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Syaoran's Angel

Chapter 17: Truths break hearts

Sakura relaxed back into her seat and thought back to the shocking revelation Nivaline had revealed to her.

'How your mother really died.'

The phrase still rang through her mind as Sakura ignored the flight attendant that was talking to her and let her mind ran through what Nivaline had told her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Flashback

"And now," Nivaline turned to Sakura, "I've got something to tell you."

"What about?" Sakura asked surprised.

"It's about your mother."

Sakura gasped and stared at Nivaline with shocked eyes as Nivaline stared back at her calmly but beneath her serene façade Sakura knew instinctively she was fighting back tears of both sadness and fury.

"I will tell you how she really died."

"Wha... what?!" Sakura managed to stammer in her surprise.

"She is..." Tomoyo paused, "Was an Angel."

Meiling and Sakura stared at Nivaline incredulously.

"I used to work with your mother, Nadeshiko," Nivaline smiled wistfully a far away look coming into her eyes.

"Wait," Sakura paused eyeing Nivaline suspiciously, "I... we've already met Kiyone and she never mentioned you at all. She mentioned my mother and someone else... Lauren... Laura... Lara! Yeah, she definitely mentioned someone named Lara."

Sakura paused.

"Lara was killed along with my mother."

To her surprise, Nivaline laughed her voice filled with hatred and bitterness.

"Lara? Die? I doubt it very much."

The Angels gaped at her as Nivaline smiled grimly.

"Perhaps I should start at the beginning."

End of Flashback

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Sakura?" her friend's worried voice asked.

Sakura started realising where she was. Jolted out of her train of her thoughts, she turned toward her friend a small frown on her face.

"Yeah?" she replied distractedly.

"We're about to touch down," Tomoyo told her.

Sakura nodded and clipped on her seatbelt leaning back into her chair as over the PA speaker, their pilot began cheerfully telling them they were now landing in L.A. International Airport.

Sakura took a deep breath and tried to calm her tumultuous thoughts as the plane touched down onto familiar soil.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The hallways of Spinnel Corporation were silent, which was amazing since for the last two weeks the whole place had been crawling with cops, the FBI and even the CIA each wanting to investigate the 'terrorist' attack.

The boss hadn't been happy to be it mildly and a lot of the employees had suffered his wrath. There had been many a flurry of sudden firings and demotions; those that had been lucky to escape his wrath now breathed a sigh of relief, as things seemed to calm down.

"DAMN IT!" a shrill woman's voice rang through the hallways.

Lilia stalked around her office rubbing her temple and trying to ignore the throbbing pain still raging inside her nose.

Damn Angel! she growled remembering Sakura Kinomoto's attack on her.

It was all her fault Lilia raged. That damned Kinomoto was the one who attacked her, got information on her father's whereabouts, blew up the Spinnel office car park and now she had the second book!
Lilia quivered as she considered informing her boss about this new... development. She sighed and ran her hands through her low hair.

"Damn her," she seethed.

Thanks to Kinomoto's little bomb stunt their office had been under investigation and the boss had to bribe many officials for them to turn a blind eye to some of the company's more... shady dealings.

Lilia sighed and thanked god that the boss couldn't fire her. There was no other person to replace her, no other person to do her job ever since Hayden...

Lilia smiled wickedly and strolled back to her desk.

"Ryan?" she said smoothly picking up her phone.

"Yes, Ms. Faren?" her assistant replied.

"Please check in on Rika and give her a heads up. The Angels are back in L.A."

"Yes, Ms. Faren."

"Good," Lilia hung up and paused for a few brief seconds.

A wicked grin appeared on her face as a new idea began formulating inside her head. If this worked...

"Bye, bye Angels," Lilia said smugly as she began making the necessary arrangements.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura waved goodbye to her friends and strolled up the stairs to her apartment. She frowned as she wondered for a brief moment why they seemed so distant and cold. She sighed and smiled wryly.

It wasn't as if she had been wonderful company herself she reminded herself, she was still busy recovering from shock as another piece of her mother's death fell into place. As she trudged up the stairs she began remembering what Nivaline had said to her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Flashback

"Lara?" Sakura asked confused, "But... Kiyone... tol... told me..."

"Kiyone was tricked just as I was," Nivaline smiled bitterly and added, "Just as Nadeshiko was."

End of Flashback

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura opened the door to her apartment and sighed with relief as she saw the broken window that had been here before had been fixed. Meiling must have contacted Syaoran and he must have arranged to have it fixed.

Making a mental note to thank her friends and boss, Sakura walked to the spare bedroom and noticed that all her father's things were gone. Smiling somewhat sadly, she knew that Fujitaka must have been moved to a secure location after he landed in America along with Haddock. With another sad sigh, she wandered over to her phone and noticed the message light was flashing.

Frowning slightly and wondering who had called her, she clicked the button and waited impatiently as the tape began playing.

'Sakura?'

Sakura stiffened as she recognised her friend's Chelsea's voice. She sounded really upset and it sounded like she was trying to fight back tears.

'Zachary is hurt. That terrorist attack on Spinnel Corporation...' Chelsea trailed off, 'He's in a coma... can you please come to the hospital...'

Chelsea then quickly told her the address before hanging up sobs beginning to choke her voice. Sakura stared in horror at the phone.

Oh god, what had she done? In her anger, she had blown up the building but now... now... her friend.

"What I have done?" Sakura murmured in horror as she grabbed the small table for support.

For a few long eternal seconds she stood there trying to absorb the news before she whirled around and ran out of the door as quick as she could.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"I can't believe it," Meiling sighed.

"What?" Tomoyo look at her curiously.

"Sakura... the key."

Tomoyo sighed.

"Freaky, isn't it?"

"Freaky?!" Meiling exploded, "She defeated all those fighters without even breaking a sweat! That's beyond freaky!"

Tomoyo and Meiling were silent for a while remembering the events of the past few days.

"I'm pretty sure she knew about the key beforehand," Tomoyo said slowly.

"What?" Meiling looked at her in surprise.
"That night at Trong's mansion... Sakura said she used gas bombs to knock out the commandos," Tomoyo frowned, "I'm pretty sure she used the key instead. I always thought her excuse was a bit off."

Meiling was silent for a while staring broodingly out of the windshield as Tomoyo continued navigating through the busy Los Angeles's roads.

"Why didn't she tell us?" Meiling asked finally.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"Who knows? We'll ask her next time we see her."

And with that Tomoyo pulled up into her driveway.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura dashed down hallway of the hospital after being directed to Zachary's room by the nurse at reception. Coming to a screeching halt in front of his room door, Sakura took a deep breath and raised her hand to knock.

She hesitated.

This was going to be tough. How on earth was she going to be supportive and helpful when Sakura was in fact the person who had caused Zachary's injuries? How will Chelsea react when she find out?

And Diana...

Sakura gulped as she remembered she hadn't talked to her friend since the night of the reunion.

How am I going to explain this to her?!

Sakura took a deep soothing breath before knocking reluctantly on the door as she waited for an answer she fidgeted nervously praying that Zachary would recover to full health. If anything happened...
"Come in," a tired voice called snapping Sakura out of her thoughts.

Sakura opened the door and stepped into room preparing herself for the worse.

"Sakura!" Chelsea said happily rising from her chair.

"I'm so sorry!" Sakura hugged her friend tightly, "I was out of town these few days... and... oh god, is he going to be alright?"

Chelsea took a step back and glanced at her husband's prone form before looking at Sakura tears welling in her eyes.

"We don't know," she said softly, "The doctors are afraid that when he wakes up he might have brain dam..."

Chelsea broke off and began crying, Sakura swept her up into a tight hug wishing that she hadn't been so blinded by her own anger. She never stopped to consider her actions and now... because of her...

"He's going to be fine," Sakura said softly to her friend trying to reassure her.

"You don't know that. Nobody knows."

Sakura pulled back and looked deep into her friend's eyes.

"You've got to have faith. He'll be fine."

Chelsea took a deep breath and pushed away from Sakura wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Have you seen Diana lately?" Chelsea asked changing the subject.
Sakura frowned.

"No, not since the reunion. Why?"

Chelsea looked at her strangely.

"That's strange.." she trailed off shaking her head slowly.

"Why?" Sakura pressed.

"I haven't seen her since the reunion either," Chelsea frowned, "I wonder why?"

Sakura knew for certain why but she didn't want to dwell on it. Pasting a fake smile on her face, Sakura forced herself to lie.

"Oh, it's probably nothing."

Twenty minutes later armed with Diana's address, Sakura hit the streets again ready to go after her wayward friend.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling sighed as she trudged up the driveway.

"I want to move back into my own house again," she groaned.

Tomoyo smirked.

"Hey, can I help it if Rika attacked you? And anyway my house is much better..."

Meiling turned to look at her.

"And why's that?" she demanded scowling furiously.

Suddenly Tomoyo's front door swung open as the Angels tensed both of them anticipating some kind of ambush attack however they relaxed when they realised who it was.

"Lily!" Tomoyo smiled as the young girl ran across the garden towards them.

"Auntie 'Moyo! Auntie Meiling!" Lily yelled happily.

Tomoyo swept her up into a big hug as she smirked as Meiling.

"Because my house has a certain gorgeous-looking man," she grinned as Meiling blushed furiously.

"Hey Lily," Tomoyo turned back to the little girl in her arms, "Where's your dad?"

"Daddy is inside he should be coming out," Lily scrunched up her face before opening her mouth and screeching on top of her voice, "DADDY!!"

Tomoyo grimaced but smiled as Marcus appeared at the doorway.

"You're back," he said happily with a warm grin, "Sorry but I was on the phone with Syaoran. He's arranging a new identity for us."

"That's okay," Tomoyo grinned wickedly as Meiling who was smiling shyly at Marcus, "Hey Lily, look over there! Some many pretty flowers! Let's go and have a look!"

With that Tomoyo left but not before sending a sly grin at Meiling. Meiling blushed again and resisted the urge to pound her friend into the ground.

"Not very subtle is she?" Marcus asked walking up to her.

Meiling looked at him and blinked trying to remember who to talk.

"No, she isn't," Meiling finally managed to say.

"Well, then let's give her something to talk about," Marcus bent down and gave Meiling a sweet kiss on the lips.

All thoughts flew out of Meiling's hand as she deepened the kiss wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down further against her lips. Marcus's hands find themselves wrapped around her waist as he closed his eyes enjoying the sensations he was feeling and the sweet scent of this wonderful woman who was kissing him with such abandon.

Dimly Meiling was aware of the fact that Tomoyo was watching and that she was muttering something under her breath. Frowning slightly she wondered what her friend was saying.

"I wish I had my camera," Tomoyo sighed as she and Lily watched the kissing couple.

"Auntie Tomoyo?"

"Yeah?"

"Is Auntie Meiling and Daddy going to be get married?" Lily looked at her 'aunt' seriously.

Tomoyo smiled down at her.

"Maybe but most probably a very big yes."

Lily smiled happily and decided she very much liked the idea of a mommy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura reached the last step and sighed with relief.

"Stupid lift," she muttered under her breath cursing the broken lift that had caused her to walk up ten levels worth of stairs.

Quickly recovering from the short hike, she walked down the well-lit doorway looking for the right door.

"Fifty-one... fifty-two... fifty-three... fifty-four..." Glancing at the bronze numbers screwed onto each door she continued counting as she walked down the hallway, "Fifty-five... fifty-six... fifty-seven..."

Finally she stopped.

"Fifty-eight!"

Like before at the hospital Sakura was suddenly reluctant to talk to her friend but she needed to... she had to. Taking a deep breath she slowly and reluctantly knocked gently on the door.

"Steven, I keep telling you I'll be back at work next week!" Diana's voice came through the door.

"Sorry Di, but it's not Steven," Sakura yelled back.

"Sakura?!"

From the other side of the door Sakura could hear the sound of someone scrambling across hard wooden floors until finally the door unlocked with a loud click swinging open to reveal Diana. Sakura smiled her nervously.

"Hi," she began slowly.

Diana remained silent staring at her friend coldly.

"How are you?" Sakura continued awkwardly.

"Still a bit sore from the accident."

"Uh..." Sakura trailed of looking for something to say, "Sorry?"
Diana looked at her calmly.

"What do you have to apologise for?" she asked aloofly.

"Uh... for not telling you what I actually do for a living and drawing a psychotic assassin to you?" Sakura trailed off nervously as Diana stared at her hurt and sadness emanating from her blue-grey eyes.

"Why didn't you tell us? I thought we were your friends!" Diana suddenly exploded glaring at her, "For god's sake, Sakura. Don't trust us? Is that why?"

Sakura stood there stunned for a few seconds as her mind worked wildly to come up with some valid answers.

"I guess..." Sakura sighed, "I didn't tell you cause I can't."

Diana stared at her.

"Of course you can. You're obviously working for the police or the FBI or the CIA or something!" she paused, "Unless you're a secret agent or something than..."

Sakura had to work hard to hide a smile.

"No, I'm not working for the police or the FBI or the CIA," she paused, "If I did I would assure Dan would have been dead long ago."

Diana giggled, encouraged by this Sakura forged on.

"I'm an Angel," she concluded.

Diana stared at her, her blue-grey eyes conveying her confusion.

"Angel as in a I-come-from-the-heavens-from-God angel?"

Sakura laughed.

"No, me and two of my friends we work for this guy Syaoran..." Sakura trailed off seeing Diana's suspicious look, "No! It's not what you think. Syaoran... well, we don't actually know who he is. He contacts us via a speaker box so we haven't even seen his face or met him in person before!"

Taking a deep breath Sakura continued on explaining.

"Anyway, he contacts us every so often and gives us missions to do. These missions usually involve helping the world in some way: taking down drug rings, spying on suspected criminals... that kind of thing," Sakura could see that Diana was shocked into silence, "That's why we're called Angels. We try to make the world a better and safer place. And that's why I couldn't tell you guys, most of what we do is very sensitive and dangerous. By the simple act of telling you, I can put all of your in danger!"

Diana was silent for a while as she tried to absorb everything her friend was telling her.

"And who was that Catwoman-wannabe that attacked you?" she asked genuinely curious.

Sakura laughed at Diana's comparison between Rika and Catwoman.

"She's an assassin," she said shortly.

Diana stared at her flabbergasted.

"Assassin as in people trying to kill you?"

Sakura nodded.

"Not just me, my friends as well," Sakura sighed, "We kinda raided this company and they didn't like it so Spinnel Co..."

Sakura trailed off realising what she was saying. Diana gaped at her.

"Spinnel?" Diana gasped, "As in Spinnel Corporation? As in where Zachary works? What do they have to do with your wor..."

Diana trailed off as Sakura smiled knowingly knowing that her friend was working in out inside her head.

"Spinnel Corporation is evil?" Diana finally said.

Sakura nodded mutely as Diana gasped

"Holy! Zachary will be so devastated!" her friend's eyes were filled with worry, "He really lo..."

She stopped as Sakura stared at her.

"What?" Diana asked worried.

"Didn't Chelsea tell you? I'm sure she called you sev..."

"I haven't been returning my calls or even checking my messages," Diana cut in.

Sakura sighed as she tried to work out the best way to tell her friend.

"Zachary... well he's in... a... well..."

"Sakura," Diana muttered impatiently, "Spit it out."

"In a coma."

Diana stared at her as Sakura smiled nervously.

"Coma?!" Diana asked softly, "Oh god! Chelsea! Hospital... I've got to..."

"Come on," Sakura tugged her arm, "I'll take you there."

Diana nodded before reaching behind her to grab her coat and they were off.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"You know Meiling," Tomoyo fought to keep a broad grin off her face, "There are little kids around and I'm pretty sure Marcus doesn't want his daughter to know about all the facts of life right now."

Tomoyo grinned as her comment succeeded in breaking the couple apart. Meiling and Marcus both had a dazed look on their face but her friend recovered quickly enough to shoot a death glare at her friend, which Tomoyo ignored.

"Hi," she smiled at Marcus who gave her a small wave back in return.

"Catching your breath?" Tomoyo asked batting her eyelashes innocently as Marcus and Meiling both blushed.

Another death glare was deftly ignored as Tomoyo continued on subtly sending a smirk in Meiling's direction.

"Shouldn't you guys go on a date or something?" she asked casually.

"Tomo..." Meiling began angrily her ruby eyes flashing.

"You know that actually is a very good idea," Marcus cut in thoughtfully.

Jackpot! Tomoyo thought smugly as she watched Meiling struggling to deal with this new turn of events.

Well aware of Tomoyo's meddling, Meiling inwardly seethed and made a mental note to make her pay for it later but right now she was having enough trouble trying to concentrate on what was actually coming out of Marcus's lip rather than just remembering how they felt on hers.

"What about Lily?" she managed to say at last.

"Nice try," Tomoyo snorted, "I'll look after her."

Subtly she nudged Lily and the little girl looked up startled blinking at her in confusion. She turned back to Meiling and her daddy and instantly realised what her Aunty Tomoyo wanted.

That's my girl Tomoyo thought smugly hiding a small grin as a sad puppy face look appeared on Lily's face.

"Pllleeeeeaaaasseeeeee? Aunty Meiling?" Lily asked expertly stretching out the 'please' into a five-syllable whine, "I'll be a very, very, very, very good girl if you say yes."

Meiling sighed and made another mental note that Lily could beat Sakura's sad puppy face hands down. It was very hard to refuse especially when she looked at her with those bright blue eyes and Meiling could see that tears were beginning to well up in the corners...

Why am I such a sucker for that look? Meiling wondered exasperatedly.

"Of course I'll go," Meiling sighed at last.

Tomoyo looked at her an eyebrow raised delicately.

"Meiling, are you accepting a date from me or Marcus?" she asked deadpanned and was rewarded with a brilliant blush.

Meiling turned towards Marcus and tried to ignore her heart, which was thumping so loud in her chest by now she was surprised that nobody else had noticed it.

"I would love to," she managed to say at last sending a shy grin Marcus.

Marcus smiled warmly back at her

"Great!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Di!" Chelsea rushed across the room to sweep her friend up into a warm hug as Sakura smiled stepping back into the hallway to allowing Diana and Chelsea to talk and comfort each other.

As she absently watched her friends, her mind began drifting again.

Drifting back to what she had discovered back into Mongolian mountains...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Flashback

"What?"

"Huh?"

"How?'

Three startled phrased flew out of three different mouths as the Angels stared at the female Elder.

"Wait," Tomoyo frowned as something became clear to her, "Kiyone said she was an Angel and you're saying you're an Angel as well. Nadeshiko was an Angel and so is this... Lara. Four Angels? I thought there are only three at a time."

Sakura paused as something came to her.

"Kiyone said that she was a... fill-in," she said slowly, "She said another Angel was injured before she joined in..."

Sakura looked at Nivaline in shock.

"You were the Angel that was injured!"

Nivaline nodded gravely.

"Perhaps I should start at the beginning," Nivaline took a deep breath and began talking her voice filled with longing and wistfulness.

"In the beginning there were three of us: Nadeshiko, Lara Williams and me. We were the best. We put away criminals left, right and centre. We shattered drugs rings and destroyed crime syndicates all over the world," Nivaline's voice took on a bitter tone, "So perhaps it is ironic that the person who will finally destroy us was one of us."

Nivaline closed her eyes as she relived some kind of memory when she opened them her hazel-green eyes glistened with tears.

"Lara was always the most ruthless out of the two of us. She would hunt down criminals to the ground no matter the cost. She would do anything to ensure we won," Nivaline smiled bitterly, "At the beginning we ignored it but as time progressed she got worse and worse. It all came to head when we find out she actually tortured a spy for information. We got into a massive fight and Lara stormed off. For three months, she disappeared until out of the blue she reappeared again and she seemed changed... better... more... humane."

Nivaline looked at the three Angels standing before her and studied them closely her sharp eyes seemingly peering into their souls.

"If only Nadeshiko and I knew it was just an act."

Nivaline's story

"Don't you think it's a bit strange Lara's changed so much?" Nivaline asked as they sat in the back of the van surrounded by surveillance equipment of all descriptions.

Nadeshiko laughed as she studied the TV screens lining the van's inner wall.

"So what? Those three months must've really changed her," Nadeshiko smiled at Nivaline, "She isn't the same as before but it's a good thing."

Nivaline sighed.

"I guess."

"Anyway..." Nadeshiko trailed off and studied her friend critically.

"What?" Nivaline asked nervously.

"Why do you always wear green?" Nadeshiko asked curiously, "I mean it suits your eyes but really green, green and green? And every single day?"

"It's a tradition..." Nivaline began exasperated explaining it for about the millionth time since she met Nadeshiko and Lara.

'Guys!' Lara's voice came in loud and clear through one of the speakers lining the wall.

"Lara?" Nadeshiko asked speaking into a microphone, "What's wrong?"

'I'm trapped!' Lara hissed her voice becoming high-pitched with panic, 'The guards are approaching and I've got no way out!'

"Damn!" Nadeshiko cursed.

Nivaline raised an eyebrow, her friend barely ever swore.

"I'll go," Nivaline volunteered jamming a miniature com-link into her ear at the same time.

"I don't know..." Nadeshiko murmured, "It's dangero..."

'I don't usually ask for help but...' Lara was really starting to panic now, 'I need it! They're coming! Please! Hurry!'

Suddenly her voice was overcome with static as the two Angels stared at each other.

"Be careful," Nadeshiko murmured softly.

Nivaline nodded and yanked open the van door slipping into the shadows. Nadeshiko sighed and wondered how they got into such a mess. It had been a simple mission; they had received intelligence of a meeting of criminal gang leaders in a warehouse on the outskirts of town. Their mission had been to simply send someone in and spy in on the meeting recording it onto a tiny hidden camera but Lara had been exposed and she had been forced to flee with guards hot on tail.

"Please god," Nadeshiko prayed, "Watch over them. Let no harm come to them."

Nivaline slipped into the building knocking out the one guard that stood into her way. Opening the door in front of her slowly, she winced as it made a tiny squeak. For a few seconds she crouched in their shadows, her senses on high alert hoping and praying that nobody had heard her.

Nothing.

Nivaline sighed with relief.

"Lara?" she whispered into her com-link.

'Niv?' Lara asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, it's me. What happened? Where are you?" Nivaline whispered urgently.

'They find me but I managed to fight my way out. I'm in the south-east corner of the warehouse.'

"Alright I'm on my way," Nivaline whispered back as she slipped through the door she had just opened.

Swiftly and stealthily she stole through the warehouse, her mind so focused to help her friend that she didn't even notice that there was a suspicious lack of guards around.

Opening another door, she strolled into brightly lit room. In the centre of the room her back against a large window and surrounded by a ring of heavily armed guards stood her friend and fellow Angel, Lara, her blonde hair capturing the light making it look like an ethereal halo and making her look like an Angel the mysterious smile dancing across her lips only served to strengthen the image.

"Lara?" Nivaline asked looking at the guards nervously.

Lara laughed and gestured lazily with her hand

"Leave us, please," she commanded as the guards melted away into the shadows.

"Lara?"

Her friend continued to stare at her before suddenly laughing.

"Oh, in case you're wondering. Our com-links are no longer working," Lara smirked at her, "Electromagnetic field."

"What's going on?" Nivaline asked eyeing her.

"What's going on?" Lara repeated, "Good question. This is what is going on: you and Nadeshiko. You sicken me. Pacifists. Cowards. Always afraid. Always playing by the rules. Well guess what? The rules have changed."

"Lara..." Nivaline began.

"Nivaline," Lara cut her off, "You see in those three months I figured out something. I've been wasting my time hanging out with this Angel rubbish. My skills and abilities could be put to far more better use. And far more profitable ones as well."

"You..." Nivaline snarled, "You sold us out."

Lara laughed.

"Congratulations Ms. Goody-goody. You finally figure it out."

"All this time we thought you've changed but really you've just gotten worse," Nivaline whispered mentally kicking herself for falling into a trap.

Lara shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm a good actor."

Lara took a menacing step forwards her blue eyes dancing with a fanatic light as Nivaline glared at her.

"You won't get away with this," Nivaline growled, "When I tell Nadeshiko, we're going to kick your ar..."

"Well guess what?" Lara held up something, "You won't be able to tell her."

Nivaline stared in shock as Lara slowly pulled out the pin of the grenade she was holding all the while smiling at her sadistically.

"Here, catch," Lara hurled it at Nivaline's feet and whirled around and leapt through the window standing behind her as Nivaline stared at the grenade that rolled towards her feet in shock unable to move, unable to come up with a last minute plan.

"No..." she whispered, "Nadeshiko!"

The grenade exploded throwing Nivaline off her feet hurling her into a wall. The last thing Nivaline thought off before darkness dulled her senses was off her friend... Nadeshiko.

"BOOM!"

Nadeshiko gasped in horror as one whole side of the warehouse burst into flames.

"Nivaline! Lara!" she gasped leaping out of the van.

"Nadeshiko!" a familiar voice cried, "Hel... help!"

"Lara? What happened?" Nadeshiko yelled.

"Nivaline... I was... trapped by guards..." Lara managed to gasp out between shaky tear-laden breaths, "I tried to fight... she helped me... held them up... I ran away..."

"Oh god," Nadeshiko turned back to the inferno, "We've got to help her."

Lara nodded as Nadeshiko ran off towards the burning warehouse desperate to save her friend.

"Fool," Lara smirked as she followed her.

End of Nivaline's story

The three Angels stared at Nivaline in horror.

"Lara..." Sakura began faintly.

"Betrayed me and later your mother," Nivaline said gravely, "I ended up in a coma for a whole year and that's when Kiyone was called to fill in for me. When I woke up from my coma Nadeshiko was already died. Lara sent me a video of Nadeshiko being shot..."

Nivaline paused.

"By Lara's own gun," she hissed her voice filled with malice and hatred.

"Where is she? Where is Lara?" Sakura demanded.

Nivaline stared at her sadly.

"I don't know."

End of Flashback

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura swallowed the lump growing in her throat and tried to shake the memory off. One day she was going to hunt Lara down and kill her.

No matter what.

Even if it killed her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lilia laughed.

"Thank you, Ms. Williams," she said smoothly, "Just be alert. I'll send her your way."

Lilia put down the phone and smiled.

"And now onto phase two."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"So you ready yet?" Tomoyo asked.

"No!" Meiling yelled back through the door.

"Oh for god's sake!" Tomoyo sighed, "I'm coming in!"

With that she opened the door and stepped into the clothes strewn room as Meiling whirled around.

"What am I going to wear?" she said frantically scrambling through the clothes that Tomoyo had leant her, "What am I..."

Tomoyo laughed and got to work employing her impeccable fashion sense to help her friend.

"This, try this," Tomoyo suggested holding up a dress, "Try it."

Five minutes later, Meiling was nervously plucking the bold plunging neckline of the body-hugging red dress as Tomoyo put the final touches on her make-up.

"Are you sure about this?" Meiling asked nervously.

"Yes!" Tomoyo grabbed her friend's arm and yanked her to her feet, "You look great. I won't be surprised if Marcus spent the whole night just drooling over you!"

With that she pushed Meiling through the door as they waited for Marcus to come out of the spare bedroom.

"I'm so nervous," Meiling whispered.

Tomoyo looked at her.

"Coming from the girl who fights crime every day? The girl who faces the biggest bads in all the world?"

Meiling glared at her.

"Don't you dare laugh."

Tomoyo put on a mock shock look.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

For a little while both of them were silent.

"What's taking him so long?!" Meiling wailed.

Tomoyo couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into peals of laughter as Meiling glared at her and seethed inwardly.

I'm going to kill her

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura opened the door to her apartment and wandered to her phone. Seeing the message light blinking, she frowned in confusion.

Pressing the play button she waited impatiently as the message played itself.

'Sakura? This is Kiyone Miller. I find out who really killed Nadeshiko... it was Lara Williams one of the Angels I worked with,' Kiyone sounded upset, 'I also tracked down where she was. She's going to be in a club for the whole night. The club's in Santa Barbara. It's called the Glittering Star. Please, when you get the message come down as fast as you can.'

The message ended as Sakura stared at her phone.

Without another thought she was driving as fast as she could to Tomoyo's house.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lilia smiled smugly.

"Great job on faking Kiyone's voice. It seems 100 real. That stupid Angel probably brought it hook, line and sinker," Lilia sniggered paying the technician who had pulled it off royally.

Lilia lay back into her chair and snuggled into the leather smiling smugly.

"Bye, bye Angel."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Sakura?" Tomoyo blinked in surprise as she studied her dishevelled friend.

"Tom..."

"It's you," Meiling said coldly appearing at the door.

"Hi, Meiling," Sakura gasped, "Guys..."

"Don't you trust us?" Meiling asked suddenly.

Sakura blinked at her in confusion as Tomoyo spoke up.

"The key," she said sadly, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"This isn't really the time for it," Sakura sighed, "Guys, I've..."

"When can we talk about it?' Meiling demanded, "Sakura, we need to work as a team. Do you trust us?"

"Yes!" Sakura yelled.

Tomoyo eyed her calmly.

"Then why didn't you tell us about the key beforehand?"

"I don't know!" Sakura exploded getting frustrated, "But gu..."

She couldn't believe this. She needed her friends to help her take down Lara and they were questioning her trust? What was wrong with them?!

Okay, breathe Sakura Sakura thought Times running out. Kiyone could be wrong. Lara could leave any second and it will take you hours to drive to Santa Barbara. You don't have time for this!

But still she made one last attempt.

"L..."

"Sakura," Tomoyo sighed cutting her off, "If you don't trust us then I think you have some issues. Until you sort them out, I don't want to talk to you."

"Be careful Sakura," Meiling warned, "Next thing you know you may end up like Lara."

"LIKE LARA?!" Sakura roared outraged, "Who dare you?!"

Giving them both a vicious death glare that could have melted a glacial, Sakura stormed off to her car and drove off as Meiling and Tomoyo stared after her.

"What's with her?" Meiling murmured in the shocked silence that followed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Glittering star nightclub, Santa Barbara

Lara Williams took another sip of her martini and leaned back into her chair waiting patiently for her latest victim to arrive.

That was nice of Lilia to drop a present into her lap. She wondered briefly as Nadeshiko's daughter would be as naïve as her mother. She hoped not. Nadeshiko hadn't been much of a challenge.

Lara smiled and sipped her drink again.

"Like mother, like daughter," she murmured marvelling the twist of fate that had caused this girl to become an Angel like her mother.

And she also thanked the twist of fate that would cause her to fight Nadeshiko's daughter.

Like mother, like daughter...

They would soon both be dead...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

PLEASE! PLEASE REVIEW! The last chapter seemed to have less than 20 reviews. WHAT'S WRONG! If there isn't at least 20 new reviews for this chapter I will never update! So please REVIEW!

Next chapter:

As Meiling and Marcus enjoy their first date, Sakura is caught up in an insane game of cat-and-mouse with her mother's murderer, Lara. Will history repeat itself and Lara triumph again? Find out what happens in... Angel of Death

A/Notes: Not much to say this time except for REVIEW! I will not update until I have 20 new reviews! I mean it!

Oh and by the way, was anybody shocked to find out Lara was Nadeshiko's murderer? And please tell me what is your favourite chapter and why (include it in your review)!

THANK YOU!