A/N: And so we've made it to the Fall Formal :) Enjoy!

" means spoken words

Italics means thoughts

Bold italics means telepathic speaking from the arigami

Disclaimer: "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

Defying Destiny

Chapter 9: Another Side of Syaoran

"Tomoyo . . ." Sakura whined.

Tomoyo was holding up a beautiful knee-length, spaghetti strap gown made of a shimmering pastel pink fabric.

"What? You don't like it?" Tomoyo asked in confusion. "I made it just for you! I'm sure you'll look great in it."

Sakura sighed. "Of course I like it, Tomoyo, it's gorgeous. But I've told you all month that I'm not going to the dance."

"But why?! It's going to be so much fun, Sakura! Please come?"

Sakura shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, but I really don't want to go and if you're really my friend then you'll respect that, Tomoyo."

With a dejected sigh Tomoyo nodded her head. "You're right. I'm sorry I keep bugging you about it."

"It's okay."

"Well, I'm going to leave this here with you, you know, just in case you change your mind."

"Well I really doubt that's going to happen since the dance is tonight but if it makes you feel better then go ahead."

Tomoyo walked over to Sakura's closet and hung the dress up.

"You never know. I'd hate for you to change your mind then have nothing to wear. Besides, I made it for you so I want you to have it. Maybe you can wear it some other time."

"Maybe," Sakura said, not bothering to hide the doubt in her voice.

"Well, will you at least come with me and Meilin to the salon to get our hair done?"

Sakura smiled. "Sure, I'd love to hang out with you guys and help you get ready."

Tomoyo stopped her pouting immediately and hugged her newest friend. They crossed the hall to Syaoran's room and knocked on his door.

"What?" he asked when he saw the girls standing there outside his bedroom door.

"Get your coat, Syaoran! We're going out!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "Sakura's going to help Meilin and me get ready for the formal!"

Syaoran raised his eyebrows. "What, now?"

Tomoyo nodded her head eagerly.

"It's only noon! The dance isn't until 7 o'clock tonight!" he exclaimed with an exaggerated wave of his hand.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes at his naivety. "Perfection takes time, Syaoran. It doesn't just happen. Now get your coat on, time's a wasting!"

With a grumble Syaoran did as he was told and followed the girls out the door.

"Where are we going?"

"To the salon of course!" Tomoyo chirped. "Meilin and I have to go get our hair and nails done for the dance silly."

Syaoran groaned. "Not the salon again."

Sakura giggled behind her hand but stopped abruptly as Syaoran glared at her. It was going to be a long day for him.

xXxXxXx

The sun had just finished setting when Sakura and the others walked out of the salon. The dance would be starting in two hours.

"Five hours!" Syaoran bellowed. "How do you spend five hours in a salon!?"

Meilin shrugged. "Well we weren't the only ones getting our hair and nails done, Syaoran. And hair like this takes time," Meilin said with a flick of her fancy ponytail.

Syaoran growled at Meilin's indifference. It had been torture for him. All he did was sit in a chair and stare at fashion magazines the whole time as that was all there was to look at in the waiting room. He was sure this afternoon had lowered his IQ by several points.

"Hurry up, I want to go home and enjoy what's left of my evening," he complained as he stomped down the sidewalk.

The three girls hurried after their impatient team member.

"Thanks for coming, Sakura," Tomoyo smiled as she played with one of the soft curls coming from the bun situated on the back of her head.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but stopped short when her seed lit up.

"Oh great," Meilin said, immediately eyeing the street for the unwelcome guest they were about to have.

The earth began to rumble beneath their feet and seconds later a gigantic misshapen caterpillar broke through the concrete in the middle of the street. The cars driving by slammed on their breaks to avoid crashing into the monstrosity and ended up causing a severe pileup. Those that managed to avoid a wreck spun around and fled the scene in the opposite direction. Pedestrians ran, screaming, for the nearest building to hide in. The beast looked around and its eyes stopped on the T.A.C. teens before it opened its massive jaws and began spraying silk webbing in their direction. The gang split apart in an attempt to avoid being hit. Tomoyo and Meilin ended up on the other side of the street from Syaoran and Sakura.

Meilin cried out in annoyance as she pulled some sticky silk from the ends of her lengthy ebony ponytail. "Son of a bitch! I can't believe it just shot that shit all over my new hairdo!"

"Cry about your hair later, we have bigger problems to worry about!" Syaoran shouted indicating the abnormally large bug in between them.

The monster turned its head in the direction of Syaoran's voice and its beady red eyes stopped on Sakura. A rasping voice filled their heads.

You are the one! The one we need to kill in order to be free!

Sakura took a step back but stopped when her backside bumped into a car. There were several cars; all smashed together blocking her escape. With the vehicles to her back, the creature closed in on her.

You're mine, Kushinada!

The arigami opened its jaws again and more milky white silk shot out. Sakura ducked, thinking it was coming for her, but stood back up moments later when she was silk free. She watched in confusion as the bug spit its silk in a wide radius, surrounding both her and itself. Syaoran saw the dome of silk being constructed and rushed in right before it was completely closed up. Sakura didn't understand why the monster would entrap itself inside a giant dome-shaped cocoon with her. It didn't make any sense.

"I don't know what you're planning, but trapping me in a cocoon isn't going to do anything!" Sakura hissed, trying to stand strong.

A deep, cruel laugh erupted from the monster. He focused on his prey as he spoke.

This is no ordinary thread Princess Kushinada! On the contrary, it is just the thing needed to kill you. I ingested some pieces of the special ceramic crystals needed to stop your blood energy making this cocoon-

"A ceramic field . . ." Sakura finished. She was too stunned by the way her situation had changed so quickly to do more than just stand there.

Yes . . . It was rather ingenious of me, wasn't it? It let out another cruel bought of laughter. But I digress. Goodbye Kushinada, enjoy the afterlife!

The monster dove for Sakura, its bone-crushing jaws opened wide, ready to devour her. Sakura closed her eyes and tensed for the attack, but her eyes popped back open when she heard an agonizing wail. She saw Syaoran with his sword embedded in the side of the caterpillar.

"Don't just stand there, move!" he ordered.

Sakura did as she was told, and scrambled past the monster and out of its immediate range. Though she was no longer boxed in by the ruined automobiles, she couldn't get very far locked inside the dome. She hid behind a car, her head peeking over the hood to see what was going on. She watched as Syaoran repeatedly dodged and slashed at the monster. Despite all his attempts, the arigami didn't seem to be wavering in the intensity of its attacks. Syaoran narrowly dodged its pincers and rolled to the side, cursing.

"Damn it! I can't see where the seed is with all its hair!"

Without a second thought, Sakura dashed out from behind the car so she had a good view of the arigami. She stood perfectly still with her eyes closed.

"What are you doing you idiot?! Don't come closer!" Syaoran snarled as he blocked one of the caterpillar's long, bristly legs with his sword.

"Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate!" Sakura argued back, not opening her eyes.

Within seconds they opened.

"It's in its neck! Aim for its neck, Li!" she instructed.

Syaoran smirked, that was all he needed to know. With a swift leap, Syaoran landed on the roof of a smashed up car. He positioned his sword at shoulder level and sprang upward in a flash. With a powerful swing of his sharp, broad sword, he sliced cleanly through the soft flesh of the monster's throat, cracking the blue seed in the process. The monster howled and deteriorated instantly.

Syaoran stood up from his kneeling position and mopped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked Sakura as she approached him.

"Yes," she responded with a small nod of her head. She looked around at the encasing they were trapped in. "But how are we going to get out of here?"

Syaoran pulled out a small, yellow rectangular piece of paper with cursive kanji scribbled across it.

"I should be able to burn a hole through it with some of my ofudas."

Several minutes later, the pair emerged from the cocoon. Meilin and Tomoyo rushed over to them and were relieved to find them okay. Tomoyo quickly pressed a few buttons on her cell phone, canceling the alert she sent the others regarding back up.

"What are we going to do about this?" Sakura asked, gesturing at the silk dome.

"A clean up crew is already on their way to take care of it," Tomoyo replied.

"Yeah, well who's gonna take care of my hair!?" Meilin whined, pulling more of the sticky thread from her ponytail.

"I'm sure we can get that stuff out of your hair before the dance," Sakura said reassuringly.

Tomoyo smiled. "Speaking of, we need to get going. Meilin and I still have to get dressed."

While the four teenagers headed down the street for their car, a young lady with short purple hair spiked out in the back, half hidden in the evening shadows zoomed in on Sakura with her state-of-the-art camera and snapped another picture.

"This makes three," she whispered to herself. "Now I'm sure of it. That girl is tied to the arigami, and I'm going to find out how."

She tucked her camera in her messenger bag and slipped away quietly into the night.

xXxXxXx

Sakura sat on the soft, lush grass in the backyard of Fujitaka's house, her mind aimlessly wandering. With a heavy sigh she rested her chin on her knees, her arms wrapped around her shins. It had been a long day. Helping Meilin and Tomoyo get ready for the dance and fighting with the arigami had been exhausting. Suddenly someone sat down next to her. Her eyes shifted to the right and she saw Syaoran leaning back on his arms, staring out at the yard.

"What are you up to?" he asked.

Sakura shrugged. "Nothing really. Just getting some fresh air and winding down for the evening." Sakura glanced up at the few stars she could see in the deep blue sky. "I wish I could see more stars."

"Yeah, living in the city means ambient light from all the skyscrapers and ambient light means little to no stargazing."

Sakura turned to look at Syaoran. "So, what brought you out here? I'm sure it wasn't to have this stimulating conversation with me," she finished with a chuckle.

He held up his sword. "I was gonna practice a little."

Sakura rolled her eyes slightly. "Fighting with the arigami today just wasn't enough, huh?"

"Well, it's not like I have anything else to do tonight and practice makes perfect."

"You seemed pretty close to perfect today," Sakura slipped. She blushed immediately and looked away, hoping it was dark enough outside to hide it from Syaoran. "I mean with the arigami, you took care of it pretty effectively. It was an impressive display."

Syaoran coughed, his own cheeks turning a rosy color at her compliment. "Yeah well, it was a joint effort, what with you telling me where to strike it. We make a pretty good team against them."

Sakura turned back to him with a sweet smile on her face causing his cheeks to darken a shade.

"Yeah, I guess we kind of do."

Sakura took to staring out at the yard again, but Syaoran continued to look at her. Unable to take his unyielding gaze, Sakura finally turned back to him.

"What?"

"You really didn't want to go, did you?"

"Go where?" she asked in confusion.

"To the dance. I mean several guys asked you throughout the month, I saw them. And you turned every single one of them down, just like you said you would."

Sakura shifted her eyes from his face to the grass in between them.

"It was never a matter of wanting to go or not."

Now Syaoran was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't want to jeopardize someone's safety like I did Daisuke's when we went on a date. It wouldn't be fair to them. And of course I didn't want to go stag so . . ."

Syaoran understood. She didn't want to selfishly put someone else at risk. He admired her for that, but he also felt something he didn't feel often: he felt sorry for her. It was a feeling similar to the one he felt when Daisuke had run away from her like she was sick with a fatal disease that was contagious. It was a noble act, but it just didn't seem fair to her. As much as the T.A.C. wanted to find another way of obliterating the arigami, not being able to find a way was still a very real possibility and the cost of that possibility would be Sakura's life. With the weight of mankind's survival on her shoulders she deserved to have fun while she could, to be a normal teenager when she had a chance. Attending a school dance seemed like one of those chances to Syaoran.

And . . . if I can help her do that . . . then I should, shouldn't I?

After internally battling with himself for several minutes, Syaoran spoke up. "I understand. But . . . well, what if you could go with someone that wouldn't be in danger around you?"

Sakura stared at him dubiously. "Uh, in case you haven't noticed, Li, I'm kind of a monster magnet. Besides, even if there was a guy like that, the dance started a half hour ago, so it's a little late to ask him now."

"Nah, I don't think so. I know for a fact he doesn't have any plans tonight."

"How would you-" Sakura stopped short, her eyes widening. No way, he wouldn't . . . would he?

"You?? You're talking about yourself?!"

A cocky grin spread across his face. "The one and only."

"No offense, Li, but you don't strike me as the kind of guy that's into school functions."

"Hey, I joined the soccer team, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but that's different. You like physical activity and you're good at soccer."

"Dancing is a physical activity," he pointed out.

Sakura burst out laughing. "You dancing?! Now that is something I'd have to see to believe."

"Well then let's go."

Sakura's laughter died on her lips and she started at him, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "You're serious, aren't you? You're really willing to go with me?"

Syaoran shrugged. "Why not? Like I said I don't have anything going on tonight and the arigami don't pose a huge threat to me since I'm trained to fight them on a daily bases. Plus, Tomoyo already made you a dress so it's not like you don't have anything to wear. Besides, if you had decided to go I would have had to go anyway, so I might as well just escort you there myself."

When Sakura didn't respond he added, "Aren't you the one that said we should try to live as close to normal teenager as we can? Isn't that why you joined the cheerleading squad?"

"You're right. Thank you, Li, really," Sakura said with a smile.

Syaoran stood up and held out a hand to help her up. She took it and the pair headed for the house to get ready.

xXxXxXx

Tomoyo burst into a squeal of excitement the minute Sakura and Syaoran walked through the gymnasium doors in their formal attire. She made a beeline straight for them and crushed Sakura to her in a hug.

"Sakura, you came!" she exclaimed, squeezing tighter. "I kept hoping you'd change your mind, but I was really starting to think you weren't going to come!"

Sakura wiggled out of her friend's tight grasp.

"Well, you know, I didn't want this beautiful dress you made me to go to waste."

Tomoyo's eye's shined upon seeing her work of art in action on Sakura. It came out perfectly. Then she looked from Sakura to Syaoran.

"So . . . what, you came together? Like a date?"

"No, no, nothing like that, Li's just acting as an escort," Sakura responded, her cheeks flushed.

"On your date," Tomoyo reiterated.

"No, we-"

"You're here together, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then it's a date," Tomoyo grinned from ear to ear.

"It's not a date," Syaoran cut in. He knew how Tomoyo could get. "Just be happy she ended up coming," he added.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop," Tomoyo conceded.

"Saaaakkuraaa!"

Sakura turned at the sound of someone singing her name. Waving from across the room was Nakuru, her arm securely fastened to Toya's. Within seconds she dragged him across the floor to the others.

"I thought you weren't going to come?!" she cried, still holding Toya to her possessively.

"I had a change of heart," she replied as she glanced at Syaoran secretly. A small, lopsided smile appeared on his face in response.

"Oh I'm so glad," she moved her eyes to Toya, "See? It's a good thing we still came after all."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Toya grumbled. "Now that Sakura's here I'm going to go scout the perimeter to make sure everything is secure."

He started to walk but stopped after a few steps and glanced back at Sakura. "Enjoy your formal," he said gruffly, with a hint of a smile at his lips and headed off into the crowd of students.

Sakura smiled brightly.

"He acts like a hotshot, but he's really a big softy. It's why I care for him so much," Nakuru sighed lovingly, then proceeded to dance after Toya.

"I'll meet back up with you guys in a minute, I have to go take care of something," Tomoyo announced before she too headed off into the crowd.

Syaoran turned to Sakura and waved an arm out in front. "So, you ready to go enjoy your formal?"

Sakura nodded and headed into the dance, Syaoran following closely behind her.

xXxXxXx

As the night progressed, to Syaoran's surprise, he was actually having a good time and he could tell Sakura was too. Currently, he was standing by the punch table sipping from a cup as he watched the girls goof off on the dance floor. Sakura was all smiles as she spun around with Tomoyo and Meilin, and that in turn made him smile. Eventually a slower song came on and Tomoyo and Meilin were whisked away by their dates. Sakura joined Syaoran at the punch table.

"Thirsty?" he asked, noticing her rosy cheeks.

Sakura began fanning her face with her hand. "Yes, it's so hot in here."

"That's because you've been jumping around since we got here," he teased. He ladled some punch into a cup and handed it to her. She thanked him and downed the whole thing in one gulp before she set the empty Styrofoam cup down and stared at Syaoran expectantly.

Syaoran raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I believe you owe me some dancing," she replied with an evil grin.

"Alright fine," Syaoran replied, draining his punch and tossing his cup in the trash. "Let's do this."

He took Sakura by the arm gently and led her out onto the dance floor. He positioned her in front of him, gently took one of her hands in his, and placed his other arm around her waist firmly, automatically pulling her closer. He blushed slightly when he felt Sakura's supple chest press against him. He seldom got this physically close to anyone. He was definitely the type of person that preferred to have that three foot bubble of space. But . . . having Sakura invade that space wasn't really bothering him . . .

He ignored the warm feeling that began to build in his own chest and began to move her around the dance floor in harmony to the rhythm of the slow song.

Off to the side of the dance floor, Nakuru sighed as she placed her dainty hand to her chest. "Oh, look at how cute Sakura and Syaoran look."

Toya simply grunted in response. Nakuru tucked a loose strand of her long, mahogany colored hair behind her ear. She continued to fidget while Toya watched her out of the corner of his eye. After a minute of watching her, he let out a resigned sigh.

"Akizuki . . ."

She locked her butterscotch eyes with his sepia ones, her brow delicately creased in curiosity.

"Would you like to go dance?" he mumbled as he tore his eyes away from hers and stared out at the dance floor.

A sunny smile spread across Nakuru's face from ear to ear. "Oh yes, I'd love to!"

Before he could change his mind, Nakuru seized his arm and towed him towards the middle of the dance floor.

"Don't say I never do anything nice for you," Toya complained as Nakuru tugged him along. Despite his sour tone, there was a ghost of a smile on his face.

Sakura giggled as she watched Toya stumble about with Nakuru in his arms. Despite their awkward dancing, Nakuru was beaming and Toya still had that tiny grin on his face as well.

She looked up at Syaoran, flashing him a pretty smile. "I have to say, you are light on your feet," she admitted as he continued to effortlessly glide across the room with her. "I never pictured you as one for dancing."

"I'm not, this is the first time I've ever slow danced. But I do practice martial arts regularly which requires me to be 'light on my feet', and since dancing requires the same I'm just applying the same principles," he stated.

"Well regardless, you turned out to be a pretty good escort. Thank you for taking me, Li, really." Her bright emerald eyes held his intense liquid amber ones and conveyed the sincerity in her words.

No one had ever looked at Syaoran with such gratitude before and it unnerved him. Yet, he found himself tightening his hold on her and drawing her lithe form just a little closer. She really appreciated this small act he was doing for her, she really appreciated him and it felt . . . good. At that thought, Syaoran smiled, a real, genuine smile, shocking Sakura.

Since she'd met him she'd never really seen him smile. He smirked all the time, and he even let a little grin slide on his face from time to time, but he never smiled wholeheartedly like he was doing right then. He looked so alive, so carefree. He even looked rather handsome, which was an adjective Sakura didn't normally associate with Syaoran. His honest smile invoked a warm, fuzzy feeling inside her that seemed to wrap itself around her heart. His smile made her happy.

And then, in the middle of their sweet moment, a pinkish glow began to emanate from Sakura's chest and everything fell apart.

Several of the high windows on the western side of the gym shattered instantaneously, raining glass down on the students. Syaoran immediately covered Sakura to protect her from the shards pouring down on them. Though he sustained most of the damage, several piece managed to hit her anyway, tearing her dress and cutting the smooth skin of her arms. As the last of the glass crashed to the floor a figure jumped through with amazing agility and grace.

It was Yue.

Syaoran pushed Sakura behind him, attempting to keep her would-be killer away from her. Yue began to march towards them, his bare feet unfazed by the jagged glass crunching beneath them as he stalked towards his prey. Syaoran immediately released his sword and took a defensive stance. The rest of the students, scared at the sudden turn the dance had taken, began stampeding for the exits.

"I knew you'd be here," Yue sneered, his cold eyes watching Sakura. "So predictable."

He stopped in his track, his brow knitting in irritation as he saw Meilin and Toya walk up and flank Syaoran on either side while Nakuru and Eriol pulled Sakura out of the way. Tomoyo had moved off to the side of the room, her cell phone in hand, already alerting Kaho and Fujitaka of the situation that had developed. He hadn't counted on this many people being here to protect the kushinada. He realized that he was gravely out number.

He needed a new plan.

"Alright, looks like coming to this dance wasn't a waste of time after all," Toya said, pulling a gun from the inside of his suit jacket and pointing it dead on at the intruder. He eyed the blue mitamas that covered the man and leaned towards Meilin. "This wouldn't by any chance be that man with seven mitamas you guys fought a while back would it?"

Meilin lifted the hem of her dress and pulled her Berretta PX4 Storm out of the case that was strapped to her thigh. "Nothing gets past you," she replied sarcastically.

"You wanna make trouble?! Well, come on!" Syaoran shouted, itching to take a stab at Yue. He was still furious about his performance against this particular foe the last time they fought and he was hoping the outcome would be different this time.

"So anxious to lose again?" Yue replied, his tone laced with malice. Without waiting for a reply he charged at the three.

Meilin and Toya immediately let loose with their guns, firing repeatedly at the oncoming figure. Yue was able to dodge every bullet with immaculate success and within seconds he was upon them. They scattered in order to avoid the deadly swipes of the silver forearm blades that had ripped through his skin as he neared them. With the three of them split apart, he charged at Syaoran. Syaoran readied himself for the onslaught, but just as Yue reached him he veered to the right sharply. Before anyone knew what had happened, he had Tomoyo in his grasp, one of his forearm blades pressed to her soft throat.

Everyone froze immediately.

"Tomoyo!" Eriol cried, his heart hammering in his chest at the sight of his date in Yue's clutches.

Tomoyo didn't utter a sound, but she didn't have to, her eyes said everything. They were mixed with shock and fear.

"I'm afraid this situation doesn't appeal to me, so I'll be taking my leave with this one as my leverage. If you want her back, it's really rather simple. This one, for that one," he said as he fixed his eyes on Sakura. "Be at the place you call 'the pit' at noon tomorrow with the kushinada or I'll slit her pretty little snow white throat," he barked as he drew one of his blades along the flawless skin of Tomoyo's throat, drawing a thin line of crimson, to emphasize his threat.

"No, please don't hurt her!" Eriol begged, his stomach churning at the thought of Yue murdering his sweet coworker and classmate.

Sakura glanced at Eriol for a second before looking back at Tomoyo. She was upset too, but Eriol sounded absolutely devastated. She'd never seen him so distraught; he was usually so calm and collected.

"Then you'll do as I've instructed."

Finally finding her voice, Tomoyo screamed out in protest as he sprang into the air and disappeared out one of the broken windows, taking her with him. As he ran off with her, her screams faded into the night.

To be continued . . .

Next time: Chapter 10: The Loss of One. In an effort to get Tomoyo back from Yue, the T.A.C. heads to the pit as he instructed and is ambushed by the arigami. The bombs Toya and Nakuru plant around the half constructed building are the only way to win, but not without a hefty price . . .

A/N: So, Yue's back in the picture and now Tomoyo's been taken. You know the drill! Hit that nice little button at the bottom and let me know what ya think! :) Because of the lack of feedback, the next chapter is the last one for now so if ya want more you all better start to review . . .

SakuraJade