Shinta sat in silence on the plush little sitting pillow in the Li household living room. Ice was beside her, and Xing was standing up, arms crossed. They all heard the slamming of the car doors and the laughter of two girls. The laughing quited for a moment, and the three inside heard Syaoran say something, and one of the girls were laughing again.

The door slid open, and Sakua, Meiling, and Syaoran walked into the living room. Sakura stopped laughing when she saw the grave faces of the ex-vampires. Meiling and Syaoran had already stopped where they were at.

"What's wrong?" Meiling asked.

"I...I have something...something important to tell all of you." Shinta proclaimed timidly. She looked at them, took a shaky breath, and waited. Shinta didn't know what she was waiting for, but it seemed like a good idea. She had no clue how she was going to tell all of them of her past events. Even she couldn't explain it herself. Shinta looked at her now, cupped hands, and took one more shaky breath. "Ok, I think Tomo may still be alive."

Meiling stiffened, and her eyes showed her surprise. Xing looked worriedly at Shinta, while Ice said nothing, she merely looked down at the ground.

"What makes you think that?" Syaoran asked, cautiously. He couldn't just say that it wasn't true, he didn't know how many nerves he'd touch, especially in a room full of people who had some emotional connection to him.

Shinta looked around the room, as if stalling. She wanted to choose her words carefully so that she didn't seem like some heart broken girlfriend that finally snapped. Taking another shaky breath, "In a dream...he kept coming to me. It was urgent, his words."

Meiling, Ice, and Xing seemed to be relieved. Their bodies relaxed, but Sakura was curious. Her eyebrows furrowed at the comment. "Did he grab you, or touch you in any way?" she asked. She didn't want to alert anyone, she just had to be sure. No, not sure, certain, before she told everyone of her dream experience that led her to her first visit in Hong Kong.

"No...not really. He just kept coming to me. Like, he wanted me to come to him. I was hesitant at first, so he came to me. The last time I had the dream, he started to grab my hand, but then I woke up."

Shinta watched as Sakura contemplated her words. "Tomo himself, might be dead. Though, he could be alive in spirit."

"What do you mean?" Meiling inquired. Sakura looked at her dear, Chinese friend.

"What I mean is, the first time I came to visit Hong Kong, wasn't by chance. It was by choice." Meiling started to say something, but Syaoran, shushed her. She looked at him a bit annoyed, but said nothing. "You see, I was sort of, beckoned by a lady's spirit to come to Hong Kong. She thought I was Clow Reed, and therefore, wanted me to release her from her seal. She didn't know that she was even dead."

"So...what you're saying is, Tomo's spirit is beckoning to Shinta?" Xing asked rather rudely. She looked at him, a bit uneasy at his manner. Slowly, Sakura started to nod her head. "You know, I have a confession to make. While you guys were at the hospital, visiting our dear, Meiling," Meiling looked at the floor quickly. She could tell everyone was noticing her, and before she wouldn't mind. She loved the attention. Anything that could get her a place in the lime light was great, but ever since she was with Syaoran and obtained her powers, all that attention seemed to be embarrassing to her. Meiling placed her hands on her face, and felt her skin burn, under her finger. Syaoran grabbed her, and protected her from eyes by hiding her in his arms. She could feel he was smiling at her, though she didn't look. "I was at the house, cleaning up our little messes. I was going to follow through with the plan of cremating them, by placing Tomo and Yang-Chan downstairs in the kitchen and then burning the house. But, when I came, I found Yang-Chan's body already turned to ash. Tomo's body was nowhere to be found.

"So, I went in the basement, where our coffins were, and checked to see if the others were fine. Turns out, we were the only ones that turned human. All the others were ashes." The group said nothing. Ice slowly got up, and left. The shock of everything hit her, and she didn't know what to feel. Should she feel happy? Scared?

"So, we were the only ones that were changed into humans." Shinta slowly said.

"But, is there a purpose to that?" Syaoran inquired. Meiling shrugged.

"Time will only tell." Xing finished.

"If anything comes up, something important in the dream, tell me. Ok?" Sakura told Shinta. Shinta nodded.

Meiling smiled brightly. "I'm sure nothing too bad can happen to us. Besides, it seems all of our enemies are gone. Come here Sakura, I'm going to show you, your room!" Meiling led Sakura out of the room, and in an instant, the two were talking in a frenzy again.

Syaoran and Xing stayed lingered a bit. "Was this the thing that has been bothering you, lately?" Xing asked. Shinta nodded. "Anything else?" She shook her head.

"Next time, tell us what's going on. Do you have any clue how sick we were?" Syaoran demanded. Over the past year, this blonde had become one of his sisters. Only, less annoying. A lot less. When Meiling and him couldn't see eye to eye with one another, she'd secretly give him advice. He knew it must have been very hard for her to see the two so happy together, when she herself had just lost her one and only.

Shinta couldn't say anything. Although she had to get used to this time, since she couldn't remember anything when Yang-Chan took over her, and therefore, nothing about this modern world, Syaoran and Meiling were there to help her. Xing and Ice were patient with her as well, and together, the three of them were trying to make a new life in this time. It made her feel guilty that she had made Xing and Syaoran worry about her so. "I'm sorry." she finally muttered.

Xing smiled, and slung his arm around her. "It's ok. But, we're family now. We look out for each other. How can your two "brothers" look out for you, if you don't tell us your problems? Hm?" She smiled at him, and shrugged. "I'll tell you how. We can't! We're men, men don't read women's minds. We've been trying to do that for ages, and the closest we've gotten is Syaoran!"

Syaoran frowned at him. Xing just gave him a cheesy smile.

- - -

Ice heard footsteps coming toward her. They stopped outside the hallway, and a door slid open. Two people, who were laughing, stumbled into a room, and the door slid back closed. Ice figured that it was Meiling and Sakura. How strange, she thought. She had been told many stories about how much Meiling hated Sakura. She just couldn't stand her. And, poor Sakura, always used to being liked by other people, didn't know what to do. Sakura had tried her best to befriend the stubborn Chinese maiden. Now look at how the two get along. It's as if Meiling never had a grudge on her.

She sighed. To think that Tomo might actually be alive. Yes, it excited her, but she knew she'd just be saddened if he was. Ice knew that it was never meant to be between her and Tomo. After all, even though he had been told time and time again that Shinta was dead, he still had hope that she was alive. His hopes had been fruitful, and now, Shinta was alive and well. Yet, in saving Shinta, it was his life that had been sacrificed.

Besides, even when they were vampires, he had started to fall for Meiling. Ice was nothing like the two girls. She was different. Unlike the other three, Xing, Shinta, and Tomo, Ice had been cursed for a very long time. A time when demons were still thriving in the country. Now, that time was gone. She sighed. As she looked back at her time on this world, she was now waiting patiently for the time when she'd be free of everything.

More footsteps were coming, and they too stopped outside the hallway. This time, the door to her room slid open, and in came Xing. The big brother figure. With his victorious expression, it seemed he and Syaoran broke Shinta's armor. Now, he sat, and watched her. Probably thinking of a way to get to me, she thought sadly. It was true, Tomo's death had affected her in the greatest way. Now, she just wished more than ever to be back in her time.

"Well? What's wrong?" Xing asked out of the blue.

"Nothing." she replied curtly.

He sighed. "Still being stubborn, hm? Well, you know where to find me if you need me." he got up slowly, and left just as Sakura and Meiling were leaving. Her mind was screaming at her to go and talk to him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not yet. Her demonic pride kept from doing that. Instead, Ice bit her lip, and let depression take over her.

A/N: Sorry everyone for the super long wait! Though, I don't think it was that long a wait as it was for the second chapter, was it? As I told Jen, I did have the third chapter finished, but then my computer crashed and there it went. Me being me, I didn't have a back up of it, so I had to strain my brain to try to remember what I had put. Now that I look at the newer version of this, I think this was better. So in a way, having my computer crashing was a good thing. Now, I'd like to thank everybody for reviewing! Hopefully, the next chapter won't take as long of a wait! Please review!