Sorry this one took so long to get out but I got sidetracked and was working on some other fic I have stored on my computer. I also spent hours staring at the computer screen, plagued with writers-block, so I decided to work on something else (poems, other fanfics, etc…) I would have upload this part last night (2/20/01) but ff.net wouldn't let me on their site so I had to wait for today. Here's Part 11:
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Finding Him- Part 11
Sakura saw the fire coming at her and opened her mouth to scream but nothing would come out. Flames reached out and groped for its victim. Sakura closed her eyes and waited for the end to come.
'I'm sorry Syaoran. I have failed you. Please forgive me and remember that I love you, always.'
Sakura waited for the flames to encompass her but nothing happened. She opened her eyes in confusion and she could barely made out the shield surrounding her.
"Hoe?" Sakura stood up in confusion as murmurs arouse from the Li clan.
"What is going on here?" One clan leader stood up, enraged.
Someone gasped and said, "Look!" Everyone turned their heads and to their amazement, two never before seen creatures stood behind Sakura.
Sakura whirled around and tears filled her eyes.
"Kero-chan! Yue-san!"
Sakura ran out of the shield and embraced Kero around his neck. "Thank you," she murmured into his neck and she shed a few tears and clung to her guardian beast. Yue put a hand on her shoulder in a gesture of comfort. Sakura stayed in that position, softly crying from happiness of the knowledge that her guardians still supported her.
A growl brought the three back to reality. The monster sent a fire attack at the two guardians. They dodged it easily and flew to meet the monster. Fire gathered at Kero's mouth as a white globe formed in Yue's hand. Flames and diamond shards flew at the monster. A spar continued for a while among the three until a cry rang out, halting the fight.
Sakura stood with tears glistening in her eyes. The sight of her guardians fighting in her place must have affected her badly. Kero and Yue returned to her side and stood by her side protectively.
An elder stood up. "It was wise of you to stop the battle, but I have one question. Why are there two… creatures fighting in your place?"
Sakura sheepishly rubbed her head. "Um, these are… they are…"
Meiling quickly interrupted. "These are the creations of Clow Reed himself. This is Keroberus and Yue."
A gasp filled the crowd. "Keroberus and Yue?" Meiling nodded.
A person in the crowd stood up. "Well, why are they obeying this…" He looked Sakura over in disgust before continuing. "Creature?"
Kero growled menacingly while Yue stepped forward in anger. Sakura caught Yue's hand to stop him and she put a restraining hand on Kero's shoulder.
Syaoran shifted on his feet angrily but he decided to let his cousin do all of the work. After all, she was a lawyer. A good one too.
Meiling narrowed her eyes as she stared at the speaker. She opened her mouth to speak but the standing elder spoke first.
"Sit down and do not speak again," he told the person who had offended Sakura. He then turned and apologized to Sakura. "I am sorry if he offended you. He is rash and young. As for the matter of you two guardians, they cannot help you in defeating our creature. We are here to test you, not your guardians."
Sakura nodded, understanding. She whispered words of comfort to Kero and Yue, both who did not like the idea of leaving her to fight the creature alone but in the end, they both capitulated and stood off to the side, next to Syaoran and Meiling.
Sakura turned and faced the monster. It was floating in the air, growling at her
"Fly! Sword!" Pink wings grew on her back and Sakura flew to meet the monster with sword in hand. She swung the sword at its neck but one of its tails blocked the attack and the other batted her to the side.
Stars fluttered over Sakura's head as she tried to clear her head. It had surprised her. Now it took advantage of Sakura's hesitation to attack. A pink beam came from its mouth and hit one of Sakura's wings.
With a cry, Sakura began to fall and she saw everything in slow motion…
Suddenly, something grabbed her wrist and she wasn't falling anymore, just floating slowly to the ground. When she reached the ground, Sakura looked up and saw her rescuer.
"Okaasan?"
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A silent angel floated above Sakura. Never in her life did Sakura think she would see her.
Dark hair and green eyes accented the beauty of Sakura's guardian angel. Kinomoto Nadeshiko smiled at her daughter as her crimson wings drew her away from the love one she left so many years ago.
"Okaasan!" Sakura repeated, reaching her hands out to try and touch her mother.
Nadeshiko made no move toward her daughter, but she did the opposite. Smiling gently, Nadeshiko floated slowly away, holding her hand out to her daughter in silent apology and giving her a heavenly hug, one no mortal could feel.
"No! Okaasan, please stay! Don't go!" Sakura cried and she desperately reached out and tried to prevent the mother she could barely remembered from leaving.
A voice was carried by a stream of wind and whispered softly, so Sakura could only hear, "Bind the monster. It is the only way. I will help. I love you and I will always watch over you."
Nadeshiko's image slowly dissolved into the air, leaving her daughter in the center of the room.
Sakura stiffened. The voice was soothing but powerful at the same time.
"Don't go." Sakura whispered into the air. "I love you too okaasan."
Everyone in the room watched the girl in awe while she stood, staring blankly into the space where the angel had disappeared. It was rare to see an angel and when one appeared, the person it came to help was blessed with good luck and eternal happiness. It's been years since an angel has been at the Li clan vicinities. The creature was no doubt an angel but who was it here to bless? Surely not the foreign girl.
"Is this not enough proof?" Meiling asked the crowd. "Now an angel must appear to show you that Sakura belongs with Syaoran. Will you still withhold her happiness as well as the future clan leader's?
Murmurs spread like wild fires though the crowd. Finally an elder spoke. "If the angel was truly here to bless the card mistress, she will have no trouble defeating the monster. The examination will continue?"
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Sakura did not know what everyone was talking about. She knew it had something to do about her but she didn't care. All she cared about was that her okaasan was here and now she's gone. It had been if hope had jumped in front of Sakura and fled when she tried to reach for it.
"It wasn't fair." Sakura thought. "I never knew my mother and when I have the chance to meet her, she leaves. Why? She said she would help me but what will she help me do?"
Sakura stood there thinking while the pink monster grew impatient. He showed his feelings by emitting a low growl that brought everyone in the room back to the matters at hand.
The Clow mistress decided it was time to end this fight and flew up to meet the monster with the sword card in hand. The two battled for a while, sword against tail, until the beast caught Sakura off guard. With a swift motion, it hurled itself against the girl and pushed her to the ground.
Sakura shook her head to clear her mind from the swimming feeling she felt when she hit the ground. A roar caused her to look up and see a flame attack coming straight at her. With a flick of her wrist and a command, the shield card had formed a protective barrier around her and the attack bounced off harmlessly. She shook her head again as the odd feeling in her head reappeared. No matter what she tried, it wouldn't go away.
The monster tried to break down the barrier by hurling itself at it but it only bounced off. Sakura watched as the feeling swelled in her head. She needed to do something soon; the shield card was weakening with every blow.
Suddenly a golden light flashed across her eyes and Sakura watched in fascination as a small golden droplet floated in front of her eyes. With a blink, it disappeared.
"Sakura!"
The auburn hair girl turned at the sound of her name.
"Sakura! You need to bind the monster! It's the only way!" Kero yelled.
Sakura turned and looked at her two guardians in confusion. Yue nodded at Kero's suggestion. It was the only way she could beat it.
"Watch out!" Someone cried.
"Jump!" Sakura leapt out of the shield and hovered over the monster for a second while she thought of a plan.
When she landed she turned and faced the monster. Two cards were held up; the two cards Sakura ever uses to bind something.
"Release! Windy! Shadow!"
Windy twisted and wounded about the monster, keeping it from moving while shadow restrained it into a small, enclosed area. Now all Sakura needed to do was think of a proper spell but she couldn't think of anything. This was the first time she had to make up a spell that wasn't for Clow Cards. While she thought, the monster was fighting, slowly gaining its freedom once again.
Then, the small golden light returned and descended in front of Sakura. She gazed into it and the voice of Clow Reed echoed in her mind.
"You will find a way. Believe in yourself and trust your cards. They will not disappoint you. And remember, water is a thing that must flow."
'Water? What does that have to do with anything?' Suddenly a spell appeared in Sakura's mind and she knew her mother had helped her, like she promised. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura ran up to the immobile monster. She stared at it for a moment, then lowered her head, pointed her wand at the monster and said, "Return to your true form. It is commanded by me…" She raised her head to see the monster return to its bead form and hover in front of the wand and said, "Sakura."
At the mention of her name, the bead exploded in a brilliant flash of light.
Pink dust billowed around Sakura as she stood, shocked that it was finally over.
Murmurs filled the room. No one believed that this fragile girl from Japan could defeat the undefeatable Li beast. Perhaps she could be allowed to enter their clan for with her magic; it could prove to be useful.
Sakura stood numbly. She unconsciously knew everyone was surprised that she beat the monster; frankly, so was she. She noticed that Syaoran, Meiling, Kero, and Yue had come up to speak to her but she did not show it. All she could think of was her mother floating above of an ocean.
"What does it mean? Why do I get a vision now?" Sakura thought. "Why do I have this feeling of foreboding. What will happen? Why does this feeling seem so familiar?"
Syaoran gently put his hand on Sakura's shoulder when she did not move from her position. Her two cards lay on the floor in front of her while she stared into space. When his hand came into contact with her shoulder, he felt her flinched as she was pulled back into reality.
"Sakura, are you ok?" Meiling asked, her face level with the startled girl.
Sakura slowly nodded and replied, "I'm fine, just tired."
"That is typical because you have not used your magic in a while," Yue said.
Kero nodded in agreement while he offered the two cards between his mouth, Windy and Shadow, to Sakura.
Sakura gingerly accepted them, leaving Kero's mouth free to speak his thoughts.
"He's right Sakura. You need to practice using your magic if you want to get used to it again. Remember what happened that other night when you decided to probe? You fainted. Magic is dangerous if you are not used to it."
A voice called the group. Sakura turned and approached the table where the elders sat. When she stood in her place, one cleared his throat and spoke.
"We are very impressed with you results, Miss Kinomoto, but we would like more time to make our decision."
Outrage swept through all of Sakura's supporters. They could not believe what was happening.
Meiling ran up to argue with the elders and Syaoran followed to add his support. Disorder spread throughout the room while Kero and Yue watched in amusement.
A scream brought everyone back to reality.
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Well peeps, R+R!!!
I try and get the next chapter out soon. This story will be coming to a close soon (I squished a few chapters into one just so this one would be sorta long). I'd say there are about three more chapters including an epilogue. The next chapter will be out in two or three weeks. Sorry for the delay and for any mistakes I made (grammar, spelling, etc).
Preview of Chapter 12: Who scream? Will it effect Syaoran's and Sakura's engagement?
