Authors Note (A/N): This story takes place about a year after Sakura defeats Eriol. She is 12 in this story and in the sixth grade. Syaoran never confessed to Sakura, and the 2nd movie didn’t happen. Things in italics are either thoughts or emphasis.
Sakura was been sucked into a weird, dark place known as the Realm of Darkness where she met a boy named Shadow. Syaoran, with Eriol’s help, has, along with Tomoyo and Meiling, entered various Realms to try to find her.
by Shadowpheonix
“Sakura, wake up,” a calm voice said.
Sakura got out of bed. “Shadow? What time is it?” She asked, turning to the clock. “It’s only six thirty. Why do you want me awake so early?”
“I think I may have liked it better when you were afraid to ask questions…” Shadow said as he opened the door he was standing behind. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Ok, I’m up. What are we going to do?” Sakura asked, unable to help her curiosity.
“Come. Breakfast will be ready in about five minutes. Don’t be late if you want some.”
“I’ll just follow you. Why is it so dark out? There’s still no light, and it’s six thirty already.”
“I’m not going to explain. Not now at least. Maybe after breakfast I will. You coming?” Shadow asked as he walked away.
“Wait up!” Sakura yelled as she ran after Shadow. Where did he go? He can’t have gone that quickly. Shadow had disappeared. She decided to go to the dining room and wait there for breakfast. I hope breakfast is as good as dinner was. She walked over to the table and sat down. Shadow walked into the room with a tray of pancake toppings and a stack of pancakes.
“I’d have thought you’d want to change into your normal clothes. You’re just going to wear your pajamas all day?” Shadow asked as he set down the tray.
Sakura looked down at what she was wearing and flushed. “I… I was going to… change later,” she said, attempting to gain back some dignity.
“Don’t lie to me. It doesn’t matter. Here, have some pancakes. How many would you like?”
“I’ll take two, thank you.” Shadow gave her the pancakes and pushed the toppings towards her. She grabbed her butter knife, spread some butter, and poured grape jelly over her pancakes. “So, why is it so dark?” Sakura asked again.
“It just is. Don’t ask questions while you eat.” Shadow turned away and walked back to the kitchen.
He’s so weird. I thought the rule was to not ask questions at all…
“It is!” Shadow yelled from the kitchen. Sakura gave a start, jumping a few inches from her seat, nearly spilling the honey on herself.
“Don’t do that!” Sakura yelled.
“Do what?” Shadow asked, suddenly behind her.
Sakura jumped into the air, almost a foot above her chair and gave a small scream, whipped her head around, and stared indignantly. “That! Don’t just read my mind or sneak up on me like that!”
“What would you have me do instead? I could lock you in your room and not talk to you. I could throw you into a cold dungeon cell and make sure the only living things you see are the mice down there. Would you like that?” Shadow asked with an evilsmile on his face.
Sakura turned away and returned to her pancakes. Stupid Shadow… she thought as she shoved pancakes into her mouth.
“I think I’m being rather nice. I suppose I could throw you into the dungeon. That would justify your anger…” Shadow trailed off, satisfied with the look on Sakura’s face. “Would you like something to drink?”
“What?” Sakura asked, completely and utterly confused.
“Would you like something to drink?” Shadow asked again.
“You don’t make any sense. I thought you were talking about throwing me in the dungeon! When did you start talking about drinks? Can’t you stay on the same topic for more than a second?”
“Back to the dungeon idea it is. Let’s go.” Shadow said, advancing towards Sakura.
Sakura immediately got out of her chair. She began to run towards her room as she relized what Shadow meant to do, but found that she couldn’t move from the head down. “Let me go! Please?” Shadow continued to walk towards her, not saying anything. A dark aura began to engulf Shadow as Sakura’s arms began to move involuntarily. “What… are… you… doing?” Sakura asked as one of her hands moved towards Shadow. Shadow grabbed her by her wrist and led her in the opposite direction of her room.
“You wanted to go back to the dungeon idea, so we’re going to the dungeon. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it there since you’re so eager to be there,” Shadow said coldly.
Sakura gained back her ability to move as Shadow pulled her arm. She began to flail wildly, attempting to break free. “I… I’m sorry… Let me... Please let me go. Please? I don’t want to go to the dungeon.” Sakura pleaded, beginning to cry.
Shadow let go of her arm. “Are you sure you don’t want to go? You seemed awfully enthusiastic about it a minute ago. You wouldn’t let go of the subject. You were practically trying to get yourself thrown into a frigid, gloomy cell.”
Sakura fell to her knees, relieved that Shadow had let her go. She began to cry again. I wish Syaoran were here…
“Stop crying,” Shadow said simply. “Come on, get up.” Shadow walked over to Sakura and grabbed her arm again. Sakura let herself be led by Shadow back to her chair, still crying. “Would you like something to drink?” Shadow asked again.
“Wh… What do you have?” Sakura said between sobs.
“Stop crying,” Shadow said with areprimanding voice, apparently growing impatient. “I have pretty much anything you can ask for. Milk, juice…” Shadow trailed off.
“I don’t want anything. I’ll go back to my room now,” Sakura said, managing to suppress her tears for the moment.
“Go ahead. I’m not holding you back. If you need anything let me know,” Shadow said kindlyas Sakura left the room.
Sakura walked down the hallway to her room. She opened the door, walked inside and collapsed onto the bed. The tears she had been holding back spilled out in a torrent now. “Syaoran…” she whispered softly.
“You miss him?”
Sakura rolled off of the bed, startled. She looked at Shadow standing in the doorway and went back to her crying, not even bothering to tell him to leave her alone.
“It’s not a bad idea to answer those whom are in power over you. It’s probably not very smart to ignore them. But if you’d like your privacy…” Shadow turned and headed out of the room.
“C-Can you… bring… him here?” Sakura asked, still crying.
“You don’t think he’d want to see you with that face, do you? Yes, I can bring him here.”
Sakura gained back some hope. “Will you?” she asked, putting an end to her tears forthe moment.
“No,” Shadow said. “No, I don’t think I will.” Shadow walked away, leaving Sakura to cry to herself again.
“Shadow, wait!” Sakurayelled as she ran after him.
“What? Going to beg me to bring Syaoran here? I won’t do it.”
“Is there anything I can do to change your mind? I’ll do anything,” Sakura said, as sincerely as possible.
“No. Stop asking.” Shadow walked on and Sakura followed close behind.
“Shadow…” Shadow grew angry. He turned around and faced Sakura, a dark aura enveloping him.
“No,” he said once more, with his voice calm, if not his outer presence. “I won’t bring him here, and it’s probably not a good idea to keep this up.”
Sakura stepped back, tears welling up to her eyes again. “There’s nothing I can do?” Sakura asked, still clinging to her dying hope.
“No,” Shadow said and walked away, disappearing with his lantern.
Sakura stood there, surrounded by the dark that had crept up on her as Shadow left with his lantern. How do I get back? I wish Syaoran were here. Sakura turned around and decided she would try to find her way back. Slowly, she began to walk forward and ran into a wall. Ow! Sakura thought as she fell backwards. She reached into her pocket and took out her Light card. She released her wand and shouted, “Light!” Light emerged from its card and tried to light the room. As the room lit up, Light suddenly was forced back into her card. What? Why didn’t it work? Sakura began to panic and fell to her knees. How am I going to get back? I can’t see anything!
“You can’t? I thought for sure you’d be able to see perfectly in the dark. Ready to go back to your room?”
Sakura gasped and looked over to where she had heard the voice. “Shadow?” Sakura asked, more than a little relieved.
“Let’s get going.”
“I can’t see! What happened to your lantern?”
“You coming? Just follow the sound of my voice.”
“Shadow! I can’t see! Shadow?” Sakura said as she attempted to follow Shadow’s receding voice. “Shadow? Hello?”
“Follow…” Shadow said, his voice becoming a whisper.
Sakura walked towards Shadow’s voice. Suddenly, she heard a noise behind her and stopped. “Who’s there? Shadow?”
Two small red eyes appeared behind her and she let out a scream. The creature approached her as it chuckled evilly. “What is someone like you doing out here, and so alone? You’re practically asking for trouble here in the Dark Realm.”
“Wh-who are you?” Sakura asked, backing away from the advancing red eyes.
The creature extended one of its tentacles towards Sakura, binding her wrists together. It took another tentacle and wrapped it around Sakura’s middle, holding her arms behind her. “Come with me,” the creature said, tightening its grip on Sakura.
“Let me go!” Sakura said. Tears came to Sakura’s eyes again. This must be the hundredth time I’ve cried…Sakura thought absent mindedly. She screamed as the creature tightened its grip on her again, pulling her along. “Let me go!”
“Why? Don’t you want to leave this wretched place?” The creature pulled Sakura, dragging her on the floor behind it. “Get up! Don’t make me pull you!”
“Help! Somebody!” Sakura screamed before the creature wrapped a tentacle around her mouth.
“Be quiet! I don’t need that Shadow kid helping you out!”
“You should be more respectful to those more powerful than you…” Shadow said as he materialized in front of the creature. “Let her go,” he said calmly.
“You! Why can’t you mind your own business?”
“I am. She is my business. Leave her alone, or feel my wrath!” Shadow said in an oddly calm voice as a dark aura surrounded him again. “Any objections?”
“Grrr… You win this time, Sakura. I’ll be back for you!” the creaturehissed as it retreated into the darkness.
Sakura fell to her knees, torn between thanking Shadow or getting mad at him for letting it happen in the first place. She wiped the tears from her face and turned to look at Shadow. It was still dark, but she could just barely make out Shadow’s outline. “What was that?” she asked, half-confident that Shadow wouldn’t hurt her for doing so.
“Never mind. It’s not important. Don’t go wandering off by yourself again.”
“Wandering off by myself? What are you talking about? You’re the one that left me here!” Sakura said with fire in her eyes.
“I told you to follow my voice and you chose not to.”
“I tried to! But you moved too quickly!” Sakura said indignantly. “Why can I see better all of a sudden?” she asked as she realized she could make out where Shadow was standing.
“This may be the Dark Realm, but that doesn’t mean that it’s always pitch black. Now let’s go.”
“Fine!” Stupid Shadow. Sakura thought to herself.
Just then, Shadow turned on her, a dark aura surrounding him. “What was that?”
“Wh-what was what?” Sakura asked, already knowing the answer. Oh no! I’m so dead. Sakura thought to turn around and run, but decided it was better not to. I hope this doesn’t hurt…
Anger flashed through Shadow’s eyes as he unleashed a bolt of dark energy towards Sakura. Sakura attempted to sidestep the bolt, but it caught her and flung her back into the wall. “I saved you from that hideous creature and this is how you repay me? You ever wonder what might’ve happened had I not saved you? Do you know what it does to people that it finds? Would you like for me to leave you for it again?” Shadow asked rhetorically.
“I’m s-sorry.” Sakura began to cry as she felt the pain from ramming into the wall. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“You’d better be!” Shadow said, still angry. Then, in a softer voice, he added, “Let’s go.”
Sakura got up and followed him. I hope he forgives me. That was scary… she thought as she walked along behind Shadow.
They arrived at her room and Shadow opened the door, letting her in. “Change into something that you can run around in,” Shadow said as he left.
Sakura sat down on her bed and contemplated escaping. He said I could escape through the window. If I try and he catches me… I wish I knew what he wanted with me! Sakura went over to the dresser and picked out some clothes. She quickly changed into them and sat on her bed, waiting patiently for Shadow. A few minutes later, Shadow came in.
“Let’s go. You better not get me mad again.”
Sakura followed him as she did when they first met. She kept her eyes on the floor, fearful that he would look at her and catch her looking back. She tried to keep any and all thoughts out of her mind for fear that Shadow might hurt her.
“I hope you changed into something you feel comfortable running around in. If you didn’t you’re going to have a very hard time.” Shadow’s sudden speech startled Sakura before she answered with a simple, “I did.” Shadow smiled and opened a door. “Good. Go in,” he commanded, not allowing for any silliness.
Sakura entered the room. She turned around to ask Shadow what was going on, only to find that the door she had entered through was no longer there. “Shadow? Hello?” she asked, feeling very vulnerable in the dark room without Shadow there to protect her. Where is he? Why do I want him here? I should be happy he’s not here… It’s because he saved me. I know he doesn’t want to hurt me… What am I supposed to do? Sakura decided to try her Light card again. As she took out her card, she heard a familiar voice calling her name.
“Sakura, come here. I miss you.”
Sakura recognized the voice as Syaoran’s and ran after it. “Where are you? Syaoran?” she asked, listening intently for a response. None came and she ran off to where she had last heard the voice. “Syaoran?” she asked again.
“Sakura, where are you?” a different voice asked.
“Tomoyo?” The voice came from the same place as Syaoran’s had. She ran after it, hoping beyond all hope that they were there. Suddenly, she stopped. Shadow said he wouldn’t bring Syaoran here, but I just heard his voice. It can’t be them. Shadow wouldn’t do something like that. Especially not after how mad he just got.Sakura turned around to head the other way, suddenly fearful of what might be imitating her friends' voices. As she turned, she saw two red eyes floating in front of her. “Aaaaahhh!” She screamed, recognizing the eyes. “You again! Get away from me!” Sakura turned around and ran. This is what Shadow meant when he said to change into something that I’d be comfortable running in? Sakura thought incredulously. She turned her head to see if the red eyes were still behind her. Relieved that she had put some distance between her and the eyes, she gained back some strength and ran at full speed away from the creature.
“You can’t escape. I’ll find you no matter where you go.”
“Leave me alone!” she yelled into the dark just as she saw a dark, solid shape in front of her. Realizing that the tall dark outline in front of her was a wall, she skidded to a stop and turned right. “Shadow! It’s not funny anymore! I said I was sorry!” she cried in desperation. Immediately, Sakura was standing back at the doorway as if nothing had happened.
“Something wrong?” Shadow asked in a mock-concerned voice.
“What just happened? I was just running from that thing…” Sakura was dumbfounded.
“None of that really happened. But it will if you don’t want me around. This room shows different futures that you can have depending on the information I give it. If I leave you alone from now on, you will be spending most of your life running away from the Sphienent. It was very amusing,” Shadow said, giving her a look that dared her to get angry.
Sakura held her temper. Suddenly feeling hungry she changed the subject. “When will we have lunch?”
“And you yell at me for not staying on one subject for more than a second!” Shadow said heartily. “Come on, let’s get you some food.” Shadow led the way back to the dining room.
That’s strange… I could’ve sworn we turned a different way to get here.
“We did. This realm changes constantly. Only certain places will remain the same. What do you want for lunch?”
“Ummm… what do you have? Can I try some of the other stuff on that menu last night? The pork sounded good.”
“What do you mean it sounded good? All it said was ‘Pork and Rice.’ What sounds so good about that?”
“Can’t you just take a compliment?”
“So you want the pork?” Shadow asked, changing the subject back to lunch.
Sakura stared at him for a few seconds. “Yes, I’ll try the pork.”
Shadow walked into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he walked out with a plate of food. “I ate while I watched you run away in terror from the Sphienent. It was very amusing. Made the meal a hundred times better,” Shadow said with a smirk on his face.
Sakura ignored his comment and started eating her food, savoring every delicious bite. “Shadow,” she said in between mouthfuls. “What do you want with me?”
“You know I’m not going to answer that. You’ll find out when I choose to tell you. Don’t ask again,” Shadow warned in a calm voice. “Here,” he said handing Sakura a sheet of paper.
“Whashts thiths?” Sakura asked with her mouth full. Swallowing, shetried again. “What’s this?”
“It’s a schedule for you. You’ve mainly got free time to sit and do what you want, but there are times when you have to be somewhere. You’ll be following that every day unless I say otherwise. Would you like dessert?”
“No thanks. I’ll go back to my room now.” Sakura walked away and went back into her room, stuffing the schedule into her pocket without looking at it. I’ve gotta try something. So far none of my cards have worked. Sakura took out Fiery and released her staff. “Fiery!” she yelled. “Go light the candles.” Fiery shot tendrils of fire at the candles, lighting them, and returned to its card form as it finished. Well, that worked. I wonder why Light didn’t work out in the hallway. She took out her Light card and called on it to light the room. Light came out of its card for a few seconds before returning again to the card, failing to light the room.
“Confused?” Shadow asked from the doorway.
Startled, Sakura let out another tiny scream. “Were you watching the whole time?”
“No, just after you used Fiery. Light doesn’t work because you’re in the Dark Realm. The powers of Light and Dark have always been against each other, and so when you’re in the Dark Realm, Light won’t work.”
Sakura understood. She sat down on her bead, exhausted from using as much magic as she had. “I’m tired. Do I have to follow the schedule today?”
“No. We’ll start that tomorrow. If you want dinner just let me know. I’ll hear you,” Shadow said as he left. “Oh, something else. Here.” Shadow tossed Sakura a half-gold half-silver circle on a golden necklace. “You might want to keep that with you.”
“What is it?” Sakura asked. She stared at the necklace with the heavy ring for a while before realizing that Shadow had disappeared again. I’m too tired to deal with this right now. I’m going to bed. Sakura yawned as she succumbed toher exhaustion.
Where am I? Sakura wondered as she got up. She stood in the middle of a ring of cold, blue fire. I don’t feel any heat. Why is the fire blue? What’s going on? She took a few steps forward until she was right next to the ring. She extended a hand to touch the fire. It’s cold! What is it?
Sakura took a step through the fire and gasped as the coldpierced her to the bone. In front of her floated a largehalf-gold, half-silver ring. She reached out for it and it moved away from her, avoiding her touch. “Wait!” she cried as the ring floated away.
“Sakura…” a ghostly voice whispered. “I’ve been waiting for you…”
Huh? What was that? Sakura walked towards the voice cautiously, releasing her wand as she did so. In front of her, the landscape suddenly changed. Rolling hills green with grass surrounded her. A gentle breeze blew threw the cherry trees causing the blossoms to slowly descend to the ground. Asmall spring with clear, blue waterflowed through the serene landscape by the hills.The cherry trees sat on top of the hills and Shadow appeared, sitting next with his back to a tree.
“Sakura, what are you doing here?” Shadow asked with an oddly pleasant smile on his face as he noticed her.
“Shadow? I’ve you never smile like that. What’s going on? Where am I?” Sakura asked while backing away from Shadow.
“What do you mean? Don’t you remember me? You seem to remember my name…” Shadow trailed off and walked over to a cherry tree in full bloom. “They’re beautiful aren’t they? You really deserve the name…”
What’s going on? Shadow’s acting so weird. “Shadow? Umm… what are you doing?”
Shadow had walked over to a clear, blue stream. He cupped his hands and brought up some water. “Wonderful place isn’t it? Thirsty?” Shadow asked.
“Not really. Shadow, what’s going on?”
“What do you mean? Did you get knocked out or something? Are you ok?” he asked. He drank the water in his hands and walked over to feel Sakura’s forehead. “You don’t seem to have a fever. Come on, let’s get you some water.” Shadow smiled at her as he pulled her along by the hand. “What’s wrong? The water’s very clean.”
“I… I’m not thirsty.” Sakura pulled her hand away. Suddenly, the ring appeared again. What is that? “Shadow, what’s the ring over there?” Sakura asked in a dreamy voice as if entranced by the ring.
“Hmmm? What ring?” Shadow asked walking over to Sakura.
“That one right there. It’s floating in the air over there. It’s kinda tugging at me, telling me to go to it.”
“Are you sure you’re ok? There’s no ring over there. Sakura?” Shadow said as Sakura continued to advance towards the ring.
Come… Your destiny awaits you. Come to me, and I will show you. The thought came from the ring, tugging at Sakura’s soul. Sakura couldn’t resist it and walked towards the ring.
“Sakura? Where are you going? Hello?”
Sakura ignored everything. All of her focus was on the ring. She walked up to it and reached for it again. The ring backed up a couple of feet and hovered for a moment before moving slowly away from Sakura. Come to me. I will show you…
“Sakura! Don’t go that way!” Shadow yelled, too late. Sakura walked onto a rope bridge. Half way across the trance broke and she realized where she was standing. The bridge creaked with her weight, threatening to collapse. Too scared to even breathe, the thought of using her cards to escape never came to her mind. She held her breath, hoping it would keep her from falling. A strong wind picked up and blue fire leapt onto theropes on Sakura's leftfrom the far side of the canyon.
“Shadow! Help me!” Sakura said, holding tightly to the rope. The blue fire ate away at the rope on Sakura’s left side, causing it to snap. “Aaaaaaahhhhh!” Sakura screamed as her feet fell out below her. All that was holding her up was her desperate grip. “Shadow!” she screamed as the wind blew the fire onto the other rope.
“Sakura! Hold on!” Shadow said as he took out a gray and black card. Shadow mumbled some words Sakura couldn’t hear and ended them with a loud, clear, “Float!” Suddenly, Sakura felt lighter than air. She floated upwards and landed next to Shadow.
“That… That was… a… Clow Card?” Sakura asked astonished. “How did you? What? Huh?”
“No time to explain. Let’s go.”
“Wait! I have to know. What’s going on? Tell me!” Sakura pleaded. “Please?”
“Not now. Something’s coming, and I don’t think both our sets of Cards can do anything about it. Come on, let’s go!” Shadow said, grabbing Sakura’s arm and pulling her away from the canyon.
Sakura tried to pull her arm away from Shadow. “Ow! Let go!” she shouted as Shadow tightened his grip. “I’ll follow, just let me go!”
Shadow let go of Sakura. They were back at the cherry blossom trees when Shadow sat Sakura down. “We’re should be safe here for a while. I’m sorry I hurt you. Are you ok?”
Sakura stared at Shadow, completely overwhelmed by what she had just heard. “S-Sorry? What did you say?” She shrank back away from Shadow. What’s going on here? How does he have Clow Cards? What happened back there? What was that ring? Why is he acting like this?
“Sakura, you seem different. I can’t quite put…”
Suddenly, out from behind one of the trees, the ring appeared. It headed straight for Sakura, wrapping itself around her stomach and arms. A surge of electricity ran through her body. “Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!” she screamed as pain beyond anything she had ever felt hit her.
“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!” Sakura sat bolt upright in her bed. Where am I?
“Sakura? What’s wrong?” Shadow said in a calm voice as he opened the door and walked in. “Why are you screaming?”
“N-Nothing… I… just had… a bad dream. That’s all. I’m fine,” Sakura said as her eyes began to water.
“You don’t want my help. Alright, I’ll leave. It’s still early. Do you want dinner?”
“No, I’m tired. Good night.” Sakura fell back onto her bed and entered a less eventful sleep as Shadow stood over her.
“Good night,” he whispered as she fell asleep.
Confused? Hehe Glad you’re still reading. Remember to email me any questions or comments. I really appreciate it