A/N: and the much awaited chapter revealing Syaoran's fate has finally arrived. Are you guys ready for what will happen next? Better cross your fingers and buckles up your seatbelts. Things are about to get interesting. ;) ;)
Enjoy!
"He's bleeding out!" Sakura seemed to be having a panic attack as she knelt beside the unconscious boy whose body was twisted at a rather awkward angle on the ground. From the height he had fallen, it was a wonder he appeared to have only fractured a few more bones and break his leg. He should have been dead by all means, but apparently the spell Sakura had sent after him managed to slow his descent enough for it not to be fatal for him.
Tendrils of smoky golden magic began to wrap around the three of them as Sakura willed a teleportation circle into existence beneath them. They reappeared in what was the medical bay of Clow Castle, Syaoran's bleeding body quickly staining the white sheets beneath him red. He was coughing up blood, unable to draw a proper breath as his body thrashed and convulsed in desperation. Even without using magic to scan his body for internal injuries, Sakura knew something- possibly a broken rib- had ruptured one of his lungs. He was suffocating, choking on his own blood. Disregarding the fact that this was even worse than the condition he had been brought in for the first time with Kurogane, Sakura let her hands hover over his shuddering chest, her magic letting her know the extent of the damage his body had suffered from the fall. Apparently one of his ribs had ruptured his right lung. His spine was damaged as well, which might result in paralysis of the lower part of his body. Given enough time and medication, it might actually heal quite nicely but for now, Syaoran was going to be bed-ridden. Knowing that there was no time to waste, Sakura began barking orders at the couple of healers still present in the infirmary. It was quite out of character for the soft-spoke princess, but it was all Sakura could do to hold herself together for the time being. Pushing aside all her personal feelings, the jade-eyed princess set about trying to save the life of her beloved once again.
One of the healers, taking note of the sight before her, rushed out to fetch the High Priest while the other came over to help. Faster than ever before in her life, Sakura performed several life-support spells on Syaoran, knowing full well that the brunette would not make it through the night otherwise. With part of her magic working on stabilizing his condition, the princess turned her attention towards the male's punctured lung.
-0-
A dull, throbbing ache assaulted his chest as he clawed his way back to consciousness. Blearily opening his eyes, he took in his surroundings. A high ceiling, bright golden sunlight filtering in through silken curtains. A sense of wrongness accompanied the serene atmosphere and he soon discovered its reason in the form of a mob of auburn hair resting at his bedside to his right, near his chest level. Careful so as not to rouse the person sleeping beside him, he struggled to sit up, panic gripping his heart when he realized he could not feel his lower body. What… what had she done to him? Breath coming in rapid gasps, his eyes darted around the room in panic. He had thought… he had thought when he had jumped out of the window, he'd be free of this pain forever but it seemed as though the cruel princess hiding behind the innocent façade of a sweet, loving girl had other plans for him. Wanting to ensure that he wouldn't be able to perform another trick like that one in the future, she must have done something to take away the mobility of his lower body. After all that he had been through at her hands, he wouldn't put it past the princess anymore.
"S-Syaoran?" the girl mumbled sleepily as she sat upright, "you're awake!"
He held her bloodshot, jade-eyed gaze for a moment before looking away, mind furiously working on some sort of plan to ensure his survival. He stiffened as her hand came to rest on his forearm.
"Don't touch me." He hissed venomously, refusing to look at the girl that had turned his life into a nightmare worse than hell.
"What?" her words were soft, lathered in disbelief and tinged with hurt. She was a brilliant actress, he'd give her that. If he didn't know any better, Syaoran would have almost felt guilty at making her so sad.
"I said, get your hands away from me!"He growled, grabbing her wrist and flinging it away from his arm. "You'll never be satisfied, will you, Princess?" Had she pricked him with something while had been looking away? He felt so lightheaded and dizzy, the world almost swimming before his vision but he blinked it away. Or atleast, tried to. "Tell me, Princess, did it make you happy? When I jumped out of that window… or did you panic at the thought of losing your toy? I bet that's why you paralyzed me. Just so I would not be able to try anything like that again. Well rest assured, Hime-sama," he paused, suddenly feeling very exhausted, "I won't stop trying to get away no matter what you do!"
"What will it take?" She all but cried out, her small hands gripping his shoulders in a tight grasp as she turned him around to face her. "Tell me Syaoran. Why won't you believe me? That girl wasn't me!"
She is a brilliant actress. It's just an act. It's just an act. She's just acting. Syaoran mentally recited this mantra, feeling panic begin to twist his gut into painful knots. His eyes darted around the vacant infirmary before focusing back on the princess. The world was swimming around him, his lungs having trouble sucking in enough air but he struggled not to let any of this show on his face.
"I've been trying so hard to make you believe me but you… What will it take? Tell me?" she nearly screamed, "What can I do to make you believe it wasn't me who hurt you?"
It's just an act, he reminded himself as his vision began to darken around the edges as he struggled to pull in enough air to breathe. "…. Kill yourself." He narrowed his eyes at the girl who let go of him in apparent shock, even managing to stumble back a couple of steps.
"W-what?" she gasped, her wide eyes staring at him in disbelief.
"You heard me," He refused to let the sight of her wide, jade orbs rattle him, "Kill yourself."
"…fine!" Syaoran smiled grimly as he watched her pluck a surgical scalpel from one of the drawers in the table behind her, "If that's what it will take then…" she said as her grip tightened on the blade, the princess taking firm steps towards him until she was almost towering over him, "fine!"
A morbid smile made its way to his lips once more as his grip on consciousness slipped. He knew she'd never go through with the act. She'd sooner turn the blade on him than use it to take her own life. He knew she was close to doing it just then. He just needed to push her over the edge. Enrage her enough to make her want to kill him. That was the only way he knew he'd ever really break free from her hold.
"Do it." He hissed as the last of his awareness fled him, "I dare you." He never heard the infirmary doors blast open, nor the pounding footsteps that raced across the room towards him and the princess.
-0-
"Sakura!" Touya cried in alarm, racing down the aisle as fast as he could, using a bit of magic to make him move faster, just so he could stop his stupid sister before she…
"What the hell are you thinking, you Baka!" he yelled, his hand managing to catch her slim wrist inches before the tip of the scalpel tore through her own chest and heart.
"H-he… h-he… Sy-Syaoran… he…" the girl sobbed brokenly as she looked from her brother to the boy lying unconscious in the infirmary bed, to the red-eyed ninja standing right next to her brother, the former's eyes narrowed in confusion, anger and… fear.
"I-I… he… T-Touya… oh Touya…" His sister crumpled into a shuddering sobbing heap in his arms, warm tears soaking through his clothes to burn against his flesh as she cried into his shirt. He glared at the ninja in anger as the man began straightening the brat in bed before arranging the sheets around his body. Crushing his sister to himself, he met the red-eyed man's gaze, silently promising his vengeance on the man's apprentice.
-0-
Touya softly shut the door to Sakura's room behind him, having finally managed to put the girl to sleep. He felt bad about sedating her with Yukito's help, but there wasn't much else he could have done for her with the state she had been in. Waving off his best friend's concern, the young king set off stalking through the castle hallways in search of a certain ninja. It was time that man answered some questions.
"What happened in that world?" He growled once he found the red-eyed man, staring out towards the ruins from the window next to the entrance to the infirmary. The stoic ninja remained silent and Touya felt his blood boil at the other's silent demeanor. Fists clenched by his sides, he stalked forward, reaching out to violently turn the older man to face him.
"I said," he growled softly, "what the fuck happened back there? Look, I know you care a lot about that brat, but my little Kaijuu is a hysterical mess because of him. She tried to kill herself just to prove something to him. She'd hate me for as long as she lives if I did something to that… that boy, but I won't hesitate to risk her wrath right now unless I know what happened! All I can see is his face and I want to crush him like the little worthless insec-"
"Shut up." Kurogane growled as he lowered his fisted hand. His punch had shut the young king up mid-sentence. "You want to know what happened? Fine, I'll tell you. But you better not show your face around the kid again or king or not, I won't hesitate in killing you, understand?"
"We'll see about that after you tell me." Touya responded coolly, crossing his arms as he leaned against the banister.
The ninja glowered at the king for quite a while before huffing under his breath as he turned back to staring out the window. It was almost five minutes before the man spoke again, nearly wearing out Touya's patience in the process.
"She won't let you guys go there." Nixon said softly as he stepped up to Fai's right and sat down. Fai looked at the sleeping witch in his arms and clenched his eyes shut.
"But we need to go there. Mokona is-"
"If the dimension hopper is the only reason why you want to break into that city, we can try an alternative first." He interrupted.
"Alternative?"
"Masooma and I know the location of the essence. We can take your friend there and try to see if the essence can help us out in waking Mokona."
"Will it work?"
"I can't say. But it might be for the best if we exhausted all our other options first. I don't really like the idea of you three going there either."
"What if it doesn't work? What if we have to go to the city after all? Won't that compromise the location of the essence?"
"There is a spell that all guardians are taught. If worse comes to worst and you do have to go there… we'll simply extract the memory that holds the knowledge of the location. That way… even if you end up getting captured…"
"The essence remains safe." Fai nodded in understanding.
"As it turned out, the essence was not what we needed to wake the Manju up with." Kurogane said gruffly as he shot a look over at the king before turning his attention back to the ruins. "The witch was adamant about us not going to the city but the Oracle agreed with us, knowing about the toll the price takes on the kid whenever he remains in one place for too long. He erased our memories before giving us the map to city and the complex that we had to break into to get the cure for the meat bun."
-0-
Sakura once again found herself standing in the now-familiar looking landscape of the dream world.
"Hello,Princess."
"Nixon-san," the girl greeted the blind Oracle softly.
"That was quite a stunt you almost pulled there today." The man said casually as he leaned against a cherry blossom tree that had appeared out of nowhere. Conveniently enough, it was placed right behind him.
"I-I…"
"Did you even stop to think for a moment that your impulsive action might end up doing more harm than good, Sakura?" He said this sternly making Sakura look at him in surprise. She had talked to the man twice before in her dreams but he had always been… almost as cheerful and careless as Fai!
"I'm sorry." She bit her lip, looking away.
"I'm not the one that needs to hear it," he responded evenly.
"…"
"I know what you're going through is hard but you have to understand, Sakura, Syaoran was trapped in that place for two months. The woman that tormented him wore your face, had your voice and your scent. Just because you claim it wasn't you…" he left his words hanging in the air.
"… won't make him believe it wasn't me… but then…" she struggled to keep her tears at bay but the memory of the way Syaoran had looked at her when he had told her to kill herself surfaced. His eyes had held nothing but contempt and hatred, not even a shred of the love he once held for her present in his gaze. "What should I do? I've been trying so hard to make him believe me. I've seen his memories. I've been trying to heal him every chance that I get. But he… he doesn't want my help. I can't take it. I… I just can't."
"Once he realizes the truth, I'm sure he'll be able to bring himself to allow you to help."
Tears were freely streaming down her face but there was hope sparkling in her eyes.
"All he needs is some time."
"… I don't want to leave him behind but… every second we stay here waiting for him to recover is a second more that Fai-san spends in torment. How long will he be able to hold on?"
"Syaoran's spirit is trying to help him right now but I'm afraid even with his help, Fai doesn't have very long before he is beyond any help."
"How much time do we have?"
"Two more days at most." The oracle responded shortly, "Bring Tsubasa along when you both come. We have someone here who might be able to help him recover faster."
"But how will we get there? Mokona can't choose the world Moko-chan jumps to."
"Talk to the new owner of the wishing shop. Make a wish. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help you out."
"Thank you, Nixon-san."
"Don't mention it, Princess." The man finally smiled the smile that was reminiscent of Fai. "Oh, and before you wake up, there is something else that I need to discuss with you…"
A/N: *grins* so who that one coming? Syaoran actually managed to drive Sakura off the edge. If it hadn't been for Touya's and Kurogane's timely arrival, we might have been short a magical princess.
*sighs* I seriously need to find some place to fit in the actual capture scene/flashback for Syaoran. I just love making things hard for myself. .Anywhoo… leave a review or two if you enjoyed the update. And feedback, comments and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated as well.