Thanks everyone for reviewing! Sorry for the extremely long update. Individual reviewer thanks are on bottom.

Chapter VI: An Adorable Child

Mostly from Syaoran's point of view, so don't get confused at Sakura's gender.

Poke….Poke….Poke…Giggle. Syaoran groggily opened his eyes. Startled, he awoke to find laughing emerald eyes. Giggling, the child Kinimoto rescued, stared at him. Fully awake he was surprised to see her lying close to Kinimoto, who had one arm slung around the little girl's waist.

"Shh, Mama's sleeping," the girl whispered cutely, with one finger against her lips to signal Syaoran to be silent.

Syaoran smiled at her. She had probably escaped from the medical tent and sought out Kinimoto's company. Since the girl had awoken, she had refused to be fed anything, except by Kinimoto and called him "Mama" at every second. This earned a few amused guffaws by the other soldiers, but with a stern glance from Kinimoto they all shut up, perhaps due to the fact that the slim soldier could best each one in a swordfight in under a minute. He held his arms out to the little girl, who immediately crawled into them.

Picking her up he said in a low voice, "Let's let Mama sleep and see what we can get for the both of us to eat." Walking with her into the mess tent he hunted out some rice and eggs and began to feed her.

Sakura awoke and after seeing Syaoran not there, she left her tent. Spying him over in a sunny grassy area with the child, she smiled to see him feeding her. He was making little bird noises as he waved the spoon of rice in front of her face, pretending that a little baby bird wanted to land in her mouth. He also carefully wiped off the drop of milk which dribbled down her mouth, as she sipped from her cup.

Syaoran paused in feeding her to correct her. "No, not Baba. Li. Can you say Li?" he instructed her.

"Baba!" The voice chirruped back.

Syaoran sighed quietly. Now he knew what Kinimoto felt. Any attempts to correct the child in their real names had failed. Of course, this would mean a lot of teasing from the others. He spied Kinimoto watching from afar.

"I hope you didn't teach her that," he said teasingly.

Kinimoto held up his hands in innocence. "It wasn't me," he said. He walked over and sat down with the child who was calling out, "Mama!" excitedly. He began playing peek-a-boo, and took over feeding her.

"You know you're really good with children," Syaoran said in observation. This earned a soft chuckle from Kinimoto.

"You too, Li. You'd make a good father one day," his friend complimented back. When the child had finished eating, Syaoran began to play a clapping game with her hands.

"So how many children do you want to have?" Kinimoto asked.

Syaoran looked up startled. "I guess I haven't thought about that. I'd probably want a son and a daughter." He shrugged, "I would probably discuss it with my wife."

Kinimoto looked surprised. "You'd actually consult with her?" Sakura was in fact amazed that he would do such an unorthodox thing. In typical households men made all of the major decisions, under no input from the wife. She scoffed quietly. Most decisions made in the household had to be carried out by the wife anyway, but she would have no choice in the matter.

Syaoran chuckled quietly, "Blame it on my mother. My father died at a young age, so all I've ever known is my mother's teachings. She's always believed in the intelligence of women, and that for every man, there is a strong woman beside him."

Kinimoto nodded in agreement, "My mother died when I was three rescuing me from a fire. My father raised me and my sister, and he taught us both that we were equal even though we might not have the same opportunities in life. That didn't stop my father from teaching us both untraditional skills. Because of our small farm, both my sister and I know how to cook, clean, and do laundry. However, we also know martial arts, how to swordfight, and how to win intelligently."

"You and your sister sound amazing," Syaoran admitted. He was also surprised on how much talent Kinimoto possessed, but a small cry interrupted his thoughts.

Kinimoto had picked up the fidgety child and set her on the floor to explore the grass.

"I want to name her," he said. "It's hard calling her 'hey you' all the time."

Syaoran agreed knowing that she was too young to tell them her own name.

"How about naming her Nadeshiko?" Kinimoto proposed. "She reminds me so much of my mother. She has the same hair and even eye color as her."

"Nadeshiko…" Syaoran tried it out. The little girl glanced up at them in confusion. He tried again but was met with the same results. He tried a different method. Pointing to himself, he said "Baba." Pointing to Kinimoto, he said "Mama." Waving away Kinimoto's protests, he pointed to the little girl and said "Nadeshiko" very carefully.

Laughing Nadeshiko clapped her hands eagerly. Syaoran pointed to himself and she squealed out "Baba!" Pointing to Kinimoto, she called out "Mama" and when he pointed to herself, she said "Nadeshiko." It took her a couple of tries to really sound the word out, but managed to say it in the end.

"Not the best of methods, but it works," Kinimoto said who promptly picked Nadeshiko up and swung her around. He blew on her stomach and made funny faces while congratulating her on learning a new word. Eagerly she clapped her hands demanding more and for the rest of the morning Syaoran found himself and Kinimoto at Nadeshiko's beck and call learning new words or entertaining her.

Rolling his eyes at Kinimoto's accusation that if Nadeshiko was his child, she would be "Daddy's little girl," by spoiling her rotten, he gave some paper and colors to play with. A contented silence fell over him and Kinimoto as they both helped Nadeshiko to color, until a familiar squeal was heard.

"Oh that is so adorable! I just love children," Yukina shrieked while intruding on their personal space. She held her arms out to Nadeshiko, but the little girl hid herself behind Syaoran. Kinimoto gently picked her up.

"Come on," Syaoran heard him whisper. "Let's let Baba talk to the nice woman."

Giving the two of them a murderous glare, he muttered under his breath, "I'll swear I'll get you back for this." With shoulders shaking from held back laughter, Sakura left the two of them alone. She secretly however played with Nadeshiko in an area where they could not seen but where she could also eavesdrop man, this word looks wrong on the whole conversation.

Syaoran knew that Kinimoto was not very far away, but it did not mean that his ordeal was anymore enjoyable. He listened to Yukina prattle on about how many dishes she could cook, how perfect she could pour tea, or how delicate her sewing was. She exclaimed that she would make an excellent wife for her future husband.

Finally getting a word in edgewise, he asked, "So, what do you think about when you're not performing chores for your future husband?"

She looked confused for a second. "Why anything he would want me to think," she replied.

Syaoran was shocked for a moment. "But don't you think about anything other than him?" He paused for a moment, "Like what do you think about this war?"

She stared at him blankly, "Why would I need to think about things like that? That's for men and not at all for women."

Unable to stand her idiocy anymore, Syaoran made up an excuse about checking on their supplies and quickly rushed off. Sakura and Nadeshiko found him banging his head several times against a tent pole.

Pausing, he exclaimed, "If I ever hear my sisters sounding so vapid and empty-headed…I'll…I'll throw them all into our backyard lake!"

Sakura agreed too. Overhearing Yukina's comments had made her so angry, that she didn't notice she was crushing one of Nadeshiko's pictures in her hands until the little girl threw her arms around Sakura's neck.

Syaoran, holding up Nadeshiko, looked into her eyes and instructed her, "Cook, clean, fight, learn how to play chess… heck, go dress in men's clothes and join the army. I won't care. I'd love you, as long as you don't end up like her."

Sakura felt her heart nearly leap out of her chest hearing his "join the army" comment, but quickly recovered. "I'm glad you feel that way, Li. If my sister were here, Yukina would not be able to stand for a week."

He grinned, and stared at her. "So your sister has a temper, eh? Ha ha, sounds just like you."

Blushing, Sakura busied herself with fixing Nadeshiko's dress. "Yeah just like me," she added under her breath.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. A local town was found that agreed to adopt Nadeshiko and to take in Yukina.

Wailing piteously, Nadeshiko clung to both Sakura and Syaoran. Syaoran swallowed back the lump in his throat seeing her tears. He saw Kinimoto, on the other hand, bend down to her level.

"Don't cry," she said sternly. Never hearing this tone of voice from her new Mama before, Nadeshiko stopped crying and looked up. "Be a good girl, and be strong. Don't let anyone tell you want you can and can't do." Kinimoto unhooked a jade pendant from around his neck and fastened it around Nadeshiko's. Staring into her eyes for a moment, he hugged her and whispered, "I love you and I will find you."

Nadeshiko stared at the nice person who looked so much like her mother. She memorized the sensation of the person's soft hands, laughing eyes, and beautiful smile… just like her real Mama, the one who went to the Celestial Palace (that's heaven in Eastern folklore). She looked up to see the wavy amber hair of the other man, who bent down too, his calming voice, and his strong arms… just like Baba, who went with her old Mama. She didn't understand everything that her new Mama said, but she knew that everything would be okay. Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around both their necks.

"Bye Mama, Baba," she whispered. Straightening up, she calmly made her way over to where Yukina and the escort (whom Yukina was now eyeing) were. The soldier picked up Nadeshiko and carefully placed her in front of him on the horse. Yukina sat in the back, clinging very tightly to him. With a shout, the soldier set off for the village, and just like that Nadeshiko was gone from their lives.

Kinimoto touched Syaoran's shoulder in a light caress. "The officers want to plan our next move," he said in an emotion filled voice. "I gave Nadeshiko my mother's necklace, the one that she wore when she died, so I can find her again."

With great surprise at his conviction to find Nadeshiko, Syaoran could not help but stare into Kinimoto's eyes again. "I'll be there in a moment," Syaoran said as he patted his friend on the back. As soon as Kinimoto was out of sight, he let the tears that he was holding in slip out. He knew that city orphanages were not the best place for a child, especially a female one, to be in, and swore that he'd find Nadeshiko too.

He couldn't help but recall the warmth and unique scent from Kinimoto's close proximity when Nadeshiko hugged the both of them. Scrubbing his face with the back of his hands, he quickly jogged over to the officer's tent for the meeting.

It was going to be another long week.

Please review,

Grignard

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