Disclaimer: I don't own CCS...

Hi there, its been a while! I had a TON of problems with my computer, it was living hell! Anyways, I've gotten around to updating at least this! I hope you enjoy this, as it's really only an insight on what's to come.

Enjoy!

Clow Card Arc

Chapter 1: It Begins Again, or was it a Dream?

Sakura bolted right up from the ground, expecting to see a hoard of bloodthirsty monsters jumping on her, in an attempt to seize her flesh. Yet she saw none, and was utterly shocked by what she saw. She was sitting up straight, looking into her bedroom, painted in pale pink, with her dresser and all her belongings, upon her soft and comforting bed.

After having recovered from the initial shock, Sakura smiled, thinking,

'It worked!'

She ran to open her drawer, impatient to see Kero, the guardian she had lost almost one year ago. Yet when she opened it, she saw nothing but a disarray of her long forgotten belongings, sprawled every which way inside the drawer.

'But, how is that possible...'

She searched far and wide within her bedroom for the little guardian and the Clow Book, yet she found neither one. In fact, there was no proof at all that anything magical had been there. But she knew there was only one way to be certain. She reached down her night shirt, expecting to feel the familiar key that unlocked so many wonders. Yet she only felt flesh and bone.

It was then that Sakura began to wonder about the credibility of what she had lived. Though it did seem a bit odd for someone to have magic, and such, she couldn't help but think it was too real to be false, the memories too vivid to be a figment of imagination, the feelings too intense to have been simply dreamed. How could she have dreamed so many things, such as the cards, Kero, magic, and most of all, Syaoran?

Yet reason told her that she just had an extremely creative imagination, telling her that magic was a thing of fairy tales, and that Yukito, the man she supposedly truly loved, was perfectly human. The fight within her mind ceased when she heard an all too familiar voice call,

"Kaijuu! Get up!"

Such a thing could only come from one person: Toya Kinomoto. She quickly got dressed in a uniform that was from Seijou High school, and she ran downstairs at full speed.

"Good morning Toya!" she called, already expecting what was to come.

"Late morning, kaijuu." Toya sneered, smirking all the while.

Sakura's blood boiled.

"I am not a kaijuu!" she yelled, fed up with her brother's daily ritual of calling her a monster.

Fujitaka entered the room at that moment, smiling as always.

"Now then, Toya stop annoying your sister." he said.

Sakura smiled at her father and said,

"Good morning father."

Fujitaka smiled back, while Toya grumbled, downing his breakfast.

Toya got up from his seat, and began walking away while Sakura had only just finished her breakfast.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

Toya turned to face her, a sly smirk plastered on his face.

"I'm leaving, and I'm going to the bus for the university with Yukito."

The effect of Yukito's name, made her blush slightly, since she knew she was supposed love him, yet something deep within her told her that her heart belonged to another. When she thought harder about it, the image of Syaoran, the boy in her 'dream' popped in her mind. She shook it off, yet she couldn't deny that Syaoran had some effect on her.

She hopped up from her seat, pulled on her shoes, and ran after Toya, who'd already walked out the door.

She chased after Toya, who was biking. She picked up a full sprint and jumped onto his bike, landing lightly on the back part of the seat. She was surprised at her own agility, as if she'd been doing these sort of stunts for a numerous amount of time. Soon enough, Yukito was visible in a distance. She expected the hot blush on her cheeks, though none came. It was as if he no longer had any effect on her.

Deep within herself, she knew that Yukito wasn't the man she truly loved, yet the more she thought about it, the more she felt as if what she had supposedly dreamed was real.

"Good morning Sakura." greeted Yukito.

Sakura smiled back, but it wasn't a real smile. Yukito apparently couldn't see through her facade.

'Syaoran would have known straight away...' she thought.

But when she caught herself thinking about him, the rational part of her mind kicked in,

'Why am I thinking about that? It was just a damned dream, for crying out loud!'

But was it really? She remembered so many things, as if she had lived several years in the same dream, yet was that possible, to recall so many details about something that isn't real? The part, however, that made her truly doubt, was the end part, where that blue haired boy, Eriol, said that they would be the sole people who would remember what had happened during and after the capture of the Clow Cards...

The Clow Cards. Another thing so improbable, yet how can one mind create such an elaborate story. Perhaps she truly had returned from a bloody outcome, maybe she had captured and tamed magical cards called the Clow Cards, it could be true that she was a sorceress, destined to great powers, it was possible that she had one day crossed paths with a young man, he too a sorcerer, who went by the name of Syaoran Li...

Sakura felt like screaming in frustration, her mind divided between the part who believed and the part who didn't. Her mind continued to rage a forsaken battle with itself, until Sakura arrived before the gates of Seijou, and was interrupted by the sadder than usual voice of the infamous Tomoyo Daidoji.

"Good morning Sakura. Is it me, or do you seem a bit down today?"

Sakura looked at Tomoyo, scanning her from top to bottom, as if expecting to see within her the proof of the existence of everything she secretly hoped wasn't all a figment of her imagination. Yet Tomoyo didn't seem to hold such information, though her usually radiant features were dulled by some sort of unexplainable sadness.

Truth be told, what Tomoyo truly felt was a great feeling of loss, that seemed to grab her heart and plunge it down to the darkest place imaginable. She too had had a strange dream, where her best friend was a magic wielder in love with a mysterious chestnut-haired boy, and where her own heart had been captured by the likes a of certain midnight blue-eyed sorcerer. She didn't know what to think either, and she dared not mention anything to Sakura, as she was sure that Sakura would think she was crazy or something along the lines of that.

The day at school went by in a blur, as neither one of the girls seemed to be completely in this world, both dwelling deep inside their thoughts, listening to their mind's perpetual fighting over the reality of what they prayed wasn't just a dream.

By the end of the day, when it came time for them to return home, both girls were broken inside, they no longer knew what to think, as they had finally given up on believing it was real, though that distant part of them screamed that it was no dream, no figment of imagination.

Sakura looked up at the sky, as if up there, dwelled the answer to her problems. She came to only one conclusion, even if such a thing, her rational side reminded her, was qualified as crazy. But she no longer cared, and she knew that it couldn't be helped. Whether it was real or not, she knew that she would remain in love with the boy in her dream, Syaoran Li. Let him be real or a simple dream man created by her mind, she knew that she couldn't bring herself to love someone else.

Tomoyo, on her side, was thinking something around the lines of that, but she also knew that if she were ever to hear about anything that concerned magic, she wouldn't be surprised the least bit.

In this manner, both girls walked solemnly to their homes, wondering if the would ever know for sure what was true and what wasn't.

Sakura walked inside the Kinomoto household, only to find that no one was there. She was glad, neither her father nor her brother would have the opportunity to question her about why she seemed so glum.

'If only they knew...' she thought before opening the fridge to try and eat something.

It was then that she heard it. A noise that seemed so monstrous, it could only be issued by a beast, and a large one by that. The part of her that believed in her dream kicked in full force, and it seemed as if her old self began to reappear. She followed the sound cautiously, silent, as she had trained herself to do so many years before. The rational part of her mind was almost died away, as she realized that the sound was coming from her father's study.

'This reminds me of something...' she thought.

She advanced with ease, not a sound coming from her, unless you count her heavy breathing. She yanked open the door and sprinted down the stairs, still with the least possible amount of noise. She quickly went through the study, to find herself wandering before a long forgotten shelf, where the noise was coming from. And before was a book, glowing faintly in the dim light.

"Can it be?" she whispered, breathless.

She walked on, picked up the book and looked at its cover. It was enough to make her gasp and slowly, tears of joy trickled down her face. For the book's title was none other than 'The Clow'.

Without warning, the seal upon the book snapped open, surprising her slightly, but she rapidly recovered and opened the book that held the key to so many memories. Indeed, inside were the magical cards that had started it all, the Clow Cards. She picked up the first card and looked at it. The Windy. Sakura remembered how she had scattered the cards, and then recalled what Eriol had said about not changing the past.

How could she have doubted the card's existence? How could she have even though that Eriol and Syaoran were just a dream.

'Then again, knowing Syaoran, he's sometimes too good to be true.' she thought.

With renewed energy, Sakura threw the card into the air, which strangely responded, and Clow Reed's seal appeared beneath her.

'And so it begins again.' she thought before yelling,

"WINDY!"

The card activated, and a great gust of wind blew throughout the room. The cards within the book flew away with such a great force, and they began to scatter about, far and wide throughout Tomoeda. She saw many of her old friends fly by, The Wood, The Jump, The Shadow, and that was about all she saw before the wind ceased and all the cards had been scattered again. And so the card captor rises again.

The book then glowed, and a small orange bear immersed from the book.

'Kero.' thought Sakura.

The bear opened its eyes and eyed Sakura.

"Hi, hi!!" he let out suddenly.

Sakura sighed. Kero would always be Kero, no matter how may times the past changed.

Seeing Sakura's utter silence, Kero said,

"Well, I'm really surprised that you didn't run away screaming."

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Kero.

"Why would I be surprised? Don't you remember me?"

Kero looked at her quizzically.

"So sorry miss. I don't believe we've met before."

Sakura then remembered what Eriol had said. Only she, Eriol, Tomoyo, and Syaoran would remember what had happened. Anyone else had no idea that the world almost fell to the hands of demons at evil's command.

"I must have mistaken you for something else. But who are you?" she asked, knowing perfectly well what was coming.

"I'll have you know I am the great Keroberos, guardian of the sacred seal of the Clow Cards, created by the great sorcerer, Clow Reed."

'Typical.' thought Sakura.

"The Clow Cards were inside the book, right?" she asked.

Kero nodded.

"Then in that case, they flew away."

Kero laughed and turned around. He froze and began yelling profusely.

Sakura brought him up to her room, and Kero explained to her that she needed to become the card captor, and that she alone could capture the cards.

Of course, Sakura knew that she wouldn't be alone for long, but Kero didn't need to know that.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Sakura Kinomoto." she replied.

Kero then stood and chanted,

"Key which holds the powers of the dark, before you stands one willing to make contract. Sakura Kinomoto is her name. Become one with her, let your power be hers. RELEASE!"

The seal of Clow and the key began to glow, a magical wind stirred about the room, as the key transformed into a staff bearing a bird's head. Sakura savored this moment, as she hadn't fully comprehended what it had meant the first time. Kero's voice then yelled,

"Sakura, grab the staff!"

Sakura advanced upon her key and with one determined outstretched hand, she grabbed it and twirled it expertly. Though she tried her best to hide her emotions, she was sure Kero could see the relief in her eyes as he said,

"Card captor is born!"

'Again.' mused Sakura silently.

She knew that the first time that Kero had told her she was the card captor, she had been firmly opposed, but even though Eriol had clearly stated that nothing about the past should be changed, at least to a certain extent, she couldn't bring herself to tell Kero that she refused. Instead, she asked a question that caused her to stifle back a laugh,

"May I call you Kero-chan?"

Kero looked her up and down with an amused look.

"You aren't serious, are you Sakura?"

"Of course I am Kero-chan. Keroberos is far too long..."

Kero then looked as if he was about to explode, which, most unfortunately, made it that much more difficult for Sakura to keep from laughing.

"How could you possibly even think for one second that I, the great Keroberos, will be called by the name of a simple plush toy!"

Sakura couldn't take it any longer, she fell on her bed laughing, tears of hilarity running down her face. Kero didn't seem to find it all that funny. But Sakura was mostly thinking of Syaoran's favorite phrase concerning the seal beast. 'That plush toy' was the only way he referred to him, unless Sakura forced him to do otherwise. When she had recovered from the laughing fit, she said,

"Right then, I shall call you Kero-chan."

Kero seemed to be on the verge of yelling again, when he stopped and looked towards the window. Sakura herself ceased all activity and stared towards the window. It couldn't be mistaken. Nothing felt like this. Long years of experience told her that she had it pinpointed.

"Clow Card..." she whispered under her breath.

She ran to the window and opened it, receiving a gust of violent wind in her face. She looked to the sky with her eyes half closed to see the form of a gigantic bird sailing in the night sky.

"Sakura, it's a Clow Card! It's..."

"The Fly." she cut off, without thinking.

She then realized her mistake and clasped a hand to her mouth. But it was already too late to take it back.

"How did you know that..." Kero asked suspiciously.

Sakura remained speechless. What was she to say? She had already let by that she knew something about the Clow Cards and their existence. She mentally slapped herself. She didn't have any desire to try and explain herself, so she very suddenly jumped out her window, into the tree and down to the ground. Kero was surprised by her agility and the way she seemed to be quite comfortable doing these sort of stunts. His suspicion only grew a bit more. But as he saw Sakura dash down the streets of Tomoeda, dressed only in her white tank and pink pajama bottoms, he jumped as well and called,

"Wait up!"

He would find the answers to these questions later. First there was The Fly to catch. Yet something tugged at him in the back of his mind, in the area where Clow controlled all his memories. This girl, Sakura, seemed awfully familiar...

I thought it was a bit odd, since I found it difficult to see Sakura contradicting herself like that. But I suppose any normal person would have that judgement. I do hope it was good, and I'll precise just one thing: I will be taking episodes from the anime that I find have a good potential and use them, changing them.

Just three things:

1: those of you reading 'Darkness Rising' I WILL update!

2: I have a poll on my profile page, if anyone is interested

3: Please R&R!!