A/N: Sorry for the wait guys, but here's the next chapter. I've tried keeping Fai and Sakura in character and I think I might have succeeded but I'll let you be the judge of that.

Read and review.

Enjoy.

I was lying on my side, on a hard surface.

It was cold. Freezing cold.

Every muscle in my body was stiff. And I could feel a dull throb at the back of my head.

Once I opened my eyes, I realized that a stiff body and a headache were the least of my problems. I was trapped. Inside a dome of ice!

My breath fogged before my face as I forced myself into a sitting position. Slowly I got to my feet and walked closer to the wall of frozen liquid. In the distance I could hear the clang of metal against metal along with the crackling sound of magic as it whizzed through the air. I turned my head towards the source of those noises and I tried my level best to stifle a scream but a strangled cry managed to escape my throat all the same.

There, lying just outside the sheet of ice, was Peter. Or well, what was left of that man anyways.

His dead, unseeing eyes were wide open in shock and disbelief. There was a gaping hole in the man's chest. Kind of like the one I had seen on Kurogane-san's body. The rest of his form was mangled beyond recognition.

Immediately, I averted my face from him but the nauseous sight did not leave my mind. I doubled over, feeling extremely sick; I threw up. Once I was done, I wiped my mouth, carefully making my way around the mess, steering my gaze clear of the sight of Peter's corpse, choosing instead to search for Fai.

He was locked in a deadly battle against Akira's bald apprentice; both of them moving like they wanted to kill the other, which obviously they did. They were both injured; I could see a long bleeding gash running down the length of Fai's arm and there was particularly nasty cut reaching from the other man's right shoulder blade to the middle of his back.

But they were still going at it, hurtling spells and physical attacks alike. This went on for quite a long while but in the end it appeared as though the apprentice had had enough. He wrote a transportation spell in the air and vanished in a wisp of rainbow-colored smoke.

"Fai!" I cried when it looked like Fai was about to go after him. His hand froze in mid-spell as he whipped around to look at me.

"Sakura-chan!" He said as he hurried over to my side. His hand touched the dome and the ice melted where it was, fading away into nothingness. "Are you alright?" he asked me, concern written all over his face.

"I'm fine but," I hesitated, my eyes traveling to his bleeding arm.

"Don't worry about it." He answered with a small smile, raising his hand to write a spell in the air. The ribbons of magical runes swirled in the air before me, spinning tighter and tighter until Syaoran's sword was in their place. "You dropped this." He said, handing me the sword which was still covered with blood.

I felt my stomach heave one more time; I turned away from him and once again emptied the contents of my stomach. The sword was still coated in the blood of the man I had killed.

"Sakura?" Fai's hand was on my back, rubbing it in a soothing motion.

"Fai-san… I-I… I killed… I killed that man…" I whispered, noticing how my body was trembling.

"…" wordlessly, he pulled me into a hug as I kept shivering. His grip only tightened once I started sobbing; he buried his face into my hair as I clutched onto him in desperation. He let me stay like that until I had cried myself to exhaustion.

"I am so sorry Sakura-chan." He whispered as the blue runes of his transportation spell surrounded us and we moved back to the apartment. He gave me another cup of that steaming liquid, which now I suspected was some sort of calming potion since I became really drowsy once I had drained the mug. I felt my already tired body just droop where I was, seated on the sofa.

He, however, supported me to my bed, his injured arm rendering him unable to pick me up. Once I had somewhat ungracefully slumped in, he took off my shoes, I think; my mind was too groggy to really understand anything that was happening. The last thing I remembered was him tucking me in before I fell into a dreamless slumber.

-0-

Once I had shut the door to her room, I made my way over to the washroom, carefully peeling off my shirt as I went. The cut I had received was quite deep and it was still slightly bleeding, if not much.

The spirit stung as I cleaned the wound but I paid no mind to the pain, my thoughts wandering elsewhere.

Poor Sakura, she had wielded Syaoran's sword but I had known it even before I had used the cloning spell that she would never be able to take a life. Injure her opponents perhaps, but never kill them.

What had happened today had been an accident, of that I was sure. But it had still shaken her to the very core.

After all, taking a life was not a very easy thing to do for those who were innocent and pure of heart.

Sadly, there wasn't much that I could do to help her. As much as it killed me, that was her decision. There was no going back now… For either of us.

A small hiss of pain escaped my lips as I reached the deepest part of my wound. Gritting my teeth, I cleansed it, letting my hand perform the action on its own as I willed my mind to drift.

The dream from last night surfaced once more, a gaunt, deathly pale face ghosting before my vision. Empty, lifeless amber eyes were gazing right through me.

"I won't let it happen again," I whispered under my breath as I took a couple of steps back, my back colliding with the tiled wall as I slid down to the floor. The apparition continued staring at me. "Not this time. Not again." I whispered, closing my eyes but those hollow orbs followed me to my mind's eye.

"I won't fail him too." The face that was haunting my thoughts did not leave on hearing my promise.

You'll never make it Mage. Akira's voice cackle all around me. The boy is mine.

"Get the f**k out of my mind you witch." I growled. "I will find the place where you're keeping him. And when I do…" I let my threat hang in the air.

You never learn Fai. Akira simpered. You're destined to fail the ones you care about. Didn't that witch's death prove anything to you?

I let out a low hiss as a warning.

Or perhaps that Ninja's? She continued.

"Shut up." I snarled feeling rage boil my blood.

Guess not, she said rather carelessly. Well I suppose I will have to use the boy to make sure the message gets home.

"I will find you," I spoke softly, my voice barely above a whisper. "And when I do… I will rip you to shreds."

I'll look forward to that day Mage. She answered, all traces of humor gone from her voice. The day when I erase you from existence.

"You will be the one who will be erased."

We'll just see about that, won't we, High Mage? She breathed.

"We will," I confirmed.

Oh and before I go. She chirped. I think I should let you see the boy. As she spoke the words, the image of a dimly lit room flashed in my mind. A lone figure was suspended from the roof by chains using their hands.

Every visible inch of his skin was covered in black burns and blood. His wrists were rubbed raw, and I could see a gash in his torso from where his shirt was torn. His chest was heaving slowly as he took in shuddering gasps; but the thing that scared me the most was his eyes. `

They were nothing more than a pair of lifeless, hollow, amber orbs that were staring ahead, unseeingly. Right at me.

Find him if you can Mage, Akira laughed. Time is running out. Tick-tock, tick-tock…

"…" I clenched my fists in anger, feeling fresh blood begin to ooze out of the cut that I still had to bandage. The connection severed and I was left back to staring at the pale, off-white tiles of the bathroom wall next to me.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, I forced myself back to my feet. I couldn't lose it now. It was exactly what Akira wanted. I needed to find him. She was right, time was running out.

I opened the medical cabinet and drew out a small roll of white gauze. I tried somewhat clumsily to wrap it around my arm but no matter what I did, it always came undone. With an annoyed grunt I wrote out a simple spell in the air and soon, I had my wound tightly wound in the bandages.

I tried moving my arm and let out a short hiss.

Damn.

It hurt.

I wasn't any good when it came to healing spells. Something that I regretted to this day. If I had been, maybe things might have turned out a bit different.

But since I wasn't, here I was, standing in the middle of the dark kitchen with nothing but moonlight providing luminescence in the room through the parted curtains of the living room window. I opened the topmost cabinet and withdrew a number of herbs. Taking a pan from the stand next to the stove, I filled it with water and added the herbs as I turned the flame on. Every now and then, I would add a spark of magic to it, waiting as the water boiled.

Finally, when the potion was complete, I poured it in a mug and headed back to the leather sofa in the living room. I leaned against the back, resting the warm cup against my leg, closing my eyes as I let my thoughts wander. Not wander aimlessly like I had been doing previously, but wander with the purpose of search in mind.

I was looking for Syaoran's magical signal. Every magician, weak or strong, had a distinct signature to their magic, kind of like a person's fingerprints. Completely unique.

I opened the physical barriers to my mind and stretched it all over the city. I picked up the leftover traces of his magic in the street where he had been kidnapped. Ordinarily, those would have been impossible to find, but luckily, my magic was strong enough to detect traces of magic that was even months old.

While I couldn't deny that doing something like that was awfully tiring and required a great amount of concentration, I could still do it. My mind's eye roved over the entire cityscape picking up pretty much next to nothing.

I had to hand it to that witch. Akira knew how to make herself undetectable. I tried a different approach, she had used telepathy to connect to my mind, maybe if I could perform the procedure in reverse…

I recalled the distinct flavor of her magic, dark and tainted, mixed with the magic of hundreds of other magicians. But I focused on two particular signatures amongst those hundreds.

Two signatures that I had known for quite a long time and both of which had been stolen by her. One of them was Kurogane's. The other…

Saku-ra? I heard a voice speak. It was so faint that for a second I thought I had imagined it.

re… right? There it was again. My heart skipped a beat.

It was Syaoran.

I'd managed to pick up his signal. Or well somehow connect to him on some level.

Syaoran, are you there? I thought clearly.

orry… ura… well, I could pick up his voice but probably he didn't have enough coherence of mind to pick up on mine. Oh well, it was a start at least.

I tried focusing on his voice alone. He was somewhere in the western parts of the city. I tried closing in but was met with a sudden resistance and his signal blurred.

I backed up a little bit and it was clear once again. I went closer and immediately the barrier was up.

"So, she's set up wards." I muttered, as I opened my eyes and looked at suddenly cold mug in my hand.

I looked around the room and discovered that the silver light that had been illuminating the room previously was now almost gone. But the sky outside was still dark.

How long had I been searching? It must have been at least a couple of hours, I decided as I downed the liquid in my hand. The bitter taste stung in my throat but soon I could feel the pain fade away from my arm. There was just a dull throb left in its place that made me feel like my arm was pulsing. Or at least the cut itself was.

I cast a tired glance in the direction of the luminous wall clock. It was somewhere around four in the morning. So it had been more than a couple hours of search. No wonder my skull felt like it would cave in on itself.

"Don't worry Syaoran-kun. We're coming for you." I sighed as my eyes automatically drooped close.

"I heard Ashura-ou was sending you out to track down that witch." I opened my eyes and saw myself standing at the balcony that overlooked a village. It was almost midday and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Pale wisps of clouds marred the otherwise fresh blue color.

"Yes, he is." I replied, not turning around to look at person standing behind me.

"Can I come along?" she asked in a hopeful voice.

"No." I answered immediately.

"Aww... Why not?" She whined, jumping in front of me. "I swear I've been practicing really hard." Her wide amber eyes were so earnest and expressive. It hurt me so bad, as I looked into those eyes, knowing what had become of their owner.

"Because the witch and her companion are very dangerous." I replied simply, trying to make myself look away. I could not bear to look at that face. So happy and alive…

"So?" she crossed her arms. "You're going."

"I can go because, unlike you," I answered in a light teasing voice, "I'm not an apprentice."

"That's not fair." She pouted, holding her chin high as she spoke. "I'm clearly above ordinary apprentice level."

"Hmm?" I grinned, cocking my head to one side. "And why is that?"

"Well," she answered simply like I was an idiot for not knowing. "I'm your apprentice. That obviously means that I'm good."

"Good or not," I laughed, ruffling her hair playfully with my hand. "You're still in training."

"But I'm at C level." She protested with a scowl, glaring at me for ruining her hair. "That's just one level below D."

"Yes," I nodded, observing her as she undid the knot in her hair, letting them fall to their full length which was somewhere past her knees. The sunlight danced across her raven locks which were streaked with a deep crimson as she pulled them back in a ponytail. "But you're not a full witch yet."

"I won't get in your way. I promise." She pulled on the puppy-dog face. One she knew I couldn't say no to. "Please let me come."

"I'm sorry Masooma, but not today." I shook my head. Her shoulders sagged in disappointment. "Maybe if you can master the teleportation spell, I'll take you along next time." I added, taking in her crestfallen appearance.

"Promise?" She immediately brightened up.

"Promise." I laughed.

"Thank you Fai!" I was crushed in her tight hug.

"Syaoran!" Sakura cried from her room. In a flash I was on my feet, running towards her. I threw the door open and came face to face with a still sleeping Sakura who was thrashing wildly on her bed.

"Syaoraaann!" she screamed again, there were tears streaming down her cheeks so I knew she was clearly having a nightmare.

"Sakura. Wake up, you're having a nightmare." I said trying to shake the girl awake, my own dream completely pushed to the back of my mind in favor of waking her up.

"Syaoran!" she wailed, still caught up in her nightmare.

"Sakura, wake up," I patted her face gently as she sobbed.

"Fai… san?" she blearily opened her eyes to look at me.

"It was just a dream, Sakura." I was in a soothing voice as she buried her face into my chest.

"I-it was so…" sob "so real." Her muffled voice reached my ears.

"It's okay, it was just a dream," I repeated, rubbing her back consolingly.

-0-

A/N: It seems like Akira holds a grudge against Fai but at least Peter is dead. And Fai saved Sakura. And he also saw Syaoran. Kurogane unfortunately was missing, but he'll show up next time. (I think).

What was Sakura's nightmare? Will she be able to get over her shock of killing a man? (Even if he was the bad guy.) Will Fai be able to break Akira's wards and find Syaoran? Will Syaoran be able to hold on that long or will he break? Will Kurogane ever have another conversation? And what will Akira do now?

We'll just have to wait and see. ;) (You seriously didn't think I would tell you all that in one go, right?)

By the way for the readers of my other fics, I'm almost finished with the next chapter of 'Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles' and you will be seeing an update pretty soon. As for 'Whispers in the Dark', I'm still working on it, but it might be a while before the next chapter comes out. Also I apologize for not updating 'What the Hell?' but I've lost my notes for that story and well, I've hit a writer's block and until the time my muse hits me with a hammer on my head, I can't write that one. (Ideas for it would be more than welcome.)

That is all for now. I'll let you all head over to the review room and give me your loving reviews telling me how much you love my work cuz I don't think I did anything to deserve a mob coming after me in this one, right?

-Nims.

PS. For those of you who care, Peter is an AU version of Wormtail aka Peter Pettigrew. ;)