Episode Four: A Falling Star

"Ugh...Kero!" Sakura whispered. Kero, who was sleeping in Sakura's drawer, drew out and sighed.

"What is it? This is the third time you called me tonight. And still you haven't told me what you want to talk about," Kero complained.

"Sorry! It's just that..." Sakura started but then paused. Kero flew over to her bed and floated above her.

"Sakura! If something is on you're mind, tell me now!" Kero demanded. "I would really like to get some sleep tonight!"

"I was just wondering. Who else knows about the cards?" Sakura asked. Kero flew over to Sakura window ledge and stood there, staring at the dark skies outside.

"Honestly Sakura?" Kero asked. Sakura nodded.

"I don't know... I barely remember my days with Clow Reed so I can't tell you for sure." Kero admitted.

"That's okay, Kero," Sakura responded.

"Did you ask for any special reason?" Kero asked. Sakura shook her head.

"No, it's nothing," Sakura said. Kero went back to sleep and Sakura turned to the opposite side of the bed. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep but she was wide-awake.

This is impossible! I can't sleep at all! Sakura thought. So she got up and gazed out the window. She caught a glimpse of the leaves that had fallen off the tree on her front yard and saw that they were scattered all over the yard. Sakura shrugged and thought there was nothing better to do. Sakura changed out of her PJs and into something more comfortable. She quietly sneaked out of the house and got the rake out of the garage. As she started raking she became sleeper and sleeper until suddenly fell into a deep slumber.

The sound of chirping birds and the heat of the sun on Sakura's face woke her up.

"Huh? What am I doing down here?" Sakura thought out loud. Sakura realised she was holding a rake.

Oh yeah! I couldn't sleep so I got down here and worked on my chores. I can't believe I fell asleep before I got to get any work done! Sakura thought, feeling disappointed. Sakura rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up. Then she heard the front door open and saw it was Tori. Sakura dropped the rake and ran to the porch.

"Tori! Where are you going?" Sakura asked. Tori was getting into dad's car and then he stopped when he heard Sakura.

"Work. I got a new job." Sakura's sweat dropped.

"Another one?!?" Sakura exclaimed. She sighed and watched Tori back of out the driveway. She waved goodbye and suddenly she felt something was wrong. She put her hand on her heart and felt it beat quickly.

What's going on? Am I sensing something? Sakura wondered. Sakura pulled out her key and ran into the garage.

"Key of the star, release!" Sakura strapped on her roller blades and skated out of the garage. She started running in the direction that her heart was telling her to go. She kept one hand on her heart and the other on her staff and ran in different directions. Soon she found herself at the back of the library.

What's going on here? Sakura put her hand against the wall and closed her eyes. She tried concentrating on where she felt the power. Suddenly she felt like someone was watching her. She whirled around and scanned the sidewalk and trees. She felt terrified. She walked slowly down the sidewalk that she came from and gripped her staff tightly. She walked past the tall trees and checked behind her shoulder every minute.

Why do I feel so scared? I don't understand what I'm feeling. Sakura wondered. Sakura started panicking, she never felt this way before and it was frightening. She felt like she was in a nightmare, the same feeling that she felt when she saw herself falling from the sky in her dream. Suddenly she heard footsteps behind her. She slowly turned around and then someone or something knocked her down with a hit on her shoulder. And as Sakura collapsed the last thing she saw was the tall staff that the figures from her dream were holding.

Owww my shoulder. I'm in so much pain... Sakura rubbed her shoulder gently and found herself in the middle of the forest where she last was. She looked up at the sky and saw it was dark and the moon and stars where already shining in the skies.

"Oh no! I'm going to be in so much trouble! Who knows how long I was out here?!?!!?!?" Sakura though out loud. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a special card. A card that she didn't use often but she knew that she was gonna have to answer a lot of questions if she didn't use this card.

The Time Card...

Arg! Sakura where are you? Your father is going to call the police any minute! Kero thought desperately. He took Sakura's pink phone that she got from Madison from her drawer and looked for a certain number on the speed dial. He listened to the ring and reacted quickly when he heard the voice on the other line pickup.

"Kid! Sakura's missing! And I—I uh... need your help! We have to find her quick!"

"She's missing?! Meet me at my house and I'll use the laisn board to find her!"

"K, see you kid."

"DON'T CALL ME KID!" Li hollered. Kero was blown away from Li's strong, angry yell.

"He... sorry. Bad habit." Kero explained.

Sakura tried getting up but she quickly collasped to the ground.

Arg! I'm too weak! She thought. So sitting on the ground she threw the Time card up in the air and raised her staff.

"Time card!" She called out. The Time card made everything stand still but then in a blink of an eye everything continued moving. Sakura looked up at her staff and saw the light from her star was fading.

Oh, no! It's like my magic is weakening... but is it because I'm in a lot of pain.. or is my magic growing weaker? Sakura wondered.

Sakura would have tried summouning the card again but she was too tired. She lied down on the hard pavement, trying to regain her strength. But she was too weak...

"Sakura! Sakura! Where are you? Answer me!"

Sakura regizoned the voice right away and sat up. She heard the voice behind her so she turned around and she saw Li and Kero running towards her.

"I'm so glad you're here! My magic is weakening! I can't use the cards!"

"Dad, I'm home! What's for dinner?"

Tori walked into the kitchen and dropped the keys on the counter. His dad was sitting in the living room, on the couch with a look of panic on his face. Tori sat down next to him and asked what was wrong.

"Ah, Tori. I didn't hear you come in..." His father replied. Tori was shocked. He called out to let his father know he was home, how could he not hear?

"Dad, what's happening? Why are you so upset?" Tori asked. He sounded so concerned that Aiden Avalon decided to tell him.

"Sakura's been missing for hours. Please Tori, go find her."

"WHAT?!!?!? You couldn't use a Star card? I don' t understand!" Kero exclaimed. Sakura sighed. She explained everything and Li and Kero listened intenivly.

"And then I was knocked out and the last thing I saw was the tall staff that the two figures were holding in my dream. I woke up and tried using the Time card but it didn't work! Well err... it worked but the next second everything went back to normal." Sakura explained.

"Well the fact that your weak shouldn't effect your magic this severly. It has to be something else." Li assured her.

"Do you think you should try again?" Kero asked. Sakura looked doubtfully at her staff.

"I could, but I just know it isn't going to work," Sakura said.

"You'll never know until you try..." Kero reminded her. Sakura rolled her eyes but thought that there was harm in trying again. Li helped her up but Sakura couldn't stay up. She collasped in Li's arms and complained to Kero.

"I can't even stand up! Whatever hit me only hit my shoulder, so why are my legs giving away and my arms growing weaker by the minute?!?!" Sakura was growing weaker and weaker until she could hardly keep her eyes open.

"We've got to get her home now," Li said to Kero. Kero gazed at Sakura with a look of concern on his face.

"What are we going to tell her father??" Li paused and thought for a second.

"Let me handle that, just help me get Sakura home," Li replied.

While Li was holding Sakura in his arms,

(F.Y.I-He was holding her like a husband holds a bride.. you know with her legs on one arm and head on another.. haha sounds weird but you know what I mean)

Kero was flying next to him. They kept peeking over at her, hoping she would open her eyes. But so far Sakura looked pale and lifeless, dangling like a doll in Li's arms. Li held her so tightly because he had the horrible thought of dropping her and she would shrivel up and burst into a hill of sand.

"Do you think... she's gonna be okay?" Li wondered out loud. Kero looked at him and smiled.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Kero teased him. Li looked away and turned five shades of red.

"Yeah, I guess."

Tori was getting his bike out of the garage and then accidently slashed his the upper part of his arm against a sharp object hanging on the wall. In anger, Tori took his bike

(F.Y.I-Tori is really athletic, so therefore really strong)

and slammed it against the garage wall. He fell to the floor and held tightly to his arm, keeping the blood from slipping.

He missed his magical powers. He missed seeing his mom and he hated the fact that he couldn't sense when Sakura was in danger anymore. It made him feel gulity that he couldn't always protect her and it made him mad that his father only worried about her concerns.

On one hand he loved her to death and on the other hand Tori would always give Sakura the evil eye when Aiden congratulates Sakura on an accomplishment, while he gives Tori the slightest bit of affection.

He thinks that just because I'm older I should be treated like an adult, like a man. That's true but... I'd also like to be treated like a son...

Li and Kero neared Sakura's home when she suddenly woke up.

"Sakura!" Li and Kero exclaimed at the same time. Sakura made no notion to indicate she knew that anybody was talking to her. She jumped out of Li's arms and towards a mailbox that was nearby. She gripped her staff tightly and raised it in the air.

"What the...?" Kero started. Li started running towards Sakura thinking, She's going to smash the staff on the mailbox!

As Sakura brought the staff down to hit the mailbox Li grapped her arms from behind, trying to make her let go of the staff. Sakura struggled to get free of Li's grasp. She eventually freed herself and pushed Li. He fell to the floor and Sakura took off. She ran away from Kero and Li, who were still in shock in the way she was behaving.

Fact is that Sakura had no idea what she was doing and someone else was controlling her body.

While Sakura was running, she turned around to make sure that Kero and Li weren't following and she twisted her ankle and fell down.

When she fell the spirit that was controlling her body escaped and flew by Kero and Li so quickly that they didn't sense or see anything.

"Sakura! Are you okay?" Kero asked, when they were by her side. Li turned Sakura over and she was awake but had a dazed look on her face.

"What did I... what happened...?" Then she took her staff to rest it in her lap and saw that the staff was...

BROKEN

Broken as in, destoryed in half with the light, that represents Sakura's magic, completely faded, so that the once bright yellow was now a dull gray.

Sakura felt the salty tears run down her cheeks and her ankle drowning in pain.

Oh, this is just TOO great!