Elemental Aeon
Kesshou Uryou

Act II
Chapter VIII
Encounter

Somewhere between the lines lay the answer to all his problems. There was always supposed to be another solution, one where you didn't have to think so much and it just came naturally to you. All you had to do was take a step back and look at the big picture. Then just wait for the pieces of the puzzle to come together.

Well, Syaoran had attempted the process. He had gotten fed up before any ideas had made itself known to him. The pieces hadn't wanted to converge to give him an all-knowing understanding of the matter. So he was forced to take orders as always, sometimes on the verge of him crossing the line he had established for himself and was expected by others to uphold. It hadn't actually crossed it since it had first held him back, but he was always dangerously teetering on the verge of it. That was just the way he was, and he had accepted it.

Still, he was prone to other disappointments that he was just now grudgingly recognizing. Life on the road was definitely not as exciting as he had once envisioned, for instance. Another was that he would never live up to his mother's expectations. The list could go on. In fact, it did.

One thing he was not sure how he felt about, however, was that Sakura had become his living shadow.

It was nice to have assured company, but Syaoran liked to partake into the depths of solitude more than the average person. She seemed to not know the meaning of the word at all, however, and seemingly refused to take the hints that were constantly thrown her way. She was there now, right beside him and rhythmically hitting the wood beneath her with her right foot. The other leg was held captive by her own arms, chin resting atop her knee.

It was not everyday you saw her so serious, but he had noticed that she did often get so after a planned or impromptu stop came at a place in need. She'd lose herself to the world for a while, then come back ready and eager to start her one-sided question game. One that apparently entailed her putting all her effort into it. A walking entity of endless questions, she was like that. He almost believed it too.

For now she was introspective, though, which meant that he should be savoring the moment. But instead he was distracted by the mingling of their fellow Elementalists and the village residents. They were friendly enough. Still, looking at their interactions made him want to just turn around and head home.

He wondered how far along reconstruction was or if they had at some point in time moved onto another location. When was the last time he had contacted her, anyway? No doubt his mother had not too long ago, but these types of conversations were not the ones that usually took center stage during their minimal meetings. They probably both rather not discuss it with each other. Still, it was always there, the curiosity that is, of what had transpired. Maybe he'd write a letter when he got home, then.

"Missing home too?" He was startled out of his thoughts by the girl. She had fully turned her head away from their limited visible surroundings to him.

Syaoran leaned back, his arms behind him to balance as he broke eye contact to further examine the happenings. "What makes you say that?"

"Because there's this look on your face." He threw her a questioning glance that Sakura understood. He was actually a little surprised. She wasn't exactly the best at interpreting anything whether it was a facial expression or not. "I think I look a little like that when I think about home too." Her explanation was presented as if it would explain everything. It pretty much did.

"You know, I don't know about your home at all. You've seen mine… well, what was left of it, but I'm curious. What's it like?" Sakura inquired, but she knew it was a request he may just deny her of. And for a while, it seemed liked he had.

"The sea," was what he finally answered her with.

"Sea?" She wasn't following.

"It's a seaside town." That only brought more questions to fill her restless wonderings. He sensed it and suddenly felt very drained of what had been left of his energy.

"The sea..." She got an inquisitive, excited look and her eyes became wide with the childish delight she had never really grown out of. Her mouth was already gaping, lips curved to start forming words, but then her shoulders drooped slightly She turned to study him then sighed. "Don't want to talk about it?"

So maybe he was a bit more transparent then he had thought. He realizing the possibility of it, however, only left him grouchy. "Please."

--e--a--

Nothing had changed. He shouldn't have expected it to. After all, routes didn't end in a week. They usually lasted for a month or sometimes even longer as they went from one location to the next. He had accepted the fact that this one of the larger ones, entailing Elementalists from all four varieties. That only meant it was a longer time away from home. Not that he minded that much.

Still, Sakura's company was almost as dependable as the elements wrecking havoc. Which, was to say, a lot. And here they were, in a town, stocking up and pretending they weren't Elementalists in the first place.

"So did you fish?" Sakura was again the disturbing, disrupting factor as they ate. He had opted for the safe and recognizable food choice. She was partaking in some foreign and mangled-like delicacy. She was unfazed by it, unlike he who could barely look at it.

"What?" It was also noted that she was eating quickly, stuffing herself. He, of course, was set at a much slower pace as they sat on the porch of the small store where they had purchased their meals. Food rations could get very bland, very fast.

"Well, you said you lived in a seaside town. What did you do? Fish?" She looked innocent enough, cocking her head to the side and chewing. She could only see him out of the corner of her eye from this position, but she did just that and watched his face take on an incredulous expression. Then she laughed, followed by realizing that it wasn't such a good idea as she began chocking.

Syaoran had to come to her rescue, hitting her across the back until she could breathe again. "I told you that thing could kill you." She only laughed again at this, thanking him politely before she lost the ability to speak altogether. "And what's so funny?"

"I just realized it was a very stupid question. Your family might have done it for a living or something, but there's no way you would have ever done it." He didn't know why, but somehow he felt he should be offended. He instead raised an eyebrow. She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeved arm. "You have absolutely no patience."

"Why does everyone keep saying that? Mother and Meilin tell me that enough. I don't need to hear it from you." Sakura took sympathy over his frown, but couldn't bare to stop her smile even if it seemed a little rude. It wasn't like he didn't have his own moments where he'd take every chance to irk her.

"They say it because it's true." A pause, and then, "But sorry. I shouldn't rub it in your face so much. We all have our faults. If it makes you feel any better, Meilin doesn't either. Have any patience, I mean."

"You don't have to tell me that. You saw what she's been like lately." It was true. Meilin had apparently decided, for the most part, that human interaction was not a necessary part of life anymore. She was almost always to be found locked up in her room. When she's not, she's doing some errand for Clow or was in the process of getting more books. She had long ago gotten to the point that she was sneaking them out to avoid the maximum three books at a time lending rule. No matter what, however, she managed to get her hands on the supposed all-important next reading source.

Reading was becoming the bane of her existence. Syaoran was actually a little worried about what had happened to the old Meilin. The one from before she had started growing up a little too fast. She just read, trying to achieve and finish whatever the hell she had become indulged in. It had to be assumed there was no patience on her part. Only she was prone to frustration very easily, and she was apparently not making much progress in what she was trying to accomplish.

Sakura had a comment back on the real subject on hand. In fact, she had several. Still, she instead took a small bite of her questionable meal and looked skyward at the cloudless stretch of blue. She opened her mouth then closed it. Finally, she decided on what she wanted to say and how to say it.

"The only reason I asked was because I really don't know you that well when I think about it. So I started wondering where you came from and what it was like there. But I think you just don't like talking about it."

Syaoran himself had to think about what to say. What she had said would explain her constant presence since they had left. Actually, he felt a little bit guilty at being sort of difficult about the matter. But she didn't need to know that. And just as he had formulated the correct answer in his mind, she spoke again.

"Ah, look! You're about to drop it." Her head was bowed with a look of juvenile determination playing across her face as she pointed at the offending object: his half-eaten meal. Instinctively he tightened his hands around it, his own sigh of relief blending with her own.

"You should be more careful, Syaoran." He nodded absentmindedly like he had heard the words a million times before. That was, until it registered in his mind. She looked at him from her profile standpoint looking more mischievous than he had seen her in a long time with a look of self-satisfaction.

"You can argue all you want. I'm not taking no as an answer. This is what you get if you're not going to talk." Syaoran almost knew better than to complain. But he didn't. And she didn't expect him to.

In the end, though, she won. He almost always let her win. Even when he really didn't want her to. This just happened to be one of those times.

--e--a--

"I hope this is the last trip for the supplies." Syaoran knew it was Sakura that had spoken, but he was incapable of actually seeing her speak at the moment. The stack of boxes she was carrying completely obstructed her upper body from view. He, on the other hand, was stuck with sack after sack. He was ready to keel over himself.

Melin's words about being Elementalist almost seemed to come true at moments like these. It really could be a very unglamorous life.

"It better be." He had promised that he'd walk ahead of her, clearing a path so she wouldn't stumble into perfect strangers along the way back. Now, however, he was regretting it a bit. She was walking at a very noticeably slower pace and his back was killing him. He just wanted to dump these things off and be done with it. Instead he was stuck traveling at the pace of a sickly old man. Actually, from the looks of things, one right over there was passing them. Needless to say, all his patience was sapped.

"Can you hurry up just a little?" He craned his neck backwards, making good of the sentiment that her face was fully hidden from his view.

"I don't want to topple over and lose my balance. You've already called me a klutz enough for one lifetime." Well, it was true, and Syaoran couldn't deny it. Still, they really were going too slow.

"But just a little faster." She made a non-affirmative noise. "C'mon, old people are looking fast." He knew she'd probably be laughing by now, but she wasn't. For some reason, she left a bit of tension in the air. She sounded very dead beat when she spoke again.

"Fine, fine." He breathed a sigh of relief. "On one condition." He should have known. He didn't need to look at her to know she was now smiling.

She was going to tease him. He was sure. "Say my name." He was right. He'd give no fulfillment to her request.

"It's just one little word." Now she sounded serious, and he was glad he couldn't see her face. He knew from experience she'd have that face on that he couldn't say no to. But just thinking about that, made it easier to cave. It only took a few more pleads before he consented

"…Sakura." Still, he wouldn't give her the privilege of hearing him saying it in a happy tone. He prided himself over the fact that he sounded like the undead.

Unfortunately, it didn't faze her. She was pleased. "See? That wasn't so hard." And suddenly she was much faster. She was quickly on the verge of passing him, seemingly uncaring towards the fact that she couldn't really see where she was going. Then it clicked.

"You planned that from the beginning, didn't you?" His tone sounded more confused than accusatory, much to his displeasure. He corrected it in his less intelligent follow-up question. "Right?"

"What are you talking about?" She had that grin that meant she was up to something. She wasn't even trying to hide it as she turned around to let him see her face perfectly.

"Stop acting like you don't know," he shot back before he could comprehend what he was saying. It didn't matter. There were no other words he would have said in replace of those.

She had a very silly grin on. It didn't quite match her words, and it left him staring at her back as she jostled past those threatening to make her drop her assortment of supplies. "I have my moments."

He actually found that it seemed he had more trouble from dropping his temporary cargo than she did, which was simply not right. His next words were filled with light spite. "Tomoyo and Meilin are a bad mix of role models."

She was only a reasonably small distance away from where they were supposed to unload the items in their possession when she stopped dead in her tracks. The people parted around her, and he was left staring and jealous. She wasn't even trying, and everyone was now crashing into him as he stumbled in keeping his load from falling all across the busy market's ground. Everything would surely get crushed if that happened.

"Hmm? Did you say something Syaoran?" It sounded too innocent to be real, but she made it work.

"Forget it." He couldn't resist the temptation as to roll his eyes. It was too appealing. She believed him, or at least she pretended to, as she closed the remaining gap and set down what she had carried over through the crowd.

He followed suit, relieved when they were told that that was all they were needed to do, and they would be leaving within an hour now. Sakura looked as glad as he felt, and instantly took a seat upon one of the precariously stacked crates. From up their, she was easily able to literally look down at him.

That of course, made him feel a little more insignificant than he would have liked. He was left with the one option of climbing up after her. Sakura wasn't surprised he had followed and took up the occupation of swinging her feet back and forth. Syaoran thought it was only smart to warn her of the impending consequences of doing so.

She slowed down a bit, but she didn't altogether stop. No, her mind seemed elsewhere.

"I've been thinking." Syaoran himself thought that she'd been doing that a little too much lately where it wasn't needed. When she ever did consider a topic, it usually granted her full attention. And as far as he knew, it was mainly focused over at him as of late.

"And?" He knew he would regret later, but her statement called for some sort of reply.

"Tomoyo said she thought that you and Meilin knew each other before you two joined the program. Well, you joined. Meilin kind of snuck on, didn't she? Because we had to hide her until we got here." So Tomoyo, ever the observant individual, had spoken to her best friend. It didn't sound criminal, but its implications did.

"Yeah, she did try. That didn't work out so well." Sakura pouted, chin in her right hand in getting her message of frustration across.

"That wasn't really what I was asking."

"You ask too many questions."

"Only because you never tell me anything." She sounded defensive and yet, at the same time, demanding. He had no idea how she pulled it off. With this in mind, he kept silent, moving his arms behind his head as he looked at the merchants doing what they did best.

"Well…?" Syaoran almost smirked triumphantly. She sounded unsure of herself now. Then she recovered, which halted the silent and inner victory dance. "Say something!"

"What do you want me to say?"

Sakura felt like she was attempting to persuade a bull to do her bidding. "Tell me if Tomoyo's right." He still said nothing, which made her look away and adjusted her voice for what she hoped would make him take the bait. "I guess she's right. I had to work so hard to get you to let me call you Syaoran-"

"More like force me."

"-and then for you to call me by my first name-"

"Tricked me."

"-so I can't help but agree with Tomoyo. You two definitely knew each other before." Correcting her when all he could see was her turned back was oddly dissatisfying. And now that she had finished, it was more than expected that he'd have to say something back.

"So what if we did? It's not like we're trying to hide it anyway. Well, actually Meilin did say something about not telling people, but you already figured it out anyway." He was glad the option of eye contact had been eliminated. However, it was back in full force as she whipped around, pointer finger in his face in her act of glee.

"Ah hah! You admitted it." Syaoran frowned, a little uncomfortable at how close she was, but it hid well under his lackluster, unaffected face. Sakura smile drooped, looking away and leaning back. "Hmm… wasn't as fun as I thought it would be to get you to say it."

"You make it sound like I'm just some kind of game." She laughed at that, rocking back and forth in what became a little too much motion. Her newly-found worries culminated into a small yelp before Syaoran got a hold of her upper arm. Still, the damage was done.

"Good thing you're not. It would be a really boring and long one." She glanced down at the few crates that had fallen and split open. Thankfully food wasn't among their contents, and nothing looked damaged. She slid down to the ground cautiously, already at work to amend her mistake. "But thanks anyway. It would have been worse if you hadn't helped me out." She smiled up at him until he had to look away, face reddening until he remembered her previous comment.

He lowered himself down too, helping her restack what had been affected by her hasty action. "You're more trouble than you're worth. You insult me and I have to save you from being a klutz at the next second."

Her cheeks puffed out indignantly at his words, and he actually couldn't stop the earnest smile at seeing her like that. Then she took a calming and deep breath and slowly let another smile settle across her lips. Syaoran's eyes were everywhere else once again.

"I guess I had that coming." Syaoran had no argument there. "But still it was worth it. I'm going to find out how you tick, mark my words." Unfortunately, Syaoran was a little worried she really would. Then he realized he didn't even know why that was such a devastating thing in the first place. He supposed it was just his nature to be secluded and defensive.

--e--a--

They had heard about them. It was impossible to not have. They just had never seen them before. And for some reason, both had never expected to.

It was probably mostly because of the fact that both Sakura and Syaoran were admittedly new to this form of travel they had just been introduced to. Another contributing factor was they'd never been on such long routes, which only could increase the chances of stumbling into these people. And stumble into them they did.

Not literally, of course.

Fate had also conspired to make their passage intersect with Clow's own, much smaller one. So here he stepped forward to take control of the situation. Sakura stood off, retreating from the thick crowd that was too dispersing. She had no idea whether or not it was normal for two parties to confront each other or not, but here it had happened and she quickly sought out Syaoran to see what he thought of the matter.

He was not hard to spot out. He had a tendency to remain where it wasn't packed by people. She approached him, grabbing at his left arm and leaning toward where Clow stood and was preparing to talk with the other party.

"You think they do this a lot?" Syaoran would have complained when she set her chin to rest on his shoulder, but he was already distracted. He was trying to figure out if there was anyway to get out of keeping post back at their brief settlement. Once again, he didn't have the tolerance to put up with what he didn't agree with. Sakura had already tried to sympathize with him, but had ultimately failed. She called it luck, but the fact remained that she was doing something, and he, on the other hand, would be doing nothing.

"I don't know." Sakura fought back the frown at his reply with a complete lack of enthusiasm. She would have had another go at cheering him up, however slightly, but she was interrupted from someone speaking behind them.

"They usually do. They can't ignore the plain truth that the other exists." Sakura twirled around, wisely letting go of Syaoran to not drag him along in her motion. Upon recognition, she offered a slight dip of her head.

"Hello Hiirigizawa-san." He acknowledged her with the inclination of his head, offering a raised hand in greeting.

"Kinomoto-san, Li-san." Sakura was actually mildly surprised he remembered their names. They had only been introduced before when he, tagging along with Clow, had met up with them. Still, she was diverted from this by returning her thoughts back to where Clow stood. Syaoran, on the other hand, was not, being already agitated by the presence of Clow's apprentice. It was something he himself could not justify.

"I bet you're really used to this then, huh?" Sakura queried, playing up the part of the oblivious bystander to Syaoran's somewhat annoyance. No need to spur conversation with the newcomer any further.

"I should hope by now that I would be. You see there. Do you know who that is?" He offered a finger in the right direction, and Sakura bit her lip in thought. Syaoran took a reluctant turn of his head in the correct spot, discontent clearly marring his features. He figured the dislike on his part had something to do with the other's smile. It just didn't fit.

However, they both considered the question for a moment. Those other there had long been dubbed stray Elementalists by themselves, but they often weren't. When they were, they usually traveled alone or in small groups, typically making profit off of their "gift" where they were welcomed.

These people however were not a few in number. But at the same time, they did not nearly meet their larger numbers. They seemed a closer knit and a smaller workable group of Elementalists, traveling by two concise, canvassed wagons.

Sakura eyes squinted to get a better glance at the apparent leader of the stranger's group. Syaoran tried to remain disinterested, but even his curiosity took over. Sakura eventually whipped her head back around, ready to speak.

"To tell you the truth, we've never seen other Elementalists." She exchanged a look with Syaoran and another glimpse at the strangers. "We've heard about them, but there's no way we'd know who that is. Right Syaoran?" The question at the end was to clarify that he knew nothing more on the matter than she had. He nodded in response, eyes back to the scene of interest.

"Really? Then you must have recently started out in your travels. There are many people on the road too although you might not recognize them as Elementalists. Several times you'll confront groups though." Eriol was talking from experience, and they could tell. He came to stand beside them, to Sakura's left to Syaoran's relief. Basically this meant that he'd be blocked out of sight by the girl standing between them.

"That woman there is a leader of a more well-known group of Elementalists. It's nothing as huge as ours, but it has its advantages if you're looking at it that way." Sakura cocked her head to look at Syaoran before they both looked on in renewed interest. Somehow, Syaoran was suddenly the one who was more interested in the matter.

--e--a--

"Clow Reed." She stood at full height, an adamant small frown pulling at the corner of her lips. Being known for a bit of a haughty and stubborn streak suited her now as it always did, but she offered her hand in well-meaning. It was her sign of acknowledgment where she thought it was deserved not to mention that it could be considered downright disrespectful and to do otherwise for certain reasons.

Clow took her outstretched and upturned palm in good-natured handshake, a small smile gracing his lips. "Madoushi."

The inevitable reaction was her letting go, and the hint of a smile as her arm went slack by her side. However, there was no erasing the disconcerted look that haunted her face.

"It's been a while, mhm? Still keeping up your far-fetched set of ideals, I see. And being unwanted and fierce competition while you're at it. You're never going to change are you?"

"Neither are you." She matched his look with the opposite kind: an uneasy one. She then momentarily lost her troubling emotions and chose to concede to his statement.

"Very true. Anyway, we could catch up, but I think you'd rather get back to your little followers over there. I have things to attend to as well." She appeared to be ready to brush him off and close the conversation completely, but it was not over yet. Clow had a few more words to spare.

"That's right. It is always interesting when we cross paths. We never fail to compete for the commission, and I doubt this time will be any different." He let her interpret it as she would, and she took the opportunity to do so.

"Is that a challenge? You may have beaten me out of it last time, but it won't happen again. Quality over quantity. You should remember that. I don't need little sacrifices to parade around for me to prove anything." Her eyes had hardened, tongue rolling off her words passionately. Clow folded his arms in a slow deliberate and seemingly perfectly calculated motion as if each blink of an eye had been long since planned.

"You're mistaken if you think that. This is just how the path has been set. And you yourself should remember I have both quality and quantity."

Madoushi was shaking her head as if the thought was almost laughable. "You've known what I've thought for a long time. I don't agree with your methods." Clow looked like he was about to interject, but she plowed on. "Then again, I admit my own methods offer no real solution as of yet. But I know someday this will end. I only need to find out where and how." This time he did he did verbalize what he wanted to convey as she panned off.

"The future is unclear for a reason. You best realize that and do something about it now." Madoushi looked like she understood where his words were coming from, but an obstinate nature and contradicting standpoint were all she needed to disagree.

"If that translates to me having to use your methods, then you should have never opened your mouth. It isn't intentional, I know, but you can't change the truth. What you do is sick and disgusting, and I want no part of it."

--e--a--

Syaoran had learned of some rarer conversed details from Eriol although accepting the information from him was a bit unsatisfying. He made it clear he took it grudgingly to which Eriol only had a smile for in response.

The plan had to be stake this place out as it was a rather prime target recently for absolutely any elemental devastation. Eriol had said that the money they received for their work on duty was from what individual towns and villages paid.

Sakura had taken the news a little depressingly. She had not seemed prepared for what Syaoran had suspected for a long time. Sakura relayed that Meilin had said Elementalist hatred had started with Elementalists becoming known as money grubbers due to getting their payment with completion of their assigned task or not. Therefore, the realization that they were really no better left her a little off put.

To that, Eriol had a few words. "Clow has left everyone a bit ignorant." Syaoran did a double take at the smiling youth at that, but the apprentice kept face like nothing had transpired. Syaoran knew well that he was only a year older than both of them, but he spoke like he knew more than he should whether it be by standards of age or anything else.

Sakura blinked at the previous circumstance but left it at that, eager to get more answers on things that she was unsure of or had no clue about.

Eriol had eventually excused himself much to Sakura's disappointment and to Syaoran's relief. The departing young teen met up with Clow as he was finishing his conversation with someone by the name of Madoushi. It apparently hadn't ended on the best of notes, but Syaoran supposed that was to be expected. If what Eriol had been right, they were competing for the funds for their lifestyles.

All that had taken place two days ago. Over the time, curiosity was once again what had caused him to keep a keen eye on the other Elementalists. They definitely operated differently. Words exchanged in terms of apparent commands seemed to flow and things were spoken in a less practical, more personalized manner.

Syaoran had had a long time observe. Sakura took up his free time when she was around, but usually she was somewhere in town, absorbing the new experiences like a sponge did water. Otherwise, Syaoran spent his time idle, knowing that if something happened where they had settled, he'd surely know by some sign of impending danger. There was nothing now and so he watched.

And the more he watched, the more he had to wonder. He really did wonder.

--e--a--

Sakura was exuberant. And when she was, there usually was only one solution. She had to talk about it. And talk about it, she intended to do. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that maybe Syaoran wasn't the best one to relate the events to. After all, he had been upset that he hadn't come along. But he was the only one here that she knew well enough to deem a friend, which automatically made him the target of her rant of success.

She was surprised, however, when he wasn't where he usually took up his spot, waiting out time in his usual thoughtful mood that she'd have arouse him from. No, he wasn't there at all now, to be reawakened to reality or not. So she immediately set out to find him as any curious and growing concerned friend rightly should.

The search lasted longer than she had expected, and it certainly had ended where she hadn't thought it would. She approached tentatively, the questions already easy to be seen written across her face.

"Syaoran?" He turned around, his expression almost like one having been caught in the midst of some childish act of misbehavior before his attitude changed to one with resolve with a hint of an apologetic tone. She only had more questions at that. "What are you doing?"

"I'm pretty sure you can tell, Sakura." She shook her head feeling a little lightheaded.

"I don't understand." Syaoran sometimes had a problem with meeting her eyes, but this time it was for an entirely different reason.

"I heard that everyone's heading out of town." She nodded her agreement at his words, slowly. It was true. That was what she had been told after the mild disaster. She herself was happy, but she was lost as to why many of the Apprentices were somber and some were even crying. She herself was happy. It was time for the Elementalists to find another habituation for a source of income. Time to leave this place. But something wasn't quite right here.

"So I guess we'll be going then," he continued on. Sakura knew. She probably knew from the first glimpse of him standing there, but this was the moment it finally sunk in.

"You're kidding." She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt like crying. Syaoran looked a little torn, but she knew him. His mind had been made up, and that meant there was no changing it now.

"Bye, Sakura."

No prompts, no tricks, no teasing. She had hoped she'd get him to say her name that way eventually, but she hadn't wanted to resort to this. They were already packed up, and he soon became just another shadow amongst strangers. Because that's what he had chosen to be.

She was frozen a while like that, watched them depart, eventually headed back to where she still belonged. Taking a shaky breath, she clutched her hands tight, and allowed herself to look back just once. A few tears were shed, but it was almost a rueful smile that she wore.

-End Act II-

Time for a little insight, I suppose. Along with additional confetti for another act done! Anyway, I wanted to get a more Syaoran-centric chapter in so we'd get some more perspective on him alone. I pretty much liked how it turned out. Bits and pieces of SS interaction. Eriol appears. Clow speaks. Madoushi enters.

And to all who didn't see that coming there at the end… My work here is done (for now). It feels good to know that my plot really has kicked in! Soon it shall thicken, or so I hope. Check my profile which is regularly updated on my chapter stats.

For now, patience as school progresses is all I ask. Oh, and possibly a review. You might actually want to know what happens next now, right?