Author's Note: Wow! I never knew I'd be getting this many reviews...thanks! Oh, and to answer your questions:

1) yes, I got it from a Chinese fable called The Magic Paintbrush

2) no, just because Sakura knows magic doesn't mean she enchanted the paintbrush. The paintbrush itself holds magic.

Oh, and by the way, brush and paintbrush are the same thing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

The Magic Paintbrush

By: Wings of Jade

Chapter 2: Realization

It seemed as if time had froze. The two locked eyes, and a sudden connection was made.

The girl freed him.

The boy was freed.

The girl was right there.

The boy was right there.

Then, as fast as lightning, Sakura tore her eyes away from the young man and sprinted down the street, clutching her vegetable basket, her heart beating violently against her ribs.

"Hey--Hey, wait!" shouted Syaoran. He chased after her. The crowd started murmuring.

"Strange..."

"She seemed scared of him..."

"He saved her life! I mean, arm!"

"They look like they know each other..."

"He saved her arm and this is what she pays back in return?"

Gradually, the crowd scattered. Senichi was left cursing and muttering under his breath. He couldn't care less that the two seemed to know each other, or how the stupid girl paid him back. He rubbed his arm. It hurt.


"Hey--Maiden--Girl--onegai(please)--wait!" He finally caught up with her and spun her around. She seemed terrified.

"You...You've come to life..." she whispered.

Syaoran was confused. "Um...yeah. I've been meaning to mention that. Um...you are the maiden that freed me, aren't you?"

"I wish I wasn't." The girl took a step back.

"What's wrong?" asked Syaoran softly. "You seem so scared of me. Do I look scary?"

Well, no, he didn't, he was actually quite good-looking. And had a well built body too, but Sakura was way to scared to say so. And you just don't say those kinds of things out loud, anway. Besides, he was alive. She had made something else come to life again, except it was bigger and more important and more famous...Touya was not going to be happy.

"Iie," she whispered back. "I...I..."

"Can you please tell me why are you so frightened?"

"You're alive."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Syaoran Li. The famous martial artist magician." Syaoran wasn't surprised.

"You got that right. Is that why you're scared?"

"No." Her voice was shaky. "I...I brought you to life..." She made to run again, but Syaoran grabbed her.

"All I saw," he said quietly, "Was you painting me with a paintbrush. Then I could move again, think again, talk again. Can you please explain this to me? Do you have some sort of magical paintbrush?"

He got it right. Sakura squirmed, trying to get away. Finally, somebody knew she had something so powerful. Syaoran loosened his hold, but not too much. "I'm only curious. Why can't you tell me?"

"Because!"

"Because what?"

"Because you're not supposed to know!" Sakura kept trying to break free. Then, her paintbrush fell out of her basket. Syaoran caught sight of it. He let go of Sakura and picked it up.

"This is the brush you used to free me," he said quietly.

"Give it back."

"Can you tell me the whole story then?"

"Iie."

"Then I won't."

"Onegai!"

"Tell me." His voice became slightly angry.

Sakura gritted her teeth. Then she dropped to her knees. Syaoran's eyes widened.

"Wh--?"

"Onegai, give it back to me," pleaded Sakura. "It holds powers you know naught of, it is extremely dangerous!" Syaoran knelt down to her eye level.

"What is your name?"

"Sakura." He looked at the brush, and then held it out to her.

"But you must promise to tell me the story."

"I..."

"I won't tell anybody."

"Swear?"

"Swear."

Sakura took a deep breath. "When I was three, my mother left me with this paintbrush as a gift. Just before she died. She told me to use it well, because it was powerful yet dangerous.

"Soon, when I started taking drawing lessons, I realized I could paint anything and make it come to life. I could paint someone half man half monkey and it would still come to life. Anything I painted would come out of the paper and...well, you know, do whatever it's supposed to do. Like you. The weird thing about it was, I could have no paints yet it would still paint whatever colour I wanted. And well...I'm not sure who enchanted the paintbrush to paint life. Definitely not my mom, because she knows no magic, not even the ones to cure warts, and a spell this powerful must take a powerful wizard. I suspect it is an ancestor of my mother's." Then Sakura looked Syaoran in the eye. "There. Happy?"

"Very," replied Syaoran. "So, your mother left you a magic paintbrush that could make anything come to life? Interesting. It sure made me come back to life."

Sakura shook her head. "But still...I've only made little things come to life. Eggs. Flowers. Leaves. Ants. Never a human. That would be way to big. But now..."

"I won't tell a soul," promised Syaoran. "And I'll keep my coming back a secret. Is that fine?"

"Fine."

Both of them were silent.

"Well, I...I guess I have to go now." Sakura took a hesitant step backwards. She turned around.

"Wait." She felt a hand on her shoulder. Her heart started fluttering. She moved her head towards him.

"Hai?"

"Thank you for trusting me."


Master Yang watched as the two departed. His mirror went blank. Or, black, to be more exact. He scowled.

"I cannot believe it. There's something more powerful than my Colourless Curse? Impossible. Absolutely impossible." He gripped his chair tightly. Then it broke in two.

"Just when I'm restored to almost full power and I can conquer the Li and Kinomoto kingdoms, the two brats come with their little magic paintbrush with powerful and dangerous powers! I am so MAD. Why me? Why does the stupid paintbrush have to make things come to life? Stupid dummies. I wish I had a paintbrush like that. Then I'd be completely--" He stopped talking to himself. An evil grin unfurled on his face.

"Stupid Yang, why didn't you think of it before? Here you are, saying, I wish I had a paintbrush like that! Well, if you want it, then steal it!" He clapped his hands twice.

"Heiji!" Heiji came hurrying to Master Yang at once.

"Hai, Master Yang? You need something?"

"Get all the most powerful dark monsters you can get. I need them to do me a favor."

"Hai, Master Yang. What sort of favor do you want them to do?" Master Yang repaired the chair with a flick of his hand and sat down onto it.

"Steal a certain magic paintbrush."

"Consider it done, sir." Master Yang waited until Heiji went, and then started laughing.

"Soon, the universe will be mine!" (A/N: Cliched ending, I know...)


AAAAAAAAAAAAH! The evil Master Yang from the prologue wants the stupid magic paintbrush! What will happen? Will Sakura and Syaoran work together? Will he get it in the end? What if they're not powerful enough against Yang? REVIEW AND FIND OUT, OF COURSE!!