The Man in the Glass

Chapter Two

By Hayai Akurei

For it isn't your father or mother or wife

Whose judgment upon you must pass,

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the one staring back in the glass.

"The Man in the Glass"

'I'm not dead.'

That was the first thing Sakura could think of as she opened her eyes and noticed the obvious lack of pain.

'Where's the blood? Where's the agonizing pain? Where are the claws that are supposed to be protruding through my chest?'

'Your awfully underdeveloped chest…' part of her mind grumbled. Godzilla tweeped and she cautiously opened one eye.

"Are you all right?" a gruff voice asked. She gasped lightly and looked up to find Kurogane blocking the near fatal blow with his shining blade. Souhi groaned against the creature's claws.

From somewhere behind them, she heard Syaoran shout, "SAKURA-HIME! KUROGANE-SAN!"

Screeching, the monster lurched back, raising his deadly claws like an axe, ready to chop them in two.

Sakura barely had time for a startled "eep!" as Kurogane swept her up in his arms. The monster's hand collided into the earth just inches from their feet as Kurogane dodged nimbly aside. Pressing her against his chest with one arm, he spun around on one foot, whipping Souhi in a blinding circle on the ground.

"CHI-RYU JIN-ENBU!"

The monster howled, the blades of light cutting through its body. Clinging to the man tighter, Sakura closed her eyes, trying to block out the deafening roar raging in her ears.

When she opened them again, the monster was gone. And every tree within Souhi's attack range had been leveled.

"You okay?" asked Kurogane. He was holding her so close, that she could hear his heartbeat steadily thumping against her ear. Nodding, she looked around as his grip loosened.

"Syaoran-kun?" she called, slipping from the ninja's embrace. She didn't see him anywhere. Nor Fai-san.

"Let's look over there," Kurogane said.

"Uhn."

Trudging through the thick mud, Sakura looked around. But still there was neither hide nor hair of the boy and the blond.

"Syaoran-kun?"

"HYUU!"

Sakura screamed as a big, muddy something sat up right in front of her.

"Ah, ah," it said, wiping the mud from its face, revealing a smiling wizard. "I'm sorry. Did I scare you, Sakura-chan?" he asked, as Kurogane reached down to help him stand up.

"Sakura-hime!" cried a voice from behind them. Sakura turned to find a smaller blob a little ways away, undoubtedly Syaoran, as he too sat up, with an even smaller blob next to him.

"Phbbbpphhbbrrrr!" Mokona said as he shook the mud from his fur. Inspecting himself to make sure he was completely mud-free, the little white creature struck a pose atop Syaoran's head. "All clean!"

"Syaoran-kun!" Beaming, Sakura ran to him, throwing herself in his arms. Stumbling back a bit, the boy smiled and hugged her back.

"It's okay," Sakura murmured, hugging him tight. "I'm all right."

"But you…I…" stammered the boy.

Her eyes widening, the young princess pulled back. "You're not hurt, are you? The monster didn't injure you anywhere, did it?"

"Eh…no. I'm fine. And I'm glad to see that you're unharmed as well."

Sakura smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. "That's good." To her utter delight, Syaoran smiled back.

"Ahh, Sakura-chan!" Fai wailed, hugging both teenagers in his tentacle-like grip. "You were almost shiskabobbled by that monster! We were so worried about you!" His eyes turned sly. "Syaoran especially."

The boy flushed deep red. "I…uh…uh…"

Tromping heavily through the mud, Kurogane cast a wary eye around them. "In any case, let's keep moving. These things may travel in packs. Either that, or there may be a mate nearby."

Fai nodded. "I agree."

"I wonder where we are now," Syaoran questioned aloud, now that they weren't running for their lives – from mud puddles and monsters alike. All that Sakura could see were hills, forest and more hills.

Suddenly, the princess tensed, looking around.

"Sakura-hime?" Her companion glanced at her, his dark brown eyes blinking in question.

She turned to him. "Uhm…Syaoran-kun? Did you hear something?"

"No, is something the matter?"

"I just thought I – "

There it was again! She took off, running towards the sound, ignoring the startled protests from the others.

"Moko-chan, can you hear it?" she asked. The white meat bun on her shoulder nodded.

Someone was crying, she could hear it. Sakura shook her head. No, more like, sense it. The sobs grew louder and louder as she got closer.

"Hello? Hello!" shouted the princess, "Where are you? We're coming to help you!"

Mokona bounced up and down frantically. "Sakura! It's coming from over there!"

Several of the trees that had fallen to Souhi's wrath had piled up on top of one another, creating quite a mess. Scrambling over, Sakura knelt down and pushed some of the ruined branches aside.

It was difficult to see, but a shock of gold caught her eye and muffled hiccupping sniffles arose from the leafy cage.

"I want my papa…"

"Syaoran-kun!" Sakura shouted, trying to lift a large branch. The young archeologist skidded to her side, inspecting the damage. "There's a child under there!"

Fai gasped. "What were you thinking, Kuro-pon? See what you did?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" he snarled.

"Help me with this," said Syaoran, lifting a heavy limb aside. Kneeling nearby, Sakura peered through the foliage at the child. She could see her a bit better now, where there weren't so many branches.

Dark golden hair tumbled over the child's face, hiding her magnificent amber eyes. Her chubby cheeks were wet with tears and her clothes were ripped and dirty.

"It's going to be okay," she said gently, "We're going to get you out. Just be brave, all right?"

The young one sniffed, her shoulders shaking with tears. "I want my papa…"

"We'll take you to your papa," she assured her. "Just don't move. Syaoran-kun and the others will get you out in no time."

Grabbing a one of the slighter tree trunks in his arms, Kurogane hefted it to the side. Fai's feet slid in the mud as he tried to push another off.

"We've almost got it!" Syaoran exclaimed. Kurogane propped a large tree against his shoulder, Fai moving to assist him.

"Just grab the kid and let's go!" he shouted. Fai yelped as the tree almost slipped from his grasp and Syaoran strained to help lift the massive trunk. Sakura waited. As soon as the opening was wide enough, she held her hand out as far as she could reach.

The child whimpered.

"Hurry!" she shouted, "Take my hand!"

Crawling slowly towards her, the child placed her chubby palm in hers. Hoisting her up and grabbing her under the arms, Sakura tugged her out from the leafy cage.

With a grunt, the three men let the trunk fall to the ground with a shuddering THUDD! Slumping to the ground, they turned to Sakura, who was cradling the child close.

"I was so scared!" the youngster wailed, snuggling deeper into Sakura's arms. "I thought I was gonna be trapped there forever an' ever an' I'd never see my papa again!"

Any other words from the toddler were lost in a violent outbreak of sobs.

"There, there…" murmured the princess soothingly. "It's all right now, because we're here to help you."

Sniffling and wiping her runny nose with her dirty sleeves, the little girl turned her golden eyes up at her. "Th-thank you."

"You're very welcome," Fai said, kneeling next to them, "Now what's your name, little lady?"

"K-Kohaku."

"Really?" He gave the child a winning smile and petted her head. "That's a lovely name."

"Thank you…"

Syaoran sat up. "So where do you and your father live?"

Sniffling, Kohaku shrugged. "It's a village in the hills, and there's lots and lots of flowers everywheres. And you can see the whole valley."

"So do you know where we should walk?"

She shook her head sadly. "I got lost."

"It's all right," Syaoran assured her, rubbing her back. "We'll get you back home."

Teary eyes glimmered up at him. "You promise?"

"I promise."

"Will you pinky swear?"

With a sunny grin, Syaoran extended his pinky out to her. He and the princess used to do this when they were children.

"I pinky swear on it."

Kohaku managed a smile, and looped her little finger around his.

Author's Notes: KYAAA! I got reviews! I feel so loved! Thank you, thank you! I'm sorry this took so long. I was on vacation for a month in Thailand! I'll do my very best not to make you wait so long next time. MANY THANKS TO YUMIKO KAZE FOR EDITING! COOKIES FOR HER!

I'm also sorry if the POVs are becoming a tad confusing. I've been reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series lately and each chapter is told from a different character's perspective, sort of.