RECAP: Sakura was having a tough time with Moondust in the last chapter, ending up getting a bruise on her leg from the horse’s hoof, and then she was further beat up by the ghost, whom Sakura tried to negotiate with, unsuccessfully. Syaoran had it rough, also, as the elders are doubting his ability to fulfill his duties, so he is trying to train harder.

Chapter 28: Tough Training

Sakura looked warily at the young kids to her left. She then turned her head to see the few kids on her right. How come everyone starts judo so young? Why do I feel out of place here? She quickly put her attention back to the form of position she was suppose to be in; first position. The sensei was walking around, sharply whacking the backs of the kids legs, roughly straightening their backs, pulling their shoulders, critiquing every little thing that could be wrong.

Though Sakura had only known this sensei for the past ten minutes - this being her first class- she had already gained a healthy respect for the older man, and found herself horribly nervous every time he’d come by her, afraid of what she might be doing wrong next. As the sensei neared, Sakura went through a mental checklist of what she was supposed to be doing. Back straight, shoulders back...leg bent, leg straight... Sakura winced as his sharp ruler thingy whacked her left leg under the knee. "Leg straight and locked. Someone should be able to stand on the back of your knee."

Sakura tried to do what he said, then stood wearily, her legs starting to get tired of staying in this position for so long. How much longer until we actually learn to do something? I want to learn how to kick and fight, not stand with my legs spread apart for long incriments of time. Oh well. I’m sure this is a major part of fighting, though I don’t ever recall seeing Syaoran in this stanse...but he’s way more advanced.

Sakura went through the rest of the grueling class, only learning a basic foot position. She payed attention because of the alarming information the sensei told them about the easy ways to break your foot. Syaoran and Meilin made this look effortless. Maybe they teach differently down in Hong Kong? She changed back into her normal clothes in the dressing room and walked out into the nice spring air. April had began to turn a little hot for her taste, but it was still reasonable jean and Tshirt weather. Sakura fiddled with the gauze wrapped around her arm. It was healing slowly- being as deep as the cut was- but it was healing all the same.

Sakura walked to her house thinking over the class, and stepped inside, immediatly greeted with her brother. "Ah, Sakura-san, potential black belter."

Her father, from the kitchen, looked over. "How did your first class go?"

Sakura dropped her bookbag down on the couch and walked over to see what he was making. "I never knew it was so hard." She said, peering into the bowl of batter her father was stirring. "But I think it’s going to be fun once we really start learning."

"Definitely. Things like that take some time before they’re fun."

"You mean; it will be fun once you can start using kicks against me?" Touya offered.

Sakura glared. "Of course, that will make it incredibly fun." She switched back to a smile. "I am going to practice!" She said, happily skipping up the stairs to her room. She quietly walked in and found Bob and Kero in a small brawl, but there was nothing terribly destructive about it.

"Could you two ever learn to cooperate?" She asked, walking in front of her mirror and going into the positions she had learned that day. If I want to excel in this, I’m gonna have to practice more than the average kid would. Maybe I’ll be able to get into an age group more of my own.

"Angel-san learning martial arts?" Bob asked, ducking under Kero’s swatting arm.

"Yeah." She said, going out of stanse and then practicing going back into it. "I figured I could practice and get a head start on it."

"Any luck with that beasty horse animal?" Kero asked, going out of the little squabble for now.

Sakura fixed her legs; front one bent, back one locked behind her, then looked up at the mirror to see how it looked. "Moondust? Yeah, I think we’re getting used to each other." She lied.

"Angel-san’s cut healing okay?" Bob asked with concern.

"Mhmm." Sakura said, going out of stanse and then going back in, trying to immediatly get the correct posture.

"Tomoyo called earlier. She said something about wanting to record a Himiko Den song..." Kero said, flying over to the television to turn on his game.

Sakura sweatdropped. "Thanks." She said, sighing. Tomoyo had been bugging her to record that stupid song, despite Sakura’s persistent protests.

Maybe if she could record Shiro Ame’s album, I’d come help out. But not just me. Sakura came out of stanse and walked over to her desk, her thoughts shifting to the letter she had already started to write about the whole cruise trip to Syaoran. I wish he’d right back. He said ‘of course’ and he sounded so sincere when I asked if we could write each other. Maybe he just missed the ‘each other’ part. Well, he’s probably just really busy taking care of his mother and everything...I shouldn’t be so harsh. Still, it seems strange. "Kero-chan, you haven’t seen any letters lying around the house addressed to me, have you?" She asked.

"No, why?" Kero asked.

"N-nothing." She said absently, walking over to the door. "I’m gonna help cook supper, you guys behave."

___________________________

Sakura looked warily up at the large storm clouds that were rolling in. Spring time had been merciful so far, aside from the card induced storm, but here the clouds looked like a sudden typhoon nearing Tomeoda. I wonder, I should probably put that horse in the barn. I mean, it’s not fair to leave her out in the pasture with no protection. But...she does have all those trees...

"Looks like quite a storm." Tomoyo said, looking up at the sky with a smile and she searched with her free hand in her bookbag for her video camera.

"I wonder if I should put Moondust inside?" Sakura voiced her thoughts.

"And let her kick you again?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura was quiet for a moment. "Well...I promised to take care of her. I should probably bring her in, I think I’m gonna head over there now."

"I’m coming, then." Tomoyo said, finally retreiving her camera.

Sakura sighed, hoping that her next moments of humiliation would not be caught on tape. What if she does kick me again?Well that doesn’t matter, I learned from last time, I can’t let her crowd on me like that. Maybe if I hold the extra rope behind me, I could whack her with that and not get kicked trying to wave her away. They walked onto the bus and sat quietly, looking out the windows at the gigantic clouds that were rolling in. I wonder if it has stormed in Hong Kong? Probably, it rains a whole lot there.

They stepped off the bus and found it very windy in this open field. Sakura quickly hopped over the ditch, going into a jog. "It’s gonna storm really soon, we better hurry or we’ll get stuck in a downpour!"

Tomoyo nodded in agreement, and they both jogged to the barn. Sakura grabbed the halter and another bucket of feed, not wanting to waste any time chasing the animal around. They hopped back over the fence and looked around for Moondust. They finally spotted her near the back fence, pacing back and force, seemingly excited about the impending weather. Great. It’s hard enough to deal with her normally, now she’s all exciteable... When they began to get near, Sakura shook the bucket, letting Moondust know she had grain.

"You might want to stay a little back, in case she decides to tear off." Sakura said to Tomoyo, who was walking and looking blindly through her camera. She zoomed in on Sakura’s solemn face, then switched shots to the sky, which was full of dark clouds.

Sakura ignored the camera and carefully walked over to the horse, setting the bucket down so she wouldn’t run off. The horse began devouring the grain, and Sakura quickly took the chance to put the halter on. Moondust looked up startled as she realized she had been captured, and threw her head up, trying to back out of Sakura’s hold.

Sakura held to the rope determinedly, then quickly picked the bucket up, trying to hold the horse at the same moment. She tossed the bucket over in Tomoyo’s direction. "Can you carry that?" Sakura asked, both hands tied up hanging on to the rope as Moondust continued to back up.

Sakura didn’t wait for Tomoyo to answer, because she was too preoccupied in this horse. She yanked down on the rope hard, hoping Moondust would give in and lower her head and quit backing up. Moondust stopped, though she held her head still haughtily high. Sakura turned so she was side by side with the horse facing the barn, then pulled on the rope, trying to get her to walk to the barn.

Moondust planted her feet stubbornly, ignorant of the storm so close. Sakura grit her teeth and pulled hard on the rope, putting practically all her weight on the leadline, but it seemed that didn’t matter to Moondust, she was so much stronger, she just continued to hold herself stubbornly. Sakura got an alternative idea. She took the extra rope she had and whacked it behind her, swatting it at Moondust’s flank. Moondust jumped to the side, startled, but instead of her feet coming at Sakura, they moved away from the rope, thus moving safely away from Sakura.

Sakura pulled on the rope again and Moondust reluctantly followed, and they walked slowly to the barn, Tomoyo taping all of this enthusiastically. Sakura reached the gate and stopped to make sure Moondust wasn’t going to try anything before she worked the lock on it and walked her out into the barnyard. Sakura walked her into the barn and into the stall, slipping her halter off and pulling the heavy door shut.

Sakura stood back proudly, looking at the horse she had finally gotten. Tomoyo set her camera down on a nearby haybale. "Good job Sakura!"

Sakura could only smile. But we still hate each other. How will I become friends with this horse if she hates me? It seems to me she does hold alot of qualities from her old owner. One of those most prominent; the hard to get friendship. "We should probably give her some hay." Sakura said to herself, walking over to the hayloft ladder. She climbed up and grabbed one of the nearby bales, stopping breifly and reminiscing the time she had helped Syaoran stack these bales of hay.

Syaoran-kun... Sakura hopped back down the ladder, trying to hold in the sorrow that made its way back. He’s already been gone two and a half weeks now. He will be back before I know it. Sakura grabbed the barn knife and quickly sawed through the twine holding the bale together, then pulled out two flakes of hay like Syaoran had told her to give Moondust. She carried them over to Moondust’s stall and opened the door, greeted by Moondust’s teeth, who rudely ripped one bale out of Sakura’s arms. "One would think I starved you or something." Sakura said, tossing the other bale in next to the first one and shutting the door.

"Can we go to my house and record that song now?" Tomoyo asked enthusiastically.

Sakura sighed. "I guess."

Tomoyo squealed with happiness and grabbed her camera. They walked over to the barn door and shut it, turning off the lights as well. Outside had turned very dark, and looked like it was about to pour any second. "We better hope a bus will be by soon!" Sakura said, jogging down the pasture. As they reached the road, a sprinkling mist was already coming. Sakura was releived to see the bus down the road, making its way to them. Just as the bus stopped in front of them, it started pouring, and they both rushed onto the bus before getting soaked.

Once they rode the short distance to Tomoyo’s house, Sakura reluctantly hurried out into the rain with Tomoyo, walking up to her house door. They stepped into the perfect temperature of her entry way. "You won’t beleive everything we have already set up in the studio. I don’t know how to run alot of the equiment myself yet. We could really do professional recordings, providing we could find a group to come."

"Shiro Ame!" Sakura said excitedly.

Tomoyo smiled and nodded. She leaded Sakura through a couple hallways to a brand new room Sakura hadn’t seen before. It was several rooms, actually. It had two very spacious rooms for the recording artists to sing and play in, much nicer than some Sakura had seen on television, and was all connected by the sound rooms in the back, having several tables and plush chairs for anyone coming along to watch. "This is amazing!" Sakura said, looking around with dazzled eyes.

"Isn’t it!?" Tomoyo agreed. "Come on, look at this new keyboard I got." She said, leading Sakura by the hand into one of the recording rooms. Sakura followed her to a piano, then looked around blankly, not seeing the keyboard.

"That’s it!" Tomoyo said, pointing at the piano.

"This is a piano, isn’t it?" Sakura asked, pushing down on one of the weighted keys. To her surprise no noise came out.

Tomoyo pushed a button Sakura hadn’t seen on the side, and several screens lit up in front of the keys. "It’s all electronic! Amazing, isn’t it? I think it has better piano sound than an actual piano!"

Sakura smiled and tried playing a few notes again, and this time they came loud. Tomoyo did a scale on the base end, then looked up at Sakura. "Do you want to record the song we did at the school concert really quickly? It will take us all but five minutes."

Sakura bit her lip. She felt awful knowing that she had ever played such a private song of Syaoran’s, it wouldn’t be fair to record it without him knowing. But Tomoyo wasn’t aware of this. It is a really pretty song. But I shouldn’t. He would be so angry with me if he found out... "I don’t think so, why don’t we just do that other song?"

Tomoyo shrugged. "Alright. I am going to be recording some violin parts while you’re singing- I can record those off the piano." She said, pressing a few buttons, then pushing on a key. A beautiful violin sound came out.

"Wow, that’s really nice, Tomoyo." Sakura said, amazed a peice of electronics could capture such a good clear sound.

"Thanks!" She walked over to a microphone stand where some lyrics were laying on a stand, then walked back over to Sakura. "Do you want to go through it once to practice?" Madison asked.

"Sure. Is this the normal piano version- like- did you just record the same thing except with yourself playing?"

"Yeah. I can play it off the keyboard for now, I won’t turn your mic on just yet." Tomoyo walked over to the keyboard and pressed a few buttons, then the speakers around them came to life, playing the beginning piano notes of the song.

Sakura sat back on a stool with the lyrics and waited for when the vocals were supposed to come in. This song had a sad but hopeful ring to it, and it seemed to enliven Sakura’s thoughts, making them drift to thoughts of Syaoran. Maybe someday he can hear this song? Not with me singing, though, that’d be too embaressing. Sakura started singing softly to herself, listening to Madison’s beautiful playing. This is a really pretty song. Sakura thought. She sang the happier chorus with more voice, trying to fuel it with her emotions.

I don’t know why she’s making me sing this. She is the better singer in between us. Tomoyo’s always getting me into stuff like this. Sakura finished the last verse, then hummed along the rest of it, paying more attention to the violin fill in Tomoyo put in. The song finally ended, fading out. She looked over at Tomoyo skeptically. "I don’t think I should be the one singing this." Sakura said.

"Nonsense! You sounded wonderful, Sakura-chan! Oh....if I could put this together with some video clips...." She started.

Sakura sighed. "Have you found out from your mother whether you’ll be able to come with me on the cruise or not?"

Tomoyo stood up from the keyboard. "She’s been at work, but she’ll be home tonight! I’ll get to ask her, I’m sure it’ll be alright!" Tomoyo walked enthusiastically to the back sound room. "It will be so fun, going on a cruise with Sakura-chan..."

Sakura shook her head, smiling, then walked over to the microphone. Tomoyo looked up from the back, pointing at Sakura. "Can you tap on it? Better yet, sing something." She called.

Sakura nodded and swallowed down her normal embaressment from singing in public, then began singing softly the first verse from the song they were about to record. Her voice went loud and soft with Tomoyo fiddling with the controls, and the ending sound was medium with a very nice echo on it. "Try to sing out with the music." Tomoyo directed, walking back to her keyboard. "Okay, are you ready? Don’t be horribly worried about getting it perfect, we are layering your voice, it’ll sound better after a few layers."

Sakura smiled weakly. The way Tomoyo was talking this was going to go on all night. And I wanted to get that letter sent to Syaoran. I’m sure I’ll have a little time when I get home, since I don’t have any homework. Providing no cards or ghosts attack me.

_______________________________________________________________________

Syaoran hesitantly opened the hospital door. He was alone this time, no sisters to bug him, but he was worried about going into the hospital room. Every time he had visited his mother, a gripping fear took over him as he thought of the possibilites that he could find if he walked into the room.

A soft voice was humming an all too fimiliar melancholy song, and Syaoran felt his eyes become a little heavier. He frowned and looked at the floor, his thoughts going two different directions. In one, he felt his family, all his concerns for their well being, all the pain he built up...In the other direction, he felt a deep shame for leaving Japan at such a horrible time. He remembered Sakura playing this song on the piano, completly innocent to what awful notes she let ring out. Syaoran put those thoughts aside and took a deep breath, starting to walk into the room.

"Syaoran-san, why do you hesitate so?" His mother asked, before he was even in her sight.

Syaoran halted for a second, startled, then continued in, looking warmly at his mother. "That song..." He explained, walking over to the edge of her bed and sitting on it. She looked healthy enough, or at least she didn’t look any worse. She sat up in her bed, and her eyes were sparkling. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"As good as anyone could in a hospital." She said, smiling. "But you, son, you’re troubled. Hardships with the elders, I suppose?"

Syaoran nodded. "Yes, you could say that, I suppose." He glanced over at his mother’s eyes. He didn’t want to tell her there could be problems paying her medicine bill, but he knew it was no use trying to hide it from her, because she was practically reading his mind. "I’m not training well. And if I don’t shapen up, they aren’t going to pay..." He looked with pained eyes at his mother, about as close to tears as he ever got.

She smiled understandingly at him, her eyes sympathetic. "You are doing all you can, son, and I am ever grateful for you. Your father would be so proud of you."

Syaoran blinked and looked down at the floor, frowning with hurt as these hard topics brought themselves forth. He blinked for a while more, then looked back up. "But, it’s not good enough. What else can I do? I am training in the morning and in the night now, but it seems I can’t get any better!"

His mother shook her head. "You always use to try so hard. Think of what you are doing, my Syaoran-kun, you are training decades past your level."

Syaoran sighed, this redundant information not helping him. "That doesn’t help me get any better." He muttered almost inaudibly.

"Do you really want to know what I think?" His mother asked.

Syaoran looked warily at her. "I guess."

"I think you are holding back. You are missing something."

Syaoran looked back at the floor. Why did his life have to be so complicated. But I can’t get it back unless I quit training and leave the clan. That wouldn’t help this cause very much. "Mother, did you know anything about Clow Reed having something to do with an Arabic family?" He asked.

His mother chewed on her lip, deep in thought. "I have heard myths. I do not hold any truth to them, though."

This was all Syaoran needed to know; if his mother had heard the story as well, and someone like Chindra knew it, it couldn’t be pure lies. "There is something strange going on with the cards."

"The cardmistress, you mean? But she transformed them, didn’t she?"
"Yes, but that’s what I mean. Some of them are changing back to Clow cards, they are making alliances with each other, ganging up on S-the card mistress, and becoming very strong enemies."

"Going back to the Clow?" His mother asked, frowning.

"Yes." He answered.

"That does seem very odd. Is she able to transform them again, or are they shielded?"

"They are unable to be used. Some type of evil went over them, they are being bound in their cards only by the Cardmistress’s limited power."

"Have you brought this to the elders?"

Syaoran shook his head. "Not yet." He glanced back up, his eyes meeting his mothers. "But you know what they’d say. It’s the Cardmistress’s business. We shouldn’t be involved..."

"But you want to be." His mother observed.

Syaoran held her eye contanct for a second before looking back at the floor, thoughts flooding back in his mind. "She...I think I owe it to her. She’s innocent, this shouldn’t be her fight."

"But the cards did chose her." His mother reminded him.

Syaoran sighed. It seemed everyone was siding against him. He thought if anyone would help him out, it would be his mother. "I know." He said quietly.. "I just don’t think..."

His mother sized him up, then spoke. "Don’t worry so much for her, I know she is well and fine. You two will meet again, I’m sure of it." His mother said, smiling.

But will it be too late? Will she have had to fight everything for herself? She would hate me then. But there’s nothing I can do. "I’ve got to get back, they have me working with the war horses today." He said, standing up.

"That was one of your father’s favorite things." His mother said, smiling.

"I know." Syaoran said quietly, walking towards the door. "I’ll see you Wednesday." He said.

"Bye." His mother called.

Syaoran shut the door, stepping out into the hallway, then leaned on it. It’s hopeless. I can’t keep going like this. But I have no reason to go back, anymore. Unless I can convince them about this card thing. But they won’t care. They’ll just say it’s her business, and I shouldn’t be involved. Syaoran walked down the hallway solemnly, his thoughts ruthlessly pounding his mind. Maybe this training won’t be so bad. How could they make working with horses bad?

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

"En Gaurd!" A boy shouted across the arena. Syaoran recognized him as the same young boy he had been seeing everywhere. He must manage the stable. I don’t see any other reason why he’d be here all the time.

The girl that had said ‘she wasn’t impressed with Syaoran’ was riding the new palimino horse on the other side of the arena. She looked over at the boy, who apparently was her brother, then spurred her horse into a gallop, holding tightly to a long peice of foam. The boy on his little pony gripped his peice of foam, then pushed the little animal into a short strided gallop. They met each other in the center, clashing their foam together wildly. Neither of them fell off, but only continued their horses to opposite sides of the ring, both holding their foam triumphantly.

The girl rolled her eyes and frowned at her brother. "You know, the point in jousting is for one of us to fall off. Seeing who is the better rider here, why aren’t you on the ground?" She said in English.

Syaoran leaned against the arena wall with boredom, quietly watching them out of the corner of his eye as he waited for the sensei to arrive. The sensei should never make me wait like this. I don’t want to watch two foreigners joust. But Syaoran couldn’t really help but watch as they ran at each other again. They met in the middle and held their horses at a stop, pushing on each other with the foam. When neither of them would budge, the girl, fed up, swung off her tall horse and landed down on the pony, knocking the boy off. She quickly swung her leg around so she was back in normal riding position, then kicked the pony into a gallop, holding the reins of her own horse so her brother couldn’t capture either animal.

Syaoran was a bit impressed with her horsemanship, but he was annoyed that they would be so wreckless and playful. Or do I just feel this way because I want to play too? He surpressed a smile as he watched the small boy get up from the sandy arena, brushing himself off. "That’s no fair! That’s illegal!"

The girl teasingly rode his pony in a circle, swinging the palimino around with her. "All is fair in love and war!" She said, smiling.

Syaoran blinked back to attention as he saw the sensei walking up the aisleway with a huge cold blooded animal, already saddled with the heavy war saddles they used. Syaoran tried to ignore the boy that had run to the side arena wall, as he was making ‘awing’ noises at the large horse that Syaoran was getting to ride. "Syaoran-san?" The sensei asked authoritcally.

Syaoran nodded.

"Come with me." He instructed, leading the horse past Syaoran. Syaoran followed at the side, looking over the horse and sizing it up. It’s still young...probably some type of draft horse, from the looks of it. Too bad I couldn’t use Moondust. But she’d be too small for this kind of stuff.

He led the horse into a large outdoor arena with numerous things set up to practice hitting. "You have your weapon?" The man asked.

Syaoran nodded at the sheath on his back.

"Good. You may mount."

Syaoran wasn’t going to say that he normally liked to at least know the name of the horse first, but he only silently mounted, collecting the reins. He found, with distress, he was using double reins; two for each hand. He tried not to say anything, though he wasn’t one hundred percent sure how to use them.

"If you are expecting your horse to help you in combat, you must know how to control every single bone of it’s body. These double reins will allow you to keep him soft in the jaw and listening to you. Do you understand?"

Syaoran nodded.

"Okay." He began showing Syaoran how to do basic maneuvers, many of which Syaoran had already known how to do, but he didn’t say anything. If word got to the elders that he was seeming to learn this stuff quickly, pretending not to know how was a small price to pay. The basic dressage and equitation he was teaching Syaoran seemed pretty obvious. Leg yeilds, pushing the horse around with your legs, and getting the horse to spin around to another direction were the main goals of that lesson.

After they had finished, Syaoran was satisfied that he had impressed the sensei, and his mood had lightened a little bit from the heavy burden it had been when he had come to the stables. Sakura must have gotten my letter by now! Maybe I’ve gotten something from her finally in response. Syaoran walked up the path to his house, about dying in the hot humid air, and was looking forward to walking into the breezy home. He checked the mail again, but someone had already gotten it, so he walked up to the house, praying that Meilin hadn’t gotten a hold of the letter. He walked into the house and looked immediatly to the counter for a pile of mail.

His oldest sister was making ice, and she looked up at Syaoran, having not seen him since he left to see his mother. "How was mother?" She asked.

"She looked pretty good." Syaoran said. He walked into the living room looking for the mail, stopping temporarily and resting in front of a fan. "Did you get the mail?"

"Yeah. You got something, I threw it in your room." She said, putting the tray of water into the freezer.

Syaoran walked energetically up the stairs to his room. He spotted the envelope on the side of his bed, and he quickly picked it up. It was addressed from Japan, much to his happiness. Syaoran set it back down, wanting to read it in a more enjoyable outfit and temperature. He shed his horse smelling clothes then changed into a soccer shirt and some light pants, then stood on his bed and turned on the ceiling fan. Now all I need is some water. Syaoran jogged down the stairs quickly and poured a glass of water, then drank it down on the spot. He walked over to the fridge to see what juices they had. There was several bottles of flavored carrot juice, some soy milk, and a couple sodas. Syaoran decided to stick with water, grabbed an apple, then headed back up the stairs.

If only Sakura knew what an event receiving a letter from her was...He picked the letter up and sprawled across the bed, directly under the fan’s cool breeze. He opened it and pulled the paper out.

Dear Syaoran (He smiles again)

Moondust is still shy of me. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but she really doesn’t like me. She likes Bob, though, how strange is that? I swear, that bug is just like you. (Syaoran panicks)

Well that’s about it, I know it’s short, but it’s hard to write about stuff that happened. Oh, I saw the ghost a while ago, I tried to talk to her, but she left before I could.

Syaoran frowned. She still hasn’t gotten my letter yet? But I have already gotten two of hers. Maybe the postal service is slow the other way? No, this is suspicious. Touya is probably ripping them up. Why didn’t I think of that? Well I can’t really do anything about it, can I?

She saw the ghost. Well, I doubt that she just ‘saw’ it. The ghost didn’t seem liking showing up without some destructive events around her. Syaoran folded the letter back up and set it in his desk with the other one.

Well I have some extra time, time to work with my sword. Syaoran stood up off his bed and started out of his room when he heard the phone ring. The phone was in his schoolbag - his handphone- the one no one ever called- the one Sakura had the number to. With pleading hope he ran over and pulled it out of his bag, quickly holding it out to see what number it was that was calling.

Syaoran jumped on the spot at the Japanese number on the screen. No, it wasn’t Sakura’s, but it was from Japan, she could be calling from a payphone or something! Syaoran contained himself and answered it with the most normal voice he could answer. "Moshi moshi?"

"Nameless Li? Is that you?" Came a girl’s voice on the other side.

Syaoran was quiet for a second, figuring out who this was. "This...Kato?" He asked.

"You bet! Come on, tell us your name!" She pleaded.

"What do you want?" He asked with annoyance.

"Still the same, huh? Well I was going to ask if you wanted to earn yourself some money being the distinguished guitarist you are, but now, hmm, ..."

"You’re recording in Japan?" He asked.

"No, England. Yes of course Japan."

"I, uh, I moved. I can’t record anything for a while."

"Nani (what)! And I went to all the trouble of calling you. Well, we really could use your extra voice and guitar, isn’t there any way you can come out to Japan? Just where are you, anyway, maybe we can come out there."

"Hong Kong." He said.

"No joke. Hey Rii, isn’t your brother working on a sewage project in downtown Hong Kong?" He heard her call.

"Listen, I might be visiting Japan this summer. I could so something then." He offered.

"When? We have to get a date to be able to postpone our album recording."

Syaoran grit his teeth. He knew he had vacation from school and potentially from training in two months, but nothing was ever very definite. "Listen, I’m not sure how accurate this is gonna be, but maybe...two months."

"Two months! You are making us postpone our CD two months? I have some fans that would like to strangle you if this information got out. Gosh..." Kato said. In the backround, Syaoran heard Gatria whining and Rii shouting something about not wanting to wait. "You are lucky we like you so much, nameless. But for you, we’ll postpone."

"How much will I get?" Syaoran asked.

"All these good deeds we are doing and all you can think about is the money you’ll get out of it." She said, sighing. "Nameless, nameless...We’ll discuss that when you get in Japan, ‘kay? Let’s just say it’ll be five digits. We’ll call you in two months or so, you’d better get up here."

"I will be."

"Have you talked to your certain someone yet?" She asked more quietly.

"My... oh." Syaoran realized what she meant. "No, I moved." He said bluntly.

"Love knows no boundaries."

"It’s hard when you can’t communicate with the person."

"Have you ever tried dialing off your telephone? Or are you too scared to call her?"

"It’s not that, listen, just...nevermind. I will talk to you in two months?"

Kato sighed on the other line. "You’re a tough one, Nameless. I’m sure we’ll get you and your lady together someday." She said.

"Bye." Syaoran said, hanging up after she had returned the ‘bye’.

God. I can’t meet them in Japan, not if there’s the slightest chance Sakura would find out... And Bob....damn, why did I leave so many secrets unresolved? I am going to be in boiling water when she finds out... Syaoran set his phone down and slowly shifted thoughts to what he was doing next. Training. I better get this energy attack down before tommorrow morning, if I want them to send me on an assignment.

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

This is the most unintellegent peice of literature I have ever read in my life. It shouldn’t even be called literature, this script should be used as a coaster or fire kindling or something. "...But I hold obligation to you, though I do not know why." Syaoran read dully.

"Because...because...it is you who is carrying my child!" Said the other girl, her emotions bubbling out as she said the lines enthusiastically.

Well that wasn’t predictable. Wow, this is such an interesting and hard to guess story. At least that’s the end of the story. Syaoran shut his literature book and looked to the sensei, who was stepping out from behind her desk and in front of the class. "Good job class!" She said, smiling. "We’ll be having that unit test this Friday, be prepared."

Some of the class groaned, though Meilin was smiling brightly, she enjoyed tests. Syaoran remembered her once saying when she was littler (author- hey did you know ‘littler’ is actually a real word? I kept looking at it and going ‘hmm that looks wrong’ but it went through on spell check. Weird...) that she enjoyed taking a test that allowed her to show how smart she was. The sensei frowned disapprovingly at the moaners and continued on.

"But besides this, as my literature class preforms an annual play for the rest of the senior high school, I have decided to use this as our year’s script. I think a contemporary western style of writing would be a wonderful change for our audience."

Syaoran rolled his eyes. That was the dumbest thing he had ever heard. Plays. How fun. Well it beats class work, I suppose. As long as I don’t get stuck with a princess part. Luckily there’s none in here. The sensei was continuing, feeding off the enthusiastic sparkling eyes of the girls sitting in the front row, the ones that claimed to ‘love literature class’. "I will be assigning roles, this play accounts for about one quarter of your final grade; the equivalent of two and a half tests, so you will want to try your hardest."

The odd foreign girl that sat next to Syaoran shot her hand up. The sensei looked disapprovingly at her and reluctantly allowed her to speak. "Yes, Chincawau?"

"I volunteer for the main girl, Mandy." She said with over perfect pronunciation, looking hopefully at the teacher, but not quite smiling cheesily as the girls in the front row did.

"I will take that into consideration..." She said, though her voice was a bit bored. "Is there any males volunteering for the corresponding main role?" She asked, looking around the small class.

No one’s hands went up.

"Very well. We’ll discuss this more tommorrow." She said, glancing at the clock. The bell rang on cue, and everyone quickly got up from their seats.

Syaoran was rushing by the teacher towards the back of the crowd leaving the room when the sensei called his name. "Li Syaoran, stay back a moment."

Syaoran slowed to a stop, sighing deeply as he wondered what kind of trouble he was in for no real reason this time before turning around. "Yes?" He asked, turning around and using his most intimidating glare at the sensei.

"Li Syaoran, I am sure you are well aware of your situation, but it is my job as a teacher to keep you informed."

Syaoran wasn’t exactly clear on what she meant, but he knew it was something to do with him being so involved with the elders. "Yes...?"

"It seems some enthusiasm in class reading would better suit you, as your participation grade is slipping to a ninety-four percent."

She holds me after to tell me my participation grade- only like a tenth of my full grade- has slipped from an A to a B+? "Alright..." He said unsurely.

The literature sensei turned and sighed, walking over behind her desk and shaking her head. "For someone as intellegent as you, I hate to see you not living up to your potential. I would hate for the elders to think badly of you, after all, you are fully capable of holding a perfect grade in this subject."

Syaoran glared at the floor. So she wants to put this in front of the elders. They will ask why I am failing to fulfill my duties as a student. These people are so screwed up. "I see." He mumbled.

She looked up. "I see I am going to have to lay this out in black and white for you. I was trying to point out, volunteering for a major role in this play may be what you’d need to raise your grade."

Raise my grade, which I am sure is a ninety-nine point nine percent, by volunteering in a play? How picky does she think I am? As long as its a passing grade, I don’t really care about American literature, anyway. "I’ll think about it." He said nonchalantly, planning to do the opposite.

The sensei seemed a bit disappointed in his response, but she didn’t say anything. "You are going to be late for your next class." She said, looking up at the clock.

Syaoran nodded and politely walked away, glaring as he turned his back to her. It’s your fault if I’m late. You teachers... Syaoran jogged to his locker and grabbed his mathbook out of it, then sprinted down the hall to the math classroom, quickly sitting down in his seat, just as the bell rang. The math sensei hadn’t even been in the room yet, which annoyed the heck out of Syaoran. He leaned on his hand and sighed sleepily, all the training getting to him. His legs were sore from the nights’ previous horse lessons, and his arms ached already from the training he had done this morning. I must keep this up. I won’t get anywhere if I don’t, and I will be letting mother down.

He looked up with annoyance at the several ‘solve with proof’ problems the sensei was putting on the board. Syaoran drew out the triangle and began writing out the givens on the problem. Given: angle Q is equivalent to angle S....

______________________________________________________________________

Sakura looked warily at the saddle she had finally gotten on Moondust’s back. The horse stood with an exstremly annoyed look, tied with ropes on both sides of her head. She had tried to bite Sakura while Sakura was trying to set the heavy western saddle atop the tall horse’s back, so Sakura had quickly put an end to that safety hazard. Now the horse was forced to stand still as Sakura studied the different straps hanging off the old worn leather saddle tree.

Maybe that goes in the buckles... Sakura grabbed the long strap that hung under Moondust’s belly and pulled it around to the other side, putting it in the highest buckle. There was still tons of slack in the straps, and Sakura highly doubted that tightening a saddle was that easy. I have no clue how to do this. I should have asked Syaoran before he left... But he would tell me to ride without a saddle. Sakura, with exasperation, undid the buckle and pulled the heavy saddle down, undoing all her hardwork.

Well I will have to ride without a saddle. I went to all the trouble of leading her to the barn, I better make use of this. Who knows, maybe she will be able to help me in sealing the cards again. Syaoran moved her around like she was some combat horse. Sakura grabbed the other straps of leather connected to a metal peice and walked over to Moondust’s fine grey head, studying the different ways to put this on.

I know this metal things goes in her mouth...the bit thing....so then it must go like this....no this strap would get stuck under her neck... Sakura turned the thing over and held it aside Moondust’s head. That looks right. She cautiously moved it over Moondust’s head and held the bit near her teeth. But she’s going to bite me! How am I supposed to do this? I should have payed more attention to how Syaoran did this. But he did everything so fast.

Sakura pushed the bit against Moondust’s teeth and waited. Nothing happened, only Moondust standing with annoyance as a peice of metal was being pushed against her teeth. Sakura frowned and pulled on the top of the leatherwork, pushing harder on the bit with her left hand. She quickly pulled her fingers back as Moondust’s teeth moved. Sakura jumped back, then realized Moondust had been doing what she was supposed to do. I messed it up! Maybe I can get her to do it again. Sakura held the bridle up to her head and copied what she had done last time. Moondust threw her head back, annoyed at the persistent Sakura. "Come on, please! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to jump like that!"

Moondust slowly lowered her head, watching Sakura’s hands with a cautious eye. She twitched her head as Sakura neared with the bridle once more, but didn’t throw it high like the previous time. Sakura carefully brought the bridle up to her head and copied her motions, reflexively pulling her hand out of the way as Moondust accepted the bit into her mouth. Sakura forced herself to concentrate and quickly pulled the top part of the bridle up. This must go behind her ears... Sakura put all the bunch of leather behind her ears but found it goofy looking. No, there’s a peice that goes in front... Sakura pulled down the biggest peice of leather that had a red design going across it and put it in front of her ears. Moondust’s feathery forelock (forelock- that’s like the bangs that come off the mane) fell over the peice of leather nicely. Sakura stood back and smiled proudly.

She noticed grimly that there was a buckle hanging down loosely. Sakura picked it up and looked around for the different places it could fasten. Luckily this was a bit more obvious and self explainatory than the last parts, and she quickly found where to fasten it under her neck. Sakura picked up the reins off where they hung on the ground and put them over Moondust’s head, then stood back.

Now for the hard part. I have to ride her. I know she’s going to throw me off, why am I even bothering? Do I feel I owe it to him or what? Sakura unclipped Moondust from the ties holding her to the stalls, then led her out of the barn, into the pasture. She walked her parallel to the gate, then stopped her. I can’t fall off at a walk, at least. If I can get her to be calm like she was when she was with Syaoran, than that would be my goal for today. Sakura climbed up on the gate and attempted to hop over onto Moondust.

Moon wasn’t stupid, and she knew what this whole ‘park parallel to the gate’ meant, and she sidestepped over, quickly evading Sakura’s attempt at a mount. Sakura sighed and hopped off the gate, then adjusted Moondust sideways again, preparing to hop on. Moondust moved over again, this time a bit more quickly. Sakura sighed with frustration and hopped back down off the gate, pushing her over again.

Now Sakura wasted no time, and she quickly climbed the gate and balanced herself, leaning her hands on Moondust’s neck. She hopped onto the already moving horse, almost falling to the ground as the horse sped up. Sakura groped for her balance and frantically pulled up her sea of reins, quickly tightening them and pulling Moondust to a halt. She shook a little bit from tension, sighing already with exhaustion.

"Great. I can’t even get on right." Sakura loosened the reins and Moondust immediatly went into a speedy walk, making Sakura tense up like a wound up spring on her back. This made Moondust worried, and they both fought against each other desperately at the speed walk to go at.

"Slow down, will you?" Sakura grouched, her arms aching from holding on the reins so tightly. "I don’t want to fight with you, okay?"

Moondust’s ears flicked back as she listened to Sakura’s voice, but she continued to haul on the reins. She made a sudden turn to the left, unbalancing Sakura for a short second. Sakura pulled her to a stop with some effort, then glared at Moondust’s pitched forward ears. "You don’t have to be such a jerk. I’m taking care of you, you could at least show some appreciation."

Moondust felt tense underneath Sakura. She was no expert, but it was hard not to notice, she felt like a rocket about to take off. Sakura was afraid to come out of this halt, who knows what speed they’d be going. Sakura tensely loosened the reins, allowing Moondust to step forward. They pranced along, Moondust fighting to go into a trot, Sakura fighting to slow down.

After another fifteen minutes of this battle, Sakura was exhausted, her arms ached incredibly, so she stopped Moondust by the gate and hopped off. Moondust looked immediatly relaxed, almost lazy, and she yawned, her huge horse jaw showing it’s many teeth. Sakura shuddered to think her fingers had come anywhere near there, then walked over to the side of her face and undid the buckle, pulling the bridle off; which turned out to be much easier than putting it on. The second Moondust was free of the bridle she spun around and took off, her back hooves coming dangerously near Sakura’s head. She glared after the horse, then sighed and left the pasture, walking to the barn to put away the bridle.

How am I ever going to get through to that horse? She doesn’t like me. But I can’t give up, I promised Syaoran...though he doesn’t seem to keep his own promises. Sakura though of the two unanswered letters she had sent. I’ve given him numerous things to respond to, it’s not like he doesn’t have anything to talk about. Things were so much easier when we were younger, I was bold enough to go right out and ask him why he won’t write back. Not now. Well, there’s not much use in writing him any more letters until I see something back from him.

Sakura put the bridle on its peg, then walked into the open part of the barn. This is a good place to practice the kicks we learned in judo. Though it was only a basic front kick, it was surprisingly hard, because Sakura found that she had been kicking all wrong in her childhood, that now she would break her leg with the weak kick she use to do. But no, now she was learning the right way, and she had assurance she would never break her toe doing a front kick. Two weeks of overpractice assured her that. Syaoran-kun would be proud of me. But he doesn’t know I am taking these lessons, that will be a surprise. Oh to see the look on his face when I don’t run off and cry when a physical card shows up. No, now I can kick it away!

Sakura’s thoughts saddened. To see any look on his face at all! I miss him so much! But, it’s been almost a whole month now! He could be coming back within a few weeks! Sakura brightened at this, and continued to practice enthusiastically, kicking clouds of dust around as she slid her feet around judo style.

I can’t wait to see Syaoran again!

"I am just not a drama person!" Syaoran fought with the other two boys being nominated for the lead role.

"But you fit the profile the best!" Whined the other boy.

"I don’t-"

"What do you have against this play? You did excellent as prince in that play in Tomeoda a few years ago, and then there was the Sleeping Beauty-" Meilin started.

"You want to know what I think?" Syaoran cut her off. "I think this is the most horrible peice of writing known to man. It’s got tons of random parts , the main plot is so generic and predictable, the characters have no depth whatsoever-"

"That’s an interesting insight." The sensei interrupted their classwide discusion, her face dark. "It was always a favorite of mine."

Syaoran was on a roll, his anger had been lit, there wasn’t much that would stop him now, not even a sensei in contact with the elders. "I think it is a poor choice for a young class like ours to be acting, I don’t see why you don’t just give us something normal to work with-"

"I see you have a very strong opinion, Li Syaoran, as does the main character in this play. That is the leading obstacle of conflict in this drama. Perhaps this commanality does put you into that profile..."

Syaoran turned pale as he saw where her words were leading. He hadn’t wanted to be in the play at all, let alone leadrole. "Please, Chang-san, I really have no abilities as a-"

"Very well." Said the sensei rather loudly to the class, a signal to tell them to quit talking. "The male lead, Rick, will be played by Li Syaoran, who so humbly accepted a chance to better his acting skills."

Syaoran’s hands went into fists, which he tried desperately not to slam on the table. "Chang-san you are not being fair-"

"And!" She said, her voice rising over Syaoran’s complaints. "Is there any other girls besides Chincawau-san to volunteer for the role of Mandy?"

Meilin raised her hand.

The sensei smiled approvingly at Meilin. "Li Meilin, you would like to volunteer?"

"I want the part of the best friend." Meilin said, smiling.

The sensei’s smile turned a little weak. "Oh." She looked around. "Anyone else for the role of Mandy? Anyone? As you know, bonus is going to be given to anyone with leading parts..." She looked around hopefully.

Only the foreign Chincawau girl looked back hopefully.

The sensei walked over to her book in which she was writing out the casting. "Very well then." She said, sighing. "The rest of the casting will go as follows. If you are not satisfied with your part, wait until I am done reading the list and I will listen to your request. Li Kandu - Jack...."

Syaoran sat back, waiting furiously for her to finish. The second the last name was out of her mouth, Syaoran’s hand shot up, he holding a death glare at the sensei. She ignored him and looked around the class with a plesant smile on her face. "No one? You are all happy with your parts?"

Syaoran waved his hand a little bit with annoyance, hating being ignored. The sensei smiled and nodded. "Alright then, you may have the rest of class to look over your parts. Tommorrow we will start working in the gymnasium."

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

"Ludricrous." Syaoran stated, sitting on the edge of the stage, reading over some of his part. "Horse sh*t. There’s no way on earth I’m doing this."

Meilin looked up from her script, glancing breifly over at the people practicing on stage before looking at Syaoran. "What?"

"I am not taking this part!" Syaoran said furiously, turning a little red.

Meilin sighed. "Syaoran, you know you cannot argue with the sensei. Just tough it out."

"But look at what I am suppose to do!" He said with exasperation. Meilin took the script from him and read over the page he had been gawking at. She tossed it back to him.

"Yeah, so?" She said, shrugging. "You had to dance with Sakura in that last one, and then we won’t even go into the whole Sleeping Beauty play..."

"But...But that was different. This is disgusting. I mean, did you read this?" Syaoran asked, glaring at the italicised words on the script indicating an action.

"I think you’re blowing this out of proportion." Meilin said, flicking her hair behind her shoulders. She was looking with a strange evil smile across the room at another girl’s head. "As the main girl’s best friend, I get to pretend to punch her in the shoulder. Which, I’m course, it’d be perfectly understandable if I went to fake punch and I accidentally... ‘slipped’ into it." She said dreamily.

Syaoran kicked his feet against the stage with frustration. Meilin blinked back to reality and looked at him.

"Look, Syaoran, it’s not that bad."

Syaoran looked down at the script and read the line aloud. "Rick kisses Mandy, awkwardly at first then with increasing passion." He looked up, cheeks flushed, glaring at her. "Increasing passion? How can that not be ‘that bad’?!"

Meilin broke into a laugh, a slow one at first, then began laughing hysterically. Syaoran glowered at her, his face color gone back to normal. Meilin glanced at him and tried to talk, then began laughing again. After a few more times, she was able to supress it and talk. "Cousin, cousin...." She began, pausing to laugh a bit more. "You are so funny. Only you could make a line like that sound so dismal!" She laughed a bit more to herself.

Syaoran glared straight ahead, seeing that Meilin would be no source of consolation. I know as you get older you are supposed to be more mature; thus able to do more lifelike plays. But I mean! They’ve got to draw the line somewhere. I’m not doing this. No way on earth am I doing this. If they want me to go through with it then they are going to have to drug me or shoot me. The sensei can’t force me to do that. I’m sure we can cut out that scene. "I will laugh when you get stuck doing a part you don’t like." Syaoran said to Meilin, hopping off the stage’s edge where he had been sitting.

"I’m sure you will." Meilin mumbled, not paying attention, already involved in a day dream.

Syaoran walked over to the sensei to have a word. As he neared, the sensei looked up at the clock, then got up from where she had been kneeling and helping a set designer. "Class, it’s time to go back to the classroom." She said.

Syaoran stopped, glaring calmly at her.

"We’ll continue looking over our lines tommorrow, and we may start some of the first scenes." She called.

I still have tommorrow to complain. Good. Syaoran turned and headed with the class back out of the gymnasium, falling in step next to Meilin. No way...

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

"You are not being fair! I can’t keep up!" Meilin wailed atop a plain small brown horse.

Syaoran grinned as he turned the pony he was on in a little victory circle, holding Meilin’s flag. "The key to winning capture the flag obviously isn’t speed, Iata can’t exactly outrun your horse, especially with someone like me on him." Syaoran says this meaning the pony is a bit small for a boy his size- I wasn’t calling him fat!

Meilin rolled her eyes. "Thanks resident expert. Too bad this animal doesn’t jump."

"All horses can jump." Syaoran said, letting the pony trot back over to Meilin, where he handed her flag back.

"Then get her to." Meilin said, hopping down off the horse.

Syaoran sighed and slid down off the pony he had been riding, handing Meilin the reins. "Fine."

He mounted the little brown horse and walked it in a small circle, getting use to the difference in its gait, then put it into a canter. There were several different jumps set up around the ring to the side, all decked out with flowers and bright colors. Syaoran decided to give Meilin a humbling experience and pointed the horse towards the largest one, it not being beyond the horse’s ability.

He counted the distance up to it and pushed in on the horses sides with his legs, forcing it forward, not letting it swerve to the side last minute. The horse, forced the only direction it could go, took an enormous leap over the box of brush, landing safely on the other side. Syaoran patted her on the neck and cantered her back around to the little bay pony Meilin held. "You just have to have a clear mind, if you’re scared, so are they."

"That was amazing, Syaoran-kun!" Called one of Meilin’s friends; Mandu Chang- daughter of the literature sensei, probably one of the more attractive girls in their school, all things considered. She was still sitting in the same corner, her old lazy horse having its eyes half closed.

Syaoran hardly recognized her and hopped back onto the bay pony, who was happy to have Syaoran back. He walked the pony to Meilin so that his back was to the three girls on the older horses just standing around. "Why did they come? They’re just taking up space."

Meilin shrugged, a bit annoyed with Syaoran. "I don’t know." A smile came across their face. "They probably just wanted to watch Syaoran-kun." She said logically.

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "I’m going outside." He said, already cantering the pony to the side door most people used for walking through, not riding through. He stepped Iata outside into the hot sun and walked him quickly to the trail leading into the woods.

He walked quietly for a while, breathing in the smell of leaves, trying to releive his mind of all the trouble flooding it. Mother seems to be doing a little better. I’m sure it will be no time before the hospital lets her come home. . . Syaoran looked down at the dirt path the pony’s hooves walked on. This is the same trail we took so long ago...

Syaoran’s thoughts were postponed as he looked up at the sound of fast hoof beats. On the distant part of the trail, someone was galloping wrecklessly back to the barn. Iata shivered a bit, wanting to move fast also, but he stayed obedient. Syaoran walked him forward cautiously, the horsemen coming closer and closer. After a few more steps, Syaoran saw that it was a smaller horse, probably a pony, along with a smaller rider. He watched them near and noticed the the horse didn’t seem to be running by the rider’s consent- rather against the rider- as the smaller boy was pulling back with all his strength at the reins, which had no affect. Syaoran could see when someone needing helping out, and this was one of those times. He pushed Iata closer to meet the other animal, then quickly pushed Iata into the middle of the path, creating a road block.

The incoming pony was slowing, but hadn’t stopped yet, and was planning on swerving around. Foreseeing this, Syaoran spun his mount around and pushed him alongside the runaway, quickly catching hold of the other pony’s reins with one hand, and quickly pulling back. The pony, which had gotten the bit between its teeth, reluctantly slowed as now the bit was dislodged, falling with Iata to a complete stop. Syaoran let go of the reins and looked at the boy, now seeing the condition of him.

He was exhausted, red faced, and breathing hard, which was expected from trying to stop a runaway horse. Syaoran quickly recognized him as the boy with messy brown hair- the one that had been sweeping, that had been in their karate class, that seemed to be related to the foreign girl. He looked unsurely at Syaoran. "Why’d...(pant)...you do that?"

Syaoran blinked. "Because you looked like you needed help." He said simply.

"I..." The boy looked down, a little ashamed. He looked back up, a grateful smile replacing the one of confusion. "Thanks alot. I’m not used to people helping out around here."

Syaoran walked his pony on, heading back towards the barn. "How so?"

The boy blinked unsurely again. "Oh, you mean...well no one really likes us seeing as we’re not directly related..."

I figured as much. Syaoran didn’t say anything in response, only waited for the boy to continue.

"You are that guy from Japan everyone keeps talking about. I saw you in our karate class. You’re really good."

"How old are you?" Syaoran asked, looking at the boy.

"Me? I’m...I’m ten." He said, a bit of distraughtness in his voice.

"That is young to be a black belt." Syaoran said skeptically.

"That’s all I used to practice at home..." He said, his face turning wistful.

Syaoran didn’t inquire, only rode silently along. After a while he spoke again. "You know that pony may be a little much for you. You won’t be able to trust a horse that runs off with you. It defeats the purpose."

"I told my sister I hated this pony, but she insisted that it was the best one. She was alright indoors..."

"A mare?" Syaoran asked.

The boy nodded.

"Mares are moody. I wouldn’t have a mare if my life depended on it- unless it is one you are able to make friends with. Mares aren’t like geldings, they don’t give up friendship that easily."

The boy was astounded at Syaoran’s knowledge, and stared at him with awe. "I think so too. But there’s no gelding ponies my size that I can ride."

Maybe it was because the boy reminded Syaoran of himself when he was younger, only far more congenial, or maybe it was just the light trail riding atmosphere, but Syaoran had become partial to this boy. "Perhaps someday you can ride Iata." He said, patting the pony on the neck.

"No offense, but aren’t you too big for him?"

They were reaching the exit of the woods trails, and were entering back into the barnyard. "We are long friends. I don’t ride him that much anymore, but I still like to." Syaoran explained, branching away from the boy.

"See you later, then, thanks!" The boy called, turning his own pony behind the barn.

Syaoran just shrugged the goodbye off and entered back into the barn through the small side door. Meilin her three friends had already dismounted and were taking the saddles off their horses. Syaoran walked his pony right down the aisle into its stall, then hopped off, taking all the tack off with amazing speed. He gave the pony one last pat on the neck, then headed out with the saddle and bridle to the tack room. This break for leisure time had made his schedule rather tight, and he had a visit to the hospital, homework, karate, and some sword training left before the evening would be over. So much for a break. Off to sensei Wanti! Wohoo!

I wish Sakura could be here. She would probably get along nicely with the horse I had to ride yesterday night. We could go on a trail ride deep into the woods. Way into the woods. Away so the elders could never find me... Syaoran sighed at these wistful thoughts. But Sakura is probably doing just fine alone at home, preparing to go to that wedding thing. How did I end up being the weakest one?

______________________________________________________________________

Sakura held tightly back on the reins of Moondust’s bridle. The horse was biting at the bit to go fast, as Sakura struggled to maintain grip on her staff with the other hand. Kero had suggested to put the animal to use as a ‘war steed’, so he was watching from his little lawnchair that sat on the arm chair of Tomoyo’s own lawn chair and shouted out instructions. "Okay, now make her go faster, like if you were running from something."

Sakura hated Kero for being so ignorant of the fact that this was a fiesty animal. She reluctantly loosened the reins and Moondust lept into a bumpy canter type thing. Sakura gripped the mane tightly with the hand that held her staff, then held the reins haphazardly in the other. She blazed by Kero, then Moondust made a sudden turn. Sakura groped to stay on, almost falling. She grabbed the mane tight in both hands and tried to hold on as her staff slipped out of her left hand and dropped to the ground. Sakura quickly tried to halt the horse, pulling back sharply on the reins. Moondust snorted in protest and broke into a choppy gait, holding her head high against the reins. Sakura glanced over at Kero with desperation.

"It’s okay, just use a summoning spell to get your staff back!"

Sakura wasn’t sure how this worked without her staff- but the spells she was learning were outside of Clow Reed’s magic, which meant her staff did do little in the spell process. Sakura shouted the ancient Chinese and glanced frequently over her shoulder as she watched her staff rise up out the grass. She pried her finger off the mane she was gripping so tightly and held out her hand for the staff. Moondust tried to increase speed, and Sakura’s aching right arm was forced to hold back even harder. The staff jerked forward and lurched towards them with incredible speed.

Sakura continued to nervously hold her hand open, waiting for the staff to come, hoping it would slow down once it reached her. The staff was ever nearing... It reached them, but was approaching a bit too low, and it slammed into Moondust’s rump, sending her into a frenzy. Sakura quickly went back to holding the reins with both hands, pulling back desperately as the horse jumped around. She spun in a half circle then kicked her hindlegs up into a buck, sending Sakura flying to the side.

Sakura didn’t recollect much about her short air time as she flew from horse to dirt, but she did feel the landing, and she slid a good two feet across the slick grass before her momemntum finally gave up. Sakura lay on her back for a moment, breathing in and staring wide eyed at the blue sky ahead. What just happened? Did I fall off? Her aching shoulder blades answered. So that means Moondust is running around with her reins dragging on the ground. I better go get her. Sakura got painfully to her knees, then continued up to her feet, wincing for a second before shaking it off. She felt tears prick the edge of her eyes, but she ignored them, having at least partially fallen down before. She looked after Moondust’s wildly running figure, sighing to herself. It’s going to take hours to catch that horse.

Sakura mumbled the summoning spell again and found her staff slipping safely into her hand. She glared. Now why can I do it now? She looked up at the flying yellow beast and jogging girl coming her way. "Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" Tomoyo called.

Sakura grimaced once more, then dusted herself off. "I’m fine." She said weakly. "I better catch her before she rips her bridle apart." She said, tromping away, not feeling like talking to Tomoyo. I am never going to get along with her. She hates me. And why won’t her owner get the guts to send me a letter back? Was I wrong in assuming he missed me too? Maybe he didn’t really... but he did almost...stupid Touya!

____________________________________________________________________

"It’s supposed to be preparation for another mission. Who knows what." Syaoran said to his mother, sitting back in the chair next to his mother’s bed.

"Don’t trouble yourself about it, I’m sure whatever mission the elders are sending you on is going to test you on what you’re capable, they won’t over challenge you."

Don’t be so sure. "I suppose. I’m just worried, I haven’t done anything for them in so long, what if I..." fail?

"Always so afraid of failure, aren’t you Syaoran? You can’t always win, it’s a truth of life. You must keep a clear mind and think of the love you are fighting for- not the rejection you are trying to defeat."

Syaoran just grimly looked out the window at the dark grey sky that rained down on Hong Kong. The city’s many buildings and sky scrapers held a dark glow about them today, everything seemed dark and dismal. I wish I could see her. How does she hold so much power over me? Do I still...But I can’t be thinking about that, I can only take things one at a time. Right now I’ve got to think about my family, not Sakura.

"Your thoughts drift to the Card Mistress again. Do you worry about her that much?" His mother inquired.

Syaoran blinked, startled, as she always seemed to read his thoughts so accurately. "She... is probably having difficulty fighting by herself also." He mumbled.

His mother smiled and leaned back in her bed, looking up at the ceiling. "My confused little Syaoran-kun...everything is easier once you have your feelings sorted out."

Syaoran looked sideways, a bit annoyed. "What’s that supposed to mean?" He asked, though he knew exactly what it was supposed to mean.

"You better get going, Syaoran, you’ll need your rest for tommorrow."

Syaoran got up from the comfortable chair and smiled at his mother. "Don’t have too much fun till I come again." He said jokingly.

His mother smiled back. "You know I will. Taco Thursday down in the cafeteria."

Syaoran grinned and turned to the door. "Bye." He said, walking out.

"Good luck!" His mother called.

Syaoran walked out into the hospital hallway and let his thoughts run free. He was summoned by the elders that morning to find out that he was to be going on a trial mission the following day. To do what, he didn’t know, or for how long, but he suspected it would be only a short thing, because it was supposedly a ‘preliminary preperation’ for a ‘much larger and more purposeful mission’. If he was to fail this part, he wouldn’t go onto the next mission, and his mother’s health care support money would go along with his failure. So here he was, already a nervous wreck over only the first part of this mission.

I should just relax. Mother’s right. I’m sure they’ll just send me off on a horse to kill a possessed animal or something. No big deal. The thing I should be worrying about is the larger and ‘more purposeful mission’.

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

"So you gave her to Kinomoto?" Meilin asked for the third time with disbeleif, leaning against the large cold blooded horse Syaoran was saddling up.

"Yes, Meilin." Syaoran said, sighing.

"You gave Moondust away. Just like that. You loved that horse since you were four, how could you just... wait a minute. Am I missing something? Was there some profession of feelings you didn’t tell me about?"

Syaoran sighed as he ducked under the huge horse’s neck to buckle the strap under the bridle. Meilin had come to be ‘emotional support’, and had woken at the crack of dawn to help him get ready for his mission, but she was turning out to be more of a nuisance. "No, Meilin." He said, pushing the leather strap into its keeper.

"So it was just a friendly gift then. Your life long held treasure just given to a ‘good friend.’ Sounds suspicious to me." Meilin said, fiddling with a strap on the girth of his saddle.

"Look, if you’re just going to stand there and ramble on about trivialities..."

Meilin smiled softly. "I just know there’s only a few things that can keep your mind from focusing. And you shouldn’t be focusing right now, Syaoran. If I know you right, you’re going to get yourself into a nervous wreck while you are trying to appease the elders. So I’m worried. And the only way I deal with worry is by talking."

"Meilin-chan..." Syaoran said, pulling the last strap tight on the saddle, then turning to face her. "Don’t worry. This is nothing. Worry about my mother." He said.

Meilin sighed and shrugged.

Footsteps caught their attention, and they both looked up to find a pretty girl walking down the aisle. She was leading her palimino horse, and Syaoran quickly recognized her as the foreign girl. Once she was close enough she spoke. "Nice horse." She said, looking over the large draft breed with awing eyes. She halted her horse to look over it more closely. Her eyes switched to Syaoran, who had been waiting for her to leave with annoyance. "You are the boy with the other lead." She said, smiling at him. With the light Syaoran could see she had freckles sprinkled across the tops of her cheeks, and her seemingly auburn hair actually brightly highlighted vividly with red.

Syaoran hated her for mentioning anything about that play, and he found it hard not to think of her as ‘that girl he would have to share a moment of passion with’ , so he quickly scowled at her.

She blinked and looked over at Meilin, who was also scowling, and had been from the moment she had seen her favorite horse being led by her top enemy. The girl wasn’t quickly swayed. "I’m Sakura Shinguchi." She said brightly. Syaoran was quickly taken aback, and didn’t notice that she was holding back a laugh as she said that. "And you are...Meilin?" She looked to Syaoran. "And...dragon hunter Li kid. Better known as Rick in our freshman play." She waited for them to respond, then sighed, her smile fading, turning to a more distraught expression. "See you later, then."

Meilin glared at her for a while as she and the horse passed her. "They give out Japanese names in England, now, do they?" She called after the girl. She was too far away to respond back, so Meilin just sighed and looked back to Syaoran, who still watched her walk away. "I’m so glad I got that part. To accidentally punch her...."

Sakura? That was the only thing that was going through his mind at the moment. Meilin whacked him on the shoulder to bring him to attention.

"Sensei Wanti’s coming!" She said quickly, then turned and rushed away from him, hurrying down the aisle.

Syaoran looked up and watched the tall man approach, fiddling nervously with the reins under the horse’s jaw. The man stopped a few feet in front of him. "Syaoran-san. Lead your animal and follow." He commanded.

Syaoran grabbed his sword and sheath from where it had been resting against the stall door and quickly led the horse after the man, out into the morning’s clear air. The ground was still a bit soggy from the continuous spring rain, but it wasn’t in a flooded state. Syaoran noted the slightly slick conditions and to add some caution to his horseback escapade for his own safety.

The sensei walked across the barnyard all the way to the entrance of some trails. There he halted and faced Syaoran, his usual solemn face penetrating right into Syaoran’s nervous soul. "You understand the importance of this mission?" The sensei asked.

"I do." Syaoran responded.

"Then here is your task. It should take no longer than six hours. You are to follow this path until you reach a chain of caves. Around this entrance there is beleived to be an awakening dragon spirit making a lair. You are to destroy him before he brings harm to this family. Do you understand?"

Syaoran was surprised at the simplicity of this task- as he had taken a similar test as a ten year old fighting off a demon spirit. Back then it had been very difficult, but now... it would seem like nothing. Syaoran nodded at the sensei then turned to mount his horse. He hopped into the saddle then gathered the double reins in his handsand looked down at the sensei who still watched him.

"Don’t screw this up. It will be me who’ll end up finishing your weak attempt." The sensei said a bit scorningly.

Syaoran only glared back, then kicked his horses flanks hard, sending off at a gallop, flicking mud behind them. Syaoran didn’t turn back to see the look the sensei was giving him, nor did he let his mind linger on the last pressuring sentence the sensei had just said. He only concentrated on riding fluently, looking down the trail for any low limbs that might hang down off the tropical type trees. The sheath hanging on his shoulder made a clashing metal sound rythmatically with the horse’s thundering hooves, and the metal on the saddle and bridle clinked together every three beats.

Syaoran had nothing better to do, so he worked with the reins and got an arch in the horse’s neck, collecting the horse and rounding it out. With a large draft breed like this, it probably looked incredibly beautiful to have its head tucked under like it did, but Syaoran didn’t think about that, he kept his head clear. (author- haha i just reread that- this paragraph sounds really retarded to the average non-horse person. Sorry, but if I was riding the horse myself, that’s what I probably would have done.)

The wooded trail let in suddenly to an eclosed field of wheat, which was high, almost up to the tall horse’s shoulders. Syaoran’s feet dragged through the higher plants, but he hardly noticed. With the open space Syaoran knew he could make better time, so he pushed the horse into its fastest gait and leaned forward, gripping with his legs and making no use of the saddle or stirrups. The field rolled over the hill, and Syaoran saw that he was quickly reaching more woods, so he pulled the horse back into a trot and continued on.

The trail in the woods ahead looked overgrown, the vegetation growing more wild and dense here, because people rarely rode out this far from the barn, and the stable hands didn’t bother to maintain it. Syaoran drew his sword and began hacking away at the thick weeds that stood in their path. Their speed decreased dramatically with this obstacle, and Syaoran worried he would be gone too long. What if I take longer than six hours? Will that be considered failing?

The morning sun had risen into the sky, and heat was starting to smother the enclosing woods and thick canopy that surrounded him. The horse underneath him was already developing a lather of white sweat, and Syaoran realized he might be pushing the animal too hard for the early stages of the mission. I wonder how far the cave is from here? His arm was starting to ache from the same constant motions of cutting away the vines and thorns, while his fingers on his left hand were starting to blister from the four reins twisted around his fingers. Syaoran forced himself on, ignoring that he was starting to get thirsty, and that he was feeling horribly tired.

I’ve gotta go faster. I’m never going to reach there in time if I keep this pace. Syaoran worked furiously with his sword, and looked hopefully toward an opening in the trees ahead. Maybe another field. He hacked away with hope at the strong vines of thorns that had made a chain of briars across the path, then put the horse into a trot, trotting out into the open field.

It was another open field- but this wasn’t wheat, it was tall grass and clover. The horse pulled on the reins hoping to get a bite, but Syaoran forced it to walk on. The woodline ahead looked much more open than the dense vegetation behind him, the trees far between each other- the grass seeming to be mowed down, not having any high weeds. There was also a distant rushing noise, which Syaoran assumed to be a river. I wonder what river that is? I must be getting close. An impulse shot through Syaoran, and he remembered what sensing magic felt like. He had so long forgotten- having all his magic messed up from whatever was going on in Japan- and he was glad to have that ability to his aid again. Syaoran put the horse into a canter and quickened their pace to the large trees ahead.

As they entered the pathless woods, Syaoran could definitely feel something strange about the way they were arranged. The empty forest floor had no life on it besides its carpet of grass and moss. Single butterflies were roaming around (Syaoran thinks breifly of Bob- his grip tightens on his sword) the clearing morning mist. Sunlight didn’t seem to quite make it through to the forest floor, but that fact seemed to add to the beauty and peace of this serene picture. Syaoran didn’t remember ever being here before, and had he not been on a mission, he would have stopped and enjoyed the scenery thoroughly.

Ahead he could now see water rushing over smooth stones, creating the only noise in the otherwise frozen in time meadow. Syaoran didn’t even hear the horse’s hooves touch the ground, as the moss seemed to smother any sound that would attempt to escape into the air. He forced himself to leave the quiet peace of this short meadow and walked to the edge of the creek. It was slightly flooded from the spring rain, and water levels were a bit on the high side. Syaoran found a quiet place to cross, then kicked the horse into the water. The horse picked its legs up high over the water’s surface, splashing Syaoran and everything around. Syaoran’s feet dragged through the river’s cool water, but he liked it, being as hot as it was in the continuing to rise sun.

They climbed up the bank on the other side and walked through the trees on that side. The scenery slowly turned darker, smokier... Syaoran looked around with caution, seeing signs of a dragon by the ashes on the ground, the smoldering branches on the trees. The ground became rougher and rockier, and they began climbing around high rocks that were set in against a large hill. Syaoran stopped his horse as he felt an urgent sense of power, and he drew his sword, looking in every direction.

His eyes quickly turned in front of him, where he felt another surge of power. In the distance there was an entrance into the hill’s darkness, only a pin of black from where he stood, and it seemed to shake and wave with the incredible melting heat of the source withing the cave. Syaoran unconsciously held control of his horse as it pranced nervously under him, sensing another animal presence. Syaoran wiped the accumulating sweat off his forehead then nudged the horse with his heel, heading towards the caves.

I’ll just use water. This’ll be a peice of cake, I know exactly how to defeat it... The horse’s hooves began to crunch and stumble over the rockier terrain, making it a rougher ride for Syaoran. He knew better than to try and guide the horse around, because the animal would obviously be able to find its own way. He did, however, have to keep checking their course, as the horse had a way of drifting away from the cave’s path.

He reached the cave’s entrance and shuddered under the heat that surged out. There was no doubt about where this dragon spirit was hiding- it had chosen to make its lair very conspicuous. How will I get it to come out? I’m not going to throw rocks in the cave, that’s stupid. Maybe I could flood the cave with water and do off with it before I ever have to see it.

Syaoran held the horse still for a few more seconds, waiting to make sure the dragon wasn’t going to come out. He held up his sword then took a card out with the other, tossing it into the air. The horse underneath him pranced with aprhension, forcing Syaoran to have to add concentration to her as well as the magic he was about to use. He opened his mouth to shout out a command, but his mouth was filled with smoke, as the cave began to shake.

Syaoran was ready to fight the dragon coming out, but his horse had other ideas, and reared up on its hind legs, striking out with its forelegs before landing and trying to run. Syaoran held the reins tightly and spun her around to meet the dragon once more. A transparent and orange tinted thing had flown to the entrance of the cave and was now glaring its red eyes right at Syaoran. It’s large jaw opened and revealed teeth and accumulating fumes within. Syaoran pushed the horse sideways with his legand dodged the stream of fire sent out of the dragon’s mouth.

He pushed the horse forward despite it’s many protests, galloping it right behind the dragon. He took his sword up and slashed it down across the dragon’s tail, completly cutting it away from the main body. A gigantic roar left the dragon’s mouth and it spun around, spreading its wings out and extending its large claws out. Syaoran narrowly guided the horse away, but the dragon’s claw still managed to catch ahold of the end peices of tail on Syaoran’s horse, making it go biserk as they pulled free. Syaoran struggled to maintain the horse’s sanity and brought his sword around again, grazing the part that seemed to be its neck.

Fiery whips off of the dragon’s spikey back slashed around as the dragon spun itself around to meet its opressor. Syaoran ducked and barely missed the fire as it flew over his head. Syaoran’s eyes widened a bit at the fatality he had just so narrowly missed. He forced that fear aside and pushed the horse away from the angry flames spurting out of the dragon’s mouth to reach a safe distance to use the water. He tossed the card up again and was about to push his sword into the card but the dragon had already aimed and fired another flame at Syaoran and his horse. The horse had seen this before Syaoran, and luckily saved his neck as it turned and took off. Syaoran pulled at the reins with all his strength, though it had little affect on the panicking horse. He turned to glance over his shoulder and saw that the dragon was closely following them, gaining every second.

The trees and bushes around the forest made it difficult to run full force like this, and he had to use all his skills to dodge the horse in and out of trees. Flame grazed his right shoulder as he turned his horse left, and he cringed for a second as the poisoned fire seemed to burn down to his bone. He was starting to worry that his plan for easy defeat was deteriorated when he could see the river’s open safety ahead.

I can just use that water! Syaoran pushed the horse faster, then let go of the reins. At this speed, they wouldn’t be crossing the river, they’d be jumping it. He got the feel for the rythm of this gait, then carefully swung his leg over, switching directions, and sitting backwards. He found himself looking straight at the dragon’s red eyes, flying swiftly after them. Syaoran gripped his sword and glanced over his shoulder, seeing the river coming ever so close. Syaoran turned and glared at the dragon’s flaming eyes, then steadied himself with his hands on the back of the saddle, then brought his feet up and under him, squatting on the saddle carefully. He let go with his hands and held onto his sword tightly. The strides were coming quickly, and Syaoran knew any second the horse would be taking off for the jump.

He could feel the horse’s hind end drop as it started to jump. Syaoran pushed off his feet and swung his sword over his head. If he screwed this move up, the total situation would be helpless. Flying through the air, his stomach flipped over, but he ignored that, ignored the intimidating dragon as he was jumping towards it, only concentrated on bringing his sword down.

His arms pushed down with their hardest strength, and the sword stopped as it hit the top of the dragon’s spiny skull. He forced his arms to hang on, and dragged the dragon down as he splashed into the water, his sword pulling the dragon under. He submerged under for a long while, then came up gasping for air. The end of the dragon’s body was just falling into the water, its tail already gone. The water bubbled, and Syaoran felt his sword reverberate the struggling dragon he was pinning down. Syaoran held them steady until he could feel the dragon stop struggling. The water steamed with the dragon’s heat, and it started to boil around him.

Syaoran pulled his sword free and swam out of the water, it turning scaulding on his already hot skin. Syaoran climbed onto the bank and collapsed across the moss, breathing heavily. I did it. It’s dead. Gone. Syaoran’s shoulder ached from the burn he had gotten. Syaoran turned his head on the pillow of moss and grass to study his shoulder. That part of his shirt had been burnt away, along with his skin, leaving a deep blister across his shoulders. He cringed and rolled his head back over, looking up at the filtered sky through the tall oak trees.

He was back on the sanctuary of mossy forest, with the sky hidden, the swaying leaves blocking out the sun’s cruel heat. Syaoran forced himself to sit up, then looked to the river, when the water still steamed and bubbled around the center location. Syaoran then turned and looked out into the field, where a distant horse was turning around and starting to walk back to Syaoran’s location as it was trained to do. It’s a good thing I wasn’t depending on that animal to survive. I would’ve gotten killed. It’s no war horse.

Syaoran looked upstream where there was a steeper incline in the hillside, which made a small sort of waterfall. It was upstream- thus the water would be cool and soothing. Syaoran forced himself to his feet and walked along the creekside towards the water. He reached it and jumped in, already soaked, and closed his eyes as the cold water seemed to numb his shoulder’s pain. He then took a long drink from the pure water that was flowing, slowly starting to feel better. Syaoran took a deep breath and leaned into the water, letting it run over his face, then letting his thoughts run.

I suceeded. I just have to get back in time, that’s all. So now what? They’re just going to send me on another mission. But they will continue to pay for my mother, that’s what counts, right? He sighed. But this will be more time away from her...she has probably faced so much already, I can’t leave her to face something horrible like the Earth Card without me by her side to help... Could she ever understand? Why I am deserting her like this? Mother looks better all the time, it’s possible to assume I’ll be returning back to Japan soon.

_______________________________________________________________________

Sakura scratched vigorously at her arm, frowning with pleasure as the itch went away.

"Sakura-chan, stop that. You’re going to have an awful scar already, scratching the scab off won’t help." Tomoyo scolded at a whisper as they sat listening to their class read a play in literature class outloud.

"But it’s soooo itchy!" Sakura whispered back. Her arm had healed alright, it had finally closed up, and now it just looked like a long scratch- as the scab covered the depth of the cut, and it just looked like a harmless long scratch on her forearm. Sakura said her line then went back to picking at the edges of the scab, insanity starting to set in.

Tamakazi was reading a line as he watched their substitue teacher rush out of the class with the corner of his eye. As their teacher was out of the room, he stopped reading and looked around. "Would you beleive we only have one and a half more weeks left?" He asked, referring to summer break.

The whole class went into mummering. "Yeah! I get to go to New York City this summer! Isn’t that awesome?" Chihura said to Tamakazi.

"You know the whole story behind the name ‘New York’..." Tamakazi started.

"Two weeks until we go on the cruise, Tomoyo!" Sakura said excitedly.

Tomoyo smiled at her, eyes sparkling. "There will be so much to film! Will we be spending any time in the Ryukyu islands?"

"I don’t think so. I think we’re staying on the boat. But still! I’ve never been on a cruise boat before!" Sakura said excitedly.

Tomoyo smiled. "I went on one when I was very little. Everything’s bright and lit up. And I remember, there was always a band playing some hawaiin tune. It’s really cheerful."

Sakura jittered in her seat with excitement, about to talk, when the substitue teacher came back in, and they were forced to go back to reading the stupid play. Sakura tapped her foot impatiently through the whole thing, waiting for it to end.

I wonder what Syaoran is doing over the summer? Coming back, hopefully. He said it would only be two months or so... he probably isn’t able to have any fun in Hong Kong because he said he’d be in school. Poor him, he’d probably really enjoy a cruise. She leaned her head on her hand and looked dreamily out the window, her thoughts drifting to past experiences with him. He used to be so dependable. I mean, he probably would be too, right now, if he wasn’t gone...but he can’t help it, his mother’s sick, I would do the same. To be honest, I’m not quite sure why he stuck around here anyway- his whole family is across an ocean. Did he want to help that much? No, there was a good two years when we hardly said anything to each other. He obviously didn’t help then. He was probably just working for the elders here, and then they called him back home. His mother’s probably not even sick, that was just a cover.

Sakura blinked and looked up as her desk had just been jerked by someone walking by. She stared at the back of Mark’s head as he walked over to the trash can to throw something away. He had been very quiet lately, to her anyway. Sakura suspected that it was the after affects of the Change card incident- Syaoran’s misuse of Sakura’s body to tell Mark off had succeeded, and now Sakura found herself in the awkward position of being Mark’s enemy. There wasn’t much she could do about it, though, what was done was done.

Sakura’s arm burned with an itch, and she unconsciously scratched at it again. Her burnt shins had healed up quickly with the help of the aloe she had put on them, so her physical state was pretty good considering. Sakura hadn’t lost anymore cards since the Erase, though the Fiery and Dash had chosen to retaliate once or twice, due to the spell she had put over her last remaining cards. It was some type of Shield that was suppose to block out other magic, though it was such a weak spell, Sakura was sure it was only postponing the inevidible. Aside from her cards, her pile of ‘burnt stuff’ in her closet was rapidly increasing, as Kero and Bob’s fights were becoming more and more intense. Two more stuffed animals and a book report had been claimed victim to the calamity and disaster which was Keroberus.

The bell rang and Sakura happily jumped out of her seat, skipping along with Tomoyo to the hall. "I"m so excited about the cruise! It’s going to be so incredibly fun!"

Tomoyo giggled.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"That’s the fifteenth time you’ve said that in the past two hours." Tomoyo explained.

"What, you’re keeping count?"

Tomoyo shook her head, smiling. She held up a small black box. "I’ve taped all but one!" She said triumphantly.

Sakura sweatdropped. "I see." She said weakly.

They walked to lunch together, bringing their books with them. "What if Shiro Ame was taking a vacation on the boat!?" Sakura asked with hopeful enthusiasm.

"It’s possible, I mean it’s a very big boat, I looked it up on the internet, and it’s a popular chain of cruises- anyone could be there!" Tomoyo said.

Except Syaoran. "Yeah!" Sakura said, holding a smile. Hopefully the cards won’t bother me while I’m on the cruise. No, I’m sure they won’t, I won’t even be in Japan.

_______________________________________________________________________

"Sakura Shinguchi? Do you never watch cartoons?"

Syaoran shrugged. "I guess not."

"Her and her little brother- that’s all they say they like about Hong Kong. ‘All the easy to get Japanese anime.’" Explained Yundi, one of Syaoran’s old soccer teamates and ‘friends’.

"If her little brother tells you his name is Jinto Lin, don’t beleive him, that’s the main guy in Crest of the Stars. And that Sakura she’s saying she is is from the game Sakura Wars."

"So what’s her real name?" Syaoran asked.

"Alexis." Said the boy across from him, who sighed dreamily. He leaned his head on his hand and stared off into space with a wistful look on his face. Syaoran frowned and looked questioningly to Yundi for an explaination of the boy’s odd behavior.

"Ryoto still suffers from heart break." Yundi said, shaking his head.

"One whole week of bliss, then it turns into this." Said a boy Syaoran didn’t know, who sat next to the other boy. "He went out with her the first week she was here."

Syaoran nodded and went back to eating, the conversation already boring him.

"I went out with her for a week, you don’t see me over here moping with self pity." Yundi said.

"Yeah but..." The other boy said.

"Let’s not forget, I went out with her too!" Said the kid on Syaoran’s left.

Syaoran looked up from his food, frowning. "How long has she been here from England?"

"Three weeks." Said Yundi, sighing.

Syaoran tried not to stare in amazement. "So all three of you went out with her in three weeks?" He asked, not sure he understood this.

Yundi shrugged. "Yeah, so? You’re lucky, you get to make out with her on stage."

"If only all our lives were so gracious." Agreed Ryoto.

Syaoran about spit out his food as they reminded him of the horror of the literature play. "I don’t think she’s that..." He started to mumble.

"She’s so hot..." Whined the boy Syaoran didn’t know his name. The boys all turned to look across the few tables where the red headed girl sat eating her food, oblivious to everything around except for the peice of chocolate cake in front of her, which she devoured Kero style.

"A real jewel..." Syaoran said sarcastically, turning back around to his food.

"She was cool until she stopped going out with you, Yundi."

"Why’d she break up with you that quickly?" Syaoran asked, figuring he might as well know the whole story.

"She left the male population to go after her horse lover." Ryoto said with clear annoyance.

"A.k.a. her horse was finally shipped out here." Yundi explained.

"Oh." Syaoran said. He blinked and looked to the right where he had just seen a peice of fly through the air. It sailed over onto the foreign girl’s table, who looked at its landing suspiciously, then looked up for the culprit. Her eyes first grazed the table of boys, who all sat with some type of wistful expression aside from Syaoran. She then looked to the table where Meilin sat, her eyes glaring challengingly back.

"But of course, all that stable work must give her her figure." Ryoto said logically.

"It sucks. Maybe if we get rid of her horse she’ll go out with us again."

"And I can make out with someone almost my heigth." Yundi agreed.

"All these little asian girls, they’re all the same short heigth. Meilin is the only one that was relatively cool, but she was so stuck on you. Syaoran gets all the girls, it’s no fair."

Syaoran glanced up from his food, looking quizically at them for a second before going back to eating his lunch. They must have too much spare time to think like this. Am I the only one that thinks this script is ridiculous? "So her little brother is that short kid with brown hair."

"I thought that was you, Syaoran." Said Yundi jokingly. Syaoran gave him a death glare, and Yundi quickly took his smile away.

"Um, yeah, that’s him. Little Teller."

"Little what?" Syaoran asked, confused.

"Teller. That’s his name. Stupid, huh? It’s those english people and their names." Ryoto said.

"And they are Chincawaus?" He asked.

"Yeah. Their mom married sensei Wanti. Weird huh? I never thought of him as the lovey type, but he finally left his bachelorhood behind." Yundi said.

Syaoran turned and glanced over his shoulder at the girl, who was in the process of wadding up some fish to throw at Meilin. He looked back to his food. Great. At least the person with the other part could have been normal. Like Sakura.

He fished his fork around the rest of the food left on his plate, bored. I wonder what this next ‘big’ mission is? Syaoran’s shoulder still ached when someone touched it, but it was healing fast, as Syaoran had had many a worse wound than this little burn. They’re probably sending me halfway across the world for another long mission. Why am I doing this again? To keep paying for mother’s hospital care, right. The second she’s recovered, I’m going to tell the elders what I really think.

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

There it is! Sorry it ends blah, but I wanna get to the next chapter. Some reuniting going on there, I think, but oops, I don’t want to spoil it for you!

***If you haven’t seen CCS Movie 2, SEE IT!!!*** sorry, but I just saw it for the first time after it finally finished downloading and....sigh.....wow. Okay, well that’s about it, I think I’ll start writing on the next one.Yay.

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