Hello my fellow fic authors. This is another prompt based story, but this one is for a fandom that I've never written in before, though I did watch and do enjoy Cardcaptor Sakura. Since it is my first foray into this fandom, I hope you'll be gentle in your reviews especially considering this is an AU. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: CLAMP owns Cardcaptor Sakura.

Syaoran Li sat on one of several benches in the garage of the fire department. Being a firefighter wasn't the career his mother wanted for him, but he had stopped letting her run his life long ago. He often came here to be alone with his thoughts and at the moment, his thoughts were on a certain young woman.

There was a bakery he visited at least three times a week. It was very successful and well-known in the small city they lived in and it had become his favorite place in the last six months, for two reasons. One, the pastries, cakes, and different breads were absolutely delicious. Two, the person who ran the business was the sweetest, happiest, most beautiful creature he had ever encountered.

Sakura Kinomoto was around his age, slightly shorter with a medium build, had medium length light brown hair and beautiful green eyes. She always had a smile on her face that lit it up as well as any room she was in. He was captivated by her the first time he came into the bakery and from that point on, made it a routine to go in whenever he had the opportunity.

They started talking and soon, it became a ritual that whenever he came in, she would have fresh baked sweets ready for him with her own personal touch to let him know that she made them especially for him and as silly as it was, Syaoran felt special knowing that this angel took the time and effort to make treats just for him. They would sit at a table by the window and talk about their lives. He looked forward to those times every day.

Syaoran knew he had fallen in love with Sakura but never said anything. He felt that telling her his feelings would unnecessarily complicate their relationship so he contented himself with being her friend.

Suddenly, the alarm started blaring and several men came rushing into the garage. Syaoran ran up to a man with brown hair cut in a military style and who had brown eyes.

"Dale, what's going on?" he asked.

"We got a call that a fire broke out at Sakura's Sweets downtown."

A look of horror came upon Syaoran and Dale looked at his friend in concern. "Syaoran, are you alright?"

He snapped out of his stupor and got behind the wheel of the nearest fire truck. He turned to Dale, sheer determination on his face. "Get in."

Dale didn't argue and got in the passenger seat.

Syaoran drove as fast as he could and when he saw the bakery in sight, he nearly slammed on the brakes and as soon as the truck made a complete stop, he put it in park and jumped out before running into the building. He heard Dale and others calling out to him, but he didn't care. All that mattered was making sure she was safe.

"SAKURA!"

His eyes darted around looking for her and as he swept the place over, for a moment, he was confused. There were no flames in the front of the store.

Where's the fire?

Giving the place another once over, he got his answer when he saw the entrance to the kitchen. It had smoke coming through and Syaoran briefly wondered how he hadn't smelled it when he came in. He covered his mouth before running over and pushing inside. The sight that greeted him wasn't pretty.

Fire was coming from very appliance in the room and smoke was everywhere. It stung at Syaoran's eyes but he ignored the pain and walked around looking for Sakura. It didn't take him long to find her. She lay on the floor unconscious near what looked like an oven and next to her was a fire extinguisher. He took out a long cloth from his pocket and tied it around his mouth before picking her up bridal style and running out of the building as fast as possible.

Dale came running over to him. "Are you okay man?" He reached over and took the cloth off of Syaoran's mouth.

"I'm fine. Call an ambulance so we can get her to a hospital, now!"

He nodded and went to find the chief.

Later that night, Syaoran was sitting by Sakura's bedside waiting for her to wake up. Thankfully, she didn't suffer any major injuries (slight burns was the worst she got) and was going to make a full recovery. According to his colleagues, a flash fire had occurred while Sakura was using the oven and it spread too fast for her to stop it.

Even knowing that she was going to be fine, Syaoran was still shaken by the experience. She could've died and he would've been a heartbroken mess, haunted by regrets.

"Please wake up Sakura," he whispered. "I won't be able to have peace of mind until you open your eyes."

He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. To his surprise, he felt her squeeze back. She opened her eyes and turned toward him. Upon seeing him, she gave that smile that he had fallen in love with.

"I'm glad yours was the first face I saw. It lets me know you care."

"Sakura…I care about you so much more than you know. I didn't show it back there, but I was terrified when I found you. I didn't know if you were alive or dead. Even when I knew you were breathing, I didn't know how bad your injuries were. Until I got reassurance from the doctors, I didn't know if you would make it. I have never been so scared in my life."

Syaoran blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. "Sakura, I love you and I couldn't stand to lose you. I understand if you don't feel the same, but after today, I had to let you know."

Sakura gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "I love you too."

He smiled. "So…where do we go from here?"

"I don't know honestly. I never thought anything romantic between us could work out because of your job. You'd be gone a lot and I'd always worry whether you would okay whenever a call went out."

"If you wanted me to give up being a firefighter and find a safer line of work, I'd do it, but I think we can make this work as things are now if you're willing to give it a try."

"I think I would like to give it a try. After all, I've always been one to look on the bright side."

Syaoran blushed as he spoke again. "Can I kiss you?"

She giggled. "I would be upset if you didn't."

He leaned in and placed a tender kiss on her lips. She returned it with the same tenderness. Both were beaming when they separated.

"You should go home and get some rest. I'll be fine," Sakura said.

Syaoran nodded. "I'll be here first thing in the morning."

"And I'll make you a special home-cooked meal with your favorite desserts once I'm out of here."

"I'll look forward to it."

He got up and headed for the door. They shared one last smile before he left the room.