"She's getting close," Ruby Moon observed, jumping down from the treetop she had perched on to give herself a better view. She didn't need it any more, now that Sakura had transformed yet another card and was now allowing her Star Wand to change back into a key. "Do you think she'll make it, Suppi?"

Spinel Sun gave her an exasperated glare, but didn't bother telling her not to use that nickname. He'd learned long since that it wasn't worth the effort. "She still has quite a few to go. There seems to be one in particular that she's avoiding and they're starting to get weaker."

"She's doing her best," Eriol told the pair gently. "We may need to pick up the pace, however."

"Can't we just give the cards a little extra energy?" Ruby suggested to Eriol. "Maybe it would help to buy her some more time."

"I'm afraid that's a bad idea," Eriol shook his head. "Its hard to tell what kind of an effect that might have on them, or how much more difficult it would make it for Sakura to transform them. Come on, we'd better get going. She did well for tonight."

Ruby Moon hesitated a few seconds longer as her companions began to leave, watching the children in the distance. Sakura looked so tired, Syaoran almost had to catch her to keep her from falling over. They had been working quite hard to make sure she managed to get all the cards transformed in time, but Ruby wasn't sure that was going to be enough. Her Master was usually right, but this was one time that she thought he should have listened to her. There were just some cards Sakura seemed to be neglecting, and Ruby would hate to see them lose their power! Since she had been created by Eriol, their magic was very similar, so perhaps she could just give them a little boost...

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"I'm so glad we were so close to your house!" Sakura sighed tiredly, drying off her hands while Tomoyo finished brushing her teeth. "I'm not sure I could have made it back home tonight."

"Me, too!" Tomoyo beamed, mouth still full of toothpaste foam. "Its been so long since we had a sleepover!" Sakura blushed a little as she remembered what had happened the last time, hoping Tomoyo wasn't doing the same thing. But when Tomoyo finished rinsing, she opened the cabinet under the sink, pulling out a half-empty package of diapers. "Are you sure you don't need these?"

"I'm sure!" Sakura insisted, turning even brighter red. "I captured that card a long time ago, and then I was fine!" That wasn't entirely true, of course, but since then she had gotten her bedwetting back under control! Mostly, at least! She certainly would have felt bad if she'd had an accident in the pink pajamas Tomoyo was letting her borrow, but she was pretty confident that wouldn't happen.

"All right," Tomoyo nodded. She stopped for a moment as she closed the cabinet, daydreaming briefly. "You looked so cute in them, though!"

"Tomoyo!" Sakura somehow found a way to blush even harder.

"Sorry!" Tomoyo apologized. "Come on, let's get you into bed!" Sakura was still feeling pretty exhausted, so she didn't protest as her best friend guided her back to her bedroom where a worried Kero was waiting and tucked her in. Within a couple minutes, she was out cold, Tomoyo smiling gently beside her as she watched over her a little longer before heading off to watch her footage of the night's adventure with Kero for a little while, then go to bed herself.

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Sakura wasn't sure how long she'd been out when she was woken up, but the sky outside was dark, and she didn't hear any sounds in the house with her. But something had woken her up, and it took a moment for her to recognize the feeling that had done it. She hadn't felt it in a long time, and even now it was a little different.

She could sense a Clow Card. Of course, she knew they were all right there, in her backpack, but this was different. This felt like it had back when she'd been capturing them in the first place, only, because she had done that, the feeling was much stronger. Strong enough to tell her that somehow the card, or cards rather, she was feeling were much further away than the rest.

Had she somehow dropped them on her way into Tomoyo's bedroom? She had been pretty tired! She wasn't sure if any of Tomoyo's maids had still been there when they arrived, but if so they would surely have picked them up by now! The good news was that they didn't feel very far away, so if the maids had found her cards, they had probably just put them in a drawer someplace.

Either way, it didn't feel like there was any danger there, just a misplaced card or two. There was no need to wake Kero or Tomoyo, both sleeping soundly, and she almost didn't bother to take her Star Key with her, but she grabbed it at the last moment before tip-toeing out into the vast hallways outside Tomoyo's bedroom.

Even though Tomoyo was her best friend, she hadn't spent much time in her house, and certainly not alone. Even in the time she'd been there, she was pretty sure she hadn't seen the whole place! It was an honest to goodness mansion, and it was still very impressive to her even now.

She could remember her way to the entrance well enough, but the cards felt like they were further into the house than she'd been before. She was sure Tomoyo and her mother wouldn't mind, but she still felt a little nervous wandering through the mostly unfamiliar house. Especially when she saw somebody run across the hallway in front of her.

"Hooee!" she squealed, jumping in fright. She turned back towards Tomoyo's bedroom, but the hallway looked even darker that way now. "H-Hello?"

Giggling echoed through the halls. It sounded eerily familiar, and what was worse, it sounded like it was coming from more than one throat. She froze in place, shivering, too scared to move. Could Tomoyo's house be haunted? She could understand her friend not mentioning it to her, though now she wished she had so she could have at least brought her along. Hiding behind her right now might have made her feel a little better.

Since Sakura was alone, though, she had to make herself move. As she did, she remembered the key she was still clutching in her hand. Sure that would make her feel better, she let it float from her hand in a ball of light as she began to speak the incantation, her magic circle lighting up the hallway briefly. "Key that holds the power of the stars. Reveal your true form to me. I, Sakura, command thee under convert. Release!"

The key lengthened, transforming into the Star Wand, and sure enough she felt much better as soon as she was holding it, even if the light from her transformation had faded, leaving her in the dark once again. She felt somebody run past her. Or, rather, two people, one on each side. When she turned, she could just barely make out a pair of girls with short brown hair, dressed in pajamas that looked an awful lot like the ones she was wearing.

She suspected she knew what was happening, but it was still a shock when they turned around as one and revealed her own face with a giggle. It had to be the Twin card! But how? It was under her control! She hadn't transformed it yet, but how could it be out on its own? She'd never seen it act this way before! She wasn't even sure whether she should try to seal it or turn it into a Sakura Card at this point!

Before she could decide, she heard footsteps behind her and spun back around, seeing the pair of her suddenly over there, running further down the hall that way. "Wait!" she called, following after them, determined not to lose sight. "Return to your true form!" she started her chant while she ran, not wanting The Twin to cause too much trouble. It was pretty mischievous in the best of times, and now it was acting very strangely.

The two turned a sharp corner into an open doorway and Sakura followed. As soon as she stepped inside, however, she began to fall, letting out another startled, "Hoooee!" She nearly let go of the Star Wand as she sank, unsure what was going on until she realized the floor hadn't broken open beneath her. She was actually falling through it, as if she had become intangible.

"The Through!" she recognized, right in time to fall down to the floor of the room beneath, the impact knocking the breath out of her temporarily and making her lose her grip on her Star Wand. She hadn't been in the room before, but as soon as she saw it, she had a feeling that another card was here. A card that she had been a little too embarrassed, or maybe even scared, to bring back out of the book herself to transform, even though she knew she would have to one day. And now, here it was, waiting for her!

The room, which looked like a guest bedroom, hadn't completely changed yet, but there was a nightlight plugged in, giving her enough light to see that the floor seemed to be growing pink, fuzzy carpet in areas, with oversized baby toys here and there. The bed had sprouted a couple bars, but they were still in the process of growing.

Most worryingly, however, was a desk off to one side of the room. It looked taller than it ought to be, and while there were still a few books and pens there, most of them had already transformed into stacks of thick, disposable diapers and changing supplies. She had a feeling that, before long, it was going to become a changing table.

There was no doubt this was the Baby card. Anxious to seal it away, she scrambled to her feet and lunged forward for her Wand, only to be stopped a few steps away, nearly pulled off her feet. It felt like somebody had grabbed her and was holding her back! She looked down at herself in confusion, gasping as she saw a pink harness around her chest. She turned nervously, able to see a thick cord holding her to the wall. She must have fallen straight into the thing, the Through card making sure she was captured by it. She reached upwards, trying to find some way to get the harness off, only to see a tiny lock on it. As soon as she touched it, she could feel the Lock Card's presence there.

She turned back around, whimpering as she saw the Star Wand was obviously out of her reach. Worse than that, a very familiar pink spirit was floating between her and it, smiling happily at her. "No, please don't!" Sakura gasped, knowing what was going to happen even before the card spread its tiny arms and she felt her pajama short and underwear beginning to change around her waist, quickly poofing outward into a thick diaper, just like the ones over on the soon-to-be changing table.

She could still remember her first encounter with the cards, out on the streets of Tomoeda. It had been so humiliating, having to walk all the way home, her school uniform too short to completely hide her diaper, especially after the accident she'd had in it. It was quite a vivid memory, and one she was reliving right now in more detail than she would have liked. Except now her diaper was even more exposed, and the trouble sensation in her tummy felt even worse, knowing she was trapped here by this harness.

She reached outwards frantically, hoping that somehow the leash would break, or the Wand would just leap up into her hands. It had been a couple months since she'd fully recovered from the Baby Card the first time, and even longer since she'd been unable to make it to the bathroom for what she could feel she was about to do now. She'd been so sure she was done with that!

All of a sudden, she felt the padding between her legs growing warm and wet, her obsession with not letting go the other way keeping her from paying as much attention to that as she should have. She gasped, reaching down and clamping her hands to her diaper, but it did no good.

At least she wouldn't be stuck like this for too long, she thought. She had only encountered the Baby Card very briefly before, so she wasn't sure what being in the same room with it for so long would do, but in the morning Tomoyo and Kero were sure to find her. It would be humiliating being seen like this, and having to let them know that she'd need their help recovering yet again, but it would be over.

Or so she thought. She bit her bottom lip as the cramps in her tummy got worse, then looked up in time to see the door opening. That was even quicker than she'd expected! Had she woken Tomoyo or her mom up with all her shouting? She blushed as she thought about what Tomoyo's mom would say. The woman doted over how cute she was ordinarily! Any time she slept over in the future, she had a feeling both Tomoyo and her mother would be making sure she didn't need to wear a diaper under her pajamas for protection! But it wasn't either of them. Instead, it was... her.

Just one of her, making it unlikely that it was the Twin Card. Could it be the Mirror Card? Maybe that explained why she'd seemed to see two pairs of her reflection from the Twin! It looked right at her, and then over at the Wand, walking over to it and picking it up, then turning back to her with a smile. "Please help!" Sakura begged, grunting in desperation. "Please, just give me the Wand!"

Then, before she knew what had happened, she could feel it happening again. She whimpered, feeling the rear of her diaper expanding as she started to fill it, helpless to stop it now that it had begun. Her reflection watched for a while, then smiled and left, closing the door behind it.

What was she going to do?! She was trapped here, and now Tomoyo might not even have a reason to go looking for her! Kero might sense the truth, if she was lucky, but his senses weren't as sharp before breakfast, so it might be a while! And while she waited for that, the room's transformation was continuing, making her worry that another change was going on inside her.

She pulled on the harness some more, trying not to move around too much as each movement made the mess in her diaper shift, her arms feeling weaker and weaker each time, until finally she gave up. Almost as soon as she let go of the restraint, one of her hands moved up to her face and, without a second thought, she started to suck on her thumb. She sank to the floor, pouting as her mushy diaper squished beneath her, and before long, after all that work, she was sleeping like a baby.

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"Well, this isn't quite what I had in mind," Ruby Moon fretted as she perched outside the window. The new influx of power from another source had confused the cards, it seemed, making them go a bit crazy. She knew she should probably help, since she had gotten Sakura into this mess against Eriol's wishes.

As she opened the window and hopped down into the room, now completely transformed into a nursery, Sakura looked up at her, her big eyes completely innocent, and even more adorable than usual. "Goo-goo?" she burbled, holding her hands up without a hint of recognition.

On the other hand, Ruby thought, the Mirror Card might be able to fool everyone for a little while, and it looked like the Baby Card had done all the damage it could. It would take Sakura a long time to recover either way, so why not enjoy it some while she had the chance? In fact, she convinced herself, this would be good for the girl. She had an important job to do, but Eriol had been pushing her awfully hard lately! It would be good for her to take a little time and not have to worry about the incidents around town, or transforming her cards, or anything else for that matter!

"Come here, baby Sakura!" she cooed, happy that her giving the cards her power seemed to give her some control over them, as the Lock Card undid itself so she could lift the girl up onto the waiting changing table. "Let's get you all cleaned up and ready for beddy-bye!"

She was in the middle of changing the girl when she heard the door open behind her. She turned, casting a spell to cloud the person's memory and make them think this was a dream. She found a very confused Sonomi Daidouji standing there, looking around at the room, clearly not the same as how she'd left it. As soon as she saw Sakura there, however, all her uncertainty gave way to joy.

"How precious!" she gushed, staring down at the squirming child. Not seeming to give any second thought to this strange woman in her house in this 'dream', she asked, "Can I help change her?"

"Of course!" Ruby Moon stepped aside. This might be for the best, she thought. She couldn't be here all the time to watch over Sakura, and she couldn't leave her on her own. She had considered finding a maid to help, but this was even better. The only problem, she thought as she watched Sonomi work, might come when it was time to let Sakura escape and recover. Even now, from these few seconds she'd seen her, Ruby could tell it would be difficult to make Sonomi let go, 'dream' or not.  

She might need to get Eriol's help to fix this after all, she mused. She would probably get in trouble for disobeying him, though, and the damage was already done. Maybe she should just wait for him to find out what had happened to the Card Captor on his own, and maybe he somehow wouldn't realize who was behind it. At the moment, it seemed like her best bet. As much as she would have liked to play dress up with Sakura once she got up from her nap, she slipped out the window and headed back to Eriol's house, ready to play innocent. She'd only been trying to help, after all!