"Mmm…" she groaned softly, a dull throbbing ache attacking her right side while her leg felt like it had been put on hot coals. Dazedly, she opened her eyes, blinking once, twice as the world came back into focus.
Amber with little flecks of gold.
That was the first thing she saw.
The most beautiful, innocent and breathtaking pair of eyes were observing her.
She drew in a sharp breath as the man hovering above her suddenly jumped back before rushing out of the room.
Panicked, she shot up in bed, looking around her with wide, fearful eyes. Where was she?
Had she been caught? Had those agents found her?
What had…
What had happened?
"Ah, good, you're awake." She heard a soft feminine voice speak as the metal door hissed and slid open. A beautiful woman with long raven hair that reached past her knees walked in.
The girl on the bed, looked past her through the open door to see that the corridor outside was made of metal, with small pipes running along one wall. She could also hear the distant hum of engines with faint sounds of music drifting in through the open door.
"How are you feeling now?" the woman asked, not unkindly.
"Where… Where am I?" She ignored the question about her health as she observed more of her surroundings.
The room she was in, was small, with metal walls and floor, even the roof was made out of metal. And there was a small porthole like window, to her right, which displayed a pitch black sky with stars zipping by.
"You passed out in the alley," she answered, "Kurogane told me federal agents were chasing after you and you asked him to help you."
"The red-eyed man?" the girl questioned.
"He brought you to our ship just before we were taking off." The woman nodded as she opened one of the cabinets and rummaged inside. "We're headed to Alpha Centauri 1, but we can probably drop you off at the next space port if you want. I've treated your wounds to the best of my ability but if anything still hurts, please let me know."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Tomoyo," she smiled as she let the panel slide back in place and held up a non-descript bottle. "Painkillers," she held it up and showed her the label, "do you need some?"
"No, I'll…" she drew in a breath, "I'll be fine."
"You're a sorceress." Tomoyo stated more than accused.
"Y-yeah." The girl paled a little but the woman merely laughed, her laughter reminding her of the chiming of bells.
"Relax, we're not gonna turn you in," she shook her head, "the pilot of this ship is a mage." Tomoyo informed her to ease her worries.
"Right, um, thanks." She mumbled, looking at her hands folded neatly in her lap but then a strange prickling sensation made her realize that someone was watching her. Looking towards the doorway, she caught that flash of amber once more but the owner of those eyes quickly ducked behind the door, out of sight.
Tomoyo followed her line of sight and shook her head with a small smile.
"That's Syaoran," she answered her unasked question as she climbed to her feet. "Well, if you need anything just let me know, alright?"
The girl nodded, her eyes catching the man, introduced as Syaoran staring at her through the doorway, but once again he quickly withdrew, the second she looked.
Tomoyo, turned around, near the doorway as though she remembered something. "I'm sorry but I don't think I caught your name."
"It's Sakura." The girl answered a little breathlessly, feeling a strange warmth flood her body as Syaoran peeked inside the room again.
"Alright Sakura, dinner will be served in a couple of hours, I'll come get you when it's ready alright? Try not to move around too much till then."
"Right." Sakura nodded, watching those curious eyes as the door slid close.
Coming out of her reverie, Sakura noticed her black jacket, lying at the back of one of a chair. Slipping her bare feet out from under the sheets, she slid to floor with natural grace, ignoring the cool metal. IT was as she dug around in the pocket of her clothes, retrieving the plastic disk that she realized that she couldn't feel the ache in her side or her leg anymore.
Magic. She realized with a start.
-0-
"And this here is the galley," Tomoyo announced proudly as she led the eighteen year old towards the kitchen. The kitchen table that was bolted to the floor was occupied by a lean, blond haired man who must have been in his mid-twenties, around the same age as Tomoyo. He was dressed in a light blue t-shit and brown cargo pants. Sitting next to him was the dark-haired man that Sakura had kissed on Koryo during her escape.
The third person, was the amber-eyed Syaoran observing her with a curious expression on his face.
"Sakura, you've already met Syaoran," Tomoyo said as she walked over to the small cooking stove riveted to the wall on the right side of the galley, where a pot was placed above the fire. "The guy you kissed, is the ship's captain, Kurogane and next to him is our pilot, Fai."
At the mention of the kiss, Sakura felt heat rush to her face.
"Um, thank you very much for saving me earlier." She spoke softly as Tomoyo opened a cupboard and extracted five bowls.
"Don't mention it," Kurogane answered in a gruff manner as Tomoyo placed a soup ladled bowl in front of him.
"And thank you for taking me off that planet." She continued, "I'll pay you for the trip as soon as I can access my account."
"It's no problem at all Miss Sakura." Fai gave her a charming smile as he took the bowl from Tomoyo. "Oh you shouldn't just stand there, come on and have some soup. Tomoyo is quite an amazing cook."
With a silent nod, Sakura walked over, all the while, aware of those inquisitive eyes staring at her. It was quite unnerving but none of the others found it strange at all.
"Blossom," Syaoran finally spoke, his voice deep but soft. "Blossom Princess."
Sakura's spoon stopped midway to her mouth as she looked up in surprise.
"Huh?"
But Syaoran was quietly sipping at the juice from his glass.
"So, where are you headed to?" Fai asked politely as he dipped his spoon in the bowl.
"Um, I needed to get to Infinity."
"Infinity?" he repeated in mild surprise.
"Yeah, I have," she emptied her spoon, "some things I have to drop there."
"I see." He nodded.
"No Syaoran," Tomoyo warned gently as she reached across the table and caught his hand, right before he took a hold of Sakura's bowl.
"No?" he repeated cocking his head to the side as his eyes looked at Tomoyo in confusion.
"No," she shook her head, "we don't take food from other people. Especially if they are eating it. I'll get you some more soup, alright?" with that she retrieved his bowl, getting to her feet as she walked back to the stove and poured him some more.
"Here you go," she smiled gently as she placed it right before him.
Sakura observed the whole exchange with a perplexed expression but the other occupants of the table ignored her. All except for Syaoran, whose questioning stare was back on her. Immediately, Sakura dropped her gaze to her soup, feeling the strange prickling sensation that one always gets when they know that they are being watched.
"Come on Syaoran," she heard Fai speak in a gentle, coaxing manner after almost ten minutes.
"No."
"Kid, eat your medicine." Kurogane ordered in his baritone voice.
"Don't want to." She heard the youngest of the three males answer.
"Syaoran please. You know it's to help you sleep better." This time it was Tomoyo who pleaded.
"No." Sakura looked up, fixated by the scene as it played out before her. Tomoyo was trying to pass a small pill past his lips but Syaoran had his mouth shut tightly. "Come on Syaoran, please." But the amber-eyed male merely leaned back to avoid taking the medicine.
With a disgruntled sigh, Kurogane shifted in his seat, moving his arm so quickly that Sakura could barely follow its movement before he had it wrapped around Syaoran's arms, slipping his other hands behind his neck to take a hold of his cheeks, pressing them tightly to part the younger man's lips.
The minute Tomoyo slipped the pill into his mouth, the red-eyed man clamped his hand over his captives mouth, forcing the male to swallow.
"I'll do the dishes," Fai offered as he climbed to his feet, speaking so casually as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Alright Syaoran, time for bed." Tomoyo followed the motion, taking the amber-eyed man's hand and helping him to his feet once Kurogane had let go.
"Let's go Kid." Kurogane took hold of his other arm, leading him out of the galley as Syaoran's eyelids drooped.
Sakura sat rooted in her spot unable to tear her eyes away from the door that those three had disappeared through.
"He wasn't always like that," Fai's quiet voice made her jump.
"Syaoran?" She ventured.
"He's a really good kid," Fai dunked the bowls into the sink.
"What happened?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.
"What happened?" Fai repeated in a distant voice. "To whome?"
"To him. Syaoran I mean."
"He… He had an accident." The blond answered, closing his golden eyes as he took a deep steadying breath, "an accident that trapped the mind of a child in the body of an eighteen year old." The way he said it, Sakura knew better than to press for further details.
As much as she wanted to know what might have transpired, she knew it wasn't her place to ask.
That night, she climbed back into the bolted bunk bed, pulling the covers over her face as silence reigned throughout the ship.
-0-
"No!" Sakura woke to the sound of terrified yelling, her heart hammering against her ribs as she heard hurried footsteps outside her door. "No! Dooon't!"
"Kid!" she heard Kurogane shout.
"No! Let me go!" Syaoran. She realized. It was Syaoran that was yelling.
Throwing the covers off her body, she jumped to her feet, hurrying outside into the corridor, listening to pinpoint the place where all the noise was generating from.
"Mother!" Syaoran screamed, "Father!"
The bunk to her right.
Swiftly she made her way in that direction, freezing at the sight that greeted her eyes.
Syaoran was thrashing around in Kurogane's hold, his face white with fear, sweat drenched chocolate-colored bangs plastered to his forehead as he struggled against the red-eyed man. His pupils were dilated, amber eyes wide as they darted in all directions, like a cornered animal's.
"No! No! Let me go!"
"Kid! Calm down, it was just a dream." Kurogane grunted as he struggled to maintain his grip on the fighting teen along with the blond pilot. Fai was holding down his legs while the captain was pinning Syaoran's arms to the bed.
"Excuse me." Tomoyo said a little breathlessly as she raced past her into the room, a hypodermic needle filled with some sort of translucent liquid, in her hand.
"Father!" his screams echoed all around Sakura, a throbbing pain attacking her head. Blinding flashes of light, images of a burning inferno, sounds of people screaming in pain had Sakura panting. Her whole body was trembling as flash after flash passed through her eyes.
"W-what's happening to me?" she questioned weakly, hearing Syaoran scream in a different world altogether.
Slowly the images blurred, the sounds faded and she was made aware of her own shivering body. Looking up she realized she had slid to the floor but no one had noticed since everyone was still occupied with Syaoran, who was whimpering softly.
As Sakura got back to her feet, she watched Tomoyo put the syringe, now void of its contents, on the table next to Syaoran's bed. The only sound in the room now was his raspy breathing as he curled up into a ball.
Completely shaken by what had just transpired, Sakura returned to her bunk, before anyone noticed her presence, sliding back under the covers, noticing her sweat damped hair for the first time.
What had just happened?
-0-
A/N: I'm supposed to be studying right now but since I couldn't concentrate, I decided to take a little break and put this up.
Wonder what might have happened to Syaoran? And what went wrong with Sakura near the end?
Guesses anyone?
Drop by the review room and let me know what you think, k?
Do you want me to continue? (I already know the answer to that but I wanna hear you guys say it. You know you want to.) I want to get at least five reviews for this chapter before I update once again. Oh and just so you know, I already have the next one written out so the faster my demands are fulfilled, the faster you get to find out what happens next.
Fai: It's not very nice of you to hold you stories for ransom.
Me: Oh, so you finally decided to show up.
Sakura: He's not the only one. What the hell did you do? First you killed off Syaoran in 'Dead' and now you've made him crazy?
Me: Crazy? *smiles innocently* Did I say that?
Sakura: No, but that's what you are implying isn't it?
Me:*shakes head* Sakura. Sakura. Sakura. You should know better than to assume things when it comes to me. Implications don't mean anything.
Kurogane: Oh yeah, then what the hell did you do to the kid?
Me: you'd like to know, wouldn't you Kurgy?
Kurga-lurga: MY name is K.U.R.O.G.A.N.E, get it through that thick skull of yours, woman.
Me: I know that.
Kuro-bunny: Then why the *&^% don't you use it?
Me: Now, now Kuro-buro, mind your language, there are children reading this story.
Mokona: But isn't the rating for this 'T'?
Me: Yeah, so?
Sakura: Then how can children be reading it?
Me: what do you consider yourself?
Sakura: *frowns* I'm eighteen in this story. I'm not a kid anymore.
Me: And you saying that just proves that you are.
Kuro-meatloaf: What kind of logic is that? And wait a second… *reads his name* MEATLOAF?
Me: what? *innocently slurping on noodles* I'm hungry.
Kuro-noodle: *once again reads the name and draws Ginryuu* That's it you crazy author! Die!
Me: *steps to the side and sticks foot out*
Kuro-clumsy: *fails to see the foot in blind rage and ends up smashing his face into the closet wall*
Me: *kicks the door close and locks it, hiding the key*
Everyone: 0_0;
Me: *still slurping noodles* hmm… I should have done that ages ago.
Sakura: Um… are you sure it's a good idea to lock him in there?
Me: Yup. What's the worst that can happen?
*crickets chirping*
Me: *ignoring the colorful nicknames bestowed upon her by an angry vengeful ninja currently locked in a closet* so anyhow, till the time we meet again, this is it. Nims is outta here.
Fai: *sweatdrops* since she forgot to mention this herself, to all her readers of 'Dead', the epilogue for dead will be uploaded in a few hours as a celebration for her freedom from studies for two whole months, during which time, hopefully, she will pay attention to those other neglected stories of hers as well.
Sakura: Please don't forget to review, I really don't want Syaoran to suffer more at her hands.
Mokona: Speaking of Syaoran, where is he?
Everyone: *looks to the corner of the room where a small trembling ball is visible*
Syaoran: *lifts head* Is the crazy lady gone yet?