16. Ice Cream

"You've had it before," Syaoran assured her. "You just don't remember."

Sakura stared at the dripping dome, wishing she knew her old eating habits. They'd been in Piffle for five days now, and she hadn't gotten to do much besides tinker with the dragonfly racers. "Are you sure?"

Syaoran nodded. "You'll like it."

Cautiously, she lifted the spoon up to her lips. She could feel the frigid air coming off the utensil.

Syaoran watched her, fighting a smile.

Her lips closed around the ice cream, and she squeaked in surprise. "It's good!"

Syaoran smiled. "I knew you'd like it."

17. Mute (150 words)

Even in silence, the mage annoyed the hell out of him.

They'd been in Yama for six months now, with Yasha's army for five. Initially, it had seemed convenient to let the wizard play dumb. It made the magician much more tolerable.

But damn that grin. That deceitful, insinuating smirk. "Quit smiling like that!"

Fai rolled over. The grin stayed.

Kurogane unsheathed Souhi and lifted it to strike. The mage rolled out of the way when it came down. "Get back here!"

The smile faded.

Finally.

"I understand you."

"Yeah well—" Kurogane broke off as the words hit him.

The mage's grin reappeared. "The kids are close."

The tent flap flew open. "Everyone to the front lines!" one of the warriors shouted. "The battle is starting."

Kurogane's lips stretched into a grin. "Well, what do you think of that, mage? Let's see if the boy remembers what I taught him."

18. Warmth

The boy curled up, trying to retain what warmth he could. The chill brought on by the rain only added to the steady throbbing of his wounds.

Later, he would label that throbbing as pain. But now, he had no words, no knowledge of a life without pain.

The rain was cold. He knew that, though he had no word for it. Cold was bad.

Across the street, a cloaked figure watched him. The boy withdrew, shutting him out. The man approached and stripped off his cloak, using it to shield the boy from the rain.

He wasn't cold anymore.

Author's Notes:

The last one was from when C!Syaoran first arrived in Clow. Since he didn't have a name, and didn't know Fujitaka's name, I referred to them as "the boy" and "the man." Hope it wasn't too confusing.

And I know we saw Sakura eating ice cream before Piffle World. But she didn't recognize it from the memories she did have, and she had no direct experience since the start of her journey with the frozen treat, so I went ahead with it.