Author's Note: After the concert in the Jersey Shore, Sakura used the Vision Card to look for the next American Card. She found it in New York City.


Cards captured so far: Vision and Heat


CCS: The American Cards: Part 5


Sakura groaned as she hung up the phone. It was still a big argument every time she checked in with Tori. And she knew that with every American Card she sealed, it meant coming one step closer to going home…and getting grounded for life. That was a long way from now, though. Sakura was barely on the bus to New York City right now.

"Arguing with Tori again?" Madison asked as she took her phone back.

"Unfortunately," Sakura sighed as she handed it back to her. "I've told him over and over that I'll explain this to him when I get back, but he won't listen to me. Why is he being like this, Madison?"

"Maybe it's the shock of seeing his little sister go overseas," Madison tried answering. "Maybe it's the fact that his little sister lied to him about going overseas. Maybe it's the fact that his little sister has gone overseas…and won't be spending the holidays with her family."

Sakura sulked. "Who asked you?"

"Sakura…" Madison sighed. "I know it doesn't sound like it, but Tori misses you. He wishes you were home for the holidays."

"Don't you think I want that?" Sakura pointed out. "But it's not exactly my choice here. I didn't ask to capture cards overseas for Christmas. What can I do?"

"I don't know what we can do," Madison said sadly. "I think the only thing we can do is just call them over the phone and tell them…Merry Christmas."

Sakura felt depressed. Christmas Day was coming closer every day and for the first time in her life, she wouldn't be spending it with her family. Maybe that's what had Tori so frustrated. Looking out the bus window didn't help, either. The New York City streets were filled with Christmas decorations.

The only thing that could comfort her was the fact that she was surrounded by those who loved her. She knew what she had to do, though. She didn't sense an American Card just yet, but Sakura had a feeling she would soon enough.

Sakura sat on the hotel bed, looking at the first two cards she captured. She looked closely at the Vision Card and the Heat Card. They were the first two of many. She thought about how she would go about looking for the next card. Sakura had heard so many stories about New York City.

"You feeling ok?"

Sakura looked up to see that Li had joined her. She was glad he was here. She knew that she couldn't do this without him. Not only that, but she was glad to be spending Christmas with him.

"I'm fine," Sakura sighed. "I'm just thinking about what we're going to do. We can't just use the Lasin Board out in public, can we?"

"I doubt it," Li shook his head. "But maybe we don't need to. What did you see when you used the Vision Card?"

Sakura thought hard. "I…can barely remember. All I recall seeing was a big skyscraper."

"That doesn't narrow it down," Li said grimly. "Can you remember anything else?"

Sakura closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. She couldn't think of anything.

"Do you need to use Vision again, Sakura?" Kero asked.

"No," Sakura snapped. "I can remember." She knew if she couldn't see this, she couldn't go much farther as a Cardcaptor. She tried to look back, but then she remembered one more detail. "I remember seeing a huge Christmas tree. It was the biggest one I'd ever seen."

"Big Christmas tree, huh?" Kero pondered. "It gives us an idea of what to look for."

"But we could be looking for a while," Li added. "New York City is one of the biggest cities in the world. It could take us all night."

Sakura sighed again. "I just hope Madison has cab fare."

That night, everyone was waiting by the street corner waiting for a taxi. It would be a long wait, since this WAS New York. But hopefully, this taxi could take them around the city where Sakura could find that giant Christmas tree. She tried sensing the card from the corner, but felt nothing. Sakura had trouble sensing the American Cards, which was clearly starting to frustrate her. Of course, she knew she had to feel something sooner or later.

Then a taxi looked like it was finally coming. Sakura and Meilin tried waving their arms.

"TAXI!!"

The taxi didn't stop. Instead, it just passed them by, driving over a puddle and leaving Sakura and Meilin drenched.

"JERK!!!" Meilin shouted towards the passing cab.

"I don't get it," Sakura coughed. "Why didn't he stop?"

"Maybe those stories we heard about Americans were true," Li guessed.

"Well, here comes another one," Madison pointed. "Maybe he'll stop for us."

"Let me try," Li said boldly.

Li then made a daring move. He walked onto the right lane of the busy street and stood in front of the incoming cab. The cab was coming fast, but managed to stop in time. Sakura cringed. She thought that taxicab would hit Li for sure. But when it didn't, she shook her head and got into the cab. To her surprise, when Li got into the taxi, the driver was clapping.

"Hey, that was pretty good," the driver said in his New York accent. "I've seen lots of people do that, but none like you. Especially a tourist."

"How'd you know we were tourists?" Li asked suspiciously.

"What, are ya kidding me?" the driver scoffed. He looked mockingly at Li's robes. "No American would dress like that…unless…hey, you ain't one of them Broadway people, are ya?"

"No."

"Then you MUST be a tourist," the driver continued. "Well then ya lucky ya caught me. None of them other cabbies here would give tourists like you the time of day. So where ya from?"

"We're from Japan," Sakura answered.

"Japan?" the driver repeated. "I know we get all kinds around New Years', but I ain't never seen no Japanese around here. Anyway, I'll be your driver. While some may call me da man, others call me da king, and some people just call me 'ya ravin lunatic', I prefer to be known as Pete from Red Hook. So where do ya wanna go?"

Sakura took a few seconds to absorb all this. It looks like they drew one of New York's more eccentric cabbies. But it didn't matter to her, as long as he took her where she wanted to go.

"Uh…can I ask you a question…Pete?" Sakura began.

"Shoot, kid," Pete said casually. "Meter's runnin, though."

"Do you know where I can find a giant Christmas tree?"

Pete let out a loud cackle. "Jeez, you guys MUST be foreigners. Everyone around these parts knows that the giant Christmas tree is the one in front of the Rockefeller Center. I'll get ya there right now…and because I'm such a nice guy…I'll even take a shortcut."

Pete's idea of a shortcut wasn't exactly the one Sakura hoped for. Driving insanely fast on a surface street, Pete drove in between traffic and tried to fit in any little gap provided for him. With no regard for the condition of the cab…or the passengers, Pete continued going as fast as he possibly could. At one point, he passed right through a changing traffic light, narrowly missing a bus. Sakura's heart was beating a mile a minute.

Pete looked back at the rare occasion he stopped for a red light. "Nervous? Don't be. I been doin this for years. I haven't crashed once…except for that one close call I had."

"You think that bus wasn't a close call?!" Meilin snapped. "You're crazy!!"

"Hey, I'm getting you there quick, ain't I?" Pete shot back nonchalantly. "Oh, there goes the green light."

The tires screeched as Pete stepped on the gas. He continued driving erratically through narrow gaps until he reached Fifth Street. He took a sharp right turn and went straight until he reached the corner of Fifth and 49th Street. Sakura looked out the cab window. That's when she saw it. It was the enormous tree she saw when she used the Vision Card.

"There it is," Pete announced. "The big Christmas tree. Big tourist attraction. Standing 80 feet tall. Surrounded by the big ice rink. It don't get any better."

"T-Thanks," Sakura said, a little distracted. Everyone was quick to get out of the cab, still shaken by the bumpy ride.

The taxi left after Pete got his fare. Sakura just looked up in awe at the big Christmas tree. She had never seen anything like it. The lights shimmered from the tree like…Sakura glanced at Li…the lights sparkled like his eyes in the night. It was quite a sight.

"It's beautiful," she finally said.

The spectacle of seeing the big tree soon wore off, though. Sakura finally began to sense it. She sensed an American Card.

"It's here."

"How do we get it?" Meilin asked. "There are people everywhere."

Sakura knew she was right. This would be hard to do with so many people around.

"I don't think we'll be able to do this until tonight when this area's closed off," Li finally said. "What should we do in the meantime?"

Sakura had an idea to pass the time, but to get that off, she winked at her friend, Madison.

Madison took the hint. "Uh…Meilin? Can you come with me to buy a new battery for my camera?"

"I…don't see why not," Meilin replied. "Can't leave you alone in a place like this." She looked warningly at Sakura. "Don't…get any ideas."

Sakura grinned. "Oh, I won't."

As soon as Madison and Meilin walked off, Sakura took Li's hand. She looked deep into his eyes.

"It's a nice night for ice skating."

It was about one in the morning, but the Rockefeller Center had finally been closed off. The only ones there were Madison, Meilin, Li, and Sakura…and of course, Kero. Sakura looked at herself again. She looked at much the red dress with the thick shoulder pads that Madison made for her. While it did look great with the Santa hat, Sakura was shivering. Her legs were freezing.

"I can feel it," Kero finally said. "There's something not right about that Christmas tree."

"You mean other than trees aren't supposed to come that big?" Meilin pointed out.

"Besides that," Li shook his head. He pulled out the Lasin Board. "There might be something inside that tree. Force, know my plight! Release the light!" The Lasin Board pointed right at the giant tree. "It's in that tree somewhere."

"I'll check it out," Sakura nodded. "You guys…stay back here."

"Are you sure, Sakura?" Li asked. "I can come with you."

"It's ok, Li," Sakura said assuredly. "Just stay back here in case I need help."

Sakura slowly walked up to the tree, with Kero tucked under her Santa hat. She tried to piece together what card it could possibly be. There were no unusual changes in the atmosphere, so it could've been anyone's guess. As she stood in front of the tree, she took out her key.

"Key of Clow. Power of Magic. Power of Light. Surrender the wand. The force ignite. Release!"

Sakura boldly stood in front of the tree with her wand in hand. Nothing was coming out…yet. Sakura hoped to find out what card it was and she had an idea how she could do that.

"Vision Card! Show me my adversary! Release and dispel! Vision Card!"

A projection appeared before Sakura, but it wasn't anything she hadn't already seen. The projection was of the Christmas tree in front of her. She couldn't understand this.

Kero tried to spell it out for her. "Maybe…the card is IN the tree. It probably has some plant-like qualities."

Sakura cautiously approached the tree. She then reached out and grabbed one of the tree's lovely branches. That's when something inside the tree grabbed her wrist. It was a big green stalk. Another stalk reached out and grabbed Sakura's other wrist, making her drop her wand. Sakura struggled as the vines tried to pull her in.

"Sakura!"

Li had seen enough. He came running up to the tree with his sword drawn. He swung his sword and sliced the vines, releasing their grip on Sakura. Sakura picked her wand up off the ground and looked back at the tree.

"Now I get it!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's the Vine Card!"

"It was camouflaged the whole time," Li added. He looked at Sakura. "I have an idea. Get your wand ready."

In a bold move, Li took a step back, but then ran forward and jumped right into the Christmas tree.

"LI!!"

Sakura couldn't stop him. Li was already inside the tree and Sakura could see the big 80 foot tree starting to shake from inside. There must've been some wicked battle going on in there. Then Sakura saw a big vine try to throw Li out. But as Li flew out, he took the vine with it. By the time Li landed, he had brought the Vine Card out with him. The Vine Card was a big green cloak, with vines coming out from inside, and had big red eyes. It almost reminded Sakura of the Shadow Card she faced eight years ago, when she was just getting started as a Cardcaptor.

The Vine Card started approaching towards Li, so it never saw Sakura coming. She ran up behind it and held out her wand.

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

The Vine Card turned around, but it was too late. Sakura had it sealed in its card. Sakura's next instinct was to go check on Li. He had taken a bad fall from being thrown out of the Christmas tree. She turned around, but much to her frustration, she saw Meilin tending to him.

For a moment, Li didn't know where he was. The Vine Card threw him down hard. Then he felt a friendly hand on his own. Of course, it wasn't the friendly hand he had in mind. It was Meilin.

"Li? Are you all right? Talk to me."

Sakura, clearly trying to withhold her anger, approached Li.

"Back off, Avalon! I'm checking on him."

"Oh, no you're not!" Sakura shot back. "He's MY boyfriend! I'll check on him!"

"Excuse me?!" Meilin demanded. "He's your WHAT?"

"You heard me!!" Sakura shouted. "He loves ME! Get over it!"

Li sighed. This was nothing new. It had been this way ever since Meilin came back. Li couldn't deny the kindness of her decision to back up Li in his decision to openly defy his family's order to return to Hong Kong. But he knew she had an ulterior motive. She also tried desperately to win his affections. Since then, Sakura had become rather insecure and very defensive of her relationship. She and Meilin had often been at each other's throats and Li was often caught in the middle.

Li's wanted to tell Meilin that she has no chance. He's wanted to tell her that he loves Sakura, but he hasn't been able to. He couldn't stand the thought of hurting her feelings like that. Of course, he'd have to soon. It was obvious that situations like this couldn't continue. Besides, Li was hurt and Sakura and Meilin were still arguing. Luckily, he saw a hand reach out to him. Madison helped get Li to his feet.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," Li responded. "Somebody should tell them, though."

He looked at Sakura and Meilin who were still arguing.

"I'll check on him!!"

"No, I'll check on him!!"

Li figured he'd just wait it out. They couldn't argue like this forever. In the meantime, he could think about what could happen next. It was clear that despite the fact that this was an incomplete book, the American Cards that DID get completed are very powerful. There were still 17 American Cards remaining and if one like the Vine Card could stay hidden within something as harmless as a giant Christmas tree, then there could be a lot of trouble.

He could only wonder where the next one was.


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