Sakura Li

From CardCaptor Sakura

Sakura Li, formerly known as Princess Sakura, is a protagonist in Clamp's crossover series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Tsubasa Chronicle. Her character is similar only in looks and personality to her Cardcaptor Sakura counterpart. Tsubasa Chronicle takes on a new story with new histories for each of its characters.

She also appears in another Clamp title xxxHolic and briefly cameos in chapters 7, 8, 133, 136, 137, 140, 145, and 146.

Contents 1 Story 2 Journey 2.1 Rebirth 3 Sakura in xxxHolic 4 References

[edit] Story

At the start of the series in both manga and anime, Sakura is the princess of the Kingdom of Clow who has feelings for Syaoran, her childhood friend.

When she is about to confess her feelings, a mysterious force causes her own dormant magical powers to manifest in the form of feathered wings. When her feathers are scattered across time and space, Syaoran vows to recover all of them because each feather represents a memory Sakura has had since birth and are connected to her heart; without the feathers, she will die.

Fei-Wong Reed (the mysterious villain in the series) reflects on the ability of people like the High Priest Yukito, Princess Tomoyo of Nihon, and Yūko to cross dimensions and comments that the power concealed within Sakura and the ruins in Clow Country surpasses them all.

A relationship between Sakura, Kimihiro Watanuki (to whom she shares a birthday) and Kohane Tsuyuri has been hinted at, in a similar way to Syaoran's relationship to Watanuki.

[edit] Journey

In order to cross dimensions, Sakura must pay Yūko the thing most important to her and she pays Yūko in an indirect way but her price is pretty much the same as Syaoran - her memories of him. When she awakes in the Hanshin Republic the first person she sees is Syaoran, but she does not remember anything about him, asking "Who are you?"

At times, such as in Ōuto, Sakura comes extremely close to remembering Syaoran but it is quickly erased once more from her memory. Syaoran, having known this would happen previously, will never tell her anything about their previous relationship. At most, all Sakura knows about Syaoran is what she has relearned from the adventures together with Mokona, Fay, and Kurogane, although she knows she knew him previously and he was very important to her. It is also clear that she is falling in love with him once more.

Sakura possesses unnaturally good luck; both Chun Hyang and Yūko call her "a favored daughter of the gods". This is what allowed her to travel dimensions safely until Yūko asks for her good luck as a price. According to Yukito and Syaoran, Sakura also has the ability to "hear" the voices of those who cannot be heard, such as spirits of nature, and to see ghosts. Such as the time in the Country of Jade, she can see Princess Emeraude while others couldn't. She can also see the future in visions, though this ability is unreliable and nothing she has control over.

In the anime, at some points when she is asleep, she will unknowingly go out and search for her feathers. She will seem to be awake, talking and interacting with others and her surroundings, yet is actually completely out of it, like she is unconsciously searching for her own feathers.

In Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle anime, Sakura's personality is passive and weary, exhausted from her loss of memories. However as the series goes on, she becomes stronger and more independent. Syaoran states, even though she's lost most of her memories, she'll never change. She helps the group whenever she can, whether it's washing dishes or saving their lives.

However in the manga, her personality undergoes a change after the clone Syaoran leaves her. As she voices to Fay, no matter how identical the two Syaorans may be, the real Syaoran is still not the one she knows. Subsequent chapters show Sakura with a much darker personality, and wearing gothic clothing.

In the Infinity Arc, the group spent a few months fighting in a tournament, supposedly wanting to use the prize money to restore a world the clone Syaoran destroyed. However, the truth is that she was after the real prize - a robot (who is identical to Freya from Chobits) who can let one person and one person alone travel across dimensions.

It is later revealed that Fay is under a curse that forces him to kill if he ever meets a person that is stronger than him. And in volume one, you can see that Yūko was not hit by the rain, nor did she touch any of the people directly; this was because she was in another dimension to prevent Fay's curse from being activated. But when Sakura receives two feathers in the Infinity Arc, she was made stronger than Fay's halved magic and so he stabbed her, seemingly possessed. Sakura had a vision that after killing her, he would go insane and kill everyone else, eventually committing suicide, but she used the robot to transport her soul to a dream world, thus saving herself and stopping Fay from going insane.

Later, it's revealed that she was not the original target of the curse, as the real Syaoran was. This is explained further in her appearance in xxxHolic; she changed the future so that Syaoran would not be killed. As she explains to Watanuki (Xxxholic chapter 140), her coldness to the real Syaoran was because she was trying to follow the dream as close as possible up to that near fatal event. It's later learned that Sakura can still be saved. The two places where her body and her soul went contains two feathers. Her soul went to the world of dreams, her body to Celes. So the real Syaoran, Fay, Mokona and Kurogane went to Celes Country to rescue the body of Sakura, as Kurogane said they'd get the body first; then the soul. Her body has recently been saved by the group. In chapter 173, Syaoran had gone to the dream world, to try to rescue Sakura. On the final page of this chapter (chapter 173), a hand is seen reaching out towards Sakura in the dream world. In chapter 145 of xxxHolic, while walking to school Watanuki suddenly falls into the dream world and sees the exact same thing. In chapter 146 of xxxHolic it is shown that the hand belongs to "Syaoran".

Syaoran, having already retrieved the feather Seishiro had, falls under attack from The Clone, who strikes without care for Sakura's wellbeing. It states it is to retrieve the feathers, no matter the circumstances despite Sakura's pleas for it to stop. The two battle, Syaoran summoning his Jian and The Clone summoning Hien. Syaoran encapsules Sakura in a protective wind barrier right away, and declares that he will personally destroy The Clone. As The Clone starts to overpower Syaoran, Sakura screams out his name in horror as he is surrounded by flames. She does not scream out "Syaoran-kun" though, which is what she called The Clone and Real Syaoran before this event. Instead, she screams out "Syaoran" without the suffix which indicates that she is very close to him. This could mean she thinks of him as a very close friend, or it may have a deeper meaning, such as her realizing he is the Original. She only called The Clone "Syaoran" without the -kun before she lost her memories.

When the Clone advances on her and the fallen Syaoran, she attempts to cradle and protect him, no longer being held back herself by Syaoran's protective spell. When the Clone demands she step aside, she only hugs him tighter and refuses to do so. In response, it stabs her in the shoulder. She weakly says "Syaoran-kun" in an attempt to reach out to him, but it falls on deaf ears as it moves to finish her off upon the orders of Fei Wong. However, it is subconsciously stopped by itself, just as Yūko comments that even if a heart loses its memories, they can still persist within the body.

Sakura then tries to convince The Clone not to kill Syaoran. She said something will end, that includes the Clone Syaoran and the herself. It isn't clear what that means. Syaoran then awakens.

As Syaoran and his Clone jump to deliver their last blows, Sakura interferes, getting stabbed at her heart by the Clone's Hien, even shocking the Clone. Syaoran calls out to her, but she tells him "Your Sakura isn't me" and dissolves into cherry blossom petals. In a flashback sequence, Fei Wang reveals to Xing Huo that Sakura up until now is in fact a clone herself, both body and soul.

From what the real Syaoran said when they were in Tokyo," What treasures *that* Sakura the most isn't 'my heart'! It's yours!" So Sakura had a feeling that the real Syaoran already knew she was a clone and the real Sakura is waiting for him.

Sakura then falls into the arms of the Clone, telling him "Even if we are just creations... we are the same... if those two (real Syaoran and Sakura) keep on living it won't end....I..love y..." and dissolves into cherry blossom petals. The Clone, still shocked, holds in his hand the last petal and screams. While Kyle steals Sakura's body, the real Syaoran manages to move out from the dream, falling flat on his face after Kyle's departure.

Fay confirms the clone Sakura's statement (in which she is made like the clone Syaoran, but a little differently) in explaining that Syaoran only had his body cloned, while Sakura had "both her body and heart" cloned. Yuuko explains further that if the clone Sakura would fail, Fei Wang could keep creating more clones, as long as he had the original (whether Sakura was a clone or not, the feathers would still respond to her). However, Yuuko comments that he is killing innocent lives, even though they are only creations. Though the clone Sakura seems to have died, the real Syaoran requests from Yuuko to grant him another wish for him to pay: the whereabouts of both Sakuras, in order to save them.

Sakura is next seen with Fei Wong, who reveals that Clow Country is actaully Tokyo, and the power beneath the Ruins is actually the feather Sakura left willingly in Tokyo. He proceeds to break the feather from the ground and gives it to sakura, activating a power Fei Wong claims will make the most basic law of the dimensions collapse - the law that the dead cannot live again.

[edit] Rebirth

The Clone Sakura's soul survived being destroyed and was sent by Yuuko into the dream world^[1]. Yuuko remarks that the Clones cannot die, but simply disappear. Yuuko then offers Sakura and Syaoran the chance to be 'reborn', with Yuuko paying Sakura's price to grant the wish^[2]. Yuuko remarks that the rebirth will not be the same as general reincarnation, and that Sakura and Syaoran will retain their memories. Syaoran and Sakura confess their love as Yuuko and Clow grant their wish to be reborn^[3]. Sakura and Syaoran are reborn into a different world, where Sakura becomes friends with Fuu, Hikaru and Umi (characters from another Clamp work, Magic Knight Rayearth). During a field trip to Hong Kong, she meets Syaoran again^[4]. The two would later marry, and in a bizzare twist, would become parents to the original Syaoran^[5].

Sakura had a vision in which she met Sakura Kinomoto, who gave her the Star Wand^[6]. Sakura Kinomoto tells her that the cards will still be there and “everything will surely be all right!” In this dream she also saw that Syaoran would meet with Sakura, and that in the end, Sakura and Syaoran would part ways, never to meet again^[7]. Sakura also implied meeting Syaoran Li as well. Sakura notes that it should not be possible for Syaoran to be their son.

Sakura paid Yuko the Star Wand given to her by her alternate self to allow her son to go to Clow Country. After Syaoran's wish to turn back time, Kimihiro Watanuki is created to replace Syaoran as the son of Sakura and Syaoran. Sakura and Syaoran had made Watanuki's appearance deliberately different from Syaoran's appearance. Despite Watanuki's belief that his parents are dead, Sakura and Syaoran are still alive, and had moved worlds. ^[8]

In Chapter 216 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Sakura and Syaoran's current location is finally revealed. They used their own power to rewind time to help their sons, and in doing so, were trapped in another world and unable to touch each other. This "other world" is the glass tube seen in Yuuko's shop (given to Yuuko by Toya and Yukito). At the end of this chapter, Yuuko breaks the glass tube and frees Sakura and Syaoran, who then appear beside Princess Sakura and "Syaoran" Li. She tells Watanuki, who appears inside that world briefly, not to worry before he returns to his world^[9].

Sakura and Syaoran use their own power to try to "clean" the feathers of the various worlds they had been to^[10], thus breaking Fei Wong's plan. Fai notes that if their power was this great, he should have sensed it, and wonders what kind of world the two were in. Mokona remarks that the two are dressed exactly the same as their son and Princess Sakura. A furious Fei Wong then attacks them. After learning the truth about the fate of the Clones, and of the death of Yuuko, Fei Wong seals Syaoran and Sakura inside the tube for a second time, vowing to kill them both once he finds the witch. However, both "Syaoran" and "Sakura" take hold of them, also being dragged inside the tube^[11].

Once inside, "Sakura" reveals that she saw the entire journey through the eyes of Sakura (much like "Syaoran" had with Syaoran), and the two then combine their strength to break free of the tube. However, after Fei Wong's death, Sakura vanishes^[12].

[edit] Sakura in xxxHolic

Sakura first appears in the manga in an unconscious state, held by Syaoran.^[13] She next appears when Watanuki's dream connects him to the world her "soul" resides in.^[14] She does this several more times, each time holding a short conversation with Watanuki. In one such conversation, she explains that she changed the future in such a way that Syaoran would not be stabbed and so that everyone would still live, including herself.^[15] An important occurrence in another dream is the emphasis put on Sakura's, Clone Syaoran's, and Watanuki's birthdays – they are all on April 1st.^[16] Clone Syaoran's birthday was not an actual birthday, although, it was just a birthday given to him by Sakura. Real Syaoran's birthday is also April 1st.

After the first of these meetings, Yuko tells Watanuki that if Sakura's soul is separated from her body too long, she will die.^[17]

She has also appeared in xxxHolic when Watanuki falls into the Dream world again, and a hand pops out behind of Sakura. The hand belonged to the real Syaoran, then another hand pops out and the cherry blossoms fluttering around are blocking Watanuki's view so he doesn't know who's hand that was (It actually belonged to the clone Syaoran). He then eventually went back to his world.

Although it wasn't intentional, one of Sakura's feathers ended up in the body of Kohane Tsuyuri, giving the young girl the power to exorcise ghosts. It was subsiquently removed from her as the price for a wish to Yuuko (she wished for happiness). However, as Yuuko noted herself, the time that Kohane received Sakura's feather and the time that the feathers were scattered doesn't match up, meaning that the time-space continuum is beginning to collapse.

[edit] References

1. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 219
2. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 220
3. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle chapter 221
4. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle chapter 222
5. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle chapter 223
6. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle chapter 217
7. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle chapter 224
8. ↑ xxxHolic chapter 170
9. ↑ xxxHolic chapter 177
10. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle chapter 218
11. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle chapter 227
12. ↑ Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle chapter 231
13. ↑ xxxHolic chapter 12, page 9 (tankoubon 1, chapter 8)
14. ↑ xxxHolic chapter 133
15. ↑ xxxHolic chapter 140
16. ↑ xxxHolic chapters 136-7
17. ↑ xxxHolic chapter 134

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Timeline of events
Media	Chapters · Episodes · Media information
Theme Songs	BLAZE • Loop • IT'S • A Jet Waiting For Wind • aerial • amrita • synchronicity • Last Fruit
Locations	Clow Country/Japan (Tokyo · Clow Country) · Celes · Nihon · Japan · Hanshin Republic · Koryo Country · Foggy World · Jade Country · Ōto Country · Edonis Country · Shara Country · Shura Country (Shara's past) · Piffle World · Rekord Country · Infinity · Dream World · Tomoeda
Main Characters	Syaoran Li · Sakura Li · Tsubasa Li · Princess Tsubasa · Kurogane · Fay D. Flourite · Mokona · Yūko · Watanuki · Fei Wong
Minor Characters	Xing Huo · Kyle Rondart · Tomoyo · Seishirō · Subaru · Kamui · Fūma · Fujitaka · Touya · Yukito · Clow Reed · Other characters

xxxHolic
Timeline of events
Media	Episodes
Theme Songs
Locations	Japan • Yūko's Shop • Dream World
Main Characters	Kimihiro Watanuki • Yūko Ichihara • Shizuka Dōmeki • Himawari Kunogi • Mokona Modoki • Kohane Tsuyuri
Minor Characters	Fei Wong Reed  · Clow Reed · "Syaoran" · Syaoran · Sakura