Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Inescapable, You ❯ Chapter 1

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

**************************************** ****************************************************************
I don't own these characters so pleeezzeee don't sue me! (Really, I'm broke. You'd get like, $0.25!)
O****O Inescapable You [Part 1] O****O
Miss BBD
(This is totally separate from my other works…not related, k?)
"Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel."




















~William Shakespeare (Hamlet)



















It was a bright and windy Saturday afternoon. Sakura Avalon and her best friend, Madison, walked along the gritty sidewalk happily. The wind blew the hair and skirts of both girls and the sun made their smiles glow.
"Did you bring it, Sakura?"
"Yup. It's the strangest thing." Sakura reached inside the backpack she was carrying and pulled out an ancient looking carved wooden box. "I was cleaning the attic and I found this. The Clow symbol is on the box, so I'm trying to find out what it means."
"And you can't open it?"
"No, it's impossible, believe me."
Madison frowned thoughtfully, "Kero didn't know what it was?"
Sakura shrugged, "He said it looked familiar, but he couldn't place it. I don't think it's dangerous."
"So, you're going to ask Li if he knows anything about it?"
Sakura groaned and rolled her eyes, "I guess I don't have much choice."
Knock Knock
"Who is it?"
"Li? It's Sakura and Madison."
The apartment door creaked open to reveal a haggard and grumpy looking Li. He seemed happy that they were there for some reason.
"Li, are you--" Sakura started but was cut off by a high-pitched:
"LI!!!! Stop running away from me!"
Sakura giggled, "Oh, never mind…I understand!"
Meilin stepped out into view, holding a rope in her hands.
"If you won't hold still, I'll tie you up! Hey, what is she doing here?"
"Actually, Meilin, we're here to see if you guys can give us a hand with something."
They all sat around the coffee table upon which the small box sat.
"What does it mean, Li?"
He studied the mahogany box with his brows furrowed.
"There are some symbols here along the front, very tiny. I think it's Chinese." Pushing the unruly brown hair out of his eyes, Li slowly read the inscription. The air tingled with tension and magic. Just as he finished, there was a slight pop and the lid of the box cracked open.
There was silence in the room. Li looked up and made eye contact with Sakura who nodded solemnly. Her lip quivered for a moment, but there was determination in her bright green eyes.
Slowly and carefully, Li opened the lid to reveal---
"Handcuffs?!?" Meilin exclaimed, "We, er, you guys, got all worked up about a pair of handcuffs?"
They were indeed handcuffs. They were made of solid gold and were covered with intricate carvings.
"Wow," Sakura blinked, "they're beautiful."
"Now that's what I need to get Li to stand still!" laughed Meilin as she grabbed the cuffs out of the box.
Li and Sakura realized what was going on at the same moment. As warnings reached the tips of their tongues, they could not stop her in time. Time itself seemed to slow down as Meilin slapped the cuff around Li's wrist. As the ancient clasp shut, an ominous clang sounded forth.
Everyone stood in silence, daring not to move. Li waited to have the very life sucked from his body or to explode…nothing happened. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Huh?" Meilin muttered as she tried to get the other loop around her own wrist, "It won't close."
Meilin ran over to Madison, dragging a stumbling Li behind.
"Here. Let's see if it will close around your wrist, Madison."
It wouldn't.
"Hmm...It's like trying to put two magnets of the same polarization together," pondered Madison.
"Let's try Sakura," Meilin suggested.
Sakura's eyebrows shot up in alarm. "Um, guys. I don't think that's a good--"
CLANG
"--idea."
"This is all your fault!"
"How is this my fault?"
"She's your cousin."
"They're your handcuffs."
Madison rolled her eyes. "Would you two stop it?"
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Madison, haven't you figured how to get these off yet?"
"I'm doing all I can, Sakura. There isn't exactly a lock for me to pick and this metal is, like, impervious."
"Kero, did you find anything in the book yet?"
Kero, who was on the phone at Sakura's house, mumbled something about 'just a second'.
"Wait. I got it!"
Sakura anxiously put the phone on speaker.
"Go ahead, Kero."
"Okay. The Spirit-Bonding Links."
"Spirit-Bonding Links? I don't like the sound of that."
"Be quiet, Meilin."
"As I was saying before I was RUDELY interrupted, the Spirit-Bonding Links were created long ago in a village called Catharsis. The population was having a hard time getting along. Everyone was fighting and there was no love. There was also no marriage. Since there was no marriage, there were no achem children. Thus, the settlement was going to die away. They went to a local sorcerer for help. He created the links to bond the spirits of unrequited lovers. He said that the situation was getting in the way of true love. Thus, the links were put on couples that were meant to be. The links would not come off until they professed their love and sealed it with a kiss. Another thing, the links would not fasten on a couple that was ill-matched, only ones with the potential for true love. So, there you have it kiddies, they don't come off until you break the spell. Snicker. I think the situation is kinda funny, actually."
Both Li and Sakura looked a little green. Madison looked a little amused, and Meilin looked a little furious.
"You!" She pointed a trembling finger at Sakura. "You did this on purpose!"
"Shut up, Meilin," Li growled. "It's your own fault!"
"What are we going to do?" Sakura asked numbly.
"Right Dad, a big sleepover at my…friend Meilin's house. Right. Okay. Love you. Bye."
Sakura slammed down the receiver and went back to pouting.
"Look, Sakura we can get out of this, right." Li stood up and looked around, half dragging Sakura up with him.
"Ow! You've got to remember we're linked here!"
"Shhh. Come on."
"Where are we going?"
"To get these off."
"Okay it's simple, right. We'll just do what the stuffed animal said to break the spell."
Sakura was giving him the Look…complete with quirked eyebrow.
"How hard can it be?"
Again, the Look…the other eyebrow quirks.
"*Sigh* Fine. You start, Li."
"Sure, no problem." Li made sure the bathroom door was locked.
Gulp. "Sakura, I l---…I lo---…"
"I'm waiting."
Sigh "Iloveyou. Fine, now it's your turn."
"Fine. I love you."
"Do you have to do the Look when you say that? Nevermind. Now, we have to um…do the next part."
"God. How do you want to do this?"
"Fast is good."
"Eyes closed?"
"Definitely."
"On 3?"
"One…two…"
"Wait."
"What?"
"We should get closer so we don't bump noses."
"Fine."
They now knelt in front of each other. Nose to nose. Breath mingling. Eyes avoiding eyes. Both fighting the strange, wonderfully painful feeling churning somewhere between their hearts and their stomachs. For a split second, green irises met amber and something flashed before turning away again.
"Ready now?"
"As I'm gonna be."
"One…"
"Two…"
"Three!"
With eyes squinted closed their clenched lips met for a split second. Both blushed furiously and averted their eyes to the cuffs…
Nothing happened.
"I knew the stuffed animal had to be wrong!"
"Wait, maybe it wasn't long enough?"
"Fine. One more time."
Li hurriedly closed his eyes and bent towards Sakura. Sakura, taken by surprise at Li's sudden movement, didn't have time to purse her lips like she had for the previous kiss. Instead, she accidentally presented Li with her full lips. This time when they kissed, electricity shot through both of them. Li's lips became soft and gentle against hers as time stood still.
Deep inside her, Sakura silently plead with Li, words he wouldn't hear but was saying himself at the exact same time:
Don't kiss me like this unless you mean it like that.
The kiss broke slowly as the fullest part of their lips clung desperately to each other. For a moment, neither breathed. Then Li cleared his throat and tried to look nonchalant even though he was shaking.
"Well…that should have been long enough."
"Yeah…heh heh…but it's still locked!"
"Hey! What are you two doing in there?"
"Nothing, Meilin!"
Up next: what are some of the things that might go wrong when you're stuck to another person? Can we say potty break? Oh, the humiliation. Be here next time as things start to get a little tricky. And yes, of course, there will be S+S sappiness, come on, ya'll know me! ;o) Please R&R, thanx! (Oh, and please read my other stories! Please, I live for feedback! [begs pathetically on knees]) Luv ya!