Author's Notes: So this the end huh? Like saying goodbye to a good friend, but everything has to change, doesn't it? And huge apologies for taking over a month, no excuses, no rationalization. Just very sorry. =(
Indescribable thanks to Final Fantasy Princess, chibiookamigirl, PrincessKidd, Jen, LightBlossom (yep, Happy B-Day Sakura), Bil, Delita Mukara BI'Ferno (heh, not too long, just a month or so), Silver-Cherry, Syaoran-and-Sakura (gomen, gomen, it was necessary), anjali-chan (god, I'm really flattered, even though I don't deserve those compliments…), nightshadow, Silly*Niecy (I'm one of those no angel/reanimation/raise from the dead authors, so unfortunately no =( ), Ccslilazngirly, Nate0130 (it's okay), Eagle_33 (short and little epilogue, but hey, ties everything up), CherryBlossom008, brittany, CreatiStar (pretty dog, ne?), Missy-chan (for the life of me, I can't think of a good enough plot for the sequel so this is it), Lakshmi
And thanks for everyone that took the time out to read this fiction these past seven months.
Disclaimer: Don't own CCS.
When Everything Else is GoneChapter 15: Resealed
Sakura stood hesitantly on her doorstep, doorknob in hand. The emptiness and stillness seemed so foreign; she almost half expected someone to wake her and tell it was all a dream. But no one came, her solitary figure transfixed in the threshold between old and new. There was a certain hesitation in her manner, a quiet unwillingness to let go of all she ever knew. But it was wavering. She took a few steps into the living room, scanning across the bare wooden floor, custard wallpaper, bay windows. It was time to go. Turning to go, she found herself inexplicably facing the living room again. She blinked, the unnoticed hum of magic suddenly loud enough to be felt. And yet, it wasn't the kind of raging magic that had threatened to consume her all those times before, only a skimming misty kind of power. Her fingers tingled as something appeared between them. Loop? A second card materialized in front of the first, Dream. Then another and another. Something was going to happen.
Underlit illumination caught Sakura in Clow's circle, the familiar summoning winds racing across her skin. A tug at her neck, the sealing key suspended in midair. The darkness of when Keroberos had appointed her Cardcaptor grew around the ground light, the surging of that wild magic veining at the outermost reaches of the moon seal. Blue magic swirled around consolingly almost in a gesture of goodbye. It was strange as Sakura looked about her, nothingness in her sight, cards filling her hands. Dash's high squeak commanded her attention as the animal appeared on her shoulder, soft fur nuzzling into the hollow of her neck.
Stillness. Frozen movement spurred the silence that filled Sakura's ears. All the cards wedged in her hand, the key ripped through its leather bindings, jerking her face forward in its freedom thrust. It hung in the air for a second before falling downward, hitting something invisibly solid midair before Sakura could reach out for it. A dark outline stenciled itself under the key, lock forming around its notches, red cover brightening in reverse fade. The Clow book hovered expectantly, drawing Sakura toward it, her head a jumble of dead end thoughts and half anticipations. She trailed her fingers along the solid antiquity of the book, that musty texture traveling along her fingertips. It felt different this time, no longer brimming with barely contained energy, but more or less restrained and calm, obedient.
With a click that barely registered in her mind, Sakura had turned the key in the lock, snapping the catch away. The lid flipped open instinctively, the cutout groove baring. Slowly the pile of cards from her grasp jerked from her fingers and placed themselves in to the book, each becoming magically inert as they landed. Sakura tried to grab at the escaping cards; they flitted from her reach, landing with sharp clicks into the pages. She felt helpless as one after another silenced itself into the book. It all seemed so different from normal, that something important and permanent was happening. Panicking, she threw her gaze around the lit circle, hoping to find someone to help her, Syaoran, Yue, even Tomoyo. She stopped straining into the black, a mess of robes and hint of gleaming lenses. The figure interrupted her attempt at questions with a low voice, soothing, somehow embodying a kind of that certainty that life could not offer. 'The cards are resealing themselves, Card Mistress.' With that, the red cover sprung closed again, diverting Sakura's attention. When she looked back up at the man's bare outlines, he was gone. A click echoed as the key turned in the lock, both key and book dropping from their stationary orbit.
Light sliced through the darkness, the magic circle disappearing to be replaced by the shadow broken gaze of the afternoon sun. Sakura was back in her living room, empty and quiet.
A rough turn of the knob resounded in the empty house, as Syaoran appeared from around the wall. "Sakura?"
Sakura stared at her feet, the two now resealed items dropped on the floor, the remaining leather of her necklace falling from her neck to lie listlessly over the tome. She looked up to meet Syaoran worried look. "The cards…they're resealed."
He blinked once before nodding and taking a sideways look outside. "We're going to be late." With amused certainty, he waited as Sakura looked down at her wristwatch, her face twisting itself into a horrified grimace, and her mouth opening to yelp in exasperation.
"Hoe! Otou-san's going to kill me." She hastily snatched up the Clow book and key, pocketing the later and bounding from the room to Syaoran's side. She huffed a sigh, leaning into his side, interlacing her hand with his. "Come on, time to start a new life."
Syaoran raised an eyebrow but remained otherwise silent, leading Sakura from the house. If he didn't get her out of here now, she'd never leave on her own. "You've been in here for hours, even Daidouji's losing her patience. And believe me, your father isn't enjoying calming her down."
Sakura smiled brightly, laughed as the image of her father trying to placate Tomoyo flashed into sight. "Guess you're right…" The door swung open in the breeze, enticing them to step into the world. And for a moment, Sakura paused, hearing laughter in the wind, two voices that she'd promised to never forget.
Syaoran looked down at Sakura, lost again in one of her daydreams. "Sakura, what did you forget?"
Snapping out of her trance, she plunged her fingers into his side, ignoring his helpless squirming. "Hey! I'll have you know, I haven't forgotten anything. I'm just thinking. Don't!" She warned him away from some comment on the tip of his tongue. "I was thinking about a snow bunny and a peach arrow." Leaving him thoroughly confused, she stomped over the threshold into summer, the door pulling shut with the sound of the end, and of the beginning.
___________________________________________
Author's Notes: Final goodbye for this fic. Sorry, no sequel; this works infinitely better this way. Bye everyone! See you on another fic!