Hey!

A/N: What can I say... I'm back. It's real. We've got a whole new season ahead of us so I won't hold you back. This new chapter should be pretty fun to read. It was fun to write at least. So, to those of you who haven't abandoned me. Go ahead... and read the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I've told you again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again (That's one again for every chapter). If you still don't get it, then use your imagination and picture my lips so you can read them. I - do not - own - C - C – S! Period!

The Plot Thickens: Let's just go over the big stuff of the first season. You remember the spell right? The one Eriol put on Syaoran so he'd have a desire to protect her and made him think he had a crush on her. Good. They got rid of it, remember? The Change and all that? Good. The first season was mainly about that. Other important stuff that I might include is the fact that Eriol told Touya that his reason for being there is to fix a mistake Clow made in the past. That's pretty important too. Yelan and Mei Ling are in Japan now, but living with Tomoyo. Syaoran broke Sakura's leg while in her body. Sakura is the rightful mistress of the cards but Syaoran has hopes that she'll give the cards to him. Oh, and Sakura is still committed to tutor Syaoran in Japanese lessons... Just throwing random stuff in case you haven't noticed. I figured you'd start to remember the puzzle as a whole if I showed you a lot of pieces.

"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 10: Sakura in the Dream

Part 1: Spell Free and Afterthoughs

The xxxx elementary had always been popular for the great care it took of its kids. They didn't teach anything that the others schools didn't teach already, nor did they produce great geniuses. They were just a small town school where, in what some could call a coincidence, all of the staff and all of the students were a bit nicer to each other than at your average school.

Mizuki Kaho had loved that place from her first day there, when she had volunteered for the math teacher job. It was the first time in years she had managed to forget about the problems in life and just worry about the present. Who would have guessed that a place with such welcoming people still existed in that cold, modern world?

As the boys and girls played in the courtyard, she just watched them. Recess would be over soon and the fifth grade would all enthusiastically enter the building to watch her class. The children's reception was probably what had touched her the most about that place.

"Mizuki-sensei, come play with us." One of the little girls asked her while tugging her skirt.

Kaho smiled to the girl. She noticed that a lot of the kids were looking at her from the courtyard, expecting her answer. "Sure, what do you want to play?"

"It." The little girl said.

Kaho raised an eyebrow, acting suspicious in a playful sort of way. "What's 'it'?" She asked.

The girl gave a gentle slap in her leg. "You're it!" She said before running away, giving chase.

Kaho laughed at the girl's little joke. The girl was also laughing cheerfully as she ran away. Soon all the kids joined in the game. If only it was possible to leave everything behind and be Mizuki-sensei forever. Was what she'd think nearly every day she spent in xxxx elementary. However, the harsh truth would often come banging at her head. No, I have a mission here.

After another day as a teacher was over she watched the students leave the classroom with a mix of joy and sorrow.

"Mizuki-sensei!" A little girl had stayed behind and now in stood in front of Kaho's desk, the same girl who'd invited her to play with them during recess. She wore an excited expression.

"Have you been training like I taught you to?" Kaho asked the little girl in front of her.

The girl proudly nodded.

Kaho looked around to make sure no one was nearby anymore. She leaned closer to the girl. "Then show it." She whispered with a sly smile on.

The girl seemed confused. "Right here? But you said..."

"Just this time it's okay." The teacher replied with a wink."

The girl seemed even more excited now. "Alright! Look, Mizuki-sensei." She took a piece of paper from her pocket with some kanji n it. "Water!" She shouted while holding the paper up high. The kanji started squirting water as if it were a fountain.

"Very good. To think that you'd get so far without a staff or the cards. You're really amazing." The teacher praised the girl.

"And when do I get a staff?" The girl anxiously asked. "It's been almost a year already. I can do a lot of stuff."

Kaho giggled at the girl's energy. "I've told you. The staff is with the pretty lion in the book, but we can't take it until you're really good."

"How good?"

Kaho had to hold back a sad expression at that question, she had told that lie to the girl too many times. "Good enough to break the seal." She told her once again.

Good enough to help us without putting your life in danger.

Saturday, July 14th, The Daidouji Mansion.

The Kinomotos, the Daidoujis and the Lis were all gathered around a large dinning table. There were too many people present and consequently too many conversations happening at the same time. Through these conversations, the three families got to finally know each other better and, by the time dessert was served, they were all feeling like old friends already.

"This is delicious." Sakura exclaimed as she tasted the cake that was served for dessert.

Sonomi smiled at her. "I'm glad you liked it Sakura-chan. I learned that recipe from a friend a long time ago."

"I'm glad you still have that recipe." Yelan said to Sonomi. "I remember that when I last came here I couldn't go a day without a piece of this cake."

While everyone talked about everyday subjects such as cake, Mei Ling, who was strategically seating between Sakura and Syaoran, was doing her best to catch up all the time she'd lost.

"Really? You're on the soccer team?" The girl asked with admiration. "I didn't know you could play soccer."

Syaoran had been answering all of Mei Ling's questions, doing his best not to let the girl notice that he wasn't really feeling like telling her everything that had happened in the past month at the moment.

He had just gone through his first day in Japan without the spell and things hadn't really settled down in his mind regarding Sakura. She had been the focus of most of his life for quite a while and, even if the spell was gone now, he couldn't just pretend that his feelings were crystal clear for him.

After leaving the hospital the last night, he'd gone back to his apartment with Wei. Nothing troubled him then. He was free and he could think whatever he wanted of Sakura now. It wasn't until next morning that he started feeling nervous. All that freedom, he realized, meant a lot of responsibility too.

He woke up with a phone call from his mother saying that he should come to the Daidouji mansion at night for dinner with the Daidoujis and the Kinomotos. He had no objections. However, during the day, he started wondering what his meeting with Sakura would be like. Would it be awkward? Would he be nervous? Would he still feel some of the things he'd felt around her in the past month? After all, even if the spell wasn't there anymore, he remembered the way he'd felt back then very well. He couldn't know for sure that those feelings were not inside him anymore.

As time went by and dinner got closer, Syaoran became more insecure. He was beginning to understand why people could go mad after suffering the spell. It was too confusing to remember a feeling that he wasn't supposed to have anymore. The puppet master was right about that. He was also right on his condition to remove the spell.

Sakura had helped him get rid of the spell. The touch of her hand and her confidence. Those were the things that he should remember about her now. Right then, when their hands touched, he had felt secure and sure of his feelings. It was the first time he'd felt like that since he'd found out about the spell, and it was still the only thing keeping him from loosing his mind.

It was no surprise to him that when he met Sakura at the dinner he couldn't say a word to her. It was as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Syaoran felt that he didn't have the right to be informal around Sakura like he was used to being, which wasn't much already. He didn't really know what to do.

Fortunately for him, Sakura was still the same girl that had smiled at him at the hospital the last night. Still confident and cheerful. She seemed to understand perfectly what Syaoran was going through, and in fact she did. The Change had allowed her to understand Syaoran's conflict better than anybody else, maybe even better than Syaoran himself.

Meanwhile, at the Tsukimine Shrine.

Eriol contemplated the enormous cherry tree that stood in the midle of the shrine.

"Aren't you glad we're finally out of their way now?" A woman asked while sweeping the floor inside the temple nearby.

Eriol nodded. "They're free to do as they please, and we're free from the responsibility."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like you."

Eriol chuckled. "Well, it's not often that I do such unpleasant things like that spell. It's only natural that the guilt would get to me."

"Clow was like you. He couldn't just let things happen the way they should. That's why you're here today. If he had just let go back then..."

"So this is where it all started?" Eriol interrupted. "This is the place where Clow made his great mistake?"

"You've been here before, it's no surprise." The woman answered, walking out of the temple.

"Clow has been here before. It's my first time actually entering entering the place." Eriol stated. "I'm not surprised that Clow chose to use this tree."

"It's really powerful." The woman said. "That's why so many cards were drawn to it."

"Fortunately we've been able to keep them away. If Sakura-san comes here before she is ready, who knows what would happen?" The boy said, touching the tree with the palm of his hand.

The woman seemed offended. "I had no way of knowing that would happen back then. I was just following instructions." The woman protested. "Your instructions."

"I wasn't even born, and you should have waited for me." Eriol said in a very calm manner, not losing his cool.

The woman seemed to be deeply affected by the subject. She looked down. "I had no way of knowing if I could wait. As far as I knew you could only have been born in one hundred years from now."

"That's still no reason to risk a little girl's life." Eriol replied, still very calm. "I know this is hard for you, but we can't afford to let the same thing happen to Sakura-san. I know you wouldn't want this."

"I got so excited back then. This time I won't make the same mistakes." The face of the woman changed it's expression, first to determined, then to happy.

"I gather you made a decision." Eriol asked her as she walked away from the shrine.

"There's a job for a math teacher at Tomoeda Elementary. I've decided to try for it."

"Syaoran! Are you even listening?" Mei Ling said, waving her hand in front of Syaoran's eyes.

The boy jumped in his chair, knowing that Mei Ling would kill him if she knew he was thinking about Sakura. "Sorry, I got distracted." He said quickly. "What did you say?"

"Oh, forget it. You'll just doze off again sooner or later." Mei Ling said with a sigh. "Honestly, even though you're back in your own body you still spend half of the time with those absent eyes."

Sakura giggled at that comment. "Actually, he'd spend most of the time like that even before The Change."

"Do you really have so much to think about?" Mei Ling questioned him annoyed.

Syaoran blushed, it was true he'd often doze off in front of Sakura, but most of the times it was because of the spell. Maybe I'm still worrying too much. The spell is gone now so it's no use thinking about it anymore. Thinking that the conversation would soon reach the subject he wanted to avoid, he decided to avoid the conversation altogether.

"Not really." He answered while trying to look as if he didn't care. "And don't talk so loudly about these things like the cards, there are people here who don't know."

Mei Ling shrugged her shoulders. "Nobody is paying any attention." She pointed out, gesturing towards their families who were indeed chatting while not paying any attention to the children's conversation.

Syaoran sighed. That's not an excuse. He thought. "Mei Ling, even so, we shouldn't..."

"Don't worry brat, they really aren't paying any attention at all. That Yukito boy though, I think he's noticed already."

Syaoran nearly jumped in surprise. There, eating a piece of cake right in the middle of the table, was the little winged guardian of the Clow cards. He didn't seem too worried about being seen, which freaked Syaoran out.

"What are you doing?" He reached for the little creature in an attempt to hide it, but Kero dodged his hand easily. "They'll see you!"

"It's okay, I don't mind." Syaoran looked to where that voice had come from feeling that it was familiar. Indeed, it belonged to Yukito, who seemed to be sitting right across from him on the table. "There's someone inside me too, waiting to come out. Just like him, so I don't mind if he's here."

Syaoran couldn't fight the blood building up on his face. "What? What's going on?" He isn't supposed to be here!

All of a sudden he noticed that only Kero and Yukito were left in the room. The table was left with half eaten plates and empty seats giving the room a haunted house feeling. Were he Sakura, he'd be afraid of seeing a ghost, but being him, he tried to feel the presence of a Clow card that could be doing that, however, Yukito's presence was keeping him from focusing properly.

"When it comes down to it, will you be able to stand up for yourself?" Kero said, changing his voice to an enigmatic tone.

"I already did. I got rid of the spell!" The boy shouted, suddenly feeling angry, much to his own surprise.

"You've come a long way, but the most painful of choices are yet to come." This time it was Yukito who said the words to the boy. "In order to make those choices, you must first understand what you really want."

Syaoran didn't know when, but the room had disappeared too by now. Only Yukito and Kero were there with him in what seemed like endless darkness. Also, he felt less compelled to understand why things were happening in such a bizarre way. For some reason, he wanted to know what Yukito and Kero were talking about despite the absurd situation.

"I... I don't understand."

"Is there a purpose to who you are?" Syaoran turned around. A waitress with a deep, male voice was talking to him now. "You got rid of the spell, but what was your purpose before the spell?"

"My purpose?" Syaoran searched his mind trying to find the answer.Before the spell, my only purpose was...

"Maybe if you capture all the cards you'll become the next head of the clan." He turned around again to find Mei Ling smiling at him.

Tomoyo was standing beside Mei Ling. "You can marry Mei Ling-chan. Maybe Sakura-chan will even give you the cards."

"I'd be so proud of you." Yelan was there too now, eying him with a satisfied smile.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Me too son, I know this is your destiny."

"Otou-san!" Syaoran turned around quickly, but where he expected to see his father, only the waitress stood again.

"Is that it?" The waitress asked him. "You've found your purpose? Are you sure that's it?"

Syaoran felt a woman hugging him from behind. The arms were warm and comforting. "Of course he did. He's always known his purpose." His mother said. "Isn't that right?"

Syaoran lowered his head. "I..."

"Don't look down!" Now it was Yukito's turn to talk. The boy seemed serene, but concerned about Syaoran. "You haven't answered the questioned by yourself. You're just avoiding it by letting other people answer it for you."

Syaoran raised his head. "I... I don't know."

"Good." It was Sakura that stared at him this time. She had a bright smile on her face and for some reason, she was the only one there with Syaoran now. "That means you're starting to question what you once believed in. What you were forced to believe. You're giving yourself an identity you can call your own."

"K-Kinomoto-san... What does that mean?

Sakura reached out for Syaoran's hand and held it. Syaoran felt himself blushing again. This was different from when she helped him get rid of the spell. The look in her eyes was different. It was much more magnetic, as if it was pulling Syaoran's very soul inside those two emerald circles.

The girl stared at Syaoran, her face only a few inches apart from his. Syaoran was starting to feel more nervous. "Even if you don't know which path to take now, I know it's going to be alright."

She leaned forward and moved her head to the side so her lips were brushing against Syaoran's ear. The smell of her hair became very vivid. He knew that smell and he'd learned to associate it with Sakura, but he had never felt it so intensively. "If you're afraid and need someone to be with, I'll be there with you." She whispered.

She wrapped her arms around him, causing him to get even more tense. "I'll be there because you are the one I love most, Syaoran-kun."

The ceiling of his bedroom was all he could see now. His breathing was rapid and his hands were sweaty.

A dream. It was a dream.

Syaoran could barely believe what he'd just experienced. At first it was just like the dinner we had at Daidouji-san's, but then... So many things happened.

As he recalled the questions he'd been asked he couldn't help but feel that it hadn't been an ordinary dream. It felt as if had meant something deep. It felt so real too. He could practically smell her hair and feel her breath against his ear. No! This is wrong. The spell is gone so why can't I stop thinking about her? And in the end, she even called me...

"Syaoran-kun."

"Ah!" Syaoran couldn't contain his scream. What's going on? His dream was over, but for some reason, Sakura was still there by his side, hugging him and calling him Syaoran-kun.

A/N: Uh Oh, naughty thoughts! Don't even go there pervert. CLAMP usually teases a lot of these taboos so I though it'd be okay if I teased them a little bit too. Don't worry, they didn't have sex or anything. Even if they did (which they didn't) they'd be wearing a condom. There, now my story is kid friendly again cause it's got sex ed. (My mind works in mysterious ways... But that's also true for pretty much everybody else so...)

Sorry if you wanted to see more of Sakura, but rest assured, you'll see plenty of her in the next chapter.

I've got some bad news for you. (For me actually.) I didn't get into college so I'll have to study my ass off again and try harder this year. That's bad because I'm under pressure again. So far I can handle it fine, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to update as often as last year. That's what I get for only trying four of the hardest to get into colleges in the country. This year I'll try a couple of easy ones to be safe. Don't want to spend my whole life going to a cram school.

But enough with that. I'm back and I feel great for being back, so don't ruin my day by not reviewing.

See ya!