[writer's notes. you can skip this part and start reading]
Hi everyone! It's been a while! :) There's a lot of nostalgia going on as I revive this good, old fanfic I made 11 years ago. Yes, friends; this is a decade and a year long running, geez!

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura nor any of its characters.

Special thanks to my best friend, who serves as my editor. (fun fact: she's also the same editor of this story 11 years ago. This is our comeback, yes? :D)

Enjoy.

[Remastered] I Fell in love with the Rain

PROLOGUE

"Hi. Sorry if I came in late. Glad I purposely skipped our club practice to see you today."

Spring was about to end at that time. I couldn't wait to welcome summer to finally step in.
There I was, wondering what it feels like to be alone right next to you.

It was a delightful afternoon then, but light, warm breeze started to undertone the coming season. Just a typical day for a six grader… but not for her. Every year, she made a point to celebrate that day fairly even though she didn't know exactly who that someone was.

"I couldn't join Dad and Touya-nii a while ago—I rushed my way to school to prepare for our exams before the school break. Sorry again," explained twelve-year-old Sakura, standing in front of a familiar landmark while cradling in her arms a bouquet of fresh white roses.

"And you know what?," she continued, "I scored the second highest mark after Naoko!" She happily said as she placed the flowers she bought in between the red and yellow ones.

"You're my lucky charm…" she whispered as she closed her eyes, linked both her palms, and prayed silently. It took her a while to let out her breath, opened her eyes and let herself camber a wide, peaceful smile.

Quietly, I patiently stood still; making sure that you won't notice me intently gazing the outline of your face.
Your round, emerald eyes were shining in blurriness as I heard your voice with such unabridged sincerity.

"Happy Birthday…" Sakura said while slowly trying to sit down as her fingers caressed the engraving of a particular name on a separate marble stone.

-
Nadeshiko Kinomoto
-

"K-Kinomoto..."

Sakura turned her head to the person who called her. She scrambled to get up and acknowledged the dark auburn-haired boy's presence to her left, all this while.

"Sorry if I didn't tell you that we'd be going here, Li-kun!" she said while bowing down hesitantly. "Tomoyo can't come along, so..." smiling, she uttered shyly, scratching her head.

Beside her was Syaoran Li, who was looking everywhere but her.

"Y-You don't have to apologize," Syaoran said, slightly blushing. He clutched the strap of his backpack, thinking of something appropriate to say. "...This is my way of thanking Daidouji from previously, so..."

Sakura looked at him, seemingly surprised. "Eh? For what exactly?"

"Ah, I-I um..."

"Eh... What..."

"..."

"Is it something that you can't tell me?"

"W-Well, it's nothing, really."

"Heh..." Sakura stared at him as she paused. "I really thought that we can talk like friends now, you know." She looked back at her mother's grave and pouted her lips, faking in a slight expression of dismay.

Syaoran's eyes grew big; he could hear his heart beating fast on the inside yet trying to remain a calm composure on the outside. That mannerism again, he thought to himself. When she does that, I am totally disarmed. His cheeks reddened while a short breeze tried to sweep Sakura's fixed pigtailed hair to his unexplainable amusement. He couldn't help but to close his eyes for a short while to keep himself collected.

The wind blew the second time, and I can only hear the cicadas' warbling on the background.

The struggle was frantic; the risk of raising my white flag was there.

I was flustered, yet willingly enticed.

He let out a faint sigh, smiled and thought of telling her something trivial as he blinked his eyes wide open again.

"D-Daidouji just asked me to cover for her to be with you right now in exchange for letting me borrow their drone before."

"Huh?"

"You know… that device w-which flies above… Ten? Or, t-twenty feet, I guess?" He stuttered at little bit while explaining. "It's operated with remote control…"

Sakura didn't say anything; instead, she side-glanced at him, her eyes squinting in slight suspicion.

"Heh..."

He scratched his head as the thought of making her feel at ease was somewhat failing. "It wasn't o-officially out in the market yet, and I was lucky to try it for the first time...-" he said while trying to look away. "...so please stop making that face, will you-"

"Pffffft... Hahaha!"

Syaoran stared at Sakura who was laughing in relief. His semi-worried face was replaced by a lighter aura as he pulled the longest hair fringe to cover his eyes.

"What?" He jested, still trying to look away in embarrassment.

"So that's it! You don't have to be so shy about it!" Sakura exclaimed, looked very entertained. "Heh… Tomoyo didn't tell me about the new device their company's doing." While chuckling, she lightly and jokingly punched Syaoran's shoulders. "I'm not that much of a techy-person, so… that can't be helped!" Smiling, she confidently admitted while she was giving the back of her head a light pat.

"I-It's not really much of a b-big deal, actually…"

"It is!" She retorted back; her eyes grew bigger. "Don't just say 'It's nothing' because that seems to look awesome!"

"Ah, well… A-At least..." Syaoran replied shyly.

"Hey, Li-kun—when you play and let it fly again, can I come over and see?"

Still nailed on her crinkled eyes, Syaoran blushed even more.

"Um… W-We'll see."

"Really? I'll take that as a 'yes', okay?"

"Wait—"

"Yay! Thank you!" still blushing, he quickly looked back at her and all she was giving him was her wide, sweetest grin.

Winter was over long before, but it's as if the snow that kept my heart encased melted down when you beamed effortlessly on me.

Deep down, it felt so warm… like I sipped on my favorite Oolong tea and I was just so happy.

After a while, Sakura turned her attention back to her mother's grave and tried to light up two sticks of incense. Syaoran faced the grave and stared firmly on what she was doing while clutching the edges of both his backpack strap.

"Uh, Kinomoto?"

"Hm?"

"You never told me anything about…"

"About...?"

"a-about your mother."

"Ah… really? Hmmm... Oh, guess I didn't."

It took about a minute before Sakura started to speak again.

"Mom died when I was three. Dad told me she was very sick and that her time with me and Touya-nii was short-lived… So... I don't even really know her that much."

"You feel sad of her absence, don't you?" Syaoran blurted out without even thinking.

"No. Not really…"

"Y-You don't?"

Sakura gave a light laugh. "My family always filled me with good memories of her. Dad would always put different pictures of her on top of what they say, her favorite piano. He would always tell me how a wonderful person Mom was. Then, Touya-nii sometimes plays her favorite piano piece when he feels like she's close by. We may fight like cats and dogs most of the time, but whenever I bring up Mom, he gives me this sincere look, and he says Mom is always watching over us."

Slowly, she tried to sit down and touch the engraving of her mom's name the second time. "Though she is not here anymore - ever since I have come to realize that - no one can ever change the fact that she's my mother… As if she's never been gone…" Sakura smilingly closed her eyes as she hugged her knees close to her and let her chin rest on it.

Your words have reached somewhere in my stream of consciousness that I was helplessly wafted away in curiosity about you.

Withdrawn to the crisp of a seemingly warm, turning cold wind after her voice faded away, Syaoran noticed a different Sakura. Seeing this side of her made his heart beat faster than ever. He had come to know this person, who was a funny, bubbly, persevering girl, who shut her ears off when hearing ghost stories, yet who stood by her family and friends in fun or in tough times. He never imagined he would get to know Sakura Kinomoto in a way that he would seem to constantly lose his guard and gradually found himself having a crush on her. He never expected that this used to be the same person whom he childishly argued with almost everything back in the day, and now, they somehow ended up being friends.

Wait a sec.

Friends? Am I here not because I owe Daidouji something? Am I here because I'm her friend?

Syaoran shut his eyes closed for a little bit and lightly, he pinched his nose and attempted to hide his flustered face with his right arm, but he ceased on doing so when he felt that's too noticeable.

Why do I feel like, right now, I want something more?

He started to smile with that unbelievable realization. He never thought that at that very moment, Sakura would actually occupy a big space in his heart.

There was absolutely no way he could tell her his growing feelings for her, now that the sky was starting to…

"Man, I never dream that after the hot noon it'll be like this. We got to leave now, Kinomoto," Syaoran broke off from his reveries and started to remind Sakura as light drops of rain started to fall down.

"I'll stay…" she said, still in her sitting position.

Syaoran looked bewildered. "I forgot my umbrella at home—"

"Like I have one…"

"C-C'mon. We need to hurry," Syaoran anxiously said as he was about to hold her shoulder when she started to speak again.

"Just let it be. I've always waited for it since the time we arrived. You can leave me here for now and that's okay. Thanks for coming with me today."

Syaoran's eyes widened as he looked far away to spot some shelter. "A-Are you crazy?! What you'll get here is flu! Please—"

"Don't you just love the rain, Li-kun?"

Syaoran couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Well? I always do," Sakura said to him as she plastered her face with a wide smile. The rain started to pour and soak them both.

"K-Kinomoto—"

"Funny, but I believe the rain could be the perfect way to tell us that God exists..."

"…"

"…a-and so with Mom, to me…" Feeling the beads of water on her face, Sakura raised her head up in the sky. Syaoran, who was still stunned with what he was seeing, suddenly found himself reminiscing all the reasons why he liked this girl in his mind. He came up with this sole conclusion to himself. The feelings he had for this girl were no longer plain affection. Young love was starting to brew in him. And in that, he made a resolve to confess it to her when the time was right.

"—S-Sakura…"

Sakura noticed that the drops of rain pouring down her face lessened and a small shadow cast her normal lighting. She opened her eyes, turned her head around and saw Syaoran's eyes looking at her face, standing behind her. He seemed to be blocking the raindrops falling down her cheeks like he was a makeshift umbrella or something.

"Eh?"

"Err... K-Kinomoto." He blurted in sudden self-awareness while he was trying not to stare her eyes, who was already gleaming at him in surprise.

Sakura stood up and faced him. "No, no, no, no. The one before that!"

"..."

Her voice was squealing in joy. "Hey! D-Did you just call me by my first name?"

Syaoran did not answer back. Instead, he faced her mother's grave, closely linked both his palms and prayed.

Sakura stared at him for quite a while, and again, a genuine smile was seen appearing on her lips; her green eyes started to shimmer in amusement. Albeit drenched, she joined him faced the grave of her mother again while she softly asked him a question even though she knew that she would get a favorable response.

"Would you still want to stay drenched here with me?"

Smiling back, Syaoran decided to remain still beside her as she was still enjoying heaven's surprise. Eyes closed, he was still in the middle of praying.

"Be quiet. I'm already here. Might as well pay my respect properly."

Sakura sincerely looked at him in appreciation, as she chuckled in silence and did just the same.

"Eh? Why me?"

"Just go, okay? This is a good chance for you, Li-kun!"

"W-What... A chance for what?"

"Only you will know, once you go with her."

"What exactly are you-"

"You just have to confirm that one thing, yourself. Trust me!"

"But aren't you supposed to go with her today?"

"No, you are going with her today! I'll make up a story, okay? When she asks about it, tell her you owe something from me!"

"But, Daidouji—"

"No buts! I gotta go!"

"Hey!"

"Good luck!"

Syaoran recalled his after-school conversation with Tomoyo earlier as milder wind once again wisped the sakura tree, causing some of its leaves to fall down. The flowers bloomed earlier that season and were already gone since two months ago. Cicadas were still singing as if giving a proper send off to an unforgettable insight.

"Mom?"

Fascinated, I momentarily left all the thoughts of everything. I just let myself be.

I am determined to move forward along with my growing feelings for the girl I can't just ignore.

"I'd like you to meet my friend, Syaoran…"

Summer was about to begin. But that day,

I felt spring has just started all over again.