6 December, 2000

Card Captors

"Dimensions"

By : The MOUSE...........................

December twenty-first.

Midnight.

The night was briskly frigid. Not a cloud was in the star-studded sky to hide the full moon's bright disk. There wasn't a sound in the air: no dogs barking; no cars; not even jet planes flying overhead. It was quiet, just pure silence, but it was anything but peaceful.

Dressed in a pink, thick parka and matching ski pants that hugged her body's curves, Kinomoto Sakura kneeled in the soft snow solemnly in the very center of the Tomeda District cemetery. This wasn't a place she wanted to be at this hour of night, knowing full well there could be ghosts lurking about, but this was part of her plan to draw out the Death Card. Kero had explained to her that cemeteries were the perfect haunt for the card since it was attracted by death. She held her sealing wand loosely, calmly, across her lap, keeping her eyes closed to better concentrate on the lack of sounds around her. Her magic senses were alert, focused. She had to be. This time there wouldn't be a certain handsome Chinese warrior charging to her rescue. It was her turn to save him. Sakura had made it a point to keep the details of this plan from him. It pained her greatly to keep a secret from her beloved sorcerer, but it was for the best. Had she told him what she was planning to do he would have tried to talk her out of this and with infinitely more success than Kero, Tomoyo, or Meilin.

That trio was hidden somewhere in the cemetery behind some of the large tombstones, keeping a watchful eye on the Card Mistress. They were ready to intervene in case anything happened. Not that there was much they could do if anything abruptly went wrong.

Sakura frowned to herself, mainly to the lack of the card's presence. C'mon, I know you're here. Where are you? she questioned mentally. I know you want me dead, Death Card. Well, I'm here. C'mon, bite my bait.

Her hand unconsciously went to her throat and gently stroked the black onyx sphere on her necklace, Syaoran's sword in its hidden form. Sakura allowed herself a small smile at the feel of the young warrior's presence from it. Even when she didn't want him around, to protect him, she just couldn't escape him completely. She could always feel him. The thought was comforting and gave her strength.

Abruptly, Sakura began to sense an insistent tugging at the back of her mind through all her comforting thoughts and feelings. She easily recognized this feeling. A Clow Card was approaching. And it didn't take a genius to know which card this was, but just to make sure she carefully narrowed her senses and identified it as her intended target. It wasn't shrouding itself anymore. This was the Death Card, at last. Silently she slipped the onyx bobble from her throat and quietly willed it to become a sword. She wasn't sure if this would work. Syaoran had once told her that all it took was an intense thought to call forth his sword, one very focused thought. But did it only work for him because it was bonded to him? The bobble in her hand twitched slightly. Then it obeyed her silent prayer without further hesitation. She smiled almost proudly. She wasn't completely defenseless now. Sakura stayed on her knees as the tugging on the back of her mind intensified.

A little closer, she thought. Just a little bit closer.

Then, when the sound of rushing wind reached her ears, she dodged right, turning and slashing at the attacking card with her newly acquired weapon. The sword easily sliced through the ragged, fabric-like material that made up the Death Card's body, drawing an inarticulate cry of pain from the dark Clow Card. Sakura rolled to her feet, ducking an intended blow from her opponent.

"I'm not giving up until I finally catch you!" she told the card defiantly. "I will catch you! You're my ticket to getting Syaoran back!"

The Death Card cackled in understanding as it produced the long scythe from the fold of its cloak. It wouldn't make the battle easy for the little Card Mistress.

* * *

With an increasingly frustrated grumble, Li Syaoran's ghostly form walked right through the door to Li Meilin Rae's apartment. He was immediately struck by how quiet and empty it seemed. If his Cousin was there, even asleep, the apartment would seem loud and filled to capacity. She had a way of filling an entire room up with just herself. He frowned and carefully looked around his Cousin's place. It was the same as when he had gone to the Daidouji residence and the Kinomoto residence. He had peeked into Tomoyo's room and had found it empty. It had been the same with Sakura's room. Even Kero was gone. All night he had experience a sense of growing dread at something he couldn't quite identify. It was like an anxiety, but at what? That was what had prompted these visits. He wanted to make sure the anxiety wasn't about his friends. Because of their mysterious absences, in all likelihood, it was.

"C'mon, Meilin, I know you could never resist leaving some clue to what you're doing tonight." he griped. "Show me you're still that prideful."

That was when his sharp eyes noticed a neatly folded piece of paper on the dining room table. He picked it up and carefully unfolded the intricate origami folds. The written contents made his whole spiritual being seem to freeze in shocked fear.

Only two words were neatly scribbled on the paper.

Gone capting.

He raised his head quickly to stare out the window in worry. Somewhere out there his beloved Sakura was putting a very dangerous plan into action. Using herself as bait to draw out and battle the Death Card. She was basically waiting for her own death.

"Sakura..." he breathed in growing fear for her.

His magic senses suddenly flared to life. The battle had started. In slight relief he blessed the link he shared with the beautiful Mistress of the Cards. It had always allowed him to know where she was and when she needed his help. Just like now, though she would probably never admit to it. He raced out of the apartment and into the snow-covered streets. The sensation, the feeling, guided him on as he ran.

Hang on, Ying Fa, I'm coming!

* * *

The Mistress of the Cards dodged a blow from the Death Card's sharp scythe and ran from the cemetery. Now that she had found it and drawn it out into the open, she had to try to find a way to seal it without the tools she needed. But not at the cemetery. That place of death was its home turf. Sakura had to find a place just as empty, but that was more familiar to her so she wouldn't risk being accidentally cornered. She could feel the card following close behind her as she ran through the snow covered streets and ally ways. She knew she couldn't run forever, that eventually the card would catch up to her. She had to find a place to confront it soon. As she ran she began to notice her surroundings. Everything was awfully familiar.

I'm near the High School, she thought with a smile. Perfect!

The Card Mistress ran into the deserted schoolyard, then quickly whirled around to take another vicious slash at the card chasing her. It leapt back, the sword's blade just missing it by a hair's breath, Sakura's balance thrown off for a split second.

Damn, this sword is heavy! Syaoran makes this look so easy.

The Death Card seized the moment to retaliate and lunged at her. Using her training as a cheerleader and gymnast, Sakura easily back-flipped out of the way, the toe of her boot purposefully connecting with the card's chin. It reeled back away from her from the blow and then just stood there, gauging her, watching for the Card Mistress's next move. Mistress and card circled each other, sizing each other up, expecting the unexpected from each other at any given moment. Sakura held both her sealing wand and Syaoran's sword at ready, her grip relaxed but tight.

Without advanced warning the card charged at her, its scythe held before it. The female Card Captor barely blocked the blow in time with her wand, swinging the sword before her in a wide arc to ward the card off. It flew up out of the sword's way, taking a violent slash at Sakura's arm with its clawed hands, then seemed to disappear into the black velvet sky. Sakura clutched at her injured arm, scrutinizing the sky carefully for any sign of the card. The night abruptly became eerily quiet once again. The only sound she heard was that of her own heavy breathing. Standing just off of the schoolyard she could see Meilin, Kero, and Tomoyo with her ever present and recording video camera. There wasn't anything they could do to help her. They could only watch and offer moral support.

I am in way, way over my head here, Sakura thought grimly as she risked an inspecting glance at her wound. She frowned at it. Great! I'll need stitches when this is over... if I survive.

She turned in place, probing the yard with her magic senses, trying desperately to get a fix on the rogue card. There was a very faint glimmer high above her moving to attempt to get behind her. Sakura grinned to herself. It was a perfect opportunity for her to set a quick trap for the all too confident card. She left it an opening to attack her from behind by keeping her back to the school and only scrutinizing the yard leading off to the street. She felt the tingling glimmer descend silently behind her, right where she wanted it.

Sakura quickly whirled around to face it, her wand raised. "Death Card! Return to your power con-- Hey!"

Seemingly anticipating the move, the card backed out of her reach and zoomed off towards the soccer field.

"Come back here, you coward!" and she raced after it.

She stopped as she got to the edge of the field and realized her first mistake in this matter. Never, ever, follow an enemy on the run. One usually ended up in the enemy's trap then. Sakura took a fearful step back and quickly scanned the vast area.

Where was the card?

Her senses suddenly jumped to high alert. Something was coming towards her, but she couldn't tell from where. The card had dropped all its shields blocking her magic sight, basically overwhelming her senses to the point of being near blind. She bit the inside of her cheek in mounting fear.

Damn, damn, damn...!

"Sakura!" she heard Tomoyo call to her urgently.

The Card Mistress turned to her friends only to see her, Meilin and Kero pointing at something far above her in terror. Realization hit Sakura like a flash of light and she looked straight up. Framed in the moon's silver sphere the shape of the Death Card was racing down towards her, the shard and deadly scythe held before it in clear intent. A knot formed in her gut. It was the second part to her vision. The Death Card would get its ultimate and final blow in. Sakura felt strangely calm now as she watched the card approach seemingly in slow motion. She didn't fear this for some reason. She seemed to accept it. Prepared to die she closed her eyes and waited. She could almost feel the scythe drawing closer to her throat.

A solid mass suddenly rammed into Sakura's side, knocking her out of the way of the incoming scythe and momentarily knocking the wind from her lungs from the impact. She and the mass rolled away a ways from the Death Card before coming to a stop. Sakura looked up to find herself staring into a pair of worried ghostly amber eyes. She blinked in a mixture of relief and surprise at her savior. The ghost then frowned down at her.

"You've got a serious death wish, you know that?" Li Syaoran told her.

She stifled a near hysterical giggle, then noticed the Clow Card coming towards them. "Uh, could we possibly talk about this later? Roll!"

He didn't hesitate. Syaoran rolled to his right as Sakura rolled to her right, the Death Card's scythe coming down hard between them. The two teen Card Captors quickly got to their feet and stood on either side of the card. As it had done weeks before it completely ignored Syaoran and went after only Sakura. Weaponless, the warrior/sorcerer tried to call upon his elemental magic to distract or stop the card's attacks.

He called on the element of wind.

Nothing happened.

He called on the element of water.

Nothing happened.

He called on the element of earth.

Nothing happened.

He called on the element of fire.

Nothing happened.

Each time her tried to use the elements he felt an incredible drain on his energy. Not only was he weaponless, he was now also magic-less to come to the aid of his beloved Mistress of the Clow Cards. He near growled in frustrated desperation, watching Sakura dodge, block, flip away, and roll away from each of the card's attacks.

There's nothing I can do. Then a thought hit him. Magic feels magic. By the great dragon, there is something I can do!

Without a second thought he ran to the Death Card and easily leapt up onto its back. Once there he relentlessly punched, kicked, scratched, slapped and tore at the dark creature in order to slow it down. Unfortunately it was a few seconds too short for Sakura to attempt to seal the card. While the shadow-like creature tried to rid itself of the attacker on its back it continued to lash out at the Card Mistress. She didn't manage to dodge or block all its blows, resulting in a few more bleeding tears along her arms. This time she ignored them, concentrating more on finding a possible opening to seal the rogue card. The problem with fighting a Clow Card was it had unlimited energy so it never got tired and the mortal Card Captor could only keep up with it for so long. Sakura now understood both Kero and Syaoran's fears for her. The Death Card would tire her out first and then kill her at its leisure.

With a purely inhuman howl the dark Clow Card ultimately managed to throw the attacking spirit off itself. Syaoran easily twisted in mid-air and landed in a low crouch in the soft snow near Sakura. She quickly came to stand at his side, both keeping a wary and watchful eye on their target before them.

"You okay?" she asked the warrior spirit.

He stood quickly, making sure Sakura was behind him. "Never better. You?"

"Still standing. It's a start."

Both teens noticed the card's sudden lack of action. It just hovered there, watching them carefully, hesitating.

"What's wrong with it?" Sakura queried. "Why isn't it attacking us anymore?"

"I don't know." Syaoran answered with a slow shake of his head. "It's almost as if it's not sure of itself anymore."

"Like it's afraid?"

He nodded. "But afraid of what? Us?"

Sakura frowned in thought. "The Death Card can only be defeated one of two ways. One is by pure magic, but our magic isn't anywhere strong enough or controlled enough to be any threat to it."

"Or it can be defeated by two halves of the same soul in one body." Syaoran completed. He blinked at a thought and risked a glance at her. "You don't think...?"

She too blinked as understanding hit her. "You and I...?"

""Soul mates?"" they concluded together, their eyes meeting briefly, both blushing suddenly.

Instinct caused them to abruptly jump back, the Death Card's scythe slicing through the air between them. It howled in protest that it missed, swinging its weapon recklessly to keep the destined duo as far apart from each other as possible. Sakura ducked low to avoid a swing from the weapon.

"It's getting desperate!" she called to her partner.

"It knows we figured it out!" he called back, dodging more blows.

She back-flipped away from the card a bit and frowned. "Sugoi! We figured out how to beat it! But how do we use that information against it?"

"I'm thinking!" he assured.

As he thought of a way to use their newly acquired information against their opponent, he carefully observed the Death Card, its tactics, its movements. He noticed that because it floated it was slow in stopping its momentum and even slower when turning around. He knew that to beat it he and Sakura had to combine their abilities and powers. His mind came to two conclusions at once.

"We've got to merge, like we almost did on Halloween!" he told the female Card Captor.

"And just how're we going to get the time to try that?" she called back, barely dodging the scythe, beginning to feel her fatigue.

"Leave that to me! Just be ready!"

"Hai!"

Syaoran stood with his back to the school, a deep frown of determination on his phantom face. "Hey, ugly!" he called to the card.

It turned slightly to acknowledge it had heard him.

"Yeah, you, you Shadow Card wannabe!"

It faced him with a menacing growl.

"Oooo, I'm really scared now!" he taunted with a frowning grin. "C'mon, Blacky, come and get me... if you can!"

Off to the side of the field, staying well out of sight to keep from becoming targets or hostages of the card, Tomoyo and Meilin watched the happenings in horror while Kero watched almost placidly.

"What's he doing?" Meilin questioned no one in particular as she saw her Cousin begin to taunt the Death Card.

"Playing on the Death Card's biggest weakness: its pride." answered Kero.

Tomoyo frowned, recording everything happening before her. "What do you mean, Kero?"

"The Death Card, like real death, prides itself on being the fairest force because it can get anyone or anything no matter what they did or who they are. The Li-kid is a spirit, something the Death Card hasn't killed, but that it wants to try to anyway. Death of a spirit, the ultimate death. The thought of it must be a rush to the card. The Li-kid's taunts are meant to get the card to chase him away to give him and Sakura the precious time, the few seconds or so, they need."

"To do what?" demanded Meilin.

"To merge."

The truth dawned on Tomoyo. "Two halves of the same soul in one body. Li and Sakura are soul mates." she breathed in awe.

The Chinese girl grabbed the Guardian Beast of the Seal and shook him harshly. "You knew about this all along, didn't you? Why didn't you tell us?" she near shrieked.

"It wasn't my place to tell!" he shouted and Meilin released him. "I only found out for certain when Sakura did a reading a few weeks back. She never finished it, but I turned over the last card after she left. All the signs pointed to the Li-kid. My place is only to watch and advise and help only when it's really, really, necessary. I couldn't interfere. They had to come to this conclusion themselves." He looked to the battle. "From the start of this, it was all up to them."

The Death Card charged at the helpless looking spirit with a howl of insulted fury. Syaoran quickly whirled around and ran towards the school. The card was right behind him. The warrior smiled. It was just as he had intended. The wall to the High School loomed closer as he continued to run. A few more steps and there would be nowhere left to run to. He heard the card begin to cackle at the perceived win over the male Card Captor. Syaoran kept on running, not slowing at all as he closed in on the wall. Using all his training he managed to run a few steps up the side of the wall and push off it to flip over the card that had continued to close in on him. The card crashed into the wall mercilessly, unable to stop its momentum, while Syaoran easily landed on his feet and ran back towards an anxiously waiting Sakura. As he neared her he could clearly see fear and apprehension in her indescribable green eyes at what they were about to do. It pained him to see her afraid. He stopped right in front of her and stared her straight in the eyes.

"Trust me." he told her gently.

A small smile touched her lips. "Always." she answered adamantly.

Her soft admission caused a smile to appear on his lips. Her heart was one step closer. He quickly stood behind her and, giving her a precious few seconds to prepare, he then stepped forward, his spirit merging with her body. She couldn't stop the sigh that escaped her lips at the feeling. His spirit was just so warm. Sakura once again felt the subtle shift of his spirit as he reached for her soul and, like that Halloween night, both their senses were suddenly assaulted by a million and one waves of pure, sensational pleasure. Unafraid this time Sakura closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling as she dropped to her knees. Every thought, every feeling was being shared by the other until it was uncertain from which one these thoughts and feelings originated from. It was sheer bliss, though bliss was as appropriate a word as pond was to describe the size of the Pacific Ocean. The feelings intensified even more, growing to be a bright fire deep within them, melting them together until they were no longer two souls, but finally just one.

All this happened in the expanse of a few seconds. The Death Card, having seen the Mistress of the Cards drop to her knees in the snow, saw its opportunity to attack before the merging had a chance to be completed. It flew towards her like a shot, the scythe held high. It could hear the Card Mistress's friends shouting warnings at her, but she didn't seem to hear them, remaining on her knees. The card cackled gleefully, raising the scythe for the final deadly blow. Once the Card Mistress was gone then the other cards would be released once again and mayhem could resume where it had left off. With all its might the Death Card slashed the weapon downwards.

CLANG!

The attacking card looked down in shock. Its blade had connected with the Li Clan's sword and the Clow sealing wand now held crossed above the Card Mistress's head in a perfect block. The Mistress of the Cards opened her eyes abruptly, but instead of the emerald green the card had expected to see the Card Captor's eyes now glowed a brilliant white light.

She was no longer a simple human being like the rest.

She was now an enlightened being.

A whole soul reunited.

The new being contained within Kinomoto Sakura's body looked up at the Death Card looming above her and gave it a small, almost evil smile.

Now the real battle could begin.

To Be Continued...