Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. :( Oh, and I don't own Phantom of the Opera either.

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

---- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T - for language

Summary: A new enemy is trying to break Sakura's spirit in order to weaken her enough to steal her cards from her. Everyone around her seems to be turning cruel... and the only solace she can find is in the arms of a man who doesn't want her.

Pairings: Syaoran/Sakura, Sakura/Eriol

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(Chapter 1: Tomoeda High)

Briiiing

The small pink alarm clock was one of the few things that hadn't changed in Sakura Kinomoto's bedroom over the last few years. The 16 year old turned over in her bed and reached over to smack the offensive object so that it'd stop making such a racket.

"Sakura! Wake up!" Squealed a small yellow plush-like creature as it fluttered over to her.

"Five more minutes Kero." The auburn-haired girl responded as she rolled over to avoid the sound of his voice.

An annoyed frown found it's way onto the tiny guardian's face, "SAKURA GET UP!" He shouted causing the girl to sit up in annoyance.

"What could you possibly want that can't wait five minutes?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"You're going to be late!" He said, pointing at the tiny clock.

Sakura's emerald eyes scanned the metallic instrument for a moment before she shrieked and dived out of her bed.

"Arg! Kero why didn't you wake me up sooner!" She cried frantically, trying in vain to grab everything she needed to wear.

The yellow guardian sighed, "I tried..."

His words went unnoticed by the young woman as she snatched her brush from the shelf and began running it through her shoulder-length hair, which she'd been allowing to grow.

After assessing her appearance for a moment she grabbed all of her school supplies which, overnight, had managed to get themselves scattered all across her room, shoved them into her pink backpack with miniature wings on it (a bigger version of the one she'd had in elementary school), and dashed out of the room with her socks and shoes in hand.

----

"Good morning!" She greeted cheerily as she made her way to the table, her father just having finished setting down that mornings breakfast. Which, as she noticed it, turned out to be eggs, bacon, and toast.

"Late morning." Responded her, ever self-absorbed older brother. Who, though had a perfect life being a doctor and a perfect partner with Yukito, still found the time to come over once in a while for breakfast and tease her.

"It's good morning." She responded with an annoyed glare, though inwardly she appreciated the familiar taunt more than she'd ever let him know. After all, she saw her elder brother only once or twice a month, and somehow it made her feel like he hadn't forgotten her in all his time away.

Touya just grinned back and wiped his face. "Well... it was nice having breakfast with you, monster... I guess I'll be going off to work now." He said rising to his feet.

"What really? You're leaving so soon?" Sakura asked in a whiny tone of voice, forgetting for the moment that he'd just insulted her.

"If you had woken up earlier you could have spent more time with me, but I guess your big brother's not as important as your beauty sleep. And honestly, if I looked like you, I'd sleep as much as I could." He said casually, grabbing his coat from the rack.

That time he'd found a weak spot, Sakura's face contorting with rage. "You, big... MEANY!" She shrieked at him, glaring as hard as she could.

"To-ya, are you being mean to Sakura?" Asked a soft, lilting voice from just on the other side of the door.

Immediately Sakura's face lit up and she rushed past her older brother who had opened the door just enough for her to get through.

"Yukito!" She chirped happily as she gave him a huge hug.

"Good morning, Sakura." He replied with his usual gentle smile.

Touya grinned as the two friends hugged, stepping out of the house. "Now... don't you owe me an apology?" He asked curiously.

Sakura turned to him and stuck out her tongue. "No! You're the one that insulted me!" She said, burying her face in Yukito's shirt.

"Now, now Sakura... you know To-ya didn't mean it. That's just his way of showing his feelings." Yukito said with a smile, gently pushing her off of him.

Sakura sighed and nodded, turning to glance at Touya who didn't quite manage to hide his grin. "Yeah, I know... I just wish he weren't so mean all the time. See you guys later I guess, I'm going to be so late!" She squealed as she glanced at the watch Yukito had given her all those years ago.

"Have a nice day Sakura!" Yukito called after her.

"Try not to break everything once you get there, monster!" Touya jeered, earning himself an annoyed glare from the quickly retreating Sakura.

"You should really be nicer to your sister To-ya. She's the only one you've got you know." Yukito muttered quietly as Sakura disappeared from view.

Touya slung an arm around his lover's shoulders. "Relax Yuki... she knows I don't mean anything by it."

----

The teenager roller-bladed down the avenue, passing up pretty houses on the right and big tree's on the left that were in the full bloom of spring-time.

A lot had really changed about Sakura Kinomoto in the last 5 years. She'd finally become old enough to date her boyfriend Syaoran Li, a boy from Hong Kong who had come to Japan many years ago in order to capture the clow cards and instead had managed to capture her heart.

Her body too had changed, turning from runty little girl, as her brother loved to remind her, to beautiful young woman. She smiled reminiscently as she recalled the day her best friend, Tomoyo Daidouji, had suggested she allow her hair to grow out so that she'd have more of it to play with.

Speaking of which...

"Sakura!" Called the voice of the 16 year old teenager. Her long violet hair caught up in a bun today. She waved excitedly as Sakura skated up to the high school, removing her roller blades and replacing them in her backpack for her regular shoes.

"You were late this morning weren't you." Tomoyo smiled as she observed her friends haphazard appearance.

"Do I really look that bad?" Sakura replied, running a hand through her auburn hair.

Tomoyo chuckled and led her into the nearest girl's bathroom and did some quick fixing.

When the two emerged, Sakura was looking decidedly less out of order and the two quickly began to chatter about the latest gossip.

----

A tall brunet with neatly-combed chocolate-brown hair had his matching eyes trained intensely upon the entrance to the classroom.

Those around him failed to notice the amazingly intensive stare he was giving that piece of wood at the moment. It was as though he and the door were having their own personal staring contest... and he was winning.

Suddenly the door gave in... or rather it opened, revealing the two most popular girls at Tomoeda High. Not that the brunet cared whether they were popular or not... the only thing that mattered to him was that one of them happened to be his girlfriend.

"Good morning Syaoran!" Sakura greeted enthusiastically from the door as she entered, making her way over to the now-smiling brunet.

"Good morning Sakura." He replied pulling her into a gentle hug as she came within his reach.

Sakura breathed in his scent as she laid her head against his chest for the moment, returning the hug and squeezing a bit. "Welcome back." She muttered quietly.

Syaoran had to periodically return to Hong Kong to check up on his family once every half a year. Sakura supposed that it was only fair to give him up for a week so that he could make sure they were all still eating properly, but she still missed him terribly whenever he left. One of these days he promised her he'd take her with him, and she just couldn't wait for that day to come.

"I've missed you." He whispered in return, lightly running his fingers along her back, sending sensations of warmth up her spine.

"And I you." She replied drawing her head up at last to smile at him brightly.

Syaoran leaned forward to kiss her, but at the last moment both of them sensed they were being watched and turned to glare at Tomoyo who had her camera out and was recording them with stars in her eyes.

"Go on! Pretend like I'm not even here!" Tomoyo said waving a hand at them.

The two rolled their eyes in unison, and smiling kissed each other shortly, silently promising each other a better one later when there were alone.

"Kawaii." Tomoyo sighed contentedly.

"Alright class take your seats." Said their teacher as she entered the room. Everyone hurried to their desks and readied themselves for the lesson of the day.

"Now class, today a new exchange student will be joining us." The teacher said to the class. The students immediately began whispering amoungst themselves with excitement wondering who this mistery student.

Sakura grinned widely, she just loved in when new students found there way into her class.

Syaoran frowned in contrast, not liking the idea of another new student after the last time there'd been a new student in his class 5 years ago. Although... that other student hadn't turned out to be that bad after all. Just a little... bizarre.

The class turned their attention to the front of the room as the door opened revealing the mystery student.

Sakura and Tomoyo both gasped while Syaoran found himself glowering in annoyance.

Sauntering into the room was none other than the enchanting Englishman himself.

Sakura stared at the young man who casually stepped in front of the classroom, his shoulder-length midnight-blue hair framing his face. His bangs brushed barely far enough to the side to avoid hiding his ocean-blue eyes which were already hiding behind a decidedly more fashionable pair of eyeglass-wear than he was notorious for back in elementary school.

A collective sigh could be heard from the almost the entire female class population.

The teenager simply smiled, bowing respectfully to them, and winking impishly in Sakura's direction.

"Eriol!" She squealed happily, causing Syaoran to glare at him.

The teacher glanced over at Sakura in surprise, "It appears that some of you already know this bright young man." She almost asked.

Sakura stood and bowed appologetically. "Yes ma'am... he transfered into my class in elementary school as well."

"Ah. Well then, I suppose you'll have no trouble fitting right back in Hiiragizawa." The teacher smiled.

"As for the rest of you that weren't fortunate enough to be in that class at the time, this is Eriol Hiiragizawa. He has transferred here from England and I expect you to be on your best behavior." She said, her no-nonsense stare calming some of the girls who had been simply drooling up until that point.

----

"It is so good to see you again!" Tomoyo said thoughtfully as the four of them ate their lunch together. Eriol offered her a cheerful smile. "I am honored to know that you missed me during my absense." He said, referring both to her and to Sakura.

"It was so boring around here without you." Sakura agreed fondly, chewing happily on her sandwich.

"What exactly are you up to this time four-eyes?" Syaoran said, his childhood dislike of the man not entirely extinguished even though he knew that it had been unfounded.

Eriol turned to stare at Syaoran, his amused gaze causing the boy to reconsider his words. "Now, now Syaoran... haven't you gotten over that yet?" He asked in a hurt tone of voice, though his smile never wavered.

Syaoran looked down in embarrassment, wondering himself why he hadn't given up that silly grudge after these years. Suddenly he felt a gentle tug from beside him.

He glanced over to see Sakura looking at him kindly. "It's ok. Just put it behind you... we can trust Eriol now." She said with a smile.

Syaoran couldn't help but smile, "You're right." The brunet turned to Eriol who was staring at him expectantly.

"Sorry Eriol... old prejudices die hard." Syaoran apologized.

Eriol beamed at him. "It's quite alright Syaoran."

The two teenagers shook hands heartily and it was settled that they were friends.

The rest of lunch passed in a much more comfortable atmosphere than when it had started.

----

Yay... at long last they reconciled... to bad it's not going to last long...

-slaps a hand over her mouth- Woops.

rozu