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Chapter VII: An Appalling Rematch

Months had passed and still the rebels remained underground. Morale fell low and the soldiers grew impatient. Random fights soon broke around camp and both Sakura and Syaoran spent much of their time maintaining order among the troops, but they too grew worried. Would they have to remain encamped forever?

Soon word had risen that the rebels were seen two villages east from their current position and the officers quickly devised a plan. It was a simple plan really: divide the rebel's forces into three groups. The Lieutenant would lead a third of their ranks to attack the middle division, hopefully led by the rebel leader, Kinimoto with another third would attack the left flank, and Li with the rest of the men, the right.

But the best laid plans don't always turn out the way they should.

They were scouting adequate conditions in the field for the soldiers to battle in: a wall of earth so that there would be no sneak attacks from behind, even footing to roll the cannons on, etc, when suddenly there were surrounded by rebel soldiers.

Scrambling to find cover from enemy cannons and attacks, both Sakura and Syaoran managed to rally their soldiers and launch a counterattack. Luckily the rebels seemed ill equipped and untrained, but they fought with an unearthly frenzy, as if their very lives depended on it. Many imperial soldiers fell before their attacks.

Gritting her teeth Sakura fought the urge to run. She wasn't a common soldier following orders anymore; she was a commander in charge of human lives. If the other soldiers saw her run then they would lose morale and the battle would be lost.

Slash, stab, parry, attack… over and over again Sakura kept a mantra in her head: These were the men who killed Nadeshiko's parents and burned the village. There were rules to war. Only a person that didn't have a soul would kill a child or raze an entire village full of civilians. She heard crazed laughter come from across the field. Speaking of someone who didn't have a soul…

The rebel leader brandished his sword wildly around his head. Cackling madly he ordered his soldiers to keep fighting. He truly thought that he had the upper hand. He hacked and hewed his way through waves of soldiers all the while babbling words to himself. He would defeat this pitiful band of soldiers in order to get his revenge on the arrogant Emperor. In truth, he didn't remember why he was fighting, just that his predecessor fought the Emperor, and therefore so must he.

"Too bad the boss isn't around to see how victorious I am," the rebel leader thought. "Oh wait, he not around because I killed him to assume power," he remembered. Grinning with his devious deed, he continued to fight.

Glancing around, he spotted the emerald eyed boy whom he had fought with in the previous battle. A skilled warrior, he recalled. Perfect, his sword was thirsting for worthy blood anyway. Just as he was about to rein his horse over to challenge the warrior, another man on horseback intercepted him.

"A foolish move, young one," he threatened. "It will be your last."

The soldier was in fact Li Syaoran. He knew the intentions of the rebel leader and leapt in to defend his friend.

"There's no way you're going to touch him without first going over my dead body," Li growled menacingly.

"That can be arranged," he uttered wickedly, and with a charge the rebel leader attacked.

The two battled mercilessly. Though the leader was an experienced fighter he increasingly found his opponent frustrating and could land no cuts or blows on him.

"You're quite good," he complimented Syaoran. "You know," he wheedled, "you can come and join my side. Just desert and I'll give you everything: riches, women, even a piece of the new kingdom after I rebuild it in my image." His cajoling had no affect on Syaoran, however.

In disgust, Syaoran could only spit out, "I refuse. I would never join your side and I'd rather die than live under your rule."

With a malicious grin, the leader muttered an ominous, "So be it." Unbeknownst to Syaoran he had concealed in his sleeve sand crushed to it finest. It was guaranteed to be aggravatingly painful and blinding. Flinging it directly into Syaoran's eyes, he then launched a fatal blow to Syaoran's neck.

Crying out in pain, Syaoran ducked his head into his hands to rub out the sand. This move saved his life. His helmet deflected the fatal blow instead but caused him to lose consciousness. He fell lifelessly off his horse and onto the field.

Sakura cried out, thinking that it was a death blow. She charged the leader and began slashing at him with her sword. The leader, taken aback by the surprise and ferociousness of the attack, received a wound along his arm.

Growling, he spat, "You'll pay for that," and quickly began slashing back.

The blows began landing very quickly. Both were evenly matched also but Sakura began making careless mistakes due to her anger. She fortunately evaded the fatal blows and began to clear her mind and concentrated on finding the weak points in his attack.

For each one of her attacks she chanted in her mind, "This is for my father...! For Nadeshiko…! For her family...!" She groaned inwardly. The blows she struck felt like hacking at pure stone and her hands began to feel numb. Suddenly she spotted it: his fatal flaw.

Below his left elbow was a small window of flesh which was unshielded by his tough armor. A careless tied knot had come undone in his armor plating and the area between his third and fourth ribs was left even further exposed.

Lightning fast she struck and her sword plunged deep into his body. As she struck, however, the rebel leader's sword gouged a deep wound in her left arm. With blood spewing from his mouth, the leader began to laugh eerily. He toppled to the ground and was still laughing as Sakura leapt off her horse and pushed her sword deeper into his body.

"What's so funny?" she called out, angry that the man would be laughing even in mortal peril.

Weakly, he gasped out with bloodied lips, "I'll see you… in the underworld…" and with those last words his eyes clouded over into death. Glaring at his dead corpse in anger, Sakura could only rip her blade out and spit on his body.

She dashed to where Syaoran had fallen and she quickly felt for a pulse. Gasping with relief she felt a strong pulse and saw the soft rise and fall of his chest. Taking her water canteen she carefully placed his head in her lap and began to rinse the grit and sand from his eyes.

Syaoran let out a groan. Slowly becoming aware of his surroundings he felt something brush against his face. Whatever it was felt heavenly like a gentle loving touch. Softly he whispered, "Are you an angel?"

He heard a quiet laugh and a voice answer, "You must be really out of it Li, if you can't even recognize a friend." He felt a soft hand carefully sweep sand away from his eyes.

As soon as he could open his eyes, he saw the worried face of Kinimoto. "I thought I was dead," Syaoran replied awkwardly.

"I thought you were too," his friend whispered. Syaoran pulled himself to his feet with the help of his friend and smiled to see that they were both alive. Sakura sighed quietly. If this was not a battlefield, and if she were not a man, maybe things would have turned out differently between her and Li.

Staring into Kinimoto's eyes, which were strangely swirled with emotions, Syaoran clutched his fist with anger. To think that the rebel leader had done something so cowardly as throwing sand in battle! He could have died… Kinimoto could have died. Eyes widening he realized that Kinimoto had fought the leader all by himself.

"The rebel leader!" he exclaimed suddenly glancing around.

"Dead," Kinimoto answered back with some bitterness. Syaoran looked around in surprise. Most of the rebel troops had surrendered seeing the fall of their leader, and the ones that were still fighting in desperation were quickly being defeated. His glance suddenly shifted to his co-commander who had stumbled and was looking awfully pale.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly.

Breathing heavily Sakura had felt fine, with the defeat of the rebel leader, but unexpectedly she felt a sensation like a thousand needles were pricking all over her body, and that her head was in a vice. "No," she whispered weakly before falling to the ground. Her arm was throbbing. She saw the crimson blood which betrayed her wound coming from her left arm and as she fell she could feel Syaoran scoop her up and start running to the medic tent.

Struggling to remain conscious, she clutched at his shirt frantically, "Don't let them take off my shirt." Syaoran shushed her, urging her to save her strength and not to talk. "It's old, just rip the sleeve," she continued. "Please, promise me!" She had said that last comment with such desperation that Syaoran paused in his running to look at her.

"I promise," he replied confusedly. Suddenly Sakura fainted. The last voice that she heard was Syaoran shouting her name before calling for a doctor.

Syaoran had burst into the medic tent, with a lifeless Kinimoto in his arms. Life was playing a cruel and sadistic joke on him right now. One moment he was standing next to his companion thanking the gods that the both had them had made it out of the battle alive, but then the next moment he saw Kinimoto swooning in a dead faint.

Immediately he was swamped with doctors. He quickly explained the situation, and handed the main physician the sword of the rebel leader carried by another soldier who had followed him in. Observing it critically, the doctor announced that the Commander had been poisoned based on seeing a strange oily purple substance that coated the blade. Several of the soldiers had already died from this cruel weapon, but they had received more grievous wounds than Kinimoto had.

The doctors had instructed Syaoran to remove the bloodied shirt and, obeying, he knelt down unbuttoning the top button. He paused suddenly, remember the strange, desperate look in Kinimoto's eyes. Why had he looked so scared? As if his life depended on it...

Syaoran shook his head, clearing his thoughts. It was just a plain white tunic, well, currently crimson-stained due to his injury. Supplies were low, and the original color could be restored. Lives, however, could not and time was of the essence. Making his decision, he bent down and started to unbutton farther down Kinimoto's front.

Cliffhanger! Please review, as always,

Grignard