Nutty Authoress Notifies that…: I'm really sorry about the delay, and now it's half-term you would think I had no excuse for not updating…how about an absolute truckload of homework! And a bit of a writers block…sigh, anyways, you'll get some of your questions answered in this chapter - hope you enjoy! Make sure you review! Love you guys!
S.
Disclaimer: CCS belongs to CLAMP, not me, so sue me not!
Summary: It's been eight years since Syaoran left Tomoeda – and he promised he'd return. That promise was never fulfilled…now a dark force is causing trouble...will destiny right itself? And will love prevail? SS
Lost Goodbye
Chapter Seven
Third Person P.O.V
Sakura desperately tried to sleep – she felt exhausted but the thoughts of the day kept rushing about her head – she couldn't sleep. It was impossible…she stared up at the ceiling and recounted for what must have been the millionth time what had happened that day…
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Earlier that day
"So, Sakura-chan, what happened in the park?" Eriol smiled at her kindly, sipping his tea. He was obviously enjoying the dilemma that was going about her head – she was staring solidly at the seat beside Syaoran. This was most interesting…
"I…um…well…Where do you want me to start?" She said weakly, shuffling towards the two-seater. He glanced at Syaoran, who was slowly turning redder and redder…Sakura was now inches from the sofa – the spectators held their breath.
"I'm…" Syaoran quickly jumped up, "I'm…I'm going to make b-breakfast!" He said a bit too loudly. He stomped off to the kitchen. Sakura audibly sighed and collapsed into the sofa, placing her hand on her forehead. This was all too much, it really was…
"From the beginning, start from the beginning," Tomoyo encouraged, trying really hard not to let a smile burst through. Everything they did was just so kawaii!
Sakura swallowed hard. She began explaining about how tired she'd felt lately, as if someone was draining her energies…she was really skirting around the fact the cards were missing. But she had to tell them…
"What about the cards? Have you tried using them?" Tomoyo asked.
"The cards…well…they've…gone," she blinked hard and ventured to look at each of their faces – shock.
"Gone…?" Meilin repeated. "What do you mean 'gone'?"
"Well…" This was bad, "They're missing."
"I'd got that far, but…"
"You've lost the cards?" Everyone turned to see Syaoran standing at the doorway, a tray in his hands, his expression blank.
"Not all of them, there are a few left, but they feel…" she tried to find the word, "weak." She couldn't explain it.
"You've lost the cards…" He said almost wonderingly. His eyes were wide.
"N-no…I just…don't know where they are," Sakura grimaced at how pathetic that sounded.
"How the hell…" He looked livid, "Did you manage to lose the most magical objects on earth? How the hell does anyone do that!?"
"Look, I don't know what happened; it was…I was…"
"This is incredible – just…incredible!" He looked hard at her – a look that pierced through her very being; disdain, anger, confusion. "You…" Meilin quickly jumped up and grabbed the tray from his hands, cutting him off.
"Look, let's just have breakfast and…and not argue!" She said a bit too chirpily.
"That sounds like a great idea!" Tomoyo turned to look at Eriol, who had been uncharacteristically silent. "Eriol…?"
"You guys…eat," he broke his gaze away from Sakura and turned to smile at the love of his life, "I need to leave now, honey-pot." Tomoyo pressed her lips and nodded, not looking at him.
"But, Eriol, you…you've got to help me!" Sakura gazed at him, he smiled warmly. Meilin and Tomoyo were busy arranging the food chatting about China and shopping, and Syaoran had walked off to the window, obviously in deep thought.
"No – this is one of those battles you must face alone," his smiled widened. "Like that other battle, huh, Sakura?" He glanced at Syaoran and she blushed, "Just remember, I have absolute faith in you."
"Why…?" She croaked, close to tears. "Why do you have faith in a person capable of…of losing the cards?"
"Well, anyone who can defeat me has to be good, ne?" He tilted his head and Sakura fell (A/N Anime style!). "And you didn't lose the cards – you just don't know where they are!"
Sakura had to smile at this.
"Just remember this," he suddenly became serious, "That within forests, there are fires and any fire can be quenched when you show your enemy hope, and your unbeatable spell…" He was no longer Eriol – but that deeper, darker person he very rarely became. Within Eriol she saw a flash she recognised as Clow.
"O-okay…" She said uncertainly.
"I have absolute faith in you – remember that. We all do." He smiled, Eriol's bizarre self again and he patted Tomoyo on the head distractedly as he left.
"Where is he going?" Meilin asked.
"Away," Sakura, of course, understood that this…force, this power, that was doing all these things would have to be faced by her, alone.
"Don't worry, Sakura," Tomoyo smiled brightly, "You can do anything as long as you smile – now let's eat!" Sakura nodded, feeling a bit happier, forgetting all the stuff with Syaoran and the cards and enjoying a good meal with her friends…after a few minutes Syaoran walked over to them and sat opposite Sakura, beside Meilin, looking at the empty plate, not a single word passing his lips.
"Hey, you do realise that the food won't just appear on there?" Meilin elbowed him – he jumped up and shook his head wearily.
"I'm going out."
"What?" He didn't reply, just stole a glance at Sakura – she felt a sudden surge of emotion from him - and then he left. "Wow…that guy just gets weirder and weirder every day," Sakura laughed, trying to cover up the hurt inside.
"Well, I guess all the men have gone, which means…" Tomoyo went all starry-eyed, "Shopping!" Meilin and Tomoyo hugged, tears streaming down their faces with happiness.
"Oh, brother…" Sakura sighed.
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Shopping Mall
"Oh my God! This T looks so cute!" A red-cheeked Tomoyo, whirled around to face an embarrassed looking Sakura, who was attempting to shuffle into the background. "You would look great in this!"
"There's really no need to talk so loudly, Tomoyo…"
"Huh? What did you say?"
"N-nothing…" Tomoyo was kind of scary.
"Hey, you guys, over here!" Meilin called from the underwear area. Sakura followed a very excited Tomoyo who was skipping merrily to and equally excited Meilin.
"Oh my God! This place is amazing!" Tomoyo gasped.
Sakura had to admit it was pretty amazing…rows and rows of cute panties (frilly ones, multi-coloured ones, ones with stupid slogans like 'hot-stuff' and 'Sweet-candy'), a whole range of bikinis, some with really lovely detail and then there were the dollies (A/N that's what I think they're called; those dress thingies with straps that go over bras and whatever) – which were cute and loveable as well as completely sexy.
"Everything is so nicely laid out," Tomoyo said, fingering a dolly set, "I really have to tell mum about laying our stuff like this…" She said thoughtfully.
"I see you're admiring my shop," All three girls turned and gasped.
"Naruto?" Sakura's jaw hit the floor, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, don't worry, I'm not here to buy the merchandise," the girls laughed nervously – it did seem a little pervy for a guy to be up here, "My uncle owns the shop – I help out here sometimes." He smiled, revealing all his perfectly white teeth.
"Ahem, would you like to introduce us or what?" Meilin grinned and stuck her hand out.
"Oh, Meilin this is Naruto – he goes to our school, and Meilin is one of my oldest friends. She's from China," Sakura was having difficulty stringing the words together – Naruto was pressing his hand into Meilin's and Meilin was swooning. It made Sakura feel weird, because she was so sure he had a crush on her – which sounded really childish but...
"Pleased to meet such a beautiful lady," his smile widened, "Look, please feel free to try anything on and take some free stuff…I insist!" (A/N I know it's usually store policy that no underwear is tried on, etc, but in Japanese anime world those kinds of rules don't apply! Yay!)
"Wow, he sure is friendly!" Meilin said, trying to cover up her blush.
"Yes, you seem to get a long very well…" Tomoyo said with a smirk.
"He's not my type," Meilin sighed, "any guy who is that perfect is a freak of some sort – and if I married him and had children I'd have to tell them the first place I'd met daddy was in an underwear store!" They all laughed at this.
"Hey, let's try some of these on!" Tomoyo's eyes glinted. "I'll try this one…" she picked a dark blue dolly with matching bra and knickers – it had a few frills, but it was beautiful. "You've got to have this one, Meilin!" She handed her a red set, super-frilly and super cute, "And Sakura…hmmm…this one!" It was really pretty. Simple, straight lines with no frills – the dolly was a translucent light pink, so you could see the pink bra and panties underneath, which had some white cherry blossoms stitched on – it was beautiful.
"Um…I…" Sakura blushed, because she's caught herself wondering what Syaoran would think if he saw her in it. "I'm not sure I should…"
"Of course you should!" Tomoyo forcefully pushed Sakura into a changing room and shucked the set in after her, "And don't come out until you've worn it! I'll know!" She called over the door.
Sakura sighed and stripped her clothes off – she quickly dragged the set on and caught herself in the mirror – there was a small dark-red patch on her neck…a love-bite. She let her fingers drift over it and shivered. A very large part of her was quite willing to surrender herself completely to him, but…
He'd betrayed her. He hadn't even apologised, or anything and…and…
She had changed. He had changed. Everything had changed. As soon as the cards were back he'd go back to China and they'd go on living their lives, separately…she blinked away the tears. Last night she'd got a taste of what it would be like to have him…his soft caresses…his warm breathe…his deep, thoughtful eyes…his scent…
And this morning he had been so cruel! It wasn't her fault the cards were missing! Or was it…? Maybe he was right…maybe it was her fault; she was the Card Mistress after all…She picked the cards up from her pile of clothes and thought deeply about everything…
She was brought back to earth by a voice in her head. What the…?
Sakura! Get over here now! She concentrated hard and focused her thoughts on tracking the person…
S-Syaoran…?
Yes, hurry!
But, how…?
Not now! I'll explain later, just follow my aura! And…she felt him hesitate, and be careful.
I'm coming!
Her fingers still tightly holding onto the cards, she burst out of the changing room and ran as fast as she could to door (hearing rather shocked Tomoyo exclaim something not very nice) – as soon as she was on the street she realised she was wearing nothing but underwear. Oh my God…
She had to focus. She ran to the back of the building and got on Fly – without proper clothes on it was freezing! She quickly rose into the air, shivering hard. She concentrated on where his aura was coming from. The Park again…?
She shivered hard and flew over houses and people, trying to desperately not think of what Syaoran would say when he saw her like this…Hoe…
But it couldn't be helped – she felt a strong surge of magic coming from the Park as she landed at the entrance – she ran in, and looked about – she nearly screamed.
In the centre of the park a dense grove of trees had grown from nowhere – there she saw a struggling Syaoran. Branches were wrapped around his arms and legs, his chest…he was trying to free himself, but to no avail.
"Sakura! Don't come any closer!" But it was too late – she stepped forward and bang! She was thrown back and skidded across the floor. She quickly got up and saw the devastation before her – a fire had started and was quickly consuming the trees.
"Syaoran!" She ran forwards and tried to get closer – the heat and ash were too much.
What could she do…?
"Jump!" She jumped up high up and landed on one of the branches near to him – the heat nearly knocked her over. "Syaoran!"
"Sakura, what are you doing? Get out of here, you'll burn alive! And the branches…" He coughed and shook his head.
"Sword!" She gave him a determined look and began hacking away at the branches.
"Listen to me! These aren't ordinary branches, they…" it was at this second Sakura tripped over and the Sword went flying out of her hand – she looked down at her ankle and saw a branch was slowly wrapping itself around her leg. She looked wildly for the sword.
"You are unbelievable!" Syaoran yelled – she looked at him…the heat was getting to her. She looked at where his feet were…the Sword.
"Syaoran, look!" His feet were almost touching it. He said nothing – she gasped. His eyes had gone completely white…the Sword began inching its way to her…
She stretched her arm out…just a few more centimetres…
"Got it!" She turned around fast and hacked away at the branch. Freed, she ran up to Syaoran…there was a strange moment when their eyes met and…he blushed deeply – finally noticing she was wearing…well, not wearing much. She ignored this and began trying to hack away the branches…but it was no use, for some reason they just grew back again, stronger.
Suddenly she felt another presence; she also suddenly felt completely exhausted.
She turned around rapidly and there she saw a girl with dark hair and dark eyes, wearing combat clothes and wielding a sword. She was standing solidly on a branch on the other side of Syaoran.
"You!" He yelled.
"You recognise me?" She smiled, "You are much more powerful than any of us anticipated." Suddenly a branch shot out in front of his mouth and tightened, "It's better this way…"
"Who are you? What do you want?" Sakura coughed out, the ashes getting in her eyes. The fire didn't seem to be getting to them…then again, this was obviously a controlled magical fire…and as soon as the girl went, maybe the fire would get to them…no! She couldn't think that way! She had to believe she could make it. That they could both make it.
Sakura brought her sword up to defend herself – the opponent cut, parried, and sliced the air – but Sakura refused to attack – she just kept defending.
"Haven't you ever heard the best form of defence to attack?" The girl yelled, frustrated. How could you feel good about fighting someone who refused to fight back? "What does it matter? You're dead anyway," She lunged forwards and Sakura dodged, narrowly missing. Sakura turned to face her, but the girl was too fast – Sakura went flying on the floor. The girl stood before and smiled – the tip of her sword extended to Sakura's throat. "That was too easy. I thought you be more of a…challenge."
There was a strange moment where no one moved, or spoke. Sakura waited for the finishing blow…but something made the girl hesitate. Sakura looked into her face and saw a dilemma in her eyes.
"I could have beaten you," Sakura said suddenly. "I can beat you," She realised this was true, "but there is something you that makes me think you're not a bad person."
"I am…a very bad person. Worse, in fact," the girl whispered.
"Look, please, I haven't done anything to you, and…I know you're not bad." Sakura knew this might inflame the situation…but she was going to do the right thing, "Don't you like helping people? Don't you have sympathy or compassion…? Don't you love?"
The girl looked away.
"You could have killed me and you didn't. Why?" The girl looked mistrustfully at her.
"Because I know that I'd be weak to hurt someone just because they tried to hurt me," Sakura felt Syaoran's gaze on her and she felt his aura reaching out to hers…it was warm and comforting.
"Get up," she relaxed her arm, so her sword hung back. "Let me tell you everything…" he girl held out her hand and Sakura took it – she hand never known such sadness as what radiated from this girl.
Suddenly the girl fell, her hands covering her ears.
"Stop, stop, stop…" she screamed. Then she stopped and looked at Sakura, "I have to go…" and Sakura was thrown back – when she looked up the girl had gone. Vanished.
Sakura quickly ran to Syaoran and saw the branches were slowly undoing themselves. She turned to face the fire…but there was none.
"Sakura?" Syaoran freed himself and she went to him and gave him a grim smile.
"Who was she?"
"She's been following me; she was a maid, then a flight attendant…I don't understand how I could have not noticed her magic before…"
"I guess that's got to do with why every time she was nearby I felt so tired," Sakura said suddenly.
"The same with me." He said softly, "Sakura, I…"
"Look!" The trees had completely vanished; she ran over to two small pieces of paper fluttering form the sky, "Wood! Fire! She was using the cards!" Sakura held them close to her…a comfort.
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God, that was so hard to write, it was like pulling out a piece of me! More fluffiness in the next chapter (I mean, Sakura is in underwear for crying out loud!) – I am SO evil! Muhahahah!!