Chapter three: To England, with a hey ho off we go!
A few months later, Sakura and Tomoyo were at Tokyo Airport, surrounded by luggage. Eriol had invited them over to England after their entrance exams. Both had passed and received commendations for their performances. They were both looking forward to this: it was Sakura's first time abroad, and Tomoyo wanted to show her all the sights. But Sakura was also looking forward to getting away from home for a while. Getting away from Yukito.
Kero was peeking out of her backpack as usual, he was gazing longingly towards a patisserie. Kero scanned the crowd quickly: no sign of Yukito. They had barely seen him since that afternoon. Kero didn't regret his words, but he did regret the harsh tone that had accompanied them. Still that was no excuse for this: he hadn't even turned up to say goodbye to Sakura. He could feel Sakura's depression at Yukito's absence. It angered him.
"Flight 207 to Heathrow Airport, London, England, now boarding at Gate 32; passengers please have your boarding passes and passports ready."
Sakura received a long hug from her father, and a surprisingly tight one from Touya. "If that little brat starts bothering you, just call me and I'll be on the next flight," he promised.
"Onii-chan, how many times do I have to tell you, this is Eriol-kun, not Shaolan-kun."
Touya shrugged. "Whatever."
"Phone us when you get there," said her father, giving her another hug.
"I will, Otou-san. Don't worry, I've got Tomoyo-chan to look after me!" She smiled.
Touya looked over his shoulder. "It's strange."
"What is?" asked Mr. Kinomoto.
"Yukito said he'd be here to say goodbye, but I don't see him anywhere."
'Hm,' thought Kero.
Sakura looked down and let out a silent sigh. Tomoyo took her hand gently. "We'd better join the queue," she said encouragingly, "we don't want to miss the flight!"
"No!" Sakura agreed, smiling at her. She reached into her backpack. Her face changed. "Oh no, my passport!"
"Where is it?" Tomoyo asked, turning her around.
"I don't know, I put it in there, you saw me do it!"
"How much stuff do you have in here, Sakura-chan?!"
"Trust the monster," muttered Touya.
Sakura glared at him.
"HEY!"
They all turned. Yukito was running towards them through the crowd, holding out Sakura's passport.
"I SAW THIS LYING ON THE FLOOR IN THE CAFÉ, IT MUST HAVE FALLEN OUT OF YOUR RUCKSACK!" he called.
Sakura's eyes lit up, and her cheeks flushed slightly. "Yukito-san." she whispered.
Yukito arrived, and bent down, panting slightly. "Sorry . . I'm late . . the traffic . . was awful," he puffed.
Sakura smiled. "That's okay. I'm glad you made it."
Yukito looked up and smiled at her in his usual friendly manner, but his eyes spoke of a deep concern for Sakura that was usually never there. Sakura felt her heart begin its familiar skipping pattern.
"This is the second call for Flight 207 to Heathrow Airport, London, England, now boarding at Gate 32; passengers please make your way to the boarding gate and have your boarding passes and passports ready."
"Oh, that's us!" Sakura grabbed the passport from his hand and ran, her backpack bumping up and down. She could hear Kero swearing at her from the inside. "Shut up, Kero-chan, someone will hear you!"
"Good, then they can see how you're abusing me!"
They could see the gate ahead of them, the last person passing through.
"We're not gonna make it!" panted Tomoyo.
"We have to, Eriol-kun will be waiting for us!"
Sakura suddenly felt someone grab her waist. "Hey-!" she cried as she was swung up and carried like a bride towards the gate this sensation was familiar from when Yue had court her after she transformed a Clow card into a Star card. She looked up into her carrier's face and gasped. "Yukito-san- ?!" She glanced behind: Tomoyo was holding onto Yukito's jacket with all her might as they raced towards the gate. They skidded to a halt as the stewardess turned towards them.
"Ahh, young love?" she said, smiling.
"Huh?" Yukito and Sakura both looked at each other in bewilderment for a moment, then went bright red and sweat dropped.
"Ah, no, no," Yukito contradicted, quickly slipping Sakura to the ground. "I just . . we're old friends, and I wasn't sure if we were going to make it."
Tomoyo chuckled behind them, a hand placed lightly over her mouth.
"Are you flying with us today as well, sir?"
"Yes, yes I am."
"What?!" Sakura turned and looked at him, pale.
Yukito bent down, pretending to check her rucksack. "We weren't going to let you go without us," he whispered. "Besides which, Eriol-kun invited me as well. He knew that I'd want to come, somehow." He shrugged with a rueful smile. "I suppose the Clow Reed part of him sensed . . my feelings."
Kero perked up inside the rucksack. 'Feelings, Yukito-san?' he wondered.
"Passport, miss?"
Sakura held out her passport without even looking at the woman. "Feelings?" she repeated.
"Well, yes." Yukito smiled tenderly. Tomoyo and Kero held their breaths. Inside Yukito, Yue awoke, terrified at what was about to happen and thrust forwards. Yukito's eyes suddenly went lilac and silver for an instant. "I do feel that I have to protect you no matter where you go."
Tomoyo put a hand over her face. Kero fell over inside the bag. "Oh no." he moaned.
Sakura's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Yukito-san." she whispered, then snatched the passport from the woman and ran through the tunnel. Tomoyo gave Yukito a reproachful glance and ran after her. Yukito shook his head, dazed, and wandered after the two girls, his two sides at war.
Sakura spent the rest of the journey gazing very hard at the scenery out of her window seat until the film came on, which was 'Men in Black'. This cheered her up a little. Kero was more interested in the chocolates that she'd bought for Eriol. Eventually Sakura had to give them to Tomoyo, to save them from being devoured by Kero's all-consuming stomach.
Yukito had two helpings of the in-flight lunch and watched the film with a growing sense of determination to sort out the mess that Yue had so kindly made for him, yet again because of Yue's inability to share his feelings and his inability to conquer his fears: one fear being that his deep feelings would not be returned by Sakura and the second being that if he told her that he cared for her this deeply Sakura would die just like Clow Reed had.
Eleven hours after take off, they arrived in London, at around ten o'clock PM GMT. The cold air hit them like a slap when they stepped from the plane to the tunnel, a quick sharp stab that was gone as quickly as it had arrived. Sakura shivered. "I'm glad I packed my warm things like Papa told me to!"
Tomoyo laughed. "It's probably much warmer in the daytime."
"I hope so."
Whilst waiting for the luggage, there was a mild crisis during which Kero nearly blew his cover after smelling some biscuits inside a lady's carryall and tried to sneak inside without seeming to move. Sakura thoroughly apologised for her 'stuffed toy's' greediness and hurriedly shoved him into Yukito's hands. Their eyes met: she grabbed back and put him in her pocket, which she then zipped up. Kero was muttering darkly about 'manhandling'. Yukito and Sakura were looking away from each other, blushing.
"Sakura-chan, isn't that your suitcase?" asked Tomoyo, rescuing the situation.
"Oh, yes!" Sakura turned away thankfully, and grabbed her pink suitcase off the conveyor belt.
They made their way to the meeting room, tactfully ignoring Yukito, who walked silently at the back, very aware of the evils that he was getting from Kero inside Sakura's pocket.
Eriol was waiting with Miss Mitsuki and Ruby at the barrier. Eriol had grown a lot: he was six foot now, and he looked quite well built from what the girls could see; his hair was in a pony tail, he wore glasses that looked like Clow's. Supi was perched in his blazer pocket, acting like a stuffed toy of course. He flicked his wings slightly as he saw them, but that was about it. Ruby, being Ruby, waved and smiled. "Hey guys! Long time no see!"
Sakura and Tomoyo sweat dropped slightly. "Ruby-san never changes," murmured Tomoyo.
"You said it," Sakura agreed.
"She's a guardian, guardians don't change," Kero muttered. "Well, not normally, anyway." He directed another evil at Yukito, who was valiantly ignoring him.
"Tomoyo-chan," said Eriol, stepping forward and bowing politely, his voice warm with delight.
Tomoyo bowed back, a smile on her face. "It's good to see you too, Eriol- kun," she acknowledged.
Eriol turned to Sakura. "Sakura-chan." He surprised everyone by grabbing Sakura and hugging her tightly. "How are you? Recovered from exams?"
"Y . . yes," Sakura stuttered.
Yukito looked away, his teeth coming down on his lip. He was having a fight with Yue again. Yue was trying to come forward and grab Sakura away from Eriol. It was the first time that Yukito had actually resisted his other form, but he felt that Yue got everything he deserved: 'If she does fall in love with Eriol, it serves you right for the way you behaved,' he told Yue, who swore at him very loudly.
Eriol, quite aware of what was going on in Yukito's head, whispered, "Are you alright?"
Sakura looked at him, surprised, then realised what he was really talking about. She nodded briefly, the pallor of her cheeks speaking for her.
"You look pale, Sakura-chan, do you have a cold?" asked Miss Mitsuki, leaning forward and touching Sakura's cheek.
Sakura tried to smile. "No."
"It's probably just the journey," Eriol said loudly, covering for her, "I'm sure that she'll be her cheerful self again once she gets some rest."
Sakura nodded vigorously. Tomoyo took her hand, giving her comfort. Sakura squeezed it. "I'm fine, really," she said, more to reassure herself than anybody else. "Eriol-kun's right, I just need rest."
"It is quite a long journey," Yukito agreed with a slight smile. "But the scenery from the plane was very beautiful."
Miss Mitsuki smiled at him. "And you, Yukito-san, how are you?"
He scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. "Hungry."
"All you ever do is eat," muttered Supi from the pocket.
Everybody looked at him. "What?"
"Pot calling the kettle black," muttered Kero, as Sakura unzipped the pocket and he poked his head out.
"You have no room to talk," remarked Miss Mitsuki, smiling at him.
Kero sweat dropped. "Maybe not."
"I brought along these, just in case," said Miss Mitsuki, holding out three candy-striped paper bags full of sweets.
Supi and Kero's eyes went huge, and drool began to drip from their mouths. Miss Mitsuki held out one bag to Yukito, who bowed politely and took it from her. He offered one to Tomoyo, who picked with a smile, and then to Sakura, who took one without looking.
Ruby was looking around. "Where's Touya-kun?" she asked.
"He didn't come: he's still at university," Sakura explained proudly. "He's getting very good scores."
"Oh. Yukito-kun!" Ruby glomped Yukito, who sweat dropped.
"Uhhh, Ruby-san, what are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm just so happy to see you!" Ruby carolled, planting a big kiss on his cheek. "You must tell me how everyone is back in Japan!" She had a tight grip on Yukito's arm, and was dragging him towards the exit.
Sakura stared after them. She looked even paler than before. Everyone began to follow the unlikely couple towards the exit. Tomoyo was holding onto Sakura's arm now, gazing anxiously at her face.
"I'm sure you'll feel better once you're in a nice warm bed, Sakura-chan," said Miss Mitsuki warmly, putting an arm around Sakura's shoulders. Sakura leaned against her gratefully: she had never known her mother, but she often thought that Miss Mitsuki was probably close to what her mother would have been like. Her legs didn't seem to be working properly. 'I must be really tired,' she thought.
"You've grown into a lovely young woman, Sakura-chan," said Miss Mitsuki gently. "I'm sure that you'll have a lot of attention at the party that Eriol's guardian is going to throw for you tomorrow."
Sakura was walking along towards the exit when the image of Yukito and Ruby together hit her, when Sakura thought on this image she felt sick, suddenly Sakura crumpled towards the floor: she felt very light. The blackness outside seemed to rush towards her, and her eyes closed.
"Sakura-chan!" yelled Eriol, leaping forward and catching her as she sank towards the floor. He lifted her into his arms and peered into her face. Yukito turned around at Eriol's cry, his eyes wide with horror, his face drained even whiter than normal and he was determined not to brake the promise Yue had made to Touya, to always protect Sakura. He yanked away from Ruby's grip so hard that she almost fell over. He ran back towards the main group as fast as he could.
"Sakura-chan!" Eriol repeated. "Sakura-chan!"
"Sakura-chan!" pleaded Tomoyo.
"Calm down, she only fainted, she's probably just dehydrated from the flight," Miss Mitsuki said soothingly.
Tomoyo shook her head frantically. "No, no, I made sure that she drank lots of water, Mitsuki-sensei, and Sakura-chan never normally faints like this, never!"
Miss Mitsuki put her hand on Sakura's chest. She frowned suddenly, her eyes darkening with worry. Sakura's breathing was very light.
"We need to get her home quickly, she could be running a fever," she said.
As he arrived on the scene Yukito snatched Sakura from Eriol's arms and held her close to him. Kero leaped from the pocket, he placed an ear on her chest and listened to her breathing. "Now see what you've done," he hissed at Yukito.
"That's enough, Kero-san!" said Miss Mitsuki sharply. "Blaming each other will not help Sakura-chan. She could go either way at the moment. She needs rest and lots of liquid and a light to guide her."
Everyone stared at her. "What do you mean a light?" Said Kero his eyes narrowed.
"Some one or people to guide her back to us. Tomoyo-chan, take her hand, talk to her, you too Kero-san. Yukito-san, can you manage to carry her to the taxi bay?"
Yukito nodded his reply, his lips very thin and white. Eriol noticed that Yukito's eyes were filled with a deep worry, that was both his own and Yue's combined, which made him wonder, but there was no time for pondering at the moment. Miss Mitsuki snapped into action.
"Ruby-chan, take Supi-chan and go get the car. Drive it to the taxi bay, I'm not risking Sakura-chan in the night air."
"What do you mean, she could go either way?" whispered Yukito to Miss Mitsuki, as they stood outside, waiting for Ruby to drive up.
"What I said," Miss Mitsuki replied evenly. "She could get better, or even worse. She could go into a coma, I've seen it happen. I don't want to put her under any more risk. Is there a history of ill health of this kind in her family?"
Yukito nodded fearfully. "Her mother died when she was two years old," he murmured. "She started out like this too, from what Touya's told me."
Miss Mitsuki stared hard at Sakura. A little colour had returned to her cheeks, but she still hadn't woken up. "Was that there before?" she demanded, looking at Kero and Tomoyo, who shook their heads.
"It's your voice!" Miss Mitsuki declared in sudden inspiration, turning to Yukito, who looked back at her eyes wide in shock. "You have to talk to her, keep her with us."
"What should I say?"
"Anything. Talk to her like you're having a conversation. What do you normally talk about?"
Yukito closed his eyes tightly. "Not much recently."
"Maybe that's the root of this problem," said Eriol, frowning. "If something comes between the Master of the Cards and a guardian, it can disrupt not only the Master's mind, but their health as well."
Yukito caught his breath at Eriol's words. Tomoyo put her hand on his arm. "We don't blame you, Yukito-san," she said softly. "You're too kind to ever hurt anybody."
Even Kero nodded at this. "Yue's always had difficulty with his feelings," he muttered. "I knew it would come to a head someday, but now?" He shook his head. "That man chooses the most awkward times."
Miss Mitsuki looked at him. "What do you mean 'difficulty with his feelings', Kero-san?"
"Yue doesn't always know what his feelings are, or which person generates which feeling. That's why he's so reserved. Clow Reed's death hurt him very badly, but he wouldn't mourn him, he wouldn't even acknowledge that he missed our master. When Sakura-chan turned up, he had difficulty accepting her as the new Master because he was still loyal to Clow Reed. This was complicated by the fact he felt more than just loyalty towards Sakura."
Everyone gasped. "WHAT?!"
"Kero-chan, what are you saying?" asked Tomoyo, staring into Sakura's face.
Kero shrugged. "I don't know it for certain, but I suspect that Yue is . . I suspect he cares for Sakura-chan a lot more than he lets on. Certainly he and Touya-kun are nothing more than just friends, he seemed shocked when I suggested anything else."
Eriol sighed. "Oh Yue," he muttered. "Why are you always so stubborn?"
They all looked at Yukito, who was murmuring gently to Sakura. For a moment, Yue's face overlaid Yukito's, and they could all see the worry and tenderness in his eyes. Sakura's eyelids began to flutter. She moaned slightly.
"It's okay, Yue, you can come out," said Eriol gently. "You don't have to hide from us."
Yuekito looked at Eriol and the Yue part disappeared. Sakura suddenly stopped breathing, Tomoyo cried out, "Sakura-chan!"
Miss Mitsuki bent over Sakura and put her hand on Sakura's chest, then two fingers to her neck.
"She's not breathing, but I have a pulse just about."
Kero looked up and yelled, "If she dies it will be all your fault, Yue!"
Yue came forward so quickly that they didn't even glimpse the wings. He held Sakura very close to him, with his wings spread wide, and whispered gently into her ear, "Don't you die on me, please, I don't want you to go away from me like the Clow-sama did please Sakura-chan. I couldn't bear to lose another person I love."
Kero realised with sudden amazement that he was holding her in just the way he had been when she had fist transformed a Clow card into a Star card and had fainted into his arms, the same tender expression was on his face as had been there at the time of this event. Was it possible that Yue had cared about Sakura, in secret for that long? Yue leaned over and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. The others were starring at him they had never seen Yue like this before with Sakura. Yue's hair suddenly came loose, as the band that normally held it in place fell to the ground.
Eriol smiled at the shocked expression on Yue's face as his hair surrounded him. "Well done Yue, you've finally become a man."
"Yes, but too late to save the woman I should have protected."
Suddenly Sakura breathed out. At the same moment, Eriol's limousine pulled into the taxi bay. Ruby lent out and caught sight of Yue holding Sakura.
"What happened?"
"Sakura-chan stopped breathing; she's better now, but we need to get her home quickly, this could still get worse," said Miss Mitsuki, then she looked at Yue. "You are not going anywhere Yue-chan, I want you to stay with her till she comes round, I want you to talk to her and for heaven's sake hold her close, you're the only thing keeping her alive at the moment."
Yue nodded breafly, he then moved his hair with magic so it covered Sakura and kept her warm. Tomoyo put Yue's braid into Sakura's hand and curled her fingers round it. Sakura's grip tightened round the braid: it seemed to Yue that she was holding on to the braid (or was it on to him) like he was her lifeline. It became suddenly obvious to him that he was her chosen light. Yue vowed he wouldn't let her down, he would guide her back to them no matter what it cost him; from the back of his mind Yukito looked up and nodded his agreement.
They all climbed into the limousine. Ruby drove off at a law breaking speed. Somehow they got home without any encounters with the police. The drive back was tense and silent, except for Yue and Tomoyo murmuring to Sakura, who was breathing properly now, but had still not regained consciousness.
Eriol's English house was as large as his Japanese one. It was built of red brick, a real Tudor manor house, with extensive grounds. All the visitors could see at the moment were a pair of trees guarding the entrance. Yue didn't even notice that much, he was so focused on Sakura's face.
They all got out of the limousine and went into the warmth and the light of the house. Yue followed Eriol up the stairs, and into the room that had been prepared for Sakura. Sakura's bed was a double bed surprisingly.
Eriol smiled apologetically at Yue:
"This house is so old we can't move the beds around without taking them apart and these beds are too valuable to do that. Besides, I thought Sakura would like the view of the lake and the forest and every night you can see the moon from this window except when it's a new moon of course. I know that Sakura likes looking at the moon."
Eriol shot Yue a sly glance when he said this, and Yue blushed slightly. Eriol pulled the bed sheets down without saying anything else. Yue leant forward and placed Sakura on the bed. Eriol took off her shoes and pulled the sheets up over her. Yue tried to move away from Sakura, but found she was still clutching his braid and wouldn't let go. Eriol looked at Yue, raised his eyebrows and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.
Sakura's eyelids fluttered; she opened them for a brief moment, looked up and saw Yue bent over her. She smiled up at him.
"Yue."
"Sakura."
Then her eyes closed but she was only sleeping now, a smile on her face. Yue found that Sakura was still clutching his braid, he knew her tight grip on his braid meant that he wouldn't be going any were, for the night. So very carefully he lay down behind her, placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, then put his wings round Sakura and held her tightly in his arms all night long.
When Sakura woke the next morning she felt surprisingly warm, then she lifted up her right hand: in it was Yue's long white braid. Sakura clutched it tightly, then held it to her nose, taking in the scent of his hair. His hair smelled of moonflowers and cherry blossom and the familiar scent of the flower that she had been named after made Sakura smile. Suddenly she realised something: if she was holding his braid, Sakura put her left hand out she realised she was surrounded by his wings, these two things being there meant.Sakura turned over in the bed and sure enough lying behind her, on top of the sheets, his hair spilt all over the bed clothes, was Yue, still fully clothed. Sakura blushed rose-red and her heartbeat instantly sped up. Yue's body was resting but his mind was still conscious. Sensing Sakura's movements he blinked, realising not only was she alive but awake. He looked into her eyes and there was silence.
After a few timeless moments, Yue suddenly grabbed Sakura and hugged her very tightly for quite some time. Sakura couldn't say anything not that she wanted to: Sakura was quite happy to remain in this position forever if Yue was holding her.
"How are you feeling now?"
"I feel much better, thank you. Still very tired and a little weak."
"You should eat something. I told them to bring you up some toast; you normally wake up around now when you don't have school. I was hoping you would recover quickly."
Tomoyo knocked on the door and carried in a breakfast tray. She saw Sakura was now awake and still being held by Yue. Tomoyo smiled a little.
"Sakura-chan, you're awake."
"Yes, I'm awake, I feel much better now."
Much to Tomoyo's amazement Sakura didn't move away from Yue, she lay in his arms looking quite comfortable with the position she was in.
Tomoyo took the breakfast tray over to the table near the bed and then hugged her friend. Sakura smiled and hugged her back; she tried to get up but Tomoyo pushed her back down and Yue pulled her into him and held her up with his arm, propping himself up with the other one.
"Mitsuki-sensei said you were to get lots of rest today."
"But I'll get bored all by myself."
"Hey what am I, chopped onions? And I'm sure Keroberos will pop in on us, Eriol-kun too. Mitsuki-san is bound to check on you later and Tomoyo-chan probably won't be leaving your side," said Yue.
"Actually, Eriol-kun is taking me to London for the weekend to see the sights and to go to the theatre. It looks like you will be stuck with Kero- chan, Mitsuki-sensei and Yue-san for company."
"Oh well. I'm sure I'll cope," said Sakura smiling.
Yue blushed red Tomoyo noticed this with some surprise Yue never blushed and Sakura snuggled against him, still smiling. Tomoyo looked at them in this position: she had to admit they made a very good pair. She brought the tray over to Sakura and put it across her knees, then left quietly smiling to herself.
Sakura ate the breakfast with relish. A few moments after she had finished Eriol arrived.
"Well, you were hungry, I'll take that down. Kero-san and Ruby-chan are on orders: if you need anything just ring the bell, the red pull by the bed, and he or Ruby-chan will get you whatever you need. Oh, Mitsuki-sensei is here to check on you."
"Ok, show her in."
Yue helped Sakura to stand and left the room, whilst Miss Mitsuki was giving her the check up. When Miss Mitsuki came out of the room she saw Kero, Ruby and Yue waiting on the landing. Yue spoke first:
"How is Sakura-chan?"
"She's fine, Yue-san, in fact I think she is going to make a full recovery. She's just changing her clothes. I want you to stay with her today, Yue- san, you seem to make her feel better. When I asked her about that she said she didn't know why. I must say I don't believe her. Sakura-chan is a bad liar. However, I wouldn't push her to do anything which she doesn't want to do, or try to gain her confidence about anything she wants to hide at the moment. She can't take the pressure. I must emphasise that Sakura-chan is very delicate at the moment, one foot wrong and she could collapse again, and if that happens again so soon after last night we would probably lose her."
Yue looked at the floor, very pale, worried. He felt his heart drop in his chest, he refused to lose her, and he would give his own life to stop that happening.
"Have you told Sakura-chan this?"
"Yes, she needed to know. Yue-san, you should take her out onto the veranda so she can get some fresh air: it will be good for her."
Yue nodded to Miss Mitsuki understandingly and went back in the room, the other two quietly dispersed.
When Yue came in the room, Sakura was wearing a very pretty sapphire green summer dress. It reached her ankles and had a sash around the middle to emphasise her waist. The love-heart neckline showed her wand chain, which led the eye down to her chest. Yue realised with a shock that Sakura had grown into a young woman and he hadn't even noticed it. He walked up to Sakura and touched her on the shoulder. Sakura spun round in surprise and their eyes met. She smiled at Yue very gently, Yue gazed back at her in complete shock. Then, slowly, a smile spread over his face. He held out a box in one hand.
Sakura gasped, taking it carefully. "Yue-san, for me?"
Yue nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
The box was made of cherry wood. There was a border of cherry blossom petals, and three symbols carved on the top: a moon and a star opposite each other joined by a heart. Sakura decided to ignore that little message. The box opened to reveal a silver crescent moon pendant: the crescent moon held a diamond star in its embrace, perfectly balanced.
Sakura looked up. "But Yue-san, this must have cost a fortune-!"
Yue interrupted her by taking the pendant out and placing it gently around her neck. He stepped back and considered the young woman before him.
Sakura blushed, not able to read his expression. She twirled shyly. "What do you think, Yue-san?"
Yue stepped forward and silently cradled her cheek with his right hand. They stood like this for some time, just gazing at each other. Yue took his courage in both hands and opened his mouth.
He was unfortunately interrupted by Ruby, who came bounding into the room and demanded insinuatingly of Sakura, "What are you doing with my moon warrior?"
Sakura jumped and blushed.
"Nothing," she replied quickly, feeling sick again after those words.
Yue looked at Ruby, angry at her insensitivity. He then turned and spoke to Sakura:
"Mitsuki-san wanted you to take some air."
Sakura looked at Yue, and smiled.
"Ok."
"I'll come too," said Ruby. "Kero-san is waiting for us."
"Kero-chan!" said Sakura, her eyes lighting up.
"You called, Sakura-chan?" asked Keroberos, poking his head around the door.
Sakura managed to run to him, and then she sank down, her fingers tangling in his thick fur. The winged lion purred. "I was worried about you," he murmured.
Sakura smiled into his soft golden eyes, then looked over her shoulder and at Yue. "Don't worry . . my moon warrior took care of me."
A faint pink blush spread over Yue's cheeks, but then he nodded with a faint smile. Ruby frowned slightly, but Sakura didn't take any notice. Sakura mounted Keroberos and they flew out of the window. She laughed in surprise. "Kero-chan, are you sure-?"
"The garden is bordered by pine trees, we're quite safe," he assured her as they landed gently under the veranda roof. A huge wicker chair stood before them, piled with huge plump cushions that were covered in a pattern of roses. A small round tea table stood near them, covered with a white Irish linen tablecloth. A pile of manga and a tray with teacups and a teapot were set out on it. Sakura smiled.
"Everything for your comfort, Sakura-chan," stated Keroberos.
"Maybe you should go for a small walk?" suggested Yue, as he floated down from the window.
"Excellent idea!" Ruby exclaimed, as she arrived outside and latched onto Yue's arm.
Sakura shook her head. "You two go ahead. I don't feel like walking at the moment. I might catch up later."
"But-"
"Yue-chan, Sakura-chan knows her own strength, now let's go. I have to show you the grounds!" Ruby dragged off a very reluctant Yue.
Miss Mitsuki chuckled as she watched them go. "Ruby's a bit like a Ping- Pong ball," she stated.
"What do you mean, Mitsuki-sensei?" asked Sakura, seating herself in the chair.
"She likes one boy this week, another the next. Personally, I think she still prefers your brother above all the others."
"Oh if that's the case, I'll phone him-oh, I forgot to phone my father!"
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan and I phoned for you. We told your father that you were fine but tired. Touya-kun insisted on coming after you anyway. He and Shaolan-kun are coming out on the next flight."
"Shaolan-kun and Onii-chan travelling together?! It's a miracle!"
"What's the bets on one of them killing the other before they reach Heathrow?" muttered Keroberos.
"Kero-chan!" said Sakura, batting him on the head.
Keroberos winced. "You're definitely getting better," he said, settling himself at her feet in the sunshine.
Miss Mitsuki smiled and shook her head. "They were too worried about Sakura- chan to dwell on personal differences."
Sakura blushed for a moment, unable to accept that so many people cared about her. "I have to tell Yue-san, he'll be happy that Onii-chan is coming," she explained.
Miss Mitsuki smiled. "Not so happy to be taken away from you, I think."
Sakura hesitated, stared at her for a moment, and then ran off. Miss Mitsuki watched her go. Her eyes narrowed. "Keroberos?"
"Mitsuki-san?"
"Go after her. I think she'll need you."
Keroberos sniffed the air. "I don't sense any black magic."
"She's weak. I don't want her going off on her own. These gardens are very large."
"Mitsuki-san, you don't have to protect me."
Miss Mitsuki sighed and leaned against one of the veranda posts. "I have a feeling."
Keroberos nodded and galloped after his mistress without another word.
Sakura was wandering along, happily enjoying the warm air and the sun beaming down on her. 'It certainly is useful to have a guardian of the sun as your friend,' she thought to herself with a smile.
"Oh Yue-chan, look at the lilies, aren't they divine?" said Ruby's voice from around the corner.
"They remind me of Sakura-chan in the white dress she wore at her fifteenth birthday party."
Sakura was old enough to know a compliment when she was paid one, and blushed in pleasure to know that even when she wasn't there, Yue was thinking of her. She could tell that Ruby wasn't pleased about that by the way she said, "Fifteen already? I remember when Sakura-chan was a little ten-year old. She was so kawaii, remember?"
"Kawaii . . I never thought of Sakura-chan in that way. Beautiful, yes. She was never just 'kawaii' to me."
Sakura's smile grew wider without her realising. She marched around the corner, about to say thank-you, but what she saw made her stop in her tracks. Ruby's hands had pinned Yue's arms to his sides and she was leaning in, kissing him with a great show of passion. Yue was stiff with shock. There was no displeasure or delight on his face, just shock.
Sakura closed her eyes. She felt as if she had been split in half. "Yue." she whispered.
Yue suddenly realised who was standing there. He pulled away, just in time to see Sakura sink towards the ground again.
"Sakura-chan!" roared Keroberos, as Sakura collapsed over his back.
Yue ran towards them, but Keroberos turned and snarled at him, a warning to keep away.
"What did you think you were doing?!" he yelled.
"It wasn't me!" Yue yelled back, wiping his mouth with his hand.
Keroberos turned his golden eyes on Ruby, who started to back away, suddenly realising what she had done. Keroberos watched her, his gaze cold and contemptuous. "Baka!" he spat, that one single word spelling out what he thought of her.
Yue gently lifted Sakura off Keroberos' back. He froze. "She's not breathing!" he gasped, and flew back to the bedroom without even thinking about it.
Miss Mitsuki burst into the room as he laid Sakura on the bed. "What happened?" she demanded.
Yue looked down: this was no time for pride. "Ruby-san kissed me, and Sakura-chan saw her do it," he said bluntly. "Before I could say or do anything, she fainted. Keroberos caught her."
Sakura moaned slightly in her swoon. Yue leaned over, and she caught at his braid. For such a weak girl, she was surprisingly strong, managing to pull Yue down beside her. He put his arms around her, and she snuggled into him. Miss Mitsuki let out a sigh of relief. "I'll call the doctor," she said.
"With me like this?!"
"When he comes, explain to Sakura-chan that you have to become Yukito-kun for a little while. I'm sure she'll understand."
She exited, leaving Yue to contemplate the fragile girl who lay in his arms. Unbeknownst to her, she held his heart in her tiny hands. Her heart beat faintly against his chest. He had never felt so powerful before: at this moment he was able to protect her completely, and yet in such circumstances he would rather she was moving around, getting into trouble the way that she always did, rather than be this pale little shadow of a young woman that lay in his arms.
The sound of a car pulling into the drive told him that he must now leave her for a short while. Yue pulled Sakura closer, and her grip tightened in response. "I have to go for a little while now, Sakura-chan," he whispered.
"No," she moaned, pulling him closer. "Stay. Please stay."
"It's only for a little while. Once the doctor's gone, I promise to come back." He tipped her chin up. "You know I always keep my promises."
Her eyes fluttered open for an instant. "Okay," she murmured, "as long as you stay here with me as Yukito-san."
"I promise." He kissed her on the forehead. Sakura's eyes closed and she sighed.
Yue closed his wings around them and transformed back into his human self. The door opened just as the wings folded into his back.
Dr. Callaghan was tall, with fluffy black hair that went all over the place no matter how much he brushed it. He looked far too young to be a doctor. He looked far too young to have any job. He almost bounced into the room and couldn't seem to stop moving once he was in there.
"Aren't you going to leave whilst I examine her?" he asked innocently, taking out a stethoscope.
"No, I promised her I'd stay and hold her," Yukito replied in perfect English, equally innocent.
"Oh . . right, well, I'm sure if you just turn her on her back and hold her hand, we could work this out," said the doctor with a smile.
Yukito did as he suggested: Sakura's grip on his hand tightened so much that he wasn't sure if there was blood passing through his veins anymore.
The doctor listened to Sakura's breathing and heartbeat. "Is there a history of illness in the family?" he asked quietly.
Yukito shrugged. "Her mother died of cancer when she was two, and apparently it started out like this, but her father and brother are perfectly healthy."
"And where are her father and brother?"
"They're in Japan; Tokyo."
"Mmhm; any relatives living over here?"
"No, sir."
"So what are you?"
"I . . I . . I'm a close friend. Actually I'm her brother's friend, but I'm also close to her. I'm kind of like her guardian over here, if you want."
"Ah, right. I see. That's great, good to see that she has someone to support her."
"She's also got her best friend Tomoyo over here, she knew Eriol when he was at school in Japan, and Miss Mitsuki was her teacher. Her brother is coming over on the next flight anyway."
"Has she been under any stress lately?"
"Well, we have these entrance exams for our high schools, and I think she might have studied a little too hard; she's had a little stress with . . a boy she likes, and she only just got here yesterday after a journey which lasted eleven hours."
"Exam stress . . boy trouble . . physical exhaustion.Well, all I can say is no wonder she's collapsed, poor thing. I wondered why her heart was going so fast. It's a good thing her brother's coming over, she's going to need a lot of TLC-"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, sorry, Tender Loving Care. Whoever is closest to her should stay with her as much as possible, and I would keep whatever caused this episode as far away from her as possible, it will only aggravate her more at the moment, the next twenty-four hours will be crucial. If she does get any worse, call me straight away."
Yukito smiled, a full relieved smile. "Thank-you, doctor."
"Oh, no problem," smiled Dr. Callaghan. "I'm here to help." He waved a hand and bounced out again.
Yukito looked down on his sleeping mistress lines of worry on his face, his eyes were dark.
"My Sakura-chan, this is all my fault. My little cherry blossom."
Yukito placed a soft kiss on the crown of Sakura's head, then he pulled her back into a strong embrace, Sakura clutched Yukito's shirt, burying her face in his chest.
Yukito felt his heart beat suddenly speed up because of his close proximity to Sakura. Yukito gently moved Sakura's head so that her ear was over his heart. Sakura smiled, her eyes flickered and opened, she looked into Yukito's eyes for a moment, then with a contented sigh she went back to sleep. Yukito pulled Sakura tightly into him and fell asleep too.
A few months later, Sakura and Tomoyo were at Tokyo Airport, surrounded by luggage. Eriol had invited them over to England after their entrance exams. Both had passed and received commendations for their performances. They were both looking forward to this: it was Sakura's first time abroad, and Tomoyo wanted to show her all the sights. But Sakura was also looking forward to getting away from home for a while. Getting away from Yukito.
Kero was peeking out of her backpack as usual, he was gazing longingly towards a patisserie. Kero scanned the crowd quickly: no sign of Yukito. They had barely seen him since that afternoon. Kero didn't regret his words, but he did regret the harsh tone that had accompanied them. Still that was no excuse for this: he hadn't even turned up to say goodbye to Sakura. He could feel Sakura's depression at Yukito's absence. It angered him.
"Flight 207 to Heathrow Airport, London, England, now boarding at Gate 32; passengers please have your boarding passes and passports ready."
Sakura received a long hug from her father, and a surprisingly tight one from Touya. "If that little brat starts bothering you, just call me and I'll be on the next flight," he promised.
"Onii-chan, how many times do I have to tell you, this is Eriol-kun, not Shaolan-kun."
Touya shrugged. "Whatever."
"Phone us when you get there," said her father, giving her another hug.
"I will, Otou-san. Don't worry, I've got Tomoyo-chan to look after me!" She smiled.
Touya looked over his shoulder. "It's strange."
"What is?" asked Mr. Kinomoto.
"Yukito said he'd be here to say goodbye, but I don't see him anywhere."
'Hm,' thought Kero.
Sakura looked down and let out a silent sigh. Tomoyo took her hand gently. "We'd better join the queue," she said encouragingly, "we don't want to miss the flight!"
"No!" Sakura agreed, smiling at her. She reached into her backpack. Her face changed. "Oh no, my passport!"
"Where is it?" Tomoyo asked, turning her around.
"I don't know, I put it in there, you saw me do it!"
"How much stuff do you have in here, Sakura-chan?!"
"Trust the monster," muttered Touya.
Sakura glared at him.
"HEY!"
They all turned. Yukito was running towards them through the crowd, holding out Sakura's passport.
"I SAW THIS LYING ON THE FLOOR IN THE CAFÉ, IT MUST HAVE FALLEN OUT OF YOUR RUCKSACK!" he called.
Sakura's eyes lit up, and her cheeks flushed slightly. "Yukito-san." she whispered.
Yukito arrived, and bent down, panting slightly. "Sorry . . I'm late . . the traffic . . was awful," he puffed.
Sakura smiled. "That's okay. I'm glad you made it."
Yukito looked up and smiled at her in his usual friendly manner, but his eyes spoke of a deep concern for Sakura that was usually never there. Sakura felt her heart begin its familiar skipping pattern.
"This is the second call for Flight 207 to Heathrow Airport, London, England, now boarding at Gate 32; passengers please make your way to the boarding gate and have your boarding passes and passports ready."
"Oh, that's us!" Sakura grabbed the passport from his hand and ran, her backpack bumping up and down. She could hear Kero swearing at her from the inside. "Shut up, Kero-chan, someone will hear you!"
"Good, then they can see how you're abusing me!"
They could see the gate ahead of them, the last person passing through.
"We're not gonna make it!" panted Tomoyo.
"We have to, Eriol-kun will be waiting for us!"
Sakura suddenly felt someone grab her waist. "Hey-!" she cried as she was swung up and carried like a bride towards the gate this sensation was familiar from when Yue had court her after she transformed a Clow card into a Star card. She looked up into her carrier's face and gasped. "Yukito-san- ?!" She glanced behind: Tomoyo was holding onto Yukito's jacket with all her might as they raced towards the gate. They skidded to a halt as the stewardess turned towards them.
"Ahh, young love?" she said, smiling.
"Huh?" Yukito and Sakura both looked at each other in bewilderment for a moment, then went bright red and sweat dropped.
"Ah, no, no," Yukito contradicted, quickly slipping Sakura to the ground. "I just . . we're old friends, and I wasn't sure if we were going to make it."
Tomoyo chuckled behind them, a hand placed lightly over her mouth.
"Are you flying with us today as well, sir?"
"Yes, yes I am."
"What?!" Sakura turned and looked at him, pale.
Yukito bent down, pretending to check her rucksack. "We weren't going to let you go without us," he whispered. "Besides which, Eriol-kun invited me as well. He knew that I'd want to come, somehow." He shrugged with a rueful smile. "I suppose the Clow Reed part of him sensed . . my feelings."
Kero perked up inside the rucksack. 'Feelings, Yukito-san?' he wondered.
"Passport, miss?"
Sakura held out her passport without even looking at the woman. "Feelings?" she repeated.
"Well, yes." Yukito smiled tenderly. Tomoyo and Kero held their breaths. Inside Yukito, Yue awoke, terrified at what was about to happen and thrust forwards. Yukito's eyes suddenly went lilac and silver for an instant. "I do feel that I have to protect you no matter where you go."
Tomoyo put a hand over her face. Kero fell over inside the bag. "Oh no." he moaned.
Sakura's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Yukito-san." she whispered, then snatched the passport from the woman and ran through the tunnel. Tomoyo gave Yukito a reproachful glance and ran after her. Yukito shook his head, dazed, and wandered after the two girls, his two sides at war.
Sakura spent the rest of the journey gazing very hard at the scenery out of her window seat until the film came on, which was 'Men in Black'. This cheered her up a little. Kero was more interested in the chocolates that she'd bought for Eriol. Eventually Sakura had to give them to Tomoyo, to save them from being devoured by Kero's all-consuming stomach.
Yukito had two helpings of the in-flight lunch and watched the film with a growing sense of determination to sort out the mess that Yue had so kindly made for him, yet again because of Yue's inability to share his feelings and his inability to conquer his fears: one fear being that his deep feelings would not be returned by Sakura and the second being that if he told her that he cared for her this deeply Sakura would die just like Clow Reed had.
Eleven hours after take off, they arrived in London, at around ten o'clock PM GMT. The cold air hit them like a slap when they stepped from the plane to the tunnel, a quick sharp stab that was gone as quickly as it had arrived. Sakura shivered. "I'm glad I packed my warm things like Papa told me to!"
Tomoyo laughed. "It's probably much warmer in the daytime."
"I hope so."
Whilst waiting for the luggage, there was a mild crisis during which Kero nearly blew his cover after smelling some biscuits inside a lady's carryall and tried to sneak inside without seeming to move. Sakura thoroughly apologised for her 'stuffed toy's' greediness and hurriedly shoved him into Yukito's hands. Their eyes met: she grabbed back and put him in her pocket, which she then zipped up. Kero was muttering darkly about 'manhandling'. Yukito and Sakura were looking away from each other, blushing.
"Sakura-chan, isn't that your suitcase?" asked Tomoyo, rescuing the situation.
"Oh, yes!" Sakura turned away thankfully, and grabbed her pink suitcase off the conveyor belt.
They made their way to the meeting room, tactfully ignoring Yukito, who walked silently at the back, very aware of the evils that he was getting from Kero inside Sakura's pocket.
Eriol was waiting with Miss Mitsuki and Ruby at the barrier. Eriol had grown a lot: he was six foot now, and he looked quite well built from what the girls could see; his hair was in a pony tail, he wore glasses that looked like Clow's. Supi was perched in his blazer pocket, acting like a stuffed toy of course. He flicked his wings slightly as he saw them, but that was about it. Ruby, being Ruby, waved and smiled. "Hey guys! Long time no see!"
Sakura and Tomoyo sweat dropped slightly. "Ruby-san never changes," murmured Tomoyo.
"You said it," Sakura agreed.
"She's a guardian, guardians don't change," Kero muttered. "Well, not normally, anyway." He directed another evil at Yukito, who was valiantly ignoring him.
"Tomoyo-chan," said Eriol, stepping forward and bowing politely, his voice warm with delight.
Tomoyo bowed back, a smile on her face. "It's good to see you too, Eriol- kun," she acknowledged.
Eriol turned to Sakura. "Sakura-chan." He surprised everyone by grabbing Sakura and hugging her tightly. "How are you? Recovered from exams?"
"Y . . yes," Sakura stuttered.
Yukito looked away, his teeth coming down on his lip. He was having a fight with Yue again. Yue was trying to come forward and grab Sakura away from Eriol. It was the first time that Yukito had actually resisted his other form, but he felt that Yue got everything he deserved: 'If she does fall in love with Eriol, it serves you right for the way you behaved,' he told Yue, who swore at him very loudly.
Eriol, quite aware of what was going on in Yukito's head, whispered, "Are you alright?"
Sakura looked at him, surprised, then realised what he was really talking about. She nodded briefly, the pallor of her cheeks speaking for her.
"You look pale, Sakura-chan, do you have a cold?" asked Miss Mitsuki, leaning forward and touching Sakura's cheek.
Sakura tried to smile. "No."
"It's probably just the journey," Eriol said loudly, covering for her, "I'm sure that she'll be her cheerful self again once she gets some rest."
Sakura nodded vigorously. Tomoyo took her hand, giving her comfort. Sakura squeezed it. "I'm fine, really," she said, more to reassure herself than anybody else. "Eriol-kun's right, I just need rest."
"It is quite a long journey," Yukito agreed with a slight smile. "But the scenery from the plane was very beautiful."
Miss Mitsuki smiled at him. "And you, Yukito-san, how are you?"
He scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. "Hungry."
"All you ever do is eat," muttered Supi from the pocket.
Everybody looked at him. "What?"
"Pot calling the kettle black," muttered Kero, as Sakura unzipped the pocket and he poked his head out.
"You have no room to talk," remarked Miss Mitsuki, smiling at him.
Kero sweat dropped. "Maybe not."
"I brought along these, just in case," said Miss Mitsuki, holding out three candy-striped paper bags full of sweets.
Supi and Kero's eyes went huge, and drool began to drip from their mouths. Miss Mitsuki held out one bag to Yukito, who bowed politely and took it from her. He offered one to Tomoyo, who picked with a smile, and then to Sakura, who took one without looking.
Ruby was looking around. "Where's Touya-kun?" she asked.
"He didn't come: he's still at university," Sakura explained proudly. "He's getting very good scores."
"Oh. Yukito-kun!" Ruby glomped Yukito, who sweat dropped.
"Uhhh, Ruby-san, what are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm just so happy to see you!" Ruby carolled, planting a big kiss on his cheek. "You must tell me how everyone is back in Japan!" She had a tight grip on Yukito's arm, and was dragging him towards the exit.
Sakura stared after them. She looked even paler than before. Everyone began to follow the unlikely couple towards the exit. Tomoyo was holding onto Sakura's arm now, gazing anxiously at her face.
"I'm sure you'll feel better once you're in a nice warm bed, Sakura-chan," said Miss Mitsuki warmly, putting an arm around Sakura's shoulders. Sakura leaned against her gratefully: she had never known her mother, but she often thought that Miss Mitsuki was probably close to what her mother would have been like. Her legs didn't seem to be working properly. 'I must be really tired,' she thought.
"You've grown into a lovely young woman, Sakura-chan," said Miss Mitsuki gently. "I'm sure that you'll have a lot of attention at the party that Eriol's guardian is going to throw for you tomorrow."
Sakura was walking along towards the exit when the image of Yukito and Ruby together hit her, when Sakura thought on this image she felt sick, suddenly Sakura crumpled towards the floor: she felt very light. The blackness outside seemed to rush towards her, and her eyes closed.
"Sakura-chan!" yelled Eriol, leaping forward and catching her as she sank towards the floor. He lifted her into his arms and peered into her face. Yukito turned around at Eriol's cry, his eyes wide with horror, his face drained even whiter than normal and he was determined not to brake the promise Yue had made to Touya, to always protect Sakura. He yanked away from Ruby's grip so hard that she almost fell over. He ran back towards the main group as fast as he could.
"Sakura-chan!" Eriol repeated. "Sakura-chan!"
"Sakura-chan!" pleaded Tomoyo.
"Calm down, she only fainted, she's probably just dehydrated from the flight," Miss Mitsuki said soothingly.
Tomoyo shook her head frantically. "No, no, I made sure that she drank lots of water, Mitsuki-sensei, and Sakura-chan never normally faints like this, never!"
Miss Mitsuki put her hand on Sakura's chest. She frowned suddenly, her eyes darkening with worry. Sakura's breathing was very light.
"We need to get her home quickly, she could be running a fever," she said.
As he arrived on the scene Yukito snatched Sakura from Eriol's arms and held her close to him. Kero leaped from the pocket, he placed an ear on her chest and listened to her breathing. "Now see what you've done," he hissed at Yukito.
"That's enough, Kero-san!" said Miss Mitsuki sharply. "Blaming each other will not help Sakura-chan. She could go either way at the moment. She needs rest and lots of liquid and a light to guide her."
Everyone stared at her. "What do you mean a light?" Said Kero his eyes narrowed.
"Some one or people to guide her back to us. Tomoyo-chan, take her hand, talk to her, you too Kero-san. Yukito-san, can you manage to carry her to the taxi bay?"
Yukito nodded his reply, his lips very thin and white. Eriol noticed that Yukito's eyes were filled with a deep worry, that was both his own and Yue's combined, which made him wonder, but there was no time for pondering at the moment. Miss Mitsuki snapped into action.
"Ruby-chan, take Supi-chan and go get the car. Drive it to the taxi bay, I'm not risking Sakura-chan in the night air."
"What do you mean, she could go either way?" whispered Yukito to Miss Mitsuki, as they stood outside, waiting for Ruby to drive up.
"What I said," Miss Mitsuki replied evenly. "She could get better, or even worse. She could go into a coma, I've seen it happen. I don't want to put her under any more risk. Is there a history of ill health of this kind in her family?"
Yukito nodded fearfully. "Her mother died when she was two years old," he murmured. "She started out like this too, from what Touya's told me."
Miss Mitsuki stared hard at Sakura. A little colour had returned to her cheeks, but she still hadn't woken up. "Was that there before?" she demanded, looking at Kero and Tomoyo, who shook their heads.
"It's your voice!" Miss Mitsuki declared in sudden inspiration, turning to Yukito, who looked back at her eyes wide in shock. "You have to talk to her, keep her with us."
"What should I say?"
"Anything. Talk to her like you're having a conversation. What do you normally talk about?"
Yukito closed his eyes tightly. "Not much recently."
"Maybe that's the root of this problem," said Eriol, frowning. "If something comes between the Master of the Cards and a guardian, it can disrupt not only the Master's mind, but their health as well."
Yukito caught his breath at Eriol's words. Tomoyo put her hand on his arm. "We don't blame you, Yukito-san," she said softly. "You're too kind to ever hurt anybody."
Even Kero nodded at this. "Yue's always had difficulty with his feelings," he muttered. "I knew it would come to a head someday, but now?" He shook his head. "That man chooses the most awkward times."
Miss Mitsuki looked at him. "What do you mean 'difficulty with his feelings', Kero-san?"
"Yue doesn't always know what his feelings are, or which person generates which feeling. That's why he's so reserved. Clow Reed's death hurt him very badly, but he wouldn't mourn him, he wouldn't even acknowledge that he missed our master. When Sakura-chan turned up, he had difficulty accepting her as the new Master because he was still loyal to Clow Reed. This was complicated by the fact he felt more than just loyalty towards Sakura."
Everyone gasped. "WHAT?!"
"Kero-chan, what are you saying?" asked Tomoyo, staring into Sakura's face.
Kero shrugged. "I don't know it for certain, but I suspect that Yue is . . I suspect he cares for Sakura-chan a lot more than he lets on. Certainly he and Touya-kun are nothing more than just friends, he seemed shocked when I suggested anything else."
Eriol sighed. "Oh Yue," he muttered. "Why are you always so stubborn?"
They all looked at Yukito, who was murmuring gently to Sakura. For a moment, Yue's face overlaid Yukito's, and they could all see the worry and tenderness in his eyes. Sakura's eyelids began to flutter. She moaned slightly.
"It's okay, Yue, you can come out," said Eriol gently. "You don't have to hide from us."
Yuekito looked at Eriol and the Yue part disappeared. Sakura suddenly stopped breathing, Tomoyo cried out, "Sakura-chan!"
Miss Mitsuki bent over Sakura and put her hand on Sakura's chest, then two fingers to her neck.
"She's not breathing, but I have a pulse just about."
Kero looked up and yelled, "If she dies it will be all your fault, Yue!"
Yue came forward so quickly that they didn't even glimpse the wings. He held Sakura very close to him, with his wings spread wide, and whispered gently into her ear, "Don't you die on me, please, I don't want you to go away from me like the Clow-sama did please Sakura-chan. I couldn't bear to lose another person I love."
Kero realised with sudden amazement that he was holding her in just the way he had been when she had fist transformed a Clow card into a Star card and had fainted into his arms, the same tender expression was on his face as had been there at the time of this event. Was it possible that Yue had cared about Sakura, in secret for that long? Yue leaned over and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. The others were starring at him they had never seen Yue like this before with Sakura. Yue's hair suddenly came loose, as the band that normally held it in place fell to the ground.
Eriol smiled at the shocked expression on Yue's face as his hair surrounded him. "Well done Yue, you've finally become a man."
"Yes, but too late to save the woman I should have protected."
Suddenly Sakura breathed out. At the same moment, Eriol's limousine pulled into the taxi bay. Ruby lent out and caught sight of Yue holding Sakura.
"What happened?"
"Sakura-chan stopped breathing; she's better now, but we need to get her home quickly, this could still get worse," said Miss Mitsuki, then she looked at Yue. "You are not going anywhere Yue-chan, I want you to stay with her till she comes round, I want you to talk to her and for heaven's sake hold her close, you're the only thing keeping her alive at the moment."
Yue nodded breafly, he then moved his hair with magic so it covered Sakura and kept her warm. Tomoyo put Yue's braid into Sakura's hand and curled her fingers round it. Sakura's grip tightened round the braid: it seemed to Yue that she was holding on to the braid (or was it on to him) like he was her lifeline. It became suddenly obvious to him that he was her chosen light. Yue vowed he wouldn't let her down, he would guide her back to them no matter what it cost him; from the back of his mind Yukito looked up and nodded his agreement.
They all climbed into the limousine. Ruby drove off at a law breaking speed. Somehow they got home without any encounters with the police. The drive back was tense and silent, except for Yue and Tomoyo murmuring to Sakura, who was breathing properly now, but had still not regained consciousness.
Eriol's English house was as large as his Japanese one. It was built of red brick, a real Tudor manor house, with extensive grounds. All the visitors could see at the moment were a pair of trees guarding the entrance. Yue didn't even notice that much, he was so focused on Sakura's face.
They all got out of the limousine and went into the warmth and the light of the house. Yue followed Eriol up the stairs, and into the room that had been prepared for Sakura. Sakura's bed was a double bed surprisingly.
Eriol smiled apologetically at Yue:
"This house is so old we can't move the beds around without taking them apart and these beds are too valuable to do that. Besides, I thought Sakura would like the view of the lake and the forest and every night you can see the moon from this window except when it's a new moon of course. I know that Sakura likes looking at the moon."
Eriol shot Yue a sly glance when he said this, and Yue blushed slightly. Eriol pulled the bed sheets down without saying anything else. Yue leant forward and placed Sakura on the bed. Eriol took off her shoes and pulled the sheets up over her. Yue tried to move away from Sakura, but found she was still clutching his braid and wouldn't let go. Eriol looked at Yue, raised his eyebrows and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.
Sakura's eyelids fluttered; she opened them for a brief moment, looked up and saw Yue bent over her. She smiled up at him.
"Yue."
"Sakura."
Then her eyes closed but she was only sleeping now, a smile on her face. Yue found that Sakura was still clutching his braid, he knew her tight grip on his braid meant that he wouldn't be going any were, for the night. So very carefully he lay down behind her, placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, then put his wings round Sakura and held her tightly in his arms all night long.
When Sakura woke the next morning she felt surprisingly warm, then she lifted up her right hand: in it was Yue's long white braid. Sakura clutched it tightly, then held it to her nose, taking in the scent of his hair. His hair smelled of moonflowers and cherry blossom and the familiar scent of the flower that she had been named after made Sakura smile. Suddenly she realised something: if she was holding his braid, Sakura put her left hand out she realised she was surrounded by his wings, these two things being there meant.Sakura turned over in the bed and sure enough lying behind her, on top of the sheets, his hair spilt all over the bed clothes, was Yue, still fully clothed. Sakura blushed rose-red and her heartbeat instantly sped up. Yue's body was resting but his mind was still conscious. Sensing Sakura's movements he blinked, realising not only was she alive but awake. He looked into her eyes and there was silence.
After a few timeless moments, Yue suddenly grabbed Sakura and hugged her very tightly for quite some time. Sakura couldn't say anything not that she wanted to: Sakura was quite happy to remain in this position forever if Yue was holding her.
"How are you feeling now?"
"I feel much better, thank you. Still very tired and a little weak."
"You should eat something. I told them to bring you up some toast; you normally wake up around now when you don't have school. I was hoping you would recover quickly."
Tomoyo knocked on the door and carried in a breakfast tray. She saw Sakura was now awake and still being held by Yue. Tomoyo smiled a little.
"Sakura-chan, you're awake."
"Yes, I'm awake, I feel much better now."
Much to Tomoyo's amazement Sakura didn't move away from Yue, she lay in his arms looking quite comfortable with the position she was in.
Tomoyo took the breakfast tray over to the table near the bed and then hugged her friend. Sakura smiled and hugged her back; she tried to get up but Tomoyo pushed her back down and Yue pulled her into him and held her up with his arm, propping himself up with the other one.
"Mitsuki-sensei said you were to get lots of rest today."
"But I'll get bored all by myself."
"Hey what am I, chopped onions? And I'm sure Keroberos will pop in on us, Eriol-kun too. Mitsuki-san is bound to check on you later and Tomoyo-chan probably won't be leaving your side," said Yue.
"Actually, Eriol-kun is taking me to London for the weekend to see the sights and to go to the theatre. It looks like you will be stuck with Kero- chan, Mitsuki-sensei and Yue-san for company."
"Oh well. I'm sure I'll cope," said Sakura smiling.
Yue blushed red Tomoyo noticed this with some surprise Yue never blushed and Sakura snuggled against him, still smiling. Tomoyo looked at them in this position: she had to admit they made a very good pair. She brought the tray over to Sakura and put it across her knees, then left quietly smiling to herself.
Sakura ate the breakfast with relish. A few moments after she had finished Eriol arrived.
"Well, you were hungry, I'll take that down. Kero-san and Ruby-chan are on orders: if you need anything just ring the bell, the red pull by the bed, and he or Ruby-chan will get you whatever you need. Oh, Mitsuki-sensei is here to check on you."
"Ok, show her in."
Yue helped Sakura to stand and left the room, whilst Miss Mitsuki was giving her the check up. When Miss Mitsuki came out of the room she saw Kero, Ruby and Yue waiting on the landing. Yue spoke first:
"How is Sakura-chan?"
"She's fine, Yue-san, in fact I think she is going to make a full recovery. She's just changing her clothes. I want you to stay with her today, Yue- san, you seem to make her feel better. When I asked her about that she said she didn't know why. I must say I don't believe her. Sakura-chan is a bad liar. However, I wouldn't push her to do anything which she doesn't want to do, or try to gain her confidence about anything she wants to hide at the moment. She can't take the pressure. I must emphasise that Sakura-chan is very delicate at the moment, one foot wrong and she could collapse again, and if that happens again so soon after last night we would probably lose her."
Yue looked at the floor, very pale, worried. He felt his heart drop in his chest, he refused to lose her, and he would give his own life to stop that happening.
"Have you told Sakura-chan this?"
"Yes, she needed to know. Yue-san, you should take her out onto the veranda so she can get some fresh air: it will be good for her."
Yue nodded to Miss Mitsuki understandingly and went back in the room, the other two quietly dispersed.
When Yue came in the room, Sakura was wearing a very pretty sapphire green summer dress. It reached her ankles and had a sash around the middle to emphasise her waist. The love-heart neckline showed her wand chain, which led the eye down to her chest. Yue realised with a shock that Sakura had grown into a young woman and he hadn't even noticed it. He walked up to Sakura and touched her on the shoulder. Sakura spun round in surprise and their eyes met. She smiled at Yue very gently, Yue gazed back at her in complete shock. Then, slowly, a smile spread over his face. He held out a box in one hand.
Sakura gasped, taking it carefully. "Yue-san, for me?"
Yue nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
The box was made of cherry wood. There was a border of cherry blossom petals, and three symbols carved on the top: a moon and a star opposite each other joined by a heart. Sakura decided to ignore that little message. The box opened to reveal a silver crescent moon pendant: the crescent moon held a diamond star in its embrace, perfectly balanced.
Sakura looked up. "But Yue-san, this must have cost a fortune-!"
Yue interrupted her by taking the pendant out and placing it gently around her neck. He stepped back and considered the young woman before him.
Sakura blushed, not able to read his expression. She twirled shyly. "What do you think, Yue-san?"
Yue stepped forward and silently cradled her cheek with his right hand. They stood like this for some time, just gazing at each other. Yue took his courage in both hands and opened his mouth.
He was unfortunately interrupted by Ruby, who came bounding into the room and demanded insinuatingly of Sakura, "What are you doing with my moon warrior?"
Sakura jumped and blushed.
"Nothing," she replied quickly, feeling sick again after those words.
Yue looked at Ruby, angry at her insensitivity. He then turned and spoke to Sakura:
"Mitsuki-san wanted you to take some air."
Sakura looked at Yue, and smiled.
"Ok."
"I'll come too," said Ruby. "Kero-san is waiting for us."
"Kero-chan!" said Sakura, her eyes lighting up.
"You called, Sakura-chan?" asked Keroberos, poking his head around the door.
Sakura managed to run to him, and then she sank down, her fingers tangling in his thick fur. The winged lion purred. "I was worried about you," he murmured.
Sakura smiled into his soft golden eyes, then looked over her shoulder and at Yue. "Don't worry . . my moon warrior took care of me."
A faint pink blush spread over Yue's cheeks, but then he nodded with a faint smile. Ruby frowned slightly, but Sakura didn't take any notice. Sakura mounted Keroberos and they flew out of the window. She laughed in surprise. "Kero-chan, are you sure-?"
"The garden is bordered by pine trees, we're quite safe," he assured her as they landed gently under the veranda roof. A huge wicker chair stood before them, piled with huge plump cushions that were covered in a pattern of roses. A small round tea table stood near them, covered with a white Irish linen tablecloth. A pile of manga and a tray with teacups and a teapot were set out on it. Sakura smiled.
"Everything for your comfort, Sakura-chan," stated Keroberos.
"Maybe you should go for a small walk?" suggested Yue, as he floated down from the window.
"Excellent idea!" Ruby exclaimed, as she arrived outside and latched onto Yue's arm.
Sakura shook her head. "You two go ahead. I don't feel like walking at the moment. I might catch up later."
"But-"
"Yue-chan, Sakura-chan knows her own strength, now let's go. I have to show you the grounds!" Ruby dragged off a very reluctant Yue.
Miss Mitsuki chuckled as she watched them go. "Ruby's a bit like a Ping- Pong ball," she stated.
"What do you mean, Mitsuki-sensei?" asked Sakura, seating herself in the chair.
"She likes one boy this week, another the next. Personally, I think she still prefers your brother above all the others."
"Oh if that's the case, I'll phone him-oh, I forgot to phone my father!"
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan and I phoned for you. We told your father that you were fine but tired. Touya-kun insisted on coming after you anyway. He and Shaolan-kun are coming out on the next flight."
"Shaolan-kun and Onii-chan travelling together?! It's a miracle!"
"What's the bets on one of them killing the other before they reach Heathrow?" muttered Keroberos.
"Kero-chan!" said Sakura, batting him on the head.
Keroberos winced. "You're definitely getting better," he said, settling himself at her feet in the sunshine.
Miss Mitsuki smiled and shook her head. "They were too worried about Sakura- chan to dwell on personal differences."
Sakura blushed for a moment, unable to accept that so many people cared about her. "I have to tell Yue-san, he'll be happy that Onii-chan is coming," she explained.
Miss Mitsuki smiled. "Not so happy to be taken away from you, I think."
Sakura hesitated, stared at her for a moment, and then ran off. Miss Mitsuki watched her go. Her eyes narrowed. "Keroberos?"
"Mitsuki-san?"
"Go after her. I think she'll need you."
Keroberos sniffed the air. "I don't sense any black magic."
"She's weak. I don't want her going off on her own. These gardens are very large."
"Mitsuki-san, you don't have to protect me."
Miss Mitsuki sighed and leaned against one of the veranda posts. "I have a feeling."
Keroberos nodded and galloped after his mistress without another word.
Sakura was wandering along, happily enjoying the warm air and the sun beaming down on her. 'It certainly is useful to have a guardian of the sun as your friend,' she thought to herself with a smile.
"Oh Yue-chan, look at the lilies, aren't they divine?" said Ruby's voice from around the corner.
"They remind me of Sakura-chan in the white dress she wore at her fifteenth birthday party."
Sakura was old enough to know a compliment when she was paid one, and blushed in pleasure to know that even when she wasn't there, Yue was thinking of her. She could tell that Ruby wasn't pleased about that by the way she said, "Fifteen already? I remember when Sakura-chan was a little ten-year old. She was so kawaii, remember?"
"Kawaii . . I never thought of Sakura-chan in that way. Beautiful, yes. She was never just 'kawaii' to me."
Sakura's smile grew wider without her realising. She marched around the corner, about to say thank-you, but what she saw made her stop in her tracks. Ruby's hands had pinned Yue's arms to his sides and she was leaning in, kissing him with a great show of passion. Yue was stiff with shock. There was no displeasure or delight on his face, just shock.
Sakura closed her eyes. She felt as if she had been split in half. "Yue." she whispered.
Yue suddenly realised who was standing there. He pulled away, just in time to see Sakura sink towards the ground again.
"Sakura-chan!" roared Keroberos, as Sakura collapsed over his back.
Yue ran towards them, but Keroberos turned and snarled at him, a warning to keep away.
"What did you think you were doing?!" he yelled.
"It wasn't me!" Yue yelled back, wiping his mouth with his hand.
Keroberos turned his golden eyes on Ruby, who started to back away, suddenly realising what she had done. Keroberos watched her, his gaze cold and contemptuous. "Baka!" he spat, that one single word spelling out what he thought of her.
Yue gently lifted Sakura off Keroberos' back. He froze. "She's not breathing!" he gasped, and flew back to the bedroom without even thinking about it.
Miss Mitsuki burst into the room as he laid Sakura on the bed. "What happened?" she demanded.
Yue looked down: this was no time for pride. "Ruby-san kissed me, and Sakura-chan saw her do it," he said bluntly. "Before I could say or do anything, she fainted. Keroberos caught her."
Sakura moaned slightly in her swoon. Yue leaned over, and she caught at his braid. For such a weak girl, she was surprisingly strong, managing to pull Yue down beside her. He put his arms around her, and she snuggled into him. Miss Mitsuki let out a sigh of relief. "I'll call the doctor," she said.
"With me like this?!"
"When he comes, explain to Sakura-chan that you have to become Yukito-kun for a little while. I'm sure she'll understand."
She exited, leaving Yue to contemplate the fragile girl who lay in his arms. Unbeknownst to her, she held his heart in her tiny hands. Her heart beat faintly against his chest. He had never felt so powerful before: at this moment he was able to protect her completely, and yet in such circumstances he would rather she was moving around, getting into trouble the way that she always did, rather than be this pale little shadow of a young woman that lay in his arms.
The sound of a car pulling into the drive told him that he must now leave her for a short while. Yue pulled Sakura closer, and her grip tightened in response. "I have to go for a little while now, Sakura-chan," he whispered.
"No," she moaned, pulling him closer. "Stay. Please stay."
"It's only for a little while. Once the doctor's gone, I promise to come back." He tipped her chin up. "You know I always keep my promises."
Her eyes fluttered open for an instant. "Okay," she murmured, "as long as you stay here with me as Yukito-san."
"I promise." He kissed her on the forehead. Sakura's eyes closed and she sighed.
Yue closed his wings around them and transformed back into his human self. The door opened just as the wings folded into his back.
Dr. Callaghan was tall, with fluffy black hair that went all over the place no matter how much he brushed it. He looked far too young to be a doctor. He looked far too young to have any job. He almost bounced into the room and couldn't seem to stop moving once he was in there.
"Aren't you going to leave whilst I examine her?" he asked innocently, taking out a stethoscope.
"No, I promised her I'd stay and hold her," Yukito replied in perfect English, equally innocent.
"Oh . . right, well, I'm sure if you just turn her on her back and hold her hand, we could work this out," said the doctor with a smile.
Yukito did as he suggested: Sakura's grip on his hand tightened so much that he wasn't sure if there was blood passing through his veins anymore.
The doctor listened to Sakura's breathing and heartbeat. "Is there a history of illness in the family?" he asked quietly.
Yukito shrugged. "Her mother died of cancer when she was two, and apparently it started out like this, but her father and brother are perfectly healthy."
"And where are her father and brother?"
"They're in Japan; Tokyo."
"Mmhm; any relatives living over here?"
"No, sir."
"So what are you?"
"I . . I . . I'm a close friend. Actually I'm her brother's friend, but I'm also close to her. I'm kind of like her guardian over here, if you want."
"Ah, right. I see. That's great, good to see that she has someone to support her."
"She's also got her best friend Tomoyo over here, she knew Eriol when he was at school in Japan, and Miss Mitsuki was her teacher. Her brother is coming over on the next flight anyway."
"Has she been under any stress lately?"
"Well, we have these entrance exams for our high schools, and I think she might have studied a little too hard; she's had a little stress with . . a boy she likes, and she only just got here yesterday after a journey which lasted eleven hours."
"Exam stress . . boy trouble . . physical exhaustion.Well, all I can say is no wonder she's collapsed, poor thing. I wondered why her heart was going so fast. It's a good thing her brother's coming over, she's going to need a lot of TLC-"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, sorry, Tender Loving Care. Whoever is closest to her should stay with her as much as possible, and I would keep whatever caused this episode as far away from her as possible, it will only aggravate her more at the moment, the next twenty-four hours will be crucial. If she does get any worse, call me straight away."
Yukito smiled, a full relieved smile. "Thank-you, doctor."
"Oh, no problem," smiled Dr. Callaghan. "I'm here to help." He waved a hand and bounced out again.
Yukito looked down on his sleeping mistress lines of worry on his face, his eyes were dark.
"My Sakura-chan, this is all my fault. My little cherry blossom."
Yukito placed a soft kiss on the crown of Sakura's head, then he pulled her back into a strong embrace, Sakura clutched Yukito's shirt, burying her face in his chest.
Yukito felt his heart beat suddenly speed up because of his close proximity to Sakura. Yukito gently moved Sakura's head so that her ear was over his heart. Sakura smiled, her eyes flickered and opened, she looked into Yukito's eyes for a moment, then with a contented sigh she went back to sleep. Yukito pulled Sakura tightly into him and fell asleep too.