CardCaptor Sakura Remastered IV Episode 6 (10)

January was rolling along.

The threat of CLAMP School no longer existed, so things rolled along as they should have. Quietly and at it’s own pace.
Still, even without the “threat” that once lingered overhead the inevitable still occurred. The Council, not so patient with Sakura’s slow pace of capture, came down with it’s request to speeding up of the process to capture Clow Cards, which only seemed to make Nina sneer at the thought (again).

It was hard enough to track down and locate each card, especially
since there’d been a recent slump in card appearances as of late, but
to pick up the pace with said slump hindering them? It seemed an unreasonable request yet there it was all the same.

“How am I going to carry this out?” she griped, looking over the
letter again as she laid in bed. The “letter” was a copy of a
communique she received yesterday, yet it troubled her even now.

There just didn’t seem to be an answer to the problem of increasing
the pace to search for Clow Cards. Sakura could do more “patrols”, but
they seemed to have learned their lesson the second time around and
were finding new and inventive ways to “lie low” and stay in hiding.
Clearly new tricks had to be used to flush them out, but what?

A few gentle fingers brushed through her green hair, bringing Nina’s
attention up towards Tina who laid close to her smiling at her. “Isn’t there someway to do this?” Tina asked, to which Nina replied “I suppose, but I wish it was something you could chase away with your fingertips.” she sighed, drawing her Sexdroid love close to kiss her, letting the paper fall to one side as they cuddled.

* * * * * *

It was a weekend, so Sakura didn’t wake up early for school.

Yet, if Nina was the one being asked, she would complain that Sakura
didn’t wake up early for anything (even her own funeral).
Tomoyo, however, kept to her usual schedule. She woke up the same time every morning regardless of whether it was school or not, though
occasionally she lingered in bed if only to relish and treasure the
soft glow of sleeping in Sakura’s loving embrace just for a little bit
longer. As she woke this morning she brushed a few fingers across
Sakura’s sleeping face, feeling quite warm just looking at her.

Carefully her fingers loosened the sheet around one arm so she could
look at it. The arm didn’t bear any marks from when she gripped Sakura
too hard a few weeks ago, but the thought still lingered.

She didn’t know why but that moment she -- at that moment she stopped
and chided herself. She was thinking to hard about it. Slowly she dressed and snuck out to make breakfast, leaving Sakura behind.
Ten minutes later the door opened and someone else entered.

She was not tall, nor was she terribly short, but she did seem to
stand out from her appearance.

She had short red hair, a mischievous look on her face, and wore a
strange mis-mash of an Alliance uniform jacket, a t-shirt with a face
sticking it’s tongue out at the viewer, shorts, high top sneakers, arm
and leg pads and three pairs of gloves which hung off a belt on her
waist ranging from tough work gloves to soft petite gloves. She also
wore a backpack slung on her back which made a soft beeping noise
every so often.

If one had to decide the person she resembled in passing, it would be
Radical Ed (Cowboy Bebop), but the appearance was altered making her
her own individual and not a clone, though in a sense cloning was
involved in her “Creation”.

She stopped, tilted her head slightly upon looking at Sakura, and
blinked a few times. Then she jumped onto the bed hard, bringing Sakura up from her sleep in a panicked shrieking yelp, screaming “ME-ME!!” at Sakura as she sent the formerly sleeping one into a panic.

Sakura wouldn’t stop screaming, or trying to get away from the now
grabby and huggy girl until Tomoyo came to cuddle and comfort her now
stressed out lover. Sakura’s screams could be heard all the way from
the upstairs kitchen so Tomoyo quickly abandoned the room and came
running to her aid.

Leaving one rather frustrated Umi with breakfast to make.
Gaia couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the former Clow Card
making breakfast, to which she was promptly scowled at by the stove
burdened girl who growled, “Well? Don’t just stand there! Plates!!”

* * * * * *

The first thing Nina did when she entered the upstairs kitchen was
sigh miserably.

“Where is she?”

“Where’s who?” Umi grumbled, looking over at their new “guest”.

The strange girl at the table looked over at Nina and smiled, pointing
a finger at her and going “Nena!”

“Nina, not “Nena“ you social retard.” she growled, looking at the girl
severely. Sakura (still being comforted) was being watched over by
Tomoyo as she fed the mistress of the cards her breakfast. “It’s Nina.
Can’t you get that through your---”

“Miyu-chan says HI!!”

Nina falls into one of the chairs and grabs some food, “So where is
the furball anyway? Sleeping? Eating the plants? Making mad love to
the first unconscious girl she could subdue on the street? What?!”

“She’s putting in the Nasty Clow Card Tracking Gizmo Device thing you
ordered!” (makes a weird face) “Track those nasty Card things and
wham! Bam!” (smiles) “That’ll be 59,350 credits please, no IOUs.”

“---whatever---” Nina sighed, waving her off with a dull expression.

Since Sakura was staring at her with anxious eyes, and Tomoyo seemed
interested in hearing an explanation as well, Nina bit the bullet and
started. “Sakura---?”

“HAI!” (the strange girl shot her arm up)

“Wait a second--- Sakura---”

“HAI!” (again, the strange girl shot her arm up)

“---sigh--- this hyperactive freaky thing over there is…” (Nina points at girl) “…that too is Sakura…” (pauses) “…don’t you want to say something?”

She thinks about it for awhile, before asking Tomoyo for the syrup.

Nina - “Now, Sakura here…”

“HAI!”

“WOULD YOU STOP THAT ALREADY!!” (snarls) “SAKURA HERE IS A WHACKED OUT
SEX DROID OUR CHIEF ENGINEER OWNS! SHE’S A PAIN UP THE ASS AND ABOUT
AS MUCH FUN AS A STRAP ON THAT’S WAY TOO THICK, WHICH IS IRONIC
BECAUSE SHE’S WAY TOO “THICK” FOR HER OWN GOOD!!” (Nina stops and
pants to catch her breath) “There… I said it. Good riddance.”

Sakura, the other Sakura, sits at her chair eating mindlessly not
paying Nina one bit of attention. Finally giving up, Nina ignores her
and eats as Tina walks into the kitchen. The minute the taller
woman’s eyes falls on “Sakura” she gives out a cheery cry and waves “Hi!“ (the other Sakura responds in kind) “So you know Miyuko’s here already, right?”

“How’d you guess?” Nina grumbled in an unpleasant manner.

“Because Sakura’s here and… oh, right, you can see her. Thank you.” (Tina smiles as she takes a plate of food from Tomoyo) “How’s the work
progressing?”

“Miyuko needs Nina to give her the data on…”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME SOONER?!?” Nina screams, storming out of the
room as she does. “Sakura” looks at her leave, frowns, then goes back
to eating with the same strange smile on her face.

“She’s got Miyuko’s strangeness down pat at least.” the other Sakura said before going back to eating.

* * * * * *

Once the system was up Nina couldn’t wait to shove the catgirl and her
Sex Droid into a shuttle and ship them back to the USS Ryoko ASAP.
Problem was, however, they weren’t going anywhere!

“Captain wants us to give you technical backup and nerve center
support.” Miyuko responded, pushing herself out of Nina’s grasp as she did so.

“We’ll get your back up and nerves out in no time!” “Sakura added.

“Too late.” Nina hissed, walking out of the room with the appearance
of wanting to kill someone.

“She’s funny.” (“Sakura”) “Will she always be this angry?”

* * * * * *

Nina didn’t take too long to call Michi to complain about it.
Her one mistake.

Michi didn’t look like she was in a very good mood since it looked
like the call came during sex, but she took the call anyway. She
explained (bluntly) that Miyuko was there to speed things up and there
was nothing she could do about it.

As Rahne tended to Michi’s feelings (the link severing) Nina set down
the first ground rule of the house (despite the fact that she
shouldn’t have been making ground rules in the first place).

“You’re Ed.”

“Sakura is Sakura.” Sakura pointed out, as the two (Miyuko as well as the original “Sakura”) looked at each other oddly.

“No, YOU ARE ED!” Nina repeated firmly, “We can’t have two Sakuras in this house! It’d mess up communications and we’d get a lot of mixed signals and awkward situations so from now on we’re calling red here “Ed” until you two leave, got it?”

“Ed? Sakura is Ed?”

“Whatever.” Nina spit out, turning to leave. “You’re Ed?” Miyuko said,
pointing at “Ed”.

“Sakura is Ed, but Ed isn‘t Sakura -- ok?”

“Ok.”

“Don’t worry, Miyu-chan!” “Ed” whispered (loudly) “When Miyu-chan
comes during sex and screams for Sakura-chan, Ed-chan won’t feel
jealous because Ed is Sakura and Sakura is…”

Nina slams the door before she hears another word come out of her
mouth.

(Ed) “Maybe Nina-chan needs a cookie.”

* * * * * *

The name change seemed to help. A little.

Still the strange girl made Sakura abit nervous. It was only when the
two promised to keep to the lower side of the house (and sleep out of
the huge room which they converted into a “nerve center” did Sakura
feel a little better about the situation).

Still, for everyone’s sanity, Nina surrounded the room with sound
nullers to block out the noises of lovemaking from the room. She also
put alert sensors and door locks so that people couldn’t walk in and
catch an eyeful of them doing it by accident. Still, even then, she
still felt it necessary to lay down ground rule #2 - no sex in public
areas. Now, mind you, that might seem like common sense yet for the
two of them it was as if Nina told them to stop breathing. Still, they
would comply.

“Ed can’t have fun in---”

“No Ed can’t get laid in the living room, the washroom, the bathroom,
the main hallway and NO WAY are you getting it in the front yard!”
Nina huffed, spitting out the orders in chain fire manner. “High fence
or no I don’t want you two to become a shameful public spectacle! Keep
it in bed, got it?”

“Ed have fun in Sakura’s…”

“YOUR BED!!” Nina screeched, once again slamming the door and raging
off towards the staircase. By now people have gotten used to the sound
of slamming doors since Nina did it now daily ever since the duo of
“Sakura” (who was now “Ed”) and Miyuko appeared.

That said, all they had to do now was wait for the first card to be
tagged and detected by the new equipment and see if the stuff was
working. It wouldn’t take long before the first contact --

* * * * * *

Or so they thought.

Nothing happened.

Days passed, and as each day grew longer Nina began to fear the worst.

The cards may not have had the spectre of CLAMP School overhead but they were not more willing to come out as they were before. Still there didn’t seem to be any reason to fear. Clow Cards were not pulling a “Mimic” and launcing pre-emptive attacks, Fly like incidents were not happening, and things overall seemed rather quiet for the most part.
Wasn’t helping with card capturing, but wasn’t hurting anyone either.

Still, as long as they were looking for runaway Clow Cards they had something to do -- even if it was becoming a test in futility as cards were not so willing to accomidate the Council’s wishes for the hunt to speed up.

Still, something had to give sooner or later.

* * * * * *

Tomoyo decided that the whole gang needed a break from the constant
pressure of hunting Clow Cards.

The first thing Sakura realized when Tomoyo said they were going to
have a little girl’s night slumber party is that all the girls were
going to be invited.

However when she saw the guests she realized she got the “girls”
wrong. It was all the girls from inside the house, not from school.
Tomoyo shrugged and whispered “They were all busy tonight.”

Umi, abit uncomfortable in her jammies, prodded at the material and
sighed every few minutes, muttering “Is this becoming wet? This isn’t
drawing moisture from my body, is it? I don’t like dry skin. I don’t
like this material, it feels too squishy. Am I wetting it? I sleep in
the nude. This won‘t make me sweaty, right?”

“Is there something wrong with your pajamas?” Tomoyo asked, to which
Gaia replied “Umi prefers to sleep in the nude.” to which Tomoyo
nodded (having already heard Umi say that three times), causing Sakura
to blush as she glanced at her. Tomoyo also slept in the nude from
time to time, which usually was because she was too exhausted to dress
after lovemaking.

Light & Dark would have made a matching set if not for the fact that
Light wore midnight black panties/bra while Dark wore soft white in
the same design and fashion as Light. Fuu wore her usual nightie.

Cloud had skipped out of the party because Kero had gotten a batch of
new games and she wanted to break them in with him. That, however,
didn’t stop Umi from occasionally (when not complaining about the
state of her jammies) kidding that the two were experimenting with sex
awkwardly in his closet/bedroom (Gaia kept reminding Umi to behave
herself).

Keiko/Eve also were no shows despite the fact that they were invited.
Miyuko/“Ed” slash “Sakura” didn’t show up, they preferred to watch TV,
eat and do whatever else they did in the privacy of their own room,
which suited Nina just fine. As for Nina? She laid listlessly in a
pile of one huge quilt and a bunch of pillows looking rather bored.
“When you said “slumber party” I thought you meant “orgy”, but this is
dumb.” she pouted, her feet kicking listlessly as she turned to look
over at Tina who seemed rather into the girl talk everyone was into.
“Somebody play Hentai Truth or Dare, or something which the loser ends
up naked and at our mercies -- or something.”

“You might be the victim more than the rest of us if we play Hentai
Trivial Pursuit, Nina.” Tina remarked truthfully, drawing a frown from her lover. “The questions are all stupid anyway, so what.”

* * * * * *

Over the kitchen countertop in Sakura’s “lab” hung a simple looking board. Usually reserved for listing the meal being served or a shopping list written in haste, it now held a list of a different sort.
Cards captured to date.

Clow Cards (19)
Big, Bubble, Cloud, Create, Dash, Erase, Flower, Fly, Hope, Illusion, Little, Maze, Rain, Shadow, Shield, Shot, Silence, Sword, Thunder

Hybrid Cards (7)
Animus Dark, Animus Light, Animus Mirror, Animus Water, Animus Windy, Animus Woods, FairyGlow

Fan Cards (captured, lost or unusable)
Fear (lost), Pervert (unusable), Prism, Toon

Known Cards in Tokyo area (at large) (2)
Fight, Power

28 Remaining Cards to be accounted for - 26 Below it all, scrawled in quick handwriting, was the words “SAND FOUND!” Everyone who was in the capturing party was already there.

* * * * * *

New King Penguin Park
Tomoyo jumped back, hand still grasping her camcorder as she filmed Sakura’s bravery against the Sand card. Eve, however, was having a time of it barely holding Sand’s relentless attacks back with her NovaShields. If she was hoping for a lax day today then she was sorely disappointed.

Keiko jumped back, backpedaling as she slashed at the shots of sand coming straight at her, taking as much sand in the hair and face as she reflected away with gusts of wind. Even with her protective gasmask from one of her tesseract pouches she was still being overwhelmed by Sand’s attacks.

The huge King Penguin slide shook as the sandy ground beneath it liquefied and began to suck it in. Sakura barely had time to leap onto the back of the huge slide and climb up to the two trapped kids on the top. Eve, hands full protecting three young girls with her NovaShield spell, turned her attention towards Nina. “Give Sakura some cover fire!” she yelled, continuously fortifying her NovaShields spell with her willpower.

Nina, lugging her pulse rifle upwards, carefully took shot after shot, clipping each sand tentacle as it tried to latch onto Sakura to drag her down, all the while slowly dragging the huge penguin slide downward into the now liquid sand beneath it. “Nina! Behind you!” Tina suddenly yells out, just as two sand tentacles attack Nina from behind. She barely manages to dodge them as the whoosh over her, her rifle firing blindly upwards as she tries to nail them.

Tomoyo, filming Sakura’s heroic acts, cringes inwardly as she watches. ‘All the trees are too far away.’ she thinks to herself, ‘I can’t use Gaia’s ring to help Sakura-chan -- but maybe --” Tomoyo’s free hand raises upwards, Gaia’s ring pulsating with energy, “Trees! Use your roots to cut down Sand’s tentacles!” Almost instantly long strings of roots shoot out from the ground near the trees, whipping through the air hacking into each sand tentacle that rises from the ground.

As the tree roots keep Sand occupied, Sakura reaches the two children and grabs onto them, using Windy’s ring to give her a boost over Sand and onto the grass in one long jump from slide to safety. As she sends the children to Eve for protection, she turns and regards Sand, her hand bearing the Water ring rising into the air. “Umi! Give me your strength in the form of a waterfall to restrict Sand!”

From above a shimmering disc of blue begins to form, the air growing dry as moisture is drawn into the circle and condensed. From that circle a powerful blast of water shoots into the sandy ground, soaking it through and through making the entire sandy pit into a dense clump of sand. From the quagmire, Sand’s true form appears, covered in the sandy gunk and bogged down by it’s weight. Quickly Sakura rushes up and slams her staff down, “CLOW CARD RETURN TO YOUR POWER CONFINED! SAND CARD!!”

Tendrils of energy shoot out, encapsulating the card’s physical form, transforming it, and turning it back into a card. It shoots into the air, and lands in Sakura’s hand.

Nina, dazed and dirty, turns and claps from her resting position on the ground, “You did it!” As everyone gathers around Sakura, whose blushing, Tomoyo taps her on the shoulder, “Now all we need to do is retrieve King Penguin.”

“What?” Sakura asks, confused, “What do you---” (stops and looks) “---hooooeeee!!!” King Penguin rested half trapped in the sand, tilted at an awkward angle. Nina, putting her rifle down, moves in a mock stumble towards the slide and screams “Damn you, King Penguin! You did it! You did it!”

“Yeah, yeah, Planet of the Apes. Figures.” Keiko grumbles, annoyed by Nina’s antics. “Get a life.”

It takes a little effort, and the tech shuttle of Nina’s which she summons to the park via remote, but eventually the penguin is dug out and set upright again. By the time the news crews arrive everyone had already left and the situation was resolved.

The Daidouji Residence
Keiko sat quietly on the second story balcony outside of Mirra/Hikaru’s room, watching the clouds roll by. She had been rather quiet since Eve went to see her parents, and yet she didn’t seem angry or frustrated, she just seemed deep in thought.

Suddenly she turns and smiles, motioning for Tomoyo to join her outside. “You alright?” she asked, “You seem rather worn down today. Sand?” Tomoyo shakes her head, “No. Not Sand, but---” Silence reigns for a bit, until finally…

* * * * * *

The night before.
Shh. Tomoyo’s sleeping.
While dreams, true dreams that those of the waking world take for granted, are not to be had here, dream they still can (in a sense).

Instead of dreams they see visions. Sometimes to occupy a mind craving something to fill the void between “darkness” and the light of “dawn”. Sometimes to help the person remember something, or someone.
Sometimes it’s a hint or a clue to something yet to come -- or a painful reminder of what came before.

For Tomoyo it’s the last of these which has her dreaming. Tears flowed hotly down her face, stinging her eyes and making her face red. Sakura was back, and she was her’s -- but at a price. When Sakura came back she was on cloud nine, then it happened. She became sick for no reason, and her mother began to dread. She was taken to the hospital and -- Tomoyo wakes up, eyes glancing about the darkened bedroom.

Suddenly she could feel movement to her side, and knew she wasn’t the only one up. “What’s wrong, Sakura-chan.” For what seemed like forever there was only silence, then in a thin whisper she said “Why can’t we have children? Children of our own I mean. Mirra-chan is a beautiful daughter but-- I mean--”

Tomoyo lowers her head, knowing that it had finally come to past.
The day she had dreaded was here. She had to tell Sakura the truth now. She laid back, and at first tried to be relaxed about it. “Girls can’t make girls pregnant, remember?”

“But -- with the stuff they have today? Can’t we -- can’t we make a baby? I mean, I’ll work hard to get a job as a mage after school and become the best mistress of the cards in the world so I can support you and our baby! Can’t we --”

“Money isn’t the problem, Sakura-chan. You can’t bear our child because I’m not -- suitable -- to bear offspring with you. No magical lineage.”

“But --”

“And I can’t bear our child because -- papa made me sterile.”

“---Tomo-chan---” Sakura rasped, Tomoyo already picturing Sakura shoving her fists into her mouth in the darkness to stifle her whimpers. With that she grasped Sakura tightly, drawing her shivering body close to comfort her at tears rolled down her face. “It’s alright. It’s alright.”

“But why--- how---” she cried, no doubt confused by what Tomoyo said. With a deep breath she rolled herself onto her back, drawing Sakura with her, so she could slowly tell her what happened. “When you returned, do you remember a few weeks later when I became sick? And I had to go to the hospital after awhile?”

“Yes.” Sakura answered meekly. “Well -- that day --”

* * * * * *

Tomoyo’s flashback
Tomoyo sat on the bed of the doctor’s exam room stunned. She reached down and slowly ran a circle about her belly beneath the cloth of the examination robes she wore, then she drew a figure eight.
Sonomi wouldn’t stop crying. She didn’t want Tomoyo to see her cry, but she knew that mother was crying in another room. Tomoyo was pregnant.

Her “father” had made her pregnant. With that she clenched her eyes shut and damned her “father” for the first time in her life. She lost her virginity to him. Her first time. And now, she could lose Sakura’s love if she knew -- she saw only pain and regret in this yet, as she touched her belly with one finger, she wondered what it would be like to have a daughter of her own.

But her mother wasn’t ready for it, and neither was she. Her mother’s money made a lot of things appear in Tokyo, but that day she used her fortune to make something disappear…

The night before
“Abortion?” Sakura whispered, feeling Tomoyo nod her head. “Mother said I was too young to have a baby of my own while I was still a “baby” myself. I couldn’t raise my child properly, and I feared -- I was going to lose you if you knew I was -- burdened with child.”

“Noooo -- noooo -- I wouldn’t have left you -- I love you!!”

“I know! I know!” Tomoyo cried, holding Sakura tighter, “But I was so afraid, and I didn’t know what to do! I leaned on mother for support and she told me that I had to have an abortion! I couldn’t say no, but I didn’t want the baby to die so I -- asked them to -- remove the baby so it could be born by another.”

“Is that -- possible?” Sakura asked, “Yes.” Tomoyo said, “But in the end -- there was a mistake.”

* * * * * *

Tomoyo’s flashback
Sonomi was furious. She looked ready to kill. Her screams echoed throughout the hospital. She was ready to kill someone. Tomoyo laid in her hospital bed stunned. She couldn’t move.

When Sakura came to see her she put up a brave front, hiding the truth. They did it in one day. With the technology of the 23rd Century, and a fortune fueling the job’s costs, Sonomi had her former husband’s “mark” removed from Tomoyo -- but it was too fast. In her rush she pushed too hard, and because it was done that day they couldn’t prepare for all the possible repercussions of saving the slowly growing fetus instead of killing it outright.
When she came out of the operating room Tomoyo was sterile.

The operation damaged her reproductive systems beyond hope of repair, even with 23rd Century tech. It was a fluke, a one in a million mishap often practiced for in Medical School, but that didn’t comfort Sonomi who blamed herself and the doctors for the damage caused to her precious baby. Sonomi was on the edge of a breakdown, but she hid it from Tomoyo to keep her spirits high.

She agreed to take anti-depressants, medications, anything to keep herself together if only for Tomoyo’s sake. But Tomoyo felt cheated by this. She couldn’t lose her virginity to Sakura. Sakura couldn’t be her first. And now she couldn’t even bear Sakura’s child.
Everything pure and wholesome she ever dreamed about was taken away from her by her father. Her first time, her first child, but not her first love. When Tomoyo turned 14 Sakura gave her a beautiful ring and vowed one day to be her one and only.

That day Tomoyo cried, and Sakura thought she angered her friend. She smiled, tears flowing down her cheeks, and whispered “But I’m happy! I’m so happy---” When Sakura turned 16 Tomoyo gave her a ring of her own, and gave herself body and soul. The minute she opened her robes, allowing them to drop to her feet baring her nude form to Sakura she knew that she would be Sakura’s forever. But what she never told Sakura was the first time they made love she wanted to cry -- she felt like she was giving Sakura a ruined “gift”, a spoiled unwanted shell of a young woman that she had no right presenting to her beautiful Sakura-chan.

Sakura, not realizing then about Tomoyo’s misgivings, asked her why she was crying. “You deserve better than me.” she whispered, to which Sakura replied “But all I ever wanted is you. Ever since the day I realized how truly special you were to me, all I ever wanted was you.” From that day forward Sakura had never faltered, never failed Tomoyo once, never left her side. At times poor Sakura-chan beats herself down because she fells at times she isn’t worthy of Tomoyo’s love, to that she smiles.

She herself felt so often that she could never be worthy of Sakura’s love that hearing Sakura say that made her realize how petty and baseless her fears were. She would gently reprimand Sakura for her silly thoughts -- only because she had felt the same way time and time again, but realized that they were as untrue as Sakura‘s fears that Tomoyo did not love her.

Finally, after a long time of soul searching and thought, Tomoyo came to the conclusion eventually that she was indeed worthy of Sakura’s love, because she knew Sakura was always worthy of her love.

* * * * * *

The night before
Sakura reached down, and touched Tomoyo’s belly, “If I had the power to take back what happened to you, and give you a child of our love I would---” tears rolled down Sakura’s cheeks and she tried to hold them back, gritting her teeth to be brave. “I would do anything for you -- anything.”

“Sakura-chan---” she whispered, holding Sakura tightly. “Let it go. Don’t hold your tears back for me -- let it go--“
As Sakura collapsed into her grasp, they held each other tight until all their tears were wept, and all their fears shed away in their warm embrace. Slowly their eyes fluttered close and they fell asleep held tightly together, the sound of their heartbeats lulling them to sleep.

* * * * * *

The present Keiko nods her head, looking abit worn from the telling.
“I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t tell anyone.” Tomoyo admitted, “Only mother, Fuu, Sakura and you know -- and I trust --”

“That I won’t tell a soul. Ok, leave it to me.” Keiko whispers, winking at Tomoyo as she takes her leave. Tomoyo sits down in the chair, and looks out over the yard.

To Be Continued (3 to go before 100)

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered IV Episode 5 (10)

NOTE - Happy 4th of July!

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered IV Episode 5 (10)

Back to Tokyo

It was raining when Sakura woke up. It was the weekend so she didn’t
need to wake up early, but still she wished it was sunny. “I was going
to go blading’ too.” she thought out loud, a sad mopey face greeting
Tomoyo as she stared at her from the bedside, “Sorry.”

“Tomo-chan!” she gasped, nearly leaping out of bed, realizing too late
that Tomoyo had brought breakfast for her in bed. “I could have done
that! I---”

“Hush.” she firmly commanded, putting a hand on Sakura’s shoulder and
gently pressing her back into the bed, “I want you to sit and eat
breakfast. After all sometimes I want to be the one to surprise my
precious in bed with breakfast.”

“---Tomo-chan---” she whispered, feeling her face blush from the
attention. As they ate the topic of the rain came up, “Yeah. We were
going to study also. I heard everyone is still coming though so we
should scrap plans to do it outside and study in here today.”

“Hoeeee----” Sakura whimpered. She loved Tomoyo a lot, and wanted to
be her best for her, but she just didn’t take to the idea of studying
very well. In fact she was rather down on it the minute Tomoyo
mentioned it. “Studying---”

“It’s good for your grades. Have to bring them up before final exams.”

“Hooe!” Sakura cried again, becoming more worried and stressed than
she already was. She wasn’t a particularly bad student, yet she wasn’t
a particularly good student either. Still, her highest trait was that
she tested well. When she tested, at least, she did exceptionally
well. It was the classes in between tests that troubled her the most.
Still, as Tomoyo said, she could stand to bring her grades up before
final exams regardless of whether she tested well or not.

As they ate a slight glint went across Tomoyo’s eyes and Sakura had
the suspicion that she was up to something. “Tomo-chan? What are you
thinking about?”

“Me? Nothing.”

“-----” Sakura sat there, munching, yet staring at Tomoyo intensely as
if waiting for her to admit something. Finally she did, in a soft
voice, “Cloud came to ask me for advice on how to keep Kero’s heart.”

“Kero’s heart?” she asked, confused, as Tomoyo elaborated. “I think
they’re in love, and Umi told me they’ve been a “pair” since the
beginning. But she’s feeling a little insecure about keeping his
feelings towards her strong so -- maybe --”

“Did you tell her that Kero loves video games and food?”

“I did.”

“And?” Sakura leans forward, interested all of a sudden. “She pouted
and said “Well THAT’s so obvious!” and stormed off in a huff. I think
she was hoping for bedroom tips from me.”

“Bedroom---” (Sakura turns bright red) “---h-h-h-”

“Hoe?” Tomoyo helps, to which Sakura nods her head up and down fast,
practically glowing red with embarrassment. “W-w-w-why?!? S-s-s-she’s
TOO young!!”

“Actually she’s older than mama, so she’s the right age--- you look
like your going to faint.”

Sakura’s eyes spun, her face was red like a lobster, and she was
sweating full ammo clips of sweat. “AUUGGHH!!”

“I guess maybe you weren’t ready for that yet.” Tomoyo admitted,
smiling meekly at Sakura’s reaction.

It didn’t help when five minutes later Kero came into the room asking
if Cloud was ready for sex in her present form. Sakura screamed,
cried, and hid beneath her blankets (thankfully she already finished
eating breakfast before Kero showed up). “Oh come on!” Kero yelled,
prodding her beneath her blankets as Tomoyo looked on rather
concerned, “Do we freak everytime you and Tomoyo do the nasty? Come
on!! Help me out here!!”

“WAAHHHH!!!”

“I think Sakura-chan’s having a bad day.” Tomoyo whispered, nudging
for Kero to leave. “Well that’s no good! What about our needs? We’re
grown individuals! Sure we look underaged but it’s all perfectly
legit!”

Sakura just didn’t seem to want to stop crying. Tomoyo spent five
minutes just to coax her out of her blankets, and another five to get
her to come to her “lab” kitchen on the second floor and ask for some
advice on Cloud’s predicament from the other Clow girls.

Umi, Gaia, Eve (Dark), Dawn (Light) & Fuu (the Daidouji Estates’ maid)
were all eating breakfast as Tomoyo led the rather shaky and spooked
Sakura into the kitchen to talk. Umi looked at her from head to toe,
and seemed concerned. “Have you been introducing mistress to some new
sextoys? She looks rather worn out and stressed today.”

“Maybe it’s her diet. She needs more greens.” Gaia mentioned, taking
another bite out of her spinach omelet. “Greens are always good for
growing young women.”

“Mistress needs more time in the sun.” Dawn noted, while Eve simply
replied, “She needs a good night’s sleep. After the sex of course, but
still she needs a solid sleep after the fun.”

Fuu simply asked for more eggs and didn’t add her two cents in, even
at Tomoyo’s insistence.

“So,” Umi finally asked, “How far do you think they went?”

“PHHTT!!” (Sakura spit out her drink looking flustered)

“Now or before? Because they went beyond “all the way” before if you
remember. When he was a big tiger and she was a full grown woman?
They‘d do it like animals and--- mistress? Are you OK? You look like
you‘re about to cry--- more than you are presently crying now I mean.” Gaia adds, slowly looking rather concerned.

“-----”

“Now of course! Then doesn’t count because that was then, this is
now!“ Umi remarked, ignoring Gaia’s frantic look and her “subtle”
motioning towards Sakura who looked nearly ready to faint, “I bet sex
between the two of them must be awkward as heck considering he‘s tiny,
she‘s “lolicon“ material, and---”

“Ahhhhhhhh!!!” Sakura wailed, arms waving frantically to catch Umi’s
attention, “Yes?”

“Do we need to talk about this?!? Can‘t we talk about something
else?!?””

“Uh---“ (catches Gaia’s frantic expression) “Sure, mistress. But isn’t
the topic of Kero and Cloud the reason why you asked us in here for in
the first place?”

“I’m sure Kero isn’t equipped now to handle Cloud’s needs.” Dawn
(Light) noted, “She’s been rather upset and uptight about their
“situation” for sometime now. I think she’s just frustrated that she’s
not getting any and---” (Eve (Dark) nudges her to silence her) “---oh.
Sorry. Almost got too graphic.”

Sakura was red from face to toe, obviously not needing very much to
stimulate her imagination as to what was going through Dawn’s head at
the moment. “Pwhee!!” she cried, “Why do I have to listen to this?!!?”

“Because your our mistress?” Umi replied, laying out her advice as
everyone listened with focused attentions, except for Sakura whose
attention strayed as she was frozen with shock from having to listen
to all this talk in the first place.

At that moment? Sakura wished she was somewhere else.

Tomoyo smiled, and placed her hands around Sakura’s ear to help her
drown out the words.

* * * * * *

When it came to her schoolwork one thing was abundantly clear. Sakura
Kinomoto had her strong points, and she had her weak points.

When it came to her strong points? PE was one of them.

When it came to her weak points? Math, Japanese and English was some
of them.

But Tomoyo remained persistent, and sat by Sakura’s side once again as
“Study Buddies” started, fully determined to help Sakura with her
grades.

Some were there to help, like Rebecca (History) and Eve (general
knowledge) for instances.

Some were there to learn, like Nina & Syaoran Li for starters.

Some were there because their significant others were present (Keiko).

Some were there for the promise of free food as well as because their
significant other was present (Nina, oddly enough, was there to BOTH learn and eat at the same time).

All in all one thing was clear though, they were there, and they were
there to learn.

Kero was of course banned from the room since everyone knew he would
sway people with his Dark Side powers and lure studiers off to play
video games. So he kept to his room with Cloud and played video games.
Hikaru & Mirra were present, even though their tests would be easier
to master than Sakura’s.

Still, Sakura was struggling abit. Math being the hardest for her.

It was during math study that she brought up the question of Ms.
Mitsuki.

Nobody seemed to have an answer to that one. Now, yes, truth be told
not many of the newcomers like Keiko and Nina liked Ms. Mitsuki, each
for their own reasons. Sakura? She adored her. She made her feel all
floaty. But still it wasn’t like Tomoyo. Tomoyo made her feel as if
she was skipping along heavenly clouds, Ms. Mitsuki made her feel
“floaty”. There was a difference.

Keiko shrugged her shoulders and looked baffled at the sudden mention
of her, “I don’t even know why your bringing her up. It’s not like
she’s family or a die hard close friend, she just comes and goes of
her own free will mostly.”

“Sorta like an alley cat only she doesn’t seem to go into heat every
so often -- then again she could be in heat right now and we wouldn’t
even know it which explains why she ---” (sighs) “---and Sakura’s
falling apart again so forget I mentioned anything.”

Sakura didn’t look like she could handle the topic of Ms. Mitsuki as
an alley cat, let alone one in “heat”, so Keiko redirected the topic.
“I’m sure she’s fine. I checked with the school when she “disappeared”
and they have it on record that she’s on “leave” for awhile. I don’t
know why she’s on leave, or why she didn’t leave Sakura a message, so
I’m guessing it’s personal business.”

“But still---” Sakura sighed, her head turning slightly as Tomoyo puts
her arm around Sakura’s shoulder, “I’m sure she’s just fine. We’ll see
her again.”

Sakura smiles, and leans against Tomoyo briefly, basking in the warmth
of her feelings, before going back to the numbers before her. For some
reason the numbers seemed less daunting as long as Tomoyo was giving
her help with the equations.

She knew she’d see Ms. Mitsuki again, it was only a matter of time.

* * * * * *

She wished she didn’t have to see Ms. Mitsuki, but she was part of the
“package”. As she stood in the observation room of the Medico Bay and watched over Mimic, Catherine entered the room. “She knows we’re here.” Kaho noted.

“Oh, really.” Catherine replied, noticing part of the “mirror” was
fogged up and someone had written the words “HOW MUCH LONGER?” on the
glass. Kaho leaned back in her chair as she motioned to the words,
remarking “I think she’s getting rather antsy.”

“That makes two of us.” Catherine shot back half-heartily, looking
through the glass at Mimic as she sat down, “Jack sends his love and
three new “associates” for the job.” (sighs again) “And why am I
telling you all this anyway?”

“Because we’re “partners” in crime?”

Catherine didn’t like the sound of that one bit, but Kaho elaborated,
“Without me you wouldn’t have known when Mimic was good and ready to
be “picked up”. Also you wouldn’t have known to stay out of Tokyo and
keep from recruiting while the SpellThrashers were keeping an eye out
for any Clow girl recruitment drives after Mimic’s disappearance.
Speaking of Mimic, did you think it was wise to deploy her so soon---”

“Give it a rest already.” Catherine hissed, “You don’t need to be
psychic to know that security would have been kicked up several
notches after Mimic’s disappearance. That’s common sense.”

“Is it “common sense” that Captain Lazarus called when he did? As I
said he would? Is it also “common sense” that you need me if your
ambitions are to---”

“You have ambitions too. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t if you won’t.”

A bit of an unbearable silence fills the air as the two regard each
other, “Keiko’s right, you are creepy.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Whatever---”

Catherine stands up and motions towards Mimic who was sitting quietly
in her bed waiting, “Tell her it’s not going to be much longer. We
should be leaving soon.”

“I’ll tell her that.” Kaho agreed, looking back at the Clow girl.
“Anything else I should tell her?”

“Over your dead body.”

The doors shut behind her, leaving Kaho alone to ponder the thinly
veiled “threat”.

* * * * * *

As she re-entered her private office she re-calculated her “assets”.
She had Mimic on her team. That’s one.
Three more females were sent to her, since there was no CLAMP School the send them away to. Kaho Mitsuki. Like it or not she made five.
That left two more to go. But who---

A thin wispy feeling drifted across her mind. Short, brief, but there
nevertheless.

She felt as if someone was crying out in their mind in anguish and
pain. It was so faint she could barely hear it, but hear it she did.
Somebody was hurting badly.

Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit. With that feeling etching into her
mind slowly but surely she knew she had to shelf everything for now.

The mission, the work, even thoughts of her. She put them all aside
and focused on her job.

And as she teleported out she felt something else as well.

This was the break she needed to finish her team. She could feel it.
But why would she feel that now---?

Why with this feeling of dread and pain? It made no sense.

Yet. But it would soon.

Speaking of which she still had to check in on Mimic--- once she
returned.

* * * * * *

Cheerleading practice went well enough.If not for the mere fact that Sakura’s mind wasn’t focusing on her tasks. Twice she nearly dropped her baton. One time she did--- on her head.
All in all she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had been
happening of late.

But this time it was more along the lines of the troubles with Kero and Cloud and other relationship problems than any external ills. Except one. The missing Clow Cards that she still had to capture.

The appearance of Meilin sometime ago was abit more comforting than worrying, and now Syaoran Li which was becoming a worrisome thing.
And now Kaho Mitsuki’s disappearance.

There was a lot of things going on, and Sakura was behind on most of
them. She felt rather out of the loop for someone who was charged with
protecting this world from Clow Card disasters. She wished she didn’t
feel that way, but she couldn’t help it -- it overwhelmed her at
times, her responsibilities.

Maybe Tomoyo could cheer her up. As she walked along the school
grounds after practice she heard Tomoyo’s voice. It was low, at first,
but then it started to grow.

She was singing. The voice just seemed to calm Sakura and ease away
her fears as she listened.

She let the voice lead her to where Tomoyo was practicing, if only to
watch her secretly as she sang.

As she reached the window she leaned against the wall and listened
silently, Tomoyo’s words seemingly taking her away from all her
worries and concerns and lifting her up to a place where she could
feel her burdens slipping away. She smiled, her arms wrapping around
herself as she listened. “She has a pretty voice.” she sighs.

“It is pretty.” the voice whispers from behind her, sending Sakura
spinning around in shock only to come face to face with, “Meilin?!”
she whispered in shock, Meilin motioning for her not to panic, “Shh!”
she hissed, motioning toward the windows where Tomoyo was practicing.
Sakura quickly clamped her hand to her mouth and nodded her head to
show she understood. As the two turned to listen, Meilin looked rather
distant, her eyes staring at Tomoyo yet not at her at the same time.

“Funny.” she muttered, though it seemed that she was only talking to
herself and not to Sakura at all, “I thought Tomoyo would get over
you. If she realized you and Li would be forever then -- maybe -- she
would have found room in her heart for --- for--”

“For you?” Sakura finished, to which Meilin nodded her head, “But in
the end we both got what we wanted.”

“Pwhee?” Sakura whispered, to which Meilin replied, “You got the love
of your life even if you didn’t know it would be Tomoyo, and I got the
love of my life -- strange how the ones we were meant to be with
aren’t the ones we at first fell in love with. It’s only after a lot
of trial, heartbreaks, and errors that we find our true loves.”

“That’s deep.” Sakura sighed, looking a little confused from it all,
“Xai’s been telling me that I’ve become rather deep lately in my
words. I hope that’s not a bad thing.”

“No--- maybe.”

By now Tomoyo was done with practice, noticing Sakura waiting for her
outside. As the two exchanged pleasantries and kisses, Meilin
retreated away from the quiet scene, a bit of a smile on her lips.

To Be Continued

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered IV Episode 4 (10)

NOTE - Well, guess I really need to crack down and write some new Azkaban fanfics soon. But for now... well... Sakura continues.

5 entries to 100.

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered IV Episode 4 (10)
New King Penguin Park looked a tad errie at night. With the lights
turned down dim, and the sky only illuminated by the presence of the
Central Hub above, the park seemed quite errie. It was in this setting that everyone was out searching for the Dash card.

True, it was spotted earlier by Sakura, but it managed to get onto the
back of a truck and vanish into traffic earlier. It took awhile, but
Sakura managed to locate it again. First thing she wanted to do was
call Li, which was the last thing Nina wanted. She called, but he
didn’t reply.

“Must be out.” she replied, closing the new cell phone she got from
Tomoyo.

That, however, was only half right.

While Li was indeed in his apartment, he was for all intents and
purposes “out”. He and Eliza were both out fast asleep, seeking solace and comfort in each other’s arms. So he (and Eliza) was not present for this card hunt, and Nina, Keiko as well as Rebecca couldn’t have been happier about this turn of events.

As they spread out along the woods, trying to flush Dash out, Keiko
had a weird notion, “Why don’t we just lob stun grenades into the
woods and pick up the “pieces” after it gets knocked around a few
times? Seems faster to me that way.”

“No! Don’t hurt Dash!” Sakura cried out, Tomoyo nearby filming her
(and also there to support her and back her up). At this Keiko sighed
and went back to looking through the brush, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.
I--” (stops) “--anyone else hear that noise?”

“It’s Dash.” Nina whispers, kneeling down as she draws her Globtek
pulse pistol out and sets it to a low setting. “Low stun. Not enough
to put to sleep, but enough to slow and weaken it.”

Sakura nods her head as she moves forward, staff in hand, “Nobody hurt
Dash, it’s---”

Suddenly the card comes flying out of the brush and right towards
Keiko/Rebecca. Confused, the two try to tackle it only to collide with
each other as it slides between them. Sakura quickly reaches her left
hand out and brings her focus onto her Windy Ring.“Windy!” she cries
out, “Form a sphere of restraint around Dash, but don’t hurt it!”

Windy’s power whips forward trying to reach Dash, but it manages to
keep ahead of the ring’s effect jumping upwards into the tree branches
flying over tree after tree taking the overland route to escape.
“We’ve got ourselves a “flyer” here!” Nina yells out, tapping her
commlink, “Dash is coming your way through the treetops! Can you nab
it?”

“I’ll try.” the voice on the opposite end replies, Nina going into a
full sprint to keep up with the others as they all followed Dash. Over
her commlink she could hear Eve speaking in spellspeak (weaving a spell as she had already turned her Ipod on and had the right song going through her headset), “Ribbon Trap” she called out as she triggered the spell. Silence, then the sound of struggling and the bending of tree limbs. “Stop! Don’t fight the spell! Stop it, Dash! St---” (something ahead snaps) “NO!!”

“Dash!!” Sakura cries, her legs pumping faster and faster as she
rushes right up to Eve, picking herself off the ground, her face concerned. “Dash broke loose.”
Sakura looks about, raising her staff as she does, “Dash! Don’t run!
We only want to help you!”

Silence. Then, suddenly, a noise off to one side. Sakura and Eve
turn to see Dash, floating in midair frozen in place, and guiding
Him -- “Catherine?”

Sure enough there was Picadello, using her power to keep Dash secured (yet unharmed) floating in the air ahead of her. Sakura came into the clearing looking at her rather confused, “But how? How did? I mean -- uh -- thank you…?”

“No problem.” Catherine Picadello smiles, watching as Sakura takes the
paralyzed Dash into her arms to comfort it. At first it doesn’t want
to be in her grasp, it’s eyes wild as if looking to escape. However,
once it calms down it begins to settle down as Catherine removes the
paralysis to allow it to move on it’s own. The first thing it does is
nuzzle Sakura’s face and lick her cheek. She giggles and fidgets under
Dash’s “affections” as Tomoyo tapes it on her camera for posterity.
“Think Dash missed you, Sakura-chan!“

“Ok. Ok. I missed you too! Come on!! Hey!!“ she squirmed, Dash’s
tongue tickling her face. Finally Catherine motions for Dash, holding
an arm out for Dash to land on. “If you will do the honors?”

“Oh! Right! Ahem --” (holds staff out) “-- Clow Card return to your
powers confined, DASH CARD!!” she yells, slamming the staff down and
unleashing a dozen strands of energy that pick Dash up and convert it
back into card form. The card jumps briefly into the air, and lands in
Sakura’s hand.

As everyone gathers around to look at the card, Catherine glances
sideways at Tomoyo and sighs.

“I’m happy just being close to her. I’m happy just being close to
her.” she sighed, her memory of the capture still fresh in her mind’s
eye after an hour.

* * * * * *

Crystallia (the Dream Continent of Antarctica)
A few hours later.

The Winterian City of Icskellius (Ick-shell-ius)

She sat in her office overlooking the cold steel buildings of the
Winterian city just outside, her office being at the top of a long
tower located near the center of the city of metal and steel. This
tower, rising above the other buildings, gave her office a commanding
view of both the city itself and the surrounding snow and ice. She had
been “commuting” back and forth from Tokyo to here ever since she
brought her first “candidate” for her excursion plans, but she’s also
been very careful to keep her activities low key and under the radar
while she was doing her present “tasks”. However it seemed she wasn’t
far enough below the radar, seeing as how she was working only to have
the commsystem beep. “If it’s not one thing -- yes?”

“Call for you from a Captain Lazarus.”

She sighed, leaning back in her chair, “Dammit.” she growled. She knew
why he was calling, and she wished he wasn’t calling if it was all the
same to her. “When it rains--”

* * * * * *

Speaking of rain… (back in Tokyo)

As soon as they returned to the Daidouji Estates it started to rain.

Low key and quietly at first, but then it began to grow, and grow.
Presently it was raining rather fiercely outside, but that made
staying inside in a nice warm bed that much more appealing.

Tomoyo shivered beneath Sakura’s loving touch, the young woman’s
fingers gently digging into her shoulders giving her a perfect
massage. She was glad that they caught Dash when they did, and wasn’t
caught out in the rain while looking for the card. “I barely did
anything today.” Tomoyo sighed, looking up at Sakura as she did, “You
did all the work.”

“But you were so helpful, and I couldn’t have done it without you --
sometimes I wonder how I can get through each day if I didn’t have you
--”

“Thanks.” Tomoyo smiled, sinking her head back into her pillow,
“You’re sweet.”

As Sakura continued to work her “magic”, Tomoyo’s mind began to drift
and she thought of all the times Sakura was there for her. “I want to
be there for you, Sakura-chan. Whenever you need me.” she whispers,
bringing a smile to Sakura’s face. “Tomo-chan.”

In awhile Tomoyo would switch places with Sakura, and return the
favor. But that was in awhile. For now she simply laid there, and
relished the attention her Sakura-chan paid to her.

* * * * * *

The PSP seemed a little bit more useful now, Kero thought, as he continued to rearrange his deck for another duel. The rain and
occasional lightning noises scared Cloud, even though their “room” had
no windows (though was also well vented and the air was fresh and
clean) and was nowhere near the rain outside. Cloud wanted to crawl
beneath the sheets, but she didn’t want to be bored while hiding, so
she was playing PSP games with Kero to pass the time away.
Still, a majority of her body was safely hidden beneath her blankets
with Kero also in her bed (on top of the sheets with his own little
blankets covering him as he dueled with Cloud playing a multiplayer game with her).

“Are you ready yet?” she growled, looking rather bored as she waited.
“In a second, in a second!” he growled back, working to finish his
deck. “There. Now I’m ready to beat you.”

“Doubt it!” she cheered, loosening up as Kero got ready, “I’m going to
beat you again!”

“Hmph.” he huffed his breath, focused --- but then --- “What do you
think of that Syaoran brat?”

For a few moments Cloud didn‘t say a word, then she said “Too immature for my tastes. I like my men big yet sensitive, tough yet caring, and has a taste for the finer things in life -- and when I find a man like that I’ll let you know!” (phht!)

Kero played his first card, glaring over at Cloud as he did. She
merely smiled and played a card, “Oh don’t pout at me! You know you’re
the only one for me.”

Kero’s features softened, and he played another card. She’d change her mind, of course, the minute she started losing, but he knew that she cared for him.

From beneath the blankets Cloud looked about the room and sighed, “I
wish this house had room service. (too cold to even think of going to
the kitchen!)”

“It’s not that cold.”

“Then YOU go!” Cloud countered, to which Kero shook his head and
muttered, “Too cold.”

“As I said, too cold.”

* * * * * *

Meanwhile--- (Icskellius)

Her finger punches down on the button as she leans back, the link
establishing almost immediately. “To what do I have this “pleasure” of
your company?”

Jack didn’t look the slightest big pleased, in fact he looked
downright angry. “Tell me I don’t have this paper in front of me right
now hinting at a quote “Black Ops” operation that had passed recently?“

“I can’t tell you that.” she replied honestly, “You know that.”

“I know that you’re doing something rash again. So how many---”

“One.” Catherine retorted, “One that would have died anyway if I hadn’t intervened. In any case she’s no longer a threat---”

“YOU HAVE MIMIC THERE?!?” Jack yelled, to which she quietly raised her
hands and motioned him to calm down, “She’s no longer a threat because
the thing that pulled her strings is gone.”

“Thing? You don’t mean---”

Catherine sighed, leaning backwards into her chair to stare listlessly
at the ceiling, her voice fading as she spoke and her mind opened up
to what was.

* * * * * *

What Happened Before---

You see, this whole particular situation began truly began years and
years ago when Clow Reed forged the original Clow Cards in the “waking
world” (the Earth that he hailed from).

When he passed on he sealed the cards in the Clow Book and left
Kerberos to guard them.

Over the natural course of time they would remain this way until the
one who he had pre-planned to take his place as the world’s most
powerful mage opened the book.

It took a lot of questionable, and quite unethical acts to make his
dream come true, but one day Sakura Kinomoto, his chosen one, opened
the book and set the stage what should have been the creation of the
world’s next greatest mage.

That was before she came into the picture, Catherine Piccadello, where
this divergence in events took place which brings us to where we are
now.

Feeling a disturbance in a nearby dimension she investigated, and came
upon the whole situation as it unfolded, with Sakura coming close to
becoming the world’s greatest mage.

But the situation was something Catherine would not tolerate, and for
her own reasons she “intervened”. (She omits certain things at this
point, things that she didn’t need to say since she knew that Jack
probably already knew this information without her saying it)

It was on the day of Sakura’s Final Test, under the shadow of Tokyo
Tower, that Piccadello brought her allies into play and fought for the
very survival of this world. Eriol’s minions fell quickly enough, and
it was simple enough for Jack to find one soul whose strength of
character and purity was enough to move mountains, or one stubborn
moon back into it’s rightful orbit.

But the power of the one who used to be Clow Reed was still potent.
His patience, however, had fled him.

Catherine, who had thought she had him pinned down, was quickly
overcome by him.

Two others, SpellThrashers, tried to take him out but were tossed
aside.

Keiko Yamanaka, the 7th Judgement, tried to stop him but was hurled
into a tree where she was impaled on a sharp protruding branch. Sakura
tried to stop him, but was struck so hard that she hit the ground and
bounced like a ragdoll. “Eriol”, it seems, was angry at the
interference and had lost all sense of reason.

But it was in this few moments, when his reason had fled, that a
distraught Tomoyo rushed to Sakura’s side crying. She saw Eriol
approaching, anger in his eyes, as he screamed at her to get away from
his property (Sakura), his reason gone with only a rage which seemed
to consume him remaining.

It could be said that it was building up ever since Piccadello first
interfered, or perhaps it was by the manipulation of an outside force
that made him so irrational, but one thing was certain -- he was
beyond reason at this point.

At this moment Tomoyo blindly grabbed for her bag, to desperately make
him go away, and swung blindly.

She had instead grabbed Keiko’s fallen sword, her cursed blade, whose
metal was unbreakable. And with her one swing, as Eriol knelt to grab
Sakura by her neck, she decapitated him.

It was an accident. She didn’t mean to. But as the blade swung through
Eriol’s body fell backward, parted from his head, his staff falling to
one side apparently useless. The reincarnation of Clow Reed was dead.

However unlike Lord of the Rings the consequences to Tomoyo (killing
him) was quite dire. It took a lot of effort to “wipe” her mind of
what she did, lest it would weight terribly in her mind and slowly
destroy her from the inside out.

As for the staff? The staff, the last remnants of this “Clow Reed”’s
power, laid there waiting for someone to take it. To perhaps use it or
destroy it. However in her grief, Eve, Keiko’s companion, got to it
first. In a rage she ripped a portal into the dark passages between
worlds, OtherSpace, and hurled it in.

The staff disappeared from all mention after that, and hasn’t been
seen since.

At least, that’s how Jack remembers it. However---

* * * * * *

The Here and Now.

“Five days ago I felt the same dread I felt when I was on that world,
Sakura’s Earth, and I knew it had to be that staff. When that sphere
appeared a few days later? I felt as if my dread was being justified
and my suspicions were being proved as a simple truth.”

Jack neither spoke nor moved, he simply stared at her. “It’s gone. CLAMP School isn’t around this time around, that means we have nothing to fear from anything. Especially not…“

“OtherSpace is not endless, nor is it capable of hiding a tool of such
power for long periods of time. Remember last time?” Jack noted, “It held it, hid it from prying eyes, but only for a “season“ which eventually drew to an end.”

“You don’t think that season has passed once again, Jack, you couldn’t be thinking…”

“You think so.“ he responded, “Your preparing a “welcoming committee” for it again, aren’t you. If not then why interject again in the matter of Mimic if you aren’t doing it again? Are you going to once again try to find a staff that you only suspect might be there BEFORE…?”

“I am doing no such thing.” she countered, to which he shrugged and replied “Why would I.” (looks at her seriously) “Look, far be it for me to tell you what to do, but you better be careful while recruiting (again). I’m not the only one who caught wind of this (again). The SpellThrashers also have heard of this and they’re stepping up security around likely “chosen ones” to keep them from being recruited.” (silence) “And I don’t think I have to warn you again, but if you plan on going on any other “trips” be careful, eh?” (stops) “Refresh my memory if you will, what did you mean earlier? About Mimic?”

Catherine smiled, and laid out her evidence before him.

* * * * * *

Return to Flashbacks.

The staff, lying on the ground, was mostly intact when Eve heaved it
into her hands, anger burning.

But she missed one shard. One small metal shard that broke free from
the staff. One piece.

The metal shined dully in the new light of day, glistening with power,
but untouched. By sheer coincidence it was dragged through the portal
opened to take Piccadello and the others home.

However it did not end up where they did, but was drawn to Tokyo Tower
where, in it’s shadow, it waited.

Time passed, and dozens upon dozens of people picked up the shiny
object only to feel compelled to throw it aside. None of them were
suitable, so they felt that they had no use for the apparently
worthless chunk of metal and dropped it.

But then, by chance, a suitable person came along.

The shard was picked up by a female who was a “shard” herself, a
fragment of another being.

Mimic. A being that was part Clow created, hence perfect by the
shard’s simplistic reasonings.

The shard merged with her, and then it began to fill her head with
lies. It was not particularly sentient, but it compelled her most base
fears and need for love and acceptance to fill her with self deluded
fears and hatreds. Why? It needed her emotions to run high so it could
“grow” and be “fed” by her strengths as it exploited her weaknesses.

All her hatred and malice towards Mirra? It came from this one thing
that pushed all her buttons and made her hate without even truly
knowing why.

But that night she was stabbed by Hikaru, that’s when it ended.

By sheer luck the blade sliced through near her heart, and dislodged
the shard (already maturing into the raw material to form a new
“sealing staff”) from her body, but not enough so it came out then and
there. It was when Hikaru hurled Mimic through the windows of the
Tower’s observation deck that the shard fell loose. It tumbled out of
her and fell into darkness.

* * * * * *

And Back Once Again to the Here and Now.

“Where is it now?”

“Gone again.” she concluded, spreading her arms out as she talked. “No
doubt waiting and biding it’s time until it finds another suitable
“host” from which to work it’s evil through. And if your wondering I DID check the original pass host that took it from there, only that person was pure (not even a trace of it like before).”

“No doubt.” Jack concluded, “Well, keep an eye out for things and do
be careful.”

“I will.” she acknowledged, watching the link cut off. As the room
fell silent again she picked up the shard from a hidden spot on her
desk and looked at it. The shard was as big as her fist, and made the
most insistent racket in her head, but still -- “Tempt me all you
want, you can never give me what I truly want.”

Her memory quickly flashed back to before, back on Sakura’s world.

* * * * * *

Catherine’s Flashback.

One night she visited Tomoyo as she slept.

She laid in bed, her face red and stained with tears as if she cried
herself to sleep.

Still, despite how untidy she appeared, she still was very beautiful
to Catherine.

She knew that she could keep Tomoyo “asleep” by simply keeping Tomoyo
from sensing her presence, but she wanted to do more while she did
this. She climbed onto the bed until she was face to face with her
young “host”, staring into her closed eyes. At that moment she did
something quite rash, and leaned forward to kiss her on the lips.

Her lips brushed softly against the sleeping Tomoyo’s lips, her heart
banging against her rib cage hard as she kissed her while she slept,
and wished for something she knew she could never truly have.

To wake up each and every morning, Tomoyo’s smiling face and bright
eyes greeting her, as she lazily laid in Catherine’s arms and rested
her head upon the older woman’s bare breasts.

Without meaning to her arm slipped out from under her, and she fell on
top of Tomoyo. She quickly strengthened her efforts to keep Tomoyo
asleep, but was shocked as Tomoyo unconsciously wrapped her arms about
her and hugged her tight.

At that moment she began to sweat, her heart was racing (which was a
good thing that she was already “dead” once because she felt that it
was going to explode if it raced faster), and she felt like crying
herself. She rested her head on Tomoyo’s shoulder and succumbed to her
desires if only for the moment. But she had to grit her teeth and
steel her resolve as deeper feelings surfaced.

Her hand brushed against Tomoyo’s thigh, and the burning insistent
urge to touch her -- she pressed herself close to Tomoyo to suppress
those thoughts, hands gripping the sheets to keep them from wandering.

‘I just want to be close.’ she thought to herself, her words blurring
as she chanted them in her head over and over again, ’I just want to
be close. I just want to be here. I just want to be loved. I just want
--- I just want to love --- YOU!!’

* * * * * *

The Here and Now.

Catherine’s thoughts focused again as she dropped the shard into a
tesseract sphere and then locked it away for safe keeping. “Silly
dreams.” she chided herself, straightening up to her full height
trying to keep her head up as she did, “I’m not cut out for a happily
ever after ending. The first time around proved that.”

Suddenly the commlink buzzed again. “Now what?”

As she clicked it on she saw Jack’s face again, “Silly me. I forgot.”

“Forgot what?”

“I have three high profile young ladies for your little “insertion”
team if your ready to meet them.”

“Eh?”

To Be Continued

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered IV Episode 3 (10)

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered IV Episode 3

Meilin seemed quieter tonight than usual. This worried Xai greatly as
she looked on silently.

“Is dinner alright?” Xai asked, looking for any sign of reaction from
Meilin. She hadn’t said very much at all tonight, and she ate slowly
as if deep in thought. Obviously something was bothering her, though
as Xai prodded she only smiled and shook her head, picking up her pace
slightly yet still looked quite bothered. “What happened at school
today? Did something upset you?”

The room suddenly became even more silent as she stared at her food.
For long moments she only stared, the sound of breathing filling the
space between them, until she finally spoke in a soft whisper,
“Nothing.”

“Meilin I know you, and this isn’t nothing, please --” (her hand
gently touches Meilin’s, bringing her face up as they stared into each
others eyes), “--please?”

“Li showed up at school today. He--- he---”

“He did it, didn’t he?” Xai finally finished, to which she nodded her
head meekly. “I thought you were mistaken. When I arrived and he
wasn’t here yet I thought maybe he would have changed his mind.”

“Guess not.” she noted, smiling weakly. At this Xai scoots herself
over, and came to sit next to Meilin as she urges her to eat, arm
wrapped around her shoulder. “Do you still have -- feelings for him?”

“No -- but --” she mutters, her voice trailing off. It takes a few
prods, but shortly she’s speaking again in soft whispers, “---but I
can’t forget how he left me alone. How he went off to discover himself
without even thinking of my feelings -- how I felt being all alone --”
Suddenly she slams her fork down on the plate and screams “WHY DIDN’T
HE LOVE ME THE WAY I WANTED HIM TO LOVE ME?!?”

Xai gently grabs the now struggling Meilin, and drags her into a
strong hug, holding her tight as she yelled again, “WHY DID HE ABANDON
ME WHEN I NEEDED HIM THE MOST?!? WHY??? WHY???”

“I don’t know.” was Xai’s only answer, her head resting against
Meilin’s shoulder as she held her tightly, until finally she stopped
struggling and collapsed into Xai’s strong grip, “I didn’t ask for
much. Why didn’t he return my affections for me? Why didn’t he love
me?? Why???”

All Xai could do was comfort her, holding on as she cried. Finally,
with strength borne within her heart over the years she asked, “Do you
love him more than me?”

Meilin’s eyes flew wide, her mouth suddenly dropped as she realized,
“NO! NO! I -- I love you -- but --”

“But?” Xai repeated, making Meilin blush as she realized what she had
said. With great resolve she straightened up, wiped her tears away,
and clenched her fists. “BUT NOTHING! I’m not going to let him get to
me anymore! From now on--” (looks into Xai’s eyes) “---it’s you and
me. Now and forever.”

As they kiss the two feel the warmth in their breasts growing, their
feelings growing even stronger as they held each other. Finally they
released, slowly Xai allowed Meilin back into her seat as she smiled,
“Just you and me now. I want you to depend on me as much as I depend
on you, Ok?”

“Does that mean you want to be on top tonight?” Xai kidded, to which
Meilin smiled, “I haven’t been there before. Would be nice to see you
at my “mercies” tonight. And I‘ve never got to play with the “toys“
before so maybe tonight‘s the night---” The two kiss one more time
before eating, words failing to express at times what they felt they
depended on their bodies to do it for them with gentle kisses and soft
carresses. Still, one thing to Meilin was abundantly clear and certain
in her heart of hearts.

“This is Hamburger Helper.” she noted, poking her food. “I can’t
believe this is an old Transylvanian pasta dish. Do you believe that?
It‘s Hamburger Helper.”

“Definitely.” Xai remarks, going back to eating her food, “But it’s
good anyway. Eat your food, dear.”

“I’m eating, I’m eating. Still, it’s Hamburger Helper.”

“Yes, precious, I noticed.”

* * * * * *

Li laid on his back in his new apartment staring at the ceiling.

His music was playing and yet it didn’t provide him with any solace
whatsoever.

The first day at school today? It seemed as if nothing could go right
for him at all. If it wasn’t for Eliza he probably would have just booked a ticket back to the Shining Star and forgot his orders.

“I thought you left town to rub your big old bedmate in your rivals faces, not to lay about like a dweeb.”

Li’s eyes narrowed. That annoyingly bossy voice could only be coming
from one person. “Karen.” he muttered as he turned his headset off,
sitting upright to see her. She was as arrogant looking as she was
when she lectured him at the mall in Hong Kong, only now she was
floating to one side in holographic form (projecting her thoughts to
him). “Don’t tell me your boyish good looks and witty charm have
Finally failed you when you needed it the most.”

“Eliza is out doing the shopping for us.” he grumbled, falling back down into a lying position as she watched, her holographic eyes narrowing as she glared at him. “You can be such a wet blanket at times. Real men go shopping with their sextoys… I mean lifemates.”

“You didn’t come “here” just to find out about my sex life.”

“Or lack theroft.” she pointed out, looking about the room. “Nope. I’m
calling because we got a call from a very irrate 7th Judgment over
here. You might be familiar with who I am referring to, by the way, since she probably already threatened to kill you. She isn’t the slightest bit happy about us assigning a SpellThrasher to her sector, let alone one who assigned himself without anyone asking him.”

“Somebody had to take responsibility and help Sakura capture the
cards.”

“And it had to be you, didn’t it?” Karen scoffed, huffing her breath
at him as she did, “Arrogant little bastard. No wonder she hates you
as much as she sounded like she hates you from her commlink message.”

“She hated me long before I showed up here, I can assure you of that.”
Li retorted.

“Oh don’t go assuring ME of anything!” she growled, “I figured you
were unlikable from the get-go.”

“So then---” he muttered, looking up at her from his lying position,
“Why do you hang around me if I’m such an unlovable individual?”

“Somebody has to. Your life would be shitty if I didn’t brighten it
with my presence each and every day.”

“Of course.” he sighed, lying back down again.

“Don’t get me wrong. We Spellthrashers would like nothing better than to snub the Judgments, no questions about it. Still, this IS Yamanaka we’re
talking about here.” (makes a wide motion with her hands to show the
immensity of it all) “THE Keiko Yamanaka. The freakin’ 7th Judgment
for God’s sake! And for some reason you really had to piss on her the
first day out and get her to call us to tell us how truly evil you
are.” (silence) “Not that I didn’t already know you were evil, so she
was pretty much saying things I already knew about our favorite antichrist member.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah.” she muttered, looking at something out of “sight” (rifling
through her “memory” in her mind to see what she had yet to say) “Got
a comm from the senior female Destiny over here from the Amazonian homelands. She says she’s pleased with your relationship with her daughter, and she has only best wishes for you two.“ (whistles) “That’s stepmoms for you, always so supportive.”

(Karen) “Also I have this red banner from Command, looks like somebody may be irritated with the Clow cards enough to organize a Black Ops “anti-Clow” unit to try and beat Sakura to tbe punch on the remaining cards… as if. Anyway all the same would all of you SpellThrashers on the field keep your eyes open and report any suspicious activities or goings on in terms of known Black Ops agents or facilities in ties to Clow-card capturing. Of special importance is the Black Ops station located on Crystallyia.*” (* - Crystallyia, also known as the Dream Continent of Antarctica)

“What importance is that to my “mission”?” Li asked.

“Your self appointed mission? Some if they try to “recruit” Clow humans to help in the round-up. Whatever you do? Don’t let that happen. If you run into any Black Ops trying to recruit from Sakura’s house or the fewe roaming free cards like Fight or Power (from what Lt. Kotobuki has reported)? Stop them. But whatever you do? Don’t tell Sakura or the others. Keiko already knows and she’ll warn the cards about this possible “recruitment” tactic. Remember, however, the cards probably don’t like you since they see you as a rival in trying to steal Sakura away from Tomoyo so they won’t speak to you (and whatever rogue cards won‘t trust you because they think you‘ll try to dominate them). Let Eliza handle that aspect of it and just wait for instructions to aid her in case a Black Ops team shows up to try and “muscle” them. OK?”

“Anything else?”

Karen thinks for a second, then nods her head, “I know she’s Amazonian, but damn what is sex like with her anyway! How many times do you end up doggie style beneath her again?”, and with that she vanishes leaving Li alone once again. Without waiting for an answer to her “question“.

“…”

* * * * * *

The touch was gentle, yet present.

It started at her forehead and came down to her cheeks, and then to
her lips.

So soft it was barely noticeable, but Tomoyo felt it.

She smiled as she felt Sakura’s fingers gently touch her face,
obviously meaning that the girl was still wide awake. As she opened
her eyes she saw that Sakura was still up and looking worried.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, Sakura fidgeting as she realized she woke
Tomoyo from her sleep. Tomoyo smiled, sensing Sakura’s unease at
waking her and whispered, “It’s alright. Please, tell me.”

“I had a strange dream -- I mean vision -- I--”

“Tell me.”

For a few seconds she didn’t seem to want to, but a little more
prodding helped her along. As she spoke she seemed very nervous, but
slowly the images of what she saw in her vision started to come
together.

She saw the tower again, but this time it felt different. Tokyo Tower
was the same, yet different somehow. It was then that she realized
that there was a moon in the sky, and the stars seemed odd somehow.
The oddest being this object which seemed to be the sun, only
eclipsed. An eerie ethereal glow surrounded the strange object, but
what it was Sakura did not know. She only knew that it was strange to
see this in the sky.

On the tower she saw seven figures, male and female, standing. She
could feel their eyes staring, and wanted to join them but then she
felt the ground beneath her fall away dropping her into darkness.

It was then that she saw the city fall away, then darkness, then the
“sphere” floating in space above fall away into darkness, then
nothing.

That’s when she woke up.

Tomoyo didn’t know what to make of the vision, she only could hold
onto Sakura and comfort her. For now whatever sense could be made of
the vision would have to wait until they knew more of what the world
above them meant, and what awaited within. But in Tomoyo’s mind a
strange idea came.

Was that world a mirror image of their own? Was there another Tokyo
waiting within it’s hull?

Another Sakura maybe?

She shook those thoughts away and smiled, hugging Sakura tightly. One
Sakura was enough for her.

As they fell back asleep she dreamed a happy dream of the two of them
together, something she had been doing for abit now ever since Sakura
freed her of her bad memories.

She wished in her heart that Sakura was dreaming the same dream, and
that even in their sleep they would always be together.

Sakura, dreaming the same dream, made the same wish.

* * * * * *

The next day came, and it was back to school again.

More students returned to class. While it was not the full class yet
they were slowly coming back in as the school was kicking into full drive lessons wise.

As for Syaoran Li’s “critics”? Keiko, Rebecca, Nina and Meilin kept their distance from Li, while Sakura/Tomoyo gravitated towards him. It
didn’t help those who wanted to keep Li as far from them as possible
that Sakura (who they were assisting with the recapture of the Clow
cards) was gravitating towards the very person they were trying to
keep her away from, but there was nothing they could do about it.

As for Eliza? She seemed to hover at a distance but managed to not interfere unless she felt it was necessary. Most likely she was watching from the shadows from the command center, explaining why command felt it was necessary for Nina to spend time in class instead of the command center where the situation might have been rather awkward.

Catherine Picadello? “Anyone seen her since the last time we saw her? I lost track of her comings and goings.” Keiko asked, to which everyone either shrugged or shook their heads. It seemed Catherine Picadello was MIA, and she wasn’t the only one. Ms. Mitsuki was also missing, a new math teacher taking her place. Stranger and stranger.

Still, life went on and they had school to go through. Studying for
final exams at the end of the school year was already underway, this
to make it to the next grade, and since November they had been
gathering up for “Study Buddies” (a concept coined by the Sailor Moon
Dub and picked up as a “theme” concept for group studies sometime
ago). Another study buddies, another chance for many awkward moments.

The first one was always the hardest to plan, but Tomoyo made it easy.
“Let’s study today at our place.” she remarked, which everyone agreed
to. When they asked Li to join them there was some obvious dissent,
but he agreed and they had to live with it. Still, that didn’t mean
they had to like it.

As the day dragged on it was slowly becoming clear that this was a
situation that none of the “critics” could change. The situation couldn‘t be more awkward than it was right now, but nothing could be done to eliviate it in the slightest. What was done was done.
The first day of Study Buddies for the new year that had to include Li
only made things worst for them.

As they all walked home together one rampant thought kept racing
through Nina’s head.

‘If I push him into the pond as we go through New King Penguin Park he
might drown -- maybe if I shove him in front of a bus on the way home
-- or push him into a wood chipper in the park -- maybe down a man
hole into the mouth of a large reptile in the sewers -- or perhaps --’

However it was in the park that Sakura suddenly stopped, her senses
keenly picking up on something,

“There’s a Clow card nearby.”

Everyone’s attention turned towards her, watching, as she looked
about, until she finally pointed into a set of bushes and whispered,
“It’s in there, but---”, before she could say another word Li was off
dashing into the bushes. “WAIT!“ Sakura yelled, “It could be
dangerous!!“

Everyone was shocked/appalled at this, Keiko growling at Li‘s retreating form as he leaped into the bushes, yelling “THAT’S NOT YOUR JOB!!” Seconds later he came out, and gave everyone a shock. He was
foaming from head to toe in bubbles with the most very embarrassed
face (which could barely be seen beneath the bubbles) staring out at them. “It’s not dangerous. Just curious.” he muttered in disgust.

Nina suddenly burst into laughter looking at him, followed by Keiko,
Rebecca and finally Meilin. But Sakura was very serious as she drew her
staff and sealed the card, taking it in hand, she then tapped the card
and whispered “Bubble”, putting the card away. She then turned and
glared at everyone laughing which quickly silenced the mood. She them
smiled, and started laughing herself. For no reason she was laughing
and they didn’t understand.

Tomoyo takes hold of Sakura’s hand and leads her and some of the
others away, leaving the four behind, who were only now realizing that
they were slowly being covered in bubbles.

“Really mature there, Sakura. Really.” Rebecca noted as she began
brushing away the ever growing bubbles, “Somebody’s got a stick up
their butt being so touchy about Li’s “feelings”.”

* * * * * *

The minute they got home and Sakura announced the capture was the
minute Li became popular to the Clow girls. They all wanted to use
Bubble, and they all suddenly had a big change of heart about Li.
After all, he brought home Bubble (the card) by helping Sakura capture
it, so he was their hero.

Keiko was miffed about this turn of “events”, as was the other
“Critics” of Syaoran Li. Only Nina seemed to be partially accepting of
Li, and that was only because Eliza insisted on it.

Still, he did “help” to capture a card, and was pretty OK with being
embarrassed like that in front of everyone so maybe he could be given
a chance.

Study buddies went off without a hitch, except for the occasionally
mis directed Clow girl almost walking in on the group bare naked
(except for strategically placed bubbles) giggling like crazy and
looking for their own bedrooms.

Today was the first full day that Syaoran was part of the group, and
it seemed to go off rather well.

He broke the ice, and made some friends. He still had someway to go,
but for now it seemed he was settling in. For now.

That night Sakura decided to use the bubble card for herself and
Tomoyo to celebrate the capture.

But that’s a lemon story.

To Be Continued
(6 posts remain...)

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered IV Episode 2 (10)

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered IV Episode 2 (10)

It was the beginning of school once again.

A few days after New Years’. Only this time now that things have changed, and CLAMP School no longer loomed overhead, things were slowly settling into it’s normal flow (normal even for the rather easy going schools format of Edenina, the Realm of Dreams).

Regardless of whether CLAMP School dominated the sky or not, one thing remained the same… life went on. And it was in this mindset that Sakura found herself scrambling to get ready, hands flying everywhere and sweat forming on her brow. “I’m late! I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!”

“You wouldn’t be late if you practiced the skill of getting up when
your alarm sounds.” Kero grumbled as he watched Sakura rampage about
the huge room trying to get ready. “Tomoyo gets up before the alarm,
why can’t you--”

“THE BED FELT TOO GOOD TO GET UP FROM!!” she screams, hustling to get
dressed as she did. Sakura Kinomoto, not exactly a morning person by
anyone standards, yet a good girl nevertheless.

“Any dreams lately?” Kero asked the blur that was Sakura.

“No. Nothing important.” Sakura muttered, dressing, “Just the same
dream of Tokyo Tower I told you about. Nothing new.”

Kero nearly faints. “That’s not important? Sakura!”

“I got to go!” she yelped, grabbing for her bag, “I’ll talk about it
with you later!”

The door slams shut leaving him behind. “Sigh. She’ll never learn.”

From the hallway she could year a yelp and a crash, “Uh-boy.”

* * * * * *

Sakura didn’t get very far. The instant she flew out the door, bag in
hand, she collided headlong into someone and knocked them down. The
two of them hit the ground as she felt her breath whipped away from
the impact. Dazed and confused, she muttered “I’m sorry! I‘m sorry! I…” as she tried to look at who she hit. That’s when she froze up. Tomoyo looked up from beneath her, half her face from her nose on up was peeking out from beneath Sakura’s breasts, a slight blush on her cheeks.
“Breakfast.” she cheerfully (yet slightly muffled) called out.

Sakura couldn’t get off fast enough it seemed, feeling a full on body
blush, though Tomoyo took it in good stride walking Sakura to the
kitchen. As she did this she made sure to comment on how Sakura was
becoming really strong these days, though it only served to make
Sakura more insecure, “…hoooeeee…” she whined, looking red as a
lobster from the embarrassment.

They ate a quick breakfast, and was off to school. However there was a
little disagreement as they headed out the door. At first Sakura tried
to stop Mirra from going, but she told Sakura simply that she had to
go, with a reluctant Hikaru in hand. They had both healed from their
injuries from the event on New Year’s Eve but Hikaru was still flustered by what happened, thus she was still endlessly apologizing for everything. She had a long way to go to recovery, but as long as Mirra was with her everything would be fine.

Sakura made their lunches last night, and Tomoyo packed them away,
leaving the two girls the task of getting to school. As Tomoyo bladed
next to Sakura, her pace slightly slower so she could watch Sakura as
she rolled next to her, she began to worry about her.

Every noise seemed to get Sakura out of bed in a heartbeat. Every
slight creak or pak or groan got Sakura up, and she want to admit why,
but Tomoyo knew. Sakura was still recovering from what happened to
Mirra and Hikaru, still trying to get over the fact that someone she loved could be hurt even from a distance (like what Mimic did to Mirra).

This thought seemed to dominate her thoughts no matter how hard Tomoyo worked to dislodge it, making Sakura very nervous and jumpy at night to the point that she seemed as if she was going to jump out of her skin at any moment. She tried to be calm, but her nerves kept getting the better of her.

Tomoyo wanted to do something, but for now all she could do was reach
out and take Sakura’s hand. Sakura briefly tensed, but relaxed when she
realized it was only Tomoyo. Hand in hand, a warming blush etched
across Sakura’s face, the two reached the school and quickly got to
class. Sakura gently squeezed Tomoyo’s hand with every turn they took,
partially to insure her partner made the turn, partially to assure
herself that she was still there. As they locked their gear away and
put their slippers on she felt Tomoyo slide up behind her, and gently
kiss the nape of her neck, relishing briefly this beautiful moment.
Then it was upstairs and straight to class.

Once they got there they could see that half of the class had yet to
arrive, but some of the more notables was already there. Rebecca was in a far more smarmy mood than she had ever been before, and no wonder,
because she was already trading shots with Keiko before the day had even started. They sat in their usual corner, taking pot shots at each other verbally as Sakura/Tomoyo came into the room.

Keiko was sprawled onto her own desk, glancing over at Rebecca as they mentally sparred back and forth, yet she still looked rather bored as she did that. Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged glances, yet Sakura seemed to
be the only one who was concerned, Tomoyo smiled and gave her an
assuring nod as if to silently tell her that everything was going to
be just fine with the two of them.

Nina, of course, was probably monitoring from the control room she kept on campus. Mr. Terada wasn’t there yet, but then again neither was Rika.
“Maybe she’s going to be off today?” Tomoyo suggested, motioning to
the class. Sure enough, it seemed at least half the class was off
today, probably still recovering from the shock of the last few days.
“I hope she’s alright.” Sakura whispered, looking concerned.

“Lots of people took today off.” Keiko noted, drawing the two’s
attention towards them. “Last time’s excuse was CLAMP School…“ (bleah) “…now that there’s no excuse though it’s mostly since they’re just blowing off the first day since nothing really happens on the first day of school.“

“Hello.” a familiar voice called out, as Meilin walked through the
door (sword slung to her back and smile on her face). “Oh, why didn’t
YOU take a day off.” Keiko grumbled. Ignoring the complaints, Meilin
quickly hangs her sword up in the back of the class and sits down, bag
hung up in a flash on the hook at the side of her desk, as she looks
about. “I thought I was late but I guess not.” (looks about confused)
“Where is everyone?”

“Sick due to first day doldrums.” Keiko muttered, pointing out the window, “Life calls even if they have all eternity to live it here.” Suddenly a noise caught her attention as the door opened, and in walked Rika & Mr. Terada, hand in hand.

This confused the heck out of Sakura as she watched him sit Rika down,
and talk to her. As he moved to the front of the class she shot her
hand in the air and quickly asked “Is Rika alright?” At this question
Mr. Terada stopped, and looked at her with confusion in his eyes. For
a few seconds he said nothing, but then he smiled and said “Rika?”
Rika smiled, and turned her gaze to Sakura in a reassuring manner,
“I’m fine. Mr. Terada was just comforting me -- my fears about --”

“Oh.” Sakura whispered, nodding her head. She must have been concerned
about the “presence” in the sky like everyone el… wait, that wasn’t it. It wasn’t there anymore. Now things didn’t make sense.

However Keiko didn’t seem so satisfied with just that, watching the
teacher intensely as he walked to the front of the class. His pace
seemed a little shaky, uncertain but as he finally reached the fron the stopped and looked out the door he came through seconds before
before speaking -- “Before we begin, I have a few announcements to go over with you. I’m sure each and everyone of you will fill in those who aren’t here once they come back to school tomorrow from their day off at home trying to figure out how to work their Wiis or whatever is keeping them away from school.“ (a few awkward laughs break the silence before Terada spoke again) “Anyway, we
have a few new stu---”

Something screeched outside and a woman screamed. Everyone quickly
turned and looked out the window, panic and fear building quickly.
Keiko tried to push her way through, teeth clenched. “Dammit! I thought it wouldn’t happen…“

“What?!” Sakura asked, her own heart pounding. Strangely enough
Mr. Terada didn’t try to stop them, he merely stood in place dazed and
stunned into silence. “Nothing.“ Keiko muttered, “Let’s just say this was expected… sorta. Thought it was due to CLAMP School though…“

“It’s Ms. Tanashi!”

Everyone tried to look over the windows, curiosity and fear and
confusion on their faces as they pressed to look, “She’s on the
ground! She---”

One of the male students, a bright young man Sakura’s age ran out of
the classroom. As everyone watched they soon saw Ms. Tanashi slowly
pull herself to a sitting position, dazed but obviously not hurt while
a familiar figure laid over her (pushed her out of the way). Meilin
jumped up and down, screaming “XAI!!“ as she did.

The Palominian woman, at first looking at the car that had missed them by inches, was now looking up at the school blushing abit from the attention. “Hi.“ she mumbled, waving as she felt her normally white fur/skin turn a ruby red color.

As for Ms. Tanashi? She was shook up from what happened, but alright. Seconds later the young man who was sitting only three rows ahead of Sakura in class ran out, and into her arms. He was quite shaken up but she only smiled, showing him that she was fine -- he then kissed her, boldly, holding her tight. As they broke free she sat there stunned, then smiled and said something that they couldn’t hear, then they kissed again.

Stunned, the entire class went back to their seats. Mr. Terada, who
managed to catch the end of it, looked at his class and blushed. “It’s
OK to show that kind of affections.” Keiko suddenly announced, all
eyes turning towards her. “Because they’re husband and wife… again.”
The class was shocked, but the second bombshell silenced even the few
gasps heard in the room.

“I know, because they were married the same day Rika and Mr. Terada got married… again.”

Rika smiled, then stepped up to him and held him tight as everyone
looked on.

* * * * * *

During the past few days there had been a change of “Guard”.

Two days after school started the old principal retired (as opposed to fleeing to the Central Hub during the panic spawned by the appearance of CLAMP School), though it was so unexpected that there was no time to go through the usual steps in picking a new principal. Sakura’s school needed a new principal, and that day a new principal came in to cover the void left by the old principal’s leaving.

She was called in to look into the confusion caused by the confession.
Now the school had already known of the two marriages, and only asked
that the teachers show restraint and not express feelings of affection
to their younger mates in school. But this new principal, who was a
Winterian female, only frowned at the teachers who spoke to her about
this and told them to mind their own business.

She then talked to the class and eased their fears before going back
to work. Her vice principal took offense to her actions, to which she
replied “You can take as much offense to my ways as you want. But as
long as I sit in that chair, and call the shots, we’ll do things my
way here.”, and left it at that.

Her next announcement stunned the school as she lifted the ban on
teachers showing affections to their younger mates (who might also be
their students) and allowing free shows of affection. Only a few
teachers (5), in the end, were in fact married to their students but
it still sent some ripples throughout the school. Still, Mr. Terada’s
class was very supportive of both him and Ms. Tanashi (Social Studies)
and their choices. For the first time the two suddenly found that they
could sit with their mates in school to eat lunch, and didn’t have to
hide the fact that they were married anymore, which was a plus.

Once that was done it was time to meet the new students. One Keiko
knew already --

“Nina Kotobuki.”

Nina didn’t look all that comfortable as she had been ordered from the “shadows” to take a more hands on duty keeping an eye over Sakura during school hours. She plopped herself into her chair and stared up at the ceiling as if she was about to fall into a coma any second (Keiko occasionally smacked her upside the head to keep her from actually falling asleep during class).

“Did you brand her your personal property yet?” Keiko whispered to Sakura, to which Nina snarled from her chair.
The first person was easy enough, and no shocker. The second one---

“We have a returning classmate, you all remember Syaoran Li, right?”

That’s when things stopped making sense.

Everyone (who was there) either looked on in amazement, or in a few
cases mute anger, as he walked into the room with Eliza at his side, taking their place beside the teacher next to Lina.
This was different, Sakura realized, he was now quite open about his relationship with Eliza (with Nina right there in the same room no less). Sakura quickly glanced over at Nina, realizing that Nina was not paying attention in the slightest, chosing to ignore the two as the teacher introduced them. He (Syaoran Li) was still the same arrogant looking SOB that Keiko, Rebecca, and even Nina (ignoring him at present) remembered. The same eyes, the same look on his face, everything.

Truly nothing had changed for him. They knew one thing, and that was that they didn’t want to see Syaoran Li longer than they had to.
A plot was hatched before the three even had a chance to compare
notes.

Sakura? She was happy to see Li again, but as a friend. As she and
Tomoyo exchanged glances they both smiled, and knew that there was a
lot of catching up to do.

As for Meilin? She pouted in her chair and didn’t speak. She knew this
day was coming, she knew he was going to do this -- flaunt his new Amazonian lover before her -- she just wished it never happened all the same if she had any say in it.

* * * * * *

As lunchtime rolled around word of the revelations began to spread
around the schoolyard like wildfire. Still, for Sakura, the revelation only confused her. “But -- I didn’t -- I didn’t see--”

“I thought they got married (even the first time around when it was still a genuine secret), I just wasn‘t sure.” Tomoyo remarked, poking at Sakura’s food as she nibbled on lunch, “It’s very good lunch today, Sakura-chan, are you sure---”

“I’m eating. I’m just -- confused.” At this Tomoyo smiled, “It’s so
like my Sakura-chan to sometimes miss the obvious when it stares her
in the face.”

“Hoe?”

Tomoyo raised one hand and pointed at her ring finger (empty)
“Remember when Rika came back with that ring? She looked so happy when
she wore that ring. And not to mention all the times she and Mr.
Terada were studying together and we wondered why they were doing
that, remember? There was signs of their feelings for each other for
sometime, and we missed a lot of it.”

“But you caught some of it.” Sakura pointed out glumly, to which
Tomoyo shook her head. “Not all of it. I didn’t catch onto the fact
that Taro & Ms. Tanashi were a couple until we learned about it today.
I have to admit that they hid their relationship quite well.”

“They’re cute though. Taro & Ms. Tanashi.” Sakura notes as she motions
towards one side, where under another tree the two in question were
happily eating, Taro’s head rested on Ms. Taneshi’s shoulder as they
sat and ate in quiet contentment. “They look so happy -- is it bad,
though? I mean -- mama married papa when she was-- and Sonomi--”

Tomoyo nods her head, “I remember. It’s not for everyone though, and
remember that mama was in love with Nadeshiko so it hurt her when she
married -- but for some finding a love that special is good even if it
is a little bit on the Spring/Summer love thing.”

“?” Sakura blanked out, leaving Tomoyo the job of explaining. “I mean
a younger person falling in love with an older love interest.”

“Oh.” (takes a bigger bite of her food as she thinks) “They look happy
when they’re together.”

“I’m sure they’re as happy as we are, Sakura-chan. I‘m happy, for
instance, that Nadeshiko married your father.”

“Why?”

“Because you wouldn’t be here with me if they didn’t get married,
silly!” she remarked, her face glowing with warmth as she reached out
a hand to touch Sakura’s smiling face. “Now there’s the happy
Sakura-chan I know and love!” Tomoyo cheerfully said, quickly pulling
her video camera out, “Hold that face for a few seconds while I get it
on film!”

“-_-” < (Sakura, still smiling though)

* * * * * *

School passed slowly. Nina was getting the hang of her school work, and she was even getting the hang of ignoring Eliza (who did her best to stay out of Nina’s way). As for Syaoran it was a snap.
Everyone else, however, was distracted by first day lulls.
Even Rebecca’s class at the end seemed to occasionally dangle for a few
seconds until she caught herself and brought her class back into focus. Clearly her mind was wandering, but for her it wasn’t first day doldrums as it was one of the new students in class. Syaoran Li.

They had already agreed at lunchtime that they were not going to have
his “presence” near Sakura for longer than they had to, so a plot was
hatched. A plot first thought up in unison, and then discussed and
worked out together. That plot, which they all agreed to, unfolded
after school.

Rebecca asked Syaoran to meet her outside, and it was there that the
three of them confronted him.

He didn’t seem at all surprised. It had happened before so now it was happening again and nothing seemed different. He simply stared at them as they ganged up on him, facing off against him three to one.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Keiko started in, eyes narrowed as
she glared at him. “The last thing we need is a loser coming into our
turf and messing up the delicate order of things, let alone bringing that slut traitor you dragged in with you.”

“I’m not here to steal Sakura.” Li announced, waiting patiently for a
reply (which wasn‘t long in coming). “NO KIDDING!!” Nina screamed, her
own eyes blazing, “So why don’t you take Eliza, the slut, and vanish like a good toy solider you are.”

“You…“ Li remarked, focusing on Nina, “At least your rage I can understand. It makes sense to me, unlike…“

“The rest of us?” Rebecca took over, holding Syaoran’s gaze tightly with her eyes, “You may or may not be here to ruin Sakura’s life, but what part of “You are not welcome here” don’t you seem to absorb!”

Li shook his head in confusion, “I’m here to help Sakura, not make her cry. I don’t want to break her and Tomoyo up.”

“I heard you already make Meilin cry when you dumped her. What about
that? And let‘s not forget you stealing Nina‘s girlfriend at the same time.” Keiko spat at him, to which he lowered his gaze and sighed,
“Meilin was my cousin. It just wasn’t right.” he responded, “And as for stealing Eliza I did no such thing, she did it of her own free will.”

“You have no concept of what “free will” is, you puppet!!” Rebecca yelled, “And while we’re at it technically Meilin is not your cousin! In the Realm of Dreams she’s her own individual and not even related to you (thank the godawful dub for that)!”, suddenly everything stopped. “And I can’t believe I mentioned that.”

“No kidding.” (Keiko)

“What were you thinking?” (Nina) “Don’t mind me, I’m so over Eliza.”

Attentions quickly focused back to him as Rebecca pulled out her Seeker
and held it out in front of her, “Easy enough way to solve this. Let’s
see your real motives.”

As she held her Seeker forth he pulled his headset from his bag and
put it on, mildly clicking it on as they looked on, “Y-y-you arrogant
ASS!” Rebecca sputtered, watching him put his headset on as if they
didn’t mean nothing to him, ignoring all three as if they weren’t
there. “I’ll show you! ALRIGHT!! Old friend! Show me what secrets lie
hidden beneath!”

As she said those words the Seeker sprang to life, energy coursing
through the small sphere as it gathered, focused that energy, and sent
it forth into Rebecca and Li. But, as the light sprang forth, he simply
etched a few signs into the air and whispered “Novashields.”

Almost immediately a sphere of light sprung into life, blocking the
Seeker’s beam from making contact with him. Dumbstruck by this the
three stared at him, until Nina screamed out “HE’S A SPELLTHRASHER?!?”

“What??” Keiko growled, drawing her sword, “Fine. I’ll break his
shield down, you keep that focused.”

“No problem.” Rebecca called out, her focus locked as she watched Keiko
move forward. “Just don’t cross your blade with my beam.“
With her blade glistening in the bright afternoon light, Keiko advanced towards Li, his hand reaching for his own blade as he etched another spell in the air ready to strike.

“STOP THAT!!” From behind them Eliza leaped over the fence into the
school yard, nearly falling over as she stumbled across the yard
towards the four. Nina looked on in disbelief, “What are you doing?!?”

“Sorry!” she gasped, straightening herself, “I was listening to
Mirra/Hikaru eating lunch. They were talking about the kind of
boyfriend Power wanted and she wanted one like me with---”

“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THAT!!” Keiko screamed, walking back towards
Eliza and the others looking rather fussy, Rebecca simply lost her
concentration and the beam that was on Li turned off, “That’s
disturbing!” she muttered.

“Look, forget about that for now!” she demanded, pointing at him,
“I don’t care what you think of me, but what’s done is done! Can’t you just accept us and our orders to help out and let us do our job?!?”

Nina, furious, stormed towards Eliza only to come to a dead halt as
Eliza turned her gaze onto her, “Nina?”

The green haired girl swung, clipping Eliza with her open hand as she did, knocking her over into Li’s arms as he caught her.
“Your evil.” she muttered, “Your both evil.”

“Nina…” Eliza whispered as she got her feet back under her, shaking off the blow that knocked her over. “He’s a young man who had to make decisions that weren’t popular after he lost Sakura to Tomoyo. It wasn’t nice, but it was all he could do after what happened. Besides which isn’t Meilin happier now with the lover she has?” (Nina wasn’t buying it) “Why won’t you trust me when I say that Syaoran is--”

“A mate stealing bastard?”

“Syaoran…” Eliza repeated, patience still in check “Is doing the best he can under the circumstances.”

“You’re just saying that because your fucking him.” (Nina snarled)

“Ditto.” Rebecca agrees.

Without another word Eliza takes Li by the arm, walking away without another word spoken. ‘Well,’ he thought to himself ’at least I didn’t run away from them.’

* * * * * *

The notion of Syaoran Li being a SpellThrasher didn’t sit well with
the trio. Sakura had no comment on the whole situation. The thought of having to work with him to capture the Clow Cards was even less appealing to the trio. Sakura, of course, had to be opposite to their wishes as she was happy, while Tomoyo was also happy to see another old
friend again though she respected the trio‘s distrust of Syaoran.

Keiko looked at the two over dinner as if they just admitted to being
Amazonian and were showing their “wares” over the dinner table.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” she rasped. “You can’t be serious about
being happy to work with HIM. You can‘t be serious.”

“Why not?” Sakura asked, looking confused, “He’s a friend.”

“He’s YOUR friend!” Keiko corrected her, “And of that even I have doubts over because would a friend try to steal the Clow Cards from you, then try to steal you from Tomoyo!? What kind of “Friend” is that anyway?”

Rebecca picked up the conversation from there, “The guy is an opportunistic snake if you ask me, and I don’t see any reason to trust
him. Didn‘t the first time, don‘t now.”

“B-but he’s a nice guy!!” Sakura countered bravely, even if she knew
in her heart that Keiko and Rebecca together were far better debaters than she was. Still, she had help in the form of Tomoyo who came to her aid, “And he promised he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Sakura, or myself.”

Keiko wasn‘t convinced, “And you trust him? Well you certainly do are a poor judge of character every so often aren‘t you!”

The argument, though civilized, raged for ten minutes. Keiko & Rebecca both did not give an inch, and neither did Sakura. When the debate finally broke up Sakura was even more deadset on remaining a true friend to Syaoran no matter what. Still, as she sat next to Tomoyo doing her homework, the thought did occur to her “Is he capable of doing bad things?” she asked. Tomoyo looked up from her studies and smiled, “Are you worried about what Keiko and Rebecca said?”

“Kinda---” she admitted, “---but Li’s so nice and he wouldn’t do
anything bad to us, right? He’s good.”

“Keiko has a hard time believing that. Maybe she has a good reason,
maybe not, but what does your heart tell you about Syaoran?”

Sakura closes her eyes and thinks, letting her feelings speak, then --
“He’s my friend, you’re my precious, he won’t come between us because
he knows what we had once is over. I love you, Tomo-chan!”

“I know, I know.” Tomoyo smiled, “I’m not putting you on the spot here
or anything. Anyway, I have a feeling he has someone else on his
mind.”

“How so?”

“Just a hunch. I’ll tell you about it later.”

Sakura’s face scrunched up, “You’re mean!”

“I’m just waiting until I’m certain. Now come on,” (points at
homework) “finish up and I’ll give my precious a treat tonight for
being such a good study buddy this afternoon.”

At that Sakura’s mood picked up again, and all thoughts of Syaoran Li
vanished as she focused only on Tomoyo, her hand scooping her pencil
back up to do her homework.

To Be Continued in two weeks