"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 don't know what Madison's Mother's name is in the dub or the Anime. I've decided to call her Helen. Why?... Just because. Deal with it.



Thanks for the Reviews!! ^_~



Chapter 15, Calm:

"She's What?!?" Helen yelled. She heard Sakura squeak in response.

~Need to calm down~ she told herself, breathing deeply and trying to remember the meditative techniques her mother had taught her.

She was calm... She Was.

"Sakura?"

"Yes?" the young girl's voice was still timid.

"Could you repeat that last part?... Slowly?"

She was Calm.

"Um... Mad's in a Soul-Box?"

"WHAT?!? My baby? My little girl? In a Soul-Box?!?"

Maybe not so Calm. Helen paced back and forth between the bed and the door in her hotel room. She put one perfectly manicured hand over her eyes and tried to convince herself not to cry.

Would she ever see her daughter again?

"Hey... It's okay," Sakura's voice broke into her melancholy thoughts.

"How can it be okay?" she gasped. She was starting to hyperventilate, "My daughter is in a Soul-Box!!"

"Well, I don't think she's in there *anymore*; She just *was* in one."

"Was?"

"Yes... Um, I think so.. Syaoran? You can?... Okay: Yes, she's not in the Soul-Box anymore. Syaoran can see her aura again."

Helen's knees gave out in relief and she sank to the plush carpet. She took a few deep breaths and regained her calm. Her baby was okay... She had an aura.

She was calm.

The shock of hearing her daughter's name in the same sentence as 'Soul-Box' was wearing off, which allowed her to focus on the rest of the conversation...

"Wait a minute! *Who* can see her aura?"

"Um.. Syaoran? He's a friend."

"How did he see her aura?"

"He's a sorcerer..."

"What's his family name?" Helen demanded; Was this 'Syaoran' the one who'd forced Madison to build a Soul-Box?

"Li"

"Li? Well, that's alright then" The Li clan were respected white magic users.

But that still left other questions:

"How do *you* know about this stuff? Did Madison tell you?" She hoped not. Madison had taken a binding oath to not reveal her powers to anyone until she was an active Tamayo herself.

"No, she didn't tell us. I... Uhh, already knew about magic. And some of our friends knew about the Tamayo thing- Madison was in the Box at the time."

'Madison was in the Box at the time' the phrase repeated over in Helen's mind. She shakily got to her feet and walk the few steps to the bed, where she sat down again.

"But... She *is* out of the Soul-Box now?" She needed to hear it again.

"Yes. Definitely."

"How?" It was unheard of. How could anyone (or anything) get a Tamayo out of a Soul-Box once the lid was closed? She knew it hadn't been a faulty Box; Madison excelled at Soul-Box construction.

"Well, Kero--"

"Kero?"

"Another friend... Kerberos?"

"The Guardian of the Seal?"

"Umm... Well, he used to be..."

"'Used to be'?"

"Yes. There isn't.. Umm, a Seal anymore."

"What?!? Did the Cards get out?"

"Yes... But... Ummm, I caught them again."

"*You* Caught them? You, my daughter's best friend, Sakura Avalon, are the Card Captor?"

"Yes."

"When did all this happen?" There had been Clow Cards loose in Tokyo and the resident Tamayo hadn't noticed?

"A few years ago."

"Really?" Helen replied weakly, putting her head down on her knees.

"Yes."

"And.. The Judgment?" Helen closed her eyes. She WAS calm, so the room should really stop spinning now, right?

"I passed it."

"Oh. Okay, then." No Clow Cards on the loose... That was good.

What had they been talking about? The Soul-Box!

"What does Kerberos have to do with Madison's Soul-Box?"

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain; But, basically, he copied her brain pattern so he could open the Soul-Box"

"Oh," *blink* "that would work."

Helen took a moment to digest this information, then moved on;

"Sakura? Do you know *why* my daughter was in a Soul-Box?"

"We don't know for sure, we haven't talked to her yet, but Kero said she most likely did it to get away from Alise."

"Alise? Who's that?"

"She said she was Madison's cousin."

"But.. I... That isn't--"

"We know, no cousins. She was a demon or something."

Helen's mind flashed back to a half hour before when the crazy-demon little girl had tried to get past her defenses, "Let me guess; she bore a freaky resemblance to Pollyanna?"

"Yes... D-Did you see her?"

"Yes. She tried to attack me about forty minutes ago. Luckily I always travel with full defenses."

Helen heard Sakura talking to others in the background, then; "Do you know where she went after that?"

"No. That's why I was calling Madison, to warn her. Since she wasn't able to get any energy from me, she might head back there. Are you guys safe there?"

"Yes. Kero helped me put permanent shields on the house a few months ago."

"Um... Excuse me... Did you say 'permanent' shields?"

"Yes?"

"But, how?" Shields like that would take *a lot* of power. Permanent shields on a stationary building, where the spell-caster wasn't always present? Impossible.

"Um, well it's set up so it siphons a little power from me whenever I'm in the house, and stores it to run the shield when I'm not here."

Well, theoretically, that should work; But the power of the person who cast the spell would have to be phenomenal. And Sakura had said that it only siphoned off 'a little' of her power... A 'little'?

"What are you?" Why would a 17 year old have that much power?

A shocked silence loomed on the other side of the phone until Helen realized what she'd just said, "Oh, Sakura! I didn't mean it that way, honey! You're like another daughter to me; You know that, right?"

"I know," was the soft answer.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so worried about Madison! I didn't realize what I was saying."

"I know... It's okay, I'm worried about Madison too."

"Well, you said she's alright, and that you guys are safe there- I trust you, I do."

"Thank you."

Helen put her hand over her eyes again, and didn't even try to stop the tears this time. She'd hurt Sakura, whom she had watched grow-up from a little girl to her daughter's best friend. Sakura had said it was okay, but Helen knew she'd hurt her. It wretched her heart to hear Sakura thank her for being trusted.

What had she done?

"I am sorry, Sakura... Forgive me?"

"Of course! It's really okay... I ask myself the same question, sometimes... "

Oh, Sakura! ~You poor thing!!~

"... And I don't even know the answer..."

"You *are* a wonderful person, Sakura. Don't ever doubt it."

"I'll try not to."

"Good... I'm going to charter a plane, and I'll come straight there as soon as I reach Tokyo, okay? We'll talk then."

"Okay, see you then."

"Goodbye, Sakura."

"Bye."

Helen pushed the disconnect button with her thumb and dropped the phone to the bed beside her. Then she buried her head in both of her hands and took a shuddering breath.

She'd called to make sure her daughter was alright; And ended up insulting one of the kindest people she knew... So much for staying calm.



Back Again:

From Kero's point-of-view the time it took to come out of his trance, nod to Sakura, and go back into Mad's mind again, was very short. This was not so for Madison, as he saw when, with a blink, the world of a Tamayo's mind came into focus around him. She was huddled on the ground, in a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible.

~Madison?~ Kero was concerned, he got to his knees beside her and touched her shoulder, gently, ~Madison? What's wrong?~

She didn't answer him at first, so Kero gave her shoulder a little shake as he tried again; ~Mad?~

~K-Kero?~

~Yes, it's me~ he brushed the hair from her face and the tears from under her eyes, ~What's wrong?~

~Alone~

Kero felt a pang of guilt; He shouldn't have left her. She had seemed fine, like she was doing better... And now she was almost as bad as when she'd first come out of the Soul-Box.

He shouldn't have left her, ~I'm so sorry Madison~ he put one arm around her and moved so that she was leaning into his side, ~I didn't mean to leave you alone~

~I kn-know...~ she buried her tear-stained face in his neck and grabbed hand fulls of his shirt, holding on tight, ~H-Had to...~

She was right, he'd needed to go; Having the active Tamayo out of the loop in a situation such as this could be disastrous. But that didn't mean he had to like it; And it did not stop his feelings of guilt either, ~I'm still sorry~

He lifted her chin up, so he could look into her eyes, ~And, if I have any choice in the matter,~ he assured her, ~I'll never leave you alone again~

~Thank you~

It was only a whisper, but it was the clearest thing he'd heard her say. The little smile she gave him was so brave, even if one corner of her mouth trembled slightly, and the look in her brown eyes was so trusting; That he didn't even try to stop what happened next. He didn't think, only felt, as he leaned forward, pausing for her to meet him halfway... And kissed her.



To Be Continued ^_^