Author's Note: NO, ACH will NOT be continued...it has ended! And NO make-outs...Well, here's a new fic, I thought it would be interesting to write about, so please review! Flames welcomed now.

News: Don't you guys want to read ICS alternate ending at the Tomoyo and Eriol fic I made? It's on my website(click on the homepage link on my profile to access!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. It belongs rightfully to CLAMP.

The Magic Paintbrush

By: Wings of Jade

Chapter 1: The Drawing

[[Prologue]]

"Don't come any closer, Yang." Yang, a sorcerer with pitch-black hair and red eyes, laughed.

"What's the matter, Xiao Lang? Scared of me?"

"In your dreams," replied Xiao Lang. "And by the way, it's Syaoran now. We're not in China anymore."

"Does not matter either way," said Yang. "I am here to curse you."

"Not kill me?"

"There are things much worse than death, Xiao Lang," whispered Yang. "Like life imprisonment." He held up a paintbrush. It was an ordinary Chinese brush, a wooden stick with horse hair. However, the powers it held was not ordinary.

Syaoran drew his sword. "Stop right there."

"And why should I?" said Yang softly. With a flick of his hand, he cast a spell onto Syaoran. Syaoran froze. He could not move. Yang cast another spell, his red, merciless eyes staring straight at him. Syaoran looked downwards, and was horrified to see that he was turning white; his green robes were turning white, his sword was turning white, everything on him was turning white...he felt himself sucked backwards. A piece of drawing paper had been behind Syaoran, when he was cornered in the temple. When the spell was finished, Syaoran was no more than a drawing on a piece of white paper. He was stuck.

Yang started to laugh, a horrible, evil laugh. "Let's see who can free you, Xiao Lang," he hissed, and then he disappeared.

[[End prologue]]


It had been about six months after Syaoran had been cursed that a girl of about seventeen years found him. This girl was named Sakura Kinomoto, and she was pretty ordinary--she knew little magic, her brother was a sorcerer's apprentice, and her parents were deceased. However, that's where all the ordinary's end.

When Sakura was 3, her mother Nadeshiko died. Before she left for heaven, however, she left Sakura with a gift, a Chinese brush with white horse hair and made of smooth, dark wood. Before Nadeshiko died, she cast a spell onto it and whispered, "It holds a gift, Sakura, a beautiful yet dangerous gift. Use it well."

When Sakura was five, she started to paint. First, she painted eggs. Eggs, eggs, and more eggs! It was the basic shape for drawing. However, when Fujitaka, Sakura's father, went into Sakura's room to see how she was doing, he saw that her room was flooded with eggs!

When Sakura was eight, she started painting flowers and plants. When Fujitaka entered her room this time, he saw millions of flowers floating around the room--tulips, roses, violets, holly, forget-me-nots, sunflowers, cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, peach blossoms, and even eggplant blossoms, for God's sake!

Soon, something began to dawn on the Kinomoto family. Whatever Sakura painted would come to life. When Fujitaka died, Sakura painted a coffin made of dark ebony. It appeared out of the white paper. Sakura drew people playing instruments, a sad, funeral march, and lots of others to hold the coffin high. Touya was amazed.

When Sakura was fifteen, Touya went to the famous sorcerer Yue, to become his apprentice. Sakura was left to fend for herself. She painted daily. She never ran out of paper, for what she painted would immediately come out and leave the paper blank, so she could start over.

One day, Sakura went to the ancient temple that was on Death Hill. Death Hill was the hill on which many soldiers were killed and beheaded. It was when Yue's twin, the evil Yang rose and tried to take over the land. That time, the Li Clan and the Kinomoto Clan had banded together to overthrow Yang. In the end, Yang fled, but at least half of the warriors were either killed or cursed. One such soldier was the legendary Li Xiao Lang, or Li Syaoran, who was not killed, because his body was not found, but believed to be cursed.

Sakura took a piece of paper out of her pocket and painted a horse. The good thing about the brush was that you did not need paints to paint. A horse galloped off the page. Sakura rode it up the hill. She needed quiet. The neighbours were noisier than usual, there seemed to be something big going on. She could not paint while noise was around her.

She entered the temple. It was dusty and filled with cobwebs. Sakura walked through each of the rooms, pausing the look at the overturned tables, chairs, and whatnot. Then she came upon a room where it seemed most fresh; the tables and chairs were not overturned, and there were less cobwebs than the other rooms. Her eyes gazed around the room. It would be perfect to draw, it was so peaceful and...unharmed. She sat down at a chair.

Then she noticed the drawing.

It was of a boy with short hair and a handsome face. His expression was one of shock, and he was carrying a sword. Her eyes fell to the name below.

Syaoran Li.

"Syaoran Li..." she pronounced slowly. "Wasn't that the boy that went missing six months ago?" She picked up her brush and walked over to the drawing. Wouldn't it be great if I brought him back to life? But...no, I can't risk it. The people say he is a hero, but who knows? He might change after all these months. She took out a piece of paper and an idea struck her.

Brown, she thought, and her brush painted brown.

Blue, red, yellow, orange, white, black, green, purple, she thought, and soon, she had completed a paint palette. The palette materialized out of the paper. She took it.

If I don't paint with the natural colours in the brush, then maybe he won't come to life, thought Sakura. She dipped her brush into the paints.

First, she mixed a dark brown. She painted the boy's hair and eyes. Then, she mixed orange with white and created a light peach colour, for the boy's skin. Then, she mixed green with black, then white again, to get the perfect hue for his robes. She added a gold trimming, and also made a silver for the boy's sword. She created more colours to perfect the robe. Then, satisfied, she took out a normal brush and started painting.

Hours and hours passed. When Sakura was finally finished a normal painting, she rolled up the paper and walked out of the ancient temple. She rode her painted horse down Death Hill, and went back home.


Syaoran felt strange. He was stuck, paralyzed on a piece of paper; his brain could not think, his hands could not feel, and he was colourless, just a bunch of lines. But then, when his eyes were painted in a bright, yet deep amber, he could look. He looked downwards. His robes, skin, and sword were slowly being filled in with colour. All he saw was a brush...and a beautiful young maiden with auburn hair and startling green eyes, painting him.

Then, a peculiar sensation washed over him. He felt...alive. He could move again. He took a step with his newly coloured legs. He stepped off the page. He opened his mouth.

"I'm free."

He flexed his hands and fingers. He tightened his grip on the sword. Then, he went into a fighting stance. With two moves, he overturned every single table in the temple room. So! The girl had ended his imprisonment on a page and restored his power, too. He had never felt more alive.

He walked out of the temple and down Death Hill. His sword was out, in case Yang was anywhere. But...time seemed to have past already. Not a lot, like a year, but time nevertheless. He put his sword into its sheath and walked boldly into the Kinomoto and Li Kingdom. They were one, now. He took a step into the marketplace, where people were selling and yelling food, jewelry, and clothing.

It seemed old. In a way. In a new way. How long exactly had he been imprisoned? A cry for help broke his thoughts.

"Stop! Help!"

"Shut up, little girl!" growled a mean-looking man. He had a sword in his hand. In his other hand was the arm of a struggling girl. "You take a look at all my jewelry yet you don't buy anything? What kind of a person are you, lady? Looking but not buying? I'm telling you, when you go to Senichi's shops, you buy or get lost!"

"Halt." Syaoran held up his sword. Senichi turned to look at him.

"Who are you?" he sneered. "Come to get your arms cut off too?"

"No," said Syaoran calmly. Senichi brought his sword onto Syaoran, but he swiftly blocked it with his sword's sheath. Then, Syaoran kicked the man in the stomach. As fast as lightning, Syaoran had the man kneeling on the ground and his arm twisted behind his back. Syaoran leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "I'm going to cut your arms off for upsetting someone innocent."

"Iie! Iie!" cried Senichi shrilly. "Please don't, warrior--I was only punishing the girl for looking and not buying! She said that she didn't bring any money, and she looked at all my jewelry for so long...please, spare me, spare me!" Syaoran twisted his arm harder. Senichi cried out louder.

"Sir! Onegai(please)--don't." Syaoran turned. The girl, with her head bowed down, spoke out. "Onegai, warrior...let him go."

"Girl," said Syaoran, "He tried to cut your arm off!"

"I know, but I still did something wrong," insisted the girl pleadingly. "Onegai, spare him!" Syaoran looked at Senichi in disgust.

"I'm only letting you go because the girl said so," he spat. "Next time, if you try to cut someone's arm off, I won't be polite." Syaoran let go of the man with a final twist. He walked away. A crowd had gathered when Syaoran had Senichi in a tight grip, and they parted to let him go.

"Arigatou gozaimasu." Syaoran turned. The girl who had been threatened by Senichi still had her head bowed. She refused to look at him.

"Do itashi mashite(you're welcome)," said Syaoran shortly. Then he cocked his head at her. "Why do you refuse to raise your head?" He placed a finger under her chin and raised her face to him. His eyes widened.

The girl who set him free.


Sakura went to the marketplace to buy some vegetables. She could always paint herself some, but sometimes, she needed a break from it. She passed a jewelry stand on the way. All the sparkling jewels and gold was irresistable. She reached out to touch a necklace. It was a dreamcatcher on a silver chain. The owner, Senichi, rushed to greet her with a smile.

"Hello, there, little girl," he said in a sickly sweet voice. "Come to buy something?"

"Just looking, thank you," Sakura replied. After a couple of minutes the owner's smile began to fade.

"What are you still doing here, baka?" he hissed. "Aren't you going to buy something?"

"I...I have no money."

"Nani? You have no money? What do you expect me to do, let me give you the jewelry for free?"

"No," said Sakura hurriedly, "I didn't--"

"I'm telling you, little girl," Senichi continued, "I don't tolerate those kinds of people!" He grabbed a sword from under the stand. Sakura gasped.

"S-S-Sir," she stammered, "Wh-What have I done to betray you?"

"You are wasting my time, touching everything but not buying," he roared.

"Stop! Help!"

"Shut up, little girl," he bellowed. "You take a look at all my jewelry yet you don't buy anything? What kind of a person are you, lady? Looking but not buying? I'm telling you, when you go to Senichi's shops, you buy or get lost!" He raised the sword.

"Halt!" A boy about her age wearing green robes appeared. His dark eyes were focused on Senichi. Sakura looked away, bowing her head.

"Who are you? Come to get your arms cut off too?" sneered Senichi.

"No." In a flash, the young male warrior (or martial artist, he looked like both) had Senichi on his knees and his arm behind his back. "I'm going to cut your hands off for upsetting an innocent girl." A crowd gathered to watch. They all hated Senichi to his guts.

Senichi begged him not to, but the boy seemed unwilling to let him go. Then Sakura spoke up.

"Sir! Onegai--don't. Onegai, warrior...let him go."

"Girl, he tried to cut your arm off!"

"I know, but I still did something wrong. Onegai, let him go!" pleaded Sakura.

"I'm only letting you go because the girl said so," he spat. "Next time, if you try to cut someone's arm off, I won't be polite."

He walked away. The crowd parted to let him go. Unable to hold back her tongue, Sakura burst out, "Arigatou gozaimasu." The boy glanced at her.

"Do itashi mashite." Then he cocked his head at her. "Why do you refuse to raise your head?" He raised it for her. Then his eyes widened the same time Sakura's did.

The warrior from the picture named Syaoran Li!


Look! They've met. Wow, this story is going pretty fast...don't worry, the magic paintbrush will have a part soon! Well, it plays a very big part, otherwise it wouldn't be called the Magic Paintbrush! REVIEW!