Summary: What if you have a chance to go back to your past and change your life? What if you can live your life differently, make new choices? Will it make a difference? Or will making a different choice still take you down the same route? What if your decision changes the rest of your life and everything is different from what it is supposed to be? What would happen if you make the wrong choice?
"What are they doing up they? It's been more than half an hour already! Did Tomoyo accidentally murder Sakura and is now getting rid of her body?" Syaoran complained, irritation and wry humor evident in his voice. Eriol paid his pacing friend no attention; he was used to waiting around for Tomoyo to get ready.
"Relax, Syaoran," he advised as he channel-surfed, "I think you better sit down. You have a long awaiting time ahead of you, waiting for our female counterparts to get ready is worse than waiting to see the doctor, trust me on that." Syaoran blanched at Eriol's nonchalant tone.
"Tell me you're joking."
Eriol turned away from the television set, towards Syaoran. He slung his arm over the back of the sofa and looked seriously at him, "Do I look like I am?"
"Urg," Syaoran clapped his hand over his forehead, "Is it so difficult for them to just throw on whatever's clean and come down?"
"They could just throw on whatever's clean, but then the effect won't be as good as when they take time to dress up for you. And the fact that they bothered to dress up for you means a lot."
At that precise moment, a movement at the top of the steps caught his eyes.
A pair of stiletto feet came into view, a pair of slim legs encased in a pair of tight black pants. When a slender torso came into view, covered by a red camisole top, the wait Syaoran had to endure all seemed worth-it. On the vision's neck was a simple silver necklace set with blood-red ruby. When Syaoran saw the female's face, he promptly choked from staring at the stunning female coming down the stairs.
Her bambi-like eyes dominated her face and finely wrought eyebrows arched delicately over those lovely eyes. She had a small, pert nose and kissable lips. Dazedly, Syaoran realized that the female coming towards him, had a fuller lower lip, which gave her a very sexy look. "You are crazy," he thought to himself, "this is Tomoyo's cousin you're talking about, what are you thinking?" He mentally shook himself, but couldn't stop himself from starring.
"Close your gaping jaw, you're drooling all over their carpet. If you don't stop it soon, you'll drown all of us." Eriol's amused and slightly surprised voice came from beside Syaoran's ears. Syaoran closed his hanging jaw, but didn't bother looking at Eriol or admonishing him for making fun of him. He even forgot the fierce fight he put up prior to coming here and seeing this ethereal creature.
Sakura didn't dare to look at either Eriol or Syaoran. All she could do was concentrate on walking down the stairs and not tripping and tumbling down them. She wasn't used to wearing heels and she kept feeling like she was going to fall down at anymore. It was a thoroughly awkward situation. She wanted to turn and look at Syaoran to see how he was reacting to this first glimpse of her; she still remembered what happened in the other life on their first meeting. She defiantly wore her rattiest shirt and oldest pair of jeans. She didn't to wash her hair; instead, she'd just pulled it into a messy ponytail. She also deliberately wore no makeup and she was so satisfied with her creativity until she bounded down the stairs and saw Syaoran. The expression of surprise on his face made her feel embarrassed.
That was before she took in his immaculate blue shirt and jeans, his naturally wavy hair neatly combed and his friendly smile. After he had shook her hand and politely ignored the way she was dressed, he had treated her like a sister, a friend he'd known for some time. He had made her feel comfortable around him, he made her relaxed and made her laugh. He even made Sakura forget about her embarrassment. And that night, when the four of them came back, Sakura had known the exact moment, she had fallen in love with Syaoran's chivalry. It was when he first gave her his open, candid smile and treated her respectfully despite her obvious snub at him. But that same night, Sakura had also realized that he saw her only as a sister, a younger girl to dote upon, to play with, and to spoil, whereas Tomoyo had his devotions and heart.
Sakura saw all that in one night.
And now, she was afraid that the night was going to come back and haunt her.
Sakura had reached her destination and Syaoran was just a few feet in front of her. Sakura stared wordlessly at Syaoran's black loafers and inexplicably found that it wasn't as clean as she thought they were. "Look up and smile, Sakura. You look lovely, there's nothing to be nervous about," Tomoyo whispered softly into her ear and Sakura turned her head slightly towards her cousin, who gave her a reassuring smile. Taking a deep breath, she angled her head towards Syaoran.
A deep satisfaction and furious blush flooded her. Syaoran was openly admiring her; his brown eyes were taking a leisurely stroll from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. He smiled when he finished his tour and met her eyes again. He held the smoldering look for a long time, wordlessly seducing her with his eyes. It was only when Eriol gave a subtle cough that Syaoran moved slowly forward and without breaking eye contact, offered his hand to Sakura.
"I'm Syaoran, pleased to meet you," his voice was warm and deep, like rich, dark chocolate, his eyes continued to weave it spell over Sakura.
Sakura suddenly felt like laughing and throwing her arms around her cousin. It was her who made everything worked. Tomoyo was the fairy Godmother who waved her magic wand and made Sakura feel like Cinderella did when she went to the ball and fell in love with the prince. Sakura felt like dancing and shouting to the world that she had managed to change the way one of the most important events of her life turned out. She can do it! She can make Syaoran fall in love with her and then Tomoyo would stay with Eriol and everyone would be happy! That wasn't so bad was it?
Fixing a mysterious smile on her face, Sakura slipped her small hand into Syaoran's bigger one and felt its warmth engulfed her hand. It was a delicious feeling, like a live wire was suddenly touched to her spine, making her experience things she never did before. "Sakura," Sakura said as calmly as she could.
Syaoran held onto her hand for a long time, looking at her thoughtfully. Then, he said gravely and gave her a bold grin that made Sakura laugh back at him.
"Well," Tomoyo cleared her throat, "I think we should go now, we've wasted enough time here," she was looking at Syaoran and Sakura's still clasped hand. Sakura saw the direction her cousin's gaze was directed and she hastily released Syaoran's hand. Syaoran gave her a mournful expression at the loss of her touch that made Sakura laughed before he proffered his arm to her and giving Tomoyo an exaggerated wink.
As Sakura slipped her arm through Syaoran's, she felt a lightness she didn't feel ever since... Actually, she couldn't remember when she had felt this light and carefree before. Turning to Syaoran, she saw that once again, he was admiring her and an unexpected sweetness exploded inside her.
"God, don't let this be a dream," Sakura thought as she returned Syaoran's appraisal, "not a dream, please, not a dream."
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Author's Note: Urg, I haven't updated for awhile, but I have my reasons. First I started off 2 new stories and secondly I didn't get any reviews for last chapter. *sigh* Am I doing a bad job? I'm a little discouraged right now but oh welps... Please review this chapter everyone.