Story: Tomoyo's World -Part 2- Bitter Turns To Sweet (chapter 3)

Authors: Risa Kaijuu

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Chapter 3

Title: Chapter 2



Chapter 2


For a just an instant fear swept through her, then she remembered that she had Magic now, and a wonderful shield. As soon as she thought of it, her shield snapped out to enclose Sakura as well as herself. A second or so later she felt a horrible and very familiar attack aimed at Sakura. "It's Kutong's slime needle attack! But he's dead! Even his ghost disappeared!" she thought as she went out her door and ran down the hall to Sakura's door. By the time she got there the attack had stopped, but she kept her shield around herself and Sakura as strong as she could and swept the room with her Magic as she tried the door. She didn't feel anyone but Sakura in the room but when the door didn't open, she called up Light Saber and cut the lock out anyway. As she entered and made her way to Sakura's side she continued to check around for the attacker, and continued to sense nothing strange. As hard as she was concentrating with her Magic sense she didn't even realize the lights were out and the only light in the room was from Light Saber. Once she was at Sakura's side she quickly swept the whole house with her Magic sense and found no trace of the strange thing, so she put Light Saber away. As she touched the Cardmistress with her magic to see if she was all right, Sakura spoke.


"What happened, Tomoyo-chan? Something really strange woke me up!"


"There was someone in this room a moment ago. They tried to attack you but were held off by my shield. And now they seem to be gone." But just then she felt a shielded something coming up the hall. She spun around and watched the open door with her shield solid and Light Saber out and ready. A second later she realized it was Ieran behind the shield and relaxed just a bit, but was still standing at the ready when Ieran reached the open door. Suddenly Tomoyo felt a powerful nonphysical Magic attack stab at her shield.


For an instant Tomoyo didn't understand, but then she realized that with the lights out and with her shield, Ieran had no idea who she was. "IT'S ME, TOMOYO!" She quickly yelled and her announcement made Ieran stop and turn the light on.


"I'm sorry Daidoji-sama! I saw the strange light- I didn't know what was behind the shield- Are you two all right?" she asked apologetically, then more quietly, "And what is -that-?!"


"Yes, I believe so." Tomoyo answered the first question. "I managed to get my shield around Sakura before he attacked. It felt like Kutong! But he's suppose to be dead!"


"Yes, it was his attack all right but did you notice a somewhat different feel to it? Ieran asked. As Tomoyo forced herself to remember what just happened in detail, she realized that the attack had felt different.


"It did feel sort of... Hollow? And not as strong as it was. But it was still the same slimy stabbing attack!"


"Indeed it was the same, I could feel it from my room, but It wasn't Kutong. If he had been in my house I would have known it. I think it was a Magical entity like a Sakura Card."


"That was nothing like a Sakura card!" Tomoyo exclaimed as she put Light Saber away.


"It didn't feel anything like a Sakura Card, but I believe it was a Magical entity just the same. So it seems that Kutong had either learned how to make Cards, or had found or stolen it. And whoever had made it, had been clever. The disgusting feel of it has the ability to penetrate shields and sickens those who it is used against, and thus weakens them. But in any case, now that he is dead it is free.


"Oh. But why did it attack Sakura?"


"It is hard to tell. Perhaps it is attracted to her Magic. And be aware that if he had one such entity he may well have had more of them. This would help explain why he was powerful enough to nearly beat my team of excellent Mages. I respectfully suggest that you stay close to Kinomoto-sama and keep your shield ready.


"Yes, of course. I will not leave her side!" In spite of the stress of the moment this brought a small smile to Sakura's face.


"And Kinomoto-sama? I believe you should keep your cards very close to you and ready to use at any time. And you might use your Shield Card as you sleep as well.


"I will!"


"Good. I will also set a guard. It seems the wards I have around this house were not strong enough to stop the thing. If anything happens, alert me with your Magic. Do you know how to do that?"


"Like this?" Tomoyo responded as she reached out, touched Ieran's shield and tried to convey a sense of danger to her.


Ieran winced as she replied, "Not so strongly! It only takes a gentle touch to get my attention. I will recognize your touch and come at once."


"Okay, I'm sorry."


"You have nothing to apologize for. You are doing astonishing well handling your new Magic. I owe you my life twice over, Daidouji-sama." And since this door no longer locks, I respectfully suggest you two spend the rest of the night in Daidouji-sama's room.


"I'm very sorry about ruining your door like that." Tomoyo said apologetically.


"Don't be the least concerned. And do not let anything stand in the way of your protecting Kinomoto-sama."


"I certainly won't!"


"Good, and how does your sprained ankle feel?" Ieran asked with a small smile.


"Oh, I forgot about it... It doesn't hurt at all."


"I thought that might happen. I've read that Earth Magic has great healing power."


"It does?"


"So I have read. However I did not read anything about a Magic sword that lights up like yours does." She finished.


"It's another Card that Eriol made, or... Actually he made it for himself a few years ago after he saw one of the movies, and then just re-made it as mine, like he did with the Fly Card and my Shield Card."


"I'm very glad you have such power," she said without any of the envy she felt, in her voice. "You may well need it." She finished with a note of warning that Tomoyo missed. Then after wishing both of the girls a safe and comfortable night she left.


As soon as Ieran was gone, Sakura grabbed her pillow, picked up a still sleeping Kero and followed Tomoyo to her room.


"I'm going to have to sleep with her until this emergency is over!" Tomoyo realized as Sakura got in the bed first. "This is really bad! I'm suppose to be staying away from her, not sleeping with her-" Her thought was cut off at this point by the thrill of what she was doing. "This may be bad for the plan, but I have to do it! Sakura's life is at stake. No, actually a lot more than Sakura's life is in danger. If some evil Mage gets the Sakura cards it could be a disaster for the whole world. But I must just think of the danger I am protecting her from, not of the fact that she is so very close to me."


After Tomoyo had turned out the light and settled herself in the bed, Sakura spoke softly. "This is just like when we would sleepover when we were 12, remember? We used to stay up so late and talk about things like monsters who threatened the world and how we would save everyone with the Cards."


"Sure, I remember, but this is -much- different!" Tomoyo said with tears in her eyes. "Now the monsters are real and the danger is real! You have already died once! I don't want that happening again."


"I don't either. Although dying isn't all that bad. The worst part is that you lose this wonderful world, and the special people in it." She finished wistfully.


"This is horrible. I am trapped -so- near to temptation and still worried about being attacked by a loose card monster. Or maybe even more than one. How can I be expected to protect her from monsters and from myself at the same time? It is too much! Just too much, and I am too tired. I must sleep but I am so scared!" Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by Sakura's Magic.


"There! Now I have Shield out and on guard around us. Shield is a good loyal Card and won't misbehave if I leave her out of card form while we sleep. I'm not so sure about the others, so I'll just keep them under my pillow where I can call on them in an instant." Sakura said with more confidence than she felt. "But I don't really think anything else will happen tonight. The bad feeling I had before I went to bed is gone now." As Tomoyo rolled over to turn the bedside light off the significance of this came to her.


"So Sakura also had a premonition of this trouble!"


"From now on, if you have any bad feelings, please let me know?" Tomoyo said quietly.


"Of course I will, I promise. I really should have known better. I had a real bad feeling the morning before Kutong trapped me and I didn't pay attention to that either. I am SO dumb sometimes! I really need you around to watch over me." Sakura finished longingly and both the words and the tone stabbed through Tomoyo's heart.


"That hurt! But she is right. I do need to stay close to her to protect her. At least until I find a suitable boy who can do the same. I can no longer take the easy way out and just stay away from her. But am I strong enough to stay close and not break down?" After a deep breath Tomoyo firmed her resolution. "I HAVE to be strong enough. I just have-" At this point Tomoyo's thoughts were interrupted by the touch of Sakura's hand on her arm. As Tomoyo unconsciously held her breath, she felt Sakura's fingers slide down her arm and grasp her hand.


"You don't mind if I hold your hand, do you? I'm scared."


"Of course you can." Tomoyo heard herself say automatically. "You can hold my hand anytime."


"NO! I don't mean that!" she corrected, but only in her mind.


"There. Now I feel better." Sakura sighed. "I'm sure everything will be okay as long as you are with me."


"Don't say things like that!" Tomoyo whined to herself. Her defenses were being overloaded but there didn't seem to be anything she could do about it. As she tried to regain her acceptance of her bitter fate, she found herself wrapping her left hand around where Sakura held her right hand. "But it feels SO good to just be with her and feel her touch. Perhaps I can forget my fate for a little while. Just for tonight..." As she finally relaxed a little and stopped her internal battle over Sakura's future, she noticed something; she still had her shield wrapped around the two of them. She had completely forgotten about it, yet it was still up and strong. "I guess this explains how Eriol had kept himself shielded while he slept."


"I want to spend as much time together with you as I can before you have to go back to school. Is that all right?" Sakura said softly.


"Of course! I wouldn't have it any other way."


"What choice have I? I can't make excuses and leave her now. I have to guard her! I couldn't stand losing her again. Of course I could use the return card again. Maybe. If whatever attacks her doesn't take the cards too. And if I am allowed to save her again. No, I can't afford to take any risks with her life! I have to guard her closely until we deal with this new threat... And then what? Ieran said Kutong may have had other cards. What if they come after Sakura too? And if Kutong found out about Sakura and the Cards how many other evil people and...things will come after her? And even when Sakura does get with her magic prince, what then? Will I be able to trust her life to someone else? Ieran says I have a far stronger natural shield than anyone she knows of. Unless his shield is as strong as mine, I would still have to guard her... So..." It finally dawned on her. "It seems I must stay with her to protect her...likely for as long as we live." She could not help being thrilled to her core by this logical reasoning. And as she savored this thought, she finally fell asleep.



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