Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Card Captor Sakura. I sadly just own the plot although if the owner wishes to give me Syaoran as a gift I would take him in a heartbeat.
"Sometimes when things are falling apart it's for the best. It might seem like the end but actually it can be the beginning of greater things to come. Things that you were hoping for and praying for can now enter into your life. Prepare for it."~ Brigitte
Chapter 1
"Letting Go"
"The referee has added two more minutes on the clock. The ball goes to Kyu on the right corner. He's trying to get over James who's been phenomenal this evening. They're both battling the ball. Kyu passes the ball to, oh wait! Takashi steals it! He passes the ball to... no he faked a pass and kicks the ball straight to the middle. He finds Li in the middle! Li just passed two Wild Boars middle backs and he's all alone in the middle! Jin's right behind! He's trying to catch him! Li just entered the danger zone! I don't think Jin will make it! Here's Li, he kicks and Goooooaaaaallllllllll! Tomoeda High wins the match 1-0 with less than a minute on the clock." The announcer emotionally screamed down the microphone. "Unbelievable Elliot! This kid is amazing. As soon as he saw Takashi with the ball, he knew exactly what he needed to do and just went for it."
"Oh I agree with you Jack and what a speed! This kid is one of the best soccer players I've ever seen. And to think he just turned eighteen… The kid's a superstar. I can definitely say that we will all be watching his career with great expectation in the near future."
"Oh, I couldn't have put it better myself Elliot! Tomoeda High wins 1-0 with less than a minute to go. What a game folks!"
"At this rate, I think we'll be seeing Tomoeda High in that final for the first time."
Syaoran Li, what else could be said. The soccer captain of Tomoeda High Falcons had done it again. One more win for the team that was like a family to him. Being a professional soccer player had been his long life dream since childhood and he was just on the right track to achieve it. His discipline and persistence had led him to the player he was today. Many spectators and commentators talked about his game and acknowledge his mind and passion when playing it. Words like prodigy or genius were always mentioned whenever commentators were talking about his way of playing.
His parents had allowed him to study and play abroad in Japan since he started his high school years. Although for many he was considered a genius when it came to soccer, his father had never been pleased with this decision of staying playing. His dream had always been for his son to inherit his company once he grew up but it was different from what his wife thought about it. Syaoran's mother saved him two years ago from been consumed by the family business for now. She was the one that ended up convincing Syaoran's father to let him play. Knowing her husband had always been a business man, she stroke up a deal to let him play all the soccer he wanted to play till he reached college. She even made the arrangements to have him stay with Wei in Tomoeda at least until he graduated. After that, he had to pick a university in which he would study a profession of his father's choosing that would benefit Li Enterprises so that he could take the company after finishing his studies. That was the deal.
For now, he was just enjoying his senior year playing soccer and being with the light of his eyes… his girlfriend Sakura.
"Hey man, great game!" Eriol said while jogging over to where Syaoran was along with Takashi on his side. 'The perfect soccer trio' was the phrase used by others whenever they played against Tomoeda High. The three of them were best friends inside the field as well as outside.
"Whoo! I'm beat. A nice shower and hanging out with my baby for the rest of the day." Takashi said.
"That's all you do Takashi aside from watching historical movies and inventing stories…" Syaoran sarcastically arched a brow.
"Hey, I'll let you know that's not all I do with Chiharu. I can tell you about the time we went to the park and we found ourselves in front of-"
"Whatever man!" Syaoran rolled his eyes and started walking towards the locker room.
Takashi was Chiharu's boyfriend. They had been together for almost two years now. Many guys wondered how he lasted so long with her because of all his stories but deep down Syaoran knew Chiharu loved to hear them and laugh at his creative imagination.
"Hey man!" Kyu, a Chinese six feet guy who was wearing the opponent's jersey jogged and catch up to Syaoran. "Great game today."
Syaoran laughed and smirked. "I told you we'd beat you! You should have changed schools for Tomoeda when you had the chance. I can smell the finals already."
"Yeah yeah whatever. Next time you will not be so lucky. If it wasn't for Takashi you would have ended up scoreless in this game."
Syaoran laughed at his comment. "Are you sure about that? I don't know. I keep thinking that I probably would have found a way to score anyways."
Kyu shook his head but smiled nonetheless. He had known Li since the eighth grade. They were both summoned to play on China's junior national team. Needless to say the passion both of them had for the game helped them become friends easily. But that wasn't the only thing they shared. Just like Syaoran, with his tanned skin and strong built he could make any woman sway his way. His short dark brown hair and sexy playful attitude was another of his attributes. Slowly he created a little fan club of girls crushing all over him wherever he go. It was not too hard to imagine why he had girls all over the school drooling every time they saw him.
Then there was the other link… his cousin Meiling, a hard to read and most of the time contradictory girl. Even with his good looks it wasn't easy for Kyu. She had never been an easy going person. The fact that at the beginning Syaoran wasn't too happy about their relationship, which completely pissed Kyu off, and a lot of time spent arguing with her made the pursuit much harder than he thought. But finally after a year of chasing her, Syaoran saw that Kyu's feelings for her were real and helped him a little. Finally last year she decided to give him a chance and they'd been together ever since.
"Well man, I'll see you later. My girlfriend must be waiting for me." Kyu said while smirking.
Syaoran chuckled and in a humorous way replied, "Yeah, we all know how she gets when she has to wait."
Kyu laughed. "I'll see you around." He turned around and walked away towards the visitors' locker room.
Syaoran started to walk towards his locker room with Eriol and Takashi when he heard his name been called.
"Li!"
Syaoran turned around to find Mark approaching them. He was a blonde, 5'8 built man who could very well be mistaken for a football player but he actually played soccer. Like Kyu, he played for another school but was friends with them because he was the captain of the Chinese national soccer team. "Hey man, nice game to all of you."
"Thanks Mark." Eriol said before turning towards Syaoran. "We'll see you inside." He said walking into the changing rooms with Takashi behind him.
Syaoran smirked as he waited for Mark to reach him. "So, did you just come to scout your competition for the finals or were you just enjoying the game?"
He laughed at Syaoran's question. "You've always been so competitive… but as it is I was just enjoying the game. Scouting I would have to actually do IF you get to the finals which, let me point out to you, you're not there yet."
Syaoran dismissed his warning with ease. "Well Mark, with a record of 13-2 it's no surprise who is making it to the finals…"
"Do I need to remind you to whom you lost those two games?" Syaoran glared at him. "Actually, I didn't come down here to gloat, although you deserve it for being so arrogant. Did you receive coach's message yesterday?"
Syaoran nodded. "Yeah, we all did."
"Are you thinking of going?"
"Well, I'm planning on training for myself until we finish school season and then I'll reincorporate myself with the national team. I think Eriol and Kyu would probably do the same. Why?"
"Well I spoke to coach and he said he wanted to start early this year."
"Yeah…"
"You know when you get that feeling were all of these practices and sacrifices will be worth doing so in the end?" Mark asked while Syaoran nodded his way. "This is our year Syaoran. I can feel it. That cup will be ours this year."
"Have you started training with coach already?" Syaoran asked.
Mark nodded. "This is our year Syaoran. I am telling you that it is."
"Then I'm sure it is. Let coach know that Eriol and Kyu will probably do the same workout as me the next time you see him. Also, tell him not to worry. I will make sure they are training enough to be ready for when we officially start practices again."
"Okay man. I'll see you at finals then… according to you off course." Mark smirked as he said his goodbye.
Syaoran chuckled and turned around only to find Sakura leaning against the wall with her hands crossed.
"Hey handsome!" She sweetly greeted him.
Syaoran smiled at her and suddenly he felt his day was complete. "Babe, what are you doing down here?"
She walked to him and put her hands around his shoulders. "What? Can't I visit my hot boyfriend in the changing rooms?" She seductively smiled at him.
He chuckled before putting his hands around her waist. "Sak… You're been evil with me." He said trying her lips before deepening it leaving both of them breathless in the end. He kept his forehead touching hers before asking her "Are you coming to the celebration party with me?"
She took a deep breath before backing away a little so that she could look him in the eyes. She knew he wouldn't take the news too well, but here it go. "I wanted to talk to you about that. I need to go see some places Kate listed for the fund-raising we have to do for the class very early tomorrow morning."
The minute the words were out of her mouth he sighed before looking away. "So you're not coming?" He asked.
"I don't know yet."
He took a deep breath. This was the way it had been lately, always arguing till it got too out of control and one of them would end it. He got her hands away from his shoulders and looked at her again. "Sakura, you know I hate it when you do this. You told me you were coming with me yesterday."
"I know baby, but it's just that this came up and well, what do you want me to do Syaoran? Being class president forces me to take care of these things."
"I know what you must do as class president, but can't you pick another day to do this? I mean, I told you about this a week ago and we talked about this yesterday. You told me you were coming with me."
"It's not so easy to cancel Syaoran. When Kate called in to make the appointments most of them were already booked. So I need to go see these places early tomorrow morning and choose one by this upcoming week. So I don't know if it's such a good idea to go out tonight knowing I have to get up really early tomorrow."
His mood had been shattered. "So you prefer to go see these places before spending time with your boyfriend?"
"Don't do this. You know as well as I do that is a lie. I would rather go out with you." Sakura desperately tried to explain to him.
"Then come with me to this party. Since you started the whole president thing we haven't been able to be together like before. Every time we can be together we spend less time with each other because you're always so busy. We don't go out like we used to anymore."
"You know I can't Syaoran. Why can't you understand it?"
"Understand what Sakura? That I've been replaced by a position at school?"
This time she was the one that looked away and sighed. "Forget it. I can't talk to you when you're like this." She said signaling that this conversation was over for now.
"Fine. I'll call you when I get to my car." With that he turned around and walked into the changing rooms. To say that he was mad was an understatement. Pissed would definitely be the right word to describe his feelings now.
~ o ~
"How are you so sure that I won't have to listen to all his arrogance in here?" Kyu asked from behind Meiling. The words Yuki Café could be seen from the other side of the road. They waited for all cars to pass by and started walking towards it. After every game it had become a tradition to come and hangout at this place.
"We'll just be a few minutes, I promise." She smiled sweetly at him.
He put his arm around her shoulder while crossing the street. "Oh really…? You know what I think?"
She shook her head while waiting for him to continue. "I think your lies, baby, are getting worse by the minute."
She laughed and waited for him to open the door for her. As she stepped inside, she looked for her friends. "I would never lie to you…" she joked.
"Right…" he spotted their friends and took Meiling's hand to walk towards them.
"Hey guys!" Eriol greeted.
"Hey!" Kyu greeted their friends as always. "Do you want the same, babe?"
She nodded taking the seat next to Takashi while Kyu went to put in their orders. "Where are Syaoran and Sakura?"
"I texted him a couple of minutes ago but he hasn't answered yet." Takashi said.
"Not even sure he's coming." Eriol said as an afterthought while taking a sip of his smoothie.
Syaoran and Sakura were the ones that had started this nice tradition, Sakura more than Syaoran actually. She had dragged him for the first time to the café after they had lost the chance to be in the finals last year. She said it was to make him let go of everything about the game and concentrate on his life outside of the field. He had hated it at first but it worked. A couple of weeks after, Tomoyo and Eriol added themselves with the excuse of wanting something to do after the games aside from going home. They invited Takashi and Chiharu and finally Meiling and Kyu started to come at the end. So it had become sort of like a tradition after every game to meet at Yuki Café downtown.
"Why?" Meiling asked.
"He had a fight with Sakura." Eriol answered.
"Again?" she asked. "What is it this time?"
"Well, he said something about her not having enough time for him anymore and well… you can imagine the rest."
She sighed. "I can't believe their fighting again."
"Well, you know he's got a point." Takashi started saying but when he saw Chiharu's menacing face he put his hands up to start explaining what he meant. "Wait, don't kill me yet, but I've heard she has cancelled some of their dates just because she has work to do. Don't you think he has a right to be mad?"
"Do I get mad at you for cancelling a date because you have to watch film, Takashi?" Chiharu asked.
"No, but that's different." He replied as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.
"Really… tell me how? To play soccer is an activity you do at school. Watching film is part of the duties you must do in order to stay on the team. How can I get mad at you for that? In her case, looking for places is part of her duties as class president. Now tell me, how is it different?"
"Well, what did I miss?" Kyu said while handing Meiling her cappuccino.
She raised a brow before sarcastically saying "Chiharu putting the periods where they belong."
"You go Chiharu!" Tomoyo cheered.
Takashi looked with disbelief in his eyes towards both of his teammates. "Aren't you going to defend my case?"
"No man, you're alone on this one." Eriol said and laughed at his friend.
"Hey Meiling, I heard there was a fashion show next month. Do you want to come? Chiharu's coming. The only ones that haven't confirmed yet are you and Sakura." Tomoyo excitedly said.
"Sure, count me in. When is it?"
"It's on Saturday the 18th at Millennia Convention Center. It's going to be awesome. I heard Yushimaru is coming up with his new summer line full of brilliant colors. Maybe after this fashion show I'll find the necessary inspiration to start drawing some more serious pieces. I want to move from dresses to doing something I've never done before like bathing suits, cute cover ups… I don't know. It'll be good for me to fill my portfolio with other works besides dresses."
"Yeah, I agree. I mean, we all know you are good with dresses but it's always good to have other pieces added to a portfolio. So, you can count me in."
Chiharu raised a brow and looked at Takashi, "Oh, I'm sorry Takashi, was I supposed to ask you for permission on going? I'm not sure if you wanted to have a date on that day."
Takashi sighed and dropped his head down. "You're not going to let this go, right babe...?" He asked.
The guys smirked while Tomoyo and Meiling just laughed. Chiharu always knew how to control Takashi since even before they started dating.
"I spoke to Mark over the phone. He says Syaoran will start training over here while high school season's on."
Eriol took a deep breath at his friend's words. "Well, there goes our little vacation at the Villas this summer. Is that what Mark came to say today?"
"Yep" Kyu took one sip of his smoothie. He knew exactly what Eriol had meant by that. The fact that Syaoran had always been disciplined when it came to training only had them missing on a lot of things they wanted to do outside of soccer. And although they would gladly do it, since it was to better themselves at playing, sometimes Syaoran was just too much into his training.
"Oh, I can talk to my cousin." Meiling was already trying to machinate a plan that would get him to approve her request… although it was easier said than done in this case. Speaking to Syaoran about getting a few days off from soccer was a real challenge. "Or, better yet, I can talk to Sakura. She'll make sure to have him come down to a normal person's sense and have him going to the Villas with us for at least a week."
"A week?" Takashi sarcastically asked. "Ja! Try a weekend. A week is too much even if it is Sakura asking."
Takashi's whining face had them all laugh again. He was already imagining all the training he was going to go through with Li this summer. Although he belonged to Japan, he was used to tagging along and training with them since it also helped him.
"Well, one thing's for sure… we all know who will probably be captain after Mark leaves this year." They all nodded to Kyu's comment. Although Syaoran was not the captain yet, he already had the character and leadership to be one. They all knew that the only reason Mark was the captain was because he was one year older than the rest. But if a chance came to take the captaincy, Syaoran would no doubt have it with both eyes closed.
~ o ~
She had been waiting for his call since his game ended, but he never called. Sakura knew he was pissed, but he needed to understand her. She was the class president which meant she had an obligation to meet their demands as best as her abilities would allow her to do so. I mean, she always understood when he had practice or when he had a game. Couldn't he do the same?
The game had finished around five in the afternoon. The clock read eight twenty three and she was still waiting for his phone call. She was getting a bad feeling about this and she didn't even know why. They had been through worst arguments than this and their relationship had survived. So she wasn't really sure why this argument was so different for him.
She decided to call Meiling to see if he was with them.
"Hey Sakura!"
"Hey Meiling, have you seen your cousin?"
"He isn't with you?" Meiling asked her.
"No. We had yet another argument about the same thing. He got mad and told me he would call me after he got to his car, but he hasn't called me yet. I tried his cell and he's not answering either. Do you think Kyu knows where he is?" Sakura heard Meiling on the other side asking her boyfriend.
"Nope. Kyu said he texted him to see if he wanted to go to the celebration together but he hasn't text back."
Now she had a really bad feeling about this. For Syaoran to be mad was one thing, but to just disappear on his own without telling any of his friends was just another thing. He just simply never did.
"Okay, thanks Meiling. If you see him please tell him to give me a call."
"Sure thing Sak! I'll see you later."
"Yeah, bye!" Sakura hanged up her cell phone. She wrote text number 14: 'Where r u? Why aren't u answering ur phone? R u alright?' and for the fourteenth time it was ignored. She didn't like this. She didn't like this at all.
She got out of bed and started searching her closet for something suitable to wear. After choosing her outfit, she took a shower and dressed. 'If he's not going to answer his phone, then he'll have to face me in person.' With that said, she got ready and was out of her house an hour later and on her way to his apartment.
~ o ~
He heard knocks coming from the door. He had spent hours and hours sitting on his favorite dark green armchair staring at the lighted fireplace thinking about many things but they all came down to one thing. Wei opened the door to reveal what he had been expecting since his game ended. Standing outside the door was Sakura. He searched her eyes only to see she was trying to keep her feelings at bay but deep down inside she was furious.
"Hi Wei." She said while walking inside the apartment and looking straight at Syaoran.
"Welcome Miss Sakura. Do you want anything to drink?" he politely offered.
She shook her head while keeping her stare on Syaoran's eyes. "No thanks Wei."
Wei nodded. "Very well. If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen."
"Thanks Wei." She looked at Wei, politely smiled and nodded before returning her gaze to him. "I've been calling you. Your friends have been trying to reach you. I've even texted you. You don't think that the least you could've done is answer to any of us so that at least we can stop worrying about you?"
"Is that any way of greeting me? You won't even ask if I'm okay." He softly asked.
"There's no need to. I can see you're perfectly fine."
"I wouldn't call it perfectly fine." He stood up from his armchair and walked towards the bar of his apartment. He took out a bottle of water and drank at least half the bottle.
"Oh really, do you need me to call 911 because you can't even answer your phone?" she sarcastically said as she walked towards the bar as well. She had always liked talking face to face instead of over the phone. It brought her a sense of comfort and assurance to see the other person's reaction to spoken words.
"I think we should break up." He sadly said to her.
She had seen his lips move but couldn't quite comprehend what he was saying. Perhaps she might have understood wrong because of the low voice he used to say the words. She stood paralyzed not processing them till she finally asked, "What?"
He finally turned to look at her face to face. "This is not working anymore Sakura. You know it isn't."
She felt as if someone had just punched her a million times on her stomach, given her a zensu bean to nurse her back to health in less than a minute and punched her a million times on her stomach again. She walked slowly to stand in front of him. "We have been through fights before Syaoran and have always been able to be alright after talking and fixing what's wrong. I'm pretty sure we can still do it again somehow."
He shook his head. "That's the problem Sakura. I don't think that this is right anymore."
"Is this about the celebration party?" she asked.
"No." was his simple answer.
"Because honestly Syaoran, to fight because of a stupid party is juvenile."
He sighed and looked away. "I'm tired of fighting Sakura."
"Then don't fight, talk!" she was about to lose control. She could feel the anger building up.
She saw him trying to blink the tears back before turning his face towards her. "I think we just got to the point where we are both too busy to be with each other." He ran his hands through his hair. "Before you won the class elections, you were always looking for ways in which you could help the class raise funds for this year but you still had time to be with me. And now, since you got the presidency from our class, you have been constantly working non-stop for the class. And you're good at what you do, I know that! Me on the other hand, I've been training to be in the finals this year. But since we qualified for the Asia Junior Cup tournament last year, I haven't been able to sleep well thinking that I'm still behind on my training. And even though we are not spending much time with each other, I don't think I can keep going like this."
Tears started running down her face even as she tried to blink them away. "Since when have you been feeling this way?"
He hated to see her cry and to know the reason for her tears were his words only added to his frustration. But there was just no other way of doing this. "A while."
She smiled and shook her head. This couldn't be happening. She took a deep breath and stared at his eyes once again. "You know I support you with your training. I've always given you the space you've needed when it comes to your training. I would never do anything to jeopardize your future or your soccer career so I still can't see how you could feel this way."
"You truly don't get it?"
"What? After been dating for three years and four months my boyfriend suddenly decided to dump me because he says he needs to train and, even when I give him enough time to do so, he still feels like it's better to break up." She sarcastically said. "Did I leave anything out?"
He shook his head once again. "Don't do this Sakura. Don't make this any harder than it is."
"Harder for who Syaoran?"
He couldn't take it anymore and draw her into a hug. "Please understand." He whispered softly on her ear. "You've become a distraction to me Sakura. Right now, I need to concentrate on my training and you need to concentrate on the class."
The class, the class, was that really all he thought she cared about? Nevertheless, she nodded in his arms and got out of his embrace. "Fine. If this is the way you want it."
"This is the way I need it. Are you going to be alright?"
'You still care…' she thought but instead nodded. "I'll see you around." She said before turning quickly and heading out the door.
~o~
She reached her house, parked her car and entered her house. She noticed that the living room light was still on which meant her father was still up. 'Crap!' It wasn't that she had some kind of curfew or anything, but her father never approved of her relationship with Syaoran. From the beginning he had warned her to be very careful with guys like him. He told her that he would hurt her, but despise his warnings she dated him. She gave him a chance only to have him become what her father had warned her about. And she hated when her father was right, because it meant that he was going to gloat about it.
She tried to go upstairs to her room without making any noise so that he wouldn't notice that she was home and that she had been crying, but she failed miserably at it. When she was in the middle of the stairs she heard her father speak from below "Did he hurt you already?"
She quickly cleaned her face before turning to see her father. She was not up to taking his advises tonight. Tonight she just wanted to be alone in her room and think about what had happened. "What do you want, for me to congratulate you on your great analysis of character?" Her phone started ringing. 'Xiaolang' it read. She ignored it and waited on her father so that she could finally get to her room and finish crying.
"I told you he would do it. Boys like him don't deserve girls like you, Sakura. Boys like him are meant to be with girls like your cousin who only worry about her appearance and loves to shop. You deserve someone much better than a soccer athlete. I told you once and I'll say it again, he is not good enough for you. I only tell you this because you are my daughter and I love you."
"Are you done?" Sakura couldn't hold her tears any longer. Her tears started to slip one by one. He had finish breaking her. She turned around without waiting for her father's answer and ran to her room. She threw the door shut and locked it. She put her phone in silence so that she wouldn't receive any calls tonight or in the morning. She just wanted to sleep.
She felt numbed. Her head was still spinning from the events that unfolded themselves tonight. For her it was still a little hard to comprehend what had happened. After been dating for three years and four months how was she supposed to face him now? She cried on her bed for hours. How many times she had gone over the events that took place this evening, she didn't know. She lost track of the time trying to make sense of everything that was happening in her life before finally driving herself to sleep.
The next morning she woke up to a strong pounding, signs of her head over protesting the morning light and her crying last night. She quickly walked into her bathroom to take a quick shower and try to feel better. After getting out she grabbed her cell phone and looked through all the missed calls. From the 23 missed calls, most of them from her friends who probably already knew Syaoran had broken up with her, there was one that caught her attention. 'My exit!' She hit the number from the person and waited for the other person to answer the phone.
"Have you thought about my proposition?" she heard the woman asked.
"I'm in!"
"I'll let him know then. He'll be very happy to hear the news. It was good talking to you again Sakura. I'll make the preparations for you. And… oh! Your plane leaves in three hours. We'll be waiting for you." The other person said before hanging up.
'That only leaves me with an hour to pack.' She looked at a picture Tomoyo took of Syaoran and her trying to skate on an ice lake. She remembered every time she tried to skate she fell down. The only way she could finally skate was with his arms around her so that she wouldn't fall. She smiled sadly at the memory while she took the frame and laid it facedown. She was out of here.
Author's note: Well first chapter is done. Please review after you read the chapter and tell me what you guys think. Your opinion means a lot! Thanks for reading!
