Identity's Past
by AlterEthereal
Syaoran returned to find his princess, but discovered she has been missing in action for years. Now, a mysterious, distant girl has arrived in the city... could his princess be right under his nose?
OH NO!!! Last day of spring break is upon us!!! Well, it's upon me, anyway. And I would like to say that I am very saddened and I will still try my best to update asap--whenever that turns out to be. So please be nice and patient with me, k guys? Much love also goes out to the reviewers: orlha, linda-liu, and Tramie! Thanx, guys, you rock my socks! And here is your promised chapter. Enjoy! ^_^
Alter-chan: um... we seem to have this problem...
So: the psychiatrists said that all our insane friends were fine and sent them back...
Anaru: and they brought some other insane kid with them.
Yugi: *from silver-dagger-113's fic "Marik's Boring Day"* YO HO! ^___^
Alter-chan: -_-; can we make him do disclaimer?
Yugi: YO HO! ^___^
So: i guess that's a "no"...
Alter-chan: fine. how about we make the one rocking back and forth on his heels do it?
Leif: *rocking back and forth on his heels mumbling something about a scary authoress*
Anaru: *quirks eyebrow* ...
Alter-chan: nevermind... i'll just do it myself. *sighs* DISCLAIMER: I don't own CCS. we clear on that now, people?
people: *nod*
Alter-chan: great! on with the show! ^_~
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Chapter 17: Bound
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As she ran through the tunnels, Syaoran at her side, she let her thoughts drift back to the village and Felix's sudden disappearance.
Where could he have gone in such a rush? she asked herself.
She was so busy with her thoughts that she didn't realize what was in front of her.
"Sakura!" She felt a sharp pull on her arm, stopping her in her tracks and spinning her in the direction of the tug. It was Syaoran.
"Geez, what is with you today? So distracted..."
"I'm just... worried, is all. The entire village is in danger and it's my fault."
"Relax. The village can take care of itself, especially with that... uh... what's-his-name guy you like so much protecting it." Sakura sighed. There really wasn't much use in arguing with him, as he was always right anyway. "Besides, we've got other things to worry about. Like that nice, big cavern you almost fell into."
For the first time, Sakura turned around and looked at what was there. Sure enough, a "nice, big cavern" was right in front of her.
"Well that's weird... I'm sure this thing wasn't here before."
"Not surprising. Look what's on the other side."
She squinted to see what the boy was talking about, only to gasp when she found it was a small, human like form bound in ropes and gagged. "How do we get to the other side?"
He shrugged, as if it didn't matter. "I guess we can't scale the walls or anything... the kid will have starved by the time we got over there. I'm taking it you probably don't want to jump..."
Sakura shook her head quickly, staring out at the vast expanse of wide open air in between them and their target. It looked like roughly 700 ft from one side to the other.
"Then the only other option is to fly."
"Wha...?" Her eyes widened and she thought for a moment that Syaoran had actually lost it, but then she slowly began to realize what he was getting at. "But the Fly Card doesn't work on the staff anymore! Ever since Eli made that huge teddy bear attack the city..." Sakura stopped, noticing that the chocolate-haired boy was trying unsuccessfully not to laugh at the memory. She rolled her eyes and mumbled, "useless..."
"Sorry... it's just so funny now, to think of a giant teddy bear rampaging around Tomoeda."
Now, even she found it hard to suppress a chuckle. For the first time, she pictured an old black and white movie with a fuzzy screen on which a giant teddy bear was stomping around a city, people running around screaming in the streets below. Sakura all out laughed at the scene playing in her imagination. "You're right, as usual. I never really thought about it that way when I was little."
"Don't worry, we'll have the rest of our lives to reminisce."
"The rest of our lives...?"
"Well duh, you know I'm going to marry you eventually."
Sakura turned about 500 shades of red in that moment. How did they get so off-topic? She frustratedly turned her attention back to the matter at-hand, trying to ignore the horrible amount of color that still tinted her face. "So how do you suggest we fly over? We can't use the staff and I can't carry you."
"So give me the card. I'll carry you, instead."
She was silent for a few moments, her face turning even redder, if humanly possible.
"Sakura? Do you have a fever or some-"
"Fine!" she yelled, pulling the card from her waistband and thrusting it toward Syaoran. "Here you go. Let's just get this over with."
He accepted the card and shrugged again, but his amber eyes glinted devilishly. Sakura didn't understand what that was all about, but then again, she wasn't sure she wanted to.
"Fly!" He shouted, raising his sword to meet the thin, pink card. Within moments he was surrounded by the aura of The Fly as it manifested into a pair of bright, feathered wings on his back.
Sakura couldn't help but stare. It wasn't the first time she'd seen wings on a person; afterall, Yue and Keroberos both had wings, not to mention herself when she used The Fly. On him, they just looked so... so...
"Are you coming?" he snapped her back to reality.
"Um... yeah..." she nervously closed the distance between them, but didn't know what to do when she got there. Should I... put my arms around his neck? or get on his back? or what?
She felt her cheeks getting warm again, but her thoughts were cut off when she was abruptly scooped up by strong, but gentle arms.
"Hold on tight and don't look down."
She stole a glance into his assuring, amber eyes before clasping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shirt.
~*~
In his mind, he ran through every time he'd seen Sakura, Yue, and/or Keroberos fly, not to mention the entire bird chapter of his biology book, before flapping his wings awkwardly and taking off. He didn't let his nervousness show, guessing that Sakura was nervous enough for both of them anyway.
Also, there was something strange about this situation, as if something was missing.
He shook off the feeling and tried to concentrate on not dropping the precious girl in his arms.
Before long, he found himself on the other side, gracefully lowering himself and Sakura onto the ledge where a now visibly human body lay, tied up and gagged. Sakura climbed out of his arms apprehensively and ran to kneel beside the bound boy. The boy started squirming, as if trying to get out of the ropes binding him.
Sakura made some strange sounds in the alien language that seemed to calm the boy down as she ungagged him. Yes, she seemed to have that effect on people, Syaoran decided.
Suddenly, she let out a wince as she touched the ropes and what looked like an electric shock disintegrated as she pulled away.
"What is it, Sakura?"
"It- it shocked me! The rope... there's a spell on it of some kind... I- I can't touch it!" she stuttered.
"Maybe if I use my sword to cut through it?" He looked at her questioningly to gain her approval.
She nodded slowly and turned her attention to calming the child, whose eyes were beginning to glaze over with tears. Syaoran unsheathed his sword and held it at his side, careful not to scare the boy as he moved around to kneel at his side with Sakura. The woman whispered something to the boy, and he squinted his eyes shut in what Syaoran could only guess was anticipation.
"I feel like I'm performing surgery," he grunted.
"So does he. Just be quick and careful about it."
Without replying, he grazed the sword across the top of the rope, using the sharp blade to pierce the sinews. With a few quick swipes, he had the child free and clinging to Sakura.
"That was almost... easy." Suddenly, Syaoran realized what--or rather, who--was missing and gasped. "Sakura! The village!"
"What about the village?" Sakura asked, a hint of worry dripping into her voice.
"Don't you see what's going on? Wu Tai isn't here, we've left the village, and freeing this kid wasn't a challenge at all! This entire situation was just designed to distract us!"
~~~~
Alter-chan: Wu Tai is such a trickster, ne? we should put him in the circus. he looks like he belongs there, too. i know saying that is kinda silly since you guys don't really know what he looks like, but...
So: HE'S a trickster? as i recall, YOU'RE the one who turned me and Anaru into characters from "Sleeping Beauty" and dragged us into role playing!!
Anaru: *blushes discreetly*
Alter-chan: that wasn't tricking! that was being down-right devious!! BWA HA HA HA HA! anyway, please review! make the pretty button down there happy! ^_^
~AlterEthereal