A/N: New reviewers…Thank you L-chan and Monique! I update as soon as I finish a chapter, and here it is, as fast as I could get it out. This chapter starts inching closer to the rating bit...maybe not graphic stuff, but absolutely adult themes here. You may find parts of this chapter disturbing, I know I do. Serious darkness ahead, serious pain, and serious healing must follow.

Silent Eyes

Missing

Yukito woke up cold and alone. He was still dressed in his pajamas, but he found himself on a stone floor of what looked like a classic castle dungeon. He felt light-headed and dizzy as he tried to sit up, but the feeling passed quickly. He looked around, taking in the appearance of the mold covered stones of the walls and the rusty bars of his cell. He noticed chains on the walls, but he hadn't been chained . He heard movement behind him though and found Sakura had been chained to the wall. She hung limply, clearly unconscious. She was shifting though, moaning a bit, and Yuki was sure she would wake up soon.

That's when he realized that she was bleeding. The shackles at her wrists were metal and the edges were clearly not made with comfort in mind. Her entire weight was supported by her wrists and the shackles were digging cruelly into her skin. He immediately rushed over to her, supporting her weight and trying to wipe away the blood.

Sakura cried out, waking up with horror in her eyes. "Ow! That hurts." She sobbed and Yukito held her close to him, offering what comfort he could. "Yukito! Where are we?" Tears shimmered in her eyes as she looked around, and she was trembling in his arms.

"I don't know. When I woke up we were alone here."

"Why are you free if I'm chained up?"

"Maybe our captor doesn't think I'm a threat."

"Maybe. I feel drained, and I don't have the cards. Can you--" She left the question open ended, but it was obvious that the question wasn't quite directed at him.

Yukito closed his eyes, waiting for the change to happen and the void to claim him. He waited some more. He opened his eyes, shocked, and saw Sakura's eyes grow wide in alarm. Yue? He waited a little bit longer, but panic was starting to settle deep within him. He had been feeling strange, insecure and empty since he had woken up, but the thought had never crossed his mind that he would somehow be separated from--from his real self. "Sakura--I can't feel Yue. He's not here at all. I'm by myself."

"But...but...but...how is that possible?"

"I don't know," he replied, his voice shaking with terror.

Sakura somehow found the ability to pull herself together. "I can't reach the key around my neck. Yukito, could you please reach it and hand it to me?"

He reached his quaking hands around to the back of her neck to pull the string she kept her key on over her head. He finally found a calm when he placed the key in her hand and the magic power surged through the air. He had never heard for himself the incantation she used to change the key to a staff, but the words slipped around and through him with a familiar feeling caress. There was no doubt now, this was magic that was a part of him, what had created him, and what gave him continued existence.

And yet, the magic somehow pulled at him and drained him somehow. He felt weakened and diminished by the time she was finished. It was a feeling similar to what had happened in high school when Sakura was changing the cards. It was a feeling he hadn't felt since though...a feeling that had been put behind after Touya had given his power to Yue. He was about to warn Sakura, but then she used the staff to tap one of the shackles and open the lock upon it. Darkness crashed around him like a wave and he felt power drain directly from him to her. The last thing he was aware of was Sakura's scream.

~~~~~@~~~~~

There was no place in the entire Kinomoto house that Yue could be alone with his thoughts. He wanted to fly up to the roof and rest there, but he hesitated to do that in broad daylight. He finally settled for climbing out Touya's window and hiding in the tree for a while. He realized, as he almost slipped off a branch, that his magic had been considerably diminished with the disappearance of Yuki. He also realized that none of his magic was supplemented by Sakura anymore--it was all coming from Touya again.

That was probably why Touya found him so easily a few minutes later. "That answered one question."

"What?"

"I was wondering if there was any way of tracing your magical bond with Sakura back to wherever she is, but if you're pulling on me again the answer is an obvious no."

"I'm sorry, To-ya. I don't know if I could have anyway. It feels like I've just had my soul ripped out and it's difficult to think."

Touya nodded and then climbed across the tree to sit next to Yue. "That's the second time I've noticed you use Yukito's nickname for me. I think you have before too, but you never stick around for me to talk to you. I'd really like it if we could talk."

Yue shrugged. He cast his eyes downward, swinging his feet back and forth a little as they dangled below him. He realized he was also playing with his hair--a nervous habit he had tried to be rid of when he had been struggling with expressing his love for Clow. The silence had stretched too long. With a sigh he forced his hands and feet to still and deal with what Touya had said. He had been avoiding it too long. "I'm sorry for being so familiar, Touya. I forgot myself."

"That wasn't the point."

"Oh?"

"I think you know what I meant."

Yue looked up and met Touya's gaze. He shivered at the look in the younger man's eyes. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not Yuki." A wave of sadness washed over his countenance, and then he bowed his head again, watching as he swung his feet in the air again.

"Then you know how I look at him. The two of you aren't as separate as you would like me to think."

"No, the two of us were a lot closer than I wanted anyone to know. Especially him. It hurt him to think that he wasn't real, so I wanted him to have a real life. I...I came out here to be alone because I think I know why now. He got it from me. I'm the one who is scared of not being real." His hands were twisting his hair again.

Touya's hand raised for a moment, hesitating an inch from one of Yue's hands, and then grazed the pale skin gently. Finally Touya pressed his hand more firmly against the back of Yue's hand, stilling the twisting motion and offering comfort to the moon guardian. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you. Part of your self ripped away suddenly like that. I have no idea what that would be like."

"Yes you do, only you gave yours willingly."

Touya cupped Yue's cheek, guiding him to look into Touya's eyes and see the compassion there. "The whole part about being willing makes a huge difference." Touya's lips quirked a bit at the corners, giving a hint of a grin for a moment.

Yue brought his own hand up to cup Touya's face gently. "You've also just lost your sister and your...your lover." He swallowed hard. "It's not the same, but I believe it hurts just as much."

They sat there, staring into each others eyes, feeling each other's pain through a bond that was deeper than either expected. Yue only realized that he was resting his head on Touya's shoulder when eye contact was broken, but that was almost a relief. Silent tears began slipping down his face and onto the fabric of Touya's shirt. Yue's arms slowly reached around Touya's waist, and Touya's arms in turn held Yue close around the shoulders, offering him what comfort he could. "We'll get them back. Somehow we'll get them back and everything will be okay again."

~~~~~@~~~~~

Evil laughter echoed off the stone walls as Yukito dropped to the ground. Sakura had managed to free one hand, but the other was still held and she didn't dare try to free herself further. She was out of energy, and she had a terrible feeling that the only magical being she could draw power from in this strange and terrible place was her friend, Yukito. "NO! Yukito!" Her scream ripped from her throat and overpowered the sound of laughter she had only half heard. She tried to reach out to him, but with only one hand free she couldn't reach the ground he had fallen on.

"What? Not going to free yourself Card Mistress?"

The voice was deep and heavily accented, but it was strangely easy to understand. She looked around, but still couldn't see anything. There was magic in the air though, and she easily identified the strongest source as coming from the corner across the room to her left. She glared in that direction as she retorted, "I can't do that! I couldn't hurt Yukito like that."

"Good. Now you know the stakes. Don't try to escape. Your friend's life depends on it." A shadowy form began to be revealed as she continued to look in the direction of the greatest magic. It felt to her like some sort of illusion was being used, but it wasn't nearly as strong as her card so was relatively easy to see through.

"Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?" Sakura tried to sound strong and intimidating, but she was almost ready to pass out. The shadowy figure was starting to show a more human form, but Sakura was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate.

"I am looking for power, and you have that power. I want the secret of how your cards were made. I can use that power to have anything I want."

"I don't know! I couldn't tell you. Please, let us go!"

"Little girl, without your cards you are nothing but a tool. You may be powerful with your guardians and your borrowed magic, but I am just using you. You are disposable. You are also my key to forcing the two who would know the secret to reveal the knowledge."

"No! Neither of them would tell you anything!"

"You have no idea what I'm capable of. They will do what I want because Clow Reed himself thought of you as a daughter, and neither your real father nor your old friend would dream of letting you come to harm. When they see the harm I can inflict they will do whatever I say."

"No!"

"Oh yes."

~~~~~@~~~~~

Daidouji Sonomi had gotten to work early. She had a nagging feeling that something just wasn't right, but since Tomoyo was with Sakura she didn't think the uneasy feeling could be related to her daughter. Her hunches had never been as strong as her cousin, Nadeshiko, but there was a little of the family gift in her blood. It was too bad Tomoyo had never inherited that gift, but it was probably better that way. Having an uneasy feeling that you couldn't do anything about until too late wasn't any real kind of gift anyway.

She waited for the bad news to fall, whatever it was, but as the morning wore on nothing concrete formed. Finally, right before lunch, she received her mail and a videotape was included. Her feeling of dread increased as she looked at it. A note was taped to it, addressed to "Sonomi Daidouji, deliver to Fujitaka Kinomoto ASAP" in English. She didn't hesitate to call her personal assistant and cancel her afternoon meeting. This felt important to her, and she needed to know what it was.

She drove swiftly to the Kinomoto residence. She had never been there herself, but she knew exactly where it was. Conflicting emotions warred within as she drove, but she knew that this was important. She didn't know that Fujitaka would be there anyway, he had classes since it was only Thursday. In fact, no one should be there. Sakura and Tomoyo would have headed off to classes already also. Sonomi considered turning around and driving to the university, but right before that her phone rang. An automated voice announced that her daughter had not arrived to school that day. That's when Sonomi was certain that she was driving in the right direction. Something was dreadfully wrong, and the video she was bringing to her old rival was part of the puzzle.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Yue watched the car pull up and a woman in a business suit and a short, neat hairstyle walk out. It took him a moment to realize who it was, but he had seen her from behind Yukito's eyes before. Tomoyo's mother. He sat perfectly still, wondering what could have brought this woman here of all places.

Touya had gone back inside a few minutes before, deciding to fix lunch for everyone so that he'd have something productive to do. Yue had finally been able to spend time alone with his thoughts, but realized that it was no longer to his liking. He was too alone. The arrival of Tomoyo's mother was a welcome enigma.

As soon as she knocked on the door she was welcomed in. Yue carefully climbed back to the roof of the house, not wanting to draw on his magic unless necessary. He wasn't surprised that when he got inside and stood at the top of the stairs he heard Fujitaka's voice say, "You might as well go tell Yue and Kero to come down here too. If this tape has what I think it does, there won't be much point in keeping secrets at this point."

Yue heard Tomoyo agree, and then she rushed toward the stairs with a worried expression. She stopped short five stairs up when she saw him. She gave him a little smile. "You heard?"

"Yes, I'll go get Cerberus. We'll be down in a moment."

He turned slowly, walking a bit reluctantly into Sakura's room. "Cerberus, Daidouji Sonomi is here and everybody wants us to come downstairs. I think she brought something about Sakura with her."

Kero was in his small form, looking out the window. "Did you feel anything last night?"

"I had nightmares, but I don't even remember what they were now. I didn't wake up, I didn't have any warning other than the same bad feeling everybody else had."

"I didn't feel anything at all. I should have woken up or something, but I didn't even know anything was wrong until Tomoyo screamed. I don't understand how this could have happened."

"Let's go see what the new development is. We'll find whoever did this, we'll find Sakura, and we'll bring her back home."

~~~~~@~~~~~