Oh. My. God. Clamp is making this story too confusing. I can't tell if the clone's speaking or the real Syaoran is speaking. Who took who's hand? And the art is getting messy. I don't know if that's the fault of the scans or the fault of the authors. ...I don't even know why I still read this.

As best I can tell:

The clones took the reals' hands, because the clone Sakura realized that the cycle was going to begin again if they got sealed away alone again. (The clone Sakura [who, I think, is by a twist of fate the real Syaoran's mother] said she was seeing through the eyes of the real Sakura who was suspended in time.) By dragging the real Syaoran and Sakura into the capsule with them, they hope to break the cycle this time. (I think.)

And I agree about the art, but I've been thinking that for a while now. CLAMP's artwork for much of the action in the TRC series is hard to follow to me. (The scan didn't exactly help, but it wasn't all the scan's fault for certain.)

If you've ever thought or said "Nice Guys finish last" and really meant it, then you should probably read this LJ post by DivaLion. It's incredibly insightful whether you're male or female.

From a bumper sticker I like:
"If you're gonna ride my ass, at least pull my hair."

I have long given up on trying to distinguish which one is the real Syaoran-Sakura and which ones are the clones. In fact I have lost myself after that clone Syaoran and Sakura being the parents of the real dude. Its just too confusing

This is what I've tried piecing together so far. It's also a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" scenario since it is a neverending loop which they are now trying to end, so I hope I'm "starting" at the right point.

Real Syaoran hesitates and lets the Real Sakura be taken by whatever was in the temple that was about to kill her. He decides to live that life over in order to try to correct the mistake he made and save her, but by doing so, changes their lives (her parents die, he lives with the archeologist and doesn't rememberr his youth, etc). Somewhere in there is where FWR gets a hold of them both and creates the clones.

So, we see the clones living the differed lives, the clone Sakura loses her memories, and the clones, Kuro, Fai, & Mokona travel around for the feathers. The real Syaoran is the one in FWR's tank, and the real Sakura is suspended in time (I think), waiting for events to catch back up to that point in time where she was suspended.

Skip ahead to where we have the clone Sakura was destroyed, only she wasn't, nor was the clone Syaoran. Yuko saved them from their "non-existence" (as opposed to death), and she and Clow Reed paid the prices for the clones to make their choice of whether or not to live and find each other again. They do - and somehow (unnatural twist of fate that shouldn't be possible) become the Real Syaoran's parents.

This is where things start becoming fuzzy for me.

I know that it is the clones who chose to sacrifice themselves for their son (the Real Syaoran) to pay a price and give him a choice. If I recall correctly, their sacrifice (to be split in that tube for eternity) was the price paid to give their son the choice to re-live his life to attempt to save the Real Sakura after his hesitation in the temple. (I admit I could be remembering this incorrectly now, though.)

So, we now have the loop where the parents (clones) are trying to save the children (reals), and by doing so, the son (Real Syaoran) makes the same choices which ultimately creates the clones.

This should be why the clones dragged the reals into the tube with them. This forces FWR to change his plans because now the cycle can't continue as it was. I guess that also means that Yuko can't come back, since it seems like the price she paid was to disappear/death? (Her disappearance was what FWR was trying to prevent and why this kept happening over and over.)

I'm sure I've missed something or got something wrong, but that's how I've put it together so far, until I can re-read all of it and try putting it together again. =)

If you've ever thought or said "Nice Guys finish last" and really meant it, then you should probably read this LJ post by DivaLion. It's incredibly insightful whether you're male or female.

From a bumper sticker I like:
"If you're gonna ride my ass, at least pull my hair."