The Matsuri Uta
By:Corinne Price
I do not own any of the characters in this story. I either got them from a T.V. show or video game, or I just made them up myself.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Sakura Avalon
Li Showron
Cameron Taijdaus
Cody Taijdaus
THES PEOPLE ARE NOT USED IN THE STORY OFTEN
Tsuteka
Sasami
Yuna
Kayla
April
Melinda
Tsutomi
Malon
Guards- Raiju, Navi, Tatl, Tael, Asaka, Kamedake, LiteHawk, and Darkhawk.
“Hey, Cameron,” Cody Taijdaus said when he walked in the door to the castle. Cody had left to get Sakura for the feast (it was Easter Sunday). Sakura was quite a beautiful girl. Her eyes were a deep, deep emerald green, and her hair was very shimmery auburn that hung to her shoulder. Just then, she walked through the door. “Hi, Cameron. Hello, Cody,” she said cheerfully. The guards, Raiju, Navi, Tatl, Tael, Asaka, Kamedake, Litehawk, and Darkhawk, followed. No, they’re not all her guards. The guards are to guard her, Ca! meron, Cody, and Sakura's friends, Tsuteka, Sasami, Yuna, Kayla, Tsutomi, April, and Melinda. She named the new mansion they lived in Raijvalon Star, after their birth town (now known as Taijdaus). Yuna is 12, light brown hair with a blue eye and a green eye (don’t ask me). Tsuteka has purple hair and red eyes (13), Sasami has light mint blue-green hair and blue eyes (11), April has blonde hair and green eyes (13), Melinda had medium brown hair and brown eyes (11), and Kayla was blonde haired and blue eyed (12). Cody and Cameron both had medium brown hair and green eyes (both 12). Sakura is also twelve. Well, let’s get on with the story now. They had all said their silent prayers, and began feasting. Sakura, Cameron, Cody, April, Melinda, Kayla, Yuna, Ayeka, and Sasami were all sitting on one side of the table. The guards were all on the other. Everybody was talking, laughing, eating, or doing something such as. Cody and Sakura were sitting next to each other, and, for some reason, Sakura was quite silent. She seemed to be deep in thought. Nobody was paying attention to either of them. Cody leaned over when Sakura wasn’t looking and slid a note under her plate. Then, he went back to his own plate and continued eating and talking as if he hadn’t done anything at all.
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When the feast was over and everybody went back to the dormitory (one huge bedroom with eighteen beds in it), Sakura immediately went to her bed and shut the canopy around her four-poster so nobody could see her. When she got up from the table, she picked up her plate and saw a note written in red ink. She immediately snatched it up before anybody else could see it and took off. She opened it up slowly, tentatively, as if it were about to explode. She read the note, and her eyes went wide. She immediately noticed Cody’s handwriting and signature. It said, “Sakura, could you meet me in the courtyard tonight at midnight? Hope to see you there, Cody Raijvalon”. She suddenly saw a shadow move to her curtains and she hastily shoved the note under her pillow just as Cameron opened the curtain. “Hey, Sakura. Come on, we’re all going to have a jam session. You coming?” She responded, “Sure, be there in a sec.” She reached under her bed and pulled out her ocarina. It was the ocari! na that he gave her. She stood there for a moment, lost in memories. Then she hopped out of bed and followed Cameron to the conservatory, deep in thought.
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Cody was playing his harp, tuning it. It had been a long time since he had played it. When he saw Sakura enter the conservatory, he looked up and grinned. At nine o’ clock, they, along with everybody else, went back up to the dormitory to rest.
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Sakura, obviously, stayed up, though. She watched the clock tick closer and closer to midnight. 11:07, 11:18, 11:29, 11:40, 11:51. ‘Close enough,’ she thought. She silently got out of bed (she was already wearing her clothes), and tiptoed out to the courtyard. When she got there, Cody wasn’t there yet, so she figured she still had a few minutes left. She sat down, her back to the entrance, and waited. She suddenly shivered. “I should have brought my robe along,” She said to herself, though! it was the type of shiver you get when you know someone is watching you, even if you can’t see him or her. Then, Cody walked out into the courtyard. He seemed very shocked that Sakura was there. He had actually figured she would not come. “Oh, so…so you did come, Sakura.” He stuttered.
“Yeah, I guess I did.” She replied.
“Well, I wanted to ask you something.”
‘Oh, no.’ Thought Sakura. ‘I feel a loooooong lecture coming.’
“Anyway,” continued Cody, “why have you been so quiet? Especially when around me? Is it because you don’t like me?”
“No,” She said.
“Is it because I’m friends with someone you don’t like?”
“No.”
“Well, then, why?”
“Well…I don’t know how to explain something like this…”
A single tear slid down her cheek as she spoke.
She had been sitting down on the edge of a fountain, and Cody moved over and sat down next to her, rather close for Sakura’s comfort. He asked softly, “What’s wrong? You look like you’re about to cry.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“I…I can’t tell you…It’s…It’s always so quiet and lonely…”
Cody asked, “Why is that?” She looked up, tears in her eyes. “I…I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“Just…because.”
“Something you don’t want to talk about?”
“…No.”
“SomeONE you don’t want to talk about?”
“… … … …”
Cody saw a swift movement, but before he could react, a flash of green flew past him, knocking him over. He felt something pierce the back of his neck. Two seconds later, he was sprawled on the ground, unconscious. The person who had done it disappeared quicker than he had appeared, but Sakura knew instinctively who it was. “…Thank you…” Then, she turned to Cody and picked him up, saying, “Sorry, Cody. I still love Li, and there's nothing you can do about it. But, thank you for being such a good help…or at least trying.”
Cody woke up the next morning to find himself back in his own bed. It was very early, so nobody was awake. He immediately felt the back of his neck, but all that was there was a small spot of blood. He crept over to Sakura’s bed and was shocked to see it empty. He quietly left the dormitory and searched the castle for Sakura. Everywhere he looked, she was not there.
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Sakura sat in the jail cell of the Clow Valley. They were her family, but they didn’t know. They thought she was dead, because she hadn’t been there for 3 years. She was Princess of the Clow. The magical valley Clow Reed lived in all used to live happily amongst another, until Clow Reed died. She took out her old Longshot and links up to the opening of the cell. She sees all of the guards below, and stays out of their sight. She takes a little device out that looks much like a pistol. She loads in some tranquilized needles and carefully takes aim. She has to hit them all without missing any, because there were eleven guards and she had eleven needles. Her twelfth was used on Cody last night. She didn’t know how he got it, but…The nearest guard looks up, but before she can yell, Sakura fires. One down, ten to go. She carefully took aim to the other ten and never missed a single one. She finally jumped down to the ground after a moment of waiting. She instinctively walked in the direction of the Royal Shrine, where her royal artifacts were preserved.
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“CAMERON!!!” Cody yelled in his ear. Cameron sat bolt upright and said, “What’s the idea?!?!” Cody stuttered, “Sakura’s gone! I looked all over the mansion! She’s left!!!”
“Well, what do you expect me to do?”
“HELP ME FIND HER!!!!!!!”
“Alright!”
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When Sakura entered the shrine, she felt a sudden presence spring up her back. She suddenly became very shaky and her breathing heavy. A man was standing at the altar. She saw a familiar flashing of lights surrounding them. The man said silently, “Sakura. Where have you been all these years?”
Sakura felt tears welling. “Living in Raijvalon Star.”
“Do you know how many dreams and hopes of others you have shattered by doing so? Do you know that, for your leisure, you left the Clow people with nothing? For yourself, you left them with nothing, absolutely NOTHING, and, everyday, they sing the song, hoping you will come back and help them.”
“S-Sing what song?”
“Well, they don’t sing it, but they hum it, hoping it will be enough to call you back to the near-desolate land now known as their home.”
“I know…I’ve- I’ve seen the valley. I know what I’ve done wrong, and…and I’m going to fix everything I did to this place and make it into a thriving, mystical, magical land again.”
“I will help you if you need it. You know…what to do.”
“…Thank you…Li.”
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“Well, if you already searched the whole mansion, Cody, what do you expect me to do?”
“USE YOUR PSYCHIC ABILITIES!!!”
“Fine!” Cameron closed his eyes and concentrated on Sakura. After a moment, a vision appeared. There was a girl standing atop a fortress, holding a bow 4 feet long, and a man unsheathing a sword. Cameron opened his eyes and told Cody what he had seen. Cody said, “The Clow Fortress? Why would she want to go there?”
“Beats me, but she would have to have a good reason to do so without leaving us a note or something.”
“Do you know where she is now??”
“No, but as long as she stays at the Fortress, we’ll find her.”
Okay then, let’s go.”
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Sakura was standing atop the highest tower at the fortress. She was dressed in her old Arabian/Renaissance princess clothing and was waiting for daylight to sing Matsuri Uta. The Matsuri Uta was a mythical song that, when sang by the master of the Clow, will have his or her wish granted. Sakura hoped to help the destroyed desert of the Clow people to become a sacred beautiful forest that flourished and thrived, filled with magical creatures. Dawn hasn’t arisen yet, so she had time to spare. She would go back to the mansion and leave a note saying she won’t be back. She slowly placed her bow down so as not to make any noise, jumped down to the ground, and called her horse, Destiny. Destiny strode over from the west of where Sakura was standing. She mounted her and rode off.
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Cody and Cameron were running as fast as they could to the Clow Fortress. “Wish WE had a horse,” panted Cameron, “Why don’t we stop and grab one at the ranch?”
“NO! It will take too long!”
Suddenly, a white Tennessee Walking horse raced by, heading straight towards the mansion. Cameron stared, dumbfounded, until Cody screeched, “CAMERON!!!!! THAT WAS SAKURA!!!”
“You go back, Cody, I’ll head to the Fortress in case she comes back.”
Cody and Cameron took off in different directions.
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Sakura ran Destiny as fast as she could. She had seen Cameron and Cody heading to the Fortress. She was glad her horse could jump, for she cut the bridge over to the Fortress, so the farthest Cameron and Cody could go was the valley. They didn’t own any horses, either. The only ones that are there are common workhorses who don’t know how to jump over or across anything. While she was thinking, the mansion loomed larger and larger. After a few minutes, she reached the gate and quickly entered the passcode. The gate automatically opened, while Sakura took the note in her hand and trotted over to the mail slot. She slipped the note inside, then mounted Destiny and took off again, this time at a gallop.
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Just as Cody reached the mansion gate, it opened and Sakura galloped away back to the fortress. ‘Oh, well,’ Thought Cody, ‘at least Cameron is at the fortress, waiting.’ As he walked back slowly, he saw the light on the mailbox flashing red. He ran over and opened the mail slot. He took the note, skimmed through it, and immediately ran back towards the fortress.
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“AARRGGHHHH!!” Cameron yelled as the white stallion came into sight. Cameron had been waiting along the side of the bridge for Sakura. He had a plan to get across the bridge, which had been cut at the end. The white stallion reached the bridge, and right before it jumped, Cameron jumped over to Destiny. He managed to just get on Destiny, before,
‘I’m sorry about this, Cameron.’ Sakura said slowly, straightening a gun-looking item straight at Cameron. Just as Cameron was about to scream, there was a sound that whistled through the air, and sank into Cameron’s neck. He let go and dropped down into Zora’s River.
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Cody reached Clow Valley right when he heard a scream from the bridge. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He reached the bend and a horrid sight met his eyes as Cameron made the nauseating fall from the horse, with Sakura pointing what looked dreadfully like a gun at his face. She looked up at Cody, and their eyes locked for a split second. Her eyes weren’t at all like they normally were. Her eyes were a hard, strong look. Like it had determination, courage, power, and fierceness all in just those eyes. Yet right then, it al! most had a look of sorrow. Then she finally turned her head as she landed on the other side of the bridge. “SAKURA!!!!!!!!!” Cody screamed. ‘Well,’ he thought bitterly, ‘maybe Malon will have a jumping horse at the ranch.’
“A jumping horse? Why do you need it?” asked Malon.
The bridge to the Fortress is broken, and I need to get across.”
“Oh. Well…I have one horse that jumps almost as good as Epona-“
“-Almost? What ABOUT Epona?”
“Sakura bought Epona and asked me not to let anyone use her.”
“I’m practically her brother. Why can’t I ride her?”
“She told me not to let ANYONE use her.”
“Oh, all right. I’ll take Della.”
“Okay. She’s the one in stall 11.”
“Thank you.”
‘Dang it!’ thought Cody, ‘HOW am I going to get her?!?!?! I guess I better go look for Cameron first.’
“Are you okay, Cody? You look all hot ‘n bothered.”
“Huh? Oh, no, I’m fine, Malon, thank you.”
“…Okay,” she replied in an uncertain tone, as Cody walked off to the stalls, looking somewhere between confused and furious.
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As Sakura neared the Fortress, she let Destiny slow down to a trot, towards the stables to put her up, then she was going to have to go to the ranch to get Epona and bring her back here, too. When she entered the stables, she dismounted Destiny and took her to a double stall (a stall for two horses) and began setting her up. While she was removing the saddle, she, for no reason, turned around and looked behind her. There was nothing there, and, after a few moments, turned back and continued unsaddling Destiny. A sudden hand resting on her shoulder made her jump just as she finished up. ! ; She turned around and said, rather shrilly, “Don’t scare me like that, Li!!! Would you quit being a smart aleck for once? You never take things seriously!”
“…So…What’s the problem with being easy-going?”
“You’re just used to having things your way around arguments. I think you’ve gone softer here with these people…”
“Actually, I have not------HEY!!! What do you mean, softER?!?!?”
“You know perfectly well what I mean, easy-goer.”
Li just turned his head to the side, murmuring.
“Hey, I was wrong!!! That’s the face I remember! I guess you couldn’t GO any softer with these people!!!” Sakura laughed.
“Oh, yeah? ‘Least I don’t hang around that courtyard in the dead of night, waiting for some idiot with a crush trying to get you in his hands.” He said slyly.
“Hey! How do you know about that?”
Li shuffled his feet and gave her his silly innocent look.
“YOU’VE BEEN SPYING ON ME ALL THESE YEARS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!”
He didn’t say anything. He just gave his ridiculous sideways Cheshire cat grin.
“I feel like I could slap you through Tokyo.” She said quietly, giving him the death-eye, which he knew only too well, from the past when Sakura and him were rivals.
Li, after a moment, said mysteriously, “But you wouldn’t, would you? You’re the soft one here.”
Sakura couldn’t speak. She was going through memories of Li in the past, remembered him always saying, ‘You’re the soft one here’, especially to Rikku, Sakura's friend. She remembered a particularly special memory as she thought of this… … …However, it would take too long to recall this memory exactly as told, so…
“Hey! Are you there still??”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, just thinking…”
“Me too…the old times, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“You remembering what I’m remembering?”
“Yeah.”
They both stood silently for a moment before Sakura, embarrassed with Li there, said, “Oh! It’s almost dawn! I need to go!”
“I’ll go with you if you want.”
“No, that’s okay. I can handle the Matsuri Uta alone-” She suddenly remembered that last time, she had trouble with it, and Li helped her a lot, then changed her mind. Blushing crimson, she muttered, “Actually, it would be nice to have some company-“
Li, with a small smile, said, “Sure. I’ll be there with you.”
“Th-Thank you…”
Together, they walked out onto the tower. Sakura tried to remember the last few words of the song:
‘ma mieru made fukako fukako…ne-ne…mure…?’
Li said, “ma mieru made fukako fukako nemure toki ha…”
“I didn’t ASK for your help, Li.”
“Just tryin to be helpful.”
“Well, thank you…” Sakura was trying to imagine what would happen once she sings the Matsuri Uta. She was thinking of whether she should use the ocarina. Suddenly, she made up her mind. “Li?”
“Hm?”
I want you to…to play the song on my…your ocarina.”
“What?” He snapped out of the dreamy trance he was in. “What do you mean?”
“I want you to have this…this ocarina. Play the Matsuri Uta on it to help me remember it.”
“Are you kidding?! That’s Clow Reed’s ocarina-“
“And YOU have Clow Reed’s magical blood.”
“But…but you’re the Clow princess!”
“But nothing! You think I’m going to be able to play and sing at the same time? It will probably be twice as easy as last time, when all you did was help me say the song! I-I think…that-that you deserve something of Clow Reed’s…after all the help you gave ME. Accept it as a gift from the Clow mistress…Please.” And she opened her hand and held out the ocarina she loved so much. Li, for the first time, had tears in his eyes. He took the ocarina with shaking hands and said, “…Th-Thank you.”
“…It’s nearly dawn. We better get ready,” was all she could think of to say. She started to wonder if…
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Cody was running Della faster than he’d ever run a horse before. He was running to Lake Heilia, where he was likely to find Cameron. That’s where the river he fell into will end. Hopefully, he would be able to find Cameron…alive.
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‘Finally,’ Sakura thought, ‘dawn has finally risen. It’s time.’ “Li! Are you ready?”
“I’m ready when you are, Sakura. You know it.”
Sakura brought a small smile to her lips, then turned around to face the village, once again atop the highest tower.
Li put the ocarina to his lips and began playing. He would just play the main melody until everyone heard it and woke up.
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Cody found Cameron and, as he was running towards him, he heard it. A faint melody, slowly getting louder and louder…It took him a moment to realize just what was going on. When it came to him, Cameron woke up. It turned out that he had only been tranquilized. He said, “What a dream! I thought I heard the Matsu-“
He stopped dead as he realized it wasn’t a dream.
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The people were starting to wake up and hear the melody. Within minutes, the entire village was awake and humming the melody along with the ocarina. Sakura looked over at Li, with a curious look on her face. Li nodded, indicating that now was a good time to begin. So, with that, she began chanting…
kaze sarau minamo he to
tayutoute michibi kareru
mani mani ukabu shirabe
hibiki watare towa ni
yuragi yuragi furuete
hatenai sora he
toki o koe yuki kaite
kasokeki uki yo he
ima tsudo he tomo yo
daiichi he
wasureshi uta o utai
ushina ishi omoi o mote
futatabi ma mieru made
fukaku fukaku nemure
toki ha nagare yuku
Suddenly, a brilliant flashing of red, blue, and green lights surrounded Li and Sakura, and a young girl appeared in front of them. In their heads, they heard,
"You are not Clow Reed. Who are you?"
Li said, “I’m the descendant of Clow Reed,”
Sakura then said, “and I’m the Clow Princess. Clow Reed died about a century ago.”
"I heard the Matsuri Uta. Who sang it?" she demanded.
Sakura and Li both stepped forward, “We did,” they both responded.
"Why are you the new Star Master?"
Sakura: “The Cards chose me to be their new master.”
"Well, then, what are YOU doing here also?" She said, looking at Li.
Sakura: “He and I share the cards. He also has Clow Reed’s ocarina.”
"Ah, I see. Well, you called for what reason? Hoping for a wish, I assume?"
Sakura: “Yes.”
Sakura: “Please. My homeland is in ruins. It was once a beautiful land full of life. Now, it is a near-desolate desert, full of the scent of death and despair. I wish that all to be gone. I want this land to prosper the way my village once did so.”
"Along with restoring your own land?"
“Yes.”
"It shall be done. And," she added, "you must now capture me, for I am a card that will be very useful in the future, I can tell."
“Yes.”
"Whenever you shall need me again, you will not suspect it, for I will seem to be the last choice of a battle against a Card."
“Thank you for all this information.”
"It is my pleasure to help my master."
“Thank you.”
"However," the card said, "doing this will cost much magic from you two as well."
Within a few moments, fog began to obscure Li’s and Sakura’s vision, before either of them could react. Then the card flew into Sakura’s hand, and she could just read it before she blacked out completely. The card had a picture of a heart with wings on it. On the bottom of the card, it said, ‘Hope’ then, all went black.
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Cody saw the sky turn black. Everywhere was covered in darkness. “She’s trying to make a wish.” Cody said,
“But for what?” Wondered Cameron.
Now, flashes of blue and green lightning were illuminating the entire landscape. All the flashes seemed to be heading to one point in the center of the Clow Field. Cody, before he understood, grabbed Cameron, threw him onto the horse, jumped on himself, and took off to the field.
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"Sakura, wise young girl…Li, courageous young man…Please…Wake up…Look…"
Li and Sakura opened their eyes groggily, dizzy and dazed. They seemed to be flying in the air. They looked down, and saw a wondrous and beautiful sight meet their eyes. Clow Reed’s land was glowing as a wave of green swept over the land, starting from right below them, spreading outward. Waves of magic were flurrying through the air, with minds of their own (ever played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, in that forest? Imagine that sweeping all over the land as you float above it all while it happens). Within minutes, the entire land was covered along the ground wi! th a mysterious blue grass that was lush and thick. Magical waves of blue and green floated along the land, which was now filled with faeries, fauns, centaurs, and many other mystical creatures. Even lions with golden manes, horses, pearly-white, galloping in great herds along the fields, and beautiful unicorns, residing at the lake, where the water of the lake was now a deep sapphire blue, with brilliantly-coloured fish, swimming in large schools along the bottom. Sakura had tears of the greatest happiness at the sight of the now-beautiful land of Clow Reed’s home. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. “What could be more perfect?” said Li softly.
“Nothing…absolutely nothing.”
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Cody reached the field when a marvelous sight met his eyes (you already know what I’m talking about). Slowly, Sakura and some kid began slowly floating down from the sky, which was now an emerald green. The melody of the Matsuri Uta hung in the air as they descended from above. Sakura had a card in her hands. Cody watched in awe as the two touched ground. He saw Sakura look at Li, give him a small smile, then collapsed into Li’s arms, exhausted. Cody, leaping off his horse, ran over to Li and Sakura and said, “Is she alright? What happened? Did you do this to her? Did you-“
“No, I didn’t do anything to her. She’s just tired. The wish took a lot of magic out of her. I’ll take her with me. She’ll be fine.”
“But-“
“She belongs here, with these animals, and her own people.”
“Sh-She is!”
“No, she is not.”
“Well, then where…does she be…belong?”
“Here…She belongs here.” And with that, Li and Sakura disappeared.
Cody just stood looking up into the green sky, envying Li.
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“Wh…Where am I?” Sakura said. She looked around. She was sitting on something soft and fluffy. She looked down and saw the land, where the animals were contentedly roaming the fields,-wait! Below her? The ground?! She was sitting atop a blue-green swirled cloud. She looked around and saw Li, sitting next to her, fast asleep. She gave a sm! all smile as she figured that Li stayed up watching her. She got up, thought for a moment, then sat back down again. She didn’t notice that Li was awake now. He looked over at her, a small smile on his face. “You’re up now, Sakura?” he said quietly.
Sakura turned around. “Yeah. What are we doing way up here?”
“Just to get you to relax and convalesce.”
“Oh…”
“That Cody kid…He really likes you, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You should go tell him good-bye.”
“Why?”
“Are you going back to Raijvalon Star?”
“NO!”
“Well, then, you better go down and say good-bye to him.”
“O…Okay then.”
Together, they flew southeast, in the direction of Raijvalon Star.
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Cody was sitting in the dormitory, staring at Sakura’s now-empty four-poster. There was a knock at the door. Cody walked quickly over to it and opened the door. A gasp escaped him as he saw Sakura, with Li standing behind her. “You’re back!” he said happily.
“Just to say good-bye,” Sakura replied sternly.
“Huh?”
“I have to go watch over Clow Reed’s land now. I can’t let the same thing happen here again. That happened when I came here. I can’t do that again.”
“…I understand.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“…”
“We must go now, Sakura,” said Li.
“Okay,” Sakura replied. She turned around and flew off.
“He must be upset about that,” Sakura a few minutes later, when they were in Clow Field.
“Well, if you like him more than me, you can turn right around and go back to HIM.”
“Why would I ever do THAT?”
“How should I know?”
“Oh, hush, easy-goer,” Sakura flew over and hugged him. Li went rather rigid.
“What’s the matter? Scared?” she teased.
“Whatever!!!” Li said, then they looked at each other. Their faces were millimeters apart. Li slowly brought her face to his and gently pressed his lips against hers.
For now, they live in happiness, in a world they believe is completely good. But…there can be no good without evil…No joy without pain…No good times without bad times…No love without hate…