Chapter 4: The Illness

Sakura had just changed into her Pyjamas and slipped into bed when she heard her brother waking up. For some reason, she felt slightly drained, as though she had gotten no sleep at all.

She waited for half an hour before daring to get up. She walked down the stairs slowly, finding it quite easy to pretend that she had just woken up.

'Good morning, Sakura-chan.'

'Good mor-or-or-ning, Touya-san. How was your run?'Sakura yawned.

'It was okay, but for some reason, I kept seeing ambulances everywhere.'

That woke her up a bit. 'Really? Did you ask why?'

'I tried, but they just kept pushing me away, saying to keep moving. It was really weird.'

'We'll probably find out more about it on the news, right? So while you make breakfast, I'll go see if there's anything about it on the morning news.'

Sakura walked into the living room, her brother shouting protests at her, but still getting on with making breakfast.

'-spreading quickly. The disease seems to be leaving their victims unconscious, and all victims have the same, small gash across their left wrist. Authorities are asking everyone to be on their guard. They are not sure if this illness is caused by a random virus, or if someone is making random attempts to steal something, finds people there, and slashes them across the wrist. And... a new update on the illness, it seems that family members who witnessed the collapse of loved ones, say that they're eyes suddenly turned blank, they took knives from the kitchen, or where ever was nearest, cut them selves, went out side, and flung droplets of blood at the sky. Police aren't sure of what to make of this, but say that they will investigate further, and call in officials, if the need arises. Some prominent members of the community that have fallen ill are the governor's two daughters, Maylu and Laehia Guonase-chan, Arim Cliseda-kun (CEO of Saturnae works-Philippines), Li Syaoran-kun (son of Li Yelan, founder of Lisamen Beauty products, and widow of a Hong Kong court official) Kusondo Mehrin-'

Sakura sank to the floor, unable to register what the news caster had said. Syaoran had fallen ill? By some strange disease? Somehow, she didn't think so. But then...

What was it the news castor had said? 'flung droplets of blood at the sky' was it? Thinking about that made her think of the shield. She was wondering if there was some unknown connection between all the people being treated in the hospital. Something that the police, news castors, government officials might never see... partly because they didn't want to...

Sakura felt her brother's eyes on her. Getting up, she said weakly, 'Sorry, onii-chan. Do you need any help?'

Touya just stared at her, and replied, 'No thanks, kaijuu. You seem tired. Why don't you go back to bed for a while?' Sakura nodded at him. 'And-' she turned away from the door where she was headed, 'if you need anything, just call, alright? I am more than willing to help out, kaijuu, especially one so baka.'

She stuck out her tounge at him, but smiled afterwards, and silently padded up the stairs. As soon as she got into her room, she shut the door, locked it, and fell onto her bed. Kero flew over to see if she was okay.

'Um, Sakura-chan?' She nodded to show she was listening. 'Do you want to tell me what's wrong? Or just keep it to your self?'

She looked over at the small figure hovering near the edge of her bed. 'Kero-chan... people all over the city are becoming sick. The all have gashes on their left wrists, and some of their family, who saw them faint, say that they took the closest knife, cut themselves, and flung droplets of blood to the sky. Do you think that they might be trying to feed the shield, or maybe-'

'Wait. You said something about blood, and a shield? Tell me, what shield is this?' Sakura bit her lip. She hadn't told Kero about the shield, so as not to worry him, but now that she had to... for some reason, she kept thinking there was something the police were missing, or information they weren't releasing to the public. Maybe, if she could figure out what happened to those people, and Syaoran...

Kero saw that her mind was wandering. 'Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan! SAKURA!' he screamed, not bothering to add a -chan. Sakura came out of her reverie, realizing something.

'Kero, my magic is more powerful then Syaoran's? Even if only a tiny bit?' The yellow winged creature looked disgruntled, but answered, 'yes, of course. Even if you don't use the cards, they still draw power off of you. So it's still like you're using your magic. The less you use it, the weaker you are. Why do you want to know?'

Sakura continued, as though she hadn't heard his question.

'So, lets say people didn't know they had magic, just like I didn't before I met you-' More like set the Cards free on all of Reedington and Tokyo, Kero thought but kept it to himself, 'then they wouldn't be very strong?'

He looked at her suspiciously. 'Yes, but-'

'Then they wouldn't have enough power to do real magic, or the kind I do sometimes, or the kind that Clow Reed used to do? Or even the kind that Syaoran does?'

Now Kero knew she was getting at something. Usually she asked him a question or two, then dropped it. And she usually let him finish his sentences.

'Sakura, don't cut me off this time, and yes but...'

He trailed off, because when he had said yes, she had gotten a dreamy, far-away look in her eyes. Then her brows knit together, and she asked him quietly, 'how many people are in Reedington and Tokyo alone, Kero? With magic, I mean? Would you know?'

He was trying to figure out what she was getting at. 'Almost exactly half the population on Earth has magic, although hardly anyone knows it. The percentage of people with and without magic varies from city to city, but there is a constant: the percentage will always remain the same, no matter what, and it will never be further apart than 45:55. Now, tell me what....' Sakura hadn't gotten up to walk out of the room, got a far-away look in her eyes or cut him off. This time he trailed off because he had just realized what she was thinking. 'Sakura... but then... that wouldn't make sense... and yet... you're not...' He looked into her eyes. Everything he had just said had helped to prove what she was thinking. He tried to find an argument, so she wouldn't do something stupid, like imitate those people and send as much and more of her magic into this shield, what ever it was, so that they might be able to come out of their comas and at least be alive, even if it meant that they were constantly tired, and Sakura weak, lying in bed in a hospital, on the verge of-

'Sakura, no. You know that if you're planning on doing what I think you are... but...' there was a look in her eyes, not a far-away one this time either, but one that said that she was doing two things... thinking of a way around the instructions he gave her, and thinking, as well, of something else...

'Sakura?'

She turned to him.

'Lets say if I did what those people did (Kero winced... he knew that Sakura would have thought what he was thinking... he had spent so much time with her, he was beginning to think the same way), would I be able to make sure that my magic went to one person, only one person, would at least be able to wake up? feed hi- em they're /em power to the shield as well, but still have enough energy-no, magic- to protect us?'

Kero looked at her. 'It might be possible, but who would be this one person who would have enough magic to protect us? That could change everything, you know...'

Sakura looked sheepishly at him. 'Well, it's-'

'Kaijuu!' Touya called through the door, 'I'm going out for a bit... be good, don't run away and don't get all sick, like the brat did... serves him right, though...' Touya mumbled the last part as he walked away.

Kero looked sharply at Sakura. He knew who the brat was. 'Brat' was Touya-chan's nickname, among others, for Syaoran.

As soon she Kero was sure that Touya had left the house, he turned back to Sakura with a glare that could rival Syaoran's. Or that's what Sakura thought at least. 'You mean Syaoran fell ill? Same way these other people did?' Sakura nodded her head slowly. 'Is that what made you think of magic?' Sakura nodded again, in the same way. 'Sakura, your magic, as great and plentiful as it is, would only sustain him for so long. Then both you and him would go into the comas. Sakura, don't even try it.'

She stared at him with eyes that said all too well that she had been hurt. 'To justify what I said, Sakura: I'm not saying that you're weak, but look at the facts: if you did do what you're proposing, then the Star Cards, Li-kun, and this shield, would be drawing off your magic. And, you need a certain amount to sustain you. If not, any further magic drawn from your body would come from your energy-the stuff that keeps you alive. Sakura, if you did that, then you would be pretty much...' Kero sighed and shook his head, 'it would be like condemning yourself to, well... death.'

It took a few minuted for Sakura to realize what he meant. As the words sunk in, she gasped. 'So, what can I do? I can't just sit here and do nothing...' then she also realized that although all the facts presented supported her case, it was still a guess. She wasn't sure at all that the shield was drawing on peoples magic. She sunk down to the floor, unable to stand, as all the information hit her. 'I can't do anything. The thing about magic is a guess, I don't quite think that I need to resort to following in everyone's footsteps yet, and I would like to be sure of what I'm doing. Kero...' she turned to look at him as she finally made up her mind. 'Kero, we're going to the shrine.'

Sakura stood at the Gate to the shrine. The yellow tape had still not been removed, and she saw movements and flashes, probably the scientists examining the last of the strange circles. She wondered how it felt to have all these strange, abnormal even, things happen, and not see an obvious connection.

"How are you going to get to the tree?" A voice asked from just beside her.

Sakura looked over at Tomoyo-chan. She had just been wondering the very same thing. "Maybe a diversion, with a little help on your part..."

Tomoyo shook her head. "I was walking past here one day, and saw a group of little boys. About half of them started messing about, trying to make a diversion. Only half of the people that were working here gave any notice that they had company. And it took only half of those to chase the children away. Diversions won't work, so... what will?"

"Well, maybe if we just told them the truth...."

"Unh-unh," Kero, on her shoulder, shook his head, causing some of her hair to tickle her ear. "They're scientists, Sakura. They won't believe you unless you show them, and then they'd ask you some stupid questions, and you'll never get near the tree." Kero started shaking his head again. "There's no way."

Her hair was tickling her now that Kero kept in shaking his head, running different possibilities through it, and then shaking his head even more vigorously, as if he were shaking off an annoying fly. Sakura couldn't help it. She had just remembered that time a few years ago, when she and Syaoran were still rivals, but he helped her to capture RETURN. That, and her hair, made Sakura giggle. It escaped from her before she could smother it.

"Who's there?" Asked one of the men that were working. Unlike what Tomoyo had said, all the men stopped digging, and looked up to see. Sakura grabbed Tomoyo and pulled her into the bushes where she had hid previously, where they waited in complete silence until the men started work again. But, instead of resuming their work, all the men pulled out a long cylindrical tube.

Sakura wondered what it was, but when they all switched it on, she realized that it was only a flashlight. The beams of light swept the area, crossing over where she and Tomoyo hid more times than Sakura thought necessary. Eventually, they got back to their work, and returned their flashlights to their pockets.

After waiting for a few minutes, Sakura and Tomoyo slipped out of the bushes, down the path towards the road. They walked along in silence for a while. Only one car drove by, and both the driver and passenger stared at the two. Or, rather Sakura. The girls had forgotten that Sakura was wearing one of Tomoyo's spectacular battle costumes. Sakura looked down at her outfit, and sighed. This one looked like the outfit she had used to catch SHADOW, except that the colors were now green, blue and purple, and the bow, among other things, was slightly larger. Sakura thought she must look like she was coming home from a party or something.

The cool summer air was light on Sakura's cheek, and she let her mind slowly drift. Kero was already asleep, and Tomoyo looked on the verge of it. Two things were prominent in Sakura's mind: Li-kun falling ill, or becoming weak, and trying to figure out how to get to the tree. She decided that first thing in the morning, she would look around her class and see who was sick. Then she would go to the hospital next Sunday with special charms that she would make all through the week, and putting a bit of her power into them, so that none of them would loose too much magic that they might die.

As for the tree... she thought that maybe a personal investigation into the 'illness', and a little trip to the authorities might help her. She knew very well that to tell others of the secret would mean to reveal everything that Sakura had tried to hide... and much, much worse...

She said good bye to Tomoyo at her door(the other girl had walked absent mindedly with her, and now turned around as a pair of headlights showed up near the end of the street), and slowly walked into the warm, comfortable home that might very well be turned inside out if she went for any kind of help, or to tell people who might do better at controlling this than she could.

She placed the still sleeping Kero in his bed in one of her desk drawers, and changed sleepily into her Pajamas. Her last thought, before she drifted off to sleep, was that she was the Card Mistress, and that she would protect those who she cared about, even if she didn't know them, until she ran out of any kind of energy. With or without outsider's help.

Yenta: Now, that certainly moves the plot along! (I hope..:S)

Edianta: Yeah, but what about Sa-

Hatara: We'll hear more about that later, right Yenta?! (Oh gawd, I sound like a cheesy television host)

Yenta: (That sure is right... Price is Right or Wheel of Fortune in my opinion...)

Edianta: (No, more like a talk show host... 20/20, then)

Srena: (Or maybe Dateline, or Inside Entertainment!)

Hatara: (Or maybe you guys could stop reading my thoughts! If I wanted them read, I would have sent out a message, 'COME READ MY THOUGHTS! ITS FREE!')

Yenta: Might be a good little bit to add into my story 'bout us. Umm, Srena-chan? You haven't said anything, except for that crack on Hatara-chan's thing about sounding like a T.V. host...

Srena: Just this part here, in Chapter 5. Well, six if you count the Prolog.

Yenta: Hmm? Where? Oh, that? Let me explain it in a way everyone can understand... visit CBF! They have a pretty little spoiler, and I'm trying to incorporate it into my story... its true, after all! :)!

Edianta: All rite. But does it have anything about S-

Hatara: Yes, yes, yes! Go read other fan fic if you're so desperate. Yenta, what's the best one?

Yenta: That would be... Click on the one called, 'Love Reflection' or 'The Finding'. In both cases there's a little summin-summin goin on, in 'Love reflections' more than TF. And rite now, I'm supposed 2 b lookin for pics 4 my new page, while I let you three get caught up in your work... ;)

Srena: groan!