Author's Notes: Hey! Well, the last chapter was about Sakura's past. Now, this chapter deals with the present, and maybe a flashback...not a 100% sure till I write! Sakura's 17 in this chapter. Well, don't forget to R+R! Or else, no more ficcy!!! ^_^

Emotionless Love

By: Sakura1301

Chapter 2 Diminished Flame

Sakura stood before the King. Her body bowed down and her shoulder length hair brushing her face. Then standing up to look him in the eye. "Yes my lord." "I'm having a ball tomorrow. Since your the head maid, I want you to get everything in order and ready by tomorrow night." Sakura bowed to Syaoran and replied, "Yes, my lord. As you wish." Then she turned to leave, but before she could go, he stopped her. "Everything must be perfect." He said in a stern voice. Without turning back to face him she only nodded. "Everything will be perfect." He smirked with satisfaction. "You may leave now." And she headed for the door.

Syaoran sighed. Over the years, he had suspected that the girl knew magic. He used to be able to feel a faint aura. Then suddenly, it's gone. Not only that, the lively fire in her eyes just died out. A diminished flame. She acted so emotionless around everyone. She was a mysterious one. She had a mysterious beauty that caught his eye. Somehow, he felt like he knew her from somewhere. Knew her before she came to the palace. But, he could never put his finger on it.

During the past year, his father had died, leaving the kingdom in Syaoran's hands. Leaving the burden on his shoulders. Syaoran sighed. His life was miserable. Not only that, a war was going on. All because of a spy from the Chen Kingdom had assassinated his mother. The former queen. Queen Yelan. Now, he was looking for the Card Mistress. If he could find her, then, they would surely win the war. Both sides had been looking for the Mistress for over a year now. Neither sides were having any luck. The reason for the ball was to find the mistress. A rumor was said that the enchanting female magician was wealthy and loved attending parties. She was also know for her beauty and grace. But no one had actually seen her before. Or so it seemed. It was rare for people to have magic. And since very few people had magic, this made the job for Li easier.

Sakura called her cards forth, with the Libra in front. The Libra was needed to balance her emotions within her body. She pulled it out and held it in her palm. Then, she reached out and all of the cards filed into her right hand. She slowly lifted her hand and held the cards to her chest. "Return what belongs to thy mistress." She whispered. The pile of cards in her hand suddenly begun to glow a white aura.

A wave of emotions hit her hard, causing her to fall to her knees. She dropped the cards, except for the Libra. With the Libra pressed against the ground under her hand, she chanted, "Libra, balance the emotions... within me... Libra." She said as she panted for breath and sweat ran down her face. Then, she felt calm once again. She then collapsed to the ground, still out of breath. "Kero... open the window." She said in a quiet voice. Kero, who was floating above his mistress with worry sketched all over his face, only nodded and silently flew to the window and opened it, letting the cool night breeze enter her room.

Sakura slowly sat up and hoisted herself onto her cot. She smiled. "I feel better now." Kero smiled at her and flew onto her lap. "Um, Sakura, why do you do this to yourself every night and every morning?" He asked with a frown now replacing his smile. She smiled sadly down at him. "I can't take the pain." "Sakura, you always say that. What pain are you talking about?" "Since I was little, I always felt like I didn't belong here. Like I belonged somewhere else. All I remember is feeling pain. Pain all over. Physical pain and a pain of loss." Kero stared at her with sorrowful eyes. "Oh. I didn't know... Im sorry." She brightened and patted his head. "Oh, don't worry. It's okay. At least today wasn't so bad." He smiled. "What? What happened?" "Well, Li is having a ball tomorrow!" He frowned. "What's so great about that?" "Well, I get part of the day off!" He flew up to her shoulder and perched himself there. He rubbed his head against her cheek. "Oh Kero. I wish I was a princess." She said as she reached up and started to stroke his fur. "Then I could attend the ball also."

"Lady Sakura, in my eyes, you are a princess." He said in his small, yet cute voice. "And in my eyes, your my prince." She said in jokingly voice. He sat up and floated off of her shoulder and magically made the cards float in front of himself and his mistress. "Sakura, do you really want to be a princess?" He asked. She smiled and nodded. "Well, I can't make you the real thing, but I can make it seem that way." He said. She perked up. He pulled the Illusion out from the rest of the cards.

"Sakura, is everyone asleep?" She smiled and nodded. "Then, let the fun begin!"

Outside, in the garden, Sakura stood before Kero, her face plastered with an excited grin.

"Now, close your eyes." He commanded. She willingly obeyed.

"Illusion, make thy mistress' wish come true. Illusion." The card flew out of Kero's hand and floated high into the sky. With a burst of light, the garden's tree's and flowers bloomed and started glowed. The hard cobble stone turning into a marble floor, and in the center of the garden, a large fountain appeared, shooting water up into the sky. Making the whole garden seem like a place in a fairy tale.

Sakura stood there, waiting with anticipation to see what was going on. Then, a warm fuzzy feeling tingled her skin.

Kero watched as his mistress was transformed into a beautiful princess before his eyes. He smiled with satisfaction.

"Lady Sakura, you can open your eyes now." He said gently. Her eyes opened revealing her emerald orbs. Her smile widened as she looked around. "Oh Kero, I didn't think this was possible. I am a princess."

Kero smiled sadly at his mistress as she looked around. 'Poor Sakura. She's forgotten that this is only an Illusion.' He thought.

She turned around and faced him. "Care to dance my little prince?" She asked him. He nodded. Suddenly, his wings grew and wrapped around his small form. As he pulled his wings back, Keroberos stood before her. He lept up and stood up on his hind legs.

Sakura giggled at him. He looked kinda funny standing on his hind legs, but she ignored it. "Why, certainly, Princess Sakura."

She reached out and took his large paws into her hands. A waltz started. Both Sakura and Keroberos started to dance.

"Kero, did you know that you look kinda funny walking on your hind legs?" He growled. "Hey, you wanted to dance. So you should be thankful that I even agreed!" She smiled at him. "Why, Im sorry. I didn't mean to offend you, great Keroberos." Every once in a while, Keroberos would flap his wings to keep his balance.

After a few minutes, the waltz ended. "Oye, Sakura, did you remember to get my pudding earlier?" She laughed. "Well, let me think. Hmm... well, im not going to tell you!" She smiled at him. "What?!" "If you want to find out, catch me!" And she broke into a run while giggling. He frowned. "Fine. But your asking for it!" He said as he broke into a grin and chased after her.

Syaoran woke as he heard some laughing and giggling coming from the garden below his window. He groaned as he scratched his head and got out of bed. "Who could still be awake at this time?! If I find out who, i'll have their head." He grumbled as he walked towards his balcony.

What his eyes came to meet jerked him fully awake. "What the hell is going on?! Why is my garden glowing?!" His eyes scanned the area below him. His eyes came upon a girl hugging some sort of lion with wings and armor. "Wait a second..." He racked his memory. "A lion with wings and armor... wait...Keroberos?! If that's Keroberos..." His eyes drifted to the girl. "Then, then that's the card mistress!" He said out loud. He almost fell over.

He quickly regained his balance and eyed them. The card mistress was indeed powerful. He could see her aura glowing around her. And she did have grace and beauty. "Lovely..." He murmured as he watched her. He was snapped out of his daydream as the war crossed his mind. "I must capture her." He said in a determined voice.

Keroberos' ear twitched. He slowly looked around. Sakura stroked his neck. "Kero... what's wrong?" "Someone's watching us." She stood and started to look around. "Where? I don't see anyone." "I know someone is watching us, I can feel it." Sakura bit her lower lip. "Do you think there a threat?" She asked. He continued to scan the area with his eyes. "I don't know... we should leave. Now." She nodded quickly. He lowered himself so his mistress could easily climb onto his back. As soon as she was ready, they took off towards her window.

Syaoran ran out into the garden, only to find it empty and normal. All of the glowing plant life and the water fountain, it was all the same as during the day, only darker. "What the... I could of sworn I saw the card mistress and Keroberos out here... maybe I was just seeing things. But, I don't think that was the case. Not at all." He turned to walk away but stopped as he came face to face with Keroberos.

Sakura giggled as she crouched down as low as she possibly could on the balcony, looking through the bars supporting the banister. Kero floated next to her in his false form. He snickered. This was hilarious! They both watched in interest as the Illusion card caught the kid off guard.

Li fell onto the cobble stone in surprise. "K-Keroberos..." Then, the image disappeared. He blinked. "What just happened?" Then, he turned around as he saw an illumination of light behind him. Near the forests edge was the card mistress with Keroberos at her side. They were to far for him to see their faces, but he could make out their figures. "Wait! Don't go! I need to speak with you!" He shouted as he ran after them. He stopped as Keroberos broke into a run after him. Syaoran started to back away, then turned, and ran.

Kero was starting to turn blue as he was trying to keep from laughing. Sakura continued to giggle. "Eh, Kero, are you doing this?" She asked between giggles. He shook his head. "Iie. The Illusion is." Sakura's giggles died down. "I wonder why." "Because, I asked it to protect your identity mistress. If that gaki ever found out, who knows what he would do." Kero said as he patted her head. She smiled and reached up, and plucked him out of the air. She hugged him. "Oh Kero, your so nice, sweet, and wonderful! I don't know what I would do without you." He grinned. "Yeah. I don't know what I would do without myself." She ruffled his hair on his head.

As Syaoran tripped over a tree root, Keroberos lept up and into the air above him, ready to strike. Syaoran closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. As he did this, his whole life flashed before his eyes. His fingers dug into the ground, waiting for his death, but strangely enough, it never came. He cracked open an eye lid, then both. He froze as he saw Keroberos frozen right in front of him in mid air, with his teeth bared and claws out, ready to kill. Then suddenly, the image disappeared. He felt his body relax. "Someone's playing tricks on me. Well, they better run before I catch them. Or else their dead." He looked over to the projected image of the girl, it slowly faded away. "This must be one of her powers. The power to create illusions." He slowly started to stand. When he was fully on his feet, he started to walk back towards the spot where he took off, trying to get away from Keroberos. "I can't believe I ran from such a thing." He stopped and bent down and grabbed his sword off of the ground.

Sakura sighed. "Kero, I think we've tortured him enough. Illusion, return." The card then started to descend from the sky and towards her awaiting hand.

When it was safely back in her hand, she handed it to Kero. "Kero, could you put this back with the other cards?" He flew up to her hand and grabbed the card and nodded. "Sure."

Sakura slowly stood and walked inside. "Goodnight Kero. Maybe we could do this again some other time. Okay?" He smiled and nodded. "Sure. Um, Sakura? Where's my pudding? You never told me." She stopped and thought for a second. "Um. Oh yeah! Here." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bowl with a lid on top to Kero. He opened it with starry eyes. "Sakura... I love you! I love you! You got my favorite! Chocolate!" She smiled. "Kero, everything sweet is your favorite."

Sakura slowly opened her eyes as sunlight floated onto her face through the opened window. Kero floated up to her face. "Sakura, you better change and get ready for the morning now." "Hoe?" She looked out the window. The sun was already up. "HOE! It's almost time for work!" She jumped up and started to get ready for the day.

Syaoran woke in his bed. He sat up but fell back in bed as his head started to throb. 'What is going on? Why am I in bed? Wasn't I outside?' His thoughts drifted back to last night. He remembered seeing the card mistress and Keroberos. Or at least their mirror images. He reached up to run his hand through his hair but stopped as he saw dirt on his hands. He looked at his other hand. Same thing. Then he remembered. The illusion of Keroberos coming after him and as he tripped and fell onto the ground. He lowered his arms to his side. 'I wish I got a better look at her face.' He thought grimly. He thought for a second. 'Hmm... the card mistress sure does look familiar. She sorta looks like Sakura...' He frowned. 'No. She's not Sakura. It can't be. There's lots of other girl's that also look like Sakura, im sure of it!' He lied to himself. 'But then again, I didn't get a good look at her face.' He knew Sakura was one of a kind and couldn't possibly be the mistress of the cards. She had a mysterious past. Just herself was a mystery. No one could compare to her. No one....

To be continued....

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Sorry this chapter was delayed! I was planning on getting it out a long time ago but, FF.net wouldn't let me log in! Well, please R+R! Ja!