Elemental Aeon
Kesshou Uryou

Act II
Chapter V
Future

Clow's program hadn't always been just that. It had humble beginnings started not even by Clow Reed himself. It was the time that people were more divided over their beliefs on what to do, if anything, about the crisis the world was going through. Everyone was greatly spread out, with many more people out to seek money from their gifts by helping towns. This is how more people came to despise the Elementalists. Sometimes it was not possible to get the job done, but many went off with the money anyway. Times were hard. They were seen as thieves and regarded to be on a lower rank of the social hierarchy.

Few unified methods such as Clow's program existed. When they did, they were always falling apart. Nothing stood the test of time. It did not take long, however, until ordinary people were beginning to think Elementalists were the cause of the world's problems. And as hatred grew for Elementalists, more began to come together. Clow's predecessor had taken the opportunity to begin to create what was established today. It was still a risky endeavor back then, but it was slowly accomplished.

Clow quickly joined in during the more unstable days, rising in the status and potential that an apprentice needs to have. But after the position was secured, Clow started to develop conflicts with his master.

With these disagreements, came controversy and split member base. Elementalists began taking sides, but Clow Reed's master stood firm, and the matter was closed. However, Clow, as can be easily seen today, was not stopped. His ideals desired a larger, more effective program that started with younger initiates than the teenager to young adult ones they had at the time. He believed they renounced themselves from the program too soon and did not serve enough time to overall effort.

His master was too tentative to go through with any of Clow's plans, making the relationship strained and less successful. The program suffered. But for such a healthy man, the Clow's predecessor died an early death, and Clow finally had the way cleared for his plans.

He began to tour around with the actual routes to seek out potential Elementalists. It was the first time the program itself had recruited. Before then, it waited for those interested to seek it out. Now, instead of starting to gather orphans that were deemed useful, Clow made offers to the parents of talented kids. He agreed to train them and give them a good education, which appealed to the poorer of families. Some agreed to take the salary-like pay the child would receive once they achieved the Trainee level and went on their own routes to devastated towns. Others still rarely sought him out to make their child great.

Thus, the program grew from a barely sufficient amount to one with a plethora of recruits. It quickly rose in its status concerning its effectiveness and prestige. More people than ever approached with their children if they were accepting of Elementalists.

Clow saw to all of this. He was still as ambitious as he was in his earlier years under his former master. Training increased, the levels that a recruit progressed through were revised. What was set out for each, including education, was refined. And a method that his master had theorized about to seal the elements, became reality although still primitive and only somewhat effective. The elements have noticeably calmed down after it has been executed even though few can recognize or remember the difference. There is still no denying the reign that Clow's program has in the world. Today we follow on in Clow Reed's footsteps and continue the foundation that is still growing.

-Three Years Later-

Meilin closed the book with a sigh. The small illumination coming from the iridescent candle was waning on the table in front of her. It had been another wasted night. Nothing here could help, and she already knew all of this. Clow's predecessor had left to Clow Reed. Next inevitably would come that apprentice of Clow's. She did not know much about Hiragizawa, but he was not what she was concerned with.

Sliding the chair back with a light scraping sound, she supposed that this was not the right way to go about it. There'd be nothing written down here to help her. She just might as well get some well-deserved sleep and work it out tomorrow. She'd start a new approach tomorrow.

But still her dragging feet felt much more than they very well should. By the time she had reached the dusty bookshelf, she felt like she could just fall asleep standing just as she was. That was not a good sign.

Tomorrow would be a hectic day. The Novices were attempting to reach Trainee level in the morning and throughout the afternoon. It would only mean one thing, however. Clow would be giving her much more work than usual. This had not been the best of nights to make worthless secret excursions.

Picking up her candle gently, she had to lock the room back up and return the key without making a sound. And by the time she got back to her room, she'd have to be epitome of silence to avoid waking the younger girl. She had been so nervous and anxious during the day that walking her up was something even Meilin wouldn't do.

So sliding her slippers sloppily across the cold floor, she made her way back, rubbing at each eye in an attempt to keep herself alert.

--e--a--

It was a mild morning. There was just that right amount of sunshine to mix with the passing clouds. Sakura stood off slightly to the side, finding her breath after having just been tested. Her hands that had been clasped at her chest had finally been lowered as she took shorter and shorter spurts of air as she surveyed the still progressing surroundings.

It had been a long three years. The first one had been the shortest of them all in actual length as the year was already setting at that point. It had only really been half a year full of adjustments and new discoveries. But the last two years had been tiring ones where there had to be a balance between training and schoolwork. There needed to be getting used to restraining elements and attempting to control them. With Sakura, as well with those she knew, she passed the written exam proclaiming she had finished her basic studies along with the elemental history. That had only left the actual element testing. The verdict had not yet been announced, but it had been strenuous enough to get her breathing hard.

Too anxious and restless to sit, although her body requested it, she stood bent over upon herself now, staring tirelessly at her mudded boots. They had seen much wear since she had them donated to her. Clow's program came with its perks but to her it did not feel like a free ticket to comfort.

"You shouldn't be bending over. You'd recover faster standing up." Sakura's reluctant shift of her head was belittled by her hanging bangs. Slowly standing up, she put a hand to her forehead, lifting the majority of the hindering bangs. Sakura was left to squint at the source of the light and excitable feminine tone.

"You look familiar." It was a simple statement. Sakura, however, did not know what possessed her to say it.

"Do I?" The girl in question was much older than her, an older teen by any standards. She gave off a comical sense of inner thought before grinning and poking the younger girl's forehead neatly after Sakura had dropped her bangs. "I don't know where you got that idea."

Sakura shifted. "Um… I'm sure I've just seen you around." Still, Sakura was sure she would not notice one person out of so many. She just wasn't that observant, and she'd have to admit it. Although she still fought Meilin's blatant claims that she was dense. Because she simply wasn't.

Another grin from the older girl but this time with hands clasped at her chest. "Well, I have been hanging around here. I was one of the many judges, don't you know? But I've got to get back to watching some more scrawny earth elementalists fall on their butts. A couple of other things too now that I think about it." A contemplative look on the girl looked absolutely… off. "So… you can just thank me later." Sakura's processing 'what' died on her lips. A cheerful and light push on the not expectant Sakura caused her to land ungracefully with a rather painful thud. Her momentarily flailing arms dropped belatedly.

Sakura blinked a few times at the retreating girl. "Hey, why did you do that?" Her cute variant of anger was taking over. Shaking her hand in a fist vigorously, the teenager purposefully mistook it for a wave.

Cupping her mouth in one hand, she returned the wave with another. "I guess I just don't know my own strength. See ya around!" Then she stopped her backwards walking to turn around with long hair whipping around all. She was gone before Sakura even considered getting back up.

"Did you just collapse after the exam?" Sakura slowly looked up to another speaker, so hesitatingly as if she was moving towards her own death. Then everything kicked back in, and she was up faster than a speeding bullet.

"No!" Sakura was undecided over a frown or a pout. She chose an indignant stare. "Some weird girl just pushed me down!"

Syaoran crossed his arms and turned his head stiffly to the side, away from Sakura's adamant stance. "Yeah right." He told himself he was not looking for a hyperactive and insane girl knocking everyone down in a mile radius. Which, of course, there wasn't. So he wasn't looking in the first place.

"It's true!" Sakura would absolutely not let herself lose on this one. Although their fights had died down significantly through the years, there never was any obvious lack of calm verbal fights over random and unnecessary topics. Sakura had happily seen that Syaoran had a gentler side than he first came across as and had even crossed an important boundary. She had been promoted to such a level that she could call him Li-kun. Seemingly small progress for some, it did not hold true in this case, and Sakura knew that. See, she wasn't dense at all.

The small argument that Sakura was sure would take place, however, did not. She was silenced from Syaoran offering a hand down to her. For a moment she just blinked. "Eh?"

Syaoran adopted his impatient face, eyes adverting as Sakura noticed how the sun was giving him a slight burn across his face. Now that she thought about it, the sun could be a bit stronger than she probably first thought. But Syaoran was now waiting, and she took his hand firmly standing to full height with a smile.

"Thanks, Li-kun." Sakura would go as far as calling the two of them as relatively ordinary friends. She had no other words to describe the relationship between her and Syaoran, the latter of which was still refusing to make eye contact.

"How did you think you did?" Syaoran was always more comfortable talking about what they really were there for in the first place. Combined with his straight to the point mind and apparent disregard for returning common curtsey made him the Syaoran she knew. She couldn't restrain the smile although Syaoran, of course, passed it off as Sakura being a habitually beaming kind of girl. He finally established eye contact again, and this time he maintained it.

Sakura took to scratching her head in a half-thoughtful manner. "Hmm… that's a good question."

"What do you mean? How'd it go? What do you think?" Sakura stopped her action and swung her hand down to grasp his upper arm to move him out of the way of a rather loud group approaching in their direction. Obviously they had yet to be tested from their obvious stiffness and the tense words sprouted between them.

Syaoran quickly squirmed his way out by the time they were clearly out of the way and adopted one of his favorite actions. One over the other, his arms laced up again across his chest. Sakura knew what very little patience Syaoran ran on and decided to put him out of his small misery. Her eyes calmly traced the group that was still in sight.

"Well, like them I was nervous. But I think I did my best even after having to stand in that long line, watching people come back like there was nothing worse thing in the world. I came on time for once." Here they both had to grin while she added a small laugh. "So I didn't miss my scheduled time. I don't think there's anything more I could have done. It really tired me out though. I couldn't catch my breath!"

"Yeah, even I had trouble with that. I wasn't expecting them to ask for so much demonstrations right after another. And they told you to keep your element under control for such a long time for each one. I didn't really train for that." Sakura nodded in comprehension. That had held true for her too.

"I wonder how everyone else did." Sakura half-heartedly looked into the mess that was the main grounds of the complex. She knew there was little hope of spotting anyone she recognized. Not while the tests were still being held and would be for still some time. Her memory was also failing her on the times her friends were required to show up. It was a lost cause. But still…

"Hey, it was really lucky you could find me in this, huh?" Syaoran seemed startled by the question, but he nodded rather hesitatingly before Syaoran quickly reverted to the previous topic.

"But you didn't say if you knew if you think you passed or not." Sakura paused for a bit in thought before she took a short, calm breath.

"I don't want to jinx myself. I'm not sure, but I won't stop hoping. It was harder than I thought it would be. I heard they really wanted to test if you had the ability to move on and do well. So they didn't prepare us completely for it, but I still didn't expect it to be like that." Sakura inched ever so slightly closer, tilting her head. "And what about you?"

"Of course I'm passing." There he went again. Still, it was Li-kun to Sakura, and she couldn't imagine another way he'd respond.

"Always so sure, Li-kun! I hope you do then." Syaoran was back to looking everywhere but Sakura's placid and content look.

"Whatever." Sakura laughed. She would have said something else, but Syaoran anticipated this and maneuvered the conversation to something he found far more appealing. "Do you want to go harass Meilin?"

Sakura knew it wasn't that nice, but torturing the girl as she was being overworked seemed like a nice form of a pastime while the outcome of their exams were being confirmed. It was a nerve racking time and thinking about it too much only highlighted what had gone wrong over what had gone right. And truth be told, the older girl would do the same to her if the situation was reversed. "Sure! Maybe she can even help us get our results faster."

--e--a--

She felt dizzy and lightheaded, curled up in an ominously dark corner. She liked it here for she didn't need to project the emotions onto her face. She felt like she was already bathed in them.

She had told herself that she would get up in time. She said that she would make her way back when she was feeling better. But she hadn't felt better. She was still sick to her stomach. And one by one, her unknowing co-workers had left, leaving a crumpled form pressed against the intersection of two cool walls.

And it really struck an inner chord to see that she wasn't missed at all. She had gotten far fairly fast. She was in her own right a junior attendant in the medical department. But today, she with a perfect record of showing up was not in her right frame of mind. In fact, for a while she had thought she had lost her it completely.

The crying had been normal enough. The small outbursts of sobbing and the weeping and tearing and the utter feeling of uselessness had been okay. That was within the perimeters of her boundaries. No one had seen at least. She was strong enough to whiter away where people could not see her do so.

But then she had gotten angry. How ironic she had thought. And she had sobbed it at no one in particular. Then her mind was overridden and her hands got to work. Writing and writing and splattering ink down her front. Then she had done some unconscious walking and sealed her fate. She could not believe she had done it. She could not believe she had sent it. But she had.

At first she cried some more. But then satisfaction had sunk in. A smirk that she had told herself never suited her had found itself rather welcomed on her face. It had felt like a weight being lifted from her shoulders.

She had decided she could muster up the will to do what work she was still wanted to do, but she had not counted on the guilt to eat her away. She thought that she had been finally content with what she did, but now she just felt like it was a great mistake. Everything had been pointless and she, worthless. She shouldn't be here.

Adorned in the uniform, she had slinked against the door that separated her from the room she was supposed to be in. She could hear it was a case of an unstable elemental source within the patient. She wasn't actually doing any of the work, but she should be in there to watch and take notes and learn because she would be doing that someday. But she didn't feel like she could now.

And the cries of an unauthorized visitor inside being painstakingly annoying and disruptive as she pointed things out didn't exactly brighten the prospect of going in. Not that the unruly guest's words registered much.

She had found her current hide away a rather agreeable one. It matched her miserable mood. Her face had long ago stopped producing tears, but her eyes were still bloodshot despite never crying a single tear since she had donned her designated outfit.

At this point, she knew she'd just be staying the night there. That was until someone had to come by who was rather loud which made her want to create a wince on her rather emotionless visage. The late night visitor, a surprising one since most people had left by this hour except for those working on critical patients, turned the corner and immediately stopped in their tracks. But then they were quick and bounding and just too damn fast and loud to the girl burrowed into a snug little corner despite how her back and legs had protested after some time.

"Tomoyo!" She felt something akin to another person collecting her into their arms. And that same person knew her name and sounded familiar, and she looked and breathed unevenly at her best friend kneeling before her. Her breath of "Sakura" was lost in Sakura's continued rant.

"I was looking everywhere for you! I was so worried. What happened? I went to your room, but you weren't there like we planned. Meilin had no idea what was up, but she really hasn't stopped by the room today anyway, so I had no clue where you were. I thought you might be here…" She trailed off as she finally realized that Tomoyo was, of all places, squashed into a dark corner with all the signs of depression and previous crying.

"What happened?" she repeated herself. Tomoyo open and closed her mouth. "Tomoyo?" Tomoyo did not show signs of having heard. "You can tell me. We're best friends."

Tomoyo couldn't take it. She didn't need much prompting. She broke down all over again. "I-I didn't make it." Sakura, in all her non-literal shortsightedness did not see this coming. "I completely failed! I'm so useless!" Sakura closed her eyes and almost lost herself. Tomoyo never cried. Sakura cried. Tomoyo didn't.

"Tomoyo…" Sakura found she was missing all the other words she had planned out. Anything she could say would offer no comfort. She'd have to let Tomoyo talk herself out. This was not even something she could relate to. She had had a bounce in her steps, she and Syaoran reduced to grinning idiots which was a rarity for the latter. She had passed with higher approval than she had expected. And now she had to listen again to something she could never understand because Tomoyo was working out words again against the tears.

"I… I thought I was good enough for it! I never told anyone this… b-but when I was younger a stray elementalist told me that… that I had all four elements. I just decided to work with wind." Tomoyo had started, and now she couldn't stop.

"And it was true! So true. I could already control the elements even if it was just a tiny bit before I ever decided to join Clow's program. And that, that was so rare. I o-once said that my town honored elementalists. The majority of us were ones, so it made sense. S-someone who had all four is always a rare treasure. And people recognized me for it. People said I-I had a lot of potential for it." Tomoyo took a pause where the crying intensified until she fought against the crying and her uncontrolled breathing.

"My m-mother became obsessed with the idea. I c-could bring great honor to our family. She had no powers herself. She d-decided I was going to go away and master them all. I was going to make her so p-proud. I didn't… I didn't want to go away, but she didn't give me any choice. I h-had to be the b-best. That's what was expected of me. And I failed." Tomoyo lost the ability to speak once more, and Sakura somehow knew this spell would last longer than the previous ones. The small opportunity was used to rack her mind for a thought, any thought. And she finally found something that could be spoken.

"Tomoyo that's amazing. Having all four is really special. I've been told that if you have all four, that automatically makes you incredibly smart. No wonder you've always been so far ahead of me in everything." Tomoyo let out an undistinguishable sound at this point. Sakura shifted carefully.

"If that's true," Tomoyo gasped out, "why can't I figure out how to make myself better? I had no endurance! I couldn't control the wind under their directions. I couldn't do anything! I felt so worthless! I didn't have to wait for the results. I knew I hadn't made it."

Silence was not something Sakura could easily stand anymore. Through the years she had learned to socialize without hindrance, always brightening a room with her presence when she could, but this time it would not be right to brighten up the small little corner that Tomoyo still secluded herself to. Sakura was right there in front of her, but she was still felt worlds apart. Sakura was unable to fight the quiet that had become a minor mortal enemy.

But finally, she let her mouth run, and by the end of it, she was hoping she was right.

"If you really want to know what's wrong… Try to get a hearing with Clow-sama. He could tell you what's going on."

"I don't need him to tell me I'm weak!" Tomoyo struggled at the notion.

"You're not weak. He would tell you that too if you talked to him. There must be something else a person with all four elements could do. People like you are rare! You don't have to be the best in the field to bring honor to your mother! Or yourself!"

Tomoyo sunk further down, her crying teetering off as silence consumed once more. The hall, and more importantly the corner, wasn't getting any lighter. It was night after all. But Tomoyo seemed resigned for the moment, and she closed her eyes and breathed, trails of tears beginning to dry again.

Sakura thought things would be better now. It would just take a little bit of time. But things could go back to as close to normal as they could. They had to. Their dream of traveling together might not go off as planned, but there would be another way. This wasn't something they couldn't work through. Yes, Sakura felt everything would be alright now.

Tomoyo simply didn't bother to tell Sakura of a certain nasty and hatred filled letter she had sent home to mother dearest.

--e--a--

Truth be told, Sakura felt like crap. The night before she had stayed up most of the night with Tomoyo who felt the need to move was not important. By the time Sakura had gotten her moving, she found she was practically dragging the older girl. It was all she could do to find an empty medical ward and place the raven haired girl there as Sakura had pulled up a chair, making sure she didn't fall asleep before her friend. It was a feat almost unattainable, but it had been accomplished with a lot of will power.

In the morning Tomoyo was still lying there, something that screamed wrong because Sakura knew that it was around noontime and Tomoyo never slept late. Still, it seemed like a blessing for the emotionally worn out girl so Sakura left her there under the care of an attendant that was making rounds. It fell heavy upon her heart to leave her there as her name was being registered as a patient despite nothing physically was wrong with her, but Sakura herself had to be instated as a Trainee.

And it felt like complete backstabbing to be going to what Tomoyo had desperately wanted to attend even if it wasn't for her own goals, but Sakura had to reason honestly with herself. She couldn't give up just because her friend hadn't succeeded. She had been told that her friends would not all make it. That it could be a lonely road. That was said from day one. But she hadn't expected Tomoyo, of all people, to be the first to fall of those she actually knew well. She had always seemed so capable. Maybe Tomoyo had been struggling lately with wind training, but she had never let on, and Sakura had seen no hints to suspect at. Things just seemed to have fallen apart despite how strongly she had believed things would be okay eventually just the night prior.

That was the one thing on her mind as she had stood between fellow water graduates. She had left that room with a new schedule and a new lifestyle ahead of her. But it was not with the smile she had envisioned it with. She had adorned a frown for the occasion. The only one she had seen from the whole bunch. Sakura felt that maybe this was not the right path for her, after all, but it was too late to turn back now even with a friend that had fallen behind. Sakura would only have to keep looking forward no matter how hard it got.

Sakura had plans today to convene with Syaoran and talk about the ceremony that had them both decked out in formal robes. The colored cotton objects were courtesy of the program itself, which fortunately left the expenses to a nonexistent amount. They did not, after all, make any amount of money until they were of Trainee level.

Yesterday would be for celebrating with Tomoyo. Today Syaoran had said he had a surprise. She had totally forgotten the promise now as he caught up with her, he in red, contrasting her deep blue draping outfit.

"What's with you?" That had been the first words out of his mouth, and Sakura clicked shut her frowning mouth shut immediately for fear of something leaking out unconsciously. Tomoyo had said she didn't want anyone else to know. Sakura was there for her. Sakura would not let anyone else know. Even Sakura knew they would ultimately find out, but Sakura would keep her word. Tomoyo deserved that much.

"It's nothing." Syaoran didn't look convinced. Sakura didn't blame him. Of course she should be smiling. But she wasn't, and that called unwanted attention. She had to keep his mind off of it. When Syaoran showed obvious concern like he was now, she knew it was serious to him. "Wasn't there a surprise you wanted to show me?"

Syaoran blinked, but Sakura thought he caught her words filled with a rare second meaning: please drop it. Syaoran went along with it, grinning cockily.

"How about a match? Nothing serious. Just the first to fall loses."

Sakura had thought about it with her brain no longer in working order at that point. She was getting a headache, a rather uncommon occurrence for her. She was feeling like crap, and she had somehow managed to mouth an agreement. Which lead to the present.

Searing. That's what her mind now solely grasped. A burn, at times, was thought consuming and a rather large distraction. Dousing it messily in water before being forced to dodge was not helping the matter. Sakura had thought right. Syaoran was aggressive in his attacks.

Her tired mind was throbbing; her dominant right arm was feeling a bit too stiff from its overworking. But above all, the burning slithered past all other thoughts, she wincing every time she needed to bend her knees too much and curve her left arm around. The pain was becoming overwhelming. But Sakura just dug her feet firmer into the ground. That's not a reason to lose.

Granted Syaoran couldn't be completely peachy considering she had made her own offensive marks albeit she admitted they were sloppy. Syaoran had focused a lot on the field in general. Sakura had worried about mastering her element as much as was needed. Complete mastery of water was the hardest aspect of the particular element, and it was her hard work that allowed to her condense the water vapor around her.

Fire was the only element that you had to produce on your own, and Sakura saw it take the toll on him. It was physically taxing, but constantly having to change the water in the air into something usable was slowing her down and causing her breath to come in longer segments.

There was no time to catch it. Sakura dug her heel in deeper to give her a focus point as she had to spin around to avoid a very fine and straight line of fire. Traveling along the cracked earth of the training ground slowly curving, she watched it continue its route before she turned her head back around and decided that was an opening as any. Syaoran still had his arms trailing the route of the small fire trail. He hadn't been able to release quick enough.

Concentrating the water vapor into its common liquid form, she increased the speed of the small and aimed projectile. She drew first blood across his upper arm, ripping of a part of the worn shirt's sleeve. They had had the sense to change first, at the very least. Those robes were forever stuffed into the back of their small wardrobes, never to be used again and rarely ever seen once the newness wore off. If they were ever fated to be promoted to Apprentice level, they would receive the much nicer silk robes.

But now the blood, suffocating and true, was proof enough of her advance. She saw him wince, but he still hadn't released and reformed another fire connection. Instead he broke his two arm stance to spread them wide across his arm span. And then higher.

And then Sakura realized and complained quietly as she was completely surrounded in flames. She should have known Syaoran was not yet tired enough to be unable to stop his failed attack. She blamed her carelessness on her head and the burns and most importantly the diversion of freshly spilt blood.

But she wasn't going to give up so easily like Syaoran was expecting. He was waiting for the words of surrender, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. She knew and he knew that she was too tired and had not yet been able to master enough water at a time to extinguish the high flames. To cancel out another element was something of higher attributes, and fire just flowed easily. Once you had released it, it tended to grow by itself without your help. You had only to control how large it need be. Syaoran had obviously used the disadvantage. But one day, she promised that she'd show him how he could never win against a water elementalist. Someday when she was better and wouldn't lose.

So Sakura instead focused as much water to rain down upon her. Fist after fist, the motion left her drenched, but that was what she needed. With a lurch causing her head to swarm, she ran through the seemingly living wall. She was well aware of the fact of the new burns and just how stupid that had been. She clutched her arm that had taken the bulk of her stupidity as her knees gave way. They had, after all, already been burnt.

So she had fallen. So she had lost after all. If she had to lose, at least it was to Syaoran. Although his ego didn't need any growing, she still would give him the credit. For now she'd just blame the loss on feeling like crap, lack of sleep, and her deficient amount of attention to the actual little match. She'd just have to make sure Syaoran didn't gloat. With this, she reclined onto the packed earth to look at the passing clouds. Syaoran joined her. He must have seen her resigned expression and decided to say nothing at first.

Sakura decided, just to be safe, to get off the matter of the little fight. "How did your ceremony go? Did the four Elemental-sensei congratulate you too? I was surprised they all showed up, but I'm looking forward to working with the Water-sensei. Mitsuki-sensei seems really nice."

Syaoran stretched out too on the ground before he answered. "It was fine. Not as exciting as I hoped, but at least it meant that we've made it to the next level. And yeah, they were all there." There was a somehow awkward pregnant pause before he was once again speaking. "The Water-sensei does seem nice. I'm just wondering if the Fire-sensei is any good."

Sakura let out a long breath. "Of course Terada-sensei is good. They don't take just anybody." More silence came in which Sakura could only relish in the feeling of pain. "Hey… isn't it funny? About Li-sensei… Is there any relation between you and the Wind-sensei?" Sakura was not serious because after all, Li was a common surname, but she could tell she had hit a nerve. Nothing at first, but then it came.

"She's my mother." Sakura was sitting back up before either of them could process it sporting huge eyes. The pain shot up her arm with the motion and back down she came to the ground, slower this time around.

Sakura then remembered how to speak. "What? Why didn't you say anything? You don't even look like her!" Syaoran turned to his side, facing away from the questioning girl.

"You never asked." Sakura heard the gruff tone and decided to drop it.

"O…okay…" Struggling for a comfortable position, she closed her eyes. There was another surprise. Things seemed to be off and unexpected lately. She couldn't help thinking back to last night. Syaoran noticed the flitting frown.

"Something's bothering you… That wasn't your best. Do you want to talk about it?"

Sakura sighed. "I know you aren't patient, but please be for once. You'll find out sooner or later." Right. Tomoyo couldn't hide the fact forever. Whether or not he should or had the right to know, he would.

Syaoran took the hint. He let it go. There were still far more pleasant things to talk about. Like the setting sun, more about the ceremony that had occurred previously that day, the trips they'd soon be taking, or the income they'd soon be making. Or maybe just how he had kicked her butt just now. Yeah, the last one worked.

Sakura and Syaoran are now twelve. Tomoyo is thirteen. Meilin is amazingly fifteen. That's really all the people I disclosed the ages of prior to the time jump. More characters and their ages will be making appearances soon. I was going to include some in this chapter, but it was full enough in my opinion.

And I have plans for Tomoyo. She's not about to disappear.

But if you want to see them or anything else, please review. I'm not sure about you, but I can't write twenty-nine chapters on nine reviews. So please, if you would be so kind, press that purple button right down there to the left. You have no idea how much I would appreciate it.