Note: I do not own CCS in any way, shape, or form…well duh! ^_^



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1 In Truth

By: Empty Pockets

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chapterTWO

"Probably Forever"



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Sitting under the usual tree mid-afternoon, Sakura slowly unfolded her napkin and began to unpack her lunch. She smiled as she saw that her father always pulled out the stops when it came to making her school lunch. It looked very good.

The summer had passed, without any incidents relating to the cards, which came as a surprise. It seemed as though her troubles of ruling the cards really had come to an end. (She was now thirteen years old, but still felt twelve).

Now that she was back at school, she could focus her mind on other things, namely anything other than Syaoran. She still blushed at the drop of a hat whenever she thought about him.

"Are you alright?" Tomoyo asked, noticing the sudden coloration of Sakura's face (as if she didn't know why already).

"Of course, of course I am!" she said, getting redder by the minute.

"Okay then…" Tomoyo stopped, not wanting to embarrass her friend any more. "Hey, I haven't seen Kero around much lately. What's he been up to?"

"Not much…he's as lazy as usual, and eats twice as much as before. You'd think he was trying to gain weight or something." Sakura grinned. A stuffed animal couldn't gain weight!

"I bet he's getting ready to hibernate for another century or two!" Tomoyo joked.

"Yeah…"Sakura nervously laughed. 'What if Kero is really going back to sleep, like when he did when Clow Reed died. No, what am I thinking? Kero wouldn't leave me!' She shook her head of her disturbing thoughts.

"Sakura? I was only kidding!" Tomoyo could sense her best friend's uneasiness.

"Oh, I know, I'm just worried about that math test we have to take today…It's not my strong point, you know!" she lied, and began to eat her lunch which she had completely ignored up until now. Tomoyo seemed to be satisfied by this answer (it was no lie that Sakura hated math with a passion) and continued eating.



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The rest of the school day was uneventful. Sakura found herself glancing at Syaoran's empty seat behind her every now and then. It was a habit she had picked up by now. She remembered how scared of him she had been upon their first meeting. Sakura was off in her daydreams again, and it wasn't until the bell rang for the end of the day, that she was snapped out of them.

Quickly she scooped her belongings into her backpack and left the room. Naoko and Tomoyo were waiting for her outside the door, and the three began walking home.

On their way out of the school, they spotted Chiharu and Yamazaki. From snatches of conversation the girls could gather as they walked by, Yamazaki was feeding Chiharu some fib about the ancient sport of Ping-Pong.

The three giggled as Chiharu clapped her hand to his mouth to shut him up, and she sweat-dropped big time. Yamazaki noticed them walking by, and squirmed out of his girlfriend's grasp to run over to them, pulling Chiharu along with him by her wrist.

"Hey, Kinomoto!" He called. There was a slight urgency in his voice. The three girls turned to face them. Tomoyo sensed it was important and quickly started up a conversation with Naoko and Chiharu. Yamazaki smiled. "Have you heard from Li-kun lately? You know, he left without saying goodbye to me, his best buddy!" he joked. Sakura froze; what could she say? 'Yes, he's doing great in his home all the way in Hong Kong without me?'

Actually, she had never talked to him since he left last summer. She was too embarrassed to write to him, as if she was afraid she would accidentally spill her feelings on paper.

Yamazaki was looking confusedly at her. Had he said something wrong? "I just figured since you guys were kinda close and all, you could give me his address, I wanna write to him and stuff, since he just left without sayin' good riddance or anything."

Sakura bit her lip and twisted a lock of hair. He had said goodbye to her; and she regretted that day. "I'm sorry, I haven't got it. I have to go now, I'll see you on Monday." And with that she turned around and dragged Tomoyo by her hand away from Naoko and Chiharu, in the direction of her house; leaving a very confused Yamazaki behind.

Tomoyo was taken by surprise. "We'll see you guys later!" she called back to them over her shoulder. She dared not ask what was wrong now.

Naoko was still looking confusedly at the pair walking away, but Chiharu was giving her best glare of doom at her boyfriend, as if to say 'What did you do now?!'

Yamazaki sheepishly grinned. "Was it something I said?"



******

The best friends were almost to Sakura's home. Tomoyo was listening to the radio on her Walkman, which was just as well because Sakura was deep in thought.

'I can't believe I just froze up like that at the mention of his name. I keep thinking I'll get over him with time…but…I can't just forget the feelings I have! Even if he doesn't feel the same way, I know I will probably forever.'

"Tomoyo? Can I ask you a question?" she said shyly, not believing she was about to admit this aloud.

"Do you know why I have been so strange lately?" she winced at the absurdity of her question, but continued to look imploringly at her friend. Tomoyo snapped off her Walkman and put down the headphones around her neck, and thought for a moment. Sakura knew she could expect an honest answer from her.

"Yes, I've been wondering what was up with you. But I put two and two together, and I suppose I know why." She said.

"Then you have to help me. I can't help feeling the way I do; it's really hurting me, missing him so much, and knowing he won't ever feel the same. I miss his eyes and his hair, and the way it would feel when we would accidentally touch. And how he has always been there for me, especially when the cards were loose. He was so perfect, and I never could see that, I'm so naïve, I missed all this when he was here and now he won't be coming back!!!" She had gotten swept up in the moment and hadn't even noticed the tears welling up in her eyes. She felt ashamed for crying and for spilling out her heart just like that.

"Oh, Sakura…" Tomoyo's voice was filled with anxiousness. " You don't know that he won't be coming back! And I'm positive that he misses you! How could he not? It'll be rough for a little while, but in time you'll feel better." She assured.

"But Tomoyo! You're forgetting that it's been over a whole summer and I'm still a mess! Will you help me get over him? I don't want to ever forget him, but I can't keep walking around all torn up like this. It feels like we just broke up, but we've never even been on a date before. Please help me!" she pleaded.

"God, Sakura, what do you think I've been trying to do for the past couple months?" she laughed.

Sakura blinked. "You knew that long?" (gasp! Now that's unheard of!)

Tomoyo giggled. "I knew for a long time…I also knew you guys looked so KAWAII together!" She gave a wide smile, as Sakura slapped her forehead with her palm.

"Hoeeee!!? Tomoyo! Stop it!" she shouted, as she began to laugh. Not to mention blush a very, very deep crimson.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, still chuckling. "Of course I will help you, what are best friends for?"

"Thanks Tomoyo, you're the greatest!" she said appreciatively, her tears already dried.

"If it makes you feel any better, I miss Eriol terribly!" Tomoyo admitted, glowing a pale pink. Sakura didn't whether she was joking or not. The two continued to joke, making their sides ache, until they reached the Kinomoto household.

"Ja ne!" Sakura bid her friend goodbye as she turned the knob of her front door. Tomoyo waved goodbye cheerfully in reply, and continued down the street to her own home.

Sighing, Sakura entered her home. She didn't want to forget Syaoran at all, and the last thing she wanted to do was lose her feelings for him.

But the hollowness inside would not go away until he would come back, and she was absolutely sure that would never happen, no matter how much she wanted it to. She needed to heal.

But…

God, it had felt great to laugh like that again.





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Well, that's chapter 2…hope ya liked it. And don't worry, I have a somewhat enjoyable plot for this fanfic planned…so stay tuned peoples!

: P