Author's Note: Well, it's been a bit longer than a little while since I last wrote. I swear, every summer I promise myself that I'm going to write more, but I always end up getting caught up in the real world. Bummer. Well, now it's winter, and there's no better time than the present to continue my work from the past. Let's see if I can still write a decent sentence.
"Syaoran?"
"Hm?" He turned and looked up at her, but her eyes were cast down at the ground. Suddenly, she lifted her head and their eyes met. She was trying to hold back tears. She spoke very quietly.
"Ano… You're such a good friend. I really don't know what I'd do without you, Syaoran." He stared into the depths of her two jaded pools and spoke to her gently.
"You'll never have to do without me, Sakura. I'll always be here for you."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Breakdown
By: Shayna
It was dark. She couldn't see. Maybe her eyes were closed? No. They were definitely open. It was just too dark to see anything. And she was standing in the middle of it all. Or was she standing? From what she could tell, there was no ground. So what was supporting her? Was she being supported? Maybe she was floating. She couldn't tell. It was just too dark.
She began to grow uneasy. She was all alone. She hated being alone. And she couldn't see what was out there. Just as she was about to call out for someone, she heard a voice.
"Sakura…" it whispered. She whirled her head around in hopes of finding the origin of the voice.
"Who's there?"
"Sakura…" another voice called from a different direction.
"Who are you?"
Different voices began calling her name. Her head shot frantically about, but it was too dark. She couldn't see anything! They were everywhere now. Where were they coming from? She was surrounded by voices. She tried to pay attention to each one, but there were too many. Then they started shouting. They were shouting at her! She couldn't escape them. It was too much. They all wanted too much from her. She felt her inner self being torn in all directions. The voices kept getting louder and louder. She felt them so close around her. They were suffocating her! She cried out for them to stop, but they were relentless. She started shaking, and the tears flowed in torrents down her cheeks. She curled up into a ball and hugged her knees to her chest. She cried out for him.
Syaoran shot out of bed. He was breathing heavily. He glanced at the clock. It was just past four in the morning. A terrible feeling coursed through his veins. It ran deeply through him and he couldn't shake it. What had just happened to him? He didn't remember dreaming at all. The only thing imprinted in his mind was Sakura's terrified voice screaming his name. It couldn't have been real, could it? He tried to convince himself that it was just a dream. That had to be it. He was just worried about Sakura. But if that was the case, then why was he trembling? Why couldn't he shake this feeling? Why was his aura tingling the way it was?
He reached out to her and found her immediately. She was at home, but uneasy. She wasn't conscious, though. He could sense that because her aura was kind of fuzzy. It wasn't as clear as it was when she was awake, thinking. Still, he could feel that it was generally…well…it wasn't happy. Maybe she was having a bad dream. He frowned slightly. He wished that she didn't feel bad. He wished he could make it all better. He thought of calling, to make sure she was alright, but decided against it. He didn't want to wake her, even if she was having a nightmare. He'd be able to talk to her soon.
Syaoran rolled off his bed and pulled on some sweat bottoms. He knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, so he figured he'd get some training in before getting ready for school.
It wasn't a premonition. She would know if it was one of those. So then what was it? And why did she have the same dream twice already. Could it just be a simple nightmare? What did it mean? And why was she trembling. Because it was scary, baka! It was useless to try to sleep anymore. It would just happen again. And it was already five in the morning. She decided to get up and start her day off early. Maybe a fresh start was what she needed.
She took a quick, refreshing shower and dressed for school. She looked herself over in the mirror. Even to herself, she looked a little bit tired. Well, that's understandable considering how late I was up writing that report and how little sleep I got. I guess that just means I'll have to work a little harder today so that no one notices. With that, she skipped down the stairs. It wasn't even six yet. Just as she was about to start breakfast, she had a great idea.
He vaguely heard the doorbell in the back of his mind. He was concentrating so hard that he dismissed it. Surely no one could be ringing his doorbell this early in the morning. There is such a thing a common courtesy. But when his bell rang for a second time, he stopped his katas and put down his sword. Who the hell would be bothering me right… And with that he ran to the door, nearly tripping over his couch. She was just beyond his front door.
How could he not feel her coming? She feels happy! Maybe that…whatever it was last night was just a nightmare. And he flung the door open.
"Ohayo, Syaoran!" Her bubbly voice was like music to his ears.
At that very moment, she realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. Her eyes widened and she blushed fiercely.
"Sakura, what are you doing here?" He tried to slowly piece together the situation. First he noticed the bag she was carrying. But he was sidetracked by the slight shift in her aura. She was…um…what was that feeling?…kind of uneasy…but not in a really bad way…He looked at her face. She was a little red. Feverish? No…that wasn't it…so what could she…EMBARASSED? Yeah. That was it all right. But…At what? he thought.
"Gomen. Is this a bad time? I didn't know you were training," she somehow managed to sputter out.
OOOOHHHH! Now it all made sense to him. He wasn't wearing a shirt. Wait a minute…I'm not wearing a shirt! And she's standing right in front of me! And I'm all sweaty! His eyes widened.
"Be right back!" he called as he shot around the corner, nearly knocking over a chair. He returned mere moments later wearing a shirt.
"I brought you some food!" She exclaimed happily, much like he had done the night before. Except she wasn't out of breath, or sweaty like he had been, because she hadn't sprinted halfway across town. Oh well, it had much of the same effect. He half-smiled. It wasn't a full-fledged grin, but it was a start.
"I decided that I had to repay you for what you did for me last night, so I resolved to make you breakfast this morning," she spoke as she wandered to his kitchen. She slowly removed the contents of her bag onto his counter. She brought eggs, bread, and some jams.
"You go get ready for school, and I'll do all the cooking," she stated simply. Then she trotted about his kitchen collecting the necessary cookware. Suddenly she looked up at him.
"Well what are you standing around for? Go take a shower! You can't go to school dressed like that!" And with that she turned back around and continued with her work.
Something smelled really good in his apartment, and he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into whatever it was Sakura was cooking. Actually, he wouldn't mind sinking his teeth into her, but….he shook his head at any of those kinds of thoughts. Sakura was his friend, and her friendship was more important to him than anything in the world. His own selfish wishes were not going to ruin that. Besides, he was happy enough just seeing her in a better state than last night. And after that nightmare-thing, he was glad to see her acting like Sakura again.
He ran a hand through his unruly brown hair as if to somehow straighten it out, but to no avail. Oh well. He proceeded into the kitchen for what he knew was going to be one of those meals that no one gets nearly enough of.
"It smells delicious!" he exclaimed. "What is it?"
"Wouldn't you like to know…" she replied coyly.
"Yes, actually, I would." He attempted to make a move towards the food.
"Stop right there, mister. You take another step closer to my cooking and you'll get it over the head with a frying pan."
"Sounds like a risk I might be willing to take."
"Trust me, you don't wanna mess with me while I'm cooking, Syaoran. You just wait at the table until I'm done."
"That doesn't sound very nice. The table is all lonely, and, after all, this is my kitchen."
"Oh yeah? Well this is my food, and if you don't go sit at the table, I might not give you any."
"Touché."
Mere moments later, he was greeted with a hot plate full of…
"French toast!" His mouth watered as the corner of his lips turned slightly upwards into a grin of sorts.
"I'm glad you approve," stated Sakura. She sat down across from him and they both began their breakfast.
"Any papers that are not in my hand right now are officially considered late, and your grade will be deducted as such."
"Yikes! Terada-sensei wasn't lying when he said 'NO LATE PAPERS!'" whispered Tomoyo.
"I know! I can't believe I ever got mine finished," replied Sakura.
"How did you do that, by the way?"
"I had a little help," Sakura answered mysteriously. Tomoyo raised an eyebrow at her but decided to let it go for the time being.
About twenty minutes before lunchtime, the class was working on conjugating English verbs. Syaoran glanced over at Sakura to find her staring blankly down at her paper.
The rest of the classroom just kind of went dark for a while. She wasn't really aware of anything at all. It was like she just shut down. And then she felt him poking at her. Her eyes widened for a second. Pretend like nothing has happened. He can't sense that anything's wrong.
She turned to him and smiled brightly. She could tell he was slightly taken aback.
"Daijoubu desu ka?" he asked.
"I'm fine. Just deep in thought," she replied with a smile. What is wrong with me! I hafta snap out of this! I'm FINE! NOTHING is wrong!
Soon enough lunchtime rolled around. They were all happily chatting about the school newspaper. Sakura had signed on as a reporter and was currently working on an expose about cafeteria food. With her bold discoveries, she had opted to bring her own lunch. Just as Sakura was about to take a big bite out of her rice ball, she felt it. Her head shot up and met Syaoran's gaze immediately. Tomoyo, being extremely adept at calculating changes in mood, recognized that something was wrong. Realization dawned on her that there must be a Clow Card around. How am I supposed to escape without everyone being suspicious? Suddenly, Sakura sprang up from her seat.
"Hey! You guys wanna see a cool cheer move I just learned?"
"Yeah!" all the girls responded. Sakura shot Tomoyo a quick look as to say "Follow my lead…or else."
She backed up to get a running start, and then she was off! Like a rocket, she launched into a back handspring with a twist at the end followed directly by a tumble into a front flip. The minute she landed, she toppled to the floor clutching her ankle.
"AAAAH! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Oooooh! It HURTS! Mmmph!" She clenched her teeth together.
"Oh no! Sakura! Are you okay? Syaoran, you better carry her up to the nurses office," instructed Tomoyo.
"Right." And with that, the two were off. As soon as they got out of sight, Syaoran put Sakura down and they began running toward the aura of the Clow Card.
"Pretty quick thinking, Sakura."
"Why thank you."
"But your acting needs some improvement."
"Hey! I would have believed me."
"Yeah, but that's because you're so gullible."
"I resent that!"
"I know." Syaoran gave her a quirky grin.
They both stopped at that same moment. It was close. But where was it? They both looked around, but didn't see anything particularly out of place. There was no massive mayhem. Nothing out of the ordinary. And that's when they spotted it. A single red rose nestled safely in a long line of bushes.
"Is that it?" Sakura questioned.
"I guess so."
"What does it do?"
"How should I know?" They were tentative about moving any closer, but soon they slowly inched their way towards it.
"Maybe it's one of those friendly cards? Maybe it's related to the Flower Card!" suggested Sakura.
"Rose Card?" proposed Syaoran. But there was no effect. No card materialized. Just then, quick as a cat, something shot at Sakura's arm.
"Aaah!" She looked at where she had been hit and found a single thorn lodged deeply into her flesh. Both card captors looked silently at the rose before…
"Look out!" Syaoran gripped Sakura's shoulders and took them both to the ground mere milliseconds before three sharp thorns flew from the rose's stem right to where they had been standing.
"THORN CARD!" Sakura released her wand and aimed it at the pointy perpetrator. With a blast of wind, the tiny rose transformed into an elegant floating apparition. Its intentions, however, were clearly less than elegant as it hurled itself straight for the card mistress.
"JUMP CARD!" Thinking quickly, Sakura summoned her allied card and bounded away from the attack. Thorn, however, was not that easily deterred and followed right at Sakura's heels.
"It's too fast, Syaoran! Can you slow it down?" Sakura gasped while expertly dodging the rogue card.
"You got it!" Syaoran summoned his sword from the small pendant about his neck and conjured the forces of electricity to aid his friend in battle. The attack hit Thorn straight on, momentarily halting its assault. Sakura sprang to life, commanding the card to return to its confined, but not before Thorn launched its final blow. Just as it was being sealed, one large thorn shot forth from its vine-like appendage. Before Sakura knew what was happening, she collapsed onto the floor in agonizing pain.
The now captured card floated silently next to Sakura as Syaoran ran to her side. He took one look at her leg, scooped her up in his arms, and started sprinting to his apartment. Sakura's body started shivering slightly. Her head was resting against his chest, her eyes slowly drooping closed. She hadn't yet seen her wound.
"What does it look like, Syaoran?" She whispered.
"Nothing too bad," he lied, "We just have to get it cleaned up, is all." In his head he was desperately trying to recall anything from biology that could help him out at the moment. His mind was reeling with so many thoughts. It usually takes ten to fifteen minutes to get into the blood stream…we just got to get it out…she's gonna be fine…she's strong…there's so much blood…please don't die…NO! She's not going to…how am I supposed to help her?…baka, you'll find a way…you've dealt with poison before…she's going to be fine.
Sakura's eyes fell listlessly closed.
Bum Bum Bum! I know, I know. First I stop writing for a long time, and now I'm leaving you all with a cliffhanger. Sorry. I know I've probably lost a whole slue of my fans since my last story, but please review. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to continue writing immediately, but your reviews will definitely encourage me to try. I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, comments, and (gasp) even flames about this fic. It's a lot different than my last one, I know, but I'm just trying something new. Also, if you haven't read my last fic, "Summer" please do. I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you will enjoy reading it Thanks again for all your support. I wouldn't write if it weren't for my readers!