Worlds passed by.

Each new world revealed something new about Nakietra. They saw things about her that they only glimpsed before. They knew when it came to climbing, she was the expert. However, they didn't think that she would start teaching Syaoran her secrets. Everything she taught him was little and it was all practice. Syaoran's days became split. Half a day was spent either looking for the feather or working on his swordsmanship with Kurogane. The other half was spent with Nakietra.

They didn't always do climbing practice though. She always taught him something though by the end of the day, and Syaoran found out that even though she was only a few years older than him, she was the best teacher he could ever have. Everything she did was by example. First she would do it, and then he would try it. And it repeated with deeper explanations from Nakietra on the mistakes he made. This was the key when she started showing him how to fight like her. That part was slow though. While Kurogane taught him the basics, she was teaching him finesse. The simplest move can make the biggest impact he found.

Danger came every day in some. At least one person had an injury at all times if not more. Something was going wrong, and Nakietra told them what she noticed. Someone was manipulating them. Inexplicably, worlds they never visited before had one or two of them marked as villains sometimes. Others there were groups of third party armies hunting them just because someone told them to.

Nakietra didn't tell them that she knew who was doing it and also why. She only told them what she knew they would notice on their own after a while. It made her nightmares worse at night, but it kept her mind sane. The voice in her knife was driving her crazy with the partial information it gave her and her friends kept her sane by being the ultimate distractions during the day.

They were now floating through Mokona's internal tunnel now. Fai and Sakura were smiling as they held hands. They had taken to sticking together recently since every world they entered turned into danger right as they landed. Nero usually kept by Syaoran now at Nakietra's command as he learned to control his body movements better as he learned to ignore his blind eye by using Nero. Kurogane and Nakietra stuck together too. This was Nakietra's version of branching out. She was learning to not fight by herself, which was easier with Kurogane. Kurogane was a seasoned fighter which helped when it came to her making mistakes from fatigue. It was only because of her knife that she was able to still keep going on very little sleep.

The world fractured then. Everything twisted as the world contracted and compressed them together before ripping them apart. There was no direction then. No up or down or left or right as everyone broke away and became separated. Sakura grabbed ahold of Nero as Fai was thrown far from her. Syaoran was pulled closer to Fai, but not close enough to touch while Nakietra and Kurogane were spewn in their own separate directions.

The world was gone then. One second it was there, and the next it was something else.

A rushing river is weaving through a dense. The sounds of birds and insects are the only sounds that are heard above the sounds of the nearby waterfall. Trees bend low over the water as their roots struggle to keep their places on the unstable banks. The little sunlight stops the grass from growing, but the water encourages some plants to thrive enough to provide some color among the dirt.

The water fall is small compared to others. Its height is fifty feet, but its width is only ten. A strong net filters the water fifteen feet below the edge, saving anything that falls from the river. Over the net now are a few golden objects, undented and unscratched. Beside the net is a planked bridge that crosses the separated land and on that bridge is a man with sandy hair with a bag over his shoulders. Inside that bag are similar golden objects as the ones on the net.

He can't see the people who appear twenty three feet up the river and can't hear them at all as they pixelize into the air. Fai drops first, painfully on his butt but at least on dry ground just a few feet from the river's edge. Mokona comes next and lands unconscious on the man. Everyone else isn't as lucky.

Syaoran comes next. He's thrown sideways into the trees. His reflex training with Kurogane saves him just as much as his climbing training with Nakietra. He's able to grab the first branch, which breaks easily under his weight, and then grab a second one that doesn't which he uses to swing onto the beach next to Fai.

Sakura and Nero materialize a few inches over the water. The water is cold, shocking even and almost puts Sakura out. Nero climbs to the surface under Sakura's weight though and then works his way to the beach where Fai is. Kurogane is dropped into the water also, but closer to the beach. He helps Nero onto the beach while looking for Nakietra to come up somewhere.

Nakietra is the very last to come forward. The group comes together and looks for her but they see nothing from her at all.

Nakietra

Cold suffocates me. I breathe in and then choke. It's water! I put my feet down but the rocks are slippery. I can't find a foothold to push off of. My lungs burn. I reach up to the surface and breathe in some air. The current drags me under then. I shut eyes and my mouth. I can't do anything but go with the current. I reach around and try to grasp something. I feel the current pull me over an edge and I know I'm done.

Memories of home rush through my head. I think of Toya and how much I wanted to see him one more time. I think of my brother and my cousins. I even think of my aunt that hates me and my hard faced uncle. They're dead if I die. I can't save myself here though. Not with the water pushing me down to the water however far below me. Falling into water from any great height is like falling into concrete. I'm dead.

My body slams down into something like a net. My fingers grab onto it as my body bounces up and down as water continues to pound down on me. I climb over to the edge of the net and feel it sway. I'm alive. I take shaky breathes before opening my eyes.

There's a bridge in front of me. I reach for the top railing and then carefully swing my body unto the stable ground. My body shakes as a cold wind rips through me. Where are the others? I look up and see the waterfall I just fell over. I think I hear them but it's hard to tell over the water. I hope none of them fell over like I did. I need to get to them, fast.

I pull myself to my feet and quickly make my way to land. I glance at the gold objects on the net and slow down. This gold looks very familiar. I stop and reach over for a vase. I pull it close and look at the image on I before letting it. I take in two more shaky breathes and launch myself toward land again. I think I know where we are, and if I'm right someone is going to die

I look around at the jungle on the other side and my eyes narrow. I'd recognize that messy sandy hair anywhere. He's peeking out from behind a tree. I glare at him. His eyes widen. Yes, he defiantly remembers me and I certainly remember him. I start running. Jack takes off into the trees. He should be running. When you steal from me, you better hope I don't catch you.

"Jack!" I scream.

Everyone's heads turned up at the sound. They saw Nakietra in the river once and they then didn't see her again. They assume she went over the edge and were planning to check but now they stopped. They thought they just heard Nakietra yell.

"You get back here you kalo!" She yelled. That was defiantly Nakietra by the way the voice was tinged with an accent that none of them had ever heard. Kurogane took the lead down the steep hill while Syaoran continued to help Sakura. Nero followed Kurogane and then….

They stopped. The sight before them was fairly interesting once they got a few feet past the hill. Nero was the only one moving. He paced back and forth in front of the group as they all watched Nakietra chase a sandy haired boy around the same three clumps of trees. It was fairly amazing that the boy could evade Nakietra considering how fast she usually was. Kurogane couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey," Kurogane yelled at the two but neither reacted to him. The anger on Nakietra's face was enough to stop them from seriously considering stopping her, but then again there was the fearful face of the seventeen year old boy to consider. Kurogane still couldn't take it. He stepped forward and waited. When Nakietra ran past him, he grabbed her into a backwards bear hug to avoid her hurting him or escaping easily.

"Let me go!" Nakietra yelled immediately as she squirmed around. None of them have even seen her so mad before. Her lips were curled back pain as she failed to get out of Kurogane's grasp. Syaoran reacted just as Kurogane did. He grabbed the sandy haired boy by the arms which stopped him easily. As long as Nakietra was restrained, the boy had no reason to run.

"What did you do to her?" Syaoran asked gently as he turned the boy to face him and not Nakietra. The boy looked at him with his brown eyes. His face fell from fearful to shame before he turned away.

"Nothing," He answered seriously.

"Yo la salmia Jack!" Nakietra yelled as frustrated tears glistened in her eyes. Jake looked at her and then bit his lip as he looked down again. The group was completely confused on what Nakietra had just said.

"I want to talk to you before decide to kill me," He said with his sad eyes trained on her. Nakietra struggled one more time to escape but then gave up. She looked up, her eyes filled with pain and frustration.

"Is this another of your friends Nake?" Fai asked jokingly.

"He's no friend of mine," She responded not to nicely, "Let me go already. I won't kill him yet." Kurogane slowly released her but Nakietra didn't try to run toward Jack. She turned to the right and walked a few feet away from the group to calm herself down. Meanwhile, the boy surveyed Nakietra's group.

"It's cold out here. Let's get you guys out of those wet clothes. My house isn't far," The boy said and started walking away after he glanced to Nakietra. He kept his head low and he shoved his hands into his pockets. Fai, Sakura and Syaoran followed right behind him. They were curious, but not enough to ask Nakietra who was still very much upset. Nero waited for his bond to follow before keeping pace on one side of her while Kurogane took the other.

Kurogane

"What did he do to you?" I ask very carefully. Nakietra still stares at the ground. She's not angry anymore…but still. She rarely gets mad at all. Fai is different; he pushes everything too far with her. This…this was real anger at something he did.

"He took something from me…a long time ago," She responds and then brushes her hand roughly through his coat. It must have been when she traveled Hiro.

"What did he take?" I ask in a low voice. The others are being loud enough on their own up front, but I know Nakietra won't want them to know this yet if at all. She doesn't answer. I wonder if it was something Hiro gave her. That would make a lot of sense. I remember a time when Fai tried to look at her leather book and she tried to kill him…certain things it seems are not meant to be messed with when it comes to her.

"A bracelet….one that my father gave to my mother…and then she gave to me before-" she stopped herself. She's rarely mentions her mother. The few times I've heard about her were when she was teaching Fai something medical related. Her mother was a healer I assume. No one ever asked though.

"Once a thief always a thief I guess," She says and looks up for once and stares at the man. He's wearing long dark clothes are tighter on his body than most. He's taller than the kid but still just a skinny.

"You don't like talking about your family," I mention. She takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out before closing her yes.

"They're dead," She says. A shudder runs through her and she grips her elbows as she suppresses a sob. Something strikes me deep inside. I know how much it hurts to talk about someone who's dead. I lost my mother and my father. She did too. I wonder how old she was.

"You have no one waiting for you?" I ask. She shakes her head no. I press my lips together and shut up. I watch her rub her eyes with her dress sleeve before composing herself once more. I wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"You aren't alone here. You have us," I remind her and then draw my arm back. She nods her head that she understands. I can tell it didn't help her at all.

Jack's house was alone in the jungle. There was a well-used path from the front door to town, but otherwise there was nothing around for miles. The living room they first entered was decorated with cheap furniture and such, but the baths were amazing. There were two baths, one for the girls and one for the boys. The tubs were circular and could easily fit four people and were only three feet deep.

The tubs were metal and on a concrete floor. Jack explained to them that underneath the concrete was a fire that he fed with wood to keep the fire going. People came here regularly to bathe. After the water was heated and the vents were slightly opened, everyone was ready for their bath.

Nakietra never had problems taking off her clothes in front of Sakura. She loved baths, but Sakura didn't as much. She hated seeing Nakietra's scars and always felt guilty when she saw her left arm that was scared from their first journey.

"It's okay Sakura," Nakietra reassured her as she finally got into the bath. Nakietra had already scrubbed the dirty from her body and washed everything with soup and water. She loved these baths. The dirty water was filtered out while clean water was continuously pumped in. It was beautiful. Nakietra rinsed her hair one more time in the cold oncoming water before wringing it out and standing up.

Mokona sang loudly and his voice echoed through the wooden room. The thin sheet of wood separating the baths was defiantly not think enough for anything. Every word Nakietra said to Sakura could easily be heard if Mokona would shut up. It wasn't as if they were saying anything important at this point though. Sakura mostly asked what this world was like and Nakietra told her mostly about the town and how it does business. She wouldn't talk about Jack at all.

"Nakietra, I put out two of your dresses out for you and your friend. I'll be in the kitchen," Jack called just as Nakietra stepped out of the tub. She watched him carefully as he dropped the basket of clothes through the door and then left. His eyes never saw anything in the room. Nero rushed into the room before Jack closed the door. He ran past Nakietra and into the tub where he was very happy to get clean with Sakura. Jack could be heard talking to the boys in the other room.

"Nero says he wants a bath," Nakietra said as she started to shake out her hair. She wanted to talk to Jack before the others got out.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked confused as Nero licked and splashed her. Nakietra rarely left Sakura completely alone in any world.

"I have to talk to Jack," She responded softly and then quickly pulled a dark blue dress over her body. The dress was shoulder less and somewhat loose around the torso for Nakietra. She dried her hair once more and walked out.

Nakietra

"Wait, Nakietra!" Sakura cries loudly as I start to leave. I pause.

"Stay with Nero," I command her. She looks down at the water sadly. I sigh. I never had younger siblings so I don't know how to treat her and Syaoran. I miss my cousins and I wish they hadn't been taken away from me.

"Naki, are you being mean to Sakura in there?" Fai asks loudly. I ignore him.

"I need to talk to Jack alone," I tell her softly, bringing her head up with one of my hands. "Please, I need to do this." She looks up at me and then nods her head. I smile and look to Nero. "Also, Nero would be happy if you would help him take a bath since he doesn't have hands." She smiles and laughs a little. Then her face turns worried.

"You won't hurt him will you?" She asks. I purse my lips. I could never hurt Jack, but he no right to steal from me like he did. He knew exactly what that bracelet meant to me and told me to my face that he took absolutely nothing from us when I asked him before we left. I kiss her forehead and leave just as Fai starts to sing along with Mokona. I feel bad for Kurogane.

Kurogane

I sigh and get up. I've had enough. My body is clean and warm enough. I don't need to listen to them sing anymore. I also don't want to be here with they get in trouble with either Nakietra or Jack. There has to be rules about this somewhere.

Jack put a variety of clothes out for us. Most of them are smaller but I manage to find a bigger sized shirt. It's sleeveless but I doubt we'll be going anywhere outside tonight. I look around at the pants and find a pair of tougher dark cloth one. I leave the room as quickly as possible to get away from Fai's singing.

The living room has three long couches, two old looking chests, and a few mostly bare bookcases. All the windows are covered with thin curtains and a fire is burn in the fire place between the two doors to the baths. Our clothes are hanging on stands around it with buckets underneath to catch the water. Next to the fire is a staircase that leads upstairs. We were told not to go up there. The front door we had come through originally is across form the staircase and to the left of that is a room. This room has no door, only an archway, and it looks like a kitchen. I head there and stop. I hear voices. I lean against the wall next to the doorway and listen.

"I don't understand you Jack…First, you're a thief and then you say you changed….You looked me in the eye and told me that you didn't take anything of mine…you lied to me. Why?" Nakietra asks. Her voice sounds like she's about to cry but also is angry.

"….Dawn's sick. We found out right before you left," Jack says. There's a very long pause. Who's Dawn?

"With what? Why didn't you tell us?" Nakietra asks with soft shock. Nakietra's never shocked.

"The wasting sickness, same thing our mom died from…I knew you guys wanted to leave, so I didn't want to tell you and make you stay. I couldn't do it to you guys," Jack says sadly. There's the scrapping of a chair and then a body collapses into it.

"Jack…did you sell my mother's bracelet to pay for Dawn's medicine?" Nakietra asks. I cock my head to the side. She's not mad at all now. She sounds…sad.

"No," Jack answers simply, "I knew how important it was to you…I would never let anyone just have it. I thought that if I took it though, you would come back for it eventually…I told Dawn that you left it here, and that you're coming back. It's the only thing that's keeping her alive now," He continues mournfully.

"You're selling the cursed gold then to pay for the medicine," Nakietra reasons in a tone that is more like outrageous shock.

"No!" Jack shouts and gets to his feet. "After you two left, I went to the temple and prayed to the ancient god for help. He told me that if I repaid everyone in the village for everything I stole from them, then he would tell me how to save her. He said I could use the gold as long as I didn't use it for myself," He explains. There was another pause.

"You keep the villagers happy while you get nothing," she responds sadly. Jack sits back down.

"None of them trust me, but they pay me a little for stuff. I grow vegetables, harvest wild fruit, chop wood, give out baths. They pay me something at least. It's enough to make sure we don't starve. They love Dawn though. In the morning's I've found dishes of freshly cooked meals on my doorstep, and the doctors checks on Dawn and tells me that I don't owe him anything," Jack names off. There was a scrape of another chair and another body carefully slides into it.

"Jack, can you blame them for how they're acting? Can you blame me even? You stole from them. Many of those lost their most prized possessions to you because you sold them to Rob just to make enough to live on," She told him.

"Yeah," Jack responds and someone got out of their chair, "I know. You didn't come back for the bracelet though. You're still a horrible liar," He says in a sad tone. There's someone walking across the kitchen.

"My group is looking for a feather that hold tremendous power," She tells him. There were a few moments of sounds but no words "Jack?" she asks.

"Do you have a sketch of one?" He asks.

"In my bag. You've seen one?" She asks.

"When you left, Ron went crazy. He would leave for months to search countries for you and Hiro. He was…Nakietra he wants to kill you," Jack says, his voice shaking. I don't like the sound of this.

"Jack, the feather," Nakietra reminds him.

"He bought this pink on one of his journeys. He's been using it as a weapon. I haven't seen it before, but some people tell me it's like he's destroying the mind of anyone he touches with the feather…The villagers are starving Nakietra. He's taking more and more of their money away for taxes and he's not paying them nearly as much as they need to live on. Me and Dawn are safe here because I own the land still, but—" Jack says silently.

"Ron has the feather?" She asks separating each word with its own level of fear. My eyes shoot open. I've never heard Nakietra sound scared before like this.

"Yeah," Jack responded shortly. There was silence after that except for the sounds of him shuffling around. One of the doors to the baths opened and Syaoran came out. His clothes were a little small and tight but they fit him. He gave me a quizzical look. I put a finger to my lips and he stopped right where he was.

"Is she upstairs?" Nakietra asks suddenly as she gets up.

"Yeah," Jack answers. I hear her pad out of the kitchen and out the door. She pauses when she sees Syaoran but then continues to the stairs. I push myself off the wall and head into the kitchen. Syaoran is right behind me.

The windows here were also curtained with thin pieces of cloth. Jack is standing over a stove with a large bubbling pot in front of him. On the countertops I can see the ingredients he used. Most of them are normal vegetables. It's a small kitchen. There's a fridge, a walk-in pantry to the left, a huge stove, a table for eight, and then the rest of the room is taken up by countertops.

I take one of the seats that are ajar at the table. Syaoran takes the one across from me and I see Jack twitch from the sudden noise. He covers the pot and then turns to face us while rubbing his hands on his dark brown pants.

"We…" He tries but then stopped, "I'm Jack. Who are you two?" He hasn't moved an inch from the stove and he's still only a few feet from us.

"I'm Syaoran," The kid says nicely. He's always nice to people.

"Sorry about the clothes. I didn't think you were that much bigger than me at first but I guess I was wrong," Jack laughs and sheepishly rubs the back of his head. His actions are partly fake. He wouldn't normally do this.

"They're fine. It's nice enough to have dry clothes," Syaoran responds with a smile. His clothes weren't even wet. It was still cold out for the clothes we had on.

"I'll have your actual clothes done for tomorrow so you won't have to suffer long," Jack jokes. "What about you?" He asks me. I look him up and down.

"Kurogane," I respond simply.

"Those clothes fit you good it seems. Good thing too, cause I'll never be able to wear them. Too big and long for anyone around here. I don't those two were thinking when they left those clothes here. I've never met anyone even close to Hiro's height, and there is defiantly no one as skinny as Nakietra. My sister, her name's Dawn, she will never fit any of Nakietra's dresses," Jack continues. I have to be careful what I ask him. If he's a thief, then he knows how to lie.

"You knew Hiro?" I ask. Syaoran looks at me questioningly. I ignore him for now

"Her brother? Of Course. He was the one who caught me the first time I tried to steal from them. That's how we met actually. I was trying to steal that bag of gems that Nakietra carries on her waist, but Hiro caught me and turned me into the sheriff. I was in jail for a day before they came back and paid my bail so I could go back with my sister," He says easily and smiles. I don't a lie there. He seems happy enough to talk. If the villagers hate him though, I doubt he talks to many people. I look down at my clothes. Hiro must have been considerably taller than Nakietra, and that's strange considering he was her brother. She incredibly short.

"Nakietra had a brother?" Syaoran asks me. I stare at him. If this guy knew Nakietra at all, he would know not to talk about this if we don't know about it firsthand.

"Yeah, he was older than her by…a good amount of years though. I don't remember how many. They were really close though…I mean, why would her brother teach her to fight otherwise? I mean, I wouldn't teach my sister at this point to fight. When would she even get to use it? There's no use to teach such a complicated skill to someone whose going to die within the next few years…It's easier to be the one protecting them, and Hiro was already her protector," Jack says as his voice pitches lower and lower into sadness. Dying…What does this mean? Nakietra isn't dying as far as I know.

"What do you mean by dying?" I ask. Syaoran caught it too and it looks like he was about to ask. Jack opens his mouth and then closes it. He turns back around to his cooking.

"Hey, what do you mean by dying?" I ask again more sharply. We have a right to know as her friends. Everything's starting to click together in my head. Why she distanced herself, why she tries so hard…why she doesn't seem to care about her life.

"I don't think I should say," Jack responds quickly.

"You don't think you should say what?" Nakietra's voice suddenly comes from the doorway very sharply. I look back at her. A deadly pale, blond haired girl is clinging to her dress while Nakietra's arms are holding her up underneath her shoulders. Slowly they move to the edge of the table. Nakietra kicks out a chair before lowering the sickly looking girl into it.

"Nothing," Jack responds just as Syaoran says, "He said you were dying." Nakietra's eyes narrow at Jack. The girl, Dawn I assumed, looks up at her with big brown eyes. She looks to me and then Syaoran.

"You should talk to me before you go starting rumors," She says harshly before taking a seat next to the girl.

"I'm not spreading anything," Jack responds quietly. "Why isn't Hiro here?" He asks after a minute of silence. Nakietra stares at him, her face pained.

"He's gone," Nakietra responds and looks down at the ground.

"Gone where?" Jack says sharply and turns to her. I feel like I shouldn't be here for this. Hiro is her brother that traveled with her last time. Why is it a problem that he's not here anymore? "He told me that he would always protect you, and that he would never leave you alone…So tell me why you are traveling by yourself with people who obviously don't know you?" He went on with a strong voice. I knew he would figure it out after Syaoran's screw up. I sigh.

"Shut up," Nakietra says quietly as her face dips lower. A hand covers her face and Dawn looks between her and her brother. I close my eyes. If Nakietra starts to cry, she won't want me to see.

"Jack, stop," Dawn tries in a weak voice.

"You see me as a thief, just like everyone else, but at least I don't go back on my promises to the people that are important. Where is the man who looked down on me and said I was a disgrace, who told me that I was hurting my sister by trying to keep us alive. Where is that man who said it was wrong for the older brother to leave their younger sister to fend for themselves? To leave them alone to be taken care of by strangers!" Jack went on with a little anger mixed in, "Where is the man who beat it into me that lying and deceiving people were wrong?"

"He's dead! Now stop it!" Nakietra yells loudly in a cracked voice. I open my eyes and look over to her. She has both hands covering her face now. She stands up and rushes out of the room. I hear the front door slam and I know she's gone just like every other time.

No one talked after Nakietra left. It was like an unsaid promise than no one should say anything about what they just talked about. Kurogane knew that Hiro was dead, killed by the nameless prince that Nakietra talked about with Tomoyo. No one else knew that though, which is why he didn't say anything.

Fai joined them in the kitchen soon enough though and the silence. He and Mokona both noticed that something was wrong, and so he asked. No one would talk, even Syaoran who was terrible at keeping secrets. When Sakura came in through, Fai gave and resorted to just sitting there and sing with Mokona. Soup was brought to the table with chunks of fresh bread and butter for whoever wanted any. Only those who had been in the kitchen before Fai wondered if they would see Nakietra before night settled in.

"Where's Nakietra?" Sakura finally asked among all the happiness. Fai and Syaoran stopped what they were talking about.

"She went to see an old friend in town. She should be back by now though," Jack responded easily while he secretly kicked Kurogane from under the table. The man looked at the boy with annoyance. Jack made a gesture with his head and Kurogane understood what the boy wanted him to do.

"I'll go find her," Kurogane said and got to his feet. Already though, Sakura was distracted by Fai molding the bread into some sort creation which he was insisting was Kurogane. Kurogane just happened to knock Fai in the back on his out sending the bread creation into his soup. Syaoran smiled and laughed a little as Fai insisted that Kurogane was now drowning in the soup.

Kurogane stopped in front of the door and looked to Nero. He was sitting in front of the fire with his eyes trained on Kurogane. His hair was sticking up in odd places and he was still somewhat wet from his bath, but he defiantly still looked just as dangerous as ever.

"Find Nakietra," Kurogane said and held the door open. Nero looked to the outside and bolted through the door with Kurogane following close behind. He didn't bother with shoes because he knew Nakietra didn't go far when she was upset.

Kurogane watched the wolf closely as they went. He's tried to follow the wolf to Nakietra before, but it always failed because Nero would bolt away into the underbrush and lose him. The wolf was deliberately moving slow today. It made Kurogane wonder if something might actually be wrong with Nakietra. He looked up and started to understand why the wolf was helping him. Night was coming in fast and the temperature was already dropping. His feet were turning numb as they went on and he wished he had brought shoes.

Nero then stopped beside a very twisted tree. The trunk looked as if it had been twisted like licorice and the trunk was flattened at the exact point where all the branches met. On that flat plane was Nakietra, curled up against the back of the natural chair with her finger nails digging into her arms. Nero stood back from the tree and waited for Kurogane to do something.

Slowly, Kurogane walked through the grass until he was right in front of her. He inhaled sharply as saw her arms. They were covered in scratches and blood. She was still digging her fingers into the cut she previously made just to make them bleed more.

"Stop," He said and grabbed her hand. She didn't resist as she looked up from where her face had been hidden against her knees. Her face was red and stained with already dry tears as she just stared up at him.

"He died for me," Nakietra finally was able to say through a broken voice. Kurogane looked at her arms and then let go of her hand. Nakietra let it fall against the trunk without any care. "He always protected me, and now…I'm alone. I'm not wanted," She continued as she stared at him.

"Everyone here wants you," Kurogane responded. She shook her head.

"Not at home though. I should be dead, like everyone else," She said and let out a very shaky breath. She moved her hand to dig into the cuts but he grabbed it to stop her.

"You survived. No one can tell you to die just because everyone else did," He said. She stared at him.

"You don't even know what I'm talking about," She said and straightened out her legs.

"You're talking about how everyone died because of the prince, except for you," He said and took her hands. "Let me help you down," He said. She nodded her head and used him for support as she carefully slid down the tree trunk.

"You shouldn't know anything about that," She said and started walking away. He kept one of her hands in his just in case she tried to each for her cuts on her other arm.

"I don't. I've just heard you mention it once," He said. She nodded her head.

"Don't ever ask me about it," She said. He nodded his head.

"I won't," He promised. She let out a sigh of relief and gripped his hand before tears started to slide down her face. Kurogane put an arm around her shoulders and let her cry as Nero lead them back to the house.

After they got back, everything turned serious. Nakietra washed her face and arms upstairs while everyone else took a seat in the living room. Fai and Mokona were still singing, but Jack was serious and therefore so was Syaoran. Nakietra took a seat on the couch to the left of the door with Nero next to her, Kurogane sat on the couch across from her with Syaoran, and then Jack sat on the couch next to Nakietra's with Sakura and Mokona. Fai sat on the floor in the middle of it all.

"Nakietra, you said you had a sketch of this feather for me?" Jack asked. Dawn was upstairs in bed again, so Jack was allowed to look serious. Nakietra looked at the boy closely. She had made sure to cover her arms with her sleeves so no one could see the bandages.

"Mokona, can I have my bag?" Nakietra asked quietly. One of her hands was combing through her now dry hair while the other brushed through Nero's coat. She looked uneasy, nervous even.

"Okay!" Mokona spat out the bag and dutifully handed it to her personally with a smile on his face. Nakietra didn't return the smile. She opened the flap and felt around for her leather book. She opened it right side up so no one could see the memories she had stored in it. She spent minutes pausing at pictures of people long since gone and of entries never read again. Finally she pulled out a sheet of lose paper and handed it to Jack. On it was a very colorful and accurate image of Sakura's feather.

"That's it," He said and passed it back to her. She cringed as she put the drawing away inside her book. She shut the book and clutched it to her chest. Her hands were shaking.

"Where is it?" Syaoran asked. Jack licked his lips and stared at Nakietra. She closed her eyes and propped her chin over her book.

"Ron has it," Jack answered. He wound his fingers together and squeezed them tight. This was the worst thing that could have happened this week.

"Who's Ron?" Syaoran asked.

"He's a very rich man who has his own personal guard. The people of the village rely on him so that's why they put up with his constant bad behavior," Jack explained and paused. "Should I say it?" He asked Nakietra. She didn't respond but she did open her eyes. "Ron has an obsession…with Nakietra," He said, carefully watching Nakietra's reaction. Her knuckles turned white as she clutched her book and she was visibly shaking. Everyone in the room was watching her.

"Can you steal it for us?" She asked Jack.

"Why is this man after you?" Fai asked seriously. He understood that this was no time to joke about things like this. He's never seen Nakietra shake from fear like this. Kurogane watched Nakietra. Whoever this man was, he knew he couldn't let him get anywhere near Nakietra. It takes a lot to scare someone like her.

"I have a few buddies among his guard. I'll talk to them tonight and see what we can do. I'll have a plan for you tomorrow though," Jack said, purposefully ignoring Fai since Nakietra wasn't responding to him either.

"The rest of us should sleep then, so we're ready for tomorrow," Nakietra responded.

"There's only enough room upstairs for three people. How did you want to split it?" Jack asked Nakietra.

"Nake, was he your lover?" Fai asked, hushing the last part. He was trying to make it funny so she wouldn't be as scared. It wasn't working.

"Sakura will stay Dawn, I'll sleep down here," Nakietra responded. She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes.

"I'm going to be gone most of the night so two of your friends can have my room. I can always sleep down here if I get back before tomorrow. Who else will stay down here?" Jack asked.

"I'll stay," Kurogane offered immediately.

"Nake has a boyfriend! Nake has a boyfriend!" Fia sang and soon Mokona joined in. Nakietra took a deep breath and appeared to be losing it. She brought her book up to hide her face as she started shaking harder from fear. She remembered Ron. Sometimes she confused him and Benji in her nightmares. Ron was always more aggressive, always more explicit when he tortured her in her nightmares. It didn't help that she still remembered every single threat he made to her when she was here. She remembered especially how very explicit they were.

"Your friends can go into town tomorrow if they want…You should stay in the house though and away from the windows just in case," He said, his voice quivering. Nakietra nodded her head from behind her book.

"I got it," She responded, her voice shaking.

"Fai," Sakura said, obviously distressed. Fai looked to Sakura and then Nakietra. He stopped then when he saw that he wasn't helping her forget her fear

"How dangerous is this man to her?" Kurogane asked. Jack looked to the man and then to Nakietra and then back to the man to answer.

"Ron will kill her if he's able to get his hands on her…her death might take days happen and there's no chance will let her go or that we'll be able to save her…If he gets her, she dead, that's the whole story," Jack said. Nakietra curled tight into a ball. She remembered how he said he would break her leg by bashing it over and over again with the short edge of a fire poker that was red hot.

"Why?" Syaoran asked. Jack thought about the answer.

"Ron doesn't like foreigners. He picks on them when they come to his towns….Nakietra ignored every insult he threw at her. Hiro got pissed eventually though and threatened him with a sword…the next day Nakietra was beaten and thrown into reservoir. Ron then started calling her a whore around town then because the only clothes she could wear that wouldn't cause her pain were very short," Jack said. Nakietra remembered him whisper in her ear how he was going to rape her after every single torture act. The idea scared, but she never let it get that far.

"I'll get some blankets for us and show you three upstairs," Jack said after a look to Nakietra and hurried away. He knows he only made the situation worse by actually telling the truth. The group needed to know though he thought. Slowly those downstairs started to move. Syaoran lead Sakura upstairs, with Fai following with Mokona, and then Nero was comfortably on the ground while Nakietra curled up on the couch, still shaking.

"What did he do to you?" Kurogane asked quietly after moving to sit next to her.

"He beat me…he threatened me….That's all," She responded. He watched her. She sounded too defeated to lie.

"I don't want him near you at all. Whatever he did or said to you, has you completely scared of him," He said protectively. She nodded her head in agreement

"I don't want him to even know I'm here," She responded in a shaky voice. Jack came down then with an armload of covers.

"You guys can make up beds on the couches. I have to get going," Jack said and put them down on the ground. He looked at Nakietra and then was out the door. Nakietra didn't move at. Kurogane got up and threw the biggest cover over and then the other he took to his couch. He understood Nakietra needed her space. If she needed him in the night, he was only a few feet away.

Nakietra jolted away halfway through the night. Her body was coated in sweat along with tears all over her face. Her body started shaking and soon her body was racking with suppressed sobs. This was defiantly the worst nightmare of them all. She saw Ron, breaking into the house and then killing everyone very slowly in front of her. Then…he moved onto her last. A sob escaped as she remembered how real the burns and broken bones felt.

The sob woke Kurogane up right away. He felt like he was on guard duty because of how violently Nakietra reacted to the idea of seeing Rob again. He was on his fee in the instant and looked around the room. Two candles were lit by each of them and the fire was still strong. There was no enemy in the room. Kurogane slightly relaxed, but there was still the problem of whether Nakietra was alright.

He touched her shoulder lightly and she leapt up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder. Carefully, he sat on the couch and maneuvered her over his lap. It wasn't until an hour later did she tell him about her dream…and it made his blood boil right until she finally fell back asleep.