After the Crash
Chapter 3: Separated
Syaoran slowly opened his eyes. Images of the past day flew back into his mind, reminding him of their current position. He slowly turned his head toward Sakura to find himself only inches away from her face. His eyes widened, then relaxed. She was still sleeping. She looks so peaceful…so beautiful…whoa, what am I thinking? He sighed softly. She is beautiful though. He glanced at her arm. He frowned as he saw the bandage soaked with her blood. Why did she have to get hurt like that? He looked back at her face. He gently touched the side of her face with his hand. He let it slide down to her lips, running his fingers softly over them. They're so soft… Sakura coughed. He jerked his hand back quickly just before her eyes opened. I hope she didn't feel that…
"Syaoran?" she mumbled staring at him with sleepy eyes.
"Ohayou."
She slowly sat up and looked around her. It was a beautiful morning. She looked back at Syaoran. "Did you sleep well?"
He smiled. "Yeah." She smiled back at him. He blushed.
Slowly the others around them began waking.
"Ohayou, beautiful cherry blossom," Masato said from beside her. Sakura looked at him surprised, her eyes wide. She blushed as he just stared at her.
"Ohayou," she said. He reached up and pulled a leaf out of her hair. Her face grew even redder while Syaoran could only glare at him.
Sakura suddenly stood up and walked toward the stream. The two men watched as she drank some of the water.
Masato glanced at Syaoran then back at Sakura. "You like her a lot don't you."
Syaoran looked sharply at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Sakura. You like her, right?"
Syaoran blushed and looked away. "No. We're just friends."
"Yeah right," Masato said grinning.
"I was thinking," the doctor began after Sakura had come
back. "Since we had to move away from
the plane, it might be a little while before anyone can find us. It might be a good idea for some of us to try
and find a way out of the forest so that it'll be easier to find us."
"That sounds like a good idea," Masato said.
"But what if the people that go get lost?" Sakura asked.
"Whoever goes can leave some kind of trail back to us so that they can always come back here," the doctor suggested. "And of course I should stay here to take care of the injured."
"I'll go then," Sakura offered.
"I'll go with you," Masato said.
"No, that's okay. You can stay here. I'll go with her," Syaoran told him.
Masato grinned. "Are you sure?"
Syaoran glared at him. "Yes. You would only slow her down with your injury."
"So it's settled then. You two will go," the doctor said looking at Sakura and Syaoran.
"I'll get you some of the rest of the sandwiches, but you might want to stay along the stream."
"Arigatou," Sakura said.
Syaoran looked over at Sakura. This is going to be interesting…being alone with her. I'm just glad that other guy won't be with her. I would never trust him alone with her. She's too nice.
The doctor handed them a few of the sandwiches and after saying goodbye to the group they began to leave.
"Hey Li-kun! I hope you have fun alone with Sakura-san!" Masato called after them. Syaoran blushed. Sakura turned back and waved.
They walked in silence for a while. Sakura stared at the stream as they walked along, noticing the tiny fish swimming alongside them. Syaoran just stared ahead.
"How are we going to leave a trail?" Sakura asked him.
"As long as we stay by the stream, we shouldn't have any problem," Syaoran replied. "If we have to move away, we'll worry about it then."
"Oh," Sakura mumbled.
Syaoran glanced at her. I wish I knew what to talk about.
They continued on in silence.
*sakura* Being alone with Syaoran feels a little weird, but somehow, it also feels kind of right. I like it.
"Have you felt the cards at all since yesterday?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura frowned. "No," she replied quietly.
Syaoran looked at her. "We'll find them eventually." He sighed. I'm such a jerk. Why'd I have to bring the cards up?
"How's your forehead?" Sakura asked.
"It's fine," Syaoran replied. "How's your arm?"
"It's okay I guess."
Syaoran sighed. By the looks of it, her arm didn't look fine. But there was nothing he could do. I hope we find a way out of here soon.
***
Yukito sighed. Last night after the announcement of the crash, the officials had all urged everyone to go home and wait – that broadcasts on local news channels would update them on everything. So he had driven them all home, not trusting any one of them to be able to drive carefully. After he had dropped Tomoyo off, he had taken Touya and Fujitaka back home, and he had stayed with them the entire night. They couldn't sleep at all. And when Kero had found out, he had gone hysterical.
Now they were all glued to the TV, waiting for updates on the searches to be shown. Some of the searching planes had already reached the area the plane had disappeared from radar and found only a large fire. The plane must have exploded or something to have caused that kind of fire. The news casters were not expecting any survivors although everyone continued to hope that there were.
Search parties were halted while firefighters were sent to extinguish the flames. Until the flames were under control, no searches could be carried out. So now, they were just waiting.
Yukito looked up at the two men in front of him. He could understand their feelings; he also loved Sakura. I wish I could help.
Suddenly, he began to feel light-headed, and in seconds he had blacked out. Wings gently surrounded the young man, and when the wings opened, Yue stood there. He looked at Touya and Fujitaka worriedly. They hadn't even noticed he was there.
"I will go look for her," he said. Kero suddenly looked up and transformed as well.
Touya and Fujitaka finally looked up as he spoke.
"What did you say?" Fujitaka asked.
"I will go look for her." With that, Touya and Fujitaka brightened somewhat, their hope just slightly reviving. Yue quickly turned, walked out the door, and flew. Keroberos followed close behind. Yue hoped that he had enough energy to get their and to look.
Meanwhile, at the Daidouji residence…
"Tomoyo, you must eat something…" Sonomi looked at her daughter in distress. I can't believe this is happening. Sakura…we can't lose her…she's too young…just like Nadeshiko was. She looked back at her daughter who had been continuously crying since the night before. Even though I know how she feels, I can't even help her…
***
Sakura and Syaoran had been walking for quite a while before Sakura's stomach suddenly started to growl. Syaoran looked at her amused. She blushed.
"Let's eat a little," Syaoran said.
They sat down together on the soft grass. He took one of the sandwiches and split it in half sharing it with Sakura.
"We only have two more," he told her.
Sakura looked down. Their situation was going to get even worse if they couldn't find a way out of the forest soon.
After eating and resting for a while, they resumed their walk. They suddenly stopped as they heard the sound of a plane overhead.
Sakura sighed. "They'll never be able to see us through these trees."
"But at least we know they're searching," Syaoran said.
"They'll probably see that fire and think everyone is…" Sakura started.
"They'll search anyway," Syaoran interrupted.
They began walking again in silence.
*sakura* I hate this...knowing they're so close. But how could they possibly find us in woods like this?
*syaoran* I think Sakura might be right. When they see that fire they are not going to think that anyone survived. We were really lucky, but now…I don't know.
"Does your watch still work?" Syaoran asked.
She looked down at her wrist. "It's around 1:30." She suddenly felt a wetness on her arm. She looked up as raindrops slowly began to fall through the trees.
"It's starting to rain," she stated.
"Oh great," Syaoran muttered as the rain began to come down harder.
"What should we do?" Sakura asked.
"We can't do much of anything I don't think," Syaoran replied. "We'll just have to keep walking, but keep an eye out for some kind of shelter."
They kept walking as the rain began pounding down on them.
"I would think these trees would help, but they really don't that much," Sakura said.
"Not with it raining this hard," Syaoran added as they continued to walk, the rain soaking them thoroughly.
"Maybe it'll put the fire out then," Sakura said.
"I hope so," Syaoran said. "Then they'll be able to search better and look through the plane." He cringed remembering the horrible scene on the plane. The fire wouldn't have helped the situation either. The searchers might not even be able to identify most of them…and they won't be able tell if anyone might have been able to get out of the plane…
The rain continued for the remainder of the day, finally fading away as night began to approach. And Sakura and Syaoran still had not found an exit to the forest.
"We might as well stop," Syaoran began. "It's getting dark."
They soon found a relatively small flat place to rest. Immediately, they decided to try to find some dry things to try to make a fire with. It took them a while, but once they had created a small pile, Syaoran began trying to make the fire, which also took a while. He eventually succeeded.
Sakura got as close to the fire as possible, trying to dry off while Syaoran took off his shirt and held it close to the flame. Sakura blushed. Why am I blushing? It's not as if I've never seen him like that before.
Syaoran glanced at the soaked girl. I wish I could help her more. I know she's not comfortable…but she is kind of cute…
Once Syaoran noticed his shirt was dry he handed it to Sakura. "You can wear this. I think it's a lot dryer than your shirt." She looked up at him surprised and blushed.
"Thank you Syaoran-kun," she said. He turned the other way blushing as she changed.
"It's okay now," she said. He turned back toward her to see her holding her own shirt up to the fire. He smiled. My shirt is too big for her…but I like seeing her in it… He blushed again.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
"A little," she replied. They split half a sandwich, leaving one and a half for the next day.
Although it was soggy, they ate without complaining.
"How do you think everyone else is doing?" Sakura asked.
"I think they're fine," Syaoran replied. "Just a little wet like us."
"What did you think of them?" she asked.
"I guess they were all okay." Except that guy.
"What about that student, Masato-san?"
He looked at her surprised. "Why?"
She looked up at him and back down again. "Uh…no reason…nevermind." Why am I asking Syaoran about that guy? Masato-san was cute but I would never like him as more than a friend I don't think. But Syaoran…I thought I only liked him as a friend…but now…I'm wearing his shirt, and I like it. I don't get it.
She suddenly realized she had been neglecting her shirt and held it back up to the fire.
They sat quietly for some time, just staring at the small fire Syaoran had made.
"Well, I think it's finally dry now," Sakura said looking at Syaoran. "So I guess I'll give you yours back now."
Syaoran sighed and turned away. I kind of wanted her to keep it on.
After she had changed once more, she laid back, one hand behind her head, and stared up at the trees. Syaoran blushed as he realized he was staring at her, but didn't look away. Why am I feeling this way for her?
She suddenly sat up and coughed and then shivered. Syaoran looked worriedly at her. "Are you cold?"
"I'm fine," she said, lying back again.
Syaoran watched her as she slowly fell to sleep. She's so beautiful…
He continued to stare at her for some time until he realized his pants had almost dried. He slowly doused the flame with water from the stream, then laid down beside Sakura. I hope we find a way out tomorrow.
He slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep.
***
End of chapter 3
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