The Shadowed Prophecy
Jo-chan
Disclaimers: Standard CCS disclaimers apply. I do not own any of CLAMP's wonderful characters, I'm only borrowing them for the moment. Some characters that would appear are solely my own.
Chapter 3- Changes
Author's Notes: Don't get confused if I shift using Kero-chan and Cerberos. When I use Kero-chan, it means he's in his false form. When I say Cerberos, he's in his true from. Anyway, happy reading!
*************
"I-- I can't love you anymore," said Syaoran with his back turned to Sakura.
At the exact moment, the Sakura tree they were standing under began shedding its blossoms like tears, beautiful yet melancholy.
From afar, Meilin and Tomoyo held hands, unable to breathe or react.
There was an indescribable expression of confusion, disbelief and pain on Sakura's face. But because Li's back was turned, no one can see the expression of tightly controlled emotions on his face.
"But--why?" asked Sakura as tears began to fall down slowly.
Syaoran didn't turn around to face her, choosing instead to keep his back turned against his most important person. His hands gripped his sword tighter and he moved deeper into the shadows as he spoke in a tightly controlled voice, "I just can't. Let's just forget everything. It's all a huge mistake. I'm really sorry. Arigato(thanks)... for everything..."
"Why?" asked Sakura in a broken whisper. Slowly, she tilted up her head to gaze at the cherry blossoms that softly fell upon the earth. Her tears followed their descent, hot and endless.
"I-- I'M SORRY!" shouted Syaoran. He took one last look at Sakura before running away into the night.
The moment Syaoran left, Tomoyo ran towards Sakura, barely catching her friend as Sakura fell into Tomoyo's arms weeping. Meilin stood still, not knowing who to run to, her cousin Syaoran or her friend Sakura. Both were in pain and Meilin didn't know whom to comfort.
"Sssh, it's alright Sakura-chan, it's alright. Everything will be okay," whispered Tomoyo, carefully holding Sakura who seemed oblivious to her injury as her shoulders shook violently with sobs.
"I-- I loved him! I still love him," cried Sakura as she held onto Tomoyo like a lifeline.
Meilin looked away, unable to bear the scene. She gave a slight nod to Tomoyo and ran off after her cousin. Tomoyo was left alone with a heartbroken Sakura.
"This can't be real... how can he do this to me?" asked Sakura as Tomoyo patted her hair. "I know..." whispered Tomoyo.
"SAKURA!" shouted Cerberos as he flew down with Yue. He stopped before his mistress apprehensively.
Yue flew down, looking around the Tsukimine Shrine with narrowed eyes. "Such an evil presence..." he muttered before turning back to his mistress. His keen eyes saw Sakura's injury even before Cerberos was even aware of it.
"Oi, Sakura are you all right? Tomoyo what happened?" asked Cerberos as he nudged his Mistress's shoulder. Accidentally, he hit Sakura's injury and re-opened the wound.
Sakura gave a moan before losing consciousness. Tears flowed down steadily, even though her eyes were closed. Tomoyo supported Sakura's limp body before she finally bowed her head and let her tears fall down.
"Iie (no), it's not your fault Kero-chan, Sakura-chan's been badly injured but Li-kun healed some of the injury," explained Tomoyo before releasing Sakura so that Yue can carry his Mistress.
"What happened? I should have been here to protect her!" exclaimed Cerberos as he paced agitatedly. Yue looked down at Sakura's tear-stained cheeks and wiped the tears away with a gentle hand.
"It wasn't just an attack right? Someone has hurt her more than her injury?" stated Yue as Tomoyo quickly glanced away not wanting to meet Yue's perceptive gaze. "If only I had reacted sooner to Eriol's words, Sakura could not have been hurt like this!" moaned Cerberos, hanging his head guiltily.
"Eriol-kun?" asked Tomoyo, her violet eyes widening slightly. "He knew all about this?"
"Aa(yes), he told me to watch out for Sakura. Even the shrine lady is missing. Eriol's a nervous wreck," replied Cerberos.
Tomoyo looked away. "Oh... I see. Yue-san, shouldn't we be taking Sakura-chan home? We have to treat her injuries," said Tomoyo as she slowly got up and hugged Cerberos.
Yue missed nothing as he nodded his agreement. "All right, let's go back now. Fujitaka-san and Touya are worried about Sakura."
"Hai."
**************
"There's something really evil going on," said Touya as he finished wrapping a bandage around Sakura's injury. The flesh on his sister's shoulder was raw and inflamed, there were dark patches of burned skin surrounding the the wound.
Fujitaka looked on worriedly with the spirit of his wife, Nadeshiko hovering over his shoulder. "I know... I felt it earlier too. Your mother tells me that it is the dark forces' doing," said Fujitaka as he sat down beside his daughter and with a cool wet cloth, her began wiping away the traces of dirt and tears from Sakura's face.
"Why weren't you there Cerberos?" demanded Touya as he faced a sad Kero-chan. Yukito hung his head, looking guilty.
"We didn't feel it until it was all over. There was some interference in our magic I think... just like you Touya," answered Kero-chan.
Yukito placed a hand on Touya's shoulder. "Gomen Touya. You know that we would have defended Sakura-chan with our lives but we just didn't know..."
"But still!"
"Touya-kun, that's enough. They did the best they could. Your mother tells me that this is unavoidable, that Sakura-san must face challenges like these to fulfill her destiny..."
"And what destiny is that? To die so that others can live?" shouted Touya angrily.
There was a tense silence in the room. Fujitaka looked back at his daughter's unconscious profile, trying to evade his son's blazing eyes.
"I don't know. But I do know this, we have to put our trust in Sakura-san... I know she'll never leave us and she'll do her best to succeed," said Fujitaka softly as he stroked his daughter's face lovingly.
*************
"Why did you do that Syaoran?" screamed Meilin as Syaoran sat woodenly inside his darkened room.
"How could you break Kinomoto-san's heart so easily? After all her sacrifices, your sacrifices, Daidouji-san's sacrifices and even my sacrifices!? How can you let it end this way!" screamed Meilin, holding onto the doorknob for support.
Syaoran didn't say a word, still concealed by the shadows of his room. Meilin stood by the doorway, waiting for Syaoran's reaction... any reaction at all but his pained silence.
Meilin slowly sank down to her knees as she began to cry in earnest. "Why?-- Kinomoto-san... loves you," whispered Meilin.
Syaoran drew a deep, shuddering breath. Hidden by the darkness, no one can see how badly he was trembling. "It's over Meilin... just... let it go..."
Beneath his seemingly detached response, Meilin sensed pain. A pain that no one else could see and understand. She stood up slowly as she asked, "I know you love her... how can you not fight for her Syaoran?"
Syaoran turned around to face his cousin and answered, "I just can't. Sakura should forget about me and if the only way to do it is to say those words again... I would. But no matter what... Sakura has to stop loving me..."
**************
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AT SEIJUU JUNIOR HIGH
(Their uniforms are not similar to Touya's. I prefer their uniform in the manga when Syaoran came back)
"Ohayo gozaimasu," greeted Sakura tiredly as she was greeted by a barrage of 'ohayos' the moment she entered the classroom.
"Sakura-chan! Doushita no(what's wrong)?"asked Chiharu worriedly, noticing the strain on her friend's face.
"Sakura-chan, you're hurt!" cried out Rika in dismay, noticing the bulky bandages underneath Sakura's uniform.
"What happened?" asked Naoko as Yamazaki trotted over to them with a worried frown on his face.
"Hoe..." Sakura looked a little overwhelmed by all the attention when Tomoyo followed in after her, calmly answering their friends' questions.
"Sakura-chan had a slight accident yesterday and isn't feeling well yet so... oh my, there's our teacher!" said Tomoyo smiling her usual close-eyed smile as Terada-sensei, who also transferred to Seijuu High came inside.
"Everyone take your seats, we have three new classmates," he announced as he walked in front of the board.
Three people then entered after him and there were gasps of recognition and surprise from the whole class.
"Li-kun! Meilin-chan!"
There was an unknown young lady with them, one who had long black hair and amber colored eyes. Her smile was warm and genuine and the class immediately reacted to her.
"She's as beautiful as Sakura-chan and Tomoyo-chan," whispered Chiharu.
"You all probably know Li-kun and Meilin-san, so there's no need for introductions. However, this is Mizuko Claudetter-san and she's a transfer student from America. She used to live in New York," explained Terada-sensei.
"You know, they say that in America..." began Yamazaki. Chiharu immediately started strangling him. "Stop your lies!"
"Li-kun, why don't you sit behind Kinomoto-san and Li-san, why don't you sit behind your cousin? Mizuko-san, why don't you sit behind Daidouji-san, your seat will be beside Li-kun," instructed Terada-sensei as Syaoran and the girls started walking towards their seat.
Claudette paused and smiled at the whole classroom. "It's nice to meet you." She followed after Syaoran to get to her seat.
Sakura stiffened the moment Syaoran passed by her chair. Syaoran said nothing and looked on ahead, pretending as if he didn't know Sakura. The moment he sat down, when Sakura turned around to face him, he only gave a distant nod and said, "Kinomoto..."
Hurt and bewildered, Sakura faced forward once again. She could feel Meilin and Tomoyo's sympathy, as well as the classroom's curiosity. She felt her cheeks flushing in embarrassment as whispers began to circulate.
"Eh? I thought those two were a couple back then?"
"Guess not!"
"Maybe Kinomoto-san will go out with me now..."
"In your dreams pal, she'll go out with me!"
"So Sakura-san and Li-kun are not a couple? Li-kun kawaii!"
"They look tense together, I wonder why..."
Sakura felt anger building up inside her. Pride kept her from glancing back and she straightened her back.
// Everything will be all right for sure // Sakura thought to herself as she slowly relaxed and tried to forget about yesterday.
*************
"Class dismissed!" said the teacher while everyone except Syaoran slumped tiredly in their chairs and gave loud groans of relief. Geometry was a lot harder than they had expected.
Sakura's eyes were still spiral as she had numbers and figures dancing around her head. "Hoe..." said Sakura, looking completely unraveled.
"Wai! I couldn't stand that problem set!" exclaimed Meilin as Tomoyo nodded her head in agreement. "Hai(yes), it was a little hard," said Tomoyo as she began packing her books.
The atmosphere was a little lighter now, bolstered by Meilin and Tomoyo's determined efforts to loosen up the tension. Sakura was also handling the situation better but she became cool and aloof towards Syaoran, not wanting to risk her pride anymore. Syaoran was still the same, cold and detached.
"I'll walk with you home Sakura-chan," offered Tomoyo as she and Sakura cheerfully waved farewell to their other classmates. Smiling tiredly but gratefully, Sakura nodded, "Um!"
"Ja ne minna!" said Claudette, as she waved and gave a big smile to everyone. Sakura smiled back, liking the irrepressible warmth of their new classmate. "Take care Claudette-san!" called out Sakura. Claudette answered back with a "You take care too Sakura-san!"
"Oi, matte yo(wait a minute) Kinomoto-san!" called Meilin as she ran towards Sakura's chair. Sakura winced a bit as she turned to face Meilin, her wounded shoulder throbbing painfully. "Nani (what) Meilin-chan?" asked Sakura, strain becoming obvious in her face,
"Here," said Meilin as she placed a small ivory jar with a green jade lid on Sakura's hands. "I found this in one of the boxes when I was looking for my bag. I remembered that this salve can be used to heal burns, this is very effective," said Meilin her burgundy colored eyes looking gentle and a little embarrassed.
Sakura smiled at her friend. "Arigato Meilin-chan."
"Well, we're going home now, I'll be the one to change Sakura-chan's bandages since Touya-san has soccer practice," said Tomoyo, sneaking a discreet glance at Li who's face showed no emotion.
"Sayonara!" chorused Sakura and Tomoyo as they went out of the classroom.
Meilin waited a few minutes until she turned to her cousin. "You placed the medicine in the box for me to find didn't you?" she asked as Syaoran turned his back to her.
"Iie(no), why would I do something like that?" he said as he turned back around to face Meilin.
"Because you love her you idiot?" answered Meilin sweetly with a wicked smile.
Syaoran's face reddened a bit before his eyes suddenly looked fierce once more. "I can feel a strange aura once again," he said whipping his head to look out the window. Below was the view of the schoolyard and there were students coming out.
Alarmed, Meilin asked, "The same aura from yesterday?" Syaoran nodded gravely, taking out a small orb with red tassels and closing his eyes. Seconds later, his sword appeared. "There's danger!" warned Syaoran as he ran out.
"Kinomoto-san!" exclaimed Meilin, following after her cousin.
**************
Sakura paused as she turned to look around the school courtyard. Her green eyes sharpened warily. "There's danger!" she said as Tomoyo looked around, not seeing the peril. "Really, where?" asked Tomoyo worriedly.
"It's coming now! Release!" cried Sakura as her star wand emerged.
"Sleep! Shield!" she commanded as two of her cards came out, putting everyone in the courtyard to sleep and surrounding them with a shield.
Dark balls of fire immediately crashed against Sakura's shield, the attack coming from every conceivable angle. Sakura gritted her teeth as the force was so strong, they could feel reverberations from inside the shield. Her shoulder started hurting once more and the bleeding resumed.
"Sakura-chan! That's.. that's...!" Tomoyo shouted, "That's the same fire that attacked... AIII!"
"Kinomoto-san!" shouted both Meilin and Syaoran as they were unable to approach because of the ferocity of the attack.
"RAITEL SHOU RAI! KASSHIN SHOU RAI!" commanded Syaoran from the sidelines as roaring lightning and blazing fire attacked the Scorch. The black fire was diverted and paused its attack on the shield.
Taking advantage of its distraction, Sakura said. "I have to move away from you, the fire is only after me!" she told Tomoyo as she commanded her next card. "Fly!" Wings sprouted on her back as she flew up high, going out of the shield. "Don't get out of the shield Tomoyo-chan! I'll try to find a way to defeat the fire!"
Flying up in the air, with blood running down her right shoulder she began to evade the black fire balls that zoomed at her. From below, Tomoyo, Meilin and Syaoran watched as Sakura took out her next card.
"Watery!"
Watery came gushing out in a huge torrent but the attack evaporated in the air as the Scorch met it halfway. The black fire immediately attacked Sakura upon seeing her surprise.
"Ahhhhh!" screamed Sakura as a black fireball hit one of her wings, sending her plummeting to the ground. Syaoran was prepared to use his wind technique but Sakura has already used her card Float to remain in the air.
// Cards, please lend me your strength // prayed Sakura, feeling nauseous and dizzy from the amount of magic she has been using. From below, Tomoyo watched behind the Shield, smaller fireballs attacking them.
Sakura and the Scorch faced each other now, their powers also being expended below. With a loud roar, the Scorch attacked Sakura, it's black fire blazing with hate and anger. Sakura closed her eyes and poured all her leftover magic into her next card.
"FREEZE!" shouted Sakura as pink light emanated from her.
The ball of black fire was turned into ice, only inches away from Sakura's face. The attack on the Shield also stopped, The frozen ball of black fire then began to turn into dark shadows.
Looking at it, Sakura tried to seal it. "Forces of darkness, reveal your true form to me! Discard your old form and be reborn again. Under the name of SAKURA, thy new mistress!" she exclaimed as the dark shadows immediately began to form into a card.
Black and pink light battled but then the pink light won out and from there emerged a new card, with Sakura's formation at the back. "SCORCH". It revealed a picture of a huge ball of black fire. The card flew into Sakura's hand and immediately, the dark patches on her injury disappeared leaving only the regular burn injury.
"I--" Sakura tried to say as she slowly fainted.
"Sakura-chan!" shouted Tomoyo and Meilin as they saw their precious friend collapse and the Float card disappear, letting Sakura fall down to the ground, above 12 feet from the air.
"FUKA SHOU RAI!" shouted Syaoran.
A small pool of whirlwind caught Sakura much to the relief of Tomoyo and Meilin and slowly put her down.
Tomoyo and Meilin ran hurriedly towards their friend while Syaoran stood still, looking confused.
"Sakura-chan! Are you hurt?" asked Tomoyo as she cradled her friend. There was blood running out of her friend's shoulder but slowly, Sakura opened her eyes to see Meilin and Tomoyo's worried faces.
"I'm fine... don't worry... have a new card... how..." said Sakura as she slowly lost consciousness once more.
Tomoyo and Meilin were both surprised when Syaoran suddenly approached them. Without further preliminaries, he took Sakura from Tomoyo and carried her into his arms.
Meilin and Tomoyo looked at him in astonishment. He gave them an emotionless look as he said, "I know you can't carry her so I might as well be the one to do so."
Meilin looked at Sakura's closed eyes sadly. "We'll take you home now Kinomoto-san... you need a rest..."
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A tall and handsome young man with dark blue hair with blue eyes stepped down from the plane, followed by a young woman with long brown hair as she held a stuffed cat in her arms. He looked around the Tomoeda airport, feeling various chi's and auras.
He stopped, troubled by an aura he has never felt before.
"Sakura-san...."
TBC
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Author's Notes:
Wai! Can you guess who just arrived in Tomoeda? I'm sure you can! Many thanks to Kaye who helped me write the battle scene. She wrote the battle scene, I added most of the stuff and so on... Please R&R. Tell me what you think.
OMAKE ~*
It was around two in the morning and Kero-chan got up slowly, looking at his slumbering mistress.
"I can't sleep...all these new trouble is making me insomniac... hmm, maybe a midnight snack could help me sleep..." whispered Kero-chan as he flew softly out of Sakura's door.
// There's leftover strawberry cake which Fujitaka made and Sakura's chocolate cupcake... hmm, maybe that Touya left his cookies in the fridge too...// mused Kero-chan as he went down the hallway.
He flew over to the ref and has raided most of its contents when he heard soft, rustling noises in the living room. Alert and wary, he crept towards the living room quietly, ready to bite the intruder if it comes to that.
"I must protect Sakura from these fiends!" muttered Kero-chan as he snuck up behind the sofa.
The soft, rustling noises continued and Kero-chan held his breath, waiting for the right moment to pounce from behind the sofa.
// 1, 2.... 3!//
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU-----WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" screamed Kero-chan as he leapt up from his hiding place and faced the intruder.
"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Kero-chan as he fell down, a blue line replacing his beady little eyes. He dropped down on the floor, huge black clouds over his head, his body mashed on the floor as if run over by a stampede.
"The horror.... the horror..." groaned Kero-chan.
Touya's head popped up from the sofa. His eyes were two dots. "That's what you get for peeking you stupid stuffed animal!"
Groaning, Kero-chan's leg twitched. "I-- thought I saw Yue...."
Yue's head popped up from the sofa. "And what is wrong with that Cerberos?" he asked icily.
More sweatdrops and blackclouds descended over Kero-chan's head. "Oh no! It wasn't just my imagination?"
"C'mon Touya-koi(love), let's get more privacy," said Yue as he walked up and away, leaving Kero-chan on the floor.
A blue line appeared over Kero-chan's eyes. "The horror....."
OWARI