comparison stories/ccs-ql.txt @ 0:ed1308d04df2 moonlitnights

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1 Hello! ^-^ This is a Quantum Leap/Cardcaptor Sakura crossover, so I
2 hope that
3 explains why this is so strange. ^^;;; I’m always so worried about
4 crossovers
5 because it’s so difficult to pull off merging two series together.
6 So I hope this
7 goes well. ^-^ The idea has been playing around in my head for quite
8 a while
9 now. Sam’s supposed to ‘put right what once went wrong’ so why can’t
10 he set
11 right the biggest problem in Cardcaptor Sakura? I’d like to thank
12 Boco the
13 Chokobo, who’s ideas helped me quite a bit with this. ^-^ Thanks!
14 *hugs* I’m
15 using the leaping mechanics from Ashley McConnell’s Quantum Leap
16 novels
17 because I like the idea of Sam actually switching bodies with who he
18 leaps into
19 rather than him just taking their aura. Anyway, I really hope you
20 enjoy this! ^-^
21 I always love feedback, so if you have the time, please e-mail me! ^-^
22
23
24 Across the Distance
25 by Amazoness Duo
26 amazonessduo@hotmail.com
27
28
29 Dr. Sam Beckett was always disoriented when he began a leap. Leaping
30 from life to life, trying to put right what once went wrong, was a
31 very stressful
32 job. He always found himself in the strangest situations, with no
33 knowledge of
34 who he was now or what situation he had leapt into. So he had gotten
35 very good
36 at trying to read his surroundings very quickly. But the first few
37 minutes never
38 allowed him such luxuries and it was up to him to wing it.
39 And he had absolutely no idea how to do so as the good doctor found
40 himself locking lips with a teenage, brown haired boy. The kiss
41 lasted for
42 another few seconds but it could very well have been an eternity. As
43 Dr. Beckett
44 stumbled backwards, trying to catch his breath, a quick glimpse down
45 finished
46 putting at least part of this scene together. He was a girl. Again.
47 And the boy
48 that had just been kissing him must be her boyfriend. “Oh boy...”
49
50 The boy blushed fiercely after Sam backed away. “Daijobu? Sakura-
51 chan?” He took a few steps closer, finally taking Sam’s, or the body
52 Sam was
53 currently inhabiting, hands and pulling him closer. Sam stumbled
54 forward, his
55 head resting on the boy’s chest. His mind was spinning. Had he ever
56 leapt out of
57 the US before? His swiss cheese memory betrayed him. He had no idea.
58 The boy
59 continued saying something, but it wasn’t making any sense. Wait, it
60 was. Sam
61 couldn’t remember if he’d taken Japanese in school or not, though he
62 very well
63 could have, or if it was something left over from his host, but the
64 jumbled words
65 began to make sense.
66 “Yeah, I’m fine,” Sam said with a nervous smile. “I just... was a
67 little
68 distracted.” How often had he used that excuse? Too many times. But
69 after all
70 these years of leaping, he still hadn’t come up with a better one.
71 The boy’s amber eyes stared at Sam skeptically for a long moment, as
72 if he didn’t quite believe that. But finally he nodded. “We better
73 get to school. I
74 made sure that I’d be in the same homeroom as you.” He waited for
75 some
76 acknowledgement of his statement, probably wanting to hear a shrill
77 of joy from
78 his girlfriend, but Sam just nodded, still unsure as to how he was
79 supposed to act
80 now. Grasping Sam’s hand, he began leading the way presumably to the
81 school.
82 At least, Sam sure hoped so.
83 The two walked along in relative silence for a while. Which was fine
84 by Sam because it gave him a chance to think. Where was he?
85 Apparently Japan.
86 When was he? It looked pretty recent, but Sam couldn’t remember if
87 he’d gone
88 there or not so it was difficult to be sure of an exact date. It was
89 much easier
90 guessing dates back in the US. Finally, who was he? The boy had
91 called him
92 Sakura, so at least he had a name. And a quick glimpse in a passing
93 shop
94 window gave him a face. She was a very pretty girl with short,
95 reddish brown
96 hair and emerald green eyes. She looked to be about fourteen or
97 fifteen and was
98 wearing her school uniform. “Oh boy...” he muttered under his
99 breath. This
100 whole thing was too strange for him. If anything could get too
101 strange for a time
102 hopping physicist. And being a girl was always... awkward for him.
103 When he
104 leapt into other men, at least the equipment was still the same. Now
105 he’d have to
106 deal with a teenage girl’s body. He’d ask Ziggy about what affects
107 that would
108 have on his mind, but he knew it would have to go through Al. He
109 could picture
110 the grin on his friend’s face as he asked the question and
111 immediately dismissed
112 it. He’d figure it out on his own.
113 “I thought I’d come out and surprise you. I was going to send a
114 letter,
115 but I decided to head out here as soon as I could instead,” the boy
116 was
117 explaining.
118 Sam nodded quickly, offering what he hoped was a sweet smile. So he
119 was probably here to make sure things went smoothly between them.
120 “Oh good.
121 I’m really glad you came all this way.” Wherever it was he had come
122 from.
123 The two finally happened upon the school gates. Sam gave a sigh of
124 relief. He could handle jr. high school. Probably a lot easier than
125 dealing with a
126 lovestruck boyfriend. It would give him a chance to concentrate and
127 wait for Al.
128 Where was Al, anyway? Wasn’t he usually here by now? What was taking
129 him
130 so long?
131 “Ohayo gozimasu, Sakura-chan!” a cute, pale girl with very long,
132 dark
133 hair said as she stepped up, a sweet smile on her face. Her stormy
134 blue eyes
135 were entrancing. Sam wondered for a moment if she was sick to have
136 such a
137 pale complexion, but she seemed to be just fine. She looked a little
138 surprised to
139 see Sam’s new boyfriend there, but she recovered quickly. “Ohayo, Li-
140 kun!
141 Sakura-chan must be very happy to have you back. She’s been talking
142 about you
143 so much lately.” Her smile returned almost as quickly as it had
144 disappeared,
145 leaving Sam to wonder if it had ever left at all. But that did give
146 Sam a hint, at
147 the least. His name was Li. Good.
148 The boy just frowned, beginning to flush slightly before he turned
149 back
150 to Sakura.
151 “Well, I’m very glad to have Li back. I’m sure everything’s going
152 to be
153 great now,” Sam said quickly, smiling. The looks he got from the
154 other two
155 made him wonder if he’d said that wrong. He sighed. These things
156 were always
157 so difficult. Sam felt him squeeze his hand and then nodded.
158 “It will be. I’m back now. I won’t let anyone force me to go back to
159 Hong Kong again. I’ll stay this time, Sakura-chan.”
160 Hong Kong. Okay, at least he was starting to get somewhere with all
161 this. So the boy, Li, had come from Hong Kong and had apparently
162 been away
163 for quite some time. “I’m sure, Li. Thanks. I really missed you.”
164 Sam smiled
165 again, and Li seemed to accept it, but he was getting an odd look
166 from the dark
167 haired girl. Her stormy blue eyes seemed to be looking through him.
168 The
169 familiar sound of the Imaging Chamber door opening sent a breath of
170 relief
171 through him. He quickly turned to spot Al. When he finally did, he
172 was
173 surprised. Al’s usually wild attire was much more subdued. He was
174 wearing a
175 black suit and tie. He had dark bags under his eyes and he looked
176 even older
177 than usual. Sam frowned, staring at his holographic friend
178 concernedly. “I..
179 uhh... I’ll be back in a minute.” He let go of the boy’s hand and
180 ducked past the
181 pale girl and made his way through Al, signaling the observer to
182 follow over
183 near a tree. “Al! What took you so long? Where am I?” He paused for a
184 moment, studying the observer. “Are you okay?”
185 Al shook it off, plugging away at the handlink, offering his usual
186 abuse
187 to the poor thing. “It took Ziggy a while to find you, Sam. You’re
188 only a month
189 behind us. Ziggy’s freaking out. She’s never seen anything like this
190 before so
191 she doesn’t know what to do about it. As far as details, we don’t
192 know why
193 you’re here yet. It’s only a month ago and in Japan at that, so we
194 don’t have a lot
195 of information to go on. Donn.. Err...” Al mentally stopped himself
196 from
197 mentioning Donna’s name. She didn’t want Sam knowing that she was
198 still there
199 waiting for him. It would be easier for him this way. “Everyone here
200 at the
201 Project is a little worried about this. I mean, you’ve never been
202 this close before,
203 Sam.”
204 Sam gasped in shock. “Only a month? Al, I’m really that close? Maybe
205 I can... No, I shouldn’t, but...” He shook his head, brunette hair
206 flailing from
207 side to side as he did so. This was all too much. He could call up
208 Project
209 Quantum Leap and ask to talk to the Al of this time. Or he could
210 look up
211 material on a Doctor Samuel Beckett and try to replace the swiss
212 cheese holes in
213 his memory. But Al looked less than excited. “So what do you have so
214 far?”
215 Al pulled up the handlink again, though by this time he didn’t need
216 it.
217 He’d been reading the information ever since the plane ride back.
218 Over and over
219 and over. He sighed, trying to keep the lack of sleep from showing.
220 “You are
221 Sakura Kinomoto, a fourteen year old school girl in Tomoeda, Japan.
222 She’s a
223 fair student and seems to be pretty athletic. Hey, Sam, you’re on the
224 cheerleading team.” Al attempted a grin, but only got a stare from
225 the younger
226 girl that housed the spirit of his best friend. He held up his arms
227 in defense. “Just
228 pointing that out to you. You always want as much information as
229 we’ve got.
230 Anyway, the Chinese boy over there is Syaoran Li, part of some
231 powerful
232 family in Hong Kong. It looks like he’s your sweety. He was here in
233 Japan a
234 few years ago and left, but not before you two hooked up. You’ve
235 been sending
236 letters back and forth since.” Al wasn’t even looking at the
237 handlink anymore.
238 He’d heard all this days ago, before Ziggy even found out this was
239 where Sam
240 had leapt to.
241 Sam coughed into his fist and shook his head, the memory of the kiss
242 still fresh in his mind. “Well, why am I here, then? What am I here
243 to change? It
244 sounds like they end up alright.”
245 Bringing the handlink up again, Al crammed some buttons at random.
246 “Ziggy’s trying to run some simulations and Dr. Beeks is talking to
247 Sakura right
248 now so we’ll try to figure that out.” The retired admiral paused for
249 a long
250 moment. There was something else he wanted to say. Sam waited.
251 “Sakura-chan? Daijobu?” The pale girl asked. She looked very
252 concerned for ‘Sakura’. Her hand went to Sam’s forehead, feeling for
253 a
254 temperature. Her stormy blue eyes met the emerald green ones that
255 replaced
256 Sam’s own for a long moment. She leaned forward a bit, whispering
257 with her
258 wonderfully soft voice into Sam’s ear. “Is it because of Li-kun? Are
259 you
260 nervous? You shouldn’t be. He’s happy to see you again. You can be
261 together
262 now.” She stepped back, smiling brightly, her eyes closed.
263 Sam laughed nervously. “Of course! I’m really happy, too. Yeah, I’m
264 just a little nervous is all. I’m sure I’ll be fine soon.”
265 “I’m sure Sakura-chan will, too. I know things will work out for the
266 best for you.” The smile seemed to come to her quickly, as if she
267 smiled often,
268 or practiced it quite a bit. It was a warm, gentle smile that
269 somehow eased Sam’s
270 spirits. He nodded quickly as she took his arm, the bell ringing to
271 signify their
272 first class. “We better hurry, Sakura-chan.”
273 Sam looked to see Li pulling along beside them, taking his hand. The
274 pale girl waited a second before letting go, keeping her distance.
275 Sam met her
276 gaze and she smiled again, ushering him towards the correct class.
277 Glancing
278 back over his shoulder, he looked for Al, but the observer was
279 already gone.
280 What had he wanted to say?
281
282 Class went by strangely. It had been a while since Sam had been
283 anyone this young and he found it awkward to be taking classes in
284 Japanese. But
285 he still managed to get along well enough. The teachers even seemed
286 amazed at
287 some of the answers he was giving. Sam had always found academics
288 calming.
289 They didn’t have the same chaos that was inherent in everything
290 else. Especially
291 leaping. So he found it relaxing to lose himself in class, even with
292 the slight
293 difficulty of taking it in another language.
294 Throughout the day, he kept making little mistakes, but nothing that
295 seemed too big. Besides, it was part of every leap. He had to gauge
296 other
297 people’s reactions to him to decide if he was acting properly or
298 not. He seemed
299 to be doing well enough, but the dark haired girl seemed to be
300 getting
301 increasingly concerned. He tried to play it off, but she was always
302 close by,
303 offering help whenever she could and trying to see if anything was
304 wrong.
305 Syaoran walked him from class to class, which he found a little
306 embarrassing but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He got used
307 to holding
308 the boy’s hand from class to class as lunch finally rolled around.
309 Stormy blue eyes caught Sam’s attention quickly as the dark haired
310 girl
311 caught up with him. Sam just waited for her. She still held that
312 warm smile of
313 hers as she fell in step with him. “Sakura-chan seems to have
314 studied a lot last
315 night. You should have told me. I would have been happy to help you,
316 Sakura-
317 chan.”
318 “Oh, I was bored. I didn’t want to bother you. I thought I’d catch
319 up in
320 class and try to do a little better,” Sam supplied, hoping it
321 sounded reasonable
322 enough. This whole leap was confusing him. Especially this girl. She
323 must be
324 Sakura’s best friend. She was obviously very caring towards her.
325 The girl nodded thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side. “You
326 even
327 got that engrish poem down that you were worrying about. I knew
328 Sakura-chan
329 would be just fine as long as she did her best.” She smiled happily,
330 as if waiting
331 for Sam to explain something.
332 “I.. uhh... Yeah, I guess it was easier than I thought,” Sam
333 muttered
334 quickly. He looked around after a moment and noticed that he was
335 going down a
336 dead end.
337 “Lunch is this way, Sakura-chan,” the girl said politely, taking
338 Sam’s
339 hand and leading him off down another corridor. Her hand felt soft
340 and held
341 onto Sam’s with a very gentle care. She looked at Sam with that
342 concerned look
343 again, but he just smiled and tried to brush it off. “It’s good that
344 Li-kun’s back.
345 Sakura-chan shouldn’t have to be lonely. The two of you look so cute
346 together.”
347 She squeezed Sam’s hand softly. “You’ll have to let me videotape the
348 two of
349 you later. It can be Sakura-chan’s Happy Reunion.”
350 Sam laughed and nodded. The girl was eccentric, but he liked that.
351 She
352 must be a fun best friend. “Yeah, that sounds good. We should do
353 that later. I’m
354 sure it’ll make for great memories.”
355 “Not for her, Sam.”
356 Sam turned on his heel and spotted Al behind him. Al shook his head
357 and motioned for him to keep walking. Sam complied. “Hmm?” Sam asked,
358 trying to look interested in the dark haired girl’s explanation of
359 some outfit for
360 him to wear.
361 “Those obviously won’t make good memories for her, Sam. That's
362 Tomoyo Daidouji. Heiress to the Daidouji fortunes and all
363 around talented girl. Got the voice of an angel. I heard her sing
364 one time.” Al
365 grew silent for a moment, not even glancing at the handlink. He
366 didn’t need it
367 for this. “She kills herself about a month from now. You could never
368 tell with all
369 those smiles.” Sighing, the observer shook his head, watching the
370 pale girl for a
371 time before continuing. “She drowns in a lake at a park near here.
372 Left a note
373 and went off to take a swim. The problem being that she doesn’t know
374 how to
375 swim," Al explained grimly.
376 “She what?” Sam shot out, his eyes wide. He immediately regretted it
377 as Tomoyo looked back at him. He just shook his head quickly.
378 “Nothing.” Sam
379 stared at his friend aghast. It seemed hard to believe that this
380 cheery girl would ever consider something quite so drastic.
381 Al shook his head after a moment, knowing what Sam must be
382 thinking. "Ziggy says that's not why you're here. It's a month from
383 now. If that
384 was the reason, you'd've leapt in a few days before it happened. She
385 says it's more likely got to do with the girl you leapt into."
386 Sam smiled as sweetly as he could and pulled his hand away from
387 Tomoyo. “Excuse me for just a second. I need to... take care of
388 something.”
389 They had finally gotten outside and Sam took the chance to head
390 around the side
391 of the building. “No! That can’t be it. Why? What happened? Maybe it
392 wasn’t a
393 suicide. That means it was only a few days ago for you. Maybe Ziggy
394 doesn’t
395 have all the information she needs. She’s too sweet a girl for that.”
396 Al sighed. He knew Sam was going to be like this. And it wasn’t as
397 if
398 he hadn’t been trying to work this out himself. “Ziggy didn’t know
399 until an hour
400 ago. I found out two days ago. Sam, I just got back form her funeral.”
401 That news sent a shock through the leaper. Leaning heavily against
402 the
403 wall, he looked over at Al. “You what? Why?”
404 Al was deep in thought, contemplating an unlit cigar. It had been
405 days
406 since he’d had one, but for some reason he just didn’t feel in the
407 mood for it. “It
408 was a lovely funeral. Her mother really spared no expense. Sakura,
409 the girl you
410 are, was there, too. It was a big thing. Her mother was all broken
411 up about it.
412 Lost her only little girl.” Al closed his eyes, trying to force out
413 the images. “You
414 probably don’t remember this, but back when we were looking for
415 funding for
416 the project, we met with a whole lot of people. One of those people
417 was Sonomi
418 Daidouji. Strong willed woman. But you get to like her. Won’t take
419 no for an
420 answer. Anyway, I got to talking to her about funding for the
421 project. She runs a
422 pretty big business in Japan. We wound up getting picked up by the
423 government
424 for funding, but after I explained what the Project was about, she
425 was all too
426 thrilled to get me all the Japanese technology we needed from the
427 Amamiya
428 Corporation. Hell, half of Ziggy’s thanks to her. She never asked a
429 thing from
430 us, just wanted to know how the Project was going from time to time.
431 So I’ve
432 been staying in touch, talking to her about this and that. But when
433 I found out
434 her daughter killed herself a few days ago, I rushed out there.
435 She’s really
436 broken up, Sam. She doesn’t have anyone else now. Just her business.
437 She was
438 really emotional at the funeral, and she had a right to be. It was
439 awful to see. I
440 wish you had leapt in a few days ago and stopped that. But you’ve
441 said it
442 yourself, you can only change what you’re supposed to.”
443 “Oh no... That can’t be right. How can I possibly stop that from
444 here?
445 Unless I can find a way to keep it from happening. Something must
446 have
447 happened that made her want to do that. We just need Ziggy to find
448 out,” Sam
449 nodded, thinking deeply.
450 “Sam, I already know. Her mother told me. I found out while I was
451 there. She killed herself over you.” Al rubbed at an ache in his
452 neck, sighing.
453 “She killed herself because she’s in love with you.”
454 “Oh boy...”
455 “Yeah, so it doesn’t look like there’s anything you can do about
456 it. At
457 least for now. I’ll get Ziggy working on those simulations. Maybe
458 she can come
459 up with...” Al’s eyes went wide as he read the handlink. “She’s
460 what?!” Without
461 another word to Sam, Al vanished through the door.
462
463 “What the hell is she doing here?” Al asked to no one in particular
464 as
465 he stormed down the hallway. The former admiral came to a halt when
466 he
467 finally caught sight of the younger Japanese woman. She was flanked
468 by several
469 woman wearing dark clothes and sunglasses. They all looked like they
470 were
471 good at what they did. Which was probably to protect Miss Daidouji.
472 Al would
473 have gawked at the pretty ladies if he wasn’t still in shock.
474 “Sonomi, why are
475 you here? The Project is off limits to all non-essential personal.
476 Now I
477 appreciate all you’ve done for the project, but you certainly aren’t
478 a member of
479 the staff.”
480 “Arru, please... I need to see my little girl again. I know that
481 she’s here.
482 She has to be. You can save her, can’t you?” Sonomi’s eyes were
483 pleading. She
484 looked desperate, grasping at the final string dangling in front of
485 her. The
486 woman had suffered so much in the past few days.
487 Al remained silent, his lips pursed tightly together. He didn’t
488 like this at
489 all. She shouldn’t be here. This whole leap was already playing with
490 all the rules
491 they’d set up years ago. This wasn’t helping.
492 “Please, Arru. I need to see Tomoyo-chan.” Her eyes conveyed how
493 deeply she meant that. She did need to see her. This woman was
494 strong, but
495 losing her only child after that was killing her. He knew that she’d
496 agreed to
497 help the Project in the hopes of one day bringing back her cousin,
498 her one true
499 love, but now she had lost her daughter as well.
500 He sighed. He had been able to see Beth, his first wife and the only
501 woman he had ever truly loved, even if for only a short time. They
502 may not be
503 able to save Tomoyo, but was it fair to rob her of a final chance of
504 seeing her
505 daughter alive? “Sonomi, you’re putting me in a hard spot here. Let
506 me get you
507 and your friends some rooms and we can talk about it.”
508 “He’s there, isn’t he? He’s back with my Tomoyo-chan. He can save
509 her, right?” Sonomi had eliminated the distance between herself and
510 Al. This
511 was her last chance. She had to pray it would work. She had barely
512 survived
513 Nadeshiko’s loss, and that was only because she had had Tomoyo. Now
514 she had
515 nothing. She couldn’t let things stay this way.
516 Looking away, Al frowned. “He’s... Back around then. But not close
517 enough to stop it. A month back. We think he’s supposed to fix
518 something else.”
519 Sonomi balled her fists angrily. “No!! He’s back there to save
520 Tomoyo-
521 chan! Maybe he got sent back too far or he needs to fix something
522 else while
523 he’s at it, but he’s there to save my dear Tomoyo-chan!” Her English
524 was
525 heavily accented, the long plane ride making it difficult for her to
526 concentrate.
527 “Let me get you a room first and then we can figure everything out.
528 I
529 promise I’ll let you see her. Sam’s back with her now.” Al motioned
530 for them to
531 follow, but Sonomi moved past him.
532 “I need to see Tomoyo-chan now. I need to see her alive and well.
533 Moving and smiling and singing. I need to get the image of her in a
534 casket out of
535 my head. I need to see my baby.” Sonomi stopped as she tried to
536 remember the
537 layout from the blueprints she’d seen. Where was the Imaging Chamber
538 again?
539 The bodyguards tensed up as Al grabbed her shoulder. Sonomi hardly
540 seemed to notice. Al’s hand eased off when he noticed the tears in
541 her eyes. “It’s
542 this way.”
543
544 Sam blinked as he watched the space his holographic companion had
545 occupied moments before. Al had looked pretty shocked about
546 something, but
547 he hadn’t bothered telling Sam about it. And so he was stuck with
548 the news that
549 the best friend of the girl he was currently inhabiting would kill
550 herself in a
551 month’s time and that it didn’t look like there was anything he
552 could do about it.
553 This didn’t make for a very comforting break from classes. A hand on
554 his
555 shoulder nearly sent him into a panic.
556 “Sakura-chan? What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
557 Tomoyo watched the brunette in front of her carefully, brushing some
558 hair from
559 Sam’s eyes. Her stormy blue eyes were so loving, so concerned for
560 the well
561 being of this Sakura. Even if the situation was a little strange, it
562 still tore at
563 Sam’s heart to know where it would lead.
564 “Err... Yeah, something like that, Tomoyo. Don’t worry about it.
565 Let’s
566 get some lunch.” Sam offered another smile, but he couldn’t help but
567 cast
568 another glance back at the pale girl as he headed for a bench to eat
569 at. He
570 couldn’t tell that anything so dark could be lurking under Tomoyo’s
571 peaceful, if
572 eccentric, exterior. Could Al have been wrong? No, not likely. So it
573 seemed that
574 she was extremely good at hiding her feelings. Which was probably
575 why Sakura
576 had no idea about them. But that didn’t make it any easier to handle
577 the
578 situation. And what about the long awaited return of Sakura’s
579 boyfriend? What
580 was he supposed to do about it all?
581 Tomoyo sat down next to Sam, watching him closely as he ate. He
582 fumbled with the chopsticks for a moment before she reached over and
583 helped
584 adjust his grip. She smiled pleasantly as he got out a quick thanks.
585 It went on
586 quietly for a few minutes, her eyes never leaving Sam as he ate. She
587 finally
588 tilted her head to the side thoughtfully.
589 Sam looked back in confusion, some rice half in his mouth. “Is
590 something wrong?” he asked after a moment. This girl did act rather
591 strangely,
592 so he wouldn’t be surprised if this sort of behavior was normal for
593 her.
594 “You’re not Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo whispered, leaning closer so that
595 no one would hear. Her eyes were locked on Sam’s, as if looking past
596 the body
597 and deep into his soul, as if he couldn’t hide in it at all.
598 Sam dropped the little ball of rice, his eyes wide. He almost
599 choked on
600 what was in his mouth. “What?” he got out quietly, a little above a
601 chirp. This
602 couldn’t be right. No matter how poorly he did as someone, people
603 rarely ever
604 guessed that anything was wrong, let alone that he wasn’t who they
605 thought he
606 was. “What do you mean?” He tried to keep his voice steady this
607 time, throwing
608 in the confusion that was swirling through him.
609 Tomoyo shook her head. “You’re not her. I don’t know who you are. If
610 you’re a mage or another Card or something else entirely. But you’re
611 not
612 Sakura-chan. You’ve been acting strangely all morning, nothing like
613 her. Your
614 mannerisms are all wrong. You don’t have the same look in your eyes.
615 Your
616 smile’s different. You aren’t lost in a haze of emotions that ebb
617 and flow
618 rapidly. You don’t have the energy she does. You’re soul’s completely
619 different.” She paused, watching his reaction. She could have gone
620 on for hours
621 about the differences between him and her beloved Sakura-chan, but
622 that
623 seemed to be enough. Her panic was suppressed, but barely. If this
624 person was
625 replacing Sakura, then where was the Cardmistress?
626 “I... uhh... Al...” Sam looked around quickly, hoping for any sort
627 of
628 back up that he could get, even the holographic type. She didn’t
629 seem to have
630 any sort of psychic ability, yet somehow she had seen through him.
631 And he
632 didn’t know what to do about that. So he gave up. A sigh escaped his
633 lips, or
634 Sakura's lips, as the case may be. “Well... No, I’m not. My name is
635 Dr. Sam
636 Beckett. I’m from the future. Or I used to be. But I’m here to fix
637 things. To put
638 right what once went wrong.”
639 Tomoyo clasped her hands together worriedly. “Did something bad
640 happen to Sakura-chan? Is that what you’re here to fix? Where is
641 she? Please tell
642 me. I need to know what’s become of her.” Her mind came up with
643 plenty of
644 images of what could have happened to the Cardmistress, but she
645 pushed them
646 back with all of her might. Now wasn’t the time to panic. She had to
647 stay calm
648 so that she could figure out what had happened to Sakura. Her dark
649 eyes pleaded
650 with Sam’s to explain to her.
651 “No, she should be just fine. She’s back in the future right now.
652 Where
653 I come from. We think that something went badly in her life or the
654 life of
655 someone she knows.” ‘Like you,’ Sam mentally added. “So I’m here to
656 try and
657 fix it so that things can go smoothly for her.”
658 “You’re a sweet person to want to fix things for Sakura-chan. But
659 what
660 could be wrong for her? I’ve been keeping a close eye on her and
661 she’s been
662 perfectly fine.” Tomoyo’s fingers gripped the cool grass beneath her
663 as her mind
664 swam, trying to find anything that would have gone wrong. “She’s
665 been doing
666 perfectly well lately. And now that Li-kun’s back...” Her melodious
667 voice trailed
668 off as she began picking up on it. “Now that Li-kun’s back, things
669 are changing.
670 So I don’t know what will happen to her.” This was all so sudden.
671 She had
672 known that something had happened to Sakura when she’d started acting
673 strangely this morning. But now her fears were proven by her
674 replacement.
675 What could have gone wrong? Things seemed perfect for Sakura. She
676 had her
677 beloved back in Japan with her and she didn’t have anymore troubles
678 with the
679 Cards and her high school entrance exams were still over a year away.
680 Before Sam could reply, the boy in question sat down next to him.
681 Sam
682 smiled warmly before casting an apologetic glance to Tomoyo. He’d
683 have to
684 explain later. For now he’d have to keep things up with his
685 boyfriend. Scooting
686 closer to the Chinese boy, Sam let out an inward sigh and kept
687 eating. An arm
688 slowly went around his shoulders, pulling him even closer. It did
689 feel nice and
690 warm...
691
692 Everything was upside down. At least, that’s how Sakura felt. What
693 had happened? It took her a moment to fight through the
694 disorientation and
695 finally sit up. She was in a bed with the sheets tangled around her.
696 So it must
697 have all been some horrible dream. She had been in some strange
698 place all
699 alone. No Tomoyo-chan or Syaoran by her side. Her school fuku had
700 been
701 replaced by some white bodysuit. And the body in it was most
702 certainly not her
703 own. It seemed to belong to a much older man. She had screamed and
704 fainted
705 upon her discovery. But now that she was awake in bed, the whole
706 thing must be
707 over. The last thing she could remember before the nightmare had
708 been seeing
709 Syaoran again. He had been just about to kiss her before she found
710 herself in the
711 strange room. A melancholy sigh escaped her lips at that. Syaoran
712 must have
713 been a dream as well. He was probably still in Hong Kong. Oh well.
714 She’d have
715 to tell Tomoyo about her dream and see what she thought. Tomoyo
716 always made
717 her feel better about things when she was confused or nervous. Or
718 lonely. Which
719 was probably why she dreamed up Syaoran being with her in Japan.
720 Her heart sinking in her chest, Sakura slid off the small bed. She
721 yelped
722 a little when her bare feet touched the cold ground. Where were her
723 slippers?
724 And why was the ground cold? Blinking groggily, her eyes traversed
725 the room
726 she was in. It was empty aside from the small bed in the center and
727 completely
728 white. The lights from above cast dark shadows against the white
729 floor. Her
730 heart started pounding in her chest as she turned around, trying to
731 find out where
732 she was. She was trapped somewhere. That realization brought a
733 trickle of fear
734 through her soul. What was going on? She had all of the Sakura Cards
735 now, so
736 this must be some other form of magic. But who would do this to her?
737 She
738 clutched for the key, but her hand grasped nothing but air. Her eyes
739 darted down
740 in horror to see the all white jumpsuit on again. And a masculine
741 body
742 underneath. Another scream escaped her lips, but this time she
743 retained
744 consciousness. Silence reigned throughout the small room, punctuated
745 only by
746 her rapid breathing.
747 “Where am I? What’s going on?” she asked in a tiny voice. She turned
748 around in a circle, looking for some sort of door or any way out.
749 Anything but
750 the constant white cube she was imprisoned in. If she didn’t have
751 her magic,
752 what could she do? No, someone would notice she was missing. They
753 would
754 find her. Tomoyo would know something was wrong. And Syaoran, Yue,
755 and
756 Cerebrus would come to her rescue. Slumping back on the bed,
757 Sakura’s mind
758 raced for some sort of explanation. Her heart nearly stopped when
759 she heard a
760 whooshing sound and a door she hadn’t noticed sliding open. In
761 walked a
762 woman in a lab coat with dark skin. She smiled softly to the
763 bewildered
764 Cardmistress as she stepped forward slowly. The woman’s mouth opened
765 and
766 she began speaking oddly, in a language that Sakura had trouble
767 following. She
768 could make out some of it from her english class, but she wasn’t
769 fluent enough
770 to make it all out. The woman sighed and said something to a
771 ‘Ziggy’. A female
772 voice replied from some point in the roof and then translated what
773 the woman
774 had said into Japanese. Sakura sighed and closed her eyes. This was
775 getting
776 more and more difficult to make any sense out of.
777 “Hello. My name is Doctor Verbeena Beeks. I’m sorry that we didn’t
778 have a chance to speak earlier, but you passed out before I could
779 come in.” She
780 had a calm, almost motherly manner about her. Something about the
781 woman
782 helped put Sakura at ease. At least a bit more than she had been.
783 Dr. Beeks
784 gestured for her to take a seat on the bed, holding a notepad under
785 one arm.
786 Sakura complied, sliding up onto the bed, never taking her eyes off
787 of the only
788 other person in the room. “Now maybe I can help make things a little
789 more
790 comfortable for you. And maybe you can give me a little information
791 so we can
792 get you back home sooner.”
793 “What’s happened to me? Why am I here? Where is here? Hoe...”
794 Sakura could feel the fear welling up inside of her again, but she
795 refused to let it
796 get a good grip. She had been through too much by now. This was
797 bizarre, but
798 she would make it out all right. Everything would always be all
799 right. She had to
800 believe that. Even if it was hard to sometimes. She heard her words
801 being
802 translated into English and again looked around for the source of
803 the voice.
804 The woman spoke again, a slight delay carrying between her words and
805 the translation from the voice in the roof. “You’re here in what we
806 call the
807 Waiting Room. It’s a little Spartan, but we never know who will show
808 up.” She
809 paused for a moment as she tried to decide how much she should
810 divulge to the
811 visitor. Some people she had explained their situation to, but most
812 of them
813 wound up thinking they had been kidnapped by aliens or that it had
814 all been a
815 bad dream. It was easier when there wasn’t such a big difference
816 between the
817 bodies. She had already had trouble with a young girl in Sam’s body.
818 It didn’t
819 seem like there had been any permanent mental trauma, thankfully,
820 but she
821 didn’t want to try again with this girl, even if she was a bit
822 older. She hoped that
823 this leap would be over quickly enough. “You’ve been replaced by a
824 friend of
825 mine, a Dr. Sam Beckett. He’s living your life for a few days to fix
826 something
827 that had gone wrong in it the first time around. When he’s done,
828 you’ll go back
829 and everything will be perfectly fine again.” Her voice remained
830 calm, soothing.
831 Even if Ziggy had to translate for the both of them, she still
832 wanted to convey a
833 reassuring tone to the younger girl, something that Ziggy didn’t
834 always worry
835 about. Ziggy was too worried about her calculations at this point
836 anyway. Sam
837 had never leapt this close to home before and she was having
838 difficulty finding
839 any solid information about any of it. Which frustrated the hybrid
840 super
841 computer to no ends.
842 “Nani!?” Sakura’s emerald eyes went wide as she swallowed the
843 information. Her head shook quickly. No, she didn’t like that at
844 all. This was
845 definitely not a good usage of magic at all. “But why? I have Onii-
846 chan and
847 Tomoyo-chan and Yukito-san and Kero-chan and Syaoran all looking out
848 for
849 me. And I’m the Ca... I can take care of myself, too. And why
850 couldn’t you just
851 tell me if something was going to go wrong? You didn’t need to
852 replace me for
853 it.”
854 Dr. Beeks sighed, pulling up her notebook and the information Ziggy
855 had given her on fourteen year old Sakura Kinomoto. The man on the
856 bed that
857 looked exactly like Sam Beckett looked uncertain and confused, a
858 tinge of fright
859 in his eyes. But there was also a determination laced underneath it
860 all, even
861 amidst the swirling emotions. And with the way he was sitting, he
862 looked very
863 much like a little girl that had been lost in a store. After all
864 this time of working
865 with Sam’s body and whatever soul was currently inhabiting it, she
866 had learned
867 to ignore the fact that it always looked the same and to look for
868 the mannerisms
869 of the person underneath. “I’m afraid that it just doesn’t work like
870 that. We don’t
871 have any control where he goes. He just replaces the person for a
872 little while to
873 fix something in their life.”
874 “But there’s nothing wrong in my life!” Sakura said in frustration.
875 She
876 knew she was close to tears, but she didn’t care. This whole thing
877 was just too
878 much for her to be taking at the moment. She wanted to be back home
879 with the
880 ones that loved her. There was nothing in her life that needed
881 fixing. At least,
882 nothing she couldn’t handle. This place was all wrong.
883 Smiling a little sadly, the doctor shook her head. “I’m afraid God,
884 Fate,
885 Time, or whoever’s leaping Sam around through time doesn’t seem to
886 think so.
887 But try not to worry too much. It usually works out for the best.”
888 Pulling up the
889 notes again, she thought to herself, ‘Let’s hope this isn’t one of
890 the few times it
891 doesn’t.’
892
893 “Ziggy, I need you to draw some more power for the Imaging
894 Chamber. I need enough so that someone else can be seen, too,” Al
895 said as he
896 brushed past Gooshie and Tina. The two watched in confusion as the
897 Japanese
898 woman and her entourage of bodyguards followed close behind.
899 “But Admiral, what would the purpose be of allowing Dr. Beckett to
900 see Ms. Daidouji?” the female voice that was Ziggy asked from
901 everywhere and
902 nowhere in particular.
903 “Just do it, Ziggy. I don’t have time for this. Unless you want to
904 give
905 me some information on what’s going on.” Al paused in front of the
906 Imaging
907 Chamber door, waiting for a response. He knew he’d hurt Ziggy’s
908 feelings as
909 the computer paused for a moment. There was no other reason for the
910 pause
911 because the computer worked at unimaginably high speeds. But she was
912 very
913 tempermental, especially about this leap.
914 “Admiral, may I remind you that with the leap taking place little
915 more
916 than a month ago, I am highly limited in my abilities to gain
917 information about
918 the situation Dr. Beckett finds himself in. He shouldn’t be this
919 close to us. How
920 am I supposed to find the necessary data when I have nothing to base
921 any of it
922 on? A young Japanese school girl from the past month is difficult to
923 find
924 information on, especially anything vital enough to require Dr.
925 Beckett’s
926 immediate attention. I’m putting all available resources to
927 discovering the
928 reason for this leap as well as why Dr. Beckett is so close to our
929 time. Perhaps
930 we could switch jobs and you could perform mine to your liking,
931 Admiral.”
932 Ziggy’s calm voice still managed to showcase her frustration and her
933 bruised
934 ego.
935 Al sighed, rubbing his temples. He was getting too old for this.
936 “Nevermind, Ziggy. Just draw up some more power, will ya?” This leap
937 was
938 getting to everyone. Ziggy was having trouble because of the near
939 impossibility
940 of this leap, Donna because Sam was so close to home, and he was
941 still trying to
942 hold the whole circus together.
943 “So that is Ziggy? How remarkable.” Sonomi looked at the oddly put
944 together computer. She had heard of some of the design
945 specifications for the
946 hybrid super computer and had heard Al’s complaints about her ego,
947 but she had
948 never actually thought she was this advanced. But she had a feeling
949 she liked the
950 computer’s personality already.
951 “This way, Sonomi-san,” Al said, gesturing to the door with the
952 handlink. Punching in a button, the door slid open. He sighed and
953 took a step
954 into the glowing light. He may not like this, but he understood. It
955 had torn him
956 up to see Beth that one last time when she couldn’t see or hear him,
957 but he knew
958 that he had needed it. He missed her so much, that he treasured even
959 that one
960 bittersweet moment with her. He knew that Sonomi had gone through
961 the same
962 with someone named Nadeshiko. That was part of why they had stayed
963 in touch.
964 They had both suffered through losing their only true love and had
965 somehow
966 managed to continue on through the pain. In a way, it was why both
967 of them had
968 put faith into Project Quantum Leap. And now Sonomi had lost the
969 last thing
970 keeping her going. So despite his doubts, he had to let her see.
971 Especially if Sam
972 couldn’t fix things for her. Then this might be the last time she
973 would see her
974 alive.
975 Sonomi stopped for only a moment to motion the bodyguards to stay
976 where they were before stepping after Al. Her heart pounded with
977 anxiety. What
978 would happen? Would she be there? She needed to see her little girl
979 again. The
980 past few days had been hell for her. First Nadeshiko and now her own
981 daughter,
982 who reminded her so much of her dearly departed cousin. She had no
983 idea why
984 she was still going on or what was holding her together. Her pain
985 was getting
986 ever more acute, and she had no place for it to go. She couldn’t
987 hate Sakura, not
988 the way she hated Fujitaka. Yet both had taken away those she loved,
989 albeit
990 Sakura had done so unknowingly. But she still couldn’t quite forgive
991 the
992 brunette for taking away her loving daughter, even if she was
993 Nadeshiko’s
994 daughter.
995 And suddenly, everything was different. They were standing outside
996 of
997 Tomoyo’s school. It appeared to be around lunchtime, with all of the
998 students
999 sitting in groups, eating. It was as if they had stepped directly
1000 from that door in
1001 Project Quantum Leap out into Tomoeda. Sonomi stood in shock as a
1002 student
1003 walked right through her. She knew this was all one big hologram,
1004 but it seemed
1005 so real.
1006 Sam stared at the observer and the woman standing next to him. A boy
1007 had passed right through her. Which meant she was in the Imaging
1008 Chamber
1009 with him. He tried to extricate himself from Syaoran’s grasp, but
1010 the Chinese
1011 boy continued holding on. He mouthed ‘What is she doing here?’ to
1012 Al, who
1013 shook his head uncomprehendingly for a moment before nodding.
1014 Taking a few steps closer, Al hunched next to Sam, out of Sonomi’s
1015 range of hearing. “Ohhh... She’s Sonomi Daidouji, Sam. Your best
1016 friend’s
1017 mother. She wanted to see Tomoyo again. And don’t argue, you big boy
1018 scout. It
1019 won’t change my mind. I’m still in charge of the Project from here.
1020 Besides, she
1021 misses her daughter. You have to understand that. I couldn’t just
1022 send her away
1023 without ever being able to see her again.”
1024 Sam sighed in defeat and nodded. It did make sense, even if he
1025 didn’t
1026 really like the idea. But if he couldn’t stop Tomoyo from killing
1027 herself, then
1028 this was for the best. How would he feel if she never saw her again?
1029 “Is your friend here?” Tomoyo whispered to Sam, unknowingly also
1030 next to Al’s ear. Al stared at Sam incredulously. “You told her?
1031 Sam! You know
1032 you’re not supposed to tell anybody. Great. This is just great.”
1033 “She guessed,” Sam got out through a nervous smile. He went back to
1034 eating as Syaoran looked at him oddly. He nodded in acknowledgement
1035 of
1036 Tomoyo’s question.
1037 “Guessed?” Turning his attention to the pale girl, he could see her
1038 stormy blue eyes, deep and intelligent. Sonomi had always told him
1039 that she was
1040 very perceptive and the few times he had met her had proven that. He
1041 just hadn’t
1042 guessed to what extent.
1043 “Tomoyo-chan...” Tears dripped down Sonomi’s cheeks as she saw her
1044 daughter, alive and well before her eyes once again. It hadn’t been
1045 that long ago
1046 that she had seen the young girl in a coffin, her soul already gone
1047 from her
1048 beautiful body. But here she was again, shining the way she always
1049 had, an
1050 ephemeral shimmer that seemed to encompass her sweet spirit. “Oh,
1051 Tomoyo-
1052 chan... My baby, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when you
1053 needed me.
1054 You’re the most precious thing in my life. Honey, I never should
1055 have left you
1056 alone when I saw you breaking. I noticed the cracks in your shell
1057 and I tried to
1058 help, but you kept insisting that everything was all right. I wanted
1059 to help, but I
1060 thought that all I could do was be there for you when you needed me.
1061 I never
1062 thought that you’d...” Her fists clenched, her nails digging into
1063 her palms
1064 painfully as she fell to her knees beside the young heiress. “Tomoyo-
1065 chan, I love
1066 you, my little daughter. I never wanted to see you get hurt the way
1067 I was. I never
1068 wanted you to have to live through that. But now... My baby...” Her
1069 body shook
1070 as she reached out to Tomoyo, her fingers slipping through the
1071 hologram.
1072 Tomoyo still looked happy, but Sonomi could see that it was masking
1073 her
1074 nervousness and fear underneath. For what? Probably for Sakura.
1075 Sonomi’s gaze
1076 fell on the girl with the emerald eyes, her tears still streaming
1077 down her cheeks.
1078 Her heart rolled over as she watched, still being held by Syaoran.
1079 And yet
1080 Tomoyo was still pretending to be happy. She had kept up that mask of
1081 happiness for her friend until the day she had died.
1082 “It’s not her, Sonomi,” Al explained as he stood up. “That’s Sam. We
1083 don’t know why he leapt back into Sakura yet, but we’re looking into
1084 it.”
1085 Shaking her head, Sonomi tried to compose herself, not moving from
1086 Tomoyo’s side. “To keep Tomoyo-chan from killing herself, of course!
1087 Why
1088 else would he be back here?” She was still nearly frantic, finally
1089 able to see her
1090 daughter again but unable to even talk to her. “It will be all
1091 right, Tomoyo-chan.
1092 I promise. We’ll fix everything. You just stay strong for your
1093 mother. I promise
1094 I’ll make everything better,” She said reassuringly, trying to
1095 stroke her
1096 daughter’s hair. Her fingers went through the empty space, but it
1097 almost looked
1098 like she had heard her. “Oh, Tomoyo-chan...” It hurt to look at her,
1099 but she
1100 couldn’t take her eyes away. The last time she had seen that face,
1101 her eyes had
1102 been closed for the last time. Sonomi’s heart paused with every
1103 blink.
1104 Al watched from the side for a moment, glancing down to the handlink
1105 and back up. He knew what torture it was to finally see someone
1106 you’d lost and
1107 not be able to interact with them. In a way, this would have been
1108 easier to handle
1109 had Sonomi been here to see Nadeshiko. When she had lost Tomoyo, she
1110 had
1111 lost everything. This was a woman in huge amounts of pain. He only
1112 hoped that
1113 the sight would give her hope. Turning his attention back to Sam,
1114 the handlink
1115 gave its usual squeak of protest as Al slapped it on the side.
1116 “Still no new
1117 information, Sam. And Ziggy’s not very happy about this at all. She
1118 says you
1119 shouldn’t be leaping so close to us. I’ll tell you what we figure
1120 out as soon as we
1121 find it. Whatever it is. I’ve got Beeks talking to Sakura right now
1122 and maybe
1123 Sonomi can help us figure out what you’re here to fix.” His eyes
1124 went back to
1125 the grieving woman, not noticing Sam’s slow nod of approval. He
1126 shook his
1127 head and punched up the door. With all that she had been through, he
1128 didn’t
1129 want to interrupt her. He would come back in a bit.
1130 Sitting next to her daughter, watching her intently as if afraid
1131 that she
1132 would soon enough drop dead in front of her very eyes, Sonomi
1133 continued
1134 whispering assurances to the smiling dark haired girl. And unknowing
1135 of the
1136 guardian angel watching over her, Tomoyo continued her lunch.
1137
1138 It had been difficult for Sam to ignore Tomoyo’s mother for the
1139 rest of
1140 lunch, but he was the only one who could see her. He wanted to help,
1141 to say
1142 something that could take that terrible pain from her eyes, but he
1143 couldn’t with
1144 everyone around. She had finally left a little after lunch had
1145 ended, talking to Al
1146 for a bit before the Observer had finally convinced her to leave the
1147 Imaging
1148 Chamber. Sam had considered telling Tomoyo, but thought it would only
1149 complicate matters if she knew her mother was there. Let alone why
1150 she was
1151 there.
1152 School had finally ended and he had absolutely no idea where his
1153 home
1154 was. And no Al to tell him either. He sighed and glanced around,
1155 hoping to see
1156 the Imaging Chamber door opening and the always oddly dressed Al
1157 walking
1158 out. No such luck. A hand grabbing his own shook him from his
1159 thoughts.
1160 Turning, he saw Syaoran’s face in it’s usual impassive look. But he
1161 could notice
1162 a slight blush coloring his cheeks. Sam smiled a bit. It looked like
1163 the body he
1164 was in gave a good impression at the least.
1165 “Do you want to come with me? I still have some unpacking to do, but
1166 I thought we could do something when I’m done with that,” the
1167 Chinese boy
1168 said after a moment’s hesitation.
1169 “I’m sure she would love to, Li-kun, but Sakura-chan’s not feeling
1170 very
1171 well. I just cancelled her cheerleading for today and I’m going to
1172 take her right
1173 home. But Sakura-chan would love to go see it when she’s feeling
1174 better. I’m
1175 afraid all of the excitement today has taken its toll on her. You
1176 know how
1177 worked up girls can get over their boyfriends, Li-kun.” Tomoyo’s
1178 sweet voice
1179 drifted to the two as she exited the front door to the school and
1180 approached
1181 Sam’s other side. She was smiling her usual insanely cute smile.
1182 Syaoran didn’t
1183 seem impressed with it.
1184 Sam nodded in agreement quickly. “Yeah, I really should get some
1185 rest.
1186 I haven’t been feeling like myself all day. I’ll see you soon,
1187 Syaoran.” He felt
1188 bad to be leaving Sakura’s boyfriend behind the day he had returned
1189 to Japan to
1190 see her, but it was so much easier that way. He didn’t want to think
1191 about all of
1192 the problems of going over to his house and dealing with it all.
1193 Shrugging noncommittally, Syaoran looked at Sam. “Okay. I’ll see you
1194 then. Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home instead?”
1195 “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. You just finish
1196 packing,” Sam
1197 answered with a smile. The last thing he needed right now was to
1198 talk about the
1199 ‘old times’ that he had no idea about.
1200 “And the sooner you finish packing, the sooner you can come and see
1201 Sakura-chan in bed. I’ll do my best to nurse her back to health for
1202 you,”
1203 Tomoyo added kindly, taking Sam’s other hand. The fingers
1204 intertwined with
1205 those of Sakura’s body in a smooth, unconscious movement.
1206 Syaoran frowned and shook his head. He had finally gotten back and
1207 now Sakura had to get sick. It wasn’t fair. She was the whole reason
1208 he had
1209 come back in the first place. “I’ll try to see you later tonight,
1210 Sakura-chan. Feel
1211 better soon.” Hesitating for a moment, but getting a look of
1212 reassurance from
1213 Tomoyo the same way she had always tried to get him to tell Sakura
1214 how he felt,
1215 he leaned forward and kissed Sakura.
1216 Sam’s eyes went wide as he felt the boy’s lips against his own
1217 again.
1218 Well, the one’s he was using at the moment anyway. But it didn’t
1219 feel altogether
1220 unpleasant as his lips pressed against those of the Japanese girl he
1221 was
1222 inhabiting. And he needed to keep things together until his host
1223 returned.
1224 Sighing inwardly, Sam kissed back slightly. Syaoran finally pulled
1225 away,
1226 blushing a bit. Saying their goodbyes, he hurried off for home. Sam
1227 stood where
1228 he was for a few moments, trying to shake the whole feeling off. But
1229 being in a
1230 hormone ridden teenage body really didn’t help matters.
1231 “Are you ready, Sakura-chan?” Tomoyo’s voice asked from Sam’s left.
1232 When she saw him nod, she began to lead him back home. It was
1233 strange seeing
1234 Sakura’s body, but not Sakura in it. It was like seeing someone
1235 wearing a
1236 friend’s clothes. They clothes may look the same, but the person
1237 underneath was
1238 different. It was the same watching Sam in Sakura’s body. It looked
1239 like Sakura,
1240 but everything was off. The movements, the way he spoke, everything.
1241 All of it
1242 strengthened her longing to have her friend back. Her mind had been
1243 centered
1244 on the Cardmistress all day, barely keeping from panic. She needed
1245 to know that
1246 Sakura-chan was all right.
1247 It took Sam a moment to realize that they were moving. At least
1248 someone knew where his home was. That solved one problem. As they
1249 walked,
1250 Tomoyo chatted pleasantly about all sorts of things, from camcorders
1251 to sewing
1252 to how cute Sakura was. He wondered how Sakura hadn’t noticed the
1253 girl’s love
1254 for her. It seemed obvious enough and she was so warm and caring
1255 towards her,
1256 even if Sam was occupying the body for the time being. “Why didn’t
1257 you tell
1258 her how you feel?” Sam interrupted as she was in the middle of
1259 explaining how
1260 difficult it was to videotape someone on a flying staff that was
1261 dodging magic.
1262 Silence grew between the two for a moment. Tomoyo was smiling
1263 again when she looked at Sam. “Did your friend tell you? They must
1264 have a lot
1265 of information on Sakura-chan.”
1266 Sam nodded quietly. He felt a cold chill as he remembered Al’s
1267 explanation of why she had killed herself. “Yeah, he did. We have
1268 some
1269 information, but not as much as we’d like. But he did tell me that
1270 you’re in love
1271 with her. Why didn’t you tell her?”
1272 Tomoyo looked away, concentrating on their surroundings instead of
1273 the body of her best friend. Her smile was still there, but it
1274 looked marginally
1275 weaker, as if Sam had hit on a weak spot. “Because she loves Li-kun.
1276 There’s no
1277 reason to tell her how I feel. That would only complicate things for
1278 her. She’s
1279 happy now. As long as the one I love is happy, I’m happy, too.”
1280 “But it can’t be healthy to keep all of that inside all the time.
1281 Don’t you
1282 ever talk to anyone about it? Don’t you think that she would want to
1283 know how
1284 you felt?” Sam asked, wanting desperately to change the pale girl’s
1285 apparent
1286 fate. How could he make her understand?
1287 “I think Sakura-chan was very confused about Li-kun’s feelings for
1288 her.
1289 But she finally decided that she returned his feelings. And she’s
1290 happy with that.
1291 I think telling her how I feel would confuse poor Sakura-chan and
1292 she would
1293 feel bad about rejecting me, so it would just hurt her. If that’s
1294 the case, then
1295 there really isn’t a reason to tell her. I’ll always love her,
1296 whether or not she
1297 knows that. So if it comes between telling Sakura-chan and hurting
1298 her or
1299 keeping it to myself and holding it all inside, I would much rather
1300 keep it locked
1301 up inside. I never want her to suffer because of me.” Tomoyo’s
1302 gentle voice held
1303 a tinge of sadness in it, but her smile didn’t falter again. She had
1304 made her
1305 decision a long time ago. She would live her entire life alone if
1306 she had to. But
1307 she wouldn’t hurt Sakura out of selfishness. Even if she did want
1308 Sakura to
1309 know, no good could come from it.
1310 Sam watched the pale girl closely for a few seconds. No wonder she
1311 tried to kill herself. She was keeping it all pent up inside. Not
1312 only her love, but
1313 all of her pain as well. It had no place to go, building up as it
1314 ate away at her. It
1315 finally must have grown too much for her to carry. “But don’t you
1316 think killing
1317 yourself would make her sad? If you’re her best friend, do you
1318 really think she’d
1319 be happy about that?” He locked eyes with Tomoyo, trying to get
1320 through
1321 somehow.
1322 Tomoyo paused for only a moment before replying with another smile,
1323 her head tilted to the side. “I’m here for Sakura-chan for as long
1324 as she needs
1325 me. I will stay by her side for as long as I’m necessary to her. But
1326 now she has
1327 Li-kun. And she’ll probably move back to Hong Kong with him. He’s
1328 going to
1329 be the one that she’ll run to from now on. He’s the one who will be
1330 the most
1331 important person in her life. She doesn’t need me anymore. He’ll be
1332 the support
1333 that I always gave her. And he’ll protect her in ways I never could.
1334 He’ll give
1335 her a child. So I understand that I couldn’t stay important to
1336 Sakura-chan
1337 forever. I knew that she’d leave eventually and that I would just be
1338 a memory.
1339 And that’s okay. Because I want her to be happy. But she doesn’t
1340 need me
1341 anymore.” It did hurt inside. It hurt so badly. She wanted to stay
1342 important to
1343 Sakura forever, to always be by her side. But now that was Li-kun’s
1344 job. She
1345 had vowed to stay by Sakura for as long as Sakura needed her, but
1346 that wouldn’t
1347 be much longer now that Syaoran was back. And so Tomoyo had thought
1348 it best
1349 to fade into the background, letting herself slowly slip from Sakura
1350 so that it
1351 wouldn’t hurt the other girl. Sakura wouldn’t need to miss her
1352 because she’d
1353 only be a memory soon enough. A vague memory. But her heart would
1354 always
1355 hold Sakura very close, always loving her. No matter what. There was
1356 no reason
1357 for her to stay outside of Sakura’s life.
1358 “No, that’s not true! She does need you. Even if she’s in love with
1359 some other boy, that doesn’t mean you aren’t important to her.
1360 You’re her
1361 friend. You’ll still remain important to her whether or not other
1362 things become
1363 important in her life. You can still be happy. You can find someone
1364 else and
1365 stay friends,” Sam argued, wanting something to shake the dark
1366 future that lay
1367 ahead.
1368 Shaking her head almost imperceptibly, Tomoyo stopped. Her long,
1369 dark hair fluttered behind her in the wind. “I don’t want anyone
1370 else. I love
1371 Sakura-chan. And I always will. It doesn’t matter if I’m with her.
1372 Why would
1373 that change my love for her? Why would I want to find someone else?
1374 To
1375 replace her? No, I’m perfectly content to hold her deep in my heart
1376 for eternity.
1377 And I’ll always be her friend. Whether or not I’m here.” She smiled
1378 again at
1379 Sam and continued on before he could answer. “Your brother’s
1380 probably home.
1381 Try to act angry at his taunts, but don’t worry about them. He
1382 really looks out
1383 for you. We’ll get you to your room before he can notice that
1384 anything’s
1385 wrong.” Pulling up Sakura’s backpack, she reached in and grabbed the
1386 key.
1387 Sam sighed as she opened the door and motioned for him to follow.
1388 This leap wasn’t offering him any easy answers. Feeling Tomoyo’s
1389 hand still
1390 holding his own, he let her pull him inside.
1391
1392 “You... You killed her. You killed my precious daughter all because
1393 you were too blind to see her devotion to you. You never saw the
1394 pain in her that
1395 I would always see seeping around the edges whenever I would get
1396 home. Why?
1397 Why did you have to take away my daughter?” Sonomi asked
1398 incredulously.
1399 Sakura sobbed on the bed as her friend’s mother came closer, a look
1400 of pure
1401 torment on her face.
1402 “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Sakura cried in protest.
1403 She
1404 had been so happy to see Sonomi, to see anyone at all that she
1405 actually knew.
1406 But after running to her and hugging her, Sonomi had broken down
1407 into tears,
1408 blaming Sakura for Tomoyo’s death. Sakura was completely taken by
1409 surprise.
1410 Tomoyo was dead? What had happened? What had she done?
1411 “She loved you so much. She was always there for you. Why weren’t
1412 you there when she needed you, Sakura-chan? How could you hurt her so
1413 badly?” Shaking her head, the distraught mother paused for a moment,
1414 trying to
1415 get a grip on herself. She was trying desperately to remember that
1416 this was
1417 Nadeshiko’s daughter as well as Fujitaka’s. It pained her greatly
1418 just to be there
1419 with her. She knew damn well why Tomoyo had killed herself. She knew
1420 how
1421 much her little girl loved Nadeshiko’s daughter. It was almost
1422 impossible to
1423 think clearly. She had thought she would be able to handle seeing
1424 Sakura this
1425 time. At the funeral she had brushed her aside, barely able to stand
1426 the sight of
1427 her even though Sakura had been trying to offer comfort. But now, it
1428 all came
1429 back to her. The phone call after they had found her daughter’s cold
1430 body in the
1431 lake, the letter from Tomoyo telling her not to be sad, the entire
1432 funeral flashing
1433 before her eyes.
1434 “Sonomi-san, please tell me what’s going on,” Sakura begged, wiping
1435 at her eyes. “Tomoyo-chan... She’s not...” The words refused to
1436 leave her
1437 mouth. No, that couldn’t be it. Tomoyo had to be all right. That
1438 couldn’t be why
1439 she was here. But she had never seen anyone in so much pain before.
1440 It was
1441 frightening. Her own heart was on the verge of breaking. If she lost
1442 Tomoyo,
1443 what would she do? Tomoyo was always there for her, always sweetly
1444 supporting whatever she did. She always went to Tomoyo for
1445 everything.
1446 Tomoyo was the sun in her sky, keeping everything in her life lit
1447 brightly. The
1448 brunette couldn’t fathom a world without her brilliantly smiling
1449 face. That
1450 would just be too lonely. Like a world without stars in the sky or a
1451 big, shining
1452 moon. Darkness would encompass her life. She needed Tomoyo.
1453 Somehow managing to grasp a hold of her composure for a moment,
1454 Sonomi glared at Sakura as she stood up to her full height. “Tomoyo-
1455 chan died
1456 two days ago. She drowned in a lake at the park.” Sakura gasped at
1457 Sonomi’s
1458 words, tears spilling down the cheeks of the quantum physicist whose
1459 body she
1460 was inhabiting. Closing her eyes, Sonomi continued. “She killed
1461 herself over
1462 you, Sakura-chan. She couldn’t live without you. And I don’t blame
1463 her. You
1464 meant the world to her. She loved you with all of her heart.” Her
1465 words echoed
1466 in her head as she choked past them. She could almost see Tomoyo’s
1467 sad ghost
1468 shaking her head, pleading with her not to be angry with Sakura.
1469 Sonomi
1470 couldn’t blame Tomoyo for killing herself. But Tomoyo wouldn’t want
1471 her to
1472 blame Sakura either.
1473 “No...” Crying into her hands, Sakura tried desperately to find a way
1474 out of this nightmare. It couldn’t be true. Things were getting
1475 worse and worse
1476 in this horrible dream. First she was stuck all alone in some man’s
1477 body while he
1478 tried to fix something that went badly in her life, then Sonomi came
1479 and got mad
1480 at her and now she found out that her best friend was dead. And that
1481 it was her
1482 fault. Her body shook as she was wracked with sobs. ‘Please let me
1483 wake up
1484 from this! Please...’ she thought weakly to herself, her thoughts to
1485 painful to
1486 continue on rationally. Her only thought was Tomoyo’s smiling face,
1487 glowing
1488 brighter and brighter as she faded until all that was left was a
1489 vague outline. Her
1490 hands dropped to her sides as the brunette woman grabbed her
1491 shoulders,
1492 forcing her to look up.
1493 “Sakura-chan, she would never tell you because she wanted to be
1494 happy, no matter how much I told her she should. Because she thought
1495 you
1496 shouldn’t know. But damn it, I can’t let you keep on ignoring my
1497 daughter
1498 forever. She deserves for you to know, even if you can’t love her
1499 back. Sakura-
1500 chan, she loves you. She still does, my sweet little angel. She’s
1501 probably
1502 watching over you just as surely as Nadeshiko-chan is.” Sonomi’s
1503 gaze was
1504 piercing, the same stormy blue eyes that Tomoyo had inherited from
1505 her looking
1506 deep into Sakura’s soul, unflinching in their determination.
1507 Bursting into sobs at the intense gaze, Sakura’s eyes clenched shut
1508 again. Tomoyo’s voice chorused in her head, hundreds of different
1509 things she
1510 had said tumbling end over end through her mind. She had filed them
1511 all away
1512 as just strange things Tomoyo had said, but now they all began
1513 making sense, as
1514 if Tomoyo was saying them all from right behind her.
1515 “Not only is she fast, but she’s cute, too!”
1516 “I guess you can hear the name of the person you like no matter what
1517 the circumstances.”
1518 “Sakura-chan is so cute and happy now, so I’m happy, too.”
1519 “Of course I would be happy if my special person liked me. But I’ll
1520 be
1521 happy as long as my special person is.”
1522 And most painfully, “I love you, Sakura-chan.”
1523 “I love you, too, Tomoyo-chan,” she had replied with a smile.
1524 “I don’t think my love is the same as Sakura-chan’s,” Tomoyo had
1525 replied, looking at her sweetly as she often did when she would say
1526 such things.
1527 And shortly after Sakura’s confused response, “I’ll explain when
1528 you’re older.”
1529 But Tomoyo never did. Sakura had forgotten all about it and Tomoyo
1530 hadn’t
1531 tried to explain to her, always being kind and loving but never
1532 telling her as the
1533 years went by and she grew closer to Syaoran. And apparently, Tomoyo
1534 never
1535 would have the chance to explain it to her.
1536 “Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura cried quietly, shuddering. They had grown
1537 even closer over the past few years while Syaoran was back in Hong
1538 Kong. The
1539 thought of living without her left her feel freezing cold inside.
1540 Her heart felt like
1541 a wasteland.
1542 The older woman pulled her cousin’s daughter close, unable to watch
1543 her tears anymore. She couldn’t feel angry at Sakura any longer, the
1544 tears
1545 showing her own pain at losing Tomoyo. Sonomi kissed her forehead
1546 gently,
1547 stroking her back as she held her close, the older male body making
1548 the whole
1549 scene seem awkward. “She loved you very much, Sakura-chan. She
1550 always did.”
1551 Right now, she didn’t see Nadeshiko in Sakura. Nor did she see
1552 Fujitaka. She
1553 saw herself, crying over the loss of her beloved Nadeshiko. She saw
1554 that same
1555 pain in Sakura. Her own soul was mirrored in Sakura’s sobs and
1556 tearful eyes.
1557 "Oh, Sakura-chan...”
1558 Dr. Verbeena Beeks sighed and let the door slide closed again. She
1559 had
1560 been about to enter to put a stop to the whole fiasco, but it looked
1561 like she
1562 wasn’t needed after all.
1563
1564 Sam sighed as he sat down on his host’s bed. Glancing around the
1565 room, her noticed that it looked nice and fairly organized, a
1566 television in the
1567 corner with a gaming system that a little yellow stuffed bear was
1568 placed in front
1569 of and other stuffed animals placed around the room. There was
1570 another stuffed
1571 bear on the bed as well as a little doll that looked a little like
1572 Sakura in a
1573 costume. Overall, it was a very nice, cute room. Not much like
1574 Sam’s, if he
1575 could remember it at all.
1576 Sitting elegantly next to him, Tomoyo smoothed down her skirt and
1577 smiled softly. “You did pretty well with Touya-san. I don’t think he
1578 noticed that
1579 too much was different about you. But you should probably stay away
1580 from him.
1581 He can be very perceptive about things, especially concerning people
1582 around his
1583 sister,” she suggested helpfully.
1584 Kero ignored the two girls talking behind him. He had more important
1585 things to think about, like finally beating the game he was
1586 currently playing. He
1587 hadn’t saved a single time yet and he was already so very near the
1588 end. “Jump!!
1589 C’mon!!”
1590 Staring at the little bear over by the gaming console, Sam began
1591 crawling across the bed. He felt a hand readjust the skirt as it had
1592 gotten
1593 bunched up. Blushing a bit, the leaper shrugged it off and
1594 concentrated on the
1595 stuffed animal. “It just talked, didn’t it?” He sincerely hoped he
1596 wasn’t going
1597 insane. After so many leaps, he would not be at all surprised if he
1598 was. But that
1599 was the last thing he needed.
1600 “That’s Kero-chan. He’s the Seal Beast for Sakura-chan’s Sakura
1601 Cards. She’s the world’s best magical girl,” Tomoyo explained
1602 cheerfully,
1603 smiling.
1604 “She’s the only magical girl you know,” Kero pointed out, only
1605 paying
1606 half attention to her. “But yeah, Sakura-chan’s the best.”
1607 “That’s amazing...” Sam breathed in wonder. In all his years of
1608 leaping,
1609 all of the technological wonders he had worked on, this was like
1610 nothing he had
1611 seen before. Walking over to the stuffed animal, Sam knelt down,
1612 watching it
1613 play the video game. He poked lightly at the small wings on its
1614 back. They
1615 fluttered in irritation at the touch.
1616 “Sakura-chan, I’m a little busy right now. I just have to...
1617 Almost!!
1618 C’mon!! Just wait till I show you my hurricane special move, the
1619 Kero-chan
1620 Special!!” Kero yelled enthusiastically.
1621 Shaking his head, Sam sat back and laughed. “I can’t believe it.
1622 It’s
1623 real. I mean, it actually talks.” He shook his head, laughing again.
1624 Sam Beckett,
1625 for all of his knowledge, had always been driven by his childlike
1626 curiosity. It
1627 had always pushed him forward. And he was delighted to see the
1628 magical being
1629 in front of him, entirely absorbed in a video game.
1630 Giggling softly, Tomoyo watched the person that looked like Sakura.
1631 “Hai, he has a lot to say.” She looked thoughtful for a moment,
1632 tilting her head
1633 to the side. “So if you don’t know that she’s a magical girl, how
1634 much do you
1635 know about Sakura-chan?”
1636 “Not an awful lot, I’m afraid.” Sam sighed, finally turning back to
1637 the
1638 pale girl. “Not enough to know what I’m here to fix yet.” Averting
1639 his gaze, his
1640 mind questioned his answer.
1641 “But you have an idea,” Tomoyo supplied, watching his reaction. “You
1642 need to help Sakura-chan. I’ll do whatever I can to help you. I just
1643 want her to
1644 be happy.” Her eyes closed and a weak sigh escaped her suddenly
1645 fragile
1646 looking form. The day had taken quite a bit of her strength. She
1647 just wanted to
1648 see Sakura again.
1649 “But what about you? Why can’t you be happy, too?” Sam shot back,
1650 regretting it as the words left his mouth. But he still couldn’t
1651 understand how
1652 that one person could mean so much to her that she would end her
1653 life. Not the
1654 way Al seemed to, at least. She was such a sweet, innocent girl. He
1655 couldn’t let
1656 that fate befall her. There had to be a way for him to stop it.
1657 Tomoyo smiled softly and brushed back some of her lavender hair from
1658 her eyes. “But I am happy. I’m happy knowing that Sakura-chan will
1659 be happy
1660 with the one she loves.” Before Sam could argue, she continued.
1661 “That doesn’t
1662 mean that I don’t hurt as well. I love her so much. I would do
1663 anything for
1664 Sakura-chan. To be in her arms, I would certainly have to be in
1665 Heaven with its
1666 most beautiful angel, Sakura-chan. But I can’t have that. And I
1667 understand. So I
1668 will do whatever I can to make Sakura-chan happy. That means much
1669 more to
1670 me than my own happiness.”
1671 Sam shook his head in confusion. “But how can you do that when it
1672 hurts you so much? When you can’t survive the outcome? It doesn’t
1673 make sense.
1674 Don’t do this to yourself! You can stop it all from happening. You
1675 can still be
1676 happy without her.”
1677 Her smile faded slightly but it remained on the pale girl as she
1678 closed
1679 her eyes, clasping her hands together. “It’s like I have fallen in
1680 love with the
1681 stars in the sky. They shine down in our lives, twinkling happily
1682 and giving us
1683 glimmers of dreams. But you can never reach them. Just as I have
1684 fallen in love
1685 with Sakura-chan. Even if I can’t quite reach her the way I would
1686 like to, she
1687 shines on me and makes me feel so blessed just to have known her. To
1688 repay her
1689 for all of the wonderful dreams and happiness she has granted me
1690 through my
1691 years with her, I will repay her as best I can, by making her happy.
1692 And if I can’t
1693 be the one to make her happy, then I’ll be glad that Li-kun can.
1694 Even if I don’t
1695 want to stay here without her, I’m eternally grateful to her for
1696 being in my life
1697 for as along as she was. And I will not burden her by staying in
1698 hers. But I will
1699 watch over her happily when I’m gone, the knowledge that she is
1700 happy filling
1701 my heart.”
1702 Blinking in surprise, Sam looked away. He was speechless. He really
1703 didn’t know how to respond to Tomoyo. She was so convincing, even if
1704 he
1705 believed that she was wrong.
1706 “Sam!!” Al yelled out as soon as he stepped out of the Imaging
1707 Chamber door. “Ziggy’s got something! You’ve gotta get down to
1708 Syaoran’s
1709 house now!”
1710 Standing up quickly, Sam ignored the fluttering skirt around him and
1711 nodded. “Where is it, Al? What’s going on?”
1712 “Just get outside! I’ll show you from there. And I’ll explain along
1713 the
1714 way.” With a few buttons on the handlink, I’ll repositioned himself
1715 outside.
1716 “I need to get to Syaoran’s house,” Sam said hastily, heading out
1717 the
1718 door.
1719 “Sakura-chan, matte! I’ll show you where it is.” Taking Sam’s hand,
1720 Tomoyo hurried with him down the stairs, leaving an oblivious Kero
1721 to the last
1722 level of his game. She watched the person inhabiting her beloved
1723 Sakura
1724 carefully, wondering what the invisible friend could have said to
1725 get his
1726 attention this way.
1727 “Where are you headed off to so quickly, monster?” Touya asked
1728 conversationally from the kitchen.
1729 “We’ve got to go study!” came Sam’s response as the rushed out the
1730 door.
1731 Touya watched after the two girl’s curiously, sipping his tea. His
1732 attention turned to the white haired boy sitting next to him at the
1733 table. “Since
1734 when did Sakura ever hurry to go study?”
1735 Yukito smiled pleasantly, his glasses shimmering in the afternoon
1736 light
1737 filtering in through the window. “Maybe it’s not the studying, but
1738 being able to
1739 study with Tomoyo-chan. Studying seems to be the last thing on your
1740 mind
1741 when we study,” the snow bunny commented thoughtfully, earning him a
1742 dirty
1743 look from Touya. He just grinned even further.
1744
1745 “So what’s going on, Al? What did Ziggy find out?” Sam asked
1746 impatiently as Tomoyo led the way to Syaoran’s house while the
1747 holographic
1748 observer followed along. It had been decided that she should lead,
1749 knowing the
1750 area much better than Al, even with the maps displayed on the
1751 handlink.
1752 “It took forever to find, but she finally found some records that
1753 were of
1754 some interest. Okay, okay. She wants me to say what a supreme effort
1755 it took on
1756 her part to obtain the information. Alright!” Al grimaced at the
1757 handlink and
1758 pounded on the side. “And that she found it right in time because
1759 this window of
1760 opportunity is rapidly shrinking. Egomaniacal hunk of...” he
1761 muttered under his
1762 breath. Looking back up, Al continued on. “Syaoran’s getting a visit
1763 right now
1764 from someone important to all of this. His fiancee, a girl named
1765 Meiling. After
1766 finding out he went back to Japan to be with you, she booked a
1767 flight and
1768 headed out to try to convince him otherwise. They get into a huge
1769 argument and
1770 she leaves, apparently broken up by the whole thing. Seems she
1771 really had it big
1772 for your boyfriend.”
1773 “Can you please quit calling him my boyfriend?” Sam asked
1774 exasperatedly. Shaking his head, he looked back at Al. He was glad
1775 for Sakura’s
1776 athletic body during the long walk, but Tomoyo seemed to be
1777 breathing with
1778 difficulty. He hoped they would get there soon. “All right, so what
1779 happens with
1780 Meiling?”
1781 “Well, she doesn’t kill herself, but she doesn’t seem to take it
1782 much
1783 better than Tomoyo other than that. Ziggy says there’s a 73%
1784 probability that
1785 you’re here to make sure that she gets with Syaoran and that he
1786 doesn’t ruin
1787 things with her. She says that things probably won’t work out with
1788 you and him
1789 and that the relationship will eventually fall apart, but by then
1790 it’ll be too
1791 shattered to pick up any of the pieces for anyone involved.”
1792 Motioning towards
1793 Tomoyo with the handlink, he sighed. “Especially for her.”
1794 Sam stopped dead in his tracks, nearly dragging the dark haired
1795 girl off
1796 of her feet at the sudden stop. “Only 73%? Al, can’t you give me
1797 something a
1798 little better than that? I can’t ruin Sakura’s relationship with him
1799 over that. What
1800 if they can work things out? What if they’re meant to have kids? How
1801 can I do
1802 that, Al?” A sigh escaped his lips. This leap was really starting to
1803 wear him
1804 down.
1805 “It’s all right, Fake Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo said with a warm smile
1806 and
1807 a gentle squeeze of Sam’s hand. “If you worry like that, then you
1808 won’t be able
1809 to help Sakura-chan out when she needs it. I trust you to fix things
1810 for her.
1811 Please believe in yourself. Whatever you decide.” Her eyes took on a
1812 pleading
1813 look. “Please make sure that Sakura-chan can be happy.”
1814 “I promise that I’ll try my hardest to make sure she can be,” Sam
1815 promised, smiling a little in return. Turning his attention back to
1816 Al, his eyes
1817 narrowed. “Even if the odds are only 73%.”
1818 Sighing, Al shook his head as a loud trill came from the handlink.
1819 “Ziggy’s not too pleased with your attitude about this, Sam. She had
1820 to hack into
1821 a whole lot of systems to get the information that she did. And
1822 besides, why do
1823 you always have to be this way about the odds? I give you bad odds
1824 and you beg
1825 for better ones. I give you good odds and you’ll say that’s not why
1826 you’ve leapt
1827 in and do something boneheaded on your gut instinct.”
1828 Sam frowned and looked away. “But most of the time I’m right when
1829 it’s my instinct,” he argued. Closing his eyes, he sighed. “But we
1830 don’t have
1831 time for that. Especially if we don’t have much time left. Besides,
1832 this sounds
1833 like it could hurt a lot of people in the end.”
1834 A door flew open near them and a black haired girl stepped out,
1835 tears in
1836 her eyes and fists clenched. “And if that’s what you want, Syaoran,
1837 then you can
1838 go ahead and have it!! I’m going back to Hong Kong, you selfish
1839 asshole!! I
1840 hope I never see you again!”
1841 Sam winced as he watched her gaze icily at him. Of course, he was
1842 the
1843 reason she was angry. Syaoran stumbled out the door after her,
1844 holding his
1845 stomach as if he had been punched there. Which, surprisingly, he had
1846 been.
1847 Meiling seemed to be a very... fiery woman. Not someone he wanted
1848 mad at
1849 him. He nearly backpedaled as he approached.
1850 “Sam... Don’t get into a catfight with her, okay? I know you know
1851 some martial arts, but trust me, you don’t know anything compared to
1852 her,” Al
1853 warned from Sam’s side, punching up information on the handlink.
1854 “Ziggy says
1855 not to piss her off. Oh, thanks, Queen Ziggy. That’s something he
1856 couldn’t have
1857 figured out for himself.”
1858 “Sakura-chan..?” Syaoran asked in surprise, standing up straight
1859 when
1860 he saw Sam. He looked at her in confusion before looking back to the
1861 still angry
1862 Meiling.
1863 “I’m going home. I hope you two are happy with each other!” Meiling
1864 turned, wiping at her eyes as she began to walk away from the house.
1865 Syaoran
1866 stood on the sidewalk, frozen with indecision. He shouldn’t go to
1867 stop Meiling
1868 with Sakura here. He had made his decision and he would have to
1869 stand by it. So
1870 he would have to let Meiling leave, possibly never to speak with her
1871 again. But
1872 there was nothing else he could do. He never had been good at
1873 expressing his
1874 emotions and this situation was no different. If anything, it just
1875 made it more
1876 difficult. But he didn’t want to see Meiling leave like this.
1877 “Wait, Meiling!” Sam grabbed her arm, trying to stall her. She
1878 easily
1879 pulled from his grasp, turning on an agile foot and glaring directly
1880 at the
1881 displaced time traveler.
1882 “What the hell do you want, Sakura? You already have Syaoran. Leave
1883 me alone. I’m leaving.” The rest of what she said was in Chinese and
1884 didn’t
1885 make any sense to Sam. She was obviously very upset, masking her
1886 pain with
1887 sheer, seething anger. She was not going to be easy to deal with at
1888 all. Her
1889 beloved had just fled to Japan to be with another woman, leaving her
1890 all alone.
1891 And arguing with him had just made things worse, painful words
1892 flying both
1893 ways as it raged on. Right now she wanted to be on an airplane back
1894 home
1895 where she could forget about sorcerer’s that didn’t keep their
1896 promises to wed
1897 and magical girls that weave spells and steal fiancees.
1898 “Please, don’t go, Meiling. You’ll regret it if you leave today. I
1899 promise. We have to talk about things,” Sam urged softly, hoping
1900 that he could
1901 contain the situation. If Meiling wanted to leave, there was
1902 absolutely no way he
1903 could stop her. And that was possibly his only chance to fix things.
1904 “Please?”
1905 “I already regret coming here. What’s another regret?” Meiling shot
1906 back angrily, her eyes still bloodshot from her tears. But she
1907 seemed to at least
1908 consider it, making no move to leave. Her eyes darted back towards
1909 Syaoran
1910 who refused to look at her. He had no idea why Sakura was doing
1911 this, but it
1912 was only making things harder. He had done this for her. Why was she
1913 making
1914 it more difficult than it had to be? Meiling looked away again, her
1915 heart torn in
1916 two at the sight of the boy she loved waiting to be with the
1917 Japanese girl.
1918 Sam took a deep breath, looking from face to face to face. Did
1919 Sakura
1920 know how many lives she could affect? All of these people could be
1921 hurt terribly
1922 by an innocent sin that Sakura had no idea to prevent. Sam only
1923 hoped he still
1924 had time. Tomoyo would die at her own hands out of grief, Meiling
1925 would be
1926 broken over the loss of her fiancee, and Syaoran and Sakura would
1927 probably get
1928 hurt by the personal loss of the two girls, even if Meiling didn’t
1929 leave in the
1930 same way. Now how did he fix all that? He glanced to Al, hoping for
1931 some idea.
1932 The Observer had to know some way to resolve this, right? Otherwise
1933 he
1934 wouldn’t be able to do anything. But how could he break up Sakura and
1935 Syaoran? It hardly seemed fair to do that to them. The sound of the
1936 Imaging
1937 Chamber door whooshing open shook him from his thoughts. He stared
1938 in shock
1939 as he saw himself standing next to Al wearing the all white fermi
1940 suit that was
1941 used for multiple purposes at Project Quantum Leap. He hadn’t seen
1942 himself in
1943 so long. But what was he doing there?
1944 “Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura whispered softly as she looked at the dark
1945 haired girl standing next to her body. It took all she had to keep
1946 from bursting
1947 into tears after what Sonomi had told her earlier. She sniffled
1948 slightly but smiled
1949 at the brown haired boy standing a bit away from her. None of them
1950 could see
1951 her, which was a bit eerie. “Thank you, Syaoran-kun. You were right.
1952 I
1953 shouldn’t cry. It won’t fix anything. Thank you for teaching me
1954 that. I need to
1955 solve my problems.”
1956 “Sakura?” Sam asked in shock. What was she doing here? Why was Al
1957 parading people through the Imaging Chamber? If they were all going
1958 to see
1959 Tomoyo before she died, couldn’t the watch from Ziggy’s monitors?
1960 Sakura bowed to Sam, a little awkward in his taller body. “Gomen
1961 nasai. Thank you for trying to fix my life. But I need to fix my own
1962 problems.
1963 It’s not right to have you fix them all for me. Then I won’t have
1964 learned
1965 anything. If you run away from your problems, you will regret them
1966 for years
1967 afterwards. I learned that from Sonomi-san.”
1968 “I... uhhh... sure..” Sam nodded, still a little confused about the
1969 whole
1970 situation. He hoped this leap would start making sense soon.
1971 “Sakura-chan, are you okay?” Syaoran asked, his eyes narrowing as he
1972 looked around for who Sakura was talking to. “Who is it?”
1973 Sam shook his head quickly, brushing back some reddish brown hair
1974 that got in his eyes. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. I’m just
1975 trying to think
1976 about what to say.” He glanced back to Sakura, hoping that she had
1977 some idea
1978 about how to resolve this whole thing.
1979 Sakura’s hands went to her chest, her eyes closing. She sighed
1980 deeply,
1981 trying to concentrate. This would be difficult to do, but she knew
1982 she had to.
1983 Opening her eyes, determination flared through them. She smiled
1984 sadly at
1985 Syaoran, stepping up to him even if he couldn’t see her. “Syaoran-
1986 kun, thank
1987 you so much for coming back to see me. I missed you so much. You
1988 were such a
1989 great help with the Cards and with all of the dangers that I faced.
1990 I couldn’t have
1991 asked for a better rival. I’m glad that we stopped that and that we
1992 got to grow
1993 closer. You’re really sweet when you let it show through. I’m glad I
1994 got to see
1995 you again. But I’m afraid that I can’t say I feel the same way I
1996 used to. Or that I
1997 ever did. I never really got to decide for myself who I was in love
1998 with.
1999 Everyone seemed to think it was you. Tomoyo-chan, Yukito-san, Eriol-
2000 kun, they
2001 all seemed to lead me to you. So when you told me how you felt, I
2002 felt like they
2003 already had told me. So I thought I had to return your feelings. But
2004 they didn’t
2005 know my heart. Neither did I, back then. I’m so sorry. I think you
2006 belong with
2007 Meiling-chan. She really does love you very much and she’s so open
2008 about it. I
2009 think you’d be sad if you never see her again or if she’s mad at you
2010 about this. I
2011 hope things work out. Hoe... I’m so sorry about all this. But I’m
2012 really happy I
2013 got to meet you. And that we had all of the adventures that we did.
2014 You’ll
2015 always be an important friend to me, Syaoran-kun.” She tried to hug
2016 him,
2017 smiling weakly, but she nearly fell through him. Sighing, she
2018 stepped back,
2019 watching the sad look on his face as Sam repeated what she had said
2020 to him. He
2021 didn’t want to understand. He didn’t want it to be true. Her heart
2022 went out to
2023 him, but she knew that she had to continue.
2024 “What?” Meiling asked in shock. Why would Sakura give up Syaoran
2025 all of the sudden? She never would in Sakura’s position. A slow
2026 smile crept
2027 along her lips. Who cared if Sakura had suddenly gone insane? This
2028 meant
2029 Syaoran would be all hers after all. It had been worth coming to
2030 Japan again.
2031 “Poor Syaoran,” she said, mock pouting as she took the still shocked
2032 boy’s arm.
2033 “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you.” She smiled sweetly and
2034 rested her
2035 head on his shoulder, delighting at the way it felt to be next to
2036 him again. Yes,
2037 she’d make sure that Syaoran never did anything that stupid again.
2038 Or else.
2039 Still in Sam’s body, Sakura blushed a bit, wringing her hands as she
2040 looked at Tomoyo. While in the Waiting Room, Sakura had had quite a
2041 bit of
2042 time to think. And Sonomi’s explanations had given her a chance to
2043 realize a
2044 horrible mistake that she would have made. She only hoped that she
2045 was in time
2046 to fix it. “Tomoyo-chan, I finally understand what you meant. I.. I
2047 love you, too,
2048 Tomoyo-chan. I need you. More than you could ever know. Tomoyo-chan,
2049 you
2050 make me feel so warm and happy inside. So hanyaa. Whenever I feel
2051 bad,
2052 you’re right there to help me back up again. When I’m happy, you’re
2053 there with
2054 me recording it all and watching me. And that makes me even happier,
2055 that you
2056 can be there to share it with me. Tomoyo-chan, you don’t have to
2057 just watch
2058 your special person be happy. Because I don’t think I could be happy
2059 without
2060 you. I... I want to make you happy, too.” Clasping her hands
2061 together, Sakura
2062 looked down at her friend, watching her intently. Finding out how
2063 Tomoyo felt
2064 about her hadn’t surprised her as much as she would have thought it
2065 should
2066 have. But it just made sense now that she looked back on all that
2067 Tomoyo had
2068 said and done for her. It didn’t take long to realize that her own
2069 feelings had
2070 begun to flow along with Tomoyo’s long ago. She had begged them to
2071 let her
2072 see Tomoyo when she had finally found the love hiding in her own
2073 heart.
2074 Tomoyo listened in disbelief to her friend’s sweet voice. That
2075 couldn’t
2076 be right. Could it just be the person who was in Sakura saying that?
2077 The
2078 mannerisms showed that it was still the fake Sakura, but those words
2079 were the
2080 Cardmistress’s. So that meant Sakura was here. Saying this to her.
2081 Her cheeks
2082 brightened as she looked around for her best friend. In desperation,
2083 she grabbed
2084 onto the person impersonating Sakura, holding on tightly to the body
2085 of her best
2086 friend. “Sakura-chan...!” Her stormy blue eyes closed tightly, her
2087 heart pouring
2088 out to Sakura, wherever she was. Sakura had been gone all day and
2089 this was the
2090 first time she had the chance to be near her, to know that she was
2091 there. The real
2092 her. It left the pale girl feeling weak inside, especially at
2093 Sakura’s words. She
2094 would have just been happy to know that the magical girl was back.
2095 This set her
2096 soul afire, almost too much for her weary body to handle. A dam had
2097 broken in
2098 her heart, letting all of the love she kept pent up inside for
2099 Sakura flow out,
2100 nearly drowning her in its strength. Everything disappeared in the
2101 storm, Sakura
2102 the calm at its center. “I know you’re there, Sakura-chan. I love
2103 you, too. I
2104 always have, Sakura-chan.”
2105 Blushing at Tomoyo’s declaration of love, Sakura let her eyes fall
2106 closed as she stood in the same spot as Sam. Wanting so much to be
2107 there, to
2108 feel the small dark haired girl, Sakura’s arms went around the
2109 hologram of
2110 Tomoyo in the Imaging Chamber.
2111 Sighing, Syaoran shook his head. He couldn’t believe any of this. He
2112 certainly hadn’t been expecting it. He never should have come back to
2113 Tomoeda. Not if this was going to happen. But he should have known
2114 that
2115 Sakura didn’t feel that way about him anymore. Especially with how
2116 strange she
2117 had been acting all day. He suddenly regretted what he had said to
2118 Meiling just a
2119 short time earlier. He opened his mouth, trying to apologize, but
2120 she shook her
2121 head. Leaning forward, she kissed him softly, the rest of his
2122 conscious thought
2123 melting away as he stared at the floor, too embarrassed to utter a
2124 word. Meiling
2125 giggled in triumph.
2126 Al motioned over towards the two members of the Li Clan with a
2127 flourish of his cigar. “Looks like things just might work out after
2128 all. Ziggy’s
2129 finally breathing a sigh of relief.”
2130 Shooting the Observer a skeptical look, Sam motioned his head
2131 towards Tomoyo. He was still a bit concerned about this whole leap.
2132 It had
2133 definitely been bizarre all the way around. “But what about...?”
2134 “I wouldn’t worry about that, Sam. Something tells me she’ll live
2135 for a
2136 good long time now that she’s got a reason to.” Grinning, the
2137 observer made
2138 room for Sonomi, ignoring the trill of the handlink.
2139 “I’ll see you soon, my baby girl,” Sonomi whispered softly, her
2140 fingers
2141 fading through Tomoyo’s holographic hair. She smiled softly, finally
2142 feeling at
2143 ease for the first time since the funeral. Soon enough this would be
2144 all over and
2145 the funeral would never have happened now that Tomoyo wouldn’t wind
2146 up in
2147 that position in the first place. Though there was no breeze in the
2148 Imaging
2149 Chamber, she could almost feel it just by watching Tomoyo’s dark
2150 gray hair
2151 flutter near her fingertips. A lighter gray caught her eye nearby. A
2152 faint image, a
2153 smiling angel looked back at her. Unseen to the group just as surely
2154 as the
2155 holograms were, the woman watched over the two young girls. So much
2156 like
2157 herself and someone else at that age. “Nadeshiko-chan...”
2158 Smiling softly, Sam returned the hug to the overjoyed heiress. He
2159 knew
2160 he’d be gone soon enough, but he had the feeling that Al was right,
2161 that things
2162 would work out. He was glad he had come, even if it was only for a
2163 short time.
2164 “Good luck, Tomoyo.” For just a moment, after setting things right
2165 that had
2166 once gone wrong, Doctor Sam Beckett felt at peace. For just one
2167 moment, his
2168 journey didn’t seem so incredibly long. Home didn’t seem quite so
2169 far away.
2170 With that, he leapt.
2171 With a tingle that Sakura couldn’t quite tell if it was caused by
2172 magic
2173 or by the feeling of being in Tomoyo’s arms, the Cardmistress was
2174 back. She
2175 couldn’t really remember from where, but she felt relieved to know
2176 that she was
2177 home again. With a furious blush, she could remember telling Sakura
2178 the
2179 feelings that rose up inside her heart. She clutched onto the pale
2180 girl tightly,
2181 feeling Tomoyo buried against her, her fingers lightly stroking
2182 Sakura’s back.
2183 Tomoyo almost stumbled back but quickly regained her balance,
2184 whispering
2185 Sakura’s name over and over in her ear. Tomoyo’s gentle touch
2186 quickly forced
2187 away the disorientation that had lingered in the brunette’s mind.
2188 All that
2189 mattered was that she was with Tomoyo once more. And for once, the
2190 warm
2191 feelings in her heart made sense to their owner. It tossed her like
2192 a balloon,
2193 turning her around and around until she didn’t know where she was.
2194 But it
2195 didn’t matter. Now she wouldn’t ever be lost again. She wasn’t fully
2196 aware of
2197 when she had come to the realization that Tomoyo had captured her
2198 heart, but
2199 she knew Tomoyo had as surely as Sakura had captured any cards.
2200 Tomoyo had
2201 bound her heart to her long ago. “I love you, too,” she whispered in
2202 response to
2203 Tomoyo sweet voice in her ear.
2204 It was her again. Tomoyo knew it. She was enveloped in Sakura. Her
2205 warm touch, her soft hair, her wonderful scent. It wrapped Tomoyo up
2206 in
2207 ribbons of sheer joy. She never wanted to be free of the ribbons
2208 that wound
2209 themselves tightly around her heart and soul. The pain, the cracks
2210 in her soul
2211 began to heal from Sakura’s presence, soothing her battered spirit
2212 and warming
2213 the icy chill that had threatened to consume her heart. Her pain
2214 meant nothing in
2215 the face of Sakura’s love. It was as if it had never been there at
2216 all. Sakura’s
2217 hands slowly began running through Tomoyo’s hair, smoothing away all
2218 of
2219 Tomoyo’s worries at the same time. “Sakura-chan... I knew that you
2220 would
2221 rescue me,” she whispered softly. Stormy blue eyes opened to meet
2222 emerald
2223 orbs gazing back into them. The dark haired girl smiled contentedly,
2224 her heart
2225 almost overflowing with the outpouring of her love and the influx of
2226 Sakura’s.
2227 She had been the princess locked up in the castle, cursed to an
2228 eternal night. And
2229 like she had always hoped, Sakura had pulled her out into the
2230 sunshine. Leaning
2231 closer, Tomoyo marveled at the even deeper blush that colored
2232 Sakura’s face as
2233 Sakura realized what she intended. Sakura met her softly, their lips
2234 pressing
2235 together. The two girls held each other as if afraid the other would
2236 slip away.
2237 Tomoyo was surprised at the vigor with which Sakura returned the
2238 kiss,
2239 shattering the cage that had held Tomoyo completely and setting her
2240 adrift in
2241 Sakura’s arms. Kissing back as passionately as she could, the dark
2242 haired girl’s
2243 arms went around Sakura’s shoulders, pulling her closer. “Sakura-
2244 chan is a very
2245 good kisser,” Tomoyo said breathlessly as their lips finally parted.
2246 “Tomoyo-chan, was that your tongue?” Sakura asked quietly, her
2247 cheeks flushing scarlet. “Hoe...” Resting her head on Tomoyo’s
2248 shoulder, she
2249 felt Tomoyo’s gentle embrace as her musical giggle filled Sakura’s
2250 mind.
2251 Whatever had happened, she was glad for it. She had to have a
2252 guardian angel.
2253
2254 Sam found himself kneeling in a church in prayer when he finally
2255 came
2256 to his senses. That didn’t seem too awkward. He had been a priest
2257 before during
2258 another leap, after all. But he didn’t seem to be a priest this
2259 time. The long white
2260 dress seemed to indicate that he was a nun instead. Another girl
2261 stood in front of
2262 him, her mousey brown hair done up in a high pony tail with a black
2263 bow. She
2264 wore what looked like a black magician’s outfit with a pink skirt
2265 and held a top
2266 hat in one hand. “Seira-chan? You don’t look so well.”
2267 “Oh boy...”
2268
2269
2270