RECAP:
Last chapter Sakura and Syaoran (And Meilin/Tomoyo/Bob/Kero) fight off the Storm card, then Syaoran gets sick from the rain he had been out in. His cold turns into pneumonia, so Sakura goes to visit him one day after school and falls asleep there, then wakes up because she senses the Woody. She goes down in the lobby of the apartment building and fights it, Syaoran has to help her but he is still sick and the poor guy got beat out of consciousness. Sakura found out that Aruka is Chindra’s mother, a whole bunch of other stuff, I’m too lazy to write it out so you can reread that.Chapter 20
Syaoran tried to open his heavy eyelids, but sleep continued to tempt him, his eyes dying to return to the sleep they had been in for the past day and night. Syaoran finally got his right eye to open, and his left followed, and he found himself looking around the room with blurry eyes. What happened? Did we defeat the Woody? All I remember is going down to the lobby...and what? Woody had Sakura trapped, I think I got her out. Yes I did, she was with me that night. So how did I get back to my room?
Syaoran left those thoughts alone for a while and tried to concentrate on one thing at a time. He tried to swallow, but his thought didn’t want to accept the task, as it stung as he forced the spit down. His throat felt completly raw, the lingering taste of blood seemed to burn his mouth. Syaoran would have coughed, but he seemed incapable, so he took a shaky breath and tried to collect himself.
Syaoran felt his eyes threatening to close again, and this time he decided it was permittable. He felt so horrible, why did he want to be conscious and be forced to survive this pain awake? Only when a singing voice filled his ears did he force his eyes to stay open.
"Syaoran, can you hear me?" Sakura asked, looking with the same teary eyes at him that she had had for the past two days. It was Monday already, a whole day had passed where Syaoran was in unconsciousness or very close to it, sleeping steadily. She had come to his apartment right after school, Tomoyo coming along for the trip.
Syaoran looked to his side and saw a blurry figure of a girl, a girl he remembered was very important. Is that Sakura? So she’s definitely okay. That’s good. Seeing her made his mind at peace, and he let his eyes close over again.
"Please Syaoran, don’t go to sleep yet, you have to take this medicine!" Sakura said, holding a glass of hot tea and a handful of pills.
Syaoran sighed inwardly, hearing that voice again. Sakura is talking to me. Syaoran opened his lagging eyelids, meeting her blurry figure again. He saw her move near him, he could feel pressure on his arm, but beyond that, Syaoran did not see anything. "Okay Syaoran. You have to swallow this."
Swallow. That was the one thing Syaoran was trying not to do. Why was Sakura making him do it? Medicine. That’s what she said she had. It will make me feel better, I should take it. Syaoran attempted to nod, though he wasn’t sure if he had suceeded in making his head move or not.
Sakura took his hand and put the two pills in him, then pushed his hand back. "Swallow those." She ordered.
Syaoran could feel something in his hand, he could feel his hand being moved for him, but he had a hard time getting it to his mouth himself. Syaoran begged and pleaded with his arm until it reached his mouth, and he dropped the pills in. Preparing himself for the incredible burning pain, Syaoran swallowed the pills, trying to get them to slide down easily. They didn’t, they seemed to linger on the raw walls of his throat, adding to the burning sensation that was plaguing him. Syaoran’s whole body cringed as he forced them down, though they seemed stuck in his sore throat.
Sakura’s eyes brimmed with tears watching him, and she quickly tried to make it feel a little better. Sakura held the cup of tea to his lips. "This should feel better." Sakura said, tipping the cup.
Syaoran swallowed the small amount that he could. True, the pills seemed to be washed away with the drink, but the hot tea burned the dry blood that had attatched itself around, and Syaoran cringed yet again. Sakura set the cup down and went to trying to comfort him, stroking the top of his head. "I’m so sorry Syaoran. Those should help, you must be hurting so much!" Sakura’s tears started making their way down, but Sakura knew Syaoran couldn’t see them, so she didn’t bother brushing them away.
The pain had grown to an unbearable level. Syaoran could feel something comforting, but he couldn’t tell what or where it was coming from. He tried to focus on that pinhole of light as he closed his eyes, and he slowly fell back into an unconscious sleep.
Sakura took her hand off him after a while, seeing that he was in a deep sleep, and stood away. She walked over to her chair and started looking through the books she had dragged in from their den, books on every spell and use of magic imaginable. From her reading she had found that there was incredible benefits in becoming a master magician, no limits could contain your magic, you were free to do anything you could think of.
Right now she was concentrating on dreaming spells, and was in an interesting chapter about communication through dreams. She turned a page and started skimming through. A magician is able to focus magic into entering other’s dreams, whether magician or not, and communicate with one in that dream. Subjects having the dream will not necessarily remember what you have told them inside these dreams, being only a projection in their subconscious, but higher level magicians should be able to use magic into peices of information that a subject can remember.
Sakura looked up from the book and rested her eyes on Syaoran. He had been having very vivid dreams from the looks of how he slept, as Sakura would watch him from the chair next to his bed. Sakura bit her lip, thinking. I could talk to him all about what Chindra told me in his dream, who knows if he still remembers what I told him before. He was so sick when I said all that stuff, then this happened, there’s a good change he doesn’t remember. But then again, dreams are very private. I mean, what if he had entered the dream I had last week...Sakura could still remember the image of Tomoyo and Syaoran, no matter how much time had passed.
Syaoran groaned and rolled over beside her, turning his back to her. Sakura frowned and watched him for a while to make sure he was okay, then looked back a the book. At the bottom of the page it held the words of the spell, which Sakura was dying to try out. That would be so cool... Sakura looked at Syaoran carefully. If I try this spell any other time while he’s healthy, he’d probably wake up before I could finish it...I mean, he’d understand. I’m just trying to expand my magic skills, right? Right.
Sakura looked nervously at the page, then at Syaoran. I want to talk to him. There’s not harm in trying to talk to someone. Sakura called out her staff, then gripped it tightly. Do I really want to go through with this? Once I do it, it’s done. Sakura looked over the page. I can leave whenever I want. He won’t know I entered the dream, he’ll just think I’m part of it.
Sakura nodded to herself, then concentrated. She put her hand on Syaoran’s arm, then closed her eyes. She looked down at the page with one open eye and read the spell aloud, enforcing the last word with an authoritic voice. She slammed her staff down next to her, keeping that one hand on Syaoran’s arm.
- - - - -
Sakura would have screamed, only she couldn’t; her voice was lost in the sounds of something else. Sakura realized her eyes were shut, and she opened them, her eyes opening to the beautiful landscape of a Hong Kong home. A large group of horses with riders were next to her. Sakura wasn’t sure if they could see her or not, so she hid behind a bush, peering over it.
There were a number of girls, all fairly young, all slightly resembling each other. They must all be sisters. Sakura looked over their horses, amazed at the beauty of each animal they were on. Sakura looked up at a huge horse, one bigger than she had ever seen, it’s large hooves covered by feathering black hair brushed down from its legs. The horse was a large bay, it’s body a rich brown color, his mane and tail both a deep black. Sakura looked up at the rider who dared to ride such a big animal and saw a man, his dark brown hair perfectly matching his horse’s fur, his eyes a rich brown that seemed to compliment the whole pair.
Something about that man was fimiliar to Sakura, though she didn’t know what. Sakura gazed at him for a while, when he spoke. His deep voice was calling someone, though Sakura couldn’t make out his words, it seemed the dream was distorted to her ears. Sakura looked at the direction the man was looking. His eyes were looking at a very young boy, a boy that wasn’t very tall, very small, though his large fiery eyes seemed to make up for what his heigth lacked.
Is that...is that Syaoran!? Sakura looked with wonder at the young boy standing against a fence, petting a small grey horse, perhaps a foal, not born much earlier than the time this was taking place. A girl with blonde hair was petting the horse also, her blue eyes also fimiliar to Sakura. I’ve seen her somewhere.... Sakura thought hard. That must be Moondust. So who else knows Moondust besides Syaoran? Sakura’s brain started to register the face. That’s Amy! That’s the girl from the States, the one that had known Syaoran! Her family used to be in charge of the stable! Of course!
The sound of a horse trotting up from behind made Sakura turn. A young smiling black haired girl about the same age as Syaoran and Amy was riding on a small pony. "Syaoran! Syaoran!" The girl called, hopping off her horse.
That’s Meilin. Does everyone ride horses here?
One of the girls on a horse looked down at her little brother. "Syaoran if you want to come with us, you’ve gotta stop petting the baby." She said, looking at the grey dappled foal.
Syaoran looked up, smiling. Sakura could have melted on the spot, seeing Syaoran’s heart warming and genuine smile. A smile Sakura had seen only a few times in her life. She watched the boy with dazzled eyes, watching him run up to his father’s monster of a horse with such energy. The amber haired boy grabbed the front of the saddle his father was riding on and climbed up onto the huge animal, his father aiding him in his short mountain climb.
"See you later Meilin and Amy!" Syaoran said to them, then looked at the foal. "And you Moondust!" He said, smiling.
"Quit calling her that, it’s a stupid name." One of his sisters said from her small horse.
"I don’t see anyone else naming her." Syaoran said from in front of his father, crossing his arms indignantly.
So Syaoran was always stubborn. Sakura looked at the man for a while and slowly realized who he was. That must be...that must be Syaoran’s father. Syaoran must be so young...He looks so scrawny. Sakura felt a wave of sadness go over her. Syaoran was so happy right now, he didn’t seem anything like the angry boy she knew now.
The happy scene changed abruptly, it was dark outside, rain was pouring down. A group of girls were dressed in black, all their faces downcast. A woman that looked older than the rest had her arm over a small boy, looking down. The amber haired boy was staring forward with a look of awful hurt, a pained look Sakura had never seen Syaoran have before.
His mother turned and took her hand off his shoulder, speaknig some words to him. Syaoran didn’t seem to acknowledge them, he only stared forward. The mother walked off and the group of girls followed her, some crying, others staring coldly down. But the amber haired boy stood completly still, his feiry eyes brimming with tears. Sakura peered around from the tree she had been standing at and looked at the boy with tears in her own green eyes, slowly collecting the rainy scene.
A cemetry stretched in front of the boy, and he stood in front of a small grave, decorated with new flowers. The boy looked down at the ground, his tears falling, mixing with the rain that fell down his cheeks. Sakura couldn’t take it anymore, and she walked forward, stepping next to the boy. She put her hand on his small shoulder, looking down at him. The boy took his teary eyes up and looked at her, frowning through his tears.
"He still loves you." Sakura said, looking deep into the boy’s large eyes.
The boy turned his head to the ground, his eyes turning cold. "You don’t know what you’re talking about." He said, frowning the pain away.
Sakura wanted to talk more to him, but he turned away and ran, through the cemetery gates and down the grass road, out of Sakura’s side. She watched him go, then walked forward to look at the grave. 1992, July 16. Sakura frowned, stepping back. Is that Syaoran’s birthday?
The scene changed again, and the once happy little boy looked feirce, holding a sword that looked too big for him. His mother had her hand on his shoulder again, as he stared forward. He looked a few years older, but still much younger than the strong Syaoran Sakura knew now.
"...You do not have to do this. Someone else will be appointed." The mother said.
The boy sneezed once, but quickly looked back up, holding his sword tightly. He glared forward still, not looking to his side.
"Please be careful." The mother continued, her eyes softening.
"I won’t fail." The boy said, ignorant of the streams of amber hair that fell into his eyes.
The woman started singing, words Sakura didn’t know, a language she hadn’t heard, but the song was beautiful and mind captivating, it’s melody already imprinting itself into Sakura’s head. Syaoran’s furious eyes softened into sadness, he looked down at the ground, frowning to keep his eyes shaded, to not let any tears fall.
"Please, son. Don’t do this." She said, completing a verse of the song.
The boy shook his head, frowning furiously. "I must."
"It wasn’t your fault!" Said a girl standing nearby, one of his sisters.
Syaoran glared immediatly at her, his young large eyes holding more anger than any other average seven year old.
Syaoran walked out of his mother’s hold to a horse Sakura hadn’t noticed, hopping onto it lightly. The young boy looked like he didn’t have enough strength to control such a large animal, but he did it anyway. The horse sped quickly away, Syaoran holding the sword at his side.
Sakura frowned, the scene was fading into black, she didn’t know what was happening. Where did Syaoran go? What’s happening? The dream was ending, but Sakura didn’t know what she should do. I’ve got to get out before I am stuck in this blackness! Sakura took her staff and spun it, shouting the words she had called earlier to enter.
- - - - -
Sakura could feel gravity leave her for a moment, but as it returned, she found herself sitting in the same chair she had been earlier. Sakura looked around for a second, trying to make sure she was in the real world, not a dream version. Sure enough, Syaoran, the stronger thirteen year old Syaoran, was breathing shallowly beside her, lying completly still.
Sakura looked at the clock and was surprised to see that only two minutes had passed since she had left. It felt like an eternity, was I really only there for two minutes? I didn’t even get to talk to him! Sakura studied Syaoran’s sleeping face. Was that just a dream? Did that really happen?
The song his mother had been singing was ringing through her head, it’s haunting melody making her stop her thoughts for a moment, and Sakura found herself just wanting to concentrate on the music. Sakura looked at Syaoran once her head had cleared. Why were you so angry? Just because your father died, it doesn’t mean you have to be so angry. You were so happy when you were little!
Meilin walked into the room, holding a cup of steaming tea. "Do you need any more? That cup probably went cold."
Sakura nodded. "I got him to take his pills, you can drink that yourself if you want. I’m going to leave soon anyway, I’ve got some homework I need to get started on." Sakura said.
Meilin nodded, though she seemed lost in thought for a moment. She seemed to realize she had been standing in the same spot, and she turned and walked out of the room. Sakura watched Syaoran for a few more minutes, then made her exit.
_____________________________________________________________
Sakura sat on the piano bench in music, chewing on the end of her pen cap, trying to think up the next line in their song. She and Tomoyo were having another project in music class to make up an original song with 3/4 timing. Sakura found she was having trouble thinking up anything, she had seemed to waste all her originality on the previous peice they had made. Tomoyo was scribbling down what they had come up with so far, though it wasn’t very much.
"What do you want for your birthday?" Tomoyo asked as she finished off the last of the treble clef line.
"Someone to take the cards from me." Sakura said, fiddling with the keys on the piano and trying out a line.
"Heheh, but Sakura, then you would be bored to death sitting at home without any action." Tomoyo said, laughing.
"You’re probably right, but as of right now, I am not exactly enjoying this action with the cards. I feel so awful for Syaoran, it’s not fair he should have to suffer. I wish I had a Heal card."
"Maybe he isn’t meant to help you with your cards." Tomoyo said reasonably.
Sakura frowned and looked from her keys, wondering what Tomoyo meant. A high squeak from Naoko’s clarinet made them both jump. She smiled apologetically, taking the clarinet down from her lips. "Sorry everyone." She said.
Sakura grinned and looked down. "At least we don’t have to worry about our piano squeaking when we preform." She said.
"Definitely." Tomoyo said. "Has Chindra told you any new stuff?"
"No, not really. We’ve talked about the other stuff, but I think that’s all she knows. I just can’t beleive I am fighting against Clow Reed. I’m not sure I beleive her."
"Yeah, it sounds kind of fishy to me." Tomoyo said.
"So what are you getting me for my birthday?" Sakura asked, grinning.
"Well I am trying to figure out what you want, but you’re not helping me out any." Tomoyo said.
"Tickets to the Shiro-ame concert would be wonderful." Sakura said, looking up dreamily.
"Heh, um..." Tomoyo said.
"Just kidding, I wouldn’t expect you to pay that much for my present, goodness! No, I can always use some more battle outfits! I like the same music you do, you know that, umm...I don’t really care what you get me. I really don’t care if you get me anything." Sakura said frankly.
"Of course I’ll get something for my best friend’s birthday!" Tomoyo said.
____________________________________________________________________
Two nights went by with Sakura not getting to see Syaoran because she was busy after school. When she finally got to see him, he was looking alot better, he could at least move his limbs, he was able to breath without looking like he was in dyer pain, and he could drink things easily. Sakura made him eat some soft noodles, reasoning he was going to die of starvation if he didn’t eat, though he had made horrible faces at her the whole time he forked the noddles into his mouth.
Sakura was happy that it was the weekend again- things had been pretty quiet magic wise, no ghosts had shown up, Sakura’s cards remained unchanged. Sakura talked to Chindra frequently, though Chindra didn’t have much more information to tell her.
Presently Sakura was walking down the sidewalk from school to Syaoran’s apartment, accompanied by Meilin. They had stopped by the video store on the way home, getting several different movies that Syaoran might tolerate watching. It was very awkward walking with this girl now; Sakura wasn’t sure whether Meilin hated her or not, sometimes she’d be friendly, other times completly cold. Sakura tried to stay on her good side, though sometimes it seemed she didn’t have any.
"Any more cards escape?" Meilin asked.
"No, nothing yet. Hopefully the cards finally decided to settle down." Sakura said.
Meilin looked sideways at Sakura, trying to contain her jealousy. "You know we are going to have to go back to Hong Kong sometime, Syaoran doesn’t have to stay and help you."
Sakura frowned, that thought never occuring to her. "Does he want to go back?" Sakura asked, sadness and worry starting to take to her.
"I can’t imagine why not. He misses his family, I mean, we hardly ever go to visit, he stayed in Japan last summer break. You shouldn’t make him feel like he has to stay."
Sakura didn’t know what to say, Syaoran never said anything about not wanting to give his help, he had always seemed willing to protect her. Then again, Sakura couldn’t imagine being away from her family for so long. "I’m not making him stay, I mean, I wouldn’t keep him from seeing his family."
"But you are. Don’t you see? Of course Syaoran wouldn’t say anything about wanting to leave, he’s not like that." Meilin said.
Sakura stayed quiet, trying not to beleive Meilin’s words. "Are you going back to Hong Kong?" She asked finally.
"Yes, in a couple weeks." Meilin said, her voice almost sounding happy.
"Is...is Syaoran going with you? I mean, are you both leaving?"
Meilin sighed. "Hopefully. I’m not sure, if he’s still recovering from being this sick, I’m not going to drag him on an airplane."
Sakura looked at the ground she was walking on with a sick stomach. She couldn’t beleive Syaoran would actually leave her, not while everything was happening. She had been thinking that they were finally getting along, they were finally friends again. What Meilin had just said felt like a bomb in Sakura’s mind. She didn’t say anything, not wanting to give Meilin the satisfaction that she had succeeded in making Sakura sad. They walked silently across the parking lot into the lobby, then went up by the elevator.
Sakura almost smiled as she saw the hall across the way was taped up with caution tape as the custodians were still working to clean up the mysterious mess. She and Meilin walked out of the elevator and walked down the hallway with the uncomfortable silence hanging over their heads, and Sakura was releived to part once they were in the living room.
Sakura walked down the hall and headed straight into Syaoran’s room. Syaoran was sitting out of his covers for the first time in days, holding a book in his hands, reading. He looked up from the book and half smiled at Sakura, Syaoran’s version of a smile, anyway.
"I’m still on chapter two." Sakura said, looking down with fake shame.
Syaoran grinned. "It’s horribly written." He said, putting in a ripped peice of paper to keep his place. He set the book down and stood up, much to Sakura’s surprise.
"Does Meilin know we’re walking now?" Sakura asked, knowing Meilin would freak out if she found Syaoran standing up.
Syaoran shrugged. "She knows I refuse to lay in the same spot for a week."
Sakura grinned. "But you have been in bed for a week."
Syaoran frowned. "Whatever."
Sakura and Syaoran stood silent for a moment, then Sakura remembered the movies they had rented. "We’ve got some movies!" Sakura said.
"What ones?" Syaoran asked.
"Uh...hmm I can’t remember. Meilin has them out in the kitchen if you want to watch them in your living room. Or do you have a tv somewhere else?" Sakura asked.
"No, just that one." Syaoran said. Sakura walked out of the room to the kitchen, Syaoran walking stiffly after her.
Meilin looked at Syaoran with wide eyes as he marched in from the hall. "Syaoran! You should be sleeping!"
"That’s all I’ve done all week!" Syaoran said. He hated to sleep right now- all his dreams had consisted of strange flashbacks, ones he tried so hard to block out of his mind. No matter how hard he tried to get himself to dream of something else, it was always the same flashbacks.
Meilin marched around the kitchen counter and guided Syaoran to the couch, making him sit down. "If you’re going to be up, you’ve got to sit. I don’t want you to have a relapse."
Syaoran rolled his eyes and looked longingly at the sliding doors that opened to the balcony connecting his room and the living room.
"No. No outside stuff." Meilin said. "What movie do you want to watch?"
Syaoran sighed, he didn’t feel like watching a movie right now. "I’m just going to watch tv, okay?"
Meilin shrugged and handed him the remote. Syaoran started flicking through channels, finally stopping at a soccer game. He didn’t know the teams, but at least he could watch his favorite sport being played.
"He looks alot better." Sakura said to Meilin as they finished unpacking the movies from the bag they had been in.
"Syaoran’s a master in deception. Don’t let him fool you, he probably feels like he’s going to die inside."
"Do not!" Syaoran called, not turning his head from the television.
Meilin sighed. "Let’s start on supper, shall we?"
Sakura nodded. "What are we making?"
"Dim sum!" Syaoran called from the couch.
Meilin shook her head. "We could make some yaki."
"No!" Came the voice from the couch.
"You hush Syaoran, I’m make that frozen pizza we’ve had!" Meilin yelled.
Syaoran was silent, he gave her a begging eye.
"He doesn’t like pizza?" Sakura asked, wondering how anyone could not like pizza.
"I dunno, all the sudden he just couldn’t stand pizza. I have no clue why." Meilin said.
"Oh, it’s probably because he was working-" Sakura stopped talking, as Syaoran went into a coughing fit. She stopped talking, and both her and Meilin looked at him worriedly.
Syaoran stopped abruptly, he wasn’t sure if they could tell that was a fake cough or not, but he gave Sakura a look of death before looking back to the television. Sakura bit her lip and looked down. I guess Meilin still doesn’t know he was working at the pizza place. I wonder why he doesn’t tell her?
"Anyway, for our healthy friend, we should make some healthy food. We are making...this." Meilin said, pulling out a cookbook and flipping through the pages. She pointed to a page with a picture of some weird vegetable assortment.
"Vegetarian’s paradise?" Sakura read off the top of the page.
"My family’s recipe!" Meilin said proudly, smiling.
Sakura smiled skeptically. "Alright...Well, we should start on the vegetables." Sakura said, giving up with reasoning.
________________________
Sakura pushed more lettuce around with her fork, watching the remaining tomatoes roll around on her plate. Meilin had shoveled down her food before Sakura was halfway down, probably because Meilin didn’t have to take a drink with ever spoonful just to keep the food down. Syaoran didn’t like it at all, he picked around at little bits he could stand, but mostly Syaoran and Sakura had rearranged everything on their plate rather than eating.
"You guys want to watch that movie?" Meilin asked.
"Which one?" Sakura asked, looking up from her food.
"Hmm..."Meilin hopped up from the couch and ran over to the kitchen counter, piling the DVD cases and carrying them over. "We’ve got a couple dubbed, several subtitled, a couple Japanese...." She laid them out.
"I want to go outside." Syaoran complained for the fiftieth time.
"Syaoran you know you can’t go outside. Come on, you pick one." Meilin ordered.
Syaoran sighed and looked down at the dozen movies put across the floor. "I don’t care. I should finish reading that stupid book, anyway."
"You’ve read enough today! Come on Syaoran, watch this with me!" Meilin pleaded, holding up a scary looking case.
Syaoran sighed again, a heavy sigh to let Meilin know he was annoyed. "Whatever." He mumbled, sitting back down out of his ready to run position.
Sakura looked nervously at the cover, it looked a little too scary for her taste. Sakura was going to say she needed to go home, but Syaoran got up first. "I’m making popcorn. Anyone else want any?"
Sakura nodded enthusiastically, she was still very hungry after eating the rabbit food.
Syaoran walked stiffly over to the kitchen, letting his barefeet find their own balance as he was still having slight trouble in that department of motor skills. Syaoran pulled a bag out of a box in the cupboard then put it in the microwave, setting the time. Syaoran was still exstremly weak, and with good cause, so he sat on the edge of the counter and let his tired legs dangle in the air.
Sakura watched some of the preveiws before the movie, then watched nervously as the beginning credits came across the screen. Meilin was watching intently, seemingly excited about this scary movie. Sakura sighed to herself, wishing she wasn’t such a wussy. I’ve seen a ghost in real life, I can’t even deal with a dubbed horror movie. This stinks.
Syaoran walked back over to the couch he had been sprawled across with the bag of good smelling popcorn. He sat down and opened it, leaning back out of the way of the hot steam that shot out of the open top. Sakura looked over at the bag with hopeful eyes. Syaoran took several peices of popcorn and tossed them over to Sakura. She caught most of them, but a stray kernel Syaoran had thrown landed lighting on top of Meilin’s piled up hair.
Meilin, so intently focusing on the movie, hadn’t noticed the stray white peice of popcorn now so rudely perching on her head. Sakura grinned, as did Syaoran, seeing it land. He took another kernel and carefull tossed it into the air. It landed solidly on top of the other kernel, now starting a small little tower.
Sakura tried to keep herself from laughing. Syaoran was grinning at Sakura, making Sakura feel an odd sensation that she always got when she met his eyes. Syaoran took out another kernel. What are the chances of this landing on top? Syaoran tossed it into the air, but instead of landing on top, it crashed into the other peices, causing them to fall down, right in front of Meilin’s eyes. She jumped backwards, then looked up at Sakura, fury in her eyes.
Sakura opened her eyes wide and innocently. "I didn’t-" Meilin was either in a really bad mood, or a very playful one, either way, she lept up from her seat on the floor in front of the television and sprung at Sakura.
Sakura knew perfectly well what Meilin was capable, she had seen Meilin fight the Fight card, she wasn’t about to be Meilin’s punching bag. Sakura did a very sloppy version of a roll over the back of the couch, running for her life. Meilin was full force after her, and this apartment was only so big, she was going to hit a wall sometime soon. Sakura quickly ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and expertly locking it all in one motion. Meilin’s fist banged on the door.
"Kinomoto! I was nice enough to let me come over! You repay me by throwing popcorn on my head!? Little witch! Come out!"
Sakura was laughing the hardest she had in a long while, though she didn’t really find any of this funny. Meilin’s temper had seemed to be completly against Sakura lately, now was the last straw. Sakura looked to her right and noticed the fire escape. She quickly opened the window as quietly as she could, ignoring Meilin’s screams and insults. Sakura climbed out onto the ladder and quickly climbed down, sprinting as hard as she could, running into the lobby through the side door.
There was a large line for the elevator at the moment, so Sakura headed up the stairs, quickly reaching their floor. Sakura reached their door and cautiously turned the handle, stepping inside. Syaoran, who was sitting on the couch, turned his head and saw her coming in, and he grinned.
Sakura smiled and put her finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet. Meilin was down the hall, still banging on the door. Sakura tiptoed into the living room, quietly reaching the couch she had been sitting on. She got an idea and decided to stick with it, quietly sitting down where she had been sitting. She met Syaoran’s watching eyes, who was watching all of this excitement with sparkling eyes of amusement.
Sakura tried desperately to keep a straight face and stared at the television screen, though she wasn’t actually watching any of it. The pounding on the door stopped, and Meilin walked into the living room, looking like a tea pot about to burst. She saw Sakura sitting with wide eyes.
"Wha-wha...."Meilin was half between a glare and a look of shock. Her eyes went narrow. "You little - !"Meilin left the insult unfinished, leaping at Sakura with more fury than she had before.
Not able to think of anything else, Sakura whipped her staff out and pulled out a card. "Flowery!" She yelled. Flowers of all different types and varities filled the hall Meilin was running out of, and very quickly Meilin was buried in flowers, her running stopped.
Syaoran looked at the pile of flowers trying to keep himself from laughing. He knew his throat would probably hurt unbearably if he laughd, so he held it in. He got up from the couch he had been sitting on and walked over to the new garden they had started in the middle of the hallway. Sakura walked over, holding her staff with a worried look on her face. "Oh my, she’s going to kill me." Sakura said, looking over the flowers.
"I like her better in flowers anyway." Syaoran said, picking up one of the pretty peonys on the top of the pile.
Meilin’s hand emerge through the top. The hand was quickly followed by the rest of her, which looked beyond irritated. She stared at Sakura with an angry look that made Sakura back up. "You just had to show me up with some magic, didn’t you?" She asked furiously.
Sakura didn’t know how she was going to get herself out of this one. "Heh, how foolish of me, I meant to plant this garden...um...somewhere more appropriate...I’m really sorry Meilin." Sakura said, knowing her story was beyond hope of being beleived.
Meilin stepped out of the pile of flowers, shedding several tulips as she brushed herself off. She walked uncomfortably close to Sakura, staring her straight in the eye. "I’m going to be so happy when I leave for Hong Kong." She said, glaring deep into Sakura’s emerald eyes.
Meilin charge off, walking around the pile of flowers to her room, where she slammed the door loud enough for the whole building to hear. Sakura cringed, then looked down at the ground, feeling horrible. "I shouldn’t of done that."
Syaoran shrugged, working on tying some flowers together by their stems. "Meilin is oversensitive sometimes. She’s be fine in a couple days, don’t worry."
"No, she told me when were walking to your house, she’s really going back to Hong Kong." Sakura said.
Syaoran looked up from the small chain of flowers he had started. "She goes back every year. She probably just decided to go early this summer. Don’t worry about it."
Sakura glanced up, then back down. It sure didn’t seem like that to me. It sounded a little more serious than that. "I should probably leave." Sakura said.
Syaoran nodded, then looked up at the pile of flowers blocking the most of the hallway. Sakura looked at it and remembered. "You’re right, I can’t leave you guys with that mess." Sakura looked through her cards and found the Erase. It felt dull and lifeless in her hand. No problem. Sakura thought, holding her wand out. She had read some things about erasing and disappearing spells a couple days ago, the words of the spell was still in her head. She spoke the ancient Chinese, needless to say surprising Syaoran, then flipped her wand around several times. Light shot around them, and Sakura blinked to gaurd her eyes from the bright flash.
As soon as she opened them again, the flowers were gone. Syaoran shivered, feeling a draft, and looked down, seeing much to his surprise his shirt had seemed to dissapear away with the flowers. Sakura looked up and put her hands over her mouth, seeing Syaoran cross his arms over his bare chest.
"Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!" Sakura said, glad her spell didn’t go too wrong, at least it was just his shirt.
Syaoran shrugged, trying to keep himself from shivering. "Just what exactly was the goal of that spell?" Syaoran asked Sakura.
Sakura didn’t understand what he meant for a second, then realized he was joking. Sakura laughed defensively. "Please, like I’d need a spell for that." When Sakura saw Syaoran grin, she realized she had worded that wrong. Syaoran turned and headed back to the couch he had been sitting on. "Come on, you knew what I meant!" Sakura said, stomping her foot with frustration in herself.
Syaoran looked at the television and watched the whole murder scene going, then sighed, bored with the movie. Sakura walked over from the hall and glanced at the tv, then jumped sideways as a masked figure popped out of nowhere.
"American movies too much for you?" Syaoran asked, looking up from the couch. "I don’t like them either." Syaoran said, stopping the movie with the remote, then getting up to take the dvd out of the machine.
Sakura watched him walk and looked with surprise seeing the deep scars across his lower stomach. Syaoran stopped what he was doing and looked at Sakura, seeing that she was staring at him. Syaoran frowned, trying to figure out exactly what she was staring at, looking down to make sure something vital hadn’t happened to the pants he was wearing.
"It’s not fair that you’re the one that always gets hurt." Sakura said, dragging her eyes down off his scars.
Syaoran realized that his two sword inflicted scars were across his stomach, and he looked down at them self consciously. "Don’t start that again, Sakura. I chose to let it happen, it’s not your fault."
Sakura looked down, feeling again the guilt she had that she wasn’t measuring up to her side of this friendship. "What Meilin said was right. You should go see your family. It’s not fair for you to have to stay here and keep getting hurt. I thought you were going to die, Syaoran, you couldn’t breath, and I...I just don’t want you to get hurt anymore. I don’t want anyone to get hurt anymore..." Sakura had more to say, but her voice was wavering, her eyes starting up the waterworks.
Syaoran’s eyes softened, seeing the tears that were brimming Sakura’s innocent emerald eyes. "I would go home if I wanted to." He said softly, walking over from the couches. He put a hand on her shoulder. "The last thing I want you to do is blame yourself, My decisions are my own, you shouldn’t feel responsible for them."
Sakura brushed her hands under her eyes and looked up, anger surpassing the tears in her eyes. "I hate them! I hate the Clow cards, I hate Clow Reed for giving them to me! I am not strong enough to keep them from him..." Sakura frowned and glared at the ground.
"What are you talking about?" Syaoran asked carefully. He remembered dimly Sakura telling him a long story about some old thing Chindra had told her; something about her mother and Chindra’s mother liking Clow Reed- something about him actually being against them. Still, he couldn’t decipher that from a dream or reality.
Sakura looked up at him with her burning dry eyes, sad to see he hadn’t remembered everything she had told him. "If Chindra’s right, Clow Reed is trying to get all his magic back, to give all his magic back to his family. He means to destroy my family and Chindra’s." Sakura said, tears returning, wetting her dry eyes.
Syaoran’s eyes remained softened, though he was skeptical. "Don’t worry Sakura, I’m sure it’s a mistake, you don’t have to fight Clow Reed." he said gently.
Sakura stared hard at the ground for a moment, collecting herself. After she felt the danger of her tears falling had passed, she looked back up, her green eyes bright again, forcing herself to smile. "It’s pretty stupid for me to beleive that, I’m sure." Sakura said, sniffing away the after effects of her crying.
Syaoran’s legs were getting fed up with him for standing so long, his lower back had been out of comission for a full week and wasn’t enjoying the strain he put on it. Syaoran forced himself to ignore it and glanced at the clock. "You should probably go home, it almost eight." Syaoran said.
Sakura looked past Syaoran to the window, seeing that it was indeed already dark. "You’re right." She met Syaoran’s eyes, it was one of those looks that seemed to catch Syaoran’s attention, though she wasn’t do it intentionally. "Tell Meilin I’m sorry." She said, smiling.
Syaoran noticed he had his hand still on her shoulder because his arm was starting to ache, so he dropped it to his side abruptly, trying to be casual about it.
Sakura walked over to the kitchen counter where she had thrown her bookbag from school earlier that day. "I’ll come by tommorrow." Sakura called, walking out the door.
Syaoran watched her leave, then dragged himself to the couch and sat down. The television was still on, though it had a blue screen, no movies playing on it. Syaoran sat back on the couch and thought about everything. So all that I remember her saying, she really did say. Syaoran shivered, still missing his shirt. I wish Meilin would just get over herself. Sakura’s very nice to keep coming like this- she is been here practically every other day. Syaoran sighed. She feels responsible for you, that’s why. Syaoran told himself. Syaoran stood up from the couch and forced his tired legs to take him down the hall. He stopped at Meilin’s door and banged on it.
"Meilin, she left, you can come out of pining."
It was silent for a while. "Go away." Came the final response.
"Meilin you don’t have to be so sore about it. You don’t have magic, so what? It’s not the end of your world." Syaoran called through the door.
Meilin opened it, her feiry brown eyes frowning at him, her black hair out of their usual buns and falling down over her shoulders. "You know what I’ve found? You two don’t care about anyone but yourselves. You make your own little group, and then you’re free to gang up on anyone just for fun. I’m going to Hong Kong because I care about my family and yours, I’m willing to sacrifice some friends on the way for that, because it’s important. You use to understand how important family was, now I’m beginning to think you’ve lost your priorities."
Syaoran blinked, Meilin’s words had a strange and hard truth to them. "I still care about my family, it was because of them that I went on this mission to get the-"
"The cards. They’re sealed. Sakura changed them all, and we finally went home. But you had to come back, just because the elders sensed some ‘strange’ things. It seems to me we’ve been here quite long enough! It’s Sakura’s problem, let her deal with it!"
"Do you not care about your friends? She needs help, lots of help, we can’t just-"
Meilin furiously brushed a peice of jet black hair out of her face. "Friend? Let me tell you what kind of a friend Sakura is. She takes your help, then takes credit for what your help did. Don’t say she doesn’t, because it’s true. She took your help when she captured the Clow Cards, then she won them for herself. So she takes your help again now, I don’t think the elders will be very pleased to hear you helped just for the sake of a friendship with some girl." Meilin watched Syaoran very carefully. His next answer would be what determined whether she kept trying to be his friend, or whether she would finally bury her feelings, finally let him go.
Syaoran stepped back, his eyes showing his confusion as he tried to determine what he was going to say. "Sakura helps without expecting anything back. She fights the cards for the sake of everyone but herself. She cries when other people hurt, not when she herself has been injured. Why can’t you see past your jealousy?" Syaoran said, looking straight into his cousin’s eyes.
Meilin frowned, her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly, her fiery eyes filled with hurt. "I’m leaving next weekend, I’m not coming back again," She said, her voice shaking, having to put her hands into fists to keep herself from crying. Meilin turned, her long hair spinning around her, and shut the door behind her, knowing that Syaoran would come after her again.
Syaoran stared blankly at the door for a second, then dragged himself into his room, his mind thinking over what Meilin had said. I have put my family second, but just for now. Things will change, sooner or later, why can’t I help Sakura while I am able? She asks for it so humbly, I couldn’t refuse her. Syaoran collapsed on his bed, staring at his ceiling for a few moments. I guess it’s probably too late to tell Meilin Sakura is sorry. I wonder if she’s really going back next week? Right in the middle of the trimester. Does she expect me to leave Sakura alone to fight these cards as they continue to get stronger? Syaoran turned his head and looked at the chair beside him. On it was the book he had been reading for literature class, the bookmark was near the last page. Syaoran looked past that to the large old book on the nightstand. It looked dimly fimiliar, but Syaoran couldn’t see it very well from this sideways veiw. Syaoran sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
He looked at the book curiously. That’s one of my old spell books. I wonder how it got in here? Sakura is probably reading it, taking Kero’s advice about learning spells. Maybe she won’t need my help after a while...She did an erase spell just before she left. Syaoran looked down at his bare stomach. She still has some things to learn. Syaoran picked up the book and set the heavy paper on his lap.
The page it was opened to caught Syaoran’s curiosity. He frowned as he read it, wondering exactly why it was on that page. Communication through dreams and subconscious? Syaoran studied the page, reading the spell for entering someone else’s dream. She wants to enter someone’s dream? But who? She wouldn’t have used it on me, would she...Syaoran frowned, thinking of the dreams he had been having recently. All I’ve had is flashbacks, I don’t remember her in them..Still, this didn’t ease Syaoran’s mind.
I shouldn’t think that of Sakura, of course she wouldn’t use a spell for the wrong reasons. She’s too innocent, right? Syaoran set the book back on the table and sneezed once because of the dust that brushed off it. Sneezing reminded Syaoran just how sore he was, his whole back pounded with pain from the minor movement.
Syaoran got up and walked over to the lightswitch, turning it off. He walked back over to his bed and fell asleep, dreams quickly overtaking him.
- - - - -
Syaoran looked around the strange room he was in, old chinese writings littering the walls. I’m dreaming? Syaoran stepped forward and found his strength had returned, a sure sign he was not in the painful reality. He froze in place, seeing himself walking across the room. It wasn’t him, but a copy maybe- he was watching himself in the dream.
Syaoran was standing next to Sakura, they both fixating their eyes on the same thing. Syaoran looked and saw that it was the Dash card, running wildly around. Sakura stepped forward with her staff and hit the dash with it, holding her magic steadily against it. The Dash whirled around and went into an unusable Star card, one with watching eyes, hating the trap it was put in.
Syaoran blinked and Sakura was standing next to him again, the Dash was running in front of them. Syaoran stepped forward with his sword, touching it to the dash, magic flowing down his arms. The Dash whirled into a new card, flying into Syaoran’s hands. He looked at it carefully, seeing that it was the type of Clow card that he had gotten when he had been capturing the cards with Sakura for the first time.
Syaoran stepped back with his card and saw that Sakura was crying. He frowned and tried to see what was wrong but scenes switched abruptly, he found himself outside, it was dark, Sakura was in front of him yet again. Syaoran could see she had all fifty two cards sealed in her position, though they were all unusable, only sealed away to keep from harming anyone. She was still crying, though Syaoran was sure the reasons had changed.
Syaoran was telling her something, something important, though Sakura didn’t seem to be listening like she should. Syaoran frowned. Something wasn’t right. The scene switched again.
Syaoran was looking at all the cards. They had all been sealed, but all sealed by him. How is this possible? If the cards break their seal now, is it possible for me to seal them again? For myself? Syaoran found that he was in Hong Kong now, his sisters were smiling at him, the elders he was so frightened of were smiling with approval at him. But his mother, she wasn’t there. Syaoran looked around, but he didn’t see her. And where was Sakura?
- - - - - - - - -
Syaoran opened his eyes, a cold sweat on him, he found himself in the calm dark of his room. Syaoran’s breathing had increased, he worked hard to catch it without choking, then relaxed. That could be possible...I mean, it’s definitely a possibility that I could seal a card, as long as I have some magic...Sakura would lend me some, but I mean, that wouldn’t be right, I shouldn’t steal magic from her to seal a card for myself. Maybe I can contain some for later, like I did a while ago when I had been feeling really tired. I’m sure I can store some extra, I won’t need that much to seal a card.
Syaoran’s thoughts slowed down, and his eyes started to weigh. He fell asleep, his thoughts leaving him for that moment.
________________________________________________________________
Sakura yawned, waking Sunday morning. She had dropped by breifly the day before to Syaoran’s apartment, but she had avoided staying too long. Meilin had said nothing to Sakura, but her silence was almost worse than her insults. Syaoran had been relatively quiet, though his mood was much better than Meilin’s. His condition wasn’t much better than the previous day, but he could at least talk, breath, and walk short distances.
"Kero leave me alone..." Sakura grumbled as Kero was making wind go on her face by fluttering his wings.
"You’ve slept in quite long enough." Kero said, moving his little wings as fast as he could get them.
Sakura turned over and swatted at him blindly, grumbling still.
Kero shrugged and flew over to Bob’s jar, pulling the rubber banded cover off. Bob fluttered out, flying over to Sakura’s pillow. He landed quietly on the pillow next to her, his beady little eyes shining brightly. "Angel, looks beautiful in morning. Love her I do." The bug said.
Sakura heard a strange voice, so she turned over, opening her eyes. Her blurry morning vision rested on two beady pairs of compound eyes, two long antenaes, and two wide wings. Sakura screamed and jumped backwards, landing with a thud on the ground beside her bed. She was shaking with nervousness and adreneline from the short fear she had felt, and she got up with shaky legs.
"Not mean to scare love." The bug said, fluttering up in front of her.
Sakura shivered looking at the bug and stepped away. "Why can’t I wake up naturally?" She mumbled, folding up her blanket and tossing it on her bed. "You guys stay here." She said, stumbling out her door and into the hallway, heading downstairs.
Chindra looked up from where she was sitting reading a magazine and smiled. "Nice outside today." She said.
Sakura smiled and jogged over to the couch she was at. Though Chindra had beared bad news, she was becoming a very good friend. "I heard the weather was supposed to finally act like spring." Sakura said.
"Your birthday soon is." Chindra said, looking back down at her magazine.
"Yeah, how do you know about that? Otto-san’s not planning me a birthday party is he? Please tell me, I hate it when he does that."
Chindra smiled and shook her head. "No, no, not like that! I hear your family talk of presents." Chindra said.
Sakura sat down on the couch next to her and peered at the magazine. "Oh, Shiro-ame, I love that group! I wish I could go to that concert so bad, it’s on my birthday! On the north side of Tokyo, that’s not that far from Tomeoda!" Sakura said.
Chindra nodded. "I hear their music on television before. They are good."
Sakura smiled. "I’m going to get changed into some outdoor clothes, I’ll leave you here to discuss presents with my family." She said, happily jogging away up the stairs.
Sakura reached her room and ignored Kero and Bob. If I could keep this good mood, I would probably be stronger and more able to fight the cards. I should keep that in mind. Sakura walked over to her closet and looked through her clothes, looking for something nice to wear, just something to hold her good mood.
Kero opened the window, letting the warm spring air in. "Wow, it really warmed up!" Kero said, the breeze ruffling his short yellow fur.
Bob was flying against the breeze, his wings going as fast as they could, but the wind continued to push him back. "Help! Overpowered! Bob being opressed!"
Sakura turned and saw the bug flying hard against the wind, sighing. She walked over and picked the bug out of the wind’s path and set him on the desk. "If you’re a butterfly, shouldn’t you be able to fly in outdoor environment?"
"Wings weak, trapped in glass for so long..." Bob said.
Sakura felt pity for one of the first times, though she forced it away. "Just stay away from the window." She said, turning to the outfit she had collected. Sakura threw the pair of jeans on her bed, then looked for a shirt. She found a black halter top Tomoyo had made as a summer outfit a long while ago. Sakura looked at the window, trying to decide if it was warm enough for that open of a shirt. She decided it was, and she pulled off her over shirt of her pajamas.
Sakura heard a shreik, and she turned to see. Bob had turned his back to her, his little legs hiding his eyes. "Sheild my eyes! Innocent, angel’s uncovered beauty, not ready to see!"
Sakura turned slightly pink, she looked down at the white undershirt she had on, then at the bug. "Stupid bug, I’m not naked." Sakura said, turning again and pulling the halter shirt over her head, then tying it behind her neck.
"Angel said naked!" Bob squealed, flying off the desk and doing little circles and figure eights in the air.
Sakura shook her head, picking her jeans and putting them over her arm. "I’m going to change in the bathroom." Sakura said, tromping off down the hall. She went in the bathroom and quickly pulled on the jeans, then eyed herself in the mirror. The shirt was definitely nicer looking on her now than it had looked on her a year ago. So maybe I have grown a little bit. I still look like a little girl. Sakura thought this with dismay, but dismissed the thoughts and left the bathroom, tossing her pajama pants into her room and she headed down the stairs.
"Hey Chindra, do you want to go to the park?" Sakura called, walking across the living room floor.
"Sounds fun! Play anything?"
"Um...sure, what do you like? Soccer? Volleyball?" Sakura asked, listing off some of her more favored sports.
"I play soccer before." Chindra said, standing up from where she had been sitting.
"Sounds good! Are you wearing that or..." Sakura asked, Chindra wasn’t exactly dressed for the outdoors.
"Be right back, change quickly!" Chindra said, running down the hall.
Sakura walked around the living room happily, looking out the window. "Going to the park...park...park park..."Sakura sang to herself, her tendency for repeating things when she was excited about them taking over.
Chindra came jogging from the downstairs hall, wearing normal clothes. Sakura had never seen the girl do any type of athletics whatsoever, but here the girl looked like a natural athlete in her Tshirt and windpants, her black curls tied up in a high ponytail on her head. Her brown eyes were sparkling brightly, and she looked Sakura’s age now, not the older girl Sakura had seen so many times before.
"Ready to go?" Chindra asked.
Sakura smiled and nodded. "We’ll have to get a soccer ball out of my garage, that’s all." She said, leading the way to the garage. She walked into the room, finding that Touya’s car was already gone. Her father was home, but he was sleeping after a late night at the university, and his car was the only large object in the garage. Sakura quickly spotted a neon yellow ball and picked it from its shelf, then led the way outside.
Sakura’s arms were a little cold, but the warm sun quickly heated them up Sakura threw the ball up and down in her arms, walking happily down the sidewalk. Chindra caught up and walked next to her, looking around at the outdoors happily.
"I have not been outside much at your house. Too busy to go out." Chindra said.
"Penguin park is really nice, I’ve gone there since I can remember. They have alot of different fields and courts. They have swings and slides of course, too." Sakura said.
They walked the short distance on the sidewalk and reached the park, which had a number of kids of all different ages playing about. Sakura led Chindra through the sildes and playground part of the park to the fields in the back. A group of boys maybe in sixth grade were playing a game of soccer on a field, but the other two fields were left open. Sakura stopped and set their soccer ball on the ground, then took out her phone.
"I’m calling Tomoyo to see if she wants to come." Sakura explained to Chindra as she dialed in the number. Tomoyo answered, and Sakura went straight to the point, not wanting to waste the good weather talking on the phone. "Hey Tomoyo! Me and Chindra are at the park at the soccer field. Want to come?"
"Sounds great! I’ll get my camera and be right over there!" Tomoyo said enthusiastically.
Sakura sighed and hung up the phone. I wish she would play sometime, not just spend all her time filming.
"Your friend coming? We wait?" Chindra asked.
"Yes, she’s coming. We don’t have to wait. Let’s go play!" Sakura said, setting her phone down along with the coat she had tied around her waist.
Chindra walked along with her out into the middle of the field and stopped at the center. "I score over there, you score over here?" She asked, labeling sides.
Sakura smiled, nodding. "Alright, one on one then."
Chindra nodded and waited for Sakura to set the ball down. "I’ll count to three." Sakura prepared hersself to kick. "Ichi....ni...san!" Sakura kicked the ball feircly, as did Chindra, and the ball, having no where to go, flew straight up into the air.
Sakura laughed, so did Chindra, and they both waited for it to fall back down. Sakura headbutted it over Chindra and started dribbling it across the field. She might not be anywhere near Syaoran’s skill with a soccerball, but she was a natural athlete, and much of soccer was just basic coordination.
Chindra turned out to be a good sprinted, and she kicked the ball out of Sakura’s control, turning the table and heading for her goal. Sakura tried to stop it, but they both couldn’t advance, both just kicking hopelessly at the ball in opposite directions.
Luckily, Sakura and Chindra were both great sportsmen, and weren’t quickly frustrated, because for a more agressive person, this situation might have driven them mad. Sakura found it more funny than anything, and she and Chindra continued to laugh as they kicked at the ball without progression.
"Okay, hockey rules!" Sakura called to Chindra, kicking the ball hard and checking into Chindra with a good speed.
Chindra stumbled back, then ran at Sakura, laughing. "I weigh more!" She called, running after Sakura with all her might. Sakura was ever so close to the goal, she had the ball moving well, all she had to do was give it a good kick...Chindra’s weight came at her side, and Sakura fell to the ground, sliding across the slick grass on her side.
Chindra stopped with the ball, walking over to Sakura. "You okay!? Didn’t mean to push that hard!"
Sakura smiled, lying on her back. "Whew! That was great!" She said, springing to her feet, then admiring the long grass stain down the side of her pants. She smiled at Chindra. "Are we playing or what?" Sakura asked, kicking the ball through Chindra’s legs and running forward, kicking it hard into their designated goal spot.
Chindra jogged over and fished the ball out of the woods, bringing it back. "You cheat me that time. Just you wait!" Chindra said, grinning.
She drop kicked it from there, kicking it clear to the other side of the field. Both Sakura and Chindra started sprinting, their speeds seeming to match each other. Sakura smiled as she ran, though she didn’t have enough breath to laugh. She had forgotten what it was like to play, spending too much time fighting cards. Once she was close enough, Sakura jumped out and dived at the ball. Her body landed over it, and Sakura threw it wildly in the direction of her scoring goal, making Chindra come to a sliding stop. Sakura pulled herself up quickly and started running, though Chindra had gotten ahead of her in her breif stop on the ground.
Chindra reached the ball and kicked it towards her scoring goal, but that happened to be at Sakura, and Sakura kicked the bouncing ball as hard as she could with the inside of her foot. The ball flew into the air and went clear across through the out of bounds, though Sakura didn’t care. She and Chindra were having fun, that was the important part.
Sakura reached the out of bounds zone out of breath and noticed a pretty girl with long purplish hair holding a camera. "Hey Tomoyo! Want to play?" Sakura called.
Sakura waited for an answer only for a second, because a boy was tapping on her shoulder. Sakura turned and faced him, pulling Sure some hair off her face that was sticking because of her developing sweat.
He looked at her with wide eyes for a second, then quickly realized he was staring. His cheeks turned slightly pink, and he looked at his feet. "Uh...those boys over there want to know if you and your friend want to join our soccer game."
Sakura half grinned, finding the boy’s shyness flattering. "Sure! Do you want to use your ball or ours?"
"Uh..uh...it doesn’t matter." The boy said. "Okay. Umm....I’ll be over there." He said, hurrying off. Chindra reached Sakura’s side and looked after the boy curiously.
"You know him?" She asked.
"No, they wanted to know if we’ll play with them. I said sure, that’s okay right?"
"Sure! More players is more fun!" Chindra said, smiling.
Sakura looked to Tomoyo. "Are you sure you don’t want to play?" She called.
"I’ll watch!" Tomoyo called back, waving her away with the hand that wasn’t holding on to the camera.
Sakura and Chindra headed over to the field where a collected group of sixth grade boys were standing around, awaiting their arival. Sakura smiled and walked next to Chindra. "I feel like we are fmous or something." She said aside to her.
Chindra grinned and nodded. "Yeah." She answered.
A boy with black hair stepped forward. "Kinomoto, you’re on my team- we’re all the ones wearing orange." He said, pointing at his teamates. "And you..." He said blankly, looking at Chindra.
"Katakeiri." Chindra said.
Sakura looked skeptically at Chindra, not sure if that was her real last name, because it didn’t sound exactly arabic to her, much more japanese. She also looked with suspicion at the boy that had known her name, but quickly brushed it off, deciding that six graders couldn’t help but know most of the names of their superiors. Sakura was fairly well known in her school anyway, and they had probably seen each other at school plays and sport events.
"Right. Katakeiri, you’re with the white team." He said, pointing at the other team. Sakura was a little sad to be put on a different team, but she and Chindra were both smiling and in a good mood. Sakura didn’t really care if she embaressed herself in front of these boys, she would always appear model material in their young eyes, so she was ready to just have fun.
Sakura walked over to her side of the field, seeing that they were playing an organized game. The black haired boy that had talked to her was on her side of the kickoff, Chindra on the other side, grinning brightly at Sakura. Sakura gave her a mock thumbs up and watched them begin.
Chindra kicked the ball hard, sending it sailing over their heads. Sakura didn’t care if she was supposed to be offense, and that the ball had just flown into the defense’s possession, she ran ruthlessly after it and nailed it, giving it a good clear kick into the other side of the field.
"Nice one Kinomoto!" Called a couple of her teamates, though she didn’t really hear them, she was too busy running off to the other side of the field. She and Chindra were sprinting side by side, laughing all the way.
"Orange Team is going to win!" Sakura shouted, sliding around the ball and kicking it as she slid to the ground, mimicking a move she had seen Syaoran do in a soccer game a few years back.
Chindra laughed and dove in front of the ball, blocking it from the goal.
"Amazing Katakeiri!" A white teamate shouted.
Chindra didn’t say anything but smile, passing the ball quickly to a white teamate nearby. Sakura ran after him, grabbing him by his arms and picking him up, throwing him out of the way. Sakura laughed and kicked the ball back towards their scoring goal.
"Is that legal?" A boy asked another.
The other boy shrugged and ran after them. "If they can do it, so can we!"
Sakura was dribbling the ball up to the goal. The boy on her team with black hair was running ahead, holding one arm up, signaling for her to pass. Sakura kicked it to him, just as she did she felt a weight grab her ankles. Sakura stopped running, she couldn’t run anymore, and she could feel two hands hanging on to her ankles. Sakura glanced behind her for a second, laughing and walking forward, dragging the boy along.
The black haired boy had just scored, he turned and saw the white teams desperate attempt to keep Sakura from passing. He laughed. "Nice try, Kiatsu!" He called to the other boy, who was hanging hopelessly to Sakura’s ankles.
Sakura finally stepped free, leaving the boy sprawled across the grass. She jogged over to her side of the field for the next kick off. This time the ball went clearly over their heads, going very close to their goal. Sakura ran as hard as she could to the ball, smiling as she could hear the rest of the sixth graders running their hardest to keep up.
Sakura jumped over the ball and swung her leg backwards, hitting the ball with the heel of her foot. Another tip from Syaoran. He would be proud. Sakura spun around and chased after the ball she had just kicked backwards. The rest of her teamates were trying to get in on the action now, and had the ball going to the other side of the field. Someone on the white team kicked it back towards her. A taller but scrawny boy was running at her, planning on scoring finally for his team.
Sakura grinned and ran at him, using the same hockey checking method, slamming her weight into him. The boy tumbled to the ground and hopped back up, looking a bit upset. Sakura tried not to feel piteous, she was trying to play, after all. She kicked the ball out and started dribbling it around the White team players in the way. A boy with brown hair was seemingly fed up with the rules Chindra and Sakura were using, and he dragged her to the ground, toppling on top of her.
Sakura landed flatly on her back, this tackle hurting for a breif moment, but she quickly threw the boy off of her and ran at the ball. Chindra was running beside her, grinning as well. "This is fun!" She said, running out of breath.
Sakura nodded and slowed as Chindra was passed the ball. Sakura pushed at her with her shoulder and tried to steal the ball away, but it was a hopeless fight. An orange teamate reached them, trying to help Sakura, then a white teamate joined the fight. Sakura wasn’t sure who had caught her ankle, but she found herself falling over, dragging Chindra down on the way. Sakura landed on her stomach atop the soccer ball, and weight quickly piled above her.
A humongous dog pile had started, and Sakura found herself at the very bottom. She struggled to crawl out before she was crushed, but another body secured her down. The weight on Sakura was becoming unbearable, and the soccerball below her was being depressed to unnatural levels.
Before Sakura could stop it, there was a loud popping noise, and she fell flat on her stomach, the soccer ball finally having it, all the weight exploding its rough skin. The dog pile was starting to move, and Sakura finally freed herself, holding up the deflated soccer ball. "This, my friends, is a soccer ball pushed beyond its limits." She announced, standing up.
Some of the boys looked at the ball sadly, but Sakura and Chindra were laughing hysterically. Slowly some of the other boys found humor in the situation, and Sakura found it safe to talk again. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was past noon. She had meant to visit Syaoran for a while today to make up for the short visit she had had yesterday.
"We’ve gotta go!" Sakura announced to the group of boys.
Some of them awwed, not wanting them to leave, making Chindra and Sakura feel very important. "Sorry, maybe we can play some other time!" Sakura called. She tossed the soccer skin over to the boys, then remembered their ball that was sitting at their fake goal a few fields down. "You guys can use our ball if you want, it’s that one over there." Sakura said, pointing at the neon ball.
"Thanks!" A boy called, already running across the field.
Sakura and Chindra walked off the field slightly stiff, Sakura’s legs aching from running, her side hurting from some part of the game. She had grass stains all over her pants, but she didn’t mind, she thought it made her look more tough. Tomoyo was holding her camera happily. "That was great! You two play with such enthusiasm!" Tomoyo said.
Sakura grinned. "Thanks!" She glanced at her watch again out of habit. "I’m going to see Syaoran, do you guys want to come?"
"I would like to see your friend, but promised I did to shop for groceries for your father." Chindra said, blinking as some frizzied out curls bothered her eyes.
"I’ll come!" Tomoyo said, clutching her camera.
"I see you later then. Thanks Sakura, had lots of fun!" Chindra said, smiling and waving as she walked off.
Tomoyo smiled at the girl and watched her go. "She has a wonderful set of curls. I’m sure we could do so much with her hair."
Sakura ignored that and started walking towards their exit of the park. "I hope they don’t mind my pants are all dirty." Sakura said, looking down at all her grass stains.
"I’m sure they won’t, Syaoran plays soccer all the time, he understands." Tomoyo said.
She and Tomoyo walked quietly most of the way there, it wasn’t uncomfortable, they both had an understanding that each other were thinking about things, and were to be left undisturbed. Only when they were walking across the parking lot did Sakura speak. "Meilin and I aren’t on the best terms. If she seems a bit short, it’s because I used the Flowery to keep her from attacking me because of some popcorn that was on her head, though I didn’t really throw it."
Tomoyo nodded. "I’ll be sure to remember that." She said, smiling.
They walked through the lobby, finding it pleasantly cool with the windows open, and took the stairway up. Sakura quietly knocked on their door, hoping Meilin wouldn’t be the one to answer.
Against her wishes, Meilin opened the door, her fiery eyes quickly looking them over. "Oh. Come in." She said shortly, opening the door and letting them through. She glared at the back of Sakura’s head. Only because I’m leaving in a week, I don’t really care what you do. If I knew your company wasn’t helping Syaoran recover, you wouldn’t be allowed ten miles near our house.
Sakura walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch next to Tomoyo. Meilin walked over and picked up the peices of paper she had been practicing folding from an oragami book and set them away. "Syaoran’s out on the balcony." She said, not looking up from her task.
Sakura looked at Tomoyo to see what she wanted to do. "I’m going to sit here for a little while." Tomoyo said.
Sakura shrugged. "Alright." She stood up from the couch and walked over to the sliding doors in the living room, sliding one open and stepping out of it. She closed it behind herself and walked around the small wall keeping her from seeing the rest of balcony.
Syaoran was sitting on a swing chair, his math book propped up on his knees, a box of tofu sitting at his side, and he had a pencil in his other hand, somehow working a spoon and a pencil at the same time.
Sakura looked at the tofu with disgust. "How can you eat that by itself? It’s gross."
Syaoran was happy to hear Sakura’s voice, though he didn’t look up from the math problem he was on. "Have you ever tried it?" He asked.
Sakura walked over to the swing. "No."
Syaoran was silent, figuring she had answered her own question. Sakure sighed, finding that a slightly annoying quality of Syaoran, how he was always having the right answer. She sat down carefully next to him, trying not to sit on the box of tofu.
Syaoran looked up from the math book, his fiery eyes blazing with frustration. "Do you know how to find the area of this damn triangle?" He asked, pointing at the book. Realizing his temper had taken control of his language, he mumbled "sorry".
Sakura could only half grin. Syaoran was the only person in the world that would get this mad about a math problem, except for maybe herself, that is. "See this circle?" She asked, pointing at the circle in the center of the triangle. "It’s radius is the apothem of the triangle. You just use it to find your central angle-" Sakura took the pencil from his hand and started drawing out what she was saying on the diagram in the book. "Then you use those trig. ratios to find the sides."
Syaoran stared at the work she had written out blankly for a moment, then Sakura could see it click in his head. "Thanks." He said, taking back his pencil and writing out the rest of the problem faster then Sakura could follow.
"Have you finished all the lessons before this? This is one of the last assignments." Sakura said, amazed at his speed of making up the work.
"Yeah." He said, going on to the next problem. After he was silent a while, Syaoran realized he should probably be more polite. "Sorry, I’m almost done." He said, rushing through the rest of the area problems.
"It’s alright." Sakura said, looking off the balcony at the pretty veiw of the town they had.
Syaoran set his pencil down and picked up the box of tofu, getting it out of Sakura’s way. Picking it up he noticed Sakura’s many grass and dirt stains across her jeans, along with a few green spots on her shirt, which Syaoran had failed to notice earlier. "Have a squabble with the grass on the way here?" He asked, tearing the page of homework out of his notebook and putting it into his book.
Sakura looked down at her pants and remembered. "Oh, heh, no, me and Chindra were playing soccer with some sixth graders this morning at the park. I came straight from there, I didn’t get to change."
Syaoran nodded and looked off the balcony, wishing he could play soccer. I’m sure I’ll be feeling good enough in a couple days. I am already feeling alot better. Then maybe I can see about this whole card thing...I wonder if it is possible? Syaoran glanced at Sakura next to him, his mind contemplating a great deal of things. If I sealed the cards, would that be betraying her? I couldn’t do that, she has come here almost every day, and for what? All she gets is glares from Meilin, and I’m not exactly the worlds best conversationalist.