Falling Apart

Chapter One: Too Late

I wished I could freeze time right then, I honestly did. Of all the times I needed to sit down and think, uninterrupted, this was the most.

But Eriol’s battle had left me drained, and all I could do was work with the natural flow of time.

My body seemed to be in auto-pilot as I let myself into the house, slipped out of my shoes, put on my slippers, and slowly made my way up the stairs. I could hear Touya and Yukito in the kitchen, but hurried past.

The sounds of a video game faintly echoed down the hall, and I sighed, coming to the top of the stairs. Kero, for all of the help he could be, was also somewhat of a pain…but I needed him.

The thought made me stop dead, but it was true. I’d almost said it myself, on the bridge, talking to him. I…need him. But what does he mean, it was nice knowing me?

Still lost in thought, I pushed the door open and dazedly walked inside, setting my bag down gently on the ground.

"Hi, Sakura!" Kero paused the game and grinned at me, but after a moment his big smile faded. "What’s wrong? Are you sick?"

There was a dull wumpf as I fell onto the bed and stared at the covers as if they would tell me the answer to all my problems if I stared long enough. "Syaoran," I said finally. "He…told me…yesterday…that he loved me. And he said after school that it was nice knowing me."

For once, Kero didn’t spaz out at hearing Syaoran’s name. There was a brief moment of silence, and then he asked quietly, "How do you feel about him?"

"That’s just it!" I rolled over, trying not to cry. "He’s—he’s my friend, but…" I swallowed, blinking back tears. And then the truth came to me. "It’s…different…than how I felt for Yukito," I whispered. "Like…stronger…than friends." The fabric rustled under my head as I turned it to face Kero. "Is it love?" I asked.

A glimmer of his previous grin broke onto his face, and he floated into the air. "Gooooing to the chapel and you’re… goooonnnnnaa get married and you’re—"

I laughed in spite of myself and threw a pillow at him. "I hate you, Kero."

"Of course you do," he said contentedly.

"But what should I do?" I wailed.

He shrugged. "I dunno, it’s not my boyfriend."

"HE’S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!" Suddenly, I sat up. A horrific notion had just occurred to me, but it couldn’t possibly be true…could it? "Where’s the phone?" I demanded.

"Um…here." Kero floated the phone over to me. "But why—"

"Shh!" I hit a speed-dial button and chewed on my lower lip, heart racing. No, no, no, no, no…

"Daidouji residence."

"Hello, may I please speak to Tomoyo?"

"I’m sorry, she’s not hear. Can I take a message?"

My heart sank even further. "Yes, could you tell her that Sakura called?"

"I will. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." It took all the self control I had to keep myself from throwing the phone into the wall; yet, I knew what I was dreading had to be true.

Syaoran was going back to Hong Kong. There was no other explanation.

For once, I knew what it felt like to lose. This had been a race against the clock, against fate, against everything controlling my life—and I’d lost.

Defeated, I leaned back. A tiny part of my mind was insisting that maybe he wasn’t leaving, maybe this was just a misunderstanding; I clung to that shred of hope even as I felt it running through my fingers like grains of sand.

I’d slept in unusually late, even for me, and as a result my alarm was the muffled roar of the vacuum cleaner. The stairs blurred in my vision as tears welled up in my eyes once more, but somehow I made it all the way down.

Dad switched off the vacuum and smiled at me. "Good morning, Sakura."

I tried to reply, but my voice wouldn’t work, and I could only stare at the ground.

Mercifully, the phone rang in the resounding silence. I snatched it up and swallowed. "Kinomoto residence."

"Sakura?"

"Tomoyo?" I asked, bewildered. "Don’t you have choir practice?"

"Never mind that." She continued hurriedly. "I heard Mr. Terada and another teacher talking, and they said Li is taking the eleven o’clock flight back to Hong Kong today!"

Every ounce of blood slowly drained from my face, and the phone dropped.

"Sakura? Sakura?!"

Tomoyo’s voice faded; I numbly walked up the stairs, hearing my father hurriedly pick up the phone and apologize to her. The door clicked shut behind me.

I swallowed, and a single tear fell from my eyes.

There was a flare of light, and then sheets and lines of burning white were running across the carpet, the magic bursting around me. A familiar patch of multicolored, sparkling light gathered in front of me, and I dazedly took it.

The colors and lights all faded away, and the Card took its form. I saw a heart with wings, but no name; yet it didn’t take a genius to know what the Card was for.

It represented the one thing no one could control, that no one could contain, that no one could touch or name or even see. It was Love.

And I’d created it.

The haze that had been around me seemed to break away, and I whirled around to better see the clock. If the flight was at eleven, Syaoran would have to be there by ten.

9:50.

I threw the door open with a bang and thundered down the stairs. "Where are my roller blades?" I yelled. "I need to get to the airport!"

"By the door," answered Touya. "Why do you need to go the airport?"

I sat down hurriedly and tried to jam one on. "Syaoran’s leaving, and his flight is at eleven, and I’ve got to get there by ten!"

"You can’t get there that fast on roller blades," Dad said, his voice concerned.

There was a pause, and then Touya humphed and muttered, "I’ll take her."

I dashed through the airport, trying not to collide with people and failing miserably. So far, only a few people had sworn at me, which was definitely a plus.

"This is the last call for Flight 602 to Hong Kong," the intercom droned. "All passengers must be on board."

Last call…?!

"No! Syaoran!" I ran even faster, faster than I ever had in my entire life, shoving people aside. This couldn’t be happening—Tomoyo had said it was the eleven o’clock flight, hadn’t she?

I tried to sense for Syaoran’s aura, and only found a tiny pinprick far away.

"No!" Suddenly, I’d reached the last terminal; it was practically empty but for a few passengers reading magazines and waiting for their flight. It was the only terminal where you could see the planes taking off.

One slowly rolled down the runway; I could feel Syaoran’s presence inside.

"Syaoran!" I threw myself at the window. "Syaoran!"

The plane picked up speed, and I cursed Eriol for making me do battle and draining me so much. If I hadn’t lost so much strength, I could have used the Time or the Fly, but now I was too weak.

"Miss—please stop that, Miss—" An attendant tried to make me stop, but I ignored her.

The nose lifted, then all of the plane, and as I watched, it took Syaoran away.

"Miss, please—"

I pounded the glass frantically, yelling his name in some strange attempt at getting him to hear me. I didn’t have his phone number; I didn’t have his address. And the chances were that he was not coming back.

"Sakura—" Touya gently pried me from the window. I kicked and thrashed, trying to get loose as he held on to me.

And the plane disappeared into the clouds.

Ach! Sweet bijeebus, that’s depressing! Well, that’s chapter one of Jade’s Spring Break Special! More to come, I promise…I’m just not sure what I’m going to do with it…