Several days of Li and Kerberos sniping at each other had everyone, even the normally cheerful Fujitaka, on edge. Yue bided his time, waiting for right the opportunity to present itself.
Sakura opened the door to her room, stretching and yawning. She closed the door behind her, thinking about how tired she was and how good her bed was going to feel. She looked up toward her bed and stepped back in alarm.
Li sat in the bed leaning against the headboard, dressed in his pajamas, scowling with crossed arms and sporting a fiery challenge in his eyes. Kerberos, tiny as he was, sat on Sakura's pillow with the same crossed-arm posture and furrowed brow.
"Wha...what's going on?!" Sakura asked.
"I'm not leaving!" Kero told her hotly.
"I'm not going anywhere either!" Li added.
"He gets enough of your time..." Kerberos went on.
"You had Sakura all to yourself for years..." Li interrupted.
"Both of you!" Sakura screeched, "Shut up! I don't care! Both of you stay or both of you go. I'm going to sleep!"
Sakura climbed over Li, moved Kero from her pillow to the side of the bed away from Li and placed herself between them. She only then realized how tenuous a position she was in. If she turned toward Li, Kero's feelings would be hurt. If she turned toward Kerberos, Li would be insulted. Sakura found herself lying stiffly on her back, between the two slightly fuming combatants and realized she wouldn't sleep a wink all night.
A moment later, all three were deeply asleep.
********
Sakura felt something odd touch her lips. She opened her eyes as she darted away. She backed into something warm and solid.
"Kero-chan!" she demanded, "What are you doing?!"
It seemed to her as if Kerberos, her Guardian Beast (though he looked like a little, yellow, stuffed animal), protector, guide, confidant and one of her best friends in all the world, had been avidly kissing her!
"Nuthin'! I'm sleeping!" a voice rumbled behind her, "Keep it down willya?"
Sakura turned her head and suddenly realized what had happened.
"OH, NO!" Li, in Kerberos' body, jumped up to the headboard, "It happened again!"
"Oh, geez! Am I in the brat again?" Kero, in Li's body sat up and rubbed his eyes, "This is actually kinda cool!"
"I'm glad you're happy!" Li sniped back, "I'm in a stuffed animal body again!"
"Hey!" Kero clenched his fists, "Don't you go ragging on my body!"
"I hate this! I hate this! I hate this! That was the worst day of my life!" Li thrashed about in a tantrum.
Sakura closed her mouth from her shock at the situation and thought about that. Li had really gotten the raw end of the deal that day. He hadn't been able to do anything, as he was a stuffed animal, and he had even needed to be rescued from the crane game at the toy store when a series of mix-ups had landed him there. Kero, on the other hand, though he had his share of goof ups too, had gotten to go out and be with people, something he couldn't normally do. He had also been the hero that day, as he was the one who rescued Li.
Sakura suddenly noticed the time.
"Oh, no! We've got to go to Tomoyo's Grand Opening! We're going to be late!" she wailed, scrambling over Kerberos (in Li's body) to get out of the bed.
"I can't go like this!" Li cried out, looking down at himself.
"I dunno, kid, put on a bow tie and you're quite dapper!" Kero noted with a smile. Li glared at him.
"What Grand Opening?" Kerberos asked as he shrugged at Li's ineffectual anger.
"Oh, Tomoyo is opening her first electronics store. It specializes in video equipment. It's been her dream for so long..." Sakura replied as she pulled a dress over her head.
"C'mon, Syaor...uhm, Kero-chan, you've got to get ready too!" she urged.
"Huh? Don't get me wrong, Sakura, I like Tomoyo and all, but I was going to play video games today and relax!" he replied.
"No time for that now! You're in Syaoran-kun, you've got to be Syaoran-kun today!" Sakura told him.
"Enough's enough, already, Sakura," Li said, swishing Kero's tail, "The joke's over. Change us back!"
"Huh? I didn't do this!" Sakura exclaimed, "Though I wish I had! You two have been driving me crazy!"
She stopped fixing her hair, turned and looked at both of them with a stunned expression.
"Unless I did this in my sleep! Oh, that would be bad!"
Li and Kerberos both shook the other's head.
"Naw..."
"You couldn't. Magic requires concentration and will. It's not something you can do without meaning to," Li said.
"The kid's right. Clow wouldn't have made the Cards that easy to use, 'cause it would be dangerous!" Kero agreed. He cupped his chin in thought. Sakura thought the typical Kero expression looked really odd on Li's face.
"Maybe this is a magical after-effect of the Change from years ago. After all, Li and I haven't slept close to each other before. We were near each other for hours last night; there might have been an unconscious resonance. That could be it," Kero noted, "You should be able to simply Change us back!"
"Hurry, Sakura! I can't stand being in this stuffed animal body again!" Li pleaded.
"Hey, brat! That's my body you're talking about!" Kero yelled.
"I ought to leave you both this way until you start being nicer to each other..." Sakura pondered aloud.
Li and Kerberos looked at each other, each seeing the panic in the other's eyes. Human Kero picked stuffed animal Li up and patted his head, "We're friends already! Change us back!"
"Yeah, I like the Guardian Beast of the Seal...especially when it's he who is the beast!" Li promised, "...and not me!" he added under his breath.
"Oh, okay!" Sakura relented. She pulled off her necklace.
"Key which hides the power of stars..." the magic swirled releasing the Key as she finished the spell, "...Change Card! Release and dispel! Change!" she tapped the Card with her staff. The Card fluttered to the ground.
Kero leaned down and picked it up, "What went wrong?"
Li, perched on his shoulder, pointed a paw, "The Card's blank! Change is gone!"
"What?!" Sakura snatched the Card from Kero's hand. The border and card name were there, her name was written on it too, but the picture of the Change creature was gone.
"But...where did it go?!"
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stargarde@stargarde.com
Next chapter teaser - Worries
