The kettle whistles on the stove, shattering the soft serenity in Syaoran's apartment. She blinks back into herself at the sound; her hands fall still over the ticking keys on her keyboard. The couch shifts at her back for the first time in hours, and she takes the chance to straighten her posture, to roll her head back between her shoulders. There's a tension that coils along the length of her spine, from the back of her neck to the small of her back. Deep breaths form quiet yawns as she pulls her elbows above her head. The stretch pulls at her restless muscles, and she sighs.
"Two sugars, Sakura?" she hears when her eyes open. She bites her bottom lip as she smiles. Her hands find each other at her ankles and entwine, and she can't help but lean forward to better see the doorway to the apartment's kitchenette.
"Yeah!" she says against the sound of ceramic mugs clinking against the counter.
She can barely make out his shadow from this angle, ghosting against the cabinets and walls as he works. He rips apart two packets, and Sakura studies the shadow's stray strands of wavy hair, growing a bit too long in odd places. Boiling water pours into each mug, and Sakura remembers tracing her fingers over those lithe arms. The shadow reaches for another cabinet, for the sugar, and his shadow's shirt cuts an angle at his shadow waist.
She knows she's blushing now. Her knotted hands clench together as they move from her crossed ankles to the floor behind her heels. Her wrists, covered with a lightweight sweater, glance across the hem of her shorts. The smile on her face falters, but her tongue moves to run against the lip still held between her teeth.
Her next breath stutters out, and she shivers.
"Will you be able to finish your reports before our flight?"
She straightens slowly as she watches Syaoran return to his place on the couch. The mugs are set on the table together, steam pouring gently from the complimentary pair. Her arms move to encircle Syaoran's legs when he rests back on the couch. Her chin finds his knees as she adjusts, and she closes her eyes in a wide grin at Syaoran's single quirked eyebrow.
"I'll be alright," she says confidently, "All of my references are here. I just have to write it down, and I can do that wherever."
Syaoran hums contentedly as her fingers trail up and down his shins. His left hand threads through her bangs easily, moving to cup the side of Sakura's face softly. She leans into the touch with another sigh, and her fingers begin to massage the back of his knees, holding taught muscle, pulling slightly, and pushing back down, kneading in small circles.
"Kiss me?" he whispers reverently, as if the words would wake him from a dream.
She giggles, pulling his hand into hers roughly, "I thought you'd never ask."
She nearly jumps to her feet to catch Syaoran's lips against hers in an impassioned kiss. Her left hand holds tight to his right as she moves into him, one knee resting on either side of his thighs. Her right hand traces lines into his face, a thumb brushing across his cheekbone, fingers curling against his jaw. He sighs through his nose at the motion. She settles at last in his lap, loosing her own quieter moan. Her skirt fans out between them.
Syaoran's legs tense as he grabs her hips with his free hand. It occurs to him, somewhere in the rocking that the motion triggers, that he is truly the luckiest person in the world to be loved by her. To be loved so entirely and so honestly by Kinomoto Sakura.
The emotions swell in his chest, in his throat, as their lips part and the kiss deepens. His tongue searches for hers, weaving between heavy breaths to fill her, to taste her. She pulls him deeper. She rocks her hips into him with every tug. He's lightheaded and flushed and he can barely breathe but it all feels so good.
"S-Sakura," he moans brokenly, and their motions stop at the unexpected, high-pitched crack in his voice.
Their faces pull away together; their eyes open in synchronicity. Sakura graces him with a brilliant grin, and Syaoran's face explodes in red.
"I love you," she whispers, the words suddenly making her shy.
Syaoran's breath stutters softly as he inhales, "You too."