Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Stars Reborn ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four

 

I dreamed as I drifted.

 

My mind would conjure up the sound of a person long gone. It was the most beautiful sound imaginable—as kind and comforting as it was hair raising. There was another sound: a constant quiet chatter.

 

I tried with all my might to rise to the surface, but to no avail. The water pushed down on me from all sides. It choked my breathing and stopped me from reaching the beautiful voice. I wanted to see the face that matched it. I wanted it so bad. Even with that desire guiding me I couldn't reach it—my arm wouldn't raise from my side.

 

After all the mental coaching, it was a pressing pain on the right side of my body that brought me to the surface. My eyes fluttered open then quickly closed. After spending all that time under dark waters, the light was blinding. A moan of discomfort escaped my lips.

 

“Fuutie, she's awake!” a voice called from the right. I didn't recognize it. Where was I?

 

I propped myself up on my elbows to try to get a look around. The action took more effort than it should have. My body was so weak and the right half of my ribcage—the area someone had been poking—was so tender. I had to grind my teeth to keep from complaining.

 

When I opened my eyes everything was blurry. I could vaguely make out two people near the bed I was lying in. “Fuutie…” I drawled out.

 

Gentle hands rested on my shoulders. They applied enough pressure to try and encourage me to lie back down. “Yes, Fuutie. She's my sister. We're both here to take care of you. To help us, we need you to lie down and go to sleep. Can you do that?”

 

It was such a musical voice. It was like a soothing lullaby that made my eyelids get heavy just listening to it. Once my head hit the pillow all I saw was darkness. Right away I knew that this darkness was temporary—the darkness of sleep and dreams—unlike the last that had engulfed and forced me down.

 

The time I spent asleep felt like a second. I opened my eyes to find the room I was in empty and dark. The only light was moonbeams from behind a curtain.

 

This was great. I was wide awake at night and my nurses were gone. What do I do now? Where were Tomoyo and Kero? How long had I been asleep? Could I—was I allowed to—get out of bed? So many questions I wanted to have answered.

 

I wiggled every part of my body to see if I was well enough to move around. There were some areas that were tender to move or touch, like if I had a bruise. No tooth grinding pain like I had felt last time I was conscious. Just how long had I been asleep?

 

Moving carefully, I made my way to the only source of light I could see in the room. The curtains were too big for a window and nothing motivates like curiosity.

 

When the curtains were pulled aside, they revealed a large sliding glass door. Beyond the door was a wooden balcony. The light of the moon danced through the cherry tree next to her balcony.

 

“So beautiful,” I said walking outside.

 

“That's kind of you to say. You haven't even seen the whole yard yet.”

 

I quickly turned to face the door I'd come from. Standing in the doorway was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. From her silhouette I could make out a long ponytail trailing past the waist and a flowing form-fitting kimono.

 

I knew who it was. The voice had brought forth a memory of a time so long ago. Shaoran standing straight as a board in the presence of a beautiful woman in his home. I remembered the revealing of the reasons for my winning a trip to Hong Kong.

 

“Li-san?” I bowed so quickly my body burned and my stomach churned—or was that from nerves. I could be bowing to no one. It was so long ago, I could have gotten people confused. That'd be embarrassing.

 

I could see the woman step forward to stand in front of me. When she stopped I felt a hand on the side of my face gently pulling me see we were face to face.

 

“Great power is often a trigger for adversity. Especially in Hong Kong. That is what I said to you last time, was it not?” I was right! It was Li Yelan! Does that mean I can finally see him?

 

Yelan smiled. “It would seem the Clow—Sakura cards have led you into more danger here in this city.”

 

“It's not just this city, Li-san,” I said quietly. My voice sounded so unsure compared to Yelan's. “Every where I go I'm in danger. I'm afraid for all those around me. As long as they're near me they're in danger. I don't want them to get hurt because of me!”

 

Tears gathered and pooled over as vivid memories of my last encounter rushed forward. I'd done all I could but I still wasn't good enough to save Tomoyo and Kero. Eriol would have defeated the attacker with ease. Shaoran would have made sure the others were safe no matter what happned to him, but I couldn't do either.

 

I almost died that night. I could remember the feeling of life leaving me like it was second nature. It had been so welcoming. Everything was so clear at the moment I became unconscious. I was going to die. I would never see Shaoran again. After all their tests and lessons, I would have disappointed Kero, Yue, and Eriol. Onii-san and Oto-san would never know the truth about my life, though I get a feeling Onii-san knows.

 

The scary thing is, I wanted to die at the time. I wanted the freedom of my soul and the eternal calm I could feel grabbing at my mind. To see and understand everything about the things and people in my life all the time would have been amazing. Despite the pain it would have caused and all the people I would leave behind, I wanted to. It wouldn't have been goodbye forever, I had thought at the time. They would join me again some day.

 

Tears of shame streamed down my face. How could I think of leaving them like that?

 

I could see Yelan's eyes widen at my outburst. “I see there's more to this story than I know. I want you to tell me everything later on when you're emotions are stable. Alright?”

 

Don't sob. Don't sob. Don't sob. I nodded in agreement.

 

“Now you should get some more rest. You'll be healed tomorrow and I'll send one of my daughters to bring you down for breakfast or lunch depending on when you wake up.”

 

Yelan gracefully turned and walked back the way she came.

 

When I tried to do the same, I stumbled over my own feet in the dark and fell flat on the floor.

 

I hoped they had a cat.

 

* * *

 

Things hadn't always been this way, I mused. This gaping hole in my chest hadn't always torn at me. It's been there for so long that I can't remember what it's like to be whole.

 

I rolled over on my bed and saw the photo album Tomoyo had given me sitting in my bag. I reached over and pulled it from the nightstand. Flipping through the pages I found the source of pain.

 

Looking at Shaoran's face in the photos I tried to smile. Seeing those images filled me and also felt like pouring salt on an open wound. I didn't know it at the time, but I loved him and I still do.

 

It was sixth grade when I began to doubt his feelings. He'd said he loved me but something went wrong and it seemed like I was losing him. I was almost in eighth grade his letters and phone calls suddenly stopped. I'd almost camped out at our mailbox, waiting for a letter.

 

Eventually, I stopped thinking of him because it hurt too much. Just hearing his name would push me over the edge. I would have to grip my arms across my body to keep the hole from spreading and the pieces of my body from falling apart. When they saw my reaction, my friends and family stopped talking about him too.

 

But no matter how much I didn't want to remember him, I wouldn't let myself forget.

 

After all the effort to avoid thinking his name I'd thought it so many times since this ordeal began. To think, all it took was a near death experience to get past the pain. If my life back in Tomoeda was still hectic with magic I could have gotten past that a long time ago.

 

I knock at my door brought me back to earth.

 

“Hai?” I called out. The door to my room opened in response and a woman Touya's age walked in. She had long brown hair with a thin layer of bangs on either side of her face. A black clip on either side of her head held her hair away from her face.

 

“Good morning, Sakura-chan. Are you ready for lunch? I've brought some clothes for you to wear. That way you don't have to wear that fighter's outfit the whole time. You can change behind this.” The woman took a paper screen out of the closet and set it up in my room.

 

“Arigato gozaimasu,” I took the clothes and walked behind the screen.

 

“U-Um, who are you?” I asked while changing.

 

“Li Sheifa, one of Shaoran's sisters. It was mother and I that found you outside our house. You were such a mess—So cute!”

 

As I stepped out from behind the screen in an orange Chinese dress I could see Sheifa tense as she tried not to pounce on me. Luckily, the dress had slits on either side of the dress that made it easy for me to walk and run in case of that ever happening.

 

“Are you ready to go?” Sheifa asked after she recomposed herself.

 

“Hai.”

 

During lunch Sheifa never left my side and Wei was happy to see me again. I had yet to meet the rest of Shaoran's sisters. Apparently I woke up later than lunch since the rest had already eaten.

 

“That was delicious!” I cried as I put down my chopsticks.

 

“Yes, well done as always, Wei.”

 

Wei bowed, “I am glad you think so, Kinomoto-sama, Sheifa-sama.”

 

Sheifa stood up and motioned me to follow her out of the dining room.

 

“I know this isn't something I should be asking of a guest, but would you mind helping my sisters and myself clean the main room as a surprise for Wei?”

 

“Not at all. In fact I'm happy to help. It wouldn't feel right if I were to sit around doing nothing while everyone else worked.”

 

She stopped outside an opened set of double doors. “Thank you, Sakura-chan. Are you ready to meet my sisters?” There was a tone of warning in her voice.

 

“Yes,” I said with confidence and enthusiasm. Maybe too much because Sheifa laughed. She called in to the others. ”Everyone look who I have!”

 

It all happened so fast. One second I was standing undisturbed by Sheifa's side and the next I was being swarmed. Alone the sisters seemed to have some self control but when in a group they lost it. I was being hugged by all four sisters while they threw around comments like, “She's so cute!”, “She's just as cute as six years ago!”, and “She can never leave this house!”

 

“Everyone, get off her!” Who was that? She sounds familiar. Who ever she was, she was able to call of the squealing fangirls.

 

When I turned my head I saw her. Before I'd even realized what I was doing, I was in her arms. “Meilin-chan! What are you doing here?”

 

“Did you forget, Kinomoto-san? Shaoran and I live close to each other. It's actually here where I train. In that courtyard,” Meilin pointed out a sliding door where a beautiful fountain area was squared in between two wings of the house. About twenty feet from the house was a rotating training dummy.

 

“I think the question is what are you doing here.”

 

“I-It's a long story…most of it isn't pretty.”

 

“I see. How long do you plan on being here?”

 

“I haven't really thought about that,” I could feel my checks going red. “I guess until I find Tomoyo-chan.”

 

“How could you lose Daidouji-san?! What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time? Why didn't you call us?!” Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Whoever said that obviously never met Meilin. Each of her questions had me looking at the ground and flinching.

 

When I dared to look up I saw Meilin was tense and heard her muttering under her breath. I caught the numbers three and four. I also noticed how Meilin had changed since I last saw her. Her black hair was still worn in the two buns on top of her head. The hair flowing out of them was much longer than it had been four years ago. All the martial arts training had made her body toned as she filled out. She was an inch or two taller than me now.

 

“Ten.” Meilin opened her eyes—which were more determined than ever—and let them rest on me. “I'm sorry, Kinomoto-san. You just caught me off guard. I should have expected you to have with some kind of danger trailing after you, hohoho.” (Her creepy laugh). Oh boy. I could feel myself deflate. Was I really that predictable?

 

The sisters, who had been sulking and whispering in a corner this whole time, suddenly sprung to life. “Sakura-chan, allow us to introduce ourselves,” the way they chimed at the same time was a little startling.

 

“My name is Fanren,” the one in the green dress said, (Her dress is hard to explain). Her hair was short except for one section of the back of her head, with a thick layer of bangs framing her face and forehead.

 

“You already know me, Sheifa.” Sheifa wore a simple blue dress. A light blue cloth flower with a gem center rested over a seam near her heart.

 

“I'm Feimei.” Her dress was black on top and from her breasts down was pink. At the base of her dress' collar was a winged brooch with a red gem center. As an accessory, Feimei wore an armlet on her right arm. Her hair was shoulder length with side bangs.

 

“You were the one who talked to me when I woke up the first time.” There was no way I could mistake that voice.

 

“Which means you're Fuutie,” I turned to the sister in a yellow dress. The edges of her sleeves were black. The top until her breast was a soft yellow while the rest was a bright almost primary yellow. An equally yellow tassel was pinned above Fuutie's heart and hung down to her stomach. Along the tassel was a large red circular gem.

 

Fuutie and Sheifa were identical. They both had gentle features and their eyes sparkled like a child. Feimei and Fanren faces gave them a more serious and mature look.

 

I looked at them, trying to memorize their faces so I wouldn't mistake them for another. Something Kero had said a long time ago hit me and I suddenly had a question for the four faces in front of me.

 

“Kero-chan told me a long time ago that it's rare for members of the Li clan to not have magical powers.” I saw Meilin flinch a little. “Do you have powers too?”

 

Feimei handed me a mop. “Can you clean the floors while we explain?”

 

“Yes.” I grabbed the mop from her hands and started to work. I would make the floor in this room sparkle like the night sky.

 

Sheifa was the first to speak as she started cleaning all the surface with Fuutie. “I was born with the power of foresight. I see things before they happen. It's because of my power that I found you in our garden.”

 

“From there I took over,” Fuutie continued. “I'm a healer. If it weren't for me you'd be in bed for at least a month because of broken ribs. Feimei and I barely left your room while you were unconscious.” She smiled. “You're so cute when you're sleeping.”

 

Feimei took over next. “While Fuutie was there to check and look after your physical health, I was there for your mental health. I can see into the minds of others when I touch them. All memories can be seen and I can hear their thoughts, I can even help direct someone's mind if they're in a coma of some sorts.”

 

“My power isn't always as sweet as my other sisters'. I have the power of mental illusions. I can implant the idea of pain into someone's mind whenever I want. This pain isn't a little ouch either. My subjects fall to the floor in pain. They scream and writhe on the ground.

 

Everyday, I wish I could create images and change someone's dreams. Anything would be better than what I have now.”

 

“Thank you for sharing.” These people are a healing machine when put together.

 

Story time over, everyone got back to work. After cleaning for over an hour I was almost done waxing the floor I'd cleaned—that floor would be my greatest work—the front door opened and closed.

 

“Okaa-sama? Feimei? Sheifa? Fuutie? Fanren? I'm home!”

 

* * *

 

A/N: Hehehe, I feel so incredibly evil right now. The one you've all been waiting for is right there. Anyway, it's Canada Day today—lots of fireworks—so I decided to celebrate by posting another chapter. I'm hoping to get another chapter up this week, but we'll see. Please R&R I love your feed back ^_^

 

If you want to see the Li sisters' dresses click this link, (you may have to hold control while you click the link): http://www.jeremyduffy.com/pages/anime/pics.html?other/o_gr oup040.jpg+1339+875+265.1