A/N: Okay, I just want to apologize for getting this chapter out late. There's been a death in my family, and I haven't really been in the mood to type. Not to mention my stupid brother hogging the computer. But then, that's life, right? So, here it is, finally.
Wrong Number- Ch 5
My life's confused
and I try to strum my foot today
My mind's abused
All the stars forever stray
"I'm the last person you'll ever see." His word echoed in my head, bouncing back and forth, back and forth, and my head felt like it was being spilt in half. But how could I have a headache? Unless he had something to do with it . . . the look on his face would suggest that.
I fell to my knees, clutching my head. The tension was building. Soon I wouldn't be able to keep it all in. I had to let it out somehow. If I didn't, I was sure my head would explode. I had no idea what to do, and the pressure was increasing. I just wanted to run, like I always have, but I couldn't, I had to get rid of this burden that was trying to kill me. I couldn't keep it in anymore, and a scream burst from my lips. This seemed to have triggered the release of everything that had built up, and it exploded from me, a roaring pink flame. The force was so great I hurtled backwards, but there was no end. I was never going to crash to a painful stop. I would just keep going. Forever.
My scream was all that I could hear as I fell.
With a sickening crunch I smashed into the wall opposite my bed. The door flew open, nearly flying off its hinges.
"Sakura!" How did he know my name? Did I know him? Oh yes, the doctor.
"Sakura!" That was definitely Tomoyo. The pitch was enough to bring back memories of that splitting, literally, headache. Where had I been, anyway? Was it all a dream? But that man . . . why couldn't I remember who he was?!?!?!?! What was wrong with my memory? Think Sakura, think!
Murderer!
He killed my mother!
Why didn't I kill him when I had the chance? That had been my world, I'd had the advantage, what had stopped me? Oh yeah. Memory loss.
"Are you okay? That sounded terrible! I'm so sorry! We didn't know until you nearly knocked him over with the power you sent out! Oh my–" What was she talking about? I looked at my surroundings: I was on the floor. How did I get there again? Did I really slide down that wall? Wow.
"And– Are you listening?" She finally seemed to realized that the glazed look in my eyes was not from tears.
I groaned. "Ow . . ."
"I guess we really can't leave you alone for more than five minutes, huh?" I looked up ready to attempt a glare at whoever had dared utter that, only to find myself staring into those amber eyes I had gotten to know so well.
He was real?
"I'm okay, Tomoyo." I shook my head, trying to clear the fogginess that hung over everything. "I'll just need a few more band-aids." I smiled weakly at her, praying she would take my pathetic attempt at a joke as a sign that I was really okay and she could leave me alone. No such luck.
"Oh, no you don't," she wagged her finger at me accusingly, "You're not pretending that you're okay this time. I've fallen for that little stunt enough to know not to believe you." Darn
I puffed out my cheeks and blew, sending the hair in front of my face flying.
"Fine." I pouted like a little kid and crossed my arms stubbornly. "I want food and water and a blanket and a pillow and an explanation."
"Whatever you say, but I'm not leaving you alone," she warned, "They can go get it. I am staying right here with you and making sure you don't go disappearing on us again." Like she could do anything if he came back. But I didn't say anything.
The two guys turned to leave and I yelled after them, "I want pancakes with maple syrup and butter and apple juice." As an afterthought I added, "The juice is on the side!" Satisfied that I had made myself clear, I settled back against the wall, ready to hear whatever Tomoyo had to say. But, sadly, it was not to be.
She started tugging on my sheets, trying to make them perfect, before reaching down and tugging on me. I didn't quite understand at first, and all I could do was stare at her blankly. Did you know she has the most beautiful amethyst eyes? They're so pretty. And they go perfectly with her dark, dark hair and her pale, pale skin. She usually is the one that's trying to get me into 'decent' clothing, as she puts it. But a mini and a tank make it really hard to do stuff, you know? Like kicking someone and running away really, really fast, for example. So I usually just run when she gets that look in her eye. You know the one.
And she happened to look that way just then, except she wasn't smiling happily with a twinkle in her eye this time. Oh no, she was looking just plain evil if you ask me. She knew I couldn't run, and my bloody and disgusting clothing was a perfect excuse for her to get me dressed in something else.
"Please, Tomoyo, I'm, um, hurt, and I don't think I can, um, do anything but sleep, and um, eat." I stumbled over my words, trying to get out of what I knew to be inevitable. I faked a cough. "You know, I really think I should just, um, rest. Right here. Without doing anything first, I mean." By that point I had really given up hope of ever getting out of the situation I was in, but I figured it was worth a shot. There's no harm in trying, right?
"No." That's all she said. She didn't even bother looking at me, but just kept right on making my bed and proceeding to go through the chest I hadn't noticed before. I groaned and slid even further down, until almost all of me was parallel to the ground. In that chest was the beginning of my end.
The Chest of Doom.
"Please, Tomoyo, have mercy," I put on my best set of puppy eyes, "I'll do anything you want, just please," I paused for dramatic affect (A/N: or is it effect? I can never figure out the difference) and sniffed really loudly, like I was on the verge of hysterics, "don't pick the clothes." My voice was kind of like one of those fake-scary voices, but you have to understand where I'm coming from. Think pink and orange, itchy and poufy, bows and chains, and you'll be pretty close.
Now, I think I gave a totally awesome performance, one that at least deserved some sort of recognition, but did I get any? No. Unless you count Tomoyo shaking her head slightly, and if you looked really closely, it sort of looked like she was trying to suppress her laughter, but other than that– nothing. Talk about no mercy.
Just then, she turned around, whipping the clothing in my face, as if to say, 'Ha! You couldn't stop me!'
I won't horrify you with all the gory details, but I will say that just because I didn't beat Tomoyo to a pulp when she tried to get me into a silk . . . dress . . . thing, doesn't mean I will be so forgiving to others, just keep that in mind, all you fashion designers-to-be.
"Tomoyo, if you come any closer with that- that thing, I swear, I- I'll do that moving . . . thing!" I threatened, wagging my finger at her, trying to inch my way, slowly but surely, to the door.
She rolled her eyes. "Come on, dressing nicely for once will not kill you!" Her face was turning kind of pink, and I was really starting worry about her health. But oh well; I was getting pretty close to the door. Any second now . . . and I'd be free!
"Yes it will!" I insisted, trying to keep her distracted. "Remember that time you put me in those platform shoe thingys and I tripped down the stairs and broke my ankle and then I tried to get up but I couldn't, so I fell back down and broke my wrist? I could have died because of those stupid shoes!"
She looked at me, clearly exasperated. "You tried over the bag you put there."
"But if I had been in normal shoes, they wouldn't have gotten caught in the strap," I pointed out. Just a couple more inches . . . and I was free!
Ignoring the heavy cast weighting me down, I pushed off from the wall and, tucking myself into as best a ball I could, I rolled about twenty feet away, stopping just before I took a tumble down the stairs. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tomoyo burst from my room, and without a further thought, I proceeded to slide down the flight of stairs, using my cast as a sled of sorts. I have no shame when I say that I was thoroughly enjoying my little personal roller-coaster ride, especially when I had to grab hold of a pole from the banister itself to swing myself around one of those landings; you know, the ones that change the direction of the staircase so you can squeeze more steps into a smaller space. That is, I was, until I sensed someone coming up the long fight of stairs, so I did the only thing I could think of: I jumped.
Using my good leg, I sort of pushed off a step, relying on my momentum to get me high enough to propel me over the banister of the landing that I was rapidly approaching. When I was close enough (by now I was airborne), I grabbed hold of the banister and used my arms facilitate my flight. Even with that extra pull, though, my cast barely made it over with me, and I remembered just in time to twist my foot so it wouldn't get caught.
As I was flying through the air, I was relived to see that the area just below the landing was one of those huge sitting rooms with lots of gigantic, squishy sofas. I wondered not for the first time just how big this 'mountain retreat' of Tomoyo's was.
Unfortunately, my luck wasn't enough to have sent me into the air perfectly aimed at the biggest couch, so I had to twist and kick a little to get myself into a position that would end up on the couch but would survive if I happened to roll off. I realized half-way down that my current speed wouldn't allow me to simply thump into a perfect landing on the couch– I was going to have to figure out another way of landing without killing myself. So when I finally hit the couch (and when I say hit, I mean hit), I shifted my position to ensure that the resulting bounce would land me on the armchair a couple of feet away.
But by that time, I wasn't ready to give up on this game I was playing, so I sprung off the armchair the second I made contact, this time grabbing a pillow as I went. Throwing it to the ground with a flick of my wrist, much like tossing a frisbee, I hopped on and slid across the hardwood floor on one leg.
Until I ran into the one person not watching my escapades from the stairway with an open mouth. Him. The one with the amber eyes. Shivering, I almost considered giving up, in favor of finding out who he was, but decided against it. After all, how did I know I could trust this man? No matter what he had ever done for me, he was a stranger, and of strangers I must always be wary.
I gave no conscious thought to my actions then, I just did what I felt I had to do: I jumped into that alternate dimension, the one where my broken leg did not matter, and ran. This time, I had no real destination, so I didn't skip around from place to place, although I did tend to go running between the two dimensions quite a bit, which was kind of weird. Like one time, I was running along a hallway, straight towards a wall, since I had found that I could pass quite easily through them if I wanted to. But this time, whatever had control over which dimension I was in decided that I needed some time back in the 'real world', so instead of running into the room behind the wall, I ended up running smack into the wall, at top speed, and was immobilized for a number of seconds while I tried to figure out which way was up.
By the time I figured it out, I was already back in that other dimension, so it didn't really matter anyway. I suppose it must have looked slightly odd to Tomoyo and everyone else to see me popping up all over the place, running at top speed, tripping, then disappearing again. Oh well.
All that really matters is that I somehow ended up outside, but I didn't stop running, oh no. I was completely caught up in the moment and nothing could stop me now. I kept going until I reached a little park down the road. I was so shocked when I saw the first sign of civilization that I halted to a stop and was jerked into the 'real' world. I stumbled a little with my cast, but I recovered. My cast held almost none of my attention, though, I was too busy staring at the children.
They were playing. Laughing. Like I never had. Like I never would.
I had never realized until that moment just how much more mature I was than anyone my age was supposed to be. I had seen more, felt more than a 16 year old should have to deal with. It wasn't fair. I have never done anything to deserve all the pain I've had to go through. But then again, I would not wish my burdens upon another. I know I can handle it. I know I'm strong enough.
And I should be, after so many years . . .
So, Tomoyo was related to me all along. Why didn't she ever tell me? I suppose there is the slight chance that she never knew . . . but that's unlikely. All those times we were together, she never mentioned a thing. Vaguely, I wondered how many of the children in front of me would have to grow up to face horrible realities. Making my way to a nearby bench, I found myself wishing I could protect all the children in front of me from any and all harm.
But I knew that was impossible. You can only shield the ones you love so much. After awhile, you're just putting them in danger of becoming the victim of the less innocent.
I wish I still was innocent. But how, when I've seen so much, felt so much pain and sorrow. I wish I were still the way I used to be, naive and trusting. I used to think that everyone could be trusted, if you just gave them a chance. If only.
I sighed, and looked to the sky. It would be raining soon. I love the rain. It falls whenever it pleases, regardless of what anyone says. Such power is held in those seemingly vaporous. When I can, I sit out in the rain and let the clouds cry the tears I didn't know how to; I let the drops wash over me, cleansing me of everything that had gone wrong.
But I hate when it rains. There are times when I See nothing, but every time it rains, I See. In every droplet that falls, I See. There are no limits to what past I See. It drives me crazy.
But sitting in that park, I knew that I wouldn't mind when the droplets began to fall; actually, I was hoping to see something that would explain why I was suddenly so sure that I would be able to control what I saw. Or why I could suddenly move through dimensions and shoot fire.
I don't know how long I sat there, looking up at the darkening sky, just thinking. But the next thing I knew, cold drops were falling, rudely awakening me from my thoughts. Everyone had left except for me, and everything was eerily silent. The steadily increasing rain was no help either. Within seconds I was beginning to feel the water soak through my bloody sweat pants. I did nothing to stop this, however, and only looked dead ahead, commanding the rain (that was now coming down in sheets) to show me why my mother was killed.
Something told me everything started with my mother, and I always listened to my gut. But I saw nothing. Typical. The one time I actually want to See, I can't.
"Kind of a wet place to sit, don't you think?" asked a voice to my right. Purely out of reflex, my right elbow jabbed and my left fist swung around in the approximate position of the speaker's nose. To my surprise, I felt both my arms stopped abruptly, and I found myself facing those amber eyes.
"Sorry." With a quick twist and a jerk, both my arms were free. "Who are you?"
"Call me Li."
"What do you want?" I didn't mean to sound rude, but it kind of came out shortly.
"To get you out of the rain so you can finally eat those pancakes I worked so hard microwaving for you."
I looked in his eyes and saw nothing but sincerity. "Fine." Why shouldn't I trust him? He had done nothing but help me before. Besides, if he tried anything, all I had to do was think myself away and I was gone. I looked around, trying to locate his mode of transportation. But there was nothing there. I blinked, thinking that some rain drops had found their way into my eyes, and when I opened them a split second later, I was standing in what I assumed to be Tomoyo's kitchen.
I suppose it was styled after a rustic cabin in the woods. Everything was plain, unfinished, and the stove was modeled after an old wood-burning. There was no table, and only two windows in the entire room, which certainly explain why the vast room was so dark.
Glancing at Li, I saw a smirk settled on his face– he was clearly anticipating some kind of reaction of surprise, so I immediately trained my face to look like I had been expecting something like that. What can I say? I am a naturally defiant person. Or maybe it was a learned habit.
"I'm not hungry." I turned on my heel and marched into my special dimension and out of the room. I saw Tomoyo turn into a room down the hall from me. Deciding that she owed me an explanation, I made my way silently down the hall, forgetting that no one could hear or see me.
"I think I deserve to know what going on, Eriol!" I heard books slam and I grinned– someone was about to face Tomoyo's wrath at it's worst.
"You know I can't tell you anything other than what you know now," came the tired reply of the doctor.
"And why not?! She's my cousin! I, of all people, should know what's going on!" So she did know. "I am her only living relative, and you are going to tell me what is going on right now." Her voice had gone low and icy, and I could just picture the poor doctor cringing in fear.
I could hear Eriol's sigh all the way in the hall. "Tomoyo, if I promise to tell you everything, you have to swear that what is said in hear is not repeated, not even to Sakura." Well that doesn't seem very fair. "No one must know, or my position in the Resistance will be compromised. And you know that only way we can help Sakura is if–"
"Yeah, I know." But I don't! "Quit stalling and start explaining." Wow, I never saw this side of Tomoyo before. I slipped through the wall that was between me and my story, and just in time. The second I was in I saw Eriol mutter something then send some blue shimmery stuff at the walls. Something told me that it was a spell to keep people on the outside from hearing what went on inside. I made my way to a spare chair that gave me a good view of the doctor's face. Vaguely I wondered where my new instinct had come from, but I pushed that thought away as soon as the doctor started speaking. His voice wasn't his usual quiet, but friendly, one; it had taken on the tone of an old man recounting the beginning of the world.
"It all started when Sakura's mother was fourteen and she was approached by the Magikos. They offered her a position in their group, sensing the great amount of magical potential she possessed. Her initial reaction was to reject their offer, but someone within the Magikos was from the future. He wanted the world, and he wanted the Cards, but, with a living and powerful Mistress, he knew there was no chance he could take them. But, his power was great enough to see that if Nadeshiko became one of the Magikos, Sakura would never receive the powers of Clow. He convinced Nadeshiko the best way to protect those she loved was to join the Magikos. So she did.
"Under their guidance, Nadeshiko's power blossomed and he returned to the future. She possessed powers that no one in the Magikos had heard of, and she soon became stronger than even the most powerful Elders of the Magikos. When she as sixteen, a prophecy was made. It seemed to hint that there was one who had the power to hold the world in her grasp, if that was what she wanted. I don't know the details, but supposedly, everything seemed to point to Nadeshiko, except one point that they couldn't figure out the meaning of. In their greediness, they shrugged it off and began to make plans for the revolution of the world. It was a decision that would cost them everything.
"When they approached Nadeshiko, though, she refused. This time, they couldn't lure her with thoughts of happiness. You see, there are some inevitabilities in our destinies. Meeting Fujitaka when she was sixteen was one of hers. It's lucky that the prophecy hadn't come any sooner, or we might know a very different world than the one we live in now. Nadeshiko believed she had found the ultimate happiness, and no temptations of unlimited power would sway her into joining. When they pressured her further, she left.
"But unknown to everyone, Nadeshiko was indeed intrigued by the prophecy. She had no desire to take over the world, but the power to manipulate time was tempting, so began to train in secret. Over the years, her power became too much for even her to conceal. The Magikos found her. She was now nineteen, and married to Fujitaka, and it was harder for her to flee. So she endured everything they did to her in silence, as long as they stayed away from her family. But, a year later, when her first child was conceived, she realized that she could not live like that anymore. So she struck a deal: she would train the less powerful of the Magikos, in exchange for her solitude. They agreed.
"Over the next seven years, Nadeshiko had trained herself to channel her immense stores of raw power into whatever she was doing, and she had managed to create an amulet that would conceal her aura, so the Magikos could not find her until it was time for another training. It wasn't until her second child was born that things started to get shaky. When Sakura was born, everyone knew they had made a terrible mistake: it was not Nadeshiko that the prophecy had spoken of; it was Sakura.
"All of a sudden, it was a mad rush to get through to Sakura. By now the Magikos were completely corrupt and they were willing to do whatever it took to secure Sakura's loyalty and power. Nadeshiko, in a desperate attempt to sever all ties with her past, performed a complex spell that left her drained of all her magical energy. The spell was supposed to make sure that, to the Magikos, everyone that Nadeshiko knew would be wiped off the face of the Earth. Also, now completely devoid of any magical energy, the only was they would be able to track her down and find her was through Sakura, and she believe that she was young enough that her powers would not shine through until she was old enough to fight.
"Unfortunately, Nadeshiko became seriously ill, as it was another one of her inevitabilities, and she was on her deathbed when a former student of hers murdered her and tried to take Sakura. However, she ran, and took with her the pendant that had kept her mother safe. I myself am not sure how, but she ended up in front of my family's estate, where we took care of her for a few months, but my parents decided that in order for Sakura to fulfill her destiny, she could not stay with us. They saw that the only was she would be able to survive the responsibilities that would be laid upon her, she could not live a sheltered life and remain naive, as she should have in the original time line."
He sighed heavily there, the only pause there'd been through the entire thing. I have to say it was a good thing he did, or else I wouldn't have noticed the world coming into focus, indicating that I was losing my grip on the second dimension. You see, I don't know if I've explained this yet, but the only was I can ever tell if I'm in the second dimension or not is because in the second dimension, everything is out of focus, and slightly blurry.
When I noticed I was slipping back into the normal dimension, I had to think quickly to explain my presence, as my position directly in front of Eriol afforded him a very good view of me. Just as I felt the last thread of the second dimension slip from my grasp, I closed my eyes and draped myself limply over the chair I was sitting on. Upon the doctor's exclamation of surprise, I jumped slightly, and my eyes flew open, like he had startled me out of my sleep.
I looked around in surprise, as though I had no idea where I was or how I'd gotten there, and jumped again when my eyes rested on Tomoyo and Eriol.
"Sakura?" Tomoyo whirled around. "What are you doing here?!"
A/N: Well, I'm sorry to say that's about it, but it is. I figured I might as well get something up after all this time. I'm really sorry if there are any mistakes; my brother is ready to fight me for the computer. So, the piece at the beginning was just the rest of last chapter's. I don't really know if it works, but . . . I'm desperate. If you have any better ideas, don't hesitate to tell me.
Anyway, please review! And I'm really, really sorry to anyone that tried to review but couldn't, because I had the 'do not accept anonymous reviews' thing on without knowing it . . .