Somewhere in Time

06

The outline of a man dressed in white with long flowing silvery hair was almost indistinguishable in in the window due to the fresh dumping of snow over the last few hours. Tomoyo's room was on the second floor of her mother's house and she was only expecting one guest, it had to be him. Next to Yue was a small yellow bear-like creature fluttering avidly and anxiously.

Tomoyo sprang from her spot in the closet immediately after her initial shock of being disrupted. A wisp of icy air flowed in as she let the two magical creatures into her room. Though Kero was a beast and Yue a man, they still bore the same perplexed and distraught faces brought on by the traumatizing events that had unfolded in the last ten hours or so.

Without much thought, Tomoyo sprung herself into Yue's arms. It was quite startling as their relationship was not a close one, but he obliged nonetheless and cradled the distraught woman.

"It's about Sakura..." Tomoyo pulled away and looked at both of her guests with fierce determination. "...I want to know about the fate of the Sakura cards with her …. like..." She struggled to find the word, or struggled to vocalize it... "... this..." She looked away, almost ashamed.

Yue touched his chin and looked at the moonlight strands that crawled through the window. "Tomoyo, she's still alive," Kero nodded in agreement.

"The cards still belong to her, her energy has not left this plane." Kero was quick to add more to Yue's statement. "We aren't going to have another incident like what happened when she first opened the Book of Clow, if that's what you're playing at..." Kero gave Tomoyo a skeptical look. Somehow he thought that this was not on Tomoyo's mind.

Indeed he was right when Tomoyo shook her head in disagreement. "That's not what I was thinking," She clenched her fist now, nerves flowing through her over the possibility of something like this working. After all, wouldn't the two guardians already crossed this idea off? "What about using the cards to help her? Or any sort of magic?" Her eyes were blurry with tears. "There has to be a way, Sleep, Dream, Time...Hope..."

"Tomoyo, where is Li Syaoran,"

"Kero! That's not relevant!" Tomoyo blurted out. That name, that damn name. Had he done enough damage to Sakura yet? "...and I don't even know. He's been gone for weeks now." Her eyes soured and turned dark. Even if he showed up and held Sakura's hand or took her back, it would not repair any of the damage caused this afternoon.

"Tomoyo... I know this is difficult on you," Yue placed a hand on the much shorter Tomoyo's shoulder to offer some sort of condolence and support. "Kero had been looking into what I think you were thinking about. He told me on the way over. Unfortunately I have not been able to do much, I have had to be my other self to comfort Touya at the moment..."

"Tomoyo, you have to find him, he's able to use the cards." He gave her a stern look. "I dunno what happened, Sakura was so quiet before she sent me to Yukito and Touya's. I can't feel him, Yue can't feel him."

There was a pause in the discussion; Tomoyo took that time to sit herself down on her bed and asses the situation. She had unlimited resources at her disposal, but it came down to the fact that she was at a dead end after her initial search efforts. She put her face in her hands. "If Syaoran were here, he could use the cards in theory, right?" This was the main thing she had been after, if there was anyone else who had the power to control the cards.

Kero fluttered himself onto Tomoyo's lap and sat himself down. "I think so. Their powers had mixed, I think. It's been many years since I've even seen the cards, she kept them hidden and away now. I have not seen them to be sure-"

"Their powers mixed? What does that mean?" Tomoyo grabbed Kero and brought him to eye level.

"Hey lemme go!" Kero was not amused with Tomoyo's rough handling of him, even if the situation was quite stressful on everyone. "What I mean is that I think Sakura and Syaoran are bonded together by more than intangible love, but like I said, I dunno, could be wrong, haven't seen the cards in years,"

A quizzical look was painted across Tomoyo's face. It was clear that she was not following what was being said.

"Tomoyo, what Kero was trying to say was if Sakura and Syaoran have physically joined together, it is entirely possible that the cards will respond to him as well as her." With that Tomoyo's eyes grew large as the adult nature this conversation had undertaken. She continued to delve deep into her own soul looking for answers. Nothing.

"I... I see..." Tomoyo finally sighed. Quite a task was ahead of her now. Of course she had been up against obstacles before, but none quite as serious and pressing as this. For Sakura though, she would do anything and everything to ensure the safety and well-being of her precious cousin and best friend. "I'll have to start in Hong Kong then. I don't know where else..." The sentence remained unfinished as her gaze averted back to the window. What would she do if she found him there? What would she do if she didn't? There were no other options though, his childhood home and the people there must talk if they knew the circumstances of Tomoyo's visit.

Yue nodded in agreement. Kero followed suit. "We'll stay here. I'll have to find where she's hid the cards."

"I'll let you know how things go here with Sakura's condition."