Author's Note: It's finished! I just put the finishing touches on the final chapter yesterday and I am very pleased with the result. All that's left now is to submit each part until I get to the end, which should take a while, depending on how eager I get.


Cards captured so far: Vision, Heat, Vine, Bell, Sleep, Wind, and Angel


CCS: The American Cards: Part 11


December 31st

It was New Year's Eve. Sakura pictured herself at home with her family getting ready to ring in the New Year. Instead, she was in Atlanta, Georgia on the hunt for another American Card. So of course Sakura wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. This time, the Vision Card showed her a park. Of course, it wasn't just any park. As Sakura passed by, she saw the sign.

Centennial Olympic Park

Centennial Park was still full of holiday decorations, but it was also full of people. The people of Atlanta were here for New Year's Eve. And they weren't exactly dressed for the occasion. Meilin and Li went in what they usually wore. Madison went in a coat and jeans, and of course, had her camera with her. And Sakura…wore a complete leather ensemble. Her jacket, pants, and boots were all made of leather. It definitely made her look a little more…dangerous.

"Does anyone have the time?" Sakura asked.

Madison looked at her watch. "It's 9 o'clock. Three hours to the New Year."

"Then we should get this over with quickly," Sakura responded.

Sakura and her friends made their way through the crowd and walked to a seemingly empty part of the park. Li took out the Lasin Board.

"Force, know my plight! Release the light!"

The Lasin Board's light shot out, but it faced away from the park. It was facing the parking lot.

Meilin shook her head. "I thought you said the card was in the park, Sakura."

Kero spoke up for her. "There's always the possibility that the card's moved on. Where's the light pointing to?"

Li ran with the Lasin Board to the parking lot. Everyone else followed him until they saw where the light was pointing. The light was pointing into the storm drain.

Meilin frowned. "You mean the next card's in…a sewer? Eww!"

Madison shook her head. "I just hope my camera doesn't get drenched."

"I guess we better go," Li sighed. He looked out into the street. "There's a manhole. We can get in through there."

"Wait a minute!" Kero suddenly called out. He flew into Sakura's pocket. "I don't want the smell of sewage on this body. Now we can go."

Sakura braced herself for what was sure to be a long evening. There was no way she could picture herself spending New Year's Eve in a…sewer.

"You don't got a family, do you?"

Carter was definitely curious about this guy he was working with. It was New Year's Eve and Carter was stuck in a Tallahassee hotel room while Agent Cole was still trying to get leads on those four kids. It had been a few days since Chris called with a lead saying those four kids were spotted in Disney World…where yet another unusual phenomenon had occurred. Carter wanted to go home, but it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon. He was going to be out on the road for a while.

"It's none of your business," Cole scowled. "I don't care for this or any other holiday. I just want to get my job done."

"Oh, that explains why you were such a ray of sunshine on Christmas," Carter grinned. "Come on, man. It's New Year's Eve. Even 'threats to national security' take the night off for New Year's."

"You don't know what you're saying," Cole said. "How long have you been FBI?"

"About…six months," Carter answered casually. "So you'll excuse me if I'm not used to missing my favorite holidays. Tell me something, Mr. CIA. Do you at least have any leads?"

"Beyond these pictures, I don't know," Cole answered. "There's no way they could still be in Orlando. They have to have moved on by now. That's why we stopped here."

"Why did we stop here?" Carter asked. "You haven't told me anything."

"We're waiting for your friend to call," Cole said. "Apparently, these four can't stay out of the spotlight. We'll get a call eventually. When we do, we'll leave and head right after them."

"Whatever you say," Carter said apathetically. "I'm just hoping this New Year's Eve won't be as sad as it's already been."

"It sickens me," Cole muttered. "Those four little…terrorists are probably out enjoying themselves right now."

Sakura definitely wasn't enjoying this. She could smell the sewage coming from the open manhole. She let Li go through first, while Madison climbed down after. Then Sakura hoped for…a semi- romantic moment.

"Li! Catch me!"

Sakura jumped down the manhole right into the arms of Li. It was such a romantic moment. She loved having these moments with Li. But when Sakura got to her feet, someone else was also hoping for Li to catch her.

"Li! Catch me!"

Meilin jumped down…but Li wasn't exactly expecting her. He was caught by surprise and she landed right on top of him. Sakura didn't want to laugh…but she couldn't help it. Especially since Madison got that embarrassing incident on tape.

"Wow! I can't wait until I get this into a VCR," Madison laughed.

"I thought you were going to catch me, Li," Meilin huffed.

"I'll catch you next time," Li moaned. "Now get off me!"

Meilin bashfully got off of Li and then grimaced. "Yuck! It stinks!"

"I'll say it does!" Kero shouted from Sakura's pocket. "I can smell that sewer all the way in here!"

Li took out the Lasin Board and saw it was pointing at the stream of sewer water. Then the water began to bubble.

"Is…it supposed to do that?" Sakura asked.

Just then, the water stopped bubbling…and a mountain of sludge began to rise. Then the sludge fell right on top of Sakura, Li, Madison, and Meilin.

Sakura coughed uncontrollably. "Gross! I'm drenched!"

"My camera!" Madison wailed. "It'll take me forever to get this stench off!"

"Oh, great!" Meilin added. "I'll have to spend about three hours in the shower to get this odor off of me! My hair's a mess!"

Li just calmly dried himself off and scoffed. "Girls." He walked over to the stream and pulled out his sword. "This is obviously…the Sludge Card. Come on out!"

The Sludge Card didn't come out. Instead, the stream began to spray sludge in Li's face. Sputtering, he stepped back.

"Ok, you had your chance!" Li said angrily. "Force, know my plight! Release the light! Lightning!"

Lightning shot out of Li's sword and right into the stream, but nothing came out. Instead, more sludge began to rise. A tidal wave of sludge fell right on top of Li. Sakura cringed before running up to Li.

"Li, are you…ugh!"

Sakura covered her nose and took a step back. As much as she loved Li…he reeked. The strength of that odor was like no other.

Li grew determined as he got to his feet. "I'm not going to lose to something like the Sludge Card! Force, know my plight! Release the light! Fire!"

Sakura and Meilin both gasped. "Li, NO!!!"

It was too late. A flame came out of Li's sword and went straight for the stream of sewer water. Sure enough…

**WHOOSH**

The sludge ignited. The sewer lit on fire and the flames were starting to spread. Sakura knew she had to work fast.

"Key of Clow. Power of magic. Power of light. Surrender the wand. The force ignite. Release!" Sakura quickly grabbed her wand and took out the Wind Card. "Windy! Put out the flames! Release and dispel! Windy!"

The Wind Card struck farther down the stream and created a tidal wave that fell on top of the fire. The fire was quickly put out, but Sakura still smelled smoke. Then she saw that something was still on fire. It was a giant gray spider covered in sludge…which was on fire. Sakura took advantage of its predicament. She ran up to the flaming Sludge Card and held out her wand.

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

The flames were out as the Sludge Card was sealed. The residual odor of smoke…and the odor of the sewer was all that remained. Sakura walked up to Li, who was practically beating himself up for making such a mistake.

"I can't believe I did that," Li groaned. "What was I thinking?"

Sakura, covering her nose, put a hand on his shoulder. "You did fine, Li. You did a great job of warming up the Sludge Card for me. And…I know I couldn't have gotten any closer to it. That think stunk!"

Just then, Meilin put her hand on Li's other shoulder. "Besides, you were just getting warmed up. I'm sure you could have beaten that card if Sakura let you finish your plan. What was your plan, Li?"

Li just stuttered nervously. "Uh…can't tell you. It was too complicated."

"I'll take your word for it," Meilin said dryly. "But…can we leave now? I can't take much more of this sewer!"

Sakura had to agree with that. This is not how she wanted to spend New Year's Eve. Sakura asked Madison for the time and she told her it was barely 10 o'clock. Sakura would have to rush back to her hotel room for a quick shower if she wanted to make this New Year's Eve special. It would be the first one she'd spend with Li…alone.

"You're sure we're alone?"

Sakura looked around. Centennial Park was full, but she managed to find an empty spot around the parking lot.

"We're alone," she told Li. "I asked Kero to keep Madison and Meilin busy. I didn't want any interruptions for tonight."

Sakura and Li sat down in the patch of grass near the parking lot. There wasn't a clock in sight, but she had a feeling that the crowd would start counting down soon enough.

"Did you…ever picture this?" Li asked.

Sakura sighed deeply. "I can honestly say I've never pictured myself spending New Year's Eve in Atlanta, Georgia. I never even pictured myself traveling outside of Japan."

"Actually…I meant something else."

"What did you mean?"

"Did you ever picture…us?" Li asked. "When we first met…eight years ago. Did you ever think we'd ever end up spending New Year's Eve alone together?"

"Not when I first saw you," Sakura admitted. "You tried to take the Clow Cards from me!"

"Well, that's because I didn't think you could handle it."

"What do you think now?"

Li kissed Sakura lightly on the forehead. "You…have matured so much since then. You've become better than anything I'd ever seen. I never dreamed you would become such a good Cardcaptor. You…even came to my rescue earlier."

"It was an honest mistake," Sakura said comfortingly. "I know. I've made enough of those in my life to know."

"Isn't it funny, though?" Li sighed, giving a half-smile. "This time it was me making the mistake. I never thought that would happen eight years ago."

Sakura looked into the sky. "Where do you think the next card is, Li?"

"I honestly don't know," Li answered grimly. "It could be anywhere."

"Do you think we can do this?" Sakura asked. "Capture all the cards?"

"We've done it before," Li nodded. "We can do it again. And I don't see anything that can stop us."

Things stayed pretty quiet. Sakura just laid back in Li's arms as she waited for the final countdown. Then the time came and the crowd in Centennial Park started counting down.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…"

Suddenly, Li kissed Sakura deeply just before the final second.

"…1…Happy New Year!"

Li broke the kiss and smiled gently. "Our last kiss of 2000."

Sakura smiled back. "And here's our first of 2001."

Then they resumed the kiss.


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