Sakura Kinomoto whimpered and held on for her life. There was a small little path that crossed a bridge deep in the woods, with a cute little stream under it. Normally it would have been a soft, nice place for people to walk through on their walks. Except it was freezing so most people were avoiding such places. On top of that, there was a small hint of magic in the air.
Which led to why Sakura was hanging onto what remained of the bridge, what little there was. The remains of the wood was underfoot, quickly decaying inside the miasma of mist that hung over the water, rapidly decaying everything underneath. Kero was trapped in a small cage of the wood, trying to break free. 'SAKURA!" and her wand was laying, just out of reach...
Jiaying Maki is out in the countryside mostly by sheer luck. She had been chasing down an interesting rumor she'd heard. Something about a local kamaitachi, something she wants to meet to see if they really are as mean as they're supposed to be! Either it's moved on or it didn't exist though. She's taken to wearing a long cloth coat and scarf with her hoodie and comfy pants. The hint of magic, that gets her attention quickly enough though.
That's about when she hears someone shouting. Good ears help here and she starts to sprint towards the source, not worrying too much about being seen out in the middle of nowhere. She can lie out of it anyway. Or just play dumb. Seeing the girl hanging there, she says something sharply in Chinese and it looks like her shadow grows longer, then darts away. There's a hint of laughter from a girl. She really hopes that the girl doesn't panic at what she's planning. Sliding to a stop before the bridge, she offers her hand out while her other hand seems anchored to... something. There seems to be pale green mist behind her. What, the girl is learning that others find ghosts creepy!
Sakura Kinomoto looked up and then her eyes went wide. "Jia-san!" she said, letting out a happy sigh of relief. "I'm happy to see you!" She reached for the hand... then the wood snapped and she slipped down. She screamed, grabbing another bit of wood, her gloves the ojnly thing saving her froma handful of slivers. "No no no no!"
"Sakura, don't fall in! The mist card disolves everything it touchs!"
"I'm trying not to!" she shrieked, kicking out as the mist below swirled. When more pieces of wood fell in they began to almost instntly rot and disolve...
Jiaying Maki looks around quickly as Sakura falls, then scowls, "Hey uh-... Kinomoto, I'm going to help, but you uh-" fumbling for a moment, hiding it by muttering in Chinese, she eventually says, "Hold tight!" and stands up, drawing a slip of paper and burning a spell into it. Not a real one mind, but as she's chanting, the mist behind her coalesces into what looks like a traditional monk wearing a fox mask. The figure floats inches above the ground, moving to try and grab Sakura while Jia says, "This is a guardian, she'll help." While reaching out to grab Sakura's wand, having seen the events of the tower.
Finally, Jia herself is standing there in case she needs to do more, at the ready in case the mist gets... does it get aggressive? She has no idea. There is a moment where hse realizes she should let the small thing out of the cage though so that it can fend for itself. This one's easy! She pulls a real spell tag, a small explosion breaking some of the cage's bars. She's quietly very glad she has the control for that, she wasn't entirely sure!
Sakura Kinomoto shrieked and fell! And then, the ghost caught her. She let out a sigh of relief as she was hauled up and back onto steady ground. She then gave Jia the biggest hug, holding onto her tightly. "Oh thank you Jia-san! Thank you! I thought I was going to die!" She really keeps almost falling to her death. It had to stop.
Kero flew out, free at least. "Okay, Sakura. You need to wrap it up!"
"r-right!" She drew out the windy card and paused, before smiling to Jia. "Do you have anything that would help as well?" Well, there was a lot of mist. At least it was just the one card this time, not four.
Jiaying Maki leans out over the edge, looking into the mist. Tilting her head curiously she asks, "Is it like... what, ghosts? Errant magic?" She draws the mist away from Meifeng, the ghost laughing once more before disappearing back into Jia's shadow as she probes out with the green mist, wondering just what happens when you poke magic with magic. This may not be the best idea. "If it's supernatural I might be able to try and contain it to an area. Maybe some wind magic to blow it around? But the stuffed animal there said it was corrosive right?"
Leaning just a touch further forward, a hand reaches out from her shadow to grab her, anchoring her. She reaches into her sleeves and flips out a few tags, infusing them with magic to make them hover before her. "Just let me know what you need."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded. "It's the mist card. It... makes a mist?"
Kero sighed. "The mist card is HIGHLY corrosive. It can be controlled, of course. it was mostly used to quickly degrade metals and other such materials. But it's out of control and degrading EVERYTHING!"
Sakura nodded. "Well, it is a mist so... wind!" She said with a nod. "Let's try to gather it up and bind it as best we can, okay? Windy! Work with Jia-san's magic and bind the mist up into one area!" The windy card flew out, swirling tightly around all of the mists.
Jiaying Maki touches her hands to the outer two charms, inscribing each with a slightly different inscription. If Sakura's quick on reading, she might recognize some of the hanzi used in their kanji counterparts, though the rest is probably incomprehensible. Finishing her work, she grabs each charm and throws them towards the encroaching and dangerous mist, the charms releasing a sharp wind in a confined area! It's a bit on the crude side, but it should work for now, right?
Looking to the emerging card, it's given a confused look from the fox girl. "You keep ghosts too?" Hrk, "Uh, guardians?" That works. Right, focus! She draws more charms, once more setting them out before her supported on her own green mist, hoping she doesn't need to continue to improvise!
Sakura Kinomoto paused then. "What? No! They're spirits! They're... not ghosts." She gave a shudder. The mists were gathered up into a tight ball and she lifted her wand. "Return to your true form! Clow card!" she yelled. The orb of mist swirled and then was gathered up into a small card, which flew to Sakura's hands. She let out a sigh of relief, before grinning down at it. "I did it! another one down!" And another hug for Jia and... then she reached up and scritched her fox ears if they were there. "Tank you Jia-san! You keep saving me!":
Jiaying Maki tilts her head and asks, "They're spirits?" While once more reaching out with a form of magic she is quite familiar with, trying to push what she thinks is a mist... spirit? Under her control. It's probably beyond her grasp as a spirit even, but hey if it really is she might be able to help a touch more!
Of course, this is all right before it's sucked into a card. Leaning back to look at the card curiously, she reaches out to poke it with a finger to see how magical it feels. She was about to say something when her ears are scritched. To her credit, she doesn't scowl. "How many of those are there anyway?" There's a hint of laughter from behind Jia and a string of Chinese is rambled out. Jia's tail frazzles, then she quickly scoops it up and smooths it out. "It was uh, pure luck." She hesitates and adds, "How did it happen? I mean what are you doing all the way out here?"
Sakura Kinomoto nodded. "Yup! Clow Reed sealed them! And there's fifty-two of them, according to Kero-chan. I have managed to capture sixteen of them," she said with a sigh. "It's a bit overwhelming but..."
"It's only been a few weeks, Sakura, you're making great progress."
She preened at the compliment. "It's not my magic, though. You can summon spirits all on your own, Right Jia-san? That's really amazing!"
Jiaying Maki rubs the back of her head and says, "I don't summon them. Meifeng there is a polte-spirit that has been with me since I was little in Taiwan." She looks over her shoulder, trying to keep an eye on the poltergeist while adding, "I can control spirits theoretically, but I don't like to unless I have to." there's a beat, "And if I have the power for it. I need to practice more- or find my mother so she can teach me again."
Tapping her foot, the name gets a curious tilt of her head, "What kind of name is Clow anyway?" Beat, "I uh, I've never heard of him though." Shifting from foot to foot though while asking, "I bet you do have some kind of magic in there. You wouldn't be able to use them without it right?"
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, crossing her arms and looking towards them. "Well, I think they're really cute. You must be really powerful! And, err, clow was--"
"Clow was the most powerful mage in the history of the world!" Kero said, flying into her face. "If you haven't heard of him, you must not have studied the great mages of history very well."
Sakura sighed, then nodded. "yes. I ummm, I have enough magic to activate them. But it's clow's magic that fuels them." Even though clow had passed on centuries ago...
Jiaying Maki looks at the floating fuzzball and reaches up to poke it. "Never heard of him, I only barely know who Merlin is. I do know of Zhang Jiao and others though." SHe shrugs, crossing her arms, "Besides, was it ever tested!?" she's not sure why she's even defending other sorcerers, she doesn't know any other than her mother and herself. Maybe it's the approach!
She looks to Sakura after though, the after image of a ghostly girl making faces at Kero briefly visible. There's also a few teasing statements asked in Chinese. Old Chinese at that. "Huh, artifacts then? I wonder if others can activate them, because that seems like it could get messy with... the sorts that are around sometimes."
Sakura Kinomoto took out her pen and slowly wrote on them. Kero shook his head. "Once Sakura has signed her name on them, they are sealed under her command. Only she or I could activate them, or at least someone she gave access to. The sealing wand is required to do it and only Sakura can use the wand."
Sakura shrugged. "I ummm... I mostly just follow what he says. He's the expert on all of it." She couldn't help feeling a little uneasy. Did she... see something?
Kero snroted. "Merlin was good and all, but he didn't hold a candle to Clow Reed. Clow Reed was a master of both western AND eastern magic. Merlin could only do western."
Jiaying Maki shrugs and says, "If you say so! I've never met the guy, or heard of him still!" She then pulls a face at the flying critter. "Doesn't matter, it's past tense right? But really, does it matter? She's controlling the cards now and.... they're kind of dangerous actually." She scowls, looking between the two, "How do you track the cards? That's why you're all the way out here right? I can maybe help out. If these things are this dangerous, local spirits and uh..." she's muttering to herself, "You call yaoguai yokai out here right?" She scowls, "I should know that." beat, "But the only other one I know is the dumb one." Her head tilts to the side and she sighs. "I can see if they notice anything maybe so we can protect them too."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded. "Yeah. They aren't... all dangerous. I mean, some are dangerous but... I think a lot of them are just scared or confused," Sakura said softly, looking down at the card. "They're really nice, once you get to know them. And... I can sense them. When they activate. A little. Kero-chan is a lot better at it, but I can sense them just a little bit and they're... really amazing," she said with a little sigh. "If you could, I'd like that. A lot of them are harmless, though. Some are really dangerous, though."
Jiaying Maki sighs and runs her fingers through her hair, quietly discussing something in Chinese with an unseen force. She appears to actually receive a response too! Her shadow elongates and bends funny, then the feeling is gone. "Kero-chan?" she asks, completely confused. Then again, she was just talking to a ghost so... it's probably mutual!
Turning to face the flying teddy bear, she asks curiously, "Do you know which ones will be dangerous? I'd rather not find out a little tanuthingy was hurt right?" What, she knows some things, but she's got her own names for things! .... The tanuki in a comic was cute. That's the only thing she's got there.
Kero nodded. "Yes, I do." Pause. "I've just... forgot."
Sakura sighed. "He does that a lot..."
"HEY! There are a LOT of cards! And it was hundreds of years ago! and a lot of the cards I only saw once or twice. Listen, the big ones, the dangerous ones, are fire, earth and water. Windy is a domain card as well, but she's gentle. Those three, on the other hand, can be deadly."
Jiaying Maki gives Kero a flat look and says, "I guess that makes things less certain. I'll... try to keep an ear out for it." The one in question even twitches! She crouches down, leaning over to look at the bridge and asks, "Think we should tell someone about this or just hope they find it before someone needs it?"
She sighs, "I'll find a way to call them. Or I could post it on a board somewhere." She fishes her phone out and snaps a picture before glancing over to the other two. "I think I've heard of that band before. Old one right? Any others you can remember being dangerous?" While making a mental note to watch for flooding, fires and earth...quakes. Well, maybe she'll figure it out.
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, then sighed. "I just keep destroying bridges. First that one I wiped out with windy, then this one. This isn't going to be a running theme, is it Kero-chan? Do the cards hate bridges?"
"No, but they aren't fond of ships. Float gets jealous." He then looked to Jia and hummed. "Time, I suppose. Though it's not so much dangerous as... well... if you start noticing time distortions, days resetting, things like that. That's likely cause by the time card."
Jiaying Maki stands up, brushing herself off, "So if I start noticing the same things happening day in and out, I shouldn't look for a weird guy with white hair?" She makes a face like she appreciates the joke at least. "It kind of sounds like if I find unknown magical things acting strangely, that I should probably assume it's a card if another yaokai can't figure out what it is?" there's a beat as she murmurs, "Because I don't always know." A quick shake of her head then she stops and leans forward to get a better look at Sakura, "You weren't hurt right? Kind of got distracted checking on that."
Sakura Kinomoto shook her head, smiling. "Nope! Thank you! I would have really, really been hurt if not for you. I owe you so much," she said with a soft little sigh. "I've been saved so many times during these cards. I really am sorry for being such a bother to you, Jia-san. If my magic was stronger without the wand, I probably wouldn't need to be saved every time."
"Sakura, you've handled a few cards on your own," Kero said, patting her back. "Besides, the cards are a lot stronger than I expected. It's all the magic in the air these days, I think."
Jiaying Maki brushes herself off again, then smiles to Sakura and nods, "Great great." She pauses, then pulls out a slip of paper from her sleeves and using the same trick she uses with spells, burns her phone number into the paper and offers it over to the younger girl. "Please call for help if you're looking for one of these again. If I hadn't been here- or someone else." She pauses, "Any of us would have helped, even-" she stops herself then smiles. "Just ask for help!"
Listening quietly after, she nods briefly, "There is a lot of magic in the air lately- a lot of weirdness going on in general. It seems focused here too. That's the weird part."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, smiling and taking the number. She quickly added it to her phone. "I will. I ummm... I need to meet with you later, actually. I uhhh, I made you a gift. After you helped me, last time. For... everything. So uhhh... I just wanted to say thank you. Next time I see you, do you like chocolate chip cookies?"
Jiaying Maki holds her hands up and says, "I don't need anything in return. I like helping, really. Even if I whine sometimes." She flicks her ears back a touch, looking embarassed. Then there's the mention of chocolate. "I uh-" tapping her fingers together she laughs, "I'm allergic to chocolate. We think. Never wanted to risk it honestly. I know my mom is though." There's more in an undertone, "My girlfriend was disappointed to find out too."
Sakura Kinomoto gasped. She stared at the girl as if she might start crying. Then she nodded. "How about apple creme puffs? can you eat those? Daddy said he'd teach me how to make them next, t-though I don't know how good they'll be b-but I'll try my best for you, okay?"
Jiaying Maki holds her hands up and says, "I'm sorry! Turns out foxes are allergic to a lot of the same things dogs are! And we never wanted to find out if I took more after my mom or my dad for those allergies!" She points to her ears and huffs, arms crossed. Then kind of relaxes and adds, "I'm not allergic to apples though. Probably allergic to grapes though funny enough. Something in them and raisins right? It's such a pain. Maybe one of these days I"ll find out for sure."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded. "Ohhh! You're actually part fox? Is..." Then blinked. "Wait, how does that work? I didn't think people could have kids with animals..."
"Magic, Sakura."
"Oh, right. Magic is funny like that." Then grinned and reached up, petting her ears. "You're absolutely the cutest fox girl ever, though!" she said happily, grinning up at her.
Jiaying Maki looks between the two of them, then back to Sakura and asks, "Did... you think I was wearing a costume?" looking completely confused. "I uh... yes I'm part fox, huli jing. We're magical sorts. My mother that is and-" she holds her hands up, "I am too. I mean I am a magical fox right?" She looks down while adding, "Not that I can turn into one yet. It's harder than you'd think. I wonder if it's because- well. Anyway! Thank you?" She sounds surprised at the comment. Usually she hears about the other one first! It's nice!
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, grinning. "I-I thought it was your magical girl transformation, thing! There are so many magical girls. I didn't know you were ACTUALLY a magical fox girl! It's just so cute," she said happily, still petting the ears. She absolutely adored those ears. "And if you ever need any help, too, let me know! I-I'm getting a lot stronger! Before long I... I might even finally be able to help all of you other girls, even against the... the scary things you all fight!"
Jiaying Maki shakes her head and looks around before holding her hands out and clapping her hands together. The mist that had been lingering around her converges on herself, disguising both her tail and ears. She reaches up and tugs at the invisible ear and says, "I go the other way. I hide myself as part of that change thing." There's a beat before she adds, "It is the weirdest thing really. I mean the transformation thing, that's so weird isn't it?" She shrugs.
"There's boys too you know. K-S... uh. He kicks soccer balls, you'll recognize him when you see him. I've forgotten his name- the one that he'd want you to know for that sort of thing." She grins before adding, "But yes yes, if I think you can help, I'll call- I just don't uh. Be careful. I'd feel bad if you followed me into doing something stupid." Like being lit on fire agian.
Sakura Kinomoto nodded. "Oh, I know! I met the prince! and ummmm, a few others. Oh, and Sky Jack-sempai! He was really nice and said he'd help to teach me how to better use my powers, too! I'm also learning and training with Spark-sensei! She's really strong and smart, she understands all of this magic way, way better than I do."
She sighed contently. "I can't believe how many friends I've made since all this started. all of you are just so amazing. And all this magic was here, all along!"
Jiaying Maki snaps her fingers and says, "Sky Jack, that's it. That's a weird name." Says the Chinese girl. She rubs the back of her head and says, "I know... Spark-Sensei? I know who she is I think. Never considered calling her shifu though." She shrugs and smiles. "But uh, I can help out too. I need a training partner anyway, so it may be a good idea!"
Glancing around the forest she nods, "It is kind of neat what kind of magical things are out there, I know back home that was all I knew. It's weirdb eing around so many normal people."
Sakura Kinomoto gasped, nodding. "Wait, back home there... there's nothing BUT magical people? Thats so weird! Amazing, but weird!" she stared with wide eyed wonder and amazement. "I bet your home is an amazing place with all kinds of strange things! cna... can you tell me about it?"
Jiaying Maki considers quietly and says, "Well I mean, supernatural things? I don't know. Meifeng was a ghost that haunted my house." And she's already forgotten she was pretending she was a guardian spirit. Oops. "Uh, auntie- I don't know what auntie was. She was the one that used to patch me up when I did stupid things." There's a beat and she mutters, "Or when they put spicy stuff on the furniture."
She huffs at the memory then stops and asks, "What do you want to know? It wasn't that different to here, other than I didn't have to hide and it was... less fight-y?"
Sakura Kinomoto squeaked, her eyes goin g wide in fear. "There... there were... g-ghosts?" she asked frightfully. "A-a-as in... actual ghosts? Real ghosts? Living... t-there? With you?" She was hugging herself and shaking. Oh dear, seems she had a pretty big fear right there. "B-but there aren't any here, right? No... no ghosts? Right? Please?"
Jiaying Maki looks around and says, "Well not here, no." 'not anymore' she adds in Chinese. Well, she pegged that one right. "Uh, not all of them are bad. A lot of them are just lonely." She shrugs and shifts from foot to foot, not adding that some of that loneliness can get pretty bad. She sighs and asks, "So you took the magic in stride, giant freezing lightning storms, but ghosts are where you draw the line?" She sounds bemused!
Sakura Kinomoto eeped and then blushed. "W-well, y-yes! I mean, I can do something with and about magic! But I can't do anything about ghosts. Ghosts are... well, they're ghosts! I can't even affect them, let alone stop them! But the cards are easy. They're often just frightened and need to be take care of. And then they become my friend!"
Jiaying Maki points over her shoulder and says, "Most of them, if they can affect you, you can affec them with magic I can... well, let's uh-" she stumbles for a moment. "They're not as bad as you'd think. If you see any, definitely call me though. I like helping them move on. I don't know if there are any guardians here or the uh shikishiki things, but it's nice to help."
Sakura Kinomoto shuddered and shook her head, giving a whimper. "I-I've never, ever seen any ghosts b-but I'm terrified I might one day," she whispered softly, giving a fearful squeak. "I-I don't want to have to fight ghosts," she whined.
Kero nodded. "Fortunately, I haven't felt the presence of any ghosts at all, so I'm sure there's none to worry about."
Jiaying Maki looks to Kero and tilts her head, offering him a curious look, "You can sense them huh? How good are your senses anyway?" She's giving him a pointed look, like she's actually testing him, what with the fact that she had one with her up until a moment ago!
She reaches out to ruffle Sakura's hair and says, "Really, they're not so bad, you shouldn't worry about them. They're not nearly as creepy as some of th-... they're not so bad I promise."
Kero smirked. "I'm the guardian beast of the cards, of course I can sense them." He couldn't sense them. "Sure, I may not be at full power now, but I'm still far stronger than your average guardian." No he wasn't.
She nodded, before smiling. "Thanks. I guess... some spirits wouldn't be so bad. If they were nice... I don't think my mom's ghost would be mean..."
Jiaying Maki looks at Kero leans forward and asks in an undertone, "Are you sure you haven't sensed any in the area?" A curious look as she leans back, offering him a toothy grin. She then looks back to Sakura quickly and says, "Most aren't, though some linger when they shouldn't and some linger for... good reasons? I know that Meifeng was angry over h-" She stops quickly and rocks back on her feet.
"I uh, a lot of them can be nice though yeah, yeah!" Crossing her arms she looks to Kero, "What other guardians do you know of?" A curious question. There's a flick of her invisible ears and she scooches closer and hugs Sakura, "I uh, my mom's sealed away somewhere. It's not quite the same, but hugs are nice when you think about it."
Sakura Kinomoto blinked and then hugged her back, nodding. "Mmmm hmmm... yeah. I... I know she's up in heaven now, though. So... so I don't mind. I know she's not here," she said with a grin. "Because... because daddy takes good care of my and makes sure we're all happy, so she never, ever has to worry!"
Kero shrugged. "Nope, no ghosts at all. Why? And I know a few but that's really a guardians know only kind of thing."
Jiaying Maki looks to Kero and says dryly, "You can't sense a single one can you?" she says this in an undertone again, trying to avoid mentioning that she had one without hiding that she had one! She's starting to think this might be a stupid idea too though. She squeezes Sakura gently and says, "I'm glad you're doing alright at least." before stepping back, suddenly looking like she's trying to be prim and proper again.
Looking to Sakura, she asks, "What are the others training you in anyway? Just what, general magic?" quickly moving on. She has to stay stoic and cool!
Kero blinked, then glared. "How dare you! My magic is extremely powerful, little kid, and were I at full power you'd be amazed at what I am capable of!"
Sakura chuckled. "Oh Kero-chan, she's just playing. And... well, no. For now I'm learning how to use the cards more effectively. And Spark-sensei is teaching me how to fight with a weapon. I even managed to manifest the physical form of one of the cards, for a few seconds!"
That made kero pause. "YOU DID WHAT?!" he yelled, making her cringe.
"I-I manifested a card? Flower?"
"Sakura, do you have any idea how hard that is? You actually did it? Your magic should be nowhere near that level at this point!"
She blushed. "I-it was only for a second, though..."
"The fact you did it at all, even for a second, is amazing! Something like that should have knocked you out!"
"I did fall asleep right after... eh heh..."
Jiaying Maki begins laughing and says, "How dare I? You miss things right in front of you!" She stifles the laughter after, realizing she shouldn't be teasing him with Sakura right there. What, nice kids bring out the less teasing side of her! Then there's the exclamation from him and she asks, "What's the physical whatsit?" Sounding mroe than a touch confused. She shrugs and steps back, letting her magic fade away finally, what with no one being around to question her.
"What weapon? I uh... well I know long form kung fu, I know that I should learn a dadao or a guan dao, but that is kind of a pain right? I need to focus on my magic more. I've uh, stopped leaking magic at least. Is leaking the right word? I didn't control it well."
Sakura Kinomoto looked confused, before holding up her wand. "Ummmm, this. It's incredibly powerful."
Kero nodded. "Exactly. the wand was created by Clow Reed. It would take a magical power of incredible force to even scratch it. It can even block the sword card, and the sword card can cut through anything."
"I'm not any good at real fighting yet, though..."
Jiaying Maki drums her fingers on her crossed arms and thinks, then grins. "Well, I know I offered kung fu lessons to Naru, but right now I only really practice with Meifeng, which is uh, not easy and Sora. I don't know if you'd like it though. You're welcome to come though?" She shrugs and adds, "But if you want to practice magic things, I"d be more than happy. Especially since Sora uh, can't."
Sakura Kinomoto blinked a little bit and looked to Kero. Then, slowly, she nodded. "I... I'd like that. I need to learn all i can to... to help. I mean, everyone is working so hard to help me. So I can ummm... catch the cards. So... I... i want to become strong enough that I can help protect everyone..."
Jiaying Maki nods and says, "I know there are better fighters out there, they may be able to do that side of things." She shrugs, "I mean I uh, I'm not trying to scare you off, I'm just not that great myself sadly." She's stronger than she thinks, but she's so sloppy! Which is pretty easy to see.
Tapping her foot on ground a few times she smiles, "But uh, sure. Just call me if you want to come along or practice."
Sakura Kinomoto nodded and then gave her one last hug. "Thank you! It really means a lot and... thanks for saving me! I'd better go find my daddy! He's probably wondering where I ran off too! Bye bye!" she'd yell before running off.