Story: Tomoyo's World - Part 3- Beyond Their Wildest Dreams (all chapters)

AUTHORS NOTE: I had an idea and a bit of plot figured out for a part three, but as soon as I started actually writing it, the characters took over the story and made their own plot. And I soon realized that theirs was better than the one I had planned.

Reading parts one and two is highly recommended as it will explain a lot of things. If you don't mind some angst, part zero explains just why Tomoyo didn't get together with Sakura sooner.

Disclaimer: All of the characters with the exception of Kutong and the Jewels are the property of that wonderful group of women known as CLAMP.

Tomoyo's World - Part 3 - Beyond Their Wildest Dreams

Chapter 0

Sunday July 30 6:01am Tokyo Time

Again Tomoyo woke up snugged against a warm body but this morning was like none that had come before.

"My Sakura-chan! She really is mine now. And I really am hers. We have shared...everything now. Last night was... There are no words to express something so wonderful! And I'm crying again. I cried so many times over the years from the pain of wanting her and now I cry from the joy of having her. I guess it doesn't matter if it's pain or joy, my cheeks still get wet." She chuckled raggedly to herself. "And I can' t seem to stop smiling, it's like my face is stuck!" Just then a shaft of pure ecstasy shot through Tomoyo, blanking out all her thoughts. For a moment all she could do is feel a joy so great it threatened to tear her apart. When it finally ebbed she snuggled closer to her Sakura-chan and with a very contented smile on her face she drifted off to sleep again.

After almost two more hours of sleep, Tomoyo gradually woke up and again went over the wonderful memories she had made the night before. And then just laid there basking in their glow until she felt Sakura awaken. That's when it dawned on her. "My shield! I never put it up! And Sakura's Shield Card isn't up either! We were totally vulnerable all night! This must -never- happen again! I must protect her, no matter what!" As her shield snapped into place she felt a movement.

"Tomoyo-chan? Are you awake?"

"Yes I am, my wonderful, beautiful Sakura-chan."

"Wow! Last night, I mean. It was... I don't know the words..." After being stunned into silence for a few moments Sakura continued. "I wish I could have figured it out and pushed you into accepting my love much sooner." Tomoyo just closed her eyes and hugged her love harder.

"We are only sixteen, my darling. We have plenty of time."

"Yeah, but I was thinking about kissing you when I was thirteen. I almost asked you if I could a couple of times, but I was afraid you would think I was a pervert."

"I don't know what I would have done if you had asked for a kiss back then, but it's history now so let's not think about it."

"How long have you loved me? You know, that way?" Sakura finished shyly.

Tomoyo was tempted to lie but then remembered that she had done way too much of that over the years. "I've loved you ever since I met you. Even before you found the Clow Cards I knew I wanted to spend my life with you."

"But we were nine years old!" Sakura protested.

"I can't explain it. But I was sure you were my special person."

"I suppose I should have realized it. With those costumes you made for me and how you videotaped me all the time. It wasn't like you hid it very well."

"No, don't blame yourself. It was my own fault. I was really obsessed; not only with the real you, but with the dream I had created in my own mind. I pretended to be so innocent and all the time I was manipulating you. Even if it was for what I thought was your own good, I had no right to try to make you live my idea of a perfect life. All the pain I suffered was my own fault. My mom said it; I should have been truthful with you and let you make up your own mind."

"That's okay, Tomoyo. It's all past now. Let's forget all the bad times and just look forward to making lots of good memories, from now on!" Sakura then kissed the girl she loved and things went on from there. And before they got up they did indeed make some more good memories.

Sunday July 30 8:42 am Tokyo time

Sonomi had long since had breakfast by the time the two girls had finally gotten dressed and come downstairs, but she still wanted to spend as much time with her daughter and Sakura as she could before she had to go back to work. So she sat with the girls and had some tea while they ate. And once again couldn't help wearing a silly grin as she saw how wonderfully happy her daughter was.

xxxx

Late that afternoon Eriol finally called. They took it on a speaker phone again so everyone could hear. "Hello Eriol-sama." Tomoyo started.

"Hello... Well, I might as well get this over with. I checked as many Timelines as I could and just as I expected, Nadeshiko had died young in all of them. It seems her death is a destined event. I'm sorry."

"He's lying! I'm sure of it! But I can't very well say that." Tomoyo realized instantly. "Okay, thank you for your effort. We appreciate it very much." With a few more words the call was ended.

"He's lying." Sonomi announced and both girls looked surprised.

"Yes he is." Tomoyo agreed. "I can feel it. I think he found plenty of Timelines with Nadeshiko alive and well and he is terrified that this information will encourage Sakura to use Return to save her. If he had found any terrible side effects, he would have told us."

"But how can you be so sure, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura wanted to know.

"I think it's part of Earth Magic. I am certain that I can tell when someone is lying. Mom? Have you always been able to detect lies?"

"Yes I have. And I've never known my feelings to be wrong."

"That could mean that you have some Earth Magic too." Tomoyo said with a smile.

"I'd like that. But I don't suppose I will know for sure until I can get to London."

"Maybe. But I have an idea." Tomoyo smiled "Lets go up to your rooms Mom."

A couple of minutes later they were in Sonomi's private suite. "Here." Sonomi took the card Tomoyo was holding out and looked at it. On the front was a stylized picture of a dragonfly, and across the bottom it said "Tomoyo".

"Your Fly card?"

"Yes. There should be enough Magic in it for this. Now I want you to say "Fly" to the card and tell it in your mind to give you wings." At the same time that Tomoyo was talking she was probing her mom's mind, looking for any feel of Magic. "I wish Eriol was here, or at least had showed me how to look for Magic. But he's not, so I will just do the best I can."

"Fly!" Sonomi said and nothing happened.

"There was something that tried to touch the Card! It was...right...there. Yes, that feels like Magic. Now if I can just pull it out of that dark place and up into whatever. I really don't know what I'm doing! I just hope I don't hurt Mom. No, I must have confidence. If I am gentle it should be okay. I'm not sure how I know that, but I do know it. Just pull gently.. And maybe now..."

"Try again, Mom. Try to reach out to the Card with your Magic and tell it to give you wings." Tomoyo could now feel the determination in her mom's mind. "The Magic is right -here- mom. Can't you feel it! Here!" And then Tomoyo felt the bit of Magic grow and reach out.

"Fly!" Sonomi ordered firmly and in an instant she had wings. When the weight hit her she stepped back just as Tomoyo had when she first called her wings. The feeling caused a wild joy to rise up in her but she still hesitated just a moment before she dared to look. But when she did see them she yelled, "IT WORKED!!"

"You have Magic, Mom. I can feel it in you!" Then, suddenly, Sonomi's wings roared and she flew straight up into the ceiling.

"Ahh!" she yelled as her wings battered the ceiling quickly followed by her head hitting it, then just as quickly as she went up, she came down. And just as Tomoyo had her first time, she wound up face down on the floor.

"Mom! Are you all right?!" Tomoyo asked excitedly, as she knelt beside her mother.

"Yes, I think so. I just bumped my head...and my knee... But It WORKED! I FLEW!" She yelled in a rather cracked voice. Then she was crying and laughing at the same time. I DID it, I really did it. I have Magic! Just like I dreamed of. I can fly on my own!

"Yes Mom, but please don't do that in the house anymore?"

"Let's go outside! I want to fly with my own wings, just like I used to dream of so long ago." Sonomi pleaded.

"Okay, uh, Sakura? Would it be okay if Mom used your Fly Card for a while? It's much easier to use than my Fly Card, and besides I want to fly with her." Tomoyo finished with a happy smile.

"Of course! Any time!" Sakura responded as she handed her Fly Card to Sonomi and Silent and Illusion to Tomoyo.

Tomoyo followed her mom as she practically ran out across the back lawn and into the grove of trees. "You have no idea how many times I dreamed of sprouting wings and flying. And sometimes it felt like I could almost do it! And now... Fly!" she cried and laughed in delight as she looked at the beautiful angel wings that stuck out on either side of her. Then with a single beat of those wings she was in the air and flying straight up. Tomoyo grinned as she called on her own wings as well as Illusion and Silent, and went after her mom. "It is really neat seeing Mom so happy." she thought to herself with a smile as they gained altitude. But then once they were high enough so that the cars on the streets looked like tiny toys she found herself chuckling at the show her mom was putting on. "I never saw Sakura do loops and rolls like that! I didn't even know those wings could do such acrobatics!"

As the mother and daughter flew around Tokyo they talked of Magic and Tomoyo kept trying to help her mom feel her own Magic so she could control it.

She pulled on the bit of Magic and pushed it around in Sonomi's mind until suddenly as they were resting on top of the Tokyo tower- "I feel it!" Sonomi cried out. "I feel something...weird. I can feel you with it. And that steel beam over there. I can close my eyes and I still can tell exactly where it is!"

As Sonomi said this Tomoyo could feel the bit of Magic get stronger and actually reach out just as she had said it was. "Yes! You have it Mom! That is your Magic. Now maybe if you just keep practicing with it, you will get stronger. "I hope so. I think it will make her really happy. And at least she will have that, even if we can't save Nadeshiko."

Later, as they finally headed home, Tomoyo was thinking to herself. "I wonder why Sakura's wings are so easy to operate while mine are so hard..." After a moments thought she had a theory. "Maybe her Fly Card is more intelligent, so it can figure out what you really want and then do it for you while my Card has very little intelligence, so I have to give it really exact directions... Makes sense too. A bird -is- much more intelligent than a dragonfly."

xxxx

Sakura was so bored by the time Tomoyo and her mom finally came back from flying that she was actually working on her homework. She was nearly half way through the book she was suppose to read when Tomoyo finally came in to their room.

"Mom was so happy! You should have seen the look on her face when we landed on the Tokyo Tower!" she burst out. "It is just so wonderfully perfect that she really does have Magic like she always wanted. It makes me feel really good to see mom so wildly happy." Tomoyo finished with wet eyes.

"Yes, it is wonderful, but did you have to stay gone for so long? I missed you!" Sakura complained as she took her love in her arms.

"It was just that she was so excited-" Tomoyo said before she was cut off by Sakura's kiss.

Chapter 1

After dinner Sonomi invited the girls up to her suite for a talk.

"Now someone explain to me how this time travel Card works." she asked as she looked from her daughter to Sakura and back.

"Well, when I used it, it sent my spirit back into my body a week before." Tomoyo started. "Sakura has used it to physically travel back before she was born to talk to Clow. It can do either, but it takes a lot more energy to move a body than just a spirit."

"So what happens if you go back to... No. That's not going to work. You girls were only three when she died, so if you go back to warn her you will be in a baby body. Perhaps one of you could go back to before you were born and warn Nadeshiko...or even 'that man' that she is going to need a mammogram..."

"But if I change the past, it moves reality into another Timeline and this world will no longer exist. And maybe you two who stay behind will no longer exist." Tomoyo put in. "And I'm not even sure I could come back. I think it can get really complicated.

"Oh! So we could...erase ourselves then?" Sonomi confirmed.

"Exactly. Changing the past is dangerous." Tomoyo said thoughtfully. "When I went back to save Sakura-chan, Eriol had first checked for the best outcome. He is able to do that. And even then it wasn't certain. I could have failed and Kutong could have won. I got the feeling from talking to him that nothing is certain when you deal with time. I don't really understand just why, but that's the way it is. So we have to be very careful or we will really mess things up.

"How about if I ask Dream to show me the future?" Sakura suggested. "That should let us know what we can do and how it will turn out."

"Maybe. I suppose we could try it." Tomoyo agreed reluctantly.

"Then, I will use Dream tonight and see what I can find out." Sakura said confidently.

"I guess it won't hurt. There is no hurry when we can control time." Sonomi said with a note of wonder in her voice.

Tomoyo and Sakura retired to their room early and left Sonomi alone with her thoughts. And she had a lot to think about.

"Not only is Magic real but I actually have power myself! Not to mention my Tomoyo who not only has Magic, but has used it to save a city. No, I can't even get my head around -that- thought. Yet on top of that, shy innocent Sakura seems to be carrying the power of a nuclear warhead in her pocket.

And if that were not impossible enough, it seems that the girls have the power to go back and change the past... And the power of -that-...well it...is even hard to think about. I guess she could even go back and prevent the great war from happening. She could literally change anything that happened in the past. Change the entire world... But, of course it isn't that simple. Things never are. Even Magic I guess. If Sakura went back, my Tomoyo and I could be erased from existence. So I suppose the time traveling power is limited. At least if you have anyone you care about. Which is a relief in a way...

But if the girls could somehow save Nadeshiko's life. That would be more wonderful than anything! I could just go over to their house and visit her anytime I want. Even if she is married to that man... That doesn't really matter! I was -so- stupid! So horribly horribly stupid... What I wouldn't give just to see her lovely face smiling at me again. And now there is a chance that this could actually happen! There -must- be a way that the girls can do it without erasing any of us! There -must- be!

xxxx

That night Tomoyo made sure to put her shield up and reminded Sakura to use her Shield Card. "You think we need to do this every night?" Sakura asked.

"I'm afraid so. But it isn't a problem, is it?"

"Not unless you need to use the bathroom." Sakura smiled.

"Can you tell Shield to let me in whenever I ask?"

After a moment, Sakura replied: "I'm sorry, but Shield isn't very smart. She has trouble telling people apart and she is worried that she would accidentally let in the wrong person. But you could just wake me up anytime you need to go and I'll wait for you to come back. Would that be okay?"

"I guess, but I hate to bother you that way." Tomoyo sighed and then continued. "But I suppose we don't have any choice."

"It's okay." Sakura said softly before giving Tomoyo a long loving kiss. "You can wake me up any time you want." She finished with a provocative note in her voice.

"I LOVE this! It's just like the dreams I used to have!" Tomoyo shouted in her mind as tears once again wet her eyes.

"Well now, I guess I'm ready to see the future." Sakura said with a smile. "Dream Card! Send me a dream about saving my mom's life!"

As soon as Sakura finished her order she fell instantly asleep. But that wasn't all that Dream did. Tomoyo lost her Magical mind link to her Sakura.

"I can't feel her! I can't even touch her mind with my Magic sense. Her body is here but the rest of her is...gone. It's as if...she were dead. It is SO scary! And on top of that it feels...lonely. I've gotten so used to always feeling her "right there"...and constantly feeling her warm love touching me...but now she is gone..." After a sigh another thought made Tomoyo smile sadly. "And if that isn't sad enough, I wasn't really ready to sleep yet. Oh well, no helping it now... I'll just have to do without tonight."

Sonomi had gone to bed but she couldn't sleep. She was so excited she felt like she would explode. "I have Magic and I can feel it! I can reach out and touch things with it. And I can grow wings and fly. Just like I dreamed of so long ago. And...actually I never really stopped dreaming." she admitted to herself as she remembered a boring meeting when she dreamed of stepping out the window and flying away just a few days earlier.

"I feel like it's Christmas eve and I'm nine years old. I just know that the morning will bring wonderful things. And the sooner I can get to sleep, the sooner it will come. But I am just too excited!"

To try to get her mind off her anticipation she decided to exercise her Magic sense. She touched everything in her room and tried to identify it, then tried to reach into the next room to do the same thing. It was hard but she pushed herself for all she was worth. But she wasn't drawing any Magic energy from anywhere, and so was using her own bodies energy to power her Magic. After twenty-three minutes of this her body gave out and she fell into a deep sleep. But her body was very slow to recover using only it's own internal resources, so for the first time since she was in school, she not only didn't wake herself at 5:30am as usual, she slept through her alarm clock. When she wasn't down for breakfast at six-thirty the maid came looking for her, but even the maids pounding on her door didn't wake her until nearly seven.

"Are you sick?" The worried maid asked her when she finally opened the locked door.

"I don't think so. I'm just really tired...and hungry. Tell the cook to make me double portions and I will be down shortly." Once the maid was gone she got in the shower and tried to get her mind working as she washed. "Why am I so tired? And hungry... Magic? Maybe using Magic wore me out. There must be some trick to it since Tomoyo never mentioned being exhausted so easily. Or maybe I just need to exercise it more. I'm way out of shape, Magic wise." She grinned to herself. "Now I hope Sakura is up with good news!" But she soon found that though Tomoyo was up and eating breakfast, Sakura was still sleeping.

Over breakfast, Sonomi told her daughter about how she had used her Magic a lot and then gotten really tired. After a moments thought, it was obvious to Tomoyo.

"You probably aren't drawing any Magic energy from anywhere. I'm guessing that you should draw from the Earth like I do, but we'll have to experiment to find out for sure."

So they did experiment. And Tomoyo tried her best to use her Magic to show Sonomi's Magic how to draw energy from outside. Tomoyo tried the Earth first as her hunch was that her Mom had the same Magic as she did. But when that was a total failure she tried drawing from the Sun, the Moon, and finally, the Stars. But as far as Tomoyo could tell she didn't get a bit of energy from anywhere.

"I wonder if she is just trying -too- hard? I can't tell. I really don't know what I am doing after all. I just get these hunches... Maybe they are memories of the lady I used to be way back in the past. But in any case, it seems mom isn't going to draw any energy just yet. She feels so exhausted. I wonder if I can give her some of my Magic energy... Yes! I think it's working!"

"Tomoyo! I am filling with something. Something good! It must be working!"

"Sorry Mom. That was me, giving you some of my energy."

"Oh..." Sonomi said in a voice that seemed to break Tomoyo's heart.

"I WILL teach her to draw Magic energy from her source! I will do it!"

"Let's take a break, my head hurts from all the straining." Sonomi said tiredly. "Are you sure that I should be able to pull Magic energy from somewhere?"

"No. I'm not sure of anything. I know hardly anything about Magic. Maybe you should go to London and see if Eriol will teach you."

"So much for "I will do it!" I need to be more positive. And I don't trust Eriol anymore.

"All I need to do is connect Mom's Magic to...where ever? No! She is Earth Magic like me, I'm sure of it. Somehow. I just need to be more positive and persistent!"

"Do you feel like trying some more?" Tomoyo asked her mother.

"Yes, I feel fine now!" Sonomi replied with a smile.

"Okay, now don't strain. Just gently reach out like you were spreading a blanked over the surface of the ground around the house, can you feel a warm soft flow coming up out of the Earth."

"YES! I can feel it! It feels good somehow."

"That's Earth Magic all right! Now can you draw the energy with your Magic and power yourself up with it?"

"Uh... No? I can't seem to do anything with it, except feel it." Sonomi replied, disappointed.

That's when Tomoyo realized that she was drawing her energy quite automatically. She had been gifted with the knowledge so she didn't have to think about exactly what she was doing. "What I need to do is really understand how -I- do it!" she thought to herself.

So she sat quietly for a moment and tried to analyze exactly what she was doing. In a moment the answer was clear. "Are you trying to grab the energy and pull on it?" Tomoyo asked."

"Well, yes. I guess you could say that...how else?"

"Use your Magic to feel the energy gently, then imagine that you are in a hole below the energy and you are empty. Then just let the energy flow into you on it's own."

As Tomoyo was watching her mother who was sitting with her eyes shut, she visibly relaxed and in a second, a big smile spread across her face. "Yes! It just flows into me and I absorb it like I'm a sponge."

"That's it! Now you can power up and use as much Magic as you want. Just keep soaking up the Earth Power. In time it will become automatic and you won't even have to think about it." Tomoyo finished with a happy smile.

"She can do it! My mom really has Earth Magic, just like I do! This is SO neat!"

"This is so neat!" The elegant business woman echoed her thoughts, sounding so much like a teenager that Tomoyo had to laugh.

xxxx

"I wish Sakura would wake up and let us know what she found out. And I wish she was successful, and I wish a lot of other things too." Sonomi finished with a smile. "But life seldom goes the way you want without your working really hard to push it in the right direction. And for the moment there is nothing to do except sip tea...and draw Earth energy." She finished with a smile.

Chapter 2

Monday July 31 8:00am Tokyo time

When Sakura woke up she discovered that Tomoyo was dressed, sitting in a chair and watching her.

"Tomoyo?"

"Good morning my love." Tomoyo said and then as soon as Sakura put Shield away there was some sweet kissing for a while. Then Tomoyo went back to her chair and asked the important question. "So what did you dream?"

Sakura had to think for a second before she remembered, but then it was clear and it made her smile. "I dreamed that she was alive and we were wonderfully happy together."

"But how did we do it?"

"I didn't see that part but I'm sure it's possible now."

"I had a feeling that Dream wasn't going to be of much help." Tomoyo thought before replying. "That's encouraging. At least we can be confident that her death isn't destined. So all we need to do now is figure out the best way to save her. Anyway, I thought of something last night after you went to sleep. Can you use Return to send my mom's spirit back to her earlier body and have her keep her memories?"

"I don't know, I'll check." The misty spiral appeared in front of Sakura and there was a very long five second pause before Sakura opened her eyes and spoke.

"Yes! Return says it can do that!"

"Okay, now what will happen to us?"

After a longer pause Sakura answered. "We will be different people, having grown up with my mom alive in a new Timeline. This 'us' will cease to exist." She finished sadly.

"So it sounds like, to save your mom we have to give up our lives..."

"I won't do that! My life has just gotten wonderful and I don't want to lose it!" Sakura said firmly.

"Of course not. I don't want to give up my life either. There must be a way around this. Is Return a brainless Card like Shadow? Or smarter?"

"Return is a really smart Card. So smart that it puts things in my head so complicated I can't understand them."

"Then why not ask Return if there is a way we can save your mom and still keep this life?"

"Okay." Sakura closed her eyes and Tomoyo watched her love as she began to make faces. After minute or so, Sakura spoke again. "Return is telling me that there is a way to do it... But it sure doesn't seem like it."

"Huh?"

"Return says it can put us someplace, then send your mom's spirit back to where we say. Then when it gets to be now again we get erased."

"That can't be right!"

"I know it can't be! But I don't understand! And talking with Return hurts my head!"

"I'm sorry Sakura. I didn't mean to make you angry." A couple of kisses later Sakura felt much better but they weren't any closer to figuring out what to do. "Can you call Time out and let him translate for me. That worked last time." So Sakura summoned the old man and he talked with the spiral for a while.

"I don't really understand it, but Return thinks it's a good idea, and is what you want."

"But I don't want to be erased!" Sakura complained. Time looked at Return for a moment before speaking again.

"Return says it's unavoidable."

"Then we won't do it!" Sakura pronounced and sent Time back to Card form.

"But Sakura-chan, Return thinks it's a good idea! So why not look into it more?"

"I'm afraid of losing you! I don't want to die again!"

"But Sakura..." Tomoyo sighed. Then suddenly Sakura got a determined look on her face. She sent Return back to Card form and then materialized her staff. As Sakura was throwing the Return card into the air with her Magic Circle glowing around her, Tomoyo got worried.

"Sakura! What are you doing?!"

"Fixing something!" Was all Sakura said as the Return Card began to shoot out sparks.

"She's remaking the Card? What good is that going to do?"

"Sakura, please tell me what you are doing!" But it was over already. Sakura lowered her staff, the magic circle disappeared and the Return Card came floating down, but not to Sakura, it went to Tomoyo, and it was purple now. "You made Return a Tomoyo Card?!"

"Sure! Why not? You are much smarter than me, so why don't you just talk to Return yourself and find out what it's saying?"

"Return is my Card now? My Sakura just gave me the most powerful Card she had."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes! I trust you much more than myself. Changing the world is too much responsibility for me. I'm afraid of messing something up. Do you mind?"

"What choice have I got? And she is probably right too."

"Okay. Let me try talking with Return."

As the misty spiral appeared in front of Tomoyo, she closed her eyes. Sakura sat and watched her love and Return for a while but then she had to use the bathroom. After that she got dressed. It had been over five minutes and Tomoyo hadn't moved.

"Tomoyo? Are you okay?" A worried Sakura asked.

"Can you wait a minute, I'm right in the middle of something." She mumbled back.

"Sure, take your time. I was just making sure you were okay." Watching Tomoyo was making Sakura nervous, so she went downstairs for a while. But she couldn't find anything to do, so she came back up. Tomoyo was laying down in bed now with Return floating over her. Finally Sakura got so desperate she pulled out the book for her Japanese class and started reading where she had left off the day before. Unlike the usual homework reading assignments, this book was actually somewhat interesting and not that difficult to read.

If Tomoyo had studied and was very familiar with both Quantum Mechanics and String Theory she would have had much less trouble understanding what Return was telling her. And if she didn't keep stopping Return and having it explain things in more detail, it would have been quicker too. She never did completely satisfy her curiosity, but she quit after nearly two hours anyway.

"That's enough for now, I'm hungry!"

"So, did you understand what Return was saying?"

"Mostly. Some of the details are still fuzzy, but they aren't that important and I can always talk to Return more later."

"So? Can we save my mom and not get erased?"

"Well...yes and no." Tomoyo smiled.

"What do you mean, 'yes and no'?!" Sakura demanded.

"Let me give you a brief simplified explanation that leaves out all the really interesting stuff... Return can move us physically to a place that acts like it has no time. It isn't part of a Timeline and so it can be reached from anywhere- or actually I guess it should be "any when" in any Timeline-"

"Are you sure this is the simplified explanation?"

"Trust me, it's a lot more complicated than that."

"Okay, then?"

"I was just going to say, that it's the same sort of place Erase puts stuff. You remember when Erase made me disappear and then brought me back unharmed? The important point is that we won't feel anything at all, okay?"

"But we aren't dead, right?"

"Right. Return can bring us back exactly as we are when things are right.

"So then what?"

"Well, Erase doesn't just send my Mom, it goes with her into the past. Then it waits until the new Timeline returns to now. This is the only way to be sure we get into the right Timeline. So then when "now" comes around in the new Timeline, Return gets us back from where it put us."

"Then what is the stuff about getting erased?"

"Well, the new Timeline will already have a Sakura and Tomoyo in it. And in order for this to work, the other 'us' have to be erased. Physically that is. This part gets really complicated but in effect their spirits and our spirits will merge. So when we get there, we will wind up being both of us. Understand?"

"No, but that's okay. I trust you. So we will just jump over to the new Timeline and still be ourselves?"

"Sort of. I expect when our spirits merge with the other 'us' we may get a bunch of new memories. If we are alive in that Timeline of course. Anything can happen in the years that reality is repeating because of the uncertainty property of-"

"Never mind! If you say it's okay, then I'm willing."

"A really important point is that we can bring our Cards and Kero with us. A side effect of all this is that if someone had stolen the Cards or even killed us and took the Cards, we will be alive again, with our Cards and whoever took them will lose them."

"Lose them?"

"Yes. Just like the Sakura and Tomoyo in that Timeline will be erased, the Sakura and Tomoyo Cards in that Timeline will be erased. So ours will be the only ones. Neat, huh!"

"I guess so." Sakura said tentatively.

"So if the new Timeline contains some terrible disaster, we will be ourselves and still have Return and the rest of our Cards so we should be able to correct things and switch reality to a better Timeline. "So as far as I can see it's a good safe way to try to save your mom's life."

"What do you mean, "try"?" Sakura asked with a worried look.

"We don't know what will happen during the years reality repeats it's self. She might die from some other cause. We won't know until we get there."

"But Dream showed me a future with all four of us together and happy!"

"Okay. So that should mean that it's possible. But it doesn't prove that it will happen on the first try..."

"Oh." Sakura said as she digested this. "So I shouldn't get my hopes up?"

"Exactly. It may take several tries. We just don't know. I would feel a lot more confident if Eriol was helping us. But of course he is so totally against trying to save Nadeshiko that he would more likely try to stop us.

"I guess so. Well, my mom died when I was three, so when should we send your mom back to?"

"Well it will have to be well before that but it can't be before we were born."

"Oh?"

"I don't understand that part but it has something to do with the nature of reality and how our spirits are connected to our bodies or something like that. I was trying to understand it when I gave up. Anyway as long as we don't send mom back to before we were born, we should be fine. Return agrees with that."

"Okay, but I don't know how long she had the cancer before she died from it." Sakura said sadly.

"I'm going to talk to Mom and see what she thinks. She knows more about your mom's cancer and that stuff. So let's go tell her. She should be in her home office waiting for us now. She said over breakfast that she was much too excited to go to her down town office so she would just stay here and keep busy as best she could until you woke up with your report."

Chapter 3

"We have found out that Nadeshiko-san doesn't have to die and we also know how to save her, and not erase ourselves." Tomoyo said when her mom opened her door, and Sonomi smiled instantly.

"That's WONDERFUL! And such a relief!" She sighed with a big smile. "I've been hoping and wishing for that since yesterday. So how do you do it?"

"I send your spirit back to some time before Nadeshiko-san got sick and into your younger body. Then, you talk Nadeshiko into getting a mammogram before it's too late."

"And then I come back here?" She asked as she smiled, staring at nothing.

"No, you and Return will have to stay with the new Timeline until it gets to the moment you left from, then Return will bring Sakura and I back into the new Timeline to join you."

"If you are still alive." Tomoyo suddenly thought. "After all, anything could happen..."

"This is the only way to be sure that Return can bring us all together again." Tomoyo finished.

"You mean I could stay!" Sonomi exclaimed.

"Yes..." Tomoyo said with a smile as it dawned on her what this meant to her mom.

"Let me make sure I understand this." Sonomi started with a shaky voice, "You will send me back into my younger body with all my memories, and leave me there. And I will get the chance to live my life over again, but with Nadeshiko alive?!"

"That's exactly right Mom." With this confirmation Sonomi settled to the floor, crying. Tomoyo knew the feeling very well. "Too much joy really messes a person up." She smiled "But it is so wonderful to be able to do this for Mom. To take away all the sadness and regret that she has suffered all these years and let it be replaced with happiness."

After a minute or so of crying Sonomi was finally able to get herself under control. "So when can you send me back? Today? Now?"

"Well, today anyway." Tomoyo answered, "But you need to be calm and under control before you jump into your younger body. It may be a shock, so you need to be ready."

"I don't think it will be a bad shock. I expect it will be rather nice to suddenly be younger... So how far back will you send me?" Sonomi asked with a smile. "Can you send me back to when we were in high school?" Tomoyo noticed that her moms eyes seemed to be sparking as she sat down in her executive desk chair. This almost made her smile too, but then she remembered that she couldn't grant her mom's wish.

"Sorry, no." Tomoyo said as she sat down as well. "I can't send you back that far. It has to be sometime after Tomoyo and I were born."

"Oh." She lost her smile. "I really wanted to go to Nadeshiko's wedding. She was so heartbroken when I didn't show up." Sonomi hesitated for a moment before she continued. "It has tortured me for these thirteen years." she added softly, then continued in a normal voice. "I suppose this is to make sure you two don't get erased?"

"Kind of. I don't understand it really but Return says that if we sent you back to before we were born it there is a greater danger of things not going right."

"Well we can't very well take that chance. I guess Nadeshiko will still have to suffer my not showing up at her wedding and...not talking to her for six years. So can you send me to just after...no, maybe three months after Sakura was born?"

"Sure, that should work."

"So I will suddenly be in my 24 year old body?"

"Exactly."

"And can I do whatever I want? Or is there some path I must follow?"

"Good question. I need to check with Return." With this the smoky spiral appeared in front of Tomoyo and Sonomi stared at it, wide eyed until Tomoyo spoke."

"Return doesn't know of any reason why you wouldn't be free to do whatever you want. But of course there is no guarantee that your life will be the same as it was. The world will start out the same as you remember but as time passes there will be differences. And I mean differences that have nothing to do with you or Nadeshiko. The differences are random. They may be large, or they may be so small, you never notice them. Any of us may even die." She shrugged helplessly, "Return has no way to tell. It is a chance you have to take."

"Good enough! I will take any chance to save Nadeshiko's life." Sonomi just sat there and smiled for a moment, then a shiver made her body quiver just a bit. "I am still finding this really hard to believe. It seems much too good to be true."

"Yes it does. I've been thinking that ever since Sakura and I got together." Tomoyo responded with a glance at her love and a wistful smile.

xxxx

A little while later as everyone was relaxing with a cup of tea, Tomoyo started thinking out loud. "I expect that as soon as I send Mom back to the past, it will seem to us as if the world suddenly changed to include Nadeshiko-san being alive, plus any other changes that have happened. It could be that we won't live here anymore, or it may even be that this house won't be here. So I suggest that we do it outside on the front lawn. Hopefully that will be safe enough."

No one disagreed so outside they went. To insure Return had enough power to physically move them with their bodies out of the old Timeline and into the new one, Sakura pulled a lot of Star Power, while Tomoyo pulled as much Earth Power as she could (even though her power was as a drop in a bucket compared to Sakura's power) and they gave it all to Return who swallowed it without a sign. "Okay. Return says it's ready. For a moment, Tomoyo and Sakura hesitated, then they both took hold of Return and Tomoyo reached into Sakura's mind and mentally hugged her. Kero put his little hands on Return as well. "Send Sonomi's spirit back fifteen years seven months and twenty-one days, and send us and all we have, into the new Timeline." Tomoyo ordered and Sonomi vanished. But at the same moment she vanished everything seemed to jump a bit and Tomoyo felt stunned as if she had just been hit on the head by something.

Chapter 4

"Wow! It worked...I think...it must have! Ah! We are out in the yard, just like Mom said. Of course this is where we left from. So it must have gone well I guess. But I'm thinking two things at once. Mom never said it would be this confusing! Mom said? Yeah, so I guess I can welcome you to our world. Thanks, I'm welcoming myself to my own house. Can we really fly now? Yeah, I still have my Tomoyo Cards right here in my pocket. And we have dragonfly wings? Yes of course. Ah, I get it. Yeah, there are two of us now. And I can hardly wait to use our fly card! Wait! I am the me that just arrived in this Timeline. I am Tomoyo1, okay? Okay. Then I'll be Tomoyo2. But it's still hard to tell which me is thinking what. Concentrate!

"Okay, Nadeshiko is alive here so your mission worked. And the way Mom tells it, you had a really tough life. And I'm Tomoyo2 of course."

"Yeah, I guess I did. But Ah!" At this point Tomoyo1 found Tomoyo2's memories but just as she started looking, the massive confusion in Sakura's mind broke into her train of thoughts.

"Tomoyo? What happened? What's happening? I'm all confused. I'm thinking two things at once! I was just in the house and now I'm here and we were using the Return Card- thing...whatever…do you have it?" she finished with a dazed look.

This caused Tomoyo1 to glance down and make sure she had a hold of a purple card with a picture of a spiral on it.

"That must be our Return Card!" Tomoyo2 commented.

"Yes, I have it, and remember what my mom said this morning? The other us will be coming sometime and we will suddenly suddenly jump out to the front yard. So they are here now and we are both ourselves and them."

"I remember her saying that, but I didn't know it would be so confusing..."

"Kero, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I am fine, of course! Little things like this don't bother me!" Sakura smiled at Kero for a moment and then got the confused look back.

"He is real!" Sakura announced with a surprised look.

"Of course I am real!" Kero responded in an angry voice. "What's the matter with you, Sakura?!"

Tomoyo1 smiled and shook her head then went back to looking at Tomoyo2's memories and was fascinated.

She had grown up with Sakura! Sakura and her parents had lived with her and her mom, and she had shared a room with Sakura, as far back as she could remember. And then when she was about ten, she had decided that she loved Sakura as more than a sister, and she had confessed. Sakura had said that would be fine with her since she wanted to live with Tomoyo forever anyway. On her thirteenth birthday Sakura had kissed her. A very innocent kiss to be sure, but wonderfully sweet! Then on Christmas eve when Tomoyo was fifteen, they both had the same idea for a Christmas gift for each other!

"WOW! I'll never forget THAT Christmas!" Tomoyo2 broke into her train of thought.

"We've had such wonderful times!" Tomoyo1 exclaimed to herself as she was overcome by Tomoyo2's memories. When she once again became aware of her surroundings, she found herself down on the grass. In front of her Sakura was also now sitting on the grass, shaking her head and still looking confused.

"It must be all due to Nadeshiko! Mom has obviously been very much in love with her for as far back as I can remember. And I know Sakura was aware that her mom loved my mom as well as her dad. So since I grew up like this, I've always assumed that love between girls was perfectly normal."

"It -is- normal! And wonderful!" Tomoyo2 interrupted.

"So that must be why I never hesitated to tell Sakura how I felt."

They had been a real couple for over a year now and there were lots of memories of the wonderful times they had shared. There were also a lot of memories of wonderful times spent with both of their mothers and Sakura's dad. "Sonomi doesn't hate Sakura's dad now! In fact..." Tomoyo1 was stunned for a moment by a memory of a talk with her mom when she was five. "They share a bed?! But then she remembered the rest of it. ""But just to sleep that's all" she remembered her mom making very clear when she was older. Okay, but it still seems -really- weird..."

"What's weird about it?" Tomoyo2 laughed. "Nadeshiko-san loves both of them, and she didn't want either of them to have to sleep alone. And they both love her so much they will do anything for her..."

"Of course this seemed perfectly normal to me as I was growing up. Though I do remember Mom telling me to NEVER EVER tell anyone at school about the sleeping arrangements." Tomoyo1 made their body chuckle.

"It is far from normal of course," Tomoyo2 smiled. "but it seems normal in this house."

"Sakura from this Timeline seems different too. Much more sensitive and aware of her own and others feelings." The reason for this came to Tomoyo1 immediately. "Growing up with her sweet sensitive mom must have had a very good effect on her. And it would explain why she was sure of her feelings for me so much sooner."

"Yeah, she was really messed up in your world. And so were you! I really don't want to remember that pain." Tomoyo2 mentally cringed as she touched some of Tomoyo1's earlier memories.

But in this Timeline, Sakura had never found the Clow Cards! Mom had encouraged both of us to practice our Magic." Tomoyo1 smiled slightly. "But without Eriol's help and the Cards we didn't practice that hard and neither of us had learned to do very much."

"Hey, it's not like we don't have any Magic. We can do lot's of things." Tomoyo2 protested.

"But you didn't have the Cards to deal with, and that makes a big difference. And so, for the most part, we were just two normal girls in love; sweet and safe. What a wonderful past! But now we have jumped into this Timeline with our Cards, and the responsibility of guarding them and making sure no evil person steals them. It seems we have brought our curse with us."

"Why don't we just get rid of them? So then no evil person can get them and we won't be bothered? Tomoyo2 wanted to know.

"No. We can't risk throwing away the power to save the world. There is at least one evil Mage out there with a lot of power and there may be more. It is also possible that the Clow Cards still exist somewhere in this Timeline. So if the wrong person gets control of those Cards only the Sakura Cards will be able to stop them. We are the guardians of the world, and it would be terribly selfish of us to throw that away just for our own pleasure."

"I guess so, but why us? Girls our age only protect the world in anime, not in real life!"

"You have lived a very different life than I have, so I don't blame you for your feelings. But you know I'm right, I can feel it."

"I guess so. But I still think it's really scary. When Mom would tell us about what you did in the other world, saving Sakura's life and fighting that evil Mage I was -so- glad I didn't have to do that." Tomoyo2 whined.

"Well it isn't like I -wanted- to do it. I just did what I had to. And you are really me, so if the same thing had happened to your Sakura, you would have done it too."

"I guess..." Tomoyo2 admitted. "I can't imagine living without my Sakura-chan."

"So we are stuck with the power and the responsibility. But we both have Magic and we both have Sakura, or Sakuras, I guess. So life is still sweet. Tomoyo1 finished that as she thought of something really serious. "I wish we knew for sure if the Clow Cards still exist in this Timeline. And then there is Kutong. I've no doubt he exists in this Timeline and is still looking for the Saku- no, the Clow Cards. He doesn't know the Sakura Cards exist...I hope."

"I never heard of any such person." Tomoyo2 mentioned.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he doesn't exist. You don't have any memory of Ieran or Syaoran or Eriol or Kaho either. We will have to look into these things."

"Tomoyo! Uh...! It is so messed up to have two of me in my head!"

"Take it easy! Just try to divide your mind into Sakura1 who came from the other world and Sakura2 who has always lived here. That should make it easier for both of you... That's better!" Tomoyo2 finished as she could feel Sakura's mind stop trying to be one person and just let the two Sakura's be separate.

"It's wonderful! She's alive!" Sakura1 suddenly realized.

"Yes Sakura, I know. I remember that too. And she, "and everyone else!" is likely wondering what happened to us. "Fujitaka-san is here too! He came all the way back from Mongolia just for our arrival." So let's go in and you can work on getting rid of the confusion in your mind."

"Okay." Both Sakuras replied before turning to where the Seal Beast was hovering. "Come here Kero. You will have to do your stuffed animal act until we are in a safe place."

"Pretending to be a stuffed animal is very embarrassing for someone of my stature! Did I ever tell you that?"

"Yes, Kero." Tomoyo1 jumped in when Sakura hesitated, looking confused. "You have mentioned it, but you really need to keep doing it. You don't want to cause any trouble for Sakura, now do you?"

"Of course not! I'm her protector!"

"Do you have two sets of memories?" Tomoyo1 wanted to know.

"No! I'm just the same as always."

"Which means that either Kero hasn't awakened yet in this world. Or he doesn't exist here. And Yuki! He exists in this world. Toya lives with him in his grandparents house. But I have no memory of Yue."

Of course by this time the three parents had come out of the house and were standing in plain sight, watching and listening. But it was Sakura who first saw them.

"MOM!" Sakura1 cried out as she ran to her mothers arms.

Chapter 5

"Mom! You're ALIVE!" With this, Sakura1 forgot all about Kero who fell and then hovered nearby watching a very excited Sakura who was hugging her beautiful mom. "I'm so confused, but it's okay. I have you and Tomoyo here so nothing else matters."

"All seven of us are here together and everything is wonderful." Nadeshiko assured both daughters she could feel inside the girl she was holding. (hugging Sakura put Nadeshiko inside of the natural shield that Tomoyo keeps around herself and Sakura)

After Sakura had settled down a bit she was able to talk with her parents, though she seemed unable to let go of her mom's hand.

"Is there any problem besides Sakura's confusion?" Sonomi asked her daughter.

"No. We are well. But it turns out that we got more than just memories, we are now two different people!"

"I was hoping that would happen. I really didn't want to lose my second Tomoyo any more than my first one. Is it a serious problem?"

"No. Not for me anyway, both of us are rather fascinated by the experience in fact. It's kind of neat for us to be sharing the same body as well as exchanging memories. Though the newcomer Tomoyo-one has a lot of nasty ones that I don't really want to know about. She was really messed up in the other Timeline." Tomoyo2 finished.

"I wasn't that bad...okay, maybe I was." Tomoyo1 admitted reluctantly.

"Tomoyo-one?"

"That is our name for the Tomoyo who just arrived from the other world. She thought of it first so she got to be one. I'm Tomoyo-two, the daughter who was just eating breakfast a few minutes ago."

"Could you two drop your shield so I can get a better idea of how my two daughters are doing?" Sonomi asked politely.

"What if I just include you inside of it? There is always the possibility of an attack, and I want to stay prepared." Tomoyo1 said

"Tomoyo-two thinks that Tomoyo-one is paranoid." Tomoyo2 finished with her usual grin.

"She looks so different!?" Tomoyo1 suddenly realized, then Tomoyo2 cut in.

"She looks the same as she has always looked."

"But she looks so young!" And in fact the forty year old woman did look like she was in her early twenties. "And beautiful too! I don't remember ever noticing just how beautiful she is. I suppose the softer and less severe hairstyle helps but maybe not as much as the joyful smile I've so seldom seen on her."

"She says it must be her Magic that is keeping her from aging. Nadeshiko hasn't changed since as far back as I can remember either." Tomoyo2 explained.

"Wow! That should mean that Sakura and I... This is -so- neat!!"

"But poor Fuji-san hasn't been so fortunate as you can see. With no Magic at all, he looks old enough to be Mom's father." Tomoyo2 finished as both Tomoyo's realized their mom was still waiting for her to say something.

"So you remembered what I told you was going to happen... Even after all the years it's been for you." Tomoyo1 commented with some astonishment still in her voice.

"Of course. I'll never forget the day I was sent back and the things you said, but actually, I had forgotten the exact time. So today we just all gathered and waited for you and Sakura to suddenly vanish and appear out on the lawn. And so when you did vanish I scanned that area and felt your Magic Shield in the front yard. And I could even feel the two of, or rather four of you in it." Sonomi finished proudly.

"That's right!" Tomoyo1 burst out in surprise as she pulled up Tomoyo2's memories. "Nadeshiko has Sun Magic!"

"Which explains why she looks so young too."

"Of course." Sonomi laughed. "But if...Tomoyo-one hadn't awakened my Magic, it would likely still be sleeping. And then my years with Nadeshiko would have been quite different..." she said softly, then continuing in a firmer voice, "I hope you two can merge in time."

"I don't know. It's kind of neat in a way to be both Tomoyos. Now that we recognize each other and cooperate controlling this body we share. After all, I am never alone! I always have someone intelligent to talk with!" Both Tomoyos finished with a laugh.

"Could we all go back in the house and continue breakfast?" Nadeshiko asked. "My Sakuras are terribly hungry."

So with everyone smiling except Sakura, the family went back to the breakfast table. When Tomoyo got there a Tomoyo2 memory popped up. "I was just sitting there and eating. But I am really hungry. Ah! This body hasn't eaten anything. So I might as well..." Sitting down at the place where she had just been eating, Tomoyo2 looked at the partially eaten breakfast and remembered that she was just about to take another bite when she was suddenly moved to the front lawn. Smiling, she continued eating, and in a moment, Sakura did the same. Fresh hot tea was brought out and as soon as the maid was out of the room, Kero started in on the Danish rolls while Sakura piled more of a fish and rice dish on her plate.

"I am really hungry! Maybe it's from using magic..." Tomoyo1 thought to herself before glancing across the table at Sakura and her mom. "Kami-sama! They look more like sisters than mother and daughter... But then I guess that applies to me and mom too. Wow! This has worked out so incredibly wonderful!" Then after a shiver of joy she noticed Fujitaka sitting down next to Nadeshiko. "He really does look like her father. That's so sad. And he is such a sweet wonderful man too."

Then a moment later she looked at the Kinomoto "girls" again and realized something else. "Nadeshiko is even more beautiful than she looked in the pictures!

She's not THAT great. Is she?" Tomoyo2 cut in.

"Oh yes she is! You're just used to seeing her all the time. With that fantastic hair of hers she looks more like a fairy tale princess than a real person." Then Tomoyo1 smiled to herself. "With a mom like that, no wonder Sakura is so beautiful!"

"So for you it has just been a few minutes since you sent me back?" Sonomi asked.

"Well, yes for Tomoyo1." And then she grinned her usual Tomoyo2 grin at her mom."

As Tomoyo and Sonomi were silent for a moment, they heard Nadeshiko speak: "And you must be Kero. Sonomi-chan told me about you." Then they both grinned as Kero proceeded to tell Nadeshiko and Fujitaka all about the great and extremely cool Seal Beast between bites of sweet roll.

"This is for Tomoyo-one. Can you feel how happy this world has been for you?"

"Oh yes! My memories of here are so wonderful; it is hard to believe that this is me too." Tomoyo1 replied.

"I still remember the day you sent me back like it was yesterday. It was so wonderful! My wildest dream come true! The first thing I did was leave my office and head for the Kinomoto residence as fast as I could get there. I was SO excited when I saw Nadeshiko!" Sonomi laughed. "After I settled down a little, I told her what had happened, and she simply accepted every word, then thanked me for coming all the way back into the past just to save her. She is such an amazing person! The best part is, we have been very close ever since then... But of course you know all this because you are both of my Tomoyos now, right?"

"Yes, Mom. It still feels strange, but I remember this life and your story about how you came back in time to save Nadeshiko very clearly as well as my other life. And this one has been so different! There are so many wonderful memories of the four of us! And even the five of us!" With this thought Tomoyo1 remembered Sakura's dad and glanced at the middle aged man who was now carefully examining a very unhappy Seal Beast, while Sakura was trying to describe Kero's large form.

"And you and Sakura alone?" Sonomi grinned. Tomoyo blushed but couldn't help smiling too. "That's okay. Nadeshiko and I have made many beautiful memories as well. My old life seems dim and far away now like something I read in a sad book. Magic is -so- wonderful!"

"Yes it is, but having the Cards is not so wonderful. It's a terrible responsibility."

"A very terrible responsibility. I don't think we can afford to just ignore the threat of Kutong. If he exists in this world, he is likely to discover that we have the Cards sooner or later. And if he attacks us without warning, he may well kill us and get the Cards. So we are going to have to find him before he finds us. If he exists... We need to contact Ieran and see what she knows before we do anything. I really don't want to just sneak into North Korea blindly and look for him. He may not even be there in this Timeline. But since in this world, Ieran doesn't know us, we are going to have to introduce ourselves. I SO wish we could be just the normal girls that we were in this Timeline and not have to worry about saving the world! But if we don't save the world from Kutong, who will?" Tomoyo1 thought to herself as Tomoyo2 was pouring through Tomoyo1's memories of capturing the Clow Cards with Sakura.

"Are you doing better now, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.

"I guess so. I still feel like there are two people in my head but at least we aren't arguing anymore. And I have the most wonderful memories! I'm so happy in this life!" Sakura1 finished.

"It's the same for me, but I'm afraid we can't just relax and enjoy ourselves now. We have responsibilities so we need to do some investigating while we are still on summer break."

"What investigating? Sonomi asked.

"Remember that evil sorcerer who killed Sakura in the other world?"

"Oh... yes."

"We need to find out if he exists here and what he is doing. I'm afraid he is looking for Sakura's Cards right now and we can't allow him to catch us by surprise or we will likely be dead." As the memories of Tomoyo1's adventures with Kutong and the Sakura Cards ran through her head Tomoyo2 was shocked.

"There is a big difference between hearing Mom's stories about this and remembering it like I had been there. It was -scary-!"

"This is so frightening! I wish you hadn't brought those cards with you!" Sonomi sighed and Tomoyo2 echoed that thought.

"The problem with that is we were afraid that Kutong might have won in this world and would have the Cards. We didn't know. So by bringing the Cards with us, we expected the corresponding Sakura Cards to vanish, just like the other Sakura and I vanished. But since she never found the Clow Cards and transformed them, we don't know if her Sakura Cards caused the Clow Cards to disappear or not. So now we need to go to Hong Kong and see Ieran. I want to ask her about Kutong and the Clow Cards."

"What about Eriol?" Sakura1 wanted to know.

"I had him found and while on a business trip I visited him. He still lives in London but seems to be a normal high school boy with no Magic at all." Sonomi informed the girls.

"So I guess since I didn't find the Clow Cards, Clow was not reborn in this World." Sakura1 reasoned.

"And that may mean that The Clow Cards weren't found at all in this Timeline. Or... Of course it may mean nothing at all, we have no way of knowing... But I expect Eriol saw that he didn't have Magic and Clow's memories in Timelines with Nadeshiko alive in them, and that is why he lied to us." Tomoyo1 suggested.

"We can't blame him for that. We didn't want to be erased either." Sakura1 said sadly.

"Well, we can't do anything about it now. So we will just have to do without him and his knowledge. I just hope Ieran is still a powerful Mage and is as friendly as she was." Tomoyo1 sighed.

"So now we need to go to Hong Kong?" Sonomi changed the subject.

"I would prefer that Sakura and I went alone, just in case there is any trouble."

"And I wish to speak to Ieran and find out more about Magic. I tried contacting her years ago but she would have nothing to do with me. I expect once she learns just how much Magic power Sakura has now she will be more friendly.

"I would love to talk with a master of Magic as well. But this is my time with my Fuji-chan at the cottage. So perhaps if you become friends with Li Ieran, we can all go visit her next summer?" Nadeshiko wondered out loud.

"Perhaps. Or she may try to trick us and take our Cards. We don't know her in this Timeline. So we must be careful." Tomoyo1 warned.

"Paranoid again." Tomoyo2 mentally commented.

"Okay. And 'being careful' means you should go into possible danger with just another sixteen year old girl?"

"Sakura is hardly "just another sixteen year old girl." She carries the power of a nuclear weapon in her pocket."

"Okay... So she does, but does she have the wisdom and experience to use her power to best advantage?"

"Okay, that is a point." Tomoyo reluctantly agreed. "But if you come along we will have one more person to protect."

"One adult with many years experience dealing with people, who also can tell when someone is lying, and who speaks fairly good Chinese. Remember we don't know if Ieran speaks Japanese in this Timeline. And, I have a strong Earth Magic Shield as well." Sonomi argued.

"Okay." Tomoyo took a moment to digest this news. "But how did you test your shield's strength?"

"Nadeshiko-chan can't touch me through it."

"Which proves nothing. We don't know her relative power to penetrate Shields. I would have Sakura-chan test it, but Ieran only taught her killing attacks and it is far too dangerous to play around with those." After a moments more thought Tomoyo1 weakened. "Okay. I guess it wouldn't exactly be suicidal, but it still worries me to have an extra person of unknown abilities along, going into an unknown situation." Just then, Tomoyo1 remembered something. "If Sakura and I get in trouble, we can fly away."

"True, but what is the likelihood that we will need to fly away? And even if we do have to fly, Sakura still has Float, doesn't she?" Sonomi countered.

After a sigh, Tomoyo realized that she couldn't win against her mom. "Okay, you can go with us." Then she thought of something else. "Perhaps Sakura's Dream Card can give us a clue what will happen there."

"Sounds good Tomoyo-chan! I'll use Dream tonight."

"Then we won't decide anything until tomorrow." Sonomi announced, then smiled as she remembered something. "Well, life still goes on. In spite of jumping from one world to another with Magic and threats from evil sorcerers, I still have a company to run and I had best get there and do it. Have fun! I'll see you tonight." Then, as soon as she had kissed everyone goodbye, she was gone. (And this did include a kiss on the cheek for Fujitaka. Despite her aversion to men, she couldn't help but be influenced by her Nadeshiko's powerful love for her husband.)

"I have an idea!" Sakura suddenly said. "Remember the fun we had showing all the Cards to your mom? Let's go out in the woods so I can show them to my mom and dad!"

Chapter 6

Nadeshiko seemed even more delighted to meet the Card sprites than Sonomi had been but in her case the Card Sprites actually seemed delighted to meet her. Even the usually grumpy Fiery seemed to want to please her, showing off how he could take on different forms as well as make fireballs that looked like trees and even people instead of just destroying things. And instead of being frightened like Sonomi was when Earthy came out of the ground, she hugged the savage looking figure and praised her for providing the beautiful flowers and trees with someplace to grow. Earthy in turn made the trees all bow to her which made her giggle happily as she bowed back.

Fujitaka paid less attention to the Magical Sprites than he did to the sight of his thrilled and delighted wife. He seemed to find this sight more interesting than all the Magic that was being done.

"Mom is such a special person!" Sakura quietly said to Tomoyo. "I can feel how the Cards really like her. Her Magic is wonderful!"

"Indeed it is, Sakura." Tomoyo said as she wondered at the unusual feel of Nadeshiko's Magic. Then she turned to Sakura's beautiful mom and asked if it would be all right if she probed her mind to get to know her better.

"Of course, Tomo-chan. But you should remember doing this before."

Her words triggered Tomoyo2's memories of Nadeshiko to run though Tomoyo1's mind.

It seems Nadeshiko was already using Magic when Sonomi had arrived in the past. But since she had no idea what she was doing, she kept burning up her own bodies energy powering it. And this was what made her body so weak, clumsy and prone to illness.

Her special talent was connecting to other minds and using it she could not only communicate clearly with nearly anyone, she also could also strongly influence both people and animals. She did unconsciously use her power to get what she wanted but being the sweet gentle person she was, she more often used it just to make the people around her feel happier than they would normally. Of course, the side effect of this was to make her very popular in school which she enjoyed in spite of the fact that the attention of so many people annoyed her Sonomi-chan.

Soon after Sonomi had arrived back in time she figured out what Nadeshiko was doing and how it was harming her. So she began to work with her beautiful cousin, teaching her how feel her own Magic so she could control it and keep it from draining her energy.

Nadeshiko soon found that learning to turn her Magic off wasn't nearly as hard as breaking the habit of using it without thinking. But with many reminders from Sonomi, she did finally break the habit, and as she used her Magic less and less she grew stronger and healthier.

At the same time Sonomi was trying to teach Nadeshiko to draw Magic power from her source. And since she seemed to have a love affair with the Sun, Sonomi started there and in time it proved to be the right choice. Then when Nadeshiko was able to draw on the vast Magic power of the Sun she was not only healthy, but strong and athletic enough to beat a laughing Sonomi at running.

Sonomi was also proud that once Nadeshiko had learned how she was influencing people she stopped it. Except for animals. She still liked to call the little animals out of the woods and have them come up close to her so she could pet them. And then there was that one time when a man tried to rob them on the street.

Nadeshiko had made him drop his knife and just sit on the ground until they had gotten a police officer. Sonomi's story that the man had just come at them with a knife and then suddenly dropped to his knees and stared at nothing seemed very strange to the officers, but they didn't question the truth of the story partly due to Sonomi's social status and partly because the man was already wanted for robbery.

Despite the memories however, Tomoyo couldn't resist gently probing Nadeshiko and feeling her power. "She certainly has quite a lot of Magic power. It's just different from Sakura's and mine." Suddenly Tomoyo1 remembered that Nadeshiko had the power to talk to and understand anyone, no matter what language that person spoke! "Wow! That's amazing!"

xxxx

Nadeshiko was happily dancing with Flower when Sakura got to Fly and remembered how much Sonomi had enjoyed flying.

"Mom! How would you like to fly with me?"

"I was hoping you would ask me that! I was so envious when Sonomi told me about how she flew with Tomoyo."

"Well, I can't let you use my Fly Card since I want to fly with you, but you can use Tomoyo's Fly Card. Is that okay, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked with a smile.

"I don't think so. My Fly Card is real hard to use, not like yours at all. How about if I flew with your Mom?"

"But she is my mom. I should be the one who flies with her! Okay, what if I use your Fly Card and she uses mine. I shouldn't have any problem, since I've been flying for years."

"Sakura, you don't seem to be listening. This Card isn't like yours. It's really hard to control!"

"Please, Tomoyo?" Sakura pleaded and through their mental link Tomoyo could feel just how much her love wanted this. So she sighed and handed Sakura her Dragonfly Card.

"Take it real easy at first! It takes a while to get the feel of it!" she cautioned Sakura as Nadeshiko sprouted big white bird wings. Without seemingly hearing Tomoyo's warnings Sakura sprouted her dragonfly wings. In a moment, a brightly smiling Nadeshiko took off straight up followed by Sakura who left with a roar and both of them vanished as Sakura used her Illusion Card. But since the Card did not affect Tomoyo's Magic sense she could tell that Sakura was in trouble. She went up and down a couple of times and then spun in a circle while Nadeshiko shot away in a straight line, appearing in a moment to Tomoyo's eyes as she left the range of the Illusion Card.

"I hope they get back together. It's really bad for Nadeshiko-san to be flying in plain sight. It could cause all sorts of problems. Hopefully Sakura will quickly figure out how to control my Card."

"I hope she does too. I really don't want to have to explain to the police just what we are doing here." Fujitaka finished with a smile.

"Hopefully they will be back soon so you can take a turn."

"No thanks Tomoyo-san. I really don't like flying inside an airplane. I don't even want to think about flying without an airplane." Fujitaka gulped.

xxxx

Two old ladies who were talking as they waited for a bus, were stunned by the sight of an amazingly beautiful woman with long wavy hair and big white wings flying over them, laughing and squealing happily. "That's an Angel!" The first one announced.

"Yes it is! But what is she doing? AAAAAH!! It's the end of the world! She has come to take all the good people to heaven!"

"I hope not! She passed right over and didn't even look at us!"

"AAAAAH!!!" The second woman cried again, as she fell to her knees on the sidewalk. "It wasn't my fault! He tempted me! I never meant to be unfaithful! Please believe me!" She cried to the sky.

"So it was YOU!" The first woman accused.

xxxx

Of course as soon as Nadeshiko had gotten over her initial 'high' from finally flying, she went back looking for her daughter who was, of course, invisible. However Nadeshiko was also looking with her very fine Magic sense and found her very frustrated Daughter just shortly before she came zipping past her at an amazing speed. After a bit more chasing of each other Sakura got the hang of controlling dragonfly wings and managed to get together with her mom and actually enjoy the flying experience. It seemed that Nadeshiko loved flying at least as much as Sonomi and Sakura loved making her Mom so happy. So not surprisingly they wound up staying out way past lunch time.

xxxx

Later after Sakura and her mom had eaten and everyone was having tea, Sakura described the Clow Book to Fujitaka and asked if he had ever seen such a book."

"Why didn't I think of that!" An embarrassed Tomoyo thought to herself.

Unfortunately, he didn't remember seeing any such book. "But I do have a number of old books that have locks on them, perhaps we should look?"

So they did look very carefully, and found nothing that looked like the Clow book and certainly nothing that felt like it with Tomoyo's Magic sense. "Well, it was a good idea anyway." Tomoyo said sadly as they walked back to their room, then abruptly changed the subject. "Do you still feel confused with the two sets of memories?" Tomoyo asked.

"Sometimes, but it's not as bad as it was at first. And I really don't mind at all because the memories from here are so neat!" Growing up with my mom...and you...was just... so wonderful!"

"Yes, it was." Tomoyo1 said dreamily. "My mom was so happy with your mom living here. I still think it is amazing how your dad doesn't seem to mind the arrangement."

"My dad isn't just an ordinary guy. He is super special! And he loves mom so much he would do anything for her."

"I guess so. Well, I was just going to suggest we work on your homework, but I remember now that you have already done it in this timeline."

"Oh yeah!" Sakura1 said happily. "Growing up with you has all kinds of advantages, like having better grades than I had before!"

"And we are going to the same school here!" Tomoyo1 was delighted to remember.

"Yes! So it won't be bad at all, going back when summer break is over."

Chapter 7

A little later they were having tea with Nadeshiko while Fujitaka worked in his study.

"It has been wonderful having you living here with me, Sakura." Tomoyo1 smiled, "I keep thinking of all the fun we have had together. Life has been so very sweet! The strange part is I never really appreciated just how lucky I was! It just seemed normal that you and your mom and dad would be living here with me and mom." Tomoyo2 added.

"I know what you mean," Sakura agreed. "I thought it was just the way things were suppose to be. I even remember asking mom if it was okay just having you, or if I needed to have a husband too." Tomoyo chuckled at this.

"I remember that." Nadeshiko smiled and looked at Tomoyo. "I decided it was time that I explained things to Sakura." She looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing. "I remember saying, "No dear. You don't have to have a husband. If you really love Tomoyo-chan, then she is all you need to have. Most people have only one person that they love, but I was...perhaps too fortunate. I fell in love with two people who both fell in love with me. And this made things more complicated." You see, I had loved Sonomi-chan for years before I fell in love with Fuji-chan. And I thought she loved me the same way. But she couldn't bear the thought of me loving him, so she stopped seeing me which made me very sad. I married my Fuji-chan which was wonderful, and then I had my boy, Toya. But deep inside I was still sad. When I had Sakura and she was so beautiful, I lost my sadness for a while. Then, just as my sadness was coming back, my Sonomi-chan came to my door and back into my life."

xxxx

Flashback: 15 years 7 months and 21 days earlier.

"Sonomi-chan!" Nadeshiko cried. "Have you come back to me?" She continued hesitantly.

"Yes I have, and I shall never leave you again." Sonomi said firmly as she tightly hugged the one she loved so very much and the happy tears rolled down her cheeks. "She is alive and in my arms again! I have a second chance at my life! And she will live this time. I will make it happen!"

"I have been so lonely for you!" Nadeshiko said through her tears.

"I knew that when I left her." Sonomi accused herself. "But I was so young and so full of myself, I thought she had betrayed me. How very STUPID I was!"

After a minute or so, Nadeshiko spoke again. "Won't you come in and sit down? I'll make some tea." But Sonomi couldn't seem to let go. It took several more tries before Nadeshiko got her to finish coming in the house. Even then she wouldn't wait in the living room, but followed Nadeshiko into the kitchen and stayed within arms reach as the water was heated and the pot prepared.

Finally they were on the sofa sipping tea and Sonomi started telling Nadeshiko the story of how she had come back from the future. "Our girls will have such magic power? How wonderful!"

"She believes my strange story! She is such an amazing person! Sonomi thought to herself as she continued. "Yes, it is. Remember how we would dream of being Magic Girls? Well they actually are! And..." Sonomi hesitated finishing her sentence as the thought still stunned her. "I have some power as well. I was able to use Sakura's Magic Card to grow wings and fly! It was a dream come true indeed." Sonomi finished as she smiled at the memory of what Sakura had done for her. "But that was NOTHING compared to this!" She realized.

"It sounds wonderful indeed. I can hardly wait until Sakura and Tomoyo are old enough to show me their Magic!" Nadeshiko smiled happily and suddenly Sonomi became very serious.

"Tomoyo sent me back here to this time for a very important reason. In my Timeline you died of Cancer about three years from now. And I didn't know until it was almost too late, so I only got to see you for a very short time before you were gone." Sonomi finished painfully.

"In three years? I will be so sad to leave this wonderful world and the ones I love." Nadeshiko said softly.

"No! All you need to do is get a mammogram so they can find the cancer while it is still small and they can almost certainly cure you. This is why I came back. To change events and save you. And even if I can't save you, I am glad I can be here, to be with you for these last three years. I was terribly sad after you died and I tortured myself with the knowledge that I could have spent ten years with you except for my own selfishness. I am so very sorry that I rejected you, just because you fell in love with that man. I love you so much! From this moment on, I will do what ever I can to make you happy. Anything in my power is yours. Anything at all!" Sonomi finished in a tortured voice.

Nadeshiko was very impressed by this confession and apology. And something came to her mind that she had dreamed of when her husband was away on a dig and she was lonely. She wondered if she dare say it, then as she looked at Sonomi's tear streaked face she decided. "There is something that you can do for me, that would make my days wonderfully happy."

"Name it and it's yours!" Sonomi said without hesitation.

"My hearts desire is to live with all the people I love in one house." When Nadeshiko saw the puzzled look on Sonomi's face she smiled and continued. "You live in that great big house with just your little Tomoyo to keep you company. I would love it if you would invite me and my family to share your house with you."

"Only my Nadeshiko would think of something so audacious. But why not? I want to be as close to her as I can. Nothing else really matters."

"I do invite you and your family to come and live with me. Any time you wish, just let me know and I will have all your things moved to my house. There is a fine suite in the south wing next to mine that should be large enough for the four of you."

"Really! You really mean that?!" Nadeshiko practically squealed.

"Yes. I really mean it. I have missed you so much I felt like dying inside. It will be a delight to have you living in my house." Sonomi finished with a smile.

"But will you be nice to my Fuji-chan?" Nadeshiko wanted to know.

"Yes." Sonomi said without hesitation. "I will treat him with honor and respect. But do you think that he will agree to such an unusual arrangement?"

"The more I think about this, the more exciting it becomes!" Sonomi smiled to herself.

"I don't know. But I will try my best to convince him to agree." Nadeshiko replied hopefully.

xxxx

That evening Fujitaka was surprised and delighted to find Sonomi at his house, as he was well aware of how much his wife missed her cousin. And even more surprised when she was polite to him and agreed to stay for dinner. But the biggest surprise came after dinner as they sat in the living room.

"I would be pleased and honored if you and your family would come and live with me in my house." Sonomi announced.

Fujitaka was understandably startled. "Sonomi-san! That...is most generous of you..."

"Please Fuji-sama! I want to live with all the people I love in the same house. I love you, and I love Toya and Sakura, but I love Sonomi as well. Would it be wrong to live together?" Nadeshiko pleaded.

As his wife was pleading with him it suddenly made perfect sense. It must be a plan that Sonomi had thought up to try to take his Nadeshiko away from him. One would think that this would anger him, but that would be only if you didn't know Fujitaka. He was no ordinary man. And his love for his Nadeshiko was no ordinary love. Above all he wanted his beloved wife to be happy, and he knew that she loved her childhood friend very much. Perhaps as much as she loved him. And in her childlike way she wanted both of them. As he looked at Sonomi he wondered if it might actually be possible to give such a gift to the one he loved so very much.

"Sonomi-sama, do you wish Nadeshiko-chan's happiness above all else?" He asked her and she replied instantly.

"Yes! That is what is most important to me." she said clearly.

"Yet you knew that staying away from her caused her sadness and you did it anyway."

"I know!" Sonomi cried with tears in her eyes as she slid to the floor on her knees. "Please forgive me for being such a fool!" This was so different from the Sonomi that Fujitaka knew that he wondered if it were the same person for a moment.

"You have had a sudden change of heart?" He probed.

In this time she had avoided Nadeshiko for over six years. "Yes! I realize now that my love for Nadeshiko is far more important than my foolish pride." With this she turned on her knees to face Fujitaka and bowed until her forehead touched the floor. "Please do me the honor of coming and living in my house."

"I must convince him that I am serious about this!... Yes! That may do it!"

"I will accept you as the head of the household." She announced clearly but humbly.

Nadeshiko and her husband were both shocked by this incredible offer but in spite of his shock, Fujitaka could hear the love in Sonomi's voice. As he looked down at the proud woman who had just offered him everything she was, he decided that this was not a plot by the old Sonomi but an act of love by a new Sonomi. He stood up, bent over, took Sonomi's hand and pulled her to her feet. "That is not necessary." he said as he bowed deeply, "Nadeshiko and I, and our children will be honored to come and live in your house. And I insist that you remain the head of that house."

Then Nadeshiko was hugging both of them with happy tears running down her face.

Chapter 8

Return from flashback:

Monday July 31 3:43pm Tokyo time

"It's funny, but I never really questioned why Sakura and her mom and dad were living with us. It was just the way things were. And it was really because I had sent mom back to save Sonomi. It's like I was rewarded for it." Tomoyo thought as she smiled. "And now I'm mixing up the two "me's"." she laughed. "But it's good, really, that I'm not feeling like two different people all the time now."

After some more pleasant conversation, Tomoyo thought of something. "Sakura? How would you like to take a nice relaxing bath?"

"That would be nice! Would you like to join us, Mom?" Sakura asked without thinking.

"No thank you, dear. I will wait until Sonomi-chan calls as usual." (she usually bathes with her husband first and then with Sonomi second. Sonomi is still unwilling to bath with Fujitaka)

"Oh, of course, I'm still mixed up with Sakura2 and Sakura1. Well Tomoyo and I will just go upstairs now. See you later."

"Have fun girls!" Nadeshiko smiled and winked at her daughter who blushed cutely...

xxxx

After helping each other wash as they remembered doing for years, the two girls soaked in the hot tub and reviewed their memories. And the more they did this the less divided into two people they felt.

Tomoyo began to softly speak her thoughts. "I've known for a long time that my mom and your mom are in love and how sweet and beautiful it is. So I was happy when I began feeling a love beyond sisterly for you. But I was afraid that you didn't feel the same for me and I think you didn't actually, for two or three years, though you tried to act like you did. But then when you kissed me that first time, I could feel it! I remember thinking that your love was like a flower bud that was just opening. It was so exciting! I actually loved someone who loved me back! And it was the beautiful wonderful girl that I was living with!" The look on Tomoyo's face as she gazed at Sakura was so inviting that Sakura was drawn as if by Magic until they were gently kissing.

After they gotten out of the hot tub, they dried each other with grins and giggles, and then just held each other for a while. Tomoyo could feel Sakura's love enfolding her and holding her spirit, just as she was holding her body. Again, she was overcome with happiness, and tears came to her eyes. Life was so sweet it almost hurt.

When they got back to their (Tomoyo's) room, it was both familiar and very different. "There is no viewing room! No tapes of you. I don't even own a camcorder!"

"No, you don't." Sakura laughed, and then kissed her.

As the Tomoyos sank into the sweetness of Sakura's kiss Tomoyo1 thought to herself. "It makes sense, of course, I didn't need videos of Sakura to look at when I had the real Sakura here with me all the time! But still...it wouldn't hurt to get a camcorder anyway." she smiled to herself as Tomoyo2 was astonished at all the videotaping Tomoyo1 had done of Sakura.

"So what would you like to do now?" Sakura asked as they held each other close.

"I just want to hold you and feel your love. In spite of the wonderful memories I have and how comfortable part of me is with your love; the other part of me still remembers how very much I've missed you and wanted to be near you. And how deeply I need your love. It's strange, but all the terrible suffering and pain that I have gone through, now make the memories of having been with you all my life, -far sweeter- than they were without anything to compare them with. That part of me had taken your love for granted. It was always there so I didn't realize just how precious and wonderful that love is. And now I do. And I’m crying again. It should be getting old by now, but I still get so overcome with joy that I can't help it! The memories of us together are just so wonderful!"

Sakura then guided Tomoyo over to the large bed, helped her off with her robe and laid her down on the lavender silk spread. She hesitated for a moment, overcome with the beauty of the girl in front of her. Her very long shiny dark hair contrasted sharply with her pale skin, highlighting her very sweet curvy figure, and her beautiful blue gray eyes. Sakura could hardly believe her good fortune. This stunningly beautiful girl loved her. Loved her so much she could feel it all through her. And for her too, the contrast between her memories of wanting her Tomoyo and missing her so terribly made the memories of growing up with her more intensely sweet.

Sakura then dropped her own robe and got on the bed as well. She stretched out right on top of Tomoyo so they touched from ankle to cheek. "I'm not too heavy am I?" Sakura asked softly.

"No. You're not heavy at-" Tomoyo's words were cut off as an intense wave of pleasure cleared her mind and made her body quiver. Sakura felt Tomoyo's intense pleasure with her Magic link and her body responded with a quiver of its own. Then, the two just laid there for a while. Both their bodies and their minds fitted tightly together in their own private paradise.

xxxx

A little over an hour later as the two girls were going downstairs, they met Fujitaka. "Excuse me Tomoyo-san? Would you be so kind as to tell me if your mother is busy?" This caught Tomoyo1 off guard, but Tomoyo2 picked up instantly and probed the parents suit. It only took a feather touch to learn the answer.

"Yes she is right now." Tomoyo2 said politely as Tomoyo1 was acutely embarrassed by what they had just done.

"Thank you. I will be in my study until dinner."

xxxx

That night Tomoyo was careful to caution Sakura to not call on Dream until both of them were ready...

August 1 8:09am Tokyo time

A waiting Tomoyo watched a sleepy Sakura yawn and scratch for a minute or so before she said anything. "Sakura?"

"Yes?" Sakura replied as she looked at the beautiful girl she loved and smiled.

"Did you learn anything from Dream?"

"Oh! Yeah... Uh... I remember the three of us flying to Hong Kong and talking to Ieran..."

"And then what?"

"I don't know. The dream just seem to fade out there." Sakura answered and shrugged.

"Well that tells us that the plane to Hong Kong won't crash on the way there." Tomoyo said with some very uncharacteristic sarcasm. "Well, did Ieran seem to be friendly? Do you remember what she said?"

"Well... I think she seemed sort of friendly. But I don't remember her saying anything actually..."

After a deep sigh, Tomoyo spoke again. "I'm sorry for being nasty. It's just disappointing that's all." A couple of sweet kisses later both girls were in a better mood. "Well please hurry and get dressed, our mom's are waiting for us downstairs."

Tuesday August 1 2:39 pm Hong Kong time.

As the Taxi left the Hong Kong International Airport, Tomoyo reminded her Mom of their agreement. "Now you will let me do the talking, right?"

"I suppose so, though I am regretting that promise more and more as we get deeper into this. The fate of the world is at stake and I am suppose to let my sixteen year old daughter make the decisions. It really doesn't seem all that reasonable... But I do have the right to stop you if I think you are really messing up, right?"

"Yes, but only if you are sure." Tomoyo said firmly.

xxxx

"Well this is the Li's main house all right. I hope Ieran is home." Sakura announced as the taxi stopped in front of a high brick wall with a ornate steel gate in it.

Tomoyo did a quick probe into the house and felt Ieran's shield. "She is home all right. Now let's find out what it will take to convince her to see us." With this, Tomoyo walked over to the communication box next to the electric gate and pushed the call button. In a few seconds, there was an answer.

"Li residence. What can I do for you?"

"My name is Daidoji Tomoyo. I and two others wish to see Li Ieran."

"What is your business with Li-sama?"

"We wish to discuss certain Cards."

"What Cards?"

"The Clow Cards."

"We know nothing of such cards: please go away."

"It seems they are going to be difficult. Well I guess we will have to persuade them to let us in."

"If you do not invite us in, we will show you what the Cards can do."

"I said, go away!" The voice sounded angry now.

"Sakura? Use Earthy, but gently."

"Okay, Earthy! Shake the earth under the house in front of us just a little." Immediately the earth barely quivered. "A little harder." Sakura ordered. Now, the ground shook quite noticeably.

"Do you think that was a good idea?" Sonomi worried out loud.

"Why not? How else will we get their attention?" When Sonomi shook her head Tomoyo turned back to the communication box. "Now, are you going to invite us in or not?"

"Just a moment please!" The voice was now much more polite sounding.

"I thought that would get their attention." Tomoyo chuckled.

"Please, come in." The voice invited as the gate opened. Tomoyo could feel Ieran's shield coming towards them and sure enough when they got to the door it opened and she was standing there.

"What can I do for you?" She politely asked.

But Tomoyo could feel fear and anger coming out through her shield. "She thinks we are enemies!"

Tomoyo politely bowed and introduced her company by name but not mentioning that her and Sonomi were mother and daughter as agreed on, then she continued. "We wish you and your family no harm. We are trying to find out if the Clow cards have been found and if you know anything of a Sorcerer known as Kutong." With this, Tomoyo could feel shock and even more fear.

"We know nothing of these things." Ieran said, and Tomoyo knew she lied.

"But how do I get her to trust me? I guess we have to trust her first. But that's dangerous. We don't know her in this Timeline."

"Kinomoto Sakura," Tomoyo nodded at the Cardmistress, "has a set of the Clow Cards which she has transformed into her own. Kutong wants her Cards very much. In fact, he has managed to kill her once. And she has killed him once. But these things happened in different Timelines. We would like your help in finding out where he is and what he is doing right now in this Timeline...before he finds us."

"If you are not my enemy, drop your shield and let me see if you are speaking the truth." Ieran replied evenly.

"Sakura? Call Shield to protect you two and stand by. If I am attacked, do not hesitate to respond with the Cards.

"All right, I will." Sakura said firmly. "Shield! Fiery! Kero! Change to your large form." Now Fiery and the large and dangerous looking Seal Beast hung in the air on either side of Sakura. Fiery was smiling at Ieran and tossing a fireball back and forth between his hands. "If you do anything to Tomoyo, I will let Fiery eat you." Sakura threatened, sounding remarkably grown and serious while Sonomi shook her head obviously not liking the way things were going.

"Sonomi-san? leave me out of your shield and just protect the two of you, okay?" Sonomi nodded and Tomoyo could feel her mom's shield withdraw from her. Tomoyo then pulled her shield back until she was the only one covered.

"I will do no harm to your friend. I swear." Ieran said calmly and firmly to Sakura. Tomoyo could feel her fear struggling with her iron control, but she could also clearly tell that Ieran spoke the truth this time.

"I can tell if she is lying through her shield but she can't do the same. Well, I sure hope all is as it seems."

Then Tomoyo extended her shield to include Ieran. In an instant, she could feel Ieran's probe roughly going through her mind. Tomoyo concealed nothing, though it felt like she was being violated. Then, Ieran's shield went down and in a sort of reflex action she probed Ieran and didn't find anything that seemed dangerous.

"Not that I am exactly an expert in mind probing, but this is what she seemed to be doing to me and she does feel like a decent person who is proud of her honor."

In less than a minute it was over and Tomoyo returned her shield to cover just her own group.

"I am very sorry to have to do that, Tomoyo-sama, but I am responsible for the safety of my clan." Ieran apologized.

"I understand. And we must be careful as well so that the Cards do not fall into evil hands. She's okay, Sakura."

"Kero, return to your small form and Fiery back to a card, please.

"Damn!" Fiery swore before he shrunk back into a card.

Chapter 9

Once Ieran and the three "Magic Girls" were seated comfortably in Ieran's study with their three shields surrounding the group (like the layers of an onion) a tray of four kinds of tea and one of Chinese sweets and western cakes were brought in and left on a small table between them. Before anyone had said a word, Kero flew off Sakura's lap and began to happily sample all the different kinds of sweets.

"Was it you who asked to see me many years ago?" Ieran asked of Sonomi who smiled at being remembered.

"Yes it was. I wanted to learn more about Magic and how I could train myself to get stronger."

"There are many who wish this knowledge, but the world would be a more dangerous place if they all had it. But why did you not mention the Cards then?"

"I did not have them. Tomoyo and Sakura didn't arrive with their Cards and their fears until yesterday. I decided to come with them to see what I could learn as well as to help protect them."

"You are withholding much are you not?" Ieran asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course. Do you tell all your secrets to someone you just met?" Sonomi replied with a small smile."

"Now if you would be so kind as to tell us what you know of the Clow Cards and Kutong in this Timeline, we will tell you how we come to be here." Tomoyo broke in.

"That is acceptable, If I may examine your Cards?" Ieran said before taking a sip of her tea.

As Sakura hesitated, Tomoyo spoke. "And if you were master of the Cards and I asked to handle them, would you let me?" This got a chuckle out of Ieran.

"Indeed I would not. But I would allow you to look at one of the lesser Cards at least."

Sonomi was proud of her daughter's handling of the situation and was beginning to feel less worried about her taking the lead in the discussion. After Ieran had her chance to handle "Sweet", and had returned the Card back to Sakura, Ieran spoke.

"I know of the Clow Cards, of course, but I have no knowledge of where they may be. The only hint we have found is that they may have been taken to Japan, so for many years now we have had someone searching for them there. So far they report no sign of them. As for Kutong, he has a large compound in North Korea where I expect he is involved with the government there, as he is a lover of power. There has been talk of going after him, but I believe it would be suicidal. I am sorry if that is not of any help to you." Tomoyo knew that Ieran had told the truth and was disappointed. "Now will you honor me with the story of how you and Kinomoto-sama came to be here with the Clow Cards?"

"Six years ago, Sakura-chan found the Clow Cards and accidentally released them, except for Windy. She then met Kerberos, the Seal Beast here, who told her she had Magic, gave her the Seal Staff and told her she must use it to capture the wild Clow Cards, which she did. She was tested and earned the right to have the Cards, then transformed them into Sakura Cards which you have seen. However, Kutong found out that she had the Cards, captured her and the Cards, and killed her." Ieran raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. "The Sakura Cards were very angry that he had killed their mistress and they killed him."

"Indeed." Ieran said calmly . "I did not know that the Cards were capable of seeking revenge."

"It is likely the Clow Cards would not, but Sakura remade the Cards. And when she did, she gave them stronger personalities and more free will."

"It sounds very dangerous."

"Perhaps, but Sakura thinks of her Cards as her friends, and they treat her the same. This has it's advantages."

"So it would. Having the Cards as loyal friends could indeed have it's advantages."

"But to return to my story, after killing Kutong many of them, led by Fiery who you met, were still in a rage so they took it out on this city. They destroyed most of it and killed millions of people, including yourself." The only indication of Ieran's shock was a twitch in her eyes. "I was then contacted by the reincarnation of Clow who awakened my sleeping Magic and made me some Cards of my own."

"The reincarnation of Clow? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Very interesting; where is he now?" She wanted to know.

"Unfortunately he doesn't exist in the same form in this Timeline. We do not know if he was born into this Timeline or not." When Ieran nodded Tomoyo continued. "I found Fiery and the other Cards and kept them from killing me long enough to explain that I could bring Sakura back by using the Return Card."

"So that is how Sakura was able to come back from death." She nodded. "An immense power indeed. And very dangerous."

"We understand that very well, and do not use it lightly. I used the Return card to go back and find Kutong before he killed Sakura. We were friends of yours in our Timeline so you were helping me. In the end, you led a team who entered Kutong's house here in Hong Kong and fought him."

"Ah!" She smiled. "And we destroyed him?"

"No, but while he was fighting you and your team he was unable to stop me from freeing Sakura and her Cards. Then Sakura used her Cards to destroy him."

"You didn't tell her about how you brought Syaoran back from the dead!" Sakura reminded her.

"Kutong killed my son?" Ieran asked quietly.

"Yes. He tripped and fell out through the combined Shield that your team was maintaining. As soon as he left the shield, Kutong killed him. But his spirit was still connected with a thread, so I used my Earth Magic to draw his spirit back into his body."

"Earth Magic?" Again there was a flicker of a reaction in her eyes.

"Yes, which is why I was able to stand up to Kutong's attacks by myself. I have a very strong natural Shield."

"So, with your Earth Magic Shield and Kinomoto-sama's attack Cards, you two were able to defeat Kutong yourselves?"

"Exactly."

"But that would not bring you to this Timeline." Ieran observed.

"True." Tomoyo replied. "But then we sent Sonomi-sama back in time sixteen years to save Sakura's mother from dying of cancer. This caused a major change."

"And that brought you to this world?"

"Yes." Tomoyo nodded.

"But then, how did you and Sakura get here with her Cards?"

"We had Return do what is necessary to bring us physically to this new Timeline with our Cards and the Seal beast."

"So Return can physically move people between Timelines..." Ieran was momentarily overcome with the possibilities this implied.

"May I continue?" Tomoyo prompted after a few seconds.

"Yes, please do."

"When we arrived, we merged with the Tomoyo and Sakura who had grown up in this Timeline, so we have all our memories from both Timelines now." Ieran nodded to herself at this point as if this explained something but did not speak, so Tomoyo went on.

"But Sakura hadn't found the Clow Cards in this Timeline, so none of the things involving Kutong and you happened here. Now we’re worried about Kutong finding out that Sakura has the Cards, and setting a trap for us. We brought Kero, the Seal Beast with us but he didn't receive any memories from this timeline, so either he doesn't exist in this Timeline or he had never awakened...or he is dead here. And we don't know if bringing the Sakura Cards here erased the Clow Cards or not. They may still be out there somewhere waiting to be found."

"Kutong knows the Clow Cards exist and that the Li family is looking for them. So, not surprisingly, someone has been monitoring this house for years. I get faint feelings of their Magic, but I can't tell where they are. And I have no doubt this person is an agent of Kutong who will alert him if he detects the Clow Cards here. So when you not only brought your Cards but actually used one of the most powerful of them, you let him know that not only are there Magic Cards here, but they are likely the famous Clow Cards."

"That was so stupid of us!" Tomoyo cried with the pain of regret in her voice. "Showing off like children. I am ashamed." She finished with tears in her eyes while Sonomi shook here head with both sadness and a bit of anger in her eyes.

"Perhaps it was foolish and perhaps it was not. As he is known to trust no one, I believe he will now come here to see for himself who has such powerful cards. When he finds out that Sakura is their wielder, he will very likely assume that he can capture or kill her and get the Cards for himself with little risk. He is known for his firm belief that he has the most powerful Magic in the world. Which it seemed he did have the last time we fought him. It took a coordinated attack by many people to make him give up the fight and withdraw. So if you two are alone, he will think he can easily take the Cards from you."

"Reminds me of Eriol." Tomoyo thought wryly. "So what do you suggest we do?"

"I respectfully suggest we join forces to trap and destroy Kutong. It would be to both our advantages."

"What do you all think?" Tomoyo asked.

"By what right do we just trap and kill someone we don't even know?" Sonomi asked and Sakura nodded in agreement. "He may not be the same in this Timeline as he was in the other.

"I know him." Ieran started. "Too well. My Father told me many stories of his atrocities before Kutong killed him. He stamps out human lives as if they were no more than insects to him. He feels that his immense Magic power makes him a god and that all people should worship him. And many have worshiped him. But he trusts no one and kills his supporters as casually as those those who oppose him. He is quite insane, and his power makes him terribly dangerous. You already know that he would kill Sakura to get her Cards." Ieran responded.

Sonomi closed her eyes and nodded before she answered with a simple, "I understand."

"And besides, you know what would happen if he kills Sakura. We can't let Hong Kong be destroyed in this Timeline." Tomoyo added.

Sakura just nodded sadly. "I understand. I will do whatever is necessary."

"The loss of one City will be insignificant compared to what would happen to the world if Kutong ever got control of the Clow Cards." Ieran added to Sakura. "Now, how did he attack you in the other Timeline? It's likely he will use a similar method in this Timeline."

"He disguised himself as Syaoran-kun and lured me into his car where he put a sleep spell on me."

"So you were friends with Syaoran in the other world?" Ieran asked.

"Yes. We were good friends. He even asked me to marry him."

"And you refused?"

"Yes. It's Tomoyo that I love." Sakura said firmly.

"That is our loss, we would have been honored to have you in our family." Ieran sighed, then after a moments hesitation she continued speaking. "But back to our planning. So Kutong can change his appearance and put people asleep..." Ieran said thoughtfully. "Were you shielded at the time?"

"No. I didn't know anything about what Tomoyo calls a "natural shield" then. All I had was my Shield Card and I can't very well use that when I am out and walking around." Sakura replied.

"So a shield should stop his sleep spell at least. But if he can really imitate anyone he wants, he can pose as a shielded Magic user and we won't be able to identify him until he attacks."

"I don't believe this will work on me." Tomoyo put in. "I can identify people even if they are shielded. And I know what Kutong feels like."

"Hm... Your Earth Magic again. It is useful indeed. Well, it would make no sense for him to attack you here in my house where he would have to deal with my house defenses as well as Syaoran and myself. Not to mention, it will take him some time to get here. You should be safe enough for today. Now, if you would like to bathe and rest before dinner, I'll have someone show you to your room and the bath. We can discuss possible plans over dinner."

"That sounds good to me!" Sakura answered. "I feel really tired and I am getting a bad feeling about the future. I think our battle with Kutong is coming sooner rather than later."

"I feel the same way. Let’s get cleaned up and get some rest while we are still safe." Tomoyo agreed.

"Are you quite sure that he cannot attack us tonight?" A worried sounding Sonomi asked Ieran.

"Quite sure. We are as safe as anyone is anytime. But I will see if I can find out just when we should expect him. We will discuss it over dinner at seven this evening."

Chapter 10

The bath was luxurious, but the three were unable to properly enjoy it due to their continued feeling of impending trouble. So after washing, they hardly soaked in the hot pool at all before returning to their rooms.

"I'm really tired now, would it be okay if I laid down for a while?" Sakura asked.

"I guess so, we don't have anything else to do before dinner."

As Sakura changed from her bathrobe to a pair of her pajamas out of her suitcase, Tomoyo decided she might as well join her.

As they snuggled and basked in each others love they tried to forget about the upcoming threat, but it was no use. "I have an idea. I'll use Dream to see if I can learn just when and where the battle will be." Sakura suggested.

"But it's only two and a half hours till dinner, we don't have time." Tomoyo replied.

"I asked Dream and she said she can give me a dream and still wake me back up in an hour."

"Okay, I guess that won't hurt. I could use some quiet time as well." Tomoyo reluctantly agreed. "Remember that Dream hasn't been much help up to now, so don't get your hopes up."

"I know. But right now, any information would make me feel better."

When Dream took Sakura she disappeared as before, both to Tomoyo's magic sense as well as the mental link that caused them to feel each others feelings. "It's silly but I miss her love already... I wish I could nap with a Magic Card like she can. I can't even lie still even though I feel really tired... And I'm sure Kutong could get here and attack tonight if he wanted to." Tomoyo worried to herself. "If the spy called him as soon as we got here, and he took a private jet... I don't think it's that far from North Korea to here... Ii might be possible for him to be here in as little as three hours. I don't care what Ieran says about him not attacking here, we need to be ready tonight! I need to talk to Ieran!"

With this thought in her mind she got up and got dressed, then scanned for Ieran's shield. "There she is. Downstairs and over that way... But I mustn't leave Sakura! I'll try calling her on the phone. I'm sure the attack is tonight, and it feels even sooner. Fortunately he can't get here any sooner."

But just as this thought crossed her mind she felt a powerful nonphysical Magic attack! It tore through the house like a tsunami until it got to her and Sakura, where it crashed against her natural shield for a few seconds before stopping.

Tomoyo then scanned the house quickly but found only her mom's shield still active, and it felt like her mom was the only one in it. Then she realized what that meant. The fear had just stabbed her when she felt him! "That's Kutong! I'm sure of it. But how did he get here so fast? There was a crash and then she felt his shield in the house and headed for the stairs.

Sonomi also felt Kutong's shield and guessed correctly who it was. And despite hellish torment her iron will stopped her from doing what her motherly love was screaming at her to do. To try to protect her daughter. "I couldn't even slow him down. I have no protection against the fireballs Tomoyo says he throws. He would just incinerate me and keep going. And that certainly wouldn't help Tomoyo. But Sakura is with Tomoyo, and she has killed him before, so it shouldn't be any problem now." This thought comforted her until she probed for Sakura and didn't feel her in her daughter's shield...

"SAKURA! WAKE UP! NOW!!" Tomoyo screamed as she shook the Cardmistress, but it did no good. Sakura was out cold. "Dream!! Let Sakura go! She has to wake up!" But she still couldn't feel either Dream or Sakura's mind. The fear was really tearing at Tomoyo now. "I could fight him with my sword and shield. And I can throw fireballs... If I could remember how to make them..." The image of how he threw torrents of fireballs at Ieran and her team while hitting them with his Slime Needle attack came to her mind and this reminded her- "I have his Card!" She immediately called on the slimy attack card and told him to attack his former master.

She could feel the Card attacking but it didn't seem to do anything but enrage Kutong. "He's coming straight for us! SAKURA!! No, I've got to get her out of here!" There was a good sized window overlooking the garden which Tomoyo slashed to pieces with her Saber. She could now feel him coming up the stairs. The nonphysical Magic attack was back, although without Slime Needle it lacked the disgusting feeling as well as some of it's power. Still the legendary Kutong was coming ever closer and with her beloved Sakura in a helpless state, it shouldn't be surprising that she lost control to her fear. Without another thought she grabbed Sakura and jumped out the hole she had cut.

As soon as she was clear she called on her Fly Card as well as her Shield Card and headed away as fast as her high performance dragonfly wings could take her. "We are safe now, Sakura! He has angel wings and can't possibly keep up with us." But then a thought hit her like a sword to the heart and she screamed in agony. "SAKURA'S CARDS!!!"

"I forgot them! I AM SO STUPID!!! Now all is lost. It doesn't matter if we escape or if he catches us and kills us. My real purpose wasn't protecting Sakura, it was protecting her CARDS..." But the feeling that neither her life nor Sakura's life was important anymore caused Tomoyo's fear to disappear as quickly as it had come and her mind started working again.

"Maybe I can call them."

"SAKURA CARDS! COME TO ME! SAKURA IS IN DANGER! SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP! SHE NEEDS YOUR PROTECTION! FIERY! BRING THE CARDS!"

"What do ya want?" Fiery answered from right beside her and the shock of this nearly made her drop Sakura.

"FIERY! Kutong is coming to kill Sakura and steal the Cards! Tell Dream to let Sakura wake up!"

But Fiery just shrugged. "When Dream is working she isn't even in this world. Nobody can talk to her."

"But we need Sakura to stop Kutong!"

"No you don't. I'm here. Can I burn him?" Fiery asked hopefully.

"YES! Anything! But he is very powerful! Can you contact the other Cards!"

"We are all here. Sakura told us to stick close to her so we followed. "So where is this guy you want toasted?" Fiery asked with a smile.

"He is following me, back that way." She pointed and was shocked to see how close he was. "He is there, flying with the feathered wings. You must stop him to save Sakura!"

"No problem. It's as good as done." With this Fiery flew off towards the winged figure in the distance leaving Tomoyo trying to figure out how he was catching up to her. "He must have some kind of super flying power or something! Of course he has a Fly Card. And maybe a Shield Card as well. And if we had taken the time in the other timeline to capture those cards, when we brought them here, he would have lost them! If only we had thought more about what we were doing before we did it! But we were all excited about getting Nadeshiko back. We are much too young and STUPID to be responsible for the world!" she told herself, but again she used her self control to put her torment aside and concentrate on what was happening at that moment. We aren't beaten yet. I still have the Sakura Cards and they have a lot of power even without her. And I must NOT lose my self control again! To HELL with fear, this is important!"

In a couple of minutes Fiery was back. "He is tough. I couldn't touch him. Even with Earthy and Watery helping.

"I TOLD YOU!" Tomoyo yelled at him, then checked and saw that Kutong was still catching up. "We have to do something!"

"Yeah, I know, we got you covered. We just need to get him down on the ground. You can be the bait, and we will be the trap."

"Are you sure you can stop him on the ground?" Tomoyo asked hesitantly.

"Sure! Earthy has a great idea, and with Windy and Watery's help, we'll take care of him no matter how tough his shield is." Fiery grinned. "Just land and wait. As soon as he gets low enough, we'll spring our trap."

"So what are you going to do on the ground that you can't do in the air?" Tomoyo wanted to know.

"No hints! We want it to be a surprise." Fiery said with a grin.

"A SURPRISE?!" Tomoyo screamed. Then, she took a deep breath and remembered that Sakura's Cards had killed Kutong before. "But what if he starts throwing fireballs when he gets close? I may not be able to divert them fast enough!"

"Fireballs? Who do you think you're talking to? I can toss his fireballs right back in his face. You just watch. So, come on and land; I can't wait to spring this one, it's gonna be good!"

Tomoyo thought about this for a bit before she realized that she had no choice. With him catching up she had to stop and fight. "SAKURA!" She yelled at the limp girl in her arms without any sign of response. "Okay. I'll set down in that open area and make like I'm hiding in those trees. But this better work, or Sakura and I are both dead. And the World is-"

"Don't worry, he hasn't a chance." Fiery assured her with a smile.

Tomoyo was holding down her fear as best she could while trying to think of what she could do in case Fiery's trap failed when she tried to land normally. But when you are carrying someone who weighs more than you do while flying with dragonfly wings and you try to land in your usual way... Well it throws your center of gravity way off. So of course she wound up face down on top of the sleeping girl. Fortunately, the grass was fairly soft.

To her credit, she wasted no time being upset with not only dropping Sakura on the ground but landing on top of her. She kept her mind on Kutong and the Sakura Cards.

"I have to have a plan in case Fiery's trap fails. I need to be ready. I have Sakura's Shield Card protecting us, and I also have Sakura's Sword Card which I suspect is more powerful than Light Saber. And I still have all of Sakura's attack Cards. What I don't have is Sakura's immense Magic power to back up those Cards. They did Kill Kutong once on their own, but that may have just been the element of surprise. He likely wasn't expecting the masterless Cards to suddenly attack him. But now he is ready and has already held off our three most powerful attack Cards... So what can I do to stop him?" After a moments thought the conclusion was inescapable. "The best I can hope for is to hold him off until Sakura wakes up. But that is going to be very hard to do."

With this conclusion, Tomoyo took up her position over her Sakura with Sword in her hand and waited. And with nothing to do but think about being attacked, her fear tore at her insides and it took all of her self control to keep from screaming.

"I have to be brave. Sakura is depending on me. I have to be ready for anything. Fiery's plan will work. It will! We can't lose this wonderful life we have now. It is so sweet! We can't lose it now! Everything will be all right. It must!" She kept talking to herself as the seconds passed, saying the same things over and over. It seemed like twenty minutes, but it was actually less than twenty seconds before Kutong was there and descending towards the clearing. He was coming down slowly while scanning all around. "He must suspect a trap. And he is right. I just HOPE it works!" Tomoyo said softly to herself.

Then just as he touched down, Tomoyo felt the Sakura cards explode into action. There was a roar as the ground under her feel lurched so hard it not only knocked her off balance but actually tossed her nearly a foot into the air. And as luck would have it, she came down once again on top of the Cardmistress. She jumped back to her feet as quickly and to her credit she didn't worry about any injury she might have done to her love but instead tried to locate Kutong. But there was just this round hole, maybe four meters across. "This is weird! Is he hiding from the Cards? Trying to attack me from below?"

But then as she watched, a huge cylinder of rock rose out of the ground next to the hole, moved over, and dropped into it on top of Kutong. "So that is the trap." she thought to herself as she saw Fiery, Windy and Watery coming back. She was startled for a moment when she saw something that looked like a sea urchin following them, but when she touched it with her Magic sense she realized it was Slime Needle.

"The look on his face was priceless!" Fiery laughed.

When Tomoyo felt the earth move again, though much more gently she saw the ground moving together and making both holes disappear.

Using her Magic sense she reached down into the ground and kept reaching until she felt Kutong's shield. The overwhelming fear Tomoyo could feel coming from him made her feel guilty for a moment. But then she remembered he had killed Sakura once and would no doubt have done the same again. He was now four or five hundred meters down and descending fast as the hole was still open beneath him and the massive cylinder of rock was still pushing him down.

"That should do it!" Tomoyo thought to herself. "No matter how strong his shield is, having hundreds of meters of rock on top of him is going to make it impossible for him to get back to the surface. Unless he can teleport! No, if he could do that, he would have, right after they caught him. It seems he is trapped in a fatal trap. It's going to be getting hotter and hotter as he falls deeper into the Earth. Of course he has his Magic Shield. But...it can't last forever, and the temperature will keep going up the deeper he goes." Tomoyo couldn't help feeling a twinge of sympathy for Kutong. "Being buried alive is a horrible fate. But..." she took a deep breath, "we had no choice. The important thing is that Sakura and her Cards are safe...for now, at least. So I guess we can go back to Ieran's house."

"Fiery told me to stop attacking and come back to you. Is it okay?" Slime Needle asked.

"Sure. Now back to Card form." As the sprites did as she asked, she called on Illusion to make her invisible without any problem, but when she called on Silent she was ignored until Fiery backed her up. Then, she picked up Sakura and took off trying to remember which direction she had come from.

Chapter 11

"I think Ieran's house is that way, but I was so scared I wasn't really paying any attention. Maybe if I fly that way a while, I'll see or feel something I recognize." But after flying several minutes she still didn't see anything familiar. "If only I had my cell phone. No, that wouldn't help, I forgot, Mom may be the only one alive back there and she can't give me directions." This sad thought really hurt. "If I hadn't brought Sakura and the Cards here, Ieran and her family would still be alive... But now I have to get back there and see what really happened. At least I didn't lose Mom anyway."

But after flying a while longer, she realized she was lost. She remembered the address that she had given the cab driver at the airport but she had no way of finding an address from the air with no map. She couldn't see the street signs without coming down nearly to the ground. "If I can find a cab... No, I have no money." But after flying aimlessly for a few more minutes she realized she wasn't going to find the house by chance. "I need a cab. I will just have to convince the driver to take me to the Li's and I'll pay him there. I have plenty of Hong Kong money in our room." But as she searched the streets, there were lots of cars but no sign of a cab. "Maybe if I fly towards the downtown area, over there where all the tall buildings are..."

When she got there, there were plenty of cabs, so after dipping down to find an empty one she set down on the sidewalk some distance in front of it and tried to wave it down. But it went right by. "Of course, you idiot, you forgot to make yourself visible. But... if the driver sees me, carrying what looks like a dead girl in pajamas, is he going to pick me up or call the police? But I have Illusion!" she realized. So she flew ahead of the cab, dropped down and had Illusion make the driver see a rich looking lady carrying a package, which worked, once she convinced the driver that she did NOT want her package in the trunk. In a little while, she was at the Li residence.

"But now what? The gate is closed. I could fly over, but he would see me...but maybe..."

"Please wait here." She told the driver, then got out and got Sakura back into her arms. "Illusion!" she said quietly, "Make the driver see me enter and leave the house normally." With this, she flew up and around the house until she found the missing window.

But now she had another problem. On her way out she had only cut a large enough hole for her and Sakura, not her wings. She didn't call them until she was out on the roof which angled down from just below the window.

But the tile roof was not a secure place to land, and certainly not while carrying Sakura. "I could just cut a really big hole in the wall...but that would be really hard while I am carrying Sakura with both arms, and besides I hate to do that to Ieran's house...but she is probably dead anyway...but- Mom?" In fact, Sonomi had felt Tomoyo's shield and had come to the hole in the wall looking for her daughter.

"MEET ME AT THE FRONT DOOR AND UNLOCK IT FOR ME!" Tomoyo yelled much louder than necessary since Silent was erasing the sound of her wings.

"Okay. I'll be right there." Her mom replied and disappeared into the house.

xxxx

"Is...she alive?" Sonomi asked as she followed Tomoyo to the stairs.

"Yes. She's fine. Just sleeping. How...about Ieran and her family?" Tomoyo asked hesitantly.

"They seem to be in a deep sleep state and-"

"That's wonderful!" Tomoyo interrupted, "I was so afraid that they were dead."

"Was that... I mean did Kutong just attack us?"

"Exactly right Mom. But no worry...we sent him to Hell..." Tomoyo finished with an odd look and a shrug. Having never heard her daughter use such language, Sonomi was stunned for a moment. Long enough for Tomoyo to get to Sonomi's room.

Once she had Sakura on the bed she turned to her mom. "Please stay here and protect her with your shield. I have to pay the cab driver."

"Okay. But...the cab driver?... But you were...flying..." The confused woman finished to an empty doorway, for Tomoyo had gone to her room for money.

xxxx

Grabbing her purse she headed back down but being still rattled from all the stress and still afraid of another attack by cohorts of Kutong, she made a wrong turn and had to use her Magic sense to find her way to the front door of the huge house. But the walk out to the gate helped her settle down some and she began feeling like the intelligent, well disciplined girl she usually was. She smiled as she paid the driver, gave him a big tip and a heart felt thanks for his service. "You don't know it but you were a great help to me when I was lost."

Back inside she found Ieran with her Magic sense and stripped the sleep spell off of her.

"Tomoyo? What happened?" She started sleepily.

"Kutong caught you with a sleep spell."

"Where is he? Is he is coming back here?!"

"No, I'm quite sure that no one will see him again. He may be dead by now, if not it's just a matter of time.

"He may be? Where is he?" Ieran demanded.

"Earthy made a really deep hole, maybe many kilometers deep. The Cards pushed him into it and then Earthy dropped a few hundred ton chunk of rock on top of him to push him down, then closed the hole. Last I checked, he was about four hundred meters or so down and still descending fast. He may still be falling now, I don't know, but I don't see how he could possibly survive." Tomoyo finished with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Good enough for now, though I wish I could get confirmation of his death. I've heard stories about how he has slipped out of traps before." As she finished speaking she remembered she had more urgent things to deal with. "Have you checked my children?! Are they all right?!" But then she notice that her eldest daughter was laying on the floor by the window and Tomoyo felt her scanning the whole area. "They are all just sleeping. I will remove this spell first." After a moment she continued speaking as she knelt by the girl on the floor. "I have never felt this spell before but it seems similar to a very old and powerful sleep spell that I am familiar with. I should be able to remove it without harm. Please check on the others and make them comfortable please, as this will take some time."

"I can do that, but wouldn't it be better if I removed all the sleep spells myself? It only takes me a few seconds." Tomoyo replied.

"A few seconds? And how would you do that?" Ieran asked as though Tomoyo was a foolish child. Instead of answering, the irritated Tomoyo just peeled the spell off the girl on the floor and in about five seconds she was opening her eyes.

"Like that." Tomoyo said clearly.

Ieran stared at her daughter for a moment then stood and bowed very low to Tomoyo. "I humbly apologize for my disrespect. It won't happen again, Tomoyo-sama."

"Don't be concerned. You are under a lot of stress. I'll go and wake the rest of your people now, okay?"

"If you would, could you wake my children first? That would ease my mind greatly." Ieran asked very politely. "I can show you were they are."

So Ieran's other two daughters were awakened followed by Syaoran. The girls were polite and thankful, and Syaoran was furious.

"WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE WARN ME WE WERE GOING TO BE ATTACKED?! I could have held him off if I had been ready!"

"He sounds like Kero." Tomoyo thought to herself with a smile as Ieran expressed her disapproval of her sons behavior. "And where is Kero?" Tomoyo wondered. A quick Magic scan found him in the a pantry sound asleep on a pile of sweets.

Once Syaoran had been properly chastised, Ieran went around with Tomoyo as she woke up the rest of the people in the house as well as Kero, and they talked as they walked.

So how did you and Sakura get him into that hole?" Ieran asked as Tomoyo removed the sleep spell from another of Ieran's people.

"Sakura was using her Dream Card to find out what was going to happen when Kutong attacked. I couldn't wake her so I flew away with her. I'm sorry but I destroyed the window in our room, but I was in a hurry to get away."

"Do not worry about it in the least. Such things can be easily fixed. "So you flew away with Sakura? You were using her Fly Card?"

"No, actually, I have my own Fly Card. Remember I said that the reincarnation of Clow made me some Cards. I have Fly, Shield and...a sort of sword Card." When Ieran nodded Tomoyo continued. "I had Fiery and some other Cards attack him but they couldn't touch him through his Shield. I'm glad that Earthy came up with such a clever trap and even more glad that it worked.

"It is fortunate for all of us... So the Cards obey you?"

"Well...sort of. Anyway, Fiery seems to like me so he threatens any Cards that don't want to obey me."

"Interesting. And it is said that Fiery is one of the hardest Cards to control due to his love of destruction."

"That part is certainly true. He seems to really enjoy burning things and killing."

"But then why would he like you?" Ieran asked.

"I don't have any idea. But he has been a lot of help to me."

"Yes, well... I am terribly sorry I wasn't any help myself. I am very ashamed of how I was so foolishly confident..." After a moment of painful silence Ieran continued. "He must have been here in Hong Kong, or at least close by when he learned the Cards were here. And he was far stronger than I expected." She sighed. "My shield was useless against his sleep spell..."

"Suddenly Tomoyo felt Sakura. "Sakura is awake and frightened. I need to talk to her, if you will excuse me?"

"Of course."

"It hasn't been an hour yet. Sakura must have made Dream release her early." She met the Cardmistress at the top of the stairs and as soon as Sakura saw her she yelled, "KUTONG WILL BE HERE ANY MINUTE! WE NEED TO GET READY!"

Tomoyo caught the excited girl in her arms and held her gently as she spoke. "It's over, Sakura-chan. Kutong is likely dead by now. Earthy pushed him really deep into the Earth. You missed it." she finished with a smile.

"I MISSED IT! You fought Kutong all by yourself?" Sakura cried.

"Not by myself. It was your Cards who saved us. Earthy came up with the idea, and Fiery organized it. I was just the bait. You have them to thank."

After Tomoyo explained all that had happened to Sakura and her mom who had been right behind Sakura, the Cardmistress did thank them. Everyone but Earthy since she wasn't back yet.

"Maybe Kutong is still falling." Tomoyo wondered with a shiver. "It's over six thousand kilometers to the center, that would take many hours... With all his power he must have Cards of his own. Perhaps Sakura can capture them and convert them for our own use. Or better yet, for Mom's use!" The sprites had all gone back to Card form and Sakura was putting them away, when Tomoyo spoke. "I wonder if Fiery can find Kutong and see if he has any cards." Fiery instantly popped up and smiled at her.

"Sure I can. You want me to make sure they are destroyed?" He asked.

Sakura jumped a bit at the unexpected appearance of Fiery and snapped at him. "I told you to go back to Card form!"

"You want me to ignore Tomoyo? She's part of you, you know. And the smarter part too." Fiery smiled back. Both Tomoyo and Sonomi couldn't help smiling at this.

"Fiery!" Sakura said as she blushed. Tomoyo was trying to keep a straight face but with Sakura's cute blush she lost it and had to chuckle.

"I'm sorry Sakura!" Tomoyo was quick to recover.

"That's okay, I guess." Sakura sighed. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you, Fiery. You are perfectly right. Tomoyo is not only part of me, but the smarter part. And you and all the other Cards should obey her as you would me."

"Told you so!" Fiery had to add with a grin then turned to Tomoyo. "So did you say you want to make sure all of that guys Cards are destroyed?"

"No, not at all. I think we should capture them and remake them as our own. We can use all the power we can get. But Kutong's shield may not have lasted this long and they may all be destroyed by the heat and pressure down there already."

"Isn't it rather risky to try to take his Cards away from him? Sonomi wanted to know. "What if it gives him a way of escaping?"

"We can't get to his Cards until he is dead, so there isn't really any risk. Besides I was capturing dangerous Cards when I was ten." Sakura said proudly. "The worst that could happen is that they are destroyed when he is destroyed.

"Okay, can I talk now?" Fiery asked everyone.

"Yes, of course." Sakura replied.

"I can go down into the ground after Earthy and see what's happening, it won't take long."

"But if he's still falling... Are you fast enough to catch up with him?" Tomoyo wanted to know.

"You've never seen me really open up! I am FAST!" Fiery informed them with a proud grin.

"Take Shadow with you, Fiery, and have him capture any Cards that you can find, then bring them back here, and I'll remake them." Sakura instructed.

"Shadow can't travel though the ground like I can. But Earthy should be able to hold any loose Cards she can get a hold of underground. And when she brings them back to the surface she can pass them to Shadow and let him bring them back here."

"Okay." Sakura said, then looked at Tomoyo.

"It sounds like a good plan." she agreed while Sonomi just shrugged, realizing she was way out of her league.

Do it, Fiery and Shadow." Sakura ordered and in an instant Shadow came out of the deck and followed Fiery down the hall. As they turned into Sakura, and Tomoyo's room (which has the big hole where the window used to be) the girls heard him call out to Shadow. "Come on! This is going to be fun!"

"I really don't like the sound of that." Sakura sighed.

"I don't either, but as long as he gets the job done... And even if Kutong is still alive, he is a really bad guy." Tomoyo said reassuringly, then did her best to think about something else. And something else to think about came up very soon.

"Tomoyo? Did something happen to me while I was asleep? There is a tender spot on my left hip and my left shoulder feels stiff and sore."

"Oh yeah. I did slam her into the ground once and fell on her twice."

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan! It's my fault. I was clumsy when I was carrying you and fell a couple of times. On top of you..." Tomoyo added sadly.

"That's okay Tomoyo! You saved my life as well as...well, saved the world...which is even better than saving Hong Kong like you did last time! Don't worry about a little thing like that-ouch!" Sakura finished as she forgot and reached for the stair rail with her left hand.

After several more assurances from Sakura and a couple from her mom, Tomoyo realized that her sadness and regrets were hurting her love who always wanted her to be happy. So she did her best to forget her mistakes and think about the future.

"So, it looks like your shield passed the test." She said to her mom.

"I guess it did." Sonomi realized. "Well it is a good Earth Magic Shield!" She smiled.

Chapter 12

Once things had settled down and the girls were in their room, Tomoyo undressed as Sakura watched. "I love the way she looks at me! All that time I longed for her, and now I have her. She is my love and has been for many years too! It's really strange having two sets of memories. Strange, but wonderful too! The one set are such beautiful memories... But am I Tomoyo2 or Tomoyo1? Both I think, because both sets of memories feel like my memories... But I can still talk to myself!"

Once Tomoyo was back in her nightgown, she slid in next to Sakura as carefully as she could. "When I sprained my ankle and broken my nose in the other Timeline, they had healed up really fast. And Ieran had said it was my Earth Magic. Maybe I can help Sakura to heal up quickly too." Sure enough, the more she thought about it the more certain she was that she knew how to heal with her Magic. "Must be those memories that Eriol gave me from the past. Otherwise, how could I be so sure how to do it? Of course, it isn't that hard. Just probe gently and feel the injuries, then concentrate on one small spot at a time and give the tissues energy. Energy to heal."

"Are you awake?" Tomoyo softly asked.

"Yes. My thoughts are whirling around in my head."

"I know how to make your injuries heal faster with my Earth Magic. Would it be okay to use it on you?"

"Sure! If you are sure you know how." Sakura then smiled, because she knew that her Tomoyo-chan would feel better if she was able to help.

After twenty minutes of concentrating Tomoyo felt like her head was tired, but she was sure she had helped at least somewhat.

"How do your ribs and shoulder feel?"

"Much better! Really!" Sakura was indeed surprised by the difference. The sore spot on my hip doesn't hurt now unless I press fairly hard and my shoulder hardly hurts at all." The immediate effect of Tomoyo's Magic was just to reduce the swelling and inflammation, but this still made an immediate difference in how it felt. The actual healing would take a few hours at least.

"Good!" Tomoyo replied happily and then felt more relaxed than she had in a very long time.

"It is so wonderful that you have Magic now so we can protect each other." Sakura said softly into Tomoyo's ear. "But it is even more wonderful that you are my love now and I don't have to hold back when I feel the urge to touch you, and kiss you." Which Sakura then demonstrated. And Tomoyo returned...

xxxx

Dinner was an hour late due to food burning while the cook was sleeping on the floor of the kitchen. Fortunately, the only thing that burned was food, and the delay worked out well for Sakura and Tomoyo who were late coming downstairs.

xxxx

Ieran thanked Tomoyo and Sakura again over dinner and promised that if they ever needed any help of any kind the Li family would be honored to provide it. Then she made a suggestion. "You really deserve a full formal dinner with all the branches of the Li family represented, but the fewer people who know about you and your Cards the better. I trust all of the people in this house, but I can't say the same about all the other branches of the Family. So I respectfully suggest we act as if you were just friends who visited for a couple of days."

Tomoyo and Sakura readily agreed to the plan, then spent a couple of relaxed hours with Ieran, her daughters, and a still grumpy Syaoran, while Tomoyo told stories of Sakura and her Magical adventures. The girls seemed very impressed while Syaoran just grumbled about his never getting a chance to really do anything. When Tomoyo noticed that Sakura had fallen asleep, she decided it was time for bed and this time just to sleep.

xxxx

Wednesday August 2, 6:52am Hong Kong time.

When Tomoyo opened her eyes her half awake mind registered a black hole in the far wall, this shocked her the rest of the way awake and her Magic told her what the black thing was. "Shadow. He's come back...and he looks like he's caught at least one Card." Tomoyo hesitantly probed Shadow and was relieved that the Card or Cards felt far different from Slime Needle did when they captured him. "These Cards actually have a clean feeling to them! Now if I can just get Sakura to agree..." Tomoyo sighed happily to herself.

"Shadow? where is Fiery?" Tomoyo asked.

"I do not know. He does not cast a shadow." Shadow answered.

"Oh yeah. I never thought of that, but since he shines with his own light, he wouldn't have a shadow."

As she was using the bathroom a still somewhat sleepy Tomoyo realized she could just use her Magic to find Fiery. She was relieved to find him still in the Li compound as well as surprised to find him in the garden of all places along with Earthy who she had completely forgot about. When she called with her Magic, Fiery then came up to her window along with Earthy who had changed into a Card.

"You should have been there!" Fiery started excitedly, "Of course it would be impossible for a human, but it was great! As he ran out of energy and his Shield weakened I was able to punch tiny holes in it and-"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" Tomoyo cut him off.

"But the rock down there is so hot and under so much press-" Fiery continued excitedly.

"I JUST want to know, is Kutong dead now?" Tomoyo interrupted again.

"Oh boy is he dead! He-"

"That's enough! Did Earthy catch all his Cards?" Tomoyo continued quickly.

"I don't know, but Earthy did grab four of them that were kind of sticking together after he was dead and protected them so we could get them to the surface. If there were any others I have no idea what happened to them. Everything happened so fast when his shield finally imploded that we were lucky to catch any of his Cards. The four we got had hardly any power left, so they never even tried to get away. I tried talking to them on the way up but all they said was they weren't cards they were...the jewels of raah, or something like that."

"Ra, maybe?" Tomoyo wondered idly.

After waiting nearly an hour for Sakura to wake up, Tomoyo was getting uncomfortable. "What if they are getting stronger in there? Maybe they could break out and get away. Or maybe even hurt someone. I better wake Sakura up." As usual it wasn't easy, but a few minutes later a sleepy Sakura was sitting on the side of the bed.

She looked at Tomoyo and smiled before speaking. "I'd much rather be awakened by a kiss than you yelling at me you know."

"I would have been happy to do that, my darling, but Shield is still protecting you." Tomoyo informed the sleepy girl.

"Oh yeah." Sakura sighed then put Shield away. "That is getting to be a problem. We'll have to spend some time with Shield and see if we can teach her to recognize you."

"I'd like that. Now when you are fully awake, perhaps you can capture the Cards that are still held within Shadow over there."

"Oh! We got them!" Sakura said as she stood up. She summoned her Star Staff, pointed it at Shadow and ordered, "Cards that belonged to Kutong, take your proper shape under my command! Let them go and become a Card, Shadow!" But as Shadow shrank to a card and returned to Sakura instead of Cards there appeared a circular band of gold, looking very much like a bracelet, but shining out of the top of it were four intense beams of light, one each of red, yellow, blue and violet. Then the light was gone and the thing flew to Sakura. She held it out so Tomoyo could see that it did indeed seem to be a bracelet with four jewels set into it, the same colors as the lights.

"So they really are jewels!" When Sakura looked questioningly at her, Tomoyo explained. "They told Fiery that they were "The Jewels of Ra."

"They're beautiful!" Sakura said happily as she looked the gold band over. "What are these marks on here?" she asked as she held the bracelet out again. Tomoyo looked closely and recognized the tiny marks immediately.

"That is the writing of ancient Egypt. So I guess "Ra" does refer to king of the gods."

"The jewels of a god, huh?" Sakura smiled. But then as Tomoyo watched the four jewels began to shine again, lighting up Sakura's face.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" She said worriedly.

"Sure, I'm fine. I'm just trying to talk to the Jewels, but they don't speak Japanese, and I don't speak Chinese, and we don't have a good mind link because they are still under Kutong's spell. I need to remake them before we can talk properly. I don't need them of course, so I will make them yours, okay?"

"I would like it much better if you would remake them for my mom. She still wants very much to be a Magic Girl, I can feel it in her. And I know she would love to have her own Cards, or Jewels... Just what do they do?"

"I don't know." Sakura replied. "We will find out after I remake them and we can talk. I would really prefer that their power was protecting you, though."

"I know. But I don't need them. I have my own Cards plus the Sakura Cards are also protecting me. But our Mom's don't have any protection." Just then Tomoyo had an idea. "What if some evil Mage finds out about us and captures our moms for blackmail? Wouldn't it be better if my mom had the power to protect your mom?" Sakura thought about this for a second before answering.

"Okay, that sounds good, but what about Dad? She can't protect him when he is out on a dig."

"You could tell him to stay close to my mom?" Tomoyo suggested hesitantly.

"No way. He really loves working on digs and he isn't going to want to stay around the house no matter what. If he didn't give up going on digs to be with my mom, then there isn't anything that can stop him." Tomoyo nodded and then shrugged.

"Then he will just have to take his chances. At least Mom can protect Nadeshiko."

"Okay, we'll see how it works out." Sakura agreed reluctantly.

Tomoyo could feel her mom was up in her room next door so they went there. "Hi Mom! We have a present for you." Tomoyo said with a grin.

"What is it?" Sonomi asked.

"We got this Magic bracelet off Kutong. It contains four Magic beings like Sakura's Cards and Sakura is going to make you their master."

"Oh?!" Sonomi's eyes got real big for a moment. "What do they do? Can they give me wings?"

"We don't know just yet." Then a thought came to Tomoyo. "Let's not tell anyone about this bracelet, okay?"

"What about Ieran?" Sakura wanted to know.

"No, not even her. The more people who know things about us, the less safe we are."

"I agree." Sonomi put in. "When you have such power and responsibilities as we do, we can't afford to give anything away. Not even to our friends... But can she tell what we are doing inside our shield, do you think?" She asked her daughter.

"No, but they weren't in a shield when Shadow and Fiery brought them to us. So we don't know what she knows. Still I think we should not speak of them if we don't have to. And from now on I think we should keep the bracelet inside one of our Earth Magic shields. That should keep anyone else from finding out about the Jewels. I hope." Tomoyo then turned to Sakura. "Okay, do your thing." Tomoyo smiled at her love and Sakura smiled back delighted that she could give her Tomoyo something she really wanted.

Sonomi watched, fascinated as Sakura materialized her Star Staff, threw the bracelet up in the air where it hung above the staff shooting sparks for a few seconds. Then it floated over to Sonomi. "Wow! Mom looks even more excited than when she found out she had Magic and could use Sakura's Magic Card to fly... If that's possible." Tomoyo thought as she bathed in the joy her mother was shining with.

As Sonomi held the bracelet, which looked the same to Tomoyo, intense light again shot from the four jewels and for a bit Sonomi just stood there looking at the treasure she held. Then she actually squealed like a little girl. "Iiiiiieeeeee!"

"Mom! Are you okay?" Tomoyo asked sharply.

"No dear, I am so much more than "okay" that I think I am going to explode." she replied in a clear even voice. "I now have Kutong's shield, his sleep spell and power over fire. But best of all, I now have my own wings! I will be able to fly anytime I wish..." She finished with tears in her eyes. After a moment her self control came back and she continued in a firm voice, "Jewels of Ra, come out and introduce yourselves to my daughter and Sakura!"

Tomoyo and Sakura stared as intense colored light poured out of the jewels like a liquid and then condensed into the shape of four human sized young women. Their hair, eyes and the nearly transparent fabric that clung to each of them were all of the same color as the light they had condensed out of.

"We greet you with joy and our deepest thanks for rescuing us from the power of the evil one." It was Yellow speaking, and her voice was sweet and clear. "I am Topaz, or more formally, The Shield of Isis." As she finished speaking she bowed.

Next blue spoke. "I am Sapphire, The Wings of Horus." After she bowed she turned, grinned and winked at Sonomi who grinned back.

"I am Amethyst, or the Sleep of Osiris. Purple spoke shyly and then she bowed very low.

"And, last as usual, I am Ruby, The Fire of Sekhmet!" Red announced proudly as a rather large and very hot blue white fireball appeared at the tip of her finger.

Topaz immediately cut in with her lovely voice. "Please put your fire away Ruby, we have no need of it just now." When the bright fireball had vanished, Topaz looked at Sonomi and spoke again. "May I speak freely?"

"You certainly may." Sonomi nodded.

With this, Topaz turned to Tomoyo "I was astonished when you attacked Kutong with the very same Card that had vanished from his pocket not long ago. Will you tell me how this came to be?"

"And why didn't you take us when you took that disgusting creature away from the evil one?" Ruby put in sharply.

"It wasn't that simple!" Sakura shot back defensively.

"That's okay, Sakura. I'll explain." Which she did in a brief fashion. When she was done Topaz was the first to speak.

"So if you had captured us, or rather the other world version of us, and brought us to this... Timeline? We would have vanished like the Card you call "Slime Needle" did?"

"I expect you would have." was all that Tomoyo said to that. But her thoughts went further.

"I expect the Jewels were destroyed when Fiery burned Kutong's remains. We will never know now. We were far too ignorant and inexperienced to even think about saving any Magical beings he had then... Well at least we know better now."

Chapter 13

"Would it be possible to meet the magical beings that you carry?" Topaz asked Sakura politely.

"Sure, they would like that, They love to come out and meet people...or...Jewel... girls?" She finished hesitantly and then blushed which not only got a smile out of Tomoyo but also out of the four Jewels.

"The Jewels seem much more human than Sakura's cards." Tomoyo thought to herself. "I wonder if they were real people at one time..."

Without saying anything else, Sakura started introducing each of her Cards and telling a bit about them. When she got to Sleep, Amethyst talked a bit with the mischievous little sprite but they seemed to have totally different personalities, and nothing in common. Topaz tried to talk to Shield but she couldn't even understand what Shield was saying. Sapphire's luck with Fly wasn't much better. Fly was a very intelligent bird, but he was still a bird.

Then when Sakura got to Fiery she was surprised at his form. Instead of his usual small sprite form, he was human sized but still floating above the floor so he wouldn't burn the carpet. "Fiery?"

"Yeah? What?" Fiery answered as he stared at Ruby.

"Why are you so big?" Sakura asked as Tomoyo was figuring it out.

"To improve my chances. Clow said that girls don't like guys who are smaller than them." Then he grinned at Ruby. "Hi! I love your fireballs! Nice and hot!" As he spoke he drifted closer to her.

"Stay away from me you savage!" Ruby said sharply as she ducked behind the other Jewel Maidens.

"Oh come on, give me a chance at least! I can be really nice when I want to be, right Tomoyo?"

"That is true. Fiery has always been very good and helpful to me." Tomoyo backed him up as she tried to keep a straight face.

"I can touch your spirit from here and it feels cruel and violent. I want nothing to do with the likes of you!" Ruby said very firmly.

"Oh RATS! I finally find a cute girl I can play with without burning her to a cinder and she rejects me without even giving me a chance! Is life unfair or what!"

"When Sakura re-made Fiery, she seems to have made him a bit too human for his own good." Tomoyo thought with a chuckle.

As Fiery literally steamed, Sakura went on with the introductions which were simple and short, until she got to Flower. As Sakura finished talking about her and told her to go back to her Card form, she seemed to be ignoring the Cardmistress. Both Sakura and Tomoyo were surprised, as she was the last Card they would expect to be rebellious.

"Please, may I stay out a little longer?" Flower suddenly pleaded as Sakura's words finally penetrated. She was just standing there and staring at Amethyst. And then Tomoyo noticed that Amethyst was also staring at Flower.

"I do believe Flower and Amethyst like the look of each other." Tomoyo thought with a smile, but when she turned to Sakura to explain, she saw her smile and felt her amusement through their link. "It seems Sakura is much more observant now."

"You can stay out of Card form for now but stay close to us, okay?" Sakura gently ordered.

"I will! I promise." Flower said as she edged up to Amethyst.

"Flower is a good name for you. You are very beautiful." Amethyst said gently.

"You really think so?" Flower replied softly and the five girls watching the two edging shyly closer to each other, all smiled at the same time. Sakura continued on introducing her Cards to the three Jewels who were still paying attention, as Amethyst who was now holding a beautiful purple rose was looking only at Flower. And Flower seemed to be enjoying the attention very much.

After pouting a while and scowling at how friendly Amethyst and Flower were getting, he complained to Sonomi. "Can't you just order Ruby to be nice to me?"

"I'm sorry Fiery, but it wouldn't be proper to force a Card, or Jewel, to act a certain way. It is up to you to win her friendship." Sonomi explained and Ruby nodded firmly.

"Hey, I tried!" Fiery whined. "I just want to talk with her, and she tells me how terrible I am..." With this everyone chuckled except Ruby and Fiery who were staring at each other.

"We don't need to stay around him do we?" Ruby asked Sonomi hopefully.

"Well, we do live in the same house." Sonomi replied while trying to hide her smile.

"I think we should all stay together so our combined power can help to protect us from being taken by evil again." Amethyst put in as the other three Jewels smiled at her. When she noticed the knowing smiles she protested. "What? It would be a lot safer!" Flower, who was now holding Amethyst's hand, nodded firmly in agreement.

"Yeah, we need to stick together!" Fiery added as he continued to eye Ruby. "Come on! At least give me a chance!"

"Go to hell!" was Ruby's firm reply, but then she blushed at Fiery's sudden laughter.

"But that's where we went on our first date, remember? Down Earthy's shaft where it's nice and hot!"

"That was a battle, not a date!" Ruby said angrily.

"Same thing! It was fun wasn't it? Come on, admit it. You enjoyed Kutong's death just as much as I did."

"It's entirely different! You didn't know him. He forced me to burn so many... He was horrible!"

"Still, you did enjoy his death. So don't act so high and mighty."

"Fiery? Sakura interrupted, "Please go back to card form." He gave her an unhappy look but obeyed her order.

"Now is there any problem with you being under Sonomi's power?" Sakura wanted to know.

"Well...yes, there is a problem." She then turned to Sonomi. "I mean no disrespect but we require quite a lot of Magic power to perform to our full potential. And it feels to me like your Earth Magic may not be able to supply that much. This will limit what we can do." Turning back to Sakura, Topaz continued. "If you were our Master, it would be very different."

Tomoyo and Sonomi both thought of the same thing, but Tomoyo was the first to speak. "Sonomi spends much of her time with a master of Sun Magic who can draw large amounts of power, could she supply the four of you?"

Topaz looked relieved as she replied. "Sun Magic would be excellent, particularly for Ruby, but she would have to replenish our power each time we are used."

"I think that shouldn't be a problem." Sonomi assured the Jewel. "Now am I suppose to wear this as a bracelet? Or just carry it?"

"It is up to you." Topaz replied.

"Well, it is really too large for my wrist-" Sonomi started.

"We can make the band smaller and larger at will. So you could wear it anywhere that is convenient."

"I was thinking that I would rather it were not seen, but I also do not want to risk losing it."

"You could wear it around your upper arm concealed by a sleeve as Kutong did, or around your upper leg if you don't want to wear something with sleeves. That way no one could see it and you could not lose us."

"But wouldn't that be uncomfortable?"

"It should not be. The gold band is enchanted with a powerful spell that links us to our master. One effect of this spell is that the band will conform to your flesh, thus you should hardly feel it, yet it will not come off without your command."

"Or if I am dead?" Sonomi had to say though it was obvious.

"Very true. And I should warn you that all of our previous masters were murdered. And most of them were killed, not by their enemies, but by their trusted friends. Most to get our power for themselves but a few killed to prevent anyone from using our power."

But if they wanted to prevent anyone from using your power, why didn't they destroy you?"

"They tried, but we are not easily destroyed. Once our master is dead we retreat to the bracelet and then shrink it to a very small size. And as my Shield reduces in size it becomes stronger. So when those who tried failed to destroy us they tried to hide us so no one would find us. We have been tossed into the sea more than once, but Magic found us even when we were dropped into the deepest. And once we were found anyone with strong enough Magic could simply pull us to them. One man tried to throw us into a volcano that was erupting, but the volcano killed him before he got close enough and we were found in just a few years.

Then there was a lady of great power who took us away from our previous owner by sheer force and then said she was sorry but the world would be a better place if we were never found again.

The next thing we knew it was nearly two thousand years later. The man who had retrieved us from wherever she had put us, and remade us, was very old and very excited. He had been searching for us and making plans to take over the world for many many years, but he had us less than a month before he was murdered by his own son and so the story went, on and on."

When Topaz finally stopped her story telling, Tomoyo realized that the Jewels were just as much a curse as Sakura's cards, perhaps more as they seemed to be much easier to locate with Magic. "I expect that I am a target as well since I too have Magic Cards even if they are not of great power. But mom and I have good Earth Magic shields. As long as we keep them up at all times they should keep those who are looking for power from finding our Magical beings. I hope.

xxxx

After they had breakfast Tomoyo, Sakura and Sonomi met in private with Ieran. Sonomi reluctantly turned down Ieran's offer of Magic training saying that she had to get back to Japan to run her company. However the real reason was that she didn't want to drop her shield and reveal the Jewels to Ieran. Tomoyo and Sakura also put off anymore Magic training until their next meeting at some unspecified time in the future.

"As I said before, if any of you need any assistance that I or my family can provide do not hesitate to ask, I will be pleased and honored to provide it." Ieran again pledged.

"She speaks the truth. And if she supports us then we should support her." Tomoyo's eyes then met Sakura's and she could see and feel the question Sakura was asking, so she nodded approval. Sakura nodded back and then turned to Ieran.

"Tomoyo and I will also help you out if ever you should need us. Right, Tomoyo-chan?"

"Yes, we certainly will. With all the power of our Cards." Tomoyo added to be more formal. And since Ieran was inside Tomoyo's shield she could tell that Sakura and Tomoyo were telling the truth, and this assurance dulled the ache of not having the Clow Cards herself.

xxxx

All the way back to Japan, Sonomi kept grinning and struggling to not giggle. As she looked out from her window seat, she kept imagining herself flying through the clouds with her own wings. But not alone. The idea of flying with her Nadeshiko was so thrilling she couldn't wait until they were alone to ask, so she passed a note to Sakura who unfolded it and read: "May I please borrow your fly, Illusion and Silent Cards so I can fly with your mom some time?"

Sakura didn't bother with a note but just spoke out loud. "Any time you like Sonomi-sama. I'm sure my mom would love that!"

Wednesday August 2 4:34pm Tokyo time

Even though Sonomi had talked to Nadeshiko by phone from Ieran's house, in the interest of secrecy she hadn't said anything about the battle or the Jewels or even about Magic. And since Sonomi could hardly wait to give her good news to her love, they were driven directly from the airline terminal to a private helicopter at another part of the airport. "In two hours, I will have my arms around my Nadeshiko and then I can show her my new powers!" Sonomi was practically bouncing with joy, unlike Sakura and Tomoyo who were both feeling tired. However it was only Sakura who managed to fall asleep in spite of the powerful noise of the helicopter.

But long before they got to their destination Sonomi began to get over her euphoria and think more clearly. "Okay, so now I have all kinds of Magic power. What actual good is it in everyday life? I can't go around putting people to sleep, or shooting fireballs. And unless I have Sakura's Illusion Card I can't very well just sprout wings and fly as I had dreamed of. People would notice." She sighed. "And that wouldn't be good. So I guess life is just going to go back to where it was before. Except...I have four... Four what? Jewel girls? I wonder." Sonomi then directed her thoughts to the band she could just feel around her leg. Topaz? Can you hear me?"

"Sure! Anytime you want to talk to us, just think of us and a link will form. Can you feel it?"

"Yes, I do feel some sort of thing connecting us... Sapphire, Ruby, Amethyst! Can you hear me too?

"Sure. We all hear anything you send to any of us." Ruby replied.

"Okay, then anyone answer this. Were you created by Magic as Sakura's Cards were, or were you once people who were transformed?"

It was Ruby who snapped back with an angry voice. "We were real people all right! I was an innocent thirteen year old girl when they came and told me I had been chosen for a great "honor"! And of course I believed them! I was just an ignorant kid!"

"It was as Ruby said, and even though I was already a priestess, Topaz added. "I still had no idea just what he was going to do to me. It was very painful and confusing to have ones spirit torn from ones body and bound to a Magic jewel, but Paser was not a cruel man and did his best to ease our pain."

"Who is this "Paser" person?" Sonomi asked.

"He was the Vizier of the South, High Priest of Amun and Master of Magics. He had a lot of other titles too, but I don't remember them anymore. He made us for the Pharaoh he worshiped. And once Ramses had our power he was unstoppable. It was because of us that he became, "Ramses the Great" and is remembered even to this day."

"This is true. Most educated people today know of the greatest Pharaoh Egypt ever had.

"He was a great man though not a god as many believed. But it was an honor to serve him. And when he went to war, I protected him and Ruby threw fireballs at the enemy."

"You bet! Those were the days!" Ruby broke in, "I was the long arm of the Pharaoh, and armies ran from us!"

Then Topaz continued, "But after he died, many wanted our power but by then Paser was dead and no one knew how to give us a new master. So for a long time we slept in our small form while the land was searched for someone who knew enough Magic to bring us back to life.

In time, a great Hittite Mage was found, but he was an evil man who lied about his loyalty. As soon as we were awakened he made himself our master and used us ruthlessly. He made himself the secret master of our country, giving orders even to the pharaoh himself. But it wasn't long before he was killed by his own assistant, and we passed on to another power hungry man, and so it went. You have no idea how horrible it is to be forced to do such a persons bidding. To protect someone you wished you could kill... But it was by far the hardest on Ruby who did the actual killing of innocents."

xxxx

Fujitaka and his wife were waiting as the helicopter descended to land in the usual place behind the cottage. As Sonomi got out Fujitaka started towards the helicopter, but was left in the dust by his wife who ran to her Sonomi-chan. Sonomi had planed to help her daughter and Sakura out, but with Nadeshiko hugging her tightly she could only watch and smile. Sonomi could see Nadeshiko's mouth moving, but with the noise from the helicopter, she couldn't make out any words. Of course she didn't really need any words to understand what Nadeshiko was saying as her Magic sense could not help but feel the love that Nadeshiko overflowed with.

The helicopter wasn't quite out of sight yet when Sonomi decided she couldn't wait any longer.

"Watch!" She said with a grin, then sprouted her falcon wings and took off. She didn't fly very high nor very far, just making a circle around the group on the ground before hovering in front of Nadeshiko and making her announcement. "These are not borrowed wings, not Sakura's or Tomoyo's; they are MINE!

"Yours?!" Nadeshiko said excitedly. "But how..." She started to ask as Sonomi landed in front of her.

"Let's go inside and I'll tell you all about it." Sonomi grinned.

xxxx

Since Fujitaka had known when to expect them, he had a wonderful dinner all prepared, which everyone enjoyed as Sonomi, Tomoyo and Sakura took turns relating the adventures they had had in Hong Kong to Sakura's amazed parents. After dinner they moved to the living room where Sonomi summoned the Jewels and introduced them to the family. Nadeshiko was delighted to meet the Magic beings of light of course, but Fujitaka was the really excited one when he learned where they were from.

"Ancient Egypt?" He asked Topaz, "How ancient?"

"We became Jewels in the fourth year of the reign of Ramses the second, and were made to serve him." For a moment Fujitaka looked rather like he had just been shot.

"Ramses the second? You served him? You were with him?" He asked rather breathlessly.

"Yes we were. We served and protected him from the time we became Jewels until he died."

"Uh... I need my laptop! Will you come up to my study so I can take notes as I ask you some questions?" Topaz looked at a grinning Sonomi who nodded to the Jewel girl. In a moment they were gone.

Then Sonomi turned to Nadeshiko with her eyes shining. "Would you like to fly together Na-chan?"

"I'd love to, but-" She stopped talking as her daughter held up three Sakura Cards in front of her face. "Is it all right?" Nadeshiko said the polite phrase to her daughter who grinned and nodded.

"You bet Mom! You can use these Cards to fly anytime you want."

"Thank you!" Nadeshiko said as she gave her daughter a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "This is so wonderful it seems hard to believe."

"I have the same feeling Na-chan, but it IS real! Now let's go FLY like the Magic Girls we are!" In a moment Tomoyo and Sakura were alone.

"I don't think I have ever seen my mom and dad this happy before." Sakura said with a smile.

"When I remember how Mom used to be, it's hard to believe this is the same person." Tomoyo responded with a tired smile. "So much has changed in our lives in just these few weeks that it's like we are in a whole different world-"

"Actually we are in a whole different world, remember?" Sakura reminded her love.

"True, but is a world of joy, where everyone is as happy as is humanly possible. Including me, my beautiful love." Tomoyo finished as she kissed the Card Mistress." After a moments thought she continued is a soft voice. "I now not only have more than I could have possibly wished for but I also have new memories to lay over the painful years that I was so foolishly responsible for."

"That's right." Sakura said shaking her head with wonder and trying to think of suitable words to describe what she was feeling. "This is... So fantastic... It's like it's just too good to be true!"

End of Part 3