Author's Note: Long bus trip, wasn't it? Well, the bus has arrived and it's time to look for the next American Card. So where is it, and what kind of state will Sakura be in?


Cards captured so far: Vision, Heat, Vine, Bell, Sleep, Wind, Angel, Sludge, Multiple, Silence, Smoke, Memory, Chain, Fire, and Tornado


CCS: The American Cards: Part 20


It's been a few hours since Sakura arrived in Colorado Springs, Colorado. For a while, she sat alone in her hotel room. It was one of the worst feelings in the world, next to betrayal. It was isolation. Sakura couldn't confide in anybody, except Meilin, and she was downstairs.

She knew there was an American Card out there that had to be captured. She thought about that after she called Tori from the hotel phone. Usually, she would spend the day with her friends before donning one of Madison's costumes and going out to look for the next American Card. But so much had changed now.

Then Sakura realized something. She didn't want anything to do with Li, Madison, or Kero…so what was she waiting for? She remembered exactly what the Vision Card showed her. She saw the mountains…the Rocky Mountains. The next American Card was waiting to be sealed. And Sakura wouldn't wait for any of them. She got up…and walked out of the hotel room.

"So what are you three going to do about this?"

Li couldn't look at anybody at this point. He couldn't even look up at Meilin, who had come in to confront him, Madison, and Kero. One thing he thought, though, was that it was really ironic to see Meilin trying to play peacemaker, especially for Sakura.

"There's nothing we can do," Li answered. "We just have to wait for Sakura to calm down. She won't listen to any of us right now."

"Can I just ask what you two were thinking?" Meilin demanded.

"NO!" Li snapped. "I've heard that question too many times! Maybe I'll just come right out and say it! I was stupid! STUPID, STUPID, STUPID! THERE! You happy?!"

"No!" Meilin snapped back. "I've never seen Sakura like this! And even if we don't always get along, she's still my friend! You can't just leave her like this!"

"We don't plan to," Madison responded. "We'll talk to Sakura eventually…when she's ready to listen. We want her to hear us out…then she can decide if she still wants to be our friend."

"I talked to her on the bus," Meilin said. "And I've got to say, it doesn't look good. She doesn't sound too willing to forgive. But…she has to, though. I know she does. She wouldn't just shut her friends out of her life, would she?"

"You're pretty passionate about this, aren't you, Meilin?" Madison asked.

"Maybe I am," Meilin sighed. "I just can't stand to see you guys like this. I want things to be the way they were. I want to see you and Sakura go back to being best of friends. And I want to see Li and Sakura go back to being the way they were."

"You do?" Li asked curiously. "I thought you said Sakura and I weren't meant for each other."

"I…might have said that," Meilin uttered. "But………"

…Silence.

"But what?" Li and Madison both asked.

"I have to be honest," Meilin continued. "When I first saw you and Sakura, it made me sick. Eight years ago, I thought it would be you and me together. But when I saw you leave Hong Kong to go back to Japan...that's when I started to get scared. And when you told the family that you weren't coming back, that's when I realized that you really did feel something for Sakura. When the family threatened to cut you off, I knew I had to make a stand and be by your side, but only because I knew they were wrong. I didn't condone you two being together and I thought you were wrong for each other.

"But…then this happened and for the first time ever, your relationship with Sakura is in serious jeopardy. And once I saw you two…apart…not kissing each other, not getting close, not even saying how much you loved each other…not being the inseparable couple that Madison would always go on and on about…I realized something. It's…not the same. And…it doesn't feel right. I'm starting to feel like…you two really are meant for each other…only…Avalon doesn't see it right now."

Li didn't know what to say. Had the impossible happened? Did Meilin actually start to believe that he belonged with Sakura? It had to be some dream. But it wasn't. It was actually happening.

"It won't be easy," Madison said, breaking the silence. "I still don't think Sakura's ready to talk to us yet."

"Uh…where IS Sakura?" Kero suddenly asked.

"In our room," Meilin answered.

"Are you sure?" Kero persisted. "I think we'd better check."

No one hesitated in getting up. Li, Meilin, and Madison, carrying Kero, walked next door to look for Sakura. They all called out for her, but the worst had been confirmed. Sakura was gone.

"This is exactly what I was afraid of," Kero panicked. "She's gone to look for the American Card without us."

Li took a deep breath…mostly out of fear of what could happen. "We're going after her. Everyone meet me downstairs. I have to get the Lasin Board."

Li ran out of there and went back to his own hotel room. He reached into his bag and looked for the Lasin Board. He knew he had to hurry. This would be the first time Sakura hunted any card alone, even without Kero. Li had to find her, or he would never forgive himself.

Sakura slowly walked up the snowy mountain trail. She could sense she was getting closer to the next American Card. Sakura made sure she didn't lose her footing, but she felt like cracking that sign she saw earlier. The sign said there would be 20 straight miles of smooth mountain trail. But the trail was less than smooth. It was downright crooked with jagged rocks…that weren't covered in snow.

Then Sakura stopped walking. She could feel the card coming closer. Then she felt the ground begin to rumble. She saw more rocks suddenly begin to rise out of the snow below. That's when Sakura realized that the card had found her. And she recognized it as the Earth Card.

So Sakura stood her ground and took out her key. "Key of Clow. Power of Magic. Power of Light. Surrender the wand. The force ignite. Release!"

Sakura took her wand and maintained her position on the ground. Rocks continued to fly out of the ground. Then stone pillars began to rise. There wasn't much for Sakura to do. She wanted to know what to do, but there wasn't anybody to ask. She abandoned her friends and was on her own. Then she saw a big spiked pillar rise towards the side of the mountain. Sakura looked above her to see that an avalanche of snow was about to cover her. Panicked, she took out the Fire Card.

"Fire Card! Create a barrier to protect me! Release and dispel! Fire!"

A barrier of fire formed above Sakura, which protected her when the inevitable avalanche came. The barrier was covered with snow, but the fire quickly started to melt it. When the snow melted, Sakura saw several pillars begin to surround her. The pillars reached heights of about 30 feet. Sakura recalled the Fire Card and quickly found she couldn't get out. Then she looked up to see something standing on top of one of the pillars. It was the Earth Card's form. It jumped down and faced Sakura. It was a brown armadillo that was standing upright.

Sakura tried running up to it, but it threw her into one of the pillars. Before Sakura could pick herself up, she saw the Earth Card part two of the pillars and run out before the pillars caved back in. Sakura was stuck. And what made things worse were that the pillars began to cave in. The Earth Card was trying to crush Sakura…and there was no one to save her.

"Wait up, Li!"

Li couldn't stop. As soon as the Lasin Board started pointing towards the mountains, he started running in that direction. He didn't know what it was, maybe it was the knowledge that the American Card was in the mountains, but Li could feel that Sakura was in trouble. He nearly left Madison and Meilin in the dust. Then he saw the light point to a series of pillars. The light was pointing up at a walking armadillo. He also saw the pillars were caving in. A sinking feeling in the pit of Li's stomach began to overtake him.

"Sakura?!"

"Li?!" someone called out from inside the pillars. It was Sakura.

Li felt sick. He felt his heart was shattering. The pillars were trying to crush the girl he loved the most. And it didn't look like there was anything he could do.

Sakura could hear Li outside. She was hoping he could save her, but it didn't look like it was going to happen. It looked like she would have to bail herself out. Sakura took out her only saving grace.

"Angel Card! Release!"

As soon as the Angel Card placed its wings on Sakura, she wasted no time in flying straight up. Sakura started to sweat as the pillars continued to close in on her. Then, just as the pillars closed in completely, Sakura flew out. She realized she was going a little too fast, because she was practically 100 feet in the air, which wasn't very safe. So she descended down on the ground, right next to Li.

"Are you all right?"

Li tried to run up and hug Sakura, but she rejected him. She pushed him aside as she saw the Earth Card jump down to the ground and face them. Li held his sword up and took his battle stance, but that's when Sakura walked over to him and pushed him down.

"I don't need your help!" Sakura shouted. "I'll do this myself!!"

She tried to get in another word, but she felt a rock scrape her arm. She examined her forearm to see some blood trickle down. Sakura started to get angry with all this. She turned around and faced the Earth Card again. When Li tried to stand by her side, she pushed him back. She didn't need or want his help.

"Sakura, don't be stubborn!" Kero pleaded. "Let us help you!"

"NO!" Sakura snapped. "I don't WANT you to help me! You've done enough!"

Sakura wanted to finish this before a big argument started. But it looked to be over. Li tried to step in again, but this time it was Kero who interjected himself.

"She doesn't want our help," he said solemnly. "Let her learn the hard way."

Li momentarily teased a protest, but then he nodded and stepped back. That was all Sakura wanted. After the way he betrayed her, she didn't want his help anymore. She didn't even want to see him here. So then, she faced the Earth Card once again. And it was the Earth Card that made the first move. It rose two pillars out of the ground, one under itself and one under Sakura. The pillars rose to about 30 feet off the ground.

Then the Earth Card formed two stone staffs and tossed one to Sakura. It was challenging her to a duel. She didn't need Kero to tell her that. So took a fighting stance and the duel began. The two staffs clashed against each other as Sakura parried each attempted body shot and ducked each headshot. Then the Earth Card unexpectedly swept the staff under Sakura, sweeping her legs and knocking her down. When she fell to her knees, she could see the truly long fall that was in store if she didn't get up.

The Earth Card tried to deliver the final blows. It swung its staff and nailed Sakura in the face and arms. The rough edged stones of the staff began to take their toll and left Sakura's body bruised and cut. She couldn't take much more. She wanted to cry out for help below, but something inside her wouldn't let her. Instead, she pulled herself up and with a burst of adrenaline, jumped the Earth Card's next swing. The Earth Card swung so hard that it almost lost its balance. Sakura used that momentary distraction to nail the Earth Card with her staff and knock it off the pillar pedestal.

Sakura looked on as the Earth Card fell to the ground below, and she decided to follow. She slowly descended to the ground using the wings from the Angel Card. After she landed, Sakura walked over to the Earth Card, which wasn't hurt but merely kicking dirt because it had lost. Sakura put it out of its misery by holding her wand out.

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

Sakura sealed the Earth Card and took in her hand. That's when the pain of her scrapes and cuts started to set in. Li tried to walk up to her, check up on her, but Sakura pushed him back.

"I'll be fine," she said sternly. "Just leave me alone!"

Before Li could say anything, Sakura started running away, before she ran into an approaching Meilin and…Madison.

"Sakura…?" Madison began.

"Leave me alone!" Sakura shouted. "I don't want to talk to you!"

Before ANYONE could say anything, Sakura ran away. She didn't stop to see where she was going. She just kept on running and didn't stop. This would never go away. Just the sight of Li, Madison, and Kero was a constant reminder of that betrayal that left Sakura hurt…and alone. She couldn't stand it. No matter how long she ran, she would eventually have to go back to the hotel room. She would eventually have to get on a bus to who-knows-where. So when she was far away from everyone, she stopped to use the Vision Card…and find out where the next American Card is.

Li wanted to run after her. Sakura was still hurting and it pained him to see it. But Kero flew in front of him. So Li held out his sword.

"Get out of the way!"

"Let her go, Li," Kero suggested calmly. "She'll be back. She has to come back to the hotel room eventually. But Sakura needs to deal with her anger right now."

"She needs me," Li growled. "Didn't you see what just happened to her? She's going to end up getting killed!"

"She has to see that for herself!" Kero shot back. "Sakura has to learn this the hard way. She's not the same girl she was before. She's not the little ten-year old Cardcaptor who didn't know what she was getting into. She's been getting cocky. And with all that's happened, she thinks she doesn't need any of us anymore. Sakura has to realize that she needs her friends right now. But first, we have to let her anger die down. And that's going to take time."

Li looked out into the distance. He couldn't see Sakura anymore. As much as he hated to admit it, Kero was right. Sakura's in an irrational state. She wouldn't listen to anybody right now. It would take time for her to hear the other side of the story…not that there was much of another side. When Sakura becomes willing to listen, Li and Madison would both have to give their reasons for…kissing each other.

And that didn't guarantee that Sakura would forgive either of them.


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