Note: This is a semi-AU. It takes place years approximately 8 years after the series with the change that Li Syaoran has never been a part of Kinomoto Sakura's life. Neither has anyone in the Li clan. Therefore, the characters will be written accordingly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Nightfall

Prologue

Tokyo 2006

It was the dead of night and yet, the city was alive. Bright neon signs lit up thedark as cars and people littered the streets. Music pumped through the various clubs and alcohol ran freely. The night was a party. But one had to be careful; all sorts of creatures came out to play at night.

In a cold stone alley a little ways away from the heart of chaos, a man with fangs taunted his prey.

"Little Card Mistress caught in a trap," he spoke in a taunting voice. The frail little girl that the man held strangled in his right hand was indeed the legendary Card Mistress.

'Tch, this girl the Card Mistress? She couldn't even sense my aura,' The man's free hand slowly unsheathed the katana that hung loosely at his hips.

"This katana," the man began as he admired the sharp blade, "was my father's. Now, Card Mistress, do you know what happened to my father?" His grip on the girl's neck tightened. The girl was having difficulty breathing and in turned choked out a breathless reply.

"No." The man smirked as he began to speak again, "He had been sent out on a mission. His job was to kill the Card Mistress. Unfortunately, she managed to get away. And do you know what happened to my father?"

The Card Mistress shook her head, the lack of air wasmaking it too difficultfor her tospeak.

"He was killed because he failed his mission. But now I shall avenge my poor weak father who failed to capture the weak Card Mistress."

Emerald eyes lit up with fury.She was not weak.Kinomoto Sakura, the one and only legendaryCard Mistress, was not weak. And she would not let some cocky, overconfident vampire call her weak. Gathering what was left of her energy, she summoned the Power card, concentrating the spirit into her legs. She then kicked upwards into the unsuspecting vampire's chest.

The vampire had been in the middle of an important life-ending speech when he was forced backwards into the brick wall behind him. The kick had knocked the breath out of him and now he wasstruggling to get up from the floor. The Card Mistress lay sprawled on the ground in front of him, gasping for air. His mind was screaming; this was his chance! Even though she had managed to escape his death grip, she was still currentlyunguarded and vulnerable. If only his body would obey the orders his mind was demanding.

Still panting heavily, Sakura pulled herself from the cold, concrete floor and walked towards the struggling vampire. With another kick infused with power's might, she delivered a heavy blow to the fanged man's stomach. The vampire rolled over onto his back side and froze.It seemed as if he had given up all hopes of escaping. Sakura, on the other hand, refused to waste anymore time. She straddled the vampire's body and swiftly pulled out a wooden stake hidden beneath her shirt. Leaning over close to the man's face, she whispered a small message into his ear.

"I am no weakling."With a wolfish grin, she stabbed into his heart with the stake and then slowly removed herself, and the stake,from the body.

Blood began to spill out from the chest wound as the body began to shrivel up. Sakura discarded of the stake and headed towards the main street. As she looked up into the sky, she noticedthesmall rays of lightcoming from the east horizon.

"Shit," she muttered to herself before breaking into a sprint.

Sakura crept stealthily into her small two room apartment. It was dawn and the Card Mistress had to make sure she did not awaken her sun guardian who would most assuredly lecture her if he found her in such a state so early in the morning.

As she tiptoed into her bedroom, she let out a relieved sigh. Kero was right where she had left him; passed out upon her wooden desk. She grabbed a change of clothes andheaded into the adjacent bathroom. There, she twisted themetal tabs above the small ovalbathtub and watched as the scorching water came pouring through the faucet. As the the tubstarted to fill, she began to strip off her dirty clothes.

Staring into the small mirror above the sink,she noticed a few purple bruises forming around her neck. "Damn vampire. Decides to sneak up on me when I'm fucking exhausted," she whispered to herself. She winced as her fingers brushed over the bruises. "Damn, the marks are getting past Illusion." She called off said card and looked towards the mirror once more.

Her healthy tan complexion became a sickly pale. Her beautiful bone structure became sharp and angular as the round face shrunk. Dark purple rings circled around bloodshot green eyes. Scratches and bruises marred her body while horrendous finger marks ringed around her neck.

Sakura knew she shouldn't have been surprised. She hadn't slept in weeks, the last time she ate properly was a month ago, and she'd been training rigorously every night from dusk to dawn. She'd fought numerous vampires, lycans, rogue sorcerers, and even the occasional demon. Of course she'd be bruised and scarred, it was completely normal!

But none of these thoughts stopped her from gaping at the image that stared back at her in the mirror. Her gape, however, was soon followed by a bitter smile.

"Oh, if you could only see me now Kira."

Pushing all thoughts away from her mind, Sakura slipped into the almost overflowing tub of water. As she lay there, dull eyes staring at the white ceiling above, she thought of a time when happinesshadn't beenjust an impossible dream.

A/N: Yes, Sakura can use her cards without using the wand. But she can't summon them to their fullest powers so the ideal situation for her is to use the wand. Anyway I realize it'squite short for all that I've said about it. But it's kind of necessary. The plot hasn't been introduced yet. Not really.Please review and tell me what you think!Also, on fight scenes: I'm not that great on them but there will be quite some fighting in this fic. I'll try my best so please, if you have any suggestions, voice them.

And thank you to my beta, Joyce.

Next Chapter: Memories

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