RECAP: Well Sakura and Syaoran had a run in with the Change card and they got switched - much like when Syaoran and Kero were switched. The chapter is basically just about the day they had, then they go back to Syaoran’s house, look through spell books for hours, blah blah blah, and Sakura finds the spell. They unswitch and Sakura seals the card within a dream, and they wake up at like midnight, Sakura says she should probably go home, then Syaoran says something like ‘come on I need to tell you something’ or something to that affect.

Chapter 24

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked Syaoran as he tossed her a coat.

Syaoran had a very one tract mind, and when people asked him questions while he was thinking about something else, he could rarely give a good answer. "I wanted to give this to you for your birthday, but you were gone..." Syaoran said, pulling a coat on over his Tshirt.

"A birthday present!?" Sakura asked excitedly. She followed Syaoran to the door. "We are going outside at midnight?"

Syaoran only flashed her a grin as he opened the door out into apartment hallway. He stopped, looking at the school uniform pants Sakura wore. "Hang on..." He said, rushing back into the apartment. Syaoran rummaged through his clothes until he found a pair of old shorts that would fit her, then quickly ran back down the hall. He handed them to her. "Go change." He ordered.

Sakura blinked blankly at him for a moment, then took them from him and jogged to the bathroom. Syaoran makes me change into shorts at midnight. We are going outside. He is giving me my birthday present...Sakura began to feel a little nervous. She quickly switched her uniform pants for the shorts, then walked out of the bathroom. "Can I just leave these here, then?" Sakura asked, holding her pants.

"Yeah." Syaoran said lightly.

Sakura set them down and walked over to Syaoran, a little nervous about this sudden light mood. He locked his door behind him and then led her down the hallway, jogging down the stairs into the lobby. They both unconsciously looked to the left where the Woody had been a few weeks back, but not noticing that they had even turned their heads, Sakura followed Syaoran outside into the cool spring night air.

Her bare legs were a little cold, but not too bad, the spring weather was definitely warming up. Sakura reached the bench Syaoran had stopped at and sat down, shivering at first as the cold metal touched her. She looked out the corner of her eye at Syaoran, who sat quietly.

Syaoran was excited about giving Moondust to Sakura. He knew both of them so well, and he thought they’d be perfect for each other. He was, however, dreading when he’d have to tell her why Moondust was going to be hers. He would have to explain he was leaving, and have to endure all that was attatched to that. He stood up as a large lit bus squeaked to a stop in the distance, then turned down this road. Sakura stood up and shivered, holding the coat he had lent her close to her. "Where are we going?" She asked again.

"Uh..." Syaoran started, but didn’t finish, as they climbed the steps onto the fairly empty bus. "To see Moon."

At first Sakura was thinking about the lunar moon, but she quickly realized what he was talking about. "You are taking me out at midnight to see your horse?" She asked, gazing out the large window to her left, then glancing over at Syaoran next to her.

He only sat silently, obviously in thought. Sakura sighed and leaned on the window, looking outside, sleep starting to wander back to her. I felt so awake when I was first changed back. It’s amazing how fast sleepiness catches up to you. The bus went along the suburbs and finally reached their stop. The bus driver looked a little surprised to see anyone get off at such a desolate spot at such an odd time, but he held the door open for them all the same.

Sakura followed Syaoran out onto the field where the grass was just starting to grow tall, some reaching Sakura’s waist, all waving around under the full moon’s bright beacon of light. She trudged through the beautiful landscaping after Syaoran, who quickly made his way along the fenceline. This is it. You tell her now. You can’t turn back. Nerves had a horrible way of settling in Syaoran’s stomach, and stomachaches were not uncommon.

He reached the fenceline and stopped, waiting for Sakura to reach the same spot. Syaoran put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, Sakura covered her ears because it was so loud, and the whistle was followed by a distant whinny. Syaoran tried to speak, but he couldn’t, and Moondust was close now, so he decided to wait. Moondust reached them, her silvery coat glowing under the moon’s metallic light, making her look hardly of the earth. Sakura gazed at her with awe. "She’s breathtaking." She said, watching the horse trot over, her silver mane flowing behind her, her smooth muscles rippling under her skin.

Syaoran was impressed with Moondust, he hadn’t seen her in moonlight for a while, and had almost forgotten why she was named the way she was. "That’s how she got her name." Syaoran said, petting the horse’s long face once she had reached them. She snorted happily, enjoying the night time visitors. Syaoran walked to her side, looking at Sakura. "Will you hop on?" He asked.

Sakura knew this was more a request than a question. She doesn’t have any bridle on! Sakura forced those thoughts out her mind, trying to think as Syaoran would for a moment. She smiled and nodded, stepping into his hand and vaulting up, adjusting herself once she had landed on the horse’s solid back. Syaoran smiled up at her, and Sakura froze for a second, looking at the full blown smile he was giving her.

A flash of Komai’s very similar wide grin went across her mind. Sakura shook that off. That’s ridiculous. Besides, I think Syaoran’s smile is actually a little bit nicer. She smiled back. "Can you move back a little?" Syaoran asked her.

Sakura was a bit surprised with the order, but she slowly understood what he meant; he wanted to ride too. She was a bit nervous about this - being alone with him, in the dark, on a very unicorn like horse...Syaoran is the one person you fully trust. It’s stupid to be nervous. "Sure." Sakura said happily, pushing in front of herself with her hands and moving backwards on the horse’s back.

Syaoran grabbed some mane and vaulted up, watching carefully that his leg swinging behind him didn’t hit Sakura on the way around. He moved up to the horses withers, then felt secure, and nudged the horse with his heels into a walk. Sakura went unbalanced, she was a bit to far back, she thought, so she quickly put her arms around Syaoran’s waist for stability. She quickly found herself remembering the natural feel of the horse’s walk, and she allowed herself to move along with the animal. The horse’s warm coat felt good under Sakura’s partially barelegs, and she let them hang loosely against the horse’s side. She waited for Syaoran to say something, but he didn’t. Sakura looked around at the waving field of tall grass, up at the moon and it’s bright beams of silvery light, and breathed deep, letting the clean air fill her lungs. Her eyes felt tired, so she leaned her head against Syaoran’s back, closing her eyes.

Syaoran looked guiltily ahead. Here he had her so close, they were with the horse, but yet he still couldn’t get himself to tell her. You are lying to her every minute. You’ve got to tell her, she will understand. "I know I haven’t gotten you anything for your birthday yet, Sakura." He started, forcing his voice to keep from cracking nervously.

"It’s alright." She said, not bothering to open her eyes, her voice a bit muffled as she said it against his coat.

"But I just couldn’t find the right time to give it to you, and...I was hoping that you...that you would...take care of Moondust." Syaoran forced the words out of his mouth, though he had frequent pauses in the sentence.

Sakura lifted her head off his back. "You want me to...to take her?" She asked unsurely, finding it hard to beleive he would give her something this important.

This was a whole lot harder than Syaoran thought it would be. Syaoran wanted to look at Sakura, but then he didn’t want to, knowing that if he looked at her sparkling green eyes, he would feel horrible guilt. Syaoran stopped Moondust, sitting silent for a second, before swinging his leg over her neck and jumping to the ground, walking over to the fence, leaning on it.

Sakura frowned as he pulled out of her arms, and quickly jumped down after him, hurrying over to the fence. She looked at his expression carefully, trying to determine what was wrong. Is this what Tomoyo meant- she was sure he’d tell me himself? Sakura put her hand on his shoulder gently. "Syaoran, I would love to have her, but I don’t want to take her away from you, if-"

"I....I am going to have to...go to Hong Kong." Syaoran said, staring hard in front of himself.

Sakura was taken aback, his words hit her hard, but she tried not to jump to conclusions. "Oh...But, but you’ll be back right? You’ll come back like you did the last time, right?" Sakura asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide her desperation.

Syaoran sighed and turned to her, pain stinging thrrough him as he looked into her shining emerald eyes. "Yeah, I’m sure, I won’t be gone for very long..." Syaoran said softly, the lie he was telling eating away at his insides.

Sakura’s eyes were still insisting on filling with tears, against her will, she was not sure she could beleive him. Sakura looked at the ground. "Is everything alright? I mean, for you to have to leave...?"

"I...well, my mother’s sick." Syaoran said, leaning against the fence.

"Oh!" Sakura said, quickly throwing her selfish reasoning and worrying for Syaoran’s sake. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I’m sure she’ll be fine in just a while, I am just going to visit her, that’s all." Syaoran said. Why are you lying? You know when you go to Hong Kong, you won’t be needed to come back. Just tell her. "But I-"

Sakura put her arms around Syaoran, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I’m sure she’ll be alright, don’t worry Syaoran, she is a very strong person."

I am worried about you too, Sakura. Syaoran stroked through Sakura’s silky hair, closing his eyes and breathing in slowly, not wanting to think of anything besides that moment. Soon I’ll be gone, and who knows when I will ever hold her again. "I don’t want to leave you here, Sakura, by yourself, to have all these things against you, God, you could get hurt, and I won’t be here to help..."

Sakura stepped back, looking at him with shiny eyes. "Is that why you are so worried?" She asked, amazed. More tears brimmed, and one mde its way out, streaming down. Syaoran wiped it away gently, and Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Don’t worry about me, Syaoran, I’ll be fine. You worry about what you have to do..."

If I leave, will I loose you? I don’t want that, Sakura, but who am I to put you over my mother? "Sakura...You could....you could come with me." Syaoran said, the idea sounding very good to him. "The elders could help us figure out what’s wrong with your cards, and you would be safe, there would be tons of-"

Sakura felt her eyes burning at Syaoran’s hopeful words, but she couldn’t take them, and she had to make him stop, She put her finger to his lips, getting a slightly shocked reaction from him. "Syaoran..." She started, wondering how she could explain this without hurting his feelings. "I can’t...my family is here, I couldn’t leave them..."

"I left my family to be with you, even when you hardly talked to me, I stayed, it wouldn’t be for that long, the-"

"Syaoran, we are different." Sakura said, not wanting to meet his eyes. Was she being unfair to him; expecting him to be the one to always make the sacrifices? Syaoran was looking at her intently, not saying anything, only watching her. Sakura stepped close to him again, burrying her face in his chest. "You won’t be that long, right? I’ll be just fine, here, you need to concentrate on your mother, not me..." Her tears fell freely now, though he couldn’t see them.

Syaoran listened halfway as he stroked her hair absently, staring emotionless over her shoulder, looking at Moondust. Did she just reject you? Maybe. She didn’t commit herself to you, she has no reason to follow you. She told you her feelings years ago, but you threw it away, forgot about it, ignored it, grew apart. That’s got to show you how dedicated her love was. These thoughts made his stomach sick. You told her the truth, now why do you feel so horrible? "So will you take her?" He asked bluntly.

Sakura stepped back again, wiping underneath her eyes with her right sleeve. "Of course I will, though I am not sure I know how to take care of her." She frowned as she looked into his eyes, trying to decide what he was feeling. Syaoran didn’t look as genuinely concerned and open as he had a few moments ago, no, he had lost that openess somewhere in Sakura’s gentle decline. It made her sad, but she knew she would have to be stronger. "When are you leaving?"

"Uh...A week or two." He said.

"Oh." Sakura said, not sure if that was good or bad.

Syaoran met her green eyes for a second, then turned his away, not feeling strong enough to look into those bright eyes again. He would have liked to hold her more, maybe even do more than that, but he knew it wasn’t right. Sakura had just declined the only offer he could have come up with. He dropped his arms from her sides, waiting for her to do the same.

Sakura looked unsurely at him, wondering why he had to close up so suddenly. "We should probably get some sleep before school tommorrow, we can’t be late again." Sakura said, smiling.

Syaoran halfway grinned. "Yes, probably."

Sakura looked unsurely at the horse, then at the far far fenceline. "Are we walking, or..."

Syaoran looked up, seeing what she meant. He held his hand up as a step and Sakura hopped lightly onto the horse’s back. Syaoran waited for her to move back, then vaulted up himself, quickly turning the horse towards the fenceline. Sakura put her arms around him again, her lower legs thanful for the heat from the horse’s sides. Syaoran looked at the fenceline they were approaching, wanting to gallop the horse furiously around to let off some steam, but knowing that wouldn’t be wise.

He did, however, decide they could go at least a little faster, and he pushed the horse directly into a smooth canter, Moondust rocking easily underneath them. Sakura tightened her hold on Syaoran, but was able to ride Moondust with her developing balance, and she leaned herself against Syaoran, enjoying the night time rocking horse. Syaoran could see the fence coming up fast, but he didn’t want to stop, so he turned the horse in a large circle. Sakura didn’t make any signs of protest, so he continued pushing the horse along.

Finally, after two more circles, Syaoran reluctantly sat deeper, slowing the horse to a walk, then eventually a stop, parking in front of the fence line. Sakura sighed and leaned against Syaoran. She couldn’t think of words to explain it, so she just breathed with content, happy enough with the moment. Syaoran slid down, Sakura hopping down right after him, landing in his arms. They met eyes for a second, then Syaroan turned and let go of her, petting the horse on her neck. Sakura did the same, smiling at the pretty horse. She hugged the horse’s neck, and the horse stood perfectly still for her. "Thank you Moondust." She said, letting go of her and walking after Syaoran.

They ducked under the fence and hopped across the ditch onto the road. Sakura looked down it, not seeing a bus or any other vehichle for that matter anywhere in sight. "I’m so tired!" Sakura said, yawning.

Syaoran smiled at her, then looked down the road, yawning himself. "We might as well start walking to the next bus stop." He said, dragging his feet into a walk.

Sakura walked beside him, trying to decide what to say. "We are having a concert for the music class next Tuesday. Could you come and watch me and Tomoyo play?" Sakura boldly asked.

Syaoran thought. He knew he had a wiring class after school, but surely Sakura was more important than learning advanced wiring? "I guess." He said.

"Great!" Sakura said enthusiastically. She yawned again, and her eyes seemed to become a bunch heavier. I could use the Dash, why didn’t I think of that? The Dash isn’t taken yet, I don’t think. No, I would like to stay in this situation for a little while longer. "Will you tell me now, about your father?" Sakura finally asked.

Syaoran was twisting the edge of his coat around his left hand unsurely. He didn’t talk about this subject to anyone, but then, it was starting to become obvious to him that Sakura wasn’t just ‘anyone’. "I remember him being very nice, and very tall." Syaoran said.

Sakura smiled. "Everyone is tall when you are little." She confirmed.

"And he...well my family used to go on long horse rides together, when we could have time together to do so, and he would let me ride with him. But..."

Sakura waited patiently, but when Syaoran didn’t finish, she tried to prompt him. "But what?"

"Nothing." Syaoran said.

"How did he die?" Sakura asked finally, her voice as soft and careful as she could make it.

"He...I don’t want to..." Syaoran stammered.

"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be asking, I hope I didn’t make you sad."

"No." Syaoran said, jamming his hands in his pockets.

They walked for a while quietly, Sakura wondering what to say, Syaoran trying to deal with the difficult conflicts he was having. The bus stop was ahead of them, and they could see the bus coming, so they both sprinted their tired legs to the bench, barely reaching the door just as it was closing. The bus driver opened it again and let them in, and they gratefully climbed the steps and collapsed in the front seat.

They sat silent, Sakura eventually falling asleep on Syaoran’s shoulder. He only glanced over momentarily to see what the added weight was on his shoulder, then went back to looking blankly out the window, thinking hard about the decisions to be made. He finally blinked and noticed they were coming up to his apartment building, and Syaoran gently shook Sakura, watching her long eye lashes flutter open. They lazily stepped out onto the parkinglot and forced their legs up the stairs, reaching Syaoran’s apartment after an eternity.

Syaoran fumbled with his keys and finally found the right one, then let them in, not bothering to turn on the lights as their eyes had grown accustomed to the dark. Sakura could hardly keep her eyes open now, and she accidentally bumped into Syaoran as she walked, though he didn’t seem to care. Syaoran walked her to the place where he had set out all the blankets earlier on the living room floor, then left her as she was already falling asleep. He wandered into his room, ready to crawl on his mattress, but was sad to see the matress bare. I took all the blankets into the living room. He remembered.

Syaoran was much too tired to do any more blanket swapping, so he stumbled into the living room, tripping over a few left out spell books on the way, and collapsed next to Sakura, falling asleep almost as soon as his eyes closed.

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

Sakura frowned. She knew this setting. Sakura blinked and looked up, seeing a small boy holding a large sword. Yes, she knew where she was. "Hong Kong." She said to herself. Sakura walked forward, trying to see what the little boy was doing.

Sakura breathed in suddenly, then realized she was in the real world again. She looked around and found her arm over Syaoran, her head had been resting on his chest as it rose and fell in his sleep. Sakura frowned, laying her head down again. Does that spell still work? Was I just in his dream? I wish I knew this whole story, it only makes a little sense. She gazed up at Syaoran, who was continuing to scowl, even in his sleep.

Sakura sighed and figured she should probably roll away, Syaoran might be annoyed to find Sakura had been sleeping on his chest. She took her arm off him and rolled over, closing her eyes and slowly falling back into sleep.

"Not another dream!" Sakura said with dismay, seeing she was floating around in black darkness.

Sakura found herself conscious again. Who would have thought I could have this many dreams in one night? Cats switching places, some of Syaoran’s childhood, those two people talking...Sakura sat up and leaned over to Syaoran, shaking his shoulder.

Syaoran’s eyes immediatly blinked open, and he looked questioningly at her. "This better be important." He grumbled sleepily.

"Syaoran, I had been having this dream! And I understand it! Someone kept saying ‘he’s going to leave’, and like that ‘the boy is helping her alot’ and stuff like that! And I understand now! They were saying ‘he’s leaving her, she’ll be fightnig alone’ just now! So like, someone is trying to make you leave to keep you from helping me, so that means, that means..." Sakura’s rapid talking slowed, as she realized she had no idea.

Syaoran forced himself to sit up, though he deeply wanted to sleep right now. "Sounds like your Dream card is helping you. I wonder why that is, unless it’s a trap..."

"No, don’t you see, you can’t leave, that’s what they want, they’ve been trying to get you to leave forever now, and once you do leave, they’ll...." Sakura’s tears of frustration and her tendency to have wilder emotions when she was tired made a large line of fresh tears fall.

Syaoran almost sighed, but he stopped himself from doing so, and quickly leaned over and took her in his arms, rocking her back and forth. "I’m sure it’s nothing, Sakura, don’t worry, it’ll be fine, you’ll see..." Syaoran went on like that.

"I know, but, but what if they hurt you, or, or, or worse?" She sobbed, sniffing.

"They couldn’t do a thing to me, don’t worry, you know I can take them on." Syaoran said.

Sakura moved back from him, sniffing away her tears and slightly smiling at him. "I guess so."

Syaoran smiled, glad to see he was getting the reaction he wanted. "We see that a couple of cards don’t stand a chance against me, right?" He asked, ruffling her hair.

Sakura laughed sheepishly. "Right." She said.

"So can we sleep now? School is going to come very quickly."

Sakura nodded, wiping away the last of her tears. Syaoran held his smile to her for a few more seconds before laying back down. Sakura went back to her original position, daring to rest her head on his chest, and was happy to see he didn’t protest, but only ran his fingers through her hair making her feel calmer.

Sakura sighed, hating to think that such a good friend would be leaving her. Sakura took his hand from her shoulder and studied the palm of it with the little moonlight that was in the room. She felt guilty looking at the scar, and she traced over the mark with her finger, frowning with pain as she thought of what it must have felt like. Sakura gently set it back down on her shoulder. "That was very cool, when you tried to pull me out of the water with your sword. Did I ever tell you that?"

Syaroan grinned at the ceiling, praying that as Sakura had her head on his chest, she didn’t hear his racing pulse or thumping heart that seemed to fill his head with a banging sound. "No." He said quietly.

"And when I was trapped under the ice, and you got Moondust to break through with her hooves. That was cool too."

Syaoran grinned again, continuing to run his fingers loosely through the ends of her ribbon like hair.

"And when you killed that dragon-" Sakura paused to yawn. "That was neat too." She said, her eyes weighing shut. "Definitely...very cool...." Her voice trailed off as she fell asleep again.

Syaoran smiled, pushing his worries aside for the moment. She is going to be so tired tommorrow. Who knows how she’ll get through math class. Syaoran felt a wave of panic. Neither of us did our math homework. He let that panic settle down. I’ll just do it when I wake up. Syaoran closed his eyes and fell asleep, warmer than he had ever been during sleep before, and he slept dreamlessly, only random thoughts drifting through his mind.

Sakura yawned for the fifth time since sitting on her homeroom desk. Tomoyo was sitting in Syaoran’s chair currently, and they were discussing the concert. Syaoran had begged Sakura repeadtedly to keep from telling Tomoyo about the whole Change card, saying that she might be offended if she learned he had been in the locker room. Sakura had a strange suspicion that it had been Syaoran that would be the embaressed one, but she didn’t say anything.

"So where did you go with Syaoran after school?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura cringed. "We went to his house to look at some spell books." She said, hoping Tomoyo would beleive her.

"Until nine?" Tomoyo asked, a skeptical grin coming across her face.

"Heh, they were...very interesting." Sakura said, smiling convincingly. "Sorry, did you try to call me?"

"Yeah, Sakura, listen, I know you used to be good friends with him, but he’s changing, and I am worried about you, has he told you that...that he’s leaving yet?"
Sakura looked at Tomoyo with wider eyes. So she knew all the way before my birthday that he was leaving? And he just now told me? "Y-yes, but...how did you know about it?"

"That’s what I’m talking about, Sakura, be careful about trusting him. I can tell he must talk to you when you’re alone with him much the same way he talks with me and some other people - I don’t want to scare you off, I’m just trying to tell you as a friend..."

Sakura frowned, not meeting eyes with her good friend. Why was Tomoyo so against Syaoran? "Thanks, Tomoyo, but I think you’ve just missed that, that he is different than you think at first, he’s really trustworthy- I mean, look at all he’s done-"

"That’s what I thought too, until he took it too far, and..."

Sakura frowned at her friend’s pretty face that was filled was shame, then she glanced over her shoulder at Syaoran, who was sitting and sleepily listening to one of Tamakazi’s stories. "Are you talking about when you kissed him?" Sakura boldly asked.

Tomoyo looked up at Sakura with saddened and surprised large eyes. "He told you that?"

"He was worried that something was up with you." Sakura said.

Tomoyo only held a grim smile and looked at the floor. "I’m sad you beleived that." She said. "That wasn’t exactly the way it went."

Sakura was so frustrated with her friends, why did her social circle have to get so messed up? "Are you saying he kissed you? That’s tsupid, you know he wouldn’t do that-"

"I wouldn’t lie to you, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cried, her purple gray eyes filling with tears.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped, looking up at Syaoran’s wondering fiery eyes as he waited for Tomoyo to get up out of his seat as class was starting. Tomoyo glanced up at him for a second before abruptly standing up and rushing to her seat. Syaoran looked after her with suspicion, and at Sakura, who looked upset, and sat down wordlessly.

The class started, and Syaoran frequently glanced at Tomoyo, then up at the back of Sakura’s head, wondering what exactly had just transpired. The class finally ended, and the class broke away, and they headed to math class.

Sakura sat down with her tired eyes and plunked her math book down on her desk, then sat down after it. When the teacher told them to get out their homework, Sakura about freaked out. I totally forgot! I had a good reason, I was spending the whole evening in someone else’s body, but how do I explain that? Sakura opened her book to the assignment, and much to her surprise, there was her homework.

The work was written out a little sloppier than she generally did, but all the answers were written out, the handwriting may have been slightly off, but it was very close to her normal writing. Sakura looked sideways at Syaoran with melting eyes and the best grateful smile she could come up with. Syaoran gave her a quick grin before going to grading his paper.

How could Tomoyo say that? Is that the double? Ugh, I don’t know. I used to beleive everything Tomoyo would tell me, but now these stupid cards have to ruin all the friendship we had. Sakura went over her paper, getting one hundred percent for the first time in a while, and passed it up happily. Syaoran is the nicest person I have ever known, though he definitely doesn’t come off that way.

During the teacher’s lecturing, Sakura ripped off a peice of her paper and wrote ‘thank you’ in huge letters, then tossed it onto Syaoran’s desk when the sensei was writing on the board. The paper got tossed back to her the next time the sensei had her back to the class. Is Tomoyo alright? He had written. Sakura bit her lip. How did he always manage to hit it right on the mark?

Yeah, she’s fine. Sakura lied, throwing it back to him. Chihura watched the paper fly through the air and shook her head with mock disapproval. Sakura blushed and smiled with embaressment, the thought just crossing her mind- Does everyone else notice he’s talking to me more? Who cares. He’s leaving for Hong Kong, He just wants to talk with me while he still can, right?

______________________________________________________________________

"That’s so beautiful!" Tomoyo exclaimed. It was Monday already, the rest of last week flying by without any cards bothering them, Sakura managing to get by her family’s suspicion about why she had been gone all night on Wednesday.

"Your parts really fill it in." Sakura said, taking her hands off the piano keys. They had their song down to a beautiful science, and even when they practiced, some of the kids in the music class would stop playing just to listen.

"I can’t beleive you were able to come up with that all by yourself! It’s just so pretty, everyone’s sure to love it at the concert!" Tomoyo said.

"I know!" Sakura said.

Tamakazi and Chihura walked over. "That’s beautiful, guys." Chihura said jealously.

"I’m sure your song is beautiful as well!" Sakura said, smiling.

"Well I think it sounds nice, but who am I to say anything-" Tamakazi started, but Chihura whacked him before he could finish.

"I wonder if we are going to go out for pizza after, like last concert?"

"That’d be cool." Sakura said.

Trent and Naoko, partners for this one, walked over, along with Rika, all looking for a break from the constant practice. "We heard there was a party over here." Rika said jokingly, sitting on the rolly chair that was placed next to the piano bench.

"Yep, over here at the baby grand." Tomoyo said, smiling.

"What are you guys doing after school before the concert tommorrow?" Sakura asked.

"I’m doing nothing, as usual." Naoko complained.

"Well my dad’s going to be at the university, and Touya doesn’t mind company, do you all want to come to my house after school for some cake?" Sakura asked happily.

"Sounds cool." Tamakazi said. Then he looked at the group of girls he was with, then at Trent. "Only if he comes."

Trent looked a bit startled with the sudden attention. "Oh, uh, I can probably come." He said.

Sakura smiled. "Great!"

"Does that hottie still live in your house?" Tamakazi asked. "There’s so many stories I could tell about Egyptian people, we just didn’t get a time to talk last time and-" Whack- Chiuhra’s backhand nailed him across the shoulder.

"Heh." Sakura smiled weakly. "Yeah, Chindra’s with us. Oh, but the last time you came to my house, it was that old one, right?"

"Yes, and we played hide and seek, and we couldn’t find you, so everyone had to leave and hope you’d eventually find your way back out." Rika said.

Sakura smiled weakly again, remembering that run in with Aruka. "Right. Well, I am back in my house- that was just my uncle’s house, we were taking care of him..." Sakura paused. "But anyway, this one’s alot closer. It’s not half as big, but it’s normal."

"As long as the Egyptian chick is there, so am I." Tamakazi confirmed.

____________________________________________________________________

"Watch out Li!" Sakura shouted from the bleachers. She was sitting out because of getting caught highsticking, so she was watching anxiously as the teams played agressively. This was the second to last game in the tournament, everyone was playing as hard as they could get themselves to play, wanting the winning title and the extra credit they got for winning.

Sakura time beeped off, and she quickly hopped down and began skating her hardest, an expert at moving quickly. She whacked the puck away from her goal, taking a place in defense. Syaoran and Tamakazi were doing a wonderful job playing forwards, and Sakura watched as they passed around the other’s team defense like it was a bunch of lifeless boards. Syaoran had the puck and was looking to score, but he didn’t see the last of the defense charging him.

"Pass to Tamakazi!" Sakura shouted, joined in by her other teamates.

Syaoran glanced up just in time, and expertly hit it to Tamakazi, who directed the puck right into the goal. "Yeah!" Sakura shouted, her other teamates cheering.

Everyone skated back into the center, waiting for the game to take off again. Syaoran whacked the puck into the direction he wanted, but his hit was followed with a whistle, and Syaoran walked dejectedly into the penalty box

Sakura swiftly skated over to the offense, taking over his position. Tamakazi saw, and he quickly passed it to her. Sakura might not have the pure strength Syaoran did, but she did have better control, and she quickly moved around the defense was untraceable moves. Tamakazi was impressed, and he let her shoot. Sakura tried to hit the puck into the goal, but the goalie knocked it back. The puck traveled into the other goal, and Sakura and Tamakazi slowly glided their way into the middle of the floor, watching as their defense knocked the puck away. Tamakazi stopped it with his stick and turned it around, starting to skate for another goal.

He passed diagnolly to Sakura, and then she passed to him, making a zigzag pattern. Once the defense had caught on to the pattern it ws too late, and Tamakazi set Sakura up for a shot, and she grinned, skating in and whacking her stick into the puck. Chihura just barely managed to block it as she skated by, and the puck was sent away from the goal again. Someone from behind launched it back, and it went sailing past the goalie’s leg into the goal, scoring. Sakura and Tamakazi turned around to see Syaoran’s triumphant expression.

"Good shot!" Tamakazi said, skating over then skating alongside to the center circle.

"Yeah, good shot!" Sakura said happily.

"Are you going to Kinomoto’s after school?" Tamakazi asked Syaoran, it being Tuesday.

Syaoran looked with confusion at Tamakazi, then looked to Sakura. "Uh..."

"Of course, you can come if you want! A bunch of us are going to my house after school before the music concert." Sakura said.

They all got in their formation for the start of the game. "The Egyptian chick is gonna be there!" Tamakazi said, slamming his stick against one of the other team’s offense as they tried to send the puck away.

"Tamakazi!" Chihura shouted across the gym.

Sakura skated next to Syaoran. "Besides, it’d give you a chance to look at some, uh, some cards I got." Sakura said, knowing that Tamakazi might still be listening.

"Right." Syaoran said, skating away to help out Tamakazi.

I’ll take that as a yes? Sakura skated in a tight circle, putting her feet sideways. "That’s pretty Sakura!" Rika said, waiting around Sakura’s goal to try and score for her team. She attempted to do the same triwl, but lost her balance.

"Keep your feet sideways!" Sakura said, smiling.

Their lesson was interrupted, because the puck came at them, and Sakura and Rika were pushing their sticks against each other, trying to put the puck in different directions.

"Fight Kinomoto!" Nataly bravely called from the sidelines.

Sakura grinned and finally loosened the puck away from Rika, sending it across the floor to Syaoran and the rest of the offense. Rika sighed. "I am no match for Sakura." She said, mocking sadness.

Sakura giggled. "Please, Rika, I need your help badly on this cake I am trying to make for us. It’s useless trying to make it by myself. Always comes out flat." The only way it’s getting eaten is when Kero decides to eat it.

__________

"When did you move to Japan, Chindra?" Rika asked, mixing batter in a large bowl.

Chindra was cracking the eggs, not quite sure how to handle the company of all Sakura’s friends. "A long time ago, I hardly remember Egypt!" She said, smiling.

"She was taking care of my uncle, the one that lived at that cool house." Sakura explained.

"Oh, that’s really nice of you!" Rika said.

"He was a very good person." Chindra said, looking sadly down at the bowl for a second, before returning to the eggs.

"Oh, I’m sorry, did he pass away?" Rika asked.

"Yeah, that’s why we moved back here." Sakura said, thinking about it and feeling a little depressed, feeling guilty again as she looked at Chindra.

"Oh, I’m really sorry." Rika said, being a bit more solemn as she mixed the batter.

Tamakazi had been staring at Chindra from the moment she had come down to the kitchen. "Where did she get those pants?" He asked, his star struck eyes lulling over her.

"Tamakazi! She could hear you!" Chihura scolded, they were sitting on the couches in the living room, but they were still close to the kitchen.

Syaoran sighed, bored, sitting on the couch. I could sneak up to her room and look at the cards myself...

"Are you coming to the concert to watch, Li-kun?" Naoko asked politely.

"Yeah." Syaoran replied, glancing up.

Trent shifted positions on the couch. "I hope that cake is done soon." He said, putting a hand on his hungry stomach.

"Sakura-chan! Is the cake almost ready?" Chihura called.

Sakura looked sheepishly from the pan she was spraying with butter. "Uh....yeah, in a little bit!" She called. Though we haven’t even got it cooking yet.

"Great! We are all really hungry!" Tamakazi said. "Will you be eating with us, Chindra?"

Chindra turned, curious and a bit annoyed at this boy’s constant attention. She seemed confused between Syaoran and him, so she looked constantly flustered. "I suppose." She said, quickly turning back around to help with the batter.

They poured everything into the pan, shoved it in the oven, then set the timer on. Sakura walked over to the couch and hopped down next to Tomoyo. "It should be ready in like twenty minutes, sorry." She said.

"Twenty!" Tamakazi wailed.

Sakura shrugged sheepishly. "Is your song ready for tonight’s concert?" She asked, bringing up an easy conversation.

"No." Chihura said with dismay.

"Your song is beautiful, Sakura." Rika said.

Syaoran chewed on the inside of his lip. He had read the title of Sakura’s song when their bodies were switched, but he had managed to get out of playing it, telling Tomoyo he didn’t feel good. I wish she’d hurry up and show me her cards.

Sakura could tell Syaoran was bored, and she knew it was very plausible to think he might get up and announce he needed to leave for a forgotten appointment, so she was doing her best to keep him entertained, which was hard with so many other people around.

Touya strolled into the room, looking over Sakura’s group of friends that had taken over the living room. Yukito was with him, and Sakura kicked herself again for not talking to Yue. But that concert went by so fast, I just didn’t have time. She reasoned. Touya’s eyes met Syaoran’s, sparks flying. The rest of the company watched with curiosity at the strong grudge held between these two.

Sakura heard a crash coming from upstairs, and she looked up with alarm. Touya and Yukito looked up the stairs suspiciously, and Sakura abruptly stood up. "I’ll be right back." She said to her friends, quickly running up the stairs.

Sakura opened the door to her room and jumped into a dive as a spurt of a flame went flying across her head. Sakura stood up and looked with huge eyes at Keroberus, completly transformed. Her eyes drifted over to Bob, who was collecting some type of energy, preparing to launch it at Kero. "You guys!" She cried, seeing that the edge of the waredrobe in her closet had ash over it.

Keroberus looked up and abruptly transformed back into a harmless yellow bear. "Sakura he won’t leave me alone!" He whined.

"Bob protecting self! Bear try to eat me!"

Sakura held a hand to her head. "Please, just for one day, give it a rest, guys I have my friends over, you can’t be making all this noise and stuff while they’re around!" She said.

"Sorry, he just-"

"I don’t care, just let off!" Sakura said.

A knock came on Sakura’s door, and she looked up, startled. "Yes?"

Touya’s voice answered. "Is everything right, monster?"

"Touya! I’m not a monster! Yeah, just some books fell over, that’s all." She said.

She heard Touya’s footsteps leave, and she sighed with releif. She turned and looked at Kero and Bob seriously. "I’ve got a bunch of nonmagic people over. Stay hidden."

Sakura turned and let herself out of her room, hurrying back down the stairs and into the living room. She sat down next to Tomoyo, then frowned, looking around. "Where’s Syaoran?" She asked, seeing that one person was missing.

"He just said something about going to get something, we didn’t quite catch that part of the sentence." Rika said, shrugging.

Sakura frowned and stood up. "I’ll go see." She said, walking out of the living room.

Chihura watched her leave with a sly smile on her face. "Those two..." She said, shaking her head.

"They were acting really weird the other day." Naoko agreed.

"It’s love." Rika said, smiling.

"I don’t think Li-kun is the type to fall for such an innocent girl." Tamakazi said.

"I agree, they make a weird pair." Tomoyo said.

- - - - -

Sakura wandered down the downstairs hall but didn’t see Syaoran, so she headed up the stairs, going into a jog as she heard another crash from her room. Sakura opened the door, greeted with shouting. "Your magic couldn’t even touch me!" Kero was shouting.

"I could hit you with my eyes closed you overstuffed bear, maybe if you did more than eat all the time you’d-"

"GUYS!" Sakura shouted, glaring at Syaoran and Kero.

Bob squeaked. "Angel back! She and Sailor together!"

Sakura and Syaoran both glared at Bob, then looked to Kero. "Kero, what’s the problem?"

"He was trying to steal your cards!" Kero said defensively.

Sakura sighed. "He wasn’t trying to steal them, he was trying to look at them, because he’s a better help than you." Kero pouted and bit his bottom lip in.

She turned to Syaoran, whose fiery eyes were blazing with heat. "We gotta hurry, they are wondering where you are." Sakura said. She walked over to her closet and looked up at the top shelf, where her cards sat safely. Sakura jumped and unsuccessfully tried to pull it down. She jumped again, her fingertips just missing it.

Syaoran walked over, smiling at Sakura’s antics. "Is that how you always get it down?"

Sakura stopped jumping for a second, smiling weakly. "After about ten tries, I can normally get it." She said, smiling.

Syaoran looked up at the shelf and sized up it’s heigth, then looked around Sakura’s room. He took an empty laundry basket and flipped it over, then stepped up lightly, reaching for the book. Kero, grinning devilishly, sent a magic surge of wind at the base Syaoran was standing on, sending his feet flying out from under him. Sakura, thinking death thoughts about Kero, caught Syaoran from behind, barely missing tumbling over herself. Sakura glared at Kero as she supported Syaoran until he gained his balance. "Kero, we are going to have a talk later." She said bitterly.

Kero glared at Syaoran and Sakura for catching them, and sent another blast of wind, sending them off their feet and landing painfully next to each other. Bob squeaked and flew around them in a circle, spraying rosey colored dust all of them. Syaoran wiped the pink dust from his cheek with disgust. Syaoran tried to pull his leg out from under Sakura, but they both quickly looked up as the door opened.

Miraculously, Kero and Bob had managed to hide themselves in time, but poor Sakura and Syaoran were still stuck sitting as they had been when Kero sent the wind under them. Touya looked into Sakura’s room and pure rage flashed across his eyes. Sakura quickly stumbled up from how she had been sitting, glancing at Syaoran with red cheeks, then at Touya, trying to come up with an explaination. "I, uh..."

Syaoran was holding the cards in his hand, and he quickly tried to find a place to hide it. He quickly tossed it into Sakura’s closet and the pile of clothes in it, noticing breifly that there were ashes on some of the clothes on the right, but quickly looking up. He jumped to his feet, meeting Touya’s eyes with sparks.

"Please Touya, don’t jump to conclusions, he was just trying to get something, and he fell, it’s not what you think-" Sakura started

Touya walked over to them, putting his arms in between them, then pushing them away from each other at about a distance of five feet. He turned to Syaoran. "This is the space my little sister needs. If I ever see you break that space rule, I will personally beat you to the ground until you’re unable to stand. Do I make myself clear enough?"

Syaoran’s scowl had deepened by every word, and he was about to start shouting, both his fists tightened to fight. Syaoran opened his mouth to say something but Sakura was hopping up and down to see over Touya’s shoulder, giving Syaoran a pleading look to keep his mouth shut. Syaoran looked from her to the ground, then finally up to Touya again. "Perfectly." He said, glaring. Oh for the day I will finally be as tall as him. Not that I couldn’t beat him up now, maybe that’s better, it’d probably be more humiliating. Touya took Syaoran by the shoulders and pushed him along into the hall, giving him an extra push as they approached the stairs, letting Syaoran make the rest of the way down. Touya returned for Sakura, who was already walking down the hall, furiously embaressed by her brother. He put his arm over her shoulder and walked her down the hall.

"Sakura, you know I love you, but I hate to see you with that boy, he’s not good for you, okay? Do you understand?"

Sakura sighed and squirmed out of his arm. "Yes, onni-chan."

She walked down the stairs and sat down next to Tomoyo again. Rika and Chindra were icing the cake, Tamakazi watching with happy eyes, Chihura glaring at Tamakazi. Syaoran was sitting with a very dark look, glaring at Touya as he went by. Sakura tried to look as sympathetically at him as she could, though she wasn’t sure what was the best way to handle the situation.

Sakura and Tomoyo got up and helped cutting the cake, putting large portions on each plate. They carried them into the living room. Sakura set a plate in front of Syaoran, ignoring the mean look Touya was giving her, and managing to meet Syaoran’s eyes with a smile as she set it down. Sakura walked over to her seat next to Tomoyo and started eating her cake, gazing around the room. Tamakazi was staring at Chindra as she ate, and she was trying to ignore it politely.

"So, Chindra, do you like chocolate cake as well?" Tamakazi asked.

"Great pickup line." Chihura rolled her eyes and mumbled, getting a laugh from Rika sitting next to her.

Chindra looked up from her cake. "Umm, yes, very much."

"How funny! So do I!" Tamakazi said.

"Amazing! And me too!" Rika said, laughing.

"Who doesn’t like chocolate cake?" Sakura asked, swallowing down a large bite.

Syaoran hadn’t eaten very much, as much of his time was being spent glaring at Touya across the room. He looked down at his food and began eating more, this cake was very good. "What time does the concert start?" Syaoran asked.

Everyone looked up, surprised to hear the angry one talk. "Seven I think." Naoko said.

"But we’ve got to leave at Six fifteen." Sakura said.

"Who is taking you?" Touya asked.

"We’re walking." Sakura said, looking up at her brother.

"We will drive you." Touya said firmly.

Sakura frowned at her brother, then looked at the rest of the group. "Six thirty, my mistake." She said. If Touya only knew I fell asleep with Syaoran Wednesday night. He’d have a cow. Why does everyone else have to be so against Syaoran? He’s mean, yeah, but not that mean. Sakura looked up sympathetically at Syaoran, whose hair fell into his eyes as he leaned over his plate and cleanly finsihed his peice of cake. Sakura sighed and looked down at her own plate. Why does he have to leave?

"Is Meilin planning on coming to visit any time soon?" Naoko asked Syaoran.

He blinked and looked up, realizing someone was talking to him. "Um, I don’t think she’s planning on it." Syaoran said.

"That’s too bad. Are you going to get to see her any time soon? You are probably enjoying your time away from your shadow."

"Well, I think I am going to visit Hong Kong in a while anyway, I’ll probably get to see her." Syaoran answered.

"You’re not going to abandon us for soccer season, are you?" Tamakazi asked, horrified.

"Oh, uh, I don’t know." Syaoran said.

"That stinks. You’ll have to tell her hi for us." Tamakazi said.

"Alright." Syaoran said.

Touya had been getting a look of joy as he heard Syaoran talking about leaving, and Sakura had met his eyes with a short glare. "Don’t you two hate living in two places?" Sakura asked Syaoran.

He glanced up at her. Talking with her when other people were around was completly different than when they were alone. "It’s not that bad."

"I know I couldn’t leave Japan." Tamakazi announced.

"And why’s that?" Chihura asked.

"I haven’t even gotten to make friends with Chindra!" He said.

Chindra almost spit out the peice of cake she was chewing on, but she quickly composed herself. Chihura was getting very annoyed. "You should ask her to marry her, if you like her so much." She grumbled.

____________________________

"Last time Kinomoto tripped over a cord that was laying across the stage on her way out to the piano." Tamakazi said, smiling as he recalled the funny moment.

"Poor her." Syaoran said.

They were sitting in the auditorium, Tamakazi’s duet over with. He and Chihura hadn’t done too bad, their instrumentals had gone fairly smooth, though it was a very basic song. Syaoran looked to his right where a few rows away he met Touya’s glaring eyes. Syaoran just turned his head back and looked onto the stage.

Sakura and Tomoyo walked out onto stage, their long black skirts just touching the floor. Sakura hated walking in heels, but she endured it, walking carefully across the stage to the piano bench, sitting on the right, as Tomoyo sat down on the left. She set the music in front of them, taking a deep breath.

Sakura wanted Syaoran to be here, but having him here made her very nervous, despite the fact that she and Tomoyo could play this song with their eyes closed. Sakura put her hands where they would start and then started the fluent broken chord of her left hand, coming in smoothly with her right hand melody.

Tomoyo began playing the extra parts she had made, though the weight of the song was on Sakura’s shoulders. Sakura blocked everything else out, concentrating on the pretty song she was playing that had come from the depths of her mind. I still think I have heard this somewhere. But the music teacher didn’t recognize it...Sakura just continued to play with the flood of emotions that were stirred by the melancholy melody.

Syaoran sat paralyzed for a second, immediatly recognizing the song Sakura was playing, not knowing what to do. How did she...When did she hear that song...Only...she shouldn’t know it! Syaoran couldn’t stand listening to this, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, buried emotions that had long since been dormant starting to spark to life, overloading Syaoran’s simple emotionless thoughts. He hadn’t felt tears in his eyes since he was little, but if anything could make him remember what tears felt like, this song could.

The stir of sad unbearable shame was too much, Syaoran could sit and listen any longer, he had to get up, he had to leave...Syaoran glanced to his side, where Tamakazi was politely watching the stage, yawning with boredom. Syaoran frowned and looked down, trying to hold the feelings back, but the music being too strong, too sudden. "I’ve gotta go." He said to Tamakazi, who looked over with confusion as Syaoran hurriedly got up from his seat and walked quickly out the back auditorium door.

Sakura played the large chords of the ending, then looked up triumphantly, amazed they had played the song so well. Tomoyo beamed. "Good job Sakura! I wish I could have been in the audience taping it!" She whispered.

Sakura sweatdropped then stood up, looking into the crowd that was applauding politely. Touya was giving her a weird face, Yukito was smiling broadly, Tamakazi and Chihura were smiling, though Tamakazi was glancing sideways, Chindra was smiling shyly as well, but the one face Sakura had been looking for was not there. Did he think our song was that horrible? How rude of him! Sakura’s smile fell into a frown as they walked off stage.

"What’s wrong?" Tomoyo asked as they made their way through the backstage filled with nervous preformers.

"Li wasn’t there, he was sitting there before our song, I’m sure of it."

"I’m sure he had an important reason to leave." Tomoyo said simply.

"I suppose." Sakura said, walking down the hall so they could sneak in through the back auditorium door and watch the rest of the concert.

Sakura walked in and quietly slid into the seat next to Tamakazi, who glanced breifly over to see who was sitting down. She looked down the row to find Chindra had gone also, making her even more curious. "Where did Chindra go?" She whispered to Tamakazi.

"She left?" He asked, a sudden look of horror on his face as he looked down the row.

Sakura sighed and persisted on. "Where did Li go?" She asked.

"He said he had to leave." Tamakazi said, fixing his eyes back onstage.

Sakura frowned, not quite sure about this. I should go after him. I will only miss Rika’s preformance, I’m sure she won’t mind. Besides, I might not even find him, and I’ll end up back here anyway.

- - - - - -

"Why you leave so suddenly?" Chindra called after Syaoran, who was walking down the hall towards the doors out of the school.

Syaoran glared in front of himself to let out his annoyance, then turned to see the accented girl. "I have to get home." He said, starting to turn back around to the doors.

"You recognize the Clow’s song?" She asked.

Syaoran froze, then turned around, frowning at her with blazing fiery eyes. "How do you know that?"

Chindra smiled. "Do not be mad, you forget I know of Reed’s past. That song long in his family, my family knows it, why does it disturb you so?"

Syaoran eyed the pretty girl, slowly meeting her chocolate eyes before looking away. "I...It was...it brings back memories." He quickly recovered himself. "Did you play that song for her?" He demanded the answer.

Chindra shook her head, her smile fading. "Maybe she hears it in a dream."

Syaoran was about to answer when he stopped himself. I don’t need to talk to this girl, why do I feel obligated? "I don’t care. I have to go."

Chindra nodded politely and walked away first, leaving him frowning after her. I said I was the one that had to leave, why did she walk away? Who cares? I can’t stand it! Why did she play that song? Why does it have to be so painful to listen to, why can’t I get over that? Syaoran turned and pushed open the first door.

"Syaoran!" Sakura called, rushing down the hall. She had finally broken down to her curiosity, and used the alliby that she was going the bathroom to look for Syaoran. "Why are you leaving?" She called after him. And why did I walk past Chindra a few moments ago?

Syaoran was fed up with trying to leave and getting held up. He turned irritably around, meeting Sakura’s innocent green eyes with a glare. "Where did you hear that song?" He demanded.

Sakura stepped back, even though she was a good twenty feet from him, his glare was very intimidating when it was directed at her. "I-"

"Sakura!" Touya’s voice came from the hall.

Sakura turned to look, then back at Syaoran. He just rolled his eyes with irritation and continued outside. Sakura frowned, looking after him, then turned to see Touya and Yukito coming around the corner, followed by Chindra and Tomoyo. "The concert’s over, you missed Rika’s big squeak!"

"Her flute?" Sakura asked.

"Heheh, yes, don’t mention it around her, she’s still rather embaressed." Tomoyo said.

"I see-"

"A long way from the girl’s restroom, aren’t we, little sister?" Touya asked.

Sakura smiled weakly. "I thought I saw someone walking here." She looked over at Chindra, who was smiling as if she knew what Sakura was talking about. Ask her later. Sakura made a mental note.

"Shall we head home?" Yukito asked.

"Let’s!" Sakura said, walking with them out into the parking lot. She looked into the springtime darkness for Syaoran, and she thought she caught a glimpse of him on a far sidewalk, though she wasn’t sure. I wonder what that was about?

______________________________________________________________________

Sakura yawned as she sat next to Chindra on her bed, working on painting her last toenail. "Get the concert tape from your friend, Tomoyo, can we?"

"Yeah, I want to see what she managed to get! We can watch Komai take me on stage in his strong arms over and over and over and over..."

"And rewatch him as he winks at me." Chindra said dreamily, working on her right hand of nails.

"I’m telling you, he was winking at me." Sakura said, giggling.

"We see, cameras do not lie." Chindra said, holding her hand up to see how it looked.

"Either way, he was so cool, why can’t all guys play guitar like that?"

"And their songs suit so well." Chindra said, setting the bottle of polish away.

"I know, hang on, lemme go get something from my room." Sakura said, wanting to get her nail polish remover so she could work on her own hands. She hurried into her room, careful not to let the carpet touch her wet toenails. She stepped into her room, finding Kero playing Space Destroyers, Bob laying sticks carefully into Kero’s drawer without him noticing.

"Keep that quiet, Kero." Sakura said, searching her desk for the polish remover. Kero paused his game and looked up. His eyes looked at her shining nails.

"Nice!" He said, flying over and holding one of her toes. Sakura pulled it back quickly and held her foot up, examining her toe for any spots Kero might have messed up. "KERO! You got yellow fur in it, you dummy!"

Bob tried to look inconspicuous as he flew away from Kero’s open drawer, then looked at Sakura’s foot. "Pretty, angel, of course!" He flew over it and spread sparkles of white everywhere, writing ‘I love Angel’ in the air. Sakura sighed, then jumped back as the sparkles landed in her wet toenail paint.

"You guys ruined it!" She wailed, holding her foot up again. To her surprise, Bob’s sparkles had covered up most of the errors done by Kero’s yellow fuzz, and her toes now shined brightly with the strange sparkles. "Wow, that’s actually kind of neat..." Sakura said.

She grabbed the bottle of nail polish remover and hurried out of the room, shutting her door quietly behind her. Sakura sat back next to Chindra and smiled at the dazzled look Chindra gave Sakura’s toenails. "It was Bob, he sparkled them." She explained.

Chindra smiled and took the polish from Sakura to take off the paint she had put on earlier. Sakura and Chindra sat quietly for a while, when Sakura brought up more conversation. "Did Tamakazi annoy you horribly?" She asked.

"He was strange, but I did not mind too much. His friend Chih...brown hair...? She didn’t approve his behavior too much, she sat between us in the concert."

"I have a strange suspicion it might have been jealousy. They have been good friends since kindergarden, I wouldn’t be surprised, its actually very sweet they could stay friends for so long." Sakura said.

"Yeah." Chindra agreed.

"Where did you go during the concert?" Sakura asked.

"Your Li friend left suddenly, I ask him why. He said song was sad, brought memories. It was a lullaby from Reed’s family, the song you played."

Sakura froze, looking up from her fingernail. I heard that song in his dream! How could I have forgotten? His mother was singing it, and he was so sad, and...How could I have played that? No wonder he left! I have to apologize! "That explains alot, thank you for telling me!" Sakura said, screwing the cap back on the nail polish and setting it away. "I’m gonna go to bed, see you tommorrow!" Sakura said.

"Good night!" Chindra called.

Sakura jogged to her room and quickly ravaged her bookbag for her phone. She glanced to her left at the clock and saw it was kind of late, but she knew Syaoran would still probably be up. She nervously but determinedly pushed the speed dial button of his phone number and sat on the edge of his bed.

It rang and rang, making her more nervous by the moment, but no one picked up, and an answering machine instructed her instead. Sakura frowned but decided maybe this was better, anyway, she wouldn’t have to actually talk to him, but she’d still get to say what she wanted. "Hi Syaoran, it’s Sakura, um...NO! Don’t put this space in, he’ll know you were nervous! Think of something, quick! I just wanted to know where you put my cards earlier- we didn’t get to look at them, but I don’t know where you threw them. There, at least you said something. And listen, about, about that song- I, uh, I really didn’t-"

"YOU PSYCHOTIC COMPOUND EYED FREAK!" Kero screamed, making Sakura loose her concentration. Kero swiftly turned into Keroberus, sending wind around the room, a loud whishing sound into the phone. He blew a stream of fire at Bob, who was holding a stack of twigs in his arms. Bob yelped and dropped the sticks into Kero’s drawer as he flew up and narrowly missed getting scorched.

"Kero! I told you! No transforming in the house!" She yelled. Sakura remembered all this was being recorded, and she quickly went back to the phone. "Sorry, really, um...what was I saying? Oh! That song, I had no idea- what it was, I didn’t mean to... make you remember anything-" Sakura sighed, this was no good. "I’m sorry, this probably isn’t making any sense. Listen, I’ll talk to you tommorrow in school. Bye!" Sakura hung up the phone and glared at Keroberus and Bob.

Keroberus chased Bob in a circle, then cornered him. Bob flew pinned against the ceiling as Kero’s outstretched claw batted at him ruthlessly. "Kero! Transform back!" She ordered.

Keroberus glanced over at Sakura and gave a heavy sigh, then transformed back into his little yellow fuzzy self. Bob gave a sigh of releif. Kero looked up with a glare. "It doesn’t mean I can’t still kill you!" Kero shouted, flying after Bob as they did a full circle around the ceiling line.

Bob didn’t have enough room to fly quick and properly, so he quickly flew to Sakura for help. "Angel! Help me you must!" He cried. Kero flew at him full force, and Bob quickly flew around, hiding behind Sakura.

Sakura barred Kero away with her arm. "You two quit!" She ordered firmly. "Kero, quit tormenting him. Bob, go take those twigs out of Kero’s drawer. Now move!"

"But, but I only torment him because he puts leaves and other stuff in my bed!" Kero complained.

"I only retaliate to your rampages of

flames!" Bob said back, swiftly hiding behind Sakura’s shoulder as Kero put his little arm into a fist.

"It’s a vicious circle, isn’t it?" Sakura said. She put Bob in one hand, then grabbed ahold of squirming Kero. She set Kero in front of the television, then put Bob atop of the little tipi started in Kero’s drawer. "LET ME SLEEP! I’ll put a spell on you both!" She said, marching over to her bed, turning off the light, and turning her back to the television. She sighed and tried to ignore the television noises, closing her eyes shut and eventually falling asleep.

"I hate this dream. Why am I always having it? I understood it, someone doesn’t want Syaoran to help me. Let me SLEEP!" Sakura whined.

That dream slowly faded away, Sakura drifting into the lesser important things in her subconscious. She dreamed about the piano coming alive during the concert, and she was trying to seal this piano card, but she couldn’t do it alone. Komai came to help, of course, showing amazing talent in the martial arts. They sealed the card together and then Komai sat her down in his lap and managed to play his guitar around her, singing her a song with lyrics just for her.

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

Moshiwake arimasen ga I always end these chapters so horribly! (Ahh-bites nails-hope no one fluent in Japanese reads this- I probably said that way wrong!Ahh!) Can I not think of a good ending for a chapter? I used to be good at it, back in the day when my chapters were a tolerable length and the story was simple, none of this complex bad guy plot in it. well....hmm I should probably go to bed, my eyes hurt from looking at the computer screen.

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Ja mata ne! ( Cya later)

~*Syaoran fan 4 life*~

Oh in case you are wondering why all these sudden japanese words are coming in, well here’s the story. Inspired by the world of anime and manga I have been trying to pick up on learning Japanese- but as you can tell by my grammar I have no idea what I am doing and should be shot for trying to speak my measly knowledge outloud. So if you’re one who reads Japanese fluently and reads something and is like ‘what the heck is that girl talking about’, well now you know, if you don’t understand what I was saying the probable truth is neither did I.

-Sayonara! I know for a fact that I spelled that one right!!!!