Chapter 7: A New Blossom

Sakura looked around her. It was a sky blue color, with wisplike things
flying upward quickly. Li also looked around, along with Kero, who had
changed from Kero Beros back to the regular "stuffed-animal" Kero. 'A sky
blue color, white wispy things flying up...' they all thought. Suddenly
they all looked down. "We're falling through the sky!" Sakura screamed.
Li "air-swam" over to Sakura and Kero and held their hands. Then he
changed his position so that his stomach was towards the ground. "If you
keep a position like mine, we might not reach the ground as quickly."
Kero and Sakura shifted their positions, too.
"Sakura, you are the only one who can save us now. This is a test of
your final abilities, and no one, not even me or Li, can help you."
"Kero, not even a little bit..." Sakura asked pleadingly. "No, Sakura.
Remember when you captured the Water Card? This is the same type of test,
except I can't tell you anything." Sakura looked down, and saw her Clow
Key hanging from its necklace. "I've got it!" Sakura took it off, taking
special notice not to let it go. "Key of Clow, power of magic, power of
light, surrender the wand, the force ignite! Release!" (Or something like
that. I don't really remember the chant." The magic wand spun out, and
Sakura grasped it by the handle. Loosening her hold on Kero, then
releasing it, she pulled her body straight up. Li and Kero watched her
carefully. Sakura kept her right hand to her side. Cheerleader style,
Sakura one-handedly swung her wand back and forth in arcs and
circles,making steps and flips along the mini-routine, until the star
inside the ring at the top of her Clow started glowing. Then she spun a
full turn one more time, kind of dragging the wand behind her. Then her
hand shot up instinctively, with the star pointing at the sun, which was
straight overhead. "Ring of magic, Star of Clow and Sakura, the Card
Mistress now calls upon the need of your magic and power! Surrender your
magic powers! RELEASE!"
A great glow brightened from the stick, and then the brightness and
light disappeared, until the star was really glittering. That was
Sakura's cue to call out a command for the Clow wand. "Fly and Windy
Card! Release and Dispel! Fly and Windy!"
The wand glittered even more brightly, but in all the colors of the
rainbow in order this time. Suddenly, wings sprouted from the tip of the
star on the Clow Wand, and Sakura jumped on, picking up Li and Kero, who
were amazed at her sense of leadership and grace. The maiden of the windy
card flew out from the middle of the star. She flew right into the sun,
and then a gentle breeze started. "Windy! Carry us gently to the ground!
Fly, use my one good hand for guidance and fly somewhere to land where no
one will see us!" A stronger breeze followed, and the wings flapped up
and down, flying towards the left, to the national park. Sakura gently
steered the wand towards the park. "Sakura, how come you don't want to
land in the national park? No one will see us, and from up here, it seems
pretty close to your home." LI rubbed her right arm, and Kero sat down in
front of Sakura, patting her hand. "Li, there is a fence between the
national park and Sakura's house. I've flown there plenty of times.
Although hardly anyone is there, it would be a long walk from the
national park. Right, Sakura?" Sakura nodded, smiling a bit. "Yeah,
that's the problem. If we land in the lake, no one will see us, and it's
only a mere twenty minutes to my house from there."
A few minutes later, Sakura, Li, and Kero were nearing the lake. "Okay,
guys, hold on tight and don't fall out!" Sakura called to them, a bit
nervously. "Tuck up your legs, too!" Sakura's shoes brushed against the
surface of the water, slowing their speed. Then she decided to take a
risk: she had to call back windy and release Float for Li and Kero.
'Should I do that? Yeah, of course, duh.' Sakura swiftly pulled the wand
from underneath all of them, surprising Li and Kero. "You guys don't move
or you'll get all wet! Stay in your positions!" Then she did her routine
for the Clow Wand again, except this time she looked very graceful
skipping on top of the water. "Sakura! We're starting to get REAL close
to the water!" Li called out desperately as he and Kero lowered towards
the surface of the water. "Don't worry, Li! I have this under control."
"Windy, return to your power confined! Windy!" She took the card from
under the beam coming from the center of the star and moved it to her
right hand, while quickly calling out, "Float Card! Release and dispel!
Float! Float Li and Kero to the lake side!" A bubble quickly formed
around Li and Kero, who sighed in relief. Kero directed the bubble to the
side of the lake. Sakura, on the other hand, was trying to control the
Fly Card, who was now very powerful. Finally pointing the wand upward,
Sakura did her little routine again, calling back the Fly Card. "Fly
Card, return to your power confined!" Then she called out the jump card.
"Jump card! Release and dispel! Jump!" Little wings appeared on her
shoes, and then she leaped to the ground, jumping little hops to stop
herself. "Jump, return!" She swung the wand past her feet, and the wings
disappeared.
"Sakura, great job! This really shows your abilities in capturing and
controlling the cards." Kero flew up to Sakura's shoulder. "I was so
worried you'd get hurt or something, Sakura! That was pretty dangerous.
Oh, well, we have to take you back him."
Sakura sighed. "In case you haven't noticed, Li, I'm already hurt." Then
Li remembered her broken arm. "Oops. Sorry. Let's get you back to your
house. Hopefully, no one will be home."
Sakura, Li, and Kero walked to the Avalon house, where Sakura ran to get
the key from her secret hiding place. She opened the door. It seemed as
if no one was home. "TORI! DAD!" Sakura walked over to the kitchen, where
she found a note. 'Hey, Sakura. Me and Tori are going to his camp thing I
told you about. Sorry I forgot to tell you about it this morning. You
have the house to yourself for about a month. The food's in the
refrigerator. I bought chocolate chip cookies for you, they're underneath
this note, and the emergency money is in you-know-where. Here, I'll let
Tori scribble something.'
'Hey, squirt. Make sure you remember that I'm there in spirit. Don't do
anything bad or something you'll regret, okay? Seeya in a month,
monster.' Dad & Tori.
Sakura almost started to cry, but she didn't say anything, so she wiped
up her tears and turned around. Li and Kero had just walked in.
"Something wrong, Sakura?" "Yes and no. Dad and Tori are gone for a month
on some Tori-related camp, and I have the house to myself. I'm afraid to
stay here alone with only Kero for company, and my arm really really
hurts." Li laughed. "One at a time, Sakura. Ok. I'll stay here with you,
Kero is already here, and we'll treat your arm right now. Why don't you
get on the couch. Kero, get an ice-pack or something." Sakura climbed
onto the couch. 'I'm glad my little wolf is here. Li has such a cool
name. Li Shaoran. Little Wolf. Cool. I hope something progresses in our
relationship.'

Li felt around Sakura's arm until he felt an unusual bump. He poked at
it some more. "OW! Li, you're supposed to TREAT me, not HURT me!" "Sorry!
I thought it was there before or something." "I'm not mutated." "BREAK IT
UP, YOU TWO! Now hurry up and treat Sakura before I make you come play
video games with me." Kero tapped his foot and pointed to his hand like
he had a watch on. "Hurry up." "Sorry" Li muttered. 'I don't want to play
video games with Kero! I want to stay here... with my little Sakura
blossom. Ugh. I hate video games.' "Sakura, this might hurt a little. On
the count of five, relax, because I have to move your bone back into
place." Kero smiled. "And if he kills you, I can file a lawsuit." Sakura
smiled uncertainly. "Do we HAVE to do this? Can't you use, like, magic
powder or power or something?" Kero shook his head. Left, right, left,
right. "Nope. If you wan't to heal from an evil person's powers, you have
to do the healing the old fashion way." Left, right, left, right. "Okay,
Sakura. One, two, thr--" Li quickly moved Sakura's bone to the right
place. "AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Sakura screamed. Then she fainted. "SAKURA!
WAKE UP!" "Don't worry, kid. She only fainted. She'll be back to normal
in a few days." Li looked at Sakura nervously. "If you say so, Kero."

Hours later, Sakura woke up. She was sleeping in her own bed. She sat up
quickly and looked outside. It was twilight, and the sunset was
beautiful. She got down from her bed, stood up, and walked over to the
window. Then she opened the window. "Hmm? My hand... it's not broken
anymore. I wonder what Li did to it that hurt so much and yet, healed it
so well."Then she looked out at the sunset again. The clouds were turning
pink, purple, blue, and every color of the rainbow. It was beautiful.
"The clouds... they're so..." Suddenly an image of Tori filled her mind.
She looked at the clouds again. Some clouds over on the left side looked
like... Tori. He was smiling, like the day she went to the dance. "I miss
him so much... and Dad too... huh?" The clouds on the right side of the
sky looked just like Mr. Avalon! Then, she looked in the middle. A
picture of her full body image in her cheerleading dress appeared, doing
her favorite cheer, Never Give Up Til You're Gone. Sakura started to cry.
"The clouds... of my family...are so, beautiful..." she cried in a
whisper. "I miss Tori and Dad so much... and I can't even go out with my
friends because they're actually using this fall vacation. Two weeks
without any of them... but when I looke at the beautiful clouds... it
reminds too much of them! I can't stand it!" Sakura cried, and she turned
around to leave and she bumped into something. "It" was wearing a shirt,
and she didn't even have to look at his face to know who it was.

It was Li Syaoran. He hugged her tightly, Sakura's head against his
chest. "Don't cry, Sakura... I only wanted to make you happy..." Li felt
her heart start beating faster. "You mean, you did this-this for m-me?"
"I'm sorry if I made you sad, but like you said, they're so beautiful.
And so are you." Sakura started to cry. She reached her arms to his
shoulders and rested her head on his right shoulder. 'This feels... so
right,' Li thought. 'Like Sakura and me were in love, or in a romance, in
another world...' Li hugged her back. "Don't worry. Everyone will be back
soon."

Meilin was walking by Sakura's house, when something made her look up.
It was Sakura. Meilin froze and watched what Sakura did. Sakura looked at
the left, right, then middle of the sky. Meilin turned to look to. She
didn't recognize who was on the left and right sides, but she definitely
recognized Sakura in her cheerleading uniform in the jumping part of the
cheer "Never Give Up Til You're Gone". Meilin's cheeks flamed from
embarassment. 'Why didn't I get to be up there? I'm prettier, smarter,
more athletic, more... well more everything than that-that little
boyfriend-stealer. She looked up again.
Sakura had just bumped into... Li Syaoran! She was about to shout hi when
she saw Sakura push herself against Li, and he wrapped his arms
lifelessly around her. "Oh my gosh! @#%*! How dare that girl push herself
against Li!" She heard snatches of their conversation. "I did it --- you,
Sakura. I wanted --- you ---" Li said softly. She also heard Sakura
crying. "Reminds --- much --- friends, Li! --- so --- lonely ---without
them." Meilin rushed to the door. 'I'll teach that narrow-minded stuck-up
cherry blossom what a real Asian girl can do.' Meilin rang the doorbell.
"Argh! I can't believe her!"

The doorbell rang. "Li, do you want to get it? I-I'll go down when I
wipe up my tears." "Kay, Sakura." He walked down the stairs, and not
bothering to check who it was, he opened the door, and --- WHAAM!! "Yeah!
I got --- Li! Ohmigosh! Who punched your face?" Meilin was looking at
him, concerned. Li got up and glared at her furiously. "Well, isn't it
obvioius who punched me in the face, MEILIN?! Or was it just you?" Li had
never really yelled at or argued with Meilin before, but this time he was
really mad, and Meilin of all people was really getting on his nerves.
'Well, there's a first time for everything,' Li thought angrily. "I'm
sorry, Li! I only meant to get Sakura!" "WHAT?! WHY IN THE WORLD DO YOU
WANT TO PUNCH SAKURA IN THE FACE? SHE'S JUST A REALLY NICE GIRL!!" Meilin
blushed angrily. "Well, if you hadn't been so naive when you decided to
postpone our marriange the week before the dance, we could have been the
first couple at that dance! I still love and care about you, Li! I don't
want that conniving little brat to take you away! She's out of the
picture, and I'm the only one in!" Meilin screamed furiously at him. "Oh
yeah? Well, ---"

As the two continued to argue in the front hall, Sakura sat down at the
top of the stairs. Li had been married already... to Meilin? She couldn't
believe that, but Sakura could feel the pain and torment it caused her
heart. 'I've got to get out of here... but maybe I should listen a bit
more.' Sakura crept down the stairs and hid behind the closet door. She
listened carefully. Meilin was screaming at the top of her lungs, and
thankfully, Li had shut the door. "Li! I had all the arrangements ready!
My dress, the food, your tux, EVERYTHING! It took me a year to complete,
ever since your parents and my parents agreed to the wedding. Even your
sisters agreed! I mean, sure, they didn't seem happy about me being their
family, but I know more about everything than that little pervert you
were supposedly dating! I mean, I saw her push herself on you!" "And who
exactly are you talking about, Meilin? Or should I say, maybe it was you
was the pervert in elementary and middle school!" "Wha-a?! What kind of
way do you treat your real fiance? The one who rescues you from
everything that puny little, powerless, idiotic Sakura couldn't do? I
rescued you! EVERY TIME!" "No, you didn't! Sakura rescued me a lot, too,
but you only rescued me physically. Not mentally and emotionally. Sakura
brought a change of heart into me."
Finally Sakura stepped into the hall, this time stunned. She looked
straight at Li. "Li Syaoran, you were Meilin's fiance, you should have
gotten married the day before the dance... is this true?" Li was
speechless, but he looked at the ground and nodded mutely. Sakura ran
quickly to the doorway. Sakura opened it, taking her house key off the
hook. "Sakura, wait!" Sakura looked at him straight in the eyes, her
bright emerald eyes shining with disbelief and distrust. "No, Li. You
can wait this time -- wait for your marriage with Meilin!" Sakura turned
around, and stepped into the driveway. "Fly card, release and dispel!
Fly!" Wings formed on her beautiful star wand, and this time, they also
formed on the back of her cheerleading costume. Sakura had changed to
practice, but now it was just comfortable, dressy clothing to wear.
Sakura was about to fly away when Li called, "Time Card! Stop Time!"
Everything froze. Li ran up Sakura and read her thoughts. He saw one
tear... one tear in her eye... that nearly tore his heart apart. 'I made
her cry again... I can't believe I made the same mistake as the one I
made at the dance!' She was going to the beach, Li found out. He went
back into his position and unfroze time. Sakura flew off, her one tear
sparkling in the sunshine, then dropping down to Li's hand.
Meilin was overjoyed. "Now we can get married! She can never bother us,
never, ever, ag---" Meilin was cut off by a very angry Li. "SHUT UP! I
CARE ABOUT SAKURA, NOT YOU!" He ran off in the direction of the beach.
"WHAT IN THE ---" Meilin cried. "SYAORAN LI, YOU COME BACK HERE!"

Sakura was crying. 'He didn't care about me... not for a moment. All
that stuff at the dance, all our kisses... all fake. He was using me to
get Meilin jealous. Or something to that effect.' Sakura sighed. She
started to think, but decided to talk out loud, because her head was
hurting so much from the pain and hurt in her heart. "I can't believe
this... Li only used me to get Meilin jealous and totally mad at me? He
didn't even tell me about the wedding. Still... I know Li has a much more
loving heart than that. I mean... it's like---"

Li crept up behind a rock and crouched down, listening to Sakura talk to
herself. He arrived just in time to hear her say, "Li is so... wonderful
and cute and amazing. I've loved him so much since elementary school,
although I never knew it. All these experiences with the clow cards has
brought me closer to him, and every time he's been there for me. I don't
want to lose him."
"You don't have to, Sakura." Li came out from behind the rock. Sakura
scrambled up from her spot in the sand. "How long have you been listening
to me?" she demanded. "Long enough," Li said simply. Sakura looked away
and crossed her arms. "How come you went to the dance with me when you
were obviously in love with Meilin? Did you want to use me to make her
mad at you and hate you or something?" Li stammered an answer. "Well,
I-uh, you see..." Sakura started to cry harder. "You mean it's true? You
used me? Like-like an object?!" Sakura started running into the water.
"Sakura! Wait! That's not true! Just listen to me!" Sakura fell on her
knees. Her whole lower body was in the water, while her upper body stayed
dry. Sakura cried with her hands to her mouth, trying to muffle the
sounds. "I don't care about Meilin. I didn't use you to make her hate me,
or make her jealous. I-I took you to the dance because I care about you,
not her. Can't you understand? I didn't tell you about the wedding
because I knew you couldn't take it. Every single tear of yours breaks my
heart in two, Sakura. Please stop crying." Li wiped her tears away with
his hand. Sakura finally stopped crying. "Do you mean it this time? Do
you really care about me?" "No, not THIS time. Every single time I said I
loved you, it was true. Don't you believe me?" Li was practically in
tears himself, worrying about whether Sakura really believed and trusted.
him. She looked down. Then she stood up and walked back to the beach.
"Li? I have something to tell you."
Li's eyes widened a little. He walked closer to her. "What?" She smiled,
and whispered in his ear. "I love you too, Li Syaoran." Li's heart
stopped for a minute, skipped two beats, and started beating real fast.
Then he held her hands, and slowly moved his lips to hers until they met,
in their first, real kiss as a couple. Sakura moved closer, first a
little uncertainly, then more surely when Li pulled her close along the
waist. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, and returned to kissing
Li. Some cherry blossoms from a tree fell into Sakura's hair. 'A new
blossom is forming: Me and Li, together forever.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't worry, pplz.
This isn't the end of the story. There's still more.
I mixed together a lot of emothions, but more Sakura+Li than anything
else.
So what do you think? Email me with compliments, questions, and anything
else!

smileymon810@hotmail.com
4ever smiles from this smileymon! HaPpY rEaDiNg!