(With ideas and co-writing from HeYan)

Disclaimer: I don't own it…so don't sue…coz if you do, I'll hurt you!

Sorry! To all those who know the Japanese names better, I don't really know them, but here's a name guide:

Sakura Avalon: Sakura Kinomoto Li Showron: Syaoran Li Madison Taylor: Tomoyo Daidouji Meilin Rae: Meiling Li Tori Avalon: Touya Kinomoto Julian Star: Yukito Tsukishiro Chelsea: Chiharu Mihara Nikki: Naoko Yanagisawa Rita: Rika Sasaki Zachary/ Zach: Takashi Yamazaki

Key: "Talking" "Whispering" "YELLING" Thinking -----New scene or POV----- POV Point Of View

Writing-notes, emails etc.

Chapter 20:
Too little too late

Tori sat at the side of Meilin's bed, staring at her unconcious form, praying every moment that she'd show some sign of life. The specialists Yelan hired seemed to think it was too early to tell the outcome. Some specialists they were.
He'd been sitting there for what felt like several hours but was actually about thirty minutes. He actually hoped no one would bother him. He just wanted to be alone with Meilin for as long as possible.
But he didn't get the peace he longed for, because, soon enough, someone was opening the door and peering rather cautiously into the room.

"Any progress?" Madison was seating herself down opposite him now, looking up towards Meilin's lifeless body with nothing but concern written all over her face.

"None. Whatsoever." Tori sighed, leaning his head on her bed

"Tori, you should get some sleep..." She frowned as he looked up at her as if to say 'not gonna happen'.

"Tori...I've...uh...been outta the loop for a bit...and no one'll tell me what's going on...so uh, what is going on?" She looked between him and Meilin, as if scared of what the answer would be.

"Well...I guess you might say I...uh- I'm Adorare's father..." Nothing could've surprised him more than he reaction.

"I knew it!" She gave him a sort of sheepish grin, as if to say 'what did you really expect?'

"How did you know?" He smiled at her for a moment. The first time he'd smiled in a long time.

"You're perfect for eachother- brave, kind...protective...and you can both be as stubborn as hell..." She smiled back at him and then fondly up at Meilin, as though a mother looking at her child.

"If you knew, how comes I couldn't work it out? I didn't think I was that stupid!" His turn to look fondly at Meilin, ignoring the shocked look on Madison's face.

"You didn't know?" Madison stared at him.

"I guess Meilin-" He was interrupted as several 'specialists' rushed into the room, barging them out of the way and forming a huddle around Meilin and muttering technical terms in Chinese that Tori couldn't even begin to comprehend.
At the end of their huddled conversation, one of them began to walk over to them.

"Umm...n-not good?" The woman muttered in broken English, and Tori now noticed that one of the others had hit a small red button near Meilin's head, and footsteps now thundered down the hall, the door thudding open to reveal Sakura, Li, Eli, Yelan and Li's sisters. This wasn't looking good.

Immedietly, Li was conversing with one of the specialists, and Sakura was sobbing in his arms, along with Madison, who he soon embraced.
And suddenly, Li was yelling at one of the men now, not caring how loud he was.

"What do you mean you can't help her? That's what you're paid for!" The man was muttering under his breath, but judging by the look on his face, he wasn't understanding a word Li was yelling at him.
His mother was trying to calm Li down now, but the general mood in the room was already unreserectable. The 'specialists' were dismissed from the room.

"I-is she g-gonna d-die?" Sakura muttered in the smallest of possible voices, and, as if answering her, Fanren sobbed.

"Meilin..." Madison turned to look up at Tori, who wasn't even looking at her. He was off in his own little world.

Why'd I let her go? I never should have let her outta my life in the first place. I should have told everyone about us from the start. As soon as she left I should have been straight on a plane to Hong Kong...and when she asked me if I still loved her, I should have told her I'd never stop.
I shouldn't have been so worried about my damn pride. I should've just told her that from the first time I'd seen her since she left I felt as if my heart was in my throat and I just wanted to tell her I'd made a mistake.
But now it's too late.
I should have been there to protect her.
I should be the one in the hopital bed. Not her. Never her.

Tori looked down to see Madiosn staring at him. He merely turned back to Meilin, wanting to soak up every ounce of her til the point she was no longer there.
No matter how much he thought about it, the tears just wouldn't come. He couldn't bring himself to accept that the one person he'd ever loved and valued above his own life was lying in a hospital bed and would never get up.

He realised that he'd always looked forward to those events where he knew she'd be attending. He'd tell himself he was dreading having to be in the same room as her, but he'd never really believed it.
And he'd never been able to stop himself staring at her as she entered a room, with or without Adorare.

He'd even make Julian go over and see she was ok, all the time pretending he didn't even care.

How could her not love her?

The life support was flashing red and the frequency of beats was decreasing at an alarming rate. It was on ten, and they all knew things were about to end.

Everything seemed to freeze as the life support hit zero. And Tori knew his world had been shattered.

Madison looked up at him for support, but he was staring at the love of his life with no expression on his face.

He's got no one else...and she died saving us...this isn't right. This needs to be fixed...she just can't be dead! Not Meilin!

A single tear rolled down her cheek now, and as it hit the floor, it seemed to almost ripple with a sort of thudding noise, causing everyone to look up. But the ripple continued to pass through the room, not stopping till it reached the heart machine and Meilin, where it seemed to speed up the heart machine, until it was at about one hundred, and Meilin opened her eyes, gasping for breath.

She frowned slightly as she saw everyone staring at her.

"What's going on?" But they were all frozen to the spot. Especially Madison, who was staring at the small splash-mark the tear had made. And, slowly, all eyes were on her.

"D-did you j-just...Madison?" Sakura was eyeing her as if she were a bomb.

"I...I have no idea...but I'm scared..." She muttered, looking cautiously at an increasingly impatient Meilin.

"What? I don't get it!" She was moaning now, thrashing her arms and legs about wildly, only stopping when she noticed the crips and cables running from her veins and the fact that she was wearing a hospital gown.

And suddenly, everything came flooding back to her. The only one who wasn't staring at Madison was him.

"Meilin! Don't leave me...I love you so much! Please don't leave me! Please, Meilin, please..."

"I love you Tori..."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THREE DAYS LATER

Eli and Madison had decided to return to Japan, but live seperatly, taking a break from their marriage, but keeping in touch for the sake of their son, who was rather shaken by the fact that his mother could now read his mind.
But Sakura had agreed to train her.

Hotaru had been confined to her bed for several days, while Genrou had been taking short walks to the nearest shops, and had met a very nice young girl named Hannah. Madison seemed convinced they'd be the new 'kawaii couple', she'd even whispered to Meilin they were set to be the next Sakura and Li, to which Meilin had groaned:
'More hard work for us!'

Adorare had run away, leaving nothing but a note saying
'they deserve a second chance'

Tori walked into Meilin's treatment room, knowing today was the day she was planning to leave. The 'specialists' had insisted that she'd stayed in bed for several days after her 'miracle' recovery. But since then, everyone had been crowding round her, talking to her and the like.
Just making sure she wasn't on her own.
Which meant he hadn't been able to talk to her.

As he pushed open the door, a familiar bunch of nerves hit him, and he forced himself to walk in. Meilin was staring out the window, now fully dressed in her own clothes. She turned around as he entered the room, an unreadable expression on her face, and Tori was tempted to walk straight back out again. But a tiny voice in his head stopped him.

You almost lost her once, don't do it again.

He hated the thought of her not knowing how he really felt.

"Hi..." He muttered, not sure of how to act around her.

"Umm...h-hi..." She blushed, not sure of how to react towards him, either.

Just go for it, Tori...you've got nothing to lose. You'll only regret it if you don't.

"Tori-" She was cut off by him kissing her intently. And a surge of relief shook through his body as he realised she was kissing him back.

Both of them were running out of breath now, and yet neither of them wanted to be the one to stop.

And, yet again, Meilin was the one who did eventually pull away.

"If you don't want to, Meilin, we don't have to...I just knew I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't tell you how madly, deeply and passionatly I felt about you this very minute. You're my world, and my everything. And if you don't feel the same way, that's ok. I just wanted you to know." He smiled at her and brushed her hair away from her cheek, preparing to leave.

"Tori, how could I not love you?" And they were kissing again, more passion, more love. Just more.

a/n: There...a kinda happy ending...ok? But there will be a sequel out soon...
The more reviews I get, the sooner I write it...so R+R, even if it's just to say you liked it...