zeni: Hey ppl! This story is being done during the time I don't need for my ISU... I'm hoping that I'll finish the story soon, because it'll take forever.... I'm thinking maybe another two or three chapters... Should it be sad or happy? I dunno... usually I'll write it down and type it while putting more detail into it, but now I just don't have the time to write it before so I sit in front of computer thinking about the plot more or less now.... Oh well... this is the nineth chapter to my story of Lovestruck. Hope ya like it!

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:

Lock smiled. "Save my mistress."

"Done!" They agreed and Lock returned to its card form and took place right on top of The Invisibility, in Rei's hand. "The Lock." She read.

"It can talk?" Meilin asked. She thought back to her studies of the Clow Cards. Not one of them told her that the cards which showed inanimate objects could talk. "Ithought that only a few cards could..." She trailed off, suddenly remembering something. 'Right! Sakura's the most powerful person in the world so if anyone could make cards talk then it would be her.' Meilin thought. Thinking about her good friend made her teary eyes. 'Please be alright, Sakura...'

Now onto the ninth chapter of Lovestruck:

Sakura was having trouble dodging the shots that were directed to her from Yakusoro. 'I need a plan and quick!' She screamed in her head, narrowingly missing a red fireball and shooting one back from her hands. 'What can I use against him?' She asked herself as she rolled to one side and shot a stream of water out from her palm. 'He has to be weak somewhere...'

As if reading her mind, Yakusoro replied. "I'm not weak anywhere. So don't even try it." He smiled. "You won't win against me. I will finally get the revenge I was longing for a long time ago."

'Oh no... What have I gotten myself into now.... I wish mother was still alive... then she could talk some sense into him... I wish.... I wish Syaoran was here with me....' Sakura thought. Everything seemed useless. Now all she could do was to try and keep out of the line of fire and hope for something to come to her.

'Crap!' Sakura thought as she narrowly missed being hit by another fireball.

"HAHAHA!" Yakusoro laughed as he watched the Card Mistress struggle to escape from the energy shots.

Syaoran opened the chest and took out a book. Everyone crowded around to see it.

"Nadeshiko...." Ayuna started reading it.

"Kinomoto. Formerly Nadeshiko Reed!" Meilin finished.

"Reed! Clow Reed!" Kyle said.

"So Sakura really is the descendent of Clow." Rei said.

"One of them." Syaoran corrected her.

"One of them..." Rei mimicked Syaoran's voice in a bratty way.

"Hey!" He tried to hit her but he missed, accidentally hitting Meilin.

"Wai!" She said and chased him around.

"Anyways..." Kyle said, with a sweatdrop on the back of his head. He turned to the book. "Are you sure we should read it? I mean isn't reading other people's diaries a crime or something?" He asked, looking at the others.

"Well..." Rei thought. "That's a good point...."

"It... says... that.... we... could..." Syaoran said, after losing Meilin in the long hallways of Sakura's mansion. "If not, then we'll have to worry about Sakura yelling at us after we finish saving her."

He took the worn out pink and gold book and opened it to the first page. "The first entry's from April.... "

April 20th

She will be the most powerful sorceress ever to live on earth. But there will be one day when not even her powers can bring her back. She will learn about herself and many other things. But there will be a consequence. There will be one to take her away.

There is only one way to bring her back. One warrior, true to his heart must pass the test given to him. There is one consequence. One who took the test and failed will not live on to tell that day. Only my descendants may be able to take this test and only one will succeed.

I know that he who will save her from her death is reading this. He must be true to his heart and strive for what he wants to succeed. One piece of advice though. Hurry.

"One test..." Syaoran was muttering to himself. "What's that?"

'Oh... this....' A voice answered him from behind. They all turned to find a sphinx crouched down at the foot of Sakura's bed. She had the head of a women, a body of a lion and the wings of an angel. She placed one paw on Sakura's forehead. 'So this is the maiden...' She said out loud as if pondering. A kind of emotion shone in her eyes. One that Syaoran has never seen before and couldn't describe.

Then the sphinx turned her head to face the teens. 'I am Tarashi. I was created by Clow Reed to test those who seek to destroy the evil beings of the world.' Her voice boomed out. It sounded like something that was indescribable. (It's only indescribable cuz I'm lazy...) She looked at them in the eye and each of the friends felt as if nothing could be hidden from her sky-blue seeking eyes. 'Who is the one worthy enough to take this test?' She asked.

Syaoran heard Kyle behind him gulp out loud. By the glare that she gave them, he knew why. Her glare was even more menacing then the glares given by Syaoran himself.

Syaoran took a deep breath and stepped up. Without a quiver in his voice he said, "I am."

The sphinx looked at him and she seemed to smile briefly. Then it disappeared. 'What is your name, boy?'

Syaoran took another deep breath. "Don't call me a boy." He looked at his friends and they smiled, encouraging him. "I'm called Syaoran Li." He said without hesitation. "The descendent of Clow Reed."

Tarashi looked at him with approval. 'You have courage to stand up to someone whose powers you don't know about.' She stated. 'Stand up straight and look me in the eye.'

Syaoran did as she said and he watched as Tarashi's eyes glowed a deep purple. Using his magical sense, he saw a purple aura form around her. His friends seemed to disappear from his sight as he gazed deep into the wonders of Tarashi's eyes.

'Why are you doing this? ' He felt Tarashi ask in his head.

"I have to save Sakura..." He answered.

'Why? Why is she so important that you have to save her?'

"She's my friend." He answered.

'Really? Only? It seems more then that.'

"...."

'You love her don't you?'

"...."

'So Clow was right...'

"How do you know?" Syaoran asked.

'It shows.'

"....I do love her.... I love her more then life itself." He answered.

There was silence then Tarashi said, "Congratulations."

"What?"

Opening his eyes, he saw Tarashi with a smile on her face. Then she transformed. Her hair grew into long purple curls and her body changed from a lion's body to a women's body, wearing a long flowing white dress. Her wings shrunk a bit but they remained as angel wings.

Syaoran looked around and he saw that he was standing in Sakura's room again. He looked back at Tarashi. "You're Nadeshiko..." He whispered.

Nadeshiko nodded. "Yes." She bent down beside Sakura and stroked her cheek. "I am."

Rei looked at Nadeshiko and Sakura. There was a resemblance. They had the same eyes. There was the same glimmer of light in Nadeshiko's that Sakura's eyes always held. "But how?" She wondered out loud.

Nadeshiko heard her and smiled. "You must be Rei." She sat on Sakura's bed and placed Sakura's head on her lap. "My father, Clow Reed placed a spell that I could always look after my Sakura when I die." She smiled, happily." You could call me an immortal."

Then the look on her face saddened. "Hurry Syaoran. You must leave quickly."

Syaoran nodded. "What do I need?" He asked.

"Only yourself." She said.

Syaoran stood up. He walked beside Sakura and kissed her forehead. "Wait for me.... I'm coming..." He whispered.

Nadeshiko watched the two teens. 'He really does love her.' She was happy for her daughter who seemed to have found someone that truly loved her. "Tell both Yakusoro and Sakura that I watch over them and I still will. Tell Yaku that I love him like a brother and that he should understand that I love him only as one. Although, Sakrua has already probably figured out." Then she stepped forward and placed one hand on top of Syaoran head and the other on Sakura's forehead. Muttering a short spell, she wished Syaoran good luck and stepped back.

Syaoran waved as he disappeared from his friends' sight.

Sakura felt a pain in her forehead for a moment. Stopping, she reached for a tree trunk to gain her breath.

Yakusoro grinned. That short while gave him a chance. He gathered as much energy as he could and shot a fireball towards her.

Sakura saw it coming, but was too late to block it. It hit her in the stomach, flinging her back. As she stood up, both she and Yakusoro saw a figure coming towards them.

The figure was pretty tall and held out one hand. "Syaoran..." Sakura said.

He smiled, his brown hair ruffled in the wind. "Hey Sakura. I came as soon as possible." He walked towards her and gave her a hand. Sakura gave him her famous dazzling smile. The one that most guys would kill for a chance of seeing. But this one was only meant for Syaoran. "Thanks."

Syaoran smiled back. His smile was just as dazzling and only meant for Sakura. "No prob." Then he turned back to Yakusoro.

Yakusoro has standing off to the side, his head tilted to one side as if he was remembering something that had happened to him in the past. Then his eyes widened and he glared at Syaoran. "You're one of my descendants, aren't you?" He asked Syaoran.

Syaoran glared back, just as menacingly. "I would rather die then be your descendent." He growled.

Sakura looked back and forth between the two men. They did look shockingly alike. Both had the same kind look in their eyes and the shape of their face was very similar. If Yakusoro had chestnut hair and chocolate eyes, Sakura would've never thought that it was him.

"Why are you on HER side?" Yakusoro asked his descendent, the word 'her' emphasized disgustedly.

Syaoran just looked at him coolly. 'Nows the only chance I'll get to tell Sakura...' He thought. "I love her." He said.

Sakura's eyes bulged. 'He loves me?' Then she smiled. 'Yes! He loves me!'

There was a kind of emotion that the older Li's eyes held at this moment when he heard Syaoran's love declaration. "...Love..." He whispered, remembering something.

"That's right." Syaoran said. "Love." He had read in many of the books that he was able to find that said Yakusoro loved Nadeshiko, Sakura's mother, but she never loved him back. "You loved Nadeshiko, didn't you?" He asked his ancestor.

Yakusoro looked at Syaoran as if debating whether he should tell him. Then he sighed and the evil glare no longer appeared on his face. "Yes. I loved her, but she didn't love me. Instead, she ran off and married to the stupid reincarnation of Clow Reed."

Sakura stood up with Syaoran's help. Slowly, against Syaoran's wishes, she walked up to Yakusoro. Standing before him, she stopped. "Is that why you tried to kill me? To have revenge on Clow Reed?"

Yakusoro's face hardened at Clow Reed's name. "Yes." He said harshly.

Syaoran stepped forward, but Sakura held one hand up, stopping him in his tracks. "Did you know...." She started again in a softer voice. "Did you know, that you're part of his family?"

Yakusoro gave her a weird look. "That idiot was never part of my family."

Sakura nodded, painfully. "Yes. You are part of his family. Syaoran is your descendant and his as well."

At this, Yakusoro faltered.

Sakura continued. "To be exact, he was your brother."

Yakusoro and Syaoran paled. "My.... brother?" Yakusoro asked.

Sakura nodded. "After you signed the contract to work with the devil, he made you forget everything. Including your own family. You were blinded with the anger towards your brother because my mother married him. In truth, my mother loved you as well. In a letter she wrote to me before she died, she said that you were like a brother she never had. She loved you like one. The love you had for her, was one of a brother to a sister. Because of your anger, you chose to forget that."

Then Syaoran stepped up beside Sakura. "Nadeshiko is here. She died, but she is still watching over you both."

Yakusoro wiped a tear from his eye. "I miss her so much. You're right. I loved her like a sister and I was blinded from the anger." He turned to Sakura. "Can you forgive me for what I have done?"

Sakura smiled. She stepped up to Yakusoro and gave him a hug. "Of course I forgive you. Because of you, I am now closer to my cards. I know how to use them better. Thank you."

Yakusoro hugged the tall girl back. "Thank you. I now know the truth. And you truly are Nadeshiko's daughter. You have her eyes and her smile."

Sakura smiled, this time the smile directed at both men. "Thank you." She said softly, almost in a whisper. Then she straightened her clothes. "What will you do now, Uncle Yaku?" She said.

Yakusoro smiled at the name Uncle. "I don't know yet."

"Come back with us." Sakura said, holding one hand out, the other hooked to Syaoran's.

Yakusoro shook his head, smiling sadly. "I cannot face your father, because of all the things I've done."

"He will understand."

"No." Yakusoro protested. "Perhaps I will stay here. It is a nice place to stay. I am old and awaiting my death. I will go join Nadeshiko soon."

Sakura nodded. The tears clearly shown in her eyes. "When you do, tell her I love her."

"Tell your father that I am sorry." Sakura nodded. Then Yakusoro spoke to Syaoran. "Tell your family, that I am sorry as well." Syaoran nodded and smiled. Of course I will, Uncle Yaku." He said, calling Yakusoro uncle.

Yakusoro smiled mischievously. "You picked a nice one." He gently teased Syaoran. "Good-bye."

Syaoran blushed and Sakura looked over at her two companions in confusion. Then she smiled. "Good-bye." Taking out one card, she transported them back to their own world.

"Until we meet again."

To be continued....

zeni: yeesh... I finally finished this chapter... you won't believe how long it took me.... Between my exams and my final projects and ISUs, I finally finished it! I'm so proud. Wait... there's one more chapter... Or should I end it here? Please email me and tell me if I should continue it or if it should end here. zeni24@hotmail.com. That's my email!

Thanks for reading, and be sure to review, please!!!