Chapter 9 ups and downs

Shaoran woke up in the middle of the night to find Sakura shuffling in her place and she groaning painfully. He opened his eyes and saw her breathing heavily.

"Sakura, what's wrong?"

"I'm not feeling so well…" she said and removed the blanket off her. Shaoran placed a caring hand on her forehead and was surprised to find it warmer than usual.

"Looks like you have a fever. You should lie down." he said and got off the couch but Sakura got up and walked to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. Before he could react, Sakura moaned slightly and fell to the ground.

"Sakura!" he yelled and rushed to her aid. He flipped her over and shook her slightly.

"Sakura! Are you okay?"

She moaned slightly and opened her eyes.

"Shaoran…" she said.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded and he smiled warmly.

"Good. Let me help you up…" he said and helped her to her feet and back down to the couch. He went to the faucet and got her a glass of water and she drank up. She laid down on the couch and Shaoran tucked her in nicely with the blanket to keep her body warm..

"Comfy?" he asked.

"Quite." She said.

"Good." He replied, took a rag, rinsed it with cold water, and placed it on her forehead. Then, he took a thermometer and placed it in her mouth. When it beeped, he took out to inspect the temperature.

"38.7 degrees. It's rather high." He said and sighed.

"So much for going to the movies tomorrow…" she said and he smiled.

"Hey, if not going to the movies tomorrow means I get to spend the day with you, I'm cool with that…" he said and she smiled but was then overtaken by a wave of coughing. Shaoran flipped the rag over her forehead and got her some medicine. Once she took it, she relaxed a bit and soon fell asleep. Shaoran sighed tiredly and looked at his watch. It was midnight. He took out an extra blanket, went to sleep on the other couch next to the one Sakura was sleeping in, and was out like a light.

Some hours later, Shaoran was woken up by the sound of crying. He opened his eyes to find Sakura crying in her sleep. She was mumbling things like

"No… no…"

And,

"Kero Chan… Shaoran Kun… Onii Chan… Dad… Tomoyo Chan…"

Shaoran woke her up in a hurry. He shook her slightly.

"Sakura wake up." she wouldn't wake.

"Rika Chan… Chihero Chan… Naoko Chan…" she mumbled.

"Sakura, it's alright. It's just a dream… it's a dream…"

Sakura was no groaning painfully in her sleep. Realizing he wouldn't be able to wake her up from her nightmare Shaoran tried a different approach. He sat down beside her, brought her into a hug, and tried to sooth her back to peacefulness. He rubbed the back of her head as she cried in her sleep, dreaming of losing or re losing her loved ones…

"Shh…" he soothed her as she cried.

"Shh…" he whispered again as she slowly calmed down and was peaceful again in his arms as she continued to sleep. Before long, Sakura's fever went down and Shaoran was asleep once again.

While the young couple slept, Kero Chan observed them from Sakura's bedroom and smiled. How much Sakura cared about him and her friends and family really touched him. So he decided to do something for her in return. He flew out her window and towards the park. When he found a white Lily flower, he picked it using his teeth and brought it back to the apartment. Once there, he placed the flower next to Sakura and smiled happily to himself. Then he lay back down on the wall off the couch and went straight back to sleep.

The next morning, Sakura woke up feeling as good as new. She smiled as she inhaled Shaoran's scent. After a while, his eyes flickered and he woke up and looked at her.

"Hey Sakura. How do you feel?"

"Never better. Thanks for last night."

He smiled and kissed her briefly on the lips.

"You're welcome." He said and they separated. It was then that Sakura noticed the flower. She smiled warmly and picked it up.

"Thanks for the flower Shaoran."

"Flower?" he asked and turned around to look at her.

"You didn't give me a flower?" she asked, slightly surprised.

"No…"

"Then who?..." she trailed off and looked around to find Kero sleeping peacefully on the couch and then she understood. She smiled at him.

"Thanks Kero Chan…" she said and rubbed his paw a little bit and gave him a small kiss on his head. Then the two kids ate breakfast, only to be joined later by the little guardian of the cards…

To be continued…

Well there it is. Once again, it was mostly ad libbed.

Anyway, I hope you liked it.

Reviews are most welcome…

Peace out…