Konnichiwa minna-san! I'm back again with Chapter 3. I hope you are enjoying the story so far, I still have a lot of plot to add to this one (and S+S). Sorry if most of my chapters are kind of long, but when I start a story, I really get into it ^_^ I hope you didn't have to wait too long for this (if you WERE waiting for it), but I have school and obligations just like anyone else, so please forgive me. Review at the end if you would be so kind!! Arigato to everyone who reviewed this fic (and my other ones) so far! Remember: Helpful criticism is very important to an author!^_^ ~Manda-chan
The Forbidden Clow 3: Look With Love, Not With the Eyes
"Are you feeling any better, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked, looking at Sakura's still slightly-green face with concern.
"Yeah...the headache is gone at least." Sakura replied, "Arigato, Tomoyo-chan."
Tomoyo just smiled. Sakura got to her feet and stretched.
"I guess I'll be going now, Tomoyo-chan. I'll talk to you later."
Tomoyo walked her down the huge flight of stairs and to the door. Sakura strode to the street and waved to her friend.
"Ja, Tomoyo-chan!!"
"Ja ne, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo yelled as she waved back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before going home, Sakura decided to go for a walk around town. It was always easy to think when you took a walk, at least, that was Sakura's experience. She soon found herself wandering in a rose garden somewhere and decided to take a small rest on a white-painted wooden bench that sat under the protection of a flower and vine covered arch. She sighed, inhaling the sweet scents of all the roses and smiled. She absentmindedly reached her hand into her pocket and pulled out the youth card. She gazed at it curiously, still trying to figure out what the card had meant when it spoke to her.
'So this card was instructed to test me by Clow Reed?' she wondered, closing her eyes as her thoughts deepened, 'But that just doesn't make sense...'
She leaned her head back and breathed in deeply.
'And the card didn't mean to cause me trouble? I thought Kero said that these cards were trying to harm Syaoran and me? It just doesn't add up.' she thought, 'Maybe this card was just a gentle one, like Windy or Wood. But what did it mean by 'test' me? Is there something else to these cards?'
"Sakura?"
"HOE!!?!?!?!?"
Sakura fell off the bench in shock. She heard a familiar light chuckle and looked up curiously. She immediately looked straight back at the ground again when she saw who it was. She wasn't near ready to face him so soon.
"Did I surprise you?" Syaoran asked, helping her up.
"H-hai, just a little." Sakura answered, barely above a whisper.
Syaoran noticed that Sakura seemed to be avoiding eye contact and looked distant for some reason.
"Hey, are you alright? I'm sorry if I disturbed you or something, I-"
"It's not that." Sakura interrupted, turning away from him, "I just...have a lot of things on my mind."
"I understand." Syaoran said, "That's one of the reasons I'm out here too."
"I just kind of wandered in here." Sakura still spoke in a distant tone.
'Okay, here goes.' Syaoran thought, clenching his hands tightly.
"Would you...like to get a snack or something?" he asked, blushing a little, "There's a nice cafe just a block or so from here."
Syaoran was smiling to himself.
'Ever since yesterday, I seem to have an easier time talking to her.'
"I-I...don't know." Sakura stammered, still facing opposite of him.
Syaoran seemed a little upset by her tone of voice. She seemed...scared of something.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Syaoran asked, taking one of her hands in his from behind her.
"Yes!"
Sakura wrenched her hand from his grasp, not forcefully, but enough to show that she was upset.
"I...I mean, yes, I'm okay. I'll go with you, I guess." she corrected, almost alarmed by what she was saying.
Even though she sounded less than enthusiastic, Syaoran felt a grin spread across his face.
"That's great!" he said cheerfully.
Sakura didn't say anything in reply. As a matter of fact, she didn't speak a word to him all the way there.
'How can he stand even being near me?' Sakura thought shamefully, staring off into some trees along the sidewalk, 'I wonder how he would react if he knew that I knew what went on yesterday...'
"Kawaii little place, ne?" Syaoran asked, gesturing toward the quaint little outdoor cafe.
Sakura broke out of her thoughts and followed his outstretched hand toward the small area of two person dinette sets and red umbrellas that hung over the top of each of them.
"Yeah." Sakura agreed, still not showing any change in mood.
Syaoran frowned as he and Sakura walked to the cafe and casually took a seat at one of the tables.
'Whatever the problem is, it's still bugging her.' Syaoran noted by Sakura's anxious expression, 'You would almost swear that someone was following her or something.'
Sakura looked around the area nervously. She and Syaoran were the only couple at the cafe, all the other seats were vacant.
'I've got to think of a good excuse to leave,' Sakura thought, 'I need time to think this whole business over and possibly talk to Kero before I can face him about this.'
"What would you like today?" a middle-aged looking waiter asked.
Syaoran looked over to Sakura, who in turn looked up at the waiter.
"I'll just have a glass of ice water please." she said.
Syaoran gave her a worried look and the waiter raised his eyebrows.
"Will that be all, miss?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you." Sakura confirmed.
"And for you, sir?" he questioned, turning to Syaoran.
"Hmm...A chocolate malt please." he decided.
Syaoran handed him some money and he walked away. He then placed his arms on the table and looked across it to Sakura.
"Something's bugging you, Sakura." he stated firmly, "You can deny it all you want, but I can tell."
Sakura sighed and stood up.
"I really have to be going." she said, "Maybe I'll see you later or something."
Before Syaoran could stop her, she took off as fast as she could. The waiter came back and handed Syaoran his malt, giving him a strange look.
"Problem?" he asked, making a head gesture toward where Sakura had previously been seated.
"I wish I knew." Syaoran replied softly, gazing off to where she was running, "I wish I knew..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura ran all the way home and up to her room. She didn't bother to say anything to Toya or her father. She just had to get away from everything. She walked in the door and flopped herself on her bed, still breathing hoarsely.
"Sakura?" Kero questioned, popping out from his drawer.
"Hi Kero-chan." Sakura said, not showing her normal enthusiasm.
"I guess this means you sealed the card then?" he asked hopefully.
Sakura held up the youth card.
"I guess you could say that." she replied.
"You seem upset." Kero stated the obvious, "Did something happen?"
"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked.
"For one, you don't have that ray of sunshine with you today, and two, you've obviously been running from something." Kero explained.
"So?" Sakura shot back.
"Did you have a nice stay at the Chinese gaki's house?" Kero asked, knowing full well that this would get her attention.
Sakura sat straight up and glared at him.
"How did you know about that?!" she asked, practically turning the color of a ripe strawberry.
"Tomoyo is very knowledgeable about these things." Kero said, floating closer to her, "Why, is that what's bugging you?"
"I guess you could say that." Sakura echoed with the same voice as she had before.
"Does he know that you know?" Kero asked curiously.
"Apparently not. I ran into him just a little while ago, and it's almost like he's pretending that it never happened." she explained.
"That's probably because he thinks you don't know...So what happened?"
"He kept asking me if something was wrong, and I wouldn't even look at him or much less talk to him and we went to a cafe and...I don't know...I just ran." Sakura said, looking at the floor.
"I understand that you're confused, Sakura." Kero said softly, placing a yellow paw on his mistress's shoulder, "But you just can't keep running away from your problems. If you do, they're just going to come back to haunt you."
"...Then you're saying I should..."
"Talk to him." Kero finished, "Sort this out."
There was complete silence for a few moments, but then Sakura sighed.
"You're right Kero-chan." Sakura agreed.
"As always." Kero stated, matter-of-factly.
"Whatever." Sakura said, letting a small smile form as she slipped on some PJs, "But I'll talk to him tomorrow."
She hopped into bed and shut off her bedside lamp.
"Goodnight, Kero-chan." she said sleepily, yawning.
"Goodnight, Sakura."
Within a matter of minutes, Sakura had fallen into slumber. Kero flew over to the window and looked out at the bright crescent moon in the sky.
'The test has begun...' he thought, 'And though I hate to admit it, this was bound to happen, whether I like him or not...'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Syaoran! It's you again!" Sakura realized.
It was the same dream as she had two nights ago, but this time, Syaoran was closer to her. It was almost as if the tower had come closer to where she was standing. She picked up the same blank Clow card that she had in the other dream, and turned to Syaoran on the tower.
"Are you going to tell me what this means?" she asked him, instinctively walking forward.
As she did, the tower and Syaoran pulled farther away from her.
"Matte!!!" she called after him.
When she stopped walking toward him, the tower ceased its movement also. She stared out at him, and noticed that his lips moved, and he began to speak.
"Love is not blind..." he whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Love...is...not...blind..." the words echoed through her mind as she yawned into the early morning light.
"Hoe? Morning already?"
She let out a larger yawn and looked at her clock.
'10 A.M and I'm actually awake?' she realized.
She rubbed her eyes and hopped out of bed, heading for the shower. She came out a little while later, dressed in jade green khaki shorts and a dark-pink babydoll tee shirt. She headed for the door just as Kero flew out of his drawer.
"You're up early." he observed, wide-eyed (well, as wide as his beady eyes can get), "Is something wrong?"
She grabbed one of her pillows and whacked him with it.
"No, nothing is wrong!" she said indignantly, "I just got up early, that's all." Kero slowly flew out from under the pillow.
"Where were you headed?" he asked, looking out the open door, "Going to get breakfast?"
"No, I was just going to go see Syaoran-kun." she said casually.
"This early in the morning!?!?"
"Why not?" Sakura said, brushing out her hair, "He probably gets up at sunrise anyway."
She fixed her hair into the traditional pigtails, and headed out the door.
"Let me know if Tomoyo-chan calls, okay Kero-chan?"
"Sure, sure." Kero waved her off, as the door shut, "Not like I have anything better to do."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Just knock...' Sakura told herself over and over again.
She had already been standing outside room 7 for about fifteen minutes, just trying to gather enough courage to bring her hand in contact with the wood.
'If I can't even knock on his door, how will I be able say anything to him at all?...Maybe I should just leave...'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Syaoran had to admit he felt something weird, but he didn't pay any attention to it. He got up at sunrise like usual, did his morning ritual, and took a shower. Now it was time to go and get the morning paper...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura took a deep breath and brought her knuckles down toward the door. About a millimeter of so from hitting it, she pulled back.
'I can't do it...maybe I'll come by later.'
She was just about to turn and leave when the door swung wide open. She gasped and took a step back. But no one was there. She curiously walked inside and looked around.
'Where is Syaoran?' she wondered.
"What are you doing here, Sakura?" Syaoran's voice asked.
Sakura turned around and watched the door shut on its own.
"Syaoran? What's going on?" Sakura asked, becoming more and more frightened.
"What are you talking about, Sakura?" Syaoran's voice asked, dumbfounded.
Sakura grabbed a book off a table near her and held it out threateningly.
"W-who e-ever you are, s-stay back." She warned, backing up against the wall.
She looked nervously from left to right, still unable to see anyone.
"I-If this is your idea of a j-j-joke Syaoran-kun," she spoke, knees shaking, "It's n-not funny. Y-y-you know how freaked I am about g-g-ghosts."
"Are you feeling alright, Sakura?" he asked quizzically, "We're the only ones here."
"T-Then why can't I see you?" Sakura questioned, still frightened, "Where are you?"
She suddenly felt a light weight on her shoulders.
"What are you talking about? I'm right in front of you." his voice spoke.
"HOE!?!!?!?!!??!" Sakura screamed, lashing out in front of her with the book.
It hit Syaoran square in the forehead and he fell back on the floor.
"Itai!! What did you do that for?!" he asked, unable to figure out what was going on.
"I-I can hear you, but...but I can't see you." Sakura explained.
Syaoran looked at his hands and saw them just the same as ever. He looked up at Sakura, still bewildered.
"You can't see me?" he asked.
She blinked as a thought suddenly came to her mind.
"...Do you think it's a black Clow card?"
"I don't know." Syaoran shrugged, "Nothing feels any different to me."
Sakura just stood there in silence for a few moments.
"...I feel like I'm talking to nothing but air..." she mumbled.
"Oh, that makes me feel a lot better, I'm being compared to air now..."
"Let's just get you back to being visible." Sakura interrupted quickly.
"And...we're going to do that how?" Syaoran asked, a note of disbelief in his voice.
"Mou! Give me a little time, I'm trying to think of something!"
*About an hour later...*
"Come up with any ideas yet?" Syaoran asked, a bit eagerly.
"....No..."
Syaoran fell over anime style.
"Well, what did you come here for in the first place?" he questioned, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
"I, uh..." Sakura stumbled.
'I can't really apologize right now...I'll have to wait until a little later, after we seal this card.' she thought.
"I'll explain that later!" Sakura finished, "Priorities first, we have to seal that card somehow."
Syaoran sighed and took a seat on the couch, making an indent visible to Sakura.
"Y'know Syaoran, this whole "invisible" thing creeps me out..."
"Maybe you're just going blind or something." Syaoran suggested.
'Blind....where have I heard that before?...' Sakura thought, '....!!! The dream I had last night! Syaoran told me 'Love is not blind'...but what does that mean?'
"Uh...Sakura? Is everything alright over there?" Syaoran called to the dazed-looking Sakura.
She snapped out of it and looked up.
"Gomen, um...wherever you are right now. I just kind of spaced out." Sakura apologized.
"Any brainstorms yet?" he asked hopefully.
'I don't really like being invisible to you...' he thought sadly.
"As a matter of fact...I have an idea." Sakura stated.
"Nanda?"
She didn't respond, but instead closed her eyes.
'Love is not blind...Love is not blind..' she repeated over and over again through her head.
A strange-sounding voice suddenly interrupted her concentration.
'Card mistress...do you think you can prove yourself to me?' it asked, as if amused.
'Yes. I believe I can.' she answered, with confidence.
'And just how do you plan to accomplish such a task?'
'By letting my heart guide me...to look with love, not with the eyes.' she explained.
'Pretty sounding words mistress, but that's all they are. You can't see what's not in front of your eyes.'
Sakura smiled to herself.
'That's where you're wrong.'
She looked deep within her heart, trying to pry out all her memories of Syaoran and trying her best to picture him in her mind, to almost feel where he was.
'Don't think about the card...' she told herself, 'Focus on the love I have for Syaoran...Love that's not blind...'
"...Syaoran?"
There he stood in front of her, plain as day.
"I can see you!" she exclaimed.
Syaoran held his hand out to stop her.
"Not exactly." he stated, but seemingly with someone else's voice, "With these thoughts in mind, open your eyes...if you truly believe that love isn't blind."
Sakura snapped her eyes open, thinking of nothing else than seeing her secret beloved again. A bit blurry at first, Syaoran came into full sight, sitting casually on the couch, like nothing happened.
"Is it...really you?" Sakura questioned, walking closer to him.
He blinked.
"You...You can see me now?" he asked, eyes opening wide.
"Hai!" she answered with a smile.
He quickly returned the smile, but frowned almost immediately.
"It wasn't a black Clow card then?"
Sakura gasped, realizing the card never showed up, and frantically began searching for it.
'I thought I proved myself to it!' she thought, frantically tearing up Syaoran's apartment in an attempt to find it.
She felt something in her hand and looked at it.
Nothing.
"Nani?" she asked to no one in particular, "Oh wait! It's an invisible Clow card!"
Then, before her eyes, a Black Clow card appeared the front of it in the image of a beautiful winged unicorn. At the bottom, it appropriately beared the title: The Invisible.
'Your love for that young man proved your worth to me.' the card spoke to her, 'I now deem you worthy to don my power, card mistress.'
"Arigato." she whispered to the card, before putting it in her pocket.
'For letting me see Syaoran-kun again...' she added mentally.
"So you DID seal the card?" Syaoran asked.
"Hai...I did." she answered, still grinning.
"Now," Syaoran said, striding over to her, "Are you going to tell me why you came over here in the first place?"
'No turning back now...' she thought.
"Yeah, I want to apologize..." she mumbled, looking down at her shoes.
Syaoran chuckled.
"Apologize?" he asked, "What could you possibly need to apologize for?"
"About Friday, and all the trouble I caused you..." she explained, "I'm really sorry you had to go through that."
As she spoke, Syaoran choked on his previous chuckles and turned whiter than a ghost. They stood there in awkward silence, both feeling rather embarrassed and confused by the whole deal.
Sakura took a deep breath.
"I also want to thank you," she said, finally meeting his eyes, "For taking care of me."
She smiled, to reassure him that everything was okay.
"I just want to know one thing." Syaoran said quickly.
"Nani?"
"How did...um, How did you find out about all of this?" he asked, rather unsure of if he wanted to know the answer.
"Tomoyo-chan video-taped us almost the whole time. She showed me the tape yesterday." Sakura cleared.
Syaoran cursed under his breath.
"I should have known..." he muttered.
"Syaoran-kun?"
"H-hai?"
"Can we put this behind us and be friends as if nothing happened?"
Syaoran nodded.
'Just friends...' they each thought simultaneously, looking equally disappointed.
"I suppose I should get going now." Sakura said.
"Don't you want to stay for tea or something?" Syaoran asked, "Or maybe just talk for awhile?"
Sakura nodded slowly and let a small smile work its way onto her face.
"Yeah, I guess I owe you at least that, for walking out on you yesterday."
"That's alright." Syaoran shrugged, "You had stuff on your mind. I understand."
Sakura's smile widened.
'You always understand...' she thought, losing herself in his calm expression and pools of golden amber, 'Just another thing to add to the list of things I love about you...'
~ That's the end of Chapter 3!! Sorry if that took awhile, but I'll try to have Chapter 4 out as soon as I can. If there are any Japanese terms you don't understand, just ask me about them. I hope that Chapter was enjoyable to everyone. ^_^ If you think I should quit while I'm ahead, don't be afraid to tell me! I don't want readers to get bored! As an author, it's my job to keep you interested as best I can ^_^ Chapter 4 is going to be kind of weird, but I'm going to have a lot of fun writing it!! ^^ I appreciate reviews more than you can imagine! I personally thank everyone who has reviewed any of my stories. It's your feedback that keeps an author going. ARIGATO!!! ~Manda-chan