Revised version. Please R+R. I don't own these characters.
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Wild Dreaming
by animefreak

Sakura got home and quickly went upstairs. She didn't want anybody asking her questions she wouldn't be able to answer. She hated lying, primarily because she sucked at it. And she would have to come up with something because soon she would have to lie her way out of this. Kero was waiting for her with a very concerned expression on his adorable toy like face.

"Sakura! What the heck happened?" he hovered over her in worry.

"We're going to need your help in this, Kero" she began, surprisingly calm for how bad she looked.

"We? We who?"

"Me and Syaoran" she stated.

"What does the Chinese brat have to do with this whole thing?"

"It's all about me and him. Look, I brought you some pudding. Sit down, and I'll explain it all to you"

"Hmmm, pudding!!" the small creature exclaimed, sitting down and grabbing the small plastic spoon his Mistress was handing him.

Sakura sat down on the bed and patiently explained everything to him in detail. How they had shared the same dream, how she had seen the figure at night in her bedroom, and finally, how the monster or whatever it was had attacked them at the Penguin Park right after they had managed to figure things out. Kero listened so carefully the pudding lasted him the entire conversation.

"I'm not sure what this could be, Sakura" the guardian began, frowning "It could be any number of things"

"Like what? Please tell me Kero, we need to be prepared next time! It nearly killed me, you know?" she begged.

The Beast Guardian of the Seal paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his cute yellow face.

"Well, Sakura, you see" he began explaining, floating closer to her "You and that brat are not ordinary people. You are both related in one way or another to one of the most powerful sorcerers of all time. You, because you were the one chosen by him to become the new Mistress of the Cards...his successor. The brat, well, he's his direct descendant. Your magic is unlike any other in the world...it's unique and extremely pure and powerful. In the wrong hands, this kind of power could make the whole planet blow up. Whatever it is that's after you guys wants the power within you"

"But Kero, it was after me only"

"That's probably because you're the Mistress of the Cards. If you're out of the way the cards can be released and all hell can break loose" he said, his tone deeper in concern "It'll be like killing two birds in one shot"

"And why did they want to keep me and Syaoran apart?"

"For the same reason. You guys together are a force to be reckoned with!"

Sakura remained silent for a second, her beautiful jade eyes filled with worry and fear.

"Who-Who could be doing this?" she finally dared to ask, almost afraid of the answer.

"It could be anyone, but we can rule out certain things"

"Like?"

"That it's a Clow Card. At the beginning I thought that maybe it was like a secret card created with a special purpose, something I didn't even know about...but now I know it isn't. A Clow card couldn't summon monsters to attack you...it would do it by itself"

"Okay, then it's not a Clow Card. What are we left with then?"

"A demon. An evil spirit that wants your power to free itself. A current of black magic. It could be about anything, Sakura"

"How do I find out? Where should I begin?"

"Maybe you should do a reading"

"A reading? What do you mean a reading?"

Kero chuckled. She still had a lot to learn, even though she'd been the Card Captor for over seven years now.

"You've captured all the cards and changed them into Sakura Cards, right? That means you have a whole maze of them. Once that happens, you can use them, with an appropriate spell of course, to roughly predict your immediate future. It requires practice, but I'm sure it can help you a lot right now even though you're untrained. They're tarot cards after all, ne?"

"Teach me, then" she nodded impatiently.

*****

Syaoran hadn't moved from his bed since she'd left. The thought of how near she'd been from death gave him the very creeps. And she wanted to go on her own against this thing. There was no way he would allow that. He'd rather die than let her go like this and get killed. It had taken him a lot of effort to talk her into letting him be a part of it. There had been a moment when he had ran out on arguments, and was almost forced to pull the last card from his sleeve, the one he was planning on keeping there forever: he would tell her that he wouldn't let her do this because he loved her. But thankfully in the end it hadn't been necessary. She had been touched by his concern and had allowed him to make a spell that enabled them to find each other whatever it may come. It was the first time he'd used that spell in his life. He remembered when he'd learned from his mentor all those years ago. He told him there would never be anyone in this world that he would want to be this close to, but he was forced to learn the spell anyway. When he insisted on asking why, the sensei had only smiled and told him that there would be someone he would want to communicate with like this. Turns out he was right, Syaoran thought with a smile. She was his own age, but he had learned so much from her. About the joy of living, of finding pleasure in the smallest things around you, like the smell of the sea, or the crunchy sound of the snow as you walked on it, a good song, the butterflies that flew off the fields in the summer, cherry blossoms getting caught in your hair on the fall...everything was so new and wonderful to her, and that overly optimistic attitude towards life had ended up rubbing off on him, even if it didn't quite show, despite everything he did to avoid it. Surrender had been just a matter of time; that was the reason he loved her so, the reason why he was willing to die for her if the time came when he had to do it, the reason why he had returned to Tomoeda District only a year and a half after he'd gone back to Hong Kong six years ago, leaving wealth, honor, the pride of one of the most important families in the world behind...just to sit behind the beautiful Cherry Blossom every day at school, to watch her smile, to daydream about her knowing that when he woke up she would be at hand's reach. Because he felt like he owed her everything, and he could never repay her for it. She was impossible to resist, he had to fall in love with her just because there was nobody like her in the whole wide world. And whoever wanted to hurt such an angel was really evil.

*****

Sakura chanted the spell just like Kero had taught her a couple minutes ago, and cut the maze of cards in two parts. Then she laid them face down on the table, again like Kero had patiently explained. Nine cards, diamond shape. She then opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned the first card around.

"The Dark Card. I don't know who this person is, then" she slowly turned around the two cards below that one "Illusion and Dream...it's a magic user...and manipulates the mind. We knew that" she added sarcastically, earning herself a shush from Kero.

"You'll break the spell if you don't concentrate"

"Okay, okay. Let's see now" she said as she turned the three middle cards "Earthy, Power, Big...it's a human...a very powerful sorcerer" she reasoned, her voice trembling. She turned around the next two cards with shaky hands "Shadow and Mist. He...or she's very dangerous...related somehow to the dark world, with the ability of summoning dark beings, demons..." she took a deep breath before turning around the last card, the one that would give her the most important clue "The Mirror..." she frowned. "Kero..." she turned around, confused.

Kero looked every bit as puzzled as she did "I don't know, Sakura" he answered, rubbing his little chin "This time, I really, really don't know"

*****

"So, what have we got?" Syaoran asked her on the way home next day after school.

"Kero and I did a reading--" she began, making him chuckle.

"A reading? With the Clow Cards? I see you've become quite the expert!" he quipped, a oddly playful smile on his lips. She smiled back at him, wonder in her emerald green eyes "What?" he asked quizzically.

"You look so much better when you smile" she whispered to him, unable to wipe the smile off her face "I wonder why you don't do it more"

"That's the way the Li family is...especially if you're male. I think I was born with this frown" Syaoran shrugged, keeping the smile, just to please her.

Sakura was astonished. She'd never heard him joke about himself before. And she could count the times she'd seen him smile with the fingers on her hand. Let alone laugh. What a treat, she thought.

"Seriously now...I seem to recall my sensei telling me once that...this was one of the uses that could be given to the Clow Cards...even though I'll always think that's a girls thing" he joked yet again. He never stopped surprising her.

"Oh. We're in a good mood today, aren't we?"

He shrugged for lack of an answer. It was her what made him so happy...too bad he couldn't tell her.

"Anyway, Syaoran...apparently we're up against a human. A sorcerer with some kind of link to the dark world...as in...he could be related to a demon or an evil spirit somehow, he could have a contract, a pact...anything of the sort. It's no one we've met before. He's dangerous and powerful...and a freak for mind games"

"Do we know that..."

Sakura chuckled. She didn't think the time would come when they would actually laugh about such an embarrassing issue.

"There was one thing I didn't understand though, and as much as Kero and I tried, it didn't make any sense"

"Which was?"

"The last card drawn is supposed to give you a definitive and clear hint. You're not supposed to make any mistakes with that one. Anyhow..."

"Yes?"

"The last card I drew was the Mirror Card. It doesn't make any sense...we couldn't figure out its meaning. Whatever it is...it's beyond my understanding"

"Could it be..." he started thoughtfully "That he's your equal in powers? That you'll finally meet your match?"

"Do you think so? My match?" she said, pondering the thought. Her match. Why hadn't that occurred to her? She suddenly smiled, at the thought that rose in her mind. He was so clever. Was this pride she was feeling? Was she proud of him? Man, have I fallen hard for this one, she thought "I hadn't thought of that"

"Scary" he said, raising a thoughtful eyebrow.

Sakura didn't answer. It was scary all right. The Mirror...God, how she wished Syaoran was wrong. They walked in complete silence until they reached Sakura's home. They just stood there, not talking or looking at each other, for a long while. Sakura was the one to break the long silence.

"Syaoran..." she called shyly, not wanting to look at him.

"Yes" came his quiet reply.

"I'm...really scared"

His eyes softened at the admission, and he had to smile at her. He closed the distance between them, barely squeezing her shoulder for reassurance.

"You don't have to be. I won't let anything happen to you"

"But..."

"Sakura" the next thought wrenched his gut painfully "That's what friends are for"

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