Wild Flower

by Peacewish

On the run and desperate to get offplanet, Li hitched a ride on a scrappy old cargo ship. But this ship has its secrets too. Will he ever solve the puzzle that is Sakura?

14. ch14 intersection

Chapter 14

'intersection'

The sky pressed low and heavy, a thick slate gray that muted sunlight without producing the true darkness of night, and the sea matched it so perfectly that it was impossible to distinguish a horizon. Dull and opaque water washed in listless waves against the beach, nearly soaking Li's feet. Humid air thick with the promise of thunder pressed against his body, making his bangs stick to his forehead and robbing him of a free and clear breath. He was uneasy, and he did not know why.

Again he extended his hand and tried to call her name, but the weather had swallowed all sound except that of the water. It flowed lazily around Sakura where she stood only a few paces away, waist deep and unconcerned with her soaked and clammy clothing. He should wade in and collect her, but the seawater kept him at bay. It wasn't right, this water, it wasn't a good idea to touch it. Didn't it scare her? Why wouldn't she come back to dry land?

She'd turned her face up to examine the threatening sky, but now she locked gazes with him, silent and watchful. Come to me, he pleaded, but no words left his lips. He leaned as far forward as he dared, reaching for an impossible distance. Couldn't she see his fear? If only she would get closer. Tentatively he slid his foot forward over the sand, but when a fresh swell of water splashed toward him he almost jumped back. Li wasn't afraid of anything, but the flat and murky ocean churned up some deep, unreasoning terror that he couldn't ignore. It was chaos, wild and untamable chaos.

She was farther away. The tide was flowing in and he could do nothing but retreat before its advance. Horrified, he saw the water had risen halfway up her chest, and she still didn't seem inclined to move. She was going to drown. The sea would swallow her up completely and he couldn't even save her –

Sakura!

He woke with a start, then promptly winced at the fresh throbbing in his side. The cut had not been too deep after all, but it still burned with every motion and would undoubtedly leave a scar. Just another for his collection.

Gingerly Li patted the bandages under his shirt and pushed himself, carefully, to a sitting position. Loose sand scattered from his hair and he had to blink, struggling to take a deep breath without setting off another spasm of pain. In the gray light of pre-dawn, the beach was too close to his dream for comfort. He could still see her, standing half-submerged in the water and watching…

Stop it. Just a dream, nothing more. To prove it to himself and the ocean both, he crawled forward to the water's edge and plunged his hands in. The water was cold and gritty, but he splashed it over his face and shook his head vigorously, trying to dispel the image. He didn't remember falling asleep on the beach, after finally completing his journey to D.C. and landing on the coast, didn't remember much of the trip at all. The hours had simply melted away in a blur of pain and stunned disbelief.

"Did it really happen?" he whispered, speaking for the first time since he'd left the Wildflower. His voice sounded scratchy and weak, barely audible over the unceasing swish of the waves. The time he'd spent on that ship didn't seem to fit with reality, when he tried to remember, day and night blurred and it seemed both forever and not more than a few moments. Every memory of her had the quality of a dream to it, vivid but strangely detached from his other memories. The entire affair might just as well have been nothing more than some wild fantasy on his part, with only the burning pain across his ribs to reassure him that it was real.

That, and his missing sword.

Again he patted the bare skin of his chest with a resigned air, unsure why he felt no anger. Sakura had stolen it, his most precious possession, and he didn't even really care. The sword didn't matter anymore, nothing mattered, and he would have gladly given it up if only he could stay with her. Why had she taken it? Did she know? Did she know he would turn around and leave her like he did, break his promise? Was she angry?

"I'm sorry."

The words fell flat and meaningless, quickly consumed by the splashing waves. Too late for apologies now. Sakura was gone forever.

"But I still love you."

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The words were thin and distant, too far to bring much warmth. But Sakura snatched at them anyway, hugged them close for comfort and courage. She was afraid but she would not show it, refused to let him see her whimper and cry as she'd done in the past. She was stronger now, and smarter. More cautious. She'd always known he would find her again.

The Monster brushed his hand lightly down the side of her face and she trembled, but did not try to turn away.

"Oh Sakura," he murmured, "I can hardly believe it. After all this time, I finally have you back safe and sound. It's such a miracle that you weren't hurt, or damaged, on that claptrap of a ship. I can't tell you how relieved I am. Aren't you happy to be back home?"

Stare straight ahead, don't look. Don't speak.

"I saved your doll for you. Did you miss her?" The Monster tried to press it into her arms, but she didn't move to accept it. "Now, Sakura," he chided, "don't be like that. I know it must have been scary, but I just had to. I had to get you back from your brother, it's too dangerous for you to be flying around in space like that. When I think of all the ways you might have been hurt… I just can't bear the thought of it. You know I would do anything to keep you safe."

He arranged the doll tenderly in her lap. "I know you must be tired. We won't get started again right away, you should have a chance to rest. And we'll need to run a few tests, make sure you haven't been affected too much by all that time out of the lab. If you're a good girl, and you cooperate, I think I know a certain kitty cat that would just love to see you."

She almost broke at that, and the Monster surely noticed her sharp intake of breath and clenched fists. The Monster missed nothing. He smiled in a satisfied way and stood, ruffling her hair with affection.

"I'm just going to have a chat with your brother now, I think. I'll be back in a little while. And don't you worry. From now on, everything's going to be fine."

- - - - - -

It was so dark. Sleep sifted from his mind, but gradually, still blanketing most conscious thought. Vague nightmares made his stomach turn with dread, and he tried to roll over and feel for his boyfriend's reassuring presence.

"Yuki," he whispered, his voice cracked and unrecognizable. God, his throat was sore. "Had the… worst dream." He couldn't feel him anywhere on the bed. Where was Yuki? Unease welled up within Touya, nudging him further from sleep. He hoped Yuki hadn't gone up to the cockpit… something about it was dangerous, but he couldn't think what.

"Yuki?"

Some part of his mind finally woke up to the fact that his arms weren't actually moving. Or that he was even on his bed. He shifted slightly and winced at the ache that rippled through his muscles; his back and arms hurt terribly. This chair was metal and very uncomfortable, and he couldn't understand where he was. It was so dark, he needed to find a light switch.

He tried to stand and was promptly arrested by a pained protest in his arms, concentrated mostly around his shoulders but running all the way down to his wrists where something metal pinched at his skin. His hands were cuffed together around the back of the chair, and Touya's stomach twisted into a knot when he realized it. The nightmares hovered close and he swallowed, generating moisture for his dry and scratchy throat. No, it wasn't real, just a bad dream please don't let it be real. Wake up, Touya, wake up. You're dreaming, just open your eyes.

He tried, he really did. But this darkness wasn't real darkness.

He was wearing a blindfold.

A door opened somewhere on his left and he flinched, seized by the panic of a trapped and helpless animal. His muscles tensed automatically, but there was nowhere to run even if he could see, no way to escape this time.

"Finally awake?" a voice asked, male, not one Touya had ever heard before. A hand clapped on his shoulder and he almost jumped again, resisting the impulse to lean away from the touch. "That's good," the man continued without waiting for a response. "I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this chance, Mr. Kinomoto. Ever since the day you waltzed in here so brazenly and carried off my precious Sakura, I haven't thought about much else."

The hand patted his shoulder once, just a shade harder than the gesture would be between friends, and then moved to grip his chin, turning Touya's face up toward the sound of his voice. "I think you should know, before we begin, that there isn't a person in this universe that I hate -" The hand tightened its grip. "- more than you."

"Are you the one that took away my sister?"

"Yes."

"Then I hate you too."

For a long moment there was only tense silence, broken at last by a dry and humorless chuckle.

"Going to be brave, are we? Well, that's all right. It will only make it more enjoyable." The hand slipped off his chin, and a moment later struck Touya hard across the side of his face in a stinging backhanded slap. It knocked the wind right out of its unprepared victim and Touya had to gasp for air.

"You couldn't imagine how much I've invested into sculpting your sister into what she is. The pain and care that I took to re-engineer her mind, unlocking ability that you couldn't begin to understand. She was everything to me, and you stole her."

Again he hit Touya across the face, on the other side. A matching pain flared up, and Touya had to suck in a couple rapid, shallow breaths.

"She was my sister first. You had no right to take her away."

"Oh she's always been more than that, Kinomoto. Much, much more. She merely needed me to realize her potential. Extraction from her home environment was quite necessary."

"Extraction? You kidnapped her!" Memories of that horrible first night flashed through Touya's mind, the frantic searching, pacing by the phone, that knot of panic in his stomach hardening with every passing hour. He struggled to stand again but that hand clamped down on his shoulder, pushing him back into his chair. "She was just a little girl. You broke into our home… took her away from everything that she knew. You destroyed our family."

"We're all called upon to make sacrifices for something bigger than ourselves, Kinomoto. If you knew the amazing things your sister is capable of, I'm sure you'd agree. She exceeded even my expectations. Sakura is like… a gift from God."

His voice dropped in volume, reverently, and this time Touya heard the slight intake of breath. He barely managed to turn his face in time, taking the hard blow across his nose but avoiding a direct hit that would have broken it.

"And you run off with her because you happen to be her brother! I was so angry when you did that; I swore that when I found you, I'd make sure you suffered as much as I did. So now I'm going to do that, and then I'm going to kill you."

Yuki's gentle smile glowed against the darkness in his mind, and Touya's chest constricted painfully.

"You've already killed me."

"Is that so?" Fingers pulled at the buttons on his shirt, pulling it apart to expose his chest. "Let's see if I can make you scream anyway."

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Alone in the darkness, the forgotten fourth member of the ship's crew shivered again and blinked back the tears. Crying wasn't going to help her now, it might even give her away. No room for panicking now, even if the sheer irrational state of panic was what brought her here in the first place.

She'd been in the galley when that explosion hit. The sheer force of it threw her to the floor and she didn't move, petrified, waiting for the ship to fall apart around her. But when she heard the shouts of the invading police, Tomoyo was galvanized into action. Blindly she ran in the opposite direction, straight into the engine room that she'd always taken such care to avoid. The last time she'd been in here she'd been with Li looking for Sakura, and with no other coherent thought in her head she raced to the far back corner and leapt for Sakura's hiding place. Emergency strength lent height to her jump, and somehow she managed to grab the edge of the opening and haul herself up into the darkness.

All this she did automatically, so driven by her terror that for a few minutes she didn't even think about the fate of anyone else on the ship. But the engines had been stilled and sound carried well into this dark and cramped space. She heard Touya's frantic call to Sakura, heard the gunshots, could even hear the sound of her cousin crying. She very clearly heard the announcement that Yukito was dead, and with difficulty bit back a cry of grief. She'd only known him for a year but he was her friend, part of the family on this ship. Never hurt anyone in his life and now he'd been killed.

Limp with misery, she lay in a crumpled heap between the cables and listened to the scuffle that spelled Touya's ultimate defeat. She was a coward for crawling in here to hide, she should help him. But how? She didn't know how to use a gun even if she had one, didn't think she had it in her to point it at someone and pull the trigger anyway. There were too many of them, they never had a chance. How did the police ever find them?

Dully Tomoyo listened to the fading echo of Sakura's tears, and the retreating footsteps of the agents. It didn't seem to occur to them to look for anyone else, now that they had their quarry, but that didn't mean she was safe. Maybe they would destroy the ship once they'd evacuated, or worse, leave it floating in space with her in it. She tensed when the ship jerked, but nothing happened after that and she realized they must be towing the Wildflower along.

All that had been hours ago, a lifetime for the stricken girl huddled in the darkness. The ventilation loft had been unbearably hot at first, but without engine activity it quickly grew cooler, until she was curled into a ball and shivering on the metal floor. It was impossible to sustain that all-consuming terror and with the cold a vague numbness set in, a strange mixture of fear and boredom.

Hours passed. Though she struggled not to, she kept drifting off and then waking with a nervous start, tears wet on her face. Memories haunted her, and she dreamed vaguely of a day several months earlier, perhaps her last good day ever. They'd docked for a short while in the beautiful city of Hua Hin, on an island continent of Hollyn's. The smuggled goods were delivered more quickly than Touya and Yukito had predicted, and Tomoyo – with Yukito backing her up – persuaded Touya to stay and treat it like a holiday. The town was famous for its picturesque avenues and old-fashioned restaurants, and the weather sunny and beautiful. She'd dressed Sakura in a multi-colored flowered sundress, which she plainly adored and kept twirling to show it off. The excitement and novelty of such an outing had her practically sparkling with joy, bathing anything and anyone that passed in the light of her glowing smile. People simply couldn't resist Sakura when she was like that, as if magnetized the passers-by responded to her smile, raised their hat in polite greeting, or stopped to tell her how pretty she was. A few even asked if they could take her picture, which of course Touya refused, but the request alone was enough to make Tomoyo beam with pride. And even Touya had a good time that day, holding hands with Yukito and watching his sister dance from shop window to shop window. They had dinner at a delightful café overlooking the ocean while the sun set, and watched the first stars appear. No need for any pill, Sakura had long since fallen asleep in Touya's arms by the time they made their way back to the docks. Tomoyo loved it when her cousin slept so peacefully, that was when she could forget, and pretend she was as happy and normal as any other girl. In the thickening twilight she watched Touya hug her close to his chest, always so protective. He was crossing the street to get to the Wildflower when a huge freight truck hit them both.

Tomoyo woke up with a shriek and then froze, terrified, listening to her heart thumping wildly in her chest. A nightmare, just a nightmare but she'd felt the collision. It was the ship, she realized at last, logical thought filtering slowly into her mind. They'd bumped into something and weren't moving anymore; they'd reached their destination. But where was that? What would happen now?

Doing her best to keep her breathing light and even, Tomoyo waited, but there was nothing. She was on the verge of convincing herself to climb back down into the engine room when she heard voices, and she went rigidly still. Not just one or two, either, she could hear several people making their way through the ship, and a snatch or two of their conversations but no individual words. Were they searching the ship now, looking for her?

Panic fluttered again at the thought, and she squeezed herself into such a tiny ball that her lungs protested the lack of air. She was trapped, nowhere to run and no way to protect herself. What was she even doing up here, hiding like this, it wasn't as if she could do anything. Driven to the edge of exhaustion, the miserable fugitive wondered if she shouldn't just climb down and give herself up.

"You get that end, and I'll start on the turbines."

"Right."

Tomoyo jumped at the sound of the men's voices, right beneath her and carrying up through the ceiling with surprising clarity. She heard a few vague metallic sounds, and the shuffling of people moving around underneath her, and then one of them asked the other if he could borrow a fresh battery for his scanner.

With difficulty Tomoyo subdued the fresh panic and concentrated on thinking logically. They weren't looking for her, she finally decided. Their voices were too calm and relaxed, too casual. Men just doing their jobs, whatever that job was. She was still safe for the moment.

Still more time passed. Aside from the occasional comment here and there, the pair below worked in silence, but she could hear the reassuring sounds of human activity: a sneeze, a cough or two, and more of that odd metallic clinking. She wondered what it was, and realized that the two of them were moving steadily across the room, the sounds coming from directly under the vent now. Would they notice it, and if they did, would they think it worthwhile to explore? Eyeing the little square of light warily, Tomoyo tried to slide noiselessly backward. Maybe even if one poked his head up, he wouldn't see anything but the darkness.

Someone strode loudly into the room. "Anything new to report?"

"No sir. Same as in the rest of the ship; more of the same hair strands and fingerprints, nothing unusual. There's some old blood stains on the wiring down below, but it matches Kinomoto's and looks like a small injury."

There was a brief silence, finally broken by the new arrival. "This isn't right."

"Sir?"

"The evidence doesn't fit. The subject, Kinomoto, his pilot. There should have been one more on this ship."

Tomoyo's throat closed up and she concentrated on crawling backward over a thick clump of cables, afraid to take her eyes off the vent for one second. This cramped space was grimy and disgusting… there wouldn't be anything alive up here, would there?

"There were three occupied bunks, and three apprehended, right?"

"Yes, but the team on the captain's bunk is sure two men were sharing that room. Different clothing sizes, personal articles on both bedside shelves. And besides, it's obvious that both of the other bunks belonged to girls – again, different clothing sizes. We've got a missing girl on our hands."

Tomoyo put her hand down on something that crackled noisily and she almost shrieked again, clamping her mouth shut against it just in time.

"Did you hear something?" the man questioned below and Tomoyo was sure her heart stopped, but the other two must have shaken their heads because he continued. "Anyway, go ahead and finish up, then bring any evidence you've collected to the lab. Then we can dump this ship for destruction and begin with analysis."

"Yes sir."

His footsteps retreated back down the corridor, and the men resumed their examination. Heart still thudding, Tomoyo tried to peer into the darkness next to her. Whatever it was, it wasn't moving at least. Tentatively she extended a hand and her fingertips brushed over something dry and fragile, like little scraps of old paper. Further exploration found a brittle twig, and she finally realized that she'd found Sakura's precious flower from Crossworlds. The once-beautiful blossom had been reduced to a pile of withered petals, and for some reason Tomoyo found herself crying because of it. Everything had been destroyed, everything they loved ripped apart like this flower and nothing could ever get it back again. Touya loved this ship, he really did. He never talked about it, but often Tomoyo had seen him rub a hand affectionately over the hull and smile, when he thought nobody was looking. He loved it because he'd rescued Sakura with it, he'd kept it for her and in a way it had come to represent her.

And now the ship was about to be destroyed. She rested her head against her knee and tried to quiet her tears, so busy getting control of herself that it was a few minutes before the full impact sunk in.

Oh no. They were going to destroy the ship and she was still in it! She had no choice, she had to surrender now or she'd surely die. What was the point in hiding anyway, everyone was gone and there was nothing Tomoyo could do to help them. Maybe if Touya had been the one to hide, or Yukito, things would be different. They would know what to do, but she was Tomoyo and she just didn't. It was this, or death.

She sat up slightly and braced an arm against the floor to crawl forward, and something slid down from her elbow and hit the floor with a sharp crack. Reflexively Tomoyo jumped back and held her breath, though just one second earlier she'd had every intention of calling out. She'd been holding Li's sword amulet in her hand when the ship was attacked, and somehow its cord had become looped around her wrist when she jumped up here. She'd forgotten all about it, but now she could feel its polished and warm texture in her hand and the crispy petals in the other, and Tomoyo felt her heart start to beat faster again. Not with fear, this time, but with hope. There was a way out after all, still a chance to save the ones she'd thought were lost to her forever.

Get to Li.

The thought welled up from deep inside her somewhere, making her blood tingle with purpose and determination before she'd even put words to it. Li could find Sakura again, she knew it, Li could fight anything they had to rescue her. He wouldn't let anything stand in his way. If she could just get to Li somehow, then everything would be all right.

She didn't know how, but she wasn't about to surrender now, not when she had this chance. Remote and thin it was, like a gleam of sunlight from behind a planet, but Tomoyo grasped at it and hung on grimly. She'd either find Li, or she'd die trying.

The men below her packed up their tools and left the room, and everything was quiet again. Had the entire ship emptied? Carefully Tomoyo wriggled across the floor and peeked through the vent, straining her ears for any noise.

She should wait, some part of her said, to be safe. But the other part pointed out that if the ship really was empty then it could be dangerous to stick around. She had to get out of here, and grasped the edge of the opening. Awkwardly she tried to lower herself down, but even with her arms straightened her bare feet dangled too far above the floor for comfort. How had she ever jumped so high? Taking a deep breath, Tomoyo shut her eyes and let go, tumbling to the floor with a squeak. She'd been much too loud, but no one came running and she picked herself up with a stifled groan. Too many hours curled up on a cold floor had done no good for her muscles. At least her bare feet let her move quietly, and without making a sound she slipped out of the engine room and up the corridor. Nothing moved; the galley was empty and she passed it by without more than a glance. Something about the room seemed out of place but she dismissed it, her thoughts on getting to her bunk. The passageway was the most frightening, with its long stretch there would be nowhere for her to hide if someone came around the corner.

Silently she kept going, peeking around the bend before she turned into the bunk corridor. Every door was open, and with a flicker of relief Tomoyo practically dove into hers. Halfway there. Now if she could just get into some real clothes and –

The thought died there when she saw what was left of her room. The space that had been hers for a year was stripped completely, left bare of anything that could be moved and wiped clean, sterilized. Her clothes were all gone. Her violet flowered sheets, and lace-trimmed pillowcases that she'd sewn herself, were gone and only the naked bed remained. She lifted the lid of the built-in locker and saw all her books had been taken as well, every memento she'd ever collected, even her hairbrushes were gone. They'd combed the room and collected everything she owned and didn't even leave a sock behind, and an aghast Tomoyo realized it must be the same for Sakura's bunk. All the beautiful dresses and blouses she'd sewn for her friend, were they all packed up and labeled in a laboratory somewhere? It was an absurd thing to be upset about, she reminded herself, after everything else that had happened, but it still hurt.

Footsteps pounded into the silence, striding down the corridor over her head, and Tomoyo threw herself against the wall just under the open hatchway. She shouldn't have crawled out of her hiding place so soon after all, if anyone thought to look inside the bunks again she'd be caught. But the man didn't slow his steps as he walked past, right over her head, and not long after she heard someone call out from the direction of the cockpit.

"All clear?"

"Yeah," the other man answered, coming back up from the cargo hold. "We're finished here, nothing more that can be extracted."

"Right. We'll just tow her down to the shipyards outside D.C. then, no use wasting a lot of ammunition on this piece of junk. Maybe they'll even get a few decent parts out of her first."

"Yeah, that toilet might still be worth something," the first man jeered, and both laughed. Tomoyo couldn't bother to get indignant in defense of the Wildflower, not when she was digesting their plans for the ship. Towing it down to the shipyards, outside – D.C! They must have been brought directly to that satellite Touya had rescued Sakura from. Now they were preparing to dump the ship and her right down on the planet, outside the capital city, and the capital city was Li's home. She only had to sit tight and wait for them to land.

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Thunk.

The slim silver kunai bit into the weathered boards, one after another, obstinately refusing to hit the knothole that was Li's intended target. He couldn't remember when he'd ever had such bad aim, but he couldn't be bothered to care and dully flicked another blade at the wall.

Thunk.

When he'd woken again, some of the clouds had melted away and the light was much better, the sea turning a deep green under the sunshine. The green only reminded him of her eyes, though, and in disgust he retreated into the beach house for a shower. The wound still burned, but like any safety-conscious individual that bounty hunter stocked plenty of bandages on his ship, and Li dressed it carefully after rinsing off the grime and sweat and sand. His powers were specialized for combat, but with his lifestyle Li had gotten pretty good at treating his own injuries and wove a little magic in with the medicine to speed up the mending process.

Thunk.

His stomach rumbled uncomfortably, but the dusty handful of ration bars left in a drawer from his last stay here effectively killed his appetite. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here to convalesce, not without supplies available closer than an hour's walk, but Li couldn't face the idea of returning to downtown D.C. right now, where there were people. Couldn't bring himself to see Meilin, not just yet, while the pain was still so raw. Not the pain on his ribs.

Thunk.

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Another surge of pain jolted through the needle in his skin and Touya bucked, throwing himself against the back of the chair and digging his heels into the floor until it passed. And he did scream, he'd given up trying not to long ago.

"Good," his captor appraised when he collapsed limp and panting. "But still not loud enough. Let's try another." Three footsteps to his right, a slight metallic sound of something being picked up off the table, then three steps back. Touya flinched slightly as another needle punctured his chest, and braced himself for the soft click of the switch. When it came, it was like being stabbed with half a dozen hot knives and he writhed, unable to stop screaming even when the warm liquid from his bleeding nose trickled over his lip and into his mouth. He'd already lost count of the sessions, couldn't think how long this had been going on and didn't try.

The switch flipped off again and he sagged with relief, his brain buzzing with the aftermath.

"Much better, Kinomoto, much better. I think perhaps you've made up for the first month."

Touya made a half-hearted attempt to spit out some of his blood and wondered how much longer this would last before the man decided to just kill him. This was how it was to end, then, after all he'd fought for it came down to this. Sakura was taken from him, again. Yukito was dead. And Tomoyo, a kind-hearted and decent girl if there ever was one, what was happening to her? He'd almost asked, earlier, but held back out of fear they might get the idea to use her against him. With any luck she'd only been locked up and dismissed; for now Sakura's kidnapper only seemed interested in making Touya scream.

"What," Touya gasped, "do you want me to say? That I'm sorry? That I was wrong to take my sister back?"

"It'd be a start."

"Don't hold your breath."

"I won't," the other assured him. "I'm quite aware of your stubborn nature by now. After all, for a young civilian such as yourself to actually locate this satellite and then break into it, just to reclaim a sibling, demonstrates no small amount of willpower. Angry as I was that night, I was a little impressed in spite of myself. How did you ever manage it?"

"I'm pretty smart."

"Don't I know it. A perfect score on your math and science examination, if I recall correctly, with just one missed for language. 1790, the highest score on Chapeyne that year." One hand patted his cheek in a paternal way and he tried to lean out of the touch. "Surprised? Of course I know all about you, Kinomoto, I knew quite a bit before I ever set eyes on your little family. We originally came because of you, you know. Your magical signature had so much potential to fit our needs, but after closer examination we realized Sakura was the better match. Isn't it odd the way life works out?"

"Better match for what?" Touya wheezed, and his response was another spasm of pain coursing through his muscles.

"I don't really see how that concerns you, Kinomoto. What matters is that Sakura is back safe and sound and hopefully undamaged by your interference with the experiment. We won't know for sure until we run a few tests, and then I'll know just how slowly I want to kill you."

"Undamaged?" Touya repeated, almost choking on the word. "You think I damaged her? You're the one that damaged her! You violated her, you hacked up her mind, you stole her spirit…" His words faded to a rasp and he had to cough, the muscles in his chest protesting every labored breath. "She woke up screaming, in the night sometimes. She was so scared…"

"Terrified because she'd been torn away from her home, Kinomoto, taken out of the world I provided for her. Don't try to tell me otherwise, my security captain reported that you had to drag her to your escape route and she fought you every inch of the way."

"She was just upset by the noise, she -" He cut himself off with a scream when the switch flipped again.

"How dare you, Kinomoto. You whisk Sakura away as if she was some inanimate possession, giving no thought at all to her delicate condition, house her in that flying deathtrap of a ship, and then accuse me of frightening her? Just what did you expose her to this past year, anyway? You must have been smuggling goods on that little freighter, to make ends meet. Did she meet criminals? Drug runners? Killers? Ever have a gun pointed at her head?"

Inwardly Touya cringed at the unpleasant memories. "I did everything I could to keep her safe."

"I beg to differ, Kinomoto, or did you not allow her to wander through Crossworlds?"

"I -"

"That port is a madhouse! Thousands of people and products from every planet and you just let her loose in that crowd. I shudder to think of the accidents that might have happened." The footsteps were pacing across the floor in front of him, agitated. "And it's obvious just from looking at her that she's seen sunlight, which means you allowed her out when planetside. I suppose you let her eat solid food too, that she could have choked on."

The pacing stopped and even in his darkened world of pain Touya felt the movement of air. A hard fist struck him across the temple but he turned his head to the side in time, and the blow was only glancing. Years ago he didn't even need to see to know what was going on around him, now in this enforced blindness Touya struggled to reclaim some of that ability, begged his body to remember.

"You thrust her into a dangerous, uncontrolled environment, Kinomoto, I'm the one that kept her safe. Here on my satellite, well protected and out of reach of anything nasty that might upset her, no unforeseen variables to threaten her. No one other than me was even permitted to have contact with her! For seven years, she had the perfect, pure environment and I have you to thank for ruining that."

Absurdly, Touya almost chuckled under his breath.

"Something amusing?"

"Not really. I was just thinking that you sound like someone I know."

"Still unrepentant, I see. Perhaps another needle will wipe that smile off your face." Three steps to his right, another soft clink, and then three steps back. Touya shot his leg out and jammed his heel into bone, throwing the last of his remaining strength into one hard kick. He was rewarded with a startled shout of pain, before he realized he'd leaned too far back to balance. The chair toppled over and he felt the searing pain as every wired needle yanked free from his skin. He hit the floor and a white-hot pain exploded in his left arm, pinned under the chair itself. A noisy crash told him he'd managed to drag the machine off its table too.

"Stupid boy," the man spluttered, and kicked Touya solidly in the chest. Distracted by the furious pain in his arm, he hadn't been prepared and curled up reflexively, gasping for air. "What did you think that would get you?"

"Nothing," Touya panted, "but it sure felt good." Every muscle aching with the movement, he braced his feet against the chair legs and tried to push himself along the floor, out from under the chair's back.

"Oh? You know what I think feels good?" Touya clenched his muscles in preparation and exhaled when the shoe connected with his stomach. Again he tried to wriggle out from under the weight pinning him down, all too aware of the presence standing over him.

"Look at you," the man snorted derisively. "Crawling across the floor like a worm and you still think you can fight back. Pathetic. You don't have the slightest clue what I'm capable of, do you?"

"Well you've proven you can hit a man in handcuffs, so I'm impressed."

The kick came a little lower this time, dangerously close to his waist, and Touya drew up his knees in reflex before pushing his legs straight again and sliding another few inches.

"The smart-mouthed comments are beginning to try my patience, Kinomoto, you'd be well advised to keep them to yourself."

"Or you'll what? Hit me?"

One hand grasped his shoulder and the other his hair, provoking a stifled yelp on his part, dragged him out from under the chair and threw him across the room. Touya landed on his aching arm and screamed again, rolling once over the floor before he came to a stop.

"I think you misunderstand me, Kinomoto. You probably think I'm some kind of agent of the government, a soft-skinned bureaucrat who lets others do the dirty work. But I'll let you in on a little secret." Touya rolled over onto his back and carefully attempted a shallow breath, but hardly had he done so when a hand clamped around his throat and picked his head up off the floor.

"I don't work for the government," he whispered in Touya's ear, every word dripping with malicious delight. "The government works for me."

He let Touya's head drop back to the floor. "It's a sloppy organization, true, but you can't find a better job when you really need to get things done. Put yourself high enough, and nobody questions you. Need something? Take it. Need something done? Order it. Let the politicians sweat and struggle for their votes; working in the shadows is where the real power is. No one knows about me that isn't supposed to know and no one that knows me ever sees my face. Every planet's governor, Congress, even Chairman Bayne I hold in the palm of my hand to blow away any time I choose, and they don't even know it. Someone like you is an insect under my shoe."

He ground his heel into Touya's tender chest to carry home the point, and Touya gritted his teeth.

"There was this guy," he muttered, "that I worked for. Mob boss, you know, not very nice. And he said the same thing, told me that I was nothing to him and all that… Anyway, I put a bullet in his head."

The heel dug a little harder and he groaned. "And do you think you'll have that opportunity with me?"

"No. I was just thinking that, for an insect, I did a pretty good job of scaring you. So maybe you don't have as much power as you think you do."

Only silence answered, and the foot lifted off his chest. But Touya was sure he could feel a swell of fury gathering over him and tensed. It was coming back, seeping into his awareness just like she'd promised it would.

"How's that arm, Kinomoto, did you break it?" He never had a chance to scramble away before his captor slammed his foot down on the bone and snapped it neatly in two.

Touya had passed out by the time he finished screaming.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Her stomach growled again and Tomoyo did her best to ignore it, lying patiently curled up on her bare mattress and staring at the wall. She was still cold – this lace-trimmed robe wasn't practical at all – but even a bed with no blanket was better than that miserable nest of cables in the engine room. At least here she could stretch her legs out. She worried about falling asleep and being discovered, but it seemed her empty stomach was doing a good job of keeping her awake. She checked the galley but naturally everything had been cleaned out, not even a ration bar left. Why did they have to scour the ship like they did, what were they hoping to find?

The ship collided with something and she was thrown right off her bed, provoking a yelp of surprise on her part. It shifted slightly under her and then a massive scraping noise sounded from the cockpit. They must have touched down on the planet's surface; she was so used to Yukito's graceful landings that she never realized just how rough one could be. But that noise sounded like the ship had been released from the one towing and she pulled herself to her feet, rubbing a sore knee. Was the way clear?

She waited for several tense minutes, heard nothing, crawled out of her bunk and crept toward the cargo hold. The screeching sound of the hatchway opening stopped her in her tracks just before she rounded the corner.

"- and they really think we can get anything useful off this?" someone was saying, and two pairs of feet treaded noisily up the steps and into the ship. "Where they'd even dig it up, that's what I want to know."

"Another criminal impoundment or something," the other answered, disinterested. "What does it matter, it's just more work."

"Not much work," the first one grunted, and from the sound of it kicked the wall. They were coming closer and Tomoyo retreated, sliding back against the wall of the corridor until she reached her bunk again. "There's some good metal here, once it's melted down. Probably nothing else."

"Well, let's at least look over the stupid thing before we decide, Max," his partner reproved. "I'll do the engine room, you check out the cockpit."

"Fine."

Back inside her bunk, Tomoyo adhered herself to the wall as one man walked past over her head. The other stalked in the opposite direction, until both their footsteps faded away. Now what? She could try to slip out while they were occupied, but if one of them was in the engine room then he might see her when she crossed the cargo hold.

Might, Tomoyo told herself. Li wouldn't even hesitate to take the risk, but then, he'd probably just knock both men out anyway. But she was Tomoyo, and she stayed where she was. It wasn't worth the chance, if she was caught then there was no one else to find Li. She must get to Li. Get to Li. Again and again she whispered the mantra through stiff lips while the two vultures rummaged through Touya's ship.

"Hey Karl, find anything?" one of them eventually called out, footsteps clunking in the passage just over Tomoyo's head.

"Yeah," came the muffled reply. "There's a pair of sweet ZZ thrusters integrated with the engines, not more than a year old." His voice became clearer as he spoke and Tomoyo heard him walking up the passage to meet his partner. They were conversing almost directly above her, now, and Tomoyo tried to swallow. Why did the body always need to cough at the worst possible times?

"Well-maintained too, these were criminals that knew what they were doing. How about the cockpit?"

"Hopeless. The police blasted their way in there, most of the console's gone. Old as dirt, anyway, nothing worth ripping out."

"Huh. Think we should check out the bunks?" He kicked the wall by Tomoyo's open doorway with a careless foot, but his partner snorted disdainfully.

"For what?"

"We could rip out those mattresses. Gonna have to anyway, if we're melting anything down."

"Hmm." Tomoyo closed her eyes and prepared for the inevitable. "What time is it?"

"Almost five- aw, damn! The game!"

"Yeah. And we can't even listen to it in here, the planetside radio's been fried. I say we get back to the office and rip out the thrusters and anything else tomorrow morning. We can call it overtime."

"Just don't tell the taxpayers," the other one joked, with the tone of one who'd made that joke several times before, and they both laughed. Footsteps retreated back down the corridor and faded from Tomoyo's hearing, and then she heard the bang of the hatchway closing.

Too close. Tomoyo sagged against the wall with relief, but she didn't allow herself more than a few seconds to regain her breath before she crawled out of her bunk. She'd been trapped here for too many hours as it was, she couldn't afford to sit still any longer. Get to Li, get to Li.

There wasn't any real need for it, but she tiptoed softly to the back of the ship and down into the cargo hold. Planetside, they'd always come and gone by the wide gangplank and she had her hand on the button before her mind caught up and she jerked it away. The thing made a horribly loud noise every time it opened and was an obvious gaping hole to anyone's sight – she couldn't believe she'd almost done something so stupid. But what other way out was there? Only the airlock door they used when docking in a place like Crossworlds, and doubtfully she keyed the numeric lock at its side. She wasn't even sure if it could open, without the sealing mechanism outside adhering to something, but maybe that didn't matter with the ship disabled. In any case, it opened quietly and without fuss. Tomoyo blinked at the daylight, but it wasn't so bright as to overwhelm her unadjusted eyes. The sky was part dusky blue, part mellow gold and pink; it must be late afternoon on this continent. Nothing moved, and she pushed the door open further to see her surroundings. Other ships sat brooding in the approaching twilight, rusting and decrepit, abandoned here to their final fate. Tomoyo found them depressing to look at, but at least it was quiet. If those two men were in their office and occupied, surely it was safe to sneak out.

Then she looked down, and squeaked. Why hadn't she ever noticed how high up this airlock door was? Using it to exit the ship in a spaceport it had never mattered, but here on a planet she was well above the ground without any gangplank to get her closer. This ship was so small compared to others, but right now it didn't seem that way, and she gazed helplessly on the hard dirt far below. No way she could jump that far, especially not in her bare feet.

Distractedly she rubbed one against the other and wondered what to do. With their long legs, Touya or Yukito could have jumped the distance without thinking twice. Why couldn't one of them be the one who escaped the police?

"Stop it," Tomoyo whispered fiercely. Much as she wished otherwise, she was the one who'd managed to hide. It was up to her to get to Li, Sakura was depending on her, and it was pointless to waste time imagining what the others would do. Tomoyo was not stupid, she'd graduated first in her class, she could do this if she just gave it some thought. The obvious choice was something like Touya's grappling hooks, but of course all his things were long gone. She had no rope, not even any bed sheets to knot together. They'd taken anything that could be moved…

Restlessly her eyes scanned the walls of the cargo hold, and she sucked in her breath when she realized what she was looking at. The cargo straps, of course! The tough strips of elasticized material ran along the length of the cargo hold's walls, designed to secure crates during turbulence. One of them would easily bear her weight. They detached only at one end, which was probably why the police hadn't bothered to remove them, and anxiously Tomoyo unhooked the one closest to the airlock. Pulled away from the wall and through the doorway, it dangled most of the way to the ground – not all the way but close enough. She pulled the cord of Li's amulet on over her head to ensure she wouldn't drop it, gripped the strap, and with a brief prayer began.

Some of her elation cooled when she tried to edge her way out without letting the door swing open too wide. It was near impossible, crawling out backwards and clinging to the strap for dear life. The material was slick, too big to grasp like rope and too stiff to curl for easier holding. Palms sweating, she lowered herself out of the doorway and dangled with one hand, trying to shut the door as far as she could. Physical education had never been her best subject, that was the one class where Sakura had excelled instead. She would probably treat this as some kind of game, and shimmer down to the ground in two seconds flat. The thought made Tomoyo smile, and for some reason it gave her courage. Carefully and methodically, the dark-haired girl clambered down her makeshift lifeline, until her feet were dangling just a few feet above the earth. Her arms were aching at this point and she let go gratefully, landing better than she had in the engine room. Maybe she was learning.

The shadows had become longer. Nothing had moved in the shipyard, she was still invisible. The cargo strap trailing out of the ship would be immediately noticed, she was sure, but not until the men returned the next day. By then she'd be long gone. Flush with success, Tomoyo turned and began to cover the distance to the next ship at a light run, then stopped and looked back.

The Wildflower returned her look, almost glittering in one last gleam of sunlight. For a year it had been her home, been home for all of them. Brought together, in one way or another, for Sakura.

It was over now. And Tomoyo realized just how much she loved that ship too. The ray of sunlight faded, plunging the ship into shadows.

"Goodbye," she whispered, turned, and ran.

The Wildflower was left alone in the dusk.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Open," Touya instructed, and Sakura obeyed. Playfully he piloted a spoon of oatmeal into her open mouth and she closed her lips, swallowing with an expression of pure delight. They must have had her on a terrible diet, all these years, for her to enjoy something like this so much. Or maybe it was the company and not the food that made her so happy. She beamed at him and then Yuki, who was sitting across from Sakura and watching the interaction with a rather wry grin.

"I really do think she can handle feeding herself, Toya," he said again. "You should at least try it and see."

"She'll probably just spill it," Touya replied absently, patiently inserting another spoonful between her lips. She licked a stray morsel from them and then opened her mouth again, her green eyes shining happily. "It's okay. I don't mind."

"Have you ever heard of a sister complex?"

"No, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to."

Yuki chuckled, which attracted Sakura's attention and she flashed the pilot another sparkling smile. He couldn't help but smile in response.

"She really is so pretty, though."

"You've got to stop saying that," Touya warned, but his tone was light and teasing. "You'll give her the wrong idea. And you are most definitely taken."

He shot Yuki a look of mock sternness, whose smile took on a suggestive note. In fact Touya was pleased that Yuki took such an immediate liking to Sakura, in spite of her erratic behavior and odd mannerisms. He was equally pleased, and relieved, that Sakura seemed so at ease with Yuki, stranger though he was. More than just at ease, really; there was a light of adoration in her eyes when she looked at him that almost made Touya jealous. He didn't know why, but she liked Yuki and that was good enough for him.

He scooped another spoonful with his right hand. His left arm hurt terribly, but he couldn't quite remember why.

"Such a terrible thing," Yuki murmured, still watching Sakura. "Do you think she'll ever get better?"

Touya lost his smile. "I don't know."

"I wonder why it was her. There are hundreds of magical people in the system, so why a little girl?"

Touya looked up sharply, spoon poised between bowl and Sakura. "What makes you think she has magic?"

Yukito blinked and returned Touya's suddenly suspicious stare with a genuinely flustered one. "Um, I don't know. I guess I just assumed…" He shrugged and gestured helplessly toward the girl next to Touya, who was following the conversation interestedly. There was only honest confusion in his brown eyes, and Touya relaxed. It wasn't a very farfetched assumption, after all.

"She does," he admitted, popping the spoon in Sakura's mouth again. "I didn't think it was all that much, when she was a kid, but I guess there was something about it they wanted. Experiments with magic, that's what all my sources said." He couldn't help the nasty scowl on his face just talking about it, and Yukito noticed.

"Do you have it too? Magic?"

The scowl got deeper. "No. Not anymore."

"Not anymore?" For the second time Yuki blinked in confusion. "How can it be 'not anymore'? It's a permanent thing, right?"

"It's there, it's just… I don't use it anymore. Don't want anything to do with it. A friend of mine hypnotized me a few years ago, locked it away so I don't have to see it."

Touya didn't like talking about it and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, wondering again why his arm hurt so much. Still, it was a topic bound to come up sometime, so might as well get it out of the way. Yuki looked both fascinated and, oddly, disappointed. "This is the same friend that found you the ship?"

"Yeah."

"And it's just sealed away forever, you can't ever use it again?"

"She said it would come back if I want it badly enough." He rolled his eyes in scorn. "Which won't happen. I can see things just fine with same eyes that everyone else has. The less magic that's around Sakura right now, the better."

She'd finished eating, and tenderly Touya tucked a strand of her wispy hair behind one ear. Yuki laced his fingers together and propped his chin on them, looking thoughtful.

"I wonder if you can."

"What?"

"See things, that is. Can you see me?"

This time it was Touya's turn to blink, and some part of him said that this hadn't happened, this was no longer a memory. The pain was spreading from his arm to his chest, making every breath burn. Yuki did not appear to notice this, smiling in a rather subtle, enigmatic way that was out of place on his features. Touya didn't like it at all, and then he realized Sakura was smiling at him in the same manner, as if the two of them shared some secret he wasn't a part of.

"No," Yuki continued casually, "I don't think you can. Not yet. But you will soon enough."

Touya was finding it difficult to concentrate on this suddenly disturbing conversation, more aware of his labored breathing and the ripples of pain that echoed through his muscles with every motion.

"It hurts," he panted. "I can't- move…" Yuki's odd smile melted into a properly sympathetic expression, and he leaned over the table to offer the comfort of a quick kiss. But before their lips touched, freezing water cascaded over Touya and washed everything away.

He jerked awake and promptly cried out in pain, his tender and throbbing arm quick to remind him of his injury. He was still lying on his back on the floor, broken arm cruelly handcuffed to the other under his body, and rather wet.

"Come on, wake up," the voice ordered impatiently. Touya blinked, or tried to, under his blindfold, mind foggy with the pain of returning consciousness. His world was still pitch black but it was easier now to feel the threatening presence in the room with him, to 'see' him as he paced by Touya's battered body. This made Touya feel better not at all.

"I've let you sleep a few hours now, Kinomoto, that's more than enough. Wake up, we have things to discuss."

"-m awake," he mumbled.

"Are you comfortable, is there anything I can get you?"

"Yes, I'd like to see my sister."

This earned him a swift kick to his ribs and he grunted. "You don't ever get to see her again, Kinomoto, nobody sees her but me. I thought I made that clear earlier. I've just been with her, actually. Naughty little girl that she is, she started taking on some of your sensations. Feeling your pain, to put it bluntly; did you know that she can do that? She is a troublesome thing when she wants to be."

Touya would have gasped in horror had he the strength. Sakura was suffering all this, she could feel what he felt? The thought made him nauseous and with an effort he kept his stomach under control.

"Why?" he croaked.

"In the hopes that I would spare you, I suppose. But never mind, I've put her under so we can continue where we left off. My agents have gone through your ship and just sent me their preliminary findings, and I have a few questions for you."

Touya heard the rustle of papers, and the scrape of the chair as it was dragged across the room.

"So many curious clues on your little ship, Kinomoto, so many mysteries. Like pieces of a puzzle that don't quite fit, and I don't like that. I don't like not knowing the answers, particularly when it's about something as important as Sakura's living environment. So we will go through my questions, one by one, and you will answer honestly and completely. I'm sure you know what will happen if you don't."

"Go to hell."

"We'll begin with the biggest piece of the puzzle, the one I'm most concerned about at present: your little cousin. Miss Tomoyo Daidouji."

Huh?

That was the absolute last thing he'd expected to hear, and Touya's prepared verbal retort died on his lips.

"What?" he said instead, and heard the impatient cluck of a tongue.

"Don't insult me, Kinomoto, I know perfectly well she was on your ship. She disappeared two days after you took Sakura away, and there are long black hairs that match her DNA everywhere. I assume you brought her on board to help take care of your sister. So where is she?"

What the hell? It was a very good thing he was blindfolded, Touya thought dazedly, or he would have just stared blankly at his captor. Wasn't Tomoyo locked up in the room next to his?

"Don't know who you're talking about," he muttered, to buy him a little time.

"Wrong answer." Hands clutched at his shirt and hauled him off the floor, slamming him against the wall and provoking another cry when the pain in his arm blazed up. "Let's see if this helps you remember." A knee jabbed him viciously in the stomach and knocked all the wind right out of Touya. Nausea bubbled up again, which his captor must have sensed because he released Touya's shirt and backed away. Unable to resist any longer, Touya dropped to his knees and vomited.

But his thoughts were racing. Little, quiet Tomoyo had done the unthinkable and escaped somehow. But how? The pod? Surely not, he'd been right in front of it when the police overwhelmed him. It had been his assumption until this very minute that she'd been asleep in her bunk and captured before they even found him and Sakura in the cargo hold. But that obviously hadn't happened. She must have hidden somewhere on the ship, where he couldn't imagine, but that didn't matter. What did matter was that she was free, and they didn't even suspect how close she really was.

"I am waiting, Kinomoto." A fist struck a sharp blow to his bowed head, a restrained one that wouldn't knock him out. This pain was excruciating and Touya didn't think he was all that far from another black-out, frantically he tried to collect his thoughts. So Tomoyo had slipped out of the police net, but what could she do? She was smart, yes, but to outwit an entire squad of federal agents took a kind of thinking he didn't think she was capable of. Even if she managed to escape the ship and the satellite without detection, which would be a miracle, where would she go? D.C.?

"Still here," the man prompted, and struck him again on the other side. Assuming they hadn't changed location since he rescued Sakura, that was the nearest planet and Touya didn't think she'd ever been there in her life. So even if she achieved the impossible and got to the planet – without alerting anyone to her presence – what would she do there? She didn't know anyone. She couldn't go to the police, obviously. There wasn't anyone that she could go to for help, no one that would even care let alone be able to do something, no one except…

…Li.

Touya threw up again.

But he did live there, if he'd been telling the truth, and Tomoyo was so insistent that he and Sakura were in love. If she got it in her head to find Li, and through incredibly good fortune did find him, would he come? Touya mulled over the question, unwillingly remembering the way Li looked at Sakura, right before leaving the ship.

Yes, he decided wearily, he would come. It wasn't going to happen, there were too many ifs in that chain of events, it was too much to ask of someone like Tomoyo. But there was still that slim chance and Touya would protect that chance, even from in here. Hands grasped his shirt again, in preparation for another slam against the wall.

"Okay," he gasped, taking on a tone of defeat. "Okay. She- Tomoyo, she was on my ship."

"Yes?"

"We dropped her off at Little Heavens, to buy up some supplies. We were headed back there to pick her up when you found us."

"And she's there now?"

"Yes." The hands released him again and he braced himself upright on his knees, trying not to show any tension.

"That wasn't so difficult, now was it? I'm glad to see you can be reasonable, even if it does take prompting." There was some quiet beeping of buttons, and then he ordered someone to dispatch a search party to the Little Heavens spaceport. Touya almost collapsed with relief and bowed his head to hide a smile. The man believed him; Tomoyo was safe – from this end, anyway.

His smile vanished at the next words.

"On to the next mystery. This young man recovered from your ship, the lead agent speculates he was the pilot. Is that accurate?"

Touya said nothing.

"The crew that cleaned your bunk found clothing in both his size and yours, and several strands of your hair mixed together on the bed. How interesting, I didn't think you were the type."

Still no response.

"He's dead, of course, waiting for a more thorough examination in our lab, but I bring it up because we're having a devil of a time identifying him and I thought you could help us out."

Yuki, lying cold on a table somewhere, waiting to be dissected. Grief crawled up his throat and threatened to choke him, with difficulty Touya swallowed it. Now wasn't the time to fall apart and cry.

"It's really an odd thing, he doesn't match any dental records or ocular scans. The computer can't match his photo to any in the Department of Pilot Licensing, and he didn't even have a pilot ID card among his possessions. He's a man without identity, and that bothers me, Kinomoto. Start talking."

Bewilderment overtook grief as the man spoke, and Touya desperately tried to clear his mind, think straight. Yuki must have had a license somewhere, surely Touya had seen it. But when he tried to remember, nothing surfaced. How could Yuki be a pilot with no license?

"He learned to fly on a cruise line," he said slowly, speaking more to himself than the other. "Ship crew, they raised him. Maybe he never bothered to get a license."

It made sense. But why hadn't Touya ever noticed that he didn't have one?

"It's a start. His name?"

"Yuki, his name was Yukito… Yukito Tsukishiro." Some part of him recoiled in disgust at giving up his lover's name so easily, but what did it matter? Yuki was dead.

"How old?"

"Don't know. He never told me."

"How did you meet?"

"He… found me. Just showed up, asked me to hire him." Followed him to the docks that day without even a backpack in his hand, come to think of it, even the most nomadic of pilots ought to have some possessions. Yuki had apologetically borrowed his shirts until they reached Napir to meet Tomoyo, when he finally bought his own things. Hovering over his newly-returned sister, Touya had not taken the time to notice.

"Which cruise line did he work for?"

Touya opened his mouth but no answer came, surely Yuki must have mentioned it at one point so why couldn't he remember?

"I don't know."

"Come now, Kinomoto, you can do better than that. You're not stupid, or gullible. Why would you bring a stranger onto your ship, with your sister, not knowing anything about him?"

Indeed. Touya was not the trusting type. But he'd just taken it for granted that this beautiful pilot, who loved him and his sister unconditionally, simply fell out of the sky when Touya needed him most. Why?

Can you see me? I don't think you can.

"I don't know," he finally concluded wearily. "It just felt like the right thing to do. But I didn't know him like I thought I did. I don't think I knew him at all."

A brief silence was finally broken by the light scratching of a pen on paper, like the man was taking notes.

"Interesting," he murmured. "I'm curious to know just where this man came from, but it can wait. We're not through here." A whisper of paper, like he was turning a page. "Your ship contains four bunks, three of which were permanently occupied by you and your pilot, your sister, and your cousin. Hair samples taken from the pillows confirm this. But the fourth bunk, empty of any possessions, did have sheets on the mattress. Even more interesting, several hair strands were collected from the pillowcase – hair strands that don't match anyone I just listed. Short and brown, and according to the lab, from a male between 17 and 22 years old."

Touya tensed a little, then forced himself to breathe evenly. Things were about to get tricky.

"So in addition to shipping, you were ferrying passengers. I think you must have been very desperate for money to bring even more strangers in contact with Sakura. So who was this latest one? He must have been on board until very recently."

"Don't really remember," he said lightly. "Ling, or something. Probably not his real name anyway. Dropped him off on Partine before turning back to Little Heavens. Quiet guy, kept to himself."

"And where did he first come on board?"

Touya hesitated. "Crossworlds."

"And this 'Ling,' how much contact did he have with Sakura?"

"Not much. She almost never left her bunk when we had a passenger on board. Made me happy."

"Are you certain of that, Kinomoto?" The pointed inquiry made Touya nervous, and he hoped it didn't show. He couldn't be doing that bad a job of lying.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Without warning he was dealt a ringing blow to his head, one so hard it knocked him over onto his side and he had to gasp for air.

"Then maybe you'd like to explain how we found several strands of Sakura's hair on his pillowcase?"

"What?" Touya spluttered, suffering momentarily eclipsed by rage.

I'm gonna kill that son of a –

"Did everything you could to keep her safe," the man echoed mockingly. "She spent several hours on his bed and you didn't even notice. I ought to break your other arm for such carelessness." Touya could feel it when he knelt at his side, and gritted his teeth when a hand gripped his arm just above the break. Already so tender and swollen, waves of pain coursed through his muscles and the threat of unconsciousness hovered near. Still the hand squeezed mercilessly. "We've already made a brief examination, after putting her down, and it's clear she hasn't been sexually active. Luckily for you."

He released his grip and stood up again, while Touya fought to stay awake. His world was black regardless, but noise kept fading in and out and with an effort Touya tried to concentrate on each spoken word.

"So I'll ask you again, who was he? Who is this man that was so intimate with my Sakura and where can I find him?"

"I don't know, I don't know anything about him."

"I think you know more than you're letting on. Did anything… unusual happen in your cargo hold last night?"

"Yeah, the police invaded my ship and took away my sister."

"Before that. The team cleaning up that room found a pair of fresh bloodstains on the floor, each from a different individual and neither matching anyone on your crew. There was a fight, wasn't there? A very nasty one."

Touya said nothing.

"The homing device that led us to you is registered to a certain bounty hunter, one who's contracted with the government on several very successful occasions. He has a history of bringing in some of the most dangerous criminals in the system, and he's very good. Did he find you?"

No answer.

"It's all right, I know he did. We found his gun under the staircase in your cargo hold. We have no DNA of his on file, but I think it's a safe bet one of those bloodstains belongs to him. So who fought him, Kinomoto? Was it this 'Ling'?"

Silence.

"Did he kill the policemen at Crossworlds too, when they found Sakura? This wasn't any quiet passenger who kept to himself, he was much more and I know you know something."

A foot connected with his ribs and Touya curled up reflexively.

"I do know… something," he wheezed. "I know I don't feel like telling you."

The foot kicked him again, this time on his shoulder and hard enough to knock him over onto his back. The tip of his shoe braced under Touya's chin and pushed it up until his head was tilted so far back he could hardly breathe.

"It's like this, Kinomoto. A ruthless murderer, and probable sorcerer, has spent a considerable amount of time in the company of your sister and in a manner I don't particularly approve of. I have to know exactly what happened between him and Sakura. And for that to happen, you must tell me who and where he is. Be stubborn as you like, we both know I'm going to get an answer out of you sooner or later."

The shoe pressed dangerously down on his throat and Touya tried to suck in a shallow breath, his lungs burning with want. That darkness beyond any mere lack of vision hovered close again, but before it could claim him a shrill ring broke the silence.

"Excuse me, I really need to take this. Do you mind?"

The foot withdrew and Touya inhaled gratefully. "No, go ahead."

There was a soft click and the ring cut off mid-peal.

"Smith."

Someone shouted something on the other end of the line, the words indistinguishable to Touya with the blood pounding in his ears so loud. He could dimly hear a blaring alarm but wasn't sure if that was from the phone or in his own head. The sound grew fainter as Touya's captor turned and walked away, pushing open a door.

"You shouldn't shout so, Senator," Touya heard him comment, just before the door slammed shut and he was alone again. Relieved, he rested his head back against the floor and tried to collect his thoughts. He needed to use this time to think, plan what he would say when questioned again about Li. Very important not to give anything away, he must be careful. But he was so tired. He'd just rest a little first, then think about it. Just for a little while.

…we found several strands of Sakura's hair on his pillowcase…

He was going to kill that kid.

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Li sneezed violently and winced at the protest on his ribs. This kitchen was still too dusty, in spite of his half-hearted swipe of the counter with a damp cloth. When the sun had begun to drop and the temperature cooled, he'd finally stirred himself to make the hour's journey to the nearest town and get some food. It was a long walk but it was something to do and better than staring at the ceiling, remembering the sparkle in her eyes and soft touch of her skin. Mechanically he assembled a sandwich but when he lifted it he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.

Go on, some part of him ordered. You'll have to eat sometime, you can't just starve. You know what Mother would say.

Li grimaced. Mother would say that he had to get on with life and not waste time grieving for what was lost; she'd said as much the first time everything was taken from him. Right before she disappeared along with the rest of his family.

He took a bite. It tasted like sand, but he chewed and swallowed anyway. Li didn't want to get on with life. He didn't want to forget Sakura, let her slip away and vanish into the universe like his mother and sisters. He wanted to keep her.

But he'd left her anyway…

Noise blared suddenly in the room and he dropped his sandwich, startled. That damn TV set in the wall, he'd forgotten all about it. It was programmed to turn on for the evening news and must have been doing so all this time since he'd been here last. Heart pounding, he glared resentfully at the perky newscaster who'd shattered the house's melancholy quiet. She took no notice, but immediately began reiterating the day's top story. Some senator had crashed his limo into a bridge pillar, and with a morbid delight they replayed the footage of the charred and smoking wreck.

"One down, ninety-nine to go," Li muttered, and wondered where the remote control was. He couldn't see it, and crossed the room to turn off this unwelcome source of noise in his sanctuary. His hand was almost on the button when the anchor pipped news of a car chase in downtown. The screen flipped to an aerial view of one of the city highways, and the red convertible tearing its way through the traffic like all of hell was on its tail. Before the camera could get a better shot, the driver glided right underneath a gigantic cargo truck and shot down an exit ramp, disappearing.

"Idiot," he sighed, and turned the thing off. That city was full of maniacs, and again he thought guiltily of his cousin. He should not have left her there on her own for so long; Meilin wasn't the patient sort and she was probably punching holes in the wall right now, wondering where he was. How long could he sit here and brood, pretending the rest of the 'verse didn't exist?

Soon, he promised himself. He would go back to the city and find her, tell her everything if she really wanted to know. But not now. Not yet. Ignoring the remainder of his sandwich, Li fell back on the couch and closed his eyes.

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Tomoyo turned a slow circle, helplessly, disappointment and frustration welling up in her throat. After all her cleverness evading detection and escaping the ship, now she found herself thwarted by – nothing. In every direction, as far as she could see, there was nothing. A flat and featureless landscape with only the rusting shipyard behind her to indicate there was any civilization on this continent at all. When they said 'outside D.C.', she had the vague idea that they might land in the suburbs, or that she would at least be able to see the city skyline. But there wasn't anything, and now she didn't even know which way to start walking. Anxiety bubbled up again and she turned around, eyeing the small clapboard office and the bluish light of the TV streaming out the window. The two inside put up a lusty cheer; whatever game they were watching, their team must be winning. Like it or not, Karl and Max were her only way out of here. Skirting the circle of light warily, she approached the truck parked out front. At least she wouldn't have to decide between two vehicles; she just prayed that they would take her in the right direction. The flatbed was as filthy as the rest of this place, but wearily Tomoyo clambered over the edge. At least there was a ragged burlap covering spread out; hopefully they wouldn't notice the lump her body made underneath it. But it meant more time spent waiting on cold, uncomfortable metal.

Groan.

Tomoyo arranged herself as best as she could, ready to cover her face at a moment's notice. Overhead, the sky had darkened to a velvet dusky blue, one of her favorite shades, sprinkled with tiny but bright stars. Funny, she spent all her time flying among them, but she never really noticed them until she was planetside. She wondered why they were more beautiful like this.

More time passed, how much it was impossible to say. The sky went from blue to a solid black and the stars grew brighter in contrast, periodically she heard a cry of despair or another cheer from the office. She was beginning to wonder if this stupid game would last all night when a door slammed, and hastily she drew the burlap up over her head.

"What'd I tell ya, huh? 5-4 with a home run in the final inning! Didn't I tell you the Jets always come through at the last minute?"

"You did, you did. But man, I was worried. Talk about darkest before dawn."

"I feel like celebrating. Let's go get a drink, huh?"

They were on either side of her, and one of them patted the metal rim of the truck bed absentmindedly as they spoke. Tomoyo concentrated very hard on not breathing. Surely the darkness was enough… if they didn't look too closely.

"I dunno. Ann said if I got home past midnight one more time -"

"C'mon, just one or two. We'll hit the bar and then I'll drop you off at your place, you can tell her we were delayed by a late drop-off. True, ain't it?"

Max didn't need much persuasion. "Yeah, one or two can't hurt. Let's go."

"All right!"

Both of them opened the doors to the cab, the engine rumbled to life underneath her, and the truck began to move. For what seemed forever they drove through the quiet and dark countryside, and Tomoyo was despairing that they must be headed to some city on the other side of the planet, when finally office buildings and city lights began to whisk past over her head. She just barely glimpsed a sign for D.C. Tourism and Hospitality before it was gone, and had to swallow a joyful shout. She'd done it! After hours of crying in the dark and almost giving herself up and sneaking out of the ship under all their noses, she'd made it to De Colores and Li.

Karl and Max drove through the streets for some while, slower now that they had to pause at stoplights. The buildings were getting smaller and dingier, some of the lights not working all that well. At long last they pulled over and the engine stilled; both men got out.

"Just two," Max reminded his friend.

"You've said that before. C'mon, let's go." The neighborhood wasn't a very noisy one and she could hear their footsteps moving away from the truck, until they were no longer distinguishable over distant traffic. Carefully and slowly Tomoyo sat up, peeping over the edge to make sure no one was watching. But the sidewalk was empty of people, and before that could change Tomoyo scrambled over the side. Her bare feet hit the cement, and that was when her mind came to a screaming halt.

She didn't know what to do next.

Helplessly Tomoyo turned a slow circle, and saw nothing but a grimy street lined with bars, strange and unwelcoming. She supposed she'd had some vague and silly notion that Li would be waiting for her when she arrived, that after all her hard work she deserved at least that much. And of course he wasn't. Tomoyo was all alone in a city that she'd never been to before, and now she didn't even know what to do next.

Suddenly conscious of her rather-short robe, Tomoyo wrapped it more tightly around her waist and took a few steps away from the truck. It held a measure of security, compared to her surroundings, but she couldn't stay there. She had to try. Doubtfully Tomoyo eyed the nearest bar, its windows smoky and dark, and tried to think of a story that would explain her appearance without also prompting someone to call the police. She couldn't. There wasn't anything to gain by going inside anyway, a criminal with a fifteen thousand siyong price on his head wasn't going to be listed in the phone book.

Tomoyo turned away and started walking, the hopelessness of her cause beginning to make itself felt. Li might not even be here; just because he lived in D.C. was no guarantee that he'd come directly here after leaving the Wildflower. She stubbed her toe on something and stumbled, hot tears of frustration springing to her eyes. "Li," she whimpered, "where are you?"

"Hey baby."

Oh god. Tomoyo hugged her arms to her chest and starting walking faster, keeping her eyes on the sidewalk. Don't stop, just keep walking, get to Li.

"Hey baby, you lost?"

Someone was right at her elbow now and Tomoyo flinched, veering slightly to her right. "No, I'm fine thank you, just looking for someone."

"You looking for a man, baby? I'm a man."

"No, please. Just a friend." Get to Li. Get to Li. She increased her pace but to her dismay he did as well, not taking the hint.

"Hey, don't walk so fast. I ain't gonna bite ya."

"Please leave me alone!" The words came out sounding a little more panicked than she would have liked, and his reply was a low chuckle. Tomoyo decided she was wrong, it was a better idea to stay inside, and she turned sharply to retreat to the nearest bar. But she checked at the sight of three other men closing in on her, all wearing a predatory smile that made her stomach crawl.

Tomoyo tried to bolt but the first man snatched her arm and pulled her close, so close she could smell his sweat and the foul odor of his breath.

"Don't go just yet, baby. Stay and have some fun."

Hands tugged at her robe and Tomoyo lost her head. She screamed.

- - - - - -

Meilin rested her chin in one hand and watched Eric chalk up his cue stick, chatting effortlessly with the men grouped around his table without bothering to remove the cigarette clenched between his teeth. When his shot failed to go in, he only shrugged in a resigned manner and exhaled another cloud of smoke, grinning at something his opponent said. He'd been making good on his threat to get drunk, and took a generous sip from the bottle on the wallside shelf.

A tiny sigh escaped Meilin. Even after spending an entire day with him, and shadowing him for the two before that, it was still difficult to reconcile this Eric with the hero she'd seen in the Capitol chambers. He was a playboy, and a spoiled one at that, who'd been handed everything on a silver platter and didn't even seem to care that he wielded so much power over these people. The smartest man in Congress, he could do so much if he tried, but instead he was determined to waste his tenure in a place like this. Senator Masters was nothing like what she'd been expecting.

Funny then, how she couldn't make herself feel disappointed. Meilin wondered why. Maybe it was those things he'd said earlier, about the crowd in the Running Dog. They were throwing away their lives, coming here every night, but it was also true that at least they weren't hurting anybody else. Eric was probably right, it was better to not care, but Meilin was still glad that he did. Even if he wouldn't admit it.

As if he could hear her thoughts, he looked up and met her gaze, the bright blue of his eyes cutting right through the pale clouds of smoke. She flushed and averted her eyes, focusing her attention on the contents of her glass. Spoiled playboy or not, something about the way he looked at her made her heart beat faster and her breath quicken. The memory of his kiss – both of them – made her tremble. Having scanned the tabloids, Meilin knew all about Eric's history with women and had firmly told herself not to harbor any silly delusions, to keep her feelings quiet because he wouldn't care. She couldn't believe she'd told him she loved him, she must have been woozy with blood loss. Now he knew, and she felt vulnerable. Meilin didn't like feeling vulnerable. But the way he'd kissed her, after she said the words… it felt so good. She didn't ever plan on telling Eric this, but he was her first kiss. She loved him for what he was, and vulnerability or not, she would continue to protect him.

They lingered in the Running Dog longer than was really necessary, since Eric insisted they stay until the final inning of the Jets game on TV. When it did end, he was in the middle of another pool game. After that, he had to swap goodbyes with everyone on their way to the door, swindling as many cigarettes as he could before they finally made it outside. Meilin wondered if he wasn't a little nervous about being alone with her again, then reminded herself that someone like him didn't get nervous about women. More likely he was just trying to delay leaving his precious sanctuary.

"So," he sighed, once they were back out on the sidewalk, "where did you say we were going again?"

"A house, out on the coast. It's not much, but it's well hidden and a good place to disappear. You'll be safe there until the quorum next week."

"Huh. Tell me, Meilin, how is it that you and your cousin can own a beach house when you're wanted criminals?" In the fitful glow of the streetlamps he blinked away the alcohol-induced fuzziness and squinted at her curiously.

She shrugged bashfully. "'Own' might not be the right word for it. It's actually a good story -" A female scream reached her ears and Meilin cut herself off, swiftly turning her head towards the noise. A block ahead of them, a handful of men were pushing a girl away from the lights and back into the alley she and Eric had just walked through a few hours earlier. She screamed again and Meilin reacted automatically, breaking into a light run to cover the distance with a surprised Eric stumbling after her.

They had just managed to pin the girl against a wall when she caught up to them, hovering excitedly around their prey and not at all concerned that someone might interfere.

Too bad for them.

Not slowing her pace, Meilin launched into the air and slammed into the nearest man with a powerful side kick aimed at his head. He never saw her coming, and crashed into the metal garbage dumpster behind him with an ugly clang, slumping lifelessly to the ground. She landed lightly on her feet and shot a vicious back kick into the gut of another; he doubled over in pain and she kicked him hard in the chin. His eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped, leaving the other two to gape in astonishment at this unexpected attack.

"What the hell?" one of them gasped, then whipped out his switchblade and slashed savagely. Meilin darted back, then twisted to the side and caught his arm, neatly stabbing his friend when he tried to attack her from behind. Keeping one hand on his wrist, she pushed his shoulder forward until his arm was straight, then brought it down on her knee with a merciless snap. He promptly howled with pain, and Meilin put him out of his misery with another knee strike to his chin. He collapsed.

"You can't walk ten steps in this city without getting into a fight," Eric complained, lighting up another cigarette at a safe distance. "I can't take you anywhere." Meilin shrugged and smiled, ignoring the fresh throbbing in her left arm.

"Family curse. This'll just take a minute." She crouched and started going through their pockets, digging out any cash that she could find.

"You're robbing them?"

"I don't exactly have an office job," she reminded him. "I have to eat, don't I?" Rapidly she counted the dirty siyong notes and groaned, disappointed. Only a few hundred; she was never going to catch up to Syaoran at this rate. It wasn't until after she'd pocketed her earnings that she turned to check on the victim.

Her initial assumption, that it was just some unlucky prostitute, she immediately discarded. The girl was no older than she was, dressed rather oddly in her nightclothes and a grimy white robe, and obviously didn't belong in a neighborhood like this. Face whiter than her clothing, she'd slid down the wall and hugged her knees to her chest, staring into space with glassy eyes.

"Um, hey," she tried tentatively, "are you okay?"

No answer. Her lips moved soundlessly, as if she was whispering something to herself, and Meilin wondered if she'd gone into shock. She and Eric could hardly call the police, but if they took her back to the Running Dog then the bartender could take care of it. Meilin knelt in front of her and tried again.

"They're gone now, you're all right. Can you stand up?" She moved to take her hands, and then her eyes fell to the item hanging around the girl's neck.

What the –

She'd seen that round and polished globe too many times, and without thinking she reached forward and grasped it. Instantly the girl's hand closed over her own, her body rigid with fear. But there could be no mistake.

"Where did you get this?" Meilin demanded. Glazed violet eyes only stared numbly into her own, with no answer. "This belongs to my cousin, he would never lose it. Tell me where you got this!"

"Easy, Meilin," Eric chided from somewhere behind her, but the girl didn't shrink at her tone. Instead her eyes focused on Meilin at last, and for the first time she spoke.

"Li."

Meilin blinked and almost drew back. After living invisibly for so long on this planet, to suddenly have this strange girl address her by last name was a little unnerving. She clutched at Meilin's hand a little more tightly, something that looked like hope filtering into her eyes.

"You know Li?" she pressed, and Meilin realized she hadn't been addressing her at all. She remembered now her cousin's habit of going by the family name.

"Yes," she answered carefully, "yes, I know him. Li Syaoran is my cousin." She wanted to ask again about the sword, but she never got the chance. Without warning, this strange girl threw her arms around Meilin and began laughing and crying hysterically at the same time.

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Sakura smiled and rolled over on her pad, for once looking upon the Monster without fear. Affectionately he patted her hair.

"Up again already? How are you feeling? No lingering effects, I hope, that was a very silly thing that you did. There's nothing you can do to save your brother, Sakura, and you know it. Don't try and interfere again, or I shall be cross with you."

"The lines have met."

"Oh?"

"The lines have met, they have intersected, and now the lines are weaving the picture." Happily Sakura drew the picture in the air between them. The Monster couldn't see it, though, only she could and the thought made her smug. "Weaving the picture, yes, and there's nothing you can do. Can't stop it, no."

Daringly she pushed away his hand and lifted her chin bravely.

"Hope is coming."

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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Whoa, was that long enough for ya? Hopefully your eyes aren't spinning around so bad that you can't leave a review. I put it to a vote on my livejournal, whether to cut it in half or post as is, and it was a landslide for the latter. Democracy triumphs.

And if, after all that, you are still inclined to complain about how long it took, please check out my bio first. Seriously. There's a key word I'll expect you to quote.