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Summary: She was always good at hiding. Hiding objects, people, herself and her emotions. Hiding her emotions to the extent that even she couldn't realize them. She preferred it this way, because this way she never needed to tell people everything and more importantly, trust them. He was always a bit ahead of everyone, running from his emotions. Busy with his work, his training, his duties, he hardly ever had time to think, let alone do simple things such as smiling, laughing, having fun and enjoying life. When these two crash, and are forced to trust each other when faced against a mutual enemy, will they manage? Or will they go down before that? Read to find out...

Disclaimer: No, I don't own CCS

Chapter 12

Sakura's POV

I was exhilarated. I hadn't ridden this fast on a bike for years, and the wind blowing my hair and making me squint was breathtaking - literally. For just this one ride, I wanted to forget that I was fighting for my life, again. I would forget everything, and just be any other person enjoying a day out. Pretend, imagine, how hard could it be?

Much sooner than I expected, Roy stopped, and reluctantly I got off. The slightly salty taste in the air told me we were near the sea, and vague memories of days at the beach with Tomoyo and Touya flitted through my mind. The good old days…

"So, Sakura, ready to see the place you'll be spending at least the next 10 days for?" called out Roy, obviously excited at showing me what he called 'the apple of his eye'.

I rolled my eyes at my friends behaviour, and grinned at him. We both ignored Syaoran's grumbles, tuning it out after the first 10 minutes. Following him through the doorway of a dingy bar, we weaved through the tables; me and Syaoran preventing eye contact but Roy greeting all his mates. We made it out of a back door, and there it was.

"Wow…you weren't kidding Roy. It's amazing!" I exclaimed, staring at the ship in front of me.

"It? IT? No, She's amazing. Get it right!"

I just nodded, staring at the well maintained beauty in front of me. She was red, with blue stripes, and despite her relatively small size reminded me of a pirate ship. Obviously recently scrubbed, the ship gleamed - she seemed as ready as ever to leave. Written in black letters on the side was her name - Cherry.

Noticing me glance and blush at the name, Roy smirked. "Named her after you, Sakura, after everything we went through together, and the deep relationship we shared. I told you I would, didn't I?"

"We didn't share any deep relationships, Roy. We've been friends, we are friends, and we always will be just friends. You know that."

"Well, we nearly did, my cute Cherry. But never mind, back to business. We're ready to go when you are."

My excitement returning, I spun around to ask Syaoran, and froze at the expression on his face. If looks could kill! His black glare was directed at Roy, and I knew I would need a lot of persuasion techniques before he agreed to go on this trip. Dragging him off to the side, I started my cajoling and threatening.

"Syaoran, we ARE going. I asked him specifically, and this is a chance in a million!"

"I haven't even said anything yet. But, anyway, you never told me how you managed to get hold of him."

"Well…when I knew him from … before … he gave me a number to call if I was ever in trouble. I used that today, and asked to borrow the ship I knew he'd manage to get by now."

"Wait … you CALLED! We could have been tracked, you idiot! They could have followed us and come there before Roy did and they could have gotten us and done who knows what to us and -"

"Syaoran, SHUT UP! You think I didn't think of that? Of course the line is secure, its one of the very few that is in this stupid infested city! No one is following us, so calm down and let's go tell Roy we're going with him."

"Oh, yeah, so why are you so bothered about going with this Roy character anyway? We could always find someone else, plus I think there's something fishy about him!"

"Why are you so AGAINST going with him? What's your problem, huh? He's my FRIEND, and I'm going with him whether you come or not!"

"Oh yay, Barney The Dinosaur best friend time! But if you think I'm going to let you get away ALONE then you've got another thing coming - I'm still against it though!"

"Oh God, Syaoran…erm…You remember we were playing ten questions on our blind date night, and we had 2 questions left each? Well, I want to use one now!"

"…?"

"Syaoran, do you trust me?"

"…"

"I know I haven't given you reason to, but do you?"

"FINE, LET'S GO!"

I grinned at him and ran over to Roy, telling him that we were ready. He smiled back and shouted out a few orders to his now emerging crew, and they immediately set to work. He offered me his hand, but I shook my head upon hearing Syaoran growl, and walked the final steps onto The Cherry.

Roy led us down the steps and into a corridor, showing me my room, and the room Syaoran and him would be sharing. They were both almost identical in size, but Roy's was obviously decorated for someone as important as the captain. He showed us the kitchen, the toilet & the crew's sleeping quarters, and then we walked back up to the deck.

"So, what do you think?" Roy asked me.

"She'sgorgeous. It's going to be fun, living here."

Yes it will Cherry. It will."

Then he barked out some orders and I felt the ship heave and pull out towards the open sea. Under the black sky of night, The Cherry stood out as much as she disguised herself, and soon we were sailing towards Hong Kong, and our new lives.

That's another (very short) chapter done, but at least I wrote something! So the story is partly done, and the next part of 'The Search For Truth' will be called At Sea (how inventive I know). It'll probably have a few twists, I mean c'mon, Sakura knew this 'Roy Character' from before, and is that jealousy I get from Syaoran ;) R+R, and I'm still sorry for the lateness!

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