RECAP: Last chap was like the recovery chapter for poor Syaoran. He gets better from his cold, Sakura comes and makes sure he is getting better...let’s see...Meilin gets mad at Sakura, then she finds out Syaoran’s mother is sick, so she tells everyone she’s going home the next weekend. Syaoran sister calls him, tells him she wants him to come home with Meilin and stuff, he says he needs more time. Sakura’s birthday is coming up, she’s trying to get tickets to a concert for her birthday present. Clow cards have been quiet lately...Syaoran thinks he may be able to seal them himself, he’s on the lookout for any suspicious activity.

Chapter 21

Syaoran awoke Saturday morning to find that he was by himself. He had checked thoroughly through the few rooms of his apartment, but Meilin was no where to be found. He was surprised to think that Meilin had left for the airport already; for one, she never went anywhere without him whenever possible, and two, she had told him her flight left in the evening.

Walking into her room, Syaoran found that the obvious was true. Meilin had left, and she had left for Hong Kong. Her room was clear of all her stuff, amazingly, except for some furniture, and all the brightness had left the room. Wei is gone, Meilin is gone, I’ve got the apartment all to myself.

Syaoran couldn’t deny that he was excited about this new independence, though he knew it would be shortlived. If only I could forget about all the problems back home. If only I could think of this as home. Syaoran walked out of Meilin’s room and walked into the kitchen, starting to fix himself something to eat.

With Meilin gone, there’s such a pleasant emptiness. No nagging, no techno music blaring, no stupid movies on TV. I might miss her, but I know I’ll see her again. So I should enjoy this. My one time to have time for myself. Syaoran carried his bowl of cereal into the living room, sprawling across the couch.

Bored with the silence of the room, Syaoran walked over to the stereo, turning the radio on. He fidgeted with the tuning until he found a nicely recorded rock song, and he walked back over to the couch, starting to eat his cereal. She’s really gone. Finally. Gone. If you walk around your apartment with your shirt off, you’re not going to have two big eyes following you around. Your eating habits are no longer being monitored, your music is no longer limited to the taste of all powerful Meilin.

The beat to this song was very good and strong, and Syaoran was enjoying the song thoroughly, sad to hear it starting to fade out. He shoveled the last of the cereal into his mouth and looked around the room habitually, then looked to the radio as the D.J. came on.

"And that was Shiro-Ame with their latest, I’m sure all our listeners are looking forward to the upcoming Tokyo concert! - That’s right Fuu, tickets are on sale now for Shiro-Ame’s first tour of the northern Tokyo area! Tickets are being given away from this station, if you stay right here, listen for the key noise and be caller number nine! - I can’t help but read this bit of news, I’m sure some of our listeners have heard of Shiro-Ame’s concert last night in Osaka. The lead singer Kaoto began singing a set of lyrics that wasn’t her own. - Yeah the strangest thing about that Fuu was that their guitarists immediatly broke into the melody line of the song with her, definitely a strange thing to see in the middle of a concert. - When charged with a claim of copying other artist’s music, Kaoto only said, ‘We didn’t mean to sing it’. -Definitely a strange thing to see in the middle of a concert. Well if you’re someone who has heard the rumors about the future concerts being postponed, don’t worry, lead singer Kaoto crushed the rumors by simply saying, ‘I don’t see any reason to stop.’- Well that wraps it up, folks, please stay tuned for another ten song set after these messages."

Syaoran had been chewing on the same peice of cereal through the two D.J.’s conversation, listening intensly to these suspcious happenings. Sounds like something the Song card or Voice card could be doing. Sounds like I could be going to a concert after all, though not under the same conditions Sakura wants to go under. It figures, it couldn’t have been any other group. No, it just has to tie in to Sakura, to make it harder for me to avoid her as I’m gonna try and catch this card.

Syaoran got up and turned the radio off, having enough to think about now. I’ve got magic stored up, no ghost or magician can steal it from me, I’ve got two different swords to choose from, I know where the card is going to strike next...I should consider myself pretty prepared. If I’ll ever be able to seal a card, now’s the time to do it. Syaoran got his bowl of left over milk and dumped it in the sink, then walked to the door, pulling a large overcoat over his T-shirt.

No Meilin to keep me from buying Sky Bars.

_______________________________________________________________________

Sakura ran down the stairs excitedly, it was the day before her birthday, she was vainly hoping for some type of pre-birthday celebration. "Cake, cake, cake.." She sang, hopping over the last two steps.
"Onni-chan, Onni-chan, where’s my birthday eve’s cake!?" She asked, seeing him at the kitchen counter.

Touya turned around and half rolled his eyes. "I’m sorry, I ate it already. You woke up too late, I couldn’t stop myself." He looked over at Chindra who was sitting and watching from the couch. "She helped."

Sakura looked from Touya to Chindra, a slow smile coming across her face. She horse-style galloped across the room and jumped onto the couch next to Chindra, who was smiling brightly at her. "What do you say we take on some more middle schoolers in a rugby style soccer game?"

Chindra laughed, then looked up. "Your friend called, um...who is named Tomoyo? She said she would be over to see you about birthday presents this morning. Maybe we all go together once you have talked?"

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Cool, Tomoyo’s coming over. I’m gonna go get changed then, seeing as I can’t sit in my pajamas and eat my birthday eve’s cake like I had planned."

She hopped off the couch and tromped up the stairs, happily skipping into her room. Kero and Bob were having some kind of flying competition, and Kero looked very distressed. "Your wings are much more proportional to your body weight, I mean, come on!" Kero pleaded as Bob passed him on their third lap.

Sakura grinned as she shut the door tightly behind her. "I wonder why that is, Kero-chan?"

Kero pouted. "I was born this way!"

"Bob thinks yellow gluttoness. Control food craving, he needs. Not like Angel, perfect in every way..." Bob absently dodged Kero’s swat and fluttered in front of Sakura, who looked guiltily at him.

Do I really want to give him up for migration? I mean, Kero finally has someone to play with... "You guys better be planning out my birthday present tommorrow. So far it seems all the planning for Kinomoto Sakura’s fourteenth birthday is being ignored."

"Maybe if you didn’t talk about it so much, plans would be made." Kero said.

"Hmph. If I didn’t talk about it, everyone would forget, and that would mean no cake for you, Kero."

Kero squeaked with horror and stayed quiet, flying silently over to the edge of her desk and sitting down.

"Now that we have that settled, have you guys tried playing Zelda yet?" Sakura asked, looking at her nintendo. Ever since the whole Hyrule incedent, Sakura had avoided turning the nintendo on, let alone playing the very game that had started everything. Still, Sakura was very curious about how playing Link would feel now that she knew what a helpful and selfless person he was, alsoverycuteinreallife. Sakura thought quickly, refusing to let her thoughts linger for too long.

"Only Space Destroyers. It seems our bug friend has an incapibility in the virtual world."

"Bob thinks fake things nonsense. Fight enough in real life, Bob does."

"When did Bob start talking in third person?" Sakura asked.

"I think it’s something Bob picked up on while we were watching TV the other night, the night you fell asleep in the middle of that wonderful made for tv movie."

Sakura shook her head. That movie was too sappy for me. I am surprised Kero and Bob could enjoy such an awfully made movie? I guess all guys have a soft side, though I find it hard to beleive the majority of guys sit in front of the tv in the middle of the night and watch movies with no story besides a guy and a girl falling hopelessly in love with each other. She sighed heavily, then walked over to her closet, picking out another sleeveless shirt and her only other clean pair of jeans.

Bob shreiked and fluttered out of sight, seeing that Sakura was preparing to change. She shook her head. "Relax, you can come out of hiding. I’m going to change in the bathroom." She said, taking her clothes over her arm and letting herself out of her room, quietly shutting it behind her.

Sakura quickly switched clothes and fixed her hair in two buns, then emerged from the bathroom, quickly tossing her pajamas into her room. She heard a muffled scream as she shut the door, and she suspected Kero had gotten in the way of her pajamas as they flew through the air. Sakura jogged down the stairs into the living room, where Touya was now watching television.

"Shiro-Ame! Look Touya, the people you want to get me tickets for their concert!" Sakura said excitedly, seeing the group on tv.

"...Lead singer Kaoto has deconfirmed these rumors by saying, ‘I don’t see any reason to postone or cancel anything, I mean, it was just a mistake.’ Just shortly after she made this statement, another rumor emerged of their lead guitarist and back up vocalist Komai had caughten one of the spring time flus." The television reporter was holding a microphone up to the group now, and the sounds changed to that of the outdoors where the group was standing.

"Yeah, um, Komai caught the flu, I hate to say the word postpone, but it looks like that’s what we might be doing. Fans can know that the concert will not be moved forward more than a week, but I hope it won’t come to that."

"So what do you have to say to the thousands of ticket holders waiting to see the confirmed date of this concert?"

"Hold on to your tickets, I’m sure we can think of something. There’s a good chance Komai’s gonna be better tommorrow, it seems like a short term bug."

"So there you have it, folks, the music group Shiro-Ame." The reporter said. The scene quickly switched, and Sakura sat down dejectedly next to Chindra.

"That stinks, I was hoping to go to that concert tommorrow, providing someone hurries up and gives me the tickets for my birthday." Sakura said.

Someone knocked on the door, and Sakura quickly hopped off the couch and ran to the door. She pulled it open and found Tomoyo smiling back at her. "Hey Tomoyo! Come in!"

Tomoyo walked in and smiled politely at Chindra and Touya before facing Sakura. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies or something today."

"Well, why don’t we do that tommorrow, I mean it’ll be my birthday and all." Sakura said.

Tomoyo shrugged. "You’ll probably be busy tommorrow, because..." She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a handful of tickets. "We’ll be in Tokyo!"

Sakura jumped up and down ecstatically, taking a ticket from Tomoyo’s hand and staring at it with wide eyes. "Shiro-Ame! We’re going to see Shiro-Ame! How awesome! I can’t beleive it, you actually got tickets, I thought they were sold out! Oh my gosh how many did you get!?"

Tomoyo looked down. "Six I think. I was hoping Chindra could come."

Sakura smiled from head to toe. "That’s awesome! Chindra can you come?"

Chindra got up from where she had been sitting and walked over to look at the tickets. "You buy me one for free? But it’s not my birthday..."

"Don’t worry about it, we want this to be fun, what better way to make it than to invite all of Sakura’s closest friends?"

"Who are the other tickets for, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked, looking at the three left overs.

"Touya and two of his friends reluctantly agreed to help me out by giving us a ride, what good people they are.."

Touya was glaring at the television, ignoring them. "You are taking us, onni-chan? Who are you bringing?" Sakura asked.

"Yukito and Ugati." He half mumbled.

Yukito is here? I have got to talk to Yue, maybe this will bring up the opportunity! I can’t beleive it, Tomoyo got these tickets! It’s a shame Syaoran doesn’t enjoy music, he might find it fun to come along. "This is so cool, you guys are the greatest! Does dad know about this?"

"Yeah." Touya mumbled again.

Sakura happily jumped up and down again, excited. "I can’t wait! We have to get clothes, I mean, we can’t just go in your normal every day clothes! What if we get to meet the group, and meet, and meet,...Komai...."

Tomoyo smiled at the dreamy look Sakura had on her face. "Of course! An outfit! I am sure I can come up with something!"

Sakura bit her lip, afraid of what exactly Tomoyo had in mind. "How about we go to the mall and see what basic stuff we can come up with?"

Chindra seemed to be very excited. "I’ve got to get out of my pajamas, excuse me!" She said, hurrying up the stairs.

"Tomoyo I am so excited! Thank you so much!" Sakura said, quickly hugging her friend.

"You’re welcome, Sakura!" She said, smiling. "Rika and Chihura will be so jealous. We’ll have to take pictures."

"Definitely! I’ll bring my best camera!"

______________________________________________________________________

Syaoran sat impatiently on the couch, bored out of his mind. I’ll go see Moondust later on. I’m gonna have to ask someone to take care of her, I won’t be allowed to take her with me, the elders would refuse to let that animal back in, just because she was connected with Amy’s family.

Syaoran got up and walked to his room energetically, enjoying his returned strength. He finally felt completly recovered from his pneumonia, though when he would run alot it would be slightly harder to breath. I wonder what Sakura is doing right now? Probably not thinking about me, I’m no longer sick and needing aid. I suppose I should get use to being by myself. When I go back to Hong Kong my only friend will be Meilin, if even her anymore.

Syaoran picked through shirts in his closet and pulled out a silver and orange jersey he had from the time China’s soccer team had been doing really well. He pulled off the worn Tshirt he had on and switched, then walked over to the table next to his bed where he had set some of his left over lunch money. I feel like some ice cream. That’s what I’ll get.

Syaoran grabbed the keys to the apartment and stepped out into the hallway, quickly locking the door behind himself being the precautious person he was. Syaoran walked down the hall tossing his keys back and forth in his hands and hopped down the stairs, not bothering with the elevator. The lobby was quiet downstairs, and he quietly walked outside into the wonderful spring air.

The sun was shining warmly, and Syaoran was very happy to see that the ground had finally taken in all the rain they had been having, and it was no longer muddy. Moondust will be fun to ride today. Too bad I don’t have another horse and someone to ride with anymore...So where am I going? Which ice cream place? There’s a place near the park. I guess I could go there, their food is cheap.

Syaoran refused to admit to himself that the reason he was going by the park was to have the potential of meeting up with certain people, people who seemed to spend time in the park. He walked energetically down the sidewalk, looking around at the other people who were out walking in the enjoyable weather. He recognized a group of Mark’s minions walking a ways away, but he ignored them and continued walking unbothered.

Syaoran approached the open ice cream booth and started deciding what he wanted. I could just get some chocolate. That sounds alright. With marshmallow on it, Meilin isn’t here to tell me that’s too much sugar. Syaoran waited patiently in line, staring off at the Tomeoda landscaping, his seemingly blank eyes were always watching for anything strange.

Syaoran paid for his ice cream quickly, then walked away from the counter, heading for a bench that was placed under a budding tree. Crap, today is Sakura’s birthday, I didn’t get her anything. Of course she didn’t ask, she probably doesn’t expect anything, but I wish I would have thought to get her something. Though I know I wouldn’t be brave enough to give it to her.

"Syaoran-kun! How are you feeling?" Came a singing voice from behind him.

Syaoran turned around, caught off his gaurd, and found himself looking into Sakura’s bright green eyes. "Fine." He mumbled, quickly cutting himself off as he noticed Chindra and Tomoyo standing next to her.

The people he had just looked up made a mental projection in his head, and he thought about what he had just seen. Chindra was strangely attractive to him, though he wasn’t sure why. Of course she was pretty, but that alone never seemed to affect him. Something about her is strange. Maybe she does know about Clow Reed’s history. Who knows, she definitely knows more than she appears to at first glance, I’m sure.

Sakura wasn’t a jealous person by nature, but she couldn’t help but breifly glower at Syaoran at the breif star struck look he had in his eyes. Tomoyo smiled at the whole situation, seeing Syaoran’s fiery eyes breifly meet Chindra’s deep chocolate eyes. She cleared her throat rather loudly. "Where are you off to?"

You should invite her now. Just say it, ‘I’m going to see Moondust, do you want to come, I’m going to give my only loyal animal friend to you for a birthday present, because I’m abandoning you to my family in a few weeks.’ "Nowhere particular."

"Do you want to come to the park with us? We were going to play soccer." Sakura said. "Last weekend we played with some six graders."

"Uh, um..." Sakura bright and smiling face was too much for him, Syaoran’s will was quickly bending. "Uh, sure, I guess." He finally said, noticing with distress that the ice cream cone he was holding in his hand was melting quickly from the warm spring sun. He didn’t have the guts to eat in front of them.

"Great!" Sakura said.

Chindra smiled, though she still was shy about this boy, she didn’t know much about him. The only boy she was currently comfortable with was Touya, because he pretty much ignored her. She saw that Tomoyo and Sakura were both perfectly calm with him, so she figured she should do the same.

They walked down the sidewalk with Syaoran trailing behind, quickly catching up on his ice cream cone. With amazing speed he devoured it, holding himself from any more embaressment. They reached the park, and Syaoran looked with bright eyes at the soccer fields in the distance. I haven’t played soccer in a long time. I hope I’m still good. What a modest boy.

There was a group of kids playing soccer in the far field, all of which looked up from their game. One black haired boy waved wildly at Sakura, who smiled and waved back. "Kinomoto! Have you come to play?" He called.

"Me and two friends!" Sakura called back, setting her sweatshirt down on the ground.

Chindra quickly pulled her windbreaker off to play in her Tshirt. "White team will beat you again!" She said, grinning at Sakura.

Sakura only grinned devilishly. "Orange team all the way!" Sakura turned to Syaoran, who was currently teamless. "We’ll have to go figure you into a team." Chindra started leading them across the field. "Watch that girl, she plays dirty." Sakura said aside to Syaoran, smiling.

"I heard that!" Chindra called, not turning her head.

Syaoran smiled (his revised version of a smile) and worried just what kind of soccer these girls played. He had seen Sakura play soccer numerous times at school, and he knew she was pretty good at it, for a girl anyway, but playing among this large group of boys...

"Li-kun? He’s on our team!" The black haired boy off Sakura’s team immediatly shouted.

"Hey, no fair! Li can’t just show up, his team will obviously win.."

"You can have Kinomoto and Katakeiri, he’ll be on our team." The white team’s boy said firmly.

The other boy glared at him. "Still not fair..." He grumbled.

"Same rules as last time?" The black haired boy asked quickly, trying to get away with his little scheme.

"Now you will say orange team forever." Chindra said to Sakura.

Sakura smiled then mocked sorrow. "My team has betrayed me." She squeezed her eyes shut with shame, them opened them, competition burning in them. She held up her fist, glaring at the team of Whites in front of them. "Today is the day those traitorous liars will be crushed!" She said, adding a wink at Syaoran just because she was so happy, and Syaoran looked like he could use a pick up.

Syaoran, taken aback, almost tripped backwards for a moment, then quickly looked at his feet, composing himself. I am playing against this girl, after all. No time to be making secret alliances, my team’s going to win. "So anyone wearing white is on my team?" Syaoran asked the short-or at least pretty short to him- black haired kid next to him.

"Right. Orange wearers, plus those girls, are on opposite teams. They play hard, they were tackling us last game."

Syaoran looked up with raised eyebrows, wondering just what kind of a game Sakura and Chindra played to leave such an impression on the sixth grade team’s soccer captain. His thoughts were quickly stopped as they went to their own sides for the kickoff.

Syaoran quickly remembered how to play, his old moves and game plays coming right back to him. One of his favorites sprung immediatly into his mind, and he put it to play, swiftly stealing the ball away from an orange team player and starting to dribble it down the field, increasing speed rapidly. He easily dodged the other players trying to defend their goal, then reached a good distance for shooting a goal. Effortlessly kicking his leg into a powerful swing the ball went flying past the orange team goalie, scoring one for the Whites.

"Awesome, Li-kun!"

"We’re gonna win!"

Syaoran ignored the comments from his teamates and walked down the field silently, trying to catch his breath. Chindra and Sakura were standing next to each other, discussing future plays. They both faked a glare at him as they talked. Syaoran ignored it with the rest of the things and reached his position, then waited for the next kickoff.

Chindra was kicking, and despite any doubts Syaoran might have had in her athletic ability, she powerhoused a clear kick deep into his side of the field. Syaoran turned himself and started sprinting after it, ready to help the defense part of his team. Sakura was sprinting almost next to him already, a sly grin across her face. At about the same time they were going to reach the slowly rolling ball, both trying to get just a little more speed so they could reach it first.

Syaoran knew it would be perfectly legal to check Sakura out of the way, but he didn’t want to be accused of beating up a girl, neither did he was to harm Sakura. Sakura on the otherhand had no resepct for any of the long since ratified rules of soccer. In some weird soccer version of how people slide into bases in baseball, she managed to kick it out of Syaoran’s way, also creating a block. Syaoran had no time to yell rules at her, because he had to keep himself from tripping, thus going into a spread out flip over Sakura’s blocking legs.

Landing solidly, Syaoran continued his pursuit for the ball, though now Chindra and another Orange teamate were going after it. Syaoran got in front of it just in time and tried to kick at the same instant Chindra did, only resluting in a loud banging sound as both their feet crashed into opposite sides of the soccer ball. Chindra laughed, but it was short lived, because as Syaoran went to kick the ball around her, she pushed him hard with her free hand and pushed her way past him. Syaoran stepped back for a moment, his breath a bit short as the depression on his lungs had taken some of the breath out of him, then frowned as she scored.

A soft hand on his shoulder made him turn around. Syaoran found himself facing Sakura, who was smiling brightly despite the grass stains that had already stained her clothes. "Don’t take it personally. I told you, we don’t play by normal soccer rules."

Syaoran smiled weakly and stepped out of her hand. "I see."

They walked to the center circle for the next kick off, Chindra quickly catching up to Sakura. "The heroine! Great shot!" Sakura said brightly to her.

Chindra smiled and peered around her shoulder. "You do not hit girls or something?" She asked timidly to Syaoran.

He shrugged, trying to avoid looking straight at her.

"You will look silly being beat down by girls." She said, giggling.

Sakura smiled. "Syaoran’s not convinced, maybe we’ll have to make him and his teamates eat dirt a couple more times before he’ll start playing even."

Syaoran grumbled under his breath but kept a straight face. I can play just as rough, I just didn’t want to hurt anyone. Any time I ever tried to play with anyone, I’d always end up fighting with them. I never understood how friends played.

Syaoran was sent forward to do the honors of the kick off, and he easily cleared it into the opposite field. They can see just how good I can play. Syaoran pushed his legs into the fastest sprint he could do, which was blindingly fast against the speed of everyone else running on the field, and he quickly reached Sakura, who was moving the ball around to kick it away from their goal. Chindra saw Syaoran coming and she quickly came to Sakura’s aid, putting her weight stirdily against him and sending him off to the side.

Sakura quickly kicked it away, sending it to some of the midfielders. A White teamate rudely kicked it back, sending the ball back into Sakura’s line of space. Syaoran was already running after it, and with fluent footwork he started dribbling it down, glancing up every now and then to see if any of his teamates were in good open positions, but none of them were open enough to convince Syaoran to pass. He could hear someone running behind him, he guessed it was Sakura, she was the only one that could keep up with him as he ran full speed.

Syaoran was reaching his goal again, preparing to launch the ball over the goalie’s head. Sakura was running desperately behind him, trying to keep him from scoring. She knew she couldn’t get in front of him, so praying that he wouldn’t be mad at her afterwards and that he would just take this as a funny game action, she threw herself at him. Reaching out with her arms and dragging his shoulders down, Sakura found herself tumbling down as well, hitting the ground hard and being pinned down by Syaoran’s falling weight. The two of them rolled over two complete rotations before their momentum finally gave out, and Sakura lay flatly on her back, laughing hysterically.

Syaoran painfully rolled off of Sakura where he could, though she was laying across his leg. He had mixed feelings about this, his normal unsociable self was telling him to yell at Sakura for doing such an ilegal move, but the other part of him, the part that seemed to be winning, was telling him to be happy since Sakura was in such a strangely good mood. He sat up and looked at Sakura, whose body was shaking. At first he thought she might be crying, but he quickly heard her laughing.

"I don’t think that move is even legal in hockey." Syaoran said, trying to pull his leg back, though Sakura had it firmly under her. It was fairly uncomfortable for Syaoran, as it had it completly stretched out.

Sakura slowly sat up, tears starting to come to her eyes as she couldn’t stop laughing. "I’m...I’m..." Sakura gave up trying to explain her desperate move of defense, her laughing wouldn’t give her a break. Sakura stood up off of Syaoran’s leg and apologetically held out her hand to help him up, though she was still laughing so hard she doubted her arm could handle any strength.

Syaoran took her hand just out of politeness, not using it to support any of his weight as he stood up, then let go, looking for the soccer ball already. His teamates were just now reaching this side of the field, along with a very amused looking Chindra. He quickly saw that she was going after the ball, and he left Sakura and ran for the ball. Chindra was running clearly across the field, to her own goal. He finally caught up with her and, throwing himself across the grass one more time, Syaoran attempted to block her shot with his body. He watched sadly as it went into over him and into the goal, the goalie unable to block the unpredictable shot.

Syaoran stared at the goal from where he was laying on his stomach and banged his fists on the grass, but quickly got up, seeing his teamates walking around him. The boy with black hair was shaking his head. "This is soccer, not wrestling, Kinomoto." He said to Sakura, who was making her way over, still laughing.

"I thought Li-kun was really good." Syaoran heard a boy say to another White player, though he ignored it.

"Seems like Kinomoto is distracting him."

"Is he Kinomoto’s boyfriend?"

"Dunno. Hey Li-kun, don’t be afraid to tackle them, Kinomoto will be playing with the other boys that play back!" He called.

Syaoran blushed horribly but quickly took it away, glaring at the two boys talking, then quickly glanced at Sakura to see if she had heard. Nope, still laughing. Sakura was dying laughing, Chindra walking beside her with a smile on her own face, putting her hand sympathetically on her shoulder. "Sakura, you need to stop laughing. Teamates need your help in playing!"

Sakura gasped for air, not sure what had provoked this laughing attack, but in her opinion it had been very funny, and Syaoran didn’t seem to be mad at her. "Sorry Syaoran!" She called to him, finally catching her breath and containing her laughter. "I had to keep you from scoring!"

Syaoran half grinned, actually wanting to smile at Sakura, but not doing so seeing as they had so many people around. This is going to be a long game. Maybe I should just play like they are? I should try not being so temperamental (AUTHOR NOTE: that’s a weird spelling, huh? It didn’t come up on spell check, oh well. It looks funny to me. K anyway-),maybe I’ll have more fun that way.

Syaoran jogged out to his side, crossing the line just as the black haired kid had started kick off, not bothering with off sides and such silly rules as that. Syaoran immediatly turned around and ran after the ball, ready to score, not wanting to be so insulted by the other kids about him being ‘distracted’ and all that other nonsense. Syaoran reached the ball where one of the Orange team’s defense was kicking it wildly away. It reached Syaoran’s foot in which he did a complicated kick, grinning as his teamates awed at his skill. Syaoran sprinted forward after his kick, seeing the obstacles ahead that were blocking him from scoring.

An Orange team’s defense launched Syaoran’s kick back at him, and Syaoran found the ball flying at his face. He didn’t have a whole lot of time to think, but remembering the very loose rules of this game, Syaoran decided to do something other than duck. He swung his fist into it, twisting his wrist and sending the ball bulleting the other direction, back towards the goal. Syaoran ran after it again, reaching it quickly. An Orange defender was trying to get at the ball and take it from him, so Syaoran half picked the kid up with one arm and swiftly ran past him.

"You’ll never score!" Sakura shouted, running at Syaoran from the side. Syaoran grinned knowing she was coming, but didn’t let her take his concentration away as she did so many other times, and quickly got out of her way, sliding into his kick and sending the ball so fast towards the goalie that he moved out of the way. A shout of joy came from the other White teamates, and Syaoran had a feeling of satisfactory as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Water break!" A boy called, and the teams scattered across the field.

Syaoran looked around confused for a second, then realized what was going on. I wish I did have some water. Too bad I didn’t know I was going to come here, I would have been better prepared. Syaoran looked down at the silver orange jersey that had managed to evade grass stains so far. I would have worn something else. I look like I’m on the Orange team. Though they all seem to know what team I’m on, we three kind of stand out amongst the sixth graders.

Sakura and Chindra were jogging in his direction, both looking happy. Once within earshot, Sakura called, "Nice shot!"

Syaoran nodded with gratitude and stood waiting for them to catch up. "You two are ruthless."

Sakura grinned. "They don’t call us the terrible two for nothing!"

"They call us that?" Chindra asked curiously.

Sakura shrugged innocently. "Terrible two, terrible two..." She sang, skipping away from them to Tomoyo.

"Is she alright?" Syaoran asked Chindra as they walked across the field, putting aside their differences for the sake of Sakura’s mental health.

"Think so, she’s been really happy about...about birthday, you know?"

"Right. I’ve just never seen anyone so excited about their birthday."

"Girl...um...Tomoyo, Tomoyo bought tickets to concert, forget group name...Anyway, Sakura is very excited to go." Chindra explained, stuttering because of her lack of education in Japanese and maybe because she was still shy around this boy.

Syaoran nodded but didn’t say anything else. They both were walking over to Sakura and Tomoyo, both noticing the uncomfortable silence that was hanging over their heads. Sakura was talking rapidly to Tomoyo. She turned to Syaoran. "You’ll never guess what Tomoyo bought me for my birthday! She’s taking me and Chindra to see Shiro-Ame! Can you beleive it?"

Syaoran smiled weakly. "That’s wonderful." So now I’m going to have to figure out how to capture the Voice or Song card without Sakura noticing me, even though she’s going to be there. I should probably go home and look at some spells, I’ve got to be absolutely ready to deal with anything tommorrow. Then I’ve gotta see Moondust, I need to talk to Sakura alone, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to get to. I wish Tomoyo and Chindra would just go away for a little while. "I’ve gotta go." He said simply.

Sakura’s smile fell a little. "Oh, uh, okay. We should probably leave too, Chindra you said you have some chores to do for yourself, right?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I forgot! Oh my, time is it?" She said, though she was already looking at her watch for herself. "One thirty! I must go, sorry! See you later!" Chindra said, picking her sweatshirt up off the ground and sprinting away quickly.

Syaoran fidgeted, now it was just him Sakura and Tomoyo, who was gazing at him uncomfortably. "I better go too." He muttered, turning and walking away.

"Wait, we’ll walk with you!" Sakura said, quickly catching stride with him, Tomoyo catching up to her. "We’ve gotta leave guys!" Sakura yelled to the scattered teams on the field behind them, then picked up her own windbreaker from the grass as she walked beside Syaoran.

Why does Tomoyo have to be here? She never goes away. If she was gone, I might have the guts to invite Sakura with me to Moondust’s. I need to tell her, about Hong Kong...she has a right to know. I feel like I am lying to her. But if I tell her, will I be ruining everything from here until I leave? I don’t want to do that, these next weeks have to be good, there’s so much I should tell her, but...

"Where are you going, Syaoran-kun?" Sakura asked, her mood still carrying her voice with a happy ring.

Syaoran cringed at her speaking his name, making him feel double guilty. "Uh, I was going.." Be honest. "To see Moondust." He said with a sigh.

"Oh, cool. Tell her hi for me." Sakura said, slightly wishing she could see the horse also. Maybe the trip to Hyrule finally rid me of my horse phobia.

"Have you always ridden that horse, Li-kun?" Tomoyo asked.

Syaoran kept from looking at her, knowing he’d find something terrifying in her cool gray eyes. "I’ve known he for a while." Syaoran confirmed.

"Can we come along and see her? If you don’t mind?" Sakura finally courageously asked.

Syaoran’s head nodded before he meant it to, and he was afraid it came out too eager, so he tried to make it up with slightly annoyed words. "I guess, if you want."

"Great!"

"I will be sure to get some great shots of her!" Tomoyo said, her camera at her side.

Sakura sweatdropped. Good thing she didn’t see us when we were riding together. Then I’d have a half hour of on tape humiliation to have to destroy. Sakura was dying to hear Syaoran tell her some of Moondust’s history, though she had figured out some of it on her own. "How did you first meet Moondust?"

Syaoran might have more willingly answered Sakura’s questions, but he was very reserved right now as Tomoyo walked along side with them. He was never exactly open about his past anyway, so telling it to someone he didn’t like was almost an impossible task, but yet for Sakura he found a way. "We have a Li clan stable, she was one of the horses there."

Some of that made a little more sense in Sakura’s head. So that’s where they were riding. Him and his family, they could just go visit the family barn if they wanted to ride. That sounds neat. "That’s really cool! Could you ride any horse in the stable?"

"No." Syaoran said, casting a sideglare at Tomoyo, who he had been watching out of the corner of his eye, and she had been smiling like a cat at him for the whole conversation.

"Oh, that stinks."

"Yeah." Syaoran mumbled, though he was preoccupied with ignoring Tomoyo.

Sakura sighed, this wasn’t going very well. She found her great mood taking a backseat to her anxiousness as she carefully picked her way around words with Syaoran. Sometimes they would speak so openly, and that would be wonderful, but times like this when Sakura knew he was being short and holding the whole truth back from her, she felt as if they were playing a game, and the game wasn’t favoring her. Quit being so short, Syaoran. Is it because Tomoyo’s here? She seems normal enough to me.

They walked silently to the bus stop, waiting only a short time before the bus came roaring to a stop in front of them. They walked up the steps and Sakura sat quietly next to Tomoyo, Syaoran sitting behind them. "Have you thought of anything for our music project?" Sakura asked Tomoyo.

"No, nothing yet. I’ve been working on setting up a recording studio in my house, it’s very cool. You’ll have to see it sometime, maybe we can record you singing something."

"Heheh, I’m not very good, but that sounds awesome. You can do all that wire stuff by yourself?"

"Heh, no, I have lots of help, but it’s still alot of work. It will be awesome once it’s finished. Maybe we can convince Shiro-Ame to record their next album here!"

"That’d be awesome!" Sakura said happily. Looking out the window Sakura dreamed about what the concert would be like the next day. I’ll have to stand where I can see their lead guitarist really well. I hope he’s not still sick tommorrow. He’s my favorite. Sakura started humming one of their title songs unconsciously, brought only to the presence when she noticed Tomoyo was standing up next to her.

They walked down the middle aisle onto the desolate road, nothing but fields on both sides of them. A cool wind was blowing across the open space, but the wind warmed it up, and the weather was positively pleasant. "It’s wonderful out here!" Sakura said once she was standing outside and the bus had left them.

Syaoran nodded hopped across the ditch between the road and the field on his right. He ducked under the fence and waited impatiently for Sakura and Tomoyo to catch up, turning and heading for the distant old barn once he was convinced they were caught up. Syaoran thought hard about what he was going to do next. I can’t tell Sakura with Tomoyo here. I wanted to ask her if she would take Moondust, but stupid Tomoyo has to be here, looking at me all freaky.

He led the way to the barn, then searched for Moon’s halter. After throwing aside a pile of hay he had given her the other day when he had dropped by after school, he quickly picked the worn leather up and turned to face Sakura and Tomoyo. "I have to go get her, she could be way back in the field."

"That’s okay, we like walking." Sakura said happily.

Please Tomoyo, say you don’t want to come. Say it!

Tomoyo didn’t say anything, only smiled and followed Syaoran and Sakura out of the barn into the spring’s sunshine. Syaoran walked very annoyed down the fenceline, searching for the tall grey dappled horse, though he knew she would come if he just called. The horse spotted its visitors and galloped from the middle of the field where she had been grazing, sliding to a stop in front of Syaoran and nudging him with her strong muzzle, almost sending him over. Syaoran stepped back to regain his balance and quickly pulled the halter on her, ducking under the fence and holding the halter tightly. "I’m gonna take her down to the barn." Syaoran said, then abruptly lept up onto the horse’s back, ignorant of the fact he had nothing but his own legs to control her.

Glancing breifly at Sakura and Tomoyo, he quickly spun the horse around and let her go into the gallop she wanted to. The horse enjoyed the sprint down to the gate, and Syaoran had to circle her once before she would calm down into a stop. Syaoran hopped down and looked down the fenceline to see where Sakura and Tomoyo were. They were walking slowly, making their way back.

Syaoran opened the gate and led Moondust into the barn. "We get to give pony rides today." He said, patting her on the neck as he tied her to the outside of a stall. "Watch out for the long haired one, don’t let her get too close to your lips, she might try to kiss you too."

Sakura and Tomoyo were discussing their previous horseriding adventures. "Did I tell you how much I rode when we were in Hyrule?" Sakura asked.

"No!" Tomoyo said, enthusiastic to hear.

"That’s all we did was ride them, or at least it seemed like. I was so sore! But I think I am finally getting the hang of it. We had to ride without saddles."

"You mean bareback, like Syaoran was doing just now?" Tomoyo asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah! I could go pretty fast!" Sakura said proudly.

They reached the barn and quietly walked in, seeing Syaoran already furiously brushing away at Moondust’s shedding coat, sending grey tumbleweeds of hair rolling over the ground. Sakura sneezed as some floating dust rudely tried to go up her nose. She walked to Moondust’s head, out of the way of the flying debris. "She’s really pretty." Sakura said, patting her softly. This horse saved me from being frozen under ice. I don’t remember very much about that, though, it stinks. Whenver something exciting happens, one of us is hurt.

"Do you guys want to ride?" Syaoran asked, showing his obvious annoyance through the tone of his voice. He had, after all, just brushed the entire horse off without one of them offering their help, though he probably wouldn’t of taken it.

"You can go ahead and ride if you want, Li-kun, we’ll watch." Sakura said, not wanting to take Syaoran’s riding time away.

Syaoran shrugged and searched again around the room for a bridle. Even if they said they didn’t want to ride now, they might change their minds later. Syaoran had half a mind to throw Tomoyo on Moondust and send them off with a good slap, leaving him with plently of time to talk to Sakura. Syaoran pulled the bridle off the high hook it was on (figures I put it back in the right place) and walked over to Moondust.

He slid the bit into her mouth and pulled the bridle up over her ears, throwing the seperate reins over her neck. "Lemme know when you wanna ride." Syaoran mumbled, vaulting up onto the horse’s back, ducking under the low barn ceiling and straighting up as he trotted into the field, increasing speed as he went.

Sakura walked over to Tomoyo, who was inspecting a stall. "He must really take care of her." Tomoyo said, looking into the stall that was really two, but the wall in the middle had been torn down. The stall was spotlessly clean, along with three water buckets full to the top and a rack full of hay.

"I think he’s known her for a long time." Sakura said, not even confessing to Tomoyo that she had invaded Syaoran’s dreams to find this fact out.

"It’s a shame." Tomoyo said, sighing.

"What?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Hmm? Oh, he hasn’t?...nevermind. It’s nothing." Tomoyo said.

Sakura was really bothered. "What? He hasn’t what?"

"Nothing, he’ll tell you himself, I’m sure."

Sakura was very very bothered now. The last time Syaoran had told Tomoyo something and not herself, it was his feelings for Sakura, though she was sure it wasn’t the case now. One, she was pretty sure he didn’t like her, or at least in that way anymore, and two, he and Tomoyo didn’t seem to be on a confession of their feelings kind of basis. "Whatever." She said, reminding herself not to get too annoyed with the girl that had boughtten her tickets to her dream concert. Whatever happened to the Tomoyo that I could always count on to listen, always to tell me the truth? This can’t be a double, it just can’t, but I wish it was. Those thoughts of how close she and Tomoyo used to be made her very sad, but she pushed them away. Tommorrow we will have time to catch up, I’ve just been away alot, that’s all.

They looked up as they saw Syaoran cantering a circle near the gate, feirce concentration on his face, but ultimately he looked completly relaxed and at peace. "He’s so good at that." Sakura said jealously.

"I want to see you ride, Sakura!" Tomoyo said.

Sakura smiled weakly. "I don’t know, I’m not very good, and I mean I haven’t done it for a while..." Tomoyo pushed her forward, and they walked out of the barn into the warm wind.

Syaoran quickly noticed them standing by the fence and he rode the horse over to them, hopping off as soon as Moondust had slowed to a trot, landing on his feet jogging along side her and holding her reins. "You want to ride?" He asked, stopping her in front of them.

"Yeah, but I don’t know if I can remember, I mean, I haven’t ridden in a while..." Sakura started to list off excuses, starting to get nervous about riding again, now that the tall horse was jittering in front of her.

"You’ll remember once you’re on her." Syaoran said, lacing his hands into a step. Sakura bit her lip and nervously walked over to Moondust’s side, grabbing a chunk of mane with her left hand and putting her right hand on her back, stepping lightly into the step Syaoran provided and swinging her right leg behind her, landing smoothly on the horse’s back.

Sakura looked down at the ground with wide eyes, forgetting how high up she was on Moondust, her thoughts racing. I’ve never ridden this horse by myself. What if she freaks out? Syaoran looked like he had to work to control her! Oh crap! "I don’t think she likes me..."

Syaoran ignored her and handed her the reins. Sakura looked cluelessly at the seperate peices of leather, so Syaoran took them and tied them into a knot. "It’s just like when you were riding on the horse in Hyrule, only this is a different personality. You have to listen to her, and she’ll listen to you."

Sakura half nodded, though she had no clue what he was talking about. Neigghh. Whinny snort. What is he talking about? She listens to me saying woah and to me pulling on the right or left rein, but that’s about it. Sakura reluctantly turned Moondust around and let her walk, tensing up as the horse had such a large stride. Relax. Everything is smoother when you relax. Sakura forced her body to loosen up, and after a few of the horse’s steps she could feel her whole body start to move with the horse a little easier.

Let’s try a trot. Sakura just barely squeezed the horse with her legs and found herself going into a jarring ground covering bouncy gait. Sakura grabbed the mane with one hand and held herself still, pulling back with the other hand. Moondust bounced back into a walk, and Sakura sighed with releif. That wasn’t very fun at all.

Sakura walked the horse through the field a little more. Cantering was smoother, I remember cantering on her, she was very smooth. Maybe she just doesn’t have a good trot, that’s all. Sakura squeezed the horse with her legs and found herself going through the bouncy trot into a wonderfully smooth gait. Sakura relaxed and found her hips starting to move with the horse’s three beat movement. Sakura found that they were speeding up. She pulled back with her reins, but it only made the horse move faster, snorting against the bit. Sakura pulled harder, leaning back and pushing down with her seat to try and get the horse to stop. The horse paraded away, ignoring the bit, putting it between her teeth so she could run without hinderence.

Sakura grit her teeth and braced her arm against the horse’s neck then used that stability to pull back with her free hand, finally getting the horse to slow into a trot. She pulled her easily down into a walk, the horse breathing easily under her, but Sakura gasping for air. She shook with nervousness, and she turned the horse back to the barn, trying to force away the fearful look she had on her face as she approached Syaoran and Tomoyo.

"You’ve got to relax more." Syaoran said, walking over to her, glad to see Tomoyo didn’t try to follow.

"She doesn’t listen to me!" Sakura complained, setting the reins on Moondust’s neck and heavily sighing.

"Maybe you aren’t talking to her in the right language."

"What do you mean?"

"Horses can’t speak Japanese, neither can we speak their language, so you have to try and talk to them through other ways. People don’t always understand each other, do they?"

"No, but..." Sakura started.

"If someone is rough to you, you’re rough back, right?"

"Yeah, I guess...

"So you’ve got to try and understand her. If you are nervous and yanking on the reins, she’s probably scared that the person controlling her is freaking out. You’ve got to try and talk to her in a language she can understand."

"And what’s that? Horsish?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran gave her an annoyed look, he was telling her something that could be taken two different ways, though it was obvious Sakura wasn’t thinking along those lines. "Feeling, touch, stuff like that. They don’t understand the word ‘stop’ but they understand someone stiffening up in the right way and gently pulling back. That’s why I can ride without a bridle, I don’t depend on the reins to talk to her."

Sakura sighed, she knew she was a long way from doing that. "Okay. Be gentle, relax. Got it." She turned Moondust around, determined to put into practice what she had just been told. Sakura started to concentrate on what her legs and seat were telling Moondust, not her hands. Almost like trying to sense Clow cards. Sakura suddenly understood the theory about her seat. If I keep them even, I’m pushing her straight. If I twist them to the side, it tells her to turn that direction. It makes sense! Sakura walked to horse forward, then did a rounded turn, the horse turning around her leg. WOAH! THAT’S SO COOL! Sakura excitedly put the horse into a trot. Moondust sprung forward, sending Sakura off balance again. She grabbed some mane and forced herself to keep going. I’ve gotta keep trying, if I don’t I’ll never get better.

Sakura remembered the things Syaoran had instructed her to do when he had given her a short lesson at Lon Lon Ranch in Hyrule. Lean back. Relax. Sakura’s form might have been sloppy, she might have been bouncing a little more than she should, but she was able to sit it without wincing in pain, and she wasn’t hanging on with either hand. Sakura was now inspired to try a canter again.

The horse sprung into that as well, she seeemed to spring into everything being the excitable horse she was, and Sakura grabbed some mane temporarily to hang on. She quickly adjusted herself and found that she was moving with her again. The horse was already speeding up into some sort of a gallop, what Syaoran must do with her when he rode. Sakura pulled with the reins and found Moondust increasing speed just as she had last time, fighting the metal in her mouth. Sakura forced herself to relax. She pulled back with her seat and pushed her legs slightly forward, mummering things like ‘woah’ and ‘slow down, easy girl’ to her. Moondust’s ears flicked back several times, and she started to slow.

Sakura was never more proud of herself. Well maybe, but she didn’t think that at the moment. Sakura dared to turn the horse around to the barn, holding the canter through the turn, making Sakura feel professional.

Syaoran shifted uneasily next to Tomoyo. He knew she was bound to speak any moment, and he knew he wouldn’t want to hear what she was going to say. He tried to concentrate on watching Sakura, who looked like she was getting the hang of it, but it was hard with Tomoyo smiling at him.

"She really listens to you."

Syaoran knew that he could play dumb and pretend Tomoyo was talking about Moondust, but he knew she was talking about Sakura. "Mm." He mumbled, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

"It hurts to love someone and have them not love you back, doesn’t it?" Tomoyo said, stepping forward slightly so Syaoran was stuck having to glance up at her.

"You don’t know what you’re talking about."

"I think I do. You love her more than I thought, you wouldn’t even betray her for me. I know exactly how you feel, it hurts me to watch you look at her like you do."

"I don’t know what’s wrong with you, Tomoyo, but you need to get your feelings straight, you can’t be making lies about Sakura and then try to persuade me-"

"Who says they’re lies? We both have seen it, she looks at you the same as she looks at any friend. Is that why you’re leaving?"

"How do you know that?" Syaoran asked defensively.

"I was there when you were talking to your sister, Meilin and I talk."

Tomoyo’s words were definitely hitting a sore point, and Syaoran would have run away from her if he had been able, but Sakura was still riding his horse. She’s a Double. Ignore her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. "Are you going to tell her?" He asked coldly.

"I’m sure you want to tell her in person."

Sakura and Moondust were trotting brightly to them, a wide spread smile on Sakura’s face. "It works! Syaoran it works! She started to listen to me!" Sakura said excitedly.

He walked over, giving Tomoyo one last glare before blocking it all out. "I told you." He said, holding Moondust’s reins so Sakura could get off without the horse fidgeting and making her trip.

Sakura smiled brightly, then looked from Syaoran to Tomoyo, wondering who was going to ride next. "Would you like to ride, Dadijou?" Syaoran asked Tomoyo, glaring straight at her.

Tomoyo smiled cooly back. "No thanks, maybe another time." Sakura frowned for a second, looking at them suspciously for a moment, but Syaoran turned around, keeping her from finishing her inspection.

Syaoran walked Moondust into the pasture and shut the gate, then slid the bridle off over her ears. Moondust snorted and tried to nudge Syaoran again, looking for a carrot or other reward for her deeds. When Syaoran didn’t do anything, the horse snorted angrily and tore away, sending dirt flying behind her.

Syaoran set the bridle in the barn and shut off the light, pulling the sliding door shut. He stood facing Sakura and Tomoyo. After a strange moment of silence he brushed past them and started making his way to the road. Sakura and Tomoyo walked after him, Sakura frowning at the back of Syaoran’s head. Something’s up. I wish he’d tell me.

__________________________________________________________________

Sakura pulled on her silky pajama pants and threw her dirty jeans in the hamper. She pulled her muddy socks (which how they got muddy she wasn’t sure) and tossed them as a pair into the hamper, then walked over to her bureau to get a new pair. Sakura pulled open her sock drawer then shreiked. "What!?"

The whole drawer’s inside was covered with green leaves and sticks, all weaving an intricate bug type pattern throughout the wooden drawer. In the very center was a circle of rocks, the circle that fenced in the largest of all leave piles, in which a butterfly lay peacefully. Sakura looked up at Kero, who was playing video games, for an answer. "What is this?" She demanded, glaring at the sleeping bug momentarily.

"Bob saw my drawer and was jealous. I’m surprised you didn’t notice, it was there this morning."

"Ugh! No, no, no, no!" She slammed the drawer shut, hearing a startled bug noise with satisfactory. She stormed away to her door. "Tell him he has to move out of that drawer before tommorrow morning." She opened it, then turned once more. "Tell him I mean it!"

Kero only said "mm" as he was so caught up in his game, and Sakura seriously doubted the information was going to be passed on, but she didn’t have time to stay. Sakura walked down the hallway , looking for Touya. "Shiro-Ame, I’m seeing Shiro-Ame....concert for my birthday..." Sakura sang, that being the basic theme of her song. Sakura heard the television on downstairs, so she jogged down.

Touya was watching some martial arts competition, not noticing Sakura walking into the room. Chindra was sitting reading through a magazine, but she looked up at Sakura’s entrance.

"Onni-chan! I wanted to designate a leaving time with you. We leave at two to get to the concert." Sakura said.

"What?" Touya said, dragging his eyes away from the television. "Two? Two when the concert starts at seven thirty? No way little monster."

"I’m not a monster!" Sakura whined. "Two thirty, but I’m not making it any later."

Touya didn’t respond, only stared at the television he was watching. Chindra got up from the couch she was on, walking over to Sakura. "I have something to give you." She said, smiling.

Sakura walked after her curiously, following her up the stairs and into her room. Chindra walked over to her desk and rummaged through some things, then picked up a sparkling necklace.

Now Sakura wasn’t a jewelry person, aside from the watch Yukito had given her when she was younger, she really didn’t have any prized jewelry peices, but this sparkling thing Chindra held in her hand was eye capturing. "That’s...that’s beautiful!" Sakura said, staring at the necklace.

Chindra smiled and held it out. "You fight for your family. I thought, well this fits. It means to fight for love in ancient heiroglyphics."

Sakura stared at it with wide eyes. "Chindra I can’t take this! It’s so beautiful, I couldn’t take this from you."

"Please. Want to make peace with your family for good. Maybe we can fight Clow Reed together. Please take it."

Sakura stared at it and dared to pick it up, holding the crystal carefully in her hands. She brought it up to look at. It was on a thin silver chain, a very long chain, but the crystal charactering hanging on the end was exquisitely chisled into the shining stone, making it anything but a plain necklace. "This is so pretty."

"Looks much like crystals we had with magic so long ago. Maybe it will help you? Maybe it has powers. I don’t know. I just thought to give it to you because tommorrow we will be gone."

Sakura’s eyes watered ever so slightly. Chindra was being such a good friend, Sakura would have never imagine becoming friends with such an odd girl. "Thank you so much, I’ll always keep it." Sakura said, unclasping it and putting it around her neck. She clipped it back and let it hang, admiring the sparkling crystal that was in front of her.

Chindra smiled. "It suits you." She said, smiling. She pulled a necklace out from under her shirt, holding out for Sakura to see. "Look I have one much like it."

Sakura looked at it, watching it glitter. "That’s beautiful, what does it mean?"

"Tiger, that’s what my name mean, at least I think that’s it. It’s some old form of Egyptian, not sure what it is." Chindra said.

"Cool! This is so cool!" Sakura said, smiling. She admired hers for a while, then looked up at Chindra. "We should probably get some sleep, tommorrow is going to be a long day. Although I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep."

Chindra smiled. "I know! So excited about concert, never been to one before."

Sakura walked to the hallway. "It will be fun, there’ll be lots of people, really loud music, great food! And their guitarist is sooo hot!"

"You think so too?" Chindra asked, grinning. "Maybe we pull him off stage together!" She said.

Sakura laughed and headed to her room, opening the door quietly and stepping in. Kero was sitting on the desk eating some food she had brought him earlier, and Bob was making trips between his drawer and the window, dropping sticks and leaves back outside. Sakura shook her head. "I’m going to sleep guys, try to be quiet."

She walked over to her bed and turned off the light, getting under the sheets she had on her bed, her summer sheets. Sakura lay down and tried to close her eyes and found herself looking up at the ceiling, not able to sleep. Moondust is really smooth at a canter. I wish I could ride more, I think I am learning really quickly. Maybe Syaoran will let me come more often? I wish he wasn’t so strange around Tomoyo. He seemed off today, maybe the soccer game put him off. Sakura smiled as she thought about her glorious tackle. He was probably just sore about me keeping him from scoring a goal.

Sakura rolled over, trying desperately to sleep. It was another hour of restless turning before she was able to close her eyes and keep them shut, her mind finally allowing her a break, drifting into dreams.

___

"The boy is helping her alot."

HAHA! I have finally gotten to the 21st chapter! Is that a landmark? I’m not sure. I am spending spring break in a hotel, yehaw, I’ll get to write alot. Next chapter is gonna be at the concert! I meant to put it into this chapter, but as most are, this one ending up being too long. Nothing card related has happened for two chapters now, I better get a move on. Well next chapter should be funny- at least I’ll try. Crap I shouldn’t have said anything, now I have to live up to it. Better be going, Ja Mata Ni!

-Syaoran’s Fan 4 All Eternity (like that?)

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