Chapter 3: The Cabin

The sunlight that shinned through the window had woken Sakura up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes and felt for the first time in her life that she could sleep and wake at a moment that was only hers. She looked over to Kero, who was sitting on his side of the room on the window sill, cross legged and staring out the window, and smiled. But then a sudden thought came to her mind, "Where do you think he went Kero?" She asked.

Kero never moved from his spot. He was quiet and waited a moment before he turned his head slightly to the side and looked at her over his shoulder.

"I don't know." He said calmly and turned his head back to stare out the window.

Sakura threw the covers off her and walked over to the kitchen. She came back into the room and shoved a cookie in Kero's face. Kero stared at it dumbly, then up at Sakura and saw the cheerful smile she had on. Kero then looked back at the cookie and grabbed it. Usually he would be cheering for joy when Sakura gave him sweets. But this time he wasn't really in the mood and only stared at it as if it was nothing.

"I baked it last night while you were asleep. I found a whole bunch of supplies in the cupboards in the other room. It looks like he kept this place updated a lot. So I decided to make some cookies and give them to him for thanks, and I also knew you liked sweets," She rose a finger to her chin in thought, "Strange you usually wake up to the smell of sweets, the smell was intoxicating me." She looked down at him and noticed that the cookie had not even the slightest scratch of bite marks on it.

"Kero…?"

Kero still stared down at the cookie, "Thank you, Sakura." He said plainly. Sakura looked at him sadly. Something was wrong, but she decided to change the subject.

"So what shall we do today?" She asked in her cheerful voice. Kero secretly smiled at her cheerful self. 'It's been a while since she's been like this. I missed it so much I almost forgot about it.' He thought and turned to her. She was smiling all the rainbows of the past. He remembered when he first saw her smile. He's never felt happier when he saw that smile. He then looked back down at the cookie and opened his mouth as wide as he could possibly open it and shoved the whole thing in his mouth.

After he had swallowed it he looked at her again, "Let's do whatever we want!" He said as he flew into the air. Sakura giggled for a moment and then thought for a second. "But what is there to do?" She asked. Kero stopped as well and thought. They stood there and couldn't think of anything to do.

"Hoee!" Sakura said as Kero flew beside her.

"It seems like you're so use to being bossed around all day you never know what to do for yourself, Sakura." He told her. Sakura nodded and turned to the door and opened it to have the brightness blind her eyes. She threw her arms up the shield her eyes only for a second, before her eyes adjusted to the light. She saw only fields and fields of trees; some with green bark and most with brown. Bushes and tall grasses surrounded them all; and the shine of due still sitting on the leaves, glimmering in the suns live rays. Sakura looked around, and still saw only trees. She was in the middle of the forest, but which forest?

Kero flew to her side, "It sure is pretty out here isn't it Sakura?"

Sakura nodded and breathed in the fresh air around them. Kero flew back inside leaving Sakura to stand in the doorway to enjoy the fresh air and the view. Sakura looked down and thought about her current rescuer. That boy, he seemed fairly young, maybe just a bit older than her. She didn't know where he was, but she had a feeling that he was coming back.

-

Shaoran tip toed through the large hall way and hid behind a large red curtain when he heard footsteps. Once the footsteps have disappeared he was about to run down the hall way but stopped himself, 'No, my fathers headquarters are down there. It's best if I go down the secret stairs.' He told himself.

He turned around to start his way there when he bumped into someone. He looked down at them and gasped, "Tomoyo!" he whispered harshly. "What are you doing here; you should be upstairs eating dinner with the duke!"

She giggled and looked back up at him with her sweet and innocent eyes, "That was yesterday, silly." She told him. He relaxed a bit but still stared down at her wearily.

"What are you doing here in the secret hall way? I'm the only one who takes it. And you are usually too busy sulking in your room." She giggled again. She always teased Shaoran but it was never intentionally harsh. She admired her cousins blushing behaviors and shy ways. She found it cute and it was a way for her to crack him out of his shell a bit.

"I-" He stuttered. "I was just headed-"

"What are you holding, Shaoran?" Tomoyo interrupted and tried opening the folds of fabric in his hands. Shaoran immediately pulled them away from her and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Well I ran out of bed sheets because the maids are cleaning mine and I told them I would get some clean ones myself. I decided to take the secret stairs because it was shorter distance and I'm quite tired." He laughed nervously.

"But the secret stairs don't lead to your room Shaoran. It takes just as much effort to climb those stairs as you do with our regular stairs." She told him calmly and stared him down suspiciously, "Where are you really planning on going?" She asked him seriously. Shaoran stared down at her, it was the first time in a while he had seen his dear cousin serious about things. She was a sarcastic and sweet girl to everyone, and only was serious with him whenever he had done some serious wronging. They were really close friends, especially for family members but he could not tell her that he had found a girl in the forest and was keeping her in his cabin. And that these rags in his hands were clothes for her to wear. He could trust Tomoyo with that but it was too fast to tell anyone at the moment. He would wait and tell her.

"I'm going to stay at my cabin for a few days. Could you promise to not tell father? He'll be very upset."

"Especially when you bailed on him for wedding plans." Tomoyo added.

Shaoran's eyes widened, "What?"

"You're father wants you to marry."

Shaoran took a step back in utter shock, "He can't do this to me."

"But he can." Tomoyo said sweetly.

Shaoran relaxed a bit and watched her for a moment, "How do you know this?" He asked her. Her smile stayed the same as always when she looked up at him innocently. "You're mother and father were talking about it at dinner." Shaoran closed his eyes. Marriage. What fun imagination his father had. He was seventeen and wasn't ready. He did not want marriage. Especially to someone he did not know.

"I'm sorry Shaoran." Tomoyo said calmly, staring up at him comfortingly. With her small smile she has never gotten rid of since the day she was born she kept it on him to encourage him to cheer up.

Shaoran stared down at her lazily. "I gotta go to bed." He said and stepped forward to plant a loving kiss to her forehead and walked past her swiftly. Tomoyo stood still, as if time froze for her, only she was staring down at the floor. She cocked her head slightly to the side and noticed Shaoran leaving down the stairs instead of up. She smiled brightly and moved her feet to follow.

-

Shaoran held the clothing in one hand as the other held onto his horse's rope. He stopped in front of the cabin, which lit up from the windows, and made his way to the front door.

"Kero, come over here and help me!" Sakura yelled as she stood on the stool, holding the top of the cupboard to support herself from falling.

"What do you need help for? It's only a pan. You have enough strength to hold it, don't you?" Kero retorted, sitting lazily on the window sill crossed legged and swinging his leg in the air, enjoying his relaxing moment. One of Sakura's head veins popped, but she still continued to climb her way up.

A second later she felt herself being lifted off the stool and into the air higher. She saw the pan she had been trying to get more clearly now and it was in arms reach. She looked down to see Shaoran holding her up and smiling up at her, "Grab it." He encouraged her. She looked from him to stare at the pan and picked it up gently. Shaoran put her to the ground so she could stand and smiled down at her.

"Thank you." She said softly, still blinking at his talent for surprising her. He smiled down at her and turned to grab something, then turned back to her.

"These are clothes I got for you." Shaoran said as he pushed them into her arms. Sakura stared down at them as if they weren't real, and stared him in the eye, "That was…really unnecessary but…" Sakura's attention was on the fabrics held to her. She lightly opened the top and looked at the clothes within. She suddenly dropped it and stepped back to look up at him frightened, causing Shaoran's eyebrows to fix together in confusion.

"Forgive me," Sakura said as she lightly toughed her lips with her hand, "I've never gotten a gift before."

Kero flew to her side and said something in his opinion, "It's best to take them Sakura. The robes you're wearing now are going to be ruined to the point where you'll be forced to wear something more appropriate that doesn't show…" He paused, "Certain areas." He said as he looked to Shaoran for moral comfort.

"It's okay." Shaoran said as he pushed the clothes to her again, "You can have these. That dress you're wearing is quite shabby. It's best to change now before you loose more to that dress of yours." He smiled. Although it was nice of him to get her more clothes; it was quite flattering to see her in that shabby dress revealing more skin than other girls.

Sakura looked from staring at Shaoran to Kero. She had a blank expression and waited for Kero's approval. When Kero nodded with a smile Sakura looked back to Shaoran and gently took the fabric and stared down at it. Shaoran watched her for a while and waited for something other than the image of her staring down at the fabric he stole from his mother. His mother was a small lady, and the same size as Sakura; Shaoran felt it was safe to get her more clothes from his mother's dressing room. She wouldn't have minded, she had too many to notice.

Sakura finally lifted her head and before Shaoran had the chance to see her face it was in his chest while her arms were around his neck. It took him a second to realize what she had done and he accepted it and folded his arms around her frame in return.

"Thank you…" Sakura's mumbled voice was heard, and then her face was facing his. "For everything."

It was then that Shaoran knew she had been crying in his chest. His sympathetic look forced himself to push her head to his chest again and hugged her tighter.

-

Tomoyo pulled her hood over her head again as it slipped off once she had jumped over a log. She saw the cabin with the candle light inside flickering, indicating that someone was inside. She knew Shaoran was inside at once and moved herself to the window.

She looked inside and saw two dark figures close together in an embrace. She saw her cousins face and smiled, "So this is what you've been hiding." She whispered into the air.

Her smile grew and she watched interestedly. The couple loosened their hold on each other and looked at each other. Tomoyo's smile left as a more matured expression came to her as she saw the look in her cousin's eyes. Then her smile returned and she turned to leave.