Chapter 20: Restitution

Syaoran didn't bother waking Sakura when Wei stopped in front of the school. She snuggled up against his chest and he lifted her out of the car. He carried her bridal-style to the classroom and sat at his desk with Sakura on his lap, glaring at anyone who looked twice. Most kept their distance, but he was not surprised when Tomoyo sat down next to him in Sakura's seat.

"What do you want?" Syaoran asked.

"Thank you for last night," Tomoyo said, "I would have been killed if you weren't there."

"I would have let them, if it wouldn't have made Sakura sad. You've used up all the chances you had with me when you betrayed her."

"I didn't mean all those things I said to her."

"Then you shouldn't have said them. Once is a mistake. Doing it for months is... torture for someone like Sakura. Even after all you've done, helping that smirking bastard of a bodyguard to attack us, she would probably still forgive you if you asked." Syaoran wiped Sakura's lip with his thumb where she had begun drooling on his shirt.

"You sound like you're trying to get me back as best friends with Sakura," Tomoyo sighed.

"It would make her happy," Syaoran replied, 'and might save your life,' he added silently.

"I can't help it. Every time I see her face, I also see Laishi dying. I don't really hate her. I know she's suffered more than she deserves because of me."

Syaoran ran his fingers through Sakura's still-wet hair, enjoying the scents that wafted off of her. Then she shifted and before he knew it, she was laying with her head on Tomoyo's lap.

"Tomoyo-chan..." Sakura murmured, grabbing a hold on the pleats of Tomoyo's skirt. Tomoyo was sitting stiffly, holding the chair and biting her lip, barely remaining calm.

"Getting along already, I see," Eriol smirked as Tomoyo tried to figure out what to do about Sakura.

"Why is she so tired?" Tomoyo asked.

"Why, because she got no sleep last night," Eriol answered, "You wouldn't have anything to do with that would you, Syaoran? You rushed off so quickly just to see her, I can't imagine what else it could be."

"I didn't do anything to her!" Syaoran replied angrily, his nerves fraying almost to the breaking point from trying to be nice to the two.

"Of course not, there are plenty of other reasons that she would stay up all night," Eriol quipped, "Now come, Tomoyo, we must take our seats before our teacher arrives."

"Good morning, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura mumbled in her sleep, curling a hand into the pleats of Tomoyo's skirt and nuzzling her thigh.

This was too much for Tomoyo. She sat frozen in shock for a moment, then leapt to her feet, biting her lip to hold back a squeal of surprise.

Sakura was knocked up against her desk, then began to stumble towards the ground. Her hand, already wrapped in the folds of Tomoyo's skirt, tightened reflexively in a sleepy attempt to arrest her fall, her other hand trapped between her body and the chair Tomoyo had been occupying. With a loud snap and a ripping sound, the zipper of the skirt popped open as the two girls went in opposite directions. The skirt tumbled down, hooking around Tomoyo's knees as Syaoran caught Sakura's arm and prevented the rest of her fall.

To Daidouji Tomoyo, the damage was already done. The sound of tearing had brought the attention of every person in the class. Her thighs were revealed to everyone up to the lace-trimmed violet panties that she was wearing. Someone whistled, then there were cat calls and laughter. Large glistening tears formed in her eyes.

"Tomoyo-chan, I'm sorry, I didn't-" Sakura tried to apologize, but was cut off as Tomoyo slammed her hands over her ears, gripping her hair as if she wanted to tear the shiny black locks out of her scalp, and then she screamed. It was a horrible, soul rending scream of anguish. Then, she was gone, and Eriol as well. They had just disappeared without a trace, the sound cut off suddenly.

Fujitaka looked over the reports he had been given. Each one confused him to no end. Every student had come to wildly different conclusions based on the artifacts they had examined. He had expected the tales of magic, since they were common in many cultural histories, but the concentration of documents that went into detail about men named Li were astounding. Some students had decided that the Li clan had been highly ranked and regarded vassals of the emperor. Others believed that they had been a completely separate power, though none agreed about whether they were working for or against the emperor. Fujitaka thought back on his breakfast with Sakura and the story he had been told about the tapestry. It had all been almost too incredible to believe. The Li clan had once been at war with the emperor. The emperor had the advantage of numbers, but the Li's sorcery has made up for that, leading the two to reach a tentative peace with the dragon as their pact.

He picked up the next report in the pile. It was from Jade. Attached to the front was a short note that chilled Fujitaka to the bone.

There are some things which are not to be known. Remember this before publishing any papers. The Li clan does not look kindly upon those who reveal their secrets. Think about your daughter's best interests.

The letter was unsigned, but it did not look like Jade's handwriting. In fact, it did not look like any handwriting he had seen outside of archaeological artifacts. Then, he blinked and the text he had been examining was gone. Instead he saw a title page reading, "Political and military cooperation between Egyptian Pharaohs and Chinese Emperors in stabilizing revolutionary Han China". Below was a picture of the emperor's seal on a document. As he looked at it, he resolved to speak to his daughter that day no matter what. He turned the page to hide the picture that was now irreversibly seared into his brain. The emperor's seal was the Li Clan dragon.

Tomoyo did not show up for the first class of the day, nor for the second. When she did return, she had what Sakura could only describe as a dead look on her face. She was wearing a fully functional skirt exactly like the one that had been destroyed before she disappeared, and Sakura guessed it had been repaired by magical means rather than Tomoyo returning home to replace the ruined one. Eriol walked beside her, holding her hand, but it was like she didn't even notice he was there. She didn't seem to notice anyone was there. A few students laughed and made lewd comments, but she didn't even so much as look at them. When the teacher asked where she had been, it was Eriol who answered that she was having personal problems and did not want to talk about it. Sakura gripped her stomach, feeling nauseous with guilt.

It was almost lunch time and Sakura 's nausea was giving way to hunger, leaving Sakura in fear that her stomach would growl so loudly as to alert the other students. She wished she had gotten up earlier so she had time to eat properly. This, in turn, was making her sluggish and distracted, unable to pay attention to what they were being taught. Her attention was quickly acquired though when a strange alarm blared from the intercom. She was about to stand and head out, thinking it was a fire drill when the teacher, visibly shaking, stood up to lock the door.

"Please remain calm," the teacher said, obviously failing to follow his own advice, "That was the lock down alert. One of them, at least. Everyone move to the back corner where you can not be seen from the door and sit down quietly."

Syaoran had his phone out and hit a speed dial control.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked, grabbing Li's hand reflexively.

"That was not the normal lock down alarm. This alarm means that there are unknown and armed persons on the grounds. Probably an attempted kidnapping," a loud explosion made him cringe, "or maybe retaliation."

"You called for a strike team to get them?"

"No, that call was for a clean-up team. A strike team would take too long to get here." Syaoran explained.

"What are you two doing? Sit down against the wall, it's for your own safety!" the teacher ordered, glancing at the door nervously.

Syaoran reached into his shirt and many people gasped as he seemingly drew a sword out of nowhere.

"Where did you get that! The school has a zero tolerance policy on weapons!" The teacher was hyperventilating and looked to be about to collapse.

"Don't bother hiding, the cleanup team will do memory alterations later."

Sakura understood and withdrew the pendant from around her neck. "Key that hides the power of my star, reveal your true form before me. Your mistress Sakura commands it. Release!"

A myriad of exclamations were heard.

"I suppose we should do something as well, tight Tomoyo?" Eriol said as he drew out his own pendant. Tomoyo did not respond. "Key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your true form before me. Your master Eriol commands it. Release!"

"It can't be! That's Clow Reed's magic!", Sakura gasped in amazement.

"Why yes, yes it is. How astute of you Sakura," Eriol said with an enigmatic smile. He slammed the but of his staff down on the ground, calling out, "Illusion!"

It was an amazing sight to behold. Hovering in the middle of the classroom was a three-dimensional wire-frame model of the school. A cluster of green dots showed up in their classroom. "This is us," Eriol said, "and these are the attacking men, armed with some sort of assault rifle." The view swung around and it it was clear from the way that the visible red dots stopped at a door, then a second later passed through it, moved around the classroom, then left, that the men were looking for something or someone.

"And what's this?" Syaoran pointed at a blinking yellow dot that was in the gym storage room.

"That would be Sakura's prize. I believe he was spooked by the alarm, which is why he exploded like that. Be careful not to spook him."

"Another spirit?" Sakura asked.

"I guess you'll find out when you get past the men who are between you and it." Eriol said.

"Remember to give them their voices back," Syaoran said.

Sakura looked around surprised. She hadn't even noticed, the the whole class was trying to talk and nothing was coming out of their mouths.

"And why should I do that? They'll just ask a bunch of annoying questions anyway." Eriol shrugged as if it was not his concern.

Sakura sighed and brought out the Voice card. "Voice card, discard your former power and draw your power from my star under the new contract. Voice card, restore the voice to the people in this class!" Sakura felt the huge drain on her energy as the voice transformed and did her will. Her lack of energy really impacted her now. She felt that if she even blinked, she would drop into a deep slumber. Syaoran put an arm around her as she wobbled unsteadily on her feet.

The sounds came back all at once: cries of surprise, questions, cheers, and curses. "What do you think you're doing. You must sit quietly!" The teacher seemed to have regained some of his nerve, despite the show of paranormal power.

"Let's go," Syaoran said.

"Sorry about this," Sakura said, bowing apologetically to the teacher before following Syaoran out the door. Eriol followed, pulling a compliant but barely responsive Tomoyo along.

It did not take long for them to find the men who had invaded the school. They were just coming out of a classroom when they spotted the four teens.

"It's her!" the one at the front pointed towards them. He was holding a photograph in his hand. Three more men exited the classroom and leveled guns at them.

"Kill the others. Take the girl," the shortest one said. While he had worn the same plain black clothing and balaclava as the others, his rotund body was a stark contrast to the military trim of the others.

"Shield card, discard your former power and draw your power from my star under the new contract. Shield!" Sakura barely managed to get the shield up before sparks of ricochets bounced off the pink glow. It was immediately visible that the shield would not hold. It flickered violently with each bullet that struck it and was becoming webbed with cracks.

"King of thunder, come forth!" Syaoran shattered the shield from the inside, blasting all the men with a powerful cone of electricity. Their guns melted and their bodies smoked and were blasted away with the force of the spell, hitting a wall before falling limp and unmoving to the ground.

Then, Sakura was falling. Syaoran dropped his weapons and leapt towards her, arresting her fall. A click sounded, warning Syaoran of the danger too late. Sakura pushed herself off of him, stumbling in front of Tomoyo who was now the target of a large silvery hand-gun.

"Shield!" The pink bubble enshrouded the two girls, flickered, and then faded as an echoing boom resounded in the hallway.

Blood splattered across Syaoran's face as Sakura's body was launched away from him by the force of the bullet. He saw red and rage boiled up inside him. A deep growl rumbled from his chest as he leapt towards the man and sunk his fangs into the man's neck, tearing a great hunk of flesh from the man's throat and landing with his four paws on the man's chest. He didn't even remember transforming. He didn't even know how he had transformed. He didn't really care since he could always find that out later. For now, this man had to pay for killing...

He glanced back as he heard the sound of a cell phone. Tomoyo had Sakura resting against her and her hand was holding back the blood as she frantically tried to call for help. That meant that Sakura wasn't dead, though the man under him certainly was. Eriol had disappeared somewhere in the confusion. Syaoran leapt off the dead man and saw a charred picture laying on the floor. It was a picture of Tomoyo. Sakura had been shot protecting Tomoyo from kidnappers. He waited until Tomoyo had hung up her phone, then swatted the photo across the floor with his paw, then growled. Tomoyo went white with fear. Syaoran did not even have to voice the threat, but his involuntary growl was enough to set Tomoyo trembling.

Syaoran paced back and forth in front of the hospital room. His hands trembled even though they were shoved deep into his pockets. It hadn't been his intention, but he had not been able to control himself. He had been so worried while Sakura had been in surgery that he had snuck into a supply cupboard and swallowed a handful of vicodin tablets. They were now wearing off and his shoulder was throbbing worse than ever.

Sakura had lost a lot of blood, but she had been lucky. The bullet had only hit one major organ, and that had been her liver, which the doctor's assured him would grow back in a few months after they had removed the damaged portion and the bullet.

Syaoran felt like hitting something. The craving for the drugs was worse than ever. If only Sakura would wake up. The doctors had no idea what was causing her current coma. Syaoran knew. He could barely sense her where she was less that fifteen feet away. Her magic powers had been reduced to mere vapors from what had once been like an entire tanker of fuel. He never should have allowed her to come in the condition she had been in. Transforming two cards after staying up all night had almost drained her beyond hope of recovery.

Syaoran stopped and glanced into the room. He hoped that he would see the viridescent orbs opened to catch his gaze, but her eyes were still closed. Tomoyo was beside her bed, mumbling apologies for every injustice she burdened the overly caring girl with. As much as he hated Tomoyo for the months of suffering she caused Sakura, he couldn't evict the Daidouji girl because he knew how happy it would make Sakura to see her friend and cousin talking to her again.

Her father was sitting nearby. A table had been half cleared of magazines and now held a stack of reports instead. Professor Kinomoto seemed very distracted, the pile of reports had not moved at all in the hours he had sat there after he had rushed over. Every so often, he would glance up at Syaoran with an accusing look. Syaoran didn't blame him. He knew it was his fault for not planing correctly. He should have seen how exhausted Sakura was. He should never have let Tomoyo follow them.

Syaoran made an abrupt turn in his pacing and strode into the hospital room. He sat down opposite Tomoyo and took Sakura's hand. It seemed unnaturally cold to him. He pulled up her blanket to her chin, to help keep her warm. He would have climbed in with her, but having just come out of surgery, she was in a delicate condition. He noticed the remote for the television next to him and turned the television on, switching to a news channel. The clean up crew had probably done their job by now, which meant the story would be showing up soon.

"Today, a vicious attack occurred at the Hong Kong Educational Center." These words grabbed Syaoran's attention after several minutes of local fluff. Tomoyo also turned to watch as the neatly quaffed reporter talked in front of an image of the school. "This school is one of the premiere private educational facilities in China, consistently getting high rankings in both sports and standardized test scores. Its fame for educating top students has lead it to be a top choice of rich and influential families such as the Li's who hold a majority share in the school." The camera shooting the school faded to an image of the principal's office. "The principal of the school had this to say."

"Of course, our students are the children of rich families and are therefore constantly under threat of kidnapping. We have a small contingent of security personnel on staff in case of emergency, and we have procedures that allow bodyguards such as Miss Daidouji's to remain on campus in case of such an attack."

"Tomoyo Daidouji is the heiress of the Daidouji Toy Company, a top designer of high-tech toys and accessories for children and teens. Miss Daidouji has been the target of attacks on multiple occasions, and it is believed that this attack was another botched kidnapping attempt. It is, however, impossible to tell because all of the attackers were killed. Four were killed by Miss Daidouji's bodyguards using high-energy tasers which delivered an electric shock that not only stopped their hearts, but caused severe burns throughout their bodies. A fifth man was viciously stabbed to death by Li Syaoran with a pocket knife after the man, unnoticed by the bodyguards, shot his fiancée Kinomoto Sakura. Kinomoto Sakura is currently in a coma in an undisclosed hospital, but is expected to make a full recovery within the year."