RECAP: Last chapter was the flight from Japan to Germany and a little of their flight to England. Sakura finally tells Syaoran how she feels and he, understandably, is a little cold about it. She has the same dream again, only this time she sees him fall (die). So she freaked out, went into his room at three at night and tried to make him go home. But alas, they were all flying to England, passing notes on peices of paper on the airplane... that was it.

Chapter 7 - Another setting up chapter that’s not as exciting as I thought it was going to be because it ended up being much longer transitioning than I expected-

Syaoran yawned, rubbing his eyes. Travelling really took it out of you. He remembered the trip to England two years ago being much easier. But then, he had been alone with Sakura, even sharing a room with her. That had been great. He glanced over at her. She was getting her suitcase at the baggage claim, along with Chindra and Tomoyo. He let out a long sigh. Life had been so much easier before. He watched her try to be polite as she squeezed through the crowd. She dragged her bag off the conveyor belt, apologizing as she whacked a girl in the leg. She was just incredibly clumsy.

Chindra approached him, struggling with her large suitcase. She stopped beside him, turning to watch Sakura and Tomoyo. "What time do you think we should leave tomorrow?" She asked, fiddling with some strap.

Syaoran glanced at her. She was so different from Sakura. Her dark eyes darted around the airport with distrust. "Probably around ten or so."

She nodded, spiraling curls bouncing all the while. "That sounds good. Are we going to rent a car now or tomorrow?"

Syaoran hadn’t thought of this. He turned to look outside the airport. It was around dinner time, where the sun was hanging on the horizon. All of the car rental places would be nearby. "We should get it here, while we’re still close."

Chindra nodded in agreement. They looked back towards Sakura and Tomoyo as they made their way over. Sakura smiled, almost blushing when she met eyes with Syaoran, then looked towards outside. Everything looked vaguely familiar from their last visit. She softened thinking about it. Syaoran had been so in love with her then. And she had ruined it all. Now they went back in reverse. How ironic. She shivered thinking to when they had kissed in the hotel room in Paris. It had been so sweet, so perfect. And now, she thought with much regret, that probably meant nothing to him. Not to all the girls he had been through. She let out a dejected sigh. Tomoyo noticed. She smiled it away, hoping to fool her friend.

"We’re going to get a car," Syaoran announced.

Sakura brightened, watching him. What a leader. "Alright. Where are we going to go?"

Syaoran shrugged, then turned towards the outside. "I dunno. Let’s go look."

Sakura nodded in agreement, then picked up her stuff. They all trooped outside. It was so warm and dry. Sakura enjoyed the air for what it was. When they had been here last, it had been winter. A warm breeze blew by. Syaoran led the way across the street. There were car rentals lined along the next road. Syaoran looked through the different car selections. They wouldn’t be able to get anything nice, having four of them. He found the enterance to a large looking place and charged ahead.

Sakura looked around at the different cars, wondering what they’d get. Syaoran wouldn’t want to get anything big and bulky. If it had just been the two of them, she was sure they’d end up with something like the black car he had at home. But there was four of them, and they’d need something a little more spacious. Syaoran headed to the office. She hurried after him.

Syaoran stopped at the door to the blue box of a building and pulled his bookbag off his back. He unzipped part of it and pulled out his wallet, then threw it back over his shoulder. "I’ll buy it, if you guys just want to wait outside."

Tomoyo smiled. "Are you sure you want to pay for it? My mother would be more than glad to contribute."

Syaoran shook his head. "You’re buying our hotel rooms."

Tomoyo nodded in agreement, then let him continue in alone into the building. Sakura let out a long breath as he disappeared inside.

"Well... he’s more sociable than he’s been since he got here," Chindra remarked.

Tomoyo giggled. "Sakura-chan, you’re just Li-kun’s perscription for life, I swear. He simply can’t function without you."

Sakura blushed, looking at her feet and shaking her head. "No, he’s fine without me," she mumbled.

Tomoyo sighed. "Sakura-chan, think about it. When you went to Hong Kong, I’m sure he was involved in all kinds of stupid teenage activities. He was mean and miserable, wasn’t he?"

Sakura reluctantly shrugged. "I guess so..."

"There you have it. You both need each other. It’s beautiful."

Chindra nodded sincerely in agreement. "Most girls would die for such a perfect match."

Sakura let out a long breath. "I hate always talking about me! I mean, what about you guys? Chindra, you’ve got to have a crush on someone."

Chindra blushed brightly, shaking her head. "N-no. No one I can think of..."

"It’s that boy that works at the mall with her. The one you worked with at the ice cream place," Tomoyo said, giggling.

"Botan!" Sakura blurted out, amazed. "You and Botan....Wow. I would have never guessed. Does he know?"

Chindra shrugged. "It’s not really that important. It’s just a crush, right? I mean... it’s hard for people like us to find a guy. Generally when you tell them you can do magic spells they start to straggle off. That’s why you’re so lucky."

Sakura sighed. "I suppose I am...."

"Maybe he’s taking a while to warm up to you, Sakura, but me and Chindra have been watching. The looks when you’re not paying attention, the wistful gaze followed by intentionally looking the other way....It’s all there."

Sakura blushed, shaking her head. "I should have never made this public. I mean, what if Syaoran heard this! He would hate me forever!"

Tomoyo laughed, shaking her head. "You could blow up the planet and Syaoran would still be helplessly in love with you. It’s adorable!"

Syaoran emerged from the office, paperwork and a set of keys in hand. A guy was leading him along. He gave them a quizzical look as they all stared at him with weird expressions. Tomoyo was giggling. That was never a good sign. He scowled and continued following the guy out to their car. Sakura hurried after him, adding a glare at Tomoyo for her to stop laughing. Tomoyo and Chindra finally settled down, walking in the back and talking in hushed tones.

Syaoran stopped at a car, thanked the guy that had walked him out, then unlocked the door. It was small, but still doable. Sakura walked over, slowing as she placed herself by the passenger’s door.

"It’s kind of small..." She said, peering into the backseat.

Syaoran shrugged. "I said midsized, this is what they had."

Sakura nodded, then let herself into the car. She threw in her purse, then got back out to put her suitcase in the trunk. Syaoran remembered he was the one with the keys, and walked back to the trunk for them. Tomoyo, Chindra, and Sakura threw in their suitcases, then all filed back into the car. Syaoran started it wordlessly, then paused to look at a map in his lap.

"That guy gave me a map to a cheap hotel nearby..." he mumbled in explanation, tracing over some roads. He looked up out the window, as if making a plan of action, then looked back to his map.

Sakura looked towards it pleasantly. She looked down between their seats. There wasn’t a clutch. "Going automatic?" She asked, surprised.

Syaoran frowned, looking at the direction of her gaze, then shook his head. "It’s um... it’s hard to drive on this side.... I don’t know how smart it would be to learn how to shift with my left hand in the middle of London."

Sakura smiled, nodding in agreement. "I didn’t think about that..."

He folded up the map, then put the car in reverse. He backed out of the space and headed towards the road. He pulled out and began to turn right too soon, muttering, "Shit," before getting into the right lane. Sakura let out a shakey breath of relief. She had forgotten about the whole other side of the road thing. It was particularly a detriment to their safety here in the middle of the city. Syaoran seemed to be handling it calmly. Another two intersections down, he almost collided with a taxi cab before swerving into the designated lane again. He let out a breath and continued silently to their destination.

The rest of the drive went smoothly. Sakura was glad, because from the look on Chindra’s face, the kids in the backseat were a little worried. Sakura couldn’t blame Syaoran. She wouldn’t have been willing to drive inner city like this and not be used to the switched controls. Syaoran pulled into the hotel parking lot and parked in front of the lobby.

"I’ll just go in," Tomoyo said, hurrying out of the car before anyone could say anything.

Sakura watched her friend go, then reached over to mess with the radio. She turned it on and found some type of talk radio on. She switched stations, finding something with rock. It sounded like something Syaoran would listen to. She sat back in her chair. She watched Syaoran reach to adjust the radio, feeling depressed he didn’t approve of her taste. Instead, he turned it up. Sakura smiled to herself and looked out the window.

Tomoyo came back a few minutes later with the keys. She clambered back into the backseat, surprised at the loud death metal playing. She gave Chindra a questioning look. Chindra shrugged.

Syaoran turned down the radio. "Where are our rooms?"

"He said drive around to the back, door number three."

Syaoran nodded, turned the radio back up, and continued around to the back of the parkinglot. He slowed as Sakura pointed out door number three, then parked as close to it as he could. He turned off the car and got out, stretching. After a minute, he remembered their stuff in the trunk, and walked over to unlock it.

They pulled out their bags, then followed Tomoyo to the door. She unlocked it with a key and continued inside. She walked straight to the elevator and waited patiently for it to come down to their level and pick them up.

"How far is Hiiragizawa-san from here?" Chindra asked.

"I think it was about two hours drive..." Sakura guessed, glancing to Syaoran for confirmation. He just looked around in oblivion.

"Do we know where it is?" Chindra asked, stepping into the open elevator. Tomoyo pressed the third floor button and stepped back.

"Yes, I printed a map the other night," Tomoyo answered. She frowned at the suspicious look Syaoran gave her.

"Well I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starved," Chindra said, covering a yawn at the end of the sentence.

Sakura smiled weakly. She wasn’t quite sure how to explain ‘sorry, but you can’t eat with me and Syaoran’ in the right words. Luckily, Tomoyo was on it.

"Well perhaps we can get some fast food together. I think Sakura-chan was looking for a little nicer place, but I don’t think I could stand the wait."

Chindra was about to disagree, then understood what was between the lines. "Yes, definitely. I want food now."

Sakura smiled weakly, refusing to look at Syaoran’s expression. She followed them to their doors, right next to each other again. Tomoyo hastily opened her door. Sakura smiled at Tomoyo’s help. "Syaoran-kun," Sakura started, stopping him from disappearing into his room as well. "What time do you want to go?"

Syaoran looked at his watch, then made loose eye contact with her. There was something less threatening in him. He wasn’t so gaurded. He wasn’t so scared. "As soon as you’re ready," he responded.

Sakura smiled warily. "So... are we actually going someplace nice? I won’t feel like an idiot changing into a nicer outfit to go to McDonald’s?"

Syaoran shook his head. "I’ll change too."

Sakura smiled, nodding. "Okay. I’ll meet you in ten minutes, if that’s enough time."

Syaoran nodded agreeably, then slipped into his room. Sakura glanced at the shutting door before going into her own room. Chindra and Tomoyo were flipping a coin to see who had to sleep on the couch.

"I’ll do it," Sakura said, brushing passed and setting her things down onto the couch cushions. "You guys have helped me out enough."

Tomoyo shook her head. "No. You know... what would make the most sense... Since I’m not even fighting anyone, my rest really isn’t that important. It really makes the most sense for me to sleep on it."

Chindra walked over to the couch, then frowned. She pulled off the cushions and pulled on the handle. A bed sprang up out of nowhere. Her eyes lit up in amazement. "No way!"

Tomoyo smiled happily. "A roll out bed, I should have known..."

Sakura grinned. "Well I guess that solves that problem."

"Now, onto bigger and better things like... what Sakura-chan will wear on her date!"

Sakura flushed. "It’s hardly a date... more like a business meeting discussing a big move we’re about to do or something..."

Tomoyo wasn’t even listening, already rummaging through a huge suitcase. She had seemed to pack one bag entirely for Sakura. She pulled out a skirt, then dug around for a blouse. She finally found it. "And here’s the perfect thing! Seductive yet sophisticated."

Chindra clapped. "That’s wonderful!"

Sakura shook her head immediately. "I don’t know what signals you want me to be sending but I am most certainly not going to-"

"Just try it on! It’ll look great, trust me."

Sakura bit her lip in hesitance.

"Please! If you don’t like it, you can wear whatever you want."

This sounded appealing. Sakura walked over and took the clothes from Tomoyo, then headed into the bathroom. She quickly stripped off her clothes and pulled the skirt on. The shirt took forever to button. The effect, however, was a very pretty outfit. Sakura hadn’t even known she could look so feminine. Leave it to Tomoyo. She modelled it around to herself in the mirror, looking at every possible flaw. The skirt was cut in uneven edges on the bottom, red with black lace covering over it. Tomoyo was right. It was sophisticated. She stepped back out into the room, mocking a model pose.

Tomoyo immediately had the camera up, Chindra clapping in the background. Sakura smiled weakly and relaxed. "You think I should really go out in this?"

"Yes!" Tomoyo squeaked.

"It doesn’t look bad, I promise. It just looks pretty, that’s all." Chindra said reassuringly.

Sakura glanced at herself in the full length mirror by the door. "Well..... it is pretty..."

Tomoyo nodded encouragingly, putting down the camera. "Well, while you kids are out talking over a nice candle light dinner, we’re going to go over to the store across the street. Maybe even look for a mall nearby."

Sakura shook her head. "I’m not going to be that long. It’s just dinner."

Chindra smiled skeptically. "Mhm..."

Sakura scowled. "Honestly, you guys know me, I mean-"

"We’re just saying, you two have a lot of catching up to do, Sakura-chan. You’re going to start talking and find yourself still talking at sunrise."

Sakura smiled at the thought, then let out a long sigh. "Well.... whatever. Thanks for the outfit, Tomoyo."

Tomoyo nodded.

Sakura walked back into the bathroom to brush through her hair, then looked down at her watch. It had been about eight minutes. She decided to go ahead and go. She smiled a goodbye at Tomoyo and Chindra, then let herself into the hallway. Syaoran wasn’t out yet. She turned to his door and reached out to knock. Before her hand hit it, the door opened. Syaoran frowned quizically at her hand in midair, then continued around her to the hall, shoving the key in his pocket. He had a black shirt with a tie on. Sakura looked at him, impressed, then looked towards the distant stairway.

"Ready?" He asked, inconspicuously looking over her outfit. She looked beautiful. He occupied his eyes with the signs at the end of the hall.

"Yes," Sakura answered, finding herself blushing for no reason in particular. She decided to walk it off, and began towards the stairs. Syaoran said nothing as he followed her. She knew, however, that he must have noticed her preference of the stairs to the elevator. These little things were going to buy her brownie points. She walked down towards the door they had come in and walked to the car. Syaoran got into the driver’s side and unlocked the doors.

Sakura sat down and looked around the parking lot. "So where are we going?"

Syaoran started the car, then began backing out. "There was a place right down the road that sounded pretty good," he said, switching to forward. "It’s Italian. You like Italian, right?"

"Y-yeah," Sakura said, surprised he could remember something so trivial. Her cheeks felt hot. She gazed out the window, feeling totally pathetic.

Syaoran yawned and turned down the radio so he could concentrate on driving. He drove down a straight away for a while, then slowed and pulled into a large restaurant’s parking lot. Sakura felt her stomach do a flip. She hadn’t eaten real food in what felt like years. The McDonald’s food just hadn’t done it for her.

She felt a slight twinge of pain, thinking about that. Maybe not just a slight twinge. It hurt a pretty good lot. She got out of the car and followed him to the front door. He didn’t know how to respond, that’s all. I must have completely terrified him. I can’t expect him to just BOOM change like that, can I? That’s a little unreasonable. She smiled graciously at him as he held the door for her, then scurried in. The hostess immediately spotted them and walked up.

"Hello, two?"

Syaoran nodded, taking charge. "Yes."

"Smoking or non?"

"Non."

"Right this way," She grabbed two menus from a bin, then hurried around a maze of comfortable looking tables and booths. She slowed at a booth and set the menus down for them, then backed away. "Your waitor will be right with you."

Sakura smiled and nodded, then slid into the booth and picked up the menu. She marvelled at the numerous selections of delicious foods. She started picking out things she wanted, then began an elimination process. She was very involved, not noticing their waitor’s arrival until she heard Syaoran say something.

"To drink, miss?"

Sakura looked at the menu quickly, then looked up. "Coke, thanks."

"And you, sir?"

Syaoran bit into his lower lip, looking at the vast selection of wines the place had. They were bound to be good and authentic. He let out a long breath. "Same."

The man nodded and hurried away. Syaoran drummed his fingers on the table to try and occupy his mind.

"I like this place," Sakura commented, smiling brightly at Syaoran before looking back to the menu. She began doing ‘eeny meeny miney mo’ (or however that is spelled) in her head.

Syaoran nodded absently in agreement. He looked back at the menu, avoiding the drinks page. He decided on a steak and shut his menu. The waitor arrived with their drinks. He set them down in front of them, then stepped back.

"Would you like more time or are you ready to order?"

Syaoran glanced to Sakura to see if she was ready. She nodded.

Syaoran waited for her to say something but, like always, she was waiting on him to make the first move. "Steak, medium rare," he said simply, handing the menu to the waitor. The man scribbled it down, took the menu, then looked to Sakura.

"Chicken parmesan," she said, smiling. She didn’t catch on to the whole handing the menu thing over, so the waitor had to pick it up himself.

"We’ll have those out right away."

Sakura smiled and watched him leave, then found herself stranded at the table alone again. She strirred her straw around in her drink, then took a long sip. She glanced at Syaoran. He was doing his best to remain looking antisocial, but she had become numb to it. His long messy hair hung around his eyes as handsome as ever. And he looked like he couldn’t care less.

"So how were the missions you ran for the Elders the past few years?" Sakura opened, continuing to play with her drink.

Syaoran glanced at her, then looked away. Problem was, he was having trouble not looking at her. She had always been pretty, of course, she had been the best in his eyes. But that ‘pretty’ was on a different dimension. Now she had reached a level that was much more realistic to him. The way she was filling out that shirt and how her purely innocent eyes pierced into him was simply killing him. He was slightly unsettled by the way it made him feel. Two years of living a hormone and impulse driven life were really catching up to him. He drummed his fingers on the table nervously. He stopped his fingers, remembering something. What was it? She had asked him a question. What had she asked? "Um.... like always, I guess."

Sakura smiled uncertainly. He was certainly acting different than before. "And how’s that?"

"Miserable, demanding, and exhausting," Syaoran said, staring into his drink like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

Sakura smiled, shaking her head. "I must say, it’s kind of weird to have random people stop by and start shooting at you...."

Syaoran sighed. "Well... it’s not exactly common. Most of the time I don’t have to deal with people like that, but every now and then they have some kind of business transaction they need ‘insured’ or whatever..."

Sakura shook her head. "I just never pictured you killing people with bullets, Syaoran."

Syaoran shook his head, his mind finally starting to clear for the moment. "I don’t. I mean... I did shoot at a guy, but I haven’t killed any... people. It’s not exactly something I want to do."

Sakura sighed and nodded. "Yeah..." She stirred her straw around watching the ice cubes bounce off each other. "Does it... do you ever think maybe you had a good idea, getting away from them once and for all?"

Syaoran sighed. It figured she drag that kind of a twist onto it. "Well.... I could. I hate them but then... I have more money than I could ever dream of..."

Sakura shook her head reproachfully. "You’re not the greedy type."

Syaoran shrugged. "When I can have whatever I want, it’s kind of hard to say no."

"No... I mean, there’s more to it than that. You wouldn’t stay just for the money, I don’t buy into that one bit."

"Well... It is my family. What I was born into. That’s kind of important."

Sakura nodded reluctantly. He had a point. "Yeah... I guess you’re right. I just hate to see you unhappy." She added a weak but hopeful smile at him. He didn’t notice.

"Sorry, but there’s not much you can do about it," Syaoran mumbled.

Sakura gave him a sad smile, then sighed and looked over the restaurant. "Well I suppose.... we should talk about what we came here for..."

Syaoran nodded, glancing at her. His head started to fog. He looked back to his drink, frustrated. "Yeah..."

"I don’t know how much there is to tell.... I mean, I pretty much explained all there was to it the other night."

Syaoran chewed on the inside of cheek, avoiding her eyes. "You just.... you had that dream all this time and you decide now to tell me? Just before we fight with Eriol?"

Sakura looked down at the table, feeling guilty. "Well... Yes. I mean... at first, I thought it was just some dumb dream that wouldn’t leave me alone... Then I just... I didn’t want to tell you. I thought... I thought if I did, I’d be like... sentencing you to death or something."

Syaoran let out a long breath. "So... explain it in detail."

Sakura gave him a wary look, then sighed. "Well... It starts with us... somewhere, I don’t know where. It’s sort of just a combination of a lot of places we’ve been. And... then you tell me... how you feel. And before, when I had it, I would just stare at you crying because I couldn’t explain myself. I see this like arrow pointed at you or something, or a sword... I just know you’re in danger, anyways. I know you’re in trouble trying to help me. So usually in my dream, that’s where it ends. I don’t want you to get hurt, so I don’t say anything." She glanced up to see what he was doing. He was stirring his straw around. "But um... the other night, I did say something. And then you fell. Or something. I don’t know. I just... knew what it meant."

Silence settled over them for a while. Sakura took a long drink of her soda.

"Well... hm. Why would you have a prophetic dream about something like that?"

Sakura cleared her throat, her leg starting to jitter. "Well... It’s because it’s all connected. Eriol doesn’t want you to help me. Eriol won’t let you help me. He knows he’s in trouble if you do. You weren’t meant to keep helping me after I became the Card Mistress."

Syaoran scowled. "Thanks."

"No, no, see.... I love having your help, Syaoran! But that’s the problem! I dragged you into this, and it’s not fair."

Syaoran shook his head. "I can make decisions for myself. If I thought I didn’t need to be involved, I wouldn’t be here."

Sakura felt her eyes start weighing down with water. She blinked it away. "I just... don’t want you to do anything....for my sake."

Syaoran glanced at her, watching her carefully. Yet again, she was displaying complete selflessness. There was sure to be a catch somewhere. He opened his mouth to respond, but their waitor arrived with their food. He set the steaming plates down in front of them. Sakura looked at her pasta and chicken. It looked wonderful. Syaoran wordlessly cut into his steak. Sakura let out a sigh and began eating hers silently as well.

Syaoran chewed and thought. He was just doing this for a promise, right? If there was a deeper meaning behind it, he’d never admit it. He cut off another piece and ate it. It was very good. He didn’t notice. So all that time she was just trying to protect me... He swallowed and looked up. "You don’t have to worry about me. Eriol’s just scared. Remember that last time we were here? He made us have bad dreams then, too."

Sakura sighed, nodding. That was true. "But... I don’t know, it’s just like... I knew that wasn’t real. This has just gone on so long..." She bit her lip, getting a hold on her emotions. She collected some pasta on her plate and filled her mouth with it.

"Well look. You and I both know I have to help. It’s going to take the three of us. So it’s pointless to worry about some dumb thing Eriol came up with to scare you."

Sakura nodded reluctantly. She looked at him, her eyes shining with tears. "I just... I’d never forgive myself if you got hurt..."

Syaoran sighed, then dragged his eyes up to look at her. "Sakura, I’m going to help you. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t."

Sakura had trouble swallowing the pasta midway in her throat. She managed it down, then smiled weakly. Syaoran was already eating again. What conflicting messages. She pondered responding, then decided it was best to leave it quiet. She continued working on the plate of pasta. Finally she couldn’t stand it.

"So... what will happen, after everything here settles?"

Syaoran looked a little irritated at the question. "I suppose we go home."

Sakura let out a long despondent breath, figuring it would be better not to say what was on her mind. But it bugged her so much, she said it anyways. "I need to see you more, Syaoran-kun."

Syaoran tapped his fork against his plate a couple time, then looked at her. "I can’t see you more."

Sakura frowned. "Why not?"

"Because, I don’t know if you noticed, but I have a life in Hong Kong. Work, responsibility, family, even people to regularly socialize with. And I did put all of it in jeopardy to live in Japan for a while, remember? That worked out so well..."

Sakura bit on her lower lip guiltily. "Syaoran.... I’m sorry for what I did... But don’t you understand it now? I mean, I thought I was doing the right thing. I loved you too much to put you at risk."

Syaoran shook his head. "Maybe you should have rethought it a little bit. But... that doesn’t even matter now. What annoys the shit out of me is how you just show up, two and half years later or whatever, and expect me to just jump back into all of it... I really did change. Time changes people."

Sakura nodded, feeling guilt pile on more and more. "I know. I know you did. I don’t expect you to be just like you used to be. Of course you aren’t."

"But you so easily admit you feel the same way you used to about me. How can you be so sure you even know who I am? It seems a little naive."

Sakura frowned, arranging her pasta into a shape. "I can tell."

"Well I can’t. I spent all of that time trying to forget you. Then you just drop this fu- this bomb about the world’s biggest secret..." He sighed, trailing off. "I don’t know what to think about anything, anymore. Everything is so fucking confusing."

Sakura let out a long breath, then managed a weak smile at him. "That’s fine, Syaoran. I’m not.... I don’t expect you to. Just... just be whoever you want to be. I don’t expect you to... to feel anything for me. That’s fine. It doesn’t change a thing. Okay?"

Syaoran glared up lazily from his steak. She had tears in her eyes. She didn’t want to believe the words coming out of her mouth. But she was so concerned about his mental well being, she would say anything to soothe him. He sighed, then nodded.

Sakura fiddled through the last of her chicken. Maybe I’m being a little dumb about this, I mean... I was so quick to rush into ... But... She looked up, stealing a look at him. His long eye lashes shaded over his eyes. Sakura sighed and looked back to her food. But I do love him. He was going to help me anyways, there’s nothing I can do to stop him. Is it so wrong to want to tell him how I feel? She yawned, then sat back into the booth. "I caused all kinds of confusion, didn’t I?"

Syaoran glanced up, stared at her skeptically, nodded and went back to finishing his steak.

The waitor returned, holding the bill in his hand. He set it down on the table. Syaoran quickly pulled out his card and set it in the black book. He handed it to the waitor, then finished the last piece on his plate. He sat back and let out a long breath. "Let’s just leave it alone, Sakura. We have Eriol and the Cards to think about."

Sakura nodded glumly. "I know. I’m sorry to just... bring all of it up all the sudden..."

Syaoran didn’t bother to answer, taking his card back from the waitor. He signed a piece of paper, then stood up. Sakura took a last drink from her soda and got up, walking behind him. She followed him out to the car, silently getting into her side. She glanced at Syaoran as he started the car. Maybe I did make a mistake, bringing him out here...

Syaoran drove out of the parking lot and sped onto the road. He turned up the radio, eyes glued out the windshield. Sakura let out a long sigh of frustration with herself. It had all been a big mistake. She shouldn’t have ever told him. She shouldn’t have visited him. She should have just left him alone and safe.

Syaoran turned into the parking lot, glancing over his shoulder as he pulled in. Sakura looked to where he had been looking. Two familiar girls were heading down the street. Sakura looked back ahead, feeling miserable. They had to park a little further from the door, now that people were really filling in the hotel. Sakura got out of the car, casting another glance at him. She had really done it.

Did I think everything would just smooth over once I told him? What was I thinking? Totally idiotic of me. I should have just... either answered him that day or just left him alone. I expect too much. They trooped up the stairs to their rooms. Sakura walked to her door, feeling worse than when she had left. She shouldn’t, should she? They talked a whole lot. That was good, wasn’t it?

"Oh..." Sakura said, looking at her door. She let out a long sigh.

"You didn’t get a key, did you?" Syaoran asked, not bothering to hide the criticism from his voice.

Sakura slumped her shoulders, then shook her head. "Tomoyo and Chindra looked like they were walking somewhere..."

Syaoran sighed, then wordlessly opened his door. Sakura frowned, watching him in confusion, then realized he was waiting for her to go in. She shuffled by him uncomfortably, looking for a light switch. She found one and flipped it on. Syaoran continued passed, tossing his wallet into his bag. Sakura scratched her arm nervously, then reluctantly sat down on the edge of the bed. Syaoran walked over to the windows and opened the curtains, then walked to the TV. He took the remote off of it and tossed it to Sakura, who was unprepared and barely managed to catch it.

"Watch whatever you want," he mumbled, disappearing out into the hallway. Sakura frowned as she watched the door close behind him, then looked at the black screen in defeat. The room was quiet, and seemed the echo the sound of the shutting door. She turned on the TV, surfing through the channels wondering whether he was coming back soon or not.

After two minutes passed, she laid out on her stomach and settled into a science fiction movie. She glanced at her skirt self consciously in the case he would barge in suddenly, then looked back to the TV. She watched it in mild boredom, trying to find something that made sense and cling to it for a while. She was easily distracted. Outside it began to sprinkle. She watched the grey clouds for a while, wondering how Tomoyo and Chindra were faring.

Sakura heard noise coming from the door. She sat up quickly, watching expectantly for Syaoran. He stepped through, holding two bottles of something in his hands, then shut the door behind him. Sakura scooted to the furthest corner possible of the bed, pretending to be interested in the show she was watching. Syaoran sat a good distance from her and handed over a cold bottle of water. Sakura took it gratefully.

"Thanks," she smiled.

Syaoran just looked back to the TV, absently opening his bottle. "What are you watching?"

"Uh..." Sakura pressed the listing button on the remote. "Tremors Three."

Syaoran nodded slowly, then took a long drink of water.

"You can change it to whatever you want, I don’t really care," Sakura said, holding the remote out for him.

Syaoran shook his head, zoning in on the TV.

Sakura sighed and set the remote down, then looked towards the window. "I hope Tomoyo and Chindra got inside some place. It looks like it may rain harder soon..."

Syaoran nodded, finally adding, "Yeah."

Sakura found that her left leg was jittering. She quickly stopped it, then tried to tune back into the TV. It was a rather strange plot to just jump into. Syaoran seemed to have no trouble watching it. Sakura blinked and zoned out almost immediately. I don’t really know who he is, do I? It is him, in a way... Is that enough? Do I feel for who he’s become, not just who he used to be? Sakura stole a glance at him, looking for any feelings she might get. So... He is attractive, but that’s not important. He always was, and it never seemed to matter. He definitely has some passion in his spirit. That’s one thing I’m sure I still love. But he is alot less concerned... he did alot of things I don’t agree with... Sakura let out a long sigh. She looked over to the window. It was raining hard now. Poor Tomoyo and Chindra.

Is he still kind? I don’t know, he’s...he’s just so unattached. He’s become much more self centered than I ever wanted him to be. But who can blame him? It is my fault. My fault, plus the death of both parents and an incredibly hard life... Sakura bit on her bottom lip. She couldn’t ignore her feelings. They were just too strong. There was too much of a premade connection there. She felt she had shared and understood more of him than anyone else. How could that just become obselete with time? It can’t. That’s got to still mean something. Maybe there are some things about him I don’t love.... but there’s alot more of him I do love. There’s no one else like him anywhere...

Thunder began to rumble through the room. Sakura watched the TV for a few moments, frequently looking out the window at the lightening. She glanced at Syaoran. He was just zoned out, staring at the screen. Sakura got up, walking over to the window and swinging her bottle of water from side to side. She looked down at the parking lot below them, trying to gauge how hard the rain was falling. It was pretty heavy.

Syaoran got up and walked over to, curiously peering out. "Sucks to be them," he muttered, watching a few lightening bolts strike down.

Sakura nodded silently. She looked at him. He could still look so peaceful sometimes. She didn’t know how he could possibly do it. Sakura sighed, hesitated, then grabbed his hand softly. He frowned, staring out the window for a while and refusing to recognize her before turning his eyes to her.

Sakura bit her lip for a second, getting a grip on herself, then let out a short breath. "I’m so sorry, Syaoran..." She looked down, blinking quickly to dry out the tears. She looked back at him. "For all of the pain and confusion I’ve caused both of us. If I could do anything, I would take it all back."

Syaoran frowned slightly, as if in deep thought. He looked into her eyes for a moment, searching them for something. He slid his hand on her cheek. She shut her eyes for a moment, then looked back at him, not protesting. He took a daring step closer, looking into her eyes for any sign of hesitance. He leaned in and kissed her.

But it wasn’t anything like what he expected. She kissed him back passionately. He quickly matched her level of agression and found himself becoming lightheaded. Her arm gripped onto his shoulder tightly. Slowly and gradually the kiss ended. Syaoran stumbled back out of it, his eyes wide and looking at her.

"Holy shit..." He muttered, blinking and then walking over to the window, leaning heavily against it. He took a deep breath, thought a moment, then frowned. "Where did you learn to kiss like that?"

Sakura smiled weakly, feeling unbalanced. "Um... you." She walked over and leaned against the window as well. She took a few deep breaths, then shook her head. "Is it normal to feel so dizzy?"

Syaoran glanced sideways at her. She was really serious. He looked back out the window and took another breath. "No," he answered, completely baffled. He felt weak. That was totally not normal. He glanced at her again, looking quickly away as his hormones did a number on his brain. He couldn’t help it now, he was addicted already. She shouldn’t have turned him on. He drummed his fingers nervously on the window seal again, hoping the moment would pass quickly and he’d be left alone to suffer. But almost against his will, he found himself looking at her again.

She looked at him with half amazed, half frightened eyes. "You think... that’s safe... to do again?"

Syaoran quit drumming his fingers and looked down at the floor. His eyes made their way up again. "I’m willing to find out."

Sakura smiled and attacked him with another kiss. He returned it, then paused, mumbling, "Hang on." He fumbled with his tie, then finally pulled it off and dropped it on the ground. Sakura smiled and resumed. It was only about another five seconds before Sakura was the one to stumble back. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, then shook her head hard again.

"That’s.... incredible..." She plopped herself down into the chair by the window desk and let out a long breath.

Syaoran followed suit and sat down in the chair beside her, staring at the door across the room for no reason in particular. "It’s... it’s got to be our magic mixing up or something. That’s the same feeling I got when you used to lend me magic."

Sakura stared at some far away object for a while, then nodded. "Yeah... you’re right..." She let out a long, channeled breath, then leaned back in the chair. "That’s dangerous..."

Syaoran nodded absently. He frowned. "Wait... You didn’t put a spell on that, did you?"

Sakura frowned, finally dragging her eyes over to him. "What?"

Syaoran was scowling now. "Just so I’d fall into another one of your traps, you went so low as putting a spell-"

"Syaoran, honestly! Why would I do that? What good would it do?"

Syaoran shrugged. "I don’t know. But why is that happening now, and it didn’t before?"

Sakura frowned, perplexed. He had a point. "Um... I don’t know..." He watched her suspiciously. She threw her hands in the air, feeling persecuted. "I didn’t do it! If I did it, I would have kissed you, not the other way around. How should I know you wouldn’t do something like that?"

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "I didn’t even want-"

"I know," Sakura said loudly. "I know you didn’t do it. I was just making a point. Look, please tell me you don’t actually believe I’d do something like that?"

Syaoran let out an irritated sigh. "Yes, I know."

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Good. Then it must be like.... some unconscious thing happening... I don’t know... I mean... how many pairs of magicians kiss? It’s not like it should surprise us..."

Syaoran shook his head. "All I know is it was better than..." He flushed, not wanting to finish that sentence. "That was stronger than most of the times I’ve been drunk," he finished, finding it easier to say.

Sakura looked at him warily. "Wonderful. Well at least now I know what being drunk feels like."

Syaoran let out a long sigh, then looked at her. "You can’t tell me you’ve never been drunk?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don’t have a taste for liquor..."

Syaoran shook his head. "I’m sure you haven’t been out with one guy either..." He said sarcastically, though deep down he did wonder.

Sakura let out a long sigh. "Not... really..."

Syaoran scowled at her. Of course she wouldn’t. She would be all complicated, reject him, then wait for him to come back. He would have liked to accuse her of it, but he couldn’t fix it into a comprehensible insult. "Well sorry to disappoint you," he mumbled, annoyed.

Sakura gave him a weak smile, then looked towards the window. The heavy rain had vanished. It was now just a mist outside, distant thunder rumbling in the distance. Sakura watched it for a while, then let out a long sigh. She glanced at Syaoran. He was looked towards the TV in boredom. Sakura bit into her lower lip. She wouldn’t mind kissing like that all night. But everything was too complicated for that. She wasn’t even sure why he had kissed her. It had been alright, of course. It had been wonderful, really, but that was besides the point. She couldn’t figure out whether he loved her or hated her. She supposed it was a little of both.

Sakura sighed and finally got to her feet, walking to the window for a moment. She looked down at the parking lot to see if Tomoyo and Chindra were in view. They weren’t. She glanced down at the floor. She picked up Syaoran’s tie, smiling. He stood up from his chair also, rubbing his eyes. Sakura gave him a lopesided grin and held out his tie for him. He reached out for the tie, hesitating as his hand rested against hers. He was thinking about kissing again. She grinned. No willpower. But, she had to admit, it was hard to turn down. She found herself kissing him again.

Only this time they weren’t scared and ready to stop. Syaoran pulled her tighter, his hand squeezing her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, luring him tighter still. It was about that moment something about midthigh on Sakura started making sounds and vibrating. They both jumped back, Syaoran looking utterly scandalized. Sakura frowned, reached in her pocket, then pulled out her ringing phone.

"Unbelievable..." Syaoran muttered, walking over to the bed and sitting down, head resting in his hands and his hair sticking out between his fingers.

Sakura stared at her phone for a minute, then remembered to answer it. "M-moshi moshi?"

"Hi Sakura-chan! Sorry to interrupt, but Chindra and I thought we’d let you know we’re back and the room is open."

Sakura sighed and walked over next to Syaoran, plopping down. She shivered once, then thought of a response. "Um... okay. I’ll be there soon."

Tomoyo seemed to find Sakura amusing. "Alright," she giggled. "Later."

Sakura hung up the phone, stared at it for a second, then let out a long breath. She glanced at Syaoran. He still had a violated scowl on his face. She grinned, thinking about the humor in it. Syaoran seemed to be trying to hide a small smile himself. Sakura found herself laughing hysterically in a matter of seconds. She bent over her stomach, gasping for air in between breaths.

"You should have seen.... the look on your face...."

Syaoran tried to glare, but found himself smiling. "It kind of freaked me out," he said in his defense.

Sakura subsided into giggles, leaning on her knees. "Well me too... I didn’t know what was going on for a second..." She laughed for a while more, then began piping down. She sat up straight, shaking her head with a large smile on her face. Syaoran was smiling as well. It was a real, genuine, breathtaking smile. She looked into his eyes happily for a moment, then let out a contented sigh. She threw her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I love you Syaoran! I’ll see you in the morning!" She hopped to her feet, grabbed her phone that had fallen out of her hands during her laughing spree, and rushed out of the room leaving Syaoran in a state of high confusion. Sakura paused before shutting the door to call, "Thanks for dinner!"

Sakura smiled to herself in content as she walked to her room. She found herself humming a song she didn’t think she knew. She knocked pleasantly on the door. A few seconds later, Tomoyo opened it. She smiled at the happy expression on Sakura’s face.

Sakura let herself in the room, prancing along in a giddy fashion.

"I see your dinner went well," Tomoyo observed.

Sakura shook her head, shrugged, then collapsed onto an unoccupied bed. She laid staring at the ceiling, unable to keep a smile off her face. It was just too funny.

"What’s so funny?" Chindra asked after evaluating Sakura’s behavior.

Sakura shook her head, trying desperately to get rid of the smile. "Oh.... nothing...." She sat up, then began to giggle again. "Nothing, Tomoyo just called at a really funny time, that’s all...."

Tomoyo shook her head. "Funny time, hm?"

"I see you were just next door, Sakura. Did you two even go to dinner?"

Sakura mocked outrage. "We most certainly did! I had chicken parmesan. It was very good."

Chindra shook her head. "You certainly beat us. We walked over, got some type of meat and bread sandwiches, then walked back in the pouring rain."

Sakura smiled sheepishly. "You could have called and had us pick you up..."

Tomoyo shook her head. "No, you need time to catch up with him, Sakura-chan."

Sakura let out a long sigh, finally composing herself. "Yeah... I know. I don’t think there’s enough time in the world to ever straighten everything out with him..."

Tomoyo smiled sympathetically, then shook her head. "Look how fast he’s changed. When we picked you two up from the airport, he didn’t say anything the entire time. It wasn’t even two hours later he was giving you extra magic to help out and talking..."

Sakura let out a long breath. "I dunno...."

Chindra shook her head. "Tomoyo does."

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

Syaoran yawned, staring at the dimly outlined furniture across the room. A pale light glowed through the heavy curtains at the window. The clock said it was ten in the morning. He had a hard time believing it was any later than two in the morning. He rolled onto his other side and stared towards the door with a bleary eyed, tired stare. He was losing his identity more and more with every minute he spent around her. It had to stop.

He didn’t know why he had kissed her. It hadn’t been the same as before. He had kissed her at his house because he was searching for a way out. He hadn’t needed a way out last night. He had used it as almost a way to get closer. But I don’t want to be closer. She’s got enough control over me as it is. She’s getting me to do things I don’t even want to do...Still... that was something else...Syaoran sighed just thinking about it. That was the last thing he needed to do. Complicate things even further. And that’s just what I did. Great job, me. Assure her you really are hopelessly in love with her. Way to go.

Syaoran let out another large yawn and then forced himself to sit up. It was too tiring. He plopped back down, revelling in the wonderful feeling it gave him to lay. They needed to be leaving soon, really. And here he was, too tired to go because he had stayed up half the night before. He really needed to get a grip on himself before he went insane. He needed something to really help him remember who he was. What’s something I normally did in Hong Kong that I’m not doing now? ... getting drunk, finding a girl to screw around with... waking up with a hangover. He yawned once more. None of which I can do at the present moment. I have to go fight Eriol. Wonderful. I can’t show up with a bunch of alcohol in my system.

I just have to get a hold of myself. Sakura’s going to end up hurting me in the end, I can’t lose sight of it. Who cares if she really did love me all that time? She’s an idiot. She should have just been honest and told me everything then. But no, she had to make it into this huge dramatic thing, show up two and a half years later and say ‘hey, sorry about that whole rejection thing, gotcha!’ Great. Syaoran sat up again, this time forcing himself to stay up. He rubbed at his eyes violently, then slowly got to his feet. I don’t feel for her anymore. I don’t. We’ve grown way too apart.

Syaoran walked over to his bookbag and fished out an outfit. He crammed in the clothes he had worn last night night into the bag, then changed into his set outfit. I don’t even know who I am, let alone who she is. There’s no place for love here. Syaoran zipped up his bookbag, then looked around the room for any things he might forget. He hadn’t taken much of anything out of his bag. He checked the bathroom over once, then decided everything was in place. He took a deep breath and headed out into the hallway, bookbag on shoulder.

Syaoran looked at their door for a second. He could hear some kind of machine running loudly in the room. He decided to knock anyways. A few seconds later, Sakura’s bright face was smiling at him.

"Hi! We woke up so late, sorry!"

Syaoran shrugged, glancing once in the room. Water was running in the bathroom, probably a shower, and Tomoyo was blow drying her hair. Sakura smiled weakly as she noticed him evaluating the scene.

"Um... you can come in if you’d like. We’ll only be another ten minutes..."

Syaoran almost cringed at how much the room reminded him of living with his sisters. He immediately shook his head. "No, it’s okay...I’ll um... I’ll check us out."

Sakura tried not to look too disappointed. "Okay....Do you want any help?"

Syaoran shook his head immediately again. "No."

Sakura nodded again, not bothering to hide her disappointment. "Okay then."

Syaoran turned away from the door, listening as he walked away for it to shut. About halfway down the hallway, it did. He resumed normal breathing, feeling tired again. He had waken up very fast. He stumbled down the stairs towards the lobby, letting his mind rest on any safe topic. He passed the restaurant connected to the hotel. His eyes drifted wistfully to the bar. He looked back towards the desk. The woman behind it smiled her polite business smile at him.

He walked over and handed her his key. "Room 315 check out," he mumbled. She took it, still smiling. He stepped away and walked over to a couch that sat by the desk. It was in clear view of the bar. He watched it longingly. There wasn’t anyone in there. He drummed his fingers nervously again. He tried to distract himself by switching the position of his bookbag. It only worked for a few seconds. Syaoran sighed at himself.

I hope I’m not becoming an alcoholic... Syaoran dismissed the thought. I wouldn’t want to drink if everything was alright. But this is quite a stressful situation to deal with and have no outlets... He liked this reasoning. He squinted to read the sign in front of the enterance. It said No one under the age of 18 permitted. Syaoran looked down in defeat. I can’t buy anything anyways. He knew this was hardly true. He looked older than his age and had never gotten carded before. He looked towards the bar again, then towards the stairs. They wouldn’t be down for another five minutes. Syaoran contemplated, decided against it, then disagreed with himself, standing up. He marched over purposefully, passing by the sign and sitting down at the bar.

The bar tender glanced at him, smiling. It was an old man. He didn’t look like he was going to card any kid that wanted one of his drinks. "Rasberry wine is the special today," he said, his old voice crackling in the pleasant way old voices crackle.

"I’ll take it," Syaoran muttered, sliding over his card and glancing over to see if any of them had appeared yet.

The man used Syaoran’s card, then handed him the receipts to sign. Syaoran signed them and waited impatiently for him to pour a glass. He drummed his fingers again. He stopped as the drink was set before him. It might have well have been glowing. Syaoran took a long drink, then set it down. It was very authentic. He glanced over his shoulder. Still no one. He continued to drink at leisure. He stopped dead as he heard some familiar voices coming that way. Syaoran gulped the whole thing down in record time, then watched worriedly as they passed by. They hadn’t seen him. He got up quickly, heading out.

"Sir!" The bar tender called, watching him carefully because there was no one else to watch.

Syaoran turned for a second, giving him an annoyed and questioning look.

The old man, an old timer to alcohol, held out a stick of gum. Syaoran’s eyes shined in admiration. He ran back up and took it from him. "Thanks," he said as respectfully as possible. He peered out into the lobby, shoving the piece of gum into his mouth. They had their backs to him. He quickly jumped out and then began walking like he had just come from the stairs.

Sakura was the first to notice him, as always. "Oh! Where’d you come from?"

"Um, the stairs," Syaoran said simply.

Sakura frowned, confused. "We just came down them..."

"The other stairs. I walked around cause I was bored waiting for you," he explained in irritation, scaring himself with how well he lied. He sounded convincing even to himself. Sakura just shrugged and headed out towards the car.

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

Sakura found that she often had a knack for saying the wrong things at the wrong times. For instance, saying, "This is actually kind of fun, travelling and everything...", had been the wrong thing to say when Syaoran had gotten deeply lost in inner London. She found herself an outcast of the entire car, left to look out the window alone.

So Sakura looked out the window, feeling dumb and dejected. She had been a little confused by Syaoran’s behavior that day. It was just so constantly... changing. She couldn’t find a consistent theme in it. Today she felt like his irritating little sister. Who would have guessed that they had been kissing and enjoying it! the very night before? Sakura sighed, casting a furtive glance towards the inside of the car. It seemed some of the hostility had worn off. She carefully turned to look out the left corner of the windshield. No one protested. She turned and looked out the windshield, watching them slowly get out of the inner city trap.

"I’m sorry, Li-kun, I thought you heard me," Tomoyo apologized once more.

Syaoran didn’t seem to hold a grudge against her. Sakura pouted. All she had done was try to make the situation lighter and he had to go all cold and mean. "If all the damned streets weren’t one ways and rotaries...."

Chindra shook her head. "It’s like driving a bunch of figure eights..."

With perfect timing, Syaoran found himself on yet another rotary. He merged into the circle and made his way around.

"There it went!" Tomoyo cried, looking at the road they passed. She let out a big sigh. "That was the highway."

Syaoran sighed, then continued around the circle again. He finally made it back and turned onto the right road. Tomoyo smiled in relief. "Directions say we’re on this road for another half hour, so we can relax."

Syaoran made an expression as if to say ‘maybe you guys can’. Sakura felt she was the only one that picked up on it. She opened her mouth to try and say something sympathetic to Syaoran, then caught the edge of a glare from him. She returned to her window-watching detention.

How completely and utterly confusing! Why did I start any of this! Sakura shifted positions in her seat. It would have made more sense for Tomoyo to sit where she was sitting, she supposed. She was the person with the directions. Thankfully, no one had made a move to say so. Sakura was able to enjoy being close to Syaoran once more. It didn’t seem to be producing anything. She fiddled with the radio for a second, then glanced back at Tomoyo and Chindra.

"Did you guys bring any CDs?"

They both shook their heads. Sakura settled back into her seat. Her stomach rumbled. She had gotten very hungry throughout their little detour. She thought about asking everyone else how they felt, but was afraid of the irritated scowl Syaoran was sure to give her.

"You think Hiiragizawa-san will give us lunch once we get there?" Chindra asked.

Sakura shrugged. "Last time we got there and he was eating dinner. He invited us in for it... He had the best roles.."

Tomoyo smiled. Eriol was so hospitable.

"And so then you ended up getting in a fight with him and releasing me? Did you tell him you didn’t like the food or what?"

Sakura laughed, then became annoyed. If she said something that corny, she was sure to be cast out. She sighed it off. "Well... we ate, then um... then Syaoran told him we should get on with what we came there for... Eriol showed me a big flashback, explained what was going on... tried to take the cards... But he couldn’t. Syaoran had sealed two of them at that concert. I mean... go figure. I thought I’d be mad at him forever for that, and it ended up being the one thing that kept Eriol from taking all the cards..."

Tomoyo giggled, remembering the tape she had watched of Syaoran dressed as Komai. Sakura was just so purely innocent and dense sometimes. It was wonderful.

"Well... what are we going to do this time? Demand he leave us alone?" Chindra asked.

Sakura shrugged, glancing at Syaoran for guidance. He was busy in a road fight with some guy in another lane, trying to pass. "Um...I don’t know. It’s so hard, because he’s so nice..."

Chindra shook her head. "’Clow Reed had much charm’, my mom always used to say..."

Sakura felt her stomach rumble again. She pressed her arm against it, hoping to smother out the sound. "Well... it’s definitely true..." Had any of them chosen to look at Tomoyo, they would have noticed she had a wistful gaze in her eye.

"Well... I suppose we’ll see how he acts first, then go from there..."

Sakura nodded. "Sounds like a safe bet. He-" Sakura paused, glancing at Syaoran as he slammed on the gas and made the engine rev up loudly. He passed the car he had been fighting with at record speed. After trying to ignore her stare for a few seconds, he sighed.

"He wouldn’t let me pass," Syaoran explained, continuing along at a quicker pace.

Sakura smiled, shook her head and resumed looking out the window. After a few minutes went by, she decided it would be safe to announce the status of her stomach. "I don’t know if I can make it to Eriol’s without eating..."

Syaoran glanced at the gas gauge. "I have to stop and buy gas soon, anyways."

Sakura smiled gratefully at him. "Awesome."

"That’s wonderful..." Chindra agreed from the backseat, watching out the window.

They continued on for a while in silence. Sakura kept her eyes out for gas stations. Syaoran passed by a couple. She gave him a questioning look which he pretended not to receive. She sighed and looked back out her side. Almost as if to spite her, Syaoran turned into a parking lot. He pulled up to a gas pump and parked the car, then yawned.

Sakura yawned as well, and slowly it caught on to Tomoyo and Chindra. Sakura grinned. "We’re going to fall asleep at Eriol’s..."

Syaoran ignored her and got out to buy gas. Sakura got out of the car and stretched, then walked over and leaned against the car casually next to Syaoran. He pretended she wasn’t there for about ten seconds. After the duration of ten seconds, he blinked in such a way as to recognize not only that she was standing there, but she was irritating the crap out of him. It was quite a blink.

"You should go buy food or something..." Syaoran mumbled.

Sakura stretched her arms out, then glanced to see Tomoyo and Chindra disappear into the store. They were both rushing and giggling to themselves. She gave them a glare, then looked back to Syaoran. It had been the first time they had been alone since last night. She swallowed hard and tried to think of something witty to say. "I don’t get you, Syaoran-kun." She watched him hopefully for some kind of response other than an all-knowing blink.

He reluctantly gave one, occupying himself with putting the credit card in. "Yes...so?"

"So... what’s the point of this? I mean... I spent ten seconds standing here waiting for you to even acknowledge my existence."

Syaoran let out a sigh. "What do you want, Sakura? You just can’t leave me alone for one minute..."

Sakura scowled at him. He was so aggrivating. "I’m just sick of you pretending like you don’t care..."

Syaoran let out another sigh. He finished using the pump, then began setting it back. "When did I say I did?" He set it down firmly, then looked at her with mild toleration. "Go buy something to eat and tell your friend to quit taping us."

Sakura frowned, then glanced towards the store. Tomoyo and Chindra both turned around quickly from the window, pretending to be shopping. Sakura let out a long sigh, then looked back to Syaoran. "Sorry," she mumbled weakly. She reluctantly began heading towards the store, looking for some kind of good comeback. "I really do, um.. l-"

"I know," Syaoran cut her off, getting back into the car. Sakura frowned, watching him. "Aren’t you buying anything?"

Syaoran nodded, shutting the door and starting the car. "Relax, I’m just moving the car..." He sped off, leaving Sakura annoyed. She continued into the store with an unpleasant expression.

She began looking through the food aisle. She frowned as she saw the top of Tomoyo’s head go by. She hurried after it with purpose. "You guys can’t be taping us like that, he saw you!"

Tomoyo smiled guiltily. "You guys are just so interesting..."

Chindra grinned, peering out from around some boxes of Cheez Its. "You should at least watch the scowl he gave the camera... you guys are so adorable.."

Sakura rolled her eyes and stalked off in a very Syaoran-like fashion. She quickly changed directions as she saw Syaoran entering the store and headed off to get herself a drink. She got a bottle of juice and then found herself some chips. The flavor of this bottle of juice will remain undisclosed until a later date in this chapter.

Sakura hurried after Tomoyo and Chindra, who were checking out at the counter. She gave a wistful look in Syaoran’s direction. She sighed in irritation and continued to the counter. He could manage to make a simple action like picking out a bag of chips look like the world’s most heroic act. She smiled at the cashier once she reached the counter and set her items down. She bought the mysterious bottle of juice and chips and continued with Tomoyo and Chindra outside. Tomoyo brought her camera out to get a glimpse of Syaoran buying his food.

Sakura glared. "Tomoyo! Enough is enough!"

Tomoyo gave another guilty smile. "You’ll appreciate this someday..."

Sakura shook her head, getting into her side of the car. "Maybe someday, but right now it’s hard enough staying on his good side..."

Chindra shook his head. "Complete rollercoaster..." She opened her bag of chips and began savoring them one by one.

"I know..." Sakura sighed, digging into her own bag. She took a sip of the mysterious beverage and sat back into her seat. "I really don’t know how I’m going to fight Eriol like this..."

Tomoyo bit on her lip. "You think you guys will really fight like last time?"

Sakura turned to face her friend, crunching loudly on a chip. "I dunno... Eriol’s impossible to predict. But... How’s it going for you, Tomoyo? Like... as we get closer...does it get any worse?"

Tomoyo blushed, shaking her head. Sakura gawked, because she thought it was the first time she had ever seen her good friend blush. "No... not really..."

Sakura settled further into her seat, glancing up to see Syaoran exiting the store. "It’s going to be weird for you, isn’t it?"

Tomoyo let out a long breath, then nodded. "A little awkward, I suppose..."

Chindra shook her head. "I can’t believe he did so many horrible things..."

Sakura nodded in agreement, then turned around in her seat as Syaoran got in. He let out a big breath and set his drink and chips between his legs, then started the car. He backed out wordlessly. Sakura felt bad. It must be weird for him, being the only guy... He handled it so well. She almost envied the amount of indepence that seemed to radiate off him. She sighed and looked back out the window, trying to plan her next method of attack.

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

Sakura’s knack for bad timing was going full throttle. She glared out the window for a while, then couldn’t hold it in any longer. "Face it, you’re lost."

Had she been paying any attention to Chindra or Tomoyo, she might have noticed their expressions of complete admiration. Being so courageous as to suggest some type of bogus truth to Syaoran like that was something they would never be able to do. Syaoran had a horrible scowl on his face.

"No, I’m not," he repeated, glancing down at his map, then looking back at the road.

Sakura decided to just go all out. "Yes! We are! Look at this road, it’s like one step up from a dirt path!"

Syaoran just kept on scowling. She was right. The road was probably the most back road road he had ever driven on. But the map showed the destined road as being the first right. So he had taken the first right. "It’ll probably broaden out in a bit..." he mumbled, hardly believing himself.

Sakura sighed. "We didn’t drive on this last time we were here."

"Maybe we went a different way," Syaoran grumbled, accelerating the car as his irritation climbed.

Sakura rolled her eyes. She turned to Tomoyo. "You agree with me, right?"

Tomoyo looked like a deer in head lights. She shrugged and opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She repeated the action, then looked out the window with determination. Sakura saddened at her friend’s lack of support, then gave a hopeful look at Chindra. Chindra quickly looked out the window on her side. Sakura sighed and turned back to the windshield.

"Look, I don’t know if it’s some kind of ego thing, but you obviously know I’m right. There’s no use disagreeing."

Syaoran continued on silently, speeding all the more. The car bounced along the pot holes like a trooper. Sakura sank into her seat all the more. "Fine..." She mumbled, looking out the window. She looked out at the passing forest for a while, then decided to give it one last try. "Maybe this isn’t a road anymore, maybe the map meant the next right...?"

Syaoran shook his head. "It said first right."

Sakura sighed, then tried to enjoy the scenery. There were some lovely trees to look at. Birds sang happily from their perches. Sakura wished she could join them. She made sure to give Tomoyo a sour look for not supporting her, then continued looking out the window. At that moment, the car hit a rather large bump, followed by a series of other large bumps. Sakura’s bottle of juice ascended into midair through the trip, spilling across her lap and most of Syaoran’s left leg. It is worth noting at this point that the juice was apple juice, and reeked off them the rest of the day.

The bumps were so severe Sakura though they had wrecked. It was only till Syaoran had stopped did she realize they hadn’t. He let out a large sigh, glancing in his mirror at the ‘road’ behind them, then looking back in front of them with an annoyed look on his face.

"What was that?" Sakura dared to ask, peering out the windows at the settline dust.

Syaoran shook his head, then put the car into reverse. "The road fucking ended," he mumbled, hardly audible. He swung the car around and began back the way they had came.

Sakura glanced behind them. The road had simply ended, leaving them driving into the woods. She shook her head, trying not to say ‘I told you so’. "No signs...?" She attempted to sympathize.

"No," Syaoran said through his teeth.

Sakura bit her lip. It must be quite a painful experience to be so humbled. She looked out the window to mask her amusement.

"Well thank goodness Eriol doesn’t live on this road," Tomoyo said lightly, breaking the painful silence.

Chindra nodded in agreement. "Quite uncivilized out here..."

Sakura said nothing in sympathy for Syaoran, who said nothing in complete frustration with himself. The car dragged on in silence. Once by the main road they had turned off of twenty minutes before, Syaoran pulled to the side and studied his map.

"What’s the address, again?" Syaoran asked, tracing down their route.

Sakura handed him the envelope with the address. He took at it, analyzed it, then began searching around. "It should have been this road," he said simply. "The street sign was right and everything."

Sakura sighed. "Well... there wasn’t anyone living on this road," she replied as softly and as gently as she could.

Syaoran didn’t bother to reply. He frowned and compared the map and address for a while, then shrugged. "I don’t know. Look for yourself."

Sakura took the map into her hands and looked through it. She located the street name, then looked around for any side roads around it. "Maybe the map just doesn’t list this street, and it’s the next street up...?"
Syaoran pointed ahead of them at the street corner. The sign very clearly matched their address. Sakura frowned. "That doesn’t make any sense..."

Syaoran gave her an ‘I told you so’ look and took the map back. "We can keep going down the highway, but it doesn’t make much sense too..."

"Maybe Eriol is tricking us with some kind of magic?" Chindra guessed, glancing out her window.

Sakura nodded at this idea. "That would make sense. He could do it, if he wanted. Maybe he made up this road to try and confuse us, and it’s the next one off the highway?"

Syaoran shrugged, then stretched back into his seat. He didn’t really care at the moment.

Sakura yawned. "I dunno... this is too much for one day. I’m so tired..."

Syaoran glanced at her. "We’re not going to stay another night before seeing him."

Sakura nodded quickly. "I know, I was just saying..."

Tomoyo yawned on cue. "I agree with Sakura-chan. It’s quite something, adjusting to time zones..."

Syaoran glared out the window, not being able to glare at two of them at the same time. "Why don’t we just wait till winter break to finish it?"

Sakura glared at his sarcasm. "I was just stating I was tired. You don’t have to get so worked up about it."

"I don’t know if it’s such a bad idea, I mean... We want to be full strength getting there, right?" Chindra asked timidly.

"Well... yeah. I mean, I wouldn’t mind changing out of these clothes, they’re soaked with apple juice...." Sakura looked hopefully towards Syaoran.

He was looking at his own stained pants in annoyance. "Look, I told you, one week. That’s it."

Sakura glanced at his leg, realizing for the first time that it too had been a target of her flying apple juice. "Sorry.... Well, I know. But I mean, why would we want to bother fighting him if we know we’re already at a disadvantage?"

Syaoran shook his head. "If I leave you in the middle of it to go back home, I’m not going to feel bad about it."

Sakura glared at the heartless idea. "Well...." She couldn’t think of much else to say.

"Couldn’t you find him like... feeling for it?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura frowned. "What?"

"Eriol. Couldn’t you find him by looking for his aura or something?"

"Oh..." Sakura nodded slowly, feeling pathetic. She recharged at the thought that Syaoran hadn’t thought of it either. She shut her eyes and searched out for his magic. It was very close. Syaoran was already pulling back onto the highway. "Good idea, Tomoyo-chan."

Tomoyo smiled quietly, not bothering to mention she could sense him as well. She couldn’t find a way to explain that it wasn’t his magic she could feel. She could just feel him close. It had been driving her crazy listening to Syaoran and Sakura bicker back and forth.

Syaoran sped a little too fast down the main road, passing everything in sight. He slowed dramatically by a road, then turned down it. Sakura found herself agreeing with his choice of direction. She sat back and let him drive. "Sorry about the apple juice," She repeated quietly, eyeing his leg.

"Mm," Syaoran responded, eyes on the road.

Sakura sighed loudly and sat up, putting her feet under her. She stretched her legs as best she could, then resumed looking out the window. It was close now. She looked out Syaoran’s side of the car. It looked vaguely familiar.

"What if... what if we’re in the middle of this really long, epic fight, and you realize you have to go home... are you really going to just leave?"

Syaoran sighed in annoyance. "I dunno..."

"Well... what are we going to do? I mean... we got some strategies down, but we never really decided how we would start all of this..."

Syaoran shrugged. "Just wait for the bastard to come out of the house and start hurling stuff at him."

Sakura frowned. "Well that’s not very decent..."

Syaoran gave her a skeptical glare before looking back to the road.

Sakura sighed. "Look, all I mean is, we might be able to talk him out of it without even having to do that. We can go up to him and be like ‘look, Eriol, there’s all three of us now, you can’t possibly win, so please give us your word you’ll leave the Cards alone’. No pain involved."

Syaoran shook his head. "You actually think he’ll give up the cards?"

Sakura frowned in confusion. "Isn’t that what this is all about?"

Syaoran sighed, not wanting to reiterate. "He’s not going to just say ‘sure, take them’. They’re bound to him in a way we don’t understand. It’s going to take something powerful to get them for you only."

"Well...what? You just want to start throwing things at him the second he opens his doors? What if he wants to make a truce?"

Syaoran let out his millionth disgruntled sigh of the day. "Honestly, Sakura, how many times does he have to screw up your life before you’ll stop trusting him? Just kill the fucking bastard and get it over with."

Sakura gave him a shocked look. "What, you just want to kill him?"

Syaoran gave her a look that said ‘I just said that’ and then continued looking at the road.

"You once told me that wasn’t something you would ever want to do..." Sakura muttered, very disturbed with the thought of taking someone’s life.

"Sakura, do you remember him erasing Chindra completely out of existence? And completely taking over Daidouji’s life, and then your brother, and then your father? I mean, did any of that happen in your head?"

Sakura frowned, feeling lots of conflict building up. "Well yes but... Two wrongs don’t make a right..."

Syaoran sighed. "Great. Fucking wonderful. Why don’t we just drop you off so you guys can discuss it over some tea?"

Sakura began to feel her cheeks heat up. Tomoyo and Chindra had become very quiet... "Stop it, Syaoran. You know what I mean. He deserves some kind of chance, doesn’t he? I mean, I don’t even think he means any harm by any of this. He just wants these Cards back. Why kill him when he hasn’t made any moves to kill us?"

Syaoran let out a long breath, containing himself to a small degree. "I have a couple scars that say he has," he mumbled quietly, pulling into a long, winding gravel road. He parked the car, sighing and rubbing his eyes. "I don’t give a shit Sakura, do what you want."

Sakura sighed, glaring at him and then glaring out the window. She recognized it as the end of his driveway. She shivered with anticipation. She hesitantly turned to Chindra and Tomoyo. "What do you guys think?"

Tomoyo had a sad look on her face, her big grey-blue eyes expressing incredible sorrow. She looked back to the window, seeming too pained to answer. Chindra gave Sakura weak smile.

"I mean... we should at least see what he has to say. Maybe he can explain a few things? There’s no reason to exhaust ourselves too early..." Chindra glanced hopefully towards Syaoran. He was continuing to look out the window in his emotionless state. She let her weak smile fall, looking back to Sakura.

Sakura nodded slowly. "Yeah... we should save all the strength we have for the chance that he does try and attack..." She glanced at Syaoran. He wasn’t going to say anything for a long time.

"What if he hides from us?" Chindra asked, looking out to the long driveway.

"Well... I doubt he would. I mean, that’s not really his style... but if he did run... I guess we’ll just have to chase him."

"’Chasing Clow Reed is like chasing ghost’, my mom used to say, along with ‘Clow Reed had much charm’." Chindra said, smiling.

Sakura sighed and nodded. "Well... hopefully we don’t have to do that. Last time he just came out and greeted us..."

Chindra nodded, then looked out the window again. "That would be nice..."

"I doubt Hiiragizawa-kun will attack us," Tomoyo finally said, looking quite knowledgeable. Sakura gave her a questioning look. "He has probably been expecting us. He never charges into battle without setting the stakes first." She smiled weakly at Syaoran’s sour expression. She looked back to Sakura, looking serious.

Sakura nodded. "Alright. I think you’re right." She bit her lip, looking at Syaoran. He didn’t want to be here one bit. "Syaoran, if we’re wrong, you can tell me ‘I told you so’ as many times as you want. But they’re right. We can’t ignore the politics of battle..."

Syaoran wanted to point out that he was more experienced than any of them in battle and combat. He wanted to point out that Sakura was always making mistakes trusting people too much and that it would give them the edge to just blitzkreig Eriol the hell out of existence. But the way the dynamics of a group of women worked, as far as Syaoran had seen with his sisters and others, would never permit one male to question their authority. He shrugged simply, keeping his hard-worked-on emotionless expression.

Sakura sighed. "Well... go ahead and drive down there, then."

Syaoran sighed and sat up in his chair, putting the car back in drive. He relectantly began heading down the gravel road. They became emmersed in the trees. Everything seemed to darken under the canopy of leaves. The highway disappeared behind them. The driveway curved around in all sorts of places, always blind curves. They drove over a little bridge. Water flowed under it strong. Slowly, the house appeared between the trees.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Oh, dumb endings are just terrible, aren’t they? Sorry! I wanted to keep the meeting Eriol and stuff in the next chapter. Um... a couple reasons for this chapter being so slow. One, I had the trip from hell getting back home and it wasted a huge day of precious time. Second, I have been rather depressed at the decision of a parental unit prohibiting me from seeing my all time favorite band that rarely plays on the North American continent... Sigh. Anywho.... This chapter was supposed to be a contreversial one. Alas, it isn’t. It’s going to be the next one. Figures, I can never write things as fast as I plan. Good though, right? I’m able to drag on until the ending. SOB! Endings... blah. It is two thirty in the morning and I really need to get some beauty sleep...

Um... As far as next chapters go and hints of the plot and stuff.... that’s what author’s notes are supposed to be for, isn’t it? I don’t know, I’ve kind of lost sight of that... started using it for personal purposes, such as complaining about not being able to go to that concert.... SDLKFJSL..... What can I say? The next chapters are going to be dramatic, traumatic, ecstatic... Neat how those all ended with tic.... But they really are. Because it’s the ending! The climax! Some exciting things with Eriol and Syaoran and Sakura and all our favorite characters... I mean, it’s basically self explanatory how it’s setting itself up as... Ahh... SLEEP! I’m going to die in the morning, must go.

Comments! I love them! Don’t be afraid to criticize or suggest things, I’m open to it!

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-SyaoranFan4Life