Chapter Six
Finding the Balance

The night passed much too quickly for Syaoran. He spent most of it laying flat on his back in the sand with his arms behind his head and staring at the sky. He wasn't particularly looking at anything, but the night sky was comforting and something familiar in his new world. No matter where he went, the sky was the same. He didn't need to be on the roof of his house to enjoy it.

"You have to ask yourself if it's worth it."

Syaoran squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head firmly. Why did that memory plague him? It would surface at the most unexpected times and bring all his thoughts to a grinding halt.

Syaoran sat up in the sand to watch the sun rise over the trees. He never really paid attention to the sunrise or sunset when he existed on the metaphysical plane in his house. It just wasn't something that concerned him; just like he couldn't care less when the grandfather clock in the living room of his old house would strike the hour. Back then, time was one of the last things on his mind.

But now time had become a menacing concept. He only had so much of it to get the job done. Time… what is time exactly? To Syaoran, time wasn't measured by the number of gongs a clock makes every hour, but by what condition the sky was in. If the sun was in the sky, it was daytime. If the moon was in the sky, it was night. That's as far as Syaoran's concept of time went. However, the Living measured time differently: with gears and ticking noises. It didn't make much sense to Syaoran, but if it was how the Living's world worked, he must learn to adjust.

There was a courtyard clock in the park beside the penguin slide. Syaoran knew what the big and little hands on a clock represented. He knew that each tick mark on the clock's face represented ten minutes or the start of an hour, depending on where the little hand was. Syaoran could easily tell you how many minutes were in a day or how many days in a year.

However, he had no idea what these numbers actually meant.

So he watched the park's clock closely as the sun began to rise. The clock read that is was about six o'clock. If that was the case, then it meant that the sun begins to rise at about six o'clock in the morning. Syaoran made a mental note that the day began at sunrise, which was at six o'clock in the morning. Based on this information, he could begin to approximate other significant times in the day, such as when school begins and when it ends.

Just as the sun peaked over the horizon, Syaoran felt the same release of pressure and weight that he had felt the night before at sunset. Once again, he drifted out of the physical world as his spirit drifted from the enclosed bounds of his "body." The feeling was actually kind of nice when he wasn't panicking over it.

"It must be during sunset and sunrise," Syaoran reasoned, watching his body turn transparent and intangible. The sand no longer touched him.

"That's right," a familiar, cool voice said from behind him. Syaoran turned around, never happier to hear that voice. "Sunrise and sunset represent an intermediary time when the sun and the moon eclipse each other. This disrupts your energy flow and causes you to slip back into our world. The energy is still being used and focused, but it's being diverted from its original path."

"Yue!" He exclaimed, jumping up. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

A shadow of a smile that barely tugged at his lips appeared on Yue's face. "I didn't think I'd have a chance to talk to you again either. But it seems fate is being kind for once."

Yue wouldn't look directly at Syaoran. Instead, he turned toward the rising sun. "We have about six minutes to talk while the sun rises."

Syaoran nodded. There were a million things he wished he could discuss, but he had to narrow down his questions to what mattered most. "Something strange happened last night at sunset…"

Syaoran described the panther-like creature with butterfly wings to Yue and the horrible malicious aura that radiated from it. Yue kept staring straight ahead, never making eye contact with Syaoran.

"That creature was the Guardian Beast of the Cycle, Spinal Sun," Yue replied, a shadow over his face. "He's angry with you for disrupting the cosmic balance."

"Why should he angry?" Syaoran asked, narrowing his eyes at the sand. "I'm correcting the balance by saving the Kinomoto girl, right?"

Yue shook his head, still gazing at the sunrise. "To Spinel Sun, you're only making a mess out of the Cycle. The Cycle demands that a soul goes through a set and inflexible process: life to death to rebirth. You have come out of turn by going from life to death to life again. It's disrupting the process and it could cause problems."

"What kind of problems?" Syaoran said, struggling to keep his frustration in check.

"It's hard to explain without knowing about the intricacies of the Web of Life," Yue said, putting a hand on his hip. "The only important thing you need to know is that to correct this disruption, there needs to be a replacement."

Syaoran nodded his head vigorously. "That's what that creature told me: 'A replacement must be found.' What did he mean by that?"

It took Yue a few precious moments to answer. "It's a life for a life, Syaoran. You have to understand that existence itself is essentially a mass of billions upon billions interconnected and codependent souls. To have even one life added to the Web is a very delicate process and must be treated with the utmost care and planning. For a soul to be displaced in a matter of seconds without warning is creating Chaos. Chaos in turn sets off a series of uncontrollable events that often have disastrous consequences for all life. Thus, the life that was displaced needs to be balanced. It means that another life must to be removed from the Web to compensate for the sudden addition."

Syaoran stepped forward as the sun rose over the horizon. He could feel the weight starting to come back, but a sinking feeling was also starting to develop in Syaoran's being that had nothing to do with the effects of the sunrise.

"What life?" Syaoran asked quietly. Why wouldn't Yue look at him?

"The life that will have the most impact when removed from the Web," Yue said. "It must be the disruption's complete opposite. Because fate is cruel and unyielding, there happens to be someone very close who is your opposite."

"The Kinomoto girl?" Syaoran asked, a forbidding feeling sinking into his being like a shadow falling over him. "She can't be my opposite."

"She is your opposite, Syaoran," Yue said in an odd, emotionless tone. "In almost every way. Her removal from the Web will correct the imbalance. It will stave the impending Chaos."

Syaoran's mind was reeling. His frustration and anger had reached a breaking point. "That makes no sense! I did this because the plush toy told me she was going to die and I wanted to stop that from happening! Now you're telling me that I'm the one who's going to cause her death? That makes no sense, Yue!" His fists were balled and pinned down at his sides, shaking. If he could have, he would've hit Yue.

"It's a paradox, Syaoran," Yue said, calm as ever. "Keroberos knew Sakura was going to die unexpectedly, but the mystery lay in where her death was going to come from. It turned out that when you crossed the veil to save her from this unexpected death, you – however unknowingly – became the cause of her unexpected death."

"That… that can't be!" Syaoran screamed. "It just can't!"

"I tried to warn you, Syaoran," Yue said, his eyes blank and glassy as he stared into the sunrise. "Everything requires a sacrifice. Your choice seemingly came with an unexpected price, but it's just equal trade. And, in the end, all the universe cares about is equal trade. As long as a balance is struck – that's all that matters."

"But I'm going back!" Syaoran cried, trying somehow to disrupt Yue's logic. If Syaoran could prove Yue wrong, none of this would be happening at all. "When the new moon comes, I'll be gone! The balance will be made then!"

"But in the interim, Chaos will reign free," Yue said. "Sakura needs to die as soon as possible to keep Chaos at bay. Another life can simply be added once you are gone, Syaoran. People's lives are just placeholders in the grand scheme of things. Nothing more."

Syaoran felt as if a rug had been pulled out from beneath him and instead of falling to the ground, he was falling into the sky. He felt disoriented and weak.

"Our time is up, it seems," Yue said, turning his back on Syaoran and flaring his wings. "Just remember that nothing is hopeless. You've made a decision that can't be undone, but continue on the path you've set for yourself. There's no other alternative at this point…"

The weight fell on Syaoran's head like a lead brick. It was so surprising and sudden that Syaoran fell to his knees, even though there was no real physical why he should. He looked around, finding that his body was solid and Yue was nowhere in sight. Feeling hopeless, Syaoran fell on his back in the sand and stared at the rapidly brightening sky. For several minutes, Syaoran just stared upwards, not really looking at anything and keeping his mind completely blank. He didn't want to think. He didn't even want to be aware…

But he could only keep his mind blank for so long. Soon the thoughts began to seep into his mind like rapidly multiplying bacteria. First, there was one thought that spit into one direction, then those two thoughts split, and then they split until his mind was drowning in a billion questions that had no answers.

A paradox… The sacrifice he had been warned about was the very thing he had come to save. It was stupid. It made no sense. It was unfair. Why should Sakura have to suffer for his dumb mistake?

She shouldn't. She wouldn't. Syaoran's resolve began to harden. He wouldn't let Sakura become a placeholder. He was going to do what he had come to do in the first place: save Sakura. He wouldn't let the chaos have her as payment. If anybody should pay a price, it was him.

Syaoran's thoughts suddenly cleared and everything came back into focus. If he could keep her alive until the new moon, then he would disappear and the balance would correct itself. He sat up, clenching his fists. That was his plan. It wasn't a very good one, but it was all he had. All he had to do was keep the chaos from Sakura until he was gone.

That way, there wouldn't have to be any sacrifices.

Tomoyo was waiting anxiously for Sakura by the gates to the school. Of course, she always waited anxiously for Sakura, but this day was special. Today Tomoyo had her video camera. She had the lens trained on the spot where Sakura would appear over the hill and head towards the school. It was just about time for school to start, so Tomoyo expected her at any moment.

Just as predicted, Sakura came skating over the hill, her head down and her face beet-red. Tomoyo nearly squealed in joy at being able to get this precious expression on camera, but forced herself to calm down as Sakura approached.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said, adjusting the focus now that Sakura had gotten closer. "Is everything okay?"

Sakura shook her head wildly at the ground, causing her auburn hair to swing about in the most graceful way.

"He… he followed me," Sakura said, seemingly unable to lift her head. "The whole way."

Tomoyo didn't move her camera off Sakura's cute expression, but looked with her own eyes to see Syaoran Reed clear the hill, his expression blank and unreadable.

Tomoyo chuckled. "He must live near you."

Sakura hung her head. "I just wish he wouldn't stare like that."

They made their way into the school to change shoes. Sakura was constantly looking behind her.

"He must hate me," Sakura said, removing her rollerblades and putting them inside her locker. "He must really, really hate me. I can feel his gaze burning holes in my head."

Tomoyo reluctantly shut off her video camera and placed it inside her locker. "His expression is hard to read. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be something quite different."

"Hoe?" Sakura asked, making an expression that made Tomoyo want to rip through the metal of her locker door for her camera. "What do you mean?"

Tomoyo smiled softly but didn't say anything. After all, she wouldn't want to ruin all the chances to film that adorable face. "We'll be late to class if we don't hurry."

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura yelled in frustration at the retreating figure.

"Terada-sensei made up a new morning cleaning schedule to compensate for your arrival," Yamazaki said, dangling a piece of paper in front of Syaoran's face. "He has you down for the fourth day of every month."

Syaoran took the piece of paper, reading it with one eye while watching Sakura with the other from the window. She always spent recess in the same spot with her friends, it seemed. Keeping an eye on her was almost… boring.

"The fourth day…" Syaoran said, reading the schedule. "What does that mean?"

Yamazaki raised an eyebrow. "The fourth day is the fourth day. What else would it be?"

Syaoran shook his head. "I don't understand."

Yamazaki raised a finger and opened his mouth, but a voice from the front of the classroom broke him off.

"When the sun rose this morning, it began the third day of this month."

Yamazaki turned around, stepping out of Syaoran's field of vision.

"Ah, Eriol-kun," Yamazaki said cheerfully. "Good afternoon."

Syaoran lowered his gaze at the blue-haired figure. The aura this guy gave off was unsettling. Despite his friendly eyes and frail exterior, something about him was… odd.

"The date is written on the board here," Eriol said, gesturing to the lower right hand corner of the chalkboard and smiling warmly. "Today is the third day of this month, so naturally tomorrow will be the fourth day. The month ends on the 31st. It's a simple enough system to learn. I'm sure you'll catch on quickly."

"You don't know how to keep track of the date, Reed-kun?" Yamazaki asked, looking a bit surprised.

Syaoran continued to glare at Eriol as he came closer. This aura…

"It's not that," Syaoran said, trying to come to his own defense.

"You just keep time differently where you come from," Eriol said, the smile never leaving his face. "Am I right?"

Syaoran turned his head to look out the window. Staring into those sapphire eyes was disturbing. They looked like ice.

"Yeah…" he said. What else could he say?

Eriol followed Syaoran's gaze out the window. Without even realizing it, he had been watching Sakura. She was getting up and heading back inside with all her friends. The bell rang just then.

"I wish you luck with your ordeal."

Syaoran brought his gaze abruptly back to Eriol. He was still staring out the window, but turned to look at Syaoran with that stupid smile on his face.

"What did you say?" Syaoran hissed.

"I said 'good luck,'" Eriol repeated, smiling. "You know, with the chores tomorrow. They can be quite an ordeal."

"Oh, right," Syaoran said, keeping his gaze narrowed. Was that really all Eriol meant to say?

"Is he there?" Sakura asked as she walked with her head down, staring at the sidewalk.

"Of course," Tomoyo said cheerfully, her camera squarely on Sakura.

Sakura visibly shivered.

"Maybe you should go talk to him," Tomoyo suggested. "I'm sure he needs some new friends since he just moved here."

Sakura shook her head wildly. Her blood turned to ice just thinking about it.

"I wonder if he really is following me…" Sakura said. Her head snapped up. "I know! Let's pretend like we're going to your house, Tomoyo-chan, and see if he goes the same way. Then we'll know for sure."

"Good idea," Tomoyo said, adjusting the color settings on her camcorder.

Sakura headed in the direction of Tomoyo's house, preparing to cross the street. The roads were devoid of traffic. No one drove very much in Tomoeda since everything was within walking distance.

"Wait for one moment please, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said, rummaging through her shoulder bag. "I need to change the battery on my camcorder."

Sakura stopped and turned around. "Why did you even bring it to school? Are you working on a project?"

Tomoyo smiled coyly. "If you want to call it that, then yes."

"Is it going to be one of your montages?" Sakura asked. "Those are always so awesome!"

"No, it's something much more ambitious," Tomoyo said, recording Sakura's confused expression and she rummaged through her bag with one hand.

"Well, I'm sure if you're recording it, it'll be great!" Sakura said, smiling.

"Let's hope so," Tomoyo said, turning off the camera to replace the battery.

A woman came running past the two girls, obviously in some very big rush. She was barely paying attention to where she was going and didn't see Sakura or Tomoyo on the curb until the last minute.

"Excuse me!" the woman yelled rudely as she roughly brushed passed the two girls without stopping. Sakura was jarred so badly that she lost her balance and fell into the road.

"Sakura! Look out!" Tomoyo yelled frantically.

Sakura, dazed from her fall, looked up just in time to see a small white car rapidly approaching. It was so close that Sakura could clearly make out the driver's shocked face. There was no time to move.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and heard brakes squealing. She braced herself for a violent impact, but instead she just felt a rough yank on her arm. That was it. No horrible crashing noise or pain. All she felt was pressure on the crook of her arm.

Slowly, carefully, Sakura opened her eyes. She was back on the sidewalk, staring up at two very intense, emotionless amber eyes. The pressure on her arm let up and Sakura took two frantic steps backward.

"Idiot," the Reed boy said, turning his head to the side. His voice was very soft, almost a whisper. "Don't be so reckless."

"Uh…" Sakura articulated. Her mouth just didn't seem to want to work. Her arm hurt where he had grabbed her. She refused to look up at him.

"Is everyone okay?" the driver of the car had gotten out and come over to the group, obviously very shaken.

"Sakura-chan, are you hurt anywhere?" Tomoyo asked, touching her shoulder.

Finally coming out of shock, Sakura shook her head in answer.

"I'm fine," She said, turning to the driver. "And I'm very sorry."

After making sure that Sakura was okay and giving a stern lecture about the dangers of being careless around traffic, the driver finally got back in his car and slowly drove away.

Sakura sighed shakily. "I thought I was going to die!" She slowly and hesitantly turned around to face Syaoran.

"Thank you, Reed-kun," she said, wringing her hands behind her back and still refusing to make eye contact. "I'm very sorry that we had to meet like this…"

"Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said quietly. "He left already."

Sakura lifted her head to see a deserted sidewalk.

Syaoran ran down the sidewalk in the direction he had seen her go.

That woman who bumped into Sakura… That hadn't been a coincidence.

Nothing was ever a coincidence.

That woman…

Syaoran slowed to a stop. He would never find her. She was gone now. Perhaps she had only existed for those few moments in an attempt to correct the balance.

That woman had been Chaos. He had never been more certain of anything. Chaos incarnate had tried to kill Sakura. It had failed, but it would try again.

It would never stop chasing Sakura until the imbalance was corrected.

Syaoran narrowed his gaze at the air.

He would never let Chaos have Sakura. Ever.

"He's already caught on. He's a fast one, isn't he, Suppi-chan?"

"Don't call me that, Ruby Moon. It makes me want to hurt you."

"Well, at least this makes my job a bit more interesting. Simply being splattered by a car is so mundane. I'm going to have to come up with something a bit more creative to get around that boy's attention."

"It doesn't matter how you do it, just as long as it gets done."

"I know, I know. But that doesn't mean I can't have fun while I'm at it! You act like I have to be all serious about this. Being solemn and stern is so boring."

"But being flippant and lighthearted is time-consuming. This must get done as soon as possible."

"Don't worry. I'm already working on the next step."