Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Be Careful What You Wish For... ❯ One-Shot

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Be Careful What You Wish For...

By Lord Archive

The characters of Card Captors Sakura belong to the fine women of CLAMP and are used neither with consent nor for profit. All rights reserved. I'm only borrowing the characters. Syaoran... wouldn't like it if I kept Sakura. ^^;

The story begins at the end of the second Card Captor Sakura movie. It contains spoilers for that movie.

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

Tears leaked from Sakura's eyes. "Syaoran-kun, I don't care what you think... I love you, Syaoran-kun... You're the one I love most." She began to sob when he did not immediately reply.

Syaoran looked up, a smirk playing across his face. "Me too..." He gazed at her intently. "Sakura." His voice firm, showing that the threatened cost to confine The Void into a card had not been paid. He still remembered the most precious person to him.

Joy and delight danced across the girl's face. She looked at the gapping hole in the stairway separating her from the boy. "Let's go," Sakura announced, taking a few steps back and preparing to jump.

Syaoran's eyes widened. "Please don't! All will be restored shortly!"

"No!" Sakura sprinted forward and leapt into the air. "Syaoran-kun, I love you!"

Syaoran began to brace himself to catch her, but then his heart froze. She wasn't going to make it. Sunlight briefly filled in from the large hole, which then solidified back into a wall as if The Void card had never touched it. He quickly took a few steps forward, but Sakura's feet brushed the reformed stairs. Her momentum sent her heavily into Syaoran's open arms, causing him to fall backwards. They bounced down a few stairs only coming to a rest after hitting the wall.

Neither moved for a moment as they caught their breaths and relished in the feeling of holding their beloved in their arms.

"IDIOT!" Syaoran cried out. "You could've killed yourself! Losing my love for you would've hurt, but I would've been able to fall in love with you again. But losing you completely... I couldn't deal with that!"

"Sorry," Sakura replied, but the grin on her face didn't make her look apologetic. "I just had to know you truly meant it and weren't just being nice."

"Idiot," Syaoran repeated without any heat. He held her tighter and smelled the flowery sent of her hair from the lingering scent of shampoo. He then sighed. "We should be getting back."

Sakura pushed herself up a little to look him in the face. "Not yet. I don't ever want to be apart from you."

Syaoran rubbed her sides with his hands. "If only we could."

Sakura pouted. "Don't remind me that you're only visiting. If only you could stay in Tomoeda."

Syaoran smirked. "Or you come with me to Hong Kong."

Sakura frowned, but then shook her head fiercely. "We may be in different countries next week, but that's then and this is now." She leaned forward and placed her lips upon his.

While Syaoran was initially startled by the act, he wasn't about to end it. He tasted her breath, her lips and her tongue. He swallowed her moan of delight caused by his hands stoking her lithe form. Words were lost to them.

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

People milled about it disarray at the makeshift outdoor auditorium that had been set up for the Nadeshiko Flower Festival. The last thing most of them remember was watching a remarkable play that had been performed by sixth graders. Then things went black. Somehow all of them had fallen asleep and it was now dawn.

Yamazaki smirked at the various speculations that were being hurled around as the cause, from a gas leak causing them to pass out to alien experimentation. He did not need to add in his own two yen's worth of tall tales to the mix. These people were doing fine on their own. Though it never ceased to amaze him that when strange things happened that while most people were sheep, there were a few people who consistently acted as shepherds-- as if they knew what others did not.

Yamazaki noted how Kinomoto-kun glanced around frantically, searching desperately for a man he last remembered standing next to him and his little sister who was last seen on stage. That Daidouji and Li-kun's cousin were now in process of climbing down the fire escape of a nearby building when both had been on the side of the stage. He would love to know what really happened; yet suspected any of his tales would sound more realistic.

When Tsukishiro appeared, Kinomoto-kun immediately went over to him. Yamazaki would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation as they might know what really happened. However, he had one upset girlfriend to deal with, which the play's director freaking out wasn't helping his task at all.


"Where's Sakura? Is everyone all right? Are you okay?" Touya blurted out.

Yukito smirked and adjusted his glasses. "She's safe. I believe so. And yes, I'm okay."

Touya glared. "Why didn't you bring her back here?"

Yukito frowned. "Sakura-chan is exhausted from her ordeals. She needed time. She's not alone."

"I see I missed the climax."

Yukito and Touya looked over and saw Eriol and Nakuru approaching them.

"You're late," Touya spat.

"My apologies," Eriol replied, though his tone did not sound like he was sorry. "I had wished to aid Sakura-san, but she and Li-kun proved more than up to task. I suspect it was a splendid performance."

A blush crept onto Yukito's face despite his growing scowl.

"Any idea on how to solve this mess?" Touya questioned, waving toward the hundred-plus disorientated people around them.

Eriol took a deep breath. "Hmmm... I do believe I detect the scent of nitrous oxide. Perhaps someone illegally dumped canisters of that gas here some time ago. Maybe I should return later with Sakura-san to 'confirm' that idea. But for now, I think they should all _go home_ and relax." His smirk grew as the people began to disperse and head for to the safety of their houses.

Fujitaka walked up to his son. "Do you know where Sakura-chan is?"

"I'll explain later, but I'll wait here for her," Touya replied.

"She's safe," Yukito added.

"Where's Tomoyo-chan?" Sonomi demanded, who was now standing besides Fujitaka.

Touya merely pointed toward where the girl was still climbing down the fire escape.

"How did she get there?" Sonomi wondered.

"Not all of us fell asleep," Yukito replied. "We moved to higher ground to escape the gasses."

Sonomi paused for a moment before nodding. "I see."

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

Sakura tried to smile as she stood at the airport. After converting The Void into The Hope, she couldn't get a moment alone with Syaoran. Now he was leaving her again. She belatedly realized she had been rude to Eriol, Nakuru and Spinel by barely offering them any goodbye when they left for their plane. She suspected she would have to offer Meiling an apology later as well. She mentally cursed the airport speakers that announced the flight to Hong Kong was now boarding.

"It's time for me to go," Syaoran whispered sadly.

Sakura grabbed his hands. "We'll see each other again soon, Syaoran. Everything will work out, for sure."

Syaoran squeezed her hands. "I can only hope. Goodbye, Sakura."

Sakura didn't care how rude this was or if her brother was watching or not. She pulled the boy closer and kissed him. "Until we meet again, Syaoran."

Syaoran nodded as he blushed.

Tomoyo and Meiling stared at each other, both noting Sakura's act and her change of address for her beloved.

*****************

What Kero-chan wouldn't do to see his mistress smile. It had been over a month since the brat left for home, and while he expected the girl to be down for a few days-- she seemed to dip deeper into depression with each passing day. Her whole demeanor seemed to be ill, so it came as little surprise when she began to be physically ill as well.

Kero-chan's frown depended as the girl struggled to put on her elementary school uniform. "If you're feeling sick, stay home."

Sakura shook her head. "I've already missed a few days of classes. And I don't think staying here will make me feel any better."

Kero-chan sighed. It did seem to be nothing more than depression. The doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong with her and suggested a psychologist. "Fine. If you're going, then I'm going too."

"School is boring for you," Sakura retorted.

"I'm not going to leave you alone," Kero-chan insisted.

"I won't be alone," Sakura returned. "Naoko-chan, Chiharu-chan, Rika-chan... and Tomoyo-chan will be there."

Kero-chan blinked. Why did Sakura sound so pained when she said 'Tomoyo-chan?' Did they have a fight? Well, he was going to get to the bottom of this, even if it meant hiding in Sakura's school bag.

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

Syaoran's fingers traced the lines of a picture in his room. He was so captivated by the image of the emerald-eyed girl he didn't notice his mother entering his room.

"It is time to go to school," Yelan announced sternly.

Syaoran blinked out of his thoughts. "Yes, mother." He then sighed. "Would it be possible for me to visit Tomoeda during winter break or..."

Yelan didn't need him to complete his thoughts. He wanted to go to Tomoeda to live there. His home, his heart was with a Japanese daughter of an orphaned teacher. A girl who had insulted their clan by claiming full ownership of the Clow Cards and made them her own. However, the girl's magical potential and breeding on the mother's side outweighed those negatives. She could be an acceptable choice for her son, yet it was unacceptable that the heir to the Li clan would move away from Hong Kong at this crucial part of his development. If he wanted to truly be the best magic-user of their clan, he needed to learn all that the clan could teach him.

Yelan then gazed deeper at her son. Seeing beyond what could be seen. She then scowled darkly. "No. You will not be returning to Tomoeda until you've claimed clan leadership."

Syaoran made a sound as if he had been stabbed. "But... but...."

"That is not just my decision. It is your future. One you, yourself, helped to choose." Yelan turned away stiffly. "I have business that needs to be attended to out of the country. I will be gone for a few days."

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

Tomoyo gazed softly at her best friend. She looked like a wilted flower. Where were the sparkling emerald eyes, the smile that shined brightly even in dark rooms, the bounce in her every step? She knew her friend deeply, yet could not understand why she was this depressed. True, Li-kun was away in Hong Kong, but the girl hadn't been this bad when he left last time. And she wasn't getting better, she was getting worse. It was as if her very soul was being drained from her.

Talking to Kero-chan had not helped. He too was worried, but his words gave her more to wonder about. Why would Sakura-chan feel pain mentioning her name?

"Come on, Sakura-chan! A trip to the amusement park would be fun!" Chiharu insisted.

Sakura cast her eyes down. "I'm sorry. I just can't go."

"Why not?" Naoko insisted.

"I shouldn't go on any of the rides," Sakura replied.

'Shouldn't?' Tomoyo wondered. True, Sakura-chan's stomach had been delicate lately, but there weren't any other reasons she could think of that wouldn't allow the girl onto the rides.

No amount of pestering could change Sakura's mind. As the school bell rang, they began to gather their stuff. Without warning Sakura rushed over to a nearby trashcan and heaved her lunch that she had just eaten into it.

Questions of whether Sakura was all right were quickly chorused.

"I'm fine. Really," Sakura insisted.

"Why don't you all go ahead? I'll help Sakura-chan," Tomoyo suggested.

"We'll let the teacher know," Chiharu replied.

"You didn't have to stay with me," Sakura told her sadly.

"Of course I do. What are friends for?" Tomoyo returned.

Sakura looked down. "I haven't exactly been a good friend worth helping, lately."

"Nonsense. You're just upset over Li-kun leaving," Tomoyo replied.

Sakura slowly shook her head. "I'm not upset about that."

"Sakura-chan..." Tomoyo's voice held a note of worry and disbelief.

"Tomoyo-chan... have you...? Have you ever made a wish? One that you wished for so strongly that you forgot everything else?" Sakura questioned.

Tomoyo blinked. She then nodded slowly. "I can think of a few things I've wanted that strongly."

"Did you go out of your way to make it come true? Regardless of the consequence? That you wanted it so badly that you did something that would hurt everyone you know?" Sakura pressed.

"No. I could never do that, no matter how much I wanted it." Tomoyo frowned. "Have you... made such a wish?"

Sakura nodded slowly. "I'm sorry Tomoyo-chan. I'm so sorry." She began to sob. "I just wanted to be with Syaoran. I love him. I love him more than words can say. And I never, ever wanted to be separated from him again. I... I'm so sorry."

Tomoyo could think of nothing to say as Sakura began to chant. With the final words of 'Fly' and 'Dash,' Sakura took to the air and quickly disappeared from sight.

"Oh, Sakura-chan..." Tomoyo breathed.

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

Meiling sighed. Syaoran had looked like a whipped puppy all morning. He wouldn't talk to anybody. It even took some work for the teacher to get him to answer a question. Her cousin had seemed a bit distant since returning from their little vacation in Tomoeda, though he didn't seem nearly as bad as when he first returned home after all of Kinomoto's adventures. At least now he knew the girl loved him back. Yet today he seemed to have shut himself off completely. What happened to him?

Meiling blinked when Syaoran's head suddenly jerked and stared out the window. She followed his gaze and looked at the tree sitting outside their classroom. What was so interesting about the tree all of the sudden? She peered closer and finally caught what he was seeing. Kinomoto had hidden herself in the tree. How and why the girl was in Hong Kong still wearing Tomoeda Elementary's school uniform was beyond her, though at least Syaoran didn't look like a living corpse anymore.

Syaoran pointed up, to which Kinomoto merely nodded and then preformed a super-human leap out of sight.

There was no surprise to Meiling that when the class left to go to gym, Syaoran hung to the back of the line and instead of following his classmates down, he went up to the roof. He paid no heed to her following him. Nor did she suspect that anything would be made of them ditching that particular class. Her physical abilities were beyond any of the boys and Syaoran was beyond her.

"Keep watch," Syaoran ordered when they made it to the door leading to the roof.

Meiling nodded. The emails she traded with Daidouji had let her know about Kinomoto's depression. Whatever was troubling the girl, hopefully Syaoran can help her. And perhaps Kinomoto could help him deal with whatever upset him today as well.

Looking through the door's window, Meiling watched as the two met. She was surprised to see that Syaoran was the one to initiate a hug between them. Any chance she had of eavesdropping were cut short as Kinomoto pulled out a card and all noise coming from outside the door unnaturally ceased.

Meiling huffed and turned her attention to the stairs. If they wanted privacy, she'd make sure they got it. She'd find out what the two talked about soon enough, whether from dragging it out of Syaoran or talking to Daidouji in a chatroom.


"Sakura, I've missed you," Syaoran told the girl he held tightly in his arms.

"I've missed you, too," Sakura replied.

Syaoran frowned. "So I've heard." He then sighed. "I was afraid I was never going to see you again."

"I told you we'd meet again soon," Sakura reminded.

"I know, but mother told me this morning that I wouldn't be returning to Tomoeda until after I officially became clan head," Syaoran replied, his arms squeezing the girl tighter against his chest.

"I suspect that will happen much sooner than you expect," Sakura replied cryptically.

Syaoran let out a hollow laugh. "Sakura, you don't know what the requirements are to become clan head."

"I have a strong idea," Sakura returned.

"No, you don't." Syaoran reluctantly let go of his hug in order to take a step back and look at her directly. Even pale and sickly as she was, he couldn't help but think of her as anything but beautiful. He then smirked as he got an idea. "But I can try to fulfill them the way I want to." He dropped to one knee. "Sakura, will you marry me?"

Tears began to stream from Sakura's eyes. "Oh, Syaoran, you don't know what I've done, yet you ask me that."

"Sakura, there's nothing that you could do to make me stop loving you," Syaoran insisted.

"Syaoran... I've done something horrible," Sakura sobbed. "I... I made a wish. When I made The Hope card, I had but one desire. I wished for nothing else but to be with you forever."

"Then you'll marry me?" Syaoran pressed, his voice pained from not hearing the answer he so desperately wanted to hear.

Sakura tried to reign in her tears, but failed. "Oh, Syaoran, you still don't understand. I used my powers to make my wish reality. I have no choice but to marry you."

Syaoran swept the trembling girl into his arms; his joy at her acceptance was tempered by the fact she did not seem happy about it. "If you want to marry me, why are you so upset?"

Sakura shifted her body so she could tell him directly to his face. "Syaoran, remember what happened after I made The Hope? What we did?"

Syaoran blushed. "I'll never forget that."

"Syaoran... I'm pregnant."

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

"Geez, Kinomoto. It had better have been important to have flown here all the way from Tomoeda," Meiling chastised. "I didn't think it was possible. How long did it take you?"

Sakura moaned slightly while the Chinese girl massaged her back. "Close to three hours, and that was using Dash and Fly to the extent of their abilities over the Sea of Japan. Had to use Shield then as well since I might've broken the sound barrier there."

Meiling whistled. "So how long are you staying?"

"Not much longer." Sakura looked up and smiled sadly as Syaoran returned holding various cartons of food. Without a word, she accepted the offered meal and proceeded to attack it vigorously.

"Whoa! Slow down there!" Meiling cried out. "Even Tsukishiro wasn't that bad and he 'ate for two.'"

Syaoran let out a strangled sound.

Sakura paused. "Don't tell Tomoyo-chan. I'll be telling her the next time I see her."

Meiling blinked. "Tell her what?"

Sakura pecked at the food in her hands. "I AM eating for two."

Meiling sat there in shock. "Kinomoto, that's a bad joke. You do know it takes more than kissing to get pregnant."

"It's not a joke, Meiling-chan. I made a wish to be with Syaoran, and my powers made it happen." Sakura then smirked slightly. "And I certainly know it takes more than kissing. Did you know about Syaoran's birthmark?"

Syaoran began sputtering incoherently.

"The one near his...," Meiling trailed off.

Sakura nodded. "That sort of looks like a wolf's head."

"How long have you known?!" Meiling demanded.

Sakura looked up sadly at Syaoran. "I had a feeling about it before we even made love. I so wanted to stay with him that I forgot everyone else."

"No wonder you've been a basket case!" Meiling pulled the girl into hug. "Guess I should start calling you 'Sakura' now. You are family now."

Sakura let out a short laugh. "You have no idea how long I've waited for you to call me that, Meiling-chan."

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

Tomoyo fretted. Her lies about Sakura-chan's whereabouts were being stretched thin. While an email from Meiling had confirmed her suspicion that Sakura had gone to Hong Kong at the end of lunch, no word had been heard from her after she left for home. That had been over four hours ago. She should've been back by now.

Kero-chan paused his attack on a plate of cookies just before there was a knock on the door. He quickly disappeared from sight.

"Tomoyo-chan? I heard Sakura-chan came over? Is she still here? Is she spending the night?" Sonomi questioned while trying to open the locked door.

Tomoyo quickly rushed over to the door, trying to think of what to say to her mother. If she didn't unlock the door soon, her mother would just use the key anyway. She carefully opened it but barred her mother from being able to enter the room with her body. "Welcome home. Is there something you want, Mother?"

Sonomi frowned at how her daughter was preventing her from entering the room. "I was wondering if Sakura-chan was still here and whether she was going to be spending the night."

Mother and daughter both turned as they heard a roar of a yawn.

Sakura rubbed her tired eyes. Her school uniform was dirty and disheveled. "I hope you don't mind me staying here for the night."

"Not at all. Why don't you get some sleep and we'll all have breakfast in the morning," Sonomi suggested.

"That sounds good. Thank you," Sakura replied.

"Sleep tight!" Sonomi cheerfully cried out as she left the room.

"I thought you'd be returning home," Tomoyo commented.

"It's hard enough figuring out where you're going when flying. It's impossible at night." Sakura slumped onto one of Tomoyo's couches. "I was using Kero-chan's presence as a beacon to tell me where I needed to go, but he's here, not home."

"Ah, so that's how you were able to track down Li-kun so fast," Tomoyo surmised.

Sakura nodded.

Kero-chan came out of hiding and returned to his plate of cookies. "Feeling any better now that you've seen the brat?"

"A little. Now he at least knows what's going on," Sakura replied.

"Care to enlighten us?" Kero-chan pressed.

Sakura's gaze fell to her lap.

Tomoyo walked up to her dearest friend and held her hands. "Actually, I think I know what it is. I just need to know one thing to confirm my suspicion. Sakura-chan, when Li-kun was here on vacation, did you two..."

Sakura interrupted with a slight nod. "Right after I made The Hope card. I wished I could stay with Syaoran, and my powers let my actions make it happen. I knew it was going to happen before we even did it."

Conflicting emotions danced across Tomoyo's face. She then hugged the girl. "Oh, Sakura-chan, you should never be sad about this."

Sakura fought the urge to start crying again. "But, I'll be leaving you, Tomoyo-chan. Leaving everyone. All because I wanted Syaoran."

Kero-chan growled. "What's this about leaving?"

Tomoyo pulled away from Sakura and tried to smile happily, but it looked a bit forced. "Sakura-chan is going to be a mother."

"Ah." Kero-chan nodded. "That explains... SHE'S GOING TO BE WHAT?!"

"A mother," Sakura squeaked out. "You know what I did in the tower."

"I knew you 'celebrated' with the brat, but, geez, Sakura what were you thinking?!" Kero-chan demanded, then shrank back from the harsh glare Tomoyo cast at him.

Sakura began to sob. "I love Syaoran. I wanted to be with him. Now I'll have to move to Hong Kong. It's all because of me."

Tomoyo sat down next to her best friend, placing a comforting arm around her. "Sakura-chan, I'm happy for you. You will get to be with the one you love. You get to have his child. That's the fondest wish most girls have. Rika-chan and Chiharu-chan would love to be in your shoes right now."

Sakura cast a disbelieving look. "There's nothing stopping Chiharu-chan, but the trouble Rika-chan and her boyfriend would get in..."

Tomoyo nodded. "But you aren't in trouble, Sakura-chan. You're going to be the most beautiful bride and the cutest mother ever. Rika-chan has to wait four years before she'll have her chance to do what you're going to do soon."

Sakura clutched onto her friend. "I'm so scared, Tomoyo-chan. I've made a mess of everything. I'm not a good cook. I suck at math. I... I just can't do anything right. I'll never be a good mother."

Tomoyo was half-tempted to slap the girl. Perhaps Sakura even needed it at the moment, but she could never bring herself to hurt this girl. "Sakura-chan, you have the one thing that's needed the most in such over whelming abundance: love. You love Li-kun, and you'll love your baby. It's your love for everyone that's hurting you now."

"I'm sorry, Tomoyo-chan. I'm going to be leaving you and I'm so sorry." Sakura began to sob again.

Tomoyo cradled the girl gentle into her arms, whispering soothing words of comfort. Soon Sakura fell asleep.

Kero-chan sighed sadly. "Guess I'll need to brush up on my Cantonese and English."

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

Syaoran sat in the living room staring at nothing. Meiling was half-tempted to throttle the boy out of his newest case of shock. He had barely said a word to Sakura, let alone her or anyone else. She could understand to a point. She had certainly been surprised to learn that he was going to be a father.

When Syaoran's sisters entered the room, Meiling turned to look at them but Syaoran remained a statue.

"You two wouldn't happen to know where Mother went to in such a hurry?" Feimei questioned.

Meiling glanced at Syaoran waiting for him to answer. When he didn't, she poked him. "Tell them."

Syaoran blinked in confusion at Meiling.

"Tell them where your mother went and why," Meiling pressed, pointing toward his sisters.

"I... don't know what to say," Syaoran replied.

Meiling grabbed him by the neck and began shaking him. "Wake up, damn it!"

Syaoran knocked away her arms. "Stop that!"

"Welcome back to the living." Meiling huffed. "Now TELL them!"

"It... it couldn't be what she said," Syaoran muttered.

"What did Mother say?" Fuutie wondered.

Syaoran cringed under Meiling's glare. "Not Mother, Sakura."

"Oh? And what does your girlfriend have to do with Mother's trip?" Shiefa questioned.

"Everything, if what she said was true," Syaoran replied simply.

"You KNOW it is! Sakura wouldn't fly all the way here with her magic if it wasn't!" Meiling yelled at him.

"Since when were you so formal with someone outside of the family?" Fanren asked.

Meiling folded her arms. "Simple, she IS family now."

The four sisters emitted questioning noises.

"What do you mean by that?" Fuutie demanded.

Meiling kicked Syaoran in the shin. "You tell them."

All eyes were on Syaoran. He didn't want to say it, fearing that doing so would make it real. But if he didn't say it, Meiling would really start trying to hurt him. "Sakura... Sakura is pregnant," he finally managed to say.

"WHAT?!" the four sisters chorused.

"You remember the vacation we took to Tomoeda over a month ago? Well, apparently he spent more 'quality time' with Sakura than I thought," Meiling explained.

"We're going to be aunts?!" Feimei cried out.

Fanren was stunned. "I didn't see this coming."

"How could our little brother beat us to this?" Shiefa asked in disbelief.

"I see. So Mother has gone to Japan to collect your wife," Fuutie surmised.

Syaoran nodded.

"Well, there's one thing to say about all of this!" Sheifa began.

"We celebrate!" Feimei announced. "I won't be the youngest sister anymore!"

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

Sakura wore a kimono as she sat beside her father. She had told him what was really wrong with her earlier that day and had yet to get any response from him. Her brother, on the other hand, was glaring angrily at their guest while muttering vile tortures he wanted to inflict on a certain boy. If it wasn't for Yukito standing beside him, he might have more to say about the whole situation.

As hard as it was for her to figure out her father's feelings about everything, Syaoran's mother was a virtual statue. Sakura doubted the woman would look any different at a business meeting despite what prompted the hasty visit to her home.

"You are aware of why I have come here, are you not?" Yelan began.

Fujitaka nodded. "It seems our children have seen fit to join our houses."

"Indeed. It is only right for them to be married," Yelan stated flatly. "However, for the next few years it is imperative that Syaoran remain in Hong Kong for his training."

Fujitaka sighed. "Once Sakura is further along, it would be best she didn't move around much. I trust she will receive all the care needed for one of her condition."

"Of course. We have access to the best medical facilities, and some of our clan has chosen medicine as their career of choice," Yelan replied.

"I'm afraid we don't have much to offer as her share of the marriage," Fujitaka mentioned.

"Sakura's magical ability is dowry enough. She will be of great benefit to our clan," Yelan returned.

Touya's fists slammed down onto the table, unable to take any more of the impromptu engagement ceremony. "Stop treating Sakura like she's some kind of property."

"Niichan, it's all right," Sakura told him calmly. "Syaoran and I are already engaged. This is formality."

Touya glared at her. "You should be going to an abortion clinic. You're too young for any of this. You're still a baby yourself. Children can wait."

"No," Sakura replied firmly. "This is what I want. This is the course I set for myself."

"This is ridiculous. She's twelve-years-old! You can't be serious about letting her play this fucked up game of house," Touya growled out.

Sakura sighed. "Yue."

With a flash of light, an angelic looking man replaced Yukito, who proceeded to bodily remove Touya from the room. The older brother cursing and protesting the entire way.

"Sorry, Li-Okasan, you may continue," Sakura apologized.

"If there was no one to defend you, then you would hardly be a prize worth fighting for," Yelan told her with the barest hint of a smile.

Fujitaka stared after Yue's departing form.

Sakura tugged at her father's sleeve. "Dad."

Fujitaka blinked and then laughed a little sheepishly. "Oh, sorry. Still not use to seeing that."

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

Sakura sighed while rubbing her forehead. Before her were piles of paper that needed to be signed and processed. Despite her earlier words to her brother, thanks to these forms she was starting to feel more like an object and less like a person. With her pregnancy, her value to her birth clan had been reduced while the baby within made her worth more to the Li clan. When this monotonous task was done, she wouldn't belong to the Kinomoto clan anymore. She would be dead to them. She wouldn't even be a Japanese citizen. She would be a citizen of Hong Kong and Li Sakura.

Yukito approached her and took a look at the papers. He then transformed into Yue, eyes squinting to read the fine print.

"Something wrong?" Sakura asked.

Yue frowned. "Not really. These documents read more as if you were being adopted."

"Well, I am being added to the Li clan," Sakura replied.

"True, but I dislike the impersonal nature of this. It treats you like property. I fear for any other girl whose name would appear on this sort of paperwork. Especially if she did not sign it herself," Yue explained his apprehension.

"Don't let niichan see this, then," Sakura told him. "How is he doing, anyway? I thought he would've come back down by now."

Yue looked away. "He's tied up at the moment."

"WHHHHEEEEEEEEE?!" Sakura fell from her chair, but was caught by Yue before she hit the floor. "You tied up niichan?!"

Yue coughed with a slight blush. "Actually Yukito did that."

"Yukito-san did?!" Sakura questioned in disbelief. The blush and nervous edge of Yue was not lost on her. "I don't think I want to know any more."

"Nor should you," Yue replied.

Sakura returned to her seat. "Guess I should finish my 'wedding.' Some ceremony this is, huh?" She bit back her desire to express how she wanted a full wedding, complete with a beautiful western white dress, being walked down the aisle by her father and everything. Yet she feared that she would break down into tears again if she did. Instead she focus on her task as she read through and signed yet another paper. She turned toward Yue who had yet to leave her side. "Is there something you want?"

"Sakura, you are aware that your brother is not ready to follow you to Hong Kong," Yue mentioned.

Sakura nodded. "I didn't expect him to come with me."

Yue shifted. "And you know that Yukito is neither ready nor wants to be away from your brother."

"I know." Sakura bit her lip. "It's okay for you to stay here. To keep niichan safe."

"Sakura, it's not that easy for me to stay here. I am YOUR guardian. I exist to protect you and have promised your brother to do so," Yue protested.

"You will come to Hong Kong when both niichan and you are ready. I know you will. If I end up in trouble, I also know you will stop at nothing to come to my aid. I'm sorry my choice has hurt you," Sakura replied.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Yue returned. "But how can I fulfill my duty if I remain here?"

"Yue, do you want to stay with brother?" Sakura questioned with unnatural authority.

Yue attempted to protest, but Sakura's will was upon him. She would not let him lie. "I would... like that, but my duty..."

"Then I'll give you a mission, if it makes you feel better. Protect niichan, dad, and Tomoyo-chan for me. And everyone else in Tomoeda," Sakura ordered with a faint smile. "I will miss you."

"Sakura..." Yue whispered.

"Why don't you go tell niichan you're staying? Try to make him feel better," Sakura advised.

"As you wish." Yue bowed to her. He then turned away and left to talk to one tied up young man.

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

"First trip to Hong Kong?" the stewardess questioned the nervous looking girl with the airsickness bag already sitting on her lap.

"Third actually." Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Though the last time killed my back."

"Well, I assure you our seats are very comfortable," the stewardess replied.

After the stewardess left, Yelan commented, "Best not to talk too much about that trip."

Sakura nodded. She wished she had a window seat, but her situation made it necessary that she sat next to the isle in case she needed to make a quick run to the bathroom.

Looking at her mother-in-law, Sakura tried to think of something to talk about and failed miserably. She then gazed over her fellow passengers and failed to recognize anyone.

Sakura sighed. She already felt homesick. She would not hear her brother's taunts, Tomoyo's greetings, Yamazaki's stories, or anything else from home. She would not see the cherry blossoms on her way to her first day of junior high, her friends' smiling faces, or the ever-changing picture of her mother on the dinning room table.

"Goodbye," Sakura whispered as tears began to stream from her face.

"Do not think of what you have lost, but what you will gain. You are now part of a larger family. And you will make new friends and find new things that you shall cherish. This is just the start of a new adventure for you," Yelan advised.

Those words might've sounded better if the woman's voice wasn't so stoic. Still Sakura mentally had to agree to the advice, though her heart could not accept it yet. Her entire existence had been erased from the only home she had ever known and placed into six packing crates.

"Also, always cherish your memories. Never forget your friends, and they will never forget you," Yelan added.

Sakura almost laughed. She would hardly forget them. Not after the send off they gave her yesterday. Tomoyo had told them about the pregnancy and marriage, and they decided to throw her an impromptu bachelorette party. It had been a lot of fun, even if Yamazaki tried to crash it saying he was going to be the 'male entertainment.' Chiharu was quite upset about that saying the only girl he should ever 'entertain' was her, and his response of 'that's a promise' made the girl blush before trying to maim him.

Yelan placed a hand on top of Sakura's. "You will get to see Syaoran soon."

And that was probably the only thought that was keeping Sakura sane.

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

Syaoran sighed as he waited in the living room. Soon Sakura would be here to stay. He particularly did not like what Meiling's father had to say about his 'marriage,' though it helped to get a legal perspective from a lawyer. The simple fact was while Japan held Sakura as his wife, Hong Kong could not legally recognize it until they were both sixteen and that was only because the marriage was legally recognized by another country. Were they to wait for Hong Kong's age of marriage they would be twenty-one. Not to mention that were he not underage himself, he would be seen as guilty of rape. In fact, between their sixteenth birthdays, it would be best to not engage in sex as it would technically make Sakura guilty of rape. Though he had to wonder at the warped logic of those age of consent laws where it pertained to the 'impossibility' of a boy his age to legally commit rape or that he had limitations on how he could make love to Sakura.

Syaoran snapped out of his thoughts as Sakura entered the room. There was no fanfare, no grand announcement, nothing but one scared girl standing at the door. He had expected more upon seeing her. She was his pseudo-wife. She was pregnant with his child. Yet there was an unreality to it all. That all his troubled thoughts since she told him had never happened. That she was just here visiting.

"Hello, Syaoran," Sakura greeted shyly.

Syaoran quickly crossed the room and hugged her tightly. "Welcome home, Sakura. Welcome home."

Sakura smiled faintly. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Syaoran stroked her hair. "I will try to be the best husband I can be for you."

"I know you'll do just fine." Sakura sighed. "I just wish I'd make a good wife."

"Of course you will. I don't want anyone else but you," Syaoran whispered to her.

"Even though I messed up our lives? That I knowingly got myself pregnant?" Sakura questioned.

Syaoran shook his head. "You brought us together sooner than we could've any other way. And I seem to remember being the one to take off your clothes. I'm as much to blame as you are."

"I could've warned you. At least told you sooner," Sakura protested.

Syaoran laughed. "I'm glad you did it the way you did. We wouldn't be here if you told me what would happen before we did it, and I'd be a nervous wreck if you had told me sooner."

Sakura let out a long yawn. "These past few days have been hard."

"I can only imagine. It is getting late. Let's go to bed." Syaoran led his beloved to their room.

*****************

Sakura rubbed her five month swollen belly as she walked down the hallway of her home. Odd how just a few months had changed the enormous estate to a place of safety and comfort. Here there were no judgmental stares from people who did not know her. Those kind of stares had made Christmas for her rather bittersweet when she went to the amusement park with her family. It was a shame that her father, brother, Tomoyo-chan and Yukito were unable to visit.

Entering the library, Sakura went to a shelf lined with magical texts written in English. While she was hardly fluent in the language, she was getting rather good at it. Her Cantonese, however, still sounded like gibberish. Thankfully Meiling-chan was helping her learn to speak the native languages of Hong Kong.

Sakura sat down on her chair, which was easily discerned as such with the numerous flowery pillows and the pink blanket that covered it. She took a moment to make sure she was comfortable before opening the ancient text that Clow, himself, had written. Though understanding his chicken scratches would've been difficult enough, but his English was older than the works of Shakespeare as well. It was almost an entirely different language. However, this book held important information that she wanted to know. With questionable aid from an English-Japanese dictionary she continued her extremely slow pace of translating how Clow created the cards.

Sakura did not look up as she felt a presence behind her. "Is there something you want, Feimei?"

"Why can't I be invisible to you?" Feimei huffed, dropping her cloaking spell as she moved from looking over Sakura's shoulder to sitting at a nearby chair.

"Because I'm not looking to see you, I can feel you there," Sakura replied. "Until you can mask your presence, you'll never be able to hide from me."

"And how do I do that?" Feimei questioned.

Sakura paused. "You know, I really should figure out how to do that for myself."

Feimei laughed. "You are a magical lighthouse. Even I can feel your presence."

"Did you have fun at the mall?" Sakura asked.

Feimei sighed. "Too much window shopping, not enough buying."

"You'll find yourself a boy soon enough," Sakura encouraged.

"So says Li Sakura, Lady of the House of Li," Feimei jokingly mocked. "Guess we can't all find love so young as you. I just wish I could find my special someone soon."

Sakura shook her head as she giggled. "You should be careful what you wish for. It may just happen, but in ways you didn't want it to."

"Especially if you can make the wish true," Feimei added.

"You should really put some of your energy towards deciding your future," Sakura advised. "Taking only two university classes will hardly help you graduate soon."

"Hey, now. Don't use me to practice being a mother," Feimei countered while smirking. "And honestly I don't know what I want to do with myself. I want a family, but I don't really have much interest in other things. At least I don't have to worry about being clan head and shoving my head into books all the time."

"I don't have to read any of this. You could say it's more of a hobby to deal with the boredom," Sakura replied.

The girls paused as there was a knock at the door. Wei entered the room and bowed. "Lady Sakura, there are two gentlemen who would like to talk to you."

"Thank you, Wei-san," Sakura returned. She then frowned at the two middle-aged men in suits who Wei guided into the room. One of them carried a surprised look upon seeing her, but then strutted forward as if he was in control. The other seemingly lazily looked about the room yet never fully took his eyes off her. "Hello, I'm Li Sakura. Please excuse my English, I am not fluent as yet and my Cantonese is rather poor. Can I help you?"

"Hello, I'm Detective Hou, and this is my partner, Fu," greeted the man who tried to act imposing. "We're here to investigate the possibility of abuse."

Sakura nodded. "I see. I suppose that I'm the so-called 'victim.'"

"You ARE an underage pregnant girl," Hou returned.

"Well, I can assure you that I quite knew what I was doing that lead me to this situation," Sakura informed.

"And do you know who the father is?" Hou asked.

"It could only be my Japanese common-law husband, Syaoran," Sakura answered.

"How many guys have you slept with?" Hou questioned harshly.

"Only Syaoran. I'd never let anyone else touch me like that," Sakura replied.

Hou scowled. "You do realize that Hong Kong does not recognize marriage of anyone under the age of sixteen."

Sakura nodded. "I became well aware of that fact after following Li-Okasan, demo... I mean, after following Syaoran's mother's instructions to read all the paperwork she had me sign first. That, at the moment, I'm more adopted into the clan than married into it per Hong Kong law. I'll be sure to remember to take a three-month vacation between my sixteenth birthday and Syaoran's. I certainly don't want to be guilty of 'raping' my husband."

"And how old is your husband?" Hou questioned.

"He's twelve-years-old. The same as me. But my birthday is in April, while his in July," Sakura replied. She almost giggled at the harsh glare the Hou was casting. He reminded of her brother in many ways, but without any of the subtlety.

"So you were married in Japan, right? What kind of ceremony was it?" Fu inquired.

Sakura fought the urge to frown. Her impression of Fu was more akin to a Yukito exterior masking a Yue interior. He seemed pleasant enough, but suspected that he was the one who did the thinking for the pair. It didn't hurt her suspicions of him detecting a faint aura of magic to him, though he seemed untrained in its use. "I'm afraid my... condition didn't allow for a wedding. However, ceremony is not needed to be married in Japan."

"I see." Fu nodded. "It must've been upsetting for you having to move from Japan to Hong Kong, especially with a rushed marriage."

"Upsetting wouldn't be the word for it," Sakura agreed. "I miss my family and all the letters and emails we send never really seem enough. Though the times I've been separated from Syaoran felt like I was dying."

Feimei decided she had enough of being ignored. "'Basket case' was a term used to describe her the last time they were apart."

Fu didn't seem to hear the girl's comment. "So you've stayed in touch with your family?"

"Certainly, Niichan... ano, my big brother was certainly not happy that I married so young. He keeps pestering me about whether Syaoran's treating me okay and that I can go home any time. Dad always sends his love and support," Sakura confirmed.

"Could you go home if you so choose?" Hou almost barked, earning a slight glare from his partner.

Feimei laughed. "She's the lady of the house. She could tell ME what to do, and I was born into the clan."

Sakura smirked slightly. "Though she never does listen the few times I do."

Feimei stuck her tongue out at the girl.

"Eto... If I wanted to go back to Tomoeda, I could, but my place is with Syaoran and he has duties and training that needs to be done here as the head of the clan," Sakura explained.

"Could I see some of these emails or letters?" Fu requested.

"I have no problem with you seeing a couple of them," Sakura agreed. She then called out, "Wei-san."

The family butler entered the room immediately. "Yes, Lady Sakura?"

"Please fetch my letterbox from the top of my dresser," Sakura ordered.

"Of course, Lady Sakura. I shall be right back." Wei bowed before leaving.

Fu gazed briefly after the departing man before turning his attention back to Sakura. "When was the last time you were in school?"

"About four months ago," Sakura replied wistfully. "I have been receiving home schooling instead. We started mostly with English as I already knew some of the language, and also Math as I rather bad in that. I guess I also do literature..." She glanced at the book she had been translating. "And science as I have been reading a lot."

Fu had managed to edge his way toward her during the talk and was now almost over her. He pointed at the book next to her. "May I see that?"

"You can look at it, but do be careful. It is many centuries old. And you may have trouble reading it. It's a scientific text written mostly in Middle English with some Old English. It gives me quite the headache to read, but it's a subject I'm interested in knowing about," Sakura related.

Fu's eyebrows scrunched up as his attempted glance over the text became a slow study of the oddly written words. "Quite the complicated text. I was unaware that people back then had knowledge of electricity."

Sakura worked to hide her reaction to that in fear of Fu reading it as he understood more than she thought he would. "Not all of Egyptian, Greek and Roman knowledge were lost to Dark Age. The writer was quite the educated and traveled man."

"Can you help me understand what this book is about?" Fu asked.

Sakura paused to think of how best to relate it. "Well, it's mostly theory of how a battery would work. In collecting, storing, and usage of energy."

"Certainly a newer scientific text would hold more correct analysis of such ideas," Fu commented.

Sakura smiled shyly. "The writer had a few interesting applications that I've never heard done before. And, well, I guess you could also say that's part of my Father brushing off on me. He teaches archaeology at Tokyo University."

The phone began to ring, to which Feimei glanced at the time and commented, "That would be Daidouji."

As the phone only rang once, neither girl moved to fetch it. A moment later Wei returned with the phone and the letterbox Sakura had requested. "Lady Daidouji is on the telephone for you."

"Arigatou..." Sakura shook her head. "Thank you, Wei-san. Excuse me for a moment, gentlemen. This is a long distance phone call from Japan." She then picked up the phone. "Moshi moshi. Sakura desu." Her face lit up hearing the voice on the other end. "Zettai daijoubu. Daijoubu des ka, Tomoyo-chan?" As Sakura continued to talk in high-speed Japanese, she began to sort through the letters in the ornate wooden box Wei had delivered.

Fu frowned. His knowledge of Cantonese and Mandarin helped a little to discern what was being said in Japanese from the similarities of the languages, however any detailed information he might gleam was lost to him. He then glanced at the other girl sitting in the room. "I'm sorry we've been ignoring you."

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to that. Having been the youngest daughter, and now a middle one thanks to her, I keep getting lost in the shuffle," Feimei replied.

"Was it your brother that married Li Sakura?" Fu questioned.

Feimei nodded. "Yes, but I don't know what she sees in my geek of a brother."

"He's not a geek!" Sakura barked out, then returned to her phone conversation and asked a rhetorical question of why must everyone insult her husband.

"Were you born into the clan?" Hou almost hissed.

"Of course I was," Feimei replied. "What's your problem?"

"Take a wild guess!" Hou snapped.

"You REALLY are like my brother," Sakura commented, setting the phone aside. "You don't like it when things don't go your way."

"What would he like? Arresting someone?" Feimei asked.

"I'd like to know who put the idea of sex into her head!" Hou blurted out.

Sakura almost glared. "It was my idea, really. We were alone. We had just admitted we loved each other. And then we started kissing and didn't stop."

"Please excuse Hou." Fu tried to hide being upset by laughing. "He's likely broadcasting thoughts of his daughter over you."

Sakura nodded. "Believe me, I understand. As you might tell from my brother's letters he's quite protective as well." She held out a few different letters and three different envelopes. "I apologize for not including a letter from Tomoyo-chan with those. Her letters contain some highly personal information and even some classified business information."

"Business information?" Fu questioned.

"Tomoyo-chan's mother is the president of a major company in Japan and has vested interest in many other businesses. And since she's my cousin, I was given a small share of the company at my marriage to help protect the family holdings in case something were to happen to Tomoyo-chan," Sakura explained. "The paperwork for it was quite specific that only I have control of it. Not even Syaoran can touch it unless certain requirements are met first. The foremost of those is his twentieth birthday and my continued marriage to him."

"I see. I see." Fu nodded. He left the envelopes hanging past the edge of the letters allowing him to view the return addresses.

"You can keep the envelopes, if you'd like, but I would rather not lose any of my letters," Sakura told him.

"You know, at first I was quite surprised that we were allowed to see you," Fu commented. "I see that they had no reason to hide you. You are as your paperwork suggests. A young girl who has grown before her time."

"I wish I could disagree with you." Sakura sighed. "In one night I threw away my innocence for love. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision. Questioning if I would've been happier living in ignorance. But then I would not be with the one I love the most." She looked down at her swollen waist, rubbing her hand over it. "Some may say my baby is the result of a 'stupid wish,' but this was still my own special wish that I cannot regret."

"Is there something going on?"

Everyone turned to look at the boy standing at the library doorway.

"Nothing, Syaoran. Just talking with these two men who were concerned with my well being," Sakura replied simply.

Hou scowled darkly at Syaoran. "I just have one question left, where did YOU get the idea of having sex with her?"

Syaoran stuttered and began blushing hard.

"Go ahead and tell him, Syaoran," Sakura advised.

Syaoran attempted to straighten himself. "Ahem. Well, we sort of both had the idea. We started kissing and touching and, well, went from there."

"I believe we've heard all we need to," Fu informed as he returned the letters to the pregnant girl, but still kept the envelopes. "I thank you for your hospitality and frankness, Li Sakura."

"I thank you for your understanding," Sakura returned.

Fu placed his hand on Hou's back, making sure his partner left with him.

They were immediately met by Wei, who then proceeded to guide them out of the estate. As they exited the home, Wei questioned, "Will there be any need to contact our lawyers?"

Hou glanced back toward house. "Do you have any idea how many cases of girls being sexually abused we've had during our time on the force?"

"I would not be inclined to hazard a guess," Wei replied.

"Thirty-nine cases of rape against girls under the age of fourteen, ten of them were for sexual slavery. I will never forget seeing the body of a dead eight-year-old Korean girl. Her face frozen in terror, the soulless eyes that lacked innocence. Forensics pulled semen samples of at least fifteen men from her. And the only person we arrested was the one who had 'adopted' her. The girl, herself, had signed many of the same forms that Sakura did, all to be part of the family that ended up killing her," Hou spat out.

Fu cleared his throat. "You might understand that we find this case hard to believe. That we've seemingly found the true exception to the rule. She is of good health, being educated, and is allowed to keep in touch with her birth family." He then followed his partner's gaze toward the house. "At this point there is nothing more that we can do."

Wei nodded. "I see. If you file the proper papers, the Li clan will not fight a paternity test. Frankly, if the father is not Lord Syaoran, the Li clan would most definitely want to know that as the child she carries may one day control the clan. Though I have no doubts of Lady Sakura's character. Her love is absolute and has done wondrous things."

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

A frown seemed to be etched on Sakura's face. For the past few days there was an emptiness inside her. A hole in her mind, her heart. It was like an itch that she couldn't quite reach. She jumped as the phone rang. Her apprehension grew with each passing second. When Wei appeared with the phone, she didn't want to take it from him but knew she had too. "Hello, Li Sakura speaking," she greeted in English.

"Hi, it's me. Touya," her brother greeted in Japanese on the other end. His voice sounded so hollow and sad it hurt her hearing it. "Sakura... I'm sorry I didn't call earlier... but there's nothing you could've done."

"Niichan, what's wrong?" Sakura questioned with a shaking voice.

"Dad was attacked by a student two days ago..." Touya choked. "He died this morning. I'm so sorry, Sakura. They said he was going to pull through. I didn't want to worry you. I'm so sorry. Sakura?"

Sakura's arms hung loosely to her sides, the phone dropping to the floor. "Wei-san, I need to go to Tomoeda immediately. My... My Father was murdered."

Wei stiffened but then bowed quickly. "At once, Lady Sakura."

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

This was not how Sakura wanted to see her old friends again. Returning to her hometown for the funeral of her father. A death that was so incredibly stupid. While she knew his body had died the day before, she believed his spirit had passed on after the attack. And the reason for the stabbing was ridiculous. That her father was 'stealing away' the assailant's girlfriend. Maybe the girl did have a crush on her father, but there was no way he'd ever love someone besides her mother. The sheer number of pictures her father had was borderline disturbing.

Now Sakura was about to do something she had sworn she'd never do again. She was going to change fate just because she couldn't deal with the alternative. In doing so she was going to put two people she cared for through hell. But this time she would at least warn them.

Sakura stood before her friend with a solemn expression. "Rika-chan... I have an unbelievable favor to ask of you. It will cause you great pain, but it will give you what you wish for most."

Rika blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

Sakura swallowed hard, her face hardening. "Rika-chan, I know you love Terada-sensei dearly. I... I can help you marry him soon. But in doing so, it will cause a lot of grief. Terada-sensei will likely be fired from Tomoeda Elementary. However, I can tell you that everything will work out, for sure."

Rika's eyes widened. "How can you make that happen?"

"Even if your parents object, there are loopholes in the laws that can be exploited." Sakura closed her eyes. "To assist with that, you'll have to do something for me. I need you to become pregnant."

Rika glanced down while blushing. "You say that like it's something I haven't tried to do already."

Sakura stared at her friend. "You've already slept with him?!"

"I know the risks. We both do. But we love each other too much," Rika asserted.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "I see. That makes things a little easier for me. The thing is I can aid you in becoming pregnant. Make it so that you'll have a son."

"How can you do that?" Rika questioned skeptically.

"With magic." Sakura spread her arms as a glowing circle filled with complex symbols appeared beneath her feet, brilliant white wings spread from her back, and a wand grew in her hand. "This is how I made myself pregnant. Made it so I could defy the laws of man and heaven to conceive my daughter."

Rika's eyes widened but then relaxed to a knowing expression. She then laughed a little shaking her head. "I've had some doubts about some of my odd dreams. I guess I should say sorry for trying to kill you with a sword." She then looked at her old friend with fierce determination. "I'll do it."

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

Sasaki and her daughter were greeted at the door by a Chinese girl who then led them into the Kinomoto household. Had it really been nine years since she last visited, helping Fujitaka take care of Sakura after Nadeshiko died? She wondered if she had done more to help out then, that Sakura wouldn't be in her situation now.

When Sasaki arrived in the kitchen, she wanted to reassess the difference in time. The girl sitting at the dinner table did not look to be twelve, but a young pregnant woman. Though Sasaki knew of the blessing and the quick marriage, the evidence of it still stunned her.

"Thank you for coming, Rika-chan, Sasaki-san," Sakura greeted.

"Thank you for allowing me into your home. You have my sympathy, Sakura-chan," Sasaki returned.

"Would you like something to drink?" Syaoran questioned.

"Some water would be nice," Rika requested.

"No, thank you." Sasaki eyed the boy as he got the glass of water. She had to remind herself that he too was twelve-years-old, but his posture and demeanor struck her as being someone much older. Even the Chinese girl didn't act the way a child should. Though her daughter often acted older than her years as well.

Sasaki shook her head and glanced around the room, her eyes locking onto a picture of Nadeshiko. She then noticed a few other pictures in the room of her departed childhood friend. "Your father was a wonderful man. Your mother had the choice of any guy, and even some girls, yet she chose him. He made her the happiest person I've ever known. It was a shame she died so young."

Sakura nodded, her hands fidgeting over her swollen waist. "I think that Father may have let himself die so he could join her. Touya can take care of himself, and I'm happily married."

"Perhaps you're right." Sasaki sighed with fond memories. "They had a love unlike any other I've ever seen."

Sakura cast a small smile toward Syaoran. "I would like to say that I've seen love like that a few times. Syaoran and I may be very young, but our love has even defied law and survived."

Sasaki smiled. "Perhaps you have. Though it is truly rare, especially for a teacher and student."

"I wouldn't know about that either." Sakura looked at the woman with a knowing gaze. "There's a teacher I've met who deeply loves one of his students. Unfortunately, they have to keep their love a secret."

"It is regrettable. Too often we hear of teachers abusing their position that it's hard for the ones who truly find love. Your father was slandered badly for his relationship with your mother. Your Great-grandfather even had him arrested, but without your mother's cooperation they couldn't do anything." Sasaki began to laugh a little. "Technically your father WAS guilty. Your brother was probably conceived a week before Nadeshiko's sixteenth birthday and her marriage."

Sakura's eyes widened. "She was... They DID?!"

Sasaki nodded. "They truly did love each other deeply. They couldn't wait for when it was legal."

Meiling let out a chuckle. "Learn something new everyday, huh?"

Sakura flushed. "I never thought of them... that way."

"Dear, did you think you got here some other way than the baby you carry?" Sasaki questioned jokingly.

Sakura shook her head. "I just didn't think about it." She then sighed. "Do you think it's wrong for that teacher to express his love for his student even though it's not legal?"

Sasaki frowned. "I'm not sure I'd say it's _wrong_ for them, but I would advise against it. Your mother was disowned and your father's credibility as a teacher was reduced. He made history interesting and I had despised the class before meeting him."

"I'm not sure what could be done to help the teacher, but would you help the girl's parents understand that their daughter truly loves her teacher and it's not some case of child molestation?" Sakura questioned with seriousness.

"Oh, please don't tell me Tomoyo-chan is in love with a teacher. Sonomi-chan would EXPLODE!" Sasaki half-joked.

"Certainly not Tomoyo-chan," Sakura replied.

Meiling laughed. "She'd rather get into your pants."

"WHHHHEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!?????" Sakura gagged from shock. "Meiling-CHAN?!"

"Don't tell me you didn't know?!" Meiling questioned. "She's been flirting with me since your marriage."

Syaoran began stuttering as his mind short-circuited at the thought of Tomoyo truly loving his wife.

Sasaki giggled. "Tomoyo-chan really is like her mother in that respect. She loved your mother dearly. I'm surprised she's not here."

"Daidouji-san was here earlier, but she had work. Tomoyo-chan had to leave for some project she's working on. She won't tell anyone what it is," Syaoran explained.

Sakura pouted while blushing. "I'll have to talk with her later." She then shook her head. "Still, you do understand that love doesn't recognize age? That it might help the girl's mother to know that others have shared a similar love despite what others say about it?"

"I do suppose that I might be able to help, but I'd like to talk to the girl first. Find out if it's really love or not," Sasaki replied.

Rika cleared her throat after Sakura nodded toward her. "Mother... the one Sakura-chan's been talking about... is me. I'm in love with a teacher." She reached up to her neck and pulled her necklace out from under her shirt, showing a golden ring hanging from it. "Some time ago he asked me to marry him, and I said, 'yes.' We had promised to wait until I was sixteen, but I don't want to wait. I know the troubles Sakura-chan has had. That things will be difficult. But I love him, Mother. I want to be with him always."

Sasaki raised her hand to her mouth. "Oh, Rika-chan... Are you serious? Do you honestly know what's in store for you?"

Rika-chan bowed her head. "I do. His name will be attacked. He'll probably be fired. We'd be forced to move somewhere that would accept him as teacher. They would attack me as well. I heard some of the names Sakura-chan was called after she left for Hong Kong. I swear one boy still has Tomoyo-chan's handprint bruised across his face."

Meiling chuckled. "He should be glad neither Syaoran nor I heard what he said. He'd be lucky to be breathing."

Sasaki glanced at the girl before returning her stare to her daughter. "Rika-chan, I think we should complete this conversation at another time."

"Of course, Mother. I would like you to understand. We can talk about it tonight," Rika replied.

"I'm sorry our conversation led to this," Sakura apologized.

Sasaki almost scowled at her. "This is something that needed to be said. Though I wish it had come at a different time and setting."

Sakura merely nodded, though she wanted to say more.

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

"Fancy meeting you here."

Sakura sighed seeing Detective Fu at the airport. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you're here."

Syaoran practically began growling at the man, while Meiling took a defensive position in front of the pregnant girl.

"Why don't you two collect our bags and see if Wei-san is waiting for us. I'll catch up," Sakura told them.

"But Sakura," Syaoran protested.

"There's nothing to worry about," Sakura assured.

Syaoran glared at the man. "If there's any trouble, call me."

"Of course." Sakura nodded. She waited for her husband and cousin-in-law to leave before turning back toward the detective. "Is there something you wanted?"

"It surprised me to see that you left for home, considering your condition," Fu commented.

Sakura frowned. "I had to go home. My father was killed."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Fu replied. "You have my condolences."

"Thank you." Sakura bowed.

Fu gazed at her closely. "Did you love your father dearly?"

"Of course I do. He raised me since my mother died nearly ten years ago," Sakura replied neutrally.

"You don't seem particularly sad, though," Fu noted.

Sakura looked out the window. "I believe in reincarnation. He will be reborn and live again."

Fu remained silent for a moment. "You know, in all my years on the force I try to tame my intuition with reason. Yet while my head tells me there's no law for which I can arrest you for, my heart screams that you're guilty. Guilty of what, I don't know."

Sakura glanced at him. "You should listen to your intuition more often. You have a potential for magic that is going untapped."

"Magic?" Fu almost scoffed.

Sakura nodded. "I certainly understand why you fear me, but I have avoided breaking any of the laws of man. Though I suspect Syaoran sets you on edge, yet Meiling-chan barely interests you."

"I don't fear you," Fu protested. "You do, however, make me rather curious."

"That's what you say." Sakura sighed. "Though with those trained in the magical arts, it is believed that I am the strongest of them all. With but a thought I could bury this airport in snow or burn it to the ground. That I would never do such things is relatively unimportant, it is the fact that I can do it. And it's during this trip that I may have proved myself as the most powerful magic-user for the second time."

"Oh really? And what have you done?" Fu questioned skeptically.

"Bringing back the dead is not impossible. However, doing so meddles with the forces of fate and requires the person to restart life completely. When this all started..." She motioned toward her waist. "...I wasn't entirely aware of what I had done. I used my magic to make a wish reality. My magic guided me into making love to Syaoran, to become pregnant with his child."

Sakura sighed. "It wasn't until this trip that I fully realized what I had done. That I needed a soul to make my wish reality, and I had used the soul of my own mother. I figured that out when I wanted my father back, wanted him alive. My magic once again guided my actions in order to allow my father to be reborn soon as the son of one of my closest friends. She wasn't supposed to be pregnant yet, but I made it happen. And because I've done that, she will have harsh times as the father of her baby will be her elementary school gym teacher," Sakura explained.

Fu stared at the girl. "What proof do you offer of any of this?"

Sakura smirked slightly. "I know you'll be keeping an eye on Tokyo news. If it hasn't been reported already, it will soon that a teacher married one of his elementary school students with consent of her mother. And in over a month they're liable to report on it again as she will be pregnant. But as for something to tied you over until then." She gazed deeper at the man. "Your partner is reading over the last case file, but he's over looking something. He should take a closer look at the third and fourteenth statements taken. After all there is only one stall at that bar. It is time I return to my husband. Goodbye, Detective Fu. I feel this will not be the last time we meet." Sakura bowed and walked away.

Fu mulled over her words. They were far too exact to be some catchall prophecy. It would take only a little research for him to gain the name of the teacher she had referred to. And as for the part with the case file, she could not possibly know about the near riot at a bar last night. He pulled out his cellphone and dialed. "Hey, Hou. Do me a favor and look at the third and fourteenth statements." He then frowned. "Yeah, both say they were using the toilet during the entire fight. However, that's a small bar, there might have only been one toilet in the place. Check it out." He then glanced in the direction Sakura had left. "Let's just say a little flower told me."

*****************

It was getting very late in the evening and Sakura had only left the bed to use the bathroom, and had been confined to her bedroom for most of the past two weeks. The strain of her baby was taking its toll on her body. Almost a third of her current weight was centered around her waist and that made moving around a serious chore.

"How was your day?" Syaoran questioned as he finally entered their room.

Sakura cast a quick glare at him while she turned off the television. "BORING!"

"It'll all be over tomorrow." Syaoran lifted the blankets covering her legs before sitting down at her feet. He then began to massage her legs.

"Still not soon enough." Sakura pouted yet sighed feeling his strong fingers work on her leg muscles. "Though it will be nice that her birthday will be the same."

Syaoran shook his head. "Are you sure that our baby is really your mother?"

Sakura nodded. "Of course I am. I may not have realized it at first, but I needed to make myself pregnant somehow. I can feel her presence there." She then smirked. "The timing is certainly amazing. The fact Rika-chan took a bit longer to get pregnant had surprised me, but now she can expect to have her baby on my Dad's birthday, January third."

"It'll make things a bit odd. How do you propose to raise her? As our daughter or your mother?" Syaoran questioned.

"As our daughter. She may have her soul, but she's still our baby. She'll be restarting life completely. As Eriol-kun pointed out, while he may be Clow-san's reincarnation and even had his memories-- he's a different person from Clow-san. Our little Nadeshiko probably won't be able to remember much from her previous life," Sakura explained.

Syaoran chuckled a little. "That's good. I wouldn't want to call a baby, 'Mom.'"

Sakura pitched a pillow at her husband. "Ha. Ha. We have enough people being a 'Mom' around here. I would've preferred that Chiharu-chan would've been the mother of my Dad, but I knew she was going to pregnant soon and couldn't interfere with that. And your mother was so upset at Fuutie getting pregnant by her boyfriend she yelled at Shiefa's boyfriend to marry her first."

Syaoran frowned. "I've never seen Mother so frustrated."

"Syaoran, even Clow-san couldn't predict love. I may have known Chiharu-chan was going to become pregnant soon, I couldn't tell you when. I can't even tell you when she'll give birth. Your mother is so used to her second sight that all these unpredictable events are taxing her," Sakura pointed out.

"I guess you're right." Syaoran then glanced at the clock. "It's time to get some sleep."

"How can you sleep? Tomorrow we'll be parents!" Sakura protested.

Syaoran pointed at the clock reading thirty minutes past midnight. "I know today is a big day. And you don't need to worry about the operation. Caesarian sections have been successfully used to deliver babies since before the fall of Egypt to Rome."

"But we'll be PARENTS, Syaoran. PARENTS! We'll have a baby that will need us for everything! Are you ready for that? I don't know if I am, and I've had all this time to prepare for this," Sakura fretted.

Syaoran moved to the other side of the bed and hugged her. "I don't know if I'm ready either. But ready or not, it will happen. Getting upset now won't help anything."

"I'm not upset! I'm-" Sakura clutched her arms painfully tight around her husband as she cried out in pain.

"Sakura?!" Syaoran questioned with worry.

Sakura panted as the pain subsided. "Syaoran... I don't think she's going to wait."

Syaoran's eyes widened. "You're in labor?!" With Sakura's nod, he set her carefully onto her back. "Hold on, I'll get help."

"Hurry," Sakura pleaded. She then clutched the bed sheets and cried out again.

Syaoran swore. If that was another contraction, it was way too close together. She would be giving birth NOW.

Yelan burst into the room. "Syaoran, stay with her. Wei is fetching Meiling's mother, and Fanren is preparing hot water."

"Shouldn't we get her to a hospital?! She can't give birth HERE!" Syaoran demanded.

"Not enough time. She's minutes away from giving birth. It'll be better here than in a car," Yelan told him flatly, masking her worries with authority.

It was only minutes later that Meiling arrived with her mother. Syaoran was quite thankful his aunt had taken up medicine and specialized as a midwife. Though he could do without Meiling using a camera, but very much knew recording this was not his cousin's idea.

Meiling's mother quickly assessed the situation and pronounced that it was too late to properly perform a Caesarian section, especially as ill equipped as they were. She coaxed the young girl through the extreme pain of natural childbirth with the help of her family.

One minute after one in the morning, Li Nadeshiko greeted the world.

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

"Tomoyo-chan, I hate you," Meiling growled out.

Tomoyo smirked. "I love you, too."

"Now that's an interesting way to greet your friend," Sonomi commented at the entrance to the Li clan's main house.

Meiling held up a videotape. "She asked me to record the birth. That was the grossest, most disturbing thing I've EVER seen. And trust me, I've seen things that tests sanity. You show this to Mrs. Yamazaki and Mrs. Terada, and they'll march straight to an abortion clinic. Gah! I still can hear Sakura screaming." She then folded her arms and huffed. "Tomoyo, if you thought seeing that would make me swear off guys, you overdid it. I don't even want to THINK about sex, guy or girl, after seeing Sakura like that." She shuddered in revulsion.

Tomoyo took the tape and hugged it to her chest. Her eyes sparkled with glee as she professed, "Sakura-chan becoming a mother... I will always treasure it."

"But probably only play it once." Sonomi grimaced. "And what's this about my Tomoyo-chan trying to get you to swear off boys?"

Meiling frowned. "That's for her to say."

"I'm like you in that I prefer girls," Tomoyo stated evenly.

"Do keep your eyes open for boys. I don't want to select a husband for you. I wouldn't want to repeat Grandfather's mistake with you." Sonomi shook her head. "Now isn't the time for that. Where's Sakura-chan and the little one?!"

Meiling opened the door. "Do be quiet. Nadeshiko hates noises."

Sonomi's hands fluttered against her chest at sight of the young mother holding her daughter to her chest. "Named after her own dear Grandmother, and she's so precious."

Tomoyo smiled at the scene. They just looked too cute.

"Tomoyo-chan! Daidouji-san!" Sakura chirped seeing the two, though her happiness did not fully mask her tiredness. "Forgive me for not standing up to meet you."

The moment of perfection was shattered as they finally noticed that Sakura was sitting in a wheelchair.

"Oh, my! Sakura-chan, did something go wrong?" Tomoyo questioned.

"Not entirely wrong. Just too much strain on my back, hips and such from giving birth naturally. Chiharu-chan and Rika-chan will probably spend some time in a wheelchair as well even if they get a Caesarian section," Sakura explained.

"I see." Tomoyo nodded slowly. "How long will you be in the wheelchair?"

"Two weeks at least. After the stitches are taken out," Sakura replied.

"Stitches? But Nadeshiko-chan was naturally born, right?" Tomoyo wondered.

"Can you imagine having a baby this big coming out of you? Something has to give," Meiling pointed out. "Gah. Just watch that video and you'll understand all too well."

"Can I hold her?" Sonomi beamed as Sakura nodded. She carefully picked the tiny infant and began making baby-esque noises that would stun anyone who worked for her. "Oh, you're so precious. You look just like your grandmom. Yes you doooo.... Aw, she just pissed on me." Somehow the smile did not leave the woman's face, despite the damage being done to her five-million-yen suit coat. "If you don't mind, I'll take care of her widdle mess."

Sakura giggled. "No arguments from me. I could use the break."

"I'll take you to the baby's room," Meiling offered, guiding the woman out of the room.

"Should we tell Mother that she really IS your mother?" Tomoyo questioned.

Sakura shook her head. "Even though her soul is the same, that Nadeshiko is my daughter. She won't be the same person my Mother was, just as Eriol-kun is not truly Clow-san. How long will you be staying in Hong Kong?"

"Just a week, I'm afraid. But I should be able to visit again soon," Tomoyo replied with an odd glint in her eye.

Sakura smile reached her ears. "That's great. I've missed you a LOT!"

*****************

A large school building loomed in front of three teenagers. Two knew the place quite well, while the third looked ready to run away.

"I should be home. What if Nadeshiko needs me?" Sakura whined.

Syaoran's eyebrow twitched irritably. "Between Mother, my sisters, Wei and the maids, there's no shortage of people to watch after her. And they all have your cellphone number. You made sure of that."

"But what if something goes wrong?" Sakura protested.

"You're the most powerful magic-user on the planet. If something really bad was going to happen to her, you'd know it before it even happened," Meiling growled at her in a low voice.

Sakura attempted to protest, but Syaoran took her hands into his. "Sakura, trust my family. They'll take care of our daughter. They would die to protect her."

Sakura wilted. "I know. But she's my daughter. I should be the one to watch after her."

Syaoran sighed. "And you have been for the past few months. But you can't stay at home your whole life. You still have to decide what you want to do beyond being my wife."

"Excuse me, but can you help me out? I'm afraid I'm new to this school."

Sakura and Syaoran turned, looking at the girl with mouths agape. While the words were said in Cantonese, the voice was unmistakable.

"Tomoyo-chan?!" Sakura cried out in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"

"Going to school, same as you," Tomoyo replied with a cunning smile. "While I'm the newest vice-president of Daidouji Toys Hong Kong, I still have to attend classes. I spent much of my time since your marriage learning English and Cantonese to take the position."

Sakura hugged the girl tightly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Tomoyo returned the hug. "I wanted to surprise you. I'm glad it worked. Shall we go to our classroom?"

Sakura nodded, but her smile quickly turned to a frown. "I should check on Nadeshiko first." She then tried to dig her cellphone out of her pocket, but found her husband's hand on her wrist.

"You call Mother again, and she'll make good on that threat to feed you the phone," Syaoran warned. "Nadeshiko is safe."

Tomoyo shook her head as Sakura pouted. "Sakura-chan, worrying about Nadeshiko-chan won't help you or the baby. We'll be sure to cover for you during lunch so you can check on her, but you can't live just for her. You need to live for yourself." She then smirked. "I certainly know that. I had to learn to live without you. It may not be the same reasons, but the sentiment still holds."

Meiling laughed. "I just wished she choose someone else to rebound off of."

"I think I choose very well. You're beautiful, smart, lived in another country, and couldn't have possibly gotten me pregnant. I simply couldn't possibly done anything stupid with you," Tomoyo returned in a joking tone.

Meiling smirked. "Even if you had the chance, I wouldn't let you. This bod is for one special guy, when I'm old enough to enjoy it without going through hell with the consequences."

"Guess I'm back to looking for my special person. Whoever he or she may be," Tomoyo commented with a fond whisper to her voice.

"Did you follow any of that?" Sakura asked her husband.

Syaoran shook his head while thoughts of Daidouji and Meiling tangled in sheets danced in his head.

*****************

"Ah, hello Detective Fu," Sakura greeted as she sat a patio table in the gardens of the Li estate.

"Good afternoon, Lady Sakura," Fu returned. "Looks like tomorrow is your sweet sixteen birthday. I thought you had plans to return to Tomoeda."

Sakura smirked as she nodded. "I did, however plans sometimes do get changed." She patted her swollen waist. "There's no danger of committing statutory rape on my husband if I'm restricted from having sex due to pregnancy."

"I could still arrest you for having relations with a minor," Fu countered.

"And waste taxpayer money as my lawyers rip any case you could put forth to shreds," Sakura returned.

"I wonder what the government would do if they knew of your special powers," Fu added.

Sakura laughed. "The Li clan holds a lot of sway in Hong Kong, and China is unlikely to upset the city. After all, Hong Kong's official languages are still Cantonese and English, not Mandarin. Not to mention I would rather have some of China's laws apply to my relationship with Syaoran than the British influenced laws that you enforce." She then shook her head. "That's enough of our little game."

Fu nodded as he pulled out a case file. "We have a case that's been bugging me. It looks like a simple runaway. The girl has done that dozens of times, but never more than a day. It's been a week since she left home."

Sakura frowned as he set a picture of the girl in front of her. "I wish you'd stop giving me cases like this. It gives me nightmares." She then picked up the photo and blinked. Her gaze seemingly looking through the image as a small smile crept over her face. "I see. Well, I'm afraid I won't help you with this one."

Fu blinked. "Why not?"

"Because you would arrest the father of her baby," Sakura replied. "He may have her hidden away, but that is to protect her more than himself. The girl's family home is not the safest place for her to live. And it is why she kept running away from home into a man's arms. Past abuse would be hard to prove. But I fear what would happen to her if she were to be sent back to her parents."

"Sakura, you and your friends may have done well being sexually active young, but there's a reason age of consent is sixteen," Fu told her harshly.

"I'm not saying the girl's lover wasn't wrong in what he did with her. Only that the girl is better off with him. Yes, her education will suffer. Yes, she will not receive the best of medical care for herself and her baby. But she won't be sent to the hospital, or worse, by her own family," Sakura explained in a cold-flat tone.

Fu sighed, knowing how stubborn Sakura could be. The previous Lady of the Li clan had taught her successor a bit too well in his opinion. "Is there any way we can help her?"

"When she appears in eight months to give birth, don't look into her case. Let it slip between the cracks. They will marry when she is of age," Sakura advised.

"Are you harassing Sakura again?" questioned Feimei as she entered the gardens.

A smile appeared on Fu's face as his eyes focused on the small infant in the young woman's arms. "More like she's harassing me."

"Just telling him to drop a case where the criminal is doing more good from his crime," Sakura corrected.

"You should really stop abusing our family like this," Feimei scolded. "We aren't police officers."

Fu grinned sheepishly. "I only ask about the cases that rub me wrong. If I was abusing Sakura, I'd have brought the two dozen case files on my desk."

"Not to mention the thousands of cold case files in the station's basement," Sakura added.

Feimei huffed. "How about you make yourself useful and hold your grandson for a bit." Feimei placed her infant son in Fu's arms before he could respond.

Fu would hardly protest against holding the baby, but wished his daughter-in-law wasn't so rough. With his gaze fixed on the infant, he asked, "So, how is my son doing? I haven't seen him lately."

"You couldn't pry Kou out of the library with a crowbar." Feimei crossed her arms while glaring. "Sometimes I wonder if he married me just to get access to our magical texts. Well, that and the sex. He certainly didn't get any before meeting me."

Fu chuckled sheepishly, a little ashamed that he had introduced his son to the girl with hopes of getting more information on the Li clan. He never expected that his son would end up marrying the girl. While he regretted why he did it, the result brought great joy to him and his family.

*****************

"Bye Mama! I'll be a good girl! Don't worry!"

Sakura smiled at her darling daughter. She paid no heed to the whispers of the other parents. She heard them enough about her being such a young mother. It didn't matter to her that she was seeing her daughter off to her first day of kindergarten while wearing a high school uniform. She could fry their brains by telling them she had a two-year-old son at home being spoiled by his grandmother as well.

Nadeshiko twirled around, flaunting her sundress. She then skipped a few steps forward, tripped over her own feet and fell face first onto the concrete sidewalk.

"You are such a klutz, Nadeshiko!"

"Luchen, what did I say about that," Fuutie chastised her daughter.

Luchen pointed at the prone girl. "She is, Mother! She can't walk five steps without falling!"

Nadeshiko grinned as she sat up. "I'm okay. Everything is fine, for sure!"

Sakura helped her daughter stand up and brushed dirt off her dress. "You mind your teacher. And don't get into any trouble."

Luchen punched and then kicked the air before her. "If anyone tries to hurt her, they'll be the one to suffer."

"Don't you be causing any trouble either," Fuutie ordered her daughter.

"I won't START any," Luchen 'promised.'

Fuutie sighed. "And it's a wonder why people don't consider your mother's scolding of, 'when you have children, I hope one is just like you' as a curse."

Sakura giggled along with a few other mothers that overheard the comment. "I think my mother one-upped that particular curse." She grimaced as her daughter walked into the glass door. "Nadeshiko is EXACTLY like my mother."

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

Sakura combed her young daughter's long hair. There had been temptation to have it cut shorter like her own, to stress that this girl was not fully her mother, yet Nadeshiko loved having long hair and protested any suggestion of a haircut violently. And with the magical talent inherited from her parents, sometimes 'violent' was an understatement.

The young mother frowned at the long gaze her daughter was giving a picture that was sitting on her dresser. One of the few she had of her father.

"Mother?" Nadeshiko almost whispered.

Sakura was almost afraid of what the girl would say. "Yes, dear?"

"I've been having weird dreams. Dreams of Grandpa," Nadeshiko said as if she was confessing something.

"What were those dreams of?" Sakura asked, her voice becoming unnaturally flat.

"Weird things," Nadeshiko repeated. "Usually I'm older and in junior high and grandpa is my teacher. I'm talking to him and he makes me feel so... well, scwheeeeet. But when I wake up I feel a little disturbed. I mean that's GRANDPA, yet I feel as if I love him but not the way I love Papa."

"And the other dreams?" Sakura wondered in a stoic voice.

"Some I can't remember. Don't think I want to remember those." Nadeshiko fidgeted. "Then there's the elementary school dream. I'm dressed like you were sometimes in Auntie Tomoyo's videos. And grandpa is somehow my age. He still makes me feel all schweeeeet. Those aren't as bad, but it's still GRANDPA."

Sakura took a few steps away and plopped onto her bed. "Nadeshiko... I knew this would come one day, but not this soon."

Nadeshiko blinked. "What is it, Mama?"

"You know how your Uncle Eriol is the reincarnation of Clow Reed, right?" Sakura questioned.

Nadeshiko nodded, her eyes becoming wider.

"You too are a reincarnation. In your last life you were my mother," Sakura told her with a serious tone.

"I'M GRANDMA?!" Nadeshiko blurted out.

"Yes." Sakura nodded. "And as some of your dreams suggests, my father was reincarnated as well."

Nadeshiko made a sick face. "He's not my brother, is he?"

Sakura almost laughed. "No, dear. One of my childhood friends is his mother. And he's attending class at the elementary school I went to. He's not related to you in any way by blood."

Nadeshiko pouted. "But he's still grandpa."

Sakura stood up and embraced her daughter. "Eriol is Eriol, Clow is Clow. They are two different people with the same soul. Just as your grandmother is your grandmother, and you are you. You may have some memories from her, but you are my daughter and not my mother. Your life experiences dictate who you are. Experiences your grandmother did not have. And the same holds true for my father. He was an orphan who grew up without parents, but the Fujitaka living in Tomoeda now has a loving mother and father. He is not your grandfather, though he may have some of his memories as well."

Nadeshiko cast an odd gaze at the mirror. "Do I have ta marry him?"

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to. In a way, I'd rather you didn't marry him. However, if you come to truly love him, I'd have no objection. The decision is yours, not mine," Sakura advised.

*****************

"Why the hell do we have to go to Tomoeda?" Luchen groused, tugging at the school uniform. "And who in their perverted mind made skirts so short? This is some pedophile's dream come true."

"I think they're cute!" Nadeshiko replied. "It let's me move freely. This will be a great fourth grade for us!"

"Every time you trip you'll be showing boys your undies!" Luchen protested. "This was a stupid idea of your mother's. Why the hell did we come to this stupid school anyway? We should be starting summer break soon, not a whole new freaking school year!"

"Destiny," Nadeshiko replied simply. "I'm here to meet the boy I'll marry."

"WHAT?!" Luchen cried out. "What drug is your Mom smoking?! Sending her nine-year-old daughter to meet her future husband. Honestly, what is she thinking?"

"Luchen..." Nadeshiko sighed and became almost unnaturally calm, so unlike the carefree person her cousin had grown up with. "Coming here was my idea. I've been having dreams. Dreams of my past and future, which are really one in the same."

"You're idea?!" Luchen cried out. "You don't have to follow what some hokey dreams tell you. Nadeshiko!"

"The birdie fell from his nest," Nadeshiko commented, ignoring the rant. She began climbing the tree, carrying the tiny baby bird.

"Nadeshiko, get down here!" Luchen ordered. "You're going to hurt yourself! You KNOW you're going to fall. Nadeshiko!"

The girl ignored her cousin. This too was part of destiny. It would begin all over again just as soon as she safely returned the bird to his nest. She smiled as she completed her task. Even as she felt the branch break, her grin did not leave her face. She knew how this would end all to well.

"Ouch!" groaned the boy under her. He then blinked at her. "Wait, that hurt! Dreams aren't supposed to hurt!"

Nadeshiko pouted at him. "You were supposed to say, 'I thought an angel was falling.'"

"How? How did you know that?" was all he could think to ask.

"You're not the only one having that dream, my dear Fujitaka," Nadeshiko purred.

"Nadeshiko?" Terada Fujitaka questioned.

The girl nodded. "It's been too long, hasn't it?"

"I thought those were all just dreams. That I'd never meet someone that perfect," Fujitaka told her, tears welling up into his eyes.

Nadeshiko placed her hand on his cheek. "You might remember my final words to you. 'There's no reason to cry. We will see each other again. _Everything will work out, for sure._'"

Fujitaka and Nadeshiko forgot their bruises from the fall and that they were only nine-year-old elementary school students. Nearly two decades since the two were tragically parted they were once again together, and they shared a simple kiss that promised more to come later.

Luchen cursed and yelled at the two, but they paid no heed to her.


Sakura stood invisible to all senses not far away. A distant smile played across her face. The love her parents had for each other had successfully transcended even death and did not begrudge their tender reunion. It took some time for Nadeshiko to come to terms with her dreams. That there was nothing wrong for her to love the way she did.

Sakura then sighed, wondering how to keep the pair from making her a grandmother before she was twenty-five. But she was afraid that might be a losing battle.

**********************************