Finally! The fourth chapter! Sorry, it was a bit of a wait, wasn't it? But you guys have been really sweet in your reviews; I am so grateful. –is humbled- I think I confused some of you in my last author's note. What I meant was, when I put up the first chapter I didn't know if I'd be continuing it, but now I definitely am. So, you can stop pelting me with those threats. –wink-

Four: Onions, Promotions, and Accidents

Sakura's POV:

Chop chop chop. Sakura stared down at the onions she was chopping, blinking furiously as she tried to stop the flow of tears running out of her eyes. Why did she always have to chop the vegetables none of the other helpers wanted to? What about the "share the workload" theme? Sakura hacked at the onions viciously, taking out her annoyance on them. She knew that if she complained to the head cook, she'd only be scolded for whining.

Sakura sighed, setting the cut up pieces to the side and moving on to the next onion. She continued to slash at it for another few moments, until suddenly she felt warmth on her shoulder and turned to see that someone had place a hand there. Slowly lifting her gaze, Sakura peered up at him.

"G…good morning, L…Li!" she gasped in surprise. "What are you doing down here?" Li smiled at her, but his expression quickly turned from happy to concerned.

"Were you crying, Kinomoto?" he asked, looking worried. Sakura laughed and shook her head.

"No, I'm chopping onions, actually," she replied, smiling. Li's smile returned.

"Oh, good, you had me scared there for a second," he said with relief in his voice. The prince ran his hand through his hair and looked around.

"So, ah…this is where you work, isn't it?" Li asked after a pause.

Chop chop.

"Yes…"

"Er…it doesn't look to exciting," the prince added, rubbing his head and looking embarrassed. "I mean, you told me that it wasn't, but…"

Sakura looked over at Li, who was leaning against the table, looking uncomfortable. She suppressed a smile at how…well, lost he looked. It appeared as if he wanted to say something, but was having trouble expressing it again. She opened her mouth to ask him again why he had come, when the head cook bustled over.

"Kinomoto! Stop bothering Prince Li! Such cheek…" she exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips and looking angry. Sakura mumbled an apology and looked back down at the onions she was chopping, but Li jerked up, shaking his head vigorously.

"Nonsense, Cook. I was talking to her. Actually, I'm going to let you and all the help off for the morning. I wish to try my hand at the culinary arts," he announced loudly and firmly, making everyone in the vicinity jump. Sakura raised an eyebrow at the onion, but did not speak. In a manner of minutes the kitchen was empty except for the two of them.

"Ok, so…what do we do?" Li asked, rolling up his sleeves and looking around curiously. Sakura laughed and turned to face him, eyebrow still raised.

"You actually want to do something as dull as this?" she asked, and he nodded.

"We'll chop vegetables in style!" he said happily and whipped on one of the aprons with a flourish. "I shall make it fun by entertaining you while we slice the leeks, cut the onions, carve the carrots…or whatever other vegetables you need to prepare! Use your creative license – we'll make whatever we want."

Sakura gave him a doubtful smile, "Hmm…it sounds almost too good to be true. Well, go over there and wash your hands and I'll find you a knife to chop with…"

An hour or so later, the pair were finally finished preparing the soup recipe Sakura had chosen. Somewhere along the way, the directions had gotten confused, what with Li accidentally putting in the whole bowl of onion slices, but the soup wasn't smelling too bad, so neither said anything. Sakura couldn't help commenting on Li's head garb, however…

"Begging your pardons, but you look ridiculous in that scarf," she said merrily, waving a hand at the scarf he had over his head. Li put on a mock frown.

"You're wearing one too!" he protested, and she laughed.

"Yes, but I work here. You…well, you look out of place," Sakura replied. Li just shrugged, and leaned back against the counter.

"Where do I look in place?" he asked mildly, and she paused to think about it.

"When you're leaning against one of the trees by the river. It's when you aren't busy worrying about everything, and you look relaxed for once. Peaceful, like all you have to do is be there, and nothing more than just being," Sakura offered, and the prince nodded faintly.

"Let's go there," Li said suddenly, grabbing Sakura by the wrist and hauling her outside. Sakura blinked.

"What, now? But I have work to do…" she protested, and he snorted.

"Bother your work…ok, I've got an idea. You're removed from being kitchen help. In place of that, you'll be my royal artist…and…need something official…advisor!" Li announced, looking quite pleased with himself as they ran down the hill towards the trees.

"Can…we…slow…down?" Sakura puffed, stumbling as Li let his momentum carry them faster. The prince halted immediately, sending her crashing into him. The two careened through the trees, but they were going fast, too fast…

Splash!

Syaoran's POV:

"Whoops," Syaoran said belatedly, surfacing at the same time as a sopping wet and slightly irritated looking Kinomoto surfaced.

"You can say that again," she replied dryly, scrambling up the bank and collapsing under a tree. Syaoran followed suit, plopping down next to her.

"Er…sorry," he muttered. Kinomoto started to giggle, and then burst out laughing. Syaoran looked at her in bemusement.

"Onions, promotions, and accidents, all in one day," she choked out. "I don't know whether to be overjoyed or dismayed!"

"Be overjoyed!" Syaoran said insistently. "You've helped me out, and I want to repay you as much as I can."

Kinomoto leaned back against the tree trunk, closing her eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll be your advisor-thingy. But don't expect my advice to be very helpful…"

Syaoran smiled and stared at her in silence until she finally opened one eye, a faint red tint appearing across her cheeks when she noticed his gaze. "Are you going to stare at me all day, Li, or shall we return to the castle and get dried off?"

Syaoran bit his lip. "Get dried off, I guess…"

Tomoyo's POV:

The castle gardens were beautiful, Tomoyo noticed, as she strolled down the path. Truly, the castle itself was pleasant enough, but Tomoyo did not like being inside all of the time. And with scenery like this, who wouldn't want to be for a walk out here? It was indeed inspiring and uplifting.

"Oh…er…hello, again," Eriol said, walking out from behind a rosebush and looking embarrassed. "Fancy meeting you here…"

Tomoyo smiled. "It was such a lovely day, and I do so enjoy walking through the gardens…I never get to at home."

"Never?" Eriol asked slowly. Tomoyo nodded.

"But, it doesn't matter. All that matters is now, a time where I am blessed to be standing here. So I will not think of what I did not have, but what I have now, at this moment," she said happily, but Eriol looked concerned.

"You don't have to go back. You could stay here and marry the prince and be able to walk in these gardens every day. One day you'd even be queen and rule the kingdom, and…" he offered, but it seemed that she had already heard this many times before.

"No, no. These few months I am spending here are a gift, to be sure, but I could not marry this friend of yours. I have danced with him but once, which hardly constitutes as getting to know him much. You'd to better to ask me to marry you," she replied, appearing mildly annoyed. Eriol muttered distractedly and shook his head, though she noted his blush.

"My lady, you should not linger in the gardens much longer. I see storm clouds on the horizon," he said instead of replying. Tomoyo turned to look and saw that her friend was right.

"Very well. Care to escort me back to the castle?" she asked holding out her arm. Eriol smiled and took it, and the two made their way up the hill together…

First off: Why did I take forever to update? I currently have three other chaptered stories going and plenty of schoolwork, and I've been trying to get everything done, but I can only do so much. I added a little Tomoyo/Eriol-ness for your enjoyment. I have a rather…different approach to writing them than I do with Sakura and Syaoran. But anyway, I hope nobody minds the shortness of the chapter, but I really didn't want to wait any longer to post this.