A/N: Someone encouraged me, so I'm doing it. If you want to blame someone, blame Ran Hoshino-san for giving my other Harry Potter/Card Captor Sakura fic, Harry Potter and the Magic Book: Release, a good review and saying an extended version would be nice. Enjoy!

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Card Captor Harry

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Card 1, The Windy: Harry Potter and the Mysterious Magic Book

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. I wish her well and covet her money. Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, not me. I covet their drawing skills. Both are used here without their owners' permission. I'm not doing this for money, so please don't sue me.

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It was a beautiful summer day. At Privet drive, the Dursleys were bidding aunt Marge good bye-

Whoops, wrong view. Let's try this again.

Ah, here we are. It was a beautiful summer day, and Harry James Evans Potter, the-boy-who-lived, friend of House Elves who want to be free, Sorcerer's Stone Protector, Basilisk Slayer, Dark Lord frustrater, Gryffindor Seeker and all around nice guy, was enjoying every minute of it. After rather messily blowing up his aunt, balloon fashion, and a dramatic exit that found him on a purple triple-decker whose driver couldn't drive and led to an encounter with the Minister of Magic, he had found himself with two whole Dursley-free weeks at his disposal. Granted, one-and-a-half of those weeks were gone, but hey, no Dursleys! Who was he to complain?

After bath, breakfast, and looking at the Firebolt at Quality Quidditch Supplies, he set out to do what he had been doing since he had finished his homework: window shopping.

Harry had to leave his moneybag in his room at the Leaky Cauldron. He could exercise restraint for only so long before he went and bought something, and the only way he could prevent that was by making sure he wasn't carrying money with him.

By the time lunch rolled around, he had visited an apothecary, a pet store, Zonko's and a sweet shop, and had nearly had to buy dragon dung, squirted on by a flower, been attacked by a crow, and eaten enough free samples to fill a gift box.

Ah, life was good.

After having lunch at a cafe, he felt ready for another round of window-shopping. Trouble was, since he had been doing this for a week and a half, there were very few stores he hadn't gone to yet.

Deciding to try something new, he went to one of the stores he still hadn't visited.

Now, one might ask why he hadn't been to this store yet. Well, there is a very simple reason.

It was a used-books store. A certified Hermione-zone.

Entering the shop, he found it overflowing with dusty, worn and just plain ancient books.

"Hermione would have a field day here," Harry muttered as he glanced at the shopkeeper, who was asleep on the counter and so still that spiders had woven webs on him. If Harry hadn't checked to find out otherwise, he would have said the man was dead.

He wandered the rows of books, occasionally glancing at their titles. The Wizards Guide to Muggle Behavior. Growing Arms For Fun and Profit. The Complyt Aend Unabrydged Gyde To Pyxys. Spells Any Sorcerer Out To Save The World Should Know: Kill And Overkill.

Harry paused over that one, thinking briefly of getting it, then decided against it. It was probably just a load of crock.

After spending all of twenty minutes in the store, Harry decided not even Hermione would bother with this place. All the books here were so full of junk, it would be hazardous to the environment to use them as fertilizer.

As he was about to leave, he accidentally brushed a book, causing it to fall on the ground. Habits ingrained by years of cleaning up for the Dursleys made him bend down to pick it up.

Harry stared at the book, transfixed. It was a thick, red book with a broken lock, looking a bit like a journal or diary. Harry shuddered at the memory of the last and thankfully only magic diary he had ever encountered.

On its cover were the words 'The Clow'. Below that was the image of a winged creature that looked vaguely like a lion. Harry turned it over. There was nothing on the back, just red leather. Nothing interesting at all. And yet, Harry felt he couldn't put it down. As if in a trance, Harry slowly opened the cover.

"You going to buy that?" a wheezy, slightly nasal voice asked from the counter.

Harry jerked himself away from the book, letting the cover fall. The old shopkeeper was looking at him with bleary eyes, wisps of cobwebs sticking in his hair.

"Ah, sure," Harry said, surprising himself. He reached into his pocket, feeling a few Knuts, a couple of Sickles, and a Galleon- how did that get there? - jingling around. "How much?"

The shopkeeper peered closely at the book he was holding. "Oh, two Knuts, I guess. That old thing can't possibly be worth more."

Harry fished two of the bronze coins from his pocket and walked over to the shopkeeper. "I'll take it," he said, laying out the money in front of him.

The shopkeeper deposited the money in an ancient wooden register that looked old enough to have seen the Industrial Revolution. "Have a nice day," the man said.

Harry was halfway back to the Leaky Cauldron when he realized exactly what he had done. He'd bought a book. And not just any book, but an old, used book, when he had absolutely no idea what was in it, much less why he bought it in the first place.

Harry didn't mind the cost- after all, it was only two Knuts- he was more concerned about the feeling that something had coerced him into buying the book. Could the book possibly be magical?

Then Harry laughed at himself, immediately stifling it so that no one would think he was crazy. He had bought the book in Diagon Alley, where wizards bought and brought their wares, what was basically an, if not the, economic center of the English magical world. Of course the book was magical! Or at least, related to magic in some fashion.

The question Harry shifted to was what kind of magic was in the book. It had barely been three months since a cursed diary that had once belonged to Voldemort had possessed Ginny. Who was to say that there wasn't any kind of similar magic on this book.

Then Harry stopped that line of thought. Stop it, he chided himself. You're reading too much into a situation because of a recent unfortunate incident. It was just an impulse buy. You didn't suspect that Stan had put a spell on you when you agreed to ride on the Knight Bus even when it had nearly run over you.

I mean, come on! he continued to rationalize as he neared the bar-slash-inn. It's not as if every strange book in the world you would normally never buy has been cursed by Lord Voldemort.

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At his room in the Cauldron, Harry sat on his bed, staring at the book. Then, shrugging, he opened it.

"What the heck?" he said.

Inside the book, a square space had been cut out. In that space, what looked like a card had been placed. The card was unlike anything Harry had ever seen. Inside an unusual border was a drawing of a woman, although there seemed to be something strange about her. Underneath her picture were the words The Windy.

"The what?" Harry said aloud. Carefully prying out the card, he saw there were more beneath it. He pried out the next two. One showed either a little girl or a short woman holding a mirror, the other a strange rabbit-cat creature that seemed to be running towards him. Beneath were the words The Mirror and The Dash, respectively.

Harry stared at the cards for a long moment. They didn't move. That meant, he concluded, that they weren't magical. Magical illustrations moved.

Although slightly disappointed that what he had bought wasn't magical, at least it couldn't be cursed.

Shaking his head ruefully, he made a note to be more careful with his impulse buys. He looked at the first card he had pried out.

"The Windy," he said aloud. "Hmm…"

And with that, a hurricane began in his room.

Harry had a split second to notice the design that glowed beneath his feet before gale force winds suddenly swirled through the room. Startled, Harry dropped the book. Caught by the wind, the book went flying. Gravity and then wind managed to grab the cards from their recess. For a moment, the cards swirled around the room. Then, suddenly, they became points of light.

Moving at high speeds, Harry saw them pass through the walls of his room as if they weren't there. He felt something tugging the three cards he still held in his hand, and instinctively held them tighter, shielding them from the wind.

In a relatively short amount of time later, the wind died down. Shakily, Harry stood. His room was trashed. It looked like…well, it looked like a tornado hit. Which, technically, it had.

"Whoa!" Harry breathed. Okay, his bad. The cards were magical. Looking around the devastation that was his room, he considered it lucky Hedwig was off having a check-up; otherwise, he was sure she'd have more than a few ruffled feathers to worry about.

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Forsythe Penn was walking along Diagon Alley, eager to get home after a fun day of shopping, when he felt a sudden weakness pass over him. Sagging suddenly, and feeling very tired, he concluded that he had had more fun than he thought. Forcing himself to move, he headed to the Leaky Cauldron so he could Floo powder home.

He didn't notice that his shadow was gone.

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Harry thanked his lucky stars that his room was pretty threadbare. Not much had to be cleaned up, although what there was of it made the place look like a train wreck. Luckily, Harry was used to cleaning up after Dudley, who was even messier than the pigs he looked like. At his cleanest and most fastidious, Dudley was still ten times messier than the room currently was.

Picking up the book from where it lay on the ground, Harry placed it on the bed next to the three cards he had left. As he stepped back, however, the book began to glow.

Harry stepped back, wondering what new surprise his little impulse buy had in store for him. He really wished he had his two Knuts back.

The book glow, growing brighter and brighter until...

Pop!

Harry blinked. Somehow, a 'pop' wasn't exactly what he was expecting.

From the 'pop', however, came a curious looking creature. It was the size of a teddy bear, completely the same shade of yellow-orange, and vaguely humanoid in shape. Its head was oversized, with two semi-circular ears, also like a teddy bear. In fact, of it weren't for the fact that it had two miniscule wings on it's back and was floating, Harry would have said it was a teddy bear.

It yawned. Loudly. "Ahh!" it said. "What a nice nap!"

It turned around saw Harry, surprised. "Hey! Who are you?"

Harry swallowed. "I'm Harry Potter. Who are you and what are you doing in my room?"

"Oh," the thing said, spinning around in a strangely pompous manner. "I am Keroberos, the Chooser, Guardian of the Sun and protector of the Clow Cards."

There was a pause as the thing- Keroberos- noticed the wide-open and empty book. "The Clow Cards! Where are they?"

Harry pointed to the cards he had tucked under the book.

Keroberos dived down to the cards and pulled them out from under the book. "One, two, three..." he counted. "Where are the rest? There are supposed to be 52 of them! What happened to the rest?"

Harry shuffled. "Well, you see..." and he told him what had happened to the cards.

"WHAT?" Keroberos yelled. For a little thing, he had a healthy set of lungs. Fortunately, the room was soundproof. "You blew them away? That's horrible!"

"Why?" asked Harry. He didn't see what the fuss was about.

Keroberos looked at him intently, and Harry was somehow reminded of Dumbledore, without the beard, robes and height. "Listen to me. The Clow Cards are dangerous. They were created more than a hundred years by a great wizard named Clow Reed. Fifty-two cards, each with a specific ability, all of incredible power. He created them by combining powerful aspects of Western and Eastern Magic. They were used against the evil wizards of the day, but they were also kept secret, because Clow feared their power would be abused if their existence was commonly known. When he died, he appointed me to watch over the cards and to choose a successor who will take care of them."

Keroberos shuffled his feet in mid-air, and the Dumbledore impression disappeared. "Unfortunately, you somehow released them while I was taking a nap. Now they're loose and it's all your fault!"

Harry was taken aback at the accusation. "My fault?" he repeated. "You're the one who was asleep on the job!"

Keroberos ignored that little truth. "You're the one who released them, you have to help me get them back!"

"Me?'" Harry repeated. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation. Granted, he'd had a lot of weird conversations with a lot of weird people since he became a wizard, but this took the cake.

"Yes, you," Keroberos said. "I'm powerless to catch the cards on my own, so you have to do it for me. If you don't, horrible things could happen because of the cards."

"Like what?" Harry wanted to know.

Keroberos stared at him and the Dumbledore impersonation was back. "They might burn the city. Or sink the country. Or simply erase people from existence. It's hard to say. But I guarantee the lots of people will get hurt. Or even killed. That's what might happen."

Harry's jaw dropped. "We have to tell the Ministry of Magic," he managed to breath. "They can handle this-"

"NO!" Keroberos said, cutting him off. "That's the last thing we want to do! They were a secret even from the Ministry. Clow was afraid of what they would do to his cards if they found out about their existence. He was afraid they would either abuse their power, or destroy them."

Harry was shocked. "That's not how the Ministry does business," he said.

Keroberos raised an eyebrow. "How well do you know the Ministry to be able to make that assessment?"

Harry opened his mouth, then, on second thought, shut it.

"Exactly," Keroberos said. "Look, Harry right? Please Harry, you have to help me gather the cards, and do it in secret. The fate of the whole world may depend on it."

As many of you know, full consideration wasn't really Harry's strong suit. Oh, he could think things through, but he didn't do it in every situation, which is why he'd had his share of detentions at school, and tended to get dropped in the middle of the latest intrigue to grip Hogwarts. Still his heart was always in the right place, even if it gave him slightly off directions.

"All right," he said. "I'll help you."

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Constantine Johnson was heading home from his job at an apothecary when he felt he glimpsed a strange shadow out of the corner of his eye. Thinking of Sirius Black, he reacted fast, whirling on the spot and pointing his wand at it-

- and nearly fainting where he stood as a sudden dizziness engulfed him. Holding on to a nearby wall for support, Constantine saw it was just someone in a black hood. Cursing himself for overreacting and muttering that he must be more tired than he thought, he headed for home, ignorant of the fact he no longer had his shadow.

Keroberos, however, suddenly became very much aware of the fact.

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Harry was surprised when Keroberos suddenly whirled in mid-air, staring out in the direction of Diagon Alley. The wachamacallim appeared intent, as if listening for something.

"It's begun," Keroberos said, turning back to face Harry. "A Card has awakened. You need to help me catch it now."

"All right," Harry said, surprised his commitment was being called in so soon.

Keroberos stared intently at the book, which began to glow. From the lock came a sphere of light, which flew over to Harry and hovered in front of him. "Take it," Keroberos said.

Taking a deep breath and wondering what the heck he had gotten himself into, Harry wrapped a fist around the sphere of light. There was a final burst of radiance, and then both glows subsided. The lock on the book had been mended, and the book itself looked like new: no more scratches, smudges or discoloration.

Harry opened his hand. Resting on his palm was a small key. Its head reminded him of a red bird's beak with white wings on the side.

"That's the sealing wand," Keroberos explained. "You can use it to capture the Clow Cards."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't look like a wand."

"We'll take care of that later," Keroberos said, flying to the door, then stopping. "Wait! You need to hide me! I mean, if I'm seen, the secret's out!"

Harry rolled his eyes, grabbed Keroberos and stuffed him under his jacket. "Stay under there," he said, opening the door.

"Wait!" Keroberos said. "Bring the Cards."

Harry rolled his eyes, turned, grabbed the cards from of the bed and stuffed them into his jacket with Keroberos. Thankfully, the jacket used to be Dudley's so there was a lot of room. Better still, since Dudley always had to have the best, this was one of those with lots of pockets, both internal and external.

Now equipped with Keroberos, the Key, the Cards and his wand, Harry left his room.

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Harry walked down Diagon Alley, following whispered directions from Keroberos.

"What are we looking for, anyway?" he asked.

Keroberos peered out of Harry's jacket. "That," he said, pointing.

A man was walking slowly, obviously tired, eyes slightly glazed.

"What about him?" Harry whispered back.

"Look at his feet," Keroberos clarified.

Harry looked. It took him a while, but he got it.

"What happened to his shadow?" Harry gasped.

Keroberos' eyes narrowed. "The Shadow Card," he said. "It stole their shadows."

"'Their'?" Harry repeated. He looked around, noticing that the man wasn't the only one without a shadow. "Why do they look so weak?"

"When the Shadow Card stole their shadows, it also took part of their life force. In wizards, it takes away a lot of their magic," Keroberos explained. "They'll be like this unless we can capture The Shadow Card. There!"

Harry followed where he was pointing. What looked like a black-cloaked man with his hood up was just turning the corner. Picking up his pace, he followed the man around the corner.

Rounding the bend, he saw the street was empty, the man alone. As he debated what to do, Keroberos took the decision out of his hands.

Flying out of Harry's jacket, he yelled, "Hold it right there, Shadow Card!"

The man paused, then slowly turned around. Harry gasped.

The front of the cloak was open, and where he expected someone to be, there was nothing but darkness, the inky blackness of a perfect night without stars. Somehow, he felt something staring at him wordlessly from the darkness.

"Keroberos," Harry said softly, not breaking the feeling of eye contact. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You have to catch him," Keroberos said. "Use the Key and the Cards you have. When you catch him, you take him out of commission, and you prove that you are his master."

Harry did a double take. "What?" he said. "What was that about a master?"

"Remember what I said about choosing a successor?" Keroberos said. "Well, I choose you. I can feel your strength. You have it in you to become the Master of the Cards."

"Excuse me?" Harry said.

"Harry- um, what was your last name again?" Keroberos asked.

"Potter."

The Guardian nodded. "Right. Harry Potter, I choose you as the Card Captor, he who will inherit the Clow Cards of Clow Reed. And your first order of business," he pointed, "is to catch that Shadow Card!"

The Shadow Card, hearing this, attacked.

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Harry had a split second of warning before the shadows came charging after him. His reflexes, homed by years of running from Dudley when he wanted to use him as a punching bag, and more recently by bludgers, Basilisks and Dark Wizards' curses, allowed him to run away from all the shadows that came after him.

Grabbing Keroberos, he turned around and ran.

"Hey!" the Sun Guardian said. "Where are you going?"

"Away from that," Harry thumbed over his shoulder.

"You have to stand up and fight!" Keroberos said, struggling in his grip.

"With what? I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school. I would be expelled!"

"Use the Sealing Wand!"

"The what?"

"The Sealing Wand," Keroberos repeated. "Clow designed it so that it wouldn't be detectable by the Ministry's methods, and it can act as a regular wand."

Harry pulled the Key out of his pocket. "This little thing? You've gotta be kidding me! It doesn't even look like a wand!"

"You have to say the incantation," Keroberos said, finally getting loose and flying close to his ear.

"Now you tell me!"

"This is what you say…"

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Harry looked over his shoulder. The shadows had fallen back, still after them, but not gaining. It was like the Shadow Card wanted him to escape.

Sighing to himself and wondering if he was crazy, Harry stopped and turned around to face the approaching shadows.

Raising the Key in his hand, he began to chant.

"Key of power," he intoned, "show me your true form. I, the one to whom you are bound, command it!

"RELEASE!"

As he had begun to speak, a pattern had appeared under Harry's feet. Made of glowing lines of gold, it showed a six-pointed sun within a circle, with a crescent moon on one edge. Now as he finished, the Key glowed, and wisps of wind seemed to surround it. The Key lengthened, becoming what Harry felt could properly be called a wand.

Catching it as it floated in front of him, he twirled it around a couple of times, getting the feel of it.

"Use the Windy Card! Bind them in air!" Keroberos said.

Harry pulled out the cards from his jacket. "How do I do that?"

"Toss the card in the air and slam the Wand on it while invoking the name of the card!"

Harry felt his eyebrow go up. Throwing the proper card into the air, he did as he was told, shouting, "Windy Card!" in the way he usually cast his spells.

The Wand struck the card and stopped dead as if it had hit stone. The card glowed, and greenish-yellow wisps spiraled up from it, forming into the beautiful woman whose image had been on the card as the card itself disappeared.

"Bind them!" he directed, even as he marveled at this beautiful woman who had come out of nowhere-

-no, that wasn't true. She hadn't come out from nowhere. She had come out of the card.

No, that wasn't right.

She was the card!

The woman- the Windy Card- raised her hands, and the same yellow wisps of wind appeared. Quickly, they wrapped around the magical shadows, trapping them.

The Shadow Card, seeing this, started to retreat.

"He's getting away, Harry," Keroberos said. "Use The Dash Card and go after him."

Harry pulled out the card. "Dash Card!"

Harry felt a rush of power seem to flow through him. He felt light as a feather. He began to run after the retreating Shadow Card.

Suddenly, he seemed to feel a jolt inside him. Even as he watched, the Windy Card disappeared, becoming once more a card that appeared in front of him. Instinctively, he grabbed it.

Unfortunately, that meant the bindings had gone. That shadows were free again.

He ran past and around the shadows, using his unbelievable new speed to avoid them as he ran towards the Shadow Card. Above him, away from the shadows reach, Keroberos followed.

"So how do I capture him?" Harry called out as he avoided the shadows clutches.

"Just do as I say…" Keroberos said.

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"Hold it right there!" Harry called out.

The Shadow Card, despite itself, turned around.

"I am the Card Captor, and I order you to return to your true form!" Harry said, raising the Sealing Wand over his head and bringing it down. "Shadow Card!"

The pattern of lines of gold appeared once more beneath Harry's feet as his wand stopped once more and an outline of a card appeared under its head. The Shadow Card began to dissolve into black wisps of magic, and was drawn into the card outline. As more of the Shadow Card was drawn in, the card became more substantial. Eventually, it solidified, and became a card like the other three that were already in Harry's possession. In front was the image of the black hooded man, with the words 'The Shadow' beneath it.

Harry seemed to sag, sighing. "Well, that was slightly embarrassing," he said as he caught the Shadow Card. He was suddenly tackled by an ecstatic Sun Guardian.

"You did it Harry! You caught the Shadow Card!" Keroberos said.

"Will all those people be alright?" Harry asked.

Keroberos nodded. "Their shadows came back when you caught the Shadow Card. Speaking of which, we better go while there's still nobody around."

Harry agreed.

As they left, neither noticed the silver flash that leaned back around a corner and was gone.

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Harry walked back to the Leaky Cauldron, Keroberos once more hidden in his jacket along with the cards.

"You did a good job," said Keroberos.

"Thanks," Harry said. "I've had a lot of experience."

Keroberos raised an eyebrow. "I'll take you word for it."

"You don't believe me?"

"Not really. I don't know you yet."

Harry shrugged. "Fair enough."

"You have to keep things secret," Keroberos said to him. "About me, about the Cards, everything. If the Ministry gets a hold of us… well, we don't know the Ministry well enough to know what they'll do, so better safe than sorry."

"Well, if we're going to keep secrets, we're going to have to be formally introduced," Harry said. "Hi, I'm Harry Potter, wizard-in-schooling and Card Captor. Pleasure to meet you."

"And I'm Keroberos, Sun Guardian and Chooser," Keroberos said. "But you can call me Kero. Pleasure's all mine."

Harry chuckled. "I think we're going to get along just fine…"

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- To be continued...

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A/N: For those who read 'Release!', there are changes. This is set earlier in the book timeline. In case it's not obvious, this happens in 'Azkaban', third book canon, with maybe a few tweaks, on Harry's second week away from the Dursley's. I'll try to build around canon events, but I have my limits. Any chance to do any Dorco bashing, hooking up Harry, or make things a bit more cheery... well, no promises to stick to canon. My muse already has scenarios that go way into the fourth book, and I want to culminate this as much as possible on canon terms, so this probably won't be done 'til seven is out. sigh So I really hope that Mrs. Rowling gets done seven faster than it took her to finish five, which was the most delayed. In the mean time, three to five, and six when I finally read it, are good to go.

Yes, Lina Inverse's book from my Slayers/Harry Potter fic makes an appearance.

If you're wondering how Keroberos knows about the Ministry, it has been around for a really long time. It was probably around when Keroberos was last out.

Not to sure about what happens your shadow gets stolen by a Clow Card, so I threw in a couple of usual symptoms.

Sorry if Harry's lines are a bit off, I was working from a subtitled episode of CCS.

Mini Spoilers:

I'll also try to work in the events I alluded to in 'Release!', but the first years drowning in flower petals and the theatre club's blackout are lost causes; I already have plans for those cards.

There might be pairings, we'll see. If I do have them, I won't go easy on Harry.

(Poor Harry snicker)

To Ran Hoshino-san: Harry will have an opponent, but it won't be Sakura and Syaoran's kid. I won't say more, only that his opponent won't appear for a while, probably Card six. (uh, is Syaoran's last name spelled 'Lee' or 'Li'?)

Final note, I have something way weird planned for Yue! I won't say anything more, but I hope you like it.

Please review, C&C welcome. Heck, even flames are welcome. That means at least it's being read, if not liked.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.