Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura does not belong to me. The day they do, my professors would stop giving me assignments and tests, Johnny Depp would step in front of my door and professs his undying love for me and a flying purple monkey will zoom around the city.

Enjoy and thanks for supporting me. I treasure each and every review even if I didn't reply to them. Reviews are greatly appreciated and I humbly apologized for the accidental mistakes in the story.

Syaoran stopped and looked up, he was truly perplexed. The woman was impossible to predict."Excuse me, my lady but what exactly are you doing?"

Sakura fought the urge to laugh. "I'm hanging on a tree, kind sir. What is the matter?"

She had heard him coming and wasn't even surprised when he managed to find her. He was powerful, that much she had to admit.

Syaoran's jaw locked when he saw her dropped from the branch she was hanging on to a lower, thicker branch. Her tinkling laugh told him that she did that on purpose, just to see his reaction. She pulled herself up and sat on the branch, feet dangling invitingly.

Syaoran accepted it as such. He jumped up the branches, dodging stray twigs effortlessly. Sakura watched his every move. The man was good. He settled himself next to her silently.

"Let's see. A princess hanging off a twelve foot tree in the forest in the middle of the night isn't something you see every day."

Sakura laughed softly, not willing to disturb the stillness of the night. She had grown quite comfortable with him, having to spend almost every waking hour with him to improve her hand-to-hand combat. She brought her knees up and placed her chin on them.

"I suppose that's true. But I don't think any princess has half Wild blood. A Wild usually marries one of their own, it was a tradition. My mother was quite the rebel, I suppose. Touya had it easy. His Ice blood was stronger than his Wild blood; he had no trouble controlling his powers. Though, he did have limited access to his Wild blood. My powers, on the other hand, are completely mingled with each other, making them unstable ever since I can remember. Touya used to tease me about it all the time. The sapling I tried to grow was frozen solid and the Ice I produced was laced with tree veins."

Her eyes took a far-away look as she gazed at her hand, clenching them repeatedly. "I don't mind. I think they look pretty." Sakura stated softly, almost to herself.

Sakura blinked and blushed. "I've been babbling. I'm not usually like this but the full moon.." She continued to rant about her theory on what happened to her powers during the full moon.

Syaoran was content listening to the lull of her voice so when she stopped talking, Syaoran tilt his head slightly to look at her. She was watching him with an inscrutable expression. "Why are you doing this?"

"This?"

"You know, helping me with training, helping us with the war. Why?"

The corner of his mouth curved slightly. "I was expecting that question much sooner."

Sakura's expression turned sheepish and mumbled something about it skipping her mind.

"Well?"Sakura demanded, her curiosity demanding to be appeased. "Why are you helping us?"

Syaoran gazed at the moonlight reflecting from the leaves below them. He shook his head amusedly. "I was young when I came to be King and I was arrogant."

Sakura scoffed, a very un-princess like response. "You are still arrogant."

"Now, I have every right to be." He smiled, darkly confident and her insides warmed from his arrogance. Sakura honestly didn't know what to say to that so she kept silent.

"I can't give you the details but Fujitaka saved me." Syaoran smiled softly. "I owe him a favor and I am paying it back."

Sensing that he was unwilling to say more Sakura relented on that particular subject. Didn't mean she was done though.

Sakura leaned back, unintentionally letting the moonlight washes over her face. Syaoron thought that she looked like an enchanting wood nymph.

"When you fought with the Shadows to get me, you didn't use your powers, did you?"

Syaoran shook his head. Sakura waited for him to continue but he decided to be silent.

"Were they using their powers to fight you?" Sakura persisted.

Syaoran grin this time was malicious as he nodded. Sakura rolled her eyes. He needed no boost to his ego, that's for sure. He smiled softly at her attics and for a couple of minutes, they sat in comfortable silence.

"When they decided to attack, we'll be ready for them." Sakura stated firmly, they could not afford not to.

"Of that, I have no doubt, Sakura." Rather than him saying her name, it's the way he says it that caused butterflies in her stomach. As if he was savoring each syllable of her name on his tongue. Sakura shook off the warm feeling that thought evoked quickly, ignoring the fact that she knew that he was watching her with that intense gaze of his.

"You will not go outside alone, not anymore." Syaoran said, eyes watching her.

Sakura's blood was quick to boil, especially when she heard the trace of command in his voice.

"You will not decide what I can or cannot do."

Syaoran's eyes grew hard at that. "You will not go outside alone." He repeated.

Sakura started at the dark tone of his voice, one cannot argue with someone when they are using that tone. The king-worthy tone. The tone that promised something unpleasant if she dared disobeyed. She had heard that tone often enough from her father to understand. It basically means 'end of discussion.'

Syaoran waited, his eyes pinning her to the spot until she nodded meekly. His eyes turned gentle at her agreement and she averted her eyes. Her heart was doing strange things in her chest.

"I'm going to bed." Sakura jumped, lightly landing on her feet. Syaoran followed her, landing smoothly beside the princess. Sakura turned to him and tilted her head accordingly and only continued on her way when Syaoran repeated the gesture. Syaoran watched as she disappeared behind the trees heading to the villa.

"Good night, my princess."

"Vulnerable spots are at the neck, stomach and crotch. Got it." Sakura repeated Syaoran's instruction carefully. The statement that she was pretty good at causing injury at the last body part was left unsaid. For an overbearing king, he was a good trainer.

"There is a bunch of nerves at the stomach called solar plexus. Hit that and the enemy doesn't stand a chance. It's located about here." Syaoran pressed a spot on her stomach softly. Sakura jumped and moved away quickly, glaring daggers at him. Syaoran had to raise an eyebrow at that. Ticklish, is she?

The afternoon was undeniably hot so it came as a surprise when a blow of cold air came whooshing towards them. Syaoran frowned, definitely a power user. A rare one at that. Wind tamers were unusually rare. Winds are fickle and they choose their masters. No one really knows how it selects or who it decides worthy.

Sakura paled considerably and gasped when another round of cold air surrounded them, this time prodding insistently at Sakura. Syaoran sense no malice behind the strange event, he knows everything about malice and this isn't it but it doesn't explain Sakura's reaction.

Syaoran smirked, understanding filled him and he fought the urge to chuckle. Touya's coming.

He had been to enough war council to know Touya's power's signature even when he didn't know he's a wind tamer. Sure enough, Touya came thundering on his horse, a pissed off look on his face. Sakura gulped inaudibly. His horse had barely stopped when Touya jumped off.

"What the hell is going on?"

Sakura winced. Touya could be very, very loud when he chose to be. "What's the problem, Touya?" Sakura gritted her teeth in an attempt to hold on to her temper, she disliked being shouted at and Touya knows that. He was pricking her temper on purpose, she realized.

"Don't give me that shit. You always, ALWAYS try to knock me off my horse with one of your cold blast when I send a wind that cold." Touya glared. Syaoran lips twitched into a smile. She's also a wind tamer, must be in their blood. Syaoran concluded inwardly.

Sakura balled her hands into fists, counting to ten in her head, hoping to calm her temper. Touya knew she hates people using that sort of language in front of her. Touya growled, something's wrong with his sister, she should already trying to freeze his ass off at the rate he's going. Touya raised his right hand, palm facing Sakura and shot another cold air, this time right at her face. He knew she despised that.

Sakura growled in warning and attacked. Her punches were controlled and steady, Syaoran noted, impressed. She was progressing under his instructions with an alarming pace. She wasn't letting her temper to control her actions. Touya's eyes widened in surprise and he jumped back to get out of Sakura's punching range. He had avoided all of them but someone had to be teaching her. Her punches were way too solid.

Touya glanced around and spotted Syaoran. He smirked and called out. "Yo, Syaoran."

"Yo." Syaoran grinned. He could almost see the wheels turning in Touya's head.

"Let me get this straight. Sakura was being mule-headed like usual and used her powers way too much. Now her powers need to recharge before she could start using them again. You.." he glanced at Syaoran "are teaching her how to fight without her powers. About right?"

"Excellent deduction but you're still going to pay for that last stunt you pulled, idiot." Sakura lunged and this time, she managed to graze his face. Touya laughed softly when he recovered from the surprise of her being able to touch him without using her powers.

"Bring it on." Touya teased.

Syaoran's voice came unbidden into her mind, a lesson he taught her several days ago.

"You're quite a small little thing." Syaoran ignored her as she sputtered at his description of her. "So you can't win with the power from your fist. Remember to dodge and finish them as soon as possible. Only a fool would play with his prey before."

Sakura eyes glinted, blue blended into green as she dodged Touya's half-hearted attempt of a punch and landed a hard punch on his stomach, right on his solar plexus. Touya managed to let out a gasp of pain before crumbling to the ground.

Sakura eyed her fist, and glanced at Syaoron. "Did I overdo it?"

"Just slightly." Syaoran managed to say before he started to shake with suppressed laughter again.

"Sorry Touya. I didn't mean..Touya?"

Touya sat himself up, painfully slow on the ground. Sakura immediately sat beside him, offering apologies. Touya pat her on the head for assurance. "Nice punch." He winced.

"Did she put her hips into the punch?" Syaoran grinned, clearly enjoying himself.

"Yeah..hips, fist, everything." Touya wheezed, grinning proudly. "You're quite a capable teacher, Syaoran."

Syaoran brushed off the compliment nonchalantly. "I have a fast learner."

Touya cuffed Sakura lightly at the side of her head. "You really can't use your powers?"

"Just for the time being." Sakura sulked.

Touya's eyes hardened and he eyed Sakura thoughtfully. He reached into his cloak and hand her a fist sized parcel.

"Open it. Be careful. It's sharp."

Sakura took it and ripped the papers, revealing a small talon shaped dagger. She turned it carefully; the dagger gleamed beneath the Sun. A short T-shaped structure was connected to the dagger and Sakura placed it in her right fist, gripping it with her forefinger and middle finger. The dagger peeked between her fingers.

Touya nodded in approval. "You could just stab someone with it like a regular dagger but.." A gleam of mischief that Sakura knew only too well made itself known "the beauty of this one is it is built for one particular technique."

"It is fairly easy." Touya took the dagger and placed it in his own fist. "You slash the tendons beneath their knees." Touya slashed at an imaginary opponent. "Knee him in the chest and when he bents from the pain, you brought the dagger up hard into his eye socket and pushed. The dagger would penetrate the brain. An instant kill method."

"That's quite an interesting method." Syaoran mused, taking a closer look at the dagger.

Sakura paled and moaned. "I touched something that went into a guy's eye and brain."

"This one is new. It hasn't been used yet." Touya objected.

"That's not the point! It was made to get into the eye and then the brain. That's gross."

Syaoron chuckled softly. Sakura poke her brother's side hard. "Quit laughing. It isn't funny." She scolded the chortling prince.

"Nobody says that Death is beautiful." Touya reminded her gently.

Sakura expression quickly grew somber. "I know."

"It's war. Casualties cannot be avoided. You know that." Touya carefully sheath the weapon.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." Sakura rolled her eyes playfully.

Touya patted her head, his expression tender. "Everyone dies Sakura. Even the invincible me."

Sakura tilted her chin stubbornly, her voice rang with authority. "It's true that everyone dies but at their right time and their right place. You will not die a violent death. You will grow old and have many children. You will pass peacefully in your sleep. I will never forgive you if you die in this war. Against Damion of all people."

Touya laughed. "Fine. I won't die. Happy?"

"Ecstatic." Sakura replied without beating an eyelash.

Syaoran shook his head indulgently.

"Day-dreamer." Touya accused her affectionately

"Proud to be." Sakura replied, a soft smile gracing her lips.

Syaoran let a smile curl at his lips. She was loyal, compassionate, feisty and quite fetching. He disliked meek woman who followed blindly to whatever he says. Its grating on his nerves and Sakura is anything but. She gave as good as she got but relented at the appropriate times. His smile widened. This looks very promising.

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