Disclaimer: I do not own TRC. CLAMP does a better job owning TRC than I ever would.

Summary: Fai has finally snapped. Kurogane is feeling helpless and Syaoran is depressed. The royals are planning something, but what? And who is the mysterious stranger? The princess finally reveals what she had wanted to ask, and there's more KuroFai goodness!

Warnings: Implied, hi-i'm-whacking-you-with-a-neon-pink-stick pairings. Sort of SakuSyao-centric, with (way more explicit) KuroFai on the side. Because who doesn't love KuroFai? Mentioned Douwata, Shougo with Primera, and Sorata gushing over Arashi. I guess you could call this an AU. This is CLAMP, so yaoi/ shounen-ai. Might have what some consider to be suggestive themes in certain chapters.

Morning was accompanied with renewed downpour, grey skies, and all around gloomy weather. It was silent, not even the usual chirp of birds from outside; even if there had been, the loud roar of the falling storm would have drowned it out. It was a fitting semblance, thought Kurogane as he sipped at a mug of beer, after the news that had been delivered the night before.

The kid had refused to leave the prison hold despite being told to—stubbornly insisting that it was his shift and that it was his own fault that he had decided to spend the day with the princess the day before instead of getting some sleep, like he had been supposed to—and now dozed lightly on one of the wooden chairs on the first floor of the tower. (Both Tomoyo and the first princess had come early that morning, oddly solemn, to speak with Sakura privately. Which obviously justified his being kicked down to the first floor along with his depressed apprentice.)

It was a rather strange relationship his apprentice had with both Sakura and the princess, if Kurogane did say so himself. But Syaoran was a good, responsible kid, and Kurogane trusted that the kid would have his own reasons for doing what he was doing...Whatever it was that he was doing. And it wasn't like it was his business anyway, so he definitely wasn't about to go beating the poor boy up about it.

No, Syaoran seemed to be doing that perfectly well on his own.

Tilting the rest of the alcohol down his throat, the knight wondered if he could go outside to source for more. Tomoyo had told him to make sure no one went up while they were still talking, and he didn't really want to wake Syaoran up. He looked at his empty mug, and decided that the store was close enough for him to run a quick trip there and back. Kurogane stood and, casting one last glance at the sleeping boy, strode out into the pouring rain, pulling his cloak more tightly around his body to try and prevent the rain from seeping through the gaps in his armor and making him feel all gross later on.

It was as he was filling his mug from one of the storehouse's many beer barrels that he heard the soft hiss of voices just on the other side of the wall.

"Syaoran-kun?" came the muffled cadences of what sounded to be that idiot's voice, "What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to come today!"

Kurogane frowned; seems like the kid had come looking for him, now who was going to guard the princesses? It was an awfully stupid thing to do, and he resolved to chew the boy out for it at a later date, perhaps after the whole fiasco was over and he stopped moping.

"I'm sorry, Fai-san," said the kid, "I needed to see Sakura-hime."

A pause.

"Syaoran-kun," Fai began carefully, "It'll be over tomorrow, you shouldn't—"

He bit back a curse as his drink began to spill over and splatter loudly onto the floor. He immediately the tap off with a scowl, and stepped back from spreading puddle of wasted beer on the floor.

"There's someone in the store," hissed Fai, and if Kurogane had been a lesser man, he may not have caught it, "Go to the princess."

Trying to wring the foam and beer of his hands (the one downside to always wearing armor was that he couldn't even wipe his hands on himself) Kurogane turned around and threw the door open in the bishop's face. He rolled his eyes as the man jerked and dropped into a battle-stance. Blue eyes widened in recognition, and the blonde straightened up again. He looked a little worse for the wear, mostly stress and fatigue, but he managed a bright, dazzling, fake smile for the knight.

"Oya? he said, tilting his head to the side, "I never expected to see Kuro-chan here!"

Kurogane felt a stab of irritation at the sight of that damnable smile.

"Neither did I expect to see you here," he shot back, "Especially after you left so abruptly yesterday night."

He fought down a vicious satisfaction as it slid right off Fai's face.

"Looks like Kuro-wanko will always be Kuro-wanko," the bishop laughed airily, smile coming back as quickly as it went, "All fierce and curious like a little growly puppy."

He bit back a growl, not wanting to prove the idiotic blonde right, and turned away.

"If you're just going to spout nonsense then I'm going back," he snarled, "Have fun at court."

To his frustration, the bishop only skipped along behind him.

"But what makes you think I'm going to court? Kuro-sa~ma!"

The knight stopped and turned around.

"Well, for one thing," he began irritably, "you're wearing your new robes. For another, don't you think now's about damn time the assembly starts?"

Fai faltered mid-step, and Kurogane had to wonder how off he was that he'd almost forgotten that he had to go hold court in Ashura's place.

"Well, maybe I'd wanted to see Sakura-chan before I went."

"Well," he said though gritted teeth, "You can go right back because Tomoyo told me not to let anyone up to see her. Not till they were done talking."

Almost like magic, big blue eyes immediately filled to the brim with tears. The bishop stared up at him accusatively through thick lashes, fluttering and batting them shamelessly as his lips pulled down into what had to be the pout of the century.

"Kuro-tan is heartless!" he wailed, "To send me back drenched after I've come aallllllll the way here in the rain!"

The drama queen sobbed loudly and pressed the back of one hand over his eyes, turning away.

"Fine," he choked melodramatically, "I'll go, and on the way back I'll catch pneumonia and die."

Kurogane could only gape.

"You—" he spluttered, "You're the one who didn't bring your bloody cloak! Now you're blaming me for getting wet?

He was pointedly ignored.

"Heartless," Fai sniffled, "Heartless! You're not my favorite anymore! I'm going to find a younger, more handsome man who'll appreciate me and love—"

"I'm not your lover!" Kurogane roared.

He tore his cloak from around his neck and flung it at that infuriating blonde head.

"There!" seeing the bishop struggling briefly under the cloak, the knight let out a loud cry of frustration, "Like this!"

He tugged the black cloak off Fai's head and pulled it so roughly around slim shoulders that the bishop stumbled forwards into his chest. The blonde blinked somewhat dazedly at him as he fastened the cloak for him and spun him around.

"Go!" Kurogane yelled in a manner uncannily similar to how one might chase a rather persistent cat away, "Go home!"

The warrior's shove sent the blonde staggering a few feet away, before the man hesitated and turned around.

"Your cloak," he began, "Can I return it to you tomorrow?"

Kurogane waved him off and began to make his own way back to the prison hold.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he grumbled, "Now, don't you have a court to attend to?"

The blonde blinked dazedly, and then his face softened in a way the knight had never seen before.

"No matter what," he whispered, "Kuro-sama will always be the same kind person on the inside."

As the man in question began to turn red and splutter an incoherent protest, Fai beamed and skipped away, clutching Kurogane's cloak tightly around himself and singing, "Softie! Softie! Kuro-puu's a softie!" at the top of his lungs. Refusing to give in to the urge to yell profanities at the idiot bishop's retreating back, the knight gritted his teeth and made his way back towards the prison hold. He was somewhat put off to see Syaoran still hanging around outside the door.

"What the hell are you still doing loitering around out here?"

Syaoran started and whipped around to face him.

"I thought I heard someone moving around outside," he explained with a thoughtful frown, "but I guess it was just you."

Fair enough.

"Well, let's not stand in the rain," the older man groused, turning to head back into the shelter of the tower, "I'm not going to coddle you if you fall sick."

Syaoran cast one last glance over his shoulder at the loud caw of a raven, and saw its pitch-black shadow ghosting up the wall and disappearing into the window.

"Close the damn door already!"

It had been just a shadow, hadn't it? But the shadow had seemed almost too opaque a black to be one.

"Kid!"

Syaoran winced at the irritation in his mentor's voice.

"Coming!"

He closed the door behind him.

It probably had been the shadow of that passing raven anyway.

A few hours of waiting had Kurogane fidgeting agitatedly from where he stood against the wall.

"What the hell is taking them so long?" he snarled, "You'd think someone had snuck in through the window and killed them all!"

At that, Syaoran turned an alarming shade of grey.

"What's wrong?"

The boy swallowed audibly and collapsed into a nearby chair.

"Perhaps we should go check on them," he suggested shakily.

Kurogane frowned.

"I wasn't being serious kid," he said drily, "Don't look so worried."

His student shook his head.

"I thought I saw someone in black disappearing into the window just now, but there was a bird passing above so I assumed it was just its shadow."

Kurogane felt his stomach drop down to his feet. Turning and taking the stairs at a sprint, he made up his mind to properly chew Syaoran out, no matter how depressed the kid was. After he checked on the girls.

"Princess!"

Tomoyo whipped around.

"Kurogane?" she sounded panicked as she moved in front of him, as if to block him, "I thought I told you not to come up?"

Over her head, he caught what clearly black cloth whisking out of the window. He narrowed his eyes as he moved forward. No more secrets, she'd been keeping them all week and he knew that she'd not sent him on yesterday's errand just because she wanted the lychees specifically from two cities down. She had been hiding something from him, and he was sick of it.

"Kurogane!"

He ignored the warning tone in her voice and brushed her off his arm as he made his way swiftly for the window. It was obvious that she had been trying to block his view of that person, which might have worked if she hadn't been so damned short. A short, brown-hooded figure glided smoothly between him and the window, wordlessly.

"Move."

The cloaked child—no adult could be that short—stood his ground, silent and unmoving. Kurogane snarled and drew his sword.

"I said move!"

"No, Kurogane-san!" Sakura screamed, throwing herself against the bars, "Don't hurt him!"

Before he could say anything, Syaoran's muffled voice from below cut him off.

"Wait! You can't go up there now, the princess—"

The first princess had squeezed herself between the boy and Kurogane while he had been distracted by the disturbance. There was loud footsteps crashing up the stairs, then Fai came bursting onto the second floor.

Kurogane didn't know how the archbishop managed to look so much worse in such a short period of time, but he did. He had dark bags under his eyes, contrasting in a sickly manner against his pale skin, which seemed almost translucent now. He was as white as paper—it did not help that he was already pretty pale to begin with—and the knight could see the underlying green and blue veins. Blue eyes were duller than usual and unfocused, the whites were bloodshot, red capillaries standing out starkly from the white. When he spoke, he spoke like he had a cold.

"Ashura," he began hoarsely, "Ashura says Sakura will be burnt—burnt tomorrow, even though the trial is inconclusive."

His voice cracked.

"I'm s—so sorry," he stuttered oddly, "I never wanted—never wanted..."

He trailed off, standing forlornly at the top of the stairs, looking lost and confused. Syaoran was lingering worriedly behind him.

"Ashura says tomorrow," he repeated jerkily, "Burnt tomorrow. Sorry I tried but I—I never wanted—just found out just now that—"

"But Fai," Syaoran offered timidly as the archbishop broke off abruptly again, "you were here when he told us yesterday."

Fai blinked.

"But—but I," he said distressedly, "I wasn't—was I here? I don't remember—I don't—"

Syaoran approached him as one might approach a frightened animal.

"Fai," he began cautiously, "When was the last time you ate, or slept?"

The blonde only looked more distressed.

"I don't—I don't—" he began to tug vehemently at his ruined collar, eyes flicking around the room, "I don't know. I don't remember—I—"

Kurogane moved in front of him and began to steer him carefully down the stairs.

"We're going to get something to eat," he grit out, "Now."

Fai shook his head.

"But—but I—" he protested, "I still—still have work to do."

The knight grabbed him by the collar.

"Seriously, bishop?" he snarled, "Look at you, I leave you for one day to run an errand, and you've completely snapped! You were fine just now!"

Suddenly the hooded boy was beside him again, placing a hand on his forearm, still not speaking a word.

"What?" Kurogane growled, "Are you fucking mute? If you still want that hand, keep it to yourself!"

"Kurogane," Tomoyo said dangerously, "You will leave us, and you will escort Fai to lunch. Now."

The knight reigned in the urge to punch something, and complied with a furious snarl.

As their footsteps—one pair loud and angry, the other clumsy and disorientated—died away, the first princess turned to her cousin.

"Tomoyo, this can't go on."

The second princess bit her lip.

"It's just till tomorrow, cousin."

"Then you know it won't make a difference!" she cried, "This can't go on, you saw how he was!"

The dark-haired wavered, looking incredibly guilty.

"I agree, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura contributed quietly, "You know he's like this because of us."

Syaoran raised his hands awkwardly.

"Please, this isn't anyone's fault," he cut in, "He's just stressed, and you've already tried helping him right?"

The three girl turned to stare at him; he got the distinct impression that they'd forgotten he was there.

"Princess," Sakura began, "Why don't you go with Syaoran-kun for lunch, we can finish the discussion with..."

She trailed off, then waved in the general of the cloaked figure, who Syaoran realized he had forgotten about.

"But Sakura," he protested, "I can't just leave you all alone here! And the second princess too!"

Sakura smiled and gestured again towards the mystery person.

"Don't worry, he's here—" which was exactly what he was afraid of "—he won't let anything happen to us."

The princess knotted her hands together nervously.

"It's alright, he doesn't have to—"

"Isn't there something you wanted to ask him?" Sakura interrupted, "We'll be fine here. Besides, I want to talk to..."

She gestured towards the stranger again.

"But—"

"Oh no, it's fine," Syaoran cut in, turning towards the stairs, "I want to go, princess."

The veiled royal hesitated.

"But is it really alright?"

Syaoran smiled.

"Of course."

She stood and, lifting a large bundle into her arms, joined him at the top of the stairs. He took the bundle from her, and smiled at her.

"Then," she said over her shoulder, "I guess I'll see you later."

The cloaked figure fidgeted as she began to descend the stairs.

"Princess!" he called abruptly, in a voice obviously forced lower than his usual voice range, "Remember to tell him! Please, please don't forget."

She stopped and turned to smile at him.

"I won't," she said, "I won't forget."

Syaoran didn't know how, but when he was with the princess he always found himself back at that same cherry blossom tree. The princess had been silent the whole time, but she now spoke up hesitantly.

"Syaoran," she began, clutching herself tightly, "this is probably a very, very bad time to be asking this, but it can't wait any longer."

She stopped abruptly and whipped about to face him.

"Would you like to become a knight?" she blurted out, "That is to say, would you like to become my knight?"

Syaoran felt like he'd been shoved into a lake in the middle of winter. It was strange, because he had the distinct feeling that he should have been happy. And he was, but he was so horrified at that happy feeling because... because... how about Sakura? Before he'd met Sakura, this would be a dream come true, but he'd met Sakura, and now he didn't know what to do. He wanted to protect the princess—he'd vowed to that day when she'd brought him to that little room behind the gargoyle and he'd realized just how lonely she was—but he how could he just leave Sakura to be burnt, as if now that she was going away, he could just throw her away like a broken doll and find someone new?

"I—" he said through the haze of his dread, "This is really sudden, I just—I don't know what to say."

The princess lowered her head.

"It's alright," she whispered, "You don't have to say yes if you don't want to."

Syaoran shook his head vehemently.

"It's not that I don't want to, I just—"

"Princess! Where are you again?"

She turned towards the voice.

"I'm here, Madame!" she called.

"If you change your mind," she said sadly, nodding at the bundle he had been carrying for her all this time, "Just wear this and come stand by me at the ceremony tomorrow."

"Princess, I—"

"There you are, Your Highness!" said the matron, grabbing onto the princess as if she feared the girl might run away; Syaoran had to admit that her fear was not unfounded, "You're late for your mathematical studies, again. Your tutor is already here."

The princess obediently allowed herself to be steered away by the woman.

"I know," she murmured docilely, "I'm sorry, Madame."

She turned to look at him one last time as she disappeared around the corner. Syaoran unwrapped the bundle, feeling his heart drop as it revealed a gleaming set of armor, just as grand as his mentor's, and a white cloak with no clasp. Numbly, he covered it back up, then turned and began to make his way back to Sakura's cell. He met Kurogane on the way, and they both headed back together.

"So how's Fai?" Syaoran asked.

Kurogane sighed.

"He's sick, he's caught that bug going 'round and—I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with him, a cold shouldn't make him act like that. He was fine this morning!" he said frustratedly, angrily, "Why can't that idiot learn to take care of himself? He's like a child!"

The young apprentice turned away, wisely choosing not to comment on the sheer helplessness on his mentor's face, thinly masked by his anger.

"Was he fine yesterday?" he asked.

"I don't know!" Kurogane snarled, "Tomoyo, she—she sent me to get lychees, and she wanted the ones from Linningsvale. I was gone the whole day, and when I got back I had to escort the king to the cell, so I couldn't go check."

As they came out of the palace onto the prison grounds, Syaoran remembered, with a frown, seeing Kurogane in the first princess' courtyard after lunch. But he supposed that his mentor had probably gone from then, and not come back until the time he'd seen him yesterday. He did remember Kurogane vanishing after Fai had escaped from the window, and he had come back later, looking relieved. So Fai had probably been fine yesterday as well, only until this morning.

"And doesn't he know how to ask for help? The rest of the council members are just sitting around looking all stunned and lost!" the knight raved, "He won't—he won't even let me carry his papers for him!"

The man fell silent with a frustrated groan, and the young guard realized that the two of them were in the very same predicament, like mentor like student. He wanted to help Sakura, but how could he when the king was ordering her execution? He couldn't even break her out with the amount of security around the place, and even if he got her out of the tower, there would be people swarming around the grounds. If he managed to get past the prison grounds by some miracle, then he'd have to get through the palace itself, the center of all security;it was just not possible. Likewise, Kurogane wanted to help Fai, but he couldn't do anything but carry his papers for him, because he was a warrior, a knight, and he knew nothing about politics and the administrative side of state-running. Syaoran sighed and rubbed his face tiredly, just the thought of how powerlessthe two of them were made him depressed.

Kurogane threw open the doors to the prison tower, yelling "I'm back, so if you have anyone else to hide you'd better do it now!" and stomping angrily up the stairs. Syaoran followed much more docilely behind him. The stranger was still there when they reached the second floor's landing, kneeling beside Sakura in her cell. Tomoyo stood and turned to face them.

"How is Fai?"

"Why the hell is everyone asking? Does it look like I care?" Kurogane roared angrily, "He's a self-destructive bastard who has no sense of self-preservation. He can go kill himself for all I care!"

Tomoyo looked at him thoughtfully.

"You need not escort me back to my wing," she told him; it was not a suggestion, "Go back and make sure he sleeps."

"Can't," Kurogane said gruffly, helplessly, "There's no one else to do the paperwork, and if it's not done then the state—"

"Tomorrow is a public holiday," the second princess said, "You can force him to sleep tonight, and let him do the paperwork tomorrow. Tell him not to come tomorrow."

Sakura smiled sadly.

"I don't want him to come for the... the ceremony. It'll only make him guilty."

Kurogane frowned.

"But doesn't he need to be there to perform the ceremony?"

Tomoyo smiled enigmatically.

"I'll take care of that," she assured him, "It's getting late, so go escort him to bed. Make sure he does not come tomorrow. The princess says its alright if he misses it. Can you do that for me?"

Her knight grumbled that he was not a child, and of course he could. Though his scowl was still present, he looked a lot calmer.

"Go now," the second princess urged, "And stay with him tomorrow. I'll see you in two days."

Kurogane turned to go, still grumbling, but hesitated at the top of the stairs.

"But... you'll need someone to bring you back to the palace," he said, frowning.

She waved at the hooded boy.

"He'll bring me," she said, "You've left me alone with him all day. I'm sure you can trust him to take me back safely."

It was a measure of how anxious the knight was that he did not argue further, simply nodding and turning to leave.

"Make sure he does not come tomorrow!" Tomoyo called after him, "Make sure of it!"

The moment Kurogane disappeared out of their sight, Sakura turned to him eagerly.

"Did you say yes?"

With a sense of betrayal, he realized she had known what the princess had been wanting to ask him all along.

"I—" Syaoran said, "I didn't—I said I didn't know."

Sakura looked crestfallen, and he didn't know why he felt so hurt.

"But...why not?"

"The matron came before I could answer," he told her. Well, it wasn't really a lie, "She said to stand by her side tomorrow if my answer was yes."

"Are you going to?"

Syaoran bit his lip at her expectant tone.

"I—I don't know. I guess. Perhaps. I don't know."

"You should," he felt another pang of hurt at that, why was she so...so eager to give him to someone else? "I need to know there's someone taking care of Syaoran-kun before I go."

He winced at her choice of words. Go. The way she said it was so off-hand, like she didn't care at all that she was going to... going to die. He'd wanted to say yes so badly, because he definitely cared for the princess, and Sakura wanted him to say yes so badly, because she cared for the both of them. So why did he still feel so very guilty about it? He wanted to say yes, he wanted to say no, he wanted to say nothing, he wanted to not have to answer. Sakura smiled sadly at him, and strode over to hold both of his hands in her own through the bars.

"Promise me," she said, "That you'll at least think about it."

He licked his dry lips and nodded.

"I will."

He was thirsty. So very thirsty.

He needed a drink, Fai realized, rising numbly to stagger towards the tray that the dark-haired maid had left on the end table by his door after he had told her he didn't want it, saying he might later with a sad, sad look on her pretty face. She had looked oddly familiar with her large eyes and thick curls, split into two ribbons on either side of her head. He reached for the glass, but it shook wildly in his hand as he reached for the bottle of wine on the tray, exhaustion adding a sort of dazed edge to his straining mind.

A tanned hand plucked the glass out of his hand from behind him, leaving him swaying on the spot, trembling hand outstretched as if he still clutched the glass. He blinked.

Huh, he thought blearily as he started blankly at his uncooperative hands, I hadn't noticed that. He vaguely realized he hadn't eaten dinner—only that light lunch that Kurogane had forced him to eat—and midnight had already come and passed. He didn't think he'd had anything else but the tea that maid had brought in all day. It was the same tea he'd been surviving on through the past few nights of paperwork.

"Stop," came a familiar gruff voice, "You must rest."

A day or two ago, he might have snapped at the person, however uncharacteristic it was. He was busy and he was tired.

But he had reached a new level of exhaustion. He couldn't even muster the energy to be angry, he only stared blankly ahead for a moment, trying to process the situation. He could only feel numbness. Fai finally managed to figure out that he ought to be acknowledging the other man's presence through the strange buzzing in his ears. He turned to the man, struggling to focus on the tanned face (was he really that tired?) as a mere courtesy; he would recognize that voice anywhere. A strangled jumble of something that might have once been a greeting tumbled from his lips.

Kurogane frowned.

"You're exhausted."

Fai suddenly felt like telling Kurogane that he was not a child, dammit. And he refused to be coddled by anyone, not even him. Quickly as it came, the urge drained away. He didn't feel like he had the strength to do that much anyway. Instead, an absent 'aah...' that really could have meant anything slurred from his lips. He didn't think it was possible to slur the simple vowel.

Kurogane moved to place a hand on his shoulder. If he had been in his usual state of mind, he would have been mortified as he buckled under the weight of that hand. But since he wasn't, he simply slumped bonelessly into Kurogane's arms, still staring blankly into empty space. He barely registered warm fingers lifting his chin, a blurry face contorting into worried anger mere inches from his own. Then his world suddenly shifted, and he was floating, weightless.

"You are going to lie down," said the knight firmly, carrying him through the door like some sort of princess, as if he weighed nothing at all, "And I am going to get you something to eat. Then, you will sleep."

There were a few maids idling along the corridor despite the late hour, and they pointed and whispered as they passed. And just what was he doing? He shouldn't allow Kurogane to carry him like this; it just wasn't appropriate. And his office! He hadn't locked his office! There were confidential documents still sitting on his table, and he really couldn't rest now, not when he still had so much work to do, and—and oh lord, the rumors that would be circulating in the morning. Gossip spread like wildfire in the palace, no doubt everyone would know about this in the morning...

"I will not allow you to destroy yourself any longer."

...but Fai, Fai couldn't bring himself to care about the consequences come morning, not when the knight was being so...knightly. So instead he melded pliantly into Kurogane's warmth with a soft sigh.

He felt so, so warm.

A/N: Oh my, I hope everyone is not too OOC. I wanted to show how absolutely down everyone is, thus Kurogane's anger, Syaoran's depression, so on and so forth. The reason why Kurogane is so easily angered here is because I'm taking his character from the beginning of the manga, before he sort of develops into the mature, mellow Kurogane of post-series. I'd always thought that he seemed like a child at the beginning because his mood is so easily influenced, so I was trying to write him like a lost child who is trying hard not to show just how helpless he's feeling. By the way, the discussion on Syaoran's brooch on Day Four is because normally only knights would wear the emblems of royalty, so there was a lot of implications there that the oblivious princess did not think of when she gave the fastener to Syaoran. And it looks like the KuroFai side-story is coming out of the dark! Next chapter will have angsty Syaoran and fluffy KuroFai, then a surprise and a happy Sakura-is-not-burnt ending.

So who is the mysterious hooded boy? Well, you'll just have to find out in the next chapter. Why does the king want Sakura burnt so badly? Well, you'll just have to find out in the next chapter. What are the princesses planning? Well, you'll just have to find out in the next chapter. And just who is the first princess? Well, you'll just have to find out in the next chapter. EVERYTHING will be tied up in the next chapter, but the chapter itself is only about 3000 words. I hope it will be something you've never expected. And although I said it'd be up tomorrow, I've decided to post it today since it's so damn short. Yikes, I realize that some of my readers are sort of irritated with Syaoran, but he will be redeemed in the next chapter. Along with everything else. After you've read the last chapter I'd definitely recommend you to re-read, everything will be put in a new light, the reason why is something you'll find out in the next chapter as well.

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