Beyond the Warrior

Beyond the Warrior

Chapter Six: "I'm alive, but I'm VERY BADLY BURNT…"

Okay, how many people are ready to kill me for ending the last chapter like that? It's always so much fun to kill off a character… ) I said in that notice in my profile that Li doesn't die, and it's true! He just goes into eternal sleep…see, he didn't know exactly what he was getting into…well, I'll just start the chapter, shall I? It'll all be explained there.

I don't own this at all, other than the characters that aren't in any series, and if you want to sue me for writing this I have one thing to say to you:

STICK IT UP YOUR ASS. OR PIEHOLE. WHICHEVER YOU PREFER. If I owned this, I'd be RICH!

But I'm not. I don't. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out.

3rd Person/Yet Another Thing That Sounded Cool As An Intro

Six women are seated by large crystal spheres, three in all, two women watching each. Their names are Aiyanna, Hylene, Shanndyra, Vayeren, Terryanis and Taeyuriel. They are the Element Goddesses–daughters of Mother Star and Father Void, creators of the universe. Guardians of the human race, they shield the worlds from chaos. Each watches a flow of time; Past, Present, or Future. Aiyanna Wind-Goddess and Hylene Water-Goddess survey the Past; Vayeren Starfire-Goddess and Taeyuriel Spirit-Goddess guard the Present; Terryanis Earth-Goddess and Shanndyra Fire-Goddess are the watchers of the Future.

They ensure that humankind survives…but even goddesses have rules. One is the unsurpassable law that time must never, ever be reversed. The other: not to involve themselves in mortal affairs unless it affected the time flow. If the Future and the Present will not be affected, then all they can do is watch. So far, there have been very few times when their interference is needed, and none in the past few centuries.

Frowns darken the faces of Shanndyra, Terryanis, Vayeren, and Taeyuriel. A moment later, the unusual silence is broken by the red-headed fire goddess. "Uh oh." Leaning closer, she scowls at the scene in the orb. Each diamond sphere is easily three feet across. "This isn't good."

"What is it?" Hylene asks.

"Sakura is out of power," she says uncertainly. "And so is Li."

"The Warriors?" Aiyanna frowns also as she turns away from the Past orb. With both of its guardians diverted, that flow of time freezes. While they may not reverse time, they are always free to stop it–a privilege they grant to only a fortunate few.

"Yes," Terryanis confirms distractedly as her burning red-orange eyes, like the heart of a volcano, widen. "Oh, this is not good at all."

"Oh no!" Vayeren stares, horrified, at the Present orb. "Stop both flows, now!"

"Why?"

"Oh no!" Shanndyra halts the Future, pale-faced, as Taeyuriel brings the Present to a standstill. "Sakura just killed herself!"

"And Li put himself into Eternal Sleep," Vayeren says grimly.

"This isn't supposed to happen!" Taeyuriel splutters. "The Celestial Warrior can't commit suicide!"

"Well, she just did," Terryanis says flatly. "This is really not good."

"But we chose her to be a Warrior! She isn't meant to throw her responsibilities away like that!" Hylene argues as Aiyanna examines the Present orb.

"She didn't." Shanndyra's voice is tight with checked anger. "That asshole Rakutan left her one option–Finality." The other goddesses can see how upset she is; as the Fire-Goddess, she had a major role in designing the Warriors and their souls. To her, it's like having her daughter killed.

"But weren't they supposed to be brother and sister?" Terryanis muses. "Li and Sakura, that is, so that they wouldn't fall in love like this."

"Yeah, they were…" Vayeren says semi-darkly. "Love does funny things."

"But how did they end up as–well, not brother and sister?" Aiyanna asks. "Isn't Taeyuriel in charge–"

They all turn and stare at the silvery goddess. "Taeyuriel…" Shanndyra growls, accusatory.

"So I messed up!" she stammers.

"Funny how you're always accurate otherwise," Terryanis says grimly. "You thought it would be romantic, didn't you?"

"They were perfect for each other!" she blusters. "And besides, if they had been related then she never would have unlocked her potential!"

"And Sora would have never been born," Hylene adds thoughtfully. "The Senshi would have died by the DarkLords. I think Taeyuriel did the right thing, you guys. They were meant to be together, or else there wouldn't be a future."

"But if they were meant to be together…" Terryanis breaks off, and her eyes narrow. A minute later, she yells, "DESTINY!"

There's a flicker of blue, and a girl of about twelve appears. Or at least, she looks twelve–she's ever bit as old as time. "Yes?" Her voice is carefully innocent, as is the expression on her face.

"You knew this was going to happen." Shanndyra's voice is low and dangerous. "You did this."

"I didn't cause this, if that's what you mean." She smiles. "Besides, it wasn't that big of a deal."

"NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?!" Shanndyra explodes. She points at the globes. "Time is in one of the biggest knots now because of this!"

"What do you mean?"

"She means that because Sakura dies, Sora isn't born and she can't go the past to get her help, so she doesn't die, and then has Sora, and does die, and it gets messed up horribly." Aiyanna rubs her forehead. "I'm getting a headache. Gods aren't supposed to get headaches. We're supposed to sit around and sip wine and meddle with the mere mortals every once in a while."

"Well, we can't meddle, that's for sure," Hylene sighs.

"Yeah, or a Republican wouldn't be president," Shanndyra adds with a grin. "But I think that old Ma and Pa up there–" she jerks her thumb up "–might make an exception for this one."

"But Destiny," Vayeren scolds, "Why did you make it so they had to be together?"

"Because they were practically meant for each other!" she says defensively. At the six goddesses' raised eyebrows, she sighs. "All right, I'll admit it. Eriol could have ended up with Sakura, and that couldn't happen." She gets an odd, blissful smile on her face. "I want Eriol to stay single forever, and then when he's in the Spirit World…"

"He'll be with Madison," Terryanis says smoothly. "It's their fate."

Destiny scowls. "Yeah, yeah. I think Madison will die or something, then, and he'll be single again!" Suddenly, she pulls out a laptop. "You know, those mortals are pretty damn smart. Look at this thing! I can do so much on it!" Grinning brightly, she opens it and shows them the screen. "I even downloaded some pictures from Madison's web site, and now I can have his face as the wallpaper! And the trash icon is him when it's empty, and then him again when it's full!"

"I think I'm going to be sick," croaks Taeyuriel.

"No kidding," Hylene adds weakly.

"You can go now," Terryanis says dryly, and Destiny vanishes. "Well, why don't we just bring Sakura back to life?"

"How? She's the only one who can use the Life and Death cards."

"But we made her resourceful," says Aiyanna, looking thoughtful. "If we get her spirit back on Earth, she'll figure something out."

"Yeah, that would work," Vayeren says slowly. "Taeyuriel, will you go get her?"

"I'm on it." The silver-haired goddess vanishes in a flash.

Sakura

Well, this really sucks. I stood in the vast crowd uncertainly, not knowing what to do. What do I do now? Haunt Tori whenever he yells at Li?

What am I supposed to do?

Damned if I know.

Well, I'm damned anyway, I thought ruefully, cuz I committed suicide technically, but this still really, really sucks…

I waited impatiently for something–anything–to happen, but for the longest time, it didn't.

Then a silver blur streaked overhead: a woman with the look of someone who knew what she was doing. I think I could at least ask her what's going to happen.

I sprouted wings–my magic was restored–and flew after her. "Um, excuse me?" I shouted. When she turned around, a surprised expression on her face, I gulped but continued. "I–uh, I kinda committed suicide, and I'm just wondering whether I'm going to go to hell for that, because, um, well I had to kill this bad guy or he'd destroy the world. And I didn't really want to die, so…I'm just wondering if I'll go to hell or what," I finished with a nervous laugh.

She blinked. "Are you Sakura?"

Taken aback, I stammered, "Y-yeah."

She smiled. "It's all right. Trust me, you aren't getting anywhere near a hell ever. Come with me."

I followed her as she soared straight up, wondering what was going on. A split second later, we passed through some sort of barrier–

And I was floating in a room, surrounded by strange, commanding women.

I blinked. Was this my heaven or hell?

"Good, you found her," one with dark skin and burning eyes said.

"Don't sound so surprised, Terryanis," chastised a blonde one with pale gray eyes.

"Why?" asked a red-haired one. "She actually managed to do something. Alert the media."

I hate arguments…this has gotta be a hell…

"Shanndyra!" yelled a blue-haired woman exasperatedly. "For the love of flame, could you all please stop arguing?"

"Umm…" I said nervously, "am I in the right place?"

"Yes," said one, giving the others a glare. "I'm Vayeren, goddess of Starfire."

"G-g-g-goddess?" I stammered, stunned.

"Yeah," she said distractedly, grimacing at the other women and holding up a finger. "Sakura, hold on." Stalking up to the knot of bickering females, she yelled, "KNOCK IT OFF! WE'VE GOT BIGGER ISSUES THAN YOUR EGOES!"

Abashed, they all sat down meekly and waited for her to say something. Sighing ruefully, she said, "Sakura, you weren't supposed to die like this. There's a lot of problems if you do."

"Like what?"

Shanndyra shook her head. "Can't tell you everything, you know. Mortals like you can't know too much."

"Anyway, we've got to give you another chance at life," Vayeren continued pointedly. "But we can only do so much. So…" The Tenchi Crystal appeared between her hands. "You can return to Earth within the crystal, and figure something out from there. The problem is, you'll have to stay in the crystal. It might take you a lifetime to get back to life. Li might be long dead. And you might not be able to get out at all–you might be trapped in there forever. But Li could use some help, so if you want to go…"

"How is he?" I asked worriedly.

A shadow crossed her face as my eyes landed on one of the giant spheres. There was a familiar figure inside…Walking over, I stared into its depths, then gasped at what I saw.

Li?!

The sword was just starting to fall out of his hands, the time freeze around him sealing him away from the rest of the world and the blue granules of Sleep's magic drifting around him. Stunned, I stood there and just looked at him, my mind barely registering the fact that the Senshi had just burst through the door in the scene. There was nothing they could do. I'd invested almost every scrap of power I'd had in those cards, and nothing they had could get through Time or Sleep. They were too strong.

I swallowed, a tear running down my face. But–he'll be in–in eternal sleep… "Why?" I whispered. "He'll never wake up. Why did he do that?"

"Simple," Taeyuriel said bluntly. "You're dead."

My jaw tightened as I turned around and said grimly, "Put me in the crystal. I'm going back."

One Year Later

Katana

I jumped over a fence, headed down an alley.

"Come back, Kate! We aren't finished with you yet!"

Rolling my eyes, I continued running. There was a splash as my foot landed in a puddle, the muddy water rising to soak my jeans.

Great, I thought bitterly. Just great. Is there ever a day in Oregon where it doesn't rain?

I want to be back home and I want to go back now.

I nearly slipped on the slick pavement as I rounded a corner, pushing light-brown hair out of gray-green eyes. It had been almost three months since my legal guardians had died in a car crash and I'd been stuck here. Why'd they have to go and make themselves citizens? I wondered. It got me stuck here, with them.

'Them' was my new foster parents. Originally, I'd been born in Hong Kong, but my parents had died when I was young and I became basically the child of the Li Clan. Everyone took care of me, and two of the clan members were put in charge of my training. Other than them, I didn't really have parents.

But the new foster parents I had–they were messed up. The man kept on trying to beat me up.

He tried.

The thing was, he never got very far. Every time he'd so much as laid a finger on me, I'd broken it and the other nine. If he'd tried to get me in trouble, I would have told the authorities exactly what he was doing, and he and his living skeleton of a wife couldn't afford to have me do that.

But I was too young to leave on my own, so I was stuck here for another few years. It wasn't that big of a deal to stay with them–they didn't try anything with me anymore, so it made it bearable.

"Don't run away, Katie!"

I sighed. I'd told everyone a million times: the name was Katana. Not Kate, not Katie, not whatever else they wanted to call me.

The support workers had told me to try to fit in. That's why it said 'Kate' or 'Katherine' on all the legal papers. But, as I had informed them repeatedly, trying to get me to fit in was like asking a sword to get up and dance.

Kata had been my old nickname. Not Kate. Kata I would have put up with. Tana would have been annoying, but I could have handled it. But 'Kate'? No. It wasn't me. The name was okay, but to try and Americanize me was wrong.

And yet, they called me Kate.

The boys were starting to catch up to me, but I wasn't worried. Rather than running away, I stopped in an alley where I could fight back and waited for them.

They rounded the corner soon enough, and the leader held out an arm to halt his friends. "There you are, Katie. Me and my friends wanted to see if you wanted to have some fun with us." He grabbed my arm, nails digging into my skin. "What do you say?"

I glared at him from underneath lowered eyelids. The only good thing about living in Portland was that I didn't have to wear a school uniform; and I was going to be very grateful for that fairly soon…

I wrapped a callused fist around his elbow and twisted my arm around, flipping him over and slamming to the ground. Oh, sure, I'll have some fun…

Stunned, his 'friends'–more like minions–stared at me, then started charging at me.

I needed to practice. This should be fairly easy.

In a minute, the alley was strewn with downed boys, all groaning and feeling new bruises very well. I walked out with hardly a scratch, very and extremely smug.

It's a shame I can't use my magic, I thought ruefully, or they'd be roasty-toasty and extra-crispy too.

Ha. If I ever used my magic, the people here would have me tied to a stake and on the witch-grill in two seconds flat.

"Hey, look at me!" A little homeless man jumped in front of me, babbling excitedly from the depths of the cardboard box over his head, a flap raised so his face showed. "Look at me! Guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what?! WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!" He held his arms straight out, making airplane noises, and ran straight into a telephone pole. As he fell to the ground, a green and white-streaked stone rolled out of his pocket. Shaking his head, he got up and ran off, sounding like a motor boat.

"Riiiiight," I muttered. Bending over, I picked up the stone and nearly dropped it with a yelp of shock. There was more than enough power inside to destroy the entire galaxy–several times over.

Then something seemed to stir within it, and I was suddenly forced to walk jerkily into the nearest empty alleyway, my mind panicking. Omigod omigod omigod, what the heck is going on?!

/Relax!/ A voice rang through my head, sounding almost as anxious as I was. /Please, I really do not need you to freak on me!/

As I blinked, a white shape seemed to form inside the crystal, solidifying until I could see a girl who looked about my age. Something about her seemed awfully familiar… "Have we met?" I asked confusedly.

/Maybe/ she sighed. /I'm Sakura, Card Mistress, Celestial Warrior, and all that crap./

For the second time, I nearly dropped the crystal. "You're that Sakura?" I choked out.

/Could we just talk mind to mind?/ she asked wearily. /People will start thinking you're crazy, otherwise. And yes, I am that Sakura./

/How did you get in there?/ I asked confusedly.

/Long story. Can I just send you the information directly?/

/Sure./

Nothing could have prepared me for the kind of transmission I received a moment later, heralded by an icy-blue flash. I lived the moment, witnessing her death and then what she'd seen with Li and everything.

/Wow/ I said numbly after I'd managed to catch my mental wind. /That's, um, pretty rough./

/Yeah, I know./ She sat down wearily. /So where are you from? One of the Clan girls, since you know magic?/

/How'd you know I have magic?/

/Part of my training. Clan girl?/

/Yep. My name's Katana, but you can call me Kata./

/How'd you get here?/ she asked. /I thought I was in Oregon./

/You are/ I assured her. /Long story./

/Just give me the info, like I did for you./

I sent her the memories, and after a minute she said, /Tough break. I'm sorry./

/It's okay./ I shrugged. /I just want to go home. Aunt Yelan would have a fit if she knew about my foster parents./

/I wouldn't blame her…/ Sakura rubbed her chin, musing. /You know, I think we could help each other out on this one./

/What do you mean?/

/I need to get to Tomoeda/ she explained. /The problem is that I don't have enough power to fly myself over the entire Atlantic Ocean in this, or I would have already. In fact, I can't move the crystal at all. But I can still generate money and illusions and do just about everything else; so you could get on an airplane and take me with you./

/I see./ For the moment, I ignored the fact that I didn't like airplanes. /That would work out really well./

/What do you say? Are you in?/

/I'm in/ I said positively. /Now, how about getting some cash for a taxi?/

Sakura

/I'm really, really, REALLY not loving this!/ Kata wailed in my mind.

/Kata, pull yourself together!/ I winced at the nice dent in the armrest from where she was clutching it in a white-knuckled death grip.

Who could have guessed that Kata would be afraid of flying in an airplane?

If this kept up, her magic would start leaking out from her anxiety, and that would not be good at all…I could picture the reactions as strange, cloud-like apparitions floated through the cabin and flashes of light came and went…

I sighed and put her to sleep in a twist of power. It never helped when someone was that worked up.

The flight was always a long one, but now it was longer than ever. It was a miracle I'd finally found someone with magic–ever since I'd landed in Ohio, I'd been passed along until I'd finally found her. What is it with Americans and not having magic? I wondered, looking out from my spot in the window. I mean, I sensed some here and there, but there isn't nearly as much as there is in Tomoeda.

Must be some American deal…I heard something about the Salem Witch Trails, maybe they got rid of most of it…

But that doesn't matter now. What matters is getting back.

/Is…is it safe?/ Kata asked, her mental voice shaking. /Can we get off now?/

/YES!/ I yelled, trying to get her out of the chair.

/Are you sure? The plane won't take off while I'm getting out, right?/

/EVERYBODY ELSE IS OFF, KATA! YOU WILL SURVIVE!/

/Are you really, really, really sure?/

/YES! Get up or I'll set you on fire!/

/That is SO not funny!/ She scrambled down the aisle, clutching her bag, and the minute we were back on the ground she stopped worrying. /We need money/ she sent.

/In your purse./ I put in enough to get us five taxies, in case the fares had really gone up in the past year.

Soon enough, she'd gotten her suitcase and we were in a taxi, headed for Tomoeda. The familiar scenery was so welcome…It was hard to believe that after dying for the second time AN: Remember? She's a reincarnation, so the first time was by Metallia and being put in a crystal that I was actually going home.

It took about a half an hour to get to Tomoeda from the Tokyo airport. As we passed the shops, it was hard for me to hold back my tears at all the familiar sights. There was Nikki, her nose buried in a book as she sat on the bench…There was Chelsea, throttling Zachary as he grinned…Rita, watching over some children as they played in the sandbox.

Where are the Senshi? I wondered.

Then the taxi stopped in front of my house.

I could feel the magic radiating from a room near mine that had been empty when I died. What the–

/Kata, just let him keep the change/ I told her distractedly. /Something's up, and we just need to get in there./

/You got it./ She just handed him the bill and said, "Keep the change."

As soon as the suitcase was out and he was gone, she walked up to the door, me in her pocket. After there was no response to her knock, I told her to look under the fifth flower pot, and sure enough, the spare key was there.

The house was totally empty as I directed her up the stairs, telling her to leave her bag in the hall. When we reached the top, I saw a strange light coming from under one of the doors. /That one./

She pushed the door open, and we both gasped simultaneously.

I was laid out on the bed, a strange, blue-white shield over me. It was like I hadn't aged a day since I'd died.

I knew the spell whoever it was had used. It was strong, and the shield was almost impenetrable, but it also took a phenomenal amount of power to put up.

The Book of Sakura was on the table nearby, the Key/Transformation Wand beside it. /I think you can use the wand/ I told Kata. /Open the book. There's a card on top that has the name 'The Life.' You know how to use the Cards, right?/ She nodded, and I made the wand transform into my Staff. /The incantation is, 'Life Card, Release.' I didn't want something long and hard to remember./ I laughed inwardly.

She threw the card up. "Life Card, Release!" It came down on the point of the Staff, and there was a crack–

And the Card floated down. Nothing happened.

It hadn't worked.

I sat down in the glass ball, hard. I can't believe it…no, this has to work…

Kata picked up the card and studied it with her magic, something I'd never really done; I'd always been to busy.

"Sakura, it's keyed to your soul," she said a moment later.

/What?/

"It's keyed to your soul," she explained, not having to talk mentally because there was no one around. "Only you can use it."

/Well, that's all fine and dandy, but I don't really have a body to use it with!/ I snapped, the overwhelming sense of despair making me harsh.

"You do now." There was a flash, and then suddenly I was standing in the room–

outside of the crystal.

My knees buckled, and I sat down on the ground, the Staff falling beside me. Oh my god, I'm freaking alive.

Where's Kata?!

I picked up the crystal, and her form appeared within it. /You lived in this thing for a year?/ she demanded. /No TV? No stereo? Man, this sucks!/

"Kata, why'd you do that?!" I yelled. "Now you're trapped in the crystal!"

/No I'm not/ she retorted stubbornly. /I know how to soul-switch. The minute you bring yourself back to life, then I'll switch your soul into your body and go back to mine. It isn't that big of a deal./

"But–but–" I protested, amazed by the way she'd just given up her body like that, even if it was only temporary.

/Just get it over with!/ she teasingly ordered. /Or I'll switch back, and then you'll be in trouble!/

I swallowed, then got back to my feet and picked up the Staff and Card once more. Taking a deep breath, I gathered my powers and drew on the Tenchi Crystal's magic, then threw the Card into the air and shouted, "Life Card! Release!"

The magic exploded out in a silent flare, and I forced it towards my body. The shield gave way under the comet-like blast of power, but it took every ounce of strength I had to keep it on track. It had gotten stronger in the last year; I guessed it was because it had been drawing a little of my power.

Then the blazing green hit my body's forehead. It was weird, being in another body but feeling your own working–I could feel my heart start to beat again and the blood move through my veins once more, but at the same time Kata's body was breathing and living, and I felt them both.

There was a snap, and I opened my eyes to find myself looking from another perspective entirely. I sat up, and my hair fell around me as I looked at my hands, realizing that I was, for the third time, alive.

"Get away from her!" The door flew open with a bang, and I saw Makoto and Tori standing side by side, both pairs of eyes blazing and the rest of the senshi behind them.

There was stunned silence as I realized they must have felt the magic. Of course, only the least trained of magicians could have missed that flare…

Every eye in the room was trained on me but for Kata's. She'd dropped the Staff and shifted into a fighting stance, but I didn't think she would need it any time soon.

"Umm…hi, guys," I said weakly. "I, uh, kinda came back."

There was another split second of silence, and then I was nearly knocked over as first one body hit me, then another. Everyone was hugging and crying and laughing and it was confused chaos, but it was still the exact kind of reunion I'd wanted.

After a little while, everybody had calmed down enough and I stood. "I'm going to see Li. I'll be back soon enough."

"Um…" began Usagi nervously. "Sakura, he…"

"Put himself in eternal sleep," I said briskly. "I know. I'm gonna do what I can to fix that."

"Do you have to?" Tori asked plaintively, scowling.

"Yes," I said firmly. "I'll be back soon."

I went to my room and changed into a long-sleeved, boat-necked white sweater and dark jeans, then swung a purse over my shoulder for old time's sake. My hair went into a ponytail; a pair of sneakers and I was ready to go.

The early winter day was chilly, and I shivered in the slight wind, then used a bit of magic to warm the air around me. You know, I really rely too much on my magic, I thought to myself. Someday, I might lose it all and then I'll be in a tough spot.

"Sakura!"

Something yellow flew in my face, and I gasped, jumping back. "Kero!" I seized him by the neck and frantically stuffed him into my purse. "You aren't supposed to be outside! Someone's gonna call Animal Control and then we'll both be screwed!"

He poked his head out and promptly had it shoved back in, but came out again nonetheless. "Hey" (shove) "Sakura" (shove) "how'd" (shove) "you" (shove) "manage" (shove) "to come" (shove) "back to" (shove) "life?" (shove)

"I'll tell you when we get to the apartment," I hissed, drawing strange looks from the passersby as they watched me talk to my purse.

"Whose apartment–OH, NO." He glared fiercely at me. "You aren't going to go wake up that brat, are you?"

"Damn straight," I said cheerfully, zipping the purse shut completely.

To which he responded by yelling his head off. The fabric muffled it to some extent, but still…I created as few pieces of candy to shut him up, and there was silence for the rest of the trip.

Giving him sugar had been a mistake. The minute I let him out, he zipped around the kitchen, laughing hysterically. I thought only Suppi gets drunk on sweets…

"CHOCOLATE!" he yelled, spying a bag of dark brown powder. "DUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDEEEEEEEE! CHOCOLOCOLOCOLOCOLOCOLOCOLOCOLOCOLOCOLOCOLOCOLOCOLATE!! SCCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRREEEE!!" There was a spray of granules as he dived in. I walked over and rubbed a finger along the counter, sniffing the powder. This smells like–

"CCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" Kero burst out again, then landed on the floor and switched back and forth from his true form about twenty times in the blink of an eye. In his false form again, he shot up to the ceiling, then turned and flew straight into a wall. Shaking his head, he dive-bombed towards me.

"Kero, knock it off!" I yelled, swatting at him with my purse. He let out a high-pitched cross between a gurgle and a giggle, then latched onto my hair. "GET OUT OF MYHAIR!!" I tried to pry him off, but he only held on tighter. "Dammit, Kero, I'm getting split ends!"

He let go, zooming around the kitchen once more, and I collapsed into a chair with a sigh, putting my head in my hands.

"What's the matter, Sakura? Huh?" He buzzed into my face. "What's the matter? What's the matter? What's the matter? Huh? Huh? What's the matter? What's the matter? Huh? What's the matter? What's the matter? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh? What's the matter? Matter's the what? Huh? You–" he lowered his voice and zipped around to my ear "–look" his voice got quieter "like you need some–" his voice was barely a whisper now, but that didn't last for long. "COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" he bellowed, nearly shattering my eardrum.

That's it, I don't care if he's my guardian beast. He was pinned to the floor by a containing spell, and, on second thought, I added a shield to muffle noise over it.

Taking a deep breath and trying to settle my heartbeat, I walked down the hall to Li's room.

The door was open, and I walked in.

He was standing there, the Time Freeze around him making a column that was only two feet wide. Swallowing, I looked down and saw one little problem: the Time Card was still in the Time Freeze with him.

And that meant I couldn't call it back out to me.

Li

I floated in darkness, like I'd been for…

Well, I didn't know how long. It had been a long time; but whether it had been only a day or a year or a lifetime was something I did not know.

The only thing I did know was that I was mentally kicking myself ever single moment.

Smooth one, I told myself. Really smooth, Li.

It was only after I'd fallen asleep that I'd realized exactly what I'd done.

Oh, no, I wasn't going to sleep until I died. I was going to sleep forever, instead.

And it wasn't even sleep. It was just like being in a really dark room and not feeling anything.

In other words, I was between sleep and death. Which really, really sucked.

What was worse is that I couldn't remember why I'd done it. All I could remember was being really pissed off and sealing myself into the Time Freeze–nothing before that. And something told me I needed to.

So I'd tried. I'd tried to remember life before being in here, but it was hard. Occasionally I'd get little glimpses of something, but they'd fade before I could really remember it.

There was something missing here, though; something that I didn't have and that I needed. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that something had been gone and that was what had sent me into this prison.

So today, I was going to try to think about that.

I concentrated on what had come before. What it was that had gotten me here.

Slowly, a picture in my mind started to build.

Long, soft hair.

Bright eyes; they shone like emeralds.

A quirky, cheerful smile–always.

The picture was becoming clearer.

Is it this girl? Is she what got me here?

No, that wasn't quite it…

She didn't send me here, my mind told me suddenly. You put yourself here because she was gone.

…gone?

I must have–I must have loved her–

And then it all came back in a rush.

The silent explosion, then Sakura falling into my arms, still and lifeless.

"I love you. Tell everyone I'm sorry I have to do this."

A confrontation, when she'd ran away and I'd gone after her.

A fight where she'd thought Sora was my daughter, and then we'd started thinking at each other by accident.

"I would have never…been able to tell you that I love you…"

Seeing her vanish into the darkness as the DarkLords howled with laughter, and feeling every ounce of blood drain from my face…

"BACK OFF, BITCH! LI IS MINE!"

A dance with Sakura, then something making her stumble and then our faces had been very, very close…

"Shut your piehole!"

"Sakura!"

Thorny vines wrapping around her and yanking her away from me in the flat, dull-gray vortex when we'd gone to the DreamWorld…

"I believe in you…"

"Sakura!"

Her form plummeting to darkness as I stared, aghast, at the gaping hole that swallowed her up.

Something jerking my arm around, forcing me to attack her…and then after she'd cut the strings, Sakura fainting into my arms–which I had not minded at all..

"The Final Judgement is over. I, Yue, proclaim Sakura the new Mistress of the Cards."

I watched sadly as she soared away on the wand, off to save the world again…

It was funny, how it had taken me so long to realize she was just a normal girl forced to take on something I wouldn't have been able to handle and doing the best she could…

Her face, dewy with tears and fear for her friends. It was then that I'd seen her as she really was, not as I'd expected her to be.

"Give me the Clow Cards. I'll search for the rest on my own."

"I don't need you!"

"Mei Lin, get off me!"

I broke out of the flood of memory, then sighed, half-grateful I knew what my life had been like.

But then I remembered Sakura was still gone, and that hurt.

I should have been there to protect her. She didn't have to die that way!

Why was it that Sakura, my Sakura, was always having to go off and play Wonder Woman? Why was it that she was the one to lose?

And now, since I was stuck in eternal sleep–

I swallowed as the reality hit me like a ton of bricks. Maybe I shouldn't have remembered after all, I thought fervently.

Because now that I was stuck in eternal sleep, I'd never see her again.

AN: Oh, this is getting good! Nice and angsty! Maybe I can kill off somebody else…

Sakura

I stared, heartbroken, at the wall.

Twelve inches. That was all there was between me and Li. Twelve little inches.

But they might have as well been miles. Either way, they kept me apart from him.

I had tried. I had tried and tried, but nothing worked.

Pluto magic was supposed to work time. Yet, the types were different–and I hadn't been able to take down the time freeze.

I'd tried to destroy the barrier with Saturn power, but since Li was in there, it would have killed him too–permanently.

I'd tried every single thing I could think of.

And he was still in there.

I'd let him down for the fifth time. The first time had been when we had been kidnapped by Akumu, and I'd let him get away. Then, when he'd died the first time and I hadn't been there to stop it. And then when he'd died again; that was number three. And number four was when I hadn't been here to keep him from doing this.

And now, I couldn't get him out. Number five. Go-ban. Numero Cinco.

For the fifth time, I'd failed.

I tried to keep back my tears, but they fell anyway, and I slid down the invisible wall, huddling in a little ball of misery on the floor.

A soft glow crept into the corner of my eyes, and the Tenchi Crystal floated into the room. The green was shining brightly against the snowy white, the two intertwined and together. It only made me hurt more–I wanted him back.

Then I blinked. The green–that was the Celestial Crystal. It brought back memories of when I first got it.

"Your power carries a unique property. It allows you to use it to the full extent when it is fueled by your emotions, and the strongest of all your emotions is love."

Love.

Love was pain. It was joy.

It was happiness. It was sorrow.

It was laughter; it was tears. It was light; it was dark.

Love was living. Love was Life.

And I loved Li.

The light coming from me started out soft and gentle, but then it quickly developed into something fiercer. It shone brilliantly, like a star brought to earth, more powerful than anything–even my life force.

It broke the barriers of the reality because it was too much for this reality. Another one of the benefits for being the Warrior, I thought wryly in the back of my mind. Not only do you get a great health plan, but you get to break the rules of your dimension.

Li

I was just floating there, contemplating again what I'd lost in the dark of my mind, when something shattered. Straightening, I watched, amazed, as white-green light stripped away the shadows…

Sakura

There was a blast of light, and then the air shattered, like when the Earth itself had given me power to defeat Hei Long.

I opened my eyes, and saw the Time Freeze dissipate. Li fell to his knees, and I caught him, tears streaking down my face as I wondered if any of this could have had a negative effect on him.

He flinched, then looked up. Our eyes locked for what had to be the longest moment in my life, and then he whispered unbelievingly, "Sa…kura?"

Then his mouth was on mine and his arms around me, and we were both crying and laughing because we'd never expected to see each other again.

I have to tell you, my body has the worst timing in the world. Why do I say that?

Because, right then, I fainted.

When I woke up, I was in a strange bed that smelled vaguely familiar. I blinked, trying to think of what smelled like that. Then I remembered–it smelled like Li.

A headache started to pound behind my ears, and I flinched. I must have overdrained, but on what?

Oh, that's right. I got Li out of the Time Freeze.

"Headache?" a soft voice asked quietly.

I nodded, the pain increasing so that I couldn't even turn my head. My eyes were squeezed shut.

Two fingers touched my forehead and my headache vanished. I was still exhausted, but now that it wasn't keeping me awake, I started to fall asleep again.

A hand brushed my cheek, and I caught it, drifting back into unconsciousness once more with a smile on my face.

I sighed, leaning into Li's shoulder. Everything was beautiful to me now. Everything.

Or at least, almost everything.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, got any more COOOOFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE??" Kero flew headlong into the wall, bounced off, and resumed his flight around the apartment.

It had been a week since our reunion. There was some work to be done, such as implanting memories in people's heads. Now most people thought Li and I had spent the past year and a half we were gone as exchange students again. A few knew the truth, like Madison, Rita, Nikki, and Chelsea, but I knew they wouldn't tell. With Ami's help, I'd directly learned everything I missed in school. It was a shock, knowing that this year I was in the ninth grade, but Li and I were both caught up. In fact, she'd imparted a little more than was necessary so that we wouldn't be at too much of a disadvantage. The plus side was that I finally understood Geometry.

"Sakura?" Li kissed my forehead. "It's time to go."

I reluctantly stood up, and we left the apartment, an unconscious Kero in my bag. I wasn't going to leave him there with the coffee; when he wouldn't stop screaming I'd resorted to whacking him over the head with a roll of newspaper.

The Senshi were down at the bus stop. "Hey, you aren't late," Minako joked.

"Isn't it a miracle?" I smiled, sad. "Are you positive you have to leave?"

"Well, Usagi's got to go get proposed to by Mamoru," Rei said as her friend blushed. "And then we've got a wedding to plan."

"The only one that's going to have…what is it, twelve bridesmaids?" Hotaru laughed.

"Well, I don't want to leave anyone out!" Usagi protested.

"Anyway, we've got some stuff for you," Ami said, handing me a small, green, hand-held computer like hers. "This has wireless internet on it, an online camera, and a bunch of other programs. Think of it as a really advanced communicator. I tried to teach Usagi how to use one, but…Anyway, there's a tutorial program on it, so it shouldn't be too hard."

"You have to talk to us all the time," Rei pitched in, handing me a pile of protective charms. "Don't get any more of these from that shrine over there," she said with a scowl. "Theirs aren't even half as powerful. I beefed up the one in your room, by the way."

"Show off." Usagi handed me a locket, and Chibiusa dropped a pair of the little winged clips in my hands. "The locket can hold the crystal so you won't have to carry it in your purse."

Minako handed me a slender gold chain. "This is part of the Venus Love Chain. It'll get as long as you want to whenever there's demon ass that needs kicking."

Michiru's gift was another Neptune Aqua Mirror. As she explained, it would reveal what was illusion and what was not–something that would come in handy, now that I had the Tenchi Crystal. Chibiusa told me that every once in a while, someone would try to take it from me.

Setsuna gave me a smaller version of the Garnet Orb, strung on a chain with a key. "It'll take you wherever you want to go in time."

Haruka gave me a small, gold-sheathed dagger as I reflected on all the strange new decorations my room was going to have. "It was made the same way as the Space Sword. If you take it out, it'll get bigger. Take care, Sakura."

"I will," I promised with a smile.

Hotaru gave me the galaxy–sort of. It was in a fist-sized crystal sphere, the stars moving like they were real, but it was only a model. Still, it was beautiful.

"I thought you'd like it," she said shyly.

"I love it," I told her with a hug.

Makoto was last. She stepped forward, eyes closed in concentration, and a moment later, a circlet appeared out of nowhere. It was a chain of slender gold diamonds, with the Jupiter emblem–four diamonds connected to a small sphere–in emerald. I took a breath, realizing exactly what that circlet was–the Jupiter Crown.

"I think Mom wanted you to have this," she said with a small smile.

"Makoto, I…I don't know what to say…" I blinked back tears with difficulty.

"Oh, calm down. We're going to come visit you all the time–you'd better believe it." She wrapped me in a bear hug, and the other Senshi joined us. When we parted, she grinned, then mock-glared at Li and said, "You'd better take care of her or I'll come kick your ass."

"Hey, what about us?" Tenshi protested. She and the other three Lunar Senshi were staying here in Tomoeda, in case there were any emergencies.

"You too," she amended.

The bus pulled up and I gave everybody a last hug. Usagi picked up her bag, setting her foot on the first step.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT!!"

"Oh no." I hid behind Li as Madison tore around the corner, her camera jammed up against her eye.

"That thing is evil," he muttered. "Pure, Satanic evil."

"Which?" I whispered. "Madison or the camera?"

"I'm not sure…"

I giggled into the back of his shoulder, then turned around and found myself face-to-face with a shiny, round, black eye. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"Sakura, what is–OMIGOD!" Li backed away, paling as Madison shoved the camera in his face. When he made the sign of the cross with his fingers, she hissed. "Keep it away, or that thing fries!"

"Fries?" Madison started turning blue because she couldn't turn any paler, and clutched the camcorder to her heart. "You could burn a camera?"

"Easily." Li put his hand in front of the lens. "Keep–"

"YOU CRUEL, SICK, TWISTED SCUM!" Her face had gone an interesting shade of purple. "THEY HAVE FEELINGS TOO, YA KNOW!" Li backed into the side of the bus as she screamed even more obscenities at him.

"I think her head's going to start revolving soon," Haruka muttered. "Sakura, your friend's been possessed."

"Yeah, I noticed," I said weakly, gaping at the now green- and red-faced, shrieking girl/demon. "Uh, Rei?"

"I'm all out of banishing spells!" She frantically scrabbled through her purse and pockets as the people in the bus watched with interest.

"I've got some post-it notes," Minako said helpfully, offering them to her. "And a pen."

"Oh, whatever!" Rei snatched them and wrote the prayer. Seeing the yellow paper in her hand, Madison ran away, and we watched, speechless, as Rei chased the hissing girl around the bus three or four times. Finally, Madison tripped, and she stuck it on her currently teal forehead. "Evil Spirit, I banish you!"

Madison collapsed, panting, as Rei gritted her teeth and shouted, "The Power of Kami Compels You!" The demon/girl twitched spastically, her face contorted into a snarl. With a sigh, Rei walked up and smacked her upside the head. "Get OUT, you dumb ghost."

There was a whimper, and Madison's eyes rolled up into her head. She fell back and Li inched away, eyes wide.

"Jeez," I breathed, watching as the camcorder emitted smoke. "And the whole time I thought it was just a hobby of hers."

With a crack, the black camera vanished, being replaced by the smaller silver one. "Oh, no…" Li groaned. "It was just the camera that was possessed. She must've been taken over through it."

"Well, we'll be leaving now," Usagi said brightly. "You can deal with her when she wakes up!"

"Hey! You guys, wait!" I clumsily got to my feet as they scrambled on board the bus.

"We'll come visit soon!" Makoto yelled out a window as the bus pulled away.

"No fair!" I waved to them until the bus was out of sight, holding back tears.

Once I was back home, I opened my new computer. A little Chibi-Ami popped up in the corner and told me the basics. I smiled affectionately, then blinked at the words flashing across the screen.

You have one new message.

Curious, I opened it.

Sender: Makoto

Sent from: Communicator

Message:

Score, Sakura!

Okay, that's it! Beyond the Warrior is done! I decided, though, that I'm going to write a sequel to this too! After all, there's so much potential for more…such as Usagi's wedding, and then Sakura's, and Madison and Eriol's, and then…Sakura and Li's honeymoon… :grins: Oh, interesting thoughts…Two words: No privacy…and then, what if Sakura lost all her magic? The possibilities are endless…You know, I might even take them back to the DreamWorld…

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad that you guys at least noticed I'd done a sequel, and the next (last) story in this sequence will be for you!

One last word:

Adiosity!