"Sakura's Peace"
A Card Captor Fanfiction
By: Bekah-chan
Rated: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captors or the characters therein.
Author's Notes: Sorry this chapter took so long to write. Madison grabbed control of the plot for awhile, an I had to wrest it back ^_~
Chapter 3, Madison:
Madison was a little worried about Sakura. Her best friend had been acting strangely all day. First the whole cousin thing (and where *had* Sakura gotten the idea that Madison had a cousin?) Then Sakura had failed to extend Madison's invite to Kero. Even though Madison had made it clear that he was welcome, and that she and Sakura would be the only other people there. Then, as if to compensate for Kero's stunning absence, Sakura has apparently consumed a Kero-sized portion of the cookies- All by herself!! And finally, on top of all this weirdness, Sakura had been acting like someone else was in the room with them.
A few moments ago Madison had entered the parlor where Sakura (and Kero, Madison had thought at the time) where awaiting her. Sakura had politely stood from her seat and greeted Madison- Now, this is where things got strange. For, after saying "Hello" to Madison, Sakura had turned to the empty space beside her friend and said:
"Hello, Alise, nice to meet you. I'm Sakura."
Madison had quickly glanced to her side to see to whom Sakura was speaking. But she had seen nothing, no one, there. For some reason Madison could not quite focus on the space, but she was *sure* no one was there. Yet, throughout the visit, Sakura persisted in acting as if someone *was* there. Standing beside Madison, and seated beside her once Madison had taken a chair.
What was going on?
Madison briefly considered that it could be a practical joke, then she quickly discarded the idea. Recently, with all of Yue's nonsense, practical jokes had become the bane of the group's collective existence. So Madison had a hard time believing Sakura would do something like that. Next, Madison wondered if magic were somehow involved. Had a spell been cast on Sakura, making her see things that weren't there?
Madison got a sinking feeling as she considered the next option. What if a spell had been cast on Madison? To make her *not* see something that *was* there? Madison really did not like the implications of this, for there were only two reasons she could think of why someone would cast such a spell upon her. One was that it was a way to get to Sakura, but Madison didn't think that was it. It was looking like the second reason was more plausible. Her mother had warned her this might happen.
Now that Madison was aware that something was going on, she began to notice the oddities of her own behavior. She watched, as if from a distance, herself pour tea for Nobody, then ask the empty space if they wanted lemon in their beverage. That clinched it- Someone was controlling her actions. Madison's mother had been right. And she should have been more alert, she might have been able to stop it.
In any case, whatever it was that Madison could not see, Sakura certainly could. Knowing Sakura as long as she had, it was possible for Madison to tell Sakura was really worried about whatever-it-was. Sakura hid it well. To anyone who did not know her, she would appear calm and relaxed. This was a good thing. Sakura needed to avoid alerting the spell-caster that she knew something was going on. If this thing had enough control over Madison's mind so that she did not even *see* it, it was definitely too late for her to use any of the techniques her mother had taught her to get out of these kinds of situations. Sakura was her only hope now.
Madison wished she knew how long this had been going on, for then she could better judge how much time she had left. She was sure, however, that if the spell was not broken within the next few days, she would be dead.
****
Sakura:
Sakura desperately tried to act normal. It wasn't easy, and became more difficult as the afternoon wore on. By the time evening came, and Sakura knew she had to leave, she was almost frantic with worry for her friend. But she could do nothing, and finally had to go.
As she stood to depart, the Card Mistress happened to glance at her friend and caught Madison's gaze. There she saw, not the confused and blank look that had been present through the entire meeting, but eyes full of fear. Madison knew something was going on. This only made Sakura feel worse, and with a heavy heart she left her best friend trapped with a monster, and aware of her cage.
The Long Walk:
To mask her magical presence from 'Alise', Sakura had used both Shield and Illusion Card-magic. She was very skilled with both, had in fact mastered them within days, so she was able to put up her magical defenses seconds after Kero left. She used the Shield magic to veil her power; and Illusion to place a cloak of normalcy about her. Thus hiding her true self from both magical, and physical, sight.
After saying good-bye to Madison, and bidding a strictly polite farewell to Alise, Sakura had walked out the front door and down the long driveway. She was careful to leave her disguise in place while she was in sight of the house. Which was good since she could feel evil-little-girl eyes drilling holes in her back all the way down the lane until she walked past the gate and left Madison's family's grounds.
She waited a few more blocks, just to be safe, before letting her spells go. That had been close. Sakura still did not think the false 'cousin' had sensed what she was, but Alise had still acted suspicious.
~Probably because I stayed so long~ Sakura thought. Looking back she realized that she had been sipping tea with a monster for the better part of four hours. No wonder the little fiend was wary of her. She sighed. She had stayed as long as she possibly could, loathing the thought of abandoning Madison with her 'cousin'. And she did not regret it, even if it made Alise a little suspicious.
Head down, Sakura shuffled dejectedly along the sidewalk, as she tried to think of a way to save her friend. She watched her feet appear and disappear from her vision while she walked. She was forced to stop though, when another pair of feet came into view, directly in her path.
Sakura recognized the shoes, but she did not need this clue to deduce who was standing in front of her....... She always knew when he was near.
"Oh, Syaoran..." she sighed sadly, still thinking of Madison. She walked a few more steps, without bothering to look up, and felt his familiar embrace enclose her as she lay her head in his shoulder.
"Sakura....." Syaoran held her just a little tighter, "Kero told me what happened. I couldn't risk getting too close, so I waited here for you."
"I'm glad you came," she whispered, clutching onto his shirt with both hands, "I needed you."
"I'm here now," he stroked her hair comfortingly, "I just wish I could have been there with you."
Sakura agreed with him, it would have been easier to have 'tea' with Alise if Syaoran had been there. "Oh, Syaoran," she whispered again, "It was awful! Madison was like a puppet, she had almost no control over her own actions. And I had to *leave* her there!! Alone with that...th-that thing!" Sakura choked back a sob and buried her face a little deeper in his shirt.
"It will be okay, Sakura," Syaoran pulled back to look at her face, "I promise." he wiped the tears from her eyes.
Sakura had to smile faintly at his statement. He sounded so sure, so certain that they could save Madison. Sakura took a little of that certainty into herself, along with a deep breath, and steeled up her determination. Together they would rescue Madison. They had to.
To Be Continued ^_^
End Notes: Okay, now this story has been, so far, really hard for me to write. So, it will be, as it has been, a really *long* time between updates. What I need to know is: Would you guys rather--
A- I keep updating whenever I manage to actually finish a chapter. Or,
B- Wait until I have the story completely done to update again? Please review with your opinion so that I know. Thanks! ^_^