Holaz! I got this chapter out fast, huh? That's what happens when I think of something interesting. I need to rush forward! Ok, so for today's dedications: First and foremost, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my friend Margaret, because she was there when I typed it. I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to NekoFai, who gives great reviews and is writing a FaixOC fic, too (YAY!). And finally, I'd like to dedicate it to Tuliharja for reviewing.

The first part of this chapter is another one of Izumi's strange dreams. Yeah, if you think the past chapters were confusing, try your best to keep up here, ok? Actually, this one isn't as confusing as the others. The second half of this chapter is when Chu'nyan takes the group out into the town. Hope you enjoy it!

~Sakura

Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa or any of its characters other than Izumi and possibly other OC's in future chapters. All rights belong to CLAMP and other respective rightholders. Enjoy!

This is how my dream turned out tonight. Unlike the past few dreams I had had, this one I witnessed from the outside looking in. It was no longer a dream where the world revolved around me; it was a dream where I had no choice but to watch the life of another person. Though it was an interesting story, I still felt as though this vivid dream seemed to have no point. Somewhere in my mind, I knew it had some meaning, that there was something it had to tell me. At the time, I didn't find the matter too important, just interesting. As long as the story didn't regard me, it was insignificant to my life, right?

A girl sat in a cozy little room beside a fireplace. In her hands, she held a book, though it was closed. Her elbow rested on it, as if she used it as a stabilizer. Her features were slightly angled; she was about fifteen or sixteen years old, and her short, layered hair hung around her shoulders, its auburn color shimmering gold in the firelight. In the room were two other people: one of them was an older woman, maybe about in her late twenties or early thirties, and beside her sat a man who looked about her age. All of their faces looked extremely familiar, but the dream distorted my memories, making it impossible to recall who these people were.

Their words were faint, but grew louder for each second I watched this group of people. The girl spoke. "So, wait. You're trying to tell me that my life will be changed forever? That makes absolutely no sense." She was arrogant, though she had a very kind-hearted tone in her voice as well. "I don't get it. My life has been changed enough, what with everything that's been going on around here." She set her book down on the coffee table in front of her, and leaned back into her chair. It looked as though it would swallow her whole.

The man and the woman looked at each other, exchanging cautious expressions. It was the woman who spoke. "Yes, child. Your life will drastically change. You are a sorceress, a powerful magician. Naturally, you will be the first one to be affected." She smiled a little, knowing something about the girl, who was beginning to get nervous. "You were also given the ability to see things, yes?"

"Yes. The ability to see the past and to predict the future. He gave me that ability." She pointed to the man sitting next to the lady. The woman gave the man a venomous glare, but the man shrugged innocently. The girl stood up. "Would you like some tea?" She asked, already heading to the kitchen without waiting for an answer. "Jasmine or Green?" She called from the other room.

"Jasmine." Replied the woman politely.

"Green." The man stated rather curtly.

As soon as they could hear the girl place the kettle on the stove, they knew she wasn't listening. The woman leaned forward and hissed at the man, poison dripping from her tongue. "Listen. You gave her the ability to see the past and the future. Why would you do such a thing? If you hadn't had done what you did, we wouldn't have to be here right now. Her life would never have been affected!"

The man sighed, unwilling to speak to such a nagging woman. "That's the way things are going to happen. If she must suffer, then she must suffer. All we can do about it is prepare her for what's to come, like what we are doing now." The man spoke as though he didn't know what was going to happen, and didn't much care.

The girl walked clumsily back into the room, trying to balance the two plates at once. Tea spilled over the brims of the cups, but she managed to set the plates down on the coffee table before the tea cups were completely drained of liquid. The two guests managed a humble, 'Thank you'. The girl smiled and said warmly, "You're welcome. So, what's so important about my…er…'visions'?" The girl questioned inquisitively.

The woman picked up her china cup, and began sipping her tea with incredible etiquette. Her voice was calm, but mysterious all the same. "We know something about your visions, Takahashi." The girl stood stock still, cocking her head to the side, as if surprised that the woman had addressed her by her last name. "I am willing to bet that you had a vision about a boy, named Syaoran Li."

The girl looked deep in thought for a few moments, trying to remember. She sat down in her chair to think, as her visions were many these days, and it was hard to keep track of them all. But finally, she looked up, with a look of new discovery on her face. "Actually…I do remember that one. The boy…this, 'Syaoran'…there was something about a clone, and something about his left eye, or something." The girl responded. The name, Syaoran, rang a bell to me, but in my dreams, I did not have a clue of who it belonged to. "And yes, I saw a wizard. Tall, blond, and with blue eyes. There was something about his eye, too…" The girl stood up suddenly, growing excited as she remembered more. "There was another man, a ninja, from the country of Japan."

The man and the woman looked at each other, and the woman seemed surprised that the girl knew so much. Her visions were more accurate than the woman had predicted they would be. The man, on the other hand, seemed to have known exactly how powerful her visions were, as he was the one who granted her the ability to see them in the first place. The woman spoke again. "The three of them will be comrades. They are destined to travel with each other."

The girl nodded knowingly. "Yes, I know about that, too, although I don't quite remember what the quest is for…" When the woman did not supply an answer, she shrugged, and said, "Oh well. But, what has this vision got to do with me?" The girl asked. "This particular vision?"

The woman turned to the man, desperate for an answer. The man leaned forward, placing his cup down on the table and resting his elbows on his knees. "It won't have much to do with you…yet." He said. When he saw the look of utter bewilderment on the girl's face, he continued. "Your job is to stay out of this, do you understand? If you don't, your life will be changed, as we told you it would be." His face was serious, and almost scary.

"Stay out of it…" The girl repeated dumbly. "So, what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, don't have any more visions on the matter. The more you know, the more twisted your life will become." The man warned her. "Something terrible will happen if you don't obey, so I suggest you stop having your visions."

The girl looked stunned, but her expression morphed into one of confusion. "How do you expect me to stop having visions? You bestowed the gift upon me. I can't just…stop."

"True. But as long as you only get visions in your sleep, there is an easy way out of it. Don't sleep." The man and the woman stood up, heading for the door. The man put on his coat, and the woman opened up her umbrella, and together they stepped out into the rain, saluting the girl as they went. She sat there, shocked, and never responded to the two of them. Not like she had anything to say. The door shut behind the two mysterious strangers, and that was the last she ever saw of them.

"Yeah." The girl said, long after they were gone. "Thanks."

I heard a loud, unruly clatter come from above. It sounded as if an elephant was stomping on the roof. I opened my eyes, careful about the bright light, and noticed that Fai was gone. I got up clumsily and looked out the window. I couldn't see anything from this side of the house, so decided to go check out what was going on. I threw on the clothes that Chu'nyan had left for me, and scurried outside, not bothering to tidy up my hair.

Fai was standing outside, coaching Kurogane, who was working on the hole in the roof. Somehow, it didn't surprise me that they were arguing. "Why do I have to work on somebody else's house?" Kurogane roared.

"She let us stay over at her place last night. It's only natural, isn't it?" He Fai asked. It was great that he was considerate towards others. Kurogane seemed to hate the idea of Fai telling him what to do, and I sniggered. Fai saw me, and turned to face me. "Hey, Izumi-san! So, how did you sleep?" He asked cheerily, as though he had completely forgotten about the whole incident the night before.

"Fine. No nightmares, luckily." I played along. "I did have a weird dream, though…it was about this girl who could see the past and the future, and she was having a conversation with this man and this woman. I can't remember who they are, or what they were talking about." I said sadly. "I wish I could, though…"

Fai smiled. "That sounds like an interesting dream. Very interesting. I'd like to hear about what happens next." He seemed so sure that there was going to be more to the dream, too. I wasn't convinced. "Hey, Chu'nyan's waiting in the house. She says she has some housework for you to do. Laundry and stuff like that."

"Sounds good to me. I made a promise to her, anyways." I waved good-bye to them, calling out, "Good luck!" I hurried back into the house, though I swear that I could hear Kurogane yelling, "Who needs luck from you?!"

It took me a couple of walks around the house to find Chu'nyan. I checked every single room, except for the backyard. That's where I ended up finding her. The yard was small, and was pretty much a dirt yard. Little shrubs and weeds poked up from the dirt, even them barely surviving. Chu'nyan was cleansing clothes off in a huge wash basin, hanging them on the clothesline when they were ready to dry. I ran over to help, and she looked up. "Oh, so you're finally awake, huh?" She laughed. "Come on. I'll wash, you just hang them up on the rack, ok? Just so you don't have to get your broken arm wet." I have to admit, I was impressed by the way she took care of herself, and us, for that matter. I saw my clothing in the tub, as well.

"No, it's not ok. Just go back in the house and relax. Kuro-pin's fixing the roof, and Fai's supervising him. I feel guilty for being the only lazy bum around here. I'll take care of it all for you, ok?" I said, not wanting to be a burden. Though she tried to object, I shoved her back into the house, and closed the door. I decided it was a generous thing to do the laundry for her.

I turned back to the wash tub, and began cleaning the clothes, but Chu'nyan had marched right back outside and began washing them with me. I sighed, but gave in; she washed and I dried. We worked in silence for awhile, but Chu'nyan was the first to speak. "So…Izumi-san…are you a fan of fortune telling?"

I looked at her suspiciously. What in the world made her think that? "Not particularly…no." I said carefully, trying to make sure that she was not leading me into a trap. "Why do you ask?"

Chu'nyan ruffled through my jeans and pulled out a scrap of paper. "Because I found this in your pocket." She held the paper out to me. It was slightly yellowed, and burnt around the edges, giving it an Arabic look about it, and it was so delicate that it would tear immediately if pulled at opposite ends. It was folded into fourths, and I never would have noticed it in my pocket; it was so small.

I carefully unfolded the little piece of paper, and read it in my head. The past is the key to what lies ahead. Whatever happened in the past will determine what will happen in the future. I didn't really understand the fortune; all I knew was that there was a new urgency to find out what had happened in my past. Like the fortune said, I needed to know the past, or I wouldn't be able to live a life in complete happiness. Ever. My past can change my life around. If I know what happened to me, then I'd know who I am, and what my name is…

Chu'nyan snapped me out of my trance when she said, "Here, put these up on the clothesline, please." She handed my jeans to me, and I pinned them up. We continued to work in dead silence for a while, but I was no longer completely focused on my task, as I couldn't help but to dwell on the fortune. If only I knew more…

Chu'nyan held hands with Sakura as we strolled through the streets of the country of Koryo. Our current location was the town of Ryonfi, a charming little village, inhabited by kind and loving people, who had gone through many hardships. Though it was a beautiful country, it reminded me of home, and so I found myself more attracted to the Hanshin Republic. Though Sakura, Fai, and Chu'nyan seemed to be having a blast, I kept my face serious, as it was hard to walk down streets that seemed so like my home's. Kurogane trailed behind us reluctantly, and Syaoran had his mind on only one thing: the feather. It didn't occur to us three that we could lighten up and enjoy the beautiful day here.

As we made our way into the central part of the town, Syaoran asked Mokona, "Do you feel a power wave from a feather?" I froze, and stopped in my tracks. Great. On top of the fact that I don't have a single clue of who I am, Syaoran has to stress me out by making me feel guilty. Beautiful. I unhappily caught up to the group again.

Mokona looked down glumly. "Mokona can't tell." My heart jumped; it was weird that he couldn't sense the feather. That's strange… I thought. Mokona continued. "Throughout this whole country…Mokona feels it filled with a weird power!" Mokona looked slightly dizzy. Wait…how come I know exactly where the feather is, but he doesn't? I asked. My mind whirled so fast, you could almost hear the gears turning. It's in that castle… I thought, referring to the grand castle on the hill not far away. But that's obvious, isn't it? Again, I felt a wave of shame overwhelm me, and I felt faint. I wondered what made it so that I could feel the feather but Mokona couldn't. It was right—there was a weird power resonating throughout the country, but the power of the feather seemed to stand above it all. I wonder…if my past has anything to do with one of those feathers? I quickly shook the thought away. No, if that was true, then I would definitely remember it. You'd think that seeing one of these feathers would ring a bell, maybe bring back some memories from the past, right?

A man who was standing beneath one of the white tents shouted, "Ho, Chu'nyan, you're dragging an outsider around town, huh?" He called, waving to Chu'nyan, who picked up her pace and led the rest of us to follow her closer to the stranger.

Chu'nyan seemed to know the man, along with several other people in the tent, who were all gathered around a table. "They're guests! They came from a long way!" She announced proudly to the humble-looking group of men.

"Oho! Travelers! Will you join us?" One of the men asked, pointing to the table. I noticed two dice lying in a bowl on the table; they were gambling, but in a friendly way.

"What is this?" Syaoran asked, leaning over one of the men's shoulders to get a better view.

The man laughed heartily, as if he thought Syaoran was joking. When he saw Syaoran's stone-like expression, he coughed lightly and said, "It's called Negi. Don't you know about it?"

Syaoran nodded meekly. "I've seen something very much the same at one point." He said, adding, "They're called 'Saikoro' where I come from." He said, looking at the dice intently.

"Yeah?" I asked. "Well, it's called 'Gambling' where I come from." I joked. I didn't mean for anybody to laugh, and luckily, nobody did. Instead, they gave me nasty glares. "What? That's basically it, isn't it? You try your luck, and whoever wins get stuff, pretty much, right?"

The room was silent, but then, one of the men turned to his buddies and said, "You know, the little lady's got a point. That is what the game's about." He shrugged, and held out the dice to Sakura. "It's easy! Throw two cubes! If they add up to have more dots than your opponent, you win!" He dropped the dice in Sakura's waiting hands. "Now…Test your luck!" He laughed.

Passerby freaked out when they saw Mokona, and went running for their lives when it introduced itself. Chunyan said to us, "They just love this game! Honestly!" She added, "The older men do, anyway." She directed her words at the group of men now. "Who is the person who threw the highest number?" She asked curiously, wanting to know if Sakura had a chance of winning.

One of the men raised his hand gleefully. "I did! I threw eleven!" Big head. I thought.

Chunyan gasped. "But that means the only way to win is to throw the highest number on the cube, two sixes!" She glared viciously at the men. "She's never done this before! What kind of game are you playing?!"

Sakura didn't seem to mind, and didn't get easily discouraged. She threw the dice, anyways. They teetered on their edges, and I was sure it was going to land on a two and a four, but that wasn't the case at all. At the last moment, they fell onto their sides, revealing two sixes. Everyone's jaws dropped, literally. Even Chunyan seemed impressed by Sakura's incredibly good fortune. One of the men got over his shock and laughed nervously, "I…I guess some people have the luck." He handed over the dice again. "Time for the next throw. Roll em, young lady."

Sakura shook the dice in her hands and threw them. They landed on two sixes again, and the whole group was gaping. I was sure that Chu'nyan was going to faint or something; her face was so pale. "Give me a break!" The man wailed sadly. He handed over baskets of steamed pork buns, with a forlorn expression on his face.

"Ehm…sir, may I try?" Fai asked? "I've never played this game before."

The man turned to him and said, "Yeah, go ahead. But I'm not betting anything." Fai turned to the group of men, who quickly scurried away.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh well. I'll try it myself. It's better that way, because it won't matter whether I win or lose. I've got nothing to lose!" He chuckled, and picked up the dice.

"Hey, we're going to go check out the rest of the town." Syaoran called, as Kurogane and Sakura were being dragged away from us. "We'll catch up to you later!" He ran off to follow Chu'nyan.

Fai shrugged his shoulders again, and rolled the dice around in his hands a little before throwing them onto the table. They landed on a three and a four. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Ah ha…I guess my luck isn't so good. Sakura must be really lucky." He noticed that I hadn't left with the others, and picked up the dice, holding them out to me. "Hey, Izumi-san, why don't you give it a whirl?" He asked.

I backed away, putting my hands up. "No way." I stated firmly. "There is no way that I'm going to try." My luck is terrible! If I try It, I'll humiliate myself, and Fai will never let me live it down! I panicked.

I turned around to follow the group, but Fai grabbed my arm gently. "Hey…Come on, don't be afraid. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Nobody's betting anything. You might as well give it a shot." He saw the frightened expression on my face, the wild look in my eyes. "Here. The only way you're going to get over that fear is by trying, right? I mean, sure, maybe you'll roll a low number, but nobody's pressuring you." He offered the two dice again, begging me to try it, as if it was some kind of test to see how good my luck was. "Please?"

I thought about it. My attention switched back and forth from Fai to the dice. If I do badly… I snatched the dice from his hand, much to his joy. "Fine. But I'm only doing it because you're forcing me to." I teased him, and took a deep breath. I rolled the dice around in my hands, and threw them on the table. I was sweating from anticipation. Come on… I thought. But my pleading didn't seem to help. The dice rolled onto two ones. "Darn." I muttered. "Just as I'd thought. Snake eyes."

Fai looked a little guilty, as if he didn't expect my luck to be that bad. "Um…well…" He tried to think of something else to talk about. "Snake eyes, huh? That's what you call it in your world?" He asked me. "That's interesting."

Though the fact that he was only talking about this because he didn't want me to be embarrassed annoyed me, I responded anyways. "Yeah. It's not really what we Chinese people call it, though. Some Americans settled in China awhile ago, and some of their culture is there now." I sighed.

Fai and I went out in the town to search for the others. He kept on glancing in my direction, as If trying to make sure I was ok. I always gave him a reassuring smile when he did, but in truth, I was not ok. I was pretty much as far from 'ok' as you can get. Is my luck really that bad? I asked myself. If it is… then does that mean that my magic wasn't what caused my bad luck? I wondered. Another question to the pile of the unknown. I stored it away, and tried to ignore the thought, but it kept on popping up in my mind again. There was no way to deny the truth. I already had all the evidence I needed to prove that it was true. I still have my magic.

Psst...So what did you think? If it was confusing, everything will be cleared up later. Promise. Please review! No flames welcome, but constructive criticism is completely allowed. I probably won't be able to get the next chapter up, because I have to reread a lot of parts from the book to make sure I'm not overlapping stuff, but hey, I'm unpredictable, aren't I?