Summary: Sakura's heart and memory held in her Crystal Pendant was shattered and has flown into different dimensions. Now it's up to Syaoran to travel through different times and worlds to find the pieces of her broken life. SxS Pairing! R&R PLZ!(Sequel To Pain)
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Sakura's Memory
(A/N:) – Author's Note
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, TRC, or any other anime I put in here...
Last Time...
"Thank you. I thought I lost him." she replied softly. "But we have to go now and prepare dinner." Shiro looked at Sakura one last time before she closed the door with worried eyes.
"What to do?" the young teen whispered as she sat down again.
"We'll just have to think of something to make sure that Shiro's mother doesn't get hurt. She seemed so young. We shouldn't let someone so young die so fast." Miroku replied. Everyone was silent for now.
A/N: Aha! I have FINALLY an update for you patient people out there...Please do forgive me for being late though...I had a more than rough month...trust me...if it were you in my life...you'd understand. Well anyways...enough talk...here's chappie four!
Chapter Four: Monster Mishap
By: Ame-chan
Sakura and Kagome decided to walk around the village to calm their stress, talking quietly as the sun set over the mountain, creating a dark shadow to loom across the village. Sakura was staring blankly out into a small pond nearby as they passed.
"So Sakura-chan, tell me more about our time, after all, I haven't returned in a while." Kagome stretched and put her hands behind her back, turning her attention to her new friend. Sakura looked at her confused.
"What do you mean?" she mumbled, the surprise flickering in her eyes. Kagome smiled.
"You know, is it alright in our time? Is there anything wrong going on in Japan?" Sakura looked down and watched as she passed by small brown pebbles on the dirt road.
"I'm not sure myself. When I first woke up, I had no idea where I was. It's hard to keep up with the world if you don't remember anything in the past." Sakura whispered, looking up to search for stars. Kagome remained silent.
"Don't you feel...alone sometimes?" she asked, looking up with her, spotting the first twinkling star in the darker parts of the sky.
"I have Syaoran-kun with me, but for some reason, I find that sometimes he's quite troubled around me. I'm not sure of that either." the Cherry Blossom stopped to admire a particular tree that seemed so familiar to her, but she couldn't find out what about it did.
Kagome walked over to it and looked closely at the beautiful blossoms. "Beautiful cherry blossoms aren't they?" the miko closed her eyes and smelt their sweet scent.
"Cherry Blossoms..." Sakura repeated, trying to remember where she heard it from. Kagome grinned endlessly.
"Yes, cherry blossoms. Sakura, like your name." Sakura smiled gratefully at her new friend. She was so kind and fun to be around with.
"Sakura-chan, I think we should get ready to go back. Maybe they thought of something already." Kagome turned back to Sakura and walked up to her. Sakura nodded, and walked with her friend down the same path back to their house.
--In the Forest—
Eyes that seemed like blue glass gleamed in the darkness. She was beautiful, with her wavy dark purple hair toppling over her shoulders to her back, her lips red like roses, curled into an evil smile.
"Shiruku, fetch me another girl. I'm must be prettier!" she demanded, pointing a slender finger at her servant. A shard of the Shikon Jewel and a piece of Sakura's memory was clearly visible in the gorgeous hair piece she wore, giving her power to do what she wanted. "I want to be the prettiest in the world, where no man can stand my beauty!" she grinned evilly and laughed, as her servant left the forest and went to attack the village for a girl for his master.
--Sakura's Place—
Sakura walked slowly about, they hadn't noticed before that they wondered off so far from their small, cozy house, and Kagome stopped at once when she heard a slight rustling in the forest beside them.
"What's wrong, Kagome-chan?" she asked, looking at her frowning friend.
"Sakura-chan...I hear something coming." she whispered, feeling shivers crawl up her back. Her eyes were looking down to concentrate on the noise, as Sakura's eyes were looking into the forest. Her eyes widened.
"Kagome-chan! Run!" Sakura grabbed Kagome's sleeve and made a run for it down the pathway, as a giant monster like thing thrashed out of the woulds, breaking many trees in it's way.
"Kagome-chan! We can't lead it to the village. We have to lead it somewhere else!" Sakura panted as the monster chased after them. "I'll distract him. You go and get the others quick!" Sakura ran another way as Kagome ran the other way back to the village. The monster continued to chase the tired human girl that ran back into the forest, trying to catch up.
Sakura's heart pounded so hard in her chest that she could hear it in her head. She ran into and open area surrounded by plenty of cherry blossom trees. The sudden white and pink colors startled her as she ran through the grassy plains, the moon watching her every move.
When Sakura had reached the edge of the blossom surroundings, a barb wire fence was surrounding it. Why out of all places did it have to be here? She panted none stop and felt numb in the cool air. The monster stopped chasing her, but kept her in the corner so she wouldn't escape. 'I hope Kagome got back in time.' Sakura closed her eyes tight, but reopened them as she heard some laughing.
A beautiful lady floated down from the air and stood beside her pet monster, which turned into a small, cute, red, little critter. Sakura blinked and felt like all this chasing was a joke.
The little critter looked much like a bunny, but the ears had circle patterns on it, and a black nose. It jumped up into the woman's arms and replied as she stroked it's little head. "Well, Shiruku, you picked a very pretty one this time. Much better looking than the other girls from the village. You seem...different." her grin gave Sakura a bad feeling.
"Oh yes, you seem quite confused, I see. Well, my name is Reuko, and I just love being pretty." Sakura sweatdropped. She was being chased by this monster that was actually a small bunny like thing, and then she's trapped and some woman comes to her and she tells her that she loves being pretty?
"Of course my dear," Reuko continued. "I just have to gain your beauty. Especially your eyes. I'm sure those deep sea green eyes of yours would attract many men. I'll demonstrate what I have to do to gain it." Shiruku hopped out of her arms, and turned into that ugly monster again. "Go fetch me another one, just for the fun of it." she smiled lightly, as Sakura just stood there, thinking about a way to escape.
--Village—
Kagome reached the little house in time, and told everyone what had happened.
"And now, I don't know where she is." Kagome panted, still exhausted and scared from all the commotion.
"Why don't Kirara and I go out and search for her? I doubt they went very far. I'll try and come back as soon as possible." Sango picked up her Hiraikotsu and walked with Kirara out the door. Kirara transformed and let Sango sit on her back as they flew off into the air in the direction that Sakura ran.
"I hope Sakura-chan's okay..." Kagome felt bad for leaving her friend behind, but she had to tell the others about it, or else they both would have been chased down by the monster.
Syaoran was tense. He picked up his sword and started for the door. Fai raised a brow at him.
"And where are you going, Syaoran-kun?" he smiled, as always and waited for his reply.
"I'm going to find Sakura, no matter what. Mother told me to protect her, so I'm going to find her. I'm not going to leave her outside in the woods." was his reply, as he walked out the door.
"Hmm...looks like we have to follow." He got up, with mokona in his arms, and sighed.
"Why do we have to help this kid?" Kurogane huffed, staying where he was sitting. Fai smiled.
"Because that was the job that the dimensional witch gave us. Of course, we have to do out jobs, right?" Kurogane sighed and got up, dusting his pants and followed his group.
"We'll stay, just in case that monster creep comes up in the village and try to kill it." Inuyasha muttered, his ears twitching as he shifted from his uncomfortable spot on the wooden floor.
Syaoran sighed as the cool night air touched his warm skin, causing him to shudder from the sudden cold. Something could be heard in the distance, where the forest was. 'I have a bad feeling about this...' he thought, looking towards to direction of the noise.
"So Syaoran-kun, should we head off before it's too late?" Fai put his hands behind his head, noticing that Syaoran seemed a bit out of place. The troubled teen snapped back to reality.
"Yeah...of course..." he cleared his throat and started to walk into the forest, when a loud CRASH! could be heard in the other side of the village.
Inuyasha and Miroku rushed out of their temporary resting spot and looked to see if they could get a better view of all the commotion.
"Kagome, go with the others. It's too dangerous for you to fight. Go now!" Inuyasha growled as Kagome came out as well with her bow and arrow.
"Come Li-san, this way!" Kagome ran ahead of Syaoran's group with them following behind.
--Meanwhile...—
The ugly monster was stamping around the main area of the village, looking around to spot the headmaster who usually had a woman ready to be taken from it.
In the distance, Inuyasha and Miroku could hear crying from a small boy, who's mother was being taken by the headmaster's helpers. (A/N: I have no idea what they're called...so bear with me...P)
"You can't take mommy away like that!" Shiro, the little boy from before was trying to pull the guards back from his mother, who was trying to get out of their rough grips.
Miroku sighed. "I'll go help Shiro and his mother, you go and take care of this demon." The dog demon nodded and continued his path, as Miroku helped Shiro's mother from being taken from these nasty guards.
"Please excuse me, but what are you doing to that harmless lady?" Miroku walked up to them, standing in front of Shiro's mother.
The guards were taken back, then looked fierce again, putting on a scowling face. "We were sent by the headmaster to capture this woman and give it to the demon. If we don't give her to it, we might as well die!"
"Ah, but have you ever tried to fight back? Have you ever thought that people here suffer from losing loved ones? Just handing these woman over isn't going to help you. Your headmaster must have been a coward if he didn't try to fight back." Miroku replied coolly, putting a hand on his hip.
The guards were silenced. It was true. They had never experienced the pain of having someone taken from their family. Now that they thought about it, it seemed so cruel. They looked down in shame.
"Now..." the monk continued, "You might want to get out there, risk your lives to save your village. Even if you die, you would be known to have helped the village at least. Try to do something right."
Sango was flying back and heard what Miroku had said. She seemed quite surprised. "Since when was Miroku not such a lecturous person?" her lips curled into a smile, thinking that this perverted monk was actually putting some sense into the guards.
"Kirara! Let's go to where Miroku is." Kirara understood, growling and landed beside Miroku.
"Wow. Since whendid you talk about this sort of stuff?" Sango had hopped down and stood beside him.
"Of course, I am a monk after all..." he replied, his hand snuck around her back and...
SLAP! "Miroku! Just when I thought you were being sincere!" Sango's face turned red, hands in a fist. The hand mark on Miroku's face was clearly visible.
"I think you might have slapped me on the cheek too many times in the same place." was the monk's reply, as he rubbed his sore cheek once again. Sango crossed her arms and turned away from him.
"Um...excuse me..." Shiro's mother sweatdropped as she had watched the small scene between the monk and the demon exterminator. "But thank you for helping me with those guards. I wouldn't have the slightest idea what would happen to my poor little Shiro if I was taken away from him." Her son was clutching onto his mother as relief was shown in his soft eyes, peering at the two people standing in front of them.
--Inuyasha—
Inuyasha had taken out his Tetsusaiga and was now watching as the monster stomped around and actually took the moment to watch the scared, innocent people flee from that certain area as it thrashed about their homes.
"Hey! Ugly! Why don't you pick on someone that has the power to fight you?" the confident dog demon replied, placing his weapon gently behind his head, on his shoulders, like he usually does.
Shiruku swerved around at Inuyasha, glaring and growling at him, walked over making the ground shake like an earthquake.
"Keh, I'm not afraid of you." Inuyasha replied, turning his head slightly and pretending to yawn, as the red demon clutched the ground in fury, since it realized that this dog demon was not afraid of it.
"I bet you can scare, but you can't fight!" Inuyasha ran quickly on his feet and jumped to it's stomach, sticking his sword right through it, making Shiruku yowl in pain. Inuyasha smirked, thinking that the demon was dead. But it suddenly healed.
"What the hell?" the dog demon exclaimed, jumping away from Shiruku's huge, claw-like hand. He growled.
His powers had grown much stronger since he fought so many demons in the past. Usually, a slash or two of his strong sword would have killed such a weak demon...unless in had a Shikon jewel shard!
"Heh, so you have a jewel shard, don't you." Inuyasha came back at it again and tried to slash it in two, hoping that the shard would show up somewhere.
"Aha! There it is!" He reached for the shining object before Shiruku could reform himself. "Got it!" the triumphant dog demon jumped through the monster as it evaporated, leaving a small, cute little bunny in it's place, with it's eyes in spirals. Inuyasha sweadropped. "The village was being rampaged by a little bunny with a jewel shard? That's just stupid."
The small jewel shard clutched in his hand seemed different. The strong feeling that it sent out was not the same as the one that he was looking for.
"What?" he mumbled, opening his clenched hand and noticed that the color was...pink? "What the hell? This isn't a jewel shard!"
--Syaoran and others...—
"When we were running away from that monster, Sakura-chan ran that way." Kagome raised a finger and pointed at a faded trail leading in the other direction of the village.
"Let's go then." Syaoran walked ahead, as Kagome suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"I sense a jewel shard!" Her eyes turned sharp and tried to focus on where it was.
"Mokona feels Sakura's energy as well! That way!" Mokono hopped onto Syaoran's shoulder and pointed at the direction that Kagome sensed the jewel shard.
"Come on!" Kagome broke out running down the path and turned a corner. The rest followed.
"This place...is beautiful." Kagome awed, stepping the fielded area surrounded by Sakura blossoms.
Syaoran looked about this serene area, spotting Sakura by the fence with another girl about the same age as her.
"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled, running towards her, ignoring the questioning look on the mysterious girl's face.
"Syaoran-kun! You came!" Sakura felt so relieved in seeing someone she knew, even though she didn't.
"This boy...are you two together?" The pretty girl pointed at the two. Everyone sweatdropped. Sakura and Syaoran blushed.
"Ah...Syaoran she's the enemy! She uses this bunny thing that turns into a monster to collect girls from the village for her own beauty." Sakura whispered, turning her attention towards Syaoran, who suddenly embraced her, since of course, he was in love with her. Sakura didn't seem to notice.
But the enemy noticed how worried Syaoran seemed when he saw Sakura over there. She cast her eyes down, trying not to remember her sad past before her great beauty. She was suddenly jealous.
"Why would you go for this girl? Don't you think I'm prettier?" She waved her hair back with her hand, looking deep into Syaoran's amber orbs.
Syaoran scowled. "You may be beautiful, but inside, I know that you're cruel." he kept his grip around Sakura's waist as he said this. 'I'm never letting Sakura out by herself anymore.' he thought, clutching onto her waist a little tighter. This time, Sakura noticed and blushed really red.
"Syaoran, um...you can let go now. I'm fine." she replied softly, trying not to look at him in the eyes. 'Yet...it seems so right...I feel as if I'll be lost if he let me go.' Sakura thought, starting to regret telling him to let her go.
Then, as Sakura glanced at the enemy again, she saw sadness in her glassy blue eyes. She felt instantly sorry for her.
"Hey, why are you doing this? There must be a reason for everything." the sweet cherry blossom replied more softly. The girl looked into her eyes, seeing only innocence and kindness towards all. She felt guilty under such a pure gaze.
"I'll tell you. My name is Reuko. And yes, there is a reason to why I'm kidnapping others for their beauty. You see, back then, I used to live in that village a year ago. But I left for one simple reason. I used to love this boy all my life. He was a gentle caring person, but all the other girls swooned over him. I was the only one who watched those pathetic girls crowd around him. When he started to notice I was lonely, he came up to me, smiled at me, and warmed my heart. We played together as friends, until we knew practically everything about each other. But never once have I told him about my feelings towards him. A few years later, I was ready to tell him. But when I went looking for him, he was talking and playing with another girl."
"I simply...avoided him. And everyday, our relationship slowly broke apart. I had to admit, that girl was pretty, and I thought that he liked her because of that. I felt so hurt. I never told him that I loved him. I was too late." A tear formed in her eye as her memory flashed in her eyes. Sakura showed much sympathy in her eyes as she watched the tear fell and landed in the green grass.
"Actually, you know this place here. I used to sit in the middle every night, crying until I fell asleep. Often my mother scolded me for going out all the time at night. But I didn't care. One night, as I watched the stars in my favorite spot. It was really windy, but I didn't care. At that time, I spotted two small objects glistening in the grass near me. I picked it up, and I felt so powerful with it just setting them in my hand. That was when I started to use it's power to capture other girls for their beauty. I would make myself more beautiful than anybody on the world and try to get my love back."
Sakura sighed. It was a short sad story. "So now you're beautiful. But usually, love doesn't consist of how beautiful you are, but how you are on the inside. You don't have to look pretty to gain someone's love." Sakura replied softly, taking Reuko's hand.
"You really think so?" Reuko whispered, looking up towards the star-sprinkled sky. Sakura nodded and gave her best smile, making Reuko smile as well, a real, true smile.
"So, would you please let these poor innocent people go? The girls that you have taken?" Sakura asked, the star's reflection prancing in her beautiful emerald eyes. Reuko hesitated for a moment, but then agreed. No more being pretty anymore.
Reuko plucked the two shards from it's place and placed them in her hand. Almost instantly, little marble like balls appeared in front of her, scattering all over the fields. The little bubble like things grew large and then popped, girls taking it's place. As this happened, a normal teen was standing in front of them, someone not ridiculously pretty.
"You've done the right thing. You should be happy." Sakura smiled. Suddenly, there was a rustling noise in the trees. Everyone stood still, listening to what it was. (A/N: All the girls are sleeping...lolz)
And out popped...INUYASH! Startling Sakura, who hid in Syaoran's arms. Syaoran scowled.
"Be careful. You scared the life out of Sakura. God, we thought you were that monster." he replied, trying to calm Sakura down.
"You mean this thing?" Inuyasha held up a cute sleeping little bunny.
Reuko suddenly rushed up to him and took her little bunny pet back. "Oh my gosh! Shiruku! What happened?" she was frantic, cradling her poor pet like a little baby.
"I also found this in it too." Inuyasha held out a small piece of a jewel.
"Hey! That's Sakura's piece of her pendant. I think that's why it could turn into a monster." Syaoran put his hand on his chin. Reuko seemed surprised.
"Is that how you started changing into that monster?" she cooed, tickling it's stomach.
Miroku and Sango had flown on Kirara ad reached the others, who was standing by Reuko.
"Hey, that's a shard of the Shikon Jewel, and that other one is mine." Sakura pointed at each piece and took the piece that was hers.
"Oh. So you mean...you have magic?" Reuko looked at her n confusion.
"Yeah." Syaoran replied for her, shivering a little in the cold. "And the other one's for Inuyasha and Kagome."
"Right..." Reuko replied, handing the other jewel to Kagome.
"So should you go back to the village and live your life again?" Sakura asked, helping one of the other girls up, who was dizzy.
"Yeah. I have to return with the other girls anyways. Come with me." Reuko smiled gratefully, leading the group back to the village.
--At the Village—
Someone shouted, "Hey! All the girls and woman are back!" as they spotted a group of girls walking back from the forest. "And I bet those strange people helped!"
Reuko felt a little wierd coming back to the village after a long while. As every other girl went back to their families, Reuko stopped as she spotted one woman with a little boy with her.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, and looked to where her new friend was looking.
"That's the girl..." Reuko whispered, "The one who was with the guy I liked." Sakura nodded. It was Shiro and his mother. Seems like she spotted her as well, because she started to walk towards them.
"R-Reuko? Is that you?" Shiro's mother stammered. (A/N: Sorry, I forgot to name her. Just call her Aruka for now...P)
"Yes, why?" she answered, without much emotion. "Aren't you suppose to be with your husband? I thought you were married to him." She noticed the little boy with her.
Aruka sighed. "Yes, but only because you dissapeared." Reuko looked quite surprised.
"What? How come? I don't get it." was Reuko's reply.
"Back then, he was engaged to me. Trust me, I knew that he didn't want to marry me. But his family didn't allow the engagement to be broken unless he found someone that he loved. He loved YOU Reuko. He told me all about you. The reason why he was avoiding you was because he needed advise from."
"But ever since you left, he could marry you, so he was stuck marrying me." Aruka smiled a little, then it fell again. "He felt so sad without you." Reuko blinked and tried to process the information into her head.
"See, it was all a misunderstanding." Sakura replied. patting her friend's back.
"So...where is he now?" she asked, her voice trembling. Aruka looked down.
"He was sent to find that demon that was kidnapping the woman from the village. He left and never came back."
"oh" was the response Reuko gave before she started crying. 'It was all my fault! If I haven't sent Shiruku out to get woman for beauty and destroying anything in it's way, he would still be alive right now.' she thought bitterly, wanting to kill herself right there.
"I-i-it's all m-my fault!" Reuko blurted out, covering her face as she cried. Aruka came and gave a small friendly hug.
"Of course it's not. Why don't you stay at my place? I can't believe you came back. He told me all about you. You shouldn't blame yourself."
the crying teen sniffed and looked at Sakura. "Thank you so much for making me understand what love is about. I wouldn't have come back here if it wasn't for you."
Sakura smiled. "Of course, as long as you understand."
"Come now Reuko, we can sort things out and start on a new life okay?" Aruka lead Reuko back to her house.
Sakura went back to the group and sat down, exhausted.
"Sakura, here's your two pieces of the pendant." Syaoran replied softly, handing her the glittering pieces of a jewel. It automatically floated up and started to disappear in her chest, where her heart was. Her eyes gleamed and widened as a memory suddenly rushed back to her.
It was snowing outside and she was sitting in her desk, as other students came in, chatting excitedly about Christmas.
Sakura was clutching onto a cute little bunny as a present, but she couldn't remember who. Tomoyo suddenly came and spotted the little stuffed toy in her hands.
"Wow! That's a cute present! I can't believe he gave you that!" her gaze turned towards the empty behind her.
'But...there's no one there.' Sakura turned, seeing nothing in the spot behind her. 'Why isn'y anyone there?'
Sakura's blank eyes started to form a tear. "Why isn't anyone there?" she whispered, trying hard to remember. "Who gave me that little stuffed animal?" she whispered once again.
Syaoran scowled. 'She remembered the stuffed bunny I gave her. But why can't she remember that I gave it to her?' he thought, but it was pushed away as Sakura started to lean on him, unconscious.
Fai smiled, as usual. "Sakura's tired. Why don't we rest before moving on?" Everyone nodded in agreement and they lay down in their own comfortable way.
'Why?' Syaoran thought one last time before sleep took over.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Aha! I made and EXTRA long chappie for you people...lolz...hope it was good...even though it was lame...but hey! It's practically 4500 words for once! lolz...anyways...please review for me!
Ame-chan
