Im finally startin on dis chap. . . sori 4 t long wait. T finals weren't so bad but I didn't do as well on em as I would like. Shoulda study more. Lol. Hmm. . . it seems like I never get enuf time ta do t things I wanna do n t things I gotta do. Dat sux. . . -_- well enuf talking lets get on w/ t stori shall we since I no ur dyin 2 find out sakus reaction.

Danielle Ngo-lol. Yup hes busted alrite. Don't worri I wont make him get in trouble TOO much.

Cherry blossom-thx 4 t compliment. O I don't mind answerin ur ?s. if u have nemore feel free ta ask me.

Crystal-hehe saku already saw him. N ull find out wut happens soon enuf.

Cherry Tenshi-um. . . 4 sum1 hu don't got time 4 a long review that wuz a pretty long 1 2 me. O yea hows dat project goin? Thx 4 t good luck me gonna need it.

UrFriendRichard-exactly how many times didcha send me dat review?? Um. . . no matter. . . just cont reading. Aww I don't dink I rite DAT good but thx newayz. N anotha thing I no t cliffys r annoyin. Lol. But at least u didn't hafta wait 2 find out wut happens afterwards. N don't worri I wont stop writin. Hey. . . if u sound like an eng teach den r u gonna gimme a grade 4 dis?? N wut bribe u want from me in order 4 me ta get an A??? hahah jk. Oooh lookie u finally learnt howta send jus 1 review!!! Good job!! Lol jk.

Chapter 12

"The Bitter Resentment of Betrayal"

"Li, what are we doing here? What is this place?" Sakura asked while rubbing the back of her head where Syaoran had struck her.

"Uh. . . um. . . I. . ." was all Syaoran managed to croak out since he did not have an excuse.

Looking around, her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness and she saw Meiling lying rite beside her. Letting out a gasp at seeing Meiling unconscious, Sakura crawled over to her and nudged her gently, trying to wake her up. When she saw no reaction, she nudged her harder, starting to panic.

"Li, why are you just standing there?! Why won't you help me?!" Sakura demanded, now taking Meiling by the shoulders and shaking her forcefully.

"Hey, Syaoran, you know this girl?" Meiling's captor asked.

Nodding weakly was all Syaoran could do. His friend raised his eyebrow and gave him a quizzical look.

'Dammit, (A/N:sorri!!) she's awake! But why do I feel guilty? So what if I know her, that doesn't make her any different from all the other girls!'

At a more careful examination, Sakura realized that she and Meiling were behind bars.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Sakura gasped, "And why aren't you doing anything?!"

"You are getting so annoying!" said Fuh Lung, (A/N:I dink dat means Fire Dragon. . . or at least dats wut cherry tenshi says it is. . .) "Can't you just accept the fact that you and your friend there are captured?"

"Captured?!" Sakura echoed, shocked. Then she looked accusingly at Syaoran, her face painted with pain and confusion. "Li, how could you?. . ."

Her look was all Syaoran could take and remorse and guilt overwhelmed him, but he didn't let it show. He had put on his mask and was determined to not let anything leak through the surface.

Gradually Meiling's eyes opened and she was conscious again.

"Sakura?" Meiling called out softly.

Sakura quickly whirled around and helped Meiling sit up.

"Meiling, we are captured!" Sakura cried.

"Yes, I know that, Sakura," said Meiling.

Meiling looked around the place and saw Syaoran standing there with her captor unmasked. Realization struck her and she went wide-eyed.

"Xiao Lang, please don't tell me that you were the one who captured Sakura. . ." Meiling whispered hopefully.

"Of course he did," Fuh Lung answered for him.

Meiling's temper flared and she stood up.

"I can't believe you! I never would have thought that you would stoop low enough to join this low-life gang! What's worst is that you actually had the heart to captured Sakura! Wait, I'm sorry, you don't have a heart do you? Well at least this explains why you were so often gone from home! But it might as well be because you don't deserve a family such as yours! Argh, I can't believe we were so stupid enough as to trust you and not ask you where you went every time!" she screamed.

"Shut up, girl!" Fuh Lung roared, "It would be wise to keep your mouth shut, seeing the predicament you're in."

Syaoran held out a hand to stop him from saying anything else and said, "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?! Is that the best you can come up with?! And if you really ARE sorry you wouldn't have done it in the first place!" Meiling yelled.

"Look, I said I was sorry alright and I am!" Syaoran growled, like a wolf losing it's temper, "I never meant for any of this to happen but it did anyway! As for me joining the gang, I had no choice! I had to do something to keep my family from starving to death! We couldn't keep on asking your family or Chiharu for food!"

The three - Sakura, Meiling, and Fuh Lung - stood there wide-eyed and speechless. Never had they seen him lose his temper like this. And it frightened them.

"Oh, Li. . ." whispered Sakura, a tear leaking out.

Syaoran squeezed his eyes shut to regain his calm composure and his temper died down.

"So what do you plan on doing now?" inquired Meiling, a bit haughtily, her temper also dying.

"First of all, I plan to get you both out of here," Syaoran stated, glaring at Fuh Lung, who shrugged and put on an apologetic face.

"Wait, then why did you bother capturing her in the first place?" Fuh Lung nodded towards Sakura.

"Because I needed someone for this month," Syaoran stated matter-of-factly.

At that time, Syaoran heard faint and distant footsteps coming their way.

"Damn, (A/N: agen. . . dis is a pg13 fic so yes dere r swearin. I think dis is t last time im gonna put dis message up. Getting tired of it n I think every1 else r 2) some people, two of them, are heading this way. C'mon Fuh Lung we've got to leave," Syaoran told them.

"Wait, Li, don't leave us here. . ." Sakura implored, tearing up.

"I'll come back for you two later," said Syaoran, his face softening. He and Fuh Lung then slid away into the shadows.

A minute later, the leader and Koi came in sight.

"Hmm. . . two beautiful girls, from Syaoran and Fuh Lung I'm guessing. They did a good job," stated the leader, (A/N: ugh. . . pervert. . . hate him, even though hes my own creation. Sum1 remind me 2 make him suffer in t end yea. O n koi 2) "Open it, Koi."

Koi quickly rushed to open up the bars, being the suck-up that he is. When he walked inside, he abruptly seized Sakura by her wrist and attempted to drag her off with him. She resisted and Meiling tried to aide her but he slapped her hard away and Koi blocked her from making another attempt.

"Oh, don't be so eager, you'll get your chance," said Koi, grinning maliciously. (A/N: *face of disgust* ugh. . . )

Suddenly two people jumped out from the shadows with their face masked and kicked Koi and the leader in the back of the head, knocking them out cold. Meiling looked up in wonder at the two but Sakura was too distraught to notice anything. She crawled into a corner, shaking uncontrollably, and huddled there when she felt the leader loosen his grip, not noticing why he loosened it. (A/N: wow. . . im jus picturing dis scene in my mind n its such a sad n pitiful 1. . . I dink dis stori is 2 dramatic at times. . . -_- u)

"Oh, poor Sakura," whispered Meiling sympathetically seeing the state Sakura was in.

One of the masked men walked over to Sakura and tried to comfort her. But as soon as he laid a hand on her shoulder she squirmed and tried to fend him off.

"Hey, don't you dare go near her!" yelled Meiling.

"Oh, shut up already, little girl," said the one who kicked Koi, annoyed. He then removed his mask and revealed himself as Fuh Lung, which made Meiling sigh with relief.

"Hey, Xiao Lang, I think you should take off your mask too. You're frightening Sakura," Meiling told him.

Quickly Syaoran took off his mask. Then he grabbed Sakura by the shoulders, trying to calm her down.

"Li?" Sakura whispered in acknowledgement.

Syaoran nodded and smiled, the ice in his eyes dissolving. (A/N: *gasps* he smiled!!! O_O omg he actually smiled!! *pinches self 2 make sure dis isn't a dream* hehehe sorri. Yes, he smiled. N he saved saku 2. dere u happy ppl??? As it turned out ur precious syao isn't bad.)

"Oh, Li, I was so scared. . ." said Sakura, near tears.

Unexpectedly Sakura's hand collided with Syaoran's cheek hard; she had slapped him. (A/N: very hard mite I add. *winks*) Meiling and Fuh Lung gasped while Syaoran stood there unblinkingly, in shock.

"That was for locking me and Meiling in here! How could you?! I can't believe I thought you were a nice person!" yelled a very angry and distressed Sakura. (A/N: whoa. . . dis is so ooc. I don't think saku would ever slap ne1, no matter wut they did. But o wellz dis is my fic. N sides. . . im kinda mad at syao. Lol.) She raised her hand as in to slap him again but when she saw that he did nothing and just stood there waiting for it, she let it drop and burst out into tears. All the anger, frustration, and tears she had pent up inside finally vented itself. With all that fury, it was like a volcano waiting to explode. It was bound to happen and this might as well be the time.

Her outburst stunned everyone and they all stared at her, speechless. Once Syaoran regained his senses, his face had a sympathetic frown and his eyes filled with sorrow, making it shine. For once in a very long time he's shown some sign of having human emotions. Slowly he put his arms around her and pulled her into a tight and comforting hug while she sobbed onto his shoulder. His hug made her feel warm and secure, like she's being safe and protected by someone strong. (A/N: aww. . . fluff moment!!! ^^ dere I guess dat make up 4 da lack of s+s moments a lil huh?? Very kute scene if u can picture it. Lol)

"Shh. . . everything's okay now, you're safe," Syaoran assured her.

Once again Meiling and Fuh Lung were shocked. Syaoran had actually hugged someone! But afterwards they got over the shock and they smiled.

"Li, I'm so sorry. . . I never meant to slap you or yell at you like that. Forgive me?" Sakura asked softly, still crying and soaking his shirt with her salty tears.

"It's alright, Sakura. I deserved it," he reassured her. His voice sounded warm and soothing, not cold and distant. (A/N: um. . . is dis even da same syao nemore????)

Comforted by his words, she looked up at him and smiled, her outflow of tears gradually stopping. She looked very beautiful with her eyes sparkling with tears. Of course, her smile made him blush and he realized that he was still hugging her, which then made him release her as if she was on fire and jumped back, making Meiling and Fuh Lung laugh.

"Hey, Syaoran, are you just going to stand there blushing like an idiot or can we get out of here?" teased Fuh Lung.

"Huh? Wha? Oh, yea, let's go," agreed Syaoran.

Giggling behind her hands, Meiling winked at Sakura but she just gave Meiling a quizzical look, not comprehending what Meiling was trying to tell her.

As they were walking out of the cell they saw two people heading their way with their face masked. The two saw the leader and Koi unconscious on the floor and Syaoran and Fuh Lung helping the prisoners escape and froze. One was about to raise an alarm but the other one next to him grasped him in a sleeper hold and he fell limp to the floor.

Ooh. . . wuts dis?? Dey have an ally??? Lol. Sorri 4 endin it here but I needa do my hw. Da next scene would take too long. Damn math. . . _. Newayz. . . my offer 4 startin on ma next stori is still open if u guyz wanna read it now. If not, den ill jus finish dis 1st den start on dat. Makes it easier 4 me newayz. . . wow a hole chap focused on jus 1 scene n location. . . kool!!^^ o lookie I made syao b nice 4 once!!! O_O r u guyz satisfied??? Hahah. Heheheheeh syao hugged saku!!! *chants dis in a singsong voice ova n ova agen til bro gets annoyed n wacks me on da head* heeeeyyyy!!!! Dat hurts!!!! *sticks out tongue at bro n pouts* bro: *sighs n shakes head* aiyah. . . da lil pest I must deal w/. . . y me?? Me: im not a pest u meanie!!! *gives him evil eye* bro: go do ur hw n stop buggin me I wanna use da comp. welpz u heard him ppl I gtg now so bai!!!