-1One Last Stand

Chapter One:

Memories and Training

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS and am using the characters without the intention of making a profit.

A/N: I know it took me a long time to write this, it finally came to me yesterday when the net was down. So, here it is.

Her daughter was just as beautiful as she…

The man clutching his squalling infant daughter to his chest as tears ran down his face. The necklace, in its cursed beauty, had appeared in the child's hand that morning. His lover was dead. Within moments, the child had quieted and fallen into an exhausted sleep. He walked to the cradle, laying her down upon the silken sheets and covering her small form with the blanket his wife had spent weeks crocheting.

"My love." He ignored the whispering that his heart longed for. She was dead, damn it! No amount of wishing could bring her back, but his mind, his heart, continued to trick him as he heard whispers of her existence. The wind rustled in from the open balcony, and he moved to close the doors, silken fabric twining about him in the sudden breeze. He stood still for a moment, the winds caressing his form. Then he closed the doors, the room suddenly quiet. He turned, only to be confronted with the glowing form of his beloved.

She stood tall, dressed in flowing silver silk, her auburn hair flowing down her back, blowing in a spiritual wind. Her elfin feet were bare, making no noise as she padded towards him. She stopped in front of him, a foot separating them. "I only have a few moments, my love." She said, her voice soothing. She turned, walking to look over her only child.

"She, my love, is our hope. She must train…" He jumped in, "Nadeshiko, love, no. I've lost my love, I will not lose my daughter as well!"

She closed her eyes, "Love, you have not lost me…I will be waiting for you, watching over you. She must train. They have destroyed two stars in the past month, enslaving the orbiting worlds. They will overtake Earth, and when They do, the cherry blossom and the wolf will be the only ones who can save us all. The destined two will be more powerful than I could ever have been, and they shall prevail.

"You must lead our resistance, until the little wolf is of age,. You must build our army, the chosen two cannot save us without all of our help. That is your task, that and protecting our daughter until the time is right." Her glow flickered, and tears came to her eyes. "My time is up. Remember always that I am waiting. Very little can still true love, not even death has that power. Goodbye, my love." She reached out to the babe asleep in the cradle, and whispered, "Goodbye, Sakura. You will be beautiful and strong, loving always. And that is all that I could ask." With that, she was gone.

Kinomoto Fujitaka, leader of the underground resistance, shook himself from his thoughts as the sounds of fighting drifted in on the wind through the open balcony. He shook his head, walking over to the balcony to watch his daughter spar with her partner in crime, Li Syaoran. Sakura's thin form moved with a grace that reminded him all to much of Nadeshiko. He smiled to himself as he watched them.

Where Sakura was quick and light on her feet, Syaoran was tall and strong. Both had their advantages over the other, but for some reason neither could best the other. Today they fought hand to hand, punching and kicking, blocking and dodging. Each landed blows, but neither stopped. Sakura attempted to sweep Syaoran's feet from under him. He went down, rolling gracefully back to his feet. He grasped his jade pendant in his hand, transforming it to legendary sword known as Wolf's Friend. He brought his blade to bear upon Sakura, forcing her to dodge left and right. With a quick slash he sliced through Sakura's training shirt, revealing creamy skin where the jade silk gapped open.

"Dammit, Syaoran, Tomoyo's going to have my ass for that. This is the third shirt this week!" Sakura griped as she reached for her pendant. It came to her hand, humming, ready to please. It never ceased to amaze her how this small pendant could be so full of life. At her touch and thought, the key transformed to the sword she had named Night's Bane. It was a capable weapon, gleaming with a deadly sheen and an internal light. Most days she would have brought out her glaive, forcing Syaoran to change his weapon, but today she felt like a challenge.

Syaoran's laugh forced her to attention. "If you would move a bit faster, Tomoyo could stop being angry with you, Flower girl."

She smiled at the nickname, bringing her sword up to block his. Metal whispered on metal as their blades slide apart. She swung her blade to the left, coming up in a crescent to meet his blade over their heads. "If you'd stop slicing my shirts to pieces, she'd like you a lot more. Besides, this was one of my favorite shirts!" She said, pouting.

His baritone laugh gave her a thrill she didn't quite understand. "Perhaps she had just spent too much time around him?" She thought as she moved to block his attack. "Besides," He said, "I much prefer the one you wore yesterday."

"Why's that?" She asked, moving to strike him. "It showed more cleavage." Syaoran smirked as she turned a very deep shade of crimson. Sakura made a soft growling noise in her throat as she put her all into one last strike, only to end up pressed against him, their swords held to the side.

She inhaled, his body and hers were pressed together in a way she only remembered from those dreams that she sought to forget. He held his breath, she was so soft, pressed against him, her face tilted to hers. Her lips suddenly look all too kissable, petal soft and moistly pink. Green eyes met amber as a rush of emotions flooded their bodies. This was not something they were used to. They were friends, right? Both dropped their swords as his hands moved to brush a few strands of hair away from her face and as her arms gently encircled his waist.

Just as he began that slow decent to touch their lips together, and she slowly rose to the tips of her toes, the evening bell rang, sunset coloring their surroundings. The shock of the bell sent Sakura falling into Syaoran, both landing in the dust of the courtyard. The peace of the hour broken only by the whisper of the wind and the soft squeal of Sakura as they hit the ground.

"Sorry about that, Little Wolf." She said with just the barest hint of a laugh in her voice, body still pressed against his. "What were you doing, trying to kill me?" He teased, his voice slightly husky from the near kiss. His arms were wrapped around her, their swords in the grass a few feet away, where they had fallen during the almost kiss. "I guess training is over then," she laughed, "and we both desperately are in need of a bath." With that, Sakura rose to her feet, walking away from the slightly stunned and somewhat bruised young man to pick up her sword and transform it to her pendant. Slipping it over her head, she turned and walked away. He slowly rose to his feet, grinning ruefully, "I suppose training is over then." He whispered to himself, making his way to his room for a bath before dinner.

On the balcony, Fujitaka still watched, knowing that soon this peace would give way to a chaotic darkness unlike any they had known. The training of the chosen two would soon come to an end, they had mastered all of the many skills that were needed, and in a time shorter than any before. Soon they would be fighting for their lives. For Earth. But now was not the time to worry, all was prepared. There was dinner and relaxation, and then bed. There would be a tomorrow.