Summary: Madison's got an art project due tomorrow. So Sakura goes in to help, coincidentally bringing back some past memories of the two girls' previous art experience.


Key:

"~* Thoughts *~" = Thoughts

"[NAME:]" = Character voiceover


Episode 11- Recalling the Silent Card and the Joy of Art


Sakura wondered why Madison hadn't called her all day. Earlier, though, Li gave Sakura all the information. Madison was busy with an art project, so Sakura decided to offer a little assistance. From what Li told her, she'd need it. Apparently, Madison's art grade was at stake.

Sakura greeted Madison's mother and headed up the big flight of stairs and walked down the long hallway. She knocked on Madison's door and gently pushed it open. There was Madison, standing in front of a canvas with a paintbrush. She wore her fake beard, a blue beret, a purple apron, and her darkly tinted sunglasses.

Madison smiled. "Bon jour, Sakura. Merveilleux jour, oui?"

"You sound cheerful," Sakura grinned. "I take it you're almost finished?"

Madison sighed and ripped her fake beard off. "Not exactly. I feel like a tortured artist, Sakura. Nothing's been working for me so far. I've been trying to paint this fruit basket all day and I've had no luck."

"Well…it couldn't be that bad."

Madison only frowned and pointed to the corner of her room. Sakura looked there to see a whole pile of bent and broken canvases, most likely of Madison's previous attempts at a fruit basket.

Sakura sweatdropped. "I'm…sure you'll do better with this one."

Madison sighed. "These fruit baskets are no good. I don't know how I'm going to do this."

"Maybe I can help you," Sakura suggested. She handed Madison another paint can. "You know, Madison. This little situation brings back a lot of memories. Remember that day we had in the art museum seven years ago?"

"Oh yeah," Madison grinned. "It was another of our little encounters with the world of art."

"Yeah, I remember that day. It was one of our more…irritating experiences…"


Flashback: Art museum

P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon

Sakura was excited about her field trip to the museum. So much so, in fact, that she spent the day before making drawings in her sketchbook…drawings of Kero. She was ready to work her artistic magic as she looked at her target sculpture. But as soon as she opened up her sketchbook, she sweatdropped as she saw…

"Kero!"

The little guardian beast turned his head to see the displeased Sakura. He had drawn all over the first page.

"Only a certain kind of people can truly appreciate the wonders of art," Kero said.

Sakura gripped Kero by the back of his neck. "Too bad you're not one of them." She stuffed Kero inside her backpack.

Sakura focused on the task at hand again. She tried drawing the sculpture, but to no avail. Art was a lot harder than she thought. Then she looked to her left to see Madison. She was drawing like a real pro.

~* Hmm…at least she has an idea of what she's doing. She's pretty good. *~

"Hey, Sakura!"

Sakura turned her head to see Chelsea, who was also struggling with her drawing.

"You want to help me? We can do this together."

Sakura looked over at Madison, who nodded approvingly. So she got up and walked over to Chelsea. The two girls walked into the museum hallway just in time to see two museum guards carrying out a little kid.

He was a spunky little boy. He shook himself away from the guards and made a beeline towards a painting, trying to destroy it. The guards restrained him.

~* Hmm…must be an art hater. *~

Then something weird happened. The painting suddenly moved and the movement was followed by a moment of silence. Then the kid was gone.

~* What was that about? Wait…I'm getting that feeling again. I sense a Clow Card. *~

"Sakura, did you see that?"

Sakura turned around to see Madison standing right behind her. She had stopped drawing as soon as she noticed the painting move.

"I think it might be a Clow Card," Sakura whispered to her. "But who's the kid?"

"I found a name tag," Madison responded. "It says Yuuki Tachibana. I wonder why he wants to destroy that painting so badly?"

"I'm not thinking about that," Sakura said. "I'm thinking about what Clow Card this could be. Tell you what, Madison. Let's come back later tonight and investigate."

Sakura glanced at that strange little boy again. One thing would be for sure. Unlike this boy, Sakura wouldn't get caught…hopefully.

~----------~

[Sakura: Of course, it didn't get really irritating until we got to the museum that night.]

[Madison: Oh yeah. I remember that. Um…Sakura? Could you pass me another brush?]

[Sakura: Sure, Madison. Ok, so where was I?]

[Madison: We were waiting for night to fall. You got to the museum a lot faster than me, but it's because I delayed for a little while for a…special reason…]


Flashback: The museum later that night

P.O.V.: Madison Taylor

Madison looked outside the van window to see that she had arrived at the museum. She jumped out of the van and saw Sakura and Kero had been waiting patiently for her. Sakura already looked like she was ready to go. She had her wand in her hand.

"Sorry I'm late," Madison smirked. "But I have something for you, Cardcaptor."

~* I spent all day on this one. You'll love it, Sakura! *~

Madison threw the van door open to reveal a costume that could only be described as a bat burglar costume. Madison grinned at Sakura, who just stared at her new costume.

Sakura shook her head. "You've got to be…"

"Well, you know the drill," Madison interrupted. "Come on, Sakura. We're wasting time."

"But Madison…!"

Madison shoved Sakura into the van and shut the door. It didn't leave Sakura an opportunity to protest. So Madison guessed she just gave in.

"So what are we looking for?" Madison asked Kero.

"From what Sakura told me, this sounds like the work of the Silent Card. It can shut down all sounds for a brief moment and…it has some other power that…escapes me at the moment. I'm sure it'll come to me."

"I noticed something," Madison told Kero. "I found out that the guards won't be around that painting for a while, so we have some time. But I think we should still be quick." Madison knocked on the van door. "Are you done, Sakura?"

"I can't believe you're doing this to me."

Madison thrust the van door open and revealed Sakura in her cute new costume. While Sakura didn't look too thrilled, Madison was ecstatic.

"That is SO cute!" Madison squealed. "Hold still! I want to get this on film!" She took a picture. "Should we go?"

Sakura frowned. "Shouldn't we wait for the bat-signal first?"

Madison didn't say anything. She just pointed her camera at Sakura, as she just walked towards the museum.

~----------~

[Sakura: And that still wasn't the most irritating part of that night. Remember what happened when we got inside?]


Flashback: Inside the art museum

P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon

Sakura came closer to that painting. She could see that woman there, painted on. Sakura started to get a Clow Card sense, but she saw something else. It was a dark shadowy figure.

~* A burglar? A REAL burglar? Someone else has broken in! *~

Madison saw the burglar, too. But rather than think about the consequences, Madison turned on her flashlight and shined it on the thief. Sakura recognized the now-familiar looking figure.

"It's…you."

It was that boy, Yuuki Tachibana, who was trying to destroy that painting earlier in the day. Did he come back to finish what he started?

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"What's it to you, kid?!" Kero blurted out.

Yuuki became shocked that a stuffed animal just talked to him. So he fainted.

~* Good one, Kero. How am I going to explain this? *~

Sakura and Madison knelt over the fainted boy and tried to revive him, with Sakura chiding Kero the whole time. Finally, Yuuki started to come to. Taking a hint, Kero fell into Sakura's pocket and made himself inconspicuous.

Yuuki had one question. "Did that stuffed animal talk?"

Sakura desperately tried to think of something. "It's………battery-powered! Yeah! A battery-powered toy, and...it talks out of...ventriloquism. We do it to keep burglars out!"

~* Battery-powered? Ventriloquism? Jeez, that's pathetic. *~

But Yuuki fell for it. "Oh…I see."

Sakura let out a soft sigh of relief. "So…what are you doing here?"

Yuuki got to his feet. "I'm here to destroy THAT!"

He pointed at that painting of the woman. That got Sakura curious. "Why?"

"My father used to be a painter," Yuuki explained. "Before he died, he painted a picture of me. But somebody painted over my picture. They painted that woman over it."

"So…you want to destroy it?" Sakura asked.

"You're sharp, aren't you?" Yuuki snapped. "Nothing gets passed you. Now get out of my way! I'm gonna smash this painting!"

Yuuki got up and made a beeline for the painting. As soon as he got there, he stopped a moment to coldly glare at it. He was ready to take action, but Madison tapped him on the shoulder.

"What do you want?!" Yuuki growled.

"You know, I understand why you might be so angry," Madison began. "I bet you really loved your father, didn't you?" Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Madison wink at her.

~* She's creating a diversion. Sweet, dependable Madison. *~

Sakura prepared her wand and ran towards the painting. Sakura was about to come down with her wand, but the woman in the painting raised her hand to her lips. There was a brief flash of light and everyone soon found themselves…outside the museum.

Sakura looked around confusedly. "W-What happened?"

"It did it again," Yuuki muttered. "It always does this. Every time I get close to that painting, I find myself outside. I don't get it."

~* That makes two of us. But if I'm outside, then that means the painting really IS a Clow Card. *~

Sakura shook her head and looked inside the museum. She was ready to run in and try again.

~----------~

[Sakura: And that's where the insanity began…]


Flashback: The art museum (Take 2)

P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon

Sakura knew she must have made a mistake somewhere back there. She tried to retrace her step to the point where she was thrown outside, but this completely baffled her. So Sakura just kept on walking towards the painting again, just as she had before.

~* Maybe that last time was just a fluke. I'll be ready this time. *~

Sakura saw the painting in front of her again. She was ready to go after it with her wand. Unfortunately, as she was about to come down with her wand…

**CLANG**

Sakura looked back to see that Yuuki had dropped his supplies. Unfortunately, that stopped the silence, so the painting moved her hand on her lips and once again, everyone was transported outside.

~* Oh…this is gonna be a LOOOOOOONG night. *~


"So we had a few setbacks," Madison scoffed. "I don't think it was that bad."

"Oh, you don't think so?" Sakura asked dryly. "Madison, do I have to remind of EVERY time we tried to seal that card?"

Madison sighed as she looked at her canvas. In a fit of temporary rage, she cracked the canvas over her knee and tossed it in the pile with all the others.

"Well…we have the time."


Flashback: The art museum (Take 3)

P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon

Sakura kept walking through the museum. Yuuki Tachibana walked along impatiently, itching for the chance to destroy that painting. Madison calmly held up her camera and Kero was safely stuffed in Sakura's pocket.

The guard still hadn't come out, which was very lucky for Sakura. She was hoping to get this done and be out before she was seen. But from the last two tries, Sakura knew it wouldn't be easy. Finally, Sakura approached the painting. Madison took her cue and began distracting Yuuki, Sakura lifted her wand, but…

"Ah-Ah-CHOO!"

…Kero sneezed. At the sound of that, the Silent Card raised its finger up to its lips and everyone was transported outside. Sakura looked into her pocket.

Kero grinned. "Sorry. Reflex."

Sakura sighed and wandered back in. This was just a minor setback.

~----------~

[Sakura: I would've been fine with that, if that were the ONLY setback. But it's too bad there were so many more after that…]


Flashback: The art museum (Take 4)

P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon

Sakura kept walking through the museum. Yuuki was still impatient and waiting for his chance to destroy the painting. Madison still calmly held up her camera and Kero was still in Sakura's pocket, making sure to keep from sneezing.

Sakura approached the painting. Madison took her cue and began distracting Yuuki again. Sakura lifted her wand, but…

**CRUNCH**

That was the sound of a potato chip, but more than that, it was noise. So everyone was transported back outside. Sakura glared into her pocket.

"Sorry," Kero said sheepishly. "I got hungry."

Sakura groaned and started walking towards the museum again.

~----------~

[Madison: Oh, Sakura. You can't blame Kero. You know his sensitive stomach.]

[Sakura: As if a potato chip couldn't wait. Anyway, I was still pretty confident about this whole thing. But even I start to get annoyed around…]


Flashback: The arm museum (Take 7)

P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon

After six failed tries, Sakura still had a good feeling about this. Madison was still filming, despite the many failed attempts. Yuuki was still itching to get his hands on that painting. And Kero was trying to hold back his craving hunger.

Sakura then stopped at her target. As soon as they got to the painting, Madison started talking to Yuuki again. Sakura then held her wand up and got ready to seal the Silent Card.

**RING**

Noise. Once again, everyone was transported outside. This time, it was because of the ringing of Madison's cellular phone. So Madison picked it up.

"Hello? … Oh, hi Mom! … Uh-huh. … Uh-huh. ... Bring back a gallon of milk. ... Uh-huh. ... Ok, Mom. … Bye!"

Madison hung up her phone, only to see Sakura glaring a hole right into her.

Madison sweatdropped. "Sorry. Maybe I should turn the ringer off."

Sakura groaned and headed back inside. It was back to the drawing board.

~----------~

[Madison: So my phone rang at a bad time. I can hardly be blamed for that. It was my mom with the bad sense of timing.]

[Sakura: And there was still more. Do you remember…?]


Flashback: The art museum (Take 12)

P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon

After eleven setbacks, Sakura was starting to get little miffed. Madison, bless her heart, was still wearing a smile on her face while she held her camera. Kero almost fell asleep and Yuuki…was still aching for a chance to destroy the painting.

Sakura walked towards the painting again. She held up her wand and it seemed that there would be no stopping her this time. But much to Sakura's dismay, Madison was about to lose it.

"Ah…ah…ah…ah…"

Sakura desperately shook her head and waved her arms silently, praying that Madison could hold it in. After watching what happened with Kero, Sakura desperately hoped Madison could be a little stronger. It wasn't meant to be, though.

"AH-CHOO!!"

At the sound of Madison's loud sneeze, the woman in the painting moved her hand to her lips again. Once more, everyone was sent outside. Sakura glared at Madison again.

Madison sheepishly reached for a tissue. "Sorry. Allergies seem to pop up at the worst times."

Sakura fell over anime-style. She picked herself up and stomped back into the museum.

~----------~

[Madison: You almost sound bitter, Sakura?]

[Sakura: At that time, it was only at bitter. A little later, it would turn into complete frustration…]


Flashback: The art museum (Take 16)

P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon

By now, Sakura just wanted to get this over with. Fifteen failed attempts were starting to take their toll. Madison still had a smile on her face, which by now was making Sakura a little sick. Kero was fast asleep and Yuuki was fervently waiting for his chance to destroy that painting.

Sakura walked up to the painting and was eager to get this all over with. So she held up her wand and…

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ**

…Kero started snoring. Sakura was ready to scream as the painting transported them all outside yet again. Sakura reached into her pocket and shook Kero.

Kero yawned and looked up. "Is it over?"

Sakura didn't answer. She only stared coldly at him and headed back into the museum.

~----------~

[Sakura: At this point, it was turning into frustration. After a few more tries, the whole ordeal began to drive me to the brink of insanity!]


Flashback: The art museum (Take 23)

P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon

They were all ready to try again. Sakura walked back into the museum, getting tired of all the setbacks. Madison still had a smile, but this whole ordeal was starting to take its toll on her, too. Kero was wide-awake after Sakura nearly throttled him. And Yuuki was still itching to destroy that painting.

Then they reached the painting. Sakura looked back to see Madison and Yuuki were completely silent. No one would stop her this time. But just as Sakura held up her wand…

**BUZZZZZ—BZZZZ**

Sakura couldn't help by notice a tiny little mosquito flying around her nose. It then landed on the arm in which Sakura held her wand. It was looking to suck Sakura's blood and she would have none of that. So Sakura reared up with her other hand and…

**SLAP**

The loud smack of hand on arm destroyed the silence. So once again, everyone was transported outside. Sakura fell over anime-style.

Madison giggled sheepishly. "…I knew I should've packed some bug repellant."

[Madison: So is that why mosquitoes make you cringe to this day, Sakura?]

[Sakura: I had everything well in hand until that stupid mosquito landed on my arm. But I came so close, I knew I'd get it next time. Shows what I knew…]


Flashback: The art museum (Take 27)

P.O.V.: A very irritated Sakura Avalon

Sakura was extra careful to avoid making any noise. By now, she just wanted to go home. Sakura looked back to see that the smile on Madison's face was finally showing some signs of fading. Kero was still wide-awake, since Sakura wouldn't let him drift off to sleep. And Yuuki was STILL waiting to destroy that painting.

It was time again. Sakura prepared her wand while Madison distracted Yuuki.

~* After going through this 26 times, you'd think that kid would stop being so gullible. *~

Sakura raised her wand to seal the card, but…

**BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP**

Sakura almost screamed at the top of her lungs as they were all transported outside again. When they were outside, Sakura shot Madison a cold stare, trying her best to resist the urge to yell at her friend.

Madison only sweatdropped as she held her video camera. "Low battery. Luckily, I have a spare."

Sakura growled loudly. She took her wand and whacked a nearby tree, just as she saw a flash. She glared angrily at Madison again.

"MADISON!! DON'T take a picture of that!!"

Madison grinned as she held up her photo camera. "This'll have to go in a scrapbook."

Sakura said nothing more. She just stormed back into the museum.

~----------~

[Sakura: That was enough for me. I was ready to go nuts. But a little later, we finally got lucky…]


Flashback: The art museum (Take 32)

P.O.V.: A very tired Sakura Avalon

They weren't in the museum just yet. This time, Sakura wasn't taking anymore chances.

"So we've covered everything? No loud food? No phones? Plenty of tissues? NOTHING IN YOUR POCKETS?!"

Madison sweatdropped. "You've covered everything, Sakura. Anything that can even make a peep is in the van. I think we're ready."

"Good!" Sakura growled. "I want to get it RIGHT this time! Let's move in!"

Everyone started moving into the museum again, while Sakura shook her pocket. Kero wouldn't be snoring on her. By now, everyone was restless and aching for this to end.

But suddenly, Madison made a valid point. "Uh…Sakura? After 31 tries, don't you think the guard's set to come back any minute?"

Sakura moaned softly. "You're right. I don't believe this. After all this work…we'll have to hold off until tomorrow."

"NO!" Yuuki snapped. "I'm destroying that painting now!"

Before anyone could stop him, Yuuki rushed into the museum. And just as Madison had predicted, the guard was passing by and he caught Yuuki. But it also served as a distraction.

~* Good job, Yuuki! Now…to put my new plan into action. I just hope this works. *~

Sakura pulled out the Shadow Card. "Shadow! Release and dispel!"

Shadow began to work its magic as Sakura's shadow sneaked in, while Sakura remained outside. The shadow then approached the Silent Card in the painting.

"Silent Card! Return to your power confined! Silent!"

Sakura thrust her wand from outside striking air, but Sakura's shadow struck the painting. So there was no being transported this time. The Silent Card was finally sealed and it flew over to Sakura. She held the card for a moment.

~* Oh my God! I did it! I did it! I FINALLY DID IT! HA HA!! I sealed the Silent Card! It's finally OVER!! *~

"Come back here!"

Sakura turned her head to see that Yuuki had escaped. He was running away from the card, but it looked like he'd be caught if Sakura didn't do something.

"Yuuki."

Yuuki turned his head to see Sakura and Madison standing behind a corner, waving towards him.

"Hide over here, Yuuki!"

Yuuki ran over to the girls' hiding place. They all hid just as the guard came in. He had lost Yuuki. Then he looked at the painting. The woman was gone, sealed by Sakura. The guard didn't know what to make of this, and he ran away.

~* He must've thought it was a ghost. *~

As soon as the guard left, Madison rushed out to be the first to see the painting. Then she made a notable observation.

"Hey…this is a picture of…a girl."

Sakura saw it, too, as she walked over to the painting. She didn't know what to think…until Yuuki came walking over. The hat on the boy's head fell off to reveal…a long-haired girl.

"You're a girl?" Sakura asked.

"Again, nothing gets passed you," Yuuki grinned.

"So this is you?" Madison asked.

Yuuki nodded. "That was me…when I was younger. My father painted the picture a long time ago just before he died. It's…one of the only things that really reminds me of him. Um…look…I want to thank you for helping me. I couldn't have done this without you."

Sakura blushed. "It was nothing. We were happy to help."

Yuuki smiled as she turned to leave, saying her good-byes. As much as Sakura loved helping another person out, she had to admit one thing.

~* Thank God this is finally over! *~


After Sakura finished telling the story, she walked over to the pile of broken canvases and started counting. Meanwhile, a smile a mile-wide formed on Madison's faced. She squealed in joy.

"I'M DONE!! It's PERFECT!!"

Sakura looked up to see a perfect fruit basket drawn on Madison's canvas. It looked like her best friend had found her artistic vision again. But Sakura wanted to know one more thing. She kept counting the canvases.

"It looks so beautiful," Madison said proudly. "Um…what are you doing, Sakura?"

Sakura finally finished counting…and sweatdropped. "I don't believe it."

"What is it?" Madison asked curiously.

Sakura gave the weird explanation. "So you finished your fruit basket after…31 tries."

Madison sweatdropped. "You just HAD to count them, didn't you?"

Sakura grinned. "It's a funny coincidence. "But at least it's over."

Madison still looked at her work proudly. "Yeah…but if no one minds, I've had all the art I can take for one day."

Sakura nodded. She'd just about had it with art. And it was a good thing she didn't have her scrapbook with her. If she did, Madison would've immediately pointed out the picture…

…of Sakura whacking that tree with her wand.


Any comments? Because I decided to add some of my personal touches to this story. So tell me what you think by mailing me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't you forget to review below and give me YOUR feedback!