Chapter 11

"Sakura, can we talk?" Tomoyo asked her cautiously as she approached Sakura who was sitting alone on the bench waiting for Eriol to join her. He had to attend an emergency club meeting and had told her that he'd meet her at the back of the school afterwards.

"What do you want, Tomoyo?" Just because Sakura understood what Eriol was trying to tell her, it didn't mean that she wasn't still annoyed with her friend.

"I, I just want to apologize, for what happened on Saturday." Tomoyo said.

"You did leave him out on purpose then?" Sakura wanted her to admit it.

"Not on purpose, I just… didn't make the effort to tell him." Tomoyo admitted.

Sakura sighed. "Tomoyo, do you know why I was so upset on Saturday? It wasn't just because you left him out on purpose, but also because you wouldn't have done that to any of our friends. You're not that kind of person, so don't start now. I've known you for years and you're one of the kindest people that I've ever known, please don't change that, okay?"

Tomoyo was quiet for a few moments before saying, "I, I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't mean to upset you. You're right, I wouldn't have done that to anyone else. It was wrong of me to do that." Tomoyo apologized.

Sakura smiled at her. "Apology accepted." Sakura said. She wanted to point out that she wasn't the one whom Tomoyo should be apologizing to, but she thought better of it. Tomoyo would have to apologize to him on her own, not just because Sakura told her to.

They ended up spending the rest of the lunch break together and Sakura figured that Eriol must've been busy with his club meeting because he never did show up.

When the bell rang, Sakura and Tomoyo walked back to class and Sakura noticed that her boyfriend was still not back yet. When he finally did show up a few minutes later, he had looked unhappy, but Sakura couldn't ask him what was going on since the teacher had arrived and started the lesson.

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"Is everything okay? Did you even have your lunch?" Sakura checked with him later when they were walking home form school. While it was no secret that they walked to school together, Sakura usually left school with Tomoyo until the intersection near their school before going their separate ways. Eriol would usually be waiting for her at the next intersection.

"I didn't. The meeting went longer than expected. Sorry I didn't get to meet you." Eriol apologized. "The school informed us that the Go club is being disbanded due to lack of members." Eriol told her. He had been a member of the Go club since their first year and had enjoyed it. "So, starting tomorrow, we've been officially moved to the soccer club."

"Soccer club?" Sakura asked in surprise. "Can't you join the art club instead?" Sakura had been in the art club since last year and it would be great if he could join her.

"I would if I could. But they didn't give us any choice. Apparently, the soccer club needs some members in order to compete in the inter-school match next month. As it happens, they need three more members to be qualified, so all three of us had to join that club. We think they disbanded our club so that we could be moved to the soccer club instead." Eriol told her with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"That's very bad…" Sakura frowned. "So does it mean you'll be having soccer practice after school from now on?"

"Yes. Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays." Eriol informed her.

"My club is on Wednesdays. That's too bad." The Go club had been held on Wednesdays too, so they had been able to go home together, but now their club activities would be held on completely different days.

They arrived at Sakura's house.

"See you tomorrow!" Sakura waved at him before getting inside her house.

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One month later, Sakura was walking back to her classroom when she overheard something.

"… just to watch Hiiragizawa practice, right?" A girl said. Upon hearing her boyfriend's name, Sakura stopped short and just stood there behind the corner.

"Oooh! You're blushing! You totally like him!" The same voice said teasingly, and Sakura's eyes widened. She slowly peered around the corners and saw three girls that she didn't recognize, most likely younger students. One of them was indeed blushing. She was cute, with brown eyes and brown hair.

"You should tell him." One of her friends suggested. "They're going to the inter-school match on Sunday. Then you can cheer him on."

"You think so?" The girl asked.

"Yes, of course! After all, you've been watching him practice for weeks now. I saw him looking at you the other day." One of them said and the other giggled. Sakura's mouth turned into a frown. She had watched him practice a couple of times herself. For a couple of years now, Tomoyo had been dragging her to soccer practice every now and then so that Sakura could watch Syaoran. Sakura had always been reluctant to go, but now that Eriol was in that club too, she was more willing to go, so that she could watch him. But Tomoyo didn't have to know that.

After a moment of silence, the girl seemed to have come to a decision. "You know what, I'll tell him today, after practice."

Her friends seemed to be thrilled with that idea and they started to chatter excitedly as they walked away, leaving Sakura standing there, hidden from view, in shock.

Sakura walked back to her classroom and sat down. Eriol was nowhere to be seen, most probably hanging out with Yamazaki somewhere.

"Sakura, do you want to watch the soccer practice today? They'll have a match on Sunday. So, Li said that they're going to practice today too even though it's Friday." Tomoyo asked. She had noticed that since Eriol had joined the club, Sakura was a little more willing to go, so she had asked her more often.

"Yeah, okay." Sakura said absent-mindedly.

Shortly after class, Eriol and Syaoran had disappeared to go to practice. Tomoyo and Sakura arrived at the field about ten minutes later and took their seats. Unconsciously, Sakura's eyes swept through the audience and found the girl sitting on the other side of the field.

Sakura turned her attention back to the field and saw the boys running around. She easily spotted Eriol. He was a striker and currently he was in control of the ball and was gearing up to score. He skillfully weaved his way past the defense team and then kicked the ball towards the goalie, scoring a goal. Sakura saw the other girl cheered and suddenly, she felt a tightness in her chest, and she felt herself getting annoyed for some reasons. So, Sakura turned her attention to Syaoran instead.

After practice was over, Sakura and Tomoyo left.

"Oh, hold on! I left my water bottle at the field! I'll be right back!" Tomoyo said before leaving. Sakura waited for her and a few minutes later, she was back.

They made their way towards the gate and just as they were about to reach the gate, they spotted Eriol at the courtyard, talking to a girl.

Sakura stopped involuntarily and her heart skipped a beat. That was the girl from before and they looked like they were in a serious conversation.

From their position, they could see the girl's face blushing as she spoke and Tomoyo immediately knew what was going on. "C'mon, Sakura. Let's give them some privacy." Tomoyo said and dragged her friend away. Inside, she was glad to see this turn of events. The girl looked cute and she hoped that Eriol would accept her confession. That way, he would be too busy with his new girlfriend to spend time with Sakura and her friend could focus on Syaoran instead.

Sakura didn't resist when Tomoyo dragged her away and she waved absently at her friend when they parted ways. Dazedly, Sakura walked back home as she kept replaying what she saw just now. The girl was cute, and she had been watching him practice for weeks now. Not that Sakura would think that he would've accepted her confession, but she couldn't stop the doubt from rising in her, combined with some strange feelings that she couldn't quite make sense of yet. 'What if he said yes? Just to keep up with the ruse.' Sakura suddenly thought, but she quickly shook her head. 'No, don't be silly, Sakura. He wouldn't do that to you.' She told herself. She had been moving so slowly and was so lost in thoughts she didn't realize that Eriol had caught up with her.

"Sakura?" Eriol tapped her on her shoulder, making her jump. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." He quickly apologized.

"I… It's okay." Sakura said, but she wasn't smiling.

"The match is on Sunday. Will you be going?" Eriol asked her, but Sakura kept quiet. "Sakura?" He looked at her.

"No, I don't think so." Sakura snapped, surprising him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, frowning.

"What did you say?" Sakura stopped and asked him, not able to contain her curiosity anymore. "What did you say to her?"

"So you knew." He had felt her presence earlier.

"Just answer the question, Eriol!" Sakura was suddenly angry.

"She asked me out, I said no." He said calmly.

"She's been watching you practice." She said quietly.

"I saw her a couple of times, yes." He confirmed.

"She's been cheering for you." She continued, just as quietly.

"Where is this going?" Eriol asked, his voice remained calm.

"Why didn't you say yes?" Sakura surprised herself when she said this.

Eriol too, was surprised at her words. "I'm sorry? Did you expect me to say yes?"

"I don't know! This is you! Who knows what's going on in your head? For all I know, you might have said yes just for the fun of it! After all, everything is just a game for you, isn't it?! How am I supposed to know that I'm not just another one of your game?!" Sakura honestly didn't know what had prompted her to say these things to him. She didn't even know what was going on with her, why she was feeling these strange feelings and why she was so angry. He already told her that he said no, what else did she want?

Eriol's eyes narrowed and when he spoke, his voice was quiet. "If you really think that shallow of me, then maybe we should reconsider this relationship and what it means." There was a hint of anger in his voice that had startled Sakura and snapped her out of her own anger

"Eriol, I…" Sakura whispered softly.

But Eriol walked away, leaving her standing alone in the middle of the sidewalk.

Sakura stood there and watched his retreating back as tears were starting to make their way down her cheeks. 'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!' She scolded herself and wiped her tears angrily. 'What have you done?!' She wanted to chase him, wanted to explain herself to him, but instead she was rooted in place.

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When Sakura got home, she went straight to her room and threw herself on her bed, burying her face in her pillow as she cried. Luckily, Kero was downstairs with Fujitaka, so Sakura didn't have to worry about him pestering her.

What had she done? He was her best friend, then more than that when he became her boyfriend. He had told her he liked her, had confessed his feelings for her and they'd been happy. But now she'd messed it all up and because of what? Because she didn't trust him? No, she realized. It wasn't because of that. It was because of her own guilt. That girl had been watching him practice, had been cheering for him, while it was supposed to be Sakura's job to do those things. That girl had been a better girlfriend than she was, even without being his girlfriend.

As she recalled his parting words, Sakura cried harder. She had truly messed up and now he probably wouldn't want to continue with their relationship anymore. She'd lost him and it was her own fault. She had lost her mentor, her best friend, her boyfriend, because she was being jealous. Yes, that had been it. She was jealous of some girl and she had taken it out on him instead.

Sakura heard a knock on the door and quickly wiped her tears. "Come in!"

Fujitaka opened the door and stepped into her room. He closed the door softly behind him and went to the bed to sit down.

"Hi, Dad." Sakura forced herself to smile, but she was sure that her Dad could see her tears.

"Problems with Eriol?" He asked gently.

Sakura's silence was enough to answer his question.

"Couples argue sometimes, Sakura." He continued since she didn't look like she was going to say anything. "That's part of being in a relationship."

For her part, Sakura stared at him with wide eyes. "You… You knew?"

Fujitaka nodded with a smile. "I have for a while now. Both of you have been very happy as of late, as happy as your mother and I were when we first started dating. It wasn't difficult to figure out."

Sakura gaped at him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I figured you'd tell me when you're ready, like with magic." Fujitaka said.

Sakura looked down. "Well, there's nothing to tell now. It's probably over."

"Want to talk about it? I don't mean to pry, but maybe I can help." Fujitaka said kindly.

So, Sakura told him. She told him about why they had been hiding their relationship. She told him about what had happened today. She told him about the girl, about what she had overheard and what she had seen and lastly, she told him about their argument and how she had single-handedly destroyed years of friendship and a happy relationship in less than a day.

"And it's all my fault. He has been taking care of me, has been so patient with me, but I… I said those things to him instead. It's over now. He wouldn't want to see me again." Sakura finally said with sadness in her eyes.

Fujitaka was silent as he considered his daughter's story. "I don't see Eriol to be the kind of person who would end things just because of one isolated incident."

"He was angry, Dad. I've never seen him angry before." Sakura said quietly as she recalled his anger. He didn't yell at her, didn't even raise his voice, but she could tell.

"You were both angry, Sakura. When one is angry, things were said." Fujitaka said. "But it doesn't mean that you end things just because you get into an argument. I think what you two have is much stronger than that. Like I said, arguments are part of a relationship. It's inevitable. You're two different people and even though he's who he is, he's still human after all, with feelings and thoughts."

Sakura nodded. "What should I do now?" She asked, at loss.

"You two have built this relationship based on a strong friendship, so talk to him, be honest with each other. Trust and honesty go a long way in a relationship, Sakura." Fujitaka advised.

"Do you think he'd want to talk to me?" Sakura asked with hesitation.

"I'm sure he will." Fujitaka smiled kindly at her.

Sakura smiled then. "I'll go talk to him first thing tomorrow. Maybe it's better to let him cool off for a bit and I need to think what I'm going to say too."

Fujitaka agreed. "Now, go and get changed. Dinner will be ready soon. I left Kero in the kitchen and I don't trust him not to finish off all the puddings."

Sakura laughed at that.

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"Where are you going?" Touya asked in surprise when he saw Sakura was getting ready to leave right after breakfast. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs, still in his pyjamas. This was Saturday after all and for once, he didn't have any shift today.

"Training." Sakura said shortly as she put on her shoes.

"At nine in the morning?" Touya asked doubtfully.

"Unlike you, Touya, I like to get my exercises bright and early." Sakura retorted.

For once Touya couldn't come up with a comeback, but he blamed his still sleepy brain for that.

"I'm going!" Sakura announced as she stepped out of the door, not waiting for her brother to think of a comeback.

Sakura made her way to Eriol's house up the hill. Usually, when she got there, the gate would've opened by itself. But this morning, the gate remained closed. Sakura stood there, waiting, but nothing happened. Sakura held onto the railings and tried to push, but as she had expected, the gate didn't budge.

Suddenly, a thought got into her head. 'He is not opening the gate. He doesn't want to see me.' Eriol told her the house was filled with magic and while it wasn't exactly sentient, it could 'alert' Eriol if they had guests and he could then decide whether he wanted to open the gate or not. It was like a security system, but better.

Sakura paused as she thought about what she should do next. At first, she wanted to start yelling but thought that wouldn't have helped her case. In fact, it would only make matters worse. She took out her phone and called him, but he didn't pick up. Seeing that she had no other choice, Sakura decided to wait. She was determined to wait until he decided that he wanted to see her. She wouldn't give up. Sakura sat down on the ground then.

As she sat there, she couldn't help but think about her current predicament. After her talk with her father, Sakura had felt better. But what if her Dad was wrong? What if this was over? What if he had decided that she wasn't worth all the troubles? He had been very patient with her. He had put up with Tomoyo and her awful treatment of him. He had even put up with Tomoyo trying to get Sakura and Syaoran together, even though Sakura was his girlfriend. He never once complained about Tomoyo's behaviours.

Tears started to stream down her cheeks as she realized how selfish she had been and how awful she had been treating him. In some ways, she had even treated him worse than Tomoyo had. At least, Tomoyo had an excuse of disliking him, but what was her excuse? She was his girlfriend. She was supposed to be taking his side, was supposed to stand up for him. And yet, she had let her friend get away with so many things, dragging her to Syaoran's practice, playing match maker, and in some ways, she even let her friend get away with treating Eriol badly. And to top it off, she had the nerve to be jealous over nothing and accused him of those things yesterday, even after he made it clear that he wasn't interested in that girl.

Sakura took out her phone and tried his number again. She waited as it rang and rang, until it went into voicemail, telling her to leave a message.

"Eriol?" Sakura started, her voice breaking. "It's me. I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Please open the gate. I need to see you. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Sakura couldn't finish as she started crying. She hung up, hugged her knees, and started sobbing.

"Sakura?" Sakura heard his voice and looked up to see him standing in front of her. "What are you doing here?" He asked. Through her tears, Sakura could see that he was holding a few grocery bags in his hands.

"E… Eriol?" Sakura quickly scrambled to her feet. "I…" She looked back at the house and back at him.

"Why are you crying?" He asked her.

"The gate didn't open." Sakura said lamely.

"There's nobody home." He explained. "I went to get groceries, Nakuru has a morning shift in the café and Spinnel is out exploring the woods." He paused. "How long have you been here?"

"I, I don't know. I tried calling you." She sniffled.

"I don't have my phone with me." He then walked past her, and the gate opened for him. "Are you coming?" He asked as she just stood there.

Sakura followed him meekly. They didn't talk and there was a tension in the air and Sakura didn't like that. He didn't look angry, or sound angry, but he wasn't smiling either. So, Sakura kept her head down and walked behind him.

They walked into the house, the front door had opened automatically for him too, and into the kitchen. He put away the groceries in silence as she stood there gathering her thoughts. Once he had put away the last of the groceries, he turned to face her.

"Why are you here?" He asked, his tone neutral and his expression unreadable.

"I… I want to apologize. For everything." Sakura said, looking down to the floor in shame. "First, I overstepped my boundaries." She continued. She had thought about what had happened and what she had done wrong. "Whatever conversation that you had with that girl was none of my business. I also have no right to say those things to you. I was angry because I should be the one who watch you practice, should be the one who cheer for you, but instead, that girl had done what I'm supposed to do and I got jealous. But it's all my own fault. I, I've let Tomoyo drag me around, let her treat you so badly. I'm supposed to be on your side, I'm supposed to stand up for you, but I didn't. In some ways, I've treated you in an even worse way than she has." Sakura could feel fresh tears starting to make their way down her face, but she was determined to finish what she had started. "You've been so patient with me and I've let you down, over and over again. I'm so sorry…" Sakura's voice was breaking. "If you, if you don't want to see me again, I, I understand."

There was silence and Sakura didn't know what to make of that, but she didn't dare to look up at him, afraid of what she might see. So, she kept her head down, scrunched up her eyes to try to stop the tears, and stood there, waiting for his decision.

Sakura felt his fingers under her chin, tilting up her face gently. She opened her eyes and saw him looking at her intently. "Sakura, I don't care." He started. "I don't care if you don't watch me practice, I don't care if you don't cheer for me. Those would be nice, yes, but those are not the most important thing for me. It doesn't matter who's watching me, who's cheering for me, as long as I know that you're with me." He used his thumb to wipe her tears gently. "You didn't overstep your boundaries. We're not just friends, we're in a relationship, and you have every right to know about that girl, and I was going to tell you. As for Daidouji, I know how much you value your friendship with her and that she means a lot to you. I don't want you to have to choose between me and her. You didn't let me down, Sakura. You never did. Ever since I met you, you have never let me down, not once." He paused. "As for what you said to me yesterday, you're right. Nobody knows what's going on inside my head, but all you need to do is ask. Sometimes, I might not tell you, but it's not because I don't trust you. I know it's not easy to be with me, so, please be patient with me."

Eriol took a deep breath as he prepared himself to say the next part. "Sakura, I have known you for so long, basically for all my life, even before I knew who I was, before Clow, even before magic. Clow made sure of that by putting you in my dreams to always remind me of what is important. He had wanted me to get to know you first before everything else, had wanted me to know that my purpose in life is to help you. I started dreaming of you when I was three, or maybe even earlier than that. But for as long as I can remember, you've always been in my dreams."

Sakura now looked surprised and confused at the same time, but she remained quiet.

"As I started to remember who I was, I knew of my destiny, of my duty, which is to help you change your cards. Clow had foreseen it, I, myself, have seen it in my own visions. Everything that I've done in my life up to that point when you changed the last of your cards, all of it have been foretold by my previous self. All, but one." Eriol took her hands in his and held them loosely. "Clow and I can see the future, but there's one thing that neither of us can predict. That is, we can never predict emotions. The matter of the heart will always remain a mystery for us. So, while he had predicted everything that would happen with you, with the cards, there's one thing that he didn't predict." He gave her hands a slight squeeze. "He never predicted that I would fall in love with you."

Sakura gaped at him. "What…?"

Apparently, he wasn't done yet. "I've told you, being me is a lonely existence. But seeing you in my dreams, it made things easier. Every day, I looked forward to seeing you in my dreams, and before I knew it, I've fallen in love with you. I don't know when, I don't know how, but I have loved you even before I met you and I will always do."

Sakura stared at him in shock.

"I love you, Sakura. I don't expect you to feel the same way, I don't expect you to say it. I just want you to know that. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to burden you with it. But after what you said yesterday, I want you to know that you're never just a game for me. Never have been, never will be." He finally finished off his little speech.

Once again, there was silence in the room as they stood there in the middle of his kitchen, holding hands.

"I…" Sakura started, but stopped. She blushed and then started again. He had been honest with her, so, she would be too. "Eriol, I don't know how I feel right now or how I'm going to feel in the future. All I know is that I want to be with you, I want to be here with you, everyday. All I know is that being with you makes me happy. All I know is that during those weeks after our battle, when we didn't talk, I missed talking to you, I missed seeing your smiles, I missed you, and I never want to go through that ever again. For now, that's all I know. For now, that's all I can tell you."

"And that is more than enough for me, Sakura." Eriol told her as he leaned down closer until their faces were just inches away. "May I?" He asked for her permission.

Sakura bushed brightly but nodded.

Eriol closed the gap and pressed his lips gently on hers. The kiss was chaste, shy, and gentle, just like a first kiss should be. It brought warmth into their hearts and Sakura could swear, she could feel herself floating. After just a few seconds, he pulled away and he had a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.

"May I make one more request?" He asked softly as he held her face in his hand.

Sakura just nodded; her head was still in the clouds because of his words and their kiss.

"May I call you Saku?" He asked.

"What?" Sakura asked dumbly. Out of all things, she didn't expect him to ask that.

"It's just, everyone else calls you Sakura and I just… I just want to have something special." Eriol blushed slightly. God, he'd been blushing a lot around her. "Don't worry though. I'll be very careful not to say it in front of anyone." He quickly added.

"Yes, you may. Just make sure you don't say it in front of anyone, ok? I don't want anyone else to start calling me Saku because that is only for you." Sakura saw his blush deepened slightly and smiled widely.

"Of course." He said seriously. "Saku." He added with a grin.

"My Dad knows, by the way. About us." Sakura said. "I managed to hide my magic for years and he didn't suspect a thing, but he found out about us almost as soon as we started dating."

"Your brother?" Eriol asked.

"No, I don't think so. I'm actually quite surprised that Kero has managed to keep his mouth shut for this long." Sakura thought of her guardian. "Maybe he's not as irresponsible as I thought he is."

"Despite his… irresponsibility and impulse, he's still a guardian." Eriol pointed out as he guided her to the living room.

"You've got to admit, sometimes, it's a little difficult to take him seriously, especially in his false form." Sakura told him as they entered the living room and sat down together on the sofa.

"So, going forward, are we going to keep up the ruse or do you want to start telling people?" Eriol asked curiously.

Sakura thought about it. "What do you think would be best?"

"Given how Daidouji is, maybe we should keep it for a little longer. Although on the flip side, the longer we keep it from her, the higher chance that she would get angry when she eventually finds out. And as for your brother, maybe it's time to tell him. But I prefer not to be in the room when he finds out." Eriol said. "In fact, I prefer not to be anywhere within his vicinity."

Sakura stared at him in surprise. "Are you afraid of Touya?"

"No, I'm not. But a punch in the face would still hurt." Eriol told her.

"He wouldn't!" Sakura spluttered, saw him raise his eyebrows, then said, "You're right. Stay as far away as possible."

They laughed lightly.

"I think I'm going to tell Touya and Yukito." Sakura decided after they sobered up. "They're family."

Eriol agreed.