Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ The China Doll ❯ Meilin and the False Projection ( Chapter 8 )

Sorry I wasn't able to post this chapter but I'll post as many this time as I possibly can. I was supposed to get this done last week but I had relatives over and I was busy. But the good news is that I'll have tons of time to type up these chapters next week cause my parents are going on a cruise and I live too far from my school to get there with out having to wake up at midnight…so I'll be staying home with my aunt. That'll be tons of time to type as much things as I possibly can. Till then, this is chapter eight…I'm not exactly sure if Sakura and Syaoran kiss in this one…maybe…

The China Doll

Chapter 8 - Meilin and the false projection

Syaoran sighed. The pain he was feeling was beginning to get unbearable and soon he wouldn't be able to keep up his strength. He needed this new card more than he knew. He looked up to see that Sakura was already searching for the card with her eyes closed. She allowed her senses to guide her and ran straight into a wall.

"Ow!" she cried and her eyes flung open. "The through card didn't work." She stated, looking slightly confused.

"Maybe that's cause there aren't any rooms that way. If you went through that wall you'd find yourself buried alive." He sweatdropped. Sakura blushed and looked down sheepishly at her mistake. " Maybe it's buried. Let's go upstairs and dig it up." he added and went for the door. He didn't want her to see that it wasn't only the curse that was affecting him. He still wasn't sure if she still loved him and he knew he couldn't bring it up now. It was the wrong time. He only allowed a single tear to fall before he began to scold himself.

'You are such a baka. If Touya knew what you did to his imouto chan he'd kill you for sure. You just had to be born dense didn't you? Making the same mistakes over and over again. I'd be shocked if she didn't hate your guts.' He yelled at himself. 'What will I do if she does hate me? How will I go on? Can I ever get her to forgive me? Why does she have this effect on me? Why does it feel like if I can't have her in my life I'd be utterly useless?' unfortunately he had no answers to his questions, and he just made himself feel worse.

"Wait! Let's use the fly card and the through card." Sakura stopped him by grabbing his arm. When he turned around she instantly let go, to his dismay.

"Won't that use up your energy? You've used a lot of magic in one day." He protested but she ignored him and released the cards. She had a determined look on her face and wanted to boast her developed powers since he last saw her.

Within a few moments they were directly above the cards on the back lawn. The box had been buried very close to the wall of the house. As Sakura contemplated which card to use, a cough alerted them to an audience. Syaoran whirled around instantly and gasped. Before him stood Meilin, clothed only in her nightgown, which billowed in the wind. Her face was flushed and her hair was slightly ruffled and flowed in the breeze. She coughed again and took a fragile, shaky step towards him.

"Meilin! You're sick. You should be in bed." He cried and went directly to her side. She held out her arm to stop him from supporting her. "Why are you out here?" he asked worriedly. She offered a weak smile.

"I-I want to help you." She whispered before collapsing to the ground. Like lightning he raced to catch her before she hit the ground but she fell right through his outstretched arms and disappeared when she reached the ground.

"Woah!!" Syaoran exclaimed loudly and jumped back, stumbling and falling to the ground. "Wh-what was that?" he asked aloud. "Where'd Meilin go?"

Sakura turned around.

"You must have been having hallucinations. I didn't see Meilin." She answered and helped him to his feet. He gave her a weird look and reached out to touch her face. She instantly recoiled from his touch.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I wanted to make sure you were real." He answered, feeling very uneasy. He wasn't sure if he was even at his house.

"Would an illusion do this?" she asked pulling his face to hers. She enveloped him into as passionate a kiss as she thought possible. He was so surprised at this sudden burst of emotion that he froze, but the instant her arms found their way to his neck he snapped beck to reality and kissed her back with just as much passion. Sakura let her fingers wander through his hair and pulled his head closer to hers, while he wrapped his own around her waist. They were already so close to the building that when Syaoran leaned his body in closer, Sakura's back was pressed against the wall. Syaoran moved his hands so they were pressed against the wall, but the kissing kept its intensity.

After quite a few minutes Sakura finally got control of her body and pushed Syaoran off of her. Both of them were breathless and though she should have been happy, Sakura looked away ashamedly. Syaoran didn't notice this and moved in close to her.

"Sakura, I love you." He whispered and leaned his forehead against her own. "I need you."

"No." she whispered in reply. "I shouldn't have done that." Her voice was barely audible but Syaoran could hear her perfectly.

"Yes you should have." He exclaimed painfully. He didn't like the way this seemed to be going.

"No. I'm too confused about my feelings right now. I'm sorry if this hurts you but I just can't forgive you that easily. This hurt me much more than some petty argument. We can't just apologize and move on. I'm still hurting inside." She choked on a sob.

"But can you honestly look me in the face and tell me you don't love me." He whispered and grabbed her face so she was staring into his pained eyes. 'Please say no. Please tell me you cant live without me.' He pleaded silently.

"I-I do love you." He sighed in relief. "But I just need some time before I can do this. I need to forgive you first." Sakura began to cry, releasing a million tears that had been hidden down all night that she wanted desperately to let go. He nodded and backed away from her.

"I guess we should find this card then." He stifled a sniffle and turned away. She raised a hand to his shoulder but he flinched before her fingers even touched his sleeve.

"I'm sorry…" she trailed off. He turned around and smiled as bravely as he could but it still looked fake.

"Syaoran?" a hoarse voice called out from beside them, turning both of their heads.

"Meilin?" asked Sakura astonished. The teen before them was hacking and coughing when she collapsed into a heap on the ground. She didn't disappear and Syaoran ran to her, taking her into his arms.

"Meilin." He whispered softly trying to settle the girl's coughing fits. "You're sick! Why are you here?" he asked. She laughed softly.

"You're sick, too!" she protested. "I just wanted to do my part to help." She added. While he was doing this, Sakura turned to the ground she had been staring at for a few seconds.

She pulled out the earth card and held it out in front of her. She knew that Syaoran couldn't help her anymore and she had to do her part to save him and Meilin.

"Earth card! Release and dispel! Bring me the card that is buried beneath the ground." She commanded the card. The beautiful spirit was released and disappeared into the ground, returning a few minutes later with another box in her arms.

"Thank you." Sakura smiled at the spirit and re-sealed her. She quickly opened the box and found a pure white card in it. It had no designs on it and shone in the darkness. Along with the card a small note was sealed in the box.

It read:

"This card is called the white magic card. I, Clow Reed, found this card while I was enduring my years of studying. It's component, the black magic card, is the source of the unavoidable dangers that might befall my family. Please use it to destroy the object locked in the box from my study."

Sakura sighed and held up the card. She took a quick glance at Syaoran and Meilin who hadn't been paying attention to her and smiled softly. She knew he wouldn't intentionally hurt her and she was determined to put the past behind her.

"White Magic Card." She called out loud, commanding the attention of Meilin and Syaoran who stared at her in awe. The card began to glow fiercer. It floated out of her hand and hovered above her. She raised her star staff to it and swung with all her might at the card. "Release and dispel! Destroy the china doll!!" she cried and covered her eyes as the card exploded in a brilliant flash of light. Instantly she felt light-headed from the amount of magic the card took from her and fought to keep standing.

The light found the doll lying in the dark grass and circled around it. Slowly the doll began to dissolve and disappear. When the card was finished, the aftereffects were instantaneous and Syaoran sighed in relief. They had saved the Li clan. Meilin began to dance in the moonlight and even Syaoran let out a hearty laugh. But their celebration was cut short when they saw Sakura crumple lifelessly to the ground.

"SAKURA!" Syaoran cried and rushed to her side but she didn't move or respond. Her body lay motionless in the grass. Her breathing was dangerously shallow and came out in short forced gasps. He was terrified to see her in such pain just breathing properly.

"Li Syaoran." A soft stern voice spoke from behind him. "Thank you for freeing us from the curse." It was his mother. Her and a few others were behind him and still hadn't noticed the still form clutched in his arms. He choked on a sob, which shocked his mother.

"My son, what's wrong?" she asked, moving closer to her son.

"S-Sakura. She was the one w-who did it. N-not me. I t-tried, but I just can't do it." He sobbed but she misunderstood him.

"It's ok if you weren't the one to do it. We will thank her next time we see her." She bowed and turned to leave but her son kept crying and Meilin walked up to the woman.

"Maybe you should listen to your son once in a while. Don't you wonder why he's crying? It's not for failing..." she scolded and nodded her head to him. He had pulled himself up to the wall and they could now see Sakura's body, held in his arms, in the card's glow.

"Oh my!" the woman gasped. The others were even more shocked to see him caring for someone as he was. He had tears streaming down his face and his cheek was rested on Sakura's chest, searching for her faint heartbeat.

Yelan walked up to her son and placed a hand on his knee.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't know you were talking about the cards mistress." She exclaimed softly and knelt down. "She'll survive this. I can tell she is very strong. And she is beautiful. Now I see why you fell in love with her."

"No...you can't see her true beauty." Syaoran corrected her. "Her nature, her personality, her love...it's more beautiful than anything skin deep." He said and wiped away a few tears.

"I know." Yelan smiled softly at her son and kissed his forehead.

"Okasan...I hurt her. I hurt her real bad." He admitted. "I left her. I tried so hard not to do it again but I did."

"I knew something was wrong when you returned home." She laughed softly. "Every time you come home from that place I see a new side to you. And I'm glad I can see the reason. Bring her into the house to rest. She'll need it."

She stood up and walked towards the house. Syaoran stood up and adjusted the weight in his arms so he was carrying Sakura comfortably. He took her inside and followed his mother to the guest room beside his own room.

'You scared me for a second, Kinomoto. I thought I was going to lose you. We can't have that, now. You still haven't forgiven me. I wont lose you until I can freely hold you in my arms and kiss you and receive your loving in return.' He thought as he placed her on the bed and wrapped the silk sheets around her body. 'Good night...my illusion.'

~~~

Two nights later Syaoran was lying awake in his bed. Sakura had been unconscious since the china doll was destroyed and it worried him a little bit. He flipped back his own sheet covers and walked to the door that adjoined their rooms. He had often visited her throughout the days she lay in bed and sat at her bedside wishing she would wake up.

He pushed the large oak door open and slid through the door as quietly as he could. He sat down in his chair, positioned beside her bed. He grasped her cold hand and brought it to his own flushed cheek. It was clammy and felt like death but he refused to give up on her. Briefly he wondered where Kero was but knew he would still be in her apartment.

When his eyes began to droop he slipped out of his chair and went to the door that separated the two rooms. A quick and sudden sharp pain erupted from his head and he collapsed into a heap on the rug, blood pouring from his head. For a second he thought about Sakura then he slipped into unconsciousness as his attacker came back for more…

~*~

So? I included all that lovely romance and mushy stuff we all love! Yes I'll have some E+T soon and more mush. I'm sorry for the cliffhanger but I kinda almost forgot it. I couldn't have it in the beginning of the next chapter. Oh well... it's a great ending to an almost great chapter... at least I think so.

Please review so I know some ppl want to read my story... how about... at least 15 reviews and I'll continue. I know this chapter wasn't as long as you might have liked but I'll only make them longer if you review.

(YAY!! I just made five pages on my comp.)