chapter one

tap tap tap tap...Sakura sat miserably in the cold hard school desk, trying desperately to control herself. The tremendously annoying noise had been going on for about five minutes now, randomly falling offbeat but always loud enough to be obnoxious. Get a grip Sakura. The kid probably doesn’t even realize he is tapping his pencil. It’s just like me biting my nails or something. The tapping continues its random beat.Sakura sighed and fought back in her mind. Well at least biting my nails doesn’t make that annoying sound! Sakura tried to turn her head to see who was making the ruckus. She noticed the other kids sitting around her glared warily, sick of the tapping as well. The boy sitting next to Syaoran was the sound maker. Mark something. He’s probably nervous since this is his first test at his new school.

Sakura unconsiously watched Syaoran walk up to the pencil sharpener, but returned her concentration to the math test in front of her. She felt the breeze as Syaoran walked by her again, but did not waver her attention. She did however, look up at the sudden cry of pain coming from Mark. At once the obnoxious tapping stopped, but Mark was sympathetically rubbing his hand.

"You could have just told me to stop, you know." Mark whispered.

"And get caught talking during a test?" Syaoran asked.

"Well, you’re talking now aren’t you?"

Syaoran made no reply, but stared daggers back at Mark.

"Well, you didn’t have to throw a pencil that hard at my hand. It hurt. I could get lead poisoning or something." Mark said, looking at his smarting hand.

"Pencil’s don’t even have lead in them anymore-"

"Syaoran, Mark, is there a problem? Next time you are talking I will flunk your tests without hesitation." The old teacher asked across the room, talking with his utmost authority. He gave an unapproving glance at Syaoran.

"Sorry Mr Chowkeski, it won’t happen again." Mark smiled his most charming I-Didn’t-Do-It smile, then returned steadily at his work.

Sakura stifled a giggle. Leave it to Syaoran to stop the tapping with a well aimed pencil. heheheh. Poor Mark though, Syaoran had just sharpened the pencil! Sakura quickly casted a side glance at Mark, who still clutched his hand while reading the test instructions. Okay, I only have like fifteen minutes left, and I still have to graph some more equations.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Did you hear from the other class? We get to play dodgeball today in P.E.! No more of that lousy fitness stuff!" Tomoyo talked excitedly as the girls headed toward their gym lockers.

"That’s cool! I think another session of pull ups and push ups and my arms would’ve gone on strike."Sakura said, opening her locker and pulling her tennis shoes out. "Hey did you hear the annoying pencil tapping? Mark wouldn’t quit!"

"Oh my Gosh I know! I was thinking about walking halfway across the room and glaring him straight in the eye and saying ‘Stop it’ ".

"Yeah! Li-kun threw a pencil at him. A sharp pencil. It might’ve broke the skin." Sakura said, chuckling a bit while she worked on tying her first shoe.

Mark and some of his new friends walked over to the lockers relativly close to Tomoyo and Sakura, laughing about the latest pro soccer game. Sakura had seen bits of it the previous night, Touya had been watching it on TV. A player had had a once in the lifetime shot, but instead of kicking it, he picked up the ball with his hands and ran off the field. It was strange, no doubt, and the coach had been furious. They sent the man to a hospital or something, claiming him mentally unstable. No one knew what exactly had cause his breakdown, but they were talking with his family and friends to see what might’ve caused the incident.

"Some people say he was foaming at the mouth!" A boy with plain brownish hair said, laughing loudly with the others.

"Well I heard he spit at the goalie and the spit at the referie as he was running off!" Another boy adding, fueling the gossipy conversation.

"No, no, no guys! My cousin was at the game! He saw it all! The reason they put him in the hospital was because he tried to pull some fat lady out of the stands, saying that she was his long lost love or something, He went completely crazy. Ballistic. I mean, if he was endangering the fans, they definitely should’ve locked him up!" Mark said. No one had really heard him talk much, but he was quickly accepted in.

"Definitely. He wasn’t a very good player anyway. Looked like more of a quarterback psycho than a center." Another said. The other boys nodded solemnly in agreement.

Sakura sighed and whispered to Tomoyo, "They sound more like gossiping girls then we do!"

Tomoyo laughed in agreement, then finished the knot on her shoe. "Let’s get out of here before they start talking about the clothes the celebrities wore at the grammys last night!"

Syaoran jumped into the boys conversation, looking fiery with rage. "Maybe you shouldn’t make fun of people unless you know the whole story! Or are you some type of rumor spreading girls?" The tone of voice and the look in Syaorans eye told most of the boys to back off. Still one held his ground.

"I do know the whole story. My cousin was there. I am allowed to tell everyone what he saw if I want to! Who are you to stop me? All you can do is throw pencils at stationary targets. If you don’t want us to talk about it than that’s your problem. Go somewhere else!" Mark smiled smugly at Sakura and Tomoyo, who were standing in shock from Syaorans outrage just a few feet away. "I’m sure you’d do a much better job intimidating them. Try your comebacks with them first. Maybe they will tolerate your annoying bossy orders better then we did. Maybe you-"

Through Mark’s little speech of glory Syaoran’s face turned several shades of crimsom, eventually turning to a deep purple. After Mark practically called Syaoran a girl, well, that was enough. Like a little freight train, Syaoran threw complete power into his well aimed punch. It caught unsuspecting Mark in the side of the face, assurance of a black eye the next day.

Mark stood a bit in shock for a second, then broke down. "That killed! What the hell!? I just told you to leave us alone! You really have no control over yourself do you?"

Syaoran looked darkly at Mark, a small glint of satisfaction in his eye, but mostly the bits of rage burning through. "Think what you want." He turned and walked into the gym, not glancing back a bit.

Sakura looked a bit in shock at Syaoran, then walked over to Mark. "Are you okay? I can take you to the nurse and get some ice packs or something for that? Something right away might make it not swell up as much the next day."

Mark smiled meekly at Sakura, about to politely refuse, but seeing the irratated look on Syaoran’s face as he watched Sakura so concerned about his eye, Mark obliged. "Yeah I guess that’s a good idea. Plus I get out of running warm ups."

"Well, I’ll tell the P.E. teacher for you. Hurry though Sakura, so we can get on the same dodgeball team." Tomoyo said, then walked to the gym class, looking quietly at Syaoran as he sat fuming in his place. I wonder what his problem is today? Maybe he and Mark have met before? Or is it that he’s jealous Sakura’s so concerned? oooo I bet that’s it! How cute! Mark better watch it or Syaoran is gonna give him another black eye. Tomoyo thought through her small observations.

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Syaoran sighed. Dodgeball was no fun when you had no one to hit. Poor Mark has to sit out because his eye hurts sooo much. Baka.He shouldn’t go talking like that. He quickly ducked a yellow ball whizzing by his head. Why do they have to make fun of people like that? Especially... Syaoran jumped sideways and chucked his ball at a smaller girl, Nataly or something, who was standing to the corner of the room. It nailed her, hard, right in the stomach. She lurched down and held her stomach tight. She was on the brink of tears, but she held them in. Syaoran cringed, he hadn’t meant to throw it so hard. He hoped she was alright.

Tomoyo and Sakura were against him, hitting out many of his teamates. What’s her problem, anyway? Can’t she ever sense when somone is no good?He jumped just in the nick of time from Tomoyo’s fast pitch. That was clo...Missing another, this time jumping over it. Syaoran went after the ball, faked a bit, and then threw his fastest at Sakura. She tried to move in time, but it managed to hit her arm. She pretended like it didn’t hurt, but from the sound of contact and the look beneath her masked face, Syaoran regretted throwing it so fast. I should be banned from playing this. Maybe if I just throw from my left hand, I won’t bother anyone.

"Alright, that’s enough for today class. Go get changed and ready for your next class." The teacher shouted. "Li Syaoran! Hang out for a minute."

Great! Another lecture.

"Syaoran. I know you are just playing how you think is fun, but for some of the other kids, it’s not. Nataly went to the nurse because of nausea. Sakura said she didn’t hurt, but she is gonna have some bruise on her arm tommorrow. Don’t throw so hard. I will pull you out of the next game."

Syaoran sighed. He knew what the speech was about, he had heard it a thousand times in a thousand different subjects. ‘Be nice to the other kids.’ He shuffled his feet impatiently then replied. "Yes sensei."

Syaoran started to leave. "And Li-san, that is quite an arm you have." The teacher said. Syaoran did his best to smile at the compliment, but it felt too corny. First he lectures me, then he thinks it’s okay now, we can be friends.Guess I’ll play lazy the rest of gym this year. That’s basically what he just told me to do...

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"Dang it Tomoyo! It kills! I know he is strong and stuff, but geez! That was a little much wasn’t it!?" Sakura asked, still holding her right arm. She and Tomoyo were walking to their last class.

"I know, it already looks horrible! But don’t worry, I’m sure Syaoran got what was coming for him. Mr Levin asked him to stay after class." Tomoyo smiled. "I bet he’ll have to apologize to you and Nataly!"

Sakura groaned. "Great, now I have a fake apology to look forward to."

They reached their science room, then settled in to two chairs towards the back. Syaoran walked in, taking note of where Sakura and Tomoyo were sitting, then chose a seat a few chairs to the side.

The class started, and the science teacher droned on in reveiw with the previous night’s lesson. "I bet he feels sorry about hitting you like that! You should’ve seen how mad he looked when you took Mark to the nurse! Talk about a jealous rage!" Tomoyo said, leaning in to Sakura and whispering.

"Oh come on Tomoyo! You know we haven’t talked since the clow cards were all sealed. That was years ago! We moved on you know?"Sakura said a bit harshly, forcing herself to beleive her words too.

Tomoyo smiled, knowing Sakura was having a hard time masking the truth. "If you say so."

They tried to concentrate on the science lesson; "Stars and Planets", but Sakura had a hard time concentrating. Normally she’d listen, she really like astronomy, but she was having the same all too familiar conflict in her head. He only helped you back then because of the clow cards. Sure, you became friends, but after the clow cards were over and sealed, look what happened! A friendship just fell away like it was never there. He was only here for the cards...Sakura repeated the sentence through her mind.No, that doesn’t make sense. Why is he still here? Three years past and he’s still here-no family and in complete honesty, no real friends either-besides his general fan club. Why’s he still here? Why’d he become so distant to me that day after the clow cards...The science teacher passed out some work sheets to the groaning students, and said they had till the end of class to finish them. Sakura worked steadily on it, trying to finish quickly, so she could get back to thinking. Okay that star isn’t really a star so it’s a neubula or something...

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The bell rang, and Tomoyo and Sakura jumped out of their seats and walked quickly to their locker. They had a holiday weekend, Labor Day, and had an extra day of freedom from the school.

"Sakura, Tomoyo, do you want to come over tommorrow night? I am having a party while my parents are away (Sakura thinks:Oo no parents-no way! At least that’s what Touya would say. But I hate lying to him...Besides-who is this girl? She’s a bit younger then us I think...) and I am inviting our whole class! It’s an open invitation. It’s at my place, so if you want to come, go ahead!" The girl handed them peices of paper."That’s my address, phone number and the time of the party. I hope you come!" The young girl skipped away and approached some of Sakura’s other classmates, making the same speech.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked when she was sure the girl couldn’t hear her.

"Don’t you know!? She’s a seventh grader, popular one at that, she was the leading role in the last musical and ever since then she uses her fame to get friends! I think her name’s like Alison or something. Anyway, it’d be fun! I have nothing else to do, and now I get to make you an outfit to wear there!" Tomoyo said excitedly, thinking rapidly through the materials and clothes she already had. I’ll need to get some leather for some pants that I saw in the people magazine. Those were awesome! I am sure Sakura would look cool in those.

"I’ll have to work on asking Touya, you know him." Sakura said, smiling. "Well I will meet you at the park around 5 tonight-if that’s still okay? I know you have to work fast with our outfits." Sakura said this rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, you’d better come to my house tonight, I need all the time I can get, and you might be able to help me pull some stuff out."Tomoyo said. "See you at five then." She then parted with Sakura in the hall and headed off to her locker.

Sakura walked happily to her locker. The party would be fun, she loved having things to do. Plus maybe she could talk some more to Mark? He was moaning more than he talked while Sakura brought him to the nurse’s office. Not a very livelt introduction conversation. But maybe tommorrow. Sakura looked up from her books as she shoved them into her bookbag, towards the conversation Alison was trying to bring up with Syaoran. Syaoran looked annoyed, maybe even a bit amused, while Alison swooned over him and how much she wanted him to come to the party. Great, Sakura thought. The jerk with the fast pitch will be there, ready to make fun of the bruise on my arm.

Syaoran sighed from his position, waiting for the seventh grader to go away. Why does everyone follow me around like this? I am not that cool. All they think I can do is play soccer, but yet they still love me. So it sounds vain, but I just don’t want their concern and attention. "Everyone would love it if you came, I mean you of all people. I could put that on the invitation: ‘The Great Li Syaoran coming to Alison’s big party!’...her speech stretched on. Maybe if I take off running she’d leave me alone. She couldn’t keep up, anyway The same instant, Mr Levin, the P.E. teacher, walked by in the hall, giving Syaoran a sympathetic glance while he evaluated the situation. Syaoran looked back warily as Alison talked on. He looked as Sakura walked by them, a visible big red spot on her arm. I wanted to go apologize!

"Um, I know you’re not done talking, but I have to get home really fast, I have to umm meet someone. Sorry." Syaoran grabbed his books and started to turn. He felt a hand grab his arm.

Alison boldly spoke out, "So you are coming right? You have to come!" he way she spoke was almost forceful, and Syaoran had to hold back a little laugh at the way she was trying to order him around.

"Um, Sure."Syaoran didn’t really think he would, but anything to get her to let go of his arm. It worked. Syaoran quickly walked after Sakura as she left through the big entrance doors.

Syaoran made sure no one important were around, then shouted, "Kinomoto! Chotto matte!"

Sakura turned around, a bit surprised to be facing Syaoran. Her eyes hardened and she immediately closed herself off. "What do you want?" She didn’t say it harshly, but enough to let him know she wasn’t thrilled to be talking to him, but she’d tolerate him.

"Um," Syaoran immediatly looked down at his feet. Why did I do this? "I just wanted to say sorry about your arm. I threw that a bit too hard and-"

"I understand. You’re on orders from Levin to apologize. It’s okay. I forgive you." She said all this very coldly. She spun and headed for the road off the school.

Syaoran stood in a bit of shock. He realized what she thought, and shook his head sadly. I wanted to apologize myself. And she didn’t beleive me. Syaoran sighed, then headed towards the road, heading the other direction.

"She’s tough huh? Cute though, really fiery." Mark said, obviously having heard the whole conversation.

Syaoran spun facing Mark, anger rising quickly. Mark saw this happening and quickly spoke, "Don’t give me another black eye, Sakura’s not here to take good care of me!" With that Mark walked quickly away from Syaoran, who was exstremely aggrivated from this comment.

I hate him! I hate him! How could he dare say that to my face? But why would I care? Sakura and I obviously aren’t friends anymore. (sigh) He kicked a rock down the road. But why would I feel like apologizing again? Who cares!! I’m not going to let this eat away at me, it doesn’t matter anyway. I hope they go together to Alison’s party. I didn’t want to go anyway.

Syaoran reached his apartment and unlocked the door, stepping into the familiar and comforting surroundings. Meilin ran to the door, throwing her arms around Syaoran. "So what happened in school today!? Anything exciting? Tell me tell me!"

"Meilin, you are supposed to be in bed, getting better. You were really sick, and you don’t want to miss another day of school." Syaoran said, walking towards the fridge for a drink.

"Party pooper. Any labor day parties!? Be honest with me Syaoran! You know how I like to make an appearance with my Syaoran in public places!"Meilin said quickly.

Syaoran sighed looking at the counter of the kitchen. A pill’s wrapper lay there, looking much like the antibiotics Meilin was supposed to be taking, but they were not the same pills. "Meilin did you take your pills today?"

"Of course Syaoran! You know I wouldn’t try to skip out on my pills! I mean come on, I wanna get better so I can be with you at school and go to all the parties and-"

"Meilin, did you take this?" Syaoran asked, holding the wrapper in the air for Meilin to see.

"Well yeah, that’s what I am telling you! Cause you just asked if-"

"Meilin-chan! You idiot! You took caffine pills! Don’t you notice the big caffine label on the front of the wrapper!?" Syaoran asked, hardly beleiving Meilin’s failure in the whole pill mix up.

Meilin stood dumbfounded for a minute, then replied sheepishly, "They look the same!" She looked at him like a puppydog for a second, then returned to her rapid chatter that really held no signifigant information.

Oh God please tell me she isn’t going to be like this all day and night. I can’t stand her when she’s on her normal hyper spells, she didn’t need this help! Ths will be a long day!

Sakura continued to hold her head high as she got to her house door. Wow I really was harsh to him. Where did that come from? Am I really that angry at him inside? So he hit me with a dodgeball, so what. Sakura frowned a bit as she walked into her house. I should’ve just kept smiling. One Syaoran is enough for this world. Maybe if he comes to the party I can casually say I am sorry for being mean. No, that doesn’t make any sense, I didn’t really do anything mean-I just didn’t act myself. "Sorry Syaoran, for not acting like myself. Will you ever forgive me?" Sakura’s thoughts were interrupted by Touya’s shouting from the other room.

"No! I am not gonna go to some middle schooler’s party! I told you!" Touya slammed the phone down and was breathing heavily with rage. He looked up at Sakura. "Thinking of going to a party tommorrow night? That’s okay. But she wants ME to go!? I thought I was a well respected senior at our high school, and some seventh grader invites me to a party!? What is happening to me?? Oh crap if any of the other high schoolers find out..." Touya jumped out of the room and ran out of the house.

Sakura stood in a bit of disbeleif. Touya had just given her permission to the party right? Maybe not directly, but he said ‘That’s okay’. Well that was good. One less thing to worry about. Sakura giggled a bit. Alison had invited her brother, Touya, to the party! That was pretty funny in itself! Sakura reminded herself to remember this incident as fuel for the next sibling squabbel. Sakura smiled on last time and the pulled herself over to the frige for a drink.

She pulled out some milk, started pouring it, and reached over with her left hand to grab some cookies. She walked upstairs with her snack, and sat on her bed. She sighed. Last year, Kero, her best friend and most annoying stuffed animal, decided things were too boring for him right now, and went to America with Yue. It was very sad, Touya lost his best friend Yukito, and Sakura lost Kero. They promised to come back in a year and a half, which wasn’t too far away anymore, and Sakura awaited their arrival.

Sakura pulled out her old nintendo and began playing an old version zelda, which she had almost beaten. In a way zelda’s journey reminded her of herself. A normal boy in his world, forced to fight off evil and change his life forever. Sakura wasn’t really thinking about that right now, as she played off a hard enemy towards the end of the game. She played for a while, beating a dungeon and moving on to the next, until she heard the phone ring.

"Moshi moshi? Kinomoto Sakura speaking."

"Sakura! It’s 5:30! Don’t tell me you forgot! I need your help on the clothes!" Tomoyo’s voice woke Sakura up from her daze, and Sakura ran over to the nintendo, saved the game, and ran down the stairs with the phone. "Sorry Tomoyo! I am leaving right away! Goodbye!"

"Okay! Bye! I will try to meet you down the road." Tomoyo said then hung up.

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Sakura breathed heavily, after sprinting a bit of the distance between Sakura and Tomoyo’s house. The crisp fall air felt good and clear in her lungs, and the wind stirred leaves all around her. She saw a figure jogging quickly a bit down the road from her. They looked oddly fimiliar. She recognized the track jacket they wore right away. I wonder where he is going?

She looked forward and saw Tomoyo walked in the distance towards her. Sakura jogged a bit more and they met quickly. "Hey Sakura! It’s so nice out! I love it!" Tomoyo spun circles in the leaves, laughing joyfully. "Did you see Syaoran? He was jogging really angerly away from his house. I think Meilin pushed him too far!" Tomoyo smiled and did a nice cartwheel on the sidewalk. The sun was setting and the air was orange, glittering with the dancing leaves.

Sakura smiled, even though she still felt a bit angry at Syaoran. The outside atmosphere was so lovely, she felt in a good mood no matter what he had done. Still, her arm was turning a bit green in the spot he hit her with. Sakura smiled it away and followed after Tomoyo’s cratwheel with a clean roundoff. They walked up the steps with the springy feeling from being outside, and opened the door.

Tomoyo grabbed Sakura’s arm and pulled her into her room. "Look at these pants! I made them! I am a genius!"

Sakura laughed at her friends enthusiasm and replied, "Yeah those are really cool! do I get to wear them?"

"Of course!" Tomoyo beamed. Of course the pants would look good on Sakura! Maybe I can make my own version in a different color! Dark green doesn’t look good on me. I can make like a purplish leather skirt out of the other material I found the other day. Green will fit Sakura. Plus, I know how Syaoran likes green. hehehh.

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I am going to kill her. I can’t take her anymore. When will the stupid stuff wear off?? Syaoran thought as he jogged further from his house, running from the intense rage he had when Meilin’s excess energy broke a lamp.That had been the last straw. Syaoran had told Meilin he needed to go out, and she’d better not dare to follow. Well I better go back, it’s getting dark out.

@#$%! Sakura! Syaoran ducked behind a tree as Sakura walked out of Tomoyo’s house. I better go home the long way, she is in a mood or something. Syaoran knew that wasn’t really the reason he was going home the long way. He was scared of her. I’m such a coward in these things. No- I am not gonna walk an extra mile to my house just to avoid her. I will run really fast by her. She won’t even notice me.

He jogged hard by her, nodding in recogniztion. Phew that was close. I didn’t even have to stop to say hi-

"Matte (wait)! Li-kun!" Sakura called.

Syaoran stopped resentfully, wondering if he should have tried to pretend he didn’t hear her. "Yeah?"

"Umm," Sakura nervously scratched her arm. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier-I mean, I wasn’t very nice and-"

Syaoran blushed ever so slightly, but interrupted her, "It’s okay."

Sakura smiled a bit, then asked, "Are you going to Alison’s party?"

Syaoran frowned and said, "I am going to be...gone." He saw a breif bit of disappointment on Sakura’s face, but she made no reply. The few seconds of silence tortured them with the awkwardness or this whole ordeal, and Syaoran spoke once again. "I’ve, ah, got to go. Meilin needs me." He turned and jogged off.stupd stupid stupid! why does she close up when you are around her? Cause you are so stupid! You are an idiot! Go home to your only other match Meilin. She is the only one who could ever tolerate your idiotic presence. NO! that’s not true. It’s Sakura’s fault for falling to me. I won’t let her make me feel like an idiot. But, am I the one falling for her?

Syaoran reached his house quickly, running fast.He opened the door and before he set a foot in the house, Meilin flooded him with questions. "No parties huh? You can’t lie to me. We are going. Both of us. I am going, you are going. So I was sitting on the couch and I get a phone call. Alison something, from seventh grade. She asked if we were both going to her party. Party! You told me there was no parties! Li Syaoran! You lie to your only true love? You lie to me, Li Meilin..." Meilin slowly fell to the floor, completely crashing from her hyper surge. "We...are...going..."

Syaoran rolled his eyes and picked up Meilins sleeping heavy body and half dragged, half carried her to her bed. "Good night Meilin. We are not going to the party."

Sakura walked into Alison’s house a few minutes before the party would start. She promised to meet Tomoyo there to finish up their outfits. Sakura was wearing the tight Hunter green leather pants Tomoyo had made, along with a camo tank that laced halfway up the sides. Sakura thought it was a better styling of Tomoyo’s creations, and knew she would catch some attention. Tomoyo looked very nice too, in a snakeskin purple leather skirt that stopped above her knee, and a matching halter top. They both were freezing cold, however, and gratefully walked into the heated house.

"Hi guys! Glad you could make it!" Alison said, already clinging to the arm of a popular basketball player from the sixth grade.

"I guess it’s all age groups tonight." Tomoyo said, eyeing a few of the kids already there. She even recognized a fifth grader.

"Yeah, considering Alison invited my brother!" Sakura said with a laugh.

"Touya!?" Tomoyo laughed along.

People started flooding in, fifth graders to tenth graders. They along well enough, in the nice atmosphere Alison had created. Sakura immediatly noticed Syaoran and Meilin coming in. Syaoran looked exstremly grumpy as Meilin dragged him by the arm into the house.He wore a tshirt and jeans, obviously not going all out for the party look, while Meilin looked ready for the prom.

Meilin left Syaoran near the food table, and walked off to some of her other friends. He stood as if deciding what to do, then grabbed a drink and headed for an open seat. The middle of the room was the dance floor, where many kids danced energetically to some party mixes playing on the top knotch stereo.

"Syaoran looks like he woke from the dead!" Tomoyo said loudly over the blaring music.

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Definitely!" She shouted. Syaroan cast a glance at Sakura, but didn’t seem to take notice at how well her clothes fit or how nice he looked. He held a steady glare that masked any emotions he might feel.

Mark, who’s eye was a bit blue but all in all wasn’t too bad, approached Sakura very well dressed and cool headed. "Would you like to dance Kinomoto Sakura?"

Sakura, a bit shocked from his offer and him calling her by her full name, smiled and accepted his offer. "That’d be great Mark!" She called back over the song.

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Syaoran blushed a bit in embaressment. Sakura’s arm had a very nasty cicular bruise, in an amazing assortment of colors. Bruise almost matches her camo shirt! She looks really good-but it doesn’t matter. Syaoran narrowed his eyes as he watched Mark approach Sakura. He wouldn’t....He won’t....Syaoran hardly missed the fruit punch falling out of his cup as he crushed it as his hand tightened into a fist. Mark had just asked Sakura to dance.

That’s it! No one is here for me. Sure I have a little group of girls across the room giving me flirty looks and blowing kisses, but that’s just sick. I am leaving. Meilin will know how to go home. So Syaoran got up and left quietly, walking into the cold fall night air.

It’s cold out here! Syaoran thought as he jammed his hands into his pockets. The wind picked up and howled past his ears. Syaoran became attentive and listened to the outside’s language. Trees emptied more leaves onto the ground.

Syaoran strained his ears but heard the distant sound of thunder. I better stay here and make sure no one gets hurt from the storm. Syaoran quickly climbed a nearby tree, which happened to have a nice veiw into a window of Alison’s house. He watched everyone dance slowly to a song, holding each other as they moved to the beat. Gross! That’s so stupid, they have extra time to dance, but not to learn martial arts. Why do I have to be the weird one here? He spotted Sakura and Mark, standing a bit too close for Syaoran’s comfort. If you don’t like her why are you so jealous? "I’m not." Syaoran said outloud to himself.

The wind continued to pick up, and the sturdy tree Syaoran was perched on began to sway. man this is some wind to be moving this tree! The song inside sped up again, and Sakura pulled away from Mark to talk to Tomoyo. Only, Sakura couldn’t find Tomoyo through the crowd. "At least she left him." Syaoran mumbled, and returned his gaze into the angry night sky.

"Left him?" Tomoyo asked from the ground.

Syaoran jumped at her voice, narrowly keeping hold of the branch he was on. "What do you want?"

"Oh nothing, just trying to capture your wistful gaze as you stare into the window where you true love dances with another. That’s all." Tomoyo smiled up at Syaoran, clutching her video camera.

Syaoran glared at her, then looked at the sky. "A really bad storm is coming. They might get a power failure or something. I was just being look out."

Tomoyo looked up at the sky and saw he was right. "Wow! That’s an awesome storm! I wanna tape it!" Tomoyo said, struggling up the neighboring tree. She reached a good taping spot, and hit record. The violent skies were still safe enough away to get some on tape before worry of electricution.

The both sat in their trees for a few moments, when the wind got unbearably strong and it was starting to sprinkle. "We need to get inside!" Syaoran yelled over the wind.

Tomoyo nodded quickly and began her descent down the tree. Syaoran jumped to the ground and then offered to hold Tomoyo’s camera while she descended quite unsurely through the hurling wind. "Thanks!" She shouted, dropping the small camera lightly to Syaoran. She normally wouldn’t throw her equipment, but now was an exception. "Okay." She said when she got to the ground. She quickly grabbed her video camera and ran up the steps to the house. It began pouring, unbelievably pounding and roaring down, pelting anything in it’s descent with water.

Tomoyo managed to get in the door before being soaked by the rain. She looked back at Syaoran, who looked unsurely at the room. "I am soaked, I’ll just get everything wet!" Tomoyo grabbed his arm and pulled him in.

____________________________________________________________________

Sakura watched Tomoyo pull Syaoran in. What was going on? Why was Syaoran soaked? And why was the stereo fuzzing unbearably loud? With a quick check of thoughts Sakura realized the fuzz wasn’t the stereo, but was the downpour of rain outside.Sakura pushed her way to Tomoyo and Syaoran.

"Is it storming that bad?" Sakura asked.

"You’d better beleive it! I went out there to -umm- Get some air and Syaoran was outside hiding from Meilin, and just before I said ‘Hi’ it started to get really windy and started to pour." Tomoyo said, quickly making a story.

Sakura didn’t beleive all of this story, but could tell that there was something very violent outside.

"Lots of lightening in the distance too. They better call off the party or they will have a bunch of kids in Alison’s house with no electricity." Syaoran said.

"But we can’t go out there in the pouring rain!" Sakura cried. "I am not walking home in that!"

Just before they started their arguing, Tomoyo stood up on a chair, grabbed a microphone attached to the stereo, and began talking in a level voice. "There is a very very violent storm coming, loss of electricity very possible. It’s nothing to get scared about, but I would suggest going home if you can. It’s raining too hard to walk, but if you can hitch a ride with some of the older kids... Just some FYI." Tomoyo stepped down off the chair and watched some of the kids run to the windows. They turned off the music and kids began to leave.

Syaoran sighed and headed to the door, figuring he could run home before any of the lightening reached their town. "Syaoran! How are you getting home?" Sakura asked.

"Gonna walk." He said absently, continuing through the flock of people heading out.

"Did you forget about ME!?" Meilin shouted, running a grabbing Syaoran.

Syaoran rolled his eyes. He had forgotten. Great. Now how will I get home? I know there’s no way Meilin will go outside in this rain. He turned back to Sakura and Tomoyo.

Sakura smiled at Syaoran and Meilin. "You guys need a ride? I can call my brother, he will drive us all home. Tomoyo too." Sakura grabbed her cell phone off it’s clip on her waist and dialed the house number.

No no no no! Touya hates me since the Clow Card days. I have gone out of my way to avoid him. In fact I can’t remember seeing him for almost two and a half years now, except brush bys in school. But no. Now I have to ride in a small space with him, his sister, Overactive Meilin, and Tomoyo, who will probably be taping the whole thing.

"Alright, it’s fine. Let’s stand by the door." Most of the kids had cleared out by now. Sakura walked brightly to the doorway, followed by Tomoyo and Meilin. Syaoran reluctantly followed suit.

______________________________________________________________________

What could possibly be taking him so long? A pair of headlights came up the drive on the side of the house. "That’s him!" (finally) Sakura said.
They ran through the blinding rain into Touya’s small car. "Syaoran, you can sit in the front- you are the only boy, I’d doubt you’d want to sit in the back. And we can sit-"

"Excuse me?" A small girl asked. It was Nataly, poor Nataly who Syaoran had hit with a dodgeball. "Could I possibly get a ride with you? I know it’s really crowded, but..."

Touya looked at the girl with sympathy. "Of course!"

Great. Even the girl from PE comes along for the happy ride. Syaoran thought.

Sakura looked puzzled for a minute. "Umm.. I will sit on Tomoyo’s lap I guess. Is that okay?" Tomoyo looked warily at Sakura but agreed.

"Sakura the front seat fits three. Sit up here and get out of the rain!" Touya ordered quickly. Sakura blushed but ran in and sit in between her brother and Syaoran. This is awkward...The car started moving and pulled out of the driveway in a tight turn. Sakura did her best to hold herself from leaning into Syaoran from the turn, but the momentum threw her to the side. She quickly moved back to the middle as they went forward.

Touya leaned forward trying to see through the water pelting his windshield, but soon it became almost impossible.

"That is our house!" Meilin exclaimed as they reached an apartment complex. "You guys can stay there while the storm blows over.We won’t mind!"

Touya looked doubtfull but then agreed. "We have no other choice. Sorry Tomoyo, -"Touya nodded at the small girl stuffed in the back seat.

"Nataly." She said abruptly.

"Sorry Nataly. Looks like a pit stop. You can use my phone to call your parents if you want." Touya said, parking the car as close to the doorway as possible.

The second the car was parked, Syaoran threw the door open and lept out of the car. If anyone had seen his face, they’d see it was blushing a healthy color of lobster red.

Sakura slid out of her squished position and followed after Syaoran in the almost blinding rain, even when out of the car. The group huddle together and rushed through the flooding black pavement, towards the open door. Syaoran held the door open, and then they climbed the stairs to their second floor apartment. Syaoran fumbled with his wet hands as he unlocked the door, and led everyone inside.

"So this is where the brat lives..." Touya mumbled.

A loud crash of thunder rumbled the floor, and the lights flickered dead. Syaoran lit a candle in what seemed out of midair, and began lighting other candles laying throughout the house.

Meilin played hostess and grabbed everyone drinks from the dying fridge. She handed out the sodas, milk, and water that had been requested, then sat down in the couch. She looked behind her where Syaoran was still lighting candles in the hall and bathroom. "Syaoran, come over here, don’t worry about the light back there. They won’t be here that long to have to leave this room." Meilin ordered.

Syaoran reluctantly walked back and sat on the couch next to Meilin. Touya sat with Nataly on another, and Tomoyo and Sakura shared the only other couch. One of those times you are glad you have extra furniture. Syaoran thought thoughtfully.

Sakura gazed at Syaoran who looked extra nice in the candlelight with his wet hair dripping down. He looked older now that she thought about it. If only he would grow up and talk to me. Sakura thought.

Touya was getting very aggrivated at the wistful look Sakura gave the brat. He was about to say something when Tomoyo broke the silence.

"It was very nice of you to lend your house like this. I’m sure the storm will be over in no time." Tomoyo smiled cheerfully.

"Oh it was no problem! I always jump at the chance of having company, Syaoran never lets me invite anyone over." Meilin said, elbowing Syaoran, who was frowning.

The storm began to worsen, if it was possible. The building creaked dangerously , and rain continued to roar as the leading sound in the room. Sakura and Tomoyo began talking quietly about the party, with Syaoran pretending not to be listening. Meilin was talking to Syaoran, but her words went in one ear and out the other. Nataly was telling Touya about her family.

Nothing like some good candlelight and a devestating storm to rekindle the family times. Syaoran thought. But I know this storm is not normal. Does Sakura sense it as well? Of course not, she chooses to ignore her powers and pretend like nothing ever hapened. She thinks about things like Mark. Syaoran’s face clouded over. He is such a ba-

The storm threw a large branch at the side window, which got a crack in the process. Syaoran frowned. He glanced at Sakura, who also seemed to be startled by it. Do you sense it? Syaoran thought as his eyes met hers. Her eyes answered back with a yes. Syaoran forced himself to relax back in the couch. How would they fight off this force with Nataly and Touya there? Syaoran began sorting ideas trying to find a good one.

_______________________________________________________________________

Sakura thought hard. The look on Syaoran’s face looked like he sensed something. Thinking of it, Sakura did too. But how could they investigate with Touya and Nataly there? Syaoran looked like he was dealing with the same question. Sakura got an idea.

"Where’s your bathroom?" She asked, kind of embaressed by the thought of it.

"Down the hall second door to your right." Syaoran replied quickly. He knew where she was going.

Sakura smiled and rushed to the bathroom, very releived to see a window leading to a fire escape. She made sure the door was shut behind her, then opened the window, knowing the rain would drown out any noise heard in the living room. She climbed out carefully, shocked to feel the freezing rain stinging her head and shoulders. It felt like ice, for Sakura still was underdessed with her tank top.

She climbed down the ladder and let herself down to the ground after her three story descent. "Phew!" Sakura said to herself.

She jumped to see a figure in front of her. "! You scared me!"

Syaoran frowned and looked at the pavement for a second, then looked up at Sakura (or tried to anyway. The rain kind of kept him from looking straight forward without some pain in the eyes) "You will be cold." Syaoran said quietly, then grabbed his rashin board.

Syaoran chanted and the light shot out to their right, into the street and straight through to school playground. "Come on, we don’t have much time!" Syaoran shouted over the rain.

Sakura ran after him, thinking as she sprinted. He acts as if we have been old friends and nothing ever happened. Sakura brushed the thoughts away and concentrated on the force ahead of her. The darkness and cold rain stung a chill through her as she approached the playground.

A figure in a stained white dress seemed to hang in midair, holding her head in despair. She was bony and pale, with dirt and blood stains covering her. Her face could not be seen for she hung her head so low. A veil covered the hidden face as well. Sakura jumped sideways.

"Hoeeee! A ghost!" Sakura exclaimed, frozen in her spot.

The figure lifted her head slowly to stare Sakura straight in the eye, and gave the most creepiest glare Sakura had ever seen. Her eyes bulged grossly out of her face, and her skin fell loose on the protuding bones. She pointed at Sakura with her bony hand, dripping with ancient blood. "Aruka!" The figure rasped, the most horrible sound Sakura had ever heard. "Aruka! Watch thou back, for thou shall be killed by thyself in thous most unimaginable own fears." She gave an exstremly pained look through her wedding veil, and spun into midair, and disappeared. The rain softened then and the wind died down, back into a normal storm.

Sakura shook in her place, making sense of the words the creepy figure had rasped and accused her with. And Aruka. Who the heck was that? Sakura didn’t care. All she felt was the figure’s intense hatred towards Aruka, steadliy growing. Sakura clutched her hand, which was throbbing. She looked down and jumped half back, realizing it had a nicely large slash through the palm.

Syaoran approached her, eyeing her hand. "It will be alright." Syaoran said awkwardly. He ripped a bit at his undershirt (he had brought a coat along-smartly enough) and wrapped it twice around her hand. Sakura stood trembling, from the cold and from fear. Syaoran pulled his jacket off and wrapped Sakura in it, trying to calm her down "We need to go home." He said in a gentle voice. " Touya will kill me if he sees us. I was suposedly getting changed. It doesn’t take me that long." Syaoran looked a bit releived when he saw Sakura try at a smile.

"You are right." She said in a shaky voice. Maybe if she had not been so scared she would have noticed Syaoran’s true concern.

Syaoran convinced Sakura to jog back to the apartment. They quickly climbed the fire escape. "Try to get together," Syaoran said as they started for their windows. Sakura nodded then stopped.

"Syaoran wait a second you-" The window was closed. Sakura sigh and fumbled with the jacket. I guess I can leave it in the bathroom. No. I will wad it up and put it in my pocket if I can. Sakura climbed in the window and fiddled with the jacket. The leather pants didn’t offer much pocket room, and were suspiciously bulging, but she figured she could hide it.

She walked back in the candle lit room where everyone was still sitting. They gave Sakura a sispicious glare. Sakura was soaking wet, freshly dripping, while when she went into the bathroom she had been dry. Sakura’s mind raced. "I...um..took a shower. I hope you don’t mind, but I was so dirty I had to clean off. Sorry." She sat down abruptly, and Tomoyo gave an unconvinced look.

Once the conversation between Touya Nataly and Meilin had resumed, Tomoyo questioned Sakura, "I videod what I could see, but you guys ran so far off I didn’t get all of it. What was it? A lost clow card or something?"

Sakura shook her head as a chill ran down her spine. "It was much worse. Like a g-ghost. It really was! It said ‘thyself shall be killed by thous most unimaginable fears’. Then it disappeared. And the storm cleared up."

Touya watched his sister warily. Take a shower? that was lame! If that brat did something to her....Well the storm is much better. We can get out of this rathole before I have to see the brat’s face again. Syaoran walked into the room in different clothes, looking no different than when he left. Too late.

"Storm’s cleared up. You guys can leave." Syaoran said bluntly.

"We are more than happy to," Touya snapped back. He addressed Meilin. "Thank you very much for the shelter."

Meilin beamed under the praise and smiled at Touya. "Anytime for you Kinomoto Touya!"

Sakura forced a smile and hid her bulging pocket with her arm. She couldn’t wait to sleep and forget about the force she had just encountered.

____________________________________________________________________

"Wow I can’t beleive all that happened and it’s only 10:30!" Sakura said as she jumped into her bed. She forced the scary images out of her mind and yawned. "Thanks Touya for the ride!" She yelled down the hall.

"No prob monster!" He called while watching a repeat of the soccer game from two nights ago.

Sakura yawned once more and drifted into a dreamless yet restless sleep.

____________________________________________________________________

Sakura stirred from her sleep, hearing a tap sound come from the window. No I want to sleep Sakura thought. Still the tapping persisted. Sakura was becoming very annoyed. She threw an extra pillow at the window. The tapping stopped and was followed by a loud thud. "Ow!" Came a cry.

Ow? Sakura bolted up and ran to the window. A dim figure was on the ground. He was quietly sulking while rubbing his forehead.

"Li-kun? Is that you?" Sakura asked.

"Who else would climb up to your window and tap for almost twenty five minutes?" Syaoran asked. "It’s a long way to the ground you know. It hurt."

"Sorry. I was only half awake and I just thought throwing a pillow would be the answer."Sakura called. Then thinking of the situation, asked, "Why are you here? At my room window in the middle of the night? It’s not polite to spy on young girls sleeping!"

Syaoran rolled his eyes. Leave it to her to think I was watching her. "No I felt something coming from your house."

"Oh." Sakura stood there for a moment, feeling almost...what? Disappointed? "Umm. So what do we do now?"

Syaoran thought about that as he stood up. "Ummm.." (silence)... "Can I come up there?" His voice almost cracked, like nervousness or something.

...(more silence)... "Sure. Just be..Quiet okay? If Touya sees you..."

Syaoran nodded and started up the tree next to her house. He hung loosely on a tall branch and then swung himself across to her window, which was open now, and landed rather harshly on top of her stuffed animal collection. He got up and brushed the top of his head which was lightly seasoned with fall leaves and a few remaining caterpillars.

"Gross!" Sakura said. "I don’t want those things in my room!Go in my bathroom and wash them out!"

Syaoran rolled his eyes but walked to the bathroom. Although he had managed to keep his composure, the caterpillars kind of freaked him out. Sakura was right. Gross just didn’t describe it. More like horrifying. I’m not afraid of bugs...But still that’s gross. I am glad she has a sink nearby to get these things out before they make a nest.

Sakura sat on her bed, feeling a bit grossed out. She looked out into the tree that Syaoran had jumped from. Though he hadn’t shown it, that would’ve been a pretty big jump. She looked over her stuffed animals to see if any of them had the caterpillar crawling on them. A scratching sound caught her attention. If one of those caterpillars is trying to eat through a wall, I’ll squish that little bugger till he wishes he was never born! She whipped her head around and looked at the window, which was clear of anything, but the sound was getting louder. Unless the bugs mutated, it’s a bit too big of a sound for them to make. The scratching had a kind of unnerving ring to it, kind of a half dragging sound. Sakura tried to stop her immagination from taking off. "Syaoran?" She asked as he finished checking his hair. He shook out the water and asked, "What?"

"Do you hear that? The scratching noise? It’s getting kind of loud."

Syaoran looked up at Sakura. He turned a ghostly pale as his eyes met Sakura. Oh my god! Sakura’s eyes widened at Syaoran’s pale face. Sakura started to feel sick as a cold wind seemed to envelope her. She felt a chilling unearthly breath tickle down her spine. A sickening stench of decomposing flesh filled her room. The breath continued in short breaths, barely escaping into the world. Sakura was petrified. What could she do? She couldn’t bear to turn around into the unimaginable horror that she could feel behind her. She gave a desperate look to Syaoran, who seemed just as scared from the situation.

Syaoran reached for his sword, but realizing it wasn’t there looked quickly around for another weapon. He had to find something fast before the creature got Sakura...The ghost raised an all too fimiliar looking sword above Sakura’s head, preparing to bring it down in a life threatening blow.

Sakura! Syaoran breathed out his thought in a barely audible tone. He grabbed the pink toothbrush beside him and flicked it staight into the ghosts eye. That was it, the distraction gave him enough time. He ran over to Sakura and yanked her from the spot she had been frozen to, ran a safe distance away, and turned to face the enemy. Sakura gasped as she saw the ghost, and grabbed Syaoran closer.

"Aruka, thou shalt not evade my next attack. You shall righteously die by thou true loves sword!" The Ghost held Syaoran’s heavy sword tightly, with the bony hands that seemed to grow weaker by the second. She let the heavy weapon hang to the ground, dragging it along behind her. A large slash dripped fresh blood from her neck, and her mouth barely moved with the words she spoke, they were so chapped and bloody. She shouted an ancient language some words not understandable to anyone of the present. She shouted some type of ancient language, a hard one that came from deep in the back of her throat. She twirled sending a chill through their spines and throwing a few bits of ancient dirt through the room. She laughed with a deep satisfaction of evil and yelled through her disappearance, "You are a fool Aruka!"

She left and the room returned to silence, the same as before she left. Except for the bits of dirt, the small trail of dragging the sword left, and a misplaced toothbrush. "Well ....That will take a while to clean up." Syaoran said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. He tried to pull away but Sakura was still frozen, clinging to Syaoran with a grip of death no one could part. He looked back at her, but she didn’t return his gaze, her eyes were glued to the spot she had almost been killed.

I don’t want to let go. So what if he thinks I’m a freak. Sakura clung to him still, as he desperately tried to pull away in a polite sort of way.

God she is killing me! Syaoran continued to try to pull away. "Kinomoto...It’s okay, it’s over, you’re safe now." Sakura loosened enough for Syaoran to jump out of her hold. She was about to say something when she heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"Oh no! Touya! You’ve got to hide!" Sakura frantically searched her room, then spotted it. "Quick, the stuffed animals! Go!" Sakura threw the few remaining stuffed animals over him, then jumped into the bed, throwing the covers over her. Bits of the dirt fell off her sheets as she jumped in, and she clutched the sheets with fear.

"Sakura? Are you alright? I heard some thuds and tapping and scratching, laughing and some weird language and I just wanted to check up to make sure you’re okay.I wouldn’t of even come but I swear I heard the brat’s voice.Guess I was wrong. What exactly happened?"

Sakura began her wild story of a night terror and how she had been throwing things and trying to scratch through the floor...

_____________________________________________________________________

Syaoran clutched the blue teddy bear to his side nervously. He listened to Sakura’s wild story of night time terror and had to stifle a laugh. No one, not even Sakura herself would beleive that story! Touya walked a bit closer to Sakura, and sat on the corner of Sakura’s bed as she went on.

Syaoran didn’t seem too concerned about being on the bed next to Sakura, but he was holding back terror as he watched the green, bigger-than-normal-sized caterpillar crawling across the animal over Syaoran’s face. That’s not big, that’s huge! Holy cow caterpillars don’t grow that big! I mean, this bug must of eaten a whole tree and a half to get that fat! It makes the teddy bear look like a beanie baby or something! Oh God no! it’s coming closer! The caterpillar slithered over his face, hanging precariously upsidedown. He could of sworn the caterpillar was teasing him, waiting for the perfect moment to drop and unleash his wrath. He will probably gnaw off my nose and half an eye before this conversation ends. The big cow, he’d eat anything he could get his grubby mouth on. Well he’s not gonna touch me! Syaoran tried to pick the bug up, but found it was impossible to touch such a gross creature. I am afraid of a bug! What a loser!.....No, this isn’t a bug. This is...Grubzilla! Well that sounds a bit corny, but making names off the top of your head while you are lying petrified and unable to move while a bug the size of a garden snake slithers overhead isn’t one of my talents. Touya got up from Sakura’s finally ending story, which ended by something like "Then I woke up jumping on my bed..." . The second the door click shut, Syaoran threw the bear with bugzilla across the room, backing into the wall, safe...for now.

Sakura saw the bug crawling on the floor and looked at it wide eyed.

"Go squish it or something!" Syaoran said a bit loudly, hiding in his fort of teddy bears.

"Li-kun? Are you afraid of a bug?" Sakura picked up the bug and dangled it close to Syaoran’s face.

Syaoran gulped down the horror unleashing in his throat, and stared at the little bug, right into the beady little black eyes. Then, with no warning, Syaoran jumped away and ran for the window.

"Syaoran wait! Did you forget what just happened?"

"What happened? I had a freaking mutant bug hanging over my head, and...quot; Syaoran sat down on the floor, resting his back on the wall.

Sakura grinned and took the bug and put it in a jar, her old grasshopper jar. "I name it....Bob. Bob the bug."

Syaoran watched the caterpillar tap against the glass, and stared warily as it returned the gaze. He sheepishly looked away when he realized the bug wasn’t quite as big as it had first seemed. Fearless though. Something scary in it’s many eyes.

"She took your sword. It was your sword wasn’t it? And, it cut me again." Seeing the concern in Syaoran’s eye, she quickly said, "Don’t worry no- need to rip your shirt about, but she still has your sword."

"I know. I don’t know how she got it. I always keep it with me, or at least locked away."

Footsteps started down the hall again. "Oh no! Quick, back in the stuffed animals!"

Syaoran said a quick prayer there would be no more bugs in the stuffed animals, and quickly threw them over himself. Sakura hopped in her bed and pretended to sleep. The footsteps continued past her room, probably to the bathroom, and Sakura sighed in releif. She looked over and shook the pile of stuffed animals beside her. The stuffed animals started to fall, but Syaoran didn’t move. She shook him again. Still he ly still. Sakura got up and looked at him, then laughed at the sight. Syaoran, martial art and sword expert, was sleeping quietly among teddy bears with flower wallpaper surrounding him. Sakura threw a few more stuffed animals back on him to keep him hidden, and lay back down in her bed. She fell asleep quickly and dreamed about nothing but sleep. Syaoran however was having a nightmare of over large caterpillars.

_______________________________________________________________________

Sakura woke up to a harsh whack to the face. She opened her eyes and looked around angerly to find the culprit, then noticed Syaoran swinging his arms around. He mumbled a few non understandable words, along with lots of ‘No’s and mumbling bugzilla. Sakura looked at her clock and gasped. It was 9:30 in the morning! Luckily it was labor day and they had no school. But still, Meilin might of woken to find Syaoran out of his room. Sakura shook Syaoran a bit and he shot awake, flying into a martial art stanse and hurling Sakura into the ground.

"First you hit me with your arm having some bug nightmare, then you wake up and throw me to the ground. Ohayo (good morning)!"

Syaoran looked sheepishly at the ground where Sakura was and offered a hand up. "Gomen," he muttered.

He looked at the clock, then seeing the time ran up to the window and jumped over to the tree. He called back bye, which Sakura barely heard, as he ran home. Well that was a fun night. I got a gash in my arm from a ghost, got whacked in the face, caught a bug, and made up a wild story in the time of just a few hours! Sakura yawned. She hadn’t gotten half enough sleep and longed to lay down again. But today she had promised to meet Tomoyo at the mall around 11.

Hopefully I won’t ever have a night like that again. But this feels...almost fimiliar. Like the old card captor days. Only this one started a lot more scarier. Sakura stretched and walked over to her closet to pick out an outfit. Starting over is a scary thing....