Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ The Dragon Cards ❯ The New Card ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

To whoever reads this, sorry for not updating sooner.
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, but I do own Matthew Connors and Emily Karachi.
 
The New Card
 
It was a dark night. The Tokyo Tower glowed in the distance. Sakura stood on top of a building, The Sakura Cards drifted from the sky all around her. She clutched her magic staff tightly in one hand. Who are you people?They stood back to back on top of the tower and their laughter, so cold, so malicious. Who are you?
 
Sakura's eyes flew open. Her alarm was beeping softly. She reached up with one hand and turned it off. Sakura sat up and glanced at the now silent clock. It was only six in the morning! She jumped out of bed and got changed.
When she was done, she took a big breath and turned to face the mirror. An innocent, green-eyed girl stared back at her. An important exam was coming up this year and Sakura was determined that that girl in the mirror would succeed. After all, now with the excitement of cards and magic behind, she could concentrate on her studies.
The best part? Shaoran was finally back.
At the thought of him, Sakura blushed. She wondered whether he was awake yet. Knowing him, He would be. Grabbing her school bag, she ran downstairs. Behind her in the messy room, Kero rolled over in his drawer/room and let out a tremendous snore.
“Morning, Touya.Where's Shaoran?” she asked. She snatched a roll from the bowl of hot rolls he was making for breakfast.
“Outside,” his face was an angry red. “Why is he here?” he demanded angrily.
Sakura scowled. “He's my friend and he didn't have a place to live. So deal with it,” she said tightly. Then with a slight wave, she left. Touya glared at her back.
She saw Shaoran in the garden. He seemed to be practicing some sort of move. Sakura guessed that it was kung fu or something. He finished the drill he was doing with a double-flip.
“Wow!” Sakura said in a half-wistful tone. Shaoran picked up his schoolbag and walked towards the gate.
Sakura snapped out of her daze and ran after him, trying to put her skates on at the same time. “Shaoran, wait up!” she called.
She skated around the bend. To her surprise, Shaoran was waiting for her beneath the big tree Yukito had always waited at a year ago. Yukito was now a college student, studying at the same university as Touya. For some reason, seeing Shaoran standing there brought a rush of strange feelings……
“You sure are slow,” Shaoran commented when she caught up to him.
“You sure are fast!” Sakura retorted, skating slowly beside him.
Shaoran looked at her. “You can skate normally, you know. I can keep up,” he said.
“You sure?” she asked skeptically.
“Yeah.”
She began to skate at a normal speed. Shaoran didn't have a problem at all.
“Hey Shaoran?”
“Yeah?”
“Were you an athlete at your old school?”
“Why?”
“Can't I ask?”
“If you have a reason.'
“So were you?”
“Yeah.”
“What sport did you play?”
“Why?”
“Why do you have to ask `why'?”
“Because.”
“Oh, never mind.” Sakura said in an exasperated tone.
They entered the school gates, where Shaoran uttered a hasty goodbye and left to inform the teacher of his arrival.
Sakura sat down at her desk, greeting her friends happily. The part she loved about the first day at school was seeing her classmates again.
Rika and Cheharu came up to her. “Hey, did you hear?” Rika asked excitedly. “Li and Eriol have transferred back here, and we're getting two new students from America as well!”
“Two new students?” Tomoyo repeated, setting her bag next to her desk. “Have you seen them?”
Cheharu was about to reply when a boy called out, “The teacher's coming, everyone!” The two girls hurried back to their seats.
Mr. Terada opened the door. “Good morning, everyone.” he said pleasantly.
“Good morning, Mr. Terada!” the class chorused.
The teacher smiled at them. “I have good news today. Li Shaoran and Eriol Hiiragizawa are going to rejoin us this year.”
Mr. Terada waited patiently until the excited chatter died down before continuing, “As well as two new students who have come here from America. I hope all of you will be kind to them and show them around, okay?”
“Yes, sir!” everyone yelled eagerly.
“You can come in now,” he said, addressing the door. It opened and four children, three boys and a girl, walked in.
Sakura smiled cheerfully at Shaoran and Eriol, and then turned her attention to the newcomers.
The boy, Matthew Connors, had floppy blond hair and amber eyes. The girl, Emily
Karachi, had auburn hair pulled into a braid and blue eyes. They were fixed firmly on nothing, a familiar seriousness in them. There was something about her that reminded Sakura about someone…
Who?
 
 
A little girl skipped happily in a large stonewalled courtyard. “Shaoran, look at me!” she cried…
 
The same girl dressed in a school uniform ran towards him. “Wait, Shaoran! Don't run so fast!” she yelled desperately…
 
“Hey, guys, that's Shaoran!” she nudged one of her friends eagerly.
“Lower your voice!” one hissed.
“Why?”
“You don't want anyone to know that the young master of the Li household is a sweeper, do you?” another sneered.
The girl's eyes narrowed dangerously. Impulsively, she ran over to him and grabbed his arm. “So what? He's still Shaoran!” she said, pulling a face at the group of girls. “Right, Shaoran?”
“Uh, right.” He agreed nervously…
 
The very same girl at eight, staring at a dark-haired boy. His classmate, Zheng…
 
Again at nine, the innocence and happiness gone from her face, greeting him along with his four older sisters when he returned from Hong Kong…
 
She held a magical staff crackling with black magic, her back to him…
 
The girl sat on a broomstick, her hair clung to her face in damp strands, her clothes soaked through, her beautiful eyes now blank, filled with hate.
“You'll pay for this, Li Shaoran!” she hissed. “I'll have my revenge!”
Then, she disappeared from view, hidden by the driving rain…
 
Shaoran shook his head, trying to dispel the memories that flitted unbidden through his head.
Why now? Why did he have to remember? The reason he had come here was so he could not remember.
The night she had left, he had cried. Cried for the first time since he could remember. Cried until he had no tears left to cry, until all that was left was a numbness, an aching hole in his heart, where she used to be.
And then he had gone on crying. Inside.
The door to the roof of the school building opened, revealing a boy with ocean blue eyes.
“What do you want, Hiiragizawa?” he snapped, his eyebrows knitting together.
Eriol came up and stood next to him, gazing out at the grounds below. “There's something I need to tell you.”
“What?”
“The first Clow card you captured, it was Time.” Eriol said. It wasn't a question.
“How did you know?” Shaoran asked, taken aback.
The other boy didn't answer him. Silence fell.
Finally, Eriol broke the ice, “Do you know of Clow Reed's ability to see into the future?”
“Of course!” Shaoran replied, slightly insulted that Eriol thought so little of his magical learning. “The talent of Foresight, so much rarer that the talent of Nearsight, which Sakura possesses. It was rumored he once dreamt of his successor, the next master of the Clow cards.” he paused briefly. “That is, Sakura.”
“True rumors,” Eriol said. “But the person he dreamt of wasn't Sakura. Not only her, anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Shaoran couldn't believe his ears.
“Clow Reed had two possible successors. Sakura and… you.”
“Be serious, Eriol,” Shaoran said, laughing.
“I'm not joking. Clow Reed had his reasons for choosing Sakura over you.”
“Eriol…” Shaoran said warningly. He still found the subject rather touchy. He didn't feel like discussing all the different ways Sakura was better than him. But then, who did?
“You were too weak.”
“I realize that.” Shaoran said through gritted teeth. Did he have to rub it in?
“But, I forgot about something. Something that happened when you had yet to become a magician, before all this happened. Something I didn't willingly forget about.” Eriol's voice had a strange ring to it, as if he didn't believe this part himself.
“Look, I don't understa…” Shaoran began.
“Tell me, Li, do you remember an incident that happened when you were three years old?” Eriol interrupted suddenly.
“Huh?” Shaoran gaped at him openly.
“I see,” The other boy said quietly.
He turned abruptly, heading back down to class. Then, he stopped. He threw an object in Shaoran's direction.
Shaoran caught it easily. It was a card. A Clow card Time.
“But, but, Sakura already transformed…” Shaoran spluttered, not believing his eyes.
“Memory is a powerful card, Li, most probably the strongest card in your entire collection. But, you need the past to face the future.” Eriol said, his voice heavy with something like resignation and… fear?
Then, he was gone.
Shaoran pressed the card's cool surface to his forehead with a sigh. A girl who felt like her, but wasn't. A card, a Clow card that had his name printed clearly on the bottom and some coded warning about his future. Today was a great day. Just… great.
 
 
 
Sakura skated beside Shaoran, who seemed to be deep in thought. Finally, she couldn't resist any longer. “Is something wrong, Shaoran?” she asked. “You haven't said a single word since recess today!”
Shaoran jerked as if he had just been woken from a deep slumber. “N…no, nothing.”
Silence fell once more.
“Sakura?”
“Yeah?”
“Promise me something.”
“What?”
Shaoran took a deep breath, “Promise me that no matter how unbelievable you find my words to be, you'll…always believe me. Can you do that?”
“Of course!” Sakura laughed. “Why wouldn't I?”
Shaoran let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks,” he said softly.
Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Sakura, do you…” Sakura was already moving.
“Look out!” she cried, pulling Shaoran to one side. Flames burst out at the very place he had been standing.
The fire grew as quickly as it appeared, surrounding them.
“Key that conceals the power of my star
Reveal your true nature to me
By my power
I command you!
Release!”
The staff came into being in Sakura's hand. “Watery!” she hollered, throwing the card into the air. A massive spire of water tunneled its way through the flames, creating an opening in the fiery ring. An opening that closed over mere seconds after it had been created.
“It's not working!” she shouted. The flames lunged at her like hungry animals eyeing their prey.
“Fly!”
Great white wings struggled to lift both her and a protesting Shaoran into the air. They barely made it above the hissing creatures, just to see more gathering as far as the eye could see.
Sakura knew without a doubt that Fly could not possibly bear both of them that far. They were just too heavy.
“What are we going to do?” she wailed.
Before Shaoran could reply, the fire suddenly started to grow, looming over them like tigers going in for the kill. Literally.
The orange-red fingers of the gigantic animals reached out, slicing through her wings like a pair of scissors does paper.
They lost what little altitude they had had, plummeting towards earth. She screamed.
“Wind God!” A tornado appeared out of nowhere, lowering them down to the ground in its gentle caress.
But, it was far from over. The flames encircled them once more, cutting them off from one another.
What now? Shaoran thought frantically.
“Shield!” he heard Sakura shout. A flame snapped back as if hit, hissing in anger.
“Shaoran! Pay attention!”
He ignored her reprimand. “We've to put it all out at once!” he yelled over the crackling wall of fire that separated them.
“I've got it.” she called excitedly after a slight pause. Sakura drew a card from her pocket and cried, “Rain!”
A bright blue pixie-like creature on a cloud appeared, and began pouring an endless torrent of rain on the fire.
But, as soon as it moved away from a spot to put out another, the fire sprang to life once more.
“The rain's too light!” Sakura yelled, fear creeping into her bones. What if they never made it out? She didn't want to die!
Eriol's words echoed in Shaoran's head.
“Clow Reed had two possible successors. Sakura and…you.”
Does that mean I can create a card? He wondered.
“My hand!” Sakura screamed in pain.
“Sakura!” he shouted anxiously. “Are you alright?”
All he received in reply was the sound of suppressed sobbing.
An anger he could not explain bubbled up in him. An anger he had felt for the sake of another before. And as before, it made the decision for him.
“I have to try,” he whispered, taking a card from his pocket. The Water God.
“Sakura, if this doesn't work, I want you to use Shield and run. Forget about putting the fire out. Got it?” he called over the flames.
“What?” her confused voice reached him. “What are you going to do?”
Then, the full meaning of his words sunk into her. “No! I won't…”
He didn't wait for her to finish her sentence.
Throwing the card into the air, he spoke in a cool, composed voice,
“Aid me,
God of Water!
Bring me the heavens' tears
And seal it in a card
Of my making!
Rain!”
Nothing happened.
He closed his eyes in defeat. “It didn't work.”
Then, suddenly, a glow permeated the yellow card's interior, bursting out in golden rays the color of sunlight, before gathering together in the shape of a card. The glow intensified, blinding him.
Rain fell.
 
 
The card, Flame, reappeared in Emily's hand. She watched the green-eyed girl run towards the boy. Both of them were soaked through.
“He's stronger than you expected, Emily,” a tall teenager said, pushing a lock of gray hair away from his equally silver eyes.
“Much stronger,” a pearl white creature with violet eyes and translucent wings agreed.
The girl just smiled.
“This will be harder than I expected.” she said, directing the comment at the boy, who was now staring at the brand new card in his hand with a dazed expression.
“But, knowing you,” she continued in an amused tone. “I should have expected it. You were always so unpredictable.”
Then, her expression changed, her sapphire eyes hardened. “No matter. One way or another, sooner or later, I'll kill you. As you did me, so long ago.”
She laughed, a cold, bitter laugh that held none of the mirth her voice had held before.
“Time. That is the only question.”