Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Syaoran's Quest ❯ The Guard ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Nate Grey 
Syaoran makes a Card that will grant the abilities of a CardCaptor to a human. But will he choose Meiling or Tomoyo?
Anime/Manga: Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.30.2001 | Updated On: 09.11.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 284 | Status: Completed
Syaoran makes a Card that will grant the abilities of a CardCaptor to a human. But will he choose Meiling or Tomoyo?
Anime/Manga: Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.30.2001 | Updated On: 09.11.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 284 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: All characters belong to CLAMP/Nelvana.
~...~ are thoughts.
Summary: Syaoran makes a Card that grants the powers of a CardCaptor to a normal human, but will he choose Tomoyo or Meiling?
Syaoran's Quest 2: The Guard
Meiling slowly dragged her spoon through the pudding. It was vanilla, Syaoran's favorite.
~I remember when I used to be Syaoran's favorite...until SHE came along.~
Meiling glanced over at Sakura's table. As usual, she was surrounded by Tomoyo and her other friends. Even so, Sakura wasn't involved in the conversation. She seemed to be staring out of the window, a blank look on her face.
~She's probably thinking about my Syaoran right now.~
Suddenly, Meiling felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see one of her teachers, Mr. Terada.
"Meiling, it's time to go," he said.
"What?"
"It's time to go," he repeated. "Someone's in the office waiting to take you home."
Meiling looked puzzled. "Who?"
"Your older brother. He thought you needed some time to relax, and I agree with him. I know Syaoran's passing hasn't been easy for you."
Meiling held in a sob, and the color drained from her face. "I'll need a minute to get my things," she said quietly, looking back at her pudding.
"I'll get them for you," he replied, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "You just take care of yourself, Meiling."
As she walked to the office, clutching her bookbag in one hand, Meiling tried to figure out which of her brothers had come for her. She had three older ones, and two stepbrothers almost twice her age. It could have been any of them, but they must have been really worried to come all the way from Hong Kong.
But when she walked into the office, Meiling didn't see any of her brothers. Instead, she came face-to-face with the one person she hadn't stopped thinking about on some levels since yesterday.
"Hello, Meiling," he said quietly. "It's good to see you again."
Meiling opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"Excuse me, young man," the secretary asked, "but what did you say your name was?"
"Akira," he replied, never taking his eyes off Meiling. "Li Akira."
Meiling blinked, and suddenly realized that the woman was staring at them. She forced herself to smile as she threw her arms around the young man's neck, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Akira! I knew you'd come!" she cried, hoping the plan would work.
"I would never leave you, little sister," he assured her, gently stroking her dark hair. "We are bound forever, you and I."
The secretary smiled. "I can see the family resemblance." She turned to Meiling. "You be sure and get better, dear."
"Yes, ma'am." Meiling looped her arm around Akira's and dragged him out of the office, walking faster than she normally did. Once they were outside the school, she let go of him. "Who are you?" she asked, more out of curiosity than concern.
"Someone who cares about you." He looked down at her. "I thought you could use a day off. I hope I wasn't being too forward."
"I'd say yes, if it was anyone else. But with you...it's different." Meiling glanced at the ground. "I...um...wanted to thank you...for caring."
He smiled at her. "You don't need to. Now, tell me. Do you like shopping?"
* * * * *
"Sakura, you're doing it again."
Sakura blinked. "I wasn't thinking about Syaoran, if that's what you mean."
Tomoyo peered at her closely. "Uh huh. Sure."
"I wasn't! I was thinking about Meiling, actually."
"Really? Why?"
"I'm wondering if we should tell her that Syaoran's not dead. Technically, anyway."
"Syaoran doesn't want her to know. You can't go behind his back like that. On the other hand, she has been really broken up about losing him. I'm starting to think that she loved him more than you did."
"So why doesn't Syaoran want her to know?" Sakura asked. "If she cares about him that much, maybe she should know."
"I've got an idea!" Tomoyo said. "Let's stop by Meiling's house after school. If she really looks like she's in bad shape, we'll consider telling her that Syaoran's not dead."
"I still don't know. Maybe Syaoran has a good reason for keeping her in the dark."
Tomoyo sighed. "Well, maybe we should ask Kero for his opinion?"
"If we can get him away from video games long enough for that, you mean..."
* * * * *
Meiling had never had so much fun in all her life. It was amazing how much healing half a day of shopping could do. But was it the shopping that was helping, or just spending time with the magical stranger that she was slowly but surely falling in love with? She decided that it didn't matter just then. She was feeling much better, and she had him to thank for it.
"Can I ask you something, Akira?" she asked once they were inside her house.
"Sure," he said, turning away to place her bags on the table.
"Do you believe in love at first sight?"
He paused. "That depends."
"On what?"
A tiny smile found its way to his face. "On if you're looking at me or not."
Meiling blushed furiously. "No! I meant...uh...in general!"
"In that case, I don't." He turned to face her. "In the past, I've only been able to love someone I knew extremely well."
"Oh. I see." She started to walk away.
"Why do you ask?"
She froze. "Why? Um...I just...uh...wanted to know?"
"You're a lousy liar, my dear."
~He called me dear!~ a tiny voice in Meiling's head screamed. She shook her head and looked at him. "I guess I was hoping you wouldn't notice."
"I did." Akira lifted his head. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Meiling asked, beginning to think he was trying to change the subject. But then she heard it, too.
The window directly behind Akira shattered, and a black shape slammed into him, knocking him to the floor. It flew up and let out an ear-piercing shriek.
Instantly, there were two answering shrieks, and two more of the dark shapes appeared. One dove onto Akira, while the other headed straight for Meiling.
* * * * *
"Are you sure she'll let us in?" Sakura asked. "I mean, she does hate me."
"Don't worry, she doesn't hate me," Tomoyo said. "I'll knock, and when Meiling lets me in, you can run in before she closes the door."
Sakura was about to protest when she spotted a black shape in the sky. "Tomoyo, what is that thing?"
Tomoyo looked up. "It's that creature that was at my house! Sakura, you'd better..." She stopped when she realized that Sakura was already racing up the steps to Meiling's front door. Making sure she had her video camera ready, Tomoyo quickly followed.
* * * * *
Meiling was barely able to handle the bat creature that attacked her. Akira was having no real trouble with his, but that still left the third one, which was throwing hungry glances in Meiling's direction.
Suddenly, the third bat was flattened as the front door was blown off its hinges. Meiling only had time to see a pink shape with wings before the room exploded into a whirlwind of feathers.
Two of the bats shrieked and vanished out of the broken window, but the third managed to bite Akira's arm before following the others.
The whirlwind died down, and the feathers seemed to fade away into nothingness.
Meiling was about to speak when she realized just who had saved her. "YOU!" she shouted, grabbing for Sakura's throat.
Sakura's forearm snapped up with superhuman speed, knocking Meiling's hands aside. "There's no need for that, Meiling. I came here to help."
"Then you can help by getting out of my house!" Meiling ran over to Akira, who was on his knees, staring at his wounded hand. "Are you okay, Akira?" she asked, hugging his shoulders.
"I'll be fine." With her help, he stood up and began to take a step forward. He froze when his eyes landed on Sakura and Tomoyo.
"I know all of this is your fault somehow, Kinomoto!" Meiling said accusingly. "Those bat things wouldn't have come if it wasn't for you!"
Sakura didn't say anything, but the wings on her back flapped once.
"Let's go, Sakura," Tomoyo suggested, taking her friend's arm.
Sakura hesitated, and then allowed Tomoyo to pull her outside.
Once they were gone, Akira turned to Meiling. "I do not think you should blame her. She did help us."
"But you don't know what she's done. You don't know how much she's hurt me!"
"I do know that she just saved our lives."
"Yeah, but...but..."
Akira pressed a finger to her lips. "Anyone that has a big enough heart to save an enemy must be a good person."
"I guess," Meiling muttered, looking a bit angry.
"You need time to be alone with your thoughts. I can sense that." He smiled gently. "I'll fix your door before I go."
* * * * *
Sakura and Tomoyo didn't have to wait long. Only minutes after they'd left Meiling's house, Syaoran appeared, a tired look on his face.
"Okay, who wants to go first?" Tomoyo asked.
Sakura didn't say anything, so Syaoran started. "Apparently, my old body also has the ability to create Cards. So far, it's only made the Multi Card, but even that's going to prove hard to beat in the future."
"Anything else we should know, Akira?" Sakura asked, her eyes narrowing. "Like what you were doing at Meiling's house, and why she called you that?"
"She's my cousin, Sakura, and she needed me, no matter what body I was in."
"And you gave her a fake name so she wouldn't recognize you?" Tomoyo guessed.
"I guess you're the one that got her out of school today," Sakura added.
Syaoran nodded. "She needed a break and you both know it. Besides, she had a good time and she feels safe with me."
"And when do you plan on telling her who you really are? That is, of course, assuming you do still plan to get your body back?"
"Yes, I do," he said firmly. "I'll deal with that when it happens."
"That's not fair," Tomoyo interrupted. "Meiling's going to fall in love with this you, if she hasn't already. You saw how much losing just one of you hurt her. How much damage do you think losing two of you will do?"
"There's no way to tell, Tomoyo," Sakura said. "But I think I'm starting to know how it feels to lose one of him."
"You think this is easy for me?" Syaoran asked heatedly. "You have no idea what it's like to have your body stolen! I can't even look in mirrors anymore, because I can't get used to seeing another face!"
"So that you gives you the right to give your heart to someone else?!" Sakura shouted. "You said you loved me, Syaoran!"
"I do, Sakura. But Meiling is family."
"But she doesn't know it's you in there, Syaoran. She's in love with Akira. I just wonder if he's in love with her."
"So what am I supposed to do? Just leave her alone? She needs a friend, Sakura."
"We'll take care of her," Tomoyo said, "whether she wants our help or not. You just focus on getting your body back."
* * * * *
Tomoyo was just about to go to bed when she heard an insistent tapping on her window. She looked up to see Syaoran, a pleading look on his face. With a sigh, she opened it. "Syaoran, how did you get past security?"
"Never mind that. I need your help."
"Me? Why didn't you ask Sakura?"
"I don't want her involved. I've figured out that my old body only goes after people that were truly important to me, and only people that it's had control of before."
Tomoyo grinned. "Does that mean I'm important to you?"
"It means you were the first it controlled," Syaoran replied with a frown. "I think it'll come for you again. Tonight."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Take this." Syaoran held up something in the darkness. "It will protect you."
Tomoyo started to take it, then froze as she realized what it was. "Syaoran, that's a Clow Card."
"One of mine," he confirmed. "I call it The Guard."
"Syaoran, I'm not a CardCaptor."
"You might as well be. You've caught almost all the captures on tape. You know the words as well as Sakura does. All you've been missing is the magic. This Card will give it to you. You don't even have to do anything. The Guard will automatically react to situations the way an average CardCaptor would."
"Why didn't you give it to Meiling?"
"I don't want her or Sakura involved. I'm asking you to trust me, Tomoyo. I wouldn't risk this if I didn't think you could handle it."
Tomoyo finally accepted the Card. "So how do I...um...turn it on? Since I don't have a wand or a sword."
"You'll know," Syaoran said simply. He suddenly turned his head. "Get down, Tomoyo!"
Before either of them had time to move, something black and brown slammed into Syaoran from behind. They both went tumbling past Tomoyo, crashing into the wall. The bat creature stood up. Syaoran didn't.
Tomoyo backed away. "Don't you come any closer!"
The bat stared at her, its eyes shining. Then it did the one thing she didn't want it to do. It took a step in her direction.
Tomoyo felt her mouth moving, and she heard words flowing from it. It took her a while to realize that she was actually saying them.
"Protect me from the darkness, Great Sentinel of Might. Come now from your prison, and release the light!"
The bat shrieked as the Card seemed to explode, flooding the room with a blinding flash of light. It stumbled back, squealing in pain as its sensitive eyes burned. The sight that greeted its eyes a few seconds later was not an expected one.
Tomoyo stood in the middle of a glowing symbol on the floor. Her eyes were totally white, void of any pupils. She wore a flowing, black cloak, and in her left hand, she held a huge battle ax.
The bat creature considered the situation, and then took a diving leap out of the window, gliding away on the wind currents.
If The Guard had been working like Syaoran had planned, Tomoyo would have returned to her normal form within seconds after the bat's departure. However, it did nothing of the sort. Tomoyo merely checked Syaoran's pulse, and finding it strong, she quickly dove after the bat. After all, no true CardCaptor would let an enemy escape.
* * * * *
Something was wrong. Sakura could feel it. The feeling had kept her awake all last night, and now it was nearly impossible to focus in class. Still, she wasn't so distracted that she didn't notice Tomoyo was missing. ~That's strange. Tomoyo's always got perfect attendance. Maybe she got sick?~
But by the time lunch rolled around, Sakura was getting worried. After all, Tomoyo had been attacked before. She had been the shadow's first victim. It was out there somewhere, looking for someone else to control.
Sakura was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't realize someone had called her. She didn't notice until the person asked quite loudly, "You in there or what, Kinomoto?"
Sakura gasped, looked up, and gasped again.
"I asked if I could sit here," Meiling repeated. "If you don't want me to, just say so, but there's no reason to ignore me."
"Um...no, you can sit here." Sakura moved over to give her more room. "Did I miss something, or did you have a change of heart?"
Meiling rolled her eyes as she sat down. "Akira says that I should forgive you for what happened and that it wasn't even your fault." After a slight pause, she quickly added, "Not that I agree with him. But I guess you're okay. For NOW."
"Okay," Sakura muttered, looking very uncomfortable.
"So what's your fondest memory of Syaoran?" Meiling asked, starting to eat.
Sakura blinked. "Why do you want to know?"
Meiling rolled her eyes again. "It's hard enough just TALKING to you. I'm trying to pick a topic that we'll both enjoy. You obviously liked him, so I figured we'd compare stories."
Sakura bit her lip. ~She's trying to be friendly...even if it's in her usual rude, insulting way. But at least she's trying.~ "I guess it was when we caught The Big. He actually gave me a compliment afterwards. It seems like so long ago."
"Two or three months." Meiling took a bite of her sandwich.
"Well, what about you?" Sakura asked.
Meiling swallowed. "You really want to know?"
Sakura nodded solemnly.
Meiling sighed. "It was a while ago, back when I first came here. I got a phone call from Hong Kong. It was my mother. She said my father had died the night I left."
Sakura stared at her in silence.
"Afterwards, I locked myself in my room and wouldn't eat. Finally, Syaoran broke the door down. But instead of being upset, he just held me all night, until I feel asleep in his arms. And when I woke up the next morning, he was still holding me. I swore to myself that I'd never forget that night, and I never have." Meiling sighed heavily. "I miss him so much."
Sakura searched for something suitable to say, but came up with nothing. Finally, she reached over and squeezed Meiling's hand. "I'm so sorry, Meiling."
Meiling stared at the hand, then decided she no longer had the strength to be angry. "Thanks," she muttered.
Seeing the look on Meiling's face, Sakura made a silent promise. If Syaoran didn't tell Meiling the truth soon enough, she would.
* * * * *
Normally, the bat would never have ventured into the daylight. It was much too bright for his sensitive eyes. But this was a very, very non-normal situation. He was being chased by someone that was extremely powerful. She was more skilled than just any CardCaptor, and certainly more determined. She'd been after him all of last night, and still showed no signs of fatigue.
The same could hardly be said for the bat, which was having trouble flying, thanks to the axe wound in his right wing. His eyes burned from the brightness, making his vision poor, and every joint in his body ached. Still, he ran, though not very quickly.
Finally, the bat could take no more. He fell to the ground, shrieking loudly as the CardCaptor came closer, her pale, gray eyes piercing through the remains of his soul. He whipped out the Multi Card and activated it.
Instantly, Tomoyo found herself facing three different forms: that of the bat, a dark shadow, and Syaoran's old body. She paused for a moment, then raised her axe and split the Multi Card in two.
The two extra forms faded away, leaving the bat alone again.
Tomoyo quickly drove the handle of her axe into the bat's forehead, scoring an instant knockout. Then she grabbed it by the leg and dragged it away, a satisfied look on her face.
* * * * *
Once he woke up, it wasn't hard for Syaoran to figure out what had happened. Tomoyo's mother had come in during the night and found her daughter gone, and a strange young man lying on the floor of her bedroom. She'd called the police, who assumed Syaoran was in some way responsible for Tomoyo's disappearance. So they arrested him for kidnapping and threw him into a cell.
Not that he was really worried. He was more concerned with where Tomoyo was, and what she might be doing. However, Syaoran soon got answers to both questions.
At precisely 3:52 PM, the back wall of Syaoran's cell exploded inward. After the dust cleared, Tomoyo walked in, still under the influence of The Guard.
"We must go," she said, gesturing toward the exit she'd just made.
Syaoran wasn't about to ask questions. He followed her out of the cell and into the daylight. But as soon as he was sure no one was watching, he grabbed her arm. "Tomoyo, have you been using The Guard this whole time?!"
When she didn't answer, Syaoran figured that she had. "You've got to deactivate it right now! If you use it for too long, you could get stuck that way!"
The pale light in Tomoyo's eyes faded, and she groaned and shook her head. "Syaoran? What happened? How did we get here?"
"Never mind that. Are you okay?"
"I think so," she muttered. "Did I just...hit something?"
Syaoran frowned. "I don't know. But you've been gone nearly a whole day, and we need to figure out what you've been doing."
Tomoyo closed her eyes. "I remember...hitting a bat creature...with an axe?"
"That sounds reasonable. What about after that?"
"I...put it somewhere...but I'm not sure where." She opened her eyes. "I'm sorry, Syaoran. Everything's a blur. I can't remember."
"Don't worry about that right now. Just get home quickly. I've got to find Sakura and Meiling before it's too late."
* * * * *
Sakura wasn't sure why she was walking home with Meiling. Maybe it was the fact that Tomoyo hadn't shown up, and neither of them wanted to walk home alone. Meiling didn't really agree to it, but she hadn't tried to make Sakura go away, either.
"Maybe I should leave," Meiling said suddenly.
"Leave?" Sakura asked.
"Yes. Go home to Hong Kong. There's no reason for me to stay here."
"What about Syao...um...I mean, Akira?"
Meiling sighed. "I don't know. He's been so nice, and I really like him, but...other than him, I don't have anyone else, and he can't be with me all the time."
"Look, Meiling. I know we haven't exactly been friends in the past, but we both miss Syaoran, and we both need someone who can relate to the pain of losing him. Can't we try to be friends?" Sakura asked.
Meiling stopped walking. "What?"
"I don't want to fight with you anymore. I want to be friends. Can't we at least make a temporary truce, just until we're both done being depressed over this?" She held out her hand.
"You're serious?"
"Yes, Meiling. I don't think Syaoran would want us to fight."
Meiling stared at Sakura's hand for a long moment. Finally, she shook it. "You've got a deal, Kinomoto. But no funny business."
"Right."
High above them, hidden from view in the branches of a tree, Syaoran smiled. "That's one less problem to worry about."
* * * * *
Miles away, inside an abandoned warehouse, the bat creature drifted in and out of consciousness. For the few moments it was able to focus, it could only feel unbearable pain. It could sense that its time in this form was drawing to a close, and there was no way to escape that fate. All that was left to do was wait and wonder what the future held.
Continued in Part 3: The Switch
Sakura attempts to restore Syaoran to his old body, and Meiling finally learns the whole truth about Akira.
~...~ are thoughts.
Summary: Syaoran makes a Card that grants the powers of a CardCaptor to a normal human, but will he choose Tomoyo or Meiling?
Syaoran's Quest 2: The Guard
Meiling slowly dragged her spoon through the pudding. It was vanilla, Syaoran's favorite.
~I remember when I used to be Syaoran's favorite...until SHE came along.~
Meiling glanced over at Sakura's table. As usual, she was surrounded by Tomoyo and her other friends. Even so, Sakura wasn't involved in the conversation. She seemed to be staring out of the window, a blank look on her face.
~She's probably thinking about my Syaoran right now.~
Suddenly, Meiling felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see one of her teachers, Mr. Terada.
"Meiling, it's time to go," he said.
"What?"
"It's time to go," he repeated. "Someone's in the office waiting to take you home."
Meiling looked puzzled. "Who?"
"Your older brother. He thought you needed some time to relax, and I agree with him. I know Syaoran's passing hasn't been easy for you."
Meiling held in a sob, and the color drained from her face. "I'll need a minute to get my things," she said quietly, looking back at her pudding.
"I'll get them for you," he replied, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "You just take care of yourself, Meiling."
As she walked to the office, clutching her bookbag in one hand, Meiling tried to figure out which of her brothers had come for her. She had three older ones, and two stepbrothers almost twice her age. It could have been any of them, but they must have been really worried to come all the way from Hong Kong.
But when she walked into the office, Meiling didn't see any of her brothers. Instead, she came face-to-face with the one person she hadn't stopped thinking about on some levels since yesterday.
"Hello, Meiling," he said quietly. "It's good to see you again."
Meiling opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"Excuse me, young man," the secretary asked, "but what did you say your name was?"
"Akira," he replied, never taking his eyes off Meiling. "Li Akira."
Meiling blinked, and suddenly realized that the woman was staring at them. She forced herself to smile as she threw her arms around the young man's neck, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Akira! I knew you'd come!" she cried, hoping the plan would work.
"I would never leave you, little sister," he assured her, gently stroking her dark hair. "We are bound forever, you and I."
The secretary smiled. "I can see the family resemblance." She turned to Meiling. "You be sure and get better, dear."
"Yes, ma'am." Meiling looped her arm around Akira's and dragged him out of the office, walking faster than she normally did. Once they were outside the school, she let go of him. "Who are you?" she asked, more out of curiosity than concern.
"Someone who cares about you." He looked down at her. "I thought you could use a day off. I hope I wasn't being too forward."
"I'd say yes, if it was anyone else. But with you...it's different." Meiling glanced at the ground. "I...um...wanted to thank you...for caring."
He smiled at her. "You don't need to. Now, tell me. Do you like shopping?"
* * * * *
"Sakura, you're doing it again."
Sakura blinked. "I wasn't thinking about Syaoran, if that's what you mean."
Tomoyo peered at her closely. "Uh huh. Sure."
"I wasn't! I was thinking about Meiling, actually."
"Really? Why?"
"I'm wondering if we should tell her that Syaoran's not dead. Technically, anyway."
"Syaoran doesn't want her to know. You can't go behind his back like that. On the other hand, she has been really broken up about losing him. I'm starting to think that she loved him more than you did."
"So why doesn't Syaoran want her to know?" Sakura asked. "If she cares about him that much, maybe she should know."
"I've got an idea!" Tomoyo said. "Let's stop by Meiling's house after school. If she really looks like she's in bad shape, we'll consider telling her that Syaoran's not dead."
"I still don't know. Maybe Syaoran has a good reason for keeping her in the dark."
Tomoyo sighed. "Well, maybe we should ask Kero for his opinion?"
"If we can get him away from video games long enough for that, you mean..."
* * * * *
Meiling had never had so much fun in all her life. It was amazing how much healing half a day of shopping could do. But was it the shopping that was helping, or just spending time with the magical stranger that she was slowly but surely falling in love with? She decided that it didn't matter just then. She was feeling much better, and she had him to thank for it.
"Can I ask you something, Akira?" she asked once they were inside her house.
"Sure," he said, turning away to place her bags on the table.
"Do you believe in love at first sight?"
He paused. "That depends."
"On what?"
A tiny smile found its way to his face. "On if you're looking at me or not."
Meiling blushed furiously. "No! I meant...uh...in general!"
"In that case, I don't." He turned to face her. "In the past, I've only been able to love someone I knew extremely well."
"Oh. I see." She started to walk away.
"Why do you ask?"
She froze. "Why? Um...I just...uh...wanted to know?"
"You're a lousy liar, my dear."
~He called me dear!~ a tiny voice in Meiling's head screamed. She shook her head and looked at him. "I guess I was hoping you wouldn't notice."
"I did." Akira lifted his head. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Meiling asked, beginning to think he was trying to change the subject. But then she heard it, too.
The window directly behind Akira shattered, and a black shape slammed into him, knocking him to the floor. It flew up and let out an ear-piercing shriek.
Instantly, there were two answering shrieks, and two more of the dark shapes appeared. One dove onto Akira, while the other headed straight for Meiling.
* * * * *
"Are you sure she'll let us in?" Sakura asked. "I mean, she does hate me."
"Don't worry, she doesn't hate me," Tomoyo said. "I'll knock, and when Meiling lets me in, you can run in before she closes the door."
Sakura was about to protest when she spotted a black shape in the sky. "Tomoyo, what is that thing?"
Tomoyo looked up. "It's that creature that was at my house! Sakura, you'd better..." She stopped when she realized that Sakura was already racing up the steps to Meiling's front door. Making sure she had her video camera ready, Tomoyo quickly followed.
* * * * *
Meiling was barely able to handle the bat creature that attacked her. Akira was having no real trouble with his, but that still left the third one, which was throwing hungry glances in Meiling's direction.
Suddenly, the third bat was flattened as the front door was blown off its hinges. Meiling only had time to see a pink shape with wings before the room exploded into a whirlwind of feathers.
Two of the bats shrieked and vanished out of the broken window, but the third managed to bite Akira's arm before following the others.
The whirlwind died down, and the feathers seemed to fade away into nothingness.
Meiling was about to speak when she realized just who had saved her. "YOU!" she shouted, grabbing for Sakura's throat.
Sakura's forearm snapped up with superhuman speed, knocking Meiling's hands aside. "There's no need for that, Meiling. I came here to help."
"Then you can help by getting out of my house!" Meiling ran over to Akira, who was on his knees, staring at his wounded hand. "Are you okay, Akira?" she asked, hugging his shoulders.
"I'll be fine." With her help, he stood up and began to take a step forward. He froze when his eyes landed on Sakura and Tomoyo.
"I know all of this is your fault somehow, Kinomoto!" Meiling said accusingly. "Those bat things wouldn't have come if it wasn't for you!"
Sakura didn't say anything, but the wings on her back flapped once.
"Let's go, Sakura," Tomoyo suggested, taking her friend's arm.
Sakura hesitated, and then allowed Tomoyo to pull her outside.
Once they were gone, Akira turned to Meiling. "I do not think you should blame her. She did help us."
"But you don't know what she's done. You don't know how much she's hurt me!"
"I do know that she just saved our lives."
"Yeah, but...but..."
Akira pressed a finger to her lips. "Anyone that has a big enough heart to save an enemy must be a good person."
"I guess," Meiling muttered, looking a bit angry.
"You need time to be alone with your thoughts. I can sense that." He smiled gently. "I'll fix your door before I go."
* * * * *
Sakura and Tomoyo didn't have to wait long. Only minutes after they'd left Meiling's house, Syaoran appeared, a tired look on his face.
"Okay, who wants to go first?" Tomoyo asked.
Sakura didn't say anything, so Syaoran started. "Apparently, my old body also has the ability to create Cards. So far, it's only made the Multi Card, but even that's going to prove hard to beat in the future."
"Anything else we should know, Akira?" Sakura asked, her eyes narrowing. "Like what you were doing at Meiling's house, and why she called you that?"
"She's my cousin, Sakura, and she needed me, no matter what body I was in."
"And you gave her a fake name so she wouldn't recognize you?" Tomoyo guessed.
"I guess you're the one that got her out of school today," Sakura added.
Syaoran nodded. "She needed a break and you both know it. Besides, she had a good time and she feels safe with me."
"And when do you plan on telling her who you really are? That is, of course, assuming you do still plan to get your body back?"
"Yes, I do," he said firmly. "I'll deal with that when it happens."
"That's not fair," Tomoyo interrupted. "Meiling's going to fall in love with this you, if she hasn't already. You saw how much losing just one of you hurt her. How much damage do you think losing two of you will do?"
"There's no way to tell, Tomoyo," Sakura said. "But I think I'm starting to know how it feels to lose one of him."
"You think this is easy for me?" Syaoran asked heatedly. "You have no idea what it's like to have your body stolen! I can't even look in mirrors anymore, because I can't get used to seeing another face!"
"So that you gives you the right to give your heart to someone else?!" Sakura shouted. "You said you loved me, Syaoran!"
"I do, Sakura. But Meiling is family."
"But she doesn't know it's you in there, Syaoran. She's in love with Akira. I just wonder if he's in love with her."
"So what am I supposed to do? Just leave her alone? She needs a friend, Sakura."
"We'll take care of her," Tomoyo said, "whether she wants our help or not. You just focus on getting your body back."
* * * * *
Tomoyo was just about to go to bed when she heard an insistent tapping on her window. She looked up to see Syaoran, a pleading look on his face. With a sigh, she opened it. "Syaoran, how did you get past security?"
"Never mind that. I need your help."
"Me? Why didn't you ask Sakura?"
"I don't want her involved. I've figured out that my old body only goes after people that were truly important to me, and only people that it's had control of before."
Tomoyo grinned. "Does that mean I'm important to you?"
"It means you were the first it controlled," Syaoran replied with a frown. "I think it'll come for you again. Tonight."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Take this." Syaoran held up something in the darkness. "It will protect you."
Tomoyo started to take it, then froze as she realized what it was. "Syaoran, that's a Clow Card."
"One of mine," he confirmed. "I call it The Guard."
"Syaoran, I'm not a CardCaptor."
"You might as well be. You've caught almost all the captures on tape. You know the words as well as Sakura does. All you've been missing is the magic. This Card will give it to you. You don't even have to do anything. The Guard will automatically react to situations the way an average CardCaptor would."
"Why didn't you give it to Meiling?"
"I don't want her or Sakura involved. I'm asking you to trust me, Tomoyo. I wouldn't risk this if I didn't think you could handle it."
Tomoyo finally accepted the Card. "So how do I...um...turn it on? Since I don't have a wand or a sword."
"You'll know," Syaoran said simply. He suddenly turned his head. "Get down, Tomoyo!"
Before either of them had time to move, something black and brown slammed into Syaoran from behind. They both went tumbling past Tomoyo, crashing into the wall. The bat creature stood up. Syaoran didn't.
Tomoyo backed away. "Don't you come any closer!"
The bat stared at her, its eyes shining. Then it did the one thing she didn't want it to do. It took a step in her direction.
Tomoyo felt her mouth moving, and she heard words flowing from it. It took her a while to realize that she was actually saying them.
"Protect me from the darkness, Great Sentinel of Might. Come now from your prison, and release the light!"
The bat shrieked as the Card seemed to explode, flooding the room with a blinding flash of light. It stumbled back, squealing in pain as its sensitive eyes burned. The sight that greeted its eyes a few seconds later was not an expected one.
Tomoyo stood in the middle of a glowing symbol on the floor. Her eyes were totally white, void of any pupils. She wore a flowing, black cloak, and in her left hand, she held a huge battle ax.
The bat creature considered the situation, and then took a diving leap out of the window, gliding away on the wind currents.
If The Guard had been working like Syaoran had planned, Tomoyo would have returned to her normal form within seconds after the bat's departure. However, it did nothing of the sort. Tomoyo merely checked Syaoran's pulse, and finding it strong, she quickly dove after the bat. After all, no true CardCaptor would let an enemy escape.
* * * * *
Something was wrong. Sakura could feel it. The feeling had kept her awake all last night, and now it was nearly impossible to focus in class. Still, she wasn't so distracted that she didn't notice Tomoyo was missing. ~That's strange. Tomoyo's always got perfect attendance. Maybe she got sick?~
But by the time lunch rolled around, Sakura was getting worried. After all, Tomoyo had been attacked before. She had been the shadow's first victim. It was out there somewhere, looking for someone else to control.
Sakura was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't realize someone had called her. She didn't notice until the person asked quite loudly, "You in there or what, Kinomoto?"
Sakura gasped, looked up, and gasped again.
"I asked if I could sit here," Meiling repeated. "If you don't want me to, just say so, but there's no reason to ignore me."
"Um...no, you can sit here." Sakura moved over to give her more room. "Did I miss something, or did you have a change of heart?"
Meiling rolled her eyes as she sat down. "Akira says that I should forgive you for what happened and that it wasn't even your fault." After a slight pause, she quickly added, "Not that I agree with him. But I guess you're okay. For NOW."
"Okay," Sakura muttered, looking very uncomfortable.
"So what's your fondest memory of Syaoran?" Meiling asked, starting to eat.
Sakura blinked. "Why do you want to know?"
Meiling rolled her eyes again. "It's hard enough just TALKING to you. I'm trying to pick a topic that we'll both enjoy. You obviously liked him, so I figured we'd compare stories."
Sakura bit her lip. ~She's trying to be friendly...even if it's in her usual rude, insulting way. But at least she's trying.~ "I guess it was when we caught The Big. He actually gave me a compliment afterwards. It seems like so long ago."
"Two or three months." Meiling took a bite of her sandwich.
"Well, what about you?" Sakura asked.
Meiling swallowed. "You really want to know?"
Sakura nodded solemnly.
Meiling sighed. "It was a while ago, back when I first came here. I got a phone call from Hong Kong. It was my mother. She said my father had died the night I left."
Sakura stared at her in silence.
"Afterwards, I locked myself in my room and wouldn't eat. Finally, Syaoran broke the door down. But instead of being upset, he just held me all night, until I feel asleep in his arms. And when I woke up the next morning, he was still holding me. I swore to myself that I'd never forget that night, and I never have." Meiling sighed heavily. "I miss him so much."
Sakura searched for something suitable to say, but came up with nothing. Finally, she reached over and squeezed Meiling's hand. "I'm so sorry, Meiling."
Meiling stared at the hand, then decided she no longer had the strength to be angry. "Thanks," she muttered.
Seeing the look on Meiling's face, Sakura made a silent promise. If Syaoran didn't tell Meiling the truth soon enough, she would.
* * * * *
Normally, the bat would never have ventured into the daylight. It was much too bright for his sensitive eyes. But this was a very, very non-normal situation. He was being chased by someone that was extremely powerful. She was more skilled than just any CardCaptor, and certainly more determined. She'd been after him all of last night, and still showed no signs of fatigue.
The same could hardly be said for the bat, which was having trouble flying, thanks to the axe wound in his right wing. His eyes burned from the brightness, making his vision poor, and every joint in his body ached. Still, he ran, though not very quickly.
Finally, the bat could take no more. He fell to the ground, shrieking loudly as the CardCaptor came closer, her pale, gray eyes piercing through the remains of his soul. He whipped out the Multi Card and activated it.
Instantly, Tomoyo found herself facing three different forms: that of the bat, a dark shadow, and Syaoran's old body. She paused for a moment, then raised her axe and split the Multi Card in two.
The two extra forms faded away, leaving the bat alone again.
Tomoyo quickly drove the handle of her axe into the bat's forehead, scoring an instant knockout. Then she grabbed it by the leg and dragged it away, a satisfied look on her face.
* * * * *
Once he woke up, it wasn't hard for Syaoran to figure out what had happened. Tomoyo's mother had come in during the night and found her daughter gone, and a strange young man lying on the floor of her bedroom. She'd called the police, who assumed Syaoran was in some way responsible for Tomoyo's disappearance. So they arrested him for kidnapping and threw him into a cell.
Not that he was really worried. He was more concerned with where Tomoyo was, and what she might be doing. However, Syaoran soon got answers to both questions.
At precisely 3:52 PM, the back wall of Syaoran's cell exploded inward. After the dust cleared, Tomoyo walked in, still under the influence of The Guard.
"We must go," she said, gesturing toward the exit she'd just made.
Syaoran wasn't about to ask questions. He followed her out of the cell and into the daylight. But as soon as he was sure no one was watching, he grabbed her arm. "Tomoyo, have you been using The Guard this whole time?!"
When she didn't answer, Syaoran figured that she had. "You've got to deactivate it right now! If you use it for too long, you could get stuck that way!"
The pale light in Tomoyo's eyes faded, and she groaned and shook her head. "Syaoran? What happened? How did we get here?"
"Never mind that. Are you okay?"
"I think so," she muttered. "Did I just...hit something?"
Syaoran frowned. "I don't know. But you've been gone nearly a whole day, and we need to figure out what you've been doing."
Tomoyo closed her eyes. "I remember...hitting a bat creature...with an axe?"
"That sounds reasonable. What about after that?"
"I...put it somewhere...but I'm not sure where." She opened her eyes. "I'm sorry, Syaoran. Everything's a blur. I can't remember."
"Don't worry about that right now. Just get home quickly. I've got to find Sakura and Meiling before it's too late."
* * * * *
Sakura wasn't sure why she was walking home with Meiling. Maybe it was the fact that Tomoyo hadn't shown up, and neither of them wanted to walk home alone. Meiling didn't really agree to it, but she hadn't tried to make Sakura go away, either.
"Maybe I should leave," Meiling said suddenly.
"Leave?" Sakura asked.
"Yes. Go home to Hong Kong. There's no reason for me to stay here."
"What about Syao...um...I mean, Akira?"
Meiling sighed. "I don't know. He's been so nice, and I really like him, but...other than him, I don't have anyone else, and he can't be with me all the time."
"Look, Meiling. I know we haven't exactly been friends in the past, but we both miss Syaoran, and we both need someone who can relate to the pain of losing him. Can't we try to be friends?" Sakura asked.
Meiling stopped walking. "What?"
"I don't want to fight with you anymore. I want to be friends. Can't we at least make a temporary truce, just until we're both done being depressed over this?" She held out her hand.
"You're serious?"
"Yes, Meiling. I don't think Syaoran would want us to fight."
Meiling stared at Sakura's hand for a long moment. Finally, she shook it. "You've got a deal, Kinomoto. But no funny business."
"Right."
High above them, hidden from view in the branches of a tree, Syaoran smiled. "That's one less problem to worry about."
* * * * *
Miles away, inside an abandoned warehouse, the bat creature drifted in and out of consciousness. For the few moments it was able to focus, it could only feel unbearable pain. It could sense that its time in this form was drawing to a close, and there was no way to escape that fate. All that was left to do was wait and wonder what the future held.
Continued in Part 3: The Switch
Sakura attempts to restore Syaoran to his old body, and Meiling finally learns the whole truth about Akira.