Chapter 15 "It all ends here."
Insanity filled notes: I own Hikari and Chang Liu. CLAMP owns everyone else. Feedback would be much appriciated. This chapter's got a bit of fluff, a bit of awkwardness, and a bit of everything. I realize that the E/T status in this fic is a bit low, but why do you think I sent Tomoyo and Kero-chan to see him? ^_~ And away we go!
* * *
Tomoyo shoved her camcorder in her bag, as she quickly walked down the street, nearing the hotel that Hikari said Eriol was staying at. She didn't know why, but butterfiles filled her stomach at the thought of seeing the blue-haired boy again. Eriol was always so nice to her and Sakura, and she couldn't understand how Syaoran was so mad at him. "Hey! Tomoyo-chan, I'd like it if you would slow down! Eriol isn't that special!"
"Oh, sorry Kero-chan," Tomoyo apologized, as she reached the hotel. She quickly stuffed Kero-chan into her bag, as she walked into the hotel, and to the desk. "Excuse me, is there a hotel suite reserved under Hiiragizawa?"
"Yes, there is. Are you a guest?" The clerk asked.
"Yes, and it's really urgent that I speak to him. Do you think you can give me a key to see him? It's really really urgent," Tomoyo asked politely, smiling.
"Of course," the clerk nodded, smiling, as he handed the purple haired girl a cardkey. "It's room 221." Tomoyo said her thanks, and quickly made her way to the elevator. "I wonder what she wanted to see that young man for?"
"Tomoyo!!!" Kero-chan yelled, as the elevator doors closed, "how could you stuff me in here like that!?"
"Oh Kero-chan, I had to," Tomoyo smiled sweetly, pressing the button. "You know I couldn't let that woman see a floating plushie." Kero-chan muttered something, but nodded. The elevator soon stopped, and Tomoyo made her way to room 221. "Here it is." Those butterflies returned, and they were flying around Tomoyo's stomach in a furry. She knocked on the door, and Nakuru opened it. "Hello, is Eriol here?"
"Hey, you're that kid that hangs out with Sakura right?" Nakuru asked, and Tomoyo nodded. "Come in." She stepped back, letting Tomoyo in. "Eriol!!"
"Yes?" Eriol responded, coming out of the bathroom, dressed in a blue silk chinese suit. Tomoyo blushed a bit, and Eriol smiled. "Hello Tomoyo."
"Eriol, I'm here for an important reason," Tomoyo began, forcing the blush down. "Chang Liu took control of Kiseki a while ago, and she made her. . .she made her stab Yue... Hikari got control back, and now Yue's unconcious. It was the only way Hikari could start to cure him. Sakura and Syaoran are off to look at the artifiact that brought Professor Kinomoto here."
Eriol nodded, his hands at his side. "I see. I'll come with you at once. Nakuru, stay here with Spinel-Sun. If I need you, you'll know."
"All right," Nakuru nodded. Eriol picked up a small keychain, and followed Tomoyo out of the room. "He likes her, doesn't he?"
"Yes," Spinel Sun nodded, looking up from a fairly thick book. "But I think we're assuming too much. They're just good friends. She's sweet and nice, and Eriol... well, Eriol is Eriol. Now come and help me with this research."
* * *
Sakura sighed with great relief as she followed her father and Touya into the museum. They had bought the story that she and Syaoran told them, only because it was extremely plausable that Yukito would stay longer because of the food. Syaoran nudged her, and Sakura snapped out of her thoughts just in time to avoid running into a pole. Touya broke from the group, wanting to go look at some different things. Fujitaka went with the Head Coordinator to discuss the object, and Sakura and Syaoran were left to their own devices.
"Is that it?" Syaoran asked, pointing to a jeweled dagger propped up in a display case. Sakura nodded, and the two brown-haired ones walked over to it. "I reconize this writing. Hikari told me about it before Chang Liu took her."
"What does it say?" Sakura asked curiously, peering at the object.
"Um," Syaoran murmered, as he walked up closer to the dagger, to see the writing. "It says, 'The child of night, protector of the wolf, weapon to slay the snake'." He looked to Sakura. "Kiseki can use this to defeat Chang Liu! But how do we get it out of here?"
"*We* can't," Sakura began, "but I'm sure Hikari can get it out. We'll come at night."
"Sounds like a plan," Syaoran nodded. "That's if she's cured Yue. Do you think he'll make it?"
"He has to!" Sakura exclaimed, and Syaoran quickly hushed her. "Yue just has to make it! I know Hikari won't stop until she heals him!" A tear rolled down her cheek, and Syaoran pulled her close to him.
"Shh, it's all right, Sakura," Syaoran whispered, stroking her soft hair. "Let's get back to my house, and see if Tomoyo got Eriol. And if Hikari's cured Yue yet." Sakura nodded, and they ran into Touya, saying that they had to get something from Syaoran's house. The elder Kinomoto nodded, and the two brown haired ones got on the bus back to Syaoran's house.
* * *
Hikari groaned, slamming her fist down on the heavy book she was looking through. There was nothing--nothing!!--on how to cure Yue. She had been going through the many Li family spell books, and there was nothing. Swallowing, Hikari looked over to Yue, who was laid down on a blanket in the middle of the room. (I promised I would find the cure, Yue. How to cure you, but there's nothing. I don't know if my magic is powerful enough.)
She got up from her seat at the large desk in the library, and walked over to where the fallen angel was. Hikari kneeled down, and brushed some of Yue's bangs from his face. He looked so innocent, so pure. The bleeding had stopped, but he was still injured. "Yue. . .I am so sorry. . . If I wasn't so weak, I would've taken control of myself, and Chang Liu would have never gotten control of me. You have so much faith in me...in Kiseki...you believed that it wasn't me in control, and--" she stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath to stop the tears that threatened to fall, "and you showed your tender side...
"The side that no one else has ever seen, you showed to me, Yue...you've shown that you do have feelings, and that you can care deeply for someone. Your trust and faith in me caused this to happen to you. I'll never be able to forgive myself, for what I did to you." Hikari shifted a bit, and took one of Yue's hands in her own. "Yue, I have something to confess to you, something that I've been denying since this whole thing began...
"I love you, Yue. I've loved you for the longest time...when I first saw you, to when I know you caught me after I fainted. Twice," Hikari laughed, running her hand down Yue's cold jawline. "But look where that's gotten me. I stabbed you, I was weak enough to let Chang Liu take control of me, and use me to stab you...The only thing I can do for you now is to find a cure, but where?" She brushed some of his bangs again from his face, and leaned down, pressing her lips gently to his.
Slowly she pulled back, and placed a hand on his forehead, sighing. Hikari turned back to her research, looking ever so often over to Yue. Just when she was about to give up again, Syaoran and Sakura came into the room. "Syaoran? What are you two doing back so early?" Hikari asked, wiping away her tears.
"We found out that the artifact at the museum is a weapon for you to use to defeat Chang Liu," Syaoran explained, as Sakura knelt at Yue's side. "But we can't get it...for obvious reasons."
"I see," Hikari murmured, getting up.
"It's a dagger," Sakura said, and Hikari turned to face the young Clowmistress. "The child of night, protector of the wolf, weapon to slay the snake," she recited, still looking at the prone form of Yue.
Hikari nodded, smoothing out her dark hair. "I will get this dagger at night. You two will stay here with Yue and when Tomoyo returns with Eriol, I want the three of you to create a barrier to protect everyone in this house. Eriol will know the spell." Syaoran and Sakura nodded, and while Syaoran helped Hikari look through countless large books, Sakura stayed beside Yue.
An hour later, Tomoyo returned, with one Eriol Hiiragizawa in tow. Eriol walked up to Hikari, and tapped her on the shoulder, bringing her out of her reviere. "Did you find anything?" Eriol asked, smiling.
"Actually........no," Hikari said, shaking her head. "Syaoran and Sakura found a dagger that could help me defeat Chang Liu...What I need you to do, Eriol, is combine your powers with Syaoran and Sakura's, creating a barrier to protect both this house and the people within it from Chang Liu. Do you know the spell I'm speaking of?"
Eriol nodded. "Yes, I do. We should get started immediately." He nodded to Syaoran, who nodded back, then poked Sakura, getting her up as well. "Let's go to the living room. We need to do this in the center of the Li home." Sakura and Syaoran nodded, following him out of the room.
[Night]
Hikari looked up at the museum. (I feel the power of this dagger...I wonder how it ended up here?) She walked up the steps, careful to avoid the gaze of any security guards. Quietly, she recited a small spell, and teleported herself into the museum. Avoiding the guards, Hikari found herself standing in front of the dagger. It was dark blue, with silver designs, in a language that she instantly reconized. Hikari closed her eyes. (Light Spirit Dagger, I am the child of night. Hear my call, grant me your powers, the snake approaches...)
The dagger glowed bright blue, and vanished from the case inside. Hikari thought she had done the incantation wrong, and that the dagger had vanished for good. But it appeared before her, and she quickly grabbed it, hoping that none of the guards saw the strange blue light coming from the display. Hikari recited the teleportation spell, ending up back at the Li home. She knocked on the door, and Syaoran answered. "Hikari-sama! Did you get the dagger?"
Hikari looked grim, and there was a feeling of despair that washed over Syaoran. Suddenly, she grinned, then held up the Dagger. "Piece of cake, Xiao Lang." Syaoran's eyes widened, and he hit her jokingly on the shoulder.
"Don't do that again!" Syaoran exclaimed, pulling her inside the house. "Your sense of humor has crappy timing!"
Hikari grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. It's a bad habit." She walked into the room where Yue was kept, and knelt down. "This dagger has a healing power...the legend of it has been in my family for years, and I thought it only to be a myth." She held the dagger above Yue, and let go of it, and Sakura and Tomoyo gasped, wondering what she was doing. The dagger, however, stayed suspended over Yue. Hikari closed her eyes, and everyone stayed behind her, as she continued, "this dagger holds the power to defeat Chang Liu, and to heal virtually anything. It was a double edged sword, as the expression goes." Eriol, Syaoran, Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero-chan stood transfixed as Hikari made an unsheathing motion with her hands. The dagger shed it's sheath, the dark blue and silver sheath falling to the side. Hikari made a downwards motion, and the dagger flew downwards, right into Yue's still visible stab wound.
"What are you doing!?" Sakura cried, the fear of losing Yue too great for her.
"Sakura, calm down!" Syaoran advised, holding the young girl tightly. "Trust Hikari. She knows what she's doing! You know she wouldn't do anything to harm him!" Sakura nodded, holding onto Syaoran's arm tightly.
"Angel of Light, protector of the Mistress, arise and grow your wings again," Hikari whispered, taking a deep breath, her eyes still closed. The dagger retracted from Yue's wound, and a column of white energy engulfed the fallen Angel, the dagger flying back into Hikari's grasp. Eriol's mouth dropped wide open, as did Syaoran, Sakura and Tomoyo's, not used to seeing anything like this.
There was a groan, that shattered the tense silence. Yue opened his silver blue eyes, another groan escaping his lips. "What...happened...?"
Hikari was speechless. "It worked....Yue! My God, it worked!" She walked on her knees over to him, holding him up gently. "Yue...how do you feel?"
"Alive," Yue replied hoarsely, reaching up and touching her face. "I heard everything you said to me, Hikari. Every word you whispered to me while I was under that spell, I heard..." Hikari looked to either pass out or blanch completely. "And I feel the same way about you." He raised his head up a little, kissing her gently on the lips.
"Oh gosh! This is amazing!" Tomoyo gushed, camcorder in hand and recording. Kero-chan sweatdropped, but grinned, knowing the purple-haired girl could not pass up an oppritunity to record another moment of this saga.
"Yue..." Hikari whispered, brushing back some of his wild silver bangs. "I...I want you to stay here with everyone. I have to face Chang Liu now. The time before the ceremony is to be preformed approaches." She turned to Syaoran. "Come with me outside. There is something I want you to talk to you about."Syaoran nodded, following her out to the garden. "The last battle will not be an easy one, nor will it be won quickly. Keep Sakura safe, but most of all, keep yourself safe. You have people around you that love you and that are your friends."
"Hikari, what are you saying?" Syaoran asked, a feeling in his stomach making him fear the worse. "That you're not going to make it through the battle?"
Hikari shook her head. "I am not saying that. This is an all-or-nothing battle, and Chang Liu is going to pull out all the stops to get the Tear of Destiny. You are very important to the universe, Xiao Lang, but you're very important to me." She hugged Syaoran tightly, running a hand through his thick brown hair. When she broke the embrace, she looked fondly at him. "You know, you're almost like a son to me."
"Mom," Syaoran joked, poking her in the chest. Hikari looked striken, but laughed anyway. Suddenly, there was a flash and Hikari was blown back, hitting one of the marble statues, nearly knocking her out. "Hikari!?"
"Little wolf, you are a careful one," a familar voice sneered. Syaoran looked behind him in horror as Chang Liu decended down from the sky. "Casting a spell to protect those in your house. Very smart. But you neglected to protect the boundaries *around* the premises so that I could not be here right now." She regarded Hikari with a cold smirk. "And your little Guardian seems to have let love screw up her head." Chang Liu grabbed Syaoran's wrist, pulling the boy to her. "The time approaches, when I can use your mortal blood to open the gate..and then I will be powerful!" She laughed, but stopped when she saw Hikari stand up. "It all ends here, Reed. Your pathetic existance on this planet will end with a bang once I posess the Tear of Destiny!" Before Hikari could make a move, Chang Liu dissapeared. And with Syaoran.
* * *
Author's notes: Oh, another cliff-hanger, and right before the big battle! How is it going to end? Will there be a happy ending? Will Chang Liu get the Tear of Destiny? What is going to happen? Will I stop asking so many annoying questions? LoL, review and let me know what you think! Suggestions, as always are welcome! ^_~
Insanity filled notes: I own Hikari and Chang Liu. CLAMP owns everyone else. Feedback would be much appriciated. This chapter's got a bit of fluff, a bit of awkwardness, and a bit of everything. I realize that the E/T status in this fic is a bit low, but why do you think I sent Tomoyo and Kero-chan to see him? ^_~ And away we go!
* * *
Tomoyo shoved her camcorder in her bag, as she quickly walked down the street, nearing the hotel that Hikari said Eriol was staying at. She didn't know why, but butterfiles filled her stomach at the thought of seeing the blue-haired boy again. Eriol was always so nice to her and Sakura, and she couldn't understand how Syaoran was so mad at him. "Hey! Tomoyo-chan, I'd like it if you would slow down! Eriol isn't that special!"
"Oh, sorry Kero-chan," Tomoyo apologized, as she reached the hotel. She quickly stuffed Kero-chan into her bag, as she walked into the hotel, and to the desk. "Excuse me, is there a hotel suite reserved under Hiiragizawa?"
"Yes, there is. Are you a guest?" The clerk asked.
"Yes, and it's really urgent that I speak to him. Do you think you can give me a key to see him? It's really really urgent," Tomoyo asked politely, smiling.
"Of course," the clerk nodded, smiling, as he handed the purple haired girl a cardkey. "It's room 221." Tomoyo said her thanks, and quickly made her way to the elevator. "I wonder what she wanted to see that young man for?"
"Tomoyo!!!" Kero-chan yelled, as the elevator doors closed, "how could you stuff me in here like that!?"
"Oh Kero-chan, I had to," Tomoyo smiled sweetly, pressing the button. "You know I couldn't let that woman see a floating plushie." Kero-chan muttered something, but nodded. The elevator soon stopped, and Tomoyo made her way to room 221. "Here it is." Those butterflies returned, and they were flying around Tomoyo's stomach in a furry. She knocked on the door, and Nakuru opened it. "Hello, is Eriol here?"
"Hey, you're that kid that hangs out with Sakura right?" Nakuru asked, and Tomoyo nodded. "Come in." She stepped back, letting Tomoyo in. "Eriol!!"
"Yes?" Eriol responded, coming out of the bathroom, dressed in a blue silk chinese suit. Tomoyo blushed a bit, and Eriol smiled. "Hello Tomoyo."
"Eriol, I'm here for an important reason," Tomoyo began, forcing the blush down. "Chang Liu took control of Kiseki a while ago, and she made her. . .she made her stab Yue... Hikari got control back, and now Yue's unconcious. It was the only way Hikari could start to cure him. Sakura and Syaoran are off to look at the artifiact that brought Professor Kinomoto here."
Eriol nodded, his hands at his side. "I see. I'll come with you at once. Nakuru, stay here with Spinel-Sun. If I need you, you'll know."
"All right," Nakuru nodded. Eriol picked up a small keychain, and followed Tomoyo out of the room. "He likes her, doesn't he?"
"Yes," Spinel Sun nodded, looking up from a fairly thick book. "But I think we're assuming too much. They're just good friends. She's sweet and nice, and Eriol... well, Eriol is Eriol. Now come and help me with this research."
* * *
Sakura sighed with great relief as she followed her father and Touya into the museum. They had bought the story that she and Syaoran told them, only because it was extremely plausable that Yukito would stay longer because of the food. Syaoran nudged her, and Sakura snapped out of her thoughts just in time to avoid running into a pole. Touya broke from the group, wanting to go look at some different things. Fujitaka went with the Head Coordinator to discuss the object, and Sakura and Syaoran were left to their own devices.
"Is that it?" Syaoran asked, pointing to a jeweled dagger propped up in a display case. Sakura nodded, and the two brown-haired ones walked over to it. "I reconize this writing. Hikari told me about it before Chang Liu took her."
"What does it say?" Sakura asked curiously, peering at the object.
"Um," Syaoran murmered, as he walked up closer to the dagger, to see the writing. "It says, 'The child of night, protector of the wolf, weapon to slay the snake'." He looked to Sakura. "Kiseki can use this to defeat Chang Liu! But how do we get it out of here?"
"*We* can't," Sakura began, "but I'm sure Hikari can get it out. We'll come at night."
"Sounds like a plan," Syaoran nodded. "That's if she's cured Yue. Do you think he'll make it?"
"He has to!" Sakura exclaimed, and Syaoran quickly hushed her. "Yue just has to make it! I know Hikari won't stop until she heals him!" A tear rolled down her cheek, and Syaoran pulled her close to him.
"Shh, it's all right, Sakura," Syaoran whispered, stroking her soft hair. "Let's get back to my house, and see if Tomoyo got Eriol. And if Hikari's cured Yue yet." Sakura nodded, and they ran into Touya, saying that they had to get something from Syaoran's house. The elder Kinomoto nodded, and the two brown haired ones got on the bus back to Syaoran's house.
* * *
Hikari groaned, slamming her fist down on the heavy book she was looking through. There was nothing--nothing!!--on how to cure Yue. She had been going through the many Li family spell books, and there was nothing. Swallowing, Hikari looked over to Yue, who was laid down on a blanket in the middle of the room. (I promised I would find the cure, Yue. How to cure you, but there's nothing. I don't know if my magic is powerful enough.)
She got up from her seat at the large desk in the library, and walked over to where the fallen angel was. Hikari kneeled down, and brushed some of Yue's bangs from his face. He looked so innocent, so pure. The bleeding had stopped, but he was still injured. "Yue. . .I am so sorry. . . If I wasn't so weak, I would've taken control of myself, and Chang Liu would have never gotten control of me. You have so much faith in me...in Kiseki...you believed that it wasn't me in control, and--" she stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath to stop the tears that threatened to fall, "and you showed your tender side...
"The side that no one else has ever seen, you showed to me, Yue...you've shown that you do have feelings, and that you can care deeply for someone. Your trust and faith in me caused this to happen to you. I'll never be able to forgive myself, for what I did to you." Hikari shifted a bit, and took one of Yue's hands in her own. "Yue, I have something to confess to you, something that I've been denying since this whole thing began...
"I love you, Yue. I've loved you for the longest time...when I first saw you, to when I know you caught me after I fainted. Twice," Hikari laughed, running her hand down Yue's cold jawline. "But look where that's gotten me. I stabbed you, I was weak enough to let Chang Liu take control of me, and use me to stab you...The only thing I can do for you now is to find a cure, but where?" She brushed some of his bangs again from his face, and leaned down, pressing her lips gently to his.
Slowly she pulled back, and placed a hand on his forehead, sighing. Hikari turned back to her research, looking ever so often over to Yue. Just when she was about to give up again, Syaoran and Sakura came into the room. "Syaoran? What are you two doing back so early?" Hikari asked, wiping away her tears.
"We found out that the artifact at the museum is a weapon for you to use to defeat Chang Liu," Syaoran explained, as Sakura knelt at Yue's side. "But we can't get it...for obvious reasons."
"I see," Hikari murmured, getting up.
"It's a dagger," Sakura said, and Hikari turned to face the young Clowmistress. "The child of night, protector of the wolf, weapon to slay the snake," she recited, still looking at the prone form of Yue.
Hikari nodded, smoothing out her dark hair. "I will get this dagger at night. You two will stay here with Yue and when Tomoyo returns with Eriol, I want the three of you to create a barrier to protect everyone in this house. Eriol will know the spell." Syaoran and Sakura nodded, and while Syaoran helped Hikari look through countless large books, Sakura stayed beside Yue.
An hour later, Tomoyo returned, with one Eriol Hiiragizawa in tow. Eriol walked up to Hikari, and tapped her on the shoulder, bringing her out of her reviere. "Did you find anything?" Eriol asked, smiling.
"Actually........no," Hikari said, shaking her head. "Syaoran and Sakura found a dagger that could help me defeat Chang Liu...What I need you to do, Eriol, is combine your powers with Syaoran and Sakura's, creating a barrier to protect both this house and the people within it from Chang Liu. Do you know the spell I'm speaking of?"
Eriol nodded. "Yes, I do. We should get started immediately." He nodded to Syaoran, who nodded back, then poked Sakura, getting her up as well. "Let's go to the living room. We need to do this in the center of the Li home." Sakura and Syaoran nodded, following him out of the room.
[Night]
Hikari looked up at the museum. (I feel the power of this dagger...I wonder how it ended up here?) She walked up the steps, careful to avoid the gaze of any security guards. Quietly, she recited a small spell, and teleported herself into the museum. Avoiding the guards, Hikari found herself standing in front of the dagger. It was dark blue, with silver designs, in a language that she instantly reconized. Hikari closed her eyes. (Light Spirit Dagger, I am the child of night. Hear my call, grant me your powers, the snake approaches...)
The dagger glowed bright blue, and vanished from the case inside. Hikari thought she had done the incantation wrong, and that the dagger had vanished for good. But it appeared before her, and she quickly grabbed it, hoping that none of the guards saw the strange blue light coming from the display. Hikari recited the teleportation spell, ending up back at the Li home. She knocked on the door, and Syaoran answered. "Hikari-sama! Did you get the dagger?"
Hikari looked grim, and there was a feeling of despair that washed over Syaoran. Suddenly, she grinned, then held up the Dagger. "Piece of cake, Xiao Lang." Syaoran's eyes widened, and he hit her jokingly on the shoulder.
"Don't do that again!" Syaoran exclaimed, pulling her inside the house. "Your sense of humor has crappy timing!"
Hikari grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. It's a bad habit." She walked into the room where Yue was kept, and knelt down. "This dagger has a healing power...the legend of it has been in my family for years, and I thought it only to be a myth." She held the dagger above Yue, and let go of it, and Sakura and Tomoyo gasped, wondering what she was doing. The dagger, however, stayed suspended over Yue. Hikari closed her eyes, and everyone stayed behind her, as she continued, "this dagger holds the power to defeat Chang Liu, and to heal virtually anything. It was a double edged sword, as the expression goes." Eriol, Syaoran, Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero-chan stood transfixed as Hikari made an unsheathing motion with her hands. The dagger shed it's sheath, the dark blue and silver sheath falling to the side. Hikari made a downwards motion, and the dagger flew downwards, right into Yue's still visible stab wound.
"What are you doing!?" Sakura cried, the fear of losing Yue too great for her.
"Sakura, calm down!" Syaoran advised, holding the young girl tightly. "Trust Hikari. She knows what she's doing! You know she wouldn't do anything to harm him!" Sakura nodded, holding onto Syaoran's arm tightly.
"Angel of Light, protector of the Mistress, arise and grow your wings again," Hikari whispered, taking a deep breath, her eyes still closed. The dagger retracted from Yue's wound, and a column of white energy engulfed the fallen Angel, the dagger flying back into Hikari's grasp. Eriol's mouth dropped wide open, as did Syaoran, Sakura and Tomoyo's, not used to seeing anything like this.
There was a groan, that shattered the tense silence. Yue opened his silver blue eyes, another groan escaping his lips. "What...happened...?"
Hikari was speechless. "It worked....Yue! My God, it worked!" She walked on her knees over to him, holding him up gently. "Yue...how do you feel?"
"Alive," Yue replied hoarsely, reaching up and touching her face. "I heard everything you said to me, Hikari. Every word you whispered to me while I was under that spell, I heard..." Hikari looked to either pass out or blanch completely. "And I feel the same way about you." He raised his head up a little, kissing her gently on the lips.
"Oh gosh! This is amazing!" Tomoyo gushed, camcorder in hand and recording. Kero-chan sweatdropped, but grinned, knowing the purple-haired girl could not pass up an oppritunity to record another moment of this saga.
"Yue..." Hikari whispered, brushing back some of his wild silver bangs. "I...I want you to stay here with everyone. I have to face Chang Liu now. The time before the ceremony is to be preformed approaches." She turned to Syaoran. "Come with me outside. There is something I want you to talk to you about."Syaoran nodded, following her out to the garden. "The last battle will not be an easy one, nor will it be won quickly. Keep Sakura safe, but most of all, keep yourself safe. You have people around you that love you and that are your friends."
"Hikari, what are you saying?" Syaoran asked, a feeling in his stomach making him fear the worse. "That you're not going to make it through the battle?"
Hikari shook her head. "I am not saying that. This is an all-or-nothing battle, and Chang Liu is going to pull out all the stops to get the Tear of Destiny. You are very important to the universe, Xiao Lang, but you're very important to me." She hugged Syaoran tightly, running a hand through his thick brown hair. When she broke the embrace, she looked fondly at him. "You know, you're almost like a son to me."
"Mom," Syaoran joked, poking her in the chest. Hikari looked striken, but laughed anyway. Suddenly, there was a flash and Hikari was blown back, hitting one of the marble statues, nearly knocking her out. "Hikari!?"
"Little wolf, you are a careful one," a familar voice sneered. Syaoran looked behind him in horror as Chang Liu decended down from the sky. "Casting a spell to protect those in your house. Very smart. But you neglected to protect the boundaries *around* the premises so that I could not be here right now." She regarded Hikari with a cold smirk. "And your little Guardian seems to have let love screw up her head." Chang Liu grabbed Syaoran's wrist, pulling the boy to her. "The time approaches, when I can use your mortal blood to open the gate..and then I will be powerful!" She laughed, but stopped when she saw Hikari stand up. "It all ends here, Reed. Your pathetic existance on this planet will end with a bang once I posess the Tear of Destiny!" Before Hikari could make a move, Chang Liu dissapeared. And with Syaoran.
* * *
Author's notes: Oh, another cliff-hanger, and right before the big battle! How is it going to end? Will there be a happy ending? Will Chang Liu get the Tear of Destiny? What is going to happen? Will I stop asking so many annoying questions? LoL, review and let me know what you think! Suggestions, as always are welcome! ^_~