Sakura
Kinomoto curled up in the corner of her room sobbing.
She wished desperately hat the time card could take her back two years ago,
back when her father hadn't re-married to the blond witch other wise known as
Rebecca. Back when she wasn't forced to move away from Li Syaoran,
her best friend. Back when she hadn't met David Hynh,
the dirty, cheating, two-timing liar other known as her boyfriend, of whom she
had seen kissing another girl ten minutes prior.
Sakura automatically reached for the
magical diary Syaoran had given her but didn't find
it. Then she remembered that she'd left it at Sanderson Park in Tokyo, at the secret clubhouse
her cousin Ami had showed her on Sakura's last visit from Tokyo.
I hope no one took it, Sakura thought, wiping at her watery green eyes, but she
knew no one would be able to open it other than herself and Syaoran,
wherever he was now.
The diary only opened when the
pendant Syaoran had given was placed onto the diary
in the correct position. The pendant was a plain black sphere that changed into
a magnificent sword after being summoned with magic.
Sakura wore it with a pink key that had a star surrounded by a pink circle and
wings, which turned into a staff. That was one of the signs that she was the clow mistress, the most powerful sorceress in the world.
The other was the actual clow cards themselves.
The cards and Kero,
the guardian beast of the seal, had shown up a few years after Sakura and Syaoran had met. Syaoran had
helped her capture the cards through thick and thin, almost dying, but never
giving up and always protecting her from getting hurt. The day before Sakura
had moved, Syaoran had given her the diary along with
the pendant. She hadn't given her address then, thinking that she would have
the chance later. Her thought proved wrong when, about a month later, she had
called, finding out that he had also moved.
More tears formed in her eyes and she
curled up into a tighter ball. "Oh Syaoran-kun," she
whispered, sobbing. "Where are you?"
Syaoran
climbed up the ladder to the hidden tree house he and his friends had found,
only to find a vaguely familiar navy blue diary with pale, yellow stars and a
moon on it. Furrowing his eyebrows, he studied the book closely. A familiar
aura radiated from it. His instincts told him to put the pendant he wore around
his neck to the diary, so he did. The diary unlocked and slowly opened to the
first page, where he saw his own handwriting. He read it aloud softly, "Dear
Sakura, I hope you will always remember your best friends wherever you are.
Keep your thoughts written in this. Only you and I can open it so don't worry
about it. Love, your best friend, Syaoran."
He couldn't believe it. Sakura was
here earlier. But how? And where was she now? He heard
his friends climbing up the ladder so he quickly closed the diary, turning it
invisible, and put his pendant back around his neck.
"What's with the
face Li-kun? You look like you just saw a ghost," Andrew Le, one of his
friends, asked.
"Oh, nothing."
Syaoran shook his head slowly. None of his friends
were allowed to call him by his first name. He knew they thought it was weird,
but it was only then that Sakura was the only one who called him by the first
name other than his gigantic family.
"You sure?"
Ami Tran was sceptical. "You're really pale."
"Really," Syaoran
insisted. He changed the subject, hoping that they would drop it. They wouldn't
understand. "Why'd you call us here, Ami-chan?"
"I need help moving my stuff out of
my room. My cousin's moving in," Ami replied softly.
"Which one?" Andrew
asked, curious.
"The only one you met," she answered her best
friend.
"Why?" Andrew asked.
"She didn't like her life there," Ami answered
softly. "She missed her life in Hong Kong and she hates her
step-family."
"Why do you have to get your stuff out f your
room?"
"We're expanding the room, since it's in the
basement so she can fit all of her stuff in it."
"You would like her, Li-kun," Jin, Ami's twin
brother, said.
"No one could possibly hate her," Meiko Takashi, Jin's girlfriend, agreed. "She's just too
nice."
"Except that wicked step-mother of hers,"
Andrew added.
"Except her," Ami said reluctantly. She turned
to Syaoran, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Penny for your thoughts, Li-kun?"
That seemed to snap Syaoran out of his thoughts. She smiled at him and said,
"Funny, but it seems like you're the only one here that hasn't met my cousin,
Li-kun."
Syaoran just
shrugged. He felt no need for meeting Ami's cousin, nice or not. All he cared
about right now was to find where Sakura had disappeared to for the past two
years.
"I hope she's gonna
try out for the cheerleading squad this year. We need a good captain. Our squad
sucks, " Meiko commented.
Ami nodded. "So, is everyone free
for the next few hours? They're starting to build tomorrow morning after we
leave for school."
Everyone nodded. "Oh yeah," Ami
said, laughing sheepishly. "I almost forgot. Does anyone have any spare room
for two girls and a dog to crash for the week? You know we don't have a
guestroom."
Andrew shook his head regretfully.
"You know I would if I could but my great-uncle is coming over the day after tomorrow.
I'm sorry, Ami-chan."
"I already live with you," Meiko
added.
"I guess my mom would let you guys." Syaoran sighed, knowing that they would've ganged up on him
anyway.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ami
said enthusiastically. "And Li-kun, maybe you'll actually like her."
Syaoran
didn't care. All that mattered was finding Sakura. He could care less about Ami's
cousin. Little did he know, his problem was soon going to be solved.
Sakura wished she had someone to hug
but Kero, her guardian beast, was sleeping in his
teddy-bear form, and Starlight, her faithful dog, was
lounging in the livingroom. Sighing, she tried to
stop her tears but to no avail. They just poured out anyway.
Suddenly, the door opened and revealed
Sakura's father He stopped at the door, looking at her curled up on her bed.
"Honey, what's wrong?" he asked once he saw Sakura crying.
Sakura just cried even harder. He
crossed the room to her bed as Sakura began to explain everything about not
having someone to confide in; how she saw David kissing another girl; how she
missed Syaoran.
He patted Sakura on the shoulder
awkwardly, sad. "Well, I seem to have a solution for all of that," he said
softly, almost regretfully. "I know how much you seem to hate it here so you
can move to Ami-san's house tomorrow. I already made
all the plans. Just like you always wanted."
Sakura looked up at her father curiously, tears still streaming down her face.
"How's moving to Tomoeda gonna
solve never being able to see Syaoran again?" she
asked.
He winked. "You'll see," was all he
said.
"Can I start school there tomorrow morning
than? I really don't feel like seeing David ever again," Sakura pleaded, giving
puppy-dog eyes.
"I don't see why not," he replied. "Why don't
you start packing then?"
Sakura nodded slowly. "Thank you, Daddy. I'm going to miss you."
Sakura stepped out of the silver
Porsche convertible and stared at Tokyo High School, taking a deep breath and
walking into the building. She walked to the familiar office, noting that
nothing had changed since the last time she had been her from Hong Kong, visiting Ami.
She could feel a vaguely familiar aura radiating from one of the classrooms, but ignored it. It was just her mind's wishful thinking.
Syaoran
sat at his desk, deep in thought. Why had Sakura's diary suddenly pop up out of
nowhere after all this time? Where was Sakura? He ran his fingers gently over
the smooth leather surface of the diary, frowning.
"Class, we have a student in our class. Please
welcome Sakura to the school," the teacher, Ms. Tang, said, failing to
penetrate through Syaoran's deep thoughts. "I believe
she is Ami-san's and Jin-kun's
cousin. Please tell us about yourself, Sakura-san."
"Well, as Ms. Tang said, I'm Ami-chan's and Jin-kun's cousin. I
was originally from Japan and was in Beijing for the pass two years. I
was on the track team and the cheerleading squad back in Japan and Beijing."
"Then I guess we'll see you at the
cheerleading tryouts this afternoon," Ms. Tang commented. "Now
where to put you. Hmm." Her eyes scanned the class
and focussed on Ami. "You can sit beside Ami."
"Thank you, sensei," Sakura said. As Sakura
passed Syaoran, who was deep in thought, she felt his
aura. It was a deep green in colour and was quite powerful. But that wasn't
what had caught Sakura's attention. The aura was gentle and frighteningly
familiar. It felt like Syaoran's, but it couldn't
beā¦could it?" Her eyes darted to his neck as she sat down between him and Ami.
She could see the pendant that was identical to hers. It was him. That's what her father had meant yesterday. He knew Syaoran was here all along!
