Hello, Readers.
Is everything well? Hehe...anyways, I thank you for clicking into this fanfic. It truly thought out the whole situation and story, unlike my other one (oooh, I am ashamed). I've had this plot in my head for months and I've waited until summer to put this out. This story is an action/adventure/romance/drama/fantasy fic. Yes, a lot of slashes but it's all good. I couldn't fit the whole thing in the spot fanfiction.net put there for us. This is also going to be rated PG-13 for some violence...since there is a war going on.

Tears Come
Chapter One: From Behind the Mask

Weapons. The necessity of war.

Poverty. The result of war.

Death. The tears of war.

War. It will be the death of us all.

I can't take it anymore. I, a girl...a princess, cannot do anything, but watch. I hear them – I hear them screaming for a savior. I see everything from my protected shelter. I see the setting, burning sun hovering over the horizon. Or perhaps it is not the warm sun I love...It is the fire and the explosions of war I despise.

She heard their yells, their helpless pleas, to redeem them from this outbreak of armed and treacherous men. But she could not. She was powerless. She was a weak woman. She was a princess. She longed to deliver them, but it was unspeakable for a woman to touch blood or to even witness the sight of it.

While she pondered these feeble thoughts, Sakura strayed from her majestic room towards her brother's in search of a scheme.

Suddenly, she paused. Nothing could purge these thoughts. Even if she did ask her brother for advice, he would not allow for her to go anywhere outside these stone-cold walls.

Sakura looked around her. Pictures, flags, and torches were hanging from the walls she grew up with - from the moment her life began. And here she was, criticizing her own shelter from all of the storms and of all of the evil in the world.

All of the world...everyday, she anticipated the smell of the bakeries she had heard so much about. She longed for the undying laughter in streets. She wanted to smile. She wanted people, everyone, to see her smile.

But that was impossible.

Other than a few people, no one knew her face. No one knew her. No one knew her smile.

Her countenance was obscured by a plain, wooden mask. It was suspended in front of her face by a mere centimeter. Magic did it all – no strings attached. Nothing could remove it from her face other than her own freewill.

She saw everything, but no one saw her.

"Sakura," Her brother had witnessed her standing idly and alone in the well-furnished hallway. He killed her train of thought.

"Is standing something you enjoy, or is it that you're too simple-minded to move?" With a smirk, he had a look in eyes that laughed at the sight of her standing there stupidly.

Sakura huffed and marched over to her 'loving' brother, Touya, and whacked him in the arm. It had no effect. Soon she was punching him on his back, his sides, and his stomach. Touya laughed at her persistent jabs and walked away. He left her standing in the hall as she was before. Touya was much too strong for her.

As he turned around the corner he stubbornly said, "I'll see you at dinner, Kaijuu."

But the next time she would sit at the dinner table with her family would be for well...she did not know. All she knew was that she had other plans.

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"Kero!" Sakura was in haste. She needed to pack as quickly as she could. Coming to her decision, Sakura wanted to fight. She did not know how, but she would. Her brother was leaving somewhere tonight. Most likely, she could hitch a ride from someone to the training camp.

"You're really going, Sakura?!"

"Of course I am! I can't watch my people die off one by one! I am their princess that is to lead them one day! I will-"

"Sakura, you've been saying this for the past month. I've already memorized your whole speech! Don't you think I've had enough?" Kero was fuming and annoyed.

Frustrated of not finishing her daily speech, Sakura's speed of packing grew immensely. No more dresses, no more balls, no more crowns. But the situation of men was a conflict. For years, Sakura had been pursued by a few men. Every time they were invited to her kingdom's balls, she never strayed out of her brother's eyes for those persistent men tended to flirt with her.

Yes, even though there were downfalls from leaving home to the training facility, Sakura would still pursue her goal. Her goal to save her people.

Oh, the mentioning of men made Sakura shudder. Every man she met had always tried to pry off the mask. Luckily, their hands were burned before there could even set a finger on it. Magic is what kept that protective mask on her.

But maybe, just maybe, the men at the training camp were not so 'flirty.' They could be different from the usual pompous ones she met. They were commoners. They were completely different than the ones she met at balls. If she kept this thought in her mind on the journey there, then she will most likely survive this.

Surviving. She had nearly forgotten that specific subject. How could she have let that slip her mind? Sakura's hands hesitated. She was much too focused on others that she never thought of herself and of her family. What if she died in battle? Her father and brother would never forgive her, would they?

No. This wasn't right. She would live. Her kingdom would win the war. She had magic. Although it was not enough to defeat an army of men, it was still powerful than a sword.

Kero looked at Sakura weirdly, for she paused every so often while packing.

"I'm going with you."

Sakura whipped her head around with round eyes. Her first thought was 'no,' but she thought about it. She would survive. But emotionally, she would not. She needed a friend to survive. And who was better than Kero to come with her?

When Sakura nodded, Kero knew that was the OK sign for him to go.

"Oh, please, no. Don't cry, Sakura!"

She replied with a laugh as happy tears fell from behind her plain mask. Sakura scooped Kero up and hugged him with all her might. Tears fell on his now damp head. But he did not mind at all...for she was truly happy.

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The stars were lit like small sparks of fire as if someone had lit them for a purpose. The forest was dark as it could be. The trees were swaying with the wind. But life was within this inhabitable forest. Feet were touching the ground ever so lightly. Then they suddenly stopped.

Eyes were darting around the area, searching for something.

An audible sigh was heard, and next a huge plop of someone sitting on the forest floor.

"We're safe now. The enemy wouldn't go this far into the forest."

His name was Li Syaoran. He was the commander of this group. If he said it was safe, then it was safe. If he said it was like this, then it was like that. He was straightforward and wanted everything to have a clean cut, for he was not the type to beat around the bush. Everyone admired him for his unfailing courage and confidence. He was always the one who picked up another from the ground.

Starting from a filthy commoner to a draft to a war, he has recevied much respect. But not from those poised and snobbish nobles. He despised them with all his heart. They had always caused trouble for him and his...family.

The soldiers around him flopped down like dead birds and immediately slept.

"So uh, Li. When will we leave?" This soldier was obviously shaken from the battle they had fought a few days ago. His face was unshaven. Cuts were everywhere on his chest, legs, and arms.

"We'll see." Syaoran was always a man of few words.

The soldier nodded and fell asleep along with the others against trees and small boulders. But Syaoran was restless. These men had lives to live for. They had wives and children. But he himself had nothing. He had lost many companions from this crimson war and they were all he had.

I've fought for so long, and with each battle I lose something and someone. I've been completely void of feeling for quite a long time now. I haven't smiled nor laughed in ages. Maybe my life has no purpose but to serve this war. I just...need to keep on living... Though I don't know why.

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Oh, Syaoran, you will soon know why. XD Awesome, so now provide me with some feedback so I'll know how I'm doing. Too dramatic? Do I need to change the format? I really don't know if there are any other fics like this out there. I've read CCS fics for quite a while, and I'm pretty sure there are similar fics, but yet not quite the same. But other than CCS fics...I don't know.

-AnonymousT