Syvonair: Hey minna-san! Guess what? Today's your lucky day! Our guest was able to take a break from his very busy schedule in order to help us out today. Please welcome Kinomoto Fujitaka!

Fujitaka: Konichiwa!

Syvonair: Arigatou for joining us today, Kinomoto-san.

Fujitaka: Dou itashimashite (you're welcome).

Syvonair: Well, today Kinomoto-san, we'll be thanking all those people who reviewed, then we'll say the disclaimer, and on to the story!

Fujitaka: Oh, wakatta (I understand). So…shall we start?

Syvonair: Hai. So, first we'd like to thank the following for reviewing.

            thedaidoujicat

            Sakura G

Enchantress Azure

Starian Princess

Anonymous/cool kagome

aznpride

Mimi Tachikawa2

Syvonair: Well, thank you all for your continuous support.

Fujitaka-san: Hai, arigatou! So, next is the disclaimer, ne Syv-san?

Syvonair: Hai, it is. Would you like to say it, Kinomoto-san?

Fujitaka-san: Sure.

DISCLAIMER: Syv-san doesn't own any of the CCS characters in the story.

Syvonair: Arigatou Kinomoto-san! Now… ON TO THE STORY!!!

(Translation) ~only for uncommon words

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

Author note

In the last episode: "Daijoubu (It's alright), Meiling-chan. Sakura-chan will survive for sure," Tomoyo assured her friend, at the same time assuring herself. 'Sakura-chan…'

Hospitals around the world have held memories inside their walls, memories of the pain, worry, or relief of people who have visited this place. This building that looks like any other is often the very deathbed of a human being. Though it may not look it due to its clean white walls, the blood of the many that have died here has stained this building. Right now, this building may serve as yet another deathbed. But the death of the person who claims this bed might not just bring pain and sorrow to this person's family and friends but to the whole world. For without this person, the world will be in peril. This person's death might result in the destruction of the whole world.

"Hiirigizawa-kun, do you think Sakura-chan will make it," Tomoyo turned to the sapphire-eyed magician.

"Daijoubu, Daidouji-san. Sakura-san is strong. We just have to believe in her."

Tomoyo nodded before burying her head in Eriol's shirt and crying softly without a second thought. She was too overcome with grief for her friend to notice what she was doing. Meiling was watching the whole exchange before glancing at the door to the room where Sakura lay fighting for her life. She sighed and turned back to see Eriol trying to comfort the distressed raven-haired teen. She glanced around and saw Sakura's father looking troubled. She also saw Touya, Yukito and Nakuru looking down at the floor, worry evident in their eyes. She spied Kero sticking out of Tomoyo's pocket where he slipped in when he got the chance. Even though Kero looked like a stuffed animal, he was a living thing and he worried most for Sakura. She sighed again and saw Syaoran. Syaoran was her favorite cousin and she used to have feelings for him. She saw how troubled he looked. He loved Sakura very much even if he wouldn't admit it. She went to him and sat down in the chair beside him.

  "Sakura-chan will be all right for sure," Meiling assured her cousin.

Syaoran nodded before looking at the door to the room where his beloved lay.

'Sakura, onegai be all right!'

In the meantime, Sakura was oblivious to the state she was in, let alone her family and friends' concern for her. She wasn't exactly in the world she always knew and loved. Her body was present there but her mind and soul drifted. It drifted to a whole new world, a world in between that of the living and dead.

~#####~

Sakura opened her eyes. She saw a vast expanse of still water in front of her. She turned around and saw fields overflowing with all kinds of flowers. There were trees and other plants just right of the field, and a meadow with different animals frolicking about stood opposite of the trees. Sakura looked up at the beautiful blue sky that stretched all around and at the radiant sun beating down on this new world with warmth that spread throughout one's whole body. A soft breeze played with Sakura's hair and floated around creating the lovely feel of the place.

Sakura was amazed at the wondrous sight. It was as if she stepped into paradise. She curiously looked around the place and decided to walk a little. She headed towards the flowers. As she came closer, she spotted a path in between the rows of flowers. She walked on this path while looking at the different kinds of flowers. There were marigolds, daisies, lilacs, roses, carnations, and many other sorts of flowers. The field stretched farther than Sakura could see. She stared in wonder at the dazzling colors displayed by these beauties. She decided to look at the animals and stepped off the path before heading towards the beasts.

~#####~

On the other hand, rain started to pour in Tomoeda. The rain matched the moods of everyone present, Fujitaka, Touya, Yukito, Nakuru, Syaoran and the others. They were all gloomy and depressed, at the same time worried for Sakura's health. They were all nervous wrecks and the only thing they could do was pray that Sakura would be all right.

~#####~

Sakura neared the meadow and spotted a herd of buffalos heading towards her. She moved out of their way and saw some zebras farther north. She looked around some more and spotted a tree filled with monkeys; and apes, gorillas and baboons walking beneath them. She also spotted lions sunbathing on rocks nearby. The sound of trumpets blowing warned her of the presence of elephants farther on. She saw more animals in that place than she could ever identify.

She turned around and went to the place filled with trees and other plants. As she stepped in the midst of the plants, a cool breeze brushed past her. She could hear the rustling of leaves and the soft sound of crickets and other small insects in the grass. She kept on walking deeper into the forest. She ducked beneath overhanging branches and stepped over vines strewn around the forest floor or roots of large trees. She looked around her surroundings when she heard a familiar sound. She headed towards the sound and spotted a spring with water flowing into it from a crack in the rocks.

She splashed some water on her face and let the clear sparkling liquid roll down her cheeks. She enjoyed the feel of the cool water before looking around her surroundings. Trees and other plants adorned the glade she was in and rocks of all shapes and sizes surrounded the spring. She looked up and saw a thin ray of sunlight coming through the branches of tall trees. She knew she was supposed to be afraid because she didn't know where she was but the fear just wasn't strong enough to overcome the wonder and amazement she felt about this place.

She stood up again and started walking some more. She headed past the spring and entered a place that looked much like the place she was in before reaching the hidden glade. She walked on even though she wasn't sure where exactly she was heading. She passed trees that bore fruits of all sorts, plants of odd shapes, flowers of al kinds of scents, plants of different natures. She walked onward trying to take in all the wondrous things she saw. Suddenly, she came out of the forest. Bright sunlight blinded her momentarily as she looked around the new place she stepped into.

~#####~

Everyone back in Tomoeda was still in the state of depression. The rain, lightning and thunder weren't of any help too. All it did was make them even more miserable than ever. Tomoyo and Meiling already fell asleep a long time ago, and Nakuru could feel the strength leave her body. She was about to collapse when Eriol told her to take his seat and sleep too. She nodded and dozed off. The boys were still as fidgety as ever though. Touya and Syaoran couldn't keep still. Both of them kept taking turns in pacing back and forth in front of the room Sakura was in. Worry was evident on all their faces and it looked like it wasn't going to vanish in a while.

~#####~

Pink petals flew around Sakura as she strained to look forward. She caught a petal in her hand and stared at it in shock. It was a sakura petal. She stared at her surroundings and saw the many sakura trees. In between all these trees lay a path partly covered with the many sakura petals. She carefully walked down this path as petals brushed her skin. A cool breeze blew the petals around her as she walked on and a beautiful scent surrounded this place. She smiled in spite of the situation she was in. Suddenly, a large shadow loomed before her. It was a big sakura tree, bigger than all the rest, and it rested on top of a small hill. As she drew closer, a smaller shadow beneath the tree could be seen. Curiously, Sakura walked on.

Drawing nearer to the tree, Sakura glimpsed familiar midnight blue hair and sapphire eyes behind small round glasses. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that the shadow in front of her was Eriol. Then she noticed the shadow's tall lean physique and the long dark blue robe it wore over a dark-colored shirt and pants. She then realized who the person was.

"Clow Reed, the Creator of the Clow Cards," Sakura whispered. She had only met him a few times before and all her experiences were very informative on her part. She was amazed that he would once again appear to her. She walked closer. Suddenly, Clow Reed turned.

He turned to face the surprised auburn-haired girl. At first, he seemed to be looking past her then he spoke to her in a soft voice.

"Ah, the new Card Mistress, or would you prefer if I call you by your name, Sakura," the tall man asked with a hint of amusement in his voice at the same time a twinkle in his sapphire eyes.

"W-whatever you call me will be fine," Sakura answered shyly.

"Good girl," he said as he placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair, "So, may I ask what brings you here, child?"

Sakura was shocked, "I thought you brought me here."

"Ah, but only people who have the desire to come here do. You must have some reason for coming here that even you are not sure of," he replied before chuckling softly.

Sakura was embarrassed, "I don't know."

"Oh, but you do. You just aren't aware of it."

Sakura thought hard. What could she desire that would have brought her here?

'Why would I come here? Where is here in the first of place?'

"Clow-san, where are we?"

"We are in a world in between the world you live in and where I live in."

"Hoe?"

Clow Reed chuckled again before explaining, "You live in a world where everyone is alive and can breathe, I have experienced that world but I cannot live there again so I went to a world where we only have souls and no solid form. In other words, you are from the world of the living and I am from the world of the dead. This world is between these two worlds. This world is often called the World Where Soul Meet or as I like to call it, the World Where Destinies Entwine. In short, my curious little pupil, it is called the Palette. Its name was taken from the wooden board painters use to mix colors together to form one distinct color. It is a unique place in its own sense really."

Sakura stared up at the tall figure before looking straight ahead again and silently repeating the name of this strange place, "The Palette."

Clow Reed looked down at Sakura and smiled.

"Have you found out the reason you are here, little one?"

"Iie."

Sakura thought hard. She tried to think of all sorts of reasons but everything that came into her head was either irrelevant or totally way off the subject. No matter what she thought of, it all seemed like useless reasons for her to come here. She sighed softly and she suddenly remembered something.

"The light…"

The magician smiled at Sakura and said, "Ah yes, the light – the Light of Importance."

"The Light of Importance," Sakura said tentatively.

"Yes, it is called so because it signifies the most important feeling or being/s to a person. It also signifies the importance of the person to others."

"But then, why is there darkness around it?"

"The darkness represents all the hardships that person will have to pass for these feelings or beings," he looked down at Sakura and smiled.

Sakura was still looking straight ahead, deep in thought. She slowly turned to look at Clow Reed.

"Will you tell me what this light represents for me," Sakura questioned.

Clow Reed smiled and replied, "You must find out for yourself, child."

Sakura nodded.

"I believe it is time for you to return, isn't it," Clow Reed asked suddenly.

"Return? Return where?"

"Back to your world. People are worried about you, Card Mistress," he addressed her formally.

Sakura just looked at him. The tall man smiled at her again.

"We shall see each other again. Soon I hope. I enjoyed our little chat here."

Sakura nodded and suddenly felt herself falling backward. The scenery in front of her was vanishing. She could no longer see Clow Reed or the sakura trees. She couldn't feel the soft breeze caress her face. Suddenly, there was only black.

~#####~

She slowly opened her eyes. She saw blurry images in front of her. As she slowly focused on the images, she could hear soft words being spoken. She couldn't make out what they were and then, suddenly the world seemed to become clearer. She could see tall people in white suits standing over here. They had white caps that looked like shower caps covering their hair, and they wore what looked like white cloth covering their mouths. At least that's what it looked like from Sakura's point of view. She couldn't fully understand what they were talking about. She only heard bits and pieces like "call", "family", "alive", and "successful".

What was happening actually, was that doctors were surrounding Sakura trying to see if she could still live when she suddenly opened her eyes. They were shocked at first then they were overjoyed. They were talking to each other and telling the nurse that was watching to fetch Syaoran and the others and tell them that Sakura was alive and that the operation was successful.

Of course, Sakura was still a little dazed since she just woke up so she couldn't understand what was happening. But as sleep wore off, she could make out her surroundings. She observed that she was in a white room, fully polished. She noticed plenty of stuff lying around the place. There was a small table cart that had all kinds of tools in it used for operations. She also noticed that it was raining outside. No one was in the room with her when she decided to get up.

She tried to sit up but felt a pain in her side. She looked down and for the first time, she noticed she was in a white shirt and pants. When she lifted her shirt a little bit, she noticed the stitch marks on her side. She figured that they had stitched her to close the wound the boy had made. When she remembered the boy, she put on a face of utter disgust. She sighed and tried to pull herself up again. This time, she forced herself to get up even with the pain. She got out of the bed and walked carefully to the window, holding on to the wall for fear she might collapse. As she stared out, she remembered her visit to Clow Reed.

"The Palette," she whispered.

Suddenly, the door opened to admit a certain amber-eyed teen. He was the first to get there and when he saw Sakura by the window staring out, he ran to her. He stopped suddenly though when he saw the thoughtful look on Sakura's face.

"Sakura?"

Sakura looked up and a cocky grin spread across her face.

"Syaoran-kun!"

She hugged Syaoran and Syaoran hugged her back taking in the distinct scent of cherry blossoms. He smiled as he inwardly sighed in relief.

"I missed you so much, Syaoran-kun!"

"Yeah, I missed you too. Daijoubu ka (are you all right)?"

"Hai!"

"Hontoni (really)?"

"Honto (really)!"

"Yokatta (I'm glad)."

Syaoran just held on to Sakura, hugging her like they wouldn't be able to do so ever again. Sakura didn't mind though. She was doing the same thing as Sakura hid a small smile when she buried her face in his shirt.

Unfortunately, their wonderful moment was broken since the rest of Syaoran's party arrived. They all came barging into the room as Sakura and Syaoran hastily broke away. Each one of them went to Sakura and asked her if she was all right. She assured them that she was perfectly fine. They forced her into bed anyway and told her to get as much rest as possible. She grinned up at them and obediently followed.

As she climbed into bed, everyone else was trying to decide on who would watch over her. Touya insisted that he should stay with her since he was her brother but Fujitaka stopped him saying he, Yukito and Nakuru had tests the next day. Tomoyo, Eriol and Meiling each said that Syaoran should watch over her, but Touya wouldn't allow Syaoran to stay alone with his little sister. Unfortunately, Touya was overruled. Everyone else agreed that Syaoran should stay with Sakura and Touya couldn't do a thing about it. He sighed in defeat and glared at Syaoran before leaving the room with everyone following. Syaoran looked back at Sakura and smiled. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing normally. She slowly turned around as her back faced Syaoran. He quietly pulled a chair and sat by Sakura's bedside, pulling the blanket to her chin since it fell down to her elbows not too long ago.

 Unknown to Syaoran, Sakura had been awake the whole time. She heard them arguing on who would stay with her and she felt Syaoran lift the blanket. She was grateful for their concern but more things occupied her mind that their concern wasn't taken into much consideration.

'What exactly does the Light of Importance represent for me and what are the obstacles will I have to pass to protect my "light"?'

She couldn't think straight and different thoughts entered her head all at once.

'Why is that redheaded boy after me? What are the hardships I have to face? Is that boy one of them? Is that what Clow-san meant? And when will I see him again? When will all my questions be answered?'

Questions just kept coming into Sakura's head that she couldn't sleep at all. These questions bothered Sakura and for some anonymous reason, she felt that they were all connected somehow. And she felt that trouble was just around the corner. As she turned around in the bed, she came face to face with the sleeping form of Syaoran.

'He's probably been awake since a long time ago. He must have been really worried about me. I wonder if…'

She smiled to herself and brushed a stray lock of hair that fell over Syaoran's face before standing up and quietly walking to the window. She looked out as drops of rain hit the pane of glass and noticed that it was a full moon today. The moon was very visible even with the rain clouds scattered across the sky. She sighed as the questions in her head suddenly reappeared.

Syaoran had been watching Sakura for a while when he suddenly felt the strain of sleep on his body. He forced himself to keep his eyes open but the lack of sleep was overwhelming and soon he dropped softly on the side of Sakura's bed. When he woke up, it was the middle of the night. He noticed Sakura wasn't in bed and he was about to panic when he noticed her sitting by the window. He caught sight of slight shivers running up and down her body as he took the blanket from the bed and draped it over her shoulders.

Sakura was deep in thought when she suddenly felt cold gusts of wind brush past her. She suddenly noticed the cold air surrounding her and she shivered. She rubbed her arms for warmth and was about to turn back and climb into bed when she felt a cloth fall on her shoulders. She looked up and saw concerned amber orbs. She smiled knowing almost immediately who it was.

"Arigatou Syaoran-kun," Sakura said in a soft voice.

Syaoran nodded before asking, "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about something."

"What was it?"

Sakura was silent for a while before replying, "Nandemunayo (nothing). Forget I said anything."

Syaoran was curious as to what Sakura was thinking about and was about to ask some more but decided against it. She'd tell him what it was when she wanted to.

He nodded to her before saying, "You really should be getting back to bed, you know. You need the rest."

She looked at him before obediently following.

Once Sakura was in bed, Syaoran covered her with the blanket before taking his position beside her. He smiled as he saw her slowly drifting to sleep. She mumbled something but he couldn't understand what it was.

"Nani (what)?"

"Arigatou Syaoran-kun," Sakura murmured loud enough for Syaoran to hear before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

Syaoran just smiled at her as he watched the sleeping goddess before him. He turned to the window for just a moment before turning back to Sakura.

'What's bothering you Sakura?'

Syvonair: Gomenasai for this really short chapter! Really, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for it to be this short, it's just that I was having problems with what to write. I'll make the next chap a lot better! I promise! And I'm so sorry for taking a long time to post this too. Please forgive me. Oh yeah, Kinomoto-san was called away for a meeting in the middle of the story so he left a while ago in case you're wondering. Oh, I'm begging you to please review my story and if you can, try to tell this to others 'coz not much people review it. Please? I also wanted to tell you I didn't edit this chap unlike the previous ones 'coz no one's actually told me if there's a problem with this chap and I can't find much errors. If you spot one, tell me so in your review and I'll try and fix it. Thanks again. Anyway, once again gomen (sorry) for the super short chap! I'll type up chap 4 soon so please don't be mad! Don't forget to review! :)