~*~ Author's Notes ~*~ Hey everyone! Once again I would like to thank everyone for reviewing, and if your not reviewing and just reading then please review or e-mail me or something to let me know how much you like or hate this fic. Oh and if you have any ideas then please go ahead and send them, I don't mind. Honestly. ^_~

Special thanks to: ~*~ Tina - because she keeps calling my house every thirty minutes to see what I have done and to kill me when I get writers block. ~*~



~*~ Chapter 8 ~*~

When I woke up it was almost dawn and I was back at camp. I don't know when or how I had arrived back but my guess was that Syaoran either woke up and carried us back or someone came looking for us.

Syaoran was sitting shirtless next to the fire with Eriol talking about something and Tomoyo was putting what looked like clean bandages around Melin's leg.

I sat up my head feeling groggy. I moaned as I felt my world begin to spin. Was I sick or something? I checked my forehead for any sign of a fever but found none.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me. I blushed from embarrassment and from all of the sudden attention I received.

"Morning Sakura," Cobra said handing me a plate of food. I heard everyone gasp and the guys, especially Syaoran, jump to their feet and drew there weapons.

"What's going on?" I asked everyone.

"How dare you call the Princess by her name?" Tomoyo asked getting out her own dagger. Oh yeah, that's right I forgot about that little detail about not being able to call me by my real name but I hated being called 'PRINCESS' all the time.

"Wait!" I cried out. "I don't mind that he calls me Sakura, it's my name after all. So please all of you call me Sakura from now on. PLEASE," I added begging them. They looked like they were about to say no so I thought quickly. "If you guys didn't call me princess all the time then it would be harder for anyone to recognize that you have found me," I sung sweetly to them.

Everyone looked at one another in silence, except for Cobra who looked more confused than ever. "Fine, that would be a lot safer," Eriol said speaking out for the rest of the group.

I breathed a sigh of relief as everyone began to sit done, except for Syaoran who still had his sword drawn out ready to attack anytime soon.

"Syaoran, I'm sorry about your shirt last night." I said quietly. I held my gaze on my hands so I wouldn't have to look upon his well muscled body gleaming in what was left of the moonlight.

Syaoran put his sword away and sat down right where he stood. I looked up to look at him. He hadn't said a word to me and turned back to talk to Eriol about whatever it was they were talking about before.

I frowned a little and took the plate from Cobra thanking him and began to eat my breakfast still thinking about what had happened last night that could have made Syaoran hate me still. Well, he said that he didn't hate me but, what was it I said that made him still angry with me?

Tomoyo came up and sat in front of me handing me the bag I used to pick the herbs. "I brought your bag Sakura," Tomoyo said stumbling over my name a bit.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. I saw that Melin's leg looked a little busted it up. How bad is it?" I asked Tomoyo taking in a mouthful of gruel that Cobra had given me to eat.

"It's broken, and from the looks of it I'll take more than a month it to fully heal. This could set us back considerably Sakura," Tomoyo said. I could almost hear an apology coming when she spoke to me about it. Like It really mattered to me if we got there on time or not but then again their lives could be at risk with my real mother if they didn't get me there when she wanted. The last thing that I wanted was for anymore of my new found friends to get hurt.

"I see," I said. "But I wouldn't worry about being held up by Melin's broken leg. I can have it fixed and her bone mended within a day tops." I looked up at Tomoyo's startled face. "It's the herbs that will make her heal fast," I said quickly incase she thought that I was some kind of hypercritical witch.

"Really? Just the herbs them self can do that so fast?" Tomoyo asked amazed.

I smiled and nodded my head and set the now empty plate down on the ground next to me. "All you need are the right herbs. If you use only half of what you really need then you'll only get half of a success when it comes to healing a wound of any kind," I told her.

"Wow, is there anyway you could teach me how to use herbs like you?" Tomoyo asked smiling.

"Sure I would love to," I told her. She let out a shriek of delight and jumped up to her feet clasping her hands together. I giggled at her actions.

Standing up I went to a rock and began grinding the herbs that I had gathered and Tomoyo stood by me and watched the whole time. When I was finished I took off the bandages Tomoyo had put on the now sleeping Melin.

Just when I taken off the last of the bandages Melin woke up and started. "What do you think your doing?!" She shrieked nearly busting my eardrum.

"Ow! Will you just calm down!?"" Tomoyo told her. "Sakura is trying to help you."

Melin watched me put the paste on my first two fingers and I was about to apply it to her leg so I could rub it in when she began screaming over dramatically. "How do I know that no poison!?" Melin asked making sure that it was aimed directly in my ear.

"Because she used the same stuff on me last night," Syaoran said not looking over at us.

"How do I know that your telling the truth?" Melin asked looking over at Syaoran.

He sighed and stood up and walked over to us. "Remember when I got cut deeply in my shoulder when we were fighting the demon?" Syaoran asked. Melin nodded. "Well, last night Sakura put that stuff in my cut and now look." He bent down to show Melin his shoulder. There wasn't a scratch anywhere to indicate that he had gotten cut there.

"She did that with that stuff?" Melin asked looking at the paste on my hands in wonderment. Syaoran nodded. "Well, I still don't trust her. I want someone else to apply it," Melin stated firmly.

"No, you have to let Sakura do it. What if we had to say a certain word or it had to be only the person who prepared the paste that could apply it in order for it to work," Eriol said walking over to gather around Melin and me.

Melin looked at me warily. "Fine, she can apply the crap but if something happens to me then I'll kill you all with me, especially you," she said looking at me.

You know for someone who is suppose to help find and bring me back home she threatens me way too much for my comfort. I don't even know how to prepare poisons and if I did I wouldn't use it on anybody or anything. The only thing I know about poisons is how remove them from the body before it begins to kill.

I took the paste that as already on my fingers and gently began rubbing it into her skin so it could seep down to her bones quicker. Since I didn't know exactly where the bone was broken I had to grease her whole leg to be on the safe side.

"Do you have any more wounds I should know about?" I asked Melin who shook her head. Then I looked over at Tomoyo who shook her head no as well.

"Tomoyo had a sprain ankle yesterday," Eriol said looking over a Tomoyo who shot him a glare.

"Tomoyo?" I asked looking at her raising my eyebrows the way a mother would when her child was lying.

"It feels better! I can walk normally on it now," Tomoyo said demonstrating to them all that she was fine.

"And I guess that's why you're grinding your teeth together from the pain of walking on it," Sakura said. "Come and sit down so I can put some of the paste on your ankle," I told her. Tomoyo let out a sigh and sat down and held out her foot.

I looked at her swollen ankle and muttered about her saying that it was fine. Gently I applied the paste on her ankle and watched the swelling instantly began to go down. When it was no longer swelled she stood up and began walking on her foot without any problems.

"Wow, thanks Sakura!" Tomoyo said as she began to do back-flips testing out how good her ankle was.

"No problem," I told her. I turned to Eriol and raised an eye to him.

"I just have a cut on my arm and near my eye," he replied.

I smiled at him for his honesty and applied where he indicated the cuts were. "Syaoran, I didn't look anywhere else for a cut on you after I checked your upper half of your body."

"No," he said walking away.

"What's up with him?" I asked Eriol who stood watching Syaoran's back disappear into the woods.

"He's going through an emotional state right now," Eriol told me.

"What kind of emotional state?" I asked actually expecting him to know.

"I'm not sure but he'll get over it in due time," Eriol said taking hold of Tomoyo's hand.

"I-" Tomoyo was about to say something buy Eriol cut her off by covering her mouth and shaking his head no. Those two are so crazy! You can't understand neither of them, but I guess that's why they make a good couple.

I smiled and walked over to where I was sleeping and looked for Kero but he wasn't there. Knowing him he was probably stil sleeping under the boulder and I'm positive that no one would let me go and look. I sighed and frustration as I folded up my blanket.

"Looking for something?" I heard Syaoran say behind me. I jumped not expecting him to be there and held my heart and breathed deep until it began beating at it's normal pace. In his hand he held Kero who grinned sheepishly at me.

"Yes, thank you," I told him trying to make a grab for Kero, but Syaoran moved him out of my reach. "Hey!" I started but the look in his eyes told me not to say anything more.

"What is this really?" Syaoran said shaking Kero slightly.

"Hey brat let me go!" Kero yelled. I looked at Syaoran expecting him to freak out over Kero's outburst but he didn't.

"His name is Kero, he's sorta like a guardian," I told him trying to make another grab for Kero but Syaoran again held him out of my reach.

"Really.then why didn't you mention him to any of us before?" Syaoran asked looking closely at me.

"I did! He's the stuffed animal that I told you I had dropped the other day," I told him trying to make another grab. Syaoran moved Kero behind his back holding him out a distance so that he couldn't' bite him or anything.

"So did your fake father really give you this so called guardian?" Syaoran asked me.

"I don't know! I don't even know my father. Biological or adoptive. I was really young when one of them died," I said. I tried to make another grab for Kero, but instead I ended up practically tripping into Syaoran's arms.

He caught me and held me there for a few seconds before I pushed out of his arms and grabbed Kero out of his hands. I put Kero in my pocket and told him to stay there. I could feel my cheeks reddening an I looked up at Syaoran ready to apologize but he looked like he was lost in space. He just stood there with his mouth slightly open as if he was in a state of shock and couldn't move.

"Syaoran? Syaoran?" I called waving my hand in front of this face.

"What happened to him?" Cobra asked coming up behind me.

"I don't know. I almost fell and then he caught me and now he's frozen," I said staring at Syaoran's features. I was about to go and call Tomoyo and Eriol and see if they knew what was wrong when all of a sudden I felt something grab my other unmentionable.

I let out a yelp and froze wide-eyed. Syaoran suddenly came back to his senses and punched Cobra in the face knocking him backward.

"What happened?" Syaoran asked holding his head.

"You just punched Cobra," I told him this time not bothering to help Cobra up.

"Oh," he said smirking.

I looked at Syaoran uneasy. I was hopping that he had forgotten about Kero and wouldn't mention it ever, ever again. Seeing that he was still smirking down at Cobra I tried to inch my way away from him.

"Oh Sakura, I would like to speak t you later tonight when we're alone about that thing," Syaoran said not glancing at me. Wouldn't you know that he would notice and remember the one thing I didn't want him to. Defeated I nodded my head and went back to Melin, who was cleaning her sword.

"How's your leg?" I asked her.

"It's been better," Melin mumbled not looking up from her work. I stood over her and watched her clean her sword. Then she turned and faced me with a growl on her face. "Are you going to stand there or are you do you have something to say?" Melin asked through clenched teeth.

"Probably neither," I said sitting down. I know I was annoying her but at the moment I didn't care. I didn't want Melin to be mad at me. Melin growled in irritation at my action and began to rub her blade harder and faster. "M-"

"YEAH WHA' DO YA WANT!!" she yelled. I could see the anger and hate she had roll off her like water going down a waterfall.

"To know why you hate me so much," I answered calmly. Melin gave me a blank expression





And the chapter ends here! Yeah I'm done know I have to go work on Love from both sides and chapter 9 for this fic so if you'll excuse me! OH and please R&R I likes it much. S&S E&T FOREVER!!!!!

~* Ghetto Princess