Disclaimer: I don't own CCS

ChiChi's Note: I bet 10$ that you're all going to be angry at me by the end of this chapter. Can't wait to read it now huh? Now you might be able to find out what's going to happen just by reading the title, but then again you may not… Oh well. I have realized that I've gotten 100 reviews for the first time, unfortunately I didn't realize it until afterwards when I already screwed up the beginning, but anyways, Enjoy!

Chapter 13

Dead Flowers

Sakura woke up to the smell of sweet flowers. It triggered something in her memory and forced her eyes open. "Touya?" she sat up quickly but then cringed in pain. She looked at the room she was in. Everything was purely white. It was much like Syaoran's room without the paintings and… She looked over to the side and stared at the flowers beside her. They were the same type but dried up and droopy. She remembered the ones in his room were so beautiful and healthy. She got out of the bed and walked over to the window. Out in the distance, she could see the Li Kingdom. Her eyes widened, "I'm not in the Li Kingdom?"

A man barged into the room and grabbed her wrist. He began to shout at her in a foreign language. He dragged her out of the room and brought her out into the hallway. He released her and pointed down the hall, shouting something again. Sakura didn't quite understand what he wanted but since he was pointing down the hall she decided that she would go down that way. There were many maids standing around socializing and as she passed by, they all gasped and bowed. In the middle of her walk she stopped in front of a large door with two guards standing before it. They took note of her presence and opened the doors. Curiously, Sakura walked into the room. She looked around in amazement as soon as she entered the room. There were many people standing against the walls and at the end of the room, was someone sitting on a throne. "Princess Sakura Kinomoto how was your trip?" he asked in a comforting voice, "Please come closer."

Sakura did as told and advanced until she saw the man clearly. Kneeling beside his throne was a familiar woman but she couldn't seem to place her. She was dressed like an arms woman of some sort. The man got off his throne and smiled at her, "I am King Adrien. King of Chikara."

He walked up to her and ran his fingers through her hair, "What an ugly colour," he muttered, "It seems as if our guess was right. Kidnapping you was the perfect was to start the war. King Syaoran has his mind set so much on you, that it doesn't matter to him that his troops are hardly trained, as long as he gets you back."

Sakura gasped, "So that was just an illusion? Touya's really dead?"

Adrien gave a slight chuckled, "You should have listened to him," he whispered into her ear, "He really did care about you."

"Syaoran," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

A smile appeared on Adrien's face, "What a beautiful reaction," there was a sudden movement from him. An instant later, Sakura felt an excruciating pain in her stomach. She let out a scream and looked down. Adrien had driven a dagger straight into her, "I'm excited to see little Syaoran's face when he sees you dead in my arms."

…Li Kingdom…

Eriol stepped up onto the platform at the centre of the town. The crowd instantly gathered around. He scanned the mob of what seemed to be angry villagers, but far in the back, he saw someone staring up at him with a curious look on her face. Underneath the cloak's hood was Tomoyo. 'Probably here picking up supplies for her trip. She probably doesn't know that princess Sakura is gone,' he presumed. He pulled out a parchment of paper and read it over quickly. He could hear the murmur of the village's soft voices. His eyes wandered over the paper and rested on a small group of children standing in the very front, staring up at him in awe. He looked at their naïve little faces and grimaced. He didn't want them to worry about the war. He didn't want them to be scared for the rest of their lives because of this. He glanced at the paper again, doubting whether he should read it or not, then shook the thought away. He cleared his voice and began to read, "A proclamation from the King. The neighbouring kingdom of Chikara has coveted a precious treasure from the Li Kingdom. They have destroyed our land and killed our people. Every able man and woman in the kingdom has been called to the Li Kingdom Refuge for war preparations. There will be no further instructions. The penalty for self-mutilation or disobedience towards the conscription will be the death of your entire family. That is all."

Many gasps and chatters came from the panicked crowd. Eriol dropped the paper and descended from the platform. "Eriol!" someone shouted, earning some stares from the townsmen.

Tomoyo ran up to him, "Why is it that war is upon us? It's too early. King Syaoran told me that war would only come into effect by autumn and it is only spring."

Eriol opened his mouth to reply but he felt a gentle tug on the sleeve of his shirt. He looked down and saw two children who were standing in the front row. "Lord Hiiragizawa, is our mommy and daddy going to die?" the little girl asked, tightening her grip on her brother's hand, "Is the town in danger?"

Eriol remained silent for a moment and gazed upon the faces of the brother and sister, "Ye-"

"Of course not!" Tomoyo interrupted, "You see, Lord Hiiragizawa will be able to protect many people with his magic. He's a great fighter so we'll all be okay."

The two children beamed and ran off. Eriol frowned, "You didn't have to tell them that. You're giving them false hope."

Tomoyo sighed, "I apologize for that but I wouldn't like to know if my family were going to die. It would cause so much sorrow and grief. I never knew, and I was able to get over it quickly."

Eriol shook his head and began walking back to the palace; "Say what you like dear princess, but secretly, you still mourn for them every night when you think no one is looking. It's harder keeping your pain on the inside than on the outside."

They stopped at the steps leading up to the castle. On the first step was a bouquet of Tomoyo's favourite flowers. "Ah yes," Eriol chuckled and picked them up, "I knew I forgot something. A gift to you from my ex-fiancée."

Tomoyo took the flowers and smiled, "Tell her I said thank you."

Eriol waited a moment then laughed, "Maybe I underestimated you observational skills. If you excuse me, I must prepare for my trip to the refuge."

He went up the steps leaving Tomoyo baffled.

…The garden…

Syaoran swung his sword violently, taking out all his rage on a tree, "I should have protected her better. I should have just let her stay with me."

He glared at the tree that only had an inch of wood holding it together at the center. He then sensed a presence behind him, "What is it?"

"Your Highness, your dinner is ready," a girl's voice answered.

He turned to her and smirked. She didn't seem afraid of him at all. Before all his servants and guards would cringe in fear of him, and ever since Sakura came into his life, they had abandoned their fear. She tilted her head slightly then walked away. Syaoran frowned, "I did not dismiss you wench! I am in the worst mood; it is best if you do not anger me."

The maid turned to him and instead of apologizing she just made a noise of confusion. Such insolence would not be accepted. He marched up to her and swung his sword. Her body dropped to the ground followed by his sword. 'She would have reacted in the same way…' There was an unexpected punch against his shoulder, "My my, I think we've been thrusted back into a world of danger and fear. Sakura wouldn't have liked what you did," Eriol said in an almost mocking tone.

Syaoran took a nervous step away from the maid. Just as he was going to kill her, he saw Sakura's face. So innocent… she believed that he was a good person. He killed her… He turned to Eriol but didn't say a word.

Eriol observed the tree in the garden then Syaoran. He looked tired from so much training. That tree should have taken him two days of training in order to cut it that much, but he managed to do it in a morning. He sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You're overworking yourself Syaoran. I'm sure Sakura's safe. I can still sense her aura from here."

It was true the warm aura was still detectable, but it only seemed detectable for Eriol. Syaoran was closing his eyes tightly trying to concentrate on it but didn't seem successful, "Do you think that only those with magic can sense it through the Chikarain barrier?"

"I think that may be-" Eriol stopped. Her aura was no longer there; it completely disappeared. He looked at Syaoran who still hadn't noticed that he stopped in mid-sentence, "That theory may be correct."

'Should I tell him,' he asked himself, 'Well I'd suppose I'd want to know there was a slight chance that Tomoyo was dead.' "Syaoran I think," he stopped again. There was something different in his expression. It was something he hardly even dreamed possible since the death of Syaoran's mother. Tears were falling from his eyes. "Sakura," he whispered, "Chikara continues to kill the ones I love."

"How did you-"

"I can feel it in my heart. Her warmth and happiness has left it," he answered, his voice beginning to crack from all the stress.

"Are you okay? You don't look too good," Eriol grabbed onto his arm to support him.

"Eriol," he started, "I want her back."

ChiChi's Note: Bleh too short. I have to be careful about how I begin my chapters or else I'll get no where with the story. Well I hope it was okay for you guys. Review!