Disclaimer – Unfortunately, I don't own anything. Please read and review but most importantly – ENJOY!
A/N – Sorry it's taken me so long to update, I know I promised I would update quickly but things got in the way, mainly life. Hope this is alright with all of you, review if you have any thoughts you think I should know. Hope you enjoy!
The five sisters of Li Showron and his mother arrived at the estimated time. In stead of staying at a hotel they moved into the Avalon's house, with Aidens permission. It had not been a happy day when the four children and guardian beats told the parents of their children's disappearance.
It had now been almost three weeks. Yelan's condition had progressed no further but she had not gotten any better, she still lay in a deep coma. Aiden Avalon had fallen into a dire depression and was shortly followed there by his son. No matter how hard Julian tried he could not get his friend to go outside with him or even to get him to leave his room. Madison and Meilin also changed, they no longer looked at life cheerfully but simply did the actions required of them, they seemed to have lost their optimism and energy.
As well as the Showron family staying at the Avalon house, they got frequent visits from Eli Moon. The young boy had come clean about being the reincarnated form of Clow Reed but he had not been able to help with Yelan's condition. He now spent most of his time with Madison and Meilin, trying to help them get through the loss of their friends.
For these people the world had become a dark place, no longer filled with happiness and hope but sadness and despair. Even though the sun shone its bright rays could not penetrate the gloom in the house, for many of its occupants had lost all hope of ever seeing Sakura or Li ever again.
The light took over Sakura's body and its brightness blinded her. The last thing she had seen was Li's body, lying still on the bed. Even if the potion did work and when she could see again she would be home it didn't mean that he would wake up. She could be bringing him home just so he could die in front of his family. Sakura didn't know whether she could handle that, knowing that all those people were sad and in pain because of her.
When her eyesight finally returned she got a glimpse of the room she had been in when she and Li had been taken before she was pulled into a bone crunching hug. Her brother held onto her as if she would disappear again.
"Sakura!" Kero and Madison chorused while another voice gasped.
"LI!" Sakura pulled away from her brother to see Meilin kneeling over his still form. Julian also knelt by him, taking the young boy's pulse. As the grey haired man looked up Sakura felt her energy drain away and her knees collapsed. She sank to the ground as Madison grabbed onto her arm.
"Sakura, what happened?"
"Did that twerp-"Tori began but Sakura interrupted him.
"It was all my fault! Li's condition, us disappearing ... it was all my fault." Kero flew over to her and brushed her hair away from her face.
"Sakura, tell us what happened."
"First, we need to get Li into bed. We need to keep him warm and make sure he has plenty of fluids." Julian instructed. Between Tori and Julian they moved Li upstairs to the spare bedroom and settled him into the bed. Here, when everyone had settled down, Sakura started to explain what had happened to them.
"We were taken by a wizard, a very powerful wizard from another dimension. But we weren't supposed to be taken, it was an accident. I looked like a boy there and this seemed to please Voldemort, that's the wizard's name. He ordered his men to kill Li ..." Sakura gulped and Madison squeezed her hand before she went on. "He was protecting me, they were all attacking him and he carried on protecting me. That was the first time he got hurt"
"The first time?" Meilin interrupted. She received glares from Tori and Kero for interrupting Sakura but the honey haired girl just nodded.
"Yes, the first time. He got shot in the chest by a spell and it opened this hole in his chest, he was bleeding to death and there wasn't anything I could do ..." Again, Sakura broke off but she took a deep breath and continued. "That was when he gave me his magic, so that I could summon my cards. That was when I used my magic to defeat Voldemort and his followers. Then Li was taken to their hospital and he got better. But then he got attacked by a follower I had missed, they call themselves Death eaters. He made this potion and Li breathed it in but he only breathed in part of it. Breathing all of it in would have killed him. But then the Death eater used a spell on me, he ... he, he made me almost ... he made me almost kill Li, he made me use the Erase card on Li. But the spell broke and the Erase stopped before anything happened. That's why Li's in that condition, I hoped that bringing him home would help him wake up but ..." Sakura looked at the chestnut haired boy before turning away. Madison hugged her as Julian and Kero shared a look.
"I guess this is why Aunt Yelan is sick." Sakura looked up at Meilin.
"Yelan?"
"She rang me but then she got sick, she said it was something to do with Li. I guess he got hurt as I was talking to her. Anyway, Li's sisters are bringing her over here. They think she needs to be closer to Li to get better. They'll be here in the morning." Sakura's eyes widened.
"They can't see Li like this! They'll never get over seeing him like this! And then I'll have to explain what happened again, how it was my fault that he's hurt" Tori jumped up and held his sister by her shoulders.
"Sakura, This Was Not Your Fault. Understand?" The siblings stared at each other before Sakura gave in and shook her head.
"But it is my fault! I"
"Sakura." Meilin interrupted softly, drawing everyone's attention to her. "It wasn't your fault. Did you intend for Li to get hurt? Did he? If you want someone to blame, by the sounds of it, it should be this Voldemort guy, he's the one that intended for everything to happen." The Chinese girl's words had gotten through where no one else had. Sakura stared at her former rival before slowly nodding her head. Tori relaxed his grip on his sister then embraced her. They all sat in silence as Sakura and Tori hugged.
"Who thought the gaki would turn out alright?" Kero said, but his words were not meant to be harsh. It made Julian and Madison smiled, especially when Meilin made a face behind the guardian beasts' back.
"Can I have a moment alone with him?" Sakura suddenly asked, her words soft yet firm. Madison and Meilin shared a look as Tori glanced at Julian. Kero nodded and led the way out. Everybody left, Tori and Madison both giving her hugs with Meilin leaving last. The Chinese girl gave her former rival a squeeze on her shoulder before leaving her alone with her cousin. Sakura sat in silence for a moment before moving, timidly, closer.
"I ... I don't know whether you can hear me or not but – but I need to say this I am so, so very sorry about what happened, about everything that happened. I would say that it was all my fault but I know you'd argue with me and say that it wasn't, like Meilin. But ... you always believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself. It's such a shame that you didn't get to see more of Hogwarts, you would have loved it." Sakura sighed and wiped the tears forming in her eyes away. "I guess I'm stalling, I know you better than you think I do and I care more than you think I do. I meant what I said. I do really like you. Except it's not really like ... its love. Seeing you these past few days I've realized that I love you and I always will." After a moment of hesitation, the honey haired girl leaned forward and kissed the Chinese boy softly on the cheek. She lent back, away from him and studied his face before losing herself in her thoughts. She didn't notice the color returning in his cheeks.
Than a scream erupted from below, shattering the silence. Shouts followed and Sakura felt the burst of different magic only familiar to her from one place. Sakura bolted from her seat and ran towards the place where her family and friends were now in trouble.
Behind her, the Chinese boy looked almost back to normal and his fingertips quivered. Then a scream came from the card mistress and the boy's eyes snapped open.
"Sakura."
A/N – Not much but I'm getting there. The next chapter will probably be the final one but you never know, please review to tell me what you think. I would say that I'll update quickly but I've said that in the past and how long did it take me? I will TRY to update quickly! Stay tuned folks!