Chapter Five

Crystal Tears


~starjade~

The Fight

Sakura heard a voice float across the lofty wind , " Hurry up , we have a busy schedule ahead of us!" She knew it was the trainer , and she felt dread rise up in her heart. Gods , she so didn't want to go. Especially with THAT guy.

Tomoyo pushed her forward , but Sakura paused , trying to take as much time as possible. She hardly knew much of the Li Kingdom. Probably once she was there , Prince Li would make fun of her for her lack of intelligence. Well it was his Kingdom , so naturally he'd know more about it! Great , just another way to embarrass herself infront of Prince Li. Grr....

Tomoyo asked softly as they grew nearer , " Whats wrong , Sakura?"

Sakura mumbled , " What if I fail? What if they start teaching numbers?"

Sakura's eyes grew wide as she thought about it. " Oh , I'll make such a fool of myself!" It was known Sakura's worst subject was numbers. She hated it!

Tomoyo softly giggled , " Stop worrying , Sakura. It's going to be alright!"

Sakura turned around to smile at her , and turned around again , but instead-

BANG!

Sakura stumbled after hitting something , and fell. She saw stars for a moment , until her vision cleared and she could hear a voice yelling at her. It sounded quite angry , and she realised the person had fell down too. Touching the bump on her head , she finally recognised the person yelling at her.

" What the hell were you doing , Kinomoto?" yelled a quite familiar voice. Sakura looked up , with dread , and saw it was none other than Prince Li. He was standing up , glowering at her as she rubbed her head.

" I'm sorry , I never meant to bump into you ," Sakura replied , quite woozy. She got up with Tomoyo's help , who , at the moment , seemed to be staring weirdly at something. What the hell is she staring at , shouldn't she be helping me at the moment? Sakura thought as she followed her gaze. Tomoyo had been staring at a navy haired boy around her age. He looked quite mature for his age , ( not to mention cute!) and had knelt before the two of them.

" And may I be so bold to ask , who are these two pretty ladies?"

Tomoyo giggled , in a high-pitched way. Sakura just looked at him , confused.

" Um...my name is Kinomoto , Sakura."

" Ah , the beautiful princess from the far exotic lands of-"

" Cut it , Hiiragizawa!" Prince Li cut in , quite bothered by all this mush his friend was showing. Couldn't he just lay off and be mean for a while.....

" And you.." The boy continued , unperturbed.

Tomoyo turned red and stuttered , " Uh..my name is...Daidouji Tomoyo."

The navy haired boy smiled , causing Tomoyo to redden even more , and announced ,

" My name is Eriol Hiiragizawa. I must say , it is quite a coincidence we have bumped into each other. I suggest we all head over to the class for it looks ready to start. I assume we are all going there."

Sakura and Tomoyo nodded dumbfounded , and , forgetting all about Syaoran , walked after him. Syaoran stood there , fuming , until he asked himself , why do I care? Eriol can have those girls. Just a free way out of marriage , he convinced himself and set out , (reluctantly) after them.

*****~~~~~******

After class had finished , which was quite a boring one about the traditions and values of the Li Kingdom , Sakura decided to go out for a walk before the fight with Syaoran. For some peculiar reason Sakura realised she actually didn't want to fight anymore. It seemed so childish , so immature. Why had they decided to start their everlasting grudge against each other? She didn't think Syaoran was that bad , of course without the attitude and quite rude way of speaking. And the way he thought she couldn't fight...

Sakura walked forward , blindly , missing the faces of her father and her brother. She wanted to go back so bad , not stay here to get to know a person who hated her guts and stay with a bunch of strangers.

Her eyes glazed over and she sat on a rock , admiring the view. Mountains stretched before her , and a lake glistened below. It made her think of the beautiful lake in the Kinomoto Kingdom. The serenity of the moment calmed her strained heart and mind , as cherry blossoms floated from the trees in her favourite colour pink. She held out her hand , catching a blossom , holding it to her face.

Sakura sighed , missing those special people in her lives. She forgot all about the time until she heard a cough behind her startling her out of her reverie.

******~~~~~~~*******

Syaoran had been walking to his special place , beyond the castle that overlooked a lake and a mountains. He came here many times to think , to get away from Meilin and to take a breather from life.

Suddenly , he heard a sigh in the other direction. He followed the voice , anger building up that someone , someone was in his special place. He turned a corner and met the sitting form of

Kinomoto!

What the hell is she doing here? This was HIS place , and ESPECIALLY no place for Kinomoto! He coughed slightly to get her attention. Oh she is so going to get it at the fight today..

But when she turned around , Syaoran felt the temperature rise for some strange reason. He felt his cheeks warm , and his skin tingle as he looked upon her face , her beautiful green eyes surrounded by cherry blossoms , just like the dream...

Syaoran shook his head. It was getting quite hot around here , he thought , and announced in a shaky voice , " What are you doing here?"

Sakura sighed again , and replied , " Just to think. I miss my family a lot , you know."

Syaoran found himself about to nod , for he understood her situation quite fully. Yet he caught himself in the middle of the action , and scolded himself while retorting quickly , " And I should care because..."

(a/n: that is so rude! hehe)

Sakura glanced at him surprised , and he saw that familiar look of anger rise to her face , until she breathed , and calmed herself before smiling at him strangely.

" No reason , I guess."

With that , she got up and began to leave. Smiling at him once more , she added , " Don't forget the get together we have tonight , Prince Li."

Syaoran stared after her , completely dumbfounded. He was so rude to her! Shouldn't she be like ,leaping at him to tear him apart right now?? What a strange girl...

Syaoran shook his head , wanting to clear it of the strange thoughts. First beautiful , then this very strange heat wave that appears every time I'm around her...What does it mean?

Gods.

*****~~~~~*****

" Go Sakura!" shouted Tomoyo , already out with a sketchpad. She was sitting on the grass , near the courtyard used for practicing. It was getting dark outside , the sun setting and the moon ready to rise. Sakura jumped up , all ready in boys trousers and tunic. She felt weird in these clothes , but it served better to fight. She knew that earlier that day , she had certainly showed Syaoran up. She hadn't missed that look of confusion on his face when she had acted nice to him. It took a great deal of concentration to let that one remark go , but she did it!

Oh , I am good , she thought to herself , smiling.

Eriol arrived , and Sakura grinned at him.

" Hey , Eriol. Coming to watch , too?" she asked , as he took a seat beside Tomoyo. (Who , no need to say this , turned as red as an cherry)

" Where is Prince Li anyways?" Sakura thought , and Eriol glanced at her , studying her expression.

" You know , Sakura , Syaoran is pretty good. You'd better watch out."

Sakura nodded , knowing his reputation. He was known as the best swordsmen in his kingdom and had competed against other kingd-suddenly a sword came flying at her. She almost let out a shriek, but caught it by the hilt before it had struck her. A figure appeared from the shadows , and Sakura giggled nervously.

" Hey , Prince Li. Um....You ready?"

Syaoran nodded , glancing at her.

" You know , Kinomoto , you'd better watch out. I may not go easy on you.."

Sakura smiled easily , but inside she was boiling. Hey , he thinks he could beat her without a fight! What a egotistical , little....

" Sure , Li , whatever you say." She said , and without warning , swung her sword at him. Barely , he blocked it , surprised at the amount of strength she had put into it. He took a quick glance at her , before swinging his sword to meet with hers , and without a beat drive it at her legs , which ,with a good amount of reflex , she blocked. They began fighting more furiously , with Tomoyo cheering them on. Eriol just smiled his little 'mysterious' smile , as they continued to fight.

" Hey , Syaoran , your pretty good!" Sakura said , and Syaoran glanced up surprised. She had called him by his first name! But Sakura had taken that chance to strike at his chest , which he had to swing to miss , and he drove his sword at Sakura who jumped to block. Yet when she jumped , she tripped over the lace of her boot , and with her sword clanging to the floor , toppled onto Syaoran , and this time let out that shriek she had held in. Syaoran was so shocked he let go of his sword , and rolled over , trying to avoid her but ended up rolling on top of Sakura. ( ^_^)

The moonlight highlighted the two , as Syaoran struggled to get up and accidentally looked into Sakura's eyes. It stopped him , freezing him in that position. What interesting eyes they were. Those green eyes , the same as the card captor and the girl from his dream...Quite a coincidence. They were enchanting , almost drawing him in.

He didn't realize how close he was to Sakura for Sakura was staring at him straight back until a giggling broke the silence. Syaoran looked up and saw Eriol and Tomoyo on the sidelines holding their sides trying to keep in their laughter.

Syaoran hurried to get himself upright as Sakura struggled to her feet.

" Oh god , Prince Li , I'm so sorry!" Sakura cried , as Syaoran picked up his sword , his face as red as a tomato. Good thing it was getting dark , Syaoran thought , but felt the annoying eyes of Eriol and knew Eriol was suspecting something.

"Yah , I'm okay. Leave me alone!" Syaoran muttered , moving away quickly. He could not erase that warm feeling he had had when Sakura said his name. It gave him such a....a disgusting feeling! Yah that's right...What was she doing landing on him like that!! She such an pest..

Sakura stared after him , wondering what had just happened . She felt , oh she didn't know. She felt a electricity between them when his amber eyes met with hers...It gave her a tingly feeling. Oh gods , what had just happened?? Li Syaoran was a baka...wasn't he???

~~~~****~~~~~

Unbeknown to them , two figures stood above them on a balcony. Both adorned crowns upon their heads , and wore identical expressions of delight. They knew that the two had finally acknowledged each other , and the first ray of feelings had broke through the ray of hatred that seemed to envelope the two. Their plan was sure to succeed , and Li and Kinomoto kingdoms will join together!

a/n: Oooo , goddesses , I just realized I made a mistake. In the LAST chapter I said that the King was there making the announcement. Oh gods ,pleez ignore that , and pretend , ummmm , that , uhhh , Queen Yelan did it , okay? okay!

ILUVALLYAREVIEWERS! I cherish all ya reviews , and don't ya worry , I read every single one of them. You don't know how happy I get , when even one review is added. I start jumping around...

Okay...I'm gettin weird.

Next chappie will be of those awkward , but kawaii moments , and a bit more e/t . Oh and I'm plannin' a bit of a plot twist. How ya like that , eh? Oh and soon , maybe in the next chappie or the next one afta Syaoran FINDS OUT! How do you tink he found out? And will he respect her more?

Okay , I gotta stop. You know , late at night , I get really hyper? You know I get hyper off tic tacs?????

Lets get on with um...the goodbyes.

GOODBYE!!!

~starjade~