"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: Okay, I've hit a major road block with this story, so I probably won't be updating it for quite awhile. The good news is that I have a couple chapters for two other stories (a Sailor Moon one, and a Digimon one) already done and have started to post them. You can read those while you're waiting ^_^



Thanks for the Reviews!! ^_~



Chapter 14, She's What!?!:

"Madison's Mother!!" Sakura squeaked. Madison's Mother, a fashion designer, was currently in Australia at a photo shoot. Why was she calling here?

"Yes, she's asking if Madison is here," Touya looked nervously over to the couch, "What should I tell her?"

After some panicked thought, Sakura calmed down and decided she needed to talk to Madison's mother personally. She was also a Tamayo, after all, and she might need to know what was going on. Sakura gestured for Touya to give her the phone; "Hello?"

"Sakura? Is Madison there?"

"Ummm..."

"I tried calling the house and no one answered. Something..... Happened, and I really need to talk to her. Is she there?" she asked again.

"Ummmm...." Sakura truly didn't know what to say. Should she lie? Or tell her everything that was going on? She looked around to room for help, but no one else seemed to know what to do. She just wished Kero was 'back'; He'd seemed to know exactly what to do in this entire situation.

Sakura looked toward the couch, toward Kero and Madison. She wasn't really expecting a change, there had not, after all, been any change in almost an hour now; Why should this time be any different?

But it was.

This time, when Sakura's eyes turned to the sofa, and it's occupants, she met Kero's strange, new, golden gaze. He was awake.

Well.... Kinda awake, anyway. He didn't say anything, or move anything but his eyes, and a slight movement of his head as he nodded to Sakura, then closed his eyes and went deep into his trance again.

Sakura blinked. That had been strange. It took her a full minute to bend her mind around it; Kero had indicated, with his single nod, that it was okay, even necessary, to tell Madison's Mother everything that had happened. Or, at least, everything pertaining to Madison; Sakura wasn't going to sit here and tell the other Tamayo All-About-Clow.

"Sakura?!.... Sakura!? Are you there?"

"Yes," she answered, "Yes, I'm here, and so is Madison.........."

"Oh, good; Can I talk to her?"

"Um, no."

"No? Why?"

"Well, you see.... It's like this..... Ummm ShesinaSoulBox"

"She's What?!?"



Damage Control:

Madison's mind, to Kero, seemed remarkably well organized. Not that he'd been in that many minds- But he'd never come across anyone who was so objective about their *own* mind. Madison could control and shape everything within it; To her, this was just another familiar environment, and she was at home here.

This was a very good thing, considering the mess Alise had left behind. Many of the columns, which had been arranged in the form of a rough octagon in the very center of Mad's mind, were toppled over, their segments scattered and crumbling. The rest of the landscape looked like it had been through a fire and an earthquake- In that order. Deep cracks scarred the once pristine marble, which was blackened until it's original white-purple color could no longer be seen.

It was quite a disheartening sight, but Madison hardly winced at it. Instead she took a firm hold of Kero's hand, then got to work. Kero found it easier to steady her, and feed her power, than to help directly; He wasn't used to this type of magic.

He wasn't really used to his own type of magic right now. For he still had power, even if he'd lost both his original forms. If fact, if he was assessing the situation correctly, he had more power now than he had before; He just wasn't accustomed to it's use yet. But he would be. Clow had spent many years training him in magic that had seemed to him, at the time, to be useless for his talents. Now everything made sense... Mostly.

Anyway, he supported Madison while she repaired the damage; Silently convincing the flattened columns that they really wanted to be back together again; The cracks that they wanted to close; And the floor that it really didn't want to be blackened by fire. They fixed the columns first, then moved onto the rest, working in a widening spiral. Once the columns were up again, Kero saw what a defensible position it was and had no doubt that, if she'd had enough warning, Madison could have easily held off Alise for an indefinite period of time.

They were about half way done when it happened. Kero had been monitoring the 'outside' subconsciously, listening (but not really), to Ken urge the others to 'eat something' and 'stop crying about your hair, it will grow back'. None of this caught his notice until Touya announced that Madison's Mother was on the phone.

Uh-oh...

~Madison?~ he waited patiently until he had her attention. He didn't want to distract her at a crucial moment, ~Your Mother just called...~

Mad's eyebrows drew together. She knew there wasn't a phone in here. Besides, she hadn't heard one ring.

~Outside~

Oh. That explained it.

~She want's to talk to you~

Madison shook her head a little and gestured, expressively, to the remaining work she had to finish.

~I know, but what should they tell her?~

Madison thought deeply on this. Her vague memories of her mother were warm and caring; she didn't want to cause this person worry. But, Madison was a Tamayo (she *definitely* knew what that meant) so her mother should be a Tamayo too, right? If she was, she needed to be appraised of the entire situation. It was a Tamayo matter, after all.

~... Tam... ayo?~

~Is your mother a Tamayo?~ Kero guessed what she was asking.

She nodded.

~Yes. I would say she was. The title passes on from mother to daughter (or another female relative). You and your mother are the only two girls, in your family, that I'm aware of.~

Well, that was that, ~Tamayo~ Madison made an effort, and managed to say the one word firmly; Clearly conveying her meaning.

~Okay then, I'll tell them~ he gave her hand a squeeze, and let it go, ~Be right back...~

Then he was gone.

Madison looked around in despair; She hadn't known he was leaving. She supposed it was logical, he couldn't very well talk to those outside if he wasn't outside... Or, mostly outside.. The point was he couldn't do it from in here, so she should have been expecting it, but she hadn't been.

And now she was alone.

She didn't know when Kero would be back. He had said 'right back'; But what did that really mean, anyway?

She was alone.

It felt like the walls of the Soul-Box were coming back into existence around her, the lid was closing; She would be trapped in the darkness again.

All alone.

Madison looked around frantically. She knew the box wasn't there, she couldn't see it. But it felt like it was. She dropped to the floor and threw her arms up over her head, trying to push the feeling away.

Alone.

No... No, she wasn't alone. Kero had said he was coming back. He was coming, she just had to wait. He would come, and save her from herself again. She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut against a world that had started to spin dizzily. Tears spilled from them and rolled down her cheeks.

He would come; He was coming.

She curled tighter into her ball, and told herself this, over and over again;

Kero would come, and she wouldn't be alone anymore... Ever.

She'd make sure of it.



To Be Continued ^_^