VictorianPearl: Yes, yes, I know its late Friday but at least I managed to post it on Friday.

Li: Nobody said anything.

VictorianPearl: Well…I know you would have if I didn't say anything first. I've been busy all day. I was forced to leave my house at 8:30 this morning to go to the house we're moving into to paint. I painted my butt off for five hours! That's not including breaks.

Sakura: What a story.

VictorianPearl: I'm not complaining, I'm just stating the facts. It could have been a lot worse.

Sakura: Yeah, Li could have been there.

Li: What's that supposed to mean?

VictorianPearl: Never mind, here's the next episode.

Chapter 6

Stranger's Past

Sakura yawned and made her way up to her room. It was early morning; she hadn't even tried to sleep in her own room. She knew that the only resort to get any sleep would be in the front room. Unfortunately, Kero's experiments could be heard throughout the night.

Sakura walked into her room. Kero was still busy with his lab work. He didn't look at all tired in the least bit.

"Kero, aren't you going to take a break?" Sakura asked.

Kero was usually asleep or glued to video games when he wasn't eating. Now though, he had gone a whole twenty-four hours without them. "I really don't want to stop, but since you've asked, I could tell you all I've discovered."

Sakura sighed; she knew this would probably be the best she would get out of him. "Okay Kero, go ahead and indulge me."

Kero grinned, "I've done some more DNA tests on xitocine. It turns out that our demon friend was actually human at one point…or almost human.

"It went under a great magical change. I believe that is what caused the extra phosphate to be created. Also, some of the strands of DNA are in triple helixes, rather than doubled ones. All of the extra information may be what's causing it to be able to regenerate its arms so fast. The whole thing is a genetic mess."

"That's pretty good Kero." Sakura complimented. "You were able to discover a lot of information overnight."

"Why thank you."

"What will you do now?"

Kero thought for a moment. "I'm not quite sure. I think my next goal will be to figure out what weaknesses the demon has. The faster we figure out how to beat it, the better."

Sakura nodded. "That's a good plan. I'll leave you to your work then."

OOO

"Come on Meiling."

"No, it's okay."

"No it's not, you have to come. The party is partially in your honor. If you don't have a dress to where, it won't be proper."

"It doesn't matter."

"Whatever, we're taking you with us and that's that."

Four girls were giggling as they walked out to a sleek, black car. Three of the girls were Sakura, Tomoyo, and Chiharu. They were busy convincing the fourth girl, Meiling, to go shopping.

They all hopped into Tomoyo's convertible car. It was the perfect summer day to go zooming with the top down. Tomoyo let nobody down by driving at top speeds to the nearest mall.

Meiling rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I'm actually letting you take me shopping."

"Meiling," Chiharu asked. "When was the last time you went shopping?"

Silence filtered through the air.

"Exactly," Tomoyo said. "There is no way you're worming your way out of this. You're just going to have to sit back and take it."

Meiling sighed in defeat. Maybe this whole shopping thing wouldn't be too bad. She had to admit, she had never been to the mall with friends. She just hoped she wouldn't be forced into buying those spiked heels that some girls wore.

Tomoyo drove into the parking lot and screeched into a front row space. The hood of the car came up with the press of a shiny, black, button.

"Alright ladies," Tomoyo said, getting up. "Are you ready to go bargain hunting?"

"YES!" The three other girls' chimed.

They went and hit all of the dress stores first. Sakura caught Meiling eyeing some of the longer dresses.

"No way Meiling, this is a cocktail party, not winter formal."

"There's nothing wrong with long dresses." Meiling replied.

Chiharu tossed a scarlet dress into Meiling's hands. "Buy that one. I can guarantee that nobody will be able to stop staring at your legs."

Meiling blushed. "Whatever Chiharu, that won't happen." Nonetheless, Meiling bought the dress.

In the next store, Tomoyo and Sakura got into a little argument. Poor Sakura was having a bit of a time trying to convince Tomoyo that she wanted to buy a dress.

"Come on Tomoyo, just this once." Sakura pleaded with wide eyes.

Tomoyo looked doubtful. "I just don't know Sakura. Can these brand-name dresses be trusted with good quality?"

"I'm sure they're fine."

"I don't know…"

"Please, I'll let you pick."

"Okay!"

Meiling leaned over to Chiharu. "Do they always argue like this?"

"All the time," Chiharu replied.

They watched as Tomoyo picked out a sparkly green dress. It had thin straps, a cupid's heart neck line, and a swirling skirt.

"I don't know Tomoyo." Sakura said, eyeing the dress. "Do you think Touya would allow that?"

"Who cares what he thinks?" Tomoyo said, pulling Sakura to the register. "Nobody will stop me from making you look as kawaii as possible!"

Chiharu shook her head. "Poor, poor, Sakura,"

After two hours of dress shopping, the four girls retired to the food courts. They were satisfied with their work well done.

"Your dress is very sexy Meiling." Chiharu commented bluntly. "We'll need to find you a boyfriend at the party."

"Mou Chiharu," Meiling said. "No boys will be looking at me. Yamazaki-kun will be fighting them all off of you. What, with that light blue dress of yours?"

"What's wrong with my dress?" Chiharu asked. She had gotten a halter top dress that had a dangerously low neckline.

"Nothing is wrong with it." Sakura commented. "But seriously, Takashi-kun will be surprised. You're not the type to get short dresses."

"You're the one who said it was a cocktail party!"

"Ladies, ladies, please calm down." Tomoyo said. "Let's leave the subject of dresses in their bags and talk about something else.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask, when are you getting you dress Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo smiled, "I'm making mine. I don't trust some of those brands out there. Enough with that though, you need to eat!"

After the girls were done with lunch, they slipped back into Tomoyo's car. They were all dropped off at their houses by the time one o'clock rolled around.

Sakura jumped out of Tomoyo's car and waved as Tomoyo quickly disappeared. She turned and made her way up the steps. Today was July 1. The date of the party was stet for July 13, Syaoran's birthday.

Sakura hummed as she skipped up into her room. This was going to be so much fun.

OOO

Eriol sat in his chair, deep in thought. He could feel the evil magic burning in his memory. IT was so familiar, where had he felt its presence before?

Because Eriol was the reincarnation of Clow, he had inherited all of Clow's memories. For some reason though, all of his memories of the demon were blocked. There was a void in his mind, a space, not allowing him to see deepener into the memories.

Eriol heaved a sigh. It was extremely frustrating not to know what was going on, especially when the lady he loved was involved. Although she hardly had a part yet, Tomoyo's time was coming.

"Is everything alright Master?" Spinel asked, flying onto his master's shoulder.

"I don't know Spinel, nothing is clear to me now."

"Perhaps with a little more time things will become clearer."

"Perhaps,"

"SUPPI, MASTER, WHAT ARE YOU DOOOOOING?" Nakuru's voice screamed.

Spinel flinched, "There's never a quiet moment with her around."

The door burst open and Nakuru flounced into the room. "Why did you leave me Suppi, I was all alone down there."

"Who's Suppi," Spinel asked. "I, on the other hand, was trying to find some peace with Master."

"Why would you do that?" Nakuru asked, "Master can be so dull sometimes."

"Precisely,"

"That's enough you two." Eriol said, standing up. "We're having a guest in a few minutes and I can't have you fighting."

"Oh, who is it?" Nakuru asked.

"Just my cute little descendant,"

"Why is he coming over here?" Spinel asked suspiciously.

"We just need to have a little chat." Eriol said. As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "There he is now. Nakuru, will you let him in?"

"Yes Master!" Nakuru cried, skipping down the stairs.

"I don't know why you sent it to answer the door." Spinel commented. "It will only scare the little wolf away."

Eriol walked down the stairs and saw Syaoran waiting in the entrance hall.

"You had better have a good reason for calling me over here Hiirigizawa." Syaoran growled.

"Of course," Eriol said cheerfully. "Please follow me to the lounge."

Syaoran stalked behind Eriol to the lounge. Once there, he found a chair farthest from Eriol and sat in it.

"I have called you here, Xiaolang, to tell you of a vision that troubles me." Eriol started.

Syaoran's eyes narrowed. "I thought you couldn't see into the future any more."

"True, very true," Eriol smiled. "But I can tell when bad things are going to happen. I know for a fact, that if you are not always on your guard, you will be gravely hurt."

"Why are you telling me this?" Syaoran asked.

Eriol's expression remained the same. "Although I may not care too much for you, Xiaolang, I do care for Sakura-chan. If you ever got hurt, it would hurt her as ell. That is why I am telling you this."

"No nee," Syaoran said. "I'm always on my guard."

"You're very welcome." Eriol said.

There was a long pause in which Syaoran glared at Eriol and Eriol smiled aback at him.

"Is that all?" Syaoran asked, breaking the silence.

"I believe so." Eriol said.

Syaoran nodded and stood. He was making his way to the lounge exit when Eriol called to him.

"There is just one more thing I forgot to say."

Syaoran stopped and turned back, waiting.

"It is hard for me to ask you this." His smile faltered a little. "Could you watch out for Tomoyo? I do believe there will be a time when I will be incapable of protecting her."

For one second, Syaoran's glare subsided. "Of course," he whispered, before leaving the room.

OOO

Sakura was walking home from the supermarket. Touya had "asked" her to go out and buy some more napkins. Unable to get out of it, Sakura gave in and walked to the store.

It was 5:00, it was getting dark and she was almost home. She began to walk a little faster, fear taking over her body. She thought she was imagining shadows in front her, that is, until they rose from the ground.

Sakura gaped as the demon stood before her. It just stood there, staring at her. Neither of them moved. Sakura put her hand to her neck, but the demon was quicker. IT strode forward and placed two fingers on Sakura's forehead.

Sakura was paralyzed, unable to move. She heard the creature's voice echoing inside of her head.

"Be sure to send this message to the little wolf." The voice said.

Suddenly, Sakura could see old memories flashing through her head. The memories were in black and white; but, they were extremely clear.

Sakura could see what looked like ancient China, made of hills and country land. She saw a beautiful house with a family all around. No sooner than that, the house was burning and people were screaming.

Memories sped through Sakura's mind, playing scenes of tragedy before her. She didn't understand the concept of it all. Why was this happening?

Lastly, a memory of a young boy being taken away drifted though her mind. He was so sad and in so much pain. Why was this happening to him?

The creature released Sakura from its hold. She stumbled back, breathing hard. The creature began to walk away.

"Remember," its voice said, "tell the little wolf." With that, it sunk back into the ground from which it came.

Sakura did not hesitate to race home. She dropped the napkins in the doorway and bounded up the stairs. She quickly dialed Syaoran's number on her cell phone.

"Hello?" He answered.

Sakura burst into tears. "Syaoran, it was horrible."

"Sakura! What happened?"

"It-it came to me. The d-demon came to me." She chocked out.

"Sakura, listen to me." Syaoran said. "Stay where you are. I'm coming over right now!"

OOO

VictorianPearl: I hope you liked it. Please review!