"You know," Syaoran said. "Something has been bothering me ever since you left." He curled around me as we were lying down.

"Yeah? And what's that?" I ask sleepily.

"Well, on the plane ride here, you had an anxiety attack right?" He paused and I nodded. "And when we got here Touya just said it was too dangerous for you here so we had to hide you somewhere else."

So that's what he said, I thought. Ooh he is in big trouble.

"But, I think Touya was lying to us. The anxiety attack is linked to the reason why you left." Syaoran concluded.

I guess this is where I should tell him. I turned around and faced him. "Ok. It was way back when I was about fourteen or fifteen. Masaku was on a business trip here and he brought me along. He let me out one day and I decided to take the long way home." I kind of feel like crying. "It had started raining so I stopped to wait it out under this canopy thing near an alley."

I could see the look on Syaoran's face, the realization hitting him.

"I heard a noise in the alley and looked in. At first I thought it was a boy, so I started walking down the alley." I haven't felt this emotional since…well since I left Toronto. "But there was a man there instead, shooting heroine into his arm. I tried to leave…but he had two friends."

I paused, and Syaoran gave me the time to gather up the strength and will not to cry.

"And they raped me. And stuck heroine in my arms. Strictly speaking I should be dead. I should have contracted HIV or AIDS whichever it is." Syaoran took my hand and squeezed it.

"I woke up in a rehab center because they had believed that I had overdosed. I kind of laughed in their faces for that. They wondered why I wasn't begging them for heroine while I was there. I had told them the truth, but they were too stupid to believe me." I turned on my back to look up at the ceiling. "So that's what happened. I still feel uncomfortable being here. But evidently we're safer here."

I sighed. And Syaoran knew my story was over.

"I'm so sorry. If I had known we wouldn't have come here." Syaoran said.

I shook my head. "It was my fault. I didn't tell you. Which caused more problems then it would have if I had just told you now that I think of it." I laughed a little.

Suddenly the door opened and Sabah came running in. Sarah looked into the room for one second then turned around. "Ummmm guess I came at a bad time. Sabah came looking for you. So I uh, guess I'll be going now."

I laughed at Sarah, but took Sabah into my arm and pulled him up on the bed. No, I do not allow my son to see me naked if that's what you think. I do still have sheets on.

Sabah sat in between me and Syaoran. Syaoran had messed up Sabah's hair, so Sabah did the same to him. It was cute. And I must say that, despite who the father was, I saw a small bit of Syaoran in him, though that would be completely impossible.

"Hey, Syaoran." I said. He drew his eyes away from Sabah slowly to look at me. "I love you too."

……………………………………………

The next night we went out. I had to trust Gabriel and Naoko with Sabah, but I eventually made it out the door. I had to open the door again though and look inside, just incase they managed to loose Sabah or start a fire. They just shoved me out of the door and Syaoran had to drag me to his car. And you know what? I have never seen him smile so much. The whole car ride to the club, Syaoran held my hand. That made shifting gears a little difficult. But we're difficult people.

"I don't trust them with Sabah." I commented. "Could we-"

"No."

"I just want to-"

"No."

"But they-"

"No."

"Ugggggggh!"

Syaoran laughed at me. "Just be calm. Nothing can happen to him. Besides, Yukito is there too. So just relax and try to have fun."

"You try having a kid and then leaving him in the care of a couple of klutzy, dangerous people." I said.

"Well. Um, this is totally your decision and all, but um…if you would allow me into Sabah's life-"

"Yes."

"Are you-"

"Yes."

"You really-"

"Yes! For the love of god yes!"

Syaoran's mouth twitches up and I can see his eyes lighten up even though he's looking at the road. And I am so happy.

As soon as we were inside the club we both got separated. Mei Ling and Sarah immediately bought me a couple drinks that get me thoroughly…intoxicated, and then pulled me onto the dance floor. I could see from where I was that Syaoran was staring at me. But…someone else was too. I could feel it, but I was stupid enough to ignore it. Probably just some other guy though I really didn't care enough to see who it was. I continued to stare right back at Syaoran. He smirked at me but his attention was pulled away by Nicholas.

Christ I have to pee.

I signaled to Sarah that I was going to the bathroom and she nodded at me. I made my way through the crowd in this drunken haze. Most of my senses still worked. I was walking fine wasn't I? Well…at least when I made it to the washroom, I kinda, sorta, tripped into the door.

But let's not talk about that.

I get out of the stall and wash my hands, but as I turn around, I realize that I'm not really alone like how I thought I was. A man stands in front of me, this grin on his face that I remember from all those years ago…when I was…well lets not go back into that story. He was muscular, that's for sure, but didn't look very strong if you can picture that.

"Hello dear." He said.

"Um…hi."

"I've been watching you."

Weeeeeeeeell isn't that just creepy.

"Uh, great. I'm gonna go." I side step him and make for the door.

The man grabs my arm, so my defenses go up. As he turns me around I grab my gun from the back of my pants, and as I face him, he gets my gun in his face. I feel him go stiff and he lets my arm go.

"Thank you. Let's not do this again. Okay?" I pressed the gun into his head and he nods, though he still has this smile on his face. "Great." I mumble and start walking away.

"I'd look out for your kid if I were you."

I quickly turned around where he still stood. "What?" I snapped.

"Your child. I'd be looking out for him if I were you." He said again, and then left the washroom.

And here I am, panicking. Trying to think of what to do. Well I'm standing in the washroom still while everyone is out there. So the logical thing to do would be to go find Syaoran so that we could go back to the house so I can see Sabah.

So I ran out of the washroom into the massive crowd. They are holding me back way too much. So I start panicking more and more every minute. People are too close to me. I just want them to move. But they aren't obeying my thoughts. I bump into them and push them out of the way and I hear complaints but I just can't care about that.

I spot Syaoran, and he's coming towards me too. I grab onto his arm and try to tell him, but it's too loud. He pulls us outside and I start heading for the car.

"Sakura what's wrong?" He asks. He doesn't stop me though.

"Sabah. Have to get to Sabah. I think he's in trouble." I said in a way that made Syaoran look as though he's gone all pale.

Syaoran drove as fast as he could back to the house. I was so close to crying, but I kept it in. I don't know if anything is wrong for sure. As we pulled up in the driveway I didn't even wait for the car to be fully stopped as I jumped out to get into the house. I felt my ankle twinge with pain. Damn Selina for making me wear high heeled boots.

I ran/ limped inside the house and stopped. Everything was quiet. Then, a loud shriek came from upstairs. So I bolted it up the stairs and readied my gun. Syaoran soon came up the stairs behind me. I looked in the rooms and only when I came to the very last one, did I find what had screamed.

Naoko cowered in the corner of the room and was yelling at Gabriel. "Get it, Gabriel! Get it, get it, get it!"

Gabriel, on the other side of the room, took his shoe and slammed it against the wall. He turned back around and saw me and Syaoran holding our guns up. "Whoooooooa. Ok I swear Naoko was the one who made him puke." Gabriel raised his hands.

I dropped my arm and sighed. "Where is he?" I asked.

"In the next room." Gabriel pointed across the hallway. "I was putting him to sleep when miss arachnophobic here started screaming."

Naoko shrugged sheepishly. "What? So bugs scare me. Get bent." Her mood suddenly changed from embarrassed to grumpy.

Mood swing much Naoko?

I walked across the hallway and went into the room. There, Sabah was sitting up and playing with his stuffed animal. And here I was worried for his life.

"Hey, baby." I said as I walked towards him. "I was worried about you. I just had to come back and see how you were."

He looked up and me and, get this, this was like the pinnacle moment of my life. He looked up and me and said "Mommy."

I'm stunned. After three years I finally hear him talk. And his first word is mommy. Oh. My. God. I nearly flew through the roof. I smiled so much and I laughed and I picked him up and spun him around.

"Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran!!!!!" I call.

He rushes into the room with this worried look on his face.

"HE SAID MOMMY!" I yell at him.

Syaoran is wide eyed for a moment, then he walks to us and hugs us both and he kisses me and wow. I have never felt this good in my whole entire life. Sabah laughs as he's in my arms and I kiss his little nose.

After I'm done being all hyped up about Sabah finally talking, we go downstairs and get me coffee. I still need to sober up a bit you know. We sit in the living room, me in a comfy chair and Sabah sitting on Syaoran's lap. If I had a camera, I'd take a picture.

"Do you think now I can teach him to say my name?" Syaoran asked.

"He's not a dog, Syaoran. He'll learn in time." I said. "Though it is killing me cause I want him to say something again."

Syaoran laughed at me and took Sabah's hands in his. Sabah looked at their hands in wonder. He spread his tiny hand on Syaoran's. And I felt like crying. Is this what being a mom feels like? Because this is the best I have ever felt.

"So, why did you think something was wrong?" Syaoran asked.

I had almost for got about that.

"When I was in the washroom of the club, I guy came in. He said he had been watching me. I was going to leave but he grabbed my arm and I pulled my gun on him. He let go but he said that I had better watch out for my child if he was me." I explained. "So of course I started freaking out and that's when I saw you and then we came here."

"Do you remember what the guy looked like?" Syaoran asked.

I thought back into the washroom. "He had this kind of red, orangey hair, and had muscle but he did look like he was too strong. He had an earring in his left ear….That's all I can think of."

Syaoran nodded. "That was Lane."

So I just came into close contact with our new enemy. Awesome.

Then a thought struck me.

"Do you think he's after Sabah?"

………………………………….

Yoshimi woke up the next morning to a cool breeze and the smell of coffee. She got out of bed and pulled on a shirt and pajama shorts and walked out of the room and down into the kitchen. Since she had started working with Lane, she had gotten some benefits like a new house and protection. Lane was capable of these things. As she opened the door she bumped into a small body. A cup clanged to the ground and Yoshimi felt a hot liquid hit her feet.

"I'm sorry!" She heard.

Yoshimi looked down and said, "Its ok, Luka. Only a little spill." She smiled, though her legs burned. "Come on, let's clean this up."

She and Luka, her adopted son, got some paper towel and cleaned up the white tile floor. "What were you doing with coffee anyways?" Yoshimi asked. "You're much too young to start drinking it." She said while she laughed lightly.

"I was brining it up to you, mom." Luka answered and giggled along with her.

Yoshimi's heart pounded. "Oh sweetie, that's so nice of you. But let me take care of that from now on okay?" She put her hand on his head then ran it down his cheek and winked at him.

"Let's make some breakfast." Yoshimi declared.

"Can we have crepes?" Luka asked, looking excited.

"Sure, sweetie."

They got to work making their breakfast which concluded with four crepes and two people with batter thrown on them. Yoshimi had the batter in her braided blue hair and Luka got away with a battered shirt.

"Has Tigris been teaching you more tricks again?" Yoshimi asked over a piece of crepe.

"Not at all!" Tigris said, coming into the kitchen. His shirtless body showed that he had been working out as sweat rolled down his chest. "He's just a really smart kid." Tigris messed up Luka's hair.

Luka laughed. "Eeew. Daddy smells."

Yoshimi laughed along with him. "You do smell. I suggest you go have a shower. Me and Luka will clean up. You have school today don't forget."

"I know. I know." Luka rolled his eyes but smiled. He got up and took his plate to the sink and started washing it.

He was such a good boy. Kind and caring, never thinking of himself. Yoshimi loved being around him. She was grateful that she had been the one to adopt him before the treacherous family of seven had gotten him. They were not quite pleasant people, and by the looks of the children the parents didn't take very good care of them. Luka had even told her when he was six, a year after she had taken him in that he was happy that she had been the one to become his mother. Now at ten years old, he still looked happy.

"Hey, I'm home all day today, so if you want to you could bring Ryan, Kimi, or Manomi over." Yoshimi said as she and Luka cleaned up together.

"But, mom, I want to spend time with you alone." Luka said, looking up at her.

Yoshimi smiled, "If you want to. I just want to spend time with you." She bent down and kissed his forehead.

When Yoshimi saw Luka off to school she went inside the house and went straight back upstairs. In the master bedroom, Tigris was already in the shower. Yoshimi stepped into the bathroom and removed her clothes. Without making a sound, she stepped into the shower behind Tigris and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He turned his head and smiled at her. He turned around and pulled Yoshimi under the running water. It felt nice and cool on her face considering the hot day it was turning out to be. She closed her eyes and let the water run over her face.

"No," Tigris said, taking Yoshimi's chin gently, "Don't close your eyes. They're too pretty to be hidden."

Yoshimi opened her eyes and smiled up at him. She had finally gotten what she wanted. She had told Tigris that he was not in a car crash. And she had told him how much she loved him.

…………………………

Wolves……

I had to call Haritu.

He needed to know what I was doing. Well ok, I was going to cushion the truth some. Tell him that I was planning on staying, that the relationship we had, as wonderful as it was, it was not meant to be. I loved having his child, yes. But I don't love him.

See, my plan was to call him. But instead, I get a call from him. Touya gives me the phone, and he looks…weird? I don't know what word to use to describe what he looked like.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Sakura? It's Haritu." He said. "How are you and Sabah?"

"We're ok. How have you been?" I ask. I have to prepare to start getting serious with this.

"I'm ok too." Haritu says. "Look, we need to talk…about us."

Wait, whoa. Wasn't it my job to say that line? Aren't I supposed to be responsible for this breakup?

"I just had this feeling that when you left, you weren't going to come back." His feelings were right. And I feel so bad for not telling him now. "And I figure that Syaoran will take good care of you." He does not know how right he is. "Ok, you know what I'm getting at."

"Yeah, I-"

"But I want Sabah."

…Excuse me?

"Excuse me?"

"Sakura, it's too dangerous for him out there."

"Oh, and it's not dangerous in Toronto either?"

"He's my son."

"And he's not my son?"

This conversation turned from casual to hostile in 2.7 seconds.

"Listen," I said, "I don't want to take him away from you. Yes you are his father, and yes you deserve to see him and he deserves to see his dad. But he is going to stay with me. Please you have to understand that I cannot live without him with me."

"No, I don't understand. He is as much entitled to be with me as he is with you." Haritu said.

Did I not just say that?

"I know that. Which is why he can visit you or you visit him however much you want, whatever. I'm not holding him completely back from you. I just want him to be with me." I said. I start pacing around the room and rubbing my temple. Syaoran watches me intently. And Sabah stares at me like he knows something.

I told you, kids are very intelligent until they start talking. Sabah has only said one word. So most of his intelligence hasn't left yet.

Haritu doesn't say anything. So I decide to tell him a fun fact. "Sabah said mommy."

"What? He talked? That's great!" Haritu sounds genuinely happy about this. "Has he said anything else?"

"No. He just said that last night. Hasn't said anything since. But hey, when he starts up conversations I'll let you know." I said.

Haritu drew in a breath, like he was about to argue. But he sighed and said, "Yeah, ok. Call me sometime. We'll set up some visiting times." And he hung up. As I shut Touya's cell phone, Syaoran stood up and Touya came back into the room.

I hadn't really gotten to be with Touya since I had gotten back. And it was odd now that he has a nephew and that we haven't seen each other for five years.

"What was that about?" Touya asks me.

"He wanted Sabah. And I wouldn't let him." I answered. "But I'm not about to just keep him away forever. I want Sabah to see Haritu. I just want to have him here with me."

"Understandable." Touya said, "There's nothing like a mother's wrath when it come's to her children." He joked. He walked over to Sabah and said, "Hi Sabah."

And Sabah says, "Mommy."

I laugh at Touya and pick Sabah up. "Well, at least he knows who his uncle is."

"Get down!"

Out of nowhere, Syaoran hurtles at us and drops me, him and Sabah to the ground. Shots rang out through the window and we crawled behind the cover of the bed. Sabah struggled in my arms to see what was going on.

"What the hell?" I asked over the flying bullets, readying my gun. It had been a long time since I had seen action like this.

"It's probably Lane." Syaoran says to me as he shoots back at whoever it is. "We should get you two out of here."

He checked the door and slowly stepped towards it as he kept shooting to eliminate our enemy. Sabah's eyes started to water and I cooed in his ear that everything was ok. I waited for Syaoran's signal to get up and boot it out of the room. Touya watched as well and when Syaoran finally lowered his gun, Touya and I shot up and made for the door, Touya covering me just in case.

We ran out of the room and met up with Rika and Sayo. Sayo?

"When the hell did Sayo get here?" I asked.

"Long story. Tell you later." Sayo answered as he held Rika's hand. We made our way down to the next level, but when Syaoran looked down into the living room, Lane's men had a group of Wolves surrounded.

Syaoran came back up to us and put his hand to his lips. He went back into one of the rooms and grabbed something. He put a silencer on his gun. He motioned to Touya, Rika, and Sayo, and they nodded.

Syaoran pointed at me then pointed to the ground. You, stay put.

I gave him a look that said great, thanks a lot.

He rolled his eyes but smiled at me then made his way back down the stairs. And leaned around the corner and started shooting. Then the others went down the stairs and into the living room and had the ones not dead at gun point. Syaoran looked back at me and I nodded. He wanted me to stay here, out of sight.

That was fine with me…I guess. I watched him go down the stairs then disappear into the living room. I sighed and looked at Sabah. He was ok. Just a little startled and I murmured wordless noises into his ear. "Let's get you to bed ok?" I said.

As I stood up, I felt a gun on the back of my neck and I froze. "Move and I'll shoot right through your neck."

…………………………..

Yay! So chapter 13 up!

Questions? Comment? Concerns? Just review! They do help!

Marty