A/N: This is a songfic based on the Close Your Eyes by Westlife (which, unfortunately, I don't own D:) A lot of the Westlife songs have come across to me as very vivid stories, and Close Your Eyes was one of them, so it was inevitable that I would write a fic around it, and what a better couple to fit the fluffy bill than Syaoran & Sakura. Although this is the first fic I've posted on my account, it is neither the first I've ever written (that was Whisper the Wind, which currently doesn't feel like it wants to be finished much,) nor the first I've ever published on (I've posted two fics, one HP, one CCS on the joint account I share with cherrichik; you can find the link on my profile) so if anything seems out of place or the fic is generally crap, I'll have to take the flames without the 'This is my first ever fic so please be nice!' excuse :)

If you can, I'd recommend listening to the song before you start so it's easier to transition into the atmosphere I'm trying to set up.

I hope you enjoy the first chapter to this five-part fic!


PART ONE

If you wanna know....
Tomorrow morning I have to leave

Tomoyo marched into Sakura's bedroom, determination evident in her authorative stride and furrowed brows. In four long strides, she reached the curtains, wrenched them open, and allowed the harsh rays of midday sunlight to flood the room. Sakura moaned in protest, shifting beneath her covers and trying to block out the intruding light with her pillow. "Tomoyo...I told you, I'm not getting out of bed today."

"It's Syaoran's last day, Sakura. We have a dance to prepare for," Tomoyo stated flatly.

As she felt her bed covers being yanked from their protective position over her head, Sakura turned over so that she faced away from Tomoyo. The pillow she had used to aid her in blocking out the sunlight, she now covered her face with, muffling her voice as she spoke. "I know it's Syaoran's last day. It's why I'm not leaving. And I told you yesterday, Tomoyo. I'm not going to that dance."

But Tomoyo was persistent. She had not spent a sleepless night devising up one of her brilliant plans, and one of her equally brilliant outfits so that Sakura could be a sulk. Although she knew Sakura had been upset at Syaoran's reluctant announcement during sport last week, her patience was running thin. They had already wasted half the day, and as far as she knew, Syaoran was probably packing his suitcase already and was tearing up his ticket to the dance with a vengeance. They had no time to lose. "Sakura...I know you're angry, but don't think Syaoran's not upset too. Don't punish him for a decision he didn't make."

Sakura didn't reply; Tomoyo only knew half the story. She wasn't angry at Syaoran – how could she truly feel that way when he had already gone through such obvious discomfort to let her know he was leaving? The truth of it was, she didn't know how she could ever face Syaoran again after how she had been treating him.

*Flashback*

As the rest of his sports class trudged wearily off for their drink breaks, Syaoran jogged lightly to where the girls were warming up for the Senior Athletics Trials. He felt his stomach tighten with anticipation as he spotted Sakura lounging on the grass, stretching her legs, whilst giggling surreptitiously at some private joke. The sight of her, so carefree and blissful, made him stop in his tracks. He paused, clenching and unclenching his fists, before taking a resolute step in her direction. Procrastination was not going to make this any easier for either of them.

"Sakura!" he called, before smiling weakly and plunging on with half confidence, "I have something to tell you."

Ignoring the suggestive winks and muffled laughter of her friends, Sakura rolled her eyes and pulled herself up, making her way over to where Syaoran was standing, fiddling nervously with his hands. Noticing his awkward hand movements, Sakura frowned and surveyed him with thorough concern. "Syaoran...are you ok?"

"No –yes...I mean..." He stopped, deciding to take a new stance. At the way things were going, he'd be here for a long time. "You know that we'll always be friends no matter what happens, right?"

Sakura nodded, slowly. She couldn't figure out for the life of her where this was leading.

"And you know that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you, right?"

"Syaoran, if this is about not entering the race with me, I told you already. If you can't do it, Chihahru will be my partner. It's no big deal."

Syaoran shook his head. It was now, or never. "I'm...Sakura... I'm leaving."

Sakura was uncomprehending. Syaoran gave her 5 minutes to digest the information in painful silence, before he ran a hand through his hair, and decided to get things moving. "Sakura, I'm-we…my family have decided to move back to Hong Kong."

His response was met with an unnerving silence, broken only by the carefree chatter of his classmates as they returned from their break, revitalised, and ready to take on the rest of the lesson before recess. Sakura's hair ruffled in the wind – the only part of her that was moving, or reacting to any of the surroundings.

"I'll come back for you, Sakura. I promise. It'll only be 3 years." Syaoran offered, trying to ease some sort of reaction out of her – anger, hurt, disappointment – anything was better than this impassive, deathly, silence.

Sakura nodded wordlessly to show that she understood, then flounced off to join Tomoyo.

Syaoran had time to note the comforting arm Tomoyo draped around Sakura's shoulders, before they were joined by Chihahru, and the sports teacher blew the whistle and signalled for the lesson to resume. That was the last he saw of Sakura for the rest of the day, no matter how hard he scouted for her.

But wherever I may be
Best believe I'm thinking of you

Sakura fought to hold back her remorseful tears as she thought of how she had reacted to Syaoran when he had come to her house that evening, hoping to smooth things over. After what she had done, she wouldn't blame him if he never talked to her again. In any case, she didn't think she could face him even if he did.

*Flashback*

Sakura went to unlock the gates, her eyes puffy and red from all the tears she had been crying since she got home. Her mind was numb from the hurt and the disappointment of Syaoran's proclamation; and she couldn't even think of anything to say as she found that, standing on the other side of the gates with a massive bunch of red roses, was Syaoran.

Sakura glanced past the hopeful gaze he was giving her, and greeted him with a curt. "What are you doing here?"

What little hope he had left in him upon seeing Sakura's emotionless stare quickly vanished, and his shoulders drooped in defeat. "To-"

"-Syaoran. There's nothing left to say here, and there's nothing here for you." Syaoran opened his mouth to reply, but Sakura held up her hand. "You're leaving in a week, Syaoran. Doesn't our friendship mean anything to you?"

"Sakura, I've been meaning-"

"Don't tell me what you've been meaning to do! You knew this would hurt. The least thing you could've done was give me some time to prepare for it. I obviously don't mean as much to you as I think."

Syaoran made to protest at the unfairness of it all, but, thinking better of it, voiced a weak, "I'm sorry, Sakura. I really am." On a sudden, he remembered the yellow roses he was holding in his hand. A symbol of friendship; a marker of how much had passed between them since that fateful first day when Sakura had tripped over Syaoran's foot during the lunch break. Smiling hopefully, Syaoran wordlessly handed them to Sakura.

The gesture, however, was met with quite a different response to the one Syaoran had anticipated. Instead of taking the roses, and calming down, Sakura threw out her arm, sending the roses crashing to the stone pathway leading to her house. She realised that she was being childish, and above all, selfish against Syaoran's mature stance, but that realisation only served to increase her flaring anger. Without thinking, she pulled back her right hand and shoved Syaoran back with as much force as she could muster, crying out, "If you cared, Syaoran...if you truly cared about me, you wouldn't be leaving."

Syaoran threw his arms out to steady himself, shocked at her spiteful behaviour. "Sakura..."

But she was already leaving, storming up the steps of her house. In a final, feeble attempt to restore the order, Syaoran called out, "Sakura, just give me a chance to explain myself! Don't say that I don't care. That's not fair."

Sakura whipped around, salty, bitter tears streaming down her cheeks. "Not fair? Don't you dare tell me what's unfair and what isn't. Don't you even dare," she spat with an almost polished vehemence. Syaoran could only watch as she made the final few steps to her door, stepped through, and slammed it with excessive force. He stood rooted to the spot, staring silently at the door as if it would offer him some sort of resolution to the uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. It must have been fifteen minutes before a particularly loud howl from the wind stirred him and, starting, he reached down to finger the delicate rose petals, damaged by Sakura's fury.

And as Sakura watched from her precarious perch on the balcony several meters above, her heart thumping wildly, and her tears streaming freely, Syaoran picked up the mess she'd made, and walked into the night without another word.

I can't believe how much I love you

Sakura buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably, not wanting Tomoyo to see the shame etched across her features. But when she felt a light touch on her shoulder and turned around to respond, Tomoyo's expression was sympathetic, and when she spoke, her tone was affable.

"Sakura," she said gently, "stop being so hard on yourself. When Syaoran told you this, he knew you would be upset, but he told you anyway...because he cares about you, Sakura. He cared enough to tell you in person. Don't you understand? He could have easily let you hear it from someone else."

Shaking her head slowly, Sakura wiped the last of her tears away. She had cried so much that she could hardly appreciate her friend's gentle smile through the puffiness of her eyes. "Tomoyo, that's exactly why I'm so upset." Then, almost ruefully, she continued, "It must have been so hard for him."

"As it was for you. But you've got to realise that this isn't a choice Syaoran made, and you can't punish him for it. You've just got to accept the fact that he's leaving, and make the best of the situation."

Giving a final sniff, Sakura raised her head slightly and looked at Tomoyo squarely in the eye.

And set her jaw determinedly.

That was when Tomoyo realised how strong Sakura was, and saw for possibly the first time that she was going to grow into an amazing woman. And one day, Syaoran would come back for her, and realise it too.

Standing up with that same resolution that sparked from her eyes, Sakura gave a somewhat forced smile at Tomoyo. "And let me guess. 'Making the best of the situation' means I'm going to the ball."

"You got it."

"Well then," she said, arming herself with a towel, a change of clothes, and a hairbrush, "let's get started."


Thanks for staying with me this far and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Please remember to review, even if it's just to say it wasn't much to your liking. Constructive criticism is awesome, flaming is not!!!

Until next time,

- Ngoc