Chapter 2: The Call

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Sakura was looking at the sky as the last star began to fade away in the growing light of the sun. She had come to love this hour of the day, when the sun was just beginning to shine on Tomoeda. As she loved when the moon was shining high in the sky. With a last look at the awaking city, Sakura closed her window and got ready for school.

'Sakura?'

The young girl looked up from her bag. Her name had been murmured, right inside her heart. With a smile, she turned toward her desk, to see the Sakura Book glowing from its spot. With a wave from her hand, the book flew toward her. Slowly, she opened it. The Sakura Cards flew out of it and surrounded their mistress. As always, a feeling of peace washed over the Card Mistress as her cards danced around her. After some moment of silent communion, the Dream Card flew forward.

'I've got something to show you.'

Nodding, Sakura went to sit on her bed and she held out a hand for the card. As soon as the card touched her skin, Sakura felt herself being drawn into the dream realm.

*~*~*~*

It was the night. The moon was glowing high in the sky. The wind was cold, but she wasn't. She had her staff in her hands. Even if she couldn't see them, Sakura could feel Syaoran and Eriol's powers just next to her. Taking a look around her, Sakura saw that she was standing at the top of what seemed to be an Occidental castle. Looking downward, she saw that the castle was built in the middle of a clearing. She could see a huge forest on a side of the castle. Nearby was a lake, shining in the moonlight. And just next to the lake was someone. She couldn't see this person very well. But, with this strange ability conferred by dreams, she could see his eyes perfectly well. Eyes as bright and as green as were her own.

Suddenly, the settings changed. She was now in front of a ruined house. She could hear a baby crying. She spotted him on the ground a bit farther. Again these bright green eyes.

Again she moved in the dream, being drawn back to the castle. It was now in ruined too. And again, she saw these green eyes. Lifeless, this time.

*~*~*~*

Sakura's eyes snapped open and she nearly cried out. She was slightly out of breath and when she looked at her hand, she understood why. The Return Card had joined the Dream when she was 'asleep'.

"What was that?"

'Future and Past. What could happen and what had happened.' said the Hope as she flew forward at her turn. 'We are worried. I received a call this night. From this boy. It was more like a plea, really. A plea for help.'

Sakura understood at once and stood up.

"Where is he? If he needs help, we will go to him and help as much as we can."

The cards sent feeling of love to their mistress. If there was a thing that the card loved, it was this uncanny desire to help and to always do her best Sakura had ever had. Hope flew in Sakura's hand.

'The problem is we don't know where this place is.'

"Well, Syaoran and Eriol are with me in this dream. One of them must know."

"Sakura! Breakfast's ready!" called out Touya.

"I'm coming!"

The girl looked at her cards and nodded to them.

"I'll talk to Syaoran. If we don't come up with something, we'll call Eriol. Perhaps Clow Reed knew about this place. Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

With that, Sakura sent a smile to her cards and went dashing downstairs.

"That's not even funny. I don't have to call out for the little monster a hundred times anymore."

"I'm no monster!"

Fujitaka Kinomoto smiled as he looked at his two children fighting even before beginning their breakfast. It was nearly a ritual between them, even if Sakura was now 16 and Touya 20. Still smiling, he put a plate in front of each of the arguing siblings and sat in front of Sakura.

"You should begin to eat or you will be late to meet with Tomoyo and Syaoran."

Sakura flashed a smile to her father and did as she was told, not without kicking her older brother under the table. Touya prevented himself from crying out by biting in a piece of bread. Shooting a death glare to his sister, he began eating as well.

"I'm working till late tonight. So don't bother waiting for me and eat as soon as dinner is ready, okay?" Fujitaka said.

"I'm working tonight too." Touya remarked, pointing at the board behind him.

Sakura nodded, her mouth too full to speak. After swallowing, she glanced at the board to see that her brother was again out, working to pay his studies. She thought about that a minute, realizing that she had the house for herself.

"Do you mind if I invite Tomoyo and Syaoran after school?"

With a smile, Fujitaka shook his head before standing up to clean the table.

"As long as the gaki stay well out of my room."

Sakura smiled at her brother's answer. Touya and Syaoran relationship hadn't begun very well. And, somehow, Sakura had a feeling that the fact that Syaoran falling in love with her hadn't done anything to get the things better. Touya was a bit overprotective when it came to his little sister. Gathering her things, Sakura ran outside after shouting 'goodbye' to her father and brother.

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On her way to the park, Sakura thought again about her dream. She had a strange feeling that the person near the lake was effectively a boy. And that it was really him she had seen as he baby and after. Sakura refused to even think about this part of the dream. Hope had said it was what could happen. What could happen if Sakura didn't reach the boy in time. She was sure of that. And she was decided to prevent his death.

All in her thoughts, she nearly bumped into Tomoyo.

"Hi Sakura. You seem too thoughtful to be alright. Is there something wrong?"

Sakura smiled a bit to her best friend. Tomoyo had always had this incredible insight when it came to feeling people's moods. Sometime, Sakura even wondered if it wasn't a bit magic.

"The Dream and the Return showed me something this morning. A bad thing, in fact."

"So, the Card Mistress will at last return to her duty and fight against evil. I will have loads of new opportunities to film your new adventures. As a matter of fact, I've just finished some new suits that will look absolutely marvelous on you."

Sakura laughed a bit at Tomoyo's display. Since even before she became a Card Captor, Tomoyo had decided that Sakura was the perfect subject for her movies and the perfect girl to wear her so many suits. So, as she was capturing the Clow Cards, and later transforming them into the Sakura Cards, she had worn from a cat-suit to a heart-suit, with so many others between that she didn't really remember how many of them she had put on. Sakura knew that her friend had brought back this memory to cheer her up, and she was grateful.

"What about this sudden need of costumes?"

Sakura turned round to see Syaoran behind her. She smiled a bit, before growing totally serious. Again, Tomoyo seemed to feel the change of mood and grew serious in turn.

"I think we should sit a bit farther, so no one can overhear us."

Nodding at Tomoyo's proposition, Sakura walked toward the nearby trees. Syaoran shot a glance to Tomoyo before following her. When the both of then joined her, Sakura sat on the grass and looked up at them. Tomoyo and Syaoran sat as well and waited for Sakura to explain herself a bit more.

"This morning, the Dream and the Return went to me and asked me to use them. They showed me the past and a possible future. In this future, a boy was dead. In the past, he was a baby crying. I saw him near an occidental castle too. You were with me Syaoran, at that castle. And Eriol was there too. Though I couldn't see you, I could feel both your powers around me. When I woke up, the Hope told me that this boy had sent a call for help and that she had heard it. However, none of the cards know about this castle."

"Did you ask Kero about this place?" asked Tomoyo.

"Kero spent the whole night with Yue. There are still trying to find a way to unlock my full powers."

Sakura sighed at this thought. Even though she was now powerful enough to give enough power to Yue, the moon guardian and his alternative form, Yukito Tsukishiro, still needed a lot of rest from time to time. Secretly, Sakura was also hoping to be able to give back his powers to her brother, as well as securing Yue and Yukito existences.

"I've never been to an occidental castle, as far as I can remember. You said that Eriol was with us. He must know more about that. He always knows more than us, anyway." Syaoran shrugged and stood up. "No need to bang our heads for the moment. But we need to hurry if we want to be on time at school."

Both the girls stood up and the three of them walked their way to school.

*~*~*~*

The bell rang and Sakura closed her math book with relief. Even if she wasn't really bad, she still hated math. Luckily, it was her last course of the day. As usual, Syaoran was waiting for her and Tomoyo by a tree, as he finished sooner than them.

"Hi there! Do you want to come home this afternoon? I've got the house for myself until late tonight."

Tomoyo smiled her acceptance and Syaoran nodded his, and they were soon on their way. As soon as they stepped inside the Kinomoto's house, a yellow flash flew from upstairs.

"What about this dream, Sakura? Why didn't you call me, or Yue, this morning when Dream and Return showed you that?"

"Calm down, Kero. You were probably still trying to find a solution to our other problem. I didn't want to bother you."

The little winged creature seemed to accept this excuse. As everyone settled in the kitchen, Tomoyo took her mobile phone out of her bag and threw it to Sakura.

"If Eriol is part of all this, I think you should call him."

Sakura sighed a bit but dialed the number. After what seemed to be ten minutes, someone picked up the phone.

"Yes?"

"Eriol? It's Sakura. Did I wake you up?"

"As a matter of fact, Sakura, you did. What can I do for you?"

"Sorry about that. Hope received a message this morning from a boy. A call for help. Then Dream and Return showed me the past of this boy and a future when he is dead. I would like to help, but I don't know what to do."

"Well, only someone with strong magic could send a message to a magic card. Could you tell me more about the dream?"

"First, I was at the top of an occidental castle."

"Wait! Was there a lake and a huge forest nearby?"

"You know the place?"

Next to Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo looked up as she said these words. They saw Sakura nodded as she was listening to whatever Eriol was now telling her. Then, she hung up and looked back at her friends.

"Eriol would like all of us to go to England."

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A/N: Well, this is for you, Firedragon. Hope you will enjoy it. Don't hesitate to tell me if you see mistakes.

Please, readers, review to tell me if I should continue.