Syaoran sighed, seated on his bed with his bag in front of him.

It was summer break from his school in Hong Kong. Right after their classes ended, Meiling decided that she wanted visit her friends in Japan. And of course his aunt and his mother made him go with her. He really had to choice.

The thought of seeing Sakura again, made him feel a weird feeling on his stomach, a mix of nervousness and excitement. He had confessed and left, and now he had to face her again.

He wondered what would her reaction be…Would she give him an answer? And if she answered him…Would she like him back, even if it was just a bit? Or maybe and most certainly, she would, with a guilty expression on her face, say: ' Syaoran-kun, Please forgive me… I feel honorable you feel this way about me, but I just got over Yukito-san and I really didn't have time to think about us as something more…It was too sudden… I hope we can still be friends'.

The worst part is that he pathetically would accept anything she would give him…even a tiny space on her life, on her heart. He felt so pathetic...

How on earth did the future leader on the powerful Li clan, a trained warrior and sorcerer with a future of success ahead of him in his family's company ended up in this situation? He was supposed to get all the Clow Cards and go back to Hong Kong with a high magical level and make his family proud of him that he was able to accomplish such a mission in a foreign country at such early age.

But nooooo! He had to fall in love with his rival and her sweet friendship crap! He sometimes got angry at himself because of that and punished himself with more training, waking up earlier than the previous day and demanding more of his body and mind.

But on the other hand…. He was still glad he met her. He learned so many things with her. She was beautiful inside and out, he couldn't wait to see those sparkling green eyes again. It was like she was made for him….. Even the color of her eyes had to be his favorite…. And her oh, so sweet nature that he adored. She beautiful, cute, innoc-

"SYAORAN! ARE YOU READY? WE HAVE TO GO TO THE AIRPORT!" He heard Meiling's scream.

Damn his cousin! Had to wake him up from his daydream!

"Stop Screaming Meiling! I'll be downstairs in a minute". He answered as he got his bag and head downstairs.

"Did you pack stuff for the school trip? There is a pool there and a soccer field" Meiling asked, holding her bag as she watched her cousin walking down the stairs.

"Yes. I have everything I need. And I'm still wondering how you got us to go to Tomoeda's school trip since we don't study there anymore."

"That was easy. Since we were students there and everybody knows us, the school didn't mind. But mother and aunt did have to write a permission letter though." Meiling answered, not really paying attention to him.

Their old school was taking Sakura and Tomoyo's class on a small trip on their last week of school. They were going to a small rural site in small village 40 miles from Tomoeda. Syaoran was actually glad they already got stuff to do there in Tomoeda. It will better to have other of his friends around.

'When Sakura ditches me, I´ll have other people to talk to instead of staying around her all the time. It will be easier to avoid awkward situations…' He thought miserably.

He and Meiling walked to the car that was already waiting for them outside. They bid their goodbyes and left to the airport. Syaoran felt the nervousness feeling on his stomach get stronger.

Syaoran looked out the window. The nervousness was still there and his expression was probably showing it because Meiling was staring him.

"What?!'' He barked. "Aren't there more interesting things to look at?"

"You are worried. And I'm sure this is about Sakura." Meiling said watching him closely. "Are you forgetting who she is? She won't do anything to hurt you Syaoran. And I thought you would be happy to see her again. If you are feeling miserable about this trip, we better cancel it. If we don't go now and get this over with, your next opportunity to see her will be in more than a year. Can you wait that long? Do you want to see her at all?"

She knew he wanted to see Sakura. She knew that he was worried about Sakura's answer and that he didn't even want to force her to answer him in the first place. But he was not thinking right. It's not like Sakura would tell him to disappear from her life!

"Of course I want to see her…. But I don't want to force her to anything and at the same time, I'm afraid of her answer! What if she tells me to disappear from her life?!''

Meiling rolled her eyes. Her cousin was going insane and they didn't even arrived at the Hong Kong airport yet. 'When they arrive at the airport in Japan, he will be completely out of his mind.' She thought

"Come back to earth Syaoran. In what world would Sakura say such a thing? She didn't tell you to disappear from her life when you treated her like trash! Why would she say it now? Sakura is the nicest person we know!" Meiling said, trying to cheer him up "Really, you should just relax and enjoy the trip. We are going to see all our friends again!"

Syaoran groaned. He didn't want to be reminded the way he treated the girl he now loved in the beginning. He really couldn't complain if she tells him to 'fuck off', could he? He really was a jerk when they met.

Soon they arrived at the airport. Their flight would leave in one hour and twenty minutes. Enough time to depress himself even more.

Meiling on the other hand, couldn't be happier. She loved Hong Kong. But she had a feeling of freedom there in Tomoeda. Maybe it was because there were no clan obligations, no mother to tell you what to do all the time. And she learned to appreciate a lot her friendship with Daidouji. The Japanese girl became a really good friend of hers. They talked almost every day by e-mail or online chats. Not long after Syaoran came back to Hong Kong, Daidouji told her the news that Sakura too loved Syaoran back.

She remembered her mixed feelings when she read the news. She was getting over her cousin, but she couldn't avoid the thought that destiny could be a bitch at times. Sakura never moved a finger to win Syaoran's heart. Sakura never spent days trying to bake a cake right for him like she did and yet Sakura had Syaoran's heart in the palm of her hand.

It wasn't like she hated Sakura because of this. Sakura did manage to conquer space on her heart too. Meiling had to admit that a few people in the world had the character and personality such as Sakura's. She too didn't blame her cousin for falling in love with the girl. Heck! Who could resist her? Every time she treated her bad, Sakura would just be nice in return. No one could keep being her enemy forever. She was destined to be loved by everyone around her. Meiling could easily see why Syaoran loved her so much

"Flight JJ 3372 to Tokyo, Japan! CloundAir invites its clients to come aboard! Please head to Gate 7!"

'Soon we will be in Japan' Meilin and Syaoran thought, walking towards their gate.

"Sakura-chan! I made your swimsuit and a cute dress for you to wear at the school trip! Can you come over to try them on?"

"Tomoyo-chan…. You didn't have to-''

"Of course I had! Since nothing more happens in Tomoeda after Eriol left, I have no opportunities anymore to make you wear the clothes I designed!"

Sakura gave a nervous laugh. She really didn't understand why her best friend had the trouble to not only design her clothes but to film her all the time too.

"Sure, Tomoyo-chan, sure…. Let's go then."

Tomoyo looked at her watch. It was 3:10 p.m. she had three hours to make Sakura try her clothes and bring her home before Meiling and Syaoran arrived. 'I hope I won't have to make any adjustments on Sakura-chan clothes…' She thought

They had just left school. It was like they last day of staying inside a classroom listening to their teacher. Actually, today was their last test. The rest of the period the teacher was just remembering the students what they had to bring for the school trip and giving other instructions.

At Tomoyo's house, Sakura was already trying on the dress when Tomoyo commented

"Sakura-chan. I heard that Li-kun and Meilin-chan's summer break started two days ago"

Sakura almost dropped the dress she was holding.

"R-really? Do you know if they are coming here for their vacation?" She asked still inside the cabin. Her heart was beating fast just because of the thought of meeting Syaoran again. She had to tell him her feelings, but what if he had forgotten about her? What if he didn't love her anymore? He stayed away for four months after all….

"Maybe. Meiling did say that she missed us and all of her friends here." Tomoyo answered her friend as she looked in the direction of the cabin her friend was. " Sakura-chan, why are you taking so long to come out? Let me see how kawaii you look in the dress!"

"Coming!' Sakura said as she looked herself one last time in the mirror. Soon she stepped out the cabin and looked at her best friend's delighted expression.

"Sakura-chan! You should be a model just like your mother. Anything looks so great in you!" Tomoyo exclaimed at her blushing friend. It was a simple light green dress, not too short and not too long, but it fitted Sakura perfectly and it matched her eyes. Tomoyo walked to her friend and tied her hair up in a ponytail.

'Hohohoho. Li-kun, I wonder what your reaction will be when you see our Sakura-chan looking so kawai' Tomoyo thought grinning.

"It did look good on me, didn't it? Thanks Tomoyo-chan! But I can't wear it tomorrow. Since father will be one of the teachers that are taking us there, he told me that we will be doing some activities, when we get there." Sakura said looking at her best friend, with a disappointed expression.

"That's okay Sakura-chan. I suppose at night you´ll have the opportunity to wear it. It will be perfect in this hot weather. Now try the swimsuit please"

And so she did.

At Tokyo Airport.

"We are finally here!" Meiling exclaimed stretching her legs when they got out of the plane. "Let's go Syaoran. Let's get our bags and find a cab" She said walking fast.

"H-hey! Wait!" Syaoran said, trying to keep up with her.

In less than 15 minutes they were already in a taxi heading to Daidouji's mansion..

'Will I see her today?' He wondered, feeling anxious.

"We won't see her today, so please, relax." Meiling said looking out the window. She knew he was wondering if he would see her today.

"R-right." He said blushing

In 40 minutes they were already in front of Daidouji's residence. As soon as Meiling stepped out the car, she spotted Daidouji coming their way while one of the guards opened the front gate for her.

"Meiling-chan! Li-kun! How was the trip?" Tomoyo said as one of her employee went to help Syaoran with their bags. "Welcome back! I hope you can enjoy your stay here in Japan"

"Daidouji! Long time since I last saw you! I suppose we have what to talk about. How is Sakura-chan by the way?

Syaoran went rigid at the sound of her name and almost dropped the bag he was holding.

"Actually she just left. I made her try on some clothes I designed. She just looks gorgeous in anything she wears!" Tomoyo said with starts in her eyes

"Her mother was a model, wasn't she? Maybe look good on anything is in her blood" Meiling said and then mentally added 'even in your weird clothes she looked good…'

"Yes! She is getting more kaiwai each day that passes. Very soon she will have a boyfriend!" Of course Tomoyo was trying to get Syaoran to talk since he didn't open his mouth until that moment

"What!? Is there some guy she is interested in? Is she seeing someone?" Syaoran asked, his heart being tightened by the feeling jealousy. Tomoyo watched his reaction with a smile of satisfaction. 'Nothing changed. He's still head over heels for her' she thought grinning

"Don't worry Li-kun. She isn't seeing anyone. I was just saying that it won't take long for her to have other guys such as yourself, trying to get her attention. In fact, she did get the attention from one of the guys from the class above ours. He came to talk to me about her." Tomoyo commented, watching Syaoran's reaction.

"What did you two talked about? What did you say to him?" He asked. Whoever this guy was, he was sure he could beat him. It didn't matter that this guy was older than him!

"Rei, our friend that is in the same class as him, told me that this guy wasn't good news, so I managed to introduce him to Touya-kun. He just watches Sakura-chan from afar now." Tomoyo giggled as she urged her visitors inside the house.

Then she led them to their rooms.

"Meiling-chan, if you want, you can stay with me in my room. Li-kun will be in the room next to mine. There is a bathroom in each room. You two can take a shower while I'll go order something for us to eat."

"Thanks Daidouji. And yes, I would rather stay with you. This way we can talk as long as we want."

"Thank you Daidouji" Syaoran said. Tomoyo just had to look at him know that he was thanking her for more than showing him his room.

"I'll always protect her from anything that I can. No malicious teenager will play with my Sakura-chan while I'm around." She answered Syaoran in a serious tone to reassure him that she wasn't joking about what she said.

"I'm glad she is safe with you" He answered back. He was really glad that Sakura had someone to take care of her innocence. He felt so impotent now that he had moved back to Hong Kong

After her chinese friends took a bath, they talked until dinner was ready. After dinner, they checked what they packed from the school trip and went to their bed. Meiling and Tomoyo stayed talking for almost an hour after they were in bed.

Poor Syaoran on the other hand, It took him a lot of hours for him to finally get some sleep.

-"HOE! I'M LATE!"An auburn haired girl said when she looked at her clock. In a second she was running around her bedroom trying to find her clothes, her bag, her shoes, her cards..

-"Sakura! I thought you had set the alarm clock to avoid getting late! Look…You have only 25 minutes to get to your school"

-"I did set the alarm clock! I don't know what happened!" She answered already putting her shoes on.

"Kero-chan, you stay here. My dad will be coming with me to the school trip and Touya will probably stay at Yukito's. You have acess to the kitchen, but please don't eat everything and don't make a mess, okay? I'm leaving! Bye!" Sakura said and ran downstairs not even giving her guarding a chance to retort.

-"Sakura-chan! I was about to go upstairs to call you. We have to be in the school in 15 minutes. So please, eat your breakfast and let's go." Fujitaka said already taking their bags to the car. Since they couldn't leave the car at school, Touya would take them there.

"Hai!" She answered as she started swallowing her food. In two minutes, she was done eating her breakfast and and ran to the car. It was 6:18 in the morning. They had to get early to the school since her father was one of the responsible teachers that would accompany them to the school trip

Fujitaka wasn't their teacher, actually. But the school was having problem to find another available teacher for the school trip. Most of the teachers were married or still were teaching at other schools or couldn't go for some other reason. So they asked if Fujitaka could go since he was one of the student's father and the last year, his class, had finished all their tests.

At 6:26 am they arrived at the school. Just Terada was there, loading the bus with food supply and other things. While Fujitake went to help him, Sakura just leaned on the bus and waited for her friends to arrive. They would leave at 7:30

At 6:50 some of Sakura classmates were already arriving at school. After Sakura, the first student to arrive was Rika-chan, since she knew Terada-sensei would be early at school and she thought that maybe he would need some help. Then Chiharu arrived, dragging Yamazaki, with an angry expression on her face.

At the breakfast table at Tomoyo's house

"Did you sleep well Li-kun?" Daidouji asked. She could clearly see that he didn't get much sleep. But she was sure that the problem here wasn't the accommodation she provided. It was the fact that soon he would meet a certain emerald eyed girl that made his heart beat wildly.

"Yes." He answered shortly. He wasn't going to tell her that it took him hours to sleep. She might think that he was complaining about the accommodations and there is no way he was going to explain to her why it took him so long to sleep.

"I'm done. Let's go" Meiling said still chewing the last bite of her bread.

"It's 6:50. We should go if we want to sit together on the bus. And Sakura-chan is already there. Her father, with Terada sensei, is going to the trip with us. Since he is one of the responsible teachers, he and Sakura-chan had to arrive early at school." Tomoyo commented

"At least this way there is no chance of her getting late and miss the school trip" Meiling smirked

"True" Tomoyo giggled. "Let's go. The driver is already waiting for us" she added

Syaoran stayed quiet most of the time. Soon he was going to see Sakura again. One part of him couldn't wait to see her, but another part of him was so nervous that wished to run away like scared little girl. And when you want the time to freeze, that's when it get faster. Just a second ago he was waking up and now they were already arriving at the school.

He looked outside. His eyes were searching for her. He spotted Yamazaki, Chiharu, Naoko... 'Where is –' His thoughts were interrupted as soon as his eyes landed on the auburn haired girl he was searching for.

There she was, leaning her back against a wall and talking to three other students. His heart started beating like it was in a speed race.

He loved her...

Why did it take so long for him to realize that? He wasted so much time denying to himself that he had fallen for her that he lost many opportunities to actually be around her more. Daidoui was right. She was more beautiful than the last time he saw her or maybe he thought so because of how much he had missed her and now he knew, by looking at her, how much he misses being around her. He missed seeing her every day, talking to her, to take care of her on their adventures, to hear his name coming out of her lips….

He left the car but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Meiling and Tomoyo wondered how much time he would still stare at her without blinking.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you Syaoran, but you are getting me worried here." Meiling said "You can stare at Sakura all day but please remember that you have to breath and blink a few times"Syaoran got tomato red when he heard his cousin and realized that he indeed wasn't breathing. He glared at the laughing Meiling. Daidouji at least had the decency to not laugh as loud as his hysterical cousin

"Meiling….!" He growled angrily. Before Meiling could answer they heard

"Hey look! Li-kun and Meiling are here! Are they coming with us to the school trip?" Some of the students said in a loud voice. That got everyone to look at them. Meiling and Syaoran looked back to see Sakura's reaction.

She was talking to three of her classmates when she heard something she didn't expect to hear. As soon as she heard it, she turned her eyes at the direction of the voice and just ahead of bunch of students standing there, near the bus...Emerald found Amber. She was startled when she saw him. It wasn't that she didn't notice Meiling or Tomoyo there…But she couldn't stop her eyes from analyzing the guy she missed so much this past four months.

'Is he taller?' She wondered while walking in their direction hoping that he wouldn't notice her blushing face. She couldn't pass the little crowd the surrounded Meiling and Syaoran. Tomoyo gave them more space and went to meet Sakura just a few steps away from their chinese friends and the crowd that surrounded them

"Good morning Sakura-chan! Did you like our surprise?" Tomoyo asked when she approached her friend

"You knew they were coming? Why you didn't tell me?" Sakura asked a little sad.

"They wanted to surprise you. And please don't tell Syaoran that I told you this: Syaoran was so nervous about seeing you that It was probably for the best that he had the whole night to calm himself down"

"R-really? Why was he nervous? Sakura asked. 'What does this mean?! That he still loves me or that he forgot about me and doesn't want to see me anymore?' She thought

"Because he loves you silly! You didn't see the way he was staring at you when we were got here! Hohohoho! It was so kawai. Meiling had to remember him that he had to breath and blink a few times!"

That got Sakura smiling. She decided that she would confess as soon as she had the opportunity.

After a while Meiling managed to get her and her cousin away from the crowd and dragged him to where Sakura was.

"Sakura-chan! How are you? Tell me! Did we surprise you?" Meilin asked while she was still walking and dragging Syaoran to Sakura's direction.

"Meiling-chan! I'm great! And yes you guys did surprise me! I wasn't expecting. Gosh… I missed you!" Syaoran heard his love melodic's voice. He could just listen her talk all day and he would be happy already. 'wake up from your day dream! She is standing right in front of you now!' he scolded himself

"Sakura" he said "Hi… I'm sorry we didn't tell you we were coming. It was Meiling's idea''

"Syaoran…" She just felt like she had to say his name back. She was longing to say his name out loud. " It's okay. But next time please let me go to the airport to meet you" She was blushing slightly but not enough for him to notice. She just hoped that she wouldn't say or do anything embarrassing ….

He smiled and nodded at her, happy that he had heard her soft voice call him by his first name again.

"Sakura-chan! Daidouji is right! You are more beautiful now than the last time I saw you! Don't you think, Syaoran?" Meiling asked. Now Sakura slightly blush became a tomato blush and almost purple when she saw Syaoran nodding with a red face

"T-thank you Meiling-chan. You too are looking more beautiful than the last time I saw you. I guess we are just growing up, huh?" Sakura answered, still embarrassed.

"Class! Please line up in front of the bus! Before we go I would like to announce you that Meiling and Li-san are joining us on our trip. But please wait for when we are all inside the bus to chat more" Terada sensei called the students attention.

Soon they were all lined and waiting for the teacher to see if they were all ready.

"Okay! Please, get inside the bus and choose your seats. Touring inside the bus is not allowed, so just choose your seats and stay there." Terada said

Syaoran entered the bus before the girls. Most of the good places were taken already. But before some guy named Ryu got the last seat near the window, Syaoran got in his way, blocking his path.

"Sakura, please. You wanted a seat next to the window" He said loud enough for Ryu get the message and back off.

"But Syaoran-kun. Don't you want to seat at the window?" She asked.

"No. It's okay. I don't care where I sit" He answered. Then he looked at the Meiling and Tomoyo. "One of you two can sit with her"

"No. You should sit with her. Maybe you´ll need to protect her place at the window" Meilin joked. Syaoran was glad Sakura was to naïve to understand his cousin's stupid joke

"Very funny, Meiling. But one of us will have to sit at the back on the bus, since there is no more available seats at the front. And since you three must have a lot to talk about, I´ll be sitting there. There is a seat near Yamazaki, at the corridor"

"Alright. Meilin, you can sit next to Sakura and I´ll get this seat here on the corridor, next you" Tomoyo said

"Yo, Li-kun! Sit here!'' Yamazaki called him. When Syaoran neared him, he said " You seem taller, man!"

Maybe he was a bit taller, but the main reason why people thought that was because he had gotten a bit stronger as well. This past four months he was training hard. He didn't get the Clow card for himself, but he still wanted to raise his magical level. And he needed a physical improvement too. So every day he was used to wake up two hours before school time to run around his mansion. After he got home from school he had two hours to make his homework and study. After that he and Wei started his training until 8:30 pm. Then shower, dinner and finally bed. This was his routine during the week.

On the weekends he just trains in the morning and got free time. And most of his free time, he trains. He now had other worries other than just becoming a strong leader of the Li Clan. He barely could help Sakura when he was in Japan. Maybe in the future they´ll have to face a real enemy and he couldn't just stay there and let Sakura fight it alone.

After talking to Yamazaki for a bit, he stayed quiet the most part of the trip. He wondered if Sakura would answer him during the trip and what he could do to make her see him as more than just a friend.

Whatever happens between them, he just knew he would be always by her side. Even if it hurt and even with all the insecurity, he still wanted to keep loving her until the end of times. And that was exatcly what he was going to do.

End of Chapter 1

I hope you can enjoy this fanfic and also review for me to know that you are expecting for the next chapter. If I don't get reviews I just might take long to post the others chapters or even stop with this narrative.

. Things are a bit slow in the beginning, but I promise you jealousy, fights and romance on later chapters.

I also want to apologize for error of vocabulary or grammar. This is my first english fanfiction and if you want, you can notify me of my mistakes and/ give me suggestions, okay?