A/N: So I'm back with another update. And so close to my finals too… *sighs* everytime I decide I'm going to sit down and study, I get attacked by a new bunny and then I just HAVE to write it down or it won't go away. Lucky for you guys, this bunny decided to bug me yesterday. So yeah, enjoy the chapter. And please leave a review.

Clenching her eyes, Sakura burrowed further under the covers. Fai, Kurogane and Tomoyo were leaving the next afternoon and they all respected her decision of staying where she was, thanking her for helping them locate Syaoran. Kurogane and Tomoyo still seemed cross with Fai but they weren't outright threatening to kill the blond anymore, as they had been before from what she had gathered from Touya's explanation. Now that she had all of her memories, she no longer had to work for Yuuko but she had decided to keep her job as an information thief. It paid pretty well. She had Touya and Yukito back with her as well so everything was well in her life. She felt something shifting inside her restlessly but she pushed the feeling away. It wasn't her place. Besides, they didn't expect her to come along and help them out. She had only been travelling on their ship to get to Infinity. She felt partially responsible for the demise of Little Dragon so she had talked Yuuko into lending them Mokona for a while. At least until they managed to get a ship of their own again.

Yuuko had told them that they were welcome to Infinity once they had accomplished their task. She wasn't sure as to why the ruler of Infinity was offering them refuge on the dark world. Especially when doing so could lead to Fei finally declaring war as that was going to be his precious weapon they were out to steal. Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts, she sat up, searching around for something to help go to sleep in her drawer. Finding the little bottle, she dry swallowed a couple of pills and laid back down. She was asleep within five minutes.

The birds were chirping sweetly but unlike all those other times when their sweet songs brought a smile to her lips, she merely glared at the rose bushes angrily, her tiny arms crossed before her chest.

"Why are you hiding out here?"

"Oni-san keeps on being mean to me," she pouted, "And now, Mei-chan has started calling me a Kaijuu too."

"My cousin can be a little mean at times." He nodded, taking a seat next to her on the marble bench. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" she cocked her head to the side in confusion, turning to look at his solemn face.

"She doesn't like you very much because I'm spending time with you now." He admitted.

"But she has Oni-san to keep her company." She frowned thoughtfully, finding it difficult to understand why the other girl would not like her when she had made a new friend because of her.

"She also doesn't like it that my magic likes you more than it likes her." Had she looked up just then, she would have seen the soft blush that adorned the boy's cheeks as he looked at her.

"Oh..." that was a little surprising, "ne, Syaoran-kun?"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"I think Oni-san's magic likes Mei-chan but, shhh," she made a shushing motion with her hand as a wide grin split her face, "don't tell him I told you that. Oni-san doesn't like it when I use magic to see things like that."

"… do you think if she had magic," he seemed almost hesitant to ask the question, "it would have liked your brother too?"

"I don't think anyone's magic would like that big meanie." She made a face, sticking out her tongue before bursting into peals of laughter. All of a sudden, as though a switch had been flipped off, everything grew deathly silent, though Sakura could see her younger, four cycle old self laughing happily with an equally young Syaoran. A cold, almost insubstantial hand touched her on the shoulder though she could not hear anything. Wondering what the heck had gone wrong, she turned around, almost falling back in shock upon finding Syaoran standing there, watching her with that silent, amber-eyed gaze of his, hurt and accusation evident in his expression.

"S-Syaoran…"

He parted his lips to speak but no sound came out. He stared at her expectantly once he was done but she only stared back in bewilderment. He repeated his question but once again, she did not hear what he said.

"I can't hear you Syaoran."

"Help me…" a faint whisper ghosted her skin just as she felt her magic reach out to something. That familiar yet alien aura met hers and she was thrown back into awareness with a sharp tug.

Opening her eyes, she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, watching the tiny specks of dust dance around in the pale, dirty gray sunlight filtering into her room through the curtains.

Help me… Sakura… the whisper from her dream breathed against the shell of her ear, causing her to bolt upright, one hand clenched into a fist against her right breast as she cast a wary glance around her room.

Shaking her head and putting it up to her mind playing tricks on her, she climbed out of bed, going about her daily routine of washing up and changing into her day clothes before heading to the main dining hall for breakfast. As she walked through the silent, dimly lit hallways, she felt all the curtains that covered up the windows flutter in an unnatural breeze. she stopped walking, looking back the way she had come, wondering whether if one of the windows behind her had perhaps been left opened. Her magic felt restless inside her, struggling to reach out to something but she forced it to remain where it was. The wind blew again, slapping her hair against her face, momentarily blinding her as she felt the ghost of a presence behind her.

Help me… the wind whispered to her before dying out, leaving her standing alone, a little short of breath and wide-eyed as her magic seemed to curl in on itself in endless sorrow.

The next time it happened was as she sat the table, neatly cutting up some flatcakes with her knife. A violent gust of air nearly knocked her out of her chair as the familiar whisper repeated the same phrase in her ear, though it sounded somewhat different this time.

Help me!

"Kaijuu," she blinked once, looking up from her plate to see everyone seated at the table looking at her in concern, "you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, I-I'm fine." She replied, hastily picking up the knife she had dropped. She could feel her brother's worried gaze linger on her a little longer before turning away from her. She only picked at her food after that though, silently leaving for her room, muttering a half-formed excuse about wanting to go through some of the files in her laptop and finishing preparations for her next job.

Why won't you help me?

Dropping the book in her hand, she whirled around, watching the barely there outline of an amber-eyed apparition stare at her reproachfully before vanishing altogether.

-0-

Touya, on Yukito's nagging, helped the blond pilot Yuui get the ship Mokona ready for their journey. It was a black colored replica of the ship he had stolen from Ryanban's Kishimu.

"Anything else you might need?"

"No, that would be all," the blond shook his head, "thank you for your help."

They were to depart the next afternoon. Even though he had not taken an active part in their planning of the rescue attempt, he had still caught enough snatches of their conversation with the wine-eyed witch, Yuuko, to know that they had decided on rescuing the brat stuck in Clow before heading over to Hong Kong. The Bat Lord had somehow managed to split the boy's soul from his body in such a manner that the body had turned into a powerful puppet for the bastard to command. The perfect, mindless yet powerful weapon that could eliminate slews of enemies without even batting an eye. Or so he had been informed. The kid supposedly had enough magic to rival the legendary Clow Reed. The only other person that could even come close to matching that level of raw power now would have to be his little Kaijuu. He had to wonder why the blond, the seemingly knew about this little fact, had failed to ask his sister for help. The pilot must have known that going up against that powerful a foe would result in nothing but death for him and his companions. Maybe if he did not have that controlling seal upon his own body, he might have been able to actually able to hold his own against the brat- any magician that could survive going against the seal and the Bat Lord for this long had to be a powerful mage in his own right. As it was though, the seal consumed so much of his power that the magic that could be spared in the end was even feebler than a five year old child's.

"No problem," he grunted in response, turning around to leave before pausing near the doorway to the hanger. "There is a network of secret tunnels that lead into the castle at Clow. You can find one of the entrances under the ruins of the twin towers in the desert."

"They must be one of the secret passages built for the Royal Family," the blond commented though he could hear the gratitude in his tone. That brat must have been really important to him.

"They are." He nodded, "No one but me, Yukito or Sakura know about them anymore though."

Speaking about his sister, reminded him of the troubling manner she had been behaving in all day long, jumping at the faintest of whispers, her eyes darting around wildly every now and then, the color draining from her face at the sight of something only she could see. He had tried asking her what was wrong but the girl had merely brushed him off, claiming it to be nothing but her imagination. He knew there was more to it though. He had caught flashes of guilt swimming in her jade-eyes a few times he had caught her staring at the pilot and his companions. Something was going on in her head and whatever it was, it made him feel uneasy. He knew his sister well enough, despite having been separated from her for all these cycles, to know that the little monster was struggling to make a decision. His magic shifted restlessly beneath his skin, sensing its master's unease and wanting to do something to soothe his ire. Touya commanded it deeper inside his body, selfishly hoping against hope that his little monster would be too late to make her decision and would remain behind with him and Yukito where it was safe. He did not want to lose her after just having found her.

He was almost back at the door to his allotted bedroom when he felt Sakura's bright pink aura approach the pale blue barely there aura of the blond pilot. A heavy feeling of dread settled within the pit of his gut as he turned back the way he had come, sending a telepathic message to Yukito to meet him at the hanger. Having seen the way she had been around the brat back at Little Dragon he had known this would come to pass even if his little Kaijuu had been trying her best to push those feelings away and stay with him and his best-friend.

Sakura had made her choice but he'd be damned if he let her go again. There was no way he was letting his little monster rush to her death just like that. Not if he had anything to say about it.

-0-

"Fai." She called out softly as she entered the hanger, looking around the seemingly deserted hall but she heard the echo of the blonde's footstep sound from inside the hull of Mokona.

"Sakura." The man acknowledged her, bowing his head slightly in greeting as he emerged from the ship and moved on to lean against a few random crates- those boxes were to be shipped off to Piffle in a few days.

She stood there silently, nibbling at her lip, wondering why the hell she had even come down there. She shuddered as she heard the wind whisper in her ear yet again. That's right, she had come down because…

"Is there something you needed?" the man cocked his head to one side, seemingly waiting for her to say what she wanted to, though she could almost catch the knowing glint in his strange blue-eyed gaze. It was rather unnerving to have his eyes upon her, especially since they were no longer that warm gold she had become so accustomed to seeing. It was almost like he was a completely different person now.

"I… I was wondering," she sighed, approaching the man slowly before jumping up to sit on one of the crates beside him, "how exactly are you guys going save Syaoran?"

"Did you have a chance to actually look at the files concerning Syaoran in those files you stole?" her surprise must have shown on her face for the man merely laughed before continuing, "Chii told me about that. So, have you?"

"Not in detail," she shook her head, wondering why in the world her blond friend had deemed it fit to let the pilot in on that little secret. Oh yeah, he was her cousin slash adoptive brother. "But I did skim over them when I first got them."

"Did you ever get around to reading about the final phase of Project Little Wolf?" he said, observing her rather closely. "Xiao Lang or Syaoran as you know him, means Little Wolf."

"I know." She mumbled.

"You two knew each other in your childhood." His casual comment made her head snap in his direction in alarm. "Your magic had time to actually get used to the other's presence which was one of the major reasons why Fei wanted the two of you as his weapons. You are both powerful in your own right, no doubt about it, but together… you would have been a force to be reckoned. I was in-charge of Project Little Wolf, as I'm sure you would have heard from Tomoyo."

"Why did you do it?"

"They had my brother." He admitted quietly, "it was either him or Syaoran. You can understand who I chose, can't you?"

"What made you change your mind then?" she wondered out loud.

"Fai, that's my brother's name, was nothing more than a mockery of a human being by the time I managed to get him. He wasn't even alive anymore," he replied rather bitterly, "they were only keeping his body alive to use him as a power source for magic."

"I'm sorry."

"There are times that I wish I had never let him go," he did not really seem to be talking to her anymore, intently observing the palms of his hands, repeatedly clenching them into fists before unclenching them again. "But I had been stupid back then. I'm not going to make the same mistake this time around," he promised, "even though… I know I might not live to see another day, but if my death means that Syaoran can have a chance at freedom and then I wouldn't mind dying for that cause."

"You're not going to die." she said firmly, watching the soft grin that formed across the blonde's lips as he turned his head to look at her, "You're not going to die," she repeated, taking a deep breath to steel herself for the words she was about to say. There would be no going back once she spoke them out loud. "Because I'm going with you."

"If you think I'm going to let you gallivant alone across the galaxy to save that brat," Touya's menacing growl made her heart skip a beat. Her brother was not supposed to have heard her declaration. He was supposed to have been in bed and asleep and oblivious to her decision. That was why she had waited until this late to actually approach the blond. Touya would never let her go. "And get your monstrous butt kicked by the hunters, think again Kaijuu."

A/N: And just as she decided to go with them, Touya intervenes. What do you think will happen next?