Author's Notes: Remember when I said you wouldn't be hearding from me for a while? Yeah, I lied. Actually, the only reason I came back was to tell you that this is a FLASHBACK chapter. As such, it will be italicized in its entirety. (And by "flashback chapter", I really mean "the lazy way of fixing the fact that Sakura has new cards in chapter one, but doesn't find them until chapter two". What was I thinking?) Izzy pointed this out; or maybe it was something else about a meteor shower later on that was wrong... whatever it was, it's fixed now.

...I think.

(Sakura's POV)

I had been sitting at my desk, looking over all the Clow Cards I had captured when I heard a knock on the door. I quickly put all the cards back into the book and stowed the book in my desk drawer. My brother Toya opened the door and stepped in.

"Hey, squirt, Yukito and I are going to watch the stars. Wanna come with?" Toya asked.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute, okay?"

"Whatever, but don't take too long. There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight," he replied.

When I finally did come down, Yukito and Toya had already managed to put together the telescope. Yukito was randomly spouting information about stars and constellations while Toya pretended to act interested and positioned the telescope perfectly.

"Hey, Sakura!" Yukito waved.

"Oh, hi, Yukito!" I called back.

Toya had finished messing around with the telescope and sat down on the grass. Yukito followed suit, and I sat between them. We didn't have to wait long for the first shooting star.

Yukito extended his arm and followed its trail with his finger. I turned my head so I could see what he was pointing at. Suddenly, the entire night sky was lit up with the blue streaks. Each one made a graceful arc across the sky before fading into the darkness.

"They say that each star represents another world, somewhere far away," he said.

"Oh really?" asked Toya. That was typical of my big brother; he was always cynical.

I, on the other hand, was curious. "How far away, Yukito?"

"Who knows? Maybe closer than we think… maybe farther."

We sat there, sprawled on the grass, for a long time. At least, it seemed long, because we were staring in awe at the vast night sky in silence. All of a sudden, Toya sat up.

"Okay, squirt, time for bed. I'm going to walk Yukito home."

I stretched and yawned. "Yeah, it is pretty late. See you later, Yukito."

"Bye, Sakura." Yukito smiled.

As Toya and Yukito walked down the street, I turned and went back inside. Dad was giving a lecture, so he would be late coming home tonight. The door to the basement was moving as if something on the other side were trying to open it.

I bolted up for my room, almost slipping on the hard wooden floor. Kero looked up when I entered the room. I slammed my door closed and leaned against it, breathing hard. I slid down the door until I reached the floor.

"What's wrong, Sakura? You look like you've seen a ghost," Kero said.

"The… basement," I panted.

"Something's going on down there," Kero finished.

I nodded furiously and threw myself down on my bed. Kero sighed.

"You've gotta take a look. The last time something happened in the basement it was a Clow Card's doing. It couldn't be a ghost."

"Okay, but just a quick peek," I agreed.

I grabbed my cheerleading baton and gripped the key around my neck tightly. Kero flew down the stairs behind me.

"Don't worry, I've got your back," he said reassuringly.

Kero, of course, wasn't behind me when I descended the stairs down into the basement. He was waiting at the top of the stairs by the door, and he would be the first one to run if something bad happened. This did nothing to boost my confidence.

When I reached the bottom of the staircase, I summoned my weapon. I took the key from my neck, slipping the chain off over my head, and held it out in front of me. Then, finally, I recited the incantation.

"O Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of Light. Surrender the wand; the force, ignite. Release!"

The key transformed itself into a long pink staff, with a figure at the top that slightly resembled a bird's head. Normally, the only use for the staff was capturing and utilizing the Clow Cards, but in the event that it was a burglar in the basement, the "beak" could easily be used to render them unconscious.

I smiled, remembering that was exactly how I captured The Fight card, with Meiling's help, of course.

"Hello? Is anyone down here?" I called out uncertainly.

Naturally, there was no reply. Either nothing was going on in the basement, or whatever was causing "something" didn't want to be found. I gulped, because it was most likely the latter.

I turned the corner into another row of dusty books from the university. The basement was first and foremost my dad's library. It also happened to be the place where I discovered the magical Clow Book that fateful day.

There was a slight glow emanating from the top drawer of the desk. As I approached the desk, the glow seemed to pulsate in anticipation. I closed my eyes and slid the drawer open. When nothing happened, I opened my eyes and peered inside the drawer. It was a deck of cards.

I picked up the deck to look at the cards more closely. They looked like Clow Cards, but there were also several noticeable differences. Is this really it? I couldn't help but wonder. I had assumed that whatever was down here must have been huge, but if it was truly just these cards, then they must pack a powerful punch.

I stowed the deck in my pocket and climbed back up the stairs. I held on to the railing as the wood creaked beneath my feet. When I reached the top, Kero was no longer there waiting for me. So much for reliable.

With a sigh, I turned and ascended the stairs up to my room. Inevitably, Kero was waiting there. But instead of playing video games, he was sitting by the window staring at the moon. He was transfixed by the large, white orb. Kero didn't notice me until I closed the door behind me softly.

"Sorry, Sakura. Your brother came home, so I had to come back up here. I really do think he's catching on," he said.

"That's okay, it was really nothing down there," I said.

"Are you ever gonna tell him?" Kero asked.

"About me being a Card Captor? I don't think he'd believe me if I did."

"You might be surprised," he said.

"Maybe I'll tell him someday," I finally consented.

"Yeah, maybe," Kero said flatly. "Well, goodnight, Sakura."

He climbed into my bottom desk drawer, where he had a little room of his own. I pulled back the covers and crawled into my own bed.

"Goodnight, Kero."