CCS-2: Episode 11

CCS-2: Card creators Sakura & Syaoran:

Episode 11:

Sakura stare out the window as the plane sped down the runway and began to lift into the sky.  She watched as the objects on the ground became smaller and smaller.  Her vision was obscured momentarily as the plane disappeared into the clouds upon its ascent.  

It was a cloudy day in Japan, with the threat of rain.  Sakura was grateful that they were taking an earlier flight then what had originally been planned.  Yet, the aircraft felt somewhat imprisoning.  As she stare into the grayish haze of the cloud, Sakura yearned to feel the wind on her face and rustling through her hair as it did when she used The FLY card.  A sense of freedom came to her when she was magically flying.  

She watched in awe as the brilliant blue sky came into view when the plane exited through the top of the clouds.  The brightness of the day amazed her.  Below the clouds the morning had been ominous and gloomy, while above the clouds the sun shone brightly making Sakura blink with momentary blindness.   

Her attention was pulled away from the window when Syaoran gently squeezed her hand, which he had been holding rested on the armrest between their seats.  They were on their way to Hong Kong for summer vacation.  This would be her second trip to Hong Kong.  The last time she had won the trip through a raffle at Twin Bells.  During her last trip, she hadn’t been able to do as much sight seeing as she had wanted because she had to battle against the Water Fortune Teller who had died before being able to tell Clow-san of her true feelings for him.  

Eriol and Yukito sat in the two first class seats in front of her and Syaoran.  Touya had been unable to get out of work on such short notice, and had insisted that Yukito go, being as his body was the host disguise for his little sister’s guardian, Yue.  Likewise, Fujitaka was away on an Archeological dig and Tomoyo was currently on her way to Paris, France with her Mother.  

Eriol and Yukito were getting along well and chatting about “old times.”  Once Yukito had become aware of his other self and after Yue had started to open his memories to his host, Yukito had become interested in learning more about Clow Reed from one of Clow’s direct reincarnations.  Eriol’s maturity level and vast array of knowledge provided endless conversation between them.  

Sakura yawned and laid her head on Syaoran’s shoulder.  She had been up late packing at the last minute and hadn’t slept much the night before.   The flight would take roughly 4 ½ hours, just long enough to catch up on some sleep.  Syaoran raised the armrest between their seats and placed an arm around her shoulders, allowing her to cuddle more comfortably against his chest as she drifted off to sleep.  

Sakura mostly slept through the flight, waking only briefly when Syaoran positioned her against a pillow and reclined her seat so that she could lie back while she slept and he could be free to move around as needed.

“Preparing for arrival at Hong Kong International Airport.  Please return your seats to their upright position and buckle your seat belts,” a Stewardess spoke over the intercom, waking Sakura from her slumber.   

Sakura yawned and stretched in her still reclined seat.  Blinking open her eyes she found that Syaoran offered his hand to help her sit up.  “Morning, Sunshine,” he told her with a smile.  “Did you sleep well?”  

Taking his hand, Sakura pulled herself into a sitting position and raised the back of her seat.  “I had a really strange dream,” she answered while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  

“Oh?”  Syaoran asked curiously.

“I was flying somewhere.  It was like someone was leading me to something…” she began to explain, trailing her sentence off as she looked out the window to view the scene as the plane began to descend.  From her window it all most looked as though they would land on the water.

“That doesn’t sound like much of a dream,” Syaoran began, raising an eyebrow.  “You ARE flying somewhere, and the plane is leading you to our destination.”

“What?”  Sakura turned away from the window to look at him in confusion.  After a moment she recalled what she had started to tell him about the dream and shook her head.  “No, no, that’s not what I mean.  I was flying, but I wasn’t in the plane and I wasn’t using the FLY card either.  I was being lead through what looked like a shopping district.  I think it was in Hong Kong, because there were a lot of people walking and most of them were wearing Chinese style clothing.”

Syaoran stare at her blankly while he tried to make sense of the dream.  “You didn’t use the DREAM card, did you?”  He asked in a serious tone.

“No, why?”  Sakura asked uncertainly.  “At least, I don’t think I did,” she added, reaching under the seat for her bag with the intention to search through her cards.  

“I’m sure it wasn’t anything serious and it doesn’t sound like anything that could be harmful, so I’m sure it wasn’t a foretelling dreaming,” Syaoran stated.  “We’re just about to land, no point digging the cards out now,” he concluded, stopping her from opening her bag and nodding towards the window.

Forgetting about the cards, Sakura turned her gaze out the window and together they watched as the plane landed.

“Will we take the ferry to the main land?”  Sakura asked as the sea disappeared from her view.  “It was so much fun, the last time we came here,” she said cheerfully, remembering the boat ride they had taken to and from the airport during their last visit to Hong Kong.  

“Probably not,” Syaoran began to say.  “Mom most likely sent a limousine to pick us up.”   Sakura pouted in her show of disappointment and returned her gaze out the window to watch as the plane drove to its gate.  “I’m sure Mom wouldn’t mind if we go out on our boat one day though,” Syaoran concluded with the attempt to cheer her.

“You have a boat?”  Sakura exclaimed in excitement, returning her gaze to Syaoran.

“Sure we do, they are at the marina,” Syaoran explained, laughing slightly at her look of amazement.  

“They?” Sakura questioned his choice of the word with wide eyes.

Another Stewardess, or maybe it was the same one as before, announced their arrival at the gate and began to give instructions regarding luggage pickup, continuing flights to other destinations, and the order in which the passengers would exit the aircraft.  Thankfully, because they were in the first class cabin, they didn’t have long to wait and were soon stepping into the terminal.

Sakura excused herself to the restroom.  Syaoran waited for her while Yukito and Eriol went on to the baggage terminal.  After using the facilities, Sakura washed her hands and splashed some cold water on her face.  A reflection in the mirror caught her eye.  It was a painting of bamboo and birds.  The scene drew her in and she soon stood in front of the painting and study it intensely.  Were her eyes playing tricks on her?  She could swear that one of the bamboo leaves had moved.  She blinked and rubbed at her eyes.  Perhaps she was still a little sleepy, she thought to herself, and moved away from the painting unaware of the bamboo branch that began to creep down the wall from the painting.  The door opening suddenly, as another woman entered the bathroom, restored the painting to normal and Sakura returned to the hall without suspicion.  

“Ready?” Syaoran asked, taking her hand to guide her through the airport.  Sakura nodded and allowed herself to be led to their destination.

After meeting up with Eriol and Yukito, they collected their luggage and located the limousine sent by Yelan to escort them home.  In the back of the vehicle, Sakura stretched out on one of the seats and rested her head in Syaoran’s lap.  It was strange, but she felt as if she hadn’t slept at all.  The soothing feel of Syaoran’s fingers running through her hair soon caused her to drift to sleep.

Sakura felt as though she had just fallen to sleep when Syaoran was gently shaking her awake to tell her that they had arrived.  Sakura sat up to see the Li’s mansion through the window.  The Limousine door was opened and the chatter of excited females could be heard rushing towards them.  Sakura was barely able to make it completely through the door when she was suddenly snatched into a hug by one of Syaoran’s sisters.  In a whirlwind of confusion she was quickly passed to another sister when the first reached for and pulled Syaoran out of the vehicle, followed by Yukito and Eriol.  After the last sister had hugged and squealed over her, Sakura found herself free to stand on her own and catch her bearings as all four sisters glomped over their little brother, their cute little reincarnated ancestor, and the gorgeous man accompanying them.  

Syaoran quickly managed to slip through his sisters and ushered Sakura towards the front door, leaving Yukito and Eriol behind to “deal” with the mob of females.

Yelan greeted them at the door.  Syaoran quickly bowed in greeting.  Yelan bent before Sakura and pulled her into a hug.  “It is good to see you again, my dear,” Yelan greeted and took Sakura’s face between her hands to kiss her cheek.  “Have you not been sleeping well?”

Sakura smiled cheerfully, “I’m okay, thank you for inviting us to spend our summer vacation here.”

Yelan smiled warmly and gently stroked one of Sakura’s cheeks before turning to her Son.  “Show her to her room and let her rest for awhile,” she instructed in Chinese.

Syaoran nodded and took Sakura’s hand to lead her into the home as Yelan stood to go control her daughters.

Syaoran moved swiftly through the halls, wishing to put as much ground between them and his sisters as he could.  Surely once their mother managed to pry them away from Eriol and Yukito they would look for Sakura, their “Oh so cute future sister-in-law.”  Sakura was having a hard time keeping up with his pace and tripped over her own feet in her exhaustion.  Syaoran quickly moved to brace her as she stumbled forward.  She looked up at him gratefully as she steadied her feet.

“You’re really not acting like yourself,” Syaoran observed and began to study her bloodshot eyes.  “Are you coming down with something?  After all of that sleep you look like you haven’t had any,” he concluded in concern before moving to lead her to the end of the hall and around the corner.  

Sakura laughed his observation off cheerfully.  “Maybe it’s just getting close to that time of the month,” she excused for her exhaustion.

Syaoran didn’t seem to be convinced, and he wrapped an arm around her waist to lead her up the stairs.  Once on the second floor he led her down the hall.  He knew that his mother had set up the room next to his to be for her.  She would be between his room and the room in which Yukito and Eriol would be sleeping.  His mother had thought it would be best for Sakura’s protection.  Not that anyone outside of the dynasty could get through the protection spells placed over the house.  There were to be no chances taken, though, since Kuen-Jie had originally been part of the elders and may know of ways around such protections.  Even if they had been added after his betrayal.

Syaoran opened the door to her room and led her through the door.  The room contained a reproduced antique Chinese daybed made of cherry wood with a matching bedside table, 7-drawer dresser with mirror, and armoire.  At the foot of the bed sat an antique style Chinese stool with a pillow top. Sakura thought it looked like a perfect bed for Kero-chan. There was a single bay window in the room, which contained a window seat and a gorgeous view of the garden and a beautiful scroll painting on silk showing three cranes among peach trees that hung on the wall across from the bed.

Sakura wandered around the room, completely amazed by the furniture.  Each piece held a traditional Chinese cut and design and it gave the room an elegant look.  The bed was covered with pink bedding and pillows.  There were more pillows on the bed then she had ever owned in her life.  She wondered if there was even room on the bed for her to sleep.  Syaoran watched as she acquainted herself with the room.  He was amazed that his mother had managed to keep the décor simple.  He had expected his sisters would add their own touches.  Perhaps the dozens of pillows, ranging in color from pink to purple to green, had been their idea.

“What did your mom say to you before we left her?”  Sakura suddenly remembered to ask.  Since she would be marrying into a Chinese family she planned to work harder to learn Chinese, she had only caught the first few words of the sentence and was now curious to understand the rest.  

Syaoran approached where she stood by the window.  “Only to show you to your room so that you can rest.”  He translated.  “She is worried about you, and so am I.  Why don’t you rest for a while?  I’ll wake you when it’s time for dinner.”

“I guess that I could.  That bed does look super comfy, but I wonder if there’s any room for me to sleep,” Sakura replied with a giggle.

“I suspect my sisters had something to do with that,” Syaoran stated in exasperation.  “You’ll just have to throw a few of them on the floor,” he stated, and after walking to the bed began to clear the bed of about a dozen pillows.

“NO, Don’t do that!” Sakura exclaimed in a sudden panic and rushed to gather the pillows from the floor.  “They’ll get dirty, and they are all so pretty!”  She explained in the attempt to justify her reasoning.  While the pillows were different colors, they were all also a different shape.  One was a heart; another was a flower, there was a circle, a square, a sun, a moon, and a star, just to name a few.  Syaoran watched in amusement as she gathered the pillows that he had thrown from the bed and placed them around the window seat in the bay window.

Syaoran approached her at the window as she fussed over how the pillows should be arranged.  He gently turned her away from the window and led her to the bed.  “There’s room for you now,” he pointed out and encouraged her to lie down.

Sakura sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled up at him.  “You’re so sweet to me, thank you for worrying.  I’m sure I’ll be fine after a little nap.”

Syaoran returned her smile and bent to kiss her lips tenderly.  “I’ll wake you for dinner.  Rest well,” he said and turned to leave the room.   Syaoran walked back down the hall and down the stairs where he merely had to follow the sound of his sisters cooing and giggling over what he assumed were Eriol and Yukito.

Everyone went silent when he entered into the room.  The silence was even more deafening then his sisters could be at their loudest moments.  Syaoran froze in the doorway; he immediately scanned the room for potential danger as his instinct insisted that something wasn’t right.

Yelan stood from where she sat across the room from where her daughters had been mentally molesting Yukito and Eriol and motioned for Syaoran to come into the room and sit beside her.  “Tell me everything about your trip,” she instructed.  “Did anything unusual happen?  Tell me everything, no matter how insignificant you believe it to be.”

Syaoran sat beside his mother and thought about the events circling around their trip.  He was about to shake his head when his mother’s look insisted that he think harder.  

“Sakura seems to be more tired then she usually is.  Has she been having trouble sleeping?” Yelan suggested to her son.

“She slept during the entire flight and way here from the airport,” Syaoran answered her.

“Yet she looks like she hasn’t slept for days,” Yelan stated, more to herself then to her son.  “Did anything happen to her during that time?”

Again, Syaoran thought back to their flight.  “She mentioned having a dream,” he remembered.

“What kind of dream?”  Yelan asked urgently.  Eriol slipped away from his female descendants and sat in a chair closer to the conversation between the mother and son.

“She said she was flying somewhere and that someone seemed to be leading her to something,” Syaoran explained, thinking better then to say that she HAD been flying somewhere, to Hong Kong, and that something WAS leading her somewhere, the airplane, so he hadn’t thought much of it.

Yelan’s eyes suddenly went dark and she exchanged a look with Eriol who nodded some sort of silent agreement.

“What?”  Syaoran questioned nervously as he look back and forth between them.

“It might be as I suspected,” Yelan began to say.  “That Kuen-Jie may attempt to make a move while she is here, in China, on what is familiar ground to him.  I also suspect that he may have actually succeeded in contacting with her through Astral Projection.”

“WHAT?”  Syaoran repeated more forcefully in a dangerously dark undertone.  His eyes narrowed and glared at Eriol in expectation of an explanation.

“It is possible that Kuen-Jie managed to pull Sakura into astrally projecting herself while she was sleeping and that he may have been attempting to lead her somewhere,” Eriol explained.

“Why? How? Is that even possible?”  Syaoran spattered out in succession.

“While China may be familiar ground for him, Kuen-Jie also knows that it will be harder to get to her here because of the amount of protections that will be or have already been placed around her.  He will have to figure some indirect way of getting to her.  Eriol has kept me informed of the incidents that have occurred in Japan and how he has formed the theory that Kuen-Jie is using Astral Projection to attack from a safe distance.” Yelan explained to her son and reincarnated ancestor.  Yukito had also managed to free himself from the clutches of the Li-sister quartet, by changing into Yue and now listened intently to the conversation.  Kero, who had been forced to ride in a cat carrier from Japan had been brooding over having to ride in the cargo department and was now somewhere out in the garden enjoying his freedom to wander and or transform at will.

“That Kuen-Jie has been using Astral Projection has also been confirmed to me by one other, who I have asked to protect Sakura-chan,” Yelan continued and admitted.  “Your father,” she answered to Syaoran’s questioning glance.  

“So, the young man who looks like Syaoran and who has been helping Sakura from time to time actually was an ancestral spirit as I had suspected,” Eriol concluded.  

Yelan’s eyes became glossy for a moment, as all she could do was nod in response to his suspicions.  “He would have been 30 in a couple of months if he hadn’t have died, but he always looked so much younger,” she managed to explain after a moment.  

“How can Sakura be forced to astral project, and why would it cause her to be so tired?” Syaoran broke the silence of the moment to ask.  His concern at the moment was only for Sakura.

“If her spirit is willing, it can be encouraged and sometimes even pulled into Astral Projection.  While you Astral Project, though your physical body may be resting, your spirit cannot.  Though she may have physically been sleeping and her body may have gotten plenty of rest, the exhaustion of her spirit once it has returned to the body makes it feel as if she hadn’t slept at all,” Eriol answered.

“So, Kuen-Jie basically has access to her whenever he wants through Astral Projection?”  Syaoran asked in a panic, looking as though he might jump up and rush back to her room to ensure her safety.

“No, Kuen-Jie has limits.  There are barriers through which Kuen-Jie cannot enter even through Astral Projection.  Barriers that have been magically set into place around Sakura’s home, in Japan, and also around this estate,” Yelan began to explain.  “On the airplane, an unexpected place where Sakura might sleep, those barriers have not been placed.  Therefore, Kuen-Jie was able to get through to her easily while she was sleeping during the flight here.  

“And in the Limo?”  Syaoran suggested

“No, not exactly.  Because the Limousine is part of our property,” she answered.  “However, now that Sakura is safely arrived, there is no longer a reason to worry over the threat of the Astral Projection.  I do want everyone to be on their guard for any other threatening sources, though, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem,” Yelan concluded.  Tonight, the elders will be joining us for a dinner party, as they all look forward to finally meeting the new mistress of the cards.  It has not been determined whether Kuen-Jie still has any allies among the elders, so I wish everyone to stay on their guard.  And Syaoran, tomorrow night will be a party to officially announce your engagement with Sakura.  As the heir to the Li Dynasty this is part of your responsibility.”

“I know Mother,” Syaoran said with a heavy sigh.