Never Let You Go– Chapter 1
Disclaimer (I'm reverting back to my shortened version of disclaimers. So here it is): Don't sue me.
She sighed, brushing a stray strand of golden brown hair from her emerald eyes. Looking down at her skates, she counted, one, two, one, two, as she took each step, rolling forward towards her home.
Suddenly, she heard loud screech fill the air. Startled, she looked up, and then everything went black.
"I have come for you…"
"Who are you?" Sakura felt like she was falling, falling… but it all seemed like a black, endless void…
"I have… come…"
That voice… It sounds so… familiar… "Who are you?" Sakura repeated, crying into the darkened depth.
A bright white light flooded everything. "I have come…for…you…"
Then everything went dim.
Sakura opened her eyes. Everything seemed blurry, and she couldn't quite figure out where she was.
"You're awake." A relieved voice spoke somewhere above her. Sakura sat up, turning her head toward the voice.
"Shaoran-kun? What… why…?" She looked around, realizing she was in Shaoran's apartment. "I… just had the strangest… vision… But, what happened? There was this scream and then…"
"You passed out and collapsed on your way home. My place was closer, so I brought you here to recuperate." Shaoran peered into Sakura's eyes worriedly. "How are you feeling now?"
"I don't know… strange… the dream was so… strange…" Sakura turned her face toward the window, looking out at the sun shining, the birds chirping sweetly in the trees. Somehow it didn't seem quite right now… somehow it seemed… different…
Shaoran looked at Sakura, concerned. He knew that she often had prophetic dreams… could this one be one of them? But this wasn't a dream… it was different. It had come to her while she wasn't asleep, and had caused her to faint. Something was wrong. Shaoran could sense it. However, he didn't want to upset Sakura, so he didn't say anything.
"Shaoran-kun?"
"Nani?"
"How did you find me after I fainted?" Sakura asked innocently.
Shaoran blushed. He didn't want to tell her that he had been following her every day after school, just to make sure that she would come to no harm. This time, he had caught her in his arms well before she hit the ground. He had had to think of an excuse, and fast.
"Well?" Sakura prodded, after a few seconds of silence.
Cheeks crimson, Shaoran stuttered, "I, uh, can sense when you're in danger." Great excuse that was, Shaoran thought to himself.
"Oh. Okay. Thank you, anyway." Sakura smiled sweetly. Shaoran felt his heart melt into a puddle of chocolate ice cream soup.
Sakura took a look at the clock. It was already 6:30 p.m. "I really should be getting home though, Tou-chan and Nii-chan will be worried if I don't get home soon!" She pushed aside the blanket covering her and started to stand up. Her legs wobbled and she suddenly collapsed. Shaoran gently caught her, and helped her back up, an arm firmly supporting her waist. "Hoe… I'm so clumsy," Sakura grinned, sweatdropping. "Thanks."
"It's okay," Shaoran mumbled. Sakura weakly sat back down on the bed, and he went over to get her book bag and her rollerblades for her. As he walked back, Sakura looked up inquisitively. "Come on," he said, "I'll walk you back home."
"You're so sweet," Sakura smiled again.
Shaoran blushed again.
***
They walked along the quiet sidewalk, Sakura leaning slightly onto Shaoran, his arm holding her up. They passed the time in silence, each thinking different thoughts. Suddenly, Shaoran broke through the quietness.
"Sakura, what exactly… did you see in your vision?"
"Mm…" Sakura thought for a moment, trying to recollect every image of her vision, and then proceeded to recount the experience to her friend. When she finished, she shuddered, still shaken from the whole experience. Shaoran tightened his arm around Sakura in an unconscious attempt to comfort her.
"What do you think it means?" he questioned quietly.
"I don't know…" She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. "Do you know what it means?"
Shaoran looked away. "No."
"I'm scared," said Sakura in a small voice, looking down at the ground.
They kept walking, and soon, they came to Sakura's house. As they walked up the driveway toward the door, Touya suddenly flung it open, standing towering above them.
Touya took one look at his sister and saw that she was struggling to stand up… with Shaoran's arm around her, and turned rather purple in the face. Struggling not to yell, he muttered with a distinct tone of fury in his voice, "What have you done to my little sister?"
Shaoran scowled angrily at Touya. Without saying a word, he carefully lifted Sakura up into his arms and swept past Touya's looming figure into the house. He set her down gently onto the sofa in her living room, and turned to find an enraged Touya looking straight at him.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he yelled. "You little…" Touya's eyes glared daggers, and there somehow seemed to be a murderous possibility gleaming in them.
"Nii-chan…" said Sakura weakly. "Nii-chan, it's not his fault…" But Touya didn't hear her. He advanced on Shaoran menacingly, and descended upon him. Reaching out at the boy's collar with one arm, he lifted Shaoran clean off the ground.
Shaoran remained silent, and continued glaring at Sakura's brother. Touya narrowed his eyes. "I demand you to know what you did to her! Or else…" he muttered in a low, threatening voice.
"Nii-chan! Put him down!" cried Sakura indignantly. "He didn't do anything to me, he walked me home because I… I…" She knew she couldn't tell Touya about how she passed out, so she quickly thought of a believable justification of the circumstances. "I had hit my head… on my desk, after picking up a pen I dropped. And then… I felt kind of dizzy after, uh, cheerleading practice. Shaoran-kun was just being nice, so he offered to walk me home today."
Touya looked at her, a suspicious look on his face. It was apparent that he did not believe her story, but surprisingly, he put Shaoran down. "All right, I doubt what my just said was completely true," he said, looking Shaoran straight in the eye, "but she claims you helped her, and I'll trust her." What he did next was even more surprising. "Thank you," he muttered unwillingly. "In any case, I have to leave soon for my job at the restaurant. You, kid. Are you going to take care of her." This was a statement, not a question. Shaoran, bewildered, merely nodded. "Good. You harm her in any way, big or small," he said dangerously, "and you'll regret you ever came to Japan." Then, after affectionately ruffling his younger sister's hair, he shuffled out of the house and left, closing the door behind him.
Shaoran was still in a state of shock, staring at the closed door. "I… can't believe he did that…" he muttered to himself. Turning around, he looked at the girl sprawled on the sofa and saw that she was in a similar state of disbelief.
"Hoeee…" Then, all of a sudden, she grinned. "Shaoran-kun, thanks for putting up with that. Nii-chan overreacts sometimes…"
"It's all right." He smiled at her, and went over. Sitting on the edge of the couch, he whispered softly, "How are you doing now?"
"I'm just fine!" she said cheerfully, smiling sweetly. But Shaoran frowned, knowing that she had said that just so he wouldn't worry. He knew better, though, and saw that her cheeks were still a lot paler than usual, and her eyes still looked tired and weary.
"Tell the truth," he said gently. "I'd rather know the truth."
"Well… I'm pretty tired…and thirsty…" Sakura said wanly. Shaoran nodded and promptly walked into the kitchen. He poured out a glass of water and carried it back over to the living room. Setting it down on the coffee table, Shaoran helped Sakura sit up on the sofa. Sitting down beside her, he handed her the cup of water and watched her quietly as she drained the glass. Putting down the glass, she turned to smile at Shaoran. "Thank you," she murmured softly.
Sakura's eyelids started to droop. She sighed wearily as her eyes closed and almost immediately fell asleep. Her head nodded and landed on Shaoran's shoulder, causing Shaoran to blush lightly. He shifted and stood up. Then, bending over, he lifted Sakura's slight frame into his arms and carried her upstairs to her room.
He sighed as he lay her sleeping figure upon her bed. He pulled off her shoes, one by one. Tenderly, he brought the covers up around her shoulders. Shaoran blinked and saw Sakura smiling peacefully in her sleep. Unable to control himself, he reached out his hand and stroked her cheek and then smoothed down her soft hair. A strange feeling surged through his chest, making his heart beat faster. Why… why am I feeling this way? He swung his head furiously, shaking it off. He looked at her. Take care of yourself, Sakura. Be careful.
A/N: I've drawn some really cute fanart (It's kinda bad though, since I drew it at like midnight – sleepiness gets to me sometimes) that goes with the story, and if I ever make my own website (like that's ever gonna happen -_-;;) I'll put it up there and you can see it!!! (So far, the only picture I've drawn that I've ever scanned in is that CuteMew picture on my profile page here. ::sweatdrops::)
Oh, yeah, I might change the title sometime or another, 'coz it seems awfully cheesy to me… O_o
Please
tell me if you want more to this! Or else I won't bother writing more… So go on, don't be afraid, review this below. CuteMew appreciates them a lot more than you think! ^_~