Thank you so much for all your tolerable patience! I know, I'm a terrible, terrible person and I apologize to every single one of you! Thank you for sticking with me still, you are the best!

And just so last chapter didn't confuse anyone, when I wrote 'Syaoran's fading back' I didn't mean he was literally fading as in disappearing, you know when someone walks away from you, and they get smaller and smaller like they're disappearing? That's what I meant! I'm sorry if I confused any of you.

Story: See to Believe

Author: hugsxkisses

Summary:

Pairings: Sakura/Syaoran Tomoyo/Eriol

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura, it belongs to CLAMP. There are references in this story that refers to a real series, 'The Mediator' by Meg Cabot, the prequel to this story 'Invisible' was also based on that series.


Chapter 4: 7th anniversary


It turned out that neither Fujitaka nor Touya came back home until well into the night, around 11:00 pm after a full out tour of the city, led by the one and only, youngest Li siblings, Fanren. Sakura and Syaoran were both snuggled in their basement, watching a movie in their home theatre, Sakura in one of Syaoran's large t-shirts and her own pair of white shorts, and Syaoran in a wife beater and green cotton pants when Fujitaka had walked down to their basement. Sakura craned her neck to look sideways, moving away from her comfortable position on Syaoran's chest,

"Otou-san, you're back," Sakura giggled, Syaoran paused the movie, and turned on the lamp next to them, lighting the room, even Syaoran had to stifle back a laugh-though Sakura wasn't as successful, Touya stood behind his father, his dark grey hair ruffled, his shirt wrinkled and his face looking as if he hadn't slept in days,

"Onii-chan, you look you… well I can't really see the difference," Sakura joked, earning a glare from her older brother, Syaoran lightly glared down at her,

"What she means is… you look very… less nice than normal," Syaoran coughed, a bad attempt to hold in a laugh.

"Don't think you're married to my sister I can't kick your ass all the way back to Japan," Touya said dangerously, Syaoran bared his fangs, his amber eyes blaring,

"I'd like to see you try," he replied, Sakura laughed,

"Boys, behave," she said, looking to her husband and then her older brother, "So Otou-san, how was the tour?"

"It was amazing, Hong Kong is a beautiful place, come to think of it… I haven't been back in a long time," Fujitaka said thoughtfully, "The last time I came… was when I came to purpose to your mother, she was just out of university, and I was just finished one of my digs," Sakura smiled emerald eyes gleaming with the memory of her mom, Fujitaka landed his eyes on his daughter,

"And now, I'm back again with my beautiful married daughter," Fujitaka said softly, Sakura sniffed, stepping out of Syaoran's arms and going to hug her dad,

"I'm glad you're here," Sakura whispered, Fujitaka hugged her back, running his hand down the length of her hair, Syaoran smiled at the daughter and father, the movie forgotten, come to think of it… it was already mid March…

"Oh Otou-san, you should go up and shower," Sakura said as an afterthought, she gave a glance at the glowing TV, and Syaoran gave a shrug,

"We'll finish it tomorrow, it's getting late anyways, and we have to meet with mother tomorrow," Syaoran reminded, Sakura groaned,

"Oh sh-" Sakura gave a pause, feeling the stern gaze of her father, and smiled sheepishly, "I mean oh shoot you're right, I've got to go pick out what to wear, night Otou-san, Onii-chan, Xiao Lang you need to pick out what to wear too," Sakura added sternly, Syaoran groaned,

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with what I wear," Syaoran commented, feeling the knowing smirk on Touya's face and the amused smile on his father-in-law's, Sakura rolled her eyes,

"Right and there's absolutely nothing wrong with your laundry washing skills three years ago either," she smirked, Fujitaka and Touya looked at the two couple, Syaoran coughed,

"I wasn't what you would call a stay at home man back then," Syaoran covered, all the while sending a glare at his oh so kind wife by the stairs, she winked at him, before laughing while skipping her way up the stairs,

"Is she always this perky at night," Touya asked dryly, and surprisingly, both father and husband said,

"You have no idea," they could hear Sakura scoff indignantly upstairs, before chuckling, the three men walking up the stairs and closing the lights. Syaoran coughed awkwardly, it was now or never…

"Err… Touya…Fujitaka-san," he coughed slightly, "Can I… talk to you for a second?", the three men entered the corridor leading from the kitchen to the long stair case, both addressed males turned around, Fujitaka smiling at Syaoran's awkwardness, and Touya ready to send Syaoran to life's 'next great adventure'.

"I thought we've been over this," Fujitaka said with a small amount of scolding in his voice, Syaoran sweat dropped, and chuckled nervously,

"Err… right… Dad…" he coughed, Fujitaka smiled in approval, yep this was going to need some time to get use to, "Anyways… I was just thinking-"

"That's a first," Touya said dryly, Syaoran promptly ignored his comment, though he did let slip a satisfied smirk when his dad gave a glare to his brother in law,

"It's mid March right now… and in half a month, it'll be April, and it's Sakura's birthday, and I know she wants to spend it with you since we haven't been able to invite you the last three years… with the company and stuff… and I just wanted to know if you wouldn't mind staying for a few more weeks," Syaoran suggested his idea, Fujitaka looked thoughtful,

"I think you have a wonderful idea Syaoran," Fujitaka said, but then his face dropped, "But we've only bought tickets for the next couple of days, and I don't think we can afford to come back, since it is getting hotter," Syaoran grinned,

"Oh that' wouldn't matter, I can pay for your tickets, and well, it's a surprise thing, so if you could pretend to leave, I can arrange for a hotel, or maybe you can stay with my mother's or one of my sisters-" Touya's shudder interrupted Syaoran's sentence, "Or maybe just my mother's," Syaoran corrected, Fujitaka chuckled,

"Well you seem to have everything all planned, out, all I can see is we'd love to stay," Fujitaka said happily, Syaoran smiled,

"Great, then I'll just-"

"HOE, Xiao Lang there's a spider in the closet!!" Sakura shrieked upstairs, all three of them-husband, father and brother- sweat dropped silently as their gazes strayed up the stairs, "SYAORAN!!"

"Uh, right, um I guess I've got to go, but I'll have things prepared, good night," Syaoran said politely, before going up the stairs, where Sakura's shrieks seemed to be getting more and more frequent. Fujitaka eyed the man,

"He's a good person," he mumbled seemingly to himself, Touya scoffed,

"That's what you all say," Touya said haughtily, making his way up the stairs as well, Fujitaka chuckled at his son,

"Touya, there's nothing wrong with Syaoran, he and Sakura are getting along just fine, it's like they've known each other for longer than three years," Fujitaka praised kindly, Touya rolled his eyes,

"You have no idea,"


Syaoran got into their room, and closed the door, before finding Sakura on the bed, her feet off the ground, and staring menacingly at the opened walk in closet, he chuckled,

"I seriously don't understand how you can fight ghosts-go back in time and to other parallel universes… but you're scared of spiders?" Syaoran laughed amusedly leaning his shoulder against the wall, arm crossed,

"No, I'm scared of ghosts too!" Sakura fought back, "But if I can live with you-alive or dead- then I can probably deal with any other ghosts… and besides, you don't have eight furry legs now go!!" she whined, pointing him towards the closet, not wanting to touch the floor. Syaoran shook his head and sighed, walking into the closet and spinning around in circles and circles right in front of her,

"I don't see anything," he said after probably five circles, Sakura shook her head,

"No, it was there," she insisted, Syaoran rolled his eyes,

"Sakura, do you really expect it to stay where it was after you screamed your head off?" he asked sceptically. Sakura glared at him, looking the other way, then he smirked, "Wait… what's that on your pillow?" he said, scrutinizing her pillow with narrowed eyes, Sakura squeaked, jumping off the bed and scrambling behind him, the next thing she knew, Syaoran had dropped onto the bed she had just jumped off of, and was laughing his head off,

"Li Syaoran!" she yelled angrily, the 23 year old wife slapped her husband on his shoulder, glaring at him,

"Li Sakura that hurt!" he laughed, sitting up and her standing, glaring at him with all her strength, the two stared at each other, neither one blinking, determined to win the contest, then, Syaoran went cross eyed, and Sakura burst out laughing,

"Not fair!" she cried, pouting like a little kid, Syaoran chuckled, and stood up and hugged her,

"Aw, I love you," he cooed, pushing back and grinning triumphantly down at her, Sakura looked up,

"I love you too," she said in a sweet voice, "But I'd love you more if you didn't make me jump off our bed," she huffed, and walked to the washroom and shut the door. Syaoran chuckled, and fell back onto the bed,

"She will be the death of me some day," he mumbled, closing his eyes, he opened the corner of his eyes, and saw a tiny moving dot on the closet door, "So there was a spider…"

-

-

At night, the streets of Hong Kong continued to spring with life as people walked around the neon lit streets, chatting with friends about the hard day at work, how brutal their boss was, and wondering whether or not the new secretary was dating anyone or not. Inside Sakura and Syaoran's house, all was quiet, as all the maids and butlers were either at home or asleep in their own rooms in the house, the guests in their own rooms door closed, and the master and mistress of the house also in their own room, fast asleep in each other's arms.

The moon light filtered past their closed drapes, leaving small rays of white light to drift into the room, lighting up bits and pieces of the corners. By the corner of the bed, a dark corner remained unlit and dim. Slowly, something began to drip down the white walls, pooling at the floor of the corner, growing ever larger, as the last few drops joined the pool, it began to move, like a slug, towards the bed… towards the side where a sleeping auburn laid. Up it climbed, up the wooden bed post, looming over her sleeping body. Then, drip by drip, it landed on her soft shoulder, sliding down her arms.

In her dreams, Sakura felt cold, she was in a forest, a brightly lit forest that was warm, when suddenly, and the sun disappeared, covered by a sudden drift of dark angry clouds, blocking all sunlight. The trees and flowers wilted the leaves and petals falling off, leaving bare stems and branches. The river stopped flowing, covered and frozen with ice, and when she whirled around, Syaoran began to disappear, teeth chattering, and dressed in nothing but her night gown she called out to him,

"Sy-Syaoran… Syao…Syaoran…" it came out as barely a whisper, cold and shivering, she sank down onto the ground, arms wrapped around her body.

"Syao…Syaoran…" Sakura whispered into the night, Syaoran grunted, stirring in his sleep. His eyes lazily opened, blinking to adjust to the dark, Sakura was writhing beside him, her eyes tightly shut and her arms around her upper body.

"Sakura?" he called out groggily, he touched her arm, and immediately shrunk back, wide awake, he flicked on the bed lamp, and nearly fell out of bed. Dark, thick, black liquid like substances ran down his wife's arm, and his eyes widened seeing some of them begin to disappear, "Sakura!" he called loudly, not wanting to waste a single second, with his bare hands, he tried to wipe the slime off her arm, but they kept coming back!

"Sakura wake up!" he called loudly, kneeling on his bed, desperate to get the thing off, his heart pounded harder than before as fear gripped him… fear he hadn't felt in over three years, "Sakura!" he yelled, and a familiar sensation filled him, as if something within him snapped, like a dam holding too much water, breaking and allowing the water to spill and flood over his entire insides. As if his entire insides burst with a flame that coursed through his body, it flared out in all directions, and out of his body, surrounding himself in a bright green glow. Almost immediately, the black substance vanished from her skin, an eerie shadow appearing only a second above her sleeping body, before it too disappeared.

"Syaoran…" Sakura slowly awakened, turning over, and seeing her wide awake husband kneeling beside her, his eyes wide and his breathing in short gasps, "Syaoran! What's wrong?" she gasped, sitting up, and feeling his forehead,

"I… Sakura did you feel that?" he asked her seriously, she gulped, the cold… darkness that disappeared as soon as she felt his touch?

"Feel… what?" she asked cautiously, she gently touched Syaoran's arms, and felt a warm presence, something that had nothing to do with his body heat. "Syaoran?"

"I… nothing, go back to sleep… we don't want to look dead tomorrow morning," he let out a small smile, sinking back into the bed, Sakura nodded mutely, watching his close his lamp before she too sank back onto the bed, his back was facing her, and she knew as much as he wanted her to think he had fallen asleep, she could hear his uneven breathing, he was as wide awake as ever, slowly, she moved herself up to him, and pressed herself against his back, wrapping her arms around his torso, and Syaoran instantly relaxed against her, his breathing slowing down, slowly, he turned himself around so that he was facing her.

Smiling softly, Sakura moved in closer until her head lay against his chest, his arms tucked securely around her waist and his chin on top of her head, smoothly, his hands ran up and down her back, until she went completely limp, her breathing even and asleep. Syaoran, how ever, continued to stay awake, his right hand trailed up, and ran a finger across the arm that had been covered with…something just a few minutes ago, he could still feel it, the freezing touch that was left on her arm, it wasn't as cold anymore, and he could barely feel it, but it was still there, he tightened his hold around her,

"I can't let anything happen to you…not again. I won't let it." He vowed silently.


The next morning, Sakura was in the closet-after waking up on top of Syaoran, their position having switched last night, and then waking him up to make sure nothing with more than two legs was in the closet, before going to wash her face and change. She came out of the closet in a sleeveless shirt, denim capris and her long auburn hair half tied. Syaoran was sitting on the bed, putting his socks on in an outfit personally hand picked by Sakura, a dark blue blouse, the top two buttons opened, and dark blue jeans, she had about given up on his hair a year ago.

"Ready?" she smiled, Syaoran grinned, nodding as she grabbed her bag and walked out of the room, her dad and brother-as always-already downstairs and waiting for them,

"Ohayou Otou-san, Onii-chan, Wei," Sakura greeted,

"Morning," Syaoran also said, Fujitaka smiled, but Touya just scowled,

"Hey Kaijuu," Touya called, getting a glare from her, "What's that on your arm?" Sakura and Syaoran looked down on her arm, and saw a thin line of red going from her shoulder to her elbow, their minds immediately flashed back to last night,

"I got scratched," Sakura made up

"She bumped into something," Syaoran said at the same time, the couple look at each other,

"She got scratched," Syaoran corrected,

"I bumped into something," Sakura said, again the two were in unison, blushing, Sakura coughed,

"I got scratched from bumping into…something," she replied weakly, Fujitaka and Touya looked between the two as they stood there awkwardly,

"Syaoran-sama, Sakura-san, the car is ready," Wei came into the kitchen, Sakura and Syaoran snapped into attention,

"Great timing Wei," Syaoran silently thanked, "Well, mother is waiting, shall we?" he offered, leading the way, Sakura fell in step quickly, leaving the father and brother following slowly behind,

"We've got to talk," Sakura mumbled, Syaoran nodded,

"With Eriol, tonight, screw training for one night we need to talk," he replied, Sakura nodded, this time agreeing to skip training, which was rare considering the last time he wanted her to skip training, it was because he had to take care of the twins, and had no idea how to stop them from crying,

"Let's just go, Eriol's going to be there," Sakura muttered,

-

-

The couple plus Fujitaka and Touya all arrived at Yelen's house at around 10 in the morning. Closing the car door and walking up the stone steps, the door swung opened before Syaoran could ring the door bell, and Yelen Li, a slender Chinese woman, with skin a pure and white as the moonlight, and hair as dark as the midnight sky.

"Sakura, Xiao Lang, you're here," Yelen beamed, hugging her daughter in law and her son,

"I still think you have radar around the house, you seem to know it's me every time," Syaoran teased, hugging his mother and kissing her on the cheek, Yelen smiled,

"The married life suits you my son, you're learning how to smile," Yelen said, Syaoran mockingly glared at her, "Sakura you're training him well," she added, winking to her, Sakura giggled,

"Yea, he's turning out to be a hard case though," she giggled, Syaoran glared at her, crossing his arms across his chest in defeat, "Oh Yelen, you remember my father and brother from our wedding," Sakura added, stepping aside, Yelen smiled,

"Of course, Fujitaka-san, Touya, it's wonderful to see you again," Yelen greeted warmly,

"Thank you for inviting us, I hope Sakura hasn't been too much of a hassle," Fujitaka smiled, Sakura pouted,

"Otou-san, for your information I am very well behaved," Sakura said proudly, Syaoran coughed, though it sounded like a 'not true' to most people and it seemed as though Sakura thought so too, as she delivered her well practiced art of gracing Syaoran's foot with a stomp from her own. The Kinomoto/Li family was invited into Yelen's home with Yelen and Fujitaka chuckling merrily, Touya as though he had won a lottery ticket and smirking satisfyingly as Syaoran limped through the door with his wife behind him, grinning.

The family had a surprisingly pleasant dinner, yes, even Touya and Syaoran managed to eat with one another without shooting dry comments to one another… probably because Syaoran was afraid of his mother, and Touya was afraid of his sister's constant kick to his shins. Eriol, who arrived just in time for breakfast-he apologized 'sincerely' for not being there for the cooking part, joined the group, and then excused himself due to 'a stomach ache' when they were collecting the dishes.

"Eriol, always skipping out on the dishes," Sakura rolled her eyes as she and Yelen stood in the sink, Sakura washing and Yelen rinsing.

"Yes, he's been doing that since he and Syaoran were around 6 years old," Yelen chuckled, Sakura giggled,

"Yep, sounds like them," she agreed, hearing his name, Syaoran popped into the kitchen,

"Either one of you called?" he asked, Sakura smirked,

"Yea, come on hubby dearest, and help dry the dishes," she laughed, throwing a towel at him, he scowled, slumping over with the long dish cloth at hand, and picking up a wet bowl,

"You've got to teach me how to do that one day," Yelen laughed, Sakura nodded,

"It's easy, I'm not his mother," Sakura laughed. The three of them joked for a while, cleaning the dishes, when Sakura's right arm started to give a stinging pain, she gasped, dropping the dish filled with suds onto the floor, crashing into tiny little pieces upon collision.

"Sakura," Syaoran called, he dropped his towel, and rushed by her side, Sakura gripped her right arm, the thin line appearing to become redder each second, "Sakura, what's wrong?"

"I-I… I'm sorry, my hand just slipped, sorry," Sakura stuttered, she bent down to pick the broken glasses, "Ow!" she gasped, the piece of glass slipped her hands, cutting a light cut onto her finger which slowly began to fill with a thin line of blood,

"Oh dear, Sakura, leave it, we'll pick it up later, Syaoran take Sakura into the living room, I'll get a band aid," Yelen said hurriedly, ushering the two out of the room, Fujitaka, Touya and Eriol-who had just came out of the washroom- were sitting on the sofas, having a small conversation when the two joined them,

"Sakura, what happened?" Eriol asked, standing up and offering them his seat,

"It's nothing, I just got cut that's all," Sakura mumbled, sitting down with Syaoran gentling holding her maimed hand, Fujitaka stood up worriedly,

"I'm going to go help Yelen-san, we need to cover that up, Sakura, you need to wash it so it doesn't get infected," he ordered, Sakura nodded, about to stand up,

"Touya, go and help my mom too," Syaoran suddenly said, Touya looked at him as if he was crazy, and he was about to say something when Syaoran interrupted, "My mom might need help," he said pointedly, grumbling, Touya left with his father, leaving Eriol Syaoran and Sakura in the room. "Sakura sit," he ordered, she sat. Holding her hand, he gave a meaningful look at Eriol, who understood and leaned back,

"Syaoran…" Sakura muttered, Syaoran shook his head, closing his eyes, he raised his left hand over her right one, and focused, remembering all the times he had seen Sakura do it, trying to channel and focus her powers,

"Please let this work, please," he begged in his mind, a warmth began to stir from his guts, like a whirlwind it began to sway, until suddenly, it reached his heart and as if it was wolf rearing its head, the power burst forth, through his hands, and a sharp green glow surrounding Sakura's hand, then in an instant, the cut was gone.

Sakura's eyes had widened in shock, and Eriol's face, though he was slightly shocked, nodded as though he had expected it,

"Syaoran you…you're a…" Sakura stuttered,

"A Mediator, just like you." Eriol said, "From what I can tell, it is probably because his soul is the ghost that you met, and because you two met, and had changed the future, and gotten married, he probably got a shock of your power as well," Eriol explained, Syaoran stayed silent,

"I'm a mediator… so I can see…ghosts…" Syaoran thought to himself, he looked at Sakura, and she looked at him, neither of them said anything… until Sakura let out a pained groan, clutching her right arm once again, "Sakura?" Syaoran gasped,

"My arm, it, it hurts," Sakura whimpered, her knuckles turning white,

"Sakura!" Eriol shouted, in front of them, a swirling shadow appeared before them, Sakura cried out, the black substance Syaoran saw disappear into her arm began to appear on her cut, and then like a tornado, was absorbed into the swirling cloud,

"I will be back, to take my revenge, on the day of your 7th anniversary of your awakened powers," the eerie voice bounced off the walls and shelves, Syaoran stood up and in front of Sakura protectively, his fangs bared and his aura pulsing,

"You touch one hair on her head, and you'll wish to be back in hell where you belong," he growled, the cloud did not reply him, only slowly vanishing; the pain in Sakura's arm was also disappearing. Syaoran turned around, in time to catch her from falling.


A/N: My longest chapter yet, again, I am really sorry about such a late update, hopefully I'll be able to get back to my schedule. Reviews are welcomed (:

Oh, by the way, Eriol's explanation on why Syaoran's a mediator, that was also based on the last series of 'The Mediator' called 'Twilight' so I do not own that, it belongs to Meg Cabot.