Tsubasa Chronicle Fan Fiction ❯ Many Different Paths ❯ On that cold, dark night ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle does not belong to me, and I make no money from this work of fanfiction at all.

A/N: An AU idea I had. Craziness expected.

The night was a cold one, though that could only be expected when you lived in the desert.

Sakura, princess of Clow country had been staring out at the desert ruins, when she saw a small flickering light headed that way.

“Syaoran,” she murmured, taking a bite of the apple she had been given that afternoon. He was out working late again, and… Well, maybe he would like a snack?

It had always been fun when she had gone to visit him in the ruins before- and she wanted to say those words, the words she had been too shy to say that afternoon.

Apple lodged firmly between her teeth, the princess was suddenly in a rush, pulling out a long desert robe and burnoose for warmth and heavy boots to protect her feet from the sand. While during the day her silk clothing was very appropriate for short exertions outside the palace, her brother would have her hide if she ruined another set by digging in the dirt.

She scowled as she hopped into the boots, lacing them up over her balloon pants. This resulted in a rather schizophrenic appearance, but she did not much care.

Syaoran would be so surprised to see her! She grinned, finally finishing the apple and discarding the core. Now for a snack to take him… he so rarely took good care of himself, honestly, what would the boy do without her…?

The kitchens were very used to her sneaking in at night- she was a growing girl, and the kitchen helpers often would leave out snacks for her.

Ah- ha!

Fruit and cheese and bread- perfect!

Quickly the girl bundled them up, hiding them under her cloak as she scurried out. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

The night was very cold, and Sakura shivered as she made her way through the ruins. As a child they had scared her, before the arrival of the two archaeologists. Syaoran and his father, Fujitaka, had shown her that instead of places filled with the spirits of the dead, it was a place filled with the ghosts of memories long gone, and the lives of people who had lived before.

It had become her playground, along with the palace. Yet the new excavations had shown new corridors, new places she had never been… and this one seemed truly haunted.

“Syaoran!” She called, holding up her lantern. He was being very hard to track down… and she wasn’t too thrilled about going down this corridor.

“Hime!”

About to give him a lecture on the proper use of her name- again- she strode across a symbol deeply carved into the floor.

“This symbol isn’t from this country,” Syaoran said, kneeling on top of it. “Yet somehow… it seems so familiar…”

Sakura blinked at her friend, whose face had gone oddly slack.

“Syaoran?” She attempted to go over to him- when light suddenly split the bizarre symbol in two. Still staring downwards, Syaoran began to float- and Sakura shrieked.

“SYAORAN!”

Her mind scrambled to find something that made sense- it didn’t. Yet her best friend- the boy she loved- was in danger, and she was hardly going to stand and do nothing, even if she did scream.

Her mind flashed through the building blueprints she had seen earlier that night, that the High Priest had shown her brother, and she took off running.

Here, a hall way. There, an excavation tunnel- her hands reached out to grab a rope used to take down supplies, and used it to slide her downwards. Her hands were burned raw when her feet came in contact with the rock face, and there was Syaoran, suspended in midair. Her breath caught, and her arms burned with the effort of holding on.

The pain was a mere distraction- her eyes were filled with the amazing sight of her friend sprouting wings of light. They surrounded him, making him look like an angel… and then they bore him backwards, into the symbol carved into the rock behind him.

“Syaoran, no!” He wouldn’t wake up, and not only that, the rock was pulling him in!

Her face contorting with effort, the princess rocked herself back and forth, swinging towards the boy and snatching him from the stone’s embrace.

They fell heavily- Sakura managed to take the fall with her feet, keeping her knees bent, clutching the unconscious boy to her.

She felt something strain, and nearly snap when she hit the ground- and the wings that had been holding Syaoran aloft had shattered when she’d tackled him. Looking up in horror, the tiny flecks of light- resembling feathers- whirled upwards and away.

This was bad.

Even worse was that Syaoran was still unconscious. He was pale and clammy to her hands as she found his pulse. At least he wasn’t dead. She had to get him help, as her mind went through all the teaching the High Priest had ever given her.

Shock, it had to be shock. She had to get him help- even if he was too big for her to move easily… Grunting, the princess managed to throw him over her shoulders, getting her legs under her and pushing up.

He was so heavy! Her ankles and back ached as she staggered upward to the exit. ~*~*~*~*~*~  

King Touya of Clow Country dodged the incoming blade, snarling. He had no idea where these invaders had come from- their fighting style and weapons were unknown to him, but they went down under his steel. It was all he could hope for until he found out more.

Somewhere his little sister was in these ruins- somewhere his High Priest was battling and watching his back. Movement flickered out of the corner of his eye, and he saw the unlikely form of the princess limp out, just in time for one of the black clad monsters to swing.

Over my fucking corpse!

Snarling he intercepted the fighter, slicing through metal and flesh.

“What are you doing here, Imouto?” he snarled. He could guess, but it burst out.

“I- Syaoran! He’s hurt!”

He couldn’t do much else, because there was yet another metal warrior to engage.

A flutter of movement in tan robes, and a winged staff- the High Priest Yukito was kneeling beside the princess.

“I’ve seen your memories,” Touya heard. He was attacked again, and he had to ignore them for another moment.

“His heart?”

Touya’s men were dying all around him.

“I have to save him, Yukito-san!” Sakura pleaded, voice broken. Touya’s heart constricted as he heard it. The time he had been dreading his whole life had finally arrived. He and Yukito had known for years that there would be a moment that would decide the princess’ fate- one that involved the boy, Syaoran. This was it.

He couldn’t keep her from that fate, no matter how much he wanted to protect her.

“Sakura,” he panted, kneeling next to them to catch his breath. “Don’t do anything stupid, all right?”

That was as much of a blessing as he could give. He could not stop her when she set her mind to something- he never had. He did not want her to leave like this; he wanted her safe. Yet no bird could stay in the nest forever.

He didn’t want to look at her as she left. Not that he could, there were still too many enemies for him to divide his attention. Yet having that excuse was nice- he had no desire to see his little sister leave with that boy.

He did not want his last vision of her to a sad one. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

Yukito had helped Sakura drag her friend into the deepest heart of the ruins, one safe place that could be bottlenecked by a single fighter.

Touya might die- if no one was there to save him. Sakura shuddered, and she could see the strain on Yukito’s face.

“I will send you to another universe, one where humans dwell. There is another there with the power of the moon. Go to the Witch of Dimensions. Tell her what happened, and that you want to save your friend.”

Sakura shuddered, cold sweat going down her skin at the thought of the unknown that awaited her. Then she looked down at the cold and lost face of Syaoran, and her heart steeled itself. For her Syaoran, she would find the strength.

The magic circle was involved, drawing itself out under their feet and there was a sense of stretch and tear, as the world seemed be rubbed raw under their feet. Darkness enveloped her, but she kept her gaze on Syaoran.

“Syaoran-kun…”

A/N: Yes, the obvious plot holes, the eye, all of it, will be explained. This is basically a “What If” idea, because I got sick of watching Sakura being Narcoleptic Beauty.