Author's note: I'm back! Sorry for the delay. My computer's finally back to normal (cheers). And now here's chapter 9! Hope you enjoy reading it. A HUGE THANKS to all my reviewers. Thanks a lot for your support.

Now on with story……

Chapter 9

Syaoran sprang up from the bed at the crack of dawn, got dressed before you could bat an eyelid and shot off from his room like a bullet to meet one of his father's trusted soldiers. He had a lot of work to do.

Sakura on the other hand was sleepy all day and she spent the whole day in her tree house. When she came to visit Syaoran later, that evening as a girl, she saw the king strolling in the garden. Fortunately she was hidden behind a cherry tree in the secret garden and wasn't spotted. I wonder where Syaoran is… she had visited him earlier in the afternoon, but his room was empty, his horse wasn't there as well so she had supposed that he'd gone riding.

But why do I feel as though something bad is going to happen…

"Your Majesty!" a soldier ran inside the garden, bruised and helping another man, who seemed in an even worse condition.

"What happened?" the king asked anxiously.

"The Northern Kingdom attacked us, sire. The prince knew all about, though I don't know how, but he organized a small army and took us to the forest, where the magical plants grow. And they attacked us all of a sudden. We have managed to hold them off. His highness sent me to get reinforcements"

The king paled and Sakura's heart jumped to her throat

"Where's Syaoran?"

The man shook his head, "I don't know, sir. He told me to get reinforcements if he didn't come back in two hours and here I am"

King Ryu's jaw tightened, "Send a troop of soldiers there right now and take him to the medics"

The man nodded and bowed and left. Sakura's heart which was now were her vocal chord was supposed to be was thumping loudly. Suddenly everything turned blank around her…

Sakura's vision (Sakura's POV)

"What's going on?" I shouted as everything turned black and I found myself standing in the midst of thick trees.

"Tired already prince" came a familiar menacing voice that sent shivers down my spine. I whipped around and saw through the trees, Syaoran standing holding his sword arm with other and blood dripped from between his gloved fingers. And opposite him was that awful man whom I'd heard talking the previous day.

"Don't worry…" Syaoran hissed in a voice I'd never heard him use, "I'm well enough to kill you" he raised his sword in a fighting stance and I saw the deep cut in his arm.

Tears welled up my eyes when I saw that Syaoran…my Syaoran was injured.

The two of them stood glaring at each other when suddenly the man smirked, for one second I noticed his eyes glance at the bushes behind Syaoran. I looked in the direction of his eyes and saw something…metal? It struck me. An arrow! If that man is aiming at what I think he is…then Syaoran will…no, I won't let that happen.

"SYAORAN, BEHIND YOU!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, but no sound escaped my lips. I stared in horror as the arrow flew pierced the air to hit its target.

I was about to run but everything turned black and I fell backwards landing on something soft and green.

End of Sakura's vision

I opened my eyes, sweating. That was just a vision. I got up from the grassy ground. I can't let my vision come true. My heart told me there wasn't much time. But I had to go. I sprinted out of the palace gates as fast as I could towards the forest…to save the man I loved.

End of Sakura's POV

Sakura ran down the streets pushing past the crowds of people. It took nearly most of her energy to reach the forest. She stopped only for a second to catch her breath and then continued to run through the forest. But Sakura was sure that she wouldn't make it. The forest was thick with trees and it was getting dark. It was difficult to see her way. She remembered what her mother had said about her magical powers. Maybe if she was really desperate, then she could summon up her magical powers.

So as she ran, Sakura concentrated hard on her feelings for Syaoran. She thought about how they'd first met and about all the times they spent together and she felt something warm rush through every fiber of her body and suddenly much to her amazement something grew out of her back and lifted her off the ground.

She gave a quick look over her shoulder and spotted a pair of big beautiful milky white wings. Feathers flew in the wind as she glided through the air, the wind rushing through her hair. She decided to fly low so that she wouldn't be spotted by anyone.

Finally she found herself nearing the familiar place she'd seen in her vision. To her horror the arrow was already slicing through the air aiming for its target.

"SYAORAN!" she screamed as she pushed her way through a thorny bush ripping her clothes.

"Watch out!" she flew straight at him pushing him out of the way to safety; she felt the arrow graze her shoulder and yelped. Her magical powers were draining and unfortunately her wings disappeared into a burst of feathers an instant before they rolled off the cliff.

The other two men were startled to see a blurred something hurtle itself at the young prince and over the cliff.

"Sakura!" Syaoran gasped as fell on him. Syaoran felt her clutch tightly at him they rolled down the cliff like a barrel. The two of them, after what seemed like eternity landed on soft grass. Syaoran felt the world spinning around him and then everything came to focus.

"Sakura!" he got up and ran towards the girl who was lying few feet away from him. He raised her gently by her shoulders and shook her.

"Sakura wake up," he whispered. Then suddenly a white feather flew on his knee. So he hadn't been dreaming… Sakura had wings. Was this the magical powers she'd been talking about?

But there was no time to think about that he had to wake her up, make sure she was ok. He shook her again,

"Open your eyes, Sakura," he pleaded. He noticed her torn and shabby clothes and bruises and scratches on her hands. Suddenly as he grasped her shoulder he felt something cold and wet. He looked at his hand and saw something that he'd been dreading to see…blood. She must have been hit by the arrow that was meant to hit him. He thought bitterly.

He shook her again and patted her cheek, but she laid still, her eyes refusing to open and her muscles not moving a centimeter. He felt hot tears in his eyes and he pulled her in to his arms.

"Syao...ran..." came a voice barely a whisper, "are you crying?"

Syaoran pulled her out of his arms and looked at her, her emerald eyes were half open and looked weak but she managed a small smile.

"Sakura…" his voice wouldn't work. He felt a couple of stray tears run down his face. She placed both her hands on his cheeks and whispered,

"Don't cry…I'm fine," she pressed his head against her shoulder. She was fine, he knew it but still a few more tears insisted on falling. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"I'm glad…you're ok," he replied, "I'm so glad…"

"Well," he straightened himself and said brightly,

"First I've got to take care of that wound of yours and then let's get out of here,"

She nodded smiling, "Yeah,"

After about ten minutes when Syaoran had wrapped her wound the two of them decided to climb back up the cliff since it wasn't too high. Syaoran tied a piece of rope around her waist and the other end around his for safety. Then he went up to the edge of the rock face and tugged at one of the ivy plants growing up it. When he decided that it was strong enough he beckoned her to follow him.

They climbed the first few meters with ease as it wasn't too steep. But Sakura started to get tired as she had spent all her energy running through the forest.

"Syaoran!" she called from a few feet below, "I can't do it,"

"Don't worry Sakura, we have only a little more to climb. You'll be fine,"

"But Syaoran…." She stopped as she suddenly lost her footing and screamed. Syaoran quickly tugged at the rope tied to her waist and hoisted her up so she was beside him. He wrapped his arm around her,

"Sakura! Are you ok?" she nodded trembling slightly as her head lolled against his shoulder.

She's really exhausted. Damn it! I shouldn't have forced her to climb up with me. He thought. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she slowly shut them allowing sleep to take over her. He could feel her breathing gently against his neck. He heaved her on his shoulder and grabbed the ivy with both his hands. His other hand had been paining partly due his wound (which had been bandaged by Sakura) and mainly because of hanging on to the ivy with just one hand. He swiftly climbed up the rest of the rock face and laid Sakura on the grass. Syaoran stared at the sleeping girl. She looked peaceful and there was a small smile on her face as though she was having a nice dream. He grinned to himself and lifted her bridal style. He took the road that ran parallel to the cliff towards the Allura village. It was better than going through the forest because it wasn't safe yet with the enemy lurking around. He reached there within ten minutes and stopped outside the door of a house at the outskirts of the village. The clock struck twelve as he knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a young woman a few years older than him with long raven hair and twinkling amethyst eyes,

"Prince!" she exclaimed on seeing him and then gasped on seeing Sakura in his arms.

"Who's at the door at this time of the night?" came another voice and blue haired man with azure eyes came and stood next to his wife.

"Syaoran," he said with a nod as he spotted his childhood friend.

"I need a favor from you Eriol," Syaoran asked motioning to the unconscious girl in his arms.

Eriol nodded and let them into the house. "Take her upstairs to the first room on the right. I'll come and attend to her wounds."

Syaoran did as he was told; he laid her on the bed and went back downstairs. Eriol put some pink liquid on his wound and bandaged it up. His arm burnt for an instant and then he felt it heal.

"That's an extract from one of the magical plants that grows around the cave leading to the mythical valley of the butterflies," he explained gathering some more bandages and going upstairs.

Syaoran sat on a chair in front of the fireplace. Tomoyo placed a cup of tea in front of him. "You seem really worried about her," she commented. Syaoran nodded, taking a sip of tea. She gave him an encouraging smile,

"Don't worry, Eriol will take care of her," she had a strange twinkle in her amethyst eyes.

Meanwhile upstairs

Sakura's eye flickered open. She was lying on a bed, in a room and her whole body was aching terribly. She turned her head to the side and spotted a blue haired man bandaging the wounds on her arm. She let a tiny shriek and jerked away. The man smiled warmly,

"Don't be afraid. Syaoran brought you here. I'm his friend. I'm Eriol Hiragizawa. I'm a doctor, you see. And I specialize in magical plants. That's why Syaoran brought you here so I could heal your wounds. You're lucky they're only flesh wounds. They'll probably heal within a day."

Sakura was a little startled at this sudden speech. She was about to say something when the door creaked open. Sakura saw a young woman with long dark hair and lilac eyes enter the room. On seeing her, the woman said, "Oh! You're awake!"

The man named Eriol spoke again, "And this is my wife Tomoyo," Sakura gave her a small smile and to her surprise the woman suddenly ran towards her and grabbed her hands,

"You're so cute! You'd make a perfect wife for our prince!" she squealed in a voice that reminded her of the Li sisters.

"What!" Sakura squeaked blushing a bright shade of red.

"Tell me, what's your name?"

"Sakura" she replied in a small voice. Before Tomoyo could say anything more Eriol placed a hand on her shoulder and said,

"Why don't you tell Syaoran that she's awake? I'm sure he'd be glad to know," Tomoyo looked disappointed but left anyway. When she had gone Eriol turned to Sakura,

"You love him don't you?"

Sakura blushed again and nodded, "I…do,"

"Did you tell him?" he asked softly.

"No, I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because he's a prince and I'm just a…" she stopped. She'd been away from her home for so long that she'd forgotten that she was a princess. Maybe if she freed her family and herself of the curse there might be a little hope. Like hell there would she thought bitterly remembering the king's reaction when the subject of her family had been brought up. He hates my family. Syaoran and I can never be together……

"It'll be fine," Eriol voice interrupted her thoughts. The door suddenly burst open and there stood Syaoran worry written all over his face. He ran up to bed and knelt down beside it,

"Are you alright Sakura?"

She nodded quickly wiping away the tears that had sprung up to her eyes. Eriol and Tomoyo left shutting the door to give them sometime alone. Syaoran noticed her wipe her tears and asked anxiously,

"What's wrong Sakura?"

"Nothing," she replied with a forced smile, "I'm really ok Syaoran," Syaoran sat on a chair beside her and said,

"You stay here tonight. I'll pick you up tomorrow evening. Eriol and Tomoyo are going to one of their friends' place for a ball or something. They'll leave at two in the morning and be back only tomorrow evening. You'll be alone till then,"

Sakura relaxed knowing that her secret was still going to be safe but a sudden thought struck her,

"what about you?" she asked in a panicky voice afraid of what his answer might be. "You're not going back into the war front are you?" But the look in his eyes confirmed her answer. She suddenly leaned over and clutched at his shoulders,

"Syaoran, you can't," she said choking back a sob.

Syaoran smiled softly and replied, "But I have to Saku. I am the prince after all; I need to defend my country."

Sakura nodded. That's exactly what Touya had said before he'd left for war too so she made a brave effort to stop her tears and gave him a small kiss on the cheek whispering,

"Be careful,"

She slumped back on the bed, the faintest stain of red lingering on her cheeks. He leaned over tucking few of her stray auburn strands behind her ear and replied

"I will. I'll pick you up tomorrow. Take care of yourself Sakura,"

And with one final smile he exited the room leaving Sakura to her thoughts.

Author's note; Well that's the end of this chapter. I'll try to update a bit more faster and for those who are reading my other story, 'My pet wolf cub, Chocolate' I'm going to post the next chapter by tomorrow morning at the latest.

Signing off,

sakura doll