Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I'm back already!(Wow, that was fast). I won't hold you in suspense any longer. Here it is!

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Li let out his breath as he stepped inside. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen, and the scraping of utensils on plates. He peeked around the corner and looked in the room. His mother seemed to be explaining about Clow Cards. Li figured Kero had probably revealed himself at long last. Aiden was the only one facing his direction. When he saw Li peek around the corner, his eyes flashed, but he didn't say anything. He made some kind of motion to let Li know Sakura was up stairs. Li silently thanked him and crept upstairs without making a sound.

He hesitated outside her door. He pressed his ear to it and heard soft sobbing. It was clear that she was sitting there in total darkness, because no light was shining out from the crack under the door. He raised his hand to knock, but then brought it down again. This was the scariest thing he'd ever had to do. It was worse to him than fighting all the Clow cards at once could ever be.

He looked down at his feet, ashamed to know that he could be such a coward. As he looked, he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye and bent down to investigate it. As he picked it up his hands began to shake slightly. He felt the cool metal blade in the palm of his hand and he began to feel dead inside. The chain, unbroken, fell between his fingers as he held it up and read, 'To the only one I love. I could never forget you.'

He put a hand out and leaned against her door to keep himself from falling. It wasn't the fact that he had spent a year's allowance on it. It was the knowledge that

Sakura probably thought he didn't love her.

He tightened his grip on the necklace as he leaned his forehead against the door. "Sakura" he whispered in a shaky voice. A tear fell to the floor. A furry yellow beast hovered close by, amazed at what he was seeing. The Li kid, really, truly crying?

Kero-Chan perched on the railing at the top of the stairs. Did Li care that much for his mistress? If so, why was he handing his future over to Li Melin? He decided to put a stop to this. Kero flew over to Li and perched on his shoulder.

"Li? Why are you crying?" he asked.

"I'm not crying." Li wiped his face on the sleeve of his sweater.

Kero looked at him skeptically. "Would you like it if I used a different term? Why are you…leaking?"

"Oh just shut up. I am crying, I'll admit it. I'm crying because I'm losing the one thing in my life that I love more than anything."

"Maybe you should tell her that."

Li stood up straight again. After a moment, he began to walk to his room.

"What are you doing?" asked Kero, who had flown into the air again.

"I'm going to write a letter."

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"And so Clow was a magician? And he made these cards that my daughter has had since she was eleven?! Wow, she sure kept that a secret."

Kero flew into the kitchen where Aiden was listening with interest to the story Li's mom was telling him. He went directly for the cupboard containing the junk food, actually finding relief in the fact that he could move around normally again without worrying about people seeing him.

"Keroberos, I never imagined that you would be such a pig." She told him when he stuffed a bunch of potato chips in his mouth.

"And I never imagined you to be such a horrible old hag, but I don't say anything about that." He flew out of the room with his bag of dill pickle chips, not caring that he had just insulted a descendant of Clow so badly.

"You know," Aiden began, "I always wondered how she could eat so much junk food and stay skinny. I guess I just found out how."

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Li sat at his/Tory's desk with the paper in front of him, his pen poised to begin writing…but what would he say? 'Dear Sakura, sorry I have to leave, but that's the way it is, doll. P.S. I might come back for you. Wait for me another ten years.'

No, that wouldn't be too stupid, he thought sarcastically. He groaned and banged his head on the desk, resting it there for a second after.

It all started to form in his mind suddenly, and he began………

"Dear Ying-Fa,…………"

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A/N: Too short, I know, but it seemed like a good place to stop. Please withhold your hate mail. I'm already writing the next chapter. The next chapter of Near and Far is going to be posted soon too, just to let you know if you read it, and if you don't read it, go read it now!

More A/N: Hey, is anybody reading this? I haven't gotten ANY reviews for chapter nine yet! Come on people, I wasn't gone that long!