The bar/inn that the group was staying at was positioned conveniently
inside a large oasis, a large, overly green forest of trees standing in a
sea of brown and white sand. By early that morning, the six of them set
off, equipped with a renewed stock of energy, but by midmorning, Eriol and
Syraon were at it again, with Yue and Kero arguing sport statistics in the
background.
"This is ridiculous," Tomoyo said as she shielded herself with a parasol.
"You look like a damsel in distress." Sakura teased, scrolling through map in her hand.
"Dude, you have no idea what you're talking about!" Syaoran snapped, scanning around the savanna.
"I'm telling you, that volcano Sakura was talking about is that way!" Eriol fretted, pointing in a completely different direction than they were traveling.
'I think Eriol's right.' Sakura thought to herself.
"I don't think that's the right direction." Tomoyo said to Eriol.
At this, his mouth snapped shut. As they continued on their way, panic began mounting at the bottom of Sakura's throat. Biting her lip, she silently told herself that they were more experienced in the game. But the maps couldn't have been wrong, and Syraon was clearly traveling without the use of one.
As she opened her mouth to confirm Eriol's opinion, a storm began, blowing sand into all their eyes.
"Oh yes, I really remember being hit with a sand storm on the way to the Fire Card." Eriol shouted over the strong roar of the wind.
"Eriol was right, we were supposed to head towards that huge obelisk we saw a few hours ago!" Sakura said as she shielded herself and Tomoyo with the delicate parasol the girl had been using earlier.
"Be careful, that's a silk umbrella!" Tomoyo said as she grasped Sakura's shoulders and checking to see if her friend was ok.
Sakura silently cursed at herself. She should've said something earlier.
Within a few more minutes of waiting for the storm to die down, Syaoran twirled around and demanded why Sakura hadn't spoken up earlier.
"Maybe it's because you too busy acting like a big shot!" Sakura snapped as she yanked out her feet, which were buried below the surface.
"Excuse me?" Syaoran asked in shock.
"You heard me." Sakura grumbled as she turned to head back. "The last thing I need is a big strong man to take care of me."
"If it weren't for me, Hydra would have fried you." Syaoran yelled after her.
"That's right, you helped and I'm grateful for that, but please, don't get your ego inflated." Sakura said as she helped Tomoyo pick up her newly scattered belongings.
"Wow, talk about feminism." Yue muttered quietly to Kero.
"Girl power is an admirable thing." His friend replied.
"This is just a game to you, isn't it?" Syoaran said as he turned his tone deathly quiet, "Some people have something actual riding on the outcome of this game."
"It's unnecessary to mention that right now." Yue reminded, as he threw his arm over his friend and punched him playfully in the gut.
"Sorry for not standing up for you earlier Eriol." Sakura whispered quietly as the group turned around. Trying to keep her hair from flying in all sorts of directions, she quickly untied the scarf around her waist, knotting it into her hair.
Eriol smiled at her and went back to silently assessing a map of his own, which seemed more detailed and accurate than Sakura's.
"My map is newer if that's what you're wondering." He said simply, "I can upload onto your own menu if you want."
"Sure." Sakura grinned, happy to be on peaceful terms with at least one of them.
"Kero, we need your extension chord." Eriol called, snapping the black wire gracefully out of the air as it was thrown.
With a few lessons on how to operate the little watch on Sakura's wrist, she was equipped with a new map and along with a full list of new abilities including flight and the ability to pack energy heated bombs into her hands which were contributed by Yue, Kero, Eriol and even by Syaoran. Covering her eyes from the blindingly bright sun, she sent a smile in Syaoran's direction, letting him know that there were no hard feelings.
Syaoran caught her look and let the corners of his mouth twitch upward, making Sakura realize just how lovely he looked when he was happy, which was worth more than all the reason in the world to stay in the game.
~*~
"Looks like we're sleeping on the sand tonight." Sakura said sadly, as she sat herself down, grateful that the sun had finally started setting.
"I'm going to go look for firewood or something." Kero said, grabbing Yue by the collar and dragging him off.
"I'll help." Tomoyo said kindly, following them.
"Well jeez, I don't wanna stay here!" Eriol sniffed as he got up and left.
'Looks like it's just me and Sakura.' Syaraon thought to himself as he laid himself down and looked up at the sky, which had started turning purple, pink and orange.
"I've never been able to watch a sunset before." Sakura murmured as she pulled her knees to her chin.
"Nice for something that's not even real." Syaoran agreed.
"But if you think about it. what do you define as real?" Sakura wondered out loud, "I mean."
Syaoran let her trail off, knowing exactly what she meant. He turned over to his stomach, which brought him nearly an inch away from Sakura.
They both stayed there in complete silence, hearing nothing but the sand whistling through the air and stars stream into the sky that was turning a navy blue. When this happened, when the sky began filling with diamonds that questioned everything you were, Syaoran and Sakura both swore in their hearts that they could hear each other's hearts gain speed, beating so quickly that their chests hurt.
~*~
Between heaved chortles, Syaoran said, "So let me get this straight, your brother once called you a girly girl who couldn't stand up for herself?"
"He was in one of his harsher moods." Sakura informed.
"Did you stand up for yourself then at least?"
"I really don't remember." Sakura said as she wiggled around in her sleeping bag.
"You sure are a lot stronger than a lot of the other girls I know." Syaoran said.
"Stronger how?" Sakura asked, looking him in the eye.
Not even blinking, he replied with the confidence of someone who had never been proven wrong. "Because you're not afraid to be. As in you won't stop when it comes to things that are wrong and unfair, as in you're not scared of who you are."
Sakura closed her eyes and pressed her head against a pillow. "I sure don't feel strong sometimes. I was pretty darn scared when that sand storm kicked up."
"You don't even feel awkward when you admit it too." Syaoran said with a smile, and then added as an after thought, "Which is a lot more I can say about myself."
"Ok you lovebirds, stop drooling over each other and give me a hand." Yue shouted, an empty voice that Sakura didn't think applied to them.
"They're not talking about us." Syaoran assured, glancing up at his friends.
Yue sprinted into view, followed closely by Kero. Tomoyo and Eriol followed a great deal behind, not even attempting to catch up.
"What happened?" Syaoran asked, grabbing Kero's sleeve as he walked toward them.
"Tomoyo and Eriol were attacked by these huge ugly dog things." Kero said stoutly, looking relieved that his friends were unhurt.
"That was quite the adventure." Eriol said with a grin as he leapt up beside his comrades. "Hey. why are you two sleeping so close to each other?"
"We were just talking." Syaoran said calmly, as if daring the other to make further assumptions.
"That's about as believably as the fact that Eriol saved both himself and Tomoyo from that monster." Yue said smartly with a chuckle.
"You mean Tomoyo was the one to get them out of there?" Syaoran asked.
"Can you believe it? She just took one look at that ugly thing and hit it on the nose with her umbrella. Eriol was cowering in the sand." Kero said proudly as he glanced at Tomoyo, who was hiding her bright pink cheeks with her parasol.
"I was not!" Eriol objected, shooting daggers at his friends.
The others burst out laughing, except for Sakura who got up to inspect her the other girl.
"You alright?" Sakura asked gently, before realizing that she was being over protective of her friend.
"Just fine Sakura." Tomoyo said, shuffling her feet. "Let's get to bed you guys." Yue said between hearty laughs.
"Leave him alone!" Tomoyo stormed as she took one look at her friend.
It was time for Sakura to start sniggering. It was getting more and more obvious by the minute that Tomoyo and Eriol cared a lot about each other, possibly more than regular friends would. This caused the others to nearly collapse in a heap of giggles.
"Leave them alone!" Sakura yelled, getting irritated that the others were teasing Tomoyo and Eriol so relentlessly.
At Sakura's angry tone, the three boys stopped, taking time to slap Eriol on the back and try to start a fire. Within moments, the group was circled around a fire, feeding off the dead wood and other things they had been able to find earlier.
"You might want to take another blanket." Eriol said as he passed her a linen sheet, "It gets pretty cold in deserts at night."
"I think I'll just leave now and see you guys in the morning." Sakura said, referring to the real world.
"Take an hour break then come back in." Syaoran instructed, "But come back because we usually stay nights for a reason."
Nodding and getting up, Sakura activated the 'exit' function on her watch, feeling her body tingle as she was surrounded by blue light. Given another sharp crack, Sakura felt her mind being transported back to its body, her consciousness flying through virtual tunnels made of masses of colored light.
When it all ended, Sakura stirred, back in the comfort of her living room.
"Welcome Sakura." Fujitaka said with a smile as he turned his attention back to his latest gadget.
"How are things at the University?" Sakura asked, wondering about the latest exploits of her father's job.
"Fantastic." Fujitaka answered absentmindedly, carefully screwing in a few bolts,
"I guess it's time to attack my pile of homework, hu?" Sakura said with a grin as she saw the stack of papers on the table.
"Nope, that's MY homework." Fujitaka said, looking up. "Yours is in the hallway because Touya couldn't make it to your room with that giant mound of paper."
Sweat dropping, she stepped into the hallway, nearly fainting when she saw all the assignments, knowing that some were only single sheets, probably asking for book reports or essays. 'How long have I been in that game?' Sakura thought to herself, as she gathered the ones on the top and gallivanted off to her room. Heaving the stack onto her desk, she could barely recall why she had decided to join the advanced honor classes in the first place. This was however, her last year of junior high, and to get into the best high school, she would have to study hard.
Rounding the textbooks into her lap, she attacked the pile of homework with the precision and passion of a war general to the enemy, tearing through the sheets with scribbles and high-speed calculation, humming along to the radio. With a half hour left, Sakura made her third trip downstairs, gathering about twenty blank assignments from the decreasing pile.
"That's about a hundred pieces of paper, hey squirt?" Touya said, appearing in the doorway with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Yea, just about." Sakura said, sweeping a book report to the side, being too busy with her work to be angry with her brother.
"Holy cow, how fast do you read?" Touya asked, picking up the folder.
"I've already read them all." Sakura said with a smile.
"Good job kaiju, nobody's ever going to come even close to catching up with you if you keep this us." Touya said with a grin as he rustled her hair and shut the door behind her.
"I'll get you back for that oni-sama." Sakura whispered to herself, pulling out her calculator and preparing to butcher some math equations.
~*~
"Dad, the game. it's not working." Sakura said breathlessly, feeling panic weld up in her throat.
"It's not?" Fujitaka said surprised, poking his head through the door.
Sakura shook her head, praying that she wouldn't end up letting her friends down. Already an hour and a half had already past.
While Fujitaka tinkered with the modem of the VR game, he talked Sakura into taking a shower, assuring her that it'd calm he nerves.
"Besides," Touya said slyly, "You smell like you haven't bathed for days."
Blowing a raspberry at her brother on the way out, she clambered up the stairs. With a toss of her sweater and shake of her hair, Sakura climbed into the stall, relaxing as she felt waves of hot water wash over her body. If only she could play the VR game while showering.
~*~
"The system is completely crashed." Touya said, shaking his head as she glanced down at the modem.
Connecting and reconnecting a few more wires to the visor, Fujitaka didn't look too happy as he glanced down at the tangle of chord at his feet. Seating himself on the couch, he put his head in his hands. He had checked the configuration, computer assimilation, data inputs and outputs, everything he could think of! Unless somebody had sabotaged the network from the inside, there was no possible way that a state of the art VR game would be dysfunctional.
"Alright Dad, who do you think did it?" Touya asked, taking one look at his father's solemn face.
"A professional computer hacker, no doubts, ifs or buts about it." He replied, massaging his temple.
"So." Touya trailed off.
"We have to crack the PC code for it." Fujitaka said, getting to his feet and retrieving his labtop.
"Which could take."
"Far longer than it takes for Sakura to take a shower and find out what happened." Fujitaka said breathlessly, booting up the small computer.
"We're gonna see some fireworks tonight." Touya said with a sly grin as he heard the bathroom door shut.
"You're afraid of that temper too, aren't you?" Fujitaka asked curiously.
The two laughed at that and returned the exact same knowing look to each other. Sakura had the same passionate distemper as her mother, never putting up with anything less than fair. Or broken in this case.
"This is ridiculous," Tomoyo said as she shielded herself with a parasol.
"You look like a damsel in distress." Sakura teased, scrolling through map in her hand.
"Dude, you have no idea what you're talking about!" Syaoran snapped, scanning around the savanna.
"I'm telling you, that volcano Sakura was talking about is that way!" Eriol fretted, pointing in a completely different direction than they were traveling.
'I think Eriol's right.' Sakura thought to herself.
"I don't think that's the right direction." Tomoyo said to Eriol.
At this, his mouth snapped shut. As they continued on their way, panic began mounting at the bottom of Sakura's throat. Biting her lip, she silently told herself that they were more experienced in the game. But the maps couldn't have been wrong, and Syraon was clearly traveling without the use of one.
As she opened her mouth to confirm Eriol's opinion, a storm began, blowing sand into all their eyes.
"Oh yes, I really remember being hit with a sand storm on the way to the Fire Card." Eriol shouted over the strong roar of the wind.
"Eriol was right, we were supposed to head towards that huge obelisk we saw a few hours ago!" Sakura said as she shielded herself and Tomoyo with the delicate parasol the girl had been using earlier.
"Be careful, that's a silk umbrella!" Tomoyo said as she grasped Sakura's shoulders and checking to see if her friend was ok.
Sakura silently cursed at herself. She should've said something earlier.
Within a few more minutes of waiting for the storm to die down, Syaoran twirled around and demanded why Sakura hadn't spoken up earlier.
"Maybe it's because you too busy acting like a big shot!" Sakura snapped as she yanked out her feet, which were buried below the surface.
"Excuse me?" Syaoran asked in shock.
"You heard me." Sakura grumbled as she turned to head back. "The last thing I need is a big strong man to take care of me."
"If it weren't for me, Hydra would have fried you." Syaoran yelled after her.
"That's right, you helped and I'm grateful for that, but please, don't get your ego inflated." Sakura said as she helped Tomoyo pick up her newly scattered belongings.
"Wow, talk about feminism." Yue muttered quietly to Kero.
"Girl power is an admirable thing." His friend replied.
"This is just a game to you, isn't it?" Syoaran said as he turned his tone deathly quiet, "Some people have something actual riding on the outcome of this game."
"It's unnecessary to mention that right now." Yue reminded, as he threw his arm over his friend and punched him playfully in the gut.
"Sorry for not standing up for you earlier Eriol." Sakura whispered quietly as the group turned around. Trying to keep her hair from flying in all sorts of directions, she quickly untied the scarf around her waist, knotting it into her hair.
Eriol smiled at her and went back to silently assessing a map of his own, which seemed more detailed and accurate than Sakura's.
"My map is newer if that's what you're wondering." He said simply, "I can upload onto your own menu if you want."
"Sure." Sakura grinned, happy to be on peaceful terms with at least one of them.
"Kero, we need your extension chord." Eriol called, snapping the black wire gracefully out of the air as it was thrown.
With a few lessons on how to operate the little watch on Sakura's wrist, she was equipped with a new map and along with a full list of new abilities including flight and the ability to pack energy heated bombs into her hands which were contributed by Yue, Kero, Eriol and even by Syaoran. Covering her eyes from the blindingly bright sun, she sent a smile in Syaoran's direction, letting him know that there were no hard feelings.
Syaoran caught her look and let the corners of his mouth twitch upward, making Sakura realize just how lovely he looked when he was happy, which was worth more than all the reason in the world to stay in the game.
~*~
"Looks like we're sleeping on the sand tonight." Sakura said sadly, as she sat herself down, grateful that the sun had finally started setting.
"I'm going to go look for firewood or something." Kero said, grabbing Yue by the collar and dragging him off.
"I'll help." Tomoyo said kindly, following them.
"Well jeez, I don't wanna stay here!" Eriol sniffed as he got up and left.
'Looks like it's just me and Sakura.' Syaraon thought to himself as he laid himself down and looked up at the sky, which had started turning purple, pink and orange.
"I've never been able to watch a sunset before." Sakura murmured as she pulled her knees to her chin.
"Nice for something that's not even real." Syaoran agreed.
"But if you think about it. what do you define as real?" Sakura wondered out loud, "I mean."
Syaoran let her trail off, knowing exactly what she meant. He turned over to his stomach, which brought him nearly an inch away from Sakura.
They both stayed there in complete silence, hearing nothing but the sand whistling through the air and stars stream into the sky that was turning a navy blue. When this happened, when the sky began filling with diamonds that questioned everything you were, Syaoran and Sakura both swore in their hearts that they could hear each other's hearts gain speed, beating so quickly that their chests hurt.
~*~
Between heaved chortles, Syaoran said, "So let me get this straight, your brother once called you a girly girl who couldn't stand up for herself?"
"He was in one of his harsher moods." Sakura informed.
"Did you stand up for yourself then at least?"
"I really don't remember." Sakura said as she wiggled around in her sleeping bag.
"You sure are a lot stronger than a lot of the other girls I know." Syaoran said.
"Stronger how?" Sakura asked, looking him in the eye.
Not even blinking, he replied with the confidence of someone who had never been proven wrong. "Because you're not afraid to be. As in you won't stop when it comes to things that are wrong and unfair, as in you're not scared of who you are."
Sakura closed her eyes and pressed her head against a pillow. "I sure don't feel strong sometimes. I was pretty darn scared when that sand storm kicked up."
"You don't even feel awkward when you admit it too." Syaoran said with a smile, and then added as an after thought, "Which is a lot more I can say about myself."
"Ok you lovebirds, stop drooling over each other and give me a hand." Yue shouted, an empty voice that Sakura didn't think applied to them.
"They're not talking about us." Syaoran assured, glancing up at his friends.
Yue sprinted into view, followed closely by Kero. Tomoyo and Eriol followed a great deal behind, not even attempting to catch up.
"What happened?" Syaoran asked, grabbing Kero's sleeve as he walked toward them.
"Tomoyo and Eriol were attacked by these huge ugly dog things." Kero said stoutly, looking relieved that his friends were unhurt.
"That was quite the adventure." Eriol said with a grin as he leapt up beside his comrades. "Hey. why are you two sleeping so close to each other?"
"We were just talking." Syaoran said calmly, as if daring the other to make further assumptions.
"That's about as believably as the fact that Eriol saved both himself and Tomoyo from that monster." Yue said smartly with a chuckle.
"You mean Tomoyo was the one to get them out of there?" Syaoran asked.
"Can you believe it? She just took one look at that ugly thing and hit it on the nose with her umbrella. Eriol was cowering in the sand." Kero said proudly as he glanced at Tomoyo, who was hiding her bright pink cheeks with her parasol.
"I was not!" Eriol objected, shooting daggers at his friends.
The others burst out laughing, except for Sakura who got up to inspect her the other girl.
"You alright?" Sakura asked gently, before realizing that she was being over protective of her friend.
"Just fine Sakura." Tomoyo said, shuffling her feet. "Let's get to bed you guys." Yue said between hearty laughs.
"Leave him alone!" Tomoyo stormed as she took one look at her friend.
It was time for Sakura to start sniggering. It was getting more and more obvious by the minute that Tomoyo and Eriol cared a lot about each other, possibly more than regular friends would. This caused the others to nearly collapse in a heap of giggles.
"Leave them alone!" Sakura yelled, getting irritated that the others were teasing Tomoyo and Eriol so relentlessly.
At Sakura's angry tone, the three boys stopped, taking time to slap Eriol on the back and try to start a fire. Within moments, the group was circled around a fire, feeding off the dead wood and other things they had been able to find earlier.
"You might want to take another blanket." Eriol said as he passed her a linen sheet, "It gets pretty cold in deserts at night."
"I think I'll just leave now and see you guys in the morning." Sakura said, referring to the real world.
"Take an hour break then come back in." Syaoran instructed, "But come back because we usually stay nights for a reason."
Nodding and getting up, Sakura activated the 'exit' function on her watch, feeling her body tingle as she was surrounded by blue light. Given another sharp crack, Sakura felt her mind being transported back to its body, her consciousness flying through virtual tunnels made of masses of colored light.
When it all ended, Sakura stirred, back in the comfort of her living room.
"Welcome Sakura." Fujitaka said with a smile as he turned his attention back to his latest gadget.
"How are things at the University?" Sakura asked, wondering about the latest exploits of her father's job.
"Fantastic." Fujitaka answered absentmindedly, carefully screwing in a few bolts,
"I guess it's time to attack my pile of homework, hu?" Sakura said with a grin as she saw the stack of papers on the table.
"Nope, that's MY homework." Fujitaka said, looking up. "Yours is in the hallway because Touya couldn't make it to your room with that giant mound of paper."
Sweat dropping, she stepped into the hallway, nearly fainting when she saw all the assignments, knowing that some were only single sheets, probably asking for book reports or essays. 'How long have I been in that game?' Sakura thought to herself, as she gathered the ones on the top and gallivanted off to her room. Heaving the stack onto her desk, she could barely recall why she had decided to join the advanced honor classes in the first place. This was however, her last year of junior high, and to get into the best high school, she would have to study hard.
Rounding the textbooks into her lap, she attacked the pile of homework with the precision and passion of a war general to the enemy, tearing through the sheets with scribbles and high-speed calculation, humming along to the radio. With a half hour left, Sakura made her third trip downstairs, gathering about twenty blank assignments from the decreasing pile.
"That's about a hundred pieces of paper, hey squirt?" Touya said, appearing in the doorway with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Yea, just about." Sakura said, sweeping a book report to the side, being too busy with her work to be angry with her brother.
"Holy cow, how fast do you read?" Touya asked, picking up the folder.
"I've already read them all." Sakura said with a smile.
"Good job kaiju, nobody's ever going to come even close to catching up with you if you keep this us." Touya said with a grin as he rustled her hair and shut the door behind her.
"I'll get you back for that oni-sama." Sakura whispered to herself, pulling out her calculator and preparing to butcher some math equations.
~*~
"Dad, the game. it's not working." Sakura said breathlessly, feeling panic weld up in her throat.
"It's not?" Fujitaka said surprised, poking his head through the door.
Sakura shook her head, praying that she wouldn't end up letting her friends down. Already an hour and a half had already past.
While Fujitaka tinkered with the modem of the VR game, he talked Sakura into taking a shower, assuring her that it'd calm he nerves.
"Besides," Touya said slyly, "You smell like you haven't bathed for days."
Blowing a raspberry at her brother on the way out, she clambered up the stairs. With a toss of her sweater and shake of her hair, Sakura climbed into the stall, relaxing as she felt waves of hot water wash over her body. If only she could play the VR game while showering.
~*~
"The system is completely crashed." Touya said, shaking his head as she glanced down at the modem.
Connecting and reconnecting a few more wires to the visor, Fujitaka didn't look too happy as he glanced down at the tangle of chord at his feet. Seating himself on the couch, he put his head in his hands. He had checked the configuration, computer assimilation, data inputs and outputs, everything he could think of! Unless somebody had sabotaged the network from the inside, there was no possible way that a state of the art VR game would be dysfunctional.
"Alright Dad, who do you think did it?" Touya asked, taking one look at his father's solemn face.
"A professional computer hacker, no doubts, ifs or buts about it." He replied, massaging his temple.
"So." Touya trailed off.
"We have to crack the PC code for it." Fujitaka said, getting to his feet and retrieving his labtop.
"Which could take."
"Far longer than it takes for Sakura to take a shower and find out what happened." Fujitaka said breathlessly, booting up the small computer.
"We're gonna see some fireworks tonight." Touya said with a sly grin as he heard the bathroom door shut.
"You're afraid of that temper too, aren't you?" Fujitaka asked curiously.
The two laughed at that and returned the exact same knowing look to each other. Sakura had the same passionate distemper as her mother, never putting up with anything less than fair. Or broken in this case.