Identity's Past

by AlterEthereal

Hey there, guys! Long time no see! Which is entirely my fault, and I'm sorry. TT; You guys probably know the drill: busy, bust, busy... and FINALS. Ugh, I have to take the physics final... that's going to be irritating... that's tomorrow... Well, before I go and study my ass off, I'd like to thank all the reviewers from last chapter: Hitaru, Tramie, Vi3t BaBiI, sweet-captor, and orlha! Enjoy!

Alter-chan: la la la la la...

So: um... Kaya? don't you have finals tomorrow? you should be studying...

Alter-chan: YO HO!

So: grr... stupid baka... why'd you have to go insane on me?

Alter-chan: ring around the rosie, pocket full of posie...

So: that's it. TYCHO!!

Tycho: -randomly shows up- what do you want?

So: make Kaya wake up. she's needs to study.

Tycho: -quirks eyebrow-

So: and she's holding up the story. she has to do disclaimer.

Tycho rolls his eyes and walks over to Alter-chan, who is laughing hysterically on the ground, yelling something about 'coupe and hop.' He bends down and kisses her.

Alter-chan: -blinks and stands up- how did i get on the ground?

Tycho: nevermind.

Alter-chan: oh. well, did you just kiss me?

Tycho: no. i woke you up so you could do disclaimer.

Alter-chan: oh, ok! DISCLAIMER: I do not own CCS, but I do own Tycho and if I say that he kissed me, then he kissed me, and I say that he kissed me.

Tycho: - -; -leaves-

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Chapter 22: Magnetic

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Come on, Syaoran, you have to hurry up and get back over here before the entire place falls apart and- Sakura's thoughts were abruptly cut off as the cave walls to her left seemed to shatter, and the tremors in the ground became worse. She fought to maintain her balance, but only wound up on the ground again. She let out a frail whining sound and prepared to stand again, though she knew it would be much harder this time than it had been the last. "Syaoran!" she called to the messy-haired boy who still dawdled at the other end of the cave, "We can't wait much longer to get out of here! Hurry up!"

Whether or not he heard her took little priority in her mind as another nearby wall of stone gave way and collapsed into nothing but dusty particles. Behind it lay that horrific blackness that she'd seen the last time she escaped, an emptiness that rivaled that of space or perhaps even The Void.# Suddenly, Syaoran appeared at her side.

"Now that Wu Tai's dead, it could be minutes, maybe even seconds until this entire place is gone for good. Shouldn't we be getting out of here right about now?" Sakura could tell how the boy tried to mask the panic in his voice, but his jittery countenance betrayed his urgency. She could feel his eyes burning holes in the side of her head, as if waiting for her to take action.

"We can't leave yet, Syaoran. Not until Felix comes back with the others."

"What?!" He spun her shoulders around to face him. "But Sakura-"

"What do you want us to do? Just leave them?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes at the amber-eyed warrior. "It's not like they're really just dolls! If we don't take them with us, they'll all die here!"

"But Sakura, think about the strain on your power! You and I have both been fighting almost the entire time we've been here. Are you sure it'll hold out?" He sounded genuinely concerned now, and seeing the worried pout on his face almost made Sakura smile, despite the rather unpleasant situation they'd managed to get themselves into. "And with all the villagers... isn't there another way?"

"I'm afraid not," she replied. She knew that Syaoran was right, but it was just a risk that she had to take. They were left with no other options. She raised her pink staff above her head, and for the first time in a great while, allowed it to transform to it's full length, extending well above her head. She still remembered the first time she used it this way--it was when she hadn't had enough power to transform The Light and The Dark, and Keroberos and Yue had merged with it. Soon after, they had taken up permanent residence inside it, insisiting that, as the new Mistress of the Cards, she be prepared for anything. Not to mention that they wanted to be able to keep an eye on her at all times, or at least until they were sure there was no more evil roaming around waiting to strike. And boy, was she glad they'd taken that little precaution. "I call upon the powers of my Star!" Steady beneath the two magicians appeared The Seal of the Star, the same circular pattern that appeared when summoning her wand and her Star Cards except much bigger, around 8 or 9 meters in diameter.

As the ceiling finally began to give way, Felix then appeared in the cave entrance carrying a small, blonde bundle in his arms. A crowd of people followed him, some having a difficult time keeping their footing, and most of the men stuck carrying children and the elderly. The dark haired boy tripped his way over to Sakura and thrust the child into her arms, yelling in his language that he was going back to help the others. Syaoran, though unable to translate the message exactly, managed to get the drift as well and ran to aid the stumbling villagers onto the bright platform.

As a crimson speck became visible above the party, the ground trembled more violently and became cracked. Sakura urged all the poeple to hurry, and within just a few more moments, close to everyone was aboard, including Syaoran. The only people left were Felix and a young blonde woman who seemed rather dazed still from the mind control she'd been put through. It wasn't until one of the woman's rather swollen feet got caught on the rough stone, throwing her backward, that Sakura noticed her somewhat... enlarged stomach. Felix immediately bent down to help her get her foot un-stuck, but they were quickly running out of time. The two were crouched at the very foot of the platform--they just had to make it!

All at once, Felix worked the woman's foot out from between the rocks and dragged her upward, almost throwing her toward the awaiting villagers, and the ground began to shatter beneath the boy's feet. Alas, he wasn't atop the platform yet! Someone shoved past Sakura as her eyes widened and she let out a terrified scream. "Felix!"

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It happened too quickly. Syaoran watched in horror as the ground beside him began to shake apart and disintegrate. The glowing platform and all it's travelers stayed afloat, but as he caught a glimpse of the other side of the crowded station, he saw the peculiar blue-eyed boy thrusting that same blonde woman that had attacked him under mind control into the arms of the other villagers. Syaoran shoved his way through the crowd and past Sakura (who screamed) all the way to the ledge as quickly as he possibly could, falling to his knees and reaching out for the boy.

He managed to grasp Felix's wrist, almost getting pulled off the ledge himself in the process, but staying stable enough to support the dark-haired boy until he realized that he wasn't falling any longer. His eyes snapped open and he looked up to his rescuer, muttering something in his native tongue that Syaoran couldn't understand. Not that it mattered, of course.

"I have no idea what you just said, but you're welcome," he replied, wasting little time in hoisting Felix up. He felt almost like he was saving a comrade in battle, just with a little more mischief and rivalry sparking between the two than would be considered normal. A blue blob suddenly appeared at his right, and he recognized it as the back of Sakura's cape. The emerald-eyed beauty was crouched with the two boys and staring worriedly at the paler of the two. Syaoran secretly felt a pang of jealousy but kept it to himself, settling for a dark glare toward the back of Sakura's head as she leaned over to make sure that her friend was alright. He thought he saw her glance in his direction, but she paid the dirty look no attention, as if it were a usual occurance, coming from him. In reality, he supposed it was.

The sorceress murmured something to the blue-eyed boy, who nodded and stood up to dust himself off from his little near-death experience. Syaoran watched closely and tried to look disapproving, but the happy smile on Sakura's face as she concluded that Felix was fine was enough to soften his features somewhat and even raise the edges of his lips a little.

Just as Syaoran was about to turn away from the mushy little scene, he was attacked affectionately by a pair of pale arms. "Thank you so much, Syaoran! Oh, what would I ever do without you?"

He let his amber eyes fall into the easy lock of emerald and wrapped an arm around her, using the other to playfully tap her nose. "That was a bad joke, Sakura, since you know I'm not going anywhere." The scene was romantically perfect, and Syaoran had half the mind to kiss the girl silly right there in his arms. The only problem was the 40 or so eyebrows that were presently quirked at them. "These people, however, do have a place to go..."

The girl caught his drift and every bit reluctantly tore her viridian orbs away from the young warrior's. "Right. Now let's see..." Cape trailing behind her, Sakura made her way back to the center of the platform, a significant bounce in her step all the way. Syaoran followed for no particular reason, and Felix wasn't far behind.

She's just magnetic, I guess... the boy decided after a moment or so of thought, not that it was so hard to figure out. The girl had a beauty about her, and it drew people of every nature and genre to her like flies to lamplight. For Syaoran, it was a little different, he supposed. More like a whale drawn to the air. I need her to live...

Sakura fidgeted at her waist strap with hurried fingers, searching for the right card to get them out of there. She glanced up at the crimson speck, which was barely visible now. "Oh no..." she cried softly, "it's getting smaller!" Suddenly, something seemed to click in her brain, and she dug out the card she'd deduced that she needed. "Move Card!" With a flick of her wrist, she twirled her wand (careful not to hit anyone, considering just how long it had become) and struck the pink Star Card, releasing the creature. "Get us out of here!" No sooner had her lips finished shaping the words than The Move had taken action, swiftly placing itself beneath the heavy terrace and pushing it upwards. Several frightened squeals were heard from various places in the crowd, but upon Sakura's yell of something in that warped Romanian, they fell calm again, with the exception of some children who were still a bit scared.

It's only natural, I guess... Syaoran reminded himself, making his way over to a boy of somewhere around six or seven years who seemed to be near tears in fright and shock. The wretched little thing clung to the hem of his mother's skirt, while the woman was busy watching the predicament unfold with as much complacency as she could muster. She noticed Syaoran's approach, however, and nodded her head in greeting, as that was all the communication that could really be passed between them. Syaoran nodded in return, then knelt down beside the boy, who turned his frightened gaze upon the blood-stained sorcerer.

"It's alright, little one. Be brave, and you'll make it through this just fine," he spoke softly to the child, despite the language difference, and let a warm smile cross his lips. He reached out slowly and removed the boy's hands from the woman's dress, holding them in his own calloused palms for a moment. "Be strong, little one," he murmured, just loud enough to hear over the roar of the worried villagers. Letting the child's arms fall to his sides, he stood to his full height. "And stand tall, because someday, you may have to be the warrior."

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"Damn, this isn't good enough!" Sakura cursed. The move card could only make them go so fast, and that hole was closing faster than they were approaching. And she didn't even want to think about what would happen if they didn't make it through. "We need more..." She reached to her waist strap once more and pulled another bright pink card from its clutches. Summoning it, she called, "Dash! We need more speed!"

"Sakura!" a deep, worried voice radiated to her ears from somewhere behind her. Syaoran soon appeared at her side, concern and a bit of shocked anger written on his perfect face. "What are you doing? Your going to drain yourself of all your power!"

Instead of paying the chestnut-haired boy any heed, she ignored his little outburst and began prying at her waist once again. "We're too heavy... yeah, The Power is just what we need!" With another swing of the pink staff, The Power burst forth to aid the other two cards presently enrolled in the task. With a bit of a jerk, the platform began ascending faster, approaching with horrific speed the crimson vortex that finally seemed to be getting larger instead of smaller.

"Sakura, you aren't listening!" Now, the boy took to her shoulders, shaking them gently as if to wake her from a trance. Although she would never say it aloud, she actually thought it was rather cute, how he was all worried about her like that. "If you overload your powers, you'll faint, or worse, and then these people will all be dead anyway!"

"Relax, Syaoran. I know what I'm doing," she cheered confidently, as Syaoran paused in his rattling of her shoulders. "I summoned all the Star Cards the first time I battled Wu Tai."

"That may be true, but summoning and using are two very different things!" he resumed his shaking, "I thought you'd have figured that out by now!"

Secretly, Sakura knew how right Syaoran was, but she couldn't let it get to her. Not now, while the entire village, not to mention Syaoran, was depending on her. She wasn't going to let them down, and as long as she could use the cards to full capacity long enough to escape into the vortex, she knew they'd be alright. She had the rest of her life to faint over draining too much of her power at once. Right now, concentration was necessary. "Everything will be fine, Syaoran! Just believe in me!"

The boy's glare softened, and his grip on her shoulders loosened. "I do, Sakura."

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# technically, The Void doesn't exist in this story, since when i began writing, i didn't know that the second CCS movie existed. therefore, Syaoran and Sakura had never confessed their love to each other, either.

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Alter-chan: -is studying for her physics final-

So: well, at least she's doing what she's supposed to now...

Alter-chan: -is actually reading Gundam Wing: Blind Target (which i don't own)-

So: so anyway, please review.

--AlterEthereal