--- Sakura ---

"Hoooeee!" Sakura cried, running in just in time into the restaurant where she worked as

a waitress, the 'Saki Steakhouse'. It was a little restaurant with a nice, warm family

oriented atmosphere, mostly because Tomoeda residents went to it for special occasions,

like birthdays.

"I'm here Mr. Mitchertu, right on time, no reason to dock my wages!" she cried to

her boss as he looked up at her shaking his head, chuckling. Takai Mitchetu, the owner of

the steakhouse, was a man in his mid-forties with black hair and fiery orange eyes. He

was a very tall man who even beat Touya in height- and usually wore a mild, intelligent

expression on his bespectacled face, thought right now he looked just about ready to

laugh.

Sakura had been constantly coming in late for most of the month, even if it was

only a minute or two. Yesterday, when she yet again came late, he jokingly said if she

kept on coming late then he might dock her wages dollar a minute. She had of course

taken it seriously.

"Sakura," Mr. Michertu said, laughing, "You know I was just joking yesterday

about the wages." He smiled at her, as she sweat dropped, mumbling something hat

souned like "of course".

"I'm not that mean of a boss that I would do that to you Sakura, you know that,"

Mr. Michertu said as Tomoyo, who worked as a cook, popped out of the kitchen and

answered, "definitely not!"

The owner favored Tomoyo with a smile before she got back to work, before he

said to Sakura, "Don't worry, it doesn't matter. Though, now that I know that what I said

did get you to work on time..."

He looked at her mischievously, only to see she was no longer there, but furiously

cleaning the tables and saying, "Just forget about it!" nervously. He chuckled and got

back to his work.

Soon enough, the restaurant was open, though they got only a few customers in

the morning. By lunchtime, the place was buzzing and more help arrived as usual- Mr.

Michertu knew the most of his customers came in past twelve in the afternoon.

Tomoyo and Sakura had lunch around two, when most of the customers had left,

eating chicken sandwiches Tomoyo prepared for themselves- one of their benefits

working there was they could eat whatever they wanted from the restaurant- free.

The rest of the day went on as usual, with four people celebrating birthdays, and

one gigantic family reunion. When they got off at five, they were, as usual picked up by

Tomoyo's steady boyfriend, Eriol. Eriol and Tomoyo had bee dating for five years now;

their relationship was really steady. Sakura thought they were really sweet together-

Tomoyo was always planning surprises for the reincarnation with moonlit dinners and

love notes, while Eriol would patiently go through anything she asked of him, whether it

was sewing a costume and trying it on, to shopping for camcorders, and he was always

interested. They were perfect.

Sakura sighed as she watched them chat on the ride home, not helping but finding

herself a little jealous of the amethyst-eyed girl. She herself had no luck with love. Her

childhood love, Syaoran, had left her, and had never come back.

Throughout the years, she had of course dated others, but none of them, in her

mind, compared to the brown-eyed sorcerer. The longest time she had ever gone out with

anyone was a month. All her relationship ended quickly, topping her ill fortune in the

department of love.

Sakura snapped back into reality when roil rolled to a stop in front of Tomoyo's

house. "Thank you Eriol," she said sweetly, giving him a light kiss. "I'll see you later

tonight!" she said with a stunning smile, making the ever composed Eriol lose his

composure and brought a dreamy look to his face.

"Yes, I'll see you tonight." He lightly kissed her hand, making her giggle, before

she got out of the car and went to her house. He waited until Tomoyo was safely inside

before driving Sakura to her house.

"Sakura, I've been meaning to talk to you," Eriol said as he drove the car.

"Oh? About what? The English assignment? Your right, we should start working

on it-" Eriol cut her off, surprising Sakura a little.

"No Sakura, you know what I have to talk about," he said smoothly, looking at

her through his rear view mirror.

"Yes... The magic. Our Magic...It feels different...dirtier" She looked at Eriol.

"What's going on?" Eriol looked at her seriously, before responding, "I'm not sure

exactly. But I know that whatever is happening, it is somehow related to five sorcerer's

death's in America by unknown persons." Sakura looked up, stunned.

"Sorcerers were murdered?" she whispered, wondering what was going on. It was

not unusual for sorcerers to die; with all the feuds between the warring clans and houses,

many of them never got to see their thirtieth birthdays. What was strange about it was the

number killed: because of the dwindling numbers of sorcerers all over the world, all the

clans had come up with an unspoken rule for all battles to be one-on-one duels. At least

six men in a battle was unheard of.

"Yes, and not ones with little power, either. They were taken out together,

according to the autopsy reports." Sakura was thoroughly shaken. "The strangest part

about their deaths was that the traces of magic left on their bodies was...not normal...It

was said to look different from any they had seen." Sakura looked worried.

The past few years of her life had been spent without an attack against her at all.

She usually always had someone seeking her power, though most of them were only too

easy to take care of; only one or two ever made her struggle at all. In total she had dealt

with twenty-odd sorcerers who were out for her power. Now, when a real foe appeared,

she was thoroughly out of practice with using her magic. She needed to train, and train

fast, at that.

"Eriol, Do you think whatever this new power is- will it seek us out?" She

questioned. Eriol, pulling up to her house, let out a sigh.

"Truthfully, I'm not sure. I hope not, because we have to get ourselves prepared,

find out exactly what we're dealing with." Once he noticed he had worried Sakura, he put

the car into park, and turned around in his seat to face her. "But either ways, I have a

strong and capable Card mistress who has done her job perfectly, without warning or

knowledge of the dangers at all, and who I am sure will be able to deal with this new dark

force." He gave her an encouraging smile. She smiled weakly.

"Thanks, Eriol." She stepped out of the car, and went into her house still deeply

worried. She whispered to herself, without thinking, "Wish Li were here to protect me".

'But he isn't' she mentally scolded herself. She then went to her room and took out her

cards. "Time to train," she said to her dear Sakura cards, and began to use them, one by

one.