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dreds of birds in the tropical enclosure. Rakudo led the birds into the vor=
tex around Syaoran. The winds were becoming already fierce and then explode=
d in intensity when the large colorful bird slammed into the boy. But inste=
ad of knocking him over, it literally went into him, its wings merging into=
 his back. Hundreds of birds followed suit, each one disappeared upon hitti=
ng Syaoran, somehow making the wings on the boy's back grow in size.=20

With the last bird gone, Syaoran took flight with his rainbow wings, pushin=
g himself to fly as fast as he could. His speed was faster than the monstro=
us raven, catching up to the bird holding his beloved captive. He could fee=
l his strength waning, taken up to give him a means to fly. He had to free =
Sakura, even if it meant dying in his attempt. He knew he would only have o=
ne shot as he would likely fall unconscious from the effort. He dug deep in=
to his pocket that held Fanren's comb and pulled out every lightning spell =
papers he had. With more a guttural scream than incantation, he stabbed the=
 papers with his sword, launching a giant lightning blast at the bird.

Syaoran smiled as the lightning stuck the bird's back. The monster squawked=
 in pain and reflexively let go of Sakura. The bird lost its immense size a=
s it plummeted to the ground with the girl falling next to it. He tried to =
focus on his beloved, but exhaustion pulled him into darkness and the feath=
ers melted away from his back.

Sakura groaned awake as she felt the all-to-familiar sensation of free fall=
. She quickly cast Fly upon herself and looked around to see what was going=
 on. She saw Syaoran falling and immediately grabbed him, before trying to =
slow down her descent. The speed of their fall was too much and they were t=
oo close to the ground. They slammed into the ground, but thankfully not da=
ngerously hard.

Sakura panted, unsure what to make of what was going on. She glanced at her=
 boyfriend and her heart froze in panic. His hair was white and his face wr=
inkled. It was as if she was seeing what Syaoran would look like at one hun=
dred-years-old. Remembering the sensations she felt after the fight with th=
e dragon golem, Sakura willed her energy into her boyfriend. As she slipped=
 into unconsciousness, she noticed two cards with dark green backs in his h=
and.

-----------------------

Sakura groaned awake, finding herself in bed with Syaoran. "This is really =
getting to be a bad habit." She then giggled tiredly. "Well, maybe not 'bad=
.'"

"You're awake."

Sakura sat up and stared at the woman in the room. "Li-san...."

Syaoran's mother, Yelan, approached the bed. "I see you both are past the w=
orst of it."

Sakura began to panic as she suddenly realized she was in a hospital room, =
with tubes and wires attached to her arm. "What happened?"

"You were attacked by a giant bird and rendered unconscious. Syaoran, despe=
rate in trying to save you, did something obscenely reckless and nearly kil=
led himself. If not for your magic potential and quick thinking to feed him=
 your energy, he would've died," Yelan informed, sounding sadder than the g=
irl had ever heard the woman speak.

Sakura clutched her boyfriend's hands tightly. Looking at his face, the pat=
ch of gray hair reminder her of what he looked like after he defeated the b=
ird. "Don't you dare ever do that again!" she chastised the still sleeping =
boy.

Yelan cleared her voice. "To cover up this event, there's been some... trut=
h bending. As far as everyone is concerned, an ultra-light plane crashed in=
to the aviary and hurt you and Syaoran from the debris. The pilot was dead =
at the scene, though there actually was no plane nor pilot. The gapping hol=
e it made let most of the birds in the aviary escape, and only a couple of =
them have been found."

Sakura blinked. "The birds? What happened to the birds?"

Yelan frowned. "Look at what's in his other hand."

Sakura reached over the boy and saw the two dark green cards he had before =
she became unconscious. The backs of them showed an image of two offset squ=
ares filled with symbols that reminded her of the lazen board he had so oft=
en used in locating the Clow Cards. The face of the first card was 'The Lig=
htning' with a rather simple picture of a lightning bolt depicted on it. Fr=
om her own cards could see that this was extremely similar to the Clow Card=
s, but attuned entirely to Syaoran, as her cards were now attuned to her. T=
hat card seemed to be strongly offensive, yet she couldn't sense it having =
the guiding intelligence 'The Thunder' did. She then looked at the other ca=
rd.

"The Birds..." Sakura moaned out in anguish. Her fingers shook as she touch=
ed the image of the bird of paradise beautifully centered on the card. She =
could see the two small friends she had made at the aviary sitting together=
 on the right side, while dozens of other birds were scattered about the pi=
cture. "He... he KILLED the ENTIRE aviary for this?!" Tears pooled in her e=
yes. "Rakudo-san... Parrot-san... Cockatoo-san... All those birds... for th=
is...."

"For you," Yelan snapped.

Sakura flinched. "I would never want this."

"Syaoran needed a means to save you, and the birds responded to his plea. T=
hey choose to do this for you. To save your life," Yelan pointed out firmly=
. "If not for their sacrifice, you would not be here. You would be dead."

Sakura yanked the tubes and wires from her arm before jumping out of the be=
d.

Yelan moved to push her back. "Sakura, you need to rest."

"I need to be alone!" Sakura shouted, despite her unsteady stance. "I've ha=
d too much going on as it is. Some mage is out to kill me, fought an assass=
in, nearly raped, Fanren-chan met her fate and is now a ghost, Mihara-san d=
ied from cancer, and not only did I choose to let Reiko-chan die, she's now=
 a poltergeist out to get me." She clenched her fists. "Now Syaoran-kun mur=
dered hundreds of birds to save me. It's too much!"

Yelan sighed as the girl stomped away. "And the worse is yet to come."

Sakura froze at the door and gave the woman a pain-filled glance. "Why is t=
his happening to me? To us?"

"Power attracts power." Yelan looked away. "And the misuse of power corrupt=
s."

Sakura clenched the door tightly as she opened it and exited the room, slam=
ming it behind her. She then blinked in surprise. This wasn't a hospital sh=
e was in. She recognized the hallway as being from Tomoyo's house. She made=
 her way to the back gazebo and sat heavily at the patio table.

A moment later, Sakura was surprised as a maid arrived holding a tray of fo=
od.=20

"We weren't sure what you wanted, so we prepared a few different things tha=
t would be easy to eat."

"Thank you." Sakura glanced at the cereal, chopped fruit, toast, milk, oran=
ge juice and tea. While she was starving, this was too much for her alone. =
"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," the maid replied.

"How long have I been here?" Sakura wondered.

"Seven days," the maid answered.

Sakura stared at her. "A whole week?!"

The maid nodded. "Yes. I'm afraid Tomoyo-hime will be quite upset to learn =
you woke up while she was at school."

"I see. Thank you." Sakura poked at the cereal with a spoon. "I've got more=
 than enough here. You can go."

"It's no problem. I can remain to help you," the maid insisted.

"I need to be alone, please," Sakura pleaded, and was thankful when the mai=
d nodded and walked away. She then frowned, sensing the maid had only moved=
 out of sight.

Sakura sighed as she slowly began to eat. This wasn't fair. Twice now other=
s had died for her. She should've been killed in that stupid accident. Then=
 the aviary wouldn't have been slaughtered by her own boyfriend. How could =
he do that to them? How?

Collapsing onto the table, Sakura began to sob uncontrollably. How many mor=
e would get hurt because of her? How many would die because some mage was o=
ut to kill her? Why was that person out to get her? What had she ever down =
to that mage?

Sakura felt something tap her head. She looked up to see the parrot and the=
 cockatoo from the aviary standing on the table. "Wha... what?!"

"Don't be sad," the parrot told her.

"But you're dead!" Sakura protested. "You're not free! You're bound to Syao=
ran-kun now!"

"Were we ever free?" the cockatoo retorted. "We were stuck in an aviary wai=
ting for hand outs for food. And trust us, you were a LOT kinder than most =
of the kids we've seen."

"Rakudo's girlfriend died because of what another group of kids did," the p=
arrot added. "They didn't MEAN to hurt her, but they ignored the tour guide=
's warnings about petting and remaining on the path."

Sakura pouted, silently casting Libra to make sure this was not just a show=
 being put on for her, but the honest truth. "But you'll never be able to f=
ly around like you did before."

"It'll be better than before. We now have a purpose!" the cockatoo announce=
d happily. "We can even talk to you."

"Sure we could've learned how to speak in the aviary. But that would've bee=
n repeating phrases. I'd hardly call 'cute bird,' 'come on eat,' and 'stupi=
d bird shit on me' as speaking," the parrot added jokingly.

Despite herself, Sakura giggled a little. "I still think what happened is t=
oo sad."

"So we're not going to be paraded before snot-nose kids anymore. Big deal. =
The aviary will replace us with other birds. Not even Rakudo was irreplacea=
ble. It's why we were in that enclosure with no cages. If some stupid kid k=
illed one of us, it wouldn't be a major tragedy," the parrot explained in d=
istaste.

"Yeah, but Syaoran-kun still murdered all of you," Sakura protested.=20

"For the last time, he didn't kill us. He gave us a new purpose and meaning=
 beyond to be seen by people. You'll be able to see us whenever you want no=
w. Which makes me a lot happier!" the cockatoo chirped.

"And me even happier than him!" the parrot added.

"I'm the happiest!" the cockatoo shot.

"No, I am!" the parrot returned.

As the argument continued, the birds faded away and returned to being a car=
d. Sakura followed the path of the card and saw Syaoran catch it as he lean=
ed heavily against his mother.=20

"I'm sorry," Syaoran told her as he weakly approached her with his mother's=
 help.

Sakura pouted at him. "I'm not sure I can forgive you."

Syaoran looked like he had just been stabbed.

Sakura walked up to him and poked his chest. "Don't you dare kill yourself =
trying to save me! Without you, there would be no reason for me to live! Sy=
aoran-kun, I love you. I can't live without you!" She pulled him into a fie=
rce hug.

Syaoran returned her embrace. "I'm sorry. I feel the same way. It's why I d=
id... what I did. You mean everything to me."

"Try not to kill anything next time," Sakura pleaded.

"I'll try," Syaoran pledged, yet accenting 'try.'

Sakura frowned, Libra telling her that wasn't the full truth about not kill=
ing anything. She pulled the card back, not wanting to have any more reason=
 not to trust her boyfriend. "Now come on, let's eat. You've got to be as h=
ungry as I was," Sakura pulled him towards the patio table.

-----------------------

Coming soon:=20
Chapter 13 - Nadeshiko's Past, Sakura's Present
Chiharu finds a picture at her house and learns that the unspoken past is b=
eing repeated in the present.


Sorry, not Avatar crossover this time, but Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, wh=
ich is owned by CLAMP. This occurs right before the country of Piffle.=20

-----------------------

The very air seemed to bubble before five figures fell from it. A tall, mus=
cular man in black landed first, followed by a slender man in white, then a=
 teenage boy in browns, followed by a teenage girl whose arse bounced on ea=
ch of the guys' heads, and then the small white creature did the same-- tho=
ugh his fall seemed to have been intentional.

"You did that on purpose!" snarled the dark dressed man, Kurogane.=20

"I certainly have no complaints," the one in white, Fye, added, earning a g=
lare from the other man.

Syaoran and Princess Sakura said nothing as Fye, Kurogane and the small whi=
te creature, Mokona, got into a small fight. They were too busy blushing.

"So, um, where are we?" Syaoran asked, looking at the strange houses and ro=
ads. There were some similarities to the first world they had went to, but =
the buildings weren't nearly as big.

A metallic roar that thundered ever closer filled their ears. Kurogane reac=
hed for his sword.

A motorcycle sped toward them and then came to a screeching halt. The pink =
haired and sparkling emerald-eyed rider wore no helmet as she gazed intentl=
y at the boy. "You're not Showron. You know where that mother-fucking jerk =
is?"

"Ah, no." Syaoran sweated nervously.

"If you see him, tell him Sakura Avalon is out for his ass." With no other =
words, she sped off on the bike.

"Was that supposed to be me?" Sakura wondered.

"Not a chance in hell," Kurogane spat.

Syaoran could only nod.=20

They tried to decide where to go as Mokona wasn't sure if one of Sakura's f=
eathers was in this world, let alone where. A teenage boy with wild auburn =
hair and a scarred face that made him more attractive walked down the road.=
 He stopped and gazed at Princess Sakura.=20

"The name's Showron. Care for a night to remember?" the scarred boy asked d=
evilishly.

"Over my dead body," Syaoran snarled.

"That can be arranged, fucktard," Showron spat. "But if a night of bodily p=
leasure isn't your thing, how about something to pick up your spirits?" He =
held up a bag containing some white powder.

"Um, Avalon was just by looking for you," Sakura told him.

"Shit! That fucking bitch just won't figure out her place." Showron immedia=
tely ran off.

"Mokona, let's just leave now. I don't want to see any other fractured imag=
es that might be us," Sakura requested weakly. "They kind of look like us, =
but they certainly don't act like us."

"But there could be a feather...." Mokona trailed off, staring at a tall ma=
n in black with long flowing black hair holding a stack of books.

"Fey, you're so mean! Why won't you understand how much I love you?" bemoan=
ed the guy who could've passed for Kurogane's twin sister, if the guy had b=
reasts and a higher voice.

"We leave NOW!" Kurogane shouted.

Mokona nodded, leading the way through a new portal.

In another dimension, a witch laughed heartily. "That'll teach you not to g=
ive me white day presents!"

----------------

If the above world they appeared in resembles a specific fanfict, it is pur=
ely coincidental as I have never and will never read a story depicting Saku=
ra or Syaoran in a gang as the very concept goes against who they are.=20

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