Late Again

"KAIJUU! You're gonna be late for school!" shouted a distant male voice.
A fourteen year old youth opened her emerald eyes unwillingly and started. She stared groggily at her clock. It still hasn't alarmed yet. She decided it was still early and that her brother,who had just shouted from the kitchen was just having his usual time exaggerating hobby. But then her eyesight became clearer than usual,high definition even. And she did a double take at the clock.
Its star tipped fingers showed that it was 7.30. She checked once,twice and three times to make sure.

Her classes start at 8.15. But she has classroom duty today and has to arrive earlier.

Oh shit.

"HOOOOOEEEEEE!" she exclaimed. She swore under her breath as she wriggled out of her warm and comfy bed and hurriedly went to the bathroom. She came back within minutes and wrenched open her closet a little violently. It looked as if it might topple over. Her dresser opened and revealed a cat like creature which showed a look of frustration and annoyance.
"What the hell Sakura?" it spoke catching the emerald eyed girl's attention who was in the middle of fixing her hair. "You know,you should practise waking up early for a change. So you wouldn't be able to scream that scream when you realise how terribly late you are."

"Gomen nasai,Kero-chan. I was just so tired and I forgot to set the alarm." Sakura muttered apologetically.
Kero gave a huge sigh and flew to the top of the dresser, "Even from when I first met you until you've grown an alarmingly good bit, you still haven't changed Sakura."

Sakura grinned.

"Of course I haven't! I'll still be me. Oh yeah,Tomoyo-chan is coming over here after school and she'll be bringing the cake we made in Home Ec."
"Waiii Waii!" Kero punched the air in joy. "I shall forgive you this time for disturbing my sleep Sakura!"

"Jeez Kero,you already had ice cream,cakes and okonomiyaki yesterday and now your greedy appetite still craves more. Is that all you do for your whole lifetime? Eat and sleep?" Sakura said in an undertone and shook her head disapprovingly.
"What was that?" asked Kero stopping on the midst of doing a somersault.

"Nothing! I'll see you later Kero-chan!"

"Has Sakura awoken already?" Kinomoto Fujitaka asked his son when he heard Sakura's screech of terror.

"By the looks of it,yeah." Kinomoto Touya casually said munching his breakfast.

"She should hurry up,she'll be late." Fujitaka said concerned. He was stirring the miso soup for breakfast with a ladle.
"Otou-san!" Sakura hopped the last few steps of the stairs,walked up to her father and hugged him. "Ohayo gozaimasu!" she greeted in her usual cheery voice.

She turned her head around to see the picture of her late mother,Kinomoto Nadeshiko. She smiled and greeted the picture.

"You should be careful,you might leave the whole house falling apart if you keep walking in those big monster strides kaijuu." Touya said drinking his juice,his back to Sakura.

" Shut it Onii-chan!" Sakura said clenching her fist. She went to the table to sit opposite to Touya but stomped her foot on his in the proccess.
Her brother growled in pain and Sakura sniggered and smiled innocently.
She ate her breakfast which consisted of miso soup,rice,nattou and tsukemono. Touya suddenly stood up to leave.
"I'm going." he said and nodded to Fujitaka,hauling up his schoolbag.
"HOE? But I thought you weren't supposed to come in until eight thirty?" Sakura said.
"I have to drop these off." Touya said simply a case full of papers in his hand and opened the door.
"Matte, onii-chan!" Sakura called but too late,Touya already vanished outside.

Sakura hastened to finish her food,her eyes watering when she swallowed to quickly. She gulped her juice,thanked her dad and grabbed her schoolbag and her packed lunch.

Sakura wore her shoes (she had abandoned her rollerblades and moved on to walking) and dashed out to catch up with her brother on his bike. But when she reached the corner where the row of peach blossoms bloomed endlessly he was nowhere to be found.
"Gosh Touya's really in a hurry." she checked her watch. 8.00. "Hoe! So am I!"

She walked faster past shops and dodging people. A few minutes later,she arrived at the entrance to Seijou Highschool. She passed the tree bordered walk that led to the school building. When she reached her locker inside,she stashed her packed lucnh safely inside and ran to their homeroom. She wrenched the door open and her friends, Rika,Naoko,Chiharu and Tomoyo-chan erupted into applause.

"You made it!"

"That was a new record Sakura-chan!"

"That's our Sakura-chan from elementary to middle school."

Sakura greeted them, "Ohayo gozaimasu!"

"I did your class duty instead. You were running late again." Tomoyo said disapprovingly.

"I-"

"Over-slept. I know. You've been like that for the past few days Sakura-chan." Tomoyo said more gently as they walked to their seats.

Sakura slumped wearily on her chair. "I'm very tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

"Why?" Tomoyo asked frowning.

"I don't know. I'm just feeling dozy all the time."

The door opened once more and revealed a woman in her 20s. She had blonde hair and amazingly beautiful ocean blue eyes. She is their teacher, Hayashi-sensei. Hayashi -sensei is a very attractive woman,you could mistake her for a model.

"Take your seats everyone." she smiled showing pearly white teeth.

"Now, your results for your music test are very impressive. Some are having some difficulty in some parts but did reasonably well. I'm very pleased with the effort you put in it-"

Sakura's mind wandered to space. She absolutely felt tired and sleepy again. She rested her head on her arms and struggled to listen to what Hayashi-sensei said.

She was floating in mid-air with no means of support from her Fly card or Jump card. She was floating towards the light but a figure of a woman blocked it. The person had long dark hair which was billowing against her face. It was unusual because there wasn't even wind around them. Her silhouette was concealed by the dark. She thought she saw the person smile. But the smile was different: it was more like a cruel smile than a friendly one. The woman stepped back letting in the light flood her entire body...

"Sakura! Wake up!" said a frantic voice from a far away distance.

"H-hoe?" Sakura said fluttering her eyes open. She had slept throughout class. Tomoyo was beside her as if on the verge of tears. Hayashi-sensei was next to Tomoyo with a look of concern etched on her face. So was Rika,Chiharu,Naoko and Yamazaki-kun. In fact the whole class were looking at her.

"Are you alright Kinomoto-san?" Hayashi-sensei asked feeling Sakura's forehead for symptoms of fever.

"Ha-hai." Sakura said weakly.

"I think you should go to the clinic. Maybe it's fatigue" Hayashi-sensei considered. "Daidouji-san,can you go with Sakura-chan?"

"Hai." Tomoyo said firmly.

Sakura got up and swayed a bit and held onto Tomoyo for support.

"Sakura-chan what happened?" Tomoyo asked once they were in the empty hallway.

"I don't know. I just fell asleep,I was so tired."

Sakura thought about her dream. She remembered floating and a light but that was all. She was sure there was more to it. Sakura has been having these dreams when she started getting sleepy only a week ago. She always couldn't remember the rest of the dream.

~oOo~

Sakura went home a few minutes after she arrived at the school clinic followed by Touya who has been informed of her state. Tomoyo and Yukito visited her after school. Kero was also worried and was now immersed in his deep thoughts.

"Are you alright Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked carrying a bowl of soup and placed it on her bedside table.

"Hai. Daijobou Tomoyo-chan." Sakura assured her for at least the tenth time.

The door opened and revealed an unsmiling Yue. The air in the room became serious as he stepped inside. Sakura who was expecting it to be Yukito screamed in shock.

"HOE!"

"I thought you would have gotten used to me." Yue said in a cool voice rolling his eyes.

"I-,well I-" Sakura spluttered.

Yue ignored her. "I sensed a presence."

This new information made Sakura look up at Yue. Kero who had been quiet for the whole time seems to have been slapped in the face and returned to the present.

"A new presence you say?" Kero said wonderingly.

"Clow-san's...I mean Eriol-kun's?" Sakura asked hopefully. If it was Eriol she would be overjoyed. They haven't seen each other for a long time and she would have liked it if he payed them a visit. They only have contact with each other through phone calls and letters.

"No. A presence stronger than Clow's."

"N-nani?" Sakura yelped,choking on her soup.

"Clow's power was split in half. Of course it's stronger." Kero said matter-of-factly.

"It's stronger than when Clow's magic wasn't split in half." Yue said darkly.

"HOE?" Sakura exclaimed. "Do you know whose presence it is?"

Yue only shook his head and said no more.

The whole evening was quiet. The eerie silence is deafening. Tomoyo turned the T.V on to watch the news. Nothing unusual was featured,only a few car accidents and weather reports. Yukito and Tomoyo didn't leave the house and decided to stay in overnight. They ate their dinner and chatted a bit. After that they went to their own rooms. Yukito in the empty guest bedroom and Sakura,Tomoyo and Kero in Sakura's room. Touya left for his night duty at a restaurant.

When all the lights were out and Tomoeda was fast asleep Sakura was still awake,staring at her ceiling. Beside her was Tomoyo her back to her sleeping soundly. What is it with the new presence and her becoming suddenly sleepy? Is it like the matter with Yukito that she can't sleep? Is it because her powers are not enough? But it can't be. Her cardcaptor duty was finished. There won't be any trouble in Tomoeda...right? Sakura pondered about these thoughts and eventually dozed off.

She was enveloped with darkness. She kept walking but it seemed as if she was stil in the same place. Then there was light ahead of her. It was when she realized that she was floating. Curiosity and longing for daylight overwhelmed her and she floated towards the source of the light. It grew bigger the closer she gets. She floated towards it. A figure of a woman blocked her path. She stopped and squinted to see who it was but the woman's face was obscured.

"Who..are you?"

The woman opened her mouth and spoke, "You'll see soon enough."

Sakura woke up,breathing heavily and sweating. The lights were turned on. Tomoyo,Kero and Yue were once again,around her bed. She glanced at the clock; it was two o'clock in the morning.

"What happened?" Tomoyo asked with a slight frown on her forehead. She handed her a glass of water which she gratefully accepted. Sakura took a sip of water.

"I-I don't know." she muttered confused. It was that dream again and this time the woman in her dreams spoke: "You'll see soon enough."

It rang in her head like bells. What was that all about. She could feel her heart beating like drums.

"You look pale. And you're cold too." Tomoyo said with increasing alarm.

Sakura noticed she was shaking. But she was also sweating. She pulled the blankets up to her chin. Her head ached as if it had been banged on the wall a dozen times.

"The presence!" Yue suddenly said making everyone turn to his direction.

"I can feel it too. It's somewhere close." Kero said nodding.

"Why can't I feel it?" Sakura said confused.

"What?" Kero and Yue said in unison.

"That can't be. You're powers are strong enough you can even sense Clow's." Kero exclaimed.

"Let's consult the cards." Sakura suggested.

"Good idea."

Kero flew to the dresser and took out the Sakura card book. He landed on the bed and placed it in front of Sakura who opened it and took out the cards.

She took out her star key which had always remained resting around her neck.

"Key which hides the powers of the stars. Show your true form before me. Through our contract,I,Sakura,command you, RELEASE!"

The star key grew bigger and bigger. When it had transformed into a staff Sakura opened her mouth again but gasped instead. The star key had shrank into it's small size.

"Release!" Sakura said holding out the star key. But it remained the same and did not transform.

"What's the meaning of this?" Sakura said taking out her cards. It was glowing.

"You're worried for me." Sakura said and scattered the cards.

This time everyone in the room gasped as they closed in for a better look; two of the cards are not glowing.

So what do you think? I didn't really have a clear idea about where this was going to but that's how it came out! Any suggestions and ideas are welcome. Please review this story too and make me happy! I love you all 3