Well, here we go!

Enjoy!


Two weeks before Sakura's thirteenth birthday, Touya woke from one of his light midday naps with an inarticulate cry.

Yukito, who had been quietly reading across the cell, bolted to his side. "Touya!"

Touya's body was covered with sweat and his eyes were almost comically wide. He turned to Yukito with an almost feral expression. "Yuki...we're too late!"

"Too late for what?" Yukito asked.

"The queen!" Touya leaped from the bed and rushed to the glass that bound them within the cell. For the first time in almost five years, he touched the glass. But it was not a delicate touch – Touya pounded on it.

Yukito rose to follow him, Yue stirring within as he had not for the last two years. "What about her?"

But Touya did not answer Yukito. Instead, he pounded on the glass again; furious that the power held unless he withdrew his own from those it had protected so long. Protected maybe in vain.

"Sakura!"

-==OOO==-

"Sakura."

Sakura looked up from where she had been washing vegetables in a tub of cold water. She had stopped flinching at the head housekeeper a few years before, but that did not prevent the trickle of cold apprehension she felt at the woman's appearance in the lower kitchen. This was not a woman Sakura remembered from the old days – this was someone Queen Madoushi had hired to 'maintain discipline,' and she reveled in that assignment.

Sakura straightened up properly. "Yes, ma'am?"

"The Queen has asked to see you." The housekeeper's voice was icy.

Behind Sakura, the young cook who had taken Sakura under her wing rose from her own duties and faced the ranking servant. "Her Majesty asked for Sakura?"

"Yes. She was quite specific. Sakura is to attend her in her private rooms at once."

Sakura's heart began to pound. "I...understand, ma'am."

"I will escort you there myself." As the servant waited, Sakura quickly dried her hands on her apron and pulled it off, pausing just long enough to hang it on its hook by the fire. But the young cook grabbed her arm as she went by.

"I'll tell the boy," she whispered, grateful that it was the noon hour and therefore all but themselves were eating their own meal; there were no other servants to overhear or gossip.

Sakura's shakes eased a bit with relief. Everyone knew Syaoran was Sakura's friend and sometimes protector. And Syaoran would trust the cook's words. If there were real danger, Sakura knew he would come for her.

"Don't dawdle! Impudent girl!" The housekeeper huffed.

Sakura sped to her side obediently, keeping her head down and hoping to avoid a blow. The young cook winced in sympathy. Even after so long, Sakura was still a favorite target for the worst jobs sometimes, and few seemed to dislike her as much as the housekeeper. The cook had never understood it – how could anyone dislike sunny, helpful, kind Sakura?

The very instant the pair of them were out of the kitchen, the cook dashed outside. She knew that Syaoran never ate with the other boys, preferring to be outdoors alone. Most days as soon as Sakura finished her own tasks the cook sent her to join him for lunch so the pair could get away from the other servants for a time.

Indeed, the boy sat with his back against the sun-warmed wall of the kitchen garden, a piece of bread in his hands but more at his side where she knew he was saving it for Sakura who was fed last and therefore usually least.

She had barely crossed the distance between them when Syaoran was on his feet. "What's happened?"

The cook took a deep breath and hoped she would not be dismissed for this impudence. "The housekeeper came with orders from the Queen. Her Majesty has called Sakura to her private chambers."

Syaoran's face went pale for an instant, then dark with a determined scowl. "I understand." He strode forward, actually catching the cook by the arm and half-dragging her back to the kitchen.

His amber-brown eyes held the cook with a force she could scarcely believe from this boy who spoke to no one and seemed to care for nothing other than standing near to Sakura. "Can you do one other task for her? One other thing that will help her?"

"I...ye-yes, I suppose," the cook answered.

"Go and tell her father what you have told me. That will be enough." And he abruptly dropped her arm and turned away towards the servants' stairs that would carry him up into the castle.

The cook called breathlessly after him, "Is Sakura going to be okay?" She could not imagine what the girl could have done to warrant such a summons, but her heart trembled for Sakura.

"Yes," Syaoran's voice floated down to her. "I will protect her no matter what."

-==OOO==-

Sakura's nervousness made her clumsy, so by the time she and the housekeeper reached the grand doors to the Queen's own chambers, the housekeeper was hauling her painfully by an arm. But the woman never slowed nor seemed to care for the tightness of her grip.

"My Queen," the housekeeper rapped smartly on the door. "I have the child as you wished."

"Very good," came the musical, imperious voice. "Send her in and leave us."

The housekeeper pulled the door open slightly. "Be respectful to the Queen or you will be sorry," she whispered to Sakura before shoving her forward and shutting the door behind her.

Sakura was frightened and startled, but she managed to keep from losing her balance or crying out at the shove. She stumbled into the room before righting herself, clasping her hands together tightly to keep them from shaking.

Sakura had only been in this part of the castle once or twice, and never when Madoushi was present. The rooms had once been used for something quite different, though Sakura no longer remembered what. They were big, lofty chambers with rich hangings and carpets and fine furniture everywhere. In fact, the rooms were so colorful and so beautifully appointed, it took Sakura several moments of blinking before she spotted Madoushi lounging in a low, heavy seat beside the window.

Sakura quickly made a deep bow. "Excuse me, your Majesty." She kept her head down and focused on maintaining her control over her voice. "You asked to see me?"

"Yes, I did."

Sakura did not dare look up, but she fancied she could sense the queen rising and drawing near to her. She held still and listened to her heart pounding in her ears.

"Did you know that one of my many gifts is that of fortune-telling?" Madoushi asked.

Sakura swallowed against a dry throat before answering, "Yes, your Majesty."

"And did you know that of late there has been something very disturbing in my visions?"

"No, your Majesty."

"Can you guess what it is?"

"I can't, your Majesty."

Cold, smooth fingers tipped with sharp nails caught Sakura's chin and forced her head up unexpectedly. Sakura could not stop the tiny, surprised noise of pain Madoushi drew from her when she held Sakura's chin in a grip that bruised and lifted it so high Sakura could barely keep her balance on her toes.

"It is a vision of magic. Forbidden, illegal magic. Not like that stubborn boy who rots in my dungeon, but far more dangerous. Now, tell me, child. What do you know of such magic?"

Sakura thought of Syaoran and her heart stuttered with fear. "No-nothing, your Majesty! Magic is forbidden!"

"Of course it is forbidden, you little pretender!" Madoushi leaned close to Sakura's face. "You are lying to me, and I won't have it! I have seen your very face in my visions this day and I demand an explanation! Now, tell me what you know of this magic here in the castle!"

The angle of Sakura's chin in Madoushi's hand was truly starting to hurt her neck and she was losing her balance, making every part of her hurt even more. "Please...I don't…"

"You dare?"

Abruptly, Madoushi flung Sakura aside, hard enough for her to crash into a table and tip it over on top of herself. Sakura got to her hands and knees and crawled out from beneath it.

"You dare defy me? I, who am your Queen?"

Sakura didn't have an answer, so she didn't make one, instead looking down at the carpet and thinking painfully of her mother.

"If you will defy me, you will regret it!" Madoushi raised her arms and shadows poured from beneath her robes. The shadows crawled across the floor towards Sakura's helpless body. "You will tell me what I wish to know!"

Sakura could only watch as the shadows lunged at her – and were stopped.

"What is this?" Madoushi's voice became a screech.

For the shadows could draw close to Sakura, but they could not reach her. She was shielded by a thin, golden light that hung like a nimbus around her.

Sakura could feel the Key against her heart grow warm. As the shadows continued to pound against the magic that protected her, the Key itself began to float.

"You! You have concealed magic from me in my own castle!"

Sakura climbed to her feet, her spirits buoyed by the warmth and security of the magic around her. The Key emerged from beneath Sakura's dress and hovered before her, as if it were protecting her and not the other way around.

Madoushi's eyes burned with a strange, eerie light as her rage surpassed even her corporeal form. "That is Clow's magic! It feels of him! How did you come by it?"

Sakura closed her hands on the Key and drew it to her chest. She could not and would not answer that question, and she was too afraid to do anything else.

Against the relentless efforts of Madoushi's shadows, the glow around Sakura began to wane.

"I will kill you and take Clow's magic from you and as you die you will tell me what I want to know!" Madoushi shrieked, her hair flying wildly as a wind began to pick up in the room.

But that wind was not only Madoushi's.

"Fuuka Shourai!"

The doors to the room exploded open before a torrent of wind. Syaoran, sword extended, charged forward, using the blast of wind to fling Madoushi to one side while he raced to Sakura.

"Syaoran!" she cried, not moving from the protective light that held her.

Syaoran planted himself between her and Madoushi. "Are you hurt?" he called over his shoulder without ever taking his eyes off the queen.

"No, I'm okay."

Madoushi collected herself and gestured with a hand; what remained of Syaoran's cyclone was flung out a window into the sky. "Pitiful elemental tricks," she faced him. "You dare to think you can protect this girl from me?"

"I will protect her," Syaoran said. He drew a new ofuda and brandished his blade. "Raitei Shourai!"

The cyclone Syaoran had summoned had been powerful, but his truest elemental affiliation had always been lightning.

As a thunderbolt crashed from his blade into Madoushi with the force of a mountain falling into the sea, Syaoran turned away from his enemy and faced Sakura.

"Do you trust me?"

Sakura never doubted her answer. "Yes, always."

Syaoran gave her a sharp nod and reached forward. The light that had held back Madoushi's shadows parted for Syaoran and he pulled Sakura against his chest and held her tightly with one arm, shifting his grip on his sword in his other hand.

"Hold on." He had another ofuda ready and flung it at the floor before their feet. "Suiryuu Shourai!"

A fountain of water sprang from the ofuda and lifted them into the air. It gushed out the broken window and bore them to the ground below, cradling their fall.

But above, Madoushi had begun to laugh.

-==OOO==-

Kinomoto Fujitaka had never run so fast in his life. But for all he tore through the castle as though pursued by wolves, no one, not a guard, servant, or one of the many nobles who lounged around Madoushi hoping for favor seemed to notice him. In fact, he reached the guarded door to the dungeon and found the soldier on duty pointedly looking straight at him, but not so much as flinching as he raced by.

Fujitaka knew the help came from Touya, which signified that his urgent news would not be a surprise to his powerful son. That was even more frightening – if Touya had bent his power to serve his father, it meant he no longer needed to use it to conceal the other two.

"Touya!" he cried as he sped down the corridor between cells. "It's Sakura!"

"I know," Touya called back even before Fujitaka had reached him. "I know."

Fujitaka brought himself to a halt outside the prison that had contained his son and Yukito together for so long. Touya had both fists against the glass and leaned his forehead on it, too, his head downcast.

"The queen knows that Sakura has magic," Touya said, and his voice was ragged. "But Sakura and that kid aren't strong enough to fight her yet!"

"And what about you, my son?" Fujitaka asked. "Can you stand against her?"

Touya raised his head only to shake it. "No. I might be able to slow her down, but that's all."

"What's going to happen to Sakura, then?" Yukito asked from where he hovered at Touya's side.

"If we can't think of a way to help her, Madoushi will kill her before that kid can get her out of range." With agonized sorrow, "And I'm not enough to make a difference."

Fujitaka drew himself up. "There must be a way. Nadeshiko put her trust in us. Between one of us, we must find an answer." He looked to Yukito. "Does Yue have any suggestions?"

Yukito raised his eyebrows in surprise that he should mention Yue's name so casually, but then, perhaps it no longer mattered. Touya, however, lit up with a new energy.

"Yue! That's it!"

Touya spun and gripped Yukito by the shoulders. "Yue and that kid together might have the power to fight Madoushi long enough for us to escape. That kid's got Clow's blood somewhere in him and he's gotten stronger in the last few years. It might be enough!"

"But Yue is powerless!" Yukito felt his own other half rising in his mind. "He barely has the strength left to survive as it is!"

"Then I'll give him mine."

"Touya!" Fujitaka reached to touch the glass. "You can't!"

"Yes, I can," Touya said, never looking away from Yukito's eyes. "Yue can use all of my power as long as he promises to help Sakura with it."

Yukito opened his mouth to refuse, but in his mind Yue was growing brighter and brighter. And Yue could see what Yukito could not – that Touya's strength really was great enough to sustain the Guardian's true form, at least for some time. Yue also knew that he could take Touya's power without harming the boy, that he would lean on it as he had the moon in the time of Clow Reed. Yue's strength had always come by reflecting the strength of another.

Kinomoto Touya was not Yue's master, but Yue could borrow his magic for now.

Touya leaned closer to Yukito. "Tell Yue I'll give him everything if he promises to help protect Sakura and fight Madoushi. Then he can return to his true form and finally be of some use."

Yukito felt the scowl from Yue at that, but far more powerful was his ringing agreement. He met Touya's eyes with a steadiness he did not feel. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! Just make certain Yue swears to help Sakura and keep himself from getting killed or it will all be for nothing!"

Yukito and Yue were both surprised at that, but Yue gave his acceptance and Yukito nodded. "We agree."

Touya pulled Yukito completely into his arms and closed his eyes. His magic, which had grown only deeper and stronger in the years of his confinement, began to spin out of him like steam from a boiling pot. Because he no longer needed to conceal Sakura and Syaoran from Madoushi, nor lend a certain forgettable invisibility to them and his father, the sheer amount of power at his command surprised even Touya.

Even so, it was not enough for him to claim himself to be Clow Reed's inheritor, and that was almost a comfort as much as it was also a torment. For so long, he had believed he had done the right thing by allowing himself to be locked away and the Kingdom of Clow to suffer. If he had learned now, after so much pain, that he should have broken the Seal on the Key long ago, the guilt may have destroyed the very heart of his power.

But Touya's heart was strong and so was his conviction. And so his magic wrapped around Yukito and fed him and that which lived on the other side of Yukito's mind.

A golden circle appeared below Yukito's feet as Touya's magic left him. He stumbled backwards to lean on the glass of his prison – glass that no longer felt as though it hummed. Touya's heart clenched at a new absence; with no more magic, he could no longer tell if Sakura was safe.

Snow-white wings sprang from Yukito's back and the familiar eyes closed when the false form was wrapped in feathers that seemed to go on forever. When they parted, the tall, implacable gaze of Yue was as keen as it had ever been.

"Thank you," Yue said.

Touya nodded. "Now get us out of here so we can help Sakura!"

Yue's face twisted with a slightly predatory smile. "Gladly."

He raised a hand and Touya moved away from the glass. On the other side, Fujitaka also darted away. Light the color of a silvery full moon burned at Yue's fingertips.

"No power but Clow's will can bind me."

And the glass shattered.

"Hurry!" Fujitaka called, snagging Touya's arm and dragging his son when Touya stumbled slightly. He was not hurt by the transfer, but he was weakened and a little disoriented.

Yue's wings spread and he took to the air even in the low dungeon. "Follow me."

The three raced ahead, hoping they would not be too late.

-==OOO==-

Even as Syaoran and Sakura landed in the garden beneath Madoushi's window, a call of alarm was ringing throughout the castle, guards converging on the perceived threat to their Queen. Syaoran was still untangling himself and Sakura from the bush in which his waterspout had deposited them when the first guards arrived.

"I want those two brought to me!" Madoushi's voice thundered in the air.

Armored hands stretched from all directions to seize the pair. As Sakura was dragged from Syaoran, she cried out with fear.

That cry cut through Syaoran's mind and went straight to his heart.

"Let her go!"

Though several soldiers were trying to pin Syaoran to the bush, he managed to get a hand into his pocket to produce several more ofuda. These he flung at the guards as his magic rose up in him, and the ofuda attached themselves to the suits of armor surrounding him. At Syaoran's will, the ofuda began to glow, and the men inside the armor found themselves unable to move.

Syaoran tore out of the bush, his sword in his hand, to pursue those who had already pulled Sakura away.

Sakura was fighting in the grip of the soldier who was pinning her arms to her sides, but she was no match for his strength. Watching Syaoran battle and struggle filled her heart with fear and worry and a despairing sort of helplessness. She couldn't fight and she didn't have enough magic to help. Sakura's spirit ached at the unfairness of it, at the years of pain and worry her family and Syaoran had endured all to protect her, and there was nothing she could do to help them now. A tear slipped down her cheek.

Syaoran saw the tear but misunderstood its source; he felt a rage burn in him that went all the way back to that first bruise on Sakura's cheek. For years, he had not been able to spare her harm at the hands of the others in the castle because he dared not call attention to either of them. But he would not allow her to be hurt now.

Syaoran charged and slashed with his sword. The soldier holding Sakura caught the blow on his armored forearm, but the strike was so jarring and painful, he was forced to release his grip and stumble backwards. Sakura tumbled to the ground.

Syaoran's voice had never been so low and dangerous as he said through grit teeth, "Anything that touches her is forfeit. Place a hand on her again and you will lose it."

The very air hummed with his fury reflected in his magic.

Other soldiers were gathering, but at the storm of power clearly swirling around the enraged young man, they kept their distance.

"Fools and cowards!" Madoushi stepped into the air out her broken window and descended to the ground with easy steps. "If you are of no use to me, be gone!"

One of her robed arms lashed out and a wave of power broke over the garden. Syaoran, and Sakura in his wake, were spared, but the other guards fell where they had stood and did not rise.

Sakura climbed shakily to her feet behind Syaoran.

"I tire of this," Madoushi said, advancing on them. "You will both surrender your powers to me. And you will give me what you carry that once belonged to Clow Reed."

Sakura closed her hands around the Key and felt something warm inside her bloom. She looked up at the being who had killed her mother and terrorized her for years without fear for the very first time. "I made a promise to protect the Key from you. Even if I don't have the magic to fight you, I won't give up."

Syaoran's eyes never left Madoushi, but he turned his head enough to smile a bit at her and nod encouragingly. "I made a promise, too. Between the two of us, I'm sure we can do something about this."

His trust in her fragile courage made the warmth in Sakura's chest grow. She had spent so long so keenly aware of everything she could not do, such as use great magic as her mother had, or find a way to escape as her father had tried, or protect the people she loved as Touya had, or grow so much in strength like Syaoran. It was a wonder to believe for the first time that, perhaps, there was more she could do than repay all those kindnesses with a smile.

But their defiance only further provoked Madoushi. "All you can do is submit!"

Suddenly, the torrent of water that had dispersed into the garden after Syaoran had summoned it reformed, joining with that from the fountain nearby. It rose at Madoushi's whim, swirling through the air and circling menacingly. Syaoran stepped a bit closer to Sakura and tightened his grip on his sword.

"You dared to use my own element against me?" Madoushi sneered. "All water is under my jurisdiction, my control! Arrogant child!"

Madoushi gestured and the water swept down over Syaoran. It lifted into the air like a drop of rain frozen in time, but it swirled viciously and Syaoran tumbled helplessly within it.

Sakura had been flung out of danger at the last instant, though even she could not be sure if it was Syaoran or his magic or the Key itself that had saved her from joining him. She looked up to where Syaoran was visible inside the prison of water, his face turning color as he held his breath, his body spinning and flailing.

"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Sakura cried. She tried to race to the torrent holding Syaoran, but Madoushi drew it out of reach.

"Give me that which was Clow's or he dies!"

Sakura tightened her grasp on the Key. "I can't!"

The Key was still warm against her skin, almost hot now, and it seemed to be vibrating. Surprised, she opened her fingers and looked down to it. The Key hovered in the cradle of her hands, spinning lazily. The eyes of the swan that was the Key seemed to blink at her.

"The Key which hides the powers of the Dark."

The words which had sprung unbidden to Sakura surprised her as much as Madoushi.

"Clow," the Queen whispered. "That was Clow's own spell…"

Sakura stared at the merrily-glowing Key. "Please," she told it. "I don't have much magic, but please give me the strength to save Syaoran."

She looked up again and saw that his face had grown slack within the sphere of water. Sakura's own heart surged with fear and a tear rolled down her cheek and dripped onto the Key.

The Key went brilliant with light.

And the water that had gathered around Syaoran abruptly left him, swirling to catch Madoushi instead.

Sakura forgot about the Key hanging around her neck or the strange spell and ran for Syaoran. "Syaoran! Please wake up!"

As soon as Sakura's hands reached him, his cold skin grew warm. He sat up, coughing and gasping for air. Sakura caught him and held him upright while he tried to regain control of his breathing.

"You…" he managed after a few desperate gulps of air, "you reflected the magic back at her."

"Somehow," Sakura said. "I don't know how."

Syaoran looked into her eyes and smiled at what he saw there – at what he had always hoped he would find there, or that she would find in herself. "I knew you could do it."

Across from them, Madoushi shrieked lividly as her own water coiled around her. "You! I will never forgive you for this! How dare you?!"

"What do we do now?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran looked at her, really looked, and made a decision. "We're not ready to fight her yet. And she'll do anything to get that Key. We've got to protect it, no matter what."

"Right. So are we going to try to run away?"

Syaoran shook his head. He pulled a foot underneath him and pushed to his feet, Sakura rising with him. "Not us. Just you."

"Syaoran…" But Sakura couldn't think of anything to say after that when Syaoran's eyes met hers so frankly, so intently.

"Trust me."

"Yes, but…"

"Be safe. I will come for you, Sakura."

It was the first time Syaoran had ever spoken her name aloud to her. Sakura's heart gave a weird thump at the sound. It gave another at the look in his eyes when he said it, at something she understood but could not quite dare to name in the person who had been at her side for so long.

So caught up with these feelings was Sakura, she didn't notice Syaoran carefully tuck a handful of his ofuda beneath the ribbon around her waist; it was worn and tattered and spotted with stains, but it had been a gift from him a year before and had always made her feel safe, just as his handkerchiefs tucked in her pocket had.

Syaoran never looked away from Sakura's eyes even as he lifted his sword between them.

Sakura realized what he intended and she made to clutch his hands. "Syaoran, don't!"

He smiled at her with such warmth and trust and something else as he invoked the spell with all his heart lifting up his power as never before. "Fuuka Shourai."

The gust of wind drew Sakura into its arms and she felt herself torn from Syaoran.

"Syaoran!"

"I will come for you, Sakura," he repeated, still feeding the spell with his feelings.

"Syaoran!"

And the bespelled wind shot from the castle gardens out over the land as far as Syaoran's power could carry it, Sakura wrapped protectively in its embrace. Syaoran watched her vanish into the sky, his ears ringing with her last cry of his name. Only when she was beyond even his ability to sense, and hopefully therefore beyond Madoushi's ability to find her quickly, did he finally turn away.

Madoushi was just breaking out of the water reflected back at her, and she had not looked so incensed since her first battle in the castle gardens. "You! You will suffer!"

Syaoran drew his sword up defensively. Now that Sakura was safe, at least temporarily, he intended to fight Madoushi with all his power and concentration. He did not answer her, but he cast another ofuda into the air and slammed his sword into it, focusing his will on the power alight within him. "Kashin Shourai!"

Flames burst from Syaoran's blade and encircled Madoushi.

Without breaking his mind from his task, Syaoran reached into his pocket with the hand not locked around his jian's grip and removed an additional ofuda. He had never tried to control two different elements at the same time, but he was willing to try anything. He slipped the additional ofuda up to the blade that still cast flames forward.

"Raitei Shourai!"

A bolt of lightning roared forth, twining around the flames, and crashed into the firestorm engulfing Madoushi.

It was almost more than Syaoran could bear. He had used more magic in the last few minutes than the last several years combined and he could feel it like a void inside, an ache where even his feelings couldn't support his powers forever. His jian, too, seemed to waver in his hands as so much magic was focused through it

But Madoushi was struggling against the pair of elements as she had nothing he had ever seen used against her, so he continued.

At the edge of his awareness, Syaoran became cognizant of something new entering the field of battle, but it did not matter – he could not let himself be distracted or his magic would fail. It was only when a pair of hands fell on his shoulders from behind, holding him up, that he realized he was no longer alone in his fight.

"Keep going for just a few more moments," came the voice of Kinomoto Touya. "Don't give up."

Syaoran didn't have the energy to spare to respond, but he tightened his shoulders under the grip and continued to force his power to burn.

And then Yue was in the sky overhead. The Moon Guardian was illuminated against the afternoon sunlight by a pale, hard glow. He spread his hands and a dome the color of starlight formed over where Madoushi was just starting to repel Syaoran's own elemental powers.

"You caught us at our weakest," Yue said in a cold voice. "You cursed the people of Clow and sought to acquire his powers that you had not earned. I will not forgive you for your actions here."

"You!" Madoushi looked up at Yue. "You do not have the strength to defeat me!"

"No," Yue said, "but I can contain you for a time."

And then Fujitaka was pelting across the grass with something in his hands. "Here!" he cried, holding it up.

Yue turned to Syaoran. "You carry the blood of the Li Clan. Call upon it now to help me."

Syaoran nodded once, sharply. He tightened his grip on his jian and closed his eyes. Behind him, Touya held tightly to his shoulders, though if he were offering strength or simply holding the younger warrior up, Syaoran couldn't quite tell. But he sensed no magic from Touya now, and he did not need to guess where it had gone from Yue's sudden influx of power.

Yue dove for Madoushi, catching her at the center of a triangle between himself, Syaoran, and where Fujitaka stood. Fujitaka brandished the book he carried and opened it wide.

And Syaoran felt it drawing Madoushi inward, so he pushed with all his might.

"You cannot hold me!" she screamed, clawing against the combined powers that pulled her towards the tome.

"Not forever," Touya said behind Syaoran. "But for long enough."

Syaoran felt something inside himself giving way, but he reached for a reserve of strength that had been born when he had finally called Sakura by name where she could hear and forced out one last breath of everything he had. "Raitei Shourai!"

Yue shouted wordlessly.

And Madoushi was swept into the book in Fujitaka's hands, which he closed the instant she vanished.

Syaoran dropped to one knee. He meant to lean on his sword, but to his horror, it faded away before him. He would have landed with his face in the grass if not for the grip on his shoulders.

"You've used too much power," Touya said in an even, inflectionless voice.

Syaoran merely grunted.

Fujitaka was rushing to him, Yue floating beside him. "Are you all right?" He knelt beside the pair.

Syaoran managed to form a proper word with a tongue that felt too tired to move. "Yes."

"Where did you get that?" Yue asked, inclining his head at the book.

Fujitaka looked at it, too. "When you and Yue were focusing on dispelling the curse she cast on the courtyard to paralyze everyone, a strange messenger put it in my hands along with a note. They said it would serve as proof of the note's contents."

Touya did not appear to be listening. He gave Syaoran a slight shake. "Where is Sakura?"

"Away," Syaoran said, his eyes fighting to close and his body yearning for sleep. "I...sent her away. Across the land as far as I could. So she would be safe."

"You consider that wretched forest safe?" Touya's fingers dug into Syaoran's flesh.

Syaoran managed a baleful glare. "Better than here."

"Don't scold him, Touya," Fujitaka said. "He did the best he could, and he's right. Sakura would be in much more danger at the castle."

Touya and Syaoran continued to trade antagonistic looks, and Fujitaka sighed. The pair had not laid eyes upon one another for almost five years, and yet their interactions had not changed one bit. He wondered vaguely if either even knew why they felt as they did, but Fujitaka suspected Touya, at least, had realized it had nothing to do with them and everything to do with Sakura.

So he redirected things. "This book won't hold her for long." He held it out.

Touya and Syaoran both reached for it, elbowing one another, but Yue took it from Fujitaka before either could touch it. The Moon Guardian stood over all three of them, holding the book between his hands.

"This is powerful magic, very similar to Clow's," he said. "I feel a...connection."

Fujitaka glanced at his son for confirmation, then remembered Touya had no such ability with Yue borrowing his powers. Instead, he drew from a pocket the message that had come with it.

"The messenger wore colors of black and blue," he said. "It's strange...but I can't remember their face or anything about them now. Or even how they found me. I only remember being given the book and being told it would prove the truth of the message."

Touya and Syaoran both frowned at that with identical suspicion. But Yue only raised an eyebrow. "What is the message?"

Fujitaka opened the smooth paper and read:

"To Kinomoto Fujitaka, former Steward of the Kingdom of Clow, I offer this gift of friendship. It was left to me by Clow Reed. I would offer you more help as well, but you must journey to me first. For reasons that will be made clear when we speak, I cannot fully enter the Kingdom of Clow at this time. However, I will offer an alliance with the true protectors and caretakers of the Kingdom of Clow, yourself included, and I will use my knowledge to aid you in removing that which has caused you grief. I await you across the border to the north."

Fujitaka looked up with wonder in his eyes as he read the signature. "Hiiragizawa Eriol, Prince of the White Jade Throne!"

Syaoran drew in a breath of surprise. His own Li Clan family were minor nobles under the Imperial Dynasty of the lands that bordered the Kingdom of Clow to the north and west. The White Jade Throne and its holdings were a part of the Imperial Dynasty, but separate from it. As far as Syaoran had ever learned, no one knew how the Emperor determined the appointed royalty who would command it, and who would be formally recognized as a member of the Emperor's own lineage.

"What could Prince Hiiragizawa have to do with any of this?" Touya asked.

Fujitaka shook his head. "I don't know. The White Jade Throne is always held by a mysterious person about whom very little is known even to his own people. But I had heard a rumor that none could ascend to the Throne without being worthy of some kind of powerful magic. Perhaps that is true."

Yue closed his eyes. "In the time of Clow, he often visited the castle to the north, never taking Keroberos or myself with him. He considered that principality to be an ally, however, and trusted any aid or advice offered." He paused before he said, "When Keroberos and I were young, we wondered if they had once been Clow's family."

Fujitaka blinked. "That would explain some things. Regardless, they have helped us for now and Prince Hiiragizawa is willing to help more. I believe we must go to him as quickly as we can." He rose to his feet.

Touya and Syaoran both surged up after him, demanding in unison, "We have to find Sakura!" Even Yue did not bother to hide his amusement at the disgust that washed over both their faces as they resumed their glaring.

"You're correct. But there is more than Sakura's safety in question here." Fujitaka took a deep breath and drew his shoulders and head up, looking for the first time since the loss of Nadeshiko like the honorable Steward he had been. "Madoushi is contained for now, but she will find her way out before long. Up until today, she had mostly refrained from turning on the people."

He gestured to the still unmoving forms around them, the loyal guards struck down by her curse. "We cannot simply leave the people of the kingdom to suffer when she returns. Her wrath could end in many deaths."

Touya ground his teeth. His father wasn't wrong, but…

"The safety of the Kingdom of Clow is my first and only concern until I find a new master," Yue said. "If the Prince of the White Jade Throne can help us, I must go to him. But I do not wish to leave the people alone without help against her."

Fujitaka nodded. "Then go. And take Touya with you. I will remain." He turned to his son. "You can speak in my place. I am sure when you explain what has happened, the Prince will not be offended that I sent you instead, and I am needed more here by those who will be vulnerable."

Then he turned to Syaoran. "And I will trust you to find Sakura and protect her."

Touya's eyes went hard. "As soon as Madoushi breaks free, she'll hunt for Sakura unless she decides to take out her feelings on the nearer targets of the people still here. And you have no magic to protect you, Father."

Syaoran straightened his own shoulders and held out his pendant to Fujitaka. "Then keep this. It will help you."

Touya crossed his arms. "If you leave that with my Father, you will not be able to call your own sword. How will you protect Sakura then?"

Syaoran did not roll his eyes at Touya, but it was a near thing. "My sword is not inside the pendant – they were merely bound together by my blood and magic. I can summon the sword without the pendant. It is more difficult, but I can do it. It was almost time for me to separate them anyway and keep my sword within myself instead."

Fujitaka looked at him warily. "Are you certain?"

Syaoran nodded. "It's the only way any of us have to keep you safe here while you watch over the book and try to talk sense into the people who don't know any better thanks to that curse."

He didn't mention that the process by which he would have to summon his sword – already weakened from the battle – and bind it to himself rather than the pendant would be both painful and dangerous, to say nothing of exhausting. But he could not leave the man who had been like his own father for five years with nothing.

Fujitaka inclined his head. "Thank you, Syaoran."

Touya took Syaoran's arm and leaned over him, making use of his superior height to peer into Syaoran's eyes. "Listen to me, kid. You find Sakura and you protect her."

Syaoran didn't shake off the grip, but met Touya's hostility calmly. "I will. I always have."

"That's true," came a new voice.

Fujitaka, Syaoran, and Touya all turned to see Yukito standing where Yue had been, the book trapping Madoushi in his slim hands.

"I'm sorry for surprising you," Yukito said. "But we thought perhaps Yue's influence would incite Madoushi to fight harder against the book, and would also make us easier to track as we head north." He handed the book to Fujitaka before he faced Touya. "Leave the boy alone, Touya. Can't you see he means it?"

Touya squeezed Syaoran's arm painfully before releasing it. "Not now, Yuki."

"I'm afraid now is all the time we have," Fujitaka said. "You must be off to head north as quickly as you can. It may take you a week to reach Prince Hiiragizawa. We don't know how long the book will be able to withstand the power of Madoushi. And you," he turned to Syaoran, who stopped glowering at the side of Touya's head and faced Fujitaka squarely, "must hurry as well. The forest may be safer for Sakura than the castle, but it is not safe."

Syaoran nodded sharply. He did not bother to look at Touya, but bowed low to Fujitaka. "I'll find and protect her. I promise."

"I know you will. Now, let's go and collect anything you three might need," Fujitaka advised. "I think we still have some time before the rest of the castle sorts itself out after all this."

It took less than fifteen minutes to raid Fujitaka's room of everything that could be useful, from blankets to a spare cloak, and to sneak into the kitchen storehouse to fill packs with provisions. The household was in an increasingly chaotic uproar, the curse of Madoushi having not just felled the guards outside, but having rendered senseless almost everyone in the castle and surrounding it. As people began to revive, excluding the soldiers from outside who remained motionless, they seemed to have rather fragmented memories and recollections.

Fujitaka, never letting the book constraining Madoushi from his possession, found that his ability to calm and influence those at their most disoriented allowed his son, Yukito, and Syaoran to move quickly and evade many difficult questions.

Touya even crept into the castle's stables to steal a pair of horses, one jet black and one snow white, for himself and Yukito. He would have offered a proud brown gelding to Syaoran, but Syaoran shook his head.

"The woods are dense and hard to ride through. I'll go faster on my own."

"I seriously doubt that," Touya told him. "You're still liable to fall over after that fight. You're drained almost completely. You could collapse at any time."

That was true, but Syaoran shrugged. "I won't. Not when she's waiting for me."

Fujitaka met them behind the kitchen gardens where he handed a small parcel wrapped in smudged cloth to Touya and another to Yukito.

"They were to be Sakura's gifts for you," he said quietly. "She has been working on them for a long time. I believe she would want you to have them now.

Though they were in a great hurry, the pair took the time to unwrap the gifts. Yukito found a small doll that resembled himself, and he smiled thinking about how Sakura often worried if Yukito was lonely with only Touya for company; she clearly thought her brother's gruff manner was not enough to stave off loneliness, even if Yukito thought otherwise. He tucked it into a pocket.

Touya did not allow anyone to see what she had given him – a hanging of his own name carefully sewn with peach and cherry blossoms all around. But he folded it and placed it within his tattered shirt where it was close to his heart.

Then Fujitaka held out a third, slightly larger bundle. "Syaoran, this is for you. In a way, I suppose it is from both of us. Sakura worked hard for many nights on this, but it was necessary for me to help her acquire the materials without anyone knowing about it."

Syaoran felt his hands still at the green material peeking through the cloth. He accepted it reverently and let the wrapping fall away to reveal his ceremonial robes. But much larger.

"She used yours as a model and has been trying to recreate them in your size since you gave her that sash last summer. It is only the tunic for now, but it has the crest of the Li Clan. And that." Fujitaka gestured.

Syaoran had already seen it – Sakura's name written in tiny stitches beneath the crest that would lie upon his chest. He ran his fingers over it wonderingly.

"She stayed up nights to make this...for me?"

Fujitaka nodded and smiled. "She had hoped to complete the rest before your birthday. This was the hardest part. I'm sure she would feel better if she knew you had this part of yourself back again."

Syaoran could not speak, but he held the fabric in his hands and revelled at the sharpness in his throat and behind his eyes. Sakura had worked for almost a year...for him. In secret, forgoing sleep, risking punishment if she were found with such rich, expensive materials...for him.

Syaoran did not hear Fujitaka bid farewell to Touya and Yukito, nor the thundering of their horses' hooves as they set off along the northern road. His heart was pounding in his ears and the beat sounded Sakura's name with every pulse.

"Wait for me, Sakura. I will find you. I promise."