Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura
Summary: It is the story about a girl called Sakura who falls in love with a boy who saves her life (Syaoran). Unknown to her, Syaoran has a secret! By daylight he is the cold, handsome boy Syaoran, but by nightfall, immersed in the enchantment of moonlight he becomes the mysterious white wolf of the forest. Will Sakura learn of Syaoran's secret before all hope is lost?
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DM:
Skyout:
Thank you for the reviews- And might I say, I am honored by your presence.
Julia and Tania:
It always makes me happy to hear you compliment my descriptive language- thank you! Sakura and Syaoran's *ahem* "intimate" scene was a lot of fun to write, as are any scenes with Kero-the-loyal-glutton. His voice is so distinctive in my mind that he is one of the easiest characters to write dialogue for ^_^
Little wolf LOVER:
Thank you for taking the time to submit all those great reviews- I'm sure it did a lot for my review status :)
angel of light and darkness:
Hmm… I have a feeling that most people won't want me to change this into an R-rated story, though I shall try to make this as sexy as it can be within the PG13 confines. Hope that's okay with you. Keep an eye out for my new (or rather, resubmitted) CCS lemon called "Reflections of the Night" - that one is an R-rated that I'm working on that I think you might like.
Kelandry:
I'm not really sure what you meant by "What about Sakura's family?"…do you mean, aren't they wondering where Sakura has run off to? Or do you mean, what will happen to them if Sakura ends up marrying our cute little wolf man? Let me know and then I'll be able to answer your question.^_^
bubble-b-sweet:
I tried emailing you but your address didn't seem to be right. Do you want to send it to me again? I'd love to keep in touch.
Syaoran- Lover:
Yue shall indeed be making a cameo appearance in this story- in fact he has a somewhat special role in the overall scheme of things…
Everyone:
Happy New Year!!!
As azn- kitties and CoOkiEs N CrEaM have pointed out to me- I take too long to update ^_^ I've been on holiday interstate the last three weeks and have had little chance to write…however…
Thank you as always for all reviews- I appreciate every single one!
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Chapter 11
The distant past…
Somewhere in the soft dim of the room, a wall clock chimed; announcing the tenth hour of the night with a mechanical clanging. Irritated, the tiny black cat opened one eye and shot the clock a look of disdain. His master smiled with amusement.
"Would you prefer to sleep inside, Spinel?" The young man asked, reaching down to stroke the cat's ears, "I know how you hate to be disturbed."
"No…it's alright, I'm comfortable here," mused Spinel, shifting slightly on his master's lap and closing his eyes once more. "Besides... you have a visitor tonight."
"That I do." The young man replied, settling back contentedly into his armchair.
While most people would be rather alarmed by the sight of a talking cat and blame it in part on the hallucinations of alcohol (particularly if that cat also had a pair of delicate green butterfly wings as this one actually did), Spinel Sun was one of many unusual and magical creatures that his master had befriended, thus he was no ordinary cat.
Then again, his master was no ordinary man either.
The man's name was Eriol Hiiragizawa.
A wise and good natured man, Eriol had once made a respectable living in society using the great gift of his magic to tell fortunes and brew herbal and medicinal remedies for a small fee. Though he kept the true grandeur of his magic a secret from the public, his reputation as a great and powerful sorcerer was known throughout the land and it became rumored that the great "witch doctor" was able to grant wishes. Thus, bombarded with odd and selfish requests for "riches", "love", "everlasting youth" and generally weary of the greed and corruption of humanity, Eriol retreated, hermit- like into the foothills of the mountains where he established a small cottage and spent quiet days in peace and meditation. All but few knew where he actually lived.
"Aren't you coming in, then?" Eriol called, turning his head toward the front door.
It swung tentatively open and a young man with an unruly mop of brown hair appeared around the side of it. He looked to be about seventeen, maybe eighteen years old.
"H- How did you know I was standing there?" The youth asked. He looked rather nervous.
"There aren't many things he doesn't know." Spinel replied sleepily. He yowled and opened an eye, smirking as the young man took a surprised step backward.
Eriol smiled warmly and gestured for his visitor to sit down on a low wooden chair opposite his arm chair. The young man took a seat, still cautiously eyeing the cat as Eriol poured some tea for him into a fresh cup. When he had finished he handed the cup to the youth and gazed at him with curious deep blue eyes.
"Xiao Lang Li, son of Yelan Li. You've come here to ask for a favor." He murmured serenely. It was more of a statement than a question.
Syaoran would have asked how a man he had never met knew his and his mother's name but from the way Eriol's eyes bore into his own, searching them, searching beyond them…he knew that the sorcerer was reading his mind.
"You've fallen in love, but … she isn't human…I sense despair…" Eriol continued, his penetrating yet serene gaze shifting relentlessly across Syaoran's eyes.
Finally, Eriol's eyes ceased probing his own and he stared fixedly at Syaoran with a calm yet…saddened expression.
"You realize there will be dire consequences…severe repercussions for that which you seek." He spoke softly.
Syaoran swallowed unconsciously and slowly nodded. "I'm aware…that I will have to trade something, in order to get what I need."
Eriol nodded solemnly in agreement and stood from his chair. He placed Spinel carefully onto the floor and moved across the living room; spartan, but for a small, dormant fireplace, some shelves lined with magical tomes and some glass jars and clay pots filled with strange herbs and liquids. He beckoned Syaoran to follow.
"The Great Law of the Magicks- you will be surprised how similar it is to the Chinese Theory of Ying Yang; the balance of all aspects of life," Eriol explained.
He had led Syaoran out of the living room and down a short flight of stairs where there appeared to be a kind of dim, narrow, cylindrical basement; bare but for a wide stone basin situated in the centre of it and a kind of ornamental metallic rod leaning against the stone wall. It had been fashioned into a kind of shape at the top that resembled the golden sun.
"Thus, "Eriol continued, "Whatever you take from the universe you must repay in full…and what you're asking for is something very, very big."
Again, Syaoran swallowed but he raised his chin with an air of determination.
"I love Meiling." He stated, almost defiantly, "And I would give whatever it takes to be with her. I would die for her."
"Hmm… but that would defeat the purpose wouldn't it?" Eriol mused, amusement twinkling in his eyes once more. He couldn't help but feel that the young man was making a terrible mistake but he admired him nonetheless for the strength and devotion in his heart. And he would agree to help him.
Eriol picked up the metallic rod that that was leaning up against the wall and in an instant it began to glow a hot, bright crimson; alive with the pulse of magic. Syaoran imagined that it was a kind of magic tool, a staff of some sort.
When Eriol turned to look at Syaoran once more, his expression was stern.
"There is no turning back after this." He warned, "The universe will decide what your payment will be and I do not know what it will be. It could be anything. And it could be devastating….Are you truly ready to become an immortal?"
Again Syaoran nodded, completely and stubbornly determined, so Eriol stepped up to the basin at the centre of the room and closed his eyes.
"Great Powers of the Y'ahhoedae, Eriol summons you." He chanted softly.
His voice echoed strangely and an odd cool wind from some unknown source seemed to swirl around the narrow room, ruffling their hair as Syaoran watched in awe.
"The Little Wolf seeks a Trade with you. Please Respond…"
Eriol tipped the iridescent staff on its head so that the glowing sun sphere on the top of it touched the inside of the stone basin. Eriol continued to chant softly, as though in a trance.
"Respond Y'ahhoedae…"
In a startling instant that caused Syaoran to draw a surprised breath, a kind of thick luminescent blue liquid erupted from one or more of the spiked tips of Eriol's staff and oozed into the stone basin. Syaoran watched as it bubbled and hissed, venting wafts of steam from bursting pockets of air.
Syaoran was about to ask Eriol what the strange liquid was when an invisible, immense force seized his chest. He gave a surprised choke before grabbing the front of his shirt. It was as though Syaoran's very heart was being ripped through his chest from the inside out, as though an unseen hand was pushing out of his body, threatening to fracture his expanding ribcage and tear through the front of his chest. He gasped and fell to his knees.
At the climax of his pain, Syaoran watched in trepidation as a thin curl of glowing green vapor rose from the pores of his chest and evaporated. The pain that had at once enveloped him immediately began to fade.
Syaoran stood weakly and clutched the edge of the basin for support. After a moment of catching his breath he turned to look at Eriol who was watching him, again, with that same saddened expression he had worn earlier.
"What…what was that green light?" Syaoran asked, still a little shell shocked.
"I don't know," Eriol murmured, "It was whatever Y'ahhoedae decided to take from you. And now it has gone for good."
He then reached into the pockets of his robes and pulled out a tiny glass vile. Wordlessly, he dipped it into the basin and filled it to the rim with some of the radioactive- blue liquid.
He then handed it to Syaoran.
"To immortality." Eriol said solemnly.
Syaoran took a hesitant glance at the vile before downing the contents in one swift movement. The effect was immediate.
Eriol watched sorrowfully as the young man collapsed unconscious on the hard stone floor of the basement, the tiny glass vile shattering as it fell from his limp hand. At this very moment, the mysterious blue elixir was coursing through Syaoran's young veins, seeping into his very bodily cells and reconfiguring them.
Eriol shook his head and sighed regretfully, wondering just what consequences lay before them.
…..
The present…
Dawn raised her radiant head and threw her golden tresses upon the land. The night's shadows dispersed and the song birds responded to her wanton call; their melodic psalms echoing tranquilly throughout the desolate valley. Somewhere, perched high upon a mountain rock overlooking the waking valley, a young man stood contemplating life.
Syaoran sighed deeply as he dressed, his wolfish identity receded in the morning light. How long would it be before he could no longer see the world through human eyes? He was indeed running out of time.
A rustling of bed sheets interrupted his thoughts and he turned to see whether the others were stirring awake. Tomoyo merely rolled over in her blanket and continued to sleep.
Syaoran smiled despite himself. What an odd group they made here in the middle of the wild! A wolf- man, a guardian beast, a demon, an ordinary human girl and another girl that seemed to have a mystical healing power all of her own. The thought of the latter of the troop lifted his spirits slightly.
Beautiful, precious Sakura. His one true love.
He then turned his gaze to Meiling who lay asleep slightly away from the others; her long hair falling softly across her pretty face.
With a slight pang of misery, he remembered that he had once thought of Meiling as his one true love… and it was for that reason that he had become a cursed immortal. And yet… another thought had crossed his mind, an irony that made him smile even more widely. Had it not been for this damned immortality and curse…he never would have even met Sakura.
An irony indeed.
As though summoned by his thoughts, Sakura stirred awake and opened her eyes, smiling elatedly as they fell upon Syaoran. Rising from her sleeping bag and shuffling over to where he stood, she placed her arms lovingly around his waist.
"Good morning." Syaoran grinned, reaching down to gently caress her lips with his own.
Sakura smiled and breathed a very sleepy "Morning" into his chest front.
A little reluctantly, Syaoran pulled carefully away from her and crouched down next to the dying campfire. He took the cooling tin of coffee from on top of the charred wood and began to pour some of its warm contents into a plastic cup. He then handed the cup to Sakura and sat down on a fallen log. Sakura sidled up beside him and quietly sipped at her coffee. After a moment of enduring his pensive silence and watching his face grow serious she leant her head on his shoulder.
"What have you been thinking about?" Sakura asked softly.
"I've been thinking about…the night that changed my life," Syaoran murmured, more to himself than anything, "The night that I became immortal."
Sakura watched him silently for a moment before asking, "What happened to Eriol? I mean, after you changed?"
"Well…" Syaoran paused for a moment, as though drawing upon a fairly vague memory in the past, a memory he could barely grasp. "He disappeared from our world, supposedly opening up a portal to another dimension; the Gate of Lehn."
"Why?" Sakura asked. She was watching him very intently.
"No one really knows the reason," Syaoran murmured. "Some say Eriol was just so tired of the greed, hate and corruption of humanity that he decided to leave it far behind. To find a world without humans."
"I see." Sakura sighed softly. "And now we need to find him."
Unexpectedly, Syaoran buried his face within his hands and let out a quivering breath. Sakura knelt immediately at his knees and took his head gently within the palms of her hands.
"Syaoran…" she whispered, her expression pained, "I told you. I'm never going to leave your side. Even if you remain a wolf forever I'll…"
"I don't want you at my side!" Syaoran growled, his amber eyes shining with frustration and anger. Sakura bit her lip, trying to control her own tears. Syaoran's expression immediately softened and he reached out and tenderly stroked her cheek. "Not just at my side...I want to be able to hold you, kiss you…to speak to you…"
Sakura leant forward and embraced him tightly. She caught a tear as it slid down her cheek and wiped it brusquely away.
"I know." She whispered.
…
The midday sun sweltered overhead as five wearying travelers moved across the dusty, drying plains. They had traveled beyond the outskirts of vegetated green valley and entered a kind of vast desert wasteland; an ocean of sand where few trees grew and one was barely sheltered from the harsh winter winds.
Having walked now for nearly half a day the group began to slow; feeling tired, thirsty and cold. Tomoyo, who had been trailing a little bit behind the others, suddenly collapsed to her knees.
"Tomoyo! Are you alright?!" Sakura cried, running back toward her friend and kneeling at her side.
"I'm sorry…I must be slowing everyone down…" Tomoyo whispered weakly. She looked rather pale.
"No Tomoyo, you're doing just fine. I think it's time we took a rest anyway." Sakura soothed. She looked up at Syaoran and he nodded.
The group found a large grey rock jutting out of the sand and sat down on it. Syaoran handed the canteen of water to Tomoyo and she drank deeply from it. After a few moments, the color returned to her cheeks and she gave the bottle back to Syaoran.
"Thank you." She whispered gratefully.
Syaoran gave a small smile of acknowledgment and nodded.
"Miss Daidouji," Meiling spoke suddenly. "If you don't mind my asking, why did you come along with us? You needn't have come on such a perilous journey if it didn't suit you." Nearly everyone turned in surprise at Meiling's forwardness, but her tone was curious rather than scathing.
Tomoyo grinned and took Sakura's hand in hers. "Because I couldn't bear to miss a moment by Sakura's side!"
Sakura smiled fondly and Tomoyo looked back at Meiling with warmth. "I know I'm not very strong, and by far the least… interesting in this group…" this, she added with a chuckle, "But I'm here for the same reason as you and Kero- chan and Sakura… to do my very best to help a friend."
Meiling merely stared at Tomoyo; filled with a kind of wonder and deepened admiration of the human girl for her loyalty. Of course, being that she was a demon, she preferred not to share any of those sentiments (emotions being a definite sign of weakness!) so she shrugged indifferently and turned away.
"Speaking of help," Kero piped in loudly, "Why couldn't Little Miss Brat here, try teleporting us to where the next Jewel is? She can do that can't she?"
Meiling rolled her eyes impatiently. "Look, pea- brain- I told you already, I can't teleport us to a place I've never been to before!...And do we even know where we're going?!"
Everyone turned to look at Syaoran who was currently consulting the little black book again. He sighed deeply and shut it.
"I'm afraid I'm a little in the dark about this." He muttered, "The book doesn't actually say anything about the last two Jewels, apart from the fact that one of them is hidden somewhere here in the sand lands… it just says that they're special …"
"Special?...How?" Sakura asked.
"I'm not sure… but they're not like the other Jewels where you just recite the summoning charm to make the guardians appear. These are more elusive…" Syaoran frowned. He clenched his eyes shut and softly pounded his knee with frustration. "Dammit…I don't get it…"
Everyone sat in silence for a moment, their eye brows knit together in deep thought as they tried to come up with a plan. When no such plan came to mind, everyone resolved to sleep it off for an hour. Perhaps if they revitalized they would be able to formulate a better solution…or they'd at least have the energy to walk a little more before nightfall.
As usual, Meiling moved a little away from the others, finding another rock to climb upon and take a nap. Tomoyo thought it would be comfortable to lie down on a soft patch of sand under the dappled of shade of a sole tree and Kero, likewise, curled up at her elbow.
Syaoran decided to sleep in a more or less upright sitting position against the other side of the tree. Just when he'd closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would ease at least some of his anxieties, he felt a small, warm body lean gently against his side. Syaoran shifted slightly to make room for Sakura as she nestled close to him and tucked her head against his chest. He put his arms around her and tenderly stroked her hair.
"Don't worry, my love. We'll find it." She whispered, closing her eyes and falling asleep almost instantly.
Syaoran smiled into her hair and rested his head on top of hers. When at last he closed his eyes once more…he fell into restless, deep dreaming…
…
Syaoran awoke, fatigued and a little disorientated. For some reason he felt terribly hot and his head was throbbing madly. Groaning softly, Syaoran straightened his back, easing some of the strain that had come of sleeping against a tree. The first thing he noticed when he looked around…was everyone's absence.
"Wh-… Where did they all go?" Syaoran mused bewilderedly. Perhaps they'd gone to find food and not bothered to wake him? How long had he been asleep?
Syaoran rose slowly to his feet, clutching the tree for balance as his head continued to throb. Turning his head to inspect the surroundings he noticed that the dusty ground was now scuffed with the retreating footprints of his missing friends. Their belongings however, their backpacks and blankets, were still in their places; exactly where they had been left. Puzzled, Syaoran decided to follow the footprints, hoping that he would eventually meet up with the others.
For almost an hour, Syaoran continued to follow his friend's footprints across the dusty, windswept wasteland, growing all the more weak and dizzy as the tiny fists within his forehead hammered relentlessly away. He was also growing frustrated and angry at the others for leaving him without letting him know where they were going. Now he was probably lost…in the middle of a desert no less!
Syaoran took a deep, calming breath and closed his eyes, trying to reason with himself. Surely, his friends weren't that inconsiderate…perhaps something awful had happened to them while he was asleep? Were they in danger, perhaps?
When he opened his eyes and continued to walk, all the more determined to find them, a movement in the distance caught his eye. Syaoran squinted into the glare of the sun, trying to decipher its form. There was a kind of dark cluster of shapes on the horizon, a mass of people silhouetted against the yellowing sky; shimmering and mirage- like as they huddled together. He could almost hear them whispering among themselves.
"Sakura!" Syaoran called, as he sprinted towards the crowd.
As Syaoran approached the still- huddled group, he breathed a sigh of relief. All of his friends were here; Sakura, Kero, Tomoyo and Meiling, amongst other people whose faces he could not see in the dimming light.
"Sakura." He smiled as he came around the back of her and gently squeezed her shoulder.
But his lover did not respond. Syaoran blinked. "…Sakura?"
Sakura turned around and Syaoran drew a sharp breath. There was something not quite…right about her. Sakura's expression was emotionless and her turquoise green eyes stared vacantly at him.
Before Syaoran could ask her what was wrong, the crowd began to move around him, slowly closing in to form a tight circle around him. Meiling and Tomoyo were also staring blankly at him and Kero bobbed slowly in mid- air as he watched Syaoran in strange silence.
"This…this is a little creepy…" Syaoran gave a strained laugh. "What's going on? If this is a kind of joke then I'm not really in the mood, 'cuz I'm a little too tired and…"
"Silence."
Syaoran spun around. It was a deep feminine voice that had spoken, and one so distinctly familiar…
He peered into the gloom, searching the shadowed faces behind his friends' shoulders to see who the voice belonged to. A tall, slender figure stepped forward into the fading yellow light; an incredibly elegant woman dressed in a sleeved white robe with her long, beautiful black hair swept into a kind of elaborate pony tail. A golden, traditional Chinese hairpiece held it into place.
"Th-This…How can this be?!" Syaoran stammered. As the lady took another step forward, he took a swift step backward, wondering if he had finally gone mad.
"Mother?!!" He cried.
Yelan Li's eyes narrowed and her lips curved into a vicious smile. She began to laugh wickedly, which in itself was a strange thing for a woman as reserved and serene as Syaoran's mother. Everyone else in the circle began to laugh as well, including Sakura, Kero, Tomoyo and Meiling. Each as malicious and cruel as the next.
"Xiao Lang- you're pathetic." Came another voice, a young male's.
"A complete and utter failure. We've always thought so." Came another scathing voice; a different female.
Five more shadowy figures emerged into the light and Syaoran could only shake his head with disbelief, his mouth agape at the surrealism of the moment. There were four young brunette women that Syaoran recognized instantly as his sisters and a young man that could only be his childhood best friend; Lie Na Wong.
"Tell me how this is possible…" Syaoran whispered. "Lie Na, Mother…my sisters….You're all supposed to be dead!!"
Yelan seized Syaoran by the arm and dug her fingernails into his skin. He winced in agony as she leant closely toward him and sneered.
"You've shamed this family." She spat, drawing blood as she drove her nails deeper into his arm. "How can I bear to show my face in public? When I have a monster for a son?"
"Face it, Xiao Lang. You're just a freak." Meiling laughed. "I didn't love you before you became an immortal, did you honestly think I'd love you after you became one?"
Sakura gave a derisive giggle as she moved to stand beside Meiling. "Who'd want him? The boy turns into a wolf every night …"
"Freak"
"Monster"
"Damned"
"Cursed"
And thus the insults rained down upon Syaoran like acid droplets from each and every one of his friends and family until all he could do was fall to his knees at the centre of the ring, clutching his hands tightly against his ears and burying his face in his lap.
"What's the little coward, doing now?" one of his sisters shrill voices muttered.
"He's probably crying. He's soooo weak!!" another laughed.
In actual fact, Syaoran was not crying, but quietly chanting to himself. Somewhere within himself, he knew that if he could somehow block out the lies and draw upon the truth in his heart…he would defeat this, whatever it was.
A kaleidoscope of bright images…memories…appeared before his very eyes. He somehow felt warmer….
…His mother reached out to gently touch his face, smiling her serene, rare smile…
...His genki, squealing sisters surrounded him from all sides and gave him one of their trademark, bone- crushing hugs; the ones he usually tried to escape…
…Lie Na grinned mischievously as he sat beside Syaoran on the grassy slope. Quite unexpectedly, a hand flew out and shoved Syaoran hard in the back. Losing his balance instantly, he fell forward - right into the lake. Syaoran glared at Lie Na from beneath tendrils of sopping wet hair. His best friend was rolling around laughing his head off…
…Kero, Meiling and Tomoyo rose from the Daidouji kitchen table with a look of determination on their faces. "You're not alone in this…" Kero stated, "We're all coming with you."…
…"Don't worry, my love. We'll find it." Sakura whispered, closing her eyes and falling asleep almost instantly…
"Who are you?" Syaoran asked softly, slowly raising his head, though looking at no one in particular.
The insults, malicious laughter and wicked chatter ceased immediately and everyone stared at Syaoran in stunned silence.
"What?" Lie Na was the one who had spoken, and he was glaring at Syaoran.
"Who. Are. You." Syaoran repeated, again without addressing anyone in particular. "Clearly you are not my real friends; who have proven time and time again that they care about me…and though my family are dead I know they always loved me. So I will repeat the question…..Who. Are .You?"
There was a moment of intense, hushed silence before a most remarkable thing happened. Syaoran's "friends" and "family" appeared to flicker out of focus as though they were television images becoming interrupted by static. All at once, their bodies became silhouetted once more and it was as though the very dimension in which Syaoran stood, shifted violently. A kind of elaborate pattern; strange, curling and intricate, swam before his eyes before the whole world darkened.
Syaoran smirked. "You're going to have to do a lot better than that next time…Guardian."
Somewhere, beyond the depths of his new pitch black surroundings, a female voice beckoned to him. Soft, sweet…and real…
"Syaoran!!"
He decided to follow it.
…
"SYAORAN!" Sakura cried, shaking his shoulders gently as he stirred to consciousness and opened his eyes.
The concerned faces of Sakura, Tomoyo, Meiling and his guardian beast swam into focus before him.
"…U-uh? What happened?..." Syaoran asked wearily. His headache seemed to have disappeared although his mouth had become dry; his voice somewhat scratchy and hoarse.
"We all went to take a nap remember, kid?" said Kero, looking a little bit scared, "And suddenly you started screaming and thrashing around in your sleep. We thought maybe you were having a fit!"
Syaoran looked around bewilderedly. He seemed to be in the same position he was sleeping in earlier, right at the base of this tree…
"Wait…didn't you all go somewhere just now? I got up before and you were all gone…" Syaoran murmured, wondering why his wits were so scattered right now.
Everyone blinked confusedly at him and exchanged worried glances with one another. Was Syaoran sick? He didn't seem to be making any sense…
"No. We were all here sleeping, right up until the point that you started crying out in your sleep." Tomoyo said softly.
Sakura leant forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She leant her head on his shoulder and kissed him lightly on the cheek."…I was so worried." She whispered.
With a jolt of sudden inspiration, Syaoran remembered everything; the long walk in the desert, the circle of imposters that had belittled and tried to break him… and the strange pattern that had swirled menacingly before him just moments before he had heard Sakura's voice…
His heart skipped a beat as another realization dawned upon him.
There was something in his hand.
He could feel its dead weight in his palm. Its cool smoothness.
Syaoran lifted his fist slowly in front of him as the others continued to watch him in bewilderment. As he carefully uncurled his fingers, the object fell into his lap with a soft 'plop'. Everyone drew a surprised breath.
"This is…!" Kero whispered, hardly believing his eyes.
"A Jewel." Meiling finished, her ruby eyes wide with awe as she regarded the softly glowing violet- colored stone.
There was a moment of stunned, attentive silence as Syaoran explained the strange dream he had had. When Syaoran described the unusual pattern he had seen right at the end of the sequence, Kero became rather excited.
"That was the Guardian 'Illusion'!!" He cried, rather proud that he'd stumbled upon this revelation.
"The pattern was…a guardian?" Tomoyo asked, frowning. "But I thought the guardians were all living things…creatures like Kero- chan or people like Syaoran- kun."
"The Illusion guardian is a special spirit, because this is a special Jewel!" Kero explained. "Since it entered the kid's mind and tried to discourage him from taking the Jewel, it must be one of the two metaphysical elements."
Sakura and Tomoyo only looked more confused so Kero elaborated.
"The Jewels of Sun, Moon, Sky, Land and Water are all physical elements that exist in nature. But there are two elements that describe the human state. These are called metaphysical elements. This is one of them. The Jewel of the Psyche."
"That means…" Tomoyo mused, beginning to understand, "The last Jewel Syaoran needs to find is also one of the metaphysical elements!…but what is it?"
It was Syaoran who spoke at that moment, and everyone turned to listen intently.
"The Jewel of the Heart." He said softly.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
DM:
Okay- Time to place your bets! Who do we think the last Guardian is? (Take a vote by all means ^_^)
One thing is certain however, only ONE more Jewel stands in the way before Syaoran can meet Eriol and do something about his curse...Will he make it in time? Or will he remain a wolf for eternity??? (And let's face it- cute as the White Wolf is, this would be rather BAD *_*).
REVIEWS sil- vous plait!