Introduction
A year has passed since Li fell prey to the Evil Card, and he's trying to cope with the effects. With his dark side closer to the surface, he can get angry very quickly – a fact that everyone notices.
Since he moved back to Readington, Sakura has been the rock in his life, the only person able to keep him balanced. But when an argument gets out of hand, Li makes a drastic decision…to walk out of her life forever.
Another year passes, and Sakura is once again under threat from evil forces. But without Li to protect her, is this the end for the 16 year old Card Mistress?
The scars of the past come back to haunt them…
Chapter Seventeen; Closer To Home
It was a solemn, silent group that left the nursery. Hand held tightly in Eli's own pale one, Madison leaned slightly into the comfort he offered, face troubled as she thought back to how bad her own Younger Sibling had looked. Rose had been delirious, her fever loosening her tongue so that streams of nonsensical babbling came out of her small mouth, ginger hair plastered to her face with sweat.
Somehow, seeing her like that had affected Madison far more than any news programme could have.
Natalie too, was uncharacteristically quiet, distressed by the way Nile had simply smiled bravely at her, had told her not to worry because he was fine. All with tears of pain streaming from his eyes, with his hands trembling uncontrollably as they gripped feebly at the bedcovers.
"I can't believe things have got this bad…" Sakura whispered, clutching her hands helplessly into fists. "They're all sick, and we can't do anything!" Getting a grip on herself, Sakura looked at the others, emerald eyes swimming with unshed tears.
"But at least we're still healthy, right? So go on and have your ice-cream date, guys. You two deserve a little break from everything that's been happening recently." She said quietly. Eli and Madison exchanged glances, before turning back to Sakura and Natalie.
"Are you sure? Everything's just so screwed up right now…I'm not sure it's the right time to…" Eli began uncertainly. Natalie snorted slightly, putting her hands on the couple's backs and giving them a small shove down the street.
"Go and enjoy yourself you idiots! Do you think I'm just going to stand here and watch my crush and his love interest dance around forever? Yeesh! If I can't have Eli, then you better make damn good use of him Madison!" She proclaimed, shooting them the thumbs up.
Eli's eyes widened behind his glasses.
"Natalie…I never knew…"
"No biggie. Now for the love of God, date her!" She ordered, glaring at him until he'd taken Madison's hand and begun to lead her down the street. Trailing slightly behind him, the raven haired girl seemed to be in a daze, unable to cope with so much happening in such a short time.
Sakura stifled a smile, glancing at Natalie from the corner of her eye as she watched the new couple making their way down the street.
"You sure have a way with people, Natalie." She giggled. Natalie shrugged, a grin beginning to spread across her own face.
"Well, we couldn't just leave them to their own devices, could we? They'd never get anywhere."
Pausing, she looked down at her hands.
"Besides, I never stood a chance. I knew that right from the start." She whispered wistfully.
"Natalie…" Sakura stretched out a hand to the other girl, but Natalie's smile was back full force before she could even get close.
"Anyway, hadn't you better be getting back? You told Tori you'd be home in time for dinner, right?"
Hesitating a moment, Sakura nodded. Turning to make her way back to the bus stop, she glanced back at Natalie, loathe to leave her alone for some reason.
"What are you waiting for? Your bus will get there soon – you don't want to miss it!" Natalie laughed, shoving Sakura off in the same way she had pushed Madison and Eli.
But even as she laughed, Sakura found herself suddenly hearing the hollowness that hid within her friend's voice.
"Sakura! Thank God you're home!" Sakura started at Tori's outburst, instantly growing worried about the reason for her older brother's passionate exclamation.
"Tori? What's wrong?" She asked urgently, sliding her feet out of her shoes and into her bear slippers.
"It's Dad…he's come down with whatever the hell's sweeping through this town." Pausing, Tori stared down at his sister seriously, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura…he's really sick. He only really got ill a few hours ago, and he's already delirious. If the hospitals weren't already full, I'd say he was bad enough to go there."
Sakura gasped, hands flying up to cover her mouth in horror.
"Dad…? But…but he was fine this morning!" She insisted.
"I know. Like I said, he only got ill a few hours ago, and then it hit him hard…I had to leave my lecture early to come home and take care of him." Tori explained, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.
Sakura gazed at him in concern.
"You look exhausted, Tori. Do you want me to take over? I could make him some food while you take a nap…it's not any troub…"
"NO!"
Sakura froze at the vehement protest, unable to understand why Tori was so against her seeing her sick father.
"Tori…?" Her brother sighed wearily.
"I'm sorry Sakura, but you can't see Dad right now. Not until he gets rid of this virus, or bug, or whatever it is. The doctors say it's not contagious, but until they know exactly how it's passed on, I can't let you anywhere near Dad. If you got sick too, I'd never forgive myself."
"But…but what about you! You're seeing him, so why can't…"
"Sakura, I've been with him for most of the day…it's too late for me to avoid contact now. And anyway, who else is there to look after Dad? Try to understand…"
"No! It's not fair! I want to see him!" Sakura cried, whirling and rushing upstairs before Tori could stop her. For a moment he was horribly afraid that she'd just disobeyed him and gone to visit their father, but at the sound of her bedroom door slamming he visibly relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief.
Leaning against the hallway wall, his body was wracked by a sudden fit of coughing that passed as quickly as it had come. Thinking nothing of it, he shrugged and went to prepare something his father would hopefully manage to keep down.
"So how did your date go last night? I want to know everything! Was romance in the air? Did you go for a moonlit walk by the river? Did you…(gasp) do some serious kissing? Are we to get our wedding invitations any day now? Did…"
"Whoa, slow down Natalie!" Eli exclaimed helplessly, waving his hands in front of him in alarm. "We just went for ice-cream. In the afternoon. So no, no moonlit walk, no serious kissing, and we're much too young to be thinking about marriage after one date!"
Natalie's eyes twinkled mischievously as she picked up on the slight change of tone partway through Eli's protests.
"No serious kissing, hmm? Which means that there was at least some kissing involved then…" She said wickedly. Eli's mouth worked silently, face slowly turning red as he realised his mistake. Behind him, Madison covered her face with her hands, trying to hide the practically identical flush lying across her own fair features.
"Umm…I…" Thankfully, Madison and Eli were spared the nightmare of trying to get out of telling Natalie everything she wanted to hear by the door sliding open to reveal Sakura. However, it only took one look at her pale, anguished expression to realise that something was very wrong with their friend.
"Sakura! What's wrong!" Madison cried, rushing out from behind Eli's chair to grab her best friend's hand and lead her carefully over to her seat. Sakura shakily sat down, glancing around at her friends with scared eyes.
"Dad's ill too. And he's really, really sick." She said in a small voice. A hushed silence fell over the group, all thoughts about Madison and Eli's date falling away to be replaced with sheer worry for the Card Mistress.
"He was fine yesterday morning…but by the time I got home, he was already delirious…Tori's dropped his university lectures so that he can stay at home to look after him…but he wouldn't let me see him in case I caught it too…"
Madison wrapped her arms around Sakura's shoulders, pulling her friend into a reassuring hug.
"It'll be ok, Sakura. Your dad's tough – he'll get through this easily. And Tori's looking after him, right? So you know he'll be just fine."
Straightening up, Madison leant against Eli as her body was suddenly wracked with coughs, doubling over as they grew significantly worse.
"Madison!" Sakura said worriedly, standing up and reaching for her friend. The other girl simply shook her head, hand coming up to cover her mouth as she jerked against Eli.
Then the coughing fit was suddenly gone, leaving as fast as it had come. Standing upright and free of Eli's support once more, Madison smiled weakly at the crowd of concerned faces surrounding her, brushing her hair back from her face.
"It's fine, guys. I started coughing last night…it's probably nothing." She said lightly. Eli's arms were gripping her shoulders in an instant, brow furrowed as he scanned her body, his magic quickly sliding through her in search of what he feared.
Pulling back, he gazed at her silently, face troubled and serious before he pulled her harshly into his arms, folding her tightly into his embrace.
"You stupid, stupid girl…you're sick, aren't you? Really sick. You knew you were ill, and you were just trying not to worry us, weren't you? You idiot!" His voice cracked on the last insult, so uncharacteristic of the normally placid reincarnation of Clow.
Hands covering their mouths, Natalie and Sakura exchanged troubled looks as they realised the truth of the matter, only now taking in the very fine sheen of sweat that was beginning to show on Madison's forehead.
"Oh Madison…not you too…" Sakura moaned, tears springing to her eyes.
"I'm afraid so. But don't worry your little head, Avalon; I'm sure she'll get better soon. Or at least, as soon as you get your act together and face down my latest card." Eli jerked away from Madison as the cruel voice escaped from trembling lips, glaring at her in anger as she suddenly stood strong and upright, eyes flashing green in the artificial light of the classroom. And all at once he was very glad that they were the only ones there this early.
"Li! Are you saying that all of this is your doing!" Sakura exclaimed furiously, unable to believe that anyone could do something so callous, no matter how evil they were. A low chuckle came from Madison's throat, and Li moved his puppet's body closer to Sakura, relishing the look of pure anger he could see in her face as she looked at her possessed friend.
"Why, certainly. Who else could have come up with an idea so brilliant? Of course, Kuro was desperate to just attack you head on, but I find that sort of thing very foolish, so I went ahead with my plan instead….so tell me Avalon; how does it feel, watching your family and friends fall sick around you?"
Sakura's hand clenched itself into a trembling fist, shaking with the effort of restraining herself from hitting out, which would have only led to Madison being hurt instead of Li. Instead, she merely glared at the controlled girl, green eyes flashing angrily.
"I hate you, Li Showron. I never thought I'd say those words, but I do. I hate you more than anything."
Li laughed then, throwing out Madison's arms in a gesture of uncaring, the girl's dark hair flying about her face.
"Good for you! Now you can finally understand how I've felt about you for so long! But seriously, my time here grows short…I'm afraid that Madison is simply too sick for me to be able to use her body for long – a longer amount of time will mean my own spirit weakening as a result. So so long for now, Card Mistress Sakura. I'll be waiting for you with my lovely creation – but will you be able to stay healthy long enough to fight me?"
The green light in Madison's eyes dimmed suddenly, and she pitched forward, landing in Eli's arms. The pale boy cursed, placing a hand over her forehead and swearing under his breath as he felt the temperature.
"He's right, you know." He said lowly, glancing up at the concerned pair of girls hovering next to him. "She's way too weak to even be used as Li's telephone…and it's because she's been used as his telephone that she's like this, damnit!" Snarling the last sentence angrily, Eli curled a hand into a fist and slammed it against his forehead, eyes screwed up in helplessness.
"Even if we beat this card, even if Madison recovers, if we don't cut this spell soon she'll die. Her body can't take the strain of being possessed so frequently…it's sucking her energy, and she's getting weaker and weaker."
Sakura let out a stifled sob, and Natalie wrapped a shaking arm around her, pulling the auburn haired girl close as she offered the little comfort she could give. The sound of the door sliding open drew their attention once more, and the group stared at their teacher in distress at he entered, Mr. Yoko's substitute coming to a halt as his experienced eyes scanned the room and settled on Madison's limp figure.
"Oh Christ, not another one…" He sighed tiredly, crossing the room quickly in large strides to crouch down next to his unconscious student, fingers skilfully finding her pulse. Lifting her up and out of Eli's arms, he grunted as he got to his feet, settling his gaze on the seemingly less shellshocked of the three, Natalie.
"Run and warn the Infirmary that they have another case coming. Tell them to ring this girl's home and inform her family of the situation…that is, if they haven't come down with this damn sickness too."
Nodding, Natalie hurried to do as he said, rushing out of the classroom with the teacher in close, but careful, pursuit. Pausing to stick his head back round the door, he jerked his head, expression serious.
"You two might as well go home. You're the only students left who haven't fallen prey to this thing." He stated, before hurrying after Natalie with his precious cargo.
Silently, and without looking at each other, the pair did as they were told.
Sakura walked slowly down the road, wearily coming to a stop outside of her house and pushing open the garden gate, beginning to make her way up the path. Cherry blossoms from the house round the corner littered the path, testament to the tragedy unfolding inside the house – had he been well, her father would never have stood for having such a messy garden, would have instructed either Tori or herself to tidy it if he hadn't been able to do so himself.
But her father lay ill in bed. And Tori was too busy, too occupied with the strain of not only caring for his sick parent but also taking over the running of the house.
On a sudden impulse, Sakura dropped her schoolbag on the porch and retrieved the rake from its hiding place between the wall and the bushes. She worked almost feverishly, attacking the strewn petals with nothing short of full effort, but once they were pushed into a neat pile in the middle of the grass, she fell still, staring at it with wide green eyes.
A light breeze blew down past the chimney of the house, angling down and sweeping the petals into a whirling eddy that lifted them far above the rough treatment of such a young girl. Sakura watched the display quietly for a moment, tired eyes and spirit appreciating the beauty of the sight. Then reality came crashing down on her again, and she sighed, stowing the rake away again and bending down to retrieve her bag.
Slipping it back onto her shoulders, Sakura slipped her key into the lock and pushed the door open, calling out the usual "I'm home!" as she did so.
What wasn't usual was the heart stopping sight of her brother strewn haphazardly across the floor at the bottom of the stairs, head lolled to the side as if dead.
Author's Note
(Ducks missiles thrown at head) Waah! I'm so sorry guys! Although I did have about three months of solid coursework, that's no excuse since I updated my other fics! The truth is...I got writer's block. I had no idea how to go from the end of the last chapter to where I wanted, and in the end I had to sit down for a few days with a pad of paper and write a basic plot summary of the next few chapters. So I'm sorry everyone! I'll try and update again superfast to make up for it!
I'm finding it so hard to use the dubbed names now...when I started this, all I'd ever seen were the dubbed episodes. But now I've seen fansubs of the original show, I want to use the Japanese names! Gah! But for the sake of continuity, I will prevail!
Read and review please!
x3forgott3n dreamz - Sorry it too so long to update! And I know, Syao's really being stupid, isn't he? But I can't wait for the last few chapters, because he...sorry, that would be telling!
krn5rul3- Glad you love it! Sorry for taking so long to continue!
BeyMistress05 - Thanks for your comments! And thanks for your vote too! But I really kept you waiting this time, huh? Bet you thought I'd never update this fic again!
Dragon Star16 - Glad you liked it, and sorry for the ridiculous amount of time it took me to update!
KOKORO - Thankyou so much for the warning about my chapters being out of order! I have no idea how it happened, but when I read your review and checked, they'd all been switched! Can't tell you how long it took me to correct them...but please don't be depressed over my fic!
Bloodcherry - Heh...a very late merry christmas to you too! All hail our club of weirdness! Thanks for your comments - I hate those 4 chapter fillers too! Thanks for your vote, and I'm sorry you lost out to C!
Destinyaquablossom - Li is so so stupid...did I email you in the end? I am so sorry that I can't remember...my brain's all fuzzy from doing high-precision graphic drawing work solidly for the last few months...
Anime Flower - Thanks for the vote! And what a review! Thanks so much! And I feel sorry for Hunter too...he was only meant to appear once, but I loved him so much he had to get a bigger part! And will Syao become good again? That would be telling, although I can tell you that there will be some Tori and Li interactions coming up in the next few chapters so watch out!