Disclaimer: I do not own Sakura Taisen or any characters thereof. The play scene was taken from volume 2 of the manga.

After her revival, Sakura faces the nightmares that plague her of the world beyond. To lay these dreams to rest, she must face her worst enemy…herself.

AU, based loosely on events from "Shin Ai Yue Ni"

Maria x Sakura

Rating: PG-13 for blood

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She was surrounded by several downed Wakiji, panting heavily as their boss appeared, taking innocents hostage.

She'd always been prepared to give her life for the safety of the capital, but even so, she wasn't prepared for the final blow. His sword flashed, coming away with her blood. The wound across her chest was fatal, her quickly dimming consciousness registered as she fell backwards, the crimson liquid following the path of his sword.

Her breath hitched in her throat as the pain hit her, crippling whatever reserves she had left and she hit the ground, weak and dying. Her blood darkened her soft pink kimono as her lifeless eyes stared at the sun overhead.

The sky suddenly inverted, the burning sun becoming the cold moon, the blue sky becoming dark and the landscape followed suit. There was a cold creeping feeling along her hands and wrists. She managed to lift her right arm to look at her hand. Dark tendrils of demonic power were tattooing themselves onto her skin.

Somewhere, a soft voice echoed, "You're no better. No better than the Wakiji. You're unnatural, the dead don't come back to life!"

The dark tendrils moved from her wrists to the skin of her back, imprinting themselves onto her. There was a sudden jolt as a powerful stream of reiryoku surged into her body, rejuvenating it.

A sudden splitting pain brought her out of her dream, if it could be called such. She was in her room, covered in a cold sweat. Her wound ached, though it had been healed by Kohran's medi-pod.

She donned a heavy robe as she headed down to the kitchen for a drink. The hallways were dark as she padded quietly down the stairwell.

Maria was completing her night watch duties as she heard a light thud against one of the walls. She loosened her Enfield from its holster, grasping it lightly in case the intruder was dangerous. She relaxed as she saw it was only Sakura shielding her eyes from the sudden light of the lantern.

"Is something the matter?" The Russian asked, noting how Sakura leaned on the wall for support.

"No," Sakura answered softly, lowering her hand slowly now that her eyes were adjusted to the light.

"Then why are you wandering around this time of night?" Maria questioned.

"I was going to the kitchens to get something to drink, that's all," Sakura said.

"I think I'll join you," Maria nodded.

"But you just finished your rounds, didn't you? You don't need to stay up any later because of me." Sakura said. The room suddenly felt a little colder, so she tightened her grip on the front of her robe. When she noticed the almost imperceptible narrowing of her friend's eyes, she knew any further refusals on her part wouldn't matter.

The Russian had become more protective of her since that day. Well…so had the others in the Hanagumi, but Maria more so.

"Don't worry about me, Maria-san. You should go to sleep." Sakura tried one more time, standing away from the wall and in front of Maria, attempting the same confident stare that made so many others back down.

"No." was her definite answer as the Russian turned to accompany her.

Sighing, the younger woman walked forward slowly, Maria matching her steps.

They reached the dining hall with no incident. Maria headed into the kitchen as Sakura sat down at one of the tables. The Russian soon returned with two glasses of water and sat across from Sakura. The raven-haired girl accepted the glass of cool water, wincing slightly as her phantom wound decided to act up again.

"I'm fine." She interjected before Maria spoke. "I'm…just fine. It's nothing to worry about."

She looked up to see Maria's shocked emerald gaze trained on her. Sakura had no idea what possessed her to say that. Yes, it hurt, but she didn't need people babying her all the time. She turned her gaze back to the table and took a small sip of water from her glass.

Maria knew her sudden overprotective urge to send Sakura straight back her room was irrational, but she also knew that Sakura had been through a lot and had to deal with everybody fussing over her. Her emerald eyes watched Sakura swirling her glass around, watching the water pensively as it made a small whirlpool, returned to normal, and returned to the whirlpool. Over and over and over…

"Is something bothering you, Sakura?" She spoke her friend's name for the first time that night.

The swordswoman gently put the cup down, watching the final whirlpool settle in the clear water. "The water tastes strange tonight." She said in a low voice, not looking at Maria. Sakura stood up slowly, feigning a smile as she waved to Maria. "Thank you for accompanying me, but I think it's time for me to go back to bed."

She left a stunned Russian behind as she left the dining hall. Maria picked up Sakura's glass and inspected it carefully before taking a small sip from it herself. It tasted just fine and like water should, nothing.

Sakura returned to her room, managing to make it to her bed before collapsing from the pain the wound was causing her.

"Why didn't I just tell her the truth?" she whispered to herself.

"Because you're afraid to admit it yourself. You know what the water really tasted like. It tasted like—"

"Blood." She answered softly before succumbing to the sweet darkness of sleep.

The next few days followed without incident.

Practice continued for their reproduction of Ai Yueni without any problems. Sakura showed no further signs of the odd behavior of that one night, but Maria could feel something…different about her. She had consulted Kanna on this feeling, but Kanna hadn't noticed anything. Regardless, Maria had kept a closer eye on Sakura.

Sakura had also noticed the slight changes. She had the same nightmare regularly, although the twisting darkness tattooed itself on a different part of her body. She thought nothing of it or the random bouts of amnesia during training or when she was simply walking around the hallways at first, but there were times when she felt another presence talking to her although there was often nobody else around.

At first it wasn't so bad, sure the food tasted a little…funny, but she got used to it. The practices were going fine. That is…

The day before the performance. The dress rehearsal where they ran through everything, including breaks between acts and intermission. Everything went well until they got to the final act, her duet with Maria. Well, everything except this continuously growing pressure on her chest since the first scene. At first, she attributed it to nerves, silently telling herself that it would go away after a while. She was covered with a thin sheen of perspiration by the end of the first act. The intermission gave a small reprieve as the pressure lifted little by little.

Don't go back there. The voice whispered. It'll only end up hurting us.

"I have to," she whispered softly, "I can't let the others down. They've all worked so hard to put this together."

The bell that signaled five minutes before the end of the intermission rang, sending an unexplainable wave of nausea throughout her entire body.

Don't do it. The voice pleaded. It hurts too much.

Sakura was inclined to believe this voice as she moved to stage left, where she was to enter the scene, the pressure was back in full force. She glanced out to the audience, comprised solely of Yoneda. If things got bad, she could escape easily.

Wait…escape? Sakura thought incredulously, since when would I need to escape from the Teigeki? Where'd that come from?

She shook her head, wincing at how light-headed she seemed.

"Sakura-han, is something wrong?" Kohran asked, placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

YES! The voice screamed.

"N-no." Was the swordswoman's shaky reply. "I'm fine."

Kohran frowned slightly, but left it at that.

Halfway through the second act, Sakura's nausea got so bad she had to slip away to the restroom unnoticed. She left the stall as soon as she finished, heading to the sink to wash out the horrible taste. Her legs shook as she supported herself on the counter. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror hanging above the sink. Her skin was unusually pale and her eyes were dull. Another wave of nausea passed over her as spiritual energy from the rehearsal reached her even in the bathroom.

"There isn't a choice anymore. We have to get out of this place before we are both destroyed!" She whispered to herself. She stared at her reflection, not caring how it had changed. Her eyes had changed colors from the soft chocolate brown to a dark crimson. She could more acutely feel the strong purifying energy expanding as the play neared its climax. The next thing she felt was a sharp pain in her left hand as she slammed the side of her fist into the mirror, shattering it and sending the pieces clattering onto the counter and floor. She looked at her bleeding hand, clenching it experimentally and watching red blood ooze from multiple wounds. Droplets of blood fell onto the pristine white countertop as she smashed the other mirror with the same hand, noting with a twisted sense of satisfaction that the pain blocked the nausea. All she had to do was will the shards imbedded in her skin to drop to the counter and they did so, looking like blood colored rubies. More droplets fell to follow the shards. She smirked as she left the destruction behind her.

There was nobody in the changing room as she entered. She made a beeline towards her neatly folded clothing and changed, not caring that her hand bled all over it. She left the room, heading around the stage and through the main entrance to leave.

"Sakura-san? Are you done with rehearsal already?"

She turned to see Tsubaki tending to the shop, but she didn't answer. Instead, she started walking slowly over.

"Eh? Did something go wrong during the—whoa, what happened to your hand? Wh-what are you doing?" Her voice was rising in pitch as Sakura approached holding her bloodied hand out, palm facing the floor.

"Be quiet!" She said, throwing her energy at the younger girl. Tsubaki was thrown against the wall, her mouth open to scream, but no sound came out. As she slumped down to the floor, she heard Sakura continuing to come toward her. She made the mistake of looking directly into the swordswoman's crimson eyes, feeling herself suddenly becoming drugged. Her mind vaguely registered the fact that the tips of two gleaming fangs emerged from Sakura's mouth or that she was being gently positioned so that her neck was completely exposed. Tsubaki felt the points break the skin and shuddered as a sudden wave of pleasure swept across her body. If whatever blocked her voice wasn't there, she would've moaned at the gentle suckling on her neck. It was over too soon and her body was laid on the floor. Before she knew it, the presence next to her was gone.

Sakura had been forced to leave the girl alive much to her sudden dismay. Footsteps were heading towards the store counter.

"Tsubaki-chan! Are you goofing off again?" Kaede called. "Tsubaki-chan!" The last thing she remembered was a flash of red before being caught in a daze.

Sakura did the same to the older woman as she had done to Tsubaki, enjoying the feel of the warm blood flowing into her mouth and down her throat. She stopped short of draining Kaede, again leaving her alive. She dragged the woman over to where Tsubaki lay, both of them looking as though they were only sleeping. She didn't bother cleaning up the trail of blood from Kaede.

Sated with blood, Sakura felt stronger and more able to deflect the spirit energy from the play. She carefully wiped the crimson liquid from around her mouth, licking it off of her hand. Her fangs retracted to normal length and she appeared nothing more than human again.

Back on the stage, Sakura had not yet been missed because there had been no need. Clementine was being held as the queen's prisoner.

"Andre," the queen addressed the kneeling soldier, "Do you think I don't know?"

"Madame?" Andre asked.

"You--! It is rumored that you are in love with some lowly peasant girl!" The queen turned away from him in disgust. "The worm has probably poisoned your mind with treasonous thoughts! You're being deceived, Andre!"

Andre stood up suddenly, "No…!" he shouted, "Clementine would never do such a…"

"You don't say," the queen looked directly at him. "Then…" She opened her fan with a deft flick of her wrist, "Why don't you ask her directly?" She smirked at the confused look on her vassal's face before turning to the small servant, "Bring her hither, Millene!"

"Y-yes, your highness." Millene curtsied and headed off stage to get Clementine. She returned a few minutes later, much longer than it should have taken to get her.

"Um…she's not where she is supposed to be. I cannot find her anywhere, milady!"

"Stop!" Yoneda called out from the audience, "Iris, what do you mean she's not back there?"

"Iris doesn't know! Sakura isn't back here!"

"Yoneda-shihainin," Kohran spoke up, "I saw her at the beginning of the second act. She wasn't looking too good, but she told me that she was feeling fine." All eyes were on her. "I didn't think she'd actually run off without telling anybody."

Yoneda grumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose before saying, "Alright, we'll end there for today. Everybody get changed and then we'll look for Sakura. Kohran, since you're already out of costume, start checking around the bathrooms. You too, Kanna."

"Yes, sir!" They rushed off towards the girl's bathroom, Kohran knocked on the door first. "Hey, Sakura-han? Are ya in there?"

Of course, there was no answer.

"Move over, Kohran, I'm not sure she heard you." She knocked, "Oi, Sakura? We're coming in!"

She pushed the door open, her eyes widening in shock at the mess.

"Kohran?" She called back weakly, "Go get Maria. We have a little…situation."

"Eh?" Kohran peeked in, covering her mouth in shock as her eyes registered the disaster. She backed up slowly, hesitatingly starting down the hallway before breaking into a full out run.