7 years later
"Wish me luck." I said as I walked out of the house. Not like anyone is going to hear me.
I walked down the street and stopped in front of a small hut and knocked on the door.
"Come in," came a friendly voice from inside.
I opened the door and saw a woman wearing a long navy blue robe sitting in a chair in the far corner of the room. A little basket was on the floor beside her with two kittens inside it. One was black with tiny angel wings on its back and the other one was white with devil wings on its back. They looked up as I approached.
"Ah, Sora, I was wondering when you'd come." The woman said. Her eyes gazed at me kindly. "You wish for me to help you find your brother, right?"
The way she could read my mind surprised me, but I just smiled. "Yes, that's exactly what I came here for." I said. "Can you help me?"
She smiled and stood up. The white kitten jumped onto my shoulder and the black kitten circled around my feet before returning to the basket.
"Take Yukikoyasha with you." She said as the kitten nuzzled my cheek. "She will help you to keep in contact with me. My sister should be able to help you find your brother."
"Can I leave now?" I asked.
"Yes, I just recommend that you close your eyes until you hear my sister's voice." She said. The woman walked up to me and caressed my cheek; there was sadness in her eyes. "You're such a sweet little girl." She said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Of course!" I replied. "Why are you so worried about me? I'm ten years old; I can take care of myself."
"You always were the stubborn one." She said with a laugh, but then the sadness filled her eyes once more. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"Don't worry, nothing can ever hurt me!" I said.
She smiled and stepped back. She raised her hands and a glowing circle appeared underneath me. Gel-like stuff started rising out of the circle, enclosing me.
"Please be careful Sora… and be strong." Was the last thing she said before I was completely engulfed.
I closed my eyes and a strange sensation ran through my body. It was like being submerged in ice cold water and falling into an endless abyss at the same time. The strange sensation left just as quickly as it had come. I kept my eyes closed until I heard a woman's voice.
"You may open your eyes now." The voice said.
I slowly opened my eyes to see a woman with long black hair and dark eyes. She looked just like the witch who just teleported me here.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Yuko and I'm the Dimensional Witch." She replied. She noticed my clothes, which were very different from her own.
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"I see you're not from this world." Yuko said. "You must be from the world where my sister lives."
"You're Saki's sister?" I asked. "So you can help me find my brother?"
"In order for me to help you, you must first give me something of equal value in return." She said.
"What do you mean?"
"The most important thing to you." She said. "…or, in other words, whatever it is that you treasure most."
My heart sank. I had to give up what I treasured most in order to find my brother? There must be some other way to find him. I clutched the golden locket tighter in my hand.
Flashback—10 years ago
"Mama, what's this?" I asked holding up the golden locket.
"Oh, that's a gift from your brother." My mother replied.
"Syao-Syao? Where'd he get it?" I turned the locket around in my hands.
"He said he got it on one of the archeology trips with your father." She replied. "He also said that he thought you would like it since you wanted one. He said that it's something to remember him by."
I blushed and clutched the locket over my heart. "Oniichan..."
End Flashback
"It's okay. You don't have to do it now." Yuko said. "I'll give you one day to think about if you want to find your brother or not."
"No, I'll—I'll do it now." I said. "I need to find oniichan as soon as I can."
"Well, in either case, I need to rest." She said. "You may stay here for the night, and then in the morning I will help you."
I sighed, but did what she said. Don't worry oniichan, I will find you soon.
The Next Morning
I stood outside in the rain waiting for Yuko to come outside so that I could find my brother. She walked out with two girls behind her on each side. She stopped in front of me and smiled. "They're here." She said.
Just then a big bubble dropped out of the sky and two came out of the ground. They popped to reveal a man wearing red and black, a man with blonde hair wearing a white robe, and a boy with short light brown hair holding an unconscious girl with light brown hair in his arms. At first I didn't know who he was, but when he looked up at me, I gasped.
"Oniichan!" I cried running over to him and wrapping my arms around his neck. Tears fell from my eyes as I hugged my brother. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"You have come here to save your princess, have you not boy?" Yuko asked.
"Yes ma'am, please help me save her!" Syaoran said urgently.
"The only way to save her is to travel to other worlds and recover her soul, piece by piece." She replied. She looked at the blonde guy. "Fai D. Flowright, you wish to travel anywhere except to your own world."
"Correct," Fai replied.
"Your price is the tattoo on your back." She said, and a black mark flew out of the back of Fai's coat and flew over to one of the girls behind Yuko. Yuko turned to the man with black hair. "Kurogane, you wish to return to your world. Your price is your sword."
"The silver dragon?! NO WAY!!" Kurogane yelled, gripping onto his sword.
The sword flew out of his hands and over to the other girl behind Yuko. I clutched my locket tightly as Yuko turned to me. But instead of naming my price, she went to Syaoran. "Your price is your relationship with the princess." She said.
"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked.
"No matter how many of the princess' memories you retrieve, she won't remember you." Yuko answered. "Are you willing to give that up?"
Syaoran hesitated for a minute before nodding. "Yes," he said. "Even if she won't remember me, at least she'll be okay."
"Oniichan…" I whispered.
Yuko turned to me. "Sora, you wanted to find your brother, which you did. But you also wish to stay with him."
I gulped and held out my hand. "This is the only thing valuable that I have." I said. "It's my most treasured possession."
"Oh, I'm not taking that." She said. "Your most treasured thing isn't material. You're like your brother, your most treasured things is your memories of your brother."
My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat. The memories of my brother? I have to give them up after trying so hard to keep them clear in my mind?
"Are you willing to give them up?" Yuko asked. "If not, you will have to return to your world empty handed. Meaning that your trip here was pointless.
I bit my lower lip as a tear rolled down my cheek. I nodded, fighting back my tears.
"Sora…" Syaoran said, but I didn't look at him.
"Are you absolutely sure?" I nodded again. "Very well." She walked up to me and placed two fingers on my forehead. "I'm very sorry to do this to you, but there's no other choice."
I closed my eyes as the tops of her fingers started glowing. I felt another strange sensation flow throughout my body. It was as if someone was pouring ice-cold water over me. Suddenly, it stopped and my head began to throb with pain. I grabbed my head with both hands, but the pain would not go away. Memories of me and Syaoran together flashed in my mind for a second before vanishing. After what seemed like eternity, the pain stopped and I felt myself drifting off to sleep.
No! I have to stay awake! I said fighting to stay awake. I can't go to sleep yet! I can't... I can't...
I gave in and allowed myself to lose consciousness.
Syaoran POV
I watched as the Dimensional Witch's fingertips glowed as Sora closed her eyes. Sora's forehead started glowing and her arms hung limply by her side. Something gold fell from her hand and landed in front of me. My eyes widened when I realized that it was the locket that I had given Sora ten years ago.
Sora groaned and I looked up to see her forehead beaded with sweat. She opened her mouth and let out a soft moan of pain.
"What are you doing to her?" I asked worried.
"Taking her memories of you." Yuko replied. "Since Sakura has already lost her memories, she doesn't need to go through any pain. But Sora, on the other hand, has all her memories and so it will be a little painful for her. Don't worry; she's a strong girl with a very strong will. She'll be able to endure the pain."
After a few more minutes, Sora became silent and began to fall backwards, but Fai caught her before she hit the ground.
"Don't worry, she's just fainted." Fai reassured me.
Yuko held out a white rabbit with a red jewel on its head. "Take Mokona Modoki with you while you travel. He will help you to travel to other worlds and to sense the princess' memories." She said.
A small white kitten with black devil wings jumped onto Sora's lap as Fai picked her up in his arms. She walked up to Sora's head and gently licked her cheek.
"That's Yukikoyasha," Yuko explained. "She's one of my sisters' cats. You'll be able to keep in contact with me through Mokona, and Yukikoyasha is so that Sora can keep in contact with my sister.
The kitten laid down on Sora's shoulder and gazed at her intently.
"Now it is time to go." Yuko said. "Mokona, take them away to another world."
"Mokona Modoki!" the white bunny said jumping into the air. It started glowing and a glowing circle appeared underneath it. Mokona opened his mouth and sucked us into a tunnel-like abyss.
We floated through the tunnel in silence. I glanced over at Fai a couple times in order to check that Sora was okay. Fai was holding her in his arms and looked down at her as if she was a helpless little child, but I wasn't worried. As long as she was sage was all I cared about.
Even thought I knew that Sora was sage, a part of me felt sad and guilty. I was so into becoming an archeologist with my father that I left Sora without a good-bye. She must've felt abandoned after we left. I wouldn't have blamed her if she was mad with me. I said to myself. I mean, after all... I put my dream before her, not thinking about the impact it would have on her. I was being selfish and all she wanted was for me to stay with her.
I felt guilty about her loss… yet another part of me was happy that she went to all this trouble just to find me. I was glad, not only because I was able to see my only sister again, but because I knew, even if she forgot who I was… I was still her oniichan.