It floated unnoticed among the streets of Tokyo.

Nobody ever noticed it.

Its power was just too commonplace. It smiled. That was in its favor. It disliked conflict, but it loved being free.

So, feeling a bit more relieved, it continued on its way, blowing trash cans over and knocking over street lights...

My head hurts.

It's so dark.

Why is it so dark?

Oh, my eyes are closed.

Tomoyo slowly opened her eyes. She tried looking around. She was having difficulty focusing. Tomoyo closed her eyes and sat up. A surge of pain filled her brain. She gritted her teeth and opened her eyes once more. That's better, she thought as everything came into focus. She was in her room.

How did that happen?

Okay, okay, she thought as she rubbed her head, what happened last night?

She remembered driving to the auditorium last night, getting some things on a cart, and then entering the building, and then...

Complete blank.

Nothing was registering. No memories of the fashion show or getting home.

How strange.

The door opened and her mother entered. "Oh! You're up, Tomoyo!" said Sonomi.

"Good morning, okaa-san."

Sonomi walked over to Tomoyo's bedside and knelt. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," replied Tomoyo, "just a little woosy."

Sonomi said, "Well, I guess you would be considering you fainted at the fashion show..."

"Fainted?"

"Yes, Sakura-chan and some cute boy carried you home last night. Oh! I forgot! Sakura-chan, you can come in."

Sakura walked into the doorway. She reached into her jacket and pulled out a key on a cord. Tomoyo immediately knew what that meant: Clow Card.

"Okaa-san, can I talk to Sakura alone?" asked Tomoyo.

Sonomi gave her a blank look, but soon stood up. "Alright. I guess you need to catch up on your gossip, ne? Call me if you need me."

Tomoyo hated being so curt with her mother, but if she was to understand what occured last night, she needed to be alone with Sakura.

Sonomi shut the door behind her, and Sakura walked over to the bed. She sat down on the edge placed her hand over Tomoyo's. She asked, "How are you?"

Tomoyo fought herself from blushing and managed to reply, "Fine, Sakura-chan." After a moment of hesistation, she asked, "Did I really faint?"

Sakura said, "No. You don't remember any of last night?"

Tomoyo shook her head.

Sakura sighed. Just like the first time, but...

...Sakura had gone ballistic this time.

That was not like herself. It didn't feel right to lose control, but then, in a small way it felt...familiar...

"Are you all right, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura snapped out of it. She had drifted off. She smiled and said, "Isn't that what I should be asking you?"

Tomoyo giggled. Sakura started again, "The fashion show went well until...Well, let's just said it was a Clow Card. ERASE to be exact."

Tomoyo sighed and looked down, "That would explain my memory loss."

Sakura nodded. "Yes." Suddenly, Sakura remember something from last night. Tomoyo had... "You were quite brave last night, Tomoyo-chan. Standing up to that Clow Card, I mean," Sakura said with a grin.

Tomoyo looked at her a bit puzzled. Sakura laughed, "I never knew you were interested in being a Card Captor yourself."

"What?!"

And now for the final exercise.

Xiao Lang stood on the roof of the apartment building he lived in. He pulled out a rune.

<Imitate!>

He threw it in front of him. It landed on the ground and began to increase in size and change in shape. Finally, it took form. Xiao Lang smiled as he beheld what could very well be his twin. However, the clone could not speak or reason, only fight. He was quite proud of this spell. It had taken him a long time to master, and it was great for training.

He bowed, and it did the same. Then it began. The clone struck first with a thrust of its sword. Xiao Lang dodged artfully and added a slash of his own. The clone brought up its blade to block. It smiled as their swords locked. Xiao Lang grinned and broke off. Great for training, he thought.

But then a curious thing happened. The clone suddenly froze. Its eyes flew wide open, and its mouth was caught in a silent scream. Confused, Xiao Lang approached it cautiously. What the hell was it doing? The previous clones had never done this. He reached out to touch it, but it immediately burst into flames. Xiao Lang pulled back and watched in horror as he saw "himself" quickly reduced to ashes.

Within 50 seconds, he was looking at a pile of ashes. He looked closely at them and spotted the remains of a small piece of white paper. He picked it up. His eyes widened as realized what it was: the remains of a rune. A rune very similar to the ones he used.

Xiao lang spun around in all directions looking for the caster. Obviously this was a strong caster to destroy one of his spells. Then a woman's laughter rose up behind him. He turned around to see a Chinese girl. She was about his age, very shapely, dressed in a green silk dress with white embroidered wolf, long black hair done in pigtails, and eyes similar in color to his own.

He went into a fighting stance. Xiao Lang was not going to take chances with someone like this.

The girl smiled and began to speak in perfect Cantonese, "Lei hou ma, Li Xiao Lang."

He didn't flinch and replied in Cantonese as well, "Lei hou mei. Do I know you?"

She laughed and said, "I'm deeply hurt, Xiao Lang! Do you not recognize your own cousin?"

"Cousin?!"

"I'm Li Mei Ling, remember?"

Xiao Lang dropped out of position and stared at her. "Me-Mei Ling?"

She grinned. "It's been awhile, cousin..."

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, Tomoyo-chan."

"Are you doing anything today, Sakura-chan?" asked Tomoyo.

Sakura stood up and said, "Un! I'm going shopping with Yukito-san and onii-chan."

Tomoyo smiled. "You must be very happy."

"Do you want to come?"

Tomoyo shook her head. "No," she said, "I don't think I will. My head hurts still."

Sakura gave her a look of concern and said, "I'll make sure to walk you to school tomorrow."

"I'd like that."

"Bye, Tomoyo-chan."

"Goodbye, Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo as Sakura opened the bedroom door.

Sakura gave her a final smile and shut the door.

Sakura walked down the hall and then the stairs of the Daidouji house. She gave her farewell to Daidouji-san and then walked out the door to start on her way to Yukito's apartment.

She had been looking forward to this. It had been a long time since she had actually gotten a chance to talk with Yukito and her brother. Sure, she saw them every morning before school, but that wasn't long.

As she thought about this more and more, a nagging thought entered her head. He brother. Touya had been growing more and more distant. It made no sense. Touya had always been close to her, but lately...

Sakura drove the thought out of head. What a silly thought, she commented to herself. She tried to forget about it, and continued on her way...

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Mei Ling brushed some hair from her face and slowly walked towards Xiao Lang. He backed up, looking like he was ready to defend himself. She uttered a sound of amusement and reached out towards him. She place a hand lightly on his cheek. Xiao Lang looked uncomfortable as she looked over his features. Mei Ling mused over his eyes, his cheeks, his lips... This was definitely her cousin. Somewhat shorter than she would imagined he would be. He seemed to relax, and she grinned...

SLAP!

Mei Ling had followed through with that slap. Xiao Lang's head reeled back from the force. Though he was more than likely more physically stronger than her, he was quite unaware of the anger that had surging inside of her. He pulled back, stared at her for a moment, and then readied his sword.

"What the hell was that for?!" he growled.

She placed her hands on her hips and calmly said, "For being a fool."

"A...fool?!"

"You...you failed our family. That was the least I could do... I could have killed you for the traitor you are, but, thankfully, I love you, Xiao Lang," Mei Ling explained.

Xiao Lang lowered his sword and whispered, "Tr-traitor?"

Mei Ling looked unamused on the exterior, but inside she was smirking. If there was one thing you could count on with Xiao Lang; it was his strong sense of honor. She could already see the effects of her words on him. He looked lost in thought. Mei Ling began, "As far as the family is concerned, cousin, you are dead. You failed miserably at capturing the Clow and its Cards, even after you swore against your own life to bring it back."

"I-It's not my fault the Clow chose another master!"

"Ah yes. That Japanese girl."

Xiao Lang gripped his sword tightly and hissed, "You touch her and..."

"And what?" Mei Ling threw back. "Is she so important to you that you would take on the entire Li family?"

He looked like he was thinking about this and then said, "...yes."

"My, she must mean a lot to you," said Mei Ling hiding her annoyance. "So, what you're saying is that you would take on the entire Li, putting her in danger. Yes, her. As far as the Li is concerned, you are a walking corpse, a zombie if you wish; so there is no need to fight you. She'd be our target, and you certainly cannot protect her every moment from all sides."

Worry flashed across his face, but it was replaced by a scowl of one who knew he was beaten. Mei Ling grinned and continued, "But, perhaps this can be a win-win situation."

"How?" he asked.

"I am aware that the Clow Cards have scattered. You help me catch them, and your precious Japanese wench will live...and you will be reinstated into the family. How about it? All will be forgiven."

Xiao Lang stared at her in disbelief...

Yukito Tsukishiro. Quite a mystery this man is. How so? Well, for one, he seems eternally happy and oblivious to everything. Also, may the reader be reminded he is Yue, Judge of the Clow, yet another thing he is oblivious to.

"To-ya, is Sakura-chan coming with us?"

Touya said as he watched the TV, "Yeah, she is."

Yukito looked at Touya. Touya had been acting quite strange lately, and when Yukito thinks you are acting strange, you know you're in trouble.

"To-ya, are you feeling all right?"

Touya stared at Yukito for a moment. Why was he asking if he was feeling all right? Yukito was looking at him with a very a concerned look.

"What?" Touya finally said.

Yukito said, "You don't seem to be thrilled Sakura-chan's coming."

"What?"

"Lately you seem to be avoiding her."

Touya was about to say, "No, I'm not!" But before he could, Yukito did something that he never did: he had a stern look on his face. Touya opened his mouth and tried to answer, but nothing came forth.

Yukito continued, "I realize you have a lot of work with being a new pediatrician, and that you're trying to spend as much time you can with me, but Sakura-chan is you sister. Have you forgotten that?"

Touya blinked. Since when had Yukito learned to be assertive? But, he had a point. He had been obsessed with work and...Yukito.

Touya sighed in defeat, "You're right..."

Yukito smiled and kissed Touya on the forehead which caused Touya to blush. Touya was a cute. Must run in the family, thought Yukito as he got up to get his jacket.

The familiar voice filled his head. <Sometimes it's good to be a little assertive.>

Yukito just continued to smile. This voice had always been there. He just regarded it as a conscience or something. Sometimes, like now, it had helpful information, but other times, it gave him the most confusing advice. Like one time, it told him to walk to the river, and the next thing he knew, he was at the Tokyo Tower! He never figured out how he got there. Most people would think they were going mad but not Yukito. Like I said, Yukito is strange...

<Do you remember that girl from last night?>

Yes, he thought in reply.

<We need to go to Sakura's house.>

Why?

<We just do.>

Is she a friend of Sakura-chan?

No answer.

Yukito shrugged. He was going to see Sakura today anyway. He always did what the voice asked because it was never wrong or asked him to do malicious things.

Ding dong.

"To-ya! Will you get that?" yelled Yukito.

"Yeah!" Touya yelled back.

The door opened.

"Hey, you little monster!"

Sakura smirked and lightly punched her brother in the arm. "Hey, yourself! I'm not little! I'm 5' 1"!"

Yukito came out of the bedroom. He smiled and said, "You ready to go?"

"Un!" said Sakura. She turned to Touya. "Ready for a rigorous day of shopping, onii-chan?"

Touya looked up and sighed, "I don't know what I'm going to do with you two..."

Sakura asked, "Well, what would you rather do?"

"Um, sleep?"

Sakura grinned. "Not an option!" And she proceed to drag him out the door. Yukito followed behind giggling...

It hadn't had this much fun in years! Confused people and strewn debris! Now it realized why its brethren had done all those pranks!

It glanced something interesting over its left shoulder. A shopping district! Fun!

Xiao Lang stood there, gripping his sword tightly, and staring at the ground. Be reinstated into the family? That he could live without. But risk Sakura's safety? No way.

If he refused? Sure, he could continue to help Sakura, but they would have something more than Clow Cards to look out for. And knowing his relatives, they would show no mercy, unlike himself.

Unlike himself, he thought with regret. The only reason he took the task of bring the Clow back to Hong Kong was to show the Li that he had worth, that he could be ruthless. A ten-year-old boy who wanted to prove that he was worthy of the Li name...

Boy was he wrong. Xiao Lang disliked seriously injuring someone, much less killing them. The fact was that he thought too much about it.

And Sakura? Could he have ever harmed her? No. He couldn't. Even before he knew her well? No. He fell in love with her fighting spirit from the beginning.

So, the answer to joining Mei Ling seemed clear? No, it wasn't. There's still the matter of what joining the Li once more would entail. For one, he would have to oppose Sakura at every move, and this would carry on to his personal life. Xiao Lang despised the thought of Sakura hating him. If Sakura ever looked at him like that, he would crumble into a million pieces...

However, that was the least of his worries. Sure, Mei Ling was offering him a chance to join the family once again, but would they accept him? They might still despise him, maybe enough to kill him. Traitors were not well liked in the Li, so his life may be in danger with this choice as well...

His soul was at stake as well. Xiao Lang felt that deep down that helping the Li was wrong. How? He didn't know. When he was very little, the Li seemed peaceful, but then for some reason, finding the Clow became imparative. He never knew why...

And what if they double-cross me? Xiao Lang shook his head about this one. The Li may be strict, but they have honor. If he agreed, they would honor his return to the family...and Sakura's safety.

Mei Ling finally said in an annoyed tone, "Well, what will it be?"

Xiao Lang finally looked up and said with great hesitation, "I accept."

Mei Ling smiled and said, "Good." She walked over to him and embraced him. "Welcome back, Xiao Lang."