Review from last chapter:

"A pure innocent kindness that overwhelms cruelty and warms the hearts of the wicked and corrupted. Maybe that's Sakura's essence; who she really is."

"Yeah." said Syaoran as he thought, "I'll search again tomorrow Sakura and this time I'll find your feather, no matter what."

~ Episode 5: The Battle of the Mage ~

Night had fallen and Syaoran was sitting in his usual spot by Sakura's bed watching her sleep. As the minutes went by Syaoran picked up Sakura's hand. As he held her hand between his, he remembered a conversation that he had had with Sakura a year ago when she had been sick.

~ Flashback ~

Light was shining through a window and Syaoran was kneeling by Sakura's bed watching her sleep. Ever since he had heard that Sakura was ill he could concentrate all that well so to ease his mind, Kyoya suggested that he go see Sakura for himself. Syaoran was a bit nervous about going especially when it came to dealing with the King, Sakura's older brother, but Kyoya had assured him that it would be alright. "I'll talk to Toya myself and give him no option but to let you see Sakura." Kyoya had said. Syaoran wasn't sure what he had meant by that but he trusted Kyoya and soon found himself by Sakura's bed. As he watched her sleep she suddenly opened her eyes.

"You're awake. How are you feeling, Your Highness?" he asked.

"Syao please, it's just us. You don't have to be so formal. Just call me by my name." said Sakura in a tired voice.

"Uh, sure princess, I mean, Sakura. So how are you? Are you feeling any better now?"

"I'm ok. The doctor said it's only a slight fever. It will go down quickly with a little rest so don't worry about me." Sakura paused and looked out her window before she began to speak again in a timid voice, unsure that what she was about to ask was going to come true. "But I think maybe, if you hold my hand it might make me feel better a little bit faster. Is that ok?"

Syaoran gave a soft smile as he reached out and took her delicate hand into his own. Sakura looked at him with a soft smile of her own and Syaoran said, "You should probably try to sleep for a little while."

"You know, if I fall asleep like this you'll be the very first thing I see when I wake up." said Sakura as she drifted back off to sleep.

~ End of Flashback ~

"I'm gonna find your feathers. I promise you that." determinedly whispered Syaoran.

"Syaoran." Syaoran lifted his head in surprise at the voice and saw Kyoya sitting up in his bed on the other side of Sakura. "What are you doing up?" he asked.

"I'm not all that tired."

"Uhuh."

"Really."

"Whatever you say Syaoran. But you might want to start feeling tired because you need all your rest for tomorrow's feather hunt."

"Don't Kyoya. I'll go to sleep soon. Now lay down and go to sleep."

"Not until you do."

"Kyoya, I said I'd go to sleep."

"I know what you said, I just don't believe what you said."

Syaoran smiled, knowing that when Kyoya became stubborn there was no reasoning with him. So if he wanted Kyoya to sleep then he was going to have to too. "Alright, alright. I'll go to sleep." Syaoran pushed himself back up against the wall and laid his head on his knees. It was only then did he realize just how tired he really was, as his eyes seemed to heavy to hold up one minute longer. The last thing he saw was Kyoya staring at him and Sakura peacefully sleeping away the night hours.

The next day they proceeded on their hunt for the feathers and Arashi kept a close eye on Sakura, who stayed asleep the whole day. The group of feather hunters thought that this was the day that they were going to find the feather and had started out in high spirits. But the day went by and there was no sign of the feathers presence anywhere and the feather hunters maybe their way back to the house tired, hungry, and, for some, frustrated.

"What is the deal with this feather?" fumed Kyoya. They were sitting in their room around Sakura trying to think of what they could do next. "I mean, one day we have many "sighting" and the next nothing. This feather better be holding a good memory or so help me…" Kurogane smirked as he watched Kyoya fume. "Maybe this kid isn't so bad after all." he thought.

"Don't worry Kyoya. We'll find it. We just have to be patient." calmly said Fye. Kyoya looked over at him with a look that could kill and he let out a frustrated growl. Kurogane let out an amused huff before going back to staring out the window pretending not to listen or care but really paying close attention. They continued to talk about their plans with Arashi until the door slid open to reveal the cheerful Sorata. "Good evening my darling one. I'm home. How 'bout a little welcome home kiss, right here, right here." he said as he entered. Arashi just gave him a cold stare, as if saying, "What the hell are you happy for?" She clenched her hand into a fist and let it fly at Sorata's head. It hit with a loud bang and everyone else including Kurogane cringed at the sound. "I see," said Sorata as his voice immediately grew somber. "So I take it you didn't find the feather today." Everyone watched in wonder at how fast his mood changed and they were surprised yet again by him becoming extremely determined. "Right so what do we know so far that can help us find it." Syaoran shook his head and pulled out a map of the city and everyone, except Kurogane, gathered around it. "Okay." said Syaoran. "Well this is where Mokona first sensed the feather we're looking for, it was right here on this bridge."

"And then the second time was outside near that dumpling shop isn't that right?" asked Fye.

"Yeah but I thought it was just a dream." huffed Kurogane.

"Nope it really happened. I realized it later." chirped Mokona.

"Does he ever stop sounding or being so cheerful. Its starting to get on my nerves." thought Kyoya.

"Would you make up your mind you little fur ball." said Kurogane.

"Don't be a grump Kuro-ku." said Mokona.

"I told you don't call me that."

Kyoya smiled. "Mokona may get a little annoying but he's the best at pushing Kurogane's buttons." he thought and then started to say with a smirk on his face, "Yeah stop being such a grump Kuro…". A cold, deathly stare from Kurogane caused him from finishing the sentence and he quickly turned back to the circle around the map. "So, uh, we were talking about the plan." Everyone smiled in his direction before Arashi began speaking. "If Mokona's sensing the feather in different places like on the bridge and outside the shop doesn't that suggest it's some how attached to something that's moving."

"Well that does make sense." said Syaoran.

"Between that and the fact that it seems to appear and disappear unpredictably…" said Arashi.

"A kudan." gasped Syaoran.

"That's right. A kudan comes and goes so when it disappears…" said Fye.

"The waves Mokona senses would vanish right along with it." finished Kurogane.

"Tricky little feather isn't it. The memory must be of a prank that she pulled." stated Kyoya. Syaoran looked over at him in mild shock. "Sakura never pulled any pranks." he said.

"Not by herself no. Don't give me that look Syaoran. We left have the palace standing and no one got hurt, that is if you don't count the lump on Toya's head from falling down 10 stairs."

"Well, it looks like we have a bit of a prankster in our company. We'll all need to watch our backs." said Fye.

"Don't worry guys I don't pull elaborate pranks like that any more…only once every other month." said Kyoya smiling. Everyone was smiling, even Kurogane, though he wouldn't admit it. Syaoran shook his head one more time before becoming serious and continuing to talk about the plan. "So the feather is some how attached to a kudan then the only question is who could it be."

"I'm afraid figuring that one out will be no easy task." said Sorata. "Everyone on this world has a kudan of some sort even visitors to our world like you guys may discover kudan of their own. Let me explain. A kudan is like a personal protector. No matter how strong or how weak it may be it watches over the person to whom it belongs."

"So how do we even begin to look for Sakura's feather. If everyone has a kudan to protect them there's no way of knowing where to start our search it could be anywhere." said Syaoran.

"Well, I don't really have any definite ideas yet, but there is one thing I am certain of, who ever it is that has her feather now must also have an extremely strong kudan." explained Sorata.

"And why do you think that?" asked Kurogane.

"Her feathers are her memories; her heart. In order for a kudan to with stand the feather's presence it would have to be strong enough to match her own power. All kudan vary in strength, there are many that would simply be unable to keep hold of something so powerful." said Arashi.

"That's a start at least." said Fye. "So it looks like we need to begin by finding strong kudan and when we find the right one maybe we'll locate Sakura's feather." They didn't realize just how hard it was going to be until the next day when it was noon and they still hadn't found any leads on the feather. "Easier said then done." said Fye as they stood on a balcony over looking the city.

"Yeah, I guess we should've known it would be a challenge. People don't just walk around with their kudan out in the open." said Syaoran.

"Well then Mokona can't tell who has the feather." sighed Mokona from his place on Syaoran's shoulder.

"That's not the only problem." said Kurogane. "Even assuming we do find the one who has that stupid thing I doubt he'll just say 'oh really. I didn't realize.' and hand it over without a fight." He was about to continue when they heard a shout. "Syaoran, there you are." They turned around to see Kyoya and Masayoshi running towards them. "What's he doing here." grunted Kurogane staring at Masayoshi. "He saw me as I was getting my drink inside the building and said that he really wanted to talk to Syaoran. So, here we are." said Kyoya in an exasperated tone due to the fact that half his drink was spilled down his front from Masayoshi tugging him outside. Masayoshi, hey." said Syaoran.

"The feather you're looking for, did you find it yet." asked Masayoshi.

"No, not yet." replied Syaoran.

"I probably know my way around this place better then you do. I can help you guys look for it."

"Are you sure?"

"Uhuh."

"Well then of course, we'd appreciate that." said Syaoran.

"Masayoshi, Mokona says thanks." said Mokona as he hopped onto Masayoshi's shoulder. There were all so occupied by what was going on that none of them noticed a flash of light in the sky over head. They finally noticed it when it was close enough to be recognized as a silver, bird-like kudan and it was coming right for them. Everyone stared at it unsure of what to do. The huge silver kudan swooped down, causing a great deal of wind, and picked up Masayoshi and Mokona in its beak like mouth and started to fly away. Everyone was stunned except Kyoya who jumped and grabbed hold of Masayoshi's leg as they rose higher and higher into the air. Kyoya spared a glance down to the others and even from this height he could see the terrified face of Syaoran. He just knew that the only thought going through Syaoran's head is of him falling to his death. Kyoya knew that even though Syaoran might not show it a lot but he knew that Syaoran loved him with all his heart and could be very protective when it came to his safty. "Don't worry Syao. I have no desire to let go. There is no way in hell that I will die until we can go home with all of Sakura's memories intact." thought Kyoya. As he moved away from the balcony he could hear Syaoran yelling, "Masayoshi! Mokona! Kyoya!" and then all he could hear was the wind zooming past him and Masayoshi and Mokona's cries to be put down.

~ Balcony of the Building ~

Syaoran watched as the kudan disappeared into the distance with his two friends and his little brother. "No, Kyoya. PLEASE don't let go. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too." he thought. He turned around ready to run after them when he saw a letter gently land on the ground in front of him where the kudan had swooped down. He picked it up and opened it. " 'Waiting at Hanshin Castle.' Hansin? Where's that?" he said then looked up at the others. "Hey you guys you should look at this." He let out a gasp as Kurogane and Fye replied but he couldn't understand a word they were saying. The others realized it at the same and began to talk, trying to figure out what was happening to them. "What's going on?" thought Syaoran. "Suddenly it's like we're all talking in gibberish. We've been fine up to this point. Why can't we understand each other now?" Suddenly they all came to the same conclusion and they all said the same word. "Mokona!"

~ In the Air with the Kudan ~

Kyoya kept looking down at the city below him and his feet dangling a hundred feet over it. Even though he knew he wasn't letting go of Masayoshi's leg there was a part of his mind that was screaming, "We're gonna die. We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" He looked up at the other two (Masayoshi had he's shut as tight as they could go and Mokona was now beginning to enjoy himself) and the kudan. Mokona looked down at the city and noticed Kyoya gripping Masayoshi's leg. "Kyoya! Don't let go!"

"Trust me Mokona, that's the farthest thing from my mind." "But thanks for bringing the thought to the front of my mind you little fluff ball." A few seconds went by before Mokona called down to Kyoya again. "Kyoya, look." Kyoya looked to where he was pointing and noticed a tall tower-like building and they were fast approaching it. As they got closer the kudan began fly desend and Kyoya began to tense up, ready to fight who or whatever they might meet. As they past close to the roof Kyoya reached out and grabbed the edge of it, finally let go of Masayoshi, and pulled himself up onto the roof. He carefully made his way to where the kudan had landed and heard three male voices along with Masayoshi's and Mokona's voice. "That was too easy."

"Yeah, you'd think they'd at least put up some fight."

"No, hey what are you doing?" Kyoya recognized Masayoshi's voice.

"Masayoshi!" Kyoya recognized Mokona's semi-frantic voice.

"Yoyo guys, get a load of this?"

"What is it?"

"It looks like some sort of small rabbit." Kyoya could tell that they were staring at Mokona with confused faces.

"Could it be someone's kudan?"

"No, you silly. I'm not a kudan. I'm Mokona." In the background Kyoya could hear Masayoshi telling Mokona to run away and get help, but no one was really paying attention to him at the moment.

"Mokona, huh."

"Yep." replied Mokona.

"Well Mokona, how do you feel about high places?"

"Mokona love's high places."

"Then you're really gonna love this." With that Kyoya could tell that the three men were dragging Masayoshi, who was begging to be let go, and Mokona, who was chattering excitedly about being high in the sky, away from where he was on the roof. Kyoya stayed there for a few seconds to make sure that everyone had left before he grabbed the edge of the roof and swung himself down onto the deck that was right below him. He looked around the room and could tell that it was an old building. The room he was in was made of wood, which seemed to be aged. He noticed an open door at the other end of the room and a hallway beyond that. He moved silently down the hallway and found a set of stairs. He climbed the stairs and found another hallway with another set of stairs. This went on for a good 5 minutes until he was sure that was near the top of the building and came across an open door and heard people talking. He pressed himself up against the wall and listened. "It sounds like the three guys who took Masayoshi and Mokona but now there's a girl with them." he thought. Suddenly he heard Masayoshi's voice yell out, "Help! I'm scared of heights!" "Masayoshi. Hold on I'm coming." thought Kyoya.

"So you're positive. He's the one Shogo wants to fight." said the girl. "He just looks like a helpless little boy to me."

"Yeah. That's the guy, we're sure of it." said guy #1. "We had some of our spies look in to it and they're never wrong."

"We did just like they said. He looked like the shortest guy in the group so that's who we kidnapped." said guy #2.

"Kay." sighed the girl. "But what's that other thing?"

"We don't know." said guy #3. "We thought it was a kudan but it told us that it was a Mokona, whatever that is."

"A Mokona huh, weird." It was at that moment that Kyoya faintly heard Mokona singing a funny little song. "Back and forth, back and forth, up so high in the sky, back and forth, back and forth, like a bird see me fly." Kyoya smiled and could imagine Mokona swinging back and forth grinning like he didn't have a problem in the world. "But we can figure out what it is later." continued the girl. "Right now all that matters is fighting Syaoran and now that we have him all we have to do is wait for his friends." "What? They have Syaoran? When did they capture him and how did they get him here so quickly, I just don…wait a minute. I bet they think that Masayoshi is Syaoran. They did say that they were going for the shortest guy in the group, and at the moment that the kudan came, Masayoshi was the shortest one in our group. Oh this is rich. I can't wait to see their faces when they find out the truth. Boy are they gonna be surprised, but I wonder if they will seriously hurt Masayoshi when they find out that he's not Syaoran. Oh man, they might even kill him and Mokona. I have to get them out of here, but how? Well, they don't know I'm here so the element of surprise is on my side. I can rush them and knock them out before they realized what was happening. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Ok, 3…2…1… GO!" All of this was going through his mind in a matter of seconds and when he screamed 'go' in his head he ran into the room but he didn't have to yell or anything cause the wood floor made his feet sound twice as loud so it was like three men and just run into the room. The four strangers turned around and two of the guys quickly began to run at him. Kyoya smiled and leapt into air, landing behind them. One of the men turned with his fist poised to rearrange Kyoya's face but Kyoya ducked and kicked his leg right into the man's side. There was a grunt and the man was down on the ground gasping for air. The other man came at him next but Kyoya step sided his attack and kicked leg on the man's back, causing him to stumble forward into a chair and some boxes in the corner knocking him out. The last man, who was standing in front of the girl, ran toward him with a scream, but Kyoya stood his ground until the last second when he leapt into the air. He then fipped so that his hands were now on the man's shoulders/neck and gave a little but hard squeeze. When he did that he pushed himself off the man's shoulders and landed behind the man facing the girl as the man fell to the floor completely unconscious. Kyoya smiled, "Now that was easy. Three guys down in under thirty seconds. That's gotta be a record." he thought as he said, "You know lady, you really should consider getting some goons who actually know how to fight. That way people like me can't come in here and beat them up to get to you." Kyoya looked up at her face expecting her to say something sarcastic back but all she did was stare at him with big golden-brown eyes. It didn't look like she was going to say anything so Kyoya continued. "Now that I have your attention I want to talk about letting my friends go. I don't want to hurt you but I will if my friends aren't set free. So, what do you sa…" Kyoya never got to finish his sentence cause a wood plank came crashing into the back of his head and he collapsed on the floor unconscious.

~ Meanwhile Back on the Street ~

Syaoran, Fye, and Kurogane, after a very confusing few minutes and trying to communicate through hand signals, they ran out the building and into the city looking for something that could point them to Hanshin Castle. Luckily they remembered that there was a map 8 blocks away. Once they were standing in front of the map and they located where they were standing and where the castle was Syaoran said, "Looks like Hansin Castle's pretty far away, if I'm reading this map right."

"Yes it would be quite a trek on foot, we'd better take the train." said Fye.

"Sounds good." said Kurogane. Their eyes went big as they realized that they were no longer speaking in gibberish. "Hey we make sense now, what gives?"

"Well that's a relief at least." said Syaoran.

"Yes, I wonder what changed." said Fye. "Maybe it's just because we're getting closer to Mokona." They took running to the nearest train station as Fye continued talking. "Coming from different worlds naturally we wouldn't speak the same language. Mokona must act like some sort of translation devise."

"You guys had better not been callin' me names." said Kurogane. The ride on the train to Hanshin Castle seemed to take forever. All three of them were anxious about what would be waiting for them at the castle and Syaoran and Fye were worrying about Kyoya, Masayoshi, and Mokona being seriously hurt. But they finally made it to the base of the castle. "So, that's Hanshin Castle." said Syaoran as he looked up at the castle that looked more like a tower. It looked like the other buildings in the city except 3 times as tall and had gold trim and figurines around the edges. "Look up there. We seem to have gotten it right." said Fye waving his hand over his head. The other two looked up to see who he was waving at and saw Masayoshi and Mokona hanging from the golden tiger-fish ornament that was on the very top of the building. They could just faintly hear Mokona's song and Masayoshi's cries for help. "There's Mokona and Masayoshi, but where's Kyoya." thought Syaoran. A bit of fear began to stir in his stomach, what if Kyoya had some how lost his grip on Masayoshi's leg and fallen to his death or maybe to people that put Masayoshi and Mokona on the roof had seriously wounded Kyoya. These were just a few of the thoughts that passed through Syaoran's mind, but he shook his head, knowing that he needed to stay focused and that Masayoshi and Mokona needed to be rescued from the top of the building. "Let's get them down." he said in determination.

"And interrupt the fur ball's song. You're so heartless." quipped Kurogane. Suddenly they saw three guys standing on the top balcony with their fists in front of them and guy #1 yelled, "Let's do this!" The other two guys shouted their approval at the same time as a yellow energy ball formed in front of their three fists, which formed into the silver, bird-like kudan that has kidnapped Kyoya, Mokona, and Masayoshi. Syaoran let out a small gasp, but Kurogane stepped in front of him saying, "I'll take care of this one." He then threw his hand out to one side and shouted, "Demon Destruction. Blade of the Dragon King." There then appeared in his hand his kudan sword that he used to defeat Kunio and his gang in the mall a few days ago. The enemy kudan sped towards them ready to attack but Kurogane gave a smirk and a yell as he leapt into the air to meet it. He swung his blade cutting through the enemy kudan, which then immediately vanished causing the middle guy on the balcony to fall down either from exhaustion, pain, or just stunned or maybe even all three. "There now, I think we're done." said Kurogane from his kneeling position on the ground. The other two guys on the balcony were urging their friend to get up, but a girl stepped in front of them. "Well boys, guess you couldn't handle them on your own after all." This girl had light grayish-green hair that was half up and half down. The part that was up was arranged in cone shaped buns on the side of her head. There were two strands that fell in front of her body with the rest in back and she had bangs. She had big golden-brown eyes and had on white boots and a pink skirt. Her white shirt only covered the up half of her body leaving her mid-section completely exposed. The shirt was sleeveless but the collar covered half of her neck and on the back of the shirt were what looked like a set of wings. "Hold on, who the heck are you." asked Kurogane.

"If you don't know who Primeara is you don't deserve to have a pulse." yelled guy #3.

"Yeah everyone knows Primeara. She's a singer, a dancer, and an actress too. She's the biggest celebrity in the whole country." yelled guy #2.

"Right, and on top of all that she had a really strong kudan." continued guy #3.

"But enough about me. What kept you guys, I've been waiting." said Primera. Syaoran looked up at her with a disbelieving face before his face became determined and put on a small smile and saying, "We came here looking for our friends Mokona, Masayoshi, and Kyoya."

"His name's Masayoshi, but the boy's suppose to be Syaoran." said Primera.

"Well, he isn't, I'm Syaoran."

Primera stared down at Syaoran with confused eyes before she suddenly turned around and started to yell and hit the three guys that had kidnapped the prisoners. " 'We're sure it's him' you said! Are you complete idiots? Do I have to do everything myself?" she yelled as the men apologized over and over, then just as quickly as it had started, she stopped and turned her attention back to Syaoran.

"If it's me you want then just let the others go." said Syaoran. "Oh no, if you want those three back, you're gonna have to fight me for them, of course that is, if you think you can handle it." said Primera as she jumped over the railing around the top deck, landing gracefully on the roof of the deck below her. "She said three, that means that Kyoya is in there too." thought Syaoran in relief. Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fye all stared up at her not believing a word she was saying. "Is that a joke?" asked Syaoran.

"Well, she can't be serious. I mean look at her, she's a little girl." said Kurogane.

"Let me take care of this Syaoran." said Fye as he stepped in front of Syaoran.

"Are you sure Fye?"

"Don't worry, I won't be alone. I'll have the help of my kudan." said Fye. A bright light suddenly appeared behind Fye before turning into his kudan, which was huge. It was a bird that had the neck of a swan, the body of a duck, the face and wings of an eagle, and two long ribbon-like feathers that were attached to its tail feathers. Its feathers looked white but at times they also looked green as well. Its beak was gold as well as the trim around its eyes and it had a green gem in the center of its forehead. "That's yours!" gasped Syaoran.

"Well, I was wondering when he'd get a pet of his own." said Kurogane. Fye looked up Primera and boldly stated, "So, shall we start?" With that Fye kudan raised its head and spread its wings to their full length and let out a tremendous roar; ready to go into battle. The kudan then changed into a glowing ball of energy and dissolved into Fye chest. Suddenly Fye glowed a light green color before he rose into the air to battle Primera face to face. Fye shut his eyes and, for a few seconds, just let himself enjoy the wind blowing through his hair before rising even higher. "Wait there. I'll be right back." he said to Syaoran and Kurogane on the ground.

"He's flying." said a stunned Syaoran. "Looks like just about anything can happen, with these kudan." said Kurogane from behind Syaoran.

"Hey, no fair!" shouted Primera as Fye floated a few feet from her. "You can fly! Even I can't do that. Oh well, I bet you can't do this." She stuck her hand out in the air and said, "My kudan super sound check and show time." As she said this a pink ball of energy emitted from her hand leaving in its place a single mic with a bullhorn on the front. "Now, presenting, the sensational Primera with her new hit single…Dance of the Blonde Boy!" The last part of her speech she yelled/sung into the mic and pastel color music notes flew out of the bullhorn. Fye's eyes widened and he was completely taken by surprise. The notes reached him and exploded on impact. "Fye!" yelled Syaoran from down on the ground. The smoke from the explosion slowly drifted away but Fye was not there. He had moved at the last minute so that he didn't get the full blast. "Well, you did surprise me." he said as green lines quickly circled him which everyone assumed were healing any wounds he might have gotten from the blast. "I've never seen a move like that. It seems just the sort of attack that Mokona would enjoy." At that moment he heard Mokona cheering, "Go Fye! Mokona likes." and Masayoshi shouting a warning, "Be careful Fye! Primera has a very high-ranking kudan. You could get hurt!"

"You dodged? No fair." said Primera as she stomped her foot. "All right… LET'S SEE YOU SURVIVE…MY NEXT BIG HIT!" she yelled into the mic and more pastel note flew toward Fye but he gracefully dodged each one, and the more he dodged the more frustrated Primera became. "DON'T FLY AWAY! Can't I Just Prove. THAT'S IT FLY BOY, THE EXTENDED LP!" she yelled. After a few minutes of this yelling/singing and dodging, Primera stopped and Fye came to land on the roof of the balcony that was below her. "I don't get it, why aren't they hitting you?" asked a frustrated Primera.

"Well, that's simple, if I let them hit me it might hurt." said Fye.

Back down on the ground Kurogane said, "He acts so spineless all the time but he seems use to fighting."

"He does doesn't he." simply replied Syaoran.

"You don't seem very surprised."

"Well I can tell by watching the way he moves, can't you? He's not the type to go bragging, but I'd say he's seen his far share of battles."

A smile grew across Kurogane's face and Syaoran actually thought that it was a genuine smile. It was like that smile said that Kurogane was going to help them find the feathers; it was his agreement. "Well, I guess your smarter then you look kid." Their attention was then drawn back up in the sky as they heard Primera say, "You're good fly boy. I'll need some more power." Fye's eyes widened as he prepared himself for what could happen once she got that extra power. "My kudan super sound check two." said Primera before she threw her hand that was holding the mic into the air. The mic glowed pink before it disappeared and reappeared as full mic stand with a small amplification device on the front. She brought it up to her mouth while saying, "Mic Stand." Kurogane, Fye, Syaoran thought it was weird that she kept calling out the names of her kudan. "But then again she is a little girl. Maybe she thinks that it makes her appear tougher." they all thought. Primera took a big breath before she yelled into the mic but no one could really understand what she was saying because the mic had some sort of built in reverb that jumbled all her words together. As she yelled a pink treble clef two and a half times bigger then Fye appeared in front of Primera. She moved her mic stand right behind the treble clef and seems to hit it towards Fye while saying the only words anyone could understand, "To fantastic to resist." Fye's eyes widened, he was unsure whether he'd be able to dodge this one, but as soon as he thought that the treble clef collided with him. On the ground Syaoran gasped, "Oh no!" Around him pink chunks of the kudan treble clef fell to the ground and disappeared, but he didn't notice any of this as his eyes were concentrated on the disappearing smoke cluster in the sky. When the smoke finally did clear Fye was nowhere to be seen. "Where did he go?" asked Syaoran in a mild frantic tone.

"Over here guys." Syaoran and Kurogane turned around and saw Fye standing on a tree branch patting his arm. "It looks like he got hurt in that last attack." thought Syaoran as he opened his mouth to ask if he was injured, but Fye spook first. "But never mind me. How's Mokona reacting to all this?" They looked back up at Mokona and saw that he was swing back and forth and singing his happy song. "No change." said Syaoran. "Nope, still singing that same dumb song." affirmed Kurogane. "Primera fought with her kudan the entire time. If Mokona didn't react at all then…" said Fye.

"The search goes on." concluded Syaoran. "Primera's kudan must not be the one with Sakura's feather."

~ Meanwhile, back inside the Castle ~

Kyoya found the darkness that surrounded him to be very relaxing but at the same time unnerving and he couldn't tell whether he wanted to stay there or not. He had just decided to stay there for a little while when he suddenly become very aware of explosions going off some where. It was these explosions that brought him out of the darkness and he opened his eyes. He was laying on the floor of the top room of the castle. He moved his head to get a better look at what was going on but winced as a flash of pain went through his head. He reached a hand up and felt a large, painful bump on the back of his head. "What happened? The last thing I remember is standing in front of a girl and demanding to have my friends back then nothing. I guess another guy came into the room and really whaled on me. But I would have heard them come in the room; this floor wasn't exactly made to sneak around on. Then It must have been one of the three guys that where in here with the girl, but I made them all unconscious so how did…wait a minute. I didn't knock out the first guy I just knocked the air out of him." All of this went through his head in a few seconds as he slowly raised himself into a sitting position. He looked around the room and noticed that the three guys were gone as was the girl. Suddenly a voice from outside caught his attention. "What are you guys chit chatting so much about? Are you ready to give up?" He slowly crawled to the door leading out onto the balcony and saw the girl that he had confronted earlier, but now she was holding a mic stand. "Why does she have wings on her back?" thought Kyoya completely dismissing everything else about her. He then heard a voice, which seemed to be coming from the base of the castle. "If I do conceed misteress, then what exactly happens next." Kyoya eyes grew wide as he realized that it was Fye who was speaking.

"Well, isn't that obvious. I'll move on to fighting Syaoran." said Primera. Kyoya broke into a smile knowing that Syaoran was on the foot of the castle with Fye and most likely Kurogane.

"I'm afraid that's a bit of a problem. You see, Syaoran's in the middle of an important hunt rght now and I can't let you get in his way." said Fye.

"Well, then, I can't let you live." replied Primera. Kyoya's heart skipped a beat at that statement, but then he thought, "She a little girl what can she possibly do to Fye that will hurt him. I mean is she going to smile him to death." He heard her take a deep breath and then yell into her mic stand. The words echoed so that no could hear the words except for "THAT'S IT FLY BOY!" and "THE ULTIMATE REMIX! OH YEAH!" Kyoya's eyes nearly poped out of their sockets when he say the long, fat line of pink light eminating from the mic stand and he wasn't the only one. On the ground Syaoran and Kurogane's eyes grew big and were shining with worry and awe. Kyoya then saw Fye fly up and land on the pink strip, running straight for Primera. "What's Fye doing flying? What's going on? How can this little girl do that?" Kyoya thought completely stunned. Kyoya then saw Fye leap into the air and land on top of Primera who had fallen onto her back. Fye reached over and brushed her hair from her eyes and said, "I'd hate to hurt such a cute girl, can't we just stop this fighting. What do ya say?" Primera's eyes grew extremely wide at the closeness between her and cheeks had a light reed tint to them. She opened and closed her mouth a few times stuttering over her words before she suddenly screamed, "I'M SO EMBARASSED!" A few music notes appeared and exploded at the top of the castle causing Masayoshi and Mokona break free from where they were hanging and start plummeting to the ground. Everyone watched in horror as they fell; Masayoshi screaming bloody murder and Mokona half screaming half laughing. "They'll be killed!" yelled Syaoran and Kyoya was now standing on his feet and leaning over the balcony wishing that there was something that he could do to help them. They all watch as Masayoshi's kudan appeared and grabbed hold of him, trying to protect him in any way that it could. Suddenly a very familiar blue mantaray kudan appeared under them and stopped their deadly fall. "What's this?" asked Masayoshi when he finally had opened his eyes.

"Primera, stop it." said a new voice. Everyone turned toward the voice and were not to surprised to see Shogo concidering that they had recognized his kudan the moment it appeared. "Enough's enough."

"Shogo you're back!" shouted Primera. Shogo's kudan glidded over roof of the balcony below Primera and it's passengers carefully and, in Masayoshi's case, shakingly got off. "You're amazing. Thank you Shogo." said Masayoshi as Mokona's eyes suddenly grew wide signaling that he sensed the feather once again. Kyoya let out a sigh of relief that Shogo had got here when he did or else it could have been a very messy ending. "Oh, Kyoya, there you are." Kyoya turned his head, wincing a bit as he did so, and say that Fye had finally noticed him. Fye floated up to the balcony and walked over to Kyoya. "We were worried that you might have let go of Masayoshi's legs. Are you hurt anywhere?" asked Fye, who had seen Kyoya's slight wince. "No, but my head kind of hurts cause someone took a wood plank and decided that my head was the perfect target." Fye smiled as he reached up to take a look at it. Kyoya winced and pulled away when he touched it. "Well, it doesn't look to bad, just a nasty bump. You'll most likely be fine by tomorrow. Now let's go back down and rejoin your brother and Kuro-pu." With that Fye reached his arm around Kyoya's waist and Kyoya, realizing what was about to happen, wrapped his arms around Fye's torso, just as Fye lept off the balcony and glidded back down to the ground. As they made their way down they could hear Shogo and Primera talking. "What do you think you're doing here Primera. Don't you have a concert to perform?" asked Shogo.

"I'm the one who should be asking questions. Where have you been?" demanded Primera. "I haven't seen you all day and as for the concert, please I still have plenty of time. It's two minute away right there in Hanshin Dome." Primera pointed off to her right at a large dome like structure. "Look I saw you yesterday." she continued. "What did you think you were doing with your arm around that other girl? Would you rather spend time with her than me?" Everyone listened in silence, that is until Kurogane asked, "What are they fighting about?"

"Who knows." replied Syaoran.

"I have a guess." said Fye as he and Kyoya made a soft landing behind Syaoran and Kurogane. Syaoran turned towards Fye ready to ask him what his guess was and that's when he saw Kyoya. Syaoran's eyes filled with relief and worry as he quickly made his way over to his brother. "Kyoya." he said as he place both hands on Kyoya's shoulders. "Are you alright? Do you hurt anywhere?" Kyoya looked into his brother eyes extremely glad to be with him once again. "Yeah, I'm fine Syao. I have a large bump on the head but Fye says it's nothing to worry about and that it will most likely be gone by tomorrow."

"That's good." said Syaoran with a smile on his face. He kept his hands on Kyoya's shoulders for a few more seconds as if to remind himself that his brother was standing before him relatively unhurt. Soon their attention drawn back to Shogo and Primera's conversation and Syaoran let go of Kyoya's shoulders and stood beside him.

"Between school and helping out at home I'm really busy right now and I do have a job to in case you have forgotten." said Shogo holding up his work apron as proof.

"But I'm lonely without you." cried Primera and pointed down to Masayoshi. "So that's why I wanted to beat up that Syaoran guy so you can spend time with me instead of fighting him with your stupid gang. But it all got messed up."

"Yeah…you do know that's not Syaoran right."

"Yeeaahh." cried Primera who was now sitting on the rooftop rubbing the tears from her eyes. Suddenly Mokona yelled excitedly down to Syaoran, his eyes wide open. "Syaoran! Syaoran!"

"Hey your eyes! Is it the feather?" shouted Syaoran as he moved quickly to the front of the group, Kyoya following close behind eyes wide as well, anxious to hear what Mokona had to say.

"It's here." chirped Mokona. "The feather's very close now."

"Are you sure? Do you know who has it?" asked Syaoran.

"Nope, but a minute ago I felt it really strongly. It's close, close, close."

"So it has been absorbed by someone's kudan then." said Fye.

"I guess so." stated Kurogane. "Now explain again why it'd be strong one minute and then weak the next."

"Sorata said a kudan protects the person it's attached to. It acts as sort of a guardian for them, a shield." explained Syaoran.

"For example, Masayoshi's little kudan appeared when he was blasted from the roof. Masayoshi was falling to his death so his kudan, sensing that, appeared to do what ever he could, which would be very much, to save Masayoshi." elaborated Kyoya.

"Right." said Syaoran with a small smile before continuing. "So a kudan would be at its strongest when its called upon to protect a person from danger."

"Therefore, to see if someone has the feather we're going to have to fight them." said Fye.

"Shogo!" shouted Primera from on the roof. Shogo rolled his eyes and sighed has he lifted his hand and waved up at her. "I've missed up." tearily shouted Primera.

"Yeah babe, I've missed you too." said Shogo. Kyoya had to bit back a small laugh when he heard the exasperated tone in Shogo's voice. "Well," lightly chuckled Fye. "Seems those two are on the road to recovery."

"If they keep on like that I think I'm gonna throw up."

"Me too." said Kyoya. "Either that or die laughing. I mean just get a look at Shogo's face. It's hilarious" he thought. Kyoya once again looked over at Shogo, but had to look away to keep from laughing when he saw his looking exasperation, embarrassment, and trying to keep his cool persona. Syaoran's reaction to the conversation was completely opposite of his brother's. He began to think about Sakura and how she had asked him to hold her hand when she was sick so she could get to sleep. He so badly wanted Sakura to wake up from her deep, dreamless sleep and tell him how much she missed him while she gave him one of her wonderful, shining smiles. But he knew that she would never again say those words with such deep meaning. Sure they would develop another wonderful relationship while on this journey, but she would never remember how they met or the many memories they shared together before this journey; memories that were his most precious treasure. He shook his head, clearing his mind to concentrate on getting Sakura's memory back. He called out to Shogo and explained their quest to him.

"A feather?" repeated Shogo.

"Yeah, that's right." continued Syaoran. "It sounds strange but we think your kudan may have absorbed one of these memory fragments we've been looking for."

"Interesting. But how'd I know if it had." Shogo stared at Syaoran across the ditch that separated them. "Something tells me I'm about to get that little rematch I was hoping for. Back on the bridge, when I said you were a worthy opponant, I was serious kid. It's obvious that you're strong and I'm not talkin' physical strong, I'm talkin' in here." he said pointing to his chest. "A rare trait and that's the real reason I want to fight you Syaoran…with kudan of course." With that he threw down the work apron he was still holding and his water kudan appeared at his side ready to do battle. Syaoran, who had remained silent throughout the whole speech, in fact he had barely moved a muscle, stared back at Shogo with a hard, determined gaze. He suddenly began to glow red; as if his whole body was on fire, or he was ready to explode from anger, at least that's want Kyoya thought. "I understand." said Syaoran as his fire kudan appeared at his side also ready for battle. "I accept your challenge. Let's fight." Everyone tensed when they heard him quietly say those words. Fye and Kurogane moved back a ways from Syaoran to give him the fighting room he needed but Kyoya clentched his fists, stood straighter and went to stand to the side and slightly behind his brother. He didn't have a kudan tp fight with but he wasn't about to let his brother fight alone. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder pulling back. He looked up and saw Fye smiling down at him. Kyoya opened his mouth to protest as Fye dragged him back to where he and Kurogane were standing, but Fye cut him off. "Let's let Syaoran fight this one. We'll help on the next one."

"Besides." interjected Kurogane. "What could you do? This is a fight with kudan and you don't have one, so how could you have possibly give Syaoran any help." Kyoya glared at him. "Oh sure, just rub it in. I don't have a kudan and guess what, I like it that way and I to could have helped. I could have given him encouragement or suggestions on how to beat Shogo. So there Mr. I-Have-A-Dragon-Kudan-And-A-Huge-Ass-Dragon-Sword-That-Can-Defeat-Anything-That-Stands-In-Its-Way…" His silent ranting died away as he watch Shogo and Syaoran stare each other down, neither blinking. The fight that everyone had been waiting for since that first day on the bridge was about to begin