A/N: Hi guys! I'm really, really, reeeeeally happy today so here's an update for you all as a treat.

My mom's PET scan result came yesterday and she is clear, so we are all rejoicing, which is why you're getting a chapter today instead of on Monday.

Enjoy!

Don't forget to review.

Sakura quietly made her way across the silent ship, wondering where the person she needed to talk to could be. She had already checked his bunk which was, surprisingly, empty. She repressed a sigh of frustration as she looked around the vacant galley. The desert sand shone silver in the moonlight outside the porthole-like window. In the distance, the lights of the Clow port-city shone proudly, like stars spread out on the ground.

Spotting a shadow moving outside, she decided that her best bet would be looking off-board. The cold wind bit against her skin as she exited the ship, her feet sinking into the loose sand as she walked towards the place where she had spotted her target.

"I came to your room to thank you for earlier," the person spoke without looking up as his fingers traced patterns in the sand he was hunched over. "But you were busy, so I left."

"Yeah, I was talking to a friend." She answered casually as she settled in the sand next to him. For some reason, this act felt really familiar to her, like she had used to do this a long time ago, with her Nii-san.

Nii-san.

There it was again. That word…

What did it mean?

Frowning, she pushed that thought out of her mind. There were more important matters she needed to deal with.

"A good friend?" he asked quietly.

"Very." She answered equally quiet. "Her name is Chi."

"That's a beautiful name."

"She seemed to recognize you." Sakura said offhandedly.

"Oh?" he responded, a little cautiously.

"I nicked a link-pad yesterday." Sakura quickly changed the subject, carefully observing the blond pilot for his reaction.

"Ah," he nodded, his expression betraying neither surprise nor distress. "I suppose you used a spell to block out their trackers?"

"Yeah." She answered.

"Impressive." He smiled softly, "You're a strong sorceress, Sakura."

"Thanks."

The two fell silent after that. Sakura waited, hoping that he would breach the topic she wanted to discuss with him but when Fai remained silent, she decided to break the ice herself.

"Why did I lie to Kurogane?"

"…"

"Fai, I know you know something. Probably a lot more than you're letting on. What do you think Kurogane would say if I told him about earlier?" She hated black-mailing people, but sometimes, it was simply unavoidable. Especially when the other person had answers that she needed. "From your earlier reaction I can easily tell they don't know that the tattoo on Syaoran's arm is a seal. I bet they don't even know about the sword thing."

"Sakura…" Fai pleaded softly, silently begging her not to ask anything further.

"I'm sorry Fai," she whispered back, hugging her folded legs closer to her body as she stared out at the sea of silver before her.

Fai remained silent.

"I hate doing this," she admitted, "but I need to know. I can remember nothing of my life before I was fifteen. Who I was? Where I came from? Did I have a family somewhere? I need to know…" she trailed off, rubbing her arms to provide some heat to her numb limbs. "Syaoran… he… he is connected to my past somehow. I'm really sorry, Fai, but I won't stop if that's what you are hoping for. I finally have a chance to find out something about myself other than my name."

Fai did not respond and she wondered if the blond had even heard her.

"If… If you're worried I might tell someone," she said, trying not to sound desperate but a little anxiety still leaked into her tone. "I swear I won't."

Still Fai was mum.

"I wonder if Kurogane noticed all the flaws in your story of finding Syaoran out in the streets of Infinity." She finally changed her tactics. "Clearly, 'Project Tsubasa' was carried out on another planet. After all, Fei wouldn't dare do something on the one planet Yuuko has control over. His carefully constructed experiment would have fallen apart had anyone discovered it and informed her." She did not fail to notice the way Fai's body stiffened at the name of the project.

"Oh, and by the way, did I mention that Chi thought you were Yuui?" she laid special emphasis on the name. "In case you don't know, Yuui is also wanted by the hunters for crimes against Lord Fei. I mean Xiaolang, I can understand, he was part of the experiment but Yuui? I wonder what he might have done, don't you, Fai?"

"Stop it." Fai hissed, his hands clenched into fists by his side.

"Then answer my questions, Fai." Sakura could barely recognize the commanding tone but she knew that the cold voice that issued from her mouth was her own. "Or do I have to tell Kurogane?" She loathed herself right about then, blackmailing him with something like that. It was quite clear from the way he treated the amber-eyed teen that he cared for him and yet she was using that and his past against the blond to get what she wanted.

Sakura was not a cruel person. No. Far from it. Every time she took a life, her heart shattered a little more. Even if they were her enemies, they were still living beings and killing someone in cold blood and leaving their corpses in alleys and streets and warehouses to rot was not something she enjoyed. No, she abhorred doing that. But that was something she had little control over.

But willingly using a person's weakness against them? When had she sunk to that level?

"Fei Wong Reed is a bastard," Fai's venomous hiss broke her out of her reverie. "He kidnapped my brother… My twin brother…Yuui. Your friend, Chi, I think she might have known him. I'm not sure. We had been separated when we were very young. Twins were never considered good luck on my home planet, so we had been separated at the age of ten. I became a pilot in hopes of running into him on some port town. It was a small chance but I took it. And after many cycles of constant searching, I finally managed to find him on Ceres. He was living under the care of a kind man named Ashura."

"He didn't seem to mind the fact that we were twins and he happily took me in. But we had not been reunited for more than a few months when Fei had Ashura killed. And then…" He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, "He… He took my twin. He wanted him for an experiment of sorts."

"I searched and searched for my brother but by the time I got to him… It was too late." He exhaled a little shakily. "He was dead… I knew I had no further reason to stay but I didn't go away from there. I needed some way to avenge him so… I broke into the facility that took his life."

Sakura did not break the silence that followed that confession and was rewarded by Fai when he continued his tale after remaining quiet for a couple more minutes.

"I had heard rumors circulating in the underground networks about a young sorcerer who had been kidnapped by Fei for the same experiment, Project Tsubasa." He spat those two words. "He had probably been in that place for a little over a complete cycle. His life in that hell hole was filled with nothing but excruciating agony. He went through magical and mental torture for hours. I wasn't lying when I said Syaoran has suffered a lot more than you can possibly imagine."

"So that sword…"

"Fei Wong did it personally." He answered bitterly. Sakura wondered how he knew that. Maybe from the rumors that circulated in the underground? "I broke him out of that place but he was traumatized for life. Even now, with almost two cycles of constant love and care, he still gets terrified at the smallest of things. Loud noises, turbulence, crowds…" he trailed off, finally opening his eyes only to look away and stare at the endless sea of sand opposite to the Clow port-city. "I flew us to Infinity. The one place Fei wouldn't dare send his people. Which was where Kurogane and Tomoyo found us half a cycle later." He fell silent after that.

"Why didn't you tell all this to Kurogane?" Sakura broke the tranquility after a long time.

"Kurogane loves Syaoran like his little brother." Fai laughed humorlessly. "What do you think he would do if he knew?"

"Go after Fei Wong?" She ventured. In the week that she had known them, she had learnt enough about the stoic captain to know he wouldn't hesitate to do just that.

"Kurogane is not a magician. He doesn't have any magic." Fai said softly.

"He wouldn't stand a chance against Fei." She nodded in understanding.

"And where do you think that would leave Tomoyo and Syaoran?" Fai filled his right hand with sand, letting it slip out of his fingers, the little grains blown away by the cold desert wind. "Syaoran would be back in his clutches and Tomoyo would be sent to some place… unpleasant."

Sakura shivered, knowing exactly what that unpleasant place might be for someone as beautiful as Tomoyo.

Sakura still felt like she had missed out on asking about something very important, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

"Why is Yuui's name in the hunters' databases if you are the one who broke him out and your twin was killed?"

"I… I don't know." Fai shook his head, "Maybe it's some sort of cruel twisted joke that Fei is playing at my expense. I wouldn't put it past that bastard to have made it so I would be reminded of my brother every single time I encounter a hunter."

Fai got to his feet and left after that, but Sakura stayed where she was, watching as the moon flew across the sky, sinking lower and lower past the horizon. Staring as the stars dimmed out, one by one blinking out of existence. Still gazing as the sky grew a light pink and purple, the wispy clouds near the distant horizon reflecting those colors beautifully, adding in a little gold and orange touch in their attempt to mimic the great ball of fire that lit up the heavens.

Later that day, when Tomoyo walked into the galley to cook breakfast, she found a small note from the brunette, stating that she had gone into the city because she had a craving for lobster-apples. Setting the note down, Tomoyo looked at the basket of blue colored fruit that bore the same name and let a small smile touch her lips. Sakura just needed a little time to herself.

A/N: And finally, Syaoran's history is revealed.

What do you think? Good? Bad? When should I update next?

On Monday or next Saturday? ;) ;)

Here's a sneak peak at what I have in store for you guys next time.

For a long time, they both stared at each other.

"Touya?" the other boy, now a man also dressed in hunter garb, stepped into view behind him but he too froze when his gaze fell on Sakura.

"S-Sakura?" The dark haired hunter called Touya breathed and she bolted.

So that's it for now.

Ciao!