Author's Note: So everyone's aware of the beginning. So what happened after Shadow? It's time to share again.
Key:
"~* Thoughts *~" = Thoughts
"[NAME:]" = Character voiceover
Episode 6- Recalling the Water Card
Saturday was here. Sakura had long since arrived at Madison's house, a day earlier than she said she'd be, and she was sitting right beside her best friend. There were only a couple of people missing.
"Can't we look at the scrapbook now, Sakura?" Madison asked excitedly.
"You know we can't start yet, Madison," Sakura answered. "Not until…"
Then the door flew open. Li walked in, with Meilin right behind him.
"Hey, you two," Sakura smiled. "I was wondering when you'd be here."
"It would've helped if you knocked on our door," Meilin responded. "We do live in the guesthouse, you know. We would've been here sooner, especially since you have the scrapbook."
"So I guess we can start now," Sakura said cheerfully.
The three girls gathered around the scrapbook. Kero sat right under Sakura, as his small stature let him squeeze through. Li, on the other hand, could hardly see. Sakura opened up the scrapbook and already, there was a question.
"Hey, Madison?" Meilin asked. "When did you take this one?"
Sakura looked at the picture. It was a picture of her in the aquarium, doing her trademark pose.
"This was a long time ago," Madison answered. "It was back when Sakura fought the Water Card. I remember it like it was yesterday…"
"Wait a minute," Sakura cut her off. "I want to tell this story."
"No fair, Sakura," Madison pouted. "I called it first."
"You can tell it later," Sakura grinned. "Let me go first."
"Actually, let me tell it," Kero cut in. "We need a fresh view. So I'll tell this part of the story. Anyway, Sakura just came home one day after a field trip to the aquarium.
Flashback: Aquarium
P.O.V.: Kero
Kero was well-aware that Sakura was talking, but honestly he couldn't hear her. He wasn't paying attention to a word she was saying. The guardian beast had only one thing on his mind.
~* Come on! Come on! Come on! Aren't those pancakes done yet? *~
Meanwhile, Sakura kept on talking.
"Whirlpool…penguin and its trainer…nearly drowned…drain plug…pulled them down…water level never changed…blah…blah…blah…blah…blah…KERO!"
Kero raised his head. "Are those pancakes done yet?"
"You're not even listening to me!" Sakura shouted angrily.
"I heard you," Kero said in his defense. "So are those pancakes done yet?"
Sakura sighed and took the plate of pancakes to the table. As rocky as their relationship had started, Kero was really starting to like Sakura. The girl could cook. Kero waited impatiently as Sakura doused the pancakes with tasty butter and sweet syrup. As soon as they were done, Kero dug in as Sakura continued talking.
"Blah…blah…blah…wasn't like water running out of a bathtub…blah…blah…blah."
Kero nodded. "Uh huh. Are you going to eat that?"
Sakura sighed and pushed her plate forward. Kero's mouth watered as he was ready to scarf down this plate of pancakes. Then the door opened.
~* No! Not her nosy brother! Not now! *~
"Tori's home!" Sakura confirmed. "Hide!"
Before Kero could get a bite, Sakura grabbed the guardian beast and ran to the stairs. Then she threw Kero up there and he hit the wall hard.
~* OW! What's wrong with her? Does she think she can just throw me up there like I'm some…stuffed animal? *~
Kero picked himself up and flew over to Sakura's room as she tried to stall her brother. With nothing left to eat, Kero finally began to think about what Sakura was saying.
~* Now what was it she told me earlier? She said something about not running like water out of a bathtub. No, Kero. Before that. Think! She said there was a whirlpool and a penguin and its trainer almost drowned. Hey, wait a minute! A penguin almost drowned. A penguin? That doesn't make any sense. Oh, no. That means… *~
Kero didn't get to finish his thought. Sakura ran in and shut the door behind her. Kero knew that it was now or never.
"You know, Sakura. I was thinking about what you said. Penguins are very strong swimmers and are naturals in the water. And even if the drain did open up, it shouldn't have kept both the penguin and the trainer down, which makes me think it must've been something else."
Sakura gasped. "The Water Card!"
~* Whoa! She got that fast! Not bad for an amateur. *~
"That's right," Kero began. "Clow Reed created four element cards, more powerful than the rest. All four elements are really dangerous and Water especially has a wild nature. You're going to need your most powerful cards to beat it and you should concentrate on Windy, Fly, and Shadow. You can use any two in combination."
"I don't get it," Sakura said. "Why those cards?"
"Those are the first three you captured," Kero answered. "That makes them your strongest allies. You're going to have to choose wisely, Sakura."
Sakura didn't say anything. She just looked at Kero in bewilderment. Kero didn't like that look. It meant that Sakura had no idea what to do.
~----------~
[Madison: Kero?]
[Kero: What is it, Madison?]
[Madison: Can I take it from here?]
[Kero: You want to tell the rest of the story? Go ahead, kid.]
[Madison: Thanks, Kero. I especially remember the next day. Sakura told me about the choice she had to make and she couldn't concentrate on anything else…]
Flashback: Reedington Elementary
P.O.V.: Madison Taylor
School was out and Madison went out to look for Sakura. And there she was, heading for a fountain. She kept on mumbling to herself:
"Fly, Windy, Shadow. Shadow, Windy, Fly. Windy, Fly, Shadow." Sakura sat by the fountain. "How do you capture water?"
~* She's going to strain herself. I'd better calm her down. *~
Madison walked over to Sakura and smiled. "The answer will come to you, Sakura. Don't worry about it."
It was pretty obvious that Sakura was still worried, though. She got up and the two girls walked along the road together. Madison tried to cheer her friend up again.
"Hey, Sakura. My mom just got me some samples of the latest cell phones." She reached for two cell phones and handed them to Sakura. "One for you…and one for Kero. They might come in handy when you're capturing a card."
Sakura smiled. "Thanks, Madison. Look, I'll call you if I get a brainstorm."
Madison grinned. "Not if, when."
~----------~
[Madison: It didn't take you too long to take advantage of the new phones, Sakura. As soon as you got home, you called me with the idea of going to the aquarium to look for clues. Of course, there was one thing that disappointed me.]
[Sakura: What's that, Madison?]
[Madison: You didn't invite me. So of course, Kero and I had to take matters into our own hands…]
Flashback: Aquarium
P.O.V.: Madison Taylor
It was time to go undercover and Madison knew what that meant. She gathered her yellow coat and darkly tinted glasses and headed for the aquarium. She wasn't alone, though. She had her new partner, Kero, alongside her. With his pair of cool shades, he lingered around in Madison's pocket as Madison watched Sakura with her camera.
Then she found her. There was Sakura one floor below and somehow, she had found Julian. They were walking into the aquarium together. So Madison naturally followed from above.
A couple of minutes passed and Sakura and Julian sat down to eat ice cream, ordering it from the waiter, Tori.
~* That boy can't keep a steady job, can he? *~
Kero groaned softly. "Aw, she gets to eat on the job?"
Some more time passed and Madison tried to move in closer on Sakura. But that's when disaster struck. The glass holding the aquarium water began to crack. Then the glass shattered. It flushed out, but it completely flooded over Sakura. She was drowning.
"Oh, no! Sakura!" Madison shouted. She rushed over to the scene. "Somebody help her!!"
Madison saw Sakura was still conscious, but she couldn't get out. Then she saw something. It was a whirlpool.
~* Could that be the Water Card? No! It's going to kill her! Sakura…! *~
Suddenly, Madison's prayers were answered. Somebody did save Sakura. It was Julian. He wielded a big ax and chopped the door down, making all the water flood out. Madison rushed over to her friend and, to her horror, Sakura had lost consciousness. Julian tried to revive her.
~* Sakura! Please be ok! *~
Then…Sakura coughed and woke up. She was alive and well, leaving Madison relieved.
Kero peeked up from Madison's hat. "It's here."
Sakura coughed again. "Kero, I was sitting right there and I didn't sense anything."
The two girls tried to reflect on that fact when Julian came up to Sakura. She looked up and smiled nervously.
"Close call, huh? Well…I guess we'd better take a rain check on that ice cream. Nothing like a good swim to cool you off."
Sakura's face suddenly brightened. "Yeah…YEAH!"
~* Uh, oh. Is she delirious? No…wait…she has a plan! I think she might have finally found the answer. I'd better have my costume ready! *~
Madison wanted to capture that bright smile of Sakura's. So she took out her camera and took a snapshot.
~----------~
[Sakura: We couldn't take on the Water Card then, though. There were too many people.]
[Madison: That's right. We had to wait until that night. And…]
[Kero: Madison?]
[Madison: Yes, Kero?]
[Kero: Can I tell this part of the story? There was a lot that went through my mind as this happened.]
[Madison: Sure. Go ahead, Kero.]
[Kero: All right. So at nightfall, we all went back to the aquarium. As usual, Madison had her bizarre outfit for Sakura…]
[Madison: It wasn't THAT bizarre.]
[Sakura: That's what you think.]
[Kero: Girls, who's telling the story here? Anyway, we were all at the aquarium and Sakura had her plan ready to go...]
Flashback: Nighttime at the aquarium
P.O.V.: Kero
Kero still didn't know what Sakura had in mind. She never did tell him her plan, no matter how much he tried to coax it out of her. All Sakura had was her wand and her new cell phone. She rushed into the aquarium where she and Madison went down different paths.
~* She's got something in mind. What could it be? *~
Sakura climbed up to the top of the tank. Kero tried to get something out of her again. "You want to fill me in on it?"
"You'll find out," she said. She pointed at the tank. "Here...right here."
~* Why don't I have a very good feeling about this? *~
"Are you sure you thought this all the way through," Kero asked nervously. "I haven't taken swimming lessons in this body yet."
"Don't worry," Sakura assured him. She picked up her cell phone and dialed. Madison picked up on the other end.
"Hi, I'm all set."
"You found it?"
"It's in the basement, right where you thought it'd be."
Sakura hung up, stood up over the pool of water, and held her wand out. "Water Card, if you're in here, come and get me!"
~* Oh, no! What's she doing?! She's gonna get herself killed! This isn't a plan! This is suicide! *~
Just as Kero feared, the Water Card started whirling around and rising. A stream of water rose out of the pool.
Sakura pulled out a Clow Card. "Now, Fly Card!"
Sakura jumped on her wand and started flying away from the Water Card.
"Sakura, THIS is your plan?" Kero demanded.
Sakura didn't listen and just kept flying away. Kero desperately tried to keep up.
~* I knew it. I didn't think an amateur could take on an element card. She's doomed! WE'RE doomed! *~
"Sakura! In here!"
Kero looked in front of him to see Madison. She had a very cheerful expression on her face as she walked out.
~* What's she so happy about? Maybe these two DO have something in mind. *~
Sakura kept on flying until she reached an open chamber. She set down and took out another card. "Windy! Release and dispel!"
Windy came out just as Water arrived on the scene. The Water Card couldn't stop itself as it stumbled into the open chamber. From the temperature, it almost felt like a…freezer.
~* Hey! She really DID have a plan! *~
The freezer door shut, leaving both Windy and Water inside. Sakura plopped down in exhaustion.
Madison ran out of her spot happily. "It worked!"
"You did it, Sakura!" Kero said cheerfully. "You passed the test!"
Sakura looked up exhaustedly. "Yeah...the answer was right there in front of me all along!"
Madison smiled and turned her camera off. "And I've got it all on tape. Hey, it's got to be time now, don't you think?"
Sakura opened the freezer door there was the Water Card. It was frozen in a big block of ice. It wasn't going anywhere, so Sakura held her wand out.
"Water Card! Return to your power confined! Water!"
Kero couldn't believe all that's happened. The Water Card was finally sealed. Sakura not only sealed it, but she made it look easy.
"You chose your allies well, Sakura," Kero nodded.
Sakura blushed. "I had some great study partners."
Kero glanced at Madison. "There's still one thing we have to do, partner."
"Oh, what's that?" Madison asked.
"Get ourselves some ice cream…and a triple scoop sundae for Sakura!"
"Wait a minute!" Madison chimed in. She pulled out her camera. "Smile, Sakura!"
Sakura held up the Water Card and did her trademark pose. After all that's happened, Kero knew she deserved her moment of glory.
"And that's how we got this picture," Madison finished.
"That was a great story," Meilin nodded. "I didn't know you had it in you, Avalon."
"Neither did I," Kero piped up. "When we first met, I didn't have much confidence that Sakura could be a Cardcaptor. But it wasn't until the Water Card capture that I started to have a lot more faith in her."
Sakura smiled. "Thanks, Kero."
Madison looked out the window. "Look…it's getting kind of late. I appreciate you guys keeping me company, but it's probably time for you guys to go."
"You're right, Madison," Sakura agreed. "I know Li and I have plans tonight. So I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Madison and Meilin nodded. Li answered her with a kiss.
Sakura blushed. "Well…I'll see YOU tonight."
She walked out with Kero and her scrapbook. Sakura looked back on those days and thought about how much everything had changed. Of course, she still knew at least one thing would never change.
Madison was right. Tori still couldn't hold a steady job.
Any comments? I really want to know what you guys think! If you have any comments, then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below. I love feedback!
