Sakura, Syaoran and the Letter of Sorrow

Sakura dashed across the field with her star wand. A large black furry object bouncing away in the distance. "Fly!" Sakura yelled. Wings appeared on Sakura's back and she flue towards the creature. "Sakura, what card is it?" Sakura heard Kero ask through her headset. "Um..." Sakura said. The creature than turned around and jumped of the ground, ramming into Sakura. Sakura fell to the ground and landed on the soft grass of the field. "It's the jump card." Sakura moaned. Sakura looked up and saw the Jump bounding towards her. Sakura quickly stood up and released Windy. "Restrain the Jump!" Sakura commanded Windy. The Windy tied itself around the Jump and stopped it from moving. Sakura raised her wand and yelled "return to your true form, Phantom Card!" The jump was sucked into the card and it sailed to Sakura's hand.

"All right, the jump card!" Kero said with excitement.

"Too bad Tomoyo wasn't here to see it, I'm sure she would have loved to get it on camera!" Sakura said delighted with her victory.

Sakura blinked a few times and opened her eyes. Sakura sat up in bet and yawned. 'Saturday'. Sakura thought. "Morning Sakura," Kero said hovering over the bed in front of Sakura. "two cards in one week, not bad."

"But there are still forty-nine cards left to capture." Sakura said.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Kero asked. Sakura sat up in bed and looked at the clock. '8:34'

"Sakura, is something bothering you, you look worried?" Kero said. Sakura looked at Kero and managed a weak smile.

"I'm fine." Sakura said. Kero saw right through her.

"Your not still worried about that Li kid are you?" Kero said very irritated. Sakura thought back on the week. All threw out the week Li had acted depressed and lashed out at people for no apparent reason, he even got in a fight with Yamazaki when he lied to Li, which happens every day anyway.

Sakura was very worried, and afraid, Li had never been this irrationally angry and violent before. Sakura looked at Kero. Kero could tell by her expression that she was in fact worried. "Look Sakura, if you really are that worried about him than you should go and see him." Kero said only trying to make Sakura feel better.

Sakura stood up and said in and uneasy voce "I guess your right Kero."

"Sakura what is it?" Kero asked. Sakura looked at Kero.

"Something feels odd." She said looking at a tree out her window. Sakura shook it off and got dressed. A pair of long tight black jeans and a gray T- shirt with a wing on the chest, Sakura walked down stairs. She saw Toya and her fathe,r Fujitaka at the dining room table drinking coffee and eating breakfast.

Sakura sat down at the table and smiled. "Good morning, er, ah, Toya, aren't you supposed to be at work?" Toya starred at Sakura with an irritated look on his face.

"I'll be leaving in a few minutes monster." Toya said between sips of coffee.

"I told you, you can't call me that any more! I sixteen and I'm in."

"Gotta go squirt!" Toya said with a smirk as he got up to leave. Sakura got up to pressure her brother but was stopped by Fujitaka.

"Sakura, I need you to run some errands for me." Sakura's father said with a smile. "Oh, ok dad." Sakura said.

Sakura rolled down the quiet street in her roller blades. The nippy wind gently blew as cherry blossoms sailed through the air. Though it was a clear day the January sky seemed gray. Sakura stopped for a moment to warm her hands. Sakura had put on a pink sweeter to keep from the cold. She looked up at the sky. Sakura found herself once again thinking about Li. What was wrong, how he was. 'I wish I knew.' Sakura thought to herself. Sakura glanced to her left; she had come across Li's apartments, Kero is right, I should go see him. 'I wouldn't be a very good friend if I didn't.' Sakura chuckled. Sakura walked over to Li's apartment and rang the buzzer. After a moment Meling answered the door. "Ack! uh, hi Meling." Sakura said rather surprised. Meling stepped toward Sakura. She had a desperate look on her face. She grabbed Sakura's hand with both of hers. "Have you seen Li!?" she asked in a pleading voice.

Sakura, more than a little surprised at Meling's emotional state, said "No, I haven't. I thought he would be here." "He's been gone since I woke up!" Meling said a little choked up. The two girls went inside and sat down at the kitchen table. "Meling, do you have any idea why Li has been acting so strangely?" Sakura asked. "I, I think I do." Meling motioned Sakura to follow her. They went into the bedroom. This was the first time Sakura had been in Li's room since he and Meling came back. The room was a bit different than she had imagined. Twin beds, instead of one big one in particular. Meling walked over to a desk with two samurai swards in an X on the wall above it. She opened a drawer in the desk and took out a peace of paper. Meling handed the peace of paper to Sakura. "It's a letter from Li's clan." She said. Sakura looked at the letter.

Dear Syaoran,

I'm sorry to bring you such sad news,. but there has

been a death in the family.. You'er eldest sister, Shiefa

was stricken by an illness shortly after your departure, she passed away in the hospital on the 7th.

This was the basic gist of the letter.

"Oh my god, that's terrible!" Sakura exclaimed. "no wonder Syaoran has been so depressed."

"Sakura you have to help me find him! I don't know what he might do." Meling choked. Meling's eyes were full of tears, here cheeks red. She sat down on a bed and sobbed. Sakura was felling uneasy herself. Sakura knelt down in front of Meling, put her hands on Meling's shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"We'll find him." She said in a supple voce. Meling dried her eyes and the two girls started out to find Syaoran.

"Where do we start, he could be anywhere!" Meling said in a panic as they walked down the street. Sakura stopped abruptly. Sakura stood perfectly still, standing straight up looking at the gray sky. Darkened images shot through Sakura's mind.

"Shadows, a tree, a sword, and... and blood." Sakura said cryptically.

"What?" Meling said puzzled.

"Syaoran, no!" Sakura shouted as she bolted away. Meling although confused followed. Because Sakura was in here roller blades Meling couldn't keep up.

Syaoran sat on a mossy green rock surrounded by tall trees. The trees cast a dark shadow on him, only spots of gray light found their way through the thick foliage. Li looked into the sky. 'So gray, as if the day had no life, ironic.' Li thought. Li held his sward in his hand. He rested the blade on his wrist. Li began to press the blade into his flesh.

Sakura came to the edge of the thick and took off her blades with haste. Sakura ran through the forest with only her socks to protect her small feet. A flash of light caught Sakura's attention. "Syaoran!" She called. 'Please be all right, I don't know what I would do without you.' Blood ran down Syaoran's wrist. Syaoran gritted his teeth at the pain. He thought it comforting, the pain, so physical it distracted him from the pain inside. "Syaoran, no!" Sakura screamed as she came bounding toward Syaoran. The exhausted girl fell to her knees in front of Syaoran, her feet raw and hurting from the forest ground.

"Sakura!" Syaoran exclaimed. Syaoran took the blade off his bloody arm and set it down on the rock. Sakura breathing hard looked up at Syaoran. Sakura sprang up and wrapped her arms around him.

"Please don't do this." Sakura said as she pressed her cheek against Syaoran's chest, her eyes full of tears. Sakura felt Syaoran's warmth, she felt his heart beat and for a moment everything was right, everyone was safe, but only for a moment. Syaoran placed his hands on Sakura's shoulders. Sakura looked up and looked into Syaoran's eyes. "Why?" Sakura said weakly. Syaoran looked at his hand; it covered with blood, and at Sakura. His blood was on her cheek, and on her sweater. He took his blood soaked hands off Sakura's shoulders and looked at them. Li slipped down off the rock onto the ground with Sakura. "This is what I deserve. I let her die. It- it hurts so much. this, It hurts less like this. If I suffer enough."

"No, Syaoran, it wasn't your fault. Even if you were there you couldn't have done anything. You hurting yourself doesn't make anything right!" Sakura pleaded.

"It was my responsibility to protect her! And I let her die!" Syaoran shouted. Sakura looked into his teary eyes. "If I can't protect them, they don't need me, no one does." Syaoran said grimly.

"Syaoran, don't say that. It's not true. I need you. With out you I would be lost. You make me the best I can be. Do you remember, Syaoran? Do you remember when I turned the last of the cards?" Sakura said as she held Li's hands tightly.

"You said that because I was there, you were able to try harder." Syaoran said solemnly.

"Because of you I was able to do it! I couldn't have done any of it without you." Sakura smiled weakly at Syaoran and he almost smiled back, but his eyes widened. "Sakura look out!" Syaoran shouted.

Earthy roots wrapped themselves around Sakura's thin body and pulled her a way from Syaoran. "Sakura!" he yelled as he grabbed his sward. Sakura screamed in terror as the roots began to pull her beneath the ground. Li began chopping apart the roots to free the frantic girl. "Syaoran!" Sakura pleaded. Sakura was all most completely burred, only her small hand and forearm protruded from the ground. Li through down his sword and grabbed Sakura's hand and started to pull. He managed to free her from the root's grasp and he pulled her from the ground with roots snapping and soils being unearthed. Sakura lay in Li's lap he shoulders supported by Li's hemorrhaging arm.

"Sakura, are you all right?" Syaoran said softly. "I do need you." Sakura said gripping Li's arm. The roots began to rise from the ground over them like a collapsing dome. Leaves began to grow on the vines.

"It's the wood card!" Syaoran exclaimed. "Sakura, you have to seal it now!" Sakura gripped her star key in her small fist as it began to glow.

"Oh Star of the heavens grant me the power of my star, release!" Sakura chanted as the star wand appeared. "Windy release and dispel!" Sakura thrust her wand upwards and Windy burst from its card. "Form a cyclone around us and break apart the Wood!" Sakura commanded. A cyclone formed around them and the Wood card's branches began to break apart until all of it was swirling in the air around Syaoran and Sakura. "Return to your true form, Phantom card!" Sakura yelled. The wood was pulled into it's card and the card went to Syaoran.

Li forced himself to his feet still holding Sakura in his arms. Sakura looked at his bleeding arm. Sakura ripped a peace of her tattered sweater off and tied it around Li's wrist. "Why does this seem familiar?" Sakura said with a grin. Li managed a weak smile but than fell to his knees. "Li!" Sakura knelt down next to Li and put his arm over her shoulder. Li picked up his sward and they started back to town.

"Sakura, thank you." Syaoran said.

"For what?" Sakura replied in a supple tone. "For reminding me that I'm needed." Syaoran said.

"Li!" a crying Meling yelled. Meling ran to Syaoran and Sakura. Meling through her arms around Li's waste held him close and rested her head on his chest. "I thought I'd lost you." Syaoran looked at Meling with warm eyes and said "I'm all right Meling." He looked over at Sakura. "I'm not going anywhere."