A/N: So yeah, it's time for the second chapter. I'm pretty proud of myself for being able to publish it so fast. If there are any spelling mistakes or other kinds of typos, please let me know so that I can edit them out. Otherwise, have a great reading and I will soon be writing and publishing the third chapter as well.
I do not own any of the characters, only the story. They belong to CLAMP, I think.
"This will be a great day. I'm going to my new school with my beloved friends." She thought when she made a turn and suddenly saw Tomoyo standing in a group near the place they both had agreed to meet on.
"Tomoyo-chan, here I am!" Sakura cried and smiled when her friend turned around, revealing a surprised but delighted face.
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo screamed and Sakura threw herself off the bike as she got closer to her friend. The people around Tomoyo had turned around to look at them two but Sakura didn't mind. No, she only had eyes for Tomoyo. The girls slammed together in a tight hug. They laughed while dancing around. Questions like 'How have you been?' 'Have you missed me?' 'Are you ready for our new school?' were asked but never answered. They didn't really care because they were so happy that they finally got to see each other again. After a while they had finally settled down and Sakura found out that Tomoyo had had a nice stay in Sweden together with Eriol. They had planned on staying there a little longer but Tomoyo hadn't been able to be away too long from her friend.
"I can't imagine that you've grown so fast! You look like a woman now. You're beautiful!" She cried with sparkling eyes. Her next sentence made Sakura laugh; "I'm so happy that I brought my camera! I wouldn't want to miss anything." Tomoyo turned to the people behind her.
"Why don't you say hi, Sakura? You will surely recognize them all." Sakura curiously peeked over Tomoyo's shoulder and studied the people.
"Oh wow. Hello minna, Eriol-kun, Naoko-chan, Yamazaki-kun, Rika-chan and Chiharu-chan! It has been a while!" Sakura said and smiled when everyone returned her greeting.
"Haven't you forgotten anyone?" A voice called, a voice she remembered from the bottom of her heart. She turned around on the spot and there he was.
"Syaoran-kun." She whispered, before pulling him in for a hug. She was expecting something tender and warm as an answer but he remained calm and only gave her a brief hug before turning to the others.
"Oh how he has grown." She thought while watching his smile. His features has grown into him, he had become a man while being in China, you could clearly see that. She studied his face, he had a warm expression towards her friends but she caught something else as well, something that wasn't completely right. He seemed a bit troubled, was he nervous about the new school?
"It was really weird of him to give me such a cold welcome." She thought and frowned. Then someone pulled her sleeve.
"Sakura, don't think so much. You lose both your spirit and your cuteness. No wait, what am I thinking? You don't need to be cute anymore, you've grown up, we all have now. So, you would have to be more mature and tend with grace..." Tomoyo continued to talk but Sakura had already tuned her out. Sakura only had eyes for him, she kept reminding herself that what had happened last night was only a dream and the Syaoran who stood in front of her now was someone who she didn't know so well any longer. She had to get to know him again.
"I just have to befriend him again. We already are friends. It only seems a little weird now for me because of that dream." She thought and smiled when Eriol told them a joke. After everyone had chatted for a while they started walking together toward their new school, their new future. The air around them seemed to be filled with mixed feelings; anxiety, sadness but also curiosity and especially nervousness and even though some were filled with sad memories when they walked past their old school they were in a pumped up spirit when leaving the school behind them. Soon the new school rose above the other buildings and they started walking up the front yard. Students were filling the front yard. Some arrived at the parking lots by buses or their own cars.
The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and everything was coloured pink. Flowers got stuck in Sakura's dress and hair but she didn't mind, she actually liked the feeling of being dressed by nature. She took one little flower and stroked its soft petals. It was almost completely white except for the pink tinge near the stem.
"So beautiful."
She raised her gaze and there he was. Still behind his cold shield but with a small trying smile.
"They only bloom for a week. The Somei Yoshino I mean." She answered, trying to figure him out. The others in the group had moved on and were already at the entrance.
"So beautiful but fragile." Syaoran stated but didn't leave his eyes from her face. She stroked the petals once more before lifting the flower to her face, smelling its fresh aroma and releasing it. It floated away in the air only to stop at his cheek, leaving a memory of a touch and then to get caught by the air and disappear. He followed the flower with his eyes in wonder. Sakura watched his face and noticed that the cold shield was gone and he seemed more relaxed.
"How have you been? I haven't heard from you for a long time." She asked.
A frown appeared and he got that troubled look on his face.
"Well, I knew that you could handle the cards yourself so I stayed in China to spend more time with my mother and my sisters. I depended on that you would call if you had any trouble and when you didn't I stayed longer."
"So what you're saying is that it was only my responsibility to call? What about you? At least I sent you letters and told you how it was here and that I was concerned about you. Who would blame me? You didn't write back or called at all. I didn't even have your phone number, just the address. Geez." Sakura snapped back and crossed her arms. She had been really concerned about him, if he had just answered one of her letters they wouldn't even need to have this conversation right now.
"I'm here now so you should be happy. I'm even talking to you and that's a big thing when you think of the circumstances." He sighed and raised one eyebrow.
"What are you talking about? What circumstances?"
"I'm talking about you blowing me off. After I expressed my feelings and were waiting for an answer you never showed up and the next day you pretended like nothing had happened. That was when I had had enough and took a plane home to clear my mind." He snorted and shifted his weight from leg to leg.
"What do you mean? You've never expressed your feelings for me.." She said, a bit confused. She didn't have a memory of him expressing his feelings for her and her declining him. She would never do that and she was also pretty sure he didn't feel that way about her, at least not now. Back then maybe but definitely not now. He raised his hand, almost like he was to hit her but instead he took a hold of her shoulder and shook her lightly.
"Are you stupid or have you lost your memory? I confessed to you on a day like this last year. We were walking on our way home from school, your brother hadn't shown up I remember and neither had Yuki-san. So we walked together. On our way over the bridge I stopped you and said that I wanted you to be my bride and what did you say? Nothing, you just laughed. Not immediately when I said it, but then you laughed."
Oh. That. Sakura cleary remembered that. He thought that had been a confession? Sakura giggled at the thought of it but it only seemed to make him angrier. His grip of her shoulder tightened, he didn't hurt her but it wasn't too comfortable either.
"I'm so sorry that I'm so insensitive and that I'm laughing again but you've got it wrong, Syaoran-kun."
He halted his angry reply to her laugh when he heard her say his name. He loved the way she said it. Syaoran-kun. It always sounded like he was the chosen one and that she enjoyed talking to him. Maybe one day she'll say it without the -kun. He had to admit that the thought of it turned him on.
"I didn't think that you were confessing to me that day. I only thought that you promised me that we would marry each other when we got older. I'm sorry that I laughed but I was just so overwhelmed and happy so all I could do was laugh."
He studied her face when she told him her answer. She was always so happy, she didn't even have to make an effort, it was all natural. And he loved her for that. He released his grip of her shoulder and blinked.
"A laugh of acceptance, I guess." He said flirty with a smile that could break many girls' hearts. "Come on, this conversation is over. I'm satisfied with your answer, for now."
She nodded and brushed the flowers off her dress before joining him. Together they walked up to the entrance where their friends were waiting. Together.
