Chapter 10: I Promise You

okaay... since a lot of people have been asking for this one...
I'm not exactly making a lot of progress in my story, am I?
If you have flames, compliments, or anything else please email me.
you know what it us... oh yeah, you know what my AIM s/n is too...
oh yeah, you know how Lily seemed to vanish? well, she's back

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"... So that's what happened, huh?" Terry managed to sniffle. Bryan
stroked her hair. "Yeah. It was their destiny to die for you so your
powers as the yellow dove would blossom and bloom. I'm not glad about
what they did... but it was brave of them to die for you. Us." Terry
smiled and closed her eyes. Right before I fell unconcious, I heard two
people's voices. I think they were Mom and Dad's voices. They really did
love us, didn't they?" she asked, opening her eyes again. Bryan cocked
his head. "Almost all parents love their kids. It was true with us too,
but since we have differences, what with our magical powers and our
history, we sometimes have to sacrifice a lot. But it's not all bad.
Don't blame yourself for everything." he said cheerfully. Suddenly he
looked up and his eyes seemed glued to something. Terry looked up too,
and saw two birds, pecking at the window. Bryan walked slowly over, and
opened it. At once, one flew to Terry's arm, the other to Bryan's.
Terry smiled and stroked the cute bird. "I bet this one just learned how
to fly." she laughed. "It looks like me! I mean, you know what I mean...
right? Bryan?" she asked, then looked at him instead of the bird. Bryan
was stroking the blue jay he had in his hand, his head to its head.
"It's... them..." Bryan murmured, and both flew out the window to a
nearby tree. "It's like Mom... and Dad... they came back reborn as birds
just to look after us." Terry said seriously, picking up on Bryan's
hunch. Tears came to her eyes and she smiled. "Then I should try to get
better faster." she shouted. Almost immediately everyone rushed in. "Is..
something... wrong??" Rosa asked, panting from her rush. Terry laughed
again, more like her old self. "Of course not! You know I'm a naturally
loud person, I mean, I inherited all from Bryan." she mocked him, and
then winced when her side hurt. She fell back to her pillow. "You know,
I'm kind of tired. Let's call it a day..." Terry drifted off. Someone
snorted from the doorway. "Yeah... and I bet she altered them so she can
be heard over her brother's shouting too." the amber-eyed boy said.
"Syaoran! You came back." Mei said, wrapping her younger brother in a
crushing hug.
Mei Li poked her head from Sakura's room. "You know, Sakura's starting
to come out of her coma. I think she's coming too!" she said excitedly.
Everyone rushed (quietly) into Sakura's room. Sakura's forehead was wet
with sweat, and she was sort of talking in her "sleep". "Come on Sakura.
Wake up for me. And for everyone else." Syaoran said, using a wet cloth
to wipe her forehead. He held her hand (no, not the one in the cast) and
reached into his pocket. He pulled out the Clow necklace and the charm
bracelet. The shined and glimmered brightly in the light. "Everyone is
depending on you, Sakura." Syaoran put the necklace and the bracelet on
Sakura, then went back to holding her hand. The heart monitor was beeping
steadily, steadily... but suddenly it started to slow. "What?! Sakura,
no!" Syaoran pleaded. Sakura opened her eyes, weakly, the life drained
out of them. "Sakura..." Syaoran moaned. "Please... don't cry for me, you
guys... I'll miss you guys..." Sakura said weakly, and coughed. She
pulled her hand from Syaoran's, and reached for Corey's. Corey took
Sakura's hand in his. "If, when I die, something evil comes out, I want
you guys to kill it." Corey started protesting. "No, banish the evil for
me." Sakura looked at Syaoran. "I love you, Li-kun." and her eyes closed.
The heart monitor got slower and slower. BEEP... BEEP.... BEEP.....
BEEP...... BEEP....... BEEEEEEEEEEEE.......
"No! Hey Sakura, don't die yet! I'm coming!!" Suddenly the Forever Card
dashed through the ceiling. She looked hurriedly at Syaoran and kissed
him quickly on the cheek. Then she ran into Sakura and was inside her
body. The heart monitor resumed beeping steadily. BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP....

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Forever Card's POV~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

'Okay, good, Sakura is still alive. Now, where is that stupid evil
spirit inside Sakura's mind?' I searched through Sakura's mind for the
demon spirit. Finally I found it, hidden in a dark corner. "You know, you
might as well give up, maiden card. You are no match for me..." the
spirit snarled. I scowled. "No way. Just give up peacefully and I'll
leave you alone." The demon spirit looked at me like I was crazy.
Everything in Sakura's mind started becoming black. "Now it's just a
battle between minds." I used my power to make Sakura's mind partly white
again. Both of us tried to so hard to make our surroundings as we
pleased. The evil spirit, wanted a black darkness, and I, I wanted a
light of hope. Finally, I just used the last of my strength to stretch
the light of hope across Sakura's mind, her whole body. The evil spirit
started shriveling. "I will get you someday, Forever Card! Just watch
out..............." and he was gone.
I dragged myself into Sakura's emotions, thoughts, and memories. "I have
gladly sacrificed myself for you, Card Mistress."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~End Forever Card's POV~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rosa sat worriedly on a chair. 'I hope Sakura's okay.' she thought.
Corey leaned against the wall. 'Don't give up.' he thought. 'Please don't
die, Sakura.' everyone else thought glumly. Syaoran held Sakura's hand
and stroked her cheek. 'Please... stay alive for me, Sakura.' he thought.

later... around dinnertime

"You know, I bet Sakura's family is probably wondering what happened to
her." Bryan said practically. "Which means we'll have to face his wrath,
right?" Syaoran said. But he quickly called anyway. "Hello?" came Tori's
calm voice. "Uh yeah..." Syaoran started to say. "HEY! YOU CHINESE GAKI!
WHAT'D YOU DO TO MY LITTLE SISTER?" he practically screamed into the
telephone. Syaoran held it idly away and Terry grabbed it. "Hello?" she
said politely. Tori stopped yelling because he heard a strange female
voice. "Yes? Who is speaking please?" Tori said politely. Terry cleared
her throat. "Yes, Sakura is hurt very badly... mmhmm, she is in the
hospital right now.... what room? Oh, yeah, it's S-26... Yeah, I'm sorry
too... well, come quickly, awright? Bye now." Terry replaced the pay
phone into the hook. Syaoran was gawking at her. Terry looked at him.
"What's wrong?" she asked, puzzled. "How did you do that without him
yelling your ears off?" Syaoran asked. Terry shrugged. "I think he hates
only you." Syaoran fell down, anim?style.

that was on Sunday, now on Friday...

Syaoran daydreamed off during school. 'School isn't important, not when
Sakura is hurt.' he thought. He sighed, and the last bell rang. He
gathered his books. "Let's go to my house first." Syaoran told the
others. They walked slowly to his apartment. Terry kept running ahead,
and staring into clothings shop windows. She kept pointing out stuff to
everyone else. "Look at that dress! It's so pretty." "That is such a nice
color, Rosa! Looky!" "That is a nice design, but I think the the dress
should be longer." "That color is yuch! It ruins the whole dress!" "Oh
wow!" Terry gasped at the closest store to Syaoran's house. In the window
was a poster with a model in a pale yellow silk dress outfit. The top,
which was a very small tank top, had gauzy almost transparent yellow
material for sleeves, and the same gauzy stuff up the neck. The dress was
ankle length with a slit on the left side all the way to just above her
knee, and hugged the young model's upper legs. Terry gasped in sheer
delight again. "Can I get that, Madison?" she asked excitely. "Sure,
why..." she started. "Terry!" Bryan admonished her sharply. Terry seemed
to shrink back. "But... Bryan..." she started timidly, looking pleadingly
at her brother. "No, Terry." he said. Terry's eyes filled with tears.
"Please, Bryan?" she asked again. He shook his head firmly. Terry burst
into tears and ran towards the apartment. "Hey, Terry! Wait up!" Madison
said, and ran after her. Meilin and Rosa were quiet, looking at Bryan
uneasily. So was everyone else. Bryan sighed.
"Why didn't you just buy the dress, Bryan?" Meilin asked kindly. Bryan
shook his head and he dragged his sleeve across his eyes. "I can't bear
to see her so unhappy, but we don't have that kind of money right now.
Look at the price." Bryan pointed at the display of the dress, which hung
next to the poster. It said $102.95. Rosa bit her lip. It was a lot of
money, and they couldn't afford anything that pricey. "We could always
ask Madison..." Meilin started, but Bryan interrupted. "We can't always
ask Madison. And we already have to use the money to buy food." he said
sensibly. They all nodded and walked back to the apartment.

"I-It's not fair!" Terry said, sniffling and sobbing. Madison patted her
back comfortably. "It's alright, Terry. Don't feel bad. Your brother
probably has good reasons for saying no." she said. Terry stopped crying,
and sniffled. "I know why. It's a'cause we don't have a lot of money
right now. But I still want it." she sighed. Madison smiled. "You'll get
it soon, I promise." she thought, knowing that Terry's birthday was in a
week or so. Terry sighed happily. "Thanks Madison." she said. The
doorbell rang and everyone trooped in. "Let's hurry and go visit Sakura!"
Syaoran said, dropping his backpack in the doorway. Everybody else did
the same and they left for the hospital.

Sakura opened her eyes and saw two girls reading in a couple of chairs.
"Hello?" she asked. One of them turned around. The other fell out of her
chair. The one who fell got up and hurried over. "Sakura, are you feeling
alright?" she asked. Sakura nodded shyly. "Do I know you or something?
You look kind of familiar." Sakura said bluntly. The girl who had turned
around got up too. "Oh, we probably look familiar because we're two of
Syaoran's four sisters. I'm Mei Li, and this is the youngest sister Mei."
she said. Sakura grinned. "Oh, okay. At least you're not some foreign
nurse." she said. Sakura sat up and looked at herself. Her arm was in a
cast, and she felt the bandage on her forehead. "You've gotten much
better since last week. Your friends have been visiting you every day
after school, and your family visited last Sunday. You'll be going back
after you get better." Mei said. Mei Li glanced at her watch. "Speaking
of which, your friends should be here, around... now." Mei Li said, and
the door opened. Sakura's face lit up. "Syaoran!" she said. Syaoran stood
in the doorway and blinked. 'What happened to that feeling... I used to
have?' he wondered, but he ran over and hugged Sakura tightly.
Everyone else peered around the corner of the door and smiled. Syaoran
let go of Sakura and instead pulled her into a long, passionate kiss.
Sakura didn't do anything except kiss him back. Finally Syaoran broke the
kiss. Sakura was panting slightly, but she was smiling. Everyone else
watched quietly, when suddenly the all fell over each other. Sakura and
Syaoran turned around. Madison coughed. "We were just looking for my
earring." she said innocently. Everyone broke into laughter. Suddenly
Syaoran stopped and took something out from his bag. "Mei! Mei Li!
Remember those magic books you came back for? I found them in Shawna's
underground castle." he said, and gave them the two fat books. Mei Li
smiled. "That's great, Syaoran. Good for you."

now, a month later, maybe around May...

Sakura ran into the school, with Syaoran chasing after her. "Leave me
alone, Syaoran!" she shrieked, and she ran into the classroom. The others
were panting, trying to catch up, and they arrived at the classroom.
Sakura was racing around the desks without her backpack, which Madison
held, and Syaoran was chasing her, laughing, without HIS backpack, which
Corey had. Sakura ran to the back of the classroom, and Syaoran jumped
over a few desks and caught her around the waist. "Hey! Let go!" Sakura
giggled, trying to pry Syaoran's hands off. He laughed and turned her
around, putting his lips to hers. Sakura kept on giggling, and pushed
Syaoran off. "That's not fair. You got a head start." she giggled. "Yeah
right. I caught you didn't I?" he said. "You weren't supposed to." Sakura
said, blushing.
"You guys, sit down!" Meilin said good-naturedly. All of them put down
their backpacks. They waited for around ten minutes, and then the bell
rang. "Alright class, today we have a returning student, her name is Lily
Kayori." Lily stepped throught the door with a feeling of defiance. She
glared at Sakura, but smiled politely at the class. She took her seat
near the front, where a student had left earlier that month.
During lunch, everyone lay in the shade of the cherry tree. The talked
and laughed about all sorts of stuff. Lily came up to the group and all
the conversations stopped. "Hey Lily." Sakura ventured, smiling. "It's
great to have you back." she continued. Lily glared at Sakura. "After
school at the beach." Then she turned on her heel and walked coldly away.
Everyone glanced at each other while Sakura watched as Lily walked
farther away. Suddenly Sakura got up and ran after Lily. Everyone watched
as Sakura caught up with Lily. She was obviously upset; then suddenly she
stepped back, eyes wide. And then they disappeared. Syaoran's eyes opened
wide. "Sakura!" he cried, and he got up so quickly, he accidently kicked
Fula in the stomach. "Ow! Syaoran!" he said. "Sorry," Syaoran mumbled
distractedly. "We've got to find Sakura!" Corey said. "Come on!" Meilin
said, and they ran secretively to the beach, making sure no one was
watching them leave.

Sakura looked steadily at Lily, a frown on her face. "What do you want
from me? I haven't done anything to you." she said. Lily continued to
glare at Sakura. Suddenly the sand on the beach whipped around her,
forcing her to her knees. Sakura closed her eyes tightly, thinking.
'Which card, which card to use?' she thought quickly. "Sand Card, make a
shield around me!" she cried, gasping for air. The sand card created a
shield, protecting Sakura from the blinding sand. Lily crossed her arms.
"Your cards won't protect you forever, card mistress." she said
mockingly. Sakura stood up and looked Lily straight in the face. "I'm not
gonna attack you, Lily." she said. Lily laughed. "Then that makes sending
you to the dark world easier." Sakura's eyes went wide. "What? Dark
world?" Lily laughed and blasted a wave of fire at Sakura. Sakura
screamed.
"Element! Fire!" Suddenly Lily's fire was blocked off by Syaoran and his
element. "Syaoran..." Sakura whispered. "I promised I would never leave
your side Sakura." he said. Lily stared at Syaoran. "Why are you
protecting her?" she asked. "Because she is my friend. And you should be
too, but you've changed that by attacking her. Why can't you accept that
you will be nothing more to me except a friend? And being friends is good
enough, isn't it?" he said logically. Lily lowered her eyes, still angry.
"I thought you liked me." she whispered furiously. "And I do! But only as
a friend." Sakura stepped in front of Syaoran. "Don't you see, Lily? We
all like you, but there are some bonds that are stronger than others. I
want to trust you, I really do, but I can't do that until you put away
your staff." Sakura said. Lily narrowed her eyes. "Really? You don't need
a wand or anything to call your cards. They can attack at any moment,
card mistress." Sakura became exasperated.
"I am not the card mistress! I'm Sakura, Sakura Avalon. All my friends
know me as that, and I'd like you to do the same, Lily. And I promise
that I will not call my cards against you, Lily." she said. Suddenly Lily
started sparkling with light and magic. Someone came out of her and Lily
dropped to the ground. The shadowy, ghost-like figure smiled at Sakura.
"Thank you for freeing Lily of her jealousness. You've filled her with
trust and friendship, something no one else could accomplish." the figure
said. "Who is she, and what exactly is the dark world?" Sakura asked.
"Lily Kayori is the leader of the dark world, which is where all your
danger is coming from. There recently was a civil war, with Lily facing
off with Matt and his accomplice Cherry. Now the war is over, and that
world, which was once a peaceful, happy place will return to normal,
thanks to you, Card Captor Sakura. Lily has been trapped inside herself,
and she has been waiting for this moment for a long time." The figure
touched Sakura's forehead and then disappeared, along with Lily.
Syaoran came up to Sakura. "She's been waiting for this moment all her
life, huh?" he said lightly. "Yeah. I hope she has a wonderful life."
Sakura said, still kneeling on the ground. Corey looked at his watch. "Oh
my gosh! School's already over!" he shouted in glee. Rosa and Rei
groaned. "You know, they probably called your house, Sakura, and your
apartment, Syaoran." Rosa pointed out. Suddenly all of them were silent.
"I better get home!" Sakura yelled, and started running home. Syaoran
gulped and sighed. "We should get going too." he said quietly. Madison
looked at her watch and shook her head. "Sorry guys, but I've gotta go. I
have to do my homework." she said, and left for HER house.

"SAKURA! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SKIPPING SCHOOL!!" Tori shouted at
her angrily the second she stepped through the front door. "I had to
finish something." Sakura said crossly. "I'll talk to her, Tori." Mr.
Avalon said quietly. Tori shut up, glared at Sakura, and left. "Sakura...
you should not skip school. It's important to get a good education, so
that when you grow up, you'll be able to get a good job and set a good
example for your children." he scolded her. "I'll talk to you more later
about this, Sakura, but I have a visitor for you..." Mr. Avalon said,
leading her into the living room. On the couch, politely sipping some
tea, was a handsome boy with serious blue eyes and glasses. "Eriol!"
Sakura cried in joy. "Hello Sakura. Thank you for having me, Mr. Avalon,
but I must be going now. Would you like to come, Sakura?" he asked,
putting his cup down. "Sure!" she said, happily agreeing. Outside, Sakura
waved goodbye to her father and walked to the park with Eriol.
"So, how have you coped with changing the Clow Cards into Sakura Cards,
Sakura?" Eriol asked. "Great! She's already gotten all of them!" Kero
shouted, jumping out of Sakura's pack. Sakura quickly stuffed Kero in the
bag, blushing, and looked around to see if anyone had noticed that a
stuffed animal could move and speak. "Did Syaoran help?" Eriol asked,
laughter in his eyes. Sakura blushed harder. "Yes." she said. "Alright,
now that the professional business is done with, I'd like to know where
Madison is." he said. Sakura thought a moment. "Let's go to Madison's
house." Sakura said. (okay, I know that's not what happened, but it's MY
story)

"SYAORAN!" Mei yelled at Syaoran angrily. "What have we told you about
skipping school?" Mei Li said gently, stopping Mei from saying anything
more. "Even though there may be things that you must attend to, such as
protecting the Card Mistress, you must get a good education for your
future, adult life. This has happened several times while you've been
here, Mr. Terada tells me. Maybe it's time we went back home." she said.
Syaoran's mouth dropped open. "Mei Li! But... I promise it definitely
won't happen again!" he said, not having a good arguement. Mei Li shook
her head sadly. "I'm sorry, but I don't want this happening frequently.
Back at home, you have the freedom of dealing with your magic and things
whenever you want, without too much responsibility blocking your way."
Mei Li said sensibly. "We're leaving two days after tomorrow, whether you
like it or not. Everyone else is coming too, including Meilin. No
questions asked, little brother." Mei Li said. Syaoran closed his mouth
in despair. He trudged to his room to begin packing.

two days later...

Sakura sat down next to the lake. 'Where could Syaoran be? He told me to
meet him here.' she thought happily. Sakura looked at the lake, leaning
over it to see her reflection. Above her was Syaoran. "Syaoran!" she
exclaimed, and jumped up to hug him. Syaoran stood still, not moving or
even embracing her. "What's wrong Syaoran?" she said, immediately sensing
that something wasn't right. Syaoran looked down, his face unreadable. "I
don't think we're going to work out, Sakura." he said coldly. Sakura
stepped back like she had been slapped. "What?" she whispered in
disbelief. "Goodbye Sakura." Syaoran said, and ran back towards his
apartment. "Wait! Syaoran!" Sakura cried, reaching after him. She grabbed
his wrist. "Why? Why are you breaking up with me?!" she asked him
quietly. Her voice was sad and withdrawn. Syaoran yanked his wrist away
and continued to run. Sakura stood in that spot, not moving after him.
She sat down on the grass and began to sob uncontrollably.

Corey sat on the couch, suitcase at his feet. Everyone else sat around
him, waiting for Syaoran to come home. Suddenly the door slammed open and
closed again. Syaoran appeared and sat on the couch next to Corey. Tears
were slipping down his face. "What's wrong, Syaoran?" Corey asked.
Syaoran didn't answer, only angrily wiped away his tears and curling his
hand into a fist. No one else said anything, even though they didn't know
what was going on. Then suddenly Syaoran spoke up, sadness and regret in
his voice. "Whatever you do, don't tell Sakura that I'm going back to
Hong Kong." he said. Everyone was speechless. "You should have told
Sakura the truth." Bryan said when he found his voice again. "Don't tell
me what to do, Bryan." Syaoran mumbled.

at the airport on the morning of Syaoran's flight...

"Flight 376, to Hong Kong, at Gate 11. Flight 376 to Hong Kong, at Gate
11." the voice called over the speakers. Mei got up quickly. "Well that's
us." Mei said, trying to be cheerful. Everyone got up and walked towards
the gate. "Wait! Syaoran!" a voice called to him. Syaoran stopped and
turned around. Sakura ran into him, wrapping him in a tight hug. She
placed her head on his chest. "Please don't go, Syaoran-kun." she said,
starting to cry. Syaoran didn't say anything, and the others stopped to
watch what he would do. "Maybe you really don't think we'll work out,
Syaoran, but I think you just didn't want to tell me you were leaving so
I wouldn't get hurt. But I am hurt. Hurt because you didn't tell me the
truth. He-here's something for you." Sakura said through her tears, and
handed him a small teddy bear. She watched his face as he held the teddy
bear in his hands. In the background, the voice calling the passengers to
flight 376 to Hong Kong was starting at it again. Syaoran looked at the
little teddy bear in his hands. Sakura didn't bother to wipe away her
tears, she just watched Syaoran's blank expression. Suddenly Syaoran drew
Sakura close to him and hugged her tight. Sakura smiled sadly and closed
her eyes. Syaoran looked at her in the face. "I will always love you, my
cherry blossom. And I promise that I will come back to Japan someday." he
said. Sakura watched as he turned around and started heading toward the
others. "No wait! Syaoran!" she said again. He turned around and wiped a
tear away. She ran up to him, flung her arms around his neck, and kissed
him passionately on the lips. Syaoran hugged her tight, unable to think
about the fact that he would soon be heading miles and miles away to Hong
Kong. Sakura broke the kiss and leaned against him. "I love you, Syaoran.
I will always wait for you." she said sadly. "Forever?" he said, wiping
away her tears. "Forever, Syaoran."
"Flight 376 to Hong Kong, at Gate 11. This is your last call. Passengers
on Flight 376 to Hong Kong at Gate 11, please board now. This is your
last call." the gate attendant said. Syaoran looked at the others. "I
promise Sakura. Forever." Syaoran said, and he walked over to the others.
They waved, and Sakura waved back. Sakura looked out the window at the
departing flight, which was getting smaller and smaller in the sky, until
she couldn't see it anymore. "Forever, Syaoran," she whispered.
Syaoran stared out the window, watching as the airport started getting
smaller and smaller. Mei Li patted her little brother's head. "I'll do
everything I can to make sure that promise is fullfilled, Syaoran."
Syaoran turned away from the window and leaned against his oldest sister.
"Thanks." he murmured, clutching the teddy bear.