"Sakura's Peace"
A Card Captor Fanfiction
By: Bekah-chan
Rated: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captors or the characters therein.
Author's Notes: A few people have asked me to e-mail them when I update. I'm really sorry, but I seriously don't have the time to do that. For example; I've just started a four credit hour Algebra class (one that has scary words like radicals and logarithms in the Syllabus). So, again, I am sorry, and I'll try to update every week or so, just check for new chapters once a week and all will be well. ^_~
Thanks for the Reviews!! :)
Chapter 10, Home Again:
The room was almost completely dark, lit only by vague shadows of moonlight. Faint outlines revealed the location of a sofa, love-seat, and assorted chairs, but the short coffee-table was not so visible. Someone walking across the middle of this room would, most likely, trip over it and land, inelegantly, in front of the small fireplace.
The sounds of a car pulling into the driveway, and turning off, can be heard from outside. Followed by the sounds of various occupants leaving the car, along with a strange sort of keening wail. Then, the sound of a door being opened. Was it the front door, that was connected to this room by a small foyer?
No, the sound was a little farther away; It was the kitchen door, leading from the backyard/carport into the recently re-modeled kitchen. A light was turned on from that end of the house, but it's beams did not yet reach this room.
Now, the sounds of people coming down the hall, accompanied by the continuing wailing sound.
"Oh, Yue! Calm down, it's just hair! Touya, would you get the light, please?"
"Sure, Dad."
"Just HAIR!?!"
One flick of a switch turned on three different light fixtures; all semi-circles on three of the livingroom's walls, up near the ceiling. In the door came Touya, towing a distraught Yue (cradling the shorn ends of his hair) along behind him. Next came Kent, carrying the limp form of Madison in his arms, and Kero on his shoulder.
"Could you put her on the couch please, Dad?" Sakura asked. She and Syaoran were the last through the door. Sakura had to rely on Syaoran's supporting arm to keep up her limping pace, since her ankle was pretty mangled and wouldn't hold any weight to speak of.
"Alright, honey," Kent carefully placed Madison's body on the sofa, and propped her up with pillows.
The rest of them tiredly found places to sit, and watched Kero where he floated in front of Madison.
"Now what?" asked Syaoran, who had gained a new perspective of respect for the flying stuffed animal.
"Well, first I need to return her energy That should take care of the wounds the Spirit-hooks left," Kero began. They all looked at Madison (which they had been trying not to do) and winced at her condition. While it was undoubtable that she looked better than she had with the Spirit-hooks embedded in her flesh, she still looked really bad. Especially under the stronger light available in the Avalon's house. Her skin was as white as bone china, and almost as translucent, except around the wounds where it took on the blue/black hue of an old bruise.
Sakura scooted a little closer to Syaoran on the love seat, and tried not to cry. He put his arm around her.
"Then," Kero continued, "We can worry about the soul thing."
"'Soul thing' what 'soul thing'?" Sakura demanded. What else was wrong with her friend?
Kero looked a little surprised, "You mean Syaoran didn't tell you? I thought he could sense that kind of thing."
"I can," Syaoran replied.
"Someone tell me what you're talking about!"
"I believe they are referring to the fact that we cannot sense Madison's soul, young Mistress," Yue told her. He was still sniffling, but seemed to have calmed down slightly. Some might accredit this to the fact that Touya was coddling him.
"WHAT!?!?" Sakura leapt to her feet, forgetting, in her distress, about her injured ankle. She gasped when half her weight came down on it, and started to fall. Then Syaoran leaned forward and caught her, so she fell onto his lap instead of the floor.
"What do you mean?" Sakura inquired again, in a shaky voice, leaning into her boyfriend's embrace and grabbing hold of his arms when he put them around her.
"I can't feel her aura," Syaoran admitted, softly, "I can tell it's Madison, but her soul just isn't there."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Sakura turned so she was sitting sideways of his lap, and looked at his face. He loosened his arms to let her turn.
"I didn't want to worry you- and there wasn't much time."
Sakura decided to let it go. She could always yell at him later, when Madison was okay. "How did this happen?"
"I'm not sure," Kero told her musingly, tapping one paw on his chin and he looked into Madison's vacant gaze.
"Was it a Soul-stealer?" Sakura's next question was barely above a whisper.
"No," Kero floated a little closer to Mad and examined the dried tear-track on her face, "No, there is no indication that her soul was taken by force," he folded his arms and his little brows drew together in confusion, "In fact, it almost looks...... voluntary."
"But, how...... ?"
"Never mind," Kero insisted, "We'll figure it out later. It's dangerous for her to be without this much energy, for this long. Be quiet while I put it back, okay?"
"Okay," Sakura agreed, meekly. Syaoran's arms tightened around her again.
They all watched in silence as Kero floated to a position about 2 feet above Madison's head. He just hovered there for a moment, like he was meditating, then he started to spin. Soon, the blur that was the spinning Kerberos started to glow a bright gold. Finally sparks exploded outward from the Sun Guardian, showering down on Madison, turning lavender a second before being absorbed into her skin.
Mad started to look better right away, her skin gained color and the wounds closed. Even her breathing seemed to improve, the air moving freely in and out of her lungs. After about five minutes, the number of sparks diminished, then stopped all together. And Kero, his glow a lot weaker, spun to a stop. And fell.
He bounced once and came to rest on a cushion to the left of Madison, on the couch.
"Kero!!" They all yelled, and Kent (the only truly mobile one, since Yue was still using Touya as a tissue) rushed over to the couch.
"Are you okay?" Kent asked.
"Yes," Kero sat up painfully, waving away Kent's helping hand, "I've just never returned that much energy before. It was a shock, that's all."
"Um, okay. If you say so." But Kent stood by until Kero was floating again, before returning to his seat.
"Okay now we worry about the soul thing," Kero was, once again, floating in front of Madison. Since her body was healed now, it was easier for him to do a magical scan.
On the love seat Syaoran chanted the seeing spell again, sharing this perception with Sakura through their contact in.... lots of places. This time Sakura noticed Mad's lack of an aura, and it scared her more than anything. What had happened to her friend?
Kero saw the lack of aura, as well as the lack of trauma that would have resulted from the removal of a soul against the bearer's will. So what had happened? One thing he was sure of, what ever had happened, Madison had done it herself. And there was a limited number of ways a soul could be removed under such circumstances:
One: A person could actually will themselves to die, their soul leaving their body behind through a force of will; Kero thought of Madison's vibrant love of life, and knew she would never have done that. Or, Two: Astral projection; But such things always left a cord behind, connecting the absent soul to the body.
There was only one other way, that Kero knew about, for this to happen. But, how could Madison have done it? He had to admit, all the signs were there; The absence of soul and aura; Lack of trauma, like the soul hadn't even been removed at all.
Like it was still there, somewhere.
But.... Madison couldn't..... She wasn't a...... Was she?
"Um, Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"Does Madison have a middle name?"
"Yes."
"What is it?" Please don't let it be.........
"Tamayo. Why?"
"Oh, that's just great! Why didn't I notice!!" Kero slumped to the couch again, putting his little head in his paws.
"What? What didn't you notice?" Sakura asked. She didn't know what was going on, but she thought Syaoran might. Her boyfriend had given a little jump of shock when she revealed Mad's middle name. Like it meant something important.
"She's a Tamayo?" Yue questioned.
"Yes," Kero returned, "It all makes sense now. I thought that she had a lot of energy for a human. Ha!"
Sakura was shocked to realize that Kero was crying behind his paws, "What's going on?"
"You know what this means, don't you?" Yue asked his fellow guardian.
"The Soul-Box," Syaoran almost whispered.
"Yes," Kero sniffled, and lifted his fuzzy, tear-stained, face to look at them in despair, "The 'Soul-Box'. We'll never get her back now."
To Be Continued ^_^
