The Cold and the Cardcaptor
Chapter Eight: What Dreams May Come
Hey peoples!! I finally got off my lazy bum and got around to writing the next chapter for this story. YAY!! Aren't you lucky! Currently I'm making my way through a bowl of 'Connoisseur' Chocolate Obsession' Ice cream (That's Chocolate ice cream, with chocolate pieces and cherry brandy sauce…it's really yummy…^-^) so this chapter's probably gonna be weird due the aforementioned intake of frozen sugar…which probably just makes things more interesting…
Ooh, I've got a few Q's and some other stuff to answer, so I better get on with it!
Chrissie-chan: Hehehe What's even more fun is if you start cackling maniacally (and looking all evil like) FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER in a crowded lift. I think the best bit is when the people realize that they are trapped and have no way of escaping until either they or I get off. Seriously, it's a lot of fun. ::grins evilly:: (Hehehe StarDragon's top 10 things to do on a crowded lift…heh heh heh not that I've actually written that, but I could!!!)
Sweet Anime Fan: (Asking about Syaoran's memories and whether they are distorted) All I can say is, not yet they ain't…::evil cackle:: ^ - ^
Anywho, thanxs SO MUCH (I think I made my point) to all you WONDERFUL, all round LEGENDARY people who reviewed!! YOU ALL ROCK!!! YAY!! (Okay, no more Chocolate obsession ice cream for Stardragon...it'' not good if you start to see double...)
Don't mind me, I'm just crazy!!!
Ooh by the way, usually I do telepathy as * with the writing in between in italics for what they are thinking/saying * But it gets confusing (in this chapter) when more than 2 people are talking telepathically, so I changed it a bit.
* This is Sakura talking telepathically *
*This is Eriol talking telepathically *
*This is Tomoyo talking telepathically * (…you'll see in the story how)
* This Is Syaoran talking telepathically *
It just makes things a little less confusing in this chapter.
Righto then!
:: Some one pointedly clears their throat::
Oh right…yeah…::scowls and grimaces:: the disclaimer…I don't own nuthin…Cardcaptors belongs to the (very legendary) people at CLAMP and ::sighs and scowls again:: NELVANA (even though they chopped out all the good bits…) sigh…anyway, summing up…I don't own nuthin, never have, never will, so there you go…
Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for!!!!
~~~~~~~~
Sakura's POV:
Thud…thud…thud…thud…thud…'Let me out of here!'…thud…thud…
"So, Oh Great and Mighty Sorcerer, what is your plan?"
Thud…thud…thud…thud…'I mean it!'…thud…thud…
Eriol's eyebrow rose up a bit at the obvious sarcasm in my usually cheerful voice, but he chose (wisely) not to comment on it, instead answering the question. "It's the simple matter of making a potion, which, once drunk, makes the drinker fall asleep, allowing a chemical in it to enhance the memory department of the brain."
Thud…thud…thud…'Don't make me break down the door…coz I will…thud…thud…
"Wait a minute, I thought you said before that it had to be during natural sleep, isn't giving him something that makes him go to sleep…unnatural?"
…::pause::…'Hello?' ::silence:: 'Is any one actually there?'
I glanced up in the general direction of the guy's room where we had strategically locked Syaoran, he had been banging on the door for ages. It was starting to give me a headache. I looked back at Eriol, raising an eyebrow as if to say 'I'm waiting for your answer patiently' but in an impatient way.
Eriol, smart boy that he is, answered, "Not necessarily, what I meant was we can only use the potion once a day, preferably at night, as close to his normal sleeping time as possible. Used too much in one day and the body rejects it because it only needs a certain amount of sleep. The 'how' and 'why' that is, is quite complicated, but the potion itself is relatively simple."
Yeah…Simple…in theory…we had a hard enough time finding the ingredients as it was.
The potion, Eriol explained, consisted mainly of herbs.
Very unusual herbs.
The only herb we actually managed to find was an unhealthy looking sprig of parsley. We could have improvised, but upon another fruitless search, improvising just wasn't going to be an option either. The only other green leafy looking things we had come up with, was a piece of lettuce from someone's leftover sandwich and something fuzzy that we found growing behind an outside bin.
We had also found Kero during our hunt, sobbing into a bag of chocolate chip cookies. He still seemed to be in a mild case of shock, and Eriol really wasn't helping when he started to hum the song 'Blue Moon'.
Leaving the now hysterically wailing Kero alone for his own sake, we got back to the task at hand.
Eriol glanced down at the dismal pile of 'herbs' on the table and sighed. He closed his eyes, and flicked his fingers. I recognized it as a transportation spell, but at first nothing appeared. Eriol's eyebrows clenched in concentration; I felt him gather more of his magic, then he flicked his fingers again. This time, a large fat velvet pouch appeared in mid air and dropped into his out stretched hand.
He seemed quite pleased with himself as he pulled open the pouch and started to remove a number of smaller pouches, as well as numerous glass vials, all of which were filled with herbs.
"Okay, firstly…why didn't you do that in the first place?"
He pulled the stopper off one of the vials and sniffed it before putting on the table alone with the rest. "Where's the fun in that?" He smiled serenely, as I blinked, and added, "And besides, I was unsure if the transportation spell would work over such a long distance, but it did so there you go…"
"…Riiiiiigggghhhttt…"
~~~~~~10 minutes later….~~~~~~~
"Tomoyo a pinch of feverfew please…it's in the silver coloured pouch with the blue ribbon…"
Tomoyo located the pouch and dropped a small amount of the herb into the brew.
The mixture in the saucepan fizzled, sending more than a few orange coloured sparks in the air, then turned an interesting shade of purple. A huge thick looking bubble appeared on the surface, wobbled for a bit, and popped, making a very wet sounding 'plop'. The odor, which for sometime now had smelt pleasantly of flowers, suddenly changed to something more resembling a pile of rotting fish. I screwed up my nose and tried to ignore the smell. "So what now?"
Eriol picked up the wooden spoon and stirred the mixture, which only seemed to help waft the smell even more around the kitchen and replied, "There's a vile marked 'wolfsbane', I need a teaspoon of it…."
I nodded and located the vial in question, then dropped the amount needed into the mixture. It went from a thick purple goo to a transparent purple liquid, almost resembling tea, besides the colour. Eriol stirred it for a second, then looking satisfied, poured some of the now thankfully odorless brew into a mug, before handing it to me.
I blinked, "Why are you giving this to me?"
Eriol simply smiled as he gathered up the vials and pouches and deposited them into the bigger sack, "I believe our friend will trust you more than us."
Trying to ignore the little voice in my head that was repeatedly telling me he was up to something, I nodded and trudged back up the stairs to the guys' room.
I unlocked the door then pushed it open slightly, half expecting Syaoran to come leaping out, but he didn't, so I poked my head through the gap. Syaoran, evidently having gotten bored/tired of incessantly pounding on the door, was sitting quietly on his bed, once again listening to music. Letting out a sigh, I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Huh? Oh. Hey…." He removed his earphones and smirked again, then added, "Come back for more hey?"
I wasn't really sure whether to blush or roll my eyes…or perhaps smack him over the head with something hard.
"Uh no, I aah made you something to drink before we go to bed-I mean you go to bed-err-::nervous laugh:: eh he he…" My face finally settled on blushing a nice ruby red as I pushed the mug forward, almost spilling it. "…Err-here…"
He blinked, then looked suspiciously down at the mug I was offering.
"…What is it?"
"Umm…it's-err…tea…"
He blinked then looked suspiciously at the 'tea' in question. "Since when is tea purple?"
"Umm-err-umm-it's my special home-made brand-::nervous laugh:: err he he he…it's just…like that…"
* Nice save Sakura… *
I glanced to the door and saw Eriol and Tomoyo peaking through the gap. Tomoyo was, as usual, taping. I shot Eriol a glare before turning back to Syaoran as I mentally replied.
* Shut up Eriol, I'd like to see you do better…*
Syaoran didn't look very convinced. "You drink some then."
"Ummm…"
* You'd better not, otherwise you'll fall asleep, then we'll never get him to drink it…*
* Well what do you suppose I do then huh?!*
* Flirt with him a little, he seems to respond well to that…*
* I am not going to flirt with him…*
* You should!! It'll work!!*
I blinked in surprise.
* Tomoyo?! Since when can you talk telepathically?!*
* Since Eriol let me…*
* ::sigh::Okay…but I'm still not flirting with him…*
* Do you want to get normal Syaoran back or not? *
*…She has a point you know…*
*…Shut up Eriol…::sigh:: Fine…so what do you suppose I do?*
* Umm…bat your eyelashes a bit, stare longingly into his eyes…ooh! Play with his shirt sleeve a bit too!*
* You've had a long time to think about this haven't you? *
Her reply came out sounding smug * Ever since I learned you liked him…look, the only way to get Syaoran back is to make him drink that potion, and the only way he'll drink that potion is if you use your womanly influences on him… *
*My womanly influences?*
* Yeah! Just pout, look forlorn…that sort of thing! *
I sighed inwardly. I hate it when situations turn out like this. I'm always the one who ends up doing something embarrassing.
And it happens a lot more than it should.
Tomoyo has the tapes to prove it too.
I sighed again somewhat more defeated this time. I knew deep down inside, that I really had no choice. Trying to ignore the people peaking through the door, I looked at Syaoran, swallowed whatever shred of pride I carried…and pouted.
"Please Syaoran…I made it specially for you and…" The tone of voice I was putting on was almost making me sick. I paused, my face the picture of mock unhappiness, and traced a pattern on his quilt cover with my finger, as I gazed up into his eyes, the sad puppy dog look on in full force. "You wouldn't want all that effort to go to waste now…would you?"
I could practically hear every feminist cringe at the display. But I, unfortunately, had a job to do.
Syaoran, or whoever it actually was in there, looked guilty, then grinned and placed a hand on the side of my face, "Hey don't be sad babe…I'll drink it if it means that much to you."
My face went several interesting shades of red, as he slid his hand off my face then took the mug. He sniffed it, then took a gulp. "Hey, it's not that ba-" His sentence was cut short as his eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out, spilling the remaining contents all over me.
I scowled and tried to wipe the excess off as Eriol and Tomoyo walked in. "Very nice Sakura, you practically have him wrapped around your little finger." I grumbled something incoherent, then stood up "Is there anything else we need to do?"
"Besides watch him to make sure everything goes okay, no"
"Good, I'm going to get changed then"
I picked up the now empty mug and took it downstairs to the kitchen before making my way to my room to get into something dry. When I came back to the room, Eriol and Tomoyo had pulled in some comfy chairs so I seated myself down in the spare one, and made myself comfortable for the long night ahead.
~~~~~~~~~
Eriol's POV:
The potion, after initially knocking a person out, takes a while before it starts affecting the memory, so we were basically just waiting around for that to happen. Sakura started to nod off when the first hour went by so I suggested that she should sleep; I would wake her when things started to get more interesting. She seemed reluctant at first, but eventually dozed off, curled up comfortably in her chair. I turned to Tomoyo, who was in the chair next to me, and quietly said. "You probably should try and get some sleep too. I'll wake you…"
She smiled, but shook her head. "No, I'm okay, I'll keep you company." I smiled at her in thanks, then glanced over at Sakura who sighed in her sleep and pulled her rug around herself some more. Tomoyo's soft voice broke the silence. "She's been through so much…it's amazing she's managed to remain such a nice happy person."
I smiled ruefully, "True, but she does seem to glare at me a whole lot more often lately…"
Tomoyo chuckled lightly. "I've noticed that too, but I think she's just compensating for the fact that Syaoran hasn't been himself for a while now."
"Ahh yes, you are most probably right." We sat in silence for a few seconds, then Tomoyo's face became sad. "Do you really think this is going to work?"
I sighed, glanced at Sakura, then looked back to Tomoyo. "Put it this way, the chances of it not working are slim…" I looked down at Syaoran and frowned slightly; he was starting to drool, before continuing. "It's difficult, when working with memories. He could just pass off the dreams as just being that…dreams, after all, it is almost guaranteed that they will be warped. But on the other hand, a dream, the memory, could be enough to open a floodgate, so to speak, and his memories will come back and it will be like none of this whole mess had ever happened."
Tomoyo's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "You mean, he won't remember anything from when Maiomi-I mean The Ice took control of him?"
I shook my head, "Probably not"
"So, he won't remember what happened in the cave…or what Sakura said…nothing?"
I eyed Tomoyo, starting to catch what she was getting at, "You mean, will he remember when Sakura said that she loved him" It was more a statement than a question, but I knew I had been right even before Tomoyo nodded in affirmation.
I shook my head, "It's unlikely", then added, "but I think it's for the best. They really need to talk to each other at a time when neither of their lives are being threatened and when they are both sane."
"Oh" The tone of her voice suggested that Tomoyo didn't really think that Syaoran and Sakura would ever just sit down and have a nice little chat about their relationship. Her previously down face brightened up a bit though, as something occurred to her. "But on the bright side, if they don't talk, at least I have it on tape!"
~~~~~~~~~
Syaoran's POV:
I don't know where I was, but strangely, the scene looked familiar. I was standing on a roof for some reason and it was at night. I spun around at the sound of an irritated female voice.
"You really are pathetic…"
I frowned as she stepped into the light cast by the moon, then blinked in surprise.
Heyyy it's that hot Sakura chick…but she's younger…and what is she wearing??
She was wearing these weird looking green robes, with really long sleeves that had bells on the ends of them. The front and back of the robes ended at her feet and she wore these loose white pants underneath. And she had this weird looking green hat thing on too. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but the thing she was wearing looked awfully familiar, but something…something just wasn't right…
My thoughts on her outfit aside, I looked up at her face.
She was scowling menacingly at me.
Dude, what's her problem…
There was the sound of thunder crashing, and the Sakura chick held up the sword she was carrying. "Force, know my plight, release the Light! Lightning!!" Blue lightning leapt off her blade and shot at…something… I dunno what it was…it looked like some freaked out lightning dog thing from one of those sci-fi movies…
The scowling Sakura chick scowled at me some more and said snidely. "You are looking at Rajuu, the thunder beast…boy you are pathetic…"
Jeez, what crawled up her ass and died…
This dream, as if it wasn't already before, was getting pretty freaked out, when the whole scene shifted, and for some reason I was on the ground now. I was also now holding two cards, bigger than playing cards and with these weird pictures on them. One said 'The Thunder, and the other said 'The Shadow'.
I looked up as I heard footsteps.
The Sakura chick was scowling at me again. "Boy, you really don't have a clue about this do you…"
"About what?" My voice came out all weird, it kinda echoed and sounded funny, but before I had a chance to say anything else, I had the uncontrollable urge to look down, for no reason whatsoever.
I really wish I hadn't.
Goodbye dream, hello nightmare.
"…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!!"
I had no idea just what exactly had been in that 'tea' that the Sakura chick had given me, but it must have contained some pretty strong hallucinogenic drugs. There's just no other explanation why I was dreaming of wearing something pink and black and frilly.
The skirt part of it puffed out, and it had, for whatever reason that I couldn't see, a black tail. Reminded me of a cats' for some reason….
But anyway, in short, I was in a dress.
I struggled, trying to rip off what I was wearing, but no matter what I tried and what I did, I couldn't make it budge. I looked up in pure desperation and paused as the still scowling Sakura chick suddenly disappeared, as I heard someone call my name.
But the voice was strange. Kinda sounded like a guy trying to imitate a girl or something.
I stopped struggling and watched as someone else wearing a dress came running out of the shadows.
They came into the light, and I noticed first of all that the dress was yellow, and the person was carrying a video camera.
But it wasn't that Tomoyo chick, the one that has this weird fetish for video cameras.
It seemed cross-dressing was the flavour of the month, or at least the dream I was currently having.
It was 'four eyes'.
Eriol.
In a dress.
I know I was somewhat being a hypocrite, what with the fact that I myself was sporting a lovely little pink number, but I could do the only thing that my subconscious could think of at this particular moment.
I burst out laughing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura's POV:
Eriol had told us that the chemical that triggers the memories takes a while to come into effect, and had suggested that we get a little shut eye until something interesting happened. Not really wanting to know just exactly what he considered to be 'interesting' I took his advice and eventually dozed off.
I wasn't really sure how long I had been out, but I was jerked out of my sleep by a very loud noise coming from Syaoran's bed. He was yelling out in his sleep, and looked like he was trying to pull something off him. "God, he must be getting tortured or something…" I looked over worriedly at Eriol, but he just shook his head…as the yelling stopped.
We all looked at each other, then looked back at Syaoran. His eyebrows were knitted together in a small frown, but then his face relaxed…and he giggled.
Seriously giggled.
I mean, this is Syaoran we are talking about here. Sure, arguably, he does laugh more now than he used to, but still…I have never actually heard him giggle. I don't care whoever was actually in there at the moment, this was still something that shouldn't happen. Syaoran giggled a bit more than burst out laughing, and rolled over. A second later he was silent.
At first none of us watching said anything, but I decided to break the silence.
"Well. That was…odd…"
Eriol, who was eyeing Syaoran, glanced at me, "Very odd…"
Tomoyo sat back in her chair and asked, "What do you suppose the dream was about that caused…" She paused, waved a hand vaguely around in the air and continued. "…that?"
I shrugged, but Eriol answered out loud, "I'm not sure, but I think we need to keep a closer eye on what's happening in our mentally unstable friends' mind here…"
I glanced up at Eriol as he stood up and headed to the bathroom, "How do we do that?"
He stepped into the bathroom, and appeared a second later holding a round mirror. "With this…"
He sat down in his chair as Tomoyo and I looked on in curiosity. Eriol placed the mirror onto the headboard behind Syaoran's head and placed his forefinger on it. He muttered a word I didn't catch, and the mirror instantly fogged up. Eriol sat back and looked at our confused faces. "It's just a spell to allow us to view his dreams."
"Isn't that an invasion of privacy or something"
Eriol just shrugged. "Probably"
The mirror started to clear, and images started to manifest.
I saw Syaoran flinch in the corner of my vision, but was too preoccupied by what was appearing on the glassy surface to worry.
"Wha-what the hell?"
~~~~~~~~~~
Syaoran's POV:
You know that movie 'Charlie's Angels' right?
Well I, for some reason, was now having a dream about that. And for some other strange reason, that Sakura chick, that Tomoyo chick and some other vaguely recognizable chick with black hair, were the 'Angels'. They were all dressed in these black form-fitting outfits and were standing in this really strange pose.
But that wasn't all.
You know that fight scene with the 'creepy thin man'?
Well apparently, I was the 'creepy thin man'.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura's POV:
All I could do was splutter, as I saw myself, Tomoyo and Meilin; wearing something black, leap into the air and start to fight Syaoran.
"Wha-I-the-this never happened!"
I cringed as 'my' boot was driven forcefully into 'Syaoran's' gut as 'Meilin' and 'Tomoyo' flipped forwards in a complicated looking move and landed quite gracefully on some trash cans.
Eriol, who was trying to smother a laugh, explained, "A memory can be of anything, even what we see in a movie, and I said they would be distorted…"
Calling this distorted was an understatement.
I watched in shocked silence as 'I' flipped forward several times then swung my leg up in a move that I could only guess was intended to remove 'Syaoran's' head with.
"Can't we do something! I-I-I'm beating the crap out of him!"
Tomoyo giggled, then tried to look serious. "Touya would be proud."
We all flinched, even Syaoran, as in the dream, he was kicked into a pile of crates. Eriol, trying not to laugh, turned to my stunned face. "It's okay Sakura, it's just a dream, he can't physically be hurt by it."
"But what about psychologically! Isn't this going to seriously mess him up?…more than he is?"
I cringed again, and hid my face behind my hands as all three of us did something that just shouldn't be possible, physically speaking (that is it defied several laws of physics) which ended with several of 'our' limbs connecting with various bits of 'Syaoran'.
"Oh no, it would have to be even worse than this before it actually causes mental problems…" He paused, adding, "Well, more mental problems…"
I really didn't want to know how bad it actually had to be.
I didn't even want to watch anymore. Eriol and Tomoyo's running commentary was bad enough to listen to as it was.
"Ooooohhh, that's gotta hurt…::pause::…is that even legal??!"
"Only in a few states…::sucks in breath:: ouch…good thing this is just in his dreams, otherwise I think our dear Syaoran would be in a lot of pain…::pause again::…a lot of pain…"
I still wasn't watching, "I can't believe you too are actually enjoying this…can't you make it stop?"
"What do you mean…like wake him up?"
I nodded vigorously, "Yes, that's a very good idea…"
"Sorry Sakura, if we wake him up, he'll never get his proper memories back…" He paused, "However…"
I paused, and peaked at Eriol through my fingers. "However what…?"
He was smiling serenely again, a look I have always associated with pain and suffering for me. "Sometimes events in your environment can change your dreams, so if you're really that worried about him, you can do something to him…that would probably take him out of his current predicament…" He raised his eyebrows, looking calm.
Too calm.
I hate when he looks that calm.
I looked back at the mirror, still showing the dream, hoping that maybe I had just been over reacting and didn't have to do whatever he was playing on me doing…as 'Meilin' roundhouse kicked 'Syaoran' in the side. And as if matters couldn't possibly be any worse, she did it wearing heals that by all accounts should have been able to quite easily remove Syaoran's appendix.
"What do I have to do?"
He smiled and replied simply "…I think a kiss should be sufficient."
"WHAT?!"
Tomoyo looked excited "OOH! Yeah, and I can get it on tape!"
I glowered, looking livid, an expression I think I must have picked up from Syaoran. "NO"
"Oh come on Sakura, I'm sure both of you will enjoy it, and it might even jog Syaroan's memory back too, you never know unless you try…"
"NO"
"But-"
"NO"
I glared menacingly at both the hopeful looking Tomoyo, and the calmly smiling Eriol. For one thing, they use that excuse way to much for me to actually believe it as a reasonable excuse.
'Oh poor Syaoran twisted his ankle, you should go kiss him to make him feel better…'
'Syaoran looks sad, kiss him and cheer him up…'
'Go on, you want him, he wants you, kiss him already…'
And besides, how the hell would me kissing Syaoran possibly bring back his memories?! They should know by now that I'm not that stupid.
I continued to glare at them as Eriol spoke up, "Go on, it's not going to do him any harm…"
Without saying a word, I picked up a cushion, with all the intentions of hurling it at Eriol, but changed my mind half way…and smacked Syaoran on the head with it.
He snorted, rolled over, the image in the mirror faded and fogged up, indicting that that particular dream had ended.
I looked smug as I sat back and crossed my arms in front of me. Eriol simply raised an eyebrow. "Fine, do it your way then."
~~~~~~~~~~~some time later~~~~~~~
He was now running in a field. The grass was bright purple, and the sky didn't seem to be able to make up its' mind on what colour it wanted to be, and was constantly changing. Currently it was mustard yellow dotted with fluro-green rabbits. The bright purple grass started to wobble, and a yellow brick road appeared.
The other dreams had been weird, but this was just plain creepy.
I was having hard time trying to figure out what memory this was supposed to be of as several cats ran by, sprouted wings and swan dived into a pool which looked like it was filled with red creaming soda. I blinked and watched as they started to perform synchronized swimming.
I blinked again, as Eriol spoke up. "It looks like the potion is wearing off. These are just normal dreams. He'll be okay now…" He glanced at Tomoyo who yawned, and continued, "I think it would be best if we all went to sleep now, we can try again tomorrow night."
I nodded and stretched as Eriol stood up and tapped the mirror. The surface cleared then became glassy again. Tomoyo stretched and stood up then sleepily went to the door. I walked past her, and trudged to our room, as Tomoyo said goodnight to Eriol. I wasn't about to hang around to listen to the next few minutes of 'Who can be the sappiest' and fell gratefully into bed.
…I hope this works…
Fat chance.
~~~~~~~~~~The next day~~~~~~~~~
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but Syaoran is really starting to get on my nerves…"
Eriol, who looked almost as haggard as me, snorted softly in agreement, "You and me both"
When we had woken up that morning; not only wasn't Syaoran back to normal, but he wasn't even in his bed. A quick search then established that he wasn't in the cabin either, and it had taken us almost all the day to find him. We couldn't track him using his aura either, it was just too messed up that it wasn't recognizable anymore. We did eventually find him though, hiding behind the main cabin; where the rest of the class was staying, trying to build a snowmobile out of sticks and bark. And to make matters worse, he wasn't speaking to me now, having lost his trust in me over the 'tea' I had given him the night before.
He kept shooting me looks, and no matter what we told him, he wouldn't come back to the cabin with us, repeatedly saying that he 'didn't want to return to our cabin of evil where we were trying to poison his mind with our satanic ways'
Oh and he called me the 'Unholy Queen Wench of the Harpies' too.
I have to say, I was more than a little insulted by that.
Mr. Terada found us, when Syaoran had started to yell out on our attempt at physically dragging him back, and, after quickly dropping Syaoran into the snow as to not look suspicious, were invited to come and have dinner with the rest of the class. Syaoran seemed to like this idea, and we had no choice but to join them. It's not that I don't like talking with my friends, it's just that I wanted to get on with getting Syaoran back to normal. And anyway, I didn't know how he was going to act either. He was really unpredictable, people would get suspicious and then there would be a whole lot of explaining to do.
Then again, I could just use the erase card on their memories…or get Eriol to do it, he seemed pretty good at that sort of thing.
And then there's the trouble of actually getting Syaoran to drink more of the potion. I don't think the 'tea' excuse is going to work a second time around…
~~~~~~~~
Eriol's POV:
Sakura looked troubled as we trudged inside, she seemed to have a lot on her mind. She smiled cheerfully when Rika and the others came over to say hello, but I could tell she wasn't as happy as she seemed to everyone else. We were walking by the kitchen; the smell of food cooking indicating that dinner was almost ready, when Sakura got this weird look in her eye. I wasn't sure exactly why, but I didn't have a chance to ask as we continued on into the sitting area, where the class was relaxing and chatting, waiting for dinner to be served. The look had vanished by the time we had gotten ourselves comfortable, and she seemed less troubled, and much happier as she chatted with Rika, Chiharu and Naoko about this and that. Syaoran, thankfully, stayed quiet the whole time, which was good, otherwise people would get suspicious. He even shot me a few glares, leaving none the wiser that Syaoran was, in actual fact, a nut-case.
Mr. Terada called us all down when dinner was ready, and so we made our way to the table. It was fairly quiet and uneventful, most people content just to eat; only a few talked here and there. Dinner tonight was what I could only assume was chicken in a past life, peas and mashed potatoes. Sakura, whom was sitting across from Syaoran, was seemingly ignoring the looks he kept shooting at her. She didn't even do so much as glance in his direction, paying more attention to her plate than anything else.
And she looked calm.
Almost too calm…
Syaoran, who before had insisted that he help serve, didn't start eating until everyone else had, but after a few minutes, when I assume he was satisfied that the food wasn't drugged, dug in.
He chewed twice…His eyes rolled up in the back of his head…and he passed out.
There was a clash as nearly everyone dropped their cutlery, the silence thick as they looked at Syaoran in shock.
Well, everyone except Sakura.
She simply went on calmly eating as if Syaoran was not, in actual fact, slumped in his mashed potatoes unconscious.
I blinked and looked at her, an eyebrow raised. She simply swallowed her mouthful, calmly picked up her napkin, wiping away any crumbs from her mouth then calmly said. "Time Card, Freeze the moment."
I blinked as the room froze, then looked at Sakura expecting an explanation. She just looked at me, all calm like, and shrugged, "What? He wasn't going to drink any 'tea' we gave him again, I was just using my initiative."
With that said, she pulled out the 'Erase card' and got it to erase what just happened from everyone's minds except for Tomoyo's, whom Sakura had kept out of the time freeze. That done, she got us to help her carry Syaoran back to our cabin, then unfroze time again.
I didn't even want to ask 'how' let alone 'when' she had managed to slip the potion into his food alone. The possibilities are endless, and more than a little disconcerting.
I'll just have to remind myself never to eat anything when I've done something to get on Sakura's nerve.
Sakura's a scary person when she's irritated and hasn't had enough sleep.
~~~~~~~~~
Sakura's POV:
"Oh God, please make it stop…"
Tomoyo was smiling, taping as always. Eriol, mirroring her look, said, "Well, at least it's interesting…"
I scowled at him, then grimaced as I saw the mirror fog up at the end of another dream. Eriol wasn't joking when he said they would be distorted. The ones we had just witnessed were just plain warped, a majority of them had been of moments between Syaoran and I.
I think my face would permanently be stuck in a blush because of it. Tomoyo, being Tomoyo, got it all on her trusty tape. She had practicably squealed when 'Syaoran' had grabbed me…and 'we' had started to make out. And this was supposed to be the time when he had tried to force me to give him the cards.
See what I mean by distorted?
Tomoyo, sounding way too happy for my liking, spoke up, "Ooh, another one is starting!"
I didn't even want to look, but I just couldn't stop myself. I looked hesitantly up at the mirror, instantly recognizing the scene. Strangely enough, it didn't seem as warped as the others. Mind you, the scene itself was warped enough in the first place.
In fact, it looked almost exactly as it did from the tape Tomoyo had of it, besides the fact that it was now seen through Syaoran's eyes.
I grinned. After all that embarrassing torture, I could use a laugh.
It had happened about a year ago, and as part of a class project, we had to form groups of 4 and create our own mini movies. Tomoyo was, needless to say, very happy by this idea.
She immediately started voicing her ideas, and pleaded and begged, bribed and blackmailed us until we agreed to let her go through with them.
She wanted to do a romance.
Three guesses, not that you'd really need them, about whom the main characters would be played by. 'Helena', played by me, was hopelessly in love with the shy and often reclusive 'Jackson', played of course, by Syaoran, whom was (surprise surprise) hopelessly in love with 'Helena'. One particular scene involved 'Jackson' and 'Helena' being locked into a closet together by their best friends, 'Liam' (played by Eriol) and 'Fiona' (played by Tomoyo), because 'everyone knows that when you lock too people together in a confined space, that just happen to like each other, they will inevitably 'hook up''. I had told Tomoyo that it was lame. She just said that that was the point.
So anyway, long story slightly shorter, Syaoran and I had been locked in the closet. I'll tell you what happened, in my point of view, sometime after we had been forcibly pushed into the closet…
"THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD LET ME OUT OF HERE TOMOYO! I HAVE TO GET HOME IN :: pause to glance at watch:: 10 MINUTES! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE COOKING TONIGHT!! THUD THUD THUD"
My wrist was getting sore from banging on the closet door so much, and I was just too irritated to be embarrassed about the fact that Syaoran and I were locked inside a very small space.
I turned around and glared balefully at the camera in the closet with us ('to tape the scene for the movie'), knowing full well that Tomoyo and Eriol were watching on the TV in the room.
Syaoran, just as annoyed as I was, continued his assault on the door. "THUD THUD THUD THUD LET ME OUT OF THIS DAMN CLOSET RIGHT NOW OR I'LL BREAK THROUGH DAMNIT!!"
Eriol's voice broke through the racket that Syaoran was making. "Now now you two, we just need you to do the scene for the project, then you can get out." I saw Syaoran, in the semi-darkness, scowl as he stopped whacking the door. "They're up to something aren't they?"
"Of course they are, this is Eriol and Tomoyo we're talking about here…" And I knew perfectly well what they were up to. The 'movie' was just a convenient way of doing it. But I just wasn't in the mood to play 'Let's play matchmaker'. I looked at my watch again and grimaced. "Touya's gonna kill me if I'm late…hmmpf, maybe I should just say it was your fault I'm late, then he'll go and kill you instead of me."
"Gee thanks"
Tomoyo's voice drifted through the door. "Make it louder so the camera can record it, and use the proper names!"
I scowled again. Syaoran, ignoring that little comment, was looking at the lock with interest.
"What?"
He glanced at me for a second, then touched his forefinger to the lock. I felt him gather some of his magic then…
ZAP! THADUMP!
"OOOOooooowww…" The lock, which Syaoran had just tried to break through, was smoking slightly, and Syaoran was now in an uncomfortable looking heap on the floor. He muttered something and tried to get up, but was having difficulties given his current position and the severe lack of space in the closet.
Eriol had even gone so far as to put a spell on the door so that we couldn't force our way out.
Damn, I hate it when people know you too well…
"Here…"I leaned forward and tried to give him a hand up, placing my other hand on the wall to try and keep my balance. But of course, just to make things more fun, as I was pulling him up, my hand on the wall slipped and I ended up sprawled on top of Syaoran.
Eriol's voice quipped through the door. "C'mon you two, this is supposed to be a 'G' rated film!"
I felt Syaoran tense up as he growled and forcibly kicked the door. "WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE ERIOL, I SWEAR I AM GOING TO TAKE YOUR DAMN GLASSES AND STICK THEM UP WHATEVER ORIFICE CAUSES THE MOST PAIN!"
"Oow! Don't yell in my ear Syaoran!"
"Oh sorry…"
I tried to get up, but ended up kneeing him in the stomach. "Ehh heh sorry bout that…"
Thud…thud…thudump ::muttered profanities:: thud…thud…
Several minutes later, we managed to sort ourselves out, much to the amusement of Tomoyo and Eriol outside. Their laughter was getting annoying.
"Can't we just give it a rest until some other time, I really need to get home…"
Tomoyo managed to stop laughing to answer. "C'mon, it won't take long, just do the scene and we'll let you out."
"Sigh:: Fine…" I pulled the script out of my jumper and flicked to the page, squinting at the writing in the semi-darkness. I saw Syaoran pull out and skim through his as well. I grimaced, at about the same time he did, as I read the stuff we were supposed to say in the scene.
For one thing, it was too damn sappy. And for another thing, people our age; in my experience, don't go around saying this sort of stuff.
But, strangely enough, Syaoran had this little evil smirk on his face.
I frowned and looked at him. "What?"
He glanced at me then talked to me telepathically. *…You'll see…*
I frowned curious, but answered back *Righto then…*
Syaoran cleared his throat and tucked the script back in his pocket. "Ready?"
"I suppose, given I don't have a choice…"
(Syaoran, as 'Jackson'): ::fidgeting, looking at his feet:: "I can't believe they did this to us…they're supposed to be our friends."
(Me, as 'Helena'): ::looking mad:: "They are, they just find things like this very funny…" 'Jackson' was looking at me funny. "What?"
'Jackson' glanced quickly down to his feet, blushing. "It's just…it's…::loosing confidence:: nothing…"
I had to admit, Syaoran's acting skills had improved a lot since we did 'Sleeping Beauty', but that might have something to do with the fact that he was actually playing a guy's part this time. (And of course Yukito wasn't there, but Syaoran sorted out that whole 'Yukito thing' years ago.) I continued on with my lines. "No, what…what were you going to say...?"
"::avoiding eye contact:: It's just your eyes…they're really pretty…" He glanced up, locking his eyes with mine for a second before looking away. "They remind me of…"
"Of what?"
He looked at me, his expression serious. "of…lettuce"
We both snorted simultaneously, and I had to cover my mouth to stop from laughing. Tomoyo's voice called out, "Hey! That's not how the script goes!"
Catching Syaoran's drift, I went completely out of character, and purposely forgetting the lines I was supposed to say, continued.
"Oh Jackson, what a relief it is to find a man these days who has such a way with words. And one who is so strong, like an ox…and hairy like a gorilla…"
We pretty much lost it at that point. Tomoyo sounded like she was going to pop a vein. "THAT'S NOT WHAT'S WRITTEN IN THE SCRIPT!"
We just ignored her. I knew I had to get home, but we both pretty much had had enough of listening to Tomoyo and Eriol tell us what to do, and having them put us through so many embarrassing scene's. So sue us, it was about time we had a little fun. And besides, she never said that we had to do the scene properly…
"Oh Helena, what is that enchanting perfume you are wearing…It is intoxicating."
Wiping away tears of laughter, I put a 'seductive' expression on my face that was so over the top and exaggerated that I think I should probably try out for a role in 'The bold and The Beautiful'. "But Jackson…I'm not wearing any perfume…" I then finished that off with an over-exaggerated batting of my eyelashes.
This was the first time I'd ever seen Syaoran laugh so much that he actually cried. Eriol, who finally let us out, looked like he had found it pretty funny as well, but was trying to keep a straight face for Tomoyo. She looked upset, and for the next few days, wouldn't look at us without pouting or getting sad until we reluctantly agreed to re-do the scene again properly.
I smiled at the memory as the mirror fogged up again. Despite a few very embarrassing scene's (and Tomoyo only made Syaoran kiss me on the cheek because he kept passing out whenever they tried to make us kiss properly) the mini-movie was a big success, we got top mark in the class. I rubbed my eyes, trying to wake myself up, but was relieved to see it was just another one of the 'normal' dreams that indicated that the potion was wearing off. I glanced at the clock and noticed that I still had a few hours to have a quick sleep before we all had to get up and pack. It was our last day, we were leaving late morning which meant we had to pack, return our hired gear and have our stuff on the bus early. I said goodnight and wandered out the room as Tomoyo and Eriol indulged in another round of 'Who can be the sappiest', then crawled into my bed. I had fallen asleep even before my head had hit the pillow.
~~~~~~~On the bus~~~~~~~~
I was tired.
There was no doubt about that. I had only managed to catch a few hours sleep before Eriol had woken me up. He had wanted to get everything organized before Syaoran woke up, just in case he was still insane and wanted to run off again. It only took us a second to pack up our things, being the neat creatures that we are, (magic helps a lot too…) so we were on standby when Syaoran did eventually wake up.
He, of course, was still a nut-case, and we had no choice but to tie him up and gag him. Eriol put a concealing spell on him so people couldn't see him, and I used the illusion card to create another Syaoran that looked normal, so that it wouldn't appear that we were missing a student. I also made the illusion Syaoran 'go to sleep' so that people wouldn't want to speak to him. (The illusion card doesn't speak). For most of the bus trip I sat in silence, staring out the window, Kero was fast asleep in my backpack, snoring lightly. Despite the fact that I was tired, I didn't feel like sleeping myself. This could also be due to the fact that the invisible crazy Syaoran next to me (disguised as normal sleeping Syaoran) kept banging into my arm in his struggles to break free of the ropes we had been forced to tie him with.
Or maybe it was because Tomoyo and Eriol, for the last hour or so, had been sweet-talking each other.
* …I swear…whoever first invented the name 'pooky-bear' should be hung from a tall pole by their feet and prodded with a hot poker…*
I think it was safe to say that I wasn't in the best of moods.
I stepped off the bus, many hours later, grumpy, tired, and pretty much just haggard from the whole trip. It had been arranged before we left for the trip that I was to go home with Tomoyo, as Dad was on some excavation, and Touya was still busy with University. This turned out better than we had originally expected because we could then keep Syaoran at Tomoyo's house until he was back to himself again. (if that would ever happen.) Eriol was invited to stay as well so after saying our good-byes to our friends we all piled into the limo that pulled up, and were on our way.
~~~~~~~~Later that night~~~~~~~
Syaoran refused to eat anything.
So went for the next best option.
"GET HIM!" We all leapt into the air simultaneously. Well, by 'we all' I mean Kero, in his true form, Eriol and myself. Tomoyo was off on the side and…you guessed it, recording.
THUD-THUD-"AAAAAGGHHH" Syaoran managed to throw us all off and we all fell to the floor with a thud. He ran off but was spear-tackled be Eriol, both landing on the ground with a thud. I scrambled up of the floor and grabbed the bottle containing the potion as well as a scrap of cloth. I pulled the stopper off with my teeth and sloshed some of the purple coloured liquid onto the scrap, then pushed the stopper back on. Eriol had managed to get Syaoran in a headlock, but he didn't look like he was going to be able to hold it for very long. Syaoran looked up, seeing me coming towards him with a very suspicious looking, slightly purple coloured cloth in my hand. His eyes widened and he started to struggle even more. He probably thought I was going to use Chloroform on him…which really wasn't that far from the truth.
I leapt forward and slapped the cloth onto his face, covering his nose and mouth. His yells were muffled as he struggled some more, but he was slowing down given the added weight of Eriol, Kero and myself hanging on.
A second later his struggles stopped completely, his eyes rolled up into his head and he once again passed out. We all fell to the floor with a thud. Eriol pushed his glasses back on his face where they had become askew and ran a hand through his hair to try and tidy it up a bit. I noticed when I glanced in a mirror as we picked Syaoran up from the floor and deposited him rather ungracefully onto the bed, that my formally neat hair was in disarray, making me look even more haggard than I had before. I sighed and tried to straighten it out. Tomoyo looked at me, a worried expression gracing her features. "Why don't you get some sleep Sakura."
I shook my head. "No, it's okay, I want to be around if anything happens."
Eriol, who was sitting in one of the chairs in the room, looked just as worried as Tomoyo had. "You really should get some sleep Sakura. I don't think anything bad is going to happen. And we'll wake you if something does. Go get some sleep."
I looked at Tomoyo, then Eriol, wanting to protest, when Kero, still in his true form, nudged me on the back. "Come on Sakura, you'll feel better if you do."
I sighed. They were right. "Okay, if you insist…"
I was in one of the spare rooms, next door to the one that we were keeping Syaoran in. At first I just laid on my back, staring at the ceiling. Once again I was tired, but I just couldn't sleep. "You'll never go to sleep if you keep your eye's open…"
I rolled over and looked at Kero, curled up next to me (In his false form) on the pillow. "I know, I was just thinking"
"Of?"
"Just stuff"
There was a pause. "You're thinking about the kid…aren't you…"
I grinned slightly. "He has a name you know…"
"Yeah, I know…it's just more fun to call him 'The Kid', mainly because it annoys him…Just go to sleep Sakura…we'll get him back eventually…"
I smiled and closed my eyes. ":sigh:: I hope you're right Kero…I miss him…"
Kero made a noise, I wasn't sure whether it was a snort or not. "yeah me too, I don't have anyone to tease anymore…"
I smiled again. "Goodnight Kero"
"Night Sakura…"
I rolled over, pulled my quilt up around me and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
* We are going to get him back…we have to…*
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pretty boring ending (for that chapter that is, don't worry there's still more to come…^ - ^)
::BIG SIGH:: Boy…that chapter took a long time to write…I kept getting other ideas halfway through, and kept having to rewrite bits of it. I think I re-wrote the 'mini-movie' bit about three times…but hey, it's out now so there you go.
Anywho, get ready for the next, and probably last chapter for 'The Cold and the Cardcaptor'. Yep, she's wrapping up people, the insanity is about to come to a close.
DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNN
And beware peoples…the next ones going to be a doozy. (Diabetics beware) Just what you've all been waiting for, A BIG OL DOSE OF SAP. YAY!!!!! C'mon you knew it would be coming…I think I've put Syaoran and Sakura through enough (well…for this story anyway…)so it's time for a bit of roooooommmaanncceee…oooo-OOOO-oooo (starts humming the theme song for one of those 'blind-date' shows…)
Hey…that chapter was pretty long too…wow, go me!!!
Anywho, I gotta go, got to start writing the next chapter, as well as get started on some of my other stories (If I get the time, and yes, I do have more stories coming out…he he he…about 3 or 4 so far…some short, some long…but you'll have to wait and see…).
So anyway, hope you enjoyed this second to last installment of 'The Cold and the Cardcaptor'! Remember to REVIEW! And till next time!! ^-^