They sat in the humble dining room, filled with pictures frames and relics from the old days.

Fujitaka was an incredible cook, Sakura had discovered. He had humbly admitted that he resorted to culinary arts in his free time to take his mind off his lonely life. It hadn't worked, he confessed, for he often reminisced back to the days when Nadeshiko had attempted to cook for him but failed miserably.

They were eating dinner together today, one of Sakura's now monthly visits. Having found out her father was alive, she tried to spend as much time as she can with him, but not going off the grid too many a time to be suspicious.

As of the moment, she was telling him of her childhood and of her best friend, Mikan. She wonders which is better - to have both parents alive and with you as you grow up but not know they're your parents until they are dead, or to not have any parents as you grow up then find out one of your parents is still alive and spend time with them in your adult years?

"From the parent perspective," Fujitaka answered slowly, "I'd say the first option. The Yukihiras, known or not, were lucky to have spend the first eighteen years of their child's life with them. I was lucky enough to be able to spend the present with you, Sakura, but for the past twenty four years…" He trailed off as he looked distantly at the photograph of Nadeshiko, sitting on the side of their dining table, as if occupying a third seat. "I often wondered what your first words were, or who taught you to bike - if you were taught at all? I wondered how you were like when you first got behind the wheels of a car? I wondered if you ever got to go to a normal school, or had boy drama like any other teenager? I wondered, if you were still with us, would Touya be driving away all the boys that I know will be chasing after you? I wondered if you were as good a cook as your mother? I wondered…" He trailed off again, as he focused his gaze back on his daughter, now present before him. "It doesn't matter anymore, I suppose, as long as you're here, right now, with me."

Sakura smiled, but she caught a name she didn't recognize. "Touya? My brother?"

Fujitaka looked surprised, setting down his fork. "Why, don't you know him?" He began mumbling to himself, "Right, he changed his name, but he would've told her…"

"What?" Sakura sat up, also dropping her own fork. "He's… still alive?"

"Yes." Fujitaka nodded, wrinkles appeared around his eyes as he smiled fondly. "He is. I guess you wouldn't remember so clearly. You were still a baby then, and your mother stayed at home while I was with the MIA, and she always told me…" He smiled softly with a slight shake of his head, "he would visit you often, piling blankets on you when it was cold. One time, when Nadeshiko caught him, you had grabbed his thumb and wouldn't let go. He wouldn't admit he was fondling you, of course. But we knew, we could tell he was going to be a wonderful brother to you."

Sakura was enchanted by the stories of the times she was too young to remember. "What happened?"

"When…" Fujitaka had a hard time retelling the story of that night. "you and your mother were taken...Touya and I were at parent night. He was a little mischievous back then, too. I told your mother that he got it from her." He paused a little, looking forlornly at the photograph before continuing. "After that night...I quickly cleaned up the mess and told him you two died in a car accident. But he wouldn't let go that something was wrong about that, and...by the time he was fourteen, we had grown apart. He trusted his own best friend more than me at that point." Fujitaka sighed, "and for good reason. One night, he finally confronted me. I realized that he was already mature for his age, and he had the right to know. I told him about the Alices, and I told him how Nadeshiko really died - it was pretty recent back then too. I told him how you were an Alice." The weary father met his gaze with the curious daughter. "You can imagine how angry he was. All this time he thought you and your mother were dead. And he just missed her death, too. He said that I kept you from him, and he wouldn't accept that there was no choice but leave you alone with the Alices."

There was a long pause, and Sakura had to ask, "what did he do?"

"I tried to convince him otherwise." Fujitaka looked at the photograph, as if pleading with his wife, "I tried my best, but at that point, he wasn't listening to me anymore. He was stubborn. He was so, so stubborn."

"Father," Sakura was still quite unaccustomed to the connotation, but it caught his attention. "What did he do?"

"He told his best friend before he left." The father told her with glossy eyes, "and his best friend told me. I had find out from Yukito."

Yukito? Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, the same Yukito…?

"He had joined the Alices." Fujitaka finally stated with a defeated sigh. "He was no longer Touya Kinomoto but Tsubasa Andou."

Sakura's ground fell from beneath her.

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In Plain Sight

Aspirator

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The team sat around the conference room, each troubled by their own thoughts.

Hotaru, meanwhile, studied the flight map with fervent determination. The wheels turning in her brilliant mind was almost tangible the way Hotaru's calculating eyes flicked between countries and absorbing the data present, her nimble fingers zooming in and typing rapidly to garner more data.

After a few minutes, Hotaru's voice rang out clearly across the conference room, "there is something interesting about this place." She called to attention all the members of the team. She pointed stoically to the heart of Itally, where a blinking dot indicated an Alices' flight destination. She zoomed in for all to see as the data of that particular destination appeared. "The frequency of this place is second to that of the Headquarters. But, even after a few weeks, no one has found any suspicious news articles."

"So the Alices are flying there with no apparent evil purpose," Koko interpreted acutely, "and a lot too."

"Maybe a supplier?" Mochu suggested, serious for once. Flights were his forte. "It looks like a pit stops." Mochu pointed out his observations on the flight trajectory, "there's a regular pattern of flights only going to that one place then back to their headquarters. But there's also some of these planes that just use this place as a stopover."

"Yes, or it could be bigger than that," Hotaru agreed, "let's find out."

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Sakura was back at the Library. As per Youichi's suggestion, she was looking for information, desperate to find anything that could somehow weaken the Master.

"I thought I told you not to do this." A deep, gruff voice came from behind her.

The Princess stiffened, recognizing the voice. Slowly, she turned around, coming face to face with the Shadow. Immediately sensing the change in atmosphere, Tsubasa furrowed his eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

She tried to keep her voice steady as she addressed him, but it was a weak whisper, "I know who you are." Tsubasa stared at her steadily. She continued, "Father told me."

At that, his eyes widened in shock and realization. He stepped back, as if she had slapped him. He recognized the betrayal in her irises, quickly stammering, "I-"

"How could you?!" She hissed at him, her strength returning as she suddenly welled up in anger. "You were - this whole time - and I thought - I thought I was -" Sakura could barely speak coherently, she felt so many emotions. He was right in front of her this whole time! And not a word! First, her father, then her brother? Sakura drew in a sharp breath, then let it out in a trembling sigh, "I thought I was alone."

Tsubasa - or shall we say, Touya - glanced around, making sure they were safe in the back of the Library amongst the old, dusty bookshelves. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wanted to, so many times I wanted to tell you - but I -" He sighed, "I couldn't. I had to protect you. I joined so I could protect you."

Sakura stared at him, not willing to reconcile but heard the reason in his voice. "Touya," she breathed, a name that now felt unfamiliar to the Shadow.

Slowly, Touya nodded, "yes." He placed a hand on Sakura upper arm, who stiffened but didn't flinch away. "Touya, Tsubasa, the Shadow - I don't care what name I have." He gently explained, "I came to protect you. If I could go back, I would do it all over again. Everything." In a slow, gentle motion, Touya enveloped Sakura in a tight embrace. Sakura flashed back to her reunion with her father not so long ago, burrowing her watery eyes into Touya's shoulder.

After a long moment, Touya let her go, holding her at arm's length.

Sakura didn't meet his eyes.

"Okay?" Touya asked gently.

Quietly, barely above a whisper, Sakura let out her troubling thoughts, "I assassinated Yukito. Your best friend. I-"

"I know." Touya let his arms rest by his side, his gaze distant. "It's not your fault. We've all gotten our hands dirty." After a pause he let out an empty laugh, sitting down on the ground and leaning back against the bookshelf. "We're Alices. Elites. We have the most blood on our hands."

Sakura slowly sat down across from him, hugging her knees to her chest. She stared at her newly reunited brother wide-eyed.

"In the video…I killed Narumi." Touya confessed, staring straight ahead. "I was the one who started Esprit de Corps. I was the one that made it possible for Narumi's little team of four to topple the Alices back then." His eyes met Sakura's. "After Misaki's death, I couldn't - I wanted to save you. And Mikan. She agreed with me. The leak in the Alices? What they called "The Woman"? It wasn't Mikan. It was me. Mikan was just the messenger. But then everything went wrong." Tsubasa glared hard at the ground, his jaw clenched. "They caught Narumi, who gave Mikan away. So you disappeared and became the Princess. Mikan was taken and tortured. I had lost everything." With a hard edge to his voice, he finished, "all because Narumi was weak."

Sakura gasped, but she didn't know how to respond. There was nothing she could say.

"I contacted Yukito, told him about the Mark of Death. The disease, created by Clow…it was connected somehow, and I needed to know more about it. So I asked Yukito to research it." Touya frowned. "Somehow, the Master found out."

Before Touya could say anymore, Sakura's watch lit up.

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Eriol whistled. "now that's an estate." The two British MIA agents were situated a few miles away from the destination on a floating hot air balloon. The Alices definitely had a knack for picking areas with no cover around it. If they had taken one of their planes or helicopters, it would've been more suspicious to be hovering around in one place for so long. So they took a hot air balloon, in case the Alices were looking, and made it look more like a lost tourist.

"Well?" Hotaru's voice came through their earpieces impatiently. Though she could see the same thing they could through their button cameras, she was asking for their evaluation of the place. "There's five planes there."

"Three." Syaoran corrected. Peering through his advanced binoculars, his eyes expertly spotted the security system of the grounds. "One is taking off right now, and there's another plane right behind it. Any incoming?"

"None headed that direction." Yuu answered through their earpieces. The Americans were in a van parked a few miles away, keeping a watchful eye on things but ready to interfere if the British spies needed help.

Eriol had a pair of binoculars, changing the setting on his so that he could only see heat signatures. He changed a couple settings again so he could only see heat signatures within the range of human heat. He watched the compound as several red human figures moved around ignorantly. "There's three guards doing rounds around the compound. It's quite large so there's about a fifteen minute gap between each guard covering one area. Two posted at the gate. There's ten or so inside the building, but they seem to be using the building resources. Oh - there's two just roaming the halls."

"There's an inscription on the gate," Syaoran noted, his binoculars on the zoom setting so he could pick out closer details. "It just says, 'the Library', with a capital L."

"Probably why there's less security." Eriol peered around the estate in the same setting. His eyes focused on a several target practice fields. "It's questionable some of the things in this so-called library."

The two British agents glanced at each other, setting down their binoculars. They grinned. They turned into the basket of the hot air balloon, gathering their gear.

"What's the plan?" Natsume asked shortly, always to the point.

"It's quite simple," Eriol responded as he strapped on a few blades and a few guns, "we go in, look around at what they have, we come out."

Syaoran held up a small flashdrive to his button camera, "even brought the little Imai device if we see any electronics."

"Call us if you need backup," came Mochu's voice, casual and muffled by the sound of chips.

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"Their discovery of the Library was inevitable." The Master smoothly stated to his agreeable right hand man, "if they were looking at the flight patterns, they would sooner or later figure it out."

Persona nodded along, at they both sat in front of a large screen detailing reports from the Librarians of two intruders.

Master flicked his finger at Persona, who tapped a few keys. On the screen, the Princess quickly picked up the direct call from the mastermind of the Alices.

"It's time, Princess." He stated curtly. "Your friends are here. Bring them to me. And, while you're at it, you know where the destruction key for the Library is. It's time for that to go as well." At the Princess' grim affirmation over the Communicator, the Master sat back smugly. "So it begins," he spoke to himself, grinning happily.

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Naming this building the Library was a bit of an understatement. A majority of the estate was indeed a collection of resources, archives, and information. But the rest of the Library could be considered as a second Academy. Half of the Library included multiple dojos, gyms, and training centers of different kinds, study rooms, information immersion centers - where several agents, especially the Elites, could digitally immerse themselves in every aspect of their complex missions, and a spare armory. It was in that armory where Sakura and Touya immediately headed upon receiving the news.

"I have to leave," Touya muttered lowly, stopping once they had reached the armory to face a grim Sakura. "Master has made it clear that it is your mission and your mission alone. The Alices training here are leaving as well."

Sakura looked up, their eyes meeting. Everything that has transpired before them, their past lay thickly in the air between them. They had so much more to discuss. But in the dire circumstances, an understanding settled the air.

Quietly, Touya nodded at her, "Good luck. I…will make preparations."

Sakura didn't question his vague statement, giving him a silent goodbye.

With that, the Shadow marched quickly off to head straight back to headquarters. He knows he'll be needed there. On his way, he made sure to send an undetected secret message to Youichi: secure Aoi.

"So it begins," Touya mutters to himself.

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"It's too quiet." Eriol hissed at his partner, his gun up and in front of him. Syaoran was in the same stance, looking behind them as Eriol looked forward, watching for movement…any movement.

"Nothing." Syaoran frowned, hearing the Americans echo the word back to him disbelievingly.

"What do you mean nothing? Didn't you say there were heat signatures?" Came Nonoko's voice.

"There were," Eriol confirmed, as he came across an open dojo, with windows from floor to ceiling on one side. Fortunately, the windows faced the airstrip, where another plane taking off. "Apparently, they don't care, because another plane is taking off right now."

Syaoran, too, stared out the window in mild annoyance. It is a little insulting.

"Does that mean they don't have anything important at this so-called library?" Anna asked curiously.

"Hotaru? Can you scan the building for heat signatures again?" Eriol asked, searching for any signs of life as he and Syaoran walked back into the hallway.

Hotaru immediately responded, already on the task, "there's four by -" She stopped suddenly.

The two British agents stopped as well, looking at each other quizzically.

"That's odd," came Yuu's voice.

"According to the heat scanner, the building's on fire." Koko explained, his voice had barely contained mirth.

"What?" Syaoran responded intelligently.

"The scanner has been duped." Natsume explained. "We have no visual."

"Don't worry!" Koko's bright voice came through suddenly, "Hotaru's hacking into the security cameras right - oh."

Syaoran and Eriol peered cautiously around a corner, seeing that there were still no signs of life, kept going. This place is huge.

"What do you mean, oh?" Eriol asked, as the two continue to explore the apparently abandoned building. It seems a little eerie.

Suddenly, far down the hall, a door slammed closed. Eriol and Syaoran glanced at each other, cautiously approaching the aforementioned door.

"They've jammed the feeds. You're on your own." Hotaru responded coldly, mild irritation lacing her voice.

"They jammed their own feeds?" Eriol asked incredulously. The MIA agents converged on the door. "Why would they do that?"

Before anyone had the chance to respond, a soft thump sounded behind the pair. They turned around to glimpse a masked figure in all black attire holding a long wooden stick the same height before they were both attacked by a blur of movements.

Whap! Whap!

In quick succession, the Alice had knocked the weapons out of the two Brits with the wooden stick. Then twirling it under her arm, she knocked Syaoran back with the end of the stick, grinding the heavy stick into Syaoran chest and efficiently taking out their button camera. With a quick twirl, she swept Eriol off his feet with the other end of the wooden stick, she then crouched quickly to duck Syaoran's charge from behind. She slammed her stick down heavily against Eriol's chest when he attempted to get up, also efficiently cutting off his button camera.

When she turned around to address the other Brit, he was ready for her. Syaoran quickly knocked the offensive wooden stick out of her hands.

The wooden stick landed and rolled far from the attacker's reach. The attacker evaded Syaroan's following attack, but instead threw him against the wall. The Alice quickly countered his defense as he tried to grab at her, and slammed his head against the wall, successfully shaking out his earpiece and allowing it to fall to the floor.

Noticing the piece on the ground, the Alice immediately stepped on it, crushing it to pieces. The Alice then quickly turned to address Eriol, who had gotten on his feet at this point.

The Alice easily dodged Eriol's first attack, knocking her elbow right into his stomach then pulling his outstretched arm down to throw him to the ground. Again, Eriol found himself sprawled on the ground, half marveling at how good this Alice is to combat two of MIA best agents at the same time.

To prevent him from getting up again, she grounded her foot into Eriol's thigh, causing him to cry out in pain. Her strength was abruptly interrupted when Syaoran again attacked her from behind. The Alice quickly rolled on the ground and out of Syaoran's reach. As she was getting up from the ground, Syaoran slid to knock her from her feet. Eriol grasped at the ground, attempting to get up despite the vicious pain in his leg. Rather than being knocked off her feet, she jumped right over Syaoran, throwing her weight at the injured Eriol.

The breath is knocked out of Eriol as he slammed heavily against the wall. He glanced up blearily to see his partner, Syaoran, combating the hooded individual.

Syaoran crouched down, evading a blow, instead, throwing his leg forward to trip his opponent. The attacker jumped out of the way and onto Syaoran, bringing him down. Syaoran wrestled the attacker, finally throwing her off and quickly standing up to face her.

Their physical combat travelled down the corridor and around the corner, out of Eriol's sight. By the sound of grunts and thuds, Eriol knew they weren't too far.

Eriol looked down at his leg, grasping at it painfully while he leaned against the wall. "I have a broken leg," he muttered into his earpiece, "I can't get up. Syaoran's got her. There's just one Alice."

Syaoran dodged another kick and jab at his body as he was pushed backwards into another corridor and around the corner. He brought his body down to a low crouch as she had jumped and attempted to kick him in the upper body. When she only met air, she ended up revising her movement and landing on his back as he crouched. Wrestling her stranglehold, Syaoran threw her off his back, standing as he did so.

Rather than falling to the ground, Syaoran's attacker had swiftly backflipped - pausing momentarily in a handstand. She had suddenly forward flipped, running both her legs straight into Syaoran's chest. Having seen it coming just a millisecond before, Syaoran had attempted to swipe at the attacker's face. He had only managed to dislodge her mask while she threw him down to the ground and knocked out his breath. She landed with her knees on his chest.

The flips had blown his attacker's deep hood off, revealing sunkissed blonde locks and bright emerald eyes. If Syaoran's breath weren't knocked out already, it was now.

His mouth formed the words, but nothing came out. Sakura.

That was all he could register before her elbow swung down and everything went black.

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The Americans sitting in the van were on the edge of their seats.

"There's one, only one Alice, right?" Yuu confirmed with Eriol nervously. Eriol haggard breath came through the communications line.

Eriol didn't answer. There was a pained grunt as he appeared to be trying to move positions. "From the sound of it, Syaoran's been compromised." Eriol muttered, his voice a mixture of worry and anger.

Koko, who was pacing the small van impatiently, stopped to look at Hotaru's screen. Nothing. Their trackers are offline. There's no video. There's nothing. He let out an aggravated sigh.

Kitsuneme impatiently tapped his fingers against his thigh, looking up at his aggravated partner. The van was only small enough for one person to pace.

Another pained groan from Eriol, then some scuffling. "Syaoran?" Eriol called out tentatively.

It frustrated them to no end that they didn't know what was happening. They could only listen to the sounds coming through Eriol's earpiece, which was not much.

Mochu stood up abruptly, "we have to go." He looked at Natsume, who looked up at him. Natsume's lips were stretched to a thin line, he looked up to find his team members were all looking at him.

Before he could respond, a sharp "No!" came through the earpiece.

"Don't," Eriol breathed heavily. They weren't sure if he was talking to them, or his attacker. "Please, don't." He let out what seemed to be his last breath, "Sakura."

Then the earpiece went dead.

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Author's Note:

I'm sorry I let this story go a long time ago. But I kept coming back, kept wanting to finish it.

I reread the reviews for the past chapters and it really warmed my heart. I gave in; I had to finish it after all.

I am in the process of writing the next few chapters. Cross my fingers I can finish this story. I have such high aspirations. I only hope to live up to my penname.