A/N: Li may seem a little OOC but that's what I think he would have been like before his intense training started and he became a card captor. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "Good morning Li!" Sakura greeted him warmly. "Are you alright, Li? You look really pale." She looked at him concerned, turning around in her seat to face him. "I'll be fine, Sakura," he said groggily as he sank into his chair. "I didn't sleep to well last night, that's all," he yawned to her as Madison and Eli walked over to their desks and sat down. "Isn't this great?" Eli asked Madison. "We get to see some good English theatre tomorrow and today we get to see how they put it all together." He turned to Sakura and Li. "A wonderful opportunity isn't it?" "It sure is. I heard we're the only group today and the youngest group tomorrow. Madison, what play are they doing?" Sakura asked, stifling a giggle as Li started to dose off on his desk. "The Secret Garden." Li sat up suddenly awake. "It will be great to see their costumes. I hear they were designed by two teens. The girl's only sixteen and in college already! I'm not sure about the boy." "I hear they created the set as well," Zachary said as he came up to them. "We're supposed to be motivated to follow our dreams by going today and tomorrow." "Theatre's more complex than anyone thinks it is," Li said grumpily. Zachary turned and looked at him. "Alright then Li, tell us what is so hard about theatre," Zachary demanded. "Easy enough. Theatre, is being rejected, is coming back, and is never giving up. Theatre is acting, which is 90% reacting. Theatre is putting your heart and soul into something and bringing a character that before only existed in the playwright's mind and on the paper, into a living breathing person. Theatre is becoming the person you gave life. Theatre is but a reflection of real life, a mirror of our world showing only the things that people find interesting," Li said getting shocked looks from most of the class. Even Mr. Unknown who had come in at the beginning of his speech said, "Couldn't have explained it better myself Mr. Showron. Class, please gather your things and exit the room and head to the busses. We don't want to be late," he said ushering the class out. "Wow Li," Madison said. "Where did you learn all that stuff about theatre?" Sakura and Eli looked at him waiting for an answer. "From an old friend." he said. "She liked acting a lot." Madison didn't push the subject neither did Eli, but Sakura turned to him and asked. "What happened to her? Did she make it?" Li shrugged. "My mother didn't like her and we lost touch for the most part." he looked to Sakura. "She actually looked a lot like you, Sakura. Brown hair and green eyes I mean." Sakura smiled. "I could never replace a friend, but I can always be one," she told him. Li smiled sadly as they arrived at the theater. "Welcome children. It's great that you all have come to see the behind the scenes work of our performance," said a woman with a clipboard and a headset. "I'm Mika, the Assistant Director for this production. On behalf of the cast and crew welcome." As Mika talked a teenage boy with black hair and blue eyes ran up. "Sorry I'm late Mika. Problems with the costumes," the boy said. "It's alright, Kathleen called to give us a head's up," Mika told him. "Kids, this is Michael. He's one of the costume and set designers and is also acting in the show." "If you guys have any questions that you think we can answer to hesitate to ask," he said. "I, for one, am happy to answer any and all questions and to help kids explore the wonders of the arts." Li raised his hand. "Yes brown haired boy with his hand up, what's your name?" "Li," he said simply. "All right Li, What's your question?" he asked with a smile. "Do you always do so much for a production and is it really hard?" he asked. "No I don't always do so much for a production, but part of theatre is seizing chances. And yes it is very hard. But, just because it is, that doesn't mean it's not worth doing. Remember, a challenge is a way to better yourself and if you fail, you fail but come out with the knowledge to improve your chances next time," Michael told them. All the kids nodded, Mika started to lead them out to the costume shop. "Now, who likes clothes?" Mika asked as she stopped the group outside a door that had a needle and thread on it. Many of the girls raised their hands; Madison's was the highest. "Alright, many of you do. What about making your own clothes?" Madison's hand shot up into the air. "The black haired girl, near Li. What's your name?" "Madison, ma'am," she answered. "Well Madison, what kind of clothes do you design?" Mika asked. "Costumes for parties. I enjoy making them outrageous in colors and fabrics." Mika nodded, opening a door next to the one with the needle in thread. "This is where some of the concepts are made. These boards have the costumes that the actors and actresses will be wearing tomorrow on them." Zachary raised his hand. "Yes you." "Zachary. Why are these bits of cloth pined near or on the drawings?" he asked. "We take bits of cloth, samples actually, to make sure that the people who are actually sewing them know which fabrics to use. Any other questions before I show you Lily's costume, Dickon's costume, and Mary's costume?" "Do we get to meet them?" Zachary asked. Madison, Li, and Eli tried not to laugh. "You will tomorrow," Mika said with a chuckle. After, the costume shops and seeing them put some of the set together; the class went outside for lunch. "Li, can I talk to you for a minute?" Sakura asked him. Li nodded as Sakura sat down next to him. "Have you sensed that something is coming recently?" "It's not just me then," he said looking up at the sky. "What do you think it is?" "I don't know. It's going to be very important to us, but what could it be?" she asked. Li shrugged. A girl in overalls covered in paint, a sports- bra-looking top, and her hair in a bandana came by carrying a couple of trays with food on them. "Hi everybody, having a good day so far?" she asked as she went by. Everyone gave positive remarks and she smiled. "Great! Hope to see you guys later!" she said as Li jumped up and got the door for her. "Thanks kid." As she disappeared inside, most of the class was trying to guess at what her role was in the cast or crew. When everyone was done, they went back inside and saw the girl talking with Michael as they looked at the stage. "Maybe if we turned the lights on to see it in the lighting the audience will," Michael was saying. He looked over to the class; "You kids ready to check out the booth?" Mr. Unknown nodded, as Michael turned to his companion. "Your turn, Lil. Guys, this is Lil. She helped me-" Lil coughed and folded her arms. "Lil and I were the designers for the show. She'll take you up to the Booth and show you what our tech crew does." "The tech crew runs lights, sounds, fly, props, costumes, any special effects that a production might need, things like that. Up these stairs is where we'll be going. Thankfully this booth is big enough and all of us will be able to fit in and see what's going on. Ready, let's go!" Lil led them up the stairs and unlocked the door. "These are the best 'toys' a tech crew can ask for." She walked in and sat down and motioned for them to come on in. She put a headset on and turned on a few lava lamps and motioned for Mr. Unknown to turn off the light "Now, what we're going to do is a sample dry tech run. A dry tech is where we just do scene changes and cues for us in the box. It's a sample because I'm going to be in the show tomorrow. All right, on with the demo. House lights fade and the first cue comes up on what will be Mika and Andrew, Assistant Director and Stage Manager. Then, when they're done we'll bring down those lights and wait for the music cue," Lil leaned over and turned off the music. "I'm not gonna ruin the show for you tomorrow, so we'll just do lights okay?" Li raised his hand. "Brown hair, near Eli." "Li. How do you get multiple lights to come up at once?" he asked looking at the board. "Easy. You type in a light number, the plus sign, another number, then enter," as she spoke she demonstrated. "But nothing's come on." said Sakura. "I'm not quite done yet." she left off waiting for her name. "Sakura. Sorry," she said. "It's alright. I was impatient when I was learning too. Then after you press enter, you roll the wheel up and presto." She motioned out the window and the lights were on. "To bring them down to black out, you press all and roll the wheel down." When the demonstration was done and everyone was led back downstairs, Mika was there again. "I hope you guys enjoyed your selves," she said smiling. Everyone gave a big affirmative. "Well, I hope you guys are ready for tomorrow and I'll see you when you get here." "Bye guys!" Lil said waving. "Bye Lil!" Sakura answered her, smiling. "That was so much fun. I never realized all that went on backstage." "Li was right when he said there was more to theatre than what people realized," Madison said. "Did you see those costumes, Sakura? They were amazing!" Sakura nodded. Li was silent on the way back to school; even Sakura didn't ask what was wrong. She thought that he was probably thinking about his friend. 'Poor Li. No wonder he has those walls around him, he's afraid of losing again.' %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "Hello, Lily." She jumped as she walked into her new apartment and heard the voice. "You?!" she said as she closed the door. "I just got here today and I've been doing my job! What do I get as a thank you for not interfering? I come home and here you are to make sure my day goes bad." Going into the small kitchen trying to ignore her guest hoping he will take the hint and go away, even though she was smiling the tiniest bit. "And a fine acting job you did 'Lil'," he said, as Lily turned to him with anger in her eyes. "Yue, it is what I go by with my friends from time to time. Either that or Li. Now you and I both know, Yue, that Li and Sakura aren't ready to know what that 'something big' is." Lily looked down a minute as she walked over to her balcony. Yue following her and sat on the railing as she leaned against it. "I've faced it Yue. I lost my Guardian Beasts to its rampage. I almost lost Michael. I refuse to let them face it alone. Sakura, Li, and Eli will be a good match for its strength. I will be close at hand to help, probably as a decoy." "What if he needs you before then?" Yue asked her. She looked to where he was indicating and saw Li looking at the sunset very forlorn. "He doesn't need me." Lily said. "He doesn't want me either." Her eyes watered as she turned around looking back into the house. "I believe he does want you around. Kero told me that he said something about a girl that looked like Sakura who loved theatre, but he lost contact with because of his mother." She looked at Yue with hopeful eyes. "You really think that Li wants me around right now?" she asked. Yue nodded then motioned to the boy again. "Maybe even needs you." She watched him for a minute, a smile starting, and as he moved to go back inside, he collapsed. "Li!!" She looked to Yue who was as shocked as she was, though you really had to know him to realize it. She ran in and grabbed the Moon cards and pulled out the Fly card. "Fly card draw your power from my staff of Darkness' Light and grant me the wings to Fly. Fly card RELEASE!" she cried as she grew wings and flew to where Li fell. "Li." he groaned a bit as she picked him up and took him inside. "Lily." he asked eyes fluttering barely as she placed him on his bed. "Shhh. Lie still and sleep, my little brother." she whispered as she covered him up and placed a gentle kiss to his forehead. Her wings gone she looked into the sky and saw Yue flying off. She smiled a bit. 'You are so much like Lunara was Yue. So much.' Lily walked into the living room and saw a photo album open. On one page was a picture of Li and their father on the other a picture of Lily with their father and her mother. "Dad's photo album. There's the phone." she walked over to it and called Michael, who was soon there dropping off a bag of clothes for her. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he whispered to her. She nodded and waved goodbye as she shut the door. A few minutes later, she heard a commotion in Li's room. She stood and walked to the door. As she reached it, it was thrown open and Li looked up into her eyes; fear, hope, and anxiety mixed in the brown orbs. "I wasn't dreaming. I'm not dreaming. Am I?" he asked taking a step towards her. "Uh-uh. You're not dreaming Li. I'm your half sister Lily. And I've come to stay with you. Dad wanted us to meet, so here I am." she said seeing his eyes light up with happiness. Her eyes welled up with tears as she kneeled down in front of him. "I'm here as long as you need or want me Little Brother." "I've wanted you around for a long while now Lily, but better late than never!" he said throwing his arms around her neck. Her tears spilled over as she hugged him back. 'This isn't as bad as we thought. And Michael said that Li would hate me and use magic to get rid of me. the worry-wart.' "Get changed for bed and I'll make you some tea. Then you can tell me everything," she said. He nodded and closed his bedroom door behind him. Lily smiled as she found a kettle and started the tea. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "Li wake up!" Lily called from the kitchen. Li's eyes snapped open, but before he could panic he remembered what happened last night. Coming out of his room in his school clothes he saw, 'Lil?' "Good morning little bro," she said setting two plates on the table. "Wait a minute. You're.." He looked confused. "Too early in the morning is it?" she asked playfully. "My friends call me either Lil or Lily, sometimes even your name. You didn't think I gave up my love for the stage did you?" Li shook his head as he started to eat his pancakes. "So, Sakura got them, huh?" she asked pouring a glass of juice for him. "How did you know, Lily? You've been in America." he said looking at her. "My looks aren't the only thing Dad gave me. I got the magic too. I have my own cards. How do you think I got in after you collapsed on your balcony? I used my Fly card to get from my balcony to yours." She smiled as he took in the information. "If we don't hurry, we'll both be late," she said as the dishes leapt up and put themselves in the sink. Li's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. "You look as if you've never seen a psychic before." "Never thought I'd be related to one," he said as his hat and backpack flew to him. "Though it does seem to be a good thing." He was about to leave when his lunch came flying over to him. "You'll need that love! See you after the play! Bye Li!" she called drying her hands and smiling at him. "Bye Lily! After the show!" he promised on his way out. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "Good Morning Sakura!" Li said as he sat down. She looked at him surprised. "You seem in a good mood this morning, Li. What happened? You seemed real blue yesterday," she asked, obviously glad about the change but still curious. "Had a long talk with that friend of mine I told you about. Lily and I are going to see each other today. That and the fact we're going to see my favorite play today," he told her as Eli and Madison sat down. "You actually know the play Li?' Eli asked. Normally Li would have taken that as an insult but today things were going to good. "Uh-huh. I can't wait." Madison agreed. The whole class was early in getting there and Mr. Unknown nodded in approval. "When the bell rings we will exit the class in an orderly fashion and proceed to the bus." The class cheered as the bell rang and was off down the hall fast as lightening. "I don't think the whole class has ever been this excited about one thing at all," Eli said as he sat down next to Madison. "Even Li's excited," Madison teased. The four laughed as the bus pulled off. "Welcome back, Readington Elementary. You have seats in the balcony, front left hand side, and please be on your best behavior," Mika told them as they made their way to their seats. "I've never been to the live theatre before," Sakura said as she sat down in between Madison and Li. "It's a lot of fun, Sakura. It's really amazing because they're right there in front of you," Madison smiled to her. Sakura nodded and the lights started to dim. Mika and what had to be Andrew came on stage and welcomed them and gave facts and information about the people acting as a whole and the play. When they left the play began. "Wow." Sakura said when it was over. "That was the best one I've ever seen," Eli said as the people around them started to leave. "Class please stay in you seats," Mr. Unknown instructed. When everyone else had left, he led them down to the stage where they were greeted by Mika and introduced to Derek, the director. "You have a rare opportunity kids. The actors have agreed to give you a Q&A session where you will be able to ask them whatever question you want within reason. They'll tell you the margins but we hope that you take this time to find out what you can about acting," Derek told him as he gave a nod and then left, Mika scurrying at his heels. "Great to see you all again!" Lily said as she, Michael, and the actor that played Colin came over to them. "Okay, they said we had to introduce ourselves to you so we'll go down the line." "I'm Alex Carter, 13, and I played Colin Craven," said the boy with dirty blonde hair standing next to Michael. "I'm Michael Anderson, 17, and I played Dickon," Michael said with a smile. "And my full name is Lily Showron, 16 and three days. I played, ironically, Lily Craven." A murmur came up through most of the group. "Okay now, who has the first question?" Sakura's hand went up. "Sakura? Right?" she nodded. "What is it like becoming another person?" she asked. "Wow. Deep question that is. It's weird at first, but after a few plays are under your belt. It's amazing. Everytime you're someone different. It's so awesome everytime and even now these words are for me an understatement. You guys?" she asked looking toward Alex and Michael. "Couldn't have said it better," Alex said. "Next question? You with the black hair, what's your name?" "Zachary. Lily?" "Yes?" "Are you single and if so can I take you out sometime?" he asked hopefully. "Sorry, Zachary but you are a bit young for me." Lily said trying very hard not to laugh. Alex and Michael on the other hand laughed very hard as Lily continued the session, a slight blush staining her cheeks. When their time was up, no one had asked if Lily was related to Li and everyone had almost forgotten except for Madison, Eli, Sakura, and, of course, Li. Lily and Michael led them to the doors and waved goodbye to them. Li and Sakura waved back to them. "Li?" Sakura asked as the bus pulled away form the theatre. He looked at her indicating he was listening. "Is Lily the friend you were talking about?" "Maybe." he said as the bus arrived back at school and everyone got off the bus. Li was one of the first to get inside and gather his things. As soon as the bell rang he waved goodbye to Madison, Eli, and Sakura then ran out with the crowd. The trio looked at each other shrugged and left the building as they did they saw that a motorcycle was parked out front and Lily was riding it. She was laughing as many of their classmates clamored for autographs. Li was standing nearby. As soon as the crowd was gone he started to walk over to her. She threw him a helmet and he put it on and climbed on behind her. "Li?!?" Madison said as he waved goodbye again. Lily revved the engine and they sped off. "Did you two just see what I think I saw?" "If you just saw Li speed off on a motorcycle being driven by Lily Showron from the theatre, then yes we did," Eli told her still staring down the road. "Well after that shock what are we going to do?" Sakura asked. Her companions shrugged. "Why don't we all go to my house? I know Kero will be glad to see you again Eli. He was glad to hear that you came back from England for another visit." "It's always good to come back to see you all. Even of this one gave me a bit of a shock on Li's account," Eli smiled to her as they all headed of in the direction of Sakura's house. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "That was some ride Lily!" Li exclaimed as they walked into the apartment. Lily nodded glad that he had enjoyed himself. "You said this morning that you have your own cards." "Back to business eh?" she asked going over to her bag. She pulled out a blue book. It looked almost exactly like the Clow book, but there were no guardian beasts or a title. "Just a little odd isn't it?" "What are the cards?" he asked as he opened the clasp. "Moon Cards. What they were in the beginning I will never know. We called them Magick cards because there was no name for the creator or anything. I didn't work alone, just as you helped Sakura, there was a young man who helped me." Lily explained. "We know our destiny, yet you and Sakura don't know much of yours." "What do you mean?" Li asked a slight blush on his cheeks. Lily smiled and looked him in the eyes. "You obviously know exactly what I mean, Li Showron. Now, there is something I wanted to ask you," she said as pulled her legs into the Indian style, sitting facing him on the couch. "A few actually and I do want the truth." Li nodded. Whatever his sister was going to ask him it was important. "Sure Lily. I'll give the best answers that I can," he said. "Why did you suddenly come back to Japan? I have a feeling that your mother wasn't planning on it, was she?" Lily asked as Li looked down. "I missed everybody here and I had a feeling that Sakura needed me for something. That and I was tired of Mom saying that I made you up and that I was either trying to make her go crazy or creating you to make me seem crazy so I wouldn't have to be with Meilin. Everyone was treating me with little respect because I wasn't Master of the Clow Cards even though they said they were proud of me for what I did accomplish I still knew that they weren't really happy with me for what happened," Li said as tears came to his eyes. Lily saw some fall as she pulled her little brother to her and he struggled not to cry a bit in her arms. "So if I try and ask for custody of you won't disagree?" she asked as his crying stopped and he sat up in surprise. "You'd do that Lily?" he asked. She nodded as he smiled and hugged her again. "You know, when I'm here you seem to be more open with your emotions. Why does it take me?" she asked. "When I lost touch with you," Li said, "I guess I tried to make it so no one would hurt me again like my mom had. I was always a little harder on everyone there because most of them were supporting my mom. You made life more bearable." "Well, that makes me feel welcome," she said. "I guess I'll be moving in then and a couple more things. Do you want to move somewhere bigger?" "Only if you want to Lily. I'll be happy as long as I'm with you and my friends. The only thing that could make Japan better now is to have Meilin here too." "Ok, next is what do you think of Sakura? I mean really think, like why you get all blushy-blushy when she talks to you." Lily gave her younger half brother a very sly look. Her brother looked at her nervously then broke under her gaze with an exasperated sigh. "I really like her." Li said as he blushed. Lily giggled as she nodded as if to imply 'I thought so.' "Last one. What do you think of Michael?" Lily asked carefully. Li looked at her funny. "Why? I mean I guess he's okay. He's a friend of yours and he seems like he's a nice guy. He's not your boyfriend is he?" Li asked. The thought of his sister asking him his opinion on someone she'd been with for a while seemed a little weird to him. "Well, I guess if he'd ask I'd say yes, but no he's not my significant other. I was asking because he is my best friend and you will be seeing more of him. I wanted to make sure you were comfortable with him," Lily explained with a slight blush on her own cheeks. Li laughed as she nervously straightened her posture. "What do you want for dinner?" she said, cheerfully changing the topic. Li snickered at her as they went into the kitchen. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "But Tori!" Sakura said as she cleaned up the cups she, Madison, and Eli had used. "It's your turn to fix dinner!" Tori messed with her hair as he headed for the door. "Not tonight squirt. I'm going to pick up Julian. You can fix dinner tonight and I'll take your turn tomorrow. Now I've got to leave, see you when I get back," he said as he closed the door behind him. "But tomorrow's your study night!" she called after him. "Oh. This is so unfair." Kero came down the stairs as she took out the stuff the make dinner. "Hey Sakura! Where's Tori going? I thought that it was his night to cook." he said. Sakura nodded as she started dinner. Suddenly the phone rang and she ran to grab it from the living room. "Hello, Avalon residence," she said as she answered it on her way back to the kitchen. "Oh, hi Li! How are you?" "I'm fine Sakura. You okay?" his voice asked over the phone. "I'm okay. Just a little frustrated with Tori." "He's picking on you again?" Li asked. Lily, who was near him in the kitchen, looked up at that. Li had an annoyed expression on his face. "Sort of, but I'll have it worked out by tomorrow hopefully," she said. "How was your ride with Lily?" "That was a lot of fun," Li told her. Sakura smiled, 'Li's becoming so much happier suddenly. It's a good change but it is just so sudden.' "So she is that friend that you told me about yesterday," she said. Li laughed. "As if my response didn't give that away today?" he asked. Lily had a knowing smile on her face as she sent him to set the table. "Yeah, she is. I was thinking Sakura, maybe we, as in the four of us, should get together on Saturday. I mean, I have a lot to explain and we haven't all been together except in school, so it would be a great time for us all to catch up and hang out for a while.." Li seemed so nervous. Lily looked up, 'I know for a fact that Li has never been one to do something like this. Being the one to make plans like this. Maybe I'm rubbing off on him already.' Lily smiled as she took the stir-fry off the stove and put it in a bowl. "That's a great idea Li! Are you going to call anyone else tonight?" she asked. "I was going to invite everyone tomorrow, but I thought I should ask someone if it was a good idea," his voice sounded sheepish but she thought it was just the phone. "I think it's a wonderful idea. I've got to go Li before Tori and Julian get here and dinner's not done. See you tomorrow!" she said with a smile. "Yeah. See you tomorrow, Sakura," he said as he hung up the phone. "I'll help you fix the lunch basket, love," Lily said as she put the food on the table. Li smiled at her as a floating container filled the glasses. "What are you doing this weekend, Lily?" Li asked as he served himself. "I thought I would look and see if there was a bigger place that I could buy. I was also going tomorrow to the local law office to work on getting custody of you." Li nodded as he silently ate his dinner. For once not having to do much in the kitchen was great, especially when the food this good! ************************