"Chapter 8"

Tomoyo looked out into the crowd of countless heads. She let out a huffy sigh and said in disappointment, "I was hoping Syaoran would participate this year."

"You seem to assert yourself at making others spectacles on your watch," I replied stiffly.

"Because I care about the both of you," she sighed again. "Particularly, I love you."

I met her twinkling eyes and stuttered a reply, "I love you, too." I didn't think I ever told anyone I loved them before, but I was not lying when I told Tomoyo that I did love her. She was the closest person to me in both worlds. She was someone I could rely on and trust no matter what. How long have I known her? Although it had been a month since we had met, I felt as if I had known her all my life.

Love has to be one of those strong words that make you unsure and tingly. It's not a word someone throws around on lightly. I never used it because the closest to me in my world were my brother and my great grandfather. It wasn't that I didn't love them. You just don't use that word often or at all when you think about them. Love was a silent topic with my family. A given.

"Not in the way that you think," she said, smiling innocently. "Maybe you'll get it when you're older."

I "hmphed" at her, but she talked right over me. "Syaoran could've at least presented himself at my coronation."

"I saw him earlier."

She raised a brow. "Oh, did you?"

I watched her like a hawk because I hated when she simpered the way she did. It made me highly uncomfortable and ultimately suspicious of this friend I loved dearly.

"He tends to show up when you're alone."

I waved my hand dismissively. "He thinks I'm the type to run into trouble when I don't have anyone babysitting me. He's an irritating presumptuous male specimen."

"That's nice," she said in her sing-song voice. "But what do you think of him?"

"I told you. He's an irritating…"

"There, you two!" Touya exclaimed. "Get settled in your chairs they've prepared for you at the arena. There're more prizes to go around."

As Tomoyo and I, arm and arm, followed the general crowd towards the arena, I said to her, "You're going to be kissing your mouth dry before the day ends."

"They are all deserving and it's all in the fun of the holiday," Tomoyo replied eagerly.

"By the sound of it, you enjoy kissing strangers," I said lightheartedly.

When we settled in our chairs it took Touya nearly an hour before he could join us. He seemed to be in one of his fouler moods. I could tell by the way he slumped into his chair and started speaking under his breath. I sat at Tomoyo's left while he sat at her right and I could still feel his negative energy clawing at my side.

"Governor," I started.

He snapped to attention and began rambling angrily, "It's enough that I have to put up with men lining up for a kiss from my young cousin, but for any man to have the gall to suggest such an atrocious—it's dishonorable!"

"Glad to hear that I am second to all your troubles today, Cousin," Tomoyo giggled.

"Nonsense! You should be caged, you little song-bird. You take too much pleasure in tormenting me with these silly games."

Tomoyo smiled. "What's the problem this time? What does one of the contestants want if he wins?"

"Not a kiss from you," he grated at Tomoyo. Our eyes met when he looked over the crown of Tomoyo's head to stare at me, "But from you, Clow Mistress. What do you say to that?"

My brain went ker-splat. I didn't answer him.

Touya broke eye contact then and continued sullying the person with the gall to exchange tournament prizes. "Such folly! He thinks he could have first rights to the honorable Clow Mistress just because of his ranking in society. Commoner that Sakura is, he thinks only of himself and to suit his own perversion."

"It's better than having Tomoyo kissing fifty champions. If it's just a kiss to their foreheads, I don't mind," I finally replied, "I never thought of it."

"It would make the games more exciting and bring out more last-minute fighters if there was a second and better incentive to win," Tomoyo added.

"Nonsense!" Touya cried, dragging the word out.

We were all still in that heated argument even as the man behind us rang the gong. I didn't know that the fighters had already lined up in front of us in the arena. They were all kneeling, but my eyes were only on one particular fighter.

The man who had rung the gong was now reading the rules. When he finally snapped his long scroll shut I took in a deep breath. Touya was addressing the one I had been keeping my eyes on. "Rise and speak." Under his breath he added, "Snob."

The young man stood and his stare connected with mine. His eyes swirled dark and gray; duller than they were when I had first met him. "I am one of many who travel from far away to join in these games. I only wish for the prize to be of the champion's choosing. Governor, I believe the champion has a say in the prize."

"You came all the way from the shores to tell me you don't wish a kiss from my fair cousin. You insult her, Sir."

"I see clearly that Lady Tomoyo is truly a beauty in this country. I humbly apologize to her if I have unseeingly slighted her today."

"Apology accepted," Tomoyo beamed.

"I actually… Wish for a kiss from the Lady Sorceress. If she finds me worthy enough-"

It was my turn to talk. My feet brought me to stand and I stood staring down at him in poised wonder. "Of course you're worthy if you win," I said. That was as good a 'yes' I could have managed to anyone.

I watched the matches on the edge of my seat. I felt myself jolt at every take-down I witnessed by the young man with the brooch who wanted a kiss from me. Was he supposed to be that talented, I wondered?

"What's wrong?" Tomoyo asked, "Your frown has been deepening over that young fellow. Do you not like him?"

"There's something not right," I answered in a whisper, so that Touya could not overhear us. "It's unreal that a scholarly son of a merchant should have such unfathomable sword skills. I can't help but notice that brooch flashing when he deals his heaviest blows."

The sun's rays must have landed directly on the blade of the brooch just as the young man struck another opponent down. The weaker man lay faint on the ground, but ruthlessly the young man grabbed the man by the hair and lifted his sword for a final strike.

"Stop! There's no need to take a life. It's a game. You must abide by the rules!" Touya shouted wildly.

The young man turned to us sitting at our panel. I heard the gong ringer drop his mallet and run behind me just as the young man leapt at us. I shoved Tomoyo into Touya, propelling myself in the opposite direction as the young man with impossible strength smashed Tomoyo's chair into pieces.

I raised my head, shaking debris off myself when Touya shouted at me, "Look out!" I rolled to the side and landed hard on my back as the man struck at me. At this point I figured out that he was after me and only me.

I jumped to my feet when he had the tip of his sword jammed in the two floorboards. I whirled around to tell anyone close by to get out of the way. The only one who stuck around was Kero. He was as mad as ever. "He isn't aware. This one's got his conscious."

I did a forward roll on the floor to avoid being cut in half in the midsection.

"I have to stop him without hurting him," I said, scrambling to my feet and running. I spun around when I hit the barricade circling around the arena. My wand materialized in my hand as I whirled around to face my attacker. At the same time, Syaoran suddenly landed in front of me. He blocked my attacker and pushed him backwards with ease. With a strong wave of his arm, he pushed me behind him and shielded me entirely.

"Syaoran, let me handle this. He doesn't know what he's doing. You can't hurt him, okay?"

Without breaking eye contact with his opponent he growled at me. "Shut up! Do as I say; stay behind me!" He grabbed me by the shoulder and shoved me at Kero. Briefly he narrowed his eyes at Kero and me. "Keep her safe."

They both charged at the same time, blades clanging, and sparks were flying. They jumped apart and came clashing time and time again for what felt like hours. Syaoran was human, but the young man was running on fuel that was not so human. I could see that even though Syaoran was trying his best to hide his fatigue, he was obviously worn out.

"The brooch!" I called momentarily distracting Syaoran. He was knocked down by a kick from his opponent that made him fall hard. I didn't think, but just sprung into action. I jumped onto the guy's back and pawed at the front of his left breast. I ducked twice when twice he tried to decapitate me.

I heard more than felt the tear of silk when I pulled at the cold metal brooch I had my hand over. The spell broke and the man was stumbling around for a moment. He was falling and I was going to be crushed by his weight if Syaoran hadn't grabbed him by the front of his collar and seized me by my shoulder to pry us apart. I might have protested angrily at the cruel way Syaoran tossed the guy aside, but I was made completely speechless when he clamped his arm around my waist and dragged me to his side. I didn't think he realized who he was hugging until Kero screamed, "Quickly, seal that card!"

I took the task the moment Syaoran dropped his arm from around me. I was dreadfully dead tired from that day's work and excitement, but when I looked to where Syaoran had been standing, I noticed he was gone.

I spent that night too troubled to sleep. I was torn by Syaoran's actions and words of that day. He was both ruthless and gentle and that was never going to make any sense to me.

I went out at night to clear my head. Mainly, I wanted to avoid dreaming again. I was not stupid enough to tell anyone I was going for a walk when everyone else was going to be in bed. After all it had been a long time since I ever had any "me time". I was lacking in that because I had uncovered a new life.

I stood at the back of the house, looking at all the dark windows. They were painted in moonlight. I glanced higher into the night sky and stared at the moon. It blurred a little. Then, something blotted the center of the round silver sphere. It was the winged figure in my dreams. I took a hurried step back as my eyes remained glued to the surface of the moon.

"Watch where you step," said the man behind me.

I spun around, my hardened features relaxing a fraction. "Oh, it's you."

Syaoran stepped from the shadow of the building and came up to me, so that we now could clearly see each other in the moonlight. "I thought I told you," he said, leveling his stare on me.

"Yeah, stay out of trouble; be in bed by nine. I don't mean to get in trouble, you know," I sighed wearily. I was going to step back a little, so that I had a bit more personal space again. I just turned my head to look at the unblemished moon. I must have been hallucinating earlier.

His hand came out to grasp my shoulder and that stopped me from moving. "The thing about you that I can't stand…"

I worked my throat to stop from shouting at him about the million things I couldn't stand about him. Instead I kept quiet and gave him the floor.

"I can't stand that you put others in front of yourself. You should know your existence is significant here." he added.

"What about you?" I retaliated, angrily, "You threw yourself in front of me when I was being attacked. Couldn't it be the end of someone else's world if you weren't around anymore?"

"I'm not reckless like you. I know my own strength and I see my opponent's weaknesses."

I glared. "If anything happened to you, there will be people who care, Syaoran. I know I would." I folded my arms in front of me, forcing his grip to drop.

"You care just as much for strangers."

"Maybe it's because I can't help caring about others, alright? You may see it as my Achilles' heel, but I really don't give a hoot what you think," I retorted. There was a brief silence that lingered and it gave me the chance to relax in his presence. That was a rarity since this guy's being always got me going tense.

"Thank you," he said after a moment. That had taken me aback. "For saving me today," he added as an afterthought. "But after today and many other close encounters, I do believe you'll be in need of this."

He revealed a silver necklace. I stared at the silver pendant hooked to the silver chain and held my breath. It had the "guard" character in kanji. He unhooked the clasp and placed it around my throat before I could protest.

"It once belonged to my mother."

"I can't accept this," I burst.

"It's women's jewelry. You have better use for it than I do."

"Syaoran. I. Can't. I have nothing to give back to you in return."

"You're acceptance and your word to listen to the Governor and Tomoyo are all I need."

I grabbed his wrist to stop him from disappearing again. "You know that's not going to happen."

He paused for a breathless moment. I stared at the shadows cast across his face. "Perhaps you can repay today's dutiful champion." He leaned forward, so that only the lower half of his face was still in shadows. I studied the fire in his eyes that seemed to suddenly glow to life in the darkness.

"What do you want?"

"Naïve twit," he mumbled.

I remembered opening my mouth to say, "You're a-." At that precise time he snatched the disrespectful name I had for him by touching my lips in a chaste kiss. For that brief moment the area right underneath the pendant stirred. Something was wrong with my mind—my heart. He broke away and disappeared before I could respond. I ended up staring into the darkness where he had stood, my cheeks flaming and my mind reeling.

This was all a dream. I was able to convince myself it was all a dream for the next few days. All my future encounters with Syaoran would definitely define this moment as the dream that it was. And for your information, I never took off the necklace because I thought that if I removed it, then it would be forgotten just like most dreams.

MistyWing here and surprise! What is Syaoran thinking? And what is Sakura thinking he's thinking? There's only one reason why he gave her his pendant and claimed his prize; the obvious reason is of him being interested in her... But to what extent? And to what depths? Because that's really what's important. It's fun to keep you all guessing and it's even more fun to keep giving you hints on the conclusion I have in mind. It's going to be a grand conclusion although that's far far far into the future. However, with the pace I'm going at, I should be done before the year ends. I should be, but I usually tend not to be. We'll see how it goes. Questions, comments, exclamations, and your kindly written criticisms are what I'm waiting for. I'll spit out another chapter by Thanksgiving (American Holiday) if you write me a review. I never thought it would come to this. Me bribing for your words of wisdom. Please.

Love, MW