A/N: Sorry guys… I've been pretty busy and I've kind of lost inspiration for pretty much all of my fics since I have a lot on my mind and its keeping me occupied quite a lot. So I apologize for the slow updates… I have the next chapters for Whispers in the Dark, Shattered Secrets, Prisoners of War and World of Shadows all half written but I'm not sure when exactly I'll be able to finish writing them so for my readers of those fics… I apologize for prolonging the delay but I might be uploading small previews for those chapters sometime in the future just so you know I haven't given up yet.

And now, please go ahead and enjoy!

Sakura groggily sat up in bed, blinking sleepily a couple of times. Hearing soft noises, she frowned, furrowing her brows in concentration as she tried to identify the sounds. It was a quiet and peaceful night, and no one seemed to be awake at the time.

"No…" she heard a soft moan and immediately sprang to her feet, rushing through the door that joined her room to the one beside it. The one that she had had Syaoran moved to the very day he started eating again a week ago. Syaoran had definitely been showing signs of improvement over the past few days. True, he still hadn't spoken a word to her, but she heard him mumble in his sleep every now and then.

He no longer acted like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding truck every time someone entered a room. No, he now acted like a fox stuck in the headlights of a speeding truck, observing everything through his partially glazed-over brown eyes. They followed the movement of everything that went around in his room instead of staring off blankly into space. Unfortunately, he had developed an unnaturally high fever a couple of days back. One that no matter what she or the other healers did for him, refused to go down by even a single degree.

"P-Please…" Hearing that pained groan made her push the door connecting the two rooms much faster than normal as she rushed inside. She stopped by his bedside, her heart clenching painfully at the sight that greeted her.

Syaoran appeared to be stuck in the throes of a nightmare, his lower body tangled in the sheets, fighting with them as he thrashed, his expression pained and fearful. A half-smothered sob escaped his lips as his face scrunched up. Sakura wasn't sure what to do as she helplessly watched him struggle, his lips parting in a loud, terrified a cry, "Please… Stop!"

Sakura took a step inside before freezing. What would she be able to do to help him? She could try waking him up but she knew that in situations like these, waking up a person didn't always help the person's mind escape from the nightmare. In certain cases, the person would rather become violent in attempts to protect themselves, unable to distinguish dream from reality. And in his current state, she knew that would do more harm than good. She had gone through his memories and taken special note of how they had healed him after his torture sessions. It was true they always made sure to repair the skin and muscles to stop the bleeding, but that was all their magic ever did. It never repaired the deeper damage, leaving it as it was, which explained the state of Syaoran's arm upon his arrival. That was also one of the reasons why it was taking her so long to heal him. If Syaoran were to fight in this state, he would only serve to reopen many of his internal wounds, and that would set his recovery back by almost a fortnight.

"Gaaaargh!" he screamed in agony, his left hand scrabbling at the cast on his right arm, trying to pull it off, as his whole body continued to convulse violently. "Fai-san! No, please!" Sakura could only watch in mortification as his back arched off the bed at an impossible angle as he tried to twist and turn his arms to try and reach it. A second later he slumped back, his body half-curling up as he wrapped his arms around his stomach to protect them from invisible blows. "K-Kuro…gane-san… Stop…" he began to sob, the fight seemingly leaving his body though in the pale moonlight filtering in through the windows, she could see the way his face was scrunched up in pain. Swallowing once, she let instinct take over as she moved to his side. Careful so as not to startle him, she slid an arm around his shoulders, wincing as his weak punch hit her in the side. "No! Please… leave me alone." Refusing to let go even as he fought against her touch, she lifted his terribly light body up and pulled him closer to herself.

"Sakura-hime… D-Don't make them hit me… I'm… I'm sorry!" The desperation and fear in his voice clawed at Sakura's heart. Those bastards… Those monsters had done this to him! Those vile creatures had turned her brave, fearless Syaoran into this shivering, trembling mess.

Pushing her own feelings aside, she lowered her mouth to his ear, hoping what she had in mind would work. "Shhh," she whispered in a comforting manner, feeling his burning body tremble in her arms, the heels of his feet digging into the sheets as he tried to push himself away from her.

Not letting this discourage her, she held on, beginning to gather her healer's aura. "It's alright, Syaoran. Tell me, where does it hurt?"

"Sakura… S-Sakura-hime…" he cried, sweat rolling down his skin as he continued struggling,

"Please… It… it burns."

"Shhh… Sshh… It's okay, Syaoran." she said softly, carefully moving her hand to gently cradle his head. Something wet slid down her cheeks as her throat constricted. "You're safe now."

"No…" he shook his head, sweat-drenched hair wetting her nightgown where his head partially rested against her stomach, his hands furiously pushing against the bed in his attempts to get away. "Please… make it stop… D-Don't make them hit me."

"No one is going to hurt you, Syaoran," she promised, holding back a sob as she crushed his body to hers. "I'll never hurt you." She continued in a soothing tone. Maybe that was what he needed to hear because miraculously enough, those words seemed to have the desired effect on him as he calmed down some. He was still struggling in her hold but now the motions seemed less… desperate. Encouraged by this, she let her finger run through his hair, just like she recalled her mother doing for her when she was little. "I… I love you." She murmured in his ear, letting the aura she had gathered so far roll off of her in waves. The effects were immediate as her words combined with the aura seemed to be just the thing that he needed as he ceased fighting her. But from the way he bit his lip and scrunched up his face, she could tell he was still stuck in his nightmare.

"It… It hurts… so much." he mumbled, biting his lip at the end as though trying to stop himself from screaming.

"It's not real, Syaoran," she assured him tenderly, her tips of her fingers continuing to massage his scalp. "It's not real. It's over now. You're safe. " She had no idea how long she kept at this, gently stroking his hair as she gently whispered to him, but a few hours before the first of the stars began to twinkle out of existence, Syaoran's mumbling stopped, his expression growing somewhat relaxed, though traces of fear and pain were still visible on his pale visage.

Sighing ever so softly, Sakura watched his profile in the silver moonlight pouring in through one of the windows. She ran the thumb of her hand in his hair over his forehead, tenderly smoothing out the wrinkles, forcing him to unfurrow his brows. She smiled sadly as she felt the tension leave his body. Wistfully, she ran a finger down his temple and along his cheek, then ghosted down to his jawline, her heart beating faster as she traced an invisible line back up his cheek, temple and forehead. Despite the way starvation and torture had made his cheeks sink in, with dark circles beneath his closed eyes, he still looked handsome with his thick unruly brown locks sticking to his forehead with sweat.

Due to his fever, in an effort to keep his body temperature down, they had decided not to dress him in a shirt but thanks to all his thrashing, the sweat-dampened bandages that had been wrapped around his torso and mutilated back had become loose, letting her glimpse at the product of countless hours of torture. Most of the slashes and cuts on his skin had healed already, but there were a few that despite her best efforts could not be healed by magic. The bandages covering these injuries flashed red, telling her he had managed to reopen those slowly healing wounds.

Letting her fingers trail along his jawline once more, she felt her tears beginning to fall, crystal droplets landing on his face, glistening like tiny diamonds in the pale moonlight as he shuddered lightly in her arms.

"Oh, Syaoran…" she sobbed quietly, holding him to her as he slept on, oblivious to the pain he seemed to be causing her.

-0-

Sakura walked into the room with a tray of fresh, steaming broth with boiled noodles. She still had to use the same tactic as the first time to get him to eat, but at least a bit of color was returning to his once sallow complexion. She allowed a small smile to flit across her face as the events of the previous night and early morning rose to the front of her mind. She had awoken a couple of hours ago to find Syaoran still asleep in her arms and she had felt a warm feeling flutter deep within her chest as she noticed how relaxed his body was. She had not wanted to move at all, but she knew she had to get him some breakfast and maybe after that he would allow her to treat his wounds without freaking out or completely shutting the world out.

She hated it when he did that. But she was helpless to do anything about it. It pained her to know that Syaoran still did not trust her or Kurogane, and it always seemed to kill something inside her when he would recede so far into his mind that he would become numb to everything that went on around him while she or his mentor were in the same room as him. Last night had been the only time he had spoken to her, even if it had been in a nightmare.

Normally Syaoran, unlike before the extraction of Syaoran-san's soul from his body, refused to do anything at all when they got near him. He'd never speak, never try to get away, which for some reason was the cause of no joy for Sakura. Seeing her beloved so completely broken to the extent that the brunette did not even fight back to protect himself was so… unlike the boy she had known.

She had no idea what might have caused this sudden change, but could it have been a result of the trauma he experienced in the extraction? Or was this what he had truly become? It was entirely possible that the person that had fought Kurogane had been Syaoran-san, momentarily taking over his son's body to protect him when the boy himself could no longer do so. She had certainly been able to feel his presence in those brief moments Syaoran had fought against them. It puzzled her a lot but Sakura had chosen not to dwell on it for too long. Sakura-san's soul that resided within her body was dormant, lost in a deep slumber and there were times when she could not even tell that the other princess was there. But ever since Kurogane had arrived with Syaoran all those days ago, she had been constantly able to feel Syaoran's father's presence within him, stronger than ever, much more aware and active than Sakura-san ever had been within her. Maybe the world Syaoran previously had been in had something to do with that?

"Sakura!" The loud, joyful cry made her stumble. The jade-eyed princess almost dropped the tray in her hands as she turned around to face the one that had called her name.

"Moko-chan!" the white bejeweled creature hopped down from its perch atop Kurogane's shoulder and bounded up to her. "You're awake!"

"Mokona is so happy to see Sakura." It grinned, jumping to land on her shoulder.

A/N: Mokona is back! Leave a review and tell me what you think might happen next, if you feel like it. Comments and criticism will be appreciated as well. That's it for this time.

Later!