Chapter 2

'realization'

Li flopped onto the grass, feeling tired and discouraged. It being so early, he'd decided the best thing to do was to come here to the park and try to examine the scene of the crime. Except of course, he had no idea where it had happened. He still didn't even remember coming to the park.

Why would I do that? I know I was headed toward the library. Why was I here?

"Come on," he appealed to the giant penguin slide. "You saw it. You must have seen the whole thing. Give me a hint."

But statues couldn't talk, and this one wasn't giving up any secrets. Li sighed and glanced around. He'd hoped that by coming here his memory might be jogged a little, but there was nothing. All he could think of were the multiple captures they'd made here, all those years ago. So many had happened right here.

It's almost as though the Cards were attracted to this place. I wonder if some places on earth are just more receptive to magic.

He shrugged and stood. There wasn't anything that he could find here that was of interest, and definitely no sign of his backpack. They must have taken it, whoever 'they' were.

The sun was rising, and he decided that it must be late enough to give Sakura a call. It was a Sunday, but hopefully she'd up by now. At least he'd finally remembered what her cell phone number was.

Lacking in change, he left the park and found the first store that was open, asking to use their phone. He got a few odd looks in the direction of his bandage, but they acceded and he dialed the number.

"We're sorry, but this number is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again."

The terse message left Li puzzled and at a dead-end once more.

I was sure that that was it. I remembered her phone number while I was walking; I'm sure I had it right.

For the first time since his conversation with the doctor, Li felt a twinge of uneasiness about Sakura. She was his partner, his friend, and he loved her deeply, even if he'd never had the courage to say it. What if something had happened to her?

No. I was the only one they found. I was the only victim.

Li clung to that thought as he left the store, but he still felt troubled. He decided that he wouldn't feel better until he saw her and made sure she was all right.

Across the street, a young man left a bakery with a box of donuts, fishing out his keys as he headed toward his car. Li perked up. Normally he dreaded this person, but today he couldn't have come along at a better time.

"Kinomoto!" He crossed the street as the dark-haired man glanced up. "Kinomoto, wait up!" Touya paused as he opened his door and gave him an annoyed look.

"Can I help you?"

"I really don't have time for the attitude, Kinomoto." Li tapped the bandage on his forehead impatiently. "Can you believe it? I got attacked yesterday, and I have no idea what happened. I need you to give me a ride to your house."

"Give you a ride to my house?" Touya repeated blankly.

"Yes, and don't start fussing. I really need to talk to your sister. It's an emergency."

At the word 'sister' Touya's entire expression changed. His eyes widened and he took a step back from Li as though he was suddenly dangerous.

"Stay away from me," he threatened.

"Huh?"

"Get out of here. Leave me alone!" Touya dove into his car and slammed the door shut, pulling away from the curb with a squeal. He almost ran over Li's foot, rooted to the ground with astonishment like he was.

What just happened? That was cold, even for Touya. What's his problem?

Li felt irritated. Trust the onii-chan to get all macho about protecting Sakura from him at a time like this. He could have used a ride, he felt tired from all the walking he'd been doing since early morning.

I guess I'll just have to walk a little bit more. It's not that far.

Feeling a trifle grouchy, he set out once more. But his head was starting to throb again, and upon touching his bandage, he could feel a warm wetness. Blood must be starting to seep through, with all this activity. He felt woozy and sat down on a bench at the bus stop.

The past twenty-four hours haven't been too terrific. A total blank for the first half, and a killer headache for the second. Hmm…let's run over the facts again. I got up, got dressed, started to leave for the library. The phone rang. Somehow, much later, I ended up in the park with a bleeding head wound. Wei never picked up when I called, and when I went home, a stranger was living in our apartment. My backpack is missing, Sakura's phone is out of service, and a girl that I'm pretty sure was Tomoyo hung up on me when I tried to talk to her.

The situation did not look good, and he felt exhausted just thinking it through. The pounding was getting worse in his head. He could feel the blood seeping, in sync with the throbbing pain. Lying down was starting to look more and more attractive, but he clenched his fists in denial.

No, no I can not be going to sleep again. This is no time to lie down. Wei is missing, my home is no more, and someone is out to hurt me. I've got to stay awake, I've got to figure this out.

It was the last thought he had before slumping over on the bench and passing out.

*****

The phone rang.

Ring…

"Hello?"

There was a soundless explosion, a bright flash that seared his eyes and burned into his brain.

And there was darkness.

"Hey there. Hey, buddy, are you awake?"

Someone was prodding him gently on the shoulder, and he yelped and sat straight up, panting hard. The boy, about his own age, had been crouching on the sidewalk next to him and he fell backwards.

"Ouch! That hurt." He grimaced and righted himself, then cast another worried glance in Li's direction. "Are you all right?"

He looked vaguely familiar, and Li placed him as one of his classmates at school, though he wasn't sure of the name. Y…Yuuhi? The effort of thinking brought the rest of the memories back as well, and he recalled falling over on the bench and going to sleep.

Stupid. Sloppy. What's wrong with me?

"You look as though you've been in an accident," the boy continued. "We're calling the hospital."

We?

"The ambulance can probably get here in no time," spoke up a familiar voice, and Li turned slightly to see Tomoyo standing by the end of the bench, her cell phone already out.

"Tomoyo!" He rocketed off the bench and enveloped her in a grateful hug, causing her to squeal in surprise. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you, you would just not believe what's been happening today, I - "

"Hey, watch it!" The guy yanked on his arm and pulled him off, then glowered as he placed himself between Li and Tomoyo. "Who is this guy? Is he Chinese?"

What?

Then Li realized that he'd been babbling in Cantonese again and rolled his eyes. Why did he keep doing that?

"Gomen. Look, Tomoyo, I really need your help, I - " His words died on his lips as he saw the expression on her face. She looked puzzled, unsure, and positively scared that he might try to touch her again. "Tomoyo?"

"Who is this guy? How does he know your name?" She shook her head, obviously confused.

"I have no idea, Yuuhi, I swear." Li's amazement was not lessened by the way that the boy called Yuuhi put his arm protectively in front of Tomoyo, and how she clutched at him for support. Since when did she have a boyfriend?

"Tomoyo, what are you talking about? Don't you know me?" Li felt a kind of sinking sensation in his stomach when he saw her face. Touya was bad enough, but Tomoyo… Tomoyo had always been there for him. She couldn't back out on him now, she just couldn't.

"Look, mister, you've obviously been in a pretty bad accident. You're a little confused, you're not sure - "

"I am not confused!" he snapped. "I know you, and I know who I am. Why is everybody acting so bizarre today? I was attacked for crying out loud. I need to talk to Sakura!"

Yuuhi sucked in his breath sharply, but that was nothing compared to Tomoyo's reaction. She opened her mouth and screamed, her violet eyes terrified. Li had seen a piano chase after her, he'd seen her trapped in alternate dimensions, but he had never seen Tomoyo look so scared in her life. He took a step toward her and she stumbled back.

"He's one of them, he's one of them," she sobbed. "Stop him! Stop him!" Li barely saw Yuuhi's fist coming in time, and he ducked. In his condition, he really couldn't afford to take a hit to the face. But why was he being attacked at all? What was wrong with Tomoyo?

"Get him, Yuuhi, get him!" she shouted frantically, redialing her phone. "I'm calling the police!"

"What? Tomoyo, what - "

"Stop talking to her!" warned Yuuhi, before swinging again. Li ducked and instinctively raised his fist, then changed his mind and backed away. He couldn't get into a fight like this. But why was Tomoyo so scared? And why the police?

Li didn't know anything anymore; his world had been turned upside down. But he did know that he didn't need a confrontation with the police. He sent one last longing glance in Tomoyo's direction before sprinting away.

Yuuhi followed, but Tomoyo tugged violently on his shirt.

"Don't, don't," she cried. "There could be more. I couldn't stand it if something happened to you too."

Reluctantly Yuuhi slowed, and wrapped his girlfriend in comforting arms. She was a hysterical mess, and she needed him right now. The stranger was already out of sight, and he squeezed Tomoyo tighter. After several years of pining for this beautiful girl, she was finally his, and he wasn't about to let anything happen to her.

*****

It was fear of pursuit that lent Li his speed, but he finally had to slow down. His muscles ached, and the blood was pumping much faster now. He felt something drip down the side of his face. The bandage was probably soaked through, and he wiped his face with his sleeve.

What's happening? It's as if her memory has been erased. But what was that guy doing with her?

Yuuhi should have recognized him from class, he knew who he was. Nobody at their high school had ever dared to throw a punch at him. He touched a fingertip to his face and looked at the blood on it.

"Everybody has amnesia except me," he said aloud to the street.

I did get a pretty bad injury. Am I – am I hallucinatory? Did I imagine the past six years?

No. He shook his head determinedly. No, he would not start thinking like that. He knew who he was, and he knew who his friends were. He just had to get to Sakura and everything would be all right.

He tried to put a nasty thought out of his mind as he looked for a pharmacy store. The blood was flowing, and he wanted to find a new bandage for it.

What if she didn't know who he was, either?

*****

Li left the store feeling refreshed and relieved. He wasn't proud of himself, lifting gauze and hydrogen peroxide from the shelves, but he was desperate. Under the circumstances, he felt justified. But now the sun was nearing its zenith, peeking out from the swelling cumulonimbus clouds in the sky. It must be near noon.

He set out for the Kinomoto home. Tomoyo, for whatever reason, didn't seem to know who he was. And Touya didn't seem to either. They must be under some kind of memory spell, but Sakura was a sorceress. She wouldn't be affected the same way; she had magic to protect herself with. At least, Li hoped so. Certainly he hadn't been affected.

But that still didn't explain what had happened to his apartment and Wei…

He paused uncertainly in front of Sakura's home. There was a car parked in the driveway, the one he'd seen Mr. Kinomoto driving for years. Her father probably wouldn't know him either. So he didn't bother with the front door but walked around to the side of the house.

Li had never been fond of heights, but he knew it was possible to scale the tree to get to her bedroom window. She'd done it herself to sneak out on plenty of occasions. If he didn't look down, he could probably climb up all right.

He started to pull himself up, despite the dizziness that still echoed in his mind.

"Stop that," he whispered. "This is not the time. Focus on the tree." Bit by bit, he hauled himself up through the branches, then began to slither up the thick branch near her window. It was shut, and he had to activate his sword to use as a lever until the window was pried open.

"Sakura?" he tried, tentatively. "Kero? It's me. I'm coming in." Squeezing his eyes shut, he reached out and gripped the upper sill firmly, then swung his legs out until his feet touched the bottom sill. He kept them firmly shut until he was safely inside, and he gave a sigh of relief. That sigh caught in his throat when he opened his eyes.

*****

It wasn't her room. It was her room, it was the room she'd always lived in, but it was no longer hers. All the little touches that had made it her own were gone. Her dolls, her stuffed animals, the photos of the two of them and Tomoyo that had been on her desk were all gone. The walls were still green, but there was no bedding on her mattress, and her closet was empty. A few boxes were stacked up in the corner, covered in a thick film of dust.

Oh no. No, not this. Oh, Sakura, please no…

A knot of panic twisted in Li's stomach as he crossed over to the desk and opened the top drawer. The book with the Cards was gone. Through all his worrying that Sakura might not remember him, it had never occurred to him that she might not be there. Knowing that it was hopeless, he opened the bottom drawer. The space that had been Kero's bedroom was empty and bare, except for a lonely barrette in the corner. He reached out and picked it up.

It was pink, and in a pattern of three hearts. It looked like the sort of thing she might have worn when she was younger, though she'd long since stopped wearing such things in her hair.

"Sakura," he whispered. "Where are you? Who did this to you?" Her naked room left an ache in his heart that dwarfed the pain in his head. His beautiful, precious Sakura was gone, and he had no idea where.

Somewhere inside the house, a phone rang.

The phone rang…

"Hello?"

"Hi Syaoran!"

"Sakura." He blushed faintly as he stared at the wall and gripped the phone a little tighter.

There was a soundless explosion, a bright flash that seared his eyes and burned into his brain.

And there was darkness.

Li gasped and dropped the barrette, returning to the present just in time to hear the footsteps outside the door. With seconds to spare he rolled across the floor and under the bed. There was a lot of dust under here, and he wrinkled his nose. The door was opening now, and a pair of feet walked in. There was a heavy sigh, and then the person sat down on the mattress.

I left the window open, thought Li. And the bottom drawer. How long will it take for him to notice?

A sneeze was building, and Li placed a hand over his mouth to try and filter the dust out. He was afraid to even take a deep breath; the room was so still and quiet. Whoever it was that was sitting on her bed didn't even seem inclined to move. They remained that way for an agonizing fifteen minutes at least before a door slammed somewhere in the house.

"Dad?" a voice called out. The man with Li did not reply, and Touya had to call out a few more times before coming a stop in Sakura's doorway. "Dad."

"I'm here."

"I can see that. I thought we decided that it wasn't a good idea to come in this room any more."

"You decided that." There was no accusation, no bitterness. Instead there was only sadness. Li watched Touya's feet come into the room, hesitantly, as if the very floor was painful to walk on.

"Dad. I miss her too. But it's not healthy to come up here and just sit like this. It isn't going to bring her back."

"I wasn't going to," the older man said plaintively. "I really wasn't going to do it today. But Tomoyo just called me."

"Daidouji?"

"Yes. She sounded awful, crying into the phone. She was attacked by a man this morning, and she thinks he had something to do with it."

Li heard Touya's sharp intake of breath.

"Was he young? A teenager? With brown hair and brown eyes?"

"Yes. She called me to warn me. Did you see him too?"

"Yeah. He came out of nowhere, called me by name and everything." Touya frowned as he shut the bottom drawer to Sakura's desk. Who was that guy? Was he dangerous?

"Dad, I don't think you should stay here."

"Please don't start that again, Touya. I don't want to talk about it."

"But it may not be safe for you."

"I don't care!" Li had never heard Mr. Kinomoto sound so unraveled. There was a crack in his voice that obviously alarmed Touya, and the young man backed off.

"I know why you want to stay. But I'm just worried about you, that's all. I don't want to lose you too."

"I'll be fine, Touya. You know you don't have to worry about me."

"Sure I do," Touya replied, a fake cheer in his voice. "I'm your son. That's my job." He moved to the open window, not meeting his father's eyes. They both knew, though neither would say it aloud, that Touya had been the man in the family for some time now. "You shouldn't have opened the window. It's clouding up. Looks like it might rain."

"I didn't open the window."

Li held his breath, but Touya only gave a little sigh.

"Of course you didn't, Dad."

There was a gentle acquiescence in his tone that made Sakura's father stiffen.

"I didn't!"

"Don't worry about it, Dad. Come on, have you had lunch yet? I'll fix something downstairs."

The younger man moved to the older one, and he placed a hand on his shoulder. His father still looked as though he wanted to argue about the window, but then he subsided and stood.

"Thank you, Touya. Lunch would be nice."

Lunch would be nice, thought Li, suddenly aware of his growling stomach. But he couldn't worry about food right now. The conversation he'd just heard had given him too much to think about. Questions were buzzing in his mind, along with fear.

What happened here? Why does nobody seem to know me? What happened to Sakura?

There was a roll of thunder, and then the sound of rain beating against the window. Li couldn't stomach the thought of trying to climb down the tree in the rain, so he lay his head back down on the floor and closed his eyes.

He didn't know what had happened, but he knew he wanted to undo it, more than anything he'd ever wanted before. He wanted his Sakura back.

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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters