Syoaran nodded, accepting her answer and eating the rest of his lunch in silence.  Maybe he was wrong...  Maybe there really was nothing going on.  Or maybe there was something going on, but Sakura knew she could handle it.  Either way, she had ended the conversation and wasn't going to tell him.

The bell rang too soon for his liking. Part of him wanted a little extra time to apologize for cornering her.  He was relieved when she smiled warmly at him and held out her hand to help him up from the bench.  "Yeah."  He took her hand and stood, and they headed back to class.

The day dragged on and Sakura was fidgeting in her seat. She felt so guilty for not telling Syoaran the truth. When the bell, finally rang Sakura headed to her shoe locker. She didn't have practice today due to her coach being sick. She was grabbing her shoes, when Tomoyo approached her. 

"Sakura," she spoke softly.

"Yes?" She closed the door to locker and looked at her best friend.

"Would you like to go shopping with me?"

"Sorry, I can't. I need to run errands for my dad," Sakura was telling the truth for once. Her dad last night asked her to run to the store to pick up a few things. 

"Oh, okay," Tomoyo replied sounding a bit disappointed. She looked toward the ground and bit her lip. Something was up with her best friend. It killed her that Sakura hasn't confide in her and by the looks of things she hasn't talked to Syaoran about it. She was hoping she could try to get it out of her, but maybe it best not too. She looked up from the ground. "Be careful."

Sakura just stared at her for a second and then said goodbye. She wondered if Tomoyo was getting suspicious as she walked to the store. She was very observant. Sakura threw it to the back of her mind, when she entered the store. She had to stay focus on the task at hand. She bought the things her father wanted and headed home. On her way home Sakura felt something funny in her throat. She shrugged off thinking she was just thirsty. When she got home, she put the stuff away and went to go do homework. 

The back of her throat kept bothering her for the rest of the night. Sakura kept on ignoring it telling herself it was nothing. She went to bed early that night and was awaken in the middle night due to a spirit. She got of bed and used the Sleep Card on her family and Kero. She left her house and found the spirit in the park. She approached it head on and chased it around the park. She eventually caught it and ended up falling into the park's lake. She then dashed home and changed into a new pair of PJs and threw her wet ones into a laundry basket in her room. She crawled into bed and fell asleep.

The next morning Sakura woke up feeling like crap. She pulled on her school uniform and marched downstairs for breakfast. Her father gave her one look and took her temperature. She had a slight fever so her father order her stay home from school. Sakura didn't protest and went back upstairs. She spent the rest of her day in bed while Kero cared for her. 

Later that night Sakura woke up due to the sound of the rain. She sat up and gazed at her window. A flash of light caught her attention she glanced over at her desk and saw the bracelet glowing. She crawled out bed and summon the Sleep Card.

"No!!!" shouted a voice. Sakura twirled around and saw Hope floating there. "You can't go out there! You're sick!"

"I'm fine, Hope," Sakura spoke in a weak voice. She still felt like crap. Her throat was sore and she could barely breath. "I'll be going.."

Hope appeared in front of her. "Your magic is weak! What if the Sleep wears off and people notice you're gone?"

The card's master reach into her pocket and pulled out the Mirror Card. She summon her and the card took her appearance. "That should do it.. Bye.." She then left the room and made her way to the spirit.

"Hope!" Mirror squeaked. "What should we do!? Master will get herself hurt!"

The pink card thought for a moment and decided she had no choice. "I'll take care of her. You stay here. If Keroberos wakes up tell him everything."

"...What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to tell Syaoran. I should have done that from the start. Master is too stubborn for her own good." 

Mirror just nodded her head and got into Sakura's bed. Hope then disappeared to go tell Syaoran.

Syaoran tossed and turned in his bed as the gentle sound of rain began hitting the window. His worry about Sakura's absence at school the day before was fighting with his exhaustion from the day's training, keeping him from achieving a sound sleep.  He was about to roll onto his other side, his mind reaching for deeper sleep when he felt it.  A card.

"Wake up!" her voice yelled straight into his ear, and he groaned from the pain that came with the sudden noise.

"Ow..." he murmured, sitting up and staring at the girl standing beside his bed. "Hope?"

"You need to go now.  Master is in danger!" she yelled.

Syaoran stood quickly, grabbing the pendant that hid his sword and debating on whether or not he should change into his robe.  He decided against it, not knowing how much danger Sakura was in and not wanting to be too late because of something so trivial.

"Take me to her," he said, quickly exiting his bedroom and leading Hope through the tiny apartment to the front door.  The card flew through it, having no need to use the door, and met him outside.  She didn't wait for him to lock the door as she continued, giving him no time to ask question about what he would be running into.

The rain fell harder as they reached the park.  He didn't see Sakura at first, but Hope kept going and it only took a few steps toward the King Penguin slide before heard rather than saw her hit the side of the slide while a roar burst from the beast she was facing.

The leopard sized beast (an evil spirit, he realized) ran toward her, claw bared as Sakura looked like she was slowly trying to dodge.  His sword materialized from the pendant and without a second thought, he ran into battle. 

"God of thunder, come forth!" he yelled, carefully directing the lightning so that it wouldn't hit Sakura.  The spirit yowled in anger and turned on him, dodging the next blast of lighting he sent towards it and lashing out with its claws.

Syaoran quickly sidestepped the attack and jabbed his sword, still covered with his lightning spell, into the spirit's side as it passed.  He was not expect the speed at which it rounded back on him and lashed out again.  This time its claws met their mark, slashing the side of his arm.

He forced himself to ignore the pain of the shallow slash and took the chance to stab more lighting into the spirit, this time in its chest.  The spirit let out another roar before turning away from him and sprinting into the woods, dodging his final bolt of lightning.

Syaoran took a moment to catch his breath before running to Sakura's side.  Thankfully, she wasn't as injured as he thought.  Her slow movements were more related to her being sick rather than the spirit's relentless attacks.  He'd made it with time to spare.

He opened his mouth to ask her if she was ok, but anger from being lied to won over his worry now that he knew she was safe, and it came out as a yell instead, "What the hell were you doing?!  You could have been killed!  And you told me nothing was going on!"

The spirit was too much for her. She was standing on top of the King Penguin trying to immobilize it, but her magic was far too weak. It slashed at her causing her to slip and fall. WHAM!! Sakura hit the side of the slide. She fell to the ground and was holding on to her left side in pain. She then heard a roar and the beast was coming at her. Sakura tried to get out of the way, but before she knew it the spirit was struck by lightning. She turned and saw Syaoran standing there with his sword. Her eyes widen. She tried to stand up as Syaoran fought off the spirit. She had to help him, but her body wouldn't allow it.

 Sakura fell back to the ground and when she look up, her eyes met Syaoran's. He proceeded to yell at her and she flinched. She looked away and noticed that his arm was bleeding. Tears filled her eyes. This was all her fault. If she would have just told him from the start none of this would have happened. 

"Syaoran!" she spoke weakly and grabbed hold of his arm. "You're blee..." Sakura then found herself suddenly passing out due to fatigue.

Syaoran's eyes widened as she passed out, his anger forgotten.  He reached the hand of his good arm to her forehead and winced at how high her fever felt.  She needed to get some place warm and out of the now pouring rain or he fever would only get worse.

Damn it!  Why is she out here like this?  He thought as he looked around for Hope.  She was standing about a meter away, watching worriedly.  

"Go get Keroberos," he ordered. He would have called the guardian himself, and given him a piece of his mind for letting Sakura be out here sick and alone in the middle of a rainstorm, but he had never had a reason to save Kero's number in his phone.  Hope nodded and disappeared.

Syaoran sat down next to Sakura and used his wind spell to make a bubble of air around them while simultaneously creating a small fire from his fire spell.  It was the best he could do to keep her warm while they waited.  He couldn't move her into the shelter of the King Penguin now that the adrenaline of battle had dissipated.  His arm was throbbing and he was only starting to think about the blood, trickling freely down to the ground.  He needed Wei to bandage it when he got home.

It wasn't long before he heard the thump of Kero landing, and he cut off his magic so the guardian beast could get close.  "Where were you?" he asked, accusing.

Kero gave him an incredulous, "Do you really think I'd leave her alone if I knew something was up, stupid kid?"

Syaoran couldn't believe it. How stupid could the plush toy be?  "Some guardian you are.  How did you miss her sneaking out?!"

Kero glared at him but just sighed and moved his wing so his back was open, "Get on. We need to get her somewhere dry. Is your apartment closer than her house?"

Syaoran nodded and motioned for Hope to help him get Sakura onto Kero's back before climbing on behind her to hold her and keep her from falling.  "It's down the street from the west entrance of the park.  Hope can lead.  She's the one that brought me here."

It was a quick fly to his apartment, and Syoaran was grateful it was the middle of the night and no one was around to see a winged lion walking into the little corner apartment.  He led Kero to his bedroom and helped get Sakura situated on the bed as best he could.  She would need dry clothes, he realized.

But before he could mention it, water was flying everywhere as Kero shook off in the middle of his room.  "Hey!  At least let me get you a towel!  You're getting everything wet!"  Thankfully, none of the water had ended up on Sakura.  Judging by his smirk, the guardian had planned it that way.  Syaoran was even more certain of this when Kero turned back to his small form and sat on the bed near his master, with barely any water still on him.

"I need to wake Wei and tell him we have guests. I would say make yourself at home, but you seem to have already done that."

Kero nodded, "Sure. You should get that arm looked at anyway. It looks painful."  Syaoran raised an eyebrow at the guardian's semi-concerned tone.  "Also, do you have any cake or pudding?"

Syaoran rolled his eyes.  Of course the little beast only wanted food.  "I'll see what I can do."

He grabbed some clothes, left the room, and knocked on Wei's door, surprising the older man with his wet clothes and bloodied arm.  Wei was quick to get him cleaned up and bandaged, and Syaoran changed into his dried clothes while explaining what he knew of the situation.

Syaoran apologized to Wei for waking him and went to the kitchen to grab some tea and pudding for Kero.  Maybe appeasing the guardian would ensure his stuff wasn't tampered with while he slept on the couch tonight.

He entered the room and noticed Sakura was somehow in dry clothes.  Syaoran looked at Hope but she gave no indication of having used her powers, so he shrugged and turned to give Kero his food.  "Here."

Then he looked at Hope again.  He wanted some answers before he went to sleep, and he could tell Kero did too.  "What's going on?" he asked, and both of them waited for her reply.

Hope glanced at her master and then back at Syaoran.  She wasn't quite sure where to begin. She tapped her finger on her mouth as she thought about it.  She then let out a heavy sigh, when she figured it out.  She floated over to Syaoran's desk and sat down on it.  Hope then explained what has been going on for the past few weeks. She went into to great detail about Clow's deal with the council and how his sister Clare turned half of the Council against Eriol.  Tears then filled her eyes, when she told them about Sakura's punishment.

"I tried to get her to tell you Syaoran,"  Hope continued folding her arms. "But she was being too stubborn for her own good.  She kept saying that this was her problem.  She did manage to catch three spirits on her own.." She then floated into the air.  "I think I'm going to call it a night.  If you have any questions I think it's best you to talk to master about it." with that Hope disappeared. 

After Hope's departure, Sakura slowly opened her eyes.  She felt terrible and her side still hurt.  She turned her head and noticed Kero sitting next to her in a bed.  Sakura had no idea where she was or what was going on.  She wanted to speak, but couldn't muster the energy to do so. Kero noticed that she was awake and he just patted her on the forehead. 

"Go back to sleep, kiddo," he spoke softly. 

Sakura took a big gulp and with all her might she spoke up," I'..m ...sorry.." she then drift back into sleep. 

The next morning Sakura woke up the sound of rain hitting the windows. She was in a bit of a daze and last night's night event was fuzzy.  Sakura sat up and noticed that this was not her room.  She then spotted Syaraon's school bag hanging on a desk chair.  Then everything became clear to her. She groan slightly. Of course he brought her back here. She glanced down and saw Kero was fast asleep.  And of course he called Kero. 

"Master," spoke a voice softly.  Sakura looked back up and saw Hope floating in the air.

"Hope.." Sakura spoke quietly.  "Did you..tell Syaoran about everything?"

The card nodded her head. "I had no choice. You could have been killed."

"I..." Sakura paused. She was lost with words.  She wasn't sure if she was mad or not.  But she did feel grateful.  "Thank you."

"I'll tell Syaroan you're awake." 

"No, Hope wait!!" Sakura cried out, but it was too late.  The card already went through the bedroom door.  She let out a heavy sigh.  It was no use. She couldn't run from Syaoran.  She had to come clean with him.  Sakura wondered if he was still mad at her.

Syaoran heard Sakura's weak apology to Kero as he quietly shut the door after Hope's departure.  He frowned, wanting to go back in there but now was not the time.  Sakura needed sleep and so did he.  At least now he knew she was safe.  Maybe he would actually get some sleep tonight.

Unfortunately, his mind had other ideas and he ended laying on his back with his injured arm raised on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling deep in thought.  Why did she hide this from him?  Did she not trust him to help her?  Back when she was transforming the cards she hadn't hesitated to tell him if something was up.  She welcomed his help, unaware of his growing feelings for her.  But now... now she had kept it to herself despite the danger and lied to his face because it was her problem?  It didn't make sense to him.

Then there was the council.  What kind of corrupt organization would fault someone for their childhood actions; especially a child from non-magic origins who wouldn't have known better?  Even a child from a magical family wouldn't have been given such a harsh and dangerous sentence for messing with powerful forces beyond their comprehension.  That's what happened when children learned magic, and they were never tried as adults or brought to court once they were older just because they made a mistake.  The fact one of his distant relative was the ring leader behind this made the entire situation even more frustrating.

His mind continued to keep him awake for a few more hours before the lull of the rain finally helped exhaustion win over his whirling thoughts.  However, this sleep was short-lived as Hope woke him a few hours later.

"Master is awake," She said as she nudged him awake.

Syaoran yawned, keeping his eyes shut as he tried to hold on to the last moments of sleep.  It took his mind a moment to remember why Hope's words were important before his eyes snapped open and he sat up.  "How is she feeling?" he asked.

Hope smiled, "She seems better than last night.  You should go talk to her."

Syaoran stood and headed to the kitchen.  He decided he would make some tea for her now and start some soup for lunch.  Doing so gave him precious time to organize his thoughts.  He finished preparing the ingredients for the soup around the same time the tea was done and quickly put them together in the pot to simmer for a few hours.  Then he placed three cups of tea on the tray and balanced it on his shoulder using his good arm while opening the door with his other hand.

"Good morning," he said as he closed the door behind him and approached the bed.

Sakura felt her stomach dropped, when Syaoran entered the room. She was nervous about their conversation and was afraid he would yell at her again. He then greeted her which caught her off guard. He didn't sound angry? But he was suppose to be angry! She was so confused. Syaoran then handed her tea and she mumbled thank you. She took a sip of it and smiled a little. The warmth of tea helped smooth her throat.

Kero woke up due to the smell of tea. He let out a big yawn and sat up. He flew over to Syaoran grabbed the cup of tea. "Ah Just what I needed! Thanks kid!" He took a sip and then looked over at his master. He made a frown and then looked back at Syaoran. He really wanted to talk to Sakura, but he felt like those two should talk first. "I'm going to go stretch my wings. I'll be back in a bit." He placed the tea cup back on tray and left the room. 

Sakura bit her lips and glanced down at her tea. She was hoping Kero would take part of the conversation, but for once he was being considerate. She let out a little sigh and figure it would be best to ease into the topic at hand. "How's your arm...?" Her eyes stayed glued to her tea. She was afraid to look him in the eye.

Syaoran frowned as she nervously stared into her tea.  Sure he was upset at her, but he didn't want her to be afraid of him. He was glad when she started the conversation, certain that he would come off harsher than he meant to if he had made the first comment. It was a fact that he yelled at people he cared about if they did something stupid that put their lives in danger.

He gave her a soft smile, trying to make her feel more comfortable.  "It's a little painful, but I've had worse and it'll be good as new with a few days of rest."

He wasn't really sure if he had had worse.  Most of his training had been very controlled with anything related to Clow or the cards being the most dangerous experiences. Yue had roughed him up quite a bit during the Final Judgment, but he remembered a lot of the scratches being superficial at best; quite painful only because there were so many of them. 

He took a sip of his own cup of tea and then gave her a serious look.  "Hope explained what was going on..  Why didn't you tell me..?"

Sakura looked up when Syaoran answered her question. She returned his smile and felt relieved. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if he got hurt seriously. Her smile soon faded away,when he asked her his question.

"I...," she replied softly. "I didn't want to be a burden." She looked back at her tea. She didn't want to tell him the whole truth, but that could make things worse. "I was afraid that I would distract you from your studies...Then your mother would send you back home..."

Syaoran stared at her, his eyes softening. The memory of his last conversation with his mother while Sakura sat listening flooded his mind.  He knew she didn't know Chinese, so there was no way she had understood the conversation but the tone and the mention of her name was enough to give her a clue of what it was about.  He wondered if she would have been more willing to tell him if she hadn't heard that conversation.

Syaoran set his cup down and placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.  "Sakura..  You're never a burden to me.  I'd rather be distracted from my studies than find out you were killed in battle...  Just forget my mother.  I refuse to be ordered away when you need me.  I'll just have to work my training into combat.  So please, don't hide things when you need help."

Sakura gazed into his eyes, when his hand rested on her shoulder. Syaoran's gaze was so loving. She felt her heart melting away. Tears filled her eyes and she gave him a big smile. "I'm sorry for letting my fears getting to the best of me. I should have confronted you about your mother." She then took another sip of her tea and finished it. 

She then moved closer to him and grabbed a hold of his arm. She pulled him a bit closer to her causing him to sit down next to her. Sakura's emotions were running wild now. Up until now she has been bottling everything up. She couldn't handle it anymore. Sakura had to let her emotions go. "Syaoran, I'm so scared..What if I don't catch all 20 spirits in time? I don't want to go to jail!!" She began to shake and tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I don't want to lose you.."

Syaoran wrapped his free arm around Sakura, bringing her into an embrace.  Normally his heart would be pounding, his face becoming redder than a tomato, but not this time. His mind needed to be free from his typical nervousness so he could comfort her.

"Don't worry.  Everything will be all right.  I know you can catch them all just like you caught the cards, and I will do everything I can to help you. Those spirits won't stand a chance against the two of us.  Plus, I would never let the council near you."

He hoped his words were enough to reassure her. He meant it when he said he wouldn't let the council near her.  He would fight all of them, even at the risk of his life, if it meant keeping Sakura safe from imprisonment.  She was not a criminal and definitely didn't deserve the sentence she had been given.

Sakura held on to him tightly and continued to cry. His words were so comforting and she was touched by his last remark. When she finished crying, Sakura wiped the tears on her face. She laughed a bit and let go of him. Sakura's face was a mess due to being sick. She could feel snot running down her nose. 

"Could you get me a tissue, please?" she asked still laughing at herself.  "For a second I forgot that I was sick. I hope you don't catch my cold."

Syaoran smiled, glad to see she was feeling a little better even if she was still sick.  

"Sure.  I'll be right back," he said, standing an walking toward the door.  He didn't have any tissue in his bedroom at this point, and he needed to stir the soup.  They still had a few hours before lunch, but he wanted to make sure it turned out well.

He entered the living room to see Wei and Kero talking and raised an eyebrow.  Back when Sakura visited Hong Kong, Kero had needlessly hidden himself from Syaoran's mother and siblings even before Toya and Yukito entered the room.  So seeing the guardian beast freely chatting with the older man was certainly strange.

Syaoran just shrugged and walked past them into the kitchen to stir the soup.  With the soup tended to, he went back to the living room and grabbed the box of tissues.  "She's doing better," he answered Kero's unspoken question.  

He then walked back to his bedroom and entered, shutting the door behind him.  "Here," he said, handing her the tissues.

"Thank you," she replied as she grabbed the tissues. She then blew her nose. "Much better." She placed the rest of the tissues beside her. She then wondered about her situation. "I guess Mirror is still covering for me. Um, Hope?"

"Right here, Master!" The pink card appeared out of no where.  "You are correct! Mirror is still covering for you! Unfortunately she didn't look sick enough so your dad sent her off to school!"

Sakura let out a feint sigh. "Great, now I can't return home until I feel better." She glanced over at her boyfriend. "Do you mind if I stay here until then? I don't want to impose, but my dad doesn't know about my magic.."

Syaoran nodded.  "Stay as long as you need to.  Do you want me to go to school tomorrow and check on how Mirror's doing?"

Truth be told, Syaoran hoped she would say no.  He'd rather stay home while she was here and make sure she was ok.  But he knew what it was like to have a magical being do something that drew attention to the situation.  It had taken weeks for people to forget about Kero's gaming and childish attitude back when Change had switched their bodies.

Besides, it's not like she would be alone.  Kero would likely stay by his master's side and Wei would take good care of her during the day.  Still, he really hoped she would rather have him here as well.  He didn't know if he felt like going to school for the rest of the week.

Sakura pondered at the thought of Syaoran staying home with her. She blushed slightly and smiled a little. This would give them an opportunity to spend some time together. Grant it Kero and Wei would be around, but Wei would give them privacy. 

"I'm sure Mirror will be fine. You need your rest too!" she replied. "I can call Tomoyo asked her to watch over Mirror." Then it struck her. She would need to tell her best friend about this ordeal."Which means I would have to tell her about last night events...I really dug myself in a hole. I hope she doesn't get mad at me.."

Syaoran smiled, glad she wanted him to stay home with her.  "Tomoyo's probably already figured it out anyway," he said with a laugh.  Tomoyo was amazingly perceptive in all things related to Sakura.

They spoke for a while about the spirits before Syaoran remembered the soup was probably ready.  "I'll be right back.  I made us lunch.  It should be ready right now."  

He stood and left the room.  He was slightly worried when Wei was nowhere to be seen when he entered the living room.  He did not want Kero alone in his apartment.  Thankfully, he noticed the guardian sleeping on one of the couch pillows, an empty bowl sitting on the coffee table nearby.  

He got into the soup... He thought in annoyance.  He wasn't sure why he was surprised.  Rolling his eyes, he went to the kitchen and grabbed two bowls of soup before heading back to his room.

"Here," he said as he handed her the soup.

"Thank you," Sakura replied as she took the soup from her boyfriend. She let it cool a little before taking the first bite. The soup was really good and as they ate lunch the couple talked about Spirit hunting. Sakura made a promise to her boyfriend that she would call him, when an evil spirit was active. After they were done eating, she handed him her bowl and she spent the rest of the day sleeping. Last night took a huge toll on her. 

Later that night Tomoyo came by and Sakura was impressed that she figured out Mirror was covering for her. She explained the whole situation and she was relieved that her friend wasn't mad at her. Tomoyo admitted that she had a feeling that something was going on. She figure that Sakura would tell her sooner or later, but she was getting worried. Tomoyo then forced Sakura to promise that she would call her as well.

"But it's dangerous," Sakura protested. "The spirits aren't like the Clow Cards..."

"Sakura, I have to be there!" Her friend fought back. "I need to capture your bravery on film! It's been so long and using the Create Card is getting old." Tomoyo then held up a tissue to wipe a way a fake tear. 

"You can't see them though! Only magic users can.." Sakura felt like she was losing this battle.

"That doesn't take away your act of bravery! Sakura, please! I'll be safe trust me."

"Alright..."

"Wonderful! Well I won't keep you. I'll be sure to take notes for both you and Syaoran during school tomorrow." She stood up from the chair she was sitting in. "I better go home and make new outfits! I need to make sure they're suited for these battles. I hope you feel better. I'll keep an eye on Mirror. Although she's pretty good at blending in."

"That's good to know. Tomoyo, I really appreciate your help. Once again I'm sorry for troubling you."

"You're no trouble at all Sakura! Just please don't keep me out of the dark like that again."

"I won't. I learned my lesson that's for sure.."

Before leaving Tomoyo gave Sakura a big hug. She then said goodbye and Wei showed her out the door. Sakura got out of bed and walked around the room a bit. Sleeping all day helped her feel a bit better. The door opened up and Kero came flying in. She could tell in his eyes it was time for their talk. She sat back down on the bed and Kero remained in the air. 

"Sakura, why on Earth didn't you tell me?" He spoke with a hit of offense. "I'm your guardian. It's my duty to protect you. The same goes for Yue. I visited him an hour ago and he was not please."

"I know.." his master trailed off. "It's just like with the others I didn't want to be a burden. Both you and Yue are enjoying your lives again and I didn't want to disrupt that."

Kero shook his head. "You need to think about yourself though. You knew that this would be a dangerous task and having others help you would have made things easier. I was getting worried about you know. Every morning you were waking up at odd times. I was planning to talk to Yue about it before approaching you."

Sakura let out a sigh. "I wish I better at hiding things.."

Kero crossed his arms. "Well, it's in the past now. All we can do is move forward. And I want to apologize to you."

"Apologize...?" Sakura gave him a puzzle look.

"I should have told you more about the magic world and how it was govern."

"But it wouldn't have prevented me from getting punished by the Council."

"I know, but I slightly feel at fault here. Maybe if I told you would have been opened with me from the start. I'm sure the fact that the Council summon scared you."

"It did... I actually had dreams about them before the trial. Eriol was sending them to me."

"See? I feel like if I did tell you about them you would have told me about those dream. So, I'm sorry, Sakura. I guess all this time I was trying to protect you. I wanted you to enjoy being a normal teenager. If I would have told about that world you would have been worried about the laws and meeting the Council's standards."

"No, you're right. I tend to over worry about pointless things. But like you said it's in the past now and all we can do is move forward." She then gave her guardian a smile.

Kero returned her smile and then bonked her on the head. "That's from Yue. He wants you to call him, when're your hunting down spirits."

Sakura laughed a bit. "I'll inform the mass media too."

Kero laughed. 

His master let out a yawn and decided it was time to go back to bed. She hoped tomorrow she would feel better. She slipped other the covers and curled up against the pillows.

To say Clare was pissed would be an understatement.  In fact, there was no way to overstate her anger right at the moment when everything had come together for Sakura.  She had been so excited to see the card mistress about to die and then her distant relative had to come in and ruin it.  Seriously, shouldn't a member of the Li Clan be a little more jaded that her stupid brother's prized creations did not choose him as their master?  Not to mention the fact Sakura's sentence was to capture the evil spirits.  That did not include having help.
 
That's it!  This had to be cheating on her sentence.  All she had to do was report it to Apollo, and maybe they could cut off any help the boy would provide.  Clare smiled to herself and left her office to go find the head of the Council.
 
Her eyes narrowed as she walked into the main room to find Apollo speaking with Eriol.  This could ruin her chances to keep Sakura from getting help.  Oh well.  She had to try anyway.  With her mind made up, she stormed over to the two, effectively ending whatever conversation they were having.
 
"Apollo!  That girl has broken the rules of her sentence!" Clare said.
 
She smiled as Eriol's eyes filled with worry.  Good, let him squirm.
 
Apollo raised an eyebrow, "Oh?  What did she do?"
 
So Eriol didn't know and hadn't tried to get to Apollo first.  That made this even better.  "She received help from the Li Clan's heir.  Community service is supposed to be the responsibility of the sentenced. No one can help."
 
Eriol opened his to protest, but Apollo beat him to it with a shrug, "Is that all?  Surely you didn't expect her to capture all those spirits on her own.  She's only a high schooler with very little magical training."
 
Clare's eyes narrowed.  She was only vaguely aware of the relief in Eriol's features, but it still fueled the anger bubbling inside of her.  "That doesn't matter!  Criminals should not receive help with their sentence; no matter how untrained they are!"
 
Apollo gave her a hard look, "You should speak carefully, Clare.  It sounds like you have it out for the girl.  It's not right for a Council member to take sides.  We enforce the law.  Nothing more."
 
"But.."
 
He shook his head, "No buts.  She can have help as long as she's the one doing the sealing.  We want her to learn the consequences of her actions, not for her to die."
 
Clare bit back a hiss of frustration and mumbled, "Fine" before storming off.
 
How dare he lecture her about enforcing the law when he was the one ignoring the rules of sentencing!  No criminal has ever been allowed to have help!  She needed to do something.  Something subtle that would still ensure her victory.  And she knew what the moment she teleported home for the night.  
 

"Crystal!" she called to her guardian, "I have a job for you."

Crystal was in the gardens watering some flowers. When Clare was at work, she was left with work to do around the house. As she filling up a pitcher with more water, Crystal heard her master calling for her. She jumped at the calling of her name and her tail knocked over the pitcher. She quickly turned the hose off and dashed to the house. As she ran her tail knocked over flower pots. Crystal groan. The master won't be pleased with this mess. She entered Clare's study and saw her master starting out the window. She wasn't sitting in her chair. This can't be good.

"Welcome home, Master," Crystal spoke up.  She moved closer to Clare and saw the look on her face. She looked upset. "What job do you have for me?" She sat down next to her. Clare then placed her hand on her head and explained the situation. She wanted her to find Sakura Kinomoto and prevent her from capturing anymore spirits. 

"How will I do that?" Crystal asked. 

"Move in with her. Lied to her by saying your master kicked you out and you have no place to go. The girl seems naive enough to fall for it."

"Should I stay in my small form then?"

Clare nodded her head. "I will cast spell on you so they don't detect my magic. Be careful around Keroberos. He may seem like an idiot, but he's actually quite intelligent. I don't understand how my brother put up with him."

"Understood. Should I leave now?"

 "Finish your chores first," Clare ordered her guardian and pointed out the window. Crystal glanced out and saw the mess she made in the gardens. The guardian chuckled out of embarrassment and dashed out the room.

Back in Tomoeda Sakura flew to her bedroom's window. She was finally over her cold and her injuries were healed. She knocked on the window and Mirror let her and Kero in. Sakura thanked her card for all her hard worked. Mirror just smiled and returned to her card.

"So how will we handle capturing spirits?" Kero asked his master as he sat down on her desk.

Sakura turned to look at her guardian. "Well, I'll just have to call everyone, when we find a spirit's exact location." She pulled the bracelet that Apollo gave her out of her pocket. "This is how I have been finding them. It flashes when one is active and will tell me if I'm close to it." She walked over to him and showed him.

"Alright, then. I'll need to talk to the snow rabbit about this. I'm sure he'll understand the situation." He needed to tell Yukito that they'll be needing Yue more often.

Sakura looked panic. "Can I talked to him?"

"Huh, why?"

"I want to make sure he won't tell Toya! He will have a fit about all of this!"

Kero let out a sigh. "Alright. I guess it's okay to hide this from him. He might do something rash."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. She then got undress and began to put her PJs on. It was late. "I hope things will be easier now with Syaoran helping me. You should have seen him the night he saved me."

Kero was quiet for a moment. "Sakura.."

"Yes, Kero?" She turned to look at her guardian.

"I think it would be good idea if you trained with, Li."

Sakura just stared at him in shock. He actually used Syaoran's name. 

"I can tell his magic has grown since I last saw him," Kero continued on. "Like you he's getting closer to mastering his magic. It would be a good idea for you to learn spells. You can't rely on the cards all the time."

Sakura bit her lip.

"What's wrong?"

"Won't I get in the way of his training? His mother might not like that..."

Kero shook his head. " I talked to Wei about this earlier today. He thinks Li's mother would be for it. He told me that Syaoran has been struggling with keeping up with his sessions. He feels if you trained along side him it will keep him motivated."

Sakura climbed into bed. "I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Good." Kero jumped off the desk and landed next the bottom drawer. He pulled it out. "Well, good night. Lucky for you tomorrow is Saturday."

"Yeah, it will be nice to sleep in." Sakura leaned over to her night stand and turned off the lamp. "Good night."

That night Crystal appeared above Tomoeda with a piece of paper in her mouth. Clare teleported her here with a map. Naturally Clare could have made Crystal appear about Sakura's house, but she wanted her guardian to know the area. Crystal grabbed the map out her mouth. She glanced over it and saw the Clare marked Sakura's house with an X. She even marked a path for her to follow. Crystal then flew down toward the ground to look for the path. She noticed street signs and looked at the map to see what street she needed to follow. Sadly she was having no luck. Crystal kept flying around. Tired. Crystal found a bench to sit down and study the map once more. As she was reading it a gust of wind flew by and took the map right out of her paw. 

"No!" She shouted to herself and chased after it. The wind carried the map high into the air. Unfortunately she ran into a sign thus losing forever. Crystal let out a heavy sigh as she rubbed her face. She would have to rely on her magic to find Sakura now.  The downside was that she had no clue what Sakura's magic felt like. Crystal let out a yawn and decided to search for Sakura in the morning. She flew around until she found a tree to sleep in.

Syaoran sighed, allowing himself to fall into the couch.  The apartment was quiet and felt somewhat lonely after four days of having Sakura stay with them.  He already missed the warmth her presence brought with her.

He reached for the remote about to turn on the news or some other appropriately boring channel for background noise when Wei entered the room with a tray of tea, setting it on the coffee table and sitting next to him.  Syaoran raised an eyebrow as his friend poured the tea.  Outside of meals or serving guests, tea usually meant a serious conversation.

Wei just chuckled and held out the cup of tea on a small plate for him to take.  "You always look so suspicious when you're thinking, Syaoran.  You can relax.  There's nothing bad to talk about."

Syaoran took the tea and looked down at his reflection in the liquid, embarrassed Wei was able to pick up on even his smallest bouts of suspicion.  "It seems like we always have important conversations over tea."

Wei thought for a moment, a kind smile spreading across his face.  "We do, don't we?  Well, I think you'll like the results of this conversation.  But first, I must tell you, I spoke to your mother the other night."

Syoaran frowned, biting his lip.  He had caught up with his training before the spirit attack, but now he was four days behind again.  His mother must not have been pleased with the revelation.  Why was Wei so confident that this was a good conversation?

Wei continued quickly, noticing Syaoran's suddenly tense stance.  "Don't worry.  She's very pleased you were able to catch up in one weekend after being so far behind."

"But now I'm four days behind.  She's going to drag me back to Hong Kong if I'm not careful!" Syaoran answered, suddenly aware of how worried he was that she really wound find a way to drag him back.  He would not go back of his own will, but his mother had a way of getting what she wanted.  She was the head of the family, after all.

Wei shook his head.  "Contrary to what you think, your mother is quite fond of Miss Kinomoto.  She was happy you could help and wants you to apply your training to actual combat.  Experience is the best teacher, you know."

Syoaran let out a breath of relief he didn't realize he was holding.  "That's what I was going to do anyway.  It would be a waste not to apply my training."

Wei nodded.  "I thought so.  You were always good with your training.  Anyway, Keroberos had an idea that I've cleared with your mother.  We think you should train Miss Kinomoto in both Li family magic and martial arts to help her understand magic better and to make sure she can rely on more than the cards if the need ever arises."

Syaoran was quiet with momentary confusion.  His mother thought he should train Sakura?  His mind whirled as he tried to figure out why his mother was okay with something that would probably eat into his own training.  He would have to work from the most basic spells and concepts back up to his level for Sakura to have the foundation needed to advance in his family's techniques.

Wei answered the unspoken question, as if reading his mind.  "Your mother is hoping working with Miss Kinomoto will help you stay motivated.  You'll have to continue working on your own training while helping her with hers.  This should be an excellent opportunity for you to develop your teaching skills and review concepts you already know."

Syaoran nodded.  It was true.  He was very unmotivated when given the choice between training and hanging out with Sakura.  Helping her train would eliminate the need for him to choose.  "Has Sakura agreed to this?"

"Keroberos was going to talk to her about it tonight.  You should know by tomorrow."

Syaoran looked down at his tea.  He had absentmindedly drank most of it at this point.  "Alright.  I'll let you know what's up after I see her."  He finished his tea in another few sips and stood.  "I'm going to go to bed.  Good night, Wei."

Wei stood as well, gathering the cups and nodding to Syaoran. "Good night.  Be up bright and early for training tomorrow." 

Syoaran nodded and headed towards his bedroom.

The next morning at the Kinomoto house Sakura is woken up by Kero. She sat up in bed as she watched her guardian let the sun into the room. "What time is it..?"

"It's eight," replied Kero.

"Why did you wake me up so early...?"

"For your training."

"Already? Shouldn't I talk to Syaoran first?"

"Nah, I thought it would be fun to surprise the kid."

Sakura sighed. Looked like Kero referring to Syaoran by his name wasn't permanent. She climbed out of her bed and walked over to her dresser and pulled out a pair of gym shorts. "Do you know where were he trains?"

"Nope!"

"Kero!" Sakura turned to face him. "You didn't ask Wei?"

"I forgot."

Sakura held back the urge to slap her forehead. 

"Besides this a good a chance for you to find them."

His master gave him a blank stare.

"Locate them with your magic."

"Oh, right!" Sakura spoke as she grabbed a T-shirt from her closet. She hoped she was dressing okay for this training session. She then changed out of her PJs into her work out clothes. She walked over to her desk and threw her cards into her shoulder bag. She then headed downstairs and ate a quick breakfast. She bid her father goodbye telling him she would be hanging out with Syaoran for the day. She then left her house and Kero greeted her at the front the gate. 

"Alright, it should be easy to locate them seeing how Tomoeda doesn't have any magic families living here. Just concentrate," Kero spoke with confidence in his voice. He believed that Sakura could do this.

Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes. With deep focused she was able to sense some magic within the area. She opened her eyes and glanced at her guardian. "I can sense their magic, but it's too feint for me to pinpoint their exact location."

"Then maybe flying around the city will help," her guardian suggested.

Sakura nodded her head and pulled out her key. She then went behind the tree in her front yard and summon her wand. She pulled the Fly card out of her bag and struck her wand against it. Then wings grew on Sakura's back and her and Kero took off into the skies. They flew around until Sakura was able to figure out Syaoran's and Wei's location. She sense their magic from in some woods nearby Penguin Park. Sakura flew back to the ground with Kero right behind her. They landed behind a tree near Syaoran and Wei. She stepped out behind the tree and saw them. 

"Good morning!" She spoke cheerfully.