Um……. Yes, thanx for da reviews! And a few things before I go on:
~thx katalin for tellin' me about da fact that Ying Hua is Mandarin and Ying Fa is Cantonese! But I will continue to use Ying Hua, cause Ying Fa kinda bugs me, cause I'm Mandarin, and I'm used to Ying Hua, and plus, "Fa", among many other meanings, means "hair" in Mandarin, and that seriously bugs me if you get what I mean……………. hahaha……………………..
~and the whole sorcerers are stronger than wizards, and how they can see auras, and how wizards' auras are silver, and only silver, and sorcerer's aura are different colors is an idea I got from Silva Sun. it is all Silva Sun's idea, and it is hers alone. I did, however, ask for her permission to use that idea, and she said yes, and thus I'm using it! XD
now! Onto the story!
DISCLAMER: I do not own CCS nor HP. Need I say more?
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LOST IN TIME
Chapter Two
"THE LETTER"
by dZnSNofLAkeZ
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LAST TIME:
Sakura ran in just as the bell rang announcing the beginning of home room. Her teacher gave her a glare, but she could not do anything, for Sakura was not late. Sakura slipped into her seat quietly, ignoring the fierce look her teacher was giving her.
'Nothing new. She gives me that same glare everyday.' Sakura thought nonchalantly and turned her attention to the beautiful day outside, with the beautiful cherry blossom trees dancing gracefully in the wind.
"class, take out your math books. Remember, our first period is Math." Sakura grumbled. She LOATHED math. She took out her book absentmindedly and turned her attention back to the window.
'April first… and today's my birthday, too…' she thought forlornly before she lost herself in a tide of daydreams………………….
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A thirteen year old girl with long auburn hair slept peacefully in her bed, with the sunlight dancing playfully on her hair, making her auburn tresses to appear a brilliant golden color. The ray of light danced around the room, highlighting the simple and small room, decorated in a light pink color. A bed was on the left side of her room, with the head and side of it against a wall. A bedstand stood next to the bed, as if they were companions that had gone through a great amount together, on which a simple lamp and alarm clock lay. the desk sat at the right side of the room, with a side against the wall. In between the bed and desk was a window. It overlooked a beautiful garden down below, with pink and red and yellow and orange and every color under the rainbow. Across from that was an unusually green pasture of grass, sparkling with the morning dew ever so brightly under the sun. Beyond that was the wooden fence that surrounded the house, standing proudly in all its classical beauty, with decorations of gorgeous carvings. It was not an ordinary house. In fact, it was the biggest house on the block, no, the whole town, and the owners of it was the ever famous Fukuharas.
The girl on the bed looked ordinary, but she was not. She was the one and only master of the Sakura Cards. She had mastered them at the young age of nine, escaping from the cage of a house every night when the moon came out. The house she lived in was that of her aunt and uncle's on her mother's side, big and elaborate. She loathed the house, however fancy it was, for it kept her in like an iron cage, with her only living relatives staring fixedly and fiercely at her continuously as if she was going to jump up and commit a crime any minute. That was why when she had stumbled across the Clow Cards at the restricted areas of the library one certain day, she was so enthusiastic about the card-capturing business; she could go out and have adventures, while her aunt had not even one hint of a clue where she was. She captured all of the cards with Kero's help, treating the cards not as cards, but as friends that she loved dearly. When the capturing was done, and she was proclaimed the Master by Yue, her days transforming the cards begun. There, she met Eriol, the reincarnation of Clow Reed, and found out that her late father was the other half.
Even after the transformation, she worked on her powers, and also martial arts, which Yue trained her daily. Soon, she became the most powerful sorcereress in the world, and perhaps the best in martial arts. Her "guardians" as her aunt and uncle referred to themselves as, was kept ignorant of all these.
This specific day in the middle of summer, however, she was to find out a little more of herself that her cruel relatives had kept from her.
Tap, tap, tap…
Multiple scratching sounds, like that of a bird's claws scraping on windows, was heard. In fact, it WAS a bird's claws scraping the window. A snowy white owl lay perched in front of the window, with a large envelope in its beak.
The girl's eyelids fluttered open and shut in a series of quick succession, and groaned. She had had a long day the day before, filled with training and kicks and punches and so on. She had dropped dead into her bed in the late hours of the night and slept like a log. Now she was forced to wake up early in the morning, when the sun had just risen, to let in an OWL? Where was the justice in that?!
Wait……………. an owl…………………..?
The girl's brain slowly processed the word, and as if she was hit by a ton of bricks, she suddenly jumped out of bed and ran toward the window, and opened it in a single sweep. The owl flew in in one graceful movement, landed gently onto her desk, and dropped the thick envelope onto her desk with a silent PLOP. As soon as the owl finished its job, it flew out of her open window, leaving her flabbergasted, with her mouth wide open.
Owls in Tomoeda was unusual, but one that flew into a person's house……….? Now that, was freaky………….
(A/N: um….. feelin' weird right now. Might have something to do with the fact it's kinda getting' late… wateva. O ya, some of you were kinda getting' confused on if Ying Hua and Sakura were the same person, and no, they aren't. they are from different time periods. And you guys were getting' confused on the switchin' back and force between time periods. Ying Hua lives in 1661 or somethin', and Sakura lives in like, 1998 or somethin' haven't decided yet… and this story is gonna be like the book "Holes", which has like, 3 different stories, and all the stories come together at the end. And one more thing, add Ying Hua to her last name, and you'll get most of it. But there's clues everywhere, and foreshadowin'. You just gotta pay attention. :D yup yup!)
should she open the envelpe? Or should she not…? Her conscience was having an inner debate; quite an interesting one, actually.
'I don't think you should open it…'
'why not? It IS addressed to me…'
sure enough, on the front of the envelope were the words,
"KINOMOTO SAKURA,
Third Bedroom
on the Second Floor,
7-8 Yamaoka Lane,
Tomoeda, Japan"
In deep blue ink. The letters were nice and well-structured, leaving the reader to guess that the writer was a sophisticated person sure of herself.
'and it's so specific………….. it's kinda scary……………….'
'ya, that's why you shouldn't open it.'
'but……….. curiosity…………..'
'what if it's something bad? It might be blackmail.'
'with that kinda hand writing? It doesn't look like it. And what if it's something important?'
'fine. Go ahead. I don't care.' (A/N: you should… -_-; )
Sakura carefully lifted up the envelope and slowly opened it. Her movement was so hilariously cautious, and she stared at the envelope as if it would suddenly form a mouth and start shouting at her, that if there was another person with her, they would have cracked up upon seeing her expression. But there wasn't, and Sakura was forced to open the mysterious letter by herself. As she turned the envelope, she saw a symbol, with four spaces, on which there were pictures of cherry blossoms, peach blossoms, a wolf, and a round moon. In the middle of it was a large M.
(A/N: I swear, I blame it all on the fact that it's late. This chap is turnin' out so weird…)
from the envelope came several sheets of paper, and Sakura opened the top most letter, upon which was written:
"Kinomoto Sakura sama,
You have been invited to come study at MAHOU DOU, Asia's best and most famous Wizarding School. Here, you will study the skills of Wizardry and so on. If you choose to come, enclosed in this envelope is an airplane ticket to Hong Kong, where our school, Mahou Dou is located. The plane is set to leave on the first of August, leaving you with a month before the Start-of-Term, seeing that you will need the time to prepare. Enclosed, also, is the list of materials you will need at school, the whereabouts of the hotel you will stay at, and we highly recommand that you buy a Carry-All at the Central Square of Magical Creatures. School will start on the first of September, and we hope to have the pleasure of having you in our school.
Signed,
Mizuki Kaho
Headmaster of Mahou Dou."
along with the letter was indeed a list of things needed for the term, the tickets for the hotel, and the airplane ticket.
By the end of the letter, Sakura was thoroughly confused. Mahou Dou? Wizards? Carry-all? Central Square of Magical Creatures? In Hong Kong? Huh?
Sakura did the first thing her dumbfounded mind came up with. She rushed to her desk, opened the second drawer from the top, and shook a stuffed toy. But no, it wasn't a stuffed toy, for it was moving, and mumbling something along the lines of "pudding… me want pudding…".
"Kero-chan. Kero-chan! Wake up!" Sakura whispered.
"PUDDING!!!" yelled a semi-conscious Kero.
"shhh!!!" Sakura quickly replied.
"huh………….?" the stuffed bear finally came into conscious, staring at the brunette with wide groggy eyes.
"Read this letter. Do you have any idea what it means?" asked Sakura while handing the letter to a sleepy Kero.
Kero started reading the piece of paper which was handed to him, still in his state of stupor. After reading a few lines however, the stuffed toy's eyes bulged out, leaving not even a trace of drowsiness on his tiny little face. Incoherent words came out of the creature's mouth, which sounded suspicously like, "so the time has come…………" in such a small whisper that Sakura had to strain to hear.
"so you know about this, Kero-chan? How come you never told me about Wizards and such?" the brunette asked, curiosity apparent in her tired voice.
"hahaha……….." Kero laughed nervously. "um…………. I was going to tell you, but I guess it slipped out of my mind, what with the puddings and video games and all…………."
Sakura sweat-dropped. Kero and his puddings……………..
"well, I guess it's about time you found out……………….." continued Kero. "you've already found out about the fact that you got your sorcery from your father's side. Well, your mother, Nadeshiko, was a witch. No, not those kinds with warts and a scary face, but one that uses magic with a wand." He quickly added after seeing the look of remorse the girl had gotten after she had heard the word 'witch'. "and you have inherited her ability to use magic with a wand. I agree, you ARE the most powerful sorceress and all, and it is true, the powers of wizards are much weaker than that of a sorcerer's. Of course, there's only three sorcerors in the whole world; you, Eriol, and another, since the gift of sorcery is so rare, but there's a lot more Wizards. 10,000 just in Asia.
They are too weak to have a proper aura, and thus theirs is silver. If you look carefully, you will find that you have a tint of silver in your pink aura." Here, Kero stopped, giving Sakura the time to search her aura, and indeed, there was a faint trace of silver in her warm, pink aura. "You've been spoiled, Sakura. You've learned to get something you wanted by calling upon a Card, or simply by a flick of your finger. And so, I suggest you go to this Mahou Dou, and learn the art of Wizardry. You know, by using a wand and mumbling words to cast a spell? I know that it's a much slower way, but I think it will be good for you." Kero finished.
Sakura had listened intently to the stuffed toy's lecture, and now she nodded eagerly. "I'll go." She stated simply. 'anything to get away from here………………..'
Kero looked surprised. He didn't think she would agree so quickly.
"well, Mahou Dou's a boarding school. You don't have to come back until the holidays. So go down and ask your aunt and uncle for their permission." Kero paused. "not that you need it, you can just go, but it's only polite……………….." Kero added as an afterthought.
Sakura, on the otherhand, was staring at the paper, which had been lying on the desk, forgotten, in a confused manner. "Kero, before I go down there and get my self killed, could you answer some questions?" Sakura joked lightly.
"hmmm? What?" was the reply.
"well, first of all, what's 'the Central Square of Magical Creatures'?" she said the name slowly, unsure if she said it right or not.
"oh, that's the place where you get all your stuff. It's a magical community, and witches and wizards get their non-normal, or in other words, magical objects from there. It's muggle-free." stated Kero nonchalantly, as if it was the naturalest thing in the world.
"muggle…………………….?" asked the other uncertainly.
"non-magical people" declared Kero.
Sakura nodded in understanding, then continued.
"and one last thing. what's a 'Carry-All'?" inquired the brunette.
"oh, ya. It's really useful. It's this bag, that looks like a normal back pack, but it's been charmed to have more space in it then it really does, allowing you to put a lot of stuff in it. They just suggested it because it would be weird for you to go up the street full of muggles with a huge trunk and an owl or whatever pet you've got."
"oh. I see." Replied the girl quietly. "well, I'll be off to the battle field. Just hope that my uncle won't slaughter me when he hears my request. Actually, he might be glad………………. he won't have to have anything to do with me for a whole year……………… well, anyways, wish me luck."
Sakura went down the stairs quietly with an expression that said plainly that she didn't know what to expect.
When she got into the kitchen, she found her uncle sitting at the kitchen table, reading the morning paper.
The girl gulped. The sight of her nearly-bald uncle sitting at the table with his brows furrowed together as he read the paper scared her in a way. He looked as if he was mad at something………
"um……………. uncle……………………? May I ask you something, please?" the brunette said in a half-whisper, apparently frightened of what the other would do at the sound of her voice.
The male looked up at his neice and said in a cross tone, "what?!" and went back to his obviously much more interesting news paper.
Sakura flinched at her uncle's harsh manner, but nonetheless continued on. "um………………… you see, I got this letter from the mail…………………."
Still buried in the piece of article in front of him, he said in a voice filled with sarcasm, "but you never get mails. You don't have any friends. And as unbelievable as it is, you return all books to the library on time, while my own daughter forgets them every time…………………" he said the last part of this in a whisper, a tint of embarassment in his voice. However, the red on his face turned into a smirk as he said "and obviously, you don't have any 'secret admirers'. So who in the right mind would send YOU mail?"
Sakura sniffed indignantly, and handed her uncle the envelope, while saying angrily, "well, this was certainly addressed to me, whoever it's from."
The bald man took the envelope just as his wife came into the room. With the female beside him, he turned the envelope over with curiosity. However, when he saw the symbol, both he and his wife turned an unhumanly shade of white.
"h-how di-d y-you g-get t-this………………..?!!!" he stuttered.
"an owl came into my room and gave me it. Why?"
(A/N: I really don't feel like writing this………)
"this……….. this…………. is………….. from…………………………" as hard as he tried, he failed his attempt at trying to form a complete sentence.
"apparently it's from Mahou Dou. Can I go there?" asked Sakura, clearly out of patience.
Suddenly, her aunt, a tall, thin, middle-aged woman that barely resembled her beautiful older sister, who had miraculously stayed in silence until then, shrilled in a loud voice, "NO! I knew it would turn out this way! We should have never taken you in! We were too nice. I knew you were the same as my sister, your mother. Weird. Abnormal. With………………… with………………… that 'ability' of yours you call 'wizardry'!"
By now, the teenager's blood was boiling with frustration and rage, and retorted sharply, "my mother was not weird, or abnormal! At least she was good looking! And for your information, I am going to go to this school no matter what, even if you don't permit me! At least you won't have to see me anymore except for the holidays!" she added as an afterthought.
With that, she ran up the stairs, her fury still clinging to her slim figure in a cloud of irritation.
(A/N: read the author's note at the bottom. It's important.)
'I will go there, no matter what!' she thought, resentment running through her very veins.
'Well, since it's next week, I guess I'll have to live through this a little more.' She sighed. She just couldn't take it anymore. For some reason, her 'family' treated her like dirt. Her ugly cousin, who received her repulsive features from her mother, hated her for the reason that she was so much prettier than her. Her aunt and uncle just hated her for some unknown reason.
~*~
THE DAY BEFORE THE AIRPLANE FLIGHT:
The brunette packed all her necessities; her clothes, which, for the fear of being mocked by her aunt's fellow peers, the woman had provided Sakura with new clothes that she liked. She packed all her make-up, which were given to her for the same reasons as her clothes. On top of those were all the things she needed.
That night, she slept a peaceful and undisturbed sleep, one that she hadn't experienced in a long time.
And while she slept………………
She dreamed of a certain pair of amber eyes……………………
TSUZUKU……………………..
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um……… I wanted to get at least to the part where Sakura met Syaoran, but I don't have enough time…… I'm sorry.
3082 words. Kinda short. Oh well……
Please review. I want to reach at least 25 reviews. I'm really busy right now, since my teachers apparently had the satisfaction of piling us with tons of homework before winter break. Like projects, and essays, and speeches, and plus, I have extracurricular activities. In another words, I'm busy out of my mind. And if people don't like my story, then why bother writing 'em? So tell other people about my story, etc. and review!!! thanxies………
For ya curious peeps out there, Fukuhara means something like "rich field". "Fuku" means rich, prosperity, etc., and "hara" is along the lines of field, etc. (I think. Can't remember… :P) and "Yama" means mountain, and "oka" means hill, so put together, "Yamaoka" means mountain-hill……… -_-;;; I made it up…… I made both "Fukuhara" and "Yamaoka" up, so if there is indeed a family named that, or street named that, um…… oops… sorry.
Oh ya, happy belated birth day to me!XDDD it was Saturday (12/13/03)!
That's all……
See ya!