AN: Hey all! It's been forever I know. Sorry. I hope you will all forgive me. Especially with this pretty long chapter! So, I don't have anything really to say yet, just hope you enjoy chapter deux!

Disclaimer: Same as always. I don't own CCS.

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Chapter Two

Xiao Lang

His entire life he had never been lonely but now that he rode in the dessert all alone, he wished he had brought someone, anyone. He sighed. It was going to be a long ride. Actually, the battle wasn't anywhere near either one of the fighting kingdom's lands. It would take about two days to get there. The sun was already declining, he had been riding all day. Soon he would have to stop and rest for the night.

He lit a fire beneath a nearby tree and sat down for the night, his horse beside him, tied to the tree. As he sat beneath the stars he finally had time to think. He realized that Meling had talked him into a very rash decision. Yes he was a good fighter, but he had no experience in war, he had no idea what to experience on the battlefield. He sighed and pet his horse.

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Sakura and Tomoyo

Sakura had woken up early the next morning to find it very chilly. Fall was barely setting in and already she was cold, even with her thick wool blanket. She had also woken up to Tomoyo making breakfast and the sun wasn't even quite up.

"Why up so early Tomoyo?" Sakura questioned, scooting closer to her friend and wrapping the blanket around her tightly. Tomoyo shrugged, but then got a glint in her eyes.

"Nothing, besides making lovely Sakura's battle outfit!" she squealed, pulling out some fabric from her sattle bag. Sakura sweatdropped.

"Tomoyo, what do you think you're doing? You mean you really brought fabric with you?" she asked. Tomoyo stopped smiling and looked stern, it was short lived.

"It's not fabric anymore Sakura, it's an unfinished outfit. I'm making you an outfit so that you can comfortably fight, but still look good." She winked.

"I would fight in nothing just to fight," Sakura muttered under her breath.

"What?" Tomoyo asked in a singsong voice.

"Nothing!" Sakura yelled back.

Sakura figured that they would reach the battle by late that night, and they would catch up on their rest and then she would leave Tomoyo to help her country. She chewed her lip, by now her mother, father, brother and Ronin would know of her disappearance. She wondered how they would react. She knew her mother would worry, but her main focus would be on the lineage. Her father would be outraged and probably come and get her as soon as possible. Her brother would be worried, so worried as too forget about his own health and want to chase after her. And Ronin. Ronin would waste no second to chase after her and protect her. Sakura frowned, he would also have to tell her parents about their secret training.

All because of her love for the country. But was that it? Maybe she just wanted to prove that woman could fight too. Had her selfishness ruined everything? Now she was starting to doubt her actions. Too late to go back. They ate breakfast and got ready to go.

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Li Kingdom

As soon as Queen Yelan saw her son gallop away she was pissed off. She stormed into her room and did what her son had done hours before: she broke things. Water hit the thin paper walls as vases broke and half the castle woke up. When she was done she took a deep breath and stalked off to her niece's room. When she reached the room she banged down the door, scaring Melin awake.

"What did you say to him?" the Queen screamed. Melin, half awake, just opened and closed her mouth with a confused stare.

"I-I…." She started to say, but Yelan cut her off closing her eyes.

"Never mind. I don't care what you told my son, I want you to go and get him." She said angrily.

"What?!" Melin said, now wide awake.

"I want you to go and get Prince Xiao Lang back. I will not have my son and husband die on the battle field. Understand?" Melin just starred at the ruler. "I will have a horse ready for you as soon as possible. Don't waste time asking anyone to go with you. Just go and get him back." Yelan said quietly, walking out the door.

Melin groaned. The queen had gone mad at the loss of her son. It was Xiao Lang's place, there, on the field. But Melin could not defy the orders of the queen. She would have to leave, but somehow not find Xiao Lang. She looked up at the moon, high in the sky and plopped back down on the bed. She would start tomorrow.

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Kinomoto Kingdom

Touya woke from his sleep to find Ronin at his side. He cleared the sleep from his eyes to find Ronin fully dressed and a worried look on his face.

"Hey," Touya managed to say. Ronin looked over to the Prince a little startled.

"Hey. I did not think you would wake so early. How are you feeling?" Ronin answered. Touya noticed the worry in the fighters eyes and realized that it was not for him.

"Actually," he said after a while. "I'm feeling much better, what ever the doctors did really helped." He tried to sit up, but struggled. Ronin helped him. Touya looked out the window and broke the silence. "I had a dream that Sakura came to visit me last night." Ronin looked over sharply at the Princes words, unseen by the prince. "She told me that she wanted to protect me." He looked over to Ronin and saw the emotion in his eyes. "What is it Ronin?" he asked. Ronin gave him a small, sad, smile.

"Sakura is missing, along with Miss Daidouji. It seems she left to the battle to protect you and her kingdom. Its so much like Sakura," he said. Touya stared.

"How can you be so calm!? My little sister is going into battle and all you do is smile?! What is wrong with you, her protector? She'll be killed in an instant!" Touya screamed as he tried to get out of bed to go after the Princess.

"Touya calm down."

"Calm down?! How can I calm down?!" Ronin put a hand on the Prince's shoulder.

"I am as worried as you are. You know I love Sakura, maybe even more that just a sister, and it is also my duty to protect her. I am leaving as soon as my horse is prepared. But," he paused. "There is something you do not know." He looked down at Touya and sighed. "We have kept this secret since, forever. Sakura has been training in swordplay and martial arts, as well as various other weapons, since she was four." He laughed. "She is almost even better than me. So you see, until I get there, she can fend for herself." Sakura's brother sat there in shock.

"How could she have kept something from me?" he whispered. Ronin squeezed his good shoulder.

"You would have stopped her, and that is not what she wanted." Suddenly the door opened and someone stepped in, it was Nakoto.

"Sir Ronin, your horse is ready to go," she said and then left. Ronin stood to go and get their Princess back when something stopped him. It was Touya.

"Ronin, please, go bring back my sister safely." Ronin nodded then left.

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Xiao Lang

Sweat dripped down the young prince's face as he dodged a upper blow from his opponent's sword. Then after a rally of clashing weapons, he struck the fighter down. He took a deep breath and looked around. Then he spotted a blue haired worrier in trouble. He ran towards his comrade, but was slowed down by the numerous enemies blocking his way. He finally struck down the man from behind and blocked his friend's blind hit.

"Whoa there. You don't want to kill the only remaining Li man." Xiao Lang teased.

"Xiao Lang? What are you doing here?" Eriol asked.

"Saving your butt apparently." He answered before striking another man down. Then he noticed Eriol's limp and found blood coming from a leg wound.

"When did that happen?" he asked. After slaying another man Eriol answered.

"Not long ago, it's nothing to worry about, don't worry." He said, but grimaced when weight was put on it.

"That looks pretty serious. I'll lead you out of the battle, follow me. Then I'll heal it up when were out of range." Eriol was about to protest but Xiao Lang had already begun to clear a pathway for them.

"Cousin," Eriol started as they fought their way through the battle, "what are you doing here?"

"Melin and I had a chat." Xiao Lang said as though killing these people were an everyday job. "And I ran off a few nights ago. I'll tell you the rest later, we're a bit distracted."

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Sakura and Tomoyo

"There it is," Sakura whispered as she looked down upon the battle from her cliff. She took a deep breath as the wind blew from behind her. It would be about a little less than an hour ride. The princess was in deep though when Tomoyo cried out.

"Tada! It's all finished!" she said proudly holding it up for Sakura to see. When Sakura turned to see the creation she was awed.

"It's beautiful Tomoyo. Should I really go into battle with it? I'm afraid it might get ruined." Tomoyo shrugged, the smile never leaving her face.

"It's ok Sakura, I've memorized the pattern. It's cheap material, really only meant to let you move and the armor I can always just fix."

"Where in the world did you get this armor?" she said walking up to it.

"I found it somewhere in your castle. I think it belonged to someone in your family." After a silence fell over the two, Tomoyo told Sakura to put it on. When Sakura emerged she was transformed.

The princess wore a tight light red shirt that went to about mid stomach. She wore pants that fit very loosely around her legs so that she had tons of mobility, the same color as her shirt. Just those two aspects of the outfit were very outrageous. Imagine a girl showing her stomach, and wearing pants! On top of that Sakura wore protective armor that Tomoyo had modified to fit a girl, but not give away her gender. It was a black breast plate with shoulder "pads" coming out into a point 2 inches from her shoulder. The breast plate had two parts: one that covered her chest and the other that protected her stomach. On her waist she wore a short skirt that wouldn't have covered anything, but she was wearing pants. You couldn't tell it was a skirt, because she had strapped on leg armor on her thighs and shins. (A/N: just think of a black samurai outfit) Her long hair was up in a high bun and a thin strip of red material was tied around her forehead with the Kinomoto emblem, a lion beast, was printed in the center. Strapped to her back was Sakura's favorite weapon. Her sword, Ronin had made it for her on her 15 birthday, very special with an engraving on the hilt that said "Love is the greatest weapon." It was designed for her and her only. She had brought a few other weapons with her and added two knives attached to her legs. When they were done "oh-ing and aw-ing" over Sakura's outfit Sakura grew serious.

"Tomoyo, I let you come this far, but I will not let you fight. Even if I have to force my rank upon you." Sakura knew that she was glad to have her cousin along, but the battle field was no place for her. Tomoyo had no fight training at all, just like a Princess should. Tomoyo smiled, but it was a serious one.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of following you farther than this. I shall wait here and watch and if you need rescuing I will come." Sakura nodded and jumped up onto the back of her white stallion.

"I'll be back Tomoyo," the 18 year old princess said.

"You'd better, of your father will kill me," Tomoyo joked. But inside she was worried. She hadn't stopped Sakura thinking that she couldn't, but now she wished she had. Her best friend was going into battle, and she was a girl. But if anyone could do this, it was Princess Sakura of the Kinomoto Kingdom.

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When Sakura got her first glimpse of the battle, her first reaction was to gag. Bodies lie everywhere fighters didn't. The stench of blood filled the air like a suffocating gas, and the red substance was everywhere. Sakura's instinct was to turn back but she knew she couldn't, she would be shamed forever. She nudged her frightened horse and they trotted up to the fight. At once she knew that this was no place for her trusty horse she got off and told it to go back to Tomoyo.

"Go Kero," she said to her friend. Then she turned to the battle. No one saw the new comer immediately, but soon soldiers from the Li kingdom spotted their new enemy for Sakura wore the red color of her Kingdom. And soon she was in a fight. At first her fright got in the way of her fighting, she was too scared to even think. All she could think was

'This man means to kill me!' But after a few messy blocks she thought of her father and brother and then her head was back in the game. Surprised at his opponents change in attitude, the Li warrior was quickly defeated. Sakura tried not to kill, but then realized that that would do no good on the battle field. After an hour, or so, of fighting she was beginning to get tired, she wondered how these people could do non-stop battle for months. She was clashing swords with a huge giant of a man when she was thrown back to back with another man. She was worried about a behind attack so she quickly knocked away the giant and threw her sword at her other opponents then she realized he had done the same. Then she gasped and stopped an inch from his neck. And he from hers.

"Yamazaki!"

"Princess Sakura!" They stared at each other in shock until Sakura saw a movement behind her friend. Hoping he would get the message to duck she lunged at the attacker, but he didn't duck he too lunged, for someone was behind her. They again stood back to back, but this time on opposite sides. Sakura held her sword in front of her in a battle stance and glanced at Yamazaki.

"Princess-"

"Don't call me that! Everyone will hear!" she hushed as they fought together.

"Sakura, what the hell are you doing here?!" he cried. "You could get killed!"

"I wanted to help my Kingdom, as you are doing." She stated. He let out a breath.

"At least tell me you are with Ronin," he pleaded.

"I can take care of myself, Ronin had other things to attend to. Me and Tomoyo snuck out last night." He groaned.

"You brought Lady Daidouji? Sakura…." He whined.

"She caught me and I couldn't keep her from coming, she not here though, don't worry. She's watching from the cliff." Sakura said pointing to the cliff. As they looked Sakura spotted two dots walking up where her horse had just gone. "On no, Tomoyo!" she cried. "I'll be back I have to go save Tomoyo," she told Yamazaki before running off. Yamazaki was going to follow her, but fighters got in the way and held him back.

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Xiao Lang and Eriol

As Xiao Lang led the wounded Eriol away from the battle, he knew he would have to act fast. Eriol was loosing blood fast, but in order to treat it, they needed a safe place to rest. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw a white stallion galloping away from the battle toward a cliff. Xiao Lang finished cutting down a soldier and called to Eriol.

"Eriol, see that stallion? I bet if we follow it, it will lead us to a trail, or better yet, a water hole." Eriol nodded and they made their way to follow the horse. It lead them up a pass for a little less than a half an hours slow walk. After that time, they finally hit level ground. Eriol almost collapsed.

"Don't go yet cousin. We have to find shade, we'll follow the beast for a little longer. Wearily Eriol nodded.

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Tomoyo had been watching Sakura race off to the battle field but had lost her in the crowd, the cliff was so high up you could barely make anything out. All she could see was the clashing between Kinomoto Red and Li Green. After watching for awhile she had spotted Sakura's horse coming up the pass. At first she was worried but then realized that no harm had befallen her friend. While watching the horse, she noticed movement behind it. Two men were following it! She gasped and turned in fright. She had no where to go! She only had a few minutes to hide. She looked around. Their camp had been set up around a small water hole, and the horses tied to a lonely tree, the only other thing around were rocks. Maybe she could hide behind one of them!

The two tired fighters reached the top of the hill and immediately stopped. The horse had stopped in front of a water hole, but someone was already there. Xiao Lang told Eriol to wait there while he went to see if the coast was clear. He walked around the put out fire, the other tied up brown horse and all the other gear laying around. When he thought it was safe he called Eriol over. The blue haired warrior collapsed near the water and drank. Xiao Lang started to tend to the wound when he noticed the horse they had followed had walked behind a boulder and was neighing at something. Curiously he walked very stealthily over. As he got nearer he heard a whisper something like: "Shhhhh. Go away!" He quickly but quietly walked all the way over and suddenly jumped out from behind a rock.

"Ahhhhhh!" Tomoyo screamed. Eriol looked up at the cry to see Xiao Lang facing a beautiful girl with long ebony hair cascading down her back. She had a pale porcelain face and deep purple eyes. She was gorgeous. She automatically moved to the other side of the rock from Xiao Lang.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" he taunted. She didn't answer and silence overcame them, until someone did. Eriol heard the swoosh of a sword from its holder somewhere behind him.

"Stop right there!" he heard. He turned and saw a Kinomoto fighter, sword drawn and pointing at them. "Don't touch her!" the warrior cried again. Eriol made the move to get up and help his friend but the stranger came closer and kicked his sword away. "Don't move!" he cried, then turned his attention back to Xiao Lang. Being distracted Tomoyo ran away from Xiao Lang to Sakura.

"You alright Tomoyo?" the warrior asked the girl. Tomoyo nodded. Xiao Lang spoke up.

"Kinomoto fighter and royalty. What are you doing away from the battle?" he asked. The girls didn't answer.

"What about you, a Li solider?" Sakura said instead. Xiao Lang frowned.

"I can do whatever I want, though it is none of your business." He answered. Sakura's grip tightened on her sword's hilt.

"And our business is none of yours," she replied. Xiao Lang restrained himself from saying, "I am prince I do as I please," but that would give away his identity. Instead he frowned. Sakura continued on. "Please leave this place, we mean no bad intent," she tried. Xiao Lang frowned.

"And what if we don't want to leave? We like this place." He answered.

"Please leave," Sakura, disguised as a fighter said again.

"No. I guess our only option is to fight," he answered and drew his sword. As soon as he had pulled his sword out, Sakura knew he was a skilled fighter. And from his stance, a much better fighter than she had faced today. Sakura tensed and went into a fighting stance.

Xiao Lang could tell from his opponent's stance that he was a good fighter.

'Lets just see how good,' he though to himself, as he stood at the ready. They stood like that for awhile, then all of a sudden Xiao Lang charged Sakura. Sakura held her ground as she blocked his first hit. They were off.

Parry

Parry

Block

Lunge

Swing

Miss

Block

Over and over again. Sakura was soon tired. So was her opponent, from the sweat on his face. Then she found an opening and lunged, he dodged, but she slightly cut his upper arm. He jumped away and looked at the small wound. Sakura smiled and went into another stance. He growled and lunged again.

Eriol starred in shock. No one had ever landed a blow on the prince since, well, ever! And this Kinomoto fighter just did. And looked about ready to do it again. Eriol knew this opponent was a tough one, much better than himself, he just hoped not as good as his cousin. He looked over to the girl, Tomoyo he thought it was. She was standing there looking worried toward the fighter. Were they perhaps lovers? What was she doing out here anyway? But she really was beautiful- wait. What was he thinking? He shook his head and looked back at the fight.

One thing was for sure, this fighter may be better than himself, but Xiao Lang had something he didn't have. Endurance. All those nights and days of straight training had paid off. The Kinomoto attacker was getting tired, and both of them knew it. Finally he found a weak spot in his attack and tried it. Somehow the Kinomoto attacker spun and Xiao Lang swung, missing him, but cutting his hair loose, the attacker was surprised and this gave Xiao Lang another chance. He lunged again and the Kinomoto fell, Xiao Lang on top, sword pointed at his throat. They lay there, he sitting on top, breathing heavily. Then all of a sudden he froze and jumped up, taking a few steps back. The Prince stuttered as his opponent sat up.

"Y-you-you're a-a-a GIRL!" he exclaimed. She stood up and dusted herself off while he took another look at her. She had long, long golden brown hair and a very feminine face. Yes, she was defiantly a girl. As she was bending down to pick up her sword he stepped on the metal and again put his sword to her throat.

"What is a girl doing out here, in armor, pretending to be a man?" he asked.

"Man or woman, all you want to know is what I am doing here," was her answer. "I was helping my country, which is what I assume you were doing." Xiao Lang growled, this girl had a temper.

"What is your name?" he demanded. The girl did not speak. "What is your name?" he demanded again. Again she did not speak. His temper rose and he closed in the gap between her and the sword, growing closer to her. "I asked you a question!" he yelled. She did not flinch, but spoke.

"My name is Sakura." Again Xiao Lang did a double take.

"Sakura? As in Princess Kinomoto Sakura?" Sakura cringed, she was hoping this Li-man wouldn't recognize the name.

"Yes, that would be right." She answered. Xiao Lang didn't know what to do, so he just stood there. Here he stood with his sword to the Princess of his arch enemy's kingdom. He couldn't just kill her, could he? He looked back at the girl. She was sort of pretty, his hand flexed on the hilt.

"Don't hurt her!" he heard someone cry. He turned and saw the girl warrior's companion. He motioned for Eriol to the girl. He limped along and held her.

"Sorry milady," Eriol said as he held the beautiful girl in his arms. She blushed and said nothing, but squirmed. Sakura noticed that the Li was distracted and took a chance. She preformed a high kick and knocked her sword from the man's hand. After that she quickly ran to it and picked it up. He reacted too late and there they stood again, sword to neck for both of them. Xiao Lang was annoyed and surprised, but held his ground.

"Eriol," he said simply. Sakura looked over at her friend and her captor and saw that he had taken a knife and was holding it up to Tomoyo's throat, apologizing the entire time. Tomoyo tried to act brave, but she was shaking. Sakura hung her head, then her sword.

As the Li man tied a rope binding her hands, Eriol did the same.

"Ladies, you are now in the company of Price Li and Sir Hiiragizawa," the prince said. Sakura's head whipped around.

"What?!" she gasped. Xiao Lang just smiled. 'Oh no, I have gotten myself captured by the Prince of our opposing Kingdom!' she thought. Next to her, Tomoyo gave her a sympathetic look.

"We'll be staying here over night, then I'll take you home," the Prince decided. Sakura's eyes glimmered with hope. "My home." He finished, and her hopes were shattered.

That night no one went to sleep. The two men dozed off a few times, but the girls stayed awake scared. Well, Tomoyo was scared, Sakura was just angry.

'How could I let him beat me?!' she screamed at herself. 'What did I do wrong?' she sighed. 'You did nothing wrong except get tired.' Sakura had many attempts so escape, and almost made it once, with Tomoyo, but the Li Prince was faster. She felt an exhausted and frightened Tomoyo fall asleep, and soon she did herself.

Only to be awoken in less than a few hours by a bucket of water being thrown on her face. And a boy saying,

"Aw, you didn't have to do that." It was the blue haired one, he was much nicer. But what gave him the right to be nice? They were her captors. Duh. After they woke Tomoyo up, in a much nicer manner, they rolled up the camp and set out. The men on the horses and the women tied, walking behind. After awhile of walking in silence Sakura spoke up to the Li Prince.

"At least tell me the name of the boy riding my horse," she said. "Or trying," she added as Kero reared and neighed, not liking the stranger. Finally the Li got him settled and turned back to Sakura.

"My name is Li Xiao Lang and this is Hiiragizawa Eriol if you must know," he answered hotly, not liked being called a boy. Sakura looked puzzled.

"What kind of name is Xiao Lang?" she asked.

"It's Cantonese," he growled. Sakura let out a small "oh" and went quiet. He looked to Eriol and he was frowning. Xiao Lang sighed and in a barely audible voice said. "In your language it's Syaoran." Eriol smiled.

Tomoyo could immediately tell that Xiao Lang, Syaoran had never captured anyone, and that Eriol didn't want to. As soon as their names had been given Eriol had been nonstop talking about, well, anything. Tomoyo soon thought she knew everything about the blue haired knight. She wasn't quite sure if Sakura were listening. And pretty soon, she found herself talking back, slowly.

When the sky began to grow dark, Syaoran and Eriol decided that it was time to stop and camp. The girls were very tried from walking all day behind horses, with little time to rest. They plopped down on the hard ground unceremoniously with a sigh. Syaoran set up camp while Eriol brought them some water.

"Now, I will untie you two, but please promise me you will not attempt to run away." He asked. Tomoyo nodded at once, and finally Sakura did too. They obeyed. Syaoran got a small fire going and the four sat around it in complete silence until he said he had to go collect more wood.

Through the uncomfortable silence Eriol found himself staring at the girl called Tomoyo. Then he realized he had been doing it all day. The girl, Sakura, was defiantly radiant and beautiful, but Tomoyo had grace and just glowed. He longed to see her happy, and not captive.

"I am sorry for Xiao- Syaoran's behavior," he began but stopped. "I guess that sounds really stupid. Our two country's are at war, why would we not kidnap you?" he laughed at his words, but silence grew back. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, we will not harm you. Syaoran looks tuff, but really, he's a big teddy bear. As soon as we get back to the kingdom all we will do is ask for some type of ransom and then the war will stop."

"We all want the war to stop, but we don't want to be kidnapped for it," Tomoyo said bluntly. Eriol blushed, sighed and gave up as Syaoran came back with wood.

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