Author's Note: Sort of off schedule but it's here and that's all that counts right? I'm approaching the end, within 3 chapters…or maybe 2, so this is going to take that heavy drama route again. Back to basics I guess. As always, read and review please?
Arigato Wings of Fire, Misty Showron, kawaii_libra-chan, kawaii girl, budinski, LightBlossom, Jen, Final Fantasy Princess, Cherry, Delita Mukara Bl'Ferno, Rhea-chan (you can hug me, as long there's not an ear of corn behind your back…=P)
Thanks to Caoilfhionn: I enjoy your long reviews…I'm actually a pre-med major…*shiver* I'll miss writing when I get lost in science…*sigh*. Nothing will make me happier if you surpass me…in fact, since I'm still here…bring it on! =)
Urania-Niecy: Wow…I can't do multitasking without getting all @-@. The other stories will still be there when I finish, but I'll miss this little fic…my first you know…
Evil Karyta: thanks as usual for the nice review…you haven't got a dedication yet…hmm…next chapter…
Ah…the dedication: I'm such a baka, the one person I kept on forgetting. Gomen. This chapter's for Eagle_33. You've been with this story for so long, and I'm more grateful than you know.
Disclaimer: I have as much chance of owning CCS as sprouting wings and flying.
When Everything Else is GoneChapter 12: Unsteady Ground
The building brightened as its characteristic fluorescent lights came avidly to life. Sakura walked self-consciously down the familiar hallways, her unsteady tread loud against her ears. Her surroundings seemed unusually quiet, a few hushed whispers to disrupt the all-encompassing silence. Compared to the other buildings at the university, this was nearly abandoned, few students made their hesitant ways past her, turning uncertainly into office and lecture halls. "It's so quiet."
"Yeah. It'll take a while to get used to this." Yuomo looked down at Sakura, head bent away from a large box of books. "But we can't just stay here and talk; we've got a job to do."
Sakura nodded happily shaking the box in her arms to test for security. "Let's go." They plodded down the hallways, wobbling slightly under the awkward weight of books, tools, artifacts, reports. The door opened for them, a man greeting them while trying to count out the number of thick tomes laying on his desk.
"Sakura. Can you put that box on the small shelf on your right? Yuomo, if you can, can you get that box on top of the filing cabinet?" Fujitaka surveyed his office, a mess of papers, boxes and unorganized books. It actually reminded him like before he left. "I guess some things don't change." Yuomo, catching his reference chuckled in reply, while Sakura remained lost in thought, confused as to why they were laughing.
She jolted awake as the box she was leaning against tumbled to the ground, its contents splayed across the carpeted floor. Bending quickly to take up the papers, she unearthed various pictures and frames from underneath their cover. She turned over the first frame, Touya staring back at her, his smiling features overset in the high school background. She turned to the next photograph, a family portrait, Fujitaka smiling rubbing Touya's head, a baby Sakura nestled safely on her mother's lap. "I've never seen these pictures before."
Fujitaka questioned distractedly separating stray papers into piles. "What pictures?" Taking the photographs from Sakura's hands, he smiled. "Those, I keep in my office to remind myself what a wonderful family I have."
"Oh." Sakura laid them reverently on the desk, arranging them in a row, taking an extra look at Touya. Her movements caught in mid action when a raucous laugh broke through the stillness, running feet pounding their way to the door. She jumped in surprise as Meiling appeared excitedly in the doorway. "Meiling? You guys finished lunch early."
Tomoyo followed behind with Syaoran, having his Syaoran's arm in a death grip, shooting questions off about Sakura and his future promises. A thoroughly reddened cardcaptor deftly eased out of her grip, finding safety at Sakura's side. "Yeah, the restaurant wasn't crowded."
Fujitaka laid a fatherly hand on the two cardcaptors' shoulders. "Well since you're here, why don't you help us unpack?" They merely nodded, turning around to survey the overturned bookends, scattered chronicles of archaeological digs, dog-eared photographs of bones, dust covered diaries and journals. Sakura groaned, her stomach running on empty, the prospect of her afternoon and night consumed in this chore. "Too much Sakura?"
She set a bookend upright smiling. "Just a little hungry, but it can wait."
The book in her hand disappeared with a jerk; she looked up quizzically from her empty hand to her father's gentle face. "This will take awhile; we can't have you starving yourself to death can we?" He neatly placed the book in the center of an upper shelf. "Besides, I have my own cataloging system; I should do this myself. And you…" He turned her abruptly around to face the door. "You should go get something to eat." He forestalled any protest with a paternal "Don't argue with me; I'm your father."
Tomoyo lunged forward, snatching at Syaoran's hand, seizing him by surprise. "And you're going to take her to eat." She shoved him toward the door, clicking on her camera. "Now go."
If just to avoid Tomoyo's camcorder, Syaoran took hold of Sakura's arm and led her quickly out of the office. He pressed her to go faster, distancing themselves from the blinking red light of Tomoyo's video camera. "Daidiouji's gone insane."
Sakura laughed. "She's just happy for us." She laid her head on his shoulder, stepping across the threshold into the bright day. "Today seems unreal." Inhaling a deep breath, she pulled on her gloves, savoring the brisk winds as they flew past her. "Don't you think?"
They slowed their pace to stroll lazily through winding paths, around the bare trees, kicking up gravel stones in their thread, white spanning across their view. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." Syaoran pulled Sakura closer to him, a comfortable silence settling between them. There was no need for words, the feelings embedded in the unspoken being understood and sincere.
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Sakura pushed the empty plate away from her, wiping her mouth with the napkin. "Best lunch I've ever had."
Syaoran looked disbelievingly across at the card mistress. "Best lunch? It was only pasta."
She narrowed her eyes, almost a seductive move on her part, raising her index finger in anticipation of something comically profound. "Ah…but I had the best company." Throwing off her Yamakazi imitation, she turned her eyes on her companion, the deep green piercing with intensely as fire.
Syaoran coloured slightly, eyes glimmering with reciprocated emotion, taking her hand into his. "I could say the same thing."
She returned his smile, leaning her hand against the nearby window, fog appearing at her warm touch, looking at the passing students with their books and freedom. Words left off at another familiar pause, the cafeteria being somewhat empty. "Well, I say we talk. What was Tomoyo asking you about as you came in today?"
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Tomoyo looked interested, casting a sideways glance at Syaoran, himself being preoccupied by some thought. She poked him with a chopstick, holding it up threateningly to his nose. "You've been like this all morning. What's wrong?"
Syaoran merely shook his head, looking down at his food with intensity. "Nothing."
Meiling swallowed her bite, taking a sip of lemonade. "He's just thinking about his future." She shrugged off Syaoran's glare, smirking if not a little sardonically. "I remember hearing him arguing with Aunt Yelan…something about staying in Japan."
Tomoyo's eyes starred, leaning forward in interest. "All for Sakura. If I may use a word of hers: 'hanyaan'." The two girls' peculiar laughs filled the diner, earning them with more than a few questioning looks.
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A deep scarlet stained Syaoran's cheeks. "Oh, nothing really, just some things for the future. You know after…" He traced a rectangular outline in the air. "You know, after it's all done with."
Sakura nodded grimly; what would life be like after the Clow cards? It was looming above her, two more cards to go. "I've never really thought it about before. They get sealed away right?"
He squeezed her hand tighter, shaking his head uncertainly. "I mean after…" He gestured indiscriminately in the air for lack of words.
'After' echoed in Sakura's mind, a disembodied ghostly voice sending goosebumps along her flesh. "You mean, about us?" She winced at the prospect of being torn away from Syaoran, separated an ocean away and expected to go on. Her stare turned sideways, focusing her pain into the scenery, hiding the repressed emotions beyond her consciousness' reach.
Unexpectedly, Syaoran had gotten up from his seat and sat himself down next to her. "Yes, about us." His tone became strange, stammering and fumbling. "I-I…what I mean to say is that…" Scowling, he sighed in frustration, the words finding little help in untangling themselves from each other. Sakura's confused expression urged him on, his mind hoping something coherent would come out. "I called home and I explained everything…and I told them I want to stay…if you want me to. It's…" Lips silenced him, spring fragrance sweeping through his senses. Nervousness forgotten, he leaned in more, carried off by a wave of unremitting pleasure.
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The floor lurched suddenly under the two cardcaptors, jarring them from their embrace. Scanning around the cafeteria, various other tables had toppled, people trying to desperately maintain balance, panicking as they made their way to the doors. Sakura couldn't shake the sense of something impending as she stumbled to the exit. Earthquakes in Japan were fairly common and this one seemed weak, but it was unusual somehow; there was sense of reason behind it. "Come on Syaoran." He was standing motionless at their table, lost in a deep meditation. One foot out of the room, she waved him over earnestly. A loud cracking sound split open the air, extending itself to the floor, forking giant fissures over its surface. There was something definitely wrong; the swaying had not increased yet the building's supports were crumbling. The clamored sound of the floor falling way emanated, a creaking flowing into a deafening rumble, screams from around the room.
Sakura watched in horror as Syaoran's figure disappeared, blinking once before seeing the gaping wound in the floor where he once stood. Magic swarmed her perception as the rumbling receded. A small crowd had formed carefully around where Syaoran had fallen through, a quiet murmur of voices. Sakura, fused to the ground, stirred with urgency, ramming herself into the group, blind panic engulfing her emotions. "Syaoran." She could barely make out the name, her throat constricted and body strained as she violently shoved through the masses, reaching the dark jagged hole. Only emptiness awaited her vision as she peered desperately into the depths of the building. Nothing else mattered, her movements stroking in slow motion; she leapt into the hole, free falling, particles of dust and the sparking of severed electrical cords guiding her descent. The sea of surprised faces above faded as she entered deeper into the blackness. Ripping the Clow pendant off her neck, she summoned in the ghostly darkness, the incantation circle appearing at her feet, a solid edge to stand on, her drop frozen on the glowing platform. "Float." She drifted downward, mind tangled with disjoined thoughts, hope and dread, love and sorrow.
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Syaoran stood uncertainly at the table gazing outside, something uncertain flickering in his mind, a tingling crawling up his skin. His balance wavered suddenly, a large fissure forming underneath his feet; without time for recognizing his danger, the ground fell out, everything around him disappearing and plunging downward. He tried to disentangle himself from the falling debris, barely summoning his wind element. The wind blew fiercely at him, slowing his descent, but not nearly enough as his body slammed hard into a bed of rubble, a table crashing onto his lower leg.
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Sakura felt solid earth meet her heels, obscurity engulfing her, the low sound of a groan somewhere. "Syaoran?" The groan echoed again, pitch black encompassing, the hole a faint halo many floors above. "Light." The glowing maiden spirit encircled around the card mistress, absorbing the darkness like air, gradually clearing the space. Sakura turned anxiously around taking a full view of her surroundings, piles of unpacked boxes, dusty desks, a table of various models and diagrams, a storage basement of some kind. The moan echoed from behind her, Light revealing Syaoran's form sprawled on a bed of tiles and concrete, half crushed by a table, the broken shards of glass and dishes lodging themselves in his clothes. Her chest tightened, footfalls in rapid succession to each other. She clutched frantically at his hand, rubbing the dust and debris from his face. He opened an eye, pain marring his features, boring into Sakura. "How bad is it?" She turned a glance at the table laying on his leg, wincing as a crimson stream oozed slowly out.
His words came in short gasps, violent coughing spacing his words apart, refusing to be silenced as Sakura pleaded for him to conserve his strength. "Clow card…Earthy…I'm…fine."
"You're not fine!" Float lifted the table, Syaoran unable to control a yell of pain as the pressure left his leg.
"I'll…be…fine…" He lapsed into silence struggling to get up, the pain searing his senses. As he lifted off the ground, a deep sound echoed through the lower floor, quickly followed by a gentle vibration, steadily gaining more force, banging on the walls and ceiling. Sakura strained to support Syaoran as she faltered, calling on Float to assist them. Around them, cracks split through the concrete foundation, forking into the darkness. Protrusions of earth, sharp thorns of rock jutting from the ground, nearly impaled the two cardcaptors. "Shield." The energy barrier erected itself seconds before a sharp finger of rock erupted from underneath their feet, crashing against the shield, throwing shield, sending them to the wall. Chunks of twisted metal and concrete rained from above, the heaving building's groans a sign of impending collapse. The unsealed card seemed intent on destruction, splitting the groundwork, rushing up against Shield with an overwhelming force. "It's an…element…too strong."
Sakura wavered between staying at Syaoran's side or luring Earthy away into the maze of halls, leaving Shield behind. Taking a look at Syaoran's injured figure and Shield's weakening power, she sprinted from its protection making a straight line into the corridors. She turned a deaf ear to Syaoran's weak shouts, commanding Light to lead her deeper into the building's depths. As expected, Earthy stopped its assault on Shield and Syaoran opting to chase the fleeing card mistress, a trail of upturned dirt diving after her.
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Fujitaka stood in the crowd straining his vision for Sakura's form amidst the confusion. Yuomo shook her head in a negative as she returned from her search. "There's too many people; it's impossible to find her." Fujitaka nodded grimly; the whole university gathered in the central square, watching the math building stagger in instability.
Tomoyo pushed her way to the two adults, signifying 'no' with a shake of her head. "I haven't seen her or Syaoran. Everyone's all gathered around the math building; they say it's going to fall soon. There's too many people." The blaring of sirens and screeching of tires filled the air, ambulances, fire trucks, police cars.
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Meiling watched in curiosity as a group of students ran up to the fire chief waving their arms in urgency. "I wonder what they're saying…"
The tall man nodded his head gravely, running to the other firefighters repeating his received information. In response, thick ropes, axes, shovels were hauled out, piled into an impressive display of preparation. Megaphone to their mouths, police officers asked for space. "We've been told someone fell into the basement; we're going to open up the ground around here. Please back away so we can work." The building groaned under the stress of the crumbling walls and failing support beams. Dirt flew fast, sounds of scraping and banging bathing the scene.
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A small circle of light against the concrete walls, running lines of pipes, the dripping of water overheard over pounding footsteps, fuse boxes littering blurring as Sakura ran. Right… Left… Straight… She didn't know where she was; she didn't care. As long as Syaoran was left far behind, out of Earthy's reach. The unsealed card pursued with ruthless determination, Sakura twisting and dodging the exploding fingers of rock, the flying shards of concrete tearing through skin and cloth, Light's glow shaking as it wound around obstacles of stone. Powdered cement drifted from the ceilings, dropping from cracks that veined the overhead supports. The building wouldn't stand for long. Earthy shook the ground again, jarring Sakura off her feet into a nearby wall, her sudden weight crumbling the deteriorating structure, large chunks of concrete sealing off the corridor. She tried to regain her balance, but was once again thrown off her feet as Earthy's overbearing power rose with menacing force. She desperately crawled down the hall, the pain in her knees taking a second priority behind sealing the card. She halted at a dead end, a mass of collapsed stone barring her escape, Light setting nervously in a corner. Sakura wheeled around to sit on the dusty floor racking her mind for a solution. Earthy sensing its victory manifested itself, a stone dragon burrowing from the ground hurtling toward Sakura. Her vision blurred for an instant before she felt the blow, a sound of a bones snapping, body flung hard against the ground. She winced in anguish as she held her ribs, her other hand raising the sealing wand to strike Watery. Thick jets of water thrust themselves into Earthy, easily penetrating the stone and soil, a puddle of mud and crumbled rocks left behind. As she sighed in relief, another rumble resounded from under her, the bursting of the level land as Earthy once again dived for her. She rolled away in time, the pain in her side intensifying with each twist of her body, the sealing wand abandoned a few feet away from her.
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Syaoran willed himself to stand, unsuccessfully raising himself a few inches only to have his leg incapacitate him with pain. He forcefully dragged himself with panting breaths out of Shield's protective dome in some direction, the darkness too encompassing to know where she was. "S-Sakura." His voice had lost its strength, raspy pleadings answered only by the sounds of the building moaning and creaking. The sounds amplified themselves in the cavern like room, until rocks tumbled loose from the ceiling behind him. Turning his head, he met a blinding shaft of light framed by anxious faces. He squinted hard as a rope descended, a uniformed man running toward him, the flashlight's circle wobbling larger.
"We thought everyone was out. Thank Kami-sama someone told us you were in here. Come on; I'll help you up. This building's going down." He jerked Syaoran upright, nearly dragging him to the ladder, ignoring Syaoran's barely audible pleading. "You can tell us after we get you out." He tied them both to the rope, pulling on it twice.
Syaoran tried to desperately tell the man about Sakura, attempting to futilely remove himself from the man's grasp. His throat cracked and his speech failing as he uselessly endeavored to thrash out of the rope's tight embrace.
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Meiling stared at the figure dragged from the hole, someone familiar, brown hair streaked with dust, hanging weakly against the fireman. Pushing her way closer she caught Syaoran's contorted face. "Syaoran!" The crowd looked at her, making a channel for her to pass. She ran up to the rescue workers screaming over their official excuses and warnings. "He's my cousin!"
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Sakura flung herself onto her stomach, ignoring another cracking sound and the pain ensuing as another rib fractured. She reached for her staff, the cool touch of it transmitting itself through her fingertips. Watery was tiring itself out, defending against Earthy's attacks. Sakura's powers were already drained, trying to maintain Watery and Shield's strength hundred of yards away. There was only so much power she had to seal Earthy, but all options seemed impossible. It was an element card; it was the ground, what she stood on everyday, what made mountains jut out, what rooted trees… She stopped. Or was it the other way around? She rapidly flipped through her deck, landing on Wood. She took in a quick gasp of a breath, lifting the sealing wand up, gritting her teeth against the fire burning in her chest. "Wood. Bind Earth."
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Syaoran struggled against the doctor's restraining hands, mouthing Sakura's name silently on his lips. Leather restraints tightened around his flailing arms, tying him down to the gurney, no possibility of escape. A sharp prick registered on his left arm before the dizzying effects of the sedative worked its way through his mind, clouding the surging emotions, dropping his labored limbs, settling his consciousness into a dreamless blankness.
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Green vines exploded from the released card hardening into gnarled branches, thick and heavy. Digging into the ground, Wood pronged through concrete and stone, disappearing into the depths of a frayed burrow. A few moments of tensed anticipation hung in the air before an explosion of dirt revealed Earthy's struggling form bound tightly in Wood's branches. "Return to the form you were meant to be in, Clow card." Earthy dissolved into card form, floating toward her hand, another card phasing simultaneously through the rubble to find her open palm. Sakura looked around her, caved in, alone, without escape. The building gasped above her as its infrastructure gave way, the building rumbling approaching overhead. A flash. Silence.
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Meiling strained her ears over Syaoran's unconscious whispers, unable to decipher his ramblings. "What are you trying to say?"
The doctor coughed lightly. "He's under sedation; he can't answer you."
Meiling pulled at her hair in frustration and worry. "How bad is he?"
"He's doing fine considering he fell three floors, just a fractured leg, a miracle that he's not more injured."
"And Sakura?"
"Who's Sakura?"
"His girlfriend; where is she?"
"I don't know. He was the only brought in." The doctor shrugged, turning to attend the other students' minor injuries sustained.
"If Sakura isn't here…" Meiling jolted from her thoughts as a bellowing shout arose from the math building. She turned in time to see the three-story structure disintegrate into a large cloud of dust and twisted metal. "If Sakura isn't here…" She ran toward the mass of rubble.
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The blue clad officer looked with disbelief amongst the debris, a slender, pale hand contrasting against the darkened pieces of wreckage. He rushed into the pile calling for help as he pushed off the thick slabs of remnant walls. Sakura's body emerged from the pit, limply dragged to the open, the doctor bent earnestly over her body. He wiped a streak of sweat from his brow, sitting back on his heels. "She's alive, somehow."
Meiling turned to follow her friend to the ambulance but arrested as she saw something gleam in the sun's light. As the crowd's attention focused on the card mistress, Meiling crouched low, scanning the area where Sakura had been trapped. A torn leather strip tied to the Clow key, the Shield card wedged vertical between two blocks of concrete. She slipped them both into her pockets, running to catch up with Sakura.
Tomoyo had finally reached the ambulances, breathless, looking over at Syaoran. She turned in time to see Sakura's body being wheeled toward them. Panic swept through her, watching Sakura's limp arm hanging off the side of the gurney swaying with its movement. Stumbling over the ruins, she met them halfway. "Is Sakura…?"
The doctor smiled faintly shaking his head. "She's not too good, but not in serious danger. Maybe a few broken ribs? It's amazing, two people surviving…" He trailed off into medical jargon barking orders as both teenagers were loaded into the ambulance.
Meiling caught up as the double doors closed, banging hard for them open up. The paramedics looked at her dubiously as she begged to be let in for a moment, assenting after a tireless stream of words assaulted them. She climbed in to hover over the prone and unconscious card mistress, tying the Clow key around Sakura's neck and sliding Shield into a her pocket. The doors slammed quickly as she got out, the ambulance swaying dangerously as it picked up speed, running the two cardcaptors to the hospital. Its sirens blared endlessly drifting away from the university, fainter and fainter, until it was gone all together.
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Author's Note: I was going to make this a cliffhanger, but I hate cliffhangers…so no. Warning: the last few chapters will be rather drama-laced so just in case…