The Hand He Didn't Take

Another theory-based Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE fanfic. This one's more-so focused on "Syaoran's" past and what is to become of him and Sakura.

Unlike Princess I'm hoping for this one to become more than a one-shot. Who knows, though. Depends if anyone takes any interest in it.

I would like to thank those who reviewed Princess - I was really surprised anyone would even look at it, let alone read and review. ^^ Thank you to Nims Dias-angelovdarkness, Reality Rejected and SkyLilies.

Nims Dias-angelovdarkness: I'm glad you liked it. It would make more sense in that Clone Sakura death scene if the Clone Syaoran did grow a heart - particularly when he saw his childhood friend die before his eyes - however, I always believed that any attachment the Clone Syaoran had to Clone Sakura was all based on "body memories" as Yuuko mentioned; where the body remembers but the heart does not. But it's definitely possible that was the reason why the Clone Syaoran arrived as it would hint at that happy ending that CLAMP promised.

SkyLilies: Really? Wow, that's quite a compliment. I'm glad I gave you that feeling. ^^ I hope you like this one too! And I know what you mean, when I first saw that chapter it was in Japanese and un-translated, but I still got the 'oh my god, what's going to happen?!' factor.

Reality Rejected: Thank you so much! That means a lot to me. I wanted to try to hack into the mindset of the Clone without making his love for Clone Sakura to be a major part of it. I'm glad you liked it.

Thank you all, once again, for reading and reviewing.

Also another announcement if you would be so kind to read: Congratulations to Children in Need 2008 for collecting the £20,000,000 this year! (estimately $35,000,000, right? Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

And now for everyone's favourite part that comes with starting a fanfic…

Disclaimer:

I do not own Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE. After all, if I did own it, I wouldn't make fanfics based on theories now would I?

Note: The Prologue's a little short because it's a prologue, and I wanted to show some emphasis on the last line by making it a cliff-hanger there. You'll see what I mean…

However, I am planning to re-do each chapter as I go along, so the prologue WILL be lengthened and written better in the near future.

Now without further ado…

The Hand He Didn't Take

A Price Paid in Blood

There was a silence. The water's stopped moving. Everyone had become eerily quiet. Everything was still. Even the air itself had seemed to come to a halt, almost stifling to anyone who would be conscious enough to breathe it.

Time had stopped.

Syaoran took one glance at the girl in front of him. Her face was frozen with a mixture of shock and fear, and perhaps a little bit of bewilderment. Chances are she never knew that this was how it would end. That this was going to inevitably happen to her.

And she never would get to know because within seconds, she would be dead.

He guessed that her heart had stopped beating from the moment the black wings had started to engulf her. For all he knew, the girl in front of him could have been a mere shell of the friend he once had. The sole companion he relied on to guide him in this strange world that he had begun to call 'home'.

The high priest had stopped the flow of time to give him the extra moments he needed to save her. But what could he do in those mere moments that he couldn't achieve in those seven years he spend endlessly searching for an antidote to rid her of her curse? Perhaps the Queen knew what would inevitably happen.

After all, she was a Dream Seer.

How could she spend those seven years, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before her daughter would face her doom? Syaoran wondered how hard it must have been to keep such a secret from their eldest child, Prince Touya. Even though Syaoran would stick to his first impression that Touya was an immature bully, he knew that underneath the judgemental façade was a maturing adolescent who dearly cared for his younger sister. The truth that his time left with her was limited probably would have killed him. And perhaps that was why the King and Queen decided it was best not to tell him, and even though it would haunt them for the rest of their lives that the Princess had died on the day of her fourteenth birthday, it would be better that Touya would not spend the rest of his blaming himself for not being able to save her from her fate.

The very same blame that Syaoran was more than ready to fire at himself with.

It was his fault. He was the one who failed to find a method to remove the seal. He was the one who hesitated when he could have spared her this ordeal at the beginning.

"If I had taken her hand back then…" he echoed to himself, his thoughts heavy with guilt, "… this never would have happened… If I could just go back in time…"

And although he had not spoken aloud, his prayer had been answered by an ominous voice. It just wasn't the voice he expected, let alone wanted, to hear:

"I shall grant you that wish."

-

The events that took place after those six words all came in a blur. Moments after the dastard who started it all announced that he could help Syaoran after all the trouble he caused, a second greater force had interrupted and also claimed that she could help fulfil Syaoran's wish. However, even though that in itself was a great shock to him, he couldn't help but wonder…

"Why was my mother's magic circle there when the dimensional witch intervened?"

Could Sakura Kinomoto have known this would happen, even though she was far away in Tokyo? Did she realise that her son would one day need her final act of aid, seven years after he left everything he had known behind? After all, his father - the true Syaoran Li - had told him that the Card mistress predicted her son was meant to meet someone. Is it possible that she predicted this as well?

He couldn't properly remember the full details; everything happened so fast. He did, however, tune into the following words that the second voice had warned:

"Even if you do this, you will not be able to be by the princess' side. Your freedom will be stolen, your life will be placed in grave danger, and you will be able to do nothing but watch. Even so…" she paused for a moment. "Do you still choose to make this wish?"

He couldn't think properly. His head had hurt and all he wanted was to change everything that had happened. He didn't mean to bring these voices of authority into the mix and create the 'distortion' that they predicted. Although, through his haze he saw her.

Sakura. The friend who stood by his side for seven years since he left his true home to protect her. The girl who always smiled even when no one else saw a reason to. The one who stuck up for him when her brother, Prince Touya, insisted that Syaoran was nothing but a 'foreign brat'. The girl who dreaded not being able to hold his hand until the purification was over, and who cherished every moment that she could when it was over.

Her. The most important person in his life. It wouldn't be too much of a leap to even call her the love of his life.

To live in a world without her…

"I want to go back," he uttered to himself, "so that I can save her and protect her for the rest of my life. No matter what may happen to me or her feelings towards me, I want to go back--"

"Once more…!"

He hadn't realised he had shouted that last part, but within a moment his voice was drowned out by the whirlwind that overtook him. He couldn't see or breathe, he felt himself slip away into darkness and fading… then the moment subsided but he didn't feel like himself anymore. This body didn't feel like his own, or at least his present own.

He winced and inhaled, shakily, overwhelmed by what just took place. Before he had time to properly calm himself, however, something was brought to him. A figure. A boy.

"Who is… this…?"

"In order to fill the time that you turned back," Fei Wong interjected, "and in order to fill the void left by the 'relationships' that you have paid as your price… this being has been born to take your place." "He will be the son… of your parents. This child…" he paused as he and Syaoran both focused their complete attention onto the boy, "He is no brother. He is you yourself."

"Wha…t…?"

"This 'other self' of yours… was not originally a being 'meant to exist'." He paused again. "This distortion will bring pain to the parents who saved you. And also… to this child himself."

"No." The second voice spoke up.

"The future… has yet to be ordained."