Hey! Next chapter coming up. This is short story so don't worry. Anyway, don't own anything apart from this fic so please don't sue me!!!!!

Sakura's life is tangled and broken. The Ghost returns to her every night and she can't escape his clutches.

Along comes a stranger, handsome, cool, he is Sakura's only way out. While Sakura chases the Shadows of her Past, Syaoran Li is determined to chase her.

A Father. A daughter. A stranger. And unspoken secrets.

A boy was stood over me, the golden sky behind him bright and new and inviting. His intense amber eyes reminded me of someone I knew, someone who had done me harm…I think. That was when I blinked and focused. Syaoran Li…

He reached down and wrapped his arms around me. Oh no…pain…it was going to happen again!

"Please…" I whimpered. "Please don't hurt me." his grip on me tightened and I cried out again, struggling. This person was different. He didn't drown me in authority and force, he was gentle. But still, he was touching me. I was dirty, he'd get contaminated, and he had to move away.

"Sakura? Sakura, calm down. What's the matter?" Syaoran's soft voice floated over to me, but didn't calm me. I was scared I would be put through what I had been last night, thrown about. Eventually he let me go and kneeled in front of me.

"Sakura. Listen to me. Are you all right? I didn't hit you did I?" 

Such a simple question, but it filled me with sorrow. It could have all been over, in a single second. I scooted away from him and looked away.

"I wish you had." I murmured. The look on his face could have calmed me, if I wasn't seeing the Ghost's eyes, full of anger and hunger. I shut my own eyes tightly and trembled, preparing myself for nightmares. Syaoran touched my shoulder and I jumped away from him, as if I had been burnt.

"Please, leave me alone!" I cried, scrambling up and darting into the woods. But he was after me in a second, calling my name. Just a single touch from him would bring memories to my eyes and I didn't want that. But I was weak, emotionally and physically and soon I collapsed in a field. Syaoran slowed and sat next to me, his eyes full of worry.

"Sakura? What's going on?"

I didn't answer, just stared out at the fields.

"Sakura? Let me see your wrists."

"No." I whispered, a word I had longed to say, but had never had the courage. The scars and cuts were my way out, the only evidence of what the Ghost had done to me over the years. Again he touched my hand and I flinched. I knew he was confused, bewildered, but I didn't know him. Why was he still here? What right did he have to invade on my shame? Biting my lip, I turned to him.

"Go away, please. I don't need help."

Yes I do! I cried in my mind. I need love! I need hope and faith that I can survive this! But my words had been said and with a nod he left, a little uncertainly, but he left and drove off in his fancy silver jaguar. I was alone again. Alone, except for the nightmares.

As I sat in the fields and woods, back home my family were beginning to get worried. It was past dark, when I usually returned, and still I hadn't come home. Father was the most worried, terrified even, but not for the same reason as my brothers and sisters. All night I was gone and half the next day too, until I grew too hungry and returned. I had rested and spent a peaceful night out in the cold without the Ghost haunting my dreams. When I entered the door, the first thing that happened was Julian and Tomoyo sweeping me up in their arms. I was shocked and scared. More touching. But they were family, and I bared it for a few seconds before I struggled free.

That night when the Ghost slipped back into my dreams to haunt me, his eyes bore more hunger and anger than I had ever seen. When I woke in the morning, I looked as if I had been attacked. My nose was bloody and my arm swollen and scratches covered my body. Very gently, I got washed and then took out my blade as I set out to the fields. I was contaminated again, and more cuts than ever would be needed to drain it away.

This went on for weeks. Syaoran came to see me many times, though I never let him close enough to see my injuries. I was actually thankful for having Meilin as a sister as she occupied him for me while I got away. I felt so helpless. The Ghost was getting worse and worse and every time I ran away for a night he released one of the penalties on me as he had threatened when I was younger. I was beginning to fear what he would do to me next. Meilin was convinced that Syaoran had fallen for her at last and spent most of her time trying on outfits that Tomoyo had designed and made. I hoped that he had, and then he would get off my back. He had become more and more insistent on seeing my arms, more and more concerned every time he saw me. I was alone in the world; no one would ever believe me.

I ran down the side of the road, heading for the park. There I could think away from the preying eyes of the village. I had been sitting on the swings for half an hour when he turned up, a small smile on his face but his eyes revealing how anxious he was. His unruly brown hair fell lazily over one eye and blew lightly in the wind. I realised then how handsome he was, sitting there beside me, not looking at me but surveying me in some other way. I didn't speak, and neither did he until several minutes had passed.

"Sakura, why were you so afraid of ghosts when you were younger?" he asked casually. I blinked in surprise and stared at him. That was a question I couldn't answer, wouldn't answer. I stayed silent.

"Why don't you like people touching you? Why aren't you like anyone in your family?" he persisted, finally turning to me and meeting my eye. For the first time that I could remember, I didn't see the Ghost's hungry eyes staring back at me. I held his gaze for a moment, and then broke it, watching the sun set.

"Because I'm different." I replied truthfully. It was the truth, but not the whole truth. He seemed to see that, but didn't press me about it. Again he asked the question that I had heard from him every time I saw him.  

"Can I see your wrists?"

I folded my arms protectively and shook my head. Why couldn't he just leave me be?

"Sakura I want to help." He whispered earnestly, having the good knowledge not to touch me. I shivered, thinking about what would happen if it told him, what he would think of me then. Dirt. That was what the Ghost said. I was dirt. I wasn't good for anything. All I brought was death and unhappiness, and so I needed a punishment in return. Tears pricked at my eyes. I had cried so much over the past weeks that I could hardly believe that I could continue. Furiously, I wipe them away and glared at the images that came to my mind. The Ghost's sick laughter and nightmarish voice that seemed to creep up on me and chill me to the bone. Syaoran must have realised what I was thinking about as he reached out, but didn't touch me, and said,

"Tell me what you're thinking."

I hesitated before the words tumbled out. These were neither the truth, but neither were they false.

"I'm thinking what the Ghost told me. That I'm worthless, I bring death and sadness wherever I go. I'm thinking about my punishment for it."

I daren't look at him, knowing that he would see my reprimand in my glazed eyes. Knowing that I didn't want him to work out my sorrow, my cowardliness. He was part of my life now, whether I liked it or not, and I would die first before he or anyone else found out. His next words were so surprising, that I nearly confessed everything to him.

"You're not worthless Sakura, you're special. At least, you are to me." he stole a quick glance of my shocked face and then carried on hastily. "You're different from the other girls, you're quieter, more thoughtful. You're a mystery that I want to unravel. Take Meilin for example. She's bossy, sexy, annoying and completely power hungry. While you are mysterious, beautiful, quiet, exciting, and much more. You're unique."

I swallowed down tears and looked away, staring once more into burgundy sky and trying to draw the last of its warmth to me. A terrible foreboding had come upon me. I had the feeling that the worst of all penalties was in store for me tonight, and I would need the comfort for the next morning if I were going to carry out what I wanted to do. Syaoran's last words were echoing around my mind and I gulped once more.

"Yes, I am unique. Just not in the way you think." My words must have confused him, but I was being overcome by memories, the cold, hard truth of it all. I had enough strength to refrain from telling him, but my feelings were in an uproar and I needed peace. Especially if I wanted to survive tonight.

"The Ghost made me that way. I would be like Meilin and Tomoyo and all the other girls from my school. I could be chasing boys, worrying about clothes and money, I should be excited about losing my virginity like a normal teenage girl. But no, the Ghost had other ideas. It wasn't my fault that I was born; I never asked to be brought into a world I didn't understand! I never wanted for it to happen!" I was in hysterics now, gripping the swing chains so tightly that they were cutting into my hands and drawing blood. Syaoran was pale, trying to form some understanding around my words. But he'd never find any. My out of control emotions were fuelling my babbled words.

"It wasn't my fault! I didn't want to be born! Why does he have to punish me for acting one way when I don't know any other?!?!?!"

Syaoran had the good sense of mind to still not touch me. I think he realised that that would have sent me into a worse hysteria.

"The Ghost may go away sometimes, but he's always there with me, in my mind! I never have any peace!" I screamed, but then suddenly, I fell quiet. My tear stained face grew miserable and I slumped in my seat on the swings. I'd had another, more painful revelation. "But it's not his fault, in the end. It was I who was born, and at the same time committed a crime that can never be justified. And in consequence, the Ghost is just repaying me for causing so much distress. While I'm not justifiable, my punishment by the Ghost is."

My words were so soft, so quiet, that I was surprised that even I heard it. Syaoran was staring at me in such bewilderment and such love, that I felt sorry for him. He could never love a girl like me. Contaminated, ugly, dirty, full of bad blood. And in return I could never love anyone, afraid that the shadows I chase just might be caught in their arms. With a defeated sigh, I closed my eyes. Syaoran shifted uncomfortably, and I knew he was going to say something else. Something that might just make my life harder.

"You know Sakura? Your father is really an amazing man." I tried to keep the disgust out of my eyes when I looked at him. "I asked him if I could…" he trailed off, embarrassed by whatever he had asked. But he took one look in my eyes and seemed to draw courage from them. It was nice to know someone could. "I asked him if I could ask you out."

I swear my heart stopped beating and my blood boiled in fear. Oh no. How could he do this to me? Now I knew what to expect tonight. The real deal of the ghost's penalties. Syaoran carried on, oblivious to my terrified eyes. "He's a wonderful man, I'm not surprised you love him so much. And he obviously loves you. You know what he said? He was very supportive, but he said that you still loved him very much and he wasn't sure if he wanted to share you just yet!"

Syaoran looked as though he found it brilliant, that his idol was not only the perfect man but he could also joke as well. But that was what worried me. He wasn't joking. My eyes were closed as I tried to suppress my trembling. I didn't want to go home tonight, not to what the Ghost would have in store for me. But if I didn't go, he would take out his anger on someone else, and I wouldn't be able to stand that happening. Never in my life would I want someone to go through what I did. Never. But maybe if he got the biggest of all penalties out of his system, then when I was gone he would leave it at that? It was my punishment after all, why would he subject it on someone else? But I didn't want to test my theory. Syaoran had finally noticed my horror and was looking even more perplexed than he was before, and that was saying something. In an instant I was up.

"He'll be back tonight," I whispered shakily. "The Ghost. He'll be jealous and hungry and angry all in one." I met Syaoran's confused gaze with my own fiery one. "You've just put in the last nail on my coffin."

And then I was gone, with a last tearful goodbye that only lasted a heartbeat. I had said more than I wanted to, so much that he might've just worked it out. But I could take chances, now that I had made my decision. I would leave with the darkness.

Oh dear, things are getting bad. Poor Syaoran! He's really got no clue has he?

Do you like it? Can you please review me? I'd really appreciate it and will send a reply!

Mini_Deamon@btopenworld.com

Sakura_Free_Spirit