The Dreams We Left Behind

by Melissa Ordesky

COMPLETE. Syaoran wasn’t brave enough to tell Sakura his feelings before he left for H.K. and is held captive by his family. Sakura is forced through a deadly test. Can Syaoran get to her in time?

3. Four Years Later

~.~The Dreams We Left Behind ~.~

A Card Captor Sakura fic by Melissa Ordesky

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Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura does not belong to me. Duh. PG-13 for bad words, mostly on Syaoran's part. Based on the anime.

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Last chapter: Syaoran was forced back home to Hong Kong, but Mei Ling formed a quick plan to let Syaoran write a brief note to her, thanks to a very helpful workmate of Touya's. Tomoyo read out the note to Sakura… which mentioned a mysterious Test in 4 years time, a dangerous member of the Li clan coming to stop her, and that Syaoran was in love with Sakura…Sakura, devastated at the news and the note, admitted to a concerned Tomoyo and Touya that she was in love with Syaoran…

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Chapter Three - Four Years Later

"Do you love him?"

I looked up at Touya, shocked at the question, fully intending to deny it. I nodded, and he murmured my name before crushing me into another embrace. I let the tears flood again, faintly aware that I was murmuring 'Syaoran, Syaoran, I'm so sorry' over and over again, but not caring. My whole world, the one that I had so barely saved yesterday morning, had flipped out from underneath me, and nothing could make it the same again.

Nothing.

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FOUR YEARS LATER

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Sakura

Wham!

"OWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Sakuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrra???"

I rubbed my head, glowering resentfully at the alarm clock that had just fallen on my head. Grouchy, I sent an evil look through the carpet to the kitchen, which was where I thought my name emanated from.

"Yes?"

"You're going to be laaaaaate," Touya yelled back, sounding happy.

"HOE??" I stumbled out of bed and landed with a crash on my knees. I didn't have to look up to know who was sniggering at me, and I staggered to my feet, forming my hand into a fist and waving it threateningly at Kero. Kero twitched back at me.

"You don't have time to be mad at me," Kero said briskly, a smug grin on his round yellow face.

I glared at him, but knew he was right. I thundered into the bathroom, starting up the shower so that the water could heat up while I brushed my teeth and tied my hair up. Showering quickly, using the coconut shower crème Tomoyo had brought back with her from her summer vacation trip to England, I cleaned myself briskly and hopped out of the shower, skidding on the wet floor. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!!!! Wrapping a towel around myself, I ran into my bedroom, yanked my hair into a tight ponytail knowing it wasn't going to dry in time and not caring. The person who I would once upon a time probably have tried to impress wouldn't be there, so why should I try?

Biting back that thought furiously, knowing I didn't have time to break down and think of Syaoran, I skidded through the familiar routine after slamming Kero shut into the drawer and covering up the keyhole with a post-it note. I ignored his usual whining, calling him a pervert as I pulled up black jeans over my underwear, tugged on a white t-shirt and rolled-neck red sweater and tumbled into the special trainers dad gave me for my birthday, that turned into roller blades when you flipped the bottom open. I grabbed my knapsack, shoved my mobile phone in from where it had lain charging all night, threw in the lit text I'd been reading last night, slid the Sakura cards into the special pocket Tomoyo had stitched in for me and manage to trip downstairs and into the kitchen at the right time.

Touya looked at me from over a large pile of pancakes, taking in my hair and rolling his eyes. It was my first day as a senior, and being able to wear whatever clothes I liked was nice, but not new. The novelty wore off after a few months of Seijou High.

I yanked back the chair, and took the plate Touya proffered me. "What's it feel like, to be in a proper nine-to-five job?" I asked Touya as I piled sauce on my pancakes. His new job had started yesterday, while school restarted today, on a Tuesday, to allow for a training day for the teachers. I scowled at Touya as he flickered another evil glance at the state of my hair, and I stared back at him before pulling it out and managing to pull my hair into a tight ponytail without too many stray strands, knowing full well Tomoyo would accost me at break and mess with it again.

"I still don't see why you couldn't keep your hair short," Touya snorted.

"You didn't answer my question," I said, while chewing on a mouthful of pancakes. "Guess having Yukito there too makes it a little easier, huh?"

For some reason he blushed a little. "Uh. It's fine. We're going to look at some flats today, squirt, so if no one's home when you get back, don't be worried. You have your key?"

I squinted, then nodded, remembering faintly that Touya said he and Yukito were going to find an apartment together closer to their workplace. Made sense, sharing rent, and I guessed they both wanted some independence. "Yeap. So pretty soon, it's gonna be me and dad, huh?"

"Yeah." Touya nodded. "Guess you're going to have to rely on Kero to get you up on time. Did you remember to-"

"Yeap. Post-it notes. More versatile than the company think they are."

Touya laughed. "I don't think they thought that covering up the keyhole to stop a tiny flying yellow bear perving on you will you got dressed was the original use for them, but whatever floats your boat."

"I don't think he was actually perving on me," I defended, "it's just that-"

"Every time you got dressed, you freaked out," Touya finished. "Don't worry. You weren't the only one."

I smiled thankfully at him. "Thanks." I shoved a final pancake in my mouth, and picked my knapsack up again. "And thanks for breakfast."

"Last time ever," Touya reminded me. "Have a good day at school."

I waved vaguely at him as I left the house. Sitting down on the step, I flipped the wheels out and pushed myself off and away using the front door. Skating down the path, I sped around the corner, taking the adverse cambers and stones with the ease of a professional. I should be a professional; I've been taking this route to school for the last four years. I know it's maybe silly, but it takes me past where Eriol's house used to be, and the airport, just in case… y'know. Just in case Syaoran's allowed back.

I get it. I'm obsessed. He might not even feel the same way any more. He may never have felt the same way. The truth is, I did, even if it took me a while to acknowledge. I thought not seeing him, not being able to communicate with him again, might make the feelings go away, but… it hasn't worked out like I thought it would. Then again, my whole life hasn't worked out the way I thought it would. I don't suppose any normal eleven year old would dream that they were about to land upside down in a world they never knew existed before.

The warning bell went as I made it through the school gates, and I put the wheels away as I pelted towards the West block. Pelting across the playground, I squeezed through the door and dashed up the stairs, wishing my hair was dryer. I slowed to a walk as I reached the second floor corridor, and pushed through the first door on the left. Tomoyo and Naoko smiled at me, and I walked over to my desk in relief. The bell went off at nine, to signal the start of school, and everyone stood to attention behind their desks as our new form teacher, Kaoko-sensei. She was very pretty, with very blue eyes and soft mousy brown hair. She looked barely young enough to be a teacher.

"Hello, class." Her voice was soft and light, making her sound younger than she looked. I exchanged an appraising glance with Tomoyo, and knew from her gentle expression that Tomoyo liked the look of our form tutor too. "My name is Kaoko Ami, and I will be your form tutor for your final year of school. When I call your name, stand up, so I can acquaint myself with all of you."

I guess I didn't listen as intently as I should do, and had just enough sense to listen to my own name - "Kinomoto Sakura!" - and stand up for a few seconds. I didn't want to give my teacher a totally weird impression of me on the first day! She reached the end of the register - "Yoshii Iori!" - and then stared at the register, a little nonplussed. "Na, I almost forgot!" I grinned as Kaoko-sensei put the back of her hand to her forehead. "We have a new transfer student arriving today! Some time in the morning, I presume. You all know we're having all morning devoted to tutorial time, don't you?" We all nodded in unison. We'd been a fairly stable class for the last seven years, and routine does finally get the best of you. "Right. We'll sort you out with homework planners, and then I think we'll move onto lesson and room timetables and-"

There was a polite knock on the door. Kaoko looked flustered for a second, and then her face flushed with recognition. "Seems our exchange student is here." She walked over to the door, and called out with a gay voice. "Come in!"

The door opened, and my heart stopped beating for a second before starting up again with a ­rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat rhythm that I hadn't felt for a long, long time. I edged a tentative look at Tomoyo, but her wide-eyed expression mirrored everything I felt. Everything I'd futilely dreamed over the last four years had just happened.

"Students, I'd like to introduce you to our new exchange student. Li Syaoran."

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Tomoyo

Well, you could knock me over with a feather. You really, really could. I'm not normally a girl for clichés, but this situation demands about three billion of them. I know I stared. It was a little unexpected! Li, back… It couldn't be for a normal reason.

I looked over to Sakura, and she looked just as shocked as I felt. No wonder! The guy she's in love with, casually dropping into school without a note or a word or anything.

"He's come all the way from Hong Kong, so let's be nice to him!" Kaoko gestured at the last empty seat - right behind Sakura, naturally - and Li curtly nodded and walked over there, avoiding everyone's glances. Everyone in the classroom had a mixture of expressions; happiness, shock, but the ones that interested me the most was Sakura and Li's expressions. Li's face was absolutely blank, totally composed, except for when he passed by Sakura and sneered. Sakura seemed to look upset for one second, which didn't surprise me one bit, and then her entire demeanour changed. She was… I don't know another word for it… bristling.

Huh. I tried to listen to Kaoko as she handed out timetables and forms and homework diaries, but I couldn't help but keep shooting small glances at Li and Sakura. Li was barely focussing on his timetables either, spending his time shooting calculating and cold looks at the back of Sakura's head. Something here was off. Very off.

The time crawled by slowly, just as it always does when you're dying for something to happen at a specific time. As soon as the bell rang to signal break, the boys rushed to crowd around Li, and I had a more familiar target in mind. I wandered over to Sakura's desk, keeping a wide circuit of the gaggle forming near the door, with Li centre.

"How are you feeling?" I asked neutrally, keeping my voice to a whisper so no one overheard.

"Pretty damn angry," Sakura answered briskly, folding her arms over her chest. I mean, I've seen her at her most powerful, battling the Clow Cards and capturing them to prevent the evil that Clow Reed once predicted, but now she looked menacing.

"I'm not surprised," I said, trying to reassure her. "You'd have thought he might have managed to give you a note explaining this! Maybe there's a spy here, and he has to act nasty, or-"

"Tomoyo."

I blinked up at Sakura in surprise, as he quiet utterance of my name stopped me ranting incoherently.

"That's not Syaoran. I don't know who it is, but it's not him." Her eyes glanced over to Li - to, if I was hearing her right, whoever it was that was masquerading as Li - and seemed to unfocus slightly. "His aura… it feels like a harsher but diluted form of Yelan's, but again… not the same. I think it's a family member, using his mother's power to resemble Syaoran, but it's not him. It's not." Her voice seemed to be firmer, more determined, the more she said it.

"You think he's using a… a sort of glamour?" We'd covered glamour when doing old myths and magic legends of Japan last year.

"Or it's a controlled clone. Like a golem, or something." Sakura grinned slightly. "All we have to do now is water him."

I stifled a small giggle. "Great. Excuse me, clone-Li, would you stand still while we pour water on your head?"

Sakura looked amused, but then went paler and withdrawn. I reached out and touched her hand.

"It means he's okay, Sakura," I said, nodding across at clone-Li. Okay, we didn't know for definite that it was a clone - maybe he'd been brainwashed! - but if Sakura thought so, I thought so too. "They've copied him as he must be now."

"I guess," she muttered softly. Sympathy welled up inside me, making my chest feel tight and heavy.

"I'm sorry it's not him. But this… impostor, this clone-Li, we might be able to get out of him where the real Li is," I comforted.

Sakura started to nod, and then froze. "The test," she said, her voice a stiff formal monotone. "Syaoran wrote that there'd be a dangerous person sent from his clan to secure the cards." She gripped my arm so tightly I was sure it would leave bruises, but I didn't mind. What was a little support to the sorceress who was going to save the world? "That must be it." She looked up at the clock on the wall, and sighed. "Guess we'd better move back to our seats."

I nodded at her, trying to communicate all the sympathy I felt for her in that small gesture. She seemed to understand as she nodded briefly. I walked back to my desk, only for clone-Li to walk past me. He looked at me so coldly I felt a shiver course down my spine. Sakura was right. This was either a clone, or a glamour, or there was some serious brainwashing going on here. Whatever it was, Li wasn't behind those eyes that looked so coldly at me. "Daidouji," he muttered, briefly inclining his head. "Nice to meet you again."

"Gaki," I returned, just as neutrally. "How nice it is to meet you for the first time."

His eyes flashed. "The cards will be ours," he said bitterly, not keeping up the pretence of being Li in front of me. "And if there is any justice in the world, your half-blood companion will perish along the way."

He stormed away to his desk, flinging himself into the desk and staring into space. I exchanged a glance with Sakura, who looked a little terrified, and I turned back to the pile of timetables and books on my desk, feeling very empowered from what I had just said, but feeling terrified for Sakura's sake. Whatever the Li clan were attempting, they'd gone to an awful lot of trouble to see it done this way, probably to put Sakura off.

I didn't know the reason, but the future was starting to look scarier than it ever had before.

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Mei Ling

"You're not trying! You're not trying hard enough!" I yelled.

I raised my clenched fists and glared at my fatigued opponent. His polished oak-coloured eyes flashed at me as he tightened the bandage supporting his hands. I was hoping my words would egg him on. Goddess knows he was self-motivated enough, though. He launched himself at me again, managing to grab my wrist and overturn me. I landed with a thump! on the mat of old coats we'd cobbled together four years ago and had reused every night since. He insisted that he had to know all I knew, and I taught it to him willingly. Love was always something you had to fight for.

"Well done," I complimented, as Syaoran shifted forwards impatiently and helped me to my feet. I instantly twisted into the position for a spin kick, to send him flying, and he dodged and blocked it. I landed with a thump on the coats again. Looking up at him as he held my hand out, I was abruptly reminded of the fourteen year old Syaoran who had been banished from Japan in shame. He had kept his hair stubbornly the same, but his physique had changed from the training he forced himself through. Still lean and fast, he was strong too, agile and flexible as the situation demanded it. It was a pity about his magic being forbidden and stripped away, but he was trying to make up for it in other ways.

"Sorry," Syaoran said sheepishly, and I almost expected him to blush as he always used to. It was almost as if he'd disallowed himself from blushing, though, and he relied instead on tone of voice and posture. Stiff and formal around everyone but me, because I knew the truth. They only kept me around hoping I'd 'forgive him and take him back', using their words. They still wanted the marriage to go ahead. Never mind my feelings. Never mind Syaoran's feelings.

"I think we've done enough for tonight," I said, holding up a hand as Syaoran's mouth dropped open to protest. "We have algebra tomorrow and we're going to have to work hard. Besides, you knock me down one more time and the others will suspect what we're up to."

Syaoran shuffled a little. "I think they already know."

"WHAT?" I stared furiously at him. "HOW?"

"I don't know." His brow furrowed. "But my sisters asked mother why I bother to work so hard, and mother said it was because I want to become an efficient provider for the family. After university I will be able to get a top job and provide well for us."

"What do they want you to be? A doctor?" I dusted my knees and started to remove the padding I had had to start wearing two years ago, when Syaoran had become much stronger than my light frame could take.

"Worse than that." Syaoran smirked. "A lawyer."

I cringed and crossed my fingers at him, in the sign of warning away evil. "Crap," I said. "They want me to be a teacher."

Syaoran lifted his eyebrows at me. "What, we study every day together under the brilliant supervision of Adami-sensei, and you never saw fit to mention this?"

"You never mentioned the law thing," I defended, bending down and ignoring my protesting muscles as we started to refold the coats and hang them up again in the old closet. That was a suspicious sign, really, that they knew what we did down here at nights, that they kept the old coats here and did not give them away to charity like they did the rest of our old clothes. I suppose they thought that it did me no harm to practise more, and if Syaoran wanted to take out his frustration in this way, what harm could it do him? At least he wasn't hurting the family.

"I suppose I didn't. It's not like we get much chance to talk anyway." Syaoran leaned against the wall stiffly, after bundling the coats into the closet. "You have to be up at … six… to train?"

I nodded dumbly at him. It used to be seven am, but now we were on the last year of high school level study and this year was to prepare us for the tests to enter university, they had arranged my day's timetable to give us another hour tuition. Joy.

"I will meditate while you do so," Syaoran muttered, more out of ritual than anything. He still meditated. It was the first exercise he was taught to control and tap into his power. Even I was not sure why he still did it. I thought it was maybe because he wanted to start the day as he used to, to pretend that maybe he was back in Japan and he'd see Sakura at school. "I'll go running after tutorial today, I think."

I nodded again, and continued the almost nightly ritual. "I'll go and revise."

"Also known as, hide manga in your textbook and relax," Syaoran teased.

I flushed. This was not part of the ritual. "Gaki!" I fumed at him. "How did you know?"

He looked sad for a moment. I wondered what I had said to make him upset. Syaoran looked away, bit his lip and had that look in his eyes. The one where you know he's trying to stare down the walls, stare down the miles in-between him and the girl - young woman now, I'm sure - that he's so crazily in love with. He blinked furiously and looked back at me, coming back to earth with a thud. What an earth to come back to, I thought glumly. "Do the words Sailor Moon? Super S? Volume 3? ring a bell?" he asked, pursing his lips together.

"Ah," I said, flushing. "Oops."

"I shoved it in the pocket of your red coat," he said with a small smile as he turned for the door. "Good night, Mei Ling."

"Good night, little wolf," I teased, ducking the book he threw at me and watching him saunter out.

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Kero

I knocked on the edge of the drawer. Surely Sakura could not be taking this long to get dressed! I could tell she was distraught over this whole Li clone thing. I couldn't sense the brat's aura anywhere in the country, so what Sakura thought is probably close to the truth. A clone, though. They're deliberately doing it to emotionally unsettle her, and that won't be good during the test.

The test! Such a bad idea. I said so to my Master at the time, but did he listen?

Nope.

He was too wrapped up in his grief over Sun Fa, and Yue as usual went with whatever Master wanted. I'm sure there must have been a point - probably to show the current master of the Clow cards that it was time to appoint a successor. Four years was a cynical guess from a man made cynical by love, which is why I swore I would protect the next card Master from that evil as well as others.

I don't suppose it's a thing you can really control, though, because I knew that Chinese brat was trouble as soon as I set eyes on him. Trouble with a capital T, R, O, U, B, L, and E. But maybe it would work in our favour this time. Sakura knew that this wasn't the Li boy, but an impostor, and would fight hard for the cards she loved.

To be honest, I wasn't sure that the Test subroutine Clow Reed magically programmed into the cards would kick in, now they're Sakura cards, but it goes to show some magic is too innate to be changed. It was a characteristic of the cards now, and irremovable. I know Sakura is strong enough to recapture the cards that are now her friends. I wouldn't have chosen her to be the next Master - or, in this case, Mistress - if I wasn't a hundred per cent sure of her. When I saw Sakura, when I first re-awoke, I saw so much potential for brilliance it made the choice easier than I thought. She hasn't let Yue or me down yet even with Clow Reed's reincarnation testing her too, or the Li clan bothering her and stopping her doing her assigned task.

The minute the Li clan realised the cards were under the guidance of Yue and I, and we would not allow someone we hadn't chosen to look after the cards to capture them, and the cards were NOT destined to be theirs just because of a little thing called DNA, would be a very brilliant minute to experience.

I wasn't holding my breath, though.

Besides, we'd converted one, possibly two. That was enough for my ego, and if something's enough for my ego, it's a pretty darn huge thing.

"Sakuuuuuuuuuuura!"

"Did you hear that?" I heard another voice say. Ooooops. Boy, her dad sure is quiet… or… I knocked on the drawer the same time he knocked on the door. Double ooooops.

"Naaaniii… No, I didn't," Sakura quickly covered. "Uh, what did it sound like?"

"Someone saying your name, but it was all high-pitched and… never mind." I could almost hear her father shake his head. "What do you want for dinner tonight, kiddo? Just the two of us, now." He sounded sad. Sakura had proudly informed me that Yukito and Touya had managed to find a small student-type flat near their workplace, and thankfully it wasn't too far away, in case of emergency.

"Uh-" Sakura stopped to think, but they were both distracted by a clattering noise downstairs.

"Dad? Sakura? It's me, Touyyyyyyyyyaaaaa."

I couldn't quite see, due to the yellow paper covering the keyhole (what's up with that, anyway?) but knew she and her father would be exchanging a very wry glance. I should have expected it. The test's tonight, Yue will want to be here for when it happens.

"Spoke too soon," Fujitaka commented dryly. "I expect their electricity won't be turned on until tomorrow, or something. You finished getting changed, I'll go see what they want. We can have some Chinese takeout tomorrow night."

Sakura giggled as her dad ruffled her hair and left the room. As soon as he'd gone, I started banging on the drawer again. "Let me out! Let me out!"

I heard Sakura groan gruffly, and she yanked the drawer open while pulling a lilac hooded sweatshirt over a plain white t-shirt. Sakura always dressed nondescript for the tasks ahead, knowing that Tomoyo would want her to change into a battle costume later.

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Sakura

"I don't see why he had to come along," Kero said, grouching about Touya. I couldn't blame Kero for getting ratty. Touya was tagging along, muttering something to Yukito under his breath. I caught the words 'I'm sure' and 'always' from Touya, but couldn't hear what Yukito was saying.

"He's just looking out for Sakura," Tomoyo said reasonably. "It's sweet." I looked at my best friend archly, and Tomoyo stared back flatly as we continued in our strange procession to KP Park. "Plus, Kinomoto-san may have gotten curious. Saying you wanted to walk me home and we could have sundaes at my house was a brilliant excuse."

I squinted unsurely at her. "I guess. Although your explanation of turning up on the doorstep with this costume was a little weird."

Tomoyo flushed and I allowed myself a small grin. Dad would be teasing her for it for months.

("She takes her clothes for walks to smell of the night breeze, Sakura?" Sakura's father laughed in that warm, kind way that made Sakura feel absolutely protected.

"I guess so, dad.")

I thought back on the memory fondly, and then looked down at the outfit I had changed into in the public toilets on 4th street. The hooded v-necked tunic was made of a light, pink material that flared at the sleeves, making me feel I had wings and ended mid-thigh. It had a dusky pink pattern on it of falling cherry blossom. Beneath that hot pink calf-length trousers made of a scrunchy, soft material made me feel warm, and the thick banded pink leather sandals were quite comfortable. Tomoyo said they were padded and cushioned to make it easier for me to run. The cards were in a secure holder by my side. Arm length pink gloves kept my hands and arms warm in the biting cold of the evening, and to finish it off there was an optional mask hanging on my neck above the key, so if I wanted to do any 'business' (the codeword Tomoyo and I had thought up to refer to anything that referred to the cards) and not run the risk of being discovered, I could. The material was nice, but very easy to clean. I suspect that maybe Tomoyo has started to run out of ideas, and has designed this to be my official Card Mistress uniform. And you know what? It couldn't be more kick-ass.

Ahead, the KP Park stretched to eternity, glimmering with the uncertainty of the night. The moon flittered overhead like a butterfly before drenching the clearing with its unearthly luminance, the clouds skimming away with an unfelt breeze to leave the sky clear and burning. Purple light decorated the sky like scars, showing the universe's blood. Something thrilled inside me, made me felt something I've never felt before. I felt dizzy, hollow, like I was everything and nothing within a single instant or all eternity. It was like fifty years of being without Syaoran in one second, yet it was like a single glance from him.

I stumbled slightly, and Tomoyo and Touya both rushed to my side. I held up one hand to stop them from grabbing me. "No, I'm okay. This night… it's just…" A sick feeling crunched in my stomach, and I looked straight forwards immediately. A dark figure stood on the opposite side of the clearing. Pure malevolence whipped around me, tossing my hair and the darkness hurt my eyes like bright light.

I felt my vision blur a little, and then realised it was only Kero and Yukito, becoming Keroberus and Yue beside me. Yue looked at Touya for a second sadly, only to look confused. I flickered a glance at Touya, who was looking at Yue patiently and with an intense look of… well, friendship, I guess. The look he always has when he's looking at Yukito, anyway. I guess Touya's just trying to show the lunar card guardian that he likes him, all of him.

I heard Tomoyo's camera whir back into action, and something spurred me forwards. I slid the cards out of the holder, knowing Yue and Keroberus were flanking me. They shivered under my touch, and I stopped. The figure facing us coldly stepped forwards, and moonlight illuminated the face. I knew every angle, and yet I didn't. Syaoran's face looked out at me, harsh and judgemental, but his eyes were flat and emotionless. Even when I first met Syaoran, his eyes had emotion. This clone!Li, as I was calling him in my head, was dressed similarly to the way he used to dress to capture cards, but all that was green was now black, and all that was yellow was now white, except his trousers which were black. There was grey where the red had once been. This was an emotionless, colourless, two dimensional Li, and I couldn't believe for one second that Syaoran would let anyone do anything like this to him.

"It is time."

A male voice echoed out of nowhere, and the cards buzzed in my hands as I recognised the voice. Clow Reed. Not his reincarnation, but an echo of his real, original voice. I swallowed, and said the words I'd been planning to say. "You're all my friends, all of you, but I know you have to do this. I love you all, and I want you to have the strongest Master for you. You'll always be my friends, and I hope to prove to you that I am still worthy to be your friend in return."

The cards spun around my head, fanning out into a halo of 53 cards. Pink and gold shimmered around my head. "This was Clow Reed's original intention," I finished, my head upright. "If you wish to follow his intention, leave, if not, stay. Either way I will still feel the same about you."

Light surrounded my head, hard and brilliant, and I kept my eyes open but unfocussed. I could hardly bear to see my friends, to see part of me, fly away into the air, ready for me to try and recapture. Like Syaoran, something in me said brokenly. Hope soared in my heart and I let my gaze open. Nestled in my palm were eight cards. The Light, The Dark, The Shadow, The Flower, The Lock, The Fly, The Sleep and The Hope. They shimmered slightly, feeling warm in my palm.

"So, Kinomoto. Eight stayed with you." I looked upwards, hurting at Syaoran's voice being used this way, so bitter and hurtful. "Even they will be mine, in the end. As they were always meant to be."

I glared back, strengthened by the Sakura cards that had stayed with me. "Always, huh? Guess you've decided to ignore your ancestor's two best friends? They chose me. I'm the Card Mistress, and I will regain all of my friends. You will regret trying to choose that form to affect me emotionally, because it will not work. And when I get the cards back, I think we'll have a little talk about where the real Li Syaoran is."

Clone!Li glared at me furiously, then turned and dashed away into the night. I could feel the anger blaze off him, red and angry, and I turned back to Keroberus, Yue, Touya and Tomoyo. I held up the eight cards and looked at them fondly. "I'll get your friends back. I promise." They floated out of my hand, and my stomach dropped a few inches as I suddenly doubted and thought they too would fly off into the night, ready for me to take the Test to regain them. Instead, they bobbed up and down in the air, as if to agree with me and thank me, before flying gently back to my side. I felt tears prick my eyes at the warmth I felt in their loyalty, and turned and looked into the long dark that Clone!Li had fled into.

"I'll get them back," I swore again, my words flinging stiffly out into the harshness of the night air, reverberating around the park. "I promise." I clenched my left fist, and rested my right hand on the cards. "I promise."

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Review please!! Your lovely words help me write faster.

PLEASE?

PRETTY PLEASE?

*sighs* Okay, okay, y'all win, y'all win.

PRETTY PLEASE WITH SYAORAN ON TOP????????

(I just don't know how happy Sakura would be with me now I've promised that... ..)