Whoadie: *shifty eyes*

Ran-ran: ^_^ she isn't supposed to be online due to a grounding for unknown reasons...

Whoadie: SHHHH! I DID NOTHING!

Roiben: *wakes up in the bathroom* O_O WHERE'S OUR HOSTAGE?!

Whoadie: *made a bomb out of the materials given* ^_^

Nicholas: *lying on the ground* X.X

Door: *not there anymore*

Syaraon: ^_^ I have taught you well

Whoadie: *bows*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"..." speaking

//..// thinking

[...] Elven language translated

Suffering

Chapter 7

"Please, can we take a break now, Eriol?" The dark haired girl fell to all fours panting. She had been running for a few miles now in a weak condition and she was just on the brink of passing out.

The boy looked around the misty forest, eyes darting in every direction for the slightest noise. "My apologies sweet Tomoyo." He continued to gaze around on total alert, he had the right to be paranoid.

She wrinkled her noise at her new nickname. "Don't call me that..."

He turned his face towards her, fixing an innocent look. He adjusted his spectacles in a teasing manner. "Call you what, my sweet?"

She scowled at him, "THAT!"

He blinked innocently, "I didn't call you 'My sweet' before, I called you 'Sweet Tomoyo'" he winked at her as she curled her hands into tight fists.

She couldn't help but let the corners of her lips turn upwards slightly. //Does he always have to be a flirt? I'm going to KILL Sakura for ever introducing us, he's been like my stalker ever since.// She shuddered at memories of having Eriol as her shadow ever since her childhood years.

"Thinking of me, my dear?" his voice was pleasant with a tinge of smugness to it. He sat down, leaning his back against the trunk of a tree and the staff against his shoulder. One leg was propped up for his arm to rest, the other was stretched out comfortably. He had that lazy appearance but the sharpness of his eyes gave him away of being anything BUT lazy.

"HMPH! You wish..." she crawled over to a tree that was nearest to her and away from Eriol. She leaned back against the tree, resting her now relaxed hands on top of her stomach. She turned her now red face away from Eriol, finding the moss on the tree most interesting.

He chuckled at her childish behavior, "Hn, alot of help that has gotten me. So I'll try a different approach than wishing..." He gripped his sun staff ((Whoadie: *glares at the chucklers* SHHH!)) in one hand, pushing himself with the other hand away from the tree trunk.

He used his skills in being silent and ability to approach an unsuspected victim without being noticed. He crept towards Tomoyo, who was still fuming with her head turned.

Tomoyo blinked a few times going over what he had said. "What do you mean by-AHHHHHHHH!" she had turned her head and came face to face with Eriol. The thing that startled her the most was that his face was inches from hers.

Her eyes widened as he inched closer. "You know EXACTLY what I meant..." his voice was low, with a predator tinge to it. He now had his prey where he wanted it. His eyes locked with hers, smiling at her uneasiness.

"Eriol..I'm warning you...I'm the Demolition expert for our advanced team, don't push me..."((Whoadie: If you remember when Tori was in the Advanced team when Sakura was younger, you'll know they are the right age to be in it now.)) she tried to move back but ended up just pushing herself into the back of the tree. //Damn you! I'm trapped.//

Eriol put his arms on both sides of Tomoyo's head so that she couldn't run. His head moved closer so that she could feel his breath on her lips. "If you were going to do anything as drastic as that, I wouldn't be as close to you as I am now."

Tomoyo looked down, her cheeks turning a light pink color. //He's right..What's wrong with me!!//

He reached down, cupping her chin with his thumb and forefinger, "Don't hide your beautiful eyes from me, I've seen enough of the back of your head." He stroked her lips with his thumb lovingly.

Her eyes misted over when she felt his lips brush against hers and surprised herself when she responded to his light kiss.

Her arms encircled his neck, deepening the kiss further. She could feel his arms wrapping around her waist as she pulled him closer.

"Well isn't this a precious moment..."

Tomoyo released her grip on Eriol's hair and pulled back out of shock. Eriol turned his head so that he could look over his shoulder. Annoyance and anger crossed his eyes. //Damn, of course something like this has to happen...//

His hand slowly reached for the staff that laid forgotten on the ground next to Tomoyo.

The man noticed this and unsheathed his sword. "I wouldn't do that." He raised his free arm in a signal for his men to lower their weapons.

Eriol looked up to see them surrounded by archers with their arrows pointed at them. He growled at himself for not being able to hear them approaching.

"Get up, elf. Step away from the pretty lass. Men! Secure her in the cage and bind him with ropes." Roiben sheathed his sword, watching all his orders being carried out with empty eyes. The spell had won, he was now nothing more than a mindless puppet.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Eriol's eyes glowed fiercely as the men grabbed Tomoyo roughly. She whimpered as they held her a little too tightly. ((Whoadie: Remember! She's weak from the forest burning, so she can't really do much. Walking and running was a struggle, remember? ^_^))

He struggled against the men's hold on him, he was furious. He looked over at the man carrying his staff to the back of a wagon. "Naar cam." [Spell: Burning Hands]

The man who held his staff yowled with pain as his hands started to steam. They were glowing a bright red as the man ran around screaming. Tomoyo's head was slumped over, she could barely walk to the cage the men were dragging her too. Without Eriol near, she couldn't feed off of his aura to stay alive.

She muttered under her gasping breaths, "Ram en' tessa.." [Spell: Paralyze Field] The men around them stopped moving, but the man who had his hands burned was still screaming despite his immobilness.

Tomoyo slumped forwards falling to her knees. The two men holding her fell with her since they couldn't keep themselves up. She was starting to see black spots, she blinked furiously trying to clear her vision but the spots only swelled.

Eriol scrambled out of the men's grip on him, rushing towards Tomoyo. He picked her up with ease, he walked over to where the man dropped his staff and gave the man a satisfied smirk. "You'll never be able to use those hands again once the spell wears off..." He picked up his staff, hoping it would feed Tomoyo's aura enough to keep her awake.

"Stay with me, Melamin." [Positive Endearment: My love] A few tears rolled down his cheeks as he nuzzled Tomoyos hair with his nose. "Don't die on me...Amin mela lle..." [Common Phrase: I love you] He whispered the last part into her ear, hoping it would encourage her to live.

~~~~Sakura~~~~

"Hn. Your getting slow..." Her eyes twinkled with laughter. "Lower your sword, Li." She furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed Li hadn't budged, he was glaring at Nicholas with the utmost hatred. "Lower your weapon!"

"Now why would I do that? After all the pain he's caused, it would be easy to end it here and now." He pressed his blade into Nicholas's neck, causing it to cut in. A drop of blood rolled down from the cut and down the blade.

She didn't say anything, she did want Nicholas dead but not like this. She wanted to face him in head to head combat, testing both magic and fighting skills to see if she really would have made it to Sereg'wethrin. [Profession: Assassin]

"N'ndengina ho." She didn't realize she had switched languages. [Command: Don't kill him] She was about to repeat herself when Li spoke.

"Mankoi?" His voice was low and stable. His eyes narrowed at Nicholas, not caring that he too had switched tongues. [Question: Why?]

Her eyes widened, she inched closer to Li still staring in amazement. He didn't look down at her. "Mani ume lle quena?" Her eyes searching his for answers. [Question: What did you say?] //How....//

He didn't answer, he was too busy glaring holes into Nicholas. "Lle lava?" [Question: Do you Yield?]

Nicholas raised an eyebrow, he was just as shocked as Sakura. "Lle quena i'lambe tel' Eldalie?" [Question: Do you speak elven?] His hands were busy behind this back.

Li rolled his eyes, "Well no shit..." He lunged forward, waiting for the sickening thud of Nicholas's head falling to the ground. "Leme ed' templa.." He blinked as the blade missed Nicholas by a few inches.

Nicholas smirked as his body disappeared into blue mist. His voice still echoed around them, "I'll be back for you, Ying-fa."

She growled, he had gotten away. She looked over to the still Li, he was just as furious. She drew her own sword, blinded by her own anger at losing Nicholas. "YOU!!!" She dove at Li with her sword raised.

Li barely had time to block, "Look, I didn't think he was capable of teleporting. After studying you, I figured since you didn't then he couldn't either."

She pulled away, swinging across his stomach. "YOU FOOL!!! Teleporting is left as a last resort! If all else fails, you retreat! THE DISTANCE WE RAN WASN'T WORTH TELEPORTING!" When he moved from her swing, she planted the sword into the ground using it to swing her body in to deliver a strong roundhouse kick.

Li stumbled back but had his sword ready when Sakura brought hers down at him. He pushed up, using his strength as an advantage. "Get a hold of yourself, Ying-fa!"

She pressed down, using her body weight this time. "GET A HOLD OF MYSELF? THE WORLD IS IN DANGER BECAUSE YOU LET OUR ENEMY GET AWAY!"

He pushed up, making her slide backwards. "What your doing is meaningless!"

"No, getting rid of you would be the first right thing to do in order to save my race!" She flew backwards when Li launched her with his sword.

"Oh, so now your only saving YOUR race? What do you have against the Human race, anyways? Besides LIVING!" He pounced on her, removing her sword. To his surprise he saw a tear roll down the side of her face.

"It's all their fault! If it weren't for them and their stupid disagreements with the elven race, Ran-ran would have never been sent away! ITS ALL THEIR FAULT, ALONG WITH NICHOLAS'!" She pounded the ground at her side as more held back tears fell.

"Wait...what did you say?"

"I said that it was all-"

"No...did you say...Ran-ran? Did you get this from...a name?" His eyes were wide with realization. His face pale.

Sakura nodded slowly, still stressing over past and present problems. "My old friend, his name was Syaoran. I was little and called him Ran-ran so what..."

"I..." He ran a hand through his auburn locks. "You don't recognize me...Sakura?"

She looked at him, hearing her name. "How did you..."

He shook her by the arms, "Don't you remember?" He couldn't believe it, here was his childhood friend laying beneath him. She had changed so much, he couldn't make the connection. He flinched inside. //It was because of me...//

She blinked, she almost felt like she was 7 again. Innocence and hope appeared in her emerald eyes as she smoothed out his locks of hair. "Ran-ran?"

He nodded, smiling. "So you do remember me..."

She was speechless, she felt herself pulling him into a tight hug. "Of course, I could never forget you!" All these years of training in hopes of finding him again, then news came of his village burning to the ground. All her hope died that day. "I tried so hard to become what stronger so that I could protect myself, in a way to prove that I didn't need you. But I did..."

He hugged her back, burying his face into her hair. "I'll always protect you, Sakura. I did back then, and I will now. You think you may not need it, but there are more ways than one to protect someone." He smiled.

She grinned, the ice and barrier over her heart was slowly collapsing. She felt so...alive. She pulled away for a second, "Why did you ask earlier if I knew an Eriol?"

His face grimmed, "He was my old rival and...the partner of my father's death. Yea I know, I only saw that one girl but I heard her whisper his name. So once I find him, I'll find my father's killer."

She sighed sadly, "Ra-Syaoran...I have a confession to make..." she looked away from him, right when she got her best friend back. She would only lose him again.

"I..."

Another voice was heard, "Did someone say my name?" He adjusted his spectacles.

Sakura looked over at him, "Eriol..."

Syaoran looked up, glaring at him. He got to his feet with his sword in hand. Eriol moved the staggering Tomoyo behind him. "So your Eriol..."

Eriol raised an eyebrow, "Wow, that's stalkerish. You know my name and already have a grudge against me. May I have yours, my foe to be?"

"Syaoran..."

Eriol gasped, looking over at Sakura. "He's the one you were talking about? Ran-ran, was it?" He looked back, only to come face to face with Syaoran's blade. "Gah twice in one day...is everyone an elven hater?"

"You helped kill someone along time ago, who was your partner in this murder?"

Eriol furrowed his eyebrows trying to figure out what he was talking about. "I'm afraid you'll have to be specific, I've had many missions."

"About 7 years ago..."

"Ah yes that one...my first mission." His eyes grew glossy as if remembering an lovely forgotten dream.

He gritted his teeth, holding the blade up at him. "Who was your partner?"

Eriol blinked, "You have no partner when man hunting, assassins work alone, der." He loved messing with this guys temper buttons.

"Grr, I know you helped her! I heard her say your name!"

He raised an eyebrow, scratching the back of his head. "Well I have no idea on what your talking about..."

Sakura sighed in relief, maybe she didn't have to tell him.

"Although..."

Maybe not.

"Hmm the only person I talked to was Sakura...she was pointing out that I had left quite a big mess and needed to clean up before someone caught onto our midnight raids." he smirked at Sakura, giving her a thumbs up for her good deed back then. Little did he know that he just broke Syaoran's heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whoadie: *yawns* Well that wasn't surprising at all!

Syaoran: RAN-RAN?!

Whoadie: I eh got it from from the last part of your name...^_^;; SyaoRAN. *laughs*

Everyone: -_-;;;

Whoadie: HEY! I used to call EVERYONE by the last 3 letters of their last name!

Roiben: what if their name was like...gah nevermind...

Whoadie: See? I WIN!

Roiben: I'm going to call you...*reads last 3 letters* DIE!

Whoadie: well that's not very nice...

Nicholas: DIE! I LIKE THAT! *laughs evilly*