Citadel City (Hawaii) (December 31st, 2002) “We’re facing the wrong way.” Admiral Rei Nobringa huffed her breath angrily as she stared up at the night sky from the rooftop of the Command Center, the wind blowing strongly as she stared straight at the Central Hub. “Maybe we should relocate our operations to a command center that’s in view of it. Somewhere on the light side---” “I don’t think so.” The voice, from behind her, draws her attention about. “And why not, Captain Lazarus?” “Just thinking that this is a good enough spot to view the arrival of the sphere until it’s motivations for coming here are made clear. Not to mention the Command staffs of the stations in visual “view” of the sphere are capable of handling things without us coming into their home turf and ordering them around, that’s all there is to that.” “And that’s all---” she whispers, looking about the city as she takes the words in, “You know abit about what’s coming in already, moreso than all the techs who have been pouring over what little data they scrounged about for for days. So---” (Rei spins about, walking towards Jack with her eyes focused dead on him as she did) “---let’s cut to the chase and you tell me what it is we’re missing about this sphere?” “Not much. Just that you’ve been focused so far on it’s outside, without even considering---” “The world within.” Rei finished, to which he nodded, “Dyson Spheres are, after all, made to be mobile colonies for human life, or so it says on paper. But then again everything looks so practical and pretty when it’s still on paper.“ (huffs her breath again, her temper barely in check) “Just what kind of reception awaits those we send to the sphere, if entry is possible, and what’s going on inside the sphere?” He does not say a word at first, but as he turns to look over the city he says “Nice night, eh? The weather called for rain but it seems to be keeping rather---” “Don’t dance me around, Jack.” Rei whispers, walking up to stand besides him, “This isn’t the time to be vague and mysterious with me. I need to know---” “I can’t tell you what I barely know myself.” he admits, choosing his words as he goes, “I know that within is a world, and that “world” centers around one “school”---” “CLAMP School.” “You remembered.” he notes with a bit of a wiry smile, “The entire whole of the sphere’s “life” revolves around that one concept, that one thing--- the “school”, which is the center of it’s “world” as it were. That much I know. What comes past that is something the world has kept shielded even from me.” “Is that so---” Rei muttered, her skeptical nature getting the better of her, “I thought nothing could get past a vaunted Raven once they set their minds to a particular task or assignment.” Jack turns to look at her, puzzled, “You don’t seem very surprised by that.” “Nothing surprises me about that thing anymore--- it seems to anticipate everything we do and stays three steps ahead of us. This---” (pointing up into the sky above) “---bad timing for an entrance is just one of the ways it keeps three steps ahead of the game. Should have happened hours ago while we were facing ElseSpace side, instead of now---” “If you say so---” Jack relents, turning to leave. As he steps onto the lift to head down he stops, and turns back to regard Admiral Nobringa one final time. “Have the sensors picked up any escort ships?” “What?” “Has the sensors picked up any escort ships?” “Not yet---” (turns towards the building which, several months ago while under construction, was “host” for one angry Clow Card named Fly) “---but we can’t say for certain until the ship comes out into ElseSpace and we can scan the sphere’s darkside. Why do you----” (stops, realizes she’s now alone) “---ask, and why do I even bother---” Silence reigns as she steps onto the lift and leaves the rooftop behind. ------ Earlier---- Tokyo--- It was early morning in Tokyo. In the Realm of Dreams there was, in “theory” a 19 hour time difference between Hawaii and Japan. Of course, in a realm where time really had little meaning except to those who measured their “existences” by it, that might as well have been a rough guess. Still, it was measured as such despite the fact that there existed no “International Date Line”, and it took into account the slightly larger state of the “world” to accompany each and every dream continent on the world. With that said, it was now 5AM on January the 1st, 2003 in Tokyo, while it was only 10AM, December the 31st, 2002 in Citadel City. For dreamers from other times? They stuck to the theorem that time had no meaning and only looked at the calendar to find out when the next fun holiday would be. It was still a long ways off before the new year begins where Command was in Citadel City. 14 Hours and counting down. But for Sakura Kinomoto, the new year had already begun with lots of fireworks and excitement. The fireworks not exclusively to the one that exploded in the sky earlier, but there were plenty of fireworks also between the sheets as well. Sakura blushed at the thought, her cheeks feeling rather warm as her thoughts made her feel all cuddly. Tomoyo was all energy as always, and even with her hair in disarray and her cheeks rosey red from the exertion even in sleep, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Sitting up, Sakura gently brushes a few fingers along Tomoyo’s face--- “YOUR HURTING ME!” Sakura suddenly remembers Tomoyo’s hands digging into her arms, and her panicked look when she realized that she was hurting Sakura. She didn’t mean to hurt Sakura, but for the first time that Sakura remembers she had seen Tomoyo in a way she had never seen her before. She was afraid. Genuinely afraid. Even before her fear never became so driven that she’d hurt Sakura by accident. As Sakura looked at Tomoyo’s sleeping form she felt a brief chill pass through her body, quickly covering up as she continued to stare (now lying down next to her) at Tomoyo. She hoped that Tomoyo was dreaming happy dreams. ------ However it wasn’t Tomoyo dreaming bad dreams. She didn’t want to move, her limbs felt as if they were weighted down by lead. She could only stare at the huddled figure lying curled up on the ground, Tokyo Tower looming in the background. Eliza wanted to move, but she couldn’t--- and it made her upset. “Nina!!” she cried out, struggling to make her body move, “Nina please! What’s---” Nina cried again, curling herself up tighter. “Nina please don’t do this! Why are you crying?!? What’s---” Nina looks up, face smeared in white, teeth clenched. “You said you loved me--- look at me---” “I DO!! I do love you---” “I told you she loves him you COW!” a voice calls out, a foot lashing out and kicking Nina. “STOP THAT!!” Eliza yells, only to stop as she sees the figure who kicked her. It was herself. Besides her a young man in SpellThrasher uniform duds stood, leaning close to her. “Syai-chan? The little bitch needs to learn her place. Show her her place.” “---no---no---no---” Nina whimpered as he knelt down, and beat her. “STOP IT!! STOP IT!!” Eliza screamed, but to no avail. She then felt two arms wrap around her and hold her. “Nina---” she gasped, “It’s only a dream, it’s only a dream, it’s---” “I’d never do anything to hurt her or you--- my love.” Syaoran whispered, his arms holding her tight causing Eliza to scream as she pushed him away. “NINA!!!!” Eliza shot out of bed nearly screaming, her eyes wide. Nina was still asleep next to her as Eliza quickly turned, her hands all over Nina’s looking for injuries or some form of harm--- with all the prodding it wasn’t long before Nina stirred from sleep, eyes drearily opening as she looked up at Eliza. The first look she had of Eliza’s panicked face got Nina up in a heartbeat. “What is it? What’s wrong?” “I--- I---” Eliza stammered, taking a few seconds to gather her wits. It took a while, but Nina eventually got her to talking. She didn’t say Syaoran’s name, but said someone was by “her” side, the other her, and he--- Nina took in the information and nodded her head, “Some dream.” “Vision. Nightmare. I don’t know.” Eliza rasped, eyes teary to the point that it made it difficult to see, her vision blurred as she rocked back and forth. “It hurt seeing you suffer. I couldn’t stand it.” “It’s only a dream.” “---but---” “You’d never do anything to hurt me--- would you?” Nina asked, leaning forward to touch foreheads with Eliza, staring her straight in the eyes. “I trust you, my sweet future wife of mine.” she continued, her hand pulling a cloth from the nightstand to dab away Eliza’s tears and clear her eyes. “You trust me, don’t you?” “---uh-huh---” “Then don’t worry about it. Everything is going to be all right then.” With that she drew close, and kissed Eliza softly on the lips, shushing her protests as she pulled the taller Amazonian towards her and held her tight. ----- The morning was going a little rough for Nina and Eliza. Keiko wasn’t fairing much better. When her beeper went off Keiko almost dreaded to look. Her bleary eyes could barely focus as she rolled over in bed to grab her beeper from the nightstand. She knew what it had to be, it could only have been that and nothing else, and she dreaded looking at the beeper fearing confirmation of her fears. For the past few weeks since the holidays began she’d been hunting a particularly nasty man who made no attempt to hide his “activities”. He felt it was something out of her range to enforce (being in “Hawaii” (exact dream continent name being a tad hard to pronounce for non Hawaiians) while she lived in Nippon (the Dream Continent of Japan)), and to date she had only been warning him--- today, when her beeper went off, something within her went off as well. Her weariness seemed to melt away as her eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched. Just looking at the message seemed to cause her body to tense up. Her patience with him had officially ended the second she received that message. It simply read this--- “It’s happening again. Come now before he finishes.” She had had enough. And she had given him more than enough time to change his ways. She first heard of this when she was dropping off a report at Citadel City, and heard whispers of an important man whose wife ran away from him, and who had been--- busying himself--- with his brother’s daughters. At first she’d catch him in the corridors of the Command Center and scold him, or warn him off, and once she even showed up at his house just as he was dropping his pants in front of the younger daughter. She felt if she kept this up he’d get the picture and not do it again. She was wrong. With great reluctance, a weary Eve (still naked) created a portal link to where Keiko had to go, knowing full well that Keiko was beyond the point of reasoning with. Once she became like this, this obsessed and this focused, nothing would shake her and nothing would change her mind once it was set on this one task. She told Keiko that the portal would remain open as long as she was there, and waited for her as she stepped through. That’s when she felt a jolt as Keiko kissed her, waking her up to her lover’s smiling face. “I wish I didn’t have to. Goddess knows I gave him so many changes--- I’m sorry.“ “I know -- be understanding of her pain though. She can’t help herself --“ Keiko nods, knowing what she meant, and stepped through the shimmering portal. When she arrived she was outside, in the presence of the father. He turned, and tried to explain how it had to be this way--- her mood went bad again. She thought he would help her stop him, but all this time he’d been letting his brother have his way. She simply walked up to him, and without any formalities or ceremony, shattered his left leg with one strike of her foot bringing him down screaming in pain. Now, mind you, with the medical resources of several centuries it would be no problem to reconstruct his leg and get him walking in no time--- but she wanted him to feel this pain. She couldn’t even stand to stare at him for too long. Seeing him, and thinking of what he allowed, that was too much for her. She then turned to the house and stared at it, watching him come out as she realized one horrible thing--- she was too late. Her informant’s information came too late. Without a second thought she drew her sword, and rushed him, screaming. He saw her coming too late. His smug smile turning into shock before the first blow. The first blow sent blood flying everywhere. Keiko’s eyes shut involuntarily against the splatter that hit her face as well as her uniform. The second was even more brutal, and even more bloody. The third, and fourth, and so forth covered Keiko’s face and clothes in blood. She didn’t stop until he was cut into enough parts that he could be packed into a suitcase and shipped to his final burial. Even then, she didn’t want to stop, she was too distraught and angry. Her rage in full control made her hack at the dead body over and over again in a near animalistic rage. She heard a cry, and quickly looked up, sword arm swinging about but not before Keiko stopped herself from completing the swing. She was there, crying, a mess as she clung to the door, looking at Keiko who (on her knees bloodied as she was) seemed like an animal with her hair, even short as it was, in disarray, and a wild vicious expression on her face. The two stared for the longest time before she ran out the door, screaming. That’s the last Keiko saw of her. She was only 12 and --- The memory didn’t sit well with Keiko. She couldn’t go after her. The local law enforcement agencies showed up and pretty much ordered her to depart the way she came. Somebody would look after her, but it just wouldn’t be her. She dragged herself back home, dropped herself fully clothed into the shower (full blast), and cried. A minute later she felt Eve’s gentle hands pulling her clothes off, and then her arms hold her tight as she comforted Keiko, water and blood intermixing beneath them as it washed her clean. ----- 8AM (Tokyo) / 1PM (Citadel City) For the first time in a long time, Tomoyo had decided to sleep in. The bed felt too good to get up, and she didn’t seem to want to. As she rolled over, she thought back to that moment and sighed. “Tomo-chan YOUR HURTING ME!” It was at that moment that Tomoyo’s nose picked up the scent. She rolled over again in bed and smelt something truly delicious. A faint smile came to her lips as she felt her mouth begin to water. She slowly opened her eyes to peek, and saw Sakura fussing over a cart of breakfast for the two of them, making sure everything was perfect. She seemed so nervous, her hand fluttering everywhere as she tended to each and every detail. She was so very cute when she became so flustered. “Mmmmm---- breakfast in bed?” “Tomo-chan!” Sakura gasped, looking about as she was making the final preparations. “I’m sorry!! I didn’t mean to---” “I’m so lucky to have such a considerate love.“ Tomoyo smiled, and gently touched Sakura’s face with her fingers. “I couldn’t sleep. The smells were too good, and your always so cute when your worried.” “Tomo-chan---“ Sakura blushed, feeling her face heat up as she relished Tomoyo’s touch. “H-h-h-Hungry?” “Hmm--mmm” she nodded, pulling herself up to a sitting position as Sakura placed her tray before her. The meal looked as beautiful and delicious as the aromas suggested. As she waited patiently for Sakura to join her she looked at her lover and smiled, Sakura was looking rather chipper and happy wearing her favorite shirt/pants (with her apron over it) as she brought her tray to bed and set up next to Tomoyo, eyes looking at her plate with excitement. “I think the chef approves.” Tomoyo chided, causing Sakura to blush. “It’s not that good.” “I’ll be the judge of that.” she remarks, taking her first bite -- and feeling it’s lovely tastes send shivers through her body. It was as good as she thought it would be. “Delicious!“ As they ate Tomoyo kept glancing back at Sakura who seemed a tad nervous. “Is something wrong?” “I---” Sakura stammered, unconsciously touching the place where Tomoyo grabbed her, “---didn’t make you angry, did I? I didn‘t want to! I mean I--- Tomo-chan--- I---” Tomoyo smiled, chewing her food slowly as she thought, “Sakura-chan. I---” (sighs) “---I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you so much, or hurt you--- I didn’t want you to be hurt---” “It’s OK. I--- EEP!” Sakura shivered, as she felt Tomoyo’s tongue lick her where she was hurt. “After we eat I’m going to make you feel all better. Like a lover should.” “----hoooeeee----” Sakura blushed, her face turning a brighter red. As they went back to eating, Sakura still looked nervous, but Tomoyo only laughed. “?” “As long as your with me I’ll always dream happy dreams. As long as your with me.” The two exchanged smiles, and settled back in, Sakura eating once again with her same vigor. ‘That’s my Sakura-chan. Always looking out for me.’ Tomoyo thought as she ate, smiling. ------ Cloud was in a rather playful mood. And when Cloud becomes playful she also becomes prone to do strange things. Kero rolls over in his little bed, only to find himself staring into Cloud’s huge eyes. She was standing on her tiptoes looking at him, huge eyes looking as if she wanted something from him. “What.” “Play with me.” Kero groaned, rolling over in bed. “Later. I’m tuckered out. Mario can wait.” “No!” she whined, her hand poking at him, “Play with me!” “I’m not day care. Go bother someone else who knows games---” “PLAY WITH ME LIKE A MAN PLAYS WITH A WOMAN!! LIKE MISTRESS PLAYS WITH MISTRESS TOMOYO!!” “What are you---” Kero stops, rolls over in bed, and gives Cloud a severe look. “Are you out of your little mind? (Can‘t play with you like that anyway, I‘m not a girl.)” “I’m serious! Come play with me!” she cried, her eyes watering up. “I’m too small for THAT! (And crocodile tears won‘t help)” he growled, pulling his little blankets over himself to cover himself from the growing chill he was feeling from the thought of it as Cloud stomped her feet and huffed angrily. “Sakura will find all the cards soon and then--” “I DON’T WANT TO WAIT THAT LONG!!” she yelled, “MAKE LOVE TO ME NOW!!” “Why are you such a pain.” Kero sighed, “I can’t until we’re full sized! It’d be weird otherwise to make love like this! Perverted even!!” “WHAT’S SO WEIRD?!?” she yelled, her eyes narrowing. “THERE’S NOTHING PERVO OR WRONG WITH MY BODY!! MAKING LOVE TO ME ISN‘T WEIRD!!” “There’s something wrong with me. And you’re the size of illegal jailbait right now so---” “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?” she screamed, her little hand grabbing Kero and shaking him. “I’M NOT THAT BAD OR JAILBAKE!!” “Y-y-y-you c-c-could’va f-f-fooled m-m-m-eee!! S-s-stop I-I-I-it!!” (looks down as she finally stops shaking, mostly because she strained her wrist) “And I said “bait”, not “ba”---Your naked!!” Cloud smiles, “Ain’t I cute?” she crows, her fingers tapping her little body. “It’s not as fun as big me (my breasts are so teeny) but it’s all I have, and I LOVE IT!” “Cloud!!” Kero wiggles out of her grasp to get into the air, flying. “This is wrong! Why are you so hot and bothered all of---” (Cloud tries to grab him again, Kero staying out of her reach this time) “---not again! Now what’s your deal anyway? Why so bothered?” Cloud stops trying to jump up to grab him, and sulks. “I want to feel like a woman again. I feel so horrible in this little body. I want to be loved like I’m used to--- I want it to be the old days again.” Kero sighs, landing on Cloud’s head, patting her as he does. “I know, I know. I wish I---URGH!!” “GOTCHA!!” Cloud cheered, dancing about the little room twirling him about. “---please don’t sing, please don’t---” Cloud starts to sing. ----- Meanwhile--- “I’m sure they’re going to do it any minute--- hey!” Umi protested as Gaia pulls her out of the closet. “Don’t spy on them.” “They’re loud as heck! I can’t help but hear when they’re fighting or doing something naughty!” “Nobody said they’re doing anything naughty.” Gaia corrected her, already pushing Umi towards the door. “Let’s go eat breakfast.” “Nobody said they were playing nice either! Remember earlier?” “How can I forget?” Gaia found Umi in the closet earlier with her head plastered against the wall. “How can he sleep through it? She’s going to get off again and he’s sleeping! Come on, you have to hear this! She’s such a little---” “Please don’t use profanity.” Gaia sighed. ------ 9AM (Tokyo) / 2PM (Citadel City) It was as if Sakura was skipping along on high flying clouds. She could still feel Tomoyo’s lips on her’s, and her warmth embrace her. She was in a happy mood, no doubt about it. They were going to celebrate the coming of midnight in Hawaii (the last place it’s recorded each “year” on “Earth” (Terra) so they were already preparing. She knocked on Mirra’s door, but got no reply. She opened the door to look inside and suddenly froze. She had thought that, when nobody answered, there was no one inside. She was wrong. And that’s why she was suddenly frozen in mid-step unable to move. She was in shock. They were still sleeping. Mirra laid cuddled against Hikaru’s back, her arm draped around her, they looked so peaceful. Their clothes laid in a mess to one side, their panties to the other. Sakura stared on until she felt two arms pull her out of the room, and slowly close the door. Tomoyo turned and looked. “Sakura?” “---I’m sorry---” she muttered, shocked, “They--- I mean I thought---” “I don’t think it’s what you think.” “Pwhee?” As she leads her aside to bring her downstairs, Tomoyo speaks softly to her. “Mirra confides in me. She told me that they’re still on oral sex.” “She confides in you? But she didn’t---” “She didn’t know what to say.” Tomoyo assures her, drawing Sakura to one side to speak to her privately. “She thinks you’ll get all flustered and blush everytime she mentions sex. And she’s right.” “I’M SORRY!! I---” “Shhh.” (two fingers silence Sakura) “She wanted me to be the one to tell you.” “Why?” Sakura asks, eyes watery. But to this Tomoyo laughs and dabs the tears away with her hand, “Because she wanted you to know, silly! She cares for you! You’re her mistress, and her father all rolled up into one, remember? Mistress of the Cards. Father who loves her.” “I don’t feel like a good mistress or father to anyone.” “You will.” Tomoyo assures her, drawing her close to kiss her before leading her on. “We got to go to the store to pick up some things.” “Aren’t the stores closed?” “Not all of them.” ----- 10AM (Tokyo) / 3PM (Citadel City) Sakura never realized before how heights gave her the slight willies. When she flew using the power of the Fly card she never noticed heights before. She just seemed to go naturally with the flow of things because she knew she was safe while she used the Fly card. When Tomoyo said there would be stores open on New Year’s Day she never said it would be the Magium Mall floating high above the “Pacifica Dreaming” (the dream sea of the Pacific Ocean which teemed with sentient life that dreamed). Giant whales could be seen flying across the sky from time to time, and the ocean teemed with life both aquatic and humanoid (several centuries worth of time touched upon meant the ocean was home to both fish, people who dwelled beneath the waves and even aquatic humanoids who migrated from other worlds. The mall itself was a giant floating fortress which levitated over the ocean. Circular in design, it was visible from all points in the city but ONLY if you had the proper gear to see it. Today Eve lent Tomoyo her “special visor” which not only made the mall fortress visible, but also made the portal circles (which looked like solid structures to the naked eye) visible for transportation to the mall. The circles were rather unassuming things. The base of statues, solid structures like a hidden “room” behind a “wall” in a enclosed parking garage in a mall, or even the base of an automated lighthouse which didn’t exist at all (the “light” being a spellsphere on top of a radio tower). The portal Tomoyo & Sakura choosing being located “inside” a giant statue of two women kissing in the courtyard of the Winterian Cultural Exchange Building (“Lover’s Kiss”). The mall itself was a circular set up. A huge center court (food court) with level upon level of shops that occupied a huge circular multi-layered ring design, at which was topped by a huge skywindow and a rooftop shuttle port. The bottom of the mall was a giant multi drive anti-grav engine that kept the mall in midair 24/7, with each engine functioning independently of the others (so if several failed in some catastrophic incident the mall would still remain upright in the air, thus making it easy for the mall’s anti-grav drives to be serviced regularly without having to lower the mall down to sea level for periodic engine checks and upgrades). The first thing they found out was that the mall had everything. It was as well packed as the street that Michi too Sakura to once to get a present for Tomoyo, only without the Cantripas (the electromagnetic fields about the mall made the Cantripa jumpy and nervous). The second thing they learned was that the “floor” of the ground level projected a holographic image of the ocean below so it looked like people were walking on air. Sakura didn’t like this one bit, and clung onto Tomoyo rather tightly as they walked along the ground level floor. It took Tomoyo awhile to get Sakura to agree to eat lunch with her in the food court, promising her a “treat” if she was brave for her. The upper floors were even more daunting for Sakura. She could look down from the upper levels and see the ocean beneath them, and that made her even more clingy. Once they were inside the stores, however, she calmed down if only for awhile, and could function normally as she helped Tomoyo buy more stuff for today’s party, remembering to have it teleported home once they finished in one store so they could go to the next store empty handed to buy more things. They hit a few food stores, a store for sparkling apple cider “wine”, a comic shop for Sakura and an intimate adult store for Sakura’s “treat”. After that they went down to the food court for lunch. Sakura seemed nervous as she shuffled her feet beneath the table, shivering abit as her eyes glanced back down towards the “floor” and the view of the ocean below. Tomoyo once again changed the subject to bring Sakura’s eyes back towards her, “Did Meilin tell you if she heard from Li recently?” “Uh? I--- no.” Sakura sighed, looking back into Tomoyo’s eyes if only to avoid looking down. “I think he and her have been avoiding each other since they broke off the wedding. She didn’t seem to want to think about him, though.” “It’s hard to remember things like that, Sakura. She did love him before he broke off the wedding so I can see why it hurts to remember him.” “But, Tomo-chan! They’re cousins!!” “We’re cousins too in a sense.” “WHAT?!?” Sakura nearly yelped, but kept her voice down. “Well, technically my mom is your mother’s cousin so that makes us very distant cousins in---” (sighs as Sakura goes pale and blank out) “---just kidding.” “----hoeeee----” “I wonder how Li’s doing?” Sakura sighed, her thoughts wandering to Li for a few seconds. ------ Meanwhile. The Shining Star (The Dream Continent of Hong Kong) Li idly flipped through the CD selection, picking two more of the CD before going to the checkout. The clerk on duty nodded his head, and gave the appropriate discount on the music when Syaoran showed him his identification. He then bagged the selections and gave it to him on the way out. As he left the building a hand snagged the bag from him. “Hey!” “Let’s see---” she sighed, rifling through the bag, “Japanese Pop? How in God’s name do you ever plan to form a halfway decent spellthrash on this selection? Honestly--- and look!” (pulls out a few mangas) “CLAMP stuff to boot.” (tosses bag back to him) “The apple doesn’t fall far from the family tree.” He doesn’t answer, he simply takes his stuff and walks off, with her following close behind. “Oh don’t be such a wet rat over it! I’m just joking! Come on, have a sense of humor if it doesn’t kill you too much to do so!” Nothing. Silence. “I thought you were over her, remember? My little study buddy who used to lament and whine about how the girl of his life went all---” (Syaoran spins on his heels and comes to a halt in front of her, eyes glaring mad) “Don’t talk about Sakura that way.” The two stare at each other for a few seconds before he walks off again, the other barely catching up as she nearly falls behind. “Wait! Come on wait, I’m sorry! Alright? God you have to be such a stick in the mud.” “I happen to like the music, alright? It’s better than your music.” “Don’t start that again.” she sighed, “I happen to thrash better when I’m jamming to certain kicking movie soundtracks, so don’t give me lip. At least my music isn’t happy happy joy joy crap. I---” (notices he ditched her, jumping into an elevator to avoid her) “HEY! Syaoran come on give me---” (elevator leaves her behind) “---a break--- damn piece of---” It takes her five minutes to find him as he finishes his shopping, headed out. “Hey come on! Cut me some slack! I’m only trying to pass idle chatter! Come on!! What’s a girl have to do to get your attention around here??” He stops, turns, then looks at her seriously. Then he simply mutters, “Be the right girl and I’ll pay attention.” before walking off, leaving her behind to stare at his retreating backside with a strange expression. “What right girl?” “YOU GOT A GIRLFRIEND? LIAR!! SHOW ME HER PICTURE!! DOES SHE KNOW YOUR TASTES JUST RUNS THE GAMBUT OF---” (sighs) “---he can’t even hear me now, the---” (storms off in opposite direction) “Hope there’s a good movie in the theater block today.” ------- 2PM (Tokyo) 7PM (Citadel City) Night has descended on Citadel City. The lights of the buildings of the huge megacity glistened in the darkening sky. But only one thing mattered to Admiral Nobringa as she stood on the roof of the Command Center. “We’re facing the wrong way.” Admiral Rei Nobringa huffed her breath angrily as she stared up at the night sky from the rooftop of the Command Center, the wind blowing strongly as she stared straight at the Central Hub (slowly rising in the distance). “Maybe we should relocate our operations to a command center that’s in view of it. Somewhere on the light side---” “I don’t think so.” The voice, from behind her, draws her attention about. “And why not, Captain Lazarus?” “Just thinking that this is a good enough spot to view the arrival of the sphere until it’s motivations for coming here are made clear. Not to mention the Command staffs of the stations in visual “view” of the sphere are capable of handling things without us coming into their home turf and ordering them around, that’s all there is to that.” “And that’s all---” she whispers, looking about the city as she takes the words in, “You know abit about what’s coming in already, moreso than all the techs who have been pouring over what little data they scrounged about for for days. So---” (Rei spins about, walking towards Jack with her eyes focused dead on him as she did) “---let’s cut to the chase and you tell me what it is we’re missing about this sphere?” “Not much. Just that you’ve been focused so far on it’s outside, without even considering---” “The world within.” Rei finished, to which he nodded, “Dyson Spheres are, after all, made to be mobile colonies for human life, or so it says on paper. But then again everything looks so practical and pretty when it’s still on paper.“ (huffs her breath again, her temper barely in check) “Just what kind of reception awaits those we send to the sphere, if entry is possible, and what’s going on inside the sphere?” He does not say a word at first, but as he turns to look over the city he says “Nice night, eh? The weather called for rain but it seems to be keeping rather---” “Don’t dance me around, Jack.” Rei whispers, walking up to stand besides him, “This isn’t the time to be vague and mysterious with me. I need to know---” “I can’t tell you what I barely know myself.” he admits, choosing his words as he goes, “I know that within is a world, and that “world” centers around one “school”---” “CLAMP School.” “You remembered.” he notes with a bit of a wiry smile, “The entire whole of the sphere’s “life” revolves around that one concept, that one thing--- the “school”, which is the centre of it’s “world” as it were. That much I know. What comes past that is something the world has kept shielded even from me.” “Is that so---” Rei muttered, her skeptical nature getting the better of her, “I thought nothing could get past a vaunted Raven once they set their minds to a particular task or assignment.” Jack turns to look at her, puzzled, “You don’t seem very surprised by that.” “Nothing surprises me about that thing anymore--- it seems to anticipate everything we do and stays three steps ahead of us. This---” (pointing up into the sky above) “---bad timing for an entrance is just one of the ways it keeps three steps ahead of the game. Should have happened hours ago while we were facing ElseSpace side, instead of now---” “If you say so---” Jack relents, turning to leave. As he steps onto the lift to head down he stops, and turns back to regard Admiral Nobringa one final time. “Have the sensors picked up any escort ships?” “What?” “Has the sensors picked up any escort ships?” “Not yet---” (turns towards the building which, several months ago while under construction, was “host” for one angry Clow Card named Fly) “---but we can’t say for certain until the ship comes out into ElseSpace and we can scan the sphere’s darkside. Why do you----” (stops, realizes she’s now alone) “---ask, and why do I even bother---” Silence reigns as she steps onto the lift and leaves the rooftop behind. It was now past 7PM. The next possible “incursion” event happening at midnight. Less than 5 hours away. Meanwhile, a different kind of wait was taking place at the Daidouji residence. The Holochamber beneath the house was once again set for a party. Huge tables of food was set, as well as the game/TV stations for people to party. The holoscreens were showing the countdown for the United States (which was one of two dozen continents that really didn’t have a “dream continent name” for some reason), as everyone partied. “You do know it’s futile to do this considering time is meaningless in the Realm of Dreams.” Nina looks at Keiko as if she fell off a rooftop and landed in their midst fresh from a trip from Mars. “You know how futile it is for you to ramble on like that, don’t you?” Eve sighed as she poured herself a drink. It had taken a lot to bring Keiko down from what happened earlier. She didn’t want her memories “altered”, she just wanted resolution. The girl was found, and it set off abit of a flurry back at Citadel City. It seemed that she fell into the arms of her best friend (Winterian) and now she refused to let her father take her back. She had even threatened to use her family’s resources to attack Citadel City if her best friend was taken back to “that den of horrors” she escaped from. In the end the two girls had to admit they were lovers, and that’s why she was so adamant to not let her go. Of course the minute THAT information came out the Judgements of Hawaii blamed Yamanaka as the source of the “love”. That of course should have set her off --- but instead she simply laughed. That was two hours ago, and she hasn’t stopped smiling about it since. There was no way the father was going to win. The daughter’s “lover” was Winterian. Her family was well placed. There was no way in hell that she’d let go to her “precious” and he knew it. In the end? He lost his daughter after all, but to the right person (not flesh and blood family member who was scum but to a kind girl who comforted her and wiped her tears away after she was raped). Keiko (under the table of course) asked for permission to be at their “wedding” one day. She got a quick reply back, which almost made her nervous from fear of rejection. It simply read this - “Ask again after she’s over the trauma.” and nothing more. Oh, well, she thought to herself, I can live with that. The story of Sakura’s first trip to the Magium Mall went over well with the others. In fact Umi and Light & Dark were already planning their own “romantic” getaways with their loved ones themselves. At that Tomoyo couldn’t help but chuckle, leaving them all to look on confused as she took Sakura to get some food and sit down. “It didn’t feel very romantic.” “It was sweet how you clung onto me so trusting that I wouldn’t let you fall.” “---such a baby---” she sighed, thinking of what kind of image she showed earlier, clinging onto Tomoyo as they walked the mall, occasionally whining “hoooeeee” everytime she looked down. “Umi’s going to be worst off. She’s deathly afraid of heights.” Gaia whispered as she passed, bringing a little smile to Sakura’s lips. The thought of Umi clinging onto Gaia for dear life made her feel a little less like a loser if even a tough as nails Clow girl like Umi could be afraid of heights. A chill passed through her body as Tomoyo kissed her, bringing her back to reality. “Seconds?” She realized that she had eaten the first plate already, blushing, “I’m such a piggy.” “Let’s go get some more then.” she offered, taking Sakura’s hand as they stood up. Life was good. Definitely good. ------ The hours clicked. “Time”, as it were, moved slowly. The hours passed. And one by one the minutes fell away. As Tomoyo lures Sakura out of the holochamber to go upstairs to bed it was now 6PM, 11PM in Citadel City across the Pacifica. As they fell into bed, kissing and holding each other tight, it was only one hour left. One hour before midnight. And then the new year would finally be a reality all over the dream sphere. 2003. It was almost time. In ElseSpace the portal grew larger, and something drew closer to entering the Realm of Dreams. Meanwhile--- ------ The Shining Star Syaoran laid sprawled out on his couch staring listlessly upwards through the skylight above. In his hands his transfer papers, one of his new CD now playing all about him on the room’s sound system. The vidscreen counting down to midnight in Hawaii. For no apparent reason he was watching, but laid out on a table was a set of tarot cards, something he learned after breaking up with Sakura years ago. The signs the cards gave wasn’t a good one. Not a good one at all. ------ Tokyo It started as Mirra walked upstairs to go to the bathroom on the first floor. A sharp sensation. She almost fell down the stairs from the shock if Hikaru wasn’t there to catch her. It ripped through her from crotch to head and surged. But it was nothing she felt before. Hikaru took her quickly upstairs, each moment sending a new shock through Mirra’s body. As she fell onto her bed she felt as if someone was groping her. “Mirra? What’s wrong??” “I don’t know! I---” Then it happened. She gripped the bed and screamed. Her eyes were wide open, body shivering with arms and lead spread out to brace herself as if she was afraid the room would flip end over end and flip her out to fall into nothing. At first it was piercing, then--- it began to hit her over and over again. “Agh!! NONONONO!!” she cried, her breath panting as it gripped her. “What’s wrong?!? MIRRA!!” “It’s--- it’s--- goddess--- AHH!!” The phone rang. Hikaru, too intent on Mirra, didn’t notice at first, but it kept ringing and ringing. “I’M!!---goddess I CAN’T!! I CAN’T!!” “What? Wh--?” (she answers the phone) “NOT NOW!!” “---why--- not?” she heard the coy oily voice on the opposite end of the phone whisper. “I told you--- pant pant--- I’d find--- pant--- a way---” Hikaru face faulted. “Mimic.” Suddenly Mirra jumped to a sitting position, grabbing tightly to Hikaru holding her, “MAKE IT STOP!! MAKE IT STOP!! I’M GOING TO---” Mimic screamed and Hikaru knew what was happening. She held Mirra tight as she screamed as well, shuddering violently as she came down from her forced moment. She laid shivering in Hikaru’s arms, crying, “---why?!? Why?!?” On the opposite end of the phone, Hikaru could hear Mimic panting. “You bitch.” she hissed. “I can’t die--- I can’t die--- I can’t die---” she muttered over, and over again. “What? What are you---” ----- Mimic looked up at her “attackers”, and smiled. One of them held her naked form down, knife raised. She held her teeth tightly shut, and closed her hands into fists. She wanted to hear it. She had to hear it. The knife fell, and Mirra screamed. The pain was intense, but through it all as she listened, Mimic did something that chilled even the blood of her “attackers”. She smiled.
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