Author's Notes: Well guys I am alive believe it or not! I bet you guys thought I abandoned this story :P lol But no matter how long it takes me I do promise to finish this story! I've done two updates this week which is unheard of for me. *this story and 'the hearts path* I plan on going for a third update as well but prob not in ccs. Well anyways thanks to all who reviewed!

"So what is our plan?" Syaoran questioned coming back into the living room with Sakura. Xiao Lang had his head back, eyes closed, as past memories flooded his mind. They pounded in his head not giving him a chance to forget them for one minute. The visions stormed making a slight pain arouse near his temple. Xiao Lang glanced to the two lovers as they came in and sat next to each other, thighs brushing against each others. Their hands were locked in a desperate embrace, and he himself wished for those days to return. Days when he was naïve enough to think that nothing could ever separate them.

"Xiao Lang are you ok?" Sakura asked concern glittering in her colorful emerald orbs. One's which Xiao Lang would be glad to stare into all day, with the darkness twisting inside of Ying Fa her eyes had lost their radiance. They were still very beautiful, but the once pure emerald was tinted with flickers of darkness, reflecting what was raging inside his lover. "Xiao Lang?" Sakura tried again when he didn't answer right away. She placed her unoccupied hand on his knee. Her touch and worried toned voice pulled him immediately out of his ramped thoughts. Xiao Lang didn't miss the jealous spark that lit up in his younger self's eyes when her hand grazed his knee.

"Yes I'm ok… the time travel just took a lot of energy is all." Xiao Lang replied. Sakura nodded seemingly satisfied with his excuse returning her hand to the couch. Xiao Lang almost sighed at the loss, he desperately longed for her touch, and he'd give anything for it. At that thought he shook his head almost violently to clear these musings in him. He couldn't give anything for her touch, he couldn't allow it, otherwise the world would be doomed.

"We need some kind of plan." Kero stated thoughtfully who had surprisingly kept quiet since the lovers returned.

"My plan mostly was to keep Ying Fa from collecting all the pieces of the crystal. That way the crystal will not reach its full power." Xiao Lang answered running well trained fingers through his wild locks.

"How many pieces are there to this crystal and how does Ying Fa find them? If she can find them then surely Sakura can right?" Syaoran questioned trying to straighten his thoughts out.

"I believe there are ten pieces to the crystal." Xiao Lang answered.

"And she already has one piece right?" Sakura stated tapping her fingers lightly on the couch.

"No they have six." Xiao Lang interrupted looking at the ground which was seemingly quite interesting to him.

"Six?! You just let her run around gathering six of these crystal pieces… and we have none?!" Syaoran exclaimed furiously jumping out of his seat.

"Syaoran!" Sakura replied trying to pull him back. She honestly didn't understand why he seemed to be so hostile to Xiao Lang, hell to himself!

"First of all, I didn't just let Ying Fa do anything. It wasn't her that collected the other five! You think Sakura just decided by herself one day she was going to become evil?! You have no right to judge me! You have no idea what I've been through! And as if you could have done any better! Because trust me you couldn't, because I couldn't dammit! Do you think I'm proud of the fact that after all Sakura's and my hard work that is was seemingly for nothing!" Xiao Lang shouted all the frustration building up inside him pouring out like a flood. He didn't mean to yell at them, but he was sick of Syaoran's distrusting eyes, sick of the entire situation. He didn't remember being like that, how time definitely changed people he thought wryly. None spoke after Xiao Lang's outburst, he couldn't deal with this right now, and he needed some fresh air. Without another word he stepped outside into the cooling air.

"Well that went well." Kero stated sarcastically as the door slammed shut.

"Why did you yell at him like that? Syaoran we really don't know much about what has happened in the future. Only the little he has told us, he's right we don't have a right to judge him. And even if we did, this is not like you at all." Sakura stated softly glancing at her lover. She couldn't understand why he was acting so rash all of a sudden.

"I know… your right Sakura. It's just... our opponents have a great advantage over us, and…. I don't know I just wasn't thinking." Syaoran stated glancing at the ground.

"I'm going to go talk to him. Syaoran love don't worry so much, we will win this." Sakura kissed Syaoran lightly on the lips then went after Xiao Lang. Sakura opened the door to the balcony to find Xiao Lang leaning thoughtfully against the rail. She closed the entrance lightly behind her and stood behind him not quite sure what to say.

"It looks like its going to storm." Xiao Lang commented gazing up into the sky. Dark clouds lingered in the area, the heavens seemed to have darkened considerable since they had encounter Ying Fa.

"It does." Sakura agreed leaning on the rail next to him. "He didn't mean it." She started, but Xiao Lang stopped her with a nod.

"I know, I know he's just concerned." Xiao Lang answered calculatingly.

"Still he didn't have a right to say those things, and he is sorry." Sakura answered trying to explain her lover's actions, to his elder self, which if you thought about it was strange in itself.

"All is already forgiven." Xiao Lang dug into his pocket and lifted out a chain. He handed it to Sakura who dangled it in front of her eyes.

"It's beautiful." She whispered in amazement as she stared at the tiny crystal fragment. It was small but it glittered brightly practically lighting up the whole area.

"Its one of the pieces of the crystal." Xiao Lang explained.

"So seven have been collected then." Sakura replied still dazzled by the necklace.

"Yes three more to go." Xiao Lang stated as the sky darkened even more. The clouds burst as droplets of rain fell to the earth.

"We should go in." Sakura said taking her eyes off the crystal and heading towards the door.

"Sakura…." Xiao Lang started stopping her before she went in.

"Yes."

"Don't ever use the crystal's power. It does more harm then good." Xiao Lang countered taking the crystal fragment from her hands and walking past her into the house. "We will find the other pieces with this." Xiao Lang lifted the twinkling crystal up so that the others inside could see it as well.

"Is that a piece of the crystal?" Syaoran questioned as the two of them walked back into the apartment. The fragment glistened as it twirled in Xiao Lang's hands.

"Yes… while I apparently let Ying Fa run around I two manage to collect one of the crystals." Xiao Lang stated almost harshly, Syaoran wincing at the comment.

"Xiao Lang… I'm sorry I didn't mean…"

"No it's not important; we must concentrate and find the other crystals because I guarantee Ying Fa is already looking for them."

"You said before that Sakura just didn't up and turn evil by herself. This seems to me to mean that there's someone else behind all this, someone perhaps that we should be prepared for." Kero commented fluttering over to the older gaki.

"Clever indeed, I guess Clow did know what he was doing when he made you." Xiao Lang remarked sitting down in the chair he had occupied before. "Your right before Sakura turned we were fighting against an evil force for sometime. And the name of this sinister man is Lexiss."

"Lexiss, I think I vaguely remember Clow say something about him." Kero pondered out loud.

"It wouldn't be surprising. I lied before when I said that all the sorcerers that helped Clow make the crystals died, except for himself. There was one other survivor, Lexiss. When he tried to use the crystal it didn't destroy him like the others, but he wasn't left unscathed by no means. No he was left in a magic induced coma."

"Magic induced…" Sakura questioned.

"The magic encased his body in a shield sheltering him from everything, even time itself, or so they say. You see Clow and Lexiss were trying to control the crystal in a cave outside of civilization so that no one would get hurt. Somehow Clow made it out of the cave with the crystal and Lexiss didn't. In my time someone stumbled upon the cave, and somehow let Lexiss loose, but he wasn't the same. The magic encasing his body had slowly driven him into maddening darkness, and now he wants to reclaim what he thinks is his."

"The crystal." Sakura concluded leaning back into Syaoran. He wrapped an arm gently around her waist tracing slight patterns on the uncovered skin of her wrist. She shivered slightly at the close contact on such a sensitive spot. Xiao Lang smiled slightly noticing the slight display of love, no doubt they didn't even realize what they were doing.

"Indeed." Xiao Lang finished after a few moments thought.

"Doesn't it seem a bit off that after collecting five pieces of the crystal himself he all of a sudden enlists Sakura's help? I mean it implies that perhaps he couldn't do it by himself anymore." Syaoran started.

"You may be onto something. Clow hid five pieces of the crystal in my time, all across the world. Then he hid five more in a different time dimension, perhaps he didn't feel that was enough." Xiao Lang completed Syaoran's thought.

"You think he added on a little clause to the five remaining crystal fragments?" Sakura asked suddenly catching on to where they were headed with this.

"One which states only a descendent of his blood or even only the Clow Mistress/Master can free the last five remaining crystals. It wouldn't be the first time he did something like that." Kero concluded scratching his chin slightly in thought.

"Dam I should have thought of that before. I never even questioned why he took her, but it does make an awful lot of sense now that you point it out." Xiao Lang responded running nimble fingertips over the ring he wore around his neck.

"See three heads are better then one. Now we know a little more about our enemy, and that he seems to have at least one weakness." Sakura stated cheerfully.

"So how do we use that thing to find the next piece?" Kero questioned hesitantly gesturing to the tiny fragment.

"We will need a map; I believe your father keeps one in his study." Xiao Lang declared rubbing his eyes wearily, it had been a long day and it was catching up to him. Sakura nodded at the comment noticing Xiao Lang looked exhausted.

"When we dangle the necklace over the map it will tell us where the next piece is."

"Almost like a puzzle." Sakura commented. "But you said outside to never use the crystal's power… that it would do more harm then good." Sakura replied thinking back to his comment from earlier.

"Yes that is true… you see when u use just a fragment of the crystal it drains the life force out of your body, forcing excruciating pain into the body. I've used it once before in my time." Xiao Lang explained placing the crystal back into his pocket.

"If that's true then how come Lexiss and Ying Fa can use the crystals, and how can we use the crystal now?" Syaoran questioned confusion lining his words.

"I don't really know how to explain it, but for some reason the darkness that Lexiss and Ying Fa serve counteracts the crystal's magic so it only drains some of their energy. As for us using it now, neither of you can, but I can." Xiao Lang replied trying to clarify what he himself wasn't sure of. He had seen Lexiss use the fragments and he wasn't at all certain why nothing had happened to him when he did. All he did know was it wasn't the same results as when he himself had used it.

"How can you use it and not one of us? Aren't we the same?" Sakura questioned as she snuggled closer in Syaoran's embrace.

"Because it sucks the life source out of a body, but I'm not in my body." Xiao Lang stated almost cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Kero asked almost getting aggravated with all these new discoveries. A new evil, another Syaoran, time travel, it was a lot to absorb in such a short amount of time.

"It's a bit confusing, but I'll explain it like it was explained to me. No two bodies of the same, can survive in an equivalent time dimension. Therefore if I had brought my body on this trip Syaoran wouldn't be able to exist. Of course that wouldn't be very good for me, since if Syaoran doesn't exist then I don't either. Time travel is very difficult the slightest change can erase you from your life, change the future completely. This is why I was so hesitant to tell you guys anything, but I figured that the world I live in now isn't really even worth saving at the moment. Hopefully by destroying this evil we can restore it. You see this may look like my real body, but it's just my conscious taking on the form of what I look like. My real body is back in my own world." Xiao Lang responded pushing back a slight yawn.

"It's going to be getting dark soon, and I think we have all had a long day. Perhaps we should rest for tonight, and then tomorrow we can get the map." Sakura suggested noticing that everyone seemed to be pretty tired. Xiao Lang wanted to press the matter not really caring for sleep, but he knew better then to push Sakura. When she was determined for something to happen there was no pushing her back. "There's no use in going out now when none of us are fresh. We worry about this threat after dinner and sleep!" She continued giving both boys a knowing look as she hopped into the kitchen.

"Sakura! Will you make pudding for dessert!!! Please please please!" Kero exclaimed fluttering after the Clow Mistress. Both Syaoran and Xiao Lang shook their heads at the same time at the guardian's antics. The two expert swordsmen noticed they were doing the same gestures, and each started to blush slightly.

"Well I suppose the boss has spoken, we will get no where in fighting her, even if there are two of us." Syaoran stated following after the Clow Mistress and Clow Card Guardian.

"God I almost feel their age again." Xiao Lang whispered lightly shaking his head again softly. A small smile graced his lips, as if a big weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He now didn't have to fight this evil alone, and for once his bleak future was starting to look a bit up.

~~SavvySiberian~~

You'll notice a bit of a name change. I only changed because a. I'm obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean b. I didn't fancy Siberian1 with ff.net's little name change thingie, so I had to change it to something no one had ^ ^!

More Author's Notes: I apologize if this was confusing, sometimes I forget everyone is not in my mind and thinking what I'm thinking. Hopefully everything was explained ok. ^ ^