Cero sprang out, transformed, roaring. He launched himself at Cory's face. A large blast of fire flew out of his mouth into her face. She dropped Shaoran, rubbing furiously at her eyes.

"Ah!" He zipped through the air. Cero caught him on his back. Shaoran sighed in relief. "Thanks." The beast snorted. Cory yelled once again, "You and the girl aren't going to make it next time."

Shaoran's eyelids opened. Sakura's face loomed overhead. They both jerked back in fright, blushing brightly. "You were yelling, and I thought you were in trouble..."

Blushing hard, Shaoran exuberantly told her his dream/nightmare. She paled when she heard that he almost got killed if not for Cero. When they were done, they went in search of Cero. The little guardian was stuffing his face in the kitchens, as usual.

Sakura grabbed him and hugged him. "AHHHHH!" Cero cried. "Help, oh please, help!" The two behind him laughed at his silliness. Once the beast realized who they were, he tried to regain his dignity.

"I'm going to bed! Hmph! You two better not keep going around squeezing me to death." Cero fluttered away.

Feeling hungry, Shaoran made noodles for them both. As they ate, Sakura got dizzy. She put down her chopsticks and went to sit at the couch. Shaoran went with her and asked softly, "How are you feeling? Do you want some water?"

She closed her eyes and lightly shook her head. He gently felt her forehead. It was fine. Sakura was tired, she was soon going to sleep, but Shaoran jolted her awake. "Don't sleep!", he warned. "Cory's going to get you while you're there. Don't!"

Sakura raised her head slowly. His face was radiating with concern. She answered softly, "You're right, of course. But I feel so tired..."

Shaoran suddenly heard a laugh. Cory's voice came out from nowhere. "Hah! I'm draining her power. You can't stop her from coming to my world soon."

He sat on the couch, cradling Sakura's head. She wanted to go to sleep so badly, but Shaoran kept her awake with his voice.

Determined not to let Sakura get taken away by Cory, Shaoran struck a bargain with her. "You, Cory, if I let her sleep, don't take her. I will fight for her. Deal?"

Amused, Cory spoke. "Sure. You meet me in my world. How do you get there?
Simple. Just go to sleep. On one condition: tell that fire-beast not to come barging in again."

Shaoran gritted his teeth and replied, "Deal!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura struggled to stay in reality, to obey Shaoran's instructrutions. But soon she lost the battle. She lastly remembered Shaoran's gentle face and his hands stroking her face and hair before she fell into a deep sleep. In the dream, she saw herself walking over a bridge. 'It's so peaceful here. If only Shaoran was here with me.' She was unaware of what was happening somewhere close by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shaoran put Sakura in a comfortable position on the couch. He looked at her again for reassurance that she was still there. 'Oh, I wish Cory hadn't started this stupid mess. Sakura's so peaceful, so dependant. She's safe now."

He shed one tear as he closed his eyes. 'Sakura, I'm going to come back. Then, I'll tell you. You'll know my feelings. Wait for me.'

Shaoran plunged into darkness. When he finally landed on ground, he scouted his surroundings. It was a park scene, way too peaceful to do battle. Was he in the right place?

He summoned his sword, just in case. Putting full focus on the battle, he headed out in search of Cory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura thought of Shaoran. He was such a nice guy. If only she could say something. 'But he's just my partner. He might just think of me as a partner. If I tell him, then it would sound foolish.' She was so deep in thoughts about Shaoran. She recalled all the times he protected her on Cardcaptoring times.
"Thanks a lot, Shaoran..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shaoran scanned the park. Cory could not be seen. He was about head in another direction to search, when the unmistakable, evil voice laughed. Whirling, he met Cory.

"So, you're that crazy." Cory glanced about. "Like the view? Hmph, this is not it."
With a wave of her hand, the scene changed to a dark, empty street. The street lights were dim. Shaoran could feel his fighting spirit rising.

"Let's just get this over with. I don't care what scene it is, bring it on!" he cried. Cory shrugged. "Let's go then. See if you can defeat your own partner's power. You know it's stronger than yours."

Shaoran twirled his sword, the long, hard training he had received showing in the way the sword moved flawlessly. The battle for Sakura and Shaoran's life began...