Chapter 8

'Duh, of course he is.' Kero muttered while he tried to calm Sakura down, who obviously just had a bad nightmare.

'You ok, Sakura-chan?' He said with a worried voice.

Sakura heard the small voice and realized she was awake again, out of the darkness she could remember so well. She shrugged when she thought of her so called "brother" Touya, but felt kind of happy when she thought of her new found parents.

'Yeah I'm ok, I think.' She said while she tried a weak smile. I should be happy, I guess. I finally found my real family, but without my mother. I don't have a mother.

Kero smiled as well. 'I really didn't know, you know. That's why I didn't understand, why I was supposed to stay out of sight. They knew me back then, so why not now?' He said, trying to get her attention.

But she wasn't really listening, she had her own problems. 'How am I supposed to tell them this?' She asked. 'I can't just go and tell them, can I?'

'Well…' Kero began, but he didn't know as well. 'Ehm…'

'I know. I'll go to Tomoyo. Maybe she can help me. She has always good ideas. Can you…'

'Yes?'

'Can you please stay here? I want to talk to her in private.' Sakura asked hesitantly. She knew Kero would want to come with her, he was worried about her. 'Please?'

'Sure, Sakura-chan. I'll stay here, I don't show myself to the others and wait for you to come back, ok?'

'Arigato, Kero-kun!' Sakura said a bit more cheerfully. She wanted to call Tomoyo, but she didn't answer the phone. 'I'll just walk to her place and hope she is there. See you later, Kero-kun!'

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Syaoran was training with his sword. With every blow, he tried to get rid of his frustrations. That was why he liked to train this much. He was not allowed to speak his mind of the many frustrations, concerning his future and the Elders from the Li-clan.

One of his many cousins had contacted him about his mission. He had to tell him what had happened the last days and he seemed not to be happy at all. Because of the cards scattered all over Tomoeda, his mission changed.

He had to find the cards and capture them as soon as possible. He could choose between to ways of solving this problem. Let the card mistress capture all the cards and make her give it to him, or capture all the cards himself. The last way was a bit difficult, because they knew at the same time when a card appeared. She would always be there to capture it, before he could actually have done it.

So he had to help her capture all the cards, and then get it from her. It was the only way. It's not right, a voice in his mind said, but he pushed it back.

And to make it all worse, his cousin was send to Tomoeda as well, to help him. She was one of the reasons he didn't mind to go away for a while. But she would be here in two days from now.

His sword described circles on the strangest ways, though he hardly paid any attention to it. He was one with the sword, when he trained. He always hoped it would be the same in a real fight. That he didn't have to focus on his sword, while the opponent sliced him in peaces.

He knew somehow, that he had to use his sword for real on this mission, and he wanted to be prepared. Can I ever be prepared? So much happens that I can't control, though I try so hard.

A flash of a certain person appeared in his mind. I try so hard!

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When Touya came home, the smell of dinner was still there. Sakura had probably made something herself. He looked in the kitchen, but she wasn't there anymore. The kitchen was cleaned and in the fridge stood two extra desserts with his and Fujitaka's name on it.

Gladly he took them both out when he heard his father entering the house. 'I'm home!' he heard him saying. 'Welcome back, dad.' He answered and when Fujitaka entered the kitchen, he gave him his dessert.

'Where's Sakura-san?' Fujitaka asked him.

'Don't know. Look for her.' was all his dad could hear, because his mouth was full with pudding. He stood up and walked upstairs to check the room. When he knocked he heard his father calling. 'There's a note here. She out to Tomoyo's!'

He still opened the door to check and looked in the room, where Sakura, of course, wasn't. His eyes fell on a stuffed animal which he couldn't give a name. Maybe a bear with a tail, at least no normal stuffed animal. Somehow he didn't trust the little thing. He looked familiar, but he couldn't remember wherefrom.

He entered the room and picked the toy up to bring it downstairs. Strange enough, 'it' felt warm. He went back to the kitchen where his father was sitting at the table reading one of his papers. When Touya putted the toy on the table, where Fujitaka could see it, the older man stared dumbfounded at the little creature. As always, his dad thought very fast and came to an conclusion.

Touya already knew that is wasn't strange that he recognized it from somewhere, but he was kind of shocked when his father said: 'Keroberos…! That means…Sakura-chan!' He wasn't as smart as his father and only understood half of it. That would mean, he only knew the stories of Keroberos and the Book of Clow.

But his father didn't say anything, though looked happy and sad at the same time. He just rushed out the door. Touya picked up the toy and followed, wanting to know what was going on.

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Sakura stood before the gate of Daidouji-residence and rang the bell for the third time. No one opened. She sighed and turned away from Tomoyo's house. They where probably out tonight. She walked in no specific direction, and just let the flood of emotions come over her.

Daddy…

She walked and walked, and had no idea where she was. She needed someone to talk to and Kero was certainly not an option. Tomoyo was gone and she couldn't go to Fujitaka and Touya. After all, they where the subject of her problems. She couldn't go to one of her friends, because they didn't know anything about Kero.

When she calmed down a bit, she looked for a place she knew. I'm not lost, am I? A few streets further she recognized her surroundings again. She had been here before and walked the same way as she had done before. Her mind was pretty occupied, so she was kind of shocked when she stood before the house of Syaoran.

She had never been in his house, just walked by a couple of times after school.

Syaoran…

Yes, that was an option. Talk to Syaoran. He wasn't very open and really not good at comforting others, but she knew he had a good heart and would listen to her if she asked.

He would listen, we're friends, right?

She was pretty calm and was sure she could just talk to him, so she rang the bell. But when the door opened and Syaoran himself stood there, she couldn't control herself anymore.

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Syaoran had just showered and wanted to relax on the couch when de doorbell rang. Normally, Wei would open, but he was not feeling well, and went to bed earlier. He expected the worst – his cousin – so he didn't really hurry with opening the door.

When he finally did, he was surprised to see Sakura standing there. She looked sad and he could see that she tried not to cry, to be strong. When he wanted to say something, she suddenly burst out in tears and ran to him. Before he knew it, he was holding a shaking and crying Sakura in his arms.

For a moment he had no idea what to do. The only girl that ever cried in his arms, was his cousin, and that didn't really count, futile as her problem always had been. But this girl, Sakura, seemed to truly have a problem.

After that short moment, he shut the door en guided her to the living room, where he sat down with her on the couch. Sakura buried her face in his chest, so he figured it would be best to just let her cry.

What is going on? What happened? I don't want to see her this sad!

He pushed that last thought back and tried to concentrate on the first two. Not that that helped even one bit, because Sakura wasn't able to speak a word, to answer the questions he wanted to ask.

When she finally calmed down a bit, she looked up from his chest. Her face was red and teary, and her eyes looked sad and a bit happy at the same time. But he couldn't help to notice her beauty behind the tears.

'Gomen, Syaoran-kun, for troubling you.' She said while she sat beside him, her head resting on his shoulder.

Syaoran felt the urge to blush, but could prevent it. She called me by my first name…! 'It…it doesn't matter, but what's wrong?' he asked, hoping his voice didn't sound as insecure as he felt.

'I…I have…' She stopped talking, not really knowing what she had to say. But she needed to discus this with someone. Suddenly she was aware of an aura around Syaoran. She couldn't see it, rather felt it, and instantly knew it was a green aura. The aura reached for her and she felt herself calming down. She realized that she could talk to him, that he would help her and comfort her, so she just blurted it out.

'I have found my real parents.' She exclaimed.

Syaoran was perplexed. 'But…that's good news, right?'

'Yeah, it is. I'm really glad I found them, but the problem is…I am already living with them for a few weeks now, without knowing it. And…I have no idea how to tell them this. And though I have found a father and brother, I don't have a mother. She died after my birth.'

Syaoran was confused. How could he not have seen this coming? He already knew that she didn't know who her parent were, but he did know that the book of Clow was in the possession of the Kinomoto's in the past. It made sense that the card mistress was their daughter. After all, Keroberos had practically said it on their first encountering.

'Kinomoto Sakura…that does sounds good, you know.'

Sakura giggled and he continued. 'I think that if you tell them, they would listen and except it. Well, at least your father would, I doubt that Touya is that smart.'

Sakura giggled again but slapped him softly on the arm. 'Don't tease my brother! Wow, that sounds strange…"brother".'

A small smile grew on Syaoran's lips. It feels so good to make her laugh. For ones he didn't push back the thought.

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Kinomoto Fujitaka ran through the streets, Touya following close behind. I can't believe it! It's a miracle!

'Dad, slow down! What going on?' he heard Touya yelling from behind.

'We have found her, Touya! We have finally found her!' I wish Nadeshiko was here…!

'Who, dad? And where are we going?' Touya breathed fast from running so hard, but Fujitaka had, strange enough, no problems with that.

'To Sonomi! I suppose Sakura is still there!'

'But why Sakura? What's going on?' Touya asked again, but Fujitaka just ran faster, not answering anymore questions.

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