DISCLAIMER: I don't own ccs, if you don't realize that by now, your wierd.
"What's this I hear about you holding a little girl captive?"
"She's hardly a little girl, and I'm not holding her captive. I'm testing her."
"I really don't see a difference."
"If she were being held captive, I wouldn't let her go; if she finds out that she's living in an illusion, I let her go."
"And if she doesn't?"
"She will because she is the Child of Light."
"Not if I can help it."
"Too bad for you I have her and you don't."
"Ha! Well, bully for you. I have another way-"
"And I can tell you exactally why it won't work. You put your plan into action way too late."
"It would've worked if your crazy henchman hadn't decided to wait until he took the girl before giving her friends the fake one."
"So you admit you're going to have to give up on the girl?"
"No. This girl that you perchanced to reach before I got a chance to, is the strongest vessel we've seen in a long time, I'm not letting her go."
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Rika inhaled, taking in all the scents of her room, her wonderful, wonderful room. She felt a guilty twang in her heart for enjoying where she was, but why? She got up slowly, noticing that she was still in the clothes she had worn last night to Sakura's party and changed into shorts and a t-shirt.
Going into the kitchen, her mother greeted her. "It's about time you woke up, sleeply head."
"Good morning, mama," she smiled.
"Yoshiyuki called. He just wanted to see how you were. What's this I hear about your fainting last night?" her father asked.
"Oh, it wasn't anything. It was just dizziness and I had to sit down for a while," she lied to keep her parents from worrying too much.
"You went to see a doctor and everything already?" her mother asked.
Rika nodded. "There's nothing wrong with me that they can find. It's wierd. Don't worry about me though, mama, papa,"
"Rika, it's our job to worry about you."
The three of them laughed. "I'm going out for a run."
The air outside was warm and breezy. It was perfect weather for an outdoors picnic. The different scents of the summer filled the air, fighting to be noticed. As she ran, Rika mulled over the empty feeling inside her. What had she been forgetting? There was something missing in her life right now, the problem was, she couldn't figure out what it was.
She bumped into someone. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. Oh, Sakura! Aren't you supposed to be gone?"
"No, not for another few days, but..." her friend's voice trailed off.
"But what?" Rika persisted.
"There may be a change of plans."
"A change of plans? Am I allowed to know more?"
Sakura nodded. "Syaoran and I may just stay here in Japan for a few years."
"I thought his family wanted him back home."
Sakura shrugged. "So did I. He hasn't explained to me everything. How are you feeling? After what happened last night?"
"Oh. That. I'm feeling pretty good actually."
"Watch out for yourself, Rika."
"I will, Sakura, bye."
Watching Sakura's back, Rika was gripped by the sudden urge to yell out. Sakura and Syaoran weren't meant to stay in Japan. They were supposed to be in Hong Kong. That's the way things were supposed to be! She started to vocalize her thoughts but immediately quelled them. Who was she to say what was right and what was wrong, what should happen and what shouldn't? It was their decision where they wanted to stay and if they wanted to stay in Japan, Rika was fine with that.
Yet Rika could not help but shiver as she surpressed that thought, and it nagged her all the way home.
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The fake Sakura was again panicking, but only she knew that. She was getting antsy. Where ever Rika was, it wasn't where she needed to be at the moment, which was here, so that Sakura could take advantage of them all. Sobek had found out that Rika wasn't present. The stupid bauble must have told him. Trust the damn thing to relate everything that didn't matter. What mattered was that she was in. She was in. Now, she had the power to do what she wanted.
What she wanted not only for Sobek, but for herself. Living with these people, she had a certain degree of freedom that Sobek had never given her, but she loved it. Every minute of it! It was better than staying with that secretary woman. She treated Sakura like a pet. It was unnerving and irritating.
And none of them suspected what was going on....or so she thought...
From the very beginning, there was something different about Sakura, and Yue noticed. When she came back, she had been more forceful to all of them. But besides that, there was something else Yue couldn't quite figure out....She had changed in the same subtle way that Rika had, except, Yue wasn't sure what to think about the change in his mistress. Sakura had also been reluctant to share anything about what had happened between the time of her disappearance and when she suddenly appeared again on this planet so far away from where they had first started out.
Yue was relectant to share his thoughts with anyone. Syaoran had forbidden him from pressing his mistress for details about what had happened, but he still wondered.
Meanwhile, Nakuru and Kero completely enjoyed Sakura's return. They didn't doubt Sakura the way Yue was. But he kept all his thoughts to himself; who was he to think that the others weren't doing the same thing?
As for the search for Rika, Letith had sent troops out looking for her. Eriol had bumped into them many times. They couldn't leave this planet without Rika, and where could she have gone? Had she been kidnapped? Letith sent the troops everywhere. All the traditional theives dens had been cleared out and every shady character questioned, yet still no Rika.
Of course, Letith knew where she was. He went and visited her one day. The bauble of light greeted him. "How is she?" he asked.
The bubble hovered for a minute or two before it responded. "Well. Thanks for asking about me too."
Since when had the thing gained a sense of humor? "How are you?" Letith returned, puzzled.
"I'm peachy keen, thank you."
"Ahhh...." He was unsure of what else to say.
"Doesn't she look like she's sleeping?" the bauble asked after a few more minutes.
"Umm...She does actually."
"She'll wake up feeling refreshed."
"Will she?"
"Yes. And this will all seem like a long, long dream to her."
"Which 'this' would you be refering to? Her stay here or what's happening in her head."
"What's happening in her head of course."
"Just checking."
Letith shook his head. The bauble could be so odd sometimes. Those were the times he wondered why he even took advice from this light-thing. Hopefully, this would all be over soon, so he could stop sending his troops on a wild goose chase. It was so tempting just to forget it all and tell them to stop looking for her. And it was so tempting to tell her friends exactally what was going on.
But if he did that, then the bauble would be irritated. That thing never got angry, just irritated. It was best just to let things be and to hope that everything would get over with quickly.
Letith left the room.
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Syaoran was so happy that Sakura was back. He seemed to be more in love with her than ever, having once realized what life would be like it he'd lost her, he didn't want to let her go again.
Every once in a while though, the dream he had, where he had heard her voice....was it a dream? Syaoran had convinced himself that it hadn't been real, that it had just been hid overly cautious self warning him in a dream. But there was still that lingering feeling that it had been more than just a dream.
Syaoran vowed to ask Sakura, the next time he remembered.
The next time he remembered.
a/n: press the button! press the button!
