I don't own anything you recognize as CLAMP's.

Going to school is . . . as awful as I remember.

I stare up to the building, hand tightly locked around the bag's strap. Kids are walking and running in with bright smiles on their faces and just cheering and talking to one another and I wonder to myself just how can they just be so happy going to school?

"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo calls, poking me with her elbow and I nearly flinch but hold it it. I think she notices but doesn't say anything about it, "Shall we go inside?"

I just nod, starting to walk ahead and keeping my distance to anyone else that passes beside me. I follow every single thing Tomoyo does so it doesn't seem suspicious. The entrance of the school has these rows of lockers and I watch as many other students take out their shoes and put on the pair that is inside their respective locker.

God, I'm never gonna get used to Japan.

Luckily, each of the lockers has the person's respective name so I just have to search the one with Kinomoto Sakura and just open it because for some reason they don't have a locket. They're really responsible and polite and all that stuff, aren't they? I guess it's easier for me. I put on the shoes and I'm ready to pick my bag again, when a yawn echoes around the place and I freeze because that surely sounds like-

"Sakuraaaa," Keroberos whines, trying to poke his head out my bad, "I want some-"

"Shhhh!" I push him down as gently as I can and try to ignore the stares that it got us. Tomoyo is laughing nervously and trying to give an excuse while I look down into my bag, to whisper, "You can't just talk out of the sudden!"

"Buuuut," he whines again and I sigh, because this little guy is so cute and just loud and whiny and just so cute. I seriously wonder if he's as awesome as he says in his true form. This is probably his real form and he's just lying, "I'm hungry."

I reach out and open a compartment inside the bag and take out a couple of cookies I had found this morning in the fridge. "Here you go," I tell him and his eyes literally light up and sparkle when he grabs onto them, "Just try to not get crumbs everywhere, okay? The Cards are in there and I doubt they'd like to get dirty."

It's so weird to mention the Cards as if they are living creatures, which they technically are and it was my fault that they got freed so I should respect them as best as I can.

Also, I don't want them to get angry.

That'd be pretty . . . catastrophic.

The said beings seem to glow a bit before it dissipates. I'm guessing they're listening and they're pleased. Now that Keroberos is distracted eating, I once again fall into step following Tomoyo into our classroom.

I stop at the entrance, freezing up because I don't wanna go there. All those people inside . . . they know this body, this girl. They know Kinomoto Sakura and they probably like her as she is. I'm not her. This will go so bad. Why did I think that this would be a good idea?

"Sakura-chan."

Tomoyo's voice is quiet and she's touching my arm gently. I turn to her and there's this glint in her eyes that make it seem that she knows something I don't. Does she . . . know about me? Impossible but she most likely suspects. She seems like a very smart girl so I wouldn't be surprised.

"I'm fine," I tell her and she doesn't look convinced, squeezing my arm once, "I am. Just . . ."

Overwhelmed.

Overwhlemed is saying the least but there's no other way I could explain. She stares at me, really stares at me and releases a small sigh before releasing my arm. Moving forward, she looks towards me and then walks inside the room.

Taking a deep breath, I do the same.

Almost as soon as I step inside, these three girls come running straight at me, concern vivid on their faces. I try to recognize them and the memories do fill me up on who each of them are. They're my - Sakura's - classmates and friends and she cared for them very deeply. They had a strong friendship. Well, as strong as a friendship between eleven years old can be, I suppose.

"Sakura-chan!" the girl with brown eyes and brown hair to match in two braids - Chiharu, the memories tell me - exclaims, taking my hands. I fight the feeling to tug them out of hers, "Are you feeling better? Do you still feel a bad?"

"Ah, y-yes," I stutter nervously, giving her what I hope to be a convincing smile, "I feel much better."

"Are you sure?" the one with shoulder length hair and glasses over her eyes - Naoko, the memories tell me again - asks, sounding just so worried and I wonder just how close these girls are, "Because you still seem a bit pale."

I nod and gently take my hands from Chiharu's hold, "I'm very much fine now."

"Sakura-chan, your eyes . . ."

I turn to look at the third girl, the one with the chin length wavy dark hair - Rika - and find she's staring at me with a frown. Whether it's a worried or confused frown, I can't tell but when she mentions my eyes, I freeze and try to think of an excuse, "O-Oh, I don't exactly what happened. I woke up with this, uh, pain in them and they had this color."

Great, I think sarcastically, as if anyone would freaking believe that!

"Maybe you should go see a doctor," she is still frowning as she reaches out to touch my face but I step back, barely containing the harsh flinch that goes through my body. She blinks in surprise before her hand lowers, "It's not normal."

I nod quickly, flashing a fake smile that I've mastered by now, "Yes, I will."

We disperse to each of our seats. I follow Tomoyo automatically, almost like muscle memory and sit down on the desk beside hers. I follow her movements when she takes her notebook with Japanese scribbled on the cover and proceed to the same. A dark cover with Japanese and Kinomoto Sakura written on it faces me and I swallow dryly. Her name is pretty much in every single thing inside the bag.

Not mine, I remind myself, Nothing is mine in this place.

It's getting harder and harder to remember that.

The sky is a dark grey when we walk outside of school for lunch break.

I frown and wince when a strong gust of wind blows through all of us. There's exclamations of surprise and people murmuring between themselves, "They said that today would be sunny. This is strange." The wind doesn't stop. Actually, it grows stronger and it's nearly impossible to walk. And there's this feeling going through my body . . . this feels like when I confronted Fly. It's hard to explain but it definetly feels like it.

Keroberos pokes his head out of my bag, frowning as he watches the sky, "This is . . ."

"Could it be the work of a card?" Tomoyo whispers as loud as she can so others won't hear her, grabbing onto my arm tightly. I hold on to her just as tightly.

"It could be," he replies, eyes still narrowed in the direction of the sky. People around us yelp loudly when a harsh and strong wind passes by and I actually see a couple of kids falling down onto the ground, "We need to get inside!"

Most of the students make it back inside the school, at the teachers orders when they show up and realize that this isn't normal. We follow them but remain at the entrance of the school when everyone else walked off to the cafeteria of the school. I watch the clouds move around, dark and heavy and I could almost see the wind brushing harshly against the trees surrounding the school and ripping the leaves from them, almost cutting the tree off.

This is not normal.

This wind is way too strong to be considered normal.

And there's the feeling again . . .

The feeling that tells me that this is definetly a card.

"If this really is the work of card," I start saying, moving my gaze to Keroberos, who is now flying beside my head, "which one could it be?" Then I remember the very first card I saw and picked up when I first found the book, "Could it be . . . Windy?"

"Mm," he confirms, nodding and crosses his little arms, "But Windy is one of calmest cards in the deck. She's gentle. She wouldn't do something like this."

I understand what he's saying but the Cards have been locked inside the Clow book for so long. Any of the cards would be gleeful if they had a chance to go around freely. Even someone gentle and kind would happily move around if they were suddenly free.

"Maybe she's just enjoying the freedom because she knows that someone will capture her," Tomoyo says, a small smile on her face and I could almost see the sparks around her, "I wonder if the Cards felt the contract that Sakura-chan made with the key? Wouldn't they have felt it?"

Huh, never thought of that. The magical contract was with the key and the book and since the Cards belong to the book, they must've felt it when the contract was made. But this is just speculation. We have no way to know if this is true.

"I'll go to face Windy," I state, surprising myself with how determined I sound, touching the key around my neck and take it out. I formed the contract. I have to follow through it.

Even though I don't really want to but I don't really have a choice. I'm not gonna die. I'm gonna this and survive.

The other Cards are on my pocket in case I need them.

When we're sure that there's no one around, it's time to move.

"Key that holds the power of the dark," The key in my hand warms up and starts glowing, the familiar golden circle spawning into existence beneath me. I look around once more to make sure that no one is looking, "Show your true form before me. I, S-Sakura, command you under our contract,

RELEASE!"

The circle pulses and the key grows into the familiar staff I held only two times before. I grasp it tightly and grab Fly from my pocket, "Fly!"

Glowing and transforming, the small wings from the staff turn into the majestic ones from before and I climb onto it, Keroberos flying above me.

I turn to Tomoyo and give her a smile, one that I realize to be quite truthful and honest, "I'll be right back."

And we fly off, in a burst of pure white feathers.

(Left behind, Tomoyo just watches the back of her best friend flying away, wondering again how she seems like a completely different person.

She shakes her head and takes a familiar piece from her bag, raising it.

She wouldn't be herself if she didn't film Sakura-chan even as different as she is now.)

The wind nearly blows me backwards but I grab onto my staff tightly. Fly is doing a great job at keeping me in the air but I'm terrified that I'll end up losing my balance and fall to my death.

Great thought to have when I'm like thousand feet on the air.

Using my arm to shield my face, I look up to where a group of dark clouds are hovering above a certain part of the city and wonder, Is that her? There's this sort of typhoon but not really one and I'm betting that it's where she's hiding. It just seems fit.

"I can sense her!" Keroberos shouts over the strong wind. He points ahead, towards the typhoon I had just observed, "She must be hiding there!"

We fly closer and I think of way to do this. I don't really have a card that would work on Windy. Shadow wouldn't be able to do anything and neither would Wood. Watery? She'd probably just create a even greater storm.

Damn it. How do I do this?

"Windy!" My voice almost can't be heard over the strong wind and I'm pushed backwards, Keroberos yelping as the same happens to him but I force myself to move forward again, "Windy! I know you must be happy to be free but you shouldn't-"

I'm thrown backwards, spiraling across the sky and a scream is out of my lips, fear coursing through my body.

"Sakura!"

I don't wanna dieIdon'twannadie

I don't want to die!

I feel the staff pulse and the wings expand in a burst of white. I grab onto it tightly, noticing the tears rolling down my cheeks, chest squeezing painfully and the urge to vomit at my throat. But I can't, I won't. I can almost feel Fly's power trying to keep me calm, like it's telling me to trust it.

And I do. Because if it weren't for Fly, I would probably be dead right now.

"Thank you," I whisper gratefully and tearfully, holding onto the staff with both hands.

It pulses again and a smile breaks in my face, before I look up to face the typhoon - Windy. And in one swift movement, I breathe in and I'm flying right towards her. The winds try again to thrown me off but I hold on tight and Fly is doing its best, so I need to do it as well.

"Sakura!" Keroberos appears at my side, voice filled with concern. He must've been thrown away as well, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I say, not turning to look at him because I need to keep my focus on Windy.

I have a plan. It's not the . . . most clever plan and it could end with me dying but from what happened earlier, there's lots that could happen that could kill me so I'm just gonna try it.

Let's just hope I don't die.

("You can't do anything!" he shouts as he delivers another punch, "You don't have any intelligence to do anything. You're worthless and stupid and you should die)

No. I'm gonna do it because I know I can do it!

I'm possibly insaneto have thought of something like this but I have to try.

And I'm moving even more forward, but this time so that I'm above the area where Windy is. Fly keeps doing its best and I'm so, so thankful to it as we go closer to Windy and as soon as we're at a safe distance above it, I dispel Fly, the wings shrinking almost immediately amd disappearing and I'm falling.

Even with the loud winds, I can still hear Kerobero's panicked and frightened shout of Sakura!

I know this is gonna work. I know it. I fall right into the typhoon and I can see Windy's physical form surrounded by winds. She's pure white with some green spread over her body - she's beautiful. Her eyes open and meet mine and as I'm falling, I twirl my staff and shout, "Return to the form you used to be, Clow Card!"

As the golden circle spawns, I stop falling and it feels like I'm standing on firm ground. A silhouette of a card appears in front of the staff's beak and right before she turns into white substance, I see Windy's lips forming a smile before she sucked into the card, the clouds dissipating as she vanishes. The card comes to my hand and I smile, before the spell is broken and I'm falling again.

But it's okay because now . . . "Windy!" The beak touches the card and she bursts out of it in a flash of white and wraps herself around me gently and warmly before she brings me safely to the ground.

I land on my two feet and I'm safe safesafesafe. Breathing in, I feel Windy turning back into the card in my hand and I hold it close, my heartbeat going crazy.

I can't believe I did that.

Oh my god. I could've died. I almost died. Holy mother of god. I could've died.

But you didn't, something seems to whisper to me. You did well.

Despite everything, I smile.

"Sakura!" "Sakura-chan!"

Two things collide with me - them being Keroberos and Tomoyo. The little yellow being is yelling and scolding me at my irresponsibily and how I could've done something else and Tomoyo is just holding me close, her body shaking. I wrap my arms around them and bring them close to me (they're not mine to not mine not mine).

"I'm okay," I say out loud and I'm not sure if I'm telling themor me. It seems inconclusive by this point, "I'm okay."

Windy now has Sakura written on it and is standing on my desk with the other cards, right beside the book and the key.

"That was really a bad, bad plan," Keroberos scolds, mouth full with the pudding that the father had bought to be dessert after dinner, "What if she hadn't turned back into a card?"

I would've fallen to my death, is what I think but don't say. "But she did," I retort gently, holding the pillow I've been holding for the past hour tightly, "I know that it wasn't the safest plan but I couldn't think of anything else. And you didn't see how Windy smiled before she turned into a card - she wanted to be captured. She knew that I'd go for her. I'm sure she wouldn't have let me fall to my death."

"Windy knew, huh?" he mutters, almost fondly, "Of course she'd knew. Somehow I'm not surprised."

I lay down in bed. Another card, another day in which I almost died. This is gonna turn into a routine, I know. God, I just hope I can capture all of them and end all of this.

Maybe become normal.

Keroberos gets close to my face and pats my forehead, "You did well, Sakura. You did so well."

("You can't do anything right! Not even a simple grade in a test!" he shouts as he launched himself forward again-)

I block his voice out because I'm so, so tired of having it in my mind constantly trying to break me down.

I focus on Keroberos words and give him a smile, "Thank you."

I did well.

if this chapter seems a bit funky, it's because i had a bit of a block while writing it so i apologize for that.

i'm so glad that people are enjoying my story. thank you so much for giving it a chance.

until next time.