XVII - Make Magic

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"Daisuke!"

He smiled as he stood up waving.

Sakura walked through the maze of tables. He noticed that Shaoran was
with her. He sighed and smiled when they arrived at their table.

"I'm sorry, I ran into him while shopping." she whispered with a
smile as she kissed him.

"Its all right." he said with a turned to pull her chair out. Shaoran
had all ready done it.

"Thank you." she said to both men as she sat down. She turned to
Daisuke, "I thought it was a nice way for you two to get to know each
other."

Daisuke smiled across the table at Shaoran. "Yes that's a good idea."
his eyes meeting Shaoran's.

Daisuke was annoyed, he had planned the day with Sakura, now he had
to share it with Shaoran? He rarely got time off between studies and
work. But if trying to get along with Shaoran was what she wanted,
then he'd try.

Shaoran blinked then turned to Sakura. "Remember we used to come
here?"

Sakura smiled, "Yes," she said, she turned to Daisuke, "we used to
come here in the spring to study." she smiled at him, "But things
have changed." she turned to Shaoran, "They've changed owners." she
turned back to Daisuke, "They were so excited to find out about the
engagement."

Shaoran smiled, "They?"

Sakura smiled as she took a sip of her tea, "Yes, they're friends of
ours."

Daisuke smiled. Shaoran smiled back but the smile did not reach his
eyes. It was going to be a trying afternoon.



Sakura sighed as she entered the apartment. Daisuke stood in the
doorway. She turned, "What's wrong?" she asked as she walked up to
him with a smile.

"I'm sorry I was bad company today." he said.

She wrapped her arms around him, "Its all right." she said as she
rose her face to kiss him, "I know you planned to spend the day with
me, I really had no idea that he'd run into me. I really want the two
of you to get along."

He smiled as he wrapped an arm around her waist, "I'll try to be more
understanding." he lowered his face to kiss her.

"Oh! Phone." she said as her phone rang.

He sighed.

Sakura smiled up at him, "It'll only be a minute." she ran into her
room. A moment later, "Shaoran-kun!"

Daisuke silently groaned as he sat down on the lumpy couch. He picked
up one of Kimiko's manga and began to flip through it and then
promptly put it back down. "Kimi-chan you and yaoi." he muttered. He
picked up a magazine instead.

He must have fallen asleep because he woke up to Sakura laying a
blanket on him. He smiled up at her, "Have a nice talk?" when he was
dying to ask /So? What did you two talk about?/

She smiled and sat on the couch next to him pulling the blanket over
the both of them. "Yes." she said and turned to him, "He asked me to
go have dinner with him."

"And?" he asked as he pulled her closer to him. Sakura let her head
rest on his shoulder.

"I said yes." she said and hid her face under the blanket.

"I'm not the one to ask permission." he said.

"I know but-" she sighed, "I know you don't like him-"

"Sakura." he said, "Its not that I don't like him. Its just that he
wants you back and he sees me as an obstacle. I would love to get to
know him." he said, "I try to be his friend because you want me to.
You know that I can't say no to you."

She smiled up at him and kissed his cheek, "Thank you, I appreciate
that." she whispered.

He smiled and kissed her forehead. Her hand found his and twined
fingers with his, "Daisuke..." she whispered.

"Hmmm?"

"I love you." she said raising her eyelashes at him so she had her
full attention at him.

He smiled, "I do too."



"Hai Daidouji-desu."

"Tomoyo-chan." Sakura said.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed, "I got your letter, is it true?"

Sakura felt herself blush, "Yes." she said.

"Oh how wonderful!" Tomoyo gushed over the phone, "You will let me
design the dress right?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Sakura said as she curled up
under the covers.

"You haven't called in a while."

"I know." Sakura said guiltily.

"But I understand since you have a new person in your life."

"!"

Tomoyo chuckled.

"Tomoyo-chan." Sakura said softly.

"Let me guess Shaoran-kun is there."

"How did you-"

"Well... he and I have been meeting occasionally from time to time."
Tomoyo said. "He visits the campus often."

"Oh."

"I just got your letter when he came by."

"So he found out." Sakura said.

"Yes." Tomoyo said. "Needless to say it shook him badly."

"Tomoyo-chan..." Sakura whispered. "I- I..."

"You're confused?"

Sakura nodded and forgot that Tomoyo couldn't see. "Yes."

"Sakura-chan, when is the next time you see Shaoran?"

"Tomorrow night." Sakura said as she hugged the bunny Daisuke had won
for her a year ago.

"When you see him ask yourself the question, 'who do I want to be
with?'"

"But-"

"You'll know the answer." she said.

"I guess so."

"But I have a feeling that you already know the answer in your heart."

Sakura smiled at the bunny. "Tomoyo he's so good. He *knows* me."

"I'm sure he does." Tomoyo said, "Judging from the letter, he knows
you very well."

Sakura blushed, "He flies!"

Tomoyo giggled. "Coming from you I'll take it literally."

Sakura giggled too. "He's what I needed."

"And to think a year ago you thought you weren't ready."

"I know..." she said.

"See Sakura? Once you let go of your fear, everything worked out."
Tomoyo said.

"Not everything." Sakura said.

"Yes, everything will work out." Tomoyo said. "Because I know you'll
listen to your heart."

"Tomoyo-chan?"

"Yes?" she asked.

"Thank you."

"Any time Sakura-chan."



"I'm going now." she said to him.

"All right." he said.

"Will you be home tonight?" she asked.

"Depends." he said.

"Oh what?"

/On if you changed your mind./ "On if Kentarou brings his girlfriend
home."

"Leave a note." she said. "On your window. Kerochan will find it, if
its not there I'll come by."

He nodded. He remembered the meeting between Kerochan and With. They
got along perfectly. Kerochan got used to talking to a white bunny
and With adored Kerochan by jumping all over him. It was an instant
friendship.

He kissed her forehead.

She kissed him and then got out of the car. He watched as she crossed
the street and turned to wave at him at the restaurant entrance. She
looked so beautiful, a simple white dress that ended at the knee, a
pale green cardigan, sandals, and a white ribbon around her neck. She
chose the outfit knowing it was the one that Daisuke liked best.

When he returned home he curled up on his bed and waited.



Shaoran rose from his seat and pulled hers out.

Sakura smiled, "Thank you, did you wait long?"

"No." he said. "You look nice."

Sakura sat down, "You too."

He sat down and smoothed an imaginary wrinkle out of his jacket. "I
try." he said.

"Always modest." she said.

He smiled.

"I-"

"Why don't we order?" she asked as she opened her menu.

Shaoran nodded and opened his menu.

Minutes later they were talking about Tomoyo.

"I see her often." Shaoran said, "The family does some business with
Clamp Campus."

"She mentioned that." Sakura turned a page in the menu, "I should
visit her one of these days." Sakura said. "I've never visited Clamp
Campus."

Shaoran smiled, "You'd fit right in."

"Really? I'm a bit afraid of the campus. The mail they send is very
cute, and their curriculum is a bit strange."

"You could say its an alternative campus." he said.

"And you?" she asked, "You rarely talk about school. Only family
business."

"I go to school. I take classes in business." Shaoran said as he took
a sip of his coffee.

"What else?" she said jokingly.

"Its a bit boring, but its what I need to learn to run the family
business. Its not engineering, but its not so bad." he said as he
moved his coffee cup so the waiter could set the appetizer down.

Sakura placed her napkin in her lap.

"I do take other classes on the side."

"Like?" Sakura asked as she speared some salad with her fork.

"Cooking, sewing." he said simply.

Sakura laughed. "I thought you wouldn't take those classes."

"Someone has to." he said with a shrug. "I have to learn on my own, I
can't run to someone to sew hems on pant legs. Besides," he added as
he added some salt to his soup, "one day I'll need to do those things
for my own family, kind of like your father."

Sakura wiped her mouth to cover the surprise in her face. "Yes." she
said after a moment, "I agree, everybody needs to know those things."

"I don't like the old notion that we need to have roles in families."
he said.

Sakura put her fork down.

"Its not like I expect my wife to be at home-are you all right?"
Shaoran asked concerned.

"I don't want to ruin my appetite for dinner." she said. It was a
lie. She had lost it a while back when he talked about family. She
looked at him for a moment, he was very handsome and still the same
person she had loved so long ago. /Who do I want to be with?/ she
thought as she pushed her salad around with her fork. She was having
fun talking to Shaoran about life but it was lacking something. It
lacked Daisuke.

/I want to be with Daisuke./ she thought. /Not here./

"Would you like some tea?" he asked shaking her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yes that would be nice." she said.

As Shaoran turned away to call for a waiter, Sakura looked down at
her hands. No ring was on her finger yet. She refused to wear one
since it was an expense that Daisuke couldn't handle. /Shaoran could
probably find the best and the oldest ring./ she thought oddly. She
remembered the ring he used to propose to her a few years ago.

"Thank you." she said when the waiter brought her the tea. Right
behind him came the dinner.

"So when do you graduate?" he asked, "I know it should be coming up."

"I have a semester left." Sakura said as she poured milk and sugar
into her tea.

"Engineering." he said with a smile.

"Yes." she said, "I guess I mastered my fear of math."

"I knew you would." he said. "And afterwards?"

She shrugged, "Wait for Daisuke to get out of school, he has a
semester left. Apply for a job, start real life."

He nodded and busied himself with his steak. "The real world isn't
that bad." he said. "Especially when you have the right person to
support you." he looked at her.

/Yes but you don't have to make ends meet./ Sakura thought. She
immediately regretted thinking such a bad thought for her friend and
smiled, "I'm sure it won't be, as long as I'm with Daisuke."

He smiled at Sakura. "I was hoping you have time to come to Hong Kong
and meet my family."

"That'd be nice, but with finals and Daisuke coming to meet my
family, it probably won't be for a long while." she said.

"You'd love my family, they have heard so much about you." he said as
he cut through his meat.

She let her fork rest on the edge of the plate and swallowed what was
left in her mouth."Shaoran." she said.

Shaoran looked up at her, his smile fading. "Don't you... love me any
more?" Shaoran asked. It was out in the open.

"Of course I do." she said. "I always will, but that's a different
kind of love."

"It is?"

She nodded, "You are one of my closest and oldest friends." she
said, "that's how I love you now."

"I see..."

"I know you did not ask me to dinner with the intention to find out
what I'm doing in my life." she took a breath, "I can't go back to
when I loved you unconditionally." she said as she lowered her
eyes, "Too much has changed."

"But..." he stopped, "I love you!" his eyes were wild and dark, "You
can't honestly tell me that you love him. Not when we've been through
so much."

Sakura didn't react, "I know." she said. "I know you don't want to
believe that I've moved on, but I have, and I don't think I'll ever
go back." she looked up at him.

"What am I going to do with out you?" he asked. He looked so broken.
Sakura looked away, his face had too much sadness.

She looked up at him, "I asked myself the same thing years ago and
then I met Daisuke."



He sat in the darkness of his apartment. Kentarou was out partying
with his girlfriend and said with a wink that he would not return.
Daisuke was grateful for the warning. He wanted to be alone today.

/Sakura is out there with Shaoran. On a date./ he thought.

Suddenly With hopped over to the window. He hopped up and down in
front of the window.

"What now?" Daisuke asked With as he walked to the
window. "Kerochan!" He opened the window.

Kerochan flew in and sat down on the edge of the desk that was facing
the window. "About time." he said. "I've been knocking for a good ten
minutes."

"Sorry." Daisuke said.

With hopped around Kerochan, "Kyuuu kyuuu!"

Kerochan smiled at With, "How are you doing with depressed boy here?"

With lowered his head and fell over.

Kerochan laughed, "Figured as much."

"I get the picture." Daisuke said, "I can't help it if she's out
there with her ex boyfriend!"

"No, I'm out here." she said.

Daisuke saw her sitting on a tree branch right across from his
window. She smiled at him. She was still in the clothes she wore on
the date, a white dress, pale green cardigan and shoes. The outfit he
loved seeing her in.

"Sakura..."

"Come with me." she said.

"Where?" he asked numbly.

"Leave that up to me." she said as she held her hand out. She looked
at Kerochan, "You'll be okay here?"

"No problem!" Kerochan said.

Sakura nodded with a smile and then turned to Daisuke. "Let's go."

"How?"

"Take my hand." she said.

"Now? Shouldn't we be on the ground or something?" he asked.

"You're a kaitou, hop to this branch, don't worry." she said, her
hand was still out stretched towards him.

He placed his foot on the window sill and launched out towards the
branch. He felt her arms catch him and they soared above the tree
top, past the dorm building.

Higher, higher, the wind whipped his hair past his face. And finally
they stopped.

"Sakura..." he whispered.

Wings flapped a bit. "There," she said as if satisfied by the
height, "don't let go." she whispered.

"I won't." he whispered, he wrapped his arms around her waist. She
wrapped her arms around his neck.

In the light of the half moon Sakura's face was beautiful, lit up
with the light of the moon, she kissed his forehead.

"I haven't had much time with you this week." she whispered. "I'm
sorry." she said, "It seems whenever we try to be together something
happens."

"More like someone happens." he muttered.

She didn't change her happy face, "I know, so I thought I'd surprise
you with a bit of night flying." the wind danced through her hair.

He laughed and let his face rest on her shoulder.

"I have to tell you something..." she said, "tonight, Shaoran made
his intentions very clear."

"Oh?" he asked.

"I told him I'd always love him." she said.

Daisuke waited for what she had to say next before he decided to let
go and plummet back to earth.

"But that kind of love is love for a very dear, very old friend." she
said, her fingers playing with his hair.

He gripped his arms tighter around her waist.

"I told him once again that the only person I wanted was you." she
looked up at him. The moonlight lighting up her green eyes so that
they flashed pure almost elemental green.

He smiled. "Let's go back down?" he asked.

She nodded. "Hold tight." she said.

"I won't." he whispered. Daisuke hooked his arm under her knees and
moved his other arm to her back. He whistled for With, who promptly
came and turned into his character black wings.

"You aren't the only one that can fly." Daisuke said.

Sakura smiled up at him and kissed his cheek. "Let's go home." she
whispered

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End

+ I think this chapter is intact. Then again I could be wrong. ^_^;; But it
reads well the way its done anyways.

+ Wow its finished. Last chapter (I'll be posting an epilogue and a random
babbling ^^)

C&C always welcome even flaming, how does one progress with out some
criticism right? ^^

Yes it is all right to gag at the extreme sugar factor. Have your insulin
shots ready. ^_~