CHAPTER 4:
RESURRECTION

Far away from Sakura's forest and well below the roots of the trees, on the other side of the kingdom, there was a sudden disturbance and an opening in the air appeared: a portal. Out tumbled Syaoran, coughing and panting heavily.

"God, I really never got used to that," he mumbled, dusting himself off and getting up from the ground.

A second portal opened and, gracefully flying through the air, came that same hooded figure. It still hovered above the cold ground not ever touching the stone floor. Syaoran looked up at the figure warily and sighed heavily.

"I should have known. You were never going to kill her. You knew that I would try to protect her and you knew that I would jump in front. So, instead of casting a spell that could kill, you just threw a portal at her," said Syaoran.

"I know you well, Syaoran-sama," replied the hooded figure.

"Too well, Fai."

At this, the hooded figure finally let its feet feel solid surface. The hood of the figure's cloak fell down from its head revealing a masculine face. Clumps of wavy hair tumbled from his head: blonde as if it had been bleached by the sun. Through that hair, eyes shone like brilliant blue sapphires that had been newly cut though soft like pebbles. And through those eyes, genius shone through, but also humor was not held back.

Fai then smiled at Syaoran. "You know the rules, Syaoran-sama. Unnecessary death is prohibited in this secret organization and also in this kingdom... much to the dislike of the current king."

Syaoran couldn't help but chuckle himself, but only a little. "So the head chief could not think of someone stronger other than himself to come fetch me?" he asked.

"Sending myself was literally the least I could do considering the initiative was to bring back the heir to this very organization, Syaoran-sama," Fai replied raising his eyebrows at Syaoran.

"You cunning bastard," Syaoran muttered. Fai only laughed. "But childhood friends don't call each other "master." And neither do best friends."

"Ah, but considering our places in society, we do." Syaoran glared at Fai. But then Fai seemed to change his mind. "Well, then if I can't call Syaoran Syaoran-sama... then I'll just call him... Bozu!"

Then Fai laughed like crazy, clutching at his stomach. Syaoran only slapped his forehead in fake frustration. Wiping a tear from his eye, Fai gasped, "I haven't laughed like that in a long time. This place has really missed you, Bozu!"

"Yeah, well, I'll bet it hasn't," Syaoran replied looking away.

"You couldn't know. You ran away," was the remark.

Syaoran was quick to defend himself and he couldn't help raising his voice just a little. "And who came to look for me after all these years? Not my father!"

The smile was wiped from Fai's face and laughter no longer played in his eyes. Ever since they were kids, Syaoran had always been touchy-feely when it came to parental issues. Fai never liked his parents either but Syaoran was more sensitive especially about his father. It was all very cliche but Fai knew it was time to change the subject.

"So... you do know what that girl is right?" Fai asked nonchalantly.

"Of course I know what that girl is," scoffed Syaoran. "I've known what kind of power Sakura had from the moment I met her. What kind of son of my father's do you take me to be?"

"A foolish one for running away," said Fai. Syaoran shot him another fiery glare. Fai decided to change the subject yet again.

"So Sakura is her name, huh?" asked Fai. "Yeah, she is pretty powerful. I was going to send her here, too. But it seems she panicked. I only got away just in time, but already I feel that my power has lessened. Oh well," Fai laughed. Then he added "But she's pretty cute, isn't she?"

"I don't know," Syaoran growled indignantly. Almost immediately, Syaoran was taken back to the moments they had shared together; to the moment they had shared earlier that night after he had given her that opal necklace. Syaoran worried about Sakura. He hoped she still had that necklace.

The look of reminiscence must have shown in Syaoran's face because Fai began to smirk."Oooh, Syaoran-bozu loves Sakura!" Fai exclaimed. "Syaoran and Sakura sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!" said Fai, dancing all around the stone room, his voice bouncing off the walls and echoing. Syaoran, unable to defend himself, scowled at him. Suddenly, a gong sounded from above, although very loud and very clear. Both Fai and Syaoran stopped, the smile wiped from Fai's face.

"Ah," said Fai, "that's our cue."

Disclaimer: Sakura, Syaoran, and the many characters to come belong to the manga/anime Tsubasa Resovoir Chronicles. And that belongs to the very gifted CLAMP.

Author's Note: Konnichiwa! You must please excuse the delay for this chapter. Lately, the stars in my eyes left in from the Beijing Olympics (mostly Michael Phelps, big fan) has left me quite unable to write. However, I have managed to pull through and surpass my word limit! Victory is sweet my dear readers. I decided that Fai should not become a vampire or anything of that sort in this story. I feel it would corrupt the plot somehow. Also, the explanation of Japanese honorifics in this story is in design (but will most likely be up by the end of the Olympics, hehe). So stay tuned for that and the next chapter:

CHAPTER FIVE: LOST AT FOREST

(I might change that title...)