“Kero, if I stay, the Northern Army will overrun the Valley within a month,” she whispered in his ear, saying the words aloud for the first time, and letting her heart break along side them. She felt him tense under her fingers, but she held him still as she continued. “I need a favor from you, Kero. I need you to stay here with Syaoran and help him protect these people.”

Kero pulled away from her hands and looked at her with wide golden eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sakura laid her hand over his parted lips.

“Don’t make me turn it into an order, Kero. Please.”

“…I can help you, though.”

“You can be of more help here.”

Kero searched her face, and took a sudden step back as he recognized what was written in her expressive green eyes.

“You don’t mean to help him do you?” There was no question as to who he was. Sakura gave her friend a sad, watery smile.

“Never. Never, ever again.”

“He’ll kill Touya,” Kero said. Sakura shook her head.

“No he won’t, Touya’s proved to valuable a soldier.”

“Then he’ll kill you.”

“Perhaps…”

“Sakura…I won’t let you do this, you just…can’t give up like this.”

“You said that I am free to choose the chains that enslave me, Kero. I choose these. For the sake of this place,” she gestured to the Valley, “For the sake of those I love, all my suffering, all my life is worth it.”

“Don’t be so flippant about dying!” Kero hissed at her, angry.

Sakura laughed, “Flippant? I’m terrified, Kero. Scared out of my mind!” She closed her eyes and felt Syaoran’s solid presence on the fringes of her thoughts, drawing strength from him.

As if Kero knew, he said suddenly, “It’s the brat, isn’t it? You are unwilling to risk his life.”

“His, yours, Tomoyo’s, Eriol’s, Touya’s…all of you,” Sakura admitted softly.

Kero and Sakura stared at each other for several long moments.

“I still can’t let you go,” he said, tearing his eyes from hers, and looking at the ground. Sakura let out a sad, and broken sigh.

“Kero, as your mistress, I order you to remain with Li Syaoran, leader of the rebels of Basick Valley. You are to protect and guide him as you have done me. Help him in any way you can with whatever his goals are. You are not to tell him where I have gone before the sun sets on this day, do you understand?”

Kero gritted his teeth, but his very nature forced him to answer his mistress, “Yes, I understand.” He already could feel his magic pulling him in the brat’s direction, back to the village. Sakura reached out and rubbed his ears in just the way he liked. But the gesture was hollow, and held little comfort for him now.

“I love you, Kero. Never forget that, okay?”

Kero put aside his anger for a moment and leaned into her, trying to give her some measure of comfort. She leaned against him in return, and the two slung to each other as much as they could bear. Then it was over, and Sakura was pulling away, giving his fur one last ruffle. She was crying now, silent tears streaking down her cheeks. She turned slowly, facing the path that lead out of the Valley. She straightened her shoulders and drew in a deep breath of the bracing mountain air. Then, leaving her heart behind her, she went on her way.

And Kero, despite the insistent pull that her orders were causing him, sat down on the path and watched her go, until she had faded from his sight.

Northern Drume Mountains

4th of the 4th Moon Month

When Toya woke up his mind couldn't get past the unbelievable headache he was suffering from. So it was a few minutes before he began to process little details like the fact he was laid out in a cart that was bumping rather badly down the narrow path through the mountians that they had traversed earlier. He was also able to garner from his surroundings that it was still night out; for that he was thankful, he couldn't even imagine what sunlight would do to his head right now.

Once the particulars of his surroundings were acknowledged, his memory decided to put forth its most immdiate problems.

The biggest being the fact that his memory was back.

There were bits and pieces that were still fuzzy; gaps in which months of his childhood had disappeared. But that worry paled in comparison to the realization of excatly what had been going on these past five years.

A kind of anger, hot, fierce, and abosultely vicious welled up in him; at such an incrediable volume some dim part of his mind wondered that he didn't burn up from it. His hands curled into tight fists as he thought of the many, many, many ways to kill someone slowly. Strength born from that anger forced him to sit up in the cart and forced his tired, acheing body forward to hop out of the cart. In the few seconds it took he had already cobbled together a to-do list. The first point of order was defecting and going to find his sister in Basick Valley and make sure that she was safe. He was stopped not two steps from the cart by the sudden appearence of Yukito who gave him a frosty glare.

"Get back in that cart, Toya. Or so help me-"

"No time for that Yuki, I've got to get to Basick Valley."

"You've been unconcious for hours, Toya! You missed alot. We've been defeated, routed I'd say. The General is beside himself with anger."

"I'm not far behind myself," Toya muttered brushing past his friend to start back up the path; ignoring the looks that he got from the other soldiers that were wearily pushing in the opposite direction. Yuki followed him hotly.

"Are you insane?! I don't know what the Seer and her pet did to you or me, but it must have addled your brains!" Yuki grabbed Toya's shoulder and whirled him around so he could continue ranting to his face.

Toya looked around angrily at the other soldiers; before grabbing a handful of Yuki's robes and hauling him off the path and into the woods on the left side. Toya lead the way down the steep incline until it met with another incline to form a small rock filled valley. He checked the area carefully, and once assured that no one was within ear-shot he turned back to Yuki who waited somewhat impatiently.

"She's my sister," Toya said without preamble. Yuki grew still, knowing immdiately who he was talking about without have to ask for clarifacation.

"Y-Your...sister?" Toya nodded, and then continued his voice growing steadily more heated.

"Yes, my sister. My sister. I almost...ugh! It gets worse; Asagawa was the one that attacked the village I was living in five years ago. He's the one that hit me on the head which caused me to loose my memories in the first place! He...he...ordered the destruction of that village; the death of my mother and he...he had the gall to tell me I was his family! They've used me! All of them!"

"Who?" Yuki asked weakly.

"The High Lord!" Toya all but screamed out, "Don't you see? My sister was held prisoner by the High Lord! She'd never, never help that...that tyrant. Unless...unless she felt she didn't have a choice. Unless the High Lord told her that she had to help him with his campaings or he'd kill me. Don't you get it, Yuki!? I...I've been so...so blind!"

Toya stopped, his chest pumping like bellows, his face and neck flushed a deep red. Yukito knew that he had to approach his friend carefully; almost treating him as though he was a wild animal preparing to flee.

"Toya...I can't say that I fully understand the situation; but I can say that defecting right now won't help your sister or yourself."

"I cannot stay," Toya said sharply.

"I think you're going to have too. At least for now. If any of the officers catches us slipping away, I have no doubt they'll have us shot, that's what the mood is at the moment. And if we did manage to escape, where will we go? We would never make it to Basick Valley alive. There are bound to be scouts around and dressed as we are they'll shoot first and ask questions later," Yuki took a few steps forward and put both of his hands on Toya's shoulders making it so it was obvious if the Major was avoiding meeting Yuki's eyes.

It took a few moments before Toya managed to calm down enough to hold Yuki's solem light blue gaze.

"I can't stay, Yuki. I just...can't. This is the same army that routed Arcadia. This is the same army that...that..."

"Stop thinking that way, Toya. Just...stop."

Basick Valley, Northern Drume Mountains  

3rd of the 4th Moon Month  

Sakura and Syaoran didn't allow their unease to show on their faces as they stood at the head of the rebel ranks. But when faced with around four thousand strong marching steadily towards them; their footsteps making the air quake and thunder.  

"It'd be nice if an avalanche would just," Sakura angled her hand up in the air then slashed it downwards, "whoosh. No more army." 

Syaoran grunted, then looked up at the mountains that surrounded all of them on all sides save for the one in front. Each of the mountain peaks was capped with pristine white snow. "Don't tempt me," he muttered to her. Sakura couldn't help but laugh a little. Syaoran turned his attention to the exactly three hundred and twenty four men arranged behind him. 

"Hold, lads! Hold!" He called out, encouraging them as best he could.  

Both he and Sakura kept their ponies steady as they watched the oncoming forces. Sakura risked a glance skyward, wondering if she would see any hint of Tomoyo flying up there with Kero. She hoped not. If she could see them, then it was likely that the Army Mage could as well. The sunlight was coming in strong now; and Sakura couldn't see so much as a flicker.  

"Gods, I hope this works..." Sakura whispered to Syaoran. He gave her a hard glance. 

"Now isn't the time to be having second thoughts about your brilliant plan," he said shortly. Sakura waved his remarks off. 

"I'm not, it was the best of a whole bunch of bad ideas," she said matter of factly, "that doesn't mean that it doesn't come with its fair share of risks." 

"It's just like you said, we just need to get them to advance forward enough." 

"I think we can count on Catrine being an arrogant bastard. But the battalions are well-trained soldiers; they aren't goin to allow themselves to get into a serious bottleneck. There's a good chance that the rear cavalry will still be well out of catapult range." 

"Then we'll have to make sure they have reason to press in close, won't we?" Syaoran said. Sakura rolled her eyes.  

"Syaoran, you're talking about decimating that front infantry enough for them too call in the cavalry." 

"You told Ritan not to underestimate women when they had to protect their home and families. Well don't you underestimate my men when they are having to do the same." 

Sakura was quiet for a moment, the conceded the point. They stopped talking, realizing that despite their efforts there wasn't anything they could talk about that would take their minds off the oncoming warriors. They were still marching steadily; the signal for charge had not been given yet. But Syaoran could feel, beyond a doubt that it was coming soon.  

Next to him, Sakura sat up straight on her pony and took a deep breath. She felt it too. Syaoran reached behind him and drew his sword. Sakura pulled out her Sword Card, and quickly turned her wand into the long, straight form of her sword. Both Syaoran and Sakura turned their blades in their hands, loosening the tension in their hands and arms.  

The drums stopped.  

The soldiers stopped.  

All of the rebels stilled, holding their breath.  

A tension heavy moment of silence that weighed on the shoulders of everyone present, then the drums began again, a faster, louder pace. The Hummai soldiers gave a war cry and began to propel themselves forward. Syaoran raised his blade in the air, followed quickly by Sakura, and the rest of the men behind them. Then, as one, as one voice, one dream, one hope, they screamed out the timeless war cry of thousands past and thousands to come: 

"FREEDOM!!" 

She let her magic go, and with her mind's voice she screamed out to him: Syaoran! Help!

Sakura felt his attention snap to her. He wasn't far at all. He must have been on his way back crom helping that farmer. He reached out to her with his own magic, melding with hers, trying to make sense of her fear, her panic.

Rollo was already in a gallop, but once it became clear to him, what was happening, Syaorna urdged his pony to go faster. He wasn't far, he could make it. He could make it. Undescribable horror burst in his heart as the cliff came into sight over the tree line. He could see the villagers amassed on top, the sound of their angry shouts and screams reaching him. He ignored them. Pushed away the painful aches they caused him. He focused on the feeling of Sakura, touching the thin connection left over from the dealing with her wand. Syaoran used it to try and reassure the young woman, who in turn could only manage to focus her mind on him.

Rollo burst from the tree line, skidding to a halt before the mess of rocks. Syaoran vaulted from the saddle onto one of the rocks, his hand going for his sword.

The crowd reached its fever pitch, Sakura felt the rise of the push that would send her to her death roll forward through the mob, gaining speed and feriocity as it went. By the time it reached the cliff edge where Cal something stood, it wasn't just his hands that tossed her form off, it was the sheer force of all their hate, all their pain, all their loss, all their absolute loathing.

Sakura fell without a scream.

Syaoran was sleeping. It was one of the few times Sakura knew that his face was unguarded, that he was unguarded. She reached out with a shaking hand and traced a finger tip down his cheek, the same course that the tears were tracing down her own. 

There was no out for her. No escape from this path she now walked. It lead to only one end, one that she was terrified of. 

Sakura tired to memorize every detail of him. Every strong line of his face, every curve of his hands, his shoulders. She tried to memorize the excat shade of his hair, the tanned tone of his skin. She wanted to drink him in, and carry him with her until she met her end. Because he would be her strength. Because he was always so strong. She never understood how he was able to fight so hard, so much until this moment. Because the alternative is unthinkable. 

With trembling, fumbling fingers, Sakura drew out her cards. She'd already made sure her circle was secure, sealing all magic inside. Then, slowly, so she could say goodbye to each, Sakura tore in half each of her precious cards. One by one, they fluttered useless to the floor; their magic broken. More tears came, fat rolling ones that clogged her throat, making it hard to breathe. She saved Windy for last. Kissing the image of the beautiful woman before ripping it down the center. It echoed so loudly, it was a wonder that it didn't wake Syaoran up. 

When her cards were nothing more than a pile of colorful paper at her knees, Sakura stood. She took her necklace from around her neck and set it down on top of the pile. Taking as deep a breath as she could manage, she raised her booted foot, and before she could think about what she was doing too much, she slammed her foot down, shattering her wand. The broken magic burst out, hit the wall she'd erected then bounced back, slamming painfully into her lithe body. Sakura bore it, covering her mouth so she wouldn't cry out. The punishment was deserved. 

She broke her circle by smudging the chalk lines with her foot. And on shaky feet she picked up her cloak and slung it around her shoulders. She left the hood down, then knelt by Syaoran's pallet side again. She touched his face again, accidently stirring him from his deep sleep. Sakura froze as his glazed over amber eyes opened and stared at her fuzzily. He had a fever from his wounds, and was obviously hovering on the brink of falling asleep once more. 

"Shhhh, it's alright, Syaoran. Just go back to sleep, it'll all be fine in the end, I promise..." She whispered, resting her palm on his cheek, her thumb brushing back and forth across the skin there. He sighed and settled down again. Sakura choked back a sob, leaning forward so her lips barely touched his. His eyes opened at the touch, staring at her in an unfocused confused manner. 

"I'll miss you the most," She whispered, her voice breaking at the end. Before he could respond, she leaned back, and touched her forefinger to his forehead, letting a drop of power sink into his already tired mind. It was a little trick Eriol taught her over the winter, something he learned in order to help pacients sleep. She could tell Syaoran was fighting it, but eventually the spell took hold and his eyelids drooped. Sakura watched, trying to take those last seconds to ingrain the color of his eyes in her mind.

He fell back asleep, and Sakura knew she couldn't put off the inevtivable any longer. She rose, pulled her hood up, and left the Valley she'd come to call home.

Unwilling to look back. 

Sakura rolled her shoulders, trying to loosen up the tight muscles that had protested her's and Syaoran's morning workout. She tucked her cards into a pocket of her cloak and her key back under her shirt. She glanced over her shoulder where Syaoran was doing the same, tucking his amulet under his tunic and grabbing his cloak down from a tree.

"Your form was good today, but I noticed you were holding back on your speed..." He commented, tugging his cloak into place about his broad shoulders.

"I know. I was trying to work on accuracy. I figure when I have the strokes down, I can speed them up," Sakura answered. Enjoying a few more moments of disguise free time. She raised her arms over her head and stretched, rising up onto the balls of her feet and leaning back a little. She had worked up quite a sweat this morning, and even though it was still very cold in the Northern Mountians, she had shed every layer save her shirt, which rode up a ways as she stretched. She came back down, and looked over at Syaoran, who was staring at her with a strange look on his face. She tilted her head to the side, and considered him. He suddenly shook himself like a dog coming out of water and returned to the present.

"Come on, Eriol has promised my help to one of the farmers."

Syaoran turned and lead the way out of the forest, leaving Sakura scrambling to grab her cloak and hurry after him. She knew better to ask what was bothering him now. She'd learned after several months that if you gave the rebel warrior some time to brood he was much more open to talking afterwards. Trying to get an answer out of him immdiately was a friutless and frustrating endevor.

Said rebel warrior wasn't a hundred percent what it was that bothered him so much. He knew that Sakura was a woman. It was just...when she was wearing that cloak all the time, it was easy to remember her as the slip of a tweleve year old. Not as the young woman she clearly was. And that moment, when she had stretched, rising up on to her toes, it had crashed hom excatly how...beautiful Sakura was. Syaoran glanced over his shoulder, watching for a second as Sakura shrugged her heavy cloak into place about her shoulders and pulled her hood up. He turned to face the path again, fighting the urdge to...to...blush!

She was beautiful, Syaoran admitted to himself very, very quietly. Her lithe form which wasn't skinny or skrawny, but lean. Her hair, while considered a haircut disaster that Tomoyo embarked on, Syaoran thought suited her rather well. It was cut short, like the first time they met, but Tomoyo had trimmed the bangs that framed her face to be shorter. It was a little uneven in places, but overall, Syaoran rather liked her with short hair. And of course, there were her eyes. Those bright green eyes that she had to be careful to hide. They were the excat shade of spring green that was slowly beginning to crop in a few places about the valley. And those few times that Sakura lowered her hood in his presence, he found that his own eyes were drawn more and more to hers. It was getting to the point that he was grateful that most of the time she wore that cloak, he was having trouble concentrating!

Yuki watched his long time friend sleep. For the first time in weeks, his sleep was untrobled. Toya's face was slack, his entire demenor relaxed. Yuki smiled softly and carefully brushed the hair from his closed eyes. 

On an impluse that Yuki didn't have the strength to deny, the pale young mage bent over and brushed his lips against those of his friend. 

That small, bare touch told Yuki all he ever needed to know.

He was forever lost to this man in every way possible. 

Yuki climbed into his own bed, pulling the sheets up over his body he rolled onto his side and faced Toya's bed. Yuki fell asleep with his smile still on his face.

Summers had lost his voice days ago. He had screamed and yelled for hours, not stopping. Even when the guards, tired of his racket, had come in a beaten him; he still begged them to bring Ivy back. Because she hadn't returned.

She hadn't returned.

Summers awoke from a light and painful doze. He had made himself quite the annoyance to the guards, as a result he'd been beaten, whiped and starved. But he couldn't bring himself to stop. Not when he knew that Ivy suffered worse at the hands of that bastard.

He jerked at his chains for what felt like the billionth time. His wrists were rubbed raw. He coughed weakly, knowing better than most that his health was failing him, and that his body would be shortly behind. The dungeon would save the King the trouble of actually having to hang him. He reached back and gingerly touched the whip marks on his back, wincing as he felt the tender swelling there.

With slow and careful movements, he sat up from his position laying on his side on the filfty straw. He dragged his chains, making as much noise as he could. He checked the area outside his bars, and saw that one of the guards had brought him his daily bread and water. Summers reached through the bars and picked up both, not minding that his dirty hands smeared dirt on the stale bread. The metal cup held barely a mouthful of water, but Summers took it greedily. He then turned to his bread, breaking it in half, to save some for later. But thoughts of later were abruptly shoved away, when his eyes caught the glint of something metal in his bread. Unsteady hands carefully pulled out a long skeleton key from the crumbling bread.

Summers held the key in his hands, staring at it uncomprehendingly. It wasn't possible...was it? He dropped the bread and cradled the key, testing it in his fingers, making sure it wasn't a flimsy delisison his dehydrated mind was having.

It was real.

Someone with connections in the kitchen had somehow managed to bake a skeleton key into a loaf of bread and made sure that loaf was slotted for the dungeons. Summers clenched the key in his fist, and quickly squashed the urdge to leap up and run helter skelter out of his cell. If he was going to utilize the key to its fullest extent, he was going to need a plan.

Because, he wasn't leaving the castle until he knew where Ivy was.

Summers very carefully slipped the key inbetween two loose bricks of his cell wall, in the dark it was impossible to tell there was anything there at all. Then, shaking a little, Summers returned to his meger meal, chewing the bread very slowly, hoping that his stomach wouldn't rebel.

Meanwhile, his mind was working quickly, planning, rejecting ideas, and setting up a rough plan. He knew that the night guards were younger and much more...sympatetic to his plight than the older day guards. In fact, he'd managed to get one of the night guards to find out where Ivy was, he was supposed to tell him what'd he'd found out tonight. Summers sat down, and settled himself in for a long wait. It was going to be a very long day.

What seemed eons later, he heard the sound of the guard changing, and the young guard that he'd asked his favor of came into delieve her evening cup of water. This one was full almost to the brim. The guard carefully passed the cup through the bars then leaned into whisper.

"Hey, the Lady Ivy is under house arrest in her rooms up on the fourth floor."

"Fourth floor? Ivy's rooms are on the fifth! The fourth floor is for dignitaries!" Summers hissed cradleing his cup of water. The guard shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, this is just what I found out from the kitchen crew. They said they've been delievering meals for Ivy Fraizer to the fouth floor rooms."

Summers imdiately back tracked, "Yes, thank you for finding this out for me, I appreciate it."

The guard waved off his thanks, "Meh, s'alright mate. You may be a traitor to king and country but you're still a man, and a man worries after his lady friends."

The guard left, meandering back up the hall to the guard room behind the heavy oak door. Summers sat down and slowly drank his water, savoring each slide of the lukewarm liquid down his dry throat. 

So, Ivy had spent the past ten days in hell with The Bastard, as Summers had come to think of him. He didn't have any time to waste, he had to escape as soon as possible. 

Summers had learned the habits of the guards a long time ago. Guard One, McCaine, who was the one that found out about Ivy for him, liked to flit with the maids on the evening kitchen shift. He was the one that went down to the kithchens around midnight every night to get him and Guard Two, Quinn, their 'lunch'. And that Quinn, who never really took to the nocturnal scene, had a habit of drifting off when his partner, the loud imposing presence that he was, wasn't around. 

Great, Summers thought, settling down again, more waiting.

This weekend was fun. Loved Greek Fest, even the drive to and from Clemson was enjoyable. The heat wasn't however.

anyways, I don't have anything to write today, I posted chapter 18 of FGMS on ff.net. And I'm feeling rather impacient for some books that are due out to come out. Like, The Far Sweet Thing, the next book by G. Nix, Fire Study, the next Harry Dresden novel, Breaking Dawn, The Crow, The Singing, and a bunch others. *sigh*

T.T 

"This...is bad." That was all Summers could think to say at their perdicament. And it was bad. Both Ivy and Summers were currently imprisioned in the depths of the King's dungeon awaiting trail. They had been dumped in cells that next to each other, so communicating was out of the question.

"A disaster is more like it. What now?" Ivy asked, drawing her legs up underneathe her making the chains that were attatched to her ankels rattle.

"I don't know. I don't think we can run a coup from the dungeons. Maybe someone will pick up our plans."

"But no one knows that the plans are all shams." Ivy pointed out. Summers sighed.

"The General must have pressured the King to arrest us. we all thought the High Lord wouldn't care enough to involve himself in Vasan affairs." The young counciler leaned his head against the damp wall of his cell.

"We underestimated him. He likes control, we should have realized that." Ivy said morosely. Summers agreed, they had underestimated the High Lord, and the General for that matter.

It had been the sixth meeting that they arranged with other members of like mind at the green houses. So far, about a fourth of the court was participating in the meetings, throwing ideas and plans around. They hadn't made alot of progress, but it turned out that Lord Bomar and Mr. Landon's help was invaulable. Both of them were great thinkers and strategists; not to mention, both were rich, and agreed to help fund the entire operation. The previous meeting, was the one that they brought a few carefully selected members of the military into the fold. They were good friends with Landon and Bomar, and had immdiately joined the effort, promising that their men would follow them against the King.

Ivy and Summers arrived early to the green houses, like always, to talk before everyone else arrived. It had been then that the King's elite guard found and arrested them for treason. The only blessing they could count, was that everyone else hadn't been present, and thus hadn't been arrested. But Summers suspected the King had something to do with that.

It was only mid-day by Summers's calculations, and they had been arrested just a short while after dawn. The trial wouldn't be for a couple more days, and whatever punishment they earned a few more days after that. Summers heard Ivy let out a long sigh.

"You alright?" He asked

"Yes, just thinking about what the gossip around the castle is by now. Perfectly scandlous no doubt." She remarked dryly. Summers chuckled, and then laid down on the dirty straw, his back was beginning to hurt. He stretched out on his stomach, his chin resting on his crossed arms, looking out through his bars at the dimly lit hall.

"Summers?" Came Ivy's tenative voice.

"Yes?"

"Will we be hung you think?"

Summers dragged himself forward a little, so that his nose brushed the bars. He stuck his hand out through them and then to the right. The wall between them wasn't thick, so he knew she'd be able to see his hand. He suddenly felt her warm fingers sliding into his own, and he squeezed them. She squeezed back.

"There's a good chance, yea. If the coup falls apart, the King'll have no choice. He can either order us to be hung, or he could wait until Hummai takes over, in which case I imagine the High Lord will have us hung, drawn and quartered."

Summers felt Ivy shudder. He squeezed her hand again.

"Well if that's the case...Summers, there's something I really need to tell you..." Her voice drifted off, and Summers tensed.

"What?"

"I-" Ivy was interrupted by the sound dungeon door being shoved open. Ivy and Summers broke their joined hands and retreated a ways into their cells. Metal jingled as a guard came into Summers's view and walked past his cell to Ivy's.

"Someone to see you, lass." The guard rumbled, unlocking her cell and walking into unlock her chains from the wall. "On your feet." Ivy rose, her chains, no longer attatched to the wall, dragging in the dirt and straw on the filthy floor. The guard lead the way out of her cell and back into the hall. Summers had pushed his head against the narrow bars trying to see. Ivy gave him a weak smile as she passed.

But when she turned her head to look down the hall, through the door and into the guard room, she stopped, and all traces of smiles dropped from her face. The General from Hummai was standing in the doorway, a large smirk on his face. Summers watched as the color drained from his friend's face, and her hands began to shake. He had never see her so scared.

"Ivy?"

"What are you doing, lass. Move it." The guard growled, coming back to her to grab a hand full of her chains and tug her forward. Ivy wouldn't move, instead she turned and grabbed Summers's bars. Summers was taken aback.

"Ivy-? What's wrong? Who's-"

"Hey! Don't make me drag you, lassie! You won't enjoy it!" The guard yelled, yanking on Ivy's chains making her jerk back. She pulled herself back to Summers's bars. She reached through and grabbed his face and pulled him forward to her. Summers was to stunned to fight back so he let her. She slipped one hand back behind his head, fisting in the hair at his nape, and then she pressed her lips to his in a clumsy kiss.

He had only seconds to realize what was going on, and only a split second to respond, before Ivy was torn away. The guard had come up behind her, grabbed her torso and pulled. She held on to his bars tightly as the guard yanked repeatedly. She managed however, to draw close enough to Summers again to whisper something to him.

"I love you."

The guard finally succeeded in ripping her away from the bars. She fought back.

"Let me go, let me go! Take me back to my cell please! Please!" She begged, but the guard pushed forward, shoving the flaling girl down the hall. Summers still didn't know what was happening. But his mind was beginning to catch up, whatever it was, it was bad enough for Ivy to make that confession.

"Come, come, my pretty little bird. There's no need for that. I just wanted us to have a nice talk about your lovely tattoo. I'd like to know all I can about it..." Summers heard that unmistakable voice purr. The door slammed at the end of the hall, and Summers could only hear the muffled protests of his dearest friend. The full knowledge of what was going on crashed onto Summers like a wave. He suddenly gripped his bars, making his hands whiten.

"Ivy!!"

Melin found him excatly where she knew he would be. Syaoran for all his mysteries, was a creature of habit when upset or angry. The young woman pushed the doors to the stables open and breathed in the familiar smell of hay and horses. The sound of soft wickering, and the occasional shift of strong forms filled the thick, humid air. She padded down the main walk way, heading for the stall at the end of the row; where she could see Rollo's head over the wall of his stall. Syaoran was stretched out infront of the stall, sitting on several bales of hay, his arms crossed over his chest, his face fixed in a deep frown. 

Melin knew better than to ask first, she just took a seat next to him, and folded her fidgiting hands in her lap. 

"Everyone's in an uproar you know," she opened with, knowing that trying to be subtle wasn't going to help her any. Syaoran didn't react. "They are all feeling...betrayed I guess. Eriol's trying to get them to calm down enough to listen to reason. It'll take a while."

The young woman leaned around Syaoran, taking a look behind him. She looked around some more, knowing that Syaoran had hidden the Seer somewhere where he could protect and keep an eye on her.

"She here?" Melin asked. 

"She's sleeping, she's had a rough day," he answered gruffly, not looking at her. Melin accepted that, realizing that he wasn't going to tell her where the Seer was. To him, Melin was another of the villagers. He had no way of knowing if she felt the same as the villagers about the Seer being here or not. 

"I'm not going to hurt her, or anything. I wasn't one of the ones that dragged her up that cliff," Melin said acidly, insulted that Syaoran didn't trust her. Syaoran finally looked at her, but the look in his eyes was anything but kind. 

"No? Did you do anything to help her, either?"

Melin's mahogany eyes narrowed, "That's not fair, Syaoran. What was I supposed to do against that mob? Get myself killed along with her? I'm appaled at what they attempted, but I don't owe that woman anything, Syaoran Li. Excuse me if I didn't lay down my life for her," she bit out viciously, "I did the only thing I could, I went looking for you. You just found her first."

Syaoran looked away, giving a glance to the loft above them; one that, Melin shrewdly noticed, was missing its ladder. She smiled, so that's where he stastshed her.

"I have a duty to protect her, Melin. I ask that you not make that harder than it already is," he asked, his face still turned away from her. His voice was tired, exhausted, and just...not Syaoran.

"I have no intention to do so. But I would like to know what she's done to earn that protection," Melin said simply, swinging her legs, and kicking the bale of hay under her.

"Do you remember Nadeshiko Kinomoto? The healer woman that came to our village six months or so before we were attacked?"

Melin thought about it, considering what she considered the be the last months of her childhood.

"Sure. She's the one that came and pretty much saved the village from that coughing sickness, right?"

"Yes, now then, do you remember her children?"

"...you mean...the Seer?" Melin said weakly. Her mind worked quickly, recalling, remembering, and...recognizing.