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 Electrifying Birthday ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter 17: Sakura's Electrifying Birthday

~~~~~Southern Japan~~~~~

“Only three more hours,” whined Tomoyo as she stared at the clock reading 9:00. “How did I let you guys talk me into coming on this trip?”

“Because just like the rest of us,” answered Ranma. “You need the extra credit.”

“Too bad we aren't like Ami-chan and Li-kun and can miss as much class as they have and still get perfect scores,” Minako added.

Due to a mix of Clow Cards popping up everywhere and the guys all being on not only the school soccer team, but also invitees for the Japanese National Team, the gang had missed a lot of classes. Both Ami and Syaoran were able to keep up their grades despite missing the class time, so were able to forgo going on the optional extra credit biology field trip. Eriol also had a high enough grade in the class to have chosen to skip the trip, but had decided to go anyway, just to keep the others company and help answer any questions they might have since Ami, their usual go-to brain, was not present. And since Sakura and Heero didn't have biology this year, that left them back at school with Ami and Syaoran.

“But why did the extra credit trip have to be this weekend? I am missing Sakura-chan's birthday!”

“Not to mention Yuy-kun's too,” Ukyo added. “Can you believe they were born one day apart?”

“I still think I should have taken my C and stayed for Sakura-chan's birthday,” Tomoyo continued to whine.

“You are the one who said your mother would force you to get a tutor if you got any C's,” pointed out Eriol. “And though Mizuno-san could easily fill that roll for almost any class, it would still take away from your Sakura time.”

“But it is Sakura-chan and Heero-kun's first birthday together, and I am missing it! Ami-san and Li-kun are so lucky they get to be there.”

“Are Ami-chan and Li-kun celebrating with Sakura-chan and Yuy-kun?” questioned Minako. “Or is the couple spending the time alone together?”

“Sakura-chan said that she and Heero-kun are going to spend tonight alone together,” Tomoyo answered. “But tomorrow the four are going to go out all together.”

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

“Happy birthday,” toasted Heero as he held up his glass of overpriced champagne.

“Happy birthday,” replied Sakura with a smile as she clinked her glass lightly against Heero's.

Heero and Sakura were celebrating their birthdays at the highest rated French restaurant in Tokyo. Heero, with a little help from his aunt and the rest Li Clan, had managed to get a reservation at a quiet, secluded table near the fireplace at the luxurious restaurant. Once the Li Clan had gotten him the reservation, Heero planned out the rest of the meal, including the $900 bottle of Krug champagne, from the Clos du Mesnil vineyard. Heero had had a more or less unlimited budget his whole life, so was used to such luxurious items as the almost thousand dollar champagne, however, the most highly regarded champagne in the world was a completely new experience for Sakura. After taking a small sip, Sakura allowed the liquid to linger in her mouth a little while in an attempt to discover just what was so special about the lavish drink.

“You like it?” Heero asked, seeing that Sakura was deep in thought as she tasted the champagne.

Finally swallowing the bubbling wine, Sakura answered. “It's very nice,” Sakura answered with a smile. “Although, seeing as how I've never even tasted regular champagne, it almost seems like a waste for me to be drinking such an expensive one.”

The corner of Heero's mouth rose up in his patented half smile. “Nothing for you is ever a waste. Although, I will admit, there is a chance I may have just spoiled you from drinking any lesser champagne. There is really nothing quite like a Krug.”

“Well, between you, Syaoran-kun, and Tomoyo-chan, I am surrounded by people who apparently have a limitless amount of money, so when I'm ever celebrating anything, the three of you are always there providing the best stuff.” Heero smiled at the cuteness of his girlfriend, and then once again raised his glass and clinked it against Sakura's in celebration of their shared birthday.

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

“Okay,” said Sakura into her phone. “We'll see you then.” Sakura hung up and turned to Heero. “Ami-chan and Syaoran-kun are going to be a little late. The computer they were running their simulations on at school froze up and they lost some data, so they are going to be a little longer as they recreate it.”

“I see,” answered Heero. “They say how long they will be?”

“No,” Sakura responded. “But knowing the two of them, it won't take them very long.”

“True. Did you want to do anything in the meantime?”

“I'm pretty comfortable here,” answered Sakura. “If it's alright with you, I'd rather just wait for them here.”

“Anything you want,” said Heero with a smile. “It is your birthday after all.”

Sakura playfully stuck out her tongue at Heero before reaching her head up and giving him a quick kiss.

Sakura and Heero were currently sitting under a large tree in one of the park areas on their university campus. They had been scheduled to meet Ami and Syaoran for dinner and a movie, but given Ami and Syaoran's delay, Sakura and Heero would be waiting a while longer. Heero, in fact, had been waiting for quite a while before even Sakura had arrived. After their night out to celebrate their birthdays the night before, Sakura had decided to sleep in that morning. However, Heero had to meet with his chemistry partner early that morning to finish an isotope analysis. It was, in fact, the same assignment that Ami and Syaoran were currently working on themselves, only with a different isotope. Fortunately, Heero had been paired up with a partner who was very intelligent in his own right, so the two of them got through the project without much difficulty. Having finished a little earlier than expected, Heero decided to simply wait where he was supposed to meet Sakura and the others instead of going all the way back to his dorm.

“So did you sleep well last night?” Heero asked, having gotten up and left before Sakura had woken up.

Sakura smiled sheepishly up at Heero before answering. “I slept in kind of late, and then when I went back to my room to shower, I ended up going back to sleep in my own bed. I actually just got up a couple hours ago.”

Heero chuckled slightly and gave Sakura a peck on the forehead.

“What?” questioned Sakura as she took notice of the peculiar expression Heero had on his face.

“Just admiring you,” Heero answered. “And thinking about how much I lo…”

Before Heero could finish, both he and Sakura snapped their heads up, having felt a strong magical presence nearby. Inwardly, Sakura cursed a little, almost certain Heero was going to say that he loved her, something he had as of yet, never said to her before. But before he had gotten the words out, the magical presence, which felt like a Clow Card, had appeared.

“You feel it too?” asked Heero. To Sakura's disappointment, Heero was clearly not thinking about the comment he had been about to make before the Card showed up.

“I feel it,” Sakura answered. “It's close, but doesn't seem to be that powerful.”

Heero got up to his feet, pulling Sakura gently up with him. Heero hid the beginnings of a smile as he watched Sakura cutely pat her little butt to clean off the dirt from the ground. Returning his attention to the business at hand, Heero pulled out his Clow pendant. “Key that Hides the Power of Space. Show Your True Self to Me. I, Heero Command You Under Contract. Release!”

After watching Heero release his Clow Sword, Sakura followed suit and released her own wand. “Key that Hides the Power of the Stars. Show Your True Self to Me. I, Sakura Command You Under Contract. Release!”

Both Clow Masters armed and ready, Heero and Sakura scanned the area for signs of the Clow Card, but unfortunately they couldn't find it. “I don't see anything,” commented Sakura as she momentarily dropped her guard.

“Look out!” warned Heero as he stepped in front of Sakura just in time to block an energy attack with his sword. “Strange,” Heero commented after the attack.

“What is strange?”

“That attack. It was much weaker than I would have predicted.”

“How were you able to see it anyway?” asked Sakura.

“I couldn't,” Heero answered. “I felt the attack coming. It's something I have been working to perfect with Li.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Sakura. “That's amazing.”

“I still haven't perfected the technique yet. For some reason, when I use the skill it somehow takes some of my energy from my muscles to increase my magical awareness and as a result my reflexes and reactions are slowed a fraction.”

“You seemed fast enough to me.”

“No,” stated Heero. “The attack was just slow and weak. Even if I hadn't blocked it, chances are it wouldn't have really hurt you much anyway.”

“Oh.”

“One more,” said Heero casually as he blocked another attack.

“I still can't see where they are coming from.”

“Neither can I, so we are going to have to work as a team.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sakura.

“Your magical awareness is more acute than mine, so you concentrate your power and find the source of the attacks. Meanwhile, I'll cover you from the attacks so you can use your complete concentration to find the main body of the Clow Card.”

“Okay,” agreed Sakura with a nod before closing her eyes to concentrate on the Clow Card presence. She heard Heero deflecting a couple more invisible strikes before she was finally able to pinpoint the position of the Clow Card's main body. Sakura waited for a moment as she made certain she was right about the position, while simultaneously shuffling through her Clow Cards and pulling the correct one without even opening her eyes. “Watery!” Sakura called out as she released her water elemental Sakura Card. Sakura had noticed that every time Heero blocked an attack, it appeared as though a small amount of electricity was absorbed through his sword, leading Sakura to assume the Clow Card was electricity based.

The Watery Clow Card sped through the air towards the coordinates mentally transmitted by its Mistress until it impacted upon an invisible foe. The mixture of electricity from the Clow Card and the water from Sakura's elemental Card created a small electric explosion in the air.

“I see you found it,” commented Heero.

Sakura just smiled at the rare showing of joking sarcasm by Heero before turning back to see her opponent become partially visible and fall to the ground with a thud. When Sakura saw the Clow Card, which appeared to look like an electric bird of some type, seemed unable to move anymore, she decided it was time to capture it. “I Sakura, Mistress of the Cards Command You. Return…”

Sakura stopped mid-sentence as suddenly both she and Heero felt a huge spike in power and the Clow Card flashed bright for a moment before taking off into the air and once again becoming invisible. “What was that?” questioned Sakura, standing dumbfounded and staring at the position the Clow Card had been in not two seconds ago.

“I think there is another Card in the area,” Heero stated. “That magical surge felt slightly different than the original power, so I think another Card is here and is strengthening the one we have been fighting.”

“So what should we do?”

“We use the same strategy we just used. You try to find the Card, and I'll cover you.”

“Right,” agreed Sakura before closing her eyes to concentrate.

Unfortunately for Heero and Sakura, their plan didn't work as well this time as it had the first. Mere moments after Sakura had closed her eyes, they bolted back open again as she felt a charge shoot through her body, causing a tingle, but no real pain. However, the attack was not as unsubstantial for Heero. With the upgraded power, Heero was unable to react fast enough to the new attacks, and his body was struck center mass by a much more powerful electric shock than those he had been blocking earlier. The charge had jumped just a slight amount of the power over to Sakura's body, which was why she felt only a small jolt, but the majority of the strike flooded Heero's nervous system, causing him great pain and forcing him to involuntarily drop his weapon and fall to his hands and knees.

“Heero-kun!” shouted Sakura as she saw her boyfriend and Clow Card partner fall to the ground. She immediately fell to her knees and bent over to help and check on Heero, but before she could even see his face, she too was struck by an electric bolt. Fortunately, the attack was much less powerful than the one Heero had taken, however, it was still strong enough to knock the Clow Mistress backwards onto the ground.

“Are you okay, Sakura-chan?”

“Just a little shaken up,” answered Sakura. “But I'll be fine. We need to do something about our inability to see the attacks.”

“I know,” agreed Heero. “And I have an idea, although it has a certain level of risk to it. I'm not certain, but I believe this Clow Card we are fighting is some type of Lightning Card, probably made from the energy that was used to create your Thunder Card. Since it is still day, the brightness of the sky is making it impossible to see the strikes by the Clow Card. So I was thinking, if I can transform the Night Card, I can change the sky to night, and we should theoretically be able to see the attacks.”

“But the Night Card is made from the powers of both the Light and Dark Cards. Even if you are able to transform it, there is a good chance that it will leave you incapacitated afterwards.”

“That is the risk. But as it stands, I don't see any other options. Without being able to see the attacks, there is no way we are going to be able to dodge or block them, and then it is only a matter of time until we are defeated.”

“I guess we have no other choice. I'll use the Shield to give us some cover. Hopefully it is powerful enough to stop an attack.”

Heero nodded in agreement as he pulled out the Night Clow Card. “Card Created by Clow. Discard Your Old Form and be Reborn, Under the Name Heero; Your New Master.”

Heero's Clow Sword and the unchanged Night Card, both began to glow as Heero's magical energy flowed from the mystic weapon into the Clow Card. While Sakura had the majority of her attention focused on her opponent, she made sure to keep the corner of her eye on Heero, and she could clearly see how hard Heero had to focus to change the powerful card. She could see that Heero's entire body was tensed and his legs were even shaking slightly, two signs of over exertion and physical struggle that Heero never showed. But it was also clear to Sakura that there was no way Heero would give up, and Heero would never let himself fail. Sakura desperately wanted to lend her power to Heero to help him transform the Night Card, just as Syaoran had done for her all those years ago when she was transforming the Light and Dark Cards, but she knew that if she diverted even a fraction of her energy from her Shield Card, the attacks from the opposing Clow Card would definitely break through.

Even though Heero had been expecting the Night Card to take an extreme amount of power to change, he was still surprised at just how much he had to exert himself. He could feel he was already at his limit, but it appeared he was still a little short on power. He could tell that Sakura was keeping an eye on his progress through her peripheral vision, and could feel her apprehension, obviously noticing that he was having trouble with his task. He could tell from her expression and from feeling her emotions, that Sakura wanted nothing more than to lend him her power, certain it would easily be enough energy to change the Card. Unfortunately, they both knew that without her full power, the Shield had no chance of stopping the electric attacks being thrown their direction. The Shield Card was already struggling slightly against the power of the enemy, and Heero wasn't sure that even with Sakura's full power behind the Shield, it would last indefinitely against the powerful attacks.

Fortunately, like most all the others, Heero's magic responded to desperation. His need to change the Night Card to protect not only himself, but also Sakura, caused his magical energy to dip into his own life force to give him the little power surge he needed to successfully change the Night. With an uncharacteristic shout, Heero unleashed just enough power for the Night to flash brightly, engulfing the entire area in a blinding white. When the light subsided and vision was possible again, the Night Card had been successfully changed. Replacing the split picture of Light and Dark, was a new image. A portrait of the Night Card's physical form, the shadowy figure that was half black and half white, now adorned the front of the Clow Card, and the back had changed from the pitch black, to the white back with Heero's magic circle. Unfortunately, however, the power required to change the Night Card had taken too much from Heero's magical and life energies, and before he could even release the new Heero Card, the Clow Master lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Seeing Heero fall caused Sakura to break her concentration on the Shield Card, and she did so at just the wrong moment. An electric attack blasted through the magical defense barrier and, though fortunately weakened, impacted directly on the back of the distracted Card Mistress. Though the attack didn't hurt as much as it could have, the force was still strong enough to throw Sakura to the ground, causing her to land right near Heero, and directly in front of the newly changed Night Card. Sakura had to fight every urge in her body to keep from ignoring both the Night Card and the new Clow enemy and running over to her fallen boyfriend, but she knew she had a job to do, and even though she was running low on magical energy, the Clow Mistress took hold of the new Heero Card and turned to face her enemy.

“Night!” Sakura called out as she released the powerful Card. She watched as the true form of the Night Card emerged from the Clow Card and hovered in the air in front of its Mistress. Moments later, the sky began to darken, and within seconds, the area was pitch black and Sakura finally got a look at the upgraded Clow Card. From what Sakura could tell, it appeared that the lightning based Clow Card was the same as before, but this time there was a small transparent figure perched on the back of the electric bird. Sakura could only assume it was the power of this new Clow Card that was making the lightning attacks so much stronger.

Now that she could see the enemy, Sakura told herself that there was no way she would let Heero's effort go to waste. Deciding that her initial water attack was still the best opponent to electricity, Sakura again pulled out her Watery Card. “Watery!” called out Sakura as she released her water elemental Clow Card and directed it to attack the now visible foe. The Card Mistress watched the blue streak of the Watery Card follow the quick moving electric bird, gradually gaining ground until it impacted with a flash, right on target. Sakura was almost certain the result of the Watery attack would be the same as earlier, and was preparing to seal the new Clow Card, but unfortunately, when the light cleared and the Watery returned to its Mistress, the enemy was still hovering in air, apparently unfazed by the attack.

Sakura was so surprised by the ineffectiveness of her elemental Clow Card that she didn't realize it had decided to go on the offensive until too late. With only enough time to raise her arms and staff to protect her face, Sakura was struck center mass by a powerful lightning attack and sent sprawling to the ground. Grimacing in pain, Sakura managed to raise her head and take a look at her attacker apparently charging up for another attack. Knowing that in her shape there was no way she was going to be able to dodge an attack of any kind, Sakura closed her eyes and covered her head, awaiting the pain she knew was coming.

However, fortunately for the Card Mistress, what caused her eyes to snap open and her head to jerk up was not pain, but instead was a very familiar voice. “Bubble Spray Freezing!”

Arriving just in time to see her friend about to be attacked, Ami Mizuno immediately transformed into Sailor Mercury and used her powers to create a shield of ice in front of the injured Card Mistress. The lightning bolt impacted hard against the ice shield, but the Mercury defense held strong, cracking slightly, but keeping all the energy away from Sakura.

While Ami had transformed into Sailor Mercury and used her Senshi powers for defensive purposes to protect Sakura, Syaoran decided to go on the offensive. Seeing the apparent electrical qualities of the new Clow Card opponent, Syaoran decided now would be a perfect time to try out the new powers he had been working to perfect. Swiftly calling his sword out from the pendant around his neck, Syaoran then pulled out a magical note, something he didn't need to use anymore with his other powers, and used his newly cultured water abilities. “God of Water, Come Forth!” As Syaoran struck the blade of his sword against the magical note, a powerful spray of water sprang forth and flew directly at the Clow Card. Having been distracted by its attack on the Card Mistress and the subsequent arrival of the Mercury Ice Shield, the Clow Card took notice of Syaoran's water attack much too late to dodge it effectively. All the Clow Card could to was rotate its body to keep the attack away from its center mass. The end result was a direct impact on one of the wings of the electric bird, knocking it off balance, but unfortunately not defeating it completely. However, it was completely clear that the attack did have some effect on the enemy as the Clow Card was now sparking from what appeared to be a possible loss of energy.

Ami, Syaoran, and Sakura all took notice of weakened state of the Clow Card, and without saying a word, all knew this would be their best chance to finish off the enemy and agreed to all attack at the same time. Sakura pulled out her Watery Card, Syaoran pulled out his water elemental magical note, and Ami prepared her own Senshi attack. All at once, the three teens released their water elemental attacks.

“Watery!”

“God of Water, Come Forth!”

“Mercury Aqua Mirage!”

The three water attacks converged on the injured Clow Card, who made absolutely no attempt to dodge, and impacted with extreme force. Due to the power of the three combined attacks and it's already wounded state, the Clow Card fell unceremoniously to the ground and lay motionless.

“Now, Sakura,” stated Syaoran.

Sakura nodded and prepared to get to work. “I Sakura, Mistress of the Cards Command You. Return to Your True Form. Clow Card!” This time, Sakura's attempt to seal the Clow Card worked just as it was supposed to. The bird form Clow Card glowed a bright white before transforming into a pair of Clow Cards. The two Clow Cards flew over to the Card Mistress who grasped them at the same time that the Night Card returned to its Card form and the sky became light once again. Without even bothering to look at the new Clow Cards she had captured, Sakura ran over to where Ami and Syaoran were already kneeling by Heero's unconscious form.

“Is he okay?” a worried Sakura asked Ami, who was using her medical knowledge to look Heero over.

“I think he'll be fine,” Ami answered with a look of relief on her face. “He's unconscious, but his breathing and heart rate are both steady. My guess is he simply used up too much energy again and just needs time to recover.”

“It is probably just from all the magical energy that was likely required to change the Night Card,” Syaoran stated, having noticed the powerful Clow Card's effects without difficulty.

“Thank goodness,” Sakura said with a heavy sigh, her own magical and emotional expenditures beginning to take their toll.

“Are you alright, Sakura-chan?” questioned Ami, seeing Sakura's shoulders slump slightly and her eyes flutter, two obvious signs of exhaustion.

“Just a little worn out is all,” Sakura responded. “But I'll be fine. Just need some rest once we get back to the rooms.”

“Then let's head out,” said Syaoran as he picked up Heero's unconscious body.

“So what were the new Cards?” Ami asked once they were on their way.

Sakura pulled the two unchanged new Clow Cards out from her pocket to take a look at them. “Looks like the Lightning and the Air. Lightning is pretty obvious, but I guess the Air is the one that gave the Lightning that extra boost of energy.”

“This one is the picture of the Windy Card right?” checked Ami as she pointed to the Air. “And this is Thunder?”

“Yup. I guess both those make sense.” Sakura put the two Clow Cards back in her pocket and then without really realizing what she was doing, reached up and rubbed her eyes a bit to try to wake herself up a little. Though Sakura could probably have made it back without help, Ami gently wrapped her arm around Sakura's waist to help steady her anyway.

“By the way,” began Ami. “Happy birthday.” Sakura could only laugh at Ami's kindheartedness and gave her Senshi friend a hug as the friends made their way back to the dorms to recover, their plans for the night completely forgotten.