In Safe Hands Chapter 2

part i.

" So what are we to do with her Syaoran-kun?"

It was four AM and Fay-san and I stood outside the door where Sakura slept keeping our voices in a low deep tone. I wondered if she was truly asleep, but instead really listening to us.

Running a hand through my hair, I stayed silent to listen to her breathing behind the closed door. It was still calm and even, she was definitely not awake yet, just quiet shifts of blankets being pulled on. Fay saw me look at the door hesitating with my response, and placed a hand on my shoulder.

" You do realize we are in a bit of a complexity, don't you?", his placid eyes focused on mine.

I knew what he meant, the way that group of men were chasing her down , we knew trouble was coming. Probably even worse was the case that I interfered and I was now involved. Not only did I put myself into risk, I may have put everyone into a more dangerous situation that may get out of hand if it isn't ended soon.

" The local townsmen came and told me this morning that seizures of households and businesses have been erupting out since last night by a couple of mysterious men.", Fay continued, his eyes leaving mine and towards the window in the kitchen.

" It's probably only matter of time until they make their way towards our area…"

My eyebrows burrowed together as I swallowed at the dry spot in the back of my throat. I wasn't scared, definitely not. Just more disappointed in myself that I put everyone in a bad situation without thinking my actions through fighting those men. I just wanted to keep her safe from them. My actions weren't uncalled for, it was the right thing to do, something any right person would do. I had no regrets.

"…And you do know what they are after too, right?"

My hand involuntary went towards the door and stayed there as my teeth began to grit together. I knew they were looking for her, I just didn't know why. She was only a girl, someone who looked and sounded to be no danger to the world, what could they possibly want with her?

" It's okay.", I whispered making Fay look back at me.

" I already decided that I wouldn't let anything or anyone touch her until I am sure she is safe elsewhere. That's the right thing to do, isn't it?", I asked my eyes staring right back into his.

He was the first to break into a smile from the tension, squeezing my shoulder as he gave a silent nod of his head.

" What any good man would do."

I smiled in thanks and went into the room where Sakura slept and closed the door behind me as softly I could. I turned around, my back against the door, watching her chest heave up down slowly as she held that white creature towards her chest smiling in her sleep.

I definitely found no logical reasoning for what these men could want out of her. She was too innocent to blamed or chased down for anything.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

part ii.

" Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy!", the white creature squealed in delight as he took another bite of his strawberry covered toast waving his stubby arms in excitement.

One of Fay's specialties was making his own jam spread from various fruits and even vegetables. Fay smiled in delight at Sakura and Mokona eating at the table while I sat at the other end polishing my Winchester Carbine rifle. Every once and a while I would catch Sakura glance at me and the gun I held between my legs and then go back to eating her food.

She must've been frightened from seeing it at the table once waking up while I finished loading bullets in it and stuffing the rest in a small leather bag. Small weapons were scattered at the far end of the table by me that had been recently shined and sharpened in preparation that had been worked on since the early hours of the morning. It was clearly shown on her face that she didn't find this the most comforting sight to see, at all.

She could no longer hold back when I picked up the gun and aimed it at the far end of the room, focusing out of my left eye, pretending there was a some sort of object or person in front of me.

" Um Syaoran-kun…", she started with hesitation.

" Yes, Miss Sakura?", not removing eyes from the gun or the position I was in.

" Dare I ask what you are to do with that…weapon?", her voice clearly filled with concern about my intentions. Especially with the gun.

I smiled setting the gun down and resting my chin on the butt of it.

" Precaution, Miss Sakura."

I heard Fay bellow a laugh in the background.

She looked at the gun again and back to me, her brow creasing in worry.

" Do you intend to harm someone or something with it?", she asked her voice low in a hushed tone.

I stood up and walked over to set the gun by the window panel in the classroom we stayed in and sat back down in my chair and looked back at her calmly.

" No ma'm. Only to protect.", I replied watching her eyes carefully as they widened and then look away as if pained with, which seemed as, guilt.

Sakura didn't respond back but only went back to looking back at her plate that held a half eaten piece of strawberry covered toast. The room fell silent and stayed that way until she stood up and gathered Mokona's empty dish that sat on the table across from her. She stacked hers on top of the creatures' and removed herself from the table before stopping herself and looking back at me with those jade eyes, that to this day are forever imprinted in my memory.

" Just don't do anything unnecessary for my sake, please.", and with that she left the room to leave me in silence.

Fay was stifling his laughter as he came up from behind me, a smile so wide that it could touch both ends of the room. I looked at him with only confusion and he couldn't help but to laugh then.

" She's a smart girl!", Fay replied to my perplexed face through chuckles leaving the room following Sakura.

A small four wheeled black painted locomobile sat on the top of a cliff that hovered over an octagon shaped building where three men stood guard watching every movement that occurred throughout that building for the day. One of the three sat in the car lighting a cigarette and digging in the pocket of his coat to pull out a watch. The man growled when looking at the time, stuffed the watch back into his pocket and jumped out of the car toward the other two men that sat on the edge of the cliff, one watching through a pair a of binoculars and the other, bored stiff, aiming around with his gun.

" Listen up.", the man barked out in a low gruff foreign accent.

" I think it's about time to pay our clients with a visit. We have some unfinished business to attend to." The man's lips curled showing his yellow pointed teeth, his hand lifting to touch the long scar along his jaw line as he said this.

The two men looked at each other with a nod before standing before the other. The man with the binoculars tossed them into the car and leapt into the drivers seat while the one with the gun smiled widely and stuffed the gun inside his coat and jumped into the back seat while the other got into the passenger seat

" Let's go get that lass back to us." the man with toothy smile grinned, tossing the finished cigarette behind him as the car sped off.

--------------------------------------------

I watched as Sakura and Mokona played a game of cards together, Sakura clearly frustrated as this was her fifth time being outdone by Mokona again.

" Mokona out rules Sakura-Chan in everything again!", the white creature cheered as it paraded around in a small circle.

" Oh hush! Let's have another round!", Sakura whined throwing her cards against the ground.

My lips slowly curled up into a smile after watching the two for half the day playing card games and ranting at each other if one was cheating or not. They were both like kids when they were around each other. I had meant to get Sakura alone today and have a chance toreally get to know her. I wanted to know where she was from, why was she here, why these men were after her. This girl really seemed to perk up my curiosity like nothing else, with her around my life felt suddenly no longer ordinary.

" Syaoran-kun?"

The crease in my forehead disappeared as my thought process came to a halt when noticing that emerald green eyes were right in front of mine.

" Y-yes, Miss Sakura?", I stuttered noticing the proximity of how close her face was to mine.

She smiled as my eyes rolled up where she placed an index finger on the brow of my forehead.

" You looked so intent in your thoughts when I asked if you wanted to join us, I guess that's why you didn't hear me!"

I placed two fingers to the place where her finger was watching her pull up a chair next to mine. I mentally scowled at myself for getting so flustered around her, trying desperately to get control over of my pounding heart as it pulsed blood right into my face as she sat down next to me.

" What's on your mind, Miss Sakura?", I said, this time a little more steady.

" That's what I should be asking you!", she laughed as I smiled back.

" Too much to tell you at the moment, honestly."

" Oh?" she asked her eyebrows raising. " Then let's start out small, then.", she smiled at me, her green eyes glowing as she folded her hands into her lap ready to listen.

If I kept looking into those eyes of hers any longer I may have not been able to speak at all, but I quickly shook it away and coughed into my hand.

" Well, I was wondering what is going to happen next. I mean, what's going to happen for you next." I looked into her eyes as she watched me.

" Oh.", her eyes looked away from mine.

" That, and also I have many questions for you, like where are you from Miss Sakura, why are you here at a small place like this, what is with th-"

She cut me off as her short honey-dew hair shook from side to side.

" There's nothing you need to know of then I am just of not this area." , she looked back up to me with those same serious green eyes as earlier today.

" I planned already to leave tonight, I over welcomed my stay anyway."

I was taken aback for a moment, sitting in silence as she stood up and put her chair back into the table. Why would she leave so soon? Without me even knowing anything about her, just to let her suddenly disappear into the night just like she suddenly appeared before me the other day.

" W-Wait, Miss Sakura." I stood up leaning forward to grab the back of her wrist.

She turned around looking up at me in surprise as I stared back at her with my eyebrows furrowed together in worry. No way, absolutely no way was I going to let her go with some goons after her.

" I can't just accept that."

" Excuse you?", she placed a hand on mine that held onto her wrist.

I was baffled that she couldn't realize the danger she was putting herself in and it was amazingly making me increasingly angry with her.

" Don't you realize you have some group of men out there looking to probably harm you or worse? ", I snapped out " Do you even care just a little, have some fear at all?"

I immediately regretted the tone I took with her seeing the pain flash in her eyes once I said it.

" Of course I'm scared…" she softly spoke out. " But I don't want to get anyone involved, I don't want anyone getting hurt for my sake!"

I let go of her wrist and let her stand in front of me as we both stood in silence. I think I began to understand why she wanted to stay a loner. She didn't want to carry the burden of guilt on her, she wanted to make sure that no one, what ever was happening, would get hurt in the process.

" But," I started, breaking the stillness, as I grabbed her hand in my own " what if that person wants to get hurt for your sake?"

She looked into my eyes with wide emerald ones, her mouth opening to say something when Fay came crashing into the room frantically.

" Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona! It's time to leave, now!", Fay said boldly as he gathered various items into a medium sized shoulder leather bag.

" What's going on, Fay-san?" I questioned panic starting to fill me as I pushed Sakura and Mokona into the back of the building grabbing my rifle on my way out.

"All of you get into my car and take the route that I have showed you once before Syaoran-kun when situations like this came up. You know where to go.", he said as he ran into his office and dug underneath his desk to pull out that old book that I bought not long ago.

Fay shoved it into my chest and smiled that awkward smile he always does as he led me out of the back of the building.

" But Fay-san! Why are you giving this-"

" I don't want those men taking it. Protect that girl Syaoran-kun she will lead you where you need to go." Fay smiled, his blue eyes calm.

With that he closed the door of the driver seat where I sat and patted my back.

" But what about you?" I asked worry filled in my voice.

" What about me? I'll be fine." Fay grinned before his calm eyes turned hard as if he knew something was coming very soon.

" Now go, right now."

I started the car without anymore questioning and pressed my foot on the gas pedal and sped off into the woods where a route where bushes and tree branches hid it was open.

Fay smiled again and waved with his long arm before turning around and entering the house where not much longer three men forced their way inside.

" Welcome gentlemen." Fay greeted, still with a smile on his face.

The woods blurred past us as we raced up the route took us in the car. Sakura sat silently in the passenger seat with Mokona pressed against her face as it whimpered out in fear. Those men had found us, and Fay was making us go without him. I had the thought of turning halfway around and going back to help him but I knew I couldn't, not while she was with me. I kept going until I could start seeing where the woods would spit us out into a pasture, almost there until I heard it. Five large gun shots that echoed throughout the woods where Fay was and I knew exactly what happened and what that meant.

Sakura jolted out of her seat and then sat back down, her body completely tense like my own. We kept moving along until we were completely out of the woods and I brought the car to hide behind an old shattered house that lived in the pasture.

I got out silently not looking behind me and went to go kneel against the house. My head was spinning, I couldn't think. My hand pressed up against my eyes, I didn't want her to see me like this when I knew what just happened.

Fay gave up his life to protect us, to protect her, and I couldn't help him at all. He was dead because of those men, because of me for getting Fay involved. My hand started to become wet as tears rolled into it.

" Dammint…" , I cursed at myself as my head leaned back against the house wall.

That's when I felt a hand cup the side of my face and another gently pull the hand that covered my eyes away.

" Please..", I heard Sakura's soft voice cry out as I began to look at her through blurry vision.

" Don't blame yourself.", she whispered as she used the back of her hand to wipe away my tears and push my head into her chest as one hand ran through my hair.

" Blame me….please, for my sake, hate me for this.", she choked out, plops of water dropping onto my head where she rested hers on mine as we both sat on the ground.

" I can't." I slowly spoke out. My head lifting to see her face dripping with tears like my own. " I could never." , I whispered out watching her body shake with sobs before encircling her arms around my waist and collapsing into my chest.

" Why?" was all she choked out before breaking down while all I could do is hold onto her throughout it all.

To be continued………..

Like wow, it has been waaaaay to long since I have updated! It really took me a while to do this chapter but now I think I can really get a roll on with the rest after some more brain storming. I hope you enjoyed and don't worry, I'll be bringing some ( a lot more) fluff into this story so you just gotta keep reading and reviewing, okay!? Cool beans, then. More to come and until then press that purple button on the bottom left corner of your screen and write me up of what you thought!

--Detectivegirl2005