Author's Note: How are you guys? Right now I should be cleaning up the house, not sitting on the computer and trying to fix everything with this chapter. However, with all the reviews, I just can't but help update. Thanks for all the reviews!! They really helped me out. Also, thanks to the people who have pointed out some mistakes with this story and gave me tips! ) Critique anyone? Love to hear it!

Thank you to my beta, Star Muse!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura.

Last Chapter:

Sakura smiled. She was glad that she had her friends. They were very close to each other. It would be a lot harder for her if she didn't have anyone to talk to. At least they helped her keep her mind off of the thoughts about Yue, Kero, and the rest of her family. One thought did run through her head though. "If those guys talking by the tree were saying the truth then Kero and Yue are both having a treaty or an agreement with the king and queen… What agreement? Why? Why aren't they telling me anything? How come they are here? Do my parents even know about this? So many things... What's the truth?"

End of Last Chaptero

"…That's what we are doing for the contest. Good luck," explained the lady that was standing in the big room. The glass walls let the sunlight shine through, warming up the room filled with people. Sakura sighed silently, closing her eyes for a split second before she reopened them.

They were numbered off and they would each have different instructor. She slowly made her way through the people to get to her group and made it last in the line. As everyone settled down and the chatter stopped, Sakura looked around the room, spotting her friends in a different group. The instructor suddenly spoke, making Sakura turn her attention back to her.

"Alright, for this section you will walk across the room with a book on your head. Make sure the book does not fall. If it does, go back to then end of the line. If it doesn't, I will continue to pile books on your head and see how many you can balance. If you can make it up to 5 books, form a line next to the ones who failed or didn't go. Those in that new line will pass to the second level. Those who can't have to stay at the first level. You may not touch the books to keep them on your head. Also, if you walk gracefully, I will add points. We will begin."

The nervous girls went one by one as Sakura started her train of thoughts, barely paying attention to anything else that was going on around her. "Another test… Really… I don't want to do my best for this contest. I just want to fail everything so I can go back home. But… This isn't a disqualification contest. I can't get disqualified if I fail a level or anything. No matter what, even if I do horribly, I have to stay here. I would be disobeying orders if I did leave without permission. The only way for me to get disqualified would be if… if I did something horrible or broke the laws or the rules for this contest. My family would be even more upset if I did that."

What could she do? Her brain kept thinking.

"There really is no way to get out of this contest, so there is no use thinking about it. But… should I try my best? Should I? Or should I fail completely? What should I do? I have so much going on and I'm just so confused. I still haven't gotten any letters and Kero and Yue… Stop it!" she scolded herself harshly in her mind, trying not to think that much anymore. "Why can't I just stop worrying about these things? The problems are so little compared to everything else that is going on in this world, yet… I'm… Should I? Should I try my best? Is that the right thing to do?" Her mind kept going on and on, debating whether or not to try her best.

Then she remembered her family, her cousins… They had all told her to do her best. "Maybe I should try my best. Everyone told me to do that... I guess I should. There are a million girls here. There is no way that I would win even if I tried so I will be fine. Nothing will happen. Everything will be alright. My family wanted me to try my best… So that is what I'm going to do," she rambled.

She finally made up her decision, to try her best in the contest. After all, she wouldn't lose anything. Her eyes focused on the contest. Though she was distracted with her thoughts and feelings, she was paying attention so she knew what was going on.

Some woman weren't able to carry even one across the room. Others made it to two or three, then failed. Some were able to balance 5 books. Finally, it was Sakura's turn. The instructor placed a book on Sakura's head. Walking back and forth, she easily passed the first round.

The instructor spoke to her as soon as she placed the 2nd book on Sakura's head. "My, my, you walk very gracefully, almost like the queen."

Sakura smiled at the compliment and thanked her, earning glares from many of the fellow contestants. She easily aced the rest of the rounds and she was promoted to level two.

The main lady in charge paused all the activities. "I believe everyone is done. Please assemble in your new groups. We will give you a few minutes to relax after that." She repeated the instructions that she said before and everyone headed off to their new assigned places in the room. There were a few instructors who still helped everyone with the first level and a few who took care of the second level. Walking toward her instructor, she saw that all her friends were in the second level too. Miyu was in her group while Sora and Hikari were in a different one.

"Hey Miyu!" said Sakura happily.

Miyu smiled back joyously the second she saw her friend. "Hey to you too! I'm glad to see that you passed the first round too. Are you nervous?"

,"Eh… Kind of. I guess? I don't know. I'm actually not that nervous," confessed Sakura.

"You aren't?" asked Miyu. "Just about half the girls in this room are. Being nervous and all that, wondering if they have a chance to be chosen as the future queen and the bride of the prince. I have to say, I'm really surprised that they picked this way for a bride to be chosen. Not that it's bad but it's really surprising…" blabbered Miyu happily, talking on and on.

Sakura smiled. It was just like Miyu to be all hyper and such. She was easily happy, mad, excited, and sad. She had her times when she got really shy but she was very energetic just like Sora. Sora was a little bit more tomboyish and sporty though. Hikari seemed to be a quiet elegant girl.

"Anyways, how are you?"

Sakura blinked at the sudden question. "Good, how are you?"

"Awesome! By the way, I'm very curious, who exactly were those guys from this morning? Were they really your cousins?"

"Yep! We look kind of different, don't we?"

"I can see the similarities. I mean, they are really gorgeous and you are really pretty too!"

Sakura let a small blush rise on her cheeks. "Um… Thanks. You are really pretty too, Miyu," she complimented. She changed the subject. "So how's life for you?" asked Sakura after the blush faded from her cheeks.

"I'm really happy! I got the reply from my family! Finally! It took forever! I didn't know if the mail I sent was lost on the way or something like that."

The new instructor suddenly spoke, hushing everyone. Everyone paid attention, hoping desperately that they would win the round and become a candidate for the future queen. "Alright, for the second round, we will be doing the same thing as the first round. However, there will be three books on each of your hands while this happens. For the first round, you will walk across the room with a book on your head. For the second round, we will place an additional book on your left hand. You will walk across the room and back. For the round after that, we will take off the book on your left hand and place it on your right hand. The book on your head will not be moved. Walk across and back again. That will be your warm up. After all of that, we will be placing a book on your head, a book on your left hand, and a book on your right hand. Walk across and back. From then on, we will keep piling books on until we reach to 4 books. If you pass, you will qualify for the 3rd round. The same rules will apply. We will begin…"

Just then the large doors to the room opened. The prince, Eriol, Tomoyo, the Li sisters, the king, and the queen all stepped in.

"I'm sorry for interrupting anything. We would just like to see how everything is going," said Yelan, addressing to the whole group of people. "Please continue."

The person in control of the contest going on walked over to get out chairs while the rest of the women in the room continued the contest. The air was tenser with the royal family in the room. Each one of them wanted to impress the royals. Being seated, Tomoyo looked around the room as the first person in each group started walking across the room.

Everything was going orderly. There were people who failed the level and others that passed. Sakura easily aced the level. She easily walked through everything and earned praise again. Many of the women in the room glared fiercely at her for getting all the attention. Trying her best to ignore then, Sakura wished Miyu good luck and went to the other line, waiting for everyone to finish. Miyu walked through everything, barely making it to the next level when she almost lost her balance. Miyu got in line, right behind Sakura and released a sigh of relief.

"I thought I was going to fail! It would have been bad too! I only had a few steps to take before I could finish the level. If I lost my balance there… Ooo! That would be have bad!" said Miyu nervously. She was so glad she made it to the next level. She rambled on and on, her heart still beating fast.

Sakura smiled after calming Miyu down. Miyu was always Miyu. She was a great friend. Always there for her, always ready to make her laugh, always there to come to her defense… Sora and Hikari too… For a moment, Sakura forgot about her worries and thought about how lucky she was to have friends like them.

Living back in her town was very lonely. She had her family to talk with and all that but she didn't really have much time to spare for making friends and spending times with them. Instead, she worked everyday, making sure that her parents lived comfortably. After all, they were really, really important to her. Remembering her days back then, it seemed so long ago.

She shivered as she thought of her experiences in the restaurant that she worked in.

"Hey Sakura, are you okay?" asked Miyu suddenly, concerned.

Sakura smiled and nodded her head.

"Alright, if you need anyone to talk to, feel free to come find me. You kind of looked… disgusted and sad and then you shivered so…" Miyu trailed off.

"I'm fine. Nothing happened. Thanks for the offer though. I'll remember that and find you if I need someone to talk to," spoke Sakura, smiling. "I highly doubt I need to though. I'm a really happy girl," said Sakura, lying.

Miyu smiled. "You sure are! Always smiling and being all positive." Miyu paid attention to the girls in front as Sakura went back to her thoughts, turning her head away so the Miyu couldn't see her face.

She went back to her thoughts. Those thoughts about working in the restaurant. Her boss was a very… bossy person. She was really strict and mean. Sakura really didn't enjoy being around her. Nor did she like seeing her boss bullying someone around. And then… those guys that ate there. They were very… rude and loud… and disgusting… and… She just didn't appreciate the comments they threw at her all day. It just unnerved her. She found her own way around it though. Working there for a long time, she knew what to do and how to avoid those situations or get out of them.

Being in the castle and being treated so well, she felt like a princess or a noble. She had forgotten those days of working. She felt like she was little again. So innocent, so pure, so ignorant to those problems around you. So…

Money… That was an issue that just had suddenly came to her mind. She didn't know where the thought had suddenly come from. It just kind of popped into her mind. She saved up enough money for her family to survive quite a while without her. She was sure that if they used it wisely and if the took care of the vegetable garden, they would have enough money to last almost a year. Just almost. They probably needed just a tiny bit more money. Sakura was deciding that during Christmas, she would be able to go back and go to work to save up some money for her family. But… she hadn't even had any contact with them since she came to the contest.

"Mom, dad, Touya, Kaho… I've written you a million letters yet I didn't even get one reply… Why? Did my letter get lost? Did your reply get lost? But Miyu received her letter… Maybe her mail was delivered by a different person? Maybe the person that delivered my mail lost it and the person who delivered hers didn't. You've written to me right? You didn't forget all about me right? And Kero… Yue… I can't stop thinking about them and why they are here. AHH!! STOP!! I need to quit worrying about them. I need to stop. Nothing's wrong. Everything is the same. They aren't hiding anything from me. It's just me… It's just me who thinks that way… Nothing is wrong…"

"Alright! Everyone is done. Please head to the place where you are supposed to be now."

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and said bye to Miyu. She smiled to her friends across the room, knowing that they passed to the next level. This time, Sakura was in a different group from all her friends. There the new instructor started talking.

"Welcome to the third level. During this level, you will be given two books for your head, one book on your right hand, and one book on your left hand. There will be a string tied around both of your feet so that you will not be able to take wide steps. However, the string may not fall onto the ground. If it does, you must find a way to get it over the finish line while still balancing everything. One more thing, there will be a full cup of tea on the books that are placed on your hands. You must make sure that you do not spill all of it. If you spill more than half, you will not pass to the fourth level. If you don't spill anything, you will be given extra points. You have to walk back and forth. That counts as one round. You have to make it through three rounds. We will begin."

Sakura sighed as the contest started. It was beginning to be a long day, especially with all those troubling thoughts running through her mind, creating chaos for her. She started to think about the contest. This part of the contest wasn't really hard for her at all though. She had lots of practice as a waitress. Balancing and everything came easily to her. Balancing cups of tea on the small trays that were resting on the palm of her hand while walking through the thick crowd of employees and customers each day gave her a lot of experience. Sakura looked curiously around the room. Only a few were still in the first level. Most were in the second level, and some were in the third level.

Her eyes were skimming around the room when she noticed the royal family chatting. Tomoyo suddenly looked her way and waved. Confused, Sakura looked behind her and all around her but found no one waving back. Looking back at the royal, she saw Tomoyo looking back at her straight in the eye. Sakura blinked and pointed to herself, silently mouthing the question about whether or not she was the one being waved to. Tomoyo nodded and smiled. Slowly, Sakura waved and smiled back brightly. Tomoyo smiled brighter. One of the Li sisters started talking to Tomoyo and Sakura looked away. She didn't know how it happened but she had made eye contact with Syaoran. The surprising thing was that both of them looked at each other at the exact same time.

This time, Sakura smiled at him. She didn't feel the apathetic glare of his eyes anymore. Maybe it was because she got used to it after talking to him for 15 minutes the other day. Or it might have been that she knew that he was very kind inside. Syaoran nodded his head in acknowledgement and looked away. Sakura looked around the room again. The rest of the Li family had caught this exchange, unknown to the two. They looked at each other in surprise and interest. They spoke in lowered voices, shocked and somewhat pleased.

After a few more crashes of the cups and shrieks, it was Sakura's turn. She stepped forward and the instructor tied the string around her feet. Then the instructor placed the books on Sakura's upward palms. She filled the tea cups with tea and placed it on the books. Sakura began walking. She was careful not to let the string fall. Walking forward gracefully, she made sure not to drop or spill anything. It was just like she was back in the restaurant. If she spilt a droplet, her boss would go berserk on her. Overall, she passed the level pretty quickly and easily. Unknown to her, Syaoran's family was watching. The instructor was impressed that she didn't even spill a drop.

Once more, everyone got into their new groups. Sakura was promoted to the fourth round. Majority of the people were still in the second or third level. No one was in the first level. Her friends didn't pass to the fourth level though.

"Alright. Good job everyone! Now you have to pass this level. For this level, you must do everything that you did in the level before. However you will be have three books on your head and three on each of your hands. There will be three tea cups on each of your hands and one on your head. Each of them will be filled to the rim. There will be no strings tied around your feet though. Instead, you will have to walk on a balance beam. Walk across it, turn around and walk back. Do this two times. Rules that applied to the previous level will be applied to this level too. However, this time you may not spill more than 1/3 of each cup. Good luck. Congratulations for making it this far. I will give you a couple minutes to relax before we begin."

The room was very tense within the few minutes that were passing by. Other levels had started already. It was just their group that had a while to calm down and rest. No one spoke. They were all nervous. After all, it sounded very hard to everyone and only a few had passed the third level. You had to walk in a straight line without looking down or spilling anything and you had to turn at the end. That was a difficult part. Sakura was a little nervous but not too worried. If she failed, she failed. At least she tried her best.

The time came and it started. Sakura was last in line. No one had passed this round so far. Most had came close but they ended up failing, either because of the strain on their hands and wrists with all the books and the levels before this, because of the turn on the end, or because of other reasons.

It was her turn. Getting on the balance beam, she raised her palms up and stood up tall, ready. The instructor stood on a chair and helped prepare everything. Taking in a deep breathe and breathing out, Sakura started walking. So far, she did pretty well. Unknown to her, the other groups had finished and they were all looking at her, wondering if she was going to fail miserably or if she was going to be the only one to succeed the level.

Continuing to walk, Sakura came to the end. This was the hard part and the place where many had failed. Thinking smartly, Sakura slowly rotated her body, unlike those who had tried to balance on one foot as they lifted the other to turn around. Slowly moving her body, she balanced on the top part of her feet. Keeping them in the same spot, she made a smooth rotation so that the liquid didn't spill. It did ripple a little bit and Sakura had to wait until the liquid stilled. She finished through the rest of the course, being careful. As she walked to the end of the balance beam during the last round, she relaxed.

Everyone stared at her for a few seconds. Then the instructor got up on the chair and took the books and the cup that was on her head. Staring at them and the other cups on her hands, she spoke.

"You didn't even spill one drop…"

Silence filled the room, broken by Sakura. "Really? I thought I had. It started rippling when I turned around on the bar so I thought that I spilt some…"

"No, not one drop. Sweetheart, you really can balance well."

Sakura blushed. "Um… thank you," she said quietly not used to all the praise. It used to be just lectures from her boss about how bad she was at everything. It was a big surprise to her, being complimented so much so suddenly.

"Very graceful too," said another instructor who was also staring at her.

"Yes, very."

Everyone started whispering amongst themselves. Sakura stood there on the balance beam, waiting for the person in front of her to put everything away, while trying to ignore the stares and the whispering. The lady in front of her held the books and the cup, momentarily forgetting that Sakura still had the other books and cups on both of her hands. The instructor was too preoccupied with talking to another person, gushing about what had happened. To Sakura, it was just a contest. What was so special about it? Sakura stood on the balance beam with three books and three cups of tea on each hand. She stood there patiently, waiting for the chance to be able to step down. Suddenly, with her sharp senses, she felt a shoe being thrown her way. However, because Touya had told her that she was not to show anyone or give anyone hints about the fact that she was able to fight and such, she just waited for the shoe to hit her. After all, it would be strange if she was able to dodge it so quickly.

It did hit her. The person had meant to hit her on the head but instead, the shoe had gone off course and hit her on her left shoulder. Needing to act like how any other normal person without good reflexes would act, she pretended to be surprised and drop her stuff in fright. The tea sloshed onto the floor, crashing and splattering glass all over. Pretending to lose her balance, she waved her hands in the air, as if she was trying to regain her balance. At the last moment, she completed her act and fell onto the ground, landing on the palms of her hands and the joint of her knee so that she was able to avoid a painful fall. However, one piece of broken china from the tea cup did cut into her right hand.

"SAKURA!!" yelled her friends as they neared. All three of them looked worried and crowded around her asking if she was alright. Sakura smiled saying that everything was fine, not willing to make them worry.

Shaking his head in disgust, Syaoran walked up to the woman who had thrown the shoe. The other women in the room were shocked about what had happened and didn't crowd around him like they usually did.

"I'm guessing that you threw the shoe?" he asked her unemotionally, giving her a cold look. He was able to sense the shoe being thrown too.

"Of course not! Syaoran, how could you think it was me!?" she whined.

"Then you wouldn't mind showing me your feet."

The woman stared at him. "I know that I'm perfectly innocent. There is no need to prove myself," she said, trying to defend herself.

"Disobeying orders can also cause you to be disqualified," he said simply.

The woman huffed. "FINE! I threw the stupid shoe at her! Happy now? See?" she asked as she showed him her feet. One shoe was missing. The other shoe that was still on her foot matched the other shoe thrown.

"You are disqualified."

"But…" said the woman, close to tears. "Syaoran, how could you do this to me?"

"Again with the first names…" he thought. "Do I need to call for the guards?"

The woman looked in Sakura's direction and screamed. "It's all because of you! You good for nothing!" She stomped away.

Sakura's friends were looking at the woman walking away, furious. "Why do I feel like I hate her already?" asked Miyu.

"Syaroan," said the king. "We'll take care of everything. You can go ahead and help Sakura out and see if she is okay.

Syaoran was confused about why his father wanted him, of all people, to see if she was alright but he nodded his head nonetheless and walked toward Sakura. Her friends backed away, leaving some room for the prince.

"Can you walk?" he asked, towering over her. Sakura stood up, careful not to put pressure on her wounded hand. She hid it from his view and smiled slightly.

"Yes your highness," she said. "Of course."

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

He knew that she was lying though. "Come to the infirmary with me just to make sure."

Sakura obeyed and followed him across the room. She didn't want to make a scene and deny it. Somehow, he knew she was lying. She felt a million gazes of envy and glares of hate toward her way as she walked. Lowering her head and staring at the ground, she walked through the door and to the infirmary.

There, Syaoran looked for a nurse but it was deserted, again. He sighed, knowing that he would be the one to clean out the wound. He walked toward the back of the room and told her to sit on the cot. Sakura obeyed and looked at him. He looked at her and spoke.

"Where are you hurt?"

She didn't reply at first. "No where really."

"Stop lying and admit it. I will ask you again. Where are you hurt?"

By the tone of his voice, Sakura decided that it would be a better idea for her to admit where she was hurt. He sounded pretty angry and frustrated. Slowly, she raised her right arm and showed him her palm.

Wordlessly, he quickly searched for the supplies and set them on the small metal table next to her. He sat on the right side of her. Grabbing her hand gently, he examined it. It was still bleeding slightly. He grabbed a tool off the metal table with his right hand, ready to pull the piece of china out.

"It'll hurt a bit. Just tell me when you can't stand the pain and I'll see what I can do."

She didn't reply and he looked up at her, curious. She smiled at him. "Go ahead," she said.

Nodding, he held her hand steady, her palm facing upward. The wound was right in the middle of her palm. His right hand held the tool that was going to help him pull the piece of broken china out. Slowly he pulled it out, careful not to make it too painful.

"Did that hurt?" he asked, still looking at her hand.

"I'll be fine. Just go ahead and pull it out."

Guessing that she would be fine and that she wouldn't scream, he quickly pulled the piece out. She had barely flinched, surprising him. Moving quickly, he put the sterile tool and the piece of broken china on the table and helped her disinfect the wound. He blew on it gently, his cool breath soothing the pain that she felt. When he was done, he applied an ointment and wrapped her palm with a white cloth bandage, and tied a neat knot. Syaoran got up and began to put all the items away and cleaning up and doing whatever that was needed to be done.

"I'm sorry and thank you for all of this."

"Hnn…" The room filled with silence as he continued what he was doing. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No."

"Is your hand okay?"

"Yes," replied Sakura. "The wound wasn't that big after all."

He ignored her comment. "Come down here every morning and every night. I'll make sure that there is someone down here to help you with your wound. In the meantime, be careful with it. It should heal pretty soon though."

"Yes, doctor," she said jokingly, smiling.

He looked at her for a second. A small flicker of emotion passed through his eyes and it was gone in a heartbeat. She wasn't able to tell what the emotion was and she was beginning to doubt what she saw. She began to believe that she was just imagining things.

"For the meantime, just go to your room or something. The contest ended and now it's free time. Dinner will be here soon." With that, he walked out of the room.

Author's Note: I rewritten parts of this and so this chapter is probably a little shorter than it actually was. Hopefully you enjoyed it! Please review!!

Thanks to those who have reviewed!

Lily887787;Storyteller of dimensions;AngelEmCuti; epobbp; SnowCharms; KamichamaKarinLover25; Cherry Akira Li; Daniela; butterflyangellover14; Cherie Blossom; Kurukus; BlackDraconian; lil.ramen.lover; Anonymous; BabieLuvly101; Hikari Natsume; rosedreamer101; pickles; inuyashangel; Catmann; Phoenix Fanatic; I'd rather be dead then coolXP; rosy; pacthes19; rondallagurl; Destiny921; animelover0328; sweetsally; DemonFoxgirl101; animelikr; Dragoink; Mizuki Kuro-chan; StarAngel02; Mitsuko H. ; RedGirl12146; fluffypenguinscandy; Black-Sakura27; -FoxAngel12-; sarkura; dilly-sammas luver; taylor; -natsume-luvr25-; mangalvr; shi eri; .choco.angel.; mugi-choco; zas118