Chapter Three
Airplanes from all of the different companies flew in and out of the Tokyo International Airport premises. It was a bright and sunny morning. Everyone inside the airport moved along throughout the hallways, following the signs to their destination.
Sakura and Tomoyo were about to say goodbye to their very good friends as they waited in front of their gate. The plane had already arrived and they were boarding passengers.
"Well, Daidouji-san," Meiling smiled, "I guess this is goodbye for now."
Tomoyo nodded, "We'll see each other again, Meiling-chan."
"Thanks for everything," Meiling told her appreciatively. Surprisingly enough, she hugged Tomoyo.
Tomoyo was very shocked but not disappointed. She was happy.
"You're one of my most precious friends…" Meiling whispered in her ear.
"Me too," Tomoyo replied.
Meiling broke the hug, "See you later." She bent down to pick up her suitcase.
"Bye, Meiling-chan," Tomoyo said.
Meiling turned around to where Sakura and Shaoran were waiting. She put her suitcase down once more.
"Meiling-chan, thank you so much," Sakura spoke.
"Eh?" Meiling wondered, "Thank you for what?"
"You helped me so much. Not only when I was capturing the Clow Cards, but…you helped me and Shaoran-kun…" Sakura explained.
Meiling started to laugh, "Ha ha ha!! You'll never change! But…you're welcome."
Sakura smiled as she and Meiling hugged each other in friendship.
Meiling then knelt down once again to pick up her suitcase. "I'll see you, Kinomoto-san. No, I mean…Sakura-san," she said.
Sakura's face lit up with so much joy. Meiling called her by her first name. It meant that Meiling considered her to be a great friend.
"I'll be waiting in the plane, Shaoran!" Meiling shouted as she ran off towards the flight attendant taking passports.
Sakura and Shaoran both stood before each other. They weren't saying anything. They were so unbelievably sad about having to say goodbye.
"I'll leave you two alone for a bit," Tomoyo told them.
"O-Okay," Sakura replied.
"I'll be over at the gift shop. Look for me there, okay?" Tomoyo explained.
Sakura nodded.
"Have a good flight, Li-kun," Tomoyo waved goodbye.
"Bye, Daidouji," Shaoran smiled, "Thanks for everything."
Tomoyo smiled back as she began to walk away. She gave a glance back and saw the saddened faces of her friends. Her face then saddened. She knew this would be very hard for them.
"I…I guess this is…" Shaoran tried to say.
Sakura interrupted him before he could finish, "I'll be waiting for you!"
Shaoran was a bit stunned from her outburst.
"I'll…be waiting for you," Sakura repeated softly. She clenched her hands together as tears formed in her eyes.
"Sakura…" Shaoran sighed.
"You know, it's funny," she began to say. The tears began to fall down her rosy cheeks. "I promised myself I would try and see you off with a smile today…B-But…it's too hard. I finally found the person I was meant to love and now…you have to go back." Sakura started to cry.
Shaoran didn't know what to say to her. He was just as sad as she was. He tried so hard to fight back the tears shaping in his brown eyes. He knew there was only one thing he could, only one thing he wanted to do. He stepped forward and lifted up her chin. He swiftly conjoined his lips with hers'.
For a split second, Sakura was a bit surprised but once she felt his soft lips upon her own, she couldn't think of anywhere else she wanted to be at that one moment. She knew there was no one else she wanted to share her first kiss with than Shaoran.
"Last call for passengers boarding on Flight 428 to Hong Kong," the flight attendant spoke through a microphone, "I repeat…"
The two young lovers stopped their memorable kiss. They knew it was time for him to go.
Shaoran wiped Sakura's tears from her face. "I just thought I'd give you something to hold on to until I come back for you," he told her.
Sakura smiled, "Shaoran-kun…"
"Don't say goodbye," he said.
She nodded.
About a half hour later, the plane to Hong Kong was ready to take off. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Tomoyo's female bodyguard team were outside on the deck watching the plane lift off into the big blue sky.
Sakura smiled happily. She knew she'd see him again.
"The plane departed safely," Tomoyo said.
"Yeah," Sakura replied.
"Miss," the long blonde haired bodyguard spoke, "Shall we be going?"
Tomoyo nodded, "Yes. Sakura-chan, we'd better get back home."
"Okay," Sakura agreed, "Oh, and thank you Tomoyo-chan. For letting me come and say goodbye to Shaoran-kun."
Tomoyo smiled, "Of course."
The two best friends, along with the bodyguard team, entered back into the airport and walked through the hallways.
"So, how was it?" Tomoyo asked.
"Ho-e? What?" Sakura wondered.
"Your first kiss," Tomoyo giggled.
"Ho-e!! You saw that?!" Sakura panicked, "How embarrassing…"
"Of course not! I'm very happy for you, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said to her in her sweet voice.
"Well, actually, to tell you the truth…" Sakura began to explain when she felt a strange sensation that she'd never felt before. She stopped walking to look around.
"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked.
"I feel…a weird aura…" she told her.
"Aura?" Tomoyo wondered, "What do you mean?"
"Something strange is about to happen. I can feel it." Sakura said.
"Oh, wow!!" somebody shouted from a far.
"It's a solar eclipse!!" another yelled.
Everyone in the airport made their way to a window to see the spectacle that was forming outside in the sky. Sakura and Tomoyo joined them to watch.
The shadow of the moon shifted over the bright sun with amazing speed. The outer edges of the moon's silhouette emitted a magical blue energy.
Sakura knew this was no normal eclipse.
Soon enough, the solar eclipse was completed and the sun was covered up.
Sakura looked around the airport and noticed that people who were looking at the eclipse were falling unconscious or asleep everywhere in the airport.
"S-Sakura-chan…" Tomoyo spoke softly, "I'm feeling…sleepy…"
"Oh no! Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura cried. Sakura knew she had to do something quickly. She looked around and saw everyone else was asleep. This was her chance.
The Key of the Stars floated in the air as the golden star in the middle began to spin rapidly. "Oh, Key that hides the Power of the Stars!" Sakura shouted the incantation, "Reveal your true form to me!" She brought down her arms and then spread them out horizontally to her sides. The key, now inside an orb of light, floated even higher above her. "Under our covenant I, Sakura, command you!!" she continued as she then thrusted her arms downward in front of her, "RELEASE!!" The key began to twirl and rotate around until the bottom portion grew into a staff. The staff, in a vertical position, floated downward to its mistress. Sakura grabbed the staff and twirled it in front of her, around her, and above her. She then held it in front of her in her signature pose.
She threw up a Sakura Card into the air as her golden magic circle appeared beneath her. She took her wand and lifted it into the air. "Shield!!" she shouted. The wings on the sides of her wand grew as the star in the middle spun around, activating the card.
Around Sakura and Tomoyo, a dome-shaped barrier of magic appeared, protecting them.
Tomoyo was able to reawaken.
"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura cried.
"I'm fine," Tomoyo replied, "But, what happened?"
"I don't know," Sakura said.
"Look!" Tomoyo shouted as she pointed towards the eclipse.
The blue energy it emanated shot down towards the Earth in the form of three beams of light. One of them headed straight for them, and soon enough, flew through the glass of the windows and past Sakura and Tomoyo.
"Tomoyo-chan, stay here inside the shield!" Sakura told her friend. She stepped outside of the barrier and ran off after the beam of light.
"Sakura-chan!!" Tomoyo cried.
Sakura picked up her feet and ran through the large and now quiet hallways. She could see the beam flying in front of her. "This aura…" she thought to herself, "It's the same I feel when Yue-san's around. The aura of the moon…I've gotta catch up!!" She stopped for a moment and threw another Sakura Card in front of her. She raised her wand into the air and then struck down upon the card as her glowing magic circle emerged below her, "Jump!!"
The wings that The Jump card creates appeared upon her feet. She slightly bent her knees and lunged herself into the air.
The beam of light swerved all around the hallways very quickly. It was hard for Sakura to catch up.
"It's too fast!" she cried, "I'll have to do something to stop it!" She landed upon the ground. She reached into her pocket and pulled out yet another Sakura Card. She flipped it over.
It was The Windy card.
"Oh wind, become a binding chain!" she shouted. She tossed the card into the air as the card spun around above her. Her magic circle reappeared. Sakura took her star wand and lifted it into the air. "WINDY!" she yelled. The wings on her wand grew and spread out as the star in the middle spun rapidly.
The Windy spirit materialized from its card form and flew over towards the direction of the shooting beam. She managed to get in front of the beam and turned around to face it. She pulled back her arms and then thrusted them in the direction of the beam, using her powerful elemental wind magic.
Thick streams of green and yellow wind dashed over towards the oncoming beam of light. However, the wind magic had no effect and the beam struck straight through the attack, and through The Windy card.
Windy returned to her card form and floated back to her mistress, Sakura.
"It didn't work!" Sakura shouted.
The beam of light stopped its running and changed into a floating ball of energy. It spoke to Sakura, "So, you are the one who holds the Power of the Stars…" The voice was that of the evil man from the moon.
Sakura leaped over and stood in front of him. "W-Who are you?!" she asked.
"The Power of Darkness is already mine…The Power of the Stars will be my next target…" he said as he laughed, "Ha ha ha!!!" With that having been said, the ball of energy returned to its first form and shot straight into the sky at the speed of light.
The solar eclipse disappeared and the sky returned to how it was. Everyone in the airport slowly began to awaken.
Sakura's staff returned to its key form. She looked around the area to make sure everything was all right.
"Sakura-chan!!" Tomoyo cried from afar. She ran over to her friend. "Are you hurt?" she asked worriedly.
"Uun," Sakura shook her head, "I'm fine."
"The eclipse is over…" Tomoyo stated, "What happened?"
"I wish I knew," Sakura replied. She stared out into the now normal sky with a perplexed look, expressing how she was feeling at that very moment.