DM: All right! We're at the start of the finale! Woo! Thank you all so much for your support so far! Please continue to support this story till the end!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. Sorry guys, I usually like to have Moshi-san go through it twice, but since I'm leaving today I put it up after only one edit.

Curses!

Finale

Part One

Two Idiots

"Are we there yet?" Syaoran sighed. Eriol shook his head without looking up from his issue of Sky Mall. Tomoyo ignored him, her eyes glued to the romantic comedy on the little screen. Syaoran was sitting between the two of them, and Sakura was on Eriol's other side at the window seat.

The group was heading back to Tomoeda, Eriol and Syaoran being the "exchange" for Sakura and Tomoyo. The school, Meiling included, had surprisingly wished them the best. Now they had to worry about dealing with Tomoeda. Tomoyo in particular had a very bad feeling, seeing as Eriol was somehow going to be living in her house.

How he had managed to convince her of this she had yet to figure out. She gave him a sidelong glance, wondering why she was going along with this so easily. In recent days (especially after the yacht incident) they were being civil with one another—no, more than civil, they were quite friendly. This confused her all the more.

Little did she know that Eriol was wondering how he would convince her mother to allow him to stay at their home. This was one major detail he had failed to overlook. Resolving to think about it later, he continued to pore over the pages of useless but convenient devices offered for purchase.

Syaoran was bored out of his mind, having failed to bring a book or an ipod or anything of the sort to keep himself entertained. He found this especially troublesome now, since he couldn't stop reliving their trip on the yacht. Her lips had been so close to his—he shivered—just thinking about it made his heart race, and he couldn't figure out why.

Sakura was drumming her fingertips against the window, watching the never-ending blue with a restless feeling. Kero had assured her that the cards would follow them to Japan (they followed the person with the most magical power, and that was her right now) but she still worried. She didn't want to get home and see that Hong Kong was utterly destroyed and engulfed in flames.

There was something else that bothered her: she was certain that Eriol had magical powers. Something about how he always seemed to know to leave the room when they needed to catch a card, his smug looks at Kero when the guardian pretended to be a plushy, and mostly their experience with the Time card. Not to mention how they found the Maze card just lying around. Sakura couldn't understand why Kero wasn't more suspicious. And Syaoran--weren't they supposed to be on the lookout for Clow's descendant who could remove the curse?

What if it's Eriol? she thought suddenly, her heart jumping into her throat. She turned to eye the boy next to her nervously. He continued to examine an advertisement for an organizational device organizer with the utmost care and scrutiny. Sakura shook her head.

Deciding that it would be a good time to go splash her face with cold water, Sakura got up, nudging Eriol's leg with her own. At last he tore his eyes away from the excessive amount of Harry Potter paraphernalia to shuffle a little to let her by. Sakura began to move.

Smirking slightly, Eriol pretended to slip in his seat and hooked ankles with the poor cardcaptor, who proceeded to trip, as people are apt to do in such situations. Syaoran, who had been zoning out, was pleasantly surprised to suddenly find her face in his lap.

Panicking, Sakura placed her hands on Syaoran's knees and pushed herself up. Syaoran, taken by surprise by the sudden weight, leaned forward to compensate. Sakura felt his breath against her lips before he'd snapped back in position.

"S-sorry," she said softly, her heart beating at ten times its normal speed. Syaoran could only manage a nod, his voice catching just at the back of his throat.

Tried as she might, Sakura couldn't help but turn back to look as she walked down the airplane aisle. Yup, he was looking at her. She snapped her head back in front of her, her face suddenly feeling extremely flushed.

Touya was waiting for them at the airport gate, along with several bodyguards from the Daidouji estate. Tomoyo and Eriol were barely able to manage a "bye" before the team swept them into a limo and sped off, fearing for Tomoyo's safety.

Sakura and Syaoran (Kero was stuffed inside Sakura's backpack) suddenly found themselves alone with Touya, who was struggling to remind himself why he had let a boy into their home.

"Could you help me with my bag, please?" Sakura asked him, gesturing to her large and ungainly pink suitcase as it passed them on the baggage carousel. Touya smirked.

"I'm not your slave, woman," he said, not taking his eyes from Syaoran. Syaoran glared back with equal intensity.

"I'm not your woman, slave. Now get to work!" she snapped back, kicking him lightly in the shin. The older boy winced and went to do what he was told. Syaoran followed, eager to compete with this new-found enemy.

Together, the two attempted to lift Sakura's bag up off the carousel as it made another round. Syaoran was shoved from behind by someone and then dropped it, causing to land on Touya's foot. The black-haired young man groaned audibly, and the bag was tossed aside in a fit of rage.

"What the hell was that for, you idiot!" he yelled at Syaoran, who was busy glaring at the person who had pushed him, who was now walking away innocently.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" he countered, anger rising. The two began glaring at each other furiously and each adopted a fighting stance.

Sakura, who had had to scramble to prevent her bag from killing a small child, sighed as she watched the two men in her life. She knew immediately that they were looking for any excuse to fight one another, and so she did what girls do best.

She knocked over her suitcase and then grabbed her foot, yelping, pretending to be hurt.

"Ouch! I dropped it on my foot!" she cried, hopping up and down with fake pain. That distracted the other two fairly well, and the next thing she knew the bags were on a trolley and the three were calmly leaving the airport, crossing the street to the large parking garage.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Syaoran asked her, his voice laced with genuine concern. Sakura winced out of guilt, but he took it as a wince of pain and suddenly got down on his knees, his back facing her.

"Hop on," he muttered, his face turning a brilliant scarlet.

Sakura was in a difficult position. For thirty painful seconds she couldn't decide whether to continue lying or set him straight, but Touya saved her just in time.

"Don't piggyback my sister, brat!" he called at him over his shoulder as he walked down towards the car, a white Honda.

"Who's a brat?" Syaoran challenged back, standing up and making his hands into fists. His voice echoed through the garage and a young couple who were just leaving gave him a startled look.

Touya whirled around, brandishing his trolley of luggage like a weapon. He looked rather like a bull preparing to charge, glaring over the handle at Syaoran, who never broke his gaze (or his fighting stance).

"Ugh, you two are idiots!" Sakura cried, throwing her hands up in the air. She stomped over to the car and got in, slamming the door behind her, forgetting that she was supposed to be injured.

Now Syaoran was in a difficult position: continue a battle of testosterone or go be with Sakura? He sighed and shook his head, walking resignedly to the car and getting in after her. Smirking triumphantly, Touya began loading up the trunk, giving the two a brief moment alone.

Sakura was very surprised to find Syaoran next to her in the back seat. He mumbled a soft apology and looked at her, causing her heart to suddenly quicken its pace.

What is wrong with me today? she thought. Her heart seemed to be so temperamental.

"Is he always like that?" Syaoran asked. Sakura sighed and nodded.

"He's actually nice, deep down," she said. Syaoran smirked.

"Yea, very deep down," he replied. She smacked him lightly on the arm and he caught her hand in his.

Suddenly both were reminded of the trip on the yacht. Sakura felt her ears go red under Syaoran's gaze.

"Sakura," he began, leaning his face towards hers.

"W-what?" she asked, his face so close now that she could see the gold flecks in his eyes. They were beautiful, she realized suddenly. Syaoran is beautiful, she thought strangely.

Syaoran had no idea what he was about to say. His breath was catching in his throat from the close proximity. His eyes flicked down to her lips, which were slightly parted and very pink, and found that he had lost his voice entirely. He leaned in, suddenly desperate to close the gap between them.

Sakura closed her eyes as he began coming closer, and felt his lips barely touch hers--

"--Oi, brat!" Touya called from behind the car. Syaoran felt his heart stop.

"Y-yea?" he called, his voice coming out strangely high-pitched. Sakura had leaned back against her seat, staring straight ahead. Syaoran couldn't tell, but she was trying to take slow, deep breaths to calm herself.

"Get out here and help me with this, brat!" Touya replied.

"Fine, oh mighty jackass!" he shot back, getting out of the car, feeling extremely irritated but also relieved. What was he about to do to Sakura?

Inside the car, a strangely disappointed Sakura placed a hand over her heart and sighed. The two weeks until her father got back were going to be quite long. She had many questions to ask him about his ties with the Li family...and with Eriol.

While this heartwarming drama was playing out, Eriol and Tomoyo were sitting, completely silent, in the limo, not looking at each other. Neither of them felt particularly chatty, as the reality that they were about to live together was sinking in. Tomoyo knew that Sakura and Syaoran needed to be together because of the curse, but she couldn't understand why Eriol was following them.

She looked him over, watching as he stared out the window. Apparently he and Kaho had had a rather meaningful discussion just before he left. In spite of herself, Tomoyo desperately wanted to know what it was about, but she refrained from asking.

He turned and met her gaze, causing her heart to skip a beat in surprise. She looked away and the two remained silent the rest of the drive, Eriol wondering why she had been looking at him with such intensity.

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

"I'll be right back. Make yourself at home," Tomoyo said, leaving Eriol sitting on the small cream-colored couch in her bedroom. She had to go discuss things with her mother, who apparently had not known that Eriol was coming to stay. This was going to be a rather interesting conversation.

Once alone, Eriol set about looking through some of her things, a bad habit of his. Her room was large with a queen-sized bed with a lavender satin comforter and pillows. The walls were a light cream color and beneath his feet a pale purple plush carpet bounced pleasantly. The furniture was all wood painted cream and included a desk, a TV on a large cabinet, and a small coffee table. Eriol went straight for the cabinet below the TV.

Swinging the doors open, he found a large collection of videos, and, on the bottom shelf, DVDs. All looked homemade. He picked up one of the VHS's and turned it over in his hands carefully. It was labeled "Year Five Sports Festival." Eriol shrugged and popped it into the VCR.

Sakura, aged ten, appeared on the screen smiling happily.

"Tomoyo! You don't have to videotape everything!" she said cheerfully, making a peace sign for the camera nonetheless. He heard a soft giggle and Tomoyo's voice answered her.

"But Sakura, I have to see you win!" she replied. Sakura blushed.

The video cut to the 100-meter dash. Eriol watched, the light of the screen reflecting off his glasses, as Sakura won easily. He then lost interest and got up to go to her walk-in closet. Behind him he could hear Sakura telling Tomoyo "better luck next time!" She had apparently gotten last place. He shook his head and entered the closet.

Inside it was divided in two. Along the wall opposite him, he saw normal clothes: uniforms, jeans, and skirts. In the center was a chest of drawers, which he quickly opened. As he had guessed, inside was her underwear, surprisingly frilly for a lesbian. As he was holding up a rather sheer pair of black lace panties to the light, he noticed the other wall. All along it were what looked like costumes.

Stuffing the underwear back in the drawer (suddenly feeling both embarrassed and turned on by it) he went to examine this other section. Some clothes looked like runway items he had seen on fashion shows on TV (Kaho loved that kind of crap). Others were pure costume and were labeled with things like "Class 1-3 Maid Cafe." Under that label was a set of rather revealing maid costumes, all frilly and lacy yet each one unique, apparently for some culture festival or something.

"Eriol?" a voice called from the main room. Abandoning the maid outfits, Eriol dashed back out to find Tomoyo removing the tape from the VCR. He found himself blushing, something he didn't usually do, at the sight of her in her loose sweatpants and tank top.

"Did you find everything to your satisfaction?" she asked jokingly, not looking at him out of sheer embarrassment. He had found her collection of Sakura videotapes!

"You're very talented," he said suddenly, the words skipping the screening process and tumbling straight out of his mouth. Tomoyo felt her cheeks burn and she remained kneeling even after she'd closed the cabinet.

"Thanks," she replied softly.

"On your marks...Get set...Go!" the announcer shouted, firing off his gun. Sakura, Syaoran, and Tomoyo set off in the 100-meter dash. Eriol applauded them from the crowd, Kero (pretending to be a stuffed toy) sitting in his lap. Next to him, Touya cheered fiercely while Yukito attempted to keep him calm.

How did they get in this situation? Well, every summer the town of Tomoeda held a Summer Sports Festival in the Tomoeda University athletic stadium just before the schools got back from vacation. At the urging of both Touya and Yukito, the trio had decided to participate. Tomoyo and Sakura had competed in it every year. Eriol, of course, declined, unable to see why Tomoyo would want to run in the race.

Their old classmates, dressed in the Tomoeda High School gym uniforms, had been very excited to see their old friends again, pestering them constantly about their time in Hong Kong. Before Sakura had the chance to introduce Syaoran to her old group, Chiharu, Yamazaki, Naoko and Rika, the race had begun and they were called to the starting line.

He watched her carefully, eyes narrowing as everyone easily outstripped her in the first three seconds. Her face remained completely serene, and she kept running even though by five seconds it was completely hopeless. Looking in her eyes, Eriol found himself thinking: I hope she wins.

As Sakura ran neck and neck with Syaoran (they were competing for the pork buns Tomoyo had made) she suddenly felt the presence of a Clow Card. She looked around, careful not to slow her pace, but saw no havoc. However, people had begun cheering really loudly and Sakura saw something dark flit in the corner of her eye. She turned her head.

Tomoyo had just passed both her and Syaoran (who was looking incredibly confused). She finished in eleven seconds flat, Sakura and Syaoran finished close behind her. Eriol rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Then he saw it--the Dash card. It looked very much like a cat and sat twitching its tale as it watched a thoroughly bewildered Tomoyo accept a medal. It and Eriol made eye contact.

At that moment, Eriol sensed that Kero desperately wanted to relay this development to Sakura, and so he came down from the stands and gave him to her, on the pretense that he wanted to congratulate Tomoyo. He invited her to get a drink with him, leaving Sakura, Syaoran and Kero to discuss freely. When he looked over his shoulder they were already gone from the main track. The Dash card was gone too.

In fact, the four aforementioned entities were currently chasing one another in the parking lot, where no one (luckily) seemed to be. The Dash card was circling, hopping from car to car as Sakura used Jump to chase after it. Syaoran and Kero were discussing what to do.

"She is definitely never gonna catch it this way," Syaoran said. Kero nodded in agreement.

"Sakura," he called, transforming into his true form, "Get Woody and Windy to approach it from two sides, and you and I will get it from the other two, ok?"

"Ok!" she called back, pulling the cards out of their little pouch, "Windy, Woody! Help me trap the Dash card!"

Windy blew in from the west, Dash dodging its little tendrils only to come face to face with a very large, Kero. It whipped to the right to find a triumphant-looking Sakura waiting, and then jumped straight up as quickly as it could. Unfortunately for the Dash, Woody had already started sprouting a long vine, which curled around its foot. One strike with the wand and Sakura captured it.

"Phew," she said softly.

"Where were you guys?" Tomoyo asked slyly as the two of them came back to the track, slightly out of breath from the chase.

"Oh come now, Tomoyo, I don't want to hear about those kinds of shenanigans," Eriol said before Sakura and Syaoran could reply. Tomoyo giggled and the other two blushed beet red.

"That's weird, your plushy looks a little sweaty," Tomoyo remarked, pointing at Kero, who was indeed rather sweaty. Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other, struggling to come up with an explanation.

"That's kinky," Eriol muttered. Syaoran gaped as Tomoyo burst out laughing. Sakura's eyes narrowed. Eriol was being a little too helpful. It was almost as if he knew about the cards...

"Anyway, you made it just in time to see Touya in the obstacle race," Tomoyo said happily, her suspicions forgotten. The group sat down in the stands together, Sakura shooting Eriol glances every now and then, much to Syaoran's dismay.

"On your marks...Get set...Go!" he called, firing the gun.

Then there was another bang.

And another. Everyone, including the racers, had stopped to stare at the announcer, who looked confused, his gun was not the one causing it..

Shots were flying all over the place in a matter of seconds as pandemonium ensued, people suspecting a terrorist attack.

"Sakura!" Kero hissed while Eriol ushered Tomoyo away. Tomoyo was rather confused as to why Eriol seemed so concerned about her lately. And also why he seemed almost charming.

"Kero, what should I do?" she asked in a whisper. The stadium was clearing around them. Several people had been hit by the shot card already (though none were seriously injured, thankfully).

"Nobody's looking--use a card!" Syaoran answered.

As Sakura was summoning her staff, the Shot set its sights on Tomoyo, who was resisting Eriol's efforts to get her to safety.

"But Sakura and Syaoran are still there," she protested. Eriol ignored her, sensing the oncoming bullet.

Without thinking, he shielded her with his body, earning a wide-eyed look of fear from the dark-haired girl.

"Time! Halt everything!" Sakura shouted. The stadium froze. Sakura, Syaoran and Kero began looking around for the source of the shots.

There, standing on one of the light poles, was a small girl with spiky hair that rained down her back. The Shot Card.

"Return to the form you were destined to be in, Clow Card!" Sakura yelled, and it was sucked inside. She sighed with relief, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Sakura..." Syaoran said, tugging on her sleeve.

"What?" she asked, ready to return the Time card. Keeping Time halted was very draining.

"Look," he said, pointing below them.

Eriol was shielding Tomoyo from a shot, but around him was a glowing shield.

"Is that a Clow Card?" Sakura asked Kero. He nodded.

"Though I don't see why it would protect him in particular..." he mumbled.

Sakura walked over, grabbing the bullet (it was hanging in midair) and sealing the card away. Finally, she let the Time card go.

Eriol was quite relieved when the Time card came undone, because holding his position over Tomoyo (he had her pressed against a wall) was physically straining and strangely erotic. His face felt hot as she at last blinked again, confused by their proximity. He jumped away immediately.

The sports festival called off, the group decided to head back home, each one lost in thought.

Syaoran was still thinking about his almost-kiss with Sakura in the car.

Kero was triumphantly counting up their cards--only two left to find.

Eriol was wondering why he found Tomoyo so attractive all of a sudden.

Tomoyo was wondering if Eriol found her attractive or something.

Sakura, last but not least, was eyeing Eriol suspiciously. He was definitely hiding something.

DM: Whew! So that's all for now! Can anyone guess which two cards are left? If you can, I'll grant you one request!

Another thing: I recently started a story on under the name "Very Serious." Please go to my profile for more info, especially if you like yaoi.

Anyway, I'm sorry to inform you guys, but I'm leaving for England today and won't be back until the 16. So, no updates for a while. I sincerely apologize. Please review--it makes my life! Next Chapter: Breaking the Curse.