Chapter Nine

Crystal Tears

~starjade~

Closer Together

" Hurry up , Syaoran!" cried Eriol , banging on the door. Syaoran groaned and turned around in his bed , glancing out the window. Eriol's voice was so annoying , he needed his sleep...but as Syaoran looked out his window , his eyes widened. What the...

OH MY GOD! He was soo late!!

Syaoran leapt out of bed , hurrying around , quickly throwing on his clothes , throwing a blanket over his bed , putting on his shoes , raking his hand through his messy brown hair , and flung open the door. All in record speed time.

Eriol stood there , arms crossed , looking him up and down , smirking. Syaoran looked down , and realized the messiness of his clothes. His shirt was inside out and his shoes were on the wrong feet and his pants stuck inside his socks.

Syaoran fought off a blush and smiled politely at Eriol while closing the door. He quickly fixed his clothing and opened the door again.

" I'm ready!"

Eriol laughed.

" Sure you are , Syaoran. Lets go...They're waiting for us!" Eriol snickered as Syaoran first reddened then glared.

" Great. I'm set up with buffoons. Idiots. I have to work on a hopeless case , that mother created from the top of her mind to TRY and get me and Sakura closer together. Well guess what , that's never going to happen!!" Syaoran mumbled , under his breath while they descended the grand staircase.

The crystals that blinked from the stairway twinkled in the light that floated through the windows. The windows set up on the inside perimeter of the castle which brought quite a happy and cheerful environment to the Li Castle...totally the opposite of Syaoran's mood.

Eriol replied , " Well , it might happen , you know. Who knows , you might fall in love with her."


Syaoran was about to laugh out loud at that statement , until he saw the look on Eriol's face. He had that mischievous , ' I have an evil plan' look , that Syaoran came to recognize quite well. Syaoran stared at him , suspiciously.

" You aren't going to try and do anything are you?"

Eriol put on an innocent mask and asked , " Me? Why would I try and do anything like that?"

Syaoran groaned , and muttered , " I'm a dead duck...."

Eriol snickered and they arrived at the library. The library was filled with council members and advisors and detectives , but on one table , the Queen was beckoning to him. Queen Yelan had set aside a table for the chosen people.

Funny , Tomoyo was present , but Sakura was no where to be seen.....

" Um...Princess Kinomoto , it seems that you are late for the meeting you have today ," a maid said , hesitantly at the doorway.

Sakura moaned , opened one eye and abruptly fell asleep again. The maid repeated , nervously, " Princess Kinomoto , um , I think you should , um wake up now?"

Sakura did not listen. She was in a purple , green , blue and yellow forest , with bunnies and horses and little cute teddy bears flying around her , with lollipops and candies hanging from trees , waiting for her to reach out and catch them under a big beautiful rainbow-

" PRINCESS KINOMOTO , WAKE UP!"

Sakura woke , and leapt from the bed , screaming, " WHERE'S THE FIRE?" Her head whipped side to side , glancing worriedly around the room.

The maid blushed heavily , and whispered , " Your awake. I just came to remind you that you have a meeting. I'm sorry if I disrupted your sleep."

Sakura yawned , mumbling , " Oh okay," and was about to fall asleep again , but froze in mid-yawn as she processed what the maid had said.

" AHHHHHHH!"

Sakura screeched, and raced around , pulling on her clothes , muttering about how many under dresses there were to one dress , combing her hair , grabbing all her necessities and racing out the door. She stopped once to look at herself in the mirror , and ran as fast as she could.

She jumped down the stairs , three at a time , raced around the hallways , and had to run back and forth not knowing where the library was. Finally , a servant recognised her and pointed out the right direction. She nodded , gratefully and ran as fast as she could. She found the library and halted , smiling innocently at the group of people staring at her. Unfortunately , it seemed the wood was quite slippery , for the servants had just finished waxing and Sakura ended up skidding across wooden floors.

Of course , causing her to slide past the entrance and fall straight on her butt.

" OW!" Sakura moaned and slowly got up. That hurt! She limped , rather reluctantly to the library.

What met her was the laughs and snickers of everyone present . It seemed like the loudest was Syaoran , who was pointing at her and laughing hysterically , causing Sakura to flush and stomp angrily to her seat.

Tomoyo with a giggle, said , " Don't take it seriously , Sakura. It was just quite funny to run past the entrance and fall..."

Sakura groaned. " Thanks, Tomoyo."

Tomoyo giggled.

" No problem. Anytime!"

The Queen had started her speech already. It seemed that the four of them would have a list of clues and have to piece together where the jewels were. It was quite stupid , for if the jewels were lost , then why was the Queen treating it like a game??

" I will pair you up into partners. Eriol and Tomoyo , you will work on this paper , and Sakura and Syaoran will work on this. I suggest you find a secluded spot," here she winked at Sakura and Syaoran , and Syaoran reddened , " and remember to bring back what you have done so far to me after dinner."

Syaoran and Sakura looked at each other and groaned at the same time. Wasn't this just great? They had to work...together?

Both had the same thought running through their heads. What have I done to deserve this?

Queen Yelan smiled at them , and made a hurrying motion after giving them their papers.

" Go , Go! The Li Kingdom needs those jewels back!"

Syaoran felt like dying. This was just crap....he glared extra hard at Eriol , who just smiled innocently back. At leas Eriol was happy working with Tomoyo...Syaoran glanced as Sakura who looked miserable. While I suffer and work with....Sakura! There was no way of getting out of this

" Lets go." Syaoran muttered to Sakura , who glared at him ,but followed regardless.

Syaoran walked out of the castle , paying no attention to the girl behind him. They walked slow , and sluggish not wanting to spend time with each other. The trees sprinkled leaves all around them , giving the air a fragrance that blew past their noses , traveling around them , whipping their clothes and floating past the castle.

Syaoran picked up his pace , but Sakura slowed , wanting to enjoy the moment. Her eyes glittered with the serenity the moment held and Sakura relaxed , for what seemed the only time she could in the whole day.

Suddenly she tensed as Syaoran shouted , " HURRY UP , for gods sake!"

Sakura glared at him.

" Gods , mind your temper Li! This isn't a race , you know!"

Sakura threw her head back , and walked faster. Syaoran felt a pang of hurt go through him as he watched her go past him which he quickly brushed off. He was getting used to Sakura calling him Syaoran...

" Where are we going?" Sakura's sweet voice jerked him out of his thoughts.

Syaoran's mind drew a blank for a second , as he asked himself , where were they going? He looked around himself and found they were at the edge of a forest and quite near his favorite spot.

The one that Sakura stumbled upon a couple of days ago...

Sakura also seemed to recognize this at the same time Syaoran did. She gave a squeal of delight and unconsciously grabbed Syaoran's hand.

" Lets go! This is my absolute favorite spot ! We can finish this sheet there!"

Syaoran felt heat flare up in his cheeks. Was it getting hot? The sun wasn't up...

Sakura began to skip happily towards the spot. The place came into view and she ran to the rocks that overlooked the river , dragging a flushing Syaoran along.

" Gods , Kinomoto , let go of my hand!" Syaoran tried to growl but for some strange reason , his growl ended up in a squeak. What was wrong with his voice....This was quite weird...

" We're here!" Sakura exclaimed and twirled around in the cherry blossoms laughing happily. This was the only part of the Li Kingdom that actually had cherry blossoms , and Sakura loved them.

The delicate flowers traveled through the air and whipped past Syaoran ,who stood there quite annoyed and quite baffled. He seemed to be growing an unfamiliar sensation watching Sakura twirl. Those green eyes...so deep and inviting. Her auburn hair, that cheerful smile...

Syaoran!

What the damn hell are you thinking?

Sakura faced him again , and found that Syaoran was red.

" Syaoran? Are you okay?" Sakura went up to him and touched his forehead.

" You don't seem to have a fever."

Syaoran trembled at her touch , and wanted to punch himself for having these feelings. He was the Ice Cold Prince! He hated Sakura Kinomoto! He even made a vow to never ever like Sakura. He hated her with everything he had...

Didn't he?

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

" Er-Hiiragizawa , where do you want to go?" Tomoyo asked , nervously. Her heart was filling with happiness because she was paired up with Eriol. She was so close to Eriol , and it made her skin tingle. Whenever he looked at her it made her want to swoon...

" Okay , Daidouji , I'm thinking.."

Eriol thought for a moment then smiled mischievously , " Out into the forest!"

Tomoyo looked confused.

" Why in the forest?"

" Oh , there's a special place where special moments are happening , and I don't think my special descendant would want me , especially , to miss it!" Eriol grinned.

Tomoyo still was dumbfounded at this really weird attitude Eriol was presenting her , but nodded anyways. She'd do anything for Eriol....Tomoyo sighed as she followed Eriol outside the building. But he wasn't even aware of her feelings..

Eriol seemed to notice her sigh ,and turned around.

" Daidouji are you okay?" he asked.

" Yes , Eri-Hiiragizawa." She replied , happy that he was actually concerned.

Eriol squinted his eyes at her then smiled.

" Hey , I think we should call each other by first names now. We're friends , aren't we?"

Tomoyo was shocked.

" Are you sure?"

" Yup!" Eriol replied , smiling a killer smile at her , that melted her heart.

" Okay..." Tomoyo trailed off , not processing what he was actually saying. He wanted to call her Tomoyo....

Eriol stuck his hand out and said , " Tomoyo , nice to meet you."

Tomoyo giggled. His voice was so sweet when he said her name... " Nice to meet you too , Eriol."

Eriol smiled and whispered , " Now lets go see what my cute descendant is up to. We have to be quiet though."

" Who's your cute descendant?" Tomoyo asked.

" Syaoran Li." Eriol answered and then continued , " He's right now talking to Sakura Kinomoto."

Tomoyo also developed that mischievous grin on her face and whipped her sketch book out of her pack.

" Lets go!"

a/n: Hohohohoho