VictorianPearl: Yay, these chapters are coming up fast. Although this one is going to be posted a couple of days later then I originally wanted…

Li: It's alright, nobody's complaining, and if they are, I haven't heard anything.

VictorianPearl: Yes, well…I wish I could get my chapters up when I say I'm going to get them up. I would be frustrated if someone said they were going to post a chapter one day but decided to post it later.

Li: Well don't remind them of their own frustration.

Chiharu: What's up with you anyway Li? You come and go randomly. whispers Does anyone even like you?

Li: Let's just say I have a complicated schedule.

VictorianPearl: On with the show!

Living Metonymy

Chapter 8 An Unexpected Fight

Syaoran's sweet face turned sour as he spotted Meiling descending the stairs; arm in arm with Raiden. They were both smiling brightly…too brightly. It made him wonder if something had happened that shouldn't have happened.

Sakura looked up toward where Syaoran was looking. She couldn't help but laugh.

"I wouldn't worry too much Syao-kun. That's Raiden-kun that Meiling-chan is with. He would never do anything disrespectable or short of honorable to her."

Syaoran looked a little doubtful. "I hope you're right. I don't want to see her get hurt again."

Sakura wrapped her arms around Syaoran's waist. "Trust me; it will all be fine, just have a bit of faith."

Their conversation was cut off as Tomoyo stood on a chair, getting everyone's attention.

"Hello, I know I'm not the hostess, but I'm going to be for one minute. Grab a partner and get ready to dance! I hope you all know how to tango."

The rest of the night passed wonderfully. The next day would hold more trials for our heroes. It would not be Sakura and Syaoran, although, who would have to face the new trial.

OOO

Raiden breathed in the air deeply. He couldn't believe what had happened last night. He was usually the shy and quiet boy at the party, but last night he felt so much livelier. He was lead to do something that he never would have done under normal circumstances. It was that something that lead him to where he was right now.

Raiden was walking with Meiling through the park. It wasn't just any simple walk that they were on though, it was a date.

Now Raiden was not the type of boy to ask out a girl after only knowing her for one night…or even one year. Last night though…events seemed to unfold in front of him and destiny was shown. Walking in on Meiling crying didn't seem like such a coincidence at the moment.

"So," Raiden started. "What do you plan to do with your life?"

Meiling thought for a moment. "I like to fight, so I guess something in that area of the field."

"You fight? That's awesome, how did you come to do that?"

Meiling looked up at him, somewhat surprised that he was so interested in her. "Do you want the long version or the short version?"

"The long version," Raiden replied.

"We had better take a seat then."

OOO

"She what!" Syaoran yelled.

Sakura and Kero winced. They had come by Syaoran's apartment that morning. Sakura naively mentioned Meling's leaving with Raiden which didn't go over too well with Syaoran.

"Why are you so mad about it?" Kero asked. "Not only is Meiling capable of taking care of herself, but; you're the one who is encouraging her to lead her won life."

"How have I encouraged her to lead her own life?" Syaoran asked the sun guardian.

"Let me think…you made her live in a separate apartment room from you. Or did you only do that so that Sakura could sneak into your apartment more often?"

"That's not it!" Syaoran cried, blushing a shade of scarlet. He turned toward Sakura. "Why did you bring the stuffed animal anyway?"

Sakura sweat dropped. "He insisted…"

"Damn strait I did." Kero interjected. "I saw what happened one night, about a week ago from the party."

Both Syaoran and Sakura were blushing furiously now. Kero's topic was soon dismissed as Sakura brought up her reason for coming.

"I think that we would try talking to the demon." Sakura suggested.

Syaoran gaped. "Although that would be the best was to solve a problem, this demon is clearly all action and little talk."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I knew that Syao-kun. I was suggesting that we force him to talk to us."

How do you propose we do that?" Kero asked.

"We could try to trap it or corner it. We only need to understand the tie between ancient China and Syaoran." Sakura said.

"Did you rehearse that last night?" Kero asked.

Sakura raised an eyebrow that immediately shut the little beast up.

"It's definitely worth a shot." Syaoran said. "Let's start working on a plan."

OOO

"So Sakura is actually a sorceress of these magical cards, she has two guardians, one of which is in Yukito. Your cousin, Syaoran, was a Cardcaptor until Sakura became Mistress of the Cards. He has magical powers and has a magic sword. You used to help out but there has been no magic since then?" Raiden repeated.

Meiling nodded. Why she told Raiden years worth of secrets, she could not say. It was as if her heart and mouth took temporary control of her body and blurted out everything. She was only on her first date too! She prayed that she hadn't just done something incredibly stupid.

Raiden frowned a little. "I'm not saying that I don't believe you. I just need to see some of this magic to be one hundred percent convinced."

One cue, the black demon arose from the ground and stood in front of Meiling and Raiden in the deserted park.

"Is that convincing enough?" Meiling asked dryly.

"More than enough," Raiden replied breathily.

"You should stay back Raiden-kun." Meiling said, getting into fighting stance.

"I might have not had as much training as you, but I was trained in martial arts." Raiden replied.

Meiling actually tore her eyes away form the demon to look at the American boy next to her. "Really?"

"I told you that my parents were obsessed with Asian culture." Raiden said, giving a smile.

The demon stepped closer, putting both of the fighters on alert. The demon stopped advancing and crouched down into a fighting stance. A moment of utter silence passed through the park. In a split second, both sides launched into an attack.

The demon jumped at Raiden, wanting to take out what looked like a more threatening target. Raiden leaned back as the demon fell toward him. Right before the demon made contact, Raiden dropped to the ground. The demon soared over Raiden and landed in a crouched position.

Meiling sent a flying kick at the creature, which contacted it's shoulder. The creature skidded back a few feat, but managed to jump and avoid Meiling's next attack.

Once the demon landed, Raiden was able to send a mighty punch to the demon's chest, causing it to stumble. The demon's eyes glowed red, showing Meiling and Raiden that it was very angry.

The two fighters took stance again, but didn't have to hold long. The demon's hands began to glow green with magic. It was ready to play dirty. It unleashed a series of blows upon them.

Raiden darted to the trees while Meiling fell into a series of back flips. The exploding green magic always seemed to just miss her. She quickly rolled into a back summer salt, barely managing to take cover behind a bulky tree.

The creature concentrated its energy, attempting to build it up. Before any attack could be played by the demon, it was immobilized by Raiden. He had come up behind the creature and managed to tightly pull it's arms tightly behind it's back. The creature would not be held long though.

Raiden was barely able to hold the creature; it was thrashing about so much.

"Meiling-chan!" He cried out. "Why is this thing here? How do we get rid of it?"

Meiling ran out form her hiding place toward the demon and Raiden. "What do you want from Syaoran?" She cried at the demon. She was angered by the stupid thing's random attacks.

The creature gave a chuckle. "What do I want, you want to know?" A voice said without the use of a mouth. "I want him to suffer."

"Suffer this!" Meiling cried, launching a punch at the creature.

The creature melted back into the ground, causing Meiling to fly into Raiden's chest. He automatically locked his arms around the Chinese girl's waist and pulled them away from the spot where the demon fell. As they looked at the grass, there was no sign of it.

Meiling looked up a Raiden from in his arms. "I think we need to tell Syaoran about this."

OOO

"I can't believe he fell for the ice cream trick." Syaoran murmured against Sakura's neck.

Sakura breathed hard. "It works every time; he'll be gone for hours."

Syaoran kissed Sakura thoroughly on the lips, pressing against her on the couch. He trailed his kissed down to her chest. Sakura moaned and arched her back, her hands running through Syaoran's hair. He pushed her thin straps down and brought his warm kisses down her shoulders.

Sakura shivered at his lips on her skin. Every time he kissed her, she remembered just how much she missed him. Her lips moved feverishly against his as he brought more kisses to her full lips.

Syaoran moaned in Sakura's mouth as he felt her hands slip under his shirt and move up his chest. He momentarily broke away to pull his shirt off over his head. He was soon brought back down by Sakura's twining arms around his neck. He loved the way she felt so warm against his bare chest.

As Sakura's hands were tracing over Syaoran's back, she felt a rigid, long scar set diagonally across his back. The thought that he had endured what was probably magical pain only make her kiss him harder. What had happened during those eight years? The distant look he got in his eyes when it was mentioned was enough to break her heart.

All of Sakura's thoughts were wiped away as Syaoran's warm hands slowly moved up her stomach. She arched her back against his. He was very close to pushing her shirt up when the phone rang.

Syaoran's hands immediately jerked back to him. He gave Sakura a quick apologetic and embarrassed look before getting up to answer the phone.

Sakura propped herself up against the back of the couch. Wow, how far would that have gone if the phone had not rung? She blushed to thin about what had happened right before it rang. IT was then that she started to listen to Syaoran's conversation.

"You what? It what? HE WHAT!" Syaoran cried into the phone. "Listen, I want you to come strait to the apartment and tell me exactly what happened. Okay, hurry, and be safe."

Sakura heard the gentle click of the phone against the receiver and watched as a flustered Syaoran re-entered the room. "What's wrong? Who was that?" Sakura asked.

"It was Meiling." Syaoran started, stress evident in his voice. "She and Raiden Wilson were attacked by that thing while in the park."

Sakura clasped her hands to her mouth. "Oh no, are they alright?"

"I think so." Syaoran replied. "I just hope that she and Wilson weren't to shaken…especially Wilson."

"Do you not like Raiden-kun?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran frowned. "It's not that, it's just that I don't know him personally. I don't know what he's capable of doing. I would just feel better if I knew him."

Sakura smiled warmly at her love. "I think your chance will arrive in about five minutes."

As Sakura predicted, Meiling and Raiden burst through Syaoran's apartment door exactly five minutes later. They were both panting, having run strait from whatever payphone they were at.

"Are you two alright?" Syaoran asked, shutting the door behind the both and leading them to the couch.

Both Raiden and Meiling drank form the water that Sakura gave them before answering. Syaoran was patiently waiting for their explanation in a chair set across form them. Sakura soon came and joined them.

"We were just walking through the park when it came up from the ground." Meiling started. She lapsed into how she and Raiden both fought the creature, surprising Syaoran a little that Raiden could fight. "I asked what it wanted, and it said that it wanted you to suffer."

Syaoran's face was set grimly. "It wants me to suffer?"

"Yes," Meiling replied. "But listen Syaoran, the thing was laughing at us. This is all just a game to it. The only thing it wants is you. The rest is for it's own sick entertainment. It's just doing this to see you get mad."

Syaoran nodded. "I can't say I'm not upset, but I'm not exactly angry either. I just hope we can figure this out before I do get angry."

"Don't worry Syaoran." Sakura said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll all be here to help you."

"You do mean all of us, don't you?" Raiden asked, meaning that he wanted to be included.

Syaoran looked at him. "You do know that this is very dangerous. This isn't like when Meiling told you about the Cardcaptors. This is much more extreme. If you want to fight, you could get hurt."

Raiden nodded. "I know. I did experience it first handed after all. But if Meiling wants to help fight, then I want to help fight with her."

Syaoran actually managed a small smile. "If you want to help then I won't try to stop you."

Meiling smiled as well. "Thank you Syaoran-kun."

For the moment, the four were relatively safe and happy. They would stay that way for short period of time. If it would be the same for everyone else, they would not be able to tell. Why was it that Eriol would not be able to protect Tomoyo though?

OOO

VictorianPearl: And so ends chapter 8.