Okay readers. First of all my profoundest apologies for not updating this story for years upon years. I had this whole thing planned out and then I just lost my passion for writing. However I have my mojo back now and it's full speed ahead from here. So look forward to updates soon and again my deepest apologies for making everyone wait so long.

Chapter 3

Sakura woke to the sound of her alarm ringing and Madison shaking her shoulder.

"Come on, wake up sleepyhead," her friend said. "Remember its ball season right now and we need to be ready for the rush."

Groaning Sakura threw off her duvet and stumbled into the bathroom to wake herself up with a shower. When she got out ten minutes later feeling much more like herself, Madison was in the kitchen having breakfast. Sakura dressed, ate her share of breakfast and then prepared to leave for work.

She and Madison worked part time at a dress store on the main street of Tomoeda's shopping district, an offshoot of her mother's company that Madison joined when she decided to strike out into the fashion industry. Business was slow at first but Madison had slowly worked up a reputation and now pretty much everyone was coming to the shop. They did wedding dresses, ball dresses, cocktail dresses anything involving evening wear and Madison was just about to release her first official collection –hopefully in time for fashion week. It was hard juggling student life and a job but Sakura and Madison managed pretty well, it was a step down the road to achieving their dreams and they were determined not to fail.

Right now it was ball season and peak time for business so Sakura and Madison were kept hopping all day, helping customers, taking orders and making sure no one ran off with the merchandise. This was a bit easier for them than for most because Sakura had asked the Libra and Lock cards to help out a bit. Libra kept an eye on anyone coming in or going out and let Lock know if a particular person had dishonesty in their heart, then Lock kept an eye on them and simply locked the door on them if they tried to steal anything. The shop got a small reputation for unpredictable doors but it didn't seem to bother anyone who seriously wanted to shop and so losses were minimal at worst.

At the end of the day Sakura and Madison gratefully locked up and then headed home. It was some hours before their girl's night with Rita, Chelsea and Niki was due to start and they wanted to get everything ready before their friends came over. Madison had been with Sakura since before her discovery of the Clow Cards and had been there with her through each and every capture and subsequent transformation. As such she had no qualms about Sakura using them to help clean the apartment or watch the shop so when Sakura summoned Mirror and Bubble she calmly greeted Mirror who smiled at her and directed Bubble to cleaning the dishes and helping with the washing.

Aside from doing chores Sakura had, with Madison's help devised a way of using the cards to help her with her new occupation of crime fighting. It had taken a while to get everything organised power wise –she'd had to work out how to give the cards more autonomy than before but also keep them from causing too much trouble. Kero and Yue had helped with that and so far there hadn't been too many problems –a few instances where one of the cards tried to be overly helpful or went too far with a bit of mischief but nothing that would hurt anyone.

It certainly made living a double-life much easier.

Luckily, Tomoeda was a relatively peaceful town. Crime was low and the biggest issue she'd had to deal with so far was capturing a robber who'd stolen from a supermarket. Sakura was glad to help and especially glad that she was able to keep her identity a secret but also help people with her power. She knew the Cards had chosen her for a reason and it was a waste to simply keep the cards locked in the Book all the time when they could be used for so much good.

With Bubble and Mirror to help, cleaning the apartment took no time at all and soon Sakura and Madison were able to sit back on the couch, turn the TV on and wait for the other girls to arrive. When the doorbell finally rang Sakura leapt off the couch and invited in her three friends, laden with goodies to eat, movies to watch and gossip to pass on.

Together the five girls spent a relaxing yet invigorating evening just doing what girls do and spending quality time with people they'd known since primary school. To Sakura and Madison such moments were few and far between, with Sakura's magic and all the challenges that came with it, coupled with university and work there wasn't much time for girl's nights. Sakura treasured the time she got to spend with her friends, they were rare moments of peace in a hectic everyday life.

The next morning Madison was the first to wake up, yawning and stretching she padded into the kitchen in her slippers and started getting things ready for breakfast. Rika was next up and the others soon followed. Breakfast was a leisurely affair, each girl grabbing what she wanted from the pantry and tucking in. After showers, dress and make-up it was time to hit the shops.

Sakura drifted behind her friends, commenting on this top and that dress and even trying on a few herself but something was bothering her. Madison caught on right away that something was wrong and snatched the chance to talk to Sakura when the other girls were changing.

"Alright, what's wrong?" she asked. "And I'm not falling for your 'it's nothing' line."

Sakura smiled weakly "I'm not really sure Madison, I just keep getting the feeling that I sense someone watching me. Every so often I feel this presence for a few seconds but then it vanishes and it keeps moving. It kinda reminds me of Clow Reed too somehow."

"Is it dangerous do you think? Should we call and ask Eli? He's coming to visit us tomorrow anyway."

Sakura shook her head, "Not yet, I don't think it's dangerous, I get the feeling it's looking for something. Let's wait until the girls leave."

Madison though for a minute, "Ok. If it's something important you'll find out soon enough. Besides this your day off, just chill and hang out with your friends. Okay?"

"Okay." Sakura smiled, this one happier and less forced. "Then I want to try on that pink top I saw."

Time flew by and the girls had lunch. Sakura tried to forget about the strange presence but found it more and more difficult as the day wore on. It's distance and location kept changing each time she sensed it, sometimes nearer sometimes further off. Finally as she and Madison said goodbye to the other girls and headed back to their apartment it reached the point where she'd had enough.

"Madison I'm going to see if I can find whoever or whatever it is that I'm sensing, it's driving me nuts."

"Okay, Sakura but let's be careful and not rush into anything okay?"

"I know. Now let's go." She turned around and started walking quickly in the direction of the last place she'd sensed the presence. As they got nearer it became apparent that it was coming from a large house near the edge of town.

"This kinda reminds me of Eli's house." Madison said as they walked around it, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"I know. It has the same feel." Sakura replied.

They finished their examination from the outside but found nothing unusual. Jumping the fence with Jump and using Silent to muffle any noise they crept through a small stand of trees that lined the driveway, quietly making their way towards the back of the house and through the garden towards where Sakura was sensing the presence. As they peeked round a large tree and saw a person standing there both Sakura and Madison froze.

He was young looking, no older than them and he was holding a strange looking board in his hand that glowed with power.

"I don't recognise him." Madison whispered. "Do you Sakura?" She looked over at her friend who was standing stock still, completely frozen.

"It's him." She whispered in shock. "He's the guy I've been dreaming of. Madison he's the one who helped me all those times!"

"What?"

Sakura's mind flew back in time to the first time she'd dreamed of the guy with messy brown hair. It had been right after she'd captured the Dream Card. He'd been standing in the middle of an empty room practicing some sort of martial arts and she'd admired his skill. Then he'd started mixing magic with his moves, attacking and defending himself from an invisible opponent using an amazing array of magical attacks and shields. He was just finishing when the dream pulled her away.

After that she dreamed of him often, seeing him in his everyday life as an invisible observer. His life was so different from hers, he seemed to be part of a large clan who all had magical powers. From conversations she gathered he was going to be its next head and so had a lot of responsibility. It was fascinating seeing how he dealt with people and problems and Sakura sometimes wished she had his diplomacy and tact. Those things were not her strong point.

As a silent observer it was hard for Sakura not to try and take part in some small way in her observees life so sometimes she started talking to him even though she knew he couldn't hear. If he was having a problem, she'd tell him how she would solve it or tell him jokes if he looked like he was having a bad day. She couldn't help it, she felt a connection with him and it helped to talk, even if it was only a one-sided conversation.

Then he started appearing to her outside her dreams.

Sakura knew she wasn't going mad. She'd questioned Dream about it all but the poor Card could only reply that somehow she knew Sakura needed to see and get to know him and that it was vital to her future. As such, Sakura accepted his phantom presence in her life and actually welcomed it. Time and again when she was in a tight spot he gave her advice and direction, helping her capture and then transform the Cards until things finally came to a head when Eli forced her to transform the last two cards Light and Dark. She'd almost failed, but just as she was giving up and the light of transformation was falling back from the half-way point she felt his presence next her.

"Don't give up!" he'd urged her and the next thing she knew, he'd placed phantom hands over her own and she'd actually felt real magical power flowing into her from him. With his magic boosting her own she'd been able to transform Light and Dark and break Eli's spell. He disappeared immediately after that but Sakura knew she couldn't have done it without him and was grateful to him and to Dream for somehow making it all happen.

And now here he was, standing here in front of her. His magical signature hanging in the air like a neon sign, telling her it was him and making her wonder why she hadn't recognised it from the start.

Madison peered at him excitedly. "Oh we have got to go say hi now!" she whispered.

"This is your chance to finally meet him for real!"

"But what will I say?" Sakura asked nervously. "I can't just walk up and say 'Hi I'm the girl who's been dreaming about you for the past two years' he'll think I'm crazy!"

"No he won't, I bet he's come here looking for you precisely because he's been dreaming of you and you of him. Oh it's so romantic!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "If that's the case then why didn't he come sooner?" she asked. "He knows I'm the new master of the Cards and it couldn't be too hard to figure out where I am, think of all the weird stuff that's been happening all over town the past two years. I would think that would paint a big target saying 'here's the new Card Master' right?"

"Well why don't you ask him that when you meet him." Madison replied. "Now come on." She herded Sakura out in front of her, giving her a push before falling back to a better filming position behind her."

Sakura looked back doubtfully. "Go on!" Madison hissed. Sakura sighed, straightened her back and walked around the corner of the building towards her mysterious dream guy.

Syaoran was tired. He'd arrived in Japan in the early afternoon and travelled by bus to Tomoeda. Almost before he got there he started sensing the Clow Cards. Clow Reeds magic still hung faintly in the air which was strange but it was eclipsed by another aura, a sparkling presence that covered the city like a benevolent cloud. He sighed, why couldn't his ancestor have just given the cards to the Li Clan and saved him all this trouble? "Speaking of which I probably should have called him before I left the airport" he said to himself, Clow Reeds reincarnation just happened to be Li's best friend and partner in business. Syaoran had insisted he take part in the mission to find his magical heir. "Oh well, I'll call him as soon as I get to the hotel."

After checking in and making his call –Eriol was already in town and making some preparations in case things went south -Syaoran had spent the rest of the afternoon tracking down the presence and trying to figure out if it really was coming from the girl he dreamed about. After several hours of searching he admitted that she -if it really was her he was sensing -was moving around too much and too fast for normal methods of searching and resorted to his lazenboard. He found an old currently empty house for some privacy and found a nice secluded place in the garden to work his magic. Finishing the activation words he watched a beam of light shoot from the board and turned in its direction.

"Woah!"

The beam of light ended squarely in the chest of a familiar young woman about a hundred metres to his right. She was holding a staff and as he looked on brought it up to block the beam of light, already calling forth magic that any member of the Li clan would recognise.

"Mirror!" she cried. And a girl dressed in pale green robes with a mirror in her hands appeared in front of her, reflecting the beam from the lazenboard back at him.

As she stared at him from behind the Mirror spirit Syaoran stood frozen to the spot, flabbergasted at this surprising and yet half-expected turn of events.

As the man just stood and stared at her, making no other moves Sakura examined him carefully. He carried nothing in his hands but the strange board and he hadn't flinched when she reflected its light back at him. He was also definitely the one she dreamed about at night.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she finally called out to him.

At her words he seemed to shake himself out of his daze. He lowered the board and the light from it disappeared. Bowing he said "My name is Syaoran Li and I am sorry if I surprised you. I'm afraid you rather startled me I didn't expect to find you so soon." He glanced at his lazenboard "or so close."

"Oh ah, well sorry about that." Sakura smiled tentatively at him "So, why are you looking for me?"

Syaoran smiled back, "Well, because I suspected that the new Master of the Clow Cards was in this town and you have just proven with your use of the Mirror Card that you are that new Master, or Mistress as the case turns out to be of the cards Clow Reed created and then hid from the world before he died. We of the Li Clan would like to give you our congratulations and extend an invitation to you to come to Hong Kong and visit us who are Clow Reeds descendants."

"Are you after the cards? They're not Clow's anymore I changed them into Star Cards. They use my magic now so don't think you can take them back if that's what you're after." He may have been her dream boy but Sakura was not going to just hand over her precious friends if that was what he was expecting.

Syaoran held up his hands, "No, no we wouldn't take them from you." Now you've gone and done something like that to them I don't know if we could he privately added. "We just want to greet the new Mast –Mistress of the Cards and offer you our assistance if it is needed."

Sakura frowned and called out to the card spirits she knew were listening. "Libra is he telling the truth?" Voice appeared next to her. "Yes he is," she said with Madison's voice "He means you no harm." and then disappeared. Sakura lowered her staff and looked at Mirror. "Alright then. Thanks for your help Mirror. I think we're okay now."

Mirror nodded and smiled before dissolving into her card and floating back to her mistress' hand. Turning to him Sakura bowed formally "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Sakura Avalon. It's nice to meet you."

Madison, who was peeping out from behind her tree, camera in hand judged the situation safe enough to permit her presence and emerged from her hiding place to come and stand a little ways off from the two others. Her camera was still rolling.

Syaoran watched this with interest. He noted the freedom the cards enjoyed and wondered what other changes the new Mistress had made. "I'm guessing she is a friend of yours?" he said out loud to Sakura even though he knew exactly who she was thanks to the dreams he was now remembering with startling clarity.

Her cheeks a little pink Sakura nodded. "This is Madison," she said, "she's been with me from my first card capture and everything since."

"I see. Well it's an honour to meet you Madison." He bowed in her direction. "And do you always film everything your friends do like this?

"Most of the time. But Sakura's my favourite subject. I've got some amazing footage from her over the years. Would you like to come over to our house for some tea?"

"Madison!" Sakura couldn't believe her friend. "We can't just invite him to our house. We barely know him."

"Really?" Madison asked innocently before deliberately mentioning the subject the other two had been stepping around quite carefully. "Haven't you been dreaming about each other for the last two years?" She smiled wickedly "I would think you'd know each other quite well after all this time."

Sakura blushed a brilliant crimson and Syaoran looked anywhere but at the two of them. Madison continued mercilessly. "Come on you two, stop dancing around the subject. You've both been dreaming about each other thanks to Sakura's Dream Card and you've both helped each other on numerous occasions. I think that makes you friends so stop being so formal and awkward and lets all get to know each other in the real world."

Syaoran finally nodded and looked Sakura squarely in the eye. "So it really was you I was dreaming about all those times?" he asked.

Sakura nodded, "I don't know why but Dream said it was really important that we get to know each other but it couldn't tell me why. I guess this was the only way the cards thought of to allow that given that we were living in separate countries."

Syaoran nodded "Well thanks for your help and advice all those times." He said, "You helped out of a few tight spots.
"You mean you heard me?" Sakura blurted out. "But you never gave any hint that you did, I thought it was only me that heard you!"

Syaoran ran his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture, "Well I couldn't exactly start talking to someone who isn't there in front of other people and when I was alone it was nice to hear your voice, soothing like, it helped me think. I didn't know if you would disappear if I let you know I could hear you."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "well, I have some things to thank you for as well, for all those times I was in a pinch and you helped me and especially for your help with transforming Light and Dark when Eli cast a spell on Tomoeda."

Syaoran waved off his contribution, "I didn't do anything really," he said, "I just told you things you would have thought of yourself eventually. As for this Eli, his spell needed to be broken and I wanted to help."

"Nevertheless, thank you." Sakura said and then grinned. "Wow that was less awkward than I thought it would be. Would you like to come over to our house for tea? I've a ton of questions to ask."

Syaoran smiled too, "I'd love to. And I have some questions of my own."

Madison clapped her hands, startling the other two who had almost forgotten she was there. "Great, I'll buy a cake on the way home."

Several countries away an old man dressed in a long black robe with a red symbol on the front smiled to himself. He'd found her and with him too. Now his plans could finally be completed.