Hello! ^-^ This is a Quantum Leap/Cardcaptor Sakura crossover, so I hope that explains why this is so strange. ^^;;; I’m always so worried about crossovers because it’s so difficult to pull off merging two series together. So I hope this goes well. ^-^ The idea has been playing around in my head for quite a while now. Sam’s supposed to ‘put right what once went wrong’ so why can’t he set right the biggest problem in Cardcaptor Sakura? I’d like to thank Boco the Chokobo, who’s ideas helped me quite a bit with this. ^-^ Thanks! *hugs* I’m using the leaping mechanics from Ashley McConnell’s Quantum Leap novels because I like the idea of Sam actually switching bodies with who he leaps into rather than him just taking their aura. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this! ^-^ I always love feedback, so if you have the time, please e-mail me! ^-^ Across the Distance by Amazoness Duo amazonessduo@hotmail.com Dr. Sam Beckett was always disoriented when he began a leap. Leaping from life to life, trying to put right what once went wrong, was a very stressful job. He always found himself in the strangest situations, with no knowledge of who he was now or what situation he had leapt into. So he had gotten very good at trying to read his surroundings very quickly. But the first few minutes never allowed him such luxuries and it was up to him to wing it. And he had absolutely no idea how to do so as the good doctor found himself locking lips with a teenage, brown haired boy. The kiss lasted for another few seconds but it could very well have been an eternity. As Dr. Beckett stumbled backwards, trying to catch his breath, a quick glimpse down finished putting at least part of this scene together. He was a girl. Again. And the boy that had just been kissing him must be her boyfriend. “Oh boy...” The boy blushed fiercely after Sam backed away. “Daijobu? Sakura- chan?” He took a few steps closer, finally taking Sam’s, or the body Sam was currently inhabiting, hands and pulling him closer. Sam stumbled forward, his head resting on the boy’s chest. His mind was spinning. Had he ever leapt out of the US before? His swiss cheese memory betrayed him. He had no idea. The boy continued saying something, but it wasn’t making any sense. Wait, it was. Sam couldn’t remember if he’d taken Japanese in school or not, though he very well could have, or if it was something left over from his host, but the jumbled words began to make sense. “Yeah, I’m fine,” Sam said with a nervous smile. “I just... was a little distracted.” How often had he used that excuse? Too many times. But after all these years of leaping, he still hadn’t come up with a better one. The boy’s amber eyes stared at Sam skeptically for a long moment, as if he didn’t quite believe that. But finally he nodded. “We better get to school. I made sure that I’d be in the same homeroom as you.” He waited for some acknowledgement of his statement, probably wanting to hear a shrill of joy from his girlfriend, but Sam just nodded, still unsure as to how he was supposed to act now. Grasping Sam’s hand, he began leading the way presumably to the school. At least, Sam sure hoped so. The two walked along in relative silence for a while. Which was fine by Sam because it gave him a chance to think. Where was he? Apparently Japan. When was he? It looked pretty recent, but Sam couldn’t remember if he’d gone there or not so it was difficult to be sure of an exact date. It was much easier guessing dates back in the US. Finally, who was he? The boy had called him Sakura, so at least he had a name. And a quick glimpse in a passing shop window gave him a face. She was a very pretty girl with short, reddish brown hair and emerald green eyes. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen and was wearing her school uniform. “Oh boy...” he muttered under his breath. This whole thing was too strange for him. If anything could get too strange for a time hopping physicist. And being a girl was always... awkward for him. When he leapt into other men, at least the equipment was still the same. Now he’d have to deal with a teenage girl’s body. He’d ask Ziggy about what affects that would have on his mind, but he knew it would have to go through Al. He could picture the grin on his friend’s face as he asked the question and immediately dismissed it. He’d figure it out on his own. “I thought I’d come out and surprise you. I was going to send a letter, but I decided to head out here as soon as I could instead,” the boy was explaining. Sam nodded quickly, offering what he hoped was a sweet smile. So he was probably here to make sure things went smoothly between them. “Oh good. I’m really glad you came all this way.” Wherever it was he had come from. The two finally happened upon the school gates. Sam gave a sigh of relief. He could handle jr. high school. Probably a lot easier than dealing with a lovestruck boyfriend. It would give him a chance to concentrate and wait for Al. Where was Al, anyway? Wasn’t he usually here by now? What was taking him so long? “Ohayo gozimasu, Sakura-chan!” a cute, pale girl with very long, dark hair said as she stepped up, a sweet smile on her face. Her stormy blue eyes were entrancing. Sam wondered for a moment if she was sick to have such a pale complexion, but she seemed to be just fine. She looked a little surprised to see Sam’s new boyfriend there, but she recovered quickly. “Ohayo, Li- kun! Sakura-chan must be very happy to have you back. She’s been talking about you so much lately.” Her smile returned almost as quickly as it had disappeared, leaving Sam to wonder if it had ever left at all. But that did give Sam a hint, at the least. His name was Li. Good. The boy just frowned, beginning to flush slightly before he turned back to Sakura. “Well, I’m very glad to have Li back. I’m sure everything’s going to be great now,” Sam said quickly, smiling. The looks he got from the other two made him wonder if he’d said that wrong. He sighed. These things were always so difficult. Sam felt him squeeze his hand and then nodded. “It will be. I’m back now. I won’t let anyone force me to go back to Hong Kong again. I’ll stay this time, Sakura-chan.” Hong Kong. Okay, at least he was starting to get somewhere with all this. So the boy, Li, had come from Hong Kong and had apparently been away for quite some time. “I’m sure, Li. Thanks. I really missed you.” Sam smiled again, and Li seemed to accept it, but he was getting an odd look from the dark haired girl. Her stormy blue eyes seemed to be looking through him. The familiar sound of the Imaging Chamber door opening sent a breath of relief through him. He quickly turned to spot Al. When he finally did, he was surprised. Al’s usually wild attire was much more subdued. He was wearing a black suit and tie. He had dark bags under his eyes and he looked even older than usual. Sam frowned, staring at his holographic friend concernedly. “I.. uhh... I’ll be back in a minute.” He let go of the boy’s hand and ducked past the pale girl and made his way through Al, signaling the observer to follow over near a tree. “Al! What took you so long? Where am I?” He paused for a moment, studying the observer. “Are you okay?” Al shook it off, plugging away at the handlink, offering his usual abuse to the poor thing. “It took Ziggy a while to find you, Sam. You’re only a month behind us. Ziggy’s freaking out. She’s never seen anything like this before so she doesn’t know what to do about it. As far as details, we don’t know why you’re here yet. It’s only a month ago and in Japan at that, so we don’t have a lot of information to go on. Donn.. Err...” Al mentally stopped himself from mentioning Donna’s name. She didn’t want Sam knowing that she was still there waiting for him. It would be easier for him this way. “Everyone here at the Project is a little worried about this. I mean, you’ve never been this close before, Sam.” Sam gasped in shock. “Only a month? Al, I’m really that close? Maybe I can... No, I shouldn’t, but...” He shook his head, brunette hair flailing from side to side as he did so. This was all too much. He could call up Project Quantum Leap and ask to talk to the Al of this time. Or he could look up material on a Doctor Samuel Beckett and try to replace the swiss cheese holes in his memory. But Al looked less than excited. “So what do you have so far?” Al pulled up the handlink again, though by this time he didn’t need it. He’d been reading the information ever since the plane ride back. Over and over and over. He sighed, trying to keep the lack of sleep from showing. “You are Sakura Kinomoto, a fourteen year old school girl in Tomoeda, Japan. She’s a fair student and seems to be pretty athletic. Hey, Sam, you’re on the cheerleading team.” Al attempted a grin, but only got a stare from the younger girl that housed the spirit of his best friend. He held up his arms in defense. “Just pointing that out to you. You always want as much information as we’ve got. Anyway, the Chinese boy over there is Syaoran Li, part of some powerful family in Hong Kong. It looks like he’s your sweety. He was here in Japan a few years ago and left, but not before you two hooked up. You’ve been sending letters back and forth since.” Al wasn’t even looking at the handlink anymore. He’d heard all this days ago, before Ziggy even found out this was where Sam had leapt to. Sam coughed into his fist and shook his head, the memory of the kiss still fresh in his mind. “Well, why am I here, then? What am I here to change? It sounds like they end up alright.” Bringing the handlink up again, Al crammed some buttons at random. “Ziggy’s trying to run some simulations and Dr. Beeks is talking to Sakura right now so we’ll try to figure that out.” The retired admiral paused for a long moment. There was something else he wanted to say. Sam waited. “Sakura-chan? Daijobu?” The pale girl asked. She looked very concerned for ‘Sakura’. Her hand went to Sam’s forehead, feeling for a temperature. Her stormy blue eyes met the emerald green ones that replaced Sam’s own for a long moment. She leaned forward a bit, whispering with her wonderfully soft voice into Sam’s ear. “Is it because of Li-kun? Are you nervous? You shouldn’t be. He’s happy to see you again. You can be together now.” She stepped back, smiling brightly, her eyes closed. Sam laughed nervously. “Of course! I’m really happy, too. Yeah, I’m just a little nervous is all. I’m sure I’ll be fine soon.” “I’m sure Sakura-chan will, too. I know things will work out for the best for you.” The smile seemed to come to her quickly, as if she smiled often, or practiced it quite a bit. It was a warm, gentle smile that somehow eased Sam’s spirits. He nodded quickly as she took his arm, the bell ringing to signify their first class. “We better hurry, Sakura-chan.” Sam looked to see Li pulling along beside them, taking his hand. The pale girl waited a second before letting go, keeping her distance. Sam met her gaze and she smiled again, ushering him towards the correct class. Glancing back over his shoulder, he looked for Al, but the observer was already gone. What had he wanted to say? Class went by strangely. It had been a while since Sam had been anyone this young and he found it awkward to be taking classes in Japanese. But he still managed to get along well enough. The teachers even seemed amazed at some of the answers he was giving. Sam had always found academics calming. They didn’t have the same chaos that was inherent in everything else. Especially leaping. So he found it relaxing to lose himself in class, even with the slight difficulty of taking it in another language. Throughout the day, he kept making little mistakes, but nothing that seemed too big. Besides, it was part of every leap. He had to gauge other people’s reactions to him to decide if he was acting properly or not. He seemed to be doing well enough, but the dark haired girl seemed to be getting increasingly concerned. He tried to play it off, but she was always close by, offering help whenever she could and trying to see if anything was wrong. Syaoran walked him from class to class, which he found a little embarrassing but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He got used to holding the boy’s hand from class to class as lunch finally rolled around. Stormy blue eyes caught Sam’s attention quickly as the dark haired girl caught up with him. Sam just waited for her. She still held that warm smile of hers as she fell in step with him. “Sakura-chan seems to have studied a lot last night. You should have told me. I would have been happy to help you, Sakura- chan.” “Oh, I was bored. I didn’t want to bother you. I thought I’d catch up in class and try to do a little better,” Sam supplied, hoping it sounded reasonable enough. This whole leap was confusing him. Especially this girl. She must be Sakura’s best friend. She was obviously very caring towards her. The girl nodded thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side. “You even got that engrish poem down that you were worrying about. I knew Sakura-chan would be just fine as long as she did her best.” She smiled happily, as if waiting for Sam to explain something. “I.. uhh... Yeah, I guess it was easier than I thought,” Sam muttered quickly. He looked around after a moment and noticed that he was going down a dead end. “Lunch is this way, Sakura-chan,” the girl said politely, taking Sam’s hand and leading him off down another corridor. Her hand felt soft and held onto Sam’s with a very gentle care. She looked at Sam with that concerned look again, but he just smiled and tried to brush it off. “It’s good that Li-kun’s back. Sakura-chan shouldn’t have to be lonely. The two of you look so cute together.” She squeezed Sam’s hand softly. “You’ll have to let me videotape the two of you later. It can be Sakura-chan’s Happy Reunion.” Sam laughed and nodded. The girl was eccentric, but he liked that. She must be a fun best friend. “Yeah, that sounds good. We should do that later. I’m sure it’ll make for great memories.” “Not for her, Sam.” Sam turned on his heel and spotted Al behind him. Al shook his head and motioned for him to keep walking. Sam complied. “Hmm?” Sam asked, trying to look interested in the dark haired girl’s explanation of some outfit for him to wear. “Those obviously won’t make good memories for her, Sam. That's Tomoyo Daidouji. Heiress to the Daidouji fortunes and all around talented girl. Got the voice of an angel. I heard her sing one time.” Al grew silent for a moment, not even glancing at the handlink. He didn’t need it for this. “She kills herself about a month from now. You could never tell with all those smiles.” Sighing, the observer shook his head, watching the pale girl for a time before continuing. “She drowns in a lake at a park near here. Left a note and went off to take a swim. The problem being that she doesn’t know how to swim," Al explained grimly. “She what?” Sam shot out, his eyes wide. He immediately regretted it as Tomoyo looked back at him. He just shook his head quickly. “Nothing.” Sam stared at his friend aghast. It seemed hard to believe that this cheery girl would ever consider something quite so drastic. Al shook his head after a moment, knowing what Sam must be thinking. "Ziggy says that's not why you're here. It's a month from now. If that was the reason, you'd've leapt in a few days before it happened. She says it's more likely got to do with the girl you leapt into." Sam smiled as sweetly as he could and pulled his hand away from Tomoyo. “Excuse me for just a second. I need to... take care of something.” They had finally gotten outside and Sam took the chance to head around the side of the building. “No! That can’t be it. Why? What happened? Maybe it wasn’t a suicide. That means it was only a few days ago for you. Maybe Ziggy doesn’t have all the information she needs. She’s too sweet a girl for that.” Al sighed. He knew Sam was going to be like this. And it wasn’t as if he hadn’t been trying to work this out himself. “Ziggy didn’t know until an hour ago. I found out two days ago. Sam, I just got back form her funeral.” That news sent a shock through the leaper. Leaning heavily against the wall, he looked over at Al. “You what? Why?” Al was deep in thought, contemplating an unlit cigar. It had been days since he’d had one, but for some reason he just didn’t feel in the mood for it. “It was a lovely funeral. Her mother really spared no expense. Sakura, the girl you are, was there, too. It was a big thing. Her mother was all broken up about it. Lost her only little girl.” Al closed his eyes, trying to force out the images. “You probably don’t remember this, but back when we were looking for funding for the project, we met with a whole lot of people. One of those people was Sonomi Daidouji. Strong willed woman. But you get to like her. Won’t take no for an answer. Anyway, I got to talking to her about funding for the project. She runs a pretty big business in Japan. We wound up getting picked up by the government for funding, but after I explained what the Project was about, she was all too thrilled to get me all the Japanese technology we needed from the Amamiya Corporation. Hell, half of Ziggy’s thanks to her. She never asked a thing from us, just wanted to know how the Project was going from time to time. So I’ve been staying in touch, talking to her about this and that. But when I found out her daughter killed herself a few days ago, I rushed out there. She’s really broken up, Sam. She doesn’t have anyone else now. Just her business. She was really emotional at the funeral, and she had a right to be. It was awful to see. I wish you had leapt in a few days ago and stopped that. But you’ve said it yourself, you can only change what you’re supposed to.” “Oh no... That can’t be right. How can I possibly stop that from here? Unless I can find a way to keep it from happening. Something must have happened that made her want to do that. We just need Ziggy to find out,” Sam nodded, thinking deeply. “Sam, I already know. Her mother told me. I found out while I was there. She killed herself over you.” Al rubbed at an ache in his neck, sighing. “She killed herself because she’s in love with you.” “Oh boy...” “Yeah, so it doesn’t look like there’s anything you can do about it. At least for now. I’ll get Ziggy working on those simulations. Maybe she can come up with...” Al’s eyes went wide as he read the handlink. “She’s what?!” Without another word to Sam, Al vanished through the door. “What the hell is she doing here?” Al asked to no one in particular as he stormed down the hallway. The former admiral came to a halt when he finally caught sight of the younger Japanese woman. She was flanked by several woman wearing dark clothes and sunglasses. They all looked like they were good at what they did. Which was probably to protect Miss Daidouji. Al would have gawked at the pretty ladies if he wasn’t still in shock. “Sonomi, why are you here? The Project is off limits to all non-essential personal. Now I appreciate all you’ve done for the project, but you certainly aren’t a member of the staff.” “Arru, please... I need to see my little girl again. I know that she’s here. She has to be. You can save her, can’t you?” Sonomi’s eyes were pleading. She looked desperate, grasping at the final string dangling in front of her. The woman had suffered so much in the past few days. Al remained silent, his lips pursed tightly together. He didn’t like this at all. She shouldn’t be here. This whole leap was already playing with all the rules they’d set up years ago. This wasn’t helping. “Please, Arru. I need to see Tomoyo-chan.” Her eyes conveyed how deeply she meant that. She did need to see her. This woman was strong, but losing her only child after that was killing her. He knew that she’d agreed to help the Project in the hopes of one day bringing back her cousin, her one true love, but now she had lost her daughter as well. He sighed. He had been able to see Beth, his first wife and the only woman he had ever truly loved, even if for only a short time. They may not be able to save Tomoyo, but was it fair to rob her of a final chance of seeing her daughter alive? “Sonomi, you’re putting me in a hard spot here. Let me get you and your friends some rooms and we can talk about it.” “He’s there, isn’t he? He’s back with my Tomoyo-chan. He can save her, right?” Sonomi had eliminated the distance between herself and Al. This was her last chance. She had to pray it would work. She had barely survived Nadeshiko’s loss, and that was only because she had had Tomoyo. Now she had nothing. She couldn’t let things stay this way. Looking away, Al frowned. “He’s... Back around then. But not close enough to stop it. A month back. We think he’s supposed to fix something else.” Sonomi balled her fists angrily. “No!! He’s back there to save Tomoyo- chan! Maybe he got sent back too far or he needs to fix something else while he’s at it, but he’s there to save my dear Tomoyo-chan!” Her English was heavily accented, the long plane ride making it difficult for her to concentrate. “Let me get you a room first and then we can figure everything out. I promise I’ll let you see her. Sam’s back with her now.” Al motioned for them to follow, but Sonomi moved past him. “I need to see Tomoyo-chan now. I need to see her alive and well. Moving and smiling and singing. I need to get the image of her in a casket out of my head. I need to see my baby.” Sonomi stopped as she tried to remember the layout from the blueprints she’d seen. Where was the Imaging Chamber again? The bodyguards tensed up as Al grabbed her shoulder. Sonomi hardly seemed to notice. Al’s hand eased off when he noticed the tears in her eyes. “It’s this way.” Sam blinked as he watched the space his holographic companion had occupied moments before. Al had looked pretty shocked about something, but he hadn’t bothered telling Sam about it. And so he was stuck with the news that the best friend of the girl he was currently inhabiting would kill herself in a month’s time and that it didn’t look like there was anything he could do about it. This didn’t make for a very comforting break from classes. A hand on his shoulder nearly sent him into a panic. “Sakura-chan? What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Tomoyo watched the brunette in front of her carefully, brushing some hair from Sam’s eyes. Her stormy blue eyes were so loving, so concerned for the well being of this Sakura. Even if the situation was a little strange, it still tore at Sam’s heart to know where it would lead. “Err... Yeah, something like that, Tomoyo. Don’t worry about it. Let’s get some lunch.” Sam offered another smile, but he couldn’t help but cast another glance back at the pale girl as he headed for a bench to eat at. He couldn’t tell that anything so dark could be lurking under Tomoyo’s peaceful, if eccentric, exterior. Could Al have been wrong? No, not likely. So it seemed that she was extremely good at hiding her feelings. Which was probably why Sakura had no idea about them. But that didn’t make it any easier to handle the situation. And what about the long awaited return of Sakura’s boyfriend? What was he supposed to do about it all? Tomoyo sat down next to Sam, watching him closely as he ate. He fumbled with the chopsticks for a moment before she reached over and helped adjust his grip. She smiled pleasantly as he got out a quick thanks. It went on quietly for a few minutes, her eyes never leaving Sam as he ate. She finally tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. Sam looked back in confusion, some rice half in his mouth. “Is something wrong?” he asked after a moment. This girl did act rather strangely, so he wouldn’t be surprised if this sort of behavior was normal for her. “You’re not Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo whispered, leaning closer so that no one would hear. Her eyes were locked on Sam’s, as if looking past the body and deep into his soul, as if he couldn’t hide in it at all. Sam dropped the little ball of rice, his eyes wide. He almost choked on what was in his mouth. “What?” he got out quietly, a little above a chirp. This couldn’t be right. No matter how poorly he did as someone, people rarely ever guessed that anything was wrong, let alone that he wasn’t who they thought he was. “What do you mean?” He tried to keep his voice steady this time, throwing in the confusion that was swirling through him. Tomoyo shook her head. “You’re not her. I don’t know who you are. If you’re a mage or another Card or something else entirely. But you’re not Sakura-chan. You’ve been acting strangely all morning, nothing like her. Your mannerisms are all wrong. You don’t have the same look in your eyes. Your smile’s different. You aren’t lost in a haze of emotions that ebb and flow rapidly. You don’t have the energy she does. You’re soul’s completely different.” She paused, watching his reaction. She could have gone on for hours about the differences between him and her beloved Sakura-chan, but that seemed to be enough. Her panic was suppressed, but barely. If this person was replacing Sakura, then where was the Cardmistress? “I... uhh... Al...” Sam looked around quickly, hoping for any sort of back up that he could get, even the holographic type. She didn’t seem to have any sort of psychic ability, yet somehow she had seen through him. And he didn’t know what to do about that. So he gave up. A sigh escaped his lips, or Sakura's lips, as the case may be. “Well... No, I’m not. My name is Dr. Sam Beckett. I’m from the future. Or I used to be. But I’m here to fix things. To put right what once went wrong.” Tomoyo clasped her hands together worriedly. “Did something bad happen to Sakura-chan? Is that what you’re here to fix? Where is she? Please tell me. I need to know what’s become of her.” Her mind came up with plenty of images of what could have happened to the Cardmistress, but she pushed them back with all of her might. Now wasn’t the time to panic. She had to stay calm so that she could figure out what had happened to Sakura. Her dark eyes pleaded with Sam’s to explain to her. “No, she should be just fine. She’s back in the future right now. Where I come from. We think that something went badly in her life or the life of someone she knows.” ‘Like you,’ Sam mentally added. “So I’m here to try and fix it so that things can go smoothly for her.” “You’re a sweet person to want to fix things for Sakura-chan. But what could be wrong for her? I’ve been keeping a close eye on her and she’s been perfectly fine.” Tomoyo’s fingers gripped the cool grass beneath her as her mind swam, trying to find anything that would have gone wrong. “She’s been doing perfectly well lately. And now that Li-kun’s back...” Her melodious voice trailed off as she began picking up on it. “Now that Li-kun’s back, things are changing. So I don’t know what will happen to her.” This was all so sudden. She had known that something had happened to Sakura when she’d started acting strangely this morning. But now her fears were proven by her replacement. What could have gone wrong? Things seemed perfect for Sakura. She had her beloved back in Japan with her and she didn’t have anymore troubles with the Cards and her high school entrance exams were still over a year away. Before Sam could reply, the boy in question sat down next to him. Sam smiled warmly before casting an apologetic glance to Tomoyo. He’d have to explain later. For now he’d have to keep things up with his boyfriend. Scooting closer to the Chinese boy, Sam let out an inward sigh and kept eating. An arm slowly went around his shoulders, pulling him even closer. It did feel nice and warm... Everything was upside down. At least, that’s how Sakura felt. What had happened? It took her a moment to fight through the disorientation and finally sit up. She was in a bed with the sheets tangled around her. So it must have all been some horrible dream. She had been in some strange place all alone. No Tomoyo-chan or Syaoran by her side. Her school fuku had been replaced by some white bodysuit. And the body in it was most certainly not her own. It seemed to belong to a much older man. She had screamed and fainted upon her discovery. But now that she was awake in bed, the whole thing must be over. The last thing she could remember before the nightmare had been seeing Syaoran again. He had been just about to kiss her before she found herself in the strange room. A melancholy sigh escaped her lips at that. Syaoran must have been a dream as well. He was probably still in Hong Kong. Oh well. She’d have to tell Tomoyo about her dream and see what she thought. Tomoyo always made her feel better about things when she was confused or nervous. Or lonely. Which was probably why she dreamed up Syaoran being with her in Japan. Her heart sinking in her chest, Sakura slid off the small bed. She yelped a little when her bare feet touched the cold ground. Where were her slippers? And why was the ground cold? Blinking groggily, her eyes traversed the room she was in. It was empty aside from the small bed in the center and completely white. The lights from above cast dark shadows against the white floor. Her heart started pounding in her chest as she turned around, trying to find out where she was. She was trapped somewhere. That realization brought a trickle of fear through her soul. What was going on? She had all of the Sakura Cards now, so this must be some other form of magic. But who would do this to her? She clutched for the key, but her hand grasped nothing but air. Her eyes darted down in horror to see the all white jumpsuit on again. And a masculine body underneath. Another scream escaped her lips, but this time she retained consciousness. Silence reigned throughout the small room, punctuated only by her rapid breathing. “Where am I? What’s going on?” she asked in a tiny voice. She turned around in a circle, looking for some sort of door or any way out. Anything but the constant white cube she was imprisoned in. If she didn’t have her magic, what could she do? No, someone would notice she was missing. They would find her. Tomoyo would know something was wrong. And Syaoran, Yue, and Cerebrus would come to her rescue. Slumping back on the bed, Sakura’s mind raced for some sort of explanation. Her heart nearly stopped when she heard a whooshing sound and a door she hadn’t noticed sliding open. In walked a woman in a lab coat with dark skin. She smiled softly to the bewildered Cardmistress as she stepped forward slowly. The woman’s mouth opened and she began speaking oddly, in a language that Sakura had trouble following. She could make out some of it from her english class, but she wasn’t fluent enough to make it all out. The woman sighed and said something to a ‘Ziggy’. A female voice replied from some point in the roof and then translated what the woman had said into Japanese. Sakura sighed and closed her eyes. This was getting more and more difficult to make any sense out of. “Hello. My name is Doctor Verbeena Beeks. I’m sorry that we didn’t have a chance to speak earlier, but you passed out before I could come in.” She had a calm, almost motherly manner about her. Something about the woman helped put Sakura at ease. At least a bit more than she had been. Dr. Beeks gestured for her to take a seat on the bed, holding a notepad under one arm. Sakura complied, sliding up onto the bed, never taking her eyes off of the only other person in the room. “Now maybe I can help make things a little more comfortable for you. And maybe you can give me a little information so we can get you back home sooner.” “What’s happened to me? Why am I here? Where is here? Hoe...” Sakura could feel the fear welling up inside of her again, but she refused to let it get a good grip. She had been through too much by now. This was bizarre, but she would make it out all right. Everything would always be all right. She had to believe that. Even if it was hard to sometimes. She heard her words being translated into English and again looked around for the source of the voice. The woman spoke again, a slight delay carrying between her words and the translation from the voice in the roof. “You’re here in what we call the Waiting Room. It’s a little Spartan, but we never know who will show up.” She paused for a moment as she tried to decide how much she should divulge to the visitor. Some people she had explained their situation to, but most of them wound up thinking they had been kidnapped by aliens or that it had all been a bad dream. It was easier when there wasn’t such a big difference between the bodies. She had already had trouble with a young girl in Sam’s body. It didn’t seem like there had been any permanent mental trauma, thankfully, but she didn’t want to try again with this girl, even if she was a bit older. She hoped that this leap would be over quickly enough. “You’ve been replaced by a friend of mine, a Dr. Sam Beckett. He’s living your life for a few days to fix something that had gone wrong in it the first time around. When he’s done, you’ll go back and everything will be perfectly fine again.” Her voice remained calm, soothing. Even if Ziggy had to translate for the both of them, she still wanted to convey a reassuring tone to the younger girl, something that Ziggy didn’t always worry about. Ziggy was too worried about her calculations at this point anyway. Sam had never leapt this close to home before and she was having difficulty finding any solid information about any of it. Which frustrated the hybrid super computer to no ends. “Nani!?” Sakura’s emerald eyes went wide as she swallowed the information. Her head shook quickly. No, she didn’t like that at all. This was definitely not a good usage of magic at all. “But why? I have Onii- chan and Tomoyo-chan and Yukito-san and Kero-chan and Syaoran all looking out for me. And I’m the Ca... I can take care of myself, too. And why couldn’t you just tell me if something was going to go wrong? You didn’t need to replace me for it.” Dr. Beeks sighed, pulling up her notebook and the information Ziggy had given her on fourteen year old Sakura Kinomoto. The man on the bed that looked exactly like Sam Beckett looked uncertain and confused, a tinge of fright in his eyes. But there was also a determination laced underneath it all, even amidst the swirling emotions. And with the way he was sitting, he looked very much like a little girl that had been lost in a store. After all this time of working with Sam’s body and whatever soul was currently inhabiting it, she had learned to ignore the fact that it always looked the same and to look for the mannerisms of the person underneath. “I’m afraid that it just doesn’t work like that. We don’t have any control where he goes. He just replaces the person for a little while to fix something in their life.” “But there’s nothing wrong in my life!” Sakura said in frustration. She knew she was close to tears, but she didn’t care. This whole thing was just too much for her to be taking at the moment. She wanted to be back home with the ones that loved her. There was nothing in her life that needed fixing. At least, nothing she couldn’t handle. This place was all wrong. Smiling a little sadly, the doctor shook her head. “I’m afraid God, Fate, Time, or whoever’s leaping Sam around through time doesn’t seem to think so. But try not to worry too much. It usually works out for the best.” Pulling up the notes again, she thought to herself, ‘Let’s hope this isn’t one of the few times it doesn’t.’ “Ziggy, I need you to draw some more power for the Imaging Chamber. I need enough so that someone else can be seen, too,” Al said as he brushed past Gooshie and Tina. The two watched in confusion as the Japanese woman and her entourage of bodyguards followed close behind. “But Admiral, what would the purpose be of allowing Dr. Beckett to see Ms. Daidouji?” the female voice that was Ziggy asked from everywhere and nowhere in particular. “Just do it, Ziggy. I don’t have time for this. Unless you want to give me some information on what’s going on.” Al paused in front of the Imaging Chamber door, waiting for a response. He knew he’d hurt Ziggy’s feelings as the computer paused for a moment. There was no other reason for the pause because the computer worked at unimaginably high speeds. But she was very tempermental, especially about this leap. “Admiral, may I remind you that with the leap taking place little more than a month ago, I am highly limited in my abilities to gain information about the situation Dr. Beckett finds himself in. He shouldn’t be this close to us. How am I supposed to find the necessary data when I have nothing to base any of it on? A young Japanese school girl from the past month is difficult to find information on, especially anything vital enough to require Dr. Beckett’s immediate attention. I’m putting all available resources to discovering the reason for this leap as well as why Dr. Beckett is so close to our time. Perhaps we could switch jobs and you could perform mine to your liking, Admiral.” Ziggy’s calm voice still managed to showcase her frustration and her bruised ego. Al sighed, rubbing his temples. He was getting too old for this. “Nevermind, Ziggy. Just draw up some more power, will ya?” This leap was getting to everyone. Ziggy was having trouble because of the near impossibility of this leap, Donna because Sam was so close to home, and he was still trying to hold the whole circus together. “So that is Ziggy? How remarkable.” Sonomi looked at the oddly put together computer. She had heard of some of the design specifications for the hybrid super computer and had heard Al’s complaints about her ego, but she had never actually thought she was this advanced. But she had a feeling she liked the computer’s personality already. “This way, Sonomi-san,” Al said, gesturing to the door with the handlink. Punching in a button, the door slid open. He sighed and took a step into the glowing light. He may not like this, but he understood. It had torn him up to see Beth that one last time when she couldn’t see or hear him, but he knew that he had needed it. He missed her so much, that he treasured even that one bittersweet moment with her. He knew that Sonomi had gone through the same with someone named Nadeshiko. That was part of why they had stayed in touch. They had both suffered through losing their only true love and had somehow managed to continue on through the pain. In a way, it was why both of them had put faith into Project Quantum Leap. And now Sonomi had lost the last thing keeping her going. So despite his doubts, he had to let her see. Especially if Sam couldn’t fix things for her. Then this might be the last time she would see her alive. Sonomi stopped for only a moment to motion the bodyguards to stay where they were before stepping after Al. Her heart pounded with anxiety. What would happen? Would she be there? She needed to see her little girl again. The past few days had been hell for her. First Nadeshiko and now her own daughter, who reminded her so much of her dearly departed cousin. She had no idea why she was still going on or what was holding her together. Her pain was getting ever more acute, and she had no place for it to go. She couldn’t hate Sakura, not the way she hated Fujitaka. Yet both had taken away those she loved, albeit Sakura had done so unknowingly. But she still couldn’t quite forgive the brunette for taking away her loving daughter, even if she was Nadeshiko’s daughter. And suddenly, everything was different. They were standing outside of Tomoyo’s school. It appeared to be around lunchtime, with all of the students sitting in groups, eating. It was as if they had stepped directly from that door in Project Quantum Leap out into Tomoeda. Sonomi stood in shock as a student walked right through her. She knew this was all one big hologram, but it seemed so real. Sam stared at the observer and the woman standing next to him. A boy had passed right through her. Which meant she was in the Imaging Chamber with him. He tried to extricate himself from Syaoran’s grasp, but the Chinese boy continued holding on. He mouthed ‘What is she doing here?’ to Al, who shook his head uncomprehendingly for a moment before nodding. Taking a few steps closer, Al hunched next to Sam, out of Sonomi’s range of hearing. “Ohhh... She’s Sonomi Daidouji, Sam. Your best friend’s mother. She wanted to see Tomoyo again. And don’t argue, you big boy scout. It won’t change my mind. I’m still in charge of the Project from here. Besides, she misses her daughter. You have to understand that. I couldn’t just send her away without ever being able to see her again.” Sam sighed in defeat and nodded. It did make sense, even if he didn’t really like the idea. But if he couldn’t stop Tomoyo from killing herself, then this was for the best. How would he feel if she never saw her again? “Is your friend here?” Tomoyo whispered to Sam, unknowingly also next to Al’s ear. Al stared at Sam incredulously. “You told her? Sam! You know you’re not supposed to tell anybody. Great. This is just great.” “She guessed,” Sam got out through a nervous smile. He went back to eating as Syaoran looked at him oddly. He nodded in acknowledgement of Tomoyo’s question. “Guessed?” Turning his attention to the pale girl, he could see her stormy blue eyes, deep and intelligent. Sonomi had always told him that she was very perceptive and the few times he had met her had proven that. He just hadn’t guessed to what extent. “Tomoyo-chan...” Tears dripped down Sonomi’s cheeks as she saw her daughter, alive and well before her eyes once again. It hadn’t been that long ago that she had seen the young girl in a coffin, her soul already gone from her beautiful body. But here she was again, shining the way she always had, an ephemeral shimmer that seemed to encompass her sweet spirit. “Oh, Tomoyo- chan... My baby, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. You’re the most precious thing in my life. Honey, I never should have left you alone when I saw you breaking. I noticed the cracks in your shell and I tried to help, but you kept insisting that everything was all right. I wanted to help, but I thought that all I could do was be there for you when you needed me. I never thought that you’d...” Her fists clenched, her nails digging into her palms painfully as she fell to her knees beside the young heiress. “Tomoyo- chan, I love you, my little daughter. I never wanted to see you get hurt the way I was. I never wanted you to have to live through that. But now... My baby...” Her body shook as she reached out to Tomoyo, her fingers slipping through the hologram. Tomoyo still looked happy, but Sonomi could see that it was masking her nervousness and fear underneath. For what? Probably for Sakura. Sonomi’s gaze fell on the girl with the emerald eyes, her tears still streaming down her cheeks. Her heart rolled over as she watched, still being held by Syaoran. And yet Tomoyo was still pretending to be happy. She had kept up that mask of happiness for her friend until the day she had died. “It’s not her, Sonomi,” Al explained as he stood up. “That’s Sam. We don’t know why he leapt back into Sakura yet, but we’re looking into it.” Shaking her head, Sonomi tried to compose herself, not moving from Tomoyo’s side. “To keep Tomoyo-chan from killing herself, of course! Why else would he be back here?” She was still nearly frantic, finally able to see her daughter again but unable to even talk to her. “It will be all right, Tomoyo-chan. I promise. We’ll fix everything. You just stay strong for your mother. I promise I’ll make everything better,” She said reassuringly, trying to stroke her daughter’s hair. Her fingers went through the empty space, but it almost looked like she had heard her. “Oh, Tomoyo-chan...” It hurt to look at her, but she couldn’t take her eyes away. The last time she had seen that face, her eyes had been closed for the last time. Sonomi’s heart paused with every blink. Al watched from the side for a moment, glancing down to the handlink and back up. He knew what torture it was to finally see someone you’d lost and not be able to interact with them. In a way, this would have been easier to handle had Sonomi been here to see Nadeshiko. When she had lost Tomoyo, she had lost everything. This was a woman in huge amounts of pain. He only hoped that the sight would give her hope. Turning his attention back to Sam, the handlink gave its usual squeak of protest as Al slapped it on the side. “Still no new information, Sam. And Ziggy’s not very happy about this at all. She says you shouldn’t be leaping so close to us. I’ll tell you what we figure out as soon as we find it. Whatever it is. I’ve got Beeks talking to Sakura right now and maybe Sonomi can help us figure out what you’re here to fix.” His eyes went back to the grieving woman, not noticing Sam’s slow nod of approval. He shook his head and punched up the door. With all that she had been through, he didn’t want to interrupt her. He would come back in a bit. Sitting next to her daughter, watching her intently as if afraid that she would soon enough drop dead in front of her very eyes, Sonomi continued whispering assurances to the smiling dark haired girl. And unknowing of the guardian angel watching over her, Tomoyo continued her lunch. It had been difficult for Sam to ignore Tomoyo’s mother for the rest of lunch, but he was the only one who could see her. He wanted to help, to say something that could take that terrible pain from her eyes, but he couldn’t with everyone around. She had finally left a little after lunch had ended, talking to Al for a bit before the Observer had finally convinced her to leave the Imaging Chamber. Sam had considered telling Tomoyo, but thought it would only complicate matters if she knew her mother was there. Let alone why she was there. School had finally ended and he had absolutely no idea where his home was. And no Al to tell him either. He sighed and glanced around, hoping to see the Imaging Chamber door opening and the always oddly dressed Al walking out. No such luck. A hand grabbing his own shook him from his thoughts. Turning, he saw Syaoran’s face in it’s usual impassive look. But he could notice a slight blush coloring his cheeks. Sam smiled a bit. It looked like the body he was in gave a good impression at the least. “Do you want to come with me? I still have some unpacking to do, but I thought we could do something when I’m done with that,” the Chinese boy said after a moment’s hesitation. “I’m sure she would love to, Li-kun, but Sakura-chan’s not feeling very well. I just cancelled her cheerleading for today and I’m going to take her right home. But Sakura-chan would love to go see it when she’s feeling better. I’m afraid all of the excitement today has taken its toll on her. You know how worked up girls can get over their boyfriends, Li-kun.” Tomoyo’s sweet voice drifted to the two as she exited the front door to the school and approached Sam’s other side. She was smiling her usual insanely cute smile. Syaoran didn’t seem impressed with it. Sam nodded in agreement quickly. “Yeah, I really should get some rest. I haven’t been feeling like myself all day. I’ll see you soon, Syaoran.” He felt bad to be leaving Sakura’s boyfriend behind the day he had returned to Japan to see her, but it was so much easier that way. He didn’t want to think about all of the problems of going over to his house and dealing with it all. Shrugging noncommittally, Syaoran looked at Sam. “Okay. I’ll see you then. Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home instead?” “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. You just finish packing,” Sam answered with a smile. The last thing he needed right now was to talk about the ‘old times’ that he had no idea about. “And the sooner you finish packing, the sooner you can come and see Sakura-chan in bed. I’ll do my best to nurse her back to health for you,” Tomoyo added kindly, taking Sam’s other hand. The fingers intertwined with those of Sakura’s body in a smooth, unconscious movement. Syaoran frowned and shook his head. He had finally gotten back and now Sakura had to get sick. It wasn’t fair. She was the whole reason he had come back in the first place. “I’ll try to see you later tonight, Sakura-chan. Feel better soon.” Hesitating for a moment, but getting a look of reassurance from Tomoyo the same way she had always tried to get him to tell Sakura how he felt, he leaned forward and kissed Sakura. Sam’s eyes went wide as he felt the boy’s lips against his own again. Well, the one’s he was using at the moment anyway. But it didn’t feel altogether unpleasant as his lips pressed against those of the Japanese girl he was inhabiting. And he needed to keep things together until his host returned. Sighing inwardly, Sam kissed back slightly. Syaoran finally pulled away, blushing a bit. Saying their goodbyes, he hurried off for home. Sam stood where he was for a few moments, trying to shake the whole feeling off. But being in a hormone ridden teenage body really didn’t help matters. “Are you ready, Sakura-chan?” Tomoyo’s voice asked from Sam’s left. When she saw him nod, she began to lead him back home. It was strange seeing Sakura’s body, but not Sakura in it. It was like seeing someone wearing a friend’s clothes. They clothes may look the same, but the person underneath was different. It was the same watching Sam in Sakura’s body. It looked like Sakura, but everything was off. The movements, the way he spoke, everything. All of it strengthened her longing to have her friend back. Her mind had been centered on the Cardmistress all day, barely keeping from panic. She needed to know that Sakura-chan was all right. It took Sam a moment to realize that they were moving. At least someone knew where his home was. That solved one problem. As they walked, Tomoyo chatted pleasantly about all sorts of things, from camcorders to sewing to how cute Sakura was. He wondered how Sakura hadn’t noticed the girl’s love for her. It seemed obvious enough and she was so warm and caring towards her, even if Sam was occupying the body for the time being. “Why didn’t you tell her how you feel?” Sam interrupted as she was in the middle of explaining how difficult it was to videotape someone on a flying staff that was dodging magic. Silence grew between the two for a moment. Tomoyo was smiling again when she looked at Sam. “Did your friend tell you? They must have a lot of information on Sakura-chan.” Sam nodded quietly. He felt a cold chill as he remembered Al’s explanation of why she had killed herself. “Yeah, he did. We have some information, but not as much as we’d like. But he did tell me that you’re in love with her. Why didn’t you tell her?” Tomoyo looked away, concentrating on their surroundings instead of the body of her best friend. Her smile was still there, but it looked marginally weaker, as if Sam had hit on a weak spot. “Because she loves Li-kun. There’s no reason to tell her how I feel. That would only complicate things for her. She’s happy now. As long as the one I love is happy, I’m happy, too.” “But it can’t be healthy to keep all of that inside all the time. Don’t you ever talk to anyone about it? Don’t you think that she would want to know how you felt?” Sam asked, wanting desperately to change the pale girl’s apparent fate. How could he make her understand? “I think Sakura-chan was very confused about Li-kun’s feelings for her. But she finally decided that she returned his feelings. And she’s happy with that. I think telling her how I feel would confuse poor Sakura-chan and she would feel bad about rejecting me, so it would just hurt her. If that’s the case, then there really isn’t a reason to tell her. I’ll always love her, whether or not she knows that. So if it comes between telling Sakura-chan and hurting her or keeping it to myself and holding it all inside, I would much rather keep it locked up inside. I never want her to suffer because of me.” Tomoyo’s gentle voice held a tinge of sadness in it, but her smile didn’t falter again. She had made her decision a long time ago. She would live her entire life alone if she had to. But she wouldn’t hurt Sakura out of selfishness. Even if she did want Sakura to know, no good could come from it. Sam watched the pale girl closely for a few seconds. No wonder she tried to kill herself. She was keeping it all pent up inside. Not only her love, but all of her pain as well. It had no place to go, building up as it ate away at her. It finally must have grown too much for her to carry. “But don’t you think killing yourself would make her sad? If you’re her best friend, do you really think she’d be happy about that?” He locked eyes with Tomoyo, trying to get through somehow. Tomoyo paused for only a moment before replying with another smile, her head tilted to the side. “I’m here for Sakura-chan for as long as she needs me. I will stay by her side for as long as I’m necessary to her. But now she has Li-kun. And she’ll probably move back to Hong Kong with him. He’s going to be the one that she’ll run to from now on. He’s the one who will be the most important person in her life. She doesn’t need me anymore. He’ll be the support that I always gave her. And he’ll protect her in ways I never could. He’ll give her a child. So I understand that I couldn’t stay important to Sakura-chan forever. I knew that she’d leave eventually and that I would just be a memory. And that’s okay. Because I want her to be happy. But she doesn’t need me anymore.” It did hurt inside. It hurt so badly. She wanted to stay important to Sakura forever, to always be by her side. But now that was Li-kun’s job. She had vowed to stay by Sakura for as long as Sakura needed her, but that wouldn’t be much longer now that Syaoran was back. And so Tomoyo had thought it best to fade into the background, letting herself slowly slip from Sakura so that it wouldn’t hurt the other girl. Sakura wouldn’t need to miss her because she’d only be a memory soon enough. A vague memory. But her heart would always hold Sakura very close, always loving her. No matter what. There was no reason for her to stay outside of Sakura’s life. “No, that’s not true! She does need you. Even if she’s in love with some other boy, that doesn’t mean you aren’t important to her. You’re her friend. You’ll still remain important to her whether or not other things become important in her life. You can still be happy. You can find someone else and stay friends,” Sam argued, wanting something to shake the dark future that lay ahead. Shaking her head almost imperceptibly, Tomoyo stopped. Her long, dark hair fluttered behind her in the wind. “I don’t want anyone else. I love Sakura-chan. And I always will. It doesn’t matter if I’m with her. Why would that change my love for her? Why would I want to find someone else? To replace her? No, I’m perfectly content to hold her deep in my heart for eternity. And I’ll always be her friend. Whether or not I’m here.” She smiled again at Sam and continued on before he could answer. “Your brother’s probably home. Try to act angry at his taunts, but don’t worry about them. He really looks out for you. We’ll get you to your room before he can notice that anything’s wrong.” Pulling up Sakura’s backpack, she reached in and grabbed the key. Sam sighed as she opened the door and motioned for him to follow. This leap wasn’t offering him any easy answers. Feeling Tomoyo’s hand still holding his own, he let her pull him inside. “You... You killed her. You killed my precious daughter all because you were too blind to see her devotion to you. You never saw the pain in her that I would always see seeping around the edges whenever I would get home. Why? Why did you have to take away my daughter?” Sonomi asked incredulously. Sakura sobbed on the bed as her friend’s mother came closer, a look of pure torment on her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Sakura cried in protest. She had been so happy to see Sonomi, to see anyone at all that she actually knew. But after running to her and hugging her, Sonomi had broken down into tears, blaming Sakura for Tomoyo’s death. Sakura was completely taken by surprise. Tomoyo was dead? What had happened? What had she done? “She loved you so much. She was always there for you. Why weren’t you there when she needed you, Sakura-chan? How could you hurt her so badly?” Shaking her head, the distraught mother paused for a moment, trying to get a grip on herself. She was trying desperately to remember that this was Nadeshiko’s daughter as well as Fujitaka’s. It pained her greatly just to be there with her. She knew damn well why Tomoyo had killed herself. She knew how much her little girl loved Nadeshiko’s daughter. It was almost impossible to think clearly. She had thought she would be able to handle seeing Sakura this time. At the funeral she had brushed her aside, barely able to stand the sight of her even though Sakura had been trying to offer comfort. But now, it all came back to her. The phone call after they had found her daughter’s cold body in the lake, the letter from Tomoyo telling her not to be sad, the entire funeral flashing before her eyes. “Sonomi-san, please tell me what’s going on,” Sakura begged, wiping at her eyes. “Tomoyo-chan... She’s not...” The words refused to leave her mouth. No, that couldn’t be it. Tomoyo had to be all right. That couldn’t be why she was here. But she had never seen anyone in so much pain before. It was frightening. Her own heart was on the verge of breaking. If she lost Tomoyo, what would she do? Tomoyo was always there for her, always sweetly supporting whatever she did. She always went to Tomoyo for everything. Tomoyo was the sun in her sky, keeping everything in her life lit brightly. The brunette couldn’t fathom a world without her brilliantly smiling face. That would just be too lonely. Like a world without stars in the sky or a big, shining moon. Darkness would encompass her life. She needed Tomoyo. Somehow managing to grasp a hold of her composure for a moment, Sonomi glared at Sakura as she stood up to her full height. “Tomoyo- chan died two days ago. She drowned in a lake at the park.” Sakura gasped at Sonomi’s words, tears spilling down the cheeks of the quantum physicist whose body she was inhabiting. Closing her eyes, Sonomi continued. “She killed herself over you, Sakura-chan. She couldn’t live without you. And I don’t blame her. You meant the world to her. She loved you with all of her heart.” Her words echoed in her head as she choked past them. She could almost see Tomoyo’s sad ghost shaking her head, pleading with her not to be angry with Sakura. Sonomi couldn’t blame Tomoyo for killing herself. But Tomoyo wouldn’t want her to blame Sakura either. “No...” Crying into her hands, Sakura tried desperately to find a way out of this nightmare. It couldn’t be true. Things were getting worse and worse in this horrible dream. First she was stuck all alone in some man’s body while he tried to fix something that went badly in her life, then Sonomi came and got mad at her and now she found out that her best friend was dead. And that it was her fault. Her body shook as she was wracked with sobs. ‘Please let me wake up from this! Please...’ she thought weakly to herself, her thoughts to painful to continue on rationally. Her only thought was Tomoyo’s smiling face, glowing brighter and brighter as she faded until all that was left was a vague outline. Her hands dropped to her sides as the brunette woman grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look up. “Sakura-chan, she would never tell you because she wanted to be happy, no matter how much I told her she should. Because she thought you shouldn’t know. But damn it, I can’t let you keep on ignoring my daughter forever. She deserves for you to know, even if you can’t love her back. Sakura- chan, she loves you. She still does, my sweet little angel. She’s probably watching over you just as surely as Nadeshiko-chan is.” Sonomi’s gaze was piercing, the same stormy blue eyes that Tomoyo had inherited from her looking deep into Sakura’s soul, unflinching in their determination. Bursting into sobs at the intense gaze, Sakura’s eyes clenched shut again. Tomoyo’s voice chorused in her head, hundreds of different things she had said tumbling end over end through her mind. She had filed them all away as just strange things Tomoyo had said, but now they all began making sense, as if Tomoyo was saying them all from right behind her. “Not only is she fast, but she’s cute, too!” “I guess you can hear the name of the person you like no matter what the circumstances.” “Sakura-chan is so cute and happy now, so I’m happy, too.” “Of course I would be happy if my special person liked me. But I’ll be happy as long as my special person is.” And most painfully, “I love you, Sakura-chan.” “I love you, too, Tomoyo-chan,” she had replied with a smile. “I don’t think my love is the same as Sakura-chan’s,” Tomoyo had replied, looking at her sweetly as she often did when she would say such things. And shortly after Sakura’s confused response, “I’ll explain when you’re older.” But Tomoyo never did. Sakura had forgotten all about it and Tomoyo hadn’t tried to explain to her, always being kind and loving but never telling her as the years went by and she grew closer to Syaoran. And apparently, Tomoyo never would have the chance to explain it to her. “Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura cried quietly, shuddering. They had grown even closer over the past few years while Syaoran was back in Hong Kong. The thought of living without her left her feel freezing cold inside. Her heart felt like a wasteland. The older woman pulled her cousin’s daughter close, unable to watch her tears anymore. She couldn’t feel angry at Sakura any longer, the tears showing her own pain at losing Tomoyo. Sonomi kissed her forehead gently, stroking her back as she held her close, the older male body making the whole scene seem awkward. “She loved you very much, Sakura-chan. She always did.” Right now, she didn’t see Nadeshiko in Sakura. Nor did she see Fujitaka. She saw herself, crying over the loss of her beloved Nadeshiko. She saw that same pain in Sakura. Her own soul was mirrored in Sakura’s sobs and tearful eyes. "Oh, Sakura-chan...” Dr. Verbeena Beeks sighed and let the door slide closed again. She had been about to enter to put a stop to the whole fiasco, but it looked like she wasn’t needed after all. Sam sighed as he sat down on his host’s bed. Glancing around the room, her noticed that it looked nice and fairly organized, a television in the corner with a gaming system that a little yellow stuffed bear was placed in front of and other stuffed animals placed around the room. There was another stuffed bear on the bed as well as a little doll that looked a little like Sakura in a costume. Overall, it was a very nice, cute room. Not much like Sam’s, if he could remember it at all. Sitting elegantly next to him, Tomoyo smoothed down her skirt and smiled softly. “You did pretty well with Touya-san. I don’t think he noticed that too much was different about you. But you should probably stay away from him. He can be very perceptive about things, especially concerning people around his sister,” she suggested helpfully. Kero ignored the two girls talking behind him. He had more important things to think about, like finally beating the game he was currently playing. He hadn’t saved a single time yet and he was already so very near the end. “Jump!! C’mon!!” Staring at the little bear over by the gaming console, Sam began crawling across the bed. He felt a hand readjust the skirt as it had gotten bunched up. Blushing a bit, the leaper shrugged it off and concentrated on the stuffed animal. “It just talked, didn’t it?” He sincerely hoped he wasn’t going insane. After so many leaps, he would not be at all surprised if he was. But that was the last thing he needed. “That’s Kero-chan. He’s the Seal Beast for Sakura-chan’s Sakura Cards. She’s the world’s best magical girl,” Tomoyo explained cheerfully, smiling. “She’s the only magical girl you know,” Kero pointed out, only paying half attention to her. “But yeah, Sakura-chan’s the best.” “That’s amazing...” Sam breathed in wonder. In all his years of leaping, all of the technological wonders he had worked on, this was like nothing he had seen before. Walking over to the stuffed animal, Sam knelt down, watching it play the video game. He poked lightly at the small wings on its back. They fluttered in irritation at the touch. “Sakura-chan, I’m a little busy right now. I just have to... Almost!! C’mon!! Just wait till I show you my hurricane special move, the Kero-chan Special!!” Kero yelled enthusiastically. Shaking his head, Sam sat back and laughed. “I can’t believe it. It’s real. I mean, it actually talks.” He shook his head, laughing again. Sam Beckett, for all of his knowledge, had always been driven by his childlike curiosity. It had always pushed him forward. And he was delighted to see the magical being in front of him, entirely absorbed in a video game. Giggling softly, Tomoyo watched the person that looked like Sakura. “Hai, he has a lot to say.” She looked thoughtful for a moment, tilting her head to the side. “So if you don’t know that she’s a magical girl, how much do you know about Sakura-chan?” “Not an awful lot, I’m afraid.” Sam sighed, finally turning back to the pale girl. “Not enough to know what I’m here to fix yet.” Averting his gaze, his mind questioned his answer. “But you have an idea,” Tomoyo supplied, watching his reaction. “You need to help Sakura-chan. I’ll do whatever I can to help you. I just want her to be happy.” Her eyes closed and a weak sigh escaped her suddenly fragile looking form. The day had taken quite a bit of her strength. She just wanted to see Sakura again. “But what about you? Why can’t you be happy, too?” Sam shot back, regretting it as the words left his mouth. But he still couldn’t understand how that one person could mean so much to her that she would end her life. Not the way Al seemed to, at least. She was such a sweet, innocent girl. He couldn’t let that fate befall her. There had to be a way for him to stop it. Tomoyo smiled softly and brushed back some of her lavender hair from her eyes. “But I am happy. I’m happy knowing that Sakura-chan will be happy with the one she loves.” Before Sam could argue, she continued. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t hurt as well. I love her so much. I would do anything for Sakura-chan. To be in her arms, I would certainly have to be in Heaven with its most beautiful angel, Sakura-chan. But I can’t have that. And I understand. So I will do whatever I can to make Sakura-chan happy. That means much more to me than my own happiness.” Sam shook his head in confusion. “But how can you do that when it hurts you so much? When you can’t survive the outcome? It doesn’t make sense. Don’t do this to yourself! You can stop it all from happening. You can still be happy without her.” Her smile faded slightly but it remained on the pale girl as she closed her eyes, clasping her hands together. “It’s like I have fallen in love with the stars in the sky. They shine down in our lives, twinkling happily and giving us glimmers of dreams. But you can never reach them. Just as I have fallen in love with Sakura-chan. Even if I can’t quite reach her the way I would like to, she shines on me and makes me feel so blessed just to have known her. To repay her for all of the wonderful dreams and happiness she has granted me through my years with her, I will repay her as best I can, by making her happy. And if I can’t be the one to make her happy, then I’ll be glad that Li-kun can. Even if I don’t want to stay here without her, I’m eternally grateful to her for being in my life for as along as she was. And I will not burden her by staying in hers. But I will watch over her happily when I’m gone, the knowledge that she is happy filling my heart.” Blinking in surprise, Sam looked away. He was speechless. He really didn’t know how to respond to Tomoyo. She was so convincing, even if he believed that she was wrong. “Sam!!” Al yelled out as soon as he stepped out of the Imaging Chamber door. “Ziggy’s got something! You’ve gotta get down to Syaoran’s house now!” Standing up quickly, Sam ignored the fluttering skirt around him and nodded. “Where is it, Al? What’s going on?” “Just get outside! I’ll show you from there. And I’ll explain along the way.” With a few buttons on the handlink, I’ll repositioned himself outside. “I need to get to Syaoran’s house,” Sam said hastily, heading out the door. “Sakura-chan, matte! I’ll show you where it is.” Taking Sam’s hand, Tomoyo hurried with him down the stairs, leaving an oblivious Kero to the last level of his game. She watched the person inhabiting her beloved Sakura carefully, wondering what the invisible friend could have said to get his attention this way. “Where are you headed off to so quickly, monster?” Touya asked conversationally from the kitchen. “We’ve got to go study!” came Sam’s response as the rushed out the door. Touya watched after the two girl’s curiously, sipping his tea. His attention turned to the white haired boy sitting next to him at the table. “Since when did Sakura ever hurry to go study?” Yukito smiled pleasantly, his glasses shimmering in the afternoon light filtering in through the window. “Maybe it’s not the studying, but being able to study with Tomoyo-chan. Studying seems to be the last thing on your mind when we study,” the snow bunny commented thoughtfully, earning him a dirty look from Touya. He just grinned even further. “So what’s going on, Al? What did Ziggy find out?” Sam asked impatiently as Tomoyo led the way to Syaoran’s house while the holographic observer followed along. It had been decided that she should lead, knowing the area much better than Al, even with the maps displayed on the handlink. “It took forever to find, but she finally found some records that were of some interest. Okay, okay. She wants me to say what a supreme effort it took on her part to obtain the information. Alright!” Al grimaced at the handlink and pounded on the side. “And that she found it right in time because this window of opportunity is rapidly shrinking. Egomaniacal hunk of...” he muttered under his breath. Looking back up, Al continued on. “Syaoran’s getting a visit right now from someone important to all of this. His fiancee, a girl named Meiling. After finding out he went back to Japan to be with you, she booked a flight and headed out to try to convince him otherwise. They get into a huge argument and she leaves, apparently broken up by the whole thing. Seems she really had it big for your boyfriend.” “Can you please quit calling him my boyfriend?” Sam asked exasperatedly. Shaking his head, he looked back at Al. He was glad for Sakura’s athletic body during the long walk, but Tomoyo seemed to be breathing with difficulty. He hoped they would get there soon. “All right, so what happens with Meiling?” “Well, she doesn’t kill herself, but she doesn’t seem to take it much better than Tomoyo other than that. Ziggy says there’s a 73% probability that you’re here to make sure that she gets with Syaoran and that he doesn’t ruin things with her. She says that things probably won’t work out with you and him and that the relationship will eventually fall apart, but by then it’ll be too shattered to pick up any of the pieces for anyone involved.” Motioning towards Tomoyo with the handlink, he sighed. “Especially for her.” Sam stopped dead in his tracks, nearly dragging the dark haired girl off of her feet at the sudden stop. “Only 73%? Al, can’t you give me something a little better than that? I can’t ruin Sakura’s relationship with him over that. What if they can work things out? What if they’re meant to have kids? How can I do that, Al?” A sigh escaped his lips. This leap was really starting to wear him down. “It’s all right, Fake Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo said with a warm smile and a gentle squeeze of Sam’s hand. “If you worry like that, then you won’t be able to help Sakura-chan out when she needs it. I trust you to fix things for her. Please believe in yourself. Whatever you decide.” Her eyes took on a pleading look. “Please make sure that Sakura-chan can be happy.” “I promise that I’ll try my hardest to make sure she can be,” Sam promised, smiling a little in return. Turning his attention back to Al, his eyes narrowed. “Even if the odds are only 73%.” Sighing, Al shook his head as a loud trill came from the handlink. “Ziggy’s not too pleased with your attitude about this, Sam. She had to hack into a whole lot of systems to get the information that she did. And besides, why do you always have to be this way about the odds? I give you bad odds and you beg for better ones. I give you good odds and you’ll say that’s not why you’ve leapt in and do something boneheaded on your gut instinct.” Sam frowned and looked away. “But most of the time I’m right when it’s my instinct,” he argued. Closing his eyes, he sighed. “But we don’t have time for that. Especially if we don’t have much time left. Besides, this sounds like it could hurt a lot of people in the end.” A door flew open near them and a black haired girl stepped out, tears in her eyes and fists clenched. “And if that’s what you want, Syaoran, then you can go ahead and have it!! I’m going back to Hong Kong, you selfish asshole!! I hope I never see you again!” Sam winced as he watched her gaze icily at him. Of course, he was the reason she was angry. Syaoran stumbled out the door after her, holding his stomach as if he had been punched there. Which, surprisingly, he had been. Meiling seemed to be a very... fiery woman. Not someone he wanted mad at him. He nearly backpedaled as he approached. “Sam... Don’t get into a catfight with her, okay? I know you know some martial arts, but trust me, you don’t know anything compared to her,” Al warned from Sam’s side, punching up information on the handlink. “Ziggy says not to piss her off. Oh, thanks, Queen Ziggy. That’s something he couldn’t have figured out for himself.” “Sakura-chan..?” Syaoran asked in surprise, standing up straight when he saw Sam. He looked at her in confusion before looking back to the still angry Meiling. “I’m going home. I hope you two are happy with each other!” Meiling turned, wiping at her eyes as she began to walk away from the house. Syaoran stood on the sidewalk, frozen with indecision. He shouldn’t go to stop Meiling with Sakura here. He had made his decision and he would have to stand by it. So he would have to let Meiling leave, possibly never to speak with her again. But there was nothing else he could do. He never had been good at expressing his emotions and this situation was no different. If anything, it just made it more difficult. But he didn’t want to see Meiling leave like this. “Wait, Meiling!” Sam grabbed her arm, trying to stall her. She easily pulled from his grasp, turning on an agile foot and glaring directly at the displaced time traveler. “What the hell do you want, Sakura? You already have Syaoran. Leave me alone. I’m leaving.” The rest of what she said was in Chinese and didn’t make any sense to Sam. She was obviously very upset, masking her pain with sheer, seething anger. She was not going to be easy to deal with at all. Her beloved had just fled to Japan to be with another woman, leaving her all alone. And arguing with him had just made things worse, painful words flying both ways as it raged on. Right now she wanted to be on an airplane back home where she could forget about sorcerer’s that didn’t keep their promises to wed and magical girls that weave spells and steal fiancees. “Please, don’t go, Meiling. You’ll regret it if you leave today. I promise. We have to talk about things,” Sam urged softly, hoping that he could contain the situation. If Meiling wanted to leave, there was absolutely no way he could stop her. And that was possibly his only chance to fix things. “Please?” “I already regret coming here. What’s another regret?” Meiling shot back angrily, her eyes still bloodshot from her tears. But she seemed to at least consider it, making no move to leave. Her eyes darted back towards Syaoran who refused to look at her. He had no idea why Sakura was doing this, but it was only making things harder. He had done this for her. Why was she making it more difficult than it had to be? Meiling looked away again, her heart torn in two at the sight of the boy she loved waiting to be with the Japanese girl. Sam took a deep breath, looking from face to face to face. Did Sakura know how many lives she could affect? All of these people could be hurt terribly by an innocent sin that Sakura had no idea to prevent. Sam only hoped he still had time. Tomoyo would die at her own hands out of grief, Meiling would be broken over the loss of her fiancee, and Syaoran and Sakura would probably get hurt by the personal loss of the two girls, even if Meiling didn’t leave in the same way. Now how did he fix all that? He glanced to Al, hoping for some idea. The Observer had to know some way to resolve this, right? Otherwise he wouldn’t be able to do anything. But how could he break up Sakura and Syaoran? It hardly seemed fair to do that to them. The sound of the Imaging Chamber door whooshing open shook him from his thoughts. He stared in shock as he saw himself standing next to Al wearing the all white fermi suit that was used for multiple purposes at Project Quantum Leap. He hadn’t seen himself in so long. But what was he doing there? “Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura whispered softly as she looked at the dark haired girl standing next to her body. It took all she had to keep from bursting into tears after what Sonomi had told her earlier. She sniffled slightly but smiled at the brown haired boy standing a bit away from her. None of them could see her, which was a bit eerie. “Thank you, Syaoran-kun. You were right. I shouldn’t cry. It won’t fix anything. Thank you for teaching me that. I need to solve my problems.” “Sakura?” Sam asked in shock. What was she doing here? Why was Al parading people through the Imaging Chamber? If they were all going to see Tomoyo before she died, couldn’t the watch from Ziggy’s monitors? Sakura bowed to Sam, a little awkward in his taller body. “Gomen nasai. Thank you for trying to fix my life. But I need to fix my own problems. It’s not right to have you fix them all for me. Then I won’t have learned anything. If you run away from your problems, you will regret them for years afterwards. I learned that from Sonomi-san.” “I... uhhh... sure..” Sam nodded, still a little confused about the whole situation. He hoped this leap would start making sense soon. “Sakura-chan, are you okay?” Syaoran asked, his eyes narrowing as he looked around for who Sakura was talking to. “Who is it?” Sam shook his head quickly, brushing back some reddish brown hair that got in his eyes. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. I’m just trying to think about what to say.” He glanced back to Sakura, hoping that she had some idea about how to resolve this whole thing. Sakura’s hands went to her chest, her eyes closing. She sighed deeply, trying to concentrate. This would be difficult to do, but she knew she had to. Opening her eyes, determination flared through them. She smiled sadly at Syaoran, stepping up to him even if he couldn’t see her. “Syaoran- kun, thank you so much for coming back to see me. I missed you so much. You were such a great help with the Cards and with all of the dangers that I faced. I couldn’t have asked for a better rival. I’m glad that we stopped that and that we got to grow closer. You’re really sweet when you let it show through. I’m glad I got to see you again. But I’m afraid that I can’t say I feel the same way I used to. Or that I ever did. I never really got to decide for myself who I was in love with. Everyone seemed to think it was you. Tomoyo-chan, Yukito-san, Eriol- kun, they all seemed to lead me to you. So when you told me how you felt, I felt like they already had told me. So I thought I had to return your feelings. But they didn’t know my heart. Neither did I, back then. I’m so sorry. I think you belong with Meiling-chan. She really does love you very much and she’s so open about it. I think you’d be sad if you never see her again or if she’s mad at you about this. I hope things work out. Hoe... I’m so sorry about all this. But I’m really happy I got to meet you. And that we had all of the adventures that we did. You’ll always be an important friend to me, Syaoran-kun.” She tried to hug him, smiling weakly, but she nearly fell through him. Sighing, she stepped back, watching the sad look on his face as Sam repeated what she had said to him. He didn’t want to understand. He didn’t want it to be true. Her heart went out to him, but she knew that she had to continue. “What?” Meiling asked in shock. Why would Sakura give up Syaoran all of the sudden? She never would in Sakura’s position. A slow smile crept along her lips. Who cared if Sakura had suddenly gone insane? This meant Syaoran would be all hers after all. It had been worth coming to Japan again. “Poor Syaoran,” she said, mock pouting as she took the still shocked boy’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you.” She smiled sweetly and rested her head on his shoulder, delighting at the way it felt to be next to him again. Yes, she’d make sure that Syaoran never did anything that stupid again. Or else. Still in Sam’s body, Sakura blushed a bit, wringing her hands as she looked at Tomoyo. While in the Waiting Room, Sakura had had quite a bit of time to think. And Sonomi’s explanations had given her a chance to realize a horrible mistake that she would have made. She only hoped that she was in time to fix it. “Tomoyo-chan, I finally understand what you meant. I.. I love you, too, Tomoyo-chan. I need you. More than you could ever know. Tomoyo-chan, you make me feel so warm and happy inside. So hanyaa. Whenever I feel bad, you’re right there to help me back up again. When I’m happy, you’re there with me recording it all and watching me. And that makes me even happier, that you can be there to share it with me. Tomoyo-chan, you don’t have to just watch your special person be happy. Because I don’t think I could be happy without you. I... I want to make you happy, too.” Clasping her hands together, Sakura looked down at her friend, watching her intently. Finding out how Tomoyo felt about her hadn’t surprised her as much as she would have thought it should have. But it just made sense now that she looked back on all that Tomoyo had said and done for her. It didn’t take long to realize that her own feelings had begun to flow along with Tomoyo’s long ago. She had begged them to let her see Tomoyo when she had finally found the love hiding in her own heart. Tomoyo listened in disbelief to her friend’s sweet voice. That couldn’t be right. Could it just be the person who was in Sakura saying that? The mannerisms showed that it was still the fake Sakura, but those words were the Cardmistress’s. So that meant Sakura was here. Saying this to her. Her cheeks brightened as she looked around for her best friend. In desperation, she grabbed onto the person impersonating Sakura, holding on tightly to the body of her best friend. “Sakura-chan...!” Her stormy blue eyes closed tightly, her heart pouring out to Sakura, wherever she was. Sakura had been gone all day and this was the first time she had the chance to be near her, to know that she was there. The real her. It left the pale girl feeling weak inside, especially at Sakura’s words. She would have just been happy to know that the magical girl was back. This set her soul afire, almost too much for her weary body to handle. A dam had broken in her heart, letting all of the love she kept pent up inside for Sakura flow out, nearly drowning her in its strength. Everything disappeared in the storm, Sakura the calm at its center. “I know you’re there, Sakura-chan. I love you, too. I always have, Sakura-chan.” Blushing at Tomoyo’s declaration of love, Sakura let her eyes fall closed as she stood in the same spot as Sam. Wanting so much to be there, to feel the small dark haired girl, Sakura’s arms went around the hologram of Tomoyo in the Imaging Chamber. Sighing, Syaoran shook his head. He couldn’t believe any of this. He certainly hadn’t been expecting it. He never should have come back to Tomoeda. Not if this was going to happen. But he should have known that Sakura didn’t feel that way about him anymore. Especially with how strange she had been acting all day. He suddenly regretted what he had said to Meiling just a short time earlier. He opened his mouth, trying to apologize, but she shook her head. Leaning forward, she kissed him softly, the rest of his conscious thought melting away as he stared at the floor, too embarrassed to utter a word. Meiling giggled in triumph. Al motioned over towards the two members of the Li Clan with a flourish of his cigar. “Looks like things just might work out after all. Ziggy’s finally breathing a sigh of relief.” Shooting the Observer a skeptical look, Sam motioned his head towards Tomoyo. He was still a bit concerned about this whole leap. It had definitely been bizarre all the way around. “But what about...?” “I wouldn’t worry about that, Sam. Something tells me she’ll live for a good long time now that she’s got a reason to.” Grinning, the observer made room for Sonomi, ignoring the trill of the handlink. “I’ll see you soon, my baby girl,” Sonomi whispered softly, her fingers fading through Tomoyo’s holographic hair. She smiled softly, finally feeling at ease for the first time since the funeral. Soon enough this would be all over and the funeral would never have happened now that Tomoyo wouldn’t wind up in that position in the first place. Though there was no breeze in the Imaging Chamber, she could almost feel it just by watching Tomoyo’s dark gray hair flutter near her fingertips. A lighter gray caught her eye nearby. A faint image, a smiling angel looked back at her. Unseen to the group just as surely as the holograms were, the woman watched over the two young girls. So much like herself and someone else at that age. “Nadeshiko-chan...” Smiling softly, Sam returned the hug to the overjoyed heiress. He knew he’d be gone soon enough, but he had the feeling that Al was right, that things would work out. He was glad he had come, even if it was only for a short time. “Good luck, Tomoyo.” For just a moment, after setting things right that had once gone wrong, Doctor Sam Beckett felt at peace. For just one moment, his journey didn’t seem so incredibly long. Home didn’t seem quite so far away. With that, he leapt. With a tingle that Sakura couldn’t quite tell if it was caused by magic or by the feeling of being in Tomoyo’s arms, the Cardmistress was back. She couldn’t really remember from where, but she felt relieved to know that she was home again. With a furious blush, she could remember telling Sakura the feelings that rose up inside her heart. She clutched onto the pale girl tightly, feeling Tomoyo buried against her, her fingers lightly stroking Sakura’s back. Tomoyo almost stumbled back but quickly regained her balance, whispering Sakura’s name over and over in her ear. Tomoyo’s gentle touch quickly forced away the disorientation that had lingered in the brunette’s mind. All that mattered was that she was with Tomoyo once more. And for once, the warm feelings in her heart made sense to their owner. It tossed her like a balloon, turning her around and around until she didn’t know where she was. But it didn’t matter. Now she wouldn’t ever be lost again. She wasn’t fully aware of when she had come to the realization that Tomoyo had captured her heart, but she knew Tomoyo had as surely as Sakura had captured any cards. Tomoyo had bound her heart to her long ago. “I love you, too,” she whispered in response to Tomoyo sweet voice in her ear. It was her again. Tomoyo knew it. She was enveloped in Sakura. Her warm touch, her soft hair, her wonderful scent. It wrapped Tomoyo up in ribbons of sheer joy. She never wanted to be free of the ribbons that wound themselves tightly around her heart and soul. The pain, the cracks in her soul began to heal from Sakura’s presence, soothing her battered spirit and warming the icy chill that had threatened to consume her heart. Her pain meant nothing in the face of Sakura’s love. It was as if it had never been there at all. Sakura’s hands slowly began running through Tomoyo’s hair, smoothing away all of Tomoyo’s worries at the same time. “Sakura-chan... I knew that you would rescue me,” she whispered softly. Stormy blue eyes opened to meet emerald orbs gazing back into them. The dark haired girl smiled contentedly, her heart almost overflowing with the outpouring of her love and the influx of Sakura’s. She had been the princess locked up in the castle, cursed to an eternal night. And like she had always hoped, Sakura had pulled her out into the sunshine. Leaning closer, Tomoyo marveled at the even deeper blush that colored Sakura’s face as Sakura realized what she intended. Sakura met her softly, their lips pressing together. The two girls held each other as if afraid the other would slip away. Tomoyo was surprised at the vigor with which Sakura returned the kiss, shattering the cage that had held Tomoyo completely and setting her adrift in Sakura’s arms. Kissing back as passionately as she could, the dark haired girl’s arms went around Sakura’s shoulders, pulling her closer. “Sakura- chan is a very good kisser,” Tomoyo said breathlessly as their lips finally parted. “Tomoyo-chan, was that your tongue?” Sakura asked quietly, her cheeks flushing scarlet. “Hoe...” Resting her head on Tomoyo’s shoulder, she felt Tomoyo’s gentle embrace as her musical giggle filled Sakura’s mind. Whatever had happened, she was glad for it. She had to have a guardian angel. Sam found himself kneeling in a church in prayer when he finally came to his senses. That didn’t seem too awkward. He had been a priest before during another leap, after all. But he didn’t seem to be a priest this time. The long white dress seemed to indicate that he was a nun instead. Another girl stood in front of him, her mousey brown hair done up in a high pony tail with a black bow. She wore what looked like a black magician’s outfit with a pink skirt and held a top hat in one hand. “Seira-chan? You don’t look so well.” “Oh boy...”