Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura isn't mine.

Previously in Worth Fighting For

Sakura pulled out Touya's jade emblem out of her sleeve and held it up to showcase them to the ministers. "Touya—the king handed his emblem to me as a sign that I shall ascend as his substitute until he return. I'm claiming the throne as per the king's order."

"But your highness," Sato said, "You must understand that this isn't appropriate."

"And I understand that my brother is still the king," Sakura said. Confidence flowed into her. "And his order remains as a king's order before a new king is appointed. Are you trying to defy his order to have me as his substitute, minister?"

Worth Fighting For
Chapter 2: The Commander's Invitation

"You're unbelievable!" Yamazaki shook his head. "You're actually planning to pay your visit to the king as soon as we get to the city? Can you not wait until we check into a rest house or something? Or perhaps after we got something to eat? Aren't you hungry?"

"I'm not really hungry." Syaoran shrugged as he slid down from the horse. He turned to Yamazaki and frowned. "Are you?"

"Yes!" he answered. "In fact I'm starving. We should take a short break and grab something to eat. You may not know it, but I had this disease where I would die if I didn't take a short break after a long journey."

Syaoran smirked and shook his head lightly. "Do you think I would fall for your lies?"

Yamazaki chuckled. When they were a lot younger, he had told Syaoran several of his made up stories. Syaoran would always believe in his stories, especially when the current Crown Prince, Eriol would always backup his story. But as they grew up, Syaoran had stopped believing in his story when he found out that his stories were all silly lies. "Well prince, this was not a lie. Have you ever heard of malnutrition? People die if they don´t have enough rest or nutrient in their body."

"Alright, alright, I hear you," Syaoran raised both his hand, motioning that he's giving in. "Once we got into the city, we'll take a short break, and fill in our stomachs. Just don't call me a prince in public. I don't wish for people to know about my identity. I prefer to go incognito for the time being."

"Okay." Yamazaki grinned. "And Li, we need find a place to stay tonight. We better pick a rest house with a stable. Our horses need a place to rest too."

"Find a place to stay." Syaoran nodded. "Alright."

"Speaking of a place to stay, do you know that the first rest house was established by an old grandma by accident? Well, there's this old grandma who live up in the hill. And one day—"

"Oh, shut up. Or you can forget about resting once we arrived." Syaoran groaned. "I can't believe that I used to fall for all those stuff."

xxx

"What do you think happen to this country?" Yamazaki asked as soon as they entered the city of Clow Country. He looked around and saw that the locals seemed to be in alarm. "Clow Country is supposed to be a peaceful city. But I noticed that the people were in panic when we passed the last town. And it seems that the chaos is much worse in the city. Do you think we came at the bad time?"

"I don't know, I guess something big must have happen." Syaoran said with a shrug. He pulled his horse with its lead ropes and turned around to watch the people in the city discussing something that seemed important. "Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't interfere with our plan."

"Perhaps I should ask someone what really happen here." Yamazaki announced. His eyes wondered, searching for anyone to ask around. His eyes darted towards a young girl, standing a few feet away from him, studying a notice plastered on the board. Her brown hair braided into two pigtails. Yamazaki took a few steps forward and tapped his fingers on the girl's shoulder. "Excuse me."

Chiharu spun around. Her eyes widened at the sight of the stranger in front of her. "Yes?"

Yamazaki made a short pause as he was mesmerized by the girl's presence. "Erm, yes. I was wondering if you could tell me what happened here. It seems to be quite a commotion here."

Chiharu scrutinized the man before her cautiously. Looking at his attire, she was sure that he was not a local. "You're not from here."

"I'm not," Yamazaki admitted. "I just got into town. So I was wondering—"

"I see," she cleared her throat. "The people are panicking because of what happened with the royal family."

Yamazaki frowned. Clearly, he was a bit confused.

Chiharu cast a quick glance towards the notice and turned her attention back to Yamazaki, "You see, Princess Sakura ascended the throne as the king's substitute two days ago and she will rule the country in the king's stead."

"Why? What happened to the king? Did he pass away?"

"No, the king is still alive. We hope that he is still alive. It's just that…" Chiharu looked around and unconsciously leaned forward to him, as if she was making sure that nobody was listening to them. "The king is missing," she told him.

"What?" Yamazaki blinked.

"I should be going," Chiharu announced abruptly, remembering that she had to be in the castle soon. "I hope you'll enjoy your stay here," she said, bowing a bit before she sped away and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Yamazaki speechless.

"Well," Syaoran said, breaking Yamazaki from his trance as he gave him a pat on his shoulder. "What did the girl say?"

Yamazaki cleared his throat and turned to Syaoran. "You're right. Something big happened. I believe that the girl just told me that the king is missing..."

Syaoran frowned. "Missing?"

"... and the princess is ruling the country in the king's stead," he chuckled. "I've never heard anything about a princess ruling the country. It's no wonder that the kingdom is in chaos."

"What's wrong with a woman ruling a kingdom?" Syaoran raised a brow. "There's nothing wrong with woman ruling as long as she have the capability in doing so."

"I know that. But people won't have much confidence with a woman as a ruler. I think that's why the people are in panic and the country is in disorder."

Syaoran nodded. "They are scared of what will become of them. The princess might be pressured by other countries if she's weak. Right now, she needs to gain the ministers' full support and the confidence of her people. Only then will the country become stable."

xxx

"Your highness." Tomoyo uttered. Her voice contained a hint of relief at the sight of the princess.

Sakura signaled the guards at her door leave her and Tomoyo alone. When the soldiers had disappeared, she turned towards Tomoyo. "How are you?"

"That´s supposed to be my question." Tomoyo sighed. "How are you? Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Sakura nodded with a hint of smile.

"I was surprised when my mother announced that you had step up as the acting king. Or is it queen?"

"I am still a princess. Advisor Yukito suggested that I should have the title of Empress. But the ministry of culture said to entitle me as a Crown Princess. They said that titling me as an Empress could create more chaos as my brother is still the king."

"I bet the ministry just doesn't want to have you—a girl commanding them." Tomoyo shook her head. "Men and their egos. I assume that the ministers still despise the idea of you stepping in as the king's substitute?"

Sakura nodded. "I´ve never imagined that I would be in this situation as Touya's substitute." She fiddled with her fingers and smiled nervously. "I am afraid of what will happen. What if the people protest against having me as their ruler? I'm not sure that I will be a good ruler. I don't even like commanding my lady-in-waiting to do things for me. How am I supposed to command the ministers? Or my people?"

"You will be alright." Tomoyo convinced. "The people might be confused for a while with the sudden change to have you as their ruler. They will come around and give you their support, Sakura. The people adore you."

Sakura clenched her hand into a fist and unclenched them.

"They adored you before you became their ruler. I'm sure that they will continue adoring you as their ruler. You cared so much about them. The people know that too. You just have to give them a bit more time to adjust themselves with this new situation." Tomoyo reassured. "And as for the ministers, I'm positive they will soon give you their approval. You just have to make them trust you."

Sakura smiled at the thought of the two ministers who have become her supporters after the announcement. The first one is the minister of women's affair, Sonomi Daidouji from Daidouji clan.

Sonomi is the cousin of the late Queen Nadeshiko who was the first female minister of Clow Country . After the late queen passed away, Sonomi was elected to handle women's affair which was supposed to be the queen's task. Sakura often heard of how displeased the ministers were with the king's decision when she was small. But the ministers finally succumbed when King Fujitaka had promised that Sonomi shall not govern anything other than women's matter and that there shall be no other woman qualified as a minister after Sonomi.

The second minister is the minister of commerce, Kinomoto Jinnosuke, her uncle from her father side. He was King Fujitaka's youngest brother. He was not given the title of a prince since he was adopted by one of her grandfather's mistresses. Sakura wasn't really close with her uncle. She had always been scared of her uncle because he never smiled towards her. But knowing that her uncle is supporting her as Touya's substitute made her happy. At least she now knows her uncle actually cares about her.

Suddenly Chiharu barged into Sakura´s study exclaiming, "Your highness!". She casted a glance towards Sakura and gasped, noticing she was with a company. She bowed towards Tomoyo and turned to the princess. "Your highness," she repeated. This time more softly. "Two police officers from the police bureau seek for your audience."

"What does the police bureau want with me?" Sakura frowned. She watched Tomoyo excuse herself from the room and told Chiharu to let the police in.

"Your highness." Two men walked in and bowed as they entered. They were both wearing plain cloth, without any sign proving they are the police. The older man lifted his police badge to Sakura—showing that he was ranked as a captain. "We were sent by Commander Yue to escort you to the police bureau."

Sakura was stunned. She exchanged her glance with Chiharu and went back to the police. "Escort me to the police bureau? Why?"

"Commander Yue might have news on the king's whereabouts," the captain announced. The news instantly sparked Sakura's attention. "We have found the king's horses near Shadow Valley and we were told to escort you to the bureau so that you can confirm this fact."

"You have found my brother's horse?" Sakura swallowed. Her heartbeat increased. "A-and what about my brother?"

"I'm afraid that the king and his bodyguard are still missing, your highness."

"Oh." Sakura exhaled. She didn't notice that she had been holding her breath for a while.

"But the troops are going to continue their search," the captain continued, sensing the disappointment from the princess's gaze. "They believe that the king and his men must have been somewhere nearby. And that's why the commander asks for you. He wanted you to be the first to know anything before everything else become public."

Sakura pondered for a moment. Then, she straightened up and turned to her lady-in-waiting. "Chiharu, get ready. We're going out to visit Commander Yue."

xxx

It was dark at night as Sakura walked down the street cautiously with her trusted lady-in-waiting, Chiharu. She had her face hidden under her hooded dress to avoid any unwanted attention. Two police in their plain clothes were escorting them as they were heading to the police bureau. The captain was leading their way and the other police stayed on guard from behind.

"Your highness," Chiharu whispered. It has been half an hour since they have left the castle. But still there are no sign of being near the bureau. "Something is wrong. I don't think we're heading to the police bureau."

"What?" Sakura hissed. She slowed down her pace so that she was walking side by side with Chiharu. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm saying that this isn't the way to the bureau."

Sakura chewed on her lips to think. "Perhaps the men were leading us towards a shortcut to the bureau."

"I doubt so, your highness. The bureau is located in the west. And we're heading towards east."

Sakura halted immediately. Her heart raced upon hearing Chiharu's information. She then cleared her throat to grab the men's attention. "Excuse me, captain. Are you sure that this is the right route to the—" her sentence was left unfinished as the captain turned around with his sword pointing at her causing both girls to yelp in surprised.

"What are you doing?" Chiharu spat towards the captain. She grabbed Sakura by her hand to shield her from the captain's view. "Do you realize that you're pointing your sword at the ruler of this country?" She took a step back and paused, noticing that the other police also was pointing his sword towards them.

"I doubt that she will become the ruler of this country when she's dead," the captain replied.

The other police snickered. "You may scream all you want, princess. But I don't think anyone will come to your rescue."

Sakura swallowed. Her hand clenched on the key shaped locket hanging around her neck. Her mind weighed for any possible action she could take to handle the situation. Fight or flight. She wasn't sure how she would escape from the men. It wouldn't be hard for Sakura to perform basic self-defense as she had learned a few tricks from her brother. But there would be too much risk if she decided to fight back. After all they were both armless.

"Your highness," Chiharu shifted closely to Sakura. She pulled Sakura closer to whisper. "At the count of three, run. I will try to distract them and buy you some time." She released her gripped on Sakura's hand and pushed her once she noticed a chance for the princess to escape. "Your Highness, run!"

Sakura did as she was told—she ran. She turned to her side and saw that Chiharu was missing from her side. It was then that she realized what Chiharu was trying to pull. Chiharu was trying to sacrifice herself in exchange for her safety.

Sakura cursed. Her heart pounded when she turned around to watch one of the men slash Chiharu with his sword—a punishment for helping her to escape. "No!" Sakura shouted out at the top of her lung. She mustered her courage, charged forward and threw a kick towards the captain, just above his waist causing him to choke for air and stagger forward and lose his grip on his sword.

She took the chance to snatch his sword and pointed the sword towards the other police. "Stay back." she warned, swinging the sword as she made her way to her lady-in waiting. "Chi! You're wounded." Sakura said breathlessly, picking up Chiharu's body while struggling to hold her sword. "Wake up! Please wake up!" Tears began to form in her eyes.

"Your highness?" Chiharu asked. Her voice weakened. Her breathing increased. "Why didn't you escape?"

"There's no way that I could leave you behind," Sakura smiled an awkward smile. She cast a glance towards the men and swung her sword to distance herself away from those men. "Stay back!"

It worked. The men jerked back when the princess pointed her sword to them alternately.

"Princess, put down the sword or somebody would get hurt." the captain spoke cautiously. Slowly, he crept towards Sakura, sneaking a chance to retrieve his sword back.

"I said, stay back!" Sakura placed Chiharu gently on the soil and stood up. Her small hand held up the sword, pointing towards the men. The basic sword lesson she had with Touya rushed in her mind as she was trying to protect both herself and Chiharu. "What do you want from me?" Her eyes shifted between the two men taking precaution on what they might do to harm her.

"Now princess," the captain spoke again. "We hold no grudge against you. We're just doing what we were told to."

"Why would Commander Yue want me dead?" Sakura swung her sword towards the captain. Her eyes widened as she noticed that the captain was giving a cue for his friend to attack her. Sakura spun around and gasped as she saw the man lifting his sword to slash at her. She raised her sword to defend herself and heard the metal clanking above her.

Something was off.

She couldn't feel the pressure of the other party's sword against hers. Her heart pounded rapidly as she noticed it wasn't her sword that made the clanking sound. It was someone else's.

End of Chapter 2: The Commander's Invitation

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorite 'Worth Fighting For' in the first chapter. Also… I'd like to thank Hanna for editing and advising me in writing this story. Thank you m(_ _)m

How do you like the story so far? What will happen to Sakura? Whose sword was it that clanked above her? Well, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out :)