Konnichiwa Minna-san! Wow two chapters in a week, thank you Thanksgiving break! There are two dream sequences in this chapter and one flashback. Well I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura or the characters, but the plot is all mine!

Happy Reading!

Chapter Twenty-Three: Turning the Tables

For the second time that week Yue had a very strange dream. He was in the middle of a maze of some sort and there was a girl with red shoulder length hair, a boy with blond hair with red high lights and another girl with shoulder length blond hair with blue highlights. He couldn't see any of the faces but he could see that the walls of the maze were made from some kind of plant. There were also people yelling things in English which lead him to believe that wasn't in Japan.

Then he found himself at a dead end facing the red headed girl.

"I'll be coming for you soon," The girl said, "And when I do neither of you will survive."

Cerberus flew into Yue's room. He frowned as he noticed that his younger brother was tossing and turning in his sleep, but he had a feeling that if Yue was dreaming it wasn't a nightmare. He waited a few minutes and Yue woke with a start.

"What's wrong?" Cerberus asked causing Yue to jump more

"Oniisan," Yue sighed, "It's only you."

"Who were you expecting?" Cerberus asked

"Sorry," Yue said, "I had a really weird dream."

"What happened?" Cerberus asked

"I was in a maze of some sort and the walls were some kind of plant," Yue explained, "And there were people yelling in English but I couldn't see their faces, but their auras felt familiar somehow. Then there was this girl who said: "I'll be coming for you and when I do, neither of you will survive" in English. What do you make of it oniisan?"

"Was it that woman again?" Cerberus asked,

"No," Yue said, "It was a girl with shoulder length red hair."

"Sakura?" Cerberus asked

"No," Yue said, "It wasn't Sakura-chan. This girl was taller than Sakura-chan and her aura was different."

"Oh speaking of Sakura," Cerberus said, "She has a fever again. She woke up coughing, she should still be awake."

"Why did you tell me sooner?" Yue said as he quickly got out of bed

"Well I was going to but I got distracted," Cerberus called as he followed Yue,

Yue ignored his brother and entered Sakura's room just as Fugitaka read the thermometer, "Sakura-chan,"

"I hope Kero-chan didn't wake you," Sakura said in a hoarse whisper, "How are your wrists?"

"Never mind me," Yue said as he put his hand to Sakura's forehead, "You're burning up. I knew you were sick, you didn't eat much at dinner and you didn't look very well. Why did you not tell me?"

"You never told her when you were sick, Yue," Cerberus said, "She had every right to hide this from you."

Yue's eyes widened then he sighed, "I guess you're right," He muttered, "Do you need anything?"

Sakura shook her head, "I'm fine Yue-kun," She said, "Go back to bed."

"No," Yue said, "You watched me all night when I was sick. I'm staying here."

Sakura sighed, "Just try to sleep okay?" She said

"Here Sakura-san," Fugitaka said as he handed Sakura a glass of water and a pill, "Sleep well."

Sakura took the pill and closed her eyes, "Don't stay up all night."

After Sakura fell asleep Yue started getting drowsy, but he wasn't going to let himself sleep. Cerberus looked at Yue and sighed, "Go to sleep Yue," he said, "Sakura is going to be alright."

"I know she will be," Yue said quietly, "But she watched me when I was sick and I want to return the favor."

"Yue, you need to sleep," Cerberus said, "Your body is still weak from the whole entire ordeal you went through. If you don't take care of yourself your strength will never return and without your shields you'll get sick again."

"Oniisan," Yue said,

"Go to sleep, Yue," Cerberus said again, "I'll wake you if anything happens."

Yue sighed and finally gave in to his fatigue.

When Sakura woke up the next morning she saw that Yue was asleep at her desk.

"Good morning Sakura," Fugitaka said quietly

"Did he sleep at all?" Sakura asked indicating Yue

"I came in about an hour after you fell back to sleep and he was about to fall off the chair so I moved him over to your desk." Fugitaka said, "He fell asleep shortly after you did. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Sakura said

"Do you want anything to eat?" Fugitaka asked

"Sure," Sakura

"I'll bring you some soup," Fugitaka said,

"No it's alright I'll come down," Sakura called

"Good morning Sakura," Cerberus said quietly, "How are you?"

"Alright," Sakura said, "Did Yue-kun fall asleep quickly?"

"He did as soon as I told him to get some rest," Cerberus said. He looked over at Yue's sleeping form, "He's still weak. He wasn't ready to train yesterday. His energy is low and his magic is weak. What exactly happened when the two of you went outside?"

"He wanted me to use the wood card," Sakura said, "I asked him if he wanted to use the windy card but he refused."

"For Yue windy is easier to throw off than wood," Cerberus said, "Windy hates seeing Yue struggle and she would have gone really easy on him."

"He tried three times before he was able to throw the card off," Sakura said,

Cerberus sighed, "That would explain why he's so weak today," he said, "He must have pushed himself to the limits of his power."

Sakura stood up, "Let's leave him alone," She said as she draped a blanket over Yue's shoulders. As Sakura left her room she met up with her father, "We didn't want to disturb Yue-kun so we're going to go downstairs to eat. I promise I'll go right to bed when I'm finished eating."

"What happened to Yue-kun's wrists?" Fugitaka asked

"We were practicing with the wood card yesterday," Sakura said, "And he was being bound around the wrists."

"So that's what happened," Nakuru said, "He wouldn't tell me. Is that also why he's still asleep at ten thirty?"

"Yeah probably," Cerberus said, "He wasn't ready to use his magic yet."

"What are we going to do with him?" Nakuru asked

"We let him sleep it off," Cerberus said, "There's nothing more we can do."

Nakuru sighed, "Is he ever gonna learn?"

"I'm sure he will someday," Sakura said, "But like Kero-chan said, let's let him sleep."

Some time later, Yue woke to a hand on his forehead,

"No, he's not feverish." He slowly opened his eyes and came face to face with Nakuru and Sakura, "Good morning oniisan, or rather good afternoon."

Yue slowly lifted his head off of the desk, "What time is it?"

"Almost twelve fifteen," Sakura said, "Are you feeling alright?"

Yue nodded, he was still groggy, "How are you feeling?"

"I'll be alright," Sakura said, "You should go to bed if you're still feeling tired."

"No," Yue said, "I'm alright."

"We didn't want to wake you," Nakuru said, "Your energy is still low."

"Don't worry about it," Yue said as he put his head back on the desk

"Yue-kun, go to bed," Sakura said, "You don't look very well."

"I'm alright," Yue said, "I'm a bit low on energy and I can't take any from you right now."

"Why is that?" Sakura asked,

"Your body prevents oniisan and me from taking power from you when you're sick." He explained, "Anyway if I was to take power from you when you were sick, I would end up sick as well. And it wouldn't be a fever that I could fight off. Fevers usually force the magic from my body, which is why they're so dangerous for me."

"That gives you all the more reason to go back to bed," Sakura said, "I don't want you to get sick again, Yue-kun. I couldn't handle that again."

Yue sighed and nodded. In a way he was relieved that Sakura had said that to him. He wasn't sick but he wasn't feeling very well either and in truth all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Oniichan," Nakuru called, "Are you gonna be alright?"

"Yeah," Yue answered, "I'm just tired. I'll be fine in a few hours," He smiled lightly, "I promise."

Nakuru pouted a bit, "You had better be," She said, "Or else."

"Or else what?" Yue asked

"I haven't gotten to that yet," She said, "But I'll think of something!"

Yue found himself lying with his head on someone's lap again, but unlike the last two times he felt fine.

"Hello judge," The woman said, "Are you still feeling sick? That dreaded woman is gone now so I can do what I want."

Yue just lay there waiting for the best possible moment to strike.

"Will you not speak?" The woman said, "Ah that's right I'm keeping you from a restful sleep." She walked up to Yue and seized him by the front of his robes, "And to the victor goes the spoils."

"That's where you're wrong," Yue said as his eyes snapped open,

The woman was taken aback by Yue's sudden outburst, "You're…you're not sick!?"

"No I'm not," Yue said as he summoned magic to his left arm, "You've miss judged. I wasn't sick, just weak." He swung his left arm and his hand connected with her head and his wrist connected with her arm. The woman released Yue and fell back unconscious. While Yue hissed in pain as he felt his wrist break he held his wrist and the dreamscape faded.

Sakura was just about to fall asleep when she heard Yue cry out in pain. She got out of bed and ran to Yue's room.

"Yue-kun what's wrong?" She asked,

"I got her," He said as he clutched his left wrist to his chest, "I finally got her back. She's still alive but I got her good."

"Yue-kun what are you talking about?" Sakura asked. Only a few times had she seen Yue out for blood, "What happened?"

"She thought I was sick," Yue said, "But she miss judged. I got her good. Next time I won't let her get away, next time, I'll kill her." He then did something Sakura had rarely seen him do, he smiled.

Sakura stepped back, "Yue-kun…"

"I think you're scaring her," Cerberus said, "But really, who are you talking about?"

"That woman," Yue said, "She thought I was sick and she tried to hurt me. I got her first I knocked her out." He sat up and cried out in pain

"Yue-kun," Sakura called as she went up to him, "What's wrong?"

"My arm," Yue gasped as his face paled and he gripped his arm to his chest

"Let me see it," Sakura said. Yue moved his right hand and Sakura gasped. Yue's left arm was bent in a place where it should not have.

"Jeez," Cerberus said, "What the hell did you do? What did you hit?"

"That woman's head and arm," Yue said as he gasped in pain again, "But it was so worth it."

"Hold on," Sakura said, "I'll get my father." She then ran out of Yue's room

"I would break every bone in my body if it meant killing that witch," Yue said

"Don't you dare do that!" Nakuru yelled, "I don't want you to die!"

"Technically you could survive breaking every bone," Cerberus said

"Why are you encouraging him!?" Nakuru yelled, "Bone breaking is bad!"

"What's wrong Yue-Kun?" Fugitaka asked as he entered the room with Sakura

"I think I broke my arm," Yue said

"You think you broke your arm?" Nakuru said, "You definitely broke your arm! Arms aren't supposed to bend like that!"

"Let me see," Fugitaka said, Yue moved his right hand to show his left arm to Fugitaka, "That's broken quiet well. Now there are two things we can do. I can send you to sleep to set the bone or you can stay awake for the procedure."

"Don't send him to sleep," Nadeshiko said as she materialized in front of the bed, "That woman is still in dreamscape and she's not at all happy."

Fugitaka nodded, "I'm sorry Yue-kun," He said as he rolled up his sleeves, "But this is going to be painful." He placed his hands on Yue's arm and swiftly snapped his bones back into place while Yue screamed in pain. The pain was enough to bring tears to Yue's eyes and he started thrashing. Fugitaka tried to keep his hands on Yue's arms but it was no good, "Yue-kun calm down," He said as Yue continued convulsing "Will one of you help me?" Cerberus transformed and placed his paws on Yue's chest.

"Nakuru help us," Cerberus called as Nakuru just stood there staring at her brother, "Come on!"

Nakuru shook her head and backed off, "I can't," She said, "I can't…" She then ran out of the room

Sakura then placed her hand on Yue's forehead and he calmed long enough for Fugitaka to repair the bones in Yue's arms.

"There that should be all set now Yue-kun," Fugitaka said as he handed Yue a sling "I wouldn't use your arm for the rest of the day."

"Are you alright, Yue-kun?" Sakura asked as he continued to pant heavily. Yue nodded he was still quite dizzy from the pain, "Just take it easy."

"I want to sleep," Yue murmured

Sakura nodded then took out the dream and shield cards, "Keep Yue-kun from being attacked in his sleep, Dream, shield!" Sakura cried.

The card encircled Yue and he shut his eyes and fell asleep.

A ten year old Yue ran through the mansion where he resided. Today he was going to try throwing off the wood card. He could reflect the windy card but the wood card wasn't as loyal to him as the windy card was. He ran to the kitchen and no one was there. Confused the child ran to Clow's room.

"Clow-sama," Yue called, "Clow-sama wake up!"

Clow groaned his living alarm clock had gone off, "Yue," he said, "It's six in the morning. What are you doing up?"

"I was excited," Yue said, "I couldn't sleep."

"How long have you been up?" Clow said

"A while," Yue said, "I was still dark when I woke up."

Clow sighed, "Go back to bed," Clow said, "You need to sleep a bit more if you want to try and control the wood card."

"But Clow-sama," Yue whined, "I can't sleep anymore. I'm hungry."

Clow sighed, if there was one thing the four guardians were good at, it was asking to be fed, "You know how to make yourself some rice," He said

"But I don't want rice," Yue said, "I want eggs."

Clow sighed again. There was another thing his "children" were good at, being difficult, "Are you going to eat them this time?" He asked as he sat up

"Yes," Yue answered

"Alright," Clow said, "Go and get dressed and I'll start breakfast." The silver haired child nodded and ran off. Clow sighed and lay back down, hoping that maybe just maybe something might attract Yue's attention for an hour or so, but that was highly unlikely. After a few more minutes there was another set of footsteps the entered the room and Clow groaned, it was Ruby.

"Clow-sama," Ruby said, "I'm hungry."

Clow groaned there was no telling Ruby to go and do something else, she would not distract her attention from him until he was making breakfast. Then the padding of paws and he tried to figure out if it was Cerberus or Spinel.

"Clow-sama," Cerberus cried, "Wake up!" Cerberus then jumped on the bed followed by Ruby

"You said you were going to make breakfast," So much for trying to distract Yue. The smallest child also climbed up on to the bed with some difficulty.

"Why is everyone being so loud?" Now the four guardians were awake and in his room

"Come help us," Ruby called, "We're trying to get Clow-sama up."

Spinel padded over to the bed and put his paws up on it, "You all do realize that it's still before seven," Spinel said

The other three looked at him and Yue lost his grip and fell off the bed. Then all three of them shook their heads. Yue stood up, brushed himself off and tried to climb up on to Clow's bed again.

"If I get up will the four of you leave me alone for a while," Clow asked as he sat up and Yue fell again

"Yes," The four guardians replied

Clow was rather irritated as he found himself making breakfast at quarter of seven.

"This will not happen again," Clow said, "From now on I will not get out of bed…"

"Before seven, we know," Nakuru said, "You give us this speech about once a week."

"This time I mean it," Clow said, the guardians were morning 'people' he was not.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Nakuru said, "You say that every time."

Clow sighed as he placed a plate of scrambled eggs in front of Yue, "Please don't waste them," he said

The child nodded and picked up his fork and began eating. When Yue had eaten about half of his eggs he decided that he didn't want them anymore. He glanced sideways at Nakuru and her eyes glittered as she made a throwing gesture with her hand. Yue smirked as he picked up a handful of eggs and Clow knew what Yue was going to do a moment before he did it. The child brought his small hand back and released the eggs. They sailed across the table and hit their mark.

"What was that for?" Cerberus roared and clumsily picked his eggs and threw them at Yue "TAKE THAT SHORTY!" The eggs missed their target and hit Nakuru instead

Before Clow could do anything, he had a full scale food fight on his hands.

Yue jumped up on his chair, "HE CALLED ME SHORTY!" The enraged child roared, "I AM NOT A SHORTY!" he jumped on the table and his foot hit the side of a plate and the food flew off the plate and hit Clow in the face, "Uh-oh…"

"RUN!" Ruby yelled and with that three of the guardians scampered out of the room.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Spinel said

Clow sighed, Yue wasn't always such a troublemaker. Once upon a time he had been a quiet well reserved child, then Ruby came along. He looked around his kitchen and pulled out the bubble card, "Please clean up the kitchen," Clow said, "I have business to attend to."

"You mean the kids?" Bubble asked Clow nodded and she got to work.

Clow went upstairs. He knew exactly where each one was hiding. Yue was up in the attic, Ruby was in hiding up in the rafters in her room, and Cerberus was in the bathroom. He walked to the bathroom, "Cerberus why did you call Yue shorty?" He asked

"Because he threw food at me," Cerberus said,

Clow sighed, "You know how Yue gets about his height," He said. Yue had been created about ten years ago but he was about the size of a six year old. He knew that eventually Yue would be the same height as Ruby but that would take a few years, "Come on let's go apologize to Yue."

"Only if he says sorry first," Cerberus said

Clow and Cerberus found Yue trying to climb up a trunk in the attic.

"Yue," The Child jumped and fell again

"Ha ha," Cerberus laughed, "Pipsqueak Yue fell again."

Child stood up and flung himself at Cerberus' neck, "I AM NOT A PIPSQUEAK!" The Child yelled, "I'M JUST SMALL!"

"Clow-sama get him off me," Cerberus yelled as Yue punched and kicked his older brother.

"That is quite enough Yue," Clow said as he picked Yue up around the middle and the child continued to swing at his brother, "Yue if you don't stop this instant you will not be allowed to control the wood card!"

The child fell limp and settled for pouting, "Fine," He said

"Now Yue, why did you start the food fight?" Clow asked

"I don't know," Yue said, "Ruby told me to."

Clow sighed, "Alright," Clow said, "Let's go talk to Ruby."

"Ruby come down from there," Clow said as he walked into the room

"Whatever they're blaming me for, I didn't do it," She said as she jumped down, from the ceiling,

"That's something small Yue will never be able to do," Cerberus said

Clow sighed as Yue once again threw himself at Cerberus, "Yue," He said, "I'm warning you."

The child stopped hitting his brother and pouted again, "I'll get you back later," He said

"Ruby did you tell Yue to throw his eggs at Cerberus?" Clow asked

"No," Ruby said, "I might have suggested it, but I didn't tell him to do it. He did it all on his own."

Clow sighed it was turning out to be an exhausting day and it wasn't eight yet. "The three of you are to stay in your rooms until I call for training." Clow said, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Yue and Cerberus said,

"No," Ruby said, "What if I get hungry?"

"You should have thought of that before you threw your breakfast all over the kitchen." Clow said as he grabbed Yue by the back of his now food stained robes and Cerberus by his armor, "No painting." He then shut and magically locked the door and windows. He then brought Yue and Cerberus to their rooms and went to his own room with the intention for getting another hour or so of sleep.

After an hour of solitary confinement It was finally time for Yue to try to control the wood card.

"Now Yue," Clow said, "You need to concentrate very hard otherwise you won't be able to control the wood card and we've already had enough mishaps for one day."

"Okay, okay," Yue said as he took the card from Clow, "I, Yue, guardian of the moon and judge, ask you to ensnare the one before me, Wood!"

The Card materialized in front of Yue and flew at Clow.

"Very good, Yue," Clow said as the card wrapped around his waist, "Now call her back."

"Uh…I, Yue, the judge and guardian of the moon, call the wood card back to her card form." The card didn't yield, "Come back!" Yue called. The card did come back however it also bound Yue around the waist, "Lemme go!" Yue cried, "Lemme go!"

"Calm down Yue," Clow said, "Concentrate."

"I am," Yue said

"Ha ha," Cerberus said, "Little Yue's done something he can't get out of."

"Cerberus," Yue yelled,

"Don't distract him, Cerberus," Clow said as Cerberus was also ensnared, "Yue concentrate!"

"I'm trying," Yue said as his vision blurred, "I'm tired…"

"Little Yue's gonna faint again," Cerberus said

"No, I'm…not…" Yue said as he lost consciousness.

Yue woke to someone gently sponging his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes and Nakuru's face swam into focus.

"Imotosan," Yue muttered, "Am I sick?"

Nakuru smiled, "No you're not sick," she said, "I just thought you could use some comforting…I couldn't help you when you were hurt."

"How's Sakura-chan?" Yue asked,

"She's asleep," Nakuru said, "Her fever went up before she went to bed but she'll be alright."

Yue nodded, "I had a dream about the first time I controlled the wood card," he said,

"I remember that," Nakuru said, "You started a food fight a breakfast. Your energy is still low, go back to sleep."

Yue nodded and slipped into a dream-less sleep.

I don't know when chapter twenty-four will be up. Well let me know what you thought. Thanks to those who reviewed.

Excalibur-Shark 7