Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow of the Dragon ❯ Sakura and the Guilt of the Living ( Chapter 11 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Lord Archive 
Death still lingers over Sakura and her friends, despite their attempts to put it all behind them.
Anime/Manga: Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.20.2007 | Updated On: 10.22.2007 | Pages: 8 | Words: 9.2K | Visits: 596 | Status: Completed
Death still lingers over Sakura and her friends, despite their attempts to put it all behind them.
Anime/Manga: Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.20.2007 | Updated On: 10.22.2007 | Pages: 8 | Words: 9.2K | Visits: 596 | Status: Completed
Syaoran paced around his Hong Kong bedroom. The waiting was killing him. The midnight hour was soon approaching, and Sakura's battle against the assassin had begun almost an hour before. When he had learned of the challenge, he had been ready to leave for Tomoeda immediately, but his mother had forbidden him from going. His mother's promise that Sakura would be fine did not soothe his nerves at all.
The phone rang and Syaoran pounced at it immediately. "Is she okay?!"
"Hello to you too, Syaoran," Meiling groused from the other end of the phone. "Kinomoto came out of that fight with nothing more than a small bruise to her cheek."
Syaoran slumped onto to his bed and breathed a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness she's okay. What happened to the assassin?"
"Daidouji's bodyguards handed him over to police as he was wanted for a few counts of murder," Meiling answered, sounding slightly irritated.
Syaoran nodded. "Good. Did Daidouji mention anything else?"
"That's all I got from her email. We'll get the full story from them tomorrow. Talk to you later. Bye," Meiling informed and hung up as soon as he bid her a 'good night.'
Syaoran set the phone to the side before picking up the doctored picture Sakura had given him for Christmas a few years ago. He looked intently at Sakura's image. "Tomorrow," he promised.
"You really know how to make a girl feel ignored, little brother."
Syaoran jumped off his bed. He then bowed at the transparent form of his dead sister. He had been expecting her appearance on the night one week after her death, and that was the main reason why he had not been allowed to return to Tomoeda. "Sorry, Fanren... I..."
"You're going to make me an aunt before Mother is ready for it," Fanren teased.
Syaoran flushed. "I... er... we..."
"Yes, yes, I know. You haven't gotten that far... YET." Fanren giggled.
Syaoran shook his head fiercely. "I'm sorry I didn't spend more time with you before..."
Fanren shrugged. "Who wants to spend time around a dead girl walking? You knew that I would pass away while I was still young. I understand. It certainly kept me from making more friends as I didn't want to leave them behind."
Syaoran slouched. "So what happens now?"
Fanren grinned. "I could tell you, but that would ruin the surprise." She then looked at him seriously. "I want you to keep my brush and have it on you at ALL times."
"Shouldn't mother have it?" Syaoran wondered, considering a girl's hairbrush was one of the most important things given after her death.
"Trust me, little brother, my brush is intended for you, and you alone." Fanren's ghostly form began to fade. "See you later."
Syaoran blinked in surprise as his dead sister vanished. Not 'good-bye' but 'see you later?' He shook his head. Talking to a precog about the future always frustrated him.
-----------------------
Card Captors Sakura: Shadow of the Dragon
Chapter 11: Sakura and the Guilt of Living
Card Captor Sakura belongs to the fine ladies of CLAMP. Used without consent, all rights reserved.
By: Lord Archive
Author's Warnings:
This contains mature themes not intended for children under thirteen.
This series contains:
Adult situations.
Sexual situations withOUT detailed description of sex nor the naked human body.
Brief moments of violence, some cases involving people getting severely injured and possibly death.
Occasional use of vulgar language.
Japanese humor: which include bathroom jokes, panty fetish and shocking situations.
Depictions of criminal activity committed by fictional characters.
References of homosexuality.
-----------------------
The smile on Sakura's face was a bit thin and her eyes were still dull, but life was slowly returning to the girl's face. Tomoyo knew her best friend still felt guilt over Reiko's death, and probably always would, yet she was starting to let go of the pain. Of course the prospect of seeing the one you love would make anyone happier.
"Come on, Tomoyo-chan! I want to see if he's home yet!" Sakura insisted, almost prancing towards the stairs.
Tomoyo smiled gently. The wonders of what love can do to lift a person. She then blinked as Sakura turned suddenly. Her eyes widened as her best friend started to fall, straight down the stairs. "SAKURA-CHAN!"
Sakura bounced down the steps before coming to a rest at the landing. She groaned as she sat up, rubbing her arms tenderly.
Tomoyo almost fell down the stairs in her rush to get to her friend. "Are you all right?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah. Guess I was too excited to see Syaoran-kun. Sorry."
Tomoyo gazed intently at her friend. "Do you need to see the nurse?"
"No, I should be all right." Sakura smiled sheepishly. She waved her hand in denial, showing a bandage on her finger where she had cut herself on a knife in home economics. "I've just been a bit of a klutz today."
Tomoyo didn't know if she should believe her friend. Sakura seemed to look at something briefly, but Tomoyo wondered if it was her imagination as nothing was there. Though, Sakura had been a bit off since Reiko's death, which the near rape and the battle against the assassin certainly didn't help. Hopefully the return of the girl's boyfriend would help calm down her beloved friend.
-----------------------
The front door opening and the joyful cry of "Syaoran-kun!" was all the warning the boy got before having his girlfriend latch onto him with a fierce hug. Meiling merely shook her head at the sight while Tomoyo stood at the door with her camera focused on the couple.
Returning the hug, Syaoran told her gently, "I'm home."
Sakura seized up as her boyfriend accidentally brushed against one of her fresh bruises.
Syaoran broke the embrace and looked at her intently. "What happened?! I thought you were barely hurt by that assassin."
"I'm fine!" Sakura insisted. "I've just been a royal klutz today."
Syaoran glanced skeptically behind his girlfriend at the dark haired girl with the video camera.
"The cut is from home economics, the bruises are from falling down a flight of stairs," Tomoyo informed with a touch of concern in her voice.
"See, nothing to worry about." Sakura grabbed his hands. "I'm so glad you came back."
Syaoran sighed. "I wish I never had to leave in the first place. How are you feeling?"
Sakura pouted and she looked away from him. "I think that goes without saying."
Syaoran nodded sadly. "I'd say the same holds for me."
Sakura's eyes started to dart around the room, she then clutched her boyfriend tightly. "S-something is h-h-here?!"
The boy gave a pained glance at his cousin. "Meiling, the brush."
Meiling shrugged and went into Syaoran's room. A moment later she returned with a broken hairbrush and held it out towards the trembling girl.
Sakura reluctantly let go of her boyfriend. She reached for the brush and yanked her hand back as if she was shocked with electricity when she touched it. Hesitantly, she reached for it again, taking the broken brush into her hands. She collapsed to her knees, tears forming in her eyes. "Fanren-chan...."
Syaoran nodded. "My sister isn't done with this world yet. She didn't tell me, but it seems there's something I'll need her help with in the future."
"I'm sorry I didn't get to say 'good-bye' to you," Sakura told the brush.
"It's not 'good-bye' yet, but a new 'hello,'" was they spectral reply.
Sakura promptly screamed and passed out, making Meiling and Tomoyo wonder what just happened though both had a good guess.
-----------------------
Concern for Sakura grew the following day. While she seemed fine arriving at the school, by the time gym started she had collided with some desks and added a nasty bruise to her hip. Syaoran wished he could've watched Sakura during gym, but they had completely separate drills for that class.
Tomoyo worriedly returned to class alone. She did not go to her seat, rather stayed at the door looking down the hall.
"Where's Sakura?" Syaoran asked.
"Taking a shower. She kept tripping and falling, landing in the mud a couple times," Tomoyo informed, still watching for the girl.
"Do you think she's doing it on purpose?" Syaoran asked intently.
Tomoyo pouted. "I want to say 'no.'"
Meiling walked up to them. "You don't think Kinomoto is that stupid, do you? Why would she intentionally hurt herself?"
"Guilt," Syaoran answered simply.
"Sakura-chan may feel she needs to be 'punished,'" Tomoyo added. "Though I hope this is a subtle attack on her."
"Not likely. Masking your aura to cast a quick flair of magic is a lot easier than a prolonged spell. I don't think her enemy is willing to let us analyze any spells," Syaoran explained.
"I wouldn't discount anything when it comes to Kinomoto," Meiling groused.
Thankfully the next class was lunch, otherwise Sakura would've been late. The girl limped her way to her into view of her classroom. She smiled sheepishly at her boyfriend as he rushed to her. "Sorry that I'm a bit late."
"Are you okay?" Syaoran asked heatedly.
Sakura didn't answer as she looked at the floor. Her eyes suddenly darted to the side.
Syaoran wondered if Meiling or Tomoyo had just pushed him as he found himself falling on top of Sakura. He did what he could to control their fall as they both landed on the hallway floor. His eyes widened seeing his hand go through her school blouse, his fingers telling him there was only bare flesh. He leapt off her, his face burning red as he gazed at her. "Wha... WHAT?!"
Sakura likewise flushed, her hands moving to cover herself as if she was completely naked.
"What's going on?" Tomoyo asked, moving up to them with Meiling right behind her.
"I... I couldn't find my clothes," Sakura admitted in embarrassment. "I had to use the Illusion."
Syaoran's face took a glazed expression, his pants suddenly becoming tighter.
Tomoyo clapped her hands. "Well, I can take care of part of your problem!" She helped her best friend to stand up. "We'll meet up with you at our usual spot."
Meiling nodded, while Syaoran's eyes never moved off his girlfriend.
-----------------------
Meiling frowned at the melancholy group of friends. Sakura's lingering guilt along with Syaoran and Chiharu mourning the loss of beloved relatives was definitely the cause of the conversations being rather dull. Meiling certainly missed her cousin, practically raised as sisters, but living in gloom was not the best way to remember someone who passed away. Sakura's growing list of possibly self-inflicted injuries was particularly troubling. Not to mention the fact she was wearing one of Tomoyo's battle costumes under her illusion.
Meiling wondered what she could do to get everyone out of their funk. She began to grin after noticing two girls dancing to a radio playing music.
"Daidouji, come with me for a second," Meiling grabbed the girl before she could reply.
"What is it that you want, Meiling-chan?" Tomoyo wondered.
"I think I know a way to help our friends. We should all go out to a dance club and have some fun," Meiling announced earnestly.
Tomoyo pouted. "Why didn't you just suggest it to everyone?"
"Because if I had, Kinomoto and Yamazaki-chan would've shot it down without considering it. Together we can get Syaoran and the rest of them to agree to go. They really need to do something to get their minds off last week," Meiling pressed.
Tomoyo paused in thought. "I wish it was something other than dancing, but a dance club may be just the place to get Sakura-chan to let go and be herself."
Meiling turned toward her friends. "Syaoran, get over here!" Her cousin responded with some grumbling as he got up and walked toward her. Before he could say anything to her, she told him, "You're going to ask Kinomoto to go out dancing Saturday."
"Dancing?" Syaoran looked at her strangely. "Why?"
"We all need to do something, Kinomoto especially. Maybe a group outing will get her mind off last week, even if it is for a little while." Meiling then teasingly added, "Besides, I'm sure she'd love to know how light you really can be on your feet."
Syaoran lips thinned out as he gazed at his girlfriend, who was now staring up at their classroom as if she was seeing something. He glanced up there, and saw only light reflecting off the windows. "Fine." He walked toward his beloved. "Sakura, how about we all go out dancing this Saturday?"
Sakura pouted at her boyfriend. "I don't know...."
"Come on, Kinomoto, Daidouji and I are going too!" Meiling turned toward her other friends. "You all can come as well!"
"Sure, sounds like fun," Takashi quickly agreed.
Chiharu glared at her husband. "I'm not sure I want to go."
"It's a group outing and a chance to have fun. Besides, you only have one house to clean now," Takashi pointed out. "Don't you want to see me dance?"
Sakura gazed at the married girl. "I'll go, if you go Chiharu-chan."
"Fine, I'll go." Chiharu huffed.
Rika glanced towards the elementary school. "I'm afraid I'll have to bow out. I've got a date with my boyfriend and he can't be seen with me in a dance club like that."
Naoko shook her head. "I'm going to a sci-fi convention with Shinji-kun. Neither of us danced well during gym, so a dance club would be an exercise in pain and embarrassment."
"First date with Asaba, huh?" Meiling shrugged. "That's still six of us to go dancing. That's good enough."
Sakura pouted. "I don't think I have anything to wear to a dance club." She repressed a groan when Tomoyo's eye lit up, yet was also relieved to see her friend smile like that again.
"I'm going to make you an outfit that'll knock Li-kun out!" Tomoyo promised.
-----------------------
Terada usually arrived to his private rendezvous spot after Rika, mostly because his work as a teacher kept him busy at the elementary school longer. Especially as he was the gym teacher and currently without a homeroom, so unless he got a 'volunteer' to help clean the gymnasium, it was left to him to do it. Today's volunteer was a fifth grade boy who decided to throw a mud ball at a girl.
Terada chuckled a little. While the boy might not understand why he did it, the teacher had a strong guess. He wasn't about to tell the boy hitting a girl with mud was not the way to get her attention. Considering how fast Rika and her friends grew up, he didn't want to risk learning in a few years that the boy was doing more than dating the girl.
"Hello, Yoshiyuki," Rika greeted him with a brief kiss. "How was your day?"
"Fine. I was just thinking about a boy doing a good job making sure the girl he likes never talks to him," Terada told her with a smirk. "Hit her with a mud ball."
Rika giggled. "Good thing I never had to worry about that."
Terada caressed her cheek. "And how was your day?"
"Well, it's not nearly so quiet anymore with Meiling-chan and Li-kun back. Though we're really starting to worry about Sakura. Her klutz attacks have been getting out of control. She was barely touched by that assassin, and now she's a walking bruise." Rika sighed with frustration. "We don't know what to do for her."
Terada nodded. He was rather thankful that the assassin had given his challenge ahead of time, allowing him to watch the magical battle. He certainly no longer doubted magic. However, Sakura's current problem might not be magical at all. "Do you think she's intentionally hurting herself?"
Rika looked away uncertainly. "I'm not sure if it's intentional..."
"But her injuries might be self-inflicted." Terada nodded sadly. "It's understandable her guilt would need some form of outlet. She might need professional help."
"Well, if going to a dance club this Saturday doesn't help her, we may just drag her to a psychologist," Rika vowed.
-----------------------
Syaoran didn't particularly like it that Naoko was following him, even if she knew about his magic and that she wanted to observe him to get ideas for her novella. However, he wasn't going to tell her no, as this was probably the most 'detective work' his magic was likely to do any time soon.
Carefully walking through the empty hallways of the junior high school, Syaoran focused his magic towards finding Sakura's distinct aura, though thankfully he wasn't looking for her. He had already found her previous classrooms, and now knew which desks and seats she had used in seventh and eighth grades.
"How far could her clothes have gotten from the locker rooms?" Naoko wondered.
"That's what I'd like to know," Syaoran grumbled. They had started their search there. Unfortunately, he had not found her missing uniform and gym clothes inside the school.
"Do you think she 'erased' them?" Naoko wondered.
"I don't think she'd do that," Syaoran countered. At least outside there was less to interfere with his senses and they could move more quickly. He paused in front of the garbage dumpster. He wasn't sure if he felt something, but playing safe he opened the lid and the feeling of Sakura's lingering aura grew noticeably.
"It's not in there, is it?" Naoko wondered.
Syaoran reached in and pulled out a clear garbage bag filled with discarded bits of food. The foul odor from it quickly drew a swarm of flies. "Her clothes are in this bag." He then gazed intently into the contents.
"Just toss it back in. She can get new ones," Naoko insisted, looking rather pale with one hand covering her mouth.
Syaoran sighed and dropped the bag back in. Too many people had touched the food waste to see if someone else had handled Sakura's clothes. Smothered in garbage, he doubted pulling out the uniform would be of any help. "Well, we found the where, but not the why or how."
"Could this really be Sakura's own doing?" Naoko asked.
Syaoran glanced at the dumpster. "I certainly hope not."
-----------------------
"Why are we going dancing?" Chiharu wondered. "There's a lot to do here."
Takashi folded his arms. "Besides being a chance to go out with our friends and having a real date?"
"I don't think Tomoyo-chan and Meiling-chan would like being the third couple," Chiharu pointed out grumpily.
"Li-chan might not, but I wouldn't be too sure about Daidouji. There's been rumors about her," Takashi pointed out.
Chiharu wagged her finger at her husband. "Just because Tomoyo-chan has never accepted a date with a boy doesn't mean she likes girls. I've turned down a lot of dates, and not because of you."
"Whatever." Takashi shrugged. "You still need to get away for a little bit. We don't have any children yet, and we're definitely young. We should be going out and enjoying ourselves."
Chiharu looked away. "I'm not really feeling up to have some fun."
"If you stay here, you never will." Takashi put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Look, I know you miss your father. You always will. But you can't mourn him forever. He wanted you to be happy. Besides, if you don't go, it'll be harder to drag Kinomoto there, and you know she needs to go more than you do."
Chiharu pouted. "Fine. But what should I wear? I've never been to a dance club before."
Takashi grinned devilishly. "Something sexy."
Chiharu poked her husband's chest. "You just want to get lucky."
Takashi laughed. "That's half the point of going to a dance club!"
-----------------------
Meiling rode in the Daidouji family's limousine to Kinomoto's house, to aid in bringing Sakura to the dance club. She had opted for a daring dark green Chinese silk dress accented with white jasmine flowers that didn't even reach to mid-thigh. She glanced at Tomoyo, wondering why the girl seemed to be a bit on edge. "You know that we may be going to some dance club, but it doesn't mean you have to dance."
Tomoyo, wearing a modest purple dress if you didn't count the fact that if she showed any more cleavage, it wouldn't cover her breasts, pouted at her foreign friend. "It's not dancing that has me worried. I've never been to a rave before and didn't know the usual... cost for getting in."
Meiling blinked in confusion. "What? It's not some entry fee?"
"When I mentioned it to my bodyguards I wanted to go, they explained to me the problem with just deciding to go to one." Tomoyo looked away. "Going to a dance club, particularly a good rave club, is very popular in Tokyo. Too popular. Rather than only admit people on a first come, first serve basis, most of the best places to dance sold memberships to get in. However, guys bought up most of the open memberships."
Meiling frowned. "Does that mean we won't be able to go in?"
Tomoyo shook her head. "One of my bodyguards is a member of a rave, so we can get in as her guest. Though I'm a touch worried about how girls usually have to get in."
Meiling raised an eyebrow. "If they need a guy to invite them, I'd hate to know what 'price' he would ask from them."
Tomoyo nodded. "You would. The cost is usually sex, and sometimes not with just the guy who invited her." She then sighed. "I know part of the reason you want to go is to find a potential boyfriend, but with many of the guys there expecting sex tonight..."
"I'll have to be very careful." Meiling folded her arms irritably. "Is it really that bad?"
"I wouldn't know." Tomoyo shrugged. "I've never been to one before. My bodyguard said the one she goes to is better than the other ones for people who want to just dance."
Arriving at the Kinomoto home, the two girls left the limousine and went into the house.
"Hello," Tomoyo greeted Sakura's father at the door, holding a small clothing box.
"Hi. Don't mind us. We're here to kidnap your daughter," Meiling joked.
"Hello," Fujitaka returned their greetings. "Sakura is hiding in her room."
The two girls went up the stairs and entered their friend's room. They threw Kero-chan out of it before protests from Sakura echoed through the house. A few minutes later, all three girls came down the stairs.
Fujitaka was concerned with his daughter's attire. Black leather ankle high boots, black leather mini-skirt that would likely be hard pressed to cover his daughter's underwear while dancing, leather jacket that looked like it was intended for a five-year-old as it didn't even reach the girl's waist and would be impossible to button up, and a band of pink cloth wrapped around Sakura's chest doing a poor job of covering her chest.
"See you later," Meiling promised dragging Sakura out of the house before anyone could say anything.
Tomoyo followed after them, repressing the urge to laugh.
Fujitaka shook his head clear only after the limousine had started to drive off.
Kero-chan flew up to him. "And you just let your daughter go on a date dressed like THAT?!"
Fujitaka shrugged a little. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised if Sakura spends the night with her boyfriend."
"How can you just say that about Sakura?!" Kero-chan demanded.
Fujitaka tried to smile, but it was obviously forced. "I remember when her mother was fifteen. How can I deny her doing the stuff I encouraged her mother to do with me?"
"Simple, you're her father," Kero-chan groused.
"I've seen how much being over protective can hurt the person you're trying to keep safe," Fujitaka countered before walking off.
Kero-chan glared. "But not protecting her might get her into even more pain and suffering."
-----------------------
Arriving at an entertainment area just outside of Tomoeda, there were several different dance clubs with love motels practically across the street from them. There were literally dozens of girls hanging out on the street, some of them dressed even more daring than Sakura and Meiling while others took their looks to other extremes by being extremely cute where holding a teddy-bear was part of the outfit, wearing so much black clothes and make-up that one would wonder if the girl was an undead, or covering themselves with so many technology gadgets it made them look like a cyborg.
Syaoran didn't notice the girls, having caught a glimpse of pink cotton under Sakura's black leather mini-skirt.
Takashi nearly broke his neck as he stared at one girl. "She's not wearing panties?!" Despite his pronouncement, the girl made no move to cover herself.
Chiharu was sorely tempted to finish what his wandering eyes started. "Why look at what you can't have?"
"It's entirely because I can't have it," Takashi returned, grinning sheepishly.
Meiling glanced at the girl in question out of curiosity to see if she was really panty-less. She then frowned noticing that Tomoyo's camera was on and discreetly pointed at that girl.
Two of Tomoyo's bodyguards led the way to the rave that one of them was a member of. There was no delay admitting all of them into the club, though the guards were never more than a few meters from Tomoyo.
The inside of the dance club was filled darkness pierced by flashing colored lights. The floor was filled with people bumping and grinding against each other to the beat of the ever-changing music. Surrounding the dancing area were numerous tables which Sakura and her friends quickly commandeered one of the larger tables to use.
Tomoyo moved to the back of the table, as far away from the dance floor she could get. Sakura moved to sit next to her while Chiharu and Takashi went to the other side. Syaoran was about to sit next to his girlfriend when Meiling grabbed him.
"Why don't we warm up the dance floor for them?" Meiling suggested strongly. "We'll show these people how to really move."
Sakura pouted, wondering if all there was dancing to this music was rubbing yourself up against someone else. She didn't say anything as her boyfriend was dragged off by his cousin and one-time fiancee. She reprised her thinking of dancing as the Chinese cousins went into a martial arts kata, mirroring each other's moves and being sure to miss with their attacks.
Sakura wasn't the only one to notice the skillful movements. The lights moved to focus on them and the music's tempo became even more erratic as if trying to throw off the dance. Yet despite the attention from the disc jockey, most of those gathered didn't pay a whole lot of attention. When their martial dance came to an end, the only ones to clap were Sakura and her friends.
"Was that really dancing?" Takashi wondered.
"Martial arts is nothing more than a deadly dance. And practicing to music helps to learn how to read your opponent's tempo and see where his holes are," Meiling explained cheerfully.
"How come I never heard of martial artists using music that way before?" Chiharu wondered.
"Because while dancing helps you read your opponent, it also makes it easier for them to read you." Syaoran sat down next to his girlfriend. "The DJ did us a favor by mixing up the music so much. Both in making it harder for us to predict and in forcing us to change our movements."
"It's too bad Naoko-chan isn't here. She'd love to have learned about this," Chiharu commented.
-----------------------
Sakura's body writhed with the music. Her hips undulated in a hypnotic pattern. Her hands caressed her body, accenting the womanly features she was growing into.
Syaoran was quite glad he wasn't bumping and grinding like many of the other 'dancers' as his girlfriend would easily know what was on his mind if they did.
Syaoran didn't know that Sakura could dance this way nor this well. That a few girls were copying her movements had not escaped him. He wondered how his beloved could move in such a way. And then she looked at him.
His heart leapt into his throat, the answer hitting Syaoran hard. The naive, innocent girl he had originally fallen in love with was gone. The sparkling, inquisitive eyes that didn't seem to understand everything were now serious and knowing. Her shyness and uncertain movements were now filled with a confidence. He knew Sakura could not remain the sweet elementary girl forever, but the changes brought by growing older and her magical battles had never struck him so deeply as it did right now.
"Is there something wrong?" Sakura asked him, still moving with the music.
"Just with the world," Syaoran replied.
-----------------------
Tomoyo frowned as the fast paced music kept playing without rest. While couples danced to it, there was nothing special or romantic to it. Getting out from behind the table, she went to the DJ, her guards following behind her.
Tomoyo bowed to the guy doing his own dance with records and CDs. "Excuse me, but can you play a slow song for couples to dance too?"
The DJ looked at the girl strangely. "Where do you think you are? This is as slow as we get."
"Now, Hito-kun, there's no need to reject her flat out," purred a young woman dressed in red leather.
"Boss, you said..." Hito started to complain.
The woman smirked. "Forget what I said, and listen to me right now."
Tomoyo gazed at her intently, doubting this woman was more than twenty-years-old. "You're the boss here?"
"Got sick of being rejected to these clubs so I bought one," the woman laughed. "You can call me Ami. I'd be willing to bend the music rules for a little favor."
Tomoyo frowned. "How little?"
Ami smiled devilishly. "You'll have to dance with me during that song."
"I'm really a bad dancer. I've lost count on the number of times I stepped on the feet of my dance instructors," Tomoyo admitted shyly.
"And how many of your previous dance partners were guys?" Ami asked knowingly.
Tomoyo looked away. "All of them."
"And wasn't that your problem?" Ami pressed. "You need to be comfortable with yourself and your partner in order to dance well."
"I hope you're not offended, but I don't think I'd be very comfortable with you," Tomoyo pointed out.
"I'm sorry I'm not emerald-eyes or the Chinese girl, but I don't think you'll be getting a dance with them." Ami lifted the girl's hand. "One little dance is all I ask. I'm sure if I tried for more, your two friends behind you would make me rather unhappy."
"Well, I tried to warn you." Tomoyo shook her head. "Shall we dance then?"
"How can the boss get more girls than I do?" the DJ groaned.
Tomoyo felt a bit too self-conscious as the slow song began and the young dance club owner held her, thankfully not too tightly. She stayed a considerable distance from Sakura and their friends, but did manage to catch a glimpse of her best friends dancing with a thick blush.
"Any sacrifice for her, huh?" Ami asked.
Tomoyo nodded, feeling no need to say more than that. By the song's end she had managed to relax, and was surprised to note she had not stepped on Ami's feet even once.
-----------------------
"This place is insane!" Chiharu complained as she sat at their table.
"Yeah! Isn't it great?" Meiling cheered, sitting next to her and pointedly not looking towards the back where Tomoyo was talking with some woman the girl had just danced with.
"Great?" Chiharu looked at her friend disbelievingly. She pointed towards another table. "There's a guy snorting powder over there!"
"This is a party! Inhibitions should be checked at the door!" Meiling countered.
"Are you nuts?" Chiharu cried out. "Who knows what these guys would do to you if you gave them a chance!"
Meiling shrugged. "I'm keeping my options open. I need a good boyfriend. So far none of these guys passed my test."
"Test? What test?" Chiharu wondered.
Meiling wagged a finger in the air. "It's real simple. For a guy to have a chance with me, he has to look at my face when he's talking or dancing with me."
Chiharu gazed at the girl skeptically. "With that dress, I'd say you're sabotaging yourself."
"I do have to make it a challenge for them," Meiling joked.
Takashi was holding some soda pops as he walked over to them with wide eyes. "Any thing goes here, huh?"
"What now?" Chiharu groused.
"Look behind you," was all Takashi managed to say.
The two girls turned around and stared at what a couple was doing two tables away.
"Didn't even wait until leaving..." Meiling shook her head, but continued to watch.
Chiharu turned around stiffly. She then scowled at her husband who was still watching. "I am NOT going to do that for you here."
"Hope she's using birth control," Meiling commented.
-----------------------
Tomoyo followed behind Sakura as they left the women's bathroom. It was nice to see that Sakura was enjoying herself, gaining back some of the bounce in the girl's step. And not once did her beloved friend have any accident of any sort, which made Tomoyo wonder about the cause of them even more.
Passing by some large men, Sakura's hand seemed to move of it's own accord and smacked the full glass of beer a guy was holding onto him.
"Oh, no... I... ah..." Sakura took a step back from him in fright.
"Why the fuck did you do that?" the man sneered, rearing his hand back and slamming his fist into Sakura's face, sending her to the floor.
"Sakura-chan?!" Tomoyo immediately went to her knees to see if her friend was all right. She refused to look as she heard the guy emit a cry of pain. Her bodyguards had been right behind them.
More noise erupted through the rave as violence washed over the place like a wave. Too much alcohol and too little control led to an all out brawl.
Tomoyo remained where she was, holding Sakura's unconscious form. Her guards flanking them and doing a vicious job of keeping anyone who might want to hurt them away. Meiling joined in the protection, but where her guards were stoic, the Chinese girl wore a grin as she sent guy after guy into pain-filled slumber. Syaoran finally emerged from the melee going on around them, but he looked a bit unsteady.
"Huh? Wha?" Sakura blinked her eyes open.
"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Tomoyo asked desperately.
Sakura nodded, but flinched as she touched her injured cheek.
"We need to get out of here," Syaoran ordered. "Let's find Yamazaki and his wife before this gets any worse."
A high pitch scream and a shift of the mob of fighters drew their attention. People backed away, revealing a young man holding a knife dripping with blood. The moaning guy at his feet wasn't Yamazaki, but the married boy was unfortunately too close to the armed man, with Chiharu cowering behind him.
"Stand back! I've got a knife! You fuckers won't hurt me!" the armed man ordered.
Syaoran's little finger slipped into his pocket and he pulled out a large plain ring with two short silken ropes connecting a green orb and a pink orb to it. With a flick of his wrist, the two ropes entwined with each other and the balls merged, forming sword hilt and guard from which a long blade emerged. The sword looked much like the one he used in elementary school, but it was clear to Tomoyo's eyes it was not the same one. Moving into the clearing, Syaoran announced his presence. "Put down that knife and you won't be hurt."
The armed man swayed as he stared at the teenager. "I got a knife!"
"And I have a sword with over a decade's training to use it. Who do you think would win?" Syaoran stated evenly. "Put down the knife."
The man screamed and ran forward. He only made it halfway before Meiling intercepted him, first with a foot sweep, followed by a knee to his jaw as he was falling.
Meiling popped her knuckles as she stood proudly over the unconscious man. "Does anyone else want to try their luck?"
"It's never a dull moment with you, is it?" Chiharu asked, rushing across the room to her friends' side.
"Sorry," Sakura apologized.
Takashi laughed. "It's more fun this way!"
"Don't anyone move! This is the police!"
Panic alighted the faces of almost every person at the rave before they all tried to find an exit. With the chaos and fear, no one was paying attention to Meiling or Syaoran anymore.
"Allow me to ignore walls, Through," Sakura whispered before she walked backwards and literally went through the wall behind her as if it wasn't there. She emerged from it and grabbed hold of Tomoyo's and Syaoran's hands. "Everyone link hands." As soon as everybody was holding onto someone else, she guided them through the wall and into a dark movie theater. Apparently the show was extremely good as the numerous people watching it didn't notice them coming out of the wall.
Meiling shrugged and went to one of the few vacant rows towards the back and started to watch the action packed movie filled with daring stunts and car chases, the others followed suit.
The credits ran a half-hour later and Sakura had cast Illusion over them per Syaoran's request. He soon came to regret that as she disguised them all as a typical group of Japanese elementary school girls along with two mothers. The effect served its purpose as they walked out of the theater and past Ami talking to the police in front of her dance club without anyone looking at them.
-----------------------
Sitting in the limousine, Syaoran never took his eyes off his girlfriend. He paid no heed to Meiling talking to the Yamazaki couple, and she didn't seem to be listening to them. Finally, he asked, "Why didn't you tell me why you were getting hurt?"
All conversation in the limousine stopped immediately.
Tomoyo gazed at the boy in surprise and then at Sakura whose head was bowed. "You know what's going on, Li-kun?"
Syaoran nodded, but his eyes were glued to his girlfriend. "We've been worried about you. We thought you might've been doing this to yourself. Why didn't you tell us? Why aren't you getting freak out over it?"
"I don't know why I don't freak out over it," Sakura admitted tearfully. "Maybe it's because I know."
"Know what?" Meiling pressed.
Sakura shrugged. "I... Well... it's just that I know what's happening and why. I can't bring myself to be scared if I know I'm going to be hurt."
Tomoyo looked puzzled for a moment, but then her face paled and her hand moved to cover her mouth. "You don't mean that... SHE is doing this to you?!"
Sakura merely nodded.
"Who?" Meiling demanded.
Syaoran almost growled in frustration when his girlfriend didn't answer. "She's being attacked by Ichimai's ghost. I caught her floating away after the brawl started. I think she was as shocked about me being able to see her and grab her, as I was in learning that she's a poltergeist."
"Whoa! Ichimai is a ghost haunting Kinomoto?!" Takashi said in awe. "Yanagisawa is going to flip when she finds out."
"Wait a second. Ghosts can only haunt objects deeply connected to them or places they are familiar with. She'd need to be invited to get in, right?" Meiling questioned.
Tomoyo pouted deeply. "You could say Reiko-chan was a 'popular' girl with the boys. She would've 'paid' the way to get in without having a membership."
Chiharu looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know," Meiling groused.
Tomoyo decided to change topics. "Li-kun, I noticed that wasn't the same sword you used before."
"Um... I, uh, made this one," Syaoran answered nervously.
Tomoyo wondered what would make the boy blush about his means to use magic, but the fact Sakura was also blushing made her want to know more. "Is there something special about it?"
Meiling grinned viciously. "To make a device to cast spells through, you need a core. Syaoran's kind of has two. His first baby tooth... and Sakura's last one."
Chiharu giggled at the embarrassment the couple displayed. "How did Li-kun get Sakura-chan's last baby tooth?"
"From a deep passionate kiss with her during her second trip to Hong Kong." Meiling's laughter spread through the stretched car. "He even had to spit HER tooth out of HIS mouth."
-----------------------
Author's Notes:
Coming Next: Chapter 12 - The Taking of Sakura
A field trip to an aviary was something Sakura was looking forward to in order to get away from vicious pranks. Letting down her guard proves to be a costly mistake.
A girl having sex to enter a popular dance club, particularly fancy ones that would be above their means to enter normally, is something that does happen in Japan. This is probably not true of all dance clubs in Japan, and maybe not even most of them. But it does happen. I read in one article detailing how a girl ended up being the only female in group sex by being invited into a rave by one of the guys. They got her drunk, they took turns with her, and she was back in front of the rave trying to get in again the following week. For the girls willing to pay any price to get in to a high-class club, it's a mark of status when they get invited inside.
I'm putting out a call for some new pre-readers. I have only one consistent pre-reader, thanks Jeremy Mullin, and a couple that give comments on rare occasions. While I do not expect immediate replies or even a reply to every chapter I send, I would like more input on my drafts before posting them. While my chief concern is grammar, making sure I don't mess up characterization or continuity is also appreciated. If you are interested, send an email to lord_archive@yahoo.com with which anime series you'd be willing to help me with: Card Captor Sakura, Digimon, Naruto, Ranma 1/2, Medabots, Harry Potter, Patlabor, and/or The Slayers (the last four may or may not see anything.)
This omake may be a start to a series or not, which has nothing to do with Shadow of the Dragon. If I do start making numerous parts to this in the omake, I'll likely put them together and post it separately.
-----------------------
Nineteen-year-old Li Sakura was getting rather frustrated at the amount of travel she was doing. Between living in Hong Kong with her husband, her friends living in Tomoeda or attending various universities across Japan, and her father going from one archaeology dig to the next-- if she wanted to see any of them she either had to use a plane or her magic to fly there. The hours lost in transit was starting to pile up. Sakura wanted a better solution.
After months of research on the concepts of teleportation, Sakura attempted to make a card that would allow her to move anywhere instantly. Using The Move as her focal point, she fed her magic into the air before her, willing it to combine into the form of her choosing. Yue and Cerberus were present, aiding in giving the magic shape and form while making sure it did not leak away. The magic became a swirling vortex, sucking small objects into it. They tried to reign in the magic, but the spiral grew in power and size. With a loud bang, the room was completely empty. Not even a hair remained in it.
Sakura screamed as she felt herself falling fast, she cried out in pain as she landed hard on barren dirt. She groaned as she cautiously sat up. She blinked at her surroundings. There was a small wooden village a few kilometers away and a sad looking farm next to her. "Where on Earth am I?"
Yue limped out of the field of wilted plants, holding a strange melon in his hand. "I do not believe we are on Earth."
Sakura closed her eyes and let her senses spread. She gasped at the utterly foreign feeling of the land. The magic of this place twisted and turned all around her. And the elements were separate and distinct. "How did we get into another world?"
Cerberus had reverted to his false form, one of his forelimbs badly hurt from his fall. "Wasn't one of the concepts to teleportation was to move to a different dimension and then move back to the original one in a different place?"
Sakura frowned as she nodded. She looked at the new card in her hand, The Gate. "So, I only half-made the card I wanted."
"It would appear so," Yue groused.
"Why don't you try to use it again and get us home?" Kero-chan asked.
Sakura shook her head. "It feels like The Change. It needs to recharge before I can use it again."
"Wonderful," Kero-chan groused. "How long do you think it'll be?"
"I don't know. Certainly longer than a day. We might be here a week or more," Sakura reluctantly admitted.
"Then I suggest we learn more about this place," Yue recommended coldly. "Yukito would serve better dealing with people." With that the angelic moon guardian reverted to his false form.
"Let's go to town," Sakura almost groaned out as she moved to stand up.
- - - - -
Sakura could almost trick herself to believe she was in the past. She had covered herself and Yukito in an illusion of ragged brown peasant clothes in order to blend in. Though the fact that people were using elemental earth magic openly told her that this was not her world. Though she was sure not one of these Earth mages could touch any of the other elements. Thankfully Sakura had learned Mandarin, Cantonese and English, as these people spoke a strange mix of those languages. It took her a bit to get down their nuances, but she could speak with them.
Still it was a friendly place that gave them a place to stay and some food in exchange for doing some work, for which she used The Earthy to help her with. Unfortunately, after spending a few days in this strange world, The Gate had barely regained any strength. It might be a full month before she could use it.
Sakura giggled as a young girl used her to hide behind while other kids also scattered away from a young boy in a game of tag. Suddenly there was a flash of fire magic. Sakura turned around and saw men in metal armor. One of the young boys laid on the ground burnt to death.
"This town is now under Fire Nation rule. Resist and die!" the leader of these soldiers barked out.
The local earth mages launched an attack to save their homes, but the locals were just workers and farmers. They were cut down quickly by the highly trained fire using soldiers.
Sakura's wand was now in her hands. "You will not harm any more of these people! Earthy! Windy! Fiery! Watery!" The four elementals appeared around her and leapt into battle against the fire nation soldiers. Pure raw power overshadowing trained skill. "You will leave this village and never come back!"
The fire nation soldiers retreated in the face of such unimaginable power. Many of them whispered in disbelief that they were all still alive, but that was not the greatest concern of their leader. "Another Avatar?"
- - - - - - -
And thus begins the story of Sakura the Spirit Bender.
The setting is Avatar: The Last Airbender and is the property of Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Nickelodeon Animation Studios. Used without consent, all rights reserved.
The phone rang and Syaoran pounced at it immediately. "Is she okay?!"
"Hello to you too, Syaoran," Meiling groused from the other end of the phone. "Kinomoto came out of that fight with nothing more than a small bruise to her cheek."
Syaoran slumped onto to his bed and breathed a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness she's okay. What happened to the assassin?"
"Daidouji's bodyguards handed him over to police as he was wanted for a few counts of murder," Meiling answered, sounding slightly irritated.
Syaoran nodded. "Good. Did Daidouji mention anything else?"
"That's all I got from her email. We'll get the full story from them tomorrow. Talk to you later. Bye," Meiling informed and hung up as soon as he bid her a 'good night.'
Syaoran set the phone to the side before picking up the doctored picture Sakura had given him for Christmas a few years ago. He looked intently at Sakura's image. "Tomorrow," he promised.
"You really know how to make a girl feel ignored, little brother."
Syaoran jumped off his bed. He then bowed at the transparent form of his dead sister. He had been expecting her appearance on the night one week after her death, and that was the main reason why he had not been allowed to return to Tomoeda. "Sorry, Fanren... I..."
"You're going to make me an aunt before Mother is ready for it," Fanren teased.
Syaoran flushed. "I... er... we..."
"Yes, yes, I know. You haven't gotten that far... YET." Fanren giggled.
Syaoran shook his head fiercely. "I'm sorry I didn't spend more time with you before..."
Fanren shrugged. "Who wants to spend time around a dead girl walking? You knew that I would pass away while I was still young. I understand. It certainly kept me from making more friends as I didn't want to leave them behind."
Syaoran slouched. "So what happens now?"
Fanren grinned. "I could tell you, but that would ruin the surprise." She then looked at him seriously. "I want you to keep my brush and have it on you at ALL times."
"Shouldn't mother have it?" Syaoran wondered, considering a girl's hairbrush was one of the most important things given after her death.
"Trust me, little brother, my brush is intended for you, and you alone." Fanren's ghostly form began to fade. "See you later."
Syaoran blinked in surprise as his dead sister vanished. Not 'good-bye' but 'see you later?' He shook his head. Talking to a precog about the future always frustrated him.
-----------------------
Card Captors Sakura: Shadow of the Dragon
Chapter 11: Sakura and the Guilt of Living
Card Captor Sakura belongs to the fine ladies of CLAMP. Used without consent, all rights reserved.
By: Lord Archive
Author's Warnings:
This contains mature themes not intended for children under thirteen.
This series contains:
Adult situations.
Sexual situations withOUT detailed description of sex nor the naked human body.
Brief moments of violence, some cases involving people getting severely injured and possibly death.
Occasional use of vulgar language.
Japanese humor: which include bathroom jokes, panty fetish and shocking situations.
Depictions of criminal activity committed by fictional characters.
References of homosexuality.
-----------------------
The smile on Sakura's face was a bit thin and her eyes were still dull, but life was slowly returning to the girl's face. Tomoyo knew her best friend still felt guilt over Reiko's death, and probably always would, yet she was starting to let go of the pain. Of course the prospect of seeing the one you love would make anyone happier.
"Come on, Tomoyo-chan! I want to see if he's home yet!" Sakura insisted, almost prancing towards the stairs.
Tomoyo smiled gently. The wonders of what love can do to lift a person. She then blinked as Sakura turned suddenly. Her eyes widened as her best friend started to fall, straight down the stairs. "SAKURA-CHAN!"
Sakura bounced down the steps before coming to a rest at the landing. She groaned as she sat up, rubbing her arms tenderly.
Tomoyo almost fell down the stairs in her rush to get to her friend. "Are you all right?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah. Guess I was too excited to see Syaoran-kun. Sorry."
Tomoyo gazed intently at her friend. "Do you need to see the nurse?"
"No, I should be all right." Sakura smiled sheepishly. She waved her hand in denial, showing a bandage on her finger where she had cut herself on a knife in home economics. "I've just been a bit of a klutz today."
Tomoyo didn't know if she should believe her friend. Sakura seemed to look at something briefly, but Tomoyo wondered if it was her imagination as nothing was there. Though, Sakura had been a bit off since Reiko's death, which the near rape and the battle against the assassin certainly didn't help. Hopefully the return of the girl's boyfriend would help calm down her beloved friend.
-----------------------
The front door opening and the joyful cry of "Syaoran-kun!" was all the warning the boy got before having his girlfriend latch onto him with a fierce hug. Meiling merely shook her head at the sight while Tomoyo stood at the door with her camera focused on the couple.
Returning the hug, Syaoran told her gently, "I'm home."
Sakura seized up as her boyfriend accidentally brushed against one of her fresh bruises.
Syaoran broke the embrace and looked at her intently. "What happened?! I thought you were barely hurt by that assassin."
"I'm fine!" Sakura insisted. "I've just been a royal klutz today."
Syaoran glanced skeptically behind his girlfriend at the dark haired girl with the video camera.
"The cut is from home economics, the bruises are from falling down a flight of stairs," Tomoyo informed with a touch of concern in her voice.
"See, nothing to worry about." Sakura grabbed his hands. "I'm so glad you came back."
Syaoran sighed. "I wish I never had to leave in the first place. How are you feeling?"
Sakura pouted and she looked away from him. "I think that goes without saying."
Syaoran nodded sadly. "I'd say the same holds for me."
Sakura's eyes started to dart around the room, she then clutched her boyfriend tightly. "S-something is h-h-here?!"
The boy gave a pained glance at his cousin. "Meiling, the brush."
Meiling shrugged and went into Syaoran's room. A moment later she returned with a broken hairbrush and held it out towards the trembling girl.
Sakura reluctantly let go of her boyfriend. She reached for the brush and yanked her hand back as if she was shocked with electricity when she touched it. Hesitantly, she reached for it again, taking the broken brush into her hands. She collapsed to her knees, tears forming in her eyes. "Fanren-chan...."
Syaoran nodded. "My sister isn't done with this world yet. She didn't tell me, but it seems there's something I'll need her help with in the future."
"I'm sorry I didn't get to say 'good-bye' to you," Sakura told the brush.
"It's not 'good-bye' yet, but a new 'hello,'" was they spectral reply.
Sakura promptly screamed and passed out, making Meiling and Tomoyo wonder what just happened though both had a good guess.
-----------------------
Concern for Sakura grew the following day. While she seemed fine arriving at the school, by the time gym started she had collided with some desks and added a nasty bruise to her hip. Syaoran wished he could've watched Sakura during gym, but they had completely separate drills for that class.
Tomoyo worriedly returned to class alone. She did not go to her seat, rather stayed at the door looking down the hall.
"Where's Sakura?" Syaoran asked.
"Taking a shower. She kept tripping and falling, landing in the mud a couple times," Tomoyo informed, still watching for the girl.
"Do you think she's doing it on purpose?" Syaoran asked intently.
Tomoyo pouted. "I want to say 'no.'"
Meiling walked up to them. "You don't think Kinomoto is that stupid, do you? Why would she intentionally hurt herself?"
"Guilt," Syaoran answered simply.
"Sakura-chan may feel she needs to be 'punished,'" Tomoyo added. "Though I hope this is a subtle attack on her."
"Not likely. Masking your aura to cast a quick flair of magic is a lot easier than a prolonged spell. I don't think her enemy is willing to let us analyze any spells," Syaoran explained.
"I wouldn't discount anything when it comes to Kinomoto," Meiling groused.
Thankfully the next class was lunch, otherwise Sakura would've been late. The girl limped her way to her into view of her classroom. She smiled sheepishly at her boyfriend as he rushed to her. "Sorry that I'm a bit late."
"Are you okay?" Syaoran asked heatedly.
Sakura didn't answer as she looked at the floor. Her eyes suddenly darted to the side.
Syaoran wondered if Meiling or Tomoyo had just pushed him as he found himself falling on top of Sakura. He did what he could to control their fall as they both landed on the hallway floor. His eyes widened seeing his hand go through her school blouse, his fingers telling him there was only bare flesh. He leapt off her, his face burning red as he gazed at her. "Wha... WHAT?!"
Sakura likewise flushed, her hands moving to cover herself as if she was completely naked.
"What's going on?" Tomoyo asked, moving up to them with Meiling right behind her.
"I... I couldn't find my clothes," Sakura admitted in embarrassment. "I had to use the Illusion."
Syaoran's face took a glazed expression, his pants suddenly becoming tighter.
Tomoyo clapped her hands. "Well, I can take care of part of your problem!" She helped her best friend to stand up. "We'll meet up with you at our usual spot."
Meiling nodded, while Syaoran's eyes never moved off his girlfriend.
-----------------------
Meiling frowned at the melancholy group of friends. Sakura's lingering guilt along with Syaoran and Chiharu mourning the loss of beloved relatives was definitely the cause of the conversations being rather dull. Meiling certainly missed her cousin, practically raised as sisters, but living in gloom was not the best way to remember someone who passed away. Sakura's growing list of possibly self-inflicted injuries was particularly troubling. Not to mention the fact she was wearing one of Tomoyo's battle costumes under her illusion.
Meiling wondered what she could do to get everyone out of their funk. She began to grin after noticing two girls dancing to a radio playing music.
"Daidouji, come with me for a second," Meiling grabbed the girl before she could reply.
"What is it that you want, Meiling-chan?" Tomoyo wondered.
"I think I know a way to help our friends. We should all go out to a dance club and have some fun," Meiling announced earnestly.
Tomoyo pouted. "Why didn't you just suggest it to everyone?"
"Because if I had, Kinomoto and Yamazaki-chan would've shot it down without considering it. Together we can get Syaoran and the rest of them to agree to go. They really need to do something to get their minds off last week," Meiling pressed.
Tomoyo paused in thought. "I wish it was something other than dancing, but a dance club may be just the place to get Sakura-chan to let go and be herself."
Meiling turned toward her friends. "Syaoran, get over here!" Her cousin responded with some grumbling as he got up and walked toward her. Before he could say anything to her, she told him, "You're going to ask Kinomoto to go out dancing Saturday."
"Dancing?" Syaoran looked at her strangely. "Why?"
"We all need to do something, Kinomoto especially. Maybe a group outing will get her mind off last week, even if it is for a little while." Meiling then teasingly added, "Besides, I'm sure she'd love to know how light you really can be on your feet."
Syaoran lips thinned out as he gazed at his girlfriend, who was now staring up at their classroom as if she was seeing something. He glanced up there, and saw only light reflecting off the windows. "Fine." He walked toward his beloved. "Sakura, how about we all go out dancing this Saturday?"
Sakura pouted at her boyfriend. "I don't know...."
"Come on, Kinomoto, Daidouji and I are going too!" Meiling turned toward her other friends. "You all can come as well!"
"Sure, sounds like fun," Takashi quickly agreed.
Chiharu glared at her husband. "I'm not sure I want to go."
"It's a group outing and a chance to have fun. Besides, you only have one house to clean now," Takashi pointed out. "Don't you want to see me dance?"
Sakura gazed at the married girl. "I'll go, if you go Chiharu-chan."
"Fine, I'll go." Chiharu huffed.
Rika glanced towards the elementary school. "I'm afraid I'll have to bow out. I've got a date with my boyfriend and he can't be seen with me in a dance club like that."
Naoko shook her head. "I'm going to a sci-fi convention with Shinji-kun. Neither of us danced well during gym, so a dance club would be an exercise in pain and embarrassment."
"First date with Asaba, huh?" Meiling shrugged. "That's still six of us to go dancing. That's good enough."
Sakura pouted. "I don't think I have anything to wear to a dance club." She repressed a groan when Tomoyo's eye lit up, yet was also relieved to see her friend smile like that again.
"I'm going to make you an outfit that'll knock Li-kun out!" Tomoyo promised.
-----------------------
Terada usually arrived to his private rendezvous spot after Rika, mostly because his work as a teacher kept him busy at the elementary school longer. Especially as he was the gym teacher and currently without a homeroom, so unless he got a 'volunteer' to help clean the gymnasium, it was left to him to do it. Today's volunteer was a fifth grade boy who decided to throw a mud ball at a girl.
Terada chuckled a little. While the boy might not understand why he did it, the teacher had a strong guess. He wasn't about to tell the boy hitting a girl with mud was not the way to get her attention. Considering how fast Rika and her friends grew up, he didn't want to risk learning in a few years that the boy was doing more than dating the girl.
"Hello, Yoshiyuki," Rika greeted him with a brief kiss. "How was your day?"
"Fine. I was just thinking about a boy doing a good job making sure the girl he likes never talks to him," Terada told her with a smirk. "Hit her with a mud ball."
Rika giggled. "Good thing I never had to worry about that."
Terada caressed her cheek. "And how was your day?"
"Well, it's not nearly so quiet anymore with Meiling-chan and Li-kun back. Though we're really starting to worry about Sakura. Her klutz attacks have been getting out of control. She was barely touched by that assassin, and now she's a walking bruise." Rika sighed with frustration. "We don't know what to do for her."
Terada nodded. He was rather thankful that the assassin had given his challenge ahead of time, allowing him to watch the magical battle. He certainly no longer doubted magic. However, Sakura's current problem might not be magical at all. "Do you think she's intentionally hurting herself?"
Rika looked away uncertainly. "I'm not sure if it's intentional..."
"But her injuries might be self-inflicted." Terada nodded sadly. "It's understandable her guilt would need some form of outlet. She might need professional help."
"Well, if going to a dance club this Saturday doesn't help her, we may just drag her to a psychologist," Rika vowed.
-----------------------
Syaoran didn't particularly like it that Naoko was following him, even if she knew about his magic and that she wanted to observe him to get ideas for her novella. However, he wasn't going to tell her no, as this was probably the most 'detective work' his magic was likely to do any time soon.
Carefully walking through the empty hallways of the junior high school, Syaoran focused his magic towards finding Sakura's distinct aura, though thankfully he wasn't looking for her. He had already found her previous classrooms, and now knew which desks and seats she had used in seventh and eighth grades.
"How far could her clothes have gotten from the locker rooms?" Naoko wondered.
"That's what I'd like to know," Syaoran grumbled. They had started their search there. Unfortunately, he had not found her missing uniform and gym clothes inside the school.
"Do you think she 'erased' them?" Naoko wondered.
"I don't think she'd do that," Syaoran countered. At least outside there was less to interfere with his senses and they could move more quickly. He paused in front of the garbage dumpster. He wasn't sure if he felt something, but playing safe he opened the lid and the feeling of Sakura's lingering aura grew noticeably.
"It's not in there, is it?" Naoko wondered.
Syaoran reached in and pulled out a clear garbage bag filled with discarded bits of food. The foul odor from it quickly drew a swarm of flies. "Her clothes are in this bag." He then gazed intently into the contents.
"Just toss it back in. She can get new ones," Naoko insisted, looking rather pale with one hand covering her mouth.
Syaoran sighed and dropped the bag back in. Too many people had touched the food waste to see if someone else had handled Sakura's clothes. Smothered in garbage, he doubted pulling out the uniform would be of any help. "Well, we found the where, but not the why or how."
"Could this really be Sakura's own doing?" Naoko asked.
Syaoran glanced at the dumpster. "I certainly hope not."
-----------------------
"Why are we going dancing?" Chiharu wondered. "There's a lot to do here."
Takashi folded his arms. "Besides being a chance to go out with our friends and having a real date?"
"I don't think Tomoyo-chan and Meiling-chan would like being the third couple," Chiharu pointed out grumpily.
"Li-chan might not, but I wouldn't be too sure about Daidouji. There's been rumors about her," Takashi pointed out.
Chiharu wagged her finger at her husband. "Just because Tomoyo-chan has never accepted a date with a boy doesn't mean she likes girls. I've turned down a lot of dates, and not because of you."
"Whatever." Takashi shrugged. "You still need to get away for a little bit. We don't have any children yet, and we're definitely young. We should be going out and enjoying ourselves."
Chiharu looked away. "I'm not really feeling up to have some fun."
"If you stay here, you never will." Takashi put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Look, I know you miss your father. You always will. But you can't mourn him forever. He wanted you to be happy. Besides, if you don't go, it'll be harder to drag Kinomoto there, and you know she needs to go more than you do."
Chiharu pouted. "Fine. But what should I wear? I've never been to a dance club before."
Takashi grinned devilishly. "Something sexy."
Chiharu poked her husband's chest. "You just want to get lucky."
Takashi laughed. "That's half the point of going to a dance club!"
-----------------------
Meiling rode in the Daidouji family's limousine to Kinomoto's house, to aid in bringing Sakura to the dance club. She had opted for a daring dark green Chinese silk dress accented with white jasmine flowers that didn't even reach to mid-thigh. She glanced at Tomoyo, wondering why the girl seemed to be a bit on edge. "You know that we may be going to some dance club, but it doesn't mean you have to dance."
Tomoyo, wearing a modest purple dress if you didn't count the fact that if she showed any more cleavage, it wouldn't cover her breasts, pouted at her foreign friend. "It's not dancing that has me worried. I've never been to a rave before and didn't know the usual... cost for getting in."
Meiling blinked in confusion. "What? It's not some entry fee?"
"When I mentioned it to my bodyguards I wanted to go, they explained to me the problem with just deciding to go to one." Tomoyo looked away. "Going to a dance club, particularly a good rave club, is very popular in Tokyo. Too popular. Rather than only admit people on a first come, first serve basis, most of the best places to dance sold memberships to get in. However, guys bought up most of the open memberships."
Meiling frowned. "Does that mean we won't be able to go in?"
Tomoyo shook her head. "One of my bodyguards is a member of a rave, so we can get in as her guest. Though I'm a touch worried about how girls usually have to get in."
Meiling raised an eyebrow. "If they need a guy to invite them, I'd hate to know what 'price' he would ask from them."
Tomoyo nodded. "You would. The cost is usually sex, and sometimes not with just the guy who invited her." She then sighed. "I know part of the reason you want to go is to find a potential boyfriend, but with many of the guys there expecting sex tonight..."
"I'll have to be very careful." Meiling folded her arms irritably. "Is it really that bad?"
"I wouldn't know." Tomoyo shrugged. "I've never been to one before. My bodyguard said the one she goes to is better than the other ones for people who want to just dance."
Arriving at the Kinomoto home, the two girls left the limousine and went into the house.
"Hello," Tomoyo greeted Sakura's father at the door, holding a small clothing box.
"Hi. Don't mind us. We're here to kidnap your daughter," Meiling joked.
"Hello," Fujitaka returned their greetings. "Sakura is hiding in her room."
The two girls went up the stairs and entered their friend's room. They threw Kero-chan out of it before protests from Sakura echoed through the house. A few minutes later, all three girls came down the stairs.
Fujitaka was concerned with his daughter's attire. Black leather ankle high boots, black leather mini-skirt that would likely be hard pressed to cover his daughter's underwear while dancing, leather jacket that looked like it was intended for a five-year-old as it didn't even reach the girl's waist and would be impossible to button up, and a band of pink cloth wrapped around Sakura's chest doing a poor job of covering her chest.
"See you later," Meiling promised dragging Sakura out of the house before anyone could say anything.
Tomoyo followed after them, repressing the urge to laugh.
Fujitaka shook his head clear only after the limousine had started to drive off.
Kero-chan flew up to him. "And you just let your daughter go on a date dressed like THAT?!"
Fujitaka shrugged a little. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised if Sakura spends the night with her boyfriend."
"How can you just say that about Sakura?!" Kero-chan demanded.
Fujitaka tried to smile, but it was obviously forced. "I remember when her mother was fifteen. How can I deny her doing the stuff I encouraged her mother to do with me?"
"Simple, you're her father," Kero-chan groused.
"I've seen how much being over protective can hurt the person you're trying to keep safe," Fujitaka countered before walking off.
Kero-chan glared. "But not protecting her might get her into even more pain and suffering."
-----------------------
Arriving at an entertainment area just outside of Tomoeda, there were several different dance clubs with love motels practically across the street from them. There were literally dozens of girls hanging out on the street, some of them dressed even more daring than Sakura and Meiling while others took their looks to other extremes by being extremely cute where holding a teddy-bear was part of the outfit, wearing so much black clothes and make-up that one would wonder if the girl was an undead, or covering themselves with so many technology gadgets it made them look like a cyborg.
Syaoran didn't notice the girls, having caught a glimpse of pink cotton under Sakura's black leather mini-skirt.
Takashi nearly broke his neck as he stared at one girl. "She's not wearing panties?!" Despite his pronouncement, the girl made no move to cover herself.
Chiharu was sorely tempted to finish what his wandering eyes started. "Why look at what you can't have?"
"It's entirely because I can't have it," Takashi returned, grinning sheepishly.
Meiling glanced at the girl in question out of curiosity to see if she was really panty-less. She then frowned noticing that Tomoyo's camera was on and discreetly pointed at that girl.
Two of Tomoyo's bodyguards led the way to the rave that one of them was a member of. There was no delay admitting all of them into the club, though the guards were never more than a few meters from Tomoyo.
The inside of the dance club was filled darkness pierced by flashing colored lights. The floor was filled with people bumping and grinding against each other to the beat of the ever-changing music. Surrounding the dancing area were numerous tables which Sakura and her friends quickly commandeered one of the larger tables to use.
Tomoyo moved to the back of the table, as far away from the dance floor she could get. Sakura moved to sit next to her while Chiharu and Takashi went to the other side. Syaoran was about to sit next to his girlfriend when Meiling grabbed him.
"Why don't we warm up the dance floor for them?" Meiling suggested strongly. "We'll show these people how to really move."
Sakura pouted, wondering if all there was dancing to this music was rubbing yourself up against someone else. She didn't say anything as her boyfriend was dragged off by his cousin and one-time fiancee. She reprised her thinking of dancing as the Chinese cousins went into a martial arts kata, mirroring each other's moves and being sure to miss with their attacks.
Sakura wasn't the only one to notice the skillful movements. The lights moved to focus on them and the music's tempo became even more erratic as if trying to throw off the dance. Yet despite the attention from the disc jockey, most of those gathered didn't pay a whole lot of attention. When their martial dance came to an end, the only ones to clap were Sakura and her friends.
"Was that really dancing?" Takashi wondered.
"Martial arts is nothing more than a deadly dance. And practicing to music helps to learn how to read your opponent's tempo and see where his holes are," Meiling explained cheerfully.
"How come I never heard of martial artists using music that way before?" Chiharu wondered.
"Because while dancing helps you read your opponent, it also makes it easier for them to read you." Syaoran sat down next to his girlfriend. "The DJ did us a favor by mixing up the music so much. Both in making it harder for us to predict and in forcing us to change our movements."
"It's too bad Naoko-chan isn't here. She'd love to have learned about this," Chiharu commented.
-----------------------
Sakura's body writhed with the music. Her hips undulated in a hypnotic pattern. Her hands caressed her body, accenting the womanly features she was growing into.
Syaoran was quite glad he wasn't bumping and grinding like many of the other 'dancers' as his girlfriend would easily know what was on his mind if they did.
Syaoran didn't know that Sakura could dance this way nor this well. That a few girls were copying her movements had not escaped him. He wondered how his beloved could move in such a way. And then she looked at him.
His heart leapt into his throat, the answer hitting Syaoran hard. The naive, innocent girl he had originally fallen in love with was gone. The sparkling, inquisitive eyes that didn't seem to understand everything were now serious and knowing. Her shyness and uncertain movements were now filled with a confidence. He knew Sakura could not remain the sweet elementary girl forever, but the changes brought by growing older and her magical battles had never struck him so deeply as it did right now.
"Is there something wrong?" Sakura asked him, still moving with the music.
"Just with the world," Syaoran replied.
-----------------------
Tomoyo frowned as the fast paced music kept playing without rest. While couples danced to it, there was nothing special or romantic to it. Getting out from behind the table, she went to the DJ, her guards following behind her.
Tomoyo bowed to the guy doing his own dance with records and CDs. "Excuse me, but can you play a slow song for couples to dance too?"
The DJ looked at the girl strangely. "Where do you think you are? This is as slow as we get."
"Now, Hito-kun, there's no need to reject her flat out," purred a young woman dressed in red leather.
"Boss, you said..." Hito started to complain.
The woman smirked. "Forget what I said, and listen to me right now."
Tomoyo gazed at her intently, doubting this woman was more than twenty-years-old. "You're the boss here?"
"Got sick of being rejected to these clubs so I bought one," the woman laughed. "You can call me Ami. I'd be willing to bend the music rules for a little favor."
Tomoyo frowned. "How little?"
Ami smiled devilishly. "You'll have to dance with me during that song."
"I'm really a bad dancer. I've lost count on the number of times I stepped on the feet of my dance instructors," Tomoyo admitted shyly.
"And how many of your previous dance partners were guys?" Ami asked knowingly.
Tomoyo looked away. "All of them."
"And wasn't that your problem?" Ami pressed. "You need to be comfortable with yourself and your partner in order to dance well."
"I hope you're not offended, but I don't think I'd be very comfortable with you," Tomoyo pointed out.
"I'm sorry I'm not emerald-eyes or the Chinese girl, but I don't think you'll be getting a dance with them." Ami lifted the girl's hand. "One little dance is all I ask. I'm sure if I tried for more, your two friends behind you would make me rather unhappy."
"Well, I tried to warn you." Tomoyo shook her head. "Shall we dance then?"
"How can the boss get more girls than I do?" the DJ groaned.
Tomoyo felt a bit too self-conscious as the slow song began and the young dance club owner held her, thankfully not too tightly. She stayed a considerable distance from Sakura and their friends, but did manage to catch a glimpse of her best friends dancing with a thick blush.
"Any sacrifice for her, huh?" Ami asked.
Tomoyo nodded, feeling no need to say more than that. By the song's end she had managed to relax, and was surprised to note she had not stepped on Ami's feet even once.
-----------------------
"This place is insane!" Chiharu complained as she sat at their table.
"Yeah! Isn't it great?" Meiling cheered, sitting next to her and pointedly not looking towards the back where Tomoyo was talking with some woman the girl had just danced with.
"Great?" Chiharu looked at her friend disbelievingly. She pointed towards another table. "There's a guy snorting powder over there!"
"This is a party! Inhibitions should be checked at the door!" Meiling countered.
"Are you nuts?" Chiharu cried out. "Who knows what these guys would do to you if you gave them a chance!"
Meiling shrugged. "I'm keeping my options open. I need a good boyfriend. So far none of these guys passed my test."
"Test? What test?" Chiharu wondered.
Meiling wagged a finger in the air. "It's real simple. For a guy to have a chance with me, he has to look at my face when he's talking or dancing with me."
Chiharu gazed at the girl skeptically. "With that dress, I'd say you're sabotaging yourself."
"I do have to make it a challenge for them," Meiling joked.
Takashi was holding some soda pops as he walked over to them with wide eyes. "Any thing goes here, huh?"
"What now?" Chiharu groused.
"Look behind you," was all Takashi managed to say.
The two girls turned around and stared at what a couple was doing two tables away.
"Didn't even wait until leaving..." Meiling shook her head, but continued to watch.
Chiharu turned around stiffly. She then scowled at her husband who was still watching. "I am NOT going to do that for you here."
"Hope she's using birth control," Meiling commented.
-----------------------
Tomoyo followed behind Sakura as they left the women's bathroom. It was nice to see that Sakura was enjoying herself, gaining back some of the bounce in the girl's step. And not once did her beloved friend have any accident of any sort, which made Tomoyo wonder about the cause of them even more.
Passing by some large men, Sakura's hand seemed to move of it's own accord and smacked the full glass of beer a guy was holding onto him.
"Oh, no... I... ah..." Sakura took a step back from him in fright.
"Why the fuck did you do that?" the man sneered, rearing his hand back and slamming his fist into Sakura's face, sending her to the floor.
"Sakura-chan?!" Tomoyo immediately went to her knees to see if her friend was all right. She refused to look as she heard the guy emit a cry of pain. Her bodyguards had been right behind them.
More noise erupted through the rave as violence washed over the place like a wave. Too much alcohol and too little control led to an all out brawl.
Tomoyo remained where she was, holding Sakura's unconscious form. Her guards flanking them and doing a vicious job of keeping anyone who might want to hurt them away. Meiling joined in the protection, but where her guards were stoic, the Chinese girl wore a grin as she sent guy after guy into pain-filled slumber. Syaoran finally emerged from the melee going on around them, but he looked a bit unsteady.
"Huh? Wha?" Sakura blinked her eyes open.
"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Tomoyo asked desperately.
Sakura nodded, but flinched as she touched her injured cheek.
"We need to get out of here," Syaoran ordered. "Let's find Yamazaki and his wife before this gets any worse."
A high pitch scream and a shift of the mob of fighters drew their attention. People backed away, revealing a young man holding a knife dripping with blood. The moaning guy at his feet wasn't Yamazaki, but the married boy was unfortunately too close to the armed man, with Chiharu cowering behind him.
"Stand back! I've got a knife! You fuckers won't hurt me!" the armed man ordered.
Syaoran's little finger slipped into his pocket and he pulled out a large plain ring with two short silken ropes connecting a green orb and a pink orb to it. With a flick of his wrist, the two ropes entwined with each other and the balls merged, forming sword hilt and guard from which a long blade emerged. The sword looked much like the one he used in elementary school, but it was clear to Tomoyo's eyes it was not the same one. Moving into the clearing, Syaoran announced his presence. "Put down that knife and you won't be hurt."
The armed man swayed as he stared at the teenager. "I got a knife!"
"And I have a sword with over a decade's training to use it. Who do you think would win?" Syaoran stated evenly. "Put down the knife."
The man screamed and ran forward. He only made it halfway before Meiling intercepted him, first with a foot sweep, followed by a knee to his jaw as he was falling.
Meiling popped her knuckles as she stood proudly over the unconscious man. "Does anyone else want to try their luck?"
"It's never a dull moment with you, is it?" Chiharu asked, rushing across the room to her friends' side.
"Sorry," Sakura apologized.
Takashi laughed. "It's more fun this way!"
"Don't anyone move! This is the police!"
Panic alighted the faces of almost every person at the rave before they all tried to find an exit. With the chaos and fear, no one was paying attention to Meiling or Syaoran anymore.
"Allow me to ignore walls, Through," Sakura whispered before she walked backwards and literally went through the wall behind her as if it wasn't there. She emerged from it and grabbed hold of Tomoyo's and Syaoran's hands. "Everyone link hands." As soon as everybody was holding onto someone else, she guided them through the wall and into a dark movie theater. Apparently the show was extremely good as the numerous people watching it didn't notice them coming out of the wall.
Meiling shrugged and went to one of the few vacant rows towards the back and started to watch the action packed movie filled with daring stunts and car chases, the others followed suit.
The credits ran a half-hour later and Sakura had cast Illusion over them per Syaoran's request. He soon came to regret that as she disguised them all as a typical group of Japanese elementary school girls along with two mothers. The effect served its purpose as they walked out of the theater and past Ami talking to the police in front of her dance club without anyone looking at them.
-----------------------
Sitting in the limousine, Syaoran never took his eyes off his girlfriend. He paid no heed to Meiling talking to the Yamazaki couple, and she didn't seem to be listening to them. Finally, he asked, "Why didn't you tell me why you were getting hurt?"
All conversation in the limousine stopped immediately.
Tomoyo gazed at the boy in surprise and then at Sakura whose head was bowed. "You know what's going on, Li-kun?"
Syaoran nodded, but his eyes were glued to his girlfriend. "We've been worried about you. We thought you might've been doing this to yourself. Why didn't you tell us? Why aren't you getting freak out over it?"
"I don't know why I don't freak out over it," Sakura admitted tearfully. "Maybe it's because I know."
"Know what?" Meiling pressed.
Sakura shrugged. "I... Well... it's just that I know what's happening and why. I can't bring myself to be scared if I know I'm going to be hurt."
Tomoyo looked puzzled for a moment, but then her face paled and her hand moved to cover her mouth. "You don't mean that... SHE is doing this to you?!"
Sakura merely nodded.
"Who?" Meiling demanded.
Syaoran almost growled in frustration when his girlfriend didn't answer. "She's being attacked by Ichimai's ghost. I caught her floating away after the brawl started. I think she was as shocked about me being able to see her and grab her, as I was in learning that she's a poltergeist."
"Whoa! Ichimai is a ghost haunting Kinomoto?!" Takashi said in awe. "Yanagisawa is going to flip when she finds out."
"Wait a second. Ghosts can only haunt objects deeply connected to them or places they are familiar with. She'd need to be invited to get in, right?" Meiling questioned.
Tomoyo pouted deeply. "You could say Reiko-chan was a 'popular' girl with the boys. She would've 'paid' the way to get in without having a membership."
Chiharu looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know," Meiling groused.
Tomoyo decided to change topics. "Li-kun, I noticed that wasn't the same sword you used before."
"Um... I, uh, made this one," Syaoran answered nervously.
Tomoyo wondered what would make the boy blush about his means to use magic, but the fact Sakura was also blushing made her want to know more. "Is there something special about it?"
Meiling grinned viciously. "To make a device to cast spells through, you need a core. Syaoran's kind of has two. His first baby tooth... and Sakura's last one."
Chiharu giggled at the embarrassment the couple displayed. "How did Li-kun get Sakura-chan's last baby tooth?"
"From a deep passionate kiss with her during her second trip to Hong Kong." Meiling's laughter spread through the stretched car. "He even had to spit HER tooth out of HIS mouth."
-----------------------
Author's Notes:
Coming Next: Chapter 12 - The Taking of Sakura
A field trip to an aviary was something Sakura was looking forward to in order to get away from vicious pranks. Letting down her guard proves to be a costly mistake.
A girl having sex to enter a popular dance club, particularly fancy ones that would be above their means to enter normally, is something that does happen in Japan. This is probably not true of all dance clubs in Japan, and maybe not even most of them. But it does happen. I read in one article detailing how a girl ended up being the only female in group sex by being invited into a rave by one of the guys. They got her drunk, they took turns with her, and she was back in front of the rave trying to get in again the following week. For the girls willing to pay any price to get in to a high-class club, it's a mark of status when they get invited inside.
I'm putting out a call for some new pre-readers. I have only one consistent pre-reader, thanks Jeremy Mullin, and a couple that give comments on rare occasions. While I do not expect immediate replies or even a reply to every chapter I send, I would like more input on my drafts before posting them. While my chief concern is grammar, making sure I don't mess up characterization or continuity is also appreciated. If you are interested, send an email to lord_archive@yahoo.com with which anime series you'd be willing to help me with: Card Captor Sakura, Digimon, Naruto, Ranma 1/2, Medabots, Harry Potter, Patlabor, and/or The Slayers (the last four may or may not see anything.)
This omake may be a start to a series or not, which has nothing to do with Shadow of the Dragon. If I do start making numerous parts to this in the omake, I'll likely put them together and post it separately.
-----------------------
Nineteen-year-old Li Sakura was getting rather frustrated at the amount of travel she was doing. Between living in Hong Kong with her husband, her friends living in Tomoeda or attending various universities across Japan, and her father going from one archaeology dig to the next-- if she wanted to see any of them she either had to use a plane or her magic to fly there. The hours lost in transit was starting to pile up. Sakura wanted a better solution.
After months of research on the concepts of teleportation, Sakura attempted to make a card that would allow her to move anywhere instantly. Using The Move as her focal point, she fed her magic into the air before her, willing it to combine into the form of her choosing. Yue and Cerberus were present, aiding in giving the magic shape and form while making sure it did not leak away. The magic became a swirling vortex, sucking small objects into it. They tried to reign in the magic, but the spiral grew in power and size. With a loud bang, the room was completely empty. Not even a hair remained in it.
Sakura screamed as she felt herself falling fast, she cried out in pain as she landed hard on barren dirt. She groaned as she cautiously sat up. She blinked at her surroundings. There was a small wooden village a few kilometers away and a sad looking farm next to her. "Where on Earth am I?"
Yue limped out of the field of wilted plants, holding a strange melon in his hand. "I do not believe we are on Earth."
Sakura closed her eyes and let her senses spread. She gasped at the utterly foreign feeling of the land. The magic of this place twisted and turned all around her. And the elements were separate and distinct. "How did we get into another world?"
Cerberus had reverted to his false form, one of his forelimbs badly hurt from his fall. "Wasn't one of the concepts to teleportation was to move to a different dimension and then move back to the original one in a different place?"
Sakura frowned as she nodded. She looked at the new card in her hand, The Gate. "So, I only half-made the card I wanted."
"It would appear so," Yue groused.
"Why don't you try to use it again and get us home?" Kero-chan asked.
Sakura shook her head. "It feels like The Change. It needs to recharge before I can use it again."
"Wonderful," Kero-chan groused. "How long do you think it'll be?"
"I don't know. Certainly longer than a day. We might be here a week or more," Sakura reluctantly admitted.
"Then I suggest we learn more about this place," Yue recommended coldly. "Yukito would serve better dealing with people." With that the angelic moon guardian reverted to his false form.
"Let's go to town," Sakura almost groaned out as she moved to stand up.
- - - - -
Sakura could almost trick herself to believe she was in the past. She had covered herself and Yukito in an illusion of ragged brown peasant clothes in order to blend in. Though the fact that people were using elemental earth magic openly told her that this was not her world. Though she was sure not one of these Earth mages could touch any of the other elements. Thankfully Sakura had learned Mandarin, Cantonese and English, as these people spoke a strange mix of those languages. It took her a bit to get down their nuances, but she could speak with them.
Still it was a friendly place that gave them a place to stay and some food in exchange for doing some work, for which she used The Earthy to help her with. Unfortunately, after spending a few days in this strange world, The Gate had barely regained any strength. It might be a full month before she could use it.
Sakura giggled as a young girl used her to hide behind while other kids also scattered away from a young boy in a game of tag. Suddenly there was a flash of fire magic. Sakura turned around and saw men in metal armor. One of the young boys laid on the ground burnt to death.
"This town is now under Fire Nation rule. Resist and die!" the leader of these soldiers barked out.
The local earth mages launched an attack to save their homes, but the locals were just workers and farmers. They were cut down quickly by the highly trained fire using soldiers.
Sakura's wand was now in her hands. "You will not harm any more of these people! Earthy! Windy! Fiery! Watery!" The four elementals appeared around her and leapt into battle against the fire nation soldiers. Pure raw power overshadowing trained skill. "You will leave this village and never come back!"
The fire nation soldiers retreated in the face of such unimaginable power. Many of them whispered in disbelief that they were all still alive, but that was not the greatest concern of their leader. "Another Avatar?"
- - - - - - -
And thus begins the story of Sakura the Spirit Bender.
The setting is Avatar: The Last Airbender and is the property of Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Nickelodeon Animation Studios. Used without consent, all rights reserved.