A/N: Nope, nothing to say except . . . please review! ^_^
Life Lost, Love Discovered
Chapter Five
"I remember my first dream like it was yesterday . . ." Syaoran finally began to relay his story. "This man named Isao was running up to the balcony of -- I dunno, a castle, maybe? The weird part, though, was how it felt like I was actually in his head. I could feel his panic, and all of the thoughts coursing throughout his brain."
"Me too! Me too!" Sakura intervened, unable to control her outburst. "But it wasn't with Isao, just Kiriko. And she was actually on the balcony."
"It's Kirika, Sakura-chan."
"Oh, yeah." She then realized she was being rude and chuckled quickly to hide her bashfulness. "Go on."
"Anyway," Syaoran said, "when I—er, Isao arrived at his destination, there was a simply gorgeous lady standing with her back to him. She had glimmering auburn hair much like yours, Sakura-chan, and two bright emerald eyes that just seemed to stare through me . . ." Syaoran trailed off for a moment, and he blinked a few times.
"Kirika," Sakura whispered.
"If you think about it, you and her are nearly identical," he said.
"Syaoran-kun, what's going on here?" Sakura looked to her friend, confused by everything that was whirling by her at such a rapid and stupefying speed.
Syaoran sighed and just tightened his death grip on her small hand, because he, too, had no idea.
***
Sakura's digital clock ticked over to 2:32 A.M. She should have drifted off into a semi-peaceful sleep by now, but alas, the Sandman was not in sight.
So here she was, hunched beneath her covers, a small flashlight in hand, reading a cheesy romance novel. The book's dialogue was inane, and Sakura was only paying slight attention to it. She had more plausible things to ponder about . . . if plausible was the right word. 'I'm afraid of a dream that I may or may not have. You've hit a new low, Kinomoto.' She chided herself angrily, yet her persistent self-esteem bashing did little to help.
She was too frightened to sleep.
'What if Kirika dies in this dream? She's identical to me in almost every way. It'll be like experiencing my own death.'
But she knew she couldn't stay awake forever.
'That does it. I have school tomorrow.'
Her hands found the Key of the Star, which was resting on her desk. She blew the bit of dust that had accumulated on top of it off and allowed it to morph into its staff form.
Sakura clenched the pink handle decisively, and laid her head upon her pillow. She then opened the Sakura Book, and removed two all-too-familiar Sakura Cards.
"Sleep Card . . . please allow me to get a good night's rest . . ."
". . . and the Dream Card, please allow me to see tonight's dreams from a third-person's point of view."
Two life forms materialized from the seemingly normal cards, one a small iridescent fairy with ruffled hair, and the other a full-grown woman, helmet shielding her eyes from view. Both of them smiled at their Mistress.
"Sleep peacefully," the small pixie chirped, and waved her tiny crescent moon wand before Sakura's face. Just before the girl drifted off, the last thing she saw was the Dream Card spread her arms wide.
***
Sakura knew she should have expected this. She had totally forgotten that a person dreams constantly when they were in REM sleep. (God, she was stupid sometimes.) So now, she was witnessing dreams that she never would have remembered if not for the work of her magic cards.
She was soaring over mountains, over clouds. She went to school naked—much to her embarrassment—and, to her total surprise, she saw herself engaged to a man that looked awfully familiar. So familiar, in fact, that her cheeks grew warm.
She was hovering above her own wedding with Syaoran.
"Sakura Li?" She liked the way that sounded.
Finally, just as she was about to give up hope of finding Isao and Kirika in her mess of thoughts and fantasies, she arrived in the alley between two dilapidated huts. As her feet touched the ground, she knew she was in the correct time period from the people passing by the small opening. Just to be sure, though, she tapped a woman who was peering around the edge of one of the tiny houses on the shoulder.
"Sumimasen, can you please tell me what year this is?"
The woman didn't even make a move to respond, nor did she seem to hear her.
'Baka! It's no surprise she doesn't know I'm here. This is the Dream Card's doing,' Sakura shook her head.
'Damn, there she is.'
Those words reached Sakura's ears, yet the woman's mouth seemed to move. There was no one else close enough for Sakura to eavesdrop of his or her conversation. "I'm hearing what's her thoughts," she said aloud in a mixture of wonder and horror. Sakura followed the woman's gaze, and saw that a tall, slender, auburn-haired female was walking down the unpaved road, a few small children laughing and playing behind her. "Is that Kirika?" If she was, she fit Syaoran's description perfectly. With her shining locks and beautiful eyes, Kirika was the persona of royalty. 'But she isn't from a royal family.' Sakura reminded herself.
Kirika was clad in a form-fitting light green dress, with a small train trailing behind her. On top of that was a cloak with shoulder pads, emeralds, diamonds, sapphires, topazes, onyxes, and other gems encrusted along the lining. The children tugged happily at her cape, giggling.
Meanwhile, the other woman whose thoughts Sakura had accidentally overheard was in a peasant ensemble, consisting mostly of various fabrics sewn together. She raked her shoulder-length silver hair with a hand furiously.
'Look at her, basking in the spotlight just because her father is rich and famous. Sir Yamamoto wouldn't give her a second glance if she wasn't . . . why can't he see through her goddamned facade?' The woman sighed. 'It pisses me off.'
Sakura was reeling at the pure malice she detected in her tone. Sir Yamamoto was obviously Isao's surname, she knew from past dreams that his relationship with Kirika was the talk of the town. A peasant surely would not have a chance with a respected official such as he . . . why was she so stuck on Isao?
Sakura suddenly felt a wave of fear sweep over her. This person standing before her—she found her name to be Jun on closer inspection—was plotting something horrible.
But what?
***
Sakura snapped awake, back in her darkened room. She heard Kero-chan snoozing happily in his closed drawer, but the rest of the night was silent. She shivered despite the warm temperature and her comforters. Not knowing what happened to Kirika, Isao, and Jun was starting to drive her crazy. She wanted to know . . . yet at the same time, she didn't.
She suddenly felt very alone and frightened; the fact that her onii-chan and her otou-san were right down the hall gave little in the ways of comfort.
'I wish Syaoran-kun was here,' Sakura thought miserably.
She swung her legs around her bed, and landed awkwardly on the floor, her ankle twisting painfully. "Aw, DAMMIT!"
She quickly covered her mouth, and waited a few moments. Nothing stirred. She sighed, grateful that she had not woken any of her family up with her outburst.
She quietly changed out of her pink satin pajamas and into a pair of shapeless grey sweats. She needed some fresh air to clear her jumbled head.
She was halfway out the door, but then stopped.
Sakura grabbed her Sakura Book, and left the Kinomoto Residence. Better safe than sorry.
***
She jogged down the streets of Tomoeda, her breath coming in ragged pants. She had no idea how far she had gone when she came to a dead halt.
The path was totally devoid of human life, yet she felt piercing eyes burn into her back. 'Is someone . . . there?' She clenched her book, filled with her protective cards, and felt a slow sense of calm come over her. 'Chill. You're the Card Mistress. You've dealt with worse than a couple of thugs. I just hope they're not armed . . . arrgh, get a hold of yourself, baka! There's no one there . . . see?'
Sakura pivoted on her left foot to prove to herself that there was, indeed, no one else present. Unfortunately for her, she had never been more wrong in her life.
"Hey," from an alley between a liquor store and convenience store came a swaggering bunch of drunken idiots—three of them, to be precise. The one who seemed to be the head honcho leaned against the wall with one hand, so close to Sakura that she could smell the beer on his breath. His blonde hair was shoulder-length and mused, and he had a limp cigarette hanging from his mouth. "What's a cute girl like yourself doing out at such a late hour?" His words were slurred, the alcohol's doing, no doubt.
"I was just taking a jog," Sakura retorted bravely. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home."
The other two men stood, one to her right and the other behind her. The building was to her left, and there was no one sober to help her. The lead guy leered at her. "You ain't bad lookin'. Say, say, we'll give you three-hundred yen to come play with us." He grasped her wrist and pulled her forward.
"Get off of me, you bastard!" Sakura shrieked.
"What's that thing around her neck?" One of the others asked. The blonde guy raised a questioning eyebrow.
"I dunno. Hold her for me."
She was grabbed on either side by the blonde man's followers. They pinned her arms back and tugged her by the hair so she was staring up at the stars.
Meanwhile, he played with her Key of the Star curiously, turning it over and over again in his hands. "It's just some damned key. I doubt it's worth anythin'." He lifted his arm and caressed Sakura's cheek, much to her total disgust. "You, on the other hand . . ."
Seeing how close his hand was to her mouth, Sakura chomped down on it with all her might, drawing blood.
"Arrgh!" The man staggered back. "Why, you . . ." He held onto his freely bleeding wound. "You're gonna pay for that." He chuckled, and somehow, Sakura knew exactly what he meant.
'Oh, God! Why didn't I summon a card when I could?' She had been reluctant, sure. She'd never used a card to physically harm a person before, so her hesitance to do so couldn't be blamed. 'Someone . . . onegai, help me! Syaoran-kun! Onii-chan! Anyone!'
***
Syaoran sipped his cup of coffee in his apartment's kitchen, his stomach twisting ferociously. That's what had woken him up in the first place, and now, sleep wouldn't come for him. Something was wrong, he could tell . . . but what?
'. . .elp . . .aoran-kun! On . . . an! . . .one!'
"What the hell was that!?" Syaoran stood up brusquely, startled by the plea he suddenly heard. "It was so familiar . . . Sakura-chan!"
Not even bothering to change out of his nightclothes, he bolted from the door, spilling his coffee in the process. His heart was thumping crazily in his chest, while he pounded through the night. . .
A/N: I bet you knew I was going to leave it there, didn't you? Sorry! I'm so proud of myself . . . this is the longest chapter yet! n_n Oh, and I'm gonna list those who reviewed . . .
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Yesh! You guys are kick-ass! Thanks soooo much! ^_^ Until next time!