DM: Whew! Well, it's been a long time. I apologize. But here it is at last, the Epilogue!

Disclaimer: The same as always.

Atlantis

Epilogue

Eriol took up an entire table to himself at the library. Scattered across it were no books, instead piles and piles of binders and file folders. Papers were spread on every available surface.

Seated slightly back from the mess, he was flipping through a fresh binder, his eyebrows knit in a studious frown. Several people surreptitiously stared at him from behind their books, and the librarian looked quite irritated.

Eriol sighed. He was nearing the end of his 55th binder, and still had no sign of what he searched for.

There sure are a lot of girls named Alice who went missing around that time, he thought, rubbing his forehead. It gave him a headache just thinking about all the children who were lost.

For a while he had floundered; Alice had no recollection of a last name, nor could she remember the exact year in which she'd run away. He had started searching the records from five years earlier, and worked his way backwards from there.

"Eight years ago and still no report," he muttered, irritated. He continued flipping through, searching for that familiar face.

The others were at home; Sakura and Tomoyo had to finish the preparations for the wedding, and Meiling and Syaoran were keeping Alice company. The six of us have become a family of sorts, he thought wryly.

He turned another page, and there she was.

Alice's sullen, emaciated face stared up at him from the binder. It gave him the chills, reminding him of their first encounter below the sea.

The fruits of his labor now within his grasp, Eriol exhaled deeply, a knot of tension releasing itself in his stomach. From the moment she'd begun living with them two months earlier, Eriol had been dying to know Alice's identity. At last he had it for sure.

No last name; she'd lived in the orphanage from birth. Briefly, she was adopted by an old man. Eriol's stomach churned as he remembered her startling confession a week earlier. This was the man who'd sexually abused her and driven her to the sea.

He was also the man who'd filed the Missing Child Report.

The report also contained a reference to a police report, summarizing it briefly. She had once thrown someone twenty yards. No one knew how she'd been able to do it.

This was the confirmation Eriol had really been looking for. Alice truly had powerful magic from birth, and without someone to teach her, she had let it spiral out of control. While her birth would always remain a mystery, the important thing was that she was a Clow-like figure, and needed to be taken care of.

He sat back in the chair, letting the binder lie flat on his lap. When asked how she'd come to possess the cards, Alice had given them a blank look. "It's easier to hide them that way," she'd said shortly, as if they were silly to even ask.

Eriol now knew for sure that she'd created them herself. With his and Sakura's help, he thought, she could probably create a lot more. This would keep her magic from acting up when she was angry (twice now she'd set Syaoran's hair on fire by accident).

With a satisfied smile, he snapped the binder shut, stood up, and left, leaving the mess (and a livid librarian) behind him.

Sakura sighed with relief as she plopped down on the couch. Syaoran smiled and sat down next to her.

Eriol was with Alice in the training room (since his discovery of her "identity" a month prior, he was always helping her with magic), and Tomoyo and Meiling were out shopping.

So Sakura and Syaoran were completely alone, for the first time in months.

"So, what do you want to do?" Syaoran asked, ruffling her hair.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know; what do you want to do?"

They looked at each other.

Sakura's eyes searched his, and she was quickly becoming lost in them. She failed to notice the mischievous smile playing on his lips.

She opened her mouth to speak, when suddenly—

"Tickle time!" he yelled, pushing her down on the couch and relentlessly tickling the sides of her stomach. Sakura laughed helplessly beneath him, still too surprised to fight back.

"Now. If. You. Want," he said, struggling to keep her in his grasp as he ran his fingers over her, "Me. To. Stop. Make. A. Decision—"

"No!" she yelped, pushing him back with a small pulse of magic. In spite of his surprise, she straddled him, going in for the revenge strike. He caught her hands quickly.

"Let's go on a date, Sakura," he said seriously. She stopped laughing and looked back into his eyes. She bent down and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Good idea. We've never done that before," she observed as she got up. He quickly followed suit.

The two walked out of the house hand in hand, chatting about the latest movies that were in theatres.

"I want to see that adventure film," Syaoran said. Sakura tilted her head to the side, smiling. They were about to cross the street.

"But what about the roma—Aah!" she was cut off by a huge VROOM and jumped back into Syaoran's arms.

He chuckled, and Sakura huffed.

"What's so funny? I could've died!" she exclaimed. Syaoran stopped laughing, but continued to smile.

"It's just that that's happened before, too," he said happily.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat.

"When did that happen?" she asked, not daring to breathe. Syaoran scratched his head.

"I don't recall exactly. I know that I was gonna show you around somewhere, but then—"

Sakura interrupted him with a yelp. She could hardly contain her joy. Syaoran, clueless, felt her forehead with her hand.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Syaoran, you idiot—" she began. Syaoran frowned.

"—That's not very nice," he broke in. She ignored him.

"That happened in Atlantis! You're remembering!" she squealed, taking his face in her hands and kissing him fiercely.

The people walking around them stopped to stare, but Syaoran ignored them as he placed his arms around her waist.

It was all coming back to him.

--

Meanwhile, in the basement, Alice had just created a new card. Eriol examined it closely, puzzled.

"What's it called?" he asked, glancing at her. She smiled innocently.

"The Memory," she replied.

"Here she comes!" Sakura whispered excitedly to Meiling. The two of them, in their similar but different bridesmaid gowns, watched as their friend walked slowly down the aisle.

An old butler from the Hiiragizawa complex was giving her away, and she beamed brightly at Eriol as she approached.

Tomoyo's dress was all white silk, with a delicate lace veil to cover her loosely pinned-up hair. It consisted of a strapless corset with a flowing skirt that barely skimmed the floor and hid her, Sakura and Meiling's little secret: her sapphire blue peep-toe pumps.

Sakura and Meiling's dresses, long white silk numbers that were cut to flatter each girl, hid their own shoes, hot pink and bright red respectively. When it came time for the reception, they would be revealed to the world. Alice, in her frilly flower-girl dress, had desperately wanted some too, but was too young for the heels.

Tomoyo and Eriol were staring at each other like they were the only two people in the large cathedral. Around them, friends, business partners, and acquaintances watched in awe of her beauty and grace.

The walk had a practiced slowness, and Meiling quickly grew impatient. She felt someone's eyes on her, which bothered her. How could anyone not be looking at Tomoyo?

She glanced around discreetly and found the offender. The tallest one in his row (perhaps in his whole section), he stared at her quite frankly with his bright blue eyes. His blond hair fell softly over his face, emphasizing his slightly feminine features. He was very, very cute. Meiling stared back and almost gasped when he smiled.

The priest was saying something. The ceremony was about to start. Sadly, she turned away and looked at the rest of the bridal party.

Syaoran, pleased to find himself suddenly best man, was sharing secret (and probably perverted) smiles with Sakura across the dais. He looked very sharp in his tuxedo, the white vest and tie complementing his dark coloring beautifully. For no apparent reason, he had started remembering everything about Atlantis a month prior. It made Sakura and Meiling very happy. Alice's smile had her suspicious about its cause, but she wasn't complaining.

Without pain, she looked back at the blond man. He smiled again and her heart thumped madly in her chest. She looked at the priest.

Hurry up, will you? she thought impatiently.

Four years later…

"Now just tap the accelerator lightly. Very lightly," Syaoran said slowly, trying his best to hide his apprehension.

"Like this?" the sixteen year old blonde girl asked. She pressed the accelerator much harder than necessary and the car shot out into the street before Syaoran could stop her.

"Holy crap, Alice! I said lightly!" Syaoran yelped as she swerved to avoid a car. He felt like he was having a heart attack, and slumped in his seat.

"Sorry," she said softly, though she couldn't help smiling at her "father."

Syaoran heard someone laughing and felt his eyebrow twitch. Eriol was standing on the front lawn, holding hands with his now three year old son, Daisuke. He was a chubby baby, with dark hair and eyes like his parents. He watched everything, especially Alice, with a quiet sort of fascination.

He was the spoiled pet of the whole house.

"Maybe I should try teaching her, Syaoran!" Eriol suggested, though he had no intention of ever entering a car that Alice was driving.

He received a rude hand gesture in reply.

"Don't ever copy Uncle Syaoran, ok, Daisuke?" Eriol said to his son. He received another rude hand gesture in reply and sighed. Too late.

He heard a giggle behind him, but didn't turn around. Sakura and Tomoyo smiled happily to each other at the scene.

"We're almost like a normal family," Sakura said happily. Tomoyo nodded in reply.

Tomoyo was getting big again with her second pregnancy. Sakura had just started on her first. The dark haired girl patted her stomach with a smile.

"Pretty soon you'll be just like me," she exclaimed.

"At least the vomiting part is over," Sakura replied with a sigh. Tomoyo stifled a giggle.

"What's so funny?" Sakura asked, alarmed, "Don't tell me it comes back!"

"No, no," said Tomoyo, shaking her head for emphasis, "But the constipation is much worse."

The two fell to laughing, but were interrupted by a stomping sound upstairs.

"That's not very nice of you to say," Meiling's shrill voice drifted through the walls, "I'm the best you'll ever have, you know!"

"Of course you are," Matthew, whom she'd met at Tomoyo's wedding, replied. Meiling was in one of her moods, and he always knew how to soothe her.

"Don't laugh at me!" she said, though Sakura and Tomoyo could tell that she was smiling.

"I'm not laughing at you; it's just funny—" he protested.

"Funny that what?" she snapped. He chuckled.

"Funny that I'm proposing to you with two slightly pregnant ladies eavesdropping," he finally replied.

Meiling stared at the ring in front of her. Tomoyo and Sakura glanced at one another. The house went silent for a moment.

Then it rang loudly with laughter.

--

"Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

--

DM: Well, my friends, that's the end of Atlantis. When I first wrote the story as a 13 year old, I left a lot missing and messed a lot of stuff up. Yet the plot kept coming back to me. I'll always have a special affinity for this story. I hope you will too. Please review for me! One last time!

Thanks so much for reading this even though it's a rewrite. I really appreciate all your reviews. It would also make me happy if you maybe checked out some of my other stuff, as I am always looking for new readers.

Once again, thanks for all your support.