She smiled, now content in his arms, feeling like there was no place safer in the world for her to be

Author's Note: I'm sorry, but I had previously thought that I might actually have more time to write this week. Of course, I was wrong. I'm sorry again for not getting this out as early as I had planned. Thank you for being so patient! And thanks again for the comments!

She smiled now, content in his arms, feeling like there was no place safer in the world for her to be. And so she snuggled a little closer to him as he gazed down at her peaceful face. She beamed up to him and he smiled back.

Summer cont'd

By: Shayna

They arrived at the cabin not too long after to be greeted by Tomoyo with a large, warm, fluffy towel. She draped it over Syaoran's shoulder, who removed it. He then helped Sakura to her feet, allowing her to use him as a brace, and wrapped her in the towel.

"I put it in the dryer for a few seconds so that it would be nice and cozy," said Tomoyo. She then brought Syaoran a towel for himself. He accepted this one gratefully and began drying himself off.

"Sakura, I brought some dry clothes down for you so you wouldn't have to go up the stairs on that leg. Why don't you change in the bathroom and then we'll clean your cut," suggested Tomoyo.

"Arigato. I think I can hobble my way over to the bathroom okay. Thanks again, Syaoran. You look like you could use a change of clothes yourself," she said, chuckling slightly.

Tomoyo handed her the dry clothes and she limped her way to the bathroom while Syaoran headed upstairs to get changed himself.

It took her a little while to change because she was trying to avoid getting blood on her clothes, but she eventually emerged from the bathroom a whole lot dryer. She was greeted by a waiting Syaoran (also a lot dryer) who offered himself as a support for her to make her way to the couch. There was already a washcloth and water there along with some disinfectant and bandages for her injured leg. Syaoran eased her down onto the couch and began cleaning her wound.

"That's really not necessary, Syaoran. I can do it myself."

"Nonsense! You're injured. You just sit back and relax."

"If you insist," she agreed, "Hey, where's Tomoyo and Eriol?"

"They're in the kitchen making some food. It should be ready pretty soon."

"Great! I'm starved!"

"Um…Sakura, this disinfectant may hurt a little bit."

"Don't worry, Syaoran. I'm no stranger to pain. You should know that!"

Still, she crinkled her nose in slight discomfort as he applied the disinfectant to her open gash. But soon the pain subsided and Syaoran finished by placing some gauze over the cut and securing it by wrapping some bandages around it.

"All done."

"Arigato, Syaoran. What would I do without you?" she asked as he propped her leg onto some pillows.

"You'll never have to do without me," he said, "I'll always be here for you."

"Promise?"

"Promise." She looked into his eyes and could see that he was sincere. She wouldn't have expected anything less.

"LUNCH!" called Tomoyo as she emerged from the kitchen with a tray of sandwiches, Eriol following close behind with some tea.

"Yum!" called Sakura back, "Bring it here! I'm famished."

"Yeah. I know it's a little late to be having lunch. The walk took way longer than I thought. Of course, I wasn't expecting getting stuck in the rain. But better late than never," said Tomoyo.

"I hope you guys like the tea. It should warm you right up," added Eriol.

"Arigato!" exclaimed Sakura.

Grateful for the food and tea, the four ate, chatting lightheartedly about nothing particularly special. Tomoyo began wandering the living room, opening and closing shelf cabinets. She soon came upon a whole cabinet full of board games and other party entertainment.

"Wow you guys! Look at all these games!"

"So, you wanna play something?" asked Eriol.

"I guess we have nothing better to do," answered Syaoran.

"What kind of games are in there, Tomoyo?" asked Eriol.

"You name it and it's probably here." She then began to name some off, "Scrabble, Twister, Monopoly, Taboo, Checkers, Chinese Checkers, Pictionary, Ch…"

"Ooooh! Pictionary!" cried Sakura in delight, "I love that game!"

(Disclaimer: I don't own any of the games listed above. Please don't sue me. Thanks!)

"I don't mind Pictionary," remarked Eriol.

"Pictionary it is. Unless, of course, Syaoran has anything against us playing. Syaoran?" asked Tomoyo.

"Oh don't let me get in the way of your fun."

"Good. Eriol and I will be on a team. Sakura, you and Syaoran are a team. We'll flip a coin to see who goes first."

A coin toss and a few rounds later, Eriol and Tomoyo were nearly rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Look at the picture, Syaoran! It's not that hard!" Sakura had already drawn a donut and a glass that was half full as well as other object that had been cut in half. So, Syaoran successfully had the words "donut" and "half" as part of his phrase. However, the last picture was not exactly as…basic as a donut or an object cut in half, and Syaoran was struggling with it.

"Can you draw it in any other way?" he asked.

"No! Look at it…Wait! I know." She quickly drew an addition to her sketch.

"COW! It's a cow!" Syaoran shouted.

"Yes! Now put it together!"

"Donut half cow?" At this point, Tomoyo's eyes were tearing. She and Eriol had long ago figured it out, and there was Syaoran, future leader of the Li Clan, just sitting there stumped, without a clue in the world.

"Come on, Syaoran! You've got the words. Put them together!" she was desperately beckoning him to answer because she could see their time running out.

"Don't have a cow, Sakura! Just because I can't…"

"THAT'S IT!" she cried happily.

"Nani?"

"What you said!"

"Don't have a…OH! DON'T HAVE A COW!!!"

"Yea! You got it!" Then she turned to Tomoyo and Eriol, "He got it! I told you he'd get it."

"Took you long enough," commented Eriol to Syaoran.

"Well, if Sakura's cow hadn't…"

"Hey, don't blame it on my drawing. It's not my fault you don't know what a cow looks like," she accused.

"It looks nothing like a cow! If it weren't for you adding on the utters…"

"Hey! I think that's the best cow I've ever drawn, so don't make fun of it."

"In that case, I sure hope it's the only cow you've ever drawn," added Eriol, who promptly got a pillow flung at him.

"I resent that!" she hollered.

"You know, considering that you chose this game, I thought you'd be a little better at it," Syaoran said, knowing this would make Sakura fume. He thought she was absolutely adorable when she was mad. Well, only when she was mad at her friends or brother for being so annoying. When she got mad at an enemy, like a Clow Card, it was downright scary. The look she could get in her eyes when she was angry was enough to make you turn pale and run in fear. Under her stone-cold gaze, you could feel as though you were only one inch tall. She was incredibly powerful when she was determined. That's what made her such an amazing warrior. But for right now she was only thoroughly annoyed, and to him, it was cute. Easily anticipating her reaction, Syaoran dodged an airborne pillow.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that if you want to hit me," he taunted.

"You asked for it."

"You know, Tomoyo, considering that you design clothes, I was expecting better drawings from you, too," commented Eriol. This of course, got him pillow to the face from Tomoyo.

Meanwhile, Sakura was using all her energy to try and get Syaoran with the pillow she clutched tightly in her hand. Syaoran, of course, was fighting back with his own pillow. The two dodged each other's blows like they were professionals. Neither of them had been hit…yet.

"OW! My leg!" cried Sakura as she tried to run around the room after Syaoran. She collapsed onto the floor. He came to her aid, worried that he may have been the cause of further injury. He crouched down close to her, about to ask her if she was all right. But before he could blink, all he saw was white, as she mauled him right across the face with her pillow. He was knocked off balance and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Gotcha!" she cried gleefully.

"That was evil!" he argued, "You'll pay for that one," he exclaimed with a playful grin.

On the other side of the room, Eriol and Tomoyo were enjoying themselves just as much, laughing as one hit the other. They were running all over the room, nearly breaking things and knocking paintings off the wall. Tomoyo was screeching as he chased after her, and he was finding it completely entertaining.

Meanwhile, Syaoran was after Sakura for that trick she played on him. But he no longer held a pillow, which made her suspicious. Nonetheless, she hammered him as much as she could with the pillow she still held. However, this was all part of Syaoran's plan. In an unexpected move, he gripped her pillow and tugged with all his might. She nearly came flying at him, but he easily caught her in his strong hold.

"This is for that nasty trick, and for yesterday when you wouldn't stop tickling me," he stated simply.

"You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?

"No?" she pleaded with him.

"All's fair in love and war," he said.

Then he launched his attack. Sakura was giggling beyond control as he tickled her relentlessly. Unbeknownst to either of them, their auras were mixing slightly. It was quite the phenomena. It was as though they were sharing a part of themselves with the other. But they both knew that it felt comforting and warm, because they could definitely feel that. They just didn't know what the source of it was.

"Matte!" she cried in between laughs. But he wouldn't stop. Not for anything. That gorgeous smile of hers was plastered across her face and he couldn't get enough of it. She finally fell to the floor in a fit of giggles. He promptly pinned her before she could wriggle her way from his grasp.

"This time," he started, "I win!"

"All right! All right! You win!" she gasped, still laughing. "Would you just please stop tickling me!" He thought for a moment.

"Well, since you said please." It was then that the two noticed that the other half of the room had gone silent. When they glanced up, they saw none other than Tomoyo holding her camera with a huge grin plastered across her face. Behind her stood Eriol, with an equally smug expression.

"Hoe!" cried Sakura as she scrambled up.

"Classic!" she heard Tomoyo whisper at the scene.

"Well, I'm beat!" exclaimed Sakura, once again trying to change the subject. "I think I'll head up to bed now."

"Yeah. Me, too," agreed Syaoran, eager to exit the room and escape from Tomoyo and her camera. So the two hurried up the stairs, fleeing the scene as fast as they could.

"We'll be up a little later," called Eriol, giving Tomoyo a sly look. She blushed, knowing that they would have the entire first floor to themselves. The first floor, of course, included the couch.

"You might want to change the dressing on that cut of yours, Sakura," suggested Syaoran.

"You're right," she agreed.

"I'll go back downstairs and get the bandages."

"Arigato, Syaoran!"

He proceeded downstairs, but when he was halfway down, he heard some…noises coming from the couch. So he cleared his throat extra loud, to inform the two that he was coming down the stairs. He heard a quick scramble as Eriol and Tomoyo got situated respectably on the couch.

"I just came down for the bandages," said Syaoran to a slightly disoriented Eriol and Tomoyo. When he had retrieved them, he zipped out of there in a flash. When he returned upstairs, he found Sakura, lying on her bed watching TV quietly. She looked up as she felt him getting nearer and was not surprised when he suddenly appeared at her door. She smiled at him. He smiled back. He then approached the bed slowly, as if cautioning himself from doing…something.

"You know, you really don't have to do all of this for me, Syaoran. I can do it myself. I don't want to be any kind of problem." He sat down on the bed next to her and looked her in the eye. She stared right back, wondering what he might say.

"You're never my problem, Sakura. I get worried about you when you get hurt."

"You care about me?"

"Of course I care about you! I care more about you than you may think."

"Really?"

"Would I ever lie to you, Sakura?" She shook her head and smiled at him again.

"Arigato," she said. He then began to unwrap her old bandages.

"Well, it looks like your cut has gotten substantially better. You know, the more powerful your magic, the quicker you heal. You'll probably be as good as new by tomorrow morning." Instead of reapplying new gauze, Syaoran simply put a large Band-Aid over her quickly healing wound.

"Thanks again, Syaoran."

"My pleasure. If you need anything, I'll be in my room. Oh, and I wouldn't advise you on going downstairs. Tomoyo and Eriol…well, they're down there."

"Thanks for the warning," she giggled, knowing exactly what he meant. "Hey, Syaoran," she added hesitantly, "If you want, you can stay in here. We can just watch TV or something."

"Sure," he said, feeling slightly uncertain, but at the same time being overjoyed at her invitation. So he laid down next to her as she flipped through the channels.

"Cool! HBO!" she cried gleefully.

"I love 'The Shawshank Redemption.' It's such a good movie," said Syaoran, happy that she had chosen that channel. (Disclaimer: I don't own HBO or "The Shawshank Redemption". Please don't sue me. Thanks!)

They were watching somewhat stiffly on the bed when Sakura absent-mindedly leaned her head against his shoulder. He adjusted his arm, putting it around her shoulders as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And so they watched in peace, their auras mixing, content being in each other's arms. Sakura sighed happily and began to doze off with a slight smile on her face, being lulled into slumber by the comfort and warmth beside her. Outside, the rain had stopped, and the sky was clearing.

Whoo! I finally finished this chapter. I've been working on and off on it for the entire week, and I finally found a nice spot to stop. I hope you liked it! Once again, thanks for all of your wonderful comments. I really appreciate the feedback. Well, I hope to get out more as soon as I can! Thanks!