Disclaimer:

I have no affiliation with Cardcaptor Sakura or any other of CLAMP's works. Also any similarities to real life events or people are unintentional unless explicitly stated.


"Can Healer Kudo please report to...?"

Syaoran heard the sounds of shoes squeaking, indistinguishable chatter and distant beeps. He could also hear the sounds of someone humming. He opened his eyes.

He was in a hospital room. It was mostly dark but he could make out the standardized bed, and tubes connected to a vein in his arm. A machine next to him made the pulsing beeps. Humming the tune was Sakura Kinomoto. She was arranging flowers in a vase near the windows and face glowed from the light of the setting sun.

"You're finally awake," she said. She walked towards him and slowly turned on a light by his bedside table. She then sat on a chair next to the bed. "How are you feeling? Ah, don't get up yet. The side effects of the medicine they gave you during your operation wouldn't have completely worn off yet."

She pushed him gently on the shoulder and sat back down after he was lying on the bed again.

"Wh-"

"Where is Meiling? She's fine now after all that happened today. She was here a moment ago but had to attend a counsellor's appointment. She'll return soon. And Tomoyo was picked up by her bodyguards." She quickly stood up. "Ah, Meiling told me to call for a healer if you woke up."

"Wait," Syaoran said. She stopped. His head felt foggy. "Why are you here?"

Her school uniform was still dusty and slightly torn at the elbow. "The healers all took us to the hospital for a check-up and I stayed because I wanted to make sure that you were okay, and to thank you in person for saving me," she said. "Also, I'm sorry for getting you injured because I ran headfirst into something I couldn't see."

"I-It wasn't your-"

She interrupted him, shaking her head. "And there's one more thing." Her voice became soft and she looked at the door. "I'm not sure if you remember but just before you saved me you called me by my first name. Do you remember?" Her bright green eyes flickered to his.

Syaoran nodded after a moment. It wasn't intentional, but she was running directly into a malicious spirit and her first name slipped out. "Sorry, I've put you in danger. Now the spirits know you're name..."

"But I haven't taught you how to write my True Name," she said. "It's all right. Besides, I was really happy when you called me "Sakura"."

He must have a fever as well.

"I was glad because it feels as if I've been able to become good friends with you, Mr Li. I was wondering if I could call you by your first name, "Syaoran", too. You don't have to tell me how to write it... But maybe even that's a bit much considering I got you hurt…"

"D-do as you like," he found himself saying.

She broke into a smile. "I'll be right back, Syaoran," she said.

He watched Sakura Kinomoto leave the room. The after effects of the medicine were definitely affecting his thoughts.


Meiling looked at the little red book the counsellor had given her. Apparently writing down her feelings would help her recovery process; more like the counsellor didn't want to do his job properly.

She turned the corner, the string of the dream balloon tugging on her wrist, and ended up in front of the emergency ward. A field healer was pumping oxygen using a manual resuscitator into a battered male on a stretcher while another was finishing her handover to the emergency department healer.

"This patient needs to be sent to the operating theatre straight away. Suspected spinal fracture and ribs, and punctured left lung," she said. Meiling recognized the pair from when the nights she helped Syaoran hunt Ko. "We think that the Ko Cure was also involved."

Meiling waited until they patient was wheeled away and the field healers were dismissed before approaching them. "What's going on?" she asked them. "How did the Ko Cure cause those injures?"

"Ah, Miss Li, how are you?" The female healer waved with a cup of tea in her hand. "Some halfwit spiked another person's drink with the Ko Cure. One of the side effects that we've recently discovered is that the cure makes healthy people more susceptible to suggestions and more passive."

"And if they've been drinking they're even more prone to stupid situations," added the male healer. "The term "cure" is something of a misnomer; it doesn't remove the Ko. It only makes somebody more patient. They need further treatment and counselling. In a healthy human being it just makes a person more susceptible to suggestions."

"Since it doesn't have any immediate negative effects, the medicine has been made available without need for prescription," said the female healer. "But this means that there have been people that have been slipping it intentionally into drinks to manipulate people to their advantage. There have been some cases people using it to force others to "love" them. Misdiagnosis is also turning into an issue."

This put a sour taste in Meiling's mouth.

"Yeah, the government is trying to introduce a prescription system for the medicine. Already they've hired people that can see the parasite in hospitals and other major thoroughfares." He pointed at an elderly man by the door. "For example, all the patients and guests are screened by him when they enter the doors."

Their pocket chronophones lit up and started chiming.

"Sorry, Miss Meiling," she said. "We have another case. We'll chat to you later."

Meiling stood rooted on the spot until someone bumped into her. She took a couple steps forward and then ran until she arrived in Syaoran's room.

He sat in a reclining position propped up by some pillows and stopped his conversation with Aunt Yelan when she walked in.

Meiling went straight to Syaoran's charts at the foot of the bed. She scanned the list of medicines he was given. The Ko Cure was not one of them.

"Meiling, what's wrong?" said Miss Kinomoto from the other side of Syaoran's bed.

"I think Meiling is just concerned about Syaoran," said Aunt Yelan. "It's getting late. We can give you a ride home, Miss Sakura."

"Thank you very much," she said, standing up and gathering her things. "But my brother shall be taking me home. He's working at the hospital today. He should be finished now. I'm supposed to meet him at the entrance soon."

"I shall go too," said Aunt Yelan. "I would like to thank your brother as part of the team that helped Syaoran."

"I'll see you later, Meiling," said Miss Kinomoto giving her a quick hug. "Syaoran, don't overwork yourself. The healer said that you can't put weight on your injured leg for a week."

"I know," he said, resignedly.

Aunt Yelan and Miss Kinomoto closed the door behind them.

"What's wrong?" Meiling asked Syaoran. "Couldn't the healers fix it?"

"My internal organs are all okay, but when I got injured I tore a ligament and cartilage in my knee. There aren't that many blood vessels in that area so it will take some extra time to heal. I'm supposed to use crutches to keep the weight off it," he said.

Syaoran couldn't walk. He couldn't walk because he was attacked by spirits. He was attacked by spirits because of her. She hid the Ko Cure in his food. He wasn't infected with Ko. He could've died because of her.

He quickly added, "Everything will be all right. The healers said that I should be fine to play football by the end of the month. Don't cry."

Meiling bit her bottom lip to focus on the sharp pain. The tears stopped threatening to fall.

"Hey," she said, searching his eyes, "do you remember that promise from when we were kids? I'm your fiancé until the day you find the person you love the most, Syaoran." She had to look away. "But after all I put you through yesterday…"

"Mei-"

There was a knock on the door. Aunt Yelan walked in.

"Meiling, Syaoran visiting hours are over. You can return tomorrow," she said. She glided to her son and caressed his cheek. "Rest well, my little wolf."

It wasn't until Meiling arrived at home did she realize that Syaoran let Miss Kinomoto call him by his first name.


It has been a week since the incident and Tomoyo was still unable to figure out how to safely enable Sakura to identify spirits.

According to Ms Iris Op's tome, Ocular Occult, the eyes are a vital and delicate organ. They are known as the window to the soul and are deeply intertwined with an individual's magical powers. They affect to what degree one could perceive spiritual presences and eye transplants have been known to also cause the recipient to receive the donor's magical abilities. Because of their vital functions, there has not been extensive research on manipulating the eyes.

Maybe adding properties to spectacle lenses could work.

Tomoyo closed her eyes for a moment.

Researching eye medicine was time consuming. It was beginning to interfere with organizing Sakura's upcoming fifteenth birthday.

"Tomoyo, good morning," said Sakura, sitting down adjacent to her. "What are you reading? Is it for your research project?"

"Good morning, Sakura." Tomoyo let her adorable cousin read the title of the book. "I am currently trying to find a way that will enable you to notice spirits."

Sakura's face paled. "Hoe? It's all right-"

"There may come a time again where you need to be able to do so," said Tomoyo.

Sakura grew quiet. Most probably she felt that it was her fault that Mr Li got injured. She had been strangely quiet about last week's incident since it occurred.

She straightened up. A hush came across the classroom and Tomoyo followed Sakura's gaze to Mr Li who had just entered the doorway. He was staring directly at Sakura.

Tomoyo had noticed for some months Mr Li's growing infatuation towards Sakura. He had tendency to linger when she was near, glance her way a little too long and become more accident prone when she was close by. He became amusingly defensive about it rather easily.

Sakura herself would smile when she says his name and her conversations have slowly shifted to topics that involved him. It was unlikely that she noticed these subtle changes in herself, however Tomoyo knew.

Sakura's face broke into a radiant smile and entertainingly, Mr Li turned a deep shade of red. But before either of them could run into the other's arms a crowd of students surrounded him.

"You're back," said Caldina.

"Hey what's with that cane, old man?" asked Fye.

Tomoyo whispered to Sakura, "Are you not going to greet him? The last time you saw him was when you visited him at the hospital."

"It's a little difficult to reach him now," she said. "We have mathematics next period. Meiling doesn't look as energetic as usual today."

Their friend was hovering by the entrance of their classroom. There was something withdrawn about her expression. "I will talk to her when I get the chance," said Tomoyo.


During mathematics class Meiling did not talk at all. Normally she would be whispering to Tomoyo about how crazy her family was, or how much weight she had left to lose to drop down a weight division. The past few days in class she complained about the tasks her counsellor was making her do.

The teacher also remarked on her silence. "Finally, Meiling is putting effort into her studies," he said.

Tomoyo was surprised that Meiling did not even argue back. Something serious must have happened.

She put her hand up. "Sir, may I go to the toilets?"

"Sure."

"Thank you," she said, pulling her friend out of her seat. "Meiling is accompanying me for safety."

Before her friend or the teacher could react, Tomoyo pulled Meiling out of the classroom and down the hallway.

"Hey Tomoyo," said Meiling. "Where are you going? The toilets are downstairs, not up."

"We are not going to the toilet."

"Then where-"

"Shh, the roof," whispered Tomoyo, finger to her lips.

Tomoyo cautiously pushed the door to the rooftop garden open and ushered Meiling through. The temperature was becoming warmer in recent days. Some pale green shoots peaked out from the flowerbeds.

She closed the door and guided Meiling by the hands to sit on their usual bench. "Something is on your mind."

"There isn't."

"Is it about Mr Li?" Tomoyo suggested gently. Despite wishing for Sakura and Mr Li to have a happy ending together, she could not ignore the fact it will ultimately mean the heartache of one of their closest friends.

Meiling nodded.

"He cares about you a lot," said Tomoyo.

"But not in the way I want him to."

She chose her words carefully. "Have you talked to him about it?"

Meiling shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Will you talk to me? It is not good to keep your thoughts bottled up."

They both cast a nervous glance at a tiny spirit on the edge clinging to the fence. With a well-aimed flick, Tomoyo made it disappear. She surrounded them both with a barrier to make it harder for them to be noticed.

"Ok. You must promise you won't tell anyone, especially not Syaoran nor Miss Kinomoto." Tears started to flow down Meiling's face. Her voice grew thick. "He hasn't told me yet, but I can tell that he's in love with her. I'm so mad. No one, no one in the world loves Syaoran more than I do. It's so unfair!"

Tomoyo encircled Meiling with an embrace and let her cry into her shoulder.

"And what gets me even madder is how I still can't grow to hate Miss Kinomoto. I like her, too. I understand that she is a really good person. She's one of my closest friends! I can see that I can't help it if Syaoran falls in love with her. I can see it, but crying is something completely different! I love him and want him to be happy, but it hurts so much it's not me."

Tomoyo knew the pain of having the person you love not return your feelings.

"I'll cry myself to death so that I will never cry about Syaoran ever again!"

She waited patiently until the sobs subsided. Class would not end for a while and if it did, one of their friends would grab their bags for recess. And their teacher was not as harsh as he appeared. It was imperative that Meiling had the support she needed.

"Thank you for not judging me," said Meiling, wiping her tears away with Tomoyo's handkerchief. "I was worried that I was over reacting. Syaoran told me that it wasn't anything when Miss Kinomoto called him by his first name. It's not like knowing how to write it properly after all. But the only females he let's call him that are family members, and when he saw her today…"

"Maybe he is yet to acknowledge it himself at this point." Tomoyo was glad that what she said made Meiling smile.

"You're right. He's quite slow with stuff like that," she said. Her eyes opened wide. "Do you think that Miss Kinomoto has realized it?"

Tomoyo considered this. "I do not believe that Sakura would recognize his infatuation unless he told her."

"She can be an airhead at times," laughed Meiling. She grew more serious. "What about Miss Kinomoto? What do you think she thinks of him, Miss Daidouji?"

Meiling had asked her the question directly; it was only fair that she replied honestly."I believe that she would reciprocate his sentiments," she said cautiously. "But are you sure that you are okay?"

"I'm sure," her friend nodded. "But the question is how do we make sure that they realize that they like each other?"

"Meiling…"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Her eyes shined with her determined expression. "I won't forgive Syaoran unless everything goes well."

Tomoyo held her friend's hands in her own and said, "Meiling, if anything happens, please think of me."

"Okay."


Author's Notes:

- Thank you for reading up to this point. This chapter is the start of the second half of the story (length wise). I still have a lot planned for you to look forward to!

- To the kind reviewers, thank you so much. You're all so sweet and your observations have honestly helped me improve the story. If anyone finds anything that you find confusing or clunky let me know and I'll do my best to address it. I can take it!

- I had a similar knee injury. I wasn't allowed to weight bear on that leg for a month. Fun times.

- Once again, please don't spike other people's food or drinks or self diagnose. And if you're going through a difficult time in your life, I find that talking to someone or writing your thoughts down helps.