Treasures of the Soul
By KudoEdogawa
Copyright: CLAMP

Chapter 1
The Misunderstandment

~*~

It was a cold morning, colder than any other days of the year, but people's hearts were warm and filled with love and contentment. Pieces of pure white snowflakes drifted slowly onto the ground, carpeting the earth with a blanket of snow. The college student stirred in her sleep, the sweet scent of chocolate traveled into her room and her roommate could be heard in the kitchen, busying herself with the dessert. Kinomoto Sakura opened one eye and stared out the frosty window, then at the calendar hanging over her head on the wall; the date February fourteenth was marked in bright red with a heart. She sat up on the bed, stretched, got off her bed, and sat down at her bedside table, brushing her hair and smiling into the mirror; it was Valentine's Day.

She searched her wardrobe, trying on everything she could find, hoping that she would find something good. She doesn't usually spend this much time dressing; she liked to be casual. But today was different; it was a special day.

"Someone's taking her time with outfits today," Tomoyo's amused voice came from the door. She was wearing a deep blue dress, an apron covering it, and her hands were busy stirring the chocolate in a bowl.

"Ohayou, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura greeted her best friend, giving her the smile that always made people feel warm and happy; it's a smile that only Sakura could give.

"Ohayou, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo replied. "I assume you're going to meet Li-kun?" She asked, her hands stirring tirelessly.

"Yeah, we're meeting for lunch," Sakura said. "But I can't find any outfit that looks good!" She said in frustration and shot a glance at the pile of tried and dismissed clothes lying on the bed.

"Wow, quite a hill there," Tomoyo mused. Her hand stopped stirring and she sighed, "Come on out." She said and led Sakura out of the room.

Sakura followed her roommate out into the living room, half curious and half confused. Sitting on the sofa was the most brilliant outfit; it was light pink with stains of sakura petals in darker pink. Sakura squealed and picked up the dress excitedly.

"Put it on!" Tomoyo urged excitedly, the bowl of chocolate has been replaced by her ever-present camera.

Sakura got changed and Tomoyo was filming fervently. Sakura squealed with delight as she stood in front of the mirror; it was beautiful. The sleeves were laced and the pants were pink, reflecting the light of the morning sun. There was a hood connected to the sweatshirt, decorated with symbols of the Clow and on the back of the sweatshirt was a picture of Kero-chan in red.

"Look at your shoulders!" Tomoyo said, still filming.

Sakura looked to her side; on the right shoulder there were small stitches of a wolf and on the other shoulder, stitches of a Sakura blossom. "It's beautiful, Tomoyo!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Of course!" Tomoyo said, her eyes turning round and sparkly. "My elegant designs and the greatest fabric imported from France and my careful three-months stitching and worn onto the most perfect girl on earth--Sakura. Oh, this is so unbelievable, I think I'm going to faint!" She put one hand over her forehead in exaggeration. Sakura sweatdropped.

"Sorry to interrupt the fashion show," said a voice behind them. They turned towards the kitchen; it was Kero. "But can we please get on with making the chocolate? I'm absolutely starving for chocolate, besides, Sakura would need something to give to Li, so get your hands moving!"

Sakura removed herself from the dress and put on her apron as she took over Tomoyo's stirring job. Tomoyo opened the drawer underneath the sink and took out molds of all shapes: diamond, star, square, circle, rectangle, triangle, and the one that will always be used each year--the heart. Sakura smiled; she had been using that heart-shaped mold ever since elementary, and each year she would make the chocolate herself, add the icing herself, and give it to Yukito-san herself. However, that was then, and Yukito-san's important role in her heart has long been replaced by Syaoran, and now Yukito-san was more of a second brother.

Sakura glanced at the dining table; a picture frame perched on it. It was a picture of Touya and Yukito, sent to Sakura from Sapporo just the previous Christmas. I hope you're doing alright, oniichan. Sakura thought to herself as she continued with her chocolate stirring.

Around noon, the snacks were done. Sakura put her heart-shaped chocolate into a red box and wrapped it with pink, sakura-patterned wrapping paper, careful not to get distracted by Kero's victory dance. ("Yum! Chocolate!" As Kero said). She and Tomoyo wrapped the other chocolates as well and handed one to Kero.

"Here you go, Kero-chan, Happy Valentine's Day!" Sakura said sweetly.

"I don't need a Valentine! I just need... chocolate!" And he literally dived into the chocolate the next second, staining his orange fur. Sakura giggled at Kero's intense love for sweets.

She picked up her heart-shaped box and put on the dress, "Well," she said to Tomoyo. "I've gotta go meet him now, have a nice day, won't you?"

"Of course, Kero and I will be busy delivering!" Tomoyo smiled and waved. Kero looked up in horror upon realization that he would have to leave the house and the chocolate.

~*~

Rays of light shot through the gaps of the curtain, giving small amounts of light to the darkened room of the boy. Clothes and pants worn the previous day were lying on the ground. He turned in his sleep and shuddered; boy, was it cold! He opened one eye and looked around the dark room. It must be very early to be this dark still, he thought to himself and resumed sleeping, unaware of the electronic clock next to him blinking the numbers 12:16.

. . .

In front of the Italian cafe, Sakura waited patiently, though she looked at her watch more frequently as time grew on. It had already been half an hour, where was Syaoran? She breathed into her hands for warmth, shuddered slightly and assured herself that Syaoran was taking up time to prepare a surprise for her. She entered the cafe and took a seat, content with the warms within the restaurant. She ordered a cup of coffee and stared out at the merry couples shopping outside.

. . .

The boy shuddered again as he opened his eyes; his blanket had somehow fallen off his bare chest. He picked up the blanket and wrapped himself up; out of the corner of his eye his could see an electronic digit: 1. It's only 10...I'll sleep for another hour or so. And he resumed his sleep.

. . .

Sakura glanced worriedly at the pedestrians outside, hoping for a glimpse of Syaoran. She looked at her watch: 15: 28, surely it doesn't take Syaoran three and a half hours to get to this restaurant. She looked worriedly at the emptied coffee mug in front of her...had something happened to him? She left her seat, paid for her drink, and left for Syaoran's house, praying that nothing had happened to him.

. . .

The doorbell rang once, twice, oh, who knew how long it had been ringing. Syaoran got up and stretched. He picked up the clock next to him: 15:52 glowed luminously in the dark. His eyes widened in horror and he mouthed to himself: "I am so dead." The ringing continued on. Syaoran leapt of his bed and dashed to open the door, and, despite the coldness of winter, he had not stopped to put on his jeans or his shirt. He swung the door opened and shouted a loud "I'm so sorry!"

"Syaoran!!" An all-too-familiar voice of a certain Chinese girl greeted him. Syaoran rubbed his eyes; it was Meiling. "Well, aren't you happy that I came to visit you on Valentine's day?" She jumped towards Syaoran for a hug, unexpected of the jump, Syaoran lost his balance and the two of them fell to the ground painfully, Meiling lying on top of Syaoran, half satisfied and half close to tears due to the pain.

Footsteps.

They stopped.

Silence.

Thud!

"Ow..." Syaoran half-whispered and looked up--there was Sakura, looking shocked and hurt and the box of chocolate lying next to her feet.

"Valentine's day..., and you made me wait for four hours..., and all this time I thought that something horrible had happened to you! That you might've been hurt! That..." She choked back her tears and made to leave.

Syaoran pushed Meiling off him and chased after her, "Sakura, wait!" He grabbed her wrist and Sakura shook it off.

"I gotta go home and make dinner with Tomoyo," Sakura said, "Good day." And she dashed off, leaving Syaoran alone and helpless, standing shirtless in the snow.

He re-entered his house and shut the door with a snarl and laid a fist on the wall as he starts to beat on the wall. "Dammit!" He cursed. "Dammit!" He swore over and over again.

"I'm sorry..." Meiling whispered apologetically.

"Argh! It's going to be three whole months before she'd ever let me explain!" Syaoran growled. "She's gonna hate me..."

~*~

"And all this time I thought that something had happened to him! I waited for four hours in fear, not of hope. FEAR!! And it turned out that he wasn't injured at all! He had been with Meiling all this time and they didn't even bother to lock the door!" Sakura sobbed to Tomoyo.

"I believe that Li-kun isn't such a person." Tomoyo comforted.

"But they were on top of each other!" Sakura cried. "If it was like you said, an accident, happened at the wrong place at the wrong time, then he could've pushed her off of him right away! But he didn't! He didn't have any action of resistance towards Meiling until he noticed that I was there!"

"Maybe it's not as you think-"

"How else am I supposed to think?" Sakura cried. "Valentine's Day, four hours late, and a girl lying on top of him while he was shirtless...why, I've never been late or done such things! Not once in the past ten-something years!"

Tomoyo patted Sakura on the shoulder. "It's okay..., just go find him tomorrow and give him a chance to explain."

"But I can't! Not after what I said to him..., not after what I've done! Not after all those over-reactions!" Sakura's face was tear-stained. "I think it's over!" She wailed.

"You're just being pessimistic now, cheer up! Everything will be fine tomorrow!" Tomoyo said in what she had hoped to be a comforting way.

"Oh..., I don't know what to do! I was so unlike myself this afternoon!"

"Well..." the voice of Kero arose behind her. "There may be another way."

~*~

"She's gonna hate me for this!" Syaoran said.

"I'm sorry," Meiling whispered. "It's all my fault."

"Yes it is!" Syaoran roared. "How many times have I told you...oh whatever! I'm not gonna even bother this time!" He sat down angrily on the sofa.

"She's gonna hate me," he repeated. "I won't even get to explain... on Valentine's Day, too!"

"You can try calling her and tell her...... Now, if you want." Meiling suggested.

"No, I can't. It's gonna get her more upset... I can't do anything." Syaoran cursed under his breath.

"Well..." Meiling said slowly. "There may be another way."

~t r e a s u r e s   o f   t h e   s o u l~

There it is! I know that Sakura is a bit OOC, but it had to be done that way for my fic to continue!