I'm running out of themes...here's Chapter 18...

Chapter 18

~~~~~

It was a nice and peaceful day, in a nice and peaceful village, yet something usual is disturbing the peace.

"Our next item is the mysterious mirror from more than three hundred years ago." A mid age man said as he stood on top of the stand, in a big mansion. People were gathered around, having an auction. A perfect place for rich ladies and gentlemen to get some rare items, also a perfect target for thieves.

"He he he...looks like they have some very rare and worthy items here today...I mustn't rush, I'll wait for the perfect chance for me to take over this whole place." A man in a scarf said. He listened to the announcer.

"This mirror is said to be a cursed item. Long ago, a beautiful lady owned this mirror. She was so beautiful, that all she does is stare at this mirror all day. She was alone, yet satisfied. Until one day, she passed away, regretting that she had wasted her whole life staring at herself instead of getting a decent boyfriend. Therefore this mirror that she once held, is filled with jealousy of other couples that are in love. Whoever gets their hands on it, will never succeed in his or her relationship."

All the audiences gasped. "Oh, how terrible." A worker took out the mirror. It was a small mirror, about the size of a coaster. Flat and has a string attached, so you can were it as a necklace. It was wrapped nicely with special paper that seals its power. The worker placed it carefully on the table, and the others began bidding.

"Fifty." One called.

"One hundred!" Said the other.

The prices were getting higher and higher, the scarf man was about to make a move when all of a sudden, someone threw a smoke bomb into the middle of the crowd. The smoke soon filled the whole mansion, and no one can see a thing. "What the heck?" The scarf man yelled. "Hey, what on earth is going on?"

Minutes later, after a whole lot of coughing, the smoke finally cleared. All the people looked around to see what happened. "Ahh! My wallet is stolen!" A woman yelled. The others checked theirs, and realized that theirs were missing, too. "Eek! So is mine!"

"Ah!!" The announcer screamed. "All the bidding items have been stolen!!" The whole mansion was completely robbed; nothing valuable is left. The scarf man stood there, having a hard time believing what just happened. "How...how dare him?"

"HOW DARE SOMEONE STEALS SOMETHING BEFORE I GOT THE CHANCE TO??!!" He yelled, pulling off his scarf. It was Jon who was under the scarf. Everyone looked at him. He paused, feeling glares on him He turned around, knowing that he said it too loudly. "Um...ah..." He said with a smile, a big sweat drop appeared on his face. "Here's some more smoke for you!" He threw a smoke boom; soon the mansion was filled with coughing noises again.

~~~~~

A fat man was running away from the scene of the crime in high speed, he had a big bag of stuffs with him. "He he...what an easy task! This time I earn big!!" He was running in some short of mountain trails filled with trees and grass.

"Yo! Wait!" A voice yelled. The fat man turned around to look; he couldn't believe someone actually caught up to him. "What the? Who's there?" Jon ran up next to him, and yelled again. "So you were the one who stole from the mansion!" Jon ran with him side by side.

"You can't catch me! I can take you down in less than a second!" The fat man kept running. Jon replied. "I'm not here to get you! We're in the same business!" The fat man stopped. "Really?" He collapsed, and sat down on ground. "Gees, why didn't you say so? I'm exhausted!"

They sat down together, and they talked. "You see, I was there first, but you took everything away, and left nothing for me." Jon tried to reason with him. "The least you can do is give me some of the goods you stole!" He pointed to the bag. The fat man looked at him. "Is that all you want to say?" Jon nodded; the man stood up, took the bag and started walking away. "Bye." He said briefly. Jon ran up. "Wait wait wait wait wait!"

"Oh come on, you really don't expect me to give you a share of my stolen goods now, do you?" The fat man said. Jon stood up dramatically, and brushed the dust of the fat man's shoulder. "Did I tell you how good you were at stealing those goods? I mean, wow!" He said.

"Well." The man turned away with a smile on his face. "I am pretty good." Jon knew he was pleased with the comments, so he decided to continue. "You...you should be a legend, your way of stealing was like a...like a...magic show!" Jon said, exaggerating every word he said. Anyone could tell that he was lying, but to the man he was speaking to, it was like music to his ears. He smiled proudly, "Well, I'm not surprised, you're looking at the best thieve of the mission..." He paused, stopping himself from saying more. Jon looked closer, "Of what?"

The fat man hesitated, then said, "Of the...mansion. Yes, of course." He backed up. Jon tilted his head, not sure that was what he said. The man thought to himself. [That was closed, for a minute there I almost revealed the fact that I'm a missioner from hell...] Jon tapped him. "Ah...sir?"

The man snapped out of his thoughts. "Er...I...have to go." He was trying to get away; he knew that Jon was getting suspicious at him. Jon wouldn't let him leave. "Wait, I'm not done!" Jon pulled him back. The man was getting annoyed; he reached into the bag, took whatever that he grabbed first, and threw it to him. "Here! Just leave me alone!" Jon caught the item he threw, before he had time to react, the man ran away already. "What's his problem?" Jon stood there, confused, and looked at what he threw at him.

It was the mirror back there. Jon sighed, and shoved it into his pocket. [Well, it's better than nothing.]

~~~~~

In a busied market place, shops were everywhere. The market place looks like a market from India back in the old days. Here, Jon was trying to find the perfect target. "Hm..." he hummed, as he scanned the pedestrians for a rich-looking person. As he found his target, he smiled delightedly, and ran from tent shops to tent shops moving closer and closer to a short lady with at least three diamond rights on each of her finger. Just when he was only inches away from the target, someone tapped on his shoulder. He was very surprised by that. He jumped, and looked around to see who was tapping.

It was Sakura, with a paper bag full of groceries. "Jon!" She said. "I haven't seen you for a while!" she said. Jon was in a very awkward position, he turned around, seeing that his pray was far away by now, he sighed and paid his attention back to Sakura. "Oh, hi, Sakura. What's up with the groceries?"

Sakura looked at her bag. "Oh, this? It's for my boss."

Jon scratched his head. "Boss?"

Sakura blushed lightly. "Well...it went like this. Syaoran and I ran out of money, so we had to work at this restaurant to earn some traveling fees." She giggled. "Syaoran looks the cutest when he wears an apron."

Jon wouldn't dare to imagine that. A vision of a man wearing something that looks like a girl is another man's nightmare. He just laughed along.

Sakura stopped giggling. "What are you doing here?" She asked. Jon jumped at the question. A nervous sweat drop rolled down on his head. "Um...I...ah..." Sakura leaned closer to him. "You were stealing again?" Her face darkened, and she now had her free hand on her waist. She looked like a mother who saw a failing grade on her child's test paper. Jon didn't dare to continue the conversation. He took the mirror that her got earlier, and gave it to Sakura. "Oh! Right! I got you a gift! Look!"

Sakura didn't quite buy that. Jon just shoved her the mirror and ran off. "Okay, bye!" Sakura stared at the weird gift. It was wrapped in paper; she couldn't tell what it is. It looked more like a piece of cracker wrapped in wax paper.

Just when she was about to open the gift, he boss popped his head out of the store and rushed her. "Hey, Sakura, I can use those groceries!" He said. Sakura turned her mind back to work. "Oh, sorry!" She put the mirror into her pocket, and ignored it for the day.

~~~~~

The next time she remembered about it, was when the restaurant closed.

"Thank you for coming." She said good-bye to the last customer, and began picking up the dishes on the table. Syaoran was wiping the table beside her. He stretched, and yawned. "Tough day." He said tiredly. Sakura smiled, and made it up for him. "Busy day. It's a good thing." Syaoran kept wiping the table. "Whatever."

The boss came in from the kitchen, and said. "Thanks you two. I'll take it from here, you can go to the back and rest in your room." Sakura and Syaoran thanked him, and went to the back.

Sakura jumped on the bed, and lied there lifelessly. "Oh, I'm so tired...I haven't work this hard since...I don't know when..." She rolled over and faced the ceiling. Syaoran sat on the bed beside her. "Go change before you get on the bed." Sakura shook her head lightly. "I don't want to move..." Syaoran looked at her. "You can't lay here all night." She stretched out her hands, "Lift me up." She said.

Syaoran sighed. "You lazy thing." He pulled her. She giggled, and went to the bathroom to get change.

After she changed into her pajamas, her mirror dropped. She picked it up, wondering what was under the wrapping, and opened it out of curiosity. It was not until then that she realized that it was a mirror. She looked directly into the mirror, and into the eyes of her own reflection. All of the sudden, her reflection smiled, Sakura was shocked, and dropped the mirror. The mirror didn't land; instead, it floated in the air with strange alien glow surrounding it.

Sakura backed away, she wanted to run, but something paralyzed her. "Syaoran..." She said quietly, she couldn't scream. "Help...me..." The mirror floated towards Sakura, and for a second, all she could see was green light.

[Syaoran!!!]

Syaoran felt a chill, he thought he heard someone called his name, but he wasn't sure. He stood up, and started to walk towards the bathroom. "Sakura...?" He knew there were something strange going on, but what?

He approached the door quietly, and was about to open the door when the door was suddenly opened from the other side. Syaoran gasped, and Sakura came out. She looked...different.

She didn't have the glow in her eyes, and she wasn't smiling. Syaoran swallowed, he felt as if a stranger was standing in front of him. "Sakura, are you okay?" Sakura gave him a soft smile. "Yes, why?" Somehow, that smile was different from the usual ones. Syaoran walked closer. "Are you sure?" Sakura nodded. [So this is the one that this girl treasures.] Sakura thought to herself. Then she gave him a brighter smile. "Do I look different?"

"Um..." Syaoran wasn't sure what, but something was definitely different, and that's when he realized that she was wearing a mirror around her neck. "Oh, so that's what was different." He picked it up, and examined it.

~~~~~

It was dark, and Sakura woke up in the darkness. "Ah...where am I?" She stood up, still feeling a little dizzy. The last thing she remembered was the mirror attacking her, and she passed out. "How do I get here?"

"It looks nice on you."

Sakura heard Syaoran's voice. "Syaoran?" She looked around, all she could see was darkness, but she realized that there were really light, some very dim ones, coming from a round shaped window. She ran to toward the window, and looked out side. She saw Syaoran looking directly at her, but he seems...awfully big...

"Syaoran!" She yelled, and started banging on the window, but Syaoran couldn't hear her. "Where'd you get it?" Syaoran said, looking up.

[Whom is he talking to?] Sakura thought. Then she was shocked when she heard he own voice answering his question. "No where."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat; she slowly looked up, and saw her own face, smiling at Syaoran. [Is that...me?] She watched "herself" in fear. [That's not me! Who is it?] And that's when Sakura realized it: she was trapped inside the mirror, and someone was using her body!

The Sakura outside stepped closer to Syaoran. "Don't you like it?" she said, putting her arms around his neck. Syaoran was surprised at her forwardness. He blinked, and replied nervously. "Ah...o-of course I like it." Sakura smiled, and hugged him tight. "I'm glad." Syaoran just stood there; he was too surprised to hug back. "Huh?" He blushed.

Inside the mirror, Sakura banged hard. "No! Syaoran! That's not me! Don't get fooled! Please!!!"

"Syaoran!!!"

~~~~~

Deep in the night, when Syaoran fell deep asleep on a bed next to "Sakura's", "Sakura" got up, and walked outside. She closed the door behind her quietly, leaving a little gap, and smiled at Syaoran who rolled over and sighed in deep sleep.

When "Sakura" walked out to the back yard, she took her mirror, and looked inside. There, the real Sakura lied. She ran up to the mirror, and yelled. "Give me back my body!"

The fake Sakura smiled, and shook her head lightly. "No, not until I've completed my task." Sakura felt a chill. "Your task?" She asked. She was afraid to find out.

The fake Sakura paused, and revealed it slowly. "To kill the person you admire." Sakura's heart almost stopped, she banged on the mirror. "Don't you dare touch Syaoran!" The fake Sakura smiled, and put her finger to her lip. "Syaoran...is that his name? What a cute name. 'Little wolf', it suits him." She brushed her hair. "I like it, it would look good on his grave."

"NOOOOOO!!" Sakura kept hitting the mirror. Tears began to appear in her eyes. The fake Sakura tilted her head, "Too bad you can't do anything about it, but to witness the death of your own love." She laughed evilly. "Ha ha ha...I love it when two lovers start to kill each other." She put down her mirror, and started to walk back into the bedroom. Sakura watched fearfully as the fake Sakura approached to the side of Syaoran's bed.

Syaoran slept peacefully under the moonlight. The fake Sakura looked at him, and blushed. She had to admit, he was cute. To kill him right away would be a waste; she had decided to play with the little wolf for a short while before killing him. She bended down, and kissed him on the cheek. "Sweet dreams, my cute little wolf." After that, she went to bed herself.

Sakura sighed for relieve, at least the fake her wasn't going to make any move for the night. Still, she was not too keen with the kiss.

~~~~~

After working for three days straight in the restaurant, Sakura and Syaoran finally got to have a little break. The fake Sakura use sight seeing as an excuse, and took Syaoran around town.

"Let's go there!" Fake Sakura pointed towards the highest building in town. It was a spiral shape tower made out of silver-like material. "The view must be incredible up there!" She grabbed his hand, and pulled him along. "Hey...wait." Syaoran complained. The Sakura in the mirror looked nervously outside, the fake Sakura ran rapidly, causing the mirror to bounce up and down. The real Sakura lost her balance, and fell hard. "Ow!" She got up, groaning. "Stop running already!"

At the same time, Jon was also inside the tower, sneaking around in souvenir shops. "Aha! A lot of visitors would come to visit this tower, this is the perfect place to steal!" He stayed low, making sure no one was looking; he backed away to one of the moneybox of a souvenir shopkeeper. As he did so, he bumped into a person; he turned around to see that it was the fat guy from the auction. "You!" He said, the guy turned around and said the same.

People were coming by, so the dived into the stuffed animals. They wait until the people were gone, and popped their heads up again, bodies still buried under stuffed animals. "What are you doing here?" Jon asked with a stuffed penguin bird on his head. "The same thing you are doing here!" The fat guy answered with a stuffed octopus on his head.

"Sh! Someone's coming!" Jon said, both of them sunk back into the stuffed animals. Sakura and Syaoran came by, and they were looking at souvenirs. Syaoran walked towards the stuffed animal piles, and started looking. The two thieves were afraid that he would find them; they didn't move an inch. Syaoran looked around, holding up a stuffed chocobo doll. "If we weren't tight for cash, I'd buy this for Chocy." Sakura smiled and nodded along, not sure who Chocy was. She looked around, and saw no one. She knew that there was her chance to kill Syaoran.

She took one of the models of the tower, it was fairly heavy, and she could use it as a weapon. The real Sakura watched in fear. "No! Drop that! Nooooo!!" The fake Sakura approached Syaoran with the model in her hand. She lifted it up high, and was about to hit him when suddenly, Syaoran turned and walked away. The fake Sakura missed him by an inch, and smashed the model into the stuffed animals. It was almost soundless; therefore Syaoran didn't notice a thing.

Syaoran looked around, and saw Sakura with the model in her arms; he smiled. "You're not planning to get that, are you?" Sakura tilted her head, and grinned. "Um...no." She put it some where on the shelf in front of her. [Did he...know?] She thought. He patted her on the shoulder, which scared her. He smiled, and said gently. "Come on, let's go."

The fake Sakura forced a smile, and nodded. They were about to go away, when one of the stuffed octopuses rolled off, and the face of the fat thieve appeared. "Huh?" They both said.

The thief was hit on the head by Sakura's model, a bump appeared. Syaoran gasped when he saw what was on the bump: a missioners tattoo! The fake Sakura hit the missioner right tattoo by accident when she was going for Syaoran! Seconds later, his body vanished, and his soul was sucked into Sakura's necklace. The fake Sakura blinked, not sure what had really happened. Syaoran looked at Sakura. "Did you do that?" Sakura nodded. "I think so."

Though still stunned, Syaoran decided to ignore the matter, and move on. Jon stood out of the pile of stuffed animals, with the penguin bird toy still on his head, he said. "Wow...Sakura's good...she could tell the face of a missioner like that!" Then it occurred to him that Sakura hadn't be acting quite normal, for a moment there, he thought she was going to hit Syaoran...

~~~~~

As they walked higher and higher, they saw a construction worker blocking half of the walkway. "Huh? What happened?" Syaoran asked, a constructor explained. "One of the windows was broken, so we had to block this section to fix it." Syaoran looked at the direction he pointed to, he was right, one of the many big windows broken and the glass pieces scattered everywhere. He turned around, and told Sakura. "Come on, we'll go around it." He walked ahead. Sakura paused, and looked at one of the scattered pieces of the window that was relatively sharp, she knelt down and took it into her pocket.

[What...?] Jon was following them the whole time. [What did Sakura just do? Why on earth did she take a broken glass piece?] He didn't get it, then the thought of her almost hitting Syaoran with the model flashed in his mind, he shook his head. "Couldn't happen, we're talking about Sakura here."

They walk higher up to the tower, the environment changed, what was originally an inside hallway with big windows was now an outside balcony with fences at the side that's up to Sakura's stomach. Syaoran looked at the view. "Wow!" He walked to the fence, leaning on it. "What a beautiful view!" Sakura forced a smile. "Sure is." Syaoran looked at her, and smiled tenderly. He turned his attention backed to the view. Sakura walked closer, and took the broken glass out of her pocket; she moves toward him slowly...

Jon almost jumped up. "Sa...Sakura?" He was going to stop her when a puff of yellow stuff jumped in front of him. "Wark~!" it went. And jumped toward Syaoran with a big smile. Syaoran almost got knocked down but him. "Hey! Chocy!" He said gladly. "How'd you find us? I thought you were in the restaurant!" He petted him. Sakura backed up nervously, trying to hide the weapon from the unexpected company. Chocy turned around, and grinned at Sakura. "Wark!" He said. Sakura was quite scared by the movement. Chocy knew something was going on. "Wark?" It said quietly.

Syaoran jumped on Chocy. "Let's ride him for the rest of the way back." He said. Sakura hesitated. "Um...I..." Syaoran pulled her hand. "Come on!" She jumped on unwillingly, and wrapped her arms around him; he started to order Chocy to go down the tower. The Sakura inside the mirror sighed, she knew Syaoran would be safe for now.

Jon looked at them go, and lowered an eyebrow. "Sakura...? Why did she do that? It's not like her at all..." Then he remembered the mirror she was wearing. It was the one he gave her, the one he saw in the auction. He remembered with the adjudicator said. 'Whoever gets their hands on it, will never succeed in his or her relationship...'

"Oh no!" Jon slapped his own head. "This must have something to do with that mirror! It'll rip those two apart!"

~~~~~

Chocy was eating his meal happily in his barn; humming as he ate, he heard a noise behind him. He slowly turned around, and Jon rose slowly from the hays. "Sh..." He hinted. Chocy turned his body around, and tilted his head. Jon walked closer to him. "I got a little favor to ask you." He sat down beside him. "Have you noticed that Sakura has been acting strangely today?"

Chocy nodded to his agreement. {It's like she's afraid of me.} Chocy thought. Jon held up his index finger. "Yeah, I think she's under some sort of spell!" Chocy gasped, Jon continued. "Anyway, I'll have to go and find out a way to cure her, whatever it is, it's not good! Sakura and Syaoran may never be together if this goes on!" Chocy's mouth dropped. "Wark~!" He yelled. Jon shushed him again. "That's why I need your help!"

Chocy nodded. {I'll do it!} He thought. Jon smiled. "Great, now all you have to do is to keep an eye on her, making sure that she doesn't do anything to Syaoran. And don't tell Syaoran...well...not that you can talk, but don't tell him!" Chocy nodded again. Jon started to head for the door. "I'll be back as soon as I find a cure, Syaoran's life is in your hand!" He ran out, and so did Chocy, to find Sakura.

~~~~~

"I'm going to make you a big dinner!" Sakura said with a big smile on her face. Syaoran stood next to the table with a sweat drop on his head. "Huh? Why so sudden?" Sakura pushed him down on a chair; leaning on his shoulder, he was forced to sit. "Just sit and relax, I'll have the meal ready in a second." She went into the kitchen, leaving Syaoran kind of confused.

"Let's see..." Sakura searched the top cupboard in the kitchen; she couldn't see what was up there, so she felt around to search. "Oh...got it..." She took a bottle of powder off the cupboard; it labeled "rat poison". She smiled evilly, and skipped towards the stove. Inside the mirror, Sakura was stunned. "No! No, you wicked thing! You're going to poison Syaoran! How dare you! Let me go!" She banged, but no one could hear her, she felt hopeless.

"No...no..." The real Sakura leaned against the mirror and slowly slid down. "What should I do? What should I do?" She put her hands to her head; tears came out of her eyes. "I can't do anything...am I just going to watch "myself" killing Syaoran? Syaoran...please be okay..."

The noodle she was making was almost ready; she stirred it delicately with a spatula. She put the spatula aside, and took the rat poison next to it. Again, she smiled evilly, and started to twist the lid open when suddenly, Chocy popped out of the window in front of the stove. That scared Sakura, and it almost made her fall. "W-What are you doing here?" She said, waving her hand, trying to make him go away. But Chocy just stood there with his head through the window. Sakura hid the bottle behind her, and then she realized, "Wait, chocobos can't read." She brought the poison to her front, and started to move towards the stove. "Nice, chocobo...I'm just trying to cook noodles here..."

When she almost got to the pan of noodles, Syaoran appeared behind her. "What are you doing?" he said, that really took Sakura by surprised. "Ah!" She yelled, and then she turned around, backing up a few steps while hiding the poison behind her, Syaoran looked at the noodles. "Oh, don't over do them!" He walked over to the stove, and turned it off. Sakura used this chance to slip the poison into a draw. Syaoran stirred the noodles, and pored them into three bowls. He wiped his hands with a towel, and took the bowls. "Okay, let's eat!" He looked at Chocy, who was glaring through the window; he smiled. "Do you want to eat too, Chocy?" Chocy nodded, and Syaoran laughed, he turned to Sakura. "Come on."

"Ah...um...okay." Sakura could only accept his offer, she didn't want to look suspicious, or look even more suspicious considering she already looked suspicious enough. The Sakura inside the mirror wiped off the sweat with her sleeves. "Phew...another close one...who can help me safe Syaoran?"

~~~~~

Throughout the whole night, Chocy was very close to them, Sakura didn't have a chance to even plan her murder. He even followed them to the bedroom when they were going to rest. [I've got to ditch the chocobo somehow...] Sakura thought. While inside the mirror, the real Sakura was glad that Chocy was there to guard Syaoran.

Syaoran on the other hand, found that was quite annoying. He turned around, and smiled to Chocy. "Chocy, are you okay? Why are you following us?"

Chocy wanted to tell him, but Jon told him not to tell, so Chocy looked around, thinking of the perfect answer. Syaoran filled in for him. "You're lonely?" Chocy thought that it was a good excuse, so he nodded wildly; but Syaoran had a follow up. "Why are you lonely? You've never acted this way before." Chocy was getting nervous; he didn't know what to do.

Syaoran jumped to conclusion. "Well, you'll have to leave us alone, we're going to rest." Chocy shook his head wildly; he promised Jon that he'd watch after Syaoran. Syaoran sighed, and turned to Sakura. "I have no idea what to do with him, help me."

[I want him to leave, too...] Sakura thought. Suddenly, she thought of an idea. "Why don't you go take a bath first? I'll take care of him." Syaoran smiled, nodded, and headed towards the bathroom. Sakura turned around, and faced Chocy. "He'll be in the bath for a while, why don't I take you back to your barn?" Though he didn't quite trusted the fake Sakura, Chocy thought that it would be safe now that Syaoran's in the bathroom, so he agreed.

After Sakura put Chocy back, and closed the barn door, she turned around, and smiled wickedly.

~~~~~

The bathroom in the restaurant was like a public bath that has a girl side and a boy side. The tub was as big as a pool and there were many sprinklers at the sides. Syaoran walked in with a towel around his waist. He looked around; there weren't anyone but him. He looked at the big tub full of hot water, and smiled to himself. "Great, I'm going to enjoy a nice hot bath by myself."

He slowly soaked into the warm water, he signed, and relaxed. He closed his eyes, and enjoyed this peaceful moments.

The peace didn't last long. Minutes later, he heard a sound over at the changing room. "Huh?" He looked around, and then he heard footsteps, getting closer and closer. "Who would come to bath this late?"

His eyes widened and his face turned bright red as he saw who came in. It was Sakura, with nothing but a towel around her body, and the mirror around her neck. "S-S-S-S-Sakura!!" He yelled. "W-W-W-What are you doing here?? This is the boy's side of the bath!" He paused. "Is it?"

"I know." Sakura said peacefully. "I thought it might be fun to join you." She walked closer to him. Syaoran backed up clumsily. "J-J-J-J-J-Join me?"

Sakura nodded. She stepped into the gigantic tub. Inside the mirror, the real Sakura was screaming. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! How can you do this with my body? Give me back my body!! No!! Oh for god's sake please don't drop the towel!!" She almost cried, it was HER body that Syaoran's looking at, her face turned bright red. "Oh...I can't believe this is happening to me...he's going to see everything..."

"P-P-P-P-P-Please stay where you are!" Syaoran kept backing up. "I'll be out of here as soon as possible!" He said. Sakura moved closer. "Why? Do you...hate me?" She swam towards him, Syaoran jerked, didn't know what to do at the moment. "No!" He said. "I...I..." She leaned on his shoulder. "You don't find me attractive?" She said, their bodies awfully close. Syaoran replied with his instinct. "No! Not at all! But..."

Sakura smiled, "That's great." She hugged him. Syaoran felt like he was going to faint. He didn't know what to do, and don't know how long he can control himself before he...

"OOOOOOHHHHH MMMMYYYYYY GGGGOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDD!! I can't believe I'm actually saying this to him!!" the real Sakura shook her head wildly in the mirror. Her face was redder than tomato. "Oh~ He is so going to get the wrong idea!!"

The fake Sakura took out the broken glass piece she had before, she knew Syaoran wouldn't notice it since it was underwater. She was about to make her move when Syaoran suddenly stood up, and ran out shouting "I'VE GOT TO GO!" Leaving her in the tub alone, didn't know what really happened. The Sakura in the mirror was still shaking her head. "Oh no...how can I show my face in front of him, ever again...?"

~~~~~

"In control?" Jon asked the old man who held the auction. He was drinking tea in his big mansion. He nodded slowly, and went on. "I've never seen it, but I heard that whoever presumes the mirror and breaks the seal, his or her body will be taken over by the ghost that lays inside the mirror, and kill his or her love. The ghost was so jealous of lovers, that it simply is obsess with tragic love."

"Hold on!" Jon held out his hand, "What seal?"

"It is just the piece of paper that it was wrapped in."

"So if we can seal it again, it'll go away?"

"I'm sorry, it just doesn't work that way; the ghost cannot be sealed again unless it has finished its duty to kill the love of the seal breaker."

"What? Then what should one do to save the lovers' lives?"

"The only way is to break the mirror, the ghost and the mirror is spiritually connected. If the mirror breaks, the ghost will vanish."

[Break that mirror; that sounds easy enough.] Jon thought, he stood up, and bowled. "Thank you so much!" He ran out to the door, on his way he bumped into a mid-age man. "I'm sorry." He said, and then looked at Jon's face. "Have we met? You seem familiar." The mid age man mentioned. Jon turned to see that he was the adjudicator from the auction! Jon shook his head wildly. "No! No!" Jon might be a good thieve, but certainly not a good liar. He dashed out of the building with a "Bye" and disappeared.

~~~~~

Syaoran rushed into his room after he changed in the changing room. His heart was still beating three hundred times per minute. [What on earth was that?] Syaoran thought to himself. [Why did she do that, to scare me? Or was she trying to get me to...] He put his hands to his head, confused. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. "WAH!" He jumped, and turned around to find Sakura with her street clothes on, standing beside the bed. She put her hands to her knees, leaning toward him. "Did I scare you?"

Syaoran put his hand to his chest, feeling his own heartbeat, now even faster. "Just a little."

"I don't mean now, I mean back there."

"Oh, um, well...yeah..." Syaoran said with his head down, kind of embarrassed. Sakura smiled. "He he...sorry." She took him by the hands. "Hey, want to go out for a walk?" Syaoran turned around. "Now? Did you know what time it is?" Sakura straightened her body. "Oh, come on, it'll be fun. We never went all the way up to the tower."

Syaoran looked at her. "But it's closed." Sakura smiled. "We don't necessarily have to go up to the tower to see good views. Any place high would be fine."

Though not certain what was she up to, Syaoran agreed anyway. She took him up to the highest hill in the village. They walked all the way up to a cliff with a lot of trees around it. Sakura insisted Syaoran on climbing up the tree at the cliff edge to get a better view. They climbed, and looked out at the village. "Wow..." Syaoran exclaimed. "This is nice." He looked around with one hand holding on to a branch above him, and the other hand holding on to Sakura's waist. Sakura smiled. "Isn't this great? Oh..." She snuggled close to Syaoran. Syaoran blushed, and paid his attention back to the view.

Inside the mirror, Sakura was yelling with her loudest voice. "Syaoran! Don't get that close to her! She'll kill you! Syaoran!!"

Like a miracle, Syaoran heard Sakura, but he wasn't sure what that was. "Um...did you say something Sakura?" He asked the fake one, the fake Sakura looked at him, and shook her head with a smile. Syaoran assumed that it was his own imagination, so he ignored it.

The real Sakura knew he heard her. She tried harder. "Syaoran! Syaoran! I'm in here!!"

Syaoran thought he heard it again. "Um...are you sure you didn't say anything?" He looked at the fake Sakura; she knew he was getting suspicious, so she decided to finish it off quickly. "No, do you have something to tell me?" She leaned closer to him, making Syaoran almost lost his balance. "Whoa, careful!" Syaoran said, grabbing on to the branch. "One slip and we're goners." He looked down at the cliff.

Sakura smiled wickedly. "Are you sure? Why don't we...TRY?" She said the last word loudly, and pushed both of them down at the same time. "WHOAAA!!" Syaoran screamed, he wasn't prepared for that, his hand slipped, and they fell together.

They headed straight down; Sakura wrapped her arms around him, making sure that he doesn't try anything funny. "Are you crazy?" Syaoran shouted as they fell in the air. "You'll kill us both!" Sakura looked at him, "I don't care, this isn't my body anyway!"

[What is she talking about?] Syaoran thought. Then he realized that it didn't matter, he had to save both of them no matter what. It's too late for him to use a charm, so he buried Sakura into his chest, hoping that he can break the fall for her. That took the fake Sakura by surprise. [Is he...protecting me? Why would he do that when I tried to kill him? Is it because...]

The real Sakura screamed inside the mirror. "Syaoran! No!! Please, will someone help him?!?" Her key glowed; the light emerged from the mirror. The windy card in the fake Sakura's pocket responded to the glow, and formed a wind cushion for them. But the force was too much for it too much for it to handle. It broke the fall a little, however they fell through the cushion, and into a rapid stream.

[Is it because...he loves her?]

[I've never...felt this way before.]

[Is this the feeling you get when you are love...by someone?]

They made a huge splash, and was being washed down the stream. [Sa...Sakura.] Syaoran managed to open one of his eyes, and saw Sakura washing down the river in front of him. He swam forward, and grabbed on to her hand.

[Syaoran...?] Sakura thought. [I...I can feel you...]

With his maximum strength, he grabbed onto a big rock that was near the shore, and pulled Sakura up the shore. Then he climbed up himself, he coughed hard, but he didn't forget the unconscious Sakura. "S...Sakura!" He crawled over to see her, and put her into his arms. "Sakura!"

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, and looked at him. "Syaoran..." She said weakly. Syaoran was over whelmed: he hugged her tight. "Thank goodness." Sakura felt the warmth of his body, she grabbed on to his shirt. "You...you're still worrying about me...even when I tried to kill you..." Syaoran sighed, and closed his eyes. "It doesn't matter...as long as you're safe."

"I..." And that was when Sakura realized: she was back to normal. "I...I'm myself again!" She was suddenly fully awakened; she sat up, and looked at her arms. "I...I'm back! I'm back, Syaoran!" She hugged him. Syaoran was confused. "What?" He said. Sakura let go of him, and looked at his face with watery eyes. "I was trapped in that mirror Jon gave me, and something took over my body, and she said she was trying to kill you!"

Syaoran looked back at her, it all made sense to him now that she explained it. Sakura cried. "Syaoran...I was so afraid that she might succeed." Syaoran wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay...it's alright, I'm fine, see."

They heard footsteps getting closer to them, a big yellow object just jumped over a bush, and landed in front of them. "Sakura! Syaoran!" It cried, Sakura and Syaoran looked up, and saw Jon, riding on Chocy. "Jon! Chocy!" The both cried. Jon got of Chocy, and ran over to see them. "Are you okay? I saw you guys jumped, that really scared me!"

Sakura hit Jon on the head. "You and your stupid mirror, Jon! It almost killed both of us!" Jon replies with an "OW! But hey! You're back!"

Syaoran looked at Sakura with concern. "So, are you sure you're okay?" Sakura nodded. "But I'm not sure what helped me back to normal."

That hit Jon, "Oh! Right, the mirror! Sakura, is it still there?" Sakura looked down, the mirror was there all right, but it was all cracked up. Sakura took it off of her neck. "It's broken." She said. Jon examined it. "Hm...seems to be, I guess that's why you're back to yourself."

Sakura looked at Syaoran softly. "I'm just glad that you're safe." Sakura hugged him, making sure that he was really here with her, that she wasn't dreaming this. "I've been so worried."

Syaoran blushed, smiled, and returned her hug. "Silly thing..."

Jon looked at the lovers with annoyed expressions, and suddenly, the mirror in his hand shattered, and became bits of magic that surrounded Sakura and Syaoran. They broke the hug and looked around them at the magic. It flew around them, and into the sky. Then all of the magic gathered, and formed a soul; a young girl took form, she smiled at the group.

Thank you...for releasing my soul. She said with a goddess like voice. The group stared at her, "Who...are you?" Sakura asked.

I am the spirit of the mirror's owner. I'm afraid I'm the one who did this...

"Why? Why did you have you separate us?" Sakura shouted madly.

I'm sorry for my action. I was dead unloved; therefore my hatred was gathered in this mirror that I once held. It allows me to transfer my spirit to whoever that touches the mirror. I was jealous of the ones that were being loved, therefore I use one of the lovers' body to destroy the two's relationship.

For a moment, Sakura felt sorry for the unloved spirit that flows in the air. She continued. But the young man here set me free; his love to you has touched my soul, and for the first time in my life, I feel the love that I received. I was loved! Even thought I was in your body, I was truly loved! I've never felt this happy.

Syaoran almost jumped when she said "his love to you", his face turned all red, and she was continuing her story before Syaoran got the chance to complain.

Now my spirit is free, and I can head to the place I belong. Head to the place...I should be. She finished her sentence, and her body began to become transparent. Thank you...so much...I hope you two can be together forever...She disappeared. The group looks at each other, and smiled to one another.

"Sakura, I thought you're afraid of ghost." Syaoran said, Sakura made a mad face and replied. "If she was really thinking of hurting you, I'll kill her! Even if she is a ghost!" Syaoran giggled, and Sakura leaned forward, a little bit embarrassed. "So...is what she said true?"

Syaoran looked up. "Huh?" He said. Sakura continued. "Do you...love me?" Syaoran froze; he looked down, hesitating. "Um...I..." and finally, he looked up. "The truth is that, I..."

He felt the glaring, he turned around, and saw Jon and Chocy staring at them with their full concentration. Syaoran groaned, and walked off. "Let's just go home! " He said shyly. Sakura ran to follow him. "No wait! You didn't answer me!" They ran off together, Jon and Chocy ran to catch up. "Hey, wait for us! Man, there's no way that I'm missing this." Jon said as he ran with Chocy.

To be continued...

~~~~~

Well, that took long.

Okay! I guess your eyes are all tired out, let just have a little rest now! ^_^

Piggy Ho Ho
February 24, 2001