Author's Note: Hello everyone. Thank you for browsing in. I have received a lot of request to write another CCS plot and here it is after months in the planning stages. This story will be pretty different from the genres that I usually tend to write in but I'm definitely excited about it. If you enjoy the story, don't forget to support me and leave a review.

More About the Story: The story will focus on Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li. It will start with this prologue, and I will work backwards, from their early childhood to their present lives and adulthood. In their childhood I will introduce these characters and how events in life can change the way two people view everything. However, the majority of the story will focus on their adult years. In the past, I had the bad habit of focusing on Sakura only, but for this story, I will concentrate on both equally. There will not be one-sided stories, so you'll receive an equal dosage of Syaoran and Sakura.

More About the Characters: I don't like giving away the entire story or "spoilers to come" but I realize my character-limited summary may suck so here are some tiny supplement details:

Sakura grows up in an average childhood riddled with more obstacles than most children. She's open-minded, rebellious, and all the things you might expect from an average girl, plus more.

Syaoran grows up, raised by a rich and powerful family. He has had the easy life. Like Sakura, he turns out like any other average boy. He likes to party, defies authority, and finds happiness through his wealth.

When they meet, Syaoran believes she is perfect for him. She's all the wild, fun, and good times he ever wants from life. But when certain events take place, they change Sakura's life forever. The wealthy and handsome boy no longer intrigues her, and Syaoran is no longer someone she desires.

This is a story about how life gives painful experiences, how we can change in an instant, and how one person can come to truly love another no matter who we were, are, and will become.

Rating: Rated M on the safe side. There will be violence, romance, and bad words. Please note that this will not be a completely smutty story. It will have plot, character growth and development, and story. It is not meant to be a short story.

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS. All original characters were created for the intended use of this story and all resemblance to real life people and/or real events are simply coincidental.


Prologue

"Get to the Chopper, Sierra!" The young man shouted above the roar of the weapons fire. His face and clothes were streaked with blood. "Now! Sierra! Now! Move! Move!"

Sakura shook off his touch violently, refusing to leave. She couldn't take her hands off her major's gushing chest.

He was bleeding out, badly.

She needed to apply pressure. More pressure. Too much blood… too much blood…

Their eight-person squad had been ambushed by the enemy five minutes ago in the dense jungle forest.

Only five minutes… But it had seemed like a lifetime.

And so many had died…

The noise was almost unbearable as another ear-shattering boom sounded from her right. It was close enough to spray dust and tattered earth bits onto her muddy face.

Her helmet was askew. She had long lost her gun.

First lesson, never lose your weapon.

"Sierra!" the same man shouted again, shaking her out of her stunned reverie. His tone had taken on a hint of desperation that he tried his best to hide. He looked away, unable to keep the growing panic off his face. Another loud explosion made him crouch down. He glanced at Sakura and shook his head. "Fuck it!" he cussed and took off running towards the helicopter himself.

He was already halfway across the mine torn field towards the helicopter when he turned back to look at her again. She could see the doubt and fear on his face. She saw the moment of decision scrawled onto his pale sweaty features.

He could go back and haul her ass to safety or leave the stupid rookie to die in this war torn country.

"Sierra-!" His next words were drowned out, cut off by the dull sound of machine gun fire. He ducked for cover.

Sakura could no longer see him. Had a bullet caught him? She did not know. She didn't know anything anymore.

Second lesson, get a hold of your surroundings.

He was their squad's captain. Code name: Oscar. Real name: Malo. Age: 25.

Back at headquarters, Malo had been full of himself. Sakura had seen it on his face the first time she had joined the army and been introduced into his squad. His men secretly called him Gravy behind his back.

Now as she stared at the empty space where he used to be, she wondered vaguely if he knew they called him Gravy…

Her attention was immediately snapped back to the present situation as the man underneath her hand started to gurgle and thrash, blood starting to clog up his airway.

"Alright, Major," Sakura muttered, focusing her attention back on her injured superior. Her hands were trembling and her heart was pounding louder than the bullets going off left and right around her. Her hand was sticky with his blood. But she tried to keep her voice steady as she shouted above the noise to be heard, "Hang in there, sir!"

Sakura took a hand off his bleeding chest, shrugging off her pack quickly. Reaching in, she shakily pulled out a pack of bandages which she tore open with her teeth.

"…eav…"

He was trying to say something but Sakura shook her head and continued to work away. No time to listen. No time to think.

Third lesson, listen, think, and act.

Around her, gunfire and explosions continued to go off at intervals. She was well aware that at any second the enemy could swarm over the ridge of dirt and kill her.

But she couldn't leave the Major like this. She felt tears sting her eyes and she blinked them away furiously. He had been a month away from retirement. Shit! This wasn't happening! Not to a good man. Not to the old Major.

Since she enlisted half a year ago, he was the only one that had treated her with some level of respect compared to the others. Gravy always pushed her around and Sakura had no doubt he just wanted to get into her pants. But not Major Trent.

She looked at his old face, watching helplessly as his blood continued to flow, soaking the bandages in a matter of seconds.

Her hands clenched in frustration and she felt like crying again.

No.

No crying.

She had been trained especially for situations like this! She wouldn't break apart now. Not like Gravy had. Saving his sorry ass like that.

A man skidded across the dirt and dropped down onto the ground. For half a second she thought the enemy had finally overtaken them. But as he crawled the rest of the way to her, she recognized his dust-covered uniform as one of their own.

"How does he look?" Foxtrot asked, pushing his helmet up so he could see.

"N-Not good…" Sakura answered. "We need to get him to the chopper."

Foxtrot looked back towards their awaiting chopper and back down at their Major. Then he looked silently at Sakura.

The message was clear: They wouldn't make the distance, not if they had to carry the Major.

Sakura grew pale and she felt herself tremble as she understood what Foxtrot was saying wordlessly.

"There's only Romeo and Lima left," Foxtrot told her as he eyed the field cautiously. Whoever was attacking them was hiding in the cover of the trees. They would have all been dead if it weren't for the uneven terrain. The uneven terrain had given them some degree of cover. "Where's Gravy?"

Sakura pulled out another package of bandages from her pack. "H-He made a r-run for it."

"Fuc-" the rest of Foxtrot's curse was drowned out by another loud explosion. There were other people shouting now and Sakura could just make out the sound of a foreign language.

Then they saw Lima running towards them, dropping and rolling to duck behind the little coverage they had, landing beside Sakura.

His eyes were wide with fear when he reported to them, "Romeo's gone."

Foxtrot looked away, his fists clenched.

The squad of eight had been a close group. They had already lost three.

"We need to get to that chopper," Foxtrot said when he turned back to look at them. The shooting had stopped as the enemy realized no one was firing back anymore.

"Who'll fly the bird?" Lima asked. Romeo, their pilot, was dead.

Sakura noticed that both men carefully avoided talking about the Major.

"W-What about the Major?" she whispered.

Both Foxtrot and Lima looked unhappy but they said nothing.

Starting to feel her anger rise, Sakura said, "We should leave the chopper. It's too risky now. We head for the trees over there. It'll give us a fighting chance."

"Listen to yourself, Rook," Lima whispered with half a sneer. "Strategizing for us already when you're still green."

"They might have missiles!" Sakura protested. "If we get in that chopper-"

"Shhhhh!" Foxtrot hissed. His eyes were trained on the outstretched land in front of them. There was movement in the trees.

Their enemy was growing bolder. They were coming out of hiding. There were about fifteen or so of them.

"Fuck!" Foxtrot swore softly, his eyes gleaming with fear. "We gotta go! Now!"

"We can't-"

"Shut up, Sierra!" Lima snapped, hoisting his gun up and pointing it at their incoming targets, but not shooting.

Sakura was about to give Lima a piece of her mind when she felt the Major stir underneath her. His hand shot up and grabbed her arm.

"… eave… Leave…!" he spluttered, a thin trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. "…leave…"

Sakura's eyes widened as Foxtrot turned to her and said, "Let's go, Sierra. Trent's gone!"

But he wasn't. He was still alive. She could feel the beating of his heart underneath her fingertips.

There was a shout from their enemy and they heard the sound of the chopper blades firing up.

"Shit!" Foxtrot muttered. "Gravy, you son of a-"

Gravy was sitting in the pilot seat, pushing at controls and placing his hands on the navigation. He was going to take off without them!

"That bitch –" Lima shouted angrily as the gun fire from their enemy picked up again.

Without a second glance back at them, Foxtrot took off, running madly for the helicopter.

Lima wasn't far behind, shouting and cussing as he ran for his life.

Sakura stayed put, like a deer caught in the moment of bright headlights.

Every fibre in her being was saying she couldn't leave the Major to die alone. And yet every single cell in her screamed to survive.

And she could see the advancing enemy. She could see their faces now.

They did not look so evil after all, she thought as she stared frozen in place. They looked like any other man you might meet on the streets of New York City.

"S… Sierra… go…" the Major coughed.

"I won't leave you, sir," Sakura said firmly, tearing her eyes away from the advancing men.

The Major tried to grin but it turned into a grimace.

"R..Run for those trees… l-like you said…" He winced in pain as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a folded picture.

"D-Don't move, sir, p-please…" Sakura cried out as she kept an eye on the bandage across his chest. But it was no use. Her newly applied bandage was already soaked in blood again.

The Major smiled. "I'm a… goner, Sierra. I know it v…very well…" he coughed and when the fit of coughing subsided, he said so softly that Sakura had to strain to hear it, "Please… take this to my wife and s-son… Tell them I l… love… love them so m-mu…"

Tears clouded his old eyes and he closed them, feeling tired. He swallowed and said, "M-My weapon… Take it!" He reached for his sidearm and stuffed it into Sakura's hands. "Go for… the trees."

"But… but you…"

He opened his eyes and stared hard at Sakura. With his last ounce of strength, he barked, "You've been trained for this, Rookie! Don't you… dare disappoint me now!"

There came a yelp of pain and Sakura heard Foxtrot shouting obscenities as he fell. A bullet had caught him in the leg.

She watched as Lima continued on running past Foxtrot for Gravy and the helicopter, not even sparing his fallen comrade a second look.

Major Trent must have known what was happening just by listening to the sounds. He gave Sakura's cold hands a hard squeeze. "You live for the two of us! You hear me, Sierra? You live! Now…" He gave her a strong push in the direction of the trees, grunting from pain. "Go!"

Sakura hesitated once more, one hand clutching the Major's picture of his wife and son and the other his weapon.

"That's an order, Sierra!" the Major roared. "Go!"

Tears burning her eyes and blinding her sight, Sakura took off running for the trees. She did not dare to stop. Or to brush away her tears.

Lesson four, no man left behind.

Sakura ran and ran.

She heard a shout go up as the enemy spotted her making way for the trees.

She ran hard and as fast as she could, legs pumping furiously to gain ground.

Bullets crocheted past her and whizzed on, some missing her by a few inches.

Just a little more…

She was almost in the clear. Just a few more steps and she would be safe within the cover of the tall dense trees.

A spray of more bullets were fired towards her and then she broke through the foliage and into the dark forest, catching a glimpse as a few bullets caught the trunks of the old trees in front of her.

A searing hot pain broke on her shoulder but she didn't dare to stop and look at it.

She kept on running and running.

The trees started to grow closer and closer together the further and deeper she ran. She tripped over numerous jutting rocks and gnarled roots but she picked herself up every time and continued to push on.

She didn't know how long she had run for or how far.

But the dull pounding pain in her shoulder eventually stopped her.

She fell down onto the forest floor, panting and struggling to catch her breath.

She found that she was crying. Not daring to make a sound, she dragged her exhausted body behind a tree trunk and tried to get her breathing back into control.

Was anyone following her?

Silence greeted her.

No one was after her.

Not yet anyway.

She closed her eyes and rested her head on the trunk, sobbing quietly.

How had everything spiralled out of control so quickly? They were only supposed to be on patrol duty, surveying the area and mapping it for the later troops.

None of the enemy was supposed to be here.

This was supposed to be a safe zone.

Then they had been ambushed.

None of them had seen any real combat or had any experience, except for Gravy and the Major.

But the Major had been shot first and in the chest. After that, it had all just gone to hell.

They had all looked to Gravy for guidance as he was the second-in-command behind Trent, but Gravy had lost it.

He had cowered behind the ridge, fumbling for the radio and stuttering out ill formed sentences.

It was then that Foxtrot had taken charge and taken the rest of the men to fight back. He had left Sakura behind to see to the Major.

Sakura trembled as she remembered just how much blood had come out of the old man. How had that even been possible…?

Then she wondered if Lima and Gravy had survived. Maybe even Foxtrot?

She knew Major Trent was dead by now and this brought on a new wave of tears.

No, this wouldn't do.

She rubbed her eyes quickly with only her right arm. Her left arm was throbbing in so much pain now.

If she was going to survive, she would first need to stop feeling sorry for herself.

Slowly, Sakura turned her head and examined her wounded shoulder. Even that small movement caused a searing pain to shoot through her shoulder blade and through her neck muscles.

A large dark patch of brown had stained her uniform all the way down to her sleeve. Wincing and grunting in pain, Sakura slowly slipped the zipper down and shrugged out of her uniform gently.

She glanced again at her shoulder and saw that her worst fear had come true.

She had been shot.

A stray bullet must have caught her arm just as she entered the forest.

Clenching her fist, she stretched her arm and felt at the back.

Gritting her teeth as her fingers probed across her inflamed skin, she felt the wound at the back.

Okay, so the bullet had gone through and through.

That was good news.

She just needed to stop the bleeding for now.

Moving as little as possible, Sakura reached into her pack and took out the last pack of her bandages.

Within a few minutes and through much pain and agony, Sakura was finally done wrapping her wound.

Her forehead was beaded with sweat and her fingers and nails were stained with blood. Her own and the Major's.

Sweat, blood, and dirt stained her uniform and she grimaced in pain and had to bite her lip as another spasm of pain racketeered through her shoulder blades. Once the flash of pain had subsided reasonably, Sakura could taste blood in her mouth which she spat out onto the dense jungle ground.

She reached shakily into her pocket and took out the Major's picture of his wife and his son where she had hastily shoved it in her escape.

She looked at it for a while, remembering all the times the Major had talked about his retirement and his awaiting family. He did not deserve that kind of death.

Sakura took a shaky breath and leaned her head back on the tree trunk. Her eyelids fluttered down and she allowed herself a few seconds of rest.

Just a few seconds, and she would be on her way again…

Despite her resolve, her exhausted body quietly drifted off to sleep. Sakura fell into a pit of unconscious.

Lesson five… Never rest in enemy territory…


Author's Note: A short prologue laying the foundations of what's to come. Please review and let me know what you think so I can gauge interest & improve. Thanks everyone!