The landing was rougher than usual. Syaoran barely landed on his feet with Sakura, but then the forceful wind that's constant in this land threw them into the snow. A few moments later, Mokona was thrown onto them by the wind and managed to not get swept away from grabbing onto Sakura's dress. Nero slid across the snow and then once he had a moment, he dug his paws deep into the snow and hunkered down. The plain they were on was extremely dangerous to be on and the snow whipping around them made visibility very bad. Kurogane managed the best out of everyone. He landed on his feet and stayed that way with Nakietra's hot body pressed against his. Although, Fai then came out and crashed into him. Nakietra was thrown from his arms and then Fai was comfortable on him.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Syaoran questioned as he helped the princess to her feet. The wind was trying to blow he down again, but she was managing even though she was extremely cold. She nodded her head that she was find but rubbed her shoulders.

"It's cold!" Mokona exclaimed as he clinged to Sakura's dress to stay upright. He threw out everyone's warmer clothes in a pile. Syaoran let go of Sakura and retrieved her cloak. He wrapped it around her and then went to grab his.

"Get off me!" Kurogane yelled after Fia didn't get up in a timely fashion. Fai rolled onto the snow and complained like a child but no one cared. Syaoran picked up Kurogane's cloak and Nakietra's before moving over to her. He wrapped it around Nakietra and soon Kurogane had his on as well.

Nero ran with the wind to his bond. His nose traveled over her body and stopped over the shoulder where her wound was. He whined and looked to the others before nudging her head with his nose. She didn't respond. Kurogane helped Syaoran wrap Nakietra's cloak around her and then picked her up so she wasn't lying in the snow.

Sakura came over to them looking very worried. She stared at Nakietra and her face scrunched up in worry. They all knew about Nakietra's black cloak. She was so careful with it and wouldn't let it touch snow, water, or every the trees. She said her grandmother had made it for her when she traveled before. It was pitch black on the outside, but on the inside were designs in shimmery silver thread. She said they were two patterns over lapping each other. One meant prayer and the other meant safety.

"What happened?" Fai asked seriously now as he got up. Kurogane faced the man with a very serious expression on his face.

"She was poisoned. She said you could help her," Kurogane told him. Fai wasn't smiling.

"We should set up camp first and then I'll take care of her," Fai said before even touching her. They moved to the trees, away from the plains. The wind was quieter here and much less rough. Syaoran went right to work. He found a flat place for the tent and then found a nearby area to build a fire pit. He grabbed a shovel and started digging into the snow with Sakura helping.

Kurogane had no choice but to set Nakietra near Sakura. "Watch her," He said to her and moved on to do his own work. It was always his job to set up the solar heated tent. They had gotten it from a very grateful family when Nakietra saved their little girl from drowning. Nakietra never told the family that their little girl had tried to commit suicide or that she had helped the child cope by teaching her how to sew from patterns.

Once the base of the fire pit was done, Syaoran abandoned it to Sakura and Mokona who both took turns smoothing out the edges and making it bigger. Fai tended to Nakietra with a very worried look on his face. Syaoran tried not to look as he took a collapsible axe and went hunting for firewood. Nero even helped for once by straightening out the tent for Kurogane as he filled up the bottom air cushion and punched in the stakes.

Fai did what he could for Nakietra. He learned from her a lot of things over their time traveling. He hoped he was doing it right at least. He sucked the remaining poison from the wound and then injected a very specific anti-venom for tropical spiders into her veins. He didn't think her wound was that serious the first and second times he looked at it. Actually, he assumed she had already done what he had just did, but he knows now that she didn't. He should have asked her he realized.

Her fever was dropping rapidly though. Her face went from flushed to pale and her breathing became rapid. As soon as the tent was ready, he put her inside and asked Mokona for every cover available to keep her warm as she started shaking. He didn't make any jokes when he came out or even said anything as he took his seat by the fire. This was one of the most serious situations they'd ever been in and he knew it.

As night started to settle in, jobs were slowly finished. Wood was stacked into a decent pile for the night, dinner was made and eaten, and snow was readily available to be melted and purified. No one asked about the feather at all, even as they sat around the fire. An empty space on the ground was left open where Nero and Nakietra usually sat together. It felt like a hole to not have her there because even though she would never say much, it was certain she was always listening as she wrote in her big leather book.

"Will she be okay?" Kurogane finally asked as he watched Fai take his place in the circle.

"I don't know," Fia answered truthfully, his face turned to the sky. Even though he teased Nakietra to the point of tears at times, he did see her as a friend. Not a good friend, but he knew that if he was dying in any way she would do anything to save him no matter what he's said in the past because that's the kind of person she is…he knows she's a better person than he could even be. She never insulted him in any personal way even though her comments to him told him that she noticed more about him than most of the group. She was always the first to rush into danger when it came to a crumbling building. She was always the one who tried to keep Syaoran out of danger.

"She got hurt because of me," Sakura said as tears slipped from her eyes. She stared into the fire as they rolled down her face and almost froze from the cold. She had always stood from the sidelines when it came to fighting. Syaoran always got hurt for her, but when it happened to Nakietra…it was somehow worse. It made her feel so useless and guilty when she watched Nakietra fight anything and everything to protect her or to get the feather.

She closed her eyes. On their first journey together, she watched Nakietra's arm get shredded by living, thorned vines as she retrieved the feather that had been hidden beneath the beautifully deadly roses. She always remembered that the most because whenever she say Nakietra's bare arm, there were scars from the vines because the flesh was cut so deeply.

Sakura put her head in her hands. Nakietra has never trusted any of them….and yet she obviously cared. Why? She doesn't understand it. Nakietra has always cared, every single time When Sakura cries for her, Nakietra always looks sad too. She always looks down with her back straight and then she brushes Sakura's hair and tells her it's alright. Sakura can't understand why she does this!

"Sakura," Syaoran said calmingly and put an arm around her shoulder, his own eyes glistening a little as he watched his princess cry. He never understood Nakietra. There have been times when Nakietra has acted like a sister to him. Scolding him when he does something stupid and wrapping his wounds and telling him her own moments of stupidity when they were alone. Then there are times when she's cold, almost like death the ways she glares at him when he touches her or when he tries to talk to her.

Nakietra was like a sister to all of them actually. She comforted Sakura when she cried, she let Fai tease her, let Kurogane care for her, and then scolds him. Why does she do it? Why does she try to act cold when really she cares more about all of them than she ever does for herself? She's constantly trying to spare them hardship and pain even when it makes life so much more worse for her. Syaoran bowed his head as more tears spilled from his eyes. He really was reckless and stupid sometimes...but why was Nakietra like him when she didn't need to be?

"Fai Fai," Mokona murmured as he crawled into the blond man's lap and then underneath his soft, fur coat. Fia looked down with sad eyes and put a hand on the white puff as Mokona silently cried. Mokona understood Nakietra better than anyone else, but he was never allowed to talk about any of it. He's seen her leather book and knows exactly what it is and what's in it unlike the others. There have been nights where she didn't sleep at all and she would tell him story after story from the pictures in her book. The details she remembered were incredible and very lifelike just like her drawings…there was one person though, that she would never talk about. One man that appeared in almost every picture, especially the ones of her. She never explained who he was and Mokona never asked a second time. The first time he asked, she broke down crying and left him sitting at the fire all alone for the rest of the night.

All of them were acting like she was dead. It felt like it though. Nakietra was a constant. She was predictable at times and usually quiet. The fact that they still only knew bits and pieces about her, killed them inside. Even though it was she that pushed them away, they felt like it was their fault for not knowing anything. What about her family? Is her mother living? Dead? What about her father? What about Hiro?

Kurogane glanced around at all of them. He couldn't take it. Nakietra is alive, sleeping even in the tent. She's not dead and yet they're crying here like she is. He stood up and left. He knew at least one place where he wouldn't have to deal with this. He slid through the tent flap. No one said a word.

Nero's head shot up when the man came in, but he didn't move from his position curled around his friend's head. With sad eyes, the wolf put his head down and rested his cold nose on her cheek. She still had a slight fever but the covers were keeping her warm from the cold. Kurogane took off his snowy shoes near the door and crawled over to sit next to her. Above her, an electric lamp hung above to provide some light though Nero certainly didn't need it. Fai had set it up for everyone else though.

Kurogane stared at Nakietra's peaceful face, which was paler than usual. It was still tired looking, almost defeated, just like he's seen it the few nights she's slept in here with them. He clenched his teeth at the look and suddenly felt angry; angry at himself for not stopping her that is. She always pushed herself, always threw herself into danger just to spare them the inconvenience. Why? He sees it in her actions and in her eyes. She doesn't want them to care, but her actions tell them that she does. And then…He's never seen her look so defeated as she did when she was trying to keep moving forward in the jungle. Nero nudged his head more inwards toward his friend and looked at the man with almost a guilty expression.

"Don't look guilty. You didn't do anything," The man said gruffly as more emotions swirled inside of him.

Kurogane

It's calm in here. There's no overwhelming sadness, no pain, and no tears. Calm. It makes me angry how they're acting. Nakietra is alive, but only for now according to Fai. That idiot shouldn't have said that to the kid or the princess. It only made them worse.

No one caused Nakietra to get hurt, she did it to herself. She knew the dangers better than anyone else, but she waited until the last moment to worry about them. I couldn't have stopped her. Physically, I could have at least, but not mentally. No one can stop her from trying to do what she wants; we've all tired in our own ways.

I can't stop myself from staring at her eyes. I've seen her lie injured trough the past few worlds. She always opened her eyes when anyone was near her. She won't open this time I know. She's unconscious. I brush my fingers against her cheek. She still has a fever. Her eyes twitch under her closed lids. I wonder what she's seeing.

I look at Nero. He couldn't have stopped Nakietra either. Even though he knew about the poison, he can never stop her. I've watched him bite her because she was just thinking of doing something incredibly dangerous. I've watched him look away when she climbs crumbling buildings and trees just like she has a million times over. It's torture for him to see her in danger. I rub his head just like I've seen Nakietra do. He closes his eyes in torture. I take my hand away. He usually never lets me touch him…just like Nakietra.

He's in pain too. I hear his ragged breaths now and watch how he shifts his feet so suddenly like he's in pain. I close my eyes so I don't have to see. He's always been able to feel Nakietra's pain just like she can feel his. They've always been connected like this. I've never seen it before in any world we've ever went to. It makes them the perfect fighting pair though, perfectly in sync with every move it seems.

"Nero," I hear Nakietra whisper. I open my eyes and look down at her. It's hard to tell if she's starting to wake up or if she's having a dream. I don't know how she dreams, but I know she doesn't sleep much. Her hand twitches under the covers.

"Hiro," She whimpers softly as tears brush down her face. There was that name again…Hiro. She must miss him, whoever he is. I take her hand. She clutches it weakly.

"Don't…go…" she trails off and relaxes. I look at Nero. He's staring at me.

I remember Nakietra's conversation with Tomoyo. Hiro is dead, he traveled with her last time and they loved each other very much it seems. How long has he been gone for her to cry out to him still? I sigh. There are too many questions about her that I know she'll never answer. One is defiantly a priority though, who is the crazed prince? I always knew she was hiding something and he must be it. If he's a threat to us, I need to know.

I close my eyes again. If this prince killed Hiro, she won't tell me about either of them then. It's too painful for her to consider talking about. I open my eyes and look down at her face. I remember my mother and father. I couldn't talk about them to anyone, not even Tomoyo. I take my hand away from Nakietra's.

She's young enough to lose a loved one. She isn't dealing with the grief correctly though and it's killing her inside. There's no way for us to help her with that because none of us can ask the questions that she needs to admit the answers to. She's a warrior. Whoever trained her, taught her to be strong. Even the strongest crack under grief though, even I know that.

Nakietra

"Hiro!" I scream with tears streaming down my face. Hiro is standing a few feet from me. I can't reach him no matter how fast or far I run.

"Nakia, I'll wait for you. I promise you, I won't leave alone, but it's not your time. Our home and these people here need you more than you need me. YOU need them more than you need me. Save our home Nakia, save my Ira," Hiro says mournfully as he looks down at me. His eyes are so sad. He's wearing his training clothes. I swallow hard.

"Don't leave me again! Please, don't go!" I yell, gasping for air as he continues to get farther and farther away from me.

"I love you, my sister!" Hiro yells back as he disappears. Blackness crushes into me and I jolt awake as pain engulfs my arm.

"Our mistress, awake. The poison is gone!" A collective voice broke painfully into my head.

I shift my body under the covers. The pain in my arm is intense, but it's nothing compared to the pain that shoots through my body every time I move. I breathed in sharply as my back paralyzes with pain. Nero moan behind me and then I feel him licking my face.

"Nero," I say softly as the pain fades away. I start to remember a little bit. I remember pain and then I remember falling. I remember seeing Hiro too. My eyes sting. Nero pushed his own version of the story into my head.

I see Syaoran appear over the edge of the upper floor over the courtyard. I don't see me, but I don't remember reaching the courtyard. Nero barks at him and then I see Sakura and Fia run across the courtyard to him. I hear them talk.

"Nakietra's hurt," Syaoran say hurriedly, "She was poisoned."

"Where is she?" Fai asks immediately.

"Back with Kurogane. He's bringing her here, I'll go get them," Syaoran says and disappears.

Lizards come out from everywhere then. They push the statues out of alignment and close up the safe area under the statue. Chunks of fighting pass by quickly, and then I see Nero. He's backing up toward the ruined platform. He's fighting his best and trying to protect Sakura. Then it jumps. Now I see me. I'm unconscious in the snow, my face flushed and eyes sunken. Nero takes away the pictures then.

"I'm okay now Nero," I say and kiss his nose. Getting up is impossible with this pain. Nero carefully put his paws over me and lied down with his head against my neck. He's heavy, but it's a comfortable heaviness for now. I struggle to lift my arms up to wrap them around his neck. I'm glad he's alright.

Kurogane

Sleep would not come to me tonight. I kept having nightmares of waking up and finding Nakietra dead next to me or even undead. I don't know which was worse because in either nightmare she blamed me for her death. I didn't cause it, but I didn't stop her even though I could.

All of us always slept in a line. Usually Sakura slept next to Nakietra, but Syaoran had decided that Sakura should sleep as far away from Nakietra as possible. Syaoran also decided that either he or me should sleep next to her when we weren't keeping watch outside. Fai was all the way on the end though for once.

I opened my eyes and saw sunlight. There's no point in trying to go back to sleep at this point. Carefully, I push myself up and rub my eyes. I glance over to Nakietra. Her arms are wrapped around Nero and her eyes are staring up at the ceiling where there's a small plastic window. I turn to see her better. My body is sore from the lack to sleep.

Nero looks over at me first. His eyes are back to being cautious and untrustworthy. Nakietra then turns her head toward me also. Her eyes are sad. They don't change when they see me. I wonder if she remembers calling out for Hiro last night.

"How do you feel?" I ask softly. I don't want to wake the others yet.

"Hurt," She answers just as soft.

"Where?" I ask. If it's enough pain, I should wake Fai us. There could still be poison in her system.

"Everywhere," She answers. I twist around and shake Fai.

"What?" He asks sleepily and turns over, barely missing Sakura.

"Nakietra's awake," I answer. In a second, he's scrambling up, his blond hair sticking up in odd places on top his head. I shake my head and pull on my shoes. It's morning which means work.

"How do you feel?" Fai asks smiling. Nakietra didn't smile.

"Everything hurts when I move," She answers simply. Nero removes himself from her and stretches out the tent door as he follows Kurogane. Fai helped Nakietra sit up, which resulted in a lot of pain for her, and then also played with her right arm. It was completely un-useable and caused her the most pain whenever she even tried to twitch her finger. With a grim face, Fai laid her down and left also, leaving Nakietra to stare at the ceiling and think.

"How is she?" Syaoran asked as soon as Fai came out of the tent. Fai shook his hair out and tried to think of a response.

"I think there's still some poison in her arm and she's probably dehydrated," Fai responds. He sighs and takes out a pot from their cooking utensils. He pours some purified water into it and set it over the fire.

"What are you going to do then?" Syaoran asked. Kurogane sat in the snow, watching Fai but not saying anything.

"I'm going to make…soup," He answers finally and Syaoran just looks at him like he's joking.

"Why?" Kurogane asks because he knows Fai isn't joking.

"I can't do anything else. If I give her more anti-venom then it could kill her and I have no actual way to get the poison out of her veins without making her suffer from blood loss also at this point. The best I can do is get her to eat and drink," Fai said hopelessly. The boys stare at him for a little bit.

"Is she going to be okay?" Syaoran asks then.

"The worst that can happen now is she could lose her arm," Fai answers in a dishearten voice. Neither of the boys said anything to that. Both boys knew that if Nakietra lost her arm, there were going to be even more problems to deal with for everyone.

"There's a feather here!" Mokona exclaims. Breakfast was eaten and Nakietra was cared for now, but still everyone was on edge after learning that Nakietra could lose her arm.

"Where?" Kurogane wound up asking because Syaoran was at a loss for words.

"Mmmm….it's far that way," Mokona answers pointing South.

"It's too dangerous to move Nakietra right now. If there's still poison, it could spread from her arm back to her heard," Fai said as he stirred his bubbling orange mixture.

"I'll go get it by myself then," Syaoran said and got up from his seat beside Sakura. Worry flashed in her eyes as she looked up to him. Nero noticed and barked at Kurogane before roughly pushing the man from his seat.

"What?" He asked after getting up to escape the head bashing. Nero pushed him toward Syaoran and looked up expectantly like they should understand him. Only Sakura was able to though.

"I think he wants you to go with Syaoran," Sakura answered as she watched the wolf who nodded his head up and down.

"Let's go on an adventure then!" Mokona exclaimed and jumped on Syaoran's cloak. The boy picked up the teleporter and put him on his shoulders.

"How would we find our way back if it snows again?" Kurogane asked as he looked up at the clouds. Syaoran thought about it for a minute.

"We still have the feather from the other world. If we leave it here, couldn't Mokona just lead us back?" Syaoran asked Mokona.

"Yes!" Mokona responded happily.

"Where is the feather?" Fai asked. Syaoran pointed to the black bag near the fire. Fai nodded his head.

"Which way are we going?" Kurogane asked reluctantly after a few seconds.

"That way!" Mokona exclaimed and pointed toward south once more. Syaoran took the lead and the two left without another word. Sakura watched then disappear into the whiteness with even more worry weighing down on her.

"Sakura," Fai said after they had disappeared. She turned her head to face him.

"I think Nake's awake. Bring these to her please," Fai asked holding out a steaming mug and a canteen. Sakura carefully took each one from him before getting up from her seat. Nero watched her careful footsteps from his place next to the tent entrance. When Sakura was close, Nero got up from his seat and held open the tent flap for her.

"Thank you Nero," Sakura said gratefully as she carefully climbed inside. Nero came after her. He went right to Nakietra's side, licking her face quickly before lying down beside her. She opened her eyes and nudged over to give him more room.

"You're awake," Sakura said happily as she crawled slowly over. Nakietra turned her head and watched Sakura's progress with a pained expression. She took a deep breath and then painfully pushed herself up. Nero sprung up in an instant and helped her by supporting her back.

"You shouldn't move!" Sakura exclaimed in panicked voice as she tried to figure out what she could do to stop her without spilling the soup.

"Sakura, I'm okay," Nakietra said strong and reassuringly. She looked toward the young girl with her brown eyes just as sad as they were this morning. She held her hands and gently took the mug from Sakura's hands. She put the mug in her lap but didn't drink from it.

"Are you in pain?" Sakura asked meekly, her own eyes staring at the ground as guilt started to overcome her again.

"No," Nakietra answered truthfully. Sakura's mouth twitched into a frown as tears rolled down her cheeks. Nakietra glanced sideways at the young girls silence and froze. Slowly she positioned the cup between her legs before bringing her hand to Sakura's face to stroke her cheek. Once the tears had stopped, she put a hand on top of the girl's head and said, "I'm sorry."

"Everyone always gets hurt because of me," She cried in a quiet voice that broke many times over, "Why do you all do that? Why do you guys always put yourselves in so much danger for me?" Nakietra's hand fell down Sakura's face, then to her neck, and then down her shoulder to grasp one of her hands that sat uselessly in her lap. Her grip was strong and reassuring.

"Sakura...we do it for you. We know that if there is ever something that you can do, you do it. You work hard and do what you can, we just try to do the same," Nakietra said in a low voice. Nero crawled from behind her back to Sakura. He stepped up on his two front legs and licked away the tears on her face before beating his head roughly into her chest. Sakura took the big wolf's head and cried into the fur sticking up on top. Nakietra watched for a few seconds before tears started to sting her eyes. She remembered her own little Sakura crying into Nero's puppy fur when the black skinned boys in the village teased her because of her clean white clothes.

The next day

The boys were successful. Nothing was in control of the feather here except for maybe some snow and wind. The feather was encased in a thin wall of ice though and was easily retrieved which was good because it took many hours just to get to it.

Mokona was very happy about their adventure even though the other two were trapped in their own thoughts. He kept singing song after song of everything that came into his head and even danced a little sometimes from his place on top of Kurogane's head. Kurogane was able to block out most of it though just by thinking about every single thing he remembered Nakietra saying. Before Tomoyo, he never heard her mention the prince. He's heard her mention Marina multiple times, but only to Mokona and only when it came to needing to talk to The Dimensional Witch.

Syaoran was also trapped in his own thoughts as he followed their footsteps from the day before back to camp. He was trying to figure Nakietra out. He thought a lot about things he could ask her, especially how to word them, but nothing he thought about would actually work. No matter what, he knew exactly what Nakietra might answer to and the many things she would defiantly not even try to talk about.

"Nero!" A familiar voice shouted in her familiar accent that they sometimes heard. The boys stopped and listened again. Even Mokona was quiet because the question they all wondered was if it was real.

They listened to the crunch of footsteps in the snow and then continued on. It didn't sound like danger, and maybe they imagined it. Then, Nero exploded from behind a tree with a black ribbon clutched in his teeth. He narrowly dodged running into the Kurogane but his chaser wasn't so lucky. Nakietra darted out, her long black hair swinging madly around her. She brushed it aside and just missed Kurogane also until she lost her balance and fell back into Syaoran. She groaned as she sat up in the snow. Nero bounded back to the group looking very happy and very successful.

"Mmm," Nakietra muttered in pain before she climbed to her feet. She rubbed her head and then shook her head with a snarl. Kurogane watched and then took two steps back. He's seen Nakietra and Nero fight and it was something you didn't want to be near. It was never because they were mad at each other he noticed, it was always because one decided to mess with the other.

"Nero, give it to me," She commanded in an annoyed voice that sharpened her accent greatly. Usually she kept it covered, but times like these with Nero also brought it forward. It only happened with her though, not with any of them which is strange. Very strange.

Nero snorted in what sounded like a laugh. Nakietra glared at him before launching herself forward. Nero jumped backwards and was rushing through the trees once more with Nakietra chasing him. Syaoran rubbed his back while he pushed himself up.

"What just happened?" He questioned as he got to his feet.

"Nero's having fun!" Mokona exclaimed as he jumped down into a snow, "I want to have fun too!" He plopped down in the snow back first and made a rabbit looking snow angle. A moment later, Nero slid through the snow and crashed into Mokona. The rabbit snow angle was destroyed and Mokona was very squished as Nakietra pounced on Nero and pinned him to the ground with her dress riding up well over her knees. Luckily, she has pants on underneath. With her tiny fingers, she pried Nero's mouth open and took her ribbon away before jumping back. Nero rolled around in the snow as he struggled to get to his feet, rubbing Mokona farther into the snow.

Nakietra smirked triumphantly before putting the ribbon in her mouth and quickly started tying back her hair. The wolf sat up but didn't try to go for the ribbon again. Mokona had no clue what was going on or where he was thanks to Nero's thrashing and lay right next to Nero unconscious.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Kurogane asked after taking a few steps to stand in front of her. Her hands paused and she looked up at him with shadowed eyes.

"No. Do you have the feather?" She responded and her fingers went back to work.

"Yeah. You're all better?" Syaoran questioned happily as he picked up Mokona. The rabbit didn't react as he tried to recover. Nero shook the snow from his coat and then left to go back to camp. Nakietra's eyes cautiously followed him.

"Yes," She responded, her gaze shifting down to the snow as she pulled the bun tight. With one hand holding her hair in place, she took the ribbon with her other and carefully tied it around her neat pit of hair.

"How's your arm?" Kurogane questioned as he started at her right arm. It seemed to be working perfectly but appearances are very deceiving.

"Its fine. Let's get out of this world. I hate cold," Nakietra said and started walking away. From behind, her hair looked like it had been curled into a neat little circle on the back of her head. Behind her ears hung her bangs because for some reason they didn't reach. Kurogane kept pace with Nakietra while Syaoran quickly went forward to catch up with Nero.

"Thank you," Nakietra said suddenly when Syaoran was far enough away.

"For what?" Kurogane asked. He had no idea what she thought he did, but he knew she didn't thank any of them lightly.

"You let me keep going until I collapsed, and then you saved my life. Thank you," She said sincerely. He looked at her sideways.

Nakietra

"I'm glad you're okay," He said finally. I nodded my head, relieved. I always feel like he's going to scold me for what I do. He never does though which I'm grateful for. I wouldn't bother listening to him anyways even if he tried. I wouldn't even take my own brother's scolding seriously unless I truly did something stupid.

"It feels nice…to know that none of you would have left me to die," I say slowly. I'm harsh to all of them….but they care anyways for some reason. Nero showed me a lot while I rested in bed. It made me really rethink my ideals when I saw them from his perspective. I feel ungrateful. They do so much for me, even if I hate what they do, and I don't return any of it. I know their stories, front and back…no one ever said that talking to them meant I had to tell them my whole life. Poor Sakura…she cried so much with Nero.

"Why wouldn't we?" He asked softly. He's not looking at me I notice. I look ahead. I'll never get used to snow. It's cold and wet. I'm glad I don't have it in my homeland.

"You were right…about me. I try to keep my distance, but all I'm doing is hurting them…I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm tired of watching people cry over me," I say slowly. I will die in the near future, that can't be stopped…I don't have to be alone though. Even if I break their hearts, it won't hurt them as badly if they knew me rather than if they didn't and found out about me afterwards…I don't want people to cry over me, but I don't want people to leave me because I'm not worth anything anymore.

"I won't ask you why you changed your mind, but even a warrior needs some allies," He responded and pat my shoulder. I breathed out in relief. I was scared of what he would say. I feel like running though. There's so much energy in my body, too much energy it feels like.

"It's a straight shot to camp from here. Want to race?" I asked with a small smile as I look over to him. I always used to race Toya back to the palace from town. He always won because he had longer legs, but I always came very close to beating him because I was able to dodge the crowds easier.

"Can you actually run?" Kurogane asks seriously. I smile bigger. I love naivety. I take off.

It's been so long since I've felt the wind against my face. This air is cold, but it still feels nice. It makes me feel like a new person. Kurogane is starting to catch up to me then. I look over and smile as I dodge under a fir tree. He isn't as lucky as her runs right into it. I struggle no to break down laughing as I finish my mark into camp. Kurogane is right behind me. A big welt is across my face and I need to bend over my knees to stop myself from laughing.

"Oh Kuro-po, did she slap you?" Fai asks jokingly. That wouldn't be as funny though. I won't tell it he doesn't though I guess. I glance around came. Everything is packed away already. The fire is out ad covered as well. Sakura has Mokona now and he's awake also.

"We should go," I say and rub the tears from my eyes. That was really fun. Syaoran and Fai move closer to Sakura and I follow them with Nero right behind me. I rub my fingers deep into his prickly coat and smile. I love Nero and everything he does for me. Kurogane comes behind me and I look back at him. It only took one man and one wolf to change my ideals. I must be getting sappier the closer I get to death.

I breathe in sharply as I feel myself get sucked into Mokona's vortex. Here we go again on another danger filler adventure. This time though, I'm not alone.