Very Quick Author Note: I'm REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!! I lost my files, so all the chapters for this story (I had about 6) were erased and I had to do them all over again!!! I'm sorry it took so long! From now on, it won't! Promise! (oh, and OR stands for Operation Room… I think…)

Thanks to everyone for all of your awesome reviews! I never thought I'd get so much support! You guys are an inspiration!

Concerning the story line: Everything happened exactly as in the anime and/or the manga. No difference. Meiling and Keisuke are married (arranged by the Clan, but they love each other and everything) and she's 2 months pregnant. They live in Hong Kong, but are on Tomoeda on vacation. Tomoyo and Eriol are a couple. Syaoran and Sakura are a couple.

Disclaimer: Don't own it. But someday, I will. And then, I will order CLAMP to write a continuation for it. It'll be as long as the Dragon Ball series! Or Sailor Moon! Perhaps even longer! It'll go on for all eternity! Bwahahahahaha!! Okay, no. 

This chapter is the beginning of a two-part flashback. I'm sorry if its no good; I tried!

***Almost Two Days Ago***

            or

***Gigantic Flashback Which Pretends to Explain How The Heck Syaoran Ended So Messed Up***

Sakura Kinomoto stood in a void of nothingness. Or at least, that's what it seemed to her. All around, over, and under her was blackness in its most absolute (and scary) form. She was afraid, feeling very alone. Looking around desperately, she racked her brains trying to figure out where she was. Or, more importantly, how to get back to… where had she been? It didn't matter; it had to be better than this void. She suddenly heard a booming noise coming from behind her. Emerald eyes opened to their widest as she turned around, her hand reaching for the key at her neck out of pure instinct.

It wasn't there.

Now terrified, the lithe sorceress backed off a few steps, until another noise startled her. It had sounded even closer this time. Deciding that she didn't want to stay and risk finding out what the source of disturbance was, Sakura began running . To where, she didn't know. There was a strange, yet pleasant feeling guiding her, almost like an invisible path through the emptiness. Out of nowhere, a spark of lightning struck the space within 5 meters of her, followed immediately by the noise, which she now identified as thunder. In the brief seconds of light, Sakura saw some sort of shrine, far off to her right, to which the feeling was pulling her now. Not loosing a second, Sakura turned to her right and continued running. Another bolt struck the ground in front of her, its brief light now showing the shrine to her left. She changed direction immediately, running even faster than before.  She narrowly avoided another lightning, swerving violently to her left. And then another. This one showed the temple directly in front of her, barely 40 meters away. Ignoring the ache in her legs, she increased her speed. Another spark struck, barely a meter from her. This one however, revealed no trace of the shrine. The feeling that had guided her until now ceased, and Sakura stopped abruptly. Panting, she looked around, desperate to locate it.

She never saw the lightning coming.

It struck her, and white-hot pain surged through her body, leaving her as soon as it arrived. Nevertheless, she dropped to her knees, the electrical charge leaving her with a tingling feeling at the end of her senses, a throbbing in her ears, the rest of her body in dull ache. Briefly, her mind registered surprise at her survival, and the lack of significant pain. Yet another portion of her mind became slightly aware of the fact that

 this was a dream,  taking all logic into account.

She ignored both, her attention now centered on something far more curious: a glimmering ball floating in front of her. It seemed to be light made liquid, with small waves rippling through its uneven surface, constantly changing from silvery blue, to dazzling white, to soft gold. Almost hypnotized, Sakura reached out to it. The moment her fingertips touched the sphere, a halo of light emerged from it, sweeping through the vast space until it dissolved into nothingness.  As a result, the area around Sakura was illuminated, and she could see that she was now in the center of what she assumed was the temple she'd seen from a distance. Marble pillars where all around her, with nothing except their circular arrangement to group them, for the area lacked both floor and ceiling. Outside the perimeter of pillars, the darkness remained.

Something caught Sakura's attention; at the corner of her eye, see could see three pairs of glowing eyes. Blinking, she turned to gaze at where they had been before, only to find the space empty. Behind her, a soft swishing sound was heard, accompanied by almost imperceptible whisperings. She turned around immediately, her jade eyes looking for the source of noise. There they were: three pair of glowing eyes. The ones in the right  were pure silvery white, full of wisdom, distrust clear in them at the same time. The next pair was gray, a soft, mixed-up shade, purpose shinning in them, as well as something the young woman couldn't quite name. Hope, perhaps? Or was it resignation? The last pair was charcoal black, being distinguished from its surroundings only by the clear spark in them. This ones burst with confidence and cleverness, what seemed like malice almost getting lost in their inside.

Without warning, the three pairs of eyes glowed once again, and then drew together, merging as they touched. In their place, there was a single pair of eyes, a rich golden color, shinning with a bunch of mixed emotions and sensations, struggling in clear conflict. The color stroke Sakura as familiar, though she couldn't tell why. It wasn't until they gazed into her own, only to disappear seconds after, that she noticed why: she knew whose eyes those were.

****

Sakura awoke drenched in cold sweat, her heart beating rapidly. Gasping, she examined her surroundings, relieved to see that she was in her own room. Through the window, a clear night was visible, the moon shinning bright and full. The soft pinks and whites of her room were all around her, even in the cover that now laid tangled between her legs. Soft snores came from the drawer in the desk, and the stuffed animal collection she still kept watched her from the other end of the room. Still, none of this brought her comfort.

Struggling with the blanket, she got up from her bed and grabbed the bathrobe from the hanger at the door and put it on. Carefully, she opened the window and climbed out the ledge. She debated to whether or not to leave the Mirror in her place, but decided against it, not wanting to risk waking Kero up.  Closing the window behind her, she gracefully jumped to the ground, landing softly. From there, she jogged to end of the block. Certain no one, including her Guardian, could see her now, she took out the Key of Clow, which now held the power of her Star, and pronounced the incantation necessary to release it. Then, she selected The Fly, which granted her wings. She took off.

****

Barely five minutes later, she landed in the terrace of a familiar apartment building. Resealing both card and key, she took a peak inside the room to which the terrace led. It was a simple room, decorated in ochre, brown, and dark green tones. Inside was a desk, some bookshelves, a closet, a bed, and little more (though numerous photographs decorated it). In the bed lay the sleeping form of Li Syaoran.

Sakura knew that it was far too late for a visit; two in the morning isn't considered a very social hour. Yet, upon waking up from that dream, she had to make sure he was okay. Which he seemed to be.  Moonlight fell on his face, making his features look angelic, his hair soft. Without the almost perpetual frown in his face, he looked almost like the carefree boy he should be. Almost. The air around him seemed to tingle with power, both magical and that of character.

Unable to resist a sudden impulse, the sorceress outside the room opened the balcony doors and entered the room. She was less than two paces from the bed, when its occupant suddenly woke up, reaching for the dagger under his pillow and sitting up in a single, graceful movement. Startled by this, Sakura froze. Syaoran spotted her, and put the dagger on his bedside table. Running a hand through his messy hair, he spoke.

            "God, Sakura, you scared me. What are you doing here at," he checked the digital clock on his bedside, "2:43 in the morning?"

            "And here I thought you'd be glad to see me…" Sakura said with a sight, a tiny smile on her features.

            "I'm always happy to see you, sweetie. Ecstatic." He answered, motioning her to come closer. She obliged, and sat down on the edge of the bed and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'm just curious."

            "Can't I just suddenly decide to visit my boyfriend, whom I love very much, without being questioned so much?" She asked, the smile on her lips widening as he pulled her towards him so that she was sitting on his lap. "I had a vision." She admitted, taking one of his hands into hers and playing with it.

            "About?" Syaoran asked softly.

            "I don't know. I was on a big, black place, all alone. I reached for my key, to use the Light card, but it wasn't there. Suddenly, lightning started falling around me. I started running; a strange feeling was pulling me towards a shrine to my… right, I think. I'm not sure, it kept switching locations. Anyways, suddenly it disappeared; the feeling left me, too. And then, a bolt of lightning landed on me."

            "On you? You mean, on the ground in front of you?"

            "No, on me. For a second, all I felt was pain. I dropped to my knees, and the pain was gone. I looked up, and there, floating right in front of me, was the strangest thing. It seemed like a bubble, only filled with shinny liquids, which changed color. First it was silvery blue, then white, and then gold. I couldn't resist the urge to touch it. As soon as I did, a lot of light came from inside it, illuminating the area around me. I realized I was standing on the center of the temple."

            "On realty, it wasn't a temple, more like a bunch of columns standing in circle. They were black, and seemed to be made of marble. Or maybe limestone? I couldn't tell. Suddenly, I saw something out of the corner of my eyes. I turned around, and saw three pairs of eyes. One pair was white, one gray, and one black. The white ones made me feel secure, comfortable, as did the gray ones. Only the gray ones awoke the most curious sensation in me… like I had to prove myself to them… Weird. And the black ones… they looked, I don't know. Its hard to describe They seemed cunning and clever and… evil. Powerful, too. All of them seemed to held a lot of power."

            "Then, the tree pairs of eyes glowed, and they merged into a single pair. The eyes seemed conflicted, as if they were caught between possibilities. They looked at me, piercing through my very soul. Those eyes… they were amber colored, but shone golden. They were gorgeous… Much like yours." Syaoran blushed slightly at this. "In fact, that's why I came. I'm sure those were your eyes I saw, and when I woke up I was afraid something had happened to you." Her voice trembled slightly, and she shifted her pose so that she could hug him. Putting her arms around his neck, she continued. "I just had to come and see if you were all right. Which you are, aren't you?"

            "Of course I'm okay. But I'm glad you came. I can never see too much of you. But, what do you think your vision meant?"

            "I have no idea… Perhaps we should ask Eriol."

            "Let's not and say we did."

            "Syaoran…"

            "Okay, we'll ask four-eyes… But tomorrow."

            "Yes, tomorrow." Sakura yawned. Suddenly, she didn't want to go back to her own house. "Mind if I stay the night?"

            "Not at all."  With that, Syaoran moved to the side, and Sakura settled comfortably beside him, her head resting on his bare, muscular chest, his hands around her slim waist. Almost immediately, the Card Mistress fell asleep. Her boyfriend, however, stayed awake for a few minutes more, absorbed in gazing at the young woman in his arms. To him, she was perfection personified; her pale, creamy skin shone, her back rose and fell with each breath. The corners of her mouth were permanently turned up slightly, making her look cheerful even in her sleep. The aura around her was warm and intoxicating, the power contained within it pulsating softly, making him feel both contented and drowsy. Kissing the top of her head softly, he sighted. An angel. 

***The Next Morning***

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Someone's persistent beating on the apartment door awoke Meiling from her deep slumber. Groggily, she checked the alarm clock on her bedside; 12:26 AM. Who the hell was knocking at this un-holy hours of a Saturday? She ignored the noise and settled back into bed beside her husband, hoping whoever it was would go away. The noise stopped after awhile, only to be replaced by a distant, jingling sound, like that of keys. Then, she heard the door being open. Rather reluctantly, she arose from bed, put on a bathrobe, and left the comfort of her room.

            "Hello? Is anybody up?" Meiling was greeted by Daidouji Tomoyo's melodious, yet loud, voice. Suppressing a yawn, she joined the other girl in the living room.

            "What are you doing here so early, Tomoyo? And how exactly did you get in?"

            "Hello to you too, Meiling! I got in using the key Syaoran gave me."

            "He gave you a key?"

            "Why, yes. In case of emergencies."

            "Um…right. But what are you doing here?"

            "Actually, I came to check if my kawaii Sakura-chan was here! Her brother called, yelling something about Sakura disappearing and her better not being anywhere near the gaki or else he'll, and I quote, 'break him into so many pieces, neither all the King's soldiers, nor all the King's men would be able to put Syaoran Li together again'. I told him she was at my house."

            "Touya's being reading nursery rhymes? I guess he wanted to find something to match his brain age level…"

            "That's mean."

            "I know. But Sakura's not here. At least I don't think she is; I didn't see her here last night. You should ask Syaoran though, he usually has an idea of her whereabouts."

            "Whose whereabouts?" asked a deep, masculine voice from behind the girls. "Good morning, Meiling. Oh, hi Cam-girl."

            "Hello, Keisuke."

"Good morning Keisuke!" Meiling greeted her husband with a kiss. He was a tall fellow, with short, dirty blonde hair and gray-blue eyes. "And it's Sakura we're looking for."

            "In that case, you'd better ask Wolf-boy. I'll do it for you, if you want." He walked towards the room directly in front of his, knocked once, and then tried to open the door. It was locked. "Hey, Meiling! Could I borrow a hairpin, please?" The Chinese girl took one from her hair, letting it hang loose. Keisuke briefly noted how good it looked on her, and made a mental note to tell her so later. Taking the offered pin, the young man introduced it into the keyhole, and maneuvered with it until he heard a soft click. He then opened the door, and poked his head in.

            "I don't think you have to keep looking!" he called. "Sakura's right here! Hey you, sleepyheads, wake up!" He tossed one of the green cushions that lay on the floor towards the bed, which landed on Syaoran's head. The sleeping boy ignored him. He threw another one. Without opening his eyes, Syaoran called, "I was hoping you'd go away."

            "Nah… I like to annoy you. Besides, they're looking for Ying Fa."

            "Tell them she's not here and that they should look somewhere else… Like Antartica or something." The girl in question said, shifting her position in the bed and pulling the covers over her head.

            "You heard the woman." Syaoran turned his back at his friend, and once again put his arms around Sakura.  

            "Kawaii!" squealed Tomoyo, her head hidden behind her camcorder, walking to stand beside Keisuke.

            "Tsk, tsk! Such laziness!" said Meiling, walking towards the bed and pulling the covers off in a single, quick movement.

            "Hey!" The sleeping couple protested.

            "C'mon, Syaoran, Sakura, time to wake up!"

            "I don't want to. I'm comfortable right now." Sakura said.

            "Well, I'm hungry! I want pancakes!" Meiling exclaimed.

            "Go make them yourself." Syaoran told her.

            "I don't want any pancakes. I want the ones you make!" She pulled her cousin's arm, successfully dragging him off the bed until he hit himself with the floor. "Ouch!"

            "Are you okay?" Sakura asked. She rolled across the king-sized bed, coming face to face with her beloved.

            "Yes. But I think its time to get up."

            "Will you make pancakes?" Sakura wanted to know.

            "Do I have a choice?"

            "No!" Meiling called from the doorway.

            "Jeez… doesn't she seem TOO moody to you, even by pregnancy standards?"

            "Don't think I didn't hear that, Li Syaoran!"

Sakura giggled. "C'mon sweetie. Better do as she says." With that, they went to the kitchen.

*****

            "Yum. Now this is what I was talking about." Meiling said in between mouthfuls of pancakes. Her friends sweatdropped, doing the best to grab a bite before she finished all of the pancakes.

            "Easy there, honey. You can choke if you eat that much, that fast." Keisuke said.

            "Here are more pancakes." Syaoran placed a plate full on the table, taking off the polka-dot chef's hat he was hearing. Most of the pancakes were immediately taken by Meiling.

            "Good thing you made more," Tomoyo commented, "Eriol will be joining us around…" she checked the time "..now."

            " Good mor-ning!" A familiar voice called from the living room.

            "Isn't it too early to deal with Four-eyes?"

            "Syaoran, be nice!" Sakura chided.

            "Hi, sweetie! We're in the kitchen!" Tomoyo called.

            "I see your having breakfast… though perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it lunch, taking into account the fact that its almost 2 in the afternoon." Eriol observed, taking a piece of pancake out of Meiling's plate and earning himself a blow from the hungry girl. "Hmm. Quite tasty. I'm assuming you made them, my cute descendant?"

            "What part of 'Don't call me that' don't you get?"

            "I heard you want to speak with me, Sakura. Am I correct?" Eriol said, ignoring Syaoran's remark. "Also, I brought Kero with me, he's in the living room, trying to figure out how to connect the X-box to the TV.  I thought you would want him present."

            "Yes, I do… how did you know I wanted to speak to you?"

            "He wouldn't be the un-cute ancestor if he didn't know this kind of thing. It's part of his job description." Keisuke casually explained.

            "Er… right." Tomoyo said. "What did you wanted to talk to Eriol about, anyways, Sakura-chan?"

            "Well..."

*****

About seven minutes later, Kero had joined them, and Sakura had just finished explaining her dream. Now, they sat in the living room, trying to figure out what the vision meant.

"I don't think this particular dream is showing you an event in the future, Sakura." Kero said.

"Then what else can it be, Kero?"

"Well, you see Sakura, there are three main kinds of visions: past, future, and universal. Past and future visions show you exactly that: past events and possible futures, for nothing about the future is certain. Universal visions, however, are a bit more complicated; they show what is happening now, or what will happen in the immediate future. They don't show actions, but rather elements meant to be interpretated. In a way, all human beings, even non-magical ones, have this dreams. In non-magical people, they talk about that person's worries, expectations, desires…  In your case, though, I believe your dream is trying to explain a current magical situation, or one that might develop." 

"That was very informative, but we still don't know what Sakura's dream means, cotton fluff." Meiling remarked.

"Well, we'll just how to go piece by piece, won' we?" Eriol said. "You said you saw my cute descendant's eyes, right?" Sakura nodded. " That means that, whatever it is, he's involved. I'm thinking the thunderbolts striking you might mean that you will suffer pain… though I'm not sure whether it's physical or emotional." Sakura winced slightly at this, but was reassured by Syaoran's hand on her shoulder. "And that temple you described… it sounds vaguely familiar… like a memory from Clow. But I'm not sure."

"We could check your old journals." Syaoran suggested. "Whatever that temple is, if you remember it, its probably there."  

"You're right brat, Clow wrote everything down Even stupid little things like where the best apple trees grew and the correct way to tie up shoelaces…"

"Hey! That could prove important!"

"Sure."

"Well," Sakura said "I think we should check the journals. Where are they?"

"Most of them are in Hong Kong," Syaoran answered "I have a few here in the apartment, but I doubt there's anything about a temple in those, though."

"I  a several of them in my house." Eriol said, "Syaoran, why don't you go for them? The rest of us will wait for you here, and we'll get started as soon as you arrive."

"Why me?"

"So we can discuss your birthday without you overhearing!" Tomoyo chirped happily.

"Birthday?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes. Your birthday. July 13th?Tomorrow?" Keisuke said.

"But why can't I listen to you?" Syaoran asked.

"Because then it won't be a surprise! Now go!" Sakura ushered him towards the door. "Besides, it won't take that long! An hour, tops. Why don't you take Kero?" She pushed the little guardian into his hands, much to the pair's dislike. "Ask Nakuru to help you get the books you need! Bye, sweetie! Be careful!" She closed the door behind them.

"Now," Tomoyo started, "I think green…"

***

            "Typical, I'm always stuck with the worst part in everything. Me, the great Cerberus, the beast with the golden eyes, babysitting the brat… What is the world coming to!"

            "Shut up, stuffed animal! You'll attract attention! Besides, I'm none too happy either."

            "Sure, I can see how I could catch the attention of thousands in this dark, empty side street which you just had to take in order to avoid running into that classmate of yours… what's her name? Roxanne? I don't see what the problem is."

            "I'm just not in the mood to be lectured about why I'm killing the Earth by wearing shoes or cologne or Kami knows what is it this time… Besides, she'll try to drag me to one of her crazy protests in Tokyo."

            "Complaints, complaints. You're a whiny brat, you know that?"

            "Shut up, cotton fluff." The response Syaoran expected never came. He turned around, to where Kero had been flying slightly behind him. "Cotton fluff…?" There was Kero, trapped in a sort of crystal floating diamond. "What the heck happened? How'd you get in there?" Kero's answer was to beat against the diamond's wall with his fists and mouth incomprehensible words. "Don't worry, fluff, I'll get you out." Syaoran called for his sword, which appeared immediately. He raised his sword, and was about to strike the crystal cage, when something in Kero's expression made him stop. He was mouthing something again, and pointing at something behind Syaoran. Syaoran turned around slowly, and was quite surprised to see 18 or so warriors standing in attack positions, all glaring menacingly at him.

            The soldiers looked like humans, except they had no eyes, just empty sockets. Their skin was pale and grayish, and it looked sort of old. They were all dressed in black tunics, wearing identical medallions: silver, in the form of an equilateral triangle. The swords they held were made of a remarkable metal, which looked remarkably sharp an strong, despite their being millennia old. The dark warriors had no shadow.

             As one, the troop uttered a low howl, and charged towards Syaoran. The warrior had no choice but to counter-attack, even though he knew nothing about these 'people' or the purpose of this assault. Despite being outnumbered, Syaoran bought well; he lunged, thrust, ducked, and slashed in every direction, successfully destroying about two thirds of them. But Syaoran was tiring quickly, the cuts and bruises inflicted by his opponents taking its toil.  Furthermore, his enemies were now resorting to throwing small magic balls at him. Regardless, he kept fighting and came close to beating them.

            Perhaps he would have, had the 'lady' not appeared. Taking advantage of the sorcerer's concentration on his fight, she summoned a gigantic black ball of energy, which she shot at Syaoran's back. It hit the back of his neck, paralyzing  his muscles instantly. He fell to the floor, his head hitting the pavement with a dull thud, blacking out instantly. The remaining attackers backed off, and their swords banished in a little swirl of smoke.

            "Good job, my minions, well done. You may rest now." At this words, the soldiers, alive and dead, disappeared in a second swirl of smoke. Next, the unmistakably female figure imprisoned Syaoran's comatose body in a crystal bubble. Turning to the still trapped guardian, she told him, "Go now. Tell your Mistress that if she ever wishes to see her beloved again, she will have to find me. I have no doubt she will figure out how. Oh, and tell her she has until midday tomorrow, or else, Lover Boy dies." With a swish of her black cloak, the witch turned around, and with her price floating beside her, she vanished into the darkness. 

Instantly, the guardian was released. Not wasting a second, Kero flew in the direction of Syaoran's apartment, both desperate and reluctant to inform his Mistress of this attack.

*************To Be Continued******************

So, what do you think? I'm sorry there's not much action in this chapter… but he best parts of the flashback are in the second part, which should be up in about a week and a half… I hope you liked this, anyways. Any suggestions, comments, praise, or criticism is welcome and cherished. Please review!

Kirjava-chan

(kirjava_ffn@yahoo.com.mx)