Sami woke up the next morning late again. She rushed through getting ready for school while Kero was commenting about her being late for a second time this week. Sami tried to tell Kero she couldn't help it, but she had to speed to school. When she was almost there, she ran into Elliot. Sami said, "You're late too?"

Elliot nodded. He said, "I slept through my alarm."

They were both late. Mr. Tomika simply said, "I hope this isn't becoming a habit."

Elliot and Sami were both forced to suffer the humiliation of being late. To add to the humiliation, Sami had forgotten her homework. She just blushed and sat there. Sami occasionally glanced in Elliot's direction, and Elliot kept looking at her for some reason. Sami had to find out what his deal was.

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The rest of the week passed uneventfully. Sami kept thinking about Sunday. When Sunday finally came, Sami was really nervous. For some reason, she felt that she had to impress Elliot. Sami suddenly said aloud, "Maybe this is a bad idea, I'm too nervous…."

Her father had heard her. He said, "What, bringing your friend with us? Well, maybe it's just because you have a crush on him."

Sami blushed and said, "I don't have a crush on him……."

After breakfast, Sami took some pancakes up to Kero. As he was eating, Sami said, "Ready to go soon?"

Kero, with a mouthful of pancakes, said, "Argh youg ser ai woan beh seanh?"

Sami sweat dropped and said, "Would you mind saying that without your mouth full of food?"

Kero nodded and swallowed his pancakes. He said, "Boy, I love pancakes! What I said was, are you sure I won't be seen?"

Sami said, "I can hide you. I just thought that it might be good for you if you get out. And Elliot is going to be there. You can check him out and see if he is good or not."

Kero nodded and went back to his pancakes. Sami wondered if she should bring her Clow cards, just in case a Clow card showed up or something. When she relayed this idea to Kero, he said, "It might be a good idea. You never know. This Elliot kid may be good, or he may be bad. Plus, we might see some Clow cards while we are there."

Sami smiled and says, "Kero, why do you think that Elliot might be a bad guy?"

Kero solemnly said, "Gotta be careful. With the cards loose again, evil people all over the world will be flocking here to get some of that power. And in my experience, I have found that the innocent looking one is always the one causing trouble."

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At about eleven, they went to get Elliot. Kero and the Clow cards were hidden in her backpack. Elliot sat next to Sami and said, "Good morning."

Sami said, "Hi. You ready to have fun?"

Elliot shrugged his shoulders. He said, "I guess."

Sami and Elliot didn't talk much for the half hour drive to great uncle Toya's(1) cabin. At the cabin, Terry waited for them. He said, "Hey, Sami! Who's your friend?"

Sami smiled and said, "Hey, Terry. This is Elliot."

Elliot said, "Greetings."

Terry eyed Elliot suspiciously, but didn't say anything. Instead, he ran back over to his group of friends. Sami grabbed Elliot's arm and said, "Come on, you have to meet my friends!"

Sami dragged Elliot over to where her friends Cassie and Abby. Sami said, "Elliot, meet my friends Cassie and Abby. Cassie and Abby, this is Elliot."

Cassie and Abby both said, "Hey."

Cassie continued by saying, "Nice to meet you. You know, you look just like my father when he was little. I have seen pictures. I bet…."

Sami smiled as she watched the scene unfold around her. For a short while, she was a normal girl spending a normal Sunday with friends and family. Then, a slight chill picked up. Abby shivered and said, "It's cold today."

"Of course," Cassie said, "It's September. What do you expect? You know, My Mommy once told me that it got cold because…"

Sami didn't listen to her friends rambling past that. Right then, she got that feeling again, like a Clow card was near. She turned her head towards the lake. She could have sworn she had seen something soaring over the lake…….

Sami looked to her left, where Elliot was standing. He seemed focused on whatever was soaring over the lake also. Sami turned back to the lake, and whatever had been there disappeared. The next moment, Cassie said, "Sami! Man, you and Elliot are both bad listeners!"

Sami quickly said an apology and ran towards the lake. Cassie called out, "Sami! Where are you going?"

Sami hoped that nobody followed her. When she was closer to the lake, Kero popped his head out of Sami's backpack and said, "A Clow card, right?"

Sami said, "Right! It's by the lake!"

Sami stopped running when she reached the edge of the lake. She changed the Clow key to the Clow wand and waited for the card to show itself. After a minute, the card appeared on the end of the lake to Sami's right side. She ran down to where it was. When she got closer, she saw that it looked like…….

"A bird?" Sami questioned. Kero said, "It's the Fly card! Be careful!"

The Fly card began to Fly into the woods. Sami tried to keep up with it, but it was too fast. Sami pulled out the dash card and said, "Make me fast so I can keep up with the Fly card, Dash!"

Sami hit the Dash card with the Clow wand, and she became faster. Now she was able to keep up with the Fly card. By now they had entered the woods, and they had to dodge the trees. Eventually, the Fly card turned around and stopped. Sami thought, "What card do I use to weaken the Fly? The Bubbles won't work, and neither will the Jump. The Dash will just help me keep up….of course! The Thunder!"

Sami pulled out the Thunder card and said, "Weaken the Fly, Thunder!"

Lightning shot out at the Fly. It hit the Fly and made it fall to the ground. Sami stood in front of it and said, "Return to the form you were destined to be! Clow card!"

Sami swung the Clow wand until it was level with her, and the outline of a card formed. The Fly card began to turn to strands of light, and flew to where the outline of the card was. When the light stopped, the Fly card went to Sami. Sami grabbed it and smiled. Kero looked around and said, "Good job, but how are we going to get out of these woods?"

Sami's face fell as she realized that she was lost. She said, "Well, we just go back the way we came."

They started to walk in the direction that Sami thought they had come from. But, this wasn't such a good idea. After walking for what felt like days, Sami sat down on the ground and said, "Ahhhhhhhhhhh! I can't get out of these woods!"

Kero sweat dropped and said, "Well, it was your idea to come this way."

"I know," Sami said, "But I don't know which way is which! I give up! We'll never get out of here!"

A voice from above her said, "Don't give up. There is always a way out. Try using the cards."

Sami looked up and said, "Who's there?"

The voice said, "I …Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

A figure fell out of a tree near Sami. Sami stood up and ran to it. When she got there, she saw that it was Elliot. Sami said, "Elliot! What are you doing here?"

Elliot, while rubbing his head, said, "That Cassie girl is insane. I couldn't stand her prattle any longer. So, I decided to follow you. After a while, I couldn't keep up with you, so I decided to go back. But then I realized that I didn't know where I was, so I climbed this tree in hopes that I would see the cabin, but we are still to far away. Then, I got distracted and fell out."

Sami thought it was a good explanation, but Kero looked mad. He said, "Just who do you think you are?!"

Elliot stared at Kero for a second, then he stood up and said, "Calm down. I'm just me. It is hard to pretend to be someone else, you know."

Sami said, "You mentioned the cards. How do you know about them?"

"Everyone in the magical community knows about the cards. Of course, they all think that they are still Star cards," was Elliot's response. Sami said, "You have magic powers too?"

Elliot nodded. Sami said, "That's great!"

Elliot sweat dropped, unsure of how to react to Sami's exuberance. Kero, on the other hand, was studying Elliot. The former eventually said, "You look very familiar for some reason……"

Elliot said, "My family is a pretty powerful family. You might have known one of my ancestors."

Sami nodded. She said, "We can talk about this later. Right now we have other things to worry about. Like getting out of these woods, for example."

Elliot looked around for a moment. He then said, "It would be smart to use the cards to get out of here. What cards do you have?"

"The Dash, the Jump, the Fly, the Bubbles, and the Thunder," Sami answered, "Why?"

Elliot thought for a moment, then said, "You can use the Fly to get to the edge of the woods, then you can walk the rest of the way."

"That's a great idea," Sami said while pulling out the Fly card. She released it, then got on and held out a hand for Elliot. Elliot shook his head. Sami said, "Why not?"

"I can walk," Elliot said. Sami frowned at him, then got an idea.

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A short while later, they were in the air. Sami, with a big smile on her face, said, "This is so great!"

Elliot, who was sitting behind Sami and holing onto her waist for dear life, said, "I…don't...like…high…heights!"

Sami giggled. She had forced him on by grabbing his arm and flying up high. Then he was more than willing to cooperate. Though he had started to hyperventilate as they flew to the edge of the woods. "Man," Sami thought, "Who would have thought that Elliot was afraid of heights?"

When they landed at the edge of the woods, Elliot was more than glad to get off. He immediately started to hyperventilate. Between breaths, he managed to say, "I'm….never…going…to do…that again!"

Sami smiled and said, "You may not be able to help it," Sami looked to the west and saw that the sun was setting, "Come on, we better run. We have been gone all afternoon."

Elliot stood up and straightened his glasses. He nodded and followed Sami. After walking for a while, they finally met up with someone: Sami's grandpa Syaoran. Sami introduced them, then Elliot said, "I am sorry for keeping Sami busy all day."

Syaoran said, "I don't believe that it was your fault. Unless, of course, you were controlling the Fly card."

Elliot quickly shook his head. Syaoran said, "Didn't think so. But Sami, I am worried about your irresponsibility with the cards. So is your grandmother."

Sami said, "But grandpa! It was an emergency! The book had turned red, and the key had changed as well!"

Syaoran shook his head. He said, "Sami, did it ever occur to you that you could call us?"

Sami didn't respond right away. Syaoran sighed and turned to Elliot. He said, "I know you have powers. Sami can't do this alone, and I can tell that you two get along at least somewhat. Would you help Sami in recapturing the cards?"

Elliot looked very surprised. "I do have magic skill," Elliot responded, "But I don't have anything like a Clow wand to aid me in using my magic."

Syaoran thought about it for a second, then pulled something out of his pocket. He said, "Here, you can have my sword."

He gave it to Elliot. Elliot looked awe-struck. He said, "But Li-san, I cannot accept such a gift."

Syaoran smiled and said, "Sure you can. You need to help Sami. I'm too old to go on a Clow card catching adventure again. I'm sure you will find a good use for it."

Elliot was about to protest, but Sami whispered, "Just take it. When grandpa sets his mind to something, he won't change it."

Elliot finally said, "Alright, I agree."

"Good," Syaoran said, then he turned to Kero. Syaoran said to Kero, "Keep an eye on them. They will get into trouble at some point."

Sami said, "Shouldn't we be getting back?"

Syaoran nodded and took them back to the cabin. When they got back, everyone was so glad to see that they were safe. Sami's mom said, "I was so worried that you had gotten lost or kidnapped!"

Sami said, "I'm ok, and so is Elliot."

Sami's mom smiles and said, "That's good."

Terry stood to the side, looking pissed for some reason. Abby and Cassie were glad that Sami was ok, but pestered her as to what she was doing. "Come on," Cassie pestered, "If you and Elliot were kissing, we understand. Just tell us."

Sami and Elliot turned bright red. Sami said, "We were not kissing."

Cassie looked skeptical and said, "Sure you weren't…"

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After dinner, everyone headed home. Sami talked quietly with Elliot along the way. After all, Sami's parents didn't know about the cards yet. Sami explained to Elliot how she got the Clow cards and how they got loose. Elliot listened patiently as she told him. When she finished, he said, "Sounds like you have a lot of work to do."

Sami nodded. She said, "I'm glad you aren't one of the bad guys. Kero kept saying to be cautious of you and was acting like you would kill me or something."

Elliot smiled slightly and said, "No way. You are nice. I wouldn't hurt you."

She smiled and thought, "he's nice. I can't believe Kero actually thought that Elliot would try to hurt me. I know Kero was just being cautious, but still……"

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Sami got ready for bed while she said, "Kero, how long do you think it will take me to get all the cards back?"

"I dunno," Kero said, "It took Sakura over a year. It depends on how often the cards appear. Hopefully it won't take long."

"What happens when I get all the cards," Sami asked. "Well," Kero answered, " Nothing really special happens. You just get bragging rights. After you get all the cards back, I think that it would be best to just seal them away again."

"Yeah," Sami said. She gazed out the window for a moment, looking at the moon and stars. Her grandma had always liked the stars. Sami, on the other hand, was more partial towards the moon. Sami then said, "Alright! I'm going to bed."

Sami fell asleep right as her head hit the pillow. Kero, however, was up a little longer. He looks out the window, staring at the stars. He said quietly, "I really do hope it doesn't take long. Before we know it, the Dark Sorcerers will be here, and they will just make things worse. Hmm, I wonder how Sami will keep her identity a secret then…."

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Notes:

(1): I know that there are several spellings for his name, so I'm just gonna use the one from my CCS graphic novels *proudly holds up graphic novels 2-4*