Disclaimer: As usual, 'Card Captor Sakura' doesn't belong to me in anyway, it belongs to the four genius women of CLAMP.
A/N: So... where should I start? It's been a little over a year since I've last updated, and I'm very sorry for taking such a long time! I had lot's of problems with my computer and it was lying around in the shop for about 8 months, and by the time I got it back, life just got that much more important since I had so many things to take care of with so little free time. That pretty much partly explains why this chapter took so long to come out. That, and the fact that I decided to make the chapter extra long so as to compensate for the lack of updates, so I hope that it will a satisfying chapter for you all!
Personally, I had lots of fun with this chapter since I got to delve into Sakura's thoughts very often, considering a great deal of the chapter is in her point of view. After that, my next guilty pleasure was giving Syaoran a word in this at last, and getting to really use his character fully to make up for his long absence!
Like always, I'd like to thank my beta, CheeseyCraziness for throwing ideas at me and helping the plot move along smoothly!
On a side note, I've decided to respond to any reviews at the start of each chapter, so hopefully I've gotten to everyone and responded fully.
Responses to reviews for 'Past Resurrection' (Ch. 4)
CheeseyCraziness - Indeed the Thunder Card! I hope it was emotional enough a chapter, I really did try! ^.^
SilentCynara - No, I didn't fall to the temptation to use SxS before I was supposed to! It would have completely defeated the point of the story anyway! I'm glad that you consider this to be good, and I hope the SxS reunion is as good as it should be, though it's true that Sakura seems to be getting closer and closer to getting killed each time... XD
XxlaLunaxX - Thank you! I was missing Syaoran too, so I had a blast writing in his POV!
Azure-x-Roze - Thank you too, I'm glad you like it, and I think I originally thought this plot up because I was sick of all the bad stories that were popping up for CCS, and I wanted to write something drastically different.
Emerald Divinity - I hope this chapter will confirm your opinion!
hikariclowreed - Glad you like it, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!
Twilight Kisses - Once again, I'm glad that you find the story interesting, and hopefully this chapter is long enough to satisfy you (and everyone else for that matter!)
WezL - I see, you discovered it on CheeseyCraziness's profile... well, it's good to know I've been getting some form of publicity (thanks much for that too I suppose Cheesey!)! I'm honestly flattered that you really like this story, and I'm hoping that this chapter will somehow compensate for the long hiatus, so do let me know if it was good!
- (Once again, I must thank my beta reader for the publicity! XD) Thanks for liking the story, and yes, Syaoran will show up very soon... I don't want to spoil too much, but he's definitely in this chapter, does reunite with Sakura, and he plays a rather important role so I hope you get your dose of the much needed SxS-ness! XD
CherryandWolflover - Eek! I'm sorry I couldn't respond to you, what with being so busy at the time and all, but yes, I do intend to finish this story! My computer forced me into hiatus, but I'm most definitely coming back full swing (ish! XD)! I love Sakura and Syaoran aswell, and TRC has only managed to feed the love even more (even if that ending was completely unexpected)! I'm glad you like the story, and I hope you'll like the chapter! (I've been saying that to everyone, haven't I? XD)
Chapter 5: Foreboding Force
The dazzling rays of sunlight that shone through Sakura's window on that cold and rather crisp December morning brought the young girl back to awareness, though she remained entirely unaware of what sort of events could possibly take place throughout the day. Sakura blinked sleepily, trying to rid the grogginess from her features, even rubbing her eyes so as to wake herself more effectively. As she slowly and carefully rose from her bed, she spared a glance at her alarm clock. The bright red neon numbers flared at her in the early morning light, as she read the current time. 6:00 A.M. Sakura blinked once more, half believing she was being deceived by her eyes that quite obviously still needed sleep. Yet despite her constant rubbing of her eyes, the time on that clock never changed, proving that it indeed was 6 o'clock in the morning.
In any other circumstances, perhaps Sakura would have thought nothing of it. But, considering three rather important factors in her life at the moment, she found that the occasion of waking up at such an early hour was a rather serious issue, the first and foremost factor influencing her train of thought, naturally being her usual tardiness when it came to waking up in the morning. And, then again, she could have stayed at that, and considered today as one of her particularly lucky days. But then, there was the fact that only a month beforehand, she'd lived through a rather traumatic experience, that had resulted in the revival of several painful memories, and a rather serious wound to the abdomen. An experience she wasn't all that eager to live through again. After all, Sakura's return to school had only been but one week ago, and she was still in a recovery stage. She was forbidden to undertake any sort of physically demanding activity, and even if walking about was no longer a problem, Sakura was still tired from her recovery, and so, logically speaking, she should be waking up even later than usual.
The third factor that lead her to her ultimate conclusion directly concerned the cards and all the magic that was involved with them. Sakura had, quite unfortunately, noticed that she'd been having reoccurring dreams ever since her less-than-friendly encounter with the Illusion card. She could never quite pinpoint what exactly the dream was attempting to show her, nor when or where whatever it was would happen. All she was explicitly sure of was that the event to come seemed to be rather dramatic, involving quite a large amount of blood and tears. That, and the fact that, while she stared into the blurring red surroundings of her dream, she would always perceive a presence nearby. Not a hostile one, but a calming, gentle one. A loving one. And for some reason - though she suspected it was somehow related to the Illusion incident - Sakura had the nagging feeling that the one she perceived in her dream couldn't possibly be anyone else but Syaoran. She was certain that the last time she'd felt so unbelievably safe despite a chaotic environment was when she'd been with him, back then. Back during the original time.
All of these factors, brought together into one great big reason, were what lead Sakura to believe that what should have been an ordinary day in the month of December, was in fact, something far greater, far more important. Something that so skillfully hid beneath the facade of her daily routine, right there, beneath the surface, waiting dutifully in the shadows for its time to act. Sakura knew that she'd have to be even more cautious than usual today, though how she could possibly be more aware of her surroundings, she did not know, what with her nasty habit of constantly looking over own shoulder, should one of the demonic Clow Cards decide to manifest itself. It went to the extent that even Chiharu, who wasn't the least bit aware of her predicament, had noticed, and made the comment during lunch only a few days prior. And even though Sakura knew she should restrain from such 'strange' behavior in front of her friends, her constant awareness still managed to pay off: last example in date being the Silent card which had oh-so-conviently decided to loge itself in the school's library last Tuesday. Thank goodness the said card hadn't been extremely difficult to capture, seeing as it had rarely moved from its book on the farthest shelf from the entrance. Sakura recalled that Tomoyo herself had seemed surprised at the lack of difficulty involved in its capture, and had noted that it strongly resembled what should have been the capture of a normal Clow Card, and not the demonic ones that were on the loose all over Tomoeda.
"Sakura? How come you're up already? Normally you sleep until at least 6:45."
Sakura almost gasped at the sudden noise that sliced through the early morning silence, but managed to catch the sound before it escaped her throat. She turned around slowly to gaze at Kero, who was floating about her desk, staring at her questioningly. Quite obviously, she hadn't been the only one surprised by her early bird attitude.
"It's nothing Kero-chan! I just felt like getting up a bit earlier today, that's all!" Apparently, her small yellow guardian wasn't buying her obvious white lie.
Sakura inwardly sighed. She knew quite well that she was an awful liar, and yet, she had no other choice but to lie, whether it was blatantly obvious or not. She wasn't about to tell Kero the truth behind her suspicions, now was she? It wouldn't be a good idea to worry Kero over such things, especially considering the fact that she wasn't even sure of the authenticity of her thoughts. And so, she rose from her covers, careful to not damage her bandages that she had to change tonight once again, and proceeded with getting dressed, and ready for school, which she quite astoundingly accomplished in record time. So quickly, in fact, that by the time she was finished and ready to go downstairs, it was only 6:45. The time, as Kero had pointed out, at which she normally would be getting up with the combined efforts of Toya and Kero, though the former was completely unaware of the latter's presence, or at least, that was what Sakura liked to think, as she wasn't so certain of that anymore.
Softly, so as not wake anyone who was still asleep, Sakura trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she caught sight of Toya mumbling to himself while making breakfast for himself and her. Their father, Fujitaka, had been forced to stay overnight at the university due to lack of competent staff for a certain ongoing project.
Needless to say, when Toya whipped around and saw Sakura trudging softly towards the dining room table, he could hardly contain his surprise, and made sure to manifest it accordingly.
"Kaijuu, how come you're up?!", he glanced at the clock behind him, "At 6:47? My goodness, then today its going to be raining money, or something exceptional like that! I'll have to tell Yuki about it, something this rare has to be..." he trailed off, as he started to rub his head, with a mock pained expression, where Sakura had made sure to whack him only seconds before with the help of her right slipper. The look she gave him certainly didn't leave any room for doubt: it was rather obvious that he'd done a good job of ticking her off, as usual on his part. Sometimes, it was highly difficult for Sakura to remember that he was only teasing her 'affectionately' as Yukito put it so nicely.
She ate her breakfast in a rush, just like every morning, while Toya watched her with a half questioning, half suspicious look, which she had already decided to pointedly ignore so as to avoid any kind of unwanted remarks on his part, seeing as he was highly skilled in detecting those little things she didn't want to talk about, or at least, not to him. She picked her school bag off the table where she'd left it, and walked over to the entrance way, where she slipped off her slippers and took her time to put on each shoe, lost in her thoughts, while Toya stayed back in the kitchen, watching her from the corner of his eye, obviously wondering whether it was a wise idea to let her leave on her own. Sakura knew he was still very effected by the Illusion incident, and didn't seem to entirely buy her and Tomoyo's version of the accident. Which was why she picked herself up from the floor and yelled an "I'm off!" back at him while opening her front door, and was quick to slam it behind her.
As Sakura walked on towards school at least a half hour too early, she thought about all those things that she'd seen as a sign after waking up earlier. She was certain that today would behold some sort of change, and it irritated her to no end that she knew nothing of the events to come. Today, on this Friday, she would keep her eyes open, as well as her ears, since she would be the only one in on her suspicions. She wouldn't even allow herself to tell Tomoyo about this. Just like Kero, she couldn't afford her best friend to worry over something that remained completely abstract and unidentified, even in her mind. She just couldn't allow it.
It was with this firm intention that Sakura, after having walked the slightly long distance that separated her home from the school grounds, stood pointedly before the gates of Seijuu High School, which, to her dismay, had been closed upon her arrival. Apparently, she really was tooearly, and not just by her own standards. So, she had no other choice but to stay put in front of the gates, leaning against the small wall located to her right, patiently waiting for someone who did have the keys to the school to show up and open the gates for her. Fortunately for Sakura, she hadn't been waiting long before two other people arrived; one of them happened to be the school's 'key keeper', or so to speak, and he seemed to be engaged in great conversation with a student, albeit one that Sakura didn't know. Considering she was only a freshman, the taller, black haired boy must have been a senior that regularly arrived to school early.
'A role model for all the other students, unlike me and my natural tardiness.' Sakura mused with a bit of irony.
The two older men stopped with a start when they caught sight of Sakura and went on to express their great surprise at seeing her there, considering they didn't have the slightest clue of who she was. The older senior student walked up to Sakura, and introduced himself, like any other well-mannered person would have in his place. And yet Sakura, despite her usual lack of ability in the 'detection' department, managed to catch the subtle flirtatious undertone in her senpai's voice. Something she wasn't particularly fond of, firstly, because she found it highly embarrassing, and secondly, because she already had someone to love, and certainly didn't need other men flocking around her like hungry birds in search of their next prey. Not that this 'role model' senpai of hers had reached any sort of behavior close to that.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kiragawa Hikaru, a third year here at Seijuu. You wouldn't happen to be a new student would you? What year are you in, miss?
Sakura could have easily chuckled and the question. Was the event of her getting up earlier than normal really that incredible that people began to question whether or not she was a new student? Of course, this Kiragawa Hikaru couldn't possibly know who she was, with him arriving so early, and she, up until yesterday, so very late. Sakura shook her head, unable to hold back a smile, almost laughing at the current situation.
"No senpai, I'm not a new student. I've been here since elementary school, in fact." Kiragawa looked visibly embarrassed by his mistake, since his eyes seemed to find the black concrete ground highly fascinating all of a sudden. "It's be rude of me not to introduce myself when you yourself did so senpai. My name is Kinomoto Sakura, and I'm a first year student."
Kiragawa nodded, showing he'd heard her, and apologized for his misunderstanding. He then mentioned something about a student council commitee meeting he had to attend, and abruptly left her there, in front of the school gates, that were now wide open, awaiting the sea of students that would soon gather at the very spot where she stood. She sighed, thinking of how the meeting with the senpai she'd most likely never see again could have rather easily turned to a complete disaster, had a Clow Card decided to manifest itself at that moment. Thankfully, nothing had happened, but now, she most certainly needed to remain entirely aware, and she hoped that no more unwelcome surprises like that would occur, though she was almost certain that her meeting with Kiragawa was merely a coincidence. Nothing more. She walked in through the gates of the school, watching as Kiragawa, who had seemingly caught up with the 'key keeper', tried to strike up another conversation with the man. Perhaps they were headed in the same direction, or perhaps Kiragawa was lying about his meeting, though Sakura found that she didn't really care about it. It wasn't something that concerned her, and Sakura had never found the need to medle with other people's lives, unlike other people. As she walked on towards the back of the school, while the two men began to walk up a flight of stairs, she failed to hear what it was they were saying. After all, it wasn't her business what they spoke of. It wasn't her business to know that Kiragawa was complaining to the older man, ranting about his mistake,
"I should have known! How could I have mistaken that girl for the new student! And when they told me he was a boy just yesterday! Oh well, the new student is a first year after all, it's not as if I'll be seeing him anytime soon..."
Sakura, in the meantime, had decided to sit down in the grass, and she'd chosen her little 'hidden' place to do so. The place was so secret, in fact, that not even Tomoyo knew of its existance. It was hidden by a tall row of bushes, and was stuck in a corner of the school building, though the place was never dark. It opened onto a patch of clear blue sky that never ceased to amaze her. Whenever she was here, it almost felt like a different world entirely, and at this moment, Sakura couldn't help but feel grateful that Toya had shown her this wonderful little place. He'd showed her only once, and had told her that it had been his own secret place up until the time when he'd started to create bonds with Yukito.
Sakura lay down in the soft green grass and stared up at the clouds that floated by her little hidden patch. And all of a sudden, the drowsiness settled in, and despite her attempts to fight it, Sakura knew that there was no use in denying her body from its desired sleep any longer. Sleeping a bit couldn't hurt, could it? And should a Clow Card attack her, at least no one else would have to get involved, which was a rather reassuring idea. Sakura yawned, while her eyelids drooped and threatened to close all together. Her last coherant thought was the realization, that, once again, apparently, she truly had gotten up too early...
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The gates of Seijuu High School were literally crawling with people, all of them students who were rustling and bustling towards their friends and their various occupations, paying no mind to the rest of the student population. The young man sighed and tried his best to keep from rolling his eyes in rather obvious irratation. Apparently, nothing ever changed here, despite all the time that had gone by since his last time in Japan. In fact, it dawned upon him that even an alternative time, which had managed to change some very significant things in his life, couldn't erase what had once been, and always would be. But then again, he shouldn't have been expecting much, so he had no reason to be disappointed. He sighed once more, relishing in thought of the one thing he hoped with all his heart hadn't changed in the least. He didn't even know where to start explaining how much he worshiped and loved the lovely Kinomoto Sakura, and could hardly conceal his anticipation at the thought of finally seeing her again after eight long and torturous months of unwanted absence.
The young man was abruptly pulled from his musings by the shrill ringing of the school bell. It took him by surprise for a moment, as he'd been expecting the familiar ring of Tomoeda's clock tower, but quickly reminded himself that they were only renovating it, having seen and heard about the uncommon occurence as he'd made his way to school that very morning. Yet again, he sighed, as he picked his school bag up from the ground and slung it over his shoulder, making his way towards the school and the class he'd been told he was a part of.
As he strode towards the main building's entrance, following the flow of student who were heading to class, much like himself, he couldn't help but notice all the eyes that seemed to turn to him and examine him with keen and curious eyes. He was even more disgusted to find that those staring openly at him were mostly women, who without a doubt had rather impure intentions in mind by the way they seemed to gaze at him with hungry eyes. Apparently, he'd been wrong in thinking that people would simply ignore him like they did everyone else. He must be sticking out 'like a sore thumb' as some would say. His apathetic and stoic nature naturally seemed to push him away from people, as most individuals managed to profoundly irratate him despite their obvious efforts to please him endlessly. For this reason, he seemed to have a permanent poker face written across his face in an attempt to conceal whatever emotion that might have been given away by his facial expression. Most unfortunately for him, according to none other than Kinomoto Sakura herself - who was in a very good position to say such things -, the poker face was one of things that contributed to his so-called good looks.
Of course, it wasn't as if he didn't like knowing he was particularly good looking. In fact, it could often turn out to be a rather helpful advantage depending on the situation. Though in this case, it only served to make him feel uneasy and a tad bit nervous. After all, being looked at like this meant that people would only try to approach him, and that was most likely the one thing that the young man despised the most about the entire ordeal. He wasn't anything like the highly social and friendly Kinomoto Sakura: he was incapable of socializing correctly with people who weren't included in his close circle of friends, which wasn't all that big. Not that he wasn't glad to have a small amount of close friends; he didn't need to be surrounded by people to feel content.
Speaking of which, he'd finally reached his classroom, seeing as the number matched the one the school's principal had given him earlier that morning. He sighed for the fourth time that morning as he leaned against the wall right outside the classroom as the rest of the students filed in, each of them sending him curious glances, most likely questioning his presence there.
However, he hadn't needed to wait for too long before the teacher showed, and spent the first two seconds of his presence staring at the young man in earnest, obviosuly lost in his thoughts, before he realized that he was, in fact, standing in front of the infamous new transfer student from Hong Kong, China. Upon having had this dawning realization, the teacher recomposed himself while clearing his throat in what could have been perceived as embarassment.
"I'm so sorry young man, though pardon my curiosity when I ask you this: you are the Chinese transfer student, are you not?"
Syaoran nodded curtly, as he forced a greeting at the other man,
"There is no need for apology sensei, though I am indeed the transfer student. It's a pleasure to meet you." The last part was rather difficult to say without letting his annoyance trespass into his words. Though the young man greatly respected his elders, teachers had always had the uncanny knack of testing his limits as far as disipline was concerned. It was the only times where the young man loathed all the formalities he was obliged to use when in presence of his elders.
The teacher had then quickly introduced him self as Sakimine Seiichi, and told him to wait silently outside the classroom while he prepared the class. The young man once again nodded, his mind elsewhere than behind those stuffy classroom doors. The teacher had no sooner acknowledged his answer, that he was already disappearing behind the room's sliding door, which left the young man alone once again, with his thoughts. And apparently. whenever his mind allowed itself to wander, his train of thought would always lead him to one person: Kinomoto Sakura. Though thinking about the girl and all aspects relating to her wasn't something unpleasant in the young man's mind. In fact, he cherished the few moments where he could allow his mind to recall her every feature, where he could allow his very soul to drink in the memories of her and their time together. Those times were the only times the young man had truly felt alive during the past eight months, and the moments brought him a solace he could find in no other form of activity or person. His heart almost leaped in anticipation of finally being able to see her after so long. To be able to drink in her beautiful sight, to be able to breath in her intoxicating smell, to be able to hear her melodic voice...
"Excuse me, young sir, could you please come inside?" The voice of the teacher brutally pulled him from his rather pleasant musings, as he found the said teacher looking at him impatiently, obviously wondering why on earth he was stalling so much.
The young man slowly walked into the classroom, his head held high with that significant dignifyed aura about him, that seemed to render every person in the room speechless before such a display of personality. He faintly registered the teacher asking him to introduce himself as he scanned the room in hope of locking his gaze with eyes of an intense emerald green. He restrained himself from pouting in disappointment when he found none. After all, no young man from a background such as the one he had should pout, as it proved to be a an all together inappropriate practice. However, he thought he'd caught of glimpse of equally intense lavender eyes, which he strongly suspected to belong to a certain Daidoji Tomoyo. This knowledge reassured him greatly. When the young man noticed that everyone was still waiting for his introduction, he decided he might as well get on with it: the faster it was done, the faster he'd be sitting in front of a desk with the liberty of letting his thoughts wander. He cleared his throat in a subtle manner before his rich, deep voice resounded through-out the classroom,
"My name is Li Syaoran, and I come from Hong Kong, China. It is a pleasure to meet you."
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When Kinomoto Sakura began to return to her senses, the first thing she noted was the feeling of something tickling her fingers ever-so gently, that made her have the sudden urge to burst into a fit of laughter. The second was the fact that wherever she was seemed to be unusually cold and hard - or at least, compared to her fluffy bed - which lead her to believe that she wasn't in her bedroom at all. Sakura slowly opened her eyes, blearly trying to take in her surroundings. Indeed, she wasn't in her bedroom, nor was she anywhere in her house. Or in anybody's house for that matter, unless people had started building little patches of winter into their households, which seemed highly doubtful, and rather silly. As she raised herself off of the ground, she took note of where she was: a small little patch of green that was surrounded by bushes, and on one side, a large wall that she suspected to belong to a building. She also happened to be dressed in her winter school uniform, which was a significant clue as to why she was here.
It took Sakura a few more seconds to recall her morning and what exactly she' done prior to this moment, and it took her a few more to realize she was sitting in her secret place on the school grounds, in the middle of December. At first, Sakura thought nothing of it. After all, she heard no noise around her, so she couldn't have been sleeping for very long, right? Despite her previous deduction, however, Sakura somehow found it odd that the sun's position in the sky had changed so drastically since the time when she'd fallen asleep. Out of curiosity, Sakura spared a glance at her watch, which had been a birthday present from her brother, seeing as the one Yukito had given her so long ago had been lost through all the turmoil of the past life. 'To make sure the kaijuu won't be late anymore' he said. Recalling that comment always made Sakura's brows knit in slight annoyance. Her brother would most likely never change, and even though she was glad he'd always be there for her, she still destested that silly sister-complex of his.
When she saw what time it was, however, her annoyed expression melted into one of astonishment and almost horror: it wasn't 8:00 like she'd originally thought; it was 11:35, meaning she'd slept until a half-hour away from lunch. And even though Sakura usually praised herself in restraining from cursing openly and unnecessarily, in this particular insistance, she couldn't help but let out a string of rather colorful words under her breath. After all, it most certainly wasn't everyday that Kinomoto Sakura, portrayed as the most innocent and well-mannered girl in the entire school, managed to pull off skipping class, whether it be intentionally or unintentionally. Naturally, since she'd woken from her little 'nap' oh-so-conviniently, she couldn't possibly continue to lay here until the last hours of school. It would serve no purpose, and it might even be a rather idiotic idea: though she believed herself to be the only person aware of this secret little place, she wasn't entirely sure. It wasn't as if anyone kept tabs on these kinds of things, so she couldn't be certain that someone wasn't going to come around and catch her hiding in the bushes. That could only lead to something disastrous, and she wanted to avoid such a thing at all costs.
However, if she were to leave here, and decide to go to class, she couldn't just waltz into the room and excuse herself for unintentionally missing at least four classes without having to provide an extremely well thought out explanation. Provided the teacher would even be inclined to listen to her rambling. And so, in obvious dismay, Sakura concluded that the only way she could possibly get away with her mistake, was to only show up at lunch time: which convieniently happened to create a big enough fuss on the school grounds that she could pretend to have arrived from the school gates, and meet up with her friends if she felt like it. If she didn't, she wouldn't have all that much difficulty in avoiding them, as she could disappear into the crowd of students and be done with them. Despite the fact that Sakura loved her friends very dearly, she appreciated it when she could avoid having to give them lengthly explanations: Tomoyo especially would be on her case the entire day, asking her which Clow Card had dared attack her. This made Sakura sigh, as she detested worrying her friends almost as much as having to lie to them. Unfortunately, she'd had more than enough experience in the art of telling lies to those she loved, whether it be to protect them, or to conceal the truth from them so as to preserve their sanity. Magic, in all its wonderous glory, wasn't something to be taken lightly, under any circumstances. Letting one's guard done could cost them their life if they weren't careful enough.
Suddenly, the bell rang loudly across the school grounds, pulling Sakura from her musings. She spared a glance at her watch once more, and was surprised to see that her thoughts had led her to wasting another half-hour. She frowned, obviously anything but pleased. She truly didn't want to face her friends today, nor did she want to face anyone, come to think of it. She wanted to leave school and go somewhere to clear her thoughts that had been in a disarray for far too long now. Sakura might have been one of the most cheerful people on the planet, regardless of her radiant smiles, there was always a breaking point, no matter who the individual was. And, even though it had been occupying her thoughts for the past half-hour apparently; suddenly Sakura didn't seem to care about the consequences of not being in class. Suddenly, for the first time in her life, Sakura couldn't bring herself to care about what anybody else thought, what anybody else said. For the first, and most likelly the last time in her entire life, Kinomoto Sakura just wanted to leave all her problems, all her emotional stress, all her pain and weariness behind. In that one moment, Kinomoto Sakura wished nothing more than to return to being a normal Japanese high school girl, with only her studies and friends to worry about. And right then and there, Kinomoto Sakura picked herself up off the ground, taking her school bag with her, and ran for all she was worth. She ran past the few thrid year students that were already filing out of the building, straight for the school gates, as if the last of her sanity depended on her escape from within these walls.
Kinomoto Sakura ran, ran, and ran, away from all that defined her life and all that would forever define it. Never did she stop running, never did she look where she was going: never had she so desperately wanted to escape from the magic and unique power that she loved and so despised at the same time.
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To say that Li Syaoran was surprised at this point would be considered an exceptionally big understatement. So many different feelings could be used to define what it was he was experiencing. If he'd truly had to give it a name, he'd have said it to be something lodged somewhere on the fine line between worry and panic. However, Li Syaoran, the hier to one of the last and most powerful clans of China, was not an individual prone to panicking, regardless of the situation. Years and years of extensive training had taught him that panic could only lead to defeat, for it clouded one's judgement during a fight. Naturally, the same thing applied here.
Of course, as usual, he thought, barely containing a scoff at the irony, the center of his worries was none other than Kinomoto Sakura herself, who hadn't appeared even once throughout the entire day. Not that such a thing in itself was troubling: from he'd gathered from Tomoyo herself, as well as his other 'friends', namely, Mihara Chiharu, Sasaki Rika, Yamazaki Takashi, and Yanagizawa Naoko, Sakura was still recovering from an injury he hadn't quite understood the nature of, and it was highly possible that she could have remained at home to continue recovering, instead of coming to class. When Tomoyo had reassured him of it, he'd felt slightly better. The many years of friendship he'd shared with the lavendar-eyes girl told him he could trust her entirely, especially when it came to Sakura, whom she'd known long before he'd had anything to with her.
Though he'd been disappointed, he'd still managed to enjoy Tomoyo's presence, considering she was a part of his tight circle of friends. Besides that, he rather liked Tomoyo, and was glad to finally be able to talk with someone who remembered the same past as he'd been reminding himself of for the past eight months. The same past that still sent shivers down his spine as he recalled the agony of the time the four of them had spent together, surrounded by demons all of the time, never knowing if they'd live to see the blood red sun rise above the horizon again. It also helped immensely to have someone explain to him the full extent of what their spell had done to the Clow Cards. This information however, had the power to send great chills down his back, as he heard the chronicles of Sakura's battles against the rabid cards that were apparently controled by some sort of demonic entity that made them prone to violence and gave them a surreal thrist for blood. It intrigued him as well as worried him.
And so, it was in the state of mind that anything could happen to them at any given time, that he set off to Sakura's house, accompanied by Tomoyo herself, who was all ready and prepared to mockingly scold Sakura for her absence in class that day. A great sense of nostalgia swept over him as he and Tomoyo waited on the Kinomoto household's doorstep, while Tomoyo swiftly rapped at the door with her nimble fingers. Syaoran couldn't even begin to count how many time he'd done the same exact thing during the alternate past, standing here, silently praying to any god in existance that the one to open the door would Sakura herself, and not her horrendous brother, Toya.
Thinking of Toya brought him crashing back down to reality, and on reflex, his head shot up, his dark chocolate eyes wide in realization. He remained this way for a few seconds more, before calming himself down, chiding himself for reacting in fear to something so irrationally. Toya didn't even know who he was! Maybe it was Syaoran's only chance to start off on the right foot with his self-proclaimed future brother-in-law. Apparently, his sudden jump of surprise hadn't escape Tomoyo's observant gaze, and he found his friend staring at him in slight worry, the silent question in her expression coaxing him to explain himself. He turned to look at her seriously before answering swiflty,
"It's nothing Daidoji-san, just remembering some nasty things... very nasty..." he said, a mock grimace adorning his face, so as to prove to her that he was all right.
Tomoyo chuckled, obviously understanding what Syaoran's worried had been focused on. Apparently, Kinomoto Toya had a greater effect on him than he'd let them in on.
"Now then Syaoran-kun, I thought we'd already been through all the honorifics, and the what-not. Just because we are no longer going to die together, it doesn't mean we must return to calling ourselves by our last names. How many time must I tell you it's Tomoyo!" she mock scolded him.
Syaoran's hand flew behind his neck, as he sheepishly nodded in agreement, waving his other hand as if to dismiss his mistake as something trivial,
"Yes, yes, I haven't forgotten Tomoyo-san..."
Naturally, it was right about then that the door chose to swing open, revealing Kinomoto Toya in all his glory, looking down at them with a slightly bored expression. His expression turned to one of surprise when he layed eyes on Syaoran, who was trying with all his mind not throw the man a nasty comment, as he'd been acustomed to ever since he'd known the older Kinomoto. Toya's eyebrows raised in suspision, as he turned to face Tomoyo.
"I think we need to clarify two things: Daidoji-san, just who is that guy overthere? And..."
He was abruptly cut off by Tomoyo, as she smiled and diligently outstreched her arm to point at Syaoran, whose gaze kept passing from Tomoyo to Toya, not entirely sure who was more important in terms of keeping his eyes on them.
"Toya-san, this is Li Syaoran, one of my long lost best friends, whose only just tranferred to Tomoeda from Hong Kong!" The way she introduced him only served to make the Chinese boy uneasy.
'It's obvious he's not going to buy that!' he exclaimed mentally.
Toya himself seemed rather septic as to the truth of this declaration. It just didn't seem to sit right with him at all.
"That's all very nice Daidoji-san. However that still doesn't explain why you've brought him here..." Tomoyo was quick to reply,
"Why, it's to introduce him to Sakura-chan! She stayed home all day, so she couldn't have met him at school. Can I bring him up to see her?"
At this, Toya's eyes widened in what seemed to be surprise, before his gaze darkened considerably. In those few scarce moments, Syaoran truly believed his last moments had arrived, and ironically found himself wondering in what way Toya would dispose of him. It wasn't until Toya spoke that Syaoran's blood went cold, as he'd been expecting anything, anything at all. Anything but what followed:
"Sakura isn't here. She hasn't been since she left early this morning for school..."
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Sakura didn't know how she'd ended up here, of all places, but she was rather obliged to accept that fact, as of right then. How on earth she'd managed to run off, and find herself staring at an open field, surrounded by a great mass of trees was entirely beyond her. She'd never even set foot in the place, and yet here she was, standing there, tired beyond belief, mentally slapping herself at her own idiocy. Why had she taken off like that? It was anything but what she was supposed to be, it defied her personality entirely, and it made her feel extensively silly. She could almost hear the fates mocking her, their laughter carried on the wind that billowed about her, causing her hair and skirt to dance gently in the passing breeze.
Sakura was aware that it was her own fault that she'd run off: a split-second decision as some would say, and despite her annoyance at having succumed to her own despressive thoughts, there was some sort of nagging feeling in the back of her mind that was making Sakura turn back on her first impression. Perhaps there was a reason for her presence here after all. She'd only just picked up on it since she'd spent the last twenty minutes of her time sulking, and the 3 hours prior to that she'd spent walking about aimlessly, until she'd broke into a run again to end up in the small clearing. There was a hostile presence in the clearing, or at least within its perimeter, and the more time went by, the more said presence was seemingly manifesting itself, notifying Sakura that it wasn't an instinct kind of feeling that just any human could have noticed. No, it was a presence marked heavily by some sort of magical signature, and it was just truly that notion that made Sakura's blood run cold in realization.
"Clow... card..." she whispered hoarsely, her emerald colored eyes widening as she immediately took on a battle stance. If her past experiences with such things had taught her anything, it was that one must always be prepared and on guard in regard to anything that seemed the least bit suspicious. And it so happened to be that the presence in question was far more than suspicious. It was almost literally attacking her senses!
And despite the Clow Card's very core being made entirely of magic and spells, normally unknown to the natural balance of the world, it seemed as if even nature was beginning to understand that something was dreadfully wrong within Sakura's clearing. The mild breeze that had been blowing up until then suddenly ceased all together, leaving the young woman to listen all the more clearly to what nature was telling her: the birds, if there had been any, had all disappeared, giving way to an entirely unnatural silence, so eerie and abnormal that it sent a violent chill down Sakura's back, leaving behind an eruption of cold sweat in its wake. It was what some would qualify as 'the calm before the storm'. And knowing that only managed to frighten Sakura even more than she already was; after all, it was common knowledge that the calmer the period of silence was, the more dangerous the attack would turn out to be. And the heavy silence weighing over her, all though she almost refused to admit it, oozed the very essence of violence, blood, and perhaps even death if one could pull it to such an extreme.
Sakura fumbuled with her school shirt that she dug through, desperately trying to grasp at her key pendant that was her only means of defense against anything that decided to take action upon its muderous thoughts. Sakura thought that if she succesfully managed to activate her staff, she would be able to fend off the card, which ever it was, and be gone with the oppresive feeling that had been hanging over her throughout the entire day.
However, Kinomoto Sakura, who was normally blessed with the most extensive amount of luck an individual could hope for, did not succed in summoning said luck at this occasion, as the moment her moist right hand grabbed the key, clutching the small pendant between her trembling fingers, Kinomoto Sakura's world was sent into a confusing, frightening, and most unexpectedly painful blur of color, light and sound. She didn't distinctly know when it had begun, nor how long it truly lasted, despite her feeling as if an eternity had tumbled past her in what was most likely mere seconds. All she was extensively aware of was the sudden disappearance of her key pendant, which had abruptly flown from her trembling right hand as she'd been sent flying across the open clearing in a most brutal fashion, only to land unceremonisely in a heap, a good 100 feet from where she'd been standing mere moments ago. That, and the almost blinding pain that shot through her left arm that seemed to lie at an odd angle, warm, crimson blood seeping through her blazer, tainting the light blue cloth a deep red that seemingly spread quicker than a wild fire.
Sakura gasped, her normally sharp emerald eyes glossed over, her pupils dilated as she attempted to regain her composture despite the pain that shot through her arm at every heart beat. With a great intake of breath, she managed to sit up with the help of her good arm, upon which she leaned heavily, so as to take in the nature of her attacker. Her pained eyes searched the clearing for the card that had attacked her with a violence not many before it had displayed, though she couldn't see anything within her immediate surroundings that could be associated with a card. Sakura then pushed on her right arm with all the strength she had left, raising herself from the ground, and onto unsteady feet. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a thought tainted with insightful irony made her recall her previous injuries due to a rabid Clow Card, and how it had successfully manipulated her into a painful memorial of a past she'd rather not have to recall in detail. If one card had done so, what could possibly stop this one from attempting a similar approach? Perhaps it would attack her indirectly, never allowing its identity to be revealed unless pressed to do so with a magical attack from another card that had already been captured by Sakura. A magical attack she couldn't prefrom with her key pendant that lay somewhere on the ground between where she'd been standing moments before, and where she stood weakly now.
However, her train of thought was thrown to oblivion when Sakura heard a gutural roar erupt from behind her, that sent a violent chill down her spine; a roar only a blood-thirsty beast could emit in its need to feed upon living flesh. She whipped around as best she could, what with her unsteady legs partly giving way beneath her, and almost fell back down in shock and relative fear when she found herself facing a raging beast made entirely of lightning, its fangs bared as it prepared to attack her once again.
It was then that Sakura at long last layed eyes upon the omnious strom clouds gathering about Tomoeda, lightning flashing dangerously overhead as the first clap of thunder boomed, shattering the unbearable silence at last with its great power. Sakura backed away one step, as she frantically tried to find her key pendant among the blades of grass, all the while cursing her luck for landing herself with the Thunder card in a place no one knew she was, or even had the slightest clue about, she was sure of. Perhaps it was best that no one would venture here, considering their low chances of survival against a monstrous beast such as Thunder. Even she herself was starting to wonder justhow high her own chances of survival were up against the mighty beast, what with her sudden lack of a magical catalyst. Somehow, whatever conclusion her mind had come to didn't reassure her in the slightest. It induced quite the opposite effect really.
A deep, ferocious snarl ripped her from her musings, as she snapped her sharpened gaze back towards the thunder beast, now lowered on its forelegs, hind leg mucles taunt and prepared for physical effort, its glowing eyes narrowing in on her lithe form with a viciousness Sakura had hardly ever seen on anything alive, the last example to date being the blood thirsty demons from the alternate past. There was no other way to describe the creature's stance: it was preparing itself to attack its prey, which could be nothing other than Sakura herself, considering she was the only living, breathing individual within quite a large perimeter, or so she suspected. And that was all the warning she got before the beast pounced into action. Thunder was upon her in mere seconds: even some of the world's most trained individuals wouldn't have had the time to react accordingly. Sakura only barely managed to get her upper body out of range before the card was sinking its long, electrfied claws into her creamy white thighs, drenching what should have been perfect porcelain skin in a river of crimson that flowed in never-ending cascades down to the parched and yellowed grass of the open field.
The pain Sakura felt shoot through her entire lower body was undescribable, as it was far too intense for words of any sort. The pain of torn and broken skin burned her beyond belief, and the electricity that now coarsed through her entire body spread like liquid fire, intensifying every sensation until she felt as if something within her was going to burst from the onslaught. In one flow of overwhelming pain, something much like a dam broke on the inside, and Sakura let out a horrifying scream of pain, her voice raw from pain and unshed tears that were spilling down her quickly paling cheeks. Even her magic, though ever-so well trained it was, burst into existance around her, expressing her distress in ways that only magic could, in an intensity rivaling the actual pain she felt. Had Sakura been concious of her release of magical energy, she'd have cursed at her lack of control over something so essential in her life, considering the amount of time she'd spent learning how to conceal any and all form of magical presence that could emanate from her soul. Now, in the light of the inhuman pain she experienced at the hands of something so overwhelmingly powerful, she couldn't bring herself to care, let alone notice in her current state of delirium. She only hoped and prayed for it to stop as her body reacted on instinct, trying to pull itself away from the source of all her pain.
Sakura, in a desperate attempt to escape the unbearable pain, resorted to yanking her lower body away from the beast's sharp claws, tearing the dangerous objects down her legs in the process. As more pain flooded her senses, she finally managed to pull away, leaning on her only available limb left, as some flitting thought at the edge of her mind told her that the beast wouldn't take long to retaliate. Panting, taking in gulp after gulp of air in an attempt to calm herself a bit, she turned her head to the side, if only for an instant. It was then that her trained eyes caught sight of something shiny and small left lying upon the dry grass, only a arms length away from her. Without giving it a seconde thought she reached for it and grabbed it, pulling it her face to examine it in closer detail. It didn't her very long befroe she relized that it was, in fact, her key pendant that would undoubtedly save her from certain death. She quickly summoned the remanants of her strength and choked out,
"Key that holds the powers of the dark, reveal your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! Release!"
Clow's richly decorated magical emblem appeared beneath her, as her key slowly began to morph into her traditional bird-headed staff that had become a constant companion over the years. In the corner of her eye, she thought she'd seen the Thunder card watch her warily, not certain of what to do with this new development. It apparently decided it was best to circle its prey in search of the correct opportunity. Sakura would have scoffed at the idiocy of the entire thing had she not been in such pain. She would have also noticed that her magical energy was spilling incoherently in all different directions, completely untamed and wild in its power and desperateness. However, Sakura failed to notice this, and stubbornly tried to pull herself to her feet with the help of her staff, failing spectcularly as her legs all too simply refused to function.
'Kami-sama, help me...' she plead as the beast made to pounce upon her once again.
For as long as Li Syaoran could remember, there were rarely times where he'd felt his blood run cold in fear or anticipation, or even in shock. The first instance where such a thing had occured had been then day Li Yelan, his mother, had solemnly announced to all her children that their father would not be returning to them ever again. Though he'd been fairly young at the time, Syaoran was certain he'd felt that chilling sensation at that particular moment, in shock and disbelief towards his mother's words. It was an entirely unconceivable idea to think that his father was dead, and as the young child he'd been, he'd denied the truth until the day he was dragged to his father' funeral, where the reality of the situation had crashed down upon him like cold rain.
The second instance had been shortly before his original departure for Japan, when he'd learned from his tearful aunt that Meiling, his dearly annoying cousin, had run off and disappeared for three days straight, and was still unfound by the best magicians in the clan, his mother included. That had iced him completely, as normally, when one's vital presence wasn't sensed, it either meant it was being magically concealed, which obviously couldn't be the case for Meiling, or it meant that the individual in question was dead. For the next hour proceeding Meiling's whereabouts discovery, Syaoran had truly feared for his cousin's life: no matter how deeply he despised her obnoxiuosness, he certainly didn't want her to die, and had felt his heart nearly stop when he heard she'd been found at last.
All other instances where such a thing had occured where courtesy of one Kinomoto Sakura, who never failed to worry Syaoran when she did the most unconceivable things: throwing herself in front of a civilian to protect him from an oncoming demon was just one of the ways she'd managed to ice his blood and make his heart skip a beat. The girl, as he'd learned over the span of time he'd lived by her side, was somehow prone to attracting any and all dangerous entities and situations, and delt with them in an almost detached way sometimes, complete uncaring about her life and the peril it was in. Which, naturally, left Syaoran to deal with the results of her carelessness under these circumstances. Luckily enough, such behavior was dropped when the demons had started to drive the magicians into their last ressources, and thus left each individual striving for their own survival amongst the others, inevitably leading them to their downfall. That, however, did not change the fact that Kinomoto Sakura was 'one heck of crazy woman', as quoted by Syaoran himself in a moment of desperation before such unbelievable recklessness.
However, the situation that was presented before him at the moment exceeded by far anything he'd ever lived through before. The moment Toya had let loose those words stating what was most likely Syaoran's worst nightmare at this point, everything had stopped. His heart, he could have sworn it, had skipped several beats and his breathing was becoming a very difficult thing to keep under relative control. It seemed as if all exterior influence had ceased entirely, to give way to only one train of thought that kept scaring him more and more as each second passed: Sakura wasn't at home, and hadn't been all day. Sakura hadn't been at school at any given point during the day either. Which meant only one thing at this point: she was in danger, or at the very least something was direly wrong, as the Sakura he knew would never depart without at least notifying one person, just to let them know where she was. Tomoyo at the very least would have known something, even to a somewhat vague degree. But here he was, discovering that Sakura was indeed gone, and no one had the slightest information in regards to her current location. And being who he was, Li Syaoran just could not, and most certainly would not accept that.
He almost jumped when he heard Tomoyo's voice break through the heavy silence that had ensued Toya's comment: a silence that Syaoran hadn't even taken note of throughout his deep thinking. The normally confident girl, he had to admit, was rather good at keeping her cool in these sorts of situations, and was doing remarkably well in controling her voice so as to give Toya no reason to suspect that anything was immenently wrong.
"We know that of course Toya-san! I was only joking, naturally. I've actually come to pick up Sakura-chan's little plush bear that's up in her room. You know, the one with the wings on it? We're going to meet up with her at the park with Chiharu-chan and the others!"
Toya frowned slightly. It was rather blatantly obvious that he wasn't buying it at all; and he was correct in assuming that Tomoyo was lying, considering how oppressing the silence prior to her declaration had been, and how she had introduced Syaoran in such a convincing way. Toya eyed the both of them warily before asking,
"That still doesn't explain why she didn't come and fetch the bear herself instead of sending her best friend and a guy she's barely even met to her house in her place."
As always, Toya was one step ahead of everyone else, especially when it concerned his only sister. Syaoran knew from experience that when treating with the subject of his little sister, Toya never joked about anything regarding her safety. Ever. And that was what made him a good brother, and an unbelievably tedious hassle to deal with at the same time; or at least in their case. As such, it was only normal for Syaoran to start becoming nervous when the all-knowing Tomoyo had suddenly run out of words to say in their defense. Perhaps in what was a desperate attempt to keep their entire scenario intact, Syaoran stepped up before Tomoyo and imposed himself to the older Kinomoto's view before speaking, looking the other boy straight in the eye,
"I may be incorrect in assuming this, seeing as I've only just recently met Kinomoto-san, but I believe she wanted to come here herself and get the stuffed animal, but myself and Tomoyo-san convinced her not to, as she had other things to attend to with Mihara-san and Sasaki-san, and the two of us wanted to catch up a bit, as we haven't seen each other in a rather long time. Thus, we ended up coming to get what Kinomoto-san wanted."
Tomoyo looked at her friend in almost complete disbelief, astounded that he managed to spew such a coherent and long phrase that might just be what they needed to convince Toya that they were telling the 'truth'. The glare Syaoran received from Toya rivaled the ones he'd gotten everytime he'd come to pick Sakura up for one of their many and numerous dates, in every aspect possible.
'Apparently, we just weren't meant to get along...' he thought wirely.
Toya gave a great sigh before turning to Tomoyo, as if asking verfication of this version of the so-called story. A curt and simple nod from the ebony haired girl sufficed to Toya, and even if he was still visibly wary, he moved aside to let them pass.
"You go and get the plush, and then you leave. Understood Daidoji-san?" Tomoyo nodded and hurried to Sakura's room, not even bothering to take off her shoes in the entryway. Not that Toya made any particular notice of it anyway, as he probably wanted to rid of them as quick as was possible. He switched his gaze back to Syaoran, and his expression visibly darkened the moment he laid eyes on the Chinese boy.
"You, on the other hand, won't take one more step into my house as long as I live, and you most certainly won't go anywhere near my sister's room. Understood punk?"
Syaoran nodded, biting his lip in both irratation and impatience, as the more time they took dilly-dallying here, the more time was lost in searching for Sakura's whereabouts. If only Toya had the slightest clue of how many times he'd crossed the threshold of his dearest sister's room; he'd without a doubt have a fit if he knew. At least he was now certain of it: he and Kinomoto Toya were destined to fight over everything and nothing, the perfect enemies as some would say. Even when he wasn't officiallt courting his sister, he still glared at him as if he'd just committed the worst of crimes. Being the hot tempered young man he was, he clamped down even harder on his bottom lip, preventing him from lashing out at the elder boy with a particularly poisonous comment.
However, the next moment, he completely forgot about Toya and their apparently destined conflict, registering something on an entirely different level. On a magical level, that is. And it scared him more than anything else, as it was above all else, white hot magical energy that was assaulting his senses, lashing out at his mind as if letting out a distinctive, desperate cry for help. The violence demonstrated by the steady flow of energy left his mind reeling in pain and shock, feeling the assault the same as if he'd just been punctured in the head by a knife still hot from its forging process.
Despite these numerous sensations of physical pain, what sent him into a heart-stopping shock that for one of the very few times in his life made his blood run terrifyingly cold, didn't have anything to do with him. It had, in fact, everything to do with the horrifying realization that dawned upon him when he was hit with some sort of familiarity as opposed to the assaulting sensation that seemed to dominate his senses only moments earlier. He knew the person who's energy this was, and at first almost thought he was in error: after all, he knew all too well that the person in question had learned with a frightening dedication how to conceal magical energy from prying eyes, or rather in this case, minds. But there was absolutely no way he could have been wrong, no way he could have mistaken it for her presence in any way possible. There was no doubt withen his mind that Kinomoto Sakura was calling out to him, and if not, to someone for help, and that could only mean one, terribly thing: she was in immenent danger. And there was no way that Li Syaoran was just going to sit by and watch it happen without at least trying to save her.
Had he cared enough to pay closer attention, he'd have seen Toya giving him a look of confusion before he himself succumbed to some sort of shock that was rarely displayed by the elder Kinomoto. There wasn't any room for doubt: Toya knew that something was happening, and most likely knew it had to do with his sister. Whether or not he knew that Syaoran was involved was yet a mystery, of course.
The few seconds that followed, he saw Tomoyo almost trip herself down the stairs in her rush to leave the house and get out of earshot of potentially influencial people. Namely, Toya, as he was the only one present. That in itself was another clue that proved to Syaoran that something was happening, and whatever it was, it was big enough to get Tomoyo riled up. Or at least, enough to get the little plushed animal that she was hugging in her arms riled up. She suddenly pulled herself to a complete halt when she spotted Toya once more, and proceeded to bow deeply before the elder Kinomoto, almost hastily whispering,
"Thank you for allowing me into your home Toya-san! It's always a pleasure to see you, even if I'm afraid we need to leave as soon as possible! I do hope you'll have a pleasant afternoon!"
No other words were spoken as she quite literally dragged the still shell-shocked Chinese boy away from the door step of the Kinomoto residence, practically running if it weren't from the heavy weight of the young man she was dragging right behind her. Tomoyo only stopped when she was certain of being a fair distance away from the Kinomoto household, preserving them from being hunted down by Toya for explanations on their very odd and sudden change in behavior. The young woman puffed and heaved, obviously out of breath from her dire sprint away from where they'd just come, her head bowed as she tried to take in more air than was even possible, while her long and curly ebony locks tumbled haphazardly around her face, obscuring her troubled eyes from view. Syaoran was certain of it: something had happened to Sakura, and it he didn't like it in the least bit. Not at all.
However, before he could speak and ask Tomoyo whatever it was she'd been told, the small yellow plush bear in her arms began to squirm about, demanding to be released in a very obviously desperate action of urgency. Tomoyo complied immediately, and in a split second the plush was floating in the air, small white wings spread out as it stationed itself at Tomoyo's eye level, waiting for her lift her head. She straightened her posture just as Keroberos began to let loose a string of words said with such urgency and worry that some weren't even understandable.
"Tomoyo, this is bad! Very bad! Sakura's in deep trouble! I felt her magical energy just call out like that when I know she has complete control over it, and all of a sudden, it just burnt out! Just like that! It's almost as if it were a simple candle! We've got to go and help her..."
Kero ceased his rant as Tomoyo lifted a finger to her lips to indicate that he had to stay quiet. She then sighed, the smallest hint of a smile trailing along the edges of her mouth as she replied,
"I know Kero-chan, you've already told me that much. But I alone can't do much to help Sakura I'm afraid, since I have no way to search for her through magic..."
"It's all right Tomoyo, I'll help you find her, that why you've got me! Come one let's g-..." Kero was once again silenced by Tomoyo, who once again had the ghost ofa smile on her lips.
"I can't find her Kero-chan. But we both know someone who can..." At this, the small plush guardian scoffed.
"I really don't see anyone who could do anything, excepting that brat, but he's not here... wait Tomoyo, are you suggesting we fetch him from China!? We can't exactly do that, and that would take too much time anyway! That'd never work Tomoyo, we-..."
Tomoyo pointed behind her, to where Kero couldn't previously see, and said,
"I never said we would have to fetch him Kero-chan..." As if it were possible to describe the true extent of his surprise in this manner, Kero's eyes widened in shock as he stared into a long forgotten face that quite literally made his blood boil once he'd recovered from his initial surprise.
"Brat!? Is that really you!?" Syaoran almost could have laughed, had the situation not been so dire.
"What do you think, you stupid plush toy. Isn't it obvious? At least it's nice to see that some people don't change..." Kero lunged at the Chinese boy in fury, quickly recovering their natural behavior pattern. Old habits died hard, after all.
"Why you!! Just who do you think you're calling a plush toy!? And since when have you been here you brat! Do you have any idea how much Sakura misses you?"
At this, Syaoran bit back his particularly nasty come-back comment. How could he stoop so low as to start a useless arguement when Sakura's life was at stake? Had he forgotten how important she was to him, to everyone? Had he truly forgotten that his life was nothing without her? She could be suffering needlessly while he found nothing better to do then to start up a quarell with a stupid plush toy, no less.
"Exactly you stupid plushy. That's why I think we should be actually doing something to help her instead of yelling each other's ears off! Damned you, let's move it now! Tomoyo-san, follow behind us, we don't know what we're up against..."
Kero muttered something that strangely ressembled, 'Of course we know what we're up against... Clow Cards...', which resulted in Syaoran telling him to wisely 'shut up' before he did something about it. Whether the threat in itself worked, or whether it was the need to find his beloved mistress that took up all of his energy it wasn't certain, but Syaoran knew that at the very least, he was putting all of his strength into finding her still abandoned presence. He followed it blindly, leading Kero and Tomoyo into some previously unknown part of Tomoeda that bordered the small woods closely, running wherever his senses guided him, not caring if the passersby looked at him strangely, wondering why on earth a young man was running down the street looking so distressed, followed closely by a girl of roughly the same age as he, clutching a plush bear as if her life depended on it. Li Syaoran just couldn't bring himself to care about anything other than Kinomoto Sakura, and the fact that every second that ticked by was one more second towards her possible death...
If this was what dying truly felt like, then Kinomoto Sakura wanted nothing more than for it to stop. The pain was unbearble, inhuman even, to the point where even her mind could not function properly under the amount of pain that she felt. It surrounded her, blinded her, and all too simply consumed her, dragging her ever closer to the darkness that threatened to overtake her and sap the very last bits of her strength. However, it was misuderstanding her current state of mind to assume that she would just give up and let herself be entirely submerged by the darkness that seemed ever-so appealing to her right now, ever-so inviting, whispering to her that all the pain would stop, if only she would give in...
No, Kinomoto Sakura knew all too well what would happen should she choose to succumb to the darkness. She knew that the Thunder card would unleach its unimaginable fury against the world, with no one there to stop it, restrain it, to capture it and tame the wild beast from the tempest skies. She knew that never again would she awaken, and that never again she would see the one person that mattered the most to her in the world. If only for that, she had to keep trying, to keep enduring, to keep winning against the entites that controled her beloved cards so that she may one day fulfill what could be considered her strongest desire. She had to see Li Syaoran again, no matter the cost, no matter the sacrfices that were to be made as a counterpart.
Sakura slammed her staff upright into the ground with all the strength she could muster, while she tried everything within her power to stand up again. Thunder wasn't looking in her direction, believeing it had dealt with her suffisently for the time being, while it seemed engrossed by the storm clouds looming overhead, promising to unleash a particularly strong storm. Surprisingly, she somehow managed to bring herself to her feet, all the while trying to restrain from yelling out in pain, as it literally burned within her like a hellfire, spreading from her legs, to her arm, and to her newly wounded side that seemed to have quite the gash in it from a recent attack against the beast. Instead, she released a loud hiss that instantly brought the wild beast to attention. It turned to look at her, almost narrowing its eyes as if it were annoyed that she was still alive and conscious. As if respond to her impressions, the iimposing beast gave a growl that warned of another brutal attack to come. Sakura knew that she wouldn't be able to dodge it. There was no way she was in any condition to fight anything in the state she was in. She knew that all she had to do was pull the Shadow card out and summon it to finish it once and for all, however, Thunder had been quick about scattering her precious cards to the four corners of the field, rendering Sakura utterly defenseless, unless she could muster the strength to run across the field in a frenzy in hopes of meeting with the card she wanted, assuming that Tunder would allow her to reach her destination.
Never before had Sakura felt so helpless, so utterly useless, and so completely disgusted with magic. Although she loved her cards dearly, and even if magic was what had brought her and Syaoran together, she couldn't help but feel angry at it all, feel entirely sick at the thought of dying at the hands of some sort of magical entity that would most likely deal with her like it dealt with a mere scrap of paper in its way on a road far bigger, leading to ultimate chaos and destruction. How undeniably ironic, that it should concern one of the world's most poweful magicians, who in normal conditions, would have dealt with the beast in a matter of seconds.
Another low growl brought Sakura back to attention, as Thunder began circling her, waiting for the perfect oppurtunity to attack and finish her off in a less-than-graceful way. At this point it was unavoidable. Though she couldn't help but think it was by far the most ironic way to die. Sakura snapped her eyes shut in fear as Thunder lunged at her with a fury unlike any other beast, awaiting the pain that would sear through her once again...
"Imperial god of thunder, I summon you! Raitei shourai!" Light flashed a brilliant white against Sakura's closed eyelids as she felt her breath catch in her throat at the sound of the incantation, and more importantly, at the sound of his voice...
Dare she believe it to be him? Dare she believe that it was truly him that had come to save her from her cruel fate? Opening her eyes while she struggled to turn around, Sakura's eyes widened when she saw three very familiar people standing half-way across the field from her. Tomoyo was there, her face livid and pale white, while she seemed to be muttering something under her breath, obviously concerning the state her best friend was in. Kero was there as well, floating beside Tomoyo, still shocked at the sight of his beloved mistress all tattered and torn. And then, there was Li Syaoran, who stood there in all his glory, his chocolate eyes burning with the flame of his strength, burning with anger at the sight of his beloved so hurt and so in pain. His aura, no, his entire being reeked with the vengenance that he needed to obtain in tribution to what she'd endured.
Sakura couldn't believe it. It was impossible, and yet she knew deep down that it couldn't be anything else, it just couldn't, unless her mind had decided that it too was too tired to function correctly. In the space of one blissfull moment, an explosion of different emotions burst into life within her, as she stared wide-eyed at the one person that truly mattered to her above all else. Happiness, relief, anxiety, shock, apprehension, slight fear even that remained from the on-going encounter with the Clow Card burst within her, and surged her, throwing her mind overboard in the overwhelming sensations that took over her entire being all at once. And as much as she wanted to run over to him and leap into his arms, hugging him and leaning into him as he held her close, she knew that she couldn't, that her tattered body could endure no more than it already had without shutting itself down.
However, apparently, it already had endured far too much than it could possibly take, causing the last of her strength to disappear all at once, in one great wave of oblivion, as if it had been sucked away by some unknown force of nature. Her vision blurred as she felt her legs give way beneath her, her weight becoming far too much of a burden to withhold, and she let herself fall to the ground, resigned to the fact that she could not prevent it from happening, no matter the amount of will power she put into the task. Falling as if in slow motion, one second seemed like an eternity as she fell, at long last hitting the cold ground with a deafening thud, that resounded in the tense silence that had followed her friends' appearance. Her hearing, she supposed, was also beginning to tune out, as she heard a menacing growl coming from a seemingly far away place, although she knew full well that the beast was only a very short distance from her. What she did, however, hear clearly and distinctively was the half terrified yell that burst from half way across the field, echoing in the air as wildly tapping footsteps resounded, coming ever closer, as if the person was at a full speed run, which he probably was. Again, the yell of her name pierced the air like a bullet, cutting clean through the atmosphere of utmost danger,
"SAKURA!!"
When Li Syaoran watched as Kinomoto Sakura attempted to whirl around to look at them all, her eyes wide with shock at the very sight of him, he'd felt his heart beat painfully in his chest, unbelievably angered by the poor state she was in. He couldn't be entirely sure, but from his perspective, he saw the crimson patches running down her legs and deduced that she was injured on that level, and given the tear and indentical red color of her arm, he knew that she was injured there as well. Any other injuries weren't noticable enough to be seen from such a distance. He'd arrived in time to stop the beast from attacking her again, and had summoned his magic without truly thinking about it. He could only suppose it was his instinct urging him to protect his most precious person from anymore harm.
But when he saw Sakura fall backwards, collapsing from what was all too obviously her injuries, his heart stopped beating all together, fear claiming him and momentarily paralyzing him as he watched his loved one fall in defeat before a raging beast of thunder and lightining that uttered a vicious snarl as he saw her move, prepared to pounce on her helpless form and finish her off once and for all. Such a revolting thought burst him back to life, as he yelled her name, running off towards her as though his life depended on it. Which it most certainly did, as Sakura was nothing more or less than his reason for living, that much he'd managed to establish throughout his 8 month exile in Hong Kong with his family. Behind him, he faintly heard running footsteps, and concluded that Tomoyo had decided to follow after him as he sprinted towards Sakura, bent in saving her life as he'd done so many times before. He was prepared to die for her: he'd already done it once, and he wouldn't hesitate to do it twice, if it could ensure her safety.
The Thunder, however, didn't seem to enjoy the sight of people running towards it at full speed, and accordingly pounced on Sakura with a newly found vengenance. Syaoran fumed and ground his teeth together as he once again summoned his magic, sending out the most powerful spell he could muster,
"Imperial god of thunder, I summon you! Raitei shourai!"
Lightining burst into life about him and shot at the beast, cutting at it like a double-edged sword. Naturally, as the beast was entirely mae of lightining, it didn't have a devastating effect on it, though it was suffisent enough to ward it off for a bit. It left Syaoran enough time to lunge at Sakura's motionless form on the ground, flinging himself atop her to sheild her from the beast's oncoming attack. All at once, a burning pain erupted in his back, spreading from the base of his neck to his waist, in one long line that he was certain was a deep gash. The fact that Sakura hadn't reacted in the least was what preoccupied him the most, above all else. His own injuries were nothing compared to what Sakura had endured all alone. He rolled off of her prone form, and once more, summoned his magic, however, this time reaching for a completely different spell,
"Divinity of the flames, I summon you! Cage of fire be formed!"
And it certainly was a strong cage of burning red flammes that erupted about the beast, causing it to back away in caution. Syaoran knew that he wouldn't be able to hold it back for very long, but it would hopefully give them enough time to find a way to capture it once and for all.
He immediately turned his attention to Sakura, carefully picking up her tattered and torn body, gently cradling her in his arms, pulling her as close as he dared to. He then looked to Tomoyo and Kero, who stood almost right next to him, not certain of what to do. His gaze then turned to his surroundings, where he lay eyes on a stray Clow Card amidst the dry grass blades. He could only assume that Sakura had dropped them in her frenzy to protect herself from the beast's attack, leaving her utterly defenseless against it, rendering her unable to capture it. He knew the only way to capture the cursed card was to use Shadow against it, like Sakura had done the first time they'd been confronted with this card. He however, refused to leave Sakura's side. She needed him, and he wasn't about to refuse her his needed presence by her side. As such, in desperation, he yelled out to the two remaining people present,
"Tomoyo-san, plush toy! Look for the Shadow card! We need to use it to capture Thunder it's the only way!" Kero was quick to retaliate as Tomoyo began to search frantically through the grass, as desperate as he to find the card that would end the waking nightmare,
"I know that brat! What do you think I'm doing!? You better watch over her!"
Syaoran didn't need to be told twice. His attention instantly returned to Sakura, who was breathing harshly while unconsciously clutching at his shirt. He knew she was trying her best to fight against unconsciousness that was most likely lurking and lingering, waiting to swoop down on her and take her away. He knew she needed rest, and above all else, treatment for her wounds that continued to spill crimson blood, which now dutifully stained his brand new school blazer with dark blotches of red. It pained him so to watch her suffer needlessly because of one be damned entity of magic that had managed to get her in a moment of inattention. It angered him that for the one time that he'd been close by, where he could have helped her, he'd been able to do nothing. Syaoran did his best to pull Sakura upright, all the while allowing her to lean heavily on him, so that he may at least be a form of support, for lack of anything else to do in the current situation. While she continued to breath labouriously, he put his head close to her's and whispered softly to her ear,
"Sakura? Can you hear me love...? Please say something..." Syaoran's plea was desperate, he knew it was. He needed her to answer him, or else he'd be unable to cooncentrate on anything until he was sure she would pull through.
He felt her hand clutch his shirt tighter, before whispering hoarsely, her words almost lost on the wind,
"I'm... all... right... Syaoran..." she trailed off, obviously unable to say much more in her condition. But it sufficed to relieve Syaoran to a certain extent. He pulled her closer, hugging her to his body while he bent down to gently kiss her forehead, so as to let her know that he'd heard her.
"Sakura? I'm sorry to ask this of you, now of all times... but you have to try and use the Shadow card... it's the only way to stop Thunder and capture it. I'll help you do it if you want to love..."
It didn't please Syaoran all that much when he knew that she had to use magic in such a ridiculous condition. He'd would have done it himself had been able to, however, in light of the fact that Sakura was the only person capable of using the cards at this point, and the only one capable of capturing them, as she was the appointed card captor, they had no choice in the matter. He'd help her through it all, no matter the cost. He'd sacrfice himself again and again for her, so long as he was guarenteed her safety. This time would be no exception. He then felt Sakura nod lightly, as she tried her best to heave her self to her knees. Needless to say, she failed at the task rather spectacularly. Syaoran just wouldn't have that, and so to prove his convictions, he grabbed Sakura 'round the waist and hoisted her upwards, until she was almost sitting upright, her back pressed against his chest so that she may have some form of support and comfort in her time of need.
In the split second that followed this action, three things of great importance occured almost simultaneously: Tomoyo had yelled out desperately,
"I've found it! I've got Shadow!"
Hearing this had slightly stunned Syaoran, as it had pulled him from his delicate and careful ministrations on behalf of Sakura, and as a result, his cage of fire had weakened ever-so slightly from his momentary drop in guard. Normally such a thing wouldn't have mattered much, as he had trained for months on end to perfect his abilities. However, the Thunder beast had been waiting for this oppurtunity to strike upon the barrier, and hadn't wasted anytime on attacking it in the split second. And thus, the beast freed itself from its prison, and charged straight for couple that had grated it's nerves for far too long already, its teeth bared and a vicious snarl erupting from the bottom of its throat. Syaoran knew full well that he didn't have time to pull off another spell to ward it off, he knew that it was too late for anything, excepting a slight turn of his body to prevent Sakura from further exposure to the mad beast's claws. He closed his eyes, waiting for the pain... and certainy received a claw full of it.
His eyes opened in shock and pain, as he saw that the beast's right paw had embedded its claws into his left arm, penetrating the flesh and scraping at the bone mercilessly. However, as he looked behind him to his left, he saw that the beast's left paw wasn't anywhere near his body. In fact, it was buried in Tomoyo's right forearm, which now bled profusely while she gasped in pain at the unwanted intrusion upon her body. Apparently, she'd tried to jump and protect them from harm's way, but hadn't been able to accomplish her feat completely, since she'd been too far away from the start. Syaoran found himself thinking ironically,
'How typical of Tomoyo-san... putting her life on the line for the sake of others that she loves...' He would have liked to think that it wasn't something very much unlike himself. He was, however, pulled from his musings violently, when the beast retracted its claws from his now bleeding arm, and he supposed, from Tomoyo's as well, since he'd heard her gasp of pain. The beast backed away, preparing for another attack, when Tomoyo shoved the Shadow card into Syaoran's unsuspecting hand. She looked to him frantically,
"Now, you have to use it, or this entire situation will end in a pool of blood! For Sakura's sake!" He nodded, and turned to Sakura, who seemed to be worse off than she'd been before. He saw that she was trying to raise herself as fast as she could, while he knew all to well that she would never be able to do so in her condition. He wasn't in any reall position to do anything either, what with his injured arm, but at the very least he was far better off than she.
"I know... I know... please give me the card Syaoran..." Her voice was steadier now than it had been when before, and she seemed to have taken up a bit of strength from whatever meager rest she'd managed to get from resting against him. She pulled her staff to her and struggled to keep it upright before her. As such, Syaoran took ahold of the staff with his hands, and even despite thet immense pain that coursed through his arm. He smiled to her softly when he said,
"We do this together Sakura. Don't think that's you're doing this alone..."
Sakura smiled back at him, content with his answer, as she threw the card above her and chanted,
"Become a chaining restraint against the enemy I now face! Shadow!"
Clow Reed's richly embedded magical emblem appeared beneath them, as the card activated itself, swooping overhead omniously before it shot down from above upon the beast of Thunder, like a divine punishment that struck down upon those who dared to hurt the mistress of the cards of Clow. Shadow intertwined itself with the beast before trapping it in a deadly embrace that seemed to choke it, breaking it off from its power and rendering it completely helpless at long last. Sakura and Syaoran wasted no time in spelling put the sealing incantation together, their voice blending as one amidst the silence of the field,
"Return to the guise you were meant to be in! Clow Card!" Together, though much more due to Syaoran's help than anything else, they slammed the bird-headed staff down in the Thunder card's general direction, where it quickly seemed to melt and disolve into the small glowing rectangular form of the card, until the thunder beast was no more. Something black, like a wisp of smoke that thined in the air, escaped from the wavering form of the card, and emited a small sound which Syaoran was almost certain was scream of pain and hatred towards those who had successfully defeated it, before it disappeared into thin air. A sigh of relief escaped the Chinese boy's lips, before he felt a heavy weight collapse on top of him, finally admiting defeat after enduring harsh trials in the capturing of the card. Alarmed, he turned to Sakura's immoble form, that lay prone atop of him, eyes closed and completely unresponsive. He dropped the staff instantly as it returned to its key form, leaving it forgotten on the ground as he took ahold of Sakura, once again holding her close, checking for things such as abnormal breathing, trying to assure that she was all right. Kero interupted his frenzy when he nuzzled Sakura's neck lovingly, reassuring the Chinese boy,
"Don't worry brat, she's fine. She just fainted from overload. If you treat those injuries, she'll be as good as new in a few days time."
If it was Keroberos saying it, then Syaoran knew that he had nothing to worry about. However, it didn't stop him from watching over Sakura's form very carefully as he picked her up, and got onto his feet, wincing from the pain in his arm. He was certain that the injury would remain a nucance for at least a week before it would heal enough to render the arm useful again. Tomoyo herself got onto her own two feet, wincing as well while she clutched at her injured arm, checking over her friend, then sighing, before she looked up at Syaoran,
"If Sakura-chan is with you Syaoran-kun, then I don't have to worry myself too much. She's never any safer than with you, I know that from experience."
Syaoran looked at one of his few friends curiously, while smiling to himself at the comment. If Tomoyo was convinced of such a thing, then he must truly be going soft... But then again, he wasn't all that bothered by it if it concerned Sakura. He once again gently kissed her forehead, in a loving manner, before he set off in direction of the main city, raising a simple illusion spell, so as to conceal their injuries and Sakura's tattered form from the public eye. As such, to the people walking down Tomoeda's streets that day, it seemed as if two young people were walking down the street calmly, with nothing suspicious about them in the least. Excepting perhaps the strange young man who was carrying a sack of patatoes on his way home from school. How peculiar indeed...
It seemed as if she were floating in some sort of oblivion, darkness surrounding her, never letting go of her, trying to snatch away the last snippets of her mind, rapidly drawing her deeper into the desired and needed sleep she was about to get. Sakura knew that it wouldn't be long before she succumbed to complete unconsciousness, and couldn't help but be pleased that she would at long last be able to obtain rest, no matter the form it was presented in.
However, before she fell asleep, she couldn't help but smile at thought of the one who had come and saved her.
'Syaoran...' her mind whispered as she fell deeper into the darkness, and let herself be taken away at last. Her last thought was to him, and to the fact that she knew that when she would awake again, everything was truly going to be all right this time. Yes, everything was as it should be at last...
A/N:
Ah, I wish I'd gone a little further in the chapter, but I felt like stopping it there since it seemed like a suitable ending in itself. My favorite parts were definitely the ones where I got to do a Syaoran POV, and the little Syaoran/Toya interaction.
I've always thought that even though Toya says he dislikes Syaoran because of hisoriginal bad behavior with Sakura, had Syaoran introduced himself otherwise, Toya still would have found a way to dislike Syaoran. As far as I'm concerned, I think that those two were just fated to be rivals of sorts, if only for Sakura's affection (or at least, that's most likely what Toya sees it as). I think 'Tsubasa RC' has testified that aspect well enough.
I also like to think that Sakura, like every human being, isn't perfect and doesn't always follow her own philosophy that is 'everything is going to be alright'. Sakura, in my opinion, also has that part of darkness within her that every person tends to hide, and though Sakura conceals it far better than most people, it doesn't spare her from falling into darkness and being eaten away by her own demons. To me, Sakura isn't just a happy sugar-gushing girl with a head filled with air (pardon the comparison), she's also when she wants to be, a rather level headed and rational girl with the power to defy the world if only she has a cause to adhere to. Maybe I went over the top making her a wee bit cynical and overly serious, but one mustn't forget what she's been through in this story line. Once again, anyone who's read 'Tsubasa RC' knows just how much like that Sakura can be when pushed over the edge.
Next chapter is going to deal with the Sword Card, and don't worry about it being a copy of the anime/manga, because I'm refraining from using Rika as the victim (even if it was rather tempting to use her and get her character developed a bit!).
As always, if anyone has any ideas on what they would like to happen in the next chapter, feel free to throw your ideas at me, they're a great source of inspiration!
And likewise, reviews are greatly appreciated, as they let me know what you think, and knowing what the readers think is the biggest reward for a writer such as myself!