AN: Hi everyone! Wow, I didn't think so many people would like my story, I'm very flattered. I will redo the first two chapters in paragraphs for people, you'll just have to give me a little time, ok? I'm quite busy with school and - well, need I say more? Anyway, here's chapter 6, I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, wish I did - or even just Syaoran, I'd be fine with him. but I don't. Sigh. How depressing.
Always & Forever
Syaoran's head whipped around at the sound of Sakura's earth-shattering scream. He rushed to where Tomoyo was kneeling on the ground, gaping soundlessly at the hole that had swallowed up Sakura. Without another thought, Syaoran jumped into the hole after Sakura. He yelled as he slid rapidly, darkness wrapping around him and he soon fell on hard solid ground. He stood up after a moment and shook his head. He looked around, seeing nothing but darkness.
"Sakura!" he yelled out her name. Silence. "Sakura, where are you?" he felt his pulse quicken; he knew he was staring to panic, if he didn't find her, he did -
"Syaoran?" A soft voice called out to him. Sakura? He thought (AN: Well, who else could it have been?). "I'm over here," She called out to him. He followed her voice in the darkness, his hands outstretched in front of him, feeling out her warm aura. Soon, after calling out to one another, he finally felt her and sighed in relief.
"Syaoran!" Gasped Sakura, who now was hugging him, cutting off his air supply. "Oh Syaoran, I was so scared!" Syaoran felt his face go red and felt the heat radiate off his face.
"Uh, Sakura," he said, feeling embarrassed. "Air." Sakura felt her face grow warm and slowly let go of him, but still stayed close to him.
"Gomen Syaoran," she told him softly, her face still feeling slightly red.
"Ii desu," Syaoran replied to her. Before anyone of them could say anything else, a bright light suddenly blinded them. Syaoran shielded both him and Sakura and slowly the light started to fade; Syaoran and Sakura looked around, finding themselves in the dim light which had formed a huge circle. Before them was a book floating in mid-air, magical power radiating off of it. Suddenly Sakura felt herself being drawn to it, she lost all her thought and didn't know what she was doing. Slowly her feet started moving towards the book.
"Sakura," Syaoran whispered in concern. Something felt oddly familiar about the magic; but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He watched with curious eyes as Sakura walked up to it. She seems transfixed on that book, he thought.
She reached out and picked up the book - and nothing happened. It seemed as though she snapped out of her dazed expression and looked realized where she was and what she was doing. She looked at Syaoran, who just shrugged. She walked back to him with the book in her hand.
"I wonder what that was all about," she told him as she handed it over to him so he could see it. "It was so strange, I couldn't help but be drawn by it, and it was like I had no control over myself. Something about it though - seems so familiar." Syaoran looked at the book and the strange designs on it (AN: ok, it's the Clow Book, you know what it looks like, I'm not even going to try and describe it). He handed it back to her and nodded, and just as he was about to say something the book started glowing again.
Sakura looked at Syaoran, who nodded at her, then she very slowly opened the book and something started to come out from it. (AN: Yes, I do realize I'm using the first episode - what? I'm not creative!) It looked like a yellow teddy bear, except it had wings and a little tail (AN: oh, I don't know how to describe Kero - don't kill me!). Sakura stared at it, her eyebrows pushed together. Why - does it seem like I know - her thoughts got cut off as the little stuffed animal (AN: what? They don't know it's Kero) opened it's eyes. It looked from Sakura to Syaoran, and from Syaoran to Sakura. He suddenly smiled at Sakura.
"Sakura!" the little yellow bear screamed at her. Surprised by the sudden greeting, Sakura yelled as she moved back when she saw the flying bear come towards her, bumping into Syaoran. He held her study and smiled at her as she gave him a grateful smile. The little bear stopped flying towards Sakura when he saw her reaction, a bit confused. She stared at the little bear, and took a step forward.
"Uh, how did you know my name?" She asked the little flying bear. The teddy bear looked hurt, as if she had just insulted it somehow.
"Don't you remember me, Sakura?" he asked sadly. Sakura looked at Syaoran, feeling a bit guilty, then shook her head at the yellow bear. "But - it's me, Kero! We were always together! You always fed me food, can't you remember anything? When your mother fir-"
"How do you know my mother?" Sakura asked, cutting him off in the middle of his sentence. He stared at her curiously and then comprehension, neither Sakura nor Syaoran knew, spread across his small face.
"You don't remember anything, anything at all?" He asked again, looking at Sakura with curious eyes. She shook her head stubbornly at him.
"No, I don't remember you, but there is something about you that seems familiar to me," she told him. Kero was now sitting in mid-air, arms crossed and his head bowed down in though. She heard him sigh.
"Ok, sit down kid, I've got a lot to tell you," he told her. Both her and Syaoran exchanged glances and sat down obediently. "I was afraid this would happen," he muttered to himself. He drew in a deep breath. (AN: Prepare yourself, this is going to be a bit boring.)
"Ok, Sakura, this might seem strange to you, but everything that I'm about to tell you is true. A long time ago there was a very powerful family; they had many maids and servants, they lived in one of the biggest castles there was and possessed a great deal of magical power. They were very famous, everyone loved them and to have them come over to your place was a very big deal. They were known as the Kinomoto family," he paused when he heard Sakura gasp and Kero could practically feel her about to ask a few million questions.
"Hold on Sakura, let me finish the story and then you can ask all the questions later," he told her and when she nodded he continued. "Now, the Kinomoto family lived very happily and never was any problem to anyone. But because they were a powerful family, there were some people who were after them.
"See, there was this one family in particular, no one knew what the family's surname was, but they loved power. They lived all on the other side of the kingdoms, and stayed isolated from everyone. When they came to learn of the Kinomoto's power, they were immediately after them. A Great War started between the two families although the Kinomoto family didn't want to fight.
"You see, King Fujitaka and Queen Nadeshiko had two children, a boy named Touya, and a little girl named Sakura. They loved their children very much and didn't want them to get involved in any of this. They wanted their children to be happy and to live a normal life without war or violence.
"But Queen Nadeshiko knew that this was going too far. So using up all of her energy left, she transported you, your brother and your father to a different world to protect you. Unfortunately because doing such a thing requires a lot of strength, it took all of your mother's energy and power, leaving her too weak to be healed. In result, she had died to save you and your family.
"Since the Kinomoto family totally disappeared from this land, so had their power. So the enemy was left with nothing and they just disappeared as well. Some say that they left in search of the Kinomoto family but they were never heard of ever again. Now Queen Nadeshiko said that there was a chance that you might lose your memory but she didn't know.
"I was left in charge of the Clow Cards - which was left for you Sakura in case if you ever came back. They belong to you, I'm the guardian beast and I wasn't expecting to ever wake up again because only you or someone else in your family can open the book. But I sure am happy to see you again."
He paused and waited for the Sakura to say something, but Sakura was silent with her head down. Syaoran looked over at her in concern. He was silent for the entire time since the book appeared and seemed to have been forgotten. He reached out and touched Sakura's shoulder, hoping to get some sort of reaction.
"Sakura?" he asked softly. She looked up at him, tears pouring down her cheeks. Syaoran moved back a bit, greatly disturbed by this. He was so tempted to wipe away her tears but knew that would be inappropriate (AN: Inappropriate? Inappropriate? Inappropriate! Ok, I'm getting mad at the story and I'm the one writing it. something is not right here). "Are you ok?" he asked stupidly. He didn't know what was with him, whenever she was sad, he started acting really stupid and said stupid things. She nodded to him and wiped away her tears, offering him a wobbly smile, then looked at Kero.
She walked towards him and he felt sorry for her. Without warning, she pulled Kero into a tight hug, choking him to death. Behind her, Syaoran smirked and held back a laugh. Kero caught sight of this and glared angrily, or tried to since he couldn't breathe. Syaoran caught sight of the angry look and returned it with a what-are-you-going-go-do-about-it look. When Sakura finally let go of Kero, he gasped for breath as she giggled. "Gomen ne, Kero," she told him. Syaoran came and stood next to her, the worried look still on his face. "Don't worry Syaoran, I'm ok now." She reassured him. He was still worried, but smiled for her sake. He noticed that since she came he's been smiling a lot more. Kero suddenly turned towards Syaoran.
"Who are you? How do you know Sakura?" Kero asked rudely. Syaoran's eyebrows raised, giving Kero this why-do-you-care look.
"Li Syaoran of the Li Kingdom," Syaoran replied coolly, still eyeing Kero, not even bothering to answer his second question.
"How do you know Sakura, gaki?" Kero demanded of Syaoran. Syaoran felt his blood boil. Nobody had called him a gaki before, aside for sometimes his sisters.
"What's it to you, stuffed animal?" Syaoran replied his voice more icy this time. Kero started to fume and both of them stared at each other in a heated glaring contest, and Sakura, feeling the tension between the two decided to break it up.
"I dare you to say that again!" Kero yelled at Syaoran. Syaoran smirked at him
"Ok, stuffed animal," He said again.
"So, how do I use this?" Sakura asked Kero, interfering in their little fight, who was having a hard time breaking his stare at Syaoran. Finally and reluctantly Kero turned away and stared at Sakura.
"Well, see this is the Clow book, made by Clow Reed. Because it belonged to your family - specifically to you Sakura, you have to change it so it becomes your book and your cards." Kero explained to her. Sakura panicked a bit.
"How do I do that?" She asked nervously, staring down at the book and the cards inside. She picked one up and observed it. Windy? She thought.
"It's really quite simple," he told her. "All you have to do is focus all your magic on the book and summon the cards. And the rest will happen on it's own." Sakura stared, a bit confused for a moment, then shrugged. Might as well give it a try, she thought. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the Clow book. The Clow book suddenly started to shake in her hand and she opened her eyes just in time to see it turn pink. All the cards flew out of it and flew around Sakura. One by one they changed into a pink color with sparkles flying everywhere. Each card showed their true form, and bowed at Sakura - making her gasp in surprise. After bowing, they went back into their card and back into the new pink book. The book closed and glowed lightly; Sakura looked on the top and felt her eyes go wide. On the top it wrote "Sakura Cards"; she held the book close to her chest, never wanting to let it go. She then noticed something in front of her - it was a staff. It was pink and on the top was a star with a circle around it and little wings to the side. She reached out to touch it, and when she grabbed it, all her memories came rushing back to her. Her grip tightened on the staff and then she collapsed.
"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled as he rushed towards her and caught her once again before she hit the hard ground. He gently placed her head on his lap and stared at Kero, who was also flying next to him looking at Sakura with concern. "What just happened? Why did she pass out?" Kero came closer and stared at her.
"She drained all of her energy by transforming the Clow cards into Sakura cards. It really must have drained her; and I think she also remembered everything that happened before and it was overwhelming." Kero told him. Syaoran suddenly groaned.
"Oh no! I forgot about the others!" Syaoran said. He looked down at Sakura sleeping peacefully and then back up at the hole where they fell. "Maybe." he muttered under his breath, then shook his head.
"What? Speak louder!" Complained Kero.
"Don't tell me what to do, you stuffed animal," growled Syaoran, and before Kero could say anything he continued. "Do you know how to get out of here?" Kero looked up to see the long way up, suddenly he grinned. Syaoran looked at him suspiciously.
"What?" he didn't get a reply. Instead he watched in wonder and amazement as Kero's small wings suddenly grew larger and covered Kero. When the wings moved away to uncover Kero, Kero was no longer a little stuffed animal, but a large lion with huge wings. (AN: Ok, I don't have the energy to explain Ceroberus; besides, you know what he looks like.)
"Stuffed animal, huh?" Ceroberus told Syaoran, who was staring wide-eyed with his mouth open. Syaoran suddenly frowned, not really caring who Kero had turned into. "I am Keroberus, this is my true form.so go ahead, call me 'stuffed animal' again. I dare you to." Keroberus tempted. Syaoran gave Keroberus a small smile.
"Sure, stuffed animal." Syaoran said. Keroberus fumed and before he could do anything, Syaoran pointed down at Sakura, who was still sleeping on his lap. Keroberus looked angrily at Syaoran, muttering something that sounded like 'gaki'. "Ok, so is it safe for me and Sakura to ride on your back?" Syaoran asked.
"It's safe for Sakura - she is after all my Mistress, but you're a different story," Keroberus said mockingly. Syaoran gave Keroberus a death glare and gently lifted Sakura up and placed her on Keroberus. Making sure she was secure, he then got on Keroberus. He wasn't too fond of flying, but it was the only way of getting out. Keroberus started flapping his wings (AN: oh my, I just realize how ridiculous this sounds.)
"Hold on," Keroberus told them as he flew upwards. Syaoran held on tightly to Sakura, hoping she wouldn't wake up just then; but she slept peacefully with a smile on her face. Syaoran could see the light more clearly and suddenly they burst out into the sunlight, blinding them all. Keroberus landed next to the hole and Syaoran opened his eyes, which he had closed tightly before. He saw his three friends staring at him in wonder and in shock.
Keroberus stared at the three faces in front of him, and stared curiously at Eriol's face. Suddenly he burst out in a smile. "Clow Reed!" He yelled at Eriol and would have leaped on him if Sakura were not on him. Eriol looked at the massive beast in front of him curiously as well. The creature in front of him looked oddly familiar, and the name Clow Reed struck a cord. Eriol walked up to Keroberus and stared at him and Keroberus stared back. Eriol reached out and touched Ceroberus and suddenly a million memories burst through him and he stepped back, holding his head. Tomoyo rushed over to him, and held him study.
Syaoran on the other hand lifted Sakura off of Keroberus and Meilin, seeing this, laid out a blanket so Syaoran could place her on it. Syaoran, seeing what Meilin was doing, he put Sakura down and turned to Meilin. "Thanks Meilin," he told her. She just nodded and looked back at what was going on between Keroberus and Eriol. Eriol had regained his composure and stared at Sakura. No wonder she seemed so familiar, Eriol thought. He turned and smiled back at Keroberus.
"Nice to see you again," He told him. Keroberus changed back into Kero, surprising everyone except Eriol and Syaoran. Everyone looked at Eriol in confusion, but Eriol just smiled. Eriol told them what happened while they sat down and had lunch; and after hearing the long story they decided they would continue tomorrow, besides - Sakura hadn't awaken yet. Soon night came and everyone had set up their tents and was sleeping.
AN: Yup, now they know about Clow Reed and his guardian beasts and stuff like that.uh, don't ask me where Yue, Ruby and Spinnel - is that how you spell his name? - are, cause I don't know. Ok, there you have it, end of chapter 6. Kinda boring, but eh, nothing I can do about it. well yeah, but I'm way too lazy. Shrugs. Anyhow, please review, you know I love to hear what you have to say about this half-witted story. Thanks!