Chapter 1

Sakura's eyelids twitched gently in her sleep, a sure sign that her angelic soul was somewhere else entirely, caught up in another mystical dream.

Wind.

There was a sudden gust of wind, buffeting her cloak. 'Cloak?' Sakura thought to herself. 'I'm not wearing a cloak.' Sakura looked around her, realizing quickly that not only her cloak, but also her entire outfit was different from what she wore for pajamas.

She was high up, looking at a majestic scope of buildings and towers, twinkling lights and rapidly moving people down below. It was night, she quickly realized. Sakura looked at her feet, teetered precariously on a building. Across from her stood the Tokyo Tower, Sakura recognized, a sight she had become quite accustomed to over the years. Gaining her composure, she looked around her more intently. Small objects, different from the cars below, were flying in the air with her. She peered closely.

"Clow… cards…" she whispered, entranced by the beauty of the hundreds of little objects whizzing around her. She opened her soul up to the wonderful sensation, aroused by the warm feeling she always contracted when surrounded by Clow Reed's magic.

'I've had this dream before,' she thought. 'And there's always someone…' she turned her head to the left. '…There." She squinted, trying to make out the figure that she had tried to identify on every occurrence of this recurring dream. As Sakura's eyes adjusted, she realized that the figure was different than usual. Not as tall, not as slender. Sakura recognized it with a start. "Li!" She shouted into the night air. This wasn't right! It should no longer be Li standing on that building, veiled by shadows. Before having met him, he had been jumping down buildings, sword ready. But once they had met, he had been replaced with another figure, a feminine form.  Features of her friend's body materialized before Sakura's eyes. Li's body was slumped, teetering on his feet, but evidently not standing on them. His head was bowed. With no warning, the boy fell forward and cleared the building, plummeting through the thick Tokyo atmosphere to the ground below.

Sakura screamed, terrified of the prospect of losing her rival, her friend. Her eyes fluttered open, and found herself sitting upright, arms desperately clutching her pillow. She rubbed her eyes, and, with a start, brought her hands back wet. Tears moistened her red, blushed cheeks. Sweat covered the rest of her body, soaking through her thin, pink pajamas.

Sakura sighed deeply and threw herself backwards down onto her bed. "Kero," she groaned. "I had the dream again."

The small yellow figure perched on Sakura's desk showed no signs of moving. His minute belly moved up and down rhythmically, the only outward sign that this was more than just one of the many stuffed toys adorning Sakura's room.

"Kero," she said, somewhat louder. "Get up!" Discouraged by continued lack of movement, Sakura pushed herself up onto her sleep-laden legs, slowly walked over to the desk, picked up the slumbering creature and shook him as violently as she could. Eyelids shooting up with a start, the beast's arms flew up, breaking Sakura's weak grip.

"Hey!" It shouted in a gravelly little voice, hovering even with her face. "What was that for? You coulda just said something!"

Sakura, too tired to argue the point, simply said, "Kero. I had the dream again."

Kero's tiny paws, which had been balled into fists, relaxed, and his countenance took on an expression of inquiry. "So? You have it every night, almost."

Sakura shook her head. "Mm-mmh. Not like this. The person across from me… Kero, it was Li."

"Wasn't he always in yer dream?"

"That was before I met him. Once I did, the person in my dream changed to somebody else… a woman. But that's not all." She continued. "He was dead."

The guardian beast had an air of concerned politeness, nothing more. "Oh."

Sakura was caught between amusement and anger. "Kero! I know you don't like him, but whether we want to admit it or not, Li and I both need each other. I'd have been a goner I don't know how many times by now if not for him."

"Calm down, Sakura. It was just a dream. Li's not really dead."

"I know," She nodded, her auburn hair rippling in the morning light. "But you always say that my dreams about the Clow Cards are like prophecies, aren't they? It worries me because…" She struggled with herself to say what she knew to be the truth. "I don't know what I'd do if Li…"

"Was gone?" Kero offered.

"Mmm…" Sakura nodded. Then, almost in afterthought, she shook her head violently. "I don't know Kero… I wish I could honestly say that I would be just fine without Li. But I'm not, and we both… no, we all know that." Sighing resignedly, she threw herself backwards onto her bed.

Kero cocked his head. "Now don't say that, Sakura. You've captured tons of cards by yourself! And Li couldn't have sealed half of his without your help!"

Sakura nodded weakly. "I know that Kero. I'm not saying I'm totally dependant on him. But he has saved my life. Countless times."

Kero shrugged, inwardly tormented by two of his most dominant instincts; his powerful love for Sakura, and his almost equally powerful hate of Li Syoaran. "Make what you want of it, Sakura, but whether we like it or not, I don't think he's going anywhere for the time being."

She suddenly giggled, enjoying the soft morning sun caressing her face as she lay sprawled on top of her bed, arms and legs spread, taking in all of the day's glory. "You're right, Kero-chan," she used the pet name often associated with the Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards.

"I always am," he shrugged carelessly. "Now that that's over, when's my breakfast getting here?"

Sakura opened one accusing eye and pointed it straight at her friend. "Is there a time when you're not thinking of food."

Kero scratched his chin as if he were giving the issue deep thought. "No," he said simply.

Sakura laughed, mostly just to relieve herself of the stress of her dream, reminding herself that there was no point to needless worrying. Changing out of her pink pajamas into her mandatory school uniform, she skipped happily down the stairs. She caught a glance from her father as he stepped out the door.

"Bye, dad!" Sakura called after him, still in motion. His response was lost as she flew into the kitchen. "Hey, oniisan" She beamed to her brother, who was hunched over two sandwiches in the making.

"Hey, squirt," he responded, not taking his eyes off of his masterpiece. "Your lunch's almost ready."

Sakura gaped at him. "Touya? You're actually making my lunch for me?"

Her brother shrugged. "Don't get used to it, it's just that I'm off of work for today, so I figured I might as well help you out a little."

"Touya" Sakura rolled her eyes. "I am deeply touched."

"Deeply touched enough to do the dishes for me?" he thrust out one bagged sandwich.

            Sakura made a point of glancing at her watch. "Oh look," she smiled slyly, "it's time for school." She grabbed the sandwich and started for the door. Slamming it behind her, she ran down her driveway, and came down to a stride on the sidewalk. Gulping in the sweet morning air, Sakura looked upwards, letting the sunlight once again hit her face, unabated by glass this time, enjoying its soft glow and tender warmth. Days like these reminded her of the beauty and simplicity of life she had enjoyed before that fateful day that she had stumbled upon the Clow Book, and had changed her life forever. The Clow cards had certainly brought a new dimension to her, new experiences, new joys. Still, she missed her old, carefree life, and reveled in moments such as these.

            A familiar voice penetrated Sakura's thoughts. "Sakura! Sakura!" She spun around, to find a small girl running towards her, arm waving frantically. Her raven black hair was in complete contrast with her pale skin, and it was flying out behind her as she closed the distance between herself and her best friend.

            "Ohayou, Tomoyo-chan!" She called out as the girl skidded to a halt in front of her. Sakura betrayed all looks of her troubles from her face, deciding to spare at least her best friend from the worries troubling her heart.

            "You didn't seal any Clow Cards last night, did you? Because that would mean I would have missed another capture and-- Sakura are you ok?"

            Sakura hadn't realized that while Tomoyo had been talking, her head had fallen, and her mind had gone deep into the meaning of her haunting prophecy. "…Yeah. It's nothing."

            Tomoyo raised an eyebrow and placed one hand on her hip, going into a very skeptical look. "I know you well enough to know when something's wrong. And something is."

            She shook her head. "No, don't worry about it. I'm just kind of… tired."

            Tomoyo shrugged. She didn't quite believe her friend's claims, but she knew that Sakura would tell all when she was ready, and not before. "Want to walk to school?"

            Sakura nodded eagerly, happy to be with her best friend. They both picked up a pace again, heading towards the direction of their school.

            "So, how's Li doing," she inquired innocently, completely unaware of the fresh brand of fear that sent through Sakura.

            The girl acted lethargic at her friend's painful comment. She shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know. I didn't sense any magic last night, he should be fine."

            "Ah," Tomoyo nodded. The underlying tone in Sakura's voice more than gave her the hint that Li was not the desired topic of conversation at the moment.

            The remainder of the walk remained silent, until they reached the schoolyard.

            "Hey!" Sakura and Tomoyo both turned their heads to find Meiling Li running towards them. She stopped in front of them, a triumphantly smug look on her face. "Guess what! Syaoran captured a Clow Card last night!"

            Sakura gasped. "Really, is he OK?" Meiling was taken aback by this sudden barrage. "Yeah, why wouldn't he be?" She assumed the same skeptical look Sakura was so used to seeing on Tomoyo-chan. "You think just because you weren't there, he couldn't handle it by himself?"

            Sakura shook her head again, "No, that's not it. I'd better get to class." She walked off towards the building, leaving two very confused girls standing in the front yard.

            "What's with her?" Meiling asked.

            The other shrugged. "Beats me. She's been acting strangely all morning. I think it's something to do with Li, she's been awful jumpy whenever we bring him up."

            Meiling glared daggers at Sakura's retreating back. "She better not be getting any ideas!"