Sakura was back to work after a few weeks. Syaoran had let her do minor admin tasks while she was healing, but now that she had healed, there was nothing to stop her from doing her work.
"Sakura, can you hand me that tool?" Syaoran asked, though she already had it in his hand before he finished asking. "Thanks." He smiled.
Sakura continued with her task and then set it to the side for Syaoran to work on, starting the next thing.
It went on like that for the rest of the week as well, with Sakura doing her usual jobs for Syaoran. The weekend creeped up on them quickly, and as he had promised, they went to the beach.
It was busy, given that it was summer, but they found a place on the sand to set their things down and relax. Sakura pulled her dress off to reveal her white bikini. Syaoran couldn't help but notice several scars on her body, and he wondered how she had gotten them. There was a new scar where she'd been stabbed in the abdomen.
"Should we go look at the rock pools later?" Sakura asked.
"Sure." He smiled.
"I'm going to go in the water, I'll meet you there." She then grinned and ran off towards the water.
Syaoran watched her as she ran into the waves and smiled.
"Syaoran? What are you doing here?"
He turned upon hearing his name and narrowed his eyes upon seeing who it was.
…
Sakura broke the surface of the water and turned to see where Syaoran was, spotting Reina with him. She frowned, deciding she needed to deal with this woman soon. Not because she was jealous, but because of the trouble it caused Syaoran. He clearly did not want to have anything to do with Reina, and yet the woman persistently pushed her boundaries.
Syaoran turned and started heading towards where she was in the water. Reina didn't look so happy being ignored and grabbed onto his arm tightly.
Sakura groaned as she rolled her eyes and headed back towards shore, heading towards where Syaoran was.
Syaoran spotted her and ripped his arm free. "Next time you touch me, I'm pressing charges for assault." Syaoran said to Reina. Reina clenched her fists and then stormed off.
"You okay?" Sakura asked, "She didn't dig her nails into your arm again, did she?"
He smiled and shook his head, "I'm a little irritated with her-well, more than irritated, but that doesn't matter. How's the water?"
"It feels great!" Sakura smiled, "Come on, let's go!"
He laughed as she pulled him into the water, splashing him and soaking him in water. He returned the favour, splashing her too.
…
The sun was setting by the time they decided to head home. Both were tired, but they'd had a really good time at the beach together. Neither of them had bothered to change out of their swim clothes, so Sakura had been walking around the house in her bikini with a cardigan over the top.
She lay on the couch with Syaoran, breathless from their long and passionate kiss. The TV was going in the background, but they were barely paying attention to it.
Syaoran was more occupied with the strings holding her bathing suit in place, tugging teasingly on the string at her hip.
"Go ahead." She challenged with a mischievous smile.
"You sure about that?" he raised his brow with a smile pulling at his lips.
She kissed him, and he kissed her back, his hand sliding up her back and pulling the strings of her top loose. He dropped the top on the floor and Sakura covered herself timidly, her cheeks red.
He cupped her cheek, gently caressing it with his thumb and he smiled tenderly. Shyly, she moved her arm allowing him to see her bare chest.
He knew she was probably feeling a bit anxious about what they were doing, so they'd need to take it slow, but he didn't mind. If she could feel comfortable with him like this, then that was all that mattered.
Gently, he cupped the swell of her breast and brushed his thumb over the hardened peaks. She arched her back sinuously to his touch, shivering pleasantly against his caresses.
His eyes were warm and full of love for her, as well as something else. She pulled him in for another breathtaking kiss, threading her fingers through his hair while his hand slid down her side to the strings holding the garment together.
As he was about to pull on them, the doorbell rang.
Persistently.
Syaoran picked up a shirt that had been lying on the back of the couch and handed it to Sakura. He couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that their fun had been interrupted. Sakura pulled it on as he stood and headed down the hall to answer the door.
Syaoran pulled it open and frowned. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Eriol smiled cheerfully. "I thought I'd pop by for a visit."
"I told you to call!" Syaoran said irritably.
"Well I'm here now. Can I come in?"
"Syaoran, it's not Reina again, is it?" Sakura called out as she appeared beside him. Her eyes landed on Eriol and she raised her brow.
Eriol raised his too. "Did I interrupt something?"
"We went to the beach today and I couldn't be bothered changing." Sakura confessed. Syaoran sighed and stepped to the side to let his friend in.
"It was a hot day, wasn't it?" Eriol agreed. "I'm Eriol, by the way. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"I'm Sakura-it's nice to meet you too." She smiled.
They headed down to the kitchen where Syaoran started making tea.
"Are you having trouble with Reina again?" Eriol asked. "I can get a restraining order for you."
"She's being a pain, yeah, but a restraining order is not necessary." Syaoran murmured.
Eriol didn't look so sure. "It might be with her behaviour."
"And you're back in Japan, why?" Syaoran asked.
"A case came up. But I'm also here to see my friends." Eriol replied as he took his tea.
"A case? What kind?" Syaoran asked.
"Domestic violence. It doesn't look pretty." Eriol replied grimly. "Anyway, so do you enjoy working with Syaoran, Sakura?"
Sakura smiled, "Yeah, I love it. It can get stressful sometimes, but that doesn't matter. I'm learning so much from Syaoran about magic tools and objects as well." She answered cheerfully.
"Don't let him overwork you." Eriol winked.
Syaoran frowned and Sakura looked confused.
"Why would he overwork me?" she asked, missing the joke.
Syaoran smiled, "He's just kidding."
"Oh." She said. "I think I might go have a shower and get the salt and sand off me. I'll be back soon."
"Okay." Syaoran replied, and Sakura turned to leave and head upstairs.
Eriol smiled knowingly at his best friend who glared at him for a moment. "Sakura seems like a sweet girl." He said.
"She is." Syaoran murmured.
"What will you do about Reina?" Eriol asked seriously. "She's not the type of woman to just give up."
"She cheated on me. She can't expect to waltz back into my life like nothing happened." Syaoran muttered, "I told her if she came near me again, then I'd press charges."
"How did she take that news?"
"She was pissed."
"Just be careful-she's dangerous. She may try to hurt Sakura." Eriol warned.
"I told Sakura to be careful... I think she hates Reina as much as I do." Syaoran added.
Eriol smiled, "Have you ever seen Sakura get angry?"
Syaoran looked thoughtful. "The closest I've seen is when Reina dug her nails into my arm and drew blood. She can get pretty scary."
"I imagine so. I'm glad to see you're happy with Sakura. I was worried for a while."
Syaoran smiled, "You don't have to worry. Sakura's great-a little strange at times, but still great."
"Has she told you anything about her past?" Eriol asked quietly.
"No... but I think I have a few ideas of what might be there. I'll let her tell me when she's ready." Syaoran replied.
Eriol raised his brow. "Like what?"
Syaoran sighed. "In my line of work, and because of the family I was born into, it's not surprising that there have been attempts made on my life. I believe Sakura's original objective was to kill me."
Eriol examined his expression, finding no anger or malice. Instead, Syaoran's expression seemed almost understanding.
"You're not angered by that?" Eriol asked.
"I don't think Sakura ever wanted to. I'd need to ask her to be sure, but I do think her feelings for me are genuine." Syaoran said.
Eriol smiled. "She is really lucky to have you."
...
Sakura stepped out of the shower and dried herself off before walking out to her room to get dressed. She pulled on a satin nightdress and moved to grab her hairbrush, her foot hitting a box.
She looked down to see it was the box that held all her different ID's, and she bit her lip. Syaoran deserved to know about her. She wanted him to know everything. She was scared, but it felt wrong to hide it from him.
Sakura picked the box up and placed it on the bed, and then reached over for her brush to brush her hair. She decided to tell him everything. He had trusted her, so she wanted to give him her heart. She loved him. She was fully prepared for him to kick her out once he knew, but she wanted to be honest.
She headed downstairs with the box, finding that Eriol had left. Sakura gnawed her lip anxiously. For a minute she wondered if she should just head back upstairs and hide the box but stopped herself. She had decided to face it head on. There was no turning back.
She walked into the lounge room where Syaoran was sitting, and he looked over and smiled. Sakura felt herself shaking. She didn't want to lose him.
"Sakura? You're shaking. Is everything okay?" he asked.
She walked over with the box and sat down. He watched her with gentle concern, watching her troubled expression.
"There's something I need to tell you." She confessed. "Look inside this box."
After a moment, he took the box from her and sighed softly as he pulled out several passports to look at. He lifted his eyes to her face, waiting for an explanation. She swallowed hard and a tear slid down her cheek.
"I...I used to work for the government," she explained, "As an assassin."
Syaoran was silent.
After a minute of the crushing silence, she lifted her eyes to see he was watching her softly. It was NOT what she'd expected.
"I assumed as much." He replied. "But you quit, didn't you?"
She nodded. "I...I never intended to kill you right from the beginning. You're the first person asides from Tomoyo who tried to understand me."
"Is that why you decided not to kill me?" he asked curiously.
She shook her head. "I needed to get out of the business. I...I had my life stolen from me by the government."
"Why are you telling me?"
She looked at him with surprise, and her face fell. "You deserve to know the truth about me. I want you to know about me."
Syaoran studied her expression for a long moment. She was still shaking. "I had already guessed that you were sent to kill me." He confessed. "Didn't stop me from falling in love with you though."
She looked at him with shock and he smiled. "Tell me-was the time we spent together an act?"
Sakura shook her head quickly. "No! Every moment was real..."
"I think the same."
Sakura felt confused, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why aren't you angry? Why don't you hate me?" she whispered.
He pondered for a moment.
"I didn't know what to think of you when we first met. I wanted to hate you, but I couldn't. You were very...interesting."
"Interesting?"
"You told me about your family's murder without hesitation. You told me about your abusive exes without hesitation. At first I thought you might be lying, but I knew you weren't. You guarded yourself against me, but you never showed me a false face." He explained. "I think it was when we went to the Aquarium that I realised it."
"Realised what?"
"That you weren't hiding your true self. You treasure those photos so much." He smiled. "It's cute."
She fidgeted for a minute. "You don't want to ask me about my real name?"
"Sakura Kinomoto is not your real name?"
"It is. But the ID's..."
"Let's burn them." He smiled. "You don't need them anymore."
She nodded. Syaoran put the box on the table and pulled Sakura into his arms. "I decided to trust you ages ago, just like you decided to trust me."
"Syaoran..."
"I love you." He whispered softly.
Hello everyone! Thank you for your reviews, they were fun to read! Are you surprised that Syaoran was so accepting of who Sakura was? Or were you expecting it after her "hypothetical" question?
