Valkyrie85: School work has been killing me recently, but I still managed to finish this really important chapter. YAE! You will either love or hate this chapter after you finish, I guarantee you. Enjoy!

Chapter 21

Early morning, Ruo Xi's personal guards, who had accompanied and lost her when they came to Japan, arrived at Misaki's house in a black SUV. They barged into the house and demanded Ruo Xi to return to Hong Kong immediately because her parents were very angered by her disappearance. Not wanting to bring trouble to Sakura and her family, Ruo Xi unwillingly agreed to leave with the guards.

One of the guards went to her room to retrieve her belongings while the other three accompanied Ruo Xi out to the car. Ruo Xi gave Misaki and Yamamoto each a hug, saying many "Thank you" in the best Japanese accident she could manage.

She embraced Sakura last and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Xiao Ying," she called Sakura in her Chinese name, "I'm so happy to have become friends with you! Thank you for making the only freedom I had so much fun! Come visit me in Hong Kong, okay?"

"I will, Ruo Xi. Definitely," Sakura said to Ruo Xi with a smile. She knew she was going to miss her greatly, which was strange, considering that they had only spent less than 2 days together.

"Say bye to the asshole for me," she added, before hugging Sakura again."Forget about what I said last night. It's just mere interest, and nothing more. I want you two to be happy," she added in a whisper upon releasing her hold.

With that, she hopped into the car and waved vigorously as the car drove away from the house.

Her words left Sakura paralyzed with wonder. Instead of feeling happy that the one possible love rival had quit the game and wished for her happiness, she felt selfish.

Nevertheless, she told herself Ruo Xi's sincere kindness was enough because she didn't expect anything to change. She knew that no matter what happened, the engagement was destined to go on.

The week after Sakura and Syaoran returned to Tokyo, both became extremely busy, so busy to the point that they had no time to see each other whatsoever.

Syaoran's schedule was tightly packed with work because he had finished filming for his movie, "Down In Heaven". From interviews to photo shoots related to the movie, he was driven all across the city everyday. Endorsement deals were sent to his agency on an almost hourly basis, breaking his usual rate of offerings, because rumours had appeared in the media suggesting that Syaoran was going to make a quick leave from Showbiz before the end of the month. In response to the rumours, his spokesperson was ordered by the agency to make a statement, explaining he was not going to quit Showbiz until next year. However, the statement did little to help Syaoran's piling workload. The statement turned into an unintended official confirmation to the public about Syaoran's resignation, and so it brought on even more endorsement contracts and requests to attend several charitable events.

On the other hand, Sakura's training at the hospital was extended to 5 days a week instead of 3. Her new work routine not only included the old data-input and clinic check, it also included a new two-hour one-on-one session with Shin and a practice treatment for the young cancer patients in her department. Her extended workdays made it impossible for her to visit Syaoran, even if she wanted to. With their busy schedules, their second collaboration for a wedding dress photo shoot had to be postponed, as well.

The only communication they had was through the phone and the media. During daytime while both were busily working, they texted each other. For the majority of the time, however, Sakura received no reply, since Syaoran was not allowed to keep his phone by his side during recording. Oftentimes at night, Syaoran called Sakura once he was off of work, but the hour was usually so late that Sakura was already asleep by then. The other means of communication was through the media. Syaoran's active schedule in the city made him appear in headlines of newspapers and tabloid magazines every day, which helped Sakura to learn what her boyfriend was up to.

In this morning's newspaper-shoved into her hands by one of her crazy Syaoran-fan colleague the minute she arrived at the hospital- Sakura read something that was both intriguing and troubling.

The entertainment section of the newspaper had Syaoran's picture on the front page. This time, it was a photo of him printed in colour, walking down the runway at a Prada fashion show in Hong Kong last year. Beside it was a photo of the famous fashion designer for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, wearing one of his signature shades with his hair tied back into a long ponytail.

The headline was "First Asian Model to Reject Lagerfeld's offer!"

Li Syaoran, Asia's Number 1 hottest star, gained himself a new title recently: The First Model Who Has Ever Rejected Karl Lagerfeld. The Father of Fashion, Lagerfeld, reportedly flew to Tokyo on Tuesday night and personally asked Syaoran to model for his Chanel Menswear line for September's fashion show in Milan, after accidentally stumbling across one of Syaoran's old runway footages. The two of them enjoyed a friendly meal at Ichiban Sushi, and at around 9 o'clock, Lagerfeld left the restaurant by himself, looking somewhat disappointed, as what one witness had reported. A car then arrived and drove him to the airport, where he took a flight back to his Italian Villa on his private jet.

"I can't believe Syaoran rejected the designer!" the nurse with pink lips exclaimed from behind Sakura, giving her a startle. She wasn't the only one watching Sakura. The other three were sitting at their desks with their heads turned to Sakura's direction as well.

"Wouldn't it be nice to end his acting career with this kind of once-in-a-lifetime experience? A lot of models would die for this kind of opportunity!" the nurse continued, while the other three nodded in agreement.

"Why did he reject, Sakura?" another one asked, as if she knew Sakura had an answer. In truth, Sakura knew nothing about the dinner meeting and felt as if she were stabbed in the back with a knife because Syaoran had never told her about this important news.

"I don't know," Sakura said honestly, as she looked at the bracelet on her left wrist.

None of the nurses seemed to believe her, but before they could press on for more information, Akira, the head, strolled into the building from the front door. The nurse standing behind Sakura quickly left for her desk, while the other three immediately dropped their gazes at something on their desks.

Sakura greeted Akira with a grateful smile, and then took out her phone from her pocket to text Syaoran.

I read the news. Why didn't you tell me about Karl Lagerfeld? : (

Unfortunately, she didn't get a reply that morning. It was until the end of her lesson with Shin when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

Are you free now? She read from her screen. It wasn't an answer she had expected, but she texted back anyways.

I just finished my lesson. It's lunch now.

The second she pressed sent, her phone began to ring. Sakura paced towards the exit of the building to pick up the phone call, not wanting to bother her colleagues.

"I'm close to the hospital today. Let's have lunch together," Syaoran said in his attractive- and with a hint of tiredness-voice, forcing Sakura's heart to beat faster than before. Finally being able to hear his voice made her realize how much she had really missed him in the past few days. Her eyes gazed at the bracelet longingly.

"I—I can't leave the hospital for lunch today. I have to stay back to type out a report," Sakura lied. She felt really bad, but at least it was for a good cause. She knew Syaoran had been very busy in the past few days and never had enough time to eat or sleep. If he had so much free time on his hands to eat lunch with her today, he should use it for some sleep, instead.

"A report? What is wrong with your mentor, always torturing you like this and keeping you from seeing your boyfriend? How about I buy the food and eat with you at your place?" he suggested hopefully.

Sakura sighed. Inside, she really wished she could see him. "You'll cause a scene if you come, and we're going to see each other soon, anyways. There's only one day left until your movie premiere."

Then she quickly suggested, "Why don't you tell Hikari to go out and buy you something, so you can rest for a bit before the afternoon shift starts?"

"Fine." She heard a pout in his voice. "I guess you don't miss me as much as I miss you." For the majority of their time together, Syaoran always took the role of the mature and caring boyfriend, but there were times when he acted like a baby; he longed for Sakura's care and affection, which she rarely showed. Due to this lack of affection, he never had a good grasp on how much she really liked him.

However, the doubt did not make him love her less; it motivated him to do the exact opposite. Whether she had liked him in high school or not, he did not need or want to remind her of her old feelings just for the purpose of deepening her current one.

"Hey, don't make me look like the bad person. Why didn't you tell me about Karl Lagerfeld?" Sakura countered.

"It's not that important," Syaoran said casually.

"It's not that important? Everyone is talking about it. They think you were on drugs that night and didn't know what you were doing."

Syaoran broke out in laughter. He had to admit, Sakura was good at exaggerating. "On drugs, I see. But why don't I regret my decision now that my head is clear?"

"Why didn't you take the offer? You missed out on a great opportunity."

With a bit of a pause, he said in all honesty. "Because I don't have much time left. I can't afford to leave the country for two weeks just for a stupid fashion show."

His words silenced Sakura. For the first time since they returned from Hong Kong, Syaoran voluntarily brought up the topic about their time-limited relationship. By "I don't have much time left," she knew he meant "We don't have much time left." However, despite his fear, he had not given up yet—unlike Sakura.

When they ended the phone call, Sakura slid her phone back into her pocket and was about to re-enter the building. That was when Michio's angel-like voice rung through her ears.

"Mommy!" He ran into Sakura's arm in joy, a huge grin plastered on his face. She noticed that one of his bottom teeth had fallen off.

Sakura's face instantly brightened up into a cheeky grin. It was a different type of reaction than the one Syaoran was able to bring out of her. "Michio, you little cutie. I haven't seen you for so long!" Sakura said, picking Michio up in her arms.

The boy's nanny, whose name Sakura could not remember, came running up the hill with Michio's backpack in hand. "Michio, don't run so fast next time. You could injure yourself." She looked at Sakura and greeted her kindly, "Hello, Miss Kinomoto."

Sakura returned the greeting with an embarrassed smile and a "Hi."

"Michio's dad asked me to drop him off here so he could take him to McDonalds for lunch. Could you bring him in for me, please? I have to get somewhere in a rush right now," the nanny pleaded.

Sakura nodded, took Michio's backpack and headed inside the building. "We'll see you later then."

"Mommy, why do you have so much work all the time? Daddy says Mommy is always busy with her work that's why she doesn't have time to play with Michio," the boy asked on their way in, eyes looking into Sakura's with pure curiosity.

Sakura did not understand Michio at first, until she remembered the conversation she had had with Shin back in the ice cream parlour. He had not wanted Michio to bother Sakura, therefore, he came up with this kind of temporary excuse. Not wanting to turn Shin into a bad person in front of Michio, Sakura effortlessly replied, "Mommy's work is all finished now. Michio can come find Mommy whenever you want to." She realized that getting along with young children was second nature to her, especially with Michio.

There were many curious stares from the staff members in the hospital as Sakura entered with Michio in her arms because they had never seen Shin's son with any female other than the hired nanny. Thankfully, no one speculated the relationship between Shin and Sakura.

"I'll send a driver to pick you up on Saturday."

Syaoran hung up his phone with a sigh. His body immediately stretched across the large sofa in boredom, as he stared blankly at the white ceiling.

Now that he wasn't going to have lunch with his girlfriend, what could he do to kill the free time? If he had not gone through the Samsung TV commercial shooting as quickly, hoping to create some alone time with Sakura, he wouldn't be stuck in this room all by himself for the next two hours.

Sleep wasn't on his mind at the moment, so he decided to take Sakura's other suggestion.

"Hikari," he dialled his assistant's phone and said, "I feel like having McDonalds for lunch. Can you buy it for me, please?"

With that, he hung up the phone and laid on the sofa for his assistant's return with the fast food, which was strictly prohibited for his healthy diet.

"Down In Heaven" was a highly anticipated movie based on a best-selling novel that retold the touching story about an orphan with an unfortunate childhood, who joined a multimillion-dollar-worth gang of drug dealers in hope of pursuing a better life. With the involvement of the biggest investors in town, the production company was able to gather a team of award-winning, internationally-acclaimed staff, from directors to screenwriters to cinematographers, etc., in addition to the biggest stars in Japan, Li Syaoran and Ikaho kasashira, to take part in the movie.

With such a promising production, the movie was guaranteed to be a big hit and was going to win the Best Picture Award in the upcoming International Asian Film Festival.

On the day of Heaven's premiere for only the VVIP guests and the 32 media groups, Syaoran sent a driver to Sakura's house to pick her up in the afternoon, as promised. Once she arrived at the theatre, she was guided through the back entrance directly, in order to keep her away from having to face the press alone.

Sakura, who wore a white knee-length strapless gown from Tomoyo's newest collection, was the first one to arrive inside the theatre. A staff member led her to her assigned seat in the front row beside Syaoran's.

As more people entered, Sakura began to feel nervous when she recognized a few of the famous faces she had seen on TV back in New York. It was funny that she reacted in such a way, considering that her own boyfriend belonged to the same league as well. She managed a small but friendly smile at those who bothered to acknowledge her existence. One handsome man, in particular, with shoulder-length black hair and dressed in a stylish bright red suit left a deep impression on her due to the strong smell of cigar and alcohol that emitted from his body.

Failed to notice Sakura's irritation, the man beamed at her when he caught her looking his way. "大嫂好啊！" he exclaimed loudly, attracting the attention of those who were conversing in the rows behind theirs (Hi, sister-in-law!).

Although Sakura didn't understand his words, she could tell the sense of humour in his voice. Instantly, her defensive nature kicked in.

"Not sober already, Jin? Don't joke around with Sakura. Syaoran won't like it," a familiar voice sounded behind Sakura. It was none other than Linda Hamasaki, one of the guaranteed guests invited to the premiere because of her close relationship with Syaoran.

Tonight, she wore a silky silver v-neck dress that hugged loosely around her slender body, showing off her long legs, with her brunette hair curled and tied up into a messy bun. After their first meeting, Sakura grew a liking for Linda and regarded her as an older sister. Linda's presence made Sakura feel less awkward.

"怎么，你现在是嫉妒我叫她大嫂而不是叫你吗？" the guy, by the name of Jin, asked with a smirk (What? Are you jealous that I'm calling her sister-in-law instead of you?). Chou Jin was a Chinese actor who had met Syaoran a few years back in Hong Kong before Syaoran became a celebrity. It was with Syaoran's help and guidance that Jin was able to start his own career in Showbiz, so Syaoran was considered a mentor and a brother-like figure to Jin. Just for the premiere, Jin rescheduled all of his work and had flown to Japan for the evening.

Being an active model all across Asia, Linda could understand Chinese perfectly but was not able to speak it fluently. Therefore she replied in Japanese to Jin, sneering, as she took the seat between Sakura and Jin. "You must be so drunk everyday that you don't read the news. I am engaged." Linda emphasized the last word.

The two weren't hostile toward each other. Nevertheless, they were somewhat on that borderline, for a reason Sakura didn't know. Before Linda was able to shift her attention to Sakura, the lights in the theatre suddenly dimmed as the small stage on the bottom brightened by the overhead lights.

Hikari walked out of the backroom with a microphone in hand to introduce the cast of the movie, from the minor characters to the main ones, and finally to the director and screenwriter of the entire project. Syaoran, dressed in a black leather jacket and ripped jeans for the purpose of portraying his character in the movie, made a speech on behalf of the entire crew and thanked the reporters and guests for coming to support this movie and retold some of the experiences he gained during filming.

Once his short speech ended, the lights in the theatres turned on as cameras began flicking for pictures. After, the cast left the stage, each returning to their assigned seats, while Syaoran and his co-star remained on the stage, posing in every direction for a duo photo. As Syaoran's eyes landed on Sakura, he gave a quick wink at her.

"Thanks for coming," he said to Sakura once he returned to his seat. Oblivious to the curious eyes spying on them conspicuously, he planted a kiss on her forehead. It was something he had always wanted to do for the past week when they had been apart.

"I'm sorry that the first time we see a movie together, the situation is like this."

Sakura, shyly blushing, shook her head with a smile. "It's better like this. At least we don't have to run for our lives if we get discovered."

Two seats away, Jin whistled mischievously. "哥，现在我才知道为什么每次我来日本的时候约你出来你都爽约." (Brother, now I understand why every time I come to Japan and call you out, you never come.)

Syaoran's face spread into a large smile as he wrapped his arm around Sakura's shoulder. "说真的，我到现在也觉得很吃惊。" (Honestly, I still find it very surprising.)

After the premiere, Jin pleaded to Sakura, asking her to let Syaoran have a drink with him at the bar for a guys' night out since he had not seen his brother for a very long time and needed to catch up on the events in their lives. Syaoran was reluctant to go, knowing that tonight was the only opportunity for him to spend time with Sakura. It was when Sakura promised to wait for him at his house that he agreed to go with Jin, although still a bit unwillingly.

By the time he arrived at home, it was past midnight. He had had a few drinks, but he was not the least bit drunk. However, Jin was an entirely different case. He was so wasted by the time they finished that Syaoran had to check him into a hotel for the night because his assistant had said he was in no condition to take the flight back to Hong Kong.

As he slid open the keypad to enter the passcode, his phone began to vibrate inside his pocket. "Hello?"

It was his Mother. "我要你下个星期马上回香港." (I want you to come back next week.) Just like any other time, his Mother only called for a purpose. There was no greeting, no nothing. She always went directly to her point whenever she spoke to Syaoran, as if she were speaking to one of her subordinates.

Automatically, Syaoran's back straightened and paused from entering his home. "为什么？" (Why?)

"李总说若熙要解除婚约。他们下星期会来香港。我要你回来让她改变主意。要不然我们的公将会陷入危机。" (Ruo Xi told her Father that she wants to cancel the engagement. They are coming to Hong Kong next week and I want you to change her mind. If not, our company will be in grave trouble. )

Yelan did not wait for Syaoran's reply beforeshe hung up because she was confident that he was going to follow her orders.

Syaoran's mind became thoughtful. He was suspicious of Li Ruo Xi. Although she had acted as if she hated the engagement, she might have devised the plan in order to speed up the process…

Once he entered the house, he found Sakura sleeping peacefully on the sofa with the sound of the TV playing in the background. She held a pillow tightly to her chest, preventing herself from catching a cold.

"You're back?"

Her eyes opened slightly as she felt movement in front of her. Syaoran smiled down at her lovingly, sweeping her up in his arms. "Go back to sleep. I'm going to transfer you to my bed."

Sakura nodded contentedly, wrapping her arms around his neck as they went. "You stink," she muttered in a sleepy voice, wrinkling her nose as she sniffed his shirt.

"What do I smell like?" he asked with curiosity, slipping her underneath the cover.

"You smell like Jin. How many did you drink and smoke?"

Syaoran erupted into laughter. "It is the smell of alcohol and cigar that the girls like about him."

"Well, that only applies to him," she said, frowning at the thought with her eyes closed "You should just stick to your cologne. That way, you won't die young."

Syaoran quietly observed her from the edge of the bed, fingers caressing over her face absentmindedly.

"Stop it," she whined, throwing his hand away from her and turning her body away from him. She was not a gentle sleeper when others were interrupting her sleep.

Instead of doing what she told him to do, he advanced his ministrations by rolling her to the other side of the bed and climbing into the bed to replace her old spot. He pulled her into his arms.

"Let's sleep now, okay? I'm so tired."

"Syaoran, you stink!" she exclaimed, pushing away his rigid chest to no avail. Syaoran closed his eyes, a smile played on his face, as he pulled her even tighter to his chest.

One Week Later

"Here are this season's most popular wedding dresses. Since the photo shoot focuses mainly on a couple's honeymoon, we only just need one for the pre-honeymoon wedding ceremony," said the co-ordinator in charge of Syaoran and Sakura's photo shoot for the upcoming issue of Dream Magazine. After almost a month's delay due to Syaoran's packed schedule, today was finally the day for them to pick out the wedding dress that they liked. Later in the afternoon, they were going to travel to a church in a rural area of Tokyo to have the photos taken. Even until now, the co-ordinator did not tell them where they were going for the "honeymoon" because she and the rest of the crew were ordered to give the couple a "huge surprise."

Sakura became nervous the minute she entered the wedding dress shop with Syaoran that morning. She felt nervous because it felt like she was getting married for real. On the other hand, Syaoran looked completely at least, more like he was completely enjoying the situation. After the co-ordinator left with the one reporter who had exclusive permission to follow the couple for the entire day, Syaoran began going through the first rack of white dresses. He did it in a sweep, none of the dresses catching his attention. Standing beside him, Sakura slowly looked through the choices, giving each a few seconds of attention. Other than her nervousness, she also felt quite awkward. Before, she had never imagined entering this kind of shop to purchase a dress for herself at the age of 22. She had thought that the only exception was when one of her best friends got married and needed her to be a bridesmaid. But now, she was standing in a wedding dress shop at the age of 22 and choosing a dress for herself while accompanied by her boyfriend. Even though this was all fake, she still couldn't push away the awkward feelings.

In the end, Sakura entered the change room with three dresses that Syaoran had chosen. The first one was a mini, strapless wedding dress that reached a little past mid-thigh. The top half had folded layers while the bottom contained spiralling ruffles that formed the shape of a rose. The stylist helped Sakura with the zipper once she slipped into the dress and helped her into a pair of white sandals. She looked at the mirror and was amazed to see how pretty the dress was.

"Are you done?" Syaoran asked from the outside, almost startling Sakura.

She heaved a sigh before the stylist pulled the curtains open for her. The stylist helped Sakura up on the small elevated stage designed for the audience to take a clear view at the bride's dresses.

Syaoran placed down a wedding magazine he was reading and rose from the sofa. He slowly walked towards her, eyes filled with admiration. "I like it," he said simply but sincerely. Just like what Sakura had thought about the dress, Syaoran thought that although pretty, it was too normal.

"This dress is perfect for someone who has long legs like Miss Kinomoto. This rose here also accentuates her waist and hips, giving her body sort of an hourglass shape," explained the stylist to Syaoran.

Making a swift turn, Sakura made her way down the stage. "Next one." Somewhere deep down, she felt slightly disappointed that Syaoran didn't compliment her. When had she become like this? She felt pathetic.

The second dress was floor length. The top was long sleeve embroidered with lace. Starting from the chest down, the dress was of soft, Italian silk. It had a simple and elegant touch from the front, but once the bride turned to reveal the delicately corseted embellishment, a feeling of sophistication would immediately add to their features. The stylist could not stop complimenting Sakura as she attached a long veil on the top of Sakura's head.

No longer cared about how the dresses looked, Sakura kindly said thank you, but inside, she knew that the stylist was exaggerating. Her lack of enthusiasm probably came from Syaoran's reaction to her first dress.

When the stylist opened the curtains, both she and Sakura found the waiting room empty. Syaoran's magazine was left open on the sofa, but he wasn't there reading it. Sakura walked over to the sofa to see if he had left any note, but there was nothing. "Syaoran?" she called his name.

"Sakura, can you fix—" his voice suddenly appeared from behind her after the sound of curtains being pulled open occurred.

When Sakura turned around to face him, she felt her jaw drop. She watched him stand in front of her in a black tux, looking even hotter than usual. But his expression was even more hilarious than hers. His right hand was paused over his left wrist, trying to button the buttons, as he literally stared at her with eyes stretched so wide that his eyeballs was able to fall out.

Upon seeing his face, she immediately felt her face redden. Both were lost for words. It seemed like eternity before Syaoran began moving himself closer to her. "You look beautiful, Sakura." Any other time, she would have rolled her eyes in order to ease off the cheesiness. However, today, she could not do the same as she drowned into the depth of his shining amber orbs.

Ignoring their stylists, who were standing near the change rooms watching this exclusively private moment, Syaoran went down on one knee and planted a long, loving kiss on the back of Sakura's hand. It was a kiss unlike any other he had given her. "Will you be my wife?" She couldn't tell if he was joking or saying the truth.

The moment he gazed up at her, her head began to pound in excruciating pain. Millions of images began to run through her head simultaneously, making her feel like she was going to explode. She pulled her hand away from him and pressed both hardly on her temples, trying to push back the pain with force. Her instinct told her to leave the place immediately, while her heart told her to do the opposite.

"Sakura?" she heard Syaoran's panicked voice. Her pain was so prominent that the voice appeared almost non-existent. She didn't know what was going on, but she ended up following what her instincts told her to do and ran out of the wedding shop. Tears were running down her cheeks as she sprinted down the half-crowded sidewalk. Despite the lack of control over her actions, she managed to stop on the sidewalk for merely a second before the cross light turned green.

It was exactly in that second when Syaoran caught her by the wrist, after finally catching up to her due to his shock at first that had delayed the chase. "Let go of me!" she cried, struggling to pull free from him. In the midst of her protest, she made quick eye contact and found traces of misery, pain, and worry in his eyes. His hands were too strong around her wrists.

"Sakura, let's go back now," he tried to talk to her in a soothing voice, but she did not listen.

She was like a dog out of control. She bit down on his hand, catching him off guard for a second. She took that as an opportunity to make her escape across the road.

But, at that moment a van that was speeding down the road suddenly made a quick halt, one metre away from killing Sakura.

She fell to the ground in shock and fainted.

Flashback

"So, who is this friend of yours that I've never heard you talk about?" Nadeshiko Kinomoto questioned her daughter from the driver's seat. She looked at Sakura curiously through the rear-view mirror.

At the back, Sakura sat silently, staring out the window as if in deep thought. The sudden downpour blurred every view outside, making it impossible for her to find an excuse to be too distracted to pay attention to her mom's question. However, she was too close to her mom to fool her with this trick. Her mom was like a sister and a best friend to her who knew her more than she knew herself.

"I know you can hear me, Sakura. So who is it?" Nadeshiko asked, this time sounding a bit irritated.

Sakura sighed. She wanted to tell her mom, but she knew that if she did her mom was going to turn the car around immediately and drive away from the route to the airport. This was the last thing she wanted to happen, so she told herself that she wasn't going to reveal the person's name until they returned home.

"Don't tell me it's Syaoran Li?" she pressed. Sakura could hear the agitation in her voice now.

Busted. Sakura's eyes remained glued to the window, as she felt her mom make a quick turn of her head to look at her for confirmation.

"Why, Sakura? Do you like him that much? You are just a child crushing on a senior student. How dare you ask me to drive you to the airport to see him off?" Nadeshiko yelled angrily. This was exactly why Sakura didn't want to tell her mom at first. Almost 3 months ago when Nadeshiko overheard Sakura's phone conversation with Tomoyo, she had warned her not to get too close to Syaoran Li because of his family background. She had warned her not to get involved with his family, since the Kinomoto Corporation was a fast-growing company which a lot of people wanted to use as a stepping stone, especially the Li Empire that was known for its business manipulations.

"He will pretend like he loves you, while he uses you without you knowing. Once you are no longer useful, he throws you away. Why are men like that?" Nadeshiko was furious, and the things she talked about made absolutely no sense to Sakura.

"What are you talking about mom?" Sakura asked confusedly.

"Why do they treat women like this? Don't they know that without the women, they are nothing but garbage?" Nadeshiko was becoming very emotional. She began wiping away tears with the back of her hand.

"Mom, why are you crying?" Sakura asked with worry because it was rare for her mom to cry.

"I will not allow you to go see him, Sakura. I'm going to turn back, now," she stopped crying and told her sternly. Sakura didn't know what was happening with her mom. One minute she was sad and crying, and the next she was serious and scary.

This time, it was Sakura's turn to react. She jumped up in defence to her disapproval. "It's not like anything will happen between us, mom! He's going back to Hong Kong today. I'm only going to watch him from afar!"

Nadeshiko's hold on the steering wheel tightened. She turned her whole head around and glared into her daughter's eyes, forgetting that she was driving at the moment. "I said no-"

Before she was able to regain her control on the wheel, it was too late. Nadeshiko's car swerved into the side lane and crashed into another car.

When Sakura's eyes opened, she found herself positioned upside down in the car that had flipped over during the collision. In front of her, she saw her mom's head against the steering wheel, dripping slowly with blood."M-Mom?" she whispered weakly. There was no answer.

"Mom?"

No answer.

"Moooommmmmmm!"

If she had not asked her mom to drive her to the airport that day, there would not have been an argument or a car collision.

It was all because of her stupid, childish game of love.

End of Flashback

Sakura woke up in the empty hospital room from her traumatic past, tears rolling down her cheeks to no end. She remembered everything. "I killed my own Mother because of him. I don't deserve to live," she said to herself before her emotions flew out of control.

Ring! Ring!

Syaoran's phone didn't have to ring twice for him to pick up. Less than three hours ago, he had returned to his apartment from the hospital after he parted way with Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo? Is she awake?" he asked, all traces of exhaustion gone within seconds. Sakura was still unconscious when he left.

"S-Syaoran…the hospital just called. They said she disappeared."

*One-and-a-half year later*

Valkyrie85: You never saw THAT coming, did you? Now do you still wish to read about the day when Sakura regains her memories? Yes, you did not misread the ending. She remembered everything and she disappeared for one-and-a-half year. Make sure you leave a review for this chapter, or I'll be very, very disappointed : )

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!