Series Title: One More Day
Author: Feit
Site: http://atare.com
E-Mail: hawk_witch@hotmail.com

Quote of the Chapter:
"If something anticipated arrives too late it finds us numb, wrung out from waiting, and we
feel nothing at all. The best things arrive on time."
Dorothy Gilman, A New Kind of Country, 1978

Disclaimer: CLAMP owns these characters. *waves at the CLAMP people tied up and gagged* I
promise I'll give them back!

(AN: Japanese Translations are at the bottom. And if you are wondering, Sakura and Syaoran
are 18.)

Syaoran: At least we aren't 10.
Sakura: Yea! Now we can stay up and watch Saturday Night Live!
Feit: *facefaults*
Syaoran: *sweatdrop*
Sakura: *looks at the two* What?

-- Chapter 1 - Confession --

Syaoran closed his eyes and rested his chin on top of Sakura's head. He hated to see her
this way. Every sob that wrenched at her heart tore at his soul. Slowly, he began to rub
Sakura's back, a vain attempt at calming her sobs down. The sleeve of his shirt was
indefinately soaked, but he didn't mind. He couldn't care less about that. All he knew was
he cared for Sakura, in a way he never imagined he could. He drifted back in the few years
he'd known her. She'd had cried, yes. But the only other time he could recall her crying
like this was when she told Yukito that she loved him, and he had said he wasn't really the
one she loved. Syaoran remembered her crying just like she was now. His spirit lifted,
almost soared, when he came to the realization that she found comfort in him.

Sakura, almost unnoticably, pulled away from Syaoran, and tried to wipe her pained tears
from his shirt. He smiled gently, and took her delicate hand in his own. Sakura's tears had
stopped leaking from her red, puffy eyes, but her breath kept involuntarilly streaming into
her lungs. She almost seemed as if she had the hiccups, had it not been for her tear-worn
face and tired eyes. Syaoran wiped a tear silently from the corner of her eye, and ran his
thumb down her cheek, removing evidence of tears past. He released her hand, and it fell
into Sakura's lap. She looked at it like she didn't know what it was. He watched her as she
calmed herself, taking deep breaths, and letting them out slowly.

"Daijoubu desu ka? What happened?" Syaoran asked. Sakura's eyes met his for a split second
before she averted her gaze to stare at the cherry blossoms that had been trampled into the
sidewalk. She poured all of her attention into the wet and wilted petals as if they were a
teacher giving a lecture that would make or break your grade. Syaoran took her hand once
more, and Sakura did not flinch, sigh, or move at all. She didn't even blush. "Sakura...
tell me," Syaoran urged. She normally would not hold something back, no matter how painful.
Then again, he's never seen her so upset before. Which was all the more reason for him to
worry.

"Gomen nasai, Syaoran. It's just..." Sakura paused, lifting to wipe away a tear that had
gone unchecked. "Why, Syaoran? Why? It wasn't supposed to happen like that!" Sakura's
sobbing returned, and she leaned into his arm again. "It wasn't supposed to end! No one was
there! No one!"

Syaoran's eyes widened at this, his arms enveloping Sakura's shaking form once more.
"Sakura? What are you talking about?"

Sakura turned away from him and hugged herself, still crying. Syaoran knelt in front of her,
grasping her hands in his. He looked up at Sakura's shadowed face. "Sakura... you need to
calm down. Tell me what happened. Please."

Sakura nodded, and managed to settle her breathing after a short while. She looked into
Syaoran's eyes, and the pools of amber, both reflecting worry, caring, and stability. She
took a deep breath and nodded again. "Well... We were leaving the party. Everything was
fine. We turned onto the service road, and all I could think about, was going to to movie
with you." Sakura blushed here. Syaoran did too, but he willed her to continue. "And then,
all of a sudden, this... cat... ran in front of the car! Someone had hit it. We managed to
miss it, and I watched it fall in the middle of the road. It was twitching, Syaoran! It was
in pain, and all I could do," her breath caught. She closed her eyes and continued, speaking
softly. "All I could do... was watch. I had to watch it lay in the middle of the road, and
all I could do was hope that maybe I could save it. I remember everything. I remember it's
face, frightened that it would be hit all over again. I remember how it ran. It's spine was
broken. It's legs flew up at impossible angles. It rolled and collapsed in the middle of the
road. I remember Touya pulling over, and I remember him holding me back, not letting me go
to it. The traffic. There was too much traffic. Touya ran to the nearby houses and asked if
anyone owned the cat, as I sat at the edge of the road, screaming and crying. No one did.
Almost, as if by magic, the traffic stopped. There wasn't a car in sight. I went out and I
laid my hand upon it's body. It was so... warm... Syaoran. So warm, and the fur was so soft,
like silk. I could feel it's frozen muscles beneath that fur. It was dead." Tears slipped
from Sakura's eyes as Syaoran rised to sit next to her. She continued. "It was dead. It died
alone, and uncared for. It died thinking that the world was cruel!" Her voice began to
raise, in anger and frustration. "It died in pain! I could have at least been with it,
so it would know that SOMEONE cared! I should have been with the cat! I should have let it
know that some people could actually love it!" She had turned to Syaoran and had started to
beat on his shoulder in such anger at the world, for letting that cat die. Syaoran didn't
feel a thing except her pain, ripping through his heart. He hugged her tighter to him, and
she lightened her blows on his arm, but didn't stop. "I should have done something... I
should have done something..." she repeated the phrase over and over again. Her pounding had
ceased to gripping his shirt. She had no more strength in herself to sob, but the tears
still fell.

Syaoran couldn't find any words to say. There were no words to express how he felt. If one
were to try, they would fail miserably. But he knew that he loved her even more than before,
if at all possible. He knew that only he could protect her, and that he was the only one
that could love her as much as he did. Sighing, Syaoran held her, for what seemed forever.
Her arm fell to her side, her mind finally allowing her to sleep as the sun set. Syaoran
studied how the angry red light from the heavens glinted upon her silky hair. He felt her
light breathing up his collarbone, and he felt her heartbeat as his hand lay on her back.
Scooping her up gently, he carried her worn body to the front door of her house, and knocked
gently. Touya answered the door, and Syaoran wordlessly deposited Sakura into her brother's
arms. He then turned his head and slowly walked towards home.

Touya watched as he disappeared around the corner. 'You know, the brat isn't all that bad.
Of course, I'll never let him know that...'. Touya walked into the living room, where his
father had been, watching, and passed him. He took Sakura into her room and laid her gently
down. He tucked the covers under her chin. He studied her red face. This red didn't come from
embarressment, or anger, or even love. It came from a saddness he truly hated to see. Which
was why he disliked the brat from the beginning. But this time, it was impossible to lay
blame on the kid.

"Touya?"

He looked into Sakura's eyes. The emerald that usually shined brighter than the sun were as
dim as the late sunset outside beyond the windowpanes. Dried tears tightened the skin of her
face, making her seem much more heartbroken than she was. Touya answered her. "Hmm?"

"Where's Syaoran?"

"He went home not too long ago."

"Oh."

A long pause streched between the two siblings. Sakura studied the ceiling as Touya studied
the floor. Touya then looked at his little sister. "Sakura...?"

"What?"

"You love him... don't you?"

Crimson swept her face, and Touya almost smiled to know it wasn't despair that caused it.
Sakura looked longingly out the window for a few moments, and then she turned back to her
brother.

"I think... I do."

Touya smiled gently. He also swore to himself if the brat ever made Sakura cry, he'd find
himself in deeper problems than he could ever imagine. Touya also knew Syaoran knew that.

"Just never let him go, Sakura. And don't wait too long."

Sakura glanced sharply at her brother's retreating form. "Hoe...?"

-- End of Chapter 1 - Confession --

Awwwwwwwww! What a sweet big brother! It's that just so Kawaiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Japanese Translations:
------- Daijoubu desu ka - Are you alright?
------- Gomen nasai ------ I'm really sorry.
------- Hoe -------------- Sakura's signature word, pronounced 'Ou-ehy'.

Sakura: *bounces* oh that was just so adorably KAWAII!
Syaoran: Feit, your a lonely buzzard that likes to mess with character's lives in your fics,
aren't you?
Feit: Yup! Thank you for the compliment. *sips some of her sugar-enriched tea*
Syaoran: *sweatdrop*
Sakura: Hey Feit, could I have some tea?
Syaoran: !!!NO!!! ///*_*///
Sakura: *blinks* Hoe?
Feit: *giggles*