Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Sakura stared out the window again, while the teacher rambled on about some un-known type of Math-whether it was Algebra or Integers, she couldn't be sure anymore.

The dream and the strange force surrounding the city were both prominent in her mind- trying to figure out what they were kept her whole concentration.

Except for when the teacher slapped her hand.

'OW! What the- oh...'

'Kinomoto-san, what do you think you're doing? You should be concentrating on Maths-not outside! A detention for you, no... a week's detention, and cleaning up the classroom after school for TWO weeks! Now, if you'll be so kind as to pay attention? We shall continue...'

Sakura dimly looked at the teacher's back, and sighed.

If only she knew what was going on in my head... she thought, trying to make it look like she was listening. But then again, I wish I did, too...

Break was uneventful for Sakura- even though she wasn't concentrating on eating. She just went through the same actions over and over again, picking up food, putting it in her mouth, reaching down, picking up another piece, putting that in her mouth, again and again and again.

She heard the conversation next to her, but soon something else began to bother her- she had felt weak this morning, like she had used her magic- like she had used a card. Why? She wondered.

It had been five years since she defeated Eriol, with Syaoran's help, of course. She still remembered that final battle, and suddenly she felt like she wanted to go visit the shrine.

She went to get up, almost knocked over her bento, but the bell rang, and she sat back down.

I guess I'll have to wait until after school... wait! I have detention! Whywhywhywhywhy... ?!

Something caught her attention from outside. She looked, and the only thing she saw was the regular site. She closed her eyes, and felt around the city. There was something different- and it wasn't the shield, either.

She concentrated on the source, and felt a strange presence that was faintly recognizable...

'Syaoran...'

Tomoyo looked over at Sakura.

She had been acting strange all day, and since the end of break, she had been completely lost, oblivious to everything. Luckily, no other teacher caught her, although there were a few times that Tomoyo was worried...

'Tomoyo?'

Tomoyo turned around to get a better view of her friend's face. 'Yes, Sakura-chan?'

'You can go. It's my punishment, not yours. You shouldn't be here.'

Tomoyo looked closer at Sakura.

'Something's bothering you, right? Do you want to tell me about it?'

Sakura slowly lifted her head. 'No. Well, there is, but... I'm not sure how to put it in words....'

Tomoyo nodded her head. She fully understood that when sometimes Sakura got a glazed look in her eyes, and refused to concentrate on anything other than what was in her head, it was a sign that something big was either going to happen, was in the process of happening, or had happened.

Unbeknownst to Tomoyo, it was all three.

Suddenly she heard Sakura mutter something.

'Beg your pardon, Sakura-chan?'

'Syaoran's back. At least, I think he is. But why would he be coming back? He was engaged to Meirin... he's probably already married her, if I know his mom. But why...?'

Tomoyo looked over at Sakura. That was not all of what was going through her friend's mind-she still had that glazed look in her eyes. Tomoyo was just about to ask something else, but Sakura started moving rather quickly, cleaning everything in site.

Tomoyo watched as their class got cleaned, patiently waiting for when Sakura would finish.

'Wow, Sakura! Five minutes! I bet that's your best time for cleaning a whole room!'

'Thanks, Tomoyo. I'm gonna head home now, ok?

'Alright, Sakura-chan. Be careful!'

------------------------------------------------IScene change!I-------------------------------------------

He watched the girl intently. She was fifteen, he knew that much. And, he also knew, she had magical powers beyond his ability to comprehend.

She left the school later than the rest of the kids, but she moved fast. He watched her every move, anticipating when would be the best time to strike. He followed her to the shrine, and watched her stand in a certain spot, which she found by closing her eyes.

She pulled out a key on a chain, and called out some words. He heard the word, 'RELEASE!' and then a strange staff appeared in her hands. She stood facing the shrine Gate.

He followed her gaze to the top of the gate, like she was looking at someone. Her eyes narrowed, and it looked like she was about to scream at someone.

But, just in time, she stopped herself, and jumped into the near-by bushes, which lined the side of the path. Right below him. Because the next second, an old man turned the corner, and stood looking at the very spot she had been.

The girl waited for the man to leave, then walked back out onto the path. She closed her eyes, recalling a memory. He got ready to make his move.

He sensed the old man coming back-he had dropped his watch.

Without waiting, he plunged down from the trees and snatched the girl, then jumped back into the air.

The old man came around the corner, trying to find where he left his watch. He picked it up off the ground, but noticed a strange design on the ground, near the right hand side of the path, facing the Gate.

Upon closer inspection, it looked like the design was almost burned into the stone tiles, and appeared to be facing the Gate. Three more he discovered just behind it, two the same as the first, one slightly different.

He also found another two full ones beside the gate, and two halves of one on either side of the gate. The last three were the same as the fourth one, near where he found his watch.

Scared, he ran to call an investigator. So many odd things happened around this place. He was going to get to the bottom of them.

Sakura had heard him coming, but hadn't tried to move, because if she did, the old man nearby would have seen her, and called the police. Now that they were safely in King Penguin Park, she sighed and looked up at her rescuer/captor.

'Um... I have to get home now, if you don't mind, so I'll just be going...'

He turned to stare at her. He wore a mask that only showed his eyes, which were amber-brown, and full of emotion. Other than that, he was dressed completely in black.

'Well, thanks anyways. See you around?'

He still didn't answer her.

Suddenly both of them turned their heads in the direction they had just come- the shrine. There were lights, bells, and whistles.

Sakura immediately tore back through the wood, but at the last second charged out onto the street when no one was looking. A crowd had already gathered around the Gate, and the police were holding them back.

She went up to one of the on-lookers, and asked what was happening.

'The old man who takes care of the shrine, he found some funny designs on the path leading up to the cherry blossom tree. You have to look really hard, but you can see them- there's seven, and three of them are the same, and the other four are the same. It looked almost like someone had been battling each other here...'

She gritted her teeth nervously.

How right he was, about the battle part. It had occurred five years ago, and the marks were still there?

Then she realized what had happened. She had come back to the shrine to relive her final battle with Eriol, with Cerberus, Yue and Syaoran by her side. She had stood in the very same spot, and used her magic.

It was like washing away dirt that had just covered stuff up.

She had washed away the dirt hiding their magic circles, and now everyone would know about them.

Suddenly she turned around. She could feel the shield growing stronger, like it was preparing to hold something back. And then she felt him. She turned in the middle of the crowd (even more people had come to see what was happening) trying to find him.

She spotted him near one of the stone columns that formed the shrine's Gate.

Sakura struggled to reach him-the crowd was by this time 10 meters thick.

'Li-kun!' she called out to him. He didn't turn his head.

'Syaoran!' that got his attention. 'I didn't know you were back in Japan! Well, not really, anyway...'

He looked at her steadily. In the dark, his eyes shone brightly- almost as bright as hers.

'Can I talk to you for a moment?'

Startled by his request, she followed him back into the park.

'So you sensed that I was back, huh?'

She nodded her head, not too sure of what else to do.

'Fine. Now, what was going on there?'

She tried to explain to him the best she could, including her metaphor about it.

He listened carefully to her story. Then he pointed at the sky.

'And that?'

Sakura looked up, and sensed it was growing thicker. Soon, no one would be able to pass through. Or, she reminded herself, anything. 'Well, that's been like that since this morning, when it first started. But it wasn't so thick, or so strong. It didn't feel as pure as, lets say SHIELD, but it definitely wasn't as evil as well, this character in my dream. I never saw their face, but... I sensed them.'

At those words, Syaoran suddenly listened intently. 'A dream? Well, what was it about?'

She tried to explain everything to him, but it was no use... she couldn't think of everything, and she refused point-blank to tell him the part that stuck in her mind the most-him being there.

When she finished, he looked at her like he knew that she wasn't telling him something. 'Alright, fine. We'll go by what you've given us. And Sakura? When you feel like telling me the rest of your dream, I'm listening. I won't laugh, or anything, but it might be helpful to our search.'

'Search?' she asked, confused. 'What search?'

'The one where we try to find out about a big, mysterious shield that appeared one morning, might be keeping something evil out, steadily grew stronger through-out at least one day, and almost made my plane crash.'