Rose Petals and Cherry Blossoms
A Shoujo Kakumei Utena/Card Captor Sakura crossover
By Ming-Ling (ming_ling@hotmail.com)
http://www.ming-ling.net/ccs/
All characters (c) their respective owners

Epilogue: And then...

	"What do you think will happen to the others?" Sakura asked Saionji as 
they sat in the living room of Touya's and Yukito's apartment. Kero-chan had 
fallen asleep on the table, his belly round with the number of jam tarts he had 
gobbled down. Yukito was in the kitchen making some more tea and Touya was 
staring idly out the window at the light snow that was falling.
	"I'm not sure," he answered truthfully. "The last time, when Utena and 
Anthy left, nothing happened." He paused to nibble on a jam tart and consider 
things. "But when we left, not only did the Castle of Eternity get destroyed and 
the Rose Platform but the rest of the school."
	"It... it did?"
	He nodded and saw in her face the worry she had for her friends and 
classmates.
	"I... well, if we came to the place you were from, then they must have 
gone to the places they were from before they entered the Academy."
	"I hope so," she said.
	"You know... about your Cards..."
	She looked at him.
	"Somehow, when I was fighting with Akio, I was protected by a shield."
	"The Shield Card? But I didn't..."
	He blinked. He thought she had.
	"I think," piped up a voice and they looked in surprise to see that Kero-
chan had woken up, "I think that I can explain this one."
	"Good," said Sakura, "Because I can't."
	"You see, some of the cards are made to complement each other. Like the 
Light Card and Dark Card - they're sisters. They're connected to each other. You 
can't use one without using the other. It is the same with the Sword Card and 
the Shield Card. They usually work as a pair, and when the Sword Card started to 
fail, the Shield Card took over."
	There was silence as everyone digested this information.
	"Well, Sakura-chan," said Yukito lightly as he set down several mugs of 
green tea and breaking the tension, "where are you going to college next 
semester?"
	"I..."
	He smiled, "And you too, Saionji-san."
	They stared at each other in surprise.
	Touya chuckled. "I'm sure you can transfer to another university," he said 
confidently. "Or you could be like me and skip a semester to take a break."
	"It's amazing you finished college at the rate you took breaks," Yukito 
joked.
	Touya mumbled something into his mug.
	"I wouldn't worry about it," Yukito chuckled. "We should all enjoy 
Christmas first."
	Sakura nodded eagerly.
	"By the way, Sakura," her brother remarked suddenly. "Dad mentioned he got 
a letter from Li the other day. He thought it was strange it would come to the 
house since Li had your school address."
	She paused. Saionji watched her out of the corner of his eye.
	"Okay," she replied. "Let's go see how dad's doing in that big old house 
all by himself."
*	*	*	*
	If he was surprised to see his daughter home so early or that a handsome 
young stranger accompanied her, he made no show of it. He gave her a big hug and 
shook the stranger's hands and then offered them some cookies. Then they sat 
down and Sakura gave her dad a highly edited account of what happened since she 
had been away.
	"Brother said you received a letter from Shaoran," she said after she had 
finished her story.
	"I did. Rather strange, since I was sure you gave him your school address. 
I figured since you were coming home so soon I would just hold on to it until 
you arrived." He got up, fished around in a drawer for a second, and pulled out 
a light green envelope. She took it and broke the seal, unfolding the paper and 
scanning through its contents.
	"Shaoran's coming to Japan to visit over his winter break," she announced. 
"He wants to see all his old high school friends."
	"That's nice. Which reminds me, Tomoyo should be back in town by next 
week."
	"He's bringing his fiancée with him."
	That surprised Fujitaka. He was suddenly full of fatherly concern, but 
Sakura took a deep breath and then looked up. Her eyes shimmered but were dry.
	"It's okay, dad," she said. "He'll always be my best friend from school. 
But I learned how to let go."
*	*	*	*
	He stood nervously in the mall, toying with his collar. "Are you sure you 
want me along?" he asked again.
	"Of course I do!" Sakura said, rolling her eyes at his foolishness. "Don't 
you want to meet the guy I keep talking about?"
	"Well, I..."
	"I'm just surprised Tomoyo isn't here yet. Although knowing her, she's 
lurking in the shadows waiting to video-tape us." And she glanced around at the 
decorative bushes as if seeking her friend.
	"Um, right," Saionji muttered to himself.
	"There he is!" she gasped suddenly.
	Several stores down two figures had emerged. One was a tall, good-looking 
man with broad shoulders. The other was a beautiful Chinese woman with a large 
smile on her face.
	"Sakura!" he waved to her.
	"Shaoran!" she waved back.
	He ran up to her and gave her a big hug. "It's been so long! How are you? 
Why didn't you answer my letters?"
	Saionji took an unobtrusive step back.
	"I'm sorry... I know I should have but at the time... I just didn't have 
the courage... But who is this pretty lady?"
	Shaoran blushed. "Sakura, I want you to meet... meet my fiancée. This is 
Mei-lin. Mei-lin, this is Sakura... my best friend since elementary school."
	If he had expected his fiancée to be jealous, he was immensely surprised 
when she grabbed Sakura's hand in a wild handshake. "It's so good to finally 
meet you!" she burbled enthusiastically. "Shaoran has told me so much about you 
that it feels like you're a sister or something! I know this probably sounds 
really brash of me but will you a bridesmaid? I mean, you've known Shaoran for 
years and years and it would just be so wonderful if you would!"
	Sakura was rather surprised at the sudden onslaught but took it in good 
humor. "I'd love to!" she said, her smile sincere.
	Shaoran let out a sigh he had been holding back. "Sakura, if I have to 
introduce Mei-lin then you have to introduce your friend as well."
	It was her turn to blush. "Oh! I'm sorry! This is Saionji Kyouichi, one of 
my good friends from college. Kyouichi-san, well... they've already been 
introduced, haven't they!"
	He chuckled as her happiness was contagious and shook their hands.
	The formalities over, Shaoran grabbed Sakura's wrist. "Can I talk with you 
in private?" he asked her.
	She blinked and glanced at the other two, then nodded. Together they made 
their way to the food court, leaving Saionji and Mei-lin at loose ends.
	"So," Saionji started. "How's the weather in Hong Kong this time of the 
year?"
*	*	*	*
	"Sakura..."
	She looked in his eyes. "What is it?"
	"Do... do you hate me?"
	She jerked back in surprise. "Why would you think that?" she gasped.
	"I mean... when you didn't answer my letters I thought... well, that you 
were done with me for good. And then Mother introduced me to Mei-lin and... 
she's not you but she's a wonderful person. She's not unfamiliar with magic 
either, and, well..."
	"You love her, don't you?"
	He nodded, looking down at the floor.
	"I'm so happy for you," she said softly.
	He looked up in surprise. "You..."
	She held his hands tightly. "Shaoran, you're my best friend. But I 
think... I think we've both moved on. That doesn't mean we can't still be best 
friends."
	"Then..."
	She gave him a light peck on the cheek. "Seeing you happy makes me happy 
too."
	"Are you happy?"
	She nodded instantly. "College life opened up a lot of opportunities. And 
you'll never guess what happened at Ohtori Academy." She smiled, "It's a long 
story. Maybe later I'll tell it all to you. You'd probably like it. I had to use 
the Cards again."
	"And that guy..."
	"Kyouichi-san helped me out a lot. He's a great guy to be with."
	His eyes caught hers. "Do you love him?"
	"I... I'm not sure."
	"Sakura..."
	"I don't quite know him well enough yet. But... he's a good friend. I 
wouldn't mind getting to know him better."
	Shaoran smiled. "Then I'm happy too."
*	*	*	*
	Saionji froze.
	Across the way, two young women were chatting to each other. They looked 
familiar.
	He ran after them.
	"Hey... wait!" blinked Mei-lin, watching him. "I... Oh well... I'll just 
wait until those other two get back..."
*	*	*	*
	"Anthy!"
	Her long purple hair swung elegantly as she looked up at him with her 
emerald eyes.
	"Saionji..." said her companion warningly.
	"Tenjou... what are you doing here?"
	"We came here after the World Revolution," answered the former Rose Bride.
	"You got contact lenses," he said, stating the obvious because of his 
surprise.
	She chuckled. "It's okay, Utena-san. This isn't Ohtori Academy."
	"I see you still wear your Rose Signet," remarked Utena.
	"I am? Oh, I am... habit, I think, to put it on every morning. As I see 
you do as well."
	"Utena-san, Saionji-san, please. This isn't going to get us anywhere. Can 
we at least sit down to talk?"
	"I guess so," mumbled Utena, running a hand through her short pink hair.
	They found an empty bench, no small feat in the busy mall. "And what are 
you doing here?" asked Utena.
	"You left us behind when you brought about your revolution," he answered. 
"For three years. But... well, to cut a long story short, we brought about the 
World Revolution and this time we... well, we sort of destroyed everything."
	"What!" gasped the two women.
	"And we ended up in Tokyo," he finished.
	"But who is this 'we'?" wondered Anthy. "Is the rest of the Student 
Council with you?"
	"What about Wakaba? Or the others?"
	He shrugged. "We don't know what happened to the others."
	"You didn't answer the first question."
	"There... there was a new rose bride," he replied. "She and I brought 
about the World Revolution."
	"New Rose Bride...?" murmured Anthy in shock.
	"Long story."
	"Saionji-san..."
	They looked at Anthy.
	"Do... do you still love me?"
	"Whoa... Anthy, you..."
	He stopped and looked at her. The former Rose Bride. The one he had first 
lost his heart to. He was surprised she had realized he was in love with her. 
Still... She was different now. He should have expected that, of course, for it 
had been more than three years... but she wasn't the one he had fallen in love 
with anymore.
	"You're a beautiful woman, Anthy," he finally replied. "But..."
	Utena had gone on the defensive.
	"You have someone else who loves you more."
*	*	*	*
	When Sakura and Shaoran returned to where Mei-lin was standing, gazing at 
some of the pretty ornaments in the window display, Sakura instantly started 
searching for Saionji. "Mei-lin-san... where did..."
	"He ran off suddenly."
	"To... to the bathroom, you mean?"
	"No, not like that," and Mei-lin giggled. Then, she added seriously, "He 
went after two women. One of them was really tall with short hair and blue eyes 
and the other was of average height and had purple hair and green eyes."
	That meant... Anthy?
	"I'll go look for him then," she said in a voice that was remarkably 
steady. "Wait here, okay?"
	Without waiting for their answer, she ran off to find him.
	What if he still loved Anthy?
*	*	*	*
	"Kyouichi-san? Kyouichi-san!"
	Saionji blinked. So did Utena and Anthy.
	"That..."
	"That would be the new Rose Bride," he explained. "Although she's not the 
Rose Bride anymore."
	"Kyouichi-san!" Sakura burst around the corner and nearly ran into Anthy.
	"Sakura..." He smiled as he stood up. "I want you to meet Tenjou Utena and 
Himemiya Anthy. They're also former students of Ohtori Academy."
	"Oh, uh, pleased to meet you!" she blurted out.
	They shook hands.
	Sakura wasn't about to let him off the hook, however. "Kyouichi-san, why 
did you run off like that?"
	He chuckled. "If you recognized people you haven't seen since high school 
wouldn't you have run off too?"
	"I..." She blushed, unable to answer.
	"I guess you finished your chat with your friend. If that's the case we 
should probably get going." He turned and nodded to the other two women. "It's 
good to see you again. I... I hope the other Student Council members are around 
somewhere too. Maybe we could have a class reunion sometime."
	"Maybe," remarked Utena as she stood up. "Shall we?" she asked Anthy.
	"Let's," she replied with a smile as she took her friend's hand.
	Sakura watched them walk off. "Kyouichi-san, that..."
	"If you can meet up with old friends, then so can I. But I'm getting 
hungry. Let's go find those friends of yours and get lunch."
	He took her hand and together they wandered through the mall to find their 
friends.
*	*	*	*

The End