New chapter. Short chapter. On with it, the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: Be short, like this story. I don't own CCS, CLAMP does, but please don't take this plot.

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~Running From More Than Fate ~ Chapter Two~

"Sakura, you have to go to school..." the older woman knocked on her granddaughter's door.

"I don't wanna go. I want Mama and Papa here." Sakura buried her head in her pillow. She had had all these visions for the past few days and they were confusing her.

First, there was the one about Arinori Hiraki. He had freaked her out. She didn't ever want to see him again. There was just something about him that really scared her. She wanted to freeze on the spot whenever someone said his name. She wanted to run away. She wanted to get out of there. But on top of all, she wanted to see her parents again. Even though it had only been a few days, there was still a deep ache in her heart to see them.

Seeing Granny was great, but she wasn't the same as Sakura's parents. Sakura hadn't been at school for the past few days and Sakura knew that her best friend, Tomoyo had been calling her house. But of course, there would be no answer, as Sakura was now living at Granny's with her brother, Touya.

Even though it didn't look like it, Touya was taking this just as hard as Sakura was, although he didn't show it as much. He had promised to protect his little sister from anything that was going to harm her. Nothing had tried yet, but he was certain that something would arise soon. Something would try to get her to help them or something. He didn't know what, where or when, but she was going to be under his watchful gaze at all times. She was the only family that he had left that he had grown up with.

Sakura had brought that everlasting annoying teddy bear of hers. She was constantly hugging it and it had always annoyed him.

Touya walked up behind his grandmother. "Is she out yet?" he asked softly, worried for his little sister.

The older woman shook her head. "No, she hasn't come out of there since we got back, only for food, water and to use the toilet. That's all."

Touya frowned slightly. His sister needed to be taking better care of herself. He knew that she was fragile, but that was no excuse to be treating herself like dirt.

"Sakura, could you please open the door?" Touya asked, tapping on it.

He heard a faint "No..."

"I'm coming in, Sakura."

"No, don't," she responded, but he opened the door anyway and stepped inside. He was worried about her and he needed to see how she was doing.

Touya saw that she was lying stomach down on the bed, her head turned to face the window, her hair incredibly matted and dishevelled. Her clothes were wrinkled. She had obviously been wearing them for a few days and hadn't even bothered changing. Strange...

"What's wrong, Sakura?" he asked softly, going to sit down on her bed beside her. He glanced down at her face and saw red marks on her cheeks where she had been rubbing them. She had obviously been crying and her eyes were tightly shut. It hurt him to see her like this. He just wanted to wipe all her tears away and reassure her that everything was going to be alright. But he knew that that would never happen, because as long as Arinori Hiraki was after them, they could never be safe...

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Is this to do with Mother and Father?"

"I miss them, Touya. I do."

"So do I, Sakura. But they'll always be with us in spirit, right?"

"Yeah... spirit."

And he noticed that she got a faraway look on her face. She opened her eyes and he could see that they were dull with sadness. No longer the twinkling bright emerald that they had been. No, since their parents had left, she, his younger sister, was drowning in her own sorrow. It hurt him to see her like this, there was nothing at all that he could do. Oh, how he wanted to help her. But that was impossible, especially after all that she had gone through. She was still going through it.

"Touya?" she asked.

He looked back at her as she turned her head to look at him. There was still that faraway look in her face and it was clear that it wasn't going to go away any time soon. That was for sure.

"Yeah?" he replied. "What is it?"

"So you think they'll come back?"

No, not that question. The one question that he couldn't answer, she had just asked. She honestly didn't know and he could see it.

With him it was the same way. He didn't know if they'd be back any time soon, or if they were even coming back, it was probably out of the question. Even since they had left, she had been feeling left out, even though she had been here a great number of times before. Was this all that she was going to do for the rest of her life?

He sincerely hoped not. She couldn't just lie in her room for the rest of the day, hoping that it would all go away. Because that was never going to happen. She knew it, he knew it and that was all that would come to pass.

He looked at the wall at the picture of their parents and his little sister. They were all hugging each other and were laughing and happy. He stood out to the side, watching them with a small smile on his face, knowing that that was one of the first times that they had felt truly safe, away from all this danger.

If only you were here now, you could help her out of this slump, Touya thought wistfully. She needs you now, but you left and you can't help. So you've left me to pick up the pieces. I only hope you know what you're doing...

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Well, that's the end for this chapter. Please review!

Hikari Kamiya