A/N: Guys, I had to re-write the 7th chapter. It was pissing me off. So, re-read this, because I changed big parts, and lil parts. Enjoy!

crystal-chan 2002-05-19

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! NOT NEW ZEALAND! Does New Zealand have alot of ghoasts? I think it does. Ohhhhh Chimera! What about cerberous the three headed dog? or those gorgons? or Stupid Arachne? or the Minotaur? Or, dundundun, HEYDEES? He.. I know too much mythology. I should really be studing Science, but oh well! Update soon!

Hello again.

Yes, New Zealand. No, I don't know what's up with it, but that was one of the only places I could think of ^.^' so I put down New Zealand. I'll put a flash back in the next chapter explaining why she doesn't like it. Oh, this is going to be difficult.

Oh dear, do you study mythology as much as I do? I'm a freak when it comes to that. You name something out of Greek Mythology, or even out of another, and I'll tell you what it does, what it looks like, and so on....Yea, I should probably be working on sciences...or maths, seeing as how I have a 38 average....crap, hey?

Moonfairy2000 2002-05-19

Loved it!

LOL, I'm glad. Thank you. I just read, and reviewed, your story, And That's What I Meant To Say, and man, that's good. Just…go check my review, k?

yue-chan( OMG was he really stabbed!!!!!!!!!!!!) 2002-05-19

I think the thing that she cares about is Syaoron. WAs he really stabbed:0!!!! OMG! i'm so sorry. Try to update those two stories i don't care with one or when just update them in my life time k:) I hope your cousins ok. Really i do!
* starts crying * Pleaseeeeeeeeee tell me if he is okay when you update.:(
huuuuuhhhhh. oh yah

Ta

Yue-Chan, do you have an e-mail address?

He, he really was stabbed. There's a link to the news story about him. Here: http://www2.mybc.com/news/bc/fs.cfm?source_id=CKNW&id=1113879

Uhm, he should be ok. The doctor thinks he's going to make a recovery, and his waking up, so that's good. Im gonna kill the fricken jerk that did this, though. L

Chapter seven: A tearful Goodbye

I do not own Card captors, the people @ CLAMP do. I wish I did, but I don't have enough money to buy it. Please don't sue me. All I have is this computer, and you can't take it. It's really crappy, but you can't take it!!!!!

Anyways...Please ignore my split personality. One side has no emotions, the other has too many -_-'... This chapter is slightly demented...okay, It's a lot demented, but...oh well... too late now!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura dropped the phone.

"Sakura? Sakura? Are you there?" Syaoran asked, concerned. Sakura bent over, picking up her cordless phone.

"Y-yeah, I'm still here...." Sakura whispered.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. The Elders want me to return home immediately. I leave tomorrow at 10:00. Will you come to the airport?" Syaoran asked. Tears streamed down Sakura's face.

"No. I can't. I won't see you leave!" Sakura broke down, bawling. She hung up the phone.

"Hey, Sakura? What's wrong?" Kero asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"Nothing. I'm going to bed." Sakura turned off her lamp, silently crying herself to sleep. Kero looked at the young woman.

"Sleeping could wait until you die."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sakura? Sakura? Are you there?" Syaoran asked, looking down at his phone. He heard a sniffle, then a voice quietly answer. He sighed, tears filling his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually cried. Now, here he was, about to leave the place he now called home, all of his friends, and his one true love….

"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. The Elders want me to return home immediately. I leave tomorrow at 10:00. Will you come to the airport?" he asked, hoping, praying, that she would come. Her answer tore his heart to pieces. He looked out his window at the moon, still crying. He was about to say something when he heard a sharp click, then his phone started to beep. She had hung up. Syaoran put the receiver back on the cradle, and stared at it, blankly. He snapped back to reality as he heard a faint knocking. He turned as Wei opened the door.

"Are you already, Master Li?" he asked, brushing his grey hair out of his eyes. Syaoran nodded, rubbing his hand briskly across his sad amber eyes.

"Yea, I am. I think I'm going to go to bed now. G'night, Wei." he said, turning to his bed. He heard Wei close the door as he left. Syaoran took one last look at the moon before collapsing on his bed, his eyes filling with tears again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sakura? Sakura, c'mon, you have to get up." someone said, shaking the sleeping girl lightly. Sakura moaned, and opened her eyes, finding Touya staring down at her.

"Touya? What do you want? What time is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"It's 9:00, and I want you to get up. Look, I know how much you like that…that… gaki, and, even though I hate him, I want you to see him off." he said, sitting down on her pink bed sheets. Sakura sat up, staring at him.

"How did you know Syaoran was leaving today?" she asked, watching as he stuttered a response.

"I, uh, kinda, uh, was listening to your phone conversation…." he trailed off, avoiding her eyes as she glared at him.

"You what?!" she yelled, nearly breaking his eardrums. Kero moaned quietly, pulling his pillow over his ears as he rolled around in his drawer.

"What was that?" Touya asked, curious, and Sakura gave him the death glare.

"Stop changing the subject! Arg, you jerk! Get out!" she yelled, shoving him off her bed. He landed with a thump on the floor. He moaned as he stood up, rubbing his tailbone.

"I'm going, I'm going. Just get up! You'll have to hurry if you want to get there in time!" he said as he closed the door. Sakura sighed, pulling herself out of bed.

"That's just it, I don't want to make it there on time."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Syaoran took one last glance around. Tomoyo and Eriol sat on two chairs, watching him. Tomoyo caught his eyes, and shrugged, as if attempting to apologize for Sakura's absence.

"Flight 35, is now boarding. Flight 35, now boarding." a raspy voice said over the intercom. Syaoran sighed, shrugging deeply, as he turned around, slowly walking towards the gate.

"Syaoran! Syaoran, wait!" a voice yelled out. Syaoran turned around just as a petit girl skidded to her knees in front of him, throwing her arms around his waist, and leaning her head on his stomach. Syaoran looked down at the emerald eyed girls, who was sobbing. He slowly sank to his knees, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into his chest.

"Hey. Shh, it's ok. Sakura, I'll be back soon. Real soon. Don't worry about it. I'll just go and explain to the Elders that the Cards have escaped, and that we need to catch them." he said quietly in her ear. Sakura pulled away from him, looking up into his amber eyes. He smiled slightly at her, wiping the mascara smudges out from under her eyes.

"They invented telephones for a reason, Syaoran. Why can't you just use one of them?" she asked, leaning back on her ankles. He watched as she smoothed down the blue folds of her short skirt, on that appeared to be another of Tomoyo's creations.

"I just think it would be better if I did it in person." he explained, pulling himself to his feet. He extended his hand to her, and she stared at it as if it was an alien.

"Fine. Go back to Hong Kong. Go back to the Elders. And go back to your precious Meilin." she snarled, as she stood up. "Good bye, Li Syaoran." she said, before she spun on her heels, storming away. Syaoran stared after her, shocked. Had his pretty little angel actually said that to him. Yes, she did. Syaoran felt someone tap on his shoulder, and his spun around, snapping,

"What?!" he regretted it a moment later, when he saw the hurt expression on the stewardess' face.

"I'm…I'm s-sorry sir. I just came to inform you that you have to board now." she stuttered.

"Oh." was all the Syaoran could say as his picked up his black carry on, waving one last time to Eriol, noticing that Tomoyo had gone after Sakura. He sighed, and took one last glance around before entering the terminal.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sakura collapsed outside of the airport, breathing in the fresh air. Why had she done that? And right before the person she loved left. Hot tears streamed down her face. What was she going to do?

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Tomoyo ran to the glass doors leading out of the airport, about to call out her best friend name when someone stopped her. She spun around, only to find a pair a deep green eyes staring down at her. Artemis brushed a strand of red hair out of her face, and stared down at the girl.

"Leave her be. I'll go see to her." she said, her accent thick.

"But she's my best friend." Tomoyo stated. Artemis glared down at her.

"I said I'll see to it, Tomoyo. Now go away, or I'll zap you to another dimension!" Artemis boomed, and the lavender eyes girl shrunk back.

"But…." she began, but the flame haired Goddess cut her off.

"I warned you!" she exclaimed, and, with a wave of her hand, Tomoyo disappeared out of the sight of those who surrounded her. Artemis sighed, and turned to the doors, marching out them. Sakura was still sitting on the ground when Artemis glided up.

"Hey," she said, sitting down on the cool cement. Sakura looked up, tears streaming heavily down her face. Artemis pulled the young woman into her arms. "Shh…hey, it's ok. He'll be back soon. Trust me! I know everything!" she said, and Sakura smiled slightly. She hugged her friend tightly before pulling away.

"Thank you, M'Lady." Artemis sighed.

"None of that! Now, I think we need to…go shopping! And let's get Set. She'll wanna come. And don't be sad. The farther Syaoran runs, the closer he stays." Artemis said knowingly. Sakura just smiled softly.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

They appeared in the Time Gates, Artemis armed with her staff, incase any unwanted visitors decided to show up.

Setsuna stepped out of the shadows.

"Only those worthy of admittance are allowed here. You are not worthy!" Setsuna said in her cryptic voice, causing Sakura to shiver.

"Sure we are! At least, I am." Artemis blocked Setsuna's staff as she brought it down upon her visitors.

"Thanks," Sakura muttered.

"Artemis?" Setsuna asked, waving her hands. The thick fog that once surrounded them disappeared, leaving Sakura shivering, and Artemis grinning wickedly. Setsuna sighed.

"Why do you always do this? Can't you use the front door?" she asked, walking back to her house. The three of them entered the cozy little house, Setsuna leading the way to the living room.

"No, and you should know that by now." Artemis comment, pulling Sakura alone behind her.

"So what's up?" Setsuna asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Oh, right! Wanna go shopping? We really need to get out, and wanna go pick up the new Relient K CD." Artemis said, sitting down on the couch, putting her feet up on the glass coffee table in front of her.

"Defiantly! I need to get away from this place! But who'll watch the Gates? It's been pretty bad lately." Setsuna said, de-transforming out of her Sailor outfit. Artemis grinned, pointing to the doorway, where Bill Clinton stood.

"What the-" he began, but was cut off by Artemis.

"Hey. You're watching the Time Gates while we're gone. If you leave, I'll kill you, former President, or not. Got it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Setsuna and Sakura sat down at a table inside the food court of West Edmonton Mall, chattering quietly. Artemis appeared a moment later, three cups in her hands.

"I got iced coffee. Is that alright?" she asked, setting the cups down on the table. The two girls nodded. Artemis slid into a seat beside Sakura, straightening her skirt.

"So, I think we've pretty much finished off all of West Ed." Setsuna said, looking down at the begs that surrounded her feet. Sakura frowned, and looked at Artemis.

"You really didn't need to pay for this all." she said, but Artemis just smiled.

"Hi, unlimited credit cards, remember?" she asked, leaning down on her elbows. Sakura sighed.

"Man, I want one of those." she said, taking a sip of her sweet coffee. Artemis closed her hand, and when she opened it a silver card lay in the palm of her hand. She slid it across the table.

"Go wild!" Artemis said, laughing. "You can never lose it, no one else can use it without your permission, and you can spend as much as humanly possible." she said, and Sakura smiled, picking up the card, tossing it in her purse.

"Thanks!" she exclaimed, finishing off her coffee. Setsuna stared at her, wide eyed.

"Ok, you downed that in, like, five seconds. No more coffee for you. I always wondered how you got so hyper. Jeez kid." Sakura was about to say something when Artemis cut them both off.

"Ok, I think we should go. Now. To Mariposa." The other two nodded, and Artemis started heading towards the store, which lay a few meters in front of them. Sakura stopped at a rack outside the bright store, pulling a bright red t-shirt off of it, DEVIL scrawled across the front. Artemis trotted into a change room with a pink dress in her hand. Setsuna heard Artemis chuckle, and then step out of the change room, stepping in front of a mirror.

"What do you think?" she asked, spinning around.

"Hey! Pink's my colour!" Sakura pouted. Artemis walked to the till.

"You know, for a sixteen year old, you act like you're two!" Artemis and Setsuna laughed.

"I'll wear it out," Artemis said to the cashier, who nodded, scanning the tag. Setsuna pulled a pair of metallic pink, five inch high sandals off a rack.

"Better get these, too. Ya don't want your shoes to clash with the dress." Artemis nodded, handing the shoes to the blonde behind the counter.

"True." She said.

"I don't know what a shrink would call you. I don't want to know." Sakura sighed as she walked out of the store, Artemis trying to put on the high shoes and walk at the same time.

"Oh, shut up!" she exclaimed, finally getting the shoes on. Setsuna didn't say anything. She didn't have to. Her facial expression said it all. Artemis glared at her.

"Not you too! I thought you were my best friend! Now your siding with the enemy!" she whined.

"Oh, and you say I'm acting like a two year old!" Sakura exclaimed. Artemis glared at her.

"Oh, shut up!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DARK knelt before her leader.

"Mistress. The CardCaptor still lives. Everytime we attack her, she captures us. We cannot defeat her. She is too strong!" DARK said to a pair of blue-purple eyes in front of her.

"Yes, I know. There are only, what, forty of you left?" the unknown leader said.

"Forty six. What are we going to do?" Arrow said, striding into the dark room. The 'Mistress' looked at the two cards before her.

"Take away what she cares most about."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who is this strange mistress, and upon whom does she speak? The person Sakura cares most about? If you have a guess, e-mail me, and if you get it right, I'll send you an award! And what's wrong with New Zealand? Find out in the next chapter of RIVALS...OR ALLIES?.

Ja Ne