If you read my prologue/possible first chapter called Sakura of Endo, this is the result. I am such a doink, I can't even spell Edo right. But Like I said, that was pretty much a rough draft. I even spelt Edo wrong, and I didn't do enough research. But now I've done enough research. This first chapter is similar to my rough draft, but it has a ton more stuff changed, so go ahead and read it. P.S. I don't own the characters in this story.
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Cherry Blossoms and Magic
Chapter 1 ~ Quest

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"Wake up Sakuraaaaaaa! I found it!"

Sakura sighed in deep annoyance. "Leave me alone Kero-chan, I wanna sleep." mumbled the half sleeping girl as she rolled to her side. Kinomotto Sakura didn't really hear what Kero said, and she really didn't care. Right now it was still time to sleep.

"I SAID GET UP!"

That brought Sakura to sit strait up in her futon, sleepy eyes met glaring. Kero's face was less than an inch from hers. "Hooeeeeee! You can be so annoying at times." The threw her pillow at him, which he easily ducked. 'He must want food.'

"You call yourself the chosen Card Mistress?! Here you are wanting to sleep when its time for you to recover your book of Clow, which hold the Clow Cards!" He landed on her knee, staring at her, expecting an answer.

"I don't call myself the chosen Card Mistress, you did." Kero just responded to this with a hurt look, causing Sakura to automatically regret her words. "Oh come on Kero. I'm sorry." Sakura lifted the yellow lion cub with wings, and gave him a kiss in apology. All hopes for future sleep where now diminished. "I didn't hear you the first time. So you say you found the book?"

"Huh, what's happening." Asked the sleepy voice of Tomoyo Daidouji from a futon across the room.

"Kero said he found the Clow book!" Sakura replied in an overly happy voice as a further attempt to cheer up the yellow creature. Her comment about him possibly picking the wrong person as the Clow Master still seemed to hurt him. "So where and when do we go?"

Kero beamed up at her when she said this. "Midnight. Tonight. Some house slightly out of town." Kero's smile diminished when he came to the later, and he avoided looking into her eyes. Sakura noticed this at once. He was hiding something.

"What house is the book in?"

"Just... a house."

"Kero." Threatened the green eyed teen who now folded her arms across her chest.

Kero answered in an almost whisper. "Ahh. Well um. It's the... um... Emperor's palace."

"THE EMPEROR'S PALACE!?" Tomoyo and Sakura yelled shocked with wide eyes. Tomoyo had just returned with food, and it was a miracle she didn't drop the tray.

Everyone was silent for a while. Kero looked hopefully at his mistress. The perfect person he waited for over a hundred years to meet. The destined master of the Clow.

Sakura's gaze fell to Kero and instantly any negative emotion was lost to her. He was giving her the biggest, wettest, most innocent puppy dog eyes she ever saw in her life. After a minute, with a giant annoyed "Hoeeeeeeeee." Kero had his answer.

"All right Kero. We'll try. But..." Sakura's face became serious. "HOW IN THE WORLD ARE WE GETTING IN THERE?!"

"I thought of that." Scheming smile. "We'll climb to the roof, walk till we come to the garden, go through the door nearby, and sneak to the library!"

Sakura stared in unbelief. Tomoyo surpassed a giggle, and placed the tray on the small table, which Sakura and Kero began to move towards.

"That's your plan?!"

"Well, do you have anything better?"

"No, bu-"

"It's settled then. Now lets eat breakfast!" Kero landed on the knee high table with a "plop" in front of the plate of rice balls.

"Kero, if I'm seen they'll kill me thinking I'm a ninja!" From the corner of her eye, Sakura saw her best friend's face light up, which she instantly turned to meet. "No, Tomoyo-chan! We can't afford to make a ninja outfit. There is no way I'm going to do what Kero suggest. I'll be caught and killed! In fact, when they spot me, they'll probably think I'm some sort of an assassin. Then what will you do?" she now turned back to Kero. "You'll be short a card mistress."

Tomoyo didn't look a bit discouraged, and Kero just looked at Sakura with a sweet smile of rice sprinkled around it. "Trust me Sakura-chan!" He took another bite of the rice ball in his paws. "I'm your guardian. And besides, the book won't even be protected because they don't even know what it is. Its on the opposite side of the palace from the Emperor's quarters, in the library. So it will be a piece of sushi!"

Sakura's eyes slanted at this, and glared at Kero. "Sushi is not easy to make."


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"The guest are here!" the head servant, Toranaga, cried out. At the gate they could see the carriage (I don't know what they're called) carrying the future ruler of the Li clan of China.

The carriage was careied up by strong, buffed servants, isued by the emporer himself. They came to a halt when they came to the recieving area of the palace where the Toranaga stood. He and the 15 servants below him moved to their hands and knees, faces to the dirt, in respect for the nobles.

Shaoran stepped out of the carriage, and looked down with pure annoyance at the servants. He walked up to the servant who had different, more expensive clothes then the others. A man who looked about 70.

"You can get up now." He said, to which the old man quickly complied with a bit of a startled look.

Behind him, Shaoran could hear his cousin come out of the carriage, and he turned around to face him. The young man with midnight blue hair walked up to him, adjusted his European glasses, and gave Shaoran his infamous smile. "Well, where here, Cousin." Eriol looked around, disappointment on his face. "I guess our early arrival didn't give the Emperor enough time to prepare a proper welcome."

Eriol's attention was then brought to the servants who dared not look them in the face. 'This is so despicable. Sure a polite bow to show respect, but this?' Eriol shook his head, and saw his friend had the same thoughts. None of their servants at home where permitted to act like this. He felt truly sorry for these people.

"This way, if you please." The elderly servant said in a deep bow. "News of your arrival has been sent to the Emperor, so for now I will show you to your room."

The two followed the man in. After about 5 minutes, they took so many turns that Eriol had doubts about ever being able to find his own way out. The man showed Eriol and Shaoran two rooms right next to each other. Each had a giant bed in the center. Many assorted plants, and silk fabrics decorated the walls, along with a mural of tigers among bamboo. There was a rice paper door connecting the two rooms, and another door went our to a garden, which was the center of the whole premises, which you could get to any place from.

Eriol and Shaoran turned and bowed a thank you, to the servant, who was caught quite off guard by this, but continued to help the other's bring in the belongings.

"If I may ask," piped Shaoran with a distinguished politeness, "could you tell me how to get to the library from here. I may wish to go there latter."

"Of course, sir." As he spoke another servant came, bowed to him and Eriol on his hands and knees, then got up and gave a short bow to the servant, then whispered something into his ear. After the servant gave his message, the turned, gave the proper bows, and left.

"The Emperor greets you welcome, and that their will be a giant feast held tonight in your honor. He looks forward to talking with you about the future of trading with China." After he said this, the elderly man then started to the door that led into the garden. He pointed to a large corridor in a corner. "If you go down that hallway, and take a right at the next major hallway you see, you'll come to the Library. You can't miss it."

"Domo." Shaoran thanked the old man, giving a short bow causing his bangs to cover his eyes, which he moved back in place again when he stood up again. He was a bit amused with the expression of shock on the old man's face. 'Elderly deserve respect'.

The strange, but important visitors from China where continuously catching Toranaga off guard. He expected them to be as high in the clouds as the nobles of the Japanese court.

Toranaga then moved to the doorway, turned and bowed once more, and then shut the door, and left.

"So, are we going to attempt to retrieve the book tonight?" Eriol asked in mandarin once he was sure the servant was gone. A precaution against spies.

"Yes, after dinner though. I want to enjoy myself and relax a bit after that long trip."

"I can't disagree with you there."


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Sakura Kinomotto approached the palace's front gate. She felt sore all over, especially in the feet. 'Curse the Emperor for having his palace on the other side of Kyoto!'

The guards looked her over up and down, suspicious of the girl in green kimono with cherry blossoms stitched in detail. She wore cherry blossom ornaments in her aurban hair, which was up in a bun.

"State your business. Are you a courtesan for tonight?" one questioned.

'Hoeeee. They sound so mean. Why'd I have to get the mean ones. The big lug better let me in, because there's no way I'm going by Kero's original plan. Even if Tomoyo DID make a ninja costume! Hey, wait did he just call me a courtesan. No matter how many koku they are paid. I'd never do that.'

After she stood up strait from her bow, she looked the guard strait in the eye, and gave a huge smile. "Good evening. My name is Amaiko Sokotoki. I'm a traveling magician, and I came to perform before the Emperor and Shogun tonight."


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It was a dinner hall, and rather nice one in fact. There was a giant knee high table that wrapped around the room, with cushions for sitting. However he knew he shouldn't of expected less from the Emperor of Japan, who sat in the center, the Shogun to his right, and other advisers to his left. All had the familiar air of arrogent nobles. Shaoran and Eriol where at the side, for they where his "special guest" where to be seated. The noble men sat at the left table, while the noble women who where all stealing glances at the young guest from China, sat at the right table.

Shaoran was tired of talking about the possibility of open trade between their two countries to start again. Everyone was sucking up to them, when he knew some of them would rather stab him in the back.

Food was brought out, with lots of tempura (A/N: Tempura. I love tempura. I don't know if they had it in whatever period this story takes place, but that stuff is delicious!), sushi, a variety of soups, and many raw and steamed vegetables. A girl was currently singing a song about a nightingale and her lover, which was rather depressing. She then finished her song, went all the way to her hands and knees in honor of the Emperor, and left.

Shaoran was bored, and he could tell Eriol had similar feeling. At least he was "relaxing." And within an hour they'd have the book, and soon be on their way back home. Japan was an interesting country. One of the reasons his Clan sent him was for him to collect knowledge. A sort of future clan leader requirement. But this was not new to him. This was the usual court scene. Two guards appeared and where dragging a girl into the room. But that only accounted for a bit of what caught his attention. Her aura was unusually strong, a suggestion that she used magic. It was almost as strong as his. This perked his interest. The girl was obviously in trouble, and he listened as the room quieted down to find out what the situation was.

Shaoran looked to Eriol, who nodded showing that he too sensed the aura too.

The guards immediately kneeled before the Emperor, dragging the girl down with them.

"You Majesty. This girl came to the gates, claiming she was a magician, and had come to perform before you. Her being a woman, we don't know what to think. At first we thought her to be a fraud, but she demonstrated her powers. She wishes to perform before you."

The Emperor looked curiously to the girl before him. "You know magic?"

"Yes, your Majesty, she said, lifting her head to him, which automatically brought shocked murmurs to the court. The girl quickly dropped her head, realizing her fatal mistake.

The Emperor talked quietly with the Shogun. When they where done, they where both smiling evilly. Shaoran frowned, knowing they had bad intentions for the girl.

"Well then. A female who knows magic. This should be quite interesting. If you should entertain I and my guest well, you won't be executed."

Shaoran heard a "eep" come from the girl. He heard that execution with out any dignity was the punishment of peasants looking at the Emperor's face. Another stupid law.

"So, young lady, tell us your name, and please... begin the show." He smiled.


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Ok, maybe it wasn't that different from my rough draft oh well. Move on to another chapter!