Nadesico's Daughter:

.:Chapter Two:.

A Card-Captor Sakura Fanfiction by Kit Spooner

Standard Disclaimer: All characters portrayed here are the property of CLAMP, Kodansha, a bunch of other Japanese media companies, and a certain Canadian dubbing company that will heretofore go unnamed. I don't claim to own these characters, but the situations I put them in belong to me. I would rather this wasn't posted anywhere without my permission, so email me with questions. Don't steal. I bite.

Note: Some of the more unusual, italicized terms are defined at the end, so don't be afraid to check my goofy definitions out.


As class let out for lunch, Sakura rose to gather her belongings and to find her best friend. Chiharu and the other people she generally ate lunch with were slowly grouping to one side of the classroom. Chiharu waved cheerily to Sakura, but Sakura shook her head and mouthed, across the room, to her, "Go ahead without me."

Chiharu nodded in understanding and went back to her usual task of bullying Yamazaki into behaving.

"Is something wrong, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked, appearing as if by magic at Sakura's elbow. Sakura started in surprise.

"Gaah, don't sneak up on me like that, Tomoyo-chan!" she admonished, willing her heart rate to return to normal.

Tomoyo smiled in that gentle way of hers. "Sorry, sorry." She linked her arm with Sakura's and walked with her out of the classroom. "I was just wondering what you were doing for lunch. We normally eat with Chiharu and Yamazaki and the rest. Do you have something else planned?"

Sakura couldn't quite suppress the blush that rose to her cheeks. Tomoyo suddenly had an inkling of what Sakura was up to, but wanted to hear it from Sakura herself.

"Uh, I just thought it might be nice to sit somewhere else for once, ne?" Sakura replied, her tone as bland as she could manage.

"Oh, I see." The two girls stepped out of the front doors and stood blinking in the sunlight for a moment. Tomoyo watched Sakura scan the schoolyard and hid her smile. "So," Tomoyo began conversationally. "Did you want me to eat lunch with you, or did you want the time alone with Li-kun?"

Sakura choked on what she was going to say, her face flaming. She gave Tomoyo a rather sheepish smile. "How'd you guess, Tomoyo-chan?" she asked, curiously. "Was I, um, staring at him again like yesterday?" She blushed some more.

Tomoyo shook her head and tugged Sakura down the stairs towards one corner of the lawn. "No, I just had a feeling. You're not always as subtle as you seem to think you are, Sakura-chan." She patted Sakura's hand. "But don't feel bad about it. I think it's cute. I'm sure Li-kun does too."

Sakura continued to blush and Tomoyo continued to lead her across the grassy schoolyard. After a moment, Sakura looked around and finally asked, "Ne, Tomoyo-chan? Where are we going?"

"You wanted to eat lunch with Li-kun, right?" At Sakura's embarrassed nod, Tomoyo smiled again and explained. "Well, I thought I'd take you over to where he eats."

"Hey, how do you know where he eats? He always just disappears during lunch!"

"As I said yesterday, he's an old friend, so I try to keep an eye on him." They continued to walk until at last they came to a tall, stately tree that grew off to one side of the yard. Tomoyo came to a halt and settled herself down on the grass, laying her lunch out in front of her.

"Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura began, hesitantly. There was a distinct lack of Li-kun, and she'd really been hoping to see him again. "Where's . . ."

"Li-kun!" Tomoyo called out loudly, startling Sakura once more. "You can come down now!"

Sakura heard a low grumbling from somewhere overhead and then yelped in surprise as Li Syaoran dropped down from the canopy of the tree, bento box in hand, landing gracefully on his feet a couple meters away. Sakura stared at him in disbelief. Syaoran stared back at her, the faintest of blushes beginning to color his cheeks. Finally Sakura blurted out, "You eat lunch in a tree?!"

Tomoyo began to laugh, a light, musical giggle.

"Um. Yeah." Syaoran looked torn between the desire to stare more at Sakura and the desire to throttle Tomoyo for not only bringing her over here, but for having the temerity to laugh at him. "It's peaceful up there and no one can bother me."

Sakura was instantly apologetic. "Oh, no! I'm so sorry to bother you. I didn't know you wanted to be alone. Tomoyo and I can . . ."

"No, it's alright!" he said quickly, interrupting her babble. "It would be nice to have people to talk with during lunch for a change."

"Oh, okay . . ."

Tomoyo's gaze swung between Sakura and Syaoran, her smile widening as she watched the mutual blushing. They really are adorable, she thought smugly. I should have brought Sakura over here long ago. "Well, if you two are done looking at each other, why don't you sit down. We've only got a finite amount of time to eat, you know."

Syaoran flushed even more and dropped to the ground, setting his lunch down in front of him. Sakura gave Tomoyo a look and did likewise. The three teenagers ate in silence for a while, two of them desperately trying to think of something to say, the third content to merely watch two of the people she was fondest of in the world. Tomoyo, had to suppress further laughter when she noticed the glances Sakura and Syaoran kept stealing at each other. Finally, Sakura seemed to gather her courage and she smiled at Syaoran. Syaoran looked as though someone had hit him over the head with a baseball bat.

"So, Li-kun, why is it that you don't eat lunch with any of the other groups of students," Sakura asked curiously, shifting herself a little closer to the Chinese boy.

Now Syaoran looked almost ready to bolt. Or maybe faint. "I-it's because I d-don't really know a l-l-lot of p-people at this school," he managed to stammer out, despite the distraction of Sakura's proximity.

Sakura's frowned slightly. "Really? But you've been here for years, haven't you? You're bound to have made some friends in all that time, ne?" She glanced to Tomoyo for support. Syaoran gave Tomoyo a pleading look, as though begging for help.

"Sakura-chan, just because he's not your friend doesn't mean he doesn't have any friends," Tomoyo said gently. "He hangs out with Yamazaki-kun sometimes, for example. And I see him fairly regularly. He also talks with Rika-chan and Chiharu-chan."

Syaoran was still having trouble finding his voice, so he merely gave Tomoyo a relieved look.

"Oh," Sakura murmured, after pondering Tomoyo's last statement. "So you're friends with all of my friends, but not friends with me, Li-kun?" She glanced back up at the boy in question.

Syaoran wanted to kick himself. She actually looked sad. Does she remember me? he wondered, nibbling his lower lip in consternation. No, she just thinks I've been snubbing her for a few years. Great. "W-well I just never got to know you, Kinomoto-san," he replied, keeping his voice steady despite his nervousness. "I suppose I could be your friend if you wanted me to . . ."

Sakura's slightly unhappy expression melted into one of those mega-watt smiles that Syaoran had trouble dealing with. "Great! I'd love to have you as a friend!" she enthused, beaming first at Syaoran and then at Tomoyo. She reached over and lay a hand on Syaoran's shoulder. "I've always thought you looked like you needed a friend."

Syaoran froze instantly at her touch. Oh, geez. She's touching me and I'm going to fall apart any moment now . . . He began to tremble ever so slightly. Sakura didn't notice. She's begun to stare at Syaoran again, her gaze intent, as though searching for something in his expression. Syaoran hoped he wasn't blushing too much.

He seems so familiar, she thought, feeling a little confused. What was it that Tomoyo was joking about the other day? Lovers in another life? She peered at him intently for another moment, unconsciously tightening her hand slightly on his shoulder. She finally asked him. "Do you believe in reincarnation, Li-kun?"

Syaoran began to freak out. Shit! She almost remembers me! Does this mean the shields are about to fall? Hell, this is a really bad time and place for that to happen. In the middle of school! He shot a panicked glance towards Tomoyo, who was still greatly amused by their antics.

Despite her amusement, Tomoyo immediately picked up on his distress. She suspected that he wasn't merely flustered over Sakura's gentle flirting, and decided to step in. "Sakura-chan," she said softly, "Perhaps you ought to rescue your rice balls. You're beginning to attract ants."

With a little yelp, Sakura scurried backwards a bit and pulled her lunch along with her, attempting to shoo the ants away without actually smashing any of them. She also took her hand away from Syaoran's shoulder, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief. Tomoyo smiled. If Sakura had kept in physical contact with him for much longer he would have probably burst a blood vessel or something. She shook her head. It was so strange that Sakura never seemed to notice the effect she had on the people who loved her.

Syaoran felt his mouth curve into a faint smile as he watched Sakura trying to evade the ants. He'd forgotten to mention the other reason why he ate up in the tree, and why other students tended to avoid the area: There was a huge, sprawling colony of ants that patrolled the grassy area beneath the tree. He absently flicked an ant off of his shoe and continued to watch her. It was then, as he watched Sakura battle a colony of ants, that he realized just how much he'd missed being around her over the years. He'd been able to content himself with watching her, with hearing about her daily life from Tomoyo, but he now knew that it wasn't enough. He wanted to be with Sakura, wanted to talk with her and make her smile. He felt his heart clench.

It isn't fair! He silently repeated for the umpteenth time. When I get hold of Kerberos, I think I'm going to wring his scrawny little neck. This is basically his fault, anyway. If he hadn't allowed Sakura to find the Book of Clow, hadn't allowed her to become the Clow Mistress too early, they would never have had to seal her power and memories. He gritted his teeth then knit his brow as another thought occurred to him. But if he hadn't introduced her to her powers too early, then I would never have been sent to retrieve the recently reactivated Cards, and I would never have met her. The mere concept, the idea of never meeting Kinomoto Sakura, was too horrible, too inconceivable; he couldn't even consider it. Maybe he should bring Kero-chan some cookies instead.

Sakura was surreptitiously watching Syaoran and saw the small, preoccupied smile that formed on his lips. It made her feel . . . nice. She found, to her surprise, that she also felt comfortable in his presence. It really did feel as though she knew him from somewhere. But she didn't. He'd been at the peripheral of her life at school for a little over five years, but they'd never been close. She flicked a few more ants off of the rim of her bento box lid.

I'm glad I came over here for lunch, she decided. I'll have to do it again. She glanced over at Tomoyo, who wore a beautiful, yet enigmatic smile. Tomoyo-chan looks awfully smug. How'd she know I'd get along so well with Li-kun? She nibbled delicately on her last, ant-free rice ball. I just know she set this up, somehow. Not that I mind at all, she quickly added. Maybe I ought to thank her later for pushing me at Li-kun . . .

Tomoyo, for her part, needed no verbal thanks. She was enjoying herself immensely. It was a real treat to be able to watch Sakura and Syaoran so happy, though neither would probably be willing to admit it. They both seemed so alive when they were with each other, which wasn't so surprising in Syaoran's case. He'd been watching, practically stalking Sakura for five years, and was so thoroughly in love with her that any sort of interaction with her was bound to make him glow like a small sun. Sakura's reaction to Syaoran was a bit more startling, since she had shown little interest in the boy, cute as he was, until recently. Yet here she was, smiling and laughing along with him, her face shining with energy.

Li-kun can talk about fluctuations in the energy levels of her shields, thought Tomoyo as she sipped at her tea, But I can tell just by the way she acts. Sakura-chan's shields are almost gone. Soon, very soon, we'll have our old Sakura-chan back.



The rest of the school day floated by for Syaoran. He was, he admitted to himself, in a bit of a daze. Lunch had been very nice. He'd missed spending time with Sakura. And he now had the chance once more. Before heading back to class, Sakura had blithely declared her intention to eat lunch with him again the next school day, and it had been very difficult for Syaoran to keep from grinning like an idiot.

"You did just fine," Tomoyo had murmured softly in his ear as she left at the end of the day. "You were charming and attentive and managed to keep from blushing too much. Good boy."

Syaoran had attempted to give her one of his characteristic glares, but it was difficult to manage when he was in such a wonderful mood.

So now he was lurking in the shadows by the gate of the school, waiting for Sakura to come out. Cheerleading practice had run late, as usual, and that meant that Syaoran had to wait even longer before he could trail along after Sakura as she headed home. It was a comfortable routine. He'd hide in the bushes and she'd appear, chatting with her cheerleading friends, in the cool glow of the floodlights that kept the schoolyard lit in the evening. Sometimes she'd walk home with one or more of her cheerleading friends, or with Tomoyo if she was around. More often she'd walk home alone, since it was only a few blocks, and the streets of Tomoeda were quite safe.

Safe for normal people, Syaoran reminded himself, keeping alert from his vantage point behind a concealing shrub. Maybe I won't have to deal with one of those things tonight, he thought hopefully. If we can avoid those stupid gakis my day would just be perfect. Simply perfect.

Syaoran had wondered for a few weeks after Sakura had been sealed, those five, long years ago, what Yue had been talking about when he'd roped Syaoran into playing watchdog for Sakura. "We need you to help us keep an eye on Sakura," he'd said. "No matter how well we seal them, how tightly they're kept, at least some power will leak out, and this may cause problems."

At the time, Syaoran had assumed that Yue was merely giving him something to do to keep him from going crazy waiting for Sakura to return to normal. He should have known better. When had Yue ever been concerned about his feelings?

Three weeks after the sealing, Syaoran had been following Sakura home, keeping to the shadows, when he'd felt something else, lurking in the shadows. For a moment, he'd thought it was Yue. He'd caught a glimpse of something humanoid, and its power signature had been similar to Yue's, not quite human, not quite spirit. Startled, he had dashed forward to find out what was going on. Then he saw it.

It wasn't Yue.

He'd researched later to try and figure out what the thing was, since he'd never encountered anything quite like it in his training. It turned out to be a gaki, an exclusively Japanese sort of parasitic spirit-monster. Most gakis were harmless, and fed on an assortment of by-products of humanity: smoke from chimneys, garbage from landfills, the aroma of fine perfume, the emanations from meditation. But there were also a handful of gaki types that were much more dangerous. The worst of these fed on flesh, blood, or human souls. Thank goodness I haven't run up against any of those, Syaoran thought with a little relief.

What Syaoran had been periodically battling for the past five years was an unusual type of gaki that fed exclusively on magical energy. While Sakura's powers were sealed, most of her magic was safely locked away inside of her, but as Yue had hinted, there was some leakage. And with Sakura, even 'leakage' was enough to draw the gakis. So Syaoran guarded. He followed Sakura around like some crazed stalker and killed the gakis that dared to prey on her. While the gakis were not terribly challenging opponents in themselves, barely enough to keep his sword forms in top shape and to allow him to flex his magical muscles now and then, the challenge lay in finding ways to dispatch to monsters without alerting Sakura, or the rest of the neighborhood. That was a challenge worthy of his attention.

To make matters worse, the gaki attacks seemed to be increasing in frequency and severity. Five years ago, the gakis seemed to appear every month or so. Now, Syaoran was being forced to destroy the creatures several times a week. It made him nervous, but it also made him dare to hope that Sakura's shields were weakening.

The sound of muted laughter drew Syaoran's attention and he peered out through the foliage of the bush. It was indeed Sakura, along with two girls that Syaoran didn't know very well. Sakura smiled and waved off the other girls' offer to walk home with her, and headed south out of the gates of the school.

Syaoran sighed with relief and stretched his arms over his head, his vertebrae crackling. It's about bloody time, he thought crankily. Practice must have run later than usual tonight. He slipped out from behind the bushes and swung up onto the stone wall that surrounded the school. Sakura was completely oblivious, as usual, to his presence above and behind her.

Sakura hefted her duffel bag up to a more comfortable position on her shoulder and began to hum softly. Syaoran recognized it as one of Tomoyo's choral pieces. He wished he dared get closer to Sakura so he could hear her better. But she was distracting enough as it was. He was staring so hard at her he almost fell off the wall. Her hair, damp with sweat from practice, was tossed by the ambient breeze, strands drifting across her face periodically. The skirt of her practice uniform swung from side to side as she walked, mirroring the gentle sway of her hips . . .

Syaoran was startled out of his reverie by the hum of magic nearby. His silent padding along the wall ceased immediately as he strained his finely-honed senses, attempting to pin down the source. It most certainly wasn't Sakura. It felt like a gaki to him. Well, today was simply too good to last. It's gotta be a gaki. My day's been perfect so far and I guess it's time for something to go wrong. With a sigh, the Chinese boy turned around and leapt down from the wall, dashing off in the direction of the magical emanations.

He found the gaki a few blocks down. It was a tall, gaunt creature, roughly humanoid in form, but more angular, its joints seeming slightly . . . off, somehow. It was as though someone had briefly looked at a human skeleton and then tried to reproduce it from memory some time later. The gaki was standing poised in the middle of the street, its face, or rather, what passed for its face, raised to the sky, as though it was sniffing out something to eat. Sakura, thought Syaoran grimly.

"Well, not tonight, buddy," he muttered. "Not on my watch."

Syaoran didn't give the creature any time to prepare. He simply struck, leaping at its back, willing his sword into existence mid-leap. His slash to the gaki's neck slowed the creature down enough that Syaoran had the time to ready a magical attack. He pulled a neatly-printed ofuda from his jacket pocket, and murmured the accompanying incantation. The gaki screamed as the ofuda blazed into its side and burst into incandescent blue flames.

Syaoran took a few steps back away from the dying creature. He knew from experience that they were still dangerous at this point. There was no reason for him to risk getting clawed in the face by a burning gaki. Soon, the shrill shrieks and whistles of the gaki died down and the physical remnants of the monster sizzled and popped in the fire. The smell was one part of his battles that Syaoran would never get used to. It wasn't simply the scent of burning flesh. There was something unclean about the smell, and he always felt the need to shower after these incidents. Finally, the flames burned themselves out, and all that remained of the gaki was charred dust that the wind stirred in little eddies.

Thank goodness that was quick, thought Syaoran as he retrieved his sword. It's been a while since I've gotten a gaki that was that easy to kill. I thought that Sakura was starting to attract the higher level ones.

He felt the scream before he heard it. It pierced his psychic barrier and almost knocked him to the pavement. Oh, shit. What was that? The cry came again, this time a little weaker. Then he realized and was galvanized into action.

"Sakura!" he yelled as he raced back to the street where he knew she was. He didn't even bother to try and be stealthy. Something was terribly wrong. He could feel Sakura's distress blocks away.

When he skidded around the corner and onto the main street, he brought out his sword once more. Sakura stood in a pool of light from a streetlamp, her face frighteningly pale, her eyes wide and blank. A large gaki stood a few feet in front of her, using its claw-tipped 'fingers' to tear at the faintly luminous sphere that enclosed Sakura in a protective shield. Occasionally Sakura screamed, high and shrill, only to be echoed by the hungry bellow of the creature attacking her.

Dammit! There were two of them! Syaoran was furious with himself for letting his guard down like that. With an enraged shout, he ran at the gaki, his sword held at the ready. This time, the gaki heard him coming and was prepared. It sidestepped away from his sword strike and struck him full in the chest with one bony fist. Fortunately, this meant that he wasn't sliced into pieces by the creature's claws. Unfortunately, this meant that Syaoran was sent flying into the stone wall he'd so recently been walking atop. "Ow," Syaoran said weakly as he carefully pulled himself out of the small crater his impact had formed.

Meanwhile, the gaki continued to hack methodically at the shields wrapped around Sakura. The bluish glow would fizzle periodically, when the monster got good hits in, but it was holding strong. This was good, since within the protection of the shield, Sakura was still standing motionless, her face frozen in an expression of surprise and horror and utter bewilderment. To Syaoran, it looked like Sakura was going into both physical and mental shock. He'd taken a brief crash-course in first aid last summer, and had learned to recognize the symptoms. I've got to get rid of that gaki right now!

After a string of colorful, Chinese curses, Syaoran made another dash towards the gaki. This time he struck with his magic first. A quickly muttered incantation sent a bolt of brilliant green lightning crackling down the length of his sword. The lightning arced across the intervening space and connected with the gaki's thigh, charring the murky gray-brown flesh. That got the creature's attention, and it finally stopped pounding at Sakura's shield and turned to glare balefully at Syaoran, its yellow eyes ablaze with pain and hunger.

Syaoran wasn't quite the tasty morsel that Sakura was, but he there was still a generous amount of energy emanating from him, and he didn't have the doubly-reinforced shielding that she had. The gaki decided that it might be able to whet its appetite by draining Syaoran's power first. So it leapt at him.

The boy knew it was coming, though, could practically feel the thoughts running through the gaki's tiny, alien mind. Quicker than the gaki, he scampered up the tree behind him and swung over to the branch directly above the monster's head. He sent a tendril of power down into the blade of his sword. Then, glowing sword held in both hands, he dropped down out of the tree onto the broad shoulders of the gaki. He drove the point of his sword straight down through the neck and into the chest cavity of the creature. Syaoran didn't really know whether gakis had hearts, but he knew that a sword through the chest was an efficient, if messy, way to dispatch them. He gave his sword a firm twist, sending a shock of power coursing through the blade, then withdrew it, jumping back down to the ground, away from the monster.

Thick, black ichor sprayed from the gaping hole in the gaki's chest, and Syaoran hadn't moved far enough away to escape the mess. At this point, the gaki was whistling shrilly in pain and making horrible gurgling sounds as it writhed on the pavement, flailing its limbs and spraying the foul-smelling liquid in a wider arc. Syaoran ended up with a thick coat of ichor on his shirt and trousers. There was also a fine dribble of the stuff dripping off his hair and onto his cheek. "This is disgusting," he commented to no one.

An inarticulate whimper behind him reminded Syaoran of Sakura's presence within the still-glowing hemisphere of her shield. He dashed over to the brightly-lit barrier, and to his surprise, it melted away at his touch. Sakura's expression was still one of confused horror, but it soon faded as her eyes rolled back in her head and she crumpled to the ground in a dead faint. Syaoran wasn't quite fast enough to catch her before she hit, and he winced at the sound of her body connecting with the pavement. He knelt down and gathered her unconscious form into his arms, shaking her gently. "Sakura?" She didn't respond.

Aside from a few bruises and abrasions, and the fact that she was unconscious, she looked alright to Syaoran. So he hauled her up onto his back, gathered their school bags, and headed down the street. He didn't think it would be a good idea to take her home in this condition. He didn't really think he had the energy to explain the situation to her father, or, heaven forbid, her brother if he was around. Syaoran's own apartment wasn't terribly close, but Tomoyo's house was only a few blocks away. He suspected that even if her mother was home, she wouldn't be terribly shocked to see the pair of them. Syaoran had his own suspicions about Daidouji Sonomi.

Sakura didn't wake or even stir as he walked, despite the fact that her head kept flopping forward, her chin hitting the back of his neck. He assumed that her pulse rate had returned to normal, since he could no longer feel her heartbeat thumping madly against his back. She'll probably be fine, he decided with a relieved sigh. I'll bet she won't even remember this. Or at least I hope she doesn't. I'm surprised that her shielding hasn't snapped yet. I'd have thought that something like the gaki attack would have done the trick. He felt a mingling of disappointment and relief.

And Tomoyo ought to be able to make up some sort of convincing story to tell Sakura. She'll certainly want to know why she ended up bruised and dirty and passed out at Tomoyo's house, he thought as he stopped at the front gate to Tomoyo's house. He had to juggle the backpacks a bit so he could free up a hand to push the button of the intercom.

The maid who answered the intercom's call was understandably reluctant to let a boy covered in black slime into her employer's house. So Syaoran asked her to go fetch Tomoyo. Luckily for him, Tomoyo was home and waved aside the maid's protests. "Don't worry, Kimiko," Syaoran could hear her say to the maid over the sensitive, high-tech intercom. The Daidouji's always seemed to be surrounded by cutting-edge technology. "They're friends of mine."

Five minutes later, Syaoran found himself sitting on a towel-draped chair in Tomoyo's bedroom, sipping a cup of tea while Tomoyo fussed over Sakura, who was now comfortably laid out on Tomoyo's bed, still unconscious. "So you think you can give her some sort of explanation when she wakes up?" Syaoran asked hopefully when he finished telling Tomoyo about what had happened. He blew gently on his steaming tea, his weary eyes following the curls of steam.

"No problem, Li-kun," Tomoyo replied sweetly. She walked over and poured herself a cup of tea, then sat down in the chair opposite Syaoran's. "She's even easier to lie to than you are, you know. Yamazaki-kun will agree with me on that one."

Syaoran ignored her teasing and sighed. "I don't suppose I could borrow a blanket and a pillow for the night, could I? I can just sleep on the floor here if it's all right. I don't really like that idea of leaving her here. I don't know whether the gakis would be able to track her or not." He was dead tired and would gladly have slept on a park bench at this point.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Tomoyo murmured, glancing over at Sakura's prone form. As if on cue, the girl sighed in her sleep and rolled away from them onto her side.

Syaoran jumped up from where he sat, his chair skidding loudly on the floor. He crossed the room to the bed in a moment and bent over Sakura, checking to see if she was waking. "Why isn't it a good idea?" he finally asked, a little grumpily, his eyes remaining on Sakura, who was still out for the count.

"Well, for starters," Tomoyo began, ticking points off on her fingers, "It's going to be tough enough having to explain all of this to her without having you around as well. She'll certainly ask what you're doing hovering over her." Syaoran jerked back away from Sakura and blushed crimson. "Secondly, my mother won't bat an eyelash at having Sakura spend the night, but she generally draws the line at boys." Syaoran blushed more.

"Oh," he said in a subdued tone. "Maybe you're right."

"And thirdly," Tomoyo continued pointedly. "You're covered in something completely disgusting. I assume it came out of the gaki you killed. Whatever it is, you're dripping onto my carpet. And it might upset Sakura a little if she wakes up to find you bending over her, gaki guts dribbling down your face, stinking like a sewer. What do you think, Li-kun?" Her expression was smug and faintly amused by her impeccable logic and the stunned expression on Syaoran's face.

Syaoran glanced down at his dirty clothing, then farther down at the black goo he was dripping onto Tomoyo's floor. He yelped in surprise. "Oh, shit!" Tomoyo raised an eyebrow at his language. "Uh, whoops. Sorry," he replied quickly. "Um, drat." Tomoyo had to choke back a giggle. "I ought to go shower and stick my clothes in the laundry." He paused. "No, I probably ought to burn them. I think they'd gunk up the washing machine."

He walked back to Tomoyo's table and drained the last of his tea in a single gulp. "I guess I'll go now," he finally said. "I'll call tomorrow morning to check on Sakura." He scooped up his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and headed towards the window. "Thanks for the tea!" he added before sliding the window open and darting outside through it.

"You could have used the door!" Tomoyo called after him in exasperation. But he was already gone. She looked out into the night, but there was no sign of him. He's gotten too darn good at disappearing like that, she thought fondly.

With a sigh, she changed into her nightgown and sat down on the edge of her bed, next to Sakura. She brushed Sakura's hair out of her face. "Oh, Sakura-chan, what are we going to do with you?" she asked quietly.

Sakura didn't respond, but the tension in her face eased at Tomoyo's touch and the last thing Tomoyo saw before she turned the lights off was a faint smile on her best friend's face.


Syaoran was too antsy to sleep.

His nervous energy had built to a fever pitch as he'd walked home from Tomoyo's house. He reached his apartment quickly, since he was roof-hopping instead of taking the sidewalk. He'd tossed his ruined clothing in the incinerator, showered, and then lay down in his bed, but sleep was not forthcoming.

After tossing and turning for about an hour, he decided to give up. He dressed once more and left his apartment, heading back in the direction of Tomoyo's house. It wasn't that he actually expected to find another gaki stalking Sakura, but he figured that if he was awake, he might as well check things out. Maybe he could find some clues as to why the gakis were suddenly behaving in a more sentient, intelligent manner. He really didn't like the idea of the creatures working together in pairs or groups. They were difficult enough to deal with singly.

Tomoeda was quiet, which wasn't surprising since it was close to one a.m. at this point. The streetlights were still lit, and still casting their blue-tinged shadows against the houses and cars parked on the street. Syaoran strained his senses, both magical and mundane, seeking any sign of more gakis, but he felt nothing. Everything was silent.

After a few minutes of his restless patrol, Syaoran found himself at the spot where he'd killed the second gaki. The corpse was still there, since Syaoran had been a little distracted at the time, and had forgotten to dispose of it. He pulled another ofuda from his pocket, muttered a few liquid syllables, and tossed it at the reeking gaki corpse. The dead creature was immediately engulfed in flames, but an improvised dampening field guaranteed that the local residents wouldn't notice.

Sakura's long period of shielding had been difficult for Syaoran's heart, but good for his magical skills. He'd been forced to create dozens of new spells and incantations, and modify even more pre-existing ones, to solve the problems that he'd had to face. The dampening field created a wall that blocked out both sight and sound. He was rather proud of the spell, since it utilized his comparatively meager powers to the maximum. Unfortunately, he hadn't figured out a way to block out the smell. He knew that many of the people who lived in the area were convinced that someone was setting off stinkbombs at night. Most of the time, all he could do was hope for rain or a stiff breeze to clear the stench.

The gaki corpse sizzled and popped and was silent. The flames died down to embers, then died out completely. The remaining ash would be spread by the breeze enough that there would be no sign of the creature by morning. Good system, if I don't say so myself, thought Syaoran smugly as he headed off down the street, releasing the dampening spell as he went.

About an hour after Syaoran began his self-imposed watch, he felt something. It wasn't a gaki, he was sure of that. He could feel something moving around at the periphery of his magical senses, but couldn't quite identify it. Oh, geez. It's not a gaki, but that doesn't mean it's not dangerous. He darted to one side of the street and began to slip among the shadows, heading towards Tomoyo's house, where the power seemed to be emanating. Every few steps he would pause to send out magical 'feelers', to try and figure out what he was dealing with.

Touya? The power signature felt a little like Sakura's brother's had, but as far as Syaoran knew, Touya's powers were still linked up with Yukito's, so he couldn't possibly be the one lurking somewhere ahead.

Oddly enough, the aura he felt, now only one block away, felt rather similar to Yue's. Could Yue possibly be moving around now too? He felt elation rise in him. If it is Yue, then I can grab him and get him to answer a few questions. It would be really nice to have a few specifics on Sakura's shielding. I'm sure Yue knows more than he told me five years ago.

Syaoran hurried along, slinking from shadow to shadow, eager to wring some answers out of Yue, if indeed that was who it was moving around up ahead. The front gates of Tomoyo's house came into view, and soon Syaoran was within aural range. There was a vigorous rustling coming from the shrubbery around the corner from the front gates. Then the sound stopped.

Well, here goes, thought Syaoran as he materialized his sword and readied himself. He didn't want to be caught unawares in case it wasn't Yue or Touya, in case it was something else entirely. Something much less benign.

The bushes rustled once more and a slight figure came darting out from behind them and barreled around the corner, ploughing into Syaoran and knocking the both of them to the ground. Syaoran hit the sidewalk hard, shoulder-first, and his assailant landed next to him. "Ow," he said weakly, pushing himself upright so he could get a better look at whoever had collided with him.

She was already staring at him, her eyes wide with wonder.

"Sakura?!" Syaoran managed to choke out.

"Syaoran!" she practically screamed, launching herself into his arms, burying her face against his shoulder. "I'm so glad I found you!"

Syaoran froze when she first touched him, shocked beyond belief. He was far too surprised to speak.

"I'm so scared," Sakura continued, her hands clutching at the front of Syaoran's shirt. "I can't find anyone. I can't find Kero-chan, or Yue or Yukito or Touya or anyone! You've got to help me, Syaoran. Please! I can't find the Cards or even my Key. Something's wrong, I just know it!" And she began to sob, her thin shoulders shaking.

Syaoran was bewildered. What the hell's going on here?! She suddenly remembers the Clow and everything? I don't understand. Her shield's are still in place . . . He reached out with a tendril of power to prod at the barrier that held back Sakura's memories and magic. But the shield felt . . . strange, somehow. Thin. Weak.

Sakura continued to cry, her tears soaking through Syaoran's t-shirt. He allowed himself the luxury of putting his arms around her and stroking her hair. It was something he'd daydreamed about for years.

"Something's coming, Syaoran," Sakura continued, her voce subdued, muffled against his chest. "I can feel it coming. And I can't do anything to stop it without the Clow Cards! It's something horrible. I just know it. I can feel it . . ." she repeated.

Syaoran pulled back enough to look Sakura in the face. He noted her wide, vacant eyes, and the unfamiliarly frantic expression on her tear-stained face. There was also something strange about her speech patterns. Her words were those of a frightened little girl. She's sleepwalking, he realized suddenly. When she's asleep, then Kerberos and Yue's shield is weakened and her subconscious memories return to the surface.

Yet it seemed to be more than merely a lapse in her shielding. Sakura was practically glowing she had so much magical power running through her, but it didn't really feel like the magic of Clow. It was something . . . different. Not any less powerful, and certainly not more, it was something he'd never encountered before in his extensive, though admittedly brief experience with magic.

Sakura slumped back against him, shivering in the pajamas Tomoyo had loaned her. "Could you take me home, Syaoran?" she finally asked, tilting her face up to look him in the eyes. "I want to go home." Her voice was soft, and more child-like than ever. When faced with her pleading eyes and beseeching words, Syaoran didn't have a chance.

"Sure," he responded. "Whatever you want, Sa -- uh, Kinomoto." He didn't know how much she actually remembered at the moment, and he didn't want to confuse her by being overly familiar. Instead he scooped her up into his arms and took off down the street toward her house. He'd call Tomoyo when he got home to tell her where Sakura had gotten to. He didn't want Tomoyo to worry about Sakura's sudden disappearance.

Sakura snuggled her head down against his chest, hiding her face against his neck. To Syaoran's complete surprise, she began to doze off, despite the bumpy ride. Syaoran was trying to run as smoothly as possible, but it was difficult since, while certainly not overweight, Sakura was rather heavy to carry. The trip to the Kinomoto residence was the longest four blocks he'd ever run.

There was no sign of Touya's motorcycle outside Sakura's house, which gave Syaoran cause for relief. He didn't think he could deal with a confrontation with Touya tonight. Since he'd heard that her father was out of town for a conference, Syaoran decided not to bother trying to sneak Sakura in through her window. He simply unlocked the front door with the key hidden under the doormat, and stepped inside.

It had been years since Syaoran had actually been inside the Kinomoto home, since there really hadn't been any reason for him to be there while Sakura's memories were sealed. The house was much as he remembered it. As he passed by the kitchen, he absently noticed the photograph of Sakura's mother in a delicate, silver filigree frame on the table.

Syaoran hauled Sakura the rest of the way upstairs then began to look for her room. It took him a little while to find her bedroom, since even before Sakura's sealing, he'd never been upstairs. After trying two doors on the hallway (one leading to a study full of dark wood and leather upholstery, one leading to a utility closet) he found a room tastefully decorated in an array of pale, gentle colors, predominately pink. Gotta be Sakura's room, he though wryly.

The small, pink-lacquered sign labeled 'Sakura' that was hanging outside the door was also a dead give-away.

Sakura was still dozing when he lay her down on her bed. But she wasn't fully asleep. She mumbled something unintelligible and opened her eyes a little, watching Syaoran as he tucked her into bed, pulling her sheets and comforter up to her chin. Syaoran paused and smiled at her. "Goodnight," he whispered before turning back towards her door.

He was promptly halted when Sakura slid a hand out from under her blankets and grabbed the back of Syaoran's shirt. "Wait," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear. "I wanted to say thank you." Sakura tugged insistently on Syaoran's shirt, pulling him inexorably back towards her bedside.

"Y-you're w-w-welcome," Syaoran stammered out.

"I also wanted to say that . . ." Sakura pulled him yet closer and then grabbed his hand in hers. "I've missed you, Syaoran." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and then closed her eyes.

Syaoran stared at her for a long moment, his mind a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. Finally he sighed. I've missed you too, Sakura, he replied silently, returning the hand-squeeze before carefully detaching her hand from his. She didn't stir at all, and her breathing was slow and even. She's already asleep, he realized, a little surprised.

I guess it shouldn't be surprising, though. Not only was she attacked by a gaki today, but she's been sleepwalking all over Tomoeda in the middle of the night. She has a right to be exhausted. He briefly contemplated sitting in her desk chair for a while, to make sure she didn't try sleepwalking again, but decided that he was being too paranoid.

Once again he turned towards the door and headed out.

Once again, something made him stop.

Sakura's desk drawer rattled suddenly, loudly. Syaoran glanced over his shoulder and was understandably startled to see the drawer illuminated by a warm, golden glow, emanating from the narrow opening. Before his eyes, the drawer slid haltingly open, jerking occasionally. Finally, when the drawer was completely open and the glow was almost blinding, a thick, rectangular form drifted ponderously upwards and out of the drawer. It was the Book of Clow.

"Holy . . ." Syaoran began.

He didn't get to finish the exclamation. The book began to pulse, waves of brassy light pouring from it. The embossed cover, representing Kerberos, Guardian of the Seal, trembled, then began to pulse in time with the rest of the book. Then the golden relief of Kerberos began to expand, then push outward from the cover. The light flashed, and Syaoran was forced to avert his eyes.

When the light faded to a tolerable level, Syaoran opened his eyes to find Kerberos, or rather 'Kero-chan,' hovering in midair in front of the Book. The tiny creature stretched luxuriously, arching his back, as though stiff with disuse. Kero blinked his black eyes and fixed them upon Syaoran. Behind him, the golden light surrounding the Book of Clow flickered out, and the Book itself finally dropped to the floor with a loud thud.

Syaoran stared at Kero.

Kero stared at Syaoran.

Sakura continued to sleep.

"You?!" cried both Syaoran and Kero-chan in unison.

"Shhhh!" added Syaoran in a loud whisper, gesturing frantically towards the soundly sleeping Sakura. "Don't wake her up, you moron!"

Kero bristled, his short fur standing up on end. He looked indignant. "Hey, you were at least as loud as I was, brat," he returned. "And anyway, what're you doin' in Sakura's bedroom?!"

Syaoran blushed, despite his anger and glared at the Seal Beast. He was tempted to just tell the little pest that it was none of his damn business, but he was rather curious as to why Kero was leaving his self-imposed dormancy now, of all times. So Syaoran held back his rapidly shortening temper and explained the situation. He half-expected Kero to explode after hearing about the latest gaki attack, but Kero was uncharacteristically quiet and solemn. Syaoran wondered what was going through the creature's fluffy little head.

The Chinese boy had never been quite sure how much Kero could sense of the real world while he was hiding within the Book of Clow. Kero had decided to re-enter the Book shortly after he helped seal away Sakura's powers and memories. He really had tried, for a couple weeks, to play the part of a stuffed animal in Sakura's room, since he could watch her and make sure she was safe, yet avoid detection. It probably wouldn't have been good if Sakura found a talking toy in her room.

Unfortunately, remaining perfectly still when Sakura was around had proved more difficult than Kero had initially thought. Not only did he have to pretend to be made of velveteen and stuffing, he also had to sit mutely by when Sakura brought snacks up to her room. It had taken all of his willpower to keep from lunging at the chocolate cake she'd brought one time. The final straw, however, had come when Sakura had set Kero on the bed and then accidentally sat on him. And of course, Kero couldn't even move to try and squeeze out from under Sakura, so he'd remained there, squashed, for a full hour. Confinement in the Book of Clow had been very inviting at that point.

Syaoran already knew all of this, of course. Kero had already explained his motives, to a certain extent. Once Sakura was essentially out of the picture, Kero hadn't had anyone to advise, boss, or generally bully into doing things the way he wanted, hadn't had anyone to keep him company anymore. Yue was absent, and Tomoyo was generally out of reach, as well. So Kero had kept in close contact with the Brat during the days following that fateful night in the park, ostensibly to keep him informed on Sakura's condition. Their relationship had been rather mutually antagonistic, since they were certainly reluctant partners in the situation, but their exchanges of insults had suited Kero just fine. At least he had someone to talk to. But finally he had realized that there was really no good reason for him to be hanging around while Sakura was sealed. His presence, even in his false form, was simply an invitation for trouble.

It had been child's play to seal himself back up into the book. The magical seals were already in place, he had only to re-activate them. He'd even cast a minor glamourie on the Book itself to avoid detection. It was a simple, but effective spell that sort of suggested to anyone nearby that the Book wasn't there. The Book of Clow had sat in Sakura's desk drawer for the past five years and she had yet to take note of it.

Besides, Syaoran could quite easily handle any trouble that came up while Kero was sleeping in the Book. And from the boy's description now, as Kero hovered next to Sakura's sleeping form, it sounded like Syaoran had done an admirable job keeping Sakura safe and sealed over the past five years.

"Looks like you haven't messed things up too badly," Kero grudgingly admitted, once Syaoran was finished with his summary of the last five years.

Syaoran continued to glare at Kero. "So how come you've decided to wake up now, little stuffed toy?" he asked, emphasizing 'toy' in an attempt to irritate Kero further.

Kero bristled somewhat, but otherwise refused to rise to the bait. "When I went dormant in the Book, I set the spell to expire when there were significant changes in Sakura's seal. It looks like something's happenin' to her, magic-wise at least."

"But there's something else going on," Syaoran insisted, frowning slightly. "She's putting out way too much energy. The shields can't account for it all. It doesn't even feel like Clow, actually." He sighed and rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming on. "Whatever's happening to her seems to be drawing all these gakis as well."

Lowering himself over Sakura until he floated inches above her face, Kero closed his eyes in concentration, tiny lines appearing between his brows. Eyes still closed, Kero sighed and said, "I don't know what's goin' on. There's another layer of shields on her now, not just Yue's and my seal. She may be unconsciously generating it herself, though it feels suspiciously like her brother's work."

"Touya?" Syaoran was surprised. "You mean he's somehow gotten his power back?"

Kero shrugged slightly and drifted back towards where Syaoran was standing. "I don't know if he has or not. I don't even know if he's responsible for those new shields on Sakura. Whatever else is happenin', all that really matters is that Sakura is shielded doubly, and it'll be real hard for me to keep track of her now, since Clow's magic is so hazy and muddled."

"So I'll have to watch her even more carefully now," finished Syaoran, his expression grim.

With a brief nod, Kero dipped down to the floor and picked up the Book of Clow in his paws. "You got it, kid. Right now our dear Sakura-chan is a four-course meal for all those gaki that keep showin' up. And soon, she'll start attracting more dangerous stuff." At Syaoran's surprised look, he nodded and continued. "Yep, there are worse things than gakis out there. I've heard of all sorts of nasty aura-monsters and ki-thieves."

Syaoran looked glum, and Kero felt a little bad about it. "Hey, don't worry too much," The Clow Guardian said as he hauled the Book into the air and deposited it back in the desk drawer. "The seal on Sakura is definitely weakening, which means she's beginning to come into her power, which means she should be back to normal soon."

"How long?" Syaoran asked bluntly.

"A few days, maybe." Kero shrugged and flew over to Sakura's bed, where he settled daintily on her pillow. "It's hard to tell." He curled up next to Sakura's head on her pillow. "You oughta go home and sleep, kid. I can keep an eye on Sakura. I think I can handle bein' a stuffed toy again for a few days."

Syaoran didn't have anything to counter his suggestion, so he merely nodded. "Yeah, sure thing. I'll see you later, plushie."

Kero muttered something highly unflattering, but Syaoran was already safely out the door and out of earshot.

Syaoran left the house and locked the door behind him once more. Then he began the walk home. He'd have to call Tomoyo once he got home. It was the middle of the night, but it would be much worse if he waited until morning only to find out that Tomoyo was awake and had already missed Sakura. He winced. Tomoyo was a mild-mannered, polite sort of girl, but whenever Sakura was threatened, she could be . . . a little scary.

The walk back to his apartment was much more relaxed than his departure had been, and he was tired enough that he didn't think he'd have any difficulty falling asleep once he got home. His nervous energy had dissipated completely and he was utterly exhausted.

His mind was still awhirl, though.

Part of him was elated. Sakura was almost ready to break through the seal that had held her memories back for five years. She'd remember everything. She'd remember him. Or more significantly, she'd remember them together.

The other part of him, the more realistic part, was terrified. His discussion with Kero had made him realize just how dangerous the next few days would be for Sakura. Aura-monsters and ki-thieves, he'd said. Gakis were one thing, but Kero-chan's monsters were something else entirely. He only hoped that he'd have as much success as he'd enjoyed over the past few years.

Yes, things were definitely going to get worse before they got better.





Author's Post-It-Note:

Yay! Chapter 2 is done! Only six more sections to write! *sweatdrops*

Anyway, this chapter is basically once big, extended action sequence, and unfortunately, I'm not really very confident in my ability to write action sequences. I'm normally better with conversations full of witty retorts. But I'm hoping that this isn't as incoherent as it seemed when I was writing it. Most of this chapter was written late at night, since that was about the only time I had to spare, what with work and class and all. I think it shows, but I did try and go through to clear up the really weird-sounding parts. Hmm, I ought to write up an outtakes omake section sometime. It would be really amusing . . .

Anyhow, there are a few unusual terms that I've used in this fic, so I'll be pompous and define a few of them as I used them. Most people familiar with anime fanfiction and fantasy fiction probably will think my definitions are silly:

Bento box -- These are the lovely little boxes (traditionally dark-lacquered wood) that Japanese students pack their lunches into. They've got little compartments for different dishes, and a lid that fits snugly on top. I want one. ^_^

Ki -- I think I mentioned this vaguely at one point. Ki's just a word to describe, well, life energy. It flows through all living creatures. Therefore, a ki-thief type of monster would suck out all of someone's ki and leave them a drained husk. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Glamourie -- I'm never quite sure how to spell this one. This is a term I've borrowed from Western magic, but I assume there's an Eastern equivalent. Glamouries are generally basic spells that work much like illusions. Often they're used to change the appearance of the caster, or at least change the way they are seen by others. I've always liked the word 'cause it sounds nifty.

Ofuda -- These are those little slips of paper with characters on them that Li-kun plays with sometimes. As far as I can tell, he uses them to focus and direct his power. The words printed on the paper don't really have power on their own, but people often need physical objects to direct the output of their magic. Ofudas show up quite frequently in anime, since they're more often used as wards, often to keep out ghosts, demons, onis, and the like.

Gaki -- These are creatures straight out of Japanese mythology, though I've taken a few liberties with their specific characteristics. Gakis are one of the more common types of Japanese ghosts or spirits, though the word's also translated as 'demon' a lot. From what I could find, it looks like the most notable characteristic of a gaki is its hunger. Different types of gakis can be hungry for different things (anything from incense to human flesh), but hunger seems to be the uniting characteristic. I decided to create gakis that hunger for magical power. And if anyone in the Tomoeda region (probably the whole of Japan, as well) practically oozes magical power, it's Kinomoto Sakura, even if she's shielded.