(Note - See Mirra’s Trilogy Episode 5 for continuation of story from Remastered IV Episode I) It was the beginning of school once again. A few days after New Years’. And even in the more relaxed and easier format of the schools of Edenina, the Realm of Dreams, tensions still ran high as school resumed. But not from academic pressures, but more from the strange moon that had come to rest near their world a few days ago. Still holding it’s position, the Dyson Sphere made no attempts to either move, dislodge any forces hostile or friendly, or make any outward sign that it even noticed the world it floated near. It simply stood it’s ground, surrounded as it was, and waited. But what it was waiting for? Nobody knew. Regardless of that, one thing was clear -- life went on. And it was in this mindset that Sakura found herself scrambling to get ready, hands flying everywhere and sweat forming on her brow. “I’m late! I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!” “You wouldn’t be late if you practiced the skill of getting up when your alarm sounds.” Kero grumbled as he watched Sakura rampage about the huge room trying to get ready. “Tomoyo gets up before the alarm, why can’t you--” “THE BED FELT TOO GOOD TO GET UP FROM!!” she screams, hustling to get dressed as she did. Sakura Kinomoto, not exactly a morning person by anyone standards, yet a good girl nevertheless. “Any dreams lately?” Kero asked the blur that was Sakura. “No. Nothing important.” Sakura muttered, dressing, “Just the same dream of Tokyo Tower I told you about. Nothing new.” Kero nearly faints. “That’s not important? Sakura!” “I got to go!” she yelped, grabbing for her bag, “I’ll talk about it with you later!” The door slams shut leaving him behind. “Sigh. She’ll never learn.” From the hallway she could year a yelp and a crash, “Uh-boy.” ---- Sakura didn’t get very far. The instant she flew out the door, bag in hand, she collided headlong into someone and knocked them down. The two of them hit the ground as she felt her breath whipped away from the impact. Dazed and confused, she muttered “I’m sorry---” as she tried to look at who she hit. That’s when she froze up. Tomoyo looked up from beneath her, half her face from her nose on up was peeking out from beneath Sakura’s breasts, a slight blush on her cheeks. “Breakfast.” she cheerfully (yet slightly muffled) called out. Sakura couldn’t get off fast enough it seemed, feeling a full on body blush, though Tomoyo took it in good stride walking Sakura to the kitchen. As she did this she made sure to comment on how Sakura was becoming really strong these days, though it only served to make Sakura more insecure, “----hoooeeee----” she whined, looking red as a lobster from the embarrassment. They ate a quick breakfast, and was off to school. However there was a little disagreement as they headed out the door. At first Sakura tried to stop Mirra from going, but she told Sakura simply that she had to go, with a reluctant Hikaru in hand. They had both healed from their injuries but Hikaru was still flustered by what happened, thus she was still endlessly apologizing for everything. She had a long way to go to recovery, but as long as Mirra was with her everything would be fine. Sakura made their lunches last night, and Tomoyo packed them away, leaving the two girls the task of getting to school. As Tomoyo bladed next to Sakura, her pace slightly slower so she could watch Sakura as she rolled next to her, she began to worry about her. Every noise seemed to get Sakura out of bed in a heartbeat. Every slight creak or pak or groan got Sakura up, and she want to admit why, but Tomoyo knew. Sakura was still recovering from what happened to Mirra, still trying to get over the fact that someone she loved could be hurt even from a distance (like what Mimic did to Mirra). This thought, coupled with the events of the last two days with the strange “world” in far orbit, made Sakura very nervous and jumpy. She seemed as if she was going to jump out of her skin at any moment. She tried to be calm, but her nerves kept getting the better of her. Tomoyo wanted to do something, but for now all she could do was reach out and take Sakura’s hand. She briefly tensed, but relaxed when she realized it was only Tomoyo. Hand in hand, a warming blush etched across Sakura’s face, the two reached the school and quickly got to class. Sakura gently squeezed Tomoyo’s hand with every turn they took, partially to insure her partner made the turn, partially to assure herself that she was still there. As they locked their gear away and put their slippers on she felt Tomoyo slide up behind her, and gently kiss the nape of her neck, relishing briefly this beautiful moment. Then it was upstairs and straight to class. Once they got there they could see that half of the class had yet to arrive, but some of the more notables was already there. Rena was in a far more smarmy mood than she had ever been before, and no wonder, because today was her daughter’s first day at school. She stood by her talking to her in low whispers as Sakura/Tomoyo came into the room. She was going to be sitting next to Rena, and obviously Rena was already giving her the “lay of the land” and the who’s who of the class. Keiko was sprawled at her own desk, and for the most part looked rather bored. She simply stared up at the ceiling and seemed rather out of it. Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged glances, yet Sakura seemed to be the only one who was concerned, Tomoyo smiled and gave her an assuring nod as if to silently tell her that everything was going to be just fine with Keiko. Nina, of course, was probably monitoring from the control room she kept on campus. Mr. Terada wasn’t there yet, but then again neither was Rika. “Maybe she’s going to be off today?” Tomoyo suggested, motioning to the class. Sure enough, it seemed at least half the class was off today, probably still recovering from the shock of the last few days. “I hope she’s alright.” Sakura whispered, looking concerned. “Lots of people took today off.” Keiko noted, drawing the two’s attention towards them. “There’s a lot of panic and uncertainty about the new “moon” in the sky, so people seem to be taking it rather badly. Lots of fears concerning the “end of the world” and so forth. It’ll take awhile to calm everyone’s fears but hopefully things will be back to normal soon.” “Hello.” a familiar voice called out, as Meilin walked through the door (sword slung to her back and smile on her face). “Oh, why didn’t YOU take a day off.” Keiko grumbled. Ignoring the complaints, Meilin quickly hangs her sword up in the back of the class and sits down, bag hung up in a flash on the hook at the side of her desk, as she looks about. “I thought I was late but I guess not.” (looks about confused) “Where is everyone?” “Sick due to impending crisis in the sky.” Keiko muttered, pointing up to the ceiling. Suddenly a noise caught her attention as the door opened, and in walked Rika & Mr. Terada, hand in hand. This confused the heck out of Sakura as she watched him sit Rika down, and talk to her. As he moved to the front of the class she shot her hand in the air and quickly asked “Is Rika alright?” At this question Mr. Terada stopped, and looked at her with confusion in his eyes. For a few seconds he said nothing, but then he smiled and said “Rika?” Rika smiled, and turned her gaze to Sakura in a reassuring manner, “I’m fine. Mr. Terada was just comforting me -- my fears about --” “Oh.” Sakura whispered, nodding her head. She must have been concerned about the “presence” in the sky like everyone else. That made sense to her. However Keiko didn’t seem so satisfied with just that, watched the teacher intensely as he walked to the front of the class. His pace seemed a little shaky, uncertain but as he finally reached the fron the stopped and looked out the door he came through seconds before before speaking -- “Before we begin, I have a few announcements. In light of the recent events you’ve no doubt noticed that some of your classmates aren’t in school today. The fear of what is happening is keeping some people at home. It’s small comfort but there’s really nothing we can do about it. All we can do is continue with our daily lives and -- well -- try to make the best of it. But --” (sighs) “-- that’s OK. Forget it.” An uneasy silence came across the room as he looked up. “Anyway, we have a few new stu---” Something screeched outside and a woman screamed. Everyone quickly turned and looked out the window, panic and fear building quickly. Keiko tried to push her way through, teeth clenched. “Fifth one today.” “Fifth what?!” Sakura asked, her own heart pounding. Strangely enough Mr. Terada didn’t try to stop them, he merely stood in place dazed and stunned into silence. “Everyone’s becoming very distracted by the object in the sky. It’s causing random accidents and near runovers by careless drivers swerving into sidewalks. Nobody’s been killed yet but there’s been some injuries.” “It’s Ms. Tanashi!” Everyone tried to look over the windows, curiosity and fear and confusion on their faces as they pressed to look, “She’s on the ground! She---” One of the male students, a bright young man Sakura’s age ran out of the classroom. As everyone watched they soon saw Ms. Tanashi slowly pull herself to a sitting position, dazed but obviously not hurt while a familiar figure laid over her (pushed her out of the way). Meilin jumped up and down, screaming “XAI!!“ as she did. The Palominian woman, at first looking at the car that had missed them by inches, was now looking up at the school blushing abit from the attention. “Hi.“ she mumbled, waving as she felt her normally white fur/skin turn a ruby red color. As for Ms. Tanashi? She was shook up from what happened, but alright. Seconds later the young man who was sitting only three rows ahead of Sakura in class ran out, and into her arms. He was quite shaken up but she only smiled, showing him that she was fine -- he then kissed her, boldly, holding her tight. As they broke free she sat there stunned, then smiled and said something that they couldn’t hear, then they kissed again. Stunned, the entire class went back to their seats. Mr. Terada, who managed to catch the end of it, looked at his class and blushed. “It’s OK to show that kind of affections.” Keiko suddenly announced, all eyes turning towards her. “Because they’re afraid for the future?” Tomoyo asked, to which she merely motioned to Mr. Terada (dropping the spotlight onto his shoulders). For the longest time he said nothing, then as Ms. Tanashi and the young man came into class he glanced at her, and received a nod of her head in reply. “Partially, but also because they’re husband and wife.” The class was shocked, but the second bombshell silenced even the few gasps heard in the room. “I know, because they were married the same day Rika and I married.” Rika smiled, then stepped up to him and held him tight as everyone looked on. ----- During the past few days there had been a change of “Guard”. Two days after the object came into orbit the old principal quit, already amongst the first panicked crowds of people running away with families to the Central Hub. It was only a small “migration” at this point, but fears were that it would only get worst if the situation became more grim. But still, Sakura’s school needed a new principal, and that day a new principal came in. She was called in to look into the confusion caused by the confession. Now the school had already known of the two marriages, and only asked that the teachers show restraint and not express feelings of affection to their younger mates in school. But this new principal, who was a Winterian female, only frowned at the teachers who spoke to her about this and told them to mind their own business. She then talked to the class and eased their fears before going back to work. Her vice principal took offense to her actions, to which she replied “You can take as much offense to my ways as you want. But as long as I sit in that chair, and call the shots, we’ll do things my way here.”, and left it at that. Her next announcement stunned the school as she lifted the ban on teachers showing affections to their younger mates (who might also be their students) and allowing free shows of affection. Only a few teachers (5), in the end, were in fact married to their students but it still sent some ripples throughout the school. Still, Mr. Terada’s class was very supportive of both him and Ms. Tanashi (Social Studies) and their choices. For the first time the two suddenly found that they could sit with their mates in school to eat lunch, and didn’t have to hide the fact that they were married anymore, which was a plus. Once that was done it was time to meet the new students. One Keiko knew already -- “Lina Daisuki.” The young woman who came up looked pretty much exactly the way someone would imagine a “daughter” of Rena Daisuki’s to be. She was a tall figure of a woman, brash and in your face (like Rena), and yet also a truthful and honest person who wore her heart on her sleeve and dedicated to completing tasks to a fault. “Did you brand her your personal property yet?” Keiko whispered, to which Rena promptly huffed her breath and ignored. The first person was easy enough, and no shocker. The second one--- “We have a returning classmate, you all remember Syaoran Li, right?” That’s when things stopped making sense. Everyone (who was there) either looked on in amazement, or in a few cases mute anger, as he walked into the room and took his place besides the teacher next to Lina. Nothing had changed. He was still the same arrogant looking SOB that Keiko, Rena, and even Nina (who was no doubt fuming over her post in her Command post) remembered. The same eyes, the same look on his face, everything. They knew one thing, and that was that they didn’t want to see Syaoran Li longer than they had to. A plot was hatched before the three even had a chance to compare notes. Sakura? She was happy to see Li again, but as a friend. As she and Tomoyo exchanged glances they both smiled, and knew that there was a lot of catching up to do. As for Meilin? She pouted in her chair and didn’t speak. She knew this day was coming, she knew he was going to do this -- she just wished it never happened all the same. ----- As lunchtime rolled around word of the revelations began to spread around the schoolyard like wildfire. Still, for Sakura, the revelation only confused her. “But -- I didn’t -- I didn’t see--” “I thought they got married, I just wasn‘t sure.” Tomoyo remarked, poking at Sakura’s food as she nibbled on lunch, “It’s very good lunch today, Sakura-chan, are you sure---” “I’m eating. I’m just -- confused.” At this Tomoyo smiled, “It’s so like my Sakura-chan to sometimes miss the obvious when it stares her in the face.” “Hoe?” Tomoyo raised one hand and pointed at her ring finger (empty) “Remember when Rika came back with that ring? She looked so happy when she wore that ring. And not to mention all the times she and Mr. Terada were studying together and we wondered why they were doing that, remember? There was signs of their feelings for each other for sometime, and we missed a lot of it.” “But you caught some of it.” Sakura pointed out glumly, to which Tomoyo shook her head. “Not all of it. I didn’t catch onto the fact that Taro & Ms. Tanashi were a couple until we learned about it today. I have to admit that they hid their relationship quite well.” “They’re cute though. Taro & Ms. Tanashi.” Sakura notes as she motions towards one side, where under another tree the two in question were happily eating, Taro’s head rested on Ms. Taneshi’s shoulder as they sat and ate in quiet contentment. “They look so happy -- is it bad, though? I mean -- mama married papa when she was-- and Sonomi--” Tomoyo nods her head, “I remember. It’s not for everyone though, and remember that mama was in love with Nadeshiko so it hurt her when she married -- but for some finding a love that special is good even if it is a little bit on the Spring/Summer love thing.” “?” Sakura blanked out, leaving Tomoyo the job of explaining. “I mean a younger person falling in love with an older love interest.” “Oh.” (takes a bigger bite of her food as she thinks) “They look happy when they’re together.” “I’m sure they’re as happy as we are, Sakura-chan. I‘m happy, for instance, that Nadeshiko married your father.” “Why?” “Because you wouldn’t be here with me if they didn’t get married, silly!” she remarked, her face glowing with warmth as she reached out a hand to touch Sakura’s smiling face. “Now there’s the happy Sakura-chan I know and love!” Tomoyo cheerfully said, quickly pulling her video camera out, “Hold that face for a few seconds while I get it on film!” “-_-” < (Sakura, still smiling though) ------ School passed slowly. Lina was getting the hang of her school work, and for Syaoran it was a snap. But everyone else seemed distracted. Even Rena’s class at the end seemed to occasionally dangle for a few seconds until she caught herself and brought her class back into focus. Clearly her mind was wandering, and she knew the cause. Syaoran Li. They had already agreed at lunchtime that they were not going to have his “presence” near Sakura for longer than they had to, so a plot was hatched. A plot first thought up in unison, and then discussed and worked out together. That plot, which they all agreed to, unfolded after school. Rena asked Syaoran to meet her outside, and it was there that the three of them confronted him. He didn’t seem at all surprised. He simply stared at them as they ganged up on him, facing off against him three to one. “What the hell are you doing here?” Keiko started in, eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “The last thing we need is a loser coming into our turf and messing up the delicate order of things.” “I’m not here to steal Sakura.” Li announced, waiting patiently for a reply (which wasn‘t long in coming). “BULLSHIT!!” Nina screamed, her own eyes blazing, “Like a good toy solider you’re here to ruin Sakura’s life and make her your toy arentcha!! Wind her up and make her--” “I don’t see where you got that notion--” “Nina’s a little overdramatic, but you get the gist of it.” Rena took over, holding Syaoran’s gaze tightly with her eyes, “You’re here to ruin Sakura’s life aren’t you? To take her away from Tomoyo--” “I’m here to help Sakura, not make her cry. I don’t want to break her and Tomoyo up.” “I heard you already make Meilin cry when you dumped her. What about that?” Keiko spat at him, to which he lowered his gaze and sighed, “She’s my cousin. It just wasn’t right.” “Your not even that!” Rena yelled, “Technically she’s not your cousin here! In the Realm of Dreams she’s her own individual and not even related to you (thank the godawful dub for that)!”, suddenly everything stopped. “And I can’t believe I mentioned that.” “No kidding.” (Keiko) “What were you thinking?” (Nina) “Sorry!!” Attentions quickly focused back to him as Rena pulled out her Seeker and held it out in front of her, “Easy enough way to solve this. Let’s see your real motives.” As she held her Seeker forth he pulled his headset from his bag and put it on, mildly clicking it on as they looked on, “Y-y-you arrogant ASS!” Rena sputtered, watching him put his headset on as if they didn’t mean nothing to him, ignoring all three as if they weren’t there. “I’ll show you! ALRIGHT!! Old friend! Show me what secrets lie hidden beneath!” As she said those words the Seeker sprang to life, energy coursing through the small sphere as it gathered, focused that energy, and sent it forth into Rena and Li. But, as the light sprang forth, he simply etched a few signs into the air and whispered “Novashields.” Almost immediately a sphere of light sprung into life, blocking the Seeker’s beam from making contact with him. Dumbstruck by this the three stared at him, until Nina screamed out “HE’S A SPELLTHRASHER?!?” “What??” Keiko growled, drawing her sword, “Fine. I’ll break his shield down, you keep that focused.” “No problem.” Rena called out, her focus locked as she watched Keiko move forward. With her blade glistening in the bright afternoon light, Keiko advanced towards Li, his hand reaching for his own blade as he etched another spell in the air ready to strike. “STOP THAT!!” From behind them Eliza leaped over the fence into the school yard, nearly falling over as she stumbled across the yard towards the four. Nina looked on in disbelief, “What are you doing?!?” “Sorry!” she gasped, straightening herself, “I was listening to Mirra/Hikaru eating lunch. They were talking about the kind of boyfriend Power wanted and she wanted one like me with---” “I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THAT!!” Keiko screamed, walking back towards Eliza and the others looking rather fussy, Rena simply lost her concentration and the beam that was on Li turned off, “That’s disturbing!” she muttered. “Look, forget about that for now!” she demanded, pointing at him, “Word from Command is that he’s going to be under my command so you three don’t you dare slash him up!” Nina, furious, stormed towards Eliza only to come to a dead halt as Eliza turned her gaze onto her, “Nina?” The green haired girl shuffled her feet, and looked down, “He’s evil.” “He’s a young man who had to make decisions that weren’t popular after he lost Sakura to Tomoyo. Besides which isn’t Meilin happier now with the lover she has?” (Nina nods her head) “Then trust me when I say that Syaoran is--” “Syaoran?” “Syaoran.” Eliza repeated, “It’s his name? Everyone thinks it’s Li but it isn’t.” “I just say that because I hate him. Li, Li, Li, Li.” (Keiko) “Ditto.” Rena agrees, leaving only Nina to answer. “Uhh---” she stammers, blushing, “It’s easier to remember?” Li, dumbstruck by Eliza’s presence, barely responds as Eliza asks him if he’s alright. As she turns towards him he merely nods his head, and with great effort manages to stroll away without saying another word. ‘Well,’ he thought to himself ’at least I didn’t run away.’ ----- The notion of Syaoran Li being a SpellThrasher didn’t sit well with the trio. The thought of having to work with him to capture the Clow Cards was even less appealing to them. Sakura? She was happy, and Tomoyo was also happy to see another old friend again. Keiko looked at the two over dinner as if they just admitted to being Amazonian and were showing their “wares” over the dinner table. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” she rasped. “You can’t be serious about being happy to work with HIM. You can‘t be serious.” “Why not?” Sakura asked, looking confused, “He’s a friend.” “He’s YOUR friend, and of that even I have doubts over because would a friend try to steal the Clow Cards from you, then try to steal you from Tomoyo!? What kind of “Friend” is that anyway? The guy is an opportunistic snake if you ask me, and I don’t see any reason to trust him. Didn‘t the first time, don‘t now.” “B-but he’s a nice guy!!” Sakura countered bravely, even if she knew in her heart that Keiko was a far better debater than she was. Still, she had help in the form of Tomoyo who came to her aid, “And he promised he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Sakura, or myself.” “And you trust him? Well you certainly do are a poor judge of character every so often aren‘t you!” The argument, though civilized, raged for ten minutes. Keiko did not give an inch, and neither did Sakura. When the two finally broke up Sakura was even more deadset on remaining a true friend to Syaoran no matter what. Still, as she sat next to Tomoyo doing her homework, the thought did occur to her “Is he capable of doing bad things?” she asked. Tomoyo looked up from her studies and smiled, “Are you worried about what Keiko said?” “Kinda---” she admitted, “---but Li’s so nice and he wouldn’t do anything bad to us, right? He’s good.” “Keiko has a hard time believing that. Maybe she has a good reason, maybe not, but what does your heart tell you about Syaoran?” Sakura closes her eyes and thinks, letting her feelings speak, then -- “He’s my friend, you’re my precious, he won’t come between us because he knows what we had once is over. I love you, Tomo-chan!” “I know, I know.” Tomoyo smiled, “I’m not putting you on the spot here or anything. Anyway, I have a feeling he has someone else on his mind.” “How so?” “Just a hunch. I’ll tell you about it later.” Sakura’s face scrunched up, “You’re mean!” “I’m just waiting until I’m certain. Now come on,” (points at homework) “finish up and I’ll give my precious a treat tonight for being such a good study buddy this afternoon.” At that Sakura’s mood picked up again, and all thoughts of Syaoran Li vanished as she focused only on Tomoyo, her hand scooping her pencil back up to do her homework. ------ Meilin seemed quieter tonight than usual. This worried Xai greatly as she looked on silently. “Is dinner alright?” Xai asked, looking for any sign of reaction from Meilin. She hadn’t said very much at all tonight, and she ate slowly as if deep in thought. Obviously something was bothering her, though as Xai prodded she only smiled and shook her head, picking up her pace slightly yet still looked quite bothered. “What happened at school today? Did something upset you?” The room suddenly became even more silent as she stared at her food. For long moments she only stared, the sound of breathing filling the space between them, until she finally spoke in a soft whisper, “Nothing.” “Meilin I know you, and this isn’t nothing, please --” (her hand gently touches Meilin’s, bringing her face up as they stared into each others eyes), “--please?” “Li showed up at school today. He--- he---” “He did it, didn’t he?” Xai finally finished, to which she nodded her head meekly. “I thought you were mistaken. When I arrived and he wasn’t here yet I thought maybe he would have changed his mind.” “Guess not.” she noted, smiling weakly. At this Xai scoots herself over, and came to sit next to Meilin as she urges her to eat, arm wrapped around her shoulder. “Do you still have -- feelings for him?” “No -- but --” she mutters, her voice trailing off. It takes a few prods, but shortly she’s speaking again in soft whispers, “---but I can’t forget how he left me alone. How he went off to discover himself without even thinking of my feelings -- how I felt being all alone --” Suddenly she slams her fork down on the plate and screams “WHY DIDN’T HE LOVE ME THE WAY I WANTED HIM TO LOVE ME?!?” Xai gently grabs the now struggling Meilin, and drags her into a strong hug, holding her tight as she yelled again, “WHY DID HE ABANDON ME WHEN I NEEDED HIM THE MOST?!? WHY??? WHY???” “I don’t know.” was Xai’s only answer, her head resting against Meilin’s shoulder as she held her tightly, until finally she stopped struggling and collapsed into Xai’s strong grip, “I didn’t ask for much. Why didn’t he return my affections for me? Why didn’t he love me?? Why???” All Xai could do was comfort her, holding on as she cried. Finally, with strength borne within her heart over the years she asked, “Do you love him more than me?” Meilin’s eyes flew wide, her mouth suddenly dropped as she realized, “NO! NO! I -- I love you -- but --” “But?” Xai repeated, making Meilin blush as she realized what she had said. With great resolve she straightened up, wiped her tears away, and clenched her fists. “BUT NOTHING! I’m not going to let him get to me anymore! From now on--” (looks into Xai’s eyes) “---it’s you and me. Now and forever.” As they kiss the two feel the warmth in their breasts growing, their feelings growing even stronger as they held each other. Finally they released, slowly Xai allowed Meilin back into her seat as she smiled, “Just you and me now. I want you to depend on me as much as I depend on you, Ok?” “Does that mean you want to be on top tonight?” Xai kidded, to which Meilin smiled, “I haven’t been there before. Would be nice to see you at my “mercies” tonight. And I‘ve never got to play with the “toys“ before so maybe tonight‘s the night---” The two kiss one more time before eating, words failing to express at times what they felt they depended on their bodies to do it for them with gentle kisses and soft carresses. Still, one thing to Meilin was abundantly clear and certain in her heart of hearts. “This is Hamburger Helper.” she noted, poking her food. “I can’t believe this is an old Transylvanian pasta dish. Do you believe that? It‘s Hamburger Helper.” “Definitely.” Xai remarks, going back to eating her food, “But it’s good anyway. Eat your food, dear.” “I’m eating, I’m eating. Still, it’s Hamburger Helper.” “Yes, precious, I noticed.” ------ Li laid on his back in his new apartment staring at the ceiling. His music was playing and yet it didn’t provide him with any solace whatsoever. The first day at school today? It seemed as if nothing could go right for him at all. Running into the woman from his visions was a good start, but she seemed rather attached to the green haired female who was so violent towards him. Still, he felt it in his heart that they were destined to be. As he fell asleep he hoped that he’d see her again, in both reality and in his “visions”. His “visions” he didn’t have to wait, that came almost immediately. Reality, however, wasn’t going to be so easy. “I thought you left town to get laid, not to lay about.” Li’s eyes narrowed. That annoyingly bossy voice could only be coming from one person. “Karen.” he muttered as he turned his headset off, sitting upright to see her. She was as arrogant looking as she was when she lectured him at the mall in Hong Kong, only now she was floating to one side in holographic form (projecting her thoughts to him). “Don’t tell me your boyish good looks and witty charm have failed you when you needed it the most.” “I’m not that charming.” he grumbled, falling back down into a lying position as she watched, her holographic eyes narrowing as she glared at him. “You can be such a wet blanket at times.” “You didn’t come “here” just to find out about my sex life.” “Or lack theroft.” she pointed out, looking about the room. “Nope. I’m calling because we got a call from a very irrate 7th Judgment over here. She isn’t the slightest bit happy about us assigning a SpellThrasher to her sector, let alone one who assigned himself without anyone asking him to take the job.” “Somebody had to take responsibility and help Sakura capture the cards.” “And it had to be you, didn’t it?” Karen scoffed, huffing her breath at him as she did, “Arrogant little bastard. No wonder she hates you as much as she sounded like she hates you from her commlink message.” “She hated me long before I showed up here, I can assure you of that.” “Oh don’t go assuring ME of anything!” she growled, “I figured you were unlikable from the get-go.” “So then---” he muttered, looking up at her from his lying position, “Why do you hang around me if I’m such an unlovable individual?” “Somebody has to. Your life would be shitty if I didn’t brighten it with my presence each and every day.” “Of course.” he sighed, lying back down again. “ “Don’t get me wrong. We’d like nothing better than to snub the Judgments, no questions about it. Still, this IS Yamanaka we’re talking about here.” (makes a wide motion with her hands to show the immensity of it all) “THE Keiko Yamanaka. The freakin’ 7th Judgment for God’s sake! And for some reason you really had to piss on her the first day out and get her to call us to tell us how truly evil you are.” (silence) “Not that I didn’t already know you were evil, so she was pretty much saying things I already knew.” “Anything else?” “Yeah.” she muttered, looking at something out of “sight” (rifling through her “memory” in her mind to see what she had yet to say) “Got a comm from Destiny over there. She says she’s pleased with your deployment and she’ll have your first orders for you soon. So far it looks like she’s hinting at you being support in helping Sakura capture those Clow cards and not much else for now. Also I have this red banner from Command, looks like Black Ops just went under the “radar” again and people are speculating that a “First Strike” unit is being put together to travel to our newest “moon” in the sky. All SpellThrashers are to keep their eyes open and report any suspicious activities or goings on in terms of known Black Ops agents or facilities. Of special importance is the Black Ops station located on Crystallyia.*” (* - Crystallyia, also known as the Dream Continent of Antarctica) “What importance is that to my “mission”?” “Your self appointed mission? Some if they try to “recruit” Clow humans. Whatever you do? Don’t let that happen. If you run into any Black Ops trying to recruit from Sakura’s house? Stop them. But whatever you do? Don’t tell Sakura or the others. Eliza already knows and she’ll warn the cards about this possible “recruitment” tactic. Remember, however, the cards probably don’t like you since they see you as a rival in trying to steal Sakura away from Tomoyo so they won’t speak to you. Let Eliza handle that aspect of it and just wait for instructions to aid her in case a Black Ops team shows up to try and “muscle” them into joining. Ok?” “Anything else?” Karen thinks for a second, then nods her head, “Whoever this girl is? She must be one helluva looker to drag you all the way back to Nippon.”, and with that she vanishes leaving Li alone once again. “You don’t know the half of it.” ------ The touch was gentle, yet present. It started at her forehead and came down to her cheeks, and then to her lips. So soft it was barely noticeable, but Tomoyo felt it. She smiled as she felt Sakura’s fingers gently touch her face, obviously meaning that the girl was still wide awake. As she opened her eyes she saw that Sakura was still up and looking worried. “What’s wrong?” she asked, Sakura fidgeting as she realized she woke Tomoyo from her sleep. Tomoyo smiled, sensing Sakura’s unease at waking her and whispered, “It’s alright. Please, tell me.” “I had a strange dream -- I mean vision -- I--” “Tell me.” For a few seconds she didn’t seem to want to, but a little more prodding helped her along. As she spoke she seemed very nervous, but slowly the images of what she saw in her vision started to come together. She saw the tower again, but this time it felt different. Tokyo Tower was the same, yet different somehow. It was then that she realized that there was a moon in the sky, and the stars seemed odd somehow. The oddest being this object which seemed to be the sun, only eclipsed. An eerie ethereal glow surrounded the strange object, but what it was Sakura did not know. She only knew that it was strange to see this in the sky. On the tower she saw seven figures, male and female, standing. She could feel their eyes staring, and wanted to join them but then she felt the ground beneath her fall away dropping her into darkness. It was then that she saw the city fall away, then darkness, then the “sphere” floating in space above fall away into darkness, then nothing. That’s when she woke up. Tomoyo didn’t know what to make of the vision, she only could hold onto Sakura and comfort her. For now whatever sense could be made of the vision would have to wait until they knew more of what the world above them meant, and what awaited within. But in Tomoyo’s mind a strange idea came. Was that world a mirror image of their own? Was there another Tokyo waiting within it’s hull? Another Sakura maybe? She shook those thoughts away and smiled, hugging Sakura tightly. One Sakura was enough for her. As they fell back asleep she dreamed a happy dream of the two of them together, something she had been doing for abit now ever since Sakura freed her of her bad memories. She wished in her heart that Sakura was dreaming the same dream, and that even in their sleep they would always be together. Sakura, dreaming the same dream, made the same wish. ----- The next day came, and it was back to school again. More students returned to class. While it was not the full class yet they were slowly coming back in as the shock of what happened on New Year’s was slowly beginning to wear off. As for Syaoran Li’s “critics”? Keiko, Rena, Nina and Meilin kept their distance from Li, while Sakura/Tomoyo gravitated towards him. It didn’t help those who wanted to keep Li as far from them as possible that Sakura (who they were assisting with the recapture of the Clow cards) was gravitating towards the very person they were trying to keep her away from, but there was nothing they could do about it. As for Lina? She didn’t seem particularly interested in him to begin with, and mostly seemed to be on the lookout for a significant other to attach herself too. Catherine Picadello? “Anyone seen her since that “thing” came into ElseSpace?” Keiko asked, to which everyone either shrugged or shook their heads. It seemed Catherine Picadello was MIA, and she wasn’t the only one. Ms. Mitsuki was also missing, a new math teacher taking her place. Stranger and stranger. Still, life went on and they had school to go through. Studying for final exams at the end of the school year was already underway, this to make it to the next grade, and since November they had been gathering up for “Study Buddies” (a concept coined by the Sailor Moon Dub and picked up as a “theme” concept for group studies sometime ago). Despite the fact that a strange menace hovered in the sky, and uncertainty filled the air, there was the real threat of final exams to consider. Life simply had to go on, regardless of what was happening in the world or above it. The first one was always the hardest to plan, but Tomoyo made it easy. “Let’s study today at our place.” she remarked, which everyone agreed to. When they asked Li to join them there was some obvious dissent, but he agreed and they had to live with it. Still, that didn’t mean they had to like it. As the day dragged on it was slowly becoming clear that this was a situation that none of the “critics” could change, as Eliza was deadset on having this new “assistant” SpellThrasher, and Sakura was insistent on having her friend near her (even if not everyone was an enamored with her “friend” as she was). The first day of Study Buddies for the new year that had to include Li only made things worst for them. As they all walked home together one rampant thought kept racing through Nina’s head. ‘If I push him into the pond as we go through New King Penguin Park he might drown -- maybe if I shove him in front of a bus on the way home -- or push him into a wood chipper in the park -- maybe down a man hole into the mouth of a large reptile in the sewers -- or perhaps --’ However it was in the park that Sakura suddenly stopped, her senses keenly picking up on something, “There’s a Clow card nearby.” Everyone’s attention turned towards her, watching, as she looked about, until she finally pointed into a set of bushes and whispered, “It’s in there, but---”, before she could say another word Li was off dashing into the bushes. “WAIT!“ Sakura yelled, “It could be dangerous!!“ Everyone was shocked/appalled at this, Keiko growling “THAT’S NOT YOUR JOB!!” Seconds later he came out, and gave everyone a shock. He was foaming from head to toe in bubbles with the most very embarrassed face (which could barely be seen beneath the bubbles). “It’s not dangerous. Just curious.” Nina suddenly burst into laughter looking at him, followed by Keiko, Rena and finally Meilin. But Sakura was very serious as she drew her staff and sealed the card, taking it in hand, she then tapped the card and whispered “Bubble”, putting the card away. She then turned and glared at everyone laughing which quickly silenced the mood. She them smiled, and started laughing herself. For no reason she was laughing and they didn’t understand. Tomoyo takes hold of Sakura’s hand and leads her and some of the others away, leaving the four behind, who were only now realizing that they were slowly being covered in bubbles. “Really mature there, Sakura. Really.” Rena noted as she began brushing away the ever growing bubbles, “Somebody’s got a stick up their butt being so touchy about Li’s “feelings”.” ------ The minute they got home and Sakura announced the capture was the minute Li became popular to the Clow girls. They all wanted to use Bubble, and they all suddenly had a big change of heart about Li. After all, he brought home Bubble (the card) by helping Sakura capture it, so he was their hero. Keiko was miffed about this turn of “events”, as was the other “Critics” of Syaoran Li. Only Nina seemed to be partially accepting of Li, and that was only because Eliza insisted on it. Still, he did “help” to capture a card, and was pretty OK with being embarrassed like that in front of everyone so maybe he could be given a chance. Study buddies went off without a hitch, except for the occasionally mis directed Clow girl almost walking in on the group bare naked (except for strategically placed bubbles) giggling like crazy and looking for their own bedrooms. Today was the first full day that Syaoran was part of the group, and it seemed to go off rather well. He broke the ice, and made some friends. He still had someway to go, but for now it seemed he was settling in. For now. That night Sakura decided to use the bubble card for herself and Tomoyo to celebrate the capture. But that’s a lemon story.
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