Fai pulled himself up, and with great pains, walked back to the door and put a hand on Mokona's shoulders. "Moko-chan," he said hesitantly, and the small boy turned and threw his arms around Fai. The magician nearly fainted but managed to stay on his feet.

"We have to get out there!" Mokona wailed.

"We can't, Moko-chan," Fai tried to be reassuring, but was hampered somewhat by the fact he could hardly breathe.

Mokona heard how strained Fai's voice was and pulled away, wiping tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. "Are you - alright, Fai?" he asked weakly.

"I'm more worried about Syaoran," Fai answered gravely, turning his head toward the center of the room.

Akane lowered Syaoran onto the floor and stepped back, gesturing at Takaki. The young doctor rushed forward and kneeled by the boy. "Oh no," he moaned. "This is bad, this is very bad..."

Mokona leaned forward and gasped. Four deep grooves sliced open Syaoran's chest. He had slipped into unconsciousness, and blood was staining the floor around him.

"You can fix him, can't you?" Akane demanded harshly, and Takaki turned to stare at her with wide eyes and an anxious expression.

"Fix him? He's dying, Akane, and I'm not some miracle worker! The, the wounds are too deep, they hit organs, arteries, there's nothing I can do!" He clenched his teeth together to stop himself from babbling and turned back to Syaoran, hoping vainly that there was something he could do.

Fai stared numbly at the body of his companion, the boy who had wanted only to save his love and had worked so hard and given up so much to achieve this goal. He barely felt Mokona leaning back toward him in shock. His thoughts were far away, lost in his frozen past, and the only coherent thought he had was that the one thing he had always wanted to do, the thing he had never been able to do, was to heal.

Akane was glaring at Takaki. "You - you can't do anything? He's going to die?"

"Stop saying that!" Mokona yelled, and everyone in the room turned to look at him in surprise. He was hardly an inch over four feet tall, but he bristled and stamped his foot and seemed larger and more intimidating. "He's not going to die!"

"I'm sorry, but sometimes things happen and no one can do anything about it," Takaki tried to break it to him, but he was having none of it.

"No! He - Yuko! Yuko can help!" The boy shut his eyes and breathed hard for several seconds. "It's not working," he breathed out. "Fai-san, it's not working."

Fai wrapped the small boy into a hug and thought quickly. What could do this? Is it because he's a human, or because of the spell on the temple?

He looked up, examining the spell around the building to see if it guarded against magic as well as physical attacks - and noticed the haunted, devastated look on Akane's face. One would have thought that it was her friend dying on the temple floor. Her lips were moving silently as she looked at Syaoran, and she shut her eyes and her mouth simultaneously.

"Syaoran can't die," Mokona muttered, regaining a grip on himself.

"He won't," Akane said shortly, and the men shot her several questioning glances, which she ignored. She knelt next to Takaki and gruffly asked him to move back.

"What are you - " he began.

"Please, just do it!" she said, a note of hysteria in her voice, and he obeyed, though he watched her with clear worry.

"Yuna guide us," she prayed, and added so quietly that Fai had to strain his ears to hear, "Don't let this be a mistake."

She placed one hand lightly on Syaoran's chest and traced a circle around it with her other hand. Fai was the only one not surprised when a soft light began to glow, illuminating the boy and the woman and filling the temple. It grew brighter, until they had to squint and shut their eyes - and then it was gone, and with much blinking they were all able to see again. Their eyes fell on Syaroan, who sat up with an expression of confusion on his face and his chest whole and unmarred. Akane was sitting beside him, her face in her hands.

"Magic?" Mokona asked, but was happy to worry about details. For a moment, he even stopped worrying about Kurogane and Sakura. "Syaoran, you're okay!" He launched himself at the young man, who stood shakily and braced himself just in time.

"What happened?" he asked, looking around him. "Where's Sakura?"

Mokona's face fell, and he opened his mouth to explain, but was interrupted.

"Magic!" Touya spat the word venomously. The soldier who had helped him reach the temple strode forward and grabbed Akane off the floor. She was in no mood to be touched, and shook him off with a snarl.

"You filthy bitch!" he yelled in her face. "You're a spy!"

"No I'm not!" she yelled back.

"You just used magic! In the temple! You're a traitor!"

"No I'm NOT!" she repeated, her face turning white with fury.

"You - " he grabbed her arm again, and this time she slapped him.

"A boy was going to die! I saved him! What's so wrong with that?"

Fai interceded. "They tell us magic is forbidden in your village."

Akane looked as though she might slap him, too, but she wrapped her arms around herself and answered, "It is," trying to keep her voice level.

The secret magician raised an eyebrow. "Well, we're grateful for what you've done for us, don't get me wrong, but I have to wonder why you've been lying to us."

"Why you've been lying to all of us," Yukito added meaningfully.

"None of your damn business," Akane replied furiously.

"I disagree," Touya said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You just committed a crime -"

"I had no choice! Do you think I wanted to?"

"That's not the point," the raven-haired man continued. "You didn't just learn how to do that; you knew already, which means you've practiced magic before, and that is a crime."

"Is this really the time and place for this?" Fai said, smoothly sliding into the conversation. "Our friends are out there, and so is your priestess."

Yukito and Touya looked a little embarrassed that they had forgotten this. The other warrior, who Fai thought had been called Kazuki, was still glaring at Akane. Takaki was carefully looking at Fai and his companions and away from the redhead, who was giving the magician a grudgingly grateful nod.

"Sakura is still out there?" Syaoran exclaimed.

"I'm afraid so," Fai answered. "She and Kurogane didn't make it inside in time."

"In time for what?"

Akane answered before Fai could. "Tomoyo asked for Yuna's blessing to be placed on the temple, to protect it from the wolves."

Fai looked very closely at the woman. She looked miserable and determined. So that's how it is, the blond mused.

"They fell behind," she added guiltily.

"You abandoned them, you mean," Kazuki muttered under his breath.

"I didn't!" Akane rounded on him. "She FORCED me to! And it isn't my fault the girl went outside! She had no business jumping onto a battlefield!"

"This isn't Sakura's fault," Mokona said, placing his hands on his hips and glowering. Because he was still learning the subtleties of human facial expressions, the look didn't have the effect he intended, but it was enough for the jumpy and beleaguered Akane.

"Yes, it is! She knew what was going on out there. If she wasn't prepared to risk death, she should have stayed where it was safe." Syaoran opened his mouth to argue, but she didn't give him the chance. "And if your tall friend hadn't had to defend her, he would have made it inside as well! Now they're all out there, and they could DIE."

"We're all scared, but that doesn't mean you have to blame Sakura," Syaoran said when Akane was drawing a breath. She exhaled and breathed again, shallowly, before retreating to the opposite side of the room and punching the wall, hard.

"More importantly," Syaoran addressed the other people in the temple, "How do we help them?"

"I'm afraid we can't," Yukito gulped. "We can't get outside."

"You've tried?" Syaoran asked, determined to keep his hopes up.

"Yes," the silver-haired man nodded. "We can't get through the door."

"There has to be a way," he reflected, and he sounded so sure of himself that no one felt able to contradict him. On the contrary, they felt reassured.

"Tell me about these 'blessings,'" he started.

"What do you want to know?" Touya asked suspiciously.

He considered this carefully. "Last night Takaki told us that there were safe places, in the forest, that your enemies couldn't get to."

"That's not exactly true," Yukito explained. "We don't know if the Venians - the forest dwellers - could get through the barriers. As far as we know, they've never tried. The blessing guards specifically against the wolves. You see, the Venians rarely attack us. They usually send the wolves."

"But the wolves did manage to get through," Syaoran stated. "How?"

The men shared a look, before Touya carefully answered, "We don't know. It shouldn't have happened."

"Could they have found a way to break it?"

"The wolves aren't intelligent creatures," Yukito said, shaking his head. "It's unlikely they could have. Although, it's possible that the magicians found a way. Tomoyo-san said that lately they have been getting more powerful. I don't know if that means they would be able to do something like this."

"But they would be able to change the weather? Have they done anything like that before?"

Yukito shook his head again, but Kazuki spoke out harshly. "They have. When they attacked Tansav." For the benefit of the travelers, he added, "They destroyed that village a year ago. In the middle of the day it suddenly became dark and began to rain."

"But something like that would take a lot of magic," Syaoran mused. "Probably enough magic to break through Yuna's protection." Something occurred to him. "You said they never tried to get through the protection and into the safe areas before," he reasoned. "Even though it's on their territory. They attack your villages instead. Why is that?"

"They can't?" Yukito guessed. "They obviously can now, but maybe they couldn't before."

"But they never even tried?" Syaoran frowned. "That seems odd. There's something different now, and it isn't just their ability."

Touya cast an scrutinizing look over the boy and didn't seem to like what he had seen. "Then what else could it be?"

"I'm not sure," Syaoran remarked. "Right now, that's not the most important thing, either. We just need to figure out how we get out of here. You're sure the door doesn't work?" he asked, walking over to it and trying to pass a hand through. As it had before, the air proved to be solid. "This doesn't normally happen at the safe spots, does it?" he frowned. "I mean, we got in just fine, and so did you."

"Maybe the need is more urgent, so the blessing is stronger?" Yukito guessed, but didn't seem to agree with the answer.

"I don't suppose any of your religious symbols might work?" Syaoran said hopefully. "The circle seems particularly significant..."

-

Fai slipped away. They saw him, but were too wrapped up in their discussion to bother about it. He sat on the ground at Akane's feet and for a moment sat in silence, before commenting casually, "So how do you know magic, anyway?"

"Go away," she replied sullenly. He glanced up and saw her eyes full of tears and her hands tightly clenched.

"I could," he said sunnily, "go away, back over, there and tell them that your sister is a magic user as well, hm?" She looked down at him with anger and fear. "But I don't think that's what you want, so why don't you sit down here and we can have a nice, polite conversation where you tell me the truth about what's going on here."

She stared at him mutely for a minute without blinking or, as far as Fai could tell, breathing. She sat so suddenly that he almost flinched, and continued her silence, staring at her hands instead of the wizard's blue eyes. With an effort, she opened her fists and grimaced at the red indentations her nails had left in her palms. "What do you want to know?" she asked quietly.

"How you and your sister know magic," he repeated himself, "when that's supposed to be the business of your enemies."

"You can keep that to yourself, can't you?" she asked fiercely.

"Oh, I'm a master of secrecy," Fai smiled brilliantly. "And you're doing such a good job of protecting your sister that I would hate to see your efforts go to waste."

"Yeah, well, magic is - it's the worst possible thing, for Tomoyo's people." she laughed harshly. "If they think I'm a witch, well, I can live with that, but I don't want them to ostracize her, too."

"Why would they do that?"

"Oh, a few hundred years ago, some priest - some ancestor of mine," she shuddered, "decreed that magic was an abomination, an offense to Yuna, and unnatural. At the time there were a number of magic users in the villages that worship Yuna. But there was a 'purging,'" she spat the word the same way the men spat the word magic, "and all the magic users were forced out or killed. They moved to the Ven woods and became bitter and hostile. At first, they just tried to spite the villages, cut them off from the forest, which was sacred to Yuna. But that bitterness became hatred and got passed along to future generation, and then -" she shrugged. "War."

"That's not the story Takaki told," Fai remarked, noticing with interest how the redhead twitched at the doctor's name.

"Yeah, well, that's not his fault. He knows the 'official' version. You know, the Venians are evil, and no follower of Yuna has ever practiced magic. The villagers don't even know that the forest dwellers are followers of Yuna."

"I'm guessing your sister's counting on that fact," he observed.

Akane shifted. "You make a lot of correct guess, archer."

Fai tapped the side of his face. "I just have some good hunches, I suppose."

Akane snorted with disbelief. "Well, you're right. Tomoyo is convinced that the Venians are more similar to us than they are different, and she wants to end the war. Of course, everyone wants the war to be over, but the villagers want to win - they've been fighting for too long to give up. She wants a treaty, before more damage is done."

"You speak very highly of your sister."

"She's right, though. We need peace. But a lot of people won't accept that."

"Especially not from a priestess who uses magic? One who might be seen as an enemy spy?"

"Shut up about that!" she hissed, glancing over at the others and seeing they were wrapped up in their discussion. Currently Kazuki and Touya were pushing against the open doorway - quite an odd sight - and Syaoran battering the wall with Hien's hilt.

"So what is it? Are you Venians?"

"No! But look, back then, when they purged the magic users - they made a lot of mistakes. Magic isn't as bad as everyone thinks it is, okay? There's nothing wrong with using it, but people don't know that because the priests have been lying to them for so long. Onee-san wants to fix that, but it's not gonna be easy. For one thing, the Venians have their own propaganda, and most of them feel the same way the villagers do. That's where you guys come in."

"We were supposed to take Sakura-chan's feather away from them."

"Yeah. They're using it as some sort of weapon, or something."

A few fragments clicked into place in Fai's mind. The odd talisman that their assailant had worn around his neck had been the source of his magic - it seemed that not all Venians had the ability to do magic on their own, which made sense if they were descended from the same people as the largely non-magical villagers. Sakura's feather was more than powerful enough to grant magic to a few soldiers.

So Tomoyo wants to cool things down, and the first step toward peace is a cease fire, which won't happen if you have two well-armed and angry forces. The villagers are falling apart, they can't keep fighting much longer at this rate, but that still leaves the forest dwellers. If Tomoyo tries to negotiate now, it looks like a surrender, and they never solve any of their problems. So she needs to weaken their forces, but she doesn't attack them because she wants to minimize bloodshed.

And then we drop into her laps as if by magic, or fate.

Another thing clicked, but Fai's mind was moving too fast, building ideas upon ideas, and he had to be sure. Akane was surprised and angry to see Tomoyo in the forest - that wasn't according to the plan. "Tomoyo wasn't supposed to meet us here," he said. "We were supposed to meet her, in the village, because we were supposed to have transported there."

Akane nodded, shutting her eyes. "When I met you - Sakura-chan fit the description so perfectly, but you were supposed to have a guide, and you weren't supposed to have gotten this far into the forest. That's why I was afraid that you were lying. You didn't see, but I attacked the other guy. I was scared that you were impostors, posing as the people onee-san was looking for, and that Takaki would lead you to her. What did happen to the shadow, anyway?"

"He died, in the same battle that I got injured in. We never made it to the transport spell."

"Obviously." She sniffed and opened her eyes. "Why the hell did that have to happen? Why couldn't you have gone where you were supposed to? Then Tomoyo would be safe, and no one would know..."

"I apologize," Fai replied formally.

"I'm just pissed off," Akane said gloomily. "Everything's messed up now."

"Well if it's any consolation, you aren't the only one who's worried."

Akane almost smiled. "It could be worse, after all. You could be out here, and your angry friend could be locked in here with me. That's a frightening thought. He sure is protective of you."

"Kuro-sama's very determined to see that nothing bad happens to his family," Fai said lightly, as though he thought nothing much of the girl's comment. "I'm sure that he's keeping Sakura-chan safe right now, and Tomoyo-chan too." Akane looked skeptical, so Fai continued. "Kuro-tappa won't let anything bad happen to your sister. He's a good person, and I know that's hard to believe, but he really is. And he likes your sister. She reminds him of someone very important."

Akane just shook her head. "Wishful thinking."

"So? It's better than pouting in a corner." Fai stood carefully and extended a hand to Akane to help her up.

"I'm not wanted over there."

"Does that matter? If you aren't welcome somewhere, that just means you haven't convinced the people to let you in! Or nagged them enough that they give up."

This time the redhead did smile, though it was a small weak smile. She took his hand but made no effort to stand up. Instead, she moved her hand in a circle and whispered something. Fai felt the surge of magic at the same time that he felt a soothing sensation around his wounded side. Strength flowed through him, and he had no trouble helping the girl to her feet now that she was ready to get up. He raised an eyebrow.

"Out of curiosity, why a circle?"

"It's a symbol of life, and Yuna, because we all travel back to her in the end."

Fai almost left it at that, but the woman looked - scared, and defiant, and haunted, so he felt there could be little harm in trying to encourage her. "That's a useful talent you have. Healing is the best thing a person can do."

She looked as though she hadn't heard, but just as they reached the others she said "Thanks."

"But you have prayers, don't you?" Syaoran was saying.

"Yes," Yukito answered slowly, in the manner of someone who deeply regrets being the bearer of bad news. "But prayers are usually asking for blessings, not asking for them to be lifted. And for the most part, prayers aren't answered immediately in a concrete way, unless it's a priest or similar religious figure asking."

"Well, we do have a religious figure of sorts here," Syaoran asked, looking pointedly at Akane.

"No," she said, at the same time Kazuki and Yukito.

"Why not? Takaki-san said that the position of priest is hereditary, so whatever religious status Tomoyo-san has, you must have some of, or a similar thing."

"Not exactly," Yukito tried to explain.

"I abdicated from all that," Akane clarified.

"Yes, but you haven't renounced your religion or anything, have you?" Syaoran asked.

The woman looked deeply offended. "Of course not!"

"Then can't you still ask Yuna for favor?"

"It's complicated," she replied, shifting uncomfortably. "I understand what you're getting at, but it won't work."

"This is certainly a fortress. Force isn't working, religion isn't, the protection doesn't seem to be wearing off and neither does the fog..." he trailed off. "I know this is not going to be a popular suggestion, but what about magic?"

"That's -" Touya began.

"Shut up," Akane snapped. "Onee-san's out there, and I'm going to do whatever I can to try and help, and I have just given up on caring what you think." She shot Takaki a quick glance, but he was still meticulously avoiding looking at her. She straightened her back and breathed in and out, then walked up to the doorway. She put her hands against the marble solid air and her eyes drifted out of focus.

Kazuki frowned. "Look, you aren't from around here, so maybe you wouldn't understand, but this is a serious issue."

Syaoran hesitated. His father had taught him to respect other cultures and traditions, and he didn't want to become one of those people who said the ends justified the means, but he could see no other choice. He had to get outside, or get Sakura inside, and they couldn't even contact Yuko. If it meant using magic...

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, "But I don't think we have a choice. You want to save Tomoyo-san, don't you?"

"Of course we do," Yukito replied automatically.

"Is there any other way we could get out? Anything you can think of?" Syaoran asked. "What else is there to do?"

"Nothing," Touya sighed, sounding less than convinced. "I hate to admit it, but the foreigner," he glared pointedly at Syaoran in an oh-so-familiar way, "might have a point. We can't just do nothing."

"Now that we're all acting so friendly," Akane said sarcastically, lower her arm and shaking her head as though trying to clear it out, "I feel kind of bad to say this is not working."

Meaning, you're magic isn't as strong as Tomoyo's, Fai translated in his head.

Syaoran felt his hopes die just a bit, but tried to stay positive. "You can't do anything?"

"I'm afraid not," she sighed. "Besides the blessing, there's the spell out there, with the fog. It's just too much."

"Can you tell us anything, at least?" Syaoran wasn't going to accept failure.

He could tell that she didn't want to, after a moment she spoke slowly, "Things have - quieted down."

"How so?"

"There isn't a fight out there, or any movement. Actually, I don't hear anyone out there."

While Syaoran struggled with his emotions, Touya struggled with disproval and managed to ask Akane, "Could it just be some mistake, or something? How reliable is your magic?"

"For this, pretty good," she said, respecting the effort he was making to be civil and trying to reply in kind.

"Could you try again?" Syaoran pleaded. "And see if you can do anything else, just in case."

"Fine, fine," the redhead agreed, and resumed her former position.

Mokona cleared his throat. "They wouldn't have gone away, would they?"

"Maybe," Fai shrugged. "If they couldn't win by fighting, they might have run off to where it's safer."

"I don't know about that," Touya said regretfully. "The wolves are very fast. I'm sure you noticed."

There was a tense pause, during which images of the wolves pursuing and catching up with their friends played through their minds. Syaoran broke the silence by snapping his fingers. "Akane!"

"Hm?" she turned halfway towards him, but her eyes were still half-closed and distant.

"You can see out there?"

"It's...hazy."

"Can you tell what is out there, or just that nothing is going on?"

"There's nothing out there."

"No -" his throat closed on the word - "bodies?"

Her eyes closed further still. "No."

That was something at least, but he needed more. "What about further away, like outside the clearing?"

"I can't see that far."

He frowned. "Look, you said that the wolves couldn't have got through on their own," he turned back to Yukito. "Isn't it possible that some wizards were here? Maybe they took Sakura-hime and the others captive."

"And that's a good thing, is it?" Touya asked, not really sure about Syaoran's hopeful tone.

"If it means they're alive," Syaoran replied. "That's always a good thing."

"Okay, but how does that help us?" Touya wasn't going to admit so easily that Syaoran was right.

"Maybe..." Syaoran racked his brain for some solution that was possible and positive, and one presented itself. "If the wizards were here, and cast the spell nearby, maybe it will wear off when they go away."

"So? If they take our people and run off, where does that leave us?"

"We can always hunt them down, but first we have to get out of here." Syaoran was adamant about this. He was sure he was on to something.

Yukito was nodding in agreement, but Touya was less than convinced. "You still don't know that for sure."

"Yes, well, think about it," Syaoran said. "You've been at war with the Venians for a long time. Tomoyo-san is more or less your leader. They probably wouldn't kill her. It would make more sense for them to take her captive so they can try to bargain, or force you to surrender. The wolves aren't rational creatures, so they probably wouldn't understand that, and it would be necessary to send some people along with them to make sure she didn't get hurt or escape, right?"

Touya mulled this over and could find no flaw with the logic, except that this by no means guaranteed that the boy's friends would also be spared from the wolves. His companions certainly hadn't. Still, he wasn't so heartless as to point this out to the poor boy who was exuding such optimism and determination. He simply said, "Right."

Syaoran was on a roll. "If the spell really does wear off when the wizards leave, then it's only a matter of time?" He caught Fai's eye, as though asking That could be true, couldn't it? The spell might not hold up?

Fai nodded. "What do you say, Akane-chan?" he asked.

She blinked. "Dammit, you keep bothering me. What is it now?"

The blond waved a hand, dismissing her irritation. "Is the fog spell wearing off?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Hyuu, Syaoran-kun's so smart!"

"Great!" Syaoran smiled broadly. "So we just have to wait it out, don't we?"

"Not exactly," Touya reminded him. "It's the protection on the temple that's trapped us all in here."

Akane, still twitchy from having been interrupted, answered quickly. "No, because the wolves are gone. When there's no more spell, there'll be nothing more to protect us from, and it'll let us go."

"What, so we just wait?" the soldier retorted.

No one was very happy with that prospect, but it seemed that there was nothing else to be done. They settled down, feeling rather awkward in each other's presence now that there was nothing to do and now task to overcome their differences. Akane sat with her back against the wall and her eyes shut, apparently unobservant of everything. Yukito and Touya walked further off, discussing something quietly. Whatever it was, Touya didn't seem very happy about it, and Yukito kept making emphatic gestures with his hands. Kazuki walked over to Yuna's statue and prayed, or at least knelt in front of it with a look of concentration on his face. Fai, Syaoran, and Mokona sat, eyeing the others cautiously for a moment.

"What happened earlier?" Fai asked Mokona. "You couldn't contact Yuko?"

The little boy shook his head, looking troubled. "I tried, but nothing happened! Mokona's very worried."

"But you're still translating for us just fine." Syaoran pointed out.

Mokona perked up. "I hadn't thought about that!"

"What about everything else?" Fai asked, keeping his voice low and looking out the corner of his eyes. The others seemed far enough away, and engrossed in their own pursuits; Touya and Yukito were now talking to Takaki, who was shaking his head. "You can sense the magic here, right?"

Mokona paused. "I can't sense anything outside the temple," he mourned, "all I can sense is the magic around the temple, which is very odd. They kept saying it was the blessing from Yuna, but Mokona spent time in those safe spots before! They were very different from this. They weren't like magic, they were a different kind of force. Maybe I'm broken," he concluded, looking as though his heart were breaking. "Mokona in a funny body is not really Mokona..."

"Of course you are!" Fai assured him, tapping him on the nose. The white-haired child leaned back too quickly and almost toppled over, before Syaoran caught him. "You're Mokona because of this -" he poked the boy's chest, just over his heart, "Not because of your shape or your abilities, hm? Besides, you're right about the temple. It is magic, and apparently you can't get passed it either."

"So Tomoyo-san was lying, too?" Syaoran puzzled.

Fai nodded. "There's some secret that's been passed down through their family. Apparently the issue isn't quite as simple as the villagers think it is. Tomoyo-san was trying to arrange a peace settlement. The matter hinged on us taking the feather away from the forest dwellers."

Syaoran sighed. "I wish the feather's weren't always being abused."

"Well, that just makes us heroes for reclaiming them," Fai cheered.

The brown-haired boy laughed but then noticed something odd. "Fai-san, you're acting normal." He realized exactly what he had said and hastened to correct himself. "I mean, you seem to be feeling better..."

"Yep!" Fai poked his side, where the wound had been. "A little present from Akane."

"That's a bit of good news, anyway," Syaoran grinned, but his joy was waning. He was tired, and Sakura was gone away somewhere. He refused to think that she might be hurt. He could see her, when he closed his eyes, a vision of perfection. It warmed him to the bones, and he didn't notice the room was drifting away...

"Syaoran-kun?" Mokona asked tentatively. With two companions missing, he wasn't prepared for anything to happen to the two he had left.

Fai shook his head slightly and raised a finger to his lips. 'Sleeping' he mouthed, and Mokona nodded with evident relief. The blond moved to sit beside Syaoran and pulled him closer, so that the boy's head was resting on his shoulder. Mokona, used to constant contact with people, scooted closer and leaned against the blond's other side.

They sat like that for sometime, Mokona squirming occasionally as he suppressed some comment or unpleasant thought. He felt the moment was too quiet, too solemn for interruptions, but try as he did he couldn't prevent himself completely from thinking of all the things that could be happening. Fai sympathized with him because he had his own nightmares playing out in his head, and he was doing his best to ignore them. He wasn't having much success with that, but he drew some comfort from Mokona and Syaoran's presence, as well as the thought that Kurogane was too damn stubborn to die now. It helped him stay patient as the magic melted slowly around him.

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AN: Hello, all! Recently watched Into the Woods with my sister (who's home for the holidays – yay!), so I've been walking about the house singing constantly, which is not a pretty sight (sound?). I just love that musical and highly recommend it for any musical lovers out there!

Um, I had a point? Oh yeah, watching the musical that is the namesake for this story got me thinking I really should get this chapter up, so here it is! Hope you liked it, even if very little was actually accomplished. Next chapter there is the fate of Kuro, Sakura, and Tomoyo to be discovered, but expect that in the new year. I have the next chapter of Games to do and, I must confess, I've been working on some new stories, too. At least I don't have any homework or anything to worry about...oh crap, wait, yes I do. Oh well, it's not like senior year is important...wait...um...I should go. Feel free to review or leave any sort of comments, and may this season hold lots of joy and wonderful surprises for you! Best wishes.