Summary: Sakura would like nothing better than to FORGET something like the Lock Card incident. So why does it suddenly start to run in her head? You might be surprised (then again, maybe you won't).
Episode 42- Recalling Lock and Strawberries
Sakura was late…again. She had an appointment with her doctor, but had no ride, so Li gently offered to take her. When they got there, Sakura knew she wouldn't make it in time…unless there was an empty elevator…which there was.
Sakura ran into the elevator and held the door open for Li. Li came in and the elevator doors closed.
Sakura grinned smugly. "Hey…maybe I WON'T be late…for once."
**CLUNK**
Sakura sweatdropped. "HOE?! Why aren't we moving?!"
Li tapped on the elevator door. "I don't believe it."
A lot started to run through Sakura's mind. For one thing, she KNEW she was going to be late. But that's not the only thing she was thinking about. She started to think back…to seven years ago.
"We're stuck…again, aren't we?" Sakura asked.
"I'm afraid so," Li sighed.
There was an awkward silence that followed. Sakura knew what was coming. She knew from the look on her man's face that he was thinking back to another moment…a moment when they were stuck in an elevator.
"Reminds me of the Lock Card," Li blurted out.
That caught Sakura off-guard. She was expecting to hear something about the last time they were stuck in an elevator. But from the smirk on Li's face, it looked like he wanted to bring up…a different kind of incident where they were stuck together.
"THIS reminds you of the Lock Card?" Sakura responded.
"We were all stuck together just like the two of us are now," Li clarified. "The only difference is that right now, we're stuck in an elevator…and this isn't the work of a Clow Card."
"That card drove me nuts," Sakura added. "All I wanted was to pick some strawberries. And I know I wanted to get away from Zachary, but that wasn't what I had in mind…"
~--------------------~
Flashback: The Strawberry House
P.O.V.: Sakura Avalon
"And it was really hard to catch strawberries back then, because they had legs they used to run away. So no one go to eat very many of them. People in South America used to have Strawberry Hunts to catch the runaway strawberries and…ACK!"
"Ok, that's enough out of you."
Before Zachary could continue his tall tale, he was dragged away by the ear.
~* Thank you SO MUCH, Chelsea! *~
After hearing the overblown exaggeration, Sakura walked by Madison while she examined her container. While instructions were given, Sakura couldn't help but think of everyone back home. She thought about Julian, who could probably devour a container of strawberries in minutes. And she thought of Kero, who could probably do the same. They seemed to have a lot in common. It was really kind of strange.
"The video will focus on using strawberries to make cakes and desserts. We will then attempt to put some of those examples into practice. Now good luck to all you! I hope you'll all enjoy it!"
With that, the students split up into twelve groups. Sakura stayed beside Madison.
"Cakes and desserts?" Sakura repeated. "I wonder how it's done."
"Maybe we can try and make some," Madison suggested.
"Sounds great," Sakura smiled as she kept examining her container. Unfortunately, she didn't look where she was going and she bumped into someone. "I'm sorry, I didn't see…Julian?!"
Sakura looked up to see…Julian. It was an unexpected pleasure to say the least and Sakura couldn't help but blush.
Julian was also caught by surprise. "Sakura?"
"Sakura?"
"Tori?"
Sakura also spied her brother, Tori. From what he was wearing, this obviously looked like the next in a long line of part-time jobs.
"What are you looking at, squirt?"
"I didn't expect to see you here."
"I left a note saying I had no school today, so I came to work today."
"I didn't even know you changed jobs."
Tori didn't say anything. He didn't want to admit he got fired from his last job. Of course, Sakura wasn't thinking about Tori's job trouble. Her attention was fully on Julian.
"Um…I didn't expect to see you here, Julian."
"I knew Tori would need some help, so I came here to help him. Um…is something wrong, Sakura?"
~* Huh? Can he tell? Oh…I must look like a total geek. I hope I'm not drooling. *~
"Uh…oh, I was just wondering, Julian…do you…like…strawberry cakes?"
"Sure! I love them!"
~* He loves them! Oh, I HAVE to have some strwaberries now! *~
"I'm…making one later. Would you like some?"
"Sure! That'd be great, Sakura!"
That was all Sakura needed to hear. She blushed a deep red…and remained in a trance for a few moments. She knew now what she had to do.
~----------~
[Sakura: Now I wanted more than anything to get a lot of strawberries to put in that cake. And nothing was going to stop me.]
[Li: At least not until…]
~--------------------~
Flashback: The Storage Room
P.O.V.: Li Shoran
Li started to sense something was wrong. When Nikki came to them and told them the storage room wouldn't open, he felt something out of balance. Of course, he didn't know if Sakura could feel the same thing. She immediately volunteered to check it out, but Li went with her to check things out for himself.
Sakura approached the metallic storage room door…and opened it easily.
"Hmm…doesn't LOOK like there's anything wrong," Sakura said softly.
~* I can sense something. Something's wrong here. *~
Sakura stepped inside the storage room with Madison behind her. Li took Meilin and they joined them inside the storage room. Finally…Li decided to openly admit his suspicions.
"Something's not right. I can sense something strange. Do you feel it, Sakura?"
Nothing else was said…because…
**SLAM**
…the door shut behind them. It slammed hard and startled the girls. Meilin rushed over and tried to open the door…but it wouldn't open. The door wouldn't budge.
"Hey! It's stuck!" Meilin pounded on the door. "HEY! SOMEBODY! GET US OUT OF HERE!!"
Li was a little calmer than his friend. He started to put two and two together and was coming to a conclusion.
~* No one else could get it open…except Sakura. It's got to be a Clow Card. I sense something by the door…a locked door. I got it! *~
"It's a Clow Card," Li said. "The Lock Card."
"Lock Card?" Sakura repeated. "As in it locks doors?"
"Exactly."
"So how do I seal it?"
Silence. At this point, the girls all had their eyes on Li.
"Um…I…don't know."
"You don't know?!" Sakura snapped.
"Relax, Sakura," Meilin said casually. "I'm sure Li didn't mean it like that. You DO know, don't you, Li?"
"No, Meilin. I don't."
"What do you mean? You HAVE to know! You're Li Shoran! You know everything!"
Meilin had just about lost it and was shaking Li in desperate hopes of a way out. But Li had no idea how to get out.
Madison, on the other hand, kept her composure and made a simple suggestion. "Sakura, maybe we should call Kero."
"It's worth a try," Sakura conceded. She reached for her cell phone and dialed the number to Kero's phone. But after about a minute, Sakura hung up. "No answer. He's not picking up. I think…we're on our own."
Meilin desperately turned to Li again. "We can handle being on our own. You're Li Shoran! DO SOMETHING!"
Li wished there was something he could do. "I don't know. I've never dealt with anything like the Lock Card before. It's not like the other cards."
"If it's a lock, then wouldn't the right key unlock it?" Madison pointed out.
"That's possible," Li replied.
Sakura closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. "It's just like back with the Maze Card. The four of us stuck together…with no way out. Just have to find the way out. Find the key."
Everyone looked around the storage trying to find the key to the Lock Card. Time passed and minutes nearly became an hour. There was no sign of anything.
"I can't find it," Madison said.
"Me neither," Meilin grumbled. "Where is this stupid key?"
They weren't getting very far. Madison and Meilin couldn't find any sign of the lock. Sakura was wandering towards the window for some reason. And Li…started to hear people coming.
~* If there are people outside, we won't be able to use our magic! *~
Just then, Sakura turned around. "I just saw Ms. Mackenzie."
"What?" Li demanded. "What did SHE want?"
"She might have given me the answer we're looking for."
Sakura reached in and took out her Clow Key. She walked up to the huge door…and inserted her key into the lock. Immediately, there was an enormous gust of wind. Everything inside the storage room blew over and there was a huge lock revealed.
Li saw it and knew that was the Lock Card. "Seal it! Hurry!"
Sakura threw her key up. "Release!" Hey key came down as her wand. "Lock Card! Return to your power confined!"
And with that, Lock was sealed and the door was finally loosened. Just as Sakura put her wand away, the storage room door flew open. Li could see Chelsea, Rita, and Nikki. And he could also see…Tori and Julian.
"Are you all right, Sakura?" Chelsea asked.
Sakura sweatdropped. "We're all fine. Nothing to worry about here."
Tori raised an eyebrow. "Just what WERE you doing in here, squirt?"
It didn't like Sakura knew what he meant at first, but then she turned around. She gasped and let out a weak, "Hoe!"
The storage room was a complete mess. The wind from opening Lock must have blown everything all over the storage room. It would take hours to clean everything up.
"This is awful! It'll take hours to clean," Madison exclaimed, echoing Li's thought.
"Maybe it isn't so bad."
Someone else showed up…and Li didn't like it one bit.
~* It's her. *~
It was Ms. Mackenzie, the ever mysterious teacher. "If everyone pitches in, I'm sure we this mess can be cleaned up in no time. Right?"
Everyone present nodded. "Right."
Ms. Mackenzie walked over and looked at Li. "Right, Li?"
Li scowled. "Right."
Ms. Mackenzie walked towards the door and Li saw how joyful Sakura suddenly got. He couldn't understand it. Why did she always get like that around her?
~* Power attracts power. It's the only thing I can think of. *~
Sighing, Li headed towards his basket of strawberries. He picked one out and was about to eat. But what he didn't know was that he was reaching into Sakura's basket by mistake. Instantly, her joy went away and she dashed towards Li…
"HANDS OFF!!"
…and slapped his hand. Li finally saw that he didn't get the right basket. But he didn't think Sakura would get so bent out of shape about it.
"You must really like strawberries," Li noticed.
"It's not that," Sakura said defensively. "Look, I'm sorry. But I'm saving those strawberries…for a friend."
Li smiled…and blushed. "They're for Julian, aren't they?"
"That's none of your business," Sakura frowned.
Sakura turned and walked back towards Madison. That's when a thought hit Li.
~* Strawberries…for Julian? Hey, maybe that isn't such a bad idea. *~
Of course…it was too bad that when Li turned back around…
"Hey, these are really good, Li."
…he found Meilin stuffing her face with his strawberries.
~--------------------~
"I could have made a strawberry cake myself," Li pouted. "If only Meilin could hold in her appetite."
"It was a while since I last heard that story," Sakura smiled. "But it's kinda funny, though. I thought you'd remember another story about this sort of thing."
Li grinned. "You mean the LAST time we got stuck in an elevator?"
Sakura nodded. "Exactly. I was surprised you'd think of the Lock Card."
"Well, think about it," Li pointed out. "We ARE stuck. It might be hours before we get out. I mean…what are the odds that the elevator will be fixed by the time I finish this story."
As if on cue, the elevator came back to life…and started going up. The elevator stopped and the doors flew open.
"How about that?" Li smirked. "I didn't…Sakura? Wait for me!"
Sakura couldn't wait. She ran out of the elevator at speeds faster than the Dash Card. She was late!
Author's Note: Sorry for making this lackluster, but I wanted to get started on the next one. Yes, it's the episode with the Cloud Card where Sakura gets sick. There are so many other views I want to put on that one, especially a particular scene between Tori and Mirror, so come back for that one! You won't want to miss it!
Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below!
