Chapter 20
~~~~~

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Those were the sound of Chocy walking up a hill on a cloud day in Ometin. Sakura and Syaoran bounced up and down on Chocy's back according to the rhythm of his tapping. Sakura looked up the hill; it seemed to go on forever. "There's no end to this." She complained. Syaoran turned around and said. "Kinayo did say that this is one of the highest mountain in Ometin. He turned back, and asked. "Chocy, aren't you tired?"

Chocy shook his head happily. He kept going. Moments later, they saw the end of the hill, and it started to head down up ahead. "Finally!" Sakura sighed delightedly as Chocy head up to the last part of the hill.

Unfortunately, what awaited them was a head was a cliff that went straight down. The walked up to the edge, and stared down, swallowing. "It's so high that you can't even see the bottom." Sakura said. Chocy backed up slowly. Sakura and Syaoran jumped off him as he did. "Great." Syaoran said sarcastically, "Now how are we going to head north?"

"I guest we'll have to go back to the bottom of the mountain and go around it." Sakura said with her finger to her mouth, thinking. Syaoran sighed. "What a great idea...that'd probably take days."

"Are you trying to cross?" They heard a voice said. They turned to their left to see a girl around their age; she was just standing there. Syaoran walked towards her. "What do you mean 'cross'?" The girl pointed to the cliff. "This is the place between two high cliffs, the other cliff is located around five miles across from here. You can continue your journey north if you get there."

"Five miles?" Sakura exclaimed. "How do we get across?"

The girl smiled; she turned and waved her hand. "Follow me."

Sakura and Syaoran followed her on Chocy's back. They walked along the cliff for around half a mile, then a house appeared. It was a fat cylindered cement house with a cone shape top. It looked like a flatten rocket. Above the door was a wooded sign. Syaoran read, "Hot air balloon for rent?" The girl went to the door and nodded. "If you want to get across, the only way is by hot air balloons. We can rent it for you."

"We?" Sakura asked.

"My other two sisters and me. We're triplets, my name is Olia, the other two is Polia and Holia. Polia will be at the other end of the cliff, and Holia will be on Gauliodo when you get there."

"Gauliodo?" Sakura and Syaoran both asked.

"You don't know what Gauliodo is?" Olia asked. Sakura and Syaoran shook their head.

"Gauliodo is the air city." Olia explained. "It is a city supported by a huge floating rock, a rare kind of mineral. It floats in the air, that's why it's called the air city. Five miles is way too long for the balloon to go on one trip so you'll have to make a stop there to refill your hot air supply."

"I understand now." Sakura said. "We'll take one."

~~~~~

Minutes later, they were flying over to the other cliff on their egg-shaped hot air balloon with tinny wings on both sides as decoration. Sakura looked down to the cliff, and saw Olia waving at them at the edge. Sakura rushed to the side of the balloon, and waved back. She was waving so hard that she almost fell off, Syaoran saw her, and grabbed her by her waist, pulling her back.

They flew higher; they were now over the clouds and out of Olia's sight. Sakura looked around her, the sight was simply amazing: nothing but blue sky and clouds. The wind blew on their face gently; for once, they can sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

Sakura thought she must had fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew was Syaoran shaking her lightly to tell her they had arrived. She got up, and exclaimed as she saw a floating city before her. The city was constructed on a piece of floating island, just like Olia said; the rock floated in the air with water coming down that dropped into the ocean below. There was a gate ahead of them; behind the gate there were markets and residential areas. But the most significant sight would have to be the crystal palace that took up nearly half of the island. The crystal shined with blinding green light under the bright sun, the palace was in the shape of an arch with tall supporting poles. It was kind of similar to the ones they saw back in Sami City, the underwater land.

They arrived at the gate, and a guard came to welcome them. The guard had dark skin and was wearing a white rob around him. He held a spear beside him and yelled up to Sakura and Syaoran as they tried to land the balloon. "Careful. Do you know how to land this thing?" He yelled in a strong accent. Sakura yelled back. "Um...not really."

"That's okay." They guard said. "I'll come and help you."

"Come and help us...?" Syaoran stared. "How do you come and help us when we're all the way up here..." He stopped as the guard revealed a pair of bright white wings from under his robe. He flopped and flew into the sky towards them. He took hold of the basket, and started to pull. "I'll help you land." He said. Sakura and Syaoran stared. "You...those...wings...fly...how...hoe?" Sakura pointed and asked.

The guard giggled. "I guess this is your first time in town, eh?" The two nodded furiously. The guard continued. "We Gauliodians know how to fly. We had to adopt to our environment, you know. Look around you. All of our shops and houses are all so tally constructed."

They looked around, he was right. All the buildings were high, ball-shaped houses dangled high in the air by a thin supporting pole. The whole city looked like whole bunch of meatballs on sticks. Some were as high as the Tokyo tower while some were just as short as a two stories building. People didn't use elevators or escalators; they simply flew up to the houses and jump in by the windows.

The guard took them to the hot air balloon rental shop; it was another building high up and had a landing site with a big X on it. An exact copy of Olia came out of the shop beside the landing site to greet them. "Hey! Thank you guard! That'll do!" The guard took a bow, and flopped his wing to go. The girl reached out her hand. "I'm Polia. Sister of Olia." Sakura shook her hand as they got off the balloon. "Nice to meet you, I am Sakura, this is Syaoran, and that's our chocobo, Chocy." Syaoran stepped forward to shook her hand, and asked. "How long will the refill take?"

"Only a minute." Polia said, and began to work right away. She went inside the shop to look for hot air supply. Sakura couldn't help but looked around her. They were standing on a taller building, so she could see very far from where she was standing. The sky was crowded with Gauliodians, some of them were on chocobo backs. [Even the chocobos here can fly.] Sakura thought. [What an amazing city.]

A breeze blew strong. Sakura's hair covered her view, as she brought her hand up to brush it she heard Syaoran cried. "Look out!" Then she felt his weight put on her, and they dived hard on the ground. The breeze suddenly became a strong blew of gust that zoomed on top of them. They turned to look up, and saw a bird that looked almost like Sakura's fly card. The bird was white and as big as a whale. Its wings covered the sky. Despised its size, it flew with incredible speed. The wind it created was as sharp as knifes, people around lost their balance, and were pushed against the buildings by the wind. The bird flew over Sakura and Syaoran's above; its left wing grazed the balloon as it flew by.

Sakura and Syaoran got up when the bird gone far enough. Polia came out cursing. "No! That damned bird! Look what it did!"

They turned to look at the hot air balloon, now flat on the landing site, curled up and rankled as the hot air escaped through the hole that bird created. Polia immediately ran up towards it to see the damage. She picked up the rankly fabric, and sighed. "That stupid bird got the balloon pretty bad. I'll have to fix this."

Sakura stepped up and asked. "What was that?" Polia turned around madly. "Well, it's supposed to be our guardian phoenix. It's job was to so-call protect this city. But it got pretty riled up lately." She looked back at the balloon. "This will take at least three days to repair."

"Three day?" Syaoran exclaimed. "But we're in a hurry."

"I'm sorry, I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll pay for your hotel and all the fees while you're here." She stood up, and waked to the edge of the landing site. "Better yet...why don't you take a look around town since you're here?" She walked scarily close to the edge, Syaoran held up his hand. "Okay! We get it, it's not your fault! Whatever you do, don't jump!"

Polia turned around, looking quizzed. Then she laughed. "Of course I'm not going to jump. Silly you, I'm just here to call my friend." She looked back to the edge, whistled and yelled. "Hey! Luke!"

"...Yeah." Sakura and Syaoran could hear a faint sound of a young man answering. Polia kept yelling. "I've got a bit of trouble here, can you come up here, and I'll explain the rest."

Moments later, a young Galiodian flopped up to the landing site like an angel. He hand long, feathery white hair that he tied up behind his back. His wings were as white as snow. He was wearing a sky blue sleeveless shirt and white pants with white boots. Sakura and Syaoran gasped as she saw him.

"Yu...Yukito?" Sakura couldn't help but yelled. The Gauliodian's face looked exactly like Yukito!

"Um...I beg your pardon?" The young Galiodian replied. Sakura blushed and wave her hands in front of her face. "No! I...it's just that you look a lot like a friend I know..."

"Really?" He smiled. [He even smiles like Yukito.] Sakura thought, blushing harder.

"Humph." Syaoran made a noise too quite for Sakura to notice. Sakura kept her attention to the Yukito look-a-like. Polia came along, and pulling out a flying device that looked like a balcony with wings. "Okay, enough chatting, now Luke. You take good care of them."

"I will." Luke answered. He turned to Sakura, "So what's you name?"

"Sakura." She couldn't help but blush. "Sakura Kinomoto."

"Great. Then who are you friends?"

"Friends?" Sakura turned around, and knew he meant Syaoran and Chocy who were getting on to the flying device. Syaoran looked away madly. "Oh, you must mean them. He's my friend Syaoran and this is our chocobo Chocy. You know, Luke, being with you brings back a lot of memories of me and my friend."

"Great. I'm glad you feel comfortable around me." He flashed him another smile. He pointed to the device. "Why don't you get on it before your friends take of with out you?" Sakura turned around, and ran towards it. "Hey, wait for me." She went on, and said lightly to Syaoran. "Syaoran, don't you think he looks like..."

"I heard. You were being so loud." He answered with a grumble. Sakura wasn't too happy about that. "Jeez, what's with you? Why can't you be a bit more gentle?"

"Oh, like Yukito?"

"I didn't say that." Sakura turned away angrily.

"But you were thinking about it." Syaoran's anger grew.

"How could you..." Sakura stopped, and then ignored him. Chocy looked from Syaoran to Sakura, not knowing what to do. Luke could feel the tension between the two; he tried to break the ice with his number one warm smile. "Come on, I'll get you to the hotel first to drop off your stuffs." The wings on the device started to flop, they headed off to the hotel. Luke flew beside them. No one said anything throughout the trip. They finally arrived at a big building. Its roof consists of lots of spikes, making it look extra shiny in the sunlight. The entered and dumped their bags in their room and put Chocy in the stable.

"I'll show you around town." Luke said. Sakura walked delightfully to his direction. "Great! I've been dying to look around this unique town." Luke smiled, and his smile diminished as he gazed at Syaoran, who was still grumpy. Syaoran walked into his room, and said. "I'm not going." Luke expected that, more or less. "Are you sure?" He asked hesitantly. Sakura grabbed his hand, and started to drag him away. "Who cares about him? He can be stay way. Come on, I want to see the town!"

"O...Okay...we'll bring you back some souvenirs!" Luke yelled as Sakura pulled him away. Sakura added as they step out of sight. "No we won't."

Syaoran sighed. How could he be so stupid? He thought to himself. Being immature wasn't the best plan to have when a rival appeared. He was going to catch them and apologize, but he changed his mind on his way, and leaned on the wall.

That was when he heard a scream of a woman. "Ah! My purse is gone!" Syaoran looked at her as she scrambled through the places she might have left it. He looked at the ceiling, and took off to the kitchen.

~~~~~

"Hehehe...not bad." Jon said as he took out a few jewelries out of a purse. He jumped and yelled as someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see Syaoran kneeling beside him. They were both under a large kitchen table covered with tablecloth. They could hear the chefs cooking a preparing food outside the table.

"How'd you know I'm here?" Jon asked surprisingly. Syaoran made a face. "Well, when I heard someone lost a purse, I immediately thought of you." He looked at the purse. "Is that the purse?"

Jon looked at it with a sweat drop on his head. "No, it's my purse. That right. I wear a purse, do you have a problem with that?" He put the purse around his shoulder and posed like a woman. Syaoran grabbed the purse from him, and said flatly. "I'll return that to its rightful owner, thank you." Jon looked disappointed; he wined. "Oh man..."

That was when Jon realized Syaoran's alone. "What is Sakura?" He asked. Syaoran looked at him, and then looked away madly saying, "She's got her own stuffs to do." Jon nodded wisely, and said. "Uh-huh. She's going out with another guy, huh?" Syaoran's face turned red, and turned to him sharply, yelling. "She's not going out with another guy!" Jon held up his hand defensively and backed himself up, "Hey, hey. I'm just joking. Even though she isn't going out with him, I believe she's spending some time with him." Syaoran calmed down, and stared at the floor.

"I don't get you guys sometimes." Jon said. Then they remained quiet for a length of time. Finally, Jon said. "The fact is, I found a target for possible missioner." Syaoran looked at him seriously. Jon continued. "The guardian phoenix. It's been really strange lately, but I don't think that's because the bird is having a bad day. Rather than saying it's a missioner, I'd like to say it's under someone's control."

"The bracelets!" Syaoran said. Jon nodded. Syaoran went on. "But I thought we destroyed all of them back in P.H.H. city!" Jon kept explaining. "I figured that there were still some left, or it was here before we even went to P.H.H. city."

"Then let's get it!" Syaoran said. Jon looked at him with surprise. "We'll need Sakura. How do you think we can capture the soul if we don't have the Angel Wing crystal?" Syaoran lowered his head, and said quietly. "Right, I forgot." Jon smiled, and put his arm around Syaoran's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll go get Sakura, and by then you two would've made up like nothing happened."

Syaoran smiled back, it was nice to have a companion. "Thanks." He thanked him gently. Then they heard the chef thundered. "Hey! Someone is hiding under the table!"

"Uh-oh!" They twisted to crawl out of the table.

~~~~~

"Wow~" Sakura exclaimed like a young girl that saw a Mickey Mouse in Disney land as she paid a visit to Gauliodo's most famous water fountains. The fountains were cone shape rocks that float in the air. Water jumped from one fountain to the other, Sakura laughed as a splash of water landed in the fountain beside her, the water in the fountains shot out again and landed in a fountain far up. "This is fun!" Sakura said to Luke. He was still flying beside her flying device. The water fountain park was big and filled with tourists. Most of them were on flying devices similar to Sakura's.

"What to get something to eat?" Luke said, pointing toward to snack stand on the ground. Sakura smiled. "Sure!" They landed, Sakura jumped out of the device, and started to look at the menu.

Around ten meter away from them was Jon and Syaoran, leaning on a water fountain that floated low. Jon stood out in the open and said. "Alright, let's go get her." Syaoran just stood there; Jon turned back, and asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing...you go ahead." Syaoran said, obviously irritated, he looked away. Jon giggled slyly. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous."

Syaoran snapped, and yelled. "No I'm not!" Jon kept on laughing. "Oh, you shy little boy. Come on, I bet she even forgot that she's mad it you. Let's just go up to her, and humbly request her to come with us." Jon moved behind Syaoran and pushed him along. Syaoran went against it. "Quit it! I said no!" Syaoran looked ahead, and saw Sakura laughing like a little girl as she munched down some ice cream. She looked at Luke like the way she always looks at Yukito. She really saw Yukito in him, Syaoran thought. And She must've missed him dearly.

Syaoran watched for another second, sighed, then turned around. "Let's just leave her." Jon made a face as he heard him. He crossed his arms, and stared at Syaoran as he urged. "Come on, I told you, she won't be mad..."

"It's not that." Syaoran cut him off. Jon's face softened as Syaoran went on. "It's not...that." He lowered his head. The boys stayed quiet for a while. Syaoran sighed, and said. "Jon, do me a favor."

Sakura giggled as she told Luke about her story with Yukito. "And then...my brother called me monster as I entered the room to see Yukito, and then..." A near by tourist bumped Sakura lightly on the back. "Sorry." He murmured. Sakura briefly turned around, and said, "It's okay" as the tourist walked out of sight.

The tourist walked back to the Syaoran. He took off his hat and threw it away; it was Jon that bumped into Sakura. "Got it." He said with a flat face as he held up the Angel Wing crystal that he snatched off Sakura's necklace. Syaoran smiled. "Thanks, Jon. I should've known you could do it easily. I mean it's the only thing your good at." He giggled. Jon's face remained flat. "It's not funny. Why did you tell me to do that, Syaoran?"

Syaoran's giggled died down. He looked at him seriously, and said. "So we can go with out her."

"What?" Jon exclaimed. "Why?"

Syaoran remained silence. He started to walk away. "I'll explain later, let's just get out of here before Sakura realized the crystal's missing." Jon didn't say a word as he followed him quietly.

~~~~~

Sakura and Luke were still talking in front of the snack stand. Luke couldn't help but ask. "Tell me...is Syaoran as very close friend of yours?" Sakura blushed a little. But then she got mad remembering they were still fighting, and turned around. "We are just friends, traveling together." Luke giggled. "Really?"

Sakura puffed up her cheeks as she remembered how Syaoran yelled at her back in the hot air balloon rental shop. Luke went on. "You care a lot for him, I can tell." Sakura studied his face, and tilted her head. "What made you say that?" Luke continued. "Well, with out noticing, you've mentioned his name five, six times when you were telling me stories."

Sakura blushed and covered her mouth. "Did I?"

Luke grinned. "And that expression is another reason. Every time you mention him, your face turns red." Luke's grin dimmed a little. "And I can see something else, too. This Yukito person you were talking about. I can tell you care a lot for him, too. But that's another kind of caring. Like the kind of caring you have for a brother. You two must be really close."

Sakura looked at him, and smiled. "You're just like Yukito, so observant." Luke smiled back, and said. "That was how could I tell that you have feelings for Syaoran." Sakura's face turned bright red. "I...I don't!" She yelled. Luke laughed. "You're just saying that because you two are in a fight. So, did you tell him how you feel?"

"He's...so slow." Sakura said madly. That was true, he never quite get what she was talking about when it comes to romance. Luke sighed, and said calmly. "Give it time." Sakura turned back to him, and stared at the fountains thoughtfully.

~~~~~

"Just because he looks like him doesn't mean that he is!" Jon said as Syaoran told him about Luke and Yukito. They were now walking into a dark shrine that led downward. They found a small spiral shaped stairway and thought it might lead to the phoenix's nest since the bird lives under the floating island. No one had ever seen the bird's nest before, Syaoran and Jon walked blindly ahead.

"Well, she misses him a lot, so even if it's not the real him, it's nice to have a little flash back. I still think it's a good idea to stay with him." Syaoran said. Jon suddenly stopped and looked at him. Syaoran didn't realize it at first, then he, too stopped, and turned around to look at Jon. "What?" Syaoran asked.

"This...Yukito..." Jon hesitated. "Does she...I mean...does Sakura..."

Syaoran nodded, "Yeah. She loves him."

"Like...She loves him like you love her?"

"Probably." Syaoran said; there was sadness to his voice that he was trying to hide. "Actually, I know it is." Syaoran said. He went on, Jon kept asking. "But what about you?"

Syaoran turned around and repeated. "What about me?"

"You...you love her. So...how could she..."

"Look, I've known this from the start. I know it would turn out like this." Syaoran said madly. "I know...she never treated me like a lover and she never will."

"Because..."

"Because she loves him." Syaoran concluded. He kept walking. For a moment Jon couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had always thought they were a couple. How could this happen? "But," He went on. "But then...why are you doing this at all? If you know...if you know she won't return your feelings."

Syaoran paused. Then said without turning around. "It doesn't matter whether or not I get something in return. I just want to protect her. Even if it means to stand as guard on her wedding day, seeing her marry to someone else. Let's...let's just go, okay?"

Jon walked in disbelieve. [So young...] Jon thought. [And he already made such a mature decision. Oh, Syaoran, you sure have sacrificed a lot for Sakura. If only she feels the same way about you...]

Minutes later, they had arrived at the phoenix's nest. It was at the most bottom part of Gauliodo. The bottom part of the island was constructed with stalactites that hooked up to form short of a half bowl shape nest. At the far end of the nest was a great hole that the stalactites ended and lead to miles and miles of falling. The land slope down quite steeply from the stairway they were standing at. The bird was sleeping noisily. Every breath it took was loud and thundering. Syaoran studied the bird. It was as big as a whale. He wondered how could something this big fly?

It was no time to ask questions. They had got to find the evil bracelet on the bird before it wakes up. They slid down the slope as quietly and gently as they could, and walked around the bird to look for it. Syaoran felt the bird's feather with his hand, it was rough and huge. He jumped up on to the bird, and took a better look. Jon made a face, hand signaling him to be more cautious. Syaoran nodded, and continued to search for the bracelet.

Minutes passed, and they were still searching. "Where could it be?" Syaoran whispered. Jon said grumpily. "Well, if this bird doesn't have so much feather, we'd be done by now." He brushed a feather out of his face as he looked under the ring. Syaoran suddenly got the idea. "Feather..." He said to himself. "That's it, it mush be clogged in the feathers!"

Jon sighed. "Great, that would make the job much easier."

"Stop wining and start looking. Remember to dig deep into the feathers see if it's underneath." Syaoran shuffled the feathers he was sitting on. Jon shook his head, and began to work again.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the bird woke up. It's bright red eyes opened, noticing the two trespassers right away. It made a high squeal, and flopped its wings wildly. Jon and Syaoran were knocked down on the sloped ground. Syaoran got up, and took out his sword. Jon did the same to the knife tided to his right leg. The bird used its beak to peck them. Syaoran and Jon jumped, one to the right, the other to the left. The ground trembled on every peck. Syaoran waited for his chance, then leaped up on to the bird's head right after it tried to peck him.

The bird flung its head rapidly. Syaoran was barely holding on. He lost grip of the feather on the bird's head. The bird felt it, and arched back suddenly, making Syaoran rolled all the way to its tail. He reached out, trying to grab anything that can be use as a grip. He got hold of a bunch of vanes on its tail feather; it slid a few metres in his hand, then he managed to hold on. He climbed back up as fast as he could, but the bird was rocking back and forth, making the process impossible.

That was when Jon shouted. "Look!" Syaoran followed his gaze: The bracelet was on the feather he was holding on to, hooked to the shaft part of the feather. "Okay," Syaoran said, holding on to the feather with on hand and took out his sword with another. "If I cut this feather off, I might be able to save...wuah!!" The bird was moving again. It flung its tail from left to right. Syaoran tried his best to hold on with only his left hand while his sword was on his other. "If only...it'll stop moving!"

"Just pluck the feather off!" Jon suggested.

"Good idea." Syaoran said. "With my weight, it might come off if the bird make a big jerk. Jon!"

"Right! I'll go provoke it so it'll fling you off like a flea along with the feather and the bracelet!" Jon started to run towards the front of the bird. Syaoran put the sword away, and tried to hang on.

"Hey, bird! Look this way!" Jon waved his hand; the bird turned its attention to him. It made a loud, descending scream, and went forward to peck him. Jon was one step ahead. He took out a signal fire, and threw it at the bird. "Eat this!" The signal fire made a blinding spark, and exploded in the air. It didn't hurt the bird, but it sure did startle it. The bird turned sharply, that did the job, the feather was plucked off along with Syaoran and the bracelet.

Syaoran flew off with the feather in high speed. He hit hard on the side of the curving stalactites; it made a loud bang. Syaoran began to slide down lethargically. He felt dizzy, and he had no energy to get up. Jon called out, trying to wake him. "Syaoran!" Syaoran didn't respond. He kept sliding. Jon ran for him. He jumped over the feather on his way; at the same time, the soul from the bracelet was sucked into the crystal in Jon's pocket.

Jon didn't have time to care. Syaoran was sliding closer and closer to the edged of the curving stalactites. Jon didn't have time to ponder. He jumped as Syaoran rolled off to the edge, grabbed him with his right hand, and held on to the stalactite's tip with the left hand. They were hanging on top an ocean, thousands of feet about. Jon couldn't hold on forever, he yelled. "Syaoran! Get a hold of yourself!"

No respond. He realized Syaoran was unconscious. He tried to get up with one hand, but that was simply impossible with Syaoran in his other hand. His hand was shaking, struggling to go on. Then at the last moment, he failed and let go, falling toward the ocean.

Something bouncy and feathery caught them; Jon opened his eyes to see the phoenix, returned to normal, caught them on its back. "Oh, thank god..." Jon mumbled. Just then, he remembered Syaoran. "Dude, you okay?" He turned to see Syaoran, who lay beside him.

Jon turned Syaoran's head gently, and sucked in a cold breath. Half of Syaoran's face was cover in blood. He must have hit his head pretty hard. Jon took off his bandana and wrapped it around Syaoran's head. He held him close in his chest, and said with shaky voice. "Don't you worry pal, we're going to make it. Hang on, Syaoran. Hang on." Then he turned and yelled to the bird. "Come on! This is partly your fault you know! Get him to the hospital!" The giant bird nodded, and flew off.

In Jon's arm, Syaoran mumbled in his sleep. Jon looked down, and said. "It's okay. You're going to be fine. Just stay calm, and sleep if you want to." Tension was in his voice, and he did a bad job covering it. Syaoran groaned, and mumbled again. "Sa...Sakura..."

Syaoran fell silence after that. Jon looked at him unbelievably. "How could you be worrying her in this condition...?" He said softly. Then his eyes were filled with determination as he looked up ahead. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

~~~~~

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Those were the sounds of Jon and Chocy walking around outside Syaoran's door in the hotel. They went around, and around, waiting for Sakura to come home, and trying to find an excuse for Syaoran's injury. "What am I supposed to do? Try not to get Sakura to be worried, that's the least I can do for Syaoran! But how can I hide something like this from her?" Jon complained. Chocy "warked" to his agreement. They've been walking around for half an hour now, and still nothing.

That was when Sakura came up from the stairs. "What are you two doing walking in the hallway?" Sakura asked. Jon and Chocy jerked back. "Sakura!" Jon yelled alertly. Sakura smiled to him. "Hey, Jon. Glad to see you again."

"Huh? Oh, me too." Jon forced a smile. Sakura went ahead, Jon blocked her way nervously. "Whoa! Where do you think you're going? You room is over there!" Jon pointed to the room across from him. Sakura looked at him curiously. "To Syaoran's room." And moved forward again. This time, Chocy came to block her. "Wark!" He shook his head. Sakura looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What?"

"Um...you...can't go in there." Jon said, joining Chocy to block the door.

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Um...ah..."

"Oh no, he's not still mad is he?" Sakura looked sad.

"Mad...?" Jon looked at her.

"Oh, it's so silly. We had an argument this morning."

"Um...that's...it! Yeah. He's mad. In fact," He hooked his arm around Chocy's neck. "We're guarding this room to make sure that you don't go in there, because he ordered us to." Chocy looked at Jon, and nodded nervously. Sakura sighed, she looked sadder now. "He's that mad, huh?"

"Yup, you better believe it." Jon nodded. "He's darn mad."

Tear came out of Sakura's eyes; Jon softened, and so did Chocy. Sakura sobbed, and said. "I knew it. After what I said, he deserves to be mad. How could I be so inconsiderate? I didn't even once thought of how he would feel before I said all those mean stuffs. I just want to say sorry...he probably hates me now..."

Serge of guilt rushed through Jon and Chocy's heart. Jon couldn't help but to go forward and pat her on the shoulder. "Don't say that. He doesn't hate you. In fact, that's the last thing he would do. He cares about you, so much that you can't even imagine." He thought of the way Syaoran mumbled her name when he was unconscious. He sighed and went on. "You might not feel the same way about him, but...he does, he truly does care about you."

"But I do..." Sakura sobbed. "I do care for him so, so much, even more that I knew. That's why I'm here. But he just couldn't face me anymore..."

"Nonsense. He loves having you by his side. He could never think of leaving you." Jon tried to comfort her. "Your feeling is always the first thing he considers, no matter what he does."

"Then...then why doesn't he let me in?" She looked at Jon with watery eyes. Jon sighed. "Oy...okay, okay. You're not going to like this, but...but he's not mad at you. The reason we don't want you to go in...is because of something else." Sakura looked at him, and asked. "What is it?"

Jon shifted, again and again. "Um..." Chocy made a low purr, and turned around. Jon continued. "You know...you know what? Maybe it's for the best if you go in and see for yourself." He turned the doorknob, and opened the door for her. The room was dark, Sakura walked in slowly as Jon stayed at the door, trying not to look.

Sakura saw Syaoran lying peacefully on his bed; his head was bandaged. She moved closer, and knelt down beside him. "Sy...Syaoran!" She shook him. "Syaoran! Talk to me!" Jon stopped her. "It's nothing...he's fine. Just a big bump on the head, that's all. The doctor said he'd be fine. Just...don't shake him." Sakura turned around, and asked. "But how? How did it happen?"

So Jon explained. How he'd find out about the phoenix, contacting Syaoran, trying to find her. "And I've got to return this to you, by the way." Jon said as he tossed her the crystal. Sakura looked at the crystal unbelievably. It was gone the whole time and she didn't notice. "He...did this...so that I could be with Luke?" She looked at the crystal. Jon went on. "He said he'd know you'd miss that Yukito guy, and didn't want to disturb you. Anyway, we went to fight the phoenix, and he got hurt. We just came back from the hospital two hours ago. The doctor said he's okay. It' just that..."

"Just that what?" Sakura looked up nervously. Jon sighed, and went on. "The doctor said he might suffer from memory lost."

"No...that can't be..."Sakura lowered her head. Her eyes were getting watery again. Jon could see that. He got up, and went to the door. "I'll leave you two alone." He closed the door behind him.

Sakura went to Syaoran's bedside, and held on to his hand. Swearing to herself that she would never let go till Syaoran wakes up. She looked at him, and leaned her head on his chest. [Syaoran...I'm sorry...if I'd tell you sooner about my feelings, you wouldn't go through this. You would just come and get me to that phoenix and you wouldn't get hurt.] She brushed his hair, and closed her eyes. [Syaoran...I don't care if you lose your memories, I'll still love you. In fact, that will be the first thing I tell you when you wake up.]

An hour later, Jon came in and saw Sakura fast asleep. Chocy came in, too. He looked at Jon, and Jon patted him on the head. "You know, Chocy, Syaoran kept telling me Sakura loves this Yukito person. But somehow...I doubt that. I can feel it...I can sense it...Sakura loves Syaoran, and he loves her back. I know I'm right Chocy, I just know." Chocy nodded. He couldn't be more agreed.

To be continued...