Ghost Whisper: Another wait, another chapter. I do realize that I have a tendency of not updating very often, but I will assure you that I have no intentions of abandoning this story. It will be finished! Gets in fighting position in front of computer It's just a matter of how long it takes... Once again, my thanks to those thoughtful souls who have decided to review. It always makes my day!

Disclaimer: I don't own either Card Captor Sakura, or Digimon, and after eight chapters I don't think I'm going to say it either. If after this long any lawyers reading this haven't figured it out, then I worry for my country's judicial system.

Chapter 8: Connections

The night was dark, just as it had been every night since he'd moved here. The house he'd secured for himself using his remaining excess magic after his sudden transformation, was set back just far enough from the road, and with enough trees in the yard that the dim light of the street lamps barely made it to the windows. Though the city around him was brightly lit, it was dark enough near his house that TK had an excellent view of the stars. Every night, he sat at the large window in his bedroom and looked at those stars.

The blond boy sighed. It was hard to keep up the pretence he'd arranged for himself when he'd 'moved' to Reedington. The people were friendly, and accepting of what he'd said (and what he hadn't said) about his life. But...there would always be something missing. And each time he looked at the stars he remembered all the things he'd left behind in the process of saving his brother and friends.

/ "Matt... why do you think the stars are the same in the Digital World as they are at home?" The much younger TK shifted from where he was laying on his back in the dirt outside the empty train, onto his side, and looked questioningly at his older brother.

"I don't know," Matt replied. "For the same reason they have trains, phone booths, and power lines here I guess. Everything was based on some part of our world." /

A soft smile crossed his lips as the memory surfaced. The night he and his brother had stayed up later than all the others to watch the stars had been one of his favorites in all the time they had spent in the Digital World. It had been one of the few moments when he could forget about monsters attacking them, and trying to get home.

'It's funny,' he thought wistfully. 'When I was in the Digiworld, all I could think about was what I would do when I got home – how much I'd tell Mom that I loved her. Now I'm purposefully staying away not only from her, but everyone I knew.'

From somewhere within him, he thought he felt a small probing of emotion, as though he was trying to comfort himself. TK would have called it foreign, except that he knew very well that it had come from within him – and there was only one possible explanation for that. "Thanks Patamon," he whispered, a soft smile coming to his face.

The soft comforts were one of the few things that allowed him to get through the day with the cheerful smile on his face intact. That, and the purpose he had chosen within hours of coming to his new home. The determination to protect the girl with such power helped him stop his thoughts from wandering paths he'd rather keep them away from.

'Is this what Patamon and all the digimon felt when they met us Digidestined?' he wondered absently. The thought caused a small grin to perk up the corners of his mouth. It was fitting, he supposed, that he would be searching for a human partner (of sorts) now that he was in part, a digimon.

TK rubbed his hands together warming them up. They had gotten chilled after sitting, near motionless, for so long in front of the enormous window. 'I think,' he decided, 'that it's time to get down to business. If I want to do my job right, then I had better start taking it seriously. All the power in the world won't do me any good if I have to constantly rely on instinct to use it.'

With that, the blond boy pulled him self up and drew the heavy red curtains to block out the prying eyes of any passing strangers walking down the street. His house may be some distance from the road, and obscured by trees, but that didn't mean it totally prevented flashes of light or other strange occurrences from being at least partially visible.

He moved into the centre of the room and dragged the area rug on the floor off to the side. He didn't want it getting scorched just in case he had any...accidents while practicing. Finally ready, TK let his arms falls to his sides, completely relaxed as he focussed on the feeling of power somewhere within him. Though he couldn't 'feel it' the way one felt heat, it became real to him as he continued to concentrate. He imagined that it was a swirling ball of pale blue and gold, almost like a mist that hung somewhere in the middle of his chest where his ribs connected.

TK gave a small sigh, breathing out, before taking as much air as he could into his lungs. In his mind's eye, the ball of misty energy pulsed in time with his heart. 'I wonder if this is what Patamon saw when he digivolved...'

Opening his eyes, TK saw that the world had changed. Everything in the room, from the hardwood floors, to the window seemed overlaid with a soft glow. The window, in particular, seemed brighter than many other places. On the other hand, while the computer in the corner had its own colored aura, unlike everything else in the room, it also had a small string of glowing numbers that stuck to the CPU and faded off into an unknown place.

"A connection to the Digiworld?" The part within him that he had identified as Patamon hummed in quiet agreement. Curious, he reached out to touch it – and received the shock of his life. With a loud shout, he hit the wall behind him and slumped to the floor coughing so hard it felt as though his lungs were ripping apart. 'What...?' Everything within him seemed to be vibrating, a continuous buzz like static. It was painful, and he gritted his teeth, hoping it would go away.

"Not such a good idea, I guess," he groaned after a few minutes, realizing that the buzz wasn't going to go away any time soon. He reached out a hand to steady himself on the wall as he pushed himself off the floor, and noticed almost immediately that something wasn't right. TK stared wide-eyed at his hand, as it fizzled in and out of existence like a poor quality TV image.

0-0-0-0

Sakura hummed quietly to herself as she turned to the next page of her book. She was laying on top of her bed, on her stomach kicking her feet forwards and backwards – her favourite position to read in. The landing of a winged gold lion's wing on her head disturbed her, and she fell face first into the open book with a squawk.

"Kero!"

"Ehh... sorry Sakura." The bear rumbled, shaking his head sheepishly. "I just got a little carried away with your new 'Pretty Witch Hunter' game." He pointed to the controller laying on the ground. He'd finally managed to apply just enough pressure with his claws to tap the buttons on the controller – though he'd given it numerous scratches in the attempt.

Sakura almost felt sorry for her old controller in its sad state. Still, until she could figure out how to get them back to their borrowed forms, there was little else she could do. A bored Kero tended to be a hyper Kero, whatever his form was. It was only sensible to find something to occupy him with. Too bad her controller had to be sacrificed though...

She sighed, closing the book. "You do know that moving yourself won't make the controller work any better – right?"

Kero frowned, and crossed his arms across his chest. "Of course! But it's not my fault if she can't move fast – and I was so close to making it to the last level too..." He groaned, picking up the controller gently in his teeth, and placing it back in its rightful place on top of the TV.

From his perch on the bench against the window, Yue let out an exasperated breath. "Only you could turn pressing buttons into a poor attempt at acrobatics."

"Hey!" Kero growled.

"No fighting!" Sakura exclaimed loudly, throwing up her arms. "You two will make enough noise to bring Dad or Tory up here – and I can't explain either of you away as a new stuffed animal!"

Yue and Kero simultaneously turned their heads in opposite directions. "Of course, Mistress," the moon guardian said quietly. "Have you any new ideas?" He stood up to look out the window at the rising moon. "We may be running out of time. Keroberos and I cannot stay here for the whole night. You have school in the morning, and if someone comes into your room, it could be disastrous."

"I know," Sakura groaned, hanging her head. She reached over to her dresser drawer and pulled the 'Sakura' book out, opening it and pulling out her collection of Clow cards and Sakura cards. The gold and red cards were far in the majority over the pink and white ones. "I just wish I knew which card to use in order to stop whatever it is that won't let you transform. I don't have any ideas though – and taking a break didn't really help. My head's as blank as ever." Slowly, she traced the pink edge of the Firey card, smiling at the feeling of fuzzy warmth that came from it. "They feel so warm...' she murmured.

"It's because of your connection to them," Keroberos spoke up helpfully from beside her bed. "The new Sakura cards seem to be drawing power from your star, rather than the Sun and Moon, like the original Clow cards. Each time you transform one, it's energy source changes, and its connection to you grows stronger."

"Kero...does that mean..." Sakura picked up the Erase card, and paled. "The Clow cards – the feel colder. Does that have anything to do with the new power source?!"

The lion frowned, padding closer to her, and draping his head over her shoulder to look closely at the Erase. "I'm not sure but – before, all the cards were powered by Clow's magic – and he was a very powerful magician Sakura. It might be that since you've started transforming the cards, their connection with the Clow magic has been but off, and they have no where to draw power from."

"But why are they getting colder?!" Sakura cried, upset. "They're harder to feel than they ever were! It's like – like they're fading away! Maybe, if I take to long to transform them, all their power will leave, and the spirits in them will be gone forever!" She shuffled frantically through all of the Clow cards, feeling each one in turn. Her suspicions seemed to be correct: all of the Clow cards felt distant, as though they were turning into normal cards without magic.

Yue stepped forward, a concerned look in his eyes. "Mistress,"

'I can't let that happen to them,' Sakura thought, pulling the star pendant out from underneath her shirt. 'I can't let them fade away!' There was a hollow echoing sound in her mind, as she called forth the magic in her pendant, feeling the magic circle spring up underneath her.

"Oh key of the star, with power burning bright, reveal the staff, and shine your light! Release!" There was a tremor in the air underneath her hand, and the tiny pendant stretched, growing into the full-length wand. She gripped the pink handle tightly, and threw several cards up into the air.

Wide-eyed, Keroberos stepped forward, not sure whether or not her should interrupt her. He had an idea of what she was about to do, and it was probably quite dangerous, at the same time, interrupting her might be even worse. With as much magic as she was calling up, to stop her now might cause it all to backfire, which would have terrible consequences. He remembered going with Clow Reed once to help tend to a wizard who had burned all their magic out in an accident...

"I call upon the power of my star, ancient forces near and far, Clow cards transform all your might, and draw your power from my light! Star cards!" One by one, Sakura thrust her wand upward towards the cards that were floating in the air in a ring above her head. "Arrow!" There was a flash of light, as the card changed from red and gold, to pink and white. "Libra! Mist! Flower! Sweet!" She swayed slightly, feeling her legs start to go weak.

'No. I have to continue,' she thought. 'I have to transform them all, before they fade away!'

"Wave!" Sakura panted, leaning against her bed. "D-dash!" At that, her knees turned to jelly, and she felt herself falling gracelessly to the ground, the room spinning around her faster then she could keep track of. "I...feel dizzy," she moaned. Before she could hit the ground, hands hooked underneath her arms, and she looked up to see Yue's face swaying fuzzily above her. "Thank you..."

"That was not a good idea!" Yue told her sharply. "Your powers can't handle that kind of power transfer or drain yet. You could have burned yourself out!" There was a pinched, pale look on his face. Was he worried about her? Slowly he eased her to the ground, and Sakura hung her head, ashamed, and without the strength to look up anyway.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I just – I can't let them fade away! They're my friends!" With a great effort, she managed to drag her head up and looked at Yue with tears in her eyes. Keroberos nudged her in the back, causing her to slump forward more.

"That may be true," he told her seriously. "But you can't help them at all if transforming so many at once exhausts you for the next week."

"And transforming so many at once can't be good for the cards either," Yue nodded at the Dash card, which was hopping back and forth frantically in the window. It's eyes were wild, and it shuddered back from her when Sakura reached at hand toward it tentatively.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked plaintively. "Dash - you aren't afraid of me, are you?" The Dash card growled, shaking its head, as though to clear it.

"He's confused," she turned to face Yue, who had spoken quietly. "You transformed so many at once, that when you tried to transfer your magic to him, it wasn't strong enough to get a good hold. Now he's trapped between magics, and the strain is making it hard for him to recognize anyone. He could turn completely feral if he doesn't have a steady source of magic soon."

At that moment Dash jumped out of the window, tearing off down the street. Sakura watched, horriefied. "Dash! Wait!"

0-0-0-0-0

TK looked sharply out the large window, as he felt first a large surge of the magic that he had come to identify as Sakura's. Minutes later, there was another surge, but this one seemed... different. It was as though the gentle power of Sakura's star had turned into a raging fireball. And by the feel of the aura, it was so scared it was liable to destroy something.

"Now is not a good time for this," he muttered worriedly, taking a look his hand, which was still fizzling in and out of view. Quickly, he opened the window, and jumped carefully down to the ground. There was no other option but to transform. He couldn't risk someone getting hurt.

'I just hope that whatever happened to me won't effect my transformation to Hope...'

0-0-0-0-0

Ghost Whisper: So. A looooooong wait – I know. I apologize deeply, but this fic just isn't on my priority list right now. It's pretty far down, in fact, mostly because it's one of my oldest fics. Still, I have lots of ideas for it, so I will be working on it – but mostly as a back-up when writer's block hits for more other stories.

Even so, reviews are appreciated. If you like the story, let me know – it's possible that I'll move it up in my priority list. :)