Chapter 9: Hope & Faith

i was just reading chapter 8,
and i realized i didn't even name it!
just use your imagination
everything's still the same, so njoy
oh yeah, these songs, i'll just write the authors now

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Mei looked through the slightly open door at her brother. 'Poor thing...
to have someone you care so much about hurt so badly.' She closed it, and
wiped away her tears. She remembered when Syaoran and the others had
gotten back to the apartment, and she and Mei Li rushed them to the
hospital, where they had recently gotten jobs as a nurse and doctor. Mei
Li came in through the connecting door, which led to Terry's room. "Is
she still unconscious?" Mei asked sympathetically. Mei Li slowly nodded.
"The little one, Terry, wasn't hurt bad, just some bruises and scratches
after hitting the ground when Sakura pushed her out of the way. She also
has a mild concussion, because I think her head hit the ground a little.
Sakura... isn't doing so well. But Kero is in there with her, even if he
is sleeping." Mei Li used her finger to lower one of the blinds to the
window which looked into the private waiting room, where everyone except
Sakura and Terry were sitting or walking or something. "How will Syaoran
deal with it if Sakura doesn't make it?" Mei Li said outloud to herself.
"We can't know the answer to that. But we have to hope for everyone that
everyone will be okay. EVERYONE." Mei said feircely. Mei Li shook her
head.
"That evil girl... her name, what was it? Oh yes, Shawna, she used some
sort of powerful black magic against Sakura, so that we can't use magic
to heal her." Mei sighed. "It's amazing what people will do to get what
they want. Centuries ago, magic was only used for good. I guess it
eventually fell into the wrong hands." she said. Mei Li was silent, then
reached into her pocket. "These may have been the only things that kept
Sakura alive. The magic of a cardcaptor and the legendary dove... this
little girl certainly has a lot of responsibilities. Syaoran has chosen a
good friend for life." Mei Li handed the Clow Star necklace and Sakura's
charm bracelet with the dove on it to Mei, which shined a little in the
dim light. "Give these to Syaoran, he will keep them safe for Sakura."
Mei peered through her opening through the blinds again, pocketing the
necklace and bracelet. "It's a good thing the others knew to team up
their magic with Syaoran to destroy the Dark Palace. Nothing was left.
Remember, we had come to destroy it after discovering it a few days ago.
I think we should stay here anyway, to help out the little ones if they
need it." "You're right, we should stay. Well, I think it was Corey, you
know, the guy who kind of resembles Syaoran but is taller? I think he
used to be the leader of the doves with Sakura, and he instructed the
others," Mei Li said. Mei looked at her older sister in surprise. "How
did you find out about that? Even I didn't know," she said.
Mei Li didn't answer. The beeping sound of the heart monitor filled the
room. "It's the way he told everyone how to bring Sakura and Terry to the
hospital after they found us in the apartment. A good sense of leadership
is the key to being a leader. Also, the way he looks after Sakura, like
Syaoran, kind of clued me in. Corey obviously respects Syaoran and
Sakura, so he doesn't interfere with their relationship." Mei smiled.
"I'll give the stuff back to Syaoran now." As Mei opened the door, she
glanced back at her sister, who was looking at her gently. Both smiled at
each other. 'Hope,' they thought.

"This is all my fault!" Syaoran shouted for the thousandth time in the
noiseless waiting room. The hospital had private rooms for some patients,
and Mei Li and Mei had managed to get Sakura and Terry a connected double
room. Syaoran clenched his hands. He shut his eyes tightly, thinking
about how hurt Sakura and Terry were. But his mind was mostly on
Sakura... her bloody arm... her torn clothes... just thinking about it
made himself angry. 'I could have stopped her.' he thought for the
hundredth time. Corey, Chang, and Rosa were slumped on the long metal
bench, Meilin and Madison were leaning against the wall to Sakura's room,
and Fil, Fula, and Bryan were pacing in front of the window, which was
closed by blinds. Syaoran sighed, clenching and unclenching his fists.
Then he punched the wall.
Corey stopped the punch before it could hit the wall. He put both hands
over Syaoran's fist in front of his face, his head against the wall. He
pulled Syaoran's fist down and then punched him, sending Syaoran crashing
to the floor. If there was any noise in the waiting room before, there
wasn't any now. "What is the matter with you?!" Corey shouted at Syaoran,
his voice filling up the silent room. "Stop beating yourself up over
this! You know it's not your fault, and blaming everything on you isn't
going to heal Sakura!" he said, eyes blazing angrily. Syaoran still sat
on the ground, dazed. His mind was clearing, and he saw Sakura's bright,
smiling face looking at him. He remembered a time from the future, before
she and Syaoran were going out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Syaoran!" Sakura said angrily. Syaoran looked at Sakura in surprise.
She almost never yelled or raised her voice in true anger. The two tall
figures were outlined in the sunset. "You have to stop blaming everything
on yourself!" she said, turning away from him. "It won't do any good to
make excuses for what happened. Nothing will ever change the past. You
have to think about the future, what you can do to make her feel better.
It's not your fault!" she said again. Syaoran looked away. "I know." he
said quietly. "I just can't help thinking I could have done something,"
Syaoran said, his voice fading away.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Syaoran still sat on the ground, thinking. Thinking about what Corey was
saying now. How similar it was to what Sakura had said in the future. How
hurt Sakura was. He slowly got up and sat down on the bench. Syaoran's
amber eyes were pained, hurt and sad. The tears welled up in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, you guys." he said. Meilin and Rosa sat next to him, and
everyone who had been standing sat down. "You know, it's okay to cry,
Syaoran. You need to let your feelings out. You've always kept a lot of
things inside." Rosa said gently.
Meilin sighed and put her hand over Syaoran's. "You know, you're not the
only one who feels bad, Syaoran. Your sisters, Corey, Chang, Bryan, Fil,
Fula, Rei, Rosa, Madison, Kero... and me too. We're all thinking how we
could have prevented this. But you can't take all the blame for it. It
was nobody's fault. No one could have stopped Sakura from helping Terry.
She's kind and loyal at heart. She would leap at the chance to help
anyone who needed it. So stop beating yourself up over this. I know
Sakura has told you this stuff before, because you do this a lot. Think
about how Sakura sacrificed herself to save Terry, so you guys could
destroy the Dark Palace. We'll all feel better when Sakura is better
too." she said quietly.
Corey tapped Syaoran lightly on the shoulder. "Sorry for punching you,
Syaoran, but Meilin and Rosa are right. We'll all feel better when Sakura
is better, and we have to think of the future, not of the past. None of
us can change what's happened." Corey put his arm around Syaoran's
shoulders. Everyone else put in their opinions, which were pretty similar
to what Rosa, Meilin, and Corey said. "Thanks you guys." Syaoran said
quietly.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Mei peeked her head through it.
"Syaoran?" she said, coming out and closing the door. Syaoran quickly ran
to his sister. "Can we see them yet?" he asked. Mei shook her head sadly.
"Sorry, little brother, but Mei Li told me to give these to you." Mei
took out the necklace and bracelet from her pocket. "Mei Li said that
these were probably the only things that kept Sakura alive during the
blast." Mei handed them to Syaoran. "Keep them safe, make sure no one
takes them from you guys," she said, looking at the others. Everyone
nodded and Syaoran put them in his pocket. "But can you tell us how badly
Sakura and Terry are hurt?" Rosa asked.
Mei sat everyone down and pulled up a chair from the corner. "Well,
Terry wasn't hurt too bad, she has some bruises and scratches from
hitting the ground and a mild concussion because her head hit the ground
too. Terry's wings probably slowed her fall." Mei said, remembering what
Mei Li had told her. "What about Sakura?" Corey asked worriedly. Mei
hesitated. "Ummm..." "Well? Mei! Don't keep stuff from us!" Syaoran said
despairingly. Mei sighed, her voice quivering. "Sakura isn't doing so
well. Both of them are unconcious, but Sakura's head is badly hurt. We
bandaged it up a bit. Her arm is broken, and is in a cast now. She has a
lot of scratches and bruises, and we can't heal her with magic because
Shawna used this powerful black magic to hit Sakura." Syaoran was silent.
Everyone else was looking back and forth between Mei and Syaoran. Mei
stood up and put both hands on Syaoran's shoulders. "We know what you are
going through, Syaoran." she said gently. But before she could even
finish, Syaoran hit her hands away.
Syaoran stood up angrily. "No, you don't! You don't know how it feels to
have someone you love hurt so bad!" Syaoran shouted at Mei, angry tears
spilling from his eyes. He ran out the door and away from the hospital.
Everyone looked after him, and Bryan quietly closed the door. Everyone
sat back down on the metal bench and waited.

'How come everyone thinks they know what I'm going through?" he thought
angrily. He quickly ran to the park and sat down on a bench near the
lake. He instantly felt calmer. A few cherry blossoms from a nearby tree
flew into his hair. Syaoran held a blossom tenderly in his hand. 'I
wonder how Sakura is doing right now.' he thought miserably. He looked in
the water... and saw Sakura! He gasped. "Sakura?"
"No, Syaoran, just me." Forever said. "Oh. It's you again." Syaoran
said, slumping back down on the bench. The Forever Card, with Sakura's
image, sat down next to him. She blew some cherry blossoms on him and he
instantly became older, from his past. The Forever card hugged him tight,
tears slipping down her face. "Don't feel bad, Syaoran. Please. You know
Sakura did this because she had to. She saved Terry because she knew
Terry was in great danger. It's not your fault! It's not your fault!" she
said. Syaoran looked at the lake again. "I know. You've told me all this
before. But I can't help feeling guilty. It's not fair. Why Sakura?" he
asked, looking at the Forever card. "It's fate and destiny all rolled
into one. Sakura will be okay though, but you have to have faith in her,
and everyone else. If there is any trace of doubt in you, Sakura will not
live to our days. Remember?" The forever card said gently. Even though
the Forever card wasn't the same as Sakura, she still had the charm and
the personality of the older Sakura. The forever card kissed Syoaran
gently on the forehead. "Go back to the hospital. Have faith in Sakura.
You two will always be together, past, present or future." The forever
card turned Syaoran back into a kid again. She smiled and disappeared
into the bright blue sky.

"Bryan?" Terry whimpered. There was no one beside her bed. "Bryan?" she
said again, louder and more afraid. BRYAN!!" she shouted, and then
winced in pain. 'Everything hurts, especially my head.' Terry thought.
Bryan and two older girls with a slight resemblance to Syaoran rushed in.
"Terry!" Bryan said in relief, and fell to his knees, holding her hand.
Terry smiled slightly. "Where's everyone else?" she asked. "Outside. I
wanted to speak to you, alone. Remember how when you were little,
something similar like this also happened? You asked what happened to our
parents. Well, I'll tell you now. While I watched as they died, Mom and
Dad told me to tell you when you were thirteen." Bryan stroked Terry's
wavy black air gently. "But I think you would be better off knowing what
happened now." he said. "I miss Mom and Dad." Terry sighed, looking out
the window and gripping Bryan's hand. "So do I, Terry. So do I."

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When I first met you
all I could think of was 'partner'
But as time went on
those feelings grew and grew
Then they turned real special
that night at the dance
And soon all was lost
in the biggest battle of our lives
But sometimes, though i now love someone else
I think about our past, how we fought together
against everyone with our team,
That close bond we had is gone,
but in its placeis true friendship
that will last forever no matter what happens

by Sakura, to Corey