Rewrite
By: Angel Kamiya
Chapter 21

Syaoran was walking through Penguin Park that night, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. Along the way he saw many people, but he didn't pay them much attention since he was so preoccupied with trying to sense anything that could have been Yue. It was at times like this that he really needed to do something besides just staying still. Something was going on and he was determined to find out what.

As he made his way past the Penguin Slide, the wind blowing around him, he thought he heard some faint rustling nearby. Getting out his sword, he headed toward the direction where the sound had come from. Running through the bushes he found what it had been. Standing right was the person that he was looking for.

The man had short black hair, black robes, and he had dark wings on his back. Finally seeing the person that he had been hunting made him mad. The person that had hurt Sakura was standing right there! Taking a deep breath, he held out his sword and took out a few Ofuda papers, ready to cast spells in case there was a fight.

Syaoran froze because he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

There was a little girl, who looked to be around ten, standing there between the two of them. She had long reddish hair and wore a purple kimono with a yellow sash wrapped around her waist. Somehow he hadn't seen her when he rushed forward.

"Who are you?" Syaoran demanded, hoping that there wouldn't be a fight. He didn't want the little girl to get hurt because of him.

The man didn't seem to hear Syaoran as he turned to fly away, leaving the two of them alone. Syaoran ran forward and managed to catch the little girl as she fainted. Syaoran quickly transformed the sword back, putting it away since she was starting to wake up again.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Syaoran asked, hoping that she hadn't been hurt.

The girl didn't seem to hear him. After a few seconds she started to open her eyes.

"Hey. I'm Li," Syaoran started, feeling like he was doing something wrong. "Are you lost? Where are your parents?"

The girl was acting like she heard what he had asked, but she still didn't respond. Either she was too scared to respond or she couldn't talk. However, it looked like she was starting to regain her strength because she was starting to stand by herself again. The girl looked at him curiously.

"Do you want me to go away?" Syaoran asked.

Syaoran wondered why the girl was there so late. He decided that he needed to get away because he didn't want to get in trouble with her parents. As he turned around, he felt her take his hand.

"No! Please don't go..." she whispered.

Syaoran turned around, surprised that she was actually talking to him, and stared at her. While they walked together, she finally started acting her age.

"You were so brave!" the girl said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Syaoran. It was nothing."

"Are you a magician? Was that how you got the scary man to go away?" she asked.

Syaoran stopped, not knowing what to say.

Syaoran offered to walk her home, but she shook her head and ran off. For a while he considered going after her, but decided not to since that would only scare her even farther. At least she would be safe now.

Syaoran started to walk back to his apartment. When he finally reached his place he saw two of his friends standing by the door. Sakura had her arms around herself, shivering. While Tomoyo, who was wearing a very heavy coat, looking perfectly warm. Syaoran decided to keep the story about the little girl to himself for a while..

Sakura immediately stopped when she saw Syaoran.

"Hey Li-kun"

"Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you two until tomorrow," Syaoran answered, still not getting used to the fact that Sakura had now been inside his home. "Is something the matter?"

"Nothing!" Sakura commented, quickly. "I wanted to check up on you."

Sakura strolled inside when Syaoran opened the door, and the first thing she noticed was that the electricity was back on again. The place looked much more welcoming than the last time she had been there. Tomoyo followed behind her.

"It's late," Syaoran replied, turning around and starting to pick up the few books that were scattered on the floor. "You could have called."

"I wanted to talk to you in person instead of over the phone," Sakura started.

Not giving him a chance to realize what she was doing, Sakura took his arm and began pulling him toward the kitchen where he wouldn't be able to see what was going to happen next. Tomoyo slowly walk to Syaoran's room like how Sakura had told her to.

"What is this about?" Syaoran asked, suspiciously.

"I didn't want Tomoyo to overhear us," Sakura whispered, quietly. "I was wondering if we can keep what's going on between us a secret for a little while."

"Sure."

"No, please don't get the wrong impression," Sakura quickly interrupted. "I'm very happy about us, but I kinda like having something that no one else knows about..."

Syaoran nodded understanding what she was trying to say. Sakura felt a little relieved knowing that she wouldn't need to explain what she had just said. It wasn't something she wanted to explain to him. Sakura didn't want anyone at school to start treating her too differently just because she and Syaoran liked each other. At least not for a little while.

"Also I don't think my brother would like the fact that we are seeing each other," Sakura said, folding her arms across her chest. "I have to find a way to convince him that you are a great guy!"

There was a loud crashing sound from someplace nearby, making Sakura jump. Tomoyo had messed up and Syaoran was going to find her in his room!

"What the-" Syaoran uttered, getting up from his seat. As he was about to leave the kitchen, Sakura grabbed his right arm. Before Syaoran knew it the two of them had crashed onto ground.

"OW! Sakura! What has gotten into you?"

"Wait! Don't go yet! I wanted to ask you something else!" Sakura exclaimed, hoping Tomoyo would be able to get out of the room with the journal quickly.

"This better be important," Syaoran groaned, looking at her like she was a little crazy. "I think I'm really hurt here."

"How come you haven't kissed me yet, Li-kun?" Sakura asked, saying the first thing on her mind.

"What? I... I..." Syaoran stuttered, already forgetting the sound from his room.

Sakura quickly got up, not believing what she had asked him, and getting mortified at what he must have been thinking of her at that moment. What kind of girlfriend asked those questions?

"Never mind. Forget it!" Sakura answered, turning away from him. She didn't want to hear the answer. It had been a distraction.

Sakura glazed at the front door and saw that Tomoyo was standing there again, looking like she was done with what she had been trying to do. A giant wave of relief went through Sakura because she now knew that it was done. Tomoyo had the journal.

"I didn't think that we shouldn't rush this," Syaoran explained. "Do you know what I mean?"

Sakura was a little taken back by his reply because she hadn't really expected him to answer. Syaoran took her hand and helped her up. For a moment, they were really close to each other and Sakura felt herself blushing intensely when she remembered how Tomoyo had suggest that she just kiss him. Sakura immediately turned away. This was the wrong time.

"I have to go," Sakura whispered, her voice shaking. "I'm glad you are feeling better Li-kun. Thanks for talking with me."

For a moment Sakura wondered if she should stay there for a little longer, then she quickly remembered that Tomoyo was still waiting for her. There were there that night for a reason. Sakura headed to the door, where Tomoyo was waiting.

After Sakura and Tomoyo left, Syaoran went back to the living room to finish up picking up the books scattered on the ground. Syaoran thought that it had been very strange how Sakura had acted. It was almost as though she had been keeping something from him.

Later back at the Kinomoto residence, two girls snuck back into Sakura's room. It had taken a while to get back up the tree and Sakura had really been worried that they might get caught. However they were fortunate to get back inside without anything bad happening. After they were in the room, Mirror sat up on the bed and smiled at the both of them.

Sakura told the Clow card that she wasn't needed anymore and thanked her for her help. There was a bright light and Mirror transformed back into her true form, which was a card. Sakura placed the card back onto her desk and when she looked back she realized that Tomoyo was holding onto a book. It was the notebook that belonged to Syaoran.

Sitting down on her bed, Sakura took the book. It looked a little beat up, but at that particular moment it seemed to be the most important thing in the world since it had all of Syaoran's thoughts in it. Sakura held onto it for what seemed to be a long time without doing anything, and just when she was about to open it to the first page she froze.

"I can't do this Tomoyo-chan!"

Tomoyo wasn't too sure what was on her friend's mind anymore. Her friend had been so determined to find out about a girl in the picture, the person Syaoran never mentioned. Now Sakura couldn't go through with it anymore?

"But I thought you wanted to find out who that girl was?"

Sakura stared at Tomoyo and for a moment recalled how she had felt when she had first stumbled onto the picture. The girl was someone she had really wanted to know more about, but at the time she hadn't been able to ask Syaoran. Now Sakura was beginning to realize that it had been a mistake.

"Yeah, but not like this."

"Sakura."

"I should have just asked Li-kun."

Tomoyo found herself wondering what had changed her friend's mind. Sakura really didn't want to go through with her plan anymore? Was something Syaoran had said to her when they were at his apartment?

"I'm glad that you've changed your mind," Tomoyo smiled, sitting down beside her friend.

The two of them didn't talk for a long time.

"It was just that I didn't want to be hurt anymore and he wouldn't tell me. I thought this was the only way I get back at him. I can't believe how horrible of a person I am," Sakura explained, the book on her lap.

Hearing what her friend was saying was really beginning to bother Tomoyo. Instead of saying anything, Tomoyo took Syaoran's journal away from Sakura and placed it on the side table. Having it there didn't seem like it would help matters.

"No, don't believe that Sakura-chan! You are the kindest person I have ever met. You never once got mad at him even though you had every right to be!" Tomoyo stated, hoping her friend would stop thinking anymore bad thoughts. "What made you change your mind?"

"It was something Li-kun told me earlier at his place, right after you got his book. He said something and I just knew that I couldn't go through with this anymore."

Sakura found her mind wandering back to Syaoran again. What was she supposed to do now? The best thing she could think of was get his journal back to him and tell him she hadn't looked through it. Hopefully, he would not be too mad at her.

"I'm going to have to give this back to him tomorrow at school and ask him about the girl in the picture. I have to apologize too. I hope he won't be angry with me," Sakura whispered.

"Sakura, you are doing the right thing not looking through the book. Li will understand."

"I hope so."