Elemental Aeon

by Kesshou Uryou

“If you can’t afford to die for what you believe in, you might as well be not living at all.” [Sakura x Syaoran]

2. Rain

Elemental Aeon
Kesshou Uryou

Act I
Chapter II
Rain

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The bridge of his nose received a water drop. The restless grating of a rushing sound was already being produced, and it struck him, like any other person, completely unnatural. It was loud, continuous, gaining in intensity, and it was becoming monotonous due to its repetition. Anything recognized for enough time sunk into the background. That's the way it was.

He left the sanctuary of his own room that swooped down with a low ceiling and was well furnished. Through the hall he scrambled, concentrating on the all too present gushing noise. It had to have an explanation. It sounded like it was coming from outside so he headed to a large glass window in the next room over. He hoped to get a peek at the source of the sound. He came forward quickly, pushing his nose against the glass. His eye set to the task of searching for the cause of the disruption of normalcy. He didn't have to wait long. His vision was almost completely obstructed.

Meilin remedied the second situation with a quick prod of her foot. None too delicately, she disrupted her victim. Her right foot had found itself at work as a substitute for her hands. The pair of them had found themselves currently occupied over her very own head, and she opted for the less strenuous solution. It was much easier not to set down the cloth she was clutching, get off the small crate, and bend over the restless yet sleeping figure.

Meilin's solution proved successful as Syaoran stopped his quickened breathing and his sleepy rustling. Syaoran stirred and awoken, in a mixture of states. His face played off confusion, drowsiness, anger, and terror all at the same time, making the strangest combination of expressions that Meilin had seen for a long time. She concluded that as she spared him another quick glance, summing him up quickly.

"Just a dream, Syaoran. Keep it together." Syaoran scrambled out of his makeshift bed, surveying his surroundings. Sure enough, the mundane cart stared back at him. There he was in his own little secluded area, and Meilin was right there too, pretty much preoccupied. It was another problem from as far as he could tell from the corner of his eye. Yes, everything seemed to be in good order, but he hadn't looked over at the other side of the cart yet. There was a sleeping girl who didn't quite fit in with the picture that he had painted in his mind. Then her arrival was remembered after the sleep started ebbing away, and some of his confusion dwindled.

However, even as the memories most definitely surged back, it didn't explain the trickle of water on his head. There were only a couple drops, but that didn't alter the fact that they existed. He knew this was not an effect of just waking up. There was water. He always completely sure when it came to the presence of water. Times like these he'd be on his toes.

And then Meilin at work registered in his mind. She was balanced up carefully on her tiptoes, wavering only in the slightest in her position. She looked as if she had placed her feet very carefully on a sturdy wooden crate. In her hands, she had scrunched up an old rag that she must have found lying about. It could just be his imagination, but he could see each wet thread of that cloth standing on edge, gently brushing against Meilin's light skin. Each time it did, he winced just slightly. Maybe it was for his own sake, but he told himself that it was for hers. The cloth look like it had been dug up from a particularly bad junk pile. And why exactly did she need a cloth raised above her head in the first place?

It clicked in his mind as he continued to watch the scene play out. A water droplet produced itself from the ceiling, thickening until gravity took its toll. It landed in the extended cloth that Meilin had so patiently waited with in her fingers. Her futile attempt of reaching the ceiling where the source of the problem lay, however, was undoubtedly useless. She was too short for that even with the small crate.

When it looked like he had woken up enough, not to mention calmed down, to be of any use, she stopped her very small and carefully placed jumps atop of the crate. There was a better way to fix this problem now.

"Syaoran, can you give me a hand here?" He gave her a look before she glared in response, stepping right off the crate and pushing it aside with her outstretched foot.

"What do you want me to do?" He got to his feet, his hands falling to his sides after they supported him in getting up. It was only just in time that he got them up in front of his face to catch the slightly damp cloth. Realizing what it was, he wrinkled the back of his nose with his lower arm. This thing couldn't be sanitary.

"Get on my shoulders and do something about that leak. I'm sure you're the last person who wants water coming in here." Grumbling, he knew that she had made a point and came closer as Meilin knelt down before him, grabbing his calves as he sat atop her shoulders. Carefully straightening up, she looked up to see Syaoran's handiwork.

There was a small crack that adorned the ceiling of this cart. Sometimes water wormed itself through its passage in small proportions. She had noticed this problem a long time ago when her common case of boredom came over her. She had this cart down like the back of her hand. She proudly claimed that not even one spec of dust was unaccounted for when she was concerned. Syaoran was battling this sign of bad wood, poor construction, or simply old age as she watched directly below. She banked on the latter although the other two wouldn't surprise her considering the certain opinions she held when it came to everything related to "Clow-kun."

He readjusted his grip on the raggedy cloth, hoping he could do this job without having to go beyond his two fingers clutching the material. Unfortunately, even he knew this was a lost cause, and he wrapped his fingers around it for a good hold. He forced his small fist at the small crack on the ceiling, running along its entire length. He had to spread the cloth lengthwise as he ran the thin material through the small line, taking a little more effort than he would have liked. Meilin didn't appreciate his required extra movement as she was the support of both of them.

"Stop fidgeting, Syaoran. Haven't you gotten it already?" Meilin could feel a crick in her neck coming on as she looked as far up as she could go without endangering the younger child that sat atop her shoulders. Syaoran, meanwhile, gave the cloth an experimental prod before he satisfactorily left it alone.

"Hai." Meilin sighed in apparent relief, loosening her hold on his lower legs for him to immediately jump down from her shoulders. He first swung his left leg so that it hung down the length of her back, grabbing her neck in the process. He followed with mirroring his right leg to the left one before loosening the grip his arms had momentarily held. Meilin came to rubbing her left and right shoulder alternatively, slightly wincing. Syaoran couldn't tell if she was kidding about his weight or not. With Meilin, you were never a hundred percent sure.

"You're too heavy." She left it at that. She rested her hands on her hips, keeping her eyes directed at that annoying crack. Syaoran was laid out on the floor, his limbs spread out in all directions as he gazed at the same spot. A sudden large jolt of the cart caused a sudden and quiet mumbling before it died out. Syaoran's eyes strayed from the ceiling to settle on the newcomer. Meilin seemed unaffected, but she was the one who commented.

"You wanna wake sleeping beauty or what?"

Syaoran grumbled out some unintelligent response which Meilin took with a small smile. She shrugged a little before another rough shake of the cart commenced. Syaoran took it lying on his back with no precautions, but Meilin had to extend an arm to meet the wall to steady herself. Over the sound of the stumbling cart, a small hiss came. There was no other out of the ordinary sound produced, and the road must have cleared out soon enough although it had been an unpleasant minute. Meilin searched for the cause of the noise, and she found it to be as she predicted.

Sakura was sitting upright, clutching her head with a grimace. It must have banged against the wall, and it was still a tender area; there was no doubt about that. Hitting her head wasn't exactly the best way to wake up, and Meilin could tell that by her facial expression. Not that it took much imagination to figure that out.

"Ow," Sakura mumbled, resorting to holding her head with only one hand as the other came to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "I wish you had woken me up instead of letting me wake up like that."

"Sorry, but at least you're awake. Besides, I think the road has gotten rough because we're stopping for supplies now." Meilin let a little concern lace her words as her mind traveled past where her words stopped. Restocking meant that she got to gather information easier. She always had to be up for that. Not to mention the food she could gather.

"What's so great about that?"

"Well I don't know about you, but it's great for us. We get to explore the town or buy things there until we move on. Everyone can leave their carts to meet up with each other or do whatever else they want to. We're not the only cart you know. There are a lot more." Syaoran had sat upright, ever stubborn to defend one of his favorite happenings.

"Explore? I've never seen any other town but my own. This'll be fun." Sakura gripped her blanket with thought. She had no idea what other towns would look like. She hadn't even heard too many descriptions from the visitors her family had received. This would be interesting. She happened to glance down, and she lost her smile a bit. She was still wearing these burned up rags. "But in this clothing should I still-?"

"I know someone who could help you. I'll send you to her before we head out into town. You can borrow a cloak of mine for now." Sakura took in Meilin's idea with a nod, getting up and then halting with a revelation.

"It's really raining hard, isn't it?" Syaoran nodded, and he took to getting up to take a small peak out of the curtain at the back of the cart.

"It is. Sometimes it just rains all day likes this so get used to it. It really is all about on where we are. Once it rained for five days straight. That was the worst. We were moving so slow." Syaoran was looking like a bobble head what with how many times his head dipped back up and down in agreement, mostly in response to his own words.

There was another rumble just then although it turned out to be the smallest of all three so far. A quiet whinnying came in response. Sakura looked surprised.

"That sounded like a horse." Meilin gave her a critical glance. Syaoran seemed to have tuned out their conversation as he took a small peak through a little opening he made between the two matching curtains.

"You're kidding right? What do you think makes the cart move? The elements?" Meilin gave a dismissing wave of her hand.

"Well... yeah. There are elementalists here. It makes sense." Even Sakura didn't look so sure of that statement. She already knew she had lost the disagreement.

"How exactly would an element move these carts?" Meilin was on the edge of dropping even her slightest of efforts to hide her incredulity.

"The air pushes it?" Sakura's eyes drifted to the floor. Meilin rolled her eyes, but Sakura beat her to commenting. "Never mind. But if the horses move the carts... isn't it really bad for them to be out in this rain?

"Well," Meilin smirked, "Now you're right. They are elementalists. They keep their coats dry from the water." Sakura's eyes filled with understanding, but there was no time to say anything on that subject as the cart suddenly halted.

"We're here!" Syaoran springing to his feet with this comment, jostling to his little practically marked off area to grab a cloak that Sakura had not first seen. Meilin went to grab her own, a deep and dark red one that she instantly drew the hood of up. Meilin fished out a gray cloak too and Sakura caught it when it was thrown her way. She lost no time in slipping it on, tugging the hood on. Syaoran was already out, and Meilin and Sakura were hot on his trail when Meilin suddenly stopped in the one and only exit looking as if she had been struck with a sudden thought.

"Oh, and there are no drivers. Each of these horses is trained to be sensitive to certain air movements. Sort of like a crop. You know to get the horse under control. It's really useful." Meilin let Sakura absorb that for a moment before grinning like Sakura had never seen before. "Now let's go. And remember, I never existed." She wagged a finger, before she too was off and running through the thick rain.

Sakura followed as fast as she dared to go without fear of losing her footing on the slippery ground. She always kept Meilin in sight, identifying her by her deep ebony locks whipping through the wind. Meilin had taken off in a weaving pattern through a procession of carts. As Sakura ran around one, she could always see Meilin's hair flash as she darted around the opposite side of the next cart. If Sakura didn't know any better, she would have thought she was trying to lose her, but it got to the point where the chase finally ended. Taking greedy gulps of the moist air, she spotted an impatient Meilin, waiting beside an opened cart that was much like their own except appeared to be a little less old and a little bit nicer. It actually had some decent furnishings along with being doted with several carefully stacked crates. At the very least, it had to be credited for neatness.

As soon as Sakura came into hearing distance, Meilin spoke up, wasting not even a moment's worth of time. "Here she is: Daidouji Tomoyo. I have to find Syaoran before he goes and kills himself." Those were her parting words as she rushed off, Sakura losing sight of her in the rain's obscurity. Sakura swiveled on her heel and looked up into the cart to discover someone she hadn't first seen. It was a pale girl who had a friendly smile, holding an umbrella in both of her hands.

"Daidouji-san?" Sakura asked tentatively. The girl gave a quick and confirming nod. She took the small difference in height from the back of the cart to the ground in one graceful swoop, holding the expanded umbrella up as if in an offering to the sky. It was a splatter of vibrant colors, conforming themselves to make the picture of an imaginative bird. It swirled the tones together perfectly in a way that Sakura couldn't help but admire. It was a work of art. The object wasn't amazingly effective in its entailed job as it was one of those converted parasols for the use of rain: an umbrella. Still it got the job done. The sun-purposed parasol got a wax coating, and it showed its glory in the rain too now.

"It's for you too. A cloak is nice, but it isn't the best for rain," Tomoyo offered her as she walked over, shifting her hold to cover them both from the nature's seemingly endless agony. Sakura was startled but didn't challenge the action, falling in step with the girl. "Meilin said something about clothes, but I'm sure you'd rather visit the town first, right? Everyone gets excited about that."

"Daidouji-san, where did you get that umbrella? I've never seen anything like it..." Sakura was guilty of barely paying attention. Her eyes had been glued to the decorative possession.

"Oh, just something I picked up, Kinomoto-san. Sadly you won't be able to get one here, but we are sharing." Tomoyo already saw the surprise coming, and she answered without missing a beat, "And Rae-chan told me your name." Sakura accepted this, clutching her hands together as they walked along a line of numerous motionless carts. She took to watching the resting horses, some pawing the ground anxiously, knowing they'd be needed soon again. A couple people were walking around with treats for the horses, and they came prepared to untack at least a few of them. Sakura noted that the four-legged creatures were all dry like Meilin had said.

"So how do they do that? Are there water charms or something?" Tomoyo smiled, but she kept looking forward, not giving the majority of her attention to the horses that were being seen to by others.

"No. The water elementalists take shifts to keep the horses totally dry. Everything must seem weird here, but you get used to this sort of thing when you're around it all the time." Sakura took that without much of a question. Things would take some getting used to, but no one else here found anything out of the ordinary. No one was surprised.

"Tomoyo!" Tomoyo halted at the call, but Sakura was not prepared, consequentially taking a couple extra steps forward before scuttling back under the small shelter, brushing off the plethora of water drops she had just received. Tomoyo had captured the caller in her sight in the meantime.

"Rika-chan!" Sakura turned to see a honey-haired girl who offered a shy smile to both Tomoyo and herself. Tomoyo gestured to this other girl and then to Sakura as the perfect hostess. "Kinomoto-san, this is Sasaki Rika. Rika-chan, this is Kinomoto Sakura."

"Hello," the newcomer spoke, exchanging a similar greeting with Sakura. She noticed that Rika boasted a similar umbrella to Tomoyo's, but in her eyes, it couldn't compare to the beauty of the one Tomoyo owned. Still, Sakura was envious because any was better than none. Rika's displayed a deep brown and fully green leafed majestic tree, and it was nice to look at in its own right.

"Rika-chan, I just remembered, I have what you asked me to get. I hunted it down as soon as we stopped, and the man was standing right by with it as usual. It's safe and sound back in my cart. Will you two wait here for a minute?" The two addressed girls glanced at one another before dipping their heads in the affirmative.

Tomoyo dashed off, disappearing from their limited sight, and Rika graciously moved over to share her equally small umbrella. "What element do you have, Kinomoto-san?" Well, it was almost always the safe route to go. Everyone seemed to let this question escape their mouth first when they met her.

"Water. What about you?" The girl's eyes brightened and a smile matched the change.

"Me too. Do you know little tricks or anything yet?" Sakura considered it for less than a second. She definitely did not.

"Um, no. Is that a bad thing?" Rika had a hint of laugh there.

"No, of course not. That's why we're going to learn how to use them. Some people know a few things though. Here let me show you this. Can you hold the umbrella?" Sakura took it without a word, trying to be fair in sharing its shelter. Rika had a very lax right hand as she brought it to the tip of the bottom of the umbrella's material, extending her pointer finger in the direction of a drop on its slow way towards its inevitable descent. Her teeth clicked together in concentration and the drop was under her control, following the direction her hand went sailing through the moist air.

"Wow." Sakura would have been speechless if she wasn't talkative by nature. She heard of people controlling the elements before, but she had never seen it done before. It was just that she felt like she had, and Rika's demonstration wasn't as big as it should have been. Although it was still something to be jealous of when it came right down to it. Sakura knew absolutely nothing.

"Now look at this." Sakura's eyes followed obediently after Rika's outward right hand as it moved again, spreading her fingers apart to let the drop rush to meet the ground. Sakura's neck traveled with it on the way down. She thought it was over then until Rika made a sudden motion with her hand, only slightly prior to fisting her hand. A sphere of water was formed, encompassing around Rika's small fist. Now that was amazing. And Sakura couldn't get her tongue to work quite right.

"That's... that's a... that's a- like a river, you know?" Sakura had resorted to pointing at it and making wave motions with her other hand. Rika laughed.

"Yeah, it flows and moves gently like water you're swirling around with your fingertip." Sakura nodded in agreement, extending her second finger ever closer to the moving blue mass that shone off of the few stray rays of sunlight that came from amid the cloudy backdrop. It had that very bright blue hue, an almost completely clear and see-through appearance that water garnered at the very edge of the shore in a place where it was endlessly sunny. It was hard to believe that Rika had collected the falling rain drops into this small ball in just a moment.

"Is it okay to, um?" Sakura didn't finish that question as her finger came forward a little faster than she intended, breaking through the surface of cool water. She shivered slightly; it was colder than she had expected. Then again the water was formed from cold water. This wasn't summer or spring rain. Autumn was showing its evidence.

And then the water splashed to the ground. Sakura hadn't even realized it, but she had disrupted Rika apparently as she looked a little off. Sakura had already put on her apologetic face, but Rika exchanged her slight frown with a smile.

"It's alright. I just got a little distracted when you did that." Sakura cocked her head when Rika had used a breathy voice to utter those words. However, her mind focused on her guilt especially since Rika had splashed some of the water on her own lower legs, darkening the light brown pants further than was normal.

She didn't voice it mainly because into her peripheral vision came an object of desire. It slid from her left, falling into the hands of Rika. She would have pouted out of disappointment if she hadn't thought it rude. Sakura instead tightened her hands around the handle of the umbrella she was still holding, wavering it over toward Rika's side a bit before straightening it upright between them. She freed a hand to wipe away a couple drops she had received from her action.

"Thank you, Tomoyo. My friend back home will love it. Her birthday is soon." Sakura hadn't even noticed Tomoyo there, and she turned her head to look at the bearer of gifts. Unfortunately there just wasn't anything for her. "I'm going to mail this right now. I'm not sure when we're leaving so I should just do it."

She had already taken off at a slow pace, waiting first for Sakura to slip underneath Tomoyo's umbrella. Tomoyo stared her off, leaving a few parting words, "I heard it's to nightfall. Be back by then!" She then directed her attention to Sakura, and they both started walking again, continuing the way they had originally been going. Sakura had fallen to watching the ripples made in the small puddles that she gingerly tried to avoid.

"Before we leave, I'm going to order one for you." Sakura jerked her head up with a startled expression directed toward the older girl before letting a smile slowly sink into her childish features.

--e--a--

Meilin's fingers ran over the length of it one more time, securing it shut with one last crease and tug. She approached the office, exchanging the right words, and it was as good as delivered. She didn't have the convenience to use the specially arranged and paid workers to receive items like her traveling companions, but with a good ear, she knew where they were heading, and she got what she needed fast enough. A couple times they had veered off the planned course, but they had looped around for those who had things waiting for them at the missed stop.

Meilin only ever picked up one thing, but it was important for her to keep living as she was. She depended on these coins when she couldn't steal away enough food. Before too long, things began to look suspicious, and she had to lay low. That's when stocking up when the group did came in handy. However, unlike their set, hers wasn't for just anyone. This reserve was for her alone when there was nothing else to keep her hunger at bay.

With some other key essential information given, she watched the man working fish out her reward. It came in a very small box of purely brown hues, certainly nothing to look at. The short scratchy notes she wrote out were delivered. In turn she got her little compensation. She resisted the temptation of twirling off that ribbon around her nimble fingers until she was outside again, stepping into a jostling crowd that couldn't be kept away even in the rain. This town obviously was in a good location for trade, and it showed it.

Hidden in a veil of strangers, she took to slowly opening her treat, enjoying the series of clinks it produced as one of her coins meet another. It left a happy feeling sink into her chest as she heard her coins' noise mingle with innumerable others. It was almost as if she belonged here, but she knew better. Business was bustling, and the people here thrived. This wasn't like her home, and that unsettled her. She let herself stray from everyone's wandering eyes by blending in with everyone that was trudging forward. No one spared longer than a moment on the person in the corner of their eye. She had her cloak to remain hidden and feel separated when she needed to do so.

Envy radiated out of her over how people smiled here, but she didn't show it. They were so very lucky. Few, if any, "incidents" had occurred in these town boundaries. But it wouldn't last long; it never did. All it was momentary peace and rest before disaster came. There was an inescapable outcome for this town.

Just like- never mind that. But where was that boy anyway? She worried over him in a crowd like this. She never knew what kind of trouble he could come up with; he seemed to attract it like a magnet. She had left him on his own half an hour ago, but there were no rioting ensuing so she could only shrug, recounting her money. She'd have to think he still had his head on correctly. She'd find him after she took care of some pressing matters first. She was no mother, and he knew that at the very least. She let him do what he pleased for the most part, worrying over him in her own way. Besides, her job was never over. Still, she'd make some time later to hunt him down. He wouldn't be hard to find if she knew him like she was sure she did.

Although there were a few surprises still left in that boy.

--e--a--

"Tell me if it's too tight."

Sakura hadn't even realized at first that she had been adorned in bandages, but she knew now that they ran along her legs and lower back. It was probably a given that Meilin and Syaoran hadn't mastered medical practices so Sakura would have straight out eliminated them as the ones who had administrated the white constraint. Tomoyo seemed the perfect nurse, and she acted like one. Sakura was not surprised when she heard that Tomoyo had first fixed them as she was nimble with her fingers as she administered the process all over again.

"Ouch. Too tight." Sakura held the wince longer than was necessary as Tomoyo softly apologized, absorbing herself completely in her work. Tomoyo really appeared to know what she was doing.

"Daidouji-san, where did you learn how to do this?" Tomoyo paused to look up, mouth slightly open. She took a slightly larger than normal breath before drawing her lips together.

"Tomoyo will be fine. I learned back home. I liked medicine." She fell silent then, and Sakura knew she had to keep the conversation going regardless that she was still processing to call her Tomoyo in the future.

"What's it like there?" Tomoyo gave a small knot a little tug before she freed her hands to wipe them on a cloth. Before the bandages had come, creams for the burns had, and some of it had been persistent in the act of sticking to Tomoyo's fingers.

"It's home, Sakura-chan. It's a nice large town nestled near a foot of a mountain. You can spend so long staring up into the peaks that you can make your neck sore," Tomoyo smiled at that like she knew exactly about that because she had done it. Sakura could see Tomoyo's face take on a nostalgic look while she subconsciously filed away her new name when Tomoyo was concerned.

"We get snow there every winter, and it's probably more than you've ever seen. It's colder than where you lived, that's for sure. Almost half the year you can see your breath turn into puffs of smoke. When that happens you go out everywhere wrapped up in cloaks, furs, and coats of all kinds, bundled up until you can reach a fireplace. If you're not careful you can get frost bite, and then you've got to rush to..." Tomoyo shook her head suddenly and laughed sheepishly at her tangent. "Sorry about that. I haven't thought about home in a while. She spoke so calmly, but Sakura vaguely thought she looked like she had just woken up from a bad dream although she hadn't look discontent during her little description.

"You haven't thought about it? I haven't been able to stop at all yet!"

"That's because you just left. It's hard to imagine, but the memories of your home are going to disappear. You're only going to remember a little about it no matter how hard you try." Tomoyo adopted a sympathetic look.

"How far have you been gone now, Tomoyo?" Sakura could not remember being so curious in her past. When had she started?

"I don't know for sure. I think more than a few months. I already told you that I don't think about it much."

"I just don't get it. How could you not? I don't really know about anything that's going on around here, but it seems boring. All you do is go around helping towns after they've been hurt?" Tomoyo laughed a little, stretching out her legs and staring at her toes as she flexed them.

"It's we now, Sakura-chan. You should try getting used to it. And no, it's not as simple as that. I guess it makes sense that I'm traveling with these elementalists because I'm okay with medicine, but I wouldn't be here if what you said was right." Sakura didn't stay quiet to see if Tomoyo was done or not.

"Well, then why? Why are we all here? I could be wrong, but," Sakura said as she leaned forward, comically staring intensely at Tomoyo before continuing, "I don't think you're an elementalist." Tomoyo twisted her fingers together, but Sakura didn't notice.

She was too busy thinking. Tomoyo was elementalist too, and so far she had found nothing to prove the hatred that people on the streets talked of constantly at her home. Daily news was full of it back there. Sometimes she'd open up her bedroom window, listening to some loud conversations on the matter or overhear her family talk about it. Her family had never pushed it, and often didn't see eye to eye with those who were prejudiced. Still, she had always thought and been under the impression that elementalists were bad people. She was starting to settle down here and worrying less that they'd hurt her. If she really was an elementalist, she had a fuzzy memory of someone proving it her, then maybe she'd fit in here.

"Wrong again! I am an elementalist; that's why I'm here. Let me explain something to you, okay?" Tomoyo had stood up, stretching her arms behind her back. She shot Sakura one glance out of her corner of her eye that had come back to listening to Tomoyo. The pale girl saw the nod she received before looking ahead again, out of the back of the cart she normally occupied. It turned out that Tomoyo made her residence in a cart that was full of medical supplies. It was sort of like an empty mini-infirmary, Tomoyo saying that other carts like this received more furnishings. The curtain above the doors had been drawn back which had let in some rain, but it offered a nice view through a picturesque rain storm.

"See, we are here under Clow Reed's program. This program is... well, like an apprenticeship. You take your element, and you train it. Now I know that you know about all these problems with the elements. The goal of this program is to fix those problems. Sure, we do work with the places that are in really bad situations after the elements have torn them apart, but that really isn't the point." Sakura had burrowed her hands in her skirt, entangling them in the process. Tomoyo had leaned against a wall and closed her eyes.

"We want to stop any of these problems from happening again. To do that, we need to get to the source of the problem. The elements. We train to tame the elements, but we aren't alone. You can hear many people right here talk about others. Other people out in the world try their own ways to fix things. It's easy to see no one's been successful. Clow Reed's program has been going on for a while now itself, and so far nothing has changed. Still, people like us join it, and we hope for the better.

"Of course, not all people believe in the same methods. Everyone that you'll meet in this traveling troupe agrees this is the best way except for one person. You met her, Rae Meilin. I'm not sure if she doesn't agree with Clow Reed's program because of something personal against him, or if she really doesn't believe in our methods. That doesn't matter though, it's just that we all try, and in our case, we keep trying. People will tell you we're crazy because the way we're taking so far has always meant death, but I think it's better to die trying than to just accept everything." Tomoyo took a pause and whether it was to breathe or to open her eyes, Sakura wasn't sure.

"I didn't tell you that last part because I wanted to scare you. I wanted to warn you. It's already been decided I was going to do this, but you weren't really given much of a choice. When we get to where we're going, you're going to be asked to sign up under your element. I'll be signing up under air, but I want you to think whether you want to dedicate years of or, maybe all of, the rest of your life to training water. Don't be pressured to do it. It's natural to be scared and nervous. Death is scary especially when you're so young. You can say no. There are a lot of people who would do the same thing, and many of them haven't even left their homes. They're the people, elementalists or not, that decide that they would want to live without the risk and just leave the world like it is. You can even stay with the program because you're offered options for those who want to help out who aren't elementalists. If you like medicine like me, you could spend time on that. You still get a home, job, and the food that an orphan like you needs."

Tomoyo pushed herself off the wall, but Sakura was concentrating about everything Tomoyo had just told her to really notice. There was a lot more to this than she had ever even dared to imagine.

"How do you know all this?"

"It's what I do. It never hurts to keep your ears and eyes open. You learn a thing a two. How else would I know you had water and were an orphan?" Tomoyo offered a hand down to Sakura who stared at it for a moment before taking it. She hadn't even thought of why Tomoyo would know her element or the state of her parents.

"Tomoyo, you sound like an older sister. How old are you really? Do you have a sibling?" Tomoyo cocked her head.

"How old are you, Sakura-chan?" She started her way towards the back of the cart, stopping momentarily to push open her small umbrella.

"I'm nine." Tomoyo clambered down, and she held the already at work umbrella over her head, keeping her mostly dry.

"Then I'm an only child whose one year older than you."

Sakura made her way down to the ground too, and she instantly sought the extended umbrella to share with Tomoyo. The sun was close to disappearing for the night by now. No longer was it just a little after noon when the sun was just beginning its descent down to the earth. They had both spent their time watching the bustling interaction and doing a little exploring around the town before Tomoyo and Sakura had gone off to bandage Sakura and find some suitable clothing for her. It was a little large, but it would do, and she didn't have to make due with charred clothing anymore. Over that course of time however, neither knew where Meilin and Syaoran had made off to on their own. It was hard to make out people in the midst of the activities. But now each stride brought them closer to their destination, and they couldn't avoid the consistent splashes their feet made on the way.

--e--a--

There was the slightest of puddles lapping gently against itself and the wooden floor as the cart continued to stumble along. Nothing seemed to deter it from its route except when a stop was in order. That instance had come when they had stopped for supplies. Then the carts remained motionless, blending in with their former kind: trees. But that time had passed, and now it was drifting through mud and stones alike as it dragged along the people who had taken a rest from the relentless rain inside of them.

Meilin was one of those occupants. She found herself on this endless rainy day inside a cart like all the others, leaning forward with an almost predatory smile, shifting her hands to get a better grip. She bent over a spot on the floor, studying the object carefully that was sticking out of the jumbled array that had spread out a little further than had been intended. She'd have a mess to clean up later, but for now, she wanted to finish this. She just had to make sure she didn't do something stupid.

"Meilin!" She jumped up and instantly covered what her hands were grabbing by protectively holding them up to her chest like a mother holds their newborn child. Meilin frowned warningly at the one who had interrupted her train of thought.

"You didn't see anything, right?"

"You say that every time, Meilin. I didn't see anything," Syaoran whined. Meilin held up her glare, but she settled down enough to decide what to do next.

"Good. Then you didn't see this coming." She proudly flung out one of her several possessions onto the floor, and then came a seemingly perfected and unified grumble. Then again, they had had a lot of practice.

When the rain came, it usually came in two very different ways if the elements weren't out of control. It could settle down to come and join the land for the entire day. Its second choice was to pay a nice short visit before disappearing and leaving some nice souvenirs behind, namely a little water. Although the former had the overwhelming tendency to leave behind too many gifts, and unfortunately, that was what was happening today.

The rain had been pouring down since yesterday when they had stopped for supplies, and it had made no sign of letting up any time soon. The dark, threatening clouds left the sun a recent memory for now. And the conditions being as they were, it was only natural for people to seek refuge. Meilin had returned to her self-proclaimed cart sweet home along with the cart's two other occupants after her brief escapade in the confusion of restocking. The three of them had brought in another straggler this time, but the temporary addition had come in quite pleasantly enough, having already been introduced to the threesome on very different terms. No one had come to object to Tomoyo's indefinite presence, and they had found themselves trying to pass the time in some entertaining way.

A pack of cards had provided the answer. Tomoyo had dragged it along with some of her other personal belongings from home, claiming she had taken her mother's advice on bringing the brightly colored objects. It was a wise decision when days like these came along. In fact, it proved itself a smart action practically all the time for most of the day was spent on the move. There wasn't much time to jump about, and children had to be occupied in some manner.

There was only one problem with it. Well, other than sometimes it got boring, but at least they sometimes picked up new games from the places they had traveled to. But no, that wasn't exactly the dilemma. It was that Meilin almost always won, no matter what the game. Naturally enough, this brought about the dissatisfaction of the other players.

Tomoyo wasn't exactly the most competitive spirit in the world, and she had resigned herself to playing just for the entertainment. Sakura, having never played cards until this day, had come in with the mindset of expecting to lose. So she had been left only slightly disappointed by Meilin's obvious winning streak. Syaoran, on the other hand, was by far the most upset of them all. Meilin and he had taken to a relationship where they usually tired to outdo each other. He had her beat under the elementalist category, but he was lucky if he won once or twice a day when she was playing. That was enough to leave him grumbling the loudest and frowning the most. He was doing it now, and it was for obvious reasons. Meilin had won another hand.

"I give up. I didn't think cards would be this hard," Sakura conceded, placing her collection of cards face down, readjusting her position to wrap her arms loosely across her knees.

"Meilin always wins; I don't why I keep trying anymore." Syaoran had sprawled himself out on his stomach, and he burrowed his head in his folded arms.

"You'd think one of us might win a little more. I wonder... how do you do it Rae-chan?" Tomoyo had sprouted a soft smile, and Meilin had half the mind that Tomoyo had actually figured it out. She changed her mind, however, upon studying her for another moment. Tomoyo was innocent enough, and no one had ever figured out what she'd been pulling off for years now.

"That's a secret." Meilin offered a small smirk, and she fanned out her winning hand with a flourish. Sometimes she likes to put on a show. Plus, it always grated on the losers' nerves. She liked to be the best. She didn't always get a chance to flaunt it.

Tomoyo already opened her mouth partially, ready to reply when the cart came to a rather abrupt stop. The sloshing of the mud as the wheels shifted it all aside stopped consequentially, but that had been barely heard it with the backdrop of pouring rain. All the same, it was a large difference in sound by itself, and on a sunny day with no strong gales, the ceasing of the sound would have left things oddly quiet. In this case, however, the rain certainly left nothing concerning sound to the imagination. Although by this time, the rain had let up a bit in intensity. It probably wouldn't be long until it started drizzling, which would be a welcome development.

Sakura leaned forward, letting her palms hit the floor. Her eyes trailed Syaoran who was already at the back of the cart, grabbing the end of the side wall for balance. His feet dug into the low set of doors to keep him safely inside as he swiveled his upper body around the wall to get a peak ahead of the cart. His head had turned back around to the other three, his face already showing evidence of the rain. He subconsciously flicked his wet bangs out of his eyes, but he made no move back towards where they were sitting.

"It's a town. It looks like we stopped to help. The ground's all shook up." He drew back the curtain for a moment before he jumped up over the low doors and out of sight. The curtain showed a glimpse of the slowly letting up downpour outside before it fluttered back to its customary place.

"Don't kill yourself, alright?" Meilin yelled after him, staring at the exact place he had just occupied.

Sakura sat up straight in her spot with an excited gleam occupying her eyes. What did this town look like? She had been barely paying attention to the scenery as they had moved on, and besides the stop for supplies, she hadn't seen another town than her own. This was all still very new to her young self. Now the curiosity of life outside her home was calling her name for the second time, and she stumbled after Syaoran calling out his name before unlatching the doors and jumping down to make her feet meet the ground. She turned around and hooked the doors shut again, hiding herself from Meilin and Tomoyo's view. They could, however, hear her muddy footsteps drifting farther and farther away until all that was left was the rain again.

But it didn't last long as other people's footsteps came in a frenzy. It was probably worse up ahead as their cart seemed to usually find itself in the back of the group. Meilin fetched a blanket in case of an emergency and settled back down in her spot.

"It must be something big. I think the rain will be joining a few screams tonight," Tomoyo sighed.

"I think it already has." Tomoyo shrugged at that, a little uncomfortable. She had yet seen anything first hand, and the prospect made her uneasy. They both knew death was going on out there somewhere, and they also knew they were letting two small kids out into the havoc, especially a girl that probably was not quite prepared for it. Still, this was what their lives had accumulated to now, and they weren't going to leave this cart tonight. They were sure they'd get more than enough details when those two came back. Those details would be nothing new either. Things like this always happened. Tomoyo opted though to change the subject.

"Li-san doesn't notice anything. Sakura-chan seems just as in the dark." Tomoyo had set about to readjusting her clothing. She had been raised to be meticulous about these things. Meilin looked over at her, studying her carefully. She only let her eyebrow rise once again. She had been doing that every time she heard Tomoyo call Kinomoto that. It was strange for her to hear it. As far as Meilin knew, the name change suddenly happened during the card games, but Sakura remained completely unaffected by the development.

"What are you talking about? They're kids, just like you."

"Yes, but you'd think they would notice eventually." Tomoyo shot Meilin her innocent smile. Meilin was beginning to question how authentic it actually was.

"Notice what?" Meilin didn't hide her narrowed eyes.

"That's a nice mirror there, Meilin. Did you pick it out yourself?" Meilin gave a soft frown to that. Tomoyo had her innocent smile reinforced. Well, she had been pretty stupid for underestimating Tomoyo, which meant she'd have a lot of explaining to do. The explaining she had been trying to avoid for a while now.

"Alright, fine. I've been using that trick for as long as I can remember. That doesn't mean that I'm no good without it."

"I didn't say that." Meilin sighed.

"I'm not sure if I'm regretting letting you call me Rae-chan or not, but it looks likely. Why don't we just play another game? No tricks." Meilin hoped to get Tomoyo's mind off of what she was expected to explain and on to safe territory.

"Alright, you deal." Meilin made fast work of that task, and they both set out to study their hand. Tomoyo never let her smile droop. "Eventually I'm going to get you to tell me why you address each other so casually. You don't talk as familiar with anyone else." Meilin paused in rearranging her cards, but she recovered.

"Focus on the game, Daidouji."

--e--a--

"Wait up!" Sakura at this point was panting. She was no professional when it came to physical activities like this. For so many years, her intelligence had been what had been stressed by her home schooling. Now she was being left in the dust. It didn't help that other people were running amok in the chaos that had descended in this unfortunate town.

In some ways, Sakura found herself spelling out her home in the landscape although it was most likely because of the great number of trees that dotted the area. Sakura liked nature herself, but she never really put her mind to the matter of learning the names of trees so now she could not name the predominant one here that she had seen back at home. However, the forested parts were not nearly as dense or numerous, and her home certainly did not have high cliffs. Some of the houses were even sketched into them, and others yet placed their foundations atop of the monstrosities. Up there Sakura would toss in her sleep over worry of falling off. Now those fears seemed to have taken flight. The town was obviously suffering from earth related problems. Even she could tell that.

The rain that was still ongoing had turned the ground into mud, and neither Syaoran nor Sakura in their haste had come prepared for either condition. Still, they did not turn back. This time Sakura had the benefit of Syaoran who seemed to run slower than Meilin had, but they still went to work in weaving through the series of abruptly stopped carts that were part of the elementalists' procession. However, there was also the disadvantage that came with the good.

When they had stopped for supplies a day ago, people had taken to leisurely coming out and in, but now as she ran she had to fend off a series of random people coming out and running in seemingly crisscrossed patterns around her. As she turned one corner, she'd always have to sidestep one or two people before catching sight of Syaoran again. Somewhere in the back of her mussed up brain was a very high pitch and shrill sound. Other snippets of words were beginning to worm through one ear and out the other. They were strains of noise that were easily forgotten as she relished in knowing and seeing that Syaoran was slowing down.

"...north of town is buried..."

"...block off all sources of flooding..."

"...if we run out of medical..."

"Li-san!" This time he was ever closer, and she had to stop in a moment's notice to avoid a collision. He turned around with bright eyes. They were the eyes of a child that was surrounded by more than he realized and could comprehend. Maybe he had seen death up close, but it didn't stop his outright curiosity. Sakura still had hers as a matter of fact, but she was more reserved when it was concerned. She wasn't exactly sure if they were allowed to be out here, getting drenched with muddy feet and legs as Syaoran pointed out what he wanted to do.

The trees here seemed to have been long ago swept over by some strong gale as only half their roots were still intact in the ground on one side, leaving the upper branches of the trees to hang over like dead weight on the complementary side. Syaoran was already struggling through the first foot of the deadly compact thicket. Apparently some of the trees were dense. Well, the majority of them weren't, but Syaoran apparently wanted to take this mostly unused path to get a closer look at what was going on in the town. It was probably to go basically unnoticed by the others that were darting off through a spacious area of the same forest. Going the way they were would lead to the edge of a clearing at the foot of one of the largest cliffs. Just thinking about approaching one of those daunting heights was giving Sakura a sickening feeling, but she followed on, getting a small break from the rain and mud as the water couldn't breach through here just as well as it could in the open. Unfortunately, once again a blessing came with a price. The number of scratches and scrapes her skin received from the contorted branches would have to be left unaccountable for at this point.

Syaoran didn't even seem to pause for a breath once as he rushed through with unrivaled perseverance. Well, at least it was in comparison to herself. She barely had the breath to call out his name and tell him to slow down a bit which he did very reluctantly. She'd have to work on this whole running for her life thing. The people she was meeting apparently did it a lot.

Before they had scrambled into the trees, the sun was making the final descent towards the earth, lengthening their shadows to as long as they could possibly stretch. The rain, the slanting sun, the taunting shadows, the accumulation of another town in distress, it was becoming a bit too much for Sakura. They scrambled for what seemed an eternity, caking their limbs in partial mud when they had to crouch on all fours. Beads of sweat came, and their clothing stuck like a second skin due to mostly the rain. Syaoran wiped off a stray leaf that had stuck to his head, smearing the filth across his forehead. Ahead came the sounds of unmistakable agony. Sakura's hands were trembling now, and as they moved like animals, she had to make sure her arms didn't give way to land her in the mud face first.

"Maybe... maybe we should go back." Curiosity was nothing compared to actually being out there. She had thought this would be an adventure, something she could have fun with. She should have known that stopping to give help would entail something like what had happened back in her town. The dams of her mind burst then, sending the pieces of memories she could remember, and she shuddered. And it wasn't because of the rain or the dropping temperature. Did this sort of thing happen all the time? She had heard it did happen, but did it with such frequency? Was that... possible?

"C'mon it's only a little farther. I think I see some more light up ahead. Besides, I heard them say this happened yesterday so there's not really any danger now." Syaoran was ever enthusiastic, and Sakura couldn't help but imagine him saying something very much similar as he unknowingly went off to his death. He didn't seem to know his own mortality or when to stop and turn back. Sakura certainly thought they had gone far enough at this point.

They scampered for about a fifty more feet before they did come to the open space, Sakura only poking her head out as she worriedly watched Syaoran step fully out. He gestured over, and she walked unsteadily, balancing her arms out as if she was on a tight rope, inching her way across the ground. The ground was cracked and uneven. That was the first thing she noticed. It was strange this condition had not found itself among the trees, but it stopped right at the edge of the clearing. It seemed purposeful, meant to happen in that specific area. She followed the jagged earth and found the entire town had been at its mercy. Some buildings had high and unnatural walls of earth around them, walling in those who lived there. Earth had swelled in what looked like patterns elsewhere to gather the fury of the sky. The water that had been collected met with dozens of ripples a second, and it was uncomfortable for Sakura to look at after a while.

They could see earth elementalists at work, pounding away the earth. Once they even had to cover their eyes in fit of coughing as the debris of one rather large explosion came hurtling at them. The site of the destroyed earth structure hadn't come from too far off, and Sakura was now hopping from foot to foot, paranoid of another one, partially already covering her face. Syaoran almost looked like a child in a candy shop, but Sakura by now what most definitely miserable. She couldn't get past the thought of anyone, especially someone she knew, liking this, but Syaoran did. Syaoran was on his toes, glancing in the distance and pointing in the direction.

"There! That's the north of the town that's buried." Sakura purposefully didn't look. Fortunately her head hadn't moved from the fragmented earth before he had finished his words. She didn't want to see anymore. She really wanted to go back. This had been a mistake.

"Li-san...?" He dropped his hand from its visor like position across his forehead. He turned to look at her quizzically as if he couldn't imagine why she was interrupting this. She grabbed at his loose sleeve at another charring of rock in all directions, and she tugged down gently. "Can we please-" The gentle, fragile voice she had spoken with was lost in an instant. A horrified, truly terrorized scream, overcame her vocal chords. She had never screamed so much in her life. She hadn't even offered one up in the confusion and chaos back in her burning hometown, but now there was nothing that could silence her. Dieing had barely even passed through her mind in that unimaginable fire. It was just the desire to get out. She hadn't questioned it. Now was so different.

Syaoran whipped around faster than she could have, but the oncoming eminent death had rumbled down the cliff much faster than Syaoran had turned. It had started at the top, taking a couple trees in its wake. It gained in its momentum as the compact dirt pounded down the irregular surface of the cliffs, approaching too fast. She couldn't even move; it was that frightening. It was rather large in terms of length anyway, and she completely feared that even with all of her small remaining energy she wouldn't make it out of its deadly range. She didn't have the stamina for this sort of thing. She didn't know how fast Syaoran was, but she at least hoped he wouldn't leave her there, good as dead. Subconsciously she tightened her grip on his shirt.

"Do something!" She changed her mindless yell into one of recognizable words, and Syaoran took the initiative. He knew what she meant. Meilin had said he couldn't use earth, but he'd prove her wrong.

He dug his feet apart into the disturbed earth, preparing his hands out in front of him and gave a yell to match her own. She could see the brown aura dancing along his taunt arms, and it moved forward, but it died away. Her screams became shriller as she stared in unsuppressed horror. Syaoran had lost consciousness. There was no hope now, and she couldn't very well leave him there in her in a vain attempt of escaping. It would only be upon dozens of more seconds before she wouldn't have to worry about this anymore. She wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again.

She threw her arms around her head, and she waited for the fate altering lurch, keeping her eyes closed to the point it was almost painful. She didn't have to wait long for something to happen, but it came in a way she hadn't expected. There was an unfamiliar burst of voice, almost like a small battle cry. Then the fallen earth slammed and ripped apart the ground so much that Sakura fell to the ground beside Syaoran, clutching him half out of fear and half out of offering some slight protection to his unaware body. But beside the cuts from the merciless trees and the bruises she knew would form from the none too pleasant fall to the ground, she was relatively unharmed. She could feel the stray pieces of the hurtling mass knot itself into her uncared for locks. She hadn't found her mind settled on her appearance much these last few days, but that was beside the point. She was alive. Well, she thought she was at least.

Sakura let out a breath she hadn't even known she was holding as her hands, buried slightly among the rocky and broken remains of rocks and earth alike, pushed her upper body from the ground until she was sitting up, surveying the situation. It was still raining, that she realized even before she found herself among a sea of rubble. There was a tree only shy of her figure by several feet. She was almost sure she had heard that impact the ground, but she knew she must be half-kidding herself. It would have been impossible to make out any singular noise in the final chord of the approaching danger. It had made quite a sound.

Her eyes were still blurring over the damage done when a figure poked itself out of the outspread chaos. It was a way off yet, far enough not to get the bulk of the disaster. The person brushed himself, or herself, off before taking lanky steps in Sakura's direction, looking well practiced in maneuvering over the mess. When the person came into better focus, she could tell it was a teenage girl who looked like she had the wind knocked out of her. Under her serious look, cheerfulness seemed to bubble as it threatened to break her neutral lips.

"You," she called, "sure have one hell of a scream." Sakura, well, she just didn't know what to say that. Or how to react.

Ambling over, her dirt laden face was only enhanced when she brushed her dirty beyond comparison gloves against the bridge of her nose. Sakura waited for her to do something, and she was not disappointed. This was a person who couldn't stand idle long, and she knew what had to be done even if she didn't want to do it. She bent over and threw the slumbering boy over her shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes and off she walked. Sakura followed uncertainly.

"So it's raining, the town is really unstable, and the danger's huge. Why are you wandering around here?"

"Um... we were curious." The stranger laughed at that, muttering something that sounded like 'curiosity killed the cat'.

"Okay, well I recognize this troublemaker, so I think I'm guessing right when I say that you're with us." She obviously didn't need a response to that. She was already walking back in the right direction without even appearing to wait for an answer. Sakura could make out the line of wooden carts from the current distance. She knew those all too well even after such a short time with them. People were still coming from that direction too, and they stared in dim interest at the teenager lugging an unconscious child with an obvious bounce in her step and an apparently meek one following in her wake. That only heightened Sakura's discomfort, and she took to staring at the ground to avoid tripping and the stares. She would have kept at it if not for the other's interjection.

"Where do I drop this off?" She said, readjusting her hold, flipping Syaoran upside down and holding him there (to which Sakura expressed her horror), before placing him back over her shoulder. Sakura lost her fear when all was back to normal with the older girl grinning. "So where?" She set about with a confused stare which sunk to frustration. She didn't actually know... the others had always leaded her back to where she needed to be. She hadn't thought about it.

"Near the back somewhere." That much she knew, and the teenager dramatically sighed but kept at it, turning to walk to end of the long line. They approached it at a fairly fast pace as if the girl was impatient of carrying her load now and ready to get back to the dangers the town promised to hold. Sakura knew that first hand, and she was able to relieve the stranger quicker than she would have thought possible as she recognized the horses that were grunting, pawing from foot to foot, ears perked up at the sky. They knew the rain was there, but they couldn't feel it, and Sakura supposed that would drive her slightly restless too. They rounded about to the back of the cart, and the taller girl used her free hand to swipe at the latch, swinging it open with a small creak. Sakura would have had to jump up onto the small connected step to get the same task done.

Sakura, however, did go in before the other girl even poked her head inside. Tomoyo was there, her hands running restlessly along a few cards as her foot tapped impatiently. Meilin was nowhere in sight, and she was about to bring it up when Tomoyo made eye contact with her, slightly shaking her head. Sakura got the message... to some ambiguous degree. Meanwhile, the stranger lightened her load, without stepping inside. She surveyed the cart with a slight frown, looking serious, before meeting Tomoyo's eyes.

"Hello there Daidouji-san. I would have expected better of you. Didn't think you'd let two kids run around getting killed." Tomoyo didn't look all that regretful, but the other girl seemed to think she got the message as she plowed on, "Don't worry about the boy; he just over did himself. These things happen." She made a point with meeting Sakura's eyes before continuing this time, "Don't be stupid." She directed her eye in Syaoran's direction before turning back and latched the door shut with a barely audible noise. Before Sakura even could blink, she was startled.

Meilin sprang up from underneath a pool created by a rather clumped up blanket. Sakura hadn't even imagined that Meilin would be hiding there. She was gasping for breath, patting down the hair that had become disheveled. She shared a glance with Tomoyo while Sakura looked between them. There was something going on there, but Sakura decided it was better to not talk about it. Syaoran was snoring distractedly (he seemed to have that habit), and she was already dying to get clean when she realized that she hadn't even thanked the stranger.

Just a note, the rules of honorifics seem to be off here. Also they, obviously, don't match what the anime maintained. Next chapter is entitled Arch.