"What The Cards Were For"

A Card Captor Fanfiction

By: Bekah-chan

Rated: PG (for,

tense stuff)



Disclaimer: I don't now, have never, and will never own Card Captors. *sigh*



You Reviewers are so nice! Thank You!! =)



Chapter 41:

"THAT IS IT!!!!" They could all tell how angry she was. Although none of them, her family, her Guardian's or her best friend, had ever seen her *this* angry. It was kind of shocking. Their sweet little Sakura was in a killing rage, and the object didn't even seem to realize it. Which made this: One-Stupid-Stealer.

~He'll die without his soul you know~ It continued taunting the Card Mistress, oblivious to the mess it was in, and it just kept digging itself in deeper, ~I can even make him die faster. A little more pain and he will lose touch with reality, and his body. Bye-bye Master Syaoran~ the Stealer said mockingly, ~The little Sorceress cares more about her magic, than she does about you.~ The insane giggling recommenced.

Suddenly, Sakura went from seething anger to dead calm. She stood up, straightening her battle outfit, and brushing back hair that had come out of it's arrangement during the fight.

"This is your last chance," she shouted up at the darkness in the sky, "Let him go. Or I Kill You."

It's only answer, to her ultimatum, was another giggle.... Wrong answer.

Sakura's mind quickly formulated a plan. The Stealer had been injured by lightning, and by fire. Attacking it from more than one side had also been effective..... Until it ran (floated) away. So, she needed more of her, and she needed the Soul-Stealer to stay in one place so she could kill it. Okay, she had a plan. Now to execute it.

Everyone, except for Syaoran who wasn't really up to it, watched Sakura as she took a few steps forward to separate herself from their group

Yue: "Mistress...."

Kero: "Sakura....."

Both: "...Do you need us?"

"No," she looked back at them, over her shoulder, her eyes glinting with suppressed wrath, "This one's mine."

So, the Guardians stayed with Kent, Touya, Madison, and a supine Li Syaoran, while their Mistress walked away. When Sakura had put enough distance between herself and those who might get hurt, she stopped abruptly, this was it. Behind her, the people, and magical beasts, who cared about her watched with concern. What would she do?

"Twin!!" the Sorceress called. There was a blinding flash of light, and then, where before there had been one Sakura with a white outfit and wings, now there were two. The Sakura on the left was wearing the same battle outfit, but now it, and her wings, were tinted pink. The Sakura on the right was tinted blue. Now she was two people, both containing all her skills, and half her power.

The two Sakura's started forward into a running take off (which was the only kind she had done before) and launched into the air. They were completely in accord with each other's movements, although they could move independently, if they wanted. Which they proved as they swooped in different directions, soaring into opposite positions on either side of the Stealer.

~What are you doing, little Sorceress? Trying to rescue the little Sorcerer?~

"I warned you," both Sakuras yelled in one voice, "I can't give you my power. I have seen what you will do with it. But I also cannot let you have Syaoran's soul. If the only way to get him back is to destroy you, I will do it......... I warned you," they said again, before raising their hands to point at the Stealer.

"Windy!!!" they screamed. Immediately, opaque ribbons of wind shot out of their fingers to twine around the Soul-Stealer, trapping it between them. They released the magic, letting Windy's ribbons stay in place, holding their foe, then moved to the next part of the plan.

~Nooooo! Let me go! I'll kill Syaoran if you don't!~ the Stealer threatened, somehow this leverage thing wasn't working out exactly the way the Stealer planned it.

Sakura's (both of them) brows creased in worry and concentration. She had to attack the Stealer now, if she wanted Syaoran back at all. Could he hold on long enough? She knew that Syaoran had a very high tolerance for pain, it was one of the things that made him such a good fighter. But, everyone had a limit. How long before Syaoran reached his?

~Please be okay, Syaoran~ she thought to herself, ~I need you.~ Then Sakura decided not to think anymore. It was really odd having her thoughts running, simultaneously, in two different heads. It was time for action anyway.

Both the Sakuras extended their right arms, and pointed them, palm outward, at the Stealer between them.

"Thunder!!!" was shouted from two throats at once. White-hot lightning shot out of their hands, striking the Soul-Stealer and causing it to cry out in agony.

But the Sakuras weren't done yet. Now, they stretched their left arms out to join their right, in the same position.

"Fiery!!!" fire shot out of their left hands, joining with the lightning from their right. The two elements swirled together, spiraling toward the Stealer to produce a new, greater, impact.

~Noooo!~ The Stealers cry was nearly audible this time, and Sakura knew it was almost over. A great sadness filled her heart, for she did not like to kill, even evil things like this. Yet, in the last few weeks, she had been forced to kill several times to protect herself, and her friends. Today, she was killing to protect, not only her family and friends, but the entire World. The responsibility of this action loomed before her, the Universe was asking her to choose. By doing this, she was accepting her new roll as a warrior for peace. Acknowledging that she would kill to protect people and planet. Realizing that she would even kill a human, if there was no other way to prevent undue pain and suffering. Had Clow known this would happen? Had he seen it in his visions? Had he understood that, on this moment, would pivot the path to her destiny? Had he known what she would chose?

"I warned you," the Sakuras whispered, one last time. Unnoticed tears trickled down their cheeks as they watched the Stealer between them implode, and disintegrate. Calling back her magic, Sakura perceived that, somehow, the destruction of this one evil creature symbolized, the ending of one era in her life; Where magic *was* dangerous, but also fun, and exciting; And the beginning of a new phase, where the power of her magic carried the heavy burden of obligation, which she could not shirk.

For a moment Sakura was depressed, she wondered how much impact Syaoran had influenced on her decision. If his life had not been in danger, would she have chosen to set foot on the path her life was now invariably on? From the space where the Stealer had been, a sparkle of lights caught her eye. Both Sakuras focused on it, and she had her answer.

Floating in the space between them were hundreds of dancing lights, the size of fireflies, in every color imaginable. Sakura abruptly realized that the Stealer must have stolen many souls before Syaoran's. Now that the Stealer was gone, here they were. They swirled around the Sakuras, creating their own slight breeze that carried faint words to the Card Mistress' ears:

"...........thank......you......."

"............sorceress................"

"................thank................"

".............you............"

"................we.............."

"...........are.........."

"..........free........"

The lights, souls that had been trapped within the Stealer, circled around them once more and were gone. Yes, she would have destroyed the Stealer, and chosen this path, even if Syaoran's life had not been at stake. Because the Stealer was dead, those tortured souls were free. And that was reason enough.

To Be Concluded In The Epilog ^_^