Author's Notes: ...so I lost all my notes on my story and had to start again from scratch. Mixing class notes and fanfiction notes? Not a good thing, especially if you want to burn said notes... err. No, I didn't do that, but... Any suggestions on how to handle future fight scenes will be quite a great thing, but I suppose that's for later.

Sadame no Tsubasa : Wings of Destiny

Chapter 2: Prelude to Night

No sooner than the magical field sprang into existence, the two fighters leapt to action.

Touya dashed in, his sword leading the way as, with a small flash of light, a small pair of wings appeared on Sakura's back. These same wings then expanded into a functional pair in a miniature explosion of feathers. Eyes widening, Sakura slammed her sword hard against Touya's, deflecting it away as Sakura let the impact guide her to his left.

"Onii-chan!" Sakura yelled as she darted past Touya and then took to the air with her wings, Touya just barely missing his follow-up slice.

"Heheh… drat." He chuckled as he dropped into a relaxed stance, sword held casually low to the ground in his right hand, his knees slightly bent. The chuckle was cut short as Sakura held her sword horizontally before her. As she slid her left middle & index fingers across the flat from winged cross piece to sword tip, the sword glowed with a bright pinkish aura where her fingers brushed against the blade. Smiling broadly, she started slicing her sword in the air before her. With an almost childish delight, she accented each swing with a "Da!"

Of course, that wasn't what worried Touya. The arcs of pinkish energy barreling his way were. Cursing, Touya back flipped over the first two arcs, which brought up a shower of debris behind him. Dashing forward, he ducked and weaved around the next few arcs of energy, grabbing a particularly large clod of dirt in the process. He hurled it at Sakura, who grinned at his effort and used her sword to knock it back. Much to her dismay, instead of flying back to the sender, the mass shattered and covered her in.a cloud of dirt

Darting forward out of the cloud, she wiped her eyes and looked downward. With an undignified "Eep!" Sakura dove towards the ground and underneath the leaping Touya.

Arcing back to the high ground, she turned around and saw Touya holding his sword vertically before him. A small set of wings flashed into existence on his back, before he pointed his sword in Sakura's direction. She pouted cutely, before starting anew the energy barrage as a hemispherical shield shimmered into existence in front of Touya. Even with the shield easily parting the energy arcs, more clods of dirt and grass around him flew everywhere under Sakura's attack. Touya's eyebrow started twitching more with every passing second.

He finally cracked. "Come down here!" he shouted. "You know this can't last all day!" He smirked nonetheless. 'Heh, at least I'm not the only one who got dirty from all that.'

"Aww…" Sakura's tone was light and teasing.

'Touya-kun has a point. Time to even the playing field a little.' Yukito smiled. As he raised his hand in a gesture, the silver magical field started to shrink in height, forcing Sakura downwards.

"Hoee?"

"Didn't I say 'anything goes' today?" Yukito said before snapping his fingers. Water started inundating the area, slowly inching up the silver field.

"No, you didn't! Ah, mou!" Sakura sent another pair of energy blades her brother's way, then flew in after them, sword leading the charge. Touya neatly dodged the first, then leapt forward over the second arc before swinging his own sword downwards. Sakura cringed and settled into a block, getting knocked down towards the ground from the impact.

Water splashed everywhere as Sakura landed hard on her feet just before flipping backwards and over Touya's low swipe when he landed after her. The slice knocked up some water into the air, which solidified and grabbed at Sakura's ankle, almost yanking her back. Sakura sliced through the water strand and flew as back as she could, hovering just over the half-foot of water, the toes of her boots barely touching it. Touya readjusted his own stance, lifting his sword up to eye level horizontally over the ground, the tip pointing again in her direction. The pink glow dissipated from Sakura's sword, which she likewise leveled at him.

Sakura grumbled good-naturedly before flying back at Touya. Unsurprised, he merely swung his sword through the water, sending a blinding cascade at Sakura. But she was already darting through the water spray and stabbing out, forcing Touya to leap back.

Surprisingly to him, Sakura pressed the attack, arcing through the air and flicking a bolt of pinkish energy at his shoulder. Touya neatly deflected the bolt with his sword, then stabbed out. Sakura "eeped" and landed on the extended blade. Touya grinned, angling his sword and swinging hard to the right. Sakura's eyes widened as her impromptu platform suddenly shifted and went flying. She leapt towards her right, the momentum of the swing flipping her with her feet towards the skies. Touya grinned as he started to reverse his swing.

Her grin was even wider as she poked the tip of her sword at his chest, Sakura hovering upside-down before him. A moment later she completed her delayed flip, her wings disappearing in another small explosion of feathers, and a larger splash of water.

"I win!" Sakura cheerfully declared, a cacophony of clapping, hooting, and whistling from the guards accompanying the statement. The clink of coins changing hands soon followed, followed by the groaning and cheering of various members of the audience. Fujitaka merely beamed as he stood up and clapped.

"Durn wings..."

"What was that?"

"I said 'Loud Kaijuu'."

"Onii-chan!" Stomp. Silence. Then... Kick. A sharp cry of pain.

Yukito shook his head and made a gesture, the water spiraling upward into a tiny orb which continued to hover there.. "Come now, you two," he bade. "Good work." He then dispelled the barrier, the torn up ground whole once again as soon as the barrier dropped. The ball of water floated over to the pond and dropped in with a tiny plop! As an afterthought, he added, "And get changed. No colds, okay?"

Only Sakura's "Haaaaii..." was heard as the two siblings went off to get themselves cleaned.

It was early afternoon when Sakura found herself walking along the horseshoe-shaped lake that circled parts of the castle. The blue-green lake was fed by a river that came from a crystal-laden gorge several miles to the east.. The mountains towered over the palace and countryside to the south.

As she walked on, she reflected on the day's events. 'Mou, Onii-chan was so mean,' Sakura's mood darkened before brightening again. 'Then again, I finally beat him.' She twirled around, her simple white sun dress fluttering on the cool, gentle winds blowing down from the blue-green mountains.

Playful as ever, another flash of light brought Sakura to the skies with her wings. She skipped along the lake's surface before rushing about the few trees that grew close to the lake's shore. She finally settled on a lone enormous sakura tree on a hill overlooking the lake.

Sakura sat in one of the lower branches, hair sill disheveled from her flight. She affectionately rubbed the bark, smiling as she thought of the times she sat there enjoying the peace and shade. She reclined against the trunk, legs dangling off to the side. For a moment, she smiled as a pair of butterflies glided past, occasionally flapping their black and blue wings. A little lower, her hands ran across a few scratches in the trunk's old bark, now slightly grown over. Little intricate markings, bearing their names of her and

'Syaoran... where are you?' Sakura's mood shifted once again as she looked across the blue-green lake, still shimmering in the afternoon sun.

'Syaoran...' Her eyes glazed over slightly as she let the memories overtake her.

Twelve years ago, it was a cool afternoon with a slight mist in the air-- rain had visited the Kinomoto Kingdom earlier that day, leaving the ground moist and the plants studded with small droplets of water. It was a time of high tensions, when the land was still split into 3 areas of separate rule. More so, especially when the leaders of one visits another. Although most wouldn't think it if you saw them.

The throne room was a sight to behold. While modest in size, the floors were of a fine white marble, the pillars and walls made of an opaque white crystal. Through the large floor to ceiling windows, the sun's light peeked through a few breaks in the clouds, bringing warmth and a glow of multi-colored light to the room. A pair of beautiful crystal thrones, both well cushioned, towered close together towards the middle-back of the room, a pair of smaller chairs to either side. It was there that the Kinomotos sat, as the large oak doors to the south opened up, admitting a small entourage of people, no less regal looking than the royal family. The entourage bowed as one before parting and exiting the room, leaving behind a beautiful woman with 4 teenage girls and a young boy behind. A six-year old Sakura jumped up and hid behind the thrones while Touya, being a proud 13 year old, merely stared at them from his seat beside his father.

"So, what brings the Great Seer and her daughters to the Palace?" Fujitaka asked, sitting upon one of the crystal thrones. Beside him on a slightly smaller throne, a young woman with long, wavy brown hair and bright green eyes shook her head.

"Is that how you treat an old friend, anata?" Nadeshiko chided her husband. "Yelan-chan, so good to see you again!"

"Formalities, Na-chan." Yelan bowed before smiling one of her rare smiles. She turned around to give a motherly glance at her daughters, who all stopped fidgeting "How's Sakura?"

"Quite energetic and Touya's being a good older brother to her." Nadeshiko answered, smiling all the while.

"Just for old time's sake, Yelan-san?"

"You should know better than anyone that I do everything for a reason, Fujitaka-san. I wold like Syaoran and Sakura to meet."

Fujitaka chuckled, while Touya turned to look questioningly at his father. "I see. You can't help but play matchmaker as always."

"Of course."

Nadeshiko smiled and beckoned to Sakura. "Sakura, it's okay. She's a friend."

"Nnn..." Sakura ran up and clutched at her mother's hand before spotting a quiet boy with messy brown hair behind the elder Li. Forgetting all formalities, Sakura bounded down the steps towards him.

"Hi, my name is Sakura! Wanna be friends?"

He stayed silent, frowning at Sakura's outstretched hand, then jumped in shock as his 4 sisters suddenly squealed and latched onto Sakura. A chorus of 'kawaii!' followed by much hugging and fussing ensued.

Four years later, the sun was shining as a pair of combatants faced off under Yukito's watchful eye. But, it wasn't the two siblings facing off.

"You told me you were good!" Syaoran taunted, his gold lined green combat robes fluttering in the light breeze, sword stabbed into the ground in front of him. Nearby, Sakura's sword was also sticking up from the ground, with Sakura herself on her rump some few feet away from both her weapon and her opponent.

"Mou... I'll beat you this time!" She leapt back onto her feet and grabbed her sword. Turning around to face him, Sakura leveled her sword at Syaoran. Syaoran merely grabbed his weapon and did the same. They started circling around each other, quietly regauging each other.

Meanwhile, Touya was grinding teeth while standing next to Yukito. "Why him..." Sakura dashed forward a couple of steps before leaping into the air, Syaoran also dashing forward underneath her. Yukito chuckled as Sakura turned after landing, landing a nice parry and riposte against his leading stab, forcing Syaoran to hop back offbalanced.

"..Nani! That... GAKI!" Touya's focus was split between his sensei, and the spar within the magical barrier. He grinned slightly upon hearing a yelp from Syaoran.

Yukito nodded somewhat distractedly as she turned around, a broad grin on her face. She waved at them as she ran towards them. Yukito waved back.

"Over my dead body!" Touya exploded as Sakura reached them. Yukito could only sigh and dispel the barrier.

"Sister-complex, I tell you."

Three years later at a particular large sakura tree, a certain pair was enjoying a quiet summer afternoon. Sakura sat on one of the higher branches looking down at Syaoran, who opted to stretch out upon one of the larger limbs below her and look over the lake.

"Ne, Syaoran-kun..."

"Hmmm?"

"Do you dream?"

"What do you mean 'Do I dream?'"

"Well, you know... like dream of becoming something? Like, a great swordsman, or a husband..." At that, Sakura blushed.

"Hn... I have no choice. Dreams or not, I'm bound by duty..." He trailed off, his eyes staring at Sakura's form in hesitation before closing them. "... as are you."

"Duties and obligations aside!" Sakura swung down and hung from a branch above Syaoran with her legs hooking onto the branch, her face a few inches from his face.

Syaoran opened his eyes only to see bright green eyes staring down back at him. He tried to backpedal, to no avail. "Agh, don't do that!"

"Hoe..? What'd I do?" she innocently inquired. "Seriously! If you could be anything in the world, what would you be?"

Syaoran started sweating slightly under her piercing gaze, visibly coloring as she seemed to be coming closer. Funny, the branch above seems to be bending, too..

Crack! Both pairs of eyes widened as the bough supporting Sakura broke.

... Sakura walked forward into the misty clearing, the vague outlines of the trees mostly hidden from view. Ahead of her lay a large smooth gray circular reflective pool, it having a series of small, three-sided pyramids spaced equidistantly along the edge. Slowly coming up to the edge, she bent over to see in the water...
Sakura opened her eyes, a slightly bewildered look on her face. 'I... don't remember ever doing that.' She looked around herself. She was still at the sakura tree, although it was fast approaching sunset, the sun starting to disappear behind the mountains to the east, setting the lake and surroundings awash in a warm orange glow. Sakura looked about her in surprise as a multitude of black and blue butterflies suddenly took flight around her.

Smiling broadly, her troubled thoughts about that image fading away, she watched the mass fly around her, then dispersed outward in all directions. She almost got up to leave for the palace, when she noticed a butterfly with multi-hued blue wings resting on her shoulder.

"Such beautiful wings," she murmured. Blink. Her own wings suddenly unfurled. 'Wh... what? I didn't...'

The world suddenly darkened around her, leaving only the blue butterfly before her sight, slowly flapping its wings.

Meanwhile, elsewhere...

"She lasted longer than we expected." A refined lady's voice.

"Yes." A deep male's voice.

"She'll be weaker next time." Another, older male.

"Hopefully not too much. There's still so much to be done."

Tsuzuku

Post Author's Notes:

I'd whine about college being the bleh, except that it has brought to me more joys and experiences than I ever imagined possible. Ahh, college life.Once again, thanks for muses, and xDianaMoonx for a bit (okay, a lot) of pre-reading. Let's see if I can get this ball rolling once again.

If you like the story, please do leave a review, C&C, or what-not. It definitely helps the creative process. And with that, I'll be back with chapter 3. Hopefully soon.

Now for a side-thought or two:

AnimeKitty: pretty good guesses for the gems, but I'm afraid you're somewhat far off. As for Kero, we'll see. Rewriting everything is going to get a little messy with my original transcript.

Mini Japanese-English dictionary:

Onii-chan: Older brother

Hai: yes/okay

Kaijuu : monster

Anata: a way of saying "dear" or "darling" between couples

Nani: what ?

Gaki : brat

Back to hiding in plain sight, for now.

Eni Li'Nave