.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, sometimes this time Sakura's and Tomoyo's fault! Eesh, Syaoran, you're baaaaaaaaad influence. Based on the anime.
Author's Notes: Yeeeah, not long to go now! Two more chapters after this one. More action next chapter!
Sorry about the length of this chapter (not as inordinately long as the others.) Dragging it on would have slowed the pace too horribly.
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Last chapter: The police chief, mayor and newspaper editor, not to mention Sonomi and Fujitaka, found out Sakura is the Card Mistress when she fought the Fight card (not a phrase for when you've got a hangover.) Sakura finds out her brother bats for a different team, as the cliché goes, and is dating Yukito! Syaoran's magical senses went haywire now he was revealed again to have magic. Tomoyo embarrasses Sakura some more.
Yelan fell dangerously ill. Eriol was summoned and was confused, and no wonder, Mei Ling wanted Eriol to eat her brain. The author of this fic overly abused exclamation marks!!! Clone!Li kidnapped Chiharu and tried to say Syaoran was dead, while Fuu Tie sneakily used Chiharu to sneak a note to Sakura, telling her of her little brother's intentions. Sonomi ran for a phone, and Sakura finally got to get a great big hug from her dad and have a well earned cry. Aw, bless.
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Chapter Seven – You Belong To Me
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"Sakura," he said, his voice gentle, "phone them. Get them to tell him what you feel, inside. Don't let anyone decide your heart for you."
Sakura took the phone, and instead of dialling immediately, she threw her arms around her dad and started to cry.
After everything she'd been through in the last six years, I really, really didn't blame her at all.
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Eriol
Was this ever too much to take in! I was quickly reminded of one of Kaho's wide adages, never underestimate the power of stupid people when they're in large groups.
I had swanned off to a life of my own, confident that Sakura could handle it, and left her at the mercy of a whole host of Chinese morons, who thought just because they're blood related to – well, me – that they can get away with some really, really stupid things!
I really couldn't manage eloquence or articulacy, either. If anyone wondered where Syaoran got his tendency to babble from, it was from Clow Reed. Same with Mei Ling. Eat my brain. The girl's got courage, I'll grant her that, even if she does grow increasingly more incomprehensible with age.
"Right," I said tiredly, at their frantic and frankly jumbled explanation. I'd gathered the main bits, and was still a bit stunned at my own stupidity. I should have done something about the Li clan a long time ago. However, some of them seem to have come out all right, so maybe not meddling was a semi-decent plan. "I wish I had enough magic left to help you. I used what I had left to get here, and sever that connection. I suspect, from the depth of it, that Bo Tae is not working to the advantage of the clan."
"I knew it," She Fa said, quietly. "Syaoran will have to go. He's the only one."
"I agree," I said. "I will stay here, override any clan interference. You should have tried contacting me first of all, Syaoran. I think in the hierarchy of magic, I rank above any Li still." My mouth twisted wryly. "Despite the magic I slipped surreptitiously to my counterpart." Fujitaka had been unknowingly shielding his daughter well for the last few years. I was grateful for the respite.
Syaoran looked a little unsteady as he got to his feet. He nodded. "I will go. But-" He looked uncertainly back at his mother, worry for her plain on his face.
"Sakura needs you," Mei Ling interrupted. "She Fa and I will look after her for you. You have to-"
"Have to stop him," another voice said. I blinked and turned to see Li Yelan looking at us, her unwrinkled face creasing with fatigue and weariness, yet her eyes sparkled at her son.
"Mother," Syaoran exclaimed, running to her side, clasping her hand. "I'm sorry I disobeyed you, but I-"
"You have to stop him," Yelan murmured back. "He's not working for the clan. You-" She coughed. "You can do it, Syaoran. I should have trusted you, my son."
Syaoran looked so touched, I almost smiled. Almost. I stopped myself before I could ruin my reputation as a prankster amused only by my own jokes. I caught Mei Ling smirking at me, though, and knew I'd been caught. Dammit.
"Yes," Syaoran said, surprising us all, "you should have." I looked in wonder, and saw that maybe I shouldn't have worried so much about the fate of the Li clan. Li Syaoran, its true leader, had somehow just grown up in front of us all in the last few minutes.
Yelan looked infinitely sad. Syaoran bent down and kissed her cheek.
"I'll find him," Syaoran promised. He straightened up. "She Fa, call the airlines. I need a ticket to Tomoeda, as soon as possible. Mei, make sure there's someone posted on the door for when the medics get here. I'm trusting you to look after mother. Eriol, dinner should be ready soon. Thank you for your energy. Please take advantage of the food to replenish some of it. I-"
Whatever he was about to say next, was interrupted by the figure at the door.
I didn't recognise him, but Mei Ling and Syaoran obviously did.
"Aino-sensei!" Mei Ling gasped. Obviously some kind of personal tutor.
Aino folded his arms, filing the doorway with his imposing figure. I tensed, ready to knock out this new arrival. Syaoran stilled me with a hand on my arm.
"Well, well, well," Aino said, his voice light. "I think Tae will have a field day hearing about this."
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Sakura
I stared at the phone nervously. Sonomi assured me after programming in the phone number that all I had to do was press the green button. Tomoyo, bless her really, had suggested maybe privacy was a good thing.
Considering how much privacy I'd actually had with the big revelations about this relationship, you'd have thought that being on my own would make this easier. But the very idea of the word relationship was making my fingers tingle and shake, and I really wasn't going to be on my own talking to Syaoran, I was going to be alone talking to his sisters
Even now I was semi-convinced this was a joke. Syaoran could never feel the same way, right? I mean, there were the scribbled words, and-- Oh, I could never be so lucky! I loved him so much. If I was honest with myself, it was that feeling which created the unnamed card that had saved both of us from having our most important feeling taken away.
Courage, Sakura! I pressed the button before I could think any more. I fearfully held the phone to my ear. The ringing tone buzzed tinnily down the line and then-
"Sakura?? Fei Mei, it's Sakura!!! Sakura, it's me, Fan Ren."
I gripped the phone so tightly I knew it was going to leave marks on my hands. "Uhh, hi, Fan Ren."
"GIVE THE PHONE TO ME! Hiii, Sakura. Soo, you got a message for our Little Cutie Wolf brother?"
"Gngggghhh," I managed into the phone.
"Gngggghhh?"Fei Mei's voice got a bit quieter. I presumed she was speaking to Fan Ren. "Fan, is gngggghhh a Japanese word I don't know??... Are you sure??..." It grew louder again. "Sakura?"
"Yes?" I managed, feeling hot and sweaty and very much on the spot. How had Syaoran managed to scrawl that note to me four years ago? I was glad I wasn't so much on a tight deadline, but maybe it would have helped.
"Ohh, you're a little overwhelmed. How cute!"
"Uhh," I said, "could you, um, tell Syaoran-"
"Yes?"
"-that-"
"Yes??"
"-that-"
"Yes??"
"-that-"
"Yes??"
"-I-"
"Ahuh?"
"-I-"
"Ahuh?"
"-I-"
"Ahuh?"
"I'mkindofinlovewithhimbutdon'ttellanyoneelsejusthim," I said, breathing hard.
"Whaaaaaaaat?"
"I'mkindofinlovewithhimbutdon'ttellanyoneelsejusthim," I said, breathing hard.
"Whaaaaaaaat?"
I sighed, frustrated. "I'mkindofinlovewithhimbutdon'ttellanyoneelsejusthim."
"Hnnnhhh?"
"I'M IN LOVE WITH HIM!" I yelled. I heard giggling from the other side of the door. So, not as private as they said, huh.
"Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttteeee!"
Yeah. Cute.
I was glowing like a nuclear power station. There was nothing cute about that, let me tell you.
Syaoran blushing, on the other hand, is cute. That thought irreverently brought up my memory of four years ago, standing on the ledge, waiting for the world to come back. When Syaoran was blushing, like a nuclear power station, and to cover up my awkwardness because I'd just thought how cute he looked, I'd offered like a dumb ass to jump over.
The next day, he'd written that note, telling me he loved me. That had been his most important feeling. All that time, he'd been in love with me…
I guess it shouldn't have come as a shock to me, as I'd been in love with him for a while too. Since Yukito's talk with me, I'd known, to be honest. But it was a shock. Fei Mei was still babbling down the phone. I managed to stutter a thanks and she hung up so I didn't have to remember how to disconnect.
It was all very well, to be honest. I couldn't even remember how to do anything properly at that precise moment in time. Tomoyo, obviously having been eavesdropping, came in, grinning at me. I stared up at her, dumbfounded.
"Li's sisters are psychotic," I said, firmly.
Tomoyo just laughed.
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Fujitaka
"You're psychotic too!" I can hear Sakura complaining to Tomoyo as the two come back into the kitchen. We'd taken up residence in there, considering the destruction in the main sitting room.
I'd offered to make pancakes, and Sonomi leapt on it, remembering the pancake sessions I used to put on for her and Nadeshiko, to keep their friendship grounded through our marriage.
"I didn't really mean to eavesdrop," Tomoyo said innocently. "Besides, mother and I had a great idea for a costume while you were in there- OW!"
I ignored the fact that my only daughter had just kicked her best friend in the shin. She'd saved the world a couple of times, by the sounds of things. Some small character flaws like that were allowable in lieu of complete Armageddon after all.
I poured some more of the batter into the hot pan, trying to make them how Sakura likes them. I was so proud of her! Not only to work through such a hard burden, but to do it without telling anyone… Of course it hurt that she didn't know she could come to me, but I knew her mother was looking out for her, and Touya too, and something inside me… I don't know. For the last four years or so I've been feeling different, as if I could protect Sakura too, if she needed it. More so than normally, I mean.
"Oooooh, PANCAKES!" Sakura yelled, and I grinned at her as she flew forwards. I tipped the newly cooked ones onto a plate for her, and she looked at me happily.
"Save some for me!" Tomoyo said, sitting at the table and stealing some of Sonomi's.
I cooked up the rest of the batter as quickly as I could, leaving plenty on the hot plate for seconds and thirds and fourths and grabbing some for myself. Thankfully Sonomi's sweet tooth hasn't changed, and there were all kinds of sauces. I settled for maple syrup, mine and Nadeshiko's favourite pancake staple.
"So how many cards are left to recapture?" Sonomi asked Sakura.
Sakura frowned. I didn't like to see her so unhappy. "Twenty. Plus the eleven that bastard- sorry dad – has."
I laughed inwardly at her.
"But if Sakura gets the majority, the rest may come back to her naturally," Tomoyo said. "Something vaguely like that has happened before."
"I really doubt clone!Li is about to hand them over to me," Sakura said darkly.
"He may not have a choice," Tomoyo said. "Despite what the majority of the Li clan thinks, the cards don't belong to them. They're your friends. They love you as much as you love them."
Sakura seemed happier at that statement. "I do love them, so much. That's why I miss them so much, I guess."
Something in that caused my stomach to rumble. Confusedly I looked around. Having eaten quite a few pancakes, after having had all proper three meals of the day, it couldn't have rumbled because of hunger. Something was happening.
I obviously wasn't the only one to feel it either. Sakura dropped her fork suddenly. It landed with a loud clatter that disrupted our light conversation.
"What is it?" I asked her, feeling my skin shiver. I hadn't felt this way in years, not since that day Nadeshiko had fallen from the tree and landed in my arms where you were always meant to be, my love.
"You can feel it too?" Sakura asked, her eyes widened. Sonomi and Tomoyo were looking at us like we'd gone mad. For all I knew, we had. I'd never felt an inkling of the magic in my daughter's life, prior to this.
A flash of pink caught in the corner of my gaze, and I turned to the window. Something was there! I dashed to my feet, and grabbed the latch. I turned back to Sakura to make sure I was doing the right thing, completely out of my league, and Sakura's eyes were shining with unrestrained tears.
"The cards," she whispered. Her voice was filled with awe. It struck me, deep inside my heart, and with that power I flung the window open.
Pink energy spiralled past me. I caught rectangular flashes, and then Sakura's hair was standing up as if she was surrounded by a great wind. The pink flash spiralled around her instead, slowing down, solidifying into… the cards.
I counted the reel of them floating around my daughter's head. One, two, three… nineteen, twenty!
My heart soared. Don't ask me how, but I knew I was feeling what Sakura was feeling. They'd heard her, somehow, and returned.
Sakura's face was uplifted, bathed in the muted lights of the kitchen. From outside the starlight filtered into the small room.
I inhaled the sudden scent deeply. Peach and cherry blossom. Nadeshiko. My lips formed her name. Somehow, somehow, she had something to do with this. I knew it. I just knew it.
Sakura held out her hands, and the cards settled into them, light reflecting from them to cast her face in a soft pink glow. Sakura cried out, and I almost ran to her again, but it was a cry of pure delight.
"They came for me," she whispered, holding them tight to her chest. A flinty determination settled on her radiant face. She lifted her face down, and looked sharply at the window I had opened.
It closed, just from the state of her emotions at that point.
"That was-" Sonomi was flustered. "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
I wandered back to the table, and sank to the chair, nodding my agreement.
"They're what makes this whole thing worth it," Sakura said, her voice barely a whisper. We could all hear her, even above the beats of our hearts.
"Love's the key to the test," Tomoyo breathed out, wonderingly. "You can have the strength, but you have to love them too. I suspect even the weakest candidate could still win if their love is stronger."
I glanced at Tomoyo shrewdly. She really was wonderfully observant. "And Sakura is not weak at all," I affirmed.
"Now," Sakura said softly to all the cards in her possession, "we get the rest of you back."
"Tomorrow," I said, breaking the moment. Three faces turned questioningly to me. "You've got to get a good night sleep first."
Sakura's face was priceless. "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" she whined.
"He's right, you know," Tomoyo said mischievously.
"You'll need all your energy for the confrontation," Sonomi added.
Sakura grumped at all of us. "Fine."
"That's my girl," I said, trying to let my pride for her shine through my voice. By the way her face softened, I knew she understood.
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Syaoran
"I think Tae will have a field day hearing about this."
My fingers clenched at the sight of our teacher and his words, and I moved a step forwards threateningly.
"Liu kou shui de biao zi he hou zi de ben er zi," Mei Ling swore colourfully. I flushed at her words.
Aino held his hands forwards, the palms open, a gesture of openness. I stilled, confused.
"Well, when he eventually gets to hear about this," Aino continued, a grin on his face. I stared at him, perplexed. "I presume you're going to Japan, Li-san?"
For a second I thought he meant mother, and then realised he was referring to me. Stunned by the referential honorific, I nodded.
"Could you do me a favour and pass on a message to my daughter while you're there? I've heard from her you've met her. Aino Rikku? She resides in Tomoeda. I'll pass you the address and a note for her before you go." Aino was still smiling. I gaped at him.
"You know Rikku?" I asked, bewildered that he was the father of the girl that had helped me get a message to Sakura four years ago. That means he- he knew that I'd told her, that I loved her- that I'd betrayed the family. And even though he was under the payroll of Tae, he hadn't said anything.
"I'd be a poor father if I didn't know my own daughter," Aino remarked sardonically. "I have been reporting to Tae, as you have no doubt surmised. I shall report and tell him all is fine. It should give you an edge of surprise."
I really didn't know what to say. Everything was too much! I sat with a thump on the chair next to mother's bed, hearing her chuckle at me. I looked at her softly.
"I-" What I meant to say was swallowed by the phone ringing. She Fa had the phone in her hand, ready to dial the airline when Aino had interrupted us, and she lifted the receiver to her ear. "Wei"
She Fa suddenly squealed. Loudly.
"Syaoran! It's for you!"
Confused, I took the receiver.
"Little wolf!" It was Fei Mei. "She loves you."
It took me a moment to register her words and what she meant. Even more stunned then before, I let Mei Ling yank the phone from my limp fingers when it was obvious I couldn't say anything.
"She does?" Mei Ling squeaked into the phone.
Dazed, I got to my feet, and pulled the phone from a protesting Mei Ling. I thanked Fei Mei and disconnected, handing the phone back to She Fa to call the airline.
She Fa understood, and started to dial as soon as I gave her it.
"I'm going to pack," I said, sternly. "And then I'm going to get those cards put where they belong."
It was a miracle that I managed to get that sentence out, considering that my heart was singing. I wanted to dance. I wanted to give Sakura the whole world. She loved me! She loved me like I loved her!
It was better than the feeling of rediscovering my magic.
"You go get him, brother," Mei Ling said as I turned to go.
I smiled at her, and then grabbed her into an abrupt hug. It was spontaneous, and totally unlike me, and it felt great.
"I will," I promised. "In fact, my whole plan is kind of hinged upon it."
"Brat," she said, fondly.
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Fuu Tie
I busied myself cooking for Tae, even though my skin crawled every time I was near him. He was slumped over the table, a map of the area sprawled across it. The small light indicated when the Syaoran clone was at that particular time.
Normally it had direct paths, chosen by Tae using the Lasin board to direct it to the next Sakura card. This time, however, it was running around Tomoeda in a circular path.
I frowned. This couldn't be good. And Tae was obviously in a really bad mood. To be frank, I was scared of what he would do. Of what he'd already done. Kidnapping. Destruction of property. Cloning my brother without his permission.
Oh, and he was capable of so much worse. Mother had trusted this jerk to our clan's future?? This whole instantly respecting your elders had to stop, and it would. When Syaoran became our clan leader, younger than the rest of us, and so much stronger than we could imagine. He was what we needed to survive.
Tae's phone rang then, interrupting my thoughts of revenge, and I shamelessly eavesdropped, using a smidgen of my own magic to hear both sides of the conversation as I soft-boiled noodles.
"The brat still has his magic. He and Hiirigizawa saved Yelan, and the boy's headed your way. Tomorrow."
I cursed inwardly. By brat and boy they must mean Syaoran! So that's what that blaze I felt earlier was, I realised. Syaoran's magic saving mother.
"Aino reported that everything was fine," Tae snapped into the phone. "I shall have to make sure he is amply rewarded for his treachery."
Somehow I got the feeling this was a warning to me, too, but I pretended as if I hadn't heard.
"Never mind," Tae said. "If you can find some way to off the idiot before he arrives, do so. Else, leave him to me."
"Yes, Tae-san."
I tried to keep my voice light as I lifted my pan over to the table, starting to serve the dinner. "Something wrong?" I asked, as politely as I could given that I was terrified of my uncle.
"Just an escaped prisoner," Tae said, lying bare-facedly to me. "Nothing to worry about."
But his face spoke differently.
I would not sleep quietly that night.
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Translation notes
Liu kou shui de biao zi he hou zi de ben er zi is Mandarin for Stupid son of a drooling harlot and a monkey. All Mandarin courtesy of the Chinese translators of Joss Whedon's Firefly, the Pinyin romanization is by Ying from the Firefly Chinese Pinyinary. I don't know if Syaoran is supposed to speak Mandarin or Cantonese, but Mandarin I have access too, and it's funnier. Roll on "Serenity" in September!
No, not Wei Syaoran's butler in Japan. Wei is the current standard telephone "Hello."