Chapter Seven- The Finale
"She's not dead!"Li yelled in disbelief.
Alexander fully turned his body to them as he confidently stated, "Don't you think that if she were still alive that the cards wouldn't be at my side instead of hers?" And as Alexander predicted, the cards began to float towards him involuntarily, as inside they were shouting to one of the two masters that they ever loved. Sakura.
"You…you…you monster!"Meilin yelled. Her fists were tight and the tears were streaming down her face as she pounded on the barrier until she broke down and Li had to hold her.
"Shut your mouth!"Alexander commanded and then smiled. "Or else…I'll have MY new cards silence you." He turned back to the ocean as he raised his hands as if to welcome them. "Come, my cards. Come to me." The cards obeyed, even though they were all screaming to Sakura to wake up and to call them back by name, but nothing came from the ocean. "It's alright,"Alexander chimed. "I'm your new master now. Oh, I have such plans for all of you."
The cards started to surround Alexander, but they didn't glow as they had done to Sakura when she was hurt. They weren't singing happily, but crying. Alexander smiled and looked at them, admiring them all. He grabbed some cards, one by one. The elements. "Ah, Windy…Earthy…Watery…Fi…where's The Fiery?" Alexander looked around, at each card but could not find it. His attention was drawn to the ocean in front of him.
"Look,"Keroberos said, standing up. Yue smiled slightly in awe as he watched the Fiery summon itself and then plummet into the water, the one thing that would douse its power. Meilin, Madison and Li stood up and watched as The Fiery emerged and went back to it's card form and joined the other elements in a group of their own as all the cards watched the display before them.
The water started to bubble from where Sakura had disappeared over five minutes ago. There was a blast of water and the same ball that had kept Sakura prisoner rose from the depths and broke the surface. It stayed that way for a few seconds until the water dispersed from the ball and Sakura was floating above the water, not even dripping wet.
"Sakura!"Madison yelled as she jumped up and down and then picked up her camcorder. It was too perfect to not put on camera. Meilin jumped into her cousin's arms as Yue and Keroberos stood by each other. The guardians looked at each other as Yue smiled and crossed his arms. "Clow Reed would be proud,"Keroberos stated.
"No,"Yue corrected him. "Clow would be jealous. Sakura has surpassed him." The guardians both smiled as they watched Sakura. "And yes, Keroberos, he would be proud as well."
Sakura started to glow a bright white color as the cards flew to her and created a circle at her feet. She held out the staff, and it floated away from her and dissolved into pink little sparks of energy and then surrounded her, merging with her body.
"Her staff…"Meilin started but she didn't know how to finish the sentence, she just continued to look on in awe.
Yue spoke to answer all their questions. "Sakura has become strong enough to not use her staff. She doesn't need it to harness her energy anymore." The whole group smiled at the sight, but Alexander on the other hand…was not happy.
"She's alive,"he said in a disappointing voice. "Oh, goody,"he muttered sarcastically.
Without even summoning it, a card floated to her and she gently touched it with one of her fingers. They both glowed in response as wings grew from her back. But instead of small, pinkish, undefined wings, she had long, white feathers everywhere that had actually grown from her bones.
Sakura finally opened her eyes, she was happy as she spoke to her cards, "My cards,"she softly spoke. "I love you all. Thank you. I owe you my life, fiery. But I'll need your assistance one more time." Her gaze turned onto Alexander, this time with anger. "You tried to kill Clow Reed and then you went against what you believed in to save your own life. You hurt me, my friends and tried to take my cards away from me. I won't let you destroy the things I love. I won't!" The light around her brightened with her anger.
"C'mon, Sakura,"Alexander said in a voice as if he was trying to reason with her. "You make it sound all so horrible."
"I'll give you one last chance, Alexander. You can leave unharmed, without your powers and you'll live. If you refuse, I can't guarantee your safety."
Alexander smiled as he uncrossed his arms and held out his staff. "Never. I don't regret anything. And you…you Sakura,"he said licking his lips. "You…were so nice."
Sakura grabbed four of her cards and floated further above the water. She held them out in front of her and then tossed them in the air. "Watery, Earthy, Windy and Fiery!" The cards floated out of their rectangular forms and stood two on one side, two on the other, in their visible forms. They held the same look of rage that Sakura did. "Alexander I lost before. I won't be so forgiving this time."
Alexander backed far up to the shore and held out his staff as wings sprouted from his back as well, but with black feathers. He glowed with blue energy and had the look of The Devil in his eyes as his staff transformed into a long sword with a blue handle and a sapphire in the middle.
Sakura reached down and grabbed one more card and touched it ever so lightly as a sword with a white handle and green vines encircled her arm with the sword in her hand. Green…green like Li, she thought. She smiled as she spread her arms wide, her wings reciprocating her movement. "You said that the elements bowed to you, that was your power. I will use it against you, Alexander."
"That's impossible, Sakura. You have lost. Quit before you die again and your friends die as well," he raised his sword to point it at her.
"No, Alexander. You are wrong,"she smiled. "I won't let you hurt anyone again. I gave you your chance, but now…it all ends now, Alexander." Sakura raised her sword to him as she called upon her elements. "The Elements! From my star burning bright, surround me with your guiding light; I transformed you with my star, now come to my aid from afar! Release!" She commanded as the four elemental figures beside her joined her by her side and joined her spirit and she glowed even brighter.
Simultaneously, without even one inch of a question, both of the fighters took off towards each other, swords drawn, and ready to fight until the death of one or both of them. And they clashed where the water met the earth and lightning surrounded them, each not holding back. At a standstill with their swords, their magic erupted like it had never before. As the minutes past, neither one was going to give up, until the darkness of Alexander's aura surrounded the bright white light and all went dark.
"Sakura,"Meilin cried. "No…"
Alexander was in the middle of the blackness, laughing. "I told you, Sakura. It is impossible. You have failed,"but as Alexander said these words, the light emerged from within him. He looked down at it, trying to scratch it away, but it exploded and the light shone everywhere, to the point where the onlookers had to shield themselves from the bright light.
As the light died down and the sun rose from the sea, Sakura's friends unshielded their eyes and looked to the shore. Next to the lapping waves, they could see The Card Mistress, standing with her sword in one hand, her wings directly behind her, folded down. Her eyes were focused on the object next to her feet, Alexander's sword. She smiled at it first, then said something inaudible to her friends and smashed the orb, turning the sword to dust. Again she smiled and looked over to her friends then flew towards them, as fast as she could.
Li stepped forward away from everybody else and opened his arms wide; she flew into them and because of the impact they both fell down. "Li!" she exclaimed, holding on to him tight, the tears flowing down her cheeks and onto the sand as her wings disappeared.
"Sakura,"he softly said, holding her tightly, not ever wanting to let him go. "Don't scare me like that again, okay?"
She kissed him softly on the lips and then put her forehead against his, "I promise."
Madison and Meilin were holding onto each other crying, watching the scene unfold in front of them. Their sobs were finally stopping but started up again wildly as they kissed some more and uttered words of love. Keroberos picked up Meilin by her shirt with his mouth like he would his own cub, and flew down towards the earth, through the clouds.
"It's so beautiful,"Madison said to no one in particularly. "Like out of a fairy tale."
Yue approached her from behind and said quietly. "No, not like a fairy tale at all. Fairy tales are what dreams are made of. This is very real." Madison nodded in agreement; thankful she got that quote on the tape. She could only think about showing this to Li and Sakura someday. Yue smiled and his cheeks almost seemed to be tinted a slight shade of red as he picked Madison up and flew after the other guardian.
The two lovers hugged for quite some time until Sakura pulled her head away from his neck that she was laying her head on and looked around to see her friends. "Li?"
He sat up too, "What is it, Sakura?" He looked around him, also noticing that no one was there. He sighed with relief.
"We're all alone,"she got up and started to walk towards the exit. "I wanted to…"she trailed off as soon as she felt a hand grab her wrist. She turned and saw Li smiling at her.
"The sun is rising. Why don't we watch it?" Sakura smiled as she approached Li and he embraced her with his strong arms, now relaxed. And together, in her dreamscape, they watched the sun rise completely before they separated.
They walked towards the opening in the sky that would lead them down to the earth below, to his house. Li looked into the hole and noticed the darkness. "Hmm, I guess its still nighttime there. Wonder why the sun rose here?"
She smiled, knowing the answer. "Because in my dreams, the sun is always out." Li smiled too, but only because it was a little corny, which it was. Sakura laughed because she was thinking the same thing and Li joined her. "It's actually 12:30 in the morning in Reedington, Li."
"Okay,"he said, disregarding the information she had just given him. "Let's go home,"he said, reaching his fingertips to her hand. She grasped it firmly and then pulled him into a hug.
She whispered, "Happy Birthday, Li." She smiled and closed her eyes, chanting a spell as the wings grew from his back shading them from the bright sun. "I didn't get you a birthday present so…and I know you always told me that you wish that you had captured The Fly Card. I thought this could be your chance."
He smiled as he kissed her softly and then carried her in his arms. "I love you, Sakura." Li jumped into the hole and then flew to his house, whispering that he loved her the whole way, letting her know how much he cared for her. In return she would kiss his neck and send shivers up his spine.
They landed at his window and he dropped her off and then as the wings disappeared from his back, he jumped in too. She immediately rushed to him, jumping into his arms. They were both so glad that everything was okay now, the fight was over and they could finally just be together with no worries.
As he unzipped her dress, revealing her creamy-colored back, he kissed it tenderly, working his way up until he kissed her neck and then turned her around and they kissed some more, very passionately. She left to change and he did as well. When Sakura finally emerged, he already had slipped into his bed. She watched the rising of his bare chest and smiled to herself, watching his face, his closed eyes.
She smiled, knowing her secret as she lied down beside him. He opened his eyes in a flash as he felt her bare skin, at first thinking that it was her arms but then as he looked up and saw that she was staring down at him, he realized that the bare skin he was feeling was coming from her upper body. Her whole upper body. She descended slowly, kissing him.
He stopped for a moment, breathing very heavily, "Sakura, I thought you wanted to wait because…"
She silenced him with a kiss, "We are going to wait." Her hands went up to caress his face as she deepened the kiss, making it fully aware that she was enjoying every minute of it.
He stopped her once again, very red in the face. "You know this is going to drive me crazy."
She smiled once more as she softly spoke, "I know." As she kissed him some more, he finally relaxed and just went along with it. Deep in his heart he knew he would never get bored of Sakura. Everyday they spent together, there was never a dull moment, and he thanked his lucky stars that he would be spending the rest of his life like this. Sakura on the other hand, only had to thank one star. Her star.
As the kiss ended, he wrapped his arms around her and she settled on his chest as he closed his eyes and angled his head towards her hair, breathing in the strawberry scent. "I love you."
She smiled before she kissed his chest, "And I love you." They both fell asleep; exhausted from the fight they just had with Alexander.
Somewhere, half way around the world, Tori was eating lunch with Julian. He sighed to himself, stirring his soup over and over again like some sort of zombie.
"Tori?"
He looked up to see Julian smiling at him. "Sorry, Julian."
"Something on your mind?"Julian asked, eating a fourth of a club sandwich in one bite.
Tori kept down his laugh as looked to the sky. "I don't know. You think Sakura's okay? I mean, I know she's seventeen, but I don't know…I just get the feeling that…"
"You're worried about her,"Julian said, getting to the point. Tori looked up and nodded. "Don't be, Tori,"Julian smiled confidently as if hiding a secret. "She's in good hands."
Tori's gaze turned into a stare and his eyes became small slits as he stood up shouting, "Now what is that supposed to mean?! If you know something about that Chinese Gaki and my little sister then you better tell me!"
Julian smiled to himself and continued eating his sandwich.
Eight hours later in Japan, as the sun came up and splashed its way through Li's curtains, he awoke, still holding the woman he loved beside of him. He smiled and then sank down in his bed so that he was eye level with her and then kissed her to wake her up, like he always did. She didn't awaken right away and he kissed her again, surprisingly she kissed back, seeming to be quite awake.
"When did you wake up?"He asked, sliding closer to her.
"Oh…"she said thinking. "About five minutes ago, when I woke you up by kissing your forehead."
She smiled as he put his hand to the spot on his face and then smiled too when he could still feel the wetness of her kiss. "Yeah, I guess you did." He pulled her into a hug and then rolled her on top of him, letting her put her elbows on either side of his body, as she got comfortable. "So what do you want to do today?"
"Umm,"she said, biting her bottom lip and looking towards the ceiling. "Oh, nothing."
"Nothing?"he said playfully.
"Well, if you count this as nothing,"she said kissing him. "Then yeah, nothing."
She lied down on his chest again; feeling and hearing his heart beat below her. She could hear his voice echoing in his body and her ear as he said softly, "I love you, Sakura."
She lifted her head up from his chest and smiled, "I love you too, Li." And as they kissed some more, Li finally relaxed all his muscles and didn't have to worry.
He finally pulled away suddenly. "What is it Li?"She asked, a little concerned.
"Hear that?"He asked. She looked around, trying to locate the sound and then turned to look back into his eyes, confused.
"No,"she said.
"Exactly." He pulled her closer as he explained. "No Meilin, no Madison and no camcorders." Li smiled sweetly and then looked at her. Sakura's eyes shone brightly as the sun hit them and he felt his heat beat faster as his smile turned to serve a more evil purpose.
"What?"She asked, smiling with confusion and happiness.
"Come here, you,"he said as he rolled her over and started to kiss her with a hunger he'd never felt before. He smiled between kisses as he realized that Meilin had kept her promise.
"Well, yes and no." Across the street in Meilin's apartment, her and Madison were eating pancakes and drinking milk. Meilin giggled as she zoomed in the camera on the couple, still kissing. "I only told him that he would wake up and not see me. If he doesn't see me, I don't think I've broken my promise, right Madison?"
"Right, Meilin,"Madison said looking into the camera. They laughed some more as they tried to eat their food and watched the couple. "Besides, it took us…um…how long?"
"Seven, eight years."
"Right, it took us that long to get them together, then I think we ought to be able to relish in it,"Madison said, loving her train of logic. "Am I right, Meilin?"
"Of course, Madison,"Meilin said, raising their milk in wine glasses and clinking them together. They both laughed as they prepared to keep watching them from afar.
THE END
So how was it? I hope it wasn't that bad. I've been thinking about writing a sequel, but I don't know what it would be about. I'm almost kind of thinking this is great the way it is. But I don't know. Review! Oh and if you don't like it then don't flame me, constructive criticism please! I'm very sensitive! "Right, whatever!" Who are you? "I'm Iria, from your other fanfic." Oh…I don't know what you're talking about. "You should finish me before I get really mad." Look I don't know what you're talking about but…(holds a gun to my face.) Oh, that fanfic…haha…must have slipped my mind. But this time…(holds up a flamethrower)I'm ready….Bring it!