Hey!

A/N: Thank you once more! You deserve it for being so nice. (If you review that is.)

Disclaimer: A soft breeze blows over the plains. CLAMP looks at the dark sky and wonders if people will ever understand her message. "I did it!" Her shout echoes throughout the distance, but only the grass and the trees listen. "I made CCS. Magma Dragoon had nothing to do with it." And then, a dry leaf falls on the ground, announcing autumn. Nobody has listened, but CLAMP knows the world understands her sorrow. "CCS belongs to CLAMP." The world whispers back. And then, a flower blooms by CLAMPS feet. Spring has come earlier for her. A single tear falls on the flower. A tear of happiness. Justice has been done.

The plot thickens: Mei Ling's arrival had surprised everybody. The girl had made herself known a little too well. But Sakura was even more surprised when she discovered that Mei Ling and Yelan were staying at Tomoyo's house. She didn't even have time to ask for explanations. Yelan hurried everybody, claiming that they were late for dinner. Sakura was left behind in Syaoran's apartment with Kero and a passed out Syaoran, having to figure out how she would get her body back before anything happened. (Don't forget to keep remembering yourself that 'Sakura' means 'Sakura in Syaoran's body' and vice-versa.)

"Character Talking"

Character Thinking

(Me Talking)

All the life on the planet is based on a magical energy called 'Mana'. The Sun and the Moon provide this mana to every corner of the planet. Those who learn to manipulate the mana are called magicians. A long time ago, Clow Reed mastered the use of both Sun and Moon mana and created his masterpiece in the use of these types of magic, the Clow Cards. Half of them used the mana from the sun and half from the Moon. Now, after accidentally setting those cards on the loose, Kinomoto Sakura must help Li Syaoran, a descendant of Clow, and Kerberos, the guardian of the cards, to capture the cards which, not having Clow to provide them with mana anymore, are going on a rampage after the magical energy they need to live.

Card Captor Sakura

Chapter 8: Sakura and Syaoran - Act III

Part 3: Beyond the Body

Now follows another excerpt from Clow Reed's diary regarding the Change:

'I thought that the Change was good enough as it was, but now that I've added this final power it's purpose is fulfilled. Kerberos and Yue have never been so cooperative. Of course, it can cause some embarrassing moments to have your mind opened like that, but it also gives you amazing experiences that would be otherwise unachievable. Kerberos asked me if this power was mind reading, but he got it all wrong. To read someone's mind you'd have to break through the many barriers that a person puts around himself. You can say that someone who knows how to understand the so called 'body language' is a primitive mind reader. That's far from what the Change does. Instead of breaking through the barriers that block the access to the mind, it took Yue and Kerbero's minds and put them behind the same barriers. This way they are sheltered from the world as usual, but they are not sheltered from themselves. I've witnessed the most amazing results from that.

Their first reaction was obviously the feeling of invasion of privacy. Everything one of them thinks is witnessed by the other. However, this way, they can't help but understand each other's point of view, making it impossible for them to have an argument. At least in theory. One of the most surprising things I've seen is that, while sharing their thoughts, they instinctively learn how to raise barriers that separate their minds. Not as strong as the one separating them from the world, but effective in allowing them to think by themselves. Of course, these new barriers are fragile and often break down. I've also noticed that these new barriers tend to be stronger when they get mad at each other or at something else, but tend to be more stable when they create them intentionally. The result is that these barriers are appearing and disappearing all the time.

When all of these barriers do break down, leaving their minds truly bare, they do the thing that fascinated me the most. I called it the 'two bodies, one mind' state. I guess the name sums it all up. With nothing to stop their thoughts from reaching the other they start to have conversations at an amazing speed. Instead of words and sentences, they use ideas and intentions. It's not only faster than talking normally, but it's actually more effective, since the purpose of the words we use if precisely to translate our ideas and intentions. When they do this they enter a trance of sorts and have what might be the most productive conversations in history.

The functionality of this mind link can be summed up to help anyone understand it: The two subjects can feel, listen, see, smell and even taste what the other one feels, listens, etc... But the intensity of that link is always changing, as many barriers are raised and thorn down between them every second. It's very hard to predict a pattern in this mind link, so the best I can do for now is be aware that the clarity with which they perceive each other's thoughts is always changing. Most of the time, that clarity is at a medium level in which they can only hear objective thoughts.'

Syaoran opened his eyes.

All he could see was the ceiling of his living room, which was a good thing. He was home. The next thing was even better. He could clearly feel that he wasn't wearing any bunny suit. So it really was a dream. He thought, sighing in relief as he remembered the terrible sight of Sakura's face in his reflection at the Penguin Park.

He sat up on the couch and looked around. There was no one else in the room. However, he could hear Sakura's voice coming from somewhere.

"Hoe? Li-kun?"

Syaoran couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. It had sounded so distant, but at the same time so clear. Did I imagine it? He wondered.

"Li-kun! Is that you?"

This time Syaoran was sure the voice was coming from inside his head. It probably had something to do with the Clow Card from before. Somehow it messed up his mind even more. Giving him crazy dreams and making him hear voices in his head. Or maybe it was that person's fault again.

"What's going on? Where are you? What are you talking about? Whose fault?" The voice insisted.

Syaoran was starting to feel disturbed. The voice just wouldn't go away. Cut it out! He thought to himself as if trying to answer the voice through his mind. He shook his head in a fruitless attempt to normalize his thoughts.

"Cut what out? I don't know what's happening." The voice was starting to sound nervous.

"Shut up!" Syaoran finally shouted, bringing his hands to his mouth immediately after. My voice!

"Li-kun, don't worry, I'm coming up to the apartment. Just wait for me there!"

That comment didn't match Syaoran's theory of a voice inside his head. Could it be that Sakura was actually talking to him somehow? Anyway, he didn't know if that was even half as concerning as the fact that he was really in Sakura's body. That meant his 'dream' had also been very real.

Kero entered the living room, from the kitchen, chewing on something Syaoran couldn't identify. "Who are you talking to?" The guardian asked. "You just woke up and you're already speaking nonsense."

Syaoran pulled himself up and walked up to Kero. He nearly fell down on the way, unaccustomed to his new legs. "What's going on here?!" He asked nervously.

"Calm down. It was a Clow Card." Said the voice in his head.

Kero sighed. "Keep your cool. Remember that card that attacked you in the park? It was the Change."

Syaoran looked all over the room to see if Sakura wasn't hiding somewhere. Maybe he had just missed her the last time. He did find her, but she was opening the front door and walking in the apartment. "Li-kun, you're awake!" She said, her voice male, but the voice that echoed in Syaoran's head still the same. As a result he heard his and Sakura's voice pronouncing those words simultaneously.

Of course, her words or the echo in his head were of little importance when compared to the fact that he was staring at himself. His body was standing right there in front of him staring at himself and looking not half as shocked as he felt. He wasn't even sure if he understood the meaning of that particular thought. The boy was left speechless, which was fortunate to Sakura and Kero.

"Will you let us explain now?" Kero said. After clearing his throat, he put himself to talk. "The Change card switched your bodies. This here is Sakura, and you are in her body."

Syaoran mumbled something incomprehensible He waved his hand in the air trying to hit Kero but guardian dodged easily. "I noticed that already! What I want to know is why I can hear her thoughts!" He exclaimed.

Sakura gasped. She could hear Syaoran's voice along with hers as the boy talked through her body. That meant she was hearing him think those words along with him saying them. That also meant he could hear whatever else she though of. Of course, Sakura's mind wondered straight to the things she didn't want Syaoran to hear.

Syaoran suddenly picked an image of Yukito in his head. He blushed deeply. Why I thinking of him now?! The response to his question came immediately in the form of a thought from Sakura. Syaoran blushed even deeper and Sakura was now blushing too, realizing she had just thought about what she was trying to avoid. "Control yourself Kinomoto-san!" Syaoran said loudly. Sakura's mind only drifted further into her thoughts. She was now trying not to think of her fantasies of going on a romantic date with Yukito.

Suddenly Kero shouted. "Ahh! A ghost!"

"Kyaaah!" Sakura's thoughts froze. She put her arms around her head for protection and fell on her knees.

Syaoran understood what Kero was trying to do. He and the guardian shared quick meaningful glances before turning back to Sakura. "He was just kidding Kinomoto-san. To distract you." Sakura looked up to Syaoran, he had a serious face on, despite his sympathetic words.

Kero flew to her side. "Now, before your minds start wondering again pay attention to what I'm going to say. Sit down, both of you, and close your eyes." He said. Sakura and Syaoran looked at him inquisitively, but considering the situation they thought it would be best to hear the guardian. The two sat on their knees, side by side, and closed their eyes. "The Change has the power to create this kind of link between the minds of the people whose bodies it switched. Every time one of you has a focused thought, the other will hear. The best way to avoid thinking uncomfortable thoughts is to focus on something else, so count to a hundred together while I think of something. And count as loudly as you can."

Both Sakura and Syaoran started counting together without questioning the order. There was nothing else they could do. Giving themselves time to think would mean risking another embarassing situation like that one. They started counting out loud with absoutely perfect synchrony.

"1, 2..."

"Louder!" Kero ordered.

"4, 5, 6..." The continued, from the top of their non respective lungs.

Kero sighed. Ok, so The Change's done its little trick on them. They'll never get the card if they can't even think by themselves. There's got to be some way to fix them without finding the card.

"22, 23, 24..." As they counted they started tensing up. This isn't working at all. Sakura thought, intending to be listened by Syaoran.

Even if I put one of them to sleep, they might start dreaming and that would be even worst. Kero thought, remembering terrible past experiences with the Change and dreams.

"35, 36, 37..." Sakura was already closing her hands in tight fists. Do we really need to be this worried? Syaoran thought. Sakura glanced at him curiously. We think some things so fast, it's impossible that we can actually hear everything the other thinks.

Maybe if they... no. Kero continued his hopeless pursuit for a solution.

"49, 50, 51..." They were both sweating by now. You're right! We can think anything we want, so long as we don't focus in it, the other one won't know. Right?

"That's it!" Kero proclaimed. "Keep counting, I'll be right back." He flew out of the room, into Syaoran's bedroom.

Sakura and Syaoran watched anxiously. They exchanged another quick glance and stopped counting simultaneously. A moment of tension took hold of them, not knowing how vulnerable their minds were. After a couple of seconds Syaoran let out a smirk. "See? It's not like we're open books or anything."

Sakura smiled back. "You're right, this isn't too hard."

Kero flew back into the room. "Found it." He yelled. He showed the Shield card to the two. "I'll use it on you Sakura. The Shield might block The Change's magic and..."

"It's alright Kero-chan. It's not really that bad." Sakura said, signaling for Kero to put the card down.

Kero's mouth fell open. "Not that bad?!" He exclaimed with indignation. "How can you say that? It's terrible."

"She says that because we have control over our own minds." Syaoran stated proudly.

Kero sighed in defeat. "Alright, it's your choice. But trust me, you'll regret it latter."

"Don't worry, we're not prisoners to our thoughts." Syaoran said. He couldn't help but reminding himself of the lie he was telling. At least I wish I wasn't. He thought, remembering the spell.

Sakura looked at Syaoran with curiosity. "Hoe?"

Syaoran found himself trapped in what he was trying to hide, much like Sakura had been a while ago. "Nothing!" He said immediately, waving his hands in front of him defensively. "I was just thinking we should think of a way to find the card and..." He paused, suddenly noticing something.

Sakura didn't have to wait for the boy to speak to answer him. She knew what he'd noticed. "Wei-san and Tomoyo-chan aren't here, I know. It's a long story. As a matter of fact, it concerns you." She said smiling anxiously.

Kero chuckled. "To sum it up, your mother and cousin are having dinner at Tomoyo's house. Apparently they're going to be staying there for a few weeks." Kero said.

It took over three seconds for that piece of information to kick in Syaoran's mind. He wondered if he hadn't misheard the little beast, or maybe Kero had made a mistake. None of that was the case however, and Sakura's thoughts came soon, confirming the truth.

The boy started sweating. "Does she..."

Sakura knew what he was going to ask again and didn't need to wait for him to finish. "She knows of the Change already." She answered meekly, noticing the news weren't as good to Syaoran as she had anticipated.

Syaoran gulped. "And what did she say?"

Sakura smiled. At least those were good news. "She said she was very proud of you for facing this situation between us and she encourages you in every effort to end it." She said. "She's an amazing person, isn't she?"

Syaoran was caught off guard again. "She said that?" Of course he knew her mother was talking about the spell, but he decided that it wasn't something he should think about while Sakura could listen and quickly moved on to what really mattered. "But she had told me to go back to Hong Kong. I thought she would be mad at me for insisting in staying. Last time we talked she was so incisive."

Kero smirked. "Sometimes, when you want someone to do something, the best way to get it is to ask him to do the exact opposite." He said, making a pose he judged to be cool and wise. "Your mother was probably testing you to see if you had the guts to stay."

Sakura grinned. "Isn't that great? Now you can stay with your mother's consent. I mean... if you want to." She said, trailing of.

Syaoran blushed. "I told you already. I've decided to stay." He stated, looking at a random spot in the ceiling in embarrassment As if it wasn't weird enough with our bodies unchanged. He thought ironically

Sakura smiled, not realizing the true meaning behind Syaoran's thought. "Thanks. This is weird for me too."

Kero laughed. "You haven't seen half of it."

They fell in silence. Sakura and Syaoran started reflecting together on how awkward that situation could get. It was a strange experience for both of them to think together. Their thoughts would overlay each other, sometimes completing and sometimes changing the other's point of view. The result was one single current of thoughts that reflected both views on the matter at the same time. Everything was as clear to one as to the other. In a second they had thought together on how easy it could be for one's thought to slip and go to an embarrassing memory, or how one could have to pretend being the other at school if they didn't fix the change soon. Finally something occurred to Syaoran that had gone by unnoticed, breaking that smooth flow.

"Did you say that my mother is at Daidouji-san's house?" He said.

Kero nodded. "Yep, I was surprised when Tomoyo told me too."

Sakura felt as if she was being pulled out of a short trance. Her mind went back to functioning normally by itself. "I don't know much about that either. Apparently Tomoyo-chan and her mother knew your mother somehow, but I'm still pretty confused."

"All she told me was that your mother and her mother became friends here in Japan when she was still very small and lost contact with each other over the last few years." Kero said.

Syaoran felt he needed a rest from all that craziness going on around him. Upon thinking that, he found out that Sakura felt just the same. They looked at each other and shared a rare reciprocal smile.

"I guess it must be weird seeing yourself smile." Sakura said, not bothering to conceal her thoughts. It would be pointless anyway. "I know it is for me. Especially being you the one behind it." She smiled brighter.

Syaoran blushed again. "That's... It's not important right now." He said, changing his expression drastically "We should stop all the chit chat and start looking for the card."

Sakura felt disappointed. She could now feel the exact opposite from what she felt when her thoughts were aligned with Syaoran. His mind felt distant now and she couldn't hear a single thought coming from it. As a matter of fact, she didn't even hear his voiced mixed with hers when he spoke.

Kero didn't bother with the situation. He agreed with Syaoran's words. "Well said, brat. I've already thought of a plan to find it."

"What is that?" Syaoran asked.

"I can't tell you." Kero declared with a clever smirk on. He was immediately met with a punch from Syaoran. It wasn't as strong as it used to be when he used his own hand, but Sakura's strength was enough to take down the little guardian.

"Li-kun!" Sakura said in a scolding tone, thought she agreed that Kero had asked for that.

Syaoran snorted. "He had it coming." He grabbed Kero by the back of his neck. "Now, will you stop fooling around?"

Kero was still dizzy from the punch. His eyes were looking at random directions and he had a goofy smile on. "Sakura? Why are you so mad?" He asked in a groggy voice. "Let me go Sakura!"

Syaoran sighed. "I don't need his help." He threw the guardian on the sofa. "I'll find the card by myself." He said.

Sakura gasped. "What?" Syaoran was already putting sneakers on. "How are you going to do that?"

"I don't know." He said. "But I'll go insane if I don't get my mind back to myself." He said.

Saying that made him remember the spell. To get my mind back... He couldn't help now but think how unimportant getting the card was compared to his other task.

ººººFLASHBACKºººº

There he was, in the white fog, slave to the will of that mysterious man.

Syaoran could almost feel the puppet master smiling in satisfaction. A relived satisfaction. "From this moment on I will present you with three possibilities. I won't use my powers to change your choice, so you must think well."

Syaoran nodded. He was willing to do just about anything to finally end the month-long soul torture he had been through.

"Possibility number one: You stay in Japan and I'll tell you how you can get rid of the spell. I can't guarantee you it will be easy or quick though. Possibility number two: You go back to Hong Kong and live your life just like your mother wants you to. Eventually, your feelings and memories of Sakura will fade and I will be able to remove the spell without serious consequences. However, this may take months, years or it may never happen at all. Possibility number three: you go back to Hong Kong, I put the spell out and erase your memory of all that's happened here, thus eliminating any chance of insanity." The voice concluded. "It's your choice."

Syaoran laughed at himself at the temptation he felt of taking the third possibility. Run away. He had been surprising himself at how much he wasn't caring anymore for who was this man talking to him or why did he want Sakura to be protected. It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting himself rid of the problem and the third choice was the fastest way to do that. He not only would get rid of it but, from his point of view, it would have never even existed in the first place.

'When I get nervous about something, I usually eat a lot, but when that doesn't help, the best thing to do is to face the problem straight on.'

"I've made my choice already." He said confidently.

"Good."

"I'll stay!" The boy declared with all of his confidence. "I haven't given up yet."

"I expected as much from you." The voice said. "Very well. I'll tell you how to take out the spell completely."

"Go ahead." Syaoran demanded impatiently.

"Like I said, once I remove the spell, Sakura will seem like a stranger to you. You'll remember all you felt for her but you won't feel it anymore. You loose sight of what's real and what's memory. It may drive you insane, you understand?" Syaoran nodded, not sure if it meant something to nod in that crazy fog. Nonetheless the voice kept talking. "What you need is something to grasp in the moments of doubt. Something you know that came from you, not from the spell. You need a memory that's real and yours."

Syaoran raised a brow. "I'm not sure I understand."

"From now on I won't interfere with your thoughts anymore. The real world will be as free of the spell as this one we're in. Use this to create something that you can relate to Sakura." The voice said, getting more intense with each word. "All of the feelings, good or bad, which you developed for her until now, were a consequence of my interference. Now you need to develop something new. Something that will stay even when the spell is completely broken and that will overwhelm all of the memories you will have of the fake feelings you lost. It will be your reality, not mine."

Syaoran could feel a fire burning in those words. The voice had said them with passion and that had gotten even trough Syaoran's hard shell. He couldn't help but feel encouraged to do as he was told. "Alright. What I need is to find something that I feel about her not because of the spell, but because of me and her. Is that it?"

"That's it."

ººººEND OF FLASHBACKºººº

All of those memories rushed trough Syaoran's head too quickly, carrying with them traits of other memories involving the same subject in a matter of seconds.

Judging from Sakura's face of pure shock, she had remembered all of that along with Syaoran. Of course, for Sakura, it was the first time visiting those memories.

Syaoran had intended to tell her sooner or later about the spell, but still, that didn't feel like the right way to do it. He intended to explain himself slowly so she could grasp the situation in its true form, not to throw the truth on her like that, expecting her to take it all without protest. He sure hadn't.

Sakura's mind was going through all that on her own. Once again she felt the link between their minds growing faint, and his thoughts weren't coming to her as clear as before. She wondered if they were even coming at all. He wasn't looking at her, though she couldn't stop looking at him. He was literally inside her body but she had never felt him so distant from her before.

The weird thing about understanding another one's thoughts is that they don't always come in words, images or sounds. Sometimes they come in concepts. That was the case with Sakura at that time. Syaoran had accidentally explained to her almost all that he knew about the spell without thinking or saying anything more than what was in his memories. Sakura had picked the 'understanding' of the spell directly from his mind. That only increased the shock effect.

"Li-kun..." Sakura started. To Syaoran's surprise he could only hear the voice coming out of his body's mouth. The one in his head that had paired with it until now was completely gone. "...do I know you?" She asked, being that the first thing that came to her mind.

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A/N: Another one gone. Getting really into the characters minds now. It only gets worse in the next part.

Any doubts? Complaints? Sorrows? Confessions? Go ahead and review. So long as you talk about the story I'll read anything you want put in there.

Bye! See you next chapter.