Chapter 24

Ever since they lost their chocobo, Sakura and Syaoran's journey had become more difficult for them. "I can't take this anymore!" Sakura said as she sat at a side of the road, rubbing her feet. Short grass and, occasionally, some trees surrounded the road. The sun was high above, roasting them like marshmallows. Both of them had been sweating a lot; Syaoran's shirt soaked right through. "I know it's hard." He said. "But now you understand how much Chocy went through when we rode on him. He had to carry us, too."

Sakura wined more. "I don't care, I'm human, and I'm not use to it! It's hot, and my feet feel numb." Syaoran sighed, and said. "Father Ribian said the next town shouldn't be far. Come on, we're almost there. Think of it this way, when you arrive at the town, you'll never have to walk another mile again."

Sakura eyed him. "Seriously?"

Syaoran nodded. "Yup. It's our destination, anyway. That's the base, Sakura. We made it, we're going to be home."

Sakura felt a bit better, and soften her tone. "Yeah." She began to flash back on the faces she met in Ometin: Shi Shi, Kyn, Chica, Gullian, Blossica, Dr. Charter, and many many more. Last but not least, would be Chocy, Jon, and the three birds. Syaoran offered a hand, interrupting her thoughts. "Come on, let's get moving." She nodded, took his hand, and stood up. She felt a bit more enthused…for a while. Walking less than a mile she began complaining again. "It's too hot! I can't go on!" Syaoran turned around but didn't pay much more attention. "We have to get there before dark, come on."

"Oh man…" Sakura dragged on. As soon as she did, she twisted her ankle. "Ow!" She yelled aloud. Syaoran turned around, and knelt before her. "What's wrong?" Sakura sat down, and said. "My ankle…I think I hurt it." Syaoran put his hand to it and applied pressure. "Does this hurt?" Sakura made a scarlet scream. "Ah!" Syaoran jerked away. "Okay…you might have twisted it. You silly thing…you wouldn't be faking this so you can get some rest would you?"

Sakura's face burned up out of rage, "What kind of person do you think I am? Some boyfriend you are, getting suspicious at me like that!"

Syaoran's face reddened. He looked away. "Fine, fine. Sorry." He was still getting use to the fact that they were dating.

He looked at her innocent face, now soaked with sweat. He sighed. Heart softening, he took off the backpack he was carrying and turned around with his back to her. "Here." He offered. Sakura looked at him, and asked. "What?" He pointed to his back, and said. "Climb on. I'll carry you for the rest of the way." Sakura was kind of surprised. "Hoe?" Syaoran turned around, and asked. "What? You're hurt, right?" Hastily, she got up. "Um…no, it's hard enough for you already. I'm okay. I'm not crippled or anything…ow!" She dropped back down. Syaoran leaned closer. "Keep that up and pretty soon, you will be." He put her hands over his shoulders. "Here." He said softly. Sakura blushed, relaxed, and just let Syaoran take her.

"Here we go." He stood up, shifted her on his back, and started walking. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it? When was the last time you ever got a piggyback ride?" Sakura was feeling dreamy. "I can't remember…" She said drowsily. It was hot, but surprisingly, she felt comfortable on Syaoran's back. She loved being close to him, feeling his body heat, even smelling his sweat.

Syaoran smiled. He knew Sakura was falling asleep, so he kept quiet for the rest of the way while Sakura took a long nap on his back.

~~~~~

"I'll fight for you for the sake of your safety…"

[No…not the dream again. Syaoran? You're Syaoran, right? I just know you are. Syaoran, speak up! Why did you say that?]

This time she could see it more clearly; he jerked, and was then pulled back as if he was tied with invisible strings. As he went, blood rained down from the sky. Sakura reached out. "No…no…"

"No!!"

She woke up sweating and gasping for air. She soon realized she was still on Syaoran's back. Syaoran looked at her, and asked with concern. "Are you okay? You looked like you had a bad dream." Sakura looked at his face, and sighed. "Yeah, sort of. Oh," She slid off his back. "I'm sorry, you've been carrying me. You must be tired."

Syaoran smiled. "Not at all." He pointed ahead. "And look. We're here." Sakura looked, he was right. They were here. About half a mile in front sat a town ---- more like a giant city ---- built with high walls of bricks. The wall circled around the city, so you couldn't really tell what was in it. But judging by the smokes that were coming out, you'd say that it was a pretty crowded town.

As they got closer, they approached the door. It was only half as tall as the wall that surrounded the town, but it was already at least 30 metres in height. They looked for a way in, but it seems they had to do it the old fashion way. Syaoran walked up and knock on the gigantic door. A voice came out from the other end. "Who is it?" Typical, Syaoran thought. He turned to Sakura, and they nodded. "We're travelers, I hope we can stay in for the night."

"Just a minute." The voice replied. Syaoran turned to Sakura and whispered. "We're close to the missioner's base, so don't reveal our identities to anyone. It's best if we just merge within the people." Sakura nodded. Moments later, the door opened with a loud squeaking noise. [Double the size, double the squeaking noise I suppose.] Sakura thought as they started to walk in.

In front of them was a long, narrow road. Inside was kind of dark, and couldn't see what was ahead. The doorman was a local soldier dressed in rusty armor. "Here you go." He said. "Just follow the path to get into town."

They walked on. Both sides of the rode were too dark to see. For a moment, the whole down seems deserted. Sakura and Syaoran swallowed; it was freaky and totally unexpected.

A flake of confetti dropped as if out of nowhere. Syaoran jerked, and watched it drop, saying. "What the…"

Then all the lights were on, thousands of people who were hiding in the shadows were suddenly visible. They all cheered, and threw down ribbons and confetti. In union, they yelled. "SURPRISE!!"

Confused, and frightened, Sakura and Syaoran blinked once or twice and stepped back. Noise filled the city, and they didn't have a clue what they were celebrating about.

Not far away a banner unfolded. That was when it all became clear to Sakura and Syaoran. They couldn't help but be shock as they stared at the big words on the banner.

The words, in bold, every letter a size of a man, were written neatly on the banner as it waved handsomely in the air. Sakura and Syaoran felt like they were going to faint any minute.

Then an old and chubby man stepped out of the crowd, and greeted them. "Hello, I am the town's mayor. It is such a great honor to finally meet you. My name is Charles McNuen, but you can call me Mayor McNuen." The chubby man said, looking proud to be the mayor. "We have prepared a hotel room for you, first class. Oh, or would you like something to eat first? Uh, heroes?" He didn't sense it, but by then, Sakura and Syaoran were too shock to say anything. Questions filled their mind, but none of them made it out of their mouth.

"Oh my god, old man!" A voice yelled. Sakura, Syaoran and Mayor McNuen all turned to the direction of the town's entrance and recognized the yeller right away.

"Jon!" All three shouted back. Sakura and Syaoran turned surprisingly towards Mayor McNuen, wondering why did he know Jon. Jon took big steps towards the mayor, and started pointing fingers. "What the hell is the meaning of all this? Are you out of your old wrinkly mind?" Sakura and Syaoran looked from Jon to Mayor McNuen, confused about the conversation. Mayor McNuen looked innocent, and asked. "What do you mean, Jon?"

Jon waved his hands wildly, and practically screamed. "THIS! All the flying flakes of confetti, the banner, and all these people! I'm surprise you didn't skywrote it! Do all of the world have to know Sakura and Syaoran are here!?" Sakura and Syaoran nodded, one hundred percent agreed. Mayor McNuen patted Jon on the shoulder, and said. "Calm down, young one. So, the two heroes are who you called Sakura and Syaoran?" He turned to face them, and took their hands. "Nice to meet you." Jon groaned. "Old man! Are you listening!?" Mayor McNuen faced him, and said with a more serious tone. "Oh come on, Jon. We haven't seen each other in years and the all you're going to say to your old grandpa here is rude language?"

Sakura and Syaoran yelled in union. "Grandpa??"

~~~~~

A giant hook shape mirror was displaying the image of Sakura and Syaoran. A person with long hair and long black robe stared, and smiled to himself. "They're finally here." The mirror was twice his height. He lifted his right arm lazily and waved. The figure that seemed like a servant bowled, and turned off the image like a turning off a TV screen. The dark figure now turned, and started to proceed down the short stairs as his long robe draped gracefully behind him.

Another person was waiting in front of him as he walked down the stairs. This person was a bit shorter, and had purplish white hair. The dark figure nodded to him, and he nodded back.

"It's time…"

~~~~~

Grandpa McNuen set down four cups of hot tea and offered. "Here, have a drink." Sakura and Syaoran took a cup without hesitating. They sipped simultaneously and peeked at Jon, who sat at the other end of the table with one leg up and one hand supporting his chin. He hadn't say a word since they entered Grandpa McNuen's house.

Grandpa McNuen's house was surprisingly cozy. Sakura and Syaoran thought a mayor of a big town would live in big mansion with a lot of servants, full of antiques and paintings of him and his so-call families. Instead this house was no bigger than their own, if not, even smaller. It seemed like a place where…well, an old person would live. The furniture was simple and neat, and the house was dimly lid. As Sakura and Syaoran studied the environment, Grandpa McNuen stroke up a conversation with Jon. "Come on now, Jon. I really don't see why you're so mad. All I did was give the heroes a little welcoming party."

Jon snapped a turned to his grandpa sharply. "A little?! Old man, the whole town was there!! It was more like a parade! Did you ever think of their safety?"

"Of course I did. That's why I had doctors there at the party. Just incase they get hurt."

Jon almost fainted. "That's not what I mean! I mean the missioners, the mean guys, the evil freaks that come from hell!

"There really is no point trying to hide it. The missioners planted their base here. They can watch all parts of the town without us knowing. So if they're going to know it anyway so why not through them a nice a big welcoming party?" He smiled warmly to Sakura and Syaoran. Jon wasn't quite satisfied yet. "But the whole town didn't have to come!"

Sakura waved her hands and said. "Jon, it's okay. We hadn't have a surprise party in a long time anyway." Syaoran added. "In my case, never." Sakura continued. "It was kind of fun, too. Well, until you dragged us back here that is."

Jon sighed and groaned, resting his case. Grandpa McNuen continued setting out the plates, and asked. "So, how's Shi Shi?" Jon said lazily. "I haven't seen her as long as you have." Grandpa McNuen sighed long and hard. "Poor girl, living there all by herself. She must be lonely to death! We must go visit her sometime." Jon looked away, and said. "Well, it's pretty tough. I mean she does live all the way at the other end of Ometin."

"The last time I've seen Shi Shi was almost eight months ago." Sakura said. "She seemed well."

"Really, that's nice to know." Grandpa McNuen smiled delightedly. He went to the counter in the kitchen, took some pastries out and put one in each plate. They began having lunch as they went into more serious discussions. "As I say, the missioners had planted their base right in the middle of the town." Grandpa McNuen said. "Now our town is shaped like a doughnut, and the missioners had their base in the whole in the centre. Actually, it was there for generations. That is where our ancestors sealed the missioners. But I don't know when, or how, someone went ahead to break the seal and on one terrible night, I saw missioners flying all over the sky, spreading through Ometin to destroy our world right from the core. The next thing I know, the base was starting to activate. It turned from a scorpion to a fortress in the centre of quicksand. It's more like a pinecone with little claws now. It usually hides very deeply into the quicksand unless it's up to something. Heck, if it were out in the open all the time we'd have attacked it already. The problem is it's all the way down there."

"Why are people still here?" Sakura asked anxiously. "Are you afraid that they're going to attack you any second?"

"Defense is set around the base, they can't attack us easily. We have one of the best military systems to prepare for times like this. I just never thought the time would be so soon." Grandpa McNuen sighed again.

"Who's in charge of the army?" Jon asked. Grandpa McNuen faced him and answer. "You know him quite well, Jon. It's General Cordo." Jon looked surprisingly at his grandfather and stood up. "Cordy!? He's the general?"

"Who's Cordy?" Sakura and Syaoran asked. Jon sat down and said. "He's my classmate from school. We're buds."

"Yes," Grandpa McNuen continued. "Unlike Jon he turned out to be a successful young man. I really couldn't see how could they have come to be friends. Ever since they were little they've been totally opposite kind of people. Jon was the active and sneaky one, and Cordo was the quiet and honest one. It always had been like this. When Cordo received his first award in school Jon had learned to steal his first wallet from his classmate."

Syaoran couldn't stop giggling, Sakura kept asking, "Oh! Was Jon cute back then? I want to see the pictures!" Grandpa McNuen led her to the living room and said. "Sure, right this way." Jon jumped up and yelled, "Okay, way off the topic here! Weren't we talking about national crisis!?"

Sitting back down, they continued discussing. "There's another reason that we set up this army." Grandpa McNuen said, looking at Sakura and Syaoran. "It's to support the legendary hero and his heroine in anyway possible." Sakura and Syaoran gasped. "What?" Grandpa McNuen continued. "You are just two people, no, not even that, two children. You two can't possibly handle the whole army of missioners alone. And further more, we can't just sit in the comforts of our home while you two risk your lives for us."

Sakura blushed, and said. "But…" Jon patted her shoulder. "It's okay, you two deserve it."

~~~~~

"It is ready, sir." A man said.

Inside the fortress, this dark figure now stands at one of the few openings. In front of him knelt a low class missioner, back towards the dark figure and was facing the opening. The dark figure stepped up and placed a hand on the missioner's shoulder and began to speak. "People of this town, listen up."

Like a microphone, the missioner echoed the dark figure's voice until it was a thundering volume, and the whole town could here. Sakura and the group heard it loud and clear in the mayor's house. "What was that?" Syaoran said. Grandpa McNuen answered. "It's a broadcast made by the leader of the missioners! He had done this several times now!"

The dark figure continued to speak. "We know the legendary heroes are here. I was surprise that they made it this far, but on the other hand," His lip curved to a smile. "I was pleased. However, that would not stop our plan. Hand over the hero or you'll suffer the consequences."

Out side the fortress, the quicksand stopped as if it was turned off manually. The dark figure continued to speak. "You have two hours to give me the legendary hero. The quicksand is now stopped so the hero can proceed safely. If in two hours you refuse to give in, I cannot guarantee the rest the town's safey."

When the announcement was over, Sakura said. "We have to go!" Grandpa McNuen stopped her. "Wait, let's not rush things. We've got tow hours, let's talk with the general first."

"But…" Sakura began, and Grandpa McNuen interrupted. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. We won't hand you two to the missioners." Sakura nodded, and they headed out to find the general.

Jon remained in the room. He put his hand to his chin and began to think. Syaoran noticed he hadn't move, so he asked. "What's wrong, Jon?"

Jon said thoughtfully. "Throughout the broadcast, that leader guy kept saying he wanted 'the hero'." Syaoran tilted his head, and asked. "What's wrong with that?" Jon turned to face him, and said. "There're two of you."

Syaoran remained silence for a while, and asked. "What do you mean?" Jon continued. "If he truly wanted the two of you, won't he say…'heroes'? He made it sounded as if…as if he only wanted one of you."

Syaoran made a face, and asked. "Why would he do that? Are you sure he didn't just made a grammar mistake in his sentence?"

"I don't think so." Jon said, confused. "And I have to agree, it doesn't make sense if he only wanted one of you. So why did he say that?"

Syaoran couldn't think of an answer either, "Well, I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean anything. Don't think too hard, Jon. Come on, Sakura and your grandpa is way ahead of us." He ran out. Jon had to agree, it probably didn't mean anything, so he headed out after him.

Still, it sounded fishy…

~~~~~

They found General Cordo in the army's training camp. The camp was filled with soldiers and weapons. Tents were set up everywhere. They caught General Cordo talking to one of the captains. "Mayor McNuen!" He said, as he spotted them. "Did you hear the announcement, too?"

General Cordo was a man of Jon's age. He was armed with a sword at one side and had a cape and armor on. Unlike Jon, he seemed reliable and serious.

"Yes, I heard." Grandpa McNuen said. He turned to Sakura and Syaoran and said. "This is…" General Cordo interrupted. "You two must be the heroes! It's such an honor. I'm General Cordo." He went ahead and shook their hands. Grandpa McNuen smiled, and said. "There's another person that I'm sure you'll be glad to see."

Before General Cordo could say "Huh?" Jon came running out of the soldier crowd, yelling. "Cordy!" He gave Cordo a big hug and Cordo hugged back. "Oh my god, is that you? Jon?" They broke from the hug and looked at each other. "My, you grew. Who would have thought?" Cordo said. Jon smiled and said. "Well, you too. But man! General! I never thought you'd be so…important!"

Cordo laughed, but his laughter fated off. "I'm afraid we don't have time for a proper reunion yet." Jon nodded. "Right, got to take care of these two kids first."

Cordo walked them into the general's tent in the camp. The tent was obviously more fancy than the others with guards at each side of the doors. The group went in, and Cordo started to explain as they gathered around a map on a table. "As you can see, this is a map of our city. The base is here." He pointed to the centre of the doughnut. "And the military camp is here." He referred to some point north of the base. "It is not a difficult tast striking up an attack."

"If they're not underground." Jon added. "Cordy, I know your army's good and all but can they dig and fight at the same time?"

"Be serious, Jon!" Grandpa McNuen shouted. Cordo smiled, and replied. "Of course, that's true. My men might not be able to dig and fight at the same time but if they get out of their base, we wouldn't have to." Jon and Grandpa McNuen looked at Cordo and asked simultaneously. "How so?"

"How else do you think the leader's going to get the heroes into their base?" Cordo smiled again with more confidants. "As we speak, they army is gearing up. We can are prepared to have an ambush when they come up and get the heroes." Sakura's face lid up a little. "That's a great idea!" Syaoran, however, stayed quiet.

Cordo continued to explain. "We're going to use you as baits, and make it seems as if we're giving you two away. Then when they come out and get you, we'll attack full force, and have them defeated in no time." He was so excited he almost smacked the map. The rest nodded, they agreed that this is the best way. "Then of course," Cordo added. "There's a small chance that you two can get hurt or even capture during the process, if they out smart us."

"Don't worry, we're up to the challenge. Right, Syaoran?" Sakura turned to Syaoran. Syaoran was lost in his thoughts that he jerked up when she asked. "Huh? Oh, yeah…"

"Hey, general. Is this fine?" A woman walked into the tent, holding a sword. The woman had short hair and was wearing tights; her dark skins look beautiful in those clothes. Cordo walked over to her, examined the sword, and handed it back to her. "Yeah, it's fine. Just issue them to the high class soldiers." Jon was peeking over Cordo's shoulder; it took him a while for him to recognize the woman. "No way! Elsie? Elsie Olson? You're here, too?" He pointed and shouted.

Elsie looked at Jon and revealed a crooked smile and said. "Oh my gosh. If it isn't Jon the school thief." Grandpa McNuen put his hand to his forehead and sighed. "Sometimes I just feel so ashamed for having this grandson." Elsie ignored the old man and continued to talk to Jon. "You owe me five bucks! You thought I forgot, huh? I still remember! You stole it from me in grade five!" Jon held out his hands defensively, and pretended that he didn't know better. Cordo showed a tire face and said. "Cut it out, you two. We have to go and do some major important business."

Elsie saluted him playfully, and yelled loud and clear. "Yes sir!" She jogged out of the tent. Jon leaned over to Cordo and asked. "So what's she in charge of, general?" Cordo scratched his head, and said. "She's in charge of weapons. She also invents new kinds of weapons and we test them out to see if they're suitable in the battle field." He looked off to one side. Jon looked at him, and grinned. "You like her, don't you?" Cordo blushed, and shook his head. "Wha-wha-what?? No way! Come on, we've got business to take care of!" He stepped out of the tents, and Jon followed. "No, hey wait! Don't change the subject! I know you think she's hot! Come back here, you're such a bad liar!" Grandpa McNuen dashed out after them. "Jon! Don't bother General Cordo with his business!"

That left Sakura and Syaoran alone in the tent; Syaoran hadn't say much during the whole meeting, though Sakura didn't seem to notice. She smiled, and turned to him. "This is it. Are you nervous? I sure know I am." Syaoran shot back a smile lightly, then looked away. Sakura stopped smiling. "What's wrong?" Syaoran lowered his head, and said. "It's about the plan…"

Sakura leaned closer. "What about it?" Syaoran continued. "I think it's really not necessary for both of us to be the bait. What if…"

"Stop!" Sakura said. "Stop it right there!" She was suddenly mad. "I know what you're going to say! You're going to say something like let you go alone instead of both of us going, aren't you? Syaoran, we're a team! When are you ever going to learn that we do things together? You always neglect me when it comes to facing the enemy! I want to fight, too, Syaoran! I'm in this too!"

Syaoran didn't feel bad about that, but instead, he felt upset. "I was just thinking that we shouldn't take unnecessary risks! There's no point if both of us gets capture!"

Sakura shook her head wildly. Fighting back her tears, she shouted. "Why are you always like this? You're always over protecting me. Have you ever thought about how would I feel if something happens to you? I don't want to feel useless!"

"You won't be feeling useless anymore if they get you! Nor will you have the chance to feel at all! Can't you see I'm thinking for your own good?"

Sakura couldn't hold it anymore. "You're always trying to control what I do! You don't trust me. You always make me stay behind and feel bad when you…when you…do get hurt when you come back…" She lowered her head and began crying. That was when Syaoran felt sorry for yelling at her. "Look, Sakura…" he tried to go up and hug her, but she refused and ran out of the tent. "I don't care what you do! Have it your way!"

Syaoran stood and look as she disappeared into crowds of soldiers. He leaned back on a supporting pole, cursing himself for hardening his tone. He regretted doing that. But at least now Sakura will be safe…

~~~~~

"Hey, Syaoran! Put this on!" Jon said as he and Cordo came back to the tent. He threw Syaoran a big blanket. "Wrap it around you as you go to the base. It's gonna get sandy as we battle, this should protect you from the sand, just wear it like a hood." He took another out of the pile and looked around. "Say, where's Sakura?" Syaoran put on the blanket and said. "We had an agreement. She's not going; we don't need two baits." Jon smacked his forehead. "Not again, Syaoran. Dude, think for once! This isn't fair for Sakura!"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Syaoran said. Jon put on his own blanket. "Remember last time? You went off to fight the phoenix and ended up getting hurt. And who feels worst? Sakura. Can't you see she'd rather be by your side fighting than have you protecting over her?" Syaoran didn't know what to say. He'd like to agree with him, but couldn't. Jon sighed, and waved. "There's no point talking now. Come on, we have to be there in half an hour."

"You're coming, too?" Syaoran said.

"Are you forgetting who I am?" Jon gave him a thumb up. "I'm the heroes' special helper guy, remember? And don't you go all protective on me, too. Okay?"

Syaoran smiled. "I won't…" they headed out of the tent, and towards the base."

~~~~~

Sakura was sitting under a tree outside the camp. It was a nice and quiet place. Sakura stopped sobbing and wiped her eyes, thinking how stupid it was for Syaoran to not understand what she was thinking. Just then, a woman came out of the camp, saying. "Boy, that was tiring." As she headed out to her usual spot to rest, she saw a girl already took her place. At once, she recognized that she was the legendary heroine. "Hey you!" She yelled and waved. Sakura looked around, and said. "Oh, hi. Elsie, right?" Elsie skipped towards her and said. "Yup! But I don't know your name yet." Sakura smiled, and said. "I'm Sakura."

Right away, Elsie saw that she had been crying. She knelt down and asked, "What's wrong?" Sakura closed her eyes, and said. "It's Syaoran…" Elsie tilted her head, and asked. "The boy?" Sakura nodded. "He won't let me go to the base. He's so stubborn."

"Boys can be that way sometimes." Elsie said, and sat down beside her. "Especially the ones that really really care for your. I sure know that feeling."

"Do you have a boyfriend, Elsie?" Sakura asked.

"Nope. But some guy has a major crush on me. He still doesn't know I know, though." Elsie giggled.

"I don't get all these relationship stuffs." Sakura said. "Doesn't it tire you sometimes? You know, when they get over protected?"

"I do. But I keep it to myself." Elsie smiled and turned to face her. "Because I know he cares. He loves me very very very much, so he doesn't want me to get hurt. Whenever I get tire, I think like that and I'm just glad that he's protecting me."

Sakura's eyes soften. Elsie was right, and Sakura knew it. Syaoran was just doing this because he loves her, so very much. She thought of all those time he was there for her; she hated the idea that Syaoran was getting hurt because of her, but it made her feel all warm inside when he did tried to protect her. He had always been there, like the breeze that circles the earth.

Though she understood, she didn't agree to his action. She could never tolerate the way Syaoran took charge of things. She had always felt useless when he did that. Confused and frustrated, she put her head into her arms and closed her eyes.

Just then she saw the image of the dream, it was clearer this time. It popped out of nowhere in her inner conscious. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked up sharply, scaring Elsie. Yes, the image was clear, the same old image that she had been dreaming for months. It was all the same sequence, all the same business.

Syaoran…

She saw it; he was being pulled away as if he was linked to some invisible threads. He was facing the light, and Sakura was behind him, so she could only see his shadow most of the time. But one thing was clear, he was wearing some sort of…hood?

As if she was struck by lighting, she felt a serge of uneasiness rushing threw her body, then automatically, she head turned to see the outer field. Soldiers were getting ready to leave, and the three boys were among them --------- Syaoran, Jon and Cordo.

Sakura's eyes widen as she caught sight of Syaoran; her worries grew.

He was wearing a hood.

"No…"

Elsie put her hand to Sakura's shoulder and asked. "What's the matter? You look bad…" Sakura mumbled, "The hood…" Elsie looked, and said. "Oh, the blanket? All the soldiers have to wear that. Because they're fighting in a mini desert, the sand is going to be bounced up as they walk and they need that to protect them from the sand. What…hey!" Sakura ran after the soldiers before Elsie got to finish.

Sakura ran with all she might. "No…no! Syaoran! Come back!"

Already, the army was leaving. They all jumped on their own chocobos and dashed off. Syaoran sat on one of the chocobos, remembering Chocy. He looked at the sky for a while, and then shook his head. With a loud cry, the chocobo ran off, close behind Cordo's chocobo. Jon followed both of them and was the last one to leave the camp. Sakura watched them dash off, and collapsed hopelessly on the ground. "Syaoran…come back…" Her tears dropped onto her shirt.

"COME BAAAAAAACCCCCCKKK!!"

The dream…

It was becoming a reality…

To be continued…