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     1.2 +++ b/old/stories/Changecard.txt	Fri Feb 19 20:53:12 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,2260 @@
     1.4 +Author’s Notes: Hello, everyone! ^-^ This is a story I’ve wanted to
     1.5 +do for a while, and it actually focuses on Meiling & Syaoran. ^-^
     1.6 +They really do make a good couple. ^,^ If Meiling had gotten Syaoran
     1.7 +and Tomoyo had gotten Sakura, everyone would have been happy. Anyway,
     1.8 +this story has some.. strange themes. ^-^;; Please read responsibly.
     1.9 +^^ This story played hell with what nouns I should use when and
    1.10 +where, so if it looks a little sloppy, I apologize in advance. ^-^;;;
    1.11 +If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me your
    1.12 +thoughts. I always love to know what people think. ^-^ Please enjoy!
    1.13 +
    1.14 +
    1.15 +The Shape of Things
    1.16 +By Amazoness Duo
    1.17 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
    1.18 +
    1.19 +
    1.20 +	Transcendental silence held the world steadfastly in its grip, only
    1.21 +a distant bird daring to interrupt the world’s peaceful slumber. The
    1.22 +spring day was warm and lazy, as if it were trying to lull the
    1.23 +students inside the large school building to a gentle nap. Even the
    1.24 +wind didn’t feel like disturbing the peace and quiet. Flowers grew
    1.25 +and trees stretched out in this quiet interim, in this silent
    1.26 +purgatory that held the world in a sleepy stasis. 
    1.27 +	A shrill bell broke all the former pristine silence as students
    1.28 +burst out of the school doors like water bursting from a dam. Gossip
    1.29 +and teasing quickly took the place of the lone bird in the distance.
    1.30 +Students hurried this way and that as everyone met up with friends or
    1.31 +went to their after-school clubs or just went home. The lazy spring
    1.32 +day had lost its power over them with the ringing of the final bell.
    1.33 +Boys and girls hurried about their business, none of which was more
    1.34 +important than simply escaping the tomblike confines of the classroom
    1.35 +they had been suffocating in. 
    1.36 +	Out of this sea of chaos and confusion, walked a pretty, short
    1.37 +haired brunette. There wasn’t anything particularly surprising about
    1.38 +her. Not at first sight, at any rate. She could be any girl that went
    1.39 +to that school, though if you asked anyone, they would have to tell
    1.40 +you that there was something different about the girl. What exactly,
    1.41 +they couldn’t quite say. Except for one girl in specific. She could
    1.42 +answer any question imaginable about the brunette. And what made the
    1.43 +auburn haired girl stand out at the moment was that her arms were
    1.44 +entwined around one of the arms of a very pretty lavender haired
    1.45 +girl. This lavender haired girl was the one that could, indeed, read
    1.46 +the brunette like a well-written novel. 
    1.47 +	Talking about the day, Sakura and Tomoyo made their way through the
    1.48 +moving throng of students, not seeming to notice the crowd
    1.49 +encompassing them. Stormy blue eyes sparkled in heartfelt joy as they
    1.50 +gazed lovingly into genki emerald gems. Those eyes didn’t see the
    1.51 +flurry of students around them, only seeing the energetic young woman
    1.52 +by her side. And that made the hectic evening all the more enjoyable.
    1.53 +Her free hand went to her cheek as she let out a soft sigh. Sakura’s
    1.54 +cute voice played through her mind like beautiful music. As if
    1.55 +sitting next to the auburn haired girl in class all day wasn’t
    1.56 +enough, this little touch of heaven certainly made her day. The two
    1.57 +continued along, completely oblivious to anyone around them.
    1.58 +	“So I was thinking about trying out for the soccer team, but I’m
    1.59 +still not sure. It’s been so busy lately that I really don’t know if
    1.60 +I could fit it in. Especially with onii-chan gone. Dad and I had to
    1.61 +split the chores, so I haven’t had as much time after school,” Sakura
    1.62 +continued, still holding onto Tomoyo’s arm. The pale girl leaned
    1.63 +against her, bringing a smile to Sakura’s lips. Of course, Tomoyo
    1.64 +would know that she hadn’t had as much time since her brother had
    1.65 +moved out with Yukito. Tomoyo was there most of the time anyway,
    1.66 +keeping her company as she did her chores or cooked dinner. And
    1.67 +Tomoyo was even helping her with her cooking. It had obviously been
    1.68 +an improvement from some of her father’s compliments about her recent
    1.69 +dinners. She had Tomoyo to thank for that. So Tomoyo definitely knew
    1.70 +about her lack of time after school. But it didn’t seem like such a
    1.71 +bad thing. The pale girl was over more often than not and with Touya
    1.72 +gone it meant that she could enjoy their time together in peace
    1.73 +without the teasing he had given her upon finding out that she was
    1.74 +dating Tomoyo. 
    1.75 +	“That would be so cute! I’m sure Sakura-chan would be their star
    1.76 +player. And I could go to all of your games and videotape you
    1.77 +playing. And then you could watch them to see how you played and to
    1.78 +get better,” Tomoyo replied, smiling sweetly at her Cardmistress.
    1.79 +Though she knew full well that she would most likely be the one
    1.80 +watching the videos, whether or not they could help Sakura’s game.
    1.81 +Sighing dreamily, she tilted her head to the side, her long,
    1.82 +currently braided hair spilling over their entwined arms. “I can see
    1.83 +it now; Sakura-chan bolting across the field like a streak of light,
    1.84 +looking stylish yet sporty in her team uniform. The crowd cheers as
    1.85 +Sakura-chan gets the ball, every single detail captured forever in
    1.86 +film by her loving koibito while her devoted fans pass out in ecstasy.”
    1.87 +	Her face a bright shade of cherry red, Sakura stared at Tomoyo
    1.88 +before she began to sweatdrop. She had the distinct feeling as of
    1.89 +late that Tomoyo had been trying harder to embarrass her. It had been
    1.90 +easy for the dark haired girl to embarrass her as a child, but now
    1.91 +that they had been dating, Sakura had grown used to some of the
    1.92 +things Tomoyo said and what she meant by them. So lately she was
    1.93 +certain that her pale girlfriend had been going further to bring a
    1.94 +blush to her cheeks. “Tomoyo-chan...” she got out, a hand behind her
    1.95 +head as she laughed weakly. "I don’t really think it would be like
    1.96 +that.”
    1.97 +	Giggling softly, Tomoyo led the way to the waiting limousine. Her
    1.98 +bodyguards held the doors open for the pair as they approached. She
    1.99 +would have preferred to walk, simply to spend the warm day by
   1.100 +Sakura’s side, but her house was a bit far for that. With Sakura’s
   1.101 +father out for another convention and no Touya to take care of his
   1.102 +only daughter, Tomoyo’s mother had been eager to have Sakura over.
   1.103 +The Daidouji women were both equally thrilled to have Sakura spending
   1.104 +the next few days. Sonomi had made sure that she could get off early
   1.105 +that night to spend some time with her daughter and the child of her
   1.106 +deceased love. She and Tomoyo would be making dinner for the three of
   1.107 +them. Tomoyo was happy to see her mother enjoying Sakura’s presence
   1.108 +nearly as much as she did, but it was nice to know that they would
   1.109 +have some time alone as well. She already had some ideas for that.
   1.110 +After all, it was nice to plan things out ahead of time. Sakura was
   1.111 +impulsive, leaping into whatever happened, but Tomoyo liked things to
   1.112 +go slowly and smoothly. Not that she didn’t love Sakura’s
   1.113 +impulsiveness, only that she liked to temper it with her thorough
   1.114 +planning at times. Smiling brightly at the brunette, Tomoyo replied.
   1.115 +“I think Sakura-chan would make an adorable soccer player. I can come
   1.116 +over and help out more if Sakura-chan would like, but I think you
   1.117 +should have enough time for it as it is. And it would be exciting to
   1.118 +go to all of Sakura-chan’s games.”
   1.119 +	“Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura whispered softly as she rested her head on
   1.120 +Tomoyo’s shoulder. Her cheeks flushed faintly, her eyes closing
   1.121 +slightly as she leaned against the slightly smaller girl. A bright
   1.122 +smile crossed her lips as they slipped into the limousine. The pale
   1.123 +girl was always so perceptive about things. And Sakura was always
   1.124 +glad to follow her advice. Thinking back to the little board that
   1.125 +held her chores back home, Sakura tried to think if she would have
   1.126 +the time to be on the soccer team even without Tomoyo’s help. Her
   1.127 +flush grew a little brighter as the image of Tomoyo in a maid’s
   1.128 +costume filled her mind. The last time Tomoyo had come over to help
   1.129 +her out, she had dressed up in a cute maid’s outfit. Of her own
   1.130 +design, as always. So maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing even if
   1.131 +she did need her girlfriend’s help. The eccentric heiress’s costume
   1.132 +fetish (and video fetish and just general Sakura fetish for that
   1.133 +matter) certainly made things... interesting. “Un, I think I’ll try
   1.134 +out for it on Thursday, then. I really do think it would be fun. I
   1.135 +haven’t had the chance to really do anything like that since I was on
   1.136 +the swim team last year,” Sakura said with a smile. 
   1.137 +	“Sugoi!!” came Tomoyo’s reply. She would have clasped her hands
   1.138 +together, but Sakura still held sole possession of her right arm.
   1.139 +Instead, she began to run her pale finger’s through Sakura’s short,
   1.140 +firey hair. “I’ll be sure to show up with a fresh videotape after
   1.141 +classes on Thursday. I don’t want to miss a second of ‘Sakura-chan’s
   1.142 +Soccer Advance’,” Tomoyo declared. The limousine began it’s path home
   1.143 +while Tomoyo’s fingers made themselves at home in Sakura’s hair. She
   1.144 +let a delicious sigh escape her lips as she felt the soft strands
   1.145 +under her fingertips, marveling at the feeling of Sakura’s strong,
   1.146 +athletic body pressed against her side. She smiled exquisitely,
   1.147 +kissing Sakura’s forehead. After a second, she kissed it again, and
   1.148 +again, all the while moving slowly lower, over her eyelids, down the
   1.149 +bridge of her nose, sweetly caressing her cheek with kisses.
   1.150 +	Sakura blushed faintly at Tomoyo’s kisses, but didn’t move to
   1.151 +distance herself from them. Her lavender haired best friend had such
   1.152 +soft, sensuous lips. It felt blissful to have them against her. It
   1.153 +was nice to know that, as always, she had Tomoyo’s love and support
   1.154 +behind her. It made the decision to try out for the soccer team much
   1.155 +easier for her. Blinking in confusion, the auburn haired Mistress of
   1.156 +the Cards looked up to the mistress of her heart. “’Sakura-chan’s
   1.157 +Soccer Advance’?” Sakura asked curiously, a thin eyebrow raising.
   1.158 +	“Of course. I like to have titles ahead of time when I can, but
   1.159 +most of the time you can’t predict what’s going to happen, so I just
   1.160 +wait until afterwards. So this is more of a working title. It’s
   1.161 +because Sakura-chan will surely advance through the other girls to
   1.162 +become the best soccer player on the team. Just like you were the
   1.163 +best on the cheerleading team and the drama club and the swim team,”
   1.164 +Tomoyo explained, kissing down Sakura’s left cheek as she paused.
   1.165 +“Though I may use ‘Sakura-chan, Race for the Goal!’ I’ll have to see
   1.166 +how it turns out,” Tomoyo said thoughtfully. The heiress smiled
   1.167 +sweetly and tilted her head to the side at Sakura’s puzzled
   1.168 +expression. The Cardmistress was just too pretty for her own good.
   1.169 +Just being with her, talking to her, the lavender haired heiress
   1.170 +could feel her love growing stronger and stronger.
   1.171 +	Sweatdropping, Sakura shifted in her seat, still holding onto
   1.172 +Tomoyo’s arm. “Tomoyo-chan, I think you’re the only one who would
   1.173 +think that. I really wasn’t even all that good at Drama Club.
   1.174 +Besides, that was your idea.” Drama Club had been... difficult. With
   1.175 +so many lines to memorize, it had been almost overwhelming for the
   1.176 +poor auburn haired girl. She found it much easier to memorize
   1.177 +routines or warm ups rather than to force script into her mind. But
   1.178 +Tomoyo had helped her through it with every play she had been in that
   1.179 +year. Sakura never saw Tomoyo memorizing her own lines, but the pale
   1.180 +girl always seemed to know them by heart. Tomoyo had thought it would
   1.181 +be fun to join the club together so they could both join a club that
   1.182 +year. And even if it had been exhausting, it had also been a lot of
   1.183 +fun at times, especially practicing her lines with the lavender
   1.184 +haired girl. 
   1.185 +	Tomoyo smiled and shook her head briefly. “No, I don’t think so.
   1.186 +I’m sure I could find someone to agree with me. Like mother. And even
   1.187 +if I couldn’t, I think you were the best in all of those things and
   1.188 +more. To me, you are.” Sure, Sakura would drop her baton at times.
   1.189 +Sure, she would miss a line or two. Sure, she sometimes forgot to
   1.190 +stretch before swimming. But she had always tried her hardest. And
   1.191 +Tomoyo had always found that trait to be one of Sakura’s most
   1.192 +endearing. 
   1.193 +	Blushing slightly, Sakura felt some of Tomoyo’s gorgeous lavender
   1.194 +hair brush past her cheek as Tomoyo watched her intently, her face
   1.195 +mere inches away. “But that’s because you love me,” Sakura whispered
   1.196 +at last, her cheeks still tinted pink. Tomoyo’s hair smelled
   1.197 +wonderful, and the silky strands caressed her cheek with the same
   1.198 +gentleness of the other girl’s pale fingers. 
   1.199 +	“And I always will,” Tomoyo whispered in reply. She could feel
   1.200 +Sakura’s arms loosen around her right arm before pulling away
   1.201 +altogether. She simply watched the beautiful brunette, smiling softly
   1.202 +at her. She gasped softly as Sakura’s arms went around her waist, the
   1.203 +distance between them disappearing before Tomoyo could even tell that
   1.204 +it was gone. Motioning with her free hand for the driver to circle
   1.205 +the block a few times before they got home, Tomoyo returned the kiss.
   1.206 +As always, Sakura was the most potent, intoxicating drug she could
   1.207 +think of. And Tomoyo was happy to lose herself to the affects the
   1.208 +brunette caused in her heart. 
   1.209 +
   1.210 +Just a little behind Sakura and Tomoyo, another brunette left the
   1.211 +school. This one, too, had a dark haired girl in their personal
   1.212 +space. This dark haired girl was clinging to her perspective love
   1.213 +interest like a vice. The object of her affections, however, wore a
   1.214 +deep scowl. Syaoran frowned as he watched Sakura and Tomoyo leave
   1.215 +school arm in arm, giggling like... like... like schoolgirls! He had
   1.216 +only recently returned, but already things weren’t exactly turning
   1.217 +his way. Sakura and that Daidouji girl were inseparable as of late.
   1.218 +What with Meiling having shown up only a few days before, it made
   1.219 +things much more difficult. Sakura seemed to be ignoring her
   1.220 +affections, which was only made worse by the fact that Meiling was
   1.221 +almost always there. It made it impossible for him to get to the
   1.222 +bottom of the situation. How could he ask Sakura what was going on if
   1.223 +his fiance was right by his side? But now he would find out what was
   1.224 +going on. He found it strange that Sakura was heading home in a
   1.225 +limousine. She usually rollerbladed or walked back to her home. So
   1.226 +was she even heading back there? Why would she be going to the
   1.227 +Daidouji girl’s house anyway? On a school night, of all nights?
   1.228 +“So what should we do tonight, Syaoran? I was thinking that I could
   1.229 +make some dinner and we can let Wei relax for a bit. Then it can be
   1.230 +just you and me. And maybe some candlelight. And then...” Meiling
   1.231 +trailed off, not noticing her fiance’s nearly constant scowl or the
   1.232 +direction of her thoughts, too lost in her own plans for the night.
   1.233 +“Who knows after that. Maybe we could just talk for a while. I can
   1.234 +wear that little red dress I bought with me and you can wear that
   1.235 +cute blue shirt that I bought you a little while back.” Her finger
   1.236 +began trailing in circles on Syaoran’s back as they walked forward.
   1.237 +She had been rather pissed off to find that Syaoran had disappeared
   1.238 +back to Japan for reasons unknown, but now that she was with her
   1.239 +beloved again, she felt her anger slipping away. Did it matter where
   1.240 +they were as long as they were there together? Syaoran needed her to
   1.241 +take care of him at any rate and now she was here to do it. Besides,
   1.242 +he’d just get himself into trouble on his own.
   1.243 +“Meiling... Come on, stop it,” Syaoran said, trying not to blush as
   1.244 +he watched the limousine pull off. This was exactly why he had wanted
   1.245 +to go on his own. He didn’t want to hurt Meiling. She was important
   1.246 +to him. She was most likely his best friend. She was the only person
   1.247 +that he really spent a lot of time with, that really knew him. He
   1.248 +didn’t want to hurt her over his feelings for Sakura. And with how
   1.249 +she had always made especially sure to mark Syaoran as her property,
   1.250 +that made it much more difficult to reach Sakura. How could he when
   1.251 +everyone at the school already knew he was Meiling’s? A sigh escaped
   1.252 +his lips as he watched the limo speeding into the distance. He
   1.253 +finally did blush as he felt Meiling’s supple body pressing tightly
   1.254 +into his side, his cousin and fiance trying to snag his attention.
   1.255 +Meiling had certainly blossomed in recent years, but he had a hard
   1.256 +time seeing her as anything other than the little cousin that had
   1.257 +always followed him around. Kneeling down both to pick up something
   1.258 +he had spotted and to get away from Meiling’s tight grip for a
   1.259 +second, Syaoran pulled up a small piece of paper he had seen fall
   1.260 +away from Tomoyo’s bookbag. It was a simple sketch of Sakura, but it
   1.261 +was stunning. It looked so real. Tomoyo’s artistic eye and years of
   1.262 +drawing costume designs for Sakura had apparently paid off. 
   1.263 +	“Wow... She’s good,” Meiling commented, her chin on Syaoran’s
   1.264 +shoulder. The boy blushed and tried to stand up, but she held him in
   1.265 +place with strength gained from a lot of time spent getting out her
   1.266 +frustration over the boy she loved while training in the martial
   1.267 +arts. “I guess Tomoyo finally decided that she couldn’t beat me in
   1.268 +singing so she should find another talent.” The black haired girl
   1.269 +nodded thoughtfully. “Good for her. It’s good to see her with
   1.270 +something to fall back on.” Smiling as she held her hands on
   1.271 +Syaoran’s shoulders, she finally allowed the boy to stand, her arms
   1.272 +wrapping around his waist as soon as he did. Yeah, it didn’t matter
   1.273 +if he did something silly like running back to Tomoeda. She could
   1.274 +forgive him. After all, she did love him. Just so long as he didn’t
   1.275 +do anything that stupid again. 
   1.276 +	“I have to find out what’s going on,” Syaoran said, more for his
   1.277 +own benefit than anyone else’s. His scowl returned as he watched the
   1.278 +direction Sakura had disappeared in. Just what had happened? Why
   1.279 +hadn’t Sakura jumped into his arms already? Why would she rather
   1.280 +spend her time with the Daidouji girl than with him? Had he done
   1.281 +something wrong? He’d find out what was going on. He was tired of
   1.282 +playing games. He would know before the night was through. Crumpling
   1.283 +up the sketch of Sakura in his fist, he stuffed it in his pocket. 
   1.284 +	Meiling blinked in confusion. “Huh? What’s going on with what?” She
   1.285 +stared at Syaoran for a moment, following his gaze. Why was the
   1.286 +Chinese boy so out of it lately? He seemed so distant, like he was
   1.287 +always busy with other things. He amber eyes followed to the distant
   1.288 +horizon. “Ohhh… You mean with Sakura.” The black haired girl’s eyes
   1.289 +narrowed as she held onto her fiance tighter. She really needed to
   1.290 +put an end to this whole Sakura thing. And soon. “I’d think that
   1.291 +would be obvious,” she said nonchalantly. “It’s not like it came as a
   1.292 +huge surprise, at any rate. I mean, Tomoyo always was pretty
   1.293 +eccentric about her.”
   1.294 +	Frowning, Syaoran turned around in Meiling’s grasp, pulling away.
   1.295 +“And what’s that supposed to mean?” He didn’t like the sound of this.
   1.296 +Or where it was going. But apparently Meiling didn’t like his tone,
   1.297 +because her gaze grew frosty as she crossed her arms. He tried not to
   1.298 +shudder at her piercing gaze, instead letting his hot anger warm him. 
   1.299 +	“It means that Tomoyo’s with Sakura now. Guess you weren’t Sakura’s
   1.300 +type. Not that it’s any of your concern. I am your fiance, after
   1.301 +all.” Meiling shrugged, tossing a pigtail back over her shoulder.
   1.302 +Tomoyo had been in much the same situation that she had been in, so
   1.303 +it hadn’t been too difficult to see who the lavender haired girl’s
   1.304 +heart belonged to. Actually, by now most of the class should be able
   1.305 +to tell that with little or no difficulty. Upon returning and seeing
   1.306 +that her counterpart seemed to have managed to capture the heart of
   1.307 +the Cardmistress, Meiling had been overjoyed. If Sakura was with the
   1.308 +eccentric pale girl, then she certainly couldn’t get in the martial
   1.309 +artist’s way. Unfortunately, everyone but Syaoran seemed to be happy
   1.310 +with this turn of events.
   1.311 +	“That’s a lie!” Syaoran shot out angrily. He was not about to be
   1.312 +beaten out by some... some girl! And some weak little crazy girl at
   1.313 +that. He was Li Syaoran, heir to the venerable House of Li, and a
   1.314 +powerful magician at that. That some magic-less, frail, soft spoken
   1.315 +girl could beat him to the heart of the one he loved was
   1.316 +inconceivable. It just couldn’t happen. Besides, Meiling was always
   1.317 +like this. She was just trying to ruin things with Sakura so that he
   1.318 +would have to stay with her. Part of him felt ashamed for writing off
   1.319 +Meiling so quickly, but his mind couldn’t accept her words as
   1.320 +anything but vicious lies. There had to be some other reason that
   1.321 +Sakura was spending so much time with the Diadouji girl instead of
   1.322 +him. 
   1.323 +	Meiling stared at the brown haired boy incredulously. “What did you
   1.324 +say?” she asked in surprise. Her eyes narrowed in fury as she looked
   1.325 +into his own amber eyes. “You did come scurrying back here to the
   1.326 +Cardmistress, didn’t you?! You were going to try and slip out right
   1.327 +under my nose just so you wouldn’t have to marry me! You’re so stuck
   1.328 +on that bitch that you’ve blinded yourself to the truth. You won’t
   1.329 +let yourself see anything you don’t want to.” By now, a few of the
   1.330 +remaining students had begun to stare, but the black haired Chinese
   1.331 +girl could care less about them. She was furious. No, it wasn’t just
   1.332 +that. She was hurt. Her heart had belonged to Syaoran for so long,
   1.333 +had been his and his alone, but he discarded it at the first
   1.334 +opportunity. All for some naïve Japanese girl. It hurt so much to
   1.335 +know that the one she loved could so easily toss her aside. Tears
   1.336 +threatened to spill from her amber eyes, but her anger held them in
   1.337 +check. For the time being. 
   1.338 +	“I’m going to find out for myself. I’ll prove that’s not how it is.
   1.339 +Sakura-chan wouldn’t do that.” Syaoran was holding onto his last hope
   1.340 +now. He was trying desperately to hold onto the belief that Meiling
   1.341 +was lying, that it had all just been a mean spirited way of keeping
   1.342 +him with her. But doubts started to creep in to his mind little by
   1.343 +little. Whirling away from his cousin, the Chinese sorcerer leapt
   1.344 +into the nearby trees. He had to find Sakura. He had to find out what
   1.345 +was happening.
   1.346 +	“Syaoran!! I’m not done with you yet!” Meiling called after him,
   1.347 +her fists balling up as she leapt into the trees behind him. She was
   1.348 +going to put an end to this once and for all. If he was going to be
   1.349 +so stubborn, she’d walk into the damn room and snap some photos of
   1.350 +the two girls doing who knows what just to get him to drop it. And
   1.351 +then he would never hear the end of all of this, especially making
   1.352 +her travel all the way to Japan so he could try to get with someone
   1.353 +else. Hmm... Perhaps there would be a slight change of plans. It sure
   1.354 +sounded a lot more worthwhile to just kill him.
   1.355 +
   1.356 +	It was dark by the time Syaoran finally reached the expansive
   1.357 +Daidouji estate. He had only been there a handful of times and that
   1.358 +had been years before. The large gate enclosed a huge, elegant home
   1.359 +that rivaled even the Li estate. It was ironic that such a home was
   1.360 +only for two people, a woman and her daughter. And one of them was
   1.361 +rarely home to begin with. Syaoran didn’t count the maids and
   1.362 +servants as actually living there, since they weren’t a part of the
   1.363 +family proper. They had plenty of them back at his own home in China.
   1.364 +They were a symbol of one’s status, hired to maintain one’s life when
   1.365 +they were too busy with more important things to do so. Of course,
   1.366 +Wei didn’t fit this description in his mind. The man had helped to
   1.367 +raise him, had taken care of him during his time in Japan. The older
   1.368 +man had been a respected elder that he could think of warmly without
   1.369 +the same fear that his mother had instilled in him. The Chinese boy
   1.370 +wondered idly if Tomoyo had a similar surrogate guardian what with
   1.371 +her mother gone so often, but he decided that he had more important
   1.372 +things to worry about. 
   1.373 +	Amber eyes glanced at the front gate that sealed off the vast
   1.374 +household. Going through the gate wasn’t an option. He had to get in
   1.375 +quietly, sneaking to Sakura to find out just what was going on. If he
   1.376 +just confronted them, they’d probably give him some stupid excuse.
   1.377 +The fact that he was too shy to actually demand Sakura tell him
   1.378 +didn’t cross his mind. He wouldn’t allow such thoughts to linger. He
   1.379 +was Li Syaoran, the next head of the House of Li, a sorcerer who had
   1.380 +helped... He winced a bit at that thought. Helped. He had helped
   1.381 +Sakura. He hadn’t been good enough to handle the situation on his
   1.382 +own. Letting a little anger seep into his mind helped him to focus.
   1.383 +It gave him something to hold onto. Yes, he was mad that he had come
   1.384 +back here for the sake of his love, Sakura, and had found her
   1.385 +spending all of her time with the Daidouji girl. He deserved an
   1.386 +explanation. He had spent years waiting for this time to see her
   1.387 +again, when he could again be with the Cardmistress. 
   1.388 +	Ducking around the side, Syaoran tried not to make a noise as he
   1.389 +heard one of Tomoyo’s bodyguards approaching. This might not be as
   1.390 +easy as he thought. But he had to find out what was going on, no
   1.391 +matter what lay in his path. ‘Sakura-chan’s determination sparkles
   1.392 +like the stars above,’ her heard from deep within his memories. Who
   1.393 +had said that? It was a soft, sweet voice. The Daidouji girl. Well,
   1.394 +he would prove that he could be just as determined as Sakura. He
   1.395 +would prove that he deserved the brunette. She would fly into his
   1.396 +arms just like he had imagined these last few years when he would lie
   1.397 +in bed, ever since he had left back to Hong Kong. He had confessed
   1.398 +his feelings to Sakura before he had left. And she had felt the same,
   1.399 +hadn’t she? She still felt that way for him, didn’t she? Panic began
   1.400 +to eat at him, but he burnt it away by drudging up more anger. A
   1.401 +scowl crossed his face as he waited for the bodyguard to leave. He
   1.402 +could hear her by the gate, obviously glancing around, dressed in a
   1.403 +black business suit, he was sure. Finally, briskly, the woman walked
   1.404 +away calling someone on her cell phone. Letting out a sigh of relief,
   1.405 +Syaoran let himself relax. But angry amber eyes burned holes into his
   1.406 +own, startling the poor boy before he could regain his composure.
   1.407 +“Meiling!!” 
   1.408 +	The Chinese girl clenched her fist as she glared at her misbehaving
   1.409 +fiance. “Why are we here, Syaoran? And you better have a good
   1.410 +reason.” This was Tomoyo’s house, she was fairly certain. And sense
   1.411 +she knew that Syaoran held no interest in the pale girl, she knew
   1.412 +what he was here for. Sakura. And that thought brought with it a
   1.413 +meteor shower of jealousy in the black haired girl. She was his
   1.414 +fiance, not the Cardmistress. She was the one that loved him, not
   1.415 +that dense and overly cheerful girl. She felt hurt and disappointed
   1.416 +that he would come running to her the first chance he got. Syaoran
   1.417 +had grown closer to her in the past couple years. They spent so much
   1.418 +time together, had been spending more and more together ever since
   1.419 +Syaoran’s return to Hong Kong. They had shared several romantic times
   1.420 +together, and had even kissed. Meiling had been thrilled. It was all
   1.421 +she had ever wanted, being with the man she loved. But now he was
   1.422 +running away from that, treating her like some type of door prize.
   1.423 +She would feel cold and sad about the whole thing, but she had cried
   1.424 +for him once too often over the years, burying her head in her pillow
   1.425 +when she knew she was all alone. Now she just felt like beating some
   1.426 +sense into him and dragging him back home.
   1.427 +	‘Ko.. Kowaii...’ Syaoran thought to himself, backed against the
   1.428 +wall as Meiling’s gaze began to bore through him. ‘She’s almost as
   1.429 +frightening as mother.’ The Chinese boy quickly got himself back in
   1.430 +control, his eyes narrowing as he stepped away from the wall. He
   1.431 +shouldn’t be scared of his younger cousin. He was a man now, not just
   1.432 +some little boy. Even if Meiling was a little scary sometimes, it
   1.433 +wasn’t like she could do anything. He was the one in charge of all
   1.434 +this. He’d just have to explain that he loved Sakura and that their
   1.435 +engagement was off. Later. He’d explain it later. He looked away from
   1.436 +the black haired girl, busying himself with looking at the wall for a
   1.437 +way in. A twinge of guilt passed through him at the thought of ending
   1.438 +his engagement to Meiling. She had been there for him sense they had
   1.439 +been children, had been there for him back when he would cry after
   1.440 +meeting his mother’s cold disapproval, back before he had quit crying
   1.441 +altogether. Meiling had always been there for him, his best friend
   1.442 +and sometimes something more. She had been his first kiss, had
   1.443 +accompanied him dancing at all of the school activities back in Hong
   1.444 +Kong. She had never had a problem talking to him about anything. And
   1.445 +more over, she loved him. He knew that. It had only become more
   1.446 +apparent in recent years, growing stronger as she blossomed into
   1.447 +womanhood. And she had always been eager to shower that love upon
   1.448 +him. Sure, she frightened away all the other girls at school that
   1.449 +even looked his way, but it was sweet in its own way. He didn’t want
   1.450 +to hurt her. He never had. But he was in love with Sakura. He had
   1.451 +been for a while now. They were supposed to be together, not him and
   1.452 +Meiling. 
   1.453 +	“I said, ‘You better have a good explanation for this’,” Meiling
   1.454 +repeated, her hands on her hips as she stared at Syaoran’s back. She
   1.455 +thought she saw the boy shudder visibly at the tone of her voice and
   1.456 +allowed herself a small, quick grin. All that time around Ieran-sama
   1.457 +was paying off. Her aunt could be cold at times, especially to
   1.458 +Syaoran, but she sure seemed nicer to the girls in the family.
   1.459 +Syaoran’s older sisters were all very sweet and energetic, very
   1.460 +different from their little brother. Ieran had raised them very
   1.461 +differently from her son, the one who would one day head the Li Clan.
   1.462 +She even treated Meiling with a gentleness that she seldom afforded
   1.463 +the chestnut haired boy. Meiling didn’t hold the same fear for the
   1.464 +older woman that Syaoran did. She looked up to Ieran, the woman’s
   1.465 +beauty and grace something that she hoped she could one day have
   1.466 +herself.  She had one day asked Ieran about why things were so
   1.467 +different when the older woman’s words had obviously cut into Syaoran
   1.468 +deeply. The black haired girl respected Ieran deeply, but she
   1.469 +couldn’t stand to see the boy she loved hurting so. She had expected
   1.470 +a cold admonishment for her disrespect, but Ieran had remained silent
   1.471 +for a moment. She finally walked over to Meiling, brushing back the
   1.472 +younger girl’s black pigtails in a motherly gesture. She said that as
   1.473 +his fiance, Meiling had a right to be concerned about his wellbeing
   1.474 +like that. The head of the House of Li went on to explain that she
   1.475 +had to be hard on Syaoran, that as a boy, in Chinese culture, he
   1.476 +would be the next head of the Li Clan. She had to make him strong
   1.477 +enough to handle that. Meiling had seen what a huge burden it was for
   1.478 +Ieran and for the first time, she had actually feared for Syaoran’s
   1.479 +eventual rise to the head of the House of Li. Such a burden on the
   1.480 +man she loved... But she had quickly replied to Ieran that Syaoran
   1.481 +would certainly be able to handle it and any other hardships that
   1.482 +came his way. Heading for the door, she had been swift to add that
   1.483 +he’d be able to handle anything because she’d be there by his side.
   1.484 +So at least she knew why he feared his mother. But that didn’t mean
   1.485 +she couldn’t use it to her advantage from time to time. Especially
   1.486 +when he was being so... difficult. 
   1.487 +	Ignoring Meiling, Syaoran leapt over the wall and landed as quietly
   1.488 +as he could on the other side. His black haired cousin was just
   1.489 +moments behind him. He could feel her ire growing. But he had to do
   1.490 +this. For his sake as well as Sakura’s. He needed to know what kind
   1.491 +of spell held Sakura in its grasp. Then he would ride to the rescue,
   1.492 +her prince come to save her. Then he would finally have his love. He
   1.493 +quickly darted past the neatly trimmed hedges, trying to keep his
   1.494 +presence from Tomoyo’s bodyguards. His amber eyes locked onto
   1.495 +Tomoyo’s open bedroom window. At least, he thought that was her room.
   1.496 +It had been so long ago that he couldn’t quite remember. Hoping that
   1.497 +his instincts were correct, her dashed in that direction, followed
   1.498 +closely by Meiling. The two reached the side of the house without
   1.499 +incident, trying to stay out of view. At least, Syaoran was. Meiling
   1.500 +stood with her hands on her hips, with that same ‘You owe me an
   1.501 +explanation’ look on her face. Syaoran scowled and waved her forward,
   1.502 +out of the line of sight of any passersby. But the Chinese girl stood
   1.503 +stubbornly where she was, her eyes never leaving him. Sighing in
   1.504 +frustration, Syaoran looked back up at her. “I’m here to see what’s
   1.505 +up with Sakura. She’s been acting strangely lately. Are you happy?” 
   1.506 +	Not exactly pleased, but getting her explanation regardless,
   1.507 +Meiling ducked out of the way of prying eyes. “That’s not really your
   1.508 +problem anymore, Syaoran. I’m sure if anything’s wrong with Sakura,
   1.509 +Tomoyo will be the first to know.” She noticed Syaoran twitch at her
   1.510 +words, but she didn’t feel like tiptoeing around the subject for him
   1.511 +when he obviously didn’t care how she felt about this whole thing.
   1.512 +Smoothing down her skirt, she felt the soft grass tickle her legs as
   1.513 +she sat down, next to where Syaoran was crouching. An inner sigh
   1.514 +accompanied her shoulders slumping. She should have seen this coming,
   1.515 +what with him running off to Japan so suddenly and all. Part of her
   1.516 +had known, but she hadn’t wanted to believe it. How could he leave
   1.517 +her alone like that? After all of the beautiful times they had spent
   1.518 +together? She loved him so much. Why couldn’t he see that? All she
   1.519 +wanted was to marry him, to spend eternity with him. Why wasn’t she
   1.520 +good enough for him? It was always someone else. First that white
   1.521 +haired man and now this naïve little girl. She sighed exasperatedly,
   1.522 +blinking her eyes quickly to hide the tears that threatened. 
   1.523 +	Gazing up to the open window, Syaoran tried to get a better view.
   1.524 +Was that the room? He couldn’t quite tell. Holding his breath, the
   1.525 +chestnut haired boy tried to listen for any sounds coming from the
   1.526 +room. He thought he heard something, but he couldn’t quite make it
   1.527 +out. It was soft, almost like mumbling. He strained harder to hear
   1.528 +who may be in the room, not wanting to stumble upon Tomoyo’s maids or
   1.529 +her bodyguards. A squeal escaped the open window, sending a bird
   1.530 +fluttering away. Syaoran sweatdropped, wondering just what was going
   1.531 +on up in the mystery room. Did Tomoyo have any pets? He couldn’t
   1.532 +remember. Tomoyo had just never been important enough for him to
   1.533 +remember anything about her. He knew she was one of Sakura’s friends
   1.534 +and that she liked to do crazy things like videotape her and that she
   1.535 +tried to get him to tell Sakura his feelings, but that was about the
   1.536 +extent of his knowledge on the Daidouji girl. But she had to have a
   1.537 +pet. That squeal had given that away. Though it didn’t sound entirely
   1.538 +animalistic. Crossing his arms, Syaoran arched his head to try to
   1.539 +take in more of the window while he pondered this situation. 
   1.540 +	Meiling turned to look back at Syaoran, a curious look etched onto
   1.541 +her face. What had that been just now? It had sounded like a squeal,
   1.542 +but she could swear that it had been a girl’s voice. She could dimly
   1.543 +hear quiet murmurs again, but the sound didn’t reappear. Brushing
   1.544 +back a black pigtail, she waited. She wasn’t a big fan of waiting for
   1.545 +things to happen, such as her eventual wedding to Syaoran that she
   1.546 +would have been plenty happy to have had five years before, but she
   1.547 +could if the situation called to it. And besides, the scenery wasn’t
   1.548 +so bad. She smiled to herself as she watched Syaoran while silence
   1.549 +surrounded them. He really was cute. A frown crossed her lips. When
   1.550 +he wasn’t being such an asshole. She really hoped he’d get over this
   1.551 +soon so she could drag him back to Hong Kong so he could marry her.
   1.552 +The sooner, the better. Her ears suddenly perked up as she heard
   1.553 +another noise. This one was much more musical, the word filled with
   1.554 +emotion as it drifted down to her. 
   1.555 +	“Sakura-chan!”
   1.556 +	The Chinese sorcerer tensed as he heard Sakura’s name cried out.
   1.557 +“Sakura-chan...” Darting to a nearby tree, Syaoran struggled to get a
   1.558 +grip on it. Sakura was in trouble. She needed his help. He couldn’t
   1.559 +hear Sakura’s voice, so it had to be something horrible for the
   1.560 +usually quiet Daidouji girl to call out her name. Images of Sakura
   1.561 +passed out on the floor, injured, entered his head. He forced himself
   1.562 +further up the tree. Maybe she really was under some strange spell,
   1.563 +something that was hurting her and keeping her from him. ‘I’m on my
   1.564 +way, Sakura-chan,’ he thought determinedly.
   1.565 +	Meiling’s eyes shot open in realization. Moving to her legs
   1.566 +instantly, she darted to her tree-climbing fiance. She knew exactly
   1.567 +what was going on. And she wasn’t about to let her Syaoran barge in
   1.568 +on that. Gripping his ankle, Meiling tried to drag the Chinese boy
   1.569 +down from the tree. “What are you doing? Get down from there, you
   1.570 +pervert!” she yelled at him, her voice only slightly hushed. Her
   1.571 +cheeks were tinted red as she heard more noises coming down from the
   1.572 +room. She certainly hadn’t expected to hear that while they were at
   1.573 +the Daidouji home. She and Syaoran hadn’t even... She blushed deeper
   1.574 +as she tried to get a better grasp on his leg, but she only succeeded
   1.575 +in pulling his shoe off. “Syaoran!!” she whispered harshly after him. 
   1.576 +	Struggling up to the top of the tree, Syaoran started to climb out
   1.577 +along a limb. The sounds from inside had stopped a short time before,
   1.578 +back when his shoe had fallen off. It had been silent now for a
   1.579 +minute or two. Was the Daidouji girl hurt, too? What was in there? He
   1.580 +had to get to Sakura before it was too late. He didn’t have time to
   1.581 +deal with Meiling’s jealousy issues. A surge of magic shattered
   1.582 +Syaoran’s concentration. Sakura’s magic had increased significantly
   1.583 +since he had last seen her use it. The power was just mind blowing.
   1.584 +Syaoran barely gripped onto the branch, nearly having lost his
   1.585 +balance. So Sakura was still inside. Was she fighting someone? He
   1.586 +couldn’t feel anyone else’s magic. Just one of the Sakura Cards.
   1.587 +Sakura’s yelp caught his attention, his eyes moving up to the window.
   1.588 +His cheeks flushed a dark crimson as he saw Sakura. The brunette had
   1.589 +pink cat ears on and frilly matching stockings. Where the rest of
   1.590 +Sakura’s clothes had gone seemed to be a mystery. Near Sakura was the
   1.591 +Daidouji girl, her pale skin starkly contrasted with her long, dark
   1.592 +hair. She wore nothing, but looked no less elegant than Sakura with
   1.593 +her beautiful hair draped across her. Syaoran nearly lost his grip
   1.594 +again, leaves falling below as he scrambled for a purchase. His mind
   1.595 +tried desperately to make sense of the situation, anger and confusion
   1.596 +warring with his embarrassment. It didn’t look like they had seen
   1.597 +him. Then why had Sakura yelped? His eyes latched onto a large
   1.598 +chameleon-like animal that was running from Sakura. “What?” Syaoran
   1.599 +got out before realizing the creature was headed right his way.
   1.600 +Bracing himself on the tree branch, he caught the animal right as it
   1.601 +leapt towards him. He struggled to hold onto the tree branch with his
   1.602 +legs, but its momentum was too great. Without time to utter a curse,
   1.603 +he found himself falling from the tree.
   1.604 +	“Syaoran!” Meiling got out, her eyes wide as the boy fell. With the
   1.605 +reflexes of the trained martial artist she was, she quickly got
   1.606 +beneath her cousin. She had been about to berate him about staring
   1.607 +into the window like that when she had suddenly seen him grow very
   1.608 +serious, as if ready to pounce on an attacker. Whatever had lunged at
   1.609 +him, he still held it in his grasp. Syaoran seemed to fall in slow
   1.610 +motion, but in retrospect it all felt blindingly fast. Meiling’s
   1.611 +heart skipped a beat as she watched her beloved plunge. Her arms
   1.612 +grabbed him tightly as he finally fell into her grasp. The sudden
   1.613 +weight made her stagger backwards. Her mind was on Syaoran, and not
   1.614 +on where her feet where going. She was about to ask him if he was all
   1.615 +right before she toppled backwards onto the grass, Syaoran crumpled
   1.616 +on top of her. She felt the animal’s tale moving against her stomach
   1.617 +as the Chinese sorcerer still held it fast. Before Meiling could open
   1.618 +her mouth, she felt her whole body freeze, energy trailing through
   1.619 +it. She felt a sudden grip around her, but it didn’t feel physical.
   1.620 +It was as if someone had snagged her soul. She tried to call out to
   1.621 +Syaoran, but nothing got out of her lips. 
   1.622 +	And just as soon as it had begun, the strange feeling came to a
   1.623 +sudden conclusion. Meiling shifted around, disoriented by the strange
   1.624 +feeling. She could feel the animal writhing in her arms and
   1.625 +immediately let go. How did it make its way up to her? Her whole body
   1.626 +felt strange. But it didn’t hurt as much as it had a moment ago. It
   1.627 +felt as if something had broken her fall. “Syaoran!” she called out,
   1.628 +the Chinese boy quickly forcing his way to the forefront of her mind.
   1.629 +She struggled up into a sitting position when she felt him squirming
   1.630 +under her. How had they switched places? They must have rolled over
   1.631 +when that weird feeling passed through her. Her clothes suddenly felt
   1.632 +awkward on her body, every movement feeling wrong. ‘It must have been
   1.633 +the fall. I hope I didn’t hurt anything in it. But at least it was to
   1.634 +save Syaoran,’ she thought to herself. “Syaoran, are you okay?” she
   1.635 +asked gingerly, reaching out for her fiance. If he was hurt, she
   1.636 +wanted to make it all better. But her hand froze inches away from the
   1.637 +boy she had been reaching for. Amber eyes widened in surprise.
   1.638 +Sitting in front of her, wincing in pain as they sat up, she saw
   1.639 +herself. Black pigtails and amber eyes, rustled skirt showing off
   1.640 +more than Meiling would care too because of the awkward way the other
   1.641 +Meiling was sitting. Her fists whipped out like lightening bolts,
   1.642 +gripping either side of the imposter’s blouse as she pulled her
   1.643 +closer. “Where’s Syaoran!? What did you do with him?” she asked
   1.644 +angrily. 
   1.645 +	Syaoran struggled to think clearly amidst the pain shooting up and
   1.646 +down his body. Meiling must’ve dropped him when she’d grabbed him,
   1.647 +because it certainly hurt. He’d felt something strange when he’d
   1.648 +gripped the odd little beast, but it had quickly gone away. His body
   1.649 +still felt strange, as if it weren’t his own, but it didn’t feel like
   1.650 +there was any permanent damage. He glanced around for Meiling to try
   1.651 +and see what shape she was in, but before he got a good look he was
   1.652 +being throttled back and forth. “Wha..? Meiling, what are you tal...”
   1.653 +His voice trailed off as he saw who was shaking him. He looked up and
   1.654 +saw himself. Suddenly, everything snapped into place. The chameleon
   1.655 +like creature, the strange feeling that had coursed through him as he
   1.656 +and Meiling had been pressed against it. He’d felt that before,
   1.657 +hadn’t he? “Oh no... The Change...” Syaoran’s eyes shot back up to
   1.658 +the window. His heart began to pound in his chest as panic really did
   1.659 +grip him this time. He remembered that the Change’s magic took a day
   1.660 +to recharge. There was no way he was going to spend a day like this.
   1.661 +This was worse than being the Seal Beast. He was a girl. His cousin.
   1.662 +Mortified, Syaoran struggled to his feet. The sudden realization of
   1.663 +his new body made the lack of something between his legs a horrifying
   1.664 +feeling as he stood up. He suddenly wasn’t quite as pleased with how
   1.665 +feminine Meiling’s body had grown in recent years. He still
   1.666 +remembered when they were children, when there had been little
   1.667 +difference in that regard. Why couldn’t this have happened back then? 
   1.668 +	“And who might you be? Most of Tomoyo-sama’s friends use the
   1.669 +intercom at the gate,” a woman’s voice said. Syaoran and Meiling
   1.670 +turned to find two woman dressed entirely in black watching them. One
   1.671 +raised an eyebrow in slight amusement.
   1.672 +	“Wait! You don’t understand!” Syaraon got out as he watched them
   1.673 +approach.
   1.674 +
   1.675 +	Tomoyo walked towards the window, her lavender hair messily falling
   1.676 +past her shoulders, some draping across her front. “What was that?”
   1.677 +She asked curiously, jumping at the sound of her own voice. Shaking
   1.678 +her head, she reached the window. “There you are. You shouldn’t run
   1.679 +away like that. I can’t go chase you like this,” the pale girl
   1.680 +admonished gently. The chameleon-like Change Card simply nodded as it
   1.681 +sat on the windowsill. “You scared me when you took off like that.
   1.682 +But you’ll be good now, right?” A smile crossed her lips when she saw
   1.683 +the Card nod. “Good. Now go back to your normal form for now. And
   1.684 +thanks.” She added the last as little more than a whisper. Sighing,
   1.685 +she watched the Card return to its pink rectangular form in front of
   1.686 +her. Holding it in her hands, she gazed out the window at the
   1.687 +countless stars above. The little pinpricks of light looked like
   1.688 +countless diamonds spilt across the night sky. She hadn’t realized
   1.689 +how late it had gotten. But then, she usually did lose track of time
   1.690 +when she was with her best friend. It was just so easy to. Those
   1.691 +beautiful, sensuous eyes, her gentle touch, her musical voice... The
   1.692 +girl sighed again, her shoulders slumping. How did she let herself
   1.693 +get talked into this? Arms wrapped around her shoulders as she felt
   1.694 +an athletic body pull against her back. A dark blush spread across
   1.695 +her cheeks and down her neck as she felt a soft kiss behind her ear. 
   1.696 +	“Sakura-chan is so good with the Cards. They trust you even when
   1.697 +you aren’t Sakura-chan,” the brunette commented, giggling softly. So
   1.698 +this is what it felt like to be Sakura. It was such a strange feeling
   1.699 +to be in her energetic girlfriend’s body. It was much more athletic
   1.700 +than her own, though not quite as graceful. But Tomoyo loved every
   1.701 +second of it. Not simply for the thrill of seeing Sakura in the
   1.702 +mirror, but because it was such an intimate thing to share with
   1.703 +Sakura. It was something most people could never do, that most never
   1.704 +would do. It was a clear sign of trust, to be able to switch places
   1.705 +like that, to share the other’s body. It was such a fun little thing
   1.706 +to do, to be able to delve so deeply into Sakura this way. It would
   1.707 +certainly let her test her knowledge on Sakura the next day at
   1.708 +school. Not that she'd probably put much of it to use. She’d much
   1.709 +rather follow along her beloved, even if Sakura was in her own body.
   1.710 +It certainly made things interesting. Tomoyo had wanted to try this
   1.711 +for a while, ever since she had learned that Syaoran had switched
   1.712 +with Kero so many years before. It sounded like the perfect way to
   1.713 +get even closer to Sakura, to switch bodies with her. It was like a
   1.714 +lover’s game of pretend. What better way to get closer than to
   1.715 +actually be the other? Of course, Sakura had been pretty embarrassed
   1.716 +about the idea. She still was from the blush Tomoyo could see, which
   1.717 +stood out quite clearly on her pale skin. She’d finally described it
   1.718 +as similar to the costumes, that it would be like Sakura putting on a
   1.719 +Tomoyo costume for a while. Sakura had finally agreed with some
   1.720 +gentle prodding from Tomoyo, and they now found themselves in a very
   1.721 +different way than they ever had before. Tomoyo sighed happily as she
   1.722 +hugged the pale girl in her arms, kissing behind her ear again. 
   1.723 +	“Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura whispered in reply, blushing deeper.
   1.724 +Nonetheless, she slowly let herself relax into Tomoyo’s embrace. It
   1.725 +felt strange, but nice. Tomoyo was always so soft, almost seeming
   1.726 +delicate. It felt different to have her own body against her. Her
   1.727 +athletic frame wasn’t quite as soft as Tomoyo’s, though the girl’s
   1.728 +gentle touch remained the same as it had always been. This whole
   1.729 +situation had Sakura feeling very confused. She was in Tomoyo’s body,
   1.730 +inside the pale girl in a way she had never imagined. Meanwhile,
   1.731 +Tomoyo was in her own body and with the closeness in proximity,
   1.732 +Sakura couldn’t forget that for a second. She shifted a long, pale
   1.733 +leg as she felt the frills of the stockings Tomoyo was now wearing
   1.734 +against the back of her thigh. She turned around against, Tomoyo,
   1.735 +still shocked to see her own face looking back at her. It was her own
   1.736 +face, but it looked so different. She could see Tomoyo’s warm smile
   1.737 +etched into it, her emerald eyes sparkling lovingly. She shivered at
   1.738 +the sight. Her heart skipped a beat. Seeing Tomoyo like that, even in
   1.739 +her own body, sent warm ripples through her heart. Leaning forward,
   1.740 +she kissed the newly christened brunette, feeling her own arms go
   1.741 +around Tomoyo’s waist. It felt bizarre to be kissing herself, to feel
   1.742 +short brunette hair teasing her now longer dark hair. But she could
   1.743 +feel the eccentric girl’s slow, sweet kisses. Even if the body was
   1.744 +different, that was still the same. And it slowly sent sparks through
   1.745 +Sakura as they continued to slowly kiss each other. Tomoyo melted
   1.746 +against her at the kiss, the two ending up on their knees, kissing
   1.747 +again and again on the floor. Sakura felt herself shudder again when
   1.748 +Tomoyo’s fingers began brushing through her now long, lavender hair.
   1.749 +She had always loved Tomoyo’s hair. It was always so gorgeous, no
   1.750 +matter what style Tomoyo had it in. Feeling it against her shoulders
   1.751 +and down her back, feeling Tomoyo’s hands running through it, it was
   1.752 +a very intense feeling. She had to remember to play with Tomoyo’s
   1.753 +hair more often when they switched back. 
   1.754 +	The currently brunette heiress sighed inwardly. This was even
   1.755 +better than she’d imagined. The chance to be with Sakura like this,
   1.756 +to be together so completely, to share her own body, it was all just
   1.757 +overwhelming. And Sakura still looked so cute. She still had that
   1.758 +same genki energy in her eyes, that same sweet look on her face that
   1.759 +Sakura always got when they kissed. It was heavenly. Her hands went
   1.760 +down across Sakura’s shoulders, savoring the feeling of Sakura
   1.761 +shivering against her hands. Kissing herself may have been strange,
   1.762 +but seeing Sakura underneath it all pushed her further and further.
   1.763 +Her tongue slowly brushed against Sakura’s as the two held each
   1.764 +other, kneeling. There was something very magical about this whole
   1.765 +thing, just seeing Sakura in her own body being enough to play with
   1.766 +the strings of Tomoyo’s heart. It was so cute to see Sakura trying to
   1.767 +get used to the longer hair, the different body. The heiress knew
   1.768 +that with Sakura’s determination, she would get it down before too
   1.769 +long. She may not make a perfect Tomoyo no matter how long she was
   1.770 +stuck in that body, but that didn’t matter. She made a perfect Sakura
   1.771 +even if she didn’t look like Sakura. Her toes curled up in the
   1.772 +stockings as she felt Sakura’s tongue stroking back against hers and
   1.773 +let herself sigh into the kiss. Yes, this was fantastic. 
   1.774 +	“Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura got out after several moments of silence. The
   1.775 +two sat together in the dark room, the starlight filtering in through
   1.776 +the open window. Sakura’s arms were still around Tomoyo’s waist,
   1.777 +curiously following the different feel of the muscles under the skin.
   1.778 +Tomoyo’s hands were still on her shoulders, her delicate touch moving
   1.779 +slowly down Sakura’s shoulders and to her back, brushing through the
   1.780 +lavender hair as she went. Sakura inhaled deeply at the feeling. It
   1.781 +always felt wonderful when Tomoyo would play with her hair, but this
   1.782 +was even better. Her fingers running through the silky strands felt
   1.783 +lovely. It was still strange to be gazing lovingly into emerald eyes
   1.784 +instead of lavender ones, but she could feel the love in them
   1.785 +directed at her with the same passion that she could always remember
   1.786 +in Tomoyo’s eyes. “Isn’t this.. a little awkward?” she asked at last.
   1.787 +She shook her head quickly, marveling at the way her long hair moved
   1.788 +with her head. Maybe she should try long hair when she was in her own
   1.789 +body again. Her mind tried to formulate what she wanted to say. Of
   1.790 +course it was awkward, but so were some of the other things they had
   1.791 +done before. Her face flushed in remembrance of some of the costumes
   1.792 +Tomoyo had made for her that only the two of them ever saw. She
   1.793 +hadn’t known Tomoyo could make something so cute out of leather.
   1.794 +Shaking her head again, Sakura fought to remain focussed on the task
   1.795 +at hand. She could tell that Tomoyo was delighting in her blush and
   1.796 +that just made her blush deeper. “Isn’t this a little too strange? I
   1.797 +love being so close to you, but you’re looking at yourself, not at me.”
   1.798 +	Shaking her head, the brunette heiress dismissed the idea. So was
   1.799 +that what Sakura was worried about? Oh, her poor Cardmistress.
   1.800 +Tomoyo’s hand went to Sakura’s cheek, brushing it lightly with her
   1.801 +fingertips. She smiled softly, watching the pale Cardmistress. “Of
   1.802 +course not, Sakura-chan. I see my body, but I don’t see me. It’s not
   1.803 +like looking into the mirror. I see Sakura-chan when I look at you.
   1.804 +Not the brunette, athletic girl I’m in now, but Sakura-chan herself.
   1.805 +I see your mannerisms in everything you do. I see you in how you move
   1.806 +your hands.” Tomoyo trailed off for a second as she took one of
   1.807 +Sakura’s hands and brought it to her mouth, kissing it. “I see it in
   1.808 +your eyes.” She leaned forward, kissing Sakura’s eyelids. “I see it
   1.809 +in your cute little smile.” Tomoyo’s lips brushed Sakura’s as she
   1.810 +leaned forward, giving her a soft but sweet kiss. “I see my body, but
   1.811 +I see Sakura-chan. It’s like you’re trussed up in a new costume for
   1.812 +me. When you’re in the costumes, you look different every time. But
   1.813 +you’re always the same genki girl that I love,” Tomoyo explained,
   1.814 +keeping Sakura’s voice gentle as she spoke. She smiled at the
   1.815 +Cardmistress, her hand going back to her cheek. Sakura was gorgeous,
   1.816 +whoever she was. That’s why it had never bothered her once that she
   1.817 +had fallen in love with a girl. That wasn’t important. She had fallen
   1.818 +in love with Sakura, and little things like that didn’t matter in the
   1.819 +least. If Sakura was a boy or a girl, in her body or another, she was
   1.820 +the one that Tomoyo loved. 
   1.821 +	Sakura could only blush, her hand resting on top of Tomoyo’s as she
   1.822 +looked deeply into Tomoyo’s now emerald eyes. She could see it. Yes,
   1.823 +it was Tomoyo, deep in those emerald eyes. She heard her own voice
   1.824 +ringing in her ears, but those words were certainly Tomoyo’s. She
   1.825 +always said the sweetest things. It didn’t feel like such a big deal
   1.826 +anymore, even if it still felt a bit strange. Because it was still
   1.827 +Tomoyo. Shifting towards Tomoyo, Sakura captured another kiss,
   1.828 +holding onto Tomoyo in a passionate embrace. “Tomoyo-chan!” Sakura
   1.829 +got out happily as the two fell back on the floor.
   1.830 +
   1.831 +	The gender disoriented Syaoran and Meiling quickly found themselves
   1.832 +outside of the gates of the Daidouji estate under a large and lonely
   1.833 +moon. It offered no comfort for the two cousins. Syaoran stared up at
   1.834 +the sky, sighing. He was frustrated and very embarrassed about the
   1.835 +situation, but he seemed to be taking it better than Meiling. The
   1.836 +former black haired girl was still freaking out about the whole
   1.837 +thing. He slowly got to his feet, trying to get accustomed to his now
   1.838 +female body. It was still warm out, which he was glad for. He didn’t
   1.839 +want to see how cold his legs would get in the little protection the
   1.840 +skirt offered. Crossing his arms, he tried to think. ‘What do we tell
   1.841 +Wei? Should we even try to tell him anything? And how am I supposed
   1.842 +to tell Sakura about all this?’ His thoughts were quickly interrupted
   1.843 +by Meiling gripping his arm tightly. He whirled around to see his own
   1.844 +face looking back at him, but the amber eyes were wild and worried. 
   1.845 +	“Syaoran, we have to get back in there!! We need to make Sakura
   1.846 +change us back!” Meiling felt panicky. This wasn’t at all on her
   1.847 +plans for the day. She loved Syaoran, but that didn’t mean she wanted
   1.848 +to be him. She wanted her own body back. She wanted things to be back
   1.849 +to normal. And this certainly wasn’t helping her opinion of Sakura.
   1.850 +Not only was the girl trying to steal her boyfriend and fiance, but
   1.851 +she had also gotten them all mixed up. She could see Syaoran hesitate
   1.852 +at her urging. Balling up her fists, she leaned towards the former
   1.853 +boy. “Syaoran!!” She’d drag him back there if she had to. She didn’t
   1.854 +care how embarrassed he was about telling Sakura what happened, she
   1.855 +was not going to be spending the night as a boy. 
   1.856 +	Scowling, Syaoran shook his head. How could this happen to him? It
   1.857 +was like everything had been against him since he had returned to
   1.858 +Japan. And Meiling wasn’t exactly helping at the moment. He wasn’t
   1.859 +too pleased with his new body either. “Crying isn’t going to help the
   1.860 +situation. Besides, there isn’t anything we can do tonight. The
   1.861 +Change Card’s magic takes a day to recharge.” He turned around as he
   1.862 +let that sink in, starting to walk home. It was awkward in this body,
   1.863 +but right now he just wanted some warm food and to try to ignore
   1.864 +everything until the next day came.
   1.865 +	Frozen to the spot, Meiling stared after Syaoran. Her heart seized
   1.866 +up in her chest. “You mean we’re stuck this way?” she asked
   1.867 +incredulously. He simply sighed and nodded. Clenching her hands
   1.868 +tightly, she hurried off after her cousin. She didn’t like this at
   1.869 +all. It was all Syaoran’s fault for coming to Tomoyo’s house in the
   1.870 +first place. So why did she have to get punished for him? It wasn’t
   1.871 +fair! She wanted to be holding on to Syaoran, not to be inside of
   1.872 +him. “Syaoran! Wait for me!” she insisted, chasing after him. 
   1.873 +
   1.874 +	“I can’t stay...” the man said as he turned from the beautiful dark
   1.875 +haired woman. He couldn’t look her in the eye. His feelings tried
   1.876 +desperately to betray him but he held them back with all of his will.
   1.877 +They both knew he had to leave, but his heart begged him to
   1.878 +reconsider. After all they had been through, leaving felt like he was
   1.879 +cutting out a piece of himself, the most important piece. But his
   1.880 +duty lay elsewhere. He couldn’t back down on his word. No matter how
   1.881 +much he wanted to. 
   1.882 +	Hao Minh took several steps towards the brave, silent warrior. With
   1.883 +his stoic appearance, his feelings were a mystery to her. What she
   1.884 +did know was that it felt like she should have died back in the
   1.885 +burning village, that being rescued once again by him wasn’t worth it
   1.886 +if she couldn’t stay by his side. “I.. I could never love anyone
   1.887 +else,” she got out quietly, stopping a few feet from the soldier. 
   1.888 +	Closing his eyes, he knew he couldn’t face her. His heart and his
   1.889 +honor fought to the death inside of him, conflicting emotions warring
   1.890 +for control. All his life had been nothing but pain and death. He
   1.891 +could remember nothing besides the cold, expansive depths. But she
   1.892 +had pulled away the curtains and let in the light in his life,
   1.893 +chasing away the darkness that latched onto his soul. The prospect of
   1.894 +plunging once more into the darkness, lit only with swaths of
   1.895 +crimson, it filled him with hopelessness. Her sobs broke his strength
   1.896 +and he quickly turned to her. He held her close, her head on his
   1.897 +chest. No words came to mind to express his sorrow or even to help
   1.898 +ease her own, but that was all right. Because...
   1.899 +
   1.900 +	A knock at the door shook Wei from his writing, dragging him from
   1.901 +the long ago time he had lost himself in. The caretaker of both
   1.902 +Syaoran and Meiling Li hurried to the door, leaving his work behind
   1.903 +him. He had been a faithful servant to Syaoran’s mother, Ieran, for
   1.904 +many years now. He had known her when she had been but a child. So
   1.905 +she had trusted him with her son’s care when the boy had been sent to
   1.906 +Japan years earlier. Now that Syaoran had returned to Japan, Wei had
   1.907 +come along with Meiling to keep an eye on the young man. Ieran had
   1.908 +been angry about Syaoran’s disrespect for his engagement to Meiling,
   1.909 +but Wei could also tell that she worried about her only son. So he
   1.910 +had promised to take good care of the boy. But what with Meiling and
   1.911 +Syaoran being older this time around, he had much more time on his
   1.912 +hands. The two seemed to be fine on their own, and he often worried
   1.913 +that he was getting in the way. So he had started writing a romance
   1.914 +novel to while away the time. 
   1.915 +	Reaching the door, Wei opened it and stood by politely. Sure
   1.916 +enough, there were the two cousins waiting. “Miss Meiling, Master
   1.917 +Syaoran, how are you? I trust that your day was pleasant?” he asked,
   1.918 +bowing his head to the two as they entered. He waited for a response,
   1.919 +but found that none seemed to be forthcoming. He watched the two
   1.920 +teenagers looking around awkwardly. Frowning in confusion, he stepped
   1.921 +forward. “Are you both all right?” They were both acting so
   1.922 +strangely. He’d known them both from the time they had been born and
   1.923 +neither seemed to be their normal selves. And Meiling was wearing a
   1.924 +scowl that looked remarkably like Syaoran’s. It must have rubbed off
   1.925 +on her. 
   1.926 +	Syaoran whirled around quickly, the small tie on his uniform
   1.927 +trailing to the side as he did. He smiled quickly and nodded. “We’re
   1.928 +both fine, Wei. Today was great. Nothing big. Oh, I’m over that
   1.929 +Sakura girl now. Maybe we can head back to Hong Kong soon. Like after
   1.930 +tomorrow or something. Anyway, Meiling and I were going back to my...
   1.931 +her room. Have a good night, Wei!” The chestnut haired boy waved
   1.932 +energetically before turning and grabbing his cousin’s arm. 
   1.933 +	Meiling stopped dead in her tracks, eyes narrowing as she scowled.
   1.934 +Wei would have sworn that he’d seen that exact same look on Syaoran
   1.935 +countless times before. He was impressed at how well Meiling pulled
   1.936 +it off. She did spend most of her time with him, so it made sense
   1.937 +that she would be able to know him well enough to copy his
   1.938 +mannerisms. But Meiling wasn’t concerned with Wei’s line of thought
   1.939 +at the moment. Her amber eyes were instead focused on her fiance.
   1.940 +“Since when did I say I was going back to Hong Kong? And I never said
   1.941 +anything about getting over Sakura-chan. I...” The girl trailed off
   1.942 +as her thoughts returned to earlier that evening. Her shoulders
   1.943 +slumped and her eyes closed as the image of Sakura with Tomoyo filled
   1.944 +his mind. So that’s why the Cardmistress had been spending all of her
   1.945 +time with the heiress lately. They were dating. Meiling had been
   1.946 +right in the first place. Coming to Japan had been pointless. 
   1.947 +	Nonplussed by the glare he had received from Meiling, Syaoran
   1.948 +shrugged. It had been worth a shot, at any rate. Besides, maybe she
   1.949 +could convince Wei to take them back to Hong Kong while she was
   1.950 +Syaoran. Not until after they got changed back, of course. Smiling
   1.951 +wickedly, the woman inhabiting Syaoran’s body smiled. His hand moved
   1.952 +from Meiling’s arm down to her hand. “Besides, I want to hurry back
   1.953 +so that I can marry my beloved Meiling. The sooner I can get back,
   1.954 +the better.” Leaning forward, he kissed the defeated looking Meiling.
   1.955 +The kiss broke through the black haired girl’s thoughts and brought a
   1.956 +deep blush to her cheeks. It felt so strange to be kissing herself.
   1.957 +He had to keep reminding himself that he was kissing Syaoran. But
   1.958 +despite the awkwardness of the situation, it was surprisingly easy.
   1.959 +Seeing the former boy blushing so brightly was a nice touch and it
   1.960 +felt so nice to be able to kiss him again, even if he was a girl at
   1.961 +the moment. That thought ended the kiss pretty quickly. Maybe this
   1.962 +was a little more bizarre than she thought. “I just love her so
   1.963 +much,” he added with a smile. “Sleep well, Wei! See you in the
   1.964 +morning!” He knew that it wasn’t really Syaoran’s words, but it
   1.965 +helped to at least hear them for once. Taking Meiling’s arm again, he
   1.966 +hurried back towards the girl’s room that had previously been his own.
   1.967 +	Watching in silence, Wei could barely contain his excitement. Ieran
   1.968 +would certainly want to hear of this sudden development! He had to
   1.969 +make plans to return to Hong Kong as soon as possible. 
   1.970 +
   1.971 +	Meiling sighed as she closed the door to her room behind the two of
   1.972 +them. Being in Syaoran’s body was getting a little too confusing for
   1.973 +her. But still... She smiled as a hand went to her lips. It had been
   1.974 +Syaoran and Meiling kissing, even if it had been a little mixed up
   1.975 +about who was who. It would’ve been nicer had Syaoran kissed her
   1.976 +back, but it had been fun to make him blush like that. Sitting on her
   1.977 +bed, Meiling tried to smooth down her skirt only to find Syaoran’s
   1.978 +shorts instead. Her hands immediately went to her sides, her own
   1.979 +blush burning across her cheeks. No, she didn’t like being in a boy’s
   1.980 +body. She wanted to be in her own again soon. She had been a girl her
   1.981 +entire life. She had always had such strong feelings for her cousin.
   1.982 +Now she was trapped in the body of the boy she loved and it was just
   1.983 +making everything so difficult. Her eyes slowly went over to Syaoran,
   1.984 +who was still a little flushed from earlier. The former boy was
   1.985 +having trouble with the skirt, but his mind was obviously elsewhere.
   1.986 +She giggled a bit at his frustration and scooted over to help him.
   1.987 +Her hands went to his waist. It felt strange to feel her body like
   1.988 +that. At least her martial arts training kept her in good shape.
   1.989 +“Okay, stand up.” Syaoran frowned but complied with her command. She
   1.990 +pulled the skirt back down and sat Syaoran down again, smoothing it
   1.991 +out over his legs. “There. See? It’s not so difficult. But you
   1.992 +shouldn’t have to get too used to it. We should be ourselves
   1.993 +tomorrow. Then we can put this nightmare behind us.” 
   1.994 +	Simply nodding, Syaoran looked around Meiling’s room. It wasn’t
   1.995 +that he hadn’t been there before, but he had been avoiding the room
   1.996 +since they had kissed in it the night after Meiling had arrived from
   1.997 +Hong Kong. He knew how she felt about him, but he was supposed to be
   1.998 +there for Sakura, damn it, and not an obsessive cousin. So he had
   1.999 +thought it best to try and ignore the room and the girl who slept in
  1.1000 +it as much as possible, at least until he was dating Sakura again.
  1.1001 +Meiling confused him. Even after all this time, she still loved him.
  1.1002 +Despite his pledge of love for Sakura and despite his ignoring most
  1.1003 +of her advances again and again. She was extremely determined, not
  1.1004 +giving up on him. It was something that he had found incredibly
  1.1005 +attractive in Sakura, that determination. And aside from Meiling
  1.1006 +sharing that trait with Sakura, he genuinely liked spending time with
  1.1007 +Meiling. She was probably the only person that he could relax around.
  1.1008 +She made him feel good, like everything was fine. Meiling had been
  1.1009 +his best friend since they had been children, and she still held up
  1.1010 +that position even as she fell in love with him. She was closer to
  1.1011 +him than anyone else could be. And it was for all of those reasons
  1.1012 +that he had tried to stay away from her. Too often, he had felt a
  1.1013 +warm feeling wrapping around his heart, his heart beating faster as
  1.1014 +they were together. Too often, he had found himself nearly lost to
  1.1015 +his beautiful cousin. And he simply couldn’t allow that of himself.
  1.1016 +Not when he was going to make the Cardmistress his bride. Not that
  1.1017 +that seemed like a possibility at all at the moment. But she was the
  1.1018 +one he loved? Right? But he didn’t feel the same conviction he had
  1.1019 +held for the past few years. It felt weaker, empty. How well had he
  1.1020 +ever known Sakura? Why had his feelings for Yukito transferred so
  1.1021 +quickly to her instead? Would he have even liked her had it not been
  1.1022 +for her power, her determination? No, he loved her. It was simple.
  1.1023 +He’d prove that he was the one for the Cardmistress, not that
  1.1024 +backstabbing Diadouji girl. She had been the one who had nursed his
  1.1025 +feelings for Sakura in the first place, had told him to tell her how
  1.1026 +he felt. But now she was the one with Sakura. How could such a weak,
  1.1027 +pathetic girl ever be enough for the powerful and determined Sakura?
  1.1028 +It was just mind boggling. 
  1.1029 +	Watching Syaoran closely, Meiling reached out and pushed back one
  1.1030 +of his new black pigtails behind his shoulder. It was her body, but
  1.1031 +it was so obvious that he was inside of it. That quiet, almost
  1.1032 +irritated look that he always gave shined through even in another
  1.1033 +body. But she knew what was behind all of his machismo, all of his
  1.1034 +manliness. He was shy and uncertain. He always had been, for as long
  1.1035 +as Meiling could remember him. He had never been very good at
  1.1036 +expressing his feelings. They baffled him and he tried to keep them
  1.1037 +all hidden, even from himself. Growing up in a house filled with
  1.1038 +girls and faced with his mother’s high expectations of him, Syaoran
  1.1039 +had overcompensated in his attitude, trying to be as manly as
  1.1040 +possible to make up for the fact that he had no men to look up to, to
  1.1041 +make up for his own shyness and insecurities. That was part of why
  1.1042 +Meiling thought that he had gotten a crush on Yukito, because he was
  1.1043 +a boy that he could really look up to, a boy that was sweet and kind
  1.1044 +and didn’t need to worry about how manly he was. But Syaoran wanted
  1.1045 +to be as masculine as possible, to prove that he was one in a house
  1.1046 +full of women. That he was not one of them. Most of the time, it just
  1.1047 +made him look like a jerk. At least at first glance. But Meiling
  1.1048 +could see under that at the boy underneath it all. And there was
  1.1049 +something almost feminine about him. Which made sense in its way,
  1.1050 +what with him being the only boy in the entire family. It was fine
  1.1051 +with her if Syaoran wanted to hide behind this tough boy image he had
  1.1052 +made up for himself. But sometimes Meiling wondered if that stood in
  1.1053 +her way. Was he so desperate to be strong on his own that he kept
  1.1054 +pushing her away? That he couldn’t let her be strong for him? She
  1.1055 +wasn’t sure, but it had begun to gnaw at her lately. It wasn’t so
  1.1056 +much that he didn’t need her, but that he didn’t want to need her. At
  1.1057 +least, she thought that it might be part of why she was having so
  1.1058 +much trouble getting him to return her feelings. 
  1.1059 +	“Why did you say all of those things to Wei?” Syaoran finally
  1.1060 +asked, a trace of anger in his/Meiling’s voice as he spoke. He had
  1.1061 +been lost in thought, but now he found himself once again facing the
  1.1062 +present. Looking into Meiling’s large mirror, he could see a
  1.1063 +beautiful black haired girl looking back at him. That wasn’t at all
  1.1064 +what he was supposed to see. The feminine image looking back at him
  1.1065 +just served to frustrate him even further. He felt so powerless, so
  1.1066 +trapped by this whole scenario. He couldn’t do a thing until the
  1.1067 +coming day to change back to who he was. “You had no right to say any
  1.1068 +of that. Just because you’re in my body doesn’t mean you can go
  1.1069 +around saying things like that. It’s my choice if I’m going to go
  1.1070 +after Sakura-chan or not. I’m going to decide when I go back to Hong
  1.1071 +Kong.”
  1.1072 +	Lowering her head, Meiling closed her eyes. Hearing Syaoran yelling
  1.1073 +at her, even in her own body, cut her deeply. She hadn’t meant to
  1.1074 +make him angry, only to use her time as Syaoran as best as she could.
  1.1075 +But her moved changed swiftly. Her hands clenched as his words played
  1.1076 +through her head over and over. Her heart suddenly dropped. “So it’s
  1.1077 +all right for you to run off here to chase some other woman while I
  1.1078 +spend my whole life waiting for you? How long do I have to wait,
  1.1079 +Syaoran? If you’re going to end the engagement, just do it already!
  1.1080 +I’m tired of waiting for you, of being the door prize in case things
  1.1081 +don’t work out with Sakura. I want you to love me, but if you can’t
  1.1082 +then you need to tell me that. I won’t always be there for you to
  1.1083 +fall back on, Syaoran.” Her head came up as she looked him in the
  1.1084 +eye. Tears ran down her cheeks, but her amber eyes burned furiously.
  1.1085 +“I’ll always be there to pick up the pieces when you fall, but I
  1.1086 +won’t stand for second best. You know I never could.” She scoffed,
  1.1087 +crossing her arms. “Besides, if you want Sakura so much, now’s the
  1.1088 +time to do it. Dark haired girls are her thing, after all.” Crying
  1.1089 +herself to sleep on her pillow sounded like a great idea at the
  1.1090 +moment, but she was still too pissed off to let Syaoran get away that
  1.1091 +easily. She felt sick inside, crushed by his inability to return the
  1.1092 +feelings that she held for him, by his longing for another woman when
  1.1093 +she was his fiance. “If you don’t want it, I won’t force you. I’m not
  1.1094 +going to trap myself in some loveless marriage the way my mother did.
  1.1095 +I’ll go home to Hong Kong myself and I’ll tell Ieran-sama that the
  1.1096 +engagement’s off, that I’ve given up my claims on you. Just tell me.
  1.1097 +I can get Wei to send me back on the next flight.” The fact that she
  1.1098 +was still in Syaoran’s body didn’t register to her, or that Syaoran
  1.1099 +was sitting across from her as a girl. None of that seemed to matter.
  1.1100 +She was simply staring into Syaoran’s eyes, looking one last time for
  1.1101 +something she had searched a lifetime for. Sometimes there had been
  1.1102 +peeks, little flashes of what might have been, but she could never be
  1.1103 +sure. This was all or nothing. If it wasn’t there this time, then she
  1.1104 +was through. “I won’t love anyone else. I couldn’t,” she whispered.
  1.1105 +“But I’m not your property, Syaoran.”
  1.1106 +	“Mei... Ling...” Syaoran watched Meiling in surprise. He had always
  1.1107 +thought that Meiling would simply be there, waiting, for all time if
  1.1108 +need be. But how could he ever ask that of her? How could she sit by
  1.1109 +while he continued to hurt her by trying to win the love of another?
  1.1110 +And he had been hurting her more and more lately. He had always been
  1.1111 +so careful about not hurting her. He had never simply thrown off her
  1.1112 +advances or told her outright to stop them. He had tried his hardest
  1.1113 +to never hurt her that way. She was too important to him. The thought
  1.1114 +of her in pain because of him was unbearable. But here he was hurting
  1.1115 +her all the same. They had grown closer in their time back in Hong
  1.1116 +Kong, but ever since he had returned to Japan, he had tried to
  1.1117 +distance himself from her as he focused on Sakura. So he had to be
  1.1118 +man enough to accept this. That thought seemed a little strange as he
  1.1119 +glanced back at the mirror, at the female body that currently housed
  1.1120 +him. But that didn’t seem important. None of this seemed important
  1.1121 +any longer. Finding out Sakura was with the heiress, or that he and
  1.1122 +Meiling had switched bodies, none of it seemed all that tragic at the
  1.1123 +moment. The tragic thought was that he might lose Meiling because of
  1.1124 +this. And that frightened him. He couldn’t remember a time when she
  1.1125 +hadn’t been there for him. He had always been too proud to go to her
  1.1126 +with his problems, but she usually came to him and helped him through
  1.1127 +them anyway. It was so much more than just that. She had stood up for
  1.1128 +him in front of his mother before, something even he found almost
  1.1129 +impossible to do. She had given him the strength to face so much. She
  1.1130 +loved him even though he never returned the warmth she gave him. And
  1.1131 +now he had to decide. Would he pull her closer or set her free? Would
  1.1132 +he tug the string that bound her to him, or cut it loose? He looked
  1.1133 +down at his skirt clad lap indecisively. He wasn’t good with things
  1.1134 +like this. It had taken Tomoyo quite a while just to convince him to
  1.1135 +tell Sakura how he felt. How was he supposed to handle a situation
  1.1136 +like this? “Meiling,” he said at last, slowly looking up into her
  1.1137 +tear soaked eyes. He looked directly into the face that had been his
  1.1138 +own up till a few hours before. “I can’t let you go. I don’t want you
  1.1139 +to stop being my fiance. It would be.. harder without you. I... I...”
  1.1140 +He wanted to look away, to trail off, but he forced himself to try
  1.1141 +again. His fingers clutched onto the fabric of the skirt as amber
  1.1142 +eyes met amber eyes. “I.. I need you, Meiling,” he got out at last.
  1.1143 +Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. It had been one of the
  1.1144 +hardest things he had ever said, but he suddenly felt like a weight
  1.1145 +had been lifted off of his shoulders. It felt nice to finally admit
  1.1146 +that to himself and to Meiling.
  1.1147 +	The currently brown haired boy looked on in astonishment. Had
  1.1148 +Syaoran actually said that he needed her? That he wanted to stay her
  1.1149 +fiance? “You really mean it?” she asked quickly, her hands on her
  1.1150 +knees. He nodded, dark hair fluttering about his back. A giddy thrill
  1.1151 +shot through Meiling, her heart swelling with joy. She had waited so
  1.1152 +long to hear that, to hear him finally accept her. So often in recent
  1.1153 +years, she had wondered if he ever would, if she would ever be able
  1.1154 +to marry the boy she loved. Her arms wrapped around him joyously as
  1.1155 +she clutched on tightly to her betrothed. It didn’t matter if he was
  1.1156 +a girl at the moment or if she was currently a boy. It didn’t matter
  1.1157 +if she was looking into her own eyes as long as Syaoran was on the
  1.1158 +other side of them. Such things were of little importance to her. She
  1.1159 +was in love, and that blinding light made everything else seem
  1.1160 +insignificant. Tears spilt down her cheeks as she felt his arms go
  1.1161 +around her neck. She had been on the razor’s edge just a moment
  1.1162 +before, torn apart at the thought of leaving her cousin behind.
  1.1163 +Relief flooded through her in a torrent, mixed with the delicious
  1.1164 +love that poured over her heart and soul. Hesitating for only a
  1.1165 +second, Meiling kissed Syaoran again, but this time without the
  1.1166 +concerns that had brought her earlier kiss to an early conclusion. A
  1.1167 +moment like this wouldn’t feel right without a kiss. It signified so
  1.1168 +much in that sweet meeting of lips. Meiling was delighted to feel
  1.1169 +Syaoran return the kiss this time. Though she wasn’t exactly
  1.1170 +narcissistic, Meiling had plenty of confidence in herself. And one of
  1.1171 +the things she was fairly certain of was that she was a pretty young
  1.1172 +woman. Seeing Syaoran in her body just strengthened that belief
  1.1173 +because she sure thought Syaoran looked pretty in it. She didn’t know
  1.1174 +if it was from the euphoria of the moment or if it was just a simple
  1.1175 +as being in love, but it really didn’t matter that Syaoran was a girl
  1.1176 +at the moment. 
  1.1177 +	Syaoran blushed as he tried to catch his breath from the kiss with
  1.1178 +Meiling. It felt so nice not to have to worry about how manly he
  1.1179 +seemed or whether or not he was in charge of things. It was such a
  1.1180 +relief to leave it in Meiling’s very capable hands. And what hands
  1.1181 +they were. Syaoran blushed a darker shade of red as Meiling’s hands
  1.1182 +trailed up and down his back, holding him close. Meiling was always
  1.1183 +so sure of what she wanted, so determined and ready to go for it. For
  1.1184 +once in his life, he didn’t feel wrong for just wanting her to lead
  1.1185 +him wherever she wanted to. He felt so free, to just give up and let
  1.1186 +it happen, to know that Meiling would handle things. Part of him
  1.1187 +almost didn’t want to go see Sakura to switch bodies the next day. He
  1.1188 +thought that he had to act certain ways as a boy, that he had to hide
  1.1189 +his own insecurities and shyness behind a picture of confidence and
  1.1190 +bravado. As a girl, he could finally let go of them. His mind drifted
  1.1191 +back to his sisters and how happy and carefree they always seemed. As
  1.1192 +a girl, he didn’t have to live up to his mother’s high demands of
  1.1193 +him. He didn’t have the entire weight of the Li Clan resting solely
  1.1194 +on his shoulders. His mother had always treated him so harshly in
  1.1195 +comparison to his sisters. It almost felt a shame that he would have
  1.1196 +to go back to all that when he regained his own body. Besides,
  1.1197 +Meiling was already so confident, so self-assured. He envied that in
  1.1198 +her, but it was also something that he loved about her. Loved? Had he
  1.1199 +just thought that? Well, yes... Yes, he did love her. This
  1.1200 +beautiful... err… handsome boy that was currently holding him,
  1.1201 +kissing him again and again. He had to admit, Meiling did make a nice
  1.1202 +boy. And he felt so peaceful in Meiling’s arms. It felt like he was
  1.1203 +floating along in a crystal stream, flowing deeper and deeper.
  1.1204 +	“I love you, Syaoran,” Meiling whispered breathlessly as her lips
  1.1205 +finally parted from her cousin's. This felt like a dream, a
  1.1206 +hopelessly wonderful yet admittedly bizarre dream. She just prayed
  1.1207 +that she would never have to awaken from it. It didn’t matter who
  1.1208 +Syaoran was so long as he was Syaoran and as long as he was hers. Her
  1.1209 +heart burned passionately for her more introverted fiance, driving
  1.1210 +her ever forward. Her hands gently followed her old body’s curves,
  1.1211 +moving over every inch of Syaoran that she could. It felt so
  1.1212 +different now. It wasn’t like when she would bathe or dress or
  1.1213 +anything. No, then it was just her body, nothing special. Now it was
  1.1214 +Syaoran, and that made all the difference in the world. She blushed
  1.1215 +as Syaoran let out a gasp, finding her hand on his now more ample
  1.1216 +chest. Looking over at him, she saw that his eyes were closed, his
  1.1217 +face red. She should stop. Who knew where this could go? She had been
  1.1218 +wanting to be with Syaoran for so long that it was almost
  1.1219 +irresistible to continue. Besides, they were in each other’s bodies
  1.1220 +at the moment. She’d stop before she got too far with anything. It
  1.1221 +wasn’t like she wanted to do anything to her own body. She just...
  1.1222 +wanted to be close to him for as long as she could.
  1.1223 +	
  1.1224 +	Wei could see the two cousins kissing in Meiling’s room through the
  1.1225 +slightly ajar door and couldn’t help but grin. Ieran had made an
  1.1226 +excellent choice in engaging the two. They really made a perfect
  1.1227 +match. He had been hoping that they would eventually work out, for
  1.1228 +both of their sakes. “They seem to be... They’re both asleep at the
  1.1229 +moment, Miss Ieran. But I’m sure they’ll love to speak with you as
  1.1230 +soon as they can. I have the tickets, so that will be very soon.”
  1.1231 +Smiling, the older man shut the door the rest of the way and returned
  1.1232 +to his conversation with the head of the House of Li. He remembered
  1.1233 +when he had been that young, so he didn’t wish to disturb the two of
  1.1234 +them. It looked like Master Syaoran was feeling a bit adventurous.
  1.1235 +They would have such beautiful children. He hoped he could be around
  1.1236 +to help that generation as well. A lifetime of service to the Li
  1.1237 +family had endeared him to them very much. He was glad to see it
  1.1238 +continuing on.
  1.1239 +
  1.1240 +	“Master Syaoran, Miss Meiling, it’s time to wake up,” Wei called
  1.1241 +from somewhere that sounded extremely far off to the still sleepy
  1.1242 +Meiling.
  1.1243 +	Shifting in bed, Meiling was surprised to find one of her arms
  1.1244 +pinned under something warm. A flush spread across her cheeks as she
  1.1245 +felt the soft skin against her arm. ‘Syaoran!!’ she thought
  1.1246 +excitedly. ‘So he must have stayed with me last night.’ She rolled
  1.1247 +back on her side and hugged the sleeping form of her fiance with all
  1.1248 +of her might. “Syaoran,” she sang into his ear. “Time to wake up. We
  1.1249 +have school.” Kissing the side of his head, she felt his hair brush
  1.1250 +against her face. “You need a haircut soon,” she said, yawning. Her
  1.1251 +hand finally paused on Syaoran’s stomach. Something was wrong. Having
  1.1252 +grappled onto Syaoran more than a thousand times in her lifetime, she
  1.1253 +knew what it felt like to hold onto him. She was more or less an
  1.1254 +expert on the subject. And this felt.. different. “Syaoran?” Sitting
  1.1255 +up in bed, the blanket slid down past her, leaving her sitting naked
  1.1256 +in the cold air and Syaoran only half covered by it. Next to her, she
  1.1257 +saw herself, lying with the blanket around her waist and her black
  1.1258 +hair in disarray. Looking down slowly, she saw Syaoran’s body, along
  1.1259 +with something she hadn’t seen very often currently between her legs.
  1.1260 +“Syaoran!!!!” She cried out, standing up on the bed. Her eyes were
  1.1261 +wide with panic. She was still Syaoran. Which meant that Syaoran was
  1.1262 +still her. Well, in her body, at any rate. Which meant that.. What
  1.1263 +had happened last night? They had been kissing and holding each other
  1.1264 +and they had slumped back on the bed together and... She nearly
  1.1265 +toppled off the bed as the realization struck her. She had slept with
  1.1266 +Syaoran the night before. That would have been a cause for
  1.1267 +celebration under most other circumstances seeing as how she had
  1.1268 +wanted to be with him for the longest time. But slowly, the night
  1.1269 +began returning to her and it wasn’t exactly what she had fantasized
  1.1270 +about. Not that it hadn’t been intense. But the fact that she had
  1.1271 +slept with Syaoran as a girl suddenly had her disoriented. It was
  1.1272 +only made worse by the fact that she had been a boy at the time. What
  1.1273 +had she been thinking? ‘Those eyes,’ she thought dreamily. She shook
  1.1274 +her head instantly, trying to banish the thought. How could she have
  1.1275 +let that happen? Let alone, how could she have actually been the one
  1.1276 +to bring it about? Why the hell would she want to sleep with her own
  1.1277 +body? Why would she want to have sex as a boy? Those eyes once again
  1.1278 +came back as her answer. Because it had been Syaoran. Because she had
  1.1279 +seen it in them. Because she wanted nothing more than to be with him,
  1.1280 +even if he wasn’t a he at the moment. Slumping back on the bed,
  1.1281 +Meiling stared at the roof. This was going to take a while to get
  1.1282 +over. 
  1.1283 +	Stirring in bed, Syaoran slowly blinked himself awake. Seconds
  1.1284 +later, a scream shook the household.
  1.1285 +
  1.1286 +	A playful morning breeze meandered through the still sleepy
  1.1287 +students as they all made their way towards their inevitable
  1.1288 +destination as if by drawn by the hand of Fate. The warm wind worked
  1.1289 +its gentle fingers on the tired students, easing the anxiety over the
  1.1290 +school day laid out before them. Most of the teenagers lazily made
  1.1291 +their way to the vast complex that would house their young minds for
  1.1292 +the majority of the day, stopping to wave hello to fellow students or
  1.1293 +to stop and chat with friends in an attempt to stall the awaiting
  1.1294 +judgement. But two students stood out from the crowd, not at all
  1.1295 +sedated by the early morning breeze and the still low lying sun.
  1.1296 +Syaoran and Meiling Li hurried through the crowd with single-minded
  1.1297 +intent. Meiling’s hair lay draped across her shoulders, her usual
  1.1298 +pigtails abandoned, but no one thought it wise to ask the admittedly
  1.1299 +short tempered Chinese girl about it. 
  1.1300 +	“Where is she?” Meiling asked anxiously, scouring the crowd for the
  1.1301 +Cardmistress but to no avail. After that morning’s little ‘surprise’,
  1.1302 +she was in no mood for games. She just wanted to end the whole thing.
  1.1303 +She wanted her own body back. She was supposed to be on the other end
  1.1304 +of things the night before, not the other way around. A slight blush
  1.1305 +crossed Meiling’s cheeks as she tried to force back the thoughts from
  1.1306 +the night before. Her almond eyes darted back to Syaoran despite
  1.1307 +their current mission. Seeing the boy she had longed to marry for
  1.1308 +most of her life in her body was a very strange sight indeed. He
  1.1309 +looked so awkward in the skirt, shifting around uneasily in it and
  1.1310 +holding it down tightly whenever any breeze would threaten to ruffle
  1.1311 +it. But there was something cute about that, seeing him as herself,
  1.1312 +long hair, skirt, and all. He looked so much more vulnerable in her
  1.1313 +body, something that the Chinese boy always tried desperately to hide
  1.1314 +beneath a rough and uncaring exterior. He had grown up with the
  1.1315 +expectations that he was supposed to be a man in a family full of
  1.1316 +women. And he didn’t know how. So he tried far too hard,
  1.1317 +overcompensating in an attempt to prove his worth. Sometimes amusing,
  1.1318 +sometimes frustrating, Meiling always stayed by his side. It wasn’t
  1.1319 +his exterior she was interested in. He could be as quiet or as
  1.1320 +haughty as he wanted. It was the shy, emotionally troubled boy inside
  1.1321 +that had always captivated Meiling. And it showed through exquisitely
  1.1322 +while he was trapped in her body. Just as it had shown through the
  1.1323 +night before. Sighing, Meiling tried to force the blush away from her
  1.1324 +cheeks. But just like her search for Sakura, it proved to be
  1.1325 +fruitless. 
  1.1326 +	Syaoran, meanwhile, was wondering how in the world he was supposed
  1.1327 +to keep his skirt down with the wind mischievously tugging at it
  1.1328 +every few seconds. What used to be a mild interest now turned
  1.1329 +irritating. Short skirts were definitely more fun to look at on
  1.1330 +others than to wear himself, he decided. He was still desperately
  1.1331 +searching for the Cardmistress, hoping that Sakura could put
  1.1332 +everything right again. And then he could try to forget all about the
  1.1333 +night before. He scowled as images and sounds flooded back from
  1.1334 +memory of his time with his fiance. Meiling’s hands all over his
  1.1335 +body, her lips gently caressing his own, her murmurs and whispers of
  1.1336 +love as they writhed together on her bed. The electrical feelings
  1.1337 +that tingled through him as Meiling’s body reacted in ways that his
  1.1338 +never could. Balling his hands into fists, he tried to fight back his
  1.1339 +embarrassment the way he always did, with anger. This was all
  1.1340 +Daidouji’s fault. Somehow. If she hadn’t lured Sakura back to her
  1.1341 +place... But then, if he hadn’t follwed them... Damn it, he didn’t
  1.1342 +care whose fault it was. He just wanted to get things back to normal.
  1.1343 +He certainly wasn’t supposed to be fooling around with himself like
  1.1344 +the night before. Even if it was Meiling. And even if thoughts of
  1.1345 +those sweet kisses threatened to send a shiver down his spine.
  1.1346 +Blushing and scowling in unison, Syaoran threw himself into finding
  1.1347 +Sakura.
  1.1348 +	The two cousins finally spotted Sakura under a tree near the gates
  1.1349 +to the school. The brunette was joined by her lavender haired
  1.1350 +companion as usual. But oddly enough, Tomoyo looked to be the
  1.1351 +embarrassed one this time around. Sakura was smiling brightly, her
  1.1352 +hands on her cheeks as she spoke to the blushing pale girl. Meiling
  1.1353 +was the first to react, practically dragging Syaoran over to the two
  1.1354 +girls. She didn’t care if they were both acting flaky that morning or
  1.1355 +what they were up to. She wanted things set back to normal before
  1.1356 +anything else happened. There were already enough problems she had to
  1.1357 +handle with only the night before. If this went on any longer, who
  1.1358 +know what might happen? Noticing Syaoran’s typical scowl crossing his
  1.1359 +face as he waited, she realized that her quiet cousin wasn’t sure of
  1.1360 +how to proceed. With a sigh, Meiling decided to handle things
  1.1361 +herself. Stepping forward, she crossed her arms. “Sakura, we need to
  1.1362 +talk.”
  1.1363 +	Turning to face the Chinese Sorcerer and his martial artist cousin,
  1.1364 +the brunette smiled Tomoyo’s patented eerie smile. “Hello, Li-kun,
  1.1365 +Meiling-chan. Is there anything I can do for the both of you?” she
  1.1366 +asked politely, looking from one to the other. It didn’t surprise her
  1.1367 +to hear Syaoran asking to speak to her so seriously. She’d been
  1.1368 +waiting for him to ask Sakura about what was going on. Sakura was
  1.1369 +obviously his reason for returning to Japan. Sakura treated him like
  1.1370 +one of her friends, kindly and happily just like Sakura always did.
  1.1371 +But this surprised the sorcerer who had been expecting something more
  1.1372 +from the Cardmistress. Tomoyo had actually expected him to ask Sakura
  1.1373 +earlier, but she supposed that with how long it took for him to
  1.1374 +confess his feelings for Sakura, it must take a while to ask about
  1.1375 +Sakura’s feelings. But now it appeared he was ready to ask her, and
  1.1376 +sense she was in Sakura’s body, she was the one he had come to. But
  1.1377 +as she waited for his response, she began to reevaluate the
  1.1378 +situation. Why would Syaoran come to ask about the brunette’s
  1.1379 +feelings with Meiling in tow? That would just be cruel to Meiling and
  1.1380 +with her temper, she wouldn’t be very happy to hear her fiance asking
  1.1381 +about Sakura’s love life. On top of that, Meiling appeared to be
  1.1382 +acting strangely. She was scowling very familiarly, letting Syaoran
  1.1383 +do the talking. She was oddly quiet, wrapped up in her thoughts. Just
  1.1384 +like someone else. Tomoyo brought her hand to her chin thoughtfully,
  1.1385 +never once losing her smile. 
  1.1386 +	Meiling frowned for a moment, at a loss for words. This seemed a
  1.1387 +lot easier when she’d been running around the house in a panic,
  1.1388 +getting an odd stare from Wei when she walked out of her room wearing
  1.1389 +the girl’s uniform. Things had been very straightforward. They would
  1.1390 +find Sakura and make her change them back. But how was she supposed
  1.1391 +to say that? She suddenly felt very self-conscious, shifting around
  1.1392 +under the boy’s uniform. She was a girl trapped in a boy’s body and
  1.1393 +she somehow had to explain that. This wasn’t at all like when Syaoran
  1.1394 +had been trapped in Kero’s body. At least that whole event had been
  1.1395 +mostly painless. This time she was directly involved. “Sakura, we’ve
  1.1396 +got a problem. Last night...” She glared over at Syaoran. She’d bop
  1.1397 +him right now if she wasn’t so nervous. If he hadn’t gone after that
  1.1398 +Japanese hussy, she’d be in her own body at the moment, clinging to
  1.1399 +her cousin’s arm lovingly. Just like how Sakura was leaning happily
  1.1400 +against Tomoyo at the moment, a contented look on her face as she
  1.1401 +held her chin in thought. Meiling placed her hands on her hips,
  1.1402 +frowning as she tried to describe what had happened. “You need to fix
  1.1403 +things,” she got out at last, frustrated with how difficult this was
  1.1404 +turning out.
  1.1405 +	Syaoran sighed. This wasn’t turning out as well as he’d planned.
  1.1406 +Then again, he hadn’t had much time to plan anything. Upon waking up,
  1.1407 +he had found himself in a very awkward position with memories of the
  1.1408 +night before returned shortly thereafter. The whole morning felt more
  1.1409 +like a haze than reality. He couldn’t even remember walking to
  1.1410 +school, having been too lost in his thoughts. The night before
  1.1411 +blurred together with images and thoughts and feelings, all
  1.1412 +compounding together until the poor boy was thoroughly confused. His
  1.1413 +feelings for Meiling burned inside of him in a way that they never
  1.1414 +had with Sakura. She didn’t have Sakura’s limitless magic, something
  1.1415 +that demanded his attention, but Meiling had a magic all her own, a
  1.1416 +will that managed to grab his attention whether or not he wanted to
  1.1417 +give it. He had grown much closer to his fiery cousin in the past few
  1.1418 +years during his time back in Hong Kong, her unswerving loyalty and
  1.1419 +beautiful presence always keeping him company through even the
  1.1420 +roughest waters. And what did he give her in return? Nothing. He had
  1.1421 +always assumed that he would return to Japan and claim Sakura, even
  1.1422 +as he and Meiling would talk in the garden under the stars back home.
  1.1423 +Though he didn’t say it, he was grateful for her presence. She was
  1.1424 +truly his best friend, the only person to really know him for who he
  1.1425 +was and not for the masculine façade he tried to hold up. Life would
  1.1426 +be too lonely without her. Even if she was rather forceful in staying
  1.1427 +with him no matter how quiet and aloof he generally was. He had had
  1.1428 +some rather doki doki, romantic moments with Meiling over the past
  1.1429 +few years, but they were always left unfinished as the Chinese boy
  1.1430 +found one way or another to get away. How many half kisses, embraces,
  1.1431 +and deep looks had they shared since his return to Hong Kong? The
  1.1432 +night before just felt like a natural conclusion to things, a long
  1.1433 +drawn out consummation of the unspoken feelings between the two.
  1.1434 +Syaoran had actually felt relieved when it was all done, glad to have
  1.1435 +finally broken the barrier that had held back his heart for so long.
  1.1436 +The small, unfinished moments they had shared beforehand had been
  1.1437 +teasing him for what felt like an eternity. It was so nice to finally
  1.1438 +have it behind him, to have it out in the open. Being a girl at the
  1.1439 +time gave the whole thing a freakish spin that threatened to twist
  1.1440 +the whole thing out of perception, but he was slowly coming to grips
  1.1441 +with it. Just like how the night before felt like a forgone
  1.1442 +conclusion, so did his being a girl during it. In fact, Meiling being
  1.1443 +a boy at the time had made it easier for him. He hadn’t been so
  1.1444 +worried, so overwhelmed by what he should by doing or how he was
  1.1445 +supposed to act. He hadn’t felt so pressured to be the cold, aloof
  1.1446 +man he thought he was expected to be. He had just gone along with her
  1.1447 +wishes. Meiling always was so much better at deciding things than he
  1.1448 +was anyway. The thought of the night before and Meiling herself was
  1.1449 +like warm, delicious honey coating his heart, no matter how hard he
  1.1450 +tried to deny it to himself. Meiling loved him in a way Sakura and
  1.1451 +Yukito never could, bringing out feelings in him that neither of his
  1.1452 +previous crushes had elicited. 
  1.1453 +Sighing again, he scowled and crossed his arms over his now more
  1.1454 +ample chest. At least he was getting used to the girl’s clothes. He
  1.1455 +hadn’t worn girl’s clothes since he was a kid, back when his crazy
  1.1456 +older sisters had dressed him up often in their old clothes. They had
  1.1457 +all loved it, treating him like their little doll. He had complained,
  1.1458 +but he secretly loved how they would call him their little sister,
  1.1459 +giving him a taste of the love and care that had been denied him as
  1.1460 +the male heir to the Li Clan. He had been raised with the explicit
  1.1461 +purpose of becoming head of the Li Clan, groomed for that position.
  1.1462 +All the while, his sisters had been granted all the love and
  1.1463 +attention that his sometimes distant mother could afford them. They
  1.1464 +all looked so happy while he was always scowling. It hadn’t seemed
  1.1465 +fair at all. Sometimes he had envied his sisters, wishing his mother
  1.1466 +would treat him as she did his siblings. But he had grown angry and
  1.1467 +introverted, his feelings all looping back into himself. He had tried
  1.1468 +to be exactly what his mother wanted him to be, a strong man. But
  1.1469 +sometimes all he wanted was for her to look at him the way she looked
  1.1470 +at his sisters...
  1.1471 +	Tomoyo brushed away some of the brunette hair from her face,
  1.1472 +studying the two cousins with her now jade eyes. Having a penchant
  1.1473 +for trying new hairstyles, she didn’t let being in Sakura’s body stop
  1.1474 +her. The short auburn hair was done up in two short pigtails, little
  1.1475 +lacy ribbons interspersed all through her hair. She had done Sakura’s
  1.1476 +now long, dark hair on the way to school in the limousine as well,
  1.1477 +giving her longer pigtails so they would match. It was still a bit
  1.1478 +different for her to be in her love’s body, but she was enjoying
  1.1479 +every single second of it, thrilling at the smallest details like
  1.1480 +watching the muscles under soft skin as she moved Sakura’s legs. It
  1.1481 +was so incredibly different to watch Sakura from outside. Now she saw
  1.1482 +Sakura the same way that the Cardmistress saw herself and it was a
  1.1483 +fascinating experience. And seeing Sakura trying to get used to her
  1.1484 +old body was just so incredibly adorable! The way she moved, the way
  1.1485 +she talked, it was all so cute. Tomoyo’s body wasn’t as athletic as
  1.1486 +Sakura’s, but the Cardmistress continued to move with an almost
  1.1487 +blinding amount of energy, always letting her genki spirit shine
  1.1488 +through. Hearing Sakura use her voice and watching Sakura moving
  1.1489 +around so enthusiastically was better than seeing Sakura in any
  1.1490 +simple costume. It was like she had put Sakura in a Tomoyo costume
  1.1491 +and let her run free. Tomoyo was still trying to videotape as much of
  1.1492 +Sakura as possible, wanting to capture it all for posterity and her
  1.1493 +own viewing pleasure later on. 
  1.1494 +	Thoughts flowed serenely in Tomoyo’s head as she listened to
  1.1495 +Syaoran, watching the two cousins as she rested against Sakura. The
  1.1496 +answer to the puzzle she found herself looking at was just on the tip
  1.1497 +of her tongue, the picture almost making sense for her. Something
  1.1498 +finally clicked into place while she saw Meiling’s long hair flutter
  1.1499 +in the wind. Smiling sweetly, she turned to the Chinese boy, his
  1.1500 +hands still on his hips. “What can I do to help, Meiling-chan?” she
  1.1501 +asked the boy curiously, though she had a fair idea what that would
  1.1502 +be. The boy’s eyes went wide and then closed in relief. Tomoyo felt
  1.1503 +Sakura shift against her, long lavender hair teasing her face when
  1.1504 +the Cardmistress moved.
  1.1505 +	Breathing a sigh of relief, Meiling’s eyes fluttered open. This
  1.1506 +whole thing would be over soon enough and she could forget all about
  1.1507 +it. But did she want to? She had given her love to Syaoran and for
  1.1508 +once her fiance had accepted it. Well, that hardly mattered. First
  1.1509 +things first, after all. She grinned from ear to ear at Sakura’s
  1.1510 +words. Things would be back to normal soon. “We need you to change us
  1.1511 +back. Now.”
  1.1512 +	Sakura looked from Meiling to Syaoran and back, dark hair obscuring
  1.1513 +her vision for a moment before she moved a pigtail to the side. What
  1.1514 +had just transpired? Did Tomoyo really say that Syaoran was Meiling?
  1.1515 +Then that meant... “Syaoran-kun?” Sakura asked, turning to the dark
  1.1516 +haired girl. Syaoran looked miserable, but he nodded. “Hoe...” The
  1.1517 +Cardmistress nearly felt dizzy. As if things weren’t usually
  1.1518 +confusion enough, now everyone appeared to be someone that they
  1.1519 +weren’t. What next? Chiharu telling all kinds of crazy stories while
  1.1520 +Yamazaki got frustrated and said she was lying? Syaoran being Meiling
  1.1521 +was certainly a little more bizarre than when the boy had switched
  1.1522 +places with Kero. How was he handling being a girl? Sakura was
  1.1523 +curious to ask, but now didn’t feel like the appropriate time. She
  1.1524 +followed Meiling’s gaze to Tomoyo. So they still thought that Tomoyo
  1.1525 +was her. “Ano... I’m Sakura-chan,” she said hastily, sweatdropping.
  1.1526 +She felt both of the Li’s eyes turning to her and immediately
  1.1527 +regretted saying anything. She probably should have waited for a
  1.1528 +better opportunity to explain things. Oh well. Too late for that now.
  1.1529 +	“Sakura-chan?” Syaoran asked in confusion. So that’s what had
  1.1530 +happened with the Change Card... Sakura must have been using it on
  1.1531 +herself and Tomoyo. His shoulders slumped as his mind went back to
  1.1532 +what he had seen in Tomoyo’s window. He felt a flash of anger at
  1.1533 +that, but he tried to focus on the important part of the situation,
  1.1534 +getting the whole thing sorted out. “So you got switched with
  1.1535 +Daidouji-san, Sakura-chan? How did that happen?” He nearly bit out
  1.1536 +the last part, anger building up at Sakura’s choice in Tomoyo over
  1.1537 +him. That, however, was short lived. As soon as it was out of his
  1.1538 +mouth, Meiling’s elbow connected with his ribs none too gently, her
  1.1539 +currently brown eyes shooting him a glance. Scowling again, he
  1.1540 +crossed his arms and waited.
  1.1541 +	Pale cheeks turned a dark shade of scarlet as Sakura struggled for
  1.1542 +a reply. She could remember the events that had led up to her
  1.1543 +switching places with Tomoyo in crystal clarity, but she didn’t
  1.1544 +exactly want to share the explanation. She could remember Tomoyo and
  1.1545 +stockings and video cameras and lace and kisses and warm skin and...
  1.1546 +No, she definitely didn’t think an exact recollection of the night’s
  1.1547 +events was called for. Luckily, Tomoyo came to her rescue, not
  1.1548 +seeming at all fazed by the mention of the night before.
  1.1549 +	“Sakura-chan was staying at my house last night because her
  1.1550 +father’s out of town at a conference,” Tomoyo stated with a smile.
  1.1551 +Her gentle voice didn’t betray her as her thoughts replayed her time
  1.1552 +with Sakura in vivid detail. “We finished our homework early and
  1.1553 +decided to play a game. I thought it would be fun to trade places
  1.1554 +with Sakura-chan for a while, so she used her magic,” the heiress
  1.1555 +explained, head tilted to the side. She wasn’t technically lying.
  1.1556 +What she said was all true. It just lacked some of the meatier
  1.1557 +details that led up to their switching places. “The Change Card
  1.1558 +switched us and then hopped out the window for a moment.” Tomoyo
  1.1559 +turned to Sakura and smiled brilliantly, holding onto a blushing
  1.1560 +Sakura. “Isn’t Sakura-chan gorgeous even when she’s in another body?
  1.1561 +Sakura-chan can pull off any look!” Noting the even more embarrassed
  1.1562 +look on Sakura’s face, Tomoyo smiled happily, though she didn’t
  1.1563 +release Sakura from her embrace. “How did the Change get a hold of
  1.1564 +the two of you?” she asked curiously. She already had a pretty good
  1.1565 +idea of what on her own. Syaoran must have followed them, Meiling
  1.1566 +giving chase. Syaoran must have been somewhere very near the house
  1.1567 +when the Change jumped out the window because it had come back to
  1.1568 +Sakura rather quickly. 
  1.1569 +	Meiling stepped forward and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. We
  1.1570 +just need to fix this right now. I don’t care if you two want to run
  1.1571 +around like this, but Syaoran and I would kindly like to have our own
  1.1572 +bodies back. I just want this whole nightmare to be over with.” That
  1.1573 +wasn’t exactly true, as Meiling couldn’t honestly say it was a
  1.1574 +nightmare. But nevertheless, she longed to return to her own body. 
  1.1575 +	Looking down nervously, Sakura placed a hand behind her and
  1.1576 +laughed. It was a nervous laugh, but she hoped they wouldn’t catch
  1.1577 +on. From the looks on their faces, it appeared that they had. “Hoe...
  1.1578 +I can’t,” she mumbled. 
  1.1579 +	“What?” Syaoran asked. He tried to catch Sakura’s now stormy blue
  1.1580 +eyes, but Tomoyo was obviously distracting her, keeping her
  1.1581 +attention. His heart seemed to be pounding in slow motion, panic
  1.1582 +struggling within his brain. But it wasn’t time for that yet. He had
  1.1583 +to know what was going on. Maybe he had misunderstood. “What do you
  1.1584 +mean?”
  1.1585 +	“I can’t change everyone back yet,” Sakura began, taking a deep
  1.1586 +breath before looking up. She smiled weakly, her hand still behind
  1.1587 +her head. She scratched through her long, lavender hair as she tried
  1.1588 +to go on. “The Change Card needs a day to recharge when I use it. It
  1.1589 +takes a lot for it to switch the souls of two people.”
  1.1590 +	“But it’s already been a day. Almost,” Syaoran added quickly,
  1.1591 +waiting for Sakura to continue.
  1.1592 +	“Un. But that’s when it’s only changing two people. This time, it
  1.1593 +switched all four of us. And I was using a lot of magic at the time
  1.1594 +because I was… excited about the whole thing.” Her cheeks burned as
  1.1595 +she fought for words. She had been in a very excited state of mind at
  1.1596 +the time she had used the Card, so her magic had come pouring forth
  1.1597 +in vast quantities. “So it’s going to take longer for it to
  1.1598 +recharge,” she finished quietly. 
  1.1599 +	“What?!?” Meiling’s eyes went wide as she stared at the pale girl
  1.1600 +that was now the Cardmistress. Her hopes for a speedy resolution to
  1.1601 +the situation were now dashed beyond recognition. “You mean we’re
  1.1602 +stuck this way? For how long?”
  1.1603 +	The world spun around Syaoran as he replayed Sakura’s words. The
  1.1604 +logic was sound. Even if logic could be a funny thing when applied to
  1.1605 +magic. This was much, much worse than getting stuck in the body of
  1.1606 +the Seal Beast. He was stuck in the body of the girl who loved him,
  1.1607 +his own cousin, and he somehow had to deal with it for however long
  1.1608 +it took the Card to recharge. Did Fate think he hadn’t been
  1.1609 +humiliated enough by finding out that some weak girl was the
  1.1610 +Cardcaptor, that she held the limitless power of his great ancestor?
  1.1611 +Was his role as her sidekick simply not enough of a slap in the face
  1.1612 +to the heir to the Li Clan? 
  1.1613 +	Sakura smiled, trying to put a brighter slant on the situation.
  1.1614 +This just meant they’d all have to spend a little time in different
  1.1615 +bodies. And besides, she was getting used to Tomoyo’s body. It was so
  1.1616 +much prettier than her own, a gorgeous look that always left her
  1.1617 +breathless when she was in Tomoyo’s presence. A few more days as
  1.1618 +Tomoyo didn’t feel like such a bad thing. Then again, Syaoran and
  1.1619 +Meiling didn’t seem to be as happy about the situation. She and
  1.1620 +Tomoyo had been exploring what it was like to be in the others body,
  1.1621 +almost treating it like a game. How were Syaoran and Meiling handling
  1.1622 +it? Her smile faltered a bit as she spoke up. “The Change Card
  1.1623 +probably needs another day or two to recharge before I can use it
  1.1624 +again. Maybe a little longer. I did use a lot of magic with it.”
  1.1625 +Syaoran and Meiling both looked devastated by the news, shock
  1.1626 +registering on Syaoran’s face while mute horror etched itself onto
  1.1627 +Meiling. Sakura sighed, brushing more lavender hair from her eyes.
  1.1628 +Sometimes being a magical girl was not what it was cracked up to be.
  1.1629 +	“So what do we do in the meantime? Are we just stuck this way? I
  1.1630 +don’t want to be a boy!!” Meiling slumped to her knees on the grass
  1.1631 +miserably. Students stared oddly for her comment, but she wasn’t
  1.1632 +paying them any attention. 
  1.1633 +	“We just have to wait for the Change Card to recharge. It’s not
  1.1634 +like we’re stuck this way. Besides, there’s no other option, so we
  1.1635 +have to wait,” Syaoran explained, crossing his arms. To his surprise,
  1.1636 +he felt cool relief spread through him. The thought that they
  1.1637 +wouldn’t be changing back right away was a soothing one. Like finding
  1.1638 +out a dentist appointment was cancelled or postponed, he was glad to
  1.1639 +know they wouldn’t be going through with it. He couldn’t quite
  1.1640 +understand it, but he didn’t want to be in his own body again, at
  1.1641 +least for the moment. Playing dress up with his sisters came to mind,
  1.1642 +but this felt much stronger. Back then there was the knowledge that
  1.1643 +they were simply playing, that he wasn’t a girl like his sisters. But
  1.1644 +now... He felt free in Meiling’s body. He was free from his mother’s
  1.1645 +coldness and the responsibilities that had been thrust on him simply
  1.1646 +for the mistake of his being born as a boy. Fanren, his oldest
  1.1647 +sister, would make a better head of the Li Clan than he would anyway.
  1.1648 +Syaoran didn’t even mind Meiling being in his own body. He had always
  1.1649 +had an interest in boys, especially when he had met Yukito, and
  1.1650 +Meiling made an excellent boy in his mind, even if she was rather
  1.1651 +feminine for one. So maybe it wasn’t all that bad. Maybe they
  1.1652 +wouldn’t have to Change back for a few days. Heck, maybe even a week.
  1.1653 +A sigh escaped Syaoran’s lips, his worry dissipating. He would have
  1.1654 +been more concerned about his feelings regarding the whole matter,
  1.1655 +but he simply didn’t feel like dealing with them at the moment. 
  1.1656 +	“And in the meantime, we can try to get to know the one we love
  1.1657 +better while we’re in their place,” Tomoyo said happily. She was
  1.1658 +already enjoying sharing this with Sakura, and it could easily help
  1.1659 +Syaoran and Meiling to grow closer if they were stuck as each other. 
  1.1660 +	Getting back to her feet, Meiling scoffed. “I already know my
  1.1661 +Syaoran just fine. I don’t need to know him any better.” She grabbed
  1.1662 +Syaoran’s arm, yanking her cousin close by and holding onto him. 
  1.1663 +Syaoran sighed as Meiling manhandled him. He really did need to get
  1.1664 +used to that. She’d been doing it since they were little kids and she
  1.1665 +didn’t seem to be in any hurry to stop. 
  1.1666 +“I’ll tell you when the Change Card recharges. Then we can all meet
  1.1667 +at the park and I can switch us all back,” Sakura said hopefully. It
  1.1668 +was weird but a little fun to be Tomoyo, but she was starting to
  1.1669 +worry. If the Change Card didn’t recharge soon, she’d miss the soccer
  1.1670 +tryouts. And with all of Tomoyo’s encouragement, she was really
  1.1671 +looking forward to trying out for the team. She could always try out
  1.1672 +as Tomoyo, but it just didn’t feel right to be throwing her fragile
  1.1673 +friend out on a soccer field. It was like putting a piece of fine
  1.1674 +china on the edge of a building. Delicately beautiful things should
  1.1675 +be held reverently, not in the way of flying soccer balls. So she’d
  1.1676 +just have to hope she could fix things in time. With Tomoyo as her
  1.1677 +personal cheerleader, she knew she could get on the soccer team. Now
  1.1678 +it was all up to whether or not the Card would be ready in time.
  1.1679 +The bell rang shrilly, giving the students a sense of urgency as
  1.1680 +people began rushing to class. “All right. We’ll meet back when the
  1.1681 +Card’s ready.” Nodding, Syaoran hurried off with Meiling, leaving the
  1.1682 +Cardmistress and the heiress. At least something was solved, even if
  1.1683 +it would take a few days. But inside, he still couldn’t explain his
  1.1684 +feelings. Struggling with his inner turmoil, Meiling dragged him off
  1.1685 +towards class. 
  1.1686 +	
  1.1687 +	“I never should have let you do that for me, Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura
  1.1688 +reiterated for what had to be the hundredth time as she held onto her
  1.1689 +injured girlfriend. Tomoyo rubbed her back as she murmured her
  1.1690 +apologies over and over again. Sakura had always felt a strong urge
  1.1691 +to protect her best friend from harm, saving her above all of the
  1.1692 +others back in Hong Kong one time and asking Tomoyo to stop coming
  1.1693 +along when she was capturing Cards for fear that Tomoyo would get
  1.1694 +hurt another time. And so she always kicked herself when, despite her
  1.1695 +efforts, Tomoyo sometimes got hurt or in trouble. But the gentle
  1.1696 +heiress always soothed away her worries before too long. 
  1.1697 +	Shifting on her crutches, Tomoyo continued to caress Sakura’s back.
  1.1698 +Sakura was still in her pale body while she was still enshrined in
  1.1699 +Sakura’s athletic body. Unfortunately, athletic body or not, Tomoyo
  1.1700 +simply wasn’t athlete material. The sweet, soft-spoken girl was much
  1.1701 +more at ease singing or sewing than she was out running. So even with
  1.1702 +Sakura’s swift form, she had managed to sprain her ankle during
  1.1703 +soccer tryouts. “I’m sorry that I hurt Sakura-chan’s cute body,”
  1.1704 +Tomoyo whispered in reply as she returned her needy girlfriend’s warm
  1.1705 +embrace. Sakura needed plenty of love and attention, which Tomoyo was
  1.1706 +more than happy to supply. She would do anything for the
  1.1707 +Cardmistress, after all. Which is how she had ended up with a
  1.1708 +sprained ankle in the first place. They hadn’t been able to change
  1.1709 +back before the soccer tryouts that Sakura had so eagerly
  1.1710 +anticipated. Sakura had been disappointed that she couldn’t tryout
  1.1711 +for the team. Wanting to help her darling Sakura, Tomoyo had tried
  1.1712 +out for the soccer team herself while in Sakura's body. As she had
  1.1713 +discovered, however, watching soccer and playing soccer were two
  1.1714 +completely different things. Not much sooner had she showed up on the
  1.1715 +field than she had slipped on the soccer ball, landing awkwardly on
  1.1716 +her ankle. One doctor’s visit and plenty of concern from an
  1.1717 +overprotective parent later, Tomoyo was hobbling around on crutches
  1.1718 +with support from her sweet Sakura. 
  1.1719 +	“Poor Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura lamented, helping Tomoyo onto her bed.
  1.1720 +She had blamed herself for Tomoyo’s injury, as she often did when
  1.1721 +something bad would happen to Tomoyo. Somehow she felt that she
  1.1722 +should be able to protect Tomoyo from everything, that she alone
  1.1723 +could keep her safe from all the pain and troubles in the world.
  1.1724 +Sometimes she wasn’t as successful as other times. This was one of
  1.1725 +them. Even though it seemed like she was looking in a mirror, Sakura
  1.1726 +could still see Tomoyo’s ever-present smile on her lips. The
  1.1727 +currently pale girl found herself relaxing as Tomoyo’s gestures
  1.1728 +slowly began to affect her. Her gentle fingers rubbing her back, her
  1.1729 +soft voice, her soothing smile; they all managed to numb the worry
  1.1730 +that ate at her. Brushing dark hair from her eyes that she still
  1.1731 +wasn’t completely used to, Sakura sat down next to her eccentric
  1.1732 +friend. The bed shifted as Tomoyo made her way behind Sakura. The
  1.1733 +Cardmistress was about to ask the other girl what she was up to when
  1.1734 +she felt Tomoyo’s hands in her currently long hair, stroking back the
  1.1735 +long silken hair in her gentle hands. Feeling Tomoyo’s fingers
  1.1736 +through her hair, Sakura held her breath for a long moment as her
  1.1737 +heart pounded in her chest. Tomoyo had such long, beautiful hair. Her
  1.1738 +own was usually so much shorter. But it felt so nice to have Tomoyo
  1.1739 +focusing so intently on her hair. The heiress always spent so much
  1.1740 +attention on her and she always came up with such beautiful styles
  1.1741 +for her own hair. So it was nice for Sakura to have Tomoyo trying out
  1.1742 +those styles on her. Just like seeing herself in Tomoyo’s gorgeous
  1.1743 +costume designs, it was stunning to see what Tomoyo could do with her
  1.1744 +hair. She had never been able to do much with her own hair, but
  1.1745 +Tomoyo’s was like an art form. 
  1.1746 +	Slowly letting Sakura’s hair out of the high ponytail she had put
  1.1747 +it into earlier, Tomoyo let the lavender hair cascade through her
  1.1748 +fingers. She could make out a faint blush on Sakura’s pale cheeks and
  1.1749 +felt a blush spreading across her own. “Sakura-chan is so gorgeous,”
  1.1750 +she whispered in awe, letting her fingers roam through Sakura’s
  1.1751 +silken locks. And it was true. Even in Tomoyo’s body, Sakura was
  1.1752 +still so deliciously herself. She pulled it off beautifully, like an
  1.1753 +elegant costume, Sakura’s cute and energetic charm sparkling out from
  1.1754 +underneath it. Sakura was always the most crucial part of her
  1.1755 +costumes. She was what truly made them shine. And so Sakura did the
  1.1756 +same with her body. Tomoyo always loved dressing up her genki friend,
  1.1757 +trying out all sorts of styles on her with different costumes and
  1.1758 +things. And so she was loving the moment, being able to try new
  1.1759 +hairstyles out on Sakura. She enjoyed trying new hairstyles herself,
  1.1760 +but it was so much more fun for her to try them out on her precious
  1.1761 +Sakura, to see how they fit the Mistress of the Cards. Sakura was
  1.1762 +like a life size doll for her to dress up and style. And it made
  1.1763 +perfect sense to dress up the girl she loved, to see her in such
  1.1764 +dazzling clothes and costumes. Because she loved her. Who better to
  1.1765 +dress up than the one you love, to see them in all manner of designs?
  1.1766 +Sakura was lovelier than any doll could hope to be, so it would
  1.1767 +simply be a shame if she weren’t dressed prettily. All of Tomoyo’s
  1.1768 +designs were for Sakura, her lovely, spirited doll. Now she got to
  1.1769 +play with her hair, a new thing for Tomoyo. Sakura’s hair was a
  1.1770 +little too short for her to do much with, but now it was perfect. She
  1.1771 +could try out all of her hairstyles and more on the pretty
  1.1772 +Cardmistress. Sighing contentedly, Tomoyo rested against Sakura. “I
  1.1773 +love my Sakura-chan.”
  1.1774 +	Blushing deeper at Tomoyo’s touch and her words, Sakura shifted on
  1.1775 +the bed, feeling Tomoyo’s head on her shoulder as the heiress hugged
  1.1776 +her from behind. Sakura relaxed against her, hands resting on
  1.1777 +Tomoyo’s arms that were still encircling her waist. It was so strange
  1.1778 +to have everything switched around, but when they were all alone, not
  1.1779 +much had changed. It was just her and Tomoyo. Sure, she saw green
  1.1780 +eyes and auburn hair when she gazed at her lover instead of stormy
  1.1781 +blue eyes and lavender hair, but that was really a minute thing
  1.1782 +overall. It was still Tomoyo. And it was easy to forget that anything
  1.1783 +was different at all when they kissed, aside from Tomoyo’s fingers in
  1.1784 +her now longer hair. “Hanyaan...” What had started out as an
  1.1785 +extremely bizarre thing now barely mattered to the Cardmistress.
  1.1786 +Sure, she wanted her own body back. But it wasn’t all that important
  1.1787 +to her when she did. As usual, Tomoyo’s idea turned out rather well
  1.1788 +in the end. Which was nice what with how... experimental the heiress
  1.1789 +could be. A crimson blush crept down to her shoulders as she thought
  1.1790 +back through a number of other incidents that had turned out
  1.1791 +similarly. For being so quiet and gentle, Tomoyo was certainly
  1.1792 +eccentric and ready to try new things. Well, as long as said new
  1.1793 +things involved Sakura in some way, shape, or form. “Hoe..?” Sakura
  1.1794 +turned back to face her girlfriend when she felt Tomoyo’s arms pull
  1.1795 +away from her, but only managed to get a face full of hair. Shaking
  1.1796 +her head to get the lavender strands away from her eyes, she tried to
  1.1797 +see what the heiress was doing only to find fingers once again at
  1.1798 +home in her hair. Sakura quickly looked forward again, feeling Tomoyo
  1.1799 +carefully braiding the dark hair. Tomoyo sure had some interesting
  1.1800 +tastes, but Sakura was very happy to be one of them. “Aren’t I
  1.1801 +supposed to be taking care of you, Tomoyo-chan? You’re the one who
  1.1802 +got hurt.”
  1.1803 +	“Sakura-chan is taking care of Tomoyo-chan. One way or another,”
  1.1804 +Tomoyo replied, smiling as she held up Sakura’s long, dark hair for
  1.1805 +inspection. It brushed past her own auburn hair, tickling past her
  1.1806 +forehead. “All I could want is to have you here with me, Sakura-chan.
  1.1807 +I can’t move around much because of my ankle, so I’m just happy to
  1.1808 +have you close by. And it does give me the chance to play with your
  1.1809 +hair, so maybe it was a good thing.” She gave Sakura a soft kiss on
  1.1810 +the neck, secretly delighting at the darker blush that spread across
  1.1811 +Sakura’s pale skin. If she was going to sprain her ankle, this was
  1.1812 +certainly the way to go about recuperating. So close to Sakura,
  1.1813 +braiding her hair, could she be any closer to heaven? Holding the
  1.1814 +soft hair against her nose, she inhaled the wonderful scent of
  1.1815 +lavenders. 
  1.1816 +	“I still feel bad that you got hurt for me,” Sakura said with a
  1.1817 +sigh, her shoulder slumping. The image of Tomoyo holding onto her
  1.1818 +ankle once again felt her mind. Sakura had felt helpless as she ran
  1.1819 +to her, stuck in a much slower body than her old one. There had to be
  1.1820 +some way to make it up to Tomoyo. The beautiful heiress had gotten
  1.1821 +hurt while trying to help her join the soccer team. Even if she had
  1.1822 +failed, it was a very sweet thought. The least Sakura could do was to
  1.1823 +repay the favor. Somehow. Her eyes lit up as she sat up straight
  1.1824 +against Tomoyo again. “Sense you’re stuck in bed, I can try on some
  1.1825 +of those costumes you’ve finished lately. I can model them for you
  1.1826 +while you videotape.” Being videotaped in different costumes wasn’t
  1.1827 +exactly her favorite thing in the world. It was always so
  1.1828 +embarrassing. And some of Tomoyo’s designs had become a little more
  1.1829 +grown up in recent years. But the way Tomoyo looked when she
  1.1830 +videotaped her or watched her in the costumes was enough to send
  1.1831 +Sakura’s heart fluttering. She was the full focus of Tomoyo’s
  1.1832 +attention, the only thing in her world. So even if it was
  1.1833 +embarrassing, it was something she would always do for Tomoyo.
  1.1834 +“Oooph!!” Sakura felt Tomoyo’s now stronger arms squeeze her tightly
  1.1835 +in a warm hug. Apparently the other girl liked her idea.
  1.1836 +	“Sugoi! I don’t have to leave the bed to videotape, so I can
  1.1837 +capture all of Sakura from here. That would be perfect, Sakura-chan.
  1.1838 +And I get to see you in a whole new light.” Tomoyo sighed happily, a
  1.1839 +hand on her cheek and stars in her eyes. She had thought that the
  1.1840 +costumes would have to wait until they changed back, but this
  1.1841 +afforded the perfect opportunity to get plenty of videotape she
  1.1842 +wouldn’t otherwise have. “You’ll have to try on the costumes again
  1.1843 +when you’re back to your old body so I can compare both videos of
  1.1844 +you,” Tomoyo said excitedly. 
  1.1845 +	“Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura sweatdropped. Tomoyo had a lot of costumes
  1.1846 +she would need to wear. This would take a while. And it would all be
  1.1847 +on video for Tomoyo’s later perusal. Sakura was about to continue,
  1.1848 +but Tomoyo’s soft lips on her own silenced her. Kissing back, Sakura
  1.1849 +decided she’d wear whatever Tomoyo wanted.
  1.1850 +
  1.1851 +	“This isn’t fair!” Meiling said angrily as she and Syaoran got out
  1.1852 +of the limousine that had picked them up at the airport. “We need to
  1.1853 +get back, Syaoran!” If anyone found it strange that the boy was
  1.1854 +calling his cousin by his name, they didn’t say anything. But Meiling
  1.1855 +didn’t care. She pushed short brown hair out of her eyes as she got
  1.1856 +out of the limousine. Ahead of them lay the impressive Li household.
  1.1857 +Meiling lived with her parents elsewhere, but she spent much of her
  1.1858 +time there with Syaoran. It was usually a pleasant sight, but now it
  1.1859 +looked so ominous and foreboding. She didn’t want to admit it, but
  1.1860 +she was afraid. Afraid of what would happen and of how long she would
  1.1861 +be stuck in her cousin’s body. Nothing was certain any longer and she
  1.1862 +wasn’t taking it very well. She felt an icy pit in her stomach,
  1.1863 +uncertainty and worry trying to drag her down. She fought it off with
  1.1864 +difficulty, hurrying towards the house. “We have to tell Ieran-sama
  1.1865 +what happened so we can go back.”
  1.1866 +	Upon returning home from school, Meiling and Syaoran had been
  1.1867 +shocked to find everything neatly packed up. Wei had explained to
  1.1868 +them that he had told Ieran of their growing feelings for each other
  1.1869 +and that the Li matriarch had decided to have them return home
  1.1870 +immediately. After all, if Syaoran was no longer after Sakura then
  1.1871 +there was no reason for them to remain. The two cousins had been
  1.1872 +mortified, but there had been nothing they could do as they rapidly
  1.1873 +got shuttled off towards far away Hong Kong. The past few hours were
  1.1874 +little more than a blur as they made their way back home. All because
  1.1875 +of Meiling’s pretending that Syaoran was in love with her earlier.
  1.1876 +Now they were stranded far away from their chance to return to their
  1.1877 +own bodies, stuck as each other and about to meet with Syaoran’s
  1.1878 +expectant mother. And neither cousin was overly eager to tell her the
  1.1879 +bad news. As Syaoran had come to realize quite a long time ago, his
  1.1880 +mother could be an extremely imposing figure. 
  1.1881 +	“Syaoran! Meiling!” An energetic figure met the two at the door,
  1.1882 +waving brightly. “I was wondering when you two would finally get
  1.1883 +back. Fuutie will have to stop using your closet to hold her extra
  1.1884 +clothes, Syaoran. Everyone’s so excited to know your both back.
  1.1885 +Mother already has a banquet planned in your honor. It’s going to be
  1.1886 +a huge affair. Everyone will be attending. That’s where Shiefa is
  1.1887 +right now.” Fanren gave Syaoran a warm hug as the girl reached the
  1.1888 +top of the stairs, believing that her brother was Meiling. Her
  1.1889 +brother wasn’t much for emotional displays, so she didn’t bother
  1.1890 +ruffling him up for once, but her younger cousin usually didn’t mind.
  1.1891 +Which is why she found it odd that the girl she was hugging tensed up
  1.1892 +in her grasp, the same way Syaoran usually did when she’d hug him.
  1.1893 +Deciding it didn’t matter, Fanren grinned. “So you finally dragged my
  1.1894 +little brother back home, eh, Meiling? I can’t wait to hear how you
  1.1895 +did that. Mother’s already planning the wedding. She was so pleased
  1.1896 +to hear that you two were finally ready to start a life together.”
  1.1897 +She held the younger girl at arms length, still smiling. “And you
  1.1898 +must be absolutely thrilled. You’ve wanted this for years. Oh, I
  1.1899 +can’t believe my little brother’s getting married before me! It’s
  1.1900 +just not fair.” The eldest of the Li children laughed. “But I’m sure
  1.1901 +it will be beautiful. You’ll make a wonderful bride, Meiling.”
  1.1902 +	Unsure of what to say, Syaoran could only nod as he watched his
  1.1903 +sister. Fanren never treated him like this normally. She treated him
  1.1904 +differently. Like a boy. No, a man. The distant, aloof man that he
  1.1905 +had always tried to be. It was for the sake of the Li Clan. His
  1.1906 +mother had always treated him like that and his sisters had slowly
  1.1907 +grown to treat him the same. Because that was how he acted. But now
  1.1908 +Fanren was being as expressive and loving as she usually was around
  1.1909 +others. It felt... nice. It felt very nice to be held by his big
  1.1910 +sister, to see her smiling so warmly at him. Blinking back a stinging
  1.1911 +sensation in his eyes, Syaoran hugged his older sister again.
  1.1912 +“...Thanks, Fanren.”
  1.1913 +	“Anytime, sweetie. You always were like another little sister. Now
  1.1914 +you will be.” Fanren smiled sweetly as she wiped away the tears from
  1.1915 +the edges of Syaoran’s eyes. The scowl that had been on his face
  1.1916 +faded away, replaced by a look of reverence. He had always seen
  1.1917 +Fanren’s emotional displays to be pointless, childish, and weak. But
  1.1918 +now he had to reconsider. Could it be that he was just jealous, that
  1.1919 +he was spiteful that he was left out while his sister’s grew up to be
  1.1920 +so happy and emotional? He wasn’t sure. 
  1.1921 +	Meiling, in the meantime, was still not very pleased with the
  1.1922 +situation she found herself in. Syaoran was still blushing from the
  1.1923 +mention of marriage. If the boy wasn’t scowling, he was blushing.
  1.1924 +Sometimes Meiling wondered if he had any other expressions. Sighing,
  1.1925 +she hurried inside past Fanren. She had to speak to Ieran. The Li
  1.1926 +family matriarch had to hear what was going on before it was too
  1.1927 +late. She wanted to be the one in the wedding dress, damn it! She
  1.1928 +wanted to marry Syaoran with all of her heart, but she really would
  1.1929 +rather marry him in her own body. Her eyes darted around the vast
  1.1930 +interior of the Li household, trying to discern where Syaoran’s
  1.1931 +mother may be.
  1.1932 +	Finally noticing Meiling disappearing into the house, Syaoran
  1.1933 +pulled away from Fanren and hurried after her, scowling. “Meiling!
  1.1934 +Wait!” Meiling was much more impulsive than he himself was. And being
  1.1935 +impulsive wasn’t always a good thing. Especially around his mother.
  1.1936 +“We need to wait until she asks for us. I’m sure she’ll want to see
  1.1937 +us soon.” He had to admit that he was a trifle concerned about seeing
  1.1938 +her. How was he supposed to explain this to her? He was supposed to
  1.1939 +be the strongest mage in the Li Clan and yet he had accidentally
  1.1940 +gotten switched with his fiancee. He could only imagine how angry she
  1.1941 +would be. A shudder ran through his spine at the thought. She was
  1.1942 +always calm, never letting her anger shatter her placid exterior. But
  1.1943 +it was quite evident when she was mad. And he had been at the center
  1.1944 +of her cold, cutting scrutiny enough to fear her. Disappointing her
  1.1945 +had never been an option in his life. Which is why it had taken all
  1.1946 +of his will to sneak off to Japan to see Sakura again when Ieran
  1.1947 +wanted him to marry Meiling. So she wouldn’t be pleased about that to
  1.1948 +say the least. And finding out that he wasn’t ready to marry Meiling,
  1.1949 +that it had all been a misunderstanding, and that he had in fact
  1.1950 +gotten stuck in her body would not smooth things over with the
  1.1951 +matriarch. 
  1.1952 +	“I don’t want to wait. She needs to know now. She’s a strong
  1.1953 +sorceress. She’ll understand. And then we can go back to Japan, fix
  1.1954 +this up, come back and get married. Hopefully by the end of the
  1.1955 +week.” Meiling continued down the hallway, ignoring Syaoran’s
  1.1956 +frustrated sigh. She wasn’t in the mood to worry about such trivial
  1.1957 +things. Her mind was set. She had her game plan. Now all she had to
  1.1958 +do was find... Ieran’s study seemed to beckon to the two of them, the
  1.1959 +door left slightly ajar. Meiling hurried to it, ducking into the
  1.1960 +room. Syaoran paused for a moment before following. Meiling glanced
  1.1961 +around the room, her lungs releasing a breath that she hadn’t even
  1.1962 +known she was holding when she spotted the beautiful head of the Li
  1.1963 +Clan at the other end of the study. “Ieran-sama!” 
  1.1964 +	“Please forgive us, mother. We didn’t mean to intrude. We’ll wait
  1.1965 +in the parlor until you wish to see us,” Syaoran said quickly, bowing
  1.1966 +low before grabbing Meiling’s arm. As if things weren’t bad enough,
  1.1967 +Meiling seemed intent on angering his mother. He could only guess
  1.1968 +where that would go. Vivid images popped into his mind, none of them
  1.1969 +good. He pulled again on Meiling’s arm, but the girl in his body
  1.1970 +simply pulled away from his grasp, stepping towards Ieran. 
  1.1971 +	“Ieran-sama, I’m sorry for being so forward, but I have to talk to
  1.1972 +you. I’m not Syaoran. I’m Meiling.” Gesturing back towards Syaoran,
  1.1973 +Meiling continued. “That’s Syaoran.” She could feel her heart
  1.1974 +lighten, a weight lifting off of her. At least that was out of the
  1.1975 +way. Ieran would know what to do. She always did. 
  1.1976 +	Syaoran, on the other hand, felt an icy hand clamp onto his heart,
  1.1977 +clutching deep inside of him. His head slumped as he waited for
  1.1978 +Ieran’s harsh words. They would come, he was sure. Of course,
  1.1979 +sometimes it was worse when she would greet him with only silence.
  1.1980 +All he could do for now was wait. She would know doubt be angry at
  1.1981 +him for his mistake, for causing so much trouble for the Li Clan. 
  1.1982 +	Watching the two cousins contemplatively, Ieran thought for a
  1.1983 +moment. “Is this true?” she asked the dark haired girl. Syaoran
  1.1984 +nodded in response, long hair draping past her face. The older woman
  1.1985 +nodded, rolling this information over in her head. “I thought that
  1.1986 +something of the sort had happened. I could feel Syaoran’s magic in
  1.1987 +Meiling’s body, whereas Syaoran’s body currently has no magic.” She
  1.1988 +paused, letting an uneasy silence reign over the room. The two
  1.1989 +shifted uncomfortably as they waited for her to continue. She simply
  1.1990 +raised an eyebrow and continued to watch the gender switched cousins.
  1.1991 +Syaoran’s head was still lowered like a sad puppy, obviously
  1.1992 +expecting some sort of negative reaction on her part. Her daughters
  1.1993 +were all much happier, none of them nearly as afraid of her as
  1.1994 +Syaoran was. But it was necessary. She had raised Syaoran to fill his
  1.1995 +role. He was to be the head of the family. He had to grow up to be
  1.1996 +strong, to be the pillar of the family. So she had raised him very
  1.1997 +differently from his sisters. It was his duty as the male heir. Just
  1.1998 +as it had been her duty to assume the role as head of the Li Clan,
  1.1999 +not having any male siblings herself. She knew how difficult it was
  1.2000 +and she had tried to raise him accordingly. And also to fulfill his
  1.2001 +duties to the Li Clan by becoming as strong a mage as he could to aid
  1.2002 +the true Cardcaptor, and later the Cardmistress. She had known early
  1.2003 +on that he would not be the Cardcaptor, nor could he handle the
  1.2004 +situation on his own. The most he could hope to do would be to help.
  1.2005 +But she had instilled in him a lust for power, to force him to be as
  1.2006 +strong as he could be when the Cardcaptor needed him. At times like
  1.2007 +this, seeing Syaoran cower before her, it was a sad sight. But it was
  1.2008 +necessary. She couldn’t allow herself to regret it. Regrets only
  1.2009 +mired one in the past. “I think I’ll set the wedding in two months.
  1.2010 +That should be a nice enough time to get everything ready. I would
  1.2011 +wait longer, but I really don’t think that will be necessary.” 
  1.2012 +	Meiling and Syaoran both looked up in surprise. “What? Wait, Ieran-
  1.2013 +sama, we need to go back to Japan soon so we can switch back to our
  1.2014 +old bodies. We don’t have time to worry about a wedding,” Meiling
  1.2015 +argued. “Yet,” she added quickly. Oh, a wedding sounded absolutely
  1.2016 +lovely. But she had more immediate concerns. 
  1.2017 +	“And I never agreed to marry Meiling. Wei heard Meiling talking and
  1.2018 +thought that she was me,” Syaoran shot in, stepping up next to
  1.2019 +Meiling. He immediately regretted the words as he saw Meiling wince.
  1.2020 +He didn’t mean to hurt her. And he hadn’t meant it like that. He...
  1.2021 +loved Meiling? Yes... Yes, he did. But he wanted his mother to know
  1.2022 +that he hadn’t decided on this yet. 
  1.2023 +	“I forbid it. You are not going back to Japan. You will not return
  1.2024 +to your old bodies. We will leave things like this,” Ieran stated
  1.2025 +calmly. She could see the two react in shock, but kept up her cold
  1.2026 +composure. Their reaction was of no concern for her. She was simply
  1.2027 +doing what was best for the Li Clan. And she had quickly realized how
  1.2028 +this would benefit them. It was her decision to make. It may not be
  1.2029 +what they would choose, but it hardly mattered. Things would be nicer
  1.2030 +if they agreed, but you couldn’t always have things run perfectly.
  1.2031 +This bit of luck actually quelled quite a number of her worries about
  1.2032 +the future of the venerable House of Li. 
  1.2033 +	Syaoran was left speechless as he watched his mother. She wasn’t
  1.2034 +angry with him. She was actually pleased with the situation. Why
  1.2035 +would she want things to turn out this way? What was going on? So he
  1.2036 +was stuck this way? Forever? He suddenly felt dizzy, as if he was
  1.2037 +spinning at a blinding rate. His fate seemed sealed with her words.
  1.2038 +He would spend the rest of his life as Meiling. He would see Meiling
  1.2039 +in his body from now on. He felt angry and sad and... elated? He
  1.2040 +couldn’t deny that he once again felt relieved. His mind flashed back
  1.2041 +to Fanren, to his bright and cheerful sisters, to the warm manner
  1.2042 +that his mother showed them and kept from him. No!! He didn’t want
  1.2043 +any of that. He was Li Syaoran, powerful sorcerer and the next head
  1.2044 +of the House of Li. And he was not a girl! He would not spend the
  1.2045 +rest of his life trapped in a girl’s body, in the body of his fiancee. 
  1.2046 +	“What? But... Ieran-sama, why?” Meiling asked, near panic in her
  1.2047 +voice. Her hopes were once again slipping away from her, this time
  1.2048 +waving goodbye for what could be an eternity. This didn’t make any
  1.2049 +sense. She had thought that Ieran would be eager to have this sorted
  1.2050 +out, but instead the matriarch wanted to leave things as they were.
  1.2051 +Meiling could see her wedding dress flying off into the distance. She
  1.2052 +shook her head, balling up her fists as she looked pleadingly at
  1.2053 +Syaoran’s mother. “Why are you doing this?”
  1.2054 +	Ieran allowed a small smile to cross her lips as she looked at
  1.2055 +Meiling. The girl was extremely strong willed. In some ways, Meiling
  1.2056 +reminded her of herself at that age. “Very well. Though my reasons do
  1.2057 +no concern you, I will concede that to you.” She stood up, walking to
  1.2058 +the two cousins. She placed her hands on Meiling’s shoulders, looking
  1.2059 +the girl in her son’s body in the eyes. “Meiling, you have the
  1.2060 +strength to hold the Li Clan together. You have the will it takes to
  1.2061 +be the head of the House of Li. I believe that if anyone can handle
  1.2062 +whatever tragedies face our clan in the future, it will be you. You
  1.2063 +do not give up, you are willing to go the distance to achieve your
  1.2064 +goals. You are a bit impetuous, but I’m hoping that will mellow with
  1.2065 +age. That is one of the reasons why I set you as Syaoran’s fiancee.
  1.2066 +You and he are the best match for each other. I have seen that. Which
  1.2067 +is why I wish that Syaoran had listened to my decision rather than
  1.2068 +looking for someone not half as well suited to him.” She gave Syaoran
  1.2069 +a quick glance before looking back to Meiling. “You are the one I
  1.2070 +would choose to head the Li Clan. But Syaoran is the male heir, so it
  1.2071 +is his duty, not yours. This way, you can head the Li Clan after
  1.2072 +all.” She turned from Meiling, stepping in front of Syaoran. Her son
  1.2073 +kept his eyes averted for some time before she tilted his chin up to
  1.2074 +see his eyes. To his surprise, she smiled gently at him. “Syaoran,
  1.2075 +I’m afraid that you weren’t suited to many of the tasks I gave you.
  1.2076 +In some ways, I wonder why you weren’t born as a girl to begin with.
  1.2077 +I think a lot of this could have been avoided had that happened. But
  1.2078 +we do not choose how we are born, so we must all play with the hand
  1.2079 +we are dealt. You are shy and emotional, even if your emotions are
  1.2080 +all twisted inside of you as you repress them. But I must take the
  1.2081 +blame for that. I have pushed you to be something that you are not.
  1.2082 +Now we have the chance to remedy that. Your heart is like that of a
  1.2083 +girl who has striven to be the boy she cannot be. I think you may
  1.2084 +have turned out much like your sisters had things gone another way.
  1.2085 +But regrets will get us nowhere. I wish to leave things as they are
  1.2086 +because I believe it is best for the Li Clan. Even in your
  1.2087 +relationship with Meiling, she is dominant in it over you. You are
  1.2088 +too shy and unsure, though you pretend to be otherwise. Which is why
  1.2089 +I wonder why you ever assumed you could handle the Cardmistress, who
  1.2090 +can also be very shy and unsure. But all of this points to this being
  1.2091 +the best possible solution. You get to be my daughter as you should
  1.2092 +have been while Meiling will be my successor as she rightfully should
  1.2093 +be.”
  1.2094 +	Meiling’s mind reeled as Ieran’s words spun round and around
  1.2095 +through her thoughts. ‘She wants me to be the next head of the Li
  1.2096 +Clan? But how can I? I always thought I’d marry Syaoran, but I never
  1.2097 +thought that I’d have the weight of the Li Clan on my shoulders. I
  1.2098 +thought that would be Syaoran’s responsibility.’ Her mind was too
  1.2099 +consumed with these new revelations to realize what else was going
  1.2100 +on. She was still trying to understand the full extent of Ieran’s
  1.2101 +words. 
  1.2102 +	“I... I...” Syaoran struggled for words, choking back the tears
  1.2103 +that threatened. He wasn’t weak. He was strong. His mother was wrong
  1.2104 +about Meiling being the right head of the Li Clan. He was the one.
  1.2105 +How could he get replaced again? By another girl? First Sakura and
  1.2106 +now Meiling. And what did she mean about him being a girl? No, he was
  1.2107 +a man. Just like he’d always grown up to be. But... Ieran was smiling
  1.2108 +at him. Warmly. It was so different from the cold looks she usually
  1.2109 +gave him. It was the motherly smile she would bestow upon his
  1.2110 +sisters, the love that she seldom gave him. “Mother...” he got out
  1.2111 +weakly. The older woman held him as he trembled. He could be like his
  1.2112 +sisters... He could stop worrying, stop holding everything inside. He
  1.2113 +could stop trying so hard to be strong and unemotional. Tears burned
  1.2114 +in his vision as visions of he eternally cheerful, flighty sisters
  1.2115 +danced through his head along with the warmth his mother would show
  1.2116 +them. But... But he couldn’t... No, he was Li Syaoran... Li Syaoran.
  1.2117 +	Slowly pulling away from his mother, Syaoran quickly wiped away his
  1.2118 +tears, composing himself. He knew who he was. His mother was wrong.
  1.2119 +He would be the head of the House of Li. He would be the man he was.
  1.2120 +“Mother, please let us go back to Japan. I promise you that I’ll
  1.2121 +marry Meiling as soon as I get back, just like you’ve wanted for me,”
  1.2122 +he vowed. He knew that it wasn’t much of a deal, that Ieran could
  1.2123 +probably find a way to force him to marry Meiling anyway, but he
  1.2124 +hoped it would be enough. He had to get back, to end this.
  1.2125 +	Ieran sighed inwardly, but didn’t let anything show through.
  1.2126 +“Meiling, do you wish the same? If you both wish to return to Japan,
  1.2127 +I won’t stop you.” She couldn’t help but let her disapproval of the
  1.2128 +idea drift through, but there was no use forcing the both of them. 
  1.2129 +	Nodding quickly, Meiling took Syaoran’s hand. “Yes, Ieran-sama. We
  1.2130 +want to go back to Japan to get our own bodies back. And then I want
  1.2131 +to marry Syaoran.” Her eyes went over to her cousin, hopes somehow
  1.2132 +returning to her. She almost felt giddy, though she tried not to let
  1.2133 +it get the best of her. Not only could she be herself again, but she
  1.2134 +could have Syaoran at that. She couldn’t think of a happier ending.
  1.2135 +She squeezed Syaoran’s hand in her own and was surprised to feel him
  1.2136 +squeeze back. 
  1.2137 +	“All right,” Ieran conceded, turning from the two. It looked like
  1.2138 +the Li Clan’s problems wouldn’t be solved so easily after all. But at
  1.2139 +least she could have the marriage problem dealt with. “But I want you
  1.2140 +to stay for a week or two. Everyone’s looking forward to the banquet
  1.2141 +and I want to speak with you both a bit before you return.”
  1.2142 +	“Thank you, Ieran-sama!” Meiling felt relief flood through her
  1.2143 +body. Ieran simply nodded in reply, dismissing the two of them.
  1.2144 +Anxiously awaiting both a return to her own body and her impending
  1.2145 +marriage to Syaoran, she quickly dragged her cousin out of the study.
  1.2146 +	
  1.2147 +	It took some time, but Syaoran and Meiling had finally returned to
  1.2148 +Japan once more, for what Syaoran had promised would be the last
  1.2149 +time. They would only be there for a short time, to get themselves
  1.2150 +changed back by Cardmistress Sakura. With several weeks having passed
  1.2151 +from the time the Change Card had been used, it had recharged back to
  1.2152 +it’s full power long before the cousins had returned to Tomoeda. They
  1.2153 +had all met outside of Tomoyo’s house, where it had all began in the
  1.2154 +first place to finally put an end to the long nightmare.
  1.2155 +“Are we almost ready?” Meiling asked impatiently, her arms crossed.
  1.2156 +She was eager to have her own body back, to be a girl again. It had
  1.2157 +been almost impossible to last the past few weeks with the knowledge
  1.2158 +that she would soon be in her own body again. She wasn’t the most
  1.2159 +patient individual, but somehow she survived. But she seriously
  1.2160 +doubted she could last another few seconds. 
  1.2161 +“Un, just about,” Sakura said happily. Sakura and Tomoyo were both
  1.2162 +in their normal bodies, if the two could be called normal. Tomoyo was
  1.2163 +recording Sakura who was decked out in a flashy feather design
  1.2164 +costume. Why such an elaborate setup was needed for the Cards,
  1.2165 +Meiling couldn’t fathom. Tomoyo tried to explain that the
  1.2166 +Cardmistress had to be professional and that she had to take it all
  1.2167 +down for posterity. 
  1.2168 +“Perfect, Sakura-chan. You look so cute! Sakura-chan makes such a
  1.2169 +beautiful magical girl,” Tomoyo said with a sweet yearning in her
  1.2170 +voice as she zoomed in on the Cardmistress. Sakura blushed at her
  1.2171 +comments, but modeled for the video camera nonetheless. Tomoyo only
  1.2172 +swooned further, videotaping every inch of her magical girlfriend.
  1.2173 +“Sakura-chan is both gorgeous and cool in her costume, a flurry of
  1.2174 +feathers. The Card will certainly heed Sakura-chan’s call.”
  1.2175 +“Can we please just get this over with?” Syaoran growled irritably.
  1.2176 +He had already been sick that morning and he wasn’t feeling all that
  1.2177 +well now. He wanted to switch bodies and have this whole even behind
  1.2178 +him. He felt a tinge of sadness that he’d lose the chance that his
  1.2179 +mother had mentioned, but he forcibly pushed it out of his mind. This
  1.2180 +would be over soon enough.
  1.2181 +“Oh, right!” Sakura sweatdropped. Looking forward with her
  1.2182 +determined emerald eyes, the Mistress of the Cards through a pink
  1.2183 +Card on the air, letting it spin for a moment before hitting it with
  1.2184 +her staff. “Change! Put these two back to the way they should be!”
  1.2185 +the brunette called out, magic swirling around her. She could see
  1.2186 +Tomoyo moving to the side to get a better shot out of the corner of
  1.2187 +her eye and smiled a bit, waving her fingers at her eccentric best
  1.2188 +friend. 
  1.2189 +The Change leapt out of the Card, jumping towards the embracing
  1.2190 +Syaoran and Meiling. They both braced for the Sakura Card as it
  1.2191 +headed towards them.
  1.2192 +“Wait!!” Tomoyo called out, halting even the Sakura Cards advance. A
  1.2193 +confused pair of jade eyes and two angry sets of amber and brown eyes
  1.2194 +shot her way. 
  1.2195 +“What is it this time? Do you need more film or something?” Meiling
  1.2196 +asked in frustration. Why couldn’t they just get this over with? She
  1.2197 +didn’t want to wait another second. 
  1.2198 +“I think that it would be a lot more touching if the two of you
  1.2199 +weren’t just embracing as the Change affects you. You both learned
  1.2200 +quite a bit throughout all this and with the wedding approaching, you
  1.2201 +both have to be very excited. It would be much more romantic and
  1.2202 +meaningful if you were kissing when you change back. Then you will
  1.2203 +shift from one side of the kiss to the other, returning to your old
  1.2204 +body but still joined,” Tomoyo explained with a smile. She pulled up
  1.2205 +her camcorder to see the two, adjusting the picture. Having a flare
  1.2206 +for the aesthetic, it just seemed to fit much better on tape that way. 
  1.2207 +“What?” 
  1.2208 +“Tomoyo-chan does have a point,” Sakura said with a giggle,
  1.2209 +motioning for the Change to stay still for a moment. 
  1.2210 +Meiling looked back to Syaoran, still holding onto her fiancee. He
  1.2211 +sighed as they held each other. It did seem to make enough sense,
  1.2212 +Meiling reasoned. Licking her lips, she leaned forward slowly.
  1.2213 +Syaoran blushed as she touched her lips against his. The two began to
  1.2214 +kiss softly, growing more passionate as they forgot about the Change
  1.2215 +Card and their audience. 
  1.2216 +Looking back to the Change Card, Sakura smiled and gave a nod. The
  1.2217 +chameleon-looking Sakura Card sped towards the kissing couple,
  1.2218 +pressing into their legs as it’s magic lit up the area around them.
  1.2219 +Magic coalesced around the two, a small sun covering them with
  1.2220 +blinding intensity. And then, just as suddenly, it was gone. The
  1.2221 +Change Card reappeared in Sakura’s hand. 
  1.2222 +Syaoran felt Meiling’s lips against his own as they kissed, holding
  1.2223 +each other. The kiss dragged on as he finally felt the magic around
  1.2224 +him. It gripped him like it did the last time, maintaining its hold
  1.2225 +for a second before pulling away. He could still feel the kiss, their
  1.2226 +lips never leaving the other even as Sakura’s magic overtook them.
  1.2227 +Relieved, Syaoran kissed Meiling deeper, in a passionate kiss that
  1.2228 +let out all of the worry and tension that had built up inside of him.
  1.2229 +He could feel their tongues dancing as their victory kiss continued.
  1.2230 +Meiling’s hands shifted down his sides. He made a soft gasp into
  1.2231 +their kiss as he felt her hand on his breast, feeling the fingers
  1.2232 +through the blouse and bra. His arms went around her as their lips
  1.2233 +met again and again. His hand slipped down her back as he.. Wait..
  1.2234 +His eyes shot open in terror. His hands went to Meiling’s still flat
  1.2235 +chest. “What the hell?” Pulling away, he gazed at Meiling, still in
  1.2236 +his body. “What happened?” He asked frantically, whirling towards the
  1.2237 +Mistress of the Cards.
  1.2238 +	Shrugging helplessly, Sakura looked down at the Card. “I don’t
  1.2239 +know. It should be charged by now. I know I used enough magic. And
  1.2240 +the Change seems to be doing fine. I don’t know what could have gone
  1.2241 +wrong.” 
  1.2242 +Kero nodded thoughtfully. The Seal beast had his arms crossed, his
  1.2243 +brow furrowed. “The Change can’t work it’s magic if someone’s
  1.2244 +pregnant. It might accidentally switch the baby’s soul, too, so it’s
  1.2245 +too dangerous.”
  1.2246 +Syaoran’s eyes were the size of saucers. Meiling was blushing a
  1.2247 +cherry red while Sakura sweatdropped and Tomoyo looked on with a
  1.2248 +smile. Syaoran looked down at his female body, still too in shock to
  1.2249 +utter a word. “I’m... pregnant?!” His mind was still having trouble
  1.2250 +registering the thought. ‘Pregnant?’ he thought, staring down. His
  1.2251 +first night with Meiling in each other’s bodies raced to the front of
  1.2252 +his mind. He’d gotten pregnant from Meiling...
  1.2253 +“Congratulations, Li-kun! Meiling-chan!” Tomoyo said cheerfully, a
  1.2254 +hand on her cheek. She seemed to find the situation a lovely one
  1.2255 +indeed. Her camcorder panned from one of the cousins to the other,
  1.2256 +trying to get both of their reactions for the tape in case they
  1.2257 +wanted one later. 
  1.2258 +“Seems so, kiddo,” Kero replied, grinning from ear to ear. “And ya
  1.2259 +should stop yelling like that. It can’t be good for the baby.” As if
  1.2260 +it hadn’t been good enough to hear that Syaoran had switched bodies
  1.2261 +with Meiling, this was icing on Kero’s cake.
  1.2262 +“Syaoran...” Meiling got out, still too embarrassed to say anything
  1.2263 +else. She watched as Syaoran fainted dead away. 
  1.2264 \ No newline at end of file