Ryu disembarked from the freighter he'd hitched a ride on and dropped 
his duffel bag to the ground beside him. Taking a deep breath, he surveyed 
his surroundings once, before focusing on what had drawn him to take the 
first steps towards Tokyo. An almost unnerving new force with which he'd 
felt an odd connection.

       Ryu picked his bag back up, slung it over his shoulder, and began to 
walk. After all. A force like this likely presented a new challenge. And Ryu 
never backed down from a challenge. If he could find it again, that is.

**********

<__<  BLOSSOMS IN THE SPRING  <__<
A crossover Improfanfic
started by The Eternal Lost Lurker
Street Fighter and all related
trademarks belong to Capcom.
Cardcaptor Sakura and all related
trademarks belong to CLAMP, Kodansha.
Used without permission.

Part 28: Sakura and the LITTLE problem
By Smlee

**********

       "JUMP!" Sakura yelled in a panicked voice, invoking the card of the 
same name. She barely made it high enough to dodge the incoming blow from 
the giant beetle charging her.

	"Sakura!" Tomoyo's similarly panicked voice chimed in. Sakura spotted her 
friend a short distance away, fleeing from the beetle Sakura had just 
dodged.

	Sakura hit the ground, and immediately charged, taking another JUMP 
assisted leap and landing haphazardly upon the beetle's back. She bit back a 
gasp of pain as she stumbled forwards. Her ankle was twisted. She had to end 
this quickly.

	"SWEET!" Li's voice intoned clearly from her left. The beetle charged 
headfirst into a gob of chocolate that materialized immediately afterwards. 
Sakura flew forwards with the sudden stop, flopping quite comically 
headfirst into the chocolate.

	All was dark for a long minute until Sakura was pulled from the mess by her 
leg. Li's eyes gazed down at her with such contempt, as usual. Sakura 
sighed. "Return to the guise you were meant to be. Clow Card." She intoned, 
bringing the staff down upon the helpless beetle. The LITTLE card flew into 
Li's waiting hand.

	"Work a little faster next time." Li scolded Sakura, still holding her 
aloft via her leg. "And perhaps you should wear some pants. I have to say, 
I'm enjoying the view."

	Sakura blushed furiously, her hands flying up in the attempt to hide her 
panties from view. Li dropped her onto the chocolate, which was now 
hardened, most likely by a second use of SWEET. Sakura's anger rose again 
after she realized Li could have hardened it BEFORE she had landed in the 
gooey mess.

	"Syaoran!" Tomoyo called out, "You were great! Thank you!" Tomoyo paused, 
and seemingly as an afterthought added, "You too Sakura!"

	Sakura seethed as she sat up. "Well I'm glad you two could have so much 
fun. Just reverse this already, Li."

	Li held back a smile as Sakura winced after putting weight on her ankle as 
he signed his latest card. "LITTLE!" he shouted, touching the tip of his 
sword to invoke the spell. A blink later, and they were standing, full sized 
once more, inside the school kitchen. The cooking staff also returned to 
full size, looking about with quite a befuddled expression on their faces.

	"Come on Sakura," Tomoyo said, motioning to her shoulder, "Lets get you to 
the nurses office.

	Sakura draped her arm over the offered shoulder, taking the weight off her 
ankle. Thankful that Tomoyo had the time for her friend (unlike lately, 
where Tomoyo had been more than occupied with Li), Sakura's mood lightened. 
And she found herself laughing as she left the kitchen, listening to Li 
stutter out an implausible explanation as to what had happened.

************

	Rose sat up with a start, and looked about her surroundings. She wasn't in 
her apartment. Then the pain began again, and she put all other thoughts out 
of her mind. 'Calm down you two!' she yelled in her mind, trying to keep 
Light and Dark inside her from fighting, as they had, day in and day out 
since she'd been cursed with both.

	It didn't help. Rose doubled over and dry heaved, coming to the realization 
that she'd tossed up her dinner sometime during the night. Another wave of 
pain knocked her flat on her back, after which Rose knew the siblings were 
finished. For now, at least. She sat up again.

	The fights had been getting worse and worse, and Rose almost wished that 
she'd be put back into the stasis sleep she'd been put into what seemed like 
so long ago. Rose yawned, and threw back the covers. She looked about for 
the mess resulting from her nighttime expulsion, only to find none. Then she 
remembered that she wasn't in her apartment.

	"Where?" Rose asked of the air, not really expecting an answer. But then 
the air did answer.

	"This is my house. Did you have a nice rest?"

	"Constellita." Rose brought her hand up to rub the bridge of her nose. 
"What do you want now?"

	The door to the room opened, and Hitomi walked inside. "Just to chat, my 
friend. How are you feeling these days?"

	"Not well. Not well at all. Why won't you let me see Sakura?" Rose asked, 
anger seeping into her voice.

	"It isn't time yet." Hitomi said, as enigmatic as ever.

	"So you do something about this!" Rose snapped. "These two are driving me 
mad!"

	"I'm sorry." Hitomi didn't really sound too sorry.

	"Then what am I supposed to do? I'm not going to be in any condition to 
help Sakura at all. The fight between the siblings gets worse every day." 
Rose doubled over in pain once more as the fight renewed.

	"Maybe you should visit one of your friends then?" Hitomi suggested 
cheerfully, once Rose had recovered.

	Rose gave Hitomi an unbelieving stare as she realized she could do just 
that.

************

	Sakura hobbled to her doorway, utilizing her staff as a walking stick. Once 
inside, she made a beeline for the kitchen, where she fixed a pack of ice, 
and then used MOVE to get up the stairs. She collapsed onto her bed, panting 
from exertion, and positioned the ice on her ankle.

	"Sakura! Sakura!" It was Kero's voice, from outside the window. He flew 
inside and hovered above Sakura's head. "Are you ok?"

	"Li got another card." Sakura reported. "Oh, and I injured my ankle. WHERE 
WERE YOU KERO?"

	"Uh..." Kero was obviously picking his brain for an excuse. "I 
was...visiting a sick friend."

	Sakura glared at him. "Peeking into the public baths again, Kero?"

	"Uh...no..." Kero feebly covered before changing the subject, "So which one 
was it?"

	"Little." Sakura said, briefly. "Pervert." She added as an afterthought 
before smacking him into the wall.

************

	"TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!" Guile yelled at the captive Juni, "WHY ARE YOU 
AFTER SAKURA? WHERE'S CHARLIE?"

	"..." Juni remained silent.

	Guile pulled her up by her hair. "I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!"

	"..." Juni continued her silence.

	Guile pulled his fist back, intending to strike, before a restraining hand 
griped his shoulder. "Take a break, Guile."

	Guile seethed, but let go of the prisoner. "I'm just frustrated Chun. We 
haven't managed to get a single word out of them. It's the same with the one 
we captured a few months before these two. What did Bison do to these 
girls?"

	Chun-Li looked thoughtful for a moment before honestly responding. "I don't 
know. But I think it's my turn to treat you to lunch. We can discuss...an 
alternative."

	Guile nodded. "Sure. I'm done here."

	The two exited the room, and Juni calmly moved back into her chair.

************

	Chun-Li slid the folders across the table. "Yuriko Tokumei aka Tomoyo 
Amamiya. Syaoran Li. Sakura Kusagano. All three present at both incidents. 
All three contributed to the capture of first Decapre, then Juli and Juni. 
We investigated the connection between the two events. They claim to not 
know why they were targeted, not only once, but twice. I get the feeling 
they're hiding something."

	Guile nodded. "Right. I got that feeling too. But what can we do? They 
haven't broken any laws, so they're out of our jurisdiction."

	Chun-Li slid another folder across the table. "Ken Masters. I believe you 
know him?"

	Guile grumbled. "He's dating my wife's sister. What about him?"

	"He seems to be on good terms with these three. He may know something we 
don't. Can you talk with him?" Chun-Li inquired.

	Guile grumbled again, but slowly nodded.

	"In the meantime, I'm going to have a chat with him." She slid the last 
folder in her possession over to Guile. "Touya Kinomoto. Seems he's been 
spotted with the three many times. He may know something."

	Guile nodded once more. "Wasn't there someone else? Don someone?"

	Chun-Li shook her head. "I don't think so. I'd know if there was."

	Guile shrugged. "I guess I'm mixing up my cases."

	In the bathroom of the Dodon Gym, Dan sneezed.

************

	A Sakura petal fluttered past her face, drawing her attention outward. She 
was standing on the roof of a building, overlooking what had become a 
familiar sight. Tokyo Tower.

	And standing there, like dozens of times before, were the familiar faces. 
Touya. Tomoyo. Ryu. Sakura extended her arm, and realized she was clutching 
her staff. Her other hand reached into her pocket. Out it came, holding a 
card. She touched the tip of the staff to it with a cry of "FLY" and large 
white wings were instantly extended from it. Sakura quickly hopped onboard 
and took to the sky.

	The icy stares of the trio followed her progression, giving the feeling 
that their gazes pierced through her flesh. They haunted Sakura. They seemed 
to be...judging her? Another figure, a shadow of a woman, dropped into view 
just before...

	Sakura awoke with a start. 'Was that...Judgement?' she found herself 
wondering. She found herself dismissing it just as quickly. It had to have 
just been a dream, as Kero had detailed what to expect from the Judgement, 
and that was not it. Besides, according to Kero, it was the other guardian 
beast, Yue who presided over it. A sharp pain in her ankle pulled her focus 
from her dream. It still hurt. Sakura cursed her misfortune as she sat 
up...and bashed heads with Hitomi.

	"Ow!" Hitomi whined. "I don't need to be injured too."

	Sakura blinked. "Hitomi? What are you...wait. I'm not going to ask."

	"I heard you got hurt, so I came for a visit. I guess I should tell the 
track team not to expect you to come for a while?" Hitomi rubbed her 
forehead.

	"Yeah. Sure." Sakura suddenly felt weary again.

	"Well...I only stopped by to drop off these flowers. Get well soon!" Hitomi 
placed the bouquet of flowers by Sakura's bedside, and waved as she left.

	Sakura flopped back onto her pillow and shut her eyes, wishing herself back 
to sleep.

************

	*Ding. Dong*

	"Hmm? I'll be right there!" Touya called to whomever was at the door. He 
carefully scooped the eggs from the pan and laid them out on his plate. It 
was probably Hitomi, asking for breakfast yet again. Touya sighed.

	Touya's jaw hung open as he opened the door though, and beheld a beautiful 
woman. That is, it hung open until the badge was displayed. His jaw snapped 
shut immediately.

	"Touya Kinomoto?" She asked.

	"Yes...that's me." Touya said, adding "I didn't do anything" as an 
afterthought.

	"You aren't in trouble. I would just like a word with you. May I come in?" 
She gestured inside.

	"Please. I was just preparing breakfast for myself. Would you like 
anything?" Touya asked politely.

	"Tea would be nice. I was on a plane all evening. Wasn't the most 
comfortable of trips." She sat on the couch when Touya gestured towards it.

	Touya rushed into the kitchen and began boiling some water. "So what is it 
you wanted to ask?"

	"I wanted to ask about your involvement with one Sakura Kusagano." A cup 
dropped in the kitchen. 'Bingo', Chun-Li thought to herself.

	"Is SHE in trouble?" Touya asked, as he gathered up the remains of the cup.

	"I'd like to think she isn't, but I'll need you to tell me what you know 
about her," Chun-Li stated.

	"What's to tell?" Touya began, picking his words carefully, "I've bumped 
into her a number of times, mostly at...uh...conventions."

	"Underground fight tournaments, I'm sure you meant to say." Chun-Li 
corrected.

	"Um...right." Touya brought in the tea set.

	"Don't worry about it. To tell the truth, I've participated in a number 
myself. Thank you." Chun-Li took a sip from the cup Touya had just poured 
for her.

	"As I recall, you were involved in...an incident with a certain individual 
going by the alias of M. Bison?" Chun-Li asked, but it was more of a 
statement.

	"I told the police everything about that. He attacked, we defended. Pure. 
Simple." Touya said, rather defensively.

	"Just defended? You managed to apprehend a terrorist wanted in dozens of 
locations worldwide."

	"As you said. I take part in fight tournaments."

	"Your win/loss record isn't that impressive, if you ask me." Chun-Li said, 
rather insultingly.

	Touya's anger flared. "I got lucky, that must be it."

	Chun-Li decided now was the time to change the subject. "What do you think 
of Sakura?"

	"Sakura? She's a nice kid. Fought her a few times. That's about it." Touya 
flatly stated.

	"So...no romantic feelings at all?" Chun-Li inquired.

	Touya choked on the tea he was drinking, and took a moment to recover. "No. 
No. No. Not at all. No."

	"Really? Because I have this recording of a fight between you two where you 
ask her out before the match starts..." Chun-Li rummaged around in her bag.

	"Well...yes...I did ask her...but...things are...complicated." Touya 
stuttered in the attempt to cover.

	"How so? Boy meets Girl, Boy likes Girl, Boy asks Girl out. I thought that 
was the way it worked in this case?" Chun-Li prodded.

	"Yes...well...it wouldn't have worked. Yeah."

	"And why wouldn't it have worked? You live in the same area of Tokyo, you 
keep bumping into each other, intentionally or not, and you do go to the 
same gym to work out. Dodon Gym?"

	Touya glanced about nervously. "Ah...ha...well...y'see...umm..."

	"The truth this time." Chun-Li stated, a hint of a threat in her voice.

	Touya sighed. "I found out she's my sister, ok? Happy now?"

	Chun-Li may have looked shocked for a moment, but recovered quick enough. 
"But that isn't possible, is it? You were both born to different families."

	At this point, Touya really just wanted to get it over with, and get rid of 
her. "Do you believe in reincarnation? No? Well, that's what happened. She's 
the reincarnation of my sister. Now, if we're finished, my breakfast is past 
being cold, and I have to get to work."

	Chun-Li stood, and gave a short bow. "Thank you for your time. This has 
been...informative."

	Touya quickly saw her out the door and slammed it shut behind her. He 
slumped to the floor, exhausted, taking a moment to rest before dialing up 
Sakura's home number. Hopefully, she wouldn't have left for school yet.

************

	Sakura found herself drifting off again when her phone rang. With a curse, 
she fumbled around until she found the source and picked up the receiver. 
"Hello?"

	"Sakura? It's Touya."

	Sakura bolted up in bed. "Touya? Wow! It's been forever since we talked. Or 
seen each other for that matter..."

	"Listen...I don't have a lot of time to talk...I just wanted to tell you 
that there was someone from the police here just now...asking a lot of 
questions about you..."

	Sakura blinked. Had the police finally caught on to her street fighting 
ways, and decided to crack down? "Thanks for telling me, Touya. And Touya? 
Why have you been avoiding me lately? Touya? Touya?"

	A disconnection tone met her last few words.

************


	A servant approached Ken with his call phone, pausing a moment to allow Ken 
to finish demolishing the punching bag he was working over. "Sir? Phone call 
from a Mr. Guile."

	"Guile?" Ken growled and grabbed at the phone. "What does he want now? 
Hello?"

	"Ken. I wouldn't call, but I need to ask you some questions," Guile gruffly 
responded.

	"What." Ken said, rather abruptly, hoping to get this over with quickly.

	Guile decided the best way to go was matter of fact. "I need some 
information on...Sakura Kusagano. Syaoran Li. Yuriko Tokumei."

	"What about them?" Ken asked, slightly wary at this point.

	"As you know, I'm working the Shadowloo case." Guile stated.

	Ken's temper flared. "Yeah. I know. You left your wife and kid behind to 
pursue the case."

	There was a brief pause with that. "Look. I didn't call to discuss them. 
What's your connection with the trio?"

	"They helped me out once, I helped them back. It's not that big a deal." 
Ken's anger was still apparent in his tone.

	"Helped with what?" Guile pressed the query.

	"None of your business. If you want to know, you're asking the wrong guy. 
It isn't my secret to tell." Ken hit the end button on the phone, shutting 
off the communication. A moment later, he began to punch in Sakura's home 
number. Hopefully she wouldn't have left for school yet.

************

	Sakura had just managed to relax once more when the phone rang again. She 
found it quicker this time, and snapped off a curt, "Hello" to whomever was 
on the other end.

	"Sakura? It's Ken. I just thought you may want to know I just received a 
call from my soon to be brother in law. He works for Interpol. Tried asking 
questions about you and your friends. It's most likely connected with the 
Bison incident."

	Sakura stared at the receiver a moment in disbelief. Was the shadow of that 
incident never going to leave? "Thanks for telling me. I'll keep up my 
guard."

	"Oh, and I don't think he knows about the cards. I'm still not entirely 
sure if you're keeping it a secret or not, but I didn't tell him."

	Sakura blinked. "I'm not keeping it a secret?"

	A pause. "Well, if you are, you aren't doing a very good job of it..."

************

	Guile sighed and put down the phone. He tapped his pen lightly on the desk 
as he thought, 'Well...that was a bust.'

	The phone rang, but Guile just let it ring. He mulled over the short 
conversation he had with Ken, trying to pick out any facts that may have 
been spilled. The only thing he'd gleaned was that there was some secret. 
Which wasn't really anything new to him.

	The answering machine finally picked up, and Chun-Li's voice rang out. 
"Guile, I've finished up here with the kid. He said something rather 
confusing..."

	Guile quickly picked up the phone. "Yeah?"

	"Said something about Sakura being the reincarnation of his sister. Does 
that make any sense to you?"

	Guile quickly located Touya's file on his desk. "I've got no mention of a 
sister anywhere in his file. Touya was firstborn and a single child. Mother 
never conceived again before she passed away. Father never got remarried. An 
illegitimate child perhaps?"

	"I don't see how Touya would know then. He obviously had no knowledge when 
he first encountered Sakura, and his father has been incommunicado for quite 
a while now."

	"I didn't get much from Ken, but he did confirm what we already knew. 
There's some sort of secret and he's in on it...but I don't think we'll get 
any more out of him. It may be worthwhile to check out the most suspicious 
of the three." Guile grabbed a folder off his desk, and opened it.

	"Yes. Tomoyo Amamiya. Not only is she currently operating under a false 
name, but she seems to have a past connection with Syaoran Li. And according 
to this report, she seems to have taken up the false name to pursue Sakura 
Kusagano for some unknown reason. It's likely that if Shadowloo has their 
sights set on Sakura, they'd keep her under consistent surveillance."

	"Bison does seem to like playing with little girls...and how better to keep 
her under watch than with someone close?" Guile finished.

************

	Sakura stayed seated in her chair as the lunch period begun, not wanting to 
have to hobble about on one foot yet again. She'd had notes passed up to 
Tomoyo and Li, asking them to stick around for lunch. Their classmates 
filled out of the room, only a few lingering behind, on the opposite side of 
the room, leaving Sakura in the clear to discuss the morning's happenings.

	Li approached first, and took a seat far enough from Sakura to make 
conversation (at least at a low volume) impossible. Sakura tapped her pen on 
her desk impatiently, watching at Tomoyo talked to another two of her 
classmates. Sakura sighed quietly, again feeling the pangs of connection 
between them. Her eyes darted over to Li with a look of jealousy, but she 
brought them under control quickly.

	Sakura found herself slipping deep into thought about Tomoyo. What was it 
about her that was so...attractive? Sakura didn't think she was gay or 
anything...but there was an undeniable something that drew her in. In a 
situation like this, it would have been normal for her to turn to her best 
friend for advice...but Tomoyo was her best friend.

	Sakura pondered a moment, realizing her feelings for Tomoyo almost mimicked 
those she had felt for Touya, the first time they'd met. After finding out 
that she was her brother though...it became much too weird to harbor such 
feelings. So she'd boxed them off, hoping to eventually get rid of them 
entirely. And then she remembered another incident, a couple of years ago...

************

	Sakura (now at the tender age of 14 and a half) found herself practically 
bouncing from shop to shop along the street ahead of her classmates, 
giggling at all the cute things she spied through the windows, finally 
settling at a shop named 'Twin Bells' and entering.

	"Hello!" Sakura called out cheerfully.

	"Welcome!" replied the almost equally enthusiastic shopkeeper, Maki 
Matsumoto.

	"Got anything new in stock?" Sakura asked of her favorite shopkeeper.

	Maki pulled Sakura off to the side and began showing her all the new (and 
cute) things she'd picked up over the last week.

	"Sakura's a bit...odd." One of the classmates accompanying her said.

	"But in some ways...she's just like a girl." Another classmate finished.

	"Now if she'd only stop acting so boyish in everything else." A third 
stated.

	"It's all that Karin's fault." The first classmate said, "She keeps 
encouraging Sakura by challenging her."

	"It's probably just some sort of phase, this fighting of hers." A fourth 
chimed in.

	"Certainly a way to work out that abundance of energy she has." The second 
said, watching Sakura chatter excitedly with Maki.

	A loud crash from outside interrupted their conversation. Sakura ran over. 
"What's going on?" She asked.

	She got her answer a moment later when a white gi clad warrior blasted 
through the shop window. The girls all screamed, except for Sakura. She was 
oddly fascinated by the man laying in front of her. There was an 
undeniable...connection between them. She dropped to her knees, barely 
noticing the glass cutting into her skin. "Are you ok?" She asked of the 
prone man.

	His eyes snapped open and he tried to sit up. Sakura panicked slightly. 
"Hey! Mister! You shouldn't move so suddenly! You're hurt!"

	Sakura heard another crash as more glass was broken. Her gaze swept upwards 
to behold an impressively large man with an equally impressive amount of 
chest hair. His body was riddled with faded scars, indicating just how many 
fights he'd been in. His face was twisted in a snarl, his full beard and 
moustache not hiding his rage.

	"Ryu! Come! We finish this! I crush you!" The brutish man spoke in broken 
English. Sakura understood enough to figure out that the man lying before 
her was named Ryu, and that these two were in the middle of a fight. 
Sakura's adrenaline began to pump.

	"Leave him alone!" Sakura yelled out, also in English.

	Sakura's classmates gasped. "Sakura! Don't do it!" One yelled.

	"Ha ha ha ha! Little girl want to play? The great Zangief does not play 
with little girls!" Zangief's laughter echoed loudly in the shop.

	Sakura jumped to her feet and moved to block the prone man. "Ha!" She 
yelled out, putting all the force she could muster into her fist and 
launching it at Zangief's midsection. He caught it easily.

	"Little girl should pay more attention. Zangief not want to play." Zangief 
picked Sakura up and tossed her towards the back of the shop. She hit a 
shelf with a loud thud, and hit the ground almost as hard. The shelf toppled 
on top of her.

	Sakura found she was pinned, hurt, and plenty dizzy. She'd never, ever 
taken a hit this bad. Sakura began to black out, thoughts of never fighting 
again if she survived this floating about in her head.

	"That's the last straw." A man's voice rang out, pulling Sakura from the 
darkness. She looked up from the awkward angle she lay at to see the man, 
Ryu, laying punch after punch into the big man's stomach. Zangief tried to 
swipe Ryu away unsuccessfully. Ryu jumped back and cupped his hands. Blue 
sparks began to light up around his hands, before blazing into a full ball 
of bluish energy which he wasted little time in flinging at Zangief. Zangief 
caught the full brunt of the energy ball and flew back through the window, 
landing a few meters away, not getting up again.

	Ryu calmly walked towards Sakura and pulled up the bookshelf with ease. He 
looked Sakura over quickly. "Your leg is broken. And you've probably got a 
concussion. Call an ambulance." The last statement was directed at Maki. She 
rushed into the back room to use the phone.

	"What do you think you were doing? That was a dangerous situation!" Ryu 
admonished Sakura.

	"Sa...sa..saving you..." Sakura panted out.

	"I don't need saving." Ryu stated with a bit of an edge to his tone, making 
Sakura believe he really didn't.

	"Wh...wha...what was that...that thing...you did?"

	"Thing?" Ryu asked.

	"The blue thing..."

	"It's a technique that allows me to gather my fighting aura and concentrate 
it into a projectile." Ryu told her.

	"Can...can I do it?" Sakura wheezed.

	"It took me years of training for me to be able to do it. And it's not even 
perfected yet."

	Sakura laughed but quickly launched into a coughing fit. "I'm going to do 
it."

	Ryu's eyebrows rose, revealing he was slightly surprised. "You...you are 
serious."

	Sakura said nothing, the look in her eyes relaying her intent.

	Ryu searched her eyes, as if taking a good look deep into her soul. "I get 
this feeling of great things to come from you, Sakura. Don't disappoint me."

	Sakura's consciousness was slipping away again at this point. "Yes..." She 
whispered before the blackness overtook her.

************

	After that incident, Sakura had spent dozens of hours surfing the internet 
for any and all information on Ryu. She'd dedicated much of her life to what 
had once been only a diversion to her. She'd become the fighter Ryu had 
inspired her to become. But that wasn't the point of her reminiscing this 
time. She recalled the feeling of a connection with Ryu, those short years 
ago. Then she compared it to the feeling she had from Touya. And again with 
the feeling she had from Tomoyo. And wondered.

	"Sakura!" Tomoyo was trying to get her attention. Sakura put her thoughts 
on the sideline for the moment.

	"Sakura! What did you want to talk about?" Tomoyo inquired.

	Sakura glanced sideways towards Li, checking to make sure he was listening 
before launching into her own version of the morning's events.

	"So?" Li said, upon the finish of Sakura's story.

	Sakura's eye twitched. "This involves you too. Dummy."

	Li glared at Sakura angrily. "What was that?"

	Tomoyo insert herself between the quarreling pair. "This is no time to 
fight. We need to stick together on this. Or don't you remember that you 
need Sakura to seal the cards? She can't do that from jail."

	Li grumbled, but nodded in understanding.

	"Right. So we'll need to come up with some sort of plan. We don't know what 
it is they want, so we need to play this carefully. Syaoran, Sakura, lets 
meet up after school. Stick together. Then we should be ready if any 
situations arise."

	Sakura nodded. "Sounds like the thing to do. We could go to an ice cream 
parlor or something. It'll be fun if we didn't have to deal with this 
looming threat."

	The bell chimed for the end of lunch, and Li walked back to his seat. 
Tomoyo hung back for a moment and whispered to Sakura. "I've got something 
to tell you too. But it'll have to wait till school's out."

	Sakura nodded in acknowledgement then diverted her attention to the clock.

************

	"Wait here please." The maid that had brought Guile and Chun-Li in from the 
doors motioned to a set of armchairs before turning around and leaving the 
two alone.

	Guile whistled. "This place is huge. Makes me wonder why the kid would ever 
want to leave."

	Chun-Li jabbed Guile in the side. "We aren't here to gawk. We're here to 
work."

	Their attention was drawn to the doorway as a slightly red-faced Sonomi 
Amamiya ran in. "Welcome to my home! I trust you found the place easily 
enough?" She ordered the maid to bring tea as she composed herself.

	Guile nodded. "When we spoke on the phone, I told you I wanted to ask some 
questions about your daughter. You are fully aware of her whereabouts, I 
assume?"

	Sonomi nodded as she took a seat opposite the duo. "Oh yes. I paid a visit 
to her recently."

	"May I inquire as to what about?"

	"Well, I'd heard so much about her friend that I just thought I should meet 
her." Sonomi replied.

	"You'd never met her before then?"

	"Not that I can remember. Tomoyo's been friends with her since they were 
young though." Sonomi swept up the teacup that had been laid before her and 
hugged it. "She said the girl was Nadeshiko's daughter. Which was a bit odd, 
because she never had a daughter...but Tomoyo was insistent. I always had 
just assumed that she'd concocted some invisible friend..."

	Guile raised his eyebrows and glanced at Chun-Li. She seemed to be 
pondering this new piece of information. "And the reason your daughter 
left?"

	"Well, she'd been in a bit of a depression for years, practically since 
she'd turned 11. But then, one day a couple of years ago, she came home and 
insisted she'd found her friend. She was much happier after that day, and so 
when she asked for my permission to pursue her, I let her go. I didn't want 
to see her slide into depression again."

	"And so she changed her name and began living a new life away from home, 
all to pursue Sakura Kusagano? Why?"

	"I never really figured that out myself. She was giving up her life here, 
with family, all to go after this one girl. I thought it may have been 
love," Guile nearly spit out his tea when Sonomi said this, "at first, but 
she's got herself a boyfriend there. Maybe it has to do with all those 
videos she collects?"

	Guile arched an eyebrow again. "Videos?"

	Sonomi nodded. "She'd never let me watch what was on those videos, but the 
maid that kept her room clean said that the videos were labeled with the 
name Sakura Kinomoto, and a date."

	"Why not watch the videos?"

	Sonomi threw Guile an angry glance. "It's about privacy. I felt the tapes 
weren't really harmful in any way, so I let her keep them. She'd always seem 
to perk up a bit after watching them."

	"Do you still have the tapes?"

	Sonomi shook her head. "When Tomoyo left, she took them with her. Though I 
heard she doesn't keep them in the house she boards in. So I wouldn't even 
know where to look."

	"One last question Ms. Amamiya. Has your daughter ever told you of any 
strange incidents surrounding herself, her boyfriend, or Sakura?"

	Sonomi shook her head again. "Not that I can remember at the moment."

	Guile handed her a card. "Phone me if you do. And thank you for your time."

	Sonomi had the maid show the two out. They walked slowly over to their car, 
mulling over the information they'd gleaned from her. Chun-Li was the first 
to speak.

	"Sakura...Kinomoto. Again, we've been told Touya has a sister. Was Tomoyo 
the one to convince him he did? And if so, how? And why?"

	"We've got another clue to follow at least. We have to find these videos. 
>From the way they were described, they could very well be surveillance 
tapes. Who knows how many there are." Guile stated.

	"Might have a lead on that already." Chun-Li said, shuffling through the 
folder on Tomoyo. "Says here she rents a house under the name Yuriko 
Tokumei. Why rent a house when she's boarding with another family?"

************

	Chun-Li stepped out of the car, followed by Guile after he shut off the 
engine. A quick glance about the area was telling of how the grounds hadn't 
been maintained in years. The grass was long, weeds poked up everywhere, and 
the gate in front of the house hung loose. The house itself didn't look much 
better. Most of the windows were broken, the front door seemed to be 
missing. Paint peeled from everywhere, and the roof had a gaping hole in it. 
The house didn't seem habitable in the slightest.

	"Well, that would explain why she doesn't live here." Guile stated, 
hammering the obvious home.

	Chun-Li said nothing, but walked up the path to the run down house. 
Footprints in the dirt around her told her the house had seen people 
recently, but she also knew of the affinity of kids for finding 'cool' 
places to hang out. The footprints told her nothing of Tomoyo's involvement 
with the house.

	Carefully testing the floorboards to make sure they weren't rotted through, 
she stepped inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the hall, if the 
fact it wasn't in a state of semi-decay was to be considered normal. A quick 
scan of the kitchen revealed the same thing. Chun-Li motioned for Guile to 
go upstairs. She went down.

	Chun-Li made her way down the stairs slowly, making sure the stairs weren't 
rotted. They weren't. She'd safely made it down. She brought a flashlight 
out of her bag, the light streaming in from outside having outlived its 
usefulness. She turned it on, and scanned the room. It was a small room, the 
boiler off to once side, a pile of discarded beer cans and dinners on the 
other. Seeing nothing of real interest, Chun-Li turned to walk back up the 
stairs when she noticed the door underneath them.

	Chun-Li moved to the door quickly, and yanked the doorknob. It was locked. 
A quick check revealed the lock and door had been installed much more 
recently than anything else in the house. "Guile?" She called out, "I think 
I found it."

	A barely audible reply came from above, and Guile appeared within the 
minute.

	"This door doesn't fit with the rest of the decor. Plus it's locked. That's 
always a dead giveaway."

	"Stand back." Guile ordered before delivering a kick to the door. It flew 
inwards, off its hinges, hit the opposite wall, and fell down the revealed 
staircase.

	"You didn't have to do it so violently." Chun-Li pointed out.

	Guile ignored her. "I'm going in first."

	Chun-Li followed.

************

	Rose walked up to the familiar apartment complex and rang the buzzer. A 
static broken voice replied with a, "Hello?"

	"Guy, it's Rose. We need to talk."

	Guy didn't respond for a moment. "Sure. Come on up."

	"Thank you." Rose said, and slipped in through the doors.

************

	The stairs seemed to go down for quite a long while, but soon enough the 
two were close enough to the bottom to hear sobbing. "Think that's her?" 
Guile whispered to Chun-Li.

	"Couldn't be. She was confirmed at the school today."

	Guile pondered a moment. "Hostage situation?"

	"We'll find out if you keep moving." Chun-Li prodded Guile.

	Guile quickly made his way down the remainder of the stairs and cautiously 
opened the door at the bottom. He was greeted with the sight of a well 
furnished room with a large screen TV taking up one entire wall, a four 
point surround sound system, and a shelf on the opposite wall filled with 
tapes. He walked over to inspect them, while Chun-Li moved further inwards 
to find the source of the crying.

	The tapes were all labeled as Sonomi had described them. Sakura Kinomoto, 
dates ranging for years on end until about 6 years ago. Then, they picked up 
again, labeled with Sakura Kusagano about 1 and a half years ago. Mixed in 
with the most recent bunch were tapes labeled Syaoran Li. Guile took note 
that one of the earlier tapes was not in place on the shelf.

	"Guile!" Chun-Li called to get his attention.

	"Hmm?" He hmmed as he walked over to where Chun-Li was standing.

	"It's a kid. Can't be more than 8. She was the one who was crying." Chun-Li 
almost looked on the verge of tears herself. Guile recalled how much she 
loved kids.

	Guile frowned a moment, before realizing that he might be scaring the kid 
and forced a happier look onto his face. "Hey. Kid. What's your name?" He 
asked as gently as he could.

	The kid sniffled a bit before replying. "Sora."

	"Why were you crying?"

	Sora sniffed again. "My sister told me to stay here. But I got lonely."

	Guile raised his eyebrows once more and sighed. He was getting surprised 
far too often today. "Your sister...?"

	Sora nodded. "She told me that I was supposed to deliver something to two 
people from the police."

	Guile nearly did a double take. How would anyone know they were coming 
here? He shot a glance at Chun-Li, but she looked every bit as confused. 
"And what is it you're supposed to give us?" He asked, after a moment.

	Sora reached beside her and pulled up a remote. "This," she said as she 
pressed the play button.

	Guile and Chun-Li whirled to the TV, where they were greeted with some 
strange images of a little girl battling a giant dragon. "Wha...wha...what 
is this?" Guile stuttered.

	"Your gift." Sora calmly stated. An itch in their backs was the last thing 
Guile and Chun-Li felt before they passed out.

************

	"You need me to what?" Guy asked again.

	"Just use Libra to solve the conflict between the two cards residing inside 
me. It isn't that difficult a task." Rose stated.

	Guy nodded. "Well, I'd think so, but Libra seems hesitant."

	"Oh? And why is that?" Rose inquired.

	Guy shut his eyes for a moment. "Libra says it's kind of like a ten year 
old telling the emperor what to do."

	"Oh." Rose was quiet for a minute before clutching at her gut and falling 
to the floor. A wave of blackness overtook her. Next thing she knew, Guy was 
calling out her name and had her propped up in his arms. "How long was I 
out?" She found herself asking.

	"Close to five minutes." Guy relayed.

	Rose sat up. "Not so long this time. I was lucky."

	"That was lucky?" Guy asked unbelievingly.

	"I've been out for hours before. This is why I desperately need your help." 
Rose said, almost pleadingly.

	Guy shut his eyes for a moment once more. "Fine. I've gotten Libra to agree 
to help out. But she wants to warn you that there may be consequences."

	"Whatever it is, it cannot possibly be as bad as this. And if it is, I'll 
just have to deal with it too." To Rose, it sounded quite logical.

	Guy lay Rose down on the floor. "Hold still a minute." He ordered before 
laying down himself. His eyes closed and an aura flared around him. Rose 
knew that the card had manifested itself.

	"There is still time. Time to choose." A disembodied voice whispered into 
her ear.

	"Do it." Rose commanded.

	Rose noted a glow rising from within herself. And suddenly, she was 
spiraling away into unconsciousness, somehow aware that Light and Dark were 
manifesting...

************

	Sakura grumbled about her ankle and slumped across the table. "You'd think 
that I'd heal faster than this. I've healed faster from much worse."

	Tomoyo smiled cheerfully, as usual. "Look on the bright side, Sakura. If a 
problem arises, you can have the day off."

	Sakura shot a glance at Tomoyo. "So Li can get another leg up on me? No 
thanks."

	"I'm smarter, stronger, and all around better than you. I'd call that a leg 
up already." Li deadpanned.

	A vein visibly twitched in Sakura's forehead. "What was that?"

	"Well look. Here comes a waitress. Let's order some ice cream." Tomoyo cut 
in nervously.

	And so, less than five minutes later, Sakura was still slumped across the 
table, only with a half empty milkshake on the table beside her. "So what do 
we do next? We can't sit here forever." Sakura pointed out.

	Li's face took on a pensive look. "Well, as loath as I am to suggest it, 
you are the injured one, and so we should probably take you back to your 
home. We can figure out something else to do from there."

	Sakura sat up. "You know that if I had the choice, you wouldn't come?"

	"I think you've made that abundantly clear." Li retorted.

	"And with that, I think I'll hit the washroom. Tomoyo, do you mind helping 
me out?" Sakura asked, thinking of the trouble she'd have hobbling to the 
toilets by herself.

	Tomoyo nodded and glanced at Li for a moment, as if making sure her 
decision was the correct one. "Let's go, Sakura."

************

	Sakura leaned upon her friend's shoulder once more as they exited the 
washroom, chatting about a funny event that took place last week at the 
Dodon Gym.

	"...so then Dan does a 1080 flip from a standing position. I don't even 
think I can do that. It must be all that rolling he..."

	"SAKURA!" Tomoyo's panicked voice broke Sakura from her story.

	"What? What is it?" Sakura looked about frantically.

	Tomoyo pointed to where they had been sitting. "Syaoran isn't here anymore. 
In fact..."

	Sakura's gaze swept the ice-cream parlor. "...there isn't anyone here." 
Sakura finished for her friend.

	Tomoyo and Sakura hurried outside as fast as they could and looked about. 
No cars could be seen driving the streets. No people walking. No sound. 
Period.

	"Clow Card?" Tomoyo asked.

	Sakura nodded. "Has to be."

	"But which one would be able to do this? I'd think...maybe silent...except 
you've already caught that one." Tomoyo spent a moment thinking of what she 
knew of the cards. "You haven't caught Float yet...maybe everyone floated 
away?"

	Sakura shuddered at the thought. "That would be bad, wouldn't it?"

	Tomoyo nodded. "Yes. Yes it would."

	Sakura pulled the key from her pocket and chanted the incantation to 
transform it into its staff form. "Fly!" She invoked, and soon she and 
Tomoyo had taken off.

	"I don't see anyone at all." Tomoyo relayed grimly as they zipped past 
their seventh intersection. "It's like they all...vanished."

	"Maybe we should get higher?" It wasn't a question meant to be answered 
though, as Sakura gained altitude anyways.

	Tomoyo kept looking around. "Still don't see anyone. Try getting a bit 
higher!"

	Sakura willed them higher...and they collided with what felt like an 
invisible wall. Tomoyo tumbled off the staff as the magic faded with 
Sakura's concentration.

	Sakura had to act fast. She whipped out her cards and shuffled through 
them, picking out two to use in this situation. "Watery! Freeze!"

	Watery took off first, leaving behind a trail of water for Freeze to work 
with. They had quickly created an impromptu slide of ice. Tomoyo hit first, 
landing awkwardly, but she slid down easily enough. Sakura hit the slide 
feet first, reigniting the pain in her ankle, and causing her to pitch over 
the side. An errant hand was all that saved her from taking the fall, and 
she pulled herself back on top.

	Sakura clutched her ankle in pain as she touched down at the bottom of the 
slide for a moment, before remembering to check up on Tomoyo. "Are you ok?"

	Tomoyo helped Sakura up to her feet. "I think I'm going to develop a rather 
big bruise, but I'm alright. Was it just me, or did we hit a wall up there?"

	Sakura nodded. "That was some sort of wall alright. What card could do 
that?"

	Tomoyo snapped her fingers. "Of course!"

	Sakura gave her partner an unbelieving stare. "You don't know, do you?"

	Tomoyo smiled. "Not at all."

	Sakura facepalmed.

************

	Sakura and Tomoyo had wandered around for another half hour, trying to find 
some sign of life. They only thing they found was a growing feeling of 
unease in their guts.

	"Sakura...I know we haven't seen anyone in ages...but...I get the feeling 
someone is following us." Tomoyo sounded more nervous than Sakura could ever 
recall hearing her.

	Sakura nodded. "I feel it too...but I haven't spotted anyone. We'll just 
have to wait for him to come out in the open. One thing's for sure 
though...whoever it is probably has the card that started this mess."

	They trudged on quietly for another minute before Sakura suggested they 
stop and take a rest. She'd had Tomoyo on her mind when suggesting it, but 
it was as much for herself. Sakura's ankle had swelled up to a greater 
degree than before. She hated to admit it, but a hospital stay looked more 
and more likely by the minute. If they ever got to a hospital with people in 
it that is.

	"Sakura...I think we've been here before." Tomoyo's gaze swept about, but 
fixed on a certain location. Sakura followed her gaze...and spotted the 
ice-cream parlor they'd walked away from a long time ago.

	"...If I didn't know any better, I'd think this was Loop's work." Sakura 
sighed.

	Tomoyo snapped her fingers again. "Of course!"

	Sakura gave Tomoyo another unbelieving state. "You still don't know, do 
you?"

	Tomoyo smiled. "It has to be Maze."

	Sakura's frown turned upside-down. "Tomoyo! You're a genius! We're getting 
dragged about in circles because it's a maze!"

	Tomoyo's smile faded. "That doesn't explain what happened to the people 
though."

	Sakura's own smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Oh."

	"Sakura!" Tomoyo cried out, pointing into the shadows.

	Sakura's gaze followed her finger just in time to catch...a fist in the 
face. The man in the shadows had finally made his move. Sakura's arms 
flailed wildly as she fell backwards, and caught on something in the man's 
possession. She took a quick glance at what she'd snagged. Dog tags. The man 
who was attacking them was affiliated with the army.

	"Tomoyo! Catch!" She flung the tags to Tomoyo and rolled to the side to 
avoid another blow.

	Tomoyo looked to the tags herself. "There's a serial number, and a name! 
Charlie!"

	Sakura grinned as she pulled herself up against a tree, bracing for battle. 
"Charlie. We don't have to do this, you know. Just calm down and explain why 
you...wah!" Sakura was cut off as she was forced to roll away. Charlie's 
punch shattered the tree...and it disappeared.

	Tomoyo gasped. "Sakura! I think I figured it out!"

	Sakura rolled out of the way of a kick, and then barely rolled back the 
other way to avoid a punch. "Great. What is it?"

	Tomoyo yelled a warning to Sakura, which caused her to roll a third time 
before relaying what she'd figured out. "There must be two cards. And the 
second is Create!"

	Sakura quickly crawled over to another tree. "Great, so we're stuck in a 
maze made up of a fake Tokyo? Why do I always get stuck with cliches?"

	Charlie put up his guard, confusing Sakura for a moment. But then the 
reasoning became clear. With a cry of "Sonic Boom!" a rotating disk of air 
flew towards Sakura, pulping the tree she was trying to climb up on.

	"Eep." Sakura eeped.

	"Sakura! You've got to stop thinking that you can fight him! Use your 
cards!" Tomoyo advised.

	"Oh. Right. Forgot about those." Sakura grinned sheepishly. She rummaged 
around in her pack and pulled out the first card she found her hand on. 
Quickly, she brought out her staff and intoned "Wave!" Charlie brought up 
his guard again, obviously intending to strike with another Sonic Boom. But 
a rumbling noise proved to be a distraction. He whirled around...only to 
catch a face full of water from a nearby fountain which swept him off his 
feet and smashed him into the wall.

	Sakura invoked the power of Move to get to Charlie's side in an instant, 
where she chanted the now familiar sealing words and brought her staff 
down...only to have nothing happen.

	"Sakura! He must not be the one with the card! He has to be a creation!" 
Tomoyo yelled out.

	Sakura quickly invoked Move once more as Charlie took a swipe at where she 
used to be. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know."

	"Sometimes, the objective of a maze is to try and find your way to what's 
in the middle, rather than to simply find your way out." Tomoyo told Sakura, 
as it was something she didn't know.

	"So...maybe if I beat this guy, we'll have completed the maze?" Sakura 
inquired.

	"Hmm...maybe not." Tomoyo showed off her camera. "But I'll be able to take 
plenty of great video."

	Sakura once again found herself wondering where Tomoyo had been hiding that 
camera...A cry of Sonic Boom caused Sakura to invoke the Shield card.

	"If this guy is just a creation, why not use one of your attack cards to 
wipe him out?" Tomoyo suggested.

	"Good thinking." Sakura rummaged around in her pack and pulled out what 
would hopefully be the last card she required. Dropping Shield, she threw 
out the card and brought the staff down on it with a cry of "Thunder!" 
Needless to say, within moments, Charlie was extra crispy before he 
disappeared completely.

	"Ok...so what now?" Sakura found herself asking. And, as cliches would have 
it, reality began to twist a moment later. "I hate hate hate hate hate hate 
hate it when I do that!" Sakura mentally kicked herself for saying the one 
line nobody should say.

	A moment later though, and it was done. Sakura and Tomoyo found themselves 
standing in one of the toilet stalls. They could faintly hear Li's voice as 
he pounded on the door to the ladies room.

	"Sakura! We've got to seal the cards before the maze reforms!" Tomoyo 
warned.

	"But where is it?" Sakura asked, turning her senses outwards. She moved out 
the stall quickly and pointed to another at the end of the row. "There!" She 
quickly punched the door in and spied a slumbering pair. "Ugh! They're down 
and out! I can't seal them like this!" Sakura kicked the man (which wasn't 
the best of ideas and sent another wave of pain through her ankle) who 
looked similarly to Charlie in the ribs before she shook the female awake.

	"Ow...what...where?" Guile sat up slowly, clutching his side before 
recognizing Sakura. "Ah! Sakura Kusagano! You're under arrest!"

	Sakura ignored him, and began to chant. "Return to the form you were 
destined to be! Clow Card!" Sakura made sure to bop him on the head with the 
staff. The card formed in her hand quickly. Create. Which meant...

	"Oh! I've got such a headache! Where...?" Chun-Li never finished before the 
card was drawn out of her too. Maze.

	Sakura quickly exited the stall with her new possessions. Well, as quickly 
as one could with only one useful leg. Guile was to his feet faster and he 
clamped a powerful arm down on Sakura's shoulder. "I said you are under 
arrest. If you resist, I'll have to get violent. Now what is it you just 
did?"

	Chun-Li was next to emerge from the stall and she quickly caught Tomoyo. 
"You're under arrest too. On charges of...what? What am I doing here?"

	Guile looked confused as well and let go of Sakura's shoulder. "What was I 
doing just now? How did I get here?"

	Sakura and Tomoyo shot each other odd glances. What was going on?

	The answer to the puzzle came from the door to the washroom, where Li held 
up Erase with a smug look on his face. He motioned for Sakura and Tomoyo to 
get out fast. Once they exited, Li invoked the power of Erase once last 
time, making sure Guile and Chun-Li forgot they'd just seen the two in the 
washroom.

	"So...those were the guys after us all along?" Sakura asked, as she finally 
put two and two together.

	Tomoyo nodded. "Why else would they try to arrest us?"

	Sakura looked glum. "Never did find out why. Guess we still got to keep on 
our toes."

	Li whistled a happy tune. "Well...I kinda erased their memories of the past 
day or so. Safer for us, I suppose. Though if they were suspicious before 
that...we may still be in trouble."

	Sakura facepalmed. "So we get another twinkish ending?"

	Kero nodded seriously. "I'm glad I could help save the day though."

	Sakura slapped the non-helpful magical plushie out of the way. "Don't just 
show up and take credit for our work."

************

       Rose awoke with a splitting headache and an empty feeling in her gut. 
She looked about, wondering why she felt like something was missing...before 
her eyes widened in shock and she screamed.

       Guy rushed into the room and Rose grabbed him by his collar. "Where 
is she!"

       Guy tried to loosen Rose's grip. "Libra warned you there could be 
consequences."

       Rose growled. "Where's Dark?"

************

	"Oh? So you're back. It's about time. We're almost finished with the 
preparations. Tell me everything you've learned of the Captor." Bison 
shifted in his throne and grinned evilly.

*****************
LEAVE IT TO KERO!
*****************

Kero: Hey-hey-hoo!

Kero: Welcome to today's segment of the way too popular to not have its own 
syndicated television show in the year 2005 Leave It To Kero! We have an 
extra special treat for you! Well...actually...it's just some 
exposition...so let's get right to it!

Kero pulls out a sock puppet that looks vaguely like a sock.

Kero-sock: Well, in today's installment, Guile and Chun-Li make an 
investigation into the backgrounds of Sakura and Tomoyo. Of course, the 
author has twinkishly erased their memories, so they don't recall any of it! 
But the readers do! So let's recap!

Kero pulls out another sock puppet which (shock!) looks like a sock.

Sakura-sock: I'm Sakura! I'm actually the reincarnation of Touya's sister! 
Tomoyo's obsessed with me! I'm obsessed with Touya! I'm obsessed with 
Tomoyo! I'm obsessed with Ryu! I've got the worst luck in the world!

Kero puts down Sakura-sock and pulls out another sock...which could be the 
same sock. They look too similar to tell.

Tomoyo-sock: I'm obsessed with Sakura...but maybe not so much anymore...I've 
also somehow got my video collection intact! Don't ask me how! I also have 
the shocking ability to have my video camera ready at any time!

Kero puts the sock away, and picks up another sock. This one is a different 
color...but still...it's a sock.

Li-sock: I like making fun of Sakura...that's about it.

Kero puts down the sock.

Kero-sock: I can't help but feel we've forgotten something important...some 
sort of character that never showed up...

A sock puppet Karin (yes, you can tell it was Karin) hops up and bitch 
laughs.

Karin-sock: How could anyone forget me! The heiress to Kanzuki Industries! 
Sakura's most deadly and beautiful rival! Ohohoho!

The camera shatters under the sonic assault.

************

*************************
LEAVE IT TO AUTHOR NOTES!
*************************

Welcome to another popular edition of my author notes! Well...ok...so they 
aren't popular...but they're getting there!

Getting the factual info out of the way first, since we aren't adhering to 
strict SFA3 storyline, Charlie is gone, who knows where. Guile, his best 
friend, continues to look for him. He manifests as a subconscious use of 
Create in the story...which only shows how deep their bond is. Yuriko's last 
name was revealed back in part #7 as being Tokumei. Similarly, I wrote back 
in part #24 that Tomoyo's last name was now Amamiya with Sonomi's divorce 
from her husband. Most of the info gathered by Guile and Chun-Li can easily 
be found by looking back at numerous previous parts. As for the tapes...I 
remembered something got mentioned about them still existing, but I couldn't 
find which part it was in...hopefully I didn't completely screw over 
continuity. But then, continuity's been screwed over in BitS plenty of times 
before...

The executive decision to bring Bison back into the story was the brainchild 
of myself and Jon Berry, who, as I write this, is diligently typing away at 
the next part. See, BitS has been dead in the water for some time, so we've 
gotten together to at least see the story up to Judgement. If it finishes 
there, I'll be happy. If it continues...well, we're doing our best to wrap 
up some of the more outstanding storylines.

Speaking of Jon Berry, I have to both thank him, and apologize profusely. 
First I'd like to apologize. The exact day (and a few minutes before) I 
received confirmation of my sign up for the queue, I received Jon Berry's 
80K BitS #28 piece he was planning on submitting pending an edit. That made 
me feel like quite the heel. So I delayed the start of my own piece till I 
could hammer out something that worked. And it turns out, that between the 
two of us, we hammered out quite a bit more. So...that's where the thanks 
part comes in. Jon Berry's a heck of a go to guy for ideas. And he knows his 
CCS and SF stuff, which is always a plus.

Now, some may be groaning and moaning about how every time I try to 
collaborate on a storyline, something strange and unusual comes about 
because of it. I also realize I tend to do it a lot with BitS. But then, I 
care a lot about the story, and hope that everyone I work with cares a lot 
about it too. Some readers may not have enjoyed the direction taken...but I 
stick by most of my writing and ideas (What was I on when I wrote BitS #13, 
I wonder?). This'll be the fourth time (out of five) that I've written a 
collaborative storyline with somebody else, and I get the feeling that it 
will be the finest. If it isn't...Jon Berry will eat my hat. :P

One last thanks has to go to Ardweden for putting up with me for so long 
after my extension ran out. I was forced to take a short trip out to Ottawa 
whilst I was up. Did I mention how much I loath that town? And thus, it 
becomes time to wrap up my notes, which turned out to be more rant than 
note. Till next time Impro readers. And keep looking to the skis. I mean 
skies.

P.S. That was the end of what I'd written exactly one week ago with the 
hopes of submitting this piece. Then, just before I could, I was hit with 
net problems. Then sickness. Oy. So anyways. I need to thank Jex for reading 
this over at what was at the time the last minute. I took your suggestions 
and tried to run with them, but I didn't come up with anything decent before 
I was stricken with my problems. But thanks anyways. Big thanks will have to 
be lavished upon Ardweden, who I'm assuming will be posting this even if it 
is two weeks overdue.

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 (Revised date: see above paragraph.)
(This makes 16 pieces for Impro. Can't believe I didn't timestamp my last 
BitS part.)

************