Chapter 21
~~~~~

The sun shone into a hotel window and on to a wounded child's face. The wounded child, Syaoran, was sleeping peacefully. Lying beside him was Sakura, with the top part of her leaning on the bed while her legs rested on the floor. At the corner laid Jon and Chocy, leaning on each other and snoring loudly. All three had fallen asleep the night before while trying to take care of Syaoran. The birds chirped and sang, waking the wounded child. He blinked sleepily, and moaned as he put his hand on his wound. He tried to get up, and woke Sakura with his movement. Sakura helped him once she was waked enough to. "Syaoran! You're awake." Syaoran, still groaning, didn't respond her.

"Syaoran! I was so worried! I thought I'd lose you forever!" Sakura started to sob in his chest. Syaoran emotionlessly stared at her. Sakura looked up to him, and asked nervously. "Are you okay? Do you feel fine?"

Syaoran blinked a few times, and held Sakura's cheek with his right hand. He smiled warmly, "How can I not be fine when I'm in front of such a gorgeous lady?"

Sakura froze, and blinked. "Hoe?"

"Tears don't suit your lovely face. Please, do stop crying." Syaoran wiped her tears with his finger. Sakura blinked again, and stared with disbelieve. "Syaoran...are you okay? Why are you acting like this?" Syaoran smoothed her hair, and replied. "Any man would act awkward in front of you with your charm." Sakura backed up, and gave a little scream. "Ahh!!"

Jon and Chocy bounced up at the same time. "What? What is it?" Sakura turned to them, and pointed to Syaoran with tears in her eyes. "Syaoran woke up and now he's acting all weird!"

"What~?" They both made a face.

"It's true!" Sakura kept pointing. "He's...he's like a lover boy or something!" Syaoran looked at Sakura with dreamy eyes, and commented. "What ever do you mean, angel?" Sakura blinked again, and turned back to Jon and Chocy. "See?"

"Hm...so he is, that's weird..." Jon put his hand to his chin and looked thoughtfully a Syaoran, who still had a smile on his face and eyes fixed on Sakura. "Of course it's weird!" Sakura yelled.

"Maybe it's like a sleeping beauty thing, he'll fall in love with who ever he sees first when he wakes up." Jon joked. Sakura and Chocy fell down on the floor. Sakura got up, and argued. "Jon, he was hit on the head, he didn't eat a poison apple." Jon turned to her and corrected, "No, you're thinking of snow white. Sleeping beauty is the one that got cursed, and..."

"It doesn't matter! What matters is that we need to take him to a psychiatrist right away!" Sakura shouted. Jon just looked at her. "A psychiatrist? What for? He's more lovable than ever; you should like him. He's always calling you pretty; why don't you like that?"

"Jon! That's not it!" Sakura yelled and blushed at the same time. Then came a knock on the door. "Room service." A female voice called. Sakura turned around, and answered. "Um...yes. Coming." She went to open the door. A Gauliodian girl came in with a cart of food. "Here's the breakfast." She said. Sakura looked at her, and said curiously. "We didn't order any, though." The girl smiled, and said. "Ms. Polia told me to give it to you. She already included it in her bill."

"Oh..." Sakura said. "In that case. Thank her for me."

All of the sudden, a hand reached out, and held the Gauliodian girl's hand gently. "It must cost you a lot of trouble bringing all these food up to us.
Especially for someone as beautiful and delicate like you." Syaoran said with his hand holding hers. "Here's my thank to you. Consider it a tiny tip." He kissed her hand. The girl retreated a little, blushing. "Oh...thank you. That was...such a lovely tip." She smiled at Syaoran. Syaoran replied. "Not nearly as lovely as you." The girl giggled, and got out of the room.

Sakura, Jon and Chocy were still staring at Syaoran after the girl left. They couldn't believe their eyes. Syaoran turned around, and noticed the frozen crowd. He wave, and asked. "Breakfast, anyone?"

~~~~~

"We're going right this instant!" Sakura said as she pulled Syaoran out of the room, and towards the main exit of the hotel. Syaoran waved to the lady at the counter with a smile. Sakura just pulled harder. Syaoran was forced to go with a jerk. Sakura shouted to Jon who was using the phone book. "Done yet?" Jon stopped flipping and looked up. "So he's more of a pervert than a lover boy that talks love only to you, but still...do you have to do this?"

"Jon! I don't have time for this!"

"Alright! Anyway, I've found three psychiatrist in this area." Jon said. Sakura disentangled Syaoran's arm and ran to meet Jon. "Good, we'll pick one and head to him or her right away!"

"Okay." Jon said, pointing at the names. "This one's just around the corner, it'll be quick." Sakura nodded, "Good, the sooner we get this done, the better." Jon dropped the book, and began to dial at the public phone. "Okay, great. Um...let's see."

After a few seconds conversation, Jon apologized and hung up. "No, he's no good." Sakura exclaimed. "What? Why?"

"He retired last year. Man, this book needs an update."

Sakura waved urgently. "We don't care! Let's just move on." Jon's finger traced the name, and said. "Okay, this one then. Dr. Philips." He read his ad with a whole lot of "blahs", and concluded. "Okay, can't do him. He cost a fortune."

Sakura wined. "JON~!" Jon held up his hand defensively. "Okay! Okay! Hold your horses. I guess that leaves us the last one."

"Who's the last one?" Sakura asked. Hoping this one isn't dead or something. Jon read out. "Dr. Charter. He might be good. His price seems reasonable, and his clinic is not too far away."

"Great! Make an appointment, and we'll go! Syaoran, you'll have to..." Sakura turned around to see nothing but air at the spot Syaoran used to be. "Oh no!"

Syaoran was flirting with a delivery girl who was delivering milk to the hotel. "I'll give you a hand on that." He said as he unloaded the last box from her back. She thanked him. He smiled back, and said. "No need to thanks, it is a gentleman's duty to help such a lovely lady anyway."

The delivery girl blushed. "Oh, what a nice young gentleman you are, then." She turned and was about to flop her wings and leave the hotel. "I'll have to go, see you." Syaoran held her hand and stopped her. "You're not planning to fly all the way back, are you? That's a torture for someone as delicate as you." The delivery girl blinked, and a sweat drop rolled down her head. "Um...I guess..." She scratched her face with her free hand. Syaoran pointed to the flying device, and offered. "Why don't I give you a lift?"

Meanwhile, Sakura was still looking around. Jon pointed to the main door, and shouted. "Look! There he is!" Sakura turned to see. Jon was right; there was Syaoran, helping a Gauliodian girl into their flying device. "Syaoran! No!" Sakura shouted. Before Sakura's voice could reach into Syaoran's ears, he lifted off with the girl.

Jon sighed. "Man, is there anything in his mind beside that girls?" Sakura yelled at him. "Don't just stand there! We have to go get him!!" They rushed towards the main door, and looked up to see Syaoran taking off, chatting with that girl. Sakura had no time to be jealous right now. She would have ran after him but there's nothing blow for another forty feet since the buildings were dangling in the air. She looked around to find another flying device, but saw none. "Jon!" She shouted. Jon turned and ran. "Yeah! I'm on it! I'm on it!"

"I can't believe this!" She headed back into the hotel. "I am trying to help him here, and he ran off with a girl!"

"Yes, Sakura. Calm down." Jon said, looking back at her from the counter. He just asked some for a flying device, and now the employer was scrambling through files for the arrangement. She tapped him on the shoulder for the result. As Jon turned his attention back to her, she reported. "We are out right now, so you'll have to wait for the next one to come back. I'm so sorry." Sakura collapsed on the ground and exclaimed. "Oh, great. What did I do to deserve this?" Jon patted her on the shoulder. "It's not your fault. Look, we'll wait for the next one."

"Syaoran can be on the moon by then!" Sakura yelled sarcastically.

"Well, there's nothing we can do." Jon said, turning towards her. "All we can do is stay put now."

~~~~~

Syaoran waved the delivery girl good-bye as she flew off into the company she works at. Just as Syaoran turned, and was about to head off back to the hotel, he heard sirens of police cars. He turned to see three Galiodian police officers riding high-tech flying devices that looked like spaceships from a sci-fi movie. The sirens were placed on each reflection mirror. It made bright blue and red blinks as they chased a speeder that was riding on another high-tech flying device.

Syaoran's eyes glowed, for the rider was a beautiful young woman. Her flying device looked more like a motorcycle. Shezigzagged threw the crowds on the street, and made some sharp turns. Her short hair waved in the air as she increased her speed. The most noticeable thing about her was that she didn't have any wings. She was not a Gauliodian.

Syaoran looked closely. He had decided to help the lovely stranger, and flew off to her direction with the flying device.

He followed her and the police crew behind her and came to a construction site. The area was filled with sand and logs, piled up at a side. Syaoran zoomed ahead of the police, and planned to knock down the logs with his device to stop the cops.

He timed, and headed towards the log pile in full speed. Just as it was going to hit the logs, he jumped off the device, and landed at the back seat of the beautiful speeder. Syaoran's flying device made a loud bang, and knocked down the piles of logs. "What the...?" The speeder turned to see a handsome young man on her back seat. He smiled to her, and said. "I believe you're home free."

The lady blinked, "Huh?" That was when she realized piles and piles of logs were hitting the cops behind her. She grinned in delight. "How'd that happen?"

Syaoran put a finger to his mouth and winked. "Ask questions later. Now let's get out of here before back ups arrive."

The lady smiled, she didn't know what happened or who was this young stranger, but one thing was certain: she likes him already.

~~~~~

It took a while before Sakura and Jon finally got a flying device. They drove it around town to look for the site of Syaoran. Sakura looked at Jon. "Did you make the appointment anyway?"

Jon kept looking. "Yeah, I thought we'd find Syaoran and still have time to get to that appointment. But by the way things are going, I don't see much chance of making it."

Sakura wined. "Well, cancel it then!" Jon looked at her, and shook his head. "Nah, it'll be okay. The psychiatrist wasn't in anyway. I left a message, though. He probably won't be home for our appointment either."

"But it'll still be more polite if we tell him."

"Alright, fine. We can tell him while we're on our way to find Syaoran." Jon looked up again. His saw something, and pointed. "Look."

Sakura followed his gaze. A whole bunch of policemen was surrounding a construction site. Sakura and Jon flew closer to see what was going on. A Gauliodian officer stopped them. "This area is off-limit. Please leave at once." Sakura moved aside and took a closer look. Logs were all over the place. Some officers were holding their head moaning, nothing serious, though. Sakura gasped as she saw Syaoran's flying device on top of the logs. It was crashed badly, and was placed in an angle. She pointed and cried out. "That's Syaoran's!" Jon looked to see that she was right.

The policeman suddenly changed attitude and asked. "You know the owner of this aircraft?"

Jon swallowed. His theft instinct told him that this meant trouble. He asked. "Why'd you asked?"

"The owner of this aircraft interfered with one of our high-speed chases, injured a few of our men, made a mess in this construction site, and worst of all, helped the high-speeder escape." The officer said with a flat tone.

Jon and Sakura froze, and Jon said nervously. "You know what? Now that we look at it more closely, it doesn't look like his..."

"Um...yeah...not his..."

Jon spoke fast. "Anyway, thank you for your time, and we hope you catch that...that...person soon. Bye now!" Jon pushed the button on the flying device and they were off.

Jon sighed as they got to a save distance. "Phew, that was a close one..." Sakura nodded in union. She looked up, and wondered. "How did Syaoran ever get into that much trouble?" Jon stuck up a finger, and said. "There's only one possible explanation." Sakura looked up to him, waiting for him to explain. He went on. "The high-speeder is a girl, and a darn beautiful one, too."

Sakura sighed, and said. "Yeah, that must be it. Anyway, we still have to go and cancel that appointment."

Jon turned the flying device around. "No problem, his clinic should be around here some where."

~~~~~

The out-law took Syaoran home, and invited him in. "What do you want? Tea? Hot cocoa?"

"How about the honor of knowing your name?" Syaoran smiled as he walked into her small but cozy apartment, another one of the houses dangling miles above.

The lady smiled, and said. "The name is Milliana Charter. What's yours, premature kiddo?" Syaoran smiled, and said. "You can call me Romeo if you want to." Milliana laughed. "Okay, seriously now. What's your name?" Syaoran shook his head, and answered. "I don't remember."

Milliana look puzzled. "What? How can you not remember?" Syaoran replied with another smile. "I forgot. As a matter of fact, I don't remember anything. My most ancient memories only go back to the time I woke up from a bed today." Milliana almost drop dead on the floor. "What? That means you had a memory lost. I've never seen people who lost their memories and still act so calm. Usually they'd feel helpless and lonely."

"How can I be lonely, now that I'm with you?" Syaoran said. Milliana ran her hand threw her hair, and sighed. "Oy...seriously, I can't imagine someone who lost their memories to act like you. So you don't even remember your name?" Syaoran thought hard, and said. "Oh! There's this girl that I woke up beside while I was sleeping in the hotel room, she calls me Syaoran."

Milliana stared at him. "You woke up next to a girl in a hotel room?"

"Huh?"

"You probably got drunk, that's why you didn't remember a thing..." She murmured quietly. "Anyway, we'll assume Syaoran's your name." She headed to the living room to check her machine. She pressed the button, and turned around as the mechanical voice of her machine gave out instructions. She said to Syaoran. "Well, maybe I can give you some check up. I'm kinda in this field..."

The machine beeped, and said in a mechanical voice. "You have two new messages." The machine beeped again, and out came Jon's voice. "Um...am I on? Oh, yeah, um...this is...this is Jon. Um...ah...I'd like to make an appointment, at...um...let's see, what time is it?" After a moment, his voice came back. "Oh, four. I mean..." The machine beeped, and went dead. After a few seconds, the machine beeped again, and his voice came back on. "Hi, um, sorry, machine cut me off. Ah...I'd like to make an appointment at five, yeah. Thanks." Once again, the machine beeped, and said in a mechanical voice. "End of messages."

Milliana sighed, and said. "What a geek." Syaoran was trying to concentrate. He heard that voice somewhere before, but where?

"Are you listening?" Milliana asked. Syaoran snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh, sorry."

She sighed, and repeated. "I said, I'll give you a therapy right now, just get on the chair, and..." Just then, her doorbell rang. Milliana sighed and went to get it, Syaoran followed. She kept talking as she open the door. "As I was saying, I think I can bring your memory back..."

"Syaoran!" A voice yelled from the door, Milliana and Syaoran turned to see a girl and a young man standing at the door. Sakura repeated. "Syaoran!" Jon looked at Milliana and said. "Doctor Charter?"

Syaoran saw Sakura and exclaimed. "Angel!" Milliana's face remained flat, and said to Jon. "Geek."

~~~~~

After the unexpected union, the group gathered in the living room for tea as Sakura examined Syaoran's wound. "Do you feel fine?" she asked with a caring voice. Syaoran took her hand, and replied. "More than fine, now that I'm with you." A sweat drop rolled down her head, and she sat down beside him; that was normal enough.

Jon was blabbing to the doctor. "So that was what happened, and I hope that you can help him." Milliana was getting bored, she wave her hand, and sipped her tea. "Okay, calm down. I already know that, you've only mentioned it three times. I was going to help him anyway. Can't you give it a rest?"

"I was simply trying to provide you with as much information as possible." Jon said, sitting across from her.

"Whatever. I can handle this, all right? Man, you really are a geek."

"Don't say that! God, I don't know how you get your diploma at the first place! Anyone with a high education degree can see that I'm so much higher than a geek!"

To prove his stupidity, Milliana played the tape again: "Um...am I on?"

Jon blushed, and jumped forward to press the stop button. "And stop doing that!"

"Can you please," Sakura begged. "Please, give Syaoran his therapy now? I want him to get well as soon as possible."

Milliana looked into the young girl's eyes. She was touched. [The little girl must be worried sick when he was with me.] Milliana thought. She closed her eyes, and said with a smile. "Alright. I'll do it."

Sakura gave a faint grin.

~~~~~

Syaoran lied on a long, soft chair that was almost completely flat. His head slightly titled up. Sakura sat on a stool beside him, smiling at him once in a while to make sure he wouldn't get nervous. Jon was at a far corner, Milliana wanted to make sure he wouldn't get in the way. Milliana sat on a chair. She told Syaoran to take a few deep breaths, and calm down. She began to ask him questions. Unfortunately, Syaoran never really answer her with out complimenting on her beauty and her charm. She shook her head. This wasn't working.

"Maybe if I hit him on the head again, he'll come to it." She joked. "A baseball bat might do the job."

"Try a hockey stick." Jon suggested, obviously bored almost to death.

"No!" Sakura shouted. Milliana giggled. "We were only kidding. But to tell you the truth, we're going nowhere."

Sakura looked disappointed. She wasn't ready to give up just yet. "Can we do it again later?"

Milliana looked at the desperate girl, and nodded. "Okay. First, let's have dinner." Jon got up from the chair and offered. "I'm gonna help!" Milliana made a face as she got into the kitchen with Jon, "Okay, but I really don't trust a geek can cook with out burning himself once or twice." Jon grumbled. "Hey!"

Sakura looked at the two of them, and smiled to herself. She turned her attention back to Syaoran, who was still lying there. She took his hand, and said gently. "Syaoran..." Syaoran sat up and face her. His face filled with curiosity. Sakura went on. "Why don't you and I go out to the balcony while they are preparing dinner?"

Syaoran took both of her hands; his eyes glowed. "I'll go anywhere with you." Sakura sighed as a sweat drop rolled down her face. [I should've figured...]

They stepped out into the starlight. Sakura leaned her head on the handles, and looked peacefully at the stars. She sighed, and then she felt a blanket covering her shoulder. She turned, and saw Syaoran, tugging the blankets into her collar. "Wouldn't want a lovely lady like you to catch a cold now, would we?" Sakura's eyes glittered. She nodded, and thanked him. She knew something wouldn't change; even Syaoran had lost his memories, he was still as gentle as ever.

Sakura tighten her grip on the blanket, and swallowed hard. "Syaoran...?" Syaoran smiled and answered. "Yes?"

"You know...this is all my fault. You are like this because of me." Sakura couldn't face him. She felt so guilty. "I was the one to blame. If only I came with you and Jon to fight that phoenix. If only...if only I've told you sooner..."

Syaoran took her hand, and brought it close to him. "Don't blame yourself. Even though I can't remember, I'm sure I did this without any regret."

Sakura looked at him, and said tearfully as she began. "You don't understand, I...Syaoran, there's something I need to tell you. Something I should've told you a long time ago. Something I swore to myself last night that I must...do it."

"What is it?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura's heart was beating faster than ever. She dried her tears, and looked up. Taking a deep breath, she confessed. "I love you."

Syaoran was surprised by the words. A soft breeze blew by, and her silky hair covered half of her face as she lowered her hand, too embarrasses to see his reaction.

Finally, she looked up, longing for the respond. Her heart wouldn't slow down. Blood gather around her head, she couldn't think. They stared at each other for a while. Then Syaoran opened his mouth. "I..."

Sakura waited. Syaoran seemed to be acting kind of awkward. "I...I mean..." He hesitated. Then continued. "Don't I know this already?"

Sakura stared. She couldn't believe this was her respond. She had prepare for "I love you, too." Or "Sorry, I'm seeing someone else." But certainly not "I knew it already." She shook her head, and looked straight into his eyes. "No, I just told you!"

"Oh." Syaoran said. "It's just that I thought it was kind of obvious. I mean, the way we've been...interacting."

"What do you mean?" Sakura said, raising her voice.

"I mean, anyone can tell. Are you sure I had absolutely no idea about this before I lost my memories?"

"I certainly hope not!" Sakura yelled, blushing furiously. [Oh my god!] She thought to herself. [What if he's right? What if he did know all these time?] She covered her head in her hands. "This isn't fair! It was supposed to be a romantic love confession. Oh, I'm ruined!"

Syaoran giggled, and put her into his arms. "Okay, now. Don't over react." His laughter filled her ears. She cooled down and rest in his chest. He continued. "By what you told me, I think I was a pretty slow person, and I don't think I knew yet. Anyway, thank you for the love confession. It was romantic alright." He pulled her out, and looked straight into her eyes with passion. "You know what? I'm very sure that my answer would be 'I love you, too'. With or without my memories."

Sakura blushed. Syaoran drew her into his arms again. She snuggled, and said. "I bet you say that to every girl." Syaoran laughed, and soothed her back. "Only to you, my love. Only to you."

Just as the lovers were tangled in each other's arms, they heard the siren of police hovercrafts. They looked up to see smoke coming out of some building up ahead. What shocked them the most was not the fire, but a giant bird that breaths fire. "What the..." Syaoran said.

Moments later, Jon rushed out of the balcony, and scream. "Man! I thought that bird is back to normal! I hate it! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Milliana came out of the balcony, too. She saw the bird, and said. "What do you mean, back to normal?"

"We turned your stupid guardian phoenix back to normal, and now it's at it again!" Jon pointed and said. Milliana narrowed her eyes, and looked. She shook her head. "No, that's not our guardian phoenix." Jon exclaimed. "What? Then what is that??" She looked, and said. "I don't know...I've never seen it before..."

At the direction of the fire, an illusion appeared; it became a young man with white hair. It was a magnified image of a missioner. He spoke. "Legendary heroes, I know you're here. Don't hide yourselves. If you don't want me to turn this town into flames of fire, you better follow the firebird and head to its nest." The illusion disappeared as he finished.

Sakura and Syaoran watched in fear as the big firebird flew above them. Milliana was right. It was not the phoenix. It flew to the direction of the nest and flopped out of sight.

"We'd have to get there!" Sakura yelled. Syaoran held her hand. "What for? He asked for the legendary heroes!" Sakura looked back, and yelled. "Don't you get it, Syaoran? We're the legendary heroes!!" Syaoran made a face, and exclaimed. "Oy...I definitely don't remember getting myself into this..."

"You're the...what?" Milliana looked at them, shocked. Sakura turned to her, and begged. "I'm sorry for hiding this from you, but you'll have to take us to the nest!"

Milliana gazed at her. She saw a new side in the little lover. Milliana closed her eyes, and smiled. "Alright. Get into my flying motorcycle. I'll catch up to the bird in no time. After all, I do have the town's fastest flying device."

"Thanks!" Sakura was grateful to her agreement. Jon stepped up, and said. "I'm coming, too!" Milliana held up a finger, and said. "No, it can hold up to three people only. You can fly with your flying device." Jon wined, but they'd already rushed out to get on the flying motorcycle.

~~~~~

Like Milliana said, she did have the fastest flying device in town. With in ten seconds, they've already lost sight of Jon, who fell way behind on his flying device he and Sakura came with. Milliana's driving skill was unbelievable. She zoomed by people that was only an inch away from them, and can still stay calm as if they were on a freeway with no cars.

In no more than five minutes, they were out of the urban area and were zooming in the forest. They saw the bird up ahead; it flew over a high mountain peek and settled on the top. The mountain looked like an inactive volcano. The birds settled there as a person flew up with a flying device strapped to his back and pats it on the head. He turned, and saw the company. Sakura recognized him right away. He was the person in the illusion.

"Well," He said. "You made it. But why are there three of you?"

"I'm just their driver." Milliana said. She stared at him. He had eyes as cold as ice; she didn't like him one bit.

Sakura took out her fly card, released her key, and commended. "Fly!" The wings spread behind her back and she flopped toward the missioner. Syaoran reached out, and cried. "What about me?" Sakura turned around, and said determinedly. "You stay here with Dr. Charter."

Syaoran struggled. "No, you can't go alone!"

Sakura smiled, and nodded. "I'll be fine. I promise." She flew off. Syaoran yelled. "Sakura!!"

The missioner gazed at his enemy and cracked a laugh out of pity. "I can't believe you're just a little girl. I don't know how you ever mange to come this far."

"Quiet!" Sakura said. "Now, answer my question: how'd you know we're in Gauliodo?"

"I'm the one who planted the bracelet on the phoenix's tail. When I saw it turn back to normal, I know you people are still around here somewhere. Humph, I knew that phoenix is no good. Compare to my specimens, it's just another defenseless pigeon. The specimens I breed are far more dangerous and tough."

"Breed?" Sakura asked in shock.

"That's right. I breed specimens, then I send them off to different parts of the world to have you killed."

"That means...the whale in Sand Village, the beast we saw in the Lost Wood...they were all specimens bred by you?"

"Right. I am Elixan, the only beast breeder in the missioner's clan. I bred the beasts, fed them, and trained them to be vicious killing machines. I see that you've already killed most of my work, but not this time. The firebird I've prepared specially for you is a one and only ultimate beast that is immortal. Today shall be the end of you!" Elixan pointed to Sakura, and the firebird charged towards her. It was fast, too fast. Sakura managed to get away; she flew to her left. The gust created by the firebird as it whooshed by her blew Sakura away. She halted to a stop, and see the bird was prepared to make another attack. She took her card out, and cast. "Shoot!" Bullets came flying out of her card. They bounced off the bird like water droplets. The firebird opened its mouth, and was about to hit her when she held her staff to her face and prepared for a direct hit.

Syaoran shouted loudly. "SAKURA, NO!"

Boom!

The sound of impact echoed in the air. Sakura still had her staff to her face; she felt no pain. Slowly, she opened her eyes. At first, she just saw shiny feathers; but as her eyes started to adjust, she saw a gigantic bird in front of her. It took her hit.

"The phoenix!" Milliana exclaimed. The majestic bird shone in the air like a god. It squealed at the firebird, and the firebird squealed back. Within moments, they were battling each other. To the eyes of others, they only see two beams that circled the sky. Elixan was amazed. He shouted, "Come on, my specimen! You can defeat the silly pigeon! You are the strong one!"

Sakura took out her freeze card, and yelled. "You don't have time to cheer for your team. Freeze!" The card attacked him, but he managed to dodge. "Don't you worry," He said, "I didn't forget about you!" His flying device on his back accelerate, he took out a knife, and swung. Sakura called on the Shield card, and it protected her. Elixan kept banging the magic shield with his knife. "Come on, why are you hiding?"

"I've had enough!" Syaoran said as he jumped off the flying motorcycle on the air above Sakura and Elixan. Milliana shouted. "Syaoran! Are you crazy?"

Syaoran landed on Elixan's back. He took Elixan's hand, and managed to hold him back for a while. Sakura gasped. "Syaoran! No!" Syaoran wrapped his free arm around Elixan's neck. "What kind of monster are you? Using a knife to fight an honorable lady!" Elixan choked a little. "Ha! Don't make me laugh." He took Syaoran's shirt, and pulled him down. Syaoran managed to grabbed on to Elixan's arm before he let go. Elixan fought hard to lose him. "Let me go, you imbecile!" They snapped apart as he pulled hard. Syaoran fell straight down. Milliana managed to come around and caught him on her motorcycle. Syaoran landed hard on the seat. "Ow!" he moaned. "That hurt!" Milliana heard him, and joked, "You would've hurt a lot more if you made it all the way to the bottom."

Syaoran thanked her. "Well, thanks for breaking my fall. Now can we go back up to him? I'm not through with him, yet."

Milliana laughed. "Don't be silly, what if you jump off again?"

"If you don't want me to jump off, then drive this thing as I command, so I can take him on while riding."

She flew up. "Fine, you're the boss."

Elixan was just straightening himself up as Syaoran gave him a sucker punch from behind. Syaoran whistle, "That felt good! Circle around, Milliana, I want to do it again!" Milliana laughed. "Come on, no one gets sucker punch twice in a roll. They're too smart for another round."

Elixan flew back a little because of the punch. That was when Sakura saw his tattoo. "Syaoran! The side of his face that's covered by his hair! Hit him there! That's his weakness." She avoided using the word "tattoo", knowing that Syaoran wouldn't remember what that had to do with the missioner.

Syaoran and Milliana got the cue, and charged towards Elixan. Elixan gathered an energy ball, "Why you...I wouldn't let you live..." Sakura saw it and warned. "Syaoran! He's going to use magic!"

Milliana accelerated. Elixan finished gathering energy; he aimed for Syaoran's head as Syaoran came up to him directly. Syaoran tilted to his right, and the energy ball grazed by his left ear as he punched Elixan on the face with his fist. He hit him right on the spot, and Elixan vanished in the air. Sakura came to gather his soul; this battle was over.

But the battle on the other side was still going on. The phoenix and the firebird were still holding up. They'd decided to finish it quick. Both of them gathered heat in their mouth, and were going to use their fire attack. The firebird finished first, and blasted fire. The phoenix avoided it with no problem. It gave off its blast, too. The firebird burnt in flame, and disappeared as its soul flew off to Sakura's crystal.

The phoenix turned around, and looked at Sakura and Syaoran thankfully. It gave out a beam of light. The light gathered and became a shiny crystal; it landed in Sakura's opening palm as the bird flew off. Sakura looked at the crystal with surprise. "This is..."

"It's the Crystal of Wind." Milliana said. Sakura turned around, Milliana continued. "The legend says that one of our phoenix's roll was to assist the legendary heroes in their journey, and by that it must grant them the Crystal of Wind, a magical stone that is protected by our guardian phoenix. The stone is bound to assist you in your journey."

"It's just like the one we received in Sami city. Syaoran, look..." She stopped, and gasped. "Syaoran! You're bleeding."

Syaoran touched the part of his head the energy ball gazed by. He didn't notice it, but his hand was soaked with blood right away. "Oh...you're right. The energy ball must have got me after all..." He didn't finish his sentence. He passed out, and the two girls screamed. "Syaoran!!"

They lied him down on the firebird's nest on the top of the volcano. It was filled with straws the firebird collected, so it was soft, and provided a bed for the wounded child. "Syaoran!" Sakura shook him; Milliana stopped her. "It's okay. It just grazed by his head. He'll be fine." She took out a handkerchief and began to dry his blood. Moments later, he came to. "Sakura...?"

Sakura sighed. Relieved, she hugged him. "Oh, Syaoran. You scared me!" He looked dual. "What happened...? Where's the phoenix?"

Sakura let go of him, and smiled. "It's okay. It flew away, that's all."

"Jon..." He said. "What about Jon? He was there with me!"

The two girl looked puzzle. "Jon? What are you talking about?"

"Jon, he and I went to find the phoenix and we tried to take off its bracelet! What happened to him?"

Sakura looked at him with amazement. "Syaoran...does that mean..." Milliana continued for her. "You regained your memories?"

"What on earth are you talking about?" Syaoran said. "And who are you?" He looked at Milliana. Sakura looked at him and said. "You must've forgot all the things that happened when you lost your memories. Oh, Syaoran!" She hugged him again. "I'm so glad that you're back to normal!"

"Wha...what?" He looked confused. Then again, there's no reason why he shouldn't be. He just regained his memories, and forgot the events that had happened during his memory lost. Milliana shook her head. "It doesn't matter. The thing is that you're safe."

Sakura nodded. "She's right. Let's go home." They got up and were about to go when a sound came out from the corner.

"Chirp."

The trios looked around. At a dark corner of the nest, they could see movements. They walked closer to get a better look Then they heard it again. "Chirp, chirp."

"Aw..." Sakura said. At the corner of the nest lied three infant birds about the size of an adult fist. They all have big shiny eyes, and what's worst - a tattoo on their tummy. Sakura and Millana gasped. Milliana swallowed. "It must be that firebird's babies."

Sakura walked closer. They all look so innocent, so helpless. She bend down and picked one of them up. "What do we do?"

Syaoran suggested. "Bring them back, of course, they'll die here!"

Milliana argued. "I'd say leave them here. If they don't die, they'll grow up to be like that vicious firebird!"

"But..." Sakura looked at the three creatures. They chirped quietly, longing for their mother. What they didn't know was that she would never return to them again.

To be continued...

Author's note:

Thank you all very much for supporting "The Legend of Ometin"! I am very touched by you people's enthusiasm towards this fanfic! I promise to work harder on it!
On another topic, some of you are writing to give me ideas for the story. What I have to say is that I appreciate your support, but by law, it is illegal for any authors to use ideas given by their fans. So writing in to give me ideas would only make it so that I can't use those ideas even if I thought of the same thing myself. Therefore please don't try to give me ideas for my story!

Thanks again for reading! See you next time! ^(oo)^