Disclaimer- I don't own.
J, thanks for your support! And thanks to everyone who reviewed! It gives authors so much support!
BCzeon27, I took your point, and you should be happy to see that I have changed the summary of my story. It was a bit old and umm.to say the best, really bad. I hadn't even realized how bad it was till I looked at it. I'm surprised people still read my story. Anyway.on to the real stuff:
Chapter 12- Blizzard of Love
"Hoe! Are we almost there yet, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked her best friend for the almost millionth time. Everyone else looked expectantly at Tomoyo.
They were all exhausted to the bone except for Tomoyo, whose buoyant spirit at being able to ski made her happy, Syaoran, whose training had prepared him for such trips as this, and Eriol, who would never appear exhausted, even if he was.who know.
They were all climbing up the steep path to the resort, which was high up in the mountains. They had all unfortunately been persuaded by Tomoyo to have a nice climb up the mountain, which they had now realized was about two miles to climb.
"We've only got three hundred more feet to go!" Tomoyo announced excitedly to the gang.
Sighing, the group continued with their trip, Sakura going starry-eyed. "Two more miles! HOE!" Kero, in her backpack, munched contentedly on cookies, enjoying the warm and comfy ride up the mountain.
"In this recent weather forecast, we are reporting that there is a major unexpected blizzard headed our way to Tomoeda, please stay inside your homes at all costs. This seems like a big one, please be prepared with extra food and candles in case electricity goes out or food. Watch out!!"
"Konnichiwa! Welcome to the Snow-Tree Resort!" a plump woman greeted the gang of friends as they finally arrived at the top of the mountain, the end of their endless trek. "I'm Natashi Miki. Pleased to have you here, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to leave you up here by yourselves. I need to run down back to Tokyo because my mother is sick. Is that alright? I'll show you around first, and tell you where everything is. I will be back tomorrow night definitely."
"That's fine," Tomoyo replied, exchanging secret glances with Eriol. "It's perfect up here!"
"Alright, let's go!"
*~*~*~*
"Whoo!" Sakura yelled out as she 'calmly' skied down the steep mountain, almost crashing into several trees and barely avoiding Naoko, Rika, and Chiharu.
"Be careful Sakura-chan!" everyone yelled at her.
"Hoe!!!"
Michael was watching Syaoran critically. "Syaoran, you do know how to ski, don't you?"
"Hai!" Syaoran answered quickly, face reddening in contrast as he recalled a certain ski trip that had happened in fourth grade.
Coolly, Eriol sped down the hill in a graceful and fluid movement, coming up to a smooth landing besides Sakura at the bottom of the mountain.
Dressed in a black ski outfit, Hiyoshi looked every bit in the attire of a criminal. He was also an elegant skier. He gently helped Meilin on the cross-country trails with a tenderness that he never showed anyone else.
Later that day, there was a downhill race, all of the guys against each other.
"Alright, start!" Meilin yelled up from the bottom of the mountain.
WHOOSH! The boys sped off. Eriol and Michael were battling for first place in the beginning, but they began to be overtaken soon by Hiyoshi and Syaoran.
"Go Syaoran-kun!" Sakura screamed out.
"Whoo! Michael, show those guys some stuff of yours!" Naoko yelled.
"Go Eriol!" Tomoyo cheered as she continued to videotape them, though her obsession was slowly dying away. She loved to sing more now than tape her model, Sakura, though she never missed a chance to tape still.
"YAMAZAKI! Move your butt!" Chiharu bellowed down the mountain.
"Hey, guys, it looks like there's going to be a storm soon," Naoko pointed out as she saw a black cloud moving their way.
"Aww, it's probably just a light snow shower."
At the bottom of the mountain, Hiyoshi had been the first one down, but he had 'accidentally' run Meilin over.
Boling mad with rage, she glared at him. "DISQUALIFIED FOR RUNNING THE JUDGE OVER! Brown-kun is the winner, and Syaoran and Eriol tie for second and Yamazaki comes in a close third."
"But it was an accident!" Hiyoshi pleaded with her, giving her his patented puppy look.
"No! Brown-san won this one, fair and square, and he didn't run me over," Meilin declared, trying hard to keep the smile from creeping up to her face.
"Am I forgiven?" he appealed to Meilin some more. "Please, I'm really really really really sorry! Onegai, Li-chan!"
"No.well.alright," Meilin complied.
"Domo arigato Li-chan!" Hiyoshi said, giving her a wide grin. Meilin nodded, but she noted that he was still calling her by her formal name.
"You guys! The snow! It's coming down harder, let's get back to the main cabin!" Tomoyo shouted to the gang.
Quickly, everyone made his or her way back to the cabin. As they were all drying off in front of the warm fire, Sakura stared out the window.
The snow had come down even harder, completely blinding her view of everything outside.
"I guess we're snowbound here," Syaoran announced to the whole group.
"Hey, this'll be awesome!" Naoko said, showing all of her enthusiasm. "I've never been snowbound before! We can explore this place out, doesn't it look freaky?"
"Yeah, maybe this place is haunted!" Chiharu chimed in. Naoko and Chiharu exchanged evil glances and then grinned at the look that they saw on Sakura's face.
"Hoe? Haunted?" Sakura asked, gripping Syaoran's hand tighter. He grinned as he noticed that her fingernails were leaving imprints on his hand.
"Hai! And the ghost will come out and get you in the middle of the night. It especially likes it when its victims are snowbound, because then they have nowhere else to go. And its victims are usually green-eyes girls with auburn hair!" Yamazaki added.
For once, Chiharu didn't stop him, everyone was laughing too hard at the look on Sakura's face.
Giggling, the entire group made their own way back to their separate rooms to sleep.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
In her own room, Sakura couldn't concentrate. She kept hearing sounds. She didn't know if they were in her imagination or if they were actually real sounds. Kero was fast asleep, and she knew how cranky he would be if she woke him up now.
Finally, unable to endure it any longer, she silently crept next door to Syaoran's room.
Syaoran, who was also awake, kept still as he felt Sakura's presence leave her room.
IWhere in the world is she going now? I He asked himself.
As he felt her heading his way, he sensed that he was tensing up. He blushed, thankful for the cover of darkness.
"Syaoran-kun?" he heard her light voice float through the room to him as she lightly knocked.
"Hai?" he asked her. "Come in." He heard the creaking of the door opening.
"I.I couldn't really sleep. Is it alright if I stay with you for awhile?" Sakura asked, trying to keep calm. She had only seen Syaoran without a shirt on a few times, and it had never been this late at night. Her breathing quickened a bit and she noticed how his chest glimmered in the moonlight that streamed through the window, while the storm raged outside.
"Of course!" Syaoran replied, though he noticed that his voice quavered a bit.
Settling down on the other side of his bed, Syaoran noticed that Sakura was shivering. She was wearing pink, silk pajamas that were fairly thin.
"Go on, get into the covers," he ordered her as he himself nestled deeper in also. He wasn't that cold; even without his shirt on, since he had had so much training, but he could feel the warmth from Sakura, and he wanted to be near her too.
"But."
"Sakura, you're going to freeze to death if you're going to stay here, so what's the point of that? Just get in."
"Gomen ne for bothering you," she whispered to Syaoran as she shyly pulled the covers up to her and slid inside.
He couldn't reply for a moment, astounded that Sakura was so close to him. "Oh, that's OK. I wasn't sleeping anyway. What's worrying you?"
"Oh, nothing really. I was just wondering what we're going to do now that we're snowed in here. I guess we're going to have to spend New Year's here too, right? It's the day after tomorrow."
"Really?" Syaoran asked her.
"Yeah, and.Syaoran.do you feel it?"
"Hai. I do. Do you want to go out to capture it now though?"
"I don't know what'll happen if I don't.and I don't know if I should go out to capture it now."
"Sakura, whatever you do, promise me that you won't go out by yourself," Syaoran said, worry accidentally entering his voice.
Sakura slowly rolled onto her other side to look at him. His hazel eyes were wide in concern for her.
"Promise me?" he whispered.
"Hai," she replied, puzzled at how he was acting. Still cold, she shivered again, subconsciously, then protested as Syaoran moved closer to her, enclosing her in his arms.
"I'm not that cold!" she objected, but she could hardly talk and her voice was muffled against his bare chest. She could feel his muscles, chiseled into his torso, underneath her. Her face was pressed firmly against Syaoran's upper body. She took a deep breath. She had never been so close to him before, and she was getting a bit nervous.
"Sakura, will you ever learn that it's alright for you to show your weaknesses?" Syaoran whispered into her ear, lightly nuzzling it, making her breathing quicken immensely.
Sakura lifted her head up, curious as to why he was behaving this way. "Syaoran-kun?" she asked softly.
"Hai?"
"Why are you.doing like this to me? I mean it's not like you have a responsibility, to me or anything. Shouldn't you be back in Hong Kong? Why did you come back?"
Syaoran paused, unsure of what to say. He unconsciously pressed Sakura closer to him, as if afraid of losing her and making sure that she was near him. She searched his eyes questioningly as she lovingly reached her hands up to play with his hair.
"Sakura." Syaoran suddenly realized how close together they were entwined. She had her arms around his neck, and he had hers around her waist. Their legs were instinctively wrapped around each other, and her head was gently nestled in the crook of his neck. He realized that he didn't want this to end and something else important too.
"Hai?" her voice drew him back to reality.
Staring deep into her eyes, he realized that tears were forming in his eyes.
"Syaoran?" Sakura asked startled as she noticed his tears. Was he crying for her?
"I don't want to lose you, Sakura," he whimpered to her.
"Sakura stared at him, surprised to see him lose his self-control and cry.
As she gently brushed away a tear, she gained some confidence, and tenderly, she kissed away a tear from his face. He felt nothing but gentle compassion from her.
"Syaoran," she murmured to him.
He gazed at her with a new understanding. As he lifted her face up towards his, an alarm went off in the back of his head. But he just saw her lips, her soft, yielding lips, slightly parted, open just to him.
Sakura was spellbound. Syaoran was suspended slightly above her, his gentle breath sending more chills down her spine. And she knew that it wasn't from the cold.
Suddenly, a sound of glass breaking reached their ears. Sakura started, pulling Syaoran down closer to her, gripping his shirt tightly, as she felt wind drifting down to her. Glass particles whipped past her, missing her face by a few inches, forced along the wind.
"Baka!" Syaoran whispered. He jumped up, gently letting go of Sakura, motioning for her to stay put.
"Fuuka Shorai!" he yelled out.
"Syaoran," Sakura whispered to him. She was cold, but she couldn't let him deal with this on his own. She crawled out of the bed to Syaoran's side. The wind was cruelly slamming pieces of glass into him, embedding some of them deep into him.
"Shield card! Release!" Sakura shouted out.
Immediately, a shelter that held off the glass surrounded them, blocking all of the ferocious battering from the tiny particles of glass.
"Syaoran, your face, are you alright?" Sakura asked him gently as she knelt down beside him.
He looked up at her, blood trickling down his face, smiling grimly. "I'm fine, Sakura. But what is this one now. Blizzard is outside. It's working together with another card. Which one?"
"I don't know."
"Think Sakura!" he begged her.
"Well.it's.wind.but I've already got Windy.it's spinning glass chips at us.is it Tornado? No. I got it! Whirlwind!"
"Then c'mon Sakura! Capture it already!"
"Spirit of the dark forces, return to the form by contract, I Sakura, command you! Whirlwind!" Sakura shouted out loud over the roar of the wind.
Her staff dropped in midair and it began sucking the wind into a form of a card.
Finally, the card dropped down to land gently on the floor. Exhausted, Sakura dropped down to the floor. Syaoran softly called out some words in Cantonese and the window above them magically fixed itself.
Outside, the storm raged even harder, angry that that Card Mistress had defeated her friend.
Sakura glanced up at Syaoran, realizing that his face was still bleeding.
"Syaoran! Your face, we need to get bandages and."Syaoran silenced her by pressing his finger to her lips gently. She resisted the urge to shiver underneath his touch, but it was what was happening to her. Chills were traveling up and down her spine just by that one touch.
"But."
"It's OK, Sakura. Let's get some sleep."
"If you're sure?"
"Hai."
"Alright."Sakura slowly crawled back into bed. She was exhausted, and if Syaoran was sure.
She reached out her arms and put them around Syaoran's neck, laying her head in the crook of his shoulder, and she was comfortably lying next to him.
"Good night Syaoran," she whispered to him.
"Night, Sakura," he murmured back to her, also half-asleep. He smiled at his Cherry Blossom adoringly. He would never take advantage of her in such a situation like this. He barely felt the scratches on his face from the glass specks. His arms went around her too. He allowed himself a tiny smile before he drifted off to sleep as he realized that it would look really bad in the morning when everyone found them like that, but he was too tired to care. He drifted off to Dreamland with thoughts of Sakura.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
"Ohayou Syaoran-kun! Ohayou Sakura-chan! Matte.Sakura-chan?"
Syaoran sleepily opened his eyes, blinking them hazily at Meilin. He could feel Sakura still next to him.
"Meilin-chan?" Sakura asked drowsily.
"Hai! What in the world are you two doing together in the same bed?" she asked them, a smile creeping to her face.
Sakura and Syaoran blushed simultaneously, as they saw that they were still sleeping next to each other. Quickly, they both sat up.
"Meilin, what are you doing here?" Syaoran growled at her, half mad that she had woken him up, half embarrassed that she had caught him and Sakura together on the same bed.
"Good morning to you too, Syaoran! I came to wake you up! Tomoyo and the rest of us are thinking about exploring the cabin. The storm is still raging outside. But this.wow, I didn't know you guys were this close already!"
"Honestly, Meilin-chan, this isn't what it looks like!" Sakura pleaded with her. "I was really worried about something, so I came over to talk to Syaoran about it. Then I guess I just fell asleep."
"Sakura-chan, you have to do better than that!" Meilin said, knowing that it was probably the truth, but not ready to let them get away yet. She smiled evilly. "You are such a bad liar!"
"Meilin, get out!" Syaoran yelled at her.
"Hmm, now, isn't this the second time that I've caught you two together? What is up? Syaoran, why don't you ever tell me anything? I didn't know you and Sakura-chan were already dating! Why doesn't anyone tell me anything? Sheesh, and I thought that we were getting close Sakura-chan, and Syaoran! I'm your cousin! How dare you keep such privileged information from me?"
"Meilin! Shut up!" Syaoran said, getting up and stalking towards her. Laughing, she quickly ran out and slammed the door behind her.
"Syaoran, are you alright?" Sakura asked him. He nodded. She smiled as she saw his face. There were no traces of scabs or any scratches on his face at all.
"Healed during the night, right?"
"Hai," he replied.
"So." Sakura could feel her face getting hotter and she knew that she was blushing. She was avoiding Syaoran's eyes on purpose, unable to look at him.
Syaoran was suddenly aware that he wasn't wearing a shirt. He knew Sakura wasn't looking at him intentionally, but he didn't know why. What had he done wrong?
"Sakura?"
"Umm.Syaoran, I really need to go back to my room, I'll see you at breakfast!" Sakura quickly ran out of the room without a backwards glance.
Syaoran sat down on his bed heavily. IWhy do I always have to screw everything up?I He asked himself.
Unseen by either Sakura or Syaoran, a pair of silver eyes watched everything. A wicked laugh rang out in another room, gleefully anticipating what would happen next.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Sakura sighed as she walked out of her shower. IWhy do I always mess up everything?I She asked herself.
She stared at herself in the mirror. A pale face with wide emerald eyes surrounded by auburn hair looked back at her.
She sighed again as she rummaged through her luggage, searching for something suitable to wear.
IWhy in the world do I always freeze when I'm near Syaoran? Why does he always make me feel so.so.different? She asked herself. Why do I always make mistakes?I
"Sakura-chan? What's wrong? What'd that Chinese brat do this time?" Kero asked her.
"Nothing. I just didn't get enough sleep."
"Yeah, speaking of that, where were you last night? I couldn't find you this morning!" Kero thundered at Sakura.
Meekly, she smiled brightly and ignored Kero's question.
"You didn't go into the Chinese brat's room, did you? I mean, like, since you were cold of something?" Kero asked evilly and Sakura squirmed under his piercing gaze. He knew exactly what had happened. He wasn't the guardian of the Clow book for nothing. He had snuck out this morning and spotted the two friends together on the bed. He knew that nothing had happened since there were no clothes strewn about, and they were both just holding onto each other tightly, as if they were both afraid of losing each other.
Grinning, Kero decided to be nice, for a change, and stopped teasing Sakura, whose face was turning a bright red.
She tried on a pair of gray sweatpants and a pink t-shirt. Then she realized that she was freezing. Quickly, she pulled a white sweatshirt over her head and went down to breakfast.
Tomoyo shot her a quick wink as she spied Sakura coming down. She was sitting with Eriol, Hiyoshi, and Meilin.
Michael, Naoko, and Rika were sitting at another table, and Leisa, Kent, Kasumi were at the table next to them. Sakura sat down at a table with Chiharu and Yamazaki.
Of course, once Syaoran came down, he was stuck without a seat. Everyone started laughing at him. As Syaoran turned bright red, Sakura quickly pulled up a chair for him at her table. Mumbling thanks, Syaoran sat down and quickly ate.
"Hey, so, after this, we're going to go explore this cabin, OK?" Tomoyo told everyone. The storm raged even harder outside.
Sakura met Eriol's eyes, and they immediately told her that he knew about the card too. Nodding, she agreed to go outside.
Discreetly, she nudged Syaoran.
"Eh?" he growled at her.
"Umm.I want to go outside," she told him quietly. Glancing at her, he realized what she was doing. Nodding, he stood up.
"Sakura and I are going to go on a quick walk, we'll be back soon," he told everyone.
Then he calmly walked over to a surprised Hiyoshi.
"And keep an eye on Meilin, just in case anything happens, got it?" he said. Hiyoshi nodded in submission and gave Syaoran a quick smile, telling him that they would be fine.
Leisa shot Sakura and Syaoran a very angry glare as they walked out, but neither of them noticed.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Sakura shivered slightly outside. The wind was blowing strongly at them. Syaoran held her steadily against the wind.
"Sakura! Focus your energy!" he snapped at her.
Peering through the storm, Sakura blinked at him sadly. He seemed so distant to her this morning.
"Warmth card, release!" she shouted out. The card slowly seeped out and surrounded Syaoran and her with a tingling of heat. Smiling at Syaoran slightly, Sakura realized the card out there was scared. It was trying to keep Sakura away from her because it was afraid of being sealed up. The powerful blizzard that it was controlling was meant to help it to keep hidden.
Sakura stepped away from Syaoran, slowly moving down a hill covered in snow.
"Sakura!" Syaoran cried out in surprise as he tried to move after her, but he discovered that he was embedded in the ground.
"Sakura!" he cried out again, in frustration. Her magic had gotten stronger than he realized.
She turned and gave him a faint smile before she disappeared completely out of his view.
"Baka!" he cursed. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to her.
"Sakura! You promised!" he yelled out to her, but he knew that his words would be lost in the wind.
Quickly, he tried to come up with a way to escape from the magic that Sakura had put on him.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Shivering in the cold, Sakura once again berated herself for leaving the Warmth card with Syaoran, then she once again remembered that he would've probably froze outside, since her was stuck in the ground.
II had to leave him there!I she told herself once again. Finally, she reached the beginning of the core of the storm. She could faintly see the fairy floating around inside. Taking a deep breath, she entered in, and she was immediately attacked by gusts of wind and she was blown around.
"Syaoran!" she screamed out loudly, then she remembered that she had tied him down.
Sakura was left without any options.
"Please! Blizzard card, please! Stop it!" Sakura pleaded with it as she shivered again.
"Onegai! I don't want to hurt you, you are hurting more people than you realize! I'm a great Card Mistress, I hope. Even though I know Syaoran doesn't think so," Sakura said the last part quietly, as though she had been holding it in too long.
Longingly, she sat down on the snow-covered ground, ignoring everything around her.
"I don't understand him at all. He seems like such a great person, I felt for sure that we had something going last night, but I am just so confused over him. Does he love me? Why isn't he back in Hong Kong? Is he here just to torture me over the fact that he's back? Why is this so complicated?" Sakura asked the air exasperatedly.
The storm lessened in intensity a bit, and Sakura looked up to see a very curious Blizzard fairy listening to her intently.
It nodded to Sakura and spoke in a light, feathery voice.
I"I'm ready to be sealed up, Card Mistress. I'm sorry for all the pain that I caused," I she apologized. Smiling, Sakura shook her head.
"You didn't do anything," she said.
Quickly, Sakura sealed it up and let out a sigh.
Unknown to her and hidden by his own magic, a very pale Syaoran had heard everything that she had just said.
He was torn between rushing out and wrapping her in a hug to just pretending that he had never escaped her magic.
Sakura.
Uh-oh.I'm probably going to be missing a lot of facts.so these few chapters are going to be really disoriented. Please don't flame.Gomen.
Yeah, I know I'm evil! Muahahahaha! Sakura and Syaoran were just so close! This far apart! *holds up index finger and thumb really really really close* Don't hurt me! And should Syaoran and Sakura have their first kiss by themselves? Or should Tomoyo videotape 'em again? I think that they shouldn't have Tomoyo with them just because it's such a special moment, but I could be wrong. Anayway answer please, don't worry, first kiss coming up in next chapter, or very very soon, I promise!
~Ruby
J, thanks for your support! And thanks to everyone who reviewed! It gives authors so much support!
BCzeon27, I took your point, and you should be happy to see that I have changed the summary of my story. It was a bit old and umm.to say the best, really bad. I hadn't even realized how bad it was till I looked at it. I'm surprised people still read my story. Anyway.on to the real stuff:
Chapter 12- Blizzard of Love
"Hoe! Are we almost there yet, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked her best friend for the almost millionth time. Everyone else looked expectantly at Tomoyo.
They were all exhausted to the bone except for Tomoyo, whose buoyant spirit at being able to ski made her happy, Syaoran, whose training had prepared him for such trips as this, and Eriol, who would never appear exhausted, even if he was.who know.
They were all climbing up the steep path to the resort, which was high up in the mountains. They had all unfortunately been persuaded by Tomoyo to have a nice climb up the mountain, which they had now realized was about two miles to climb.
"We've only got three hundred more feet to go!" Tomoyo announced excitedly to the gang.
Sighing, the group continued with their trip, Sakura going starry-eyed. "Two more miles! HOE!" Kero, in her backpack, munched contentedly on cookies, enjoying the warm and comfy ride up the mountain.
"In this recent weather forecast, we are reporting that there is a major unexpected blizzard headed our way to Tomoeda, please stay inside your homes at all costs. This seems like a big one, please be prepared with extra food and candles in case electricity goes out or food. Watch out!!"
"Konnichiwa! Welcome to the Snow-Tree Resort!" a plump woman greeted the gang of friends as they finally arrived at the top of the mountain, the end of their endless trek. "I'm Natashi Miki. Pleased to have you here, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to leave you up here by yourselves. I need to run down back to Tokyo because my mother is sick. Is that alright? I'll show you around first, and tell you where everything is. I will be back tomorrow night definitely."
"That's fine," Tomoyo replied, exchanging secret glances with Eriol. "It's perfect up here!"
"Alright, let's go!"
*~*~*~*
"Whoo!" Sakura yelled out as she 'calmly' skied down the steep mountain, almost crashing into several trees and barely avoiding Naoko, Rika, and Chiharu.
"Be careful Sakura-chan!" everyone yelled at her.
"Hoe!!!"
Michael was watching Syaoran critically. "Syaoran, you do know how to ski, don't you?"
"Hai!" Syaoran answered quickly, face reddening in contrast as he recalled a certain ski trip that had happened in fourth grade.
Coolly, Eriol sped down the hill in a graceful and fluid movement, coming up to a smooth landing besides Sakura at the bottom of the mountain.
Dressed in a black ski outfit, Hiyoshi looked every bit in the attire of a criminal. He was also an elegant skier. He gently helped Meilin on the cross-country trails with a tenderness that he never showed anyone else.
Later that day, there was a downhill race, all of the guys against each other.
"Alright, start!" Meilin yelled up from the bottom of the mountain.
WHOOSH! The boys sped off. Eriol and Michael were battling for first place in the beginning, but they began to be overtaken soon by Hiyoshi and Syaoran.
"Go Syaoran-kun!" Sakura screamed out.
"Whoo! Michael, show those guys some stuff of yours!" Naoko yelled.
"Go Eriol!" Tomoyo cheered as she continued to videotape them, though her obsession was slowly dying away. She loved to sing more now than tape her model, Sakura, though she never missed a chance to tape still.
"YAMAZAKI! Move your butt!" Chiharu bellowed down the mountain.
"Hey, guys, it looks like there's going to be a storm soon," Naoko pointed out as she saw a black cloud moving their way.
"Aww, it's probably just a light snow shower."
At the bottom of the mountain, Hiyoshi had been the first one down, but he had 'accidentally' run Meilin over.
Boling mad with rage, she glared at him. "DISQUALIFIED FOR RUNNING THE JUDGE OVER! Brown-kun is the winner, and Syaoran and Eriol tie for second and Yamazaki comes in a close third."
"But it was an accident!" Hiyoshi pleaded with her, giving her his patented puppy look.
"No! Brown-san won this one, fair and square, and he didn't run me over," Meilin declared, trying hard to keep the smile from creeping up to her face.
"Am I forgiven?" he appealed to Meilin some more. "Please, I'm really really really really sorry! Onegai, Li-chan!"
"No.well.alright," Meilin complied.
"Domo arigato Li-chan!" Hiyoshi said, giving her a wide grin. Meilin nodded, but she noted that he was still calling her by her formal name.
"You guys! The snow! It's coming down harder, let's get back to the main cabin!" Tomoyo shouted to the gang.
Quickly, everyone made his or her way back to the cabin. As they were all drying off in front of the warm fire, Sakura stared out the window.
The snow had come down even harder, completely blinding her view of everything outside.
"I guess we're snowbound here," Syaoran announced to the whole group.
"Hey, this'll be awesome!" Naoko said, showing all of her enthusiasm. "I've never been snowbound before! We can explore this place out, doesn't it look freaky?"
"Yeah, maybe this place is haunted!" Chiharu chimed in. Naoko and Chiharu exchanged evil glances and then grinned at the look that they saw on Sakura's face.
"Hoe? Haunted?" Sakura asked, gripping Syaoran's hand tighter. He grinned as he noticed that her fingernails were leaving imprints on his hand.
"Hai! And the ghost will come out and get you in the middle of the night. It especially likes it when its victims are snowbound, because then they have nowhere else to go. And its victims are usually green-eyes girls with auburn hair!" Yamazaki added.
For once, Chiharu didn't stop him, everyone was laughing too hard at the look on Sakura's face.
Giggling, the entire group made their own way back to their separate rooms to sleep.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
In her own room, Sakura couldn't concentrate. She kept hearing sounds. She didn't know if they were in her imagination or if they were actually real sounds. Kero was fast asleep, and she knew how cranky he would be if she woke him up now.
Finally, unable to endure it any longer, she silently crept next door to Syaoran's room.
Syaoran, who was also awake, kept still as he felt Sakura's presence leave her room.
IWhere in the world is she going now? I He asked himself.
As he felt her heading his way, he sensed that he was tensing up. He blushed, thankful for the cover of darkness.
"Syaoran-kun?" he heard her light voice float through the room to him as she lightly knocked.
"Hai?" he asked her. "Come in." He heard the creaking of the door opening.
"I.I couldn't really sleep. Is it alright if I stay with you for awhile?" Sakura asked, trying to keep calm. She had only seen Syaoran without a shirt on a few times, and it had never been this late at night. Her breathing quickened a bit and she noticed how his chest glimmered in the moonlight that streamed through the window, while the storm raged outside.
"Of course!" Syaoran replied, though he noticed that his voice quavered a bit.
Settling down on the other side of his bed, Syaoran noticed that Sakura was shivering. She was wearing pink, silk pajamas that were fairly thin.
"Go on, get into the covers," he ordered her as he himself nestled deeper in also. He wasn't that cold; even without his shirt on, since he had had so much training, but he could feel the warmth from Sakura, and he wanted to be near her too.
"But."
"Sakura, you're going to freeze to death if you're going to stay here, so what's the point of that? Just get in."
"Gomen ne for bothering you," she whispered to Syaoran as she shyly pulled the covers up to her and slid inside.
He couldn't reply for a moment, astounded that Sakura was so close to him. "Oh, that's OK. I wasn't sleeping anyway. What's worrying you?"
"Oh, nothing really. I was just wondering what we're going to do now that we're snowed in here. I guess we're going to have to spend New Year's here too, right? It's the day after tomorrow."
"Really?" Syaoran asked her.
"Yeah, and.Syaoran.do you feel it?"
"Hai. I do. Do you want to go out to capture it now though?"
"I don't know what'll happen if I don't.and I don't know if I should go out to capture it now."
"Sakura, whatever you do, promise me that you won't go out by yourself," Syaoran said, worry accidentally entering his voice.
Sakura slowly rolled onto her other side to look at him. His hazel eyes were wide in concern for her.
"Promise me?" he whispered.
"Hai," she replied, puzzled at how he was acting. Still cold, she shivered again, subconsciously, then protested as Syaoran moved closer to her, enclosing her in his arms.
"I'm not that cold!" she objected, but she could hardly talk and her voice was muffled against his bare chest. She could feel his muscles, chiseled into his torso, underneath her. Her face was pressed firmly against Syaoran's upper body. She took a deep breath. She had never been so close to him before, and she was getting a bit nervous.
"Sakura, will you ever learn that it's alright for you to show your weaknesses?" Syaoran whispered into her ear, lightly nuzzling it, making her breathing quicken immensely.
Sakura lifted her head up, curious as to why he was behaving this way. "Syaoran-kun?" she asked softly.
"Hai?"
"Why are you.doing like this to me? I mean it's not like you have a responsibility, to me or anything. Shouldn't you be back in Hong Kong? Why did you come back?"
Syaoran paused, unsure of what to say. He unconsciously pressed Sakura closer to him, as if afraid of losing her and making sure that she was near him. She searched his eyes questioningly as she lovingly reached her hands up to play with his hair.
"Sakura." Syaoran suddenly realized how close together they were entwined. She had her arms around his neck, and he had hers around her waist. Their legs were instinctively wrapped around each other, and her head was gently nestled in the crook of his neck. He realized that he didn't want this to end and something else important too.
"Hai?" her voice drew him back to reality.
Staring deep into her eyes, he realized that tears were forming in his eyes.
"Syaoran?" Sakura asked startled as she noticed his tears. Was he crying for her?
"I don't want to lose you, Sakura," he whimpered to her.
"Sakura stared at him, surprised to see him lose his self-control and cry.
As she gently brushed away a tear, she gained some confidence, and tenderly, she kissed away a tear from his face. He felt nothing but gentle compassion from her.
"Syaoran," she murmured to him.
He gazed at her with a new understanding. As he lifted her face up towards his, an alarm went off in the back of his head. But he just saw her lips, her soft, yielding lips, slightly parted, open just to him.
Sakura was spellbound. Syaoran was suspended slightly above her, his gentle breath sending more chills down her spine. And she knew that it wasn't from the cold.
Suddenly, a sound of glass breaking reached their ears. Sakura started, pulling Syaoran down closer to her, gripping his shirt tightly, as she felt wind drifting down to her. Glass particles whipped past her, missing her face by a few inches, forced along the wind.
"Baka!" Syaoran whispered. He jumped up, gently letting go of Sakura, motioning for her to stay put.
"Fuuka Shorai!" he yelled out.
"Syaoran," Sakura whispered to him. She was cold, but she couldn't let him deal with this on his own. She crawled out of the bed to Syaoran's side. The wind was cruelly slamming pieces of glass into him, embedding some of them deep into him.
"Shield card! Release!" Sakura shouted out.
Immediately, a shelter that held off the glass surrounded them, blocking all of the ferocious battering from the tiny particles of glass.
"Syaoran, your face, are you alright?" Sakura asked him gently as she knelt down beside him.
He looked up at her, blood trickling down his face, smiling grimly. "I'm fine, Sakura. But what is this one now. Blizzard is outside. It's working together with another card. Which one?"
"I don't know."
"Think Sakura!" he begged her.
"Well.it's.wind.but I've already got Windy.it's spinning glass chips at us.is it Tornado? No. I got it! Whirlwind!"
"Then c'mon Sakura! Capture it already!"
"Spirit of the dark forces, return to the form by contract, I Sakura, command you! Whirlwind!" Sakura shouted out loud over the roar of the wind.
Her staff dropped in midair and it began sucking the wind into a form of a card.
Finally, the card dropped down to land gently on the floor. Exhausted, Sakura dropped down to the floor. Syaoran softly called out some words in Cantonese and the window above them magically fixed itself.
Outside, the storm raged even harder, angry that that Card Mistress had defeated her friend.
Sakura glanced up at Syaoran, realizing that his face was still bleeding.
"Syaoran! Your face, we need to get bandages and."Syaoran silenced her by pressing his finger to her lips gently. She resisted the urge to shiver underneath his touch, but it was what was happening to her. Chills were traveling up and down her spine just by that one touch.
"But."
"It's OK, Sakura. Let's get some sleep."
"If you're sure?"
"Hai."
"Alright."Sakura slowly crawled back into bed. She was exhausted, and if Syaoran was sure.
She reached out her arms and put them around Syaoran's neck, laying her head in the crook of his shoulder, and she was comfortably lying next to him.
"Good night Syaoran," she whispered to him.
"Night, Sakura," he murmured back to her, also half-asleep. He smiled at his Cherry Blossom adoringly. He would never take advantage of her in such a situation like this. He barely felt the scratches on his face from the glass specks. His arms went around her too. He allowed himself a tiny smile before he drifted off to sleep as he realized that it would look really bad in the morning when everyone found them like that, but he was too tired to care. He drifted off to Dreamland with thoughts of Sakura.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
"Ohayou Syaoran-kun! Ohayou Sakura-chan! Matte.Sakura-chan?"
Syaoran sleepily opened his eyes, blinking them hazily at Meilin. He could feel Sakura still next to him.
"Meilin-chan?" Sakura asked drowsily.
"Hai! What in the world are you two doing together in the same bed?" she asked them, a smile creeping to her face.
Sakura and Syaoran blushed simultaneously, as they saw that they were still sleeping next to each other. Quickly, they both sat up.
"Meilin, what are you doing here?" Syaoran growled at her, half mad that she had woken him up, half embarrassed that she had caught him and Sakura together on the same bed.
"Good morning to you too, Syaoran! I came to wake you up! Tomoyo and the rest of us are thinking about exploring the cabin. The storm is still raging outside. But this.wow, I didn't know you guys were this close already!"
"Honestly, Meilin-chan, this isn't what it looks like!" Sakura pleaded with her. "I was really worried about something, so I came over to talk to Syaoran about it. Then I guess I just fell asleep."
"Sakura-chan, you have to do better than that!" Meilin said, knowing that it was probably the truth, but not ready to let them get away yet. She smiled evilly. "You are such a bad liar!"
"Meilin, get out!" Syaoran yelled at her.
"Hmm, now, isn't this the second time that I've caught you two together? What is up? Syaoran, why don't you ever tell me anything? I didn't know you and Sakura-chan were already dating! Why doesn't anyone tell me anything? Sheesh, and I thought that we were getting close Sakura-chan, and Syaoran! I'm your cousin! How dare you keep such privileged information from me?"
"Meilin! Shut up!" Syaoran said, getting up and stalking towards her. Laughing, she quickly ran out and slammed the door behind her.
"Syaoran, are you alright?" Sakura asked him. He nodded. She smiled as she saw his face. There were no traces of scabs or any scratches on his face at all.
"Healed during the night, right?"
"Hai," he replied.
"So." Sakura could feel her face getting hotter and she knew that she was blushing. She was avoiding Syaoran's eyes on purpose, unable to look at him.
Syaoran was suddenly aware that he wasn't wearing a shirt. He knew Sakura wasn't looking at him intentionally, but he didn't know why. What had he done wrong?
"Sakura?"
"Umm.Syaoran, I really need to go back to my room, I'll see you at breakfast!" Sakura quickly ran out of the room without a backwards glance.
Syaoran sat down on his bed heavily. IWhy do I always have to screw everything up?I He asked himself.
Unseen by either Sakura or Syaoran, a pair of silver eyes watched everything. A wicked laugh rang out in another room, gleefully anticipating what would happen next.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Sakura sighed as she walked out of her shower. IWhy do I always mess up everything?I She asked herself.
She stared at herself in the mirror. A pale face with wide emerald eyes surrounded by auburn hair looked back at her.
She sighed again as she rummaged through her luggage, searching for something suitable to wear.
IWhy in the world do I always freeze when I'm near Syaoran? Why does he always make me feel so.so.different? She asked herself. Why do I always make mistakes?I
"Sakura-chan? What's wrong? What'd that Chinese brat do this time?" Kero asked her.
"Nothing. I just didn't get enough sleep."
"Yeah, speaking of that, where were you last night? I couldn't find you this morning!" Kero thundered at Sakura.
Meekly, she smiled brightly and ignored Kero's question.
"You didn't go into the Chinese brat's room, did you? I mean, like, since you were cold of something?" Kero asked evilly and Sakura squirmed under his piercing gaze. He knew exactly what had happened. He wasn't the guardian of the Clow book for nothing. He had snuck out this morning and spotted the two friends together on the bed. He knew that nothing had happened since there were no clothes strewn about, and they were both just holding onto each other tightly, as if they were both afraid of losing each other.
Grinning, Kero decided to be nice, for a change, and stopped teasing Sakura, whose face was turning a bright red.
She tried on a pair of gray sweatpants and a pink t-shirt. Then she realized that she was freezing. Quickly, she pulled a white sweatshirt over her head and went down to breakfast.
Tomoyo shot her a quick wink as she spied Sakura coming down. She was sitting with Eriol, Hiyoshi, and Meilin.
Michael, Naoko, and Rika were sitting at another table, and Leisa, Kent, Kasumi were at the table next to them. Sakura sat down at a table with Chiharu and Yamazaki.
Of course, once Syaoran came down, he was stuck without a seat. Everyone started laughing at him. As Syaoran turned bright red, Sakura quickly pulled up a chair for him at her table. Mumbling thanks, Syaoran sat down and quickly ate.
"Hey, so, after this, we're going to go explore this cabin, OK?" Tomoyo told everyone. The storm raged even harder outside.
Sakura met Eriol's eyes, and they immediately told her that he knew about the card too. Nodding, she agreed to go outside.
Discreetly, she nudged Syaoran.
"Eh?" he growled at her.
"Umm.I want to go outside," she told him quietly. Glancing at her, he realized what she was doing. Nodding, he stood up.
"Sakura and I are going to go on a quick walk, we'll be back soon," he told everyone.
Then he calmly walked over to a surprised Hiyoshi.
"And keep an eye on Meilin, just in case anything happens, got it?" he said. Hiyoshi nodded in submission and gave Syaoran a quick smile, telling him that they would be fine.
Leisa shot Sakura and Syaoran a very angry glare as they walked out, but neither of them noticed.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Sakura shivered slightly outside. The wind was blowing strongly at them. Syaoran held her steadily against the wind.
"Sakura! Focus your energy!" he snapped at her.
Peering through the storm, Sakura blinked at him sadly. He seemed so distant to her this morning.
"Warmth card, release!" she shouted out. The card slowly seeped out and surrounded Syaoran and her with a tingling of heat. Smiling at Syaoran slightly, Sakura realized the card out there was scared. It was trying to keep Sakura away from her because it was afraid of being sealed up. The powerful blizzard that it was controlling was meant to help it to keep hidden.
Sakura stepped away from Syaoran, slowly moving down a hill covered in snow.
"Sakura!" Syaoran cried out in surprise as he tried to move after her, but he discovered that he was embedded in the ground.
"Sakura!" he cried out again, in frustration. Her magic had gotten stronger than he realized.
She turned and gave him a faint smile before she disappeared completely out of his view.
"Baka!" he cursed. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to her.
"Sakura! You promised!" he yelled out to her, but he knew that his words would be lost in the wind.
Quickly, he tried to come up with a way to escape from the magic that Sakura had put on him.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Shivering in the cold, Sakura once again berated herself for leaving the Warmth card with Syaoran, then she once again remembered that he would've probably froze outside, since her was stuck in the ground.
II had to leave him there!I she told herself once again. Finally, she reached the beginning of the core of the storm. She could faintly see the fairy floating around inside. Taking a deep breath, she entered in, and she was immediately attacked by gusts of wind and she was blown around.
"Syaoran!" she screamed out loudly, then she remembered that she had tied him down.
Sakura was left without any options.
"Please! Blizzard card, please! Stop it!" Sakura pleaded with it as she shivered again.
"Onegai! I don't want to hurt you, you are hurting more people than you realize! I'm a great Card Mistress, I hope. Even though I know Syaoran doesn't think so," Sakura said the last part quietly, as though she had been holding it in too long.
Longingly, she sat down on the snow-covered ground, ignoring everything around her.
"I don't understand him at all. He seems like such a great person, I felt for sure that we had something going last night, but I am just so confused over him. Does he love me? Why isn't he back in Hong Kong? Is he here just to torture me over the fact that he's back? Why is this so complicated?" Sakura asked the air exasperatedly.
The storm lessened in intensity a bit, and Sakura looked up to see a very curious Blizzard fairy listening to her intently.
It nodded to Sakura and spoke in a light, feathery voice.
I"I'm ready to be sealed up, Card Mistress. I'm sorry for all the pain that I caused," I she apologized. Smiling, Sakura shook her head.
"You didn't do anything," she said.
Quickly, Sakura sealed it up and let out a sigh.
Unknown to her and hidden by his own magic, a very pale Syaoran had heard everything that she had just said.
He was torn between rushing out and wrapping her in a hug to just pretending that he had never escaped her magic.
Sakura.
Uh-oh.I'm probably going to be missing a lot of facts.so these few chapters are going to be really disoriented. Please don't flame.Gomen.
Yeah, I know I'm evil! Muahahahaha! Sakura and Syaoran were just so close! This far apart! *holds up index finger and thumb really really really close* Don't hurt me! And should Syaoran and Sakura have their first kiss by themselves? Or should Tomoyo videotape 'em again? I think that they shouldn't have Tomoyo with them just because it's such a special moment, but I could be wrong. Anayway answer please, don't worry, first kiss coming up in next chapter, or very very soon, I promise!
~Ruby