Summary: AU-She was kind and too forgiving. Everyone picked on her, beat her. She never seemed to hear them, but it was a heavy burden. What happens when she meets Syaoran, a seemingly ordinary bully? Will she forget the past, and move on? S/S

AN: I haven't done point of views in a long time, hmm…? This will be in Sakura's POV!

"talking"

'thinking'

written/typed

flashback

Crystal Dropplets

By Dream4luv

Chapter 10-Sharpen the Saw

I sit up in bed gasping and shaking, and I don't recognize where I am. The last thing I remember was…

I can't really remember much of what happened the day before. Syaoran and I, we walked to the hospital, and then…the nurse gave me an assignment to work in the lobby.

I try to recall what had happened afterwards, but everything seems fuzzy.

"Oh, Sakura-chan! You're awake."

It's the nurse. Why is she? I take a closer look around the room and realize that it looks like a hospital bedroom for overnight stays. The room is white, a TV sits on a white table in the corner, and the bed sheets are white as well.

"I hope you don't find me rude asking this," I start, feeling embarrassed, "But what am I doing here? The last thing I remember was working in…the lobby…and after that…"

"Sakura-chan. You gave us all quite a scare last night. I went to the lobby to check on how you were doing, and I found you on the floor unconscious. We took you up to one of the guest rooms, and it seems you had a pretty high fever. We gave you some medicine and we let you rest here." The nurse explains to me. "Did you take any medication yesterday? You knew you were sick; you didn't have to come here. You could've taken a day off and just rested in bed. You would have gotten better sooner."

"I don't think Li-kun would've been too pleased with me." I reply weakly. "He wants me to show up. I don't want to disappoint anyone. And I have to get to school to keep my grades up. If I had missed yesterday, the lessons would have been confusing. And then…if my grade point average goes down, I might not be able to keep my job."

The nurse smiles at me. "Sakura-chan. I know you are a hard worker. But it's ok to just take a break once in a while, it wouldn't hurt, you know? In fact, it's one of the 7 habits for highly effective teens. Have you ever heard of Sharpening the saw?"

She takes a seat next to me with a thoughtful face.

I shake my head no to her question.

"Can I tell you a story?"

"Sure." I say politely.

The woman's face looks passive as she recalls the story, "One day, a young boy met a logger who was furiously sawing a tree. And the boy asks 'How long have you been at it, mister?' and the logger replies 'four hours so far, but I'm really making progress' the boy proceeds to say 'your saw looks pretty dull. Why don't you take a break to sharpen it?' and the logger replies gruffly 'I can't. I'm too busy sawing here. Why don't you run along…' But if the logger took a 15 minute break to sharpen his saw, he'd probably finish three times faster."

"I-I don't think I understand." I say.

"You see, Sakura-chan. You are sick, right? But you insist on going to school. Which means that you'll be sick longer. But if you take a day off to restore your energy, you'll be better the next day, and you'll be more prepared for school. Understand?"

I do understand. And I understand that she is trying to help me, but…I also know that I cannot miss a single day in my life. "Miss? Could you please tell me what day today is?"

"Don't worry honey, you've only slept for a night. It's Wednesday."

The thought hits me. I have school today! I can't miss school. Although I admit it would be nice taking a break; it would be nice avoiding Tomoyo and her friends, but, just those reasons aren't enough to keep me away from my responsibilities and obligation.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." I say panicking, "I-I'm late for school, and I have work after school…and I just need to go. I'm sorry I stayed here overnight. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. But I promise I'll pay the bill for my stay."

"Sweetie. Calm down. We're not charging you for your stay. The hospital knows how hard you and your brother are working. We don't want to add any pressure. So!" the nurse the claps her hands together happily. "You're not going anywhere today. We are going to make sure you get better. Understand?"

"But my homework…and my job. If I don't go, I won't have enough money for this month. Besides…" I say lowering my voice, "I wouldn't want to trouble the hospital about this issue. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't pay the bill."

"It is fair." The nurse says silently, looking at me, "You may not know it, but you and your brother's story have touched many of the nurses' and doctors' hearts. So just take a day off to sharpen the saw, okay?"

The nurse smiles at me and she leaves the room, leaving me to think about what she just said. Do people really care so much about our story? How could they…this is how normal people deal with their problems. Isn't this how normal people dealt with their problems?

My thoughts are interrupted by a light knocking on the door.

"Come in." I say quietly. I didn't expect a visitor.

As the door opens, I see it's my brother. "Touya? What are you doing here? Don't you have school? You shouldn't be skipping school to see me."

"Sakura, why didn't you just tell me you were sick? The hospital called last night, and when I didn't see your stuff by the door, I got worried. You should have just stayed home." My brother admonishes.

"I-I didn't realize it was so serious." I explain.

"Sakura, you have to stay healthy, okay? I don't want you to get hurt." He says, "I really got scared last night. I don't want anything to happen to you. You're my only sister, after all. You're all I've got."

The last part seems forced. Touya normally wouldn't say something like that. He must have been worried sick last night. I feel a little guilty for getting sick.

"You're all I've got too." I mutter quietly as my bangs droop in front of my eyes.

"Look, Sakura. I'm not mad at you or anything."

"I know…it's just that I, I," my voice comes out shaky, and my throat feels constricted, and for some reason, I feel tears sliding down my cheeks, "I didn't mean to get sick. I didn't want to worry you. I didn't mean to worry you last night either. I didn't know what to do. And I didn't want to duck out of my responsibilities. I-I didn't want to let you down. I'm sorry. I'm so stupid. I wanted to handle things as well as you handle them because you're working so much harder than me, but still, I'm the one that got sick. I'm the one who needs the attention. I really really didn't mean to worry you, and I didn't mean to end up in the hospital. And…I'm just sorry…for letting you down. I'm sorry."

By now, my tears are pouring down my face, and my sobbing is uncontrollable. I want to stop crying. I don't want my brother to see me like this…but I just can't seem to stop. It's like everything up to this day has built up too far, and everything has come toppling down.

"Calm down, Sakura. What makes you think I handle this well? I don't…I'm the one letting you down. I'm supposed to take care of you, not the other way around. And I failed. I'm not a very good big brother, am I?"

I shake my head furiously. I want him to stop saying that. "No, you're not a bad big brother. Don't say that!"

"Then just relax Sakura. It'll end up okay." He ruffles my hair lightly. "I have to go now, don't push yourself too hard. I'll see you."

"Bye."

The door closes.

I look out the window, and I wonder what Li-kun, Tomoyo, and Rika-chan are doing.

AN: That's it this chapter. I know…I was upset that Syaoran wasn't in it either.