Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Spellbound ❯ Chapter 12

* Sixth Year Boys' Dormitory *

 

Eriol awoke extra early to post his letter to Tomoyo. Getting dressed, he realized that both Ami's and Kai's beds were empty, in fact, judging by the state of them, Eriol surmised that neither had been slept in. Creeping out of the room, so that he wouldn't wake the others up, Eriol headed towards the Common Room. As he passed a mass of blankets, he heard it give a muffled moan. Eriol stopped and turned to find Ami and Kai in each others arms, fast asleep under the blankets. Deciding that the letter could wait a while longer, Eriol took a seat opposite them, waiting to see what excitement would unfold when they woke up.

 

Kai was the first to wake, feeling at peace with the world. It took Kai a while to realize that the warmth he was feeling wasn't coming from him. Looking down he saw the slumbering form resting her head on his chest. His eyes widened in shock. She had shifted her position during the night, and her body now lay between his legs. His hands, it seemed had minds of their own, because while he was asleep one had wrapped itself tightly around her slim waist, the other had a rather firm grip on her bottom, but both seemed extremely reluctant to release their hold. He finally removed his hands, then decided to focus his attention to wiggling out from under her. Her body, in such a venerable position, was sending shivers up his body, which he didn't like. In truth though, it wasn't the shivers that irked him, on the contrary, the shivers were quite pleasant, but he couldn't have himself enjoying these feelings when the woman on top of him wasn't Sakura. Kai took a breath, then carefully began the process of getting out from under her. Unfortunately his movement caused her to wiggle against him, trying to get more comfortable, which made the shivers intensify all the more. Kai's eyes widened in terror as he understood the full effects of her movement. Now he REALLY had to get out from under her. He couldn't let anyone, especially not her, see this new development, and it was highly visible now. Kai finally extricated himself from her hold, before dashing off for a cold shower in the hopes of reversing what she had done to him.

 

When Kai returned, he noticed Eriol was sitting in an armchair opposite the sleeping Ami, fist stuffed in his mouth, trying so hard not to laugh. Kai immediately knew that Eriol had seen everything that had happened, especially Kai's moment of horror. Realizing Kai was there, Eriol stood to face him. Kai glared and Eriol decided his letter was long overdue for posting, and hurried out of the room. Hearing Ami stir, Kai quickly checked his pants to make sure he was completely back to normal. She stretched her body out like a cat, before getting up. Realizing she was still in the Common Room, she crouched to gather the blanket and pillows. As she bent over, the bottom of her top rose enough for Kai to clearly see her tattoo.

 

"Why do you have a wolf cub on your back?" he asked her. Ami stood up, dropping the pillows out of shock. "To remind me of something I'd spent the better part of three years trying to forget," she told him. "What could cause so much harm that you would want to forget it in the first place?" he inquired. Eriol was almost dancing with glee as he watched Ami turn to face Kai. "To remind me to have courage," she replied, a blush steadily spreading across her face, "I lost love once. I didn't have the courage to tell someone I cared about them. I didn't realize what I had until he left, and I've never seen him again. I doubt I ever will. I made myself forget everything, but in the end, I couldn't suppress my emotions any longer, so now I have that to remind me of the courage I lacked. To remind me, to take hold and never let love go again, at least, not without a fight."

 

A tear began to wend its way down her cheek, when a warm hand stemmed its flow. Ami opened her eyes, only to be swept into Kai's warm embrace. "Don't cry," he murmured in her ear, "he isn't worth your tears. If he was fool enough to walk away from you, he doesn't deserve you. Love will find you when you least expect it." Eriol was shocked, since when did his little wolf initiate in the giving of hugs? Sakura had always had to initiate the hug before he returned it! Oh this was going to be interesting! Kai released Ami and walked off to get dressed for the day.

 

Ami decided to get dressed too, Eriol had told her that even though the Pre-Christmas Ball wasn't going to be held for another week, Tomoyo was arriving today. Eriol had asked permission for his Fiancée to attend the ball, Professor Dumbledorr, however, had told him that since they were engaged, Tomoyo was welcome to live at Hogwarts. Ami couldn't wait, before long she would be seeing her best friend again! She had just begun to pace when Eriol flew down the stairs, grabbing her hand on the way, and dragged her onto the grounds. They hadn't been waiting long when the Knight Bus appeared and Tomoyo stepped out. Ami squeezed Tomoyo in a hug before Eriol had a chance to sweep her into his arms. "Sakura!" Tomoyo squealed. At the mention of her name, Kero popped out of his hiding place to give Ami a big kiss on her cheek. "Remember Tomoyo," Ami told her, "It's not Sakura, here I'm Ami DragonHeart." Tomoyo looked longingly at Eriol. "I'm just going to go take Storm and Shadow to see Hagrid okay?" Ami asked them. Tomoyo's only reply was to ask if Kero wanted to join Ami before losing her voice to Eriol's lips and embrace.

 

Ami was soon introducing Kero to Hagrid. Who was fascinated by the little creature, but even more impressed when Ami gave Kero permission to return to his true form. Shadow, however, was not impressed, and soon it seemed like Shadow and Kero had begun a competition for Ami's affection, which pleased Storm immensely, because it meant she had all of Hagrid's attention to himself.

 

Meanwhile, Eriol was now giving Tomoyo a tour of the Gryffindor Tower when they stumbled upon Kai. He was looking even more disheveled then ever, and there was a desperate look in his eyes. He had been running when he spotted the pair, and suddenly changed direction and dived behind them. He had only just hidden himself when a pack of shrieking girls stampeded past. Once they were gone, Kai breathed a sigh of relief. He was naturally a fantastic athlete, but after running the whole length of the school, many times over, he was starting to wear himself out.

 

"Syaoran!" Tomoyo cried as she drew him into a hug. Kai finally managed to pry her arms from around his neck. "Hey," he told her quietly, "I'm not Syaoran here remember. If that's how many girls come running after me now, imagine how many more would come after me if they learnt I was the future leader of the Li Clan! Here I'm Kai FireStorm." Eriol couldn't help but cackle, the number of girls who had swooned after Kai when he first came had been more then enough, but once he had become a quidditch star, the number had grown exponentially, but at least the girls had been swooning after both Kai and himself, with the announcement of Eriol's engagement, the girls had tripled their efforts on gaining Kai's attention. Poor Sap.

 

"So," Eriol began, "why were they chasing you?" Kai blushed and hung his head, he really didn't want Eriol to know why, but at least Tomoyo might have an answer. "They were chasing me," he told them, "because they want me to be their date for the ball." Kai's blush deepened. Tomoyo just laughed, "then get yourself a date," she told him, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, "then they can't bother you." Kai was now in total shock, how was he supposed to find a date? "I can't" he told them, "I'm just not interested in any of them." This time it was Eriol's turn to laugh, "Why not ask Ami?" he told him, "last time she went with Harry, but he's going with Ginny this time, so she doesn't have a partner." Kai was ready to refuse, but suddenly the idea of spending a night with Ami didn't seem so bad. "Unlike the other girls," Eriol continued, "even if you're not interested in dating her, at least you will find something to talk about." A smile crept onto Kai's face, with Ami at his side, the ball might actually be somewhat bearable. "Sure," he told them, "I'll ask her, but, someone please tell me how to find her without a hundred girls chasing me?"

 

Kai returned to the boys' dormitory to wait for Ami there. Eriol and Tomoyo had gone to find her. The problem was, now that he had set his mind to it, he was starting to get nervous about asking her out. Sure she was a friend, a great friend, maybe even a best friend, but being a girl she was sure to take it the wrong way. Then again, even worse still, was the fear of rejection. He was just about to tell Eriol to call it off when Ami walked into the room. She was his only hope, she was the only thing that could drive away those crazy fan-girls. "Ami," he began, "Will you go to the ball with me? I mean I wouldn't normally ask, but it's just that there's this crazy bunch of girls and they wont..." A soft hand over his mouth silenced his babbling. "Sure. Why not?" she told him, "at least if we go together we wont get bored by some self-centered, egotistical, pain in the rear. Actually I was going to ask you tonight." Kai couldn't help it, he just collapsed into a fit of laughter, shortly joined by Ami.

 

* The Ball *

 

The night of the ball came quickly, and all the students were let out of lessons for the day so they could prepare. Tomoyo had kidnapped Ami first thing in the morning, leaving behind only the outfits she had made for Eriol and Kai. Ami didn't mind it too much though, it was the first time she had really had alone with her best friend and it gave them a chance to catch up. Tomoyo almost died when she saw Ami's tattoo, but when she heard the story behind it, tears soon began to roll down her face. In fact, what Ami didn't know was that Tomoyo was a great actress and that the tears were fake. Inside Tomoyo was rejoicing, her Sakura didn't know how close she was to finding her Syaoran!

 

Kai and Eriol made their way down to the entrance hall to wait for their partners, but what they saw made their jaws drop. Tomoyo was wearing a gown of the deepest amethyst, which complemented Eriol's robes of sapphire blue. Ami was wearing a Chinese dress of emerald green, with phoenixes and dragons embroided in gold across the fabric, which matched the colour of Kai's robes perfectly. Ami greeted Kai, then turned to greet Eriol. As she did, Kai noticed that the dress had two slits in the skirt, one on either side, which stretched from the hem to just below the waist, revealing Ami's perfect, milky-white, legs. His trauma didn't go un-noticed though, Eriol and Tomoyo exchanged knowing glances, before ushering their group into the hall.

 

The night was going well, and Kai and Ami decided to leave the noise of the hall for the peace of the garden so they could talk. They were just so comfortable together. Ami suddenly realized that the butterflies in her stomach wasn't what she'd eaten, she had fallen in love. This time she wouldn't hold back, she would have courage. Ami leaned in to kiss Kai. She had almost reached his lips when he realized what she was doing. He was almost about to let her, when an image of Sakura filled his head. He pushed Ami away, before fleeing for the dormitory. Ami could see no point in staying for the rest of the ball. She went back to the dormitory, grabbed her trunk and left. For the first time ever, Ami was going to sleep in the girls' dormitory. She took her make-up off, tore her dress off, kicked off the stupid high heels, got into her comfy PJ's and crawled into bed. She had cried herself to sleep before anyone else entered the room.

 

Ami spent the rest of the term avoiding everyone, including Eriol, Kero and Tomoyo. She even locked herself in a compartment on the train. The only time anyone could even get close to her was Harry when they finally reached the station. Once they had reached Grimwauld Place, it took a lot of coaxing to get her to divulged what had upset her so much. Ami finally told Harry amidst a flood of tears, "I just feel so cursed," she told him, "I'm doomed to have every guy I care about reject me and run from me. Am I that hideous? Am I that pathetic?" Harry held her close, she knew he had always thought of her as his best friend, but even he was dating. Harry and Ginny had been a couple for a few months now. Once she had finally drifted off to sleep, Harry sent a letter detailing her problem to Eriol.

 

* Hogwarts *

 

Since Tomoyo had moved to Hogwarts, Eriol had no reason to return to Tomeda, and since Kai didn't fancy the idea of returning home, he decided to stay too. It had been a week since term finished when Eriol received a letter from Harry. "KAI!" he roared, "YOU COMPLETE AND TOTAL IDIOT!" Kai looked up, shocked as a very angry Eriol descended upon him. "You ran away from Ami, and now she's convinced that she's cursed. She now thinks that she's doomed to spend eternity alone. Whatever you did, we're going to Grimwauld Place right now so you can set it straight."

 

Kai was in shock, he hadn't realized that he had hurt her so badly. He had only been thinking of Sakura, and now he had hurt one of his dearest friends. No wonder she had stopped sleeping in the boys' dormitory, she thought he didn't want her there. Since he had hurt her, he was also the only one who could repair the damage. "When do we leave?" he asked, besides, his little Cherry Blossom would've wanted it.

 

* Grimwauld Place *

 

Kai was soon knocking on Ami's door, begging her to let him in. eventually the door opened to reveal a tear-stained face. Kai pushed the door open and pulled her into the warmest embrace he could manage, only to have her push him away with the same coldness he had pushed her aside. "Ami, forgive me," he told her, "you're one of my dearest friends, my closest confident, I never meant to hurt you, in fact, I love you, which is the problem, I love you, but I'm not in love with you." Ami turned to face him. "A few years ago, I had a heart of ice. Then I met the greatest girl. She saw me like no other could, and her warmth and love melted the ice. She was the first girl, the first person, I ever opened up to, but my mother called. I had to return home to deal with some family matters, but I never gave up hope of finding her again. In fact, even though I haven't seen her in years, I returned to her home town, to ask her to marry me, only to find she was gone. She'd left not long after me, kind of stupid to continue to dream about marrying her when I don't even know if she loves me. Like you, I didn't have the courage to tell her, and I've regretted it every day since, so now it's my mission to find her and discover if she loves me too." Ami looked up into Kai's eyes, "You'll find her," she told him, "and I'll help you look for her. I want to meet the girl who's so special she can melt someone's heart and have them chase her for years."