RECAP: Well last chapter was the finish of the cruise chapter(s), so there’s not a whole lot to recap on. Syaoran and Sakura saved the ship from sinking. Alexis’s cat almost killed Benny in the hot tub...that’s about it. All that stuff really has nothing to do with this chapter, so I don’t even know why I’m wasting time writing this.

Chapter 32 - Home Problems

"So she’s at the rehab center?" Alexis asked, grabbing two halters off the barn wall.

"Yeah. Only for a little while. She’s just been motionless for a while, and she needs to get her balance back." Syaoran explained, following Alexis out of the barn.

Meilin rode up on the large brown horse she was training. The horse stomped having to stand still, but settled down. Meilin glared down at Alexis for a second, then looked to Syaoran. "Come get me when you’re going to karate."

Syaoran nodded.

Meilin trotted off, the horse frequently throwing its head up as Meilin worked with the reins. Alexis watched her go, then addressed Syaoran. "This storm’s s’pose to be bad. I’ve got to bring everyone in. Wanna help?" Without waiting for an answer, Alexis handed him a halter. "I’m getting Spider, you get Raion (lion)."

Alexis marched off just as Syaoran was opening his mouth to protest. Now he was stuck. Syaoran glanced sideways at the pasture with the lone horse, grazing far in the distance, a black silhouette against the dark purple sky that approached. He looked after Alexis one more time, who was jogging out into the large horse pasture with the main lesson horses. She was out of hearing range.

Syaoran cursed for his luck and kicked dust up as he dragged his feet to the fenceline where the horse was kept. He stopped as he reached the fenceline, slightly panick stricken. I’ve got to face it sometime. Meilin was right when she told me that. Syaoran looked down at the worn leather halter in his hands, the long chain that went across the nose of it to help control the large stallion. Syaoran took a deep breath and stepped through the fencing into the grassy pasture.

Yards off the horse lifted its head just slightly to see Syaoran’s approach, then went back to grazing. Syaoran tried to breath evenly as he approached, despite all of his built up fear and aprehension. He walked up to the horse and tried to catch it as quickly as possible, so he didn’t have to think about what he was doing. The horse didn’t like this kind of approach, and raised his elegant head to see who the handler was. After smelling Syaoran’s hands, with nostrils flared and whites showing in his eyes the giant black horse reared up, striking out dangerously with his front hooves. Syaoran narrowly missed a hit in the head and jumped back out of the way. With determination he threw the long chain over the horse’s neck and pulled down with all his weight, forcing the horse down to the ground.

The horse struggled and snorted, tossing his thick neck around trying desperately to free itself. Syaoran hung tightly to the burning chain that dug into his hands, keeping his eyes glued on the coal black face of the stallion. The horse spun around, tossing Syaoran to the side and backed up quickly, freeing itself of the chain. Syaoran, with long built up frustration and anger, slapped the chain across the horse’s rump. The large black horse kicked out and lept forward and galloped feircly towards the fence, then hurled over it, running undeterred towards the barn.

Syaoran wiped the dirty sweat off his forehead and walked forward dejectedly. I knew it would turn out like that. Why did I bother? He kicked a clump of grass, then looked up to see Alexis leading a small bay horse out of the pasture, looking curiously after the free stallion that was parading around the barn lot.

"Is he being a butt today?" Alexis called.

Syaoran glowered and continued under the fence.

Teller emerged out of the barn on the small white pony he was riding. "Raion’s loose." He said bluntly.

Syaoran could have strangled the boy then, but he said nothing and continued on. Alexis jogged up to him with the horse she was leading and slowed to Syaoran’s pace. "Take Spider, I’ll go catch him."

Had it been any other animal, Syaoran would have protested and said he could do it himself, but he decided to take this break while he could. He took the lead rope from Alexis and walked to Spider’s stall. Great. I hope they don’t notice that he just acts that way around me. Syaoran glanced down the aisle after he put Spider away, glancing sideways, not daring to look at the stallion head on. The large black horse was following proudly behind Alexis, arching his neck and letting his mane wave around as he thundered and pranced down the cement floor.

Syaoran looked down with shame as the horse passed, too much pain being brought back by seeing the large animal move. Vivid memories passed through Syaoran’s mind, ones he could not shut out by simply shutting his eyes or looking away. He tried anyway, squeezing his eyes tightly shut, but it would not pass, so Syaoran locked the stall door behind himself and walked quickly down the aisle.

"Aren’t you helping?" Alexis called after him.

Syaoran kept on walking. "I’m busy." He said, stalking down the sidewalk to his house. He hurried through the front yard around to the back of his house, where the hammock was tied to two shady trees. Though it might have felt better to go inside in the cool, Syaoran just continued on to the hammock. He collapsed in it and stared up at the leaves rustling above him.

I am a coward. How could I just freak out like that? All I needed was a few tears and I would have been just like a baby. Am I not able to face up to my past? What kind of person am I? Syaoran sighed heavily. He had been trying to bury this conflict for his entire life. I need to face up to it. Syaoran sat up, dangling his legs off the edge of the soft rope hammock.

I need to go to karate. Syaoran stood up and walked slowly to his house’s back doow, trying to block out all the thoughts trying to invade his mind. He didn’t admit to himself he was just coming up with excuses to get away from facing himself, only continued with reasoning that he would be late if he thought anymore. Syaoran climbed up the stairs with a blank mind, only thinking about where he set his water bottle. He found it on the dresser in his room. Picking it up, Syaoran noticed the papers sticking out of the bottom drawer. Syaoran pulled one out and sat down on the edge of his bed, looking over the flowing handwriting with sorrowful eyes.

I’ll be able to leave here soon. Leave all of this behind. Never have to think about any of this again. Just be able to only think about her... Syaoran set the paper back under his dresser then stood up, resuming his walk to the martial arts building. He looked towards the barn, where he could see Meilin’s horse tied to the outside of a stall, and Meilin’s figure moving around hurriedly trying to take off all of the tack without being late to their lessons. I don’t need to get her, she knows how to get there.

Syaoran continued alone down the sidewalk by himself. I’ll have to see mother tommorrow. I’ll tell her I’m planning to visit Japan soon. She won’t mind, as long as I’m not going that long. Syaoran dragged his feet into the building, not wanting to be in these classes. It was pointless, if the sensei considered him on the same level as Teller, this was a waste of his time and energy. He needed to practice sword and magic attacks, not reveiw over what he learned when he was eight...

...After sparring pointlessly with several kids, Syaoran had worked up a purposeless sweat and wasted away an hour of his busy life, and also endured a shouting session from Meilin about leaving her behind and not keeping to his word. Syaoran exhaustedly tolerated Meilin’s endless chatter now about how much she despised Alexis.

"...And I mean, who is she to go along with Wanti-san? It sounds to me like you could have used a little extra help, I don’t see why that little witch got to come-"

"She’s his step daughter, Meilin." Syaoran said dully, pulling his socks on.

Meilin was silent for a moment before she continued. "That’s not my point. My point is, she was just going along because she wants you. See? She could have any guy she wants, except for you, because somehow you are completly intolerant to the female race, and that drives her up the wall. I can’t beleive she managed to get that part in the play, that skank-"

"Hello Meilin-chan, Syaoran-kun." Alexis said brightly, walking into the conversation, carrying her shoes.

"Tell me again how you got those scratches?" Meilin asked, looking at the clawed marks on Alexis’s arm.

"My cat wanted to get my brother’s hamster." Alexis said monotonously.

Meilin giggled to herself, saying under her breath, "Ah, yes, the cat from heaven." Syaoran glared at both of them.

"Well anyway, I was just coming over here to remind you two of our play practice tommorrow before school." Alexis said.

Syaoran cringed. You just had to ruin our half way normal conversation. "Thanks." Syaoran said dryly.

Teller walked over, having just finished his match, looking odd and little boyish as ever. "Hey guys." He looked to Syaoran. "Would your friend mind if I got her phone number from you and called her?"

Meilin frowned. "Who, me? I’m sitting right here you know."

Teller gave her a funny look. "If I wanted his cousin’s number I would have said cousin. I was talking about Sakura."

Syaoran turned pale as Meilin’s eyes went wide. She had had no idea Syaoran had seen Sakura within the past two months, and wasn’t supposed to know. Now Syaoran would be hearing endless nags and pleads about every single thing that happened on the ship, as if the rambling about Alexis wasn’t enough. Syaoran could have throttled the little boy’s neck.

"S-sakura, huh?" Meilin said, a slow smile of amusement as she turned her head to Syaoran.

Syaoran stood up quickly and gathered his stuff. "I gotta get going." He mumbled, starting to hurry away.

"Li Syaoran! Just where are you hurrying off to?" Meilin shouted after him.

Syaoran reluctantly slowed to a stop. "To see my sick mother." He said hopefully.

Meilin rolled her eyes. "Get your sorry butt back here."

Knowing that it would be better to resolve this now, Syaoran slowly dragged his feet back towards the deadly girl with innocent amber eyes and jet black hair.

"Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran, trying to hide things from your favorite cousin, how could you?" Syaoran reluctantly came to a stop in front of Meilin. "Oh no, please, do sit." Meilin said, smiling warmly.

Syaoran sighed and slumped down on the long wooden booth. He quickly began spacing out, trying not to listen to the long lecture Meilin would be giving him.

"You, my cousin Li Syaoran, snuck off on a cruise with none other than our Japanese friend Kinomoto Sakura, and you somehow failed to tell me, Li Meilin, that your cherry blossom was there with you? Did I just miss this when you were telling me what happened on your mission or what?"

"I knew that you’d overreact if I told you." Syaoran answered.

"Those two were pretty hard to seperate, sneaking off everywhere..." Alexis said to Meilin, adding to the fire.

Meilin grinned at the girl for the first time. "Is that so?" She turned to Syaoran, a large smile on her face. "Well I must say that I’m a bit disappointed that Sakura manages to be competition, even though she’s all the way across an ocean, but that’s alright. I know how happy my cousin is." She turned to Alexis. "So tell me, did they finally seal their love with a kiss? Or were they slow movers as always?" She asked, giving a glare at Syaoran again.

"I couldn’t really tell you, there were so many times they snuck off alone, but I’m sure something must have happened." Alexis answered.

I gave Sakura a bruised rib.

Meilin seemed to now appreciate this girl. Maybe they could be friends after all? "Syaoran, Syaoran...running off with little innocent girls on a cruise ship. What would your mother say? The next thing we’ll know you’ll be eloping and breaking your mother’s heart."

"Can I go yet?" Syaoran asked with annoyance.

Meilin looked him over for a second. "I suppose."

Syaoran jumped up and was walking hurriedly out the door before Meilin could go back on her word. As he walked out, Alexis called after him, saying, "Don’t forget to brush your teeth tommorrow morning!"

Teller jogged to catch up with Syaoran. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to rat on you." He said, lots of shame in his young voice.

"It’s alright, she probably would have found out sooner or later, anyway." Syaoran said reluctantly.

Teller seemed very releived at this forgiveness, and wandered off outside to his own house, leaving Syaoran to walk home again. Now Meilin’s gonna go tell my sisters all about this. Great. Syaoran tried not to think about that, only about his schedule for the next day. Alexis was right. I do have play practice tommorrow. My life sucks. Sword practice tommorrow morning too. Then the horseback stuff after school. Syaoran sighed. I won’t have any problem being busy. If I do go to Japan, I won’t know what to do, with all that extra time.

Syaoran saw Meilin in the distance, taking the shortcut to his house. She was probably going to tell his sisters all about the cruise and how Syaoran had a girlfriend, and blah blah blah. He hung his head and continued on very slowly.

_______________________________________________________________________

"What do you mean ‘ran away’?" Sakura demanded.

"He just didn’t want to stay anymore." Kero said simply, while indulging on some cookies Sakura had brought up from downstairs. Apparently raiding the kitchen for instant noodles every night wasn’t enough to satisfy Kero’s large appetite, so he was incredibly releived to have Sakura back and cooking.

"Bob isn’t an independent. We both know that. I mean, I guess for a butterfly, but...he wouldn’t run away. He likes me." Sakura reasoned.

"He’s just like that little brat, one day you think you know him, then the next he’s gone." Kero said, putting a chocolate chip cookie into his mouth that was miraculously bigger than his whole head.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Right. Bob seemed really sly and suspicious to me too, Kero-chan. Please! I know you are hiding him somewhere." Her eyes went wide. "You didn’t eat him did you!?"

"NO!" Kero retorted. "Please, you know I have better taste than that!"
"I also know you were very hungry and didn’t like that bug one bit." She said. Kero didn’t answer, so she sighed and looked out the window. At least her house hadn’t burnt down from one of Kero and Bob’s fights. "Did he say anything about where he was going?" She finally asked in defeat.

"Nope." Kero said, sidetracked by the cookies in front of him. He opened his mouth wide and practically inhaled half the plate.

Sakura slumped on her bed. Back in Japan. By myself. No Syaoran, no Chindra... She blinked away tears that formed on the corner of her eyes. Her father decided that Chindra must have decided to leave somewhere without telling them, so they had started to clear out her furniture from the guest room and put it in their basement. This reality made Sakura realize that it had been a good amount of time since the Erase card had invaded her house, and Chindra had been gone a very long time. I wonder if the Erase card has a time limit? I know we can get her back. Syaoran was right. If we can just fix my cards, whatever they’re doing.

Sakura sighed loudly again. "I think I’m gonna go see Moondust." She announced.

"It’s way too hot to see that animal." Kero said over his mouthful of food.

"Well someone’s gotta make sure she has enough water and a clean stall." Sakura said, walking over to her closet to get a proper outfit. She could imagine what would happen if she went to the barn with a skirt on.

"I think the brat just got rid of her so he wouldn’t have to do this stuff."

Sakura sighed. The revolt against Syaoran was still going strong in Japan. It must just kill him to think how much Syaoran has helped me. Unlike him. Kero is so lazy these days. She glanced at him as he continued to relentlessly shove cookies into his mouth, oblivious to anything but. She pulled her jeans on and threw her skirt on her bed to put away later. She grabbed her handphone then left Kero in her room to eat, dialing Tomoyo’s number as she continued down the stairs. Cleaning Moondust’s gigantic stall would take two people to get it done fast enough.

- - - - - -

"My point is, isn’t it kind of strange that all his friends are girls?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura sighed and continued to shovel out everything in the stall. Her arms ached and she had developed a sweat, which unfortunately attracted sawdust to stick to her skin, making her even more miserable. I am gonna get some good arm muscles from this. It’s good for me. "Tamakazi’s not a girl." Sakura pointed out.

"But that’s one out of what...You, Meilin, me, Alexis...he seemed to have something with Chindra..." Tomoyo went on.

Sakura shoveled harder, her anger and frustration fueling her work. "Tomoyo I hardly think that they’re all his friends. He just has alot of fans."

"Well I certainly wasn’t coming on to him, and he still..."

Sakura, fed up with listening, decided to make a change of plans. "I’m going to ride with a saddle today." She declared, leaning her shovel against the stall wall.

Tomoyo stopped her speech. "You think you can figure out how to tighten it?"

Sakura nodded. "Sure, it can’t be that difficult."

She and Tomoyo grabbed a halter and a bucket of grain, then set out into the hot pasture. A light breeze kept the heat from being overwhelming, and it felt good as it ruffled through Sakura’s hair. She tilted her face up to the sun. "I haven’t gotten a tan yet this summer." She said.

"Yes, the weather wasn’t very favorable on the cruise, else I’m sure you’d have wonderful coloring." Tomoyo agreed.

"Maybe tommorrow Touya will take us to the beach." Sakura said, looking back towards Moondust’s shadow. She shook the bucket to tempt the horse closer, and with starting routine she caught the mare with her halter quickly.

She walked back to the barn, carefully avoiding the horse’s hooves and holding the extra rope threateningly at her side to keep the horse from attempting to kick her. Once she got the horse in the barn and tightly tied up, Sakura pulled out the old dusty saddle with confidence and dragged it over to the horse’s side. She laid the saddle pad across the horse’s back, then heaved the heavy saddle onto her back, sliding it into place.

"Have you seen Mark lately?" Tomoyo asked, fiddling with one of the straps on the saddle absently.

"Not really." Sakura said shortly, thinking of Mark’s party, then thinking of Tomoyo’s odd behavior. Or was it Syaoran’s odd behavior?

"He’s got a wonderful tan. Rika and I passed him on our way to piano lessons. He was riding his dirtbike." Tomoyo said.

"Oh..." Sakura said, not really paying attention as she tried a second way of tightening the saddle. She knew that somehow she had to put the leather strap through the metal ring, but she wasn’t quite sure what to do after that.

"Maybe we will see him tommorrow if we get to the beach." Tomoyo said.

"Mm." Sakura said, stepping back and eyeing the saddle, trying to determine whether she had gotten it tight. It looked right. Sakura pulled on the horn of the saddle. It didn’t give. I think I got it! Sakura excitedly grabbed the bridle off the wall and put it onto Moondust, flinging the reins over her neck. "I’m going to try this. Pray I got it tight enough." Sakura said, smiling at Tomoyo.

Tomoyo smiled back. "Alright."

Sakura led Moondust back into the pasture then stopped her, holding the reins tight as she attempted to mount. Moondust stepped impatiently as she had the past few times Sakura had ridden her, and Sakura took it as a vice. She pulled hard at the reins and Moondust settled to a stop again. Sakura quickly mounted in the calm moment, landing lightly in the saddle. The horse immediatly began prancing as Sakura collected her reins and put her feet into the stirrups, mistaking the activity for a signal to run. Sakura held her tight hold and made sure she was settled before allowing the horse to walk on.

Moondust’s springy step and need for speed no longer scared Sakura, and she thought they were finally getting along. Maybe they could be friends, or at least hold a mutual relationship of tolerance. Sakura let the horse trot, hanging on tightly with her strengthened legs. They felt slightly sore from her judo lesson the previous day, where they had been worked to exhaustion. She ignored any soreness and just concentrated on riding well. They were cooperating for a rare moment, and Sakura didn’t want to spoil it.

Sakura let the horse move out of the bouncy gait into the smoother canter, holding the reins a little tighter due to the increase of speed. Moondust tossed her head up as she did whenever she didn’t like Sakura’s pull on the reins, doing a sort of hop in her gait that threw Sakura temporarily off balance. Sakura was becoming better, and she wasn’t very thrown off by the horse’s attempts to unseat her. But something didn’t feel right. Though the saddle was giving her wonderful balance, something was going off center... Sakura tried to figure out what it was, but realized too late.

The saddle hadn’t been as tight as she had thought, and had gone loose with the horse’s movements. Sakura grabbed the horn in desperation to stop it as she pulled back on the reins, but that seemed to make things worse, and Sakura was faster going to the side. She tried to grab for mane, but it was too late, she was sideways, she was on the ground. Sakura slid a few feet from momentum in the sharp blades of summer grass, then came to a stop, horribly annoyed.

I have a hard time beleiving anyone falls off this much when they first start riding. I must be doing so much stuff wrong... Sakura forced herself up on her feet, brushing off the blades of grass that were all over her pants. She limped sorely for a moment, then continued on now stretched out. Her rib was completly healed by now, in fact it had stopped hurting to breath the day after she got back from the cruise. Figures. I just get better from something so I have to get another injury. Sakura counted herself lucky for not getting hurt in this fall. I hope the saddle didn’t fall off Moondust yet, I’ll have to carry it all the way back... She dragged her feet on, sighting the horse grazing some yards ahead of her.

Tommorrow I’ll have to go to the beach with Touya. But wait...He’s working at the college this week. Maybe I can just walk to the mall or something, wander around. That sounds alright. I could use a break from the dead heat anyway. I wonder how hot it is in Hong Kong?

- - - - - - - - - - -

"You don’t understand, Tomoyo, I said some things to him during the school year, he doesn’t want to talk to me." Sakura persisted. Tomoyo’s desperate plan to conjoin Sakura and Mark in some type of relationship was beginning to pull at Sakura’s sanity, and Tomoyo just couldn’t comprehend what Sakura was telling her. Syaoran had basically beat Mark up within Sakura’s body and now Sakura and Mark weren’t exactly on good terms. But how could she explain this to Tomoyo? Bringing up Syaoran at all brought on an entire day’s arguement.

"So go apologize!" Tomoyo said, smiling encouragingly. "He looks pretty bored anyway, it’d be the polite thing to go and say hello."

Sakura glared shortly at Tomoyo. "Why are you so bent on getting me a boyfriend?" She muttered.

Tomoyo laughed her evil laugh. "Hohoho Sakura-chan, I’m just looking for good footage, I wish I could finally get my Sakura-chan encountering the opposite sex on tape..." She said.

Sakura sighed heavily. "You weren’t around much this past year were you?" She said under her breath.

"Hmm?" Tomoyo asked.

"Nothing."

"Go on, then!" She said, giving Sakura’s shoulder an encouraging push.

Sakura reluctantly continued across the sporting store over to where Mark was looking at a pair of soccer cleats, oblivious to the surrounding. So Tomoyo had been right, Mark did look nicer with his deep tan, but he was still Mark, and would never compare to an auburn haired boy Sakura favored. She suddenly found herself feeling like Syaoran- totally unsociable, at least with Mark. He just gave her a bad feeling. He hadn’t seemed too uptight about going around the bases with any girl, and Sakura was scared to death if a boy even looked at her wrongly.

She forced her annoyed glare away and tried to be light about this. Apologize. No problem. "Hello Mark." She said as brightly as she could manage.

Mark glanced up from the booth he was sitting on comparing shoes. A dark look passed over his face and he looked back to his shoes, a totally irritated expression now holding. "Oh. Hi."

Sakura sighed and glanced over hopelessly at Tomoyo, who was taping over a set of shelves with baseball socks on it. She gave Sakura a thumbs up. Sakura looked back forlornly to Mark, who was doing his best to ignore her. That’s a change. "Listen, I just...wanted to apologize, about that time in school, I didn’t mean to grouch at you, but I was, uh, having a bad day, mood swings, you know?"

Mark stood up in front of her, a little too close, and Sakura unconsciously stepped back. "PMS, I understand. They say those mood swings reflect your personality in the sack, I guess you’re the rough type."

Sakura didn’t totally follow him, but she got the gist of what was implied, and was taken aback. Her facial expression changed from sincere to shocked. "Excuse me?"

"I’m just messing with you, relax." Mark said, smiling crookedly.

"Oh." Sakura said, still uncertain. There was a second of awkward silence. Why does this always happen to me when I am with a boy?

"No hard feelings, don’t worry. That is, of course, you make up for punching me in the shoulder." He added, smiling slyly.

"Oh...?" Sakura said, still feeling uneasy.

"So what are you doing tommorrow?" Mark asked.

"Oh, I, uh, have judo lessons." Sakura said, very releived with her decision to double her lessons during the summer weeks.

"Some other time then." Mark agreed.

Sakura nodded slowly. She realized that she had been standing silently for a few moments, and quickly tried to find a way out of it. "Well I’ve got to go, I just wanted to apologize." She said, stepping back and beginning to walk her way back to Tomoyo.

"Sure. I’ll watch out for those mood swings. What was that, about the middle of the month?"

Sakura blushed furiously and rushed off without replying. She brushed by Tomoyo but didn’t stop, only expected her friend to follow her out of that store and into the mall’s food court where they could sit and talk safely.

"He so likes you." Tomoyo said, grinning, following Sakura’s frantic path through the maze of tables in the court.

"I hardly think that conversation was any indication of feelings..." Sakura mumbled as she sought out a quiet table. She pulled out the chair and sat down.

"Oh come on! He practically asked you out!" Tomoyo raved excitedly.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I don’t like him."

Tomoyo’s expression softened. "Why not?"

Sakura shifted uneasily. "He just makes me uncomfortable. He always has."

"How?"

Sakura fidgeted more. "I don’t know, just stuff he says, the way he acts."

"Like what did he say?"

"Just, n-nothing, I just don’t feel comfortable around him, that’s all. Maybe I’m just being stupid, I don’t know, but I don’t see why I should have to be friends with him." Sakura said.

"Sakura-chan, you were always such an aimiable person!"

Sakura sighed. She doesn’t get it. I feel totally closed and entrapped around him. Syaoran was different. I could be so open with him, and it didn’t bother me. "I know, I just, I just get a bad feeling around him."

"You should always give a person a chance." Tomoyo said sensibly.

Sakura was getting a little frustrated. Some of what Tomoyo was saying did make sense. Why did she feel so entrapped, anyway? Maybe she was being uptight for no good reason. "I suppose..."

________________________________________________________________________

"Just picture her as someone else." Meilin said sensibly, walking with Syaoran up to the stage in the auditorium, where their class would be practicing the stupid play.

They seperated, and Syaoran didn’t respond to Meilin’s comment, only headed reluctantly to the sensei. Alexis already stood there, bored, playing with her gum as usual. She glanced over at Syaoran momentarily before looking back into space. Syaoran’s insides groaned as he was reminded of what scene they were practicing. Seventeen.

The sensei saw Syaoran and Meilin’s arrival, then addressed the rest of the class. "Alright. Scene seventeen everyone, places, places!"

Students went to their places, some anxiously, some reluctantly, but all quickly, stranding Syaoran and Alexis to center stage. She spit her gum into her hand then threw it a good twelve feet into a nearby trashcan. Syaoran shuddered to think how awful this was going to be, especially now that he had actually spent some time with this girl, and was more accustomed to her, and more proned to want to back away. On top of all this stress, this was the first time they practiced this scene in school hours, which meant the rest of Syaoran’s classmates were sitting around. Sure he wasn’t a self conscious person, and didn’t care for other people’s opinions of him, but having Yundi and the rest of his friend’s eyes on him would make the task even harder.

"Alright, Li-san, Chincawau, you may begin." The sensei said.

Syaoran heaved a great sigh as they began the long chain of mushy love lines. Just picture her as someone else. Someone else. There’s no one in the world that would use these pathetic lines, though. I’m not good at pretending. Syaoran was supposed to kiss her now. It’s not really Alexis, it’s ... Sakura. We almost did this, anyway, except, Touya had to barge in, that bastard... Syaoran didn’t realize what effect Touya’s name had on him, and his fists had tightened painfully, making Alexis cringed.

"Ow!" She whispered sharply. "Meilin meant someone you liked, not mortally hated."

Syaoran opened his eyes and realized that his grip was very sharp, and quickly loosened up. "Sorry." He muttered. They quickly realized that the sensei was glaring at them with wide expecting eyes, so Alexis saved them by grabbing Syaoran’s shirt and pulling him into a very sloppy and untheatrical kiss. Yundi and several other boys in the class that were Alexis fans whistled, but were shushed by the sensei. They broke away, Syaoran taking a breath of releif since it was all over, then looked to the sensei.

She was walking her way to the front of the stage, about to address the class. "Now how many of you were touched by that scene?" She asked.

Yundi raised his hand sarcastically, wiping a fake tear from his eye, and Meilin was watching with covetous teary eyes, but other than that, the class remained quiet.

"No one. Not one of you, because-" She half turned to Syaoran and Alexis. "Li-san looks like he’s about to be sent to his deathbed." Alexis stifled a giggle. "And you aren’t helping our situation any, Chincauwa."

Alexis glared. "What do you mean- I’m carrying out my role exactly how-"

"Don’t start a shouting match with me, disobedient half child, I’m totally prepared to recast your role."

Alexis stopped talking abruptly, though her fury was very obvious to Syaoran through her glossy glaring eyes. He couldn’t help but feel angry at the sensei, also. It wasn’t fair to discriminate against anyone, he could not beleive that the elders would allow such a stray in virtues. But there was nothing to say for the moment. He just waited for the sensei to go on.

"If you two can’t get any more emotion into you role, then...I don’t know. I don’t know what we’ll do. We’re in no shape to present this to the clan..." The old woman said, some of her frantic stress starting to show through. "You two are being so ignorant of what this play’s all about..."

Syaoran began spacing out about there. He didn’t want to listen to the rest of this lecture, it was very insulting and unimportant, and there was no need for his mood to be lowered. He was going to see his mother after school- after this class in fact- to ask her about visiting Japan within the next two weeks, and the prospect of this working out made him very happy. I hope none of the cards are giving her trouble. Or that damn ghost. Why can’t they just leave her alone? I’m sure she’s thinking the same thing. I still haven’t done what I said I would. I haven’t found anything out about all of this... It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried. In all of his spare time (spare time aka sleep time) he would look endlessly through old books about Clow Reed’s history, about his life. Nothing yet dated back to the time Sakura’s supposed story had taken place- the one about her ‘mother’ and Chindra’s ‘mother’ both falling in love with Clow Reed and blah blah. Well I’m sure there’s something somewhere, if the story’s true. Which, I have been looking for a long time, and it seems strange to think I haven’t found one single lead...

Syaoran was sharply jabbed in the ribs by Alexis’s elbow, and he quickly looked up, finding that the sensei was talking to him.

"...I’ll discuss this with Wanti-san, but you will be in here before school starts. Is that clear?"

Syaoran found that even though the literature sensei was an old and rather innocent looking women, there was something very scary about her when she was stressed and on edge. "Yes sensei."

The bell rang abruptly, freeing them of the rest of her speech. Syaoran and Alexis both hurried off stage away from the mad sensei to the freedom of the floor and more kids their age to mingle into. Still, being the unsociable type Syaoran was, he hung in the back of the crowd, letting everyone else go ahead. Alexis stayed back and started a conversation, though he wasn’t in the mood to talk to her. "Why don’t you like Raion?" She asked bluntly.

Syaoran was a bit taken aback, though he tried not to show it. "Who told you that?" He asked angrily, ready to seek and destroy whoever had let this information slip.

"Meilin. That’s not important. Why not?"

"None of your business." He found some of this suspicous. "Why would Meilin tell you that, anyway? She hates you."

Alexis shrugged, following him through the auditorium doors. "Meilin and I are now in a well arranged trading partnership. I tell her things about the cruise, she answers some of my questions..."

Syaoran sighed. So now both of them had information he didn’t want them to have. He turned to head down the hall to his locker.

"So why not?" Alexis yelled after him.

Syaoran shrugged with his back still turned to her and continued on his way. He tried not to think about that, and shifted his thoughts to hurrying home before his sisters left to see his mother without him.

- - - - - -

"You probably shouldn’t be walking this much, oka-san." Syaoran warned his mother, following her worriedly down the hall.

"You are always so worried, little wolf, I’ve got to gain my strength back somehow."

"Honestly, Syaoran, always worrying about this that and the other. You are going to have more worry lines than grandma." His youngest older sister said.

Syaoran scoffed and continued on through the hall, glaring. I don’t worry too much. They just don’t care enough. I’m not being overly worried. If it wasn’t my mother, I wouldn’t even care. These thoughts settled Syaoran and he forgot his annoyance for the moment. Once they leave I’ll ask mother about going to Japan.

"How are your mounted sword training lessons going?" His mother asked.

"Alright." Syaoran said simply. He had been doing as well as he could possibly do, though that still didn’t meet up to his own standards, and hadn’t gotten any lectures from Wanti-san yet, so he figured he was still doing alright.

"I spoke with Wanti-san. He said you are excelling, not just doing alright. He also said that you are going to be limited by the horse you are riding. Do you know what he means?"

Syaoran was a bit worried about where this was going. There he goes, being worried again. So maybe there was some truth to what his sisters had said. "The horse is older and slow, but there’s none that would really fit me asides."

His mother nodded and said nothing, though Syaoran could hear her thoughts loud and clear.

"You should ride Raion." His youngest older sister said bluntly.

Syaoran glared daggers at her, but was at loss for a retortment. They were quiet for a while in their hallway journey, then his mother slowed. She looked at Syaoran, who kept his eyes on the floor. "You shouldn’t be afraid of him, little wolf."

Syaoran looked up shortly, then resumed looking at the floor. "He hates me. He associates me with...with...you know, and he won’t let me near him without attacking something." He said, quieter than normal.

"All the more reason to gain his trust. Befriending him will bring you closer to your father."

Syaoran grit his teeth and tried to hold his composure, but this was one subject he could not stand. "My father’s dead." He said bitterly. "Working with a stupid horse won’t prove anything." With that he started stalking down the hall again. He knew he was being immature. But he couldn’t help it, could he?

They walked down the hall more with more solemnity than before, his sisters quietly discussing their schooling and their social status, leaving Syaoran to think. She’s probably right. Of course she’s right. Mother’s always right. But so what? I already showed how well I get along with him. I couldn’t even get a halter on him. Can’t they see that? not like it matters. If I’m going to Japan next week, I won’t have to worry about it. I’ll be able to ride Moondust instead. Too bad the elders are so against Amy’s family, else I’d be able to bring Moondust here and have a cooperative animal. But I wouldn’t want to take her from Sakura. I hope those two are getting along. Guess I’ll find out.

They reached the cafeteria and found a nice table and put their belongings down (except for Syaoran- being the only one not carrying a purse), then his sisters all scambled over to the food bar. Syaoran sat down, across from his mother, who still looked a little weary from the short walk in the hall, and had her eyes closed, taking short shallow breaths. Syaoran cringed for her, knowing exactly how she felt, as he had gone through pneumonia just recently. "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice thick with concern.

His mother opened her eyes and smiled, though he could still see she was tired. "My lungs need a work out, so use to having aid." She smiled and rested her eyes on him for a while. "You are growing handsome, my little wolf."

Syaoran looked away with an annoyed and bored glare.

"Exact copies of your father’s eyes." She said absently, still gazing at him.

Syaoran fidgeted. Just hearing ‘your father’ made him uneasy. His mother was the first to pick up on this. "Just let him go, Syaoran. I can see it all built up inside you. Why do you let it waste you away from the inside? Your smarter than that."

Syaoran swallowed hard. He couldn’t answer this. Truth was staring him in the face, but he kept his eyes averted. Syaoran swiftly switched subjects. "I want to go back to Japan."

His mother accepted the subject change. "You miss the cherry blossom?"

Syaoran looked down again. Why did he even bother? His mother could read his mind. "She needs help." He looked up again. "The elders won’t listen to anything I have to say about Clow Reed, nor offer any direction-"

"The elders underestimate you. If what story the cherry blossom claims to be true indeed is, than this may be even over their heads. They are a poor example of leadership."

Syaoran was surprised at his own mother’s courage- the elders were the ones paying for all of her health expenses. That obviously didn’t stop her. "You’ll let me go?"

His two youngest older sisters sat down with their trays full of food. "Go where?"

"Japan." His mother said, nodding.

"To see his girlfriend again?" His second youngest older sister asked.

"This time bring her back with you, I want to meet this ‘Card Mistress’." His youngest older sister said.

Now his other two older sisters had sat down, and joined in on the conversation. "She came here before." His oldest sister said, stuffing her mouth full of rice.

"I sort of remember. But I didn’t remember any of this relationship stuff going on, was he just too young and blind or what?"

"She’s one lucky girl, getting an underclassmen to fly back and forth over an ocean just to see her."

"Now, now, you four, Syaoran’s going on official business. There’s some suspicions brewing about Clow Reed." His mother said, a twinkle in her eye as she met eyes shortly with Syaoran. "More or less a vacation from the elders. And you four. I think you’ve been pushing my son too much."

His oldest sister grinned. "Right. Syaoran’s unshakeable, right buddy?" She asked, ruffling his hair. One thing Syaoran couldn’t stand was people ruffling his hair. Why did people feel they needed to further disrupt his already unmanageable hair?

"How long are you going, then, on this little vacation?" His youngest older sister asked.

"’dunno, two weeks?" Syaoran guessed, firguing that was a nice round number.

"When you leaving?"

Syaoran shrugged. "Probably after we get mother settled in."

His mother smiled warmly. This was easier than I thought. I’ll book the ticket tonight, then. Should I tell Sakura I’m coming? No, I could surprise her. Wait, that’d be rude, wouldn’t it? Syaoran pondered these thoughts enthusiastically, though outside he kept his glare, boredly blocking out his sister’s discussion of recent boyfriends.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"This is crap." Syaoran said, glaring at the stereo across the barn aisle as he continued to vigorously shovel out a stall. Why he agreed to help Alexis with her barn work he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was because he was in such a good mood, or that he had excess energy to work off. Either way, his ears were starting to ache from the country music Alexis had in the stereo, all the way from the western hemisphere.

"It’s not crap. If I have to listen to any more of you asian people’s horrible remakes of our songs, I’ll scream." Alexis said, finally finished cleaning the stall she had been doing. Syaoran had already done three.

She walked down aisle, peering into the stall Syaoran was already almost done with. "Wow, such ferocity. I’ve never seen someone clean a stall with such passion."

Syaoran looked breifly up to glare at her. "Don’t even say that word." Passion immediatly made his mind think of the script for that stupid literature play.

Alexis shrugged, grinning. "Well feel free to change the radio- Blast!" She said in english, quickly fleeing the scene and running into a stall.

"Blast?" Syaoran repeated to himself, confused. Must be an English expression. While he pondered that and shoveled out the rest of the stall, Teller came tromping down the aisle.

"I know you’re in here, Alexis. Don’t try to hide." Teller called in English. These two seemed to always run back to their native tongue. Syaoran was thankful it was at least something he could understand, or else he would drive himself crazy with paranoia trying to figure out what they were saying. Alexis remained plastered against the stall wall next to Syaoran. Teller looked questioningly at Syaoran.

"She’s in there." Syaoran said casually, pointing to the stall beside him.

Alexis exhaled angrily. Syaoran was sure she’d be shouting at him later. Oh well. He wanted to see this arguement. He leaned his shovel on the wall and walked to the stall door, leaning on it and watching.

"Your cat, your dumb ____ (Syaoran misses a few words, not understanding whatever slang or insult the boy was saying in english) cat totally ravaged Benny’s cage again. That’s not all. In the midst of the fight, Mookie slid across my dresser, knocking my nintendo to the floor. To the hard, tile floor. Damaged beyond repair." He said, his voice gaining momentum. "And, and, in the declination of the fight, Mookie chose to let her footing slip chasing Benny through the living room. The lamp tumbled down, hit the window, cracked the glass, then feel to shatter on the floor. The hard, tile floor."

Syaoran could swear he saw steam coming out of the boy’s nostrils.

"So, when I walk into this disaster zone, Wanti-san just happens to be getting home. And needless to say, he was a little disturbed by all of the damage. Guess who got blamed?"

Alexis was fidgeting. "Telly I meant to clean-"

"So all of this was alright. I told Wanti-san my thousands of apologies, withstood a shouting lecture, and was on my merry way. When suddenly I notice a banana and pickle sandwhich on a plate. Sitting in the kitchen. Bitten into. Surely no one in our household would leave their food unattended without a good reason."

Alexis wanted to run. Teller was a very sharp little boy. Darn.

"And so I thought to myself; Who but Lexi eats banana and pickle sandwhiches? Ah yes, NO ONE! So, in my humble conclusion, I realized that my dear old sister must have witnessed this whole action packed chase, then fled the crime scene, not thinking so much as to throw away her half eaten sandwhich. Why would she run away like that? Could it be....to run away from the blame?"

Syaoran was enjoying this thoroughly. This little boy was much smarter than Syaoran gave him credit for. He could have almost smiled, just watching Alexis squirm under the pressure. "Telly I’m sorry, I shouldn’t of-"

"Don’t sorry me! You get your sorry butt to the house and apologize!"

Alexis cringed. "You know how angry Wanti-san will be if I don’t finish these stalls..."

Teller rolled his eyes. "Fine. Fine! I don’t care. Finish shoveling the horses’ crap for all I care. Just make sure this is all cleared with Wanti-san, got it? Make sure he’s positive of my innocence before you end your little chat."

"Alright, Teller." Alexis said.

Teller glared. "Promise?"

Alexis relucantly nodded. "Promise."

Teller smiled with releif. "That’s great. Now I’ll get to go the movies this Saturday..." He began talking to himself as he walked down the aisle. "Have fun being grounded!" He called happily. "Oh, and one more thing!"

"What?" Alexis shouted with annoyance, starting to shovel out this stall.

"Quit wearing my boxers for gym shorts!"

Alexis sighed and resumed cleaning the stall.

"Sibling problems?" Syaoran said, finishing up the stall he was in then taking his shovel to the next one over. The only reason he stated that fact was because he wanted to annoy her further.

"You whiney and complaining little brothers are the worst."

Syaoran rolled his eyes and continued working. Alexis was quiet for a while, probably thinking about how she was going to get out of trouble, and Syaoran was able to mentally think about what he was going to need to bring. I should bring some of those old books. Maybe Sakura will find something I missed? Just her name made him smile more with content. His life seemed to be going along smoothly. His mother was fast recovering, he was being allowed some vacation time...He hoped Sakura was as fortunate as he was.

"So are you coming to see me ride in my show next weekend? I’m gonna try out this little mare jumper my mother bought, it should be quite a show." Alexis said.

"Can’t." Syaoran replied, starting to get hot. The heat in Hong Kong could be unbearable if you were excersizing. He wished vainly that he could take his shirt off, but he knew what kind of reaction he would get, and here just a few moments ago Alexis was mentioning ‘passion’ even while he had all of his clothes on.

"Why not?!" Alexis wailed.

"I’ll be in Japan." Syaoran said, finally finishing the last stall. He put his shovel up on a hook in the aisle way and grabbed his bottled water, taking a very long drink.

"Japan?" Alexis asked, pausing again in her cleaning to peer out at the aisleway at him. "To see your girlfriend again? You two are hard to part."

"No, I’m trying to figure out some things about Clow Reed." Syaoran said, denying Sakura yet again. Good thing he was such a good liar.

"Oh." Alexis said, still leaning on the door.

"You know you’d be done by now if you’d stop pausing to talk." Syaoran said.

"Syaoran! Look!" Meilin’s voice rung down the hall like a horribly high pitched scream. Syaoran turned reluctantly. "Look at this angel! Isn’t she adorable?"

Syaoran looked at the frisky rotweiler puppy dancing around Meilin’s ankles. It looked like a fluff ball with legs and a tongue hanging out. "Why did you get a dog, Meilin?" He asked.

"Well, since you seem to be ignoring me lately, I decided to get a better friend." She said, trying to get sympathy. Syaoran didn’t fall for it.

"I hope it works out." Syaoran said dryly.

Meilin glared. "Come on Fuwa-fuwa, we’re wanted somewhere else." Meilin called to the puppy that was starting to stray away. The black and brown bear like puppy ran energetically after her and continued to run circles around her ankles as she tried to walk around it.

Syaoran watched her leave, then stood silently for a few moments. He finally figured he should get back to his house for dinner, if he wanted any. His sisters were hogs.

"I’m going back to my house."

"Alright. Thanks for the help." Alexis called, though he was already halfway down the aisle.

________________________________________________________________________

Not this again.

Sakura bolted up in bed. That voice was still ringing in her head. She quickly put her awake brain to work. That sounds like... like... She thought as hard as she could, but with no luck. Angrily Sakura collapsed back on her bed, slamming her fists down. "Like what?" She said aloud.

Kero pushed his drawer open and looked at her sleepily. "Bad dream?"

Sakura glared over at him. If only he could be more sympathetic. Like he used to be. Why was Kero so inconsiderate? "It was nothing, go back to bed." She said.

Kero shrugged and pulled his drawer shut, disappearing from Sakura’s sight. She exhaled shakily and sat up, leaning against the head board. Why do I keep having that dream? Why can’t I have nice prophetic dreams? She looked over to the window wistfully. But nothing nice ever happens to me. I just keep getting beat up, left alone, left helpless...because I’m such a weak person. She frowned at the tears trying to stream down, holding them to the corners. I am such a weak person I can’t even tell Syaoran what I’m feeling, even inside a dream! I am such a weak person, I cry when I tell myself so. I am such a weak person, I can’t even keep friends anymore.

She stepped onto her carpeted floor and walked softly to the window, looking outside sadly. "And something is building up again." She said to herself. She could feel it. The tension in the air. Magic was accumulating, ready to test Sakura’s skills at any random point in time. She frowned with determination. But if I give up, these cards could destroy the whole world. I can recapture all of these cards if I have to. Without anyone’s help.

She sighed. It was one of those times she missed Bob. Talking to him was sometimes useful, much more productive than bickering with Kero. I wonder if he’s alive? I can’t beleive Kero would just... She glared at the drawer Kero slept soundly in, then looked back to her window. A cool night time breeze blew her hair around her face, and she closed her eyes. She felt calm enough to sleep.She opened the window to its fullest to let the breeze reach her bed, then, satisfied, stumbled back to her bed and pulled the covers over her. The breeze still blew around her, having a soothing effect. She was asleep in peace before she knew it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Come hither, beast, and let thyself be captured, or shall I be forced to conquer thine a second time?" Sakura called in her most theatrical voice, holding her staff out like a sword from atop Moondust. Tomoyo was filming enthusiastically from the side, smiling gleefully as her renniasance production was underway.

Keroberus, in a costume alot like a jester, walked forward with his head hanging low. Sakura called out an advanced version of the bind spell that used rope to capture its victims, and held her gallant smile as Kero’s large body was contained.

"Alright!" Tomoyo called, jumping up from where she had been crouching and running over to them. "That was awesome guys! Thanks alot!"

Sakura sighed and dropped her arm to her side, her gallant smile fading immediatly. "You better not be showing this to anyone."

Tomoyo shook her head. "Of course not!"

Sakura sighed. That hadn’t sounded very convincing. She clucked at Moondust and the mare walked easily, pulling at the reins to go faster. Sakura allowed the animal to move, and they smoothly cantered around the pasture, Sakura finally holding decent control. I think we’re finally getting along. The horse sped up a little, and Sakura held on and let go of steering, finding herself flying across the ground.

Moondust’s legs surged underneath and lept across the grass, stretching out and coming back in again, going faster than Sakura thought she had ever gone in her life. As Sakura relaxed a little, she found that there was a smoothness to this gait, a rideable beat and connection that could be found. No wonder Syaoran was always galloping around. She slowly let her hands off their death clutch on the mane and galloped on, taking up the reins and slowly pulling back. They were coming up to the back fence, and she didn’t want to have to make any sharp turns at this speed. Moondust may be capable, but Sakura doubted her own balance.

She cantered back up to Tomoyo and Kero, a bright smile of thrill and exhileration on her face.

"I have never seen a horse run that fast, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said, a little pale. "Was it scary?"

Sakura shook her head, so proud of herself for finally galloping. Wait until Syaoran saw that! "It was so fun, Tomoyo!" She said happily.

"I’ve got it on tape! We’ll watch it later!"

Sakura didn’t mind having her acheivments taped. "Alright! Well I’m gonna put her in the barn and feed her. I think we’re supposed to have storms tonight."

She squeezed her legs around the horse’s barrel and they were walking smoothly again, Moondust catching her breath. Sakura smiled happily and looked around at the pretty summer landscaping. It was always nice the day before a storm - the nice breeze was hypnotizing, but the warm sun kept it from being too hot.

Her good mood was interrupted with a pang. Something was going on. Somewhere, magic was collecting again. And it made her uneasy. Moondust pranced a bit under her. "Do you sense that too, girl?" Sakura said aloud. Maybe Moondust was just reading off Sakura’s own fears. Either way, she should probably get off. Sakura reached the gate and hopped down, walking Moondust over to her gigantic and spotlessly clean stall. Sakura unbridled the horse than went up to the hayloft and threw down a bale. After that she took the barn knife and cut the baling twine, then pulled out two flakes for Moondust to eat, tossing them over the stall’s side. She scooped out some grain from the grain trash can, put it into Moon’s feeder, then stepped back to see the horse happily eating.

She is a beautiful horse. I’m glad we’re finally getting along. I didn’t think it was going to be possible. I guess I just have to work a little for her friendship. Just like her owner, certainly. But what a wonderful friendship I get. Her thoughts were disrupted as Kero and Tomoyo entered the barn. "Let’s get home before the rain begins, shall we?"

Tomoyo smiled and nodded. "Absolutely!"

Sakura left the barn with the foreshadowing feeilng biting at the back of her mind. The uneasy feeling seemed to grow as she tried to contain it. She knew she couldn’t just make a card go away with her mind. But what card? It feels like something big. I hope it’s not the Earthy. No, it doesn’t feel like that, it feels like....gosh. I really need to work on my powers.

Sakura got onto the bus, listening to Tomoyo chatter about improvements on her sound studio. What if the ghost shows up? She glanced at the scar on her arm. I’ve got to be more careful. But I can’t have both her and the clow cards against me. I need some type of allie, right? She looked around at the gloomy outdoors, the dark grey sky ready to let rain out at any moment. She heaved a sigh, then quickly smiled in agreement with Tomoyo, not wanting to reveal her thoughts. But I don’t have any friends. Not good ones, anyway, anymore at least. She looked sideways at Tomoyo. Who could actually think music studios were this interesting? I hope Syaoran’s coming back soon. But it didn’t sound like it. Why was he running missions for the elders, anyway? I thought he was only visiting Hong Kong. Then again...That’s his home. How can I expect him to stay here, just to help one whiney little girl? She leaned on the glass beside her, nodding in response to Tomoyo’s question. Something’s going to happen soon. And I’ll face it by myself. I know I can.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura’s eyes fluttered open at about three AM. She sensed magic. Not alot, but still, it was there. It was the aura of a Clow Card. She sat up in her room, immediatly becoming awake, and looked about. What card? What’s going to happen? Then she realized something was very uncomfortable about her bed. She pulled at her blanket, her bare legs sticking out, being cold. The blanket turned out to be very short. Was it always like this? Sakura pulled the blanket up and found it was much smaller than she remembered; it hardly covered her chest and stomach. The Little! Of course!

Sakura tossed her blanket off and looked around, quickly pulling on her slippers. They were about six sizes too big. She sighed with dismay. And the Big. Great. Two cards at once. She trudged around her room with her oversized slippers, looking around for any clues. Nothing. The aura was gone. And it had rudely left her slippers too big. Sakura sighed and sat at the edge of her bed, concentrating on any trace of magic. There was none. The card was gone for the moment.

She looked toward Kero’s drawer, then shook her head and looked back around her room. Kero wasn’t going to be any help. He’d just tell her she was crazy, and if she was that worried about it, she could put a shield spell around her room. But something told her the card wasn’t going to bother her again that night. She sighed and stood up, walking over to her closet to get another blanket. She wouldn’t want to deal with a too-small-blanket the rest of the night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

By about eleven the next morning, Sakura was finally able to negotiate her legs into standing and taking her around the house. Since about three, she hadn’t been able to fall asleep, though she was very tired. Nothing had happened, just as she had thought, though her slippers remained too big, her blanket too little. She dragged herself downstairs, where Touya was already making lunch.

"The kaibutsu has woken!"

"I’m not a monster." Sakura mumbled almost out of habit. Her sleepiness must have been very noticeable, for Touya continued to comment on it.

"Sleeping until eleven, but you’ve got rings under your eyes. I will tell otto-san we need to visit the doctor about your metabolism."

Sakura felt as if she was breathing fire. How could her brother ever understand how much pressure she was under? He was in no place to judge. Onni-chan can see ghosts. I wonder if he’s ever seen this ghost? Not like I’d ask him. "Shut up." She said grumpily. Normally she would play his teasing game, but she felt especially horrible and lonely this morning. Maybe it was because the accumlating magic was biting at the back of her mind, reminding her of the terror she’d soon be forced to fight by herself.

"Sheesh you’ve been grumpy lately." He softened slightly. "Listen. I know you liked him, but it’s for the best he left. You’ll find someone better than him, I"m sure."

Sakura felt like she’d been slapped in her face. Was it just her, or was it really that the whole world was against her? Why couldn’t she pick her own friends? "He was a better friend to me than you ever were! Than any of you!" Sakura shouted, her eyes starting to flood again. She swatted the tears with the back of her wrist and hurried out of the room before Touya had a chance to put in his say. She ran to the back door and quickly let herself out, then leaned on it as it shut, letting her tears fall.

What’s with me lately? Can’t I even have a conversation without wanting to cry? She sniffed and wiped away some of the stream that was falling down her cheeks. I’m breaking down, that’s what’s happening. I can’t...I can’t handle this anymore. It’s too much. Too much for a weak person like me. In her frustration she called out her staff and fluently called out the firespin spell, sending a huge flame at the tree in her backyard. As she realized what she was doing she quickly shouted a water spell, fizzling out the fire that had almost reached the tree. No, not weak. Just scared.

She put her staff away and breathed shakily. Just scared She repeated to herself. I am capable. She looked around the dim outdoors. A dark overcast still hid away the sunlight. A breeze blew, and Sakura could smell the magic on it. Whatever was accumulating was now using itself up. Sakura could sense it. She immediatly pushed her legs into a sprint. So what if she was in the t-shirt and shorts she had worn to bed. She was out to save the world, her clothes didn’t matter.

It’s by the park. Whatever it is... Sakura pushed her sprint faster, her legs moving blindingly fast down the sidewalk. Down the street was clear, so she was able to run uninterrupted. She ran through the breeze that pushed back on her, forewarning her of the danger she was running into. She called out her staff as she rounded the corner to the park, gripping it with determination. I wonder which one I’ll be facing first; the Big or the Little? Why not both? I might as well get beat to a pulp right from the start.

She ran through the playground, a desolate scene due to the crummy weather, and through some of the woods before she spotted something off. In the distance, on a tree, was a fimiliar looking creature. It was harmless, sure, unless it bit you, then you’d have a nasty swelled spot for a few days. But now, it seemed a little larger than Sakura remembered. A spider the size of her hand was scurrying around. It’s legs stretched out around it making it look much larger, and now that they were larger, there was visible fur on each of the eight legs, helping the spider grip as it hauled its weight over the tree in a creepy crawl. Sakura shuddered as she watched it, and stepped back nervously.

The spider wasn’t done growing. It grew to the size of a human head. This was when Sakura was getting very worried. She hated spiders! She backed away quickly, stumbling over a stick on her way, falling to the ground. The spider dropped to the ground also, off the tree. It landed with an audible thud onto the soft grass, then began ambling its way to Sakura, who was paralyzed with fear. Quickly she came to her senses, and jumped up, running with terror away from the giant spider.

She ran until she was breathless, and stopped at the swings of the playground, quickly turning to see what the spider was up to. It wasn’t in any hurry to chase Sakura down, in fact, it was heading away from her, still growing in size. It’s legs spread over a diameter of a human leg, and was still increasing. She quickly panicked. What do I do!? I can’t let it go into town! But Sakura was too scared to face it herself. The spider’s details showed more in more with the seconds Sakura allowed it to grow. "Bind!" She shouted the spell. The spider froze in movement, just as it was pulling itself onto the merry-go-round. Maybe this will keep it from growing!

Just as those thoughts passed, the spider broke free and darted forward with fear, growing rapidly now. It’s heigth began to rival its surroundings, growing to the heigth of Sakura’s waist. She ran after it at a distance, looking around with panic as they neared the edge of the park. Soon it’d be out in the open. She couldn’t let that happen. I have to draw it away from people! Sakura bit her lip with uncertainty, knowing she had no time to stop and ponder this. Where’s there an open space with no people, where I can fight this off properly? "Moondust’s!"

How would she draw it there? She would have to get it to follow her. She quickly put a spell on herself that would boost her attentiveness and reflexes, then looked for the next step. She hesitantly grabbed a stick off the ground. How was she going to do this? She was going to have to go closer. Sakura stepped hesitantly towards the giant spider, clutching the stick unsurely. This wasn’t long enough. She quickly ditched that for a much larger branch probably knocked down by the previous night’s storm. With a surge of boldness, she swung it at the spider’s leg like a batter up at bat.

Being the size it was, the spider didn’t pay much attention, only moved forward with annoyance and began to climb the outter fence of the park. Sakura quickly pointed her staff at it and shouted an Invisible spell. The spider was quickly vanished from sight, but she was able to see it, since she had been the caster of the spell. Now she really needed to work. She jabbed at it again, thrusting the stick between two of it’s many legs and gouging its body. This caught the spider’s attention, and it spun around on it’s huge axis legs, its seemingly uncountable eyes all focused on the small person bothering him.

"Hi ga tsuku (Catch fire)!" She shouted the firespin spell just as the spider was coming at her, gripping her staff with white knuckles. Quickly she zoned the spider out and concentrated on the spell. That was the only way it would carry out. A weaker flame, due to her aprehension and lessened focus, spun out at the spider, hitting it in the side. This seemed to agitate even more. Sakura knew she had the spider angry at her. Now she needed to get it to follow her. Since running was Sakura’s first instinct, she had no trouble turning away from the grotesque arthropod that was crawling towards her.

I can’t outrun this! Something white and sticky was shot out from behind her, landing dangerously in front of her, and in her panicked running, she narrowly missed stepping in it. Spider web! Oh no! I didn’t even think of that! Sakura pushed herself faster, though it didn’t seem to matter. The spider was just playing right now, it could easily catch her any time it wanted to. She could feel the ground vibrate every time she set a foot down, and it was getting more violent as the spider grew in size and continued to come closer to the fleeing Sakura. She could hear a disgusting gutural sound behind her, and knew that probably meant more spiderweb was on the way. It flung out, but this time it was a closer range shot, and Sakura tumbled to the ground, the sticky string binding her up. "Hi ga tsuku!" She shouted again in panick, sending flames all around her, burning up the webbing that was sticking herself to the ground. She shut her eyes as the spider was starting to stoop down to its catch, then jumped up as she was free, and quickly took off again. Moondust...will be so much better...than my own legs...Sakura thought between concentrating on getting away safely. At least she still had the spider’s interests, and it wasn’t off terrorizing the neighborhood.

Suddenly the vibrations stopped under Sakura’s feet. She slowed in alarm, glancing over her shoulder. No spider. There was no way she could have overlooked it- the spider was about as big as some of the baby trees now. But where had it ran off to? Maybe the Little made it tiny again? Well that’s convinient. She could still feel strong magic around. She didn’t relax, but continued slowly in the direction of Moondust’s barn. Well if I have to fight two cards at once, at least they’re opposites.

She looked around warily, for a while, hearing a rustle in the trees overhead. Nothing. Just overcast skies, making the tops of the trees black shadows against a grey backdrop. But wait- did that shadow move? I’m being stupid. It was just the leaves moving in the wind. But did they move so unnaturally smoothly? She slowed and turned her head to take a closer look at all of the trees, coming to a stop to totally investigate. Many of the leaves were overturned. Uncle Guan said that was a sign of a bad storm. She reminded herself. A huge thud and shudder in the ground quickly brought her back to reality. She shivered as she slowly turned back forward, and found a tree sized spider crouched in front of her. Sakura swallowed hard at the lump of fear in her throat and tried to bring her staff up, but fear was preventing her from doing anything.

She realized she was trembling, and she quickly tried to control it, but she was uncapable of any type of motor skill. Come on! There was an open path right in front of her- through the two front legs and under the spider’s body. All she needed to do was get her mouth, legs, and hand gripping the staff to comply with her plan. If I don’t do this, the rest of the world is going to be destroyed. She tried to throw all her vain and selfish thoughts about her own life aside and swallowed once more, though it felt as if nothing could slide down her cotton-dry throat. "Hi ga tsuku!" She aimed right at the front two legs. If all went well, the fire would cause the spider’s two front legs to come up with annoyance, giving Sakura the two-second-lasting moment to make her run for it.

The fire hit it hard, and the spider was pushed back a little, and immediatly picked up its two affected legs for care. Sakura pushed her legs into a sprint, though she had a short delay when her legs didn’t listen. GO! She ran right under the foul smelling insect, then continued to run right on, despite her shaky legs and trembling body. Something- most likely one of the spider’s back legs- managed to swipe across Sakura’s left calf, making a short burning feeling. Luckily, for all the adreniline pumping through Sakura, she was able to go on despite whatever harm the spider was trying to cause. But she could help but think worriedly if the little sharp hairs on the spider’s legs were poisinous or not. of course not, idiot, the spider’s venom is in it’s fangs. She climbed the back fence of the park faster than anyone had ever climbed in their lives, scratching herself up carelessly, not that it mattered. What were some scratches to getting eaten by the spider?

She landed hard on her knees but continued running. She was close to Moondust’s. Her thoughts drifted to a battle plan as she deftly lept around the webbing that was being shot around her, running in zigzags as the spider remained close on her tail. How will I ever have time to get a bridle on Moondust? She’ll probably run away, anyway. Stupid horse. She won’t help. But I need her! I can’t keep running like this! I’ll be lunch for sure! Sakura just continued running. It was at least an hour run to Moondust’s barn from here anyway. She just hoped her legs would continue moving. She had the spider following her like she needed to. All she had to do was keep going and keep the spider interested.

_______________________________________________________________________

"Get it away from me." Syaoran grumbled, the little rotweiler puppy of Meilin’s attacking Syaoran’s shoe again. It pulled the laces with it’s not-quite mature teeth, making Syaoran even mroe agitated.

"Come on, Syaoran. Why don’t you like him? He’s so adorable." She said, picking up the large bear-looking youngster, who still tried vainly to lean out of her arms and get a good grip on his shoe.

"Name one thing he’s good for." Syaoran said, taking a long drink of the lemonade Meilin’s mother had prepared for them.

"He’s a good friend." She said, playing with the little puppy’s huge paws. ignoring it’s attempts to bite the hands controlling him.

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Dogs are good for nothing but destruction." He muttered.

Meilin’s mother strolled into the room, looking disconserted. Meilin set down her cup of drink and signed with her hands ‘what is it’. Syaoran still didn’t understand many of the signs in sign language, but he was picking up on it fast watching Meilin and her mother talk back and forth. Her mother signed rapidly in response. Syaoran caught ‘looking’ and ‘car’, but nothing else. He looked to Meilin to see her response. She signed something back and her mother smiled with releif, then walked over to a table at the far end of the room, picking up a set of keys. She then exited the scene.

Meilin wasn’t embaressed that her mother was deaf- it had happened a few years ago in a car wreck, and since she was with Syaoran so much, she didn’t care if he saw them signing back and forth. If it was someone else that didn’t know her as well, though, Meilin might have tried to hide the fact. Syaoran looked back to his drink and stirred around a straw just to watch the liquid swirl around. It helped him pretend he wasn’t as hot as he actually was, sitting in this room with the windows all open to the hot Hong Kong day outside. I hope Japan is colder.

"So what time are you taking me riding today?" Meilin asked, hoping that this approach would get her a free horse ride with Syaoran.

"Quarter past nothing. It’s too hot." Syaoran said.

"Come on! Not if you’re on a big horse like that one they had you training on. I’m sure the climate’s much different at that altitude." Meilin reasoned.

Syaoran sighed. This wasn’t a very exciting day. But he didn’t mind. Taking a break was exactly what he needed, though it was boring, he needed a little boringness in his life every now and then. He went to take some ice from a pitcher on the table next to him when he froze. Something was wrong. He sat back, frowning with concentration.

"What’s wrong?" Meilin asked, picking up right away.

Syaoran chose to ignore her and continue thinking. Magic somewhere...Japan of course. His frown deepened. Nothing was happening yet, but it was definitely building up. It was going to be something big. It’s a Clow card. Probably two if I can sense it here. Or maybe I’ve just gotten accustomed to sensing these things? He chewed on the inside of his lip. It’s going to be really bad. And Sakura’s by herself... His plane tickets were booked for five days from then. "I’ve got to go now." Syaoran realized, saying it outloud. He quickly acted by getting up and collecting his stuff.

"Go where?" Meilin asked, standing up also. When he didn’t answer, she more persistently grabbed his arm. "Go where?"

Syaoran shook his head and threw his bookbag over his shoulder, pulling his arm out of Meilin’s grasp and hurrying out the door. He quickly began running. Seconds could count. He didn’t want to end up being too late. "Thanks for the lemonade, Meilin!" He called over his shoulder.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It might have just been Syaoran’s imagination, but there seemed to be a wind picking up in his house as he rushed around trying to get everything. He hoped there was some type of flight available soon. But of course there would be. There were always flights from Hong Kong to Yokohama. He guiltily stole his oldest sister’s credit card, writing a note of apology, and also asking if they would cancel his tickets booked for saturday, then hurried to stuff the rest of his things into a carry-on bag.

After only about ten minutes, Syaoran was running out the door again, quickly heading to the nearest bus stop. He hoped whatever was building up would wait to strike after he arrived. Hopefully Sakura can handle it on her own until then.

After the short busride to the airport, Syaoran went through things like a breeze. Generally someone his age would be frightened of travelling alone- especially when they had to pretend they were someone else so they’d be old enough to buy the ticket, but he was too busy worrying about the accumulating magic that he didn’t really care about the airport’s large atmosphere. He was, however, horribly depressed to find that the next open flight wasn’t until three in the afternoon. Syaoran hastily bought it anyway, and grumpily took his ticket and walked on to the gate where he’d have to spend half the day sitting in one of those cold hard chairs. Not fun. Just hold on Sakura. I’ll be there soon. Syaoran hoped soon was soon enough.

________________________________________________________________________

Sakura’s legs ached. Her ankle that had been dislocated forever ago in Hyrule and had long since healed ached. Her arms ached from pumping herself to run faster, her hand hurt from gripping the staff, her fingers felt like they were permanently stuck holding it. The soles of her feet were numb from constantly hitting the ground. Her voice ached from shouting spells at the spider to keep it after her. Her brain hurt from the constant adreniline that was fueling its thoughts. But she continued on none the less, gasping for air, falling into a clumsy rhythm that somehow managed to let her run across Moondust’s vast pasture. How she wished she could be on the horse, letting it do the running. But so far she hadn’t even come across the animal, and the spider behind her continued to grow and quicken, and along with the larger body it seemed to have a smaller capacity for patience. Stupid horse probably is hiding. Or jumping the fence. Who knows. She’s probably just standing around, waiting to watch me die.

She spotted her. The silvery animal was pacing back and forth at the back fence, her head turned in their direction. Sakura knew the spider was behind her, because she was constantly darting it’s webbing that fell like sticky snow around her. Of course the horse would run away if Sakura tried to get near, bringing the giant spider friend behind her. But I can’t do this anymore! "MOONDUST!" She shouted, though her dry throat and out of breath lungs didn’t do a very good job at getting her voice out. She took a larger breath and tried again. "Moondust!"

The horse whinnnied. Fullheartedly. Sakura didn’t know what that meant, but it almost sounded friendly. Could it be...could the horse actually want to help her? Sakura pushed this away as wishful thinking and pushed her way through the tall grass to the pacing horse. As she neared, the horse got a wild look in her eyes and was hopping around, trying to find a good direction before launching out, taking off, and galloping away from Sakura and the frightening scene. But Sakura was close, she could almost touch the horse, though she kept moving around...

Moondust had had enough, and started to take off. Sakura had been expecting this though, and for the split second where she could still keep up with the horse, she ran beside her and wrapped Moondust’s thick silver mane around her hands. The rest was pure luck. Sakura didn’t have a clue what she did, but something in the momentum swept her feet right from under her in a smooth motion, bringing them up high enough to where all Sakura did was pull with her arms and she landed with a thud atop the galloping horse.

Despite all the amazement and self-pride Sakura was feeling, she forced herself to remember the spider. Not that it was hard to forget. It was almost stepping on them. Sakura had nothing to rein Moondust with, and realized that, no matter how much she was enjoying sitting, she might have to bail if Moondust was going to jump the fence. She couldn’t let the spider follow her and Moondust back into town. The whole objective of Sakura’s long run was to get the spider here so she could fight it. Sakura turned and looked for a main part of the spider, and shouted the firespin spell yet again, holding her staff with as much determination as she could have.

The flame was huge- probably Sakura’s best attack ever. She watched as the hot wind pushed back on her face and dazzled her eyes with light the flame hit the spider’s giant side. A horrible singing smell and alot of smoke were all Sakura knew for a few seconds, then a loud thudding noise filled her ears. After everything subsided, Moondust, much to Sakura’s surprise, slowed to a canter, and went in a curve back around to the spider’s territory. Sakura tried not to think about this now, and concentrated on the spider, which was recovering with Sakura’s attack and was coming at them with it’s fangs ready. Sakura bit her lip and gripped Moondust’s mane with fear. Why was the horse bringing her back to face this?

The spider struck. It struck so fast that Sakura hardly knew what was happening. But Moondust, amazingly turning out to be some kind of combat animal, was ready, and darted out of the way, coming to a sudden halt, then accelerated into an amazingly fast gallop. Sakura was almost unseated, and Moondust seemed to try and accomadate by smoothing out and allowing her to catch her balance before moving out again. Sakura wrapped her mane around her hands again, then looked around at where they were. Moondust had darted under the spider’s legs, and now they were under the shadow of the large spider. Sakura looked up at the gross black and brown spines and scales of the spider’s exoskeleton that ended at a certain point of the spider’s underside. There it was soft. Sakura was amazed at Moondust’s brilliance. Did the horse run here with fear, or was there something to the animal? Should she be surprised? It was Syaoran’s horse, anyway.

But these thoughts were not running across Sakura’s mind at the time, Instead she was shouting out the firespin spell and hoping strongly that she could get another attack. She doubted, though, because she had already used so much magic up. Sakura tried not to concentrate on her doubt and tried to focus on the spell itself. Fire spun out and went straight up, sending a shower of sparks on Sakura and Moondust, singing parts of their flesh and burning small circles through the shoulders of Sakura’s T-shirt and blacking tips of their hair. Sakura planted her heels into the horse’s sides to move, not wanting to get caught by any other falling debris that would be Moondust’s burnt underside.

She didn’t need to spur Moondust on, because the horse was already a step ahead of her, and was galloping to her full extent. The spider’s legs had gone lopsided, like it was about to collapse. But it couldn’t collapse! Not yet, anyway, with Sakura and Moondust still under it. But the spider was coming down despite anything they could do, and Sakura found the spider’s disgusting and foul smelling body coming fast down on them. "Mamoru!" Sakura called up her shield as fast as she could, but she already felt the spider’s body crashing on top of her, embedding peices into her hair, covering her with the stench she was trying to avoid. Not to mention the green goo that had managed to get all over her before she could get her shield up.

The spider fell around them, crashing into the shield and making grinding noises as it came down. As soon as peices of the dead spider hit the ground, they were dissolved away, as if their purposes were gone. Sakura held the shield up until she was positive all danger had passed, then, because of her weak and used-up magic, it faded away, leaving Moondust and Sakura open to the evening sky. She was still breathing heavily, shaking all over, and incredibly sore. It took Sakura’s mind a few moments to come back to the rational and civil world, and thoughts began to race through.

I still haven’t seen the card’s form. She looked to the sky. I’ve been fighting this since I woke up this morning. It was only like eleven. Now it looks like it’s five. Sakura knew she had ran for a long time, but wow. She had really outdone herself this time. I still have to seal these cards. She sighed and sat still for a long while, catching her breath. Moondust was breathing fairly normal under her by now, having only run for a little while. Sakura patted the horse’s shoulder, bewildered by the horse’s sudden willingness to help.

Her break was cut short. In the distance of the field, there was a spider starting to rise out of the grass. Along with a locust fluttering around. Along with a garden snake, which was peaking it’s head out of the waist high grass. Moondust began to back up, her legs shaky under Sakura’s unsteady hold, ready to bolt in any safe direction. Sakura gripped her staff and gulped hard. No way. No way could she fight all of this at the same time! Sakura pointed her staff at the still half way small locust and shouted out the flaming spell, then quickly pointed it at the spider, and did all of this in quick succession, hoping to get them while they were still small, and her attacks would be enough.

More things came up out of Moondust’s innocent pasture. Moondust had had enough, and decided to make a run for it, fleeing for the safety and protection of the woods. Sakura just hung on and sat along the ride. She found that all kinds of interesting *little* insects were now rising out of the grass for their day of glory, becoming grotesquely huge. Moondust reared up suddenly and stomped on a growing snake, saving Sakura once, then again by kicking out behind her and nailing a locust with her back leg. Sakura couldn’t use her firespin attack anymore. They were in a forest with many trees and dry branches. But she knew nothing else. I have magic. Good magicians have no limits to what they can do. I should be able to make up my own spells. Sakura wished this was true. But she still held so much doubt in herself. No. I can do this!

"Air and wind! Bind my foes down! I, Sakura, command it!" She shouted, slamming her staff down into the air alongside her as Moondust continued to canter along. In a great shot of light, a rush of air that was sourced from Sakura, went out in a giant circumference, hitting all of the air creatures and slamming them into trees, or ground, if necessary. Sakura looked with wide eyes at what she had done. How had she done that? Sakura looked at her staff. It wasn’t any different. She had just made her own spell. She had manipulated magic for herself. A surge of energy and hope went through her.

Suddenly a rush of wind fell aroud Sakura and Moondust, and the mare came to a hesitant halt, holding her head up in the air with nostrils flared to try and see what was amiss. In a roar of wings, thousands of giant locusts flew into the air, and hundreds of spiders popped up from around the ground, making a threatening circle around Sakura. She looked with wild eyes at all of them. There would be no way... Sakura shouted her last spell, making a huge circle of wind that knocked the majority of the animals away. Others that survived had landed on Sakura and were scratching at her bare arms and poking at the singed parts of her flesh that had caught the after effects of her own firespin attack. She swatted at them with fear and kicked Moondust, hoping the breeze of the horse running would be enough blow off the bugs. She shouted her spell again, but she suspected it was getting weaker. What was she supposed to do now? She steered with her legs, and Moondust listened, spinning around just as Sakura had asked. She found herself facing three giant spiders, all already starting to rival the heigth of their surroundings. Sakura gathered herself for another round.

"Hi ga tsuku!" She relayed back to the firespin that had gotten the other spider. A very sad attempt at a flame hit the left spider and thoroughly injured it, but didn’t kill it. The other two remained unscathed. Moondust was starting to back away with nervousness. Sakura kept her legs pinned against her sides, holding her still. "Enough! Leave me alone!" But she had nothing to back up her words. The spiders grew quickly, much more quickly than their very first friend, and were fast getting taller than Moondust. Sakura twisted the horse’s coarse mane around her fingers tightly, her mind going blank.

Think! Think you clumsy girl! Sakura held her staff and decided to try something out. "Tsuyomaru!" She shouted to her staff. Nothing happened. "Tsuyomaru! Sakura commands it!" She said angrily. The staff began to glow. That was a good sign. Sakura’s whole arm was beginning to feel a little odd. With this action already taken, Sakura kicked Moondust forward, heading for the narrow space between the two spiders. She swung her staff at both of them, hard, slicing through two of their side legs, her staff grinding in protest as she forced it through. The power running through her arm was going shakey. She didn’t have much magic left. She quickly turned Moondust, feeling the horse’s perfect balance quickly spin them around, then leaned forward as the horse jumped back into her gallop. Sakura swung her staff at both of the bugs again, sending them crashing to the ground. Moondust, your turn to help out.

She directed the horse at one of the spiders and Moondust reared up and crashed down hard on the body of the spider, cracking through it’s hard exterior and shooting up bits of its guts into the air. Sakura did her best to stay out of the spray, and quickly turned Moondust to the other spider, which was trying to get up. Come on... Moondust had already picked up on the pattern, and crashed into the other spider. Sakura ignorantly wiped the peices of insides that splattered across her face and galloped Moondust forward, shouting her wind spell at the locusts trying to fight her. They fell to the ground, and were not followed by anything else.

The silence now felt erie to Sakura, and she had a moment to reflect on herself. She felt so dead- so machine like- so programmed. All of her mind was filled with battle tactics, and she found it hard to come back out of the violent state of mind. She didn’t beleive her breathing was ever going to come back to her, it was still rapid and starting to be painful as her sides grew tired of breathing as she was. "Reveal yourself, card!" Sakura shouted. It felt like a Clow card, but the cards that were sitting at the top of her closet at home were Star cards. At least most of them. So she figured she’d play it safe by calling it ‘card’.

Her ears rang for the moment of deafening silence, then were interrupted by the Big and the Little appearing. Sakura looked at both of them unsurely. Which one to get first? And who was to tell her that while she was sealing one, the other one wouldn’t attack? She didn’t care. She was sick of fighting. She was exhausted. Sakura, with her last bit of strength, brought her arms up and then brought the staff down on the Big’s form. With a cry of anger, the Big was disappearing back into one of the warped cards- the ones with the scary red eyes that followed you wherever you held it. Sakura’s arms immediatly weighed two tons heavier as she forced them to hold her staff, as the rapid magic withdrawl was taking all of her remaining energy from her. Sakura took her arms back and took the card, though her eyelids felt too heavy to look at it. Yep. It was messed up, just as she had though it would be.

Sakura looked to the Little, but didn’t see it. Where had it rushed off to? She turned her head around to try and see it, but it was nowhere. Instead, her weary eyes met two eyes that were locked on hers, full of concern, that were running over to her. Sakura’s brain barely registered him. Her quick wave of sleepiness hardly allowed her to think logically, let alone recognize people. Syaoran, in a full sprint, though holding his eyes on her, was approaching Moondust’s side, his sword and sheath rattling loudly on his shoulder as he ran. He stopped at Moon’s left side and wordlessly pulled her down off the mare. Sakura had to lean all her weight on his shoulders for a second, before she could remember how to stand, then eased off him. She would have liked nothing more than to collapse in his arms- collapse anywhere for that matter- but she wasn’t done. One more card left. Sakura fought for her own self-pride and pushed him away, ignoring the surpised look he was giving her, then immediatly spotted the Little. She took the last of her strength and took up her staff and slammed it down, collapsing to her knees herself.

At first she wasn’t sure if she had enough energy to seal it. But she had to. If she didn’t, then this victory would not be true. Sakura grit her teeth and poured every ounce of energy out, forcing it into a card. The Little put up a good fight for being such a useless card, then finally gave up and sealed, all noise finally subsiding, the battle finally over. Sakura took the card and tried to look at it, but her eyes went blurry, and the corners of them were turning black.

Sakura was helpless to stop it. The black was drifting in from the corners and starting to close over. What happened when the blackness met in the middle of her eyes? Closer and closer it came...

And Sakura fainted.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Poor poor Sakura. I can’t stand spiders, I couldn’t deal. Oh well. Who would want to read about boring normal people who are afraid of spiders? It’s much more exciting to read about Card Mistress here. Well I’m so tired, I don’t have alot of time for an author’s note. No one reads these, anyway.

But for you really cool people that are reading this, I’d love to get comments from you at [email protected] *or* if that address doesn’t work- because hotmail’s stupid and dumb and it often doesn’t give me emails people have sent and then i don’t reply and the people who sent the comments think i’m a jerk, but i’m REALLY not- it’s just hotmail screwing me over- Email me at [email protected] That one will definitely work. So if I don’t reply to you and you sent to that address, either my dad deleted it before I read it or I actually am a jerk. Oh and if you want to talk to me on AOL my sn’s SyaoranFan4Life

My sites at geocities.com/KeanusHorseChic

Oyasumi Nisai (for me anyway- it’s night time when I’m writing this)

~SyaoranFan4Life~