Chapter 22
~~~~~

The air was cool and moist; Syaoran's eyelids twitched a little as he slept. [Who...are you?] He saw a figure in front of him, a figure with long hair and wide shoulders. He reached out, and touched Syaoran's face. Syaoran tried to resist, but had no strength to do so. The figure smoothed Syaoran's hair, he whispered.

"Soon..."

Syaoran moaned; his eyes opened slowly. His vision adjusted, and saw an angel in front of him. "Sakura..." He said lazily. She smiled. "You're awake." He sat up, and realized that he had fallen asleep on her lap. He blushed. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to doze off." Sakura smiled again, "It's okay. Does you wound still hurt?"

He reached back and touched it. "A little." He responded. Sakura looked worried. "Do you think it's time to change your bandage again?"

He shook his head. "No, it's fine." Sakura frowned, and sat back a little. He went on. "Really, I am." She leaned towards him, and observed. She gave a satisfying smile, and nodded. "Okay, but don't stress yourself."

Syaoran felt kind of guilty. Ever since he was hurt by the phoenix, Sakura had been very protective. She treated him like a little child; she'd even feed him if he let her. He looked around; they were around small hills with tall grass at the side of the road. Chocy was still sleeping not too far away from them. Beside him slept three little infant firebirds that Sakura and Syaoran decided to keep while they were back in Gauliodo.

After they decided to keep the birds, they left Milliana and Jon and headed off to the hot air balloon rental. But the time they got their, it was already fixed; so they took the hot air balloon, and continued their journey. Sakura didn't mention a word about her confession after they left. She had thought about her confession before, and was afraid to do it again. She was not going to be ready until sometime later. Besides, the thought that Syaoran knew about her feelings really scared her. She wasn't going to make a fool out of herself twice.

At the same time, Chocy was waking up from his nap. He yawned and stretched, waking the little birds beside him. He looked at the little birds, and the little birds looked back at him. He raised a brow at them. They chirped. He got up; they got up. He walked; they walked. [Okay,] Chocy thought. [This is getting annoying.]

Sakura walked towards them with an "aw". She giggled. "They like you, Chocy. They probably think you're their dad." Chocy was kind of disgusted by the idea. He stared at the adorable little creatures; to him, they were just annoying little pests that followed him around.

Syaoran joined them. "Come to think of it, these little fellows still need their names." He knelt down, and one of the birds jumped up to his lap. He patted the infant's head. Sakura said delightedly. "That's right! Let's pick some names for them! Something cute...something that suits them."

Syaoran put his finger to his chin and studied the little creature. "Let's see..." He said. "The only way we can even tell them apart is by the colour of the feather on their head. So let's start there." Sakura turned around, and agreed. "Good idea!" She looked back at the birds, and observed. "Let's see...this one's feather is blue, so let's call you...hm...blue starts with a B, so how about Bi Bi?"

"And I'm guessing the green one's going to be named Gi Gi?" Syaoran fooled around with the baby firebird. The infant chirped with delight. Sakura smiled, "Yup! And the last one is the red on...but Ri Ri don't sound nice at all..."

Syaoran put the bird with red feather on his lap, "I know, George."

Sakura eyed him. "Bi Bi, Gi Gi and George?" Syaoran looked up, and asked. "What's wrong with that?" A sweat drop rolled down Sakura's head, "Where one earth did you get that name?" Syaoran scratched his head, and smiled. "Don't know; it just popped up." Sakura fell down.

She got up and picked the little one from his lap. "Be serious!" Syaoran laughed, he nodded. "Alright, alright. Hm...you know that colour is really more of a maroon..." Sakura looked at him with satisfaction. "Mi Mi! That's perfect! Oh, Syaoran, you're so smart!" She stood up, and lifted the little bird high. "Bi Bi, Gi Gi and Mi Mi...this is so great!" The little bird chirped and cheered.

~~~~~

They traveled for another mile or so, and encountered a stream. Sakura thought that this is the perfect place to wash Syaoran's wound. Although Syaoran protested a little, he gave in, and let her wash his head like a baby.

Meanwhile. Chocy found a place behind the bushes, and started to look into the backpack. [I know it's in here somewhere...] He shoved and searched. At last, he found a little nut in the corner of the backpack. [Here it is!] He thought. [It's my favorite nut that I saved ever since last week! This is the perfect time to enjoy it!] He licked his beak, and opened his mouth to get ready to eat and swallow.

At the same time, Mi Mi hopped behind the bushes, and saw Chocy's beak, wide open, getting ready to eat a delicious looking thing that he's holding with its wings. Mi Mi chirped happily, and jumped to grab the nut out of Chocy's wings. Chocy bit, and missed. He looked up, and saw Mi Mi, Bi Bi and Gi Gi, all pecking his favorite nut into pieces, and swallowing them one by one.

Chocy shrieked. He dove for the last crump of the nut, but Gi Gi swallowed it, and all three bounced away as Chocy landed on the rock hard ground headfirst. The three birds chirped to their delight, and began hopping away. Chocy got up with fury. As he determined to seek revenge, he chased the little birds out of the bushes, slashing his wings madly on his way. He froze when he got out of the bushes, for there stood Sakura and Syaoran with the birds in their hands, looking at him madly.

"How dare you Chocy?" Sakura said. "How can you pick on the little ones?"

Chocy flopped its wings wildly while trying to explain in chocobo language, but they just won't understand. "Wark~! Wark~!"

Syaoran put up his index finger. "Oh no, Chocy. You're the big boy here, you're suppose to take care of the little ones, not try to kill them." Sakura nodded and agreed. "That's right."

Chocy cracked like a stone. [It was all their fault,] he thought, [not mine...how can they be so harsh on me~?]

Sakura patted Bi Bi on the head. "Are you okay? Poor thing...you must be scared..." Sakura smoothed its feather gently. Chocy glared, and a vein popped up on his head. Syaoran rocked Mi Mi and Gi Gi in his arms, and started to walk away. "Okay...let's go eat so Chocy won't scare you guys anymore." Another vein popped up on Chocy's head. He glared hard, thinking. [I have no problem believing they're the devil's children...]

~~~~~

Sakura and Syaoran fed the little birds as they sat near the river. Thinking the birds definitely don't need feeding, since they stole his food, Chocy stomped far enough to keep his ears out of the little bird's annoying chirpings and took a nap under a tree. Sakura turned around, and saw him grumbled as he slept. She tilted her head, and pulled on Syaoran's shirt. "Syaoran, do you think Chocy's been acting weird?"

Syaoran nodded. Mi Mi was not satisfied with the spoon that stopped putting food into her mouth, and it pecked on the spoon with its little beak. Syaoran went on, looking at Chocy and ignoring the little protest Mi Mi was putting up with. "I don't know; he's like mad at the birds or something. He's usually very lovable." Sakura turned to face Syaoran. "He's been like this since we got the little birds."

Syaoran rose an eyebrow, and thought. He made a conclusion. "Is he jealous?" Sakura looked at Chocy, and put a finger to her chin. "Could be. We've been ignoring him, trying to take care of the birds."

Chocy groan drowsily. Sakura tilted her head, and wondered. "Hoe..."

~~~~~

[No...Sakura...Syaoran...don't leave me...] Chocy ran in darkness, black holes surrounded him. He kept running, but he could never reach Sakura and Syaoran. They were so close, yet so far. They were drifting, farther and farther away from him. He tripped, and stopped. [No...don't leave me...]

A familiar sound rang his ears. He looked up, and saw a detestable image. Sakura and Syaoran were playing with Bi Bi, Mi Mi, and Gi Gi. They were giggling happily. Sakura fooled around with them and said. "He he...you guys are so cute." Syaoran laughed and agreed. "Yeah, much cuter than Chocy." Sakura continued, "True, he doesn't do much either than sleep and eat. You guys are much better pets than he is."

Chocy's heart crush, he gave out a loud squeal. [NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...]

Thump! Thump!

Chocy's eyes flashed open. [Phew...it was just a dream...] As he sighed, he looked up to see what woke him. To his surprise, it was Jon with a big bad of stuffs; he just rolled off the hill and landed on Chocy. "Oh, hey Chocy. Thank you for breaking my fall." Chocy turned his head away, and made an annoyed sound. Thinking, [Just get the heck off of me first.]

"What the heck are you doing?" Sakura said as she came to Jon with Syaoran by her side. Jon stood up, and dusted his shirt. "Oh, I just happened to pass by." Syaoran went ahead and examined his bag. "You were stealing again, weren't you? I bet you were being chased, and slipped down the hill." Jon forced a laugh. "Why, whatever made you say that." He played dumb as a sweat drop rolled down his head.

They all sat down as Chocy continued his nap under the shady area. Sakura kept on playing with the birds; Syaoran and Jon leaned against a tree and talked. They were far enough from Sakura so she couldn't hear what they were saying. Jon sat down, putting his hand to his chin, and eyed Chocy. "What's wrong with that dude?" Syaoran scratched his head, and answered. "Jealous. At least that's what we think. It's whether that or it's mating season." Jon's hand slipped, and his chin hit his chest. He looked up, and said exaggeratedly. "What?" Syaoran waved his hand. "Forget about the mate thing, it's definitely jealousy."

Jon kept his eyes on him. "Jealous of who?" Syaoran pointed to Sakura and the birds. Jon stared at them; he looked back at Syaoran. "Sakura's beauty?" Syaoran slowly raise his fist without expression, and smacked Jon on the head. "The birds." Jon rubbed his head, and looked back at Sakura's direction. "Oh, he's jealous of their beauty." Syaoran smacked again. "No, he's jealous because he thinks we're ignoring him. He thinks we care about the birds more than him."

Jon sighed. "Ah...that can be tricky. Remember when you lost your memories and hit on girls. Sakura must have felt the same way." Syaoran looked and Jon, and asked. "Huh?" Jon looked up, and said. "Oh, that's right, you don't remember." He turned, and waved. "Never mind. It'd be good if you remember the balcony part, though. Hehehe..." He laughed to himself.

"The balcony...?" Syaoran thought, and yelled. "Oh god, no! Jon, you were there!?"

"Oops." Jon covered his mouth. He smiled, and tried to back up. "Well, you don't really expect me to miss it, come on, do you really think I can make dinner when I said I'd help out with Milliana? By the way, it was her idea mostly."

"Oh, no! She was there too?" He grabbed on to Jon's collar and started shaking. "Jon! How could you spy on us like that? I'm going to kill you!!"

"Hey...hey take it easy..." He smiled. Then his smile vanished. He looked at Syaoran seriously, and asked. "Hey...wait a minute, I thought you don't remember."

"Well..." Syaoran blushed and let go of his collar. "I didn't. But after a good night of sleep, it all started to come back to me. Dr. Charter, the fight with Elixan..."

"Hitting on girls, getting in trouble with the police." Jon continued for him. Syaoran blushed, and eyed him madly. "Yes, Jon. Those, too."

"But the most important thing is..." Jon looked at him, and swallowed. "You remember her confession, don't you?" Syaoran sighed, blushed, and nodded. "I...I don't know how to tell her. She once said she's scared of the thought that I know already. And I do know. This is not good..."

"Oh come on~!" Jon slapped his back. "Aren't you happy that she loves you back? Show a little spirit!"

"Well, I am! It's just...I don't know what to do."

"You can wait till she tells you again and pretend nothing happened."

"I'm not sure I can hold that long. She might suspect something. Man oh man is she going to be mad when she finds out I remembered." Syaoran rubbed his forehead.

"Or, there's another way to solve this."

Syaoran turned to face Jon, and paid extra attention. "What?" he asked. Jon went on. "You can always confess your love to her first." Syaoran fell back, and started to blush. "WHAT~!?" Jon put his elbow on Syaoran's shoulder and leaned on him. "It's only fair. She told you once already, now it's your turn." Syaoran said defensively. "Jon, we're not playing tag." Jon held up his index finger. "Hey, she's a girl, and she already got the courage to do it. You're a guy, by the rule, you should've told her first."

"But...but..." Syaoran couldn't think. Deep in, he knew Jon was right. Jon put his hands on his shoulder. "No buts. Now are you a coward or are you a lover boy?" Syaoran screamed. "I'm neither!" Jon fanned his hand. "Okay, bad impression. But you get the point."

"What are you two talking about?" Sakura appeared behind Syaoran; Syaoran jumped, and looked back. "How long have you been here?" He asked nervously. Sakura tilted her head, and answered. "Since 'I'm neither'." Syaoran sighed. [Good, then she didn't hear much.] Sakura smiled brightly, and said. "You guys were talking so lively, that I've decided to join."

Jon stretched and pretended to yawn. "Oh, my, look at the time. It's time for my nap! Let's all take a nap under this nice weather." He said hastily, obviously not doing a very good job of trying to change the subject.

Despite Jon's bad acting, Sakura fell for it. She yawned herself, and agreed. "Yeah...you're right...I'm kind of tired myself. Let's all take a nap under the shade." Jon snapped his finger, and said loudly. "Great idea!" Seconds later, someone yelled from the direction of the mountain. "Have they seen the thief yet?" Another voice answered. "No, he must be down there some where!" Immediately, Jon grabbed his bag, and fled. "You know what? On second thought, I gotta run. I'll see you later!" He left a puff of smoke on the path he ran by. Sakura and Syaoran stared, and Sakura put her hands to her waist. "That Jon...always stealing."

~~~~~

Ten minutes later, all of them were asleep with the exception of the birds that chirped quietly among themselves. Once again, Chocy snapped out of a nightmare. [No~! Not my nuts! Don't leave me, nuts!] He jumped up, and breathed hard. He wiped the sweat off of his face. [Phew...just a dream.] He turned, and saw the three birds chirping quietly under the sunlight. Chocy eyed them, got up, and walked closer.

He poked them with his wings. [Little jerks. I don't see why Sakura and Syaoran like you anyway. You are little devils that don't deserve to have good owners. It's all because of you that my nut is gone. It's all because of you that Sakura and Syaoran yelled at me.] The more he thought about it, the madder he became. Then all of the sudden, an idea hit him. He smiled wickedly as if he was the devil himself. He eyed the three birds, and eyed Sakura and Syaoran, sleeping tiredly under the shade.

He acted fast. First, he found a bowl in Sakura's backpack. Then he put the three birds into the bowl. Lastly, he carried them to the river's edge, and put them down. He took one last look at them, and showed a cricket smile. [Bye-bye, little devils. I hope I'll never see you again.] He straightened up, and looked from side to side to make sure no one was looking before he whistled, and kicked the bowl into the river. [Oopsy daisy...]

He started to walk away from them. Then he paused when he heard them chirped. He hesitated, and looked back slowly. The birds were being washed down the current on the bowl in a very fast speed. Chocy turned away; he didn't want to care, but as he walked another step, he couldn't help but look at the little birds. His eyes popped out as he saw what awaited them up ahead.

Around twenty meters ahead of the little innocent creatures were a waterfall; it roared in the quiet valley. If they birds went on, they would experience a four stories drop. Chocy jumped and ran furiously towards them as he yelled like crazy. [Ah~! I wanted to get rid of them, not to kill them!! No, come back~!!] "Wark wark~!!!"

Sakura and Syaoran woke up to Chocy's cries. They rubbed their eyes and asked. "What's going on...?" Then their eyes popped out when they witnessed what was happening: Chocy chasing the little ones as they were being washed down the river, heading towards a waterfall. "Ahh~~!!! Chocy!! The birds!!" They both jumped up, and ran towards them.

Chocy was inches away from them. He caught up, and reached out. Unfortunately, he tripped, and fell hard on the ground. Sakura and Syaoran jumped over him, and ran ahead. "Gi Gi! Mi Mi! Bi Bi!"

It was too late, the bowl flew out as the river came to an end and a twelve-meter drop awaited them. Syaoran took one final shot, and leaped to try and catch them. But to his surprise, the bowl was caught by a branch that stretched out on a near by tree. It wiggled a little as the bowl sat on it steadily. Syaoran missed, and went straight for the fall. Sakura yelled. "Ahh! Syaoran!" She tried to hold him back, but wasn't strong enough. Both of them ended up going for a dive. "AAAAAHHHHH!!"

Splash~!

At the same time, Chocy had recovered from the fall. He ran, and saw the birds, sitting on a branch around two feet away from the waterfall. Chocy swallowed, and jumped on the stepping-stone. He reached up as high as he could, but he was still a few inches short. He tipped his toes, and stretched out as far as he could. [Just...a little more...] His wings caught the bowl, and it landed safely in his hands. [Got it!] But that wasn't the end of the job. His feet slipped, and fell down the river. He held the bowl above his head, making sure the little ones wouldn't drown as he struggled. There was no escape. They fell down the waterfall, and made another splash.

~~~~~

The splashing noise woke something up at the bottom of the river. Its eyes glowed like pearls as they snapped open. It swam upwards.

Who...who is disturbing my sleep? The creature swam to look for its prey.

~~~~~

Meanwhile, Syaoran rose to the surface of the water and took a big breath. He looked around, and realized he was in a cave behind the waterfall. He started yelling. "Sakura! Sakura!" He splashed around, looking for the trace of her. Then something rose to the surface to the left of him. It was Sakura, gasping for air. "Syao...Syaoran! Help! My foot..." She sank again. Syaoran dove for her. Under the water, he caught her arms and he pulled her up with all his strength. Once again, they appeared on the water surface. Sakura coughed hard. "Syaoran...my foot is paralyzed."

"It's okay." Syaoran said, "Just hold on to me. We'll swim to the inner side of the cave where the water is shallower." He put her arms around his shoulder, made sure she was hanging on tight, and began to swim more into the cave.

With a minute of struggling, they were now at the part of the cave where the water only went up to their knees. Syaoran sat Sakura in his arms, and began to smooth her back as she coughed. A minute later, she stopped coughing. "I'm sorry..." She apologized. Syaoran looked at her, and asked. "For what?"

Sakura avoided eye contacts. "I'm always in the way. I was trying to save you, but it ended up as you saving me instead. I'm so stupid." Syaoran shook his head. "You're not stupid, don't say that." Sakura went on, ignoring his compliment. "No...all I do is screw up. I never do anything right, like the time we had an argument, and you went off to fight the phoenix yourself. It's all because of me. I can't do anything, I can't even tell you how I feel properly." She lowered her head.

That stabbed Syaoran's heart like a knife. If only he could tell her sooner that he knew, she wouldn't feel this way now. Sakura blushed, and then looked up. "Syaoran, I..."

Before she could finish, Syaoran interrupted her; he held her tight, and pressed her face onto his shoulder. "It's okay!" He said. Then he softened, and whispered. "It's okay..."

Sakura blushed furiously, didn't know what to do for a second. "Sy...Syaoran?" She couldn't move, nor did she want to. She could hear Syaoran's heart beat matching hers; they were equally fast. Syaoran shifted her in his arms, and continued his words. "I...I remember. I know."

Sakura gripped onto his shirt, afraid to let go. "You...you do...?" Droplets dripped from her hair to the water below, making pleasant notes. Still holding on to her tightly, Syaoran nodded. "Yeah..."

Sakura could feel her hands shaking; with her face hot, and her mind blurred, she went on. "And...?"

Syaoran snuggled in her hair, breathing beside her ears. She gave a shiver of pleasure, and blinked drowsily. He smoothed her hair, and finally answered. "And I feel the same way about you." He let go of her, and faced her with determination. "I...love you."

Sakura didn't know what to do. It was like a dream, a wonderful, wonderful dream. It was too good to be true. She couldn't believe she had found someone that she loves and he loves her back. [Please...] She prayed. [If this is a dream, please never wake me up.] She felt dizzy, and then she collapsed in Syaoran's arms. Syaoran shook her. "Sakura?"

She slowly opened her eyes, and clung her arms to Syaoran's shirt. With a soft and quiet voice, she spoke. "Can we stay like this for a little longer?" Syaoran smiled, and wrapped his arms around her. "Sure." At that moment, nothing else mattered to them; as if they were the only ones in the world that exist. They held on to each other under the water droplets' harmony.

~~~~~

The birds were chirping; the bowl they were in was floating on water with a pair of chocobo wings keeping them up. The wings slowly rose, and Chocy's face appeared on the surface. He reached the shore, and dropped dead on it with the birds still over his head. The birds chirped delightedly, and hopped to the ground beside Chocy. They waved their wings happily, it was as if they were saying "Do it again! Do it again!" Chocy couldn't take it anymore. He shouted at the birds. "Wark! Wark! Wark!! (It wasn't supposed to be fun! I risked my butt for you little brats! Get out of my sight forever...)"

The birds weren't listening; they were staring at something big behind Chocy. It rose up from the water, and its shadow fell over the birds. The birds awed. Chocy froze as he saw the size of the shadow. His head slowly turned around; he jumped as he realized that it was an oversized crocodile. Chocy's knees got weak, and fell back. He crawled backward for a meter or so. The crocodile leaned over, and started to talk in crocodile language. {Hey, are you the one who was disturbing my nap?}

Chocy shook his head furiously. The crocodile leaned closer, and Chocy backed up even more. The crocodile studied him, and said. {Are you sure?} Chocy didn't dare answer; he just nodded as if his head was a spring. The crocodile turned around, and was ready to go when the three birds came chirping and hopping on Chocy's belly. The crocodile paused, and said. {Wait, I recognized those chirps.} It turned around again, and stared madly at Chocy and the birds. {You were the ones that woke me from my nap!}

Chocy flopped his wings rapidly, didn't know what to do. {No!} He said in Chocobo language. {I swear, I don't know what woke you and I didn't wake you!} The crocodile raised his hands from the water, and pointed towards Chocy. {So you're saying, you swear you didn't fall from the top of the waterfall, making a huge splash, and woke me?}

Chocy froze; he avoided eye contacts with the crocodile and fooled around with his wings. {Um...I might have done something like that...but there were a lot of people falling from the waterfall...}

The crocodile didn't let him finish. {So you are! Let me show you what a crocodile missioner can do!} He opened his mouth, and it gathered blue energy from the surrounding. Chocy jumped up on his feet, and shouted. {Missioner!?} Seconds later, water blasted from the crocodile's mouth, and it was going for Chocy and the birds. {HYDRO PUMP!} The crocodile shouted. Chocy jumped out of the way. The water hit a tree instead. After the attack, all the leaves on that tree were gone.

Seeing what that hydro pump can do, Chocy swallowed. He ran for it, carrying the birds in his hands. But the crocodile leaped forward, and caught him by the tail. Chocy struggled, and dropped the birds. They landed softly on the grass below. The crocodile licked its lips, and said. "I'm going to eat you for revenge." It opened it big mouth, and was about to dump Chocy in when the birds watched on the bottom.

Mi Mi's little eyebrows rose. It didn't like that crocodile eating its friend, so it sucked in a breath, and blew out a few fireball. It hit the crocodile's hand. It dropped Chocy on the ground with a jerk, and started to rub its wound. Gi Gi and Bi Bi hopped close to Mi Mi. They decided on one thing: they didn't like this crocodile, so let's kill it! The kept firing little fireballs no bigger than ping-pong ball. It hit the crocodile as it backed up. Its eyes were glowing with fury now. It shot three hydro pump, each shooting one of the birds back.

{Hey!} Chocy got up, and started pecking on the crocodile's head. {Pick on somebody your own size!} He started kicking and pecking the crocodile. The crocodile swung its head, trying to get Chocy off. Then it swept its tail, and hit Chocy.

He fell back a few feet, and spotted the tattoo on the crocodile's tail. {That's it!} He shouted. Then all the birds recovered, and gathered in front of Chocy. Chocy pointed to the tattoo, and shouted. {Aim at that point! Then fire!} The birds fired. Two of the fireballs missed, and one grazed by the target. The crocodile withdrew with pain. Chocy leaped forwards, and said. {It's working! Keep firing, I'll use this chance to defeat it!} He kicked the crocodile. It was withdrawing back to the riverside. Chocy pointed and yelled. {Now!}

All three birds sucked in a big breath, and fired at once. All three fireballs hit the target. The crocodile arched back in pain, and Chocy gave it a final kick, it lost its balance, and was falling back into the river.

On the other side, Sakura and Syaoran were standing beside the exit of the cave, where there was a flat surface they could step on. The waterfall was inches away from their face, blocking them between the cave and the outside. Syaoran held Sakura's hand, and looked at her with a smile on his face. "Ready?" He said. She grinned and nodded. "Ready!"

They counted together. "1...2...3!!!" They shut their eyes, jumped out of the cave exit and went through the waterfall. At the same the crocodile fell. All three of them splashed into the river, unaware of each other's existence. The crocodile's body dissolved in water, and its soul flew to Sakura's necklace. Sakura didn't notice it with the water splashing around her.

Chocy sighed hard, and the birds cheered around him. But once they saw bubbles on the water, for a moment, they thought the crocodile was still alive. Sakura and Syaoran rose to the surface together. Chocy and the birds were relieved that it wasn't the crocodile. They helped Sakura and Syaoran to get to the shore.

Syaoran lied flat on the grass with his limbs stretched out. He sighed, and said. "Oh my...look at us, we're all wet!" Sakura giggled, and crawled towards him. "It's a hot day, it'll dry soon enough." They smiled to each other. Then they heard the birds chirping happily, and got up to see what was going on. Their eyes glowed a little as they saw the birds jumping around Chocy. Even though Chocy seemed annoyed by them, it was a cute sight.

"Alright, Choc. It seems they like you!" Syaoran stood up and walked towards him. "You're got to take good care of them now, okay? It's your job now." Sakura came behind him, and picked up Bi Bi. "This is so great. At first I was afraid that you and the birds wouldn't get along, but now...look at you. How cute!"

Chocy looked at them with disbelieve. {No...wait...wait a minute.} He was about to protest when Sakura held his wings tight, and congratulated him. "Congratulation, Chocy. You've just become Mi Mi, Gi Gi and Bi Bi's babysitter!" Chocy almost fainted. The birds were still chirping happily, and they all jumped on to Chocy's back. Chocy saw their happy face, and sighed. [Oh well...it's your lucky day, little ones.]

They went on. With the birds now on Chocy's back, Sakura and Syaoran walked beside them hand in hand. Syaoran looked down at his shirt, and said. "You don't suppose this will shrink after this will it?" Sakura smiled, and said. "We'll get a new one."

Syaoran leaned his forehead on hers. "Did you forget that we're on in the lack of money right now?"

Sakura laughed. "When were we not? It won't kill you to have a shirt that fits."

Syaoran put his arms around her, and said with a joking tone. "Are you mocking me?" Sakura giggled, and answered. "Won't dare."

Chocy looked back them the two, who were falling behind. They were walking and talking lovers' talk. Chocy thought the two was acting kind of different today, but couldn't figure out what. They seemed...closer. Chocy tilted his head, and walked on, wondering.

To be continued...

Author's notes:

Phew...finally! They finally told each other! That's probably what you're all thinking right now, huh? ^(oo)^
Well, you'll know, then, that this series is coming to an end...
Yes...that's right. There's about...say...four more chapters? Around there. With the ending of the Legend of Ometin, I am planning to write a sequel. Legend of Ometin 2: The Legend goes on. That's just a temporary name. I'm still deciding...

Oh well, see you in the next chapter!

Piggy Ho Ho
July 19, 2001