Ahh, Sakura and Syaoran, how you own my soul. I wrote this almost a month ago, and posted it elsewhere, but never got around to putting it up here. XD I'm so bad. I'm sorry. Hope you enjoy it.

Intoxication - A TRC Romance one-shot
Disclaimer: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Sakura, Syaoran and my Soul belong to CLAMP. This individual fic is mine.


Alcohol. Again with the alcohol. That bittersweet beverage people enjoyed so much, no matter what world they arrived in. His companions seemed to be no exception to this almost 'law', of sorts.

And he didn't have a problem with alcohol. He didn't dislike any sort of food, or liquid, really. In fact, he'd tried alcohol once... or twice. It was warm, and not, dry and wet. Very enjoyable.

A shrill cry of laughter met his ears, and he buried his head beneath his pillow.

"Hyuu hyuu!!!"

"Bastard!"

"Nyaaaa!"

Just how much liquor had they received from the landlady?

To Syaoran, the after-effect outweighed the actual drinking of the beverage. Alcohol, it seemed, had a strange influence on people; it made them... not themselves. This, combined with the headache in the morning, made for quite the unpleasant experience, overall. For that, Syaoran didn't drink. Not since... well... he just didn't drink anymore. That was that. He'd left the Princess in Kurogane's care, and gone to bed like a civilized, young human being.

A load roaring met his ears, paired with a crash that sounded somewhat like steel meeting sofa. WIncing, he curled up into a ball beneath his sheet, half-curious as to just what was in this country's alcohol, and half-curious as to what the fate of their sofa was. Pushing those thoughts as far to the back of his mind as he could, he closed his eyes. Someone had to be well-rested enough to make the morning's pot of coffee.

Lying there, on yet another unfamiliar mattress, in yet another unfamiliar country he somehow managed to fall into a light sleep.

Sand. Sun. There was always sand and sun in dreams like these. Memories relived. Always the same familiar world, the same familiar smiling girl. This time they were headed down a path... outdoors... He was being led by the hand, childish laughter escaping his and her lips, as she cried his name, happily, lovingly...

"Nyaaaa..."

He flinched.

Something had just licked his ear.

Reflexively, his eyes jerked open, and he rolled as far away from the source of the disturbance as possible, wide awake. Rubbing his now-wet ear furiously, he blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dark of the room. Startlingly, it became instantly obvious who had awoken him, as his face turned from a pale peach to crimson.

Inches from his face, was Sakura's, jade eyes open wide, a mischievous smile on her face. More startling than her face, though, was yet to come.

"Sa-sa-sa-ku...hi-hi...mm...eh"

Syaoran stuttered, hopelessly trying to form coherent thoughts. Unfortunately, the babbling that vaguely resembled her name would have to do. Laying on her stomach, bare toes wiggling in the air, Sakura ran a finger across his cheek, tracing his jaw bone. Continuing, she ran her fingertips down his trembling chest, and paused, lingering at his waist, before withdrawing her hands.

He heaved a sigh of relief and cursed himself, for going to bed with only pants on. After steadying his heartbeat somewhat (he hoped), he cleared his throat and spoke again.

"Sakura-hi-m-me... What are you d-doing?"

"I'm saying hello to Syaoran-kun, nya."

"You l-l-licked my-" He froze, mid-sentence as he spotted what she was wearing. Or rather, not wearing. He hurriedly covered his eyes with a hand, as his face flushed deeper. He felt her eyes on him, watching patiently. Taking a few deep breaths, he removed his hand, but kept his eyes clenched closed.

"P-p-princess... Where are your pants?"

"Kitties don't wear pants," She stated calmly, wiggling her rear slightly, as if it further proved her point.

Syaoran made the mistake of opening his eyes while this was taking place, and instantly jerked a few more inches away from her. Unfortunately, he'd run out of bed to sit on, and tumbled head first onto the floor, followed painfully by his back and rear, leaving his legs sticking up in the air. Sakura was greatly amused, and she crept cat-like across the bed, and stuck her head between his legs, gazing down at him.

"Nya... Daijoubu, Syaoran-kun?"

It would have been much better, had he not noticed her head suddenly a few feet from his crotch(1), and shot a full 2 feet backwards, smacking his head hard against the wall. Now he was in pain, dizzy, and his princess was sitting pants-less on his bed. This was becoming one interesting night.

"H-h-hai... Hime..." He said, wincing, and clutching his head. He clenched his eyes shut for a moment before opening them, and lowering his hands to stare at the girl he so longed to protect before him. She was still beaming, her gaze meeting his innocently. With a sigh, he eased himself to his feet, and smiled concernedly at the princess. It had to be done.

"It's time for bed, Sakura-hime."

He bent over the bed, placing a hand on her shoulders and another behind her knees, rolling her onto her back in preparation of him lifting her. Her eyes widened at this and she jerked free of his grasp, latching on to his arm desperately, eyes pleading.

"Iya! Don't... take me... I want to stay..."

Syaoran felt his face reddening and shook his head. He replied, firmly, eyes never leaving hers.

"Her Highness is not herself tonight. Therefore-"

"Syaoran-kun! You interrupted!"

Interrupting, Sakura frowned up at the boy, tugging childishly at his arm, throwing him off-balance. "I want to stay with Syaoran-kun! Always!"

He froze.

"I don't want to be alone! I don't want to lose you... agai-"

Her voice cut off mid-word, and she paused for a moment, motionless, eyes vacant. Then, blinking rapidly, she gazed up at Syaoran, smiling again.

"Nyaa..."

And then she fell asleep. Syaoran's price had come back to haunt them once more.

Frozen both in confusion and shock, Syaoran hovered above her, his arm somewhat supporting her suddenly limp frame. He blinked.

"H-hime?"

No response.

"Your room?" As he said this, he attempted to nudge her into his arms again, but at this she whimpered, and he sighed.

"As you wish, Hime."

Slowly, he eased his arm out from behind her, and rotated her so that she lay properly in his bed on her side. She shivered, curling up into a ball, and he instantly dove to cover her with the blanket that he had dragged off of the bed minutes before. She whimpered once more, leaving Syaoran puzzled as to the cause of her discomfort. Quietly, the girl cried out to the night.

"Who..."

It dawned on him instantly, and he lowered his head, whispering an almost reply.

"Me..."

Quietly, and without invitation, he lowered himself to the bed, and swung his legs gently under the covers. Even more gently, he leaned back, to relax on the edge of the pillow he now shared with his princess. As soon as he was fully relaxed, he felt her hand fumble under the covers, until it met with his chest, where it rested, in a half-closed fist. He blushed and replied to her movement, cupping her hand in his, and drawing it close to his face, nervously.

He froze, afraid to take a breath, waiting for the sleeping girl to give some sort of reply, until he could no longer comfortably hold his breath, exhaling softly, his breath passing over their hands. At this, she untensed, a smile spreading across her face, as she leaned inwards towards Syaoran. He froze again, eyes wide, as she leaned ever closer, until at last, her body rested against his, and moved no further.

His heart fluttered, as he felt the touch of her cool skin against his, and her warm breath ruffling his hair, and suddenly smiled broadly. Shifting his weight ever so slightly, to allow for better comfort, he at last closed his eyes.

"Oyasumi... Sakura."

And in the cool night of a nameless city, in one of endless worlds, two lonely children discovered something. Perhaps they weren't as alone as they had previously thought.


(1) I'm sorry, the only word in my thesaurus for 'crotch' was 'genitals'... and I think that would've been worse. xD; If you have an alternative for this, do let me know. I'm curious. XD; Most creative gets a muffin.

This was based off of a prompt given at the Sakura x Syaoran thread at capturedwings forums... Turned out rather nicely. Reviews appreciated.
Err. Pardon me as I scurry off to work on my chaptired fics now. -dodges tomatoes- Yes...