A/N: it's been a while since I've updated this story, but I've been busy with college and other things. Also, I'm well aware that JK Rowling has now revealed more details about Mahoutokoro but the Mahoutokoro Sakura will be going to will be a little different from Rowling's Mahoutokoro. For one thing, as you already know from the end of chapter 4, they won't be getting there by giant storm petrels. For another, Mahoutokoro is not located on Iwo Jima. Instead, it will be on another island that I will not name. I'm sorry, but it doesn't make sense for Mahoutokoro to be on Iwo Jima territory when it wasn't occupied by Japanese people until around World War II, unless Rowling is suggesting that witches and wizards founded the island long before Muggles did. Some elements will be the same, such as the changing robe colors as a student gets older/becomes more proficient.

Of Stars and Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 6: Sakura and the Flight to Mahoutokoro

Beep beep beep beep. Beep beep beep beep. Beep beep beep beep.

"Sakura!"

She could've sworn she heard someone calling her name from a distance. Sakura frowned as she found herself having the same dream again where she was standing in the middle of a fine courtyard, with an extravagant castle behind her and a mysterious figure in front of her. Always in her dream, the figure was cloaked, and always in her dream, he spoke about how he couldn't wait to meet her.

"Sakura!" There was that distant voice again.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as everything around her turned black. Where was the voice coming from? Who was calling her? And then it clicked-that was her dad's voice! She was thrown out of the dream world and into reality as her eyes quickly opened.

"Sakura, your alarm's been going off for 20 minutes now!" Fujitaka called from downstairs. "You'll be late for school!"

"HOEEEEEEEEEE!" Sakura threw the covers off her body and flew across her room as she shut off her ringing alarm and struggled to get dressed as quickly as possible. Once she was sure she had her entire uniform on and that her hair and appearance was okay, she quickly flew down the stairs into the kitchen, where Fujitaka had just set her breakfast on the table.

"Good morning, Sakura," he greeted cheerfully. "I kept calling you but you didn't seem to wake up. I was about to get worried."

"Sorry Dad," Sakura said sheepishly as she ate her breakfast as quickly as possible. Unfortunately she ate a little too fast, for her body suddenly went into a violent spasm of coughs as some of the orange juice she downed went down the wrong tube. Her face red, she pounded at her chest with a small fist.

"Slow down, Sakura, you don't want to get indigestion or choke on your food," Fujitaka said.

Sakura could only nod, a bit dizzy from her coughing spasms. Once she finished her breakfast, she pushed the plate away from her and abruptly stood up. "Thanks for the meal!"

"Don't forget your bento," Fujitaka said, holding a box carefully wrapped in a large handkerchief out to her.

Sakura grinned widely. "Thank you, Dad!"

"Have a good day at school!" Fujitaka said as he watched Sakura switch out of her house slippers into outdoor shoes.

"I will! See you later!" she said cheerfully as she ran out.

When she arrived at school, she was esctatic to see her best friend Tomoyo at her locker. The two of them coincidentally had lockers that were side by side.

"Tomoyo-chan, good morning!"

Tomoyo smiled serenely as she turned to face the short-haired brunette. "Good morning, Sakura-chan!"

"Kinomoto, Sakura!"

"Yes!" Sakura responded to her name during the roll call. After Mr. Terada finished taking attendance, he leaned forward.

"Well, I have some unexpected news to tell you all. It seems that despite only being with us for a few days, Miss Kinomoto will be leaving us."

While the entire class was shocked, there was no one more shocked than Sakura. Her eyes were wide as she stared at her homeroom teacher in disbelief. She had never told anyone she would be withdrawing from school, so where did that come from? How did Mr. Terada know? And since when did her dad tell the school that she would be withdrawing?

"According to her father, she will be studying abroad for a year. Well, that's all the announcement I have for today," Mr. Terada said before he left the classroom to allow the next teacher to come in and start their first class of the day: math. Sakura's most hated subject. While they waited for the next teacher to arrive, Naoko, Chiharu, Rika, Yamazaki, and Kentaro all gathered around Sakura's desk.

"Why didn't you tell us you were leaving?" Chiharu asked.

"Where are you studying?" Naoko prodded.

"I...don't know," Sakura admitted. "This is all very sudden." Of course, that was partially a lie because she did know where she was going-Mahoutokoro. But she couldn't tell her friends that she was going to a school for magical people. Other than Tomoyo and her family, she had been sworn to secrecy not to speak the school's name to Himahoujin. Just then, their math teacher entered the classroom, which made Sakura a little bit relieved because she could avoid the subject of her leaving for another 50 minutes.

"Did your dad really tell Terada-sensei that you would be going abroad?" Tomoyo asked as the two of them walked home together after school.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "But it doesn't sound like my dad to do that. Anyway-" She abruptly cut off as a strange feeling washed over her. Startled, she looked around, but there was no one else around besides Tomoyo. She didn't know what the strange sensation was coming from, but it made her skin crawl.

"Is something wrong?" Tomoyo asked, her sharp intuition catching on.

Sakura looked around worriedly once again, but there was still no sign of anyone else besides her and her cousin. She shook her head and smiled at the dark-haired girl beside her.

"It's nothing," she said, trying not to make her friend worry.

"Your flight is tomorrow, right?" Tomoyo asked. "I'll come with you to see you off!"

"What about school though?" Sakura asked.

"Seeing you off is more important," Tomoyo insisted, clasping Sakura's hands with her own. Sakura smiled warmly in response.

Early the next morning at Tokyo International Airport, Sakura stood in the midst of the busy airport terminal, trying to find Gate 8F. As expected, there was Gate 8 and 9, but not even a 8F in sight. When she asked an airport staff for help, the only response she got was whether she was at the correct airport because there was no such thing as 8F. Yet her plane ticket clearly stated Tokyo International Airport, and her flight was set to depart in 30 minutes. For some strange reason though her ticket seemed to get her past security just fine, despite the nonexistent gate number.

"Did you find it yet?" Tomoyo asked, running up to the distraught girl.

Sakura shook her head. "No," she wailed.

"Don't worry, Sakura, we'll find it eventually," Fujitaka said encouragingly.

"It's too bad Oniichan couldn't be here to see me off," Sakura said sadly.

Fujitaka nodded in agreement. "I'm sure he'll miss you lots, Sakura."

"Sakura-chan, look!" Tomoyo suddenly spoke up, a puzzled expression written on her face as she lifted a hand and pointed in a particular direction. Sakura turned away from her dad and followed Tomoyo's gaze and finger. In the distance, she saw a family of four women and a boy standing in front of an elevator located between the lounge areas of terminals 8 and 9, which otherwise looked very ordinary, but upon closer inspection, the boy with them appeared awfully familiar.

Sakura nearly shouted out in surprise once her brain registered who it was. "It's that kid!"

"He's going to that school too, right?" Tomoyo asked. "We should go over there, maybe he knows how to get to 8F."

Sakura nodded. She, Tomoyo, and her dad ran over to the elevator just as the boy and his family got on.

"Wait!" she called as the elevator doors began to close.

In surprise, one of the women punched the open button, allowing the three of them to get on. Syaoran was surprised to see Sakura, and wanted to tell her to get lost, but upon seeing an older man who he assumed was her father, he held his tongue.

"Thank you for holding the doors for us," Fujitaka said to one of the women

Sakura turned to Syaoran. "We've met before."

Syaoran nodded stiffly. "Y-yeah."

"Ooh, little brother, what's this? You got yourself a girlfriend and you didn't tell us about it?" one of the women teased.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Syaoran shouted hotly, his ears reddening.

"My daughter is looking for Gate 8F, but we're unable to find it," Fujitaka said. "She recognized your brother and was wondering if you could help her find the gate."

"Oh, you're going to Mahoutokoro?" one of the younger women with short hair asked. Syaoran sighed and shook his head.

Sakura turned to the woman who spoke up and nodded. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"It's the only gate that takes students to the school," the woman said with a wink. "My little brother here is going there, too. And you're in the right place."

"Really?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"This elevator will take us to Gate 8F. See, when ordinary Himahoujin use it, it's just like any ordinary elevator that takes them to the third floor. But for us, what we do is press the numbers 7-6-1-4-2-9 in that order-" she pressed the buttons as she explained, "-and if you've done that correctly, when the doors open, you should see only Gate 8F right in front of you." The doors opened, and sure enough, the only gate that Sakura could see was 8F.

"And just in case you're wondering, 7-6-1-4-2-9 spells out "mahoutokoro" on a standard mobile keypad!"

Sakura, Fujitaka, and Tomoyo looked around with amazement at this hidden gate that they had never known about as they all stepped out.

"H-hoeeee!" was about the only vocabulary that came out of Sakura's mouth. She still needed to get on the plane, but she couldn't believe just how many other magical children there were. Were they all from Honshu, the Japanese island that they were currently on and where the capital Tokyo was located, or did they also hail from Hokkaido, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa? If they hailed from the other islands, Sakura couldn't even imagine the extra trip they had to take to get here. And hadn't the headmaster mentioned they also took in students from other neighboring countries, too?

"Thank you for helping us out," Fujitaka said gratefully.

"No problem," said the woman with long hair. "Oh, I didn't realize that we didn't introduce ourselves to you. I'm Fanren. These are my sisters Fuutie, Shiefa, and Feimei. And it seems you already know our little brother Syaoran. He doesn't like it when non-family members call him by name, though, so it's best if you call him by our surname Li."

Sakura smiled brightly and bowed to show her respect. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kinomoto Sakura!"

"Sakura...what a beautiful name," Shiefa commented.

"Attention all passengers. Attention all passengers. We are now ready to depart for Mahoutokoro," a voice spoke over the intercom. "Please line up according to seniority. Those in Class 8 will line up first, and those in Class 1 will line up last. Be prepared to show your ticket. Top deck is for Class 5 through 8, bottom deck is for Class 1 through 4."

Sakura watched as the other students began lining up, and she was amazed at how they knew exactly where to stand. She also noticed that besides Class 1, who were relatively new students, the other classes wore robes of distinct colors-Class 2's robes were beige, Class 3's robes were dark pink, Class 4's robes were magenta, Class 5's robes were dark red, Class 6's robes were orange, Class 7's robes were yellow, and Class 8's robes were golden.

"Hoeee...this many people can fit on a plane?" she asked in wonder.

"The plane to Mahoutokoro can hold up to 950 passengers," Fuutie explained with a wink. "It can hold more passengers than your average international Himahoujin plane because of magic."

"Hoeee!" Sakura said in awe. She turned her head towards the window and gasped at how large the Mahoutokoro airplane was. "Wow!"

"Sakura-chan looks so cute," Tomoyo said, bringing her camera up to her eyes and focusing it on Sakura. "I must get footage of Sakura-chan before she leaves! I don't know what I will do, being apart from Sakura-chan for a full year!" She set her camera back into her camera bag and reached out to clasp Sakura's hands in hers. "You must write to me lots, okay?"

Sakura nodded. "Okay," she said cheerfully, but there was also a feeling of sadness. She would be away from her family and best friend for a whole year. Well, she could also come home during the holidays, but she still couldn't fathom the idea of being away from them for so long. Tears sprung to her eyes as she threw her arms around her best friend in a sad hug, then went to hug her dad.

"I'll miss you," Sakura said through her tears.

"It's a good thing Mahoutokoro is in the same country," Fujitaka said lightheartedly as he hugged his daughter back. "Or else I would worry about the phone bill."

Sakura couldn't help but giggle a little at her dad's humor.

Meanwhile, Syaoran was scowling as his sisters pulled him to the side and began, well, doting and lectuing him as older sisters would.

"Don't be a jerk, little bro," Feimei said. "We know how stubborn you can be."

Syaoran merely groaned at that. He hated it when his sisters lectured him.

"Don't forget your mission that mother gave you," Fanren added. "Find-"

"The Clow Book, I know," Syaoran said with a heavy sigh.

Sheifa smiled and ruffled Syaoran's hair, much to his chagrin. "Stay in touch with us, little bro."

As the line began to move quickly, Sakura quickly ran to join the line. Turning around as she ran, she waved to her dad and best friend.

"I'm going now!" she shouted.

"Have a safe trip!" Fujitaka called.

Unlike Sakura, Syaoran just casually walked towards the line with his hands resting behind his head. Though he secretly couldn't wait to finally be at Mahoutokoro, it wasn't like him to express his emotions. In fact, he had learned from a young age that it was unbecoming for the next heir of the Li Clan to show such a display of emotion.

Right before she entered the jet bridge that connected the terminal gate to the airplane, Sakura stole one look over her shoulder to get one last glimpse of her dad and Tomoyo before she would depart for Mahoutokoro. With one last wave goodbye, she turned and continued her way to the airplane.

"Hoeee, this plane is huge!" Sakura said in amazement upon entering the plane. She had never been on a plane before, and was surprised by how comfy the plane looked on the inside. She barely had time to marvel, however, as she had to quick move to follow the other students to the lower deck of the plane. Once there, they were free to choose to sit wherever they would like. She walked down the aisle, trying to figure out where she should sit.

"Sakura-san!" a voice called.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as her eyes scanned the rows of seats for the source of the voice. A hand shot up into the air and waved at her to get her attention. Sakura followed the waving hand down to its owner and gasped in surprise upon seeing Ryuuji.

"Ryuuji-kun!"

Ryuuji indicated the empty seat next to him. "There's a empty seat here if you'd like to join me."

Sakura smiled cheerfully. "If you don't mind!" She sat down in the seat next to him.

"So how have you been?" Ryuuji asked, shooting her a smile. "What's new with you?"

It's only been two days, nothing's new, Sakura thought. "Nothing much except packing," she admitted. "And well, withdrawing from my non-magical school."

Ryuuji smiled. "I'm proud of you, Sakura-san."

"Hoe?"

With a chuckle, Ryuuji shook his head. "It's nothing."

"I've never been on a plane before, so this is all very new to me," Sakura admitted. "But I don't think Himahoujin planes look like they're first class throughout! Is this because of magic?"

"That's correct," Ryuuji confirmed with a smile.

Sitting in the aisle seat directly behind them was Syaoran, who was scowling at Sakura's quick friendship with Ryuuji. While he disliked Sakura, for some reason he disliked Ryuuji even more, and he couldn't explain it other than that he had a bad feeling about the boy. After the pilot announced on the intercom that the plane would now be turning invisible-literally-to prevent detection from Himahoujin radar, the plane began to move. It soon took off from the runway to head to its final destination: Mahoutokoro.

A/N: if any of you are K-drama fans, I've snuck in a little reference to W in this chapter in one of the dialogues. ;) See if you can spot it.

Also for a little refresher from the previous chapters, Himahoujin = Muggle, Himahouko = Muggle-born.