Time Frame: After the movie everyone went to have dinner at a nearby restaurant.

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"The food here is pretty good," said Ming as she took Jia-luo's hand.

"Yeah, I really liked the soup and the way the eggs were so fluffy," commented Yuan.

"So now what do we do?" asked Syaohu still eyeing Jia-luo like the protective uncle he is. Qiou noticed this and gave him a good nudge in the ribs telling him to 'cut it out.'

"How about going to that new dance club?" proposed Ming pointedly ignoring her relative.

Everyone thought about this for a few moments and eventually everyone but Syaoron gave their approval for the idea.

Under the curious gaze of his friends and relatives he simply said, "I can't dance," as a simple response to their unspoken question.

"So? Neither can I," said Shan. "And I'm still going."

"Yeah it doesn't matter if you know how to dance or not, you can still have a good time and in the end that's all that really matters," said Ming. "Besides it wont be any fun without you, so will you pleeeeeaaaaase come?"

"Yeah, you have to come. Unless of course you want me to dance with some stranger," teased Sakura.

At the mention of Sakura with anyone else Syaoron abruptly said, "C'mon lets go."

Sakura and Ming grinned mischievously to each other knowing that under their ministrations the almighty Li Syaoron had cracked.

Syaoron and Sakura got into his Jeep. Ming, Jia-luo, Yuan and Shan got into Ming's Black Lincoln Navigator. And Syaohu and Qiou got into his silver Porsche Boxter. They drove out of the restaurant's parking lot and headed for the club. It took them less than 10 minutes to get there. They parked their cars in the parking lot at the back and went around to the front.

Sakura saw the long line at the front and groaned, "We're gonna be on line for a while."

Ming and the other girls merely giggled and the guys chuckled. "You've never been around town with my uncle have you?" asked Ming.

"No, why?" queried a puzzled looking Sakura.

Syaoron was walking up to the two bouncers in front at the front door as Sakura had the puzzled look plastered on her face. Syaoron whispered something into the ears of one of the bouncers and the pair of sentinels stepped out of the way for him. He in turn stood to the side and ushered the rest of the group into the club.

Sakura was wondering what Syaoron had said to the bouncer to get them inside. As she walked past Syaoron she gave him a quizzical look which told him that she didn't understand what had just happened. All he did was give her a loving smile and whispered the words "I'll tell you later" into her ears.

The sound of music being blasted became louder as they entered the club. Inside the scene was reminiscent of controlled chaos. There were scary looking bouncers posted at all corners of the structure. The dance floor was on the primary level of the club. Small tables surrounded it. The bar was crowded to capacity with patrons.

A half-level up were booths, which were reserved for the wealthier, each or these booths had private waiters or waitresses. While the base level had such serving people going around all over the place. On the second half level were even more private booths that had groups of serving people.

The DJ was blasting techno mixes and hip-hop all over the club. There was also a stage for a live band. It appeared that the band was on a break because their equipment was present, but there were no musicians.

Sakura felt hands wrap around her waist and turned to see Syaoron standing behind her. "What do you think?"

"It's very… nice," replied Sakura.

"Guys, c'mon," said Ming as she waved to the pair from the second level.

"C'mon lets go sit with the others," said Syaoron as he pulled Sakura to the booth that the group had taken on the first half-level. The others had already ordered their drinks and were waiting for Sakura and Syaoron to do the same.

"I'll have a Margarita," said Syaoron.

"A Strawberry Daiquiri for me," said Sakura.

"Let's go dance," said Yuan as she dragged Shan off to the dance floor.

"Yeah!" exclaimed both Qiou and Ming as they dragged their boyfriends off to join their friends.

This left only Sakura and Syaoron at the booth. Syaoron didn't really want to go dancing, but he knew that Sakura would eventually want to go dance. So he got up and said, "I'll be right back."

Sakura sat there trying to keep up with the movements of her friends on the dance floor. However, as they moved deeper into the crowd it became harder and harder to keep track of them, eventually she just stopped trying, she closed her eyes, settled back and enjoyed the steady beat of the music.

"So what's a beautiful girl like you doing, alone at a place like this?" asked a strange voice.

Sakura opened her eyes to see a tall teen, jet-black hair and brown highlights, long bangs, hazel eyes, and a cocky grin on his face. He seemed to be pleased with the corny line he used. Behind him she could see two other teens of similar age, chuckling at their friends dumb come-on line. They all wore wide legged Jnco jeans and short-sleeved polo shirts. They were around 17 or 18 and probably got in on fake ID's.

"Enjoying the music," said Sakura trying to be polite.

"May I join you?" asked the teen again who sat down without asking. "I'm Nelson Chin, what's your name?"

"Sakura," replied Sakura in an emotionless tone.

"Just Sakura?"

"Yes," said Sakura simply. 'Where are you Syaoron? Get back here now!'

"So would you care to dance?" asked Nelson with a little less confidence in his voice.

"No," answered Sakura in an almost menacing way. She had kept her eyes pealed for any sign of Syaoron during the whole conversation, pointedly avoiding Nelson.

"Why not? I mean its not like you're doing anything," reasoned Nelson. "You're here and I'm here, so why don't we make the best of things and enjoy what we can."

Sakura chose not to give him a response this time, seeing as how every time she said anything it led to more attempts by Nelson to entice her to dance with him.

Evidently he took her silence as consent and reached for her hand. Before she knew what was happening she felt herself being pulled to her feet. She turned to glare daggers at him as she felt a familiar tingle in the back of her senses.

Sure enough within seconds Syaoron showed up and had his firm hands on nelson's wrist. "What do you think you're doing with MY girlfriend?" demanded a very pissed Syaoron.

"Just taking the lady for a spin on the dance floor," replied a rather shaken but still confident Nelson.

"I don't think so," said Syaoron through clenched teeth. "Let go of her hand." He was on the verge of losing his temper at the teen in front of him who would dare to force his precious cherry blossom into doing anything.

"Okay, okay," said Nelson as he released Sakura and backed away.

Sakura immediately went behind the protective form of her little wolf. And indeed he was a wolf, for at the he was giving the death glares of all death glares.

Nelson seemed to shrink a few sizes until his friends came to back him up. As his friends came up behind him he seemed to regain some of his former confidence and some semblance of the cocky grin he had before came back to his face.

Syaoron however was not fazed at all by the two new faces to enter the scene. 'I don't have time for this, I have to make sure that Sakura is okay, there's no time to play with these idiots.'

With a flick of his wrist four men appeared out of no where. Two were behind Syaoron and Sakura and the other two were behind nelson and his friends. The four men were dressed in black micro fiber jackets over black button down shirts over black t-shirts, with black micro fiber slacks and black shoes. They all had jet-black hair and two of them had brown highlights. They all had intimidating black eyes and a stoic determined look and posture.

"Escort these gentlemen away form here," Syaoron ordered with an edge to his voice. The four men immediately obeyed him and ushered the three teens to a different part of the club with no semblance courtesy.

As soon as they were out of range Syaoron turned to Sakura to see if she was okay. His eyes, features and posture soften visibly as he turned a concerned gaze on Sakura.

"Are you all right?" asked Syaoron with clear concern in his voice. "I am so sorry that I left you alone in a place like this, I should have thought of it. I should never have left you alone. I am so stupid! I am so sorry. Did that guy do anything to you? If he did anything to you I'll make sure he lives to regret it. I am so sorry I left you alone like that. I am so… "

Sakura finally stopped Syaoron's words by placing her hand over his mouth. "Shh, I'm all right, stop babbling."

Syaoron's emotions, like his words, went from concern, to guilt, to self-recrimination, back to guilt, to anger and finally back to guilt again. He couldn't look in her eyes afraid of seeing disdain or.

Sakura lifted his chin up and forced him to look into her eyes. And he was surprised that he didn't see any of what he feared he would see all he saw were two emerald orbs that held nothing but love for him. Finally he allowed himself to smile a little. He calmed down and sat down in the booth behind Sakura. She turned around and nestled herself in his arms, perfectly content to be back in the arms which offered her so much comfort and strength.

"Who were those guys, the ones in black I mean?" inquired Sakura as she closed her eyes to soak in all the warmth that being in Syaoron's arms afforded her.

"Oh, those guys? They're clan security," whispered Syaoron into Sakura's ears as he too closed his eyes to enjoy her presence. "They're basically my bodyguards. They follow me almost everywhere, but they're good at staying hidden."

"Oh," was Sakura's simple reply to Syaoron's explanation.

They were content just enjoying each other's presence for a while; it was as if they were the only ones in the world.

"Kawaii!" yelled Ming as she and Jia-luo came back from dancing.

Her piercing voice had startled the couple from their reverie. Sakura had an impish look at being caught in such an intimate moment, while Syaoron simply looked annoyed at having been brought back to the real world whereas he wanted to simply be with Sakura and not have to share her with the world.

Their friends had come back from dancing and settled down to enjoy their drinks. Each person seemed to have a thin sheen of sweat on his/her forehead. They looked a little out of breath but happy and invigorated.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten about the intimate arrangement of the pair of card captors and started a discussion on what kinds of music they like. The conversation continued on for a few hours until finally one of them noticed that it was almost two in the morning and the club had finally started to close down. After a while the couples decided to call it a night. And they along with the remaining clubbers finally emptied into the parking lot.

On the way out Syaoron looked over to the band and nodded to them, this sent a silent message for the group to carry out his plan.

Ming, Jia-luo and the other couples said their goodbyes got in their cars and drove off on their way back to the campus, prepared to spend the rest of the night and most of the next morning in bed.

Sakura stifled a yawn and slid into the open door of the passenger side of the Jeep. Syaoron closed her door, went around the front of the car and got in the driver's side. He started the engine and drove out of the parking lot and onto the main road. They headed off in the same direction as the others but didn't quite reach the campus. Syaoron instead drove to the park.

"Syaoron? Why are we here?" asked a tired Sakura.

"I have something to show you," replied Syaoron with a happy glint in his eyes.

After they had gotten out of the car he told her to close her eyes. Once her was sure that her eyes were closed he carefully led her to a clearing where everything had been set up. He stopped in the middle of the clearing, turned to the band and nodded his head.

Sakura opened her eyes as the soft melody and sweet lyrics reached her ears. What she saw around her took her breath away.

The clearing they were in was completely devoid of snow. It was as if spring was in full bloom only here. The grass was luscious as soft underfoot. The air was filled with the scent of roses, cherry blossoms, daisies and lilies. The moon cast a silvery glow over it all making it take on an almost ethereal glow.

As Sakura took all of this in Syaoron took her hand and turned her to face him. The look of pure joy was more than any reward he could ever receive. He gently took off his overcoat and her down coat. As he did this Sakura prepared herself to feel the stinging cold of old man winter. She was surprised however when she felt a warm breeze brush over her.

Syaoron seemed to reach into the air and plucked out a cherry blossom and placed it in her hair. Then he took her hand and bowed before her. "May I have the honor of this dance?" he said gallantly as if copying what Eriol did for Tomoyo.

Sakura giggled and said "Yes you may."

He pulled her to him and settled his hands on her slender waist while her fingers were interlaced at the nape of his neck. For a time they just stared into each other's eyes.

Eventually Sakura laid her head down on Syaoron's shoulder and closed her eyes. She just let Syaoron's embrace comfort and worm her. She felt a sense of complete elation at being in his arms. This wasn't some expensive jewelry or money it was the simple act of love and devotion and it was this kind of thing and the fact that he could think of them that took her breath away and that made her love him even more.

Syaoron was content just to have her in his arms. He didn't care for anything other than making Sakura happy. He couldn't care less if he was the leader of his clan or any of the titles given to him. All he cared about was being in this moment with Sakura and loving every second of it.

They seemed to dance for hours until Sakura was too tired to stay awake and fell asleep in Syaoron's arms.

He wrapped her up in her coat and put on his own overcoat. He sent the musicians and his men home. He carried Sakura to his car and gingerly placed her in her seat. He got in and drove back to their dorm.

By now he suspected that Ming should have already been asleep, if not then he was going to have a very long talk with her and Jia-luo later on, so he took Sakura back to his dorm room where they had spent the previous night holding each other.

He brought Sakura back to a sufficient level of consciousness so that she could change for bed.

He did the same and slipped into his Pj's. After Sakura finished changing she slipped into bed and waited for Syaoron to join her. She felt the cool air on her back but soon the comforting warmth of her Xiao Lang replaced it.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered sweet nothings into her ear while occasionally giving her butterfly kisses until she was again in dreamland.

"Don't ever leave me," whispered Sakura from her dreams.

He held her tighter and whispered back, "I'll never leave you, my love."

And with that statement of absolute love and devotion Syaoron joined his Ying Fa in the realm of dreams.

To be continued…

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