Chapter 1: The Package

Sakura smiled when she saw her father waiting for her at the airport. She had immediately picked him out of the throng of people in the arrival's lobby. The large plaza was surrounded by gift shops selling colorful and overpriced knick-knacks for the tourists who mulled around, creating an ever-changing maze of bodies. Sakura's emerald eyes sparkled, almost as much as the ring on her finger, as she pushed her way through the crowd and embraced hher father. It had been almost a year since she had seen him last.

"Father!"

"Welcome back, Sakura." Fujitaka Kinomoto ruffled her shoulder-length brown hair. "Your hair has gotten a bit longer," He observed.

"Meiling-chan told me that Syaran-kun likes long hair," Sakura explained, "I've been growing it out for a few months now."

"He must be happy you would do that for him." Fujitaka told her, "He must have already likef you a lot to have given you such a nice ring." He smiled fondly as he remembered how Sakura had been when she was younger.

"It was custom made. He... designed it himself," Sakura explained, pausing to avoid blurting out the fact that Syaoran had magically enchanted it as well. Fujitaka took this as a sign of the growing seperation between them. She had even called him father rather than dad. It seemed too stiff and he wondered how close they would be once Sakura moved to Hong Kong permanently.

"From the amount of grumbling I hear from Touya, he must love you a lot," Fujitaka said, "not that anyone could ever not love you."

"Dad..." Sakura smiled at the off-hand compliment. "Thank you." Her father hugged her, glad that the initial discomfort of meeting eachother after a long abscence had finally started to fade.

"I missed you."

"I missed you as well, but I cannot wait to return." Sakura said.

"Would you deprive me of my last year with my daughter?" Fujitaka asked worriedly and gripped her arms gently as if she would turn and run back to the plane.

"I won't abandon you..." Sakura assured him with a sad smile, "The Li's have a private jet, so even when I do leave, I could come visit you once in a while." She was beginning to feel a little guilty that she had not called mire while she had lived with the Li's. As with Syaoran, Wei had acted almost fatherly to her and acted as the male role model of the Li home. Sakura gave her father a nother tight hug, waiting for several seconds before releasing him.

"I understand Touya stayed with the Li family."

"Unlike me, he doesn't get a Li-sized allowance, not that Syaoran ever let me spend it. He insisted on paying for everything. Touya has to pay for himself though. He has a few jobs to cover expenses, but even when getting cheap room and board at the Li mansion, costs of living are high and he doesn't want to jeopordize the arrangement since it was so affordable in comparison to everything else in the area. He decided this before he found out about Yukito-san decideing to return here with me, so I don't know if he's really going to stay there all year."

At this point, the aforementioned Yukito pushed through the crowd. He was carrying both his own and Sakura's suitcases.

"Good to see you again." Fujitaka said as he shook Yukito's hand warmly. Sakura was unsurprised by this greeting, Her father was well aware of Touya and Yukito's unconventional living arrangement and considered the man to be part of the family. Sakura wondered how her father would react if he knew Yukito's other secret, and by extension, her own. As the two men contnued their reintroduction, Sakura pulled out her cell phone and hir the first speed dial button.

"Hello." Syaoran answered the phone on the first ring. He had never really been into technology, but when Sakura had told him that they could use them to talk to eachother whenever they wanted, he had purchased them immediately. It had seemed at the time that his number had been magically distributed to every last member of the clan because they had immediately begun to call him, either to ask for future favours or to intervene with his mother on their behalf.

"I've missed you." Sakura said happily.

"Well, it's only been a few hours 'kura." Syaoran said. He was glad that it was her calling.

"Didn't you miss me?" Sakura asked, pouting, though the effect was mostly lost over the phone.

"Of course I did. It was like my heart was torn from my chest when I saw you get on that plane."

"Will you visit me?"

"Whenever I possibly can; I'd love to know what it's like to sleep in your bed." Sakura blushed at his words.

"Fine then, I'll take Touya's room while you're there."

"You are too cruel, Sakura."

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm at Tomoeda airport right now." Sakura said as she noticed that Yukito and her father were waiting for her.

"I'm glad you arrived safely," Syaoran told her. He suddenly groaned in pain.

"Syaoran!" Sakura exclaimed, "Are you alright?"

"It's just my shoulder. I think I overworked it a bit. I have to get my medication," he replied, "Call me when you get home."

"I will, or else I'll worry about you."

"I love you, Sakura."

"Same to you," Sakura smiled, "I love you." The other end of the line disconnected. Sakura put her phone away and took her father's hand. "Let's go home."

After a week, almost hourly phone calls between Sakura and Li had dwindled to the point that he never called her, and he didn't even pick up half the time when she called him. Hd had even turned off his cell phone. She had also sent him letters, but he had only replied to the first. She had to admit that she was acting a little bit clingy, but she missed him, and he surely missed her just as much. How could he not?

After the second week, she was begining to get very worried about him. She had only been able to contact him twice. That didn't worry her as much as the fact that the emerald wolf on her engagement ring had become cloudy. It had been clear and bright before, and she knew that its change must have been an indication of something being wrong with Syaoran, or, even worse, a change in thee way he felt. When she had talked to him, he had seemed more irritable than usual, but had told her not to worry because he was fine. She couldn't believe him. One thing about developping her magical powers was that when she sensed things, and they were usually right. Syaoran was definitely in some sort of trouble. She could feel it.

Her father had also told her not to worry. He reminded her about how she had fought tooth and nail against the engagement before and now he was the only thing she thought about. She wished thast there was something that she could do that could take her mind off him until she got a chance to see him again.

Sakura sighed whistfully and rolled over on her bed. Her magical guardian, Kero, was in his false form and had been sleeping on the bed beside her. He now struggled to pull himself out from under his mistress. Sakura glanced at her alarm clock. It was almost six. She had never been an early riser before, but a year of waking up at four in the morning for training had ingrained the habit into her. Her father had joked about how she couldn't be Sakura, because Sakura never woke up in time for anything without help. Something about the lighted letters and numbers and numbers on the alarm clock disturbed her. It felt like she was forgetting something.

"July twelfth..." She mumbled. She stopped spacing out long enough to notice the struggling of the trapped guardian beast. She tugged his dtuffed animal-like body out from under her. "Gomenm Kero-chan." She apologized. The little guardian said something snarky in response, but Sakura wasn't paying attention so he huffed and made himself comfortable again.

Things had been so much more fun for Kero at the Li mansion. There, he could fly around freely and eat pudding whenever he wanted to, as long as he avoided the few residents that were not aware of magic. Here, he couldn't let himself be seen and only got to eat the food that Sakura snuck in to him, and it was rarely pudding. With Sakura acting all spaced out as she thought about Syaoran, it just made things more difficult for him.

"Three hundred and fourty two more days until Syaoran." It was such a long time. She had only known him for just under ten months. She sighed again. She couldn't even practice magic. Most magical spells were too destructive to try in the house, and she couldn't do them while her father was around. The Li clan was very big on keeping their magical abilities secret, and Sakura understood why.

"Key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your tru form before me. Your mistress Sakura commands you under the contract, release!" Nothing happened. Ever since she had captured all the cards and become their true mistress, she had not been able to unlock her wand. She could still channel magic through other things, but the cards were not working either. It was not that her magic was gone. On the contrary, her control of the Li clan's magic was better than it ever was, but it was no substitute for the Clow cards, which were one of the most powerful magicks in the world, having been created by the most powerful sorceror of his time and son of the founder of the Li clan, Clow Reed.

There was something still nagging her about the date. It had to do with Syaoran. The boy was hot. Every girl at the school had either been jealous of her and angry or had wanted to be her when they had found out about their engagement.

Because of the school they had attended, the majority of the students who were not on scholarship were rich and were used to getting everything that they wasnted. Rika, Chiharu and Naoko, her friends, had of course been happy for her, but Chiharu and Rika were already involved in serious relationships. Naoko tended to live her live vicariously through her friends, so she was happy to have someone else who could share their love experience with her. Other girls were always glaring at her whenrver she went near Syaoran. A couple of times, girls had 'accidentally' bumped into her at inopportune moments. Sakura forgave them, but none of the girls dared to try anything when Syaoran was near her, especially after a senior had disappeared for few weeks after flirting with her. Rumor had it that Syaoran had done something to him, but neither boy had ever said anything about any incidents.

Syaoran had always gotten high marks and was the star of the school soccer team. His personality was a little rough, but Sakura could tell just by looking into his beautiful amber eyes how he really felt. At least she could now. He had seemed like such a jerk at first, but once she had gotten to know him, he had been the most thoughtful boy she had ever known. Most people were never able to get close enough to realize this. He was strong and wise beyond his years... He would be turning seventeen tomorrow!

"Hoee!" Sakura leapt out of bed and began to dress furiously. She hadn't even thought of what she would get him for his birthday. How could she have forgotten something that was so important? She nearly ran into her father who was coming out of his room wearing a bath robe and looking extremely tired, though it brought a smile to his face to see her like this again.

"Are you in a hurry?" Fujitaka asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"I need to get a present for Syaoran." Sakura exclaimed worriedly.

"Well, slow down. I don't want you to hurt youtself."

"But his birthday is tomorrow!" Sakura paniced.

"And the stores won't open for another few hours. Why don't you wait until I get dressed, then I can make your some pancakes. You can't shop on an empty stomach." Fujitaka said with an encouraging smile. He had missed Sakura's mad dashes to get ready in the morning. His statement seemed to have calmed Sakura down enough to think clearly.

"Arigatou, Otou-san." Sakura gave her father a hug.

Sakura waited anxiously for her father to get ready. He was not in a hurry because the university was in the middle of summer break as well, so he did not have to prepare for any lectures or classes or mark any work. Sakura usually loved this time of year when she could wake up late and spend so much time with her father. Now, however, her anxiousness over Syaoran's lack of communication, the fading of the ring and the limited time to find the perfect birthday present had all come together to replace her usual happiness with an overwhelming anxiety.

"What if he doesn't like my present?" she asked her father nervously as she set the table.

"He will love it, not for what the present is, but because it is from you. Just put your heart into it." Fujitaka encouraged her as he handed her a glass of orange juice.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Why don't you go check the mail. It should have arrived by now." He said as he poured some batter into a frying pan. This was more of a ploy to get her to stop worrying and pacing the kitchen than for any practicality having to do with the mail.

Sakura marched outside, brainstorming possible gift ideas. Perhaps a sword, or another form of weapon. He would certainly like it, and use it, but she couldn't get that. Nothing she could get would even compare to the training blades that the Li's owned. It would be like buying him a child's play thing. This was difficult. What do you get for the richest boy in China, and possibly the world? He could easily buy whatever he wanted and not even think of the cost. The present would have to have some sort of sentimental value. For a moment, she thought of sending him something like a pair of panties or a seductive, but not too revealing, picture. They did it all the time on television and in manga. He would surely love that because he loved her, but it was a sweet love, not some perveted lustful fantasy unlike the majority of his gender. She blushed even at the thought of doing something like that.

Sakura suddenly found herself flat on her face. She hadn't been paying enough attention to walking and had tripped over an oddly shaped package that had been left just outside the door.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Yukito was outside doing some yardwork. He had been staying in Touya's old room because they no longer had their Tomoeda apartment. Sakura's father had never asked Yukito for any form of rent, but Yukito felt it necessary to make himself useful. This meant that he not only did the yard work, but also a good share of the cleaning and cooking, as well as many other little jobs that he found to do. No matter how many times Sakura's father insisted that it was unnecessary, Yukito had continued to earn his keep in this way.

"I'm fine." Sakura replied as Yukito came over to her and helperd her up. "Thanks, Yukito." she was blushing even more, but now it was from the embarassment of tripping instead of from her wayward thoughts, which had led to her lack of attention in the first reminded her of when she was on the cheer team in grade school. She had often ended up catching batons with her face rather than her hands because of her tendancy to let her mind wander from the task at hand.

Yukito, like Kero, was the fale form of one of her guardians. Yukito had never talked about it and had always immediately transformed into Yue whenever she mentioned anything magical, which made her suspect that he did not even know of his own transformation. She picked up the package she had tripped over.

Yukito wasn't the only one who had recently held residence in Touya's room. Nakuru, the cousin of the exchange student who had replaced her when she had gone to Hong Kong, had stayed there after Touya had come to China after her. She could still remember the first letter she had recieved. Nakuru had not been the most careful of people and many of Touya's belongings were now only held together by a healthy portion of glue and tape. Eriol had been really apologetic about it in his letter.

Nakuru had been quite the pest to her brother. It had been one of the major factors in his decision to move to China. Nakuru had been obsessed with Touya, and that obsession, combined with her hyperactive attitude, had been unbearable for him, especially since a lot of that energy had been devoted to keeping Yukito away from him. To Sakura it seemed like a comical form of Karma since Touya had always done the same to her, though in a much more dour fashion.

"What is this?" Sakura asked as she examined the heavy parcel.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Yukito apologized, "A man delivered it not long ago. I left it by the door so that I would remember to bring it in when I was finished out here." The plain, brown, paper-wrapped package was only marred by the destination address and the postmark of the Hong Kong post office.

"It's from China!" Sakura said excitedly, "It's for... Dad." Her mood suddenly became dejected. She had hoped that it had come from Syaoran and would explain his silence.

"I just finished the work out here. Why don't we bring this in, then I'll help you find a present for Li before I go to work." Yukito suggested kindly.

"How did you know?" Sakura asked. She hadn't even told him about Syaoran's birthday yet.

"You've been depressed ever since we took off from the Hong Kong airport. This is only the second time I've seen you smile since then."

"Is it so easy to tell what I am thinking?"

"You also wrote it in your calendar. I saw it when I cleaned up your room yesterday." He teased with a kind smile that always made Sakura feel sweet.

"Thanks, Yukito!" Sakura said brightly as she gave him a big hug, "You are always so kind to me."

"Touya would kill me if I upset you." He took the parcel and gestured for Sakura to go ahead of him into the house.

"And he says I'm the monster." Sakura joked.

"It smells like it's time for breakfast." Yukito was drawn by the delicious smell.

Sakura and Yukito arrived in the dining room just as her father finished setting the food on the table.

"Dad!" Sakura attracted Fujitakas attention and Yukito handed the package to him.

"A package from China?" Fujitaka asked quizzically. "I wonder what it could be. I wasn't expecting anything." Fujitaka examined the package and found no indication of it's sender. "I wonder what it is." He removed the brown paper wrapping from the package. This revealed a beautifully carved wooden box. It was eleven inches long but only three inches tall and deep. On the left was carved the five toed imperial dragon. On the right was the royal phoenix. Set in the center was a seal written in impressive looking nine-fold script. Fujitaka couldn't help but stare in amazement at what sat before him.

"Do you know what this is?" Fujitaka asked Sakura as he ran his fingers over the dominant carving on the center of the box's cover. Sakura nodded her head affirmatively. "It's the imperial seal of the Emperor's hand. Such artifacts are rare, and even when found, they are rarely genuine."

"This is from the Emperor Yuan himself!" Sakura exclaimed.