Last Time: Things got a little chaotic in the kitchen as the simple task of making chicken soup went awry. Seeing her two guardians bickering, Sakura resorted to calling out the Mirror Card to help her out. Now it's time for more complications to arise.


Sick Day: Part 3


Sakura took another sip of her orange juice. "Thank you, Mirror. I don't know what we'd do without you. Have Kero and Yue stopped arguing yet?"

Sakura's double thought about that. "Well…they were still…uh…discussing who would clean up the spilt soup."

Sakura sighed deeply. "I was afraid of that." As she said that, another loud cough came out.

Mirror felt Sakura's forehead. "Maybe we should take your temperature again. Where's the thermometer?"

Sakura pointed towards the other couch. Madison had the thermometer in her own mouth, obviously feeling as pale as Sakura. Mirror reached over and took the thermometer out of her mouth.

"Hmm…101.1. It's still pretty bad."

"Maybe you can get some sleep," Sakura suggested to her best friend. "Like Li."

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ**

As if on cue, Li started snoring. He may have been in denial about being sick, but he was sure sleeping heavily.

"Maybe you're right," Madison smiled. "I DO feel a little tired."

Sakura yawned. "Me too. Let's both get some sleep."

Sakura and Madison laid back and closed their eyes. Rest would be the best medicine on this night. So they both tried to get some sleep.

"HEY!!! WATCH IT WITH THAT MOP!!!"

Sakura, Madison, and Li all sat up. That loud voice could only be Kero, so it was obvious that he and Yue were still arguing.

"I'm trying to clean this mess," Yue snapped from the kitchen. "If you aren't going to help, then stay out of the way."

"OW!"

The four heard a smack and Kero suddenly came flying into the room. The little guardian beast was holding his cheek painfully.

"One of these days…" Kero muttered. Then he looked back. "Shouldn't you three be asleep?"

"We would be if you weren't so loud," Li growled.

"LOUD?!" Kero yelled. "I AM NOT LOUD!!"

"I'll never get back to sleep this way," Li groaned.

"Would you like me to sing to you, brat?" Kero suggested sourly.

Madison gasped. "Sing? I forgot! I have to sing for the choir next week. I have to practice!"

"Whoa! You can't practice like this! You need rest!"

"I have to practice!" Madison repeated…before coughing loudly. She quickly reached over for a tissue and blew her nose. "I can still hit those high notes. LA…ACK!"

Madison tried singing, but she went silent awfully quickly. Sakura knew she had to be feeling the same thing she was. Sakura's throat was unbearably sore. And no one could sing with a sore throat.

"My throat hurts," Madison groaned.

Li cleared his throat. "Well…I hope you two feel better. I'd better get some training done."

Kero quickly flew over and cut him off. "Where do you think YOU'RE going?"

"I told you! I'm NOT sick!"

"I'm warning you, brat! You'd better lie down!"

Li took a fighting stance. "You're not stopping me, stuffed animal!"

Sakura couldn't stand to see this. Kero and Li looked like they were ready to go at it. She had to do something…especially since Li didn't look like he was in any condition to fight, no matter how much he denied it.

"Cut it out, you two!" Sakura snapped. "Li, just lie down!"

"But I'm not sick!" Li growled.

"Just do it for me!" Sakura pleaded…before coughing roughly.

Li shook his head and coughed loudly. "Well…I guess I'll do it for you." He laid down and sniffled again. "But I don't know how we're getting to sleep this way."

"Well…as long as things stay quiet, I'm sure you two can sleep," Mirror cheerfully suggested. "And don't worry about keeping the mansion clean. I'm sure Kero, Yue, and I can keep it nice and tidy."

Kero waved his arms in a negative motion. "Whoa, time out. I can barely keep SAKURA'S house clean. This mansion probably has its own zip code. You think we can keep it clean."

"It's certainly worth a try," Yue answered. "The servants are still taking their break and they're obviously in no condition."

All three patients coughed loudly and sniffled.

"See?"

"Ok, fine. We'll clean the mansion. But maybe there is ONE thing we could do. Sakura? Could you do us one favor?"

"What's that, Kero?"

"Call out the Bubbles Card."

Sakura blinked. "Why Bubbles?"

Kero grinned. "You'll see."

A few minutes later, Kero was now staring right at Bubbles, whom Sakura had released. Before sending Bubbles on her task, Kero felt he had better have a pep talk with her first.

"Ok, so as you can see, your mistress is a little under the weather…along with a few of her friends. So we DON'T need you causing any problems. You're here to do ONE thing and that's to help us clean. So while your mistress sleeps, you are to listen to me and ONLY me!"

"Ahem."

"Oh yeah…and maybe Yue. Now go ahead and…spread…bubbles."

Bubbles walked down the long hall and started spreading around a series of suds. Yue was calmly standing with his arms crossed, leaning over the mop.

"Well? What are YOU waiting for?" Kero asked Yue.

"I'm taking my time," Yue said matter-of-factly. "Mirror's washing the dishes and I'm scrubbing the mansion. What exactly is it you're doing again?"

"Supervising," Kero grinned. "Besides, somebody has to be here just in case one of them wakes up. I have to keep things calm. And if one of them wakes up, I'll help them fall asleep again. If necessary, I'll even lead by example."

Yue shook his head. "I think we can cover better ground if…"

**WHIRRRRRRR**

Kero covered his ears when he heard the sound of the jackhammers outside. Immediately, Sakura, Madison, and Li all sat up. There were red cracks in their eyes and after a few seconds their heads just fell back. Kero couldn't believe that there was construction at a time like this. Knowing what he had to do, Kero flew out the nearby window and changed into his true form.

Keroberos headed for the front gate and saw the construction workers in the distance. They couldn't see him and weren't even looking his way. The sounds of street construction just kept getting louder and they were sure to keep everyone up.

"QUIET!!!!!!"

Nothing. The construction continued with no signs of stopping.

"Why don't you try a different approach?"

Keroberos turned around to see Yue shaking his head again.

"And I suppose YOU have a better idea?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

Yue flew up in the air and formed a bow in his hands. He was aiming at the construction site. Keroberos thought he was being rash, but then he saw what Yue was actually trying.

Yue shot a series of arrows that knocked the jackhammers out of the workers' hands. It was a mind-boggling display of pinpoint accuracy. While the workers ran to pick up their jackhammers, Yue began shooting out ice crystals towards the site. The workers immediately started scattering. Feeling proud of his actions, Yue flew back down.

"Problem solved," Yue said casually.

Keroberos groaned. "Gee, how subtle. I don't see how that can possibly start a panic."

"That's just what I was hoping for. Maybe they can just leave…"

"I'M BEING SARCASTIC!!"

Yue groaned. "Oh…you're being yourself again."

"And you're being an idiot! Can't you THINK before you act?"

"At least *I* got the job done."

Keroberos groaned again. While he DID cause a panic, Yue DID manage to quiet the sounds of construction. He couldn't be faulted for that…though he COULD be faulted for a lot of other things. Before another heated argument started, Keroberos decided to focus on Yue's other task.

"Shouldn't you be cleaning?"

"Don't rush me," Yue growled as he started walking back towards the mansion. "The job will be done. Meanwhile, I suggest you attend to the Mistress and her friends."

Keroberos groaned a third time. He had put himself in this mess. He WAS the one who agreed to help them get back to sleep. So he didn't waste any time going back to the mansion.

Keroberos sighed. "Well…as long as I'm my awesome-looking self, I might as well stay that way for the time being. Especially if the brat tries to escape again. Now…can you three try and go back to sleep?"

"We've tried," Sakura moaned. "But we can't. We're all awake. It feels like there's nothing we can do."

Keroberos looked down at the Sakura Cards. "Well…there is ONE thing you could do."

Sakura looked down. "Hey! That's not a bad idea at all!" She reached for her wand with one hand and stuck the other towards the stack of cards. She finally found the right one. "Sleep Card! Come out and put us all to sleep! Sleep Card! Release and dispel!"

Sleep came out and started sprinkling her dust on the three sick patients. To everyone's relief, they all feel asleep. With no one to recall her, Sleep just sat by Sakura and laid down next to her.

"This has almost been TOO easy," Keroberos said to himself. "I wonder how Yue's faring?"

As if on cue, Yue came back and landed right behind Keroberos. Mirror also came back in from the kitchen.

"I finished washing the dishes," she said.

"And I finished scrubbing the WHOLE mansion," Yue added. "I must say, the Mistress's friend has quite a big home."

"Then we're all finished," Keroberos said cheerfully. "All that's left is to let them sleep. Sakura can always recall Sleep when she wakes up."

"Uh……wasn't there another card she had out?" Mirror pointed out.

"Ah yes," Yue remembered. "We forgot about Bubbles."

"Um…did you guys tell Bubbles you were done?" Mirror asked.

Keroberos nodded. "I'm sure Yue told her we're done."

Yue blinked. "I thought YOU told Bubbles we were done."

Keroberos slowly turned his head towards Yue. "No…I thought YOU did."

Silence.

Mirror gulped. "Then where's Bubbles?"

Everyone turned their heads towards the hallway and saw that it was starting to get flooded with suds. Bubbles had gone overboard. The entire mansion had to be FULL of soapy bubbles.

Keroberos sweatdropped. "This…is not good. We'd better wake Sakura."

Yue stopped the guardian beast. "Is that really necessary?"

"Of course it is," Keroberos answered. "She has to get up and recall Bubbles."

"But she's finally asleep," Yue pointed out. "Maybe it would be best if the three of us looked for Bubbles ourselves."

"Yue makes a good point," Mirror added. "We can't wake them up now."

Keroberos begrudgingly agreed. "Well, ok. Let's just hope the mansion doesn't look as bad as I think it does."


Next Time: Keroberos, Yue, and Mirror all look for the wayward Bubbles. Is stopping a dedicated Sakura Card as easy as it sounds? (Probably not) And did someone say "home remedies"? Come back next time!

Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below!