Chapter 12 is here!
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS.
Chapter Twelve: The Reuniting
"Biketh! Stop this madness!" Sakura called out into the destruction. Flames licked buildings around her as she walked down a street. Nobody was in sight.
"Rethasa…" a voice called. Then a cough filled the air.
"Who's there?" Sakura yelled as she whipped around.
"It's all because I love you!" Biketh's voice called out. Sakura squinted ahead to see the form of Biketh limping towards her. Tears filled her eyes and she ran to him. He fell limply into her arms and she turned him over to look up at her. His eyes were half shut and he smiled up at her weakly. Blood was running down the side of his face. "Rethasa…" he whispered as he brought his hand up to her face. Then it fell to his side again.
"But I'm not Rethasa," she cried as she clutched onto him. He jerked violently and she was thrown to the ground. She looked up to see flames shooting from his hands, eyes, and mouth.
More buildings burst into flame and he fell to the ground. Sakura rushed to his side again to realize he had changed back into Syaoran. "Sakura…" he whispered and his hand brushed her cheek. Then it, again, fell limply to his side. Sakura's eyes started shedding tears and she hugged his limp body.
Then her eyes shot open and she stood up. The staff was gripped tightly in her hand. "Firey! Return to the form you were meant to be!" she cried as she struck the staff on the blank card in front of it. A fire spirit appeared and attempted to struggle its way away from the card. But Sakura's face was set hard and the spirit was sucked into the card. Sakura fell to her knees, obviously drained. Then she felt two hands grab each of her own and looked up to see two creatures that looked like Tomoyo and Meiling holding each of her hands and their free hands intertwined.
"We made a bond, Rethasa. Now we are forever connected by the weakness of another," they whispered together. Then they were smiling as beads of light seemed to shed from their skin and onto her own. Sakura screamed in agony and collapsed. "Sakura…"
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Sakura awoke with as start on the grassy bank of the lake she had been at earlier. She looked around to see her horse tethered to the tree where she had left him, but obviously spooked. She rose to her feet, walked to him, and held her hand out to him. He sniffed cautiously but then calmed down enough for her to get back on after slipping on her shoes. It was getting dark and her stomach growled. She decided it would be a good idea to be heading back.
As she galloped along she felt a shiver go down her spine. She dug in her pocket and pulled out her cards. Two new cards accompanied her others. "The Watery, The Firey," she read to herself. She put them back into her pocket and continued riding towards the house. She hadn't realized she had strayed that far from the house. Suddenly flower petals started falling from the sky. It was almost a blizzard of cherry blossoms.
Sakura shielded her face and kicked the horse to go faster. But instead of going faster the horse just stopped. "Come on!" she cried. Then she realized the flower petals had stopped moving. They were all suspended in mid air. The birds were silent and the trees stilled in the same position the wind had been carrying them.
"Time! Return to the form you were meant to be!" Sakura yelled when she spotted the old man hunched over with his hour glass. Sakura still didn't have the staff but the card formed in between her outstretched hands.
Once The Time had disappeared into the card everything started moving again instantly. Sakura was tossed off the back of her horse at the sudden movement but she landed gracefully on her feet.
"Firey! Come to my aid!" Sakura said forcefully. The fire spirit from her dream came out and made a barrier of fire around her. She stopped and pinpointed where the flowers were coming from.
"Flowery! Return to the form you were meant to be!" she called again and the girl with large curls hurtled into the fire shield. It disappeared into the card and everything cleared automatically.
Sakura let out a long low whistle while she stuffed the cards into her pocket. The horse returned immediately and she jumped on. Sakura galloped quickly back to the stables at the large mansion.
The man wasn't there so she led the pure black horse she'd been riding back to the stall with a large plaque above it that said 'Void'. She kissed him lightly on the nose and walked back up to the mansion.
"M'lady! Quickly! You have visitors coming and Rastael wants you to look your best!" the old maid called from the steps in front of the door. Sakura ran to her and then followed her up to her room again.
The woman dug around in the old dresser until she pulled out a rather modern-looking black dress. It was strapless and went all the way to the floor. It was simple but elegant. Sakura was slipping some high heeled black sandals on her feet when something cold touched her neck. She looked down and saw a silver locket.
"It was your mother's, Sakura," the old woman said. Sakura looked at her with wide eyes as she fingered it absently. "May it show answers in confusing times," the woman said as she looked down at Sakura. "Get going, my child," the woman said again as she pushed Sakura through the door.
Sakura glided down the stairs with her long auburn hair, freshly brushed and straightened, swaying against her back. The guests stood as she entered the room.
"Syaoran?" she asked when she saw him. He nodded to her with no emotion showing on his face but his eyes betrayed him. Tomoyo and Meiling were there as well. So were Eriol and another man she didn't recognize. Rastael was standing in the corner.
"Sakura!" Meiling and Tomoyo cried as they ran to her. They embraced her in a tight hug and wept. "We're so glad you're safe," they said as they pulled away. Eriol and the other man were approaching her.
"Sakura, this is Toya Kinomoto, your brother," Eriol introduced. Sakura's eyes widened. Her fingers absently stroked the locket around her neck.
"Time to mingle," Rastael interrupted. "The other guests are in the ballroom already." The seven people walked into the large ballroom. They split into their separate groups almost immediately.
Sakura couldn't get the dream about Syaoran out of her head. She had never expressed such raw emotion, waking or sleeping, in the past year. She had to talk to him. She excused herself from her group and walked to Syaoran.
"Could I speak to you privately?" she asked. He nodded and held out his arm. She took it gracefully and they walked out into the garden around the house.
"What do you need, Sakura?" he said harshly. She flinched momentarily but turned to him with her eyes overflowing with emotion.
"I'm so happy you found me again!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him. He didn't respond to her gesture at all.
"Sakura, I'm over you. I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Leiko Aki," Syaoran said as a blonde haired woman walked up. Sakura stood in shock. Leiko had bright blue eyes that stung as she glared at Sakura.
"Mi Kanst Dol," Sakura spat in the same language she had spoken earlier. She ran from him and into her room up the stairs. She flung open the doors and landed on the bed sobbing.
"My dear, men like him are so untrustworthy aren't they?" a voice said from the doorway as she sobbed into her pillow. A hand rested on her back and she looked up into the cold silver eyes of Rastael.
"You saw that?" she choked out. He nodded and she saw a figure in the doorway. Rastael turned around to face the doorway furiously.
"What are you doing here, you stupid maid?" Rastael called out to the old woman.
"I have a delivery for Sakura," she said as she shoved two people into the room. Sakura looked wide eyed at Leiko and Syaoran on the floor. Syaoran looked up first. Sakura saw his stone cold face first but then she saw his eyes. Pure, raw emotion overflowed in them.
"The window to your soul…" a voice whispered in her head. "The window to your soul…" she repeated aloud. Her eyes brightened. She glanced at Leiko who looked up at her. Large yellow eyes looked back into her emerald ones.
"You're not real!" Sakura cried. Rastael lunged at her but she dodged it by jumping into the air. "Create! Return to the form you were meant to be!" she cried and Leiko disappeared into the card that appeared in front of her. Sakura fell to the ground.
She stood breathless and turned back to Syaoran. But Rastael had a knife to his neck. Sakura gasped.
"Let him go, Rastael!" she cried. He glared at her.
"For my whole life, I've only been known as the Sorrow bringer. Finally I have a chance for someone to love me and she's in love with someone else. Who, even at this point, is now incapable of love ever again," he scowled.
Footsteps were running down the hallway. "Rastael!" a voice called as it entered the room. Rastael didn't even look over but Sakura did. She was surprised to see her brother, Toya, standing there, out of breath.
Rastael didn't move an inch as Toya approached him. "You complain about nobody loving you, Sorrow bringer," Toya whispered. "But I do." Toya leaned in and gave Rastael a small kiss on the cheek.
He stumbled back and the knife grazed Syaoran's neck. Syaoran fell forward and Sakura ran forward to catch him. She watched in horror as Rastael and Toya glowed a bright white and vanished into thin air.
"Syaoran!"