First of all I would like to apologize for taking so long to update but this section of the story has given me writer's block for about 3 years now.

Second I refer to Keroberos as Kero in this chapter but take note that the entire time he is in his full form as Keroberos.

Finally: Thank you for bearing with me! The story is coming to an end soon!!

Quick recap:

Sakura comes to visit the Li's to prove that Clow has chosen the right master for the cards. She falls for Syaoran and Eriol finds an ancient prophecy that says Sakura and Syaoran will defeat a great evil but in doing so they will cause great pain to each other. One of Clow's deciples, Penelope, who had been banished to another realm for trying to take over Clow's magic and use it to her benefit, has been spying on Sakura and manages to escape her prison and wreck havoc on the world. Sakura, Syaoran, Yue, and Kero go to fight her and the look-alike that she'd created of Syaoran.

Enjoy the rest of the story!

Thinking about the ones she loves, filled her heart with a warm, serene feeling. The sensation spread to every part of her body and soul, taking away her grief and replacing the pain and sorrow with something else, something more powerful.

She felt her molecules buzzing in anticipation and excitement. She'd never felt this much power coursing through her veins before. Even her aura was glowing brighter than it had ever been before. Sakura was suddenly filled with a sense of reassurance and confidence in herself. She knew she's be able to defeat Penelope. She could feel it in her bones.

Sakura concentrated on the new found strength within her and she tried to reach out to Syaoran, Yue and Kero with it. Kero who was still trying to break through the barrier felt the difference in the air and turned to face Sakura. She looked unusually calm and the look in her eyes told Kero that she had finally found the courage she needed. She began to glow brighter and in a flash a blinding light emanated from Sakura and spread throughout the forest.

Penelope stopped in the middle of another attack towards Yue and looked at Sakura in surprise. The glowing spells on the forest floor frizzled and died out. The barrier was broken.

Penelope gaped. "That's not possible!"

Kero smirked, "Oh it gets better." He looked past her. Penelope turned to the place where Syaoran's body had been pulled into the ground. The floor was glowing with Sakura's light at that spot . A figure slowly started to rise out of the ground. Syaoran's body was once again resting on the ground, Syaoran's look-alike ran to attack him again but just as he was about to deliver a deadly blow to Syaoran's head, a gust of wind picked him up and threw him far into the forest. The Windy reappeared through the trees momentarily and flew to the sky and started circling, causing the clouds to gather together and rumble with the threat of rain. Kero smiled at Sakura. "Nice to have you back." He rushed to help Yue as Penelope scrambled about trying to make sense of what had just happened and get back her leverage.

Syaoran stirred and slowly opened his eyes. Everything came rushing back to him and he sat up immediately yelling Sakura's name and looking around for her. Sakura rushed to his side and wrapped her arms around him. "You're alive!" Sakura cradled Syaoran's beaten body. "You're ok, you're ok," Sakura rocked him back and forth as tears rushed down her face.

Syaoran looked up at her and smiled, "Thanks to you. I knew you could do it."

Sakura smiled back at him and pulled him in a gentle hug.

A drop of rain fell on Sakura's ear, followed by another. With a roaring thunder, the skies opened up and rain began to pour, washing away the jet black clouds that had cut off the sun and the moon from the Earth. The stars sparkled in the now-visible night sky. The beautiful glow from the moon shone brightly on Yue and began to replenish him.

Sakura felt an overwhelming power building up inside her and she knew everything was going to be alright. A subtle, pink glow started to shine from Sakura's heart that immediately became apparent. "Sakura?" Syaoran gave her a concerned look. Sakura only smiled at him.

The glow left her body in an orb and shaped itself into a Clow card. Sakura grabbed it out of the air and read the name, "Hope."

"Sakura, she's getting away!" yelled Kero from Yue's side. Sakura's head snapped up to see Penelope summon another black cloud and get on it.

"Well it was good while it lasted but you better kiss your hope goodbye, " Penelope yelled back as she flew off.

"We need to go after her," said Syaoran as he struggled to get up.

"We need a plan first," Sakura helped Syaoran stand up. His injuries were too many and it was obvious to Sakura that he was trying to not show how much pain he was really in. Yue struggled to stand up but collapsed back down. "Sakura's right. We don't want to walk into another trap. We need to be prepared this time, especially considering the injuries we've sustained."

"What can we do at this point?" Kero asked.

"The look-alike!" Syaoran screamed as he looked around. "Where is he?!"

"Penelope probably went after him," Sakura said.

"I don't think so," said Yue. "She looked more interested in getting away and saving herself while she had a chance."

"So you think Syaoran's look-alike is still here?" asked Kero.

"What should we do?" an edge of panic was detectible in Sakura's tone.

"Now that he's separated from Penelope, it might be the only chance we have to defeat him." Yue informed them as he gathered up enough strength to stand up with help from Kero.

"How?" asked Sakura.

"We better figure that out soon, 'cause he's back!" yelled Syaoran.

Everyone's head snapped to the direction Syaoran was looking, to see the look-alike leaning against the tree, looking out of breath and tired.

"Sakura use your cards!" exclaimed Kero.

Sakura's hand went to her pocket to grab a card when Syaoran stopped her. "This is my fight Sakura. I need to finish it."

"Are you insane, kid? He'll kill you! He almost did it before!" yelled Kero.

"Keroberos. Let him go." Yue looked sternly at the other guardian who was looking at him wide-eyed. "He has to do this."

As the two continued to squabble, Syaoran stepped forward to fight his doppelganger. Sakura placed a hand on his arm to stop him. He looked at her and saw so much love and concern in her eyes that he knew he would move heaven and hearth to be with her. "I'll be alright, Sakura. I promise you." Sakura just nodded and wiped away the tears that were running down her face. He turned back to face his look-alike, who forced himself off the tree and stood up. He appeared to also be injured. "Sakura... I could really use a sword right now."

Sakura nodded and summoned the Sword card for Syaoran, then rushed to Yue's side. "He'll be alright won't he?"

Yue looked at her with a somber expression. "Your hope healed his inner wounds, only the self-doubt that he had is gone. Now he just needs you to believe in his abilities."

Syaoran raised his sword and gave his look-alike a deathly glare, "This is going to end now."

-.-.-.-.-

Eriol finished writing an ancient symbol on the ground and got up to face Yelan. "We've done all we can." He looked outside the manor window and saw that the light of the moon was almost visible through the waning clouds.

Yelan stood next to him and asked him with an anguished look, "Are they alright?"

"I have no idea. I'm sensing too many things. They're alive but heavily injured." Yelan clutched her hands to her heart and gasped in fear. "You must have faith in them, Yelan."

"I do, but you can't stop a mother from worrying."

Eriol put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Let's go try to be of some help to them." They walked back into the living room where the Li family was gathered with their friends as well as Ruby Moon and Spinal Sun. Eriol sighed and began to speak, "Hopefully Sakura and Syaoran can defeat her but in case they don't and Penelope comes here, we need to be ready with a plan. All we can hope for, in case of this situation is that at least they've weakened her enough so that we can finish the job. Alone we will fall, but together... by combining your magic as Clow descendants and my magic as his reincarnation, we may be able to pull this off."

"Some of us don't have any magic," Meilin spoke up, "What do we do? Just stand around and watch?"

Eriol walked up to her. "You have magic. All of you have magic because you believe in the oldest and greatest magic of all- love. Your love for each other combined will hopefully be strong enough to stop Penelope."

"Hopefully?" asked Feimei.

Eriol sighed and look down. "I can't guarantee it'll work, but I will promise you, we will all die if we try nothing. And she won't stop with us. She will continue until she's conquered the whole world. So yes, right now all we can do is hope and it is important that you don't forget that. Never give up hope."

Xiefa put a protective arm around Feimei and whispered, "We'll get through this. You have to believe with all your heart that we'll be ok." She cast a concerned glance toward the window and added, "All of us."

Tomoyo looked up at them in anticipation. "But the clouds have almost completely disappeared. That must mean they're winning, right? Getting rid of Penelope's magic?"

"Guess again!" said a loud female voice.

All heads flew to the direction of the entrance where Penelope stood in all her arrogance. Ruby Moon and Spinal Sun flew and stood behind their Master. "I expected more from the reincarnation of the great Clow Reed. Your spells weren't even strong enough to delay my entrance for a moment."

"I never put up any spells to keep you out. After all, I wouldn't want to force you to unleash your wrath on unsuspecting civilians." Eriol took a couple steps forward and stood protectively between Penelope and the Li family.

"So you'd rather I unleash my wrath on your descendants?"

"You'd have to get through me first."

Penelope laughed. "Oh is that supposed to scare me? I was barely containable under Clow Reed's control. You expect me to fear some kid that claims to have the watered down version of Clow's powers?"

Eriol smiled and started to chant in an ancient language. "Hold hands and concentrate!" Eriol yelled back to the Li's. Yelan, Fuuti, Fanren, Xiefa, Feimei, Tomoyo, Meilin, and Ryu all held hands. Ruby Moon and Spinal Sun joined in on the chant.

The chanting sent small vibrations in the air that formed ribbons in the air and wrapped themselves around Penelope but she didn't look concerned. With a wave of her wand she broke the spells around her. "This is pathetic and even worse are that descendant of yours and the Clow Mistress. How could Clow choose her? She's completely inadequate!"

Eriol stopped chanting and smiled at her. "They will defeat you. I feel Sakura getting stronger and so do you. You're scared."

Penelope laughed like the maniac she was. "Scared? Of the little girl? If anything, you should be the ones that are scared. You've put all your faith in a couple of teenagers who don't even know the first thing about magic!"

"They have pure hearts and that is something you never had Penelope. That's what makes them stronger than you, because everything they do, they do for the sake of others! They are fighting to save the ones they love and you never did anything with your magic that was the slightest bit selfless! And Sakura, she has hope for the future yet." Eriol smirked.

Penelope growled and summoned a glowing ball of energy, "I'm sick of that word." She threw the ball at Eriol. The impact made Eriol fall and skid across the room. Ruby Moon and Spinal Sun immediately took on a defensive pose. Tomoyo gasped and ran toward him "Eriol!" But before she could make it to his side, the ground under her feet glowed and pulled her down into the ground completely.

"Tomoyo!" yelled the girls.

Eriol's eyed widened. "Tomoyo! Let her go Penelope!" He jumped up and held his staff in front of him like a weapon, energy crackling from him. Ruby Moon flew into the air and Spinal Sun couched on the floor, both getting ready to pounce on her.

Penelope smirked and hit the end of her wand on the ground and from another glow out came Tomoyo right in front of her. Penelope grabbed her immediately and held her like a shield. "You wouldn't do anything to hurt her, would you?" Penelope smiled realizing she'd just gotten her hands on Eriol's biggest weakness.

Eriol immediately put up his hand to stop his guardians. "Don't hurt her. Take me."

"Somehow I get the feeling that you'll hurt more if she's the one in pain." Penelope touched the tip of her wand to Tomoyo's side and electricity jolted through her body and Tomoyo cried our in great pain.

Eriol automatically rushed to Tomoyo but Ruby Moon grabbed his arm. "You can't! It's what she wants!"

"Eriol! Stay away!" Tomoyo yelled through the pain-filled screams.

Eriol's eyes were tearing up. He was in anguish. "Please. Penelope, stop."

Seeing that Eriol's resolve to stop her was cracking, Penelope released her hold on Tomoyo letting her fall to the ground and she points her wand at Eriol. "What will you do to save her?"

"Anything," Eriol answered without thinking. Suddenly he was no longer Clow Reed's reincarnation but a regular boy who was witnessing his most precious thing in the world be tortured.

"Eriol!" Yelan warned him. "This is what she wants, you must think clearly."

But Eriol's eyes wouldn't budge from Tomoyo's unconscious form. "I can't."

"You must focus on the bigger picture!" Yelan insisted.

"Mother!" yelled Feimei surprising Yelan with her tone. "You can't expect him, or us for that matter, to just watch her hurt Tomoyo do you? What if it was one of us? Would you say the same thing them?"

Yelan looked at her daughter with a pained expression then at Tomoyo's still body on the ground in front of Penelope. She let her head fall, ashamed.

Penelope laughed cold-heartedly. "Aw how sweet but you see there lies your weakness. You're all so willing to die for each other that it makes this almost too easy."

"Don't hurt her. I'll do anything you want." Eriol pleaded with her.

Penelope smirked. "Give me your powers."

-.-.-.-

Syaoran ran at his look-alike, sword raised high, about to strike. But as his sword came down so did the look-alike's and once again they were evenly matched , and at a standstill. Both looked exhausted and about to collapse.

"How much longer can this go on?" Keroberos asked. "We need to go after Penelope!"

"We can't leave Syaoran here. We're strongest together." Sakura's eyes followed every movement the two Syaorans made in the forest.

"We don't know where Penelope is and what she's doing. She could be hurting people! She could be at the mansion!" Kero yelled in frustration.

For the first time since the fight began Sakura looked away at Kero. "I cant leave Syaoran. My instincts tell me that the only way we can beat Penelope is if we all work together!" She looked back at Syaoran and this time she could tell exactly which one was her Syaoran. Her senses had heightened so much since the clouds had washed away that she could distinctly pick out Syaoran's aura.

"Sakura's right" Yue added. He also hadn't looked away from the fight yet. "It won't be much longer now."

"How can you tell?" asked Sakura anxiously.

"The doppelganger is losing power. Without Penelope, it takes all his strength to hold his human shape."

"What is that thing anyway?" asked Kero.

"A spirit."

"It's a ghost?" Sakura was suddenly overcome by fear.

"Somewhat."

Kero growled. "What do you mean 'somewhat'? It's either a ghost or not!"

"A ghost suggests that it was once an alive being. This is a spirit made by magic. When a spell is too strong it sometimes takes on a life of itself. Those spells were banned many millennia ago but the spirits that were once created couldn't be undone. The spirits roamed around causing chaos and destruction until a group of sorcerers decide to use their magic to weaken the spirits and trap them. That's why there's so many myths about swords and armors that are possessed by evil spirits. Battle armor are usually filled with the leftover energy of war, so they were able to sustain the spirits, but since it took so many powerful sorcerers to trap them, no one ever thought it would be possibly for them to get out. Apparently Penelope's powers were stronger than anyone would've expected."

"So if she has enough power to undo a spell a group of sorcerers put on these spirits , then what chance do we have of defeating her?" Sakura asked in a very quiet voice.

"Because it took a lot out of her to break the spell on the armor and give the spirit a form. She's weakened," Yue explained.

"Then now is the best time to defeat her! Before she finds some way of recharging her powers!" Kero yelled. "Sakura, we need to get to her now!"

"Not without Syaoran!" Sakura glared at him.

-.-.-.-.-

"Eriol you cannot be serious! If you give your powers to her, then Syaoran and Sakura have no chance of surviving!" Yelan exclaimed.

"Have more faith in them, Yelan," Eriol gave her a thoughtful look, "and in me."

Eriol and Yelan walked back to the middle of the library where Penelope had drawn an ancient design on the floor. "Now no funny business or the little lady here gets it," Penelope poked an unconscious Tomoyo in the ribs with her staff.

"No Funny business, but you better keep your end of the bargain." Eriol stepped inside the circle, across from Penelope.

"The girl means nothing to me. She will not be harmed." Penelope drew out a dagger from her pocket causing the rest of their witnesses to gasp. Yelan rushed to their side. She held out her hand to Eriol and he offered her his. Penelope grabbed his hand and cut a big gash in it letting his drip onto the floor. Eriol didn't even grimace. She then did the same to her own hand. When her blood hit the floor, the sacred designs drawn on it glowed and began to emit a very strong aura. Penelope began to chant in an ancient language causing the characters on the floor to come alive and dance around them. Eriol's body began to glow in a blue hue. He winced at first and tried to cover it but the next instant he was crying out in pain as if someone was ripping his heart out from him while he was still alive.

-.-.-.-.-.-

With a quick hit from the side Syaoran managed to knock the sword out of his look-alike's hand. He stumbled backwards and fell on the floor. He had nowhere to go as Syaoran put a sword to his throat. "What now?" asked Syaoran panting from exhaustion.

Sakura stepped forward and put a hand on his arm, lowering it. "Let me handle this." Syaoran looked at her and stepped back. Sakura looked at the look-alike that was now collapsed on the ground and had a defeated look on his face. "I'm going to return you to the object you were released from."

"Please don't" begged the look-alike. "I don't wish to continue with this pitiful existence." Sakura could swear she saw tears welling up behind his eyes. She looked back at her guardians and Yue nodded at her.

Sakura whispered "I'm sorry" to him and summoned the Erase Card. Syaoran's look-alike lied back down and closed his eyes as a peaceful look came upon his face and he faded out of existence.

Kero broke the silence, "Well that's one down, we still have one more to go."

They all turned to look in the direction of the Li mansion, they could feel the remains of Penelope's energy coming from there. "Let's hurry" said Syaoran.

-.-.-.-.-

Upon arriving at the Li estate, Syaoran and Sakura rushed towards the mansion only to have Kero and Yue cut them off. "What are you doing?" Syaoran exclaimed.

"Do you have a plan? Or are you just going to charge in there and get yourself killed?" Kero glared at him.

"I'm going to use the time card" said Sakura.

Yue nodded in agreement "That's a good idea, you'll stop time and we'll get everyone else out of there."

"Then what? We still have to deal with the witch herself!" Kero growled at the thought of the confrontation.

"I'll stab her! How's that for a plan?" Syaoran tried to get past Kero but out of frustration Kero pounced on him, knocking Syaoran to the ground and keeping him there.

"I understand that you've had plenty of training in martial arts but this isn't another competition or a demonstration! Killing someone is not a task to be taken lightly. You're talking about taking a person's life, brat. Can you really do that?"

Syaoran glared at Kero while trying to get out from under his grip. "Yes, I can, because she's not human! She's a monster! She deserves far worse but I'll be merciful and just end her life quickly."

"Keroberos," Yue called in an authoritative voice, getting everyone's attention. "I fear we have no choice but to do as Syaoran wants. We can't afford to let her live and have the same thing happen in the future to others. We must end this cycle while we still can."

Kero released his hold on Syaoran, allowing him to get up. "But Clow would never-"

"We must do what Clow couldn't." Yue cut off Kero's argument. "It's for the best."

Sakura who had remained silent cleared her throat, making them all look at her. "Do you realize what you're asking of Syaoran? If he takes a life and it doesn't matter whose life it is, he will be killing off a part of himself as well. He'll lose his innocence, his humanity! I can't let you do that."

"Sakura, we have no choice!" Syaoran tried to reason with her.

Sakura said to him in the tenderest tone, "We always have a choice. We have to choose not to listen to our darker instincts because that is what makes us different from Penelope and the likes of her."

"Sakura's right," said Kero. "We'll just have to find another way."

"I already have," Sakura told them. "You just have to trust me." With that said, she headed off towards the mansion and the others followed.

When they reached the mansion, Sakura called on the time card and commanded it to stop time for whoever was in the mansion. When the card returned, they went in. Feeling confident that everyone inside would be frozen in time, they rushed in with Kero and Yue in lead, towards the library where they felt the presence of Clow Reed's magic.

Upon entering they all froze in their tracks. They saw a bloody Penelope sitting on one of the couches, smiling at them, while the rest of the Li family and friends were frozen while trying to help out a bleeding Eriol. "Very impressive, stopping time in order to stop me, and it would've worked too, if only you'd done it a bit sooner." Penelope laughed like a maniac.

"Eriol!" Sakura gasped and rushed to his side.

Kero glanced from Penelope to Eriol's unconscious body and back to Penelope. "What have you done?!"

"Oh don't worry. He'll be fine, which is more than I can say for you guys." With a wave of her hand, Penelope conjured wind and knocked them all against the wall.

"Why isn't she frozen?" Syaoran asked as he scrambled to his feet and took a defensive stance.

"I don't know." Yue stood next to him with his bow in hand. Kero ran to Sakura's side to help her up.

"I'll tell you." Penelope stood up and raised her hands, allowing electricity to shoot out of her fingers and create a thunderstorm above her. "I have Clow Reed's power! I finally have it! And your magic has no effect on me!" Lightning bolts flew out of the thunder cloud she created and one went right for Sakura's heart.

Syaoran jumped in front of her and blocked the attack with his sword. Another bolt flew right at him, this time a bit stronger. Syaoran braced himself but the attack sent him flying through the air and landing on one of the tables. Sakura ran to his side.

Yue sent an arrow aimed right at her heart while Kero opened his mouth and sent a fire attack. Penelope just held out her hand and blocked their attacks.

Sakura helped Syaoran stand up. "Syaoran, what do we do now? If she has Clow Reed's magic then nothing we do will affect her!"

"Clow Reed would never allow his magic to be used for evil. He wanted to protect people with it…" Syaoran trailed off, clearly becoming lost in his thoughts.

"Syaoran?" Sakura glanced to where his eyes were focused, where Yue and Kero were sending attacks towards Penelope and she, without effort, was blocking them.

"What if, Clow Reed's magic, like the Cards, has its own consciousness…?"

"What do you mean?"

"So far, we've managed to escape being hit by Penelope's attacks but if she manages to harm one of us then it would go against everything Clow believed and used his powers for!" Syaoran grabbed Sakura by the arms and looked into her eyes. "Clow Reed had premonitions correct?" Sakura nodded. "Then isn't it possible that he might've foreseen this horrific event and done something to prevent his magic from being used like this?"

"I don't know! We can't be sure!" Sakura saw where he was heading with this train of thought and didn't like it.

"I am sure, Sakura. Something in me knows that Clow Reed, infused his essence into his magic to make sure no harm could come to people." Syaoran let go of her and picked up his sword.

Sakura ran in front of him blocking his way. "Syaoran, that is stupid! We know she can hurt us, she's already thrown us against the wall, and done who knows what to Eriol! I will not let you throw yourself at her feet." Sakura's eyes filled up with tears. "Don't ask me to stand around and watch you die."

Syaoran pulled her in for a hug and whispered in her ear. "I don't expect you to stand around and watch anything. The second you see her falter, you will attack." He pulled back looked in her eyes and said, "Don't let me down, Sakura." She opened her mouth to protest but he covered her lips with his with a quick kiss and ran off towards Penelope.

"Syaoran!"

Kero and Yue were still sending attacks at Penelope while trying to avoid being hit by her lightning strikes when they heard Sakura yell. Before they knew it, Syaoran had jumped in front of an oncoming attack and got hit by the bolt right in the heart. Kero and Yue rushed to his aid as he lied there immobile and the momentary victory distracted Penelope so that she didn't see Sakura summon a Clow Card until it was too late.

"Shield Card, release!" Sakura's wand made contact with the card and the spirit within it flew out and formed a shield around Penelope.

Penelope chuckled. "Really, Sakura? You think this is going to stop me?" She raised her hand to summon another lightning bolt but nothing happened. A look of surprise crossed her face as she tried it again and still nothing happened. She turned towards Sakura and gave her a murderous glare. "What did you do?"

Seeing that Syaoran's theory had been correct and that Penelope was now trapped, she rushed toward Kero and Yue who were trying to revive Syaoran. "Is he alright?"

Yue was doing chest compressions on him. "He's not breathing," he informed her.

Sakura's heart could have stopped. "What?"

Kero went to her side and rested his head on her shoulder in comfort. "I'm sorry Sakura. He did a very brave thing."

Sakura shook her head in denial as tears ran down her cheeks. "No, no it can't be! He said Clow's magic couldn't be used to harm people! He said it!"

Kero looked back at Syaoran who was still not breathing from the looks of it. "He's a smart kid. I don't know why I didn't think of it. But I guess his getting hurt was the deciding factor."

Sakura who was now sobbing turned and yelled at Kero, "What does that mean?! What does any of this mean?! That because of some stupid, power-hungry witch who should've died centuries ago and a fight who is not even ours, an innocent person is dead?"

"Sakura if he hadn't done what he did then many more innocents would've died at Penelope's hand. It was because he … died, that Penelope lost his magic. Clow probably made sure that if he or anyone else using his magic hurt people then they wouldn't be able to use it anymore. I'm really sorry Sakura."

Sakura fell to her knees and grabbed Syaoran's hand as Yue stopped trying to revive him. "Syaoran don't leave me… please?" She dropped her head and kissed his sobbing hand.

Yue laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Penelope's lightning hit him right in his chest, instantly stopping his heart."

Sakura lifted her head with anger in her eyes. "If lightning took him from me…" Sakura stood up and grabbed her wand, "Then lightning will bring him back to me." Sakura reached for a card from her back pocket and threw it in the air.

"Sakura, no!" yelled Yue and Kero in unison but Sakura ignored them and brought down her wand on the card.

"Lightning!" The Card spirit jumped into the air and dived right into Syaoran's body making it jump before it reappeared in its animal shape next to the body. Sakura ran to Syaoran and put her head on his chest, checking for a heart beat. A small smile, came across her face. "He's alive," she whispered. "He's alive!" Sakura lightly tapped his cheeks. Syaoran twitched and shook his head, slowly opening his eyes.

"What happened?" Syaoran asked as he tried to sit up.

Sakura smiled and hugged him. "You saved the world."

Yue and Kero stood there stunned. "I don't believe this," Kero said.

"Well, she did what any doctor would do," Yue commented.

Kero looked over at Penelope and the rest of the people in the library who were frozen in time. "I can't believe it's over."

"It's not over yet," Yue said as he walked toward Sakura and Syaoran. "Sakura, you need to unfreeze everyone and deal with Penelope." Syaoran's head snapped in the direction of Penelope but relaxed once he saw that she was trapped in the shield, futilely trying to conjure up magic attacks.

"Right." Sakura nodded and stood up, helping Syaoran as well. Yue grabbed his arm and led him to a chair while Sakura summoned the time card and unfroze everyone.

The library suddenly erupted in agitated cries of the Li family and then as realization hit them there had been a battle in the library that a second ago was in perfect shape, silence took over. As they took in the sight of Penelope trapped while the others were alive and relatively unharmed, they once again burst out in cries but this time they were cries of joy.

Syaoran's sisters and cousin rushed to him as Tomoyo ran to Sakura. 'Oh I'm so glad you're alright! We were so worried!"

Sakura hugged her crying friend while trying not to collapse on her from exhaustion. "Are you alright?"

Tomoyo pulled back to nod at her friend. "I am but we should call an ambulance for Eriol, He's lost a lot of blood."

Meilin ran past them yelling, "I'm on it!"

"No need!" said Yelan. "It seems the bleeding has stopped. He's coming to consciousness."

"I guess when you froze time, you stopped the bleeding but his body still continued to function, healing the wound." Kero smiled up at Sakura. "You saved his life."

Kero went to check on Yue while Sakura and Tomoyo went up to Yelan, Ruby, and Spinal Sun who were nursing Eriol and sat beside them. "I'm so glad you're all alright. I was so worried about you." Yelan took Sakura's hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you. You should go see your son, we'll take care of Eriol," Sakura told Yelan who nodded and left to embrace her son who was practically passing out from the toll of the events of the day. "Poor Syaoran, he's been through so much."

"So have you," Tomoyo said.

"Yeah but I didn't die or get buried alive."

Tomoyo looked at her quizzically but Sakura just gave her a tired smile and said, "I'll explain everything later. Right now we should get Eriol to a doctor and deal with Penelope." Sakura looked over at the Shielded Penelope who was crouched on the floor crying.

"What are you going to do with her?" Tomoyo asked.

"Give her peace." Sakura got up and walked up to Penelope. Sudden silence came over the library as everyone watched to see what Sakura would do. "Penelope?" The woman looked up with teary eyes. "You've caused a great deal of pain to everyone, Penelope. Majority of the people in this room would like nothing more than to see you dead."

Penelope started crying again. "Is that it then? You're going to kill me?"

"No." Sakura shocked everyone with her answer. "I am not god; I can't take anyone's life. But I will give you a chance to make a new life." Sakura stepped back and pulled out one more card. "Create Card, I want you to create a world where the only magic is that of love, a place where Penelope can live out the rest of her days as a mortal." The Card released and created a door. The shield around Penelope disappeared. The door that the card had created opened revealing a beautiful home, with the fireplace lit. A man's voice came "Penelope?"

Penelope gasped, obviously recognizing the voice, she looked at Sakura "Why are you doing this?"

"I want you to have the life you would have had if you had not gotten corrupted by the power of magic."

"Penelope, where are you?" called the man's voice again.

Penelope got up and went to the door, standing in the doorway, she turned and whispered to Sakura, "Thank you," before going in all the way. The door closed behind her and disappeared.

Sakura felt a hand rest on her shoulder and turned to see that it belong to Syaoran. He smiled at her. "That was very kind of you and certainly more than what she deserved."

Sakura smiled back and wrapped her arms around her torso resting her head against his chest. "Who are we to decide what kind of fate people deserve?" Syaoran kissed the top of her head and held her close to him.

Eriol groaned and came to consciousness. "What did I miss?"

Tomoyo let out a shaky laugh and jokingly said, "Nothing terribly exciting."

Just as everyone was beginning to relax and feel relieved that the cloud of doom had passed over them, bolts of lightning crackled inside, the earth began to shake and a shield began to form around Syaoran and Sakura, and when it disappeared, so did they.

"What was that?!" Meilin exclaimed. "I thought it was all over!"

Yelan and Eriol exchanged a worried look. "I'm afraid it is."

-.-.-.-

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