"What is your wish?" I watched Yuuko ask young Syaoran.
"I have no wish. I will grant any wishes that I have by myself." Even as a child, he's still Syaoran.
"And yet, you've come here." Yuuko grinned at him.
"My mother had a dream… there is somebody waiting for me."
"Sakura has long possessed the power to see the future in her dreams. So, what will you do?" Sakura? Another Sakura?
"I will go."
"With this dimensional movement, you can be in Clow for seven days. When this time has passed, you will return to your original world at once. What to do after that, you will decide." Yuuko explained.
I continued to watch as the memories sped up and Syaoran was transported to where we now stood.
"Is this the place mother saw in her dream? Clow Country?" The young boy asked.
"Who… are you?" a young Sakura stood in the flowing water looking surprised.
"I'm Syao–" before he could get his name out, the young girl tripped and fell into the water causing Syaoran to run toward her.
"Wait! No! I'm sorry but you mustn't touch me." They climbed out of the water and sat several feet apart on the dry platform. "I'm sorry, I'm undergoing purification right now so nobody can touch me."
"Purification… is there going to be some sort of important ritual?" Syaoran asked. Like the ritual the townspeople kept talking about before they… disappeared.
Sakura was shocked by Syaoran's knowledge of a purification ritual. They went on to discuss Japan, inevitability, and finally were able to share their names with one another. Syaoran was shocked to find out Sakura's name was the same as his mother's and it made me wonder about the connection. The clones maybe? Is that possible?
Before I could think about it any longer, Sakura's mother appeared. She was gorgeous with long hair and a staff that reminded me of the one Fai had that I used to travel across the dimensions.
"You look like you're having fun, Princess Sakura." She smiled down at her daughter.
"I–I'm sorry! But– But I did make sure that he didn't touch me! Really! I kind of fell in the reservoir! But–" Young Sakura said frantically.
"I understand. It's OK." She chuckled before turning to Syaoran. "Welcome to Clow, visitor from another world.
The memories jumped again and we were now in the castle. I watched as an excited Sakura ran to her father and stopped just short of him as if remembering at the last second that she can't be touched.
"I'm Fujitaka, the kind of Clow." The man introduced himself to Syaoran. Fujitaka… Wasn't that clone Syaoran's father's name? Could this be the same Fujitaka…? The inconsistencies between the world clone Syaoran grew up in and the world the original Syaoran did…
I watched as the kids walked together to get dinner and Sakura's parents stood side by side, concerned.
"So that's him?" the king asked.
"Yes. He is the one Princess Sakura is destined for." the queen answered. "The princess will change that boy's fate, too."
"And so, that future has changed." Fujitaka said sadly.
"Let's believe in those children."
"Indeed."
I watched Syaoran's memories fly by me. From the meals they shared, the time they spent together, the shit Syaoran got from Sakura's older brother, until everything slowed on Syaoran's last night in Clow. The kids were stargazing at the highest point in the castle. Syaoran's smile was wide and genuine as he took in the beautiful view next to his princess. But suddenly, there was a sound like a bell that chimed out and Sakura faded into a trance.
"Bells? It's coming from the ruins… it's as if it's calling the water. The reservoir?" She spoke quietly as she floated in the air. "Syaoran!" She called out before dropping out of the air and collapsing to the ground.
"Are you alright!?" Syaoran called, kneeling next to her desperately trying to not touch her and ruin her purification process.
"You mustn't, Syaoran. It's dangerous… stay… away." the princess managed to get out. The king appeared a moment later, concerned for his daughter and checking her breath without touching her.
"Sometimes she's like this when she has a vision." He told the young boy. "What did she say?" After Syaoran explained the king spoke again. "When the purification is over the princess won't enter that place until the next ritual." So what's coming came on that seventh day.
Time fast-forwarded again and we were back in the ruins. Syaoran accompanied Sakura to the final day of the purification and was determined to protect her, but that feeling of time running out was sitting deep in my gut. Before too long, the ruins started to shake and crumble around us. Sakura's eyes went dim as if she were back in a trance and she began to float toward the ceiling.
"What's happening!?" Syaoran yelled as he ran through the water to get to the young girl. I watched in horror as a rip in the universe appeared, revealing Fei Wong Reed. Syaoran pulled out his sword as the same black substance from Kurogane's world appeared and tried to grab Sakura. The water from the ruins shot up to protect her.
"Open your eyes!" Syaoran begged the girl as she got closer to the rip. "SAKURA!"
"No… my real name is…"
He was so close to grabbing her, but at the last second the rules of purification sprung to his mind and he withdrew his hand. The black substance engulfed the young girl.
"The future often moves ahead of choice. That hand which you did not take just now, due to a moment's confusion has decided your path from here on out." Fei Wong smirked. Suddenly, the black sludge opened up revealing an unconscious Sakura in the middle of a seal similar to that on the door of the ruins we first entered as a group.
"These black feathers are…" Syaoran seemed to realize.
"The seal of death." Fei Wong said. "Once the seal has enshrouded the entire body the seal that was engraved today, at this point in time — that moment will be her last."
"Why!? Why on Sakura!?" Syaoran screamed, lunging at the grown man and calling upon his own magic.
"To grant my wish." Fei Wong said simply, blocking the attack easily. "It seems you've grasped the meaning of that spell. In that case, you should understand that you cannot win. If you try, you will die." I watched in horror as the young child tried to get up to fight more. Fei Wong simply smiled and continued to speak.
"Do you fight for the sake of a wish as well? In the end, will your wish and mine become the same?" He launched an attack at Syaoran the very moment the Dimensional Witch's magic activated and brought the young, injured boy back to Tokyo. Yuuko bandaged him and helped to heal his wounds, but the second he was able to move he tried to leave to return to Clow.
He made a promise to protect Sakura. He needed to save her. He had a wish and he wanted to grant it for himself. But he couldn't do it alone.
"I will send you to Clow," Yuuko promised, "But it will be a one-way journey. At present, there is no one in Clow Country who can cross dimensions or send others across them. In other words, as long as the situation remains that way you will not be able to return to the world from which you came. You may never see your father and mother, or the people who love you in your dimension ever again. That is your price. Will you still go?"
"I'll go." He told her.