Again, my thanks :) So just bear with me!

First of all, to my beta's; SilentCynara, Tsuki.Senpi, and now (officially XD) CheeseyCraziness!! Haha, so Lorin-chan has been somewhat 'un'-officially beta-ing this story for the past two chapters now, so I've just asked her to actually beta for me! XD You know you're spelling is bad when you need THREE people to look over it! LOL...joking!

It's awesome to have all of you guys editing my work! Nara-chan, Ja-chan and Lorin-chan...you guys all rock, and this fic would honestly be falling apart without your comments and fixing all my mistakes!

-XxXxXxX-

Chapter twenty: Back in Time, part two

-still sixteen years before-

Sakura hiccuped again as she looked away and subconsciously tugged on his shirt, "I. . .I'm sorry, Yukito-san. I tried to bring him here to keep him safe, b-but. . ."

Yukito seemed to understand. He pulled away from Sakura's grasp and slowly began to back away towards the wall, his eyes widening more and more with each passing second. He kept shaking his head, whispering 'No' over and over. When he felt himself hit the wall, he let himself slide down it. He let one leg slide across the floor, while the other remained close to his chest. He rested his elbow on his knee and cradled his head in his hand, letting his own tears flow. He grasped onto his bangs and kept shaking his head in denial.

No one, not Sakura or Syaoran or Yelan, moved from their spots to comfort Yukito. Syaoran was rooted to the spot that he stood, not knowing whether he should walk over to his wife to hold her or to go and try to comfort Yukito, who had lost his own love. Sakura seemed unable to move as well, her own body still shaking with tears and she watched Yukito, broken and devastated, curl up and cry his own tears. They all remained frozen in their spots, feet rooted to the ground, as Yukito continued to weep for his lost love, crying out Touya's name and trying to reassure himself that none of it was true.

But it was.

Kinomoto Touya and Fujitaka were dead; gone from the world forever. And no one could bring them back. Ever.

XxXxXxX

Syaoran tucked Sakura into bed, pulling the dark purple silk sheets up to her neck to keep her warm. It had been a long day, only made worse by her family's death. Sakura had remained distant for the rest of the day, refusing to really talk, eat or really pay any attention to Syaoran at all. All afternoon, she had sat on the bench out in the back in the centre of the garden, staring out into space with a blank look on her face. When Syaoran had tried to sit beside her, she wouldn't look at him. When he tried to take her hand in his, or wrap his arm around her, she wouldn't respond. And when he tried to speak to her, she wouldn't say anything back.

To add to it all, closer to the evening, Li Yelan had come back with the mirror, wanting to give Sakura time and room for breathing before she settled it in the house. When it was all set up in the twins bedroom, Sakura cast the final spell to make it connect to the two wearing the pendants, and had stood there watching them for almost three hours straight.

Akatsuki was in the orphanage they had told Kero to bring him to. He was either in another woman's arms for feeding or rocking, or laying in a cheep, uncomfortable looking crib. The whole time he seemed confused and upset, never letting his wails and cries stop, as if he knew something wasn't right and that he wouldn't be seeing his parents or sister again. And no matter what his caretaker did to try and settle him, he wouldn't. When the woman became frustrated, Sakura would simply tell her, as if she could hear her, that she wasn't rocking him properly or holding him the way he liked to be held.

Tsukiko also seemed to be upset, but not as much. She had a look in her eyes that seemed to say that she knew something wasn't right, that she wasn't with her brother or parents. But the Nanami couple was overjoyed with her, and had already prepared a room for her by the time Sakura peeked in on them. They kept repeating that she was their gift from the gods.

And what seemed to hurt Sakura the most was not being able to hold her children herself. Or comfort them when they cried. And the fact that not once had she or Syaoran seen either of the twins crack a smile or laugh since they arrived where they wore now tore Sakura apart even more. She had always said that a baby's smile and laugh could light up a room and make everything better, but these two seemed to have lost their ability to do either for now.

Yukito had left after a bit with Yelan earlier. She offered a place for him to stay until he was stable enough to find an apartment in Hong Kong, but had told him that it wouldn't be wise to go back to Tomoeda. For one, Sakura needed Yue. And for another thing, Sakura was the only connection Yukito had with Touya left, and vice versa. There was no reason or point for Yukito to return to Japan, other than his job at the high school.

Syaoran sat down on the edge of the bed beside Sakura, and slowly ran the back of his fingers along the contours of her face, gently soothing her skin. She seemed so peaceful sleeping, as if nothing could touch her or harm her. And the thought of it all tore Syaoran's heart apart; she had been through so much already, so why was she being forced to suffer even more? And if Xin was really trying to hurt Syaoran, he was doing a damn good job at it.

He stopped and sighed, heaving himself off the bed and walking towards the door again. He was lucky he had even gotten Sakura to sleep in the first place. She refused to go to bed, and didn't want to fall asleep. Now, it was almost dawn and she had only been sleeping for about half an hour. He knew he needed sleep too, but it was like he had gotten his second wind already and felt no need to sleep. His body was telling him to stay awake and watch over Sakura, make sure she was okay and slept.

Besides, he thought to himself, he still needed to do something. So Syaoran closed the bedroom door behind him, careful not to make a sound to wake her, and began making his way towards the stairs.

XxXxXxX

"I need to talk to you, now," Xin turned to Sakura. Once seeing her bright green eyes look at him, his immediately softened and his voice become more gentle. "Please."

It was a crisp autumn day, and Sakura was walking through the Li Mansion's garden, admiring the changing leaves and the blooming autumn flowers. In a week she would be graduating, married and going back to Tomoeda with Syaoran. It had taken a lot of persuasion for the Elders to let Sakura and Syaoran move away from Hong Kong and back to Japan, since Syaoran was beginning to take over the business. But Syaoran explained that he had wanted to extend the Li Corp into Japan, starting with Tomoeda. And then Sakura would get a job at Tomoeda Elementary, hopefully teaching fourth grade. She had always wanted to teach grade four more than any other grade, because for her, that was when her life began to change.

Sakura turned to face Xin, who was standing near her, and smiled. Even though he was trying to separate Syaoran and herself, she had tried to stay nice to him. After all, both she and Syaoran knew that nothing and no one could ever separate them.

"What is it, Xin-san?" She asked. Even though she was almost fluent in Chinese now, Xin was one of the few people she knew who also spoke Japanese. So she would use her own language with him.

"I. . .I. . ." he flushed pink slightly and gave a small yet respectful bow to Sakura, making her confused. "Gomen nasai, Sakura-san."

"What for?" Sakura asked, confused by everything. She had never seen him act this way before; being all kind and sweet. Not unless he was trying to seduce her.

He stood back up, "I was using you to hurt Xiao Lang, and I apologize. I don't want to do that anymore. I. . .I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Before Sakura could say anything, Xin took one step closer to her. He towered over her, being a few inches taller than Syaoran. He moved to hold her hands, but stopped and balled them up at his sides instead.

"Gomen," he repeated a little more quietly. "I don't want to do anything to you anymore, Sakura-san, be-because I. . .I love you."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock; was he trying to seduce her again? What was he up to? But one long look in his eyes told her she was wrong. His eyes actually looked brighter and more innocent, and very sincere. She could see how hard it was for him to say such a thing, and how true his words were.

"Xin-san," Sakura began quietly. "I love Syaoran. And I always will."

"I know that," Xin looked away. "Just another thing he's taken from me. Another thing I can't have, because if I would have been the one to go to Japan in the first place, it would have been me you fell for first. Not stupid Xiao Lang, but me."

"Maybe," Sakura smiled. "But I'm sure you'll find your special someone. I'm just not her."

"I'll always love you," he told her honestly, then he leaned in one last time and brushed his lips against Sakura's. He didn't force her mouth open, or press himself against her like the last time. This time, it was just a quick graze, but he tried to show her how much he loved her in that kiss. When he pulled away, he saw a very shocked Sakura, making him smile.

He turned around back to the house, but stopped after a few steps and turned back around. His eyes were back to their usual coldness, and he grinned carelessly, "But, Sakura-san, just because I'm sorry to you doesn't mean I'm sorry with Xiao Lang. I won't stop trying to hurt him, because this is just another thing he's made sure I can't have. He's made sure I can't have you."

Sakura's eyes flew open when the memory ended. It took her a minute to actually wake up and realize that Syaoran had brought her to bed, but when was beyond her. She looked over at the neon lit alarm clock to realize that the sun must have only just come up. She groaned slightly, still groggy and threw off the covers. She stumbled over to the window and pushed open the drapes, letting the sunlight flood through her room.

She didn't bother changing from the pajamas Syaoran had dressed her in, and walked down the stairs. She was met by Syaoran's tired voice coming from the kitchen. She was going to yell out to him and ask who was there, when she stopped in her tracks and realized who he was talking to.

"Hiiragizawa, I need you to explain everything to Daidouji-san for us," Syaoran slowly instructed.

She looked for the closest phone, finding a cordless phone hanging up in the entrance hallway, and picked it up just in time to hear Eriol, "Nani? Gomen na, Syaoran-kun. . .demo, I'm more than sure she'd want to hear it from you both instead of me. She's worried about you guys, and she knows something is up. You know how Tomoyo is with these types of things."

Sakura's heart sank as she heard his voice; through all the chaos of the day before, she had completely forgotten to phone Tomoyo and Eriol. She was immediately thankful that Syaoran hadn't phoned them to get on the same plane as her father and brother.

She walked into the kitchen. Syaoran had his back turned to her, staring off into space. He was still dressed in his clothes from the day before, making her presume he hadn't slept.

"Gomen nasai," Sakura said softly. "I don't want to worry Tomoyo-chan, demo. . .I-I can't come out there right now. We have to stay here."

Syaoran whipped around, his eyes widening as he saw the woman standing in front of him. He was expecting her to sleep for a bit more at least. "Sakura! You should be resting!"

Sakura continued, ignoring Syaoran. Her voice was blunt, hurt and tired, "Please, Eriol-kun. . .I really don't wish to hurt Tomoyo-chan, you know that. Please."

Eriol sighed on the other line, and Sakura could almost see him scratching the back of his head like he always did, "I'll do it. Demo, please, keep in touch with Tomoyo. Especially you, Sakura-san. . .I can't stand to see her cry like that."

Tears swelled up in Sakura's eyes again; didn't he know how badly she wanted to? But if they couldn't get Tomoyo and Eriol out to Hong Kong to keep an eye on them, then staying in touch with them might be even more dangerous. Something Sakura refused to take the chance on. She tried to swallow the lump of tears growing in her throat, but failed.

"G-Gomen ne. . .demo, I c-can't promise that. Please. . .just leave it like that," She struggled to say.

Eriol caught this, and his voice hurt for her, "Sakura-san. . ."

"Please," Syaoran began, walking over to his wife and wrapping his arm around her so she would fall onto his chest. He soothingly rubbed her back, keeping his head on top of hers. Slowly, he felt her reach her arms back around him, shaking, trying to bite back her tears. "Hiiragizawa, I know you've already done so much for us, especially with helping with the added security on the house in Tomoeda. But he broke through. We can't say more, just that we can't stay in Nihon at the moment. We're using the plan I was telling you vaguely about just after the twins were born, understand now?"

"Understood," Eriol finally said. Then there was a small beep, indicating that he had hung up.

Syaoran then hung up his phone, and looked down with concern at Sakura. She still held the beeping phone to her ear, as if waiting for someone to talk into it. Syaoran looked at her sadly, and carefully took the phone from her. He laid it beside the one he was using on the kitchen counter, then wrapped his other arm around her.

"I'm sorry, Sakura," he said quietly. "For everything."

"It's not your fault," she mumbled, closing her eyes. It felt so relaxing just being there in his embrace, she could almost go to sleep again. "I should call Tomoyo-chan and apologize to her properly. We just took off. . .and she's my best friend."

"I know," Syaoran said. "But it wouldn't be a good idea."

"One call?" Sakura looked up at him with round eyes, begging him to let her.

Syaoran hesitated, then sighed and nodded. He smiled lightly and bent down to kiss her nose playfully, "If it'll make you happy, then one call. But just one, okay? Just promise me you'll smile for me again, Sakura. That's all I want."

XxXxXxX

Sakura waited until later that afternoon to phone Tomoyo. Syaoran had explained to her that earlier, when Syaoran and Eriol had been discussing their plan if Xin was to become too much for them to handle, the two men had made an alternate plan in case the Daidouji couple wasn't able to make it to Hong Kong after. The plan was for Eriol to move Tomoyo to Tokyo as quickly as possible. How it would be explained to Tomoyo's family was that she wanted to be closer to her office in Tokyo and to her business.

Sakura picked up the phone and dialled Tomoyo's house, knowing full well that by now Eriol probably had her packing and getting ready to move to the house he had already set up in case anything was to happen. But what she wasn't expecting was for the phone to ring four. . .five. . .six times. By the eighth ring, she could feel her heart sink. No one was answering. The ninth ring was cut in half, as Tomoyo's gentle voice came on the line.

"Moshi moshi, Daidouji desu! You've reached Tomoyo, Eriol and Koume!" Tomoyo's voice said cheerfully. "We're not home right now, but if you leave your name and number we'll be sure to get back to you as soon as we can! Bye!"

Sakura's eyes glazed over as a small beep was heard following the message, indicating her that her message was being recorded. She didn't speak for the first few seconds, not knowing what to say. She only had this one chance to call her, and then after that, who knew when they'd be able to talk again?

Finally, Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She wouldn't cry; her eyes were too dry that they just couldn't shed anymore tears.

"Tomoyo-chan," she said slowly, then paused. She kept her voice low and calm as she spoke, trying not to sound upset. "Gomen nasai."

Then she hung up, and held the phone in her hands. She leaned back against the couch and sighed heavily. As she lay on the couch and slowly began to drift off to sleep again, another memory slowly began to appear. . .another source of pain to Sakura. This one only about two weeks old.

"Sa-ku-ra."

The young woman in her mid-twenties sitting at the small, round café table stiffened in her seat and tightened the grip she had on her coffee cup. With a forced smile and green eyes that seemed to dim as the male voice called her name, she turned around in her seat to see Li Xin standing behind her, smirking openly.

"Xin-san," Sakura greeted. "I was. . .I was hoping to talk to you."

Xin smiled, his eyes lighting up as he saw her face, "And how did you know I'd be here? Not stalking me, I hope."

Sakura looked away, not smiling or blushing at his comment. She had come to speak to him seriously, and not let him play his games with her. "You always did like your morning coffee, and this is the best place in Tomoeda."

Xin nodded and took the empty seat across from her. He ordered a large black coffee from a passing waitress as Sakura turned back in her seat to face him again. He smiled, looking into her eyes and missing the concern lurking in their depths. "What is it? My dear cousin not making you feel like a woman should?" Then he leaned in closer and brought his voice down. "You know, I could make you feel good every night."

"Why are you doing this?" She asked seriously, her hands tightening around her cup again as she tried to ignore his previous comment. She looked at him straight into his dark eyes, "Please, Xin, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" He asked with a wider smirk.

"You know what I'm talking about," Sakura said harshly. "Please, tell me why you're doing it? Why do you want to hurt them? Why are you trying to take them away from me?"

Xin's smirk curved into an appalling leer, "You should know why."

"Because you want to hurt Syaoran?" Sakura said slowly.

Xin chuckled a heartless laugh and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest and sighing, "See, I knew you already knew. So why are you asking?" When the only response he got was Sakura's confused and upset gaze, his smirk grew and he continued, "Xiao Lang seems to be very attached to those children, Sakura. I'm sure you've seen how he looks at them. His face and bearing change as soon as he sees them. If I kill them, I hurt Xiao Lang, and when I kill that son of his, I'll be killing two birds with one stone; Xiao Lang won't have an heir."

Sakura's eyes widened in horror when he was done expressing his thoughts. She had always known that Li Xin had an unbalanced life style and mind. She had learned that when she realized how obsessed Xin was with wanting to hurt Syaoran, as if his own life depended on it. But now, he just seemed pathetic in her eyes, and in all honesty, even though he had just told her such dark thoughts, Sakura still couldn't help but feel pity for the man sitting across from her. He just seemed unwilling to let go.

"But you once told me you didn't want to hurt me anymore," Sakura reminded him in a sad voice as her eyes filled with pain and sorrow. "So why are you doing this?"

"To hurt Xiao La — "

"But you're hurting me in the process," Sakura quickly cut him off. "Don't you see? Why do you want to take my only children away from me when I love them so much? Please, Xin-san, can't you see? By trying to hurt Syaoran, you're also hurting me!"

Xin looked into her eyes, suddenly feeling as though her eyes were stabbing him. What was it with her that could change him so much? His eyes widened with compassion for the woman, as he reached his hands across the table and gently forced her to let go of the mug she held, then cradled her hands in his. He began rubbing her knuckles soothingly, something he had seen Syaoran do to her many times. Xin knew how much it comforted her.

"I'll stop then," he promised her in a gentle tone, seeing the sorrow and pity in Sakura's deep green eyes. "I'll leave them alone, Sakura. If you come with me."

"N-nani?" Sakura asked, mortified.

"I still love you, Sakura, and I know I always will," Xin said softly. "Come live with me. Leave Xiao Lang, and become my wife. You can bring the children, and I'll forget that they're his. They'll be mine, and I'll raise them so. We can all be a family, together, without Xiao Lang."

Sakura pulled away from his hands and stood up quickly, knocking her chair over and making everyone in the café to look in their direction. Her eyes danced with rage and horror at Xin's proposal to her. Her whole body shook with newfound anger as she looked down at his surprised expression and shook her head.

"Iie!" She yelled down at him. "I will never leave Syaoran! Not for you, not for anyone!"

Xin's eyes narrowed to slits as he slowly stood up, staying on his side of the table and glaring down at her, "You don't seem to understand, Sakura. That I'm telling you I'll leave your children alone if you simply leave him for me. I'm offering you this in order to keep your children safe."

"I completely understand that," Sakura spat out angrily. "But I will never leave him, especially not for you. What you do, Xin-san, is not love — it's obsession. If you really loved me like you claim to, then you would want me to be happy regardless of who I'm with, including Syaoran! You two may not get along, and you may hate him, but if you loved, that wouldn't matter to you as long as I'm happy! I can't be with someone who is obsessed with one person, and wants nothing in his life but to hurt this person! You don't love me, Xin-san. If you did, you'd listen to what I am saying and not hurt the people I love!"

"I see," Xin said curtly, his fists balled up and shaking at his sides. "Well then, Li, don't blame me if one morning you find them dead, still lying in their cradles, waiting for you to return to them for their morning feedings."

Tears swelled up in Sakura's eyes as Xin walked briskly past her. She grabbed onto his hand, her eyes pleading for him to stop, "Please, Xin-san, just listen to me — "

Xin grabbed his hand back roughly, knocking Sakura back a step. "That's LI to you, Li-san. Now, if you don't mind, I really must be going."

Sakura remained standing, watching in shock and panic as Xin walked quickly past the waitress carrying his coffee and angrily walked out of the building. Part of her was overjoyed and proud that she had stood up to him about the matter, but the other half of her was horrified, and couldn't help but let wild thoughts rampage through her mind about his last words to her.

She collapsed back into her seat, her eyes wide open. Like a broken doll, she sat there limp and defeated. Thick tears slowly began to flow down her face, but her eyes remained open. Her whole body shook, and his stinging icy words remained in her mind. She could feel the many pairs of eyes on her, people whispering to themselves about the past scene. One waitress had even approached her and placed a concerned hand on her shoulder, though what the young girl had said Sakura didn't catch.

All she could think about was her family, slowly seeing images of them all falling apart. And her children. . .what could she do now? How could she protect them now? That look in Xin's eyes had scared Sakura, as if he already knew how he was going to get into the spell-protected house.

"What have I done. . ?"

XxXxXxX

Sakura woke up, panting in panic at the harsh memory in her mind. It felt fresh as if it had happened the night before. Syaoran still didn't know about that incident with Xin. He didn't know that one morning, when the twins were nearly six months old, she left them in the care of Tomoyo and went down to the finest little café in Tomoeda called Kyattsuai, knowing Xin would only go to the finest to sit and sip on his morning coffee, just like he did every morning in Hong Kong.

Now the memory tormented her, reminding her that she could have stopped all this if only she had taken Xin's offer. Sure it was outrageous to even think of leaving Syaoran, but it would have saved her precious twins. And Syaoran would have understood, right? He would have wanted what was best for his children as well, right?

Sakura sighed, tossing over to her side with a pain in her chest. Guess she would never know what would have happened if she had listened to Xin and left Syaoran. Maybe everything would be different. Maybe she would have eventually fell for the man. Maybe she would still have her children. Maybe she. . .

Her thoughts stopped as the bed creaked by Syaoran's weight as he turned over and wrapped his arms around Sakura's waist as he slept. He mumbled something, then pulled her closer so that they were in a spooning position.

Sakura sighed; no, she'd never be able to leave Syaoran even if she knew it would be best for her babies. She loved him too much to even try. She should have felt guilty; after all, wasn't a mother supposed to be able to make sacrifices to save her children? But she just couldn't. She loved him too much. Syaoran was everything to her.

She sighed again, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Sakura carefully lifted Syaoran's hands from around her waist, stood up and placed his arms back on the bed. She pulled the covers back up on him as he tossed onto his back, apparently missing her presence. She smiled to herself, seeing Syaoran's lips part as if ready to say something before a small snore erupted from him instead.

Sakura walked out into the hall and slid into the room next to theirs, to the room known as the nursery. She carefully closed the door behind her and walked towards the large round mirror hanging on the wall. It was an antique looking bronze-framed mirror, rusted here and there. The mirror itself was taller than her, almost reaching the ceiling. The frame had a beautiful design of dots and swirls around it, along with a mixture of Chinese characters and Old English words. Its magic involved the use of both Eastern and Western magic, just like Clow Reed's magic.

Sakura's eyes softened, seeing the two infants in the mirror. She was able to adjust the mirror's magic so she could see both twins at the same time, and the sight of them made her want to fly back to Japan and snatch them back. Tsukiko, who was shown on the left half of the mirror, was sleeping peacefully and resting on her right side, facing the centre of the mirror. Akatsuki, who could be seen on the right half of the mirror, was also sleeping peacefully though still tears stained his cheeks. He, too, slept facing into the mirrors centre, on his left. Together, they slept facing each other subconsciously, somewhat resembling Yin and Yang in Sakura's opinion.

A small smile spread across her face, even if it was a sad smile, as she began to wonder how the two would grow up and how their personalities would form. Would Tsukiko, who people constantly debated as to whether she looked more like Syaoran or herself, grow up and be tough like her father or more gentle like her mother? Would Akatsuki, who Sakura smiled about just knowing he would grow up to resemble Syaoran greatly, be a small cry-baby like Sakura once was or be the one always comforting others like Syaoran?

Her thoughts were interrupted though as the door creaked open, allowing a small funnel of light from the hall to shine through. Sakura didn't turn, knowing full well who it was. She could tell just by the person's light footsteps and familiar aura, plus the fact that she had known him for too long not to realize who it was.

The intruder shut the door behind them, and flicked on the bedroom light. He walked over to Sakura and wrapped a strong arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He held onto her securely, snuggling his with hers and closing his eyes, sighing deeply.

"Daijoubu?" Syaoran asked.

"Un," Sakura answered honestly. "I'm okay."

"I was worried when I realized you weren't in bed," Syaoran admitted. "But I figured you'd be in here."

"Sorry," Sakura mumbled against his chest. "I didn't mean to worry you. I guess I'm just used to the nightly routine of checking in on them, that I still felt the need to."

Syaoran smiled comforting, and nodded, "I understand what you mean. I've woken up a few times to check on them, then remembered that they weren't. . ."

He cut himself off, angry at himself for being so close to reminding Sakura about what had happened. But he hadn't needed to, apparently, as Sakura realized his uneasiness and squeezed him reassuringly.

"I'm alright," she told him again. "I know that, as a mother, I need to think of what's best for them first, ne?"

Syaoran smiled, proud of his wife's abilities to stay strong even though that someday she would need to let her walls crumble and break down. He nodded again, and gently whispered, "I know."

Sakura closed her eyes as a sudden flash of visions entered her mind. Syaoran felt her tense up, but knew what was going on. Sakura had only had sudden visions only a couple of times before, but he had learned that it was better to leave her than to interrupt her while she was seeing such things. So he held her closer, letting her know what he was near as the visions danced through her head.

There were two teens, a boy and a girl, both with the same chocolate coloured hair. They were running around, laughing, as the emerald eyed boy threw pillows at the amber eyed girl. The pillow suddenly broke, sending goose feathers all into the air, then slowly descended back to Earth. Then, Sakura and Syaoran were in the picture, looking horrified by the mess. The two teens stopped laughing, watching the adults with worried eyes before Sakura and Syaoran also broke into laughter. The two teens joined back in again, as the girl threw her pillow back at the boy. . .

Sakura opened her eyes again, a small smile fluttering on her lips. As she relaxed, so did the hold Syaoran had on her. Her smile grew as she pulled away from Syaoran slightly, but let him keep his arms loosely around her waist. He was watching her intensely, waiting for her to tell him what she had seen. When she didn't say anything, Syaoran finally opened his mouth.

"Is. . .is everything okay?" He asked with worry.

Sakura smiled even more, making Syaoran relax. At least she was smiling.

But Sakura couldn't explaine it; she didn't really understand the vision other than it had made her smile — a real smile — for the first time since Xin had broken through the barriers surrounding their Tomoeda house and invaded their home.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I'm fine. And I have a feeling that everything will be alright. . .for all of us."

Syaoran sighed, relieved, and pulled Sakura back against his chest, "I'm glad then."

Sakura's smile never ceased, as she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms back around Syaoran, letting them stand together in a warm and comforting stance for what seemed like until dawn. For whatever reason, her mind was telling her that everything was going to be alright and that everything was going to work out. And, without meaning or wanting to, she couldn't help but believe it. And the two teens were in her vision, they had made her happy — making her certain she knew who they were.

Her beloved children, Akatsuki and Tsukiko.

XxXxXxX

Okay -- so...the explanation I promised in the last chapter. I know it sounds like I'm whining, but I'm really trying not to. But, I'm starting my grade eleven year next week, and since this year my grades start counting for university, I really need to pay attention to my studies. So I won't have AS much time for writing, though I refuse to give it up (whoo! Go rebel-side of Raina!!).

Although, I can safely promise at least two chapters a month, if not more. So all that will be happening will be that I'll most likely update bi-weekly, pending on how busy all my betas are (work, school, etc...)

Thanks for understanding! Wishing everyone luck who is also starting school soon or, like one girl I know ;), has already started!!

— Raina