Hello My Dearies!
I hope you are all enjoying the story thus far!
So- Did anyone else think Syaoran was a tad OOC when he briefly kissed Sakura's forehead?
I wonder if anyone caught the references in Chapter 5? One to The Dark Crystal and one to Monty Python, teeheehee!
Not sure if I will continue them… but if one fits- I'll definitely throw it in!
Please keep the reviews coming- it really helps me feel like SOMEONE out there likes my writing!
And now… our story continues!
*DEATH

One Dark and Stormy Night

Ch. 7

Once inside, Fai was pleasantly surprised to find the ruined home somewhat habitable. Well, at least it was fairly dry, which was surprising given the intensity of the near monsoon raging outside. He surveyed the single room, looking for the driest spot. "I think you should lay her over here." he said to Syaoran as he motioned towards the back wall. "It seems to be nice and dry and farthest away from the doorway and drafts. Let's get her comfortable, and then we can see about drying out the cloaks."

Mokona hopped out from under her spot under Sakura's coverings where she had settled at the start of their short trip. "Oh good…"Fai began. "Mokona-chan, do you happen to have anything with you that we could use as a pillow for Sakura-chan?" Mokona thought for a moment before replying. "Mokona thinks she does! Let Mokona check… How will this work?" and with that, she opened her mouth wide and a bright light emanated from within her. From her unexplainable storage area she produced a fluffy purple pillow and a warm looking polka-dot smiley-face covered blanket. "Mokona almost forget Mokona had this with her! It's Mokona's FAVORITE blankie!" "Excellent!" Fai exclaimed as a huge grin spread across his face. No matter what happened, he never grew tired of Mokona's amazing abilities. Not too shabby for a fuzzy fluff-ball!

As Syaoran carried Sakura across the room, Fai spread out the blanket and fluffed the pillow in preparation for her. If only I had a mint… he chuckled, not being able to help himself. He carefully began to unwrap the soaking wet cloaks while the boy still held her, dropping the dripping coverings on the floor well away from the dry blanket. Small puddles immediately began to form in the loose dirt of the floor. Syaoran gingerly knelt down, gently placing Sakura on the blanket with extreme care. Then he lovingly pulled the blanket over her chilled, shivering body.

She briefly stirred with the added movement, her eyes fluttering open for a moment as Syaoran knelt over her. She began to randomly mumble, delirious from the fever. "Who am I? Why am I here? What is it that I'm searching for, day after day?" and weakly said his name before her eyelids slid closed again. "Shhh- just rest Sakura-chan… I'm here… we're all here." He sat down next to her, ignoring everyone else, focused only on her. "You will be fine." You have to be. "Just rest for now."

On the other side of the room, Kurogane had been stacking the wood he had hastily gathered when he first found the place. It had been a really good idea to stash some wood inside before heading out to bring his charges back. He was pleasantly surprised to find the deadfall had even dried somewhat in his absence. He began to build a fire while watching the boy tend to Sakura. Such tenderness at such a young age… she is lucky to have him with her. I hope she pulls through again… for his sake as much as hers. His uncharacteristic thoughts surprised him briefly. The samurai rarely let himself get emotional about love. There was no use for emotions like that. Pain, anger, disgust, irritation… those were the emotions he understood. Manly emotions. Not the wishy-washy, lovey-dovey, sickly-sweet loving emotions. He grunted in mock disgust and turned his attentions back to the task at hand. Getting the fire going would benefit them all.

After supervising the boy's actions getting Sakura settled in the blankets, Fai turned and addressed Kurogane. "How industrious of you, Kuro-Scout! How ever did you manage to light a fire in this weather?" he joked. "'Cause I know what I'm doin', ya sissy." Kurogane countered. Fai just chuckled. "You're just jealous that I'm so charmingly witty." He teased. Looking as if he was a second or two away from hurling a chunk of wood at his 'charmingly witty' companion, Kurogane growled back "Why don't you try and make yourself useful for once?!"

"Ok- Ok, Kuro-Meanie. Point taken. I think I will go see if I can find us something edible while you three warm up and dry out." Kurogane mumbled back "About damn time you actually do somethin'…."

Not wanting to give Kurogane the satisfaction of a response, Fai picked up his soaked cloak from the pile and addressed Syaoran's back, not wanting to draw the boy's attention away from Sakura more than needed. "I'll be back soon, Syaoran-kun. I'm going to go and find us something to eat." Syaoran quietly replied "Good luck, Fai-san." "Mokona- Keep an eye on them all for me, Ok?" Fai cheerily said. With that he turned with a flourish, donned his still-dripping cloak flamboyantly, and departed through the waterfall of rain that was gushing off of the eaves of the roof.

Once outside, he let his expression droop and his shoulders slouch a bit. It's hard to always appear cheery and happy… especially in situations like this. But if I don't, no one will. It's worth the extra effort to give them hope. He surveyed his surroundings and evaluated his options. I doubt that anything edible remains within the village... He sighed as he tried to decide what direction his best bet for finding something edible would be. His eyes fell to the little yard and the forest beyond. That's as good a direction as any I guess.

He headed for the tree line, squishing across the grass and jumping over the crumbling stone wall. A strong gust caught his cloak just as he was landing on the far side of the wall, causing him to slip and almost fall. He caught himself at the last moment with one hand on the top rock, barely avoiding the huge mud puddle at the base of the wall. He reflexively looked over his shoulder, hoping that Kurogane had not witnessed his most un-graceful landing. He knew he would never hear the end of it if he had! Luckily he didn't see anyone in the doorway to bear witness to his rare moment of clumsiness.

Just a short way into the forest he found a well hidden track, the kind an animal makes as it passes down the same path regularly. Deciding to follow it, he hoped it might lead him somewhere promising. After just a short distance, the path opened up at the shore of a small lake. Through the heavy downpour he thought he could just make out the form of a grand willow tree on the far shore.