Wild Cherry Blossoms

by Matt 'VGZ' Hanson
Edited by Steve 'Loki' McQuillen

: Thoughts

A Ranma 1/2 & Card Captor Sakura divergence/alterverse. Ranma 1/2 is the property of the genius Rumiko Takahashi. Card Captor Sakura is the property of Clamp. In other words I don't claim to own them so don't sue me.

Chapter One:

The FIGHT's big challenge.

"Sakura-chan, you're staring," Daidouji Tomoyo whispered to her friend.

Sakura blinked then blushed before whispering her reply. "He was in my dream last night. I've never seen him before, but it looked just like him!"

Tomoyo was about to ask about that when Terada-sensei asked Sakura to raise her hand. "Saotome-kun please set your things down at the desk in front of Kinomoto-kun. Now class it's time for gym."

Ranma walked over to his desk and set his bag down, smiling at Sakura, who returned the smile. At least it's next to a window, he thought as the class started to leave for Gym.

A few minutes later in the Gym.

Sakura looked back and forth between Meilen and Ranma, trying to talk to Tomoyo and keep from getting distracted by Meilen's glare.

"I think Meilen is annoyed with me."

"What were you saying about a dream with Saotome-kun in it earlier, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked as she tried to get Sakura's mind off of Meilen.

"It was the same dream with the Clow Cards that I've been having except he was standing next to me. He smiled and gave me a reassuring look, then the dream went on like normal. Kero-chan told me these were prophetic dreams so..."

"Could Saotome-kun have a connection to the Clow Cards?"

Before Sakura could respond, she was called up for her turn to perform cartwheels. She performed three perfect cartwheels before going back to her place.

After the rest of the class had their turn, Ranma asked what they were going to do now that they had warmed up slightly. When most of the class looked at him increduously he asked, "What? We're doin' gymnastics ain't we? So we should be doin' some of the basic stuff like flips an twists an stuff like that." The class looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "What?"

"Er, Saotome-kun those are advanced maneuvers and are above the ability level of most people your age," Terada-sensei said with a sweatdrop, "though I believe Kinomoto-kun can do some advanced gymnastics. Would you two like to demonstrate your skills?"

Meilen imeadiately stood up saying she would do so as well. She walked over and did a series of three front flip-like cartwheels. The class made sounds of appreciation as Meilen walked back, giving Sakura a smug look on her way by.

Sakura then went over and performed a similar routine with an added airborne-twisting-flip at the end. The class was even more impressed and cheered for her. As she walked by him, Ranma told her, "You're pretty good," while he smiled at her. She blushed slightly and sat down to watch his performance.

Ranma began by leaping into a twisting horizontal roll, spinning three times, before curling into a forward roll, completing two revolutions, and landing in a handstand, having cleared ten feet and travelled close to fifteen. He immediately pushed off, reversing his momentum in seeming defiance of the laws of physics, to flip over and perform a triple axle which was smoothly transitioned into a standing triple flip to land before his stunned classmates. After a minute of silence his classmates recovered from their subsequent stupor to applaud his olympic level performance.

He can do that and thinks I'm pretty good? Sakura thought, developing a sweatdrop, as she watched him scratch the back of his neck and blush at everyone's praise. He looks so cute blushing like that!

Terada-sensei suggested that the class use the remaining time as free time. Ranma walked over and began performing a mid-level kata. Sakura and Tomoyo sat down to watch, Tomoyo pulling out her camera to film his performance. They were a bit surprised when Ranma began a conversation without slowing his kata.

"Are the two of ya interested in the Art? Is that why ya got that camera?" Ranma asked, looking at the camera nervously developing a sweatdrop.

"I just find your performance to be fascinating Saotome-kun. How long have you been learning gymnastics?" Tomyo asked as she continued to film him.

"Tomyo-chan, Saotome-kun is a martial artist not a gymnast," Sakura told her before Ranma could respond. She then continued, "What belt-level are you, Saotome-kun? You're one of the most skilled martial artists that I've seen."

"Thanks, I've been practicin' since before I could walk. Oyaji gave me the test for my fourth dan in Anything Goes before we moved here. An' just call me Ranma."

"Y-you're really a fourth dan black-belt? Thats impressive, Ranma-kun. Oh, and you can call me Sakura and this is my best friend Tomoyo-chan."

"Please feel free to call me Tomoyo, Ranma-kun."

"Alright, Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan, its nice ta meetcha," Ranma stated, seeming to bow to them even as he performed a series of kicks and continued his kata.

He called me Sakura-*chan*! Sakura thought with a blush while ignoring the fact that he had referred to Tomoyo the same way.

"You okay, Sakura-chan? Your face is all red."

Sakura's blush increased at Ranma's question and she stammered unintelligibly. Recovering from her embarrassment, she tried to change the subject by asking, "Where are you from, Ranma-kun? I haven't seen you around here before."

Ranma paused for a moment before saying, "Ya know, I don't really know. Oyaji an I have been travellin' around so much I can't really remember where my home is. I just have this hazy memory of a pretty lady wavin' goodbye when we left on our trainin' trip. I think that mighta been my Kasan but I'm not sure."

Sakura and Tomoyo looked slightly shocked at hearing this.

"You mean you don't remember your own mother? How old were you when you left home?" Shauran asked, walking over from where he had been listening to one side.

"I was five when we started our trainin' trip. As for yer other question, not really, an' Oyaji just shivers and rubs his neck when I ask 'bout her," he responded, pausing to think about why Genma did that before shrugging and looking at Shauran for a minute. "Err who are ya anyway?"

"Li Shauran," was his reponse. He paused before continuing, "I'm starting to understand how you can be so skilled in martials arts now Saotome-kun."

"Nice ta meetcha Shauran, an' jus' call me Ranma."

"Err... Okay, Ranma."

Before the conversation could be carried any further Terada-sensei called the together and told them that gym was over for the day.

That evening at Sakura's House

Sakura, her father, Toya, and Yukito were eating dinner when Sakura noticed an article in the paper about a girl beating up martial artists.

"Oh, is this the incident you were talking about this morning, Oniichan?"

"No, apparently there was another one." Toya responded while their father added, "It was on the news show earlier, too. They said that another black-belt martial artist was attacked in Tomoeda Central Park."

"Hoeeeeh, at the park!?" Sakura asked in surprise and worry. Ranma-kun said he was staying near the park when Tomoyo-chan asked him about it during class! "I hope Ranma-kun doesn't get attacked." Sakura continued out loud without realizing it.

"Who's Ranma?" Toya asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

Sakura jumped slightly before answering. "He's my new classmate."

"I doubt he'll be attacked. It seems that she is only targeting martial artists at the black-belt level." Yukito stated while looking at the article.

"Ranma is above the black-belt level. He's a fourth-dan is his style and knows over half a dozen other styles on top of that." Sakura stated with obvious admiration. And he said I was good at gymnastics! That's a major compliment considering his skill. And he is so cute when he gets nervous. She thought with a slightly dreamy expression.

Uh-oh, I recognize that expression. I better check out this Ranma kid to make sure he won't hurt Imouto-chan, Toya thought as his protectiveness of his sister kicked in. Though if he really is that skilled I should be careful as well.

"Furthermore, there have been reports that the culprit, a girl, was dressed in strange clothes..." Yukito read aloud, oblivious to the conversation.

"Strange clothes?" Sakura asked

"Yeah."

A girl in strange clothes... C-Can it be...? Sakura thought with a slight sweat drop.

Meanwhile...

Ranma, having become bored waiting for his father to return to the apartment they were renting, was back in Tomoeda Central Park going through one of his more advanced kata. As he twisted and leapt from tree branches, railing, lampposts, and any other stationary objects in the park, he thought about his day.

I finally have some more friends, I wonder if Ucchan has a buncha friends too? He would probably laugh at me for makin' friends with some girls, but I don't care. There's somethin' about Sakura-chan that makes me want ta see her smile. I get this strange feelin' around her. I'm not sure what it is... but I like it!

He jumped up into a nearby tree and looked across the canal as he focused more on his line of thought.

I don't know why, but for some reason I trust her. Ucchan an' I took a lot longer to become friends an' I didn't trust him anywhere near as much as I trust her. I better not tell Oyaji about her. He would just start lecturin' me about girls bein' weak an distractin' me from the Art.

Ranma noticed several people across the canal and decided to see what was going on. After he realized who it was he shifted around and prepared to call out to them.

Across the canal, while Ranma was in the tree.

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero stood next to the jungle-gym near the canal.

"So it DOES end up like this..." Sakura said with a sweat-drop, looking slightly embarrassed. She was wearing a pink outfit with a poofy skirt and matching hat.

"What, what? You look so gloomy! Now, let's hurry up and capture that card!" Kero excitedly cheered.

"Kero-chan, you seem to be very keen on this today." Tomoyo said cheerfully in her airy, gentle voice.

"I think today's dinner and dessert were really yummy for him or something." Sakura said aside to Tomoyo, who responded with a simple, "I see."

Kero floated over to the nearby canal and hovered in the air with a frown on his tiny face. "I feel it. It's the presence of a Clow Card."

Sakura walked over to stand next to him and concentrated for a second. "Yeah. I feel it as well."

"Then, the girl in strange clothes that attacked all the martial artists..." began Tomoyo.

"It's a Clow Card." Meilen interrupted from the top of a lamp post.

"Meilen-chan?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Is this her? That fiancee of that kid?" Kero asked as Meilen lept down from her perch.

"So you're here looking for the card as well." Meilen stated haughtily.

"Then you are too?" Sakura responded.

"I'm going to capture it and hand it over to Shaoran. The card is Shaoran's!!"

"What card? An' what are all a you doin' here?" asked a familiar voice.

"Nani?" Kero asked in surprise before turning to see Ranma hanging by his feet from a tree limb on the other side of the canal.

"What's that thing?" Ranma asked as he flipped across the canal to land next to Sakura. "Hey Sakura-chan, nice outfit. Ya look real cute in it." Why did I call her cute, an' why do I feel so calm around her?

Sakura stopped in the middle of stuttering out excuses to blush and look at her feet with a grin on her face. He thinks I'm cute!!

Ranma was about to say something else when he 'felt' something and tensed up. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, simply that something was nearby and could be a threat. It felt similar to when his danger sense went off but this was different, somehow alien.

Sakura started to ask what was wrong when she saw Ranma tense up but lost the chance when Ranma suddenly leapt between her and the canal while dropping into a basic Anything Goes stance.

Everyone looked in the direction of the canal wondering what Ranma had noticed.

After a moment of silence the water exploded in a small geyser and a girl in a blue and white outfit with light blue-tinted skin flew into the air and landed on the railing facing Ranma. She was wearing a pair of knee high shoes that flared out with a large leaf-shaped extension at the knees. She also had a pair of elbow-length, fingerless gloves that had flares to match the boots and a small pad over the knuckles. Her main outfit looked like a tight-fitting leotard with a large, skirt-like flair that split into an upside down 'V' near where her belly button would be located. It covered her sides, but left the front and back of the hip portion of the leotard uncovered allowing a greater freedom of movement. All of the flares were edged in white and there was an orange diamond shape on her chest. Her hair was pulled up into two ponytails with loops in an odango style.

The girl then bowed toward Ranma who hesitated, then returned the bow.

"You wanna fight?"

"Careful kid, thats the FIGHT card," Kero began, but was cut off as the Fight opened her eyes and rushed along the railing in their direction. She jumped into the air and threw a punch at the area Ranma and Sakura were standing...

...only to punch the ground as Ranma grabbed Sakura and leapt away from the area. Setting her down he turned toward the blue-skinned girl and growled, "If you wanna fight then ya got one. But leave Sakura-chan out of this. The only way yer gonna get to her is through me!" He rushed forward to attack.

The FIGHT smirked slightly as she rushed forward throwing a straight punch at Ranma who simply twisted away and spun into a roundhouse backhand punch. The strangely dressed girl quickly brought up an arm to block and twisted away from the follow up crescent kick and quickly flipped backwards to avoid Ranma's five-blow punch-punch-chop-kick-kick combination, attempting another kick as she moved into a handstand. Ranma simply leapt into a split to dodge the attack before quickly dropping into a sweep kick. The FIGHT pushed off her hand and twisted around to land facing him, breathing slightly hard from the exertion.

"That was a pretty good warm-up. Now we can start the real thing," Ranma stated with a slight glare, not even breathing hard yet.

Everyone present was a bit startled by the anger in his voice, even Ranma himself.

Ranma-kun is really skilled. He seems to care about Sakura-chan quite a bit, Tomoyo thought as she prepared to film the fight from another angle. When Sakura-chan captures the card I'll have footage of them working together!

Sakura stood watching with a dazed expression, Wow! He's more skilled than I thought, and he's fighting to protect me!

It's not fair, I was going to capture that Card for Shaoran. And why isn't his anger throwing off his focus? He should be getting sloppy, not more focused.

This Ranma kid is very skilled and he was able to sense the FIGHT cards location more accurately than *I* could. I better keep an eye on him, thought Kero while looking closely at Ranma.

Ranma rushed forward and began launching punches and kicks in several varied combinations that left the blue-skinned girl on the defensive. She desperately blocked, parried, or dodged his blows while slowly moving back. Ranma increased his speed and several strikes broke through the FIGHT's defenses. The FIGHT then took advantage of an opening that Ranma seemed to have developed as a result of his last attack and struck him with a lightning fast punch to the chest...

...except he wasn't there when the blow would have connected. Hearing a noise behind her, the FIGHT reacted to late to dodge Ranma drop-kick and found herself pinned on the ground with her arms locked behind her in a submission hold.

"Do ya yield?" Ranma asked, watching the older girl carefully. At her nod he released her and helped her stand up. He bowed to her before speaking. "That was a good match, though if ya ever attack Sakura again you'll regret it." She winced at this statement. "I'm not sure what you are, but ya fight well. Maybe we can have another match sometime." The FIGHT blushed slightly, the pink tinge contrasting heavily with her sky-blue skin, before finally returning his bow. "Why is your face pink, you sick or somethin'?" The FIGHT's blush grew in intensity before she turned toward Sakura, as if begging to be put back in her card and saved more embarrassment.

Sakura snapped out of the daze she had fallen into watching Ranma fight for her. Running up next to Ranma she quickly raised the sealing wand and called out, "Return to the guise that you were meant to be in! CLOW CARD!" She then brought the wand down to strike an empty space in the air that glowed and formed into a rectangular shape. The FIGHT card turned into a blue energy and was drawn into the rectangle to become sealed in its card form once more.

Ranma blinked a few times before shrugging and turning his attention to Kero.

"So, what are ya exactly? And what was that girl and how did Sakura-chan turn her inta a card?"

"Er, that was a Clow Card and I'm Kerberos, the Guardian Beast of the Seal," Kero said puffing up with pride.

"Ack, This thing that looks like a bath sponge!?" Meilen cried in shock.

"You try saying that again, brat!" Kero shouted while holding one arm up looking like he planned to punch her.

Meilen slapped him aside and glared at Sakura. "The next card is Shaoran's. You were just lucky this time. Shaoran is going to find the cards! He-"

Meilen's speech was cut off as Shaoran dropped out of a nearby tree.

"Shaoran!" Meilen yelled as she ran over to glomp onto him.

"I told you to not come here!" Shaoran yelled at her. Without giving her a chance to protest he held out his arm and said, "You made Wei use the compass!!"

Meilen tensed up before drawing her arms up and pouting. "And I told him to keep quiet about it!"

Kero floated over and said, "So the brat was acting separately from the kid?"

"Who are you calling 'brat' and who do you mean by 'kid'!?"

"Calling you two 'kid' and 'brat' is good enough!!"

Ranma chuckled slightly, earning a glare from Meilen. "What compass are ya talkin' about? And why is everyone wearin' these clothes? Shauran's look sorta like somethin' worn for a traditional ceremony, but Sakura-chan's are jus' cute."

Sakura blushed again while Shaoran glared slightly in Meilen's direction before turning to Ranma. "These are the Li family ceremonial clothes. They're worn for magical ceremonies like capturing Clow Cards."

"Then why ain't Meilen wearin' em? She said she was here to catch that card for ya, and she is from yer family."

"The brat has no magical powers. That's why she doesn't know where the cards are by herself," Kero stated while floating with his arms and legs crossed with a smug expression. Meilen slumped down with an irritated expression while Kero continued, "It's really strange for someone in the Li clan."

"Uh, if ya say so... So what are cloud cards anyway?" asked Ranma.

"Clow Cards not cloud cards. They are magical beings created by my master Clow Reed. Each card is alive and acts according to its own personality," Kero stated while looking at Ranma carefully. There is something about this kid.

"So they're like oni or kitsune or somethin'? So why are ya out here with such dangerous things runnin' around?"

"Er, I wouldn't exactly call them oni or anything like that, and I'm out here because I... um.... sort of... let the cards loose," Sakura said, blushing at the last part.

"Huh?"

"I opened the Clow book and summoned the WINDY by accident which scattered all the cards. Now I'm helping Kero collect the cards to prevent a disaster," continued Sakura solemnly.

Ranma looked at her for a minute before saying, "Dontcha worry Sakura-chan, I'll help ya! Its a martial artists duty to help others an' yer my friend so I gotta protect ya."

Sakura smiled before looking at Ranma with a slightly nervous expression. "Ranma-kun, you have to keep this a secret."

Ranma nodded at her, saying, "I promise an' Saotome Ranma always keeps his word."

"Arigato Ranma-kun." Sakura then noticed the time, "Agh... I have to get home! See you tomorrow Ranma-kun, Li-kun, Meilen-chan."

"Oyasumi Sakura-chan," Ranma stated before jumping over the canal and running off toward the aparment he was staying in.

Kero blinked before turning to Tomoyo, "Its going to get more interesting with that kid here."

Tomoyo simply nodded.