The first story in My Shadowy Secrets Trilogy
This fan-fiction is set as though the second movie never happened. Li and Meilin are still in Hong Kong, but all is not well – and with Yelan out of town it's up to them to find out what the magical power Li's sensing is.
Back home in Readington, Sakura dreams an upsetting dream, then receives a disturbing phone call from Meilin. Did her dream come true?
Darkness is never as far away as you think…Chapter Six; Discovery
Silence fell over the Li household as they contemplated Kero's words. >Oh God Li. This can't be happening. Not to you. You were always there for me – well, except for the beginning. But even then you looked out for me. I won't let this happen. I won't…>
Madison watched as Sakura paced around her bedroom, anguish in her face. Ever since she's heard Kero's words of doom, the young Card Mistress hadn't been able to calm down, she was so upset.
"Sakura…" Madison put her arms around her best friend. Her heart wrenched in pity as she watched the girl begin to cry. Sakura truly cared for Li – she knew him better than any of them, possibly even better than Yelan did. Li let Sakura see a side of him that he normally kept hidden, and the two had grown to be extremely close.
"I'm so scared, Madison. What if it's already too late? What if the Evil Card's already become permanently attached to him? What if…?"
"What you'd never released the cards? What if you'd lost to Yue in the Final Judgement? Sakura, we're going to get through this. Li's going to get through this. You can do it, 'kay?" Madison smiled.
"Thanks Madison…" Finally calm, Sakura laid down with her head on Madison's lap.
"You're always there for me…" With a small sigh, the 14 year old closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep, leaving Madison staring pityingly down at her friend. >But the thing is…I don't really believe it. Kero sounded so serious. I can comfort you all I want, Sakura…but who will comfort me?>
Sakura looked up and summoned a weak smile as Meilin came slowly down the stairs. The girl stumbled slightly as she reached the bottom, but grabbed the banister to support herself. Still recovering from Li's brutal attack of two days ago, Meilin found even the least stressful activities to be painful. Without Yelan's healing spell, Meilin was sure that she wouldn't have even been able to do the little she did now.
"No sign of the Sun yet?" Sakura smiled at Meilin's innocent question. The Chinese girl knew the answer – she just wanted to act as though she hadn't been checking every 5 minutes.
"Not a glimmer. Whatever spell Li cast, it's really strong."
"Maybe…maybe it isn't a spell." Sakura frowned slightly at Meilin's suggestion, not understanding.
"What?"
"Hong Kong is full of Clow reed's magic. The Showron family is connected to the city because they're Clow's descendents. Li's the family's Chosen One, so he's the one most strongly linked to Hong Kong. Maybe the city's just responding to Li's darkness."
Sakura stared open-mouthed at Meilin. She'd been friends with the vibrant girl for ages – rivals for longer – but she'd never heard her making so much sense before.
"That makes sense. Maybe that's why Yelan can't break it…"
"Oh. I sent her to bed," Meilin smiled. "What with Li's possession, she's been under a lot of stress."
"It's probably for the best. She can't help anyone if she breaks down." Sakura looked out the window, trying to stop herself from hoping that a recovered Li would be coming back soon.
"Come to think of it, how come no ordinary people have noticed the darkness?" Sakura asked, turning to Meilin.
"Oh, it's like Li always said. People don't want to notice it because they don't understand it." Her ruby eyes softened, and she smiled slightly.
"I miss him. It's so weird, I just want to run to him and ask for advice, but then I remember…he's the problem." Sakura looked away for a moment, all-too-familiar tears coming to her emerald eyes.
"It must be really hard for you. You're so close…."
"Yeah…I accepted long ago that Li and I could never be more than close friends. But I've been with him so long, it's likehe's part of my family…my brother…" Sakura put her arms around Meilin, trying to stay strong.
"Don't blame him for attacking you, ok? I've seen the way he looks at you. To him, you really are his sister. He'd never hurt you intentionally."
"I know…I just can't believe we haven't found him yet." Meilin looked at Sakura with hope in her eyes.
"We haven't, have we?" Sakura shook her head.
"No. Yue and Kero are out looking, but Kero can't fly so good at the moment. He's still recovering."
BLAM! Thetwo girls jumped as the massive oak doors slammed open to reveal Keroberos and Yue. Soaking wet from the rain, Keroberos with his fur flat to his skin was a comical scene. But even with his white locks of hair plastered to his face, Yue's intense eyes stopped any giggles in their tracks.
"Card Mistress, you must come with us. We've found him."
