Cardcaptor Sakura

Sakura is on the bus heading for Tomoyo's house. Yesterday Tomoyo asked her to come over because of some problem she had and agreed to Sakura's suggestion that she bring Kero. As Sakura contemplates what kind of trouble she was talking about Kero bursts out of her handbag crying out that he can't breathe; Sakura quickly pushes him back in after his sudden outburst. Looking up she sees the rest of the passengers staring at her, prompting her to nervously pass it off as nothing. Once they all settle down Sakura begins to lecture Kero while he groans that he's having trouble breathing; Sakura hopes to get him to bear up as the stop after next is where they're getting off as she explains. However a couple of the passengers have been listening but, fortunately, they can't comprehend what it's all about and shrug it off.

After getting off the bus Sakura looks at the directions Tomoyo gave her and walks along in the hope of finding it. Kero comes out for a check and decides to have a look around from the air, in spite of Sakura's concerns that he'll be seen. It is bitter irony when Kero sees her house and lifts Sakura up to show her; it's hard to find and it turns out to be a mansion. Later on Sakura rings the doorbell, an intercom activates and someone asks for her identity; upon delivering her family name the gates open electronically. As they enter Sakura is in awe of the grounds around the mansion as she advances towards the front door; she hardly reaches the steps before Tomoyo dashes out to meet her. They all make their greetings, including Kero, before they enter, with Tomoyo leading Sakura by the wrist. The interior is awe-inspiring for Sakura and Kero as well, as indicated by Kero's remark about its size. Just then a housemaid addresses Tomoyo, causing Kero to hide as quickly as possible, but Sakura is stunned by the fact that she called Tomoyo 'my little lady'. The maid asks Tomoyo if she would like some tea, whereupon Tomoyo asks for three cups to be delivered to her room; of course the maid is stunned by this request as she can only see two individuals, but Tomoyo and Sakura continue on their way without making an excuse.

Tomoyo's room is another breath-taking sight; we can assume that it's at least the size of the ground floor of Sakura's home. Furthermore Tomoyo shows them an extension she has to this room, her own personal audio/visual room, where she plays back the video she took in episode 8. While Sakura performs an anime faint Tomoyo comments on how Sakura's costume in the video moves with her body and Kero expresses a sense of vanity my commenting on his own looks in this video. Back in Tomoyo's bedroom Sakura stumbles on Tomoyo's latest work, which is also intended for her to wear; Sakura expresses as sense of guilt/embarrassment in that Tomoyo is always making costumes for her but Tomoyo indicates that it's her passion to make Sakura wear these costumes, have her wear them and videotape her at the same time. Deciding to change the subject Sakura asks her to explain the problem she has. Just as she's about to someone knocks on the door, prompting Kero to hide in Tomoyo's sewing basket. Once Tomoyo permits entry it turns out to be her own mother. Upon making greetings Sonomi makes a very special greeting to Sakura and suggests that they have some cake in the garden; Sakura tenses up as she knows how Kero feels about anything sweet and with himself hearing every word the reaction is bound to be disturbing. Sonomi leads the girls out to the garden and asks the passing maid to take the tea into the garden, this event might've subdued the puzzlement of the maid formed earlier. Once they all leave Kero throws a tantrum about missing out on the cake, but a presence in the room stops him.

Outside Sonomi cuts a piece of the cake she bought from a nearby bakery and asks if Sakura enjoys a bit of cake, which results in an affirmative answer. Sonomi then goes on about how Nadeshiko enjoyed sweets, especially cake; Sakura adds further information when she says that her dad said that her mother could eat a whole cake by herself and managed to avoid getting fat. The mention of Fujitaka causes her to frown.

At Sakura's house Touya is washing the car when Yukito pops round; he comments that Touya's skill of washing the car relates to the fact that he had a part-time job at a garage/gas station. Fujitaka greets Yukito and, once responding appropriately, he offers to help them with their chores. Only then does he notice that Sakura isn't around; Touya tells him that she's at a friend's but Yukito immediately deduces that she's at Tomoyo's. He immediately expresses concern that Sonomi would be there but Fujitaka informs them that Sonomi will never offend Sakura in any way.

Back at Tomoyo's house Sonomi continues moonlighting about Nadeshiko, especially when she comments on how Sakura resembles her mother. She begins having flashbacks of her life as a high school student with Nadeshiko and the many things that she used to say, until she remembers Nadeshiko telling her that she's to be wed to Fujitaka. The resulting expression on Sonomi's face surprises Sakura in a bewildering fashion while Tomoyo shows an almost knowing smile. Sonomi apologizes to them, explaining that it was a memory she wasn't impressed by. Continuing their conversation Sonomi asks for confirmation that Sakura's something of a prodigy in athletics, of course Sakura merely replies that she's adequate even though 'prodigy' is a pretty apt term for her athletic abilities. Sonomi responds by saying that while she resembles Nadeshiko in appearance her physical skills were definitely from her father; Nadeshiko wasn't very agile, in fact some might say she was accident prone. Now Sonomi has flashbacks of Nadeshiko's physical activities: A trip on the way to school, a skiing accident involving a tree, a crash in gymnastics and finally, when Nadeshiko was returning a hatchling to its nest against Sonomi's better judgement, she fell out of the tree right on to Fujitaka and they share a romantic moment. Sonomi can hold it in no more as she rants about their meeting; Sakura still seems none the wiser of the reason for her fits of rage. Fortunately Sonomi remembers her company and settles down. Unfortunately Sakura now asks her about her own father, since Fujitaka said many things about Nadeshiko but very little about himself. The response is confusing at first when Sonomi calls him 'disgusting' but she explains that, as a good friend of Nadeshiko, she considered him disgusting because he won Nadeshiko's heart and was very talented in many areas of the home and otherwise; as a closing definition she defines his flaw as being the absence of one. This last comment helps cheer Sakura up.

At the Kinomoto household Fujitaka suddenly sneezes, whereupon Touya and Yukito inquire as to whether or not he has a cold but Fujitaka replies that he's alright. Then he considers the possibility that someone's talking about him. (In Japan it is an old wife's tale that if you sneeze suddenly without reason then someone's talking about you).

Back at the Daidouji mansion they're all having a laugh at something but it's probably related to the fact that Sonomi seems to be telling anecdotes, until a maid comes up to her with a call from the office. Upon taking the first part of the call Sonomi apologizes to Sakura and Tomoyo as she explains that it'll take a while to sort out whatever it is. Sakura thanks her for the tea and cake and Tomoyo tells her that they'll be in her room. As they set off Sonomi calls out that she'd like Sakura to stay for dinner, and she accepts the invitation.

On their way up to Tomoyo's room Sakura tells her that she and her mum are very kind. When Tomoyo opens the door Kero immediately confronts Sakura in an angry tone considering that he didn't get any cake; it seems he's been watching the whole thing from the window and noticed how much she enjoyed the cake. Fortunately Tomoyo had the foresight to bring him the last piece, which immediately puts him on Cloud 9 while Sakura thanks her for her intervention and she comments about how frightening a grudge concerning food is. As Kero takes his first mouthful he tells them that he was so alone in the room that he could sense a Clow card. Sakura is surprised but Tomoyo had suspected it would be the case.

It seems that Tomoyo's problem relates to a jewel box belonging to the family; her mother wanted to open it for a time but it just won't open at all. Sakura suggests that the key's gone but Tomoyo immediately produces the said key. Sakura's bewildered for a while until Kero says that the card's presence is emitting from the box but is very faint; Sakura concentrates and picks up on this presence. Tomoyo now demonstrates the problem in question; when she tries to put the key in the lock it is deflected right out of her fingers and lands on the floor behind them. Tomoyo tells them that the box contains items of great sentimental value to both herself and her mother; she had told her mother that she'd have a go at opening it but... well I think it's self-explanatory as she doesn't finish her sentence. Sakura immediately declares that she'll help, especially since both Tomoyo and her mother are such nice people. Then Tomoyo picks up her camcorder ready to record Sakura in action.

Later on Sakura has the sealing staff out and both Kero and herself are staring at the box trying to figure out a) which card it is and b) how to deal with it. Sakura then gently lowers the end of her staff to the box where it's deflected with relative gentleness compared to the key; Sakura and Kero seem to have spotted something but Tomoyo has no idea why they seem so surprised. Kero prompts her to repeat the action; now Kero's sure that he saw a transparent barrier over the box and identifies the culprit as the Shield card. Tomoyo's still confused as she saw nothing but Kero tells them that only those with magic can see the barrier produced by Shield. Sakura wonders if this card was aware of their friendship but Kero shoots this down when he tells them that Shield is a kind and protective card; the reason for its activity is because the contents must be highly treasured by its owners. This information makes Tomoyo give a big smile. Sakura inquires as to how they can penetrate and Kero informs her that she already has something that can cut through anything; Sakura realizes that he's referring to the Sword card. Kero goes on by saying that, once cut, Shield will reveal its true form and then she can seal it. Sakura summons the power of Sword and it incorporates into her staff; she drives the sword down through the shield. Once the shield collects into its true form Sakura returns the staff to its original form and seals the card. But then Tomoyo is terribly disappointed by the fact that she forgot to get Sakura into her new costume.

Later on Tomoyo once again attempts to open the box and this time it works. Tomoyo gives thanks to them and Kero adds that he was the real strength behind this capture. Sakura asks to take a look at the contents and Tomoyo complies; the result is a bouquet. A knock on the door is heard and Kero hides under the table before Tomoyo permits entry. Sonomi pops her head in and is about to apologize for what happened earlier until she's surprised to see that the box is open. She queries as to how, which causes Sakura to tense up until Tomoyo makes an excuse that 'there was a spring stuck in the keyhole'. Sonomi takes this as being a good explanation as to why the key kept popping out. When she removes the bouquet Sakura comments on its beauty. Sonomi tells her that it's the same bouquet Nadeshiko threw on her wedding day, a bouquet of cherry blossoms (sakura); she goes on to say that Nadeshiko always wanted to name her daughter 'Sakura'. This echoes in Sakura's mind and Sonomi states the obvious when she tells Sakura that she is the one and the same as the baby girl of which Nadeshiko had talked about many years ago. This makes Sakura feel very special and also makes her feel connected to her mother in an immensely strong way. Sonomi suddenly announces that she'll make dinner and leads Sakura out by the wrist while asking what she'd fancy and asking Tomoyo to give her a hand. Once she leaves Kero emerges and says that he feels like he's been hiding all day, which earns him a giggle from Tomoyo. Once she puts the bouquet back she produces a small package, which Kero correctly identifies as being Tomoyo's precious item. But he's surprised when she tells him that it's an eraser. The reason being that it was the first thing she had received from Sakura, on the first day of the third school year, but she speaks too quietly for Kero to clearly catch it. She returns the eraser to the box and locks it when Sonomi calls her. Kero asks her to save him a portion, to which she agrees, and Kero cries out for plenty of yummy things.