CH07: New Enemies

Syaoran was an emotional mess. Over the course of the day he had many mood swings. He was worse than a pregnant woman - completely unpredictable. At first, he seemed to enjoy the situation. He acted caring and affectionate, kissing Sakura and tenderly running his hand over her skin as he held her in his arms It didn't last long. One moment he was kissing her, the next he was slowly withdrawing as if in a daze. Suddenly, he pulled away with a guilty look on his face. He refused to touch her, or even look at her.

Sakura wasn't yet ready to get too physical with him, but his withdrawal from her shocked her and hurt her. Syaoran had already voiced his desire to wait until the wedding night to have sex, but short of that, he had been insatiable. Last year he had not wanted to leave her side for a second. Sakura took his hand and squeezed it gently to tell him that everything was okay. He pulled his hand away without returning the gesture.

Next he became angry, demanding more pills. Sakura was ready this time. She refused his demand more sharply than she had intended because her heart still stung from the earlier rejection. When Syaoran tried to punch her, she tilted her head to the side. His punch missed her and hit the wall. She then rammed her head forward into his. It gave her a splitting headache, but he was down for the count. Had he been in peak form, it never would have happened. His fighting skills usually far outclassed her own, even if she was quickly catching up. She resumed the position in which she had woken up. Like this, she could feel whether he moved or tried to escape.

Despite having her arms wrapped around Syaoran, Sakura felt alone. She wondered why he had turned away when he had been kissing her. He had kissed her then rejected her. It was both confusing and painful. Sakura felt empty inside. She had hope, but it seemed to be such a distant prospect. She didn't know if she could keep herself together long enough for him to recover. Every whimper of pain made her want to run out and get him the medication that he begged for, but she knew that she couldn't do it. She could only remain vigilant so that one day he would completely return to who he used to be.

When he woke up, he returned to his sulky mood. His movements woke Sakura and she could see that he was obviously much sicker than before. He stunk horribly. It was not the pleasant musky smell he had when he worked out, but a fetid and sickly stench. Sakura could not stand the way he smelled now. His normal smell comforted her, but this only reminded her of how sick he had become. Sakura rolled off of him and took a deep breath of the room's stale air. The alarm clock showed it to be early afternoon. It had only been a short nap.

"We need to get cleaned up," Sakura said to herself. Her father would surely be home that night. She wanted him to make as good of an impression as possible. There was no way that Syaoran would have recovered from the withdrawal by that time, so the only choice was to let her father meet him in his current condition and try to pass it off as some sort of reaction rather than withdrawal. She briefly considered not showing up to dinner at all, but that would only make her father more concerned about her wellbeing. Her father knew her too well to fall for any trick - she had never been good at lying anyway.

That left the truth as the only option. Sakura wondered what would be harder: telling her father about this, or telling him about the other secrets she had been hiding about herself. What would he think if he found out the truth about her, the Li Clan and the Clow Cards. That reminded her of Touya. She still hadn't spoken with him about what he had witnessed the day she had fought the final battle with Yue.

Sakura banished the worried thoughts from her head and looked around. She noticed that a fresh set of clothes had been piled neatly on the chair next to the bed. She could only assume that Wei had anticipated the need while she had been asleep. It would not be proper to show up to dinner in clothes smelling of Syaoran's stale sweat. Sakura, after a quick check to see that Syaoran was still sleeping, began to change. The skirt was easy enough, but the shirt ended up bunched around the cuffs that connected her to Syaoran.

"Hoee!" Sakura scrambled to cover her undergarments when she noticed that Syaoran's eyes were half open. The smirk on his face told her that he was obviously enjoying her dilemma.

"Instead of just watching, you could think of a way to help." Sakura said petulantly.

Syaoran studied the problem intently for a few moments, and then he tore the shirt in two. Now it was easily removed.

"Syaoran!" Sakura cried out in shock because of his rash action.

"It worked," He said listlessly. He turned his head away, showing none of the interest he had displayed in her lack of clothing.

"Syaoran-kun?" Sakura was concerned about the way he was acting. It wasn't like him at all.

"You need a different shirt," he said. He was right. While the clothes that had been left for her were appropriate for dinner, they had not taken into account the problem of their arms' being attached together. There were very few styles of top that would.

"You can wear a towel for now and then we'll see if there is anything in your room," he suggested.

"Yes." Sakura agreed. She knew what he was planning. She had already removed the pills that had been stashed in the folds of one of the towels.

But going to her room was probably the best option anyway. Last year, Tomoyo had made her many outfits in a wide variety of styles. Most of them had been costumes for capturing cards, but she had created others, from swimsuits to the clothes Sakura and Syaoran had worn on their first official date. If nothing could be found there, then there was not much chance that she would be able to find anything. She didn't want to have to explain to her father why she was both handcuffed to Syaoran and missing her shirt. One might assume that they had been interrupted during some sort of kinky activities. It would be much to embarrassing to have her father think that about her.

Syaoran led her into the washroom to the linen closet. "Let me get it." Syaoran said and pulled a towel from the closet. He discreetly ran his fingers through the fold. He gained a panicked look when he didn't find anything. He tossed the towel at her and grabbed the next one and then the one after that, continuing until there was a large pile of towels on the floor. Before he could consider getting violent, Sakura wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.

"They're not here," she told him apologetically, "I got rid of all of them." He was trembling, or shivering. Sakura couldn't tell. It might have been due to anger, or withdrawal, or embarrassment, or maybe he was just cold. He was no more dressed than she was. Finding something for him to wear would be even more difficult than finding clothes for her, but she could only deal with one problem at a time.

"Come. Take a bath, and then we'll find something to wear." Sakura said. Syaoran slouched in defeat. She pushed him towards the tub and started the water running. She intently watched the water in an attempt to hide the blush that was creeping its way up her cheeks as she realized that she and Syaoran would be forced to bath together until the situation was resolved. Sakura turned off the water as it reached the overflow drain.

"Syaoran..." She was too embarrassed and couldn't find the words to ask him to disrobe. He didn't respond either. She looked at him and saw that he was staring at the bath. He looked like he was going to be sick. His eyes were wide, as if he feared the sight before him. When she reached out and touched his arm, he flinched, almost as if the touch had burned him. His mind was obviously occupied elsewhere. He didn't resist, nor react in the slightest as she timidly removed the little he was wearing and forced him into the steaming water.

He remained in this state for several minutes and Sakura washed him. She couldn't be sure because of the moisture, but it seemed to her that he was crying.

"I'm sorry," Syaoran said. It was just loud enough for Sakura to hear as she was scrubbing his back. He crabbed the soap and began mechanically scrubbing himself, allowing Sakura to turn away and spare them both from further humiliation.

Sakura wondered if his apology had been meant for her, or for Meiling. She did not dare to ask; he was too fragile right now.

As Sakura had expected, finding clothes had not been easy. Syaoran had no shirts that could be worn properly. He ended up wearing a pair of dark green slacks and a matching sweater with his left arm tucked under so it appeared as if he only had one arm. In her own wardrobe, Sakura had found a matching set of sleeveless silk tops that fastened with ties down the sides. One was pink with white along the seams and the other was the opposite. Each had a sash of the opposite color to go with it. Sakura chose the pink one. The elegance of the design told Sakura that it was surely one that Tomoyo had created.

Syaoran made a point of looking away uncomfortably while she changed into it along with a pair of matching silk pants. The sash wrapped around her waist several time from her hips to just under her chest where, with a little help coerced from Syaoran, it was tied into a flowing bow on her back.

When the ordeal of dressing was complete, it was time to head to the dining room for dinner. Sakura thought for a moment of just hiding the cuffs under the table and making sure that they were first there and last to leave, but she was unable to use chopsticks with her left hand. Syaoran would have been able to eat fine since her right was connected to his left. Either way, she had no choice in the matter. Her father was already seated and talking with Yelan when they arrived.

"Dad," She greeted with strained cheer, in an attempt to pretend that everything had been going well. Her father looked at her silently. He seemed conflicted.

"Sakura. Your wrist, is it okay?" Fujitaka finally asked. It wasn't bad, but her wrist had begun to swell a bit where the metal of the cuffs rubbed against her skin.

"...It will be okay," Sakura said, fidgeting nervously with her cuff. She hadn't even noticed the irritation yet. Syaoran's hand was hanging out the bottom of his sweater. His wrist was thin and bony compared to hers thanks to the abuse his body had sustained. She could see little cuts along the skin. She would have to remember to treat it later.

"I guess I had better explain this..." Sakura sighed. Fujitaka was glancing worriedly towards her fiancé. "It's really not as bad as it looks." It was worse, but she wouldn't say it.

Sakura explained the situation. She left out a few key details, like the times Syaoran tried o hit her, to keep her father from worrying too much. At least Touya was busy working. She would have never been given the chance to explain since he would have tried to beat Syaoran to a bloody pulp.

Her father grudgingly accepted the current situation and didn't let it dampen his spirits over dinner.

Surprisingly, Syaoran managed to maintain a dignified composure throughout the meal. Sakura was not sure whether luck, fear of being separated from her, or even just the effects of his life of training that kept him docile throughout the meal.

After dinner, they returned to Syaoran's room and Sakura began treating both her and Syaoran's wrists. She rubbed a disinfecting gel on the broken skin, and then wrapped the wrists in bandages while she talked at Syaoran about what had happened since she had left.

She mostly talked about mundane things. She told him about her old friends and what they were up to now. It meant nothing to him since he had never met them. She also told him about the training she had been doing on her own and explained how she still could not call upon the powers of the Clow key and cards, even though her Li Clan magic was still effective.

They sat on the bed talking for several hours. That is to say that Sakura talked, and Syaoran mostly grunted. It was like he had turned himself off before supper and had not yet revived himself. When she ran out of things to say, she began to undress him. It was late after all and at supper, Yelan had told them that they would be expected as usual for the clan lessons.

When they were ready for bed, Sakura tentatively began to kiss across his now bare chest and suckled on whatever soft flesh she could find. Syaoran stiffened. It felt good to get a reaction out of him.

"What... are you... doing?" Syaoran asked as she found a particularly sensitive spot. She stopped for a second. Even her ears were red from her embarrassed blushing.

"Rewarding you," she whispered as she licked the hollow of his neck before she could lose her nerve, "You didn't do anything to worry my father at dinner." If he wasn't able to bring himself to be close with her, then she had no choice but to attempt to be aggressive now.

"I didn't do anything," He grumbled and looked away sadly. He tried to pull away. He struggled desperately, but Sakura wouldn't let go of him. When he saw how much his struggling was upsetting Sakura, he stopped for a moment and was shoved down onto his back and she continued what she had been doing.

"Look, you can barely control yourself." Sakura said and then nipped his collar bone roughly, earning a surprised gasp from her prisoner. Her cheek left a patch of wetness on his neck. "Doing nothing deserves a reward." She didn't let him respond, opting instead to delve deeply into his mouth with her tongue.

Her actions had had quite the effect on Syaoran. Every touch sent waves of desire through his body and he whimpered for more. All resistance and hesitation was gone.

At this, Sakura stopped abruptly and pulled away.

"Sakura..." Syaoran looked at her longingly. His eyes begged for one more touch.

"Doing nothing deserves a reward, but that's as good as you get for nothing," Sakura replied smugly. She was surprised that she had been able through with it. It had taken all her willpower to overcome her hesitation, especially when Syaoran had resisted. "You'll just have to do better tomorrow if you want more."

She didn't listen to any of his protests; as much as it pained her to refuse him. He would have to keep working for it, and she would gladly give it to him. She would only allow herself to give him as much as was needed to keep him addicted and never truly satisfy him.

The following morning, Sakura and Syaoran woke up when the alarm clock sounded. Syaoran growled and knocked the clock of the bedside table in an attempt to quell the incessant ringing which was only aggravating the massive headache he had. The alarm continued to sound. Now, he had to get up.

The movements made him dizzy and nauseous. He was about to smash the stupid thing against the wall when he heard a yawn. Sakura was awake. He turned to look at her. She was rubbing her tiredly, but was obviously waiting to see what he would do. Syaoran cursed inwardly and pressed the button to stop the buzzing much harder than was required.

"Time for lessons." Syaoran mumbled irritably.

Syaoran didn't even bother trying to put a shirt on. He already knew that none of them could be worn over the cuffs. He just wore his training pants. Sakura wore the same shirt she had the previous evening along her usual training pants.

The physical training was hard on him. It felt like each movement would topple him. Last year he had been going easy on Sakura, now he was having trouble keeping up. His punches and kicks were slow and never seemed to land where he aimed them. Sakura dodged every single one and often landed light, loose-fisted strikes on vital points of his body. Had it been a real fight, he would have lost. This only angered him, reducing his fighting capability even more.

It was soon over. There was no formal magic instruction that day. He never would have been able to handle it anyway. Sparring with Sakura had taken all of his energy. While an elder talked about something he didn't bother listening to, he took a nap on Sakura's lap.

Sakura tried to listen to the elder intently, but her mind soon wandered. Syaoran was asleep, and she wasn't going to wake him. So far, the morning had gone far better than she had expected. The sparring had only been enough to energize her and wake her up. Syaoran, however, was too exhausted to move. She wondered how long it would take him to return to his former state of physical perfection. If things continued to improve like they were now, she doubted that it would be long before she could trust him on his own again.

He got rewarded when they went to bed that night.

The next day started out similar to the previous one, but Syaoran was even more irritable. That morning, the subject was magic, and Syaoran couldn't even make a consistent breeze, let alone trying something new.

After breakfast, Sakura took him out to the gardens, hoping that the fresh air would calm him down. Syaoran ended up vomiting behind the rose bushes.

On the third day, Sakura really had to work to get Syaoran out of bed. The progress that he had made seemed to completely disappear. He refused to even try to participate in the lessons. The presiding elder yelled at him and would have received a punch in the face had Syaoran not missed.

Syaoran fought with Sakura about everything. At times, he seemed delirious. He was constantly sweating and vomiting. Sakura did her best to ignore him. She gave him a bucket and then spent most of the day watching television.

Syaoran didn't even get a good night kiss from Sakura that evening. He didn't seem to care.

Sakura woke up before the alarm clock sounded. Syaoran was thrashing about in his sleep. She woke him up, but it was like he didn't even realize that she was there.

Sakura called Dr. Ling and he arrived twenty minutes later.

"It's just the withdrawal." Dr Ling told Sakura after a cursory inspection.

"He was doing so well a few days ago." Sakura said sadly.

"It takes time for his body to metabolize the drugs." Dr. Ling explained, "His brain had become dependent on the drugs to function; now it has to learn to function without them as his body uses up the last of the chemicals."

"So all the progress we made... He's just going to go back to the way he was before?"

"You helped him to get through it. The next few days will be the most difficult. He'll never be completely free of the addiction, but things will become easier every day until you can't even tell the difference." Dr. Ling took a needle and a vial from is bag and injected the liquid into Syaoran. "This is a tranquilizer. It should keep him asleep until the worst is over." He took out another vial. "This one will block the receptors in his brain to that any of the drug left in his system will not affect him. It will make the withdrawal symptoms worse, but it will be over faster."

"Thanks." Sakura said. She had hoped that he would improve quickly and be back to his old self, now she knew that he would never be that person again. Even if he did come close, it would be a long time before he seemed the same. The process would drag on for months, or maybe even years. "What will happen if he manages to get more of the drugs?"

"His addiction will progress quickly. Recovering will depend on how much he takes and how long he's able to hide it. Let's hope that is a situation we won't have to worry about." Dr Ling said seriously. "It will help if you make him eat something with lots of vanilla whenever he has cravings. Vanilla is very addictive, and most people are already addicted to it, so it can be used as a substitute without causing much harm."

Over the course of the following day, Syaoran had begun to improve. Even though he was still sweaty and feverish, he was lucid and moving. He was not nearly as obedient as he had been before he had so quickly deteriorated, but he lacked the mood swings that had plagued him. Sakura's mood quickly became more cheerful as, with her help and encouragement, he made quick progress.

After a week, Sakura deemed Syaoran to be fit enough to leave the house. He still lacked energy, and was constantly dizzy and nauseous, but the vomiting had almost completely stopped. She suggested that he see the beginnings of the expedition that he had set up. It would also be the last chance Sakura had to see her father for a week. All the students and their belongings had arrived quicker than expected. She had gotten the chance to meet them once, but now they had to leave for their initial week of field work which would set the stage for the rest of the year.

"Would you like to go see what you started? Yukito tells me there's a really good café right across the street where we could go for lunch." Sakura suggested.

Syaoran readily agreed. As much as he enjoyed being home with Sakura all day, there was precious little they could do together other than train since Sakura had imposed strict limits on intimate activities in order to encourage his progress.

Clothing for Syaoran had been taken care of by Wei since the problem of dressing with the handcuffs had come to his attention. Since it was only a temporary measure until Syaoran could be trusted on his own, Wei had decided that two outfits were enough for him. The matching style ensured that they would not be mistaken as anything but a couple.

Syaoran's outfits had been custom made by the same seamstresses that made their training outfits and afforded the same free range of movement and convenient locations to store magical items. Both outfits consisted of a straight piece of silk with tapered ends. These might have been confused with decorative tablecloths of not for the hole in the middle to stick Syaoran's head through. Both were mostly a deep green color, but one was trimmed with black and the other with gold. Like Sakura's outfits, they had sashes to wrap around his body and hold the outfit closed. One sash was black and the other was gold. Both had the traditional yin-yang symbol of the Li clan emblazoned on the ends. Unlike Sakura's sash which wrapped up from her waist to her chest to be tied in a bow at her back, Syaoran's wrapped from his chest down to his waist where it was knotted at his side and could hold his sword if needed.

It was almost impossible to mistake the Li heir's identity when he and Sakura mysteriously appeared in the halls of the lab. Despite his diminished appearance, his posture and clothing were not something you could mistake. He was also attached to Sakura who had announced that she was the fiancée of the founder of the expedition. Of course, that didn't stop a certain boy from making a fool of himself.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Alex asked defensively when he saw Syaoran walking towards him, "This is a private institution; you can just walk in here."

Syaoran smirked. He had no idea how this guy had passed the requirements to join the expedition since he obviously did not pay attention to the important details. He had not even noticed Sakura, whom he'd already met, standing behind Syaoran, wondering if she should speak up and save Alex from the humiliation he was about to face. She decided to wait to see what Syaoran would do.

"I'm sorry," Syaoran replied dramatically in perfect and unaccented English, "I did not realize that this building belonged to you." He bowed mockingly.

"You should get out of here before you get in trouble." Alex suggested cockily, taking the bow as an admittance of wrongdoing instead of the insult it had been intended as.

"No, I absolutely must talk with the one who owns this building and offer my personal apologies." Syaoran continued the charade.

Alex's eyebrow twitched as he heard a giggle from the boy's companion. He hadn't even noticed that she was there. Her face was hidden behind the guy whom Alex had begun to suspect was making fun of him. Hers wasn't the only laughter that he heard. Jade had obviously heard and was not even trying to hide her laughter.

"What's so funny?" he turned and asked irritably.

"Nothing at all." Jade tried to resume a straight face before bursting into a fit of giggles again. Alex was irritated. While he and Jade had become friends since their meeting in front of the airport, Jade had the nasty habit of making sure his mistakes played out to their most humorous and embarrassing potential.

Alex was beginning to wish his life was on the line. He could be a genius when his life was on the line. He had never been too attentive to details. In the days when he had been cased across two continents by an angry mummy, he had always been relaxed and easygoing and a little bit clumsy. He guessed that it was his Uncle Jonathan's influence that had caused this character flaw. Despite this, he had been able to do anything he needed to survive, from deciphering hieroglyphics to building a rocket powered sand board out of junk. Jade had begun to take full advantage of his weakness.

Tomoyo stood in front of a mirror. Her dress looked perfect on her - too perfect. Tomoyo had based the design on the traditional gothic Lolita look and had added her own unique flair to it. She had wanted to look chaste for what she had decided was not going to be a date. To that effect, she had ensured that the neckline went all the way up to her jaw. Purple lace flowed from both her neck and her wrists, matching her dark eye shadow. The whole effect only brought out the radiance of her amethyst eyes. It was too late to worry about that now. She did not have time to make another dress. Besides, she was not even planning on meeting the bastard. She slipped on a pair of glossy black shoes and headed down the stairs.

Tomoyo was half expecting Hiiragizawa to be awaiting her as soon as she stepped out the door. He was not there. She looked up and down the street. Hiiragizawa's house loomed menacingly at one end. Hiiragizawa was nowhere in sight. She turned onto the street, walking away from his house. At the first opportunity, she turned again. Now, both the mansion and the café would get further away with every step. After about an hour of walking, her stomach had begun to rumble. It had been a bad idea to go for a walk when she had not yet eaten.

"You sound hungry." It was the voice she had not wanted to hear. She had just turned the corner to find him leaning casually against a rather expensive looking car. He was wearing a black suit with a navy shirt.

"I'm not as fashion conscious as you, so I hope I did well to match your style," he said, smiling politely as she scowled at him. He had obviously been waiting for her there. More than ever, Tomoyo hated magic.

Sakura stared in disbelief at their waitress. Her dark hair had been tied up in two Chinese buns as was traditional for, "Meiling-chan!"

Syaoran's arm was practically yanked off as Sakura ran and greeted Meiling. She had not come back to the mansion since the day Sakura had returned.

Syaoran gasped in pain and grabbed his shoulder.

"Sorry! Are you okay, Syaoran?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," He replied stiffly. He was obviously still in pain. In hindsight, it would have been better had she attached the cuff to his other arm. This wasn't the first time she had strained his pained shoulder and it probably wouldn't be the last. It had happened so much that he didn't even bother trying to coerce her into getting some drugs for him anymore because he knew that she would certainly refuse.

"So you discovered where I work," Meiling said. She gave Sakura a quick hug in greeting, ignoring Syaoran's pain as his shoulder was yanked again.

"We didn't know you worked here. Yukito and Touya ordered some food from here the first day that we got back here. They said the food was good."

"As if a Li would work in a place that wasn't absolutely excellent," Meiling replied, "Just sit back, relax, and I'll bring you some food that will knock your taste buds off." Meiling left them sitting on the terrace to go get them some food, despite protests that they hadn't ordered yet.

"Is she ignoring you?" Sakura asked Syaoran.

He grunted noncommittally and glanced around nervously.

Eriol parked the car near an intersection half a block from the restaurant. The trip had been quiet and tense. Eriol had not tried to even start any conversation. Tomoyo would not have replied if he had.

"Stop. Let's go somewhere else," Tomoyo begged, finally breaking the silence when the restaurant came into view.

"This is the perfect place. There are only two people there and we already know them. It would be nice to get reacquainted." Eriol replied.

"I don't know them," Tomoyo insisted. She turned to leave, but a vice-like grip on her wrist stopped her.

"...Let me go." Tomoyo said icily. His grip was too strong for her to break.

"You promised me lunch and a civil discussion," Eriol reminded her, "If you have a problem with the company you could always ask them politely to leave."

"Then leave!" Tomoyo spat out maliciously, "I didn't want to come in the first place."

"Are you lying to me Tomoyo-chan? Would you have dressed so beautifully for anyone else?" Eriol asked.

"If I was dressing up for you, then why did I try to skip our chat?" Tomoyo said coldly.

"Is that what you were doing? Perhaps you should not have come straight to me then. Were you drawn to me?" Tomoyo didn't like the tone of his voice. It sounded almost predatory.

"Was it because you know that I'm more powerful than her?" He nodded towards Sakura who was talking with Syaoran as they waited for Meiling to return.

Kero sat in Sakura's room playing video games. He had wanted to go with Sakura to the restaurant, but Sakura had promised that she would bring some dessert back for him if he stayed.

When he felt a powerful surge of magical energy, he knew that he would have to settle for what the cooks of the Li household would prepare for him later. He leapt out the window and flew as fast as he could towards the source of the energy.

On the way there, he met up with Yue, who was flying with equal determination towards the source of the disturbance.

"Weren't you at work?" Kero asked suspiciously. Yukito's disappearance would be noticed.

"Touya told me to go. He is covering for me," Yue replied.

"You would have come anyway." Kero said. As he flew, he began to think about Touya's actions. It was strange that he seemed to have discovered everything but still hadn't confronted Sakura about it.

"Tell me, Tomoyo-chan... Just imagine what you could do to them if you had my power." Eriol whispered into her ear.

His voice was hypnotic. Her body froze as he ran his fingers across the side of her head and through her hair. She couldn't help but think of a several dozen ways in which she wished Sakura would pay for Laishi's death.

"You are so cruel in your heart Tomoyo, to think such things about your closest friend." Eriol said sadly, "...But it is your heart's desire, and now it will not be stopped." he finished determinedly.

Tomoyo noticed in shock that Eriol was now holding his magical staff. The magnitude of it put that of Sakura's to shame. It was more than twice as long as the one that she had. "What do you mean?" A magical circle lit up brilliantly under them. "What are you doing?" Tomoyo whimpered. The magic scared her. It felt like the world was full of hatred. She wanted to back out of the circle, but her legs wouldn't obey her commands.

"I am doing nothing. It was your wish that brought this about. Now, not even I can stop it."

"Please stop it!" Tomoyo had never thought that what she had imagined would ever come to pass. Some of the things she had imagined, she would never have wanted anyone to experience, no matter how much she hated them. She could not forgive Sakura, and now she might never get another chance to.

"Did you feel that?" Sakura asked. She couldn't believe that such a powerful magical aura could exist. It had only appeared for a moment, so Sakura wondered if she had imagined it.

"A surge of magic that powerful? I doubt even someone as powerless as Meiling would have been able to miss it." Syaoran was unconsciously gripping his sword pendant.

"What was it? It felt familiar somehow." She couldn't place where she had felt the aura before.

"I don't know, but I can guess at what it did." He looked upwards where dark clouds had begun to blot out the sun. A powerful wind swept through, knocking over tables and chairs. Sakura and Syaoran were buffeted from all sides by the raging gale that seemed to be centered on them.

"Wind!" Syaoran put every ounce of his power into countering the winds, but it only fueled the storm more.

"Let me try. Wi-" Sakura was pulled to the ground by Syaoran. A flying chair barely missed her. Dust and pebbles whipped up by the wind stung her exposed skin. Sakura could see little drops of blood beading where similar projectiles had struck Syaoran.

"Wind!" There was a brief calm before the wind whipped around in even greater fury, trapping them in a cyclone.

If Syaoran had been in top form, he might have been able to summon Rh'Thulla, the spirit that had been bound to power their wind magic. Sakura had not yet learned this technique - it was still much too advanced for her. Syaoran was not even supposed to know it. Summoning was a technique reserved for teaching to those who had mastered all but the ofudas of light dark and chaos, however he had studied it and even successfully summoned Q'yth-az to help her capture the Earthy.

'If only the Clow cards would work.' Sakura thought desperately. It was their only hope to be spared being ground down to their bones by the storm.

"Key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your true form to me. Your mistress, Sakura, commands it. Release!" Nothing happened.