RECAP: Last chapter... Sakura felt some kind of magic at her Uncle’s old freaky house. She, Syaoran, and Meilin all went to check it out. Eriol showed up and said some odd things, Syaoran got mad at him, then he and Sakura got in a fight. The Earthy started to mess with Mt Fuji, and Syaoran and Sakura must go save the day.

Chapter 46 - Mt Fuji Fun

Sakura adjusted the Hyrule suits draped over her arm and picked up speed to keep up with Syaoran’s insane walk. They had hardly exchanged any words since Sakura had come out of the front door of her house. Sakura gave up trying to compensate the awkward silence and let her own loud thoughts roar through her mind.

Syaoran said they would get a cab in town and continue on their way. Sakura was glad he had the money to pay for one, because that was something she was definitely not financially prepared for. Sakura glanced furtively sideways at him as they walked. She didn’t understand how someone could avoid sleeping that long and still look so incredible. She burned with anger, her own feelings eating away at her. She wasn’t made for ignoring how she felt. She needed to do something about it, because the more time she spent with him, the worse it was going to get, until she couldn’t handle it any longer.

"Have you ever been to Mount Fuji?" Syaoran asked out of nowhere, his voice surprisingly clear.

"When I was little," Sakura answered shortly. Not even his attempts to start a conversation were going to win her over this time.

"There are alot of people around it," Syaoran said quietly.

It was not like Syaoran to show such compassion towards other people. Sakura pondered it a moment. She remembered how Syaoran had acted with the sword. He hadn’t want to try any longer, he was ready to give up. How could she let what he had said get to her when she knew something was horribly off? "I’m sure we’ll save them." Sakura answered back, quiet as well. The neighborhood of Tomeoda was still very serene around five thirty in the morning. Sakura wondered breifly whether there’d be any cabs out this early.

"Yeah..." Syaoran mumbled, his mind moving quickly. He couldn’t possibly express the extreme resent he felt for all the things he had said to Sakura the night before. But he couldn’t stand just letting things sit like this too long. He might as well give it a chance. But then... maybe it would be best to leave emotions out of this equation until they had the Earthy safely in their hands. Yes, maybe.

They continued on silently, reaching a busier part of town where people were actually awake. Syaoran was amazing at spotting taxis, and they headed towards the first one he saw. Syaoran opened the door and said a few things to the driver, then sat down and motioned for Sakura to follow. Sakura sat down quietly beside him, shutting the door after herself and buckling her seatbelt. Syaoran leaned against the other door, already looking blankly out the window as the car began to drive away.

After about five minutes, he spoke. "He can’t take us all the way to the mountain, he said the area’s off limits, so he’s taking us to a coastal spot not too far off."

"Is this going to be really expensive?" Sakura asked.

"It doesn’t matter," Syaoran responded, not wanting to think about money or the work he should be catching up on right now to keep his salary going.

Sakura nodded for no reason in particular and looked out the window at the moving landscape. She hated how they did this to each other. Syaoran couldn’t possibly enjoy the bottled up feelings. But that was all he knew. Sakura shifted in her seat, trying to burst out with some sudden ingenius word that would solve everything. But as she opened her mouth to speak, Syaoran began talking.

"We’ll have to be careful about earthquakes. They’re going to get pretty strong today."

"Yeah, it’s in the air," Sakura agreed. Seeing she needed a longer contribution, she continued, "Great. Well, hopefully we can get to the card before too much happens. Do you think it’s going to take that long to get to where ever the card is?"

Syaoran sighed, but Sakura could tell it was directed at the card, not her. He turned to face her, a sign that he was really trying to participate in this conversation. "Well, it’s just... hopefully we can get her to come to us. If she’s going to make us come to her, that could be tough, I have a feeling she’ll be right at the summit, just waiting. Then, it might take a while for us to get to her."

Sakura tried not to look too dismal. "Alright. Well, yeah, I hope we can summon her. I really don’t feel like climbing the mountain."

Syaoran made a face of agreement. They sat facing each other for a few seconds before Sakura found another subject to pursue.

"So, you think we’ll be spending alot of time underwater as well?" Sakura asked, referring to the Hyrule suits.

"Well.... Earthquakes can cause some large waves. And I think there might be some hot springs around the mountain as well. I’m not sure, it just seemed practical." Syaoran answered.

"Yeah, I suppose..." Sakura responded. They were quiet again, both slowly retreating to their windows. Sakura kicked herself hard within her head. Why couldn’t they just leave everything out on the table? She knew whatever this was must be hard for him, but honestly, this was just so childish. She was terrified to try and bring it up again; she had gotten an explosion every time before. It just seemed so pointless, that would probably ruin the trip if she tried now. It was going to have to be Syaoran to save himself here.

Syaoran sat in mild annoyance. As the silence continued, his annoyance escalated into deep frustration. He couldn’t stand himself, holding back this much from her, for no reason at all. Only because he was scared of the truth. What kind of justice was that? He needed to quit being a coward. Holding their feelings until after Earthy was a dumb plan contrived by his fear. Syaoran bit his teeth down hard, formulating quickly what all he wanted to say.

"So..." Syaoran started, and Sakura sat in intense apprehension, knowing this was the start of something very important. "I know this doesn’t mean much anymore, but... I am really sorry, that I said all that stupid stuff...." He sighed heavily, and Sakura thought that might have been it, but he regained fire as he went, and his frustration increased. "I really can’t stand myself, I’m not sure... how you can put up with everything I’ve done to you and not be scared away, but..." He sighed again. "I don’t feel like I’ve been helping you in vain at all. I’m so sorry I let myself do that to you again..."

Sakura was amazed with his apology skills. Never before had Syaoran managed to say sorry twice in one go. She wasn’t sure what to say. Something like that had almost completely swayed her bitter resolve without any consideration. But she had promised herself to be more careful, hadn’t she? She should have. She couldn’t just take that and jump in again, only to go through the same cycle once more. She looked at her feet, looking for a good response. But to her amazement, Syaoran went on.

"Sakura, the truth is... I don’t know where I’d be without you to fall back on. I didn’t think there was anyone strong enough to hold up against me and my problems, but... I guess I was wrong," he said, smiling weakly.

Sakura almost choked. If what he had said before was amazing, there wasn’t the right adjective to describe what he just said. Sakura looked up at him and found his amber eyes intently locked on her own. Sakura wondered briefly if that really was the smallest glaze of a tear across his eye, but he blinked and it was no more. Sakura swallowed hard, feeling so uncomfortable in this backseat of the cab. They maintained the lock for a short while until Sakura looked back towards the window, her frustration mounting as well. Her own eyes were glazing from the conflicting feelings that were tearing and seperating ruthlessly. "You’re so unstable, Syaoran!" She finally blurted out, digging her nails into the palm of her hand as she keep her eyes preoccupied with the chair in front of her.

Syaoran was quiet for a while, gave a short breath that Sakura couldn’t read for emotions, and said, "I know." He returned to looking out the window, having such a forlorn aura about him that Sakura couldn’t bear to watch him.

Sakura forced out whatever left she had. "I’m sorry, but, you just have to give me more time..." Sakura hated leaving it at that, after all the nice things he just said, but she should be allowed some leeway, right? After all the bad things he said, she should. "I do wish you could tell me what’s wrong, cause... I feel like you’re asking me to trust you and then you don’t even trust me enough to tell me this."

Syaoran sighed to himself, being careful Sakura didn’t hear it. He shifted uncomfortably and looked out the window. They’d be there soon. "Alright," he said with one heavy breath out. He looked at her again. Sakura was watching him, her large eyes sparkling with all the emotions she was trying to cope with. Amazing she stayed so calm and considerate through it all. Not once did she turn to being selfish to save herself. "After you left, things..." Syaoran let his voice fade as the cab slowed down.

Sakura rolled her eyes. No way was it just going to get to end like this. They would get out of the cab and stayed in the middle of the street until he would come out with it. Syaoran looked out the window, then back to her as the cab slowed to a stop at a sidewalk lining a parking lot at one of the major public beaches. It was deserted. Sakura opened the door and climbed out, and Syaoran hastily payed the cab driver and hurried out as well. He met her behind the car and they silently continued towards the beach. Sakura looked both ways down the street. It was oddly quiet. She looked in the distance and saw a sillhouette of the mountain. It was going to be a long walk...

"After you left," Syaoran continued, immediately stealing Sakura’s attention back to him. "Everything fell apart there. The elders became very demanding and very lazy. My sensei was ignorant of me dealing with my mother and my family and tried to push me beyond my limits."

A gentle wave was within Sakura’s view as she looked at her feet. She came to a stop, as did Syaoran. A gentle rumble at their feet caught their attention for a moment, then Sakura went back to watching Syaoran.

"My- my mother was put on life support. My sisters went insane with worry and things, and I decided to try and use this healing spell on her. It was way beyond me, but I went over there every day and used it. She seemed to get worse and worse, but I continued hoping one day it would kick in.

"My training got even harder then, and it was getting hard to deal with the power loss from that spell. My sensei thought I was being lazy, and then was even harder on me. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. But then, one day I went to the hospital, and they said my mother was getting better quickly. It made everything alright. I dealt with the training, and I figured she would be home soon, and I would be able to come back here.

"But, a little while later, I went to the hospital, and they turned out to be having some problems with their power generators. I went up to my mother’s room and found out she had had a dramatic relapse-" Syaoran stopped, as another small earthquake caused their balance to wobble slightly. Sakura almost fell and thrashed out to hold onto something, ending up steadying herself with Syaoran’s arm. When she was okay, she looked at Syaoran’s expression for the first time since he had begun this talk. She had never seen his eyes look so close to tears. Had she known any better, she’d say he might have been near letting a tear escape. She kept her hand on his hand.

"A relapse," he continued, "and so I used that spell again. But they said they weren’t sure she could pull out of it, that she was comepletely dependent on the life support..." Syaoran let out a sigh and swallowed again. He was doing this for himself just as much as Sakura. A breeze off the ocean ruffled his hair. Syaoran looked back to his feet, digging a kanji symbol into the sand. "So, as I was leaving, the power went out from a storm."

Sakura watched him carefully. He was showing her more emotions than he ever had in his life. She better respond in the correct way. Sakura peiced together what he was trying to tell her. She clutched his hand tighter. "Long enough for her to....to...?"

Syaoran didn’t nod but only took one very deep and shakey breath, frowning intensely to hold back what was trying so hard to come out. Without hesitation, Sakura gave up his hand and pulled him into a hug, tears quickly flooding into her own eyes as well. "Not her too!" She whispered, trying to regain control of her voice and eyes. Syaoran only responded by burying his face in her hair and holding her so tight it was mildly painful. "I’m so sorry, Syaoran!" She said wholeheartedly, allowing him as much time as he needed to get together. Or... maybe for her as well.

"I just don’t get what I did to deserve all of this, I.... And they take her away, my father away..." Syaoran stood back suddenly, holding Sakura by the shoulders and looking at her gravely. His eyes were definitely moist and his face was slightly red. "I can’t let them take you Sakura, they can’t, you, you’re all I have left-"

"They won’t!" Sakura said quickly, not bothering to inquire who ‘they’ was, only going off the moment and throwing herself into another hug. Syaoran took it. She was slightly wary of him during strong emotions such as this. But now everything made sense. The way he had been acting... of course. She leaned against his chest heavily, hoping the intensity would soon be over. They stood there a long time, until Sakura was sure Syaoran’s breathing was slowed down to normal. She then gently backed away, slightly scared of ending it for she knew the aftermath would be awkward.

She looked at Syaoran and once again looking intently at her. His face was still a little redder than usual, but his eyes were back to a controllable passionate fire, and the glaze was gone. Sakura was a little frightened of what he would say after being worked up like that, and the look he was giving her was overpowering, so she looked out to the ocean for some recovery time.

Syaoran turned and looked at the ocean. At first, his feelings were so strong he didn’t even recognize his surroundings. But soon he had gathered a faint rememberence. Suddenly the ground lurched, and Syaoran found himself flattened to the ground. He glanced to his side and saw Sakura had fallen too. A very loud rumble filled the air, and the ground continued to shake. The depth was incredible, and Sakura turned to see many things across the parking lot and the street fall over. Some buildings swayed precariously, looking ready to collapse. Car alarms went off somewhere down the street.

Sakura hated Earthy for causing so much unnecessary damage. "Earthy! Stop!" She shouted, her voice straining to be heard over the earthquake’s roar. A loud splash caught her attention, and she looked down the ocean to see a massive dock collapse into the water, leaving boats free to drift away.

Finally the shaking subsided, though there continued to be explosions and sounds of collapsing buildings and other structures. Sakura looked unsurely at Syaoran, who was still on the ground, then hesitantly got to her feet. When she was sure it was over, she held out her hand for Syaoran to use to get up. He took it, though didn’t really depend on her for help, and kept his eyes glued on the ocean.

"What is it?" Sakura asked, her voice seeming so loud over the sudden silence.

Syaoran spoke absently, his focus on the water. "It was probably starting in the ocean...." He watched the water level carefully, his face paling as the shoreline was receding ever so slightly. "Has the water moved back?"

Sakura would have liked to say he was losing his mind and be on her way, but she knew there must be a reason for Syaoran’s madness. "Maybe a little from the tide, I’m not sure."

Syaoran shook his head, starting to back up. "It was still coming into high tide..."

Sakura frowned at his sudden apprehension. "What, what do you mean? I don’t get it."

Syaoran turned quickly and overviewed the town. Many of the buildings were damaged. They were only going to be swept away. "Run!" He exclaimed, taking off into his fastest sprint, looking desperately for some kind of safe place.

Sakura tried desperately to catch him, taking a few seconds to even reach her fastest speed. "What are we running from!" Sakura shouted breathlessly ahead.

"A tsunami," Syaoran answered back, heading towards a tower in the distance. As they came closer, he saw it was only made with wood and bamboo. This wave could crash pretty far in, and with alot of power. The ground inclined on a neighboring street. He followed the hill, glad to see it continue to rise. He glanced over his shoulder to be sure Sakura was still following him, then forced more power out of his legs. Off the side of the road, there was a steep rise of earth. Syaoran veered off and immediately began climbing it. He grabbed trees and even weeds as he tried to make incredible time. Finally he reached the top, an overhang of the coast. Syaoran quickly turned and grabbed Sakura’s arm, pulling her up as well. She landed awkwardly beside him, but he hardly noticed, his eyes were transfixed on the water.

Sakura didn’t see anything. She was starting to wonder about Syaoran. How on earth could he predict tsunamis? He couldn’t! But he had been so ardent about making it up this hill... he had definitely thought they were in some kind of danger. Sakura looked at the water again. Nothing.

"There!" Syaoran said suddenly, pointing to a certain spot of the water.

Sakura squinted and saw nothing. There should have been some kind of towering wave surging up, rising hundreds of feet in the air, a surfer’s dream. But there was nothing there. But... Sakura saw a small bulge in the water that seemed to be moving fast towards shore. It was fatter than it was anything else. There was no heigth to it at all. But as it approached shore it became more and more noticeable, rising ever so slowly out of the water. Soon it was showing some heigth, and it grew rapidly. Sakura’s eyes widened as it continued to grow. This was a very weird wave. It started to crest, then continued over the beach, not slowing on the sand, instead crashing into the parkinglot and sending water down the streets. Sakura held her breath for a moment as the water flooded through the town, completely submerging where they had been just a little while ago. And then nothing. Sakura watched for a while, as if expecting more catastrophes, but the water only pooled around the buildings, carrying debris from the earlier earthquake down the streets as its captive.

"How in the world did you know that?" Sakura finally asked.

"The water level was going down at shore, the wave out at sea had piled up so high and was taking all the water around it so it sucked new water in to compensate."

"So whenever you see the water at a beach start going back, you just automatically think ‘tsunami’?" Sakura inquired.

Syaoran gave her a slightly annoyed look. "We had just had a bad earthquake, and tsunamis aren’t exactly odd to occur in Japan. I mean, everyone uses that word around the world since it’s so Japan oriented. Many earthquakes come from the plates under the ocean, so it figures something like that would happen."

"Of course," Sakura said, shaking her head. After a while, it became very quiet, and she sighed. "Well, it was exciting."

"Not for those businesses down on the beach," Syaoran said.

"Yeah..." Sakura thought back a few minutes. Nothing like a natural disaster to dramatically change the emotions.

Syaoran was quiet for a while as he reflected the recent events, then he stood up straight and looked towards the mountain. Smoke and ashes hazed the sky in the distance. "Well, we should get going before Earthy causes anymore damage."

"Yeah..." Sakura agreed, getting to her feet. Her calves ached slightly from that grueling run. I need to run more.

Syaoran headed quietly ahead, and Sakura made no effort to catch up with him. Instead she was content to follow and replay everything he had just told her. She watched his manor from behind, but like always, Syaoran wasn’t showing any sign of anything. She sighed and pondered. His mother died. How could I have not seen that? All this time I was so clueless, wondering what on earth could be bothering him. But it makes perfect sense. Me asking him ‘how is your mother’ and then he just ran off, avoiding everything about Hong Kong. I wonder how his sisters are? I can’t ask him for anything more now, not after all he just let out. I’ll wait a while, then ask him when the time is right.

Sakura let her mind roam on as she silently and mindlessly followed Syaoran down the streets and yards that made the shortest path to the mountain. After a while her stomach began to grumble, but Sakura said nothing of it. She wondered if there would be any stores open around the mountain? Probably not, if the area was off limits from evacuation.

"We should get some food where the stores are still open," Syaoran said from ahead.

Sakura didn’t even remark on how weird it was, and simply agreed. "Good idea."

They walked over to a grocery store where Syaoran again provided financial support for all of the food Sakura had suggested they buy. When Sakura offered to pay him back when they got home, he just shook his head and put his attention somewhere else.

They sat outside the store on a bench and ate their food in their own little bubbles, not daring to break the quiet balance for now. Sakura scarfed down a sandwhich and finished a bottle of water, then went in search of a trash can. That duty done, she sat down next to Syaoran, more aware of him. "You think there’ll be any police keeping us from going on?"

Syaoran looked up from the sandwhich he was still finishing to look at her. Sakura managed to keep her eyes sparkling even now. He didn’t get it. "Probably, so I was planning on going in from the back of the mountain. It’ll be rougher terrain, but I think it’d be faster, and we won’t have to worry about other people."

Sakura tried not to look too depressed about it. "Good plan. This, I think, will be the most dangerous journey for a card yet."

Syaoran almost laughed, shaking his head as he went back to his sandwhich. "I don’t know, that trip in America was rather dangerous." He said after he was done chewing.

Sakura grinned. "Yeah, those truckers, we were just putting our lives in mortal danger trying to hitchhike with them. I don’t know how we survived."

Syaoran grinned as well, then sighed and let it fall. Sakura was thrilled to see that he was able to talk that lightly. She had started to accept him being uptight all the time again. "Well, I suppose that means we’re more than ready to tackle this volcano."

Syaoran nodded and stood up. "No problem," he agreed.

He went to throw away his sandwhich wrapper, then they were back walking again. This time Sakura walked beside him, and she chose to ignore the awkwardness and looked around the surroundings. Syaoran seemed to always know where he was going. She didn’t understand. Maybe he studied maps in his spare time. It was going to be a long and uncomfortable walk.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The mountain was very close now. Sakura could taste the sulfur in the air. Everything was in a haze, the sun long gone from the elaborate block of ashes and dust the volcano was providing. Sakura began wondering when they were actually at the foot of the mountain. This was going to be a very exciting trip.

"There’s a lake ahead," Syaoran remarked, seeing a clearing up ahead with only one possible identity.

"We’re not going in it, are we? I mean, it’s like forty degrees out here," Sakura reasoned.

"The lake will be alot hotter. But I don’t know, it just depends what’s the fastest way," Syaoran said. He didn’t feel like swimming either.

"Well, we should have changed into these things," Sakura said, holding up the dumb suit she had been lugging around since they got dropped off.

"Yeah...." Syaoran said, stopping. He had forgotten about that. These suits would become very useful, he had a feeling Watery was going to be bothering them along with the other cards. He looked around for a sensible place to change into them. If they weren’t designed gayly he might have been able to put it on over his clothes. Of course it had to be complicated.

"We’re NOT going to change out here," Sakura whined, looking around their forest surroundings. No way was she going to strip off her clothes in this cold only to put on a scaley water suit.

"Well, I don’t feel like walking back three miles to the last house we saw," Syaoran combatted, still searching for a good spot. It was fall, and all of the leave cover was gone. He didn’t really feel like exposing himself to the townlife around Mt. Fuji either. He spotted a boulder. Sighing, he looked warily at her. "Look, I know it’s weird and stuff, but you can change behind that rock. I’ll turn around, close my eyes and everything, I swear."

Sakura gawked at him and the little rock he claimed a shelter.

"At least... you’ll still have your underwear and stuff on, it’s not much different than that time we changed when our bodies were switched," Syaoran said, mildly blushing.

Sakura felt her cheeks go hot. She knew there wasn’t going to be any getting out of this. "I hate how you guys are all open, no modesty at all," she grumbled, stomping towards the rock. When she got there and sat on the other side of it, she peered around. Syaoran was already standing with his back to her. "Keep your eyes shut till I say ‘okay’!"

Syaoran smiled with his already shut eyes. "Alright," he answered back amiably.

Sakura sighed, then overveiwed herself in her current situation. If she could manage this all sitting down, she wasn’t in much danger of being seen. She took a last look around, then daringly began untying her shoe.

Sakura quickly shed her shoes and socks, laid out the suit, then ripped her pants off and pulled on the the suit immediately. As carefully as she could, she held the suit over her chest as she pulled off her coat and shirt, then quickly slid her arms in the long sleeves and zipped the back of it up. Sighing with releif, she sat in a moment of admiration of herself and her bravery, then put her shoes back on over the bottom of the legs and put her coat back on over the suit and gathered her left over shirt and pants.

She stood up quietly, spying on Syaoran, unaware he had heard her get up and was smiling to himself for her being so slow. She was glad to see his back was still to her. "Alright," She finally said, composing herself and walking out.

Syaoran grinned, wiped it off, then headed over to the rock. "Cover your eyes with your hands," he said dryly.

Sakura frowned for a second as she watched him head over to the rock, not sure if he was joking or not. When he got to the rock, he turned back to her. "At least turn around," he said, a mild grin on his face.

Sakura flushed and whirled around, sitting down furiously. "You make me out to be such a pervert, Syaoran," She called.

Syaoran grinned as he yanked off his other shoe. "You were the one longing to hit the bathroom when our bodies were switched, remember?"

Sakura couldn’t believe he dared bring that up. "Don’t even start that. You must have drank five bottles of water before you went to school!"

Syaoran pulled of his shirt and tugged the suit the rest of the way up. He cringed at the awkward feeling it gave him, then pull the back zipper tight and stood up. "And I bet you’re sitting with your eyes wide open right now," he went on, grabbing his shoes and socks.

Sakura refused to turn around, waiting for him to tell her he was completely changed. She quickly shut her eyes tight. "Whatever," she said with much irritation.

Syaoran headed over to where she sat and dropped his shoes down beside her, then sat down. "Don’t look yet, I still have to put this suit on," he said jokingly. The tightness Sakura sealed her eyes with just did it for him. He laughed a little, then stood up. "We should get going, don’t you think? Or do you want to sit there and nap a while longer?"

Sakura finally opened her eyes slowly, glanced at him quickly to make sure he had indeed changed, then got up and glared at him. "You’re so cruel."

Syaoran began walking, letting her catch up. "Mm." He responded, focusing his attention on stuffing his socks, pants, and shirt into a neat wad.

Sakura sighed happily inside. Amazing. He must have been feeling so horrible, wanting to tell me about what had happened... And now it’s off his shoulders. He’s so wonderful, I’m so glad that’s over with... Now he can be alright. "You think we should try and summon Earthy here? It’s like... the base of the mountain."

"Well.. I suppose it’s a good idea to give it a shot. We can summon her like... every half mile or so," Syaoran agreed.

"Alright... " Sakura had never really summoned a card before. She supposed she should go ahead and call on her star. She chanted it out, got the little circle going, then looked around her. Nothing. "Earthy! I command you to appear and fight!" Sakura stood quietly for a second, looking around. Then, suddenly she was being knocked to the ground. Not having time to adjust herself, she found the ground shaking and something making crashing noises around her.

Syaoran jumped up from the ground, forcing his balance to stay, and called out the sword. He swung it against one of the Shot’s lightening fast bolts and sent it careening back where it had come from. But more came still. He swung at them fast, like a never ending batting cage session, until they suddenly stopped. Syaoran let out a long breath, then turned to make sure Sakura was alright. She still seemed slightly confused about the situation that had just occured, but she got up and gave him an appreciative smile. "Thanks," she said weakly.

"I guess Earthy doesn’t like things commanding her," Syaoran said, looking about them to be sure the Shot was gone for then.

"I guess so," Sakura agreed. She frowned. "Was there an earthquake just then, too?"

"Yeah," Syaoran answered. They stood for a moment, then Syaoran stepped forward. "I guess we keep heading to the top."

Sakura nodded in agreement and followed him towards the lake. Syaoran kept his sword out, ready for another attack. Sakura noticed the sky was getting pink and orange behind them. It must be getting late. Sakura was amazed. They had been walking all day. Syaoran looked around the woods on alert, and seemed to notice the time too. It was going to be dark soon.

They reached the shore of the lake. It was huge, at least, it seemed from that angle. Syaoran looked at it cautiously. The water was muddled and had a strong stench of sulfur. He grabbed a stick and dropped it in the water, keeping note for any corrosive effects. When he pulled it out and saw it unscathed, he daringly pulled his shoe off and dipped his toe into the water.

It stung, and Syaoran realized it was because it was extremly hot. He took another breath and lowered his whole foot in. It felt like pins and needles were attacking his foot viciously. But he grit his teeth and forced his poor foot to endure, and soon the pain wore off to a dull warm feeling. Syaoran took it out and put his foot on his shoe. "It’s really hot."

"Well, it’s really cold out here. Are you sure that’s safe to swim in? It’s kind of... um.... freaky looking."

Syaoran looked back to the water. He looked at his foot. It had seemed to stand the water’s effects. There wasn’t enough acidity in this water to harm them. "Just follow me, it’ll be alot more time conservative to just go across. Maybe when we get on the other side we’ll see some caves in the side of the mountain to camp out at, who knows."

"I don’t care about conserving time, I don’t want to be burned alive just to be fast!" Sakura complained, the water looking scary.

"My foot’s alright. I’m pretty sure most feet have the same make up, so if one can stand the heat, so can the rest." Syaoran took a deep breath, let it out, then jumped into the water, keeping his head out of it carefully. He coughed once as the steam coming off the water was so full of sulfur and other bad smelling things, then swam in a small circle. "It’s like being in a really hot hot tub. Just try not to breath."

Sakura gave him another glare, then slowly stepped in. The water was incredibly hot. She didn’t know her skin could stand it. "You’re sure this isn’t going to melt my skin off or anything?"

Syaoran was starting to feel sick of this water. He could have swam halfway across by now. "Not if you’re quick, hurry up."

Sakura sighed and rushed in. Water tickled her chin, burning at her neck. She coughed a few times from the air and then hurried after Syaoran. "This is gross," She said, but found talking made breathing this air even worse.

Syaoran swam as quickly as he could, his skin tingling, his lungs aching. The other side wasn’t too far off now. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Sakura was behind him. Through the thick steam he saw the top of her head bobbing up and down as she swam. He sped himself on, testing every few feet to see if his feet could touch the bottom again. Once his foot hit something solid, he went even quicker. His muscles were getting so hot that he wasn’t sure how much longer he could work. Steam was mixing with the sweat on his forehead and dripping down. Syaoran found himself in shallow water. He stood up, but his legs were weak. He forced them on anyways, and rushed out of the steam to the shore, where he collapsed down, and gasped for clear air.

Sakura was right behind him. Once she was free of the water, she fell down on the ground beside him, sucking in as much clear air as she could fit into her lungs. After a few moments, the shocking cold of the mountain made her shiver. She looked over at Syaoran, who stared blankly up. When he saw she was looking at him he look at her as well.

"It’s freezing. Why didn’t you think of this, now we’ll be freezing until our clothes dry."

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "I’m sure there’ll-"

The ground was starting to shake again. He sat up and shook the dripping pieces of hair out of his eyes. Sakura sat up, too, and flipped the wet ended pieces of hair over her shoulders. "Great," she muttered to herself, holding herself down with her hands.

"Windy!" Syaoran shouted, seeing a surge of wind come flying down the mountain.

"Mamoru!" Sakura shouted out a shield and jumped up, but the shaking of the ground threw her off balance and she landed on her butt yet again. Syaoran carefully crawled into the shield, then looked as Windy hit the shield and split around it.

"She’s going to get reinforcements," Syaoran said, looking around carefully. The shield was faultering ever so slightly, being pushed back by the force of Windy’s attack. He looked over his shoulder where the lake loomed. He and Sakura backed carefully with the shield, staying to the middle of it.

"Look, Watery!" Sakura saw a river suddenly appear above them on the mountain.

Syaoran looked warily at the speed Watery surged towards them with. "She’s going to push us back into the lake," he informed Sakura.

Sakura grit her teeth and forced more of her magic into the shield. She would get it to hold until the cards just gave up. She looked back in the distance of the mountain and the woods and saw it was getting dark, and if anything was attacking from there she would be unable to forsee it. She clenched her fists as the water hit her shield and then seperated around it. The water disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Look out!" Syaoran shouted loudly, leaping at Sakura and pushing her away as the Dark slowly enclosed the part of the shield Sakura had just been sitting in. Ignoring the shaking ground, Syaoran grabbed Sakura’s arm and pulled her into the water with him. Putting all of his faith in their suits, he swam towards the bottom of the hot lake, getting as far away from the Dark as he could. Soon he found that he was breathing, and clear air at that. These suits were great.

Sakura grabbed Syaoran’s arm as they slowed to a stop in the middle of the lake, tredding the water. She looked around the murky water but could see nothing further than ten feet away. The Dark had seemed to give up. But nothing was ever this easy. Sakura looked around her, when suddenly she found herself moving quickly through the water. Syaoran grabbed Sakura as the Watery pummled them across the lake, being sure not to loose her in the water. How were they supposed to fight back here? Syaoran hadn’t thought of anything offensive, he was just trying to keep them from getting hurt.

But Watery wasn’t going to leave them alone until he could do something to intimidate her away. But his sword was useless underwater. If he knew a freezing spell, he could use that. But he didn’t know any. Sakura had a shield spell that could freeze things... Syaoran looked at Sakura with urgency, getting a better grip on her arm.

Sakura looked back at him, the sulfur starting to sting her eyes as the water rushed by. They needed to act fast. Syaoran looked like he had a plan. He mouthed the word ‘shield’. Sakura frowned for a moment, then thought. A shield might hold it off for a minute but she can keep pushing us back. She has more power than one shield, what we need to do is stop her... But I can use my freeze shield, that might help! Sakura opened her mouth and got a moutful of sulfur and bitter metallic tasting water. She did her best to shout out the right words, then was pleased to find a cold looking shield appear around them. Immediately the water around them began to chill.

Syaoran had thought of that already. He shouted a command for his own water spell, and sent them reeling backwards. Syaoran caught Sakura as she slammed into him from the impact, but she turned and gave him a grateful look as the water they had been standing in was slowly freezing. Watery was no longer bothering them. Sakura sighed inwardly with relief. Why hadn’t they thought of an ice shield earlier? All this gross water for nothing. She turned to Syaoran completely, beckoning him to go up to the surface and get out of the nasty toxic lake.

Sakura hadn’t known quite exactly what had hit her, but suddenly her arm twinged with such pain she hadn’t been able to surpress a shout. Almost the same instant Syaoran had taken hold of her and pushed her behind him as he shouted out a shield. Shots repelled off the shield in every direction, making odd noises under the water. They were under fire in the water. Those cards just have no decency anymore. It could have at least waited for us to get to the surface. Sakura examined her arm and found it was nothing but a grazed shot. It could have been a thousand times worse.

Syaoran frowned as he watched his shield grow thinner and thinner. He set his teeth, then shouted the largest spell he had learned in his training in Hong Kong. A huge ball of energy surged out towards the Shot’s form. He shouted his water spell immediately after and took Sakura flying away with him. Soon they were slowing their speed in surprisingly clear water. It was also getting dark. He pulled Sakura’s arm and dragged her through the branch of the lake that went under the mountain.

Sakura wasn’t quite sure what was off at first. It had all been a blur of motion, and then she realized Syaoran had distracted the Shot and then given them a quit take off away. But as they were leaving the shield, she started to feel something wrong. And it grew until she found herself swalling the horrible water in effort to breathe. Sakura coughed out the water and found herself choking. There was no air anymore! She looked with panic ahead and saw that they were in a cave. She needed to get to the surface now! Something had happened to her suit’s dynamics when that shot grazed her arm, and now it wasn’t providing the air she needed.

Sakura clutched Syaoran’s arm with the utmost fear until he stopped swimming to look at her. Sakura motioned to her throat with her panicked face. Syaoran’s eyes widened as he figured what was wrong. Thinking quickly, Syaoran grabbed her and pulled her close.

Syaoran this is no time for consoling me! I’m drowning! Sakura was trying to resist that, but before she knew what was happening, he had pulled her insanely close.

I can breathe, so, why shouldn’t she? Syaoran took this logic and professionally managed the situation and sealed his mouth around hers, ignoring Sakura’s initial protest. About that moment Sakura’s arms had gone slightly limp, and he hoped that meant she was getting oxygen.

Sakura found her lungs slowly filling with breathale air. She took it at length, trying to get a good breath to swim on. Slowly he drew away, and Sakura prepared herself to swim her hardest. Syaoran only gave her a funny look for a second before turning with her arm again and dragging her along at a grueling pace. He kept his eyes up, seeing only the dark roof of the cave. That breath was only going to last her so long... Not that he minded helping her out, it would just be sensible to find a surface soon.

Then he saw the water ahead look a little brighter. He forced his legs and arms to their fullest and glanced at Sakura. She was about to her limit. Syaoran grabbed her and shouted out his water spell and surged them out of the water, holding her completelely and breaking the surface at an incredible speed. He stood steadily on the jet of water that held them up and looked at her with concern.

Sakura coughed a few times, then leaned her head against his shoulder, not quite quite sure how she was able to be completely out of the water. She blinked a few times, then realized Syaoran was holding her up. She tried to move her legs but found all of her muscles horribly weak from lack of oxygen. Leaning all her weight on him she took her legs out of his grip and set them unsurely on the water. After a second she began to feel slightly stable, and was enjoying the clear air around this water.

"Are you alright?" Syaoran finally asked, still having hold around her stomach in case her legs decided to protest.

Sakura looked at him, then looked down, horrified as how close they were standing. Or at least, terrified. "Yeah, thanks to you..... that was smart thinking."

"I saw it in an American movie once. Waterworld or something. That guy had gills but... it was the same principle."

Sakura smiled. Only he could make a situation like this light. She looked back up at him and almost shivered at the intent gaze he had on her. This was a scary situation. She wanted to move out of their awkward distance, but yet, it was alright. "I guess you showed the Shot," She mumbled, looking down. She kicked her brain for coming up with such bad small talk.

"I guess I did," he said, tilting her chin up. She had fear written across her eyes. He kept his small grin for a while, then let it fall. At first Sakura thought he might kiss her, but instead he, without warning, pulled her almost painfully tight once more that day. After a long sigh, he said, "I really missed you, Sakura."

Sakura started to freeze up, finding herself again in a vulnerable situation. But that was just what she wanted to hear. And he had finally told her what happened, why he had been the way he had been. He wasn’t trying to hurt her, and she had trusted him so many other times... Sakura threw away her panic and squeezed him tight in return. "And you have no idea how much I missed you."

Syaoran swallowed hard. This had been a very emotional day. But, he was finding, emotions weren’t too bad after all... In fact, he believed he could live in this moment for ... pretty much ever. But there was a volcano about to kill thousands of people that they needed to stop. Someday they would have time to linger in moments like this, but not now. He slowly drew back, then after one more smile at her, he dragged his eyes off of her and looked at their surroundings. They were on a completely different part of the mountain. Syaoran frowned, and looked around.

Sakura took a deep breath. It was hard to adjust to all of these different situations. The mountain was about to explode, though, he was right.

"We need to get to land, this is really draining me out," Syaoran said, referring to the water underneath them.

Sakura nodded and stepped/fell into the cool water. This was must clearer than the lake. What was with that? She hadn’t noticed while she had been choking. She followed Syaoran to the shore and got out, shivering. The sky was now a light purple. It was soon going to be dark. They had hardly made any way up the mountain. "Should we just start climbing?"

Syaoran looked around curiously. That cave had been a great shortcut. "Well, we’re in danger of more card attacks. I’m not sure about you, but my magic is pretty much spent for now... that one attack takes alot...."

Sakura remembered, just before they had run from the shot, Syaoran had shot something at the Shot card. That had been a pretty amazing attack. "I would imagine so, it was... pretty cool."

Syaoran nodded and stood quietly, looking around. He felt very weak and very tired. They could wake at dawn and be much more efficient.

Sakura nodded at his nod, then sighed and looked around. "Well, that’s fine with me, but... you just plan on sleeping on the ground somewhere?"

Syaoran looked around at the rocky shore. There were no caves. He looked up at the sky. It was clear. Besides, if they were in a cave and a huge earthquake hit and caused it to collapse, that would be one more problem they’d have to deal with. Syaoran walked to a nearby boulder and sat against it. He looked over to Sakura. "No, we can lean on this and sleep."

Sakura looked at that with disgust. "But.... but it’s going to be so cold tonight.... can we make a fire or something?"

Syaoran did his best not to look exasperated and opened his mouth to speak but Sakura beat him to it.

"Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, that’s a good idea, but look, there’s some trees right there, they look really dried out. We can make a little fire and lay in that grass over there. It’d be softer than these rocks and there’s no bugs since it’s so ... cold." Sakura apologized.

Syaoran looked over at the trees and decided it wasn’t a bad idea. They walked over and broked down some branches and added them to some fallen ones and then Sakura used her flame attack to set the sticks alive. They sat in the grass beside the fire quietly for a while, then Sakura moved over and leaned on Syaoran. Syaoran cordially accepted and let himself doze against her for a while, listening to the wind and the crackle of the fire.

Sakura broke the silence after a while with a loud yawn. She sat up straight and smiled at Syaoran, who was watching her with a contented look, then blinked and looked around at the grass. This was going to suck majorly, sleeping with nothing but the grass underneath them, but she was so tired that she didn’t mind too much. "I think I’m going to try to sleep," she announced.

Syaoran nodded with his heavy eyes in agreement. "Yeah, me too." He waited for her to lie down, then cautiously lowered himself next to her. They were both quiet for a moment, then Sakura spoke again.

Dealing with another awkward moment, she forced herself to focus. "Are we going to put out the fire?" She asked.

"No," Syaoran said bluntly. He paused and then sarcastically added, "Never."

Sakura rolled over on her side. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Syaroan shook his head with a solemn face, keeping his eyes on the stars above. "What do you think?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at him and hit him with her free arm lightly, then sighed and went back to lying on her back. "I think it’s kind of cold..." Sakura remarked, starting to really feel the chill of the water and cool fall air around them combining.

"Yeah, that’s an understatement....." Syaoran agreed again, his voice lazy and laid back. He glanced over at her dim shadow and watched her shiver. He felt horrible not having any blankets or pillows for her. Sakura didn’t deserve lying around in the wilderness. He longed to pull her closer and offer her what body heat he had, but he couldn’t fathom being so extreme. We have such an odd relationship. What would she think if I put my arms around her? Would she be terrified? Would she enjoy it? I have no idea how she feels for me anymore. After everything I’ve put her through, I cannot believe she would be willing to trust me for anything more than a partnership in magic. But is that all I think of her as? A comrade? No...that’s not all I wish her to be. It was a pivotal moment in Syaoran’s life, but he squeezed out the courage and wordlessly pulled her closer.

Sakura laid perfectly still for a moment, taking it in, then slowly relaxed and welcomed the extra help. If Syaoran’s arms didn’t keep her warm, at least her nerves would. She awkwardly clasped her hand on his arm, not quite sure of how to deal with the situation. Was he doing this to be nice, or was he doing it because he wanted to? "Syaoran?"

Syaoran was quiet for a few seconds. He answered back in a more hushed voice. "What?"

"Do you remember how things were when I accidentally visited Hong Kong?"

"Yes."

Sakura wasn’t quite sure where her story was going. "And when we stayed in Hyrule together, a long time ago?"

"Yes."

"Did you.... where you happy then?"

Syaoran breathed in deeply, treasuring her voice being so close to him. Things were supposed to be like this. "Yes. I was the happiest I had been in my life, in those moments when it really was just us. When things got horrible at home, I would escape to those paradises, I would run back into your eyes, and be able to have strength to pull through. But then, after... what happened...." Syaoran went quiet for a while.

Sakura blushed brightly but tried her best to restrain her embaressment. She laughed insecurely and tried to unawkwardly fix her hand’s grip on his arm. Syaoran was getting really weird."It’s alright Syaoran, I don’t think after something like that.... anyone could be their normal selves."

Syaoran ignored her excuse. "Maybe so, but it still isn’t fair, everything around me is destroyed, it’s like I’m this tornado and anything I come in contact with just ends up as part of the destruction path... I hate not being able to control my feelings, I wish things could just always be like.... be like... this."

Sakura felt some of her heart wrench, because inwardly she had hoped he saw that and recognized the problems in his moods as well. "They will be someday, Syaoran, things will calm down and you’ll be able to have everything you want, and you won’t have a reason to be upset anymore."

Syaoran closed his eyes through her speech and concentrated on feeling her next to him. This was how it was supposed to be, he didn’t doubt it. Why did things have to keep screwing him over so that this would be wrecked? It wasn’t fair. But fair didn’t seem to have any place in his life. After a long pause of silence he sighed deeply. "I hope so."

Sakura felt bad for the sound of longing in his voice but chose to stop there for now. They had a long day ahead of them. "We should probably get some sleep, though..."

"Yeah..." He agreed. Syaoran pulled her tight for a second and said, "Oyasumi nisai."

Sakura grinned as his arms loosened. When things were like this, she couldn’t believe she had ever been frustrated with him in her life. "Night." Sakura yawned once and then allowed her thoughts to drift into reflections of the day. Who knew what the next day would bring.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Syaoran tried to sit up suddenly but was quickly reminded that Sakura had been sleeping on his chest. He fell back to the earth, his aching back moaning as it hit the ground once more. Syaoran took his arms to himself and rubbed his eyes and looked around, then pulled through his hair once. The air was stuffy, and there was definitely a thick layer of something floating about.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, but the air they arrived at stung. She shut them and rubbed her eyes, then saw that the smoke off the volcano was making its way to their sleeping grounds. It was hard to tell what time it was, because the thick ash and smoke clouded all the sunlight, but it was uniformly dim, a good sign it was morning. She sat up and looked at Syaoran, who quickly sat up as well.

"Looks like there was some activity through the night," Syaoran said groggily, his lungs reluctantly accepting the sulfuric air he brought into them.

"Yeah, I’d say so..." Sakura mumbled in response.

Syaoran stretched out his arms and then stood up, his eyes looking as far as they could. The far scenery was shrouded and unclear behind all the smoke that was hanging heavy in the air. This was going to be a very demanding hike up. He looked back to Sakura, who was taking her time getting up. "It’s going to be hard today, too bad we don’t have anything to eat now..."

Sakura nodded with a forlorn expression. She looked across the smog and sighed loudly. Her stomach was already feeling empty. But this was no time to think about food. They had to get going before any lava did. "Well... I suppose we should get going. We need to hurry up, there’s alot of mountain ahead of us."

"Yeah, you’re right. We need to make good time," He said, starting to walk. Sakura hurried by his side and they headed up the slightly inclined ground.

The walk was strenuous, for they soon reached a cliff, and they had to climb and scramble their way up a rocky steep path. After a while they reached similar places, and soon they were spending more time climbing than walking. By Sakura’s request they took periodical breaks to recover. After an hour or two of climbing, they sat with their legs hanging off a nice solid rock.

"How much more, you think?" Sakura asked, breathless. She wiped some sweat off her forehead and shut her eyes tightly, the dry sting of sulfur plaguing them.

"Hard to tell," Syaoran said, his mouth equally dry. "Hopefully we won’t have to go all the way to the top. I don’t think we can, anyways, we’re going to be dehydrated before we ever reach it."

Sakura nodded, her tongue hanging out for effect. After composing herself, she looked around. "I’m just afraid we’re going to find lava coming off a rock somewhere soon."

Syaoran nodded, then looked nervously behind him. There was going to be something big happening very soon, and the goal was for them to get there and stop it before it did. The rock they were sitting on began shaking, and Sakura and Syaoran quickly backed from the edge and looked around. More rumbling from within the mountain caused even more alarm. Once the ground was steady enough, Sakura jumped to her feet and began climbing quickly.

"Show yourself, Fiery! Earthy!" She called ahead of her, though she doubted it would do anything.

Syaoran looked ahead as he swiftly followed Sakura around the rocks. Boiling water was gurgling out of the ground ahead. They made their way around and hurried on. The smoke and ash seemed to be getting clearer, as odd as it was. Syaoran tried not to worry himself about it. They could beat this, they had made it this far, they weren’t going to let one card beat them. "Hey, I have an idea!" Syaoran called after Sakura, who was scrambling up some difficult rocks.

"What is it?" She called back.

"Maybe we can force her out, if nothing else," Syaoran answered, having his sword in hand.

Sakura nodded and turned back to him, then hurried to his side. She didn’t want to be in the way of this. Syaoran glanced at her unsurely, then moved his fingers around on his sword. This was going to be very draining, and did he really want to lose all of his energy before the enemy was even around to fight?

"We have to stop it before those people living on the mountain are forced to deal with it," Sakura assured him.

Syaoran looked back to the ground, took a deep breath, then pulled all of the magic he could reach within and forced it down his arms into his sword. Opening his eyes to see where he was sending it, he sliced his sword through the air and drilled it into the ground, pushing the energy out into the earth. The ground seemed to explode underneath them, and Syaoran found himself fallen backwards. Sakura immediately lost her footing as well and soon hit the rocks behind them very hard. She found Syaoran sprawled next to her, already recovering himself. Syaoran grit his teeth from the gashes he was sure the sharp rocks gave him, then picked up his sword and looked ahead.

The ground had split, and there was a definite red glow coming through. "Run!" Syaoran shouted, jumping to his feet and grabbing Sakura’s arm.

Sakura felt adreniline surge into her legs as she struggled to keep up with Syaoran’s sudden pace. They jumped relentlessly over rocks and trenches in the landscaping. When Syaoran let go of her arm she took a second to look over her shoulder and saw a wall of lava shoot out of the ground near where they had just been. Sakura’s eyes went wide with horror as the fatal drops of red liquid splattered to the ground. She called out her shield and they continued until a safe distance away. Sakura turned with panic to Syaoran. "What are we supposed to do now! We can’t fight lava, that’s not a card!"

"Keep your shield out, look, we obviously got to Earthy, she wouldn’t be trying to defend herself any other way." Syaoran tried to hide any doubt he had of his own strength for her sake and quickly tried to think up a strategy. "We have to hit her hard with another attack like that, give-" Syaoran stopped abruptly as a blazing stream of melted rock was travelling upward on the mountaing towards them. He looked up to see more sparks and bits of lava sprinkling out of the sulfuric cloud above them.

Ignoring the burn in her eyes, lungs, and every other part of her body, Sakura hurried out of the lava’s way and tried to think through her most powerful attacks. Her strongest were fire related, and that wasn’t going to do much for them. Syaoran had the stronger attacks between the both of them, but she was sure his magic was running very low. They both sprinted out of the way of a particularly large rock that fell in a blazing glory where they had just been. She felt her arm being pulled to her left, and found herself running after Syaoran towards an unknown destination.

The scratches and bruises she was getting on her legs would be phenomenal to look at later. With all of the fog and stirred up dust in the air it was hard to see more than ten feet in front of her, and running full speed it was quite a hazard. The rocky terrain wasn’t helping much either. She glanced over her shoulder as she saw more lava flowing down towards them. As she turned her gaze back to the front she found Syaoran at a complete stop, and herself still hurtling forwards. Syaoran’s eyes widened and he grabbed a hold of her as she sailed cluelessly off the solid ground into the highly acidic lake that bubbled in front of them. Sakura’s momementum was very fast, and even with Syaoran’s help she found herself falling backwards, Syaoran struggling to regain balance.

"Don’t touch the water!" Syaoran shouted to her, gripping her arms with all his strength and wretching to move backwards away from the water.

Everything had just happened so fast, and so it took Sakura a moment to orient herself and realize she was hanging onto Syaoran and dangling inches over a boiling body of water. She made a desperate attempt to throw herself up before her feet ever touched, but it failed. All too quickly her momentum from the sprint dropped to her feet and her legs stung intensely as they made contact with the liquid.

Sakura may have shreiked, but it was a blur of motion, for a second after she had hit the water Syaoran had pulled her back up and out of harm’s way. Syaoran quickly set her on the ground and surveyed her legs, expecting the worst. Sakura had a look of shock on her face, but slowly her eyes headed to her legs too. It could have been much worse, Syaoran concluded, for the thick scales in the Hylian suit had done a great job at protecting what was inside. Still in the spots of skin that showed through the deteriorated suit were slightly burnt looking, but nothing too horrible.

Sakura tried to hold back the childish whimper that died to escape from her throat. Her legs were showing through the suit and still burned intensely from the ‘water’ she had just fallen into. She longed to itch them, to tear off the peices of the suit that felt like they were melted to her skin, but there was a stream of lava moving awfully fast towards them.

Syaoran had a very pissed expression on his face as he studied the damage done to Sakura, then looked up with passionately angry eyes at the destruction that was headed their way. He made up his mind and hopped to his feet, then turned to Sakura. "Put up a shield," he ordered.

Sakura ignored her pain and complaints and quickly obeyed his order. Syaoran had a look of determination on his face that had a slightly crazy streak to it. Just like him whenever he got an idea in his head, always set off the fireworks. He gathered his sword back up again and swallowed back the doubt he had in his ability to carry this out, then began channeling his energy. Clenching his teeth together until the pressure radiated through his jaw he hurled his sword to the ground, sending out everything plus what he didn’t have into the attack. The ground waved under the energy that flowed out in a destructive path, hitting everything under Earthy’s control. Syaoran felt a wave of fatigue hit him and he regrettably lowered himself to his knees. The wall of the enemy’s attackers diverted away from them in all directions as if Syaoran had put a shield up. Syaoran felt the old feelings coming back, remembering his overuse of this attack in Hong Kong, how he had pushed himself over his limit day after day.. Syaoran inhaled deeply, trying to hold onto any strength he had left. It didn’t seem like Earthy was coming out.

Sakura repeatedly reminded herself there was nothing wrong with her legs as they burned with the weight she put on them. Syaoran looked like he was near exhaustion and Earthy still hadn’t given in. His attack had definitely done something, but the lava was still heading down the mountain, heading towards all of those people... She walked awkwardly over to Syaoran’s side and knelt down next to him, observing just how exhausted he was. "Syaoran, I don’t know if we can beat this," She said, a hint of panic in her voice.

Syaoran couldn’t have Sakura giving up here, his faith was running low as it was. "We have to Sakura. We always do, this is just a challenge."

Sakura didn’t find much help in his little motivational speech, and stood up wobblily with less confidence if anything. But he was right, they did have to. Sakura held her staff and watched Syaoran’s attack’s effects slowly dissipate. She wasn’t quite sure what she was going to do, but the right attack always seemed to come out when she just threw out raw energy. Sakura tried to block out the chaos around her and focussed her energy into her arms and down into her staff. "Leave us alone, Clow!"

Her energy flowed out in a parade of suprisingly extreme power. Sakura watched the mountain seem to bow around the path of the attack, then watched it penetrate into the ground, deep past the lava into the core of magma in the center. All was quiet for a moment, then a sudden rupture in the ground sent lava everywhere, along with a dim figure of rocks and earth. Earthy grinned, her eyes a deep ruby red as they stared right into Sakura’s eyes. A laugh echoed through the air. Sakura frowned with confusion and began collecting herself to seal Earthy, but with a flash Earthy disappeared into a hidden place within the air, along with all the dust, sulfur, lava, and everything misplaced about the mountain. Suddenly the air was clear, the sun was shining overhead, and all the blistering heat had ceased to bother them.

Sakura looked around with wide eyes at the instantaneous docility that had settled over the gentle slope of the mountain they rested on. She blinked with uncertainty and stood dumbfounded for a second or two, then remembered Syaoran’s weak state, and hurried over with her aching legs. "What just happened?" She asked, kneeling at his side. Syaoran was looking around with alert confusion too, obviously still conscious.

"She............ she left," Syaoran stated.

Sakura rolled her eyes, then looked down at him. "Are you okay? I thought you were going to pass out."

Syaoran glared. "It’s you I’m worried about, let me see your leg."

Sakura sat down and looked around the mountain. "I don’t get this. These cards are so weird, I hate it."

Syaoran carefully pulled some of the burnt pants off her leg, cringing as he saw some parts looked melded into her skin. He nodded. "They’re being very unpredictable. It’s like... there’s no strategy or point to their attacks. I think Earthy will be back, but we shouldn’t wait till then." He looked up. "This is going to hurt."

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as he yanked a peice of the suit out of her leg. "Yeah," She choked. "But, what? Wait to do what?"

"Find Eriol," Syaoran replied, glad to see there wasn’t much else horrible about the burns.

"What? You mean, like go out and look for him? No offense, but we don’t even know where his house is, not to mention it’s halfway around the world..." Sakura picked at a peice of clothe but quickly stopped as a twang of pain went up her leg. "Syaoran this hurts!"

Syaoran surveyed the burns as he pulled the last peice of her pant leg off and cringed in sympathy. "I’m taking you home, then we are going to find him. That’s the end of it." He stood up, then grabbed a hold of Sakura and picked her up. Syaoran began walking with determination down the mountainside.

"Syaoran, don’t be ridiculous. You can’t carry me all the way home."

Syaoran kept walking. "Watch me."

Sakura sighed, but didn’t let it bother her. She was not going to stand in the way of his stubborn will. She looked over his shoulder at the disappearing lava and frowned. "Syaoran! It’s going away! Maybe we did beat her after all!"

Syaoran tried to keep his breathing even and quickened pace. "Earthy isn’t gone Sakura, not at all. There’s only one way we’re going to stop her. We’ve got to get to Eriol."

Sakura was in no mood to argue, and went silent. There was going to be no harm in trusting Syaoran’s words. It seemed the only hope they had left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I KNOW I’M SLOW! I’m sorry! I have nothing to defend myself with except ‘I was busy’ and ‘I had no inspiration’. I’m really going to try to do another chapter this winter break, we’ll see how it goes. I have to get my horse back in shape this break too. Oh the work. Email me at [email protected] or go to my site at geocities.com/ccsffhome

Ja mata ne! Merry Christmas too!