A little over four years had passed since establishing the peace treaty with the neighbouring country. However, the peace remained fragile and there would always be the anxiety of another war. Sakura, now a fully qualified medic, was also a mother. Between looking after her four-year-old son and working in the medical tent, things could get exhausting very quickly.
"Sakura! Can you help carry these bottles to the storage cart?" Meiling asked.
"Sure-just let me finish mixing this first." She replied.
Meiling nodded and Sakura added the final ingredient, mixing it in and then poured the herbal mixture into a jar.
She set it to the side and hurried to help Meiling carry the bottles from the tent, passing Syaoran who was assisting with training once again.

It didn't take long to finish their job, and when evening fell Sakura hurried off to find her son. The boy liked to explore new areas as he came across them when they travelled, and she was worried he'd gotten lost in the forest.
She searched the camp and then the river, looking up as she heard rustling in the bushes.
A small head appeared, and the child climbed over the bushes to get to his mother, quickly followed by Syaoran.
Sakura hugged her son, relieved to see he was ok, and smiled.
Syaoran came to a stop and picked up their child, "How did you go with finishing those medicines?" He asked Sakura.
"We got everything done, so I'm free to go to the market tomorrow." Sakura smiled.
"Great." Syaoran replied.

She turned her attention to her son, who was reaching over Syaoran's shoulder towards a butterfly.
"Where was he?" she asked.
Syaoran smiled, "He was in the meadow, climbing one of the trees."
She relaxed and giggled. "Of course, he was."
Their son turned, and his emerald eyes made contact with his mothers.
"Mummy, the trees are talking!" he smiled.
Sakura raised her brow, "And they're telling you, young man, to stay closer to camp."
He puffed out his cheeks, "Mum..." he complained.
Syaoran laughed. "Listen to your mother, Sora."
"But you were with me, dad." Sora complained.
"That's true this time, but what about last time?" Sakura frowned.
The little boy sighed.
"If you tell me where you want to go, I'll come with you next time." She smiled softly.
Sora's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Of course. It's a promise." Sakura replied.
"Yay!" he shouted with glee.
Syaoran laughed. "Alright, it's time for dinner."

As they headed back to the tent, Sora chattered on about his day and all the new things he had learnt, and continued through dinner as well.

Sakura looked down at her son sleeping in her lap with a soft smile. "He's worn himself out."
"He has. I bet he's really excited for tomorrow." Syaoran replied.
"Let's put him to bed." She said softly and stood, carrying him out to his own tent which sat next to theirs. Syaoran followed her and entered Sora's tent, walking over to the child's bed.
Sakura pulled off his shoes and set them to the side before tucking him in and kissing his forehead goodnight. Syaoran clicked his fingers and the lights went out as he left the tent with Sakura, and they returned to their own to get some sleep.

In the morning, however, they were jumped on by their son. Syaoran groaned and rolled over.
Sora gave an annoyed huff. "Muuum, wake uuuup."
Sakura felt herself being shaken awake.
"Pleeeeease?"
"Alright, alright." She mumbled and opened her eyes, seeing her son sitting beside her on the bed looking annoyed.
Sakura turned her eyes to her husband. "Don't think you're getting away." She said.
"Damn..." he muttered.
Sakura returned her attention to Sora, "Go wait in your tent, I'll be there in a moment, ok?" She smiled.
His eyes lit up. "Ok!"

Sora hopped off the bed and hurried out of the tent and Sakura sat up, stretching her arms above her head.
She looked over at Syaoran who still had his eyes closed and smiled.
"And you think I'm bad." Sakura laughed.
Syaoran sighed softly. "You win."
He shifted and propped himself up on his elbow, running his other hand through his hair.
"I'm surprised he didn't come in last night." Syaoran murmured.
"I guess he slept through the night." Sakura replied as she stood and started to get dressed.
Syaoran sat up and followed suit. It wasn't unusual for Sora to come to his parents in the middle of the night-after all, he was still very young and while he was curious, he was still afraid of the night.

…

The three of them made their way together through the market. Sakura held her son's hand while Syaoran held his other, being sure not to lose him.
As usual, the performances were always fascinating, with brightly coloured costumes and beautiful dances. It was Sora's first time being able to go to the market, as the previous year he had not been old enough to go.
"Stay close." Sakura told him.
Syaoran lifted him up so he could see the performance better. "He's not going anywhere."
Sakura just smiled.

After the performance ended, they carried on, coming to a stop when they spotted a familiar pair. Sakura walked over with a smile, and Akiho beamed.
"Sakura! It's been a while." She greeted, and then spotted Sora in his father's arms. "Oh, hello Sora."
Sora hid his face in Syaoran's shoulder.
"I guess he's still pretty shy." Akiho sighed.
Sakura giggled. "Sora, it's okay. Akiho won't hurt you."
After a moment, Sora turned his eyes to meet Akiho's kind gaze.
"Hello…" he mumbled.
Yuna finished his discussion with his customer and walked over to them. "Hello you three."
Sakura smiled, "Hello. Have the two of you been doing okay?"
He returned her smile, "We've been fine. What about you and Sora?"

Sakura looked at her son and gently rubbed the top of his head. "Sora's been doing fine. He's interested in learning about his magic, which is a relief, and I'm doing pretty well. I haven't had any issues in the last six months." She explained.

But the same couldn't be said about Sora. Like his mother, he was also a vessel, and with so much magic building up in his tiny frail body, the poor child often fell ill. However Yuna had provided a solution to that problem-a small bracelet that stopped the build up of magic in his body. He had also been started on his magic lessons earlier than usual, but he was kept to learning the bare basics for the meantime until he was older.

"That's good to hear." Akiho smiled cheerfully, "I hope I can come and visit again sometime."
"We'd love that." Sakura smiled.
Akiho looked over as a customer approached, "I'm sorry, but I'll have to leave you. Thanks for visiting!"
"We'll see you later, then." Syaoran replied.
Yuna smiled at the pair, "Take care of yourselves."
Sakura nodded, "You too," she said as she turned to leave with Syaoran and Sora.

Sakura looked to her husband and he locked eyes with her for a moment, the both of them smiling. This was the life Sakura had longed for: to be with the person she loved most and for them to raise their children. Her years of torment were finally over.

Well, that's it folks. In the future I'll probably come back and revisit the story to expand on some parts because I feel like they may be or feel a little rushed. I'm also interested in the parts YOU think I need to expand on-this will help me out a lot, because in my mind something might make sense, but people can't read minds so to other people it might not make sense at all :P Just don't be rude about it.

I want to thank each and every one of you for reading Spellbound and to those of you who stuck with me while I was uploading it. It's been a pleasure to share my work with you, and I hope my writing will continue to improve in the years to come! I don't think I will do a sequel to this story, but if you'd be interested in one, drop me a note and I MAY consider it. May. Might. Hmm :P

I have yet to decide on the next story I'll be uploading. It will either be Loved By The Gods or The Captive Bride.

Until next time!