Pretty Baby, Why Can't You See?
By SwEeT AnGeL 1004

Chapter 5: Trip to the Mountains

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wake up!" Tomoyo hissed into Sakura's ear.

"Mmm?" Sakura asked sleepily, barely opening her eyes.

"Wake up and get dressed! It's already 4:50!" Tomoyo said persistently.

"But I dun wanna go," Sakura groaned.

"You don't want to go to the mountains? After all that trouble for packing?" Meiling asked loudly, coming out of the bathroom as she dried her face.

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed, now awake, "The mountains!"

"And the hills! And the prairies!" Meiling exclaimed.

Yuki shot her a look that plainly said, "Don't tease her."

"Sorry, Yuki. And Sakura," Meiling apologized, "I'm just a little hyper from excitement."

Sakura had gotten up and gone into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, when she replied, "It's okay. I understand. What time is it now?"

Tomoyo answered, "4:55"

"Eek, it's still dark outside!" Sakura exclaimed.

She quickly changed into warm clothes, added a ski hat, gloves and scarf, and put on her lucky necklace, the one with the ring that had name inscribed on it, the only part of her past she knew.

"Are you guys ready?" Tomoyo asked, adjusting her ski cap on her head.

"I'm ready. Let's go outside and wait for them. It's going to take a long time to get these bags downstairs," Sakura said and made a face.

"Let's go. Yuki, could you help us?" Meiling asked.

He nodded and got up from the chair he had been sitting on, and lifted five of the eight bags the girls they had packed.

For such a skinny guy, he sure had a lot of force.

"Yuki, don't overuse your strength. The bags are heavy," Sakura scolded.

Yuki shrugged and gave Sakura a small smile.

He led the way downstairs, the girls heaving the bags with them.

They finally reached the lobby and outside, where it was pitch black as midnight.

Yuki put the bags down by their feet and motioned that he'd be going back upstairs.

"You're going already?" Meiling asked, "Well, Yuki, I hope you have a nice Christmas."

She gave him a big hug, nearly engulfing his thin, white body with her huge ski jacket.

Yuki smiled at her, and Tomoyo said, "I'm so sorry that we can't be with you at Christmas. Are you going to be too lonely? We'll call, I promise. And buy you cool gifts."

She kissed him on the cheek and also gave him a hug, and Sakura did the same, saying, "Merry Christmas! We'll be back before you know it."

Yuki nodded at them, and turned around and went back into the building.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Syaoran squinted at Sakura, Tomoyo and Meiling.

He caught a glimpse of a man walking back inside the building, and Eriol suddenly slapped his shoulder, "Hurry and get there! Tomoyo must be freezing!"

Syaoran made a face and mimicked, "Tomoyo, tomoyo, tomoyo, that's all you ever talk about."

Eriol rolled his eyes and said, "I love her. You know that."

Syaoran shrugged and parked next to the sidewalk.

He got out with Eriol and they said, "Hey."

Tomoyo asked, "Where's Touya?"

Eriol laughed and said, "He's in the back sleeping. He actually let Syaoran drive his car."

Eriol gestured to the huge deep blue SUV, a Ford Explorer (is it Ford? Or is it Chevy? Or Dodge???!!?!), which had three rows of seats.

Syaoran and Eriol picked up the girls' bags and opened up the trunk of the large SUV and stuffed the bags into there.

"Eriol's going to be driving the whole way. I'm guessing Tomoyo wants to sit next to him, and so Sakura, Meiling and I are going to be squished in the two back seats with Touya.

"I'll sit on the back with Touya!" Meiling immediately volunteered.

Syaoran gave her a quizzical look, and Meiling returned it with a mischievous grin, thinking, "Haha! This is my chance to see if Sakura and Syaoran like each other!"

"All right. Let's go!"

Eriol ran over to the other side and got into the driver's seat and Tomoyo got into the passanger's.

Sakura stood behind Syaoran, who was behind Meiling, who was trying to open the door.

When she finally succeeded, she bent her head and looked at the sleeping form on the third seat.

"Yo, wake up, Touya! I'm Meiling, Syaoran's cousin. Wake up 'cause I got to sit with you."

Touya woke up and rubbed his eyes and looked at Meiling.

"Hi," he croaked, and sat up, letting Meiling sit down next to him.

Syaoran came into the car and slid over, letting Sakura come in.

Sakura got in and smiled at Touya, "Hi, Touya! I'm Sakura Yuki."

And she held out her hand to let Touya shake it.

But he could only stare at her with his mouth open in shock.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura shifted uncomfortably and sneaked a peek behind herself to Meiling, who mouthed, "He's still staring at you."

Sakura made a face and turned back.

They had only been traveling for an hour, and already they were bored.

Eriol had turned on some music while he and Tomoyo chatted, and Syaoran was staring out the window.

"So," Sakura coughed, trying to strike up a conversation, and turned around to face Touya, who had an odd look on his face, "Tell me about yourself, Touya."

Touya said slowly, "I came to the big city thirteen years ago. My father was killed on his job, and my younger sister was shot. I was took in by my now-employer, and I came to live with Eriol and Syaoran for the past 8 years."

Sakura smiled sympathetically, "I'm sorry about your father and sister. What happened to her?"

Touya gave Sakura a hard look and said, "She disappeared. I never saw her again."

Meiling, hearing their conversation, thought, 'Shot? Didn't Sakura have that injury on her arm when she first came with us…thirteen years ago?'

Meiling shook her head, and thought again, 'Don't get involved.'

She turned back the conversation which Sakura and Touya were having.

"So," Touya asked casually, "What about your life?"

Sakura smiled brightly and said, "I've lived with Tomoyo and Meiling and Yuki for most of my life. That's basically it. I don't have any parents."

"Oh. I see."

"Food stop!" Eriol declared from the front seat, "We're getting breakfast at McDonalds®!"

Meiling groaned, "I hate their food. Makes me barf in the car."

Sakura and Tomoyo rolled their eyes.

"Well, let's just take a break there," Eriol suggested.

"All right. I'm ready to stretch," Tomoyo said and hopped out of the car.

The air was crisp with the smell of Christmas nearing.

They walked into the McDonalds, which had the usual array of breakfast customers.

"What do you want?" Syaoran asked Sakura.

"Um, I guess a one of those weird looking egg muffin sandwiches will do," Sakura said.

"All right. I'll buy one for you," Syaoran said.

"You will? Thank you!" Sakura threw her arms around Syaoran unexpectedly, scaring Syaoran for a moment.

"We gotta go to the bathroom," Tomoyo said, and pointed to the general direction of the restrooms.

Immediately Sakura and Meiling flocked to her side and they walked to the bathroom.

Eriol sighed, "What is it with girls and them all going to the bathroom in groups?"

Touya and Syaoran shrugged, "Beats me."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three girls were done with their business and were washing their hands in the sink, when suddenly they heard a ring coming from Tomoyo's pocket.

She blushed at Sakura and Meiling and got out a cute little silver cell phone, and said, "Hello? Oh, hi, Eriol. What do I want? Get me whatever your getting. Orange juice for me, though. All right. I love you."

Tomoyo hung up and put the phone back into her pocket, looking pleased.

"How come you never told us you have a cell phone?" Meiling demanded.

Tomoyo blushed again, "Eriol bought if for me. I just forgot about it because I haven't used it a lot."

Sakura grinned, "Lucky you. Meiling, you should ask Syaoran to get you a celly."

Meiling smiled mischievously, "Maybe I will."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the three men had ordered and gotten their orders, they sat down on one of the larger tables.

"There they are," Touya pointed to the three, refreshed looking girls coming back.

"Foods here," Eriol said.

He had already unwrapped his breakfast burrito and was munching on it.

The girls sat down, and Sakura found herself squashed next to Syaoran.

"Sorry I'm crowding you," Sakura smiled apologetically at Syaoran and reached for a wrapped package, "Is this mine?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The six people got back into the car and Eriol started up the engine for more long hours of driving.

"Let's turn on the radio for some singing!" Tomoyo exclaimed and quickly turned on the radio to the nearest station that you could listen to.

"It's an oldie, I think," Meiling said, listening to the song.

"I've heard this somewhere before," Sakura grinned.

She opened her mouth and started singing, her sweet melodious voice filling the room, accompanied by the background music of Vanessa Carlton.

"You light me up and then I fall for you.
You lay me down and then I call for you.
Stumbling on reasons that are far and few
I let it all come down and then sung for you.

Pretty baby, don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
You're the one that I belong to.
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
You're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep coming 'round.
Oh pretty baby. "

Suddenly, Touya fell into a flashback.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was Sakura, singing along to the radio in the car, while Touya and Fujitaka were in the front speaking.

"And I know things can't last forever
But there are lessons that you'll never learn.
Oh just the scent of you, it makes me hurt.
So havin' your love makes me better. Oh…"

Sakura's cute 9 year old voice was singing as loudly as she could,

"Pretty baby, don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
You're the one that I belong to.
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
You're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep coming

Can you hold me?
And never let go
When you touch me
And it's me that you own.
Pretty baby,
oh the place that you hold in my heart.
Would you break it apart? Again
Oh pretty baby

Pretty baby, don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
You're the one that I belong to.
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
You're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep coming 'round.

Pretty baby, why can't you see?
Pretty baby, don't you leave me.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
Pretty baby, don't you leave me.
Pretty baby. My pretty baby
My pretty baby, don't you leave me…"

(Disclaimer: Lyrics belong to Vanessa Carlton. I don't own 'em, I just use 'em.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Touya? Touya?" Sakura waved her hand over Touya's glazed face.

"Huh? What?" Touya snapped back to earth.

"You scared us. I thought you went into some trance or something," Sakura told him.

"Oh. Nothing. Just thinking," Touya replied.

He casually asked, "So, Sakura. That's an unusual name. How did you come to have it? Did your parents name you?"

Sakura smiled and said, "I don't quite remember. My parents…my parents died when I was too young. But I just know that somehow, my name was destined to be Sakura."

Meiling was about to interrupt their conversation to remind Sakura about the ring, but just kept quiet.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two hours later…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm tired," Eriol announced, "Anyone else want to drive?"

"I will!" Sakura volunteered.

"Can you even drive?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura smiled at him, "Of course I can. I got a license and everything. I just don't drive because I don't have a car."

"Well, let Syaoran drive," Meiling said, "You haven't driven in three years and who knows what might happen?"

Sakura blushed and she said, "Fine. You can drive, Syaoran."

Syaoran shrugged and said, "Pull over, Eriol."

"Alright," Eriol said and roughly turned the steering wheel to the side.

The people in the car jolted over, and Syaoran and Eriol switched places.

"I want to be in the back with Eriol," Tomoyo said, "Sakura, you want to sit in the front?"

"But Meiling should," Sakura protested.

Meiling and Tomoyo winked at each other, "It's all right," Meiling said, "Sakura, you should sit in the front."

Sakura said, "Okay."

She got out and swapped places with Tomoyo, buckled herself in and smiled at Syaoran, who was giving Tomoyo and Meiling a suspicious look.

"Let's go," Syaoran said, and turned the car back into the freeway lane.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two more hours later…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We're almost here," Syaoran abruptly said.

"Mmm? Oh, wow, look at the view!" Sakura exclaimed, peering out the window.

The car was steadily climbing the mountain, which was covered in snow, and on the side of a cliff.

"Let me get my camera out," Tomoyo fished in her backpack for her camera, a present from Sakura and Meiling last year, and said, "Could you stop the car for a minute? No one's coming."

Syaoran obeyed and slowly stopped the car just a foot away from the edge of the cliff.

Tomoyo rolled the window down, letting a gust of wind blow in, and took a picture of the beautiful view overlooking the valley.

"Sakura, Syaoran, turn around!" Tomoyo said.

They both simultaneously turned around, craning their necks around the head-supporter of the chair, and Tomoyo snapped a photo of both of them.

Then she took a picture of Touya and Meiling, who were both sleeping, and then she had Sakura take a cute picture of Eriol and herself.

"Let's go now," Syaoran said, and started the car back up.

They rolled along the road, traveling up and up, until they arrived at a quaint town.

"What's the town called?" Sakura asked, looking out the window as they passed a clothing shop, the deli, and a bakery.

"I don't know. Our cabin's at the edge of the city, closer to the mountains. We're almost there," Syaoran said, as the rolled along a post office, the grocer's, a coffee shop and a tailor's shop.

Sakura smiled genuinely and said, "I'm so excited! Are there places where we can borrow skis and snowboards?"

"Eriol already bought three extra skis and snowboards, plus we can teach you," Syaoran said.

They continued past a tavern/bar and a doctor's office and a tiny carpenter's shop.

"Seriously? I'm so grateful you guys are doing all of this for us," Sakura smiled.

"You're always happy, aren't you?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura gave a small, rather sad grin and said, "I just figured it's better to be happy than sad. I do have a sad past…I mean, it's not everyday your parents are both dead and you don't remember--"

Sakura stopped.

"Go on," Syaoran said.

"Nothing. What about you?" Sakura asked.

"Pretty much the same thing. My father was killed by someone. I still don't know who. And I've lost contact with my mother, so basically both of them are dead to me."

Sakura sympathetically patted Syaoran on the shoulder, "I understand. Ooh, is that the cabin? Please tell me it is!!!!!"

Syaoran laughed in spite of himself at Sakura's enthusiasm, "Yes, it's the cabin. Two stories high."

"Wake up! Wake up!" Sakura yelled to the people sleeping in the back, "We're here!"

The four other people mumbled and groaned as they got up, but their tiredness soon turned to happiness.

Syaoran parked the car and Eriol gave Tomoyo the key, and the three girls ran to the front door.

It was made of heavy oak, and Tomoyo quickly put in the key and turned it gently.

The lock gave a click and Tomoyo opened the door.

"Wow!" Sakura exclaimed, voicing everyone's thoughts.

There was a fireplace already roaring, and a note from the maid that had gotten the house ready.

"I received a call that your ski's and boards will be ready on the 16th," Tomoyo read, "And today's the 15th. I guess we'll have to wait for the slopes until tomorrow."

The three men came in, huffing and puffing with all of their luggage.

The downstairs had a small, cozy kitchen with all the essentials, and a large pantry already stocked with food.

The living room was in the middle, with three huge couches and a bear rug in front of the roaring fireplace, and a coffee table.

There was a small bathroom right next to the staircase, and which curved upward to the second floor.

The second floor was loft-style, so there was a rail from which you could look down onto the living room.

"The rooms are over there," Syaoran pointed upwards.

Sakura, Tomoyo and Meiling pounded upstairs and opened the first room, which was a light blue color and three beds already made.

"That must be our room," Meiling exclaimed, and they moved on to the next room.

"Syaoran's and Eriol's," Sakura said, looking at the dark green room with two beds.

"And Touya's," Tomoyo finally said, opening the door to the last room.

There were also two bathrooms, one which was the girls, and one which was the guys.

"We brought up the luggage!" Touya hollered.

"I'll go get ours," Sakura said, and yawned, "I'm tired."

She went out to the hallway and peeked over the railing to see Syaoran and Eriol bringing their bags upstairs.

There were the girl's luggage on the floor, and Sakura grabbed hers and went back to the room.

She went back outside and got two more, and went back inside again and put the bags back down, went out side and repeated the procedure until all the bags were in their rooms.

"Yo, Sakura. We're going to take a walk around the town and see what's up. You wanna come?" Meiling asked.

"Who's going?" Sakura asked, and yawned again.

"Me, Eriol, Tomoyo and I think Touya," Meiling replied.

"It's all right. I'm just going to stay here and take a nap," Sakura said.

"All right. We'll be back by three," Meiling said, and left the room.

Sakura yawned and stretched and climbed on top of the bed.

She put her head on the soft pillow and dropped asleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Bye," Syaoran said, and shut the door behind Touya, who was lagging behind Meiling, who was following Eriol and Tomoyo.

Syaoran put on a pair of warm slippers and padded upstairs.

He peeked into Sakura's room, and saw her fast asleep, curled on top of the bed.

Syaoran cracked a smile and went inside.

He took the warm blanket from the next bed and draped it across Sakura's shoulders gently, making sure to not bother her.

She stirred slightly, and even in her sleep, she smiled blissfully.

Syaoran tucked the blanket around her and quietly left the room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mmm…What time is it?" Sakura murmured from her sleep.

She opened her eyes and saw that she had a thick blanket over herself, making her warm and toasty.

Sakura stretched and got up, and left her room.

She walked down the staircase and saw Syaoran on the couch, sipping on a cup of coffee in front of the fire and reading the newspaper.

"Hi," Sakura said softly.

"Hi. Nice nap?" Syaoran asked, his eyes on his newspaper.

Sakura smiled, "Yeah. Thanks for putting the blanket around me."

Syaoran looked up, "How'd you know it was me?"

"It was quite simple, Watson," Sakura mimicked Sherlock Holmes' British accent, "It was all a matter of ruling out the suspects."

Syaoran smiled, and Sakura returned to her normal voice, "You should smile more."

Syaoran shrugged, "I don't have much to smile about."

"Mind if I join you?" Sakura asked.

"Of course not. Want me to get you some coffee?" Syaoran offered.

"Hot chocolate sounds good," Sakura said, and while Syaoran was putting together her sweet drink, she pulled a throw over herself, and stared into the fire.

"Don't you think fires are so amazing?" Sakura asked Syaoran when he returned with her drink.

She sipped it quietly while Syaoran gazed into the fire.

"It is amazing," Syaoran agreed.

Sakura finished her drink and set it down on the coffee table.

"Hungry, are we?" Syaoran teased.

Sakura answered by her stomach's grumbling.

"Want me to fix you a sandwich or something?" Syaoran asked.

"Oh, it's okay. I'll eat when the others come back, and besides, you already made me a drink," Sakura replied.

"No, it's okay. I mean, they've probably already ate by now," Syaoran said.

Sakura grinned at him, "In that case, I'm all up for a sandwich. No mayonnaise, please."

Syaoran got up and Sakura said, "I'll go with you. We can do the dishes together. I wash, you dry."

Syaoran smiled again, and said, "I'm all up for it."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura rinsed off the dish with hot water and handed it to Syaoran, and he dried it with a dish towel.

"You'd make a good father and husband," Sakura suddenly said.

"Huh?" Syaoran looked at her, eyebrow raised.

Sakura blushed, "I mean to say, you're good at everything. You have a good job, you can cook, wash, clean, everything."

Syaoran laughed shortly, "Yeah, that's me, Mr. Mom."

Sakura answered by lifting her hands out of the soapy water and blew a bubble at him, which landed on his forehead.

"Hey!" Syaoran exclaimed, and grabbed some bubbles from the sink and threw them at Sakura.

They landed in her hair, and Sakura flicked water at Syaoran.

"I'm going to get you back!" Sakura squealed and ducked as Syaoran threw a handful of water at her, soaking her shirt.

"Oh, yeah?" Syaoran asked, and smiled again.

"Yeah," Sakura said, and got up.

Their eyes met, and Sakura paused, gazing into Syaoran's eyes.

They were staring at each other, caught up in the moment, but it was passed when they heard the front door opening.

"I better wash up," Sakura said, "You can finish the dishes and clean up the kitchen!"

She stuck out her tongue at Syaoran and left the room.

Meiling and Tomoyo came into the kitchen, seeing a soppy, soapy Syaoran standing. (Hey! A tongue twister! Say it three times really fast!)

"What happened?" Meiling asked, step siding over the wet spots on the floor.

Syaoran wiped the grin off his face and said, "Nothing."

"You don't look like a nothing to me," Meiling said, examining him, "You got into a water fight with Sakura! Haha!"

"Looks like it to me, too," Tomoyo agreed.

She left when she heard Eriol calling for her, and Meiling said seriously, "You like her, don't you?"

"What? Tomoyo? Why would I?" Syaoran asked.

"No, dummy! Sakura! I mean, you only smile when you're around her," Meiling said.

Syaoran scowled, "She's just a cheery person. It rubs off on me. She has good karma."

Meiling rolled her eyes, "Yeah right. You like her. Let me warn you though, you better catch her before she finds someone else."

Meiling turned to leave, but Syaoran muttered to himself, "Yeah right. She doesn't date."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura woke up, yawning.

She peeked out the window, and saw freshly fallen snow covering the yard and the back porch.

"SNOW!" Sakura exclaimed, and quickly got up.

"Wake up, wake up, Tomoyo, Meiling," Sakura nudged her two friends and they responded by cracking open their eyes.

"We know, Sakura," Meiling mumbled, "Of course its snowing. Its in the middle of December plus we're in the mountains."

"What time is it?" Tomoyo inquired, sitting up in her bed.

"Six. When do you think we'll get our snowboards?" Sakura asked.

"Soon. Let's go down for breakfast. Hopefully, someone will have breakfast all set out for us," Meiling said airily.

Sakura laughed, "Little spoiled princess!"

Tomoyo and Meiling laughed, and they got up, put on their slippers and headed out.

The three girls walked down to the kitchen, and they found the three men bustling in the kitchen to cook breakfast.

"You were right," Sakura joked to Meiling, "They did make breakfast for us."

"Is this my plate?" Tomoyo asked, sitting down.

"We'll cook breakfast for you tomorrow. What time did you wake up?" Sakura asked, looking at Syaoran.

"Five thirty. It's a little later than the time I usually get up. Poor Touya was forced to wake up by Eriol," Syaoran said.

"Thanks a lot," Sakura said, happily, and breathed in the aroma of bacons, eggs and toast.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This way," Eriol led the way to a tiny cabin in the middle of the woods on one of the mountains, a place where an old man made special skis and boards.

"Wow," Sakura said softly, looking at the sight before her.

There was the quaint wooden cabin, with logs stacked beside it.

The shade from the evergreen trees cast over the cabin, and the freshly fallen snow lay untouched on the floor of the forest…

"Not anymore!" Sakura and Meiling squealed, and they threw themselves on the floor and made a snow angel.

"Tsk, tsk," Eriol said, "You're getting yourself wet."

"Ha!" Tomoyo made a snowball and threw it in Eriol's face.

"Augh!" he hollered, and responded by also throwing a chunk of snow at Tomoyo.

"Immature brats," Touya rolled his eyes.

Syaoran stood beside him, watching the scene unfold before his eyes of four excited people playing in the snow.

A shot rang out in the air, and suddenly everyone was silent.

They slowly turned around to see a wounded bear, with blood spilling out from its body.

"No," Sakura murmured softly, and ran to the bear, "Don't die. You didn't do anything--"

"Sakura get back here, it's wounded!" Syaoran yelled to Sakura, and sprinted to her and grabbed her.

"It's dead," a gruff voice said from the entrance of the cabin, making them all whirl around.

"Mr. Wagehi, nice to see you again. Do you have our snowboards ready?" Touya asked, ignoring Sakura and Syaoran.

"Yes. Come and get them," the man said, and slowly retreated into his cabin.

"But the bear," Sakura whimpered, still staring at the bear, with blood still coming out, staining the beautiful white snow.

"Sakura, it's dead. It's an animal. It probably had rabies. It could've killed us all," Syaoran said.

"But it didn't do anything," Sakura protested softly.

"Let's go back in," Tomoyo said hastily, "Get some coffee, eh?"

The happy wintery mood had been killed by the dead bear (no pun intended), and Eriol and Tomoyo supported Sakura's arms and walked her into the cabin, where Touya had already gone in.

"Excuse her," Meiling told Syaoran softly.

They were still outside, and Syaoran said, "We should go in."

"I know. But if you want to know why she's so…affected by the bear's death is…we don't know why either. It was probably in her past before she came to live with us. She did the same thing years ago when she saw a cat killing a bird. I suppose she just hates death," Meiling explained.

"Whatever," Syaoran said, trying to act like he didn't care, "I don't give a damn about her."

"Or so you think," Meiling said mischievously.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There are your snowboards. And those are your skis," the old man pointed out.

"Wow, is this mine?" Sakura reached over and picked up a long board painted pink with light, pastel cherry blossoms all over it.

Her mood had lightened considerably since they walked into the cabin and had a cup of coffee.

Now, it was time for the snowboards.

"Yeah. It was Syaoran's idea," Eriol said, and nudged Syaoran.

Syaoran shrugged, and looked down at his feet.

The girls got their skis and snowboards and trekked back to the car, where they loaded it on top of the Explorer.

"When can we hit the slopes?" Sakura asked eagerly.

Eriol laughed, "Right now. Or as soon as we drive up to the parking lot, put our skis in for safekeeping, take the lift up to the top of the mountain, then warm up, then teach you how to snowboard, THEN finally go surfing down the mountain."

Sakura pouted, "Aw. Does it have to take so long?"

Everyone laughed, except for Syaoran and Touya, of course.

"We're here," Eriol announced several minutes later.

"Yippee!" Sakura exclaimed, while Tomoyo commented humorously, "You sure had a lot of sugar this morning."

"I can't help it--I LOVE snow!" Sakura exclaimed, and took a deep breath to inhale the fresh air.

"We can tell," Touya said.

Sakura just smiled at him and said, "So where's the place we put our skis?"

"First, we need to take them off the top of the car," Syaoran said, and looked at Touya and Eriol, "A little help?"

The three guys got the skis and snowboards off the roof, and Syaoran handed Sakura her board.

"Thanks," Sakura told him, and said, "You want me to carry my skis?"

"No, I'll take them up for you," Syaoran grunted.

They walked up a little ways to a medium sized building, where people dressed up like eskimos were carrying their luggage around.

"There's check in," Meiling pointed to a sign, and the group went over there.

"Hello, Syaoran, Touya, Eriol. Haven't seen you in a long time," an attractive girl told the three men.

She had long brown hair, and her waist was so narrow it looked like you could put your hands around it.

"Hey, Shawna," Eriol greeted.

The girl flipped her long hair and smiled at him, "You guys here to snowboard?"

"Yeah. These are our guests, Tomoyo, Sakura and Meiling," Eriol introduced.

"Hi," Shawna said, not looking at them, "So Syaoran, built some muscles up this past year, didn't you? And same to you, Touya."

Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged looks with Meiling, who rolled her eyes in the direction of Shawna.

"We'll take our snowboards out of our account and put in three pairs of skis," Syaoran said, cutting to the chase.

"All right. I'll be right back," Shawna said, winked at Eriol and sashayed away.

"So, how do you know her?" Tomoyo asked casually.

Eriol shrugged, "We've seen her every year since, oh I don't know, five years ago? She's my age, so we got along well."

Touya snorted and said, "Yeah, REAL well. On the first day they met, too."

Syaoran snickered, "Really REALLY well."

"Shut up," Eriol said, turning a shade of purple and red.

"I'm back with your boards. I'll take your skis now," Shawna came back, interrupting them.

The three guys handed her the girls' skis and received their snowboards, which Shawna had brought back on a little cart.

"Why don't you guys just keep your snowboards in your cabin?" Meiling inquired.

Syaoran shrugged, "Someone might break in and steal them. They're safe here, and it doesn't cost much to keep them here."'

"Back to Eriol and Shawna," Tomoyo interrupted, "So what exactly did they get along in?"

Syaoran and Touya said simultaneously, "A bed," and cracked up.

"So you two…" Tomoyo pointed to Eriol and the direction Shawna had gone in, "Slept together?"

"That's not all they did!" Syaoran snorted.

"I see," Tomoyo said quietly.

"Tomoyo, baby, it doesn't mean anything. Don't be jealous of her," Eriol said.

"I'm not jealous. I'm just wondering why you would sleep with a girl who you just met," Tomoyo said, her voicing starting to go higher and higher.

Eriol sighed, "I've changed since then, Tomoyo. I fell in love with you."

Tomoyo looked into Eriol's eyes and hesitated.

"All right," Tomoyo said softly, "But only because I love you back."

"Let's go out onto the slopes. I'll teach you how to snowboard," Eriol said.

"All right! Let's go!" Meiling and Sakura exclaimed, and started marching out of the doors from where they had entered.

"Um, it's that way," Syaoran coughed, and pointed to another door.

"We knew that!" Meiling and Sakura chorused, and made a u-turn and headed back that way.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

End of chapter 5. Next chapter, 'Snowboarding'.

A/N: Kinda corny about the whole Tomoyo and Eriol thing. Oh well. Anyways, review for this now that "Saukra's First Time" is over! Btw, need 15 more reviews for that to reach my goal. Hehe. REVIEW!!