13. Angel
Syaoran traced her collarbone with his fingertips, trying not to wake her.
He'd visited Clow a dozen times since they'd first parted. This was the first time he'd ever stayed with her overnight.
The sunlight played off Sakura's hair in strange ways, letting the strawberry undertones show through. Lying beside her, he was at the perfect angle to see the sun halo her head. Like an angel, he thought, smiling fondly. His hand shifted to her bare shoulder, caressing the smooth skin there. Sakura stirred.
"Good morning," she yawned.
"Yes," he said, pulling her in for a kiss. "It is."
14. Onii
Fai retreated back half a step, panic constricting his lungs. His eyes flashed up to Seishirou. "Farewell," the one-eyed man murmured.
All around him, the shadows writhed, controlled by one sentient mind. Despite yellow eyes and misshapen bodies, Fai sensed a horrifying human quality to them—as if each Onii possessed the ability to reason, to think as a human would.
Fai had always been able to sidestep danger. Until he felt the stone-hard point at his throat.
As the world faded away, Fai realized why the Onii seemed so human. It was because they were, like humans, capable of hatred.
15. Transformation
The world exploded in fire.
Fai writhed, struggling to escape the agony.
"Hold him down," someone said. Fai didn't recognize the voice. The liquid fire traveled down his throat, seeping into his veins. Changing him.
His fingers fisted in the sheets as he tried to drive the pain out. The fire moved inexorably through his blood.
Fai had known pain. Recent pain, when Syaoran had ripped his eye out. Distant pain, when he'd clawed at the walls of the tower until he bled. Never like this.
Another scream tore from his throat.
The fire continued to burn him from within.