Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Card Captor Sakura: The Next Quest ❯ Sakura's Friend's Mental Battle ( Chapter 15 )

Chapter 15: Sakura's Friend's Mental Battle

~~~~~Tokyo, Japan~~~~~

“Jump!” yelled Sakura as she released her Jump Card just in time to leap out of the area of destruction that resulted from the monstrous punch from the Clow Card she was currently fighting. After a couple more hops, Sakura landed smoothly next to where Heero was standing. “Any ideas?”

“Physical attacks are risky, given this Card's power,” answered Heero. “So I guess we are limited to magical attacks, even if they don't seem to be all that effective.”

“I wish we knew how to combine our spirits like we did when we were fighting for Reed-sama,” said Sakura.

“That would make things easier,” agreed Heero. “Jump.”

Heero's sudden comment caught Sakura a bit off guard, but quickly afterwards, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the Clow Card charging them again. Luckily for the Clow Masters, while their foe was overwhelmingly physically powerful, it was not particularly fast, so dodging the bull-rush type attacks were fairly simple. Both teens put some distance between themselves and the Clow Card before each pulling out an attack Card.

However, before either Heero or Sakura got a chance to use the attack they had each chosen, someone beat them to the punch. “Mercury Aqua Mirage!” The stream of water from Sailor Mercury's attack shot through the air at an incredible rate, and impacted hard on the form of the Clow Card. Unfortunately, the Clow Card's resistance to magic was not limited to merely that of the two Clow Masters, and shook off the powerful water attack as if it was nothing.

One effect Sailor Mercury's attack did have, was it shifted the Clow Card's attention from Heero and Sakura, to herself. Caught off guard by the ineffectiveness of her attack, Ami was slow to react when the large Clow Card charged in her direction. Luckily for her, however, Syaoran was standing by and easily picked her up and jumped the both of them a safe distance away.

“Thank you, Syaoran-kun,” said Ami gratefully.

Before Syaoran could respond, both his and Ami's attention was diverted back to Sakura, who had released one of her own Sakura Cards in an attempt to slow down the massive opponent. The Wood Card, who, despite not being used very often anymore, was still one of Sakura's favorites due to its soothing feeling aura, wrapped its countless limbs around the giant figure, temporarily binding it to the ground in a weave of branches.

While the Clow Card was momentarily restrained, Heero and Sakura quickly made their way over to where Syaoran and Ami were standing. “We need to slow down the Card enough so that its power drops to a level where me and Heero can capture it,” said Sakura. “I think our best chance is for me and Heero to combine power and you two to also combine power, and then attack simultaneously with our best attacks.”

“Okay,” agreed Ami.

“It won't work,” interrupted Syaoran, causing all faces to turn towards him. “Well, the plan in theory should work, but it cannot be executed.”

“Why not?” asked Sakura in confusion, thinking she had thought up as good a plan as possible.

“Because I can't use my magic,” answered Syaoran, matter-of-factly.

“What!?” exclaimed Sakura in complete surprise. “What do you mean you can't use your magic?”

“For a while now,” explained Syaoran. “I have been unable to call upon my magical energy.”

“You somehow lost your magical powers?” asked Heero for clarification.

“No, I still have all my magical power,” corrected Syaoran. “I can still use my own power to sense magical presences, but I have been unable to manifest it into physical form.”

“You knew this when we left Hong Kong, didn't you?” questioned Ami. “That's why you have been acting so strange lately.”

“Move,” stated Syaoran instead of answering.

“Huh?” questioned Sakura and Ami simultaneously, since Syaoran's answer didn't make any sense. Only Heero had caught on to Syaoran's comment, having also been keeping an eye on their Clow Card opponent through his peripheral vision. Heero quickly picked up Sakura, while Syaoran picked up Ami, and the two cousins each jumped in opposite directions while watching the charging Clow Card's fist impact and explode the ground they had just been occupying.

The Clow Card began to turn around in Heero and Sakura's direction, but before it could charge again, another interruption presented itself.

“Venus Love and Beauty Shock!”

“Möko Takabisha!”

The combo attack by Minako and Ranma crashed into the back of the unsuspecting Clow Card, hurtling it forward onto its face onto the pavement.

“Everyone attack on three!” yelled out Minako as the Clow Card started to show signs of getting up. “One, two, three!”

“Venus Love and Beauty Shock!”

“Möko Takabisha!”

“Mercury Aqua Mirage!”

“Watery!”

“Ice!”

The quintuplet of attacks all struck within moments of each other, exploding into a giant ice ball, since most of the attacks were water based. It took a moment for the frost and ice shards thrown in the air to dissipate, but when the area was finally visible again, the teens found the Clow Card still standing and hardly damaged.

“Magic doesn't seem to be working,” said Sakura, pointing out the obvious. “What should we do?”

“I have an idea,” said Heero. “But it is a bit risky if it doesn't work.” Heero then pulled out the unchanged Weak Card.

“But if it doesn't work, it is dangerous to fight this Clow Card--” Sakura began before being cutoff by Heero's gentle finger being placed over her mouth.

“We have no other choice,” said Heero. “Card Created by Clow. Discard Your Old Form and be Reborn, Under the Name Heero; Your New Master.” With newly changed Card in hand, Heero set his plan into motion. “Weak!” The Weak Card released from its confines and immediately flew over to the giant figure of a Clow Card, surrounding its entire body in a light green colored energy.

Heero took off full speed toward the hopefully weakened Clow Card, saying inaudibly under his breath, “I hope this works.” Heero knew that if the Weak Card did not do what Heero was hoping for, then he would be in real trouble attempting to fight this monstrously powerful Clow Card one on one. Luckily, Heero didn't have to deal with his concern. When Heero ran in and delivered a powerful spin kick to the Clow Card's head, he sent the figure flying through the air, and bouncing along the concrete ground, until it finally came to a stop and remained motionless on the ground. “Now, Sakura!”

“I Sakura, Mistress of the Cards Command You. Return to Your True Form. Clow Card!”

Just like always, the comatose Clow Card instantly changed into a form of energy before flying over toward Heero, and changing into the form of a Clow Card. Sakura immediately ran over to where Heero was standing, extremely relieved that Heero's plan had panned out, and also a little curious of which Clow Card they had just captured. Soon after Sakura arrived at Heero's side, the couple was joined by Ami, Syaoran, Minako, and Ranma. “What Card is it?” Sakura asked.

“Looks like it's called the Battle,” answered Heero.

“Made from the Fight and Sword,” added Syaoran. “Guess that makes sense.”

Heero put his new Clow Card away and checked his watch. “Come on, Sakura. We have to get to Math.”

At hearing Heero's statement, Sakura also looked at her watch and saw that they had only a couple minutes before they were late to their next class. The Battle Card had happened to show up in Sakura and Heero's path as they were walking around campus for the hour they had between Computer class and Math class. At the same hour, Ami and Syaoran were also off, as well as Ranma and Minako, who had Math before the break. “I hate Math,” wined Sakura. “You all have Biology right now, right?”

“Hai,” answered Ami. “And we had better get going too.”

“We'll see you guys later!”

Heero and Sakura both took off at a quick pace since their class was quite a distance away from their current location, leaving Ami, Syaoran, Minako, and Ranma to make their way to their own class. “Well, let's get going,” said Minako as she, Ranma, and Ami started toward the building.

“You guys go on ahead,” said Syaoran as he turned to walk in the opposite direction. “There is something I have to do.”

Ami knew Syaoran's choice to skip class must have had something to do with his inability to use his magic. “Go ahead without me,” said Ami to Minako and Ranma. “I need to find out what is wrong with Syaoran.”

“Ok,” said Minako a bit skeptically. “We'll see the two of you later tonight.”

Ami nodded to her friend, and then took off at a quick jog to catch up with Syaoran. Actually beginning to get a little annoyed at Syaoran's sudden change of attitude, Ami roughly grabbed him by the arm and turned him around to face her. However, as soon as she was face to face with her boyfriend, Ami suddenly let go of his arm and took a step back, her facial expression changing from an frustrated pout to a look of surprised concern. What Ami was so taken aback by, was Syaoran's eyes. To a casual observer, he looked no different, but to one who knew his caring gaze better than almost anyone, the look of unusual hollowness in Syaoran's stare was unmistakable.

“Syaoran-kun?” Ami asked in a quiet, unsure voice.

“Leave me be,” answered Syaoran in a harsh emotionless tone.

“I just want to help,” continued Ami, so shocked by Syaoran's change that her voice barely came out of her throat.

“It is not any of your concern,” said Syaoran, still in the same emotionless tone of voice. “Now leave me alone, and do not bother me again.”

Turning around, Syaoran walked indifferently away from the Sailor Senshi, who found herself so stunned by the whole situation that she couldn't get her mouth to form any words, or get her limbs to get her to follow her boyfriend, who was slowly vanishing into the distance. In the end, Ami just dropped to her knees and cried. She cried until her tears would no longer fall, at which point she slowly got back to her feet and, watery eyed, trudged back to her dorm room, skipping all her remaining classes for the day, and just wanting to wake up from this terrible nightmare.

~~~~~Tokyo, Japan~~~~~

Sakura yawned lightly as she walked out of her Psychology classroom, and after spotting Heero waiting outside the door, playfully fell into his arms, pretending to be so exhausted she couldn't stay on her feet.

“Tired?” asked Heero as he gently kissed the top of Sakura's head.

“Only a little,” answered Sakura with a smile as she moved to stand on her own power again. “We had a guest speaker today. What he was talking about was pretty interesting, but he was a little long winded, and I was starting to fall asleep a bit.”

“I'm sure Ami-san kept you awake,” responded Heero. “Where is she anyway?”

“Ami-chan wasn't in class,” Sakura said with another quiet yawn.

“Maybe she's with Li,” Heero thought aloud. “He wasn't in class either.”

“They're probably trying to figure out why Syaoran-kun can't use his magic.”

“Probably,” agreed Heero. “Shall we go?” Sakura nodded her head, and the couple exited the building to head back to their rooms.

By the time Heero and Sakura had arrived back to their dorms, Sakura was giggling uncontrollably and Heero, who rarely laughed, had a slight smile on his face. The couple went into Sakura's bedroom, where they were going to study for a bit before going out to eat, and dropped their bags. Sakura excused herself to go use the bathroom, so Heero silently took a seat at Sakura's desk and began to unpack his books. It took him a few moments, but in the silence of the room, he finally noticed an odd sniffling sound. Stopping what he was doing to listen more carefully, Heero realized the noise was coming from the other side of the wall shared by Sakura and Ami's rooms. Heero made his way out of Sakura's bedroom, and went to Ami's door, which was shut almost all the way, but not quite. He knocked lightly, and when he got no response, slowly and quietly opened the door a bit farther to take a peek inside.

“Ami-san?” Heero asked as he peered around the dark room. He was a little surprised at how dark the room was, considering it was still light outside, but somehow none of the light seemed to be able to enter through Ami's window. The darkness kept him from being able to make out much of anything except some basic shapes in the room, but he could still hear the muffled sniffling, so he knew someone was in the room. Heero squinted his eyes, and unconsciously used some of his magical energy, to better his eyesight in the darkened room until he finally caught sight of some slight movement on Ami's bed, and managed to make out the outline of the form of Ami Mizuno.

From what Heero could tell, Ami was lying on her stomach on top of her bed, and sounded as though she was crying into her pillow, which she had wrapped halfway around her head, explaining why she hadn't heard him knock or enter. Heero carefully crept over to the side of the bed, and as gently as he could, placed a hand on the crying girl's shoulder.

Extremely startled by the sudden feeling of something on her shoulder, Ami shot up from her lying position, and found herself face to face with Heero. She then gave Heero just as much of a surprise as he had just given her, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and started to cry into his shoulder.

At first, Heero didn't know what to do. With the exception of Sakura, Heero was not used to such close contact with other people, and never in his life had anyone ever used his shoulder to cry on. His first instinct was to find a way to get Ami off of him, but, as had been happening more and more often, Heero ignored his first instinct and tried to decipher what other people would likely do in the situation. Heero figured in this situation most people would usually do one of two things; attempt to cheer up the crying individual, or simply be there and console them. Heero opted for the second option as he caringly wrapped his own arms around Ami's body and gently stroked her soft hair.

After a little while, Ami's tears stopped running, but despite her slightly cleared mind, she felt too comfortable in Heero's embrace to let go. “What happened?” she heard Heero whisper quietly in her ear.

“Syaoran-kun,” replied Ami with a sniffle, as tears began to reform in her eyes as her mind unconsciously played back the scene of Syaoran telling her to leave him alone. “He just… he just… he just… he just left!” The last words coming out at almost a scream from a mix of anger and depression.

“Shh,” consoled Heero, continuing to softly stroke Ami's hair, while the Sailor Senshi cried. “It'll be alright.”

“Heero-kun?” Heero heard through his telepathic link with Sakura.

“I'm in Ami-san's room,” answered Heero. “She's in pretty bad shape. Maybe you could come in here and help her feel better.”

A moment later, Ami's door opened a fraction and Sakura silently slipped into the room. Sakura actually paused for a split second when she caught sight of Ami crying into Heero's shoulder, and Heero gently stroking her short hair, apparently attempting to calm her down. Quickly getting over her shock, Sakura made her way to Ami's bed, and sat on the opposite side of the girl, and tenderly shifted her from crying on Heero's shoulder, to crying on her own.

When Ami was safely moved to Sakura's embrace, Heero carefully stood up and after giving Sakura a kiss on the top of the head, left the room. Knowing Sakura would take good care of their crying friend, Heero went in search of Syaoran.

Heero finally caught up with Syaoran in the main terminal of Tokyo Station, having tracked him down by concentrating extraordinarily hard and following his magical aura. He was on the floor below him, so Heero called out his name, but got no response. He then called out one more time, louder than before, and noticed many of the people in the area surrounding Syaoran looked around for the source of the yell, but again, Syaoran showed no sign of having heard anything. Heero looked around, trying to determine the best route down to the floor below. He could very easily have simply jumped the rail down to the floor below, however the Station was busy enough that he might accidentally land on a person if he did. It didn't take Heero long to notice a column with a set of flag poles running down its length. Each pole looked quite sturdy, and the column itself was easily within jumping distance from his position.

Heero quickly made his way along the upper level railing until he reached the column he had previously spotted. Without pausing, and purposely ignoring the gasps of surprise from all around him, Heero hopped the railing in one quick motion, and began his fall downward. When he was approximately halfway down to the ground, Heero reached out and grasped a flag pole for a split second, slowing his descent, before grabbing hold of the next pole down and coming to a halt. He stopped in his midair position for a short moment to reestablish Syaoran's position. Easily spotting his cousin from his elevated position, Heero memorized the area and then let go of the flag pole and continued to fall. When he was a few feet from the ground, Heero grasped the last of the flag poles and paused momentarily until there was a free spot for him to land, at which time he dropped to the ground, startling the half dozen people around him, and then took off in Syaoran's direction.

Heero reached Syaoran without any more obstacles, and stepped directly in front of his cousin, causing Syaoran to stop in his tracks. “What are you doing?” Heero demanded to know.

“Leaving,” responded Syaoran, his stoic expression unchanged.

“That's all you have to say for yourself?”

Syaoran remained silent and unmoving.

“Fine,” responded Heero. Heero balled up a fist and delivered a powerful roundhouse punch straight across Syaoran's jaw. Heero didn't necessarily want to fight or injure Syaoran, but he knew something was wrong with his cousin and decided to follow the way of thinking his fellow Gundam pilot Wu-Fei followed; the best way to understand someone is to fight them.

Syaoran fell to his hands and knees from the blow, but still remained silent. Still from his knees, Syaoran returned the blow, catching Heero off guard, and connected solidly with Heero's upper abdomen, lifting the Gundam pilot clear off his feet and flying into the crowd.

A few people in the crowd of people at the station had noticed Heero's original punch, and had stopped to watch the fight. A few more had stopped to gawk after Syaoran's retaliation. But at Syaoran's next move, everyone panicked and ran away in fear.

With no regard for the hundreds of innocent bystanders, Syaoran used his magic to create a ball of fire, and threw the attack at Heero. All Heero had time to do was release his sword, and use the weapon mixed with some of his own magic, to deflect the blast upwards. The attack exploded loudly on the roof of the station, sending large pieces of debris falling toward the panicked crowd below. The crowd was so scared and disorderly that they didn't even realize when Heero called forth the Wall Card to put up a protective shield to protect the bystanders from being crushed by the falling pieces of glass, steel, and concrete. After the last of the innocents had vacated the area, Heero ordered the Wall to create a dome around Syaoran and himself, to keep any others from interfering.

Throughout the entire scene of panic, Syaoran remained silent and motionless. Even when Heero stood and finally refocused his attention back to his cousin, Syaoran stayed unmoving.

Once all the innocent bystanders were safe, Heero finally stood back up. He felt a very sharp twinge of pain as he straightened up, and knew at least two of his ribs had been fractured when Syaoran had struck him. He ignored the pain and focused his attention on his current opponent. It was painfully obvious to Heero that something was wrong with Syaoran. Even though his physical appearance and his magical energy signature both appeared normal, his mental state was clearly different. Syaoran was always very cautious about injuring innocent bystanders and showing his magical abilities to the general public, but today he had fired a blast that could very easily have killed numerous people, and he did it in plain sight of the public.

While Heero was staring back at Syaoran, trying to decide his next move, he suddenly felt twinges of magical energy. It was only there for a quick second before disappearing, but the feeling was unmistakable; whatever was wrong with Syaoran, had something to do with a Clow Card.

Now Heero knew exactly what he had to do. From his past experiences, Heero knew the way to capture a Clow Card is to defeat it. This Clow Card obviously had something to do with Syaoran, so what Heero was going to do was defeat Syaoran and capture the Clow Card. With no more hesitation, Heero, ignoring the pain from his broken ribs, rushed at his cousin. Heero recalled his sword, since he had no wish to seriously injure Syaoran, and luckily for Heero, Syaoran didn't call forth his own weapon when Heero struck.

Heero's first attack was a swift roundhouse kick at Syaoran's midsection, that the Li Clan leader did an easy back flip to evade. The first miss did not deter Heero, who continued his assault by following up his initial strike with another spin kick with the opposite leg. However, just as before, Syaoran easily ducked out of the way of the attack. After missing for a second time, Heero was expecting some sort of counterattack, but Syaoran made no move to attack. Taking advantage of Syaoran's apparent reluctance to attack, Heero, once again, took the offensive. Heero unleashed a long series of punches and kicks, the first few of which Syaoran, with what appeared to be almost faster than human reactions, expertly evaded. However, at one point during the attack, Syaoran switched from evasion to concise blocks. Again, Syaoran's defensive reactions appeared almost superhuman, his blocks stopping each and every one of Heero's attacks. Over time, Syaoran's blocks began to shift from purely defensive to more and more aggressive, until finally Syaoran blocked Heero's kick so hard that Heero got caught out of position. This time, Syaoran took full advantage of Heero's opening and punched him in the midsection so fast and so hard that Heero didn't even have time to react before he was sent flying across the floor, until he smashed right into his own Wall Card that he had erected earlier. The force from the impact knocked Heero unconscious, resulting in his falling limp to the ground and also the recalling of his Wall Card.

Some unknown amount of time later, Heero awoke with a splitting headache and what felt like a half dozen broken bones. As he painfully managed to sit up, Heero looked around and was somewhat surprised to find that the Station was still empty. Since Syaoran was nowhere in sight, Heero figured he had to have been out for a decent amount of time, which was why he wasn't expecting the Station to be devoid of people. There was still a gigantic hole in the Station ceiling from Syaoran's earlier magical attack, so Heero decided that it would be easier and probably less painful to just call his Wing Card and fly back to his dorm. When Heero was fully airborne and out the top of the building, his own Telepathy Card suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Through a mental connection with the card, Heero realized that the Telepathy Card had released itself while he had been unconscious, and used its abilities to stop time temporarily in the Station, which explained why no civilians had been in the area when Heero had woken up. After silently thanking his card, Heero recalled the Telepathy back to card form and placed it with the others in his pocket.

A while later, Heero landed uncharacteristically clumsily on the balcony of his dorm suite. He had badly misjudged how much energy he had lost in his fight with Syaoran and had discovered flying back from Tokyo Station was much more difficult than he had originally predicted. His ungraceful landing caused quite a bit of noise, which did not go unnoticed by Ami and Sakura, who had moved out to the common room. Sakura had managed to get Ami to stop crying and the two teens had been sitting at their table and eating a snack when the noise caused by Heero's landing shifted their attention. Both girls got up rather quickly, though Sakura just a fraction faster than Ami, when they saw Heero fall to one knee and grab his side on the balcony. Sakura quickly opened the door and she and Ami helped Heero onto the common room couch.

“What happened?” Sakura asked in a both a surprised and concerned tone of voice, while Ami busily checked what injuries Heero had sustained.

“Got in a fight with Li,” Heero answered.

“Syaoran-kun did this to you?” said Ami in a bit of shock. She knew Syaoran was acting strangely, but would never have guessed he would have hurt Heero so bad.

“In a way,” responded Heero. “It was him, but I think his behavior has something to do with a Clow Card.”

“A Clow Card?” repeated Ami. “But he didn't feel like a Clow Card earlier.”

“It's very subtle. I only caught a glimpse of it when I was concentrating.”

“Any idea what type of card it is?” asked Sakura.

“Nothing definitive,” Heero answered. “But it has to be tied in with Li's psyche.”

“Where did Syaoran-kun go?”

“Not sure,” Heero said with a slight gasp as Ami pressed against his broken ribs. “I got knocked out and when I woke up, he was gone.”

“I think you have three broken ribs, a fracture in your left femur, a dislocated left shoulder, and possibly a tear in that left triceps muscle,” reported Ami after her inspection of Heero's body. “I'm also guessing you have at least a mild concussion, but I don't think you have any internal bleeding.”

“That sounds pretty bad,” said Sakura with concern. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I've been in worse shape,” answered Heero. “Although I have to admit that I feel a lot worse than these injuries should have me feeling.”

“Your magic feels really low,” Sakura said. “Eriol-kun and Syaoran-kun said your magic is tied into your quick healing, so that could be why you feel more injured than you are.”

“I assumed you had more of a physical fight than a magic one,” Ami commented.

“It was,” said Heero in a very strained voice after having painfully just popped his shoulder back into place. “It was probably the Wall and Telepathy Cards that used up all my energy.”

“I can guess why you were using the Wall, but why were you using the Telepathy?”

“It released while I was unconscious and stopped time for a while to keep the Station empty.”

“Station?”

“Tokyo Station. That's where I caught up with Li.”

“Tokyo Station is always packed,” said Ami. “How did you manage to empty it?”

“Li used a fire attack on me. All I could do was deflect it upwards. Ended up taking out the Tokyo Station's roof. Place evacuated after that.”

“You blew out the roof of Tokyo Station!?” interrupted Minako as she walked into the suite right in the middle of Heero explanation of what had happened.

Heero simply shrugged at Minako's comment, immediately grabbing his shoulder in pain, his body obviously not liking the movement of his recently dislocated joint.

When Sakura saw Heero's pain, she immediately wanted to hold him close, just as he always did to her to calm her down, but was hesitant out of fear of not knowing where she could grasp him without aggravating any of his numerous injuries. “Maybe we should take you to the hospital.”

“Sakura's right,” agreed Ami. “There is still the possibility that you are more injured than my diagnosis. And even if you're not, if you don't heal at your normal fast pace, because of your low magic, then you may need some traditional medical help.”

“I trust your diagnostic skills,” Heero answered. “And I appreciate your concern, but I'm not going to a hospital just yet.”

“But…” began Sakura before getting cut off but Heero gently placing a finger on her delicate lips.

“If in a few days I am still not healing correctly, I'll go see a doctor.”

Meanwhile, Minako had been standing by, very confused. “What exactly happened here? And how did you manage to destroy a place as big and public as Tokyo Station?”

“It's a long story, Mina-san,” answered Sakura for Heero. “And we haven't figured it all out quite yet. But in terms of the Station, basically, Heero and Syaoran got in a fight in Tokyo Station, and it went a little far.”

“Looks like Li-kun won,” noted Minako, who received a glare from Heero for the unappreciated remark. “Sorry. What were you two fighting about that escalated to something so serious?”

“He was acting irregularly,” answered Heero when he saw Ami's eyes shift downward and begin to water. Heero figured she wasn't ready to tell everyone about what had happened between Syaoran and herself. “I think it has something to do with a Clow Card.”

“A Clow Card? Like a mind control card or something?”

“We don't know,” Sakura answered. “He sort of disappeared.”

“Heero-kun,” said Ami quietly, as she was still looking down at the floor. “I know you are hurt and should be resting, but is there a chance that we can use your Gundam to try to find Syaoran-kun?”

Heero looked curiously at Ami for a moment, finding himself feeling strangely empathetic for the his cousin's girlfriend. Less than a year ago, before he had met Sakura, Heero would have looked at Ami's sorrow and felt nothing. He had always lived by his motto of `The only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions,' but before he met Sakura, he rarely felt the emotion of empathy. But Sakura's sweet and innocent nature had rubbed off on him more than even he had noticed, and Heero found himself feeling sincerely concerned about his new friend's feelings. “Sure,” Heero answered in an uncharacteristically soft voice.

Ami looked up and stared surprised at Heero. It was much more his compassionate tone of voice than his agreement to her request, that surprised Ami so much. Even though Ami had seen first hand how much Heero had changed over the course of the school year, such an act of pure sincerity was still quite unexpected. “Thank you, Heero-kun,” replied Ami quietly, as she found herself unconsciously blushing from Heero's kind voice.

“The only problem is how to get there,” said Heero, reverting back to his normal tone of voice. “My car is still at Tokyo Station.”

“You could probably borrow Duo's car,” suggested Minako. “We were about to go out, but we'll just take my car.”

“I'll go ask him,” volunteered Sakura as she jumped up and went to the door.

After Sakura had left, Minako walked over to Ami, and gently placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. “Don't worry, Ami-chan. Things will work out in the end.”

“Thanks, Mina-chan,” said Ami with a weak smile.

Minako returned Ami's smile with a much more full smile of her own, and gave her fellow Senshi a kiss on the cheek before heading into her own room to change.

Heero, who had been sitting next to Ami on the couch, had given Minako a nod as she walked out of the room, but once Minako was out of sight, he felt an unexpected wetness on his arm. Looking down to see what had fallen on his arm, Heero caught sight of Ami's downcast head, and saw another droplet of water fall from underneath her blue colored bangs and land on top of the first on his forearm.

“What's wrong?” Heero asked softly as he wrapped an arm around Ami's body. Heero had to force himself not to grimace in pain as Ami was sitting on his dislocated shoulder side, forcing him to move the injured arm to try to comfort her.

“I don't know,” Ami responded between sniffles. “I'm glad I know that Syaoran-kun's behavior is not only him, and I appreciate everybody helping make me feel better…” Ami's voice trailed off as she felt Heero place his other hand on her chin and tilt her head upwards until she was looking into his eyes. For just a moment, Ami forgot all about her situation with Syaoran, and found herself lost in Heero's stare.

Although Ami had gotten pretty close to Heero over the course of the school year, his stare had still always appeared cold and a bit frightening. Despite how often during the girls' gossip time Sakura claimed Heero's stare wasn't scary, but instead was full of compassion, Ami and the other girls had never been able to see it. However, as Ami stared into Heero's cobalt blue eyes, she finally understood what Sakura had been trying to convince everyone of. Deep in Heero's eyes, beneath his cold, hard, exterior stare, Ami finally saw his inner softness.

Her eyes unconsciously closed when she felt Heero gently wipe her tears away with his hand, and she felt herself moving just the slightest bit closer to him. Ami didn't know what she was doing. Her body was reacting to Heero's kindness, and despite what her brain was saying, Ami couldn't keep from allowing her face to draw closer and closer to Heero's.

However, luckily for Ami, Heero was not so lost, and brought her back to reality with a gentle finger on her quivering lips. “Believe me,” Heero said softly, causing Ami's eyes to shoot open to stare back into Heero's gaze. “You don't really want to do this.”

Ami stared in slight shock at Heero before her brain finally managed to comprehend just what she had been about to do. And then, all Ami could to was cry. Her eyes flooded with a continued steam of tears, and Ami could only bury her head in Heero's chest and let the tears fall. “I'm so sorry Heero-kun,” said Ami between sobs. “I… I don't know… I… I'm so sorry.”

“Shh,” consoled Heero as he wrapped his arms around Ami. “Don't worry. Don't worry.”

“I don't even know what I'm doing anymore,” cried Ami. “I just feel lost.”

“You feel as though you were betrayed by someone you trust,” analyzed Heero. “It clouds the mind of the best of us.”

“Are you going to tell Sakura?” Ami asked quietly, feeling as though she had betrayed her new friend, who was already as close to her as anyone.

“There's nothing to tell,” Heero answered. “But even if there was, I can guarantee you she would completely understand.”

“Thank you, Heero-kun,” said Ami with a smile as she wiped the last of her tears from her eyes. “I'm really glad you're here.”

Heero responded to Ami's kind words with a smile. And not his usual half grin smile, but the full caring smile he usually only showed to Sakura. In response, Ami couldn't help but smile a bit brighter, and by the time Sakura came back into the room with Duo's keys, Ami's smile was as wide as could be.

“What happened here?” asked Sakura, finding it a bit surprising that Ami was so happy all of a sudden.

“Nothing,” responded Ami. “I guess I just realized how sweet your boyfriend really is.”

“He is sweet, isn't he?” said Sakura rhetorically as she sat on Heero's other side and rested her head on his shoulder. “But don't forget, he's all mine.”

Ami smiled at Sakura, knowing her statement was just a joke. “We'll just have to see.”

Both Ami and Sakura started giggling together, while Heero stood up from the couch. “You girls ready to go?”

“He's sweet,” said Sakura between giggles. “But his sense of humor still needs a little work.” Sakura stood up and gave Heero a kiss to make certain he knew she was just playing around.

“Okay, Heero-kun,” said Ami as she continued to giggle. “We're ready. And thanks again… for everything.”

Reverting back to his normal demeanor, Heero only nodded in response to Ami's gratitude. After handing Heero Duo's keys, Sakura and Ami followed Heero out the door and to the parking lot. When they arrived at Duo's spotless metallic black BMW 760Li sedan, Heero got into the driver's seat and was joined in the front by Sakura, while Ami sat in back.

Duo had purchased the brand new top of the line luxury sedan shortly after the battle with Charon when the demon had destroyed both Tomoyo and Syaoran's sports cars. Since that time, Syaoran and Tomoyo had each replaced their destroyed automobiles with new ones. Tomoyo's mother had bought her a new black Mercedes Benz S65 AMG sedan, while Syaoran had test driven a dozen different models before finally deciding upon a silver Mercedes Benz SL65 AMG, the sports car sister to Tomoyo's new S65 sedan. Syaoran had been considering buying either the Aston Martin Vanquish or perhaps a new Porsche 911 GT2, but decided the 604 horse-power, twin-turbocharged V12 convertible, was more fitting.

“You still keeping your Gundam in the same forest?” asked Ami from the back seat once they were under way.

Heero nodded an affirmation.

“That way Wing ZERO is always right where the Heal Card is residing,” corroborated Sakura. She then paused, thinking for a moment. “Maybe we can ask the Heal Card to fix all your injuries.”

“Won't that be dangerous since Heero-kun's magic is so low and the Clow Cards feed off their master's energy?” questioned Ami.

“I wish either Eriol-kun or Kero-chan were here,” responded Sakura. She also wished Syaoran was there, since he would likely know as well, but Sakura thought it would be best not to unnecessarily mention him. “They would know for sure, but I think that since we never technically captured the Heal, I don't believe it has a contract with Heero's magic yet.”

“Do the Clow Cards have enough energy for us to keep borrowing their powers without them being linked to a master?”

“I'm not sure,” admitted Sakura. “Kero-chan and Eriol-kun had me change all the original Clow Cards into Sakura Cards because without a master to feed power from, they would have disappeared.”

“So there is a chance that if we keep asking the Heal Card to help us whenever someone gets hurt, it may use all its power and disappear?”

“We can call Eriol-kun and find out,” said Sakura as she reached for her cell phone.

“That won't be necessary,” stated Heero. “I can live with my injuries. We can ask Hiiragizawa about the cards after we get back.”

“Are you sure?”

“I can live with a little pain.”

“But…”

“It's not worth the risk,” responded Heero. “Having a Clow Card with the Heal's powers is too important to risk it disappearing. So despite what Hiiragizawa might say, either way I have no intention of risking that power since it's not necessary.”

“Heero's right,” agreed Ami. “While he is pretty badly hurt, the injuries aren't anything that can't be healed by modern medicine and a little time. But the Heal Card might have the power to cure some of the world's incurable ailments. It could make way for a whole new field of combination of magic and medicine.”

“I guess with your magical energy and your love of medicine, you'd be a perfect front runner in that field,” said Sakura as she turned around to smile at Ami in the back seat.

Ami started to blush slightly at Sakura's comments. “I have thought about it a little,” admitted Ami. “I just think that with all the extra abilities magic grants people like us, there has to be a way to use our energy in a way that benefits others.”

Sakura couldn't help but smile and laugh at Ami's sweetness. “I can't wait for your Nobel Prize acceptance speech.”

Ami started laughing along with Sakura, their conversation continually moving toward a more and more lighthearted nature, as Sakura purposely kept Ami's mind off of Syaoran. Before Ami's mind had even had a chance to think about Syaoran, the three magicians arrived at the forest where Heero kept his Gundam.

“So how is this going to work?” asked Sakura. “Only two can fit in Wing ZERO.”

“Could we borrow Duo-kun's Gundam so all three of us can go up?” asked Ami.

“Even if Duo doesn't mind us using his Gundam, Deathscythe doesn't have nearly the tracking abilities of ZERO, and we haven't gotten to the use of the tracking systems in Sakura's lessons yet,” explained Heero.

“You go with Heero-kun,” said Sakura. “I'll wait down here.”

“Are you sure, Sakura-chan?”

“Syaoran-kun is one of the most important people in my life and I want to be out there looking for him,” said Sakura. “But you need to be up there. I know this is something that you have to do, and if the situation were reversed, you would do the same thing for me.”

“Thank you,” replied Ami sincerely. “Without both of you, I don't know what I would do.”

“We love you, Ami-chan,” explained Sakura as she gave her friend a hug. “We would do anything for you.”

“You ready to go?” asked Heero after waiting a few moments for the girls' moment to end.

“Yeah,” answered Ami with a sigh. The sigh was from anxiety from a mix of her first ride in Wing ZERO and also her fear of what might happen if and when they found Syaoran.

Heero turned away from the girls and faced his Gundam. The last time Heero had used Wing ZERO he had been doing some maintenance, and had left the giant machine in a standing position. Heero knew it was unlikely Ami would be able to jump up to the cockpit with ZERO in a standing position, at least without first transforming into her Sailor Mercury form, so he jumped up the machine without waiting for Ami to follow. Due do his injuries, it took Heero a fraction longer than usual to make it up to Wing ZERO's cockpit, but when he did reach his destination, he released a line for Ami to grasp and allowed the winch to mechanically pull Ami up to the elevated position.

While Ami was being winched up, Heero stepped into the cockpit and pulled out a radio. “Take this,” called out Heero to Sakura as he tossed the radio over the edge and down to the Card Mistress. Sakura bobbled the radio a few times, almost dropping it, before finally getting a firm grasp and smiling sheepishly up at Heero because of her clumsiness. “We'll keep you updated on our progress and position.”

“Okay,” called back Sakura. “Good luck, Heero-kun.”

By the time Heero stepped back into the cockpit, Ami had herself securely fastened in the auxiliary chair. Heero was about to seat himself in his own seat, when out of the corner of his eye he noticed Ami holding her hands tightly together, trying to keep them from shaking. “Are you alright?” Heero asked.

Ami looked up and saw Heero looking at her quivering hands. “I'm actually a little nervous,” Ami admitted.

“I'm sure we'll be able to get Li back to normal.”

“Actually, it's not about Syaoran-kun,” said Ami. “I'm just a little scared of your Gundam.”

Heero paused. Until now, he hadn't even realized that aside from Duo and himself, the only others to ever go up in a Gundam were Sakura and Minako. “I almost forgot this will be your first trip.”

“It's not the flying, and definitely not a lack of faith in your piloting skills,” explained Ami. “I just remember what you were telling Sakura about the ZERO system, and it is a bit frightening.”

“It is a dangerous system,” agreed Heero. “And it takes a strong mind to master it.”

“Which is why I'm scared to face it,” said Ami quietly, staring at the floor to escape Heero's eyes.

Ami looked back up when she felt Heero place a hand on her chin, and found her face mere centimeters from Heero's. “You have one of the strongest minds of anyone I know.”

Again, Ami looked downwards to avoid Heero's intense gaze. “Not today, I don't,” she said quietly. “Today I can hardly control my mind, much less create any mental strength.”

“Mental strength comes from within,” said Heero. “It is independent of current thoughts and feelings. You may feel as though you do not have the strength, but your true mind, and your will, are always yours.”

“Thank you, Heero-kun,” said Ami, looking up as she finally felt she had the strength to look Heero in the eye. “I hope you are right.”

“Trust me,” answered Heero as he gave Ami a wink, which Ami thought seemed very un-Heero like, and much more like something his Gundam comrade, Duo, would do. “Ready to go now?”

Ami nodded her head. “I think I am now.”

“Good,” Heero said as he nodded, before finally sitting in his own cockpit seat. Heero's hands flew across the controls as the cockpit door closed and the systems of Wing ZERO began to start up.

From outside, Sakura smiled as she saw the engines warm up, a small puff of exhaust shooting out from the giant machine. Sakura loved piloting Wing ZERO, and also loved watching the ultimate Gundam in action. She watched as the glimmering white wings outstretched to both sides, just as the head of the robot raised to face forward. She knew from spending a large amount of time learning everything she could about Wing ZERO that the next step in the startup procedure was going to be the activation of the ZERO system. “Take care of her, Heero-kun,” said Sakura quietly to herself, knowing her thoughts would echo subtly in Heero's mind.

As Sakura saw the eyes of Wing ZERO begin to glow a bright green, the yellow lights indicating the activation of the ZERO system flooded the cockpit. “Hang on,” said Heero to warn Ami that they were about to take off.

Even though Heero wasn't looking at her, Ami nodded her head and grasped the armrests of her chair. In an instant, Ami felt her stomach shoot up to her throat as Wing ZERO shot up through the air. She was frightened at the sudden movements, but soon found herself with a rush the likes of which she had never felt before. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins so uncontrollably, she didn't even realize when she shocked Heero a little by screaming out loud in excitement. Grinning unnoticeably, Heero took Wing ZERO into a series of gravity defying flips, spins, and corkscrews, enticing more screams out of the now widely smiling Ami in the back seat.

“Are you enjoying yourself up there, Ami-chan?” came Sakura's voice through the comm systems as soon as Heero had finished the acrobatic maneuvers and leveled Wing ZERO out. Sakura had been smiling the entire time, while watching through a pair of binoculars, knowing Heero would only have executed the flying exhibition if Ami had been enjoying the flight.

“This is so much fun!” exclaimed Ami, who was unable to control her racing heart or the ear to ear grin on her face. “Before, I always thought you spent so much time learning about and playing with Wing ZERO as an excuse to spend more time alone with Heero-kun. But I never knew just how much fun this is!”

“You should see what its like when you take Wing ZERO up into space,” said Sakura, instantly remembering the first time she left the Earth's gravitational pull. It had been when they faced the Night Card, and an everlasting memory of floating in space, staring down at a beautiful Earth, with Heero's arms around her. “It's incredible.”

“Maybe I'll have to ask Heero to take me up sometime,” said Ami, both to Heero and Sakura.

“Anytime,” answered Heero. “But in the meantime, I think I've found Li.”

“You found him already?” asked Ami in surprise. “I didn't even realize you had started looking.”

“I've been attempting to track him since we took off.”

“Even with all the fancy flying moves?”

“I've had to learn to fly while using Wing ZERO's other features to battle effectively,” explained Heero. “So doing a wide area scan while entertaining you is no problem.”

“So how exactly did you go about searching for Syaoran-kun?”

“I actually got a little lucky,” replied Heero. “I checked Tokyo Station and couldn't find Li's car. Figuring he drove it, it was easy to find using ZERO's systems in conjunction with all the traffic and security cameras in the Tokyo area.”

“So where is he?”

“Looks like he's already left the city limits, headed toward Mt. Fuji.”

“Mt. Fuji?” asked Ami rhetorically. “I wonder why he's heading there.”

“Syaoran-kun once told me that Mt. Fuji is one of the centers in the flow of Chi through Japan,” said Sakura through the radio, having heard the entire conversation through the open link with the Gundam's cockpit. “Maybe he's heading there to use the Chi flow to help cleanse himself of the Clow Card that is messing with his head.”

“Or the Clow Card is taking him there for its own purposes,” commented Heero. “But either way, we'll intercept him way before he gets there.”

“How long?” asked Ami from the back seat, where she was staring at a display that had an image of Syaoran sitting in the driver's seat of his Mercedes sports car.

“About twelve minutes, assuming Li holds the same speed and heading,” answered Heero. “Sakura, follow the map I sent to the navigation system in Duo's car and meet us at Li's position.”

“On my way,” responded Sakura as she jumped into the driver's seat of Duo's BMW, started the engine, and brought up the map on Duo's navigation screen. Following the course Heero had sent her, Sakura shifted the car in gear and made her way toward the highway.

Meanwhile, in the cockpit of Wing ZERO, Ami's mind was racing. She had been confused about the whole situation with Syaoran from the beginning, but had never before had any specific thing to be confused about. However, at the moment, Ami was having a difficult time deciphering what she would do when she saw Syaoran. She knew Heero's plan was to fight against Syaoran to defeat the Clow Card controlling him, but she just didn't think she could bring herself to fight against him. Obviously she didn't want Syaoran to stay the way he was, but the thought of fighting against him was just a little overwhelming to the girl.

Ami didn't even realize how much time had gone by until Heero jolted her back to reality. “There he is.”

When Heero spoke, Ami looked up at one of the numerous camera displays to stare right into a close up view of Syaoran's deep amber eyes. “Syaoran-kun,” whispered Ami to herself as she felt herself get lost in the image of Syaoran's visage.

“Hang on,” warned Heero, more to wake up Ami than because he was planning on doing anything drastic. He gave Ami a second to come back to reality before taking Wing ZERO into a steep dive and leveling out parallel to the road Syaoran was following. Heero flew mere meters above the ground, his unmatched Gundam speed easily gaining on Syaoran's car. Heero knew Sakura wouldn't catch up to them for quite a while, but they couldn't wait.

In no time, Wing ZERO caught up to Syaoran's Mercedes sports car. Heero flew ahead of the speeding automobile, before landing in the center of the road, blocking it, and forcing Syaoran to hit the brakes and come to a stop.

Heero's original plan was to use his Gundam only to stop Syaoran's vehicle, and was about to open the cockpit hatch to see Syaoran face to face, when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. “Hold on, Ami-san,” said Heero as he quickly took off and did a series of spins and evasive maneuvers.

“What's going on!?” asked Ami in surprise and confusion.

“Something's attacking us,” answered Heero as he executed another series of evasive maneuvers.

“Where is it?” asked Ami as she scanned every video feed in Wing ZERO's cockpit. “I don't see anything.”

“Upper right monitor,” said Heero. “Watch it closely.”

Ami stared hard at the display, and right when Heero ignited the engines on the left side of the Gundam to send it moving laterally right, Ami saw a flash shoot right past them. “What was that?”

“Don't know,” answered Heero. “But based on the speed and magical intensity of whatever it is, I'm not sure ZERO's armor can repel a direct hit.”

“So what's the plan?” asked Ami right before tightly gripping the armrests as Heero took Wing ZERO into another series of twists and turns.

“We can't keep dodging forever,” replied Heero. “So we'll have to attack somehow.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Keep watch on the external displays and warn me if you see a second attack,” answered Heero. “Other than that, just hang on tight.”

Ami didn't respond to Heero. Instead she pulled out her transformation wand. “Mercury Crystal Power, Make-Up!”

“Why did you transform?” asked Heero curiously after Ami had changed and reappeared as Sailor Mercury.

“As Mizuno Ami, I can't help much,” explained Ami. “But as Sailor Mercury I can use my visor to help you detect the magical energy and spot any secondary attacks.”

“Good thinking,” praised Heero. “Utilizing your Senshi skills didn't even occur to me.”

Ami smiled in response to Heero's kind words before activating her visor. She adjusted the settings to view outside the Gundam cockpit and scanned the area for signs of the attacker. “Coming in at nine o'clock, sixty degrees above.”

“I see it,” Heero responded as he moved Wing ZERO to dodge the attack much more smoothly because of the advance warning. “Can you tell what it is? All I can see are the flashes.”

Ami zoomed in on the magical force as it passed them by, attempting to learn anything she could about its qualities. “Whatever it is, it's surrounded by a magical energy, which is why it flashes every time it passes us.”

“Any strength reading?”

“I can't get a clear power reading,” Ami responded. “But I can say with complete certainty that it is a Clow Card.”

“I was fairly sure about that as well,” agreed Heero. “But what I really need to know is a way to attack.”

Giving Heero as much advance warning as she could to dodge and evade the attacks, Ami also was studying all the data she had bee able to capture on the Clow Card. “You may have been able to tell from the displays, but I couldn't see, but it looks as though the Clow Card looks small from straight ahead, but in actuality it is almost forty meters in length and very thin, kind of like a rope.”

“Dexterity?”

“Looks like the entire length is completely flexible,” answered Ami. “It can seemingly take any shape and move in any direction.”

“I wonder why it always attacks straight ahead and at a single point. Why not use its length and agility to its advantage?”

“I don't know. It's almost like it is toying with us. Just keeping us busy.”

Ami's comment got Heero thinking a bit. Punching a couple buttons on a console in the cockpit, Heero brought up a view of where he had originally caught up with Syaoran's car. “Thought so,” said Heero as he stared at the empty area of road.

“What?” questioned Ami.

“He's gone,” Heero continued.

“Huh?” Ami responded with confusion in her voice.

“Li,” said Heero. “I think he's controlling the Clow Card. He used it to distract us so he could get away.”

“Can you track him?”

“This road is pretty secluded,” said Heero. “His car isn't designed for off-road driving, so there isn't anywhere he could really go except along the road.”

“Can Wing ZERO's cockpit be opened mid-flight?”

“Sure,” replied Heero. “Why?”

“If possible,” continued Ami. “I was hoping you could do a fly-by of Syaoran's position so I can jump out and stop him.”

“It is possible,” Heero said while doing yet another set of evasive maneuvers. “But it's going to be very dangerous, since to avoid getting hit by the Clow Card I can't stop, so you are going to have to exit while still moving at a decently fast speed. And I know you have increased strength and agility as Sailor Mercury, but a move like this is still very risky.”

“I know,” responded Ami. “And I know something like this will put you and Wing ZERO at increased risk as well, but I need to do this.”

“Alright,” conceded Heero after thinking it over for a few seconds. “Be ready though, because the timing has to be pretty close to perfect.”

“Just give me the word.”

Heero nodded and turned Wing ZERO sharply to follow along the road. He kept a close eye on both the Clow Card attacking them and the road ahead, looking for Syaoran. After a few minutes, having dodged strikes by the Clow Card a half dozen more times, Heero finally caught up with Syaoran again. Heero slowed down until he was moving just slightly faster than Syaoran's car, with the Clow Card rapidly approaching from behind. “Get ready,” said Heero to Ami. “We're a go in ten seconds.”

Right as the Clow Card was upon them, Heero twisted Wing ZERO along its vertical axis, pulling it into a fast, tight corkscrew. Under normal circumstances, Heero wouldn't dare do such a reckless maneuver, where the probability of getting hit was very high, and the proximity to the ground was so close that there was a good chance of impact with one of the wings. Luckily, however, the gamble paid off, as the Clow Card shot right through ZERO's spinning mass without impact, and Heero was able to right Wing ZERO's attitude. In a flash, Heero opened the cockpit door, allowing a huge gust of wind to swirl around Ami and himself. “Now.”

Ami wasted no time, jumping out of the open door and doing a flip in the air before landing in a crouch in the middle of the road a few hundred feet in front of Syaoran's car. “Bubble Spray Freezing!” From the magical powers of Sailor Mercury, a snowy frozen substance appeared around Syaoran's car, stopping it dead in its tracks just a few meters in front of the Senshi.

Very casually, Syaoran opened his car door and stepped out. “I thought I told you to leave me be,” Syaoran stated as he faced directly at Ami.

“But you are not my Syaoran-kun,” replied Ami. “You are just a Clow Card using his body.” Ami got into a fighting stance facing straight at Syaoran. “And I am going to defeat you and turn Syaoran back to normal.”

Syaoran grinned an unnaturally wicked smirk as he got into a fighting stance of his own. “Let's see you try.”

Although most of the training Ami had done with Syaoran, Sakura, and Heero had been of a more magical nature, she had still gotten a decent number of lessons in traditional martial arts. However, she was still nowhere near the skill level of someone like Syaoran, especially if he currently had heightened enough strength and agility to so badly defeat Heero. Therefore, Ami knew her only slim chance would be to go on the offensive and try to keep Syaoran from being able to attack.

Ami began her attack by rushing at her opponent, covering the short distance between Syaoran and herself in a flash because of her enhanced Senshi powers. She started off with a head height spinning crescent kick that Syaoran easily leaned back to evade, and followed the attack by using her momentum to whip around her other leg for a reverse roundhouse. Unfortunately, that too went for not, as Syaoran again leaned back and watched Ami's leg fly past. Not long ago, after a move that was that complex, Ami would have landed way out of position, but after her training with Syaoran and Heero over the last few months, Ami was able to land back in a perfect fighting stance. This enabled the Mercury Princess to follow up with another series of attacks. Ami began much the same as before with a spinning head high crescent kick, which again Syaoran evaded, but this time executed a reverse sweep at Syaoran's legs. The sweep was evaded by a flip backward by Syaoran, in response to which, Ami did a jumping sidekick. This time Syaoran evaded by sidestepping the attack, so Ami continued the assault with a backhand punch. Apparently bored of evasion, Syaoran blocked the bunch sharply with his forearm. This move gave Ami just the slightest bit of surprise as she was expecting him to simply dodge the attack like before. She recovered quickly and continued her assault with another series of punches, all of which were sharply blocked by Syaoran.

Ami attacked relentlessly, but even her Mercury enhanced power and skills were not enough to defeat Syaoran's expert martial arts training, as his blocks became more and more forceful, making it harder for Ami to return to a proper martial arts stance after each strike. The same trend continued until finally Syaoran blocked an attack so forcefully that Ami had to stumble backward a step. As she was recovering, out of the corner of her eye she noticed Syaoran taking the offensive, and as the powerful punch came toward her face, all Ami could do was raise her arms in front of her face and wait for the impact. However, much to Ami's surprise, the strike never came. Slowly and cautiously, Ami moved her arms out of the way to find out what had happened. What she saw surprised her even further. Syaoran's left fist was mere centimeters from her face and his right hand was gripped tightly around his own wrist. His muscles were tensed, and his arms were quivering just the slightest bit, showing he was struggling against himself, and his face was contorted in an expression that showed his internal anguish.

“Stay back, Ami-chan,” said Syaoran in his normal caring, but extraordinarily strained voice. “I don't know how much longer I can control it.”

“I'm not going anywhere,” stated Ami forcefully. “I'm going to get you through this no matter what it takes.” And with that statement, Ami leaned in past Syaoran's arm and planted a kiss directly on Syaoran's lips. The move clearly caught Syaoran and the Clow Card controlling him off guard, as both his punching arm and his self-controlled hand went limp and fell to his sides.

After a few seconds, Ami pulled back from Syaoran's lips and took a step back to observe what his reaction would be. She didn't know what she was expecting to happen, but she found herself stunned at Syaoran's initial reaction.

The future Li Clan leader grasped his head in both hands and yelled out in agony as he fell to his knees on the ground. Ami started to run over and try to help, but found herself repelled by an invisible force shield, forcing her to only stand and helplessly watch Syaoran's pain. Ami quickly began to panic and was going to try to reach Syaoran by using her magic to break through the shield, when suddenly Syaoran stopped screaming, passed out on the ground, and two black clouds rose out of his body. One of the black clouds floated into the air and transformed into a puppet master holding at set of strings, while the other changed into the shape of a small voodoo doll.

Ami completely disregarded the two Clow Cards and ran to Syaoran's comatose side. She ignored the Clow Cards even as they finished taking form and started toward her. Luckily for her, however, before the two cards could do any mischief, the hulking form of Wing ZERO landed loudly on the ground and in a flash, Heero jumped out of the cockpit and before even reaching the ground, executed a split kick, catching the forms of both Clow Cards, knocking them both to the ground.

“I Heero, Master of the Cards Command You. Return to Your True Form. Clow Card!”

At Heero's command, the two unconscious Clow Cards returned to card form and floated over to Heero's hand. Without looking at them, Heero placed the two cards with the third he had captured right before getting back to where Ami and Syaoran were, in his pocket, and made his way over to Ami. “How's he doing?”

“I think he'll be fine,” answered Ami. “He has a steady pulse and breathing, and nothing appears damaged.” Having been totally engrossed in checking to make certain Syaoran was alright, Ami hadn't even really noticed that Heero had landed in Wing ZERO and defeated the two Clow Cards that had been expelled from Syaoran's body. “Did you defeat that Clow Card?”

“Yeah,” Heero replied. “It suddenly began acting erratically just a few moments ago, and was easy to defeat using Wing ZERO's beam saber. After capturing it, I flew here and captured the other two.”

“What cards were they?” Heero took all three Clow Cards out of his pocket and handed them to Ami. “The Control, the Doubt, and the String.” Ami then handed the cards back to Heero and reverted back to her regular form. “I think I better take Syaoran-kun back to the dorms to rest.”

“Good idea,” said Heero as he picked up Syaoran off the ground. He started toward Syaoran's car, but stopped when he saw the block of ice and snow it was encased in. “Is that your handiwork?”

Ami looked over at Syaoran's car and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I had to stop him somehow.”

Heero placed Syaoran back on the ground and called his Clow Sword back. “Key that Hides the Power of Space. Show Your True Self to Me. I, Heero Command You Under Contract. Release!” With sword in hand, Heero pulled out his Magma Card. “Melt the ice. Magma!” Once released, the Magma Card surrounded the ice around the car and in no time at all, melted the vehicle free. Once the Magma Card was finished, Heero recalled both it and his Clow Sword and picked Syaoran up again, walking him over his Mercedes and placing him in the passenger seat. “I'll let Sakura know that everything here is taken care of, so just take Li back and we'll meet you there later.”

“Okay,” said Ami as she sat in the driver's seat of the sports car. “Thank you for everything, Heero-kun. I know you've been injured during this entire thing, and I hope you didn't overexert yourself.”

“I'm fine, Ami-san,” replied Heero. “Just take care of Li. I'll be fine.”

“Okay. I'll see you soon.”

Heero just nodded in response as Ami closed the door, started the car, turned around, and drove down the road back toward Tokyo. Once the car was out of sight, Heero fell to one knee, grasping his shoulder with his other arm. He didn't say anything to Ami, but Heero knew he had messed himself up substantially more by doing all the flying, fighting, and magic using. His shoulder was excruciatingly painful, he could barely stand, and he was actually having trouble focusing his eyes.

Using what was left of his strength, Heero managed to crawl over to the base of Wing ZERO and sit himself on the ground, using the mighty Gundam's leg as a support. Heero tried a few times to stand before his energy finally gave out, and he passed out unconscious at the base of his Gundam.

A few hours later, Sakura arrived at the secluded stretch of road that was the final destination on the map she had been following. She stopped in the middle of the road and looked around a bit, easily spotting the hulking form of Wing ZERO. The majority of its size was hidden behind some trees on the side of the road, but the sheer height of the Gundam made it easy to spot above the top of the small forest. Getting out of the car, Sakura made her way through the trees toward ZERO's position. Sakura was a little lost at what the situation was, for she had been out of contact with Ami for quite some time, and couldn't even reach Heero via their telepathic link. She also found it a little strange that even with Wing ZERO so close by, she couldn't sense Heero's magical signature anywhere.

When Sakura finally came to the clearing, she immediately began to sprint because the first thing she noticed when Wing ZERO came into full view, was the form of her boyfriend lying unconscious against one of its feet. “Heero-kun! Heero-kun!” repeated Sakura as she tried to wake Heero from his slumber. Unfortunately, her attempts to rouse Heero went unrealized, as she was unable to get Heero to awaken from his unconscious state. At first Sakura started to panic, but quickly got a hold of herself and began to think rationally. She checked Heero's pulse and breathing, and sighed a huge sigh of relief when she found that both of those were steady and, though a bit slow, mostly normal. Sakura really wanted to find out what had happened, and so pulled out her cell phone to try to call Ami one more time. After a second, Sakura heard a beeping from nearby and followed the sound to find Ami's cell phone on the ground, not far from where Heero lay unconscious. She picked up the phone and placed it in her pocket, and as about to call Minako to see if she had heard from Ami, when another thought occurred to her. Instead, Sakura dialed Syaoran's number. After a few rings, Sakura heard a girl's voice on the other end.

“Hello?”

“Ami-chan?”

“Sakura-chan?”

“Yeah,” answered Sakura. “I've been trying to reach you, but you must have dropped your phone, because I just found it near where Heero-kun is.”

“Where Heero is?” repeated Ami. “Didn't he call you and go back to the dorms yet?”

“No,” Sakura said. “He's unconscious next to Wing ZERO on the side of the road. I tried to wake him, but couldn't. I think he drained himself of his energy, because I can't feel his magical aura either.”

On the other side of the line, Sakura heard a groan. “He lied to me,” stated Ami. “He said he was perfectly fine, and that the fighting didn't aggravate his injuries. I knew I should have checked him more closely, but I got so distracted by Syaoran-kun.”

“Well, I think Heero-kun will be alright in a little while,” said Sakura. “He's breathing normally and his heart rate is good. He probably just exhausted himself.”

“I'm still sorry, Sakura-chan,” apologized Ami. “I should have paid more attention.”

“Heero-kun can take care of himself,” said Sakura. “There is nothing for you to be sorry about. But what about Syaoran-kun? Is he alright?”

“He had a pair of Clow Cards controlling him,” answered Ami. “But he managed to break free of their control. Unfortunately, he passed out afterwards, so I am driving him back to the dorm. I should be there within an hour.”

“I'm glad he's alright. I am going to get Heero-kun into Wing ZERO and fly him back.”

“What are you going to do with Duo's car?”

Sakura paused for a moment, having briefly forgot about the automobile sitting on the road. “I guess I'll have to carry it with Wing ZERO. I just hope I don't accidentally crush it.”

“Should I call anyone else and have them meet you somewhere?”

Sakura thought momentarily. “No,” she finally answered. “I don't think there is anything anyone would be able to really do right now. I'll just take ZERO back to the forest and then put Heero-kun into the car and drive back home.”

“Ok,” Ami answered. “Keep me posted.”

“Ok, Ami-chan. I'll see you in a while.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

After hanging up the phone, Sakura looked down at her sleeping boyfriend. “You are so stubborn sometimes.” Sakura bent down and gave Heero a kiss on the mouth, even though Heero wasn't awake to respond, and then held him close to her body, before standing back up and releasing her Star Wand. “Key that Hides the Power of the Stars. Show Your True Self to Me. I, Sakura Command You Under Contract. Release!” After her wand was released, Sakura pulled out two cards. “Power! Jump!”

With Clow enhanced strength and leaping ability, Sakura picked up Heero's unconscious body and leapt up to Wing ZERO's open cockpit. After carefully placing Heero in the auxiliary chair and strapping him in, Sakura sat in the pilot's seat and began the machine's startup procedures. By this time, Sakura had become quite proficient at using Wing ZERO and even though this would be her first time flying without a conscious Heero in the other seat, she felt quite at ease in the powerful robot.

Once all the systems on Wing ZERO were up and running, Sakura closed the cockpit door and walked the Gundam out from behind the trees to the road. Very carefully, Sakura picked up Duo's BMW sedan in Wing ZERO's right hand, making certain not to close the hand far enough to crush the automobile, but also making sure she had a good enough grip that it wouldn't fall out mid-flight. Then, taking a deep breath as she always did before take-off, Sakura hit the throttle, sending Wing ZERO flying into the air. Normally when Sakura was practicing with Wing ZERO she would send the Gundam into a number of fancy maneuvers, but she knew that would not be smart at the moment, and instead flew at top speed straight back to the forest. Just as Heero had taught her, she avoided as many populated areas as possible, and flew at a high altitude, so as not to be seen from the ground. She had originally asked if flying at a high altitude would make the Gundam vulnerable to radar, but Heero had informed her that the Gundam's were impervious to radar technology, and were very difficult to track, except with another Gundam or high tech military equipment.

It didn't take too long for Sakura to reach the forest where Heero and Duo hid Wing ZERO and Deathscythe, and after landing she carefully placed Duo's car on the ground, thankful that it didn't appear to be damaged in any way. She then moved Wing ZERO into a crouching position, shut off all the systems, and opened the cockpit door. Getting Heero out of the auxiliary chair, Sakura hopped to the ground and placed Heero in the passenger seat of Duo's BMW. She had considered asking the for the Heal's help, since she was already there and Heero was badly in need of some medical assistance, but the conversation they had had earlier kept replaying in her mind, and she had a feeling Heero would be pretty angry at her for risking the power of such an important card, so she decided to just head back.

A few hours later, Sakura finally arrived back at the dorms, and with Eriol's help, got Heero up to the guys' suite, where she found Ami waiting. “He can be so stubborn,” said Ami as she followed Sakura into Heero's room to check on his wounds. “Just like Syaoran.”

“Guess it runs in the family,” said Sakura. “How's he look?”

“Well, just like you said before, his breathing and heart rate are pretty close to normal, so that's good,” said Ami. “His ribs are still fractured, as expected, but it doesn't look like he broke any more bones. His shoulder, however, is a different story. I think he must have overexerted it during either the flying or the fighting, because although it is still in place, it feels as if there may be a ligament that got torn in there, although there is no way to be certain without an MRI.”

“His magic is definitely drained, however,” added Eriol. “I have never seen someone with their magical energy so completely used up. It is almost like he ended up using some of his life force to account for the absent magical power, which is probably why he passed out.”

“Will he be alright though?” asked Sakura worriedly, not liking the sound of the possibility that Heero had used his life force to replace his diminished magical energy.

“With some rest and a good amount of time, his magical energy should return to normal,” answered Eriol.

“And if we can force him to a doctor, with some proper medical treatment, he should physically return to normal as well.”

“Thanks, Ami-chan,” said Sakura. “You should get some sleep. You look drained, both physically and emotionally.”

“I'll be alright,” answered Ami. “I want to keep an eye on both of them for a little while longer. Plus, I want to call my mother and see if she can take a look at Heero's injuries tomorrow.”

“Thanks, again, Ami-chan,” said Sakura. “I'm going to stay here with Heero-kun, so if you want to stay with Syaoran-kun, I'll come get you if something changes.”

“Okay,” Ami said as she gave Sakura a long hug. “They're strong boys. They'll both be fine.”

“I know,” Sakura answered before looking down and Heero and whispering. “I know.”