Reversal of Fate
by Tonight's The Night is a Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- Alternate Universe Fic. The premise revolves around the reversal of Sakura and Syaoran's roles in the story, with Syaoran losing his memories and Sakura going on a quest to retrieve them. Because Sakura and Syaoran's personalities and experiences are different, their Character Development compared to the original incarnation is radically different.
The story begins in Clow country with Sakura about to confess her feelings to Syaoran before Touya rings the bells, calling her back to the palace. Shortly thereafter, a sandstorm appears and Syaoran, in a trance, enters the ruins beneath Clow country as his memories are scattered to many worlds.
After examining Syaoran's condition, Yukito decides to teleport both Sakura and Syaoran to Yuuko's shop where she meets her companions Fai and Kurogane with the prices similar to the canon incarnation (Fai gives up his tattoo, Kurogane gives up his sword, and Sakura gives up her relationship with Syaoran). Afterwards, they head off to different worlds to search for the feathers.
This Fan Fic provides examples of:
- Adaptation Distillation: Koryo country, previously the second world and an important developmental arc for Sakura and Syaoran's relationship, is reduced to an obstacle for Sakura to find Syaoran's feather. The same goes for Chu'nyan, as she does not play a role in stopping the Ryanban's possesed people.
- Adaptation Expansion: Avantine, i.e. the world substituting for the Piffle arc of the original series, is given substantially more plot-relevant events compared the original, which is just a light-hearted Filler racing segment.
- Break the Cutie: Every world except Koryo country gives poor Sakura one.
- Cant Get Away With Nothing: Sakura refuses to listen to group's demand that she stay away from Shougo and his friends and starts seeing them in secret so she could become better at hoverboard racing. She ends getting kidnapped by him and forced to think her way out.
- Consummate Liar: When Sakura told Fai about the dream regarding King Ashura, Fai lies to her, stating that the king she dreamed of belongs to a different universe than the king Fai knows. Both Sakura and Kurogane realize Fai is lying.
- Darker and Edgier: It is written by the same author who wrote Shatterheart so there is no surprise. It explores Sakura's heartwrenching development from a spoiled princess to a mature and strong Action Girl in a realistic and gruesome way. It also explores Fai's dark back story much earlier than the original and describes physical and psychological pain in a detailed and realistic way.
- Declaration of Protection: Sakura decides that she will protect Syaoran from harm and requests Fai to protect her in chapter 22 when Syaoran falls asleep and almost drowns into the water. This causes her to be at odds with Kurogane, who insists that Syaoran participates in their quest to collect the feathers.
- Determinator: Just like how Syaoran declares that he will stop at nothing in claiming Sakura's feathers in the original, Sakura also states that no obstacles or problems will impede her attempt to claim Syaoran's feathers, whether she risk drowning in a sea full of sea serpents, being told to stay home by the father of the group or attempting an impossible segment of the hoverboard race.
- Distressed Dude: Syaoran by virtue of being the one whose feathers are taken.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Some chapters directly explores Sakura's development in her dream-seeing abilities for the Infinity arc in future chapters.
- Exact Words: In chapter 22, Kurogane, sick of Fai's antics, demands why Fai can't act serious for five seconds. Then Fai suddenly acts serious for five seconds before returning to his cheerful idiotic self.
- Eye Scream: Sakura uses her magic to redirect Shougo's knife to stab him in the eye
- Fallen Princess: It's more emphasized in story that Sakura is a pampered princess that never had to work a day in her life. Being forced to go on a perilous journey where she has no influence, she is nonetheless fully expected to pull her own weight.
- For Want Of A Nail: The reason the story even exists in the first place.
- Hover Board: In place of a flying car racing competition, Avantine instead has a hoverboarding competition whose rewards are the same (Syaoran's feather).
- It Gets Easier: Kurogane outright states this to Sakura when she is currently angsting over the fact that she uses her magic to stab Shougo in the eye believing that she killed him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kurogane may look like a grumpy stoic bear as well as being brutally honest, but it is shown that he genuinely cares for his comrades. Chapter 50 is the epitome of this, instead of berating Sakura for disobeying his instructions or calling her a monster for stabbing Shougo in the eye potentially killing him, he simply assures Sakura that she is a brave girl.
- Lighter and Softer: This fan fiction compared to Shatterheart but it is still Darker and Edgier than the original fiction.
- The Mole: Shougo is working with the Big Bad to prevent Sakura from entering the race and collecting the feather as a reward only to be thwarted by The Mole in the form of Primera. To a greater extent Fai acts as a spy to help Sakura find the feathers for his own ulterior motives.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Sakura has this reaction after she uses her magic to stab Shougo's eye with his own knife.
- Official Couple: Syaoran and Sakura are promoted to this in chapter 35 when she states that Syaoran is not a commoner but a very important person in her heart. As a result, they both confess their love to each other, kiss, and she comes to trust that he is capable of participating in the hoverboarding race
- Out of Focus: Despite being a prominent character in the original, Mokona is not featured as much here, only appearing as a background character, to tell Sakura than she has sensed a feather, or for Sakura to remember the range of her translation.
- Pet the Dog: During chapter 30, when Fai saw Sakura almost drowned after trying to investigate the serpent's activities, Fai out of genuine concern decided that they return home despite the fact that the feathers are required for his own goal.
- Real Men Hate Sugar: Kurogane, the manliest of the group expressses a strong distaste for pancakes that Fai cooked for them.
- Role Swap AU: The whole point of the story.
- The Unapologetic: When Sakura demands that Kurogane apologises to Mokona for grabbing her ear out of spite, Kurogane does not listen to her.
- Treacherous Advisor: While Fai does have Sakura's best interest in mind when he starts teaching her magic, he knows that because of his curse he will kill her when she proves to be the stronger magic user.
- Uptown Girl: Deconstructed, as Syaoran begins to wonder how a commoner could be so important for a princess like Sakura, resulting in Syaoran looking down upon himself. This is one of his main sources of angst.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Fei Wong Reed wishes that Syaoran was the protector instead of Sakura.
