zeni: Hi everybody!!! I'm backkk!!! And with the next chapter of Lovestruck! Yah! ~hehe~ the large mocha is really getting to me....well, onto the next chapter!
Disclaimer: Ok...CCS belongs to Clamp. Not me. I am only a measly little person who is trying to right as good stories as Clamp does. Only Sakura's bodyguards, Wang, Chung, Ayuna, Chi Yuen, Auri, Kyle, Fay, Rei, Yu-lo-si and the bad guy are from my lil imagination.
"........" people talking, whispering, etc....something coming from their mouth...you know.
'.........' Someone thinking
* * * * * * * * * * Usually a pause, or it changes to someone else's view...
(.........) Author comments....from the one and only moi!!
italics what happened before
flashback A flashback
Lovestruck
What happened before:
Something made Sakura faint and Syaoran and her friends brought her to the nurse. In the nurse's office, something once again made Sakura in pain and she used her teleport to get home, dragging Syaoran along with her. Syaoran finds out how Sakura's mother dies.
Sakura ran to one particular tree and sunk down, hugging herself to keep her warm. "I'm really sorry.....that I was the cause of this..." She never got to see her mother. Nadeshiko, her mother had died right after she had Sakura. The pain was too much for her to bear, because she was having a very high fever at the time. But she had pleaded that the doctors make sure Sakura was alive and named it Sakura, knowing that she was the one to capture the Clow cards. Destiny had to be fulfilled.
Once Sakura was old enough to talk, she constantly asked about her mother, until when she got to the age of 5 her brother was so fed up that he told her what happened and blamed it on her. He had apologized after Sakura had a crying fit, but it still did not ease the pain. The pain of knowing that she was the cause of her mother's death was high upon her soul.
Onto the story:
Syaoran watched from a tree top. It was a sakura tree. He smiled gently. The name fit Sakura to a t. It was a perfect name. The soft petals blowing in the air. But they are so easily crushed. 'I'll keep you safe, Sakura.' He thought. The thought of not being able to see her would kill him before he did it himself.
But right now, he watched Sakura cry. He had never been the one to comfort people when they cried, and right now he was feeling very uncomfortable. He didn't like to see Sakura cry. It made her so vunerable, so fragile even though he knew that she was stronger then him.
Sakura cried her heart out. She knew that Syaoran was watching her but didn't care if he saw her tears now. She punched at the ground. "Why did you have to go? It should have been me who left..."
"If you left then I would never have met you...." A voice said.
At first Sakura thought it was Syaoran, but the voice was so...cold. Not like the voice that Syaoran usually used around her. Then she felt an aura wrapping around her.
She wiped her tears quickly and pulled away, making her aura flare. "Who are you?" She demanded. She looked up and glared at the person who dared disturb her.
Then her face went white and she gasped, stepping back.
The figure was dressed just like the Death, from her tarots cards. It had a black robe and held a scythe in the right hand. It's eyes glowed purely of the colour of blood and it's face didn't show at all.
It stepped, or rather glided towards Sakura, who was stepping back with every step it took forward. Then her back hit a tree. She was left no place to run. She looked right and left, but nowhere.
The "thing" glided up to her, noting that she had no palce to run. It reached out it's bony hand and Sakura closed her eyees, thinking that it was going to hurt her. She was too afraid and scared stiff to call out to her cards for help. But instead of hurting her, the thing stroked her cheek and brushed the hair away from her eyes. They snapped open and stared at the creature confused.
That was all that Syaoran was going to take. He called out his sword and rushed to Sakura and the figure. As he neared them, he ran into a barrier of some sort which flung him into the wall of the mansion. He hit it with a thud and sank to the ground unconsious. "Syaoran!"
That thud and Sakura's voice, full of fear and despair warned Sakura's bodyguards and 6 of the servents, who rushed into the backyard seconds later. They all got into defensive positions when they saw a creature holding their mistress' face in his hand.
"Miss Sakura!" Theya called out to her then rushed forward. With their magic in hand.
"NO!" Sakura cried, but it was too late. All 10 of the people hit the wall of the mansion and fainted. "No..." Sakura said. They were her only chance of surviving through this. She watched them for awhile, but none of them got up. "No..." She felt her anger rise and the cards hear her pleads. "NO!" She yelled, slapping the hand away.
The figure's eyes dimmed, then flared with bright fire. He growled. "You will be mine!" He said, grabbing Sakura's shoulder. Sakura cried out as it's thin, bony fingers dug into her shoulder, drawing blood. 'FIRE!' She cried out in her mind.
At once Fire appeared behind the creature and rushed to her mistress' aid.
The figure smiled grimly then disappeared, leaving Sakura, Fire and the 10 unconscious people. "I will be back for you, Sakura. You will be mine, no matter what!!"
Sakura shuddered as she stared up at the sky. 'Who was that?' She wondered. The her gaze fell upon the 10 people on the ground. 'I should heal them....' She thought, not caring about her shoulder.
As she thought the word heal, Heal appeared before her. She was a girl with long flowing blue hair and was holding a tiny bottle in her hands. She had angel wings on her back. When Sakura didn't object, she placing one hand on Sakura's forehead and drew away energy, then filling the energy taken from Sakura to the people.
It was the only way. Sakura had never mastered the art of just healing people so she relied on her card to do that. But the only way it would work is if a bit of Sakura's energy was taken.
Sakura watched as all the people's injuries healed, one by one. Then feeling a bit faint she called to her Teleport card. 'Teleport, teleport the people into their room and take Syaoran and me to my room.' As she spoke, she saw the figures flicker and then the next thing she knew, was black. Although she didn't want to, she fell from the lose of energy and blood.
"Sakura?" Syaoran asked, trying to open his eyes. All he could remember was that figure dressed in black, he..... Sayoran's eyes snapped open.
"Sakura?" He looked over at the tree....but it wasn't there...."Where am I?" He asked. He looked around. The room was silver. It was Sakura's room.
"Wha? How?...Sakura?" He asked again. Then his emeory came back. Something...someone had thrown him into the wall of Sakura's house. He remembered a barrier of some sort....the lots of pain. He reached for his back. No pain, no blood, no ripped shirt.
Then he looked down. He was on Sakura's bed...then where was Sakura?
He looked towards the ground. Sakura was laying there, her breaths coming out in short gasps. Her aura was clinging to her body weakly. Her shoulder was bleedly badly, as if someone dug their fingers into it.
"Sakura..." He said her name for the 4th time. He lifted her up in his arms and placed her gently on the bed, covering her up with a warm blanket.
"What happened?" Kero asked as he walked (or rather flew) into the room. "Sakura!" He cried as he saw his mistress. He had been in the kitchen when he hear Sakura call for her Fire card then Heal. He had flown to her room as fast as he could, hoping that nothing bad was happening. He knew that Sakura would never use the Fire card unless something was attacking her or someone else. And he also knew that that "thing" had to have magic if his mistress called out her cards.
"What happened?" Kero demanded again. He saw Sakura's weak aura and knew that she used the Heal Card and used to much energy.
Syaoran told him everything that he could remember.
"Dark robe....scyth....no...can't be...." Kero muttered and flew out of the room towards the telephone in the hall. Syaoran followed him, curious. "Can't be what?" he asked. Kero ignored him and pressed a button. It immediately speed dialed to a number.
"Yes? Hello? I need to speak to Fujitaka Kinomoto." He paused. "Yes, it's very urgent. Tell him it's Keroberos." Kero set the phone on speaker so that Syaoran could listen as well. 'He has just the same right....' Kero thought. 'Seeing as if they were meant for each other...'
"Hello?" Sakura's father asked. "Keroberos? What wrong?"
By the sound in the backgroud, Syaoran could tell that he was still at his meeting.
"It's him, Clow. He's back." Kero said simply.
There was a silence on the other end. "No." Fujitaka finally said. "Sakura. What happened to her?" He asked.
"Nothing big yet. Just dug his fingers into her shoulder." Kero answered.
Sayroan's heart beat fast. Sakura's dad and guardian were being very mysterious. He wanted to demand what they were talking about but he couldn't. This wasn't his home. It wasn't his place to demand anything.
"What of the Li boy?" Fujitaka asked.
"He's alright." Kero reported, glaring at Syaoran. " Sakura healed him."
There was a bit of cursing, then Sakura's dad spoke up. "I told her not to use that card. A healing spell is easy."
Kero nodded. "Yes, but you know how Sakura is."
"Yes." Fujitaka's voice seemed a bit proud. "My meeting is almost over. An hour tops. And Syaoran?" he asked.
Syaoran wondered how he knew that he was there.
"I have magic." Fujitaka answered as if reading his mind. "Take care of my cherry blossom. He may come back."
Syaoran nodded, not knowing what to say. Sakura's father was allowing him to protect Sakura. It was almost a dream come true....Almost...
They hung up and Kero and Syaoran stood there for a while. "Kero wh-" Syaoran started to say, but a thud from Sakura's room brought them back to reality.
"Oh no!" They both yelled at the same time and ran into the room.
Sakura was sitting on the ground, the blankets scattered around her. Syaoran and Kero could see the tear marks oin her face. Her eyes were closed and her hands were clutching protectively at her neck. Her hair was a bit messy, the same with her clothes and her face was pale. So pale that Syaoran wanted to hug her until she had warmth in her body. She was having a hard time breathing.
Sakura opened her eyes and Syaoran found himself drowning in the pain and misery they held.
"He was back....said I....killed mom...tried to....choke me...." She gasped out, tears still dripping down her cheeks.
Syaoran ran over to her side. He wanted to take all the pain away, but he couldn't. He would if he could, but he couldn't. It wasn't possible.
Kero snuggled at the crook of her neck. He felt Sakura flinch and looked up at her face. There was pain written all over it.
Syaoran saw the pain too. He remembered how painful it was to lose his father. But he and his father weren't as close as he felt Sakura and her mother was. He pitied her greatly, but he also envied her. She came from a very loving family. His family was cold. That's why he was too. All the guys were trained to be cold and heartless. They were trained to be warriors.
Both guys failed to see that is wasn't only because of the pain of losing her mother, but the pain that came from her neck.
Sakura got up shakily. Syaoran helped her walk to the mirrors. She reached out one pale hand towards to throat and that was when they saw. In front, the skin was red and blotchy, as if she was strangled by a rope and it gave her a ropeburn. The back of the neck had big black and blue bruises spattered all over it. It hurt so much that Sakura could hardly move her neck.
Her shoulder was still bleeding so Syaoran reached out with one hand and touched it gently. A warm glow descended on her shoulder and she found the skin mending. He had learned that spell from his sister and it was very usefull at times. There was only a tiny scar indicating an injury.
Without turning around Sakura muttered a thanks and watched with amusement at the redness that came up on Syaoran's face when she smiled slightly. Then she turned to Kero and asked with a serious face. "Who is this person? What does he want with me?"
Kero looked off out the window, hoping for something to come to him. He didn't want Sakura to know about it yet. And still, he had some researching to do before he could tell her the whole story. They stood around for a few minutes and Sakura got faint. She tried to stumble to her bed but tripped in the process. Syaoran caught her right before she hit the ground, saving her from cracking her head open. Then he gently placed her on the bed, covering her with the blankets.
"Thanks....Syaoran...." Sakura said sleepily, closing her eyes for a while.
Syaoran turned crimson at the sound of his name coming from the green-eyes goddess. It soundly so...right coming from her mouth.
Syaoran was glad for that moment to shake the blush off his face. If Sakura saw it, she would think that he was weird and would probably decide not to hang with him.
In the distance of his mind, he heard Sakura gasp. Immediately thinking that she was in danger, he snapped out of his reveries and spun around, looking for trouble.
He felt a burst of strong magic. Silver magic...outlined with purple that showed confusion.
"Sakura?" he asked. Her head was bowed down, as if she was ashamed of something.
"I remember now.." SHe said, lifting her head. There were a few unshed tears in her eyes. She motioned with one finger. 'Float, help me please?' She asked. Float complied, picking Sakura and making her float towards her desk.
She pulled out on drawer, then another.
Syaoran and Kero watchd curious at what Sakura was doing.
"Sakura-chan? What are you doing?" Kero asked. They both moved closer to Sakura.
Sakura tilted her head, as if wondering whether she should tell them or not. 'Nah...' She said. 'Let them be surprised at what they see.'
She reached out one hand after taking out the second drawer. "Invisibility. Please return." She said to something. She acted as if a card had landed into her hand. "Thank you." She whispered.
"Invisibility?" Kero asked. "Why wasn't I informed that you made this card?" He asked, hurt.
Sakura waved one hand over the 'invisible' card. It became visible, showing a little boy dressed in a joker like suit. His eyes were closed, as with most cards and his face held a tiny grin. "I made this when you were too busy with your video games. You never felt the aura because I used the shield to block it from anyone. The only person that knew about this card was me." As if proving her point, Sakura lifted a hand once again and the Shield card floated into it.
Now that she sealed the card, Syaroan and Kero could feel the powerful aura in the air. As they examined the aura closer, they saw a beautifully carved box. At the front was a giant silver padlock. The only weird thing about was that it had no keyhole.
Syaoran looked at Sakura and raised an eyebrow. "Why?" was all he asked.
Sakura smiled and turned back to the box.
Syaoran hated how secretive and mysterious Sakura was being. He vowed to himself that he would get to know her better. She was killing him with all the suspense.
"Lock. Thank you." Sakura said.
At her words, the padlock removed itself from the chest and did what Syaoran thought was impossible.
Lock bowed (somehow...let me think about it then I'll tell you.) and spoke, "You're welcome, my Mistress."
Syaoran gaped at it.
Lock stared at him then burst out into tiny low gasps of laughter. "Mistress Sakura, if you don't stop the boy, his eyes will pop out and his jaw will fall off his face." Then it sealed itself and joined the rest of the cards.
Sakura looked wonderingly at the card then turned to see Syaoran. She giggled behind her hand at the sight.Lock spoke the truth. Syaoran's eyes looked as if they were going to pop off and his mouth was wide open.
Syaoran took off the awestruck expression and pouted. "It's not funny!" He growled menecently. "How did you managed to accomplish that?" He asked after Sakura calmed down her giggles. "Secret." She shrugged.
Syaoran pouted again and crossed his arms.
Sakura turned her attention over to the silver chest. She place one hand lovingly on it. "Mom..." She breathed. She opened the cover and placed her hand inside. The first thing is took out was a book. It seemed very worn in, but it looked as if Sakura treated with care everyday.
She looked at it carefully. It broiught back so many memories...So many of them best left for the past. They hurt. A lot. "My mom's diary....." She said softly.
Kero took one look at her and burst out. "Sakura! What does this have to do with anything?!"
Sakura looked at him with hurt eyes. "Kero..."
Syaoran burst out to. It hurt to see Sakura like this. She was one of his best friends and he couldn't stand to see her like this. "Shut up, you stuffed animal! Do you even know how much it hurts to have a family member dead?" He didn't stop there, but answered his own question. "Of course you don't! You don't have a family! It hurts! It hurts like hell!"
Sakura saw Kero wince at the harsh words. It wasn't his fault that Kero had no family. It wasn't his fault that he was created by magic. She scooped up his tiny yellow form and hugged him, despite the pain of her throat. "It's okay, Kero....Don't worry....I'll be your family. It's ok." She said, cuddliing him.
Syaoran stared at the two. He was jealous that Kero got to spend so much time at Sakura's side that he couldn't control his anger anymore. "How is it okay?" He asked furious.
He was mostly furious at himself for letting Sakura get hurt. He should have been able to stop this guy himself. He continued, not looking at Sakura's face. It would've hurt too much to see the pained look on her face. "This guy is after you and all you can do is cuddle stupid stuffed animals and say it's ok?" He yelled. "You're supposed to be the Card Mistress! Not a stupid crybaby!"
As soon as those last words left his mouth, he regretted them.
Sakura stared at him. Emotions rans through her eyes. First shock, then pain, then confusion, then anger, then pain once again.
She stood up and bowed her head. "I'm sorry that I don't meat up to your standards of how a Card Mistress is suppose to be, LI." She said. Then with pain in her eyes, she walked to the door of her room. "Good-bye..."
Syaoran was confused when she said it. It hurt to hear Sakura call him Li, and with such a .....cold voice. She was never cold to anyone. But he deserved it. He deserved it and much more for yelling at her.
'Teleport, take Li and his belongings home.'
Syaoran stared at his hands and saw that they flickered. "Sa-" He started to say, but was interrupted by Sakura. "Kinomoto to you." She said harshly, without looking into his eyes. If she did, she woujld burt out and cry. But she wouldn't. Not in front of him.
She walked into the hallway. Kero floated after her and soon the room was empty, including Syaoran who had been teleported back to his home.
* * * * * * * * * *
He was brought right to the living room of his house, in a blink of an eye.
His whole family was there. His four sisters, his mother and Meilin, who had no other family to live with. They were watching a DVD of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
They all stared at him, tv forgotten when he had appeared out of nowhere.
"Syaoran! You're back!" Meilin exclaimed. The with a mischievious smile she asked, "What happened? Where's Sakura?" She had found out that Syaoran had been brought to Sakura's house, thanks to Auri's videotaping and Fay's magic, but they didn't know what happened.
'I hope they hooked up.' She thought, grinning. Then she would have the greatest time teasing the pair.
Syaoran stared at her. "None of you business." He said coldly. He glared at his cousin, grabbed his bag and rushed up the stairs to his room. When he reached the green room, he slammed the door shut, making his family and every other person in the house wince at the noise.
"Oh..." Feimei said.
"Something's wrong with our lil bro..." Xiefa said. Everyone nodded to this. This was one of the first times that Syaoran had been so......cold to everyone. It was true that he was always cold, but this time, the anger just radiated off him and filled the whole room with tense air.
'Something happened....but what?' Meilin asked herself in her head. She sat up in the couch. 'I know! I'll ask Kyle to get it out of him!' She jumped up and rushed to her room as well, shutting the door none too quietly.
Downstairs, the sisters and mother winced again.
Yelan, Syaoran mom sighed. The noise in the house would never stop.
"Who's Sakura?" Fanran asked. They all quieted down, ignoring the forlorn tv in the corner.
"Sakura...hm...sounds Japanese." Fuutie mused, thoughtfully.
"Cherry blossom, if I'm not mistaken." Yelan said. She smiled at where this was going to.
"A girl?" They all looked at each other.
The sisters clapped their hjands together gleefully. Their little brother like someone! They all saw the look on his face when Meilin mentioned Sakura's name.
"Our little bro has a crush!" Feimei crowed out. "I thought that I would never see the day!"
"Maybe it's deeper then that!" Xiefa exclaimed. Everyone nodded. The sisters smiled. They would watch further and see.
They huddled up in the middle of the room, including their mother in their discussions.
Even Yelan had to smile. Ever since this Sakura girl came to Hong Kong, her son had always had a trace of a smile on his face. It did him good. He used to be such a cold and silent person that his family was afraid that he would never fall in love. But Yelan had the right to be the most afraid. She was afraid that he would turn up like.....Yakusoro....
* * * * * * * * * *
zeni: Ouchie! I didn't know that Syaoran could get so....i dunno, emotional!! He's a baka for yelling at Sakura.....Baka, baka, baka.....But don't worry, this will be a happy ending. (Unless you want a sad ending, then I suggest you email me at zeni24@hotmail.com. If you have suggestions for making my fic better, email me! Or if you just have questions, you can do that too.) So, who is Yakusoro? I dunno, do you? ~heehee~ I don't think he's going to pop up for a while... but ya.
Well, hope to hear from ya! Stay tuned, for my next chapter! Ja ne minna-san!
(oh! And I'm really running outta japanese words....It's much easier not to write them in cuz I only know the basics. But I do wanna learn...my mom said to stick to manderine and cantonese...oh well, later!)