Himitsu laid his head wearily on Meiling's shoulder. "I know you will hate me, now that you know the truth," he said, his voice barely inaudible.

Meiling ran her hand across his hair, shaking her head. "IIe."

Yao Leu survived the cave erosion. He was treated by the Clow demon and was trained to be a merciless killer. He was taught how to use the masamune, the weapon the demon uses, against the descendant of the Clow. All in Yao's young mind was revenge. Revenge on his former best friend because he thought Li left him to die to save himself.

She sobbed.

"Mei?" He looked at her worriedly.

She rubbed her eyes quickly. "Yao, you got it all wrong! It wasn't Syaoran's intention to leave you. It wasn't his fault."

"Stop crying, Mei." He looked deeply troubled by her sorrow.

"No,listen." She gazed at him through her tears. "I-It was my fault."

"B-But how.."

"Yao, he really wanted to save you..but he saved me first. There wasn't time for him to come back for you in the cave anymore."

He looked stunned. Meiling chose to continue.

"I followed you guys then. I wanted to invite both of you to play hide - and- seek with me, but you two ran off. S-So I went after you.." Her eyes were shaking. She took the masamune and held it out to Himitsu. "You trained so hard to slay the person who nearly killed you.. and it was me. Kill me."

He smiled and put the masamune away. He cupped her face. "Mei, the very reason why I decided to forget about my mission was you. Now why should I try to hurt the person I love dearly? I would rather die."

Her tears exploded. "Oh Yao, I'm not..I..nearly killed you, and I could have been the reason for my cousin's death.."

"No. It was my fault, Mei. Don't cry," he comforted her. He took a pendant from his pocket. "Remember this?"

She nodded. "T-That was the pretty rock I saw that you threaded so I can wear it..but how.."

" I asked you if I could see it, but you gave it to me..you told me to wear it.."

Meiling remembered the past vividly.

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

"Hsieh hsieh, Yao!" Meiling looked at the pendant happily.

He shyly inspected it closely. "Can I try it on?"

She took it and hung it around his neck. "There. Keep it for the meantime. Wear it as a goodluck charm, ok?"

He smiled gratefully. "I'll take good care of this."

"You better!" she barked. "Because that will take the place of me when I'm not with you!"

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

Her thoughts were broken when Himitsu hung it around her neck. "Here. I'm giving it back."

"But why?"

He laughed softly. "It's yours. I hope you don't mind if I fixed the pendant."

She looked down at the necklace and found a ruby placed in the center of the rock.

"Himitsu.." She stood up. "i.. I don't deserve your kindness.." With that, she ran away.

"Mei, wait!!" He ran and followed her.



"I killed him..I killed him.." Tears streaked down her cheeks uncontrollably. Meiling wiped them away, ignoring the pounding of the rain.

She gasped when she crashed into another person. She looked up and saw Tomoyo holding her steady. Eriol was holding the umbrella, looking at her wordlessly.

"Meiling?" asked Tomoyo worriedly.

"D-Daidouji.." She hugged her tight. "It's Yao.."

"So you know," the girl said softly.

He held her shoulder. "Come with us. we're on our way to visit Sakura," he said.

Yao arrived and paused. "M-Mei.."

"Come with us too, Yao." he ordered.

The boy nodded.




The eyes of "Yukito" gleamed as his lips were about to touch Sakura's. One more inch and along with his kiss was the start of the eternal slumber of the Clow mistress.

Sakura, on the other hand, felt herself lazily floating. She felt so peaceful. Her heart then gave a giant beat when she sensed an aura of a very furious wolf. She opened her eyes weakly and saw Li Syaoran stanfing at the top of the pit, his blazing amber eyes boring on Yukito.

Yukito stood up. "Ah, the descendant of Clow."

No words were heard from Li, but his aura increased rapidly because of his deep anger.


to be continued...