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 profess his undying love for me and a flying purple monkey will zoom around the city.
I am going somewhere where there is no internet connection tomorrow so consider this a lucky treat. Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review.
"Kiss me." Syaoran coaxed.
Sakura blushed, back trapped against the wall and Syaoran doing the trapping. "Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Sakura's blush deepened when soldiers around them started nudging at each other. Theo glanced at them, grinning like a madman. She quickly leaned closer and pressed her lips against Syaoran's, only planning on a quick peck but Syaoran had other ideas. He parted his lips, urging her to do the same and deepened the kiss, arms wrapped securely around her waist. Sakura's hand slid around his nape at its own violation, keeping him close. Syaoran broke the kiss when he heard the wolf whistles, grinning smugly. His soldiers were certainly enjoying the view.
"Be safe." Syaoran whispered, intentionally brushing his lips at the shell of her ear. He would steal caresses and kisses from his wife almost anywhere and everywhere he could. He figured it was because he was very fond of her blush.
They quickly duck when an arrow came uncomfortably close to their head. Sakura had quickly spotted the archer and send another arrow, effectively killing him.
"We're in the middle of the war. Stop flirting." Sakura growled; the effect was lessened by the pink scattered across her cheeks. Syaoran chuckled.
"Not my fault. It's yours for being too tempting."
Sakura rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Arrows!" Syaoran's order rang through the entire defense lines and they hurried to fit their arrows to their bows.
"Fire!"
Sakura watched from her spot beside Syaoran on the Heron fort's roof at the surge of arrows raining on their enemies. She had to admit that the fort was impressive. Syaoran had told her it had taken seven years to finish and every single brick was made with Sen stones. Sen stones were the only thing in the world that does not react to magic. The enemies couldn't use their magic on the stones to break them down so they were using the traditional way. Brute force. As expected, Thurog, Sean, Thurog's adviser and Damion had not even show their faces yet. No suprises there. They always let their army do the dirty work before claiming the glory for themselves.
Syaoran had kept his word. He allowed Sakura to stay by his side even during battle. The war had raged for three days and the enemies were hacking at their defenses. Battle between magic had occurred in brief but violent bursts a couple of times during the battle but none of them were too serious.
Using magic took a lot of effort and those who used them constantly during a battle would have jelly for legs at the end of one hour. Sakura had ignored all the blood, the smells and the screams. She focused on the adrenaline instead. She focused on fighting to stay alive and following the orders given. It was much easier on her conscience. She now knew why sometimes people get addicted to the war. The harsh pounding of her heart, the rush of blood roaring through her veins. She had never felt more alive.
The enemies brought cannons with them and those bloody things were effectively pounding on their front gates. They predicted it would take a couple of days before they managed to cave the door in. Meanwhile, their defenses concentrated on killing as much as they can while they were still safe in their fort. Sakura had used her powers just before her replacement came so that she could rest and catch a meal for a little while. Syaoran grinned in approval and dismissed her.
Sakura had shot more arrows than she had shot for her whole life in the past three days. Her bow hand had started to bleed at the end of the first day and she had only discovered that the wound had opened again. Sakura made her way to the infirmary to find Tomoyo. She was one of the healers the Ice castle had sent to help the injured soldiers. Tomoyo had looked dead on her feet when she found her. Sakura grabbed a bandage and stripped her old one.
"Let me do that for you." Tomoyo moved to take the bandage out of her hand but Sakura grabbed Tomoyo's hand instead and force her to sit beside her on the prepared chairs.
"Sit down for a while and don't mind me. I know how to wrap it. Just rest for awhile."
Sakura watched sympathetically when Tomoyo rubbed her tired eyes. When the soldier's job was finished for the day, a healer's job had only begun. Sakura washed the blood away and applied the ointment Tomoyo had given her to prevent infection.
"How are we doing?" Sakura said softly, not to disturb the sleeping patients around them.
"It's going good." Tomoyo gave a small smile. "Better than I expected. We had to give three soldiers some poppies to help their passing and we had to amputate one. His arm was crushed by the cannon. Other than that, none are life-threatening. Of course, that's only in the infirmary. How is it going out there?"
"We're giving them a war they won't forget." Sakura grinned.
"That's my girl." Tomoyo laughed. She stood and stretched her aching limbs. "I have to go. Lives to save and all that."
Sakura nodded, and sighed, lost in thought. She took in the smell of the room and found that she liked it. The smell of various herbs and balms were soothing on her nerves and the place is obviously clean. Clean means devoid of any pooling blood and dismemberment, of course. She started when a hand took the bandages from her idle hand and started wrapping her wound. Syaoran. He was very gentle and didn't object when she asked to make it thicker so that the wound doesn't get irritated when she had to use her bow later.
"Hungry?" Syaoran asked when he finished.
Sakura nodded and smiled when he grinned, tugging her to the kitchen. And for that moment when they ate and laughed and teased each other, Syaoran thought that it almost seemed normal. Where there was no war and no power play. A promise on what will come when the war is over and they had won. He would make that into their future, he swore to himself. In his own wretched name, he swore.
Sakura lay on her side. Syaoran was next to her, facing her silently. They watched each other for a moment before Syaoran grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. They were settled in for the night in one of the rooms. Both of them exhausted but these moments are rare and far in between. Sakura toyed absently with his hand. Tugging on his fingers, clasping their hands together, drawing unknown patterns on his palm. Sakura was fascinated of the difference between their sizes. Syaoran thought Sakura was trying to drive him crazy.
"How is your day, wife?" Syaoran asked softly.
"Fine. There were lots of noises and everything seems so hectic but it's not too bad."
Syaoran traced the outline of her bandaged hand, eyebrows raised in challenge. Which Sakura studiously ignored.
"How is your day, husband?" Sakura used the same teasing tone that Syaoran used earlier and Syaoran chuckled.
"Got involve in a war but nothing serious. Same old same old."
Sakura smiled softly. She found that she loved his low baritone voice. It always managed to send shivers up her spine when he whispers in her ear. She would often find herself engaging a conversation with her husband just to hear that voice again. The stories she learned about him, from him, had also kept her intrigued.
"The first night we were here. My first war. I cried." Sakura confessed.
Syaoran chuckled. "I know. Your eyes were red."
Sakura giggled. She didn't know why she tried to hide it desperately at that time. Maybe she didn't want to show weakness. That was before she belatedly realized that she had a meltdown in front of Syaoran not too long ago.
Syaoran found that he loved her giggle. The sound was innocently sweet and he discovered himself telling her stories so that she would make that sound again. She was an avid listener, hanging on his every word and he liked it. Her paying her fullest attention to him, that is.
Syaoran tugged her body to him when Sakura yawned for the third time. Her eyelids barely opened, his arms wrapped across her back. Sakura didn't resist. She loved to cuddle with Syaoran and the fact that the nights are very cold also contributed.
"My first war I puked." Syaoron spoke quietly and her heart warmed. He had told her a side of him that no one gets to see. She placed a quick kiss on the underside of his jaw and got a playful kiss on her nose for the effort. Oblivious that all hell would break loose tomorrow.
Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead impatiently. She had been uneasy since the morning and she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something big is going to happen today. The enemies had a sense of anticipation among them. She could sense it but the huge explosion that followed immediately after was unexpected. Sakura could swear that the fort trembled beneath her feet. There was a loud roar when the enemy's army rushed through the gaping hole at the side of the fortress, the result of the explosion.
Syaoran shouted the instruction to meet the enemies head on, drawing his own sword. Close combat was bound to happen sooner or later and Sakura followed. The battle was a blur. She could not remember how many her sword had killed, but she remembered the clash of steel against steel. She remembered that her body had practically moved on its own as she twist, defend, attack and thrust her sword. Her body had memorized all the training it was subjected to when she was preparing for the war and she couldn't be more thankful.
What she did remember was something she wished she could forget. She watched in horrified silence when she saw Theo crumpled to the ground. She was too far away to help and she felt it again. Helplessness, and something inside her snapped when she saw Theo's body trampled by the soldiers.
Syaoran turned, his heart thudding painfully beneath his chest when he heard Sakura's scream. He saw an avenging angel instead. There was no wind but Sakura's hair whipped around her and the tinge of blue fury around her practically warned people to stay away. The tears rolling down her cheeks and her soft sobs made the illusion complete.
Syaoran fought his way to her, she was not restricting her powers. The blue-green tinge around her proves it. The chains around her magic were broken and Syaoran immediately spot the reason at her feet. Theo. Syaoran yelled for the healers and snapped orders at the nearby squires. Their soldiers were fending off the enemy, slowly but surely gaining more ground, determined to protect them. Sakura snarled when the healers tried to touch Theo and they immediately shrank back against her fury.
"They are here to help, Sakura." Syaoran moved slowly to put himself between Sakura and Theo, allowing the healers to treat him.
Sakura glared at him and Syaoran belatedly realized the severity of the situation. Her eyes were unfocused, flashing eerily between ice blue and forest green. She had lost control, barely conscious. Syaoran eyed Sakura carefully as she watched Theo being carried off by the healers into the fortress for further treatment. Syaoran couldn't help but feel that she was waiting for Theo to be brought to a safer place before unleashing whatever it is that is clawing out from her rage.
Sakura smiled softly when she couldn't see Theo anymore. She turned calmly at the battle, held her palms up and started to open fire. Ice arrows with mean looking thorns pierced the armors of the soldiers, straight through their heart. Syaoran watched the destruction lay open before him and had to admit that her control was exquisite. Soldier upon soldier fell dead before them but all of them were the enemy's soldier.
Syaoran pulled her back against his front. Sakura ignored the warmth on her back, focusing on annihilating the enemy that was thinning rapidly before them. Some soldiers had started using magic on their opponents. They went all out this time, determined to end the war once and for all. She struggled when Syaoran held her arms, trying to force them down.
"You can stop Sakura. You're trembling." Syaoran whispered softly.
Sakura ignored him. Damion's and Thurog's army's discipline failed. The soldiers broke ranks, turn tail and ran for their lives. The Ice and Dark soldiers gave chase and still Sakura attacked relentlessly despite their increasing distance. Syaoran brushed his magic against hers, and he was surprised when he found her unprotected. He winced when he saw her raging emotions churning against her core. It was absolutely chaotic. He allowed his presence soothe her, gently bringing her down from her rage.
Sakura slumped against him. Syaoran sat on the ground, bringing Sakura with him. He held her, gently rocking her in his arms. Whispering comforts and soothing words against her ear, realizing how powerless he is and hated every second of her heart-wrenching sobs. Sakura sobbed hard; the sound heart-breaking. Her grief was clear to those around her. She gasped for breath, one hand pressed hard to her chest as if the action could stop her heart from breaking, another hand clinging to Syaoran's arm.
"Theo.." She whined brokenly.
Theodore, a caring brother of Nadeshiko, a loving uncle of Sakura and Touya, a courageous warrior had fallen that day. He had loved to hear Sakura sing so Sakura sang at his funeral. He was buried as a war hero and as royalty. The whole country grieved. He was remembered and missed. He was loved.
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