Episode Title: - Sakura's Pitch-Dark Literary Fest
First Aired: May 25, 1999

Cards Captured: Light, Dark

Battle Costume

While everyone is getting ready for the Sleeping Beauty play backstage, Touya and Yukito are ready in the audience. All the finishing touches are being made. Sakura and Syaoran make their debuts as the prince and the princess (costumes made by Tomoyo, of course), and everyone loves them. Mizuki-sensei comments on Sakura's prince outfit, saying it's a costume that will allow her to move freely, should anything happen. This leaves Sakura confused. Syaoran absolutely won't go out, until Tomoyo does some quick thinking and mentions Yukito would be awfully disappointed if the play didn't go on... Works like a charm, of course.

The play starts with Tomoyo narrarating from the control room, where Kero-chan accompanies her. Tomoyo checks the volume, the lights go on, the curtain is checked and the play is ready to begin! The curtains are pulled and Tomoyo narrarates the storyline to the audience. The first scene shows the King, Queen, the people of the court, and three fairies. They're celebrating the birth of the princess.

The three fairies bless the princess with gifts. Chiharu, the first fairy, grants the princess beauty, Rika blesses the princess with the sweetest voice, but Naoko is interrupted by the entrance of the evil witch, Meiling! Meiling is fuming because she didn't get an invitation to the celebration for the new-born princess. Despite the apologies from the Queen, Meiling gives the princess a terrible fate, saying she will die when she pricks her finger on a spindle at the age of 16. Everyone is upset, and Meiling makes her exit. But Naoko grants the princess her gift, saying instead of death, the princess will merely fall asleep until her true love comes and kisses her awake.

16 years later, the princess is getting ready for her birthday, Tomoyo narrarates. But in her room is a spindle, even though the king ordered all spindles in the kingdom to be burned many years ago. Syaoran (the princess) walks over to the spindle, trips over his dress, and pricks his finger on the spindle. The queen rushes in and cries for her "dead" princess, but the fairies show up and remind the queen that the princess has only fallen asleep, and now all they can do is wait for her true prince love...

This is when Tomoyo sets up her camera to prepare for Sakura's entrance. Sakura walks out as Tomoyo announces the prince's arrival (Touya starts taking lots of pictures). The fairies tell Sakura they have been waiting a long time for her to come, and explain the entire situation to her. They say if Sakura - the prince - wants to save Syaoran - the princess - Sakura can wake him with a kiss. Everyone loves Sakura's performance, but Meiling suddenly appears as the witch! Meiling orders out her minions to defeat the prince, but with some great athletic ability (flips and such), Sakura puts on a show and defeats the minions, along with the evil witch.

Meiling says her final words, "Damn you prince!" as she falls to the ground. The spotlight then goes on Syaoran sleeping on a bed, blushing like there's no tomorrow. Sakura walks over to the bed and exclaims, "Oh! What a beautiful princess!" She leans in to kiss Syaoran.... Meiling is close to tears, Touya is fuming... Sakura gets closer and Syaoran opens one eye, he's shaking all over and blushing even more deeply, but suddenly! Syaoran pushes Sakura away and screams, but just as quickly the entire room is engulfed in darkness. Syaoran tries to tell Sakura what Clow Card this is, but he too is swallowed up in the darkness. Sakura is utterly alone. She can't find the control room, she can't find anyone, and in her running and shouting she trips and falls to the ground. She picks herself up and starts to cry.

Kero-chan, also alone in the dark, muses that the only way Sakura can defeat this is to realize what card it is herself.

Sakura comes to her senses and stops crying, knowing it won't do any good. She thinks of everyone else being alone and afraid in the darkness. Sakura tries to use her Seal Key, but it doesn't work! She can't use magic, so she decides she must figure out what card this is on her own. She realizes it's not black all around, but pitch-dark, and says "Dark" aloud, but realizing the nature of the card isn't enough.

Sakura also realizes it's odd for her to be in total darkness, yet to be able to see herself... but as she says the words, the darkness starts to engulf Sakura as well! Sakura is trying her best to stay calm, telling herself to not cry. She says, "It'll be all right. It'll be all right for sure." At these words, Sakura suddenly starts to glow! She then realizes because she's shining in the dark, she can see herself, and from her heart comes a huge light, that reveals itself as a Clow Card.

The Card tells Sakura that ever since she broke the seal on the Clow Book, it has been living inside her heart. Because Sakura never gave up, she finally realized the Card was within her. The Card winks at Sakura, asking, "What shines in the dark?" Sakura answers "Light", upon which the darkness is lit up with yellow light. The darkness turns into a woman, looking like the twin of Light with straight, black hair. It turns out these cards are Light and Dark. Sakura's magic works again, and she seals them both, but before that, the Cards tell Sakura, "We'd love to have you as our mistress. Only Yue is left as the Last Judgement. Good luck!" After sealing the cards, Sakura asks them who Yue is... and they reply he is "someone close to Sakura." But it'll be all right for sure! Because Sakura has the invincible spell.

Everything goes back to normal, and now Sakura is standing on the bed with Syaoran, jumping up and down with joy, saying, "I'm so glad you're back!" She gives Syaoran a big hug, at which Meiling screams at Sakura through gritted teeth - with Touya having a similar reaction from the audience. Meiling jumps up on the bed and starts hitting Sakura, while all the cast crowds around.

In the control room, Tomoyo looks dazed and asks Kero-chan what just happened. Kero-chan explains that only people with magic power went to the dimension that the Clow Card created. For people with no magical ability, it was as if time just continued on, like nothing happened.

Kero-chan starts to glow and says, "Yue, the time for us to meet is soon."

Backstage Mizuki-sensei is smiling at Sakura, and murmurs, "It'll be all right for sure, right?"