Kero woke up with the biggest headache of his long life. The groans from Tsuki told him that she was feeling the same way. He thought back to last night trying to remember what made him feel this way. He remembered Akuma, and the red balls but there was something else that unsettled him...Kero tensed up as he remembered what exactly happened last night.
'Good morning,' Sakura said cheerfully. She was already dressed and ready to go to school. Kero glanced at her and stood up tensely. He looked around with narrowed eyes.
'Where is he?' Kero growled suspiciously. Sakura looked confused and bewildered. 'Who?' she asked tilting her head.
'Where is Yue?' Kero said baring his teeth aggressively. Sakura blinked. 'He's gone,' she said simply.
'I knew he was a traitor. I knew he was on her side,' Kero said angrily, 'I should've killed him when I had the chance!!' By this time Kaho and Touya had rushed to the room looking concerned.
'Kero CALM DOWN!!!' Sakura yelled. Everyone looked at her with surprise. 'Yue did what he did because he had to,' Sakura told him quietly. 'How do you know? I've known him longer than you have,' Kero roared.
'I may not but the Angel knows him a lot better than any of us and I trust her completely,' Sakura snapped. Everything seemed to freeze as they all processed this comment. Kaho stepped in before a fight could break out. 'How about we take some minutes to calm down? We'll meet downstairs in ten minutes,' she said. Kero and Sakura nodded.
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Ten minutes later they were seated at the dinner table. Kero was beside Tsuki and glaring at his hands. Tsuki was looking very confused between Kero and Sakura. Sakura's head was down not looking at anyone. Touya seemed half asleep while Kaho was the only calm one at the table.
'Now what happened last night?' she asked looking from Kero to Sakura. They didn't look up or answer. So the task was left to Tsuki. She did so trying to be as unbiased as she could possibly be under the circumstances.
Touya's face went from half asleep to angry in a matter of minutes. When Tsuki finished he jumped up and banged his hands on the table. 'I knew he was trouble, I knew it!!' he shouted.
'You've heard Tsuki and Kero's story, you haven't heard mine,' Sakura interrupted. 'What could you possibly say to convince me that Yue isn't evil?' Kero said arguing with his mistress for the first time in a long while.
'Did you ever wonder how you got back into the house?' Sakura asked with a twist of her lips that passed for a smile. Kero shook his head confused. 'I thought you did that,' he said. Sakura shook her head.
'Not me, I wasn't in condition to deal with it at the time, Yue was the one who got us all in,' she said.
'So? He still helped Akuma,' Kero challenged.
'Whatever Yue may do, he does it for the good of the Cardmistress,' Sakura said quoting the Angel. Touya froze. 'Where did you hear that?' he asked.
'In my dreams, it's seems the Angel can communicate to us through dreams,' Sakura said with a rueful smile.
Touya thought back to the dream he had last night. A girl with pink wings had visited him in a garden and told him that 'Whatever Yue may do, he does it for the good of the Cardmistress'. Was that the Angel? He shook his head to clear it.
'It doesn't matter, he is still too dangerous to be friends with,' Touya said sternly. Everyone was surprised when Sakura didn't argue. She got up silently and slung her bag over her shoulders.
'I'm sorry you feel that way, but I prefer to follow my heart and dreams,' Sakura said quietly opening the door. She slipped out the door and closed it behind her silently.
Touya sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. 'How did things turn out like this?' he asked the ceiling. Kaho kissed him and began clean up the table. Kero distracted himself by playing the video game and Tsuki hid herself somewhere.
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Sakura rubbed away the tears in her eyes and walked quickly. She really didn't want to talk to anyone right now, especially not Syaoron or Tomoyo.
They just didn't understand why she trusted Yue. Kero and Touya thought he was a traitor. Syaoron and Tomoyo didn't trust him. Tsuki and the rest of the guardians didn't know what to think. Kaho, Eriol and Meiling seemed to be the only ones who didn't seem to care. But in Meiling's case it was because Eriol didn't care.
'Sakura?' a voice asked. She looked up quickly and saw Yue standing in front of her. 'Oh...hi,' she said trying to smile but now succeeding.
'What's wrong?' Yue asked peering into her eyes. She looked away uncomfortably. 'Nothing,' she muttered under her breath. Two fingers tilted her head up. 'I'm your guardian no matter how much Kero denies it. I know something is wrong,' he said sternly.
'I...I don't want to talk about it,' Sakura said shielding her emotions from Yue's perceptive eyes. At last he let her go. 'Thank you,' Sakura said beginning to walk again. Yue fell into step beside her and for a while neither one spoke.
'How did things go this morning?' Yue asked at last. Sakura stole a look at him through the corner of her eyes. He showed no emotion at all. Sakura's silence told him enough.
'Kero and Touya wants to kill you. Tsuki is confused. Kaho seems be the only one who doesn't care,' Sakura said with a miserable sigh.
'I'm sorry,' Yue said at last. Sakura looked over at him with surprise evident on her face. 'For what? None of this is your fault,' she said. Yue glanced at her and gave her a small smile.
'I saw the Angel last night. She was the one who woke me up. I can see why you love her. She is so beautiful,' Sakura said. Yue looked at her first in shock then with a brilliant smile.
'She is all that is good and pure in this world. I don't deserve her,' he said with a sad smile. 'Why not?' Sakura asked curiously.
'I've lied, I've killed, I've helped Akuman. I've hurt my family. Where's the good in me?' he asked. Sakura couldn't ignore the bitter regret in his voice.
By this time they had reached the gate of the school. Sakura stopped and turned to Yue. 'No, you must have some good in you,' she said earnestly. Yue shook his head. But Sakura continued. She put a hand on his chest and could feel his heart beat beneath her small hand. Her emerald eyes shone with sincerity as she looked up at him.
'The Angel cannot survive without good. To love you, to spend even a second in your company, you must have some good in your heart, even if you can't find it yet,' she said smiling at last.
'Maybe I'll find it someday,' he said with a rueful smile. Sakura's smile grew brighter. 'I know you will,' she said optimistically. Yue shook his head at her buoyancy.
'Sakura,' a masculine voice called from inside the school ground. The two looked up to see a grey-haired boy with glasses looking at them.
Sakura's face lit up with joy. 'Yukito!!' she yelled running over to the boy to hug him. Tsukishiro Yukito grinned and hugged her back as hard as she had hugged him. 'When did you come back?' Sakura asked tilting her head up. 'Just yesterday. I would've come to see you sooner but jetlag defeated me in a matter of minutes,' Yukito said not dropping his arms from around her.
Yue stared at this stranger with cold eyes. Who was he to touch Sakura so intimately? 'Jealous?' an amused voice said beside him. Yue looked down to see Clow's reincarnation looking at the two with vast amusement in his blue eyes. Yue didn't let any of his emotions show in anyway.
'Why should I be?' Yue asked coldly. Eriol looked at him and smiled enigmatically. 'Why shouldn't you be?' he challenged. Yue stared at him with merciless purple eyes.
Sakura noticed Yue and Eriol talking and dragged Yukito over to them. The two boys looked at Yukito with varying expressions. Eriol was amused while Yue was looking anything but. 'Yue this is Tsukishiro Yukito. Yuki this is Akari Yue,' Sakura said brightly. The two boys stared at each other suspiciously. Yukito broke the gaze first. Yue looked down at the girl and managed a small smile. 'I have to go to class,' he said blandly.
Sakura stared after him with concern written all over her face. 'What did I do wrong?' she asked confused. 'Don't worry about him, he's just confused,' Eriol said with a mysterious smile. 'When you smile like that Eriol I get worried,' Sakura said with suspicious eyes.
'So what are you doing here?' Sakura asked Yukito with a friendly voice. 'Touya called me to talk about the irresponsible kaijuu,' Yukito said prepared for the explosion. It didn't come. Instead Sakura smiled evilly. 'I think Touya might be getting a frog in his bed soon,' she said sweetly.
Eriol laughed at the amusing mental picture. Sakura hugged Yukito once more. 'What're you doing now?' she asked. 'I'm on leave for a month,' Yukito said with a smile. 'Great, I'll talk to you later,' Sakura said heading for her class. 'Things have changed Yukito. Sakura has changed,' Eriol reminded the older man before walking to his class.
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A silver haired figure stood on the roof of the school. His violet eyes avidly scanned the grounds below him. The folded arms and cold eyes attested to the fact that Akari Yue was seriously angry. The object of his attention was at this moment sitting and talking with the Card Mistress.
Tsukishiro Yukito. Sakura's old boyfriend, for some reason that phrase rankled Yue. Yukito disappeared for two years without a word then appeared again just as suddenly and Sakura welcomed him with open arms. Yue's eyes narrowed dangerously as he saw how close the two were.
'You just can't admit it can you?' Damn, it was that reincarnation of Clow. Half-reincarnation, Yue reminded himself. He retained his icy silence, even when Eriol came to stand beside him.
'I don't know what you are talking about?' Yue said coldly. Eriol laughed softly. Yue glanced at him through the corner of his eyes. 'I am sure you don't,' Eriol said nodding slowly. Yue managed to keep his angry growl from escaping from his lips. 'If you are here to insult me then feel free to leave,' Yue said stiffly.
'Please Yue give me some credit. You may have loved the Angel once but not any more. Don't try to deny it,' Eriol said when Yue opened his mouth, 'I might not be your master but I did create you. So if you don't love the Angel who do you love?' Eriol asked pointedly. Yue kept his silence with remarkable self-control.
'Stop denying it Yue. In the end it'll only hurt more,' Eriol sighed. Yue said nothing. Finally Eriol gave up and went down stairs. Yue was silent for a few more seconds before he sighed. He unfolded his arms and ran a hand through his hair.
~I don't love Sakura. How could I?~ he asked himself. No, there was no way he could love Sakura. If he was in love with her what happened to the Angel? He couldn't afford to fall in love. Beside she had Yukito, who loved her and he was human, Yue wasn't. In the end she would die and he would be left alone again. No, he couldn't let himself fall in love; like Eriol said, it would only bring pain.
'She's pretty isn't she?' the amused voice made Yue look up. Somehow Akuma had managed to sneak up on him. 'Who?' he asked. She looked at him with a wicked grin. 'I don't know, you tell me,' she invited. When Yue said nothing she laughed.
'Aww, poor Yue. He has to choose between his old love and his new one,' she mocked. Yue frowned in consternation. First Eriol, now Akuma. Who next? The Angel herself? With his luck it probably would be. 'She's so sweet, so innocent,' Akuma baited with a smile.
'Stay away from her Akuma,' Yue said sharply. The woman looked over with a surprised look on her face. 'Why Yue, you almost sound as if you care,' she said archly. Yue glared at her with undisguised anger.
'How about I make a little deal with you. I promise to stay away from her if you promise to do the same,' she bargained. Yue looked at her. 'How would I protect her?' he asked reasonably. 'Jeez, she has you wrapped around her little finger,' Akuma said rolling her eyes. Yue didn't know if she was talking about Sakura or The Angel and he didn't care to know. He waited patiently.
'You can protect her to your heart's content, but only from afar,' Akuma explained. Yue considered. Why was she doing this? Why would she care about Yue and Sakura being friends? Then he shrugged in his mind. Who cares, if keeping away from Sakura meant her being safe from Akuma he'd do it in a snap. The fact that this would make his current dilemma easier to deal with only helped to solidify his decision. 'All right,' Yue said finally. Akuma nodded triumphantly and with a wave went downstairs.
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Yay, I managed to keep my promise and update within the week. I'm happy. Thanks people for the reviews. If you have any questions email them to me and I'll try to answer them as best I can. See ya later.