"…" - Talking (NO Duh!)

^…^ - Thinking

(…) - My daft self

… - Singing/Battle Chants (I just found their battle chants and am going to use them in future chapters)

CAPS - Shouting or emphasis on that word

Disclaimer: Ugh. Disclaimer time again. Every year, my class and I would have an arch enemy aka our most hated teacher. In Pri 4 & 5, it was the Social Studs teacher. In Pri 6, it was the math teacher. Now, in Sec 1, it's the Eng and Lit teacher. However, this year, I have TWO archenemies. The other one is… THIS DISCLAIMER STUFF!! I absolutely despise it! But I have to do it anyhow. I don't own anything I don't own, i.e. CCS, the characters, blah blah. So don't sue me. (I'm getting a little exasperated at this stuff. I'll try not to let my exasperation show too much. I've read fics that have funny disclaimers that are minuter-than-minute stories on its own, and I liked it, so I'm trying to do the same for you guys)

1 Camp times two

*Chapter 6: Camp one, Night four*

~*~ Flashback ~*~

When breakfast was over, they went back to the cabin to practice some more. They practised and practised until two o'clock and they had to return to the dining hall for the song and dance item, which was before dinner, in five hours and they had to get ready.

~*~ End Flashback ~*~

"OH MY GOD! Two already!?" Tomoyo had glanced in the general direction of the clock by coincidence and noticed the time, "I have to get you guys fitted!" She strapped her pincushion onto her wrist. (You'll know what I'm talking about if you've read the manga, book 5)

She grabbed the four embroidered silk outfits out from under the bed. It was a wonder they were still straight after being left folded for so long. She chucked the outfits into their arms and stuffed them two at a time into the bathroom to change, (one in the shower, the other outside) Sakura and Nakuru first, then Gan Qing and herself.

They looked themselves over in awe. The outfits were magnificent, so they thought. (And they were, I designed them myself. I'm gonna be a fashion designer or a stylist when I grow up, and no one can stop me…or maybe not) Tomoyo then got to fitting them. She discovered that they were fitting enough after the other three girls screamed in pain, with the occasional swear, whenever she tried to poke a needle in. She then sat them one by one, down on the high stool that she placed in front of the mirror in the bathroom. She would then walk round them, pondering, tugging at a hair or two. After that, she would suddenly dash over to the counter with every single hair accessory, hair styling equipment and make up there was in the cabin and start making them up with an excitement that could easily beat Nakuru's hyperness.

By the time she was done, it was 6.30 pm. They straightened out their outfits, then suddenly, "Hooee~! I'm so~ nervous!" (You should know who it was, but just in case you don't…) Sakura said.

"Calm down, Sakura. I'm sure we're all nervous." Seeing that wasn't working, Tomoyo continued in her attempt to calm her frantic best friend down, "Come on, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out." That didn't work either, "Sakura, remember all the practices we had, just do the exact thing what you did during practice, okay?"

"Okay." Apparently, this time it worked, "Dibbs on the shower!" She dashed into the bathroom to take her costume off. Nakuru dashed in after her, leaving Tomoyo and Gan Qing to wait outside for their turn to change.

All of them changed they gathered in a circle. Nakuru started, "Well, this is it. In five minutes, we'll be in that dining hall, waiting for our turn to perform. We're the last to perform, on my request. I know it'll make you nervous to see the other cabins doing well, but I've been doing a fair bit of spying, and I seriously think that our song would do well as a finale to the evening. So I want you to work with me, don't get nervous seeing the other groups perform, just make it a point to be better than all of them, and try your best. I want you to promise me that, so is it a deal?" Nakuru stuck her hand out.

The moment their hands made contact, there was a bright flash of light. They all pulled their hands back, staring in shock, with the same question running through their heads, 'What just happened?' Their thoughts were interrupted by a loud squeal, obviously from Nakuru, "SUGOI! That was so SUGOI!" then she jumped up and out the door, yelling at the other three sweatdropping girls to hurry, or they'll all be late.

At the dining hall, they were just witnessing the second last item before their own. Syaoran's group had done World of our Own by Westlife, clad in their T-shirts of different brands (Syaoran, Ocean Pacific Eriol, Reebok Takashi, Nike Touya, Adidas) and cargo pants that were a slight bit long such that the hem just reached the soles of their shoes. Touya was on the drums, Eriol & Syaoran with electric guitars, and Yamazaki & Syaoran singing, leaving most girls swooning. As the crowd erupted into applause, Nakuru dragged the girls backstage in apparent overexcitement.

Backstage, they changed, touched up on their make up, tested out their instruments, that sort of thing, until it was time for them to go on stage. The curtains went down after the previous item, and they set up the drum set and keyboard and walked to their positions. They heard the MC's (Mrs Campbell was the master of ceremony. Kinda ironic, isn't it? Mrs Campbell, MC?) voice, "And presenting, on their counsellor's request, Cabin 4, the Cherry Blossom All Stars, with The Day You Went Away." as the curtain went up.

The stage was dark. You could hear Sakura's distinct, clear voice ringing around the dining hall,

I'm a big, big girl,

In a big, big world,

Not a big, big thing,

If you leave me.

But I do, do feel,

That I do, do will,

Miss you much,

Miss you much

She sang sad tone, then, she repeated with a happier, more upbeat tone, as the spotlight came on, concentrated on her, but still with no music accompaniment.

I'm a big, big girl,

In a big, big world,

Not a big, big thing,

If you leave me.

But I do, do feel,

That I do, do will,

Miss you much,

Miss you much

As she sang the last line, the music started. (For those of you who have the CD, imagine the song playing in your head, then start The Day You Went Away on the ninth second as you go through the last line)

The lights came on, shedding light on everything. They were standing in a diamond shape, with Sakura in the front, in the centre, behind her, Tomoyo and Nakuru at either sides of the stage, and right at the back, in the centre, Gan Qing.

Sakura was their star singer, Nakuru was on the guitar, Tomoyo was playing the keyboard, leaving Gan Qing on the drums.

Sakura wore a halter top ankle length emerald green dress with pink cherry blossoms embroidered on the bottom left corner of it. Attached to the back of the thin ribbon that held the dress up on her neck, was a long filmy green train with mini pink cherry blossoms embroidered on it. Nakuru wore a halter top emerald green flared pantsuit with pink cherry blossoms embroidered on the bottom left corner of the left leg. Tomoyo wore the same thing as Sakura without the train, and the skirt reached mid-thigh. Likewise with Gan Qing and Nakuru, instead of a long flared pantsuit, the legs were tight fitting, and it reached only mid-thigh.

All four of them had their make-up worn the same way. They used the same frosted pink on their lips, as eye shadow, and for a faint trace of blusher. Sakura's hair was streaked with the same shade of pink, and the top half of it twisted into a bun, and the rest of it flowing down. Nakuru's hair was beaded as usual, with the beaded strands coloured the same frosted pink, and left loose. Tomoyo didn't streak her hair, but she used tiny frosted pink cherry blossom hair clips to tie her hair. There were two tiny braids at the sides of her head, clipped at the top. They continued downwards along the sides of her head, then clipped down again, and used as one of the three strands of another braid, continued down, clipped down, used as one of the three strands of another braid, continued down with the rest of the length of that particular bit of hair and clipped at the bottom. Then she gathered her hair at the nape of her neck and pulled them into a ponytail with a fuzzy, sparkly, frosted pink scrunchy. Gan Qing had her short black tresses spiked (Like Krystal in the music video for Supergirl, one of the songs in the Princess Diaries soundtrack) with a frosted pink gel, making her follicles gleam pink in the light. (What is with these pple and frosted pink?)

Sakura's voice rang loud and clear through the dining hall as she sang straight from her heart, thinking for the first time in two days about her little wolf now in the crowd listening to her sing, remembering all the times they had together.

Well I wonder, could it be,

When I was dreaming 'bout you baby,

You were dreaming of me.

Call me crazy, call me blind,

To still be suffering is stupid after all of this time.

Did I lose my love to someone better,

And does she love you like I do,

I do, you know I really really do.

Well hey,

So much I need to say,

Been lonely since the day,

The day you went away.

So sad but true,

For me there's only you,

Been crying since the day,

The day you went away.

I remember date and time,

September twenty second,

Sunday, twenty five after nine.

In the doorway, with your case,

No longer shouting at each other,

There were tears on our faces.

And we were letting go of something special,

Something we'll never have again,

I know, I guess I really really know.

Well hey,

So much I need to say,

Been lonely since the day,

The day you went away.

So sad but true,

For me there's only you,

Been crying since the day,

The day you went away.

The day you went away,

The day you went away.

Did I lose my love to someone better,

And does she love you like I do,

I do, you know I really really do.

Well hey,

So much I need to say,

Been lonely since the day,

The day you went away.

So sad but true,

For me there's only you,

Been crying since the day,

The day you went away.

Why do we never know what we've got 'til it's gone,

How could I carry on,

The day you went away.

Cause I've been missing you so much I have to say,

Been crying since the day,

The day you went away.

The day you went away,

The day you went away

As she reached that high note, a single tear rolled down her cheek, and she felt a Clow Card and a flare of magic directly behind her. Now, she was sure, she only felt that two times before during the camp, and by the second time, she suspected it was Gan Qing, but now, she didn't think, she knew. ^I'll just question her about it after this. If I'm wrong, I'll just use the Erase Card on her.^ The music had stopped, and they bowed, as a standing ovation arose from the crowd. This was good, as Audience Reaction was one of the criteria in judging.

They went backstage, and little did they know, Eriol and Syaoran were running as fast as they could backstage. The flare of magic Sakura had felt earlier, was Syaoran getting back his love for Sakura, and through the bond they had since that fateful dare, that was taken away with his love that was replaced, he felt she needed his help. So, he had to battle his way to Eriol, tear him away from the others, and battle their way through backstage.

Meanwhile, Sakura had pulled Gan Qing aside and asked, "Are you a Clow Card?" Straight and forward.

Gan Qing didn't answer directly, she just smiled and said, "How long did it take you?"

"I just figured it out. But I thought that I had captured all the cards." Sakura wondered out loud.

"Oh simple, I was just created." Gan Qing laughed.

"But by who? Clow's dead…unless…" Sakura trailed off.

"Eriol!" "Eriol." Sakura and Gan Qing said together, respectively. "But why did he create you?"

"To test you. You see, part of what the Li Clan elders said is right, emotions can be a weakness sometimes, not always, but still. To get through this test, you have to learn how to cope with your feelings, which you have. However, to end it, you have to capture me and change me…" They heard Mrs Campbell announce that it was time to give out the prizes. "Oops, we gotta go, I'll explain everything else later." And they rushed out on stage with Tomoyo and Nakuru with the other groups.

"Now, let's start the prize-giving, shall we?" The MC said, facing the groups, since there was no one left off stage to talk to. "In third place, Would You Be Happier? by Cabin 10, TCF." The group walked up to claim their prize, which was a medal for each of them. "Next, our 1st runner up, World of our Own by Cabin 5, All Guys." (Lame name, I know. Someone's already cursing my teachers for giving me so much homework, so I'm trying to hurry) The guys went up to get their prize of a plague for each of them and a $10 dollar voucher at Music Mania. "And now, our grand prize winners are……………… The Day You Went Away by Cabin 4, the Cherry Blossom All Stars!" They received an applause, and a few cat calls from the guys in Cabin 7 as they hopped up to claim plagues for each of them, a large trophy for their counsellor to keep, and $20 vouchers at Music Mania.

As they walked backstage before going back to the dining hall for dinner, Sakura and Gan Qing fell back, and remained backstage, alone. Syaoran and Eriol, in their excitement upon winning second place, had forgotten about everything.

"So, as I was saying, you have to capture me and change me into a Sakura Card. And two do that, you have to pick out three cards, after guessing my name, to use against me. The clue to my name is, 'in Chinese'. Can you guess it?" Gan Qing picked up where she left off.

"Hmm… Gan Qing… isn't that emotions in mandarin?"

"Bingo. Got it first time. Now for the cards, Eriol had good intentions in doing this, but it had its bad side. All you can do is hope for the best." Gan Qing replied.

"Keywords are 'good intentions', 'its bad side' and 'hope for the best', the last one's easy, the Hope Card. But what about the other two…" She thought out loud, with a thoughtful expression on her face. After a while, "Got it! Good and bad! Good refers to the Light Card, and Bad refers to the Dark Card." She fished the three cards out of the hidden pocket Tomoyo had cleverly placed in her dress, as she had with all her other outfits that didn't seem like it had pockets, for Sakura Cards. Then she took the star key off her neck and held it in front of her,

Key of the Star,

with powers burning bright,

reveal the staff,

and shine your light.

Release!

Eriol and Syaoran jerked their heads up from their food as they felt what they thought was like Sakura releasing her staff. They looked at each other, then towards they table next to their own, revealing only two girls eating and chatting happily. They looked at each other again and started to get up, but Touya saw them getting up, "Hey, where do you think you're going? You do realise that you're supposed to tell your counsellor first. Or the least you could do is finish that mountainous pile of food you so greedily grabbed from the buffet table." He said as they unwillingly sat down and gobbled down their food as fast as they could.

Meanwhile, Sakura had already changed the staff and had thrown the three cards in front of her.

Light, Dark, Hope!

Release and dispel!

Three streams of light, one white, one black and one pink, intertwined and shot at Gan Qing. Mere inches from her, they separated and went in different ways, wrapped around her loosely and then tightened.

Emotion,

Return to your power confined!

Emotion!

A bright light flashed from inside the outline of Gan Qing wrapped in the three cards, and it formed its own stream of light, all colours under the sun, representing the different emotions in a human heart, and shot to form a card in Sakura's hand.

For the first time in seven years, she held in her hand a red and gold card, this one with a fully coloured picture of Gan Qing in her costume, together with the frosty pink make up and even her spiky do gleaming pink, laughing with all the happiness in the world. Gan Qing had her right hand placed over her heart and her left hand holding her drumsticks, which were carved with cherry blossoms, resting on the drumset she sat cross-legged on. The largest drum had their logo on it, Cherry Blossom All Stars in frosted pink outlined in gold, the 'C' extra large, with the top of the 'C' stretched over the text, narrowing gradually, and ended next to the 's' in a little pink cherry blossom. The bottom of the 'C' stretched in the same way, ending just below the cherry blossom, in a little gold star of the same size. In the background were the many colours representing the many emotions the human heart was capable of.

Just then, Eriol and Syaoran dashed in and Sakura turned to face them. Eriol had his staff out and Syaoran had his sword out. Syaoran dashed over to Sakura and hugged her, asking, "Are you all right?"

"You…You love me!" Sakura said in surprise.

"Of course I do! I don't know what made me fall in love with that Chinese girl, but whatever it was, its over now." He held her at arm's length, them gazing into each other's eyes. Then Sakura fell into his arms as they got lost in their embrace.

Their special moment was quite obviously not meant to last, as they were interrupted by someone clearing his throat rather loudly. They parted reluctantly and faced Eriol. He smiled that kawaii mysterious smile of his, and said, "I see you've captured it, or should I say, her." Nodding towards the card in Sakura's hand. "I'm sure she explained that all this is only over when you change it."

Sakura nodded and asked, as she let Syaoran take the card out her hand and examine it, "But how do I do that?"

"Easy, do your usual chant, but there is a catch though. When you convert the card, all memories of you being a couple with Syaoran, him admitting his love, prom, everything, will be replaced with memories of what would have happened if he never admitted his love. And, except for the three of us here, everyone who even saw Gan Qing will forget totally about her. Now, is that a risk you're willing to take?" Eriol replied in his usual calm tone.

Sakura looked at Syaoran, who had given her back the card, and saw approval in his eyes. She then fished a pen out of her pocket and signed her name at the bottom of the card. (I'm gonna make this up, since I don't know what she does when she converts a card) She held the card out like she usually does with the Star Key.

I call upon the power of my star,

Ancient forces near and far

Clow cards,

Transfer all your might,

And draw your power from my light,

Star Card!

The card glowed pink as Gan Qing emerged from her card form, hovering above the card, smiled down at Sakura, who smiled back, and took one of her drumsticks in her right hand and let the tips meet. A pink stream of light flowed out of the tips of her drumsticks and swirl around a sphere of air. The light faded and revealed a pink cloth pouch, wide open. Countless little 'marbles' of pink and green and white light gathered over the open mouth of the pouch, then seemed to be sucked in. Then, a green stream of light, gradually turning into an emerald green ribbon wrapped around the pouch and tied itself into a bow, sealing the mouth of the pouch. By then, Gan Qing had returned the drumstick to her left hand, left it hanging by her side and stretched out her right hand, palm up. The pouch floated into her hand as she closed her hand over the pouch. She then turned to face the three high school graduates, "I'm sorry if I caused anything to go wrong between you two, Sakura and Syaoran, and if you want to blame anybody, blame Eriol. And I'll always remember this, it's the best time of my life." She said with a mischievous grin on her face. She faded into a stream of light and returned into her card form.

Four Sakura Cards floated into Sakura's hand, and the Emotion Card had a new look too. Instead of just her right hand resting over her heart, it was pressing a small pink pouch with a green ribbon to her heart. Sakura and Syaoran looked up from the card and met each other's eyes. They stayed that way for a bit, and then realised what they were doing and blushed profusely, turning to face Eriol, who was smirking his my-cute-descendant- and-my-half-daughter-are-in-love-but-don't-know-it-and-have-just-done- something-to display-their-love-that-they-claim-is-non-existent smirk.

Back at the cabins, everyone had decided to go to sleep early, and they were now in bed, drifting into a blissful sleep.



There! Done! Three thousand, eight hundred and twenty three words of done! I'm so proud of myself! Next up, is their last day at Camp Pop and they go off to Camp Prick, where their adventures continue. Till next time, Ja Ne!