One night there was an array of shooting stars falling down to earth. There were some people who actually stopped what they were doing and take time and make their one desperate wish on the comet. Others went on with their lives, not even aware of the meteor shower taking place over their heads. Everybody else slept on blissfully, their slumber undisturbed. The moon was at its fullest and brightest, for an eclipse was occurring. The wind swayed gently, scurrying the little amount of leaves that it managed to take hold of.

The next morning begun quite peacefully. The birds were chirping happily, as the sun graced the sky with its presence. The bustling of critters was not audible enough to wake the man soundly sleeping on the uncomfortably plush couch. His breathing was slow, paced from his slumber. The man was very young, his frame unusually lean and lanky. The single shard of sunlight that had penetrated made his golden hair radiate beautifully. His skin was pale in color but glowed even in the absence of light. What managed to stir him from his sleep was the sharp sound of a plate being dropped. He sat up in shock before his mind acknowledged what had happened. He hurriedly ran into the kitchen to assess the damage done.

The young lady in the kitchen jumped in surprise before profusely apologizing for her actions.

"Gomen nasai nii-chan! I was trying to be as quiet as possible," she confessed mutedly, "I-i wanted so make you breakfast but I broke the plate when picking it up from the cupboard."

She backed up against the wall and leaned against it for support while she shook her head in embarrassment. Her eyes were level with the ground, she refused to look him in the eye and get reprimanded for her clumsiness. Instead of rebuking the unfortunate girl, the male purposely walked straight past her and began to rummage in the closet.

"…Fai?"

The gentleman known as Fai pulled out a dusty broom and handed it to the female. She hesitantly accepted it and looked up at her brother timidly. Fai looked out and saw that the sun was starting to come out. Fai knelt down and he gently took her hand and reexamined the smaller woman for cuts. He glanced up at her and took in her features.

Her skin was light in color, although faded by overexertion. Jade eyes greeted his crystal blue ones. Beads of sweat glued her hair to her forehead. Strands of her chestnut hair touched the corners of her eyes. Her hair barely made contact with her shoulders. Her face was still rounded by her youth, cheekbones not yet visible. The small bridge of her nose complimented her petite mouth. Her lips were parted due to a lack of understanding her brother's intentions.

"I take it that you're not hurt, Sakura."

"Not at all! Although the plate…," Sakura responded uncertainly.

"The plate can be replaced. You can't." Fai broke in. His words were purposeful, unwavering.

"I'll clean this up. If only I wasn't such a klutz this would have never happened in the first place." Sakura retorted with false bravado in her voice. Her eyes filled with determination.

Fai released her hand and stood up. He placed his hand delicately on top of her head and slightly ruffled Sakura's sweat covered hair.

"Please be careful. If anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself for not protecting you. You don't have to push yourself."

"Thanks for your concern but I want to do this. I want to be useful to you," Sakura said defiantly.

"Stubborn as always. I guess if I can't make you change your mind that there is no use for me here. Somebody has to keep a roof over your head." Fai smiled wistfully.

Fai removed his hand from Sakura's head. Sakura watched in silence as Fai sauntered out of the hut. She turned back to the mess she made and began to sweep up the shards into a pile. Fai was right. Each person should be kept to their own purpose. Her purpose was to help Fai in any way possible.

Fai heard leaves crunch under his feet as he strolled into the forest to get some water. He ventured for a mile before a root sliced through his ankle causing it to bleed. Fai looked down at his wound for a moment and continued on. He eventually made his way to the stream. As Fai was about to scoop up fresh water into the bucket, he spotted a pool of blood.

His eyes followed the trail until he found the source. At first he only saw an arm sprung about. When he gazed closer he noticed that the arm was connected to a person, no, a woman. She had nothing covering her. On her back was a tattoo or possibly a marking that was completely visible that ran from her shoulders down to her tailbone. Perhaps she was a mage.

He stared in horror, he was positive that anybody who lost this much blood was dead. Surely, no one can survive a blood loss this great. He flipped the girl over onto her back. Her hair gleamed an unnatural color of… orange? How could anyone have orange hair? The woman's bangs shielded her forehead. Unruly hair stuck to various sections of her collarbone and shoulder blades. Dry blood was caked on the corner of her mouth and all over her chest. She was out here for a while.

Her ivory skin was dull and translucent; Fai observed that she was skeletally emaciated as well. She was not very tall. She couldn't be an adult; she had to be a child. Fai started to have doubts when he saw how "developed" certain areas of her body were, and how other parts were not.

Fai leapt back when he saw the chest ruggedly heaving in and out, contradicting him. Fai would have never thought she would be conscious, but he was proven wrong again when he saw her eyebrows furrow in agony. He couldn't help but to wonder what happened to her. What or who caused this to occur and why?

She began to have a coughing fit. Fai wasn't certain if she was going to cough anything up so he turned her onto her side. He was immediately relieved about this decision when she began to spit out blood. Seconds later, the spit became vomit. She was losing more blood.

Fai started to panic as the ground around him was stained crimson with the blood that the woman vomited up. Soon, she quit vomiting and slowed to an occasional cough. Fai took off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders. He fastened the buttons to cover her. It was large on her and went down to her mid-thigh. When she stopped coughing, Fai managed to kneel down to hoist her up bridal style. She was not very heavy, thanks to malnutrition. Fai could feel almost every bone in her body. He looked into her face and noted the fact that she hasn't opened her eyes even once. Fai cautiously straightened up; taking care to not injure the lady he was carrying.

"Wait."

Fai felt her body stiffen and paused. She leaned over his shoulder and gave one last wet cough, the last of the blood being expelled out of her. Fai waited for her to say more but she went limp. He slumped her body over his shoulder and went back to grab his bucket. Fai knew that she would need as much water as possible. He placed the pail in the river and filled it up. Fai continued his journey uninterrupted, she did not regain consciousness.

When Fai finally made it back to his cabin he checked the girl he was carrying. Seeing that her condition had not changed, Fai set her body down on the couch he slept on. He grabbed a folded blanket that was on top of the rocking chair and placed it over her.

"Sakura!"

Sakura descended the staircase hurriedly. When she entered the living room she saw the unconscious girl on the couch.

"Yes?"

"Sakura, go into town and get the doctor! She lost too much blood!" Fai barked out.

Sakura nodded at her brother and sprinted out of the door. She knew that her brother was not welcome in the city. She could still enter the town though. She would bring the doctor by any means possible.

Fai set down the bucket of water on the kitchen counter. He turned off the light and steadied himself into the rocking chair near the fireplace. Fai knew it would be awhile before Sakura came back and even longer before the female woke up. Now it was time to rest. Fai allowed himself into slip into a dreamless sleep.

Sakura ran through the crowded streets of the city. Her willpower was unfaltering; she had a mission that she had to complete. Sakura turned around the corner into a less busy street. She entered an alley as a shortcut. Sakura hurled her frame over a trash can and sidestepped just in time to dodge a stray cat. She felt the chill of the concrete walls around her, the absence of light making the dingy alleyway even more unpleasant.

Sakura saw sunlight breaking through the black, the end was in sight. Sakura pivoted her heel and veered right. The hospital cross on the sign hanging overhead was visible to Sakura now. It was less than five hundred feet away. Sakura was quickly closing the distance in a matter of seconds. Sakura rapidly opened the door that separated her from completing her task. This earned her a quizzical look from the office clerk.

"I need to speak with the doctor! There's an emergency!" Sakura yelled desperately.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. He's quite busy at the moment and generally doesn't take patients without appointments."

"I see nothing that is life threatening, at least nothing worth shrieking about. Why are you even here?" The medical practitioner questioned.

"It's not me! There's a woman on the outskirts of town that has lost a lot of blood! She might die if you don't help her soon! Please! You must save her life!" Sakura pleaded helplessly.

"All right. I'll see what I can do. I can't make any promises since I don't know the full situation."

"Thank you!" Sakura bowed graciously.