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Li had continued going to Sakura's house, despite the fact that Tori still didn't like him. Li didn't think he ever would, but Li could care less. Soon though, both Li and Sakura had decided to try and catch the Love Card. They wanted Meilin back. She was too creepy the way she was. Li was a bit scared, but he didn't dare tell anyone, but he knew that Meilin knew. And Madison was there with her camera. Of course. Why would she pass up a good opportunity like this to film? Li walked out of Sakura's home with Sakura and Madison fallowing behind him. This would really be a long summer, but Li hoped for the best at least. Meilin would be back to normal and they can just go off and have fun again. He really hoped.
Meilin stood across the street from Sakura's house. When Li was off Sakura's property, Meilin swiftly ran to him. She hugged him and could've eaten him whole if she hadn't stopped kissing him. She seemed to become a different person around Sakura or Sakura's house, but when Sakura wasn't around, Meilin seemed almost normal.
Sakura, Madison, and Li had all come up with a plane. It was to hang around Meilin like any other day. Then Li would have to grab her and hold her when they were somewhere where they were out of sight from the public. Sakura would then use her Sealing Key to release her Illusion Card to distract Meilin while Sakura used her Shield Card to guard the group from the Illusion Card. While the card within Meilin is distracted, Sakura will then use her Wind Card to capture it. And if she needed help, Li was there to lend a helping hand with his own chants and with the help of the elements of Earth.
They walked for sometime in complete and utter silence. Every once in a while someone would get up the courage to start up a conversation, but not much was said between them. It was a bit dark by the time they had made it to Penguin Park. There was no one around and that's when Li had decided it was best to get the plane under way. He seized Meilin. She screamed a bit and put up quit a fight, but Li was stronger and he managed to calm her. That's when Sakura's key became the Sealing Key. She Released the first card and then everything was going as planned. Then the second card was released. Li felt a smirk spread across his face. Everything would go back to normal and then the whole business of capturing cards would be over.
"Windy! Release and Dispel!" The wind picked up and Madison had run off behind the bushes never once leaving Sakura or Li. Kero too flew behind a bush for safety after he had come out of Sakura's backpack. Meilin screamed and Windy soon began to wrap around Meilin. It carefully slid beneath Li's grip to wrap more firmly around Meilin, but before that could happen, Li had felt Meilin's body shack. At first he thought it was from fear, but then he came to realize that it was truly not the case. Meilin was shacking only because the card from within her was on it's way out.
A flash of light that had originated from Meilin's body had momentarily blinded Li. It had completely baffled him. He then felt Meilin's body sink. Her knees had given way and her head looked as though it were dangling. Li had Meilin in his arms so he had only held onto her more tightly as she sank. He whispered her name as he slowly placed her on the ground. He then looked up into the beautifully, moonlight night sky. And there she was. The Love Card. Her eyes held nothing but love. For who? For him. Her eyes seemed to hypnotize him. He could see his reflection in the small pools of affection that were her eyes. He could hear Sakura's voice calling his name, but it had become weaker with every cry. The card soon began speaking to him. Through his mind he heard it's voice. He knew it was awaiting affection. His affection.
"Li, come to me, my love," it said. Her voice was sweet and gentle.
"I will come," he replied. He had no idea that he was speaking aloud. The fairy-like girl had come before him and wrapped her arms around him.
Slowly, the image faded as a new voice interfered. He heard Sakura's voice calling him, coaxing him to come back to her. Come back to her? He then noticed that the person hugging him was Sakura and then he pulled away from her. He looked up and the card was gone. They had failed? How? What had happened to him? What was that? Had he been dreaming? He probably was, but he had to ask.
"What happened? Was I dreaming?"
"You were out of it, just like when we were at the theater. She had you under her spell. I broke it. This time," Sakura confessed.
"How?" Li asked. Madison stepped out of the bushes with Kero beside her.
"She hugged you and whispered things in your ear," Madison answered.
"Madison suggested it. She said the best way to break you from the card's influence would be to distract you from it's attention," Sakura explained.
"So we didn't catch her?" Li asked. He didn't hide his disappointment at all. He thought for sure they would. The plan had seemed flawless. Almost. They would only have to try again. He then noticed Meilin stir. She called to him.
"Li...," her voice seemed empty. He walked to her. She then sat up with his help. "What happened?"
"Nothing, Meilin. Nothing at all."
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Li again went to Sakura's house after their plan had failed and Meilin had gone back to her old ways and it was really freaky when the card had hide herself in Meilin again. She followed Li around like a love-sick puppy. Sakura couldn't understand how Li could even spend a whole day with her. When he wasn't at Sakura's he was with Meilin, but Sakura was glad to have Li over. They would all hang out together and laugh. Li, Sakura, Kero, and Madison. Sakura was also happy to know that Tori had really begun warming up to Li. They would actually talk now. It was always a "Hi" and "how are you?" and "bye", but that was it. No real conversation, but they were getting there.
Tori had come rushing down the stairs. He was late for work for the fourth time that week.
"Sakura! Where are my shoes?" Tori asked. Madison, Sakura, and Li turned to face him. Sakura shrugged.
"Damn, I can't afford to lose this job, I need the money for college and supplies and the rent for my apartment back in the U.S.!"
"Well, just trace back your steps," Li suggested.
"What? I don't have time for games, kid," Tori snarled.
"Li's only trying to help," Sakura said, defensively. "If you won't take his help then you can forget about finding your shoes and your job." Everything was silent. They looked at Sakura. Madison had a knowing smile stretched across her face. Hm, she doesn't know anything, sakura thought. She's thinking the wrong thing. I'm defending Li because he's my friend, nothing more, nothing less.
"Alright," Tori said as he sighed. "What were you saying, ki-I mean Li."
"Retrace your steps," Li said. Tori nodded. "Tell me what you did between last night and this morning."
"Okay, well, last night I came home I took my shoes off and placed them by the door before coming inside. After, I had gone upstairs. I finished some last minute letters to friends in the U.S. before going to bed. Then this morning dad wanted me to buy some eggs and milk so I put my shoes on and left for the market. When I came back I took my shoes off and then I...didn't put them by the door. I took them to the kitchen with me and then...," his voice drifted.
"What?" Sakura and Madison asked. Tori quickly ran toward the kitchen. He came back out with his "missing" shoes. Sakura only watched as Tori put his shoes on. Tori then walked toward the door and opened it. He stopped momentarily to turn around. Sakura prayed he wasn't going to say anything cruel to Li since he was looking dead at him. It was hard to tell from Tori's eyes what he truly wanted to say because Sakura could visibly see that he was fighting with himself. Sakura knew Tori wanted to thank Li for his help, but yet he didn't want to change and actually be nice to him. Tori still hadn't liked the idea of Li being around his little sister so much. She hated how Tori still thought of her as his "little" sister. Couldn't he just see that she wasn't so little anymore and that she was more than his younger sister?
"Thanks," Tori said as he walked out the door. His voice had a hint of gratitude behind all the annoyance and frustration that was clearly audible. Sakura, Madison, and Li almost didn't hear it.
"Your welcome-," Li managed to finish before Tori closed the door.
"Don't worry about Tori. He just gets a bit defensive," Sakura stated.
"I'm not worried about anyone," Li said as he turned around to face the t.v. Sakura and Madison looked at each other then shrugged their shoulders. Madison began changing the channels until their was some kind of struggle outside. The three looked at each other and raced to the door at once. Sakura stopped dead in her tracks as she touched the door knob. She was a bit afraid to open it. She wasn't up for a battle right at the moment, but she had to look outside to see what the problem was. Li and Madison bumped into her. They bumped heads.
"Ouch!" Li and Madison yelled. There was a scream and Sakura opened the door as quickly as she could and there she saw. . .
Rita sprawled on the floor with her eyes closed. Nikki came up from behind Chelsea, who was wide eyed staring at Zachary who had his hand raised as if he were holding a knife with an evil grin on his face. Sakura sighed as Madison and Li moved forward. Li stood beside Sakura as Madison continued down toward the group.
"I can't believe you guys. You scared us!" Madison scolded. Rita opened her eyes as Nikki let Chelsea go and as Zachary lowered his hand and smiled.
"Sorry, but the movie was great!" Rita said.
"What are you talking about, Rita?" Nikki asked. "You didn't even see most of it."
"Yeah, you were too busy covering your eyes," Chelsea added as she laughed along with Nikki. Rita crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from them with a hmpf.
Zachary looked at Li. "I called you, but I was told you'd be here. Thinking you wanted some quite time alone with Sakura, I suggested going without you."
Sakura looked at Li. He looked a bit embarrassed, but he looked away and said nothing. He put his hands in his pockets.
"And we called you too, Madison," Rita said.
"Yeah, but you weren't home either," Chelsea added.
"I was here," Madison replied.
"We guessed as much," Chelsea said.
"Hey, where'd Meilin go? Wasn't she out here before?" Sakura asked. They all looked around, but saw no one anywhere. Madison shrugged when she turned to Sakura. "Maybe she left." She shrugged.
"Let's hope," Li whispered. Sakura turned to him.
"Don't they look cute standing there together like that?" Madison asked. The others laughed, but Sakura and Li both blushed. Both quickly turned to face the others.
"Oh, in fact they do," Rita said as she giggled. Zachary and Chelsea nodded as Nikki giggled with Rita. Li moved away from Sakura and sat on the porch floor.
"Just shut up," Li said.
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The next day Li had returned to Sakura's house. He knocked on the door and awaited for Sakura to open he door. He turned around to see Meilin staring back at him. Her eyes hypnotized him. He stood completely still staring into her eyes from across the street. He suddenly felt a little sick. Everything around him seemed to be spinning, but he found himself desiring Meilin more and more. With a swift move of her wrist, Meilin called to him, but Li did not move fo his body disobeyed her.
Come to me, Li, a beautiful, angelic voice had whispered across his mind. It was not Meilin who called to him, but the card that had taken over her mind and body.
"Yes, my love," Li said as he took a step forward, but before he continued toward Meilin, the door swung open and that's when Li's body had stopped. His mind was still desiring to go to Meilin or the card.
"Oh, it's you," Tori stated. "Listen, Sakura isn't here."
"Sakura?" Li repeated, softly. His mind pulled away from the cards power. He shook his head. He turned to Tori. Tori looked at him a bit confused and annoyed.
"Yeah, Sakura. She's not home. She went out with Madison and three other friends of her's from school. She thought you'd come by. She something about a card and talking. I don't know she said you'd understand. So, okay, bye." Tori was just about to close the door, but Li stopped him. Li didn't know what it was that was making him so dizzy, but he felt something trying to pry through his mind, trying to find some way in. He figured maybe that was it. Li used the door to allow him to stand straight. He didn't intentionally stop Tori from closing the door. Li put a hand to his head. It began to throb. What the hell was going on? He turned to Meilin and for the first time he saw her smile. She had a glint in her eyes that he had never seen before and he realized that at that moment, it wasn't Meilin, but the card from within.
"Kid? You okay?" Tori asked. This had surprised Li. Tori actually asked if he felt alright. What was the world coming to? Li tried to laugh at the though, but to no avail. Instead he groaned. The pain in his head grew as the feeling that someone was trying to overpower his mind against his will became mor real to him. Soon though the darkness form the corners of his mind took over and soon the colors he had seen in his sight were gone. Both his mind and his sight went completely black.
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When Li awoke he found Sakura Sitting beside him Rita, Chelsea, Nikki, and Madison leaning over him. His eyes slowly opened. Sakura was looking down at the floor her face in her hands while Madison and the others kept a tentative eye on him.
"Sakura, look!" Rita and Chelsea shouted.
"He's opening his eyes!"
Sakura quickly turned to him. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and off her cheeks. She smiled at Li when he finally opened his eyes fully. One last tear escaped her eye. It slid down her cheek then her chin and landed on Li's right hand which Sakura was now holding in her own hands. Her touch was warm and gentle and very compassionate. Li attempted a smile, but he did not succeed.
"Good morning, sleep head," Sakura teased.
"Morning?" Li asked. He tried to sit up. Madison and Chelsea helped him up. "It's morning? But it was only the afternoon when I came by."
"Actually, it's not morning, but you've been out cold for the past nine hours," Chelsea explained.
"Tori explained what happened when we got home," Sakura began. "He had said that you came by around two o'clock and you didn't look too good and you just passed out. We came back at two thirty so it had only been about half hour after you came and we've been waiting for you to wake up since."
Li looked around. Tori was not in the room, but soon he came out of the kitchen. He spotted Li awake, but did not say anything. Not a word. He just walked to the staircase and proceeded up to his room. Li then searched for a clock.
"What time is it?" he asked.
"It's. . .eleven o'clock," Rita replied
"Well, actually it's eleven 06, but that's only if you want to be specific," Nikki added.
Li tried to stand up, but he fell back on the couch. Everyone who was not sitting had run to him. Sakura held him by the arm. She pleaded with him to sit down. He was a bit dizzy and he felt a little weak, but did not want to admit to it. He tried once more to stand, but this time Sakura held him down. He was a bit surprised that Sakura was stronger than he at the moment. How had he lost so much energy. His thoughts were a bit blurred. He really hadn't remembered much of what happened to him. What he did remember though was the strong feeling that someone had been trying to enter his mind and take over, but that just sounded a bit off. How many people did he know whom that had actually happened to? No one!
He shook his head and rubbed his forehead. "I gotta get back," he said. He stood, this time he found it much easier. He turned to look beside him. He still felt Sakura's hand grabbing his arm. She was there, standing next to him, holding him upright. He blushed and his kneed buckled again he almost fell down, but Sakura kept him up along with Madison and Chelsea. No one seemed to notice the sudden blush that had just suddenly come. He looked around and Madison who was on the other side of him smiled with a knowing glance. She had seen him blush and knew why his knees had suddenly went out. The smile grew as Li shrunk.
Sakura, Madison, Chelsea, Rita, and Nikki had all walked Li home keeping him up every so often. He would say he didn't need help, but they knew better. He was weak, he just didn't want to show it. It was true. He wanted to look strong. He didn't want anyone to know how weak he truly was. Especially, a certain cherry blossom.