at it. It flickered and then mist exploded from it, forming a
sleek weapon hovering in mid air.
The Sword Card.
He lifted a hand, swiping at its
hilt and taking hold of it.
Sakura threw out her attack,
reaching forward with her blade and he blocked it, both blades ringing as metal
clashed with metal. There was a vibration from both swords, one that they both
felt as they broke away from each other.
Syaoran looked down at the sword in
his hand, lips parted. And then he looked at Sakura who held her sword with
both hands before her furiously.
As one they both attacked, blades
clashing. Sakura spun, striking again and once more he blocked, forcing her
back. They were a blur of colors, green against pink, auburn hair floating,
dark brown eyes flashing. And they were both beautiful in form, bodies fluid
and agile. The only sound around them was the clashing of their swords. It even
seemed as if life stopped around them.
And the only thing that mattered was
them, their battle. All around them the earth had come to a standstill, the
clouds frozen in the sky.
Sakura cried out as he forced her
back, sprawling backwards onto her rear. She lay there for a moment, body breathing
rapidly and then glared at him as he came to stand beside her, sword hanging
forgotten.
"You lost." He uttered and he didn't
say it with contempt. He merely gazed at her, brown eyes hooded.
She sat up slowly, eyes shining.
"I've lost too much to you as it is." She whispered.
He blinked at that, lips parting.
And she lifted her sword then,
running him through at last.
Syaoran had seen it coming. He could
have blocked it, he realized that. But the look in her eyes. It might as well
have been Sakura speaking because those words were supposed to have been hers.
He let it happen, let her run him through with the blade.
And he didn't feel any pain. No more
than what he had felt at seeing the betrayal on her face when she had arrived
with the tape.
His legs gave out under him, body
toppling backward to the soft grass. It
was all right. He didn't feel anything anymore, nothing but the soft breeze
blowing around his face, caressing his hair. The sky was blue, bluer than he
had ever seen it. Or maybe he had just never paid attention to it.
How sad…
There was movement next to him and a
soft voice speaking. And then a person came into view above him. Sakura, with
her big green eyes searching frantically for someone to help her. She was
opening her mouth and screaming, tears coming to those eyes. Those emotional
eyes.
"Syaoran!"
His breath caught for a second and
he barely understood her movements. But she was lifting both hands and pressing
down on his stomach, fingers trembling.
"Syaoran!"
There was a small shiver around his
waist area. A small warmth. And it got bigger, slowly spreading out and heating
his waist, his ribs. Reaching further to clasp his heart, to travel towards his
collar. He had never felt so warm, even on cold nights when he had taken to bed
with a cup of hot chocolate. Not as warm as now. Never so warm.
Her hands came up to his face,
stained dark with blood. His blood, he realized dimly, and she was touching him
with those soiled fingers, caressing his face as she wept above him. Her tears
fell on him, he could smell her through her hair as she brought her cheek to
his, embracing him, holding him as if she would never let go.
And he prayed she never would.
Tomoyo ran faster than she could
have thought possible, terror driving her on. Eriol was ahead, clearing the way
through the trees for her, lean body lithe and agile. The sounds of clashing
swords had stopped moments before and she feared the worst.
The Sword Card.
Eriol reached a clearing finally,
breathing hard and he came to an abrupt stop, Tomoyo skidding behind as she
took in the scene before them. She was suddenly aware of Sakura-chan shrieking
now, screaming incoherently at whoever could hear her.
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cried and she
wound around Eriol, dashing forward and sliding down beside Sakura, reaching
towards her.
Syaoran was stretched out before
Sakura, face pale, his robes streaked through with blood. On the other side of
him lay two cards, one pink, one red, both with the same design on their face.
The Sword Card.
Sakura was pressing down on his
stomach, fingers drenched in blood. And she was concentrating, forcing some
kind of power through her fingers into Syaoran. "Give me your strength. Onegai.
Give me your strength." She murmured and Tomoyo didn't know who she spoke to
but it had become her chant now.
And all around her, cards were
coming into being, suddenly appearing from thin air. They floated around her,
around the both of them and then Eriol, drawing him in. They seemed to dance,
swaying in formation. All of them. The Sword Card rose from the floor, shooting
up to join them.
Syaoran's breath came as hisses, his
chest barely rising. And his eyes were open the slightest bit, brown irises
visible through slits. Tomoyo doubted he knew where he was or what was going on
around him.
Sakura lifted her hands away from
his stomach, reaching towards his face with bloodstained fingers. "Syaoran!
Syaoran!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. She embraced him,
pressing her face to his cheek and she shook with sobs, hands brushing back
locks of his brown hair. "Syaoran!"
Eriol crouched beside Syaoran, also
reaching out and he placed his hands over Syaoran's wound, long fingers
splayed. Tomoyo watched him, one hand on Sakura's back. He glanced at her and
she gazed at him.
Was he going to make it, she was
asking. He smiled at her reassuringly. He was going to make sure he made it.
Because too many things needed to be worked out. He wasn't going to let it end
this way. Not now. Not ever.
Tomoyo turned to Sakura, grabbing
her by her wrists and dragging her back. "Sakura-chan." She said and she looked
up at the cards floating around her.
Sakura looked at her, eyes swimming
in tears. "Tomoyo-chan…" she whispered and all around her cards started
dropping, floating down to the ground slowly. She gazed at her friend, seeing
her through blurry vision.
And then she looked at her fingers,
expression crumbling. Tomoyo shook her, trying to bring her attention back. "Here,
Sakura-chan! Look at me, here!"
Sakura looked back at her, eyes
glazing over the slightest bit. And as the last card fell to the ground she
suddenly went limp, eyes closing.
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cried, shaking
her.
"She's out. Don't worry. It's from
the strain of healing. She did most of the job." Eriol murmured, eyes trained
on his work. His irises seemed to flash for a moment but perhaps it had been a
trick of the sunlight. Tomoyo couldn't be sure. She instead held Sakura against
her, feeling the need to hurry him up or scream at absolutely everyone.
Syaoran inhaled abruptly, body half
rising off the floor. And he grimaced, hands lifting to his stomach, where he
felt the root of his pain. He encountered Eriol's hands already there and he
looked at him through blurred vision, not understanding.
Then he lay back down and fell into
darkness.