A/N: I got one word.

Enjoy!

Their two day trip to Planet Clow was extended to a little over five days. Apparently, the ship had suffered a lot more damage than Kurogane had initially anticipated. Or that was what Fai told her the next morning when she came out for breakfast and asked the pilot about their schedule.

Tomoyo had apologized profusely for the delay, saying that they would understand if she wanted to hire another ship to take her to Infinity if she was in a hurry. She had been busy fussing over Syaoran as she had said this- the teen's fever had not broken for another day.

Sakura had smiled- helping her dab the unconscious male's head with cooled, wet washcloths to lower the temperature- and assured her that she could wait for a few days.

Even though she was in a little bit of hurry, this was Clow she was stuck on. There weren't a lot of captains out here who would keep quiet about her being a practicing sorceress and she preferred to spare human lives whenever she could. She was very lucky to have ended up with people who were not greedy for Fei's money.

Or was it because they didn't know how much she could reel in for them? Would they turn her in if they knew the amount of money she had on her head? But wouldn't that risk exposing Syaoran to Fei as well? But then again, Kurogane and Tomoyo didn't know that their adoptive brother had been taken by the Bat Lord. So if they didn't know that, they wouldn't fear exposing him.

Her heart clenched painfully at the thought of Syaoran ending up back in that hell hole as Fai had put it. What exactly had they done to the teen in that place? She didn't know. But she hoped with all her heart that he did not end up back there.

His life in that hell hole was filled with nothing but excruciating agony. She remembered how pained Fai's voice had gotten when he had told her that.

And that sword.

Fei had personally sealed a sword into Syaoran.

But the blond pilot knew of the dangers, right? Even though she didn't trust them a lot, she knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to do something like turning her in if it meant returning Syaoran to that place. Besides, Syaoran wasn't the only one who would end up in Fei's hands if she was handed over to the hunters. Fei was looking for a certain Yuui as well.

So she knew she was safe.

Besides, now she finally had a lead to finding the answers to the questions that plagued her and she had a feeling that Syaoran played a major role in everything. So despite the dangers, she knew she wouldn't be abandoning ship just because there had been a small delay.

Her contractors knew this much. She always worked at her own terms. And they knew that she was good at what she did. So despite her high prices and somewhat arrogant conditions, they still came to her whenever there was a tough job.

So even if her associate had been contacted by some wealthy overlord, she wouldn't worry much about it. If the guy wanted information badly enough to ask for Cherry, he could wait for her to get back. If not… Well. It was his loss.

Today was the fifth day; the day Little Dragon was supposed to launch but unfortunately, the engine was still having problems.

"Sakura, I shouldn't be troubling you," Tomoyo spoke her position at the stove in the galley; she was making some sort of soup for lunch. "But Fai went to town for some parts that Kurogane needed for the engine. And I just remembered we ran out of Syaoran's meds. Could you please call Kurogane here for a moment?"

"Sure. No problem." She smiled, setting down the sketching pad she had been lazily drawing on. It was an almost finished picture of an aristocratic-looking woman with a beautiful, thin face and long, shiny hair. It was the woman she had seen in her dream when she had first gotten on the ship.

Humming quietly under her breath, she made her way to the engine room.

"Kurogane? Tomoyo was asking for you in the galley." She said as she climbed down the ladder that led to the part of the ship that housed the engine.

"What for?" the captain grunted from his spot on the floor, the upper half of his body currently under the engine as he fiddled with something.

"Syaoran's meds." She answered as she stepped off the last rung.

"Alright." He responded gruffly, climbing out from under the engine. His hair was a little mussed but apart from his hands, there was no sign of grease on body or his clothes. "Watch the kid till I get back." He said as he climbed up the stairs and vanished from sight.

"Kid?" she repeated, looking around only to note Syaoran leaning against the far wall of the room. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be sound asleep, which was a first for Sakura. She had never seen him sleep so peacefully. Quietly she sat down next to him, silently observing his face.

"Was that really you that day?" she spoke softly, noticing how his chocolate colored bangs fell into his closed eyes. His chest rose as he inhaled and she found herself watching him even more closely. "Somehow, I can't imagine you being the same as me," he exhaled and his chest fell. "A cold-blooded killer… You're too… innocent to be something like that."

She chuckled quietly, "It was the seal, right? That black tattoo on your arm, you're always clutching at it when you're scared. That's probably it. Does it burn like mine?"

"Your aura… It acts like it knows me," she whispered. "or knows my magic at least. But…" she looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap, "you were right. I lost my memories. I can't remember anything." she fisted her right hand, unclenching it shortly afterwards, "But every now and then I come across something and I feel like I've been there before. But I can't remember ever seeing it… It's…" she closed her eyes, inhaling shakily, "it's frustrating… for the past two cycles, I have been searching for my lost memories."

"I've taken so many lives along the way that I have even lost count of the times my hands have been bloodied." A tear leaked through her closed lids and she quickly wiped it away before it could trail down her cheek. "I'm selfish and I've used people to get to what I want. I've hurt people in my quest. So many of those hunters… they didn't have any choice but to work for that bastard. The only other option was death and surely there were people who cared enough about them to be hurt if they died. And yet…"

"I killed them, hurting their loved ones. I always tell myself that they deserve to die. That death is better than a life of slavery but… who am I to judge?"

She fell silent after that wondering why she was telling all this to someone who wasn't even listening. Or maybe that was exactly why she was doing it.

"I met a couple of hunters a few days back." She spoke quietly, "and I… for some reason, they…" she exhaled noisily through her nose, "I didn't want to hurt them. For the first time in my life I felt like if I fought and killed them, I'd die inside. I don't know why but I keep hearing these voices. These three kids, talking. One of them is a little girl and the other two are boys. I get the feeling those boys are the hunters and the little girl is me…"

"I want to ask them if they knew me but… I'm scared. They're hunters. What if… what if they turn me in? I don't want to live the rest of my life like a slave." She hit the back of her head against the metal wall. A dull thunk sounded as it collided. "I just… want to know who I am…"

A warm hand covered hers and she opened her eyes in surprise only to see Syaoran. His soft brown orbs silently staring at her, the light yellow flecks shining in the light like gold. He gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand lightly. The he climbed to his feet, pulling her along. He led her to the engine with its various parts dismantled and scattered on the floor.

Without another word, he let her hand go as he sat down observing the complex machine closely. A slight frown marred his features as he observed all the items around him. Then his face visibly brightened as he picked something up and began fiddling with the device.

"Um… I don't think you should be doing that, Syaoran. Kurogane said he'd be back in a while." she said somewhat hesitantly, but the teen shook his head before returning to the task at hand. "I'm not sure if he would be happy with you messing with it."

But Syaoran only shook his head once more. Wondering if she should call Tomoyo, she turned around to go to the galley but stopped when she heard his voice.

"Please stay." He said softly. Sakura thought about leaving anyways, but decided against it.

Quietly she sat down on the lowest rung of the ladder. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes brightening when he saw that she was still there. With a cheerful disposition, he set to work.

-0-

"Lunch is ready," Kurogane called from the top of the ladder as he peeked inside. "What the…" his eyes widened as he looked at Syaoran who ducked out from under the engine with a grinning face and a small smudge of grease on his right cheek. He pushed his bangs out of his face with his slightly dirty hands and succeeded in getting a bit of the sticky substance on them as well, but he still beamed proudly at his mentor.

"Kid…"

Without even bothering to use the ladder- that Sakura hastily got off of- Kurogane jumped to the floor, hurrying over to the chocolate-haired boy.

"I fixed it." Syaoran smiled widely, picking up the last panel that he slid neatly back in place with no effort at all. Kurogane walked over to the manual control panel built into the side of the engine and pressed a button. With a small whirring noise, the mechanism came to life.

"Girl, get Tomoyo." He said, not looking away from the holo-display screen. "Now."

Turning on her heels, she hurried to do what was asked of her, unable to contain her own amazement at the fact that the same engine that Kurogane had been working on for almost a week, Syaoran had managed to get up and running in less than two hours. She doubted even a professional mechanic would have been able to fix it that quickly. She was no pro but she knew a little bit about engines. It paid to do so in her line of work in case one had to make a quick getaway on a stolen vehicle or something.

"Tomoyo, Kurogane is calling you to the engine room."

"He fixed it." Kurogane told her when the medic descended the steps. "Tomoyo, the kid fixed it!" he laughed, grabbing the lavender-eyed woman by her waist, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in a circle.

"What?" Tomoyo breathed as though unable to believe what she had heard.

"I said, the kid fixed the engine." He set her down, looking over at Syaoran who was looking expectantly at Tomoyo.

"Oh, Syaoran!" the medic exclaimed, rushing towards the boy only to envelop him in a tight hug. His face exploded in a brilliant smile once again as he hugged her back. Sakura looked in the captain's direction who was watching the two embrace with a satisfied look on his face, the corners of his lips upturned in a smile.

"This is the first time he has fixed anything since his accident." He told her as though he could read her mind. Sakura let her gaze travel back towards the embracing pair and her heart fluttered with joy for them. She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Fai's voice.

"Kurgy!" the blond pilot yelled down, slightly out of breath. "We've got a major problem."

"What?" the captain immediately turned serious. Tomoyo, too, withdrew from the hug but she still held Syaoran, who for some reason looked as somber as his mentor.

"Hunters," he answered, "a whole lot of them, all heading this way."

A/N: And I left you all on a cliffie! *insert evil laugh here*

You know the drill. ;)

Till next time.

-Nims.