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Return to the Labyrinth	By : Capitalist Category: +. to F > Card Captor Sakura Views: 8619 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura, nor any of the characters from it, nor do I own Labyrinth. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Chapter 13

‘what they seem’

The fifth shard from Dash’s nest had helped things along. The new piece fitted into the puzzle, and once it had, Touya was able to affix another too. This left him with four shards now molded together and one still separate. He still didn’t have the slightest idea what he was building, but now it was getting big and bulky enough that keeping it in his pocket was uncomfortable. He dropped it into the canvas sack – empty now, courtesy of Kero – and looped the strap over his head and arm so no other pickpocket could run off with it.

And then, like he had the day before, and the day before that, he walked. The morning dragged by in an endless blur of maze walls, bends and turns, fountains, and stupid optical illusions that made him cross-eyed if he looked too hard. After three hours of solitude, Touya found himself nearly hoping that he might stumble on another party of gargoyles, or trolls, so at least he could get a change of pace. It was worth the risk of danger, just to keep himself from dying of boredom. Yawning, he shuffled past an offshoot, stopped, and took two steps back. A woman was there, resting in the corner of a bend in the passage, under a tiny and gaunt tree.

Resting, of course, was not exactly the right word for it. Touya approached silently and knelt in front of her, watching tears flow continuously down her cheeks, and waited for her to open her eyes.

“Why are you crying?” he asked, when she did. She looked so exhausted, her head tilted back against the wall, her gaze heavy and half-lidded.

“You can see me,” she murmured, unable to muster up the energy to show surprise.

“Yes.” Touya nodded. “I can see people like you. It’s something I was born with.”

“A rare gift. You are blessed.” She closed her eyes again, briefly. Touya noticed that, although the tree was bare and dessicated, blossoms as white as her skin were falling from the limbs and showering over her.

“Did you die under this tree?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I was tired,” she answered simply. “Just… too tired to keep going, I suppose. It was not what I wanted. I had reason to live. But there was a weakness in my body, and it was stronger than my will.”

“Is that why you are sad?”

“I have many reasons to be sad,” she answered softly. “I can’t remember most of them, because it was all so long ago. I know I lost things that were precious to me, I know my life was difficult. Those things do not matter. It is not what was done to me, but what I did, that makes me weep. I had two men in my life that I loved very much. And I left them both.”

“Did you do it because you wanted to? Or because you had to?”

“I wonder. Perhaps both, in a way. The first man… oh, but it broke my heart to leave him. He will never know that, of course. He will go to his grave convinced that I hated him, but he had so many qualities that I had learned to love. Every day, he fought to earn the respect that another king might simply demand without cause. There was nothing in his life he did not work, sweat, or bleed for. Sometimes, at night, I saw his hands tremble with exhaustion.”

“He was a king?”

“The king of storms,” she breathed. “My first love. I wept when I fled his castle that night, but I knew it must be done. I held our son in my arms, my second love, and I wanted to give him a future that wasn’t already engraved with violence, politics, and blood. I thought, when I brought him here to hide, I was doing the right thing.”

“Who’s your son?” Touya asked suspiciously, and she smiled weakly.

“You already know him.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.” He resisted the impulse to swear and scream, exhaling carefully. “He doesn’t know, does he?”

“He does now. I told him nothing, as a child, I wanted to give him the chance to grow up however he wanted. But I left him too, when I died, I left him all alone in the world when he was hardly more than a baby. He had to grow up so quickly, and become hard, and now I see I was never giving him a choice at all. He was always destined to be his father’s son.”

“But you didn’t die on purpose.”

“I wonder about that too. What I had done to my first love was killing me slowly from within, and the pain was so much to bear. When I lay down here, I told myself it was only to rest. What I really wanted, deep down, was a more permanent escape.”

“Sometimes you have to look out for yourself,” Touya told her. “It’s not a crime. You left because it was the right thing to do. Just because you loved him, it’s no reason to sacrifice your own life.”

She smiled thinly. “But beware, to sacrifice love is to sacrifice a part of your life, no matter how much you need to do it. I learned that the difficult way. I wonder if you have learned it at all.”

“I’m doing just fine, thank you,” Touya replied sharply. “I’m alive. And you… should not be here. If what you want is permanent escape, you won’t find it as you are now.”

“I know,” she agreed. “But I can’t go. I can’t leave my son yet, I’m too afraid. He is a boy on the edge of becoming a man, but what kind of man he’ll be is not yet clear. It wouldn’t take much, after all he’s been through, to blow him over that edge and into darkness.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it one way or the other, right?”

“No. But it can’t be helped, because I love him. Soon enough, we’ll both have to learn to let go.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“She won’t be yours forever. And there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

“My sister is just a kid.”

“But with a path separate from yours. It is the way of the world.” She extended a pale hand and opened it, palm up. In it lay the sixth crystal shard. “Here is your path. It can’t be anyone’s but yours.”

The coolness of her presence tickled his hand like a not-quite-tangible mist, when he reached to take it. “Can you at least tell me what this is?”

“It is not my place to know. Only that it is meant for you.”

“Great,” Touya sighed, unhappily rubbing his thumb across its surface. “I wonder if I’m even close to the end.”

“You are,” she assured him. “We all are.”

- - - - - - - -

Li continued to lead Sakura west after they left Eriol, but he slowed his pace to accommodate her and eventually stopped looking over his shoulder. They must have made enough progress, she guessed, to ease his fears. He didn’t speak much, and therefore she didn’t either. By the look on his face, anyone could guess what he was thinking about.

“Would you like to talk about it?” she finally asked.

“Don’t know what you mean.”

“Syaoran, I know that you do. Those things Eriol-san told you, about Yue, I know they really upset you.”

“Upset me? Upset me? They could only upset me if I thought for one second that they were the truth, which I know they’re not. The Wisdom just likes to mess with my head. He’s been doing that for years.”

“I believe it. But the way he said it, it did seem to make a lot of sense. Doesn’t it fit in with everything you’ve told me about growing up out here? I told you that Yue wouldn’t have done all those things to you without a good reason.”

“And which one of us knows Yue better?”

“You do,” she admitted. She lapsed into silence, but couldn’t keep her mouth shut for long. “It’s just, I was thinking, and I think I see the problem.”

“The problem,” Li echoed skeptically. “You see ‘the problem’. Fine, what’s the problem?”

Sakura scurried around to block Li’s path, forcing him to stop. “Things are never what they seem, here in the labyrinth. You’re the one that told me that, right? Like that statue over there, from one angle it looks solid, but from another you can see it’s three separate partial statues. What if Yue is just like the labyrinth? From your angle, you see all the awful cruel things he’s done to you, and you’re not wrong. That’s what you see. But if you take a few steps to the side, and you look at it another way, you can see what Eriol-san was talking about. Things are never what they seem.”

“Don’t,” he pleaded, one hand reaching to grasp his sword amulet. “I can’t. When I found this sword, it was the first time I could be happy since my mother died. I was excited, I was proud, I thought I’d finally found something that could give me an edge over Yue’s forces. It was the first time in my whole life I’d managed to get a step ahead of him. If I let myself think that he gave it to me…” He swallowed. “Then it’s all a lie. Do you see?”

“Yes. But, if you could let yourself see it from the new angle, maybe then you don’t have to worry about whether you’re ahead of him or not or who has what edge. If he’s not your enemy after all, it doesn’t matter.”

“Why are you like this?” he agonized. “Why do you have to be so kind, and forgiving, and always so ready to give the benefit of the doubt to even someone like him? The one that broke your heart!”

Sakura lowered her eyes. “I don’t know. That’s just the way I’ve always been, I don’t like feeling angry or bitter. I prefer to be happy. Is that so wrong?”

“Yes,” he nearly shouted. “Because it makes things so hard for me! You make it hard for me to not love you!”

Sakura’s heart flip-flopped inside her chest, and Li closed his eyes in weary resignation. “Forget I said that.”

“But -”

“And run.”

“What?”

“Gargoyle.”

She heard the wings just as Li snagged her wrist and broke into a light run, trying to keep quiet about it. It was impossible for her to guess where it was, but Li seemed to know, and he broke stride to dart down a new corridor. There were two, she thought, and now this other one was coming up on their right. If only there was some cover to hide under, but there was no tree, no bush, not even a bench. Li turned again and they ran into another offshoot, that maddening flapping noise still hovering dangerously close by. They might have heard the noise of Li’s boots on the ground, quiet as he was trying to be, because Sakura was sure their wings were flapping a little faster and they seemed to be moving around more. Again Li turned, hiding them by such a close margin that Sakura could see the tips of the gargoyle’s wings over the top of the wall. He hustled her around another corner, then another, always just a few steps ahead of the hunters. It was a game of cat-and-mouse, or maybe hawk-and-mouse, and Sakura wished Li would just draw his sword and fight them both, because outright combat would surely be easier than all this.

Li chose evasion, however, and after several heartstopping minutes and many more swift and short dashes between the walls the noise of the wings faded away. Neither of them spoke, just to be safe, and continued to run lightly through the maze in silence. When Li finally stopped, Sakura sagged against a wall with relief.

“That was nerve-wracking! Why didn’t you just fight them?”

“I couldn’t be sure if there were others close by. With you there, it wasn’t something I wanted to risk. Sorry.”

“No, no it’s okay. We made it through, right? I’m sure it’s better to avoid violence if you can… right?” Li did not reply, looking at the walls around them with a peculiar expression of dread on his face. “Syaoran, right?”

“Maybe not.” He swallowed and licked his lips. “We’re in a bad place, Sakura. We should not be here.”

“What is it? Is there a monster here?”

“Worse. I could fight a monster.” He touched his fingertips to the wall, which Sakura now noticed was not quite like the stones that made up most of the maze. These walls were a light gray marble, so polished and smooth they were even reflective. She could see her outline and some of her features in the opposite wall. “Illusion lives here.”

“Illusion? You mean, like a mirage?”

“Something like that.” He turned to go back the way they had come but stopped, no doubt remembering the gargoyles. “We could risk it that way. But that’s going back east, and the place I wanted to get to is just west of here. We could cut through… if we’re careful.”

“Is it really alright?”

“If we’re careful,” he repeated, and turned back to her with a fiercely intent look in his eyes. “Listen to me, Sakura, listen very carefully. Illusion is a trickster, and it likes to play with people. It can make you see what you want more anything, and when you try to follow it you can wind up walking into something dangerous. When I was younger, it showed me my mother.”

“Oh, Syaoran…”

“Just don’t believe your eyes,” he said briskly. “Okay? Whatever you see, no matter how real it looks, just ignore it and stay with me. Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

“Alright then.” He took a deep breath. “Here we go.” Sakura clutched at his hand, which startled him a little, but he did not argue, and cautiously they ventured forward. “It’s not very big. It shouldn’t take long to get through.”

“Okay.”

“And don’t panic if you see something scary, either. No matter what it looks like, Illusion can’t actually hurt you.”

“Okay.” Sakura noticed her voice was starting to creep up in volume. “This makes me think of a haunted house.”

“What’s that?”

“Just a silly pretend game we like to do in my world. People actually pay to be scared like this, can you believe it?”

“Huh?”

“I know, I don’t like them either. My brother once worked in one, though, he played a ghost.” Sakura knew she was starting to chatter, which she often did when she was nervous. “He used the costume to torment me, because he knew how afraid I was of ghosts, he really could be such a meanie. He can see them, real ghosts that is, and sometimes he’ll say when they’re close just to see me get scared and then laugh at me.”

“Sounds like him.”

“To a T,” she agreed ruefully. “But I think I’m the lucky one; I’m glad I can’t see them. I’d be terrified if I could.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t be giving Illusion any ideas.”

“Oh, right! Sorry.” She pressed her lips together as if to hold back any more words that might spill out, and after that they continued in silence. Their shadowy reflections flickered from one wall to another whenever they turned a corner, but other than that nothing moved. After several uneventful minutes had passed, Sakura relaxed her grip on Li’s hand and breathed easier.

“How much longer, do you think?”

“Not long, I hope. We’ll know we’re through when we can see the bridge. Cross that and we’ll be safe.”

“Right.”

He selected a new passage and they went on, still unmolested. “Syaoran, what are the chances that this Illusion is asleep?”

“I don’t know if our luck could really be that good.” He grinned at her. “But I guess there’s always hoping -”

Their reflections in the marble vanished, obscured by a hideous face, and that was all the warning they had before the ghost popped out of the wall. It rushed to attack and Sakura completely lost her head with panic. All her life, her reaction to the hint of a ghost was always to clap her hands over her ears, shut her eyes, and scream, and reflexively she did just that. She could hear it wailing and moaning as it circled her, and in her terror she screamed even louder.

“Sakura! It’s just an illusion, it can’t hurt you! It’s not real!”

“Kill it!”

“I can’t, it’s just a vision. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Wait, Syaoran, don’t leave me!” Her eyes flew open at the sound of his footsteps and she ran after him; he smiled over his shoulder and started running too.

“Good idea, the faster the better. We’ll race, okay? Forget all about that ghost and just try to catch up to me.” Sakura was a fast runner, but in her bare feet she couldn’t match his pace, and fresh terror welled up when he started to pull ahead.

“Syaoran, wait! Please, you’re going to leave me behind, slow down!”

“Come on, Sakura, you can do it.”

She swallowed a little sob, and pushed herself to run faster.

When the ghost attacked, Sakura screamed so loudly Li nearly jumped out of his own skin. And then, patently ignoring everything he’d told her, she bolted.

“Sakura!” He had to go directly through the foggy spectre of Illusion’s ghost to run after her, which cost him a second’s hesitation. She didn’t seem to realize she’d run through it too, running with her eyes firmly shut and hands clapped over her ears. An odd way to deal with a threat, he thought. “It’s just an illusion, it can’t hurt you! It’s not real!”

“Kill it!” she shrieked.

“I can’t, it’s just a vision. And look, we’ve already left it behind – hey, slow down! You can’t run with your eyes shut like that! Sakura, wait up!”

She refused to heed him, running and screaming like a child, and not even running his fastest could he catch up to her. “Sakura! Sakura, you’re going to lose me if you keep running so fast, we’ll get separated! Don’t leave me be-” Something in Li’s brain clicked and he skidded to a stop, panting.

“Oh. Of course… what I want most. That was stupid of me.” Had he really not been here in five years? He turned around and sprinted back the way he’d come. “Sakura? Where are you? Say something if you can hear me, and don’t move! Sakura? Sakura, answer me!”

As he ran through one passage after another with no sign of her, Li could feel his panic swelling. It was too dangerous after all to come through here, he should have taken her around, he’d lost her forever, she was hurt, she was dead, she was gone –

“Sakura!”

He burst out of a corridor and saw the white bridge and her at the same time. She was running too, reaching out with her hand as if to catch something, and seemed totally unaware that she was headed straight for the steep chasm that the bridge spanned. “Sakura, stop!”

She hesitated only a second, a flicker of confusion crossing her face, before she made up her mind and kept on with her chase. Li bolted to intercept her, shouting her name as often and loudly as he could, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. She was almost to the edge, her foot moving to step out onto empty air, when Li snatched her wrist and yanked as hard as he could. She shrieked with surprise at the sudden jerk, and he thought he saw her eyes shift back to reality, but it was too late for him. He’d been going too fast, and pulling Sakura so hard had thrust his own body weight too far out over the open. He was going to fall, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Sakura grabbed his wrist. “No, don’t!” he shouted, but it was too late. Not even something as heavy as a troll could have stopped his momentum, and Sakura, so light and small, was immediately dragged off the edge along with him. Together they dropped into the darkness, her scream echoing in the chasm around them, hurtling toward death.

Until they stopped, quite abruptly.

Li’s descent ended with a sharp yank on his arm that made his shoulder pop, and he let out an involuntary yelp. What the hell? He looked up, and got the shock of his life.

“Syaoran?” quavered Sakura. She was trembling, her face stark white, bewildered and scared. “Wh-what’s going on? We were falling, and now we’re not falling. What happened?”

Li thought he might be trembling a little himself, but he nodded. “Yes. That’s right. We were falling, and now we’re not. I can tell you why, but whatever you do, don’t try to move. You might lose your… balance. Sakura, you have wings.”

“What?” She tried to look over her shoulder.

“Wait, don’t -”

Too late, again. Her left wing dipped at the motion and she lost all air resistance, and the two of them fell in a tangle of legs and frantically flapping wings. Long white feathers scattered everywhere, floating like flakes of ash while the two of them continued to drop like rocks, picking up speed, getting very close –

They stopped, again. Li ground his teeth against the pain in his shoulder, hanging precariously by one arm, an arm Sakura was straining to hold onto with all her strength. She’d managed to spread out her wings again, holding them up but just barely. Cautiously, keeping as still as he could, Li looked down.

The surface of the Ripariat was maybe an inch under his shoes.

He let out a shaky breath. “Okay. That’s good. You stopped, good job. Now, whatever you do, don’t let that happen again. We have to get back up top. Can you do that?”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“You can. You have to. First, take my other hand, it’ll be easier on both of us.” He swung his left arm up and grabbed her right wrist, establishing a tight, firm grip. “Okay, now I’m going to let go with the other hand so I can readjust my grip. Ready?”

“Yes.” He did so, making sure his grasp was strong and solid.

“Alright, I’m holding on, and I’m not going to let go. You don’t have to worry about holding on to me, you just worry about controlling your wings. You’ve got to fly us straight up.”

“But I don’t know how to fly!”

“Well I sure don’t either, so anything you can figure out is fine by me. Just take it nice and slow, don’t try to rush. Believe me, I can be patient.” Head tilted back, he met her gaze steadily. “Sakura, you told me that you were strong. I trust you. You can do this.”

Her face was still blanched white, but she nodded. “Okay. Here I go.”

In unison the two giant wings flapped back and pushed downward, pushing the air down and elevating them. They lifted, and pushed down again. “It’s working!”

“That’s right, just keep doing that.”

For him, dangling below like the prey of a hawk, the ride was bumpy and unsettling to the stomach. But at least they were going the right direction now, and he wasn’t about to complain. He wondered what the effort was like for her. Was it easy as walking? Or was it taking all that she had in the way of strength, just to haul both their weight skyward? Up and up, Sakura hoisted them one flap of the wings at a time. The deadly river fell away from beneath them, disappearing back into the shadows. Her breath was coming out in ragged gasps now.

“We’re almost there, Sakura, I know you can do it. We’re so close. No, keep to the left side, left side, that’s the side we want to be on when we land. There you go, good job. Almost there now.”

She didn’t trust herself to fly laterally, so they had to go up a little higher than the cliff edge before she finally let herself drop. Together they collapsed onto the ground, Sakura practically right on top of Li.

“Sakura! Are you okay, say something!” Her head was lowered and all he could see was her white and shaking hands, and hear the rattle of her breath as she gasped for air. “You should lie down -”

She shrieked and he jumped, but it was a shriek of joy and excitement. When she lifted her head, he was startled to find himself looking at green eyes that blazed with triumph.

“Syaoran, I did it! I saved us!”

“Yes, that’s ri-”

“I have wings! Can you believe it? Just like a bird, I have real wings and I can fly!” The vast white wings beat spastically in her giddy excitement; she hadn’t quite learned the trick of controlling them. “They’ve been inside me all this time and I didn’t even know! I have wings! I really am the princess!”

“You really are the princess.”

She pounced on him with a hug, squeezing him with a strength he didn’t think she’d had left in her. She pulled away, just enough to face him again, and kissed him.

Li froze and immediately she drew back, blushing a brilliant pink for what she’d done. But her eyes still glittered and exhilaration still clung to her like a soft glow. She was too beautiful to not want, and Li could not hold back any longer. This time, they both came forward into the kiss. Her lips were soft and sweet and willing, like a dream come true, and Li kissed them again and again. His hands moved up to cup her head, fingers gliding through her hair, holding her to him so she could not get away again.

Sakura did not want to get away. Her hands grasped the material of his shirt and held on, keeping herself pulled close to him, kissing him back with unrestrained ardor. Li let himself go deeper, tasting her, and the more he tasted the more he wanted. They fell over onto the ground together, and he felt a momentary concern for her wings before he realized that they’d withdrawn as mysteriously as they appeared. He didn’t pause to wonder about it, just rolled on top of her and pinned her wrists to the tiles, still kissing her. She pressed up to meet him, and he could feel the curves of her body underneath his, the tantalizing lift and fall of her lungs. He moved down, kissing her neck, and felt a rush of satisfaction that she lifted her chin to allow him easier access. His hands moved down too, gliding over the dip of her waist and then her hips, found the material of her dress bunching and riding up between them.

“I love you,” he whispered, every time his lips lifted from her skin, between every kiss. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” His hand glided past the hem of her dress and onto the smooth skin of her thigh. She gasped and so did he, electrified by the feel and sound of her, a white-hot fire raging through his bloodstream. She whimpered and he felt the dress falling awry, the thin fragility of the fabric separating them and how easy it would be to rip it all away.

“I shouldn’t,” he panted. “I can’t.”

“You can!”

“I can’t, it’s wrong…”

“I don’t care what Yue said.” She tugged on his arm and pulled him back down on top of her, holding him close. He could feel her heartbeat, the rhythm of her breathing, and the dew of sweat that had sprung up on her skin. “I love you, Syaoran. I really do. Illusion showed it to me, what I want most, and it was you. I love you.”

It was the first time since his mother died that Li nearly broke down in tears. This was all too good to be true, this had to be a dream. His princess hadn’t really just confessed she loved him.

“Say it one more time. Please.”

“I love you, Syaoran.”

He kissed and nuzzled her neck, happier than he ever thought he’d have a chance to be. More blood rushed to his groin at the action, urgently reminding him to get back on task. But he’d been pressing her down on flat stone tiles all this time, and they were right out in the open. He could do better than this, for the girl that loved him.

“There’s a better place,” he whispered into her ear. “A little meadow, not far away, with a stream, and flowers. We could go… it would be more comfortable.”

“Songflowers?”

“I think so.”

He lifted his head so he could face her, and smiled when she smiled. “Yes, that would be nice. I’d like that.”

“Okay. Let’s go.” He kissed her again, quickly, and rolled off her. He knew he was grinning like an idiot, as he took her hand, but he did not care.

Sakura’s wings had gone back inside her body, somehow, but she was still flying. She didn’t even feel the ground under her feet anymore as she ran lightly alongside him, her hand in his, giddy thrills spiraling through her bloodstream. Oh, her brother would be so furious if he knew, but he didn’t know, and he couldn’t stop her. She was a bit nervous, but it was a delicious fear like the feeling of getting on a roller coaster, or preparing to jump off the high dive. Syaoran loved her and she loved him too, treasured that feeling bursting inside her heart. She wanted to be pressed up close to him again, feel his warmth and his heartbeat and never let go.

A brisk breeze picked up, cool against her overheated body, and she shivered at the fresh swell of excitement it provoked. “Are you cold?” Syaoran asked anxiously, pulling her close against him to rub her arms and kiss her again.

“No, not a bit of it. I just got goosebumps, that’s all.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

Sakura bit back a giggle and took his hand in hers, tracing it lightly up the freckled bumps on her arm. “It just means… I’m excited.”

“Goose-bumps,” he repeated carefully. He had his own, she could see, and she tickled them lightly before skipping away. There was so much nervous energy, and excitement, bottled up inside her that she thought she must do something active or she would burst.

“Come on then,” she chided. “Let’s hurry. I want to get there!”

Another gust, stronger this time, shook the brown ivy vines on the wall. “Stop skipping backwards like that, it’s dangerous. Come here.”

He caught up to her just as she entered a new courtyard, and snagged her wrist to pull her close. He was about to kiss her again when a horrendous crash of thunder nearly shook the ground beneath them. Sakura jumped and clapped her hands over her ears again, and Syaoran was putting his arms around her when a bolt of lightning hurtled out of the sky. It came so close Sakura was temporarily blinded, the world going completely white, and she could feel the unpleasant prickle of electricity against her skin. She screamed, because for just one second she was convinced they’d both been hit and were about to die.

When her vision cleared, however, she saw it was worse than that. Rai stood in the center of the courtyard, and his face was dark with rage.

Li strangled some cry of despair in his throat and jumped in front of her, sword drawn. “How did you find me?”

“Not really the pertinent question, Little Wolf,” he said acidly, closing the distance between them in long strides. “Why did I have to look?”

Li tried to swing at him but it didn’t even slow Rai down; he blocked the sword, snatched Li’s shirt, and threw him nearly halfway across the yard in one smooth motion. Sakura shrieked and tried to run to Li’s side, but Rai snapped his sword across her path without even looking. She froze when the sharp edge stopped just short of her neck.

“I will deal with you next, your highness. Wait for your turn.”

“You said you wouldn’t hurt her!” Li was picking himself up off the stones, looking a little shaken, but still gripping his sword.

“I said I wouldn’t kill her,” Rai corrected. “But boy, I am in such a foul mood that you can be sure I will be taking out my anger on somebody.” Li lunged to attack and once again Rai effortlessly deflected him, forcing him back from Sakura.

“You said I had until sunset!”

“And yet here you are, nearly as far from the castle as you can possibly get and showing no sign of turning back. Do you expect me to believe I didn’t need to come and fetch you?” Furiously Rai slashed and stabbed, Syaoran stumbling back from the assault.

“Until sunset? What do you mean, Syaoran?”

“Nothing!”

“So you didn’t mention it.” Rai didn’t lower his sword but paused in his onslaught, and glanced her way. “My son and I had a conversation this morning. He didn’t tell you?”

Sakura’s mouth fell open and she looked back at Syaoran, whose face was tight with fear.

“I had no choice, Sakura, I had to talk to him or -”

“We discussed things, like how he would come over to my side and ascend to my throne. We even discussed you. He demanded to keep you as his concubine, just as his mother was mine.”

“It’s not true!” he shouted desperately. “I didn’t, Sakura, I swear!”

“You are a versatile child, aren’t you? This morning you were so eager to bring about Yue’s downfall. Is this a product of growing up in the wild? Survival by adaptation?”

“I never agreed to anything, Sakura, I never betrayed you -”

“Quiet, son,” Rai snapped. “It is for my pardon and my favor that you should be begging, because you can be sure this time I’ll not let you walk away. You will now come to the castle, prisoner or prince. You decide.”

“You really think I believe you’d make me your heir now?”

“You misunderstand, boy, you will become my heir. It’s only a matter of how much and how long I’ll be punishing you first.”

Syaoran’s eyes kept moving back and forth between his father and Sakura, anguished and indecisive. One gargoyle after another kept arriving, a menacing crowd of spectators perched on the walls around them.

“It’s perfectly obvious you have no chance of escaping. So what will it be, Little Wolf? Are you going to be sensible?” Rai took a step closer to Syaoran, turning the angle of his sword just a little. “Or am I going to have to hurt you?”

“Syaoran…”

He swallowed, but lifted his chin in defiance. “I won’t let you take her.”

“There is not a thing you can do to stop me.” Rai lifted his hand as if to signal to his soldiers, and Li thrust his sword forward with a snarl so savage that Sakura flinched.

“NO! Don’t!”

Rai blocked the attack without even straining, his sword crossed against Syaoran’s just fast enough to keep the point from going into his throat. He didn’t even flinch.

“Don’t you see, son?” he asked coolly. “I’ve given you every chance. I’m still giving you every chance. Everything that happens now is your decision, your choice. You know you cannot protect her from me. You can keep up this completely futile and pointless tantrum, or you can collect her and take her back to the castle. If you don’t, I will. Your choice.”

Syaoran said nothing, but Sakura could see his hands around the sword grip trembling. His face was in agony with indecision and panic, the same panic that had nearly paralyzed Sakura where she stood.

“You were the one that wanted her so very badly. Go on.”

They exchanged a long look, father and son, neither dropping his weapon, Rai cool and expectant while Syaoran stared helplessly back. After what seemed a thousand heartbeats, he stepped back and lowered his sword. When he looked back at Sakura, she could see no more indecision in his eyes.

“Syaoran, please -”

“I’m sorry, Sakura. I didn’t want it to be this way.”

“He’ll kill me!”

“He won’t, I promise.”

“I don’t…” Her voice faltered and failed her.

“You told me that you trusted me to keep you safe. Do you or don’t you?”

The least I can do is repay his devotion… “I- I trust you.”

Syaoran exhaled, and took three long steps back from Rai. Sword dangling in one hand, he held the other out to her.

“Then come here.” Sakura hugged her arms to her waist and shook her head, nearly on the edge of bursting into tears. “You promised me that you trusted me, Sakura. Everything will be alright if you just come to me. Please.”

How could anything be alright after this? How could she possibly trust him now? Of course, Eriol would say, of course you shouldn’t trust him!

But then Sakura looked his way again, and met his gaze. The same brown eyes she’d learned to trust after all this hardship looked back at her, and unthinkingly she took a step forward. I – another step – trust him – still walking – what my heart tells – getting closer – not my head.

Another step, and the ground vanished underneath her. Sakura dropped into the darkness with a scream.

It happened so fast, nobody could do more than stare as the tile sprang back into place. The princess was gone, as if she’d never been, and Li’s shoulders slumped with relief. Even Rai, with his sharp reflexes, just stood and stared.

“You- you did that on purpose!”

“Of course I did. She’s in the Underground now, and you’ll never find her down there. I told you I won’t let you take her.”

Rai’s dark eyes flashed with lightning. “She would have been yours to keep! You had no reason to do such a thing!”

“So sorry, your majesty,” Li replied, deliberately emphasizing the address. “But you’re five years too late. I already know that no price is worth a betrayal. Sakura will never be your prisoner.”

Rai seethed. “I’ll find her. I’ll turn the labyrinth inside out to find her and when I do, both of you will be very sorry you ever defied me. Don’t just sit there, you idiots! Follow her!”

The gargoyles cringed and leapt into the courtyard, all getting in each other’s way when they tried to land in the center. Those that didn’t fall over jumped this way and that on the tiles, trying to find the right one, but no trap door opened. Li threw himself backward to avoid Rai’s furious slash, barely managing to get his sword up in time to block the next attack. He didn’t have a chance. With ruthless efficiency Rai drove him back against the wall and disarmed him, clamping a hand over Li’s mouth and slamming his head against the bricks when he tried to dive for his sword.

The king said nothing, as Li clawed and kicked to get free, but there was a terrible storm raging in his eyes. Li couldn’t breathe, Rai’s gloved hand was smothering both his mouth and his nose, and the pressure was too great to push away. He could feel his head spinning. Desperate, he thrashed and fought back, but Rai seemed impervious to any blow that landed on his body. And after a while, the punches and kicks were too feeble to do any good. Li, of course, was the Little Wolf and he did not give up. Even as a dim fog clouded his vision, and his heart threatened to burst, he never gave up.

He was completely unconscious by the time Rai relaxed his grip and let his body fall to the ground.

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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Yeah. Rough times. Syaoran got to prove he was loyal to Sakura to the end, but at a very painful price. Rai does not take well to disobedience.

Review! Or Yue will turn het.
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