HOEEEEEEEEEEEE! GOMEN! GOMEN! GOMEN! GOMEN! I'm SO very sorry! I didn't
mean to take this long for this chapter. it's just, well, my editor need a
little break, so I gave her a week off. she deserved it. Then she got so
busy.. And then I took so long to re-correct it.. ^^;;; I'm SO sorry! I
didn't want to leave at such a cliffhanger!
Kero: You sure took your time!
Wallcrawler: Pudding? ::holds out a cup of pudding::
Kero: ::Eyes sparkle:: PUDDING! ::gobbles it up:: Well. ::stuffs face:: I guess I can forgive you THIS time.
Wallcrawler: Well, I just hope you have something else to eat. This is quite a long chapter, but I may have made a few lot mistakes. I never actually saw the last episodes, so I had to base the actual chapter on what others have told me. So, if you spot a mistake. 1) e-mail me at wallcrawler86@aol.com and tell me how silly I am. or. 2) just pretend all this time travel stuff messed it up. ^^;; Enjoy! And I hope to get the next chapter out sooner.. But I'm moving on the 8th of March, 2003, so don't hold your breath. once again, I'm so sorry!
Chapter 27: Alternate Dimensions
".S-Syaoran.? Syaoran?" Sakura stuttered. She dropped her wand and walked silently to the ground where her friend. no, her love. had vanished. "Syaoran. he. he loved me?" She fell to her knees and picked up his hat. all that was left of him. Tears streamed down her red cheeks and she started to sob into the hat. "You can't! Don't leave me. I. I. I LOVE YOU, TOO! YOU CAN'T GO!"
Koji slowly floated to the ground and frowned even more. "Idiot. You all brought this on yourselves. If you had never gotten involved." "YOU!" Sakura suddenly stood up and dried her tears. "No, this isn't our fault! YOU did it! You killed Syaoran! And I can't. I can't let this happen again! I have to capture you." Koji slowly backed up. "What did you say?"
"Sakura." Tomoyo looked extremely sad and worried, still in her angelic form. "I'll help." she said. Kero and Yue both stepped forward. "Let us both help you." Touya walked up from behind Koji, who promptly noticed and moved to the side, starting to look worried. "I still have a score to settle with this punk."
"No. Thank you all." A lone tear ran down Sakura's cheek. "But I'm going to do this alone. I will seal his evil power. It can't be released again."
"O, card that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under
your new master, Sakura! SNOW CARD!"
Suddenly, the blizzard around them stopped entirely. It was just a straight line between Koji and herself.
"Give me one good reason to stick around! I don't have to fight you, I've wasted too much time here."
"O, card that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under
your new master, Sakura! MAZE! PREVENT MY FOE FROM LEAVING!"
The very Earth beneath Sakura and Koji as well as everyone else shook violently. Giant, green walls rose from the ground and enclosed the battlefield.
"What. what IS this?!" Koji screamed aloud. "The Maze Card. You can't leave until I let the walls fall. Now, I. I have to stop you. I won't harm you, though. Don't worry about that. I won't sink to that level." Sakura started to cry again and she wiped a tear away, but it was not even a moment before her eyes were pouring with tears, glistening in the moonlight when they hit the snow covered ground. "Before you crush. another heart. I must contain you." Koji held out his mirror, which flashed and surrounded him with a golden aura, a shield. "SWORD!"
A magical wind surrounded the staff and transformed it to a shimmering blade. Sakura lowered it, and with a look of utter despair on her face, she charged, swinging straight down through the shield, slicing it open and shutting it down entirely. "You foolish girl. won't you ever learn?" The boy reached into his jacket and pulled out a handgun.
"Sakura-chan! Look out! He's going to shoot!" Sakura jumped to the side, but Koji still lifted his gun quickly.
Bang.
Sakura fell to the ground, and a loud clatter of metal on the ground was heard. Sakura lifted her head from the ground and saw Koji's gun on the ground. The demon held his hands as if he had just burned them over a hot stove. She turned in Yue's direction to see him holding his magic bow, aimed directly at Koji. "I should recommend to you, demon, that you do not try to do that again, or this time, I won't just hit your hands." The Master of the Mirror of Time heeded not the warning of the guardian and leaped for his gun, but another arrow hit it first and sent it flying away. Yue pulled back another arrow aimed at Koji's head as he lay on the floor. "I said not to try that again."
Koji growled and stood up. He reached into his coat and unsheathed a medium- length sword. "Have it your way."
A look of worry crossed over Touya's face. "But. Sakura doesn't know how to fence! She can't win in a sword fight! And she said she couldn't hurt him even if she had to." Tomoyo looked worried as well, but she reassured Touya. "Don't worry that much. Don't underestimate Sakura. She knows what she is doing. I just. her heart isn't too badly hurt to win."
There was no sword fight, though. Sakura recalled the Sword Card. "Are you crazy? Take the Sword out, now!" Keroberos said. Sakura, however, lifted up another card.
"O, card that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under
your new master, Sakura! THROUGH!" Just as Koji swung his sword, the girl disappeared through a wall of the maze. "What the Hell? Where did you go?" Suddenly, small little glowing dots floated from the sky. "Crap! What are those things? I better. not. EH?!" Koji turned around to see three Sakuras behind him, all armed with swords. He jumped in surprise, and swung, but the blade went clear through all of them and they vanished. Sweat dripped from his brow. "What is going on here?!"
"Glow. Illusion." Eriol smirked as he hypothesized what had happened. Tomoyo turned to him and asked, with a look of grave concern, "What's going on here?" Eriol chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? Sakura is trying to change the rest of the cards. At the same time, she's playing a mind-game with Koji. She's trying to make him too paranoid to fight." Mia smirked. "She's getting better."
Suddenly, Koji felt a presence behind him, but he heard nothing. He suddenly felt like he was being tied down and he hit the ground in complete silence. Windy had a hold on him. Not so much as the sound of breath or Sakura's footsteps could be heard. In his head, the demon's thoughts were running rampant. He couldn't see, hear, or even sense his foe until it was too late.
However, the silence soon came to an end with a thunderous clash. Literally. Thunder crashed from overhead and a great cyclone appeared. Koji clung to the ground for dear life to the ground, but there was nothing to grasp. He was thrown into a wall painfully. As he sat up, Sakura reappeared. She held the newly transformed Glow, Illusion, Silent, and Storm Cards in her hand.
"How can she." Koji coughed hard. He had taken quite a bit of damage.
"Sword." Sakura called upon her sword, a blade created so well it can cut anything. She stood over Koji's gun, lying on the ground and cut the gun into 2 pieces. It was thrown in two directions in two pieces and the bullets fell out of their clip.
"I can't do it." Sakura put away the Sword Card. "I can't keep fighting. it's all so very wrong. It won't solve anything. Arguing won't fix what is already done." Her eyes filled with tears and she hung her head. "I fought out of anger. I used my magic in rage. all in the name of revenge for a lost love. But defeating you won't bring my Syaoran back. sealing you won't solve anything. How can anyone learn from their mistakes if they are not given second chances? How could I ever look at my reflection again if I knew I had sealed someone up forever? No matter what that person may have done, no one deserves to be sealed away."
The crowd of her friends and family moved in slowly (They had temporarily hidden when Storm was called). "Sakura." Tomoyo approached her friend slowly. Mia did as well. Sakura raised her hand and signaled them to leave. She put her face in her hands and cried. Koji took advantage of the situation and stood up.
".We can finish another day! Better yet, another world!" Koji pulled out his mirror and aimed it straight up. A strange ball, not unlike the one that got Syaoran, enveloped him and started to grow at a lightning pace. The sound of her friends running and flying was heard, but none of it was coming to her. Only Tomoyo screaming, "Get out of there, Sakura!" and Touya's "Get over here!" was heard otherwise. However, she did not listen. She just backed up until she bumped into a tree. Sakura pressed against it and tried to move around it quickly, but it was in vain. Moments later it consumed her entirely.
__________________________________________________________
White. White was all there is. Endless, unchanging white light. Pain. Pain surged through Sakura's body as she floated through the endless sea of white. But it was not pain of the body or the mind. It was not the same pain at all. It was the throbbing pain of the heart. The ache of loss. Sakura felt her chest. It was beating madly. All of her thoughts focused on her friend, Syaoran. She continued to drift through nothing. Emptiness.
Suddenly, the white began to change. It became a light brown. Her heart felt more at ease. The pain slowly stopped. But as Sakura looked into the void, it changed again. Or rather, zoomed out. Sakura could see the brown was in an eye. The eye of a calm, caring person. Syaoran. She stared into his face.
"I. I love you." He said. but then turned and walked away.
"Sakura? Are you awake? Sakura? Sakura?"
The eyes of the young maiden opened slowly to find she was in her own bed.
It was Tomoyo sitting over her. "Welcome back, Sakura." The young mistress groaned in fatigue and pain. "What happened to me?" She could not see straight. Her vision was completely blurred from the shock. Eriol sighed aloud from his chair near her bed and he leaned against the back of it. "You were enveloped in a ball of pure time magic, just as Syaoran. However, I think I miscalculated something."
Sakura's vision slowly returned. She sat up and hung her head as a tear rolled down her cheek at the thought of Syaoran. Suddenly, she realized she felt. different. Yet it was somehow familiar. She was in her teen body.
"What's going on? I grew up? How long have I been asleep?" She turned and realized Tomoyo and Eriol were grown, too. However, Tomoyo looked even older. Sakura looked about 18 while Tomoyo looked about 25. Eriol seemed to be 20 or so.
Eriol sighed again. "This is part of what makes me think I miscalculated. You see, Time Magic, which Koji used to escape, can also be used in a destructive way. If enough of it is focused and smashes into the ground, the caster can rip time as we know it apart. But. well. as you can see, it had this effect on us when it expanded into us." Tomoyo continued. "As Eriol told me while you were asleep, Sakura-chan, Time Magic has a certain property to it. one that can actually move matter. Or in other words, some uses of Time Magic not only take you backwards or forwards in time, but it also can put you ANYWHERE in time. It's possible Koji-" The door opened and Mia entered. She did not appear to be any older. In fact, she looked to be about 8 years old. "Oh, thank goodness you're all right. I was worried." Sakura giggled a little at the sight of the young Mia. "Err. Hee hee. What. hee. happened?" The young girl sighed. "It looks like the age modifying powers of that portal Koji opened are rather random. They don't just make you older, I suppose. At least I think they're only temporary." Tomoyo smiled. "That's good to know. I wouldn't want to always be so much older than Sakura-chan. But maybe we should continue before I lose my train of thought." Sakura nodded. "Okay."
"Well," she continued, "where was I.? Oh, right. It's possible Koji is no longer in this world, but has moved on to another." "WHAT?!" Gasped Sakura and Mia. "It's true. But I'm not completely sure. and even if it is true, I doubt we could get to him."
Sakura didn't seem to be paying attention. Her emerald eyes focused on something on her desk. "Is that. his hat?" Tomoyo grabbed it off the desk and handed it to Sakura. She hung her head again and whimpered. "He's. gone. He's really gone. Every time I look at this, it comes as another shock. like it hasn't really sunk in." A tear rolled down her cheek and Tomoyo hugged her tight. "It's okay, Sakura. Be strong, like you always are." Sakura lifted her head. "I'll. try. I know it's what. he would have wanted. But. to tell the truth. I was strong a lot. because friends like him helped me be strong." Tomoyo held Sakura's hand in hers and clenched it tightly. "Just try to be strong. We're still here for you. We'll never leave you." She looked her in the eyes and added, "And Li-kun would have wanted you to keep going."
"Hoe?" Suddenly had a thought. "What happened to Touya? And my class? And. err. has dad. seen me like this?" Mia nodded. "But he was very nice about it. He's at the university now, there was some emergency there, but when he brought you in, he was shocked. But he understood you had a reason for hiding your powers. Well, actually, all he knows is you're older. He doesn't really know about your powers. yet. But in any case, he's going to give you time to explain later." Sakura gave a tender smile. "Father's always been so understanding." Eriol laughed and said, "Don't worry about your class. After the fight, I caught them hiding together towards the center of the park. I put them all to sleep for a few minutes and made it so non of them would remember what happened." "But what about Touya? Is he hurt?" Tomoyo giggled. "Oh, don't worry, he's fine. but." "But?" Asked Sakura with a confused look. Eriol laughed. "Come see for yourself."
Sakura got of her bed and put on her favorite slippers. realizing they were too small. Instead, she walked barefoot, yet she wobbled a little. She was still woozy from changing so many cards. Mia and Tomoyo guided her down the hall down to Touya's room and opened the door.
"Hmmm? What do you want? Wait, you're awake?" Sakura opened the door and stood in shock. A smile broke out on her face and she started to laugh. Touya's face turned bright red in embarrassment and frustration. "What are you laughing at?!" Sakura attempted to keep it quiet, but failed miserably. "You're. you're. FIVE YEARS OLD!"
Indeed, the once mighty, 17-year-old, bullying onii-chan was now around 5 years of age. Tomoyo smiled. "Isn't he so cute when he's like this?" "WHAT WAS THAT?!" The now-young sibling screamed. "You should be thanking me! After you were pressed against that tree, in fear of Koji's spell, I ran to get you and carry you back."
Mia, who was a bit taller, despite being only 8, entered and chuckled. "That's not quite how I remember it. I seem to remember someone only screaming at Sakura to get out of there, not going anywhere, and that person didn't go until Meiling and I pushed him ourselves."
"Hoe?" Sakura looked around. "Speaking of Meiling, where is she?"
"." Tomoyo drew silent. Even Touya quieted down. "She." Eriol begun, "was a little. depressed. when Syaoran vanished. So. Ummm. Maybe it would be best if you saw for yourself. In a little while, at least. Meiling said she didn't want to see anyone for a while. Let's give her a few more hours. It's 5pm. Also, I need some time to recap everything in my mind. When we meet up with her later, I'll explain all that is going on." The boy started to walk away down the hall when Sakura tried to talk to him. Tomoyo put her hand on Sakura's shoulder and shook her head. "Let him be for now. He seems upset."
Sakura turned around and kneeled down to the now knee-high brother and asked, "Seriously, though, were you really worried about me last night? .Errr. I mean 3 or 4 days ago. whenever it was." Touya blushed and turned away. "I don't know what you're talking about. You're just an annoying monster who has been hiding things from us! I didn't care!"
Suddenly and unexpectedly, she picked up here older/younger brother and hugged him tightly. "YOU ARE JUST THE CUTEST LITTLE THING!" Touya pushed as hard as he could to push his now giant-by-comparison sister away, but to no avail. "What are you doing?!" She only squeezed harder. "You're just so CUTE like this, pretending not to care! Tomoyo?" They turned around to see that Tomoyo still had her faithful camcorder, taping every minute of Touya in Sakura's arms, despite his protest.
"It's so amazing," gasped Tomoyo. "Sakura's already so incredibly kawaii. but now, with her baby brother in her arms, it's twice as cute." Sakura and Touya had a sweat drop on each of their heads. Sakura sat her brother down on his bed and patted him on the head. "Well, I think I'll go cook something for dinner. I'm starving." Touya just sighed. "Fine. I'll have whatever. I'm hungry." Sakura winked and walked out into the hall. "All right, squirt." As she closed the door, Touya cried out, "What did you-" The door slammed shut.
Sakura went down to the kitchen and started to cook. She boiled some tea and soon had everything ready. Mia tried to set the table, but with her reduced height, she couldn't reach all the way to the counter. She tried to climb onto the counter top, but lost her grip and Tomoyo caught her. The older girl now smiled and said, "You know, you are a great help, but maybe you could help by keeping an eye out for Eriol when he comes back." "Okay!" The little girl ran off upstairs.
Sakura laughed. Tomoyo turned to her. "What's wrong?" Sakura stopped her laughing but was grinning from ear to ear. "Well, it's just. the way I was holding Touya. The way you just handled Mia. The fact we're cooking dinner. and the fact we're a little grown up now, I kind of feel like a mother." She blushed. Tomoyo only smiled back as she finished setting the table. "Well, I know how you feel." Sakura also added, "You know, with your hair so long and its color. it kind of reminds me of my mother." Tomoyo grabbed a small portion of her hair and smoothed it out with her hand. "Well, it was my mother's idea. That's because it DOES look like your mother's. Oh?" A shadow approached the kitchen as Tomoyo poured Sakura a cup of tea and Sakura sat down. She placed dinner on the table and took a sip of her tea. Touya entered the room and Sakura smiled.
"You know, Touya, when you walk around the house like that you make so much noise. Like a monster." "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" responded the pint-sized brother. Sakura placed her mug on his head to rest and giggled. Touya thrashed his arms wildly. "HEY, I'M NOT THE MONSTER! YOU ARE!!!" Sakura rubbed his hair, mussing it up. "Well, now you know how I feel every day at breakfast." The brat growled. "Fine, I can take a hint. I won't call you 'monster' anymore. Happy?" Sakura smiled and nodded. "Yep. Now, sit down. Dinner is ready. Where did Mia go?"
"Here I am!" The little girl entered, waving one arm in the air cheerfully. She took a seat next to Touya. Touya could barely see over the table. Tomoyo went and got a dictionary to sit on as well so they could eat. A few minutes into the meal, there came to be footsteps outside. The door swung open and a man walked in. Fujitaka took off his shoes and stepped into the kitchen. He was covered in snow, still. "Sakura? Is that you? You're awake?" Sakura's eyes filled with tears. She rushed to him and gave him a giant hug. Despite being her new height, Fujitaka was still much taller. He was a complete head over her.
Fujitaka hugged her back. "It's good to see you're fine." He stepped back and smiled. "I never thought I'd ever see my baby girl all grown up so soon. You look so much like your mother." Touya got up and walked over to him. "AHEM." Fujitaka smiled. "And I can't forget my wonderful little boy." "I'M NOT A LITTLE BOY!" His father just laughed though. "Don't be like that. Here, your friend is here to see you!"
"Konnichiwa!"
Sakura smiled and waved. "Yukito-san!" The boy was taken surprised. "Sakura! You're. grown up! I heard about that from your father, but it's still." Sakura smiled. "It's all right. Don't worry about it. I take it you're here to see my little brother here." Sakura picked up her brother and held him tightly in her arms. Yukito laughed out loud. "I'm so sad I had that cold the past few days. I can't believe how cute he looks!" "I DO NOT LOOK 'CUTE!'"
Eriol suddenly reappeared behind Yuki. "Sakura. I think it's time we went for a walk. Bring Tomoyo and Mia, too."
"I'm coming, too." Touya demanded. Sakura bent over to Touya, who was now being held in the air by Yuki, and said, "Sorry, but you may not be 5 years old mentally, but I don't think most people will realize that. But I promise we'll be right back." The child version of Touya sighed. "Fine. But I'm expecting an explanation when you get back." "All right." Sakura replied. "We'll be going out now, and we'll wear our winter clothes. It's still pretty cold." Fujitaka smiled and said, "All right, have a great time. Thanks for cooking dinner. Don't be gone too long." "We won't! Ja ne! (See you later!)"
Sakura, Mia, Tomoyo, and Eriol all walked together down the street together. "So. Where's Meiling?" Asked Tomoyo, holding a big purse filled with her video equipment. (Sakura wondered why she had clothes fit specifically for a 25-year old girl, for both of them, but decided she'd rather not know.) "At the park. Specifically, in front of the gate and not far from the tree where the Return Card was hidden."
Sakura recalled that gate very well. She remembered the tree, as well, where the Return Card had sucked her in and showed her the past, when Touya knew Kaho-sensei. But then, she also remembered it was Syaoran who rescued her then. She shook her head violently to forget the thought. After all, that was so long ago. Tomoyo turned to Sakura as they walked around a corner. "Are you all right? Is something bothering you?" Sakura shook her head. "N-no. why would you think that?" Tomoyo pointed down to Sakura's feet. "Because you've been walking through a deep snow bank for about 10 meters now without even noticing." "HOEEEE!" Sakura jumped out of the waist high bank and shook the freezing snow off her. "Gomen. I guess I am pretty lost today." "It's all right." Mia said, smiling.
Suddenly, a familiar pair of friends came walking down the street. "Rika- chan! Naoko-chan!"
The two girls stopped. ".Do. we know you?" Naoko said. "Hold on." Rika said, examining Sakura. "You know, you look a lot like Sakura-san. Well, a little. Are you somehow related to her?" Sakura backed up slowly and started to panic. She had forgotten that they were older and no one would recognize them.
"Say, speaking of Sakura-san." Naoko said, "Have you seen her?" Rika-chan shook her head. "No, I haven't." A look of worry crossed her dark brown eyes.
Tomoyo smiled gently. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan is safe. She just had to go on a sudden trip to her grandparents. We're her older cousins."
Rika smiled. "Oh? That would explain why you," pointing to Sakura, "resemble her so much. Then again, Sakura has never told us she even had grandparents." Sakura smiled. "But you know Tom-err. I mean, you know. ummm." Sakura tried to quickly come up with a fake name for all three of them. "Oh, wait, I never introduced ourselves. I'm. K-Keiko!" Sakura had named herself, but still dripped with sweat, trying to think of fake names for Tomoyo and Eriol. She turned to Tomoyo. "And this is. ummm. Rumiko." Tomoyo smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Sakura thought, "That's two. one more." She turned to Eriol and thought hard. "And this is my brother, uhhh." "Kentaro," Eriol said. Sakura laughed nervously. "Right, Keitaro." Rika- chan leaned her head to one side. "I thought he said KENtaro." Sakura covered her mouth. "N-No. But. Ummm. we better go. We'll tell Sakura, Tomoyo, and Eriol you said 'hello!' Ja ne!" Sakura grabbed Tomoyo and Eriol's hands and quickly ran off with them.
Naoko just stared. "Sakura-san sure has a weird family. and how does that girl, Keiko, know Sakura-san's friends?"
The Shrine was just ahead. Its gate could be seen in the distance, but something barely audible was in the air. Sobbing? "Is someone. crying?" Sakura and Tomoyo looked around. They spotted a lone figured hunched down in front of the tree in the center of the park. "Meiling?" Sakura muttered.
As they approached the gate to the Shrine, Meiling became clearer. She was leaning up against the tree, sobbing her heart out. She didn't seem to be affected by the age-changing after-effect of Koji teleporting away; maybe she was only altered by a year or two. "Meiling? Why are you crying?" Tomoyo asked, though she already knew the answer.
The young girl stepped back to show a small stone on the ground. It was engraved marble. It had something written in both Japanese and Chinese. Sakura knelt down to read it. "In loving memory of. Li Xiao Lang." Sakura covered her mouth and tears started to form again in her eyes. "So. you were gone all this time. to make this? Wait. there's more. A quote? 'I love you, Sakura.'"
Silence. To Sakura, the entire world was suddenly inaudible. She heard nothing but the rapid beating of her heart and the billions of thoughts that raced through her mind. She started to whimper quietly, but couldn't control herself. She fell over, hugged the gravestone, and cried her eyes out. She doesn't know how long she cried for. All Sakura could remember was feeling a light tapping on her shoulder. She turned to see Eriol watching her intently. "Sakura, I know how much this means to you and all, but we have more important issues to attend to. We must stop that idiot Koji before he ruins time itself."
Sakura sat down and dried her eyes. "You're right. I'm sorry. What should we discuss first? So much has happened." Eriol leaned against the tree. "Perhaps I should provide some long overdue background information." Tomoyo nodded in agreement. Sakura stared at the dirt, not even paying full attention. Meiling did the same. They were both lost in thought. Eriol began, anyway. "Well, to start off, I better truly introduce myself." Tomoyo looked him in the eyes. "You mean you're not Eriol Hiiragizawa?" He shook his head. "I may be Eriol, but at the same time, I am not. I am living, yet I have died. You may know me better as. Clow Reed."
"HOEEEE?!" Suddenly, Sakura became very alert. "You mean, the reason I always sensed Clow Reed around when things got strange was because it was you?" He nodded. "You've proven yourself worthy to hold the Title of Mistress of the Clow. for now. However, I felt you needed a little help. and motivation. to turn all of the cards into their new form. Of which, if I'm not mistaken, there are only a few left to transform, right?"
"Hoe?" Sakura reached into her bag and took out the Light and the Dark as well as Cloud and a few others. "How did you know? I have a few more cards remaining. Like the Cloud. but I changed most of them in the maze. I kind of lost it back there and I started to change all of them in haste. But these few I couldn't. I forgot how you shouldn't transform cards without a real order, but. I'm guessing that's why I passed out for so long while all of you were awake. I must have used far too much power. Anyway, when I tried to change these two," she held up the Light and Dark and continued, "they didn't do anything." Eriol took the two cards from her hands. "Light and Dark. They are one in the same. One cannot exist without the other. Without light, there is no darkness; without darkness, there is no light. So, these two cards must be changed together and it would require immense power." He handed them back to her. "Well, that's it for formal introductions. Except for maybe." He snapped his fingers and Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun floated down. "I believe you've met them before." Sakura stood up and stared. "Now. I remember. You've all looked so familiar! You were the ones who helped us battle when we defeated Sadin! You helped us get through the temple in the sky to defeat Nave!"
Distant memories of their trap-filled voyage through the sky returned to Sakura's mind. Back when she was with her friends in an alternate future, a huge castle had been hanging in the sky. With a pair of angel wings, Sakura had flown there. But there was another group there, as well. A tall boy, a panther, and a girl with butterfly wings.
Ruby Moon approached. "K-Kinomoto? You're. all. KAWAII!" The insane Nakuru hugged the older Sakura. "You're even cuter all grown up!" Sakura squirmed and tried to yank off the crazed girls death grip around her neck, but it didn't help. "Erk. Air. Please. Let. go." Sakura cringed in pain until Nakuru released her and she gasped. "This would be even BETTER if your brother were here." Tomoyo smiled. "It's good to formally meet you. but her brother is currently at home. He got a little younger. By about 13 years or so." Nakuru's eyes sparkled in an evil way. "What? A toddler Kinomoto-san? Master, I hope you won't need me soon. I have to see this! Ja ne!" The girl took off and flew over to the Kinomoto residence. Sakura couldn't believe her onii-chan had to put up with that daily. He had to have ribs of steel.
"Should she really be leaving now?" Meiling asked. "Don't worry about her. I don't need her yet. I already was going to let her go. Anyway, let me explain where this all began."
"It was about a year ago this all really began. In my life, I have been cursed. Cursed with the ability to see the future. all of it. All things that are fated I can see. But one day, something happened I had not seen. I saw a demon attacked you all in the park. Then, the next day at school, you came in with that scar on your face." Sakura cringed, remembering the pain of the knife to her face so long ago. She rubbed it as if she expected someone to hit her again. "I hadn't seen either coming. It was not fated to be. I would have seen you with a permanent scar." "I don't even want to think about that." Sakura muttered, still rubbing her cheek. Mia had healed it entirely, but sometimes she could almost still feel the blade.
"I began to worry. Then came the rumors of Sakura's demise. I knew it wasn't true, but still. So much was going on. I managed to discover for a fact the young girl that was killed was not Sakura, and, in fact, Sakura a few others had altogether vanished off the face of the Earth, it seemed. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what. It was almost as if someone was tampering with people's destinies. While I enjoy no longer being able to foresee all the events the future may hold, this was the worst way to do so." Sakura leaned up against the tree and held on to one knee as she looked up into the branches above. "That's when we went to fight Sadin together." Eriol nodded. "Right. And our mission was a success. We defeated Sadin and no one except those who were in that room when Sadin died even knew it had happened. However, not all was right."
"Koji." Tomoyo muttered, holding her hands over her chest. "Exactly," Eriol continued. "Koji was Sadin's right hand man. The boy had a knack for finding things. At the age of 5, is family was excavating outside their home when they stumbled on a treasure trove of fossils in an ancient cave. From that day on, the boy dreamt of being an archeologist. He had a knack for digging. HE was a neighborhood legend for being able to find anything. But. something happened to him. What exactly, though, I'm not sure. Just something. From that day on, he had a growing evil within him. He killed his first person at the tender age of 10. When Sadin took over this world, he saw this evil and this desire to search. Koji was taken in and assigned to use his talents and some new powers to give power to Sadin's evil armies. Magic amulets, cursed stones, orbs of power. Anything that may have existed he was sent to find for evil purposes. But by the time he came back. It was too late. We were already to Sadin."
Meiling stared up. "But you said something about only the people in the room with Sadin when his power exploded or something actually remember what happened. Shouldn't Koji forget everything, too?" Spinnel decided to explain this time. "Well, ordinarily, yes. However, something else was blocking the memory erasing effects of Sadin's magic dispersing. It seems that the Mirror of Time, that infernal device Koji uses to travel through time and space, blocked his memory from being erased. And just before the world reverted to normal, he somehow heard of your name, Sakura. And he searched all over Japan for you."
Tomoyo turned to the panther. "And that's where the story began again?" Eriol nodded. "Koji eventually found Sakura. waited for her brother and father to be gone, broke in, shot her, and left." Sakura shuddered. "Please, I don't want to think about being shot." Eriol sighed. "This is important. to sum things up quickly, Syaoran came, but it was too late. You, Sakura, didn't survive the ambulance ride to the hospital." Sakura mumbled under her breath, "I hope no one was too hurt by it." "Well, a few days later, Mia showed up," Eriol continued. "She pointed out the danger and who Koji was, apparently sensing his presence. I, too, felt something, but I was in too much stress from losing Sakura and coming up with a backup plan. In the end, Koji showed his face and everyone attacked him late at school. He tried to escape into the past, possibly to get Syaoran and Tomoyo and Mia, but you followed him in the portal. I also followed him. Everyone but Tomoyo went into the past. The next few days passed regularly. But on the day Sakura was to be shot, Syaoran took the bullet instead. Well, he was hospitalized. And when he was released, everyone noticed Sakura started to slowly disappear. That was the first time we had to go back in time to rescue someone. In this case, it was a girl named Kumiko. Next, it was Sakura herself in danger again. After that, Syaoran started to disappear, and that was the recent trip to the Li clan you all remember."
"And. when we returned. This is how things turned out." Tomoyo said. "Yes, basically," Eriol said with little emotion. "I skipped a lot of details to save time, but that's what happened."
"But what about the park?" Sakura asked. "Why there? Why then? Why us?" Eriol sat down himself if front of Sakura. "Well, basically, I've come to a startling conclusion. I know who Koji's last victim is." "Really?!" Sakura asked. "Who? WHO?!"
"Clow Reed."
"HOEEEEEE!" Sakura stood up and put her hands on Eriol's shoulders. "What are you talking about? How can Koji kill Clow Reed? There's no way! He can't do that! If he does that. I don't know what would happen! HOW?!"
Eriol took her hands off his clothes and stood up. He raised one hand and sat her down. "Calm down. Let me finish. It's just I've come to no other conclusions. I've felt a deep conflict in the recess of my mind. I sense trouble in the past. Koji is trying to reach Clow Reed everyday."
Tomoyo meekly asked, "But then why doesn't he just warp there as usual?" Eriol grinned. "Well, that's where the disturbance is coming from. Koji tried that. But back then, I wasn't going to let just anyone come to visit me. I had more foresight than that. I'm guessing that I somehow blocked him with a spell. This is where the snow came from. Koji has a new Emblem. the Emblem of the Sun. With it, he's actually been absorbing the power of the sun all over Tomoeda in order to overcharge the Mirror of Time and break the barrier. This still failed, but it lowered the temperature for quite some time. This is what caused all of the snow. Well, that, and Koji's other new Weapon, the Ice Crystal. That is what he used to call down those spears of ice onto you. He knew even if he managed to get back in time to kill my former self, you'd show up to stop him. Quite astute of him, really. That's why he waited for you to all get into the open, regardless of who it would hurt."
"That's horrible!" Sakura stated. "Maybe. but something is getting to him. I've noticed the changes slowly myself. At the start of all of this, Koji was, to put it bluntly, a pompous and bumbling idiot. He seemed more concerned with being entertained than getting the job done. But now. Something has come over him. I doubt he, at first, would try to kill so many of those kids all at once for no reason." Meiling stared at Syaoran's memorial stone for a second and quickly looked away. "But. if Koji can't get into the past, what's to worry about?" "That's the newest problem. He CAN get into the past."
"HOEEE?! How can he do THAT?!" Sakura gasped. "He's using an alternate dimension," Eriol answered.
".Hoe?" Sakura's eyes shrunk to little slits. "Ummm. What's that?" "Take out a card and I'll demonstrate," Eriol commanded. She took out Windy. "Now, toss it in the air and catch it." "Hoe? All right." Sakura did as commanded, but she wondered what this had to do with anything. She caught the card facing her. "You see, that card landed facing you. In an alternate dimension, it would have landed the opposite way. For every chance or possibility in life, there is its own dimension."
Sakura stared at the card for a moment. "Ummm. so. you mean. Alternate dimensions are dimensions where cards turn backwards?" Meiling and Eriol slammed into the ground in exasperation. "No, Kinomoto!" Meiling said. "He means every time two things CAN happen, there's like a separate world where each event DOES happen. Look, see that tree?" She pointed to the tall tree behind them. "Pretend each branch is a separate possibility. Something that could happen. As things happen, they spread out into different parts of the branch with each new thing that could happen. Understand?" Sakura nodded. "I think so. but that must be a lot of different worlds. But how does this help Koji or us?"
Eriol shook his head slowly. "It's not good. With infinite dimensions, there is no way in the past I could have blocked him from entering from all OTHER dimensions. This way, if he tries hard enough, he can break through into Clow Reed's time and space."
"That's horrible!" Sakura said. "What can we do about it?" Spinnel laughed. "Isn't it obvious? We're going to go and follow him into this dimension, stop him, and return." Meiling just sighed. "I could have figured that out. but how?" Eriol turned to Sakura and summoned his Staff. "First, we must decide who is going."
Sakura stood up and gasped. "What do you mean, 'who is going?' Aren't we all?" Eriol shook his head. "No! We can't let Koji escape. We can't let him get the weakest of us and use them to escape. Only the strongest should face him. so, determine who is best. Sakura, you, shall face ME."
"HOEEEE! Eriol, no! I can't fight you! I won't!"
Suddenly, from out of the sky, Kero and Yue descended. Kero growled at Eriol. " I KNEW IT! I knew there was something suspicious about you. That's why I've been hiding all day." Yue stared coldly at Eriol. "Is this really a good time to be fighting? If you are going to fight, though, I have to fight for my Mistress. I won't back down."
Eriol smiled. "Very well, then. Ruby Moon, I take it you've returned?" A familiar genderless creature by the name of Ruby Moon floated back down from the sky. "Of course, master." "Spinel," Eriol started, "Are you ready as well?" Spinel remained silent but nodded.
"No! I will not fight! I have no reason to!" Sakura stomped her foot and shook her head. "Sakura, you must understand. on second thought, I suppose you won't listen to reason. I wish it didn't have to come to this, but now I have no choice." Eriol's wand glowed as he poured his energy into it. With a giant swing, the air became filled with blue dots of light. Meiling yawned greatly and staggered around. "What's. going on. Why do I feel. so t- t-tired." She fell quickly to the ground out cold. "Meiling!" Tomoyo screamed as she bent over to examine her. The jewel around her neck, though, began to glow pale blue and absorb the magic in the air. She quickly turned back to her angel form. "Wait, how did that happen? Why am I an angel again?"
Eriol grinned. "The spell is complete. Anyone in the world without any source of strong magic is asleep. The sun shall not rise from this night." Sakura reeled back in shock. "What?! How could you?!" Eriol moved his staff back to an attack position. "Don't worry, my friend. If you can beat me, they'll all wake up. I did this so we may have no interruptions. It is 9 o'clock now and you must win by morning if you hope to ever see the sun again." He waved his staff in the air and suddenly, day turned to night. "To break the spell, you need to defeat me. Now, let us begin!"
He jumped up to the top of the gate to the shrine and awaited Sakura to make the first move. Sakura reached for the key around her neck and began to chant.
"O, Key that holds the Power of the Stars. Reveal your true form to me! RELEASE!" The glowing staff grew from her key and she grabbed it midair. Throwing a Card in the air, Sakura focused all her energy to be at her fighting best. "I'll finish this quickly! EARTHY! CREATE A BARRIER AROUND ERIOL!" A tremor came surging through the ground towards Eriol. Moments before the ripple of the Earth reached him, it skyrocketed up, like a mountain forming in seconds, and attempted to fall on the boy. However, all it took was one wave of Eriol's wand to shatter the giant wave into a million tiny pieces. "You'll have to do better than that, Sakura, if you wish to defeat me or Koji. And you must beat me by when morning will be, remember, or that sun shan't rise again."
A large shadow came from the right of Sakura, and she turned to see Yue slam into a tree, pushed by Ruby Moon's blast of magic. She reached her fist back and energized it. She threw it forward, sending a shockwave of magic at Yue, but he moved out of the way and drew his bow, aiming it at Ruby's head. Before he could fire, Spinel was on his back, beside Yue, being pinned by a growling Kero. Spinnel attempted to swipe at the face of his opponent, but Kero jumped off first and breathed fire all over. Spinnel flew above it and dive-bombed the guardian.
Sakura focused back on Eriol. The boy had somehow moved to the top of the gate to the Shrine, high above reach. "Let's see you win now. Break my spell, and then you may go on to fight Koji. Fail, and all those who have fallen asleep won't wake up ever and I shall go on to fight Koji alone. Perhaps if I destroy him entirely I can reset all events." Sakura gasped. "You can't DO that! Why would you?!"
Eriol kept a serious face at all times. "Because a world run by Koji isn't worth living in. If you fail to beat me, what hope do you have to beat Koji? The world's only hope would then lie on my shoulders. And I am sure I could do it, but if I did somehow fail, the world would become a place of misery and sorrow. This way, no one will have to suffer through that. They'll remain asleep forever, and they can't interfere in our match. For if I defeat Koji, I will destroy his own Mirror of Time to restore all that was before he came. Now, fight me! Remember, this fight is timed. You must defeat me before the sun would rise or I win." Sakura growled. "That isn't right! There has to be another way." Suddenly, Sakura recalled a technique she had previously used.
"FLY! SWORD!" A pair of giant pink wings sprung from her back and lifted the girl into the air. In her hands was a great sword, capable of cutting all things. "All I have to do is cut his staff in half, and then he'll be unable to cast anymore spells!" She thought to herself.
"Sakura, look out! He's expecting that!" Tomoyo screamed from down below.
Sakura skidded to a halt in midair and noticed the Eriol in the air slowly vanish. A fake. "Sakura, I saw him move away while you were taking the cards out. Be careful. I can help fight." Sakura shook her head. "Don't worry. I can handle this. I just can't play around anymore."
Eriol stood upon the gate once again, this time the real him. Sakura dropped down to the ground and pulled out two cards. "I know I need a burst in power to beat him. That's why I need to transform the last of the cards. I hope when I have all the Cards, I can beat him. and Light and Dark may just be enough to break his spell."
"O, cards that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under your new master, Sakura!" She threw a group of cards into the air, minus Light and Dark. "WOOD! CLOUD!" The two cards glowed and suddenly Sakura fainted.
"Sakura, wake up! Sakura! Please!" Sakura stirred to the feeling of Tomoyo gently nudging her. "T-Tomoyo? What happened?" Tomoyo hugged her tightly. "Sakura, you tried to change cards again without being entirely healed. It was too much and you passed out for hours. There's less than an hour left until sunrise!"
Sakura struggled to her feet. "Wait, Sakura! Don't rush!" Sakura shook her head. "I have to! I can't let everyone down!"
"Ah, Sakura, you're awake. I was afraid you'd join the world in eternal slumber. I forgot to mention something." He pointed to Kero and Yue slumped over on the ground and then to her staff. "If you can't beat me fast enough as well, Yue and Kero will lose all of their power. They won't be able to exist anymore and will be absorbed into your staff and they can never leave it." Sakura gasped, dropped her staff, and ran beside the two guardians. "Kero! Yue! Are you all right?" Kero nodded. "Just. exhausted. Don't worry about us." Yue grunted, "Don't. worry, Mistress. Just finish the battle. You can."
Sakura started to cry, but she clenched her fist and stood up, determined.
"I will win." Tomoyo-chan smiled, seeing Sakura's resolve. "Ganbatte, Sakura-chan."
Sakura picked up the staff and grabbed two cards from her pocket. "Eriol, Clow, whoever you are, I can't let you harm the world like this, even if it will prove who fights Koji."
"O, cards that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under your new master, Sakura! LIGHT! DARK!"
The two cards floated above Sakura's head. Slowly, from the bottom, light flashed and moved up the cards. Half of them remained Clow Cards, the other became Sakura Cards. The tempest wind blew with horrible aggression with no signs of stopping. It only increased in strength as Sakura concentrated all her might into the Staff. But it was no use. Try as she might, the cards would not fully change.
"You have 30 minutes until dawn, Sakura. How can you expect to beat someone who is learning to bend and morph time and space at his will when you can't even change two cards? You can't beat your own problems. If you want to continue on, give me all you have!"
Images of Fujitaka, Touya, her friends, Meiling, and all the others, asleep, filled her mind. She imagined Kero and Yue being sucked into the staff, never to return. She realized if she didn't do everything she possibly could, she'd never see them again. She had to give it her all. She had to! Failure was not a possibility!
Sweat dripped from her forehead as Sakura exhausted every ounce of her power. the Cards slowly began to transform even more. but it was still not enough. She was only ¾ of the way there when it stopped again. "NO! I CAN'T QUIT! I have to fight Koji. For. Syaoran." "One minute left."
"Sakura. you can do it. I know you can." "S-Syaoran? Is. I must be hearing things." Sakura felt a warm touch caress her body and she felt more relaxed. At the same time, she could feel more energy coursing through her veins. "Sakura, just do it. I know you can. And I still love you." Sakura's cheeks reddened. It felt as if someone was holding her, donating his or her power. "Alright. for. Syaoran. GRRRRR." Sakura strained even harder and a blinding light took over the Cards and they completely transformed.
"LIGHT! Defeat my foe!" A golden woman of light rose from the card and flew directly at Eriol, who stood smiling on the ground. When Light reached him, the world around them all was blinding. When it dimmed again, tiny dots of golden light were moving around the world. As it caressed Meiling's face, the young Chinese Li began to awaken slowly.
Eriol smiled. "Well done, Sakura. You've proven yourself worthy not only to be the one to face Koji, but to be the one worthy of the title, 'Mistress of the Clow.' Congratulations."
Sakura's eyes filled with tears. "I. I did it. YATTA! YATTA! YATTA!* (I did it)" Tomoyo began to cry, too. "Sakura-chan, you've done it! I knew you could! I always knew!" She leapt into Sakura's arms and they hugged. Meiling was now getting up from her slumbering state. "Huh? Where am I? What's going on?" Kero stood up perfectly fine. He never appeared stronger before. Kero helped the fallen girl up and carried her over to Sakura with a smile. "You did it, Sakura. I always knew you could. Congratulations!"
Sakura fell to the ground and started to cry profusely. "Sakura, what's wrong?" asked Tomoyo. Sakura lifted her head and smiled the biggest, warmest smile of her life. "Nothing is wrong. Everything is right. Because. because. SYAORAN-KUN IS ALIVE!" Sakura lunged at Tomoyo and tackled her with a giant hug, crying with happiness. Tomoyo smoothed Sakura's hair and smiled. "I'm so happy!"
Meiling's eyes lit up as well. "He's. alive.? But. how?! We saw him disappear!" Sakura shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not sure where he is. but he's alive." She curled up into a ball by hugging her legs in a seated position and she stared up into the clouds. "But he was here. Holding me. I could feel him. And. he's alive."
Eriol leapt down from the gate and walked over. "You have won, Sakura. You shall be the one to face Koji." Sakura looked up and shook her head. "You're coming along, too, Eriol. It's better to have lots of friends to fight than just one. We'll need your help. I'm sure of it." Eriol nodded pleasantly. "If that is how you feel, I shall accompany you anywhere. As will my companions." Spinel and Ruby Moon bowed as well. Sakura's cheeks reddened as she smiled. She stretched her arms out and laughed. "This is my day!" She could even feel the burst of magic energy flowing through her at its strongest ever. Kero returned to his smaller form and floated down onto her shoulder. "You did great today, Sakura. But you must be tired, so let's just get you home to rest."
Sakura smiled and said, "It's okay, Kero. I'm not that tired. I think I can. just. last." That's when she passed out in exhaustion in Tomoyo's lap.
Upon her awakening, she found her older brother staring her in the face once more, still in his younger form, so she couldn't have been out for more than a day. "You still are a monster, you know that, Sakura?" She sat up in her own bed, as usual. She petted her brother on the head and stared him down. "You know, you were loud enough just walking in here to wake someone who's been unconscious. I think that makes YOU the monster." Touya waved his arms around. "I AM NOT THE MONSTER!" He pointed at her and said, "You promised that you'd call me in case anything bad happened, and you didn't!" Sakura sighed. "I'm sorry. I really am.I didn't expect anything wrong to happen. We were only going to the park. And. well. Did you suddenly fall asleep by any chance?" Touya nodded. "I suddenly remember waking up in the kitchen with a pile of broken dishes. I thought it had to do with you." Sakura laughed. "Gomen. it wasn't my idea, I assure you, and we're safe. for now. Koji wasn't there."
She hopped out of bed and rubbed her eyes. As she opened the door, Tomoyo- chan was there with a breakfast tray for her. "I heard you were awake, so I brought you up some breakfast, and I left you some clean clothes in the bathroom for your bath." Sakura took the tray and smiled back. "Thank you, and good morning!" Tomoyo smiled back. "You seem to be in a very pleasant mood this morning." Sakura closed her eyes and laughed. "How could I not be? I transformed all the cards, for once, I'm bigger than my brother, and my Syaoran is alive!" Sakura's eyes acted more like Tomoyo's as they began to sparkle at the thought of how wonderful this all was. She hardly noticed Tomoyo with the same glazed, starry stare from behind a camcorder, filming this all.
Touya stepped out of Sakura's room, carrying her laundry with him to be done, (and the pile was nearly as big as he was. All together now: One. two. three. KAWAII!) when he noticed the two girls standing blankly in the hall, both staring out into nothingness, causing the air to sparkle with incredible brilliance. ".I don't think I even want to know." He stepped downstairs, with a sweat drop rolling down the back of his head.
Sakura was the first to snap out of her trance and notice Tomoyo. She quickly pressed against the wall, spilling a little tea from the tray on the floor. "T-Tomoyo, what are you doing?" Her cheeks reddened greatly. "I just had to tape this! The way you said 'MY Syaoran.' It was just too romantic and beautiful." She held her video recorder to her chest and continued to zone out. "I must record all of my dear Sakura-chan's lovely moments on video!" Sakura just laughed nervously with a sweat drop and blushed worse. "Ummm. Errr. T-T-Tomoyo-chan. Oh! What I meant. was. ummm. Say, wait a minute; didn't you want to tape me last night? That's a rare occasion when you don't." Tomoyo smiled and waved one finger in the air. "Don't you worry, I knew I had to support you, so I put my new, experimental camera in a tree branch, set to follow you and all your movements! Now I can make it into a great music video!" Sakura started to get worried and slowly worked her way back to her room, thanking Tomoyo for the food, but trying not to make things any weirder.
After a hearty breakfast and cleaning her room, she headed to the bathroom. A minute later, she floated in the water along with Kero-chan. The little guardian floated by and said, "Ah, you seem to be in a good mood today." Sakura nodded. "Of course I am! Syaoran is alive! I know it!" Kero leaned against the side of tub and thought. "Well, that's good, but do you know where he is?" Sakura pondered for a moment and said, "I'm not sure.. But. all I can think of is he disappeared in that giant sphere made of Time Magic, which is the same thing Koji did. So, wherever Koji is, Syaoran might be there, too. Maybe it's one of those 'alternate dimension' things like Eriol talked about. I'm just not sure. how to get there." Kero floated to Sakura and patted her on the head. "It's all right. If you say you felt his presence last night, I'm sure he's fine. We can find some way to get him back." Sakura smiled and hugged Kero. "Thanks a lot."
Sakura leaned over to grab the shampoo and began to lather her hair. It had grown and took a lot more work to do. Suddenly, there came a knock on the bathroom door. "I'm in here," Sakura noted. "Sakura, it's Mia. I need to relay a message." "Okay, what is it," asked the bathing Mistress. "Eriol is over at his house and he says he thinks he might know a way to find Syaoran. HE says you can meet him there later and-" Sakura grabbed a towel, the door swung open, interrupting Mia, and Sakura bolted by so fast Mia's dress blew around as if she were in a hurricane. A sweat drop rolled down Mia's head. "That was fast."
"Oh, Sakura, I take it you heard the news?" Tomoyo asked as Sakura was out on the front lawn. The speeding girl came to a quick stop. Sakura nodded. "Hai! I wanted to get over there as soon as possible." Tomoyo giggled, "Still, you may wish to put some clothes on if you want to be formal." Sakura looked down and realized she was wrapped in only a towel while standing in a snow bank that had not yet fully melted as the effects of Koji's sun-energy absorbing amulet had not worn off. Her hair was still dripping and lathered with shampoo. A few friends of hers from school, namely Chiharu and Naoko, were staring with sweat drops rolling down their heads. Sakura's face turned red as a tomato and she quickly walked into the house. "I guess I was just in a bit of a hurry." She said with a nervous laugh to her friend as she entered her house. Tomoyo just smiled and resumed reading her book in the sunlight. "And best of all, when Sakura leaves, I have the perfect new outfit to wear to rescue her Li-kun!" Chiharu and Naoko walked on still confused. "That cousin of Sakura's is sure weird," muttered Chiharu. "I hope Sakura returns soon."
Fujitaka stood in the hallway as Sakura came back in. "Did you forget these?" He held out her clothes and smiled. Sakura blushed. "Errr. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a little absent-minded today. Thank you, dad." She hugged him and headed upstairs. Fujitaka sat back down at the table and sipped his tea. "Daidouji-san was right. Young love is so cute, if a bit absent-minded. Such memories."
Sakura finished drying off, got dressed, and headed downstairs. "Sakura- chan! You look so wonderful!" commented Tomoyo. Sakura was dressed up in a tan skirt to her knees with a matching sleeveless vest over a white turtleneck. Her hair was straight down to her shoulders with a red headband with a white wing near the ear. "Thanks, Tomoyo! You look nice, too." Tomoyo was in a light blue pair of jeans with a violet sweater. Her hair was braided with a purple band. "Thank you, Sakura. I take it you were on your way to Eriol-kun's house?" Sakura nodded. "I am. I can't wait! Let's go! .But hold on a minute. Where's Mia?" Tomoyo smiled. "That's a secret! You'll know in a little bit! Oh, and one more thing. you might want to look in a mirror for a second." "Hoe?" Sakura turned to look in the mirror on the wall and saw her hair was still lathered. "HOEEE!" She quickly ran upstairs to the bathroom, and came down a minute later. "Gomen, Tomoyo. My head isn't on straight lately." Tomoyo giggled. "It's okay, Sakura-chan."
They stepped outside the house and started to walk down the street when Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait, keep going without me, Tomoyo. I'll meet up with you in a second!" She quickly turned around, much to Tomoyo's surprise, and ran inside. But as per Sakura's request, Tomoyo continued to walk. "Where's she going?" Kero asked, poking his head out of Tomoyo's bag. "I'm not sure," answered Tomoyo.
Whir. Whir.
Sakura's new roller blades rattled against the concrete as she rounded the corner and came alongside Tomoyo. "Ah, there you are, Sakura. What were. oh, I see." She smiled. Sakura had Li-kun's old hat on her head. "I wanted to bring it for good luck," she said. "That was a good idea." A minute later, they arrived at Eriol's large house.
When they approached the front door, they reached for the handle when it opened on its own and a familiar face smiled back at them. "Kaho-sensei!" Sakura yelled in surprise. "Hello, Sakura. Come in. Everyone's expecting you in the living room."
She led them down the hall to a large room beside a fireplace. In one corner Spinel sat on a pillow, reading. Kero popped out of Tomoyo's bag and flew over to him and started to talk (though it was not too long before an argument began with them). Meiling sat napping against the wall beside them, but woke up when Sakura entered. Nakuru leaned up against a wall, talking with Kaho as she entered. But on one sofa, next to Eriol, was Mia. They both stand up. "Ah, Sakura, how nice of you to join us. Please, sit down. Would you care for some tea?" She nodded, as did Tomoyo. "Just wait here a minute. Yue should be coming, too. I've already sent for him just a few minutes ago, and I've never known him to be late." Sure enough, as Eriol prepared some tea, Yue walked through the door. In actuality, Spinel had only arrived a few minutes beforehand as well. He had gone looking for Yukito, who was in the park. Spinel allowed him a few minutes to wrap up his plans before making him come.
Eriol came back in and placed a tray of drinks down. He sat down, smiled, and asked Sakura, "So, tell me, how do you feel today?" Sakura brightly smiled and closed her eyes. "Wonderful! I don't know why, but I just feel a lot more power, too. And after hearing you had some sort of surprise. well, how could I not be feeling wonderful?" "Indeed," Eriol stated, placing his cup back down. "But let's get down to business, shall we?" Sakura nodded. Kaho sat down beside Eriol and wrapped her arm around Eriol's neck. "The plan is," she said, "we will track down where Koji is, and use Tomoyo to open a gate to wherever he is."
Meiling looked on and just asked, "Daidouji-san will?" Tomoyo turned her head and gave an unsure glance. "Me? How can I help? I don't have any powers of my own. I can only borrow powers for a time." Eriol shook hi head. "That's not entirely true. For you don't seem to realize the immense power fate has given to you. You have yet to see its true form." Sakura looked just as confused, if not more so than Tomoyo. "What do you mean by true form?" Eriol approached Tomoyo and asked her, "May I see your necklace?" She nodded, unhooked it, and handed it to him. "This, the Legendary Angel's Medallion is quite well known to many a person with magic. It has far more power than Tomoyo has been using." Tomoyo looked puzzled. "More power? You mean, it just doesn't borrow power to use?" Eriol shook his head. "There goes a legend with this glowing stone." He stared deeply into the crimson stone. "Mia explained to me what she knows about it, but she's not entirely right. You see, while it does absorb the powers of other forces, it does not accept any use for evil. Also, it does have power, and the power of the absorbed serves only as an activation of the magic." Tomoyo stared at the necklace. "Really? I've had more powers than I thought, but then how do I use them?" Kaho shook her head. "We're not quite sure, yet. We think it must have to come deep inside the wearer. Since you have the most experience wearing this, we're going to let you keep it and use it. But now, let's explain the rest of our plan. Mia?" A short, 8-year- old sat beside Sakura and began to concentrate. "Sakura, you see, as I have been using that tracking spell to locate Koji all this time, I've learned to track him a little better each time. With a little boost from Eriol's power, I'm having an easier time tracking him anywhere. I hope to get a lock on him soon."
Sakura looked a bit worried. "Excuse me, I'm not so great with these things, but. We're going to have Mia lock on to Koji wherever he is. but how does this involve that Angel's Medallion?" Eriol simply pointed to Sakura's Sakura Cards. "Take them out, and let me demonstrate.
"Guys, I think I have something. I can. see Koji in my mind. He's. in Tomoeda.. But it's not THIS Tomoeda. It's another." Eriol smirked. "Just as I thought. Now, just keep that the way it is. Okay, Tomoyo, transform with this." He handed the necklace back to her and she fastened it around her neck. Eriol placed his hand to it and a wave of blue magic moved into it. Tomoyo suddenly flashed again and became her angel form. "Now, Tomoyo, I need you to feel deep down. See if you can sense a deep power in you. Feel it in the jewel. Release it."
Tomoyo closed her eyes and searched. She concentrated all she could. "I. I think I can feel it. I. I've got it." Suddenly, the girl glowed once more. When it faded, she now had a halo and a sort of staff in her hands, not unlike Sakura's. Only this staff was a pale, light blue with a light pink heart at the base. "What. is this?" "I'll explain in a minute. Now, Sakura, have you got the cards out?" She nodded. "Good. Tomoyo, sit in front of the deck. We're going to do some fortune telling."
No one quite understood what Eriol was getting at, but no one dared question him, either. "Assemble the cards around you in a star pattern of 20 cards." Tomoyo did so. "Now, take the top card on the highest peak and the very center card and turn them over." She did that as well.
"Time. and. Through?" Eriol. "Exactly." Sakura just stared at them and looked confused. "Time and Through? What do those mean?" Kero floated down. "Well, I've never done a fortune with Sakura Cards before, so I'm not sure what it means, either. Maybe." Tomoyo held the two cards up. "Wait, I think I know what it means!" "Hoeee? You do?" Sakura looked even more lost. Tomoyo whispered something to Eriol and he whispered back. "Okay, I'll give it a try."
Tomoyo stepped away towards the fire and held the two cards in her left hand. She held her new staff in the right. The heart on the end began to glow. She slowly lifted the Through Card and chanted, "Powers to move through all." She lifted the Time Card. "Take us through Time and Space to another world! COMBINE!" The two cards in her hands suddenly flashed and fused into one, blue card, "Dimension Gate." Kero, Sakura, and Meiling stood in shock. "Is that a new type of Card?!" Kero asked. "A. Tomoyo Card?!" Tomoyo seemed a bit shocked herself. "I. I guess it is," she stuttered. Eriol smiled. "Just as I thought. You can take the power of others, and fuse them with your own power. But it is only temporary, so, quick, use it!" The angel nodded. "I've always wanted to do something like this, just like my Sakura-chan!" A sweat drop rolled down Sakura's head.
Tomoyo threw the card overhead. "DIMENSION GATE CARD! RELEASE! TAKE US TO THE WORLD IN MIA'S MIND!"
A great swirling light appeared behind her, where the fire was seconds ago and it pulled Tomoyo through. Eriol laughed. "I knew it would work. Now, to get that Koji." HE leapt through as well, followed by Nakuru, Kaho, Spinnel, Kero, and Yue. Meiling smiled. "Hold on, Shaoran, I'm coming!" She jumped through as well. Sakura gabbed Syaoran's hat and smiled. "Wait for me, Syaoran. I'm coming, and I won't rest until I find you! I have to let you know how I feel. So just hold on!" She leapt through the portal, which soon snapped shut and the fireplace remained where it was, crackling with the flaming wood.
To be continued.
Kero: You sure took your time!
Wallcrawler: Pudding? ::holds out a cup of pudding::
Kero: ::Eyes sparkle:: PUDDING! ::gobbles it up:: Well. ::stuffs face:: I guess I can forgive you THIS time.
Wallcrawler: Well, I just hope you have something else to eat. This is quite a long chapter, but I may have made a few lot mistakes. I never actually saw the last episodes, so I had to base the actual chapter on what others have told me. So, if you spot a mistake. 1) e-mail me at wallcrawler86@aol.com and tell me how silly I am. or. 2) just pretend all this time travel stuff messed it up. ^^;; Enjoy! And I hope to get the next chapter out sooner.. But I'm moving on the 8th of March, 2003, so don't hold your breath. once again, I'm so sorry!
Chapter 27: Alternate Dimensions
".S-Syaoran.? Syaoran?" Sakura stuttered. She dropped her wand and walked silently to the ground where her friend. no, her love. had vanished. "Syaoran. he. he loved me?" She fell to her knees and picked up his hat. all that was left of him. Tears streamed down her red cheeks and she started to sob into the hat. "You can't! Don't leave me. I. I. I LOVE YOU, TOO! YOU CAN'T GO!"
Koji slowly floated to the ground and frowned even more. "Idiot. You all brought this on yourselves. If you had never gotten involved." "YOU!" Sakura suddenly stood up and dried her tears. "No, this isn't our fault! YOU did it! You killed Syaoran! And I can't. I can't let this happen again! I have to capture you." Koji slowly backed up. "What did you say?"
"Sakura." Tomoyo looked extremely sad and worried, still in her angelic form. "I'll help." she said. Kero and Yue both stepped forward. "Let us both help you." Touya walked up from behind Koji, who promptly noticed and moved to the side, starting to look worried. "I still have a score to settle with this punk."
"No. Thank you all." A lone tear ran down Sakura's cheek. "But I'm going to do this alone. I will seal his evil power. It can't be released again."
"O, card that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under
your new master, Sakura! SNOW CARD!"
Suddenly, the blizzard around them stopped entirely. It was just a straight line between Koji and herself.
"Give me one good reason to stick around! I don't have to fight you, I've wasted too much time here."
"O, card that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under
your new master, Sakura! MAZE! PREVENT MY FOE FROM LEAVING!"
The very Earth beneath Sakura and Koji as well as everyone else shook violently. Giant, green walls rose from the ground and enclosed the battlefield.
"What. what IS this?!" Koji screamed aloud. "The Maze Card. You can't leave until I let the walls fall. Now, I. I have to stop you. I won't harm you, though. Don't worry about that. I won't sink to that level." Sakura started to cry again and she wiped a tear away, but it was not even a moment before her eyes were pouring with tears, glistening in the moonlight when they hit the snow covered ground. "Before you crush. another heart. I must contain you." Koji held out his mirror, which flashed and surrounded him with a golden aura, a shield. "SWORD!"
A magical wind surrounded the staff and transformed it to a shimmering blade. Sakura lowered it, and with a look of utter despair on her face, she charged, swinging straight down through the shield, slicing it open and shutting it down entirely. "You foolish girl. won't you ever learn?" The boy reached into his jacket and pulled out a handgun.
"Sakura-chan! Look out! He's going to shoot!" Sakura jumped to the side, but Koji still lifted his gun quickly.
Bang.
Sakura fell to the ground, and a loud clatter of metal on the ground was heard. Sakura lifted her head from the ground and saw Koji's gun on the ground. The demon held his hands as if he had just burned them over a hot stove. She turned in Yue's direction to see him holding his magic bow, aimed directly at Koji. "I should recommend to you, demon, that you do not try to do that again, or this time, I won't just hit your hands." The Master of the Mirror of Time heeded not the warning of the guardian and leaped for his gun, but another arrow hit it first and sent it flying away. Yue pulled back another arrow aimed at Koji's head as he lay on the floor. "I said not to try that again."
Koji growled and stood up. He reached into his coat and unsheathed a medium- length sword. "Have it your way."
A look of worry crossed over Touya's face. "But. Sakura doesn't know how to fence! She can't win in a sword fight! And she said she couldn't hurt him even if she had to." Tomoyo looked worried as well, but she reassured Touya. "Don't worry that much. Don't underestimate Sakura. She knows what she is doing. I just. her heart isn't too badly hurt to win."
There was no sword fight, though. Sakura recalled the Sword Card. "Are you crazy? Take the Sword out, now!" Keroberos said. Sakura, however, lifted up another card.
"O, card that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under
your new master, Sakura! THROUGH!" Just as Koji swung his sword, the girl disappeared through a wall of the maze. "What the Hell? Where did you go?" Suddenly, small little glowing dots floated from the sky. "Crap! What are those things? I better. not. EH?!" Koji turned around to see three Sakuras behind him, all armed with swords. He jumped in surprise, and swung, but the blade went clear through all of them and they vanished. Sweat dripped from his brow. "What is going on here?!"
"Glow. Illusion." Eriol smirked as he hypothesized what had happened. Tomoyo turned to him and asked, with a look of grave concern, "What's going on here?" Eriol chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? Sakura is trying to change the rest of the cards. At the same time, she's playing a mind-game with Koji. She's trying to make him too paranoid to fight." Mia smirked. "She's getting better."
Suddenly, Koji felt a presence behind him, but he heard nothing. He suddenly felt like he was being tied down and he hit the ground in complete silence. Windy had a hold on him. Not so much as the sound of breath or Sakura's footsteps could be heard. In his head, the demon's thoughts were running rampant. He couldn't see, hear, or even sense his foe until it was too late.
However, the silence soon came to an end with a thunderous clash. Literally. Thunder crashed from overhead and a great cyclone appeared. Koji clung to the ground for dear life to the ground, but there was nothing to grasp. He was thrown into a wall painfully. As he sat up, Sakura reappeared. She held the newly transformed Glow, Illusion, Silent, and Storm Cards in her hand.
"How can she." Koji coughed hard. He had taken quite a bit of damage.
"Sword." Sakura called upon her sword, a blade created so well it can cut anything. She stood over Koji's gun, lying on the ground and cut the gun into 2 pieces. It was thrown in two directions in two pieces and the bullets fell out of their clip.
"I can't do it." Sakura put away the Sword Card. "I can't keep fighting. it's all so very wrong. It won't solve anything. Arguing won't fix what is already done." Her eyes filled with tears and she hung her head. "I fought out of anger. I used my magic in rage. all in the name of revenge for a lost love. But defeating you won't bring my Syaoran back. sealing you won't solve anything. How can anyone learn from their mistakes if they are not given second chances? How could I ever look at my reflection again if I knew I had sealed someone up forever? No matter what that person may have done, no one deserves to be sealed away."
The crowd of her friends and family moved in slowly (They had temporarily hidden when Storm was called). "Sakura." Tomoyo approached her friend slowly. Mia did as well. Sakura raised her hand and signaled them to leave. She put her face in her hands and cried. Koji took advantage of the situation and stood up.
".We can finish another day! Better yet, another world!" Koji pulled out his mirror and aimed it straight up. A strange ball, not unlike the one that got Syaoran, enveloped him and started to grow at a lightning pace. The sound of her friends running and flying was heard, but none of it was coming to her. Only Tomoyo screaming, "Get out of there, Sakura!" and Touya's "Get over here!" was heard otherwise. However, she did not listen. She just backed up until she bumped into a tree. Sakura pressed against it and tried to move around it quickly, but it was in vain. Moments later it consumed her entirely.
__________________________________________________________
White. White was all there is. Endless, unchanging white light. Pain. Pain surged through Sakura's body as she floated through the endless sea of white. But it was not pain of the body or the mind. It was not the same pain at all. It was the throbbing pain of the heart. The ache of loss. Sakura felt her chest. It was beating madly. All of her thoughts focused on her friend, Syaoran. She continued to drift through nothing. Emptiness.
Suddenly, the white began to change. It became a light brown. Her heart felt more at ease. The pain slowly stopped. But as Sakura looked into the void, it changed again. Or rather, zoomed out. Sakura could see the brown was in an eye. The eye of a calm, caring person. Syaoran. She stared into his face.
"I. I love you." He said. but then turned and walked away.
"Sakura? Are you awake? Sakura? Sakura?"
The eyes of the young maiden opened slowly to find she was in her own bed.
It was Tomoyo sitting over her. "Welcome back, Sakura." The young mistress groaned in fatigue and pain. "What happened to me?" She could not see straight. Her vision was completely blurred from the shock. Eriol sighed aloud from his chair near her bed and he leaned against the back of it. "You were enveloped in a ball of pure time magic, just as Syaoran. However, I think I miscalculated something."
Sakura's vision slowly returned. She sat up and hung her head as a tear rolled down her cheek at the thought of Syaoran. Suddenly, she realized she felt. different. Yet it was somehow familiar. She was in her teen body.
"What's going on? I grew up? How long have I been asleep?" She turned and realized Tomoyo and Eriol were grown, too. However, Tomoyo looked even older. Sakura looked about 18 while Tomoyo looked about 25. Eriol seemed to be 20 or so.
Eriol sighed again. "This is part of what makes me think I miscalculated. You see, Time Magic, which Koji used to escape, can also be used in a destructive way. If enough of it is focused and smashes into the ground, the caster can rip time as we know it apart. But. well. as you can see, it had this effect on us when it expanded into us." Tomoyo continued. "As Eriol told me while you were asleep, Sakura-chan, Time Magic has a certain property to it. one that can actually move matter. Or in other words, some uses of Time Magic not only take you backwards or forwards in time, but it also can put you ANYWHERE in time. It's possible Koji-" The door opened and Mia entered. She did not appear to be any older. In fact, she looked to be about 8 years old. "Oh, thank goodness you're all right. I was worried." Sakura giggled a little at the sight of the young Mia. "Err. Hee hee. What. hee. happened?" The young girl sighed. "It looks like the age modifying powers of that portal Koji opened are rather random. They don't just make you older, I suppose. At least I think they're only temporary." Tomoyo smiled. "That's good to know. I wouldn't want to always be so much older than Sakura-chan. But maybe we should continue before I lose my train of thought." Sakura nodded. "Okay."
"Well," she continued, "where was I.? Oh, right. It's possible Koji is no longer in this world, but has moved on to another." "WHAT?!" Gasped Sakura and Mia. "It's true. But I'm not completely sure. and even if it is true, I doubt we could get to him."
Sakura didn't seem to be paying attention. Her emerald eyes focused on something on her desk. "Is that. his hat?" Tomoyo grabbed it off the desk and handed it to Sakura. She hung her head again and whimpered. "He's. gone. He's really gone. Every time I look at this, it comes as another shock. like it hasn't really sunk in." A tear rolled down her cheek and Tomoyo hugged her tight. "It's okay, Sakura. Be strong, like you always are." Sakura lifted her head. "I'll. try. I know it's what. he would have wanted. But. to tell the truth. I was strong a lot. because friends like him helped me be strong." Tomoyo held Sakura's hand in hers and clenched it tightly. "Just try to be strong. We're still here for you. We'll never leave you." She looked her in the eyes and added, "And Li-kun would have wanted you to keep going."
"Hoe?" Suddenly had a thought. "What happened to Touya? And my class? And. err. has dad. seen me like this?" Mia nodded. "But he was very nice about it. He's at the university now, there was some emergency there, but when he brought you in, he was shocked. But he understood you had a reason for hiding your powers. Well, actually, all he knows is you're older. He doesn't really know about your powers. yet. But in any case, he's going to give you time to explain later." Sakura gave a tender smile. "Father's always been so understanding." Eriol laughed and said, "Don't worry about your class. After the fight, I caught them hiding together towards the center of the park. I put them all to sleep for a few minutes and made it so non of them would remember what happened." "But what about Touya? Is he hurt?" Tomoyo giggled. "Oh, don't worry, he's fine. but." "But?" Asked Sakura with a confused look. Eriol laughed. "Come see for yourself."
Sakura got of her bed and put on her favorite slippers. realizing they were too small. Instead, she walked barefoot, yet she wobbled a little. She was still woozy from changing so many cards. Mia and Tomoyo guided her down the hall down to Touya's room and opened the door.
"Hmmm? What do you want? Wait, you're awake?" Sakura opened the door and stood in shock. A smile broke out on her face and she started to laugh. Touya's face turned bright red in embarrassment and frustration. "What are you laughing at?!" Sakura attempted to keep it quiet, but failed miserably. "You're. you're. FIVE YEARS OLD!"
Indeed, the once mighty, 17-year-old, bullying onii-chan was now around 5 years of age. Tomoyo smiled. "Isn't he so cute when he's like this?" "WHAT WAS THAT?!" The now-young sibling screamed. "You should be thanking me! After you were pressed against that tree, in fear of Koji's spell, I ran to get you and carry you back."
Mia, who was a bit taller, despite being only 8, entered and chuckled. "That's not quite how I remember it. I seem to remember someone only screaming at Sakura to get out of there, not going anywhere, and that person didn't go until Meiling and I pushed him ourselves."
"Hoe?" Sakura looked around. "Speaking of Meiling, where is she?"
"." Tomoyo drew silent. Even Touya quieted down. "She." Eriol begun, "was a little. depressed. when Syaoran vanished. So. Ummm. Maybe it would be best if you saw for yourself. In a little while, at least. Meiling said she didn't want to see anyone for a while. Let's give her a few more hours. It's 5pm. Also, I need some time to recap everything in my mind. When we meet up with her later, I'll explain all that is going on." The boy started to walk away down the hall when Sakura tried to talk to him. Tomoyo put her hand on Sakura's shoulder and shook her head. "Let him be for now. He seems upset."
Sakura turned around and kneeled down to the now knee-high brother and asked, "Seriously, though, were you really worried about me last night? .Errr. I mean 3 or 4 days ago. whenever it was." Touya blushed and turned away. "I don't know what you're talking about. You're just an annoying monster who has been hiding things from us! I didn't care!"
Suddenly and unexpectedly, she picked up here older/younger brother and hugged him tightly. "YOU ARE JUST THE CUTEST LITTLE THING!" Touya pushed as hard as he could to push his now giant-by-comparison sister away, but to no avail. "What are you doing?!" She only squeezed harder. "You're just so CUTE like this, pretending not to care! Tomoyo?" They turned around to see that Tomoyo still had her faithful camcorder, taping every minute of Touya in Sakura's arms, despite his protest.
"It's so amazing," gasped Tomoyo. "Sakura's already so incredibly kawaii. but now, with her baby brother in her arms, it's twice as cute." Sakura and Touya had a sweat drop on each of their heads. Sakura sat her brother down on his bed and patted him on the head. "Well, I think I'll go cook something for dinner. I'm starving." Touya just sighed. "Fine. I'll have whatever. I'm hungry." Sakura winked and walked out into the hall. "All right, squirt." As she closed the door, Touya cried out, "What did you-" The door slammed shut.
Sakura went down to the kitchen and started to cook. She boiled some tea and soon had everything ready. Mia tried to set the table, but with her reduced height, she couldn't reach all the way to the counter. She tried to climb onto the counter top, but lost her grip and Tomoyo caught her. The older girl now smiled and said, "You know, you are a great help, but maybe you could help by keeping an eye out for Eriol when he comes back." "Okay!" The little girl ran off upstairs.
Sakura laughed. Tomoyo turned to her. "What's wrong?" Sakura stopped her laughing but was grinning from ear to ear. "Well, it's just. the way I was holding Touya. The way you just handled Mia. The fact we're cooking dinner. and the fact we're a little grown up now, I kind of feel like a mother." She blushed. Tomoyo only smiled back as she finished setting the table. "Well, I know how you feel." Sakura also added, "You know, with your hair so long and its color. it kind of reminds me of my mother." Tomoyo grabbed a small portion of her hair and smoothed it out with her hand. "Well, it was my mother's idea. That's because it DOES look like your mother's. Oh?" A shadow approached the kitchen as Tomoyo poured Sakura a cup of tea and Sakura sat down. She placed dinner on the table and took a sip of her tea. Touya entered the room and Sakura smiled.
"You know, Touya, when you walk around the house like that you make so much noise. Like a monster." "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" responded the pint-sized brother. Sakura placed her mug on his head to rest and giggled. Touya thrashed his arms wildly. "HEY, I'M NOT THE MONSTER! YOU ARE!!!" Sakura rubbed his hair, mussing it up. "Well, now you know how I feel every day at breakfast." The brat growled. "Fine, I can take a hint. I won't call you 'monster' anymore. Happy?" Sakura smiled and nodded. "Yep. Now, sit down. Dinner is ready. Where did Mia go?"
"Here I am!" The little girl entered, waving one arm in the air cheerfully. She took a seat next to Touya. Touya could barely see over the table. Tomoyo went and got a dictionary to sit on as well so they could eat. A few minutes into the meal, there came to be footsteps outside. The door swung open and a man walked in. Fujitaka took off his shoes and stepped into the kitchen. He was covered in snow, still. "Sakura? Is that you? You're awake?" Sakura's eyes filled with tears. She rushed to him and gave him a giant hug. Despite being her new height, Fujitaka was still much taller. He was a complete head over her.
Fujitaka hugged her back. "It's good to see you're fine." He stepped back and smiled. "I never thought I'd ever see my baby girl all grown up so soon. You look so much like your mother." Touya got up and walked over to him. "AHEM." Fujitaka smiled. "And I can't forget my wonderful little boy." "I'M NOT A LITTLE BOY!" His father just laughed though. "Don't be like that. Here, your friend is here to see you!"
"Konnichiwa!"
Sakura smiled and waved. "Yukito-san!" The boy was taken surprised. "Sakura! You're. grown up! I heard about that from your father, but it's still." Sakura smiled. "It's all right. Don't worry about it. I take it you're here to see my little brother here." Sakura picked up her brother and held him tightly in her arms. Yukito laughed out loud. "I'm so sad I had that cold the past few days. I can't believe how cute he looks!" "I DO NOT LOOK 'CUTE!'"
Eriol suddenly reappeared behind Yuki. "Sakura. I think it's time we went for a walk. Bring Tomoyo and Mia, too."
"I'm coming, too." Touya demanded. Sakura bent over to Touya, who was now being held in the air by Yuki, and said, "Sorry, but you may not be 5 years old mentally, but I don't think most people will realize that. But I promise we'll be right back." The child version of Touya sighed. "Fine. But I'm expecting an explanation when you get back." "All right." Sakura replied. "We'll be going out now, and we'll wear our winter clothes. It's still pretty cold." Fujitaka smiled and said, "All right, have a great time. Thanks for cooking dinner. Don't be gone too long." "We won't! Ja ne! (See you later!)"
Sakura, Mia, Tomoyo, and Eriol all walked together down the street together. "So. Where's Meiling?" Asked Tomoyo, holding a big purse filled with her video equipment. (Sakura wondered why she had clothes fit specifically for a 25-year old girl, for both of them, but decided she'd rather not know.) "At the park. Specifically, in front of the gate and not far from the tree where the Return Card was hidden."
Sakura recalled that gate very well. She remembered the tree, as well, where the Return Card had sucked her in and showed her the past, when Touya knew Kaho-sensei. But then, she also remembered it was Syaoran who rescued her then. She shook her head violently to forget the thought. After all, that was so long ago. Tomoyo turned to Sakura as they walked around a corner. "Are you all right? Is something bothering you?" Sakura shook her head. "N-no. why would you think that?" Tomoyo pointed down to Sakura's feet. "Because you've been walking through a deep snow bank for about 10 meters now without even noticing." "HOEEEE!" Sakura jumped out of the waist high bank and shook the freezing snow off her. "Gomen. I guess I am pretty lost today." "It's all right." Mia said, smiling.
Suddenly, a familiar pair of friends came walking down the street. "Rika- chan! Naoko-chan!"
The two girls stopped. ".Do. we know you?" Naoko said. "Hold on." Rika said, examining Sakura. "You know, you look a lot like Sakura-san. Well, a little. Are you somehow related to her?" Sakura backed up slowly and started to panic. She had forgotten that they were older and no one would recognize them.
"Say, speaking of Sakura-san." Naoko said, "Have you seen her?" Rika-chan shook her head. "No, I haven't." A look of worry crossed her dark brown eyes.
Tomoyo smiled gently. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan is safe. She just had to go on a sudden trip to her grandparents. We're her older cousins."
Rika smiled. "Oh? That would explain why you," pointing to Sakura, "resemble her so much. Then again, Sakura has never told us she even had grandparents." Sakura smiled. "But you know Tom-err. I mean, you know. ummm." Sakura tried to quickly come up with a fake name for all three of them. "Oh, wait, I never introduced ourselves. I'm. K-Keiko!" Sakura had named herself, but still dripped with sweat, trying to think of fake names for Tomoyo and Eriol. She turned to Tomoyo. "And this is. ummm. Rumiko." Tomoyo smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Sakura thought, "That's two. one more." She turned to Eriol and thought hard. "And this is my brother, uhhh." "Kentaro," Eriol said. Sakura laughed nervously. "Right, Keitaro." Rika- chan leaned her head to one side. "I thought he said KENtaro." Sakura covered her mouth. "N-No. But. Ummm. we better go. We'll tell Sakura, Tomoyo, and Eriol you said 'hello!' Ja ne!" Sakura grabbed Tomoyo and Eriol's hands and quickly ran off with them.
Naoko just stared. "Sakura-san sure has a weird family. and how does that girl, Keiko, know Sakura-san's friends?"
The Shrine was just ahead. Its gate could be seen in the distance, but something barely audible was in the air. Sobbing? "Is someone. crying?" Sakura and Tomoyo looked around. They spotted a lone figured hunched down in front of the tree in the center of the park. "Meiling?" Sakura muttered.
As they approached the gate to the Shrine, Meiling became clearer. She was leaning up against the tree, sobbing her heart out. She didn't seem to be affected by the age-changing after-effect of Koji teleporting away; maybe she was only altered by a year or two. "Meiling? Why are you crying?" Tomoyo asked, though she already knew the answer.
The young girl stepped back to show a small stone on the ground. It was engraved marble. It had something written in both Japanese and Chinese. Sakura knelt down to read it. "In loving memory of. Li Xiao Lang." Sakura covered her mouth and tears started to form again in her eyes. "So. you were gone all this time. to make this? Wait. there's more. A quote? 'I love you, Sakura.'"
Silence. To Sakura, the entire world was suddenly inaudible. She heard nothing but the rapid beating of her heart and the billions of thoughts that raced through her mind. She started to whimper quietly, but couldn't control herself. She fell over, hugged the gravestone, and cried her eyes out. She doesn't know how long she cried for. All Sakura could remember was feeling a light tapping on her shoulder. She turned to see Eriol watching her intently. "Sakura, I know how much this means to you and all, but we have more important issues to attend to. We must stop that idiot Koji before he ruins time itself."
Sakura sat down and dried her eyes. "You're right. I'm sorry. What should we discuss first? So much has happened." Eriol leaned against the tree. "Perhaps I should provide some long overdue background information." Tomoyo nodded in agreement. Sakura stared at the dirt, not even paying full attention. Meiling did the same. They were both lost in thought. Eriol began, anyway. "Well, to start off, I better truly introduce myself." Tomoyo looked him in the eyes. "You mean you're not Eriol Hiiragizawa?" He shook his head. "I may be Eriol, but at the same time, I am not. I am living, yet I have died. You may know me better as. Clow Reed."
"HOEEEE?!" Suddenly, Sakura became very alert. "You mean, the reason I always sensed Clow Reed around when things got strange was because it was you?" He nodded. "You've proven yourself worthy to hold the Title of Mistress of the Clow. for now. However, I felt you needed a little help. and motivation. to turn all of the cards into their new form. Of which, if I'm not mistaken, there are only a few left to transform, right?"
"Hoe?" Sakura reached into her bag and took out the Light and the Dark as well as Cloud and a few others. "How did you know? I have a few more cards remaining. Like the Cloud. but I changed most of them in the maze. I kind of lost it back there and I started to change all of them in haste. But these few I couldn't. I forgot how you shouldn't transform cards without a real order, but. I'm guessing that's why I passed out for so long while all of you were awake. I must have used far too much power. Anyway, when I tried to change these two," she held up the Light and Dark and continued, "they didn't do anything." Eriol took the two cards from her hands. "Light and Dark. They are one in the same. One cannot exist without the other. Without light, there is no darkness; without darkness, there is no light. So, these two cards must be changed together and it would require immense power." He handed them back to her. "Well, that's it for formal introductions. Except for maybe." He snapped his fingers and Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun floated down. "I believe you've met them before." Sakura stood up and stared. "Now. I remember. You've all looked so familiar! You were the ones who helped us battle when we defeated Sadin! You helped us get through the temple in the sky to defeat Nave!"
Distant memories of their trap-filled voyage through the sky returned to Sakura's mind. Back when she was with her friends in an alternate future, a huge castle had been hanging in the sky. With a pair of angel wings, Sakura had flown there. But there was another group there, as well. A tall boy, a panther, and a girl with butterfly wings.
Ruby Moon approached. "K-Kinomoto? You're. all. KAWAII!" The insane Nakuru hugged the older Sakura. "You're even cuter all grown up!" Sakura squirmed and tried to yank off the crazed girls death grip around her neck, but it didn't help. "Erk. Air. Please. Let. go." Sakura cringed in pain until Nakuru released her and she gasped. "This would be even BETTER if your brother were here." Tomoyo smiled. "It's good to formally meet you. but her brother is currently at home. He got a little younger. By about 13 years or so." Nakuru's eyes sparkled in an evil way. "What? A toddler Kinomoto-san? Master, I hope you won't need me soon. I have to see this! Ja ne!" The girl took off and flew over to the Kinomoto residence. Sakura couldn't believe her onii-chan had to put up with that daily. He had to have ribs of steel.
"Should she really be leaving now?" Meiling asked. "Don't worry about her. I don't need her yet. I already was going to let her go. Anyway, let me explain where this all began."
"It was about a year ago this all really began. In my life, I have been cursed. Cursed with the ability to see the future. all of it. All things that are fated I can see. But one day, something happened I had not seen. I saw a demon attacked you all in the park. Then, the next day at school, you came in with that scar on your face." Sakura cringed, remembering the pain of the knife to her face so long ago. She rubbed it as if she expected someone to hit her again. "I hadn't seen either coming. It was not fated to be. I would have seen you with a permanent scar." "I don't even want to think about that." Sakura muttered, still rubbing her cheek. Mia had healed it entirely, but sometimes she could almost still feel the blade.
"I began to worry. Then came the rumors of Sakura's demise. I knew it wasn't true, but still. So much was going on. I managed to discover for a fact the young girl that was killed was not Sakura, and, in fact, Sakura a few others had altogether vanished off the face of the Earth, it seemed. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what. It was almost as if someone was tampering with people's destinies. While I enjoy no longer being able to foresee all the events the future may hold, this was the worst way to do so." Sakura leaned up against the tree and held on to one knee as she looked up into the branches above. "That's when we went to fight Sadin together." Eriol nodded. "Right. And our mission was a success. We defeated Sadin and no one except those who were in that room when Sadin died even knew it had happened. However, not all was right."
"Koji." Tomoyo muttered, holding her hands over her chest. "Exactly," Eriol continued. "Koji was Sadin's right hand man. The boy had a knack for finding things. At the age of 5, is family was excavating outside their home when they stumbled on a treasure trove of fossils in an ancient cave. From that day on, the boy dreamt of being an archeologist. He had a knack for digging. HE was a neighborhood legend for being able to find anything. But. something happened to him. What exactly, though, I'm not sure. Just something. From that day on, he had a growing evil within him. He killed his first person at the tender age of 10. When Sadin took over this world, he saw this evil and this desire to search. Koji was taken in and assigned to use his talents and some new powers to give power to Sadin's evil armies. Magic amulets, cursed stones, orbs of power. Anything that may have existed he was sent to find for evil purposes. But by the time he came back. It was too late. We were already to Sadin."
Meiling stared up. "But you said something about only the people in the room with Sadin when his power exploded or something actually remember what happened. Shouldn't Koji forget everything, too?" Spinnel decided to explain this time. "Well, ordinarily, yes. However, something else was blocking the memory erasing effects of Sadin's magic dispersing. It seems that the Mirror of Time, that infernal device Koji uses to travel through time and space, blocked his memory from being erased. And just before the world reverted to normal, he somehow heard of your name, Sakura. And he searched all over Japan for you."
Tomoyo turned to the panther. "And that's where the story began again?" Eriol nodded. "Koji eventually found Sakura. waited for her brother and father to be gone, broke in, shot her, and left." Sakura shuddered. "Please, I don't want to think about being shot." Eriol sighed. "This is important. to sum things up quickly, Syaoran came, but it was too late. You, Sakura, didn't survive the ambulance ride to the hospital." Sakura mumbled under her breath, "I hope no one was too hurt by it." "Well, a few days later, Mia showed up," Eriol continued. "She pointed out the danger and who Koji was, apparently sensing his presence. I, too, felt something, but I was in too much stress from losing Sakura and coming up with a backup plan. In the end, Koji showed his face and everyone attacked him late at school. He tried to escape into the past, possibly to get Syaoran and Tomoyo and Mia, but you followed him in the portal. I also followed him. Everyone but Tomoyo went into the past. The next few days passed regularly. But on the day Sakura was to be shot, Syaoran took the bullet instead. Well, he was hospitalized. And when he was released, everyone noticed Sakura started to slowly disappear. That was the first time we had to go back in time to rescue someone. In this case, it was a girl named Kumiko. Next, it was Sakura herself in danger again. After that, Syaoran started to disappear, and that was the recent trip to the Li clan you all remember."
"And. when we returned. This is how things turned out." Tomoyo said. "Yes, basically," Eriol said with little emotion. "I skipped a lot of details to save time, but that's what happened."
"But what about the park?" Sakura asked. "Why there? Why then? Why us?" Eriol sat down himself if front of Sakura. "Well, basically, I've come to a startling conclusion. I know who Koji's last victim is." "Really?!" Sakura asked. "Who? WHO?!"
"Clow Reed."
"HOEEEEEE!" Sakura stood up and put her hands on Eriol's shoulders. "What are you talking about? How can Koji kill Clow Reed? There's no way! He can't do that! If he does that. I don't know what would happen! HOW?!"
Eriol took her hands off his clothes and stood up. He raised one hand and sat her down. "Calm down. Let me finish. It's just I've come to no other conclusions. I've felt a deep conflict in the recess of my mind. I sense trouble in the past. Koji is trying to reach Clow Reed everyday."
Tomoyo meekly asked, "But then why doesn't he just warp there as usual?" Eriol grinned. "Well, that's where the disturbance is coming from. Koji tried that. But back then, I wasn't going to let just anyone come to visit me. I had more foresight than that. I'm guessing that I somehow blocked him with a spell. This is where the snow came from. Koji has a new Emblem. the Emblem of the Sun. With it, he's actually been absorbing the power of the sun all over Tomoeda in order to overcharge the Mirror of Time and break the barrier. This still failed, but it lowered the temperature for quite some time. This is what caused all of the snow. Well, that, and Koji's other new Weapon, the Ice Crystal. That is what he used to call down those spears of ice onto you. He knew even if he managed to get back in time to kill my former self, you'd show up to stop him. Quite astute of him, really. That's why he waited for you to all get into the open, regardless of who it would hurt."
"That's horrible!" Sakura stated. "Maybe. but something is getting to him. I've noticed the changes slowly myself. At the start of all of this, Koji was, to put it bluntly, a pompous and bumbling idiot. He seemed more concerned with being entertained than getting the job done. But now. Something has come over him. I doubt he, at first, would try to kill so many of those kids all at once for no reason." Meiling stared at Syaoran's memorial stone for a second and quickly looked away. "But. if Koji can't get into the past, what's to worry about?" "That's the newest problem. He CAN get into the past."
"HOEEE?! How can he do THAT?!" Sakura gasped. "He's using an alternate dimension," Eriol answered.
".Hoe?" Sakura's eyes shrunk to little slits. "Ummm. What's that?" "Take out a card and I'll demonstrate," Eriol commanded. She took out Windy. "Now, toss it in the air and catch it." "Hoe? All right." Sakura did as commanded, but she wondered what this had to do with anything. She caught the card facing her. "You see, that card landed facing you. In an alternate dimension, it would have landed the opposite way. For every chance or possibility in life, there is its own dimension."
Sakura stared at the card for a moment. "Ummm. so. you mean. Alternate dimensions are dimensions where cards turn backwards?" Meiling and Eriol slammed into the ground in exasperation. "No, Kinomoto!" Meiling said. "He means every time two things CAN happen, there's like a separate world where each event DOES happen. Look, see that tree?" She pointed to the tall tree behind them. "Pretend each branch is a separate possibility. Something that could happen. As things happen, they spread out into different parts of the branch with each new thing that could happen. Understand?" Sakura nodded. "I think so. but that must be a lot of different worlds. But how does this help Koji or us?"
Eriol shook his head slowly. "It's not good. With infinite dimensions, there is no way in the past I could have blocked him from entering from all OTHER dimensions. This way, if he tries hard enough, he can break through into Clow Reed's time and space."
"That's horrible!" Sakura said. "What can we do about it?" Spinnel laughed. "Isn't it obvious? We're going to go and follow him into this dimension, stop him, and return." Meiling just sighed. "I could have figured that out. but how?" Eriol turned to Sakura and summoned his Staff. "First, we must decide who is going."
Sakura stood up and gasped. "What do you mean, 'who is going?' Aren't we all?" Eriol shook his head. "No! We can't let Koji escape. We can't let him get the weakest of us and use them to escape. Only the strongest should face him. so, determine who is best. Sakura, you, shall face ME."
"HOEEEE! Eriol, no! I can't fight you! I won't!"
Suddenly, from out of the sky, Kero and Yue descended. Kero growled at Eriol. " I KNEW IT! I knew there was something suspicious about you. That's why I've been hiding all day." Yue stared coldly at Eriol. "Is this really a good time to be fighting? If you are going to fight, though, I have to fight for my Mistress. I won't back down."
Eriol smiled. "Very well, then. Ruby Moon, I take it you've returned?" A familiar genderless creature by the name of Ruby Moon floated back down from the sky. "Of course, master." "Spinel," Eriol started, "Are you ready as well?" Spinel remained silent but nodded.
"No! I will not fight! I have no reason to!" Sakura stomped her foot and shook her head. "Sakura, you must understand. on second thought, I suppose you won't listen to reason. I wish it didn't have to come to this, but now I have no choice." Eriol's wand glowed as he poured his energy into it. With a giant swing, the air became filled with blue dots of light. Meiling yawned greatly and staggered around. "What's. going on. Why do I feel. so t- t-tired." She fell quickly to the ground out cold. "Meiling!" Tomoyo screamed as she bent over to examine her. The jewel around her neck, though, began to glow pale blue and absorb the magic in the air. She quickly turned back to her angel form. "Wait, how did that happen? Why am I an angel again?"
Eriol grinned. "The spell is complete. Anyone in the world without any source of strong magic is asleep. The sun shall not rise from this night." Sakura reeled back in shock. "What?! How could you?!" Eriol moved his staff back to an attack position. "Don't worry, my friend. If you can beat me, they'll all wake up. I did this so we may have no interruptions. It is 9 o'clock now and you must win by morning if you hope to ever see the sun again." He waved his staff in the air and suddenly, day turned to night. "To break the spell, you need to defeat me. Now, let us begin!"
He jumped up to the top of the gate to the shrine and awaited Sakura to make the first move. Sakura reached for the key around her neck and began to chant.
"O, Key that holds the Power of the Stars. Reveal your true form to me! RELEASE!" The glowing staff grew from her key and she grabbed it midair. Throwing a Card in the air, Sakura focused all her energy to be at her fighting best. "I'll finish this quickly! EARTHY! CREATE A BARRIER AROUND ERIOL!" A tremor came surging through the ground towards Eriol. Moments before the ripple of the Earth reached him, it skyrocketed up, like a mountain forming in seconds, and attempted to fall on the boy. However, all it took was one wave of Eriol's wand to shatter the giant wave into a million tiny pieces. "You'll have to do better than that, Sakura, if you wish to defeat me or Koji. And you must beat me by when morning will be, remember, or that sun shan't rise again."
A large shadow came from the right of Sakura, and she turned to see Yue slam into a tree, pushed by Ruby Moon's blast of magic. She reached her fist back and energized it. She threw it forward, sending a shockwave of magic at Yue, but he moved out of the way and drew his bow, aiming it at Ruby's head. Before he could fire, Spinel was on his back, beside Yue, being pinned by a growling Kero. Spinnel attempted to swipe at the face of his opponent, but Kero jumped off first and breathed fire all over. Spinnel flew above it and dive-bombed the guardian.
Sakura focused back on Eriol. The boy had somehow moved to the top of the gate to the Shrine, high above reach. "Let's see you win now. Break my spell, and then you may go on to fight Koji. Fail, and all those who have fallen asleep won't wake up ever and I shall go on to fight Koji alone. Perhaps if I destroy him entirely I can reset all events." Sakura gasped. "You can't DO that! Why would you?!"
Eriol kept a serious face at all times. "Because a world run by Koji isn't worth living in. If you fail to beat me, what hope do you have to beat Koji? The world's only hope would then lie on my shoulders. And I am sure I could do it, but if I did somehow fail, the world would become a place of misery and sorrow. This way, no one will have to suffer through that. They'll remain asleep forever, and they can't interfere in our match. For if I defeat Koji, I will destroy his own Mirror of Time to restore all that was before he came. Now, fight me! Remember, this fight is timed. You must defeat me before the sun would rise or I win." Sakura growled. "That isn't right! There has to be another way." Suddenly, Sakura recalled a technique she had previously used.
"FLY! SWORD!" A pair of giant pink wings sprung from her back and lifted the girl into the air. In her hands was a great sword, capable of cutting all things. "All I have to do is cut his staff in half, and then he'll be unable to cast anymore spells!" She thought to herself.
"Sakura, look out! He's expecting that!" Tomoyo screamed from down below.
Sakura skidded to a halt in midair and noticed the Eriol in the air slowly vanish. A fake. "Sakura, I saw him move away while you were taking the cards out. Be careful. I can help fight." Sakura shook her head. "Don't worry. I can handle this. I just can't play around anymore."
Eriol stood upon the gate once again, this time the real him. Sakura dropped down to the ground and pulled out two cards. "I know I need a burst in power to beat him. That's why I need to transform the last of the cards. I hope when I have all the Cards, I can beat him. and Light and Dark may just be enough to break his spell."
"O, cards that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under your new master, Sakura!" She threw a group of cards into the air, minus Light and Dark. "WOOD! CLOUD!" The two cards glowed and suddenly Sakura fainted.
"Sakura, wake up! Sakura! Please!" Sakura stirred to the feeling of Tomoyo gently nudging her. "T-Tomoyo? What happened?" Tomoyo hugged her tightly. "Sakura, you tried to change cards again without being entirely healed. It was too much and you passed out for hours. There's less than an hour left until sunrise!"
Sakura struggled to her feet. "Wait, Sakura! Don't rush!" Sakura shook her head. "I have to! I can't let everyone down!"
"Ah, Sakura, you're awake. I was afraid you'd join the world in eternal slumber. I forgot to mention something." He pointed to Kero and Yue slumped over on the ground and then to her staff. "If you can't beat me fast enough as well, Yue and Kero will lose all of their power. They won't be able to exist anymore and will be absorbed into your staff and they can never leave it." Sakura gasped, dropped her staff, and ran beside the two guardians. "Kero! Yue! Are you all right?" Kero nodded. "Just. exhausted. Don't worry about us." Yue grunted, "Don't. worry, Mistress. Just finish the battle. You can."
Sakura started to cry, but she clenched her fist and stood up, determined.
"I will win." Tomoyo-chan smiled, seeing Sakura's resolve. "Ganbatte, Sakura-chan."
Sakura picked up the staff and grabbed two cards from her pocket. "Eriol, Clow, whoever you are, I can't let you harm the world like this, even if it will prove who fights Koji."
"O, cards that Clow has made, I command you to lose your form and be born again under your new master, Sakura! LIGHT! DARK!"
The two cards floated above Sakura's head. Slowly, from the bottom, light flashed and moved up the cards. Half of them remained Clow Cards, the other became Sakura Cards. The tempest wind blew with horrible aggression with no signs of stopping. It only increased in strength as Sakura concentrated all her might into the Staff. But it was no use. Try as she might, the cards would not fully change.
"You have 30 minutes until dawn, Sakura. How can you expect to beat someone who is learning to bend and morph time and space at his will when you can't even change two cards? You can't beat your own problems. If you want to continue on, give me all you have!"
Images of Fujitaka, Touya, her friends, Meiling, and all the others, asleep, filled her mind. She imagined Kero and Yue being sucked into the staff, never to return. She realized if she didn't do everything she possibly could, she'd never see them again. She had to give it her all. She had to! Failure was not a possibility!
Sweat dripped from her forehead as Sakura exhausted every ounce of her power. the Cards slowly began to transform even more. but it was still not enough. She was only ¾ of the way there when it stopped again. "NO! I CAN'T QUIT! I have to fight Koji. For. Syaoran." "One minute left."
"Sakura. you can do it. I know you can." "S-Syaoran? Is. I must be hearing things." Sakura felt a warm touch caress her body and she felt more relaxed. At the same time, she could feel more energy coursing through her veins. "Sakura, just do it. I know you can. And I still love you." Sakura's cheeks reddened. It felt as if someone was holding her, donating his or her power. "Alright. for. Syaoran. GRRRRR." Sakura strained even harder and a blinding light took over the Cards and they completely transformed.
"LIGHT! Defeat my foe!" A golden woman of light rose from the card and flew directly at Eriol, who stood smiling on the ground. When Light reached him, the world around them all was blinding. When it dimmed again, tiny dots of golden light were moving around the world. As it caressed Meiling's face, the young Chinese Li began to awaken slowly.
Eriol smiled. "Well done, Sakura. You've proven yourself worthy not only to be the one to face Koji, but to be the one worthy of the title, 'Mistress of the Clow.' Congratulations."
Sakura's eyes filled with tears. "I. I did it. YATTA! YATTA! YATTA!* (I did it)" Tomoyo began to cry, too. "Sakura-chan, you've done it! I knew you could! I always knew!" She leapt into Sakura's arms and they hugged. Meiling was now getting up from her slumbering state. "Huh? Where am I? What's going on?" Kero stood up perfectly fine. He never appeared stronger before. Kero helped the fallen girl up and carried her over to Sakura with a smile. "You did it, Sakura. I always knew you could. Congratulations!"
Sakura fell to the ground and started to cry profusely. "Sakura, what's wrong?" asked Tomoyo. Sakura lifted her head and smiled the biggest, warmest smile of her life. "Nothing is wrong. Everything is right. Because. because. SYAORAN-KUN IS ALIVE!" Sakura lunged at Tomoyo and tackled her with a giant hug, crying with happiness. Tomoyo smoothed Sakura's hair and smiled. "I'm so happy!"
Meiling's eyes lit up as well. "He's. alive.? But. how?! We saw him disappear!" Sakura shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not sure where he is. but he's alive." She curled up into a ball by hugging her legs in a seated position and she stared up into the clouds. "But he was here. Holding me. I could feel him. And. he's alive."
Eriol leapt down from the gate and walked over. "You have won, Sakura. You shall be the one to face Koji." Sakura looked up and shook her head. "You're coming along, too, Eriol. It's better to have lots of friends to fight than just one. We'll need your help. I'm sure of it." Eriol nodded pleasantly. "If that is how you feel, I shall accompany you anywhere. As will my companions." Spinel and Ruby Moon bowed as well. Sakura's cheeks reddened as she smiled. She stretched her arms out and laughed. "This is my day!" She could even feel the burst of magic energy flowing through her at its strongest ever. Kero returned to his smaller form and floated down onto her shoulder. "You did great today, Sakura. But you must be tired, so let's just get you home to rest."
Sakura smiled and said, "It's okay, Kero. I'm not that tired. I think I can. just. last." That's when she passed out in exhaustion in Tomoyo's lap.
Upon her awakening, she found her older brother staring her in the face once more, still in his younger form, so she couldn't have been out for more than a day. "You still are a monster, you know that, Sakura?" She sat up in her own bed, as usual. She petted her brother on the head and stared him down. "You know, you were loud enough just walking in here to wake someone who's been unconscious. I think that makes YOU the monster." Touya waved his arms around. "I AM NOT THE MONSTER!" He pointed at her and said, "You promised that you'd call me in case anything bad happened, and you didn't!" Sakura sighed. "I'm sorry. I really am.I didn't expect anything wrong to happen. We were only going to the park. And. well. Did you suddenly fall asleep by any chance?" Touya nodded. "I suddenly remember waking up in the kitchen with a pile of broken dishes. I thought it had to do with you." Sakura laughed. "Gomen. it wasn't my idea, I assure you, and we're safe. for now. Koji wasn't there."
She hopped out of bed and rubbed her eyes. As she opened the door, Tomoyo- chan was there with a breakfast tray for her. "I heard you were awake, so I brought you up some breakfast, and I left you some clean clothes in the bathroom for your bath." Sakura took the tray and smiled back. "Thank you, and good morning!" Tomoyo smiled back. "You seem to be in a very pleasant mood this morning." Sakura closed her eyes and laughed. "How could I not be? I transformed all the cards, for once, I'm bigger than my brother, and my Syaoran is alive!" Sakura's eyes acted more like Tomoyo's as they began to sparkle at the thought of how wonderful this all was. She hardly noticed Tomoyo with the same glazed, starry stare from behind a camcorder, filming this all.
Touya stepped out of Sakura's room, carrying her laundry with him to be done, (and the pile was nearly as big as he was. All together now: One. two. three. KAWAII!) when he noticed the two girls standing blankly in the hall, both staring out into nothingness, causing the air to sparkle with incredible brilliance. ".I don't think I even want to know." He stepped downstairs, with a sweat drop rolling down the back of his head.
Sakura was the first to snap out of her trance and notice Tomoyo. She quickly pressed against the wall, spilling a little tea from the tray on the floor. "T-Tomoyo, what are you doing?" Her cheeks reddened greatly. "I just had to tape this! The way you said 'MY Syaoran.' It was just too romantic and beautiful." She held her video recorder to her chest and continued to zone out. "I must record all of my dear Sakura-chan's lovely moments on video!" Sakura just laughed nervously with a sweat drop and blushed worse. "Ummm. Errr. T-T-Tomoyo-chan. Oh! What I meant. was. ummm. Say, wait a minute; didn't you want to tape me last night? That's a rare occasion when you don't." Tomoyo smiled and waved one finger in the air. "Don't you worry, I knew I had to support you, so I put my new, experimental camera in a tree branch, set to follow you and all your movements! Now I can make it into a great music video!" Sakura started to get worried and slowly worked her way back to her room, thanking Tomoyo for the food, but trying not to make things any weirder.
After a hearty breakfast and cleaning her room, she headed to the bathroom. A minute later, she floated in the water along with Kero-chan. The little guardian floated by and said, "Ah, you seem to be in a good mood today." Sakura nodded. "Of course I am! Syaoran is alive! I know it!" Kero leaned against the side of tub and thought. "Well, that's good, but do you know where he is?" Sakura pondered for a moment and said, "I'm not sure.. But. all I can think of is he disappeared in that giant sphere made of Time Magic, which is the same thing Koji did. So, wherever Koji is, Syaoran might be there, too. Maybe it's one of those 'alternate dimension' things like Eriol talked about. I'm just not sure. how to get there." Kero floated to Sakura and patted her on the head. "It's all right. If you say you felt his presence last night, I'm sure he's fine. We can find some way to get him back." Sakura smiled and hugged Kero. "Thanks a lot."
Sakura leaned over to grab the shampoo and began to lather her hair. It had grown and took a lot more work to do. Suddenly, there came a knock on the bathroom door. "I'm in here," Sakura noted. "Sakura, it's Mia. I need to relay a message." "Okay, what is it," asked the bathing Mistress. "Eriol is over at his house and he says he thinks he might know a way to find Syaoran. HE says you can meet him there later and-" Sakura grabbed a towel, the door swung open, interrupting Mia, and Sakura bolted by so fast Mia's dress blew around as if she were in a hurricane. A sweat drop rolled down Mia's head. "That was fast."
"Oh, Sakura, I take it you heard the news?" Tomoyo asked as Sakura was out on the front lawn. The speeding girl came to a quick stop. Sakura nodded. "Hai! I wanted to get over there as soon as possible." Tomoyo giggled, "Still, you may wish to put some clothes on if you want to be formal." Sakura looked down and realized she was wrapped in only a towel while standing in a snow bank that had not yet fully melted as the effects of Koji's sun-energy absorbing amulet had not worn off. Her hair was still dripping and lathered with shampoo. A few friends of hers from school, namely Chiharu and Naoko, were staring with sweat drops rolling down their heads. Sakura's face turned red as a tomato and she quickly walked into the house. "I guess I was just in a bit of a hurry." She said with a nervous laugh to her friend as she entered her house. Tomoyo just smiled and resumed reading her book in the sunlight. "And best of all, when Sakura leaves, I have the perfect new outfit to wear to rescue her Li-kun!" Chiharu and Naoko walked on still confused. "That cousin of Sakura's is sure weird," muttered Chiharu. "I hope Sakura returns soon."
Fujitaka stood in the hallway as Sakura came back in. "Did you forget these?" He held out her clothes and smiled. Sakura blushed. "Errr. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a little absent-minded today. Thank you, dad." She hugged him and headed upstairs. Fujitaka sat back down at the table and sipped his tea. "Daidouji-san was right. Young love is so cute, if a bit absent-minded. Such memories."
Sakura finished drying off, got dressed, and headed downstairs. "Sakura- chan! You look so wonderful!" commented Tomoyo. Sakura was dressed up in a tan skirt to her knees with a matching sleeveless vest over a white turtleneck. Her hair was straight down to her shoulders with a red headband with a white wing near the ear. "Thanks, Tomoyo! You look nice, too." Tomoyo was in a light blue pair of jeans with a violet sweater. Her hair was braided with a purple band. "Thank you, Sakura. I take it you were on your way to Eriol-kun's house?" Sakura nodded. "I am. I can't wait! Let's go! .But hold on a minute. Where's Mia?" Tomoyo smiled. "That's a secret! You'll know in a little bit! Oh, and one more thing. you might want to look in a mirror for a second." "Hoe?" Sakura turned to look in the mirror on the wall and saw her hair was still lathered. "HOEEE!" She quickly ran upstairs to the bathroom, and came down a minute later. "Gomen, Tomoyo. My head isn't on straight lately." Tomoyo giggled. "It's okay, Sakura-chan."
They stepped outside the house and started to walk down the street when Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait, keep going without me, Tomoyo. I'll meet up with you in a second!" She quickly turned around, much to Tomoyo's surprise, and ran inside. But as per Sakura's request, Tomoyo continued to walk. "Where's she going?" Kero asked, poking his head out of Tomoyo's bag. "I'm not sure," answered Tomoyo.
Whir. Whir.
Sakura's new roller blades rattled against the concrete as she rounded the corner and came alongside Tomoyo. "Ah, there you are, Sakura. What were. oh, I see." She smiled. Sakura had Li-kun's old hat on her head. "I wanted to bring it for good luck," she said. "That was a good idea." A minute later, they arrived at Eriol's large house.
When they approached the front door, they reached for the handle when it opened on its own and a familiar face smiled back at them. "Kaho-sensei!" Sakura yelled in surprise. "Hello, Sakura. Come in. Everyone's expecting you in the living room."
She led them down the hall to a large room beside a fireplace. In one corner Spinel sat on a pillow, reading. Kero popped out of Tomoyo's bag and flew over to him and started to talk (though it was not too long before an argument began with them). Meiling sat napping against the wall beside them, but woke up when Sakura entered. Nakuru leaned up against a wall, talking with Kaho as she entered. But on one sofa, next to Eriol, was Mia. They both stand up. "Ah, Sakura, how nice of you to join us. Please, sit down. Would you care for some tea?" She nodded, as did Tomoyo. "Just wait here a minute. Yue should be coming, too. I've already sent for him just a few minutes ago, and I've never known him to be late." Sure enough, as Eriol prepared some tea, Yue walked through the door. In actuality, Spinel had only arrived a few minutes beforehand as well. He had gone looking for Yukito, who was in the park. Spinel allowed him a few minutes to wrap up his plans before making him come.
Eriol came back in and placed a tray of drinks down. He sat down, smiled, and asked Sakura, "So, tell me, how do you feel today?" Sakura brightly smiled and closed her eyes. "Wonderful! I don't know why, but I just feel a lot more power, too. And after hearing you had some sort of surprise. well, how could I not be feeling wonderful?" "Indeed," Eriol stated, placing his cup back down. "But let's get down to business, shall we?" Sakura nodded. Kaho sat down beside Eriol and wrapped her arm around Eriol's neck. "The plan is," she said, "we will track down where Koji is, and use Tomoyo to open a gate to wherever he is."
Meiling looked on and just asked, "Daidouji-san will?" Tomoyo turned her head and gave an unsure glance. "Me? How can I help? I don't have any powers of my own. I can only borrow powers for a time." Eriol shook hi head. "That's not entirely true. For you don't seem to realize the immense power fate has given to you. You have yet to see its true form." Sakura looked just as confused, if not more so than Tomoyo. "What do you mean by true form?" Eriol approached Tomoyo and asked her, "May I see your necklace?" She nodded, unhooked it, and handed it to him. "This, the Legendary Angel's Medallion is quite well known to many a person with magic. It has far more power than Tomoyo has been using." Tomoyo looked puzzled. "More power? You mean, it just doesn't borrow power to use?" Eriol shook his head. "There goes a legend with this glowing stone." He stared deeply into the crimson stone. "Mia explained to me what she knows about it, but she's not entirely right. You see, while it does absorb the powers of other forces, it does not accept any use for evil. Also, it does have power, and the power of the absorbed serves only as an activation of the magic." Tomoyo stared at the necklace. "Really? I've had more powers than I thought, but then how do I use them?" Kaho shook her head. "We're not quite sure, yet. We think it must have to come deep inside the wearer. Since you have the most experience wearing this, we're going to let you keep it and use it. But now, let's explain the rest of our plan. Mia?" A short, 8-year- old sat beside Sakura and began to concentrate. "Sakura, you see, as I have been using that tracking spell to locate Koji all this time, I've learned to track him a little better each time. With a little boost from Eriol's power, I'm having an easier time tracking him anywhere. I hope to get a lock on him soon."
Sakura looked a bit worried. "Excuse me, I'm not so great with these things, but. We're going to have Mia lock on to Koji wherever he is. but how does this involve that Angel's Medallion?" Eriol simply pointed to Sakura's Sakura Cards. "Take them out, and let me demonstrate.
"Guys, I think I have something. I can. see Koji in my mind. He's. in Tomoeda.. But it's not THIS Tomoeda. It's another." Eriol smirked. "Just as I thought. Now, just keep that the way it is. Okay, Tomoyo, transform with this." He handed the necklace back to her and she fastened it around her neck. Eriol placed his hand to it and a wave of blue magic moved into it. Tomoyo suddenly flashed again and became her angel form. "Now, Tomoyo, I need you to feel deep down. See if you can sense a deep power in you. Feel it in the jewel. Release it."
Tomoyo closed her eyes and searched. She concentrated all she could. "I. I think I can feel it. I. I've got it." Suddenly, the girl glowed once more. When it faded, she now had a halo and a sort of staff in her hands, not unlike Sakura's. Only this staff was a pale, light blue with a light pink heart at the base. "What. is this?" "I'll explain in a minute. Now, Sakura, have you got the cards out?" She nodded. "Good. Tomoyo, sit in front of the deck. We're going to do some fortune telling."
No one quite understood what Eriol was getting at, but no one dared question him, either. "Assemble the cards around you in a star pattern of 20 cards." Tomoyo did so. "Now, take the top card on the highest peak and the very center card and turn them over." She did that as well.
"Time. and. Through?" Eriol. "Exactly." Sakura just stared at them and looked confused. "Time and Through? What do those mean?" Kero floated down. "Well, I've never done a fortune with Sakura Cards before, so I'm not sure what it means, either. Maybe." Tomoyo held the two cards up. "Wait, I think I know what it means!" "Hoeee? You do?" Sakura looked even more lost. Tomoyo whispered something to Eriol and he whispered back. "Okay, I'll give it a try."
Tomoyo stepped away towards the fire and held the two cards in her left hand. She held her new staff in the right. The heart on the end began to glow. She slowly lifted the Through Card and chanted, "Powers to move through all." She lifted the Time Card. "Take us through Time and Space to another world! COMBINE!" The two cards in her hands suddenly flashed and fused into one, blue card, "Dimension Gate." Kero, Sakura, and Meiling stood in shock. "Is that a new type of Card?!" Kero asked. "A. Tomoyo Card?!" Tomoyo seemed a bit shocked herself. "I. I guess it is," she stuttered. Eriol smiled. "Just as I thought. You can take the power of others, and fuse them with your own power. But it is only temporary, so, quick, use it!" The angel nodded. "I've always wanted to do something like this, just like my Sakura-chan!" A sweat drop rolled down Sakura's head.
Tomoyo threw the card overhead. "DIMENSION GATE CARD! RELEASE! TAKE US TO THE WORLD IN MIA'S MIND!"
A great swirling light appeared behind her, where the fire was seconds ago and it pulled Tomoyo through. Eriol laughed. "I knew it would work. Now, to get that Koji." HE leapt through as well, followed by Nakuru, Kaho, Spinnel, Kero, and Yue. Meiling smiled. "Hold on, Shaoran, I'm coming!" She jumped through as well. Sakura gabbed Syaoran's hat and smiled. "Wait for me, Syaoran. I'm coming, and I won't rest until I find you! I have to let you know how I feel. So just hold on!" She leapt through the portal, which soon snapped shut and the fireplace remained where it was, crackling with the flaming wood.
To be continued.