Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Card Captor Sakura- Seven Colors ❯ Card Captor Sakura- Seven Colors ( Chapter 1 )
CARDCAPTOR SAKURA- SEVEN COLORS
By Clef Leggett
Short blue ripples clouded her view for a few seconds, but her sight began to clear up. There it stood before her. The tall and mighty Tokyo Tower. Sakura stood atop a nearby tall building, wearing a pink cape and beret, and clutching the Sealing Staff. The cape flapped in the winds as the Sakura Cards danced around her. It was broad daylight, the sun shown high in the sky. But there was something else. A colorful rainbow stretched from horizon to horizon, even though there wasn't a cloud in the pitch blue sky. It loomed over her like a tall skyscraper. She chanted a few short words and the JUMP's wings appeared at her ankles. She leapt from the building, but instead of dropping, she shot straight into the air...high into the sky...
Her eyes opened. The sweet, comforting aroma of cinnamon candles filled Sakura's lungs as she woke up that early Monday morning in late November. It was almost Christmas, Sakura's favorite time of the year.
The bedroom was faintly lit. The curtains were drawn and the sun had only begun to peer over the distant mountains.
Although still in a half-asleep stupor, Sakura couldn't believe she woke up before the alarm, or even before Kero. She crawled out from under the sheets, still in her yellow pajamas, and made her way to the window.
"Waaah!" She stared wide eyed at the view outside. The white of snow filled the entire scene outside. Snow covered houses, trees, fences, it was like a giant white blanket covered the entire town. The orange of the morning sunrise spread it's rays across the horizon. The ice crystals dangling from the roofs and tree-limbs reflected the luminescence and created a sparkling light all across the neighborhood like a starry night sky. Everything seemed so silent during snowy days, no dogs barked, people stayed indoors, like the whole world come to a halt. Sakura smiled as she took in the scene of serene beauty, and watched for a few minutes longer. "I love the winter." She thought to herself.
After getting dressed, the twelve year old sixth grader headed downstairs to meet her family. She had a few words with Kero before leaving her room, but he wasn't very talkative that morning. In fact, Kero had been really down during the past few days.
"G'morning father, G'morning big brother!" Sakura announced as she saw the two fidgeting around in the kitchen. It looked like Yukito had already left. Cinnamon candles were placed on every table, dresser, nightstand and table. The lights were dimmed so the delicate candle light could illuminate as much as possible, making for a gentle atmosphere. They were Nadeshiko's favorite scent, she used to place similar candles around the house that same time of year. Fujitaka carries on the tradition ever since.
Touya nearly dropped a plate as he saw the once in a lifetime occurrence. "Im...impossible! Sakura came down without being called once!? He nervously glanced out the window, "There must be going to be a tsunami today."
Sakura simply smiled and told him to shut up...or else. She wasn't going to let him ruin her good mood. She sat down.
"You're up awfully early this morning, Sakura-chan!"
"I studied so much last night I got tired and went to bed early."
Touya smirked, "Hmph, it was probably more like fell asleep while she was studying." His smirk didn't last long after he felt a sudden weight crash down on his foot. It was true, Sakura was studying hard. The final exam was only a week away.
It was fortunate Sakura woke up so early, with the snow on the sidewalks and ice on the streets, she couldn't use her roller blades, so that meant she had to walk to school. She dressed warm and was on her way. On the way she passed by the long row of cherry blossom trees by the main avenue. They were all covered in snow and looked like giant snow-cones, or so Sakura thought.
The place was so covered in snow it was almost unrecognizable. It was still so quiet, she felt her feet crunching through the snow, she saw her breath flowing out into small clouds in front of her face, and listened to her heartbeat as she trudged along. It was times like that when she felt she was the only human on Earth. It was kind of lonely.
Liveliness picked up as the fifth grader approached Tomoeda grade-school. Stu7dents were all scattered about, cheerfully giving their morning greetings and commenting on the weather.
"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" Sakura heard from behind, and turned to face Tomoyo, "Good morning, Tomoyo-chan. Doing good this morning?"
"Uun, another snowy day. I suppose they'll cancel all the clubs again.
"Yeah, and another day of indoor recess. It's so frustrating."
They entered the classroom and took their seats after hanging their coats on the wall.
Shaoron was already there and in his seat. His attentions seemed to be diverted elsewhere.
There was another five minutes before homeroom began. "SO have you been studying hard? It's been a long year and they're covering everything we've learned so far." Tomoyo smiled lightheartedly again, "If ever you need any help, please let me know."
"Y-yeah," Sakura agreed, "We need to get together sometime this week. I kind's fell asleep while trying to study again." She looked at her friends more seriously, "By the way, I had a strange dream last night."
"Oh?" Tomoyo looked surprised, but not nearly as much as Shaoron, who remained silent.
The teacher entered the room, "Everyone take your seats, please. We're about to begin."
"I'll tell you about it later." Sakura whispered.
First period was converted to a study session. Nobody really thought they were ready for the upcoming exam, so everyone dedicated themselves with vigilance to going over the materials. Sakura, Tomoyo and Shaoron pretty much kept to themselves during that time, but Shaoron had trouble concentrating. The last time Sakura started having dreams, it lead to months of searching for cards and other hardships. Granted, because of it he had a chance to meet Sakura, whom he confessed his affections to, the conflicts of those months were still fresh in his mind. So much has happened since those days, and things had finally flowed back into normalcy. It bothered him the rest of the period, and kept his eye on Sakura, and watched the sweat bead down her head as she was obviously going over the math section. He was worried.
Later that day the teacher was going over questio9ns related to a book the class read. "Yamazaki-san, can you please read the question on page fifteen?"
Yamazaki stood up, "In mythological times, Prometheus stole fire from God and gave it to mankind. What was his punishment?"
"Yashuhiro-san, can you answer that?" The teacher asked.
"He was chained to a wall and had a crow peck out his liver for all eternity." The boy eagerly answered.
The teacher continued, "Can anyone tell me why he stole the flame for mankind?" He asked it as a general question to the class. The class mumbled amongst themselves as they shared answers, most of which were "he did it for the convenience of man." However, one hand rose up before the rest. "Ah, Kusakawa-san, what do you have?"
Satomi Kusakawa, a short girl with long brown hair done in an unbraided pony-tail, stood up. The class looked surprised, Satomi rarely talked and never volunteered to speak in class during the whole year. Nobody knew her that well. "I...," She stuttered a little bit. Her posture showed nervousness and she stared at the floor. "I think the story is not about the boy, but the flame...I think it represents humanity and it's desires to expand and spread out from it's confines and never be held back, not even by God. The flame used Prometheus the same way we use bicycles to ride to school...just a vehicle. The flame wanted to spread."
The majority of the class laughed at her. Humiliated, Satomi took her seat and cradles the black leather bag she carried around everywhere with her.
The teacher settled the ruckus and continued with the review session.
At first recess break, Rika stood up and walked over to Satomi and sat in a vacant seat next to her. Satomi stared at her defensively, "I...uh..,"
Rika smiled politely, "I'm just interested to hear what you meant by that. You think very deeply, there's no shame in that, I like it actually. You've always stayed so quiet and I know you're an intelligent person, so I was wondering if you'd like to share wore with me?
Satomi bowed deeply, "I'm sorry, sempai, I shouldn't have said that, it won't happen again!"
"Sempai...Satomi-chan, we're in the same grade!" Rika didn't change her tone.
"...yeah..." Satomi always carried around a large black leather satchel separate from her book bag, the same way small children carried around teddy bears, often holding it with both arms. She looked like she was cornered.
"C'mon, Satomi-chan," Rika tried to speak over the loud chatter from the other students, "I know you have things you'd like to share, you've been more interested then most in all the books we've read."
Satomi bowed low again, "I...I have to go to that bathroom!" She grabber her leather bad, leaving everything else, and hurried out of the classroom.
Tomoyo looked over at her friends and shrugged.
Sakura stared at Satomi's empty seat. "...Satomi-chan..,"
After school, students quickly dispersed through the front gate, ready to indulge in their long awaited free-time. Normally the school still would've been bustling with activity, sending it's echoes of laughter and cheering as the soccer team practiced after school, but everything turned quiet again after the last few students left the premises. The snow was just as thick as it was everywhere else. No one could even see the soccer field or the sidewalks. Only the occasional snowman still stood to greet the coming evening.
"A rainbow?" Shaoron repeated to himself. "I have no idea what that could mean."
"It wasn't like the other dreams. Everything was so clear. I was dressed the same, Kero-chan was with me, standing a Tokyo Tower, but when I jumped, instead of falling down I soared straight into the sky!"
"Maybe it means you'll be flying up to Heaven this time." Tomoyo jokingly suggested. Sakura and Shaoron glared at her, she covered her mouth and giggled a little.
"Seriously, though, I don't like the sound of this, Sakura, maybe you should stay at home."
"But I'm supposed to get together with Tomoyo-chan so we can study. The exam look really hard and...stop it," Sakura cried, "Stop freaking me out, both of you, I don't wann'a think of it as me dying!" She sent a chill down her own spine as she said that.
Shaoron put his hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about it, Sakura, There's no more danger from the Clow Cards, you've fulfilled you duties and captured them all and fulfilled your destiny to turn them into Sakura Cards. That dream has to mean something else."
"I don't know...could it mean there's still a card out there? I'm sure I found them all."
"Well, we've learned that your dreams have always connected to someone or something associated with magic. This may not mean a card. You, me, Eriol, everyone we've met since the ordeal began, we're not the only ones in the world who can use magic. I'm sure there are others in the world me may meet someday."
"So you mean someone else could've made cards?"
"Not likely. It was Clow's idea to use the form of cards for his creations, and he is still known to have been the strongest sorcerer in the world before you came along, and you only inherited his creation. No one else could've been strong enough to create something as powerful as the Clow Cards." Shaoron explained.
"So you're saying..,"
"I'm saying that it's a big world, you never know what you'll find or what form magic could ever take the shape of."
All that intimidated the daylights out of poor Sakura, "Stop it guys, please!" She cried.
But anyways, if that dream is of any significance, it'll happen again." Shaoron turned to walk away. "Sakura...just be careful, okay?"
"R-right." She finally agreed. And with that said, Shaoron headed home for the day.
Tomoyo bowed slightly, "I must be going home as well. You should too, Sakura-chan, your family might get worried."
"Yea, I'll see you tomorrow, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura watched her friends leave, and found herself alone again. The winter always seemed to do that, or at least made her feel that way. Something caught Sakura's eye- around the corner of the building, where each grade planted their gardens, sat a figure all by herself. There was a brief flickering of colored light, then went away.
Cautiously, Sakura investigated. She approached the startled Satomi, whom, with leather satchel clutched tightly, stood and defensively faced her. "I didn't mean to startle you, Satomi-chan. What are you doing all the way over here, and so late after school?"
"K-Kinomoto sempai!" There she went with that "Sempai" thing again. She calmed down and sat back down against the wall. "I like it here. Nobody ever comes here unless it's during class."
"To escape, eh?"
"Yes." Satomi stared blindly away, as if reminiscing about something. Her bad ruffled around a bit. "Don't worry," She spoke to the bag, "We'll be home son. I'll let you out and play then."
Sakura stared at the bag in surprise. "You have a pet in there?" She was immediately reminded of the times she did that with Kero.
"Yes, he keeps me company. He's been with me the whole time."
Sakura have her an odd look, "The whole year?"
However, it was nothing like Kero. As Satomi opened the cover, Sakura was instantly blinded by a bright, sparkling multi-colored light. All she saw was colored rays shooting out in every direction, like a rainbow shooting through a complex crystal. The colors were each evident in each dazzling ray. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet- the seven beautiful colors of the rainbow. Sakura gazed with astonishment. The colors reflected off her face, the snow, everywhere was around was basking in the display. There was an obvious light source at the center of the crystalline object. White beads of light accompanied all it's movements.
"His name is Rainbow." Satomi said. She picked him up out of the satchel. He had no rounded surfaces, like a well carved diamond. There were no visible eyes, nose, mouth, or even feet, but there was a pointed snout that was unquestionably the head. Two similar appendages composed the front legs. There didn't seem to be any hind legs, but the fourth, thickest appendage looked like the tail. Satomi embraced him lovingly in her arms. Rainbow's legs dangled down and his head rested against her arm. "When I look into his light, it brings me peace. Whenever I get scared or sad or lonely, I come here to play with him. He's so gentle. I love him. You wann'a pet him?"
The name "Rainbow" sent a nasty chill wiggling it's way down Sakura's spine, but Satomi was right, as Sakura gazed upon his almost divine rays, even through the bitter cold around her, filler her with warmth and compassion. It was an indescribable sensation of peace. "Incredible." Was all Sakura could squeeze out. It dawned on her that this had to have been that her dream predicted. Rainbow was obviously a magical creature, but Sakura felt no magic presence from him like she did with the Clow Cards during her searches. She knelt down and touched the top of Rainbow's head. It was warm and soft, not like he looked. The light even practically reflected through her hand. She couldn't divert her eyes, the same hypnotic trance as the moth staring into a flame.
"He seems to like you. You're the only person I've ever shown him to."
Sakura broke free of it as Satomi closed the bag cover after putting Rainbow back inside. "But why me?"
"I don't know....you just seem like you won't make fun of me."
Sakura smiled. "Where did you get him?"
I've had him all my life. My parents gave him to me my first birthday." She laughed, "He normally doesn't like other people, but he seems fond of you, or he wouldn't have shown you his light."
"His light...it's a beautiful light." Satomi returned the friendly smile, but Sakura could still tell she was nervous.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Wait, Satomi-chan!" Sakura called. Satomi stopped and looked at her. "If you're so lonely, why didn't you talk to Rika-chan today? I never really see you talk to anyone accept during group projects. She was really interested in what you had to say."
"Y-yes, my apologies, Kinomoto Sempai...I'll apologize to her tomorrow. I shouldn't have run away, but...I just get so scared at times, my words come out all wrong and I always end up embarrassing myself like I did in front of the class earlier."
"That's not true." Sakura reassured. "I tell you what. Me and my friends are going to the aquarium tomorrow. They'll be holding the last shows before the Christmas break, and it's our last chance to relax before the big cram sessions. Would you like to come along?"
Satomi's face lit up, "You mean it? I...I..," She slowly frowned, " I can't. I don't it'd be safe to bring Rainbow-kun."
"That's okay. Can't you leave him at home?" Sakura did remember she never Satomi without that bag, though.
"But then Rainbow-kun would be lonely. I can't do that to him. I don't want him to feel the feelings I feel."
Sakura looked sad. "I see. Well, maybe you'll change you mind. See you tomorrow, Satomi-chan." She said before leaving.
"Bye." Satomi whispered to herself.
Later that night, Sakura had gone to bed after her lengthily study session. Every night it seemed to tire her more and more, but for obvious reasons, she couldn't get to sleep that night.
"Kero-chan?" Sakura spoke softly. She hoped not to wake him up if he was asleep.
"Yes?" A groggy voice answered from the drawer.
"Are..," She was nervous to ask the question, "Are you sure I captured all the cards?" Sakura continued to stare aimlessly at the ceiling.
"Of course you did. Why?"
"Today I saw the most wondrous creature. It was like a living rainbow. A strange sensation came over me when I...,"
"You were dreaming." Kero interrupted.
"I assure you, Kero-chan, he was very real."
"Don't be silly. You were so determined to find an explanation to your dream that you conjured up an imaginary illusion. That's all."
"But that can't be! Li-kun suggested that..,"
"Sakura, life plays cruel games on you at times. I've been around long enough to have experienced it many times over. It's not always your fault, but there are times when you must not believe your eyes just because your yearns for them to see something." Kero spoke in a monotonous voice.
Sakura looked over, "Kero-chan, are you okay? You really haven't been yourself recently. You seem so depressed. Did something happen?"
"...No, I'm fine." His voice didn't sound reassuring.
Not very content with Kero's answer, Sakura decided to leave it till tomorrow. She needed her sleep.
After his friend fell asleep, Kero slowly opened the drawer and levitated to the window. He stared at the cold, lonely environment outside. His head and wings hung low and his eyes were closed. "It's been so long, but time has flown." Kero spoke to himself. "It was a hundred fifty years ago today."
Short blue ripples clouded her view for a few seconds, but her sight began to clear up. There it stood before her. The tall and mighty Tokyo Tower. Sakura stood atop a nearby tall building, wearing a pink cape and beret, and clutching the Sealing Staff. The cape flapped in the winds as the Sakura Cards danced around her. It was broad daylight, the sun shown high in the sky.. A colorful rainbow stretched from horizon to horizon, even though there wasn't a cloud in the pitch blue sky. It loomed over her like a tall skyscraper/ She chanted a few short words and the JUMP's wings appeared at her ankles. She leapt from the building, but instead of dropping, she shot straight into the air, high into the sky, but as she neared the rainbow, her vision began to blur, and her body began to go numb....
Sakura woke up in a panic as the alarm's ear-granting wringing pierced her comatose state and shook at her consciousness. "Ahhhh!" She shouted as she sat up. "That dream again...," She breathed heavily, "What does this mean?"
"The same dream again?" Kero asked. He was sitting on her bed sheets. He looked concerned.
"Yeah...but it was a little different this time. This time as I flew up...,"
"Sakura, you better hurry or you'll be late." He finally reminded her."
After looking at the clock another time, Sakura frantically prepared for school. She scarfed down her breakfast in the usual 95.11 seconds and getting her coat on with one foot already out the door. It all seemed like such an ordinary day.
In class, Shaoron inquired if Sakura had another dream. She answered that she did and explained the differences that time. Shaoron grew more worried. Sakura teased him about it, asking if he was worried for her. Shaoron blushed and turned his cheek towards her.
Sakura quickly noticed something- Satomi was by herself that morning. She didn't have her precious bag at her side. "Maybe this means she changed her mind." Sakura thought. they made eye contact, Sakura smiled and gave a brief, small wave. Satomi tried to smile back, but slumped in her seat, noticeably nervous. She must've had an easier time opening up to people face to face, alone, rather then in crowded areas.
During lunch, Sakura went ahead and told Tomoyo and Shaoron about Rainbow. She explained everything, even the feelings she got as she looked into his light, and that she sensed no magic from him. Shaoron wanted to see for himself when he had the chance. Tomoyo cautioned that Sakura should stay away from Rainbow, given the recent changes in her dream. Sakura commented that they were both being silly.
After school, Sakura and her friends, Tomoyo, Chiharu, Rika and Naoko, prepared to leave. They anticipated their last outing together for the year. After that, they'd par their separate ways as their families traveled to visit relatives for Christmas. They'd miss each other, but they would always look forward to the start of the new year to meet together once again.
"I know you'll have a wonderful time, Chiharu-chan!" Naoko commented after Chiharu explained her parents' plan to travel to Korea for the break.
"My mother always said she wanted to travel. She just got her promotion, so now she finally can! How about you, Rika-chan, Tomoyo-Chan, are you doing anything special?"
Rika faced them and said, "My family is going back to Kobe to visit their parents. I'll be visiting my grandparents for the first time."
"Wow, I bet they'll be happy to see you. Sounds like you'll have a lot of fun.!"
The five continued to chatter loudly for a few minutes. Some footsteps rapidly approached from behind. They all turned to see Satomi, who stared happily back at them. "I'm not too late, am I?" She carried her book bag, probably as a fixation to substitute carrying Rainbow around. Satomi also stood about an inch or two shorter then Tomoyo, making her the shortest one of the group.
"Satomi-chan!" Sakura was excited, "You've decided to come!"
"Welcome, Satomi-chan!" They all welcomed her with open arms.
Satomi didn't seems as shy or reclusive that day as she did throughout the year in class. She still didn't say much, but she enjoyed just being around Sakura and her friends. She just enjoyed listening to their conversations. They tried asking questions about her, but Satomi only retaliated with questions back. It was apparent she was more concerned for her friends far more then she was about herself. Tomoyo viewed that quality as similar to Sakura's.
The aquarium was surprisingly crowded. There was a winter-time discount on tickets and many from all over town took advantage of it. The group haste-fully scurried through the crowds.
Shows were being performed everywhere and drew much interest. Sakura couldn't wait to see the penguin show again, which Satomi ended up enjoying more then she did. The fish aquariums displayed everything from mysterious deep sea fish to colorful tropical fish. There wasn't even a hint of water damage left behind from when the WATERY caused a flood there two years ago.
The restaurant had all new menus. Sakura bought her new friend one of the place's famous strawberry snow-cones. Satomi didn't stop there, though she ended up devouring seven different flavors of the icy treat, all at Sakura's generosity. It was like Satomi never had snow-cones before.
After visiting the aquarium, the group decided to the snow-drenched King Penguin Park to play. That was when Sakura came up with a great idea...
"A three versus three snowball fight?" Naoko questioned Sakura's request.
"How about it," Sakura said, "Tomoyo-chan, Satomi-chan and myself against Chiharu-chan, Naoko-chan and Rika-chan. We take offense, you take defense like usual, okay?" Sakura realized she might have to explain the rules to Satomi, who looked clueless.
Chiharu was well up to the challenge, she was the resident snowball fight champion. "I agree, It sounds like fun !" The others seemed to agree as well.
With that said, the thirty second delay began and the two groups ran in opposite directions. They played this game many times before, but usually it was two on two with Tomoyo as the referee. Now they had enough to play a larger game.
Sakura's group gathered at the edge of the snow-filled woods near the edge of the park
"I know Chiharu's tactic, "Sakura explained as they prepared their first snowballs, "She always digs in somewhere and waits fro someone to come by, and sends out a person for early detection."
Tomoyo smiled, "But be careful, Sakura-chan, she knows you tactic, too."
Sakura gave her an odd look, "I suppose so, yes."
The three quickly but cautiously made their way through the forest, sprinting from tree to tree and hiding behind them, and covering their partners while they made their move. It was a common military tactic called ":bounding over-watch." They even felt like soldiers advancing on an enemy position.
"Stay low!" Sakura advised as they advanced.
From out of nowhere a snowball flew through the air and pegged Tomoyo in the shoulder. "Oh well, I guess that's it for me." She sighed.
"Over there!" Satomi pointed to a figure ducking down behind a fallen, dead tree trunk.
"It's Rika-chan!" Sakura and Satomi ducked behind the trees, "Now!" They exposed themselves and launched a volley of snowballs toward their opponent.
Rika ducked back town as the snow impacted all across the tree trunk. "They're over here!" She warned her teammates.
Examining the situation, Sakura pointed to the tree next to Rika's spot. "Satomi-chan, you see those branches over Rika-chan?"
"Yeah!" Satomi said eagerly.
"Hit those branches with a snowball. I'll take care of the rest. Go!"
Satomi jumped out again and threw some well-placed snow into the branches. The effect caused a shower of snow and ice particles to rain down on Rika, falling down inside her coat and down her back, "Ah, aaah, cold!" She stood up and tried to shake it out. Sakura dashed into the open and tossed one. It struck Rika's knee. Rika collapsed face first into a pile of snow.
"You got'er, Sakura!" Satomi cheered. They had to ignore their victory, however.
"Hurry, before Chiharu settles in!" It was too late. They reached the exit of the forest near the king penguin slide and found that Chiharu was already at the top, partially concealed, standing on the ladder in the penguin's crown. Naoko had constructed a snow bunker at the entrance at the base of it, where she haste fully made snowballs and passed them up to her ally, so the accurate snowball-chucking girl didn't have to worry about rebuilding her supply, but could throw at her leisure.
Behind, Tomoyo helped Rika out of the snow. They were both laughing.
"Now what?" Satomi asked. She was enjoying herself very much. It appeared to Sakura that she never had so much fun in her life.
"I'm the fastest runner here, so I'll create a diversion. Chiharu-chan can't throw at more then one person at once, so when she attacks me, get'er!"
"Got it!" Satomi grinned in anticipation.
"Go!" Sakura sprinted out into the open. As predicted, Chiharu popped up from behind the crown. A second later Satomi's snowball nailed her in the face. She fell down the ladder and landed right on Naoko's ammunition supply. The exploding cloud of snow forced Naoko to burst from her bunker wall, only to get beaned in the side of the head the next moment.
It was over.
"We did it, we did it, we won!" Satomi cheered loudly.
"No, you won, Satomi-chan!" Sakura walked up to her as she wiped the snowball from her face. Chiharu got her lick in before getting hit by Satomi. "You're the only survivor."
Everyone regrouped and congratulated Satomi. She was so happy.
Afterward, they all sat on the park benches, eating hotdogs they bought from a nearby vender until it got late. Some of the girls were still breathing heavily from their exercises earlier. Satomi arte three whole hotdogs, which were still Sakura's treat, of course. Sakura sorrowfully thumbed through the pocket change that was once her freshly received allowance. "It was worth the price." She thought. She helped to bring a smile to Satomi's face, and such a beautiful smile it was. It suited her well.
Sakura went home that day feeling good about herself, and feeling proud of her friend. Everyone enjoyed Satomi's presence, and the feeling was shared both ways. The day came to a close with a sense of accomplishment for Sakura, but as usual, she had her doubts running through her mind.
"Kero-chan, do you really think I did the right thing? I mean, we only got a week before the end of the elementary school, so she may start off again in another class or another school, and have no friends again like she did this year. So was it fair of me to do that to her? Give her a good time only to give her a taste of a fun life, only to have it taken away from her?"
"Sakura...," Kero sat at the window, facing away from Sakura. "The memories people hold onto, even if from brief moments, are what keep people going. Granted, it can work both ways, and.., " His tone was the same as it had been the past few days, "Unpleasant things can also stick to one's mind. But if this 'Kusakawa-san' was as rejected as you say she was, then you've probably given her a new hope, as well as a special memory to cherish."
"A memory to cherish..," Sakura repeated to herself. She thought about that. "It feels strange...so much has happened since the day I first me you and the cards got scattered. So much...but now it's all in the past. My confrontation with Eriol ended over half a year ago, and already my memories are starting to fade. I remember our first encounter so clearly, but everything else, my days capturing the cards, my first meeting with Shaoron, everyone I've met since...it's all becoming a blur, like a rainbow disappearing in the sunlight. The more In focus to remember, the more I seem to forget, and the more that I think about it, the more I find that the only thing that has changed since then is that I now have you and Shaoron in my life and Yukito is now part of my family. Am I bad for thinking that? Am I wrong for letting go of my own precious memories? I...,"
"No, Sakura." Kero argued softly, "You've changes so much since then. I, too, remember that fateful night we met. The time when I told you to capture the FLY, I could see the fear that was in your eye, I could tell you wanted to run away, but you has risen up to the challenge and prevailed. By the time I watched you capture the last card, I saw no hint of that fear anymore. Your courage, your will, your compassion, all has grown so much since we first met. You life may not have changed much, but your personality has shown so much development. Just today you've proven that, putting your own interests aside to help a friend. I don't know about you, but I'll forever remember my times by your side- every second of it. Thank you, Sakura, for giving me my own memories to hold on to." He turned a squeezed out a smile toward Sakura, "Just because you can't remember now doesn't mean your memories are gone. Memories are what make you. They'll be with you forever." He faced the window again. "Even for a hundred and fifty years."
"Kero-chan. You still seem upset about something. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I told you, I'm fine."
"Whatever you say, Kero-chan." She looked back up at the ceiling, "I don't know, maybe it's because everything is falling back into a routine. Every day is starting to seem like all the others, just like it was before the whole Clow Card scenario began...sometimes I almost wish that something would...,"
A sudden familiar and overwhelming feeling pierced Sakura's soul like a flaming arrow. She gasped and looked frightfully at Kero.
"That feeling...," Kero returned the same gaze.
"It couldn't be...," Sakura's shaky voice flowed through the tense atmosphere of her room.
"A...Clow Card?"
The phone rang, startling the two half to death. Still trembling, Sakura answered, "Kinomoto residence."
It was Shaoron, "Sakura, did you just feel that!?"
"Y-yes, where did it come from?" Sakura ran to the window and looked outside. It was still and quiet. She then thumbed through the Sakura Cards after digging through a drawer for the book. "They're all here." She spoke to herself.
"It came from the school. Meet me there." Shaoron said/.
"I'm on my way!" Sakura hung up and started getting dressed in her cold weather clothes.
"Sakura, I have a bed feeling about this."
"Kero-chan, you're starting to sound like Shaoron! Are you coming or not!?"
Minutes later Sakura was skating down the middle of the street. Her heart was racing. The town seemed so eerie, there wasn't a sing light on anywhere. The building seemed like they were abandoned, the town was only faintly lit by the moon light. It looked as if darkness was consuming the whole world around her. She hated the dark. The distant howling of the wind, the cold, lonely, tense environment and knowing that something was out there...
"Kero-chan, are you sure I captured all the card?" Sakura spoke to Kero, who was fluttering along next to her as she skated.
"Yes."
"Are you positive? We all just sensed a Clow Card back there, it can't be a coincidence!"
"Yes, Sakura, I'm positive. Eriol would never have challenged you if you hadn't got them all!"
Sakura doubted him, but she knew Kero never once lied to her, and he sounded sincere with his response.
Shaoron awaited Sakura outside the main gate. He was dressed in his green ceremonial clothes. Sakura was surprised, it felt like ages since she last saw him wear those.
"I forgot how good you looked in those, Li-kun!"
Shaoron blushed for a second. "Enough, I still sense a Clow Card, but my compass hasn't picked anything up. But I know it's here."
"I can feel it, too." Sakura looked around. The buildings of Tomoeda were dark and unoccupied. She hated being anywhere at night, she always felt like spook lurked in dark places like that, but she had no fear while she was with Shaoron.
They stood there for several long minutes. They agreed to split up and search, but the plan came to an immediate halt as they heard loud, crashing footsteps. The ground shook with every step. Whatever it was- it was big.
Shaoron stared wide-eyed, "There! Something's climbing up the other side of the building!"
It slowly came into view- a monstrous silhouette crawled on top of the roof of the main building. It's dull, gray didn't reflect any of the moons' light.
"Hooooeeehhh!? It's Rainbow! But he....he's huuuuuge!" Sakura looked at him, "That's strange, he's not shining like he did earlier."
"You mean that's Rainbow!? Shaoron asked.
Rainbow didn't do anything. He just perched on top of the roof and looked around.
I'm going to get a better look! FLY!" The casted spell sprouted two beautiful white wings from Sakura's back. A few loose feather scattered about and danced in the air as they floated down to the snow at their feet. Sakura and Kero took off and began to fly slow circles around Rainbow at a close distance. "It's Rainbow alright! But how did he get so big?" She wondered if something happened to Satomi.
Kero didn't say anything the whole time, which was unusual for him. He just stared. He was no doubt just as curious as the rest of them.
Rainbow continued to scan the scene. He eventually spotted Sakura and began tracking her.
"It looks like he sees me." Sakura looked back at Kero. His concern was growing.
Suddenly the sparking rainbow-colored light shined brightly from Rainbow's body, blinding the three for a few seconds. It seemed to light up the whole town, his rays reached as far as the eye could see.
"That light!" Kero gasped, ":No..it...it can't be!"
There was another strong sensation that it was Clow's magic. "What is it, Kero-chan?" Sakura asked.
"Sakura, get away! That thing is born to destroy sources of magic. If he finds out you have the cards, he'll do everything in it's power to kill you!" Kero warned, "And he just saw you."
"So Rainbow is a Clow Card?"
"Sakura, Look out!"
Rainbow glowed white for a second as he breathed in. He spit out a narrow white beam that Sakura barely evaded. It erupted into an ear-shattering circular white explosion. The percussion shattered every window within almost a square mile. The mid-air shockwave threw Sakura several feet through the air.
Sakura quickly caught herself and maintained flight. "Wha...wha...hoooehhh!? What is that thing!?"
Shaoron saw that Rainbow was attacking Sakura, "Gods of thunder lend me you strength!" He gathered electricity into his blade. With one swing he unleashed a powerful lightning bolt at the creature. It struck center mass. Rainbow glowed yellow for a second. Suddenly a dozen gigantic lightning bolts arced out from Rainbow's body and homed in on Shaoron.
The entire street was consumed by ground-shaking electrical discharges. Concrete and asphalt sprayed out in every direction, even past Sakura.
"Li-kun!" Sakura grasped the Star Wand, "Power to burn, unleash you might so I may protect my ally, FIERY!" The FIERY materialized in front of her and threw a spray of streaking fireballs at Rainbow before disappearing. The streaks hit, and Rainbow glowed red for a second. A towering inferno of fire spewed out from Rainbow. Dozens of meteor-like fire streaks careened toward Sakura.
Sakura found herself surrounded by powerful, searing hot explosions. She dodged like a dive bomber evading flak. "No way, it's absorbing our magic and throwing it back at us ten times stronger.!"
Kero pointed down, "Sakura, Shaoron's hurt!"
Shaoron had managed to evade the lightning, but was crouched over himself. Sakura swooped down and landed next to him. "Li-kun, are you okay!?" The whole street was burning around them.
"I...just bruised a rib or two. I'm fine. Hurry, Sakura, get out of here!" Shaoron groaned.
"Not without you, I'm not.!" Sakura knew she couldn't carry both Shaoron and the Sat Wand and flay at the same time. She frantically looked for an alternative. She found an uprooted sign post that looked good enough. "Power of flight, cast your effects on this object, FLY!" With a flash, a pair of brilliant white wings extended out from the head of the sign. Sakura then dragged Shaoron over and sat him down in front of her. He leaned against her, using her as a brace. Sakura grabbed the neck of the post with one hand and the Star Wand with the other. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here!" Sakura took off and began to fly down the street.
Rainbow's body glowed white again.
"Lookout!" Kero yelled.
This time Rainbow aimed straight down. The entire school complex erupted in a massive thunderous white fireball. An enormous piece of debris, specifically the face of the building was thrown at the fleeing kids. Fortunately there happened to be a window gap right where they were, so the structure face flew around and past them. It crashed, throwing up a cloud of dust and smoke that they darted right through.
"Noooo!" Sakura cried.
"Shaoron stared in amazement, "The school!" He watched as Rainbow fired more beams at random locations, causing smaller but similar devastation.
"He's gone crazy!" Kero was still by their side, "Sakura, he'll destroy everything if we leave him there!"
Sakura looked back and saw with a tear that the school premises now looked like a blazing forest fire. There was nothing left. Black smoke bellowed into the equally dark sky. She landed on top of a nearby building and dropped Shaoron off.
"Sakura, what are you doing, you're not going to face that thing, are you!? It's too powerful!" Shaoron yelled at her.
"I can't just let it destroy the town!" That was all she said before taking off one last time.
"We have to lure him away from here!" Kero said.
"Sakura called out, "Hey, I'm over here! Rainbow, over heeeeere!"
"No, he only detects magic. If you don't use magic, he can't see you, that's why he's attacking so blindly"
"So he's after me?" She stared at Kero. He didn't answer. Sakura summoned the WATERY and fired a spray of streaking water, which the speed, combined with the freezing temperature, quickly formed them into spears of ice.
The ice stabbed deep into Rainbow, who then glowed blue for a second with predictable results.
Sakura found herself dodging hundreds of telephone pole-sized ice spears that rained down, leveling half the block. She looked down. Shaoron was still okay. It looked like she got Rainbow's attention.
Rainbow extended his arm-like appendages. They elongated and flattened out, forming into bat-like wings. He started flapping and dust and smoke rose up around him like a reef. His rainbow light shown brighter then ever.
"You got to be kidding, he can fly, too?" Sakura proceeded to fly as fast as she could, still sitting on her makeshift witch's broom. She preferred it that way because she didn't like the idea of flying head first into what she was about to do.
Rainbow closed in on her.
"I don't believe it, he used to be such a gentle creature. What would cause him to become so violent?" Sakura cried.
"It's not his fault, it's his instinct to attack sources of magic. He won't stop until you and the Sakura Cards are all destroyed."
"But why? Why is it trying to destroy the cards, is he not a card himself?"
Kero didn't answer.
"Kero-chan, what are you hiding from me! I can tell that you recognize that thing, what is it that you're not telling me!? You said I captured all the cards!"
"A card...he's sort of...and sort of not."
" What's that supposed to mean, is he a card or not!?"
Kero still hesitated to speak.
"Kerooooooo!" Sakura cried, desperate for an answer.
Rainbow shattered like glass and formed into five smaller versions of himself. The shining demon-like flying crystalline adversaries spread out to encircle Sakura.
Kero finally spoke up. "Damn, he split up! Stay low, or he'll hit you!"
"Hit me? You mean he's going to...?"
The mini-Rainbow's all opened fire. They had spread out so they could get shots in at multiple angles.
"Wwaaaaaaah!" Sakura screamed as numerous white streaks impacted all around her. She dove for the street with the Rainbows were in hot pursuit/ She had never flown so recklessly fast. If a wing even flipped an object, she'd be thrown and there would be no saving her. Everything flew by so fast. Trees, signs, parked cars, benches, fire hydrants, everything else was darkened by the night. Only the light from the Rainbows' attacks illuminated the way for Sakura. The freezing cold air blowing by began to sting her eyes and make her face go numb a little. She felt trapped. She only had a small room to maneuver and the incoming shots seemed endless, each one leaving a small crater in the road.
"Let's keep going through the commercial district, there shouldn't be any people there at this time of night. We'll lure it out of the town, That way we wont risk getting anybody hurt!" Kero said.
"But how do we seal him up?"
"You can't. We have to find some way to trap him!"
"Hoeh!? But how do we do that?"
"Now, now, Sakura." Kero finally grew a little humor back, "That's what we've done so well together, solving tricky situations like this."
"W-w-what!" You mean you don't know!?"
"We'll worry about it later. Right now, weave between the buildings. Don't let him get a clear shot, but don't lose him!"
Sakura concentrated. Her feet and knees were already only an inch or two off the ground. She began to make sharp turns at intersections, veering off between buildings and detouring through alleyways at an insane speed. She used her legs to rebound herself off the walls in the more complex maze-like alleyways of the more dense commercial areas. She felt like a pinball. Sakura was scared. Any one of those shots flying past could hit her and kill her at any moment. At any time she could take a sharp corner only to find a dead end. Her heart stared beating irregular from all the skipped beats she was suffering. It was starting to get unbearably hot under her thick coat. The sound of Sakura's breathing was only overpowered by the whistling of the passing air. Kero helped by flying a few feet in front of Sakura and gave her as much warning of what was around the next corner as he could. Rainbow consistently swarmed behind her. Sakura felt the alleyways and side streets were like dark snake tunnels leading to Hell. Her breathing was coming up short and she began to falter as she flew.
"Hang in there, Sakura!" Kero encouraged her.
Sakura couldn't even find enough breath to speak. It felt like miles had passed, all without a single light or sight of a human being. She was scared, she needed encouragement. If it weren't for Kero, she would have probably already surrendered to Rainbow. She shook her head. She didn't want to think about that.
Finally Sakura started flying past houses that had lights on inside. She could she people inside looking at her, staring wide-eyes as she sped by. "Shoot, we're in the residential district, we can't stay down here!" She began to climb.
"No, Sakura, don't!" Kero yelled.
Sakura fly high into the air and immediately came under heavy fire. Beams of white fury missed by only inches. There were no more obstacles between her and her pursuers.
Tomoyo happened to be walking by the window as she saw some flashes outside. She opened the curtain so see six flying objects. Five of them were glowing and chasing and shooting white beams at one with white winds.
"That's....Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed. She watched as they flew across the distance at incredible speed, but stared in horror as one of the pursuing objects fired a white beam that streaked across the sky and bulls-eyed Sakura square in the back. "Sakura-chan!"
Up in the sky, it felt like a thousand volts just surged through Sakura's body. Her vision began to blur.
"Sakura, are you okay!? Kero was mortified at the sight of steam flowing out of the gaping hole in her jacket and the darkness beyond.
Sakura began to slump backwards, "Kero...my whole body is going numb..."
"Just hold on, Sakura, just a little longer!"
"Kero...I'm...sorry..." She leaned backwards, lost balance, and fell off the pole. She let go of the Star Wand and they plummeted to the Earth.
"Sakuraaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Kero screamed. He turned into his guardian form.
Sakura Kinomoto had already lost vision, she could tell the ground was rushing towards her. It was a strange feeling. She felt no fear, no emotions. She blacked out when she was only a few feet from hitting the ground.
The pain flowed through her like slow moving ocean waves. A warm, gentle breeze comforted Sakura's aching body. The wind sounded different, she heard the brushing of leaves. It took a while for the images to clear, but Sakura opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was sunlight shining in her face. She tried to look around, but even her neck surged with pain at the slightest movement.
She was in a forest, a warm, humid, lush, green tropical forest, seemingly untouched by the industrial hand of mankind. Every leaf was a dark shade of green, every tree trunk was such a dark shade of brown they almost looked black, each one standing up and spreading their foliage into one massive, thick canopy that only allowed small portions of light to shine through like golden pillars. Smaller thick, bushy shrubs concealed the distant trees.
Sakura was laying on her back on a thick patch of clovers. There was a small pond next to her with crystal clear water half concealed under lillipads. Individual colorful blooming flowers grew up from various location. Wherever she was, it sure wasn't winter-time. The smell of bark and the fain scent of moss loomed in the air. It was a beautiful place.
"I see you're finally awake." Kero's voice came from her left. He was right next to Sakura, also laying on his back and obviously in as much pain as she was.
"Kero-chan..," She remembered falling. "Are we dead? Is this...?"
"No Sakura, we are very much alive." His voice was weak and shaky.
"Are you alright? What happened back there? How long have I been asleep?" Sakura asked.
"A good twenty four hour, I'd say." He took a deep breath. He, too, was enjoying the blissful surroundings. "That bolt went almost completely through you...I was able to demote it to a mere burn, but between warping you to this place moments before you'd became a pancake and healing you wound, even in my guardian form, it drained too much of my strength. I'm sorry, I won't be able to help you much right now."
"Where are we?"
"Someplace far away. A place where even 'he' can't reach you. Just rest for now, Sakura, your body needs time to recover."
Sakura rested her head back down, "Kero-chan..,"
"Yeah?"
"You're so cool."
Kero didn't have enough strength to even gloat. They both just laid there, side by side with their eyes closed. Kero knew what her next question was going to be. "What you fought back there...," He spoke, "Was the PRISM card."
"The...PRISM card?"
"Right. It's Clow's breaker card, a secondary line of defense after the Cardcaptor between the world and the cards."
"Hoeh?" Sakura didn't understand.
"You see, it's my job as Beast Of The Seal, in the event that any of the cards escape the confines of the book, I have to scout out and ordain a Cardcaptor to go retrieve them...but...if by any chance the Cardcaptor fails...or is killed...the PRISM card, a card separate from the Clow Cards, awakens to destroy the rogue and rampaging cards." Kero explained.
"D-destroy!? But why would Clow create such a card. Magic to destroy his own creations like that?"
"Clow created the cards as a test of his own magic powers, however, he felt that his creations should never bring harm to the world. He always had a back-up plan for everything he did. He hoped as well as I that the PRISM would never need to be awakened. He put faith into the future Cardcaptors.
"But why have you never told me about him?"
Kero was obviously upset again. His face turned red. "That's because...I thought he was dead. There's no way he could still be alive...not after what happened."
Kero-chan..." Sakura was worried for her little orange friend. It never suited him to be sad.
"It was a hundred and fifty years ago. An incident occurred that forced the Book Of Clow to open. Only five cards escaped. The STORM, the GATHER, the WATERY, the MEMORY and the WOOD. As my duties implied, I sought out a Cardcaptor. I found someone, not much unlike yourself, even the same age as you. Her magic power was exceptional. But...she took too long in finding the cards. it took her over a year just to capture the WOOD, WATERY and STORM, thus awakened the PRISM. He attacked without warning and without mercy. I watched him destroy the GATHER card. " Kero grew more upset. It was evident in his voice. "The Cardcaptor was on the trail of the last card, the MEMORY. It was hiding deep in an abandoned mine. The PRISM had already gone inside, and she was determined to seal the MEMORY before the PRISM could destroy it. I advised her not to go, but she went anyway." Kero choked on a tear. His face was as red as ever. "Minutes later there was a terrible magic explosion. It was so powerful it melted and sealed the entrance to the collapsed cave. There was no way any of them could've survived. But now it appears that the PRISM did survive. He must've been digging himself out of that cave for the past hundred and fifty years. And now he's sensed the magic once again. He's come for you Sakura, he's come to destroy you and the cards." He couldn't look Sakura in the eye. "Please, Sakura, don't let the PRISM kill you...I...I don't know if I could ever live with myself knowing I lost another Cardcaptor...another person I cared for. Turning by back on that girl's grave was the most painful moment of my life. I don't ever want to live it again."
"So there was a Cardcaptor before me, and that's why you've been so depressed, it was the anniversary of her death.. Kero-chan...don't worry, I won't die on you." Sakura said. She sat up and noticed she was wearing her school uniform "My uniform!"
"Your clothes were burned and shredded. Those were the quickest I could grab."
She laid back down again, "So how do we seal the PRISM?"
"We can't. He's already destroyed two cards, and because of that, it's impossible."
"Why?" Sakura looked at him again.
"The GATHER...it's sole purpose was to be used by a Cardcaptor. What it could do was combine all the powers of all the cards into one massive effect, which was only to be used against the PRISM if he ever became rogue himself, as a measure to protect the cards if they were all in the possession of a Cardcaptor."
She just remembered something, "The Star wand...."
"I'm sorry, I didn't have time to look for it."
"Whaaaat!? You mean the Star Wand is gone!? This is horrible...there must be something we can do!" Sakura fell into despair.
"That's not all. If we leave the PRISM alone, it will only continue to destroy the places it has felt your presence...that's why it destroyed your school." Kero said.
"That means...," Sakura got up in a panic. Pain shot through her body, but ignored it. "He's going to go after my house...my family!" She cried. "Kero-chan, you have to send me back!"
Kero still didn't move. "So selfless...that's what I've grown to like about...that's what I've grown to love about you...Sakura." He finally squeezed out a smile. "Are you ready to go back? Are you ready to go back to your hometown?"
Sakura nodded with fists clenched. She was determined. she was going to find a way with or without the Star Wand and the GATHER card.
"Keep in mind, sending you back will use up the last of my power. I'll be unconscious for a while."
"I understand." Sakura said. She picked Kero up in her hands. His body began to glow...brighter...and brighter...until the whole world around her was completely white.
Sakura found herself sitting in the middle of an empty street. It was a dark night, the exact same environment that she was in the night she first fought Rainbow. She saw the opened doors and windows of the houses. Along the streets benches and trash cans were overturned- the place was abandoned, and it looked like it was done in a panic.
Nothing at all moved, even though the wind was howling loudly in the distance not a branch, not a dangling sign, nothing moved. It was like time was standing still. Before, the town only looked like it was abandoned, now she knew it was. The moon was still the only light source. Sakura stood still. The snowflakes steadily flowed down. The thick, cold snow stung her feet. The cold air agitated the burn on her back. The darkness clouded her vision. The silence invited anxiety into her soul. Everything there indicated that place was a place Sakura Kinomoto should not be. There was no Shaoron around the corner ready to help her, there was no conscious Kero there to give her advice, there wasn't even a Tomoyo video her and give her moral support. She was all alone. For the first time since she opened the Book Of Clow, she may have to fight all on her own...against a creature who's only purpose was to end her life...in a place Sakura always remembered being a colorful and lively, a place that was now a ghost town. Never before has she felt as if she was the last person on Earth. It was then she remembered...
Sakura took a step forward, and another. Next thing she knew she was running. She had on no cold weather clothes, only her school uniform. The bitter cold viciously chilled her skin. She began to cry- not out of pain, but fear- fear for her family. Every ounce of anxiety pushed her harder and harder. She knew her body couldn't take it, but she had more important things to worry about. The pain grew as fast as her determination. Her uniform offered no protection against the cold, and again her knees started to go numb. Sakura had run out of breath a half mile back, but she still kept going. She kept motivating herself to push on, for her family's sake. The rows of houses slowly passed by with every step, each one looking as lonely and deserted as the next, like the whole town was swallowed into the forgotten.
Sakura suddenly felt a cold sensation as she fell flat on her face in the snow on the street. Her mind pressured her to keep going, but her body had given up. The cold of the snow began hurt. She had to get up or that snow could kill her just as easy as the PRISM. Her attempt to get up on all fours ended the same way. She couldn't even get up. Sakura looked up only to see a sea of snow along the street before her. So cold, so alone, "Shaoron...help me." She buried her face in the snow.
Sakura felt her body be lifted from the snow. A warm blanket wrapped around her. She was carried into a nearby house. It was dark inside, but she sure didn't recognize the place. Candles lit each room, but all they did was mark the locations of the walls and floor, nothing else could be seen in the darkness. It was warm.
"I knew you'd come back." Yukito's gentle voice filled the dead silence.
"Y-Yukito-san." All Sakura could see was the silhouette of his head and shoulders, but she immediately recognized his warm embrace. He laid her down on a couch.
"I saw you from the window. You shouldn't push yourself so hard. Please rest for now. He didn't sound distressed or angry. His calm tone soothed Sakura's anxious soul like it always had.
"Yukito-san...but..," She was about to inquire about the rest of her family, but that was answered very quickly.
"Sakuraaaaa!" Shaoron's voice shattered the calm and tranquility. He ran to Sakura and gave her a strong hug, "I...I thought you were dead!"
"Sakura-chan, you're back!" Tomoyo was there, too.
Another figure approached. "Even a monster like that out there can't put down the biggest monster of all. "Touya's sarcasm was even welcomed by his younger sister.
Sakura's eyes finally adjusted to the dark and saw the faced of her friends and family. She was so relieved she started to cry. "Thank God..,"
Yukito wiped her tear away. "We've all been so worried. We've all stayed behind to search for you."
"Stayed...behind?"
"The whole town has been evacuated." Shaoron said, "They first thought it was a terrorist bomb that destroyed the school, but word spread about a monster. All of us here saw you get hit by that light. We searched all night for you. All we found was this." He held up the Star Wand.
"The Star Wand!" Sakura said joyfully. "Kero-chan, look!" She pulled the snoring ball of orange fuzz from her backpack. "Oh, I guess he's still asleep." She looked around and didn't recognize the house. "Where are we?"
"This is a house we found unlocked." Touya answered. "We are just using it to take a rest."
"But why isn't everyone at the house." She asked.
Everyone looked at Sakura.
"Hoooeeeh!?" Sakura shouted as she heard the news from Touya. "R-Rainbow burned down our house!?" She leaned forward with fists tightly clenched. "He shot me, destroyed my school, burned down my house, making my family homeless and caused tradjedy in Kero-chan's past. Rainbow, this is unforgivable!"
"Please don't get yourself worked-up." Yukito laid her down again, "You will do no good by getting yourself hurt now."
"None of us are letting you out of this house until you've rested." Touya put his foot down, "I don't plan on having dad put more pictures of lost family up any time soon."
"Where is dad, anyway?" Sakura asked.
"He evacuated." Shaoron spoke again, "He asked me to search for you, but everyone else here volunteered to stay, too." He pulled the blanket up to Sakura's shoulders and tucked her in. "Just get some rest. Tomorrow we'll get you out of here and rejoin you with your father."
"But what about the PRISM...I mean Rainbow? We can't just leave him!" Sakura argued.
"Sakura, we can understand your frustration, but what good would become from getting yourself killed? We all risked ourselves to look for you. Please don't make us sad. Please don't make you mother and father sad." Yukito said.
"Please don't die, Sakura." Kero said in his sleep.
"Kero-chan..." Sakura held him tightly, "...I will not lose!"
"It's useless, what can we do? Right now Rainbow is standing over the ashes of Tomoeda, he's already destroyed the two places he's senses your presence the most. Can't you see, he's waiting for you to make the next move. If you don't use your magic, we can slip by and escape unnoticed." Shaoron suggested.
"I don't believe you, Shaoron!" Sakura argued back, "Whatever happened to the arrogant brat that competed with me for the Clow Cards? You never ran away! Are you really going to back out this time and make me do this alone? Then fine, I'll take care of this by myself if I need to.!"
"Th-that's not what I meant..!"
"Hey, everybody, "Yukito interrupted, "I found some rice cakes that are sill good in the refrigerator. Since they cut the power to the city, we shouldn't let good food go to waste.!" He tried to distract everyone so Sakura could get some sleep. Everyone knew that, and reluctantly pretended to be hungry.
Later that night, Touya, Yukito and Tomoyo were sound asleep in the dark room. Shaoron rested next to Sakura. Neither of them could sleep.
"Li-kun?" Sakura said, knowing he was awake.
"Yes?"
"I think...I think I have a plan to stop Rainbow...tell me if you think this will work." She told him everything Kero told her earlier, everything except about the deceased Cardcaptor. She then proposed her plan of attack
"That sounds risky, Sakura. It may not work the way you think it will. Besides, shouldn't the HOPE card substitute for the GATHER, after all, it equals the same amount of cards." Shaoron said.
"No, that's not the point of it. The HOPE is a power in it's self, and has one effect, the GATHER draws power from it's fellow cards to create a multiple effect, even though it has no power of it's own." Sakura explained.
"But your theory sounds so unlikely."
Sakura got up. She grabbed her backpack, which Kero still occupied and the Star Wand. "I have faith in my cards. You're forgetting that they'd do their best for me as I'd do for them."
"Sakura..." Shaoron got up, too. "You're leaving, aren't you."
"Rainbow is active only at night. We have maybe two hours before daybreak. I figured we should get this over with."
"What..." Shaoron stopped her. He put her hands on her shoulders, "What is driving you so hard to do this?" It's not like you can add him to your card collection."
"Shaoron, I think you know as well as I why I need to do this." She said monotonously as she turned away from him.
"Sakura..." Tomoyo's voice was heard from behind. She, as well as Yukito and Touya were standing along side Shaoron. "Before you go," She continued, "Can you do me one last favor?"
Sakura cringed. She knew what it was.
The costume was a beautifully made one. Although it didn't sport as much color as Tomoyo's usual taste followed, it was designed for camouflage in a snowy area. It resembled a shortened kimono with shortened sleeves and he bottom shortened to form a skirt-like appearance below the shiny black belt around her waist. Thin, black insulated material hugged her skin on her arms and legs. Her snowy white boots had a rough sole for keeping traction on icy surfaces/ Light blue images of stars were spread out in a uniform pattern and a baby blue sash was tied around her left shoulder to her right hip, which then formed into a bow. Additional decorative bows here on her boots and earmuffs. There was also a visor to protect Sakura's eyes while flying in the cold air.
"You look as lovely as ever, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo commented. She was very proud of her work, and held her camcorder close to her heart. "This morning I will video Sakura's most heroic struggle in a one on one duel for control of our precious town. This is going to be great."
"Notice that she didn't say 'duel to the death." Touya had to throw in his remarks. Yukito wished her luck, too.
"Thank you, everyone." Sakura put her backpack on again and headed outside. "Ready, Li-kun?"
"Right. Let's go." He said with much determination.
Rainbow sat patiently on the ruins of Tomoeda Elementary School. His dull gray surface hid him from the faint light of the moon. He sat motionless, feeding of the former magic presence. That was where the Cardcaptor spent most of her day, so that's where it was the strongest. Rainbow waited, he waited for the magic to reappear.
He just didn't expect it to reappear so suddenly.
Shaoron's lightning bolt crashed down upon him, sending a shockwave that threw loose debris in every direction. His light shined once again. He didn't know where the magic came from, so he released the energy in an unspecified direction, leveling yet another structure.
Sakura swooped out from behind a small house, the FLY's wings extended proudly from her back. She let her magic be shown. "Rainboooooow!" She yelled as she began to fly past him. "You couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, you big bully!" She taunted.
Needless to say Rainbow accepted the challenge and spewed out more of his deadly white beams, all of which exploded behind Sakura.
"Magic that returns to it's point of origin, follow me as I go and bring me back to where I am, LOOP!" Sakura's magic had no visual effects that time, but it was there. She opened her eyes just in time to see Rainbow's second wave of attacks. She weaved through them easily. "C'mon, is that all you got!? Here, let me help you!" Sakura grabbed another card from her deck.
"Sakura, now!" Shaoron exposed himself. He listened to Sakura's tactic earlier. Rainbow absorbed all magic, amplified it, and returned it to it's caster, which was why it couldn't be harmed by the cards. "Not all cards are offensive." He thought to himself. He grinned as he thought of Sakura's intuition.
Sakura began to fly straight for Rainbow. She looked deep into his mesmerizing light. "Magic with the power over the flow of process, send this creature back to the days of his origin, TIME!" The time appeared before Sakura and sent a green wave towards Rainbow. Sakura knew the magic wasn't that strong to perform such a feat, but with it amplified so many times over by rainbow, it just might work.
The wave hit and Rainbow absorbed the magic. He aimed at Sakura.
"It's working!" She cheered.
Rainbow spit the magic back at the flying magic user. Sakura spread her arms and legs and let herself get hit full-blast with the amplified magic of TIME. Everything went hazy, then white.
"Remember...," Shaoron's words echoed through Sakura's mind. "The GATHER was the very first card made by Clow."
The light faded and Sakura opened her eyes to see herself flying in a completely new environment. It was still night-time and still very dark. She saw a sea of light from a city, but they weren't electric lights- they were the orange glow of torches. She was flying over an ancient city.
"Did it really work?" Sakura asked herself.
There was a dense mountain range below her. Sakura could barely make out the jagged peaks through the darkness. On top of the tallest mountain was an enormous castle. It sprawled over the neighboring mountains like a blanket over rocks, almost as big as a city it's self.
"incredible!" She gasped. She was extremely high in the air. The temperate was warm.
Sakura slowly approached the castle. The closer she got, the more elaborate details of it's architecture could be seen. It had gray stone brick walls and the roofs and tops of the spires were made of a faded red colored wood. Every plank of wood bared decorative carvings. Stone statues were everywhere, stone gargoyles forever perched along the sides of the towers. There were many torches for lighting, there was one on every wall and every corner, however, each one burned a different color, creating an almost psycadelic look as Sakura flew over. She stared in astonishment. The image of the castle and it's beauty was by all means unforgettable.
"How long did it take to build this." Sakura asked herself. "Dad said pyramids too generations to build."
The castle was no less impressive, and it was on top of a mountain. It had to have taken forever.
At the peak of the tallest mountain stood the largest keep, with the tallest tower protruding from the center of it, like it was aiming towards the heavens. There was a single arch window near the top with glowing yellow light emanating from it.
"That must be it." Sakura began to fly towards it The determination began to well up in her heart again. There was no turning back. The window turned out to be a complex stain glass window. The tower rushed closer and closer. Sakura tucked and rolled, brining her wings in to shield her body as she smashed through the glass. Her feet hit solid ground and she flapped to stop her momentum. The wings disappeared. The first thing she saw was the huge glowing Circle of Clow covering the huge, circular chamber floor. Golden light emanated from each line and character. It lit up the entire room
There was energy gathering into a golden flame levitating several feet from the ground at the center of the circle.
A robed individual stood with his back to Sakura. His arms were held high and he appeared to be performing some kind of ritual. Sakura also noticed two other individuals, the guardians, Cerberos and Yue by the man's side. The guardians noticed Sakura. They snarled and charged her, both encircling her and taking up offensive postures..
"Master, there's an intruder!" Cerberos growled.
Sakura was tempted to yell, ":Kero-chan, it's me Sakura!" But she knew he couldn't recognize her, The beat before her wouldn't get to know her for centuries.
"I know." The man calmly said. He lowered his arms and stopped whatever he was doing. The golden flame still burned. "Stand down, you two. I have foreseen this. Even though I just started making the cards, already they have taken their effect on the future." He slowly turned to face the girl. He was a charismatic ma, with narrow eyes glaring from behind a pair of small round lenses sitting on his nose. Flowing long dark hair extended down into his cloak. He wore shiny, elaborate gold decoration over his dark blue clothes. He stood tall, almost towering over Sakura. The man grinned, "Greetings, Sakura Kinomoto, so we meet again for the first time."
"...Clow Reed...." She gasped. he looked just like Kero described him. "This is so unreal..." She examined the scene, "So...so this is the birth of the Clow Cards."
"Hmph, and a curious Cardcaptor basking in their origins, I see." Clow turned his back ton her. "Is it all that you imagined it to be?"
It was amazing, Sakura thought he sounded just like Eriol. "I...," She was lost for words.
"That was quite an exceptional feat you performed back there. Quite impressive." Clow looked over his shoulder at her, "Please show me." He said, "Show me the proof that I will no longer be the most powerful sorcerer of all."
Sakura didn't understand what he meant at first, but then it came to her. She pulled out a Sakura Card and showed it to him.
Clow's eyes widened as he saw that the moon had been replaced by the star. He closed his eyes. "Thank you, dear child." His voice sounded relieved. "You have given this tortured soul much resolve this evening."
"Is that was this is about, is that why you created the Clow Cards, to challenge someone in the future to surpass your power?" Sakura argued. She knew she had to buy time, the golden flame was slowly forming into a card. She knew it was the GATHER, She just had to make sure Clow didn't sick Cerberos and Yue on her first.
"An intelligent guess, but no." The look in his eyes was different.
"I see now." Sakura's voice began ton hake a little as she saw that look. "I see it in you eyes. The cards are going to die, aren't they! PRISM is going to kill me, isn't he!"
"Let's just put it this way, little girl, I wouldn't recommend you going back. I know it's cruel, but life is cruel." Clow didn't look at her as he said that.
"Why!" She screamed, "Why did you make the PRISM card! Kero-chan told me you created the cards as a test of your own power, and that you loved them, so why did you create a card to kill your own creations when you know it's going to happen!? That's murder! Please stop it, don't make the PRISM card!"
"So naive." His low voice echoed. "You're just a child. You never think of the future, do you? Do you think you're the only Cardcaptor that'll ever exist? Or that the cards escaping will only occur during your lifetime? You just live day after boring day, your goals don't look past a week ahead, do they? People alike you are all the same. As for me, all I can do is think about the future. It's my curse. The cards you have in your pocked are more powerful then they were created to be, and their minds haven't changed. When you pass on, they'll be just as happy to cause mischief in the world as they did when you hunted the,. I must prevent that from ever happening, but you don't see the future that way, do you." Clow's long winded speech ended as he looked at her again, the same arrogant look on his face. "Yes, I see the PRISM killing you, but it's still hazy. I've already watched you die a hundred times, but you managed to avert it every time." He smirked, "If the cards never entered you life, what would you existence have become?" He asked.
Sakura was caught off guard by the question. "I...uh..," She remembered what she said to Kero. Things have changed.
"Let me guess." He continued. "You would've lived you days, one after another, all equally as dull. They'd seemingly run together, and before you knew it, your whole life would've passed you by. People like you, they grow up, find lovers, and breed like absent minded rabbits. Would you think you life was special?"
"All life is special." Sakura said.
"Hmph." He turned away. "If life is such a miracle, then why can everyone create it, from cattle milker to king, from peon to princess, all still not thinking of the future. I can see the world you're from. It's overpopulated, a glass teeming with water, ready to spill." His voice almost sounded like he was taunting. "Why do people have children...create life...as part of their implied duties in society? Are people expected to find lovers and produce children" To pass on one's genes? Hah! Names, that's all it is. Pitiful, I find it all."
Sakura stood silent. She thought she knew where Clow was going with this.
"I..," His voice was deep, but almost booming as he talked enthusiastically. "I can create life, too, but I don't have to conform to the mindless traditions of our species and the expectations of society to do it. I can create better life...superior life...with with..." He turned quickly and pointed the Sakura card and shouted in loud voice, "...a purpose!"
Sakura now knew.
Clow settled down and continued. "If you were to bear a child, why would you do it? To create a future world leader? A future doctor? A military general? Nonsense, people can't be predicted and molded as such! You would only do it to fill the empty void in your heart and your life, to create something to devote your life to, but not to have any real purpose outside your own life. Again, not thinking for the future. The lives I create...they do have a purpose..."
"Reed-san...." Sakura said to herself. She could see the passion in his expression as he spoke.
"I did it for the future." He admitted. "I created the cards exactly for your generation and beyond."
"Hoeh?"
Clow walked over to Sakura and knelt before her. He raised her chin and looked her square in the eyes. "Time me about your world. Is it fun? Is there even an inch of uncharted land or sea? Is there any frontier to explore or civilizations to discover? Is there even a single damn thing in your future that everyone else cannot do? That's what I'm talking about. Everyone is accustomed to the same regulated entertainment, the same propaganda. People will no longer life for themselves, but how the media tells them. There is no more adventure, cultures will loose their individuality and everyone becomes the same. The same, boring, boring simplicity." He took a deep breath and stood up. "That is why." He said. "That is why I created the cards." He turned an walked back to the circle again. "I'm creating life that won't die like a mere offspring. They have more of a role, they create spice in the boring lives of your people, they create the adventure that you starve for. Am I not wrong!?" He stared at Sakura, "Did you not want to live a life of excitement that no one else could live?" He smiled.
Sakura could only stare back at him. She was still speechless.
"I can see it in your eyes. You don't regret and conflicts you've had with the cards. They no doubt improved you. The gaze in your young, innocent eyes ripened by a once in a lifetime adventure." He sighed, "That is why." Clow smiled again, "It's amazing that I'd find my resolve in the eyes of a beautiful mature young girl." He laughed, "I will continue to make the cards, and I will continue to make the PRISM." He turned away from her one last time. "Go, Sakura Kinomoto, the GATHER card is complete...take it...and live."
"Reed-san." Sakura was on the verge of tears. Cerberos and Spinel Sun backed off. She stepped into the Circle of Clow. Already she could feel the power flowing through her. The card levitated before Sakura, she touched it and immense energy surged though her. She was then swallowed by a bright light.
"Farewell, young Kinomoto." Clow said. "We'll meet again."
Sakura found herself flying through the cold air. She saw Shaoron fighting with Rainbow. She was exactly where she left off. "Li-kun, I got the GATHER!"
Kero stuck his head out of Sakura's backpack, he had just woken up, "W-was that Clow I just saw a few seconds ago!?"
"No, you were just dreaming, Kero-chan!" Sakura smiled.
Shaoron was busy dodging Rainbow's attacks. "Good job, Sakura, I knew you could do it, now let's finish this monster once and for all!"
"Right!" Sakura landed and readied her Star Wand. Rainbow stood before her, a shining, towering physical manifestation of destruction. She released the GATHER card and it levitated in front of her. "Oh, card of ultimate magic, brought to life by the hand of Clow, carried in life by the hand of Sakura, individual life bringing individual values, show you properties before me and lend them to you peer, GATHER!" Sakura casted the spell and all the cards flew from her pocket and formed a circle around her. The Circle of Sakura shined below her feet. That was it. The cards began to emanate light and shine it towards the GATHER. It was working.
"Sakura, look out!" Shaoron warned.
Reflexively, Sakura grabbed the levitating SWORD card and summoned it into her hand just in time to slice in half a huge piece of concrete thrown by Rainbow.
"Card of Sakura, return to the guise you were meant to be, Sakura Caaaaaaaard!"
With a flash of light and glowing ripples floating through the air, the SWORD was sucked from Sakura's hand and floated off elsewhere. She heard it seal into a card. "Hoeeeh!?" Sakura looked around, "Someone just captured my card!"
"What!?" Shaoron ran to her side. For some reason Rainbow ceased his attack and stood still.
Satomi stepped into view/ She had a look of anger on her face. She scribbled her name across the face of the SWORD card and summoned it into her hand, morphing the sealing staff that occupied it moments earlier.
"Satomi!" Sakura yelled. She didn't know what emotion to feel right there. Everything seemed to stop, all sounds seemed to disappear and all attention focused to that one spot as Kero's wide and teary eyes spotted Satomi.
"S...Satomi..?" Kero said. He levitated closer to her.
"Hello again, Cerberos-san, I see you're doing well." Satomi replied. Her look didn't change. She gripped SWORD tightly.
Kero hesitated for many long minutes. He just stared though the tears rolling down his face. "Impossible...you're dead...you're a ghost!"
Satomi walked up to Kero and grabbed him by the neck, squeezing hard, "No, Cerberos-san, I assure you, I'm very real." She threw him and he stopped next to Sakura.
"Kero-chan!" Sated in confusion, "Do you two know each other? How does she have a staff of sealing?"
"I...I..." Kero was lost for words. "Satomi...she died a hundred and fifty years ago."
"I won't let you..." Satomi snarled, "I won't let you hurt my friend!" She spoke about Rainbow. "As long as I possess even a single one of your cards, you won't be able to cast the GATHER's spell!"
"But Satomi-chan...why?" Sakura cried. "If we don't stop Rainbow, he'll destroy the entire town!"
"So, what of it? Tears now rolled down Satomi's cheeks, "I hate it all. Ever since I came here I've been treated like a dog. I hate people, I hate this town, I hate society...but most of all, I hate you, Sakura!"
"...What?"
"Everyday this year I watched you enjoy life, enjoy your friends, you are so popular, everyone loves you. But me, everyone shows me their opposite feelings towards me...and you, you tried to being me into your world, a world I could never belong in, your world of acceptance!"
"But Satomi-chan, you were sad, I was trying to make you feel better!"
"All you did was tear a hole though my heart, Sakura, a gaping hole I couldn't fill, even with hope, so it filled with jealousy. I can never forgive you, and so I released the PRISM to come find you for me."
Sakura was looking more and more distraught. "Satomi-chan...this can't be..."
"Shut up!" Satomi lunged for Sakura. Shaoron blocked the swing with his sword. The blades clashed and sparks flew in all directions.
"If you want to hurt Sakura, you'll first have to get through me!" Shaoron challenged.
"Ha!" Satomi and Shaoron engaged in a vicious sword fight. Shaoron warned Sakura and Kero to stay back. Sakura tried to follow the movements, but everything was moving so fast. It was an attack-counterattack trade off. Sparks and the sound of rapidly clanking steel filled the scene like a fireworks display. The tow broke more then just sweat as they tried to fend each other off. One good swing was all it wound take to permanently end the fight for either combatant.
"Stop, please stoooop!" Sakura pleaded. She couldn't bear watching two of her friends fight, and tried to use WINDY, but seconds later it was sealed and in Satomi's hand as well.
"Cerberos-san!" Satomi shouted as she delivered a powerful swing against Shaoron's sword, "You left me to die in that cave!"
"That can't be you, Satomi, I refuse to believe I, there's no way you could've survived that explosion! You're just an evil spirit!"
"But it is me, and I did Survive!" Satomi blocked the retaliation from her green-clad opponent.
"I warned you not to go into that cave, there were other ways of stopping the PRISM!" Kero shouted.
"And what was I supposed to do, let the MEMORY card die!?"
Sakura now understood. "Kero-chan, you mean she's the former Cardcaptor?" She could tell in his expression that the answer was 'yes.' She was confused, "How could she be alive today?"
Satomi and Shaoron finally jumped back a few paces away from each other. Satomi was inches away from Rainbow, full basking in his light. "But I did survive. The PRISM protected me, and I suffered a slow and painful demise...all because you were afraid. The PRISM and I are friends now. He kept me alive all those yeas, now I want to repay the favor I owe you from a hundred and fifty years ago.!" She raised her sealing staff and began to cast an unfamiliar spell.
Tightening her grip on the Star Wand, Sakura was ready to use whatever card she needed to. She wondered what Satomi was talking about. She kept on contradicting herself, stating that she died, yet she was kept alive, but just the fact she was looking at Satomi then proved which of the two stories was true.
Rainbow glowed white for a second and fired a beam that exploded against Satomi. Sparks and flames flew. She was thrown several feet and landed with a bone-jarring impact.
"Satomiiiiii!" Sakura and Kero screamed. Sakura tried to run to her, but Shaoron grabbed her collar from behind.
"Don't Sakura, she's not your friend."
"But...but.." Sakura watched Kero land next to Satomi. It was obvious her wound was serious. "..N..no.." Sakura covered her mouth in horror.
"Rainbow...why..." Satomi laid on her stomach. She could hardly speak.
"Satomi!" Kero cried in concern. He picked up the two cards Satomi stole from Sakura. "The PRISM...he's surrounded by so much magic it's driving him insane." He turned and tossed the cards to Sakura, "Sakura, now, cast the spell!"
The young Cardcaptor chanted the lines once again with the same effect. The surrounding cards directed their powers into the GATHER. A narrow white bean, not unlike the one's Rainbow used, slowly extended out and gently touched the PRISM. Then a massive blast shot out of the GATHER. Rainbow was pushed back from the impact and shined a blinding white light. He crouched over himself and morphed into a sphere. Sakura didn't understand, it didn't work. "He absorbed it!" Sakura said with much distress.
Shaoron shared his friend's expression. "But then that means if he releases that much power with it being amplified so many times over...it'll be like an atomic bomb going off!" Shaoron took a step back as if about to run.
"No, what have I done..," Sakura dropped to her knees. "What went wrong...I used the spell....so why...is everything going to be destroyed because of me?"
"It's because all the cards aren't here!" Kero jumped in after trying to treat Satomi's wound, "I forgot, the MEMORY card is dead. Without the effects of MEMORY, the spell will only backfire." Kero gave Sakura a serious look, "Sakura, there's no stopping it now. I you summon FLY right now, we may get far away enough to survive the blast!"
"You idiot!" Shaoron smacked Kero in the back of the head from behind, "How could you forget something like that!? Now the whole town is going to be destroyed!"
Kero bit Sharon's hand.
"But what about my brother, Yukito and Tomoyo? I can't carry them all, too!" Sakura mentioned emotionally.
I was obvious to Kero what had to happen, but he wasn't about to say to Sakura's face that she had to leave them behind.
"No." Satomi groaned as she rolled on her back. "The MEMORY card is not dead..."
"Everyone gathered around her. "Hang in there, Satomi-chan, everything will be okay!" Sakura tried to reassure her friend, She could see the agony in Satomi's face. Just seeing her in that condition brought tears to Sakura's face.
"But then where is it?" Kero asked.
"The MEMORY card is..," Satomi raised her trembling hand and placed it over her chest. "Right here."
"So...so that means..,"
Satomi smiled through the pain in her expression. "The MEMORY card...it's purpose is to hold onto the memories people cherish...prolonging them...but it also holds onto the people that memories cherish..." She breathed deeply. "I died in that cave a hundred and fifty years ago, and not due to the explosion. Before my fate, the PRISM and I had become friends....but he was immortal, and I was already weak from the battle and deteriorating from starvation. I didn't last long. The MEMORY took this form at the wishes of the PRISM, and so carried on by being, my soul, and my own memories as well as saving me, the MEMORY, from the PRISM. I am Satomi....and Satomi is me."
"Satomi-chan..." Sakura couldn't believe it. "You were the MEMORY card the whole time...?"
"Eternal life was noting more then a curse to me. As I was trapped in that cave, I asked the PRISM to kill me, but he wouldn't, since I took the image of his first and dearest friend. After he dug us out, the fist thing on my mind was to seek revenge on Cerberos..." She coughed, She was getting noticeably weaker.
"We got to get her medical attention," Shaoron cautioned. "She's not hurt too bad, we can still save her!"
Satomi continued, "But then I met you, Cerberos' new Cardcaptor. Sakura-sempai...please seal this card. Please seal me away and stop Rainbow...stop the PRISM.
Sakura hesitated, "N-no...I can't do that, Satomi-chan. Sealing you away will cause the MEMORY to lose it's memory of you. You would die, Satomi-chan!"
"Sakura, I've already lived far longer then I ever should have. Sakura Kinomoto...remember that memories are everything, without them, one's life is meaningless...you've given me memories I'll cherish forever. For that you have made me whole...so please, my time has passed long ago...now it's your turn to find your own memories to cherish...please live so you may do so...for me." She coughed violently.
Sakura still hesitated. If she sealed the card, she'd be taking Satomi's life. In her eyes that wasn't capturing a card, that was murder.
"Please, Sakura-sempai...please grant this girl her right to liberation...liberation of this curse..." Satomi rested her head back down. "Cerberos-san."
"I'm here." Kero sat next to Satomi's head.
"I don't hate you for leaving. I don't regret going into that cave, because I succeeded in saving the MEMORY, but I did regret...not telling you that I loved you.."
"Satomi..." Kero's head sunk, "I will always love you too, and will always miss you."
"Farewell, Cerberos-san." Satomi closed her eyes and folded her hands across her chest and awaited her redemption.
Sakura slowly stood back on her feet. Every inch of her body quivered. She had to force herself with every inch of her strength, both physical and mental, and Sakura Kinomoto engaged in what was to be the most difficult thing she had ever had to do in her entire life. "Card created by Clow, return to the guise you were meant to be, Clow Caaaaaard!" A flash of rippled light swallowed even Rainbow's luminescence, Satomi's body glowed white. She opened her eyes and waved one last goodbye before she turned into glowing mist that condensed into a card at the end of Sakura's wand. It was done.
Sakura snagged the floating MEMORY card. She didn't want to look at it, she just shoved it into the deck with the rest of the cards. She began to charge towards the glowing ball of annihilation.
"Sakura, now's the time, let's avenge Tomoeda Elementary and everyone who's lost their homes!" Shaoron shouted.
Sakura kept running, closer and closer.
"Sakura, we must make sure another tradjedy like Satomi never occurs again, seal the PRISM!" Kero shouted.
She was going to do it, for the sake of Satomi's soul.
"Sakura-chan, don't give up, let's bring peace to our happy town!" Tomoyo was there, too.
"We all believe in you, Sakura-chan!" Yukito yelled. His words of encouragement pushed Sakura harder, even as Rainbow attempted to stop her.
"That thing's no match for you!" Touya cheered his little sister on.
Beams impacted all around Sakura. She evaded them like they were dodge-balls in gym class and closed the distance rapidly. It was time. Her heart was beating so fast. She stopped and chanted the spell one last time. The GATHER did it's work and the powers of the Sakura Cards condensed into one point of light. The blast shot out. The PRISM's entire shell shattered into millions of sparkling shards, like a bullet passing through a glass ball. The colored light disappeared as the light refraction was destroyed, leaving only the white light of the PRISM's core, the main body of the card.
"Card crafted by Clow, return to the guise you were meant to be, Clow Caaaaard!" The ripples shined brightly in the air, brighter then ever, the colored streaks sucked ands pulled the PRISM to the head of the Star Wand.. The Circle of Sakura glowed and represented who had the true power. It all ended so suddenly.
The darkness swallowed the scene, exactly the way it was when Sakura returned. Dark, cold, lonely...the PRISM card floated down and landed gently in the snow at Sakura's feet. A trembling hand picked it up and held it. The cards showed an image of a diamond with rays of light coming out of it, with the label "THE PRISM" at the bottom. All was so silent...no light shined anywhere, no one spoke, only the wind made noise and only the falling snowflakes composed of all the movement. The feelings were mixed, whether it was relief, shock, sorrow or disbelief, it was a powerful moment for everyone there.
"You did it, Sakura, you did it." Kero said calmly. Everyone rushed in to congratulate the victorious Cardcaptor only to find the young girl on her knees and crying.
"It wasn't..." Sakura sobbed heavily. "It wasn't worth it. The price for capturing this card was too big." She grasped the PRISM card tightly. A tear dropped on the face of it. "I killed her..."
Shaoron knelt in front of Sakura. He put his hands on her shoulders, then leaned forward and gave her a hug. "No, you did not kill her. She was waiting for this day. If you ask me, you saved her." He tried to comfort her.
The PRISM card was designed to destroy the other cards, so it couldn't be kept in her collection. Sakura what she had to do. "Li-kun."
Shaoron took the card, "I will take this card back to Hong Kong myself, where it will be sealed in a shrine. It will never see the light of Japan so long as you have the cards." He pledged.
"Li-kun, thank you."
Shaoron wiped a tear from her eye, "It's okay, it's all over now."
Sakura remembered she now had no home to go back to. It struck her like a ton of bricks. "Kero-chan" She faced her little friend, "What does this card do when summoned?"
Kero looked up, "I wouldn't try it, Sakura, the PRISM was never meant to be used by a Cardcaptor. Even I don't know what will happen."
Sakura had an idea, one that she was willing to take a chance with. She plucked the card from Shaoron's hand and held it high, "O rays of light and magic, shine your colorful beauty once again and repair the damage you have done, PRISM!" Sakura summoned the card. Colorful rays of rainbow light shined everywhere into distinct rainbows, lighting up the entire sky into daytime. White particles floated down like snowflakes to the ground. Slowly the buildings began to reconstruct themselves, the craters began to fill and the concrete reformed. Soon, all the destroyed structures stood proudly in their glory like they once did.
Sakura smiled as she saw the dazzling sight. It was amazing, a sight like no other. The Rainbows glowed brighter and brighter until they shined completely white, swallowing up everyone and everything.
Sakura awoke in her bed. It was still dark and still quiet.. It was her bedroom, the same way she remembered it, even with the cinnamon candles. She got up and looked outside. It was the same scene she saw the day she first talked to Satomi and first met Rainbow.
"What is this...?" Sakura said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her calendar still showed that is was in fact two days earlier then what it was.
"G'morning Sakura!" Kero's cheerful voice startled the girl, "Wow, you're up early." He gave her a wide and enthusiastic smile.
Sakura looked at him and returned the greeting. Kero didn't seem depressed anymore. Out of curiosity, Sakura opened the Book Of Sakura and checked the cards. Both the MEMORY and the GATHER were there, and all in the form of Sakura Cards, even though she didn't remember transforming them. She began to understand what may have happened.
The day progressed as normally as it did the first time. Satomi wasn't in her seat that day. Sakura asked Shaoron if he knew anything about a card called the PRISM card. He called her an idiot, and stated that the PRISM card had been in his family for generations, and was sealed in a shrine in Hong Kong. Later she asked Tomoyo if she knew anyone named Satomi Kusakawa. Tomoyo also relied with "No," and asked Sakura if she was feeling well.
It took about a week, but Sakura eventually found the strength to ask Kero if there was another Cardcaptor before her. Kero denied it and said that Sakura was the only person in history clumsy enough to open the Book Of Clow and released the cards.
Sakura now understood. The present day existed as if Satomi never became a Cardcaptor, but everyone's memories seemed to be reset except her won. Sakura dropped her own depression that day, she was content knowing that Satomi must've lived a full and normal life.
Although it pained her a little knowing that she was the last person alive that had a memory of Cardcaptor Satomi, she was at ease.
Sakura Kinomoto aced her exam and looked forward to seeing the rest of her friends in middle school. A new chapter of her life was soon to begin. She looked out the window of her bedroom the night after her triumphant day she passed her test, which would have previously been the day she defeated the PRISM. She would never look at a Rainbow the same way again. Every time she laid eyes on those seven beautiful colors she would think of her friend from the past. She gazed upon the serene white snow before turning out the light. She spoke softly to herself. "I love the winter."
Cardcaptor Sakura- Seven Colors
The End
Got any feedback? Please let me know what you think about my story by e-emailing me at PrismTank99@aol.com, Thank you! -PrismTank99