Bonjour, everyone. I don't own CCS although I'd like to. Tell me if I make any mistakes, and please R+R!! Now on with the story!

I own everyone who isn't familiar (I don't know Sakura, etc.).

Remember:
"bla" = talking
~bla~ = thinking
*bla* = stressed words
~~~*** = change of scene or POV
POV = point of view
a/n = author's note

Chapter 3-Feelings and Friendships

"What?" asked Syaoran, not believing what he was hearing.

"Can you teach me martial arts?" Sakura asked again. Syaoran closed his eyes and thought.

~*Flashback*~

"You know how to block. Now you need to learn to use those blocks on instinct," said the instructor. The instructor took a stick and brought it down on Syaoran. Syaoran wasn't paying attention so the stick came down sharply on Syaoran's shoulder. Luckily, he wore thick padding, otherwise his collarbone could've been broken.

"Try again." Syaoran blocked a blow that was aimed at his side. It hurt his arm though. He kept having to block with his arms, creating bruises when he missed.

~*End Flashback*~

~I don't know if she'd be up to that sort of thing~ thought Syaoran.

"Please," pleaded Sakura.

"Why do you want to learn?" Syaoran asked. Sakura sighed.

"You saw how that man grabbed my arm. I want to learn so I can defend myself and get away if something like that ever happened again," explained Sakura.

"Sakura, that would probably never happen again," replied Syaoran.

"Yes, but what if it did?" Sakura asked. ~I don't want to learn just because of today's incident~ Sakura thought.

~*Flashback*~

Sakura and Tomoyo were shopping at the market on the street. They were 14 years old and looking at school supplies.

"I *need* to get this notebook! The cover is kawaii!" exclaimed Tomoyo. Sakura laughed and agreed. Suddenly, a strong arm grabbed Sakura's arm, starting to tug her away from Tomoyo. Tomoyo screamed.

"Let me go!" cried Sakura. The arm tugged harder. Tomoyo ran. "Tomoyo! Don't go!" Sakura shouted. Sakura stomped on the person's toe and the person cried out. A man.

"Come on, bring the girl, and let's go!" shouted a woman.

~A man and a woman~ Sakura thought. Sonomi and Tomoyo came running through the crowd.

"Sakura, it's all right! We're here now!" Tomoyo screamed. Sonomi put her hands on her hips.

"If you don't release that child this instant, I will call the police," shouted Sonomi, loudly enough for the whole street to hear, already reaching for her cell phone. All the people of the street turned to look at the cause of the commotion and the folk who dared to steal a child on the street. The man and woman looked at each other, the man let go of Sakura, and they ran away. Sakura wiped off the man's sweat from her arm with disgust.

~*End Flashback*~

"Please, let me learn, Syaoran. What harm can come out of it?" Sakura asked. Syaoran remembered peeking through a martial arts program. It was different from Syaoran's training, much different.

~That's because that instructor was training you for combat. They were *expecting* you to fight something. So, of course the training would be difficult, but you can sign her up for a defense program like *that*. She'll still learn the techniques, but the training won't kill her. You can even sign up yourself to keep an eye on her~ thought Syaoran's practical side.

"All right, Sakura. Say, I've had my eye on this martial arts learning center. It teaches tae kwon do. I've always wanted to see the difference between what I learned and tae kwon do. How about we both sign up and give it a shot?" Syaoran suggested. Sakura jumped with excitement.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Sakura shouted. She was so happy that she hugged Syaoran. His face turned crimson. "Oh sorry," Sakura said and she pulled away.

"That's all right," Syaoran said. They walked out toward the university campus together.

~~~***

"I don't know, Amelia. I don't know if I have feelings for Syaoran or not," Sakura explained.

"What about this morning? You said that you didn't have any feelings for Syaoran *that* way," Amelia said.

"I know, but tonight, when Syaoran was protecting me, I felt something. Something was tugging at my heart, but I don't know if it's just gratitude or if I really do have feelings for Syaraon," Sakura said. Amelia smiled.

"Well, would you mind if you had feelings for Syaraon?" Amelia asked. Sakura thought for a minute.

"No, I wouldn't. It wouldn't be awful that I had feelings for him, but if he doesn't like me back, it would ruin our friendship!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Don't worry about that. So, what is it? Do you like him or not?" Amelia asked. Sakura thought.

"I think...I think that I actually do like him! I mean, during dinner, he was trying to protect me. He did seem very kawaii and...kind...yes, I like him!" Sakura exclaimed. Amelia grinned.

"I saw this coming, you know," Amelia said.

"Don't brag," Sakura said. She picked a thread off of her pajamas and threw it into the trash can. "Goodnight, Amelia," Sakura said as she entered her bedroom.

"Good night, Sakura. What does kawaii mean?" Amelia asked before she closed her door.

"Oh, it means cute. Sorry!"

"That's all right. Just next time, you either use kawaii, cute, or hot!" Amelia said laughingly and she closed the door to her bedroom. Sakura laughed and closed her door too.

Sakura jumped into bed and fell asleep right away, dreaming about Syaoran.

Amelia hopped into bed and covered herself with her blankets. "Yes!" she whispered. "It worked!" Then she went to sleep.

~~~***

"So, how was the date?" Craig asked.

"It wasn't a date," Syaoran argued. Craig smirked at Syaoran.

~Is he picking that up from me or did he use to do that before?~ Syaoran wondered. "Oh fine. I like Sakura. It was a date. You win," Syaoran said. Craig grinned.

~So he finally admits it~ thougth Craig. "I knew you would tell me sometime. I also knew that you were going to admit that it was a date too," Craig said.

"What? You're psychic?" Syaoran asked. After years of fighting for the cards, Syaoran was wary of anything. Craig shook his head.

"Nah, you're just obvious. So, when did you find out that you liked her?" Craig asked. He knew that Syaoran liked Sakura, but it seemed a little deeper than that. Syaoran sighed.

"I think it's more than just liking her. I don't know, maybe I love her. But it started in 4th - 5th grade? I don't remember. It seems like that was so long ago," Syaoran started.

"It is," Craig pointed out. Syaoran nodded.

"Anyway, I found out one day. I was about to tell her. but then she comes to me crying. She's sad because she just told this guy about her feelings for him. He said that she didn't really love him like she thought she did. She just loved him like she loved her father, and it was true. She was so sad. She kept talking about how that guy said that someday she would find someone who truly cared for her, and I couldn't tell her then!" Syaoran said. Craig nodded understandingly.

"Well, why didn't you tell her later?" Craig asked.

"I had worked up all my nerve to tell her that day, but then I lost it. So, I lost my nerve, and I can't seem to get it back lately," Syaoran said. "That must sound totally weird. I never hear any of you say that you can't get your nerve *back*."

"Actually, it's a good way of putting it. I don't think it's weird at all," Craig said. Syaoran smiled and thanked him. "What you need to do, Syaoran, is get your nerve back. What's the plan?" Syaoran shrugged.

"I suggested we take tae kwon do lessons," Syaoran said. Craig shook his head.

"Okay, you're going to need to explain everything. A person doesn't just say, 'Hey! Let's go take tae kwon do lessons!' Spill," Craig said. Syaoran told Craig about the whole date. Craig listened with a calm face, but inside he was frowning by the time he heard about the man that broke into the resteraunt.

~Why would someone break into a *resteraunt*? Why did he go straight for Sakura? There's definitely something different about Sakura and Syaoran, since he went straight for their table, but I shouldn't talk. Oh well, I won't ask about their secret unless they ask about mine. That's fair~ thought Craig.

"You know, you must have went through a lot, Syaoran. Let's get some sleep," Craig said. Syoaran nodded gratefully. They went to their seperate bedrooms and went to bed with plenty on their minds.

~~~***

"Amelia?" Sakura asked. Syaoran, Craig, Amelia, and Sakura were walking down the hallways towards class one day.

"Yes?" Amelia replied.

"Do you have a best friend?"

"Not really. Jennifer is sort of my best friend, but we're not really that close. Craig is more my close friend and boyfriend then anything. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, 'cause I think you're my best friend in America," Sakura said.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess you're my best friend too," Amelia said. Syaoran turned towards Craig.

"I think you're my best friend too," Syaoran said. Craig agreed.

"Well, I guess we agree that we're best friends," Craig said. Sakura and Amelia laughed.

"I don't care if that just sounded like the corniest thing that I've ever heard. It's true. I think we are best friends," Amelia said. Sakura nodded.

"I have some best friends in Japan...but you two are definitely my best friends in America," Sakura said, explaining what she said earlier. The foursome walked to class, talking about what they liked about their friends.

~~~***

"Is this the place, Syaoran?" Sakura asked. Syaoran nodded. "Did you sign us up?"

"Yeah, I went over there yesterday, lunch time. The instructors are very polite, they seem like nice people," Syaoran said.

"Well, that's good. It wouldn't be good if it was a bad environment. That would make it hard to learn," Sakura said casually. Syaoran nodded. They entered the building that had a large sign that said, "Tae Kwon Do" written on it. A woman with brown hair tied into a high ponytail greeted them.

"Ahn young ha say yo! That's hello in Korean. Korean is the language of tae kwon do, in case you didn't know. You usually say it before you start warm ups but after you bow to the instructor. You just bow to show respect, don't worry about it. Someone will go over things with you during class, but I just told you that so you could get through the very beginning. Just copy everyone else, and you'll learn something. It'll be better when a master or instructor can get to you. By the way, my name is Eileen, and I'm an instructor. Here are your uniforms and your belts. The boys locker room is over by the stairs, the girls locker room is over by the awards and pictures," Eileen explained.

She handed Sakura and Syaoran their uniforms and they went to change. It was a white tunic, white pants and a white belt. Once they came out, Eileen told them to go to the second practice room upstairs. A long flight of stairs led the way to the room. They ran up the stairs. Once they reached the entrance to the room, Eileen stopped them from going in right away.

"You bow before you enter the practice room, or the do-jang. You can read more about it in your information that we'll give you at the end of class," Eileen explained. "Looks like they're starting warm-ups. Go on! Join them, just try to follow along as they go." Sakura and Syaoran entered the room and found a spot to stand. A girl with a red belt on was standing in front of everyone else, facing them.

"Ahn ja!" Everyone else sat down, Sakura and Syaoran soon caught on that 'ahn ja' means to sit. "Legs in front, together, stretching forward, toes pointing up, on my count. Hana, dool, set, net, dasot, yasot, eel gope, yo dool."

(A/N: That's counting to eight)

"Dool, dool, set, net, dasot, yasot, eel gope, yo dool," the entire class repeated. (a/n: two, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight) Syaoran and Sakura just remained silent and kept stretching. They continued to go through stretches that stretched their legs, stomachs, arms and neck.

"Jumping jacks. 10 times. My count," said the red belt girl. She had long, black hair that resembled Meilin's except it was pulled back into two, low pigtails. "Hana, dool, set!" (1, 2, 3)

"Hana!" (1) shouted the class.

"Hana, dool, set!"

"Dool!"

"Hana, dool, set!"

"Set!"

"Hana, dool, set!"

"Net!"

The girl was quiet while they jumped for three counts. Then the class yelled, "Dasot!" One, two, three - silently. "Yasot!" One, two, three. "Eel gope!" One, two, three. "Yo dool!" (8) One, two, three. "Ah ho!" (9) One, two, three. On the third jump, everyone stopped. The class rested for a couple of seconds, breathing slightly heavily.

"Joo choom sogi!" shouted the girl. She brought fists up to her chest, then brought them out in front of her. She stepped out widely, about a step wider than her shoulder-length, and brought her fists to her waist--about belt level. She did all this in two, sweeping motions. Everyone else did the same, Sakura and Syaoran tried to do it, and they finally got it about a couple of seconds after everyone else.

"Hai!" the class yelled.

(a/n: Japanese pronounciation, you would say Ha-i like yes. But here, you say Hai...like hi in English. It's just how the people write the pronounciation for Americans. I'm guessing because it looks nicer than writing, "Hi!" everytime someone needs to yell in martial arts. This is called a kee-yup. You yell it to show power and concentration...to build confidence, strength, concentration and some more. It comes from your chest, more or less.)

"Mum tong joo roo gee!" She punched once, the punch aiming at an invisible torso. Everyone did likewise. (a/n: This means middle punch. The gee is with a hard 'g')

"Dool bon joo roo gee!" The girl punched twice in the same area. (a/n: Two times punch.)

"Say bon joo roo gee!" She punched twice at an invisible torso than once at an invisible nose. Everyone did likewise. (a/n: Three times punch)

"Sha," said the girl and she rested. Her hands went by her hips and she bowed. The class bowed back. Then another instructor took the girl's place while the girl went back to her spot in the lines.

"Thank you, Melanie," said the instructor. The instructor was a man with short, black hair. He was tall and lean. He wore a black belt around his uniform. He looked at the students that were in lines and finally saw Sakura and Syaoran. He smiled. "Ah, new students. I am James. What are your names?"

"Sakura."

"Syaoran." James smiled.

"Ah, from...Japan?" James asked. Sakura nodded. Syaoran shrugged.

"I was from Hong Kong, but then I moved to Japan," Syaoran explained, and he left it at that. Then he remembered his training and added, "Sir." James nodded.

"Eileen. Would you like to go with Sakura and Syaoran??" James inquired. Eileen nodded in agreement.

"Yes, sir," Eileen said. She gestured for Sakura and Syaoran to follow her. She led them to a corner in the practice room. "All right. I already gave you an introduction downstairs, but there are a couple of things. We always show respect to one another, it's one of our...you could call them rules. So, when you're talking to a master or instructor, you bow to the master and chief instructor before you say something. You also end your answers with sir or ma'am. It may feel funny in the beginning, but you'll get use to later. Trust me, soon you might be calling your professors sir or ma'am without realizing it." Eileen chuckled. "Would you like to start with punches, kicks, or blocks? I'm pretty flexible right now, whichever you're most comfortable with."

"Hmm...how about kicks, ma'am?" Sakura suggested. Eileen looked at Syaoran.

"Are you okay with that?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Syaoran replied. Eileen nodded.

"All right. If you're going to get your yellow belt, your next belt, you need to know four kicks. Front kick, high kick, inside out kick, and outside in kick. In Korean, that's up-chugee, no pi chugee, bakaro chugee, and ahn ree oh chugee. Following me so far?" Eileen asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Sakura and Syaoran replied at the same time, both thinking to study the Korean when they got back to their dorms.

~They make a great couple~ Eileen thought. Then she went back to kicking.

"All right. Let's learn front kick. Let's start with our right leg back and our left leg forward. Your left leg is in front, so it would be called your front leg...simple enough. Your right leg is in back, so it's called your back leg. It won't always be your right leg back, but it usually starts out that way...you'll see what I mean later on. Anyway, you take your back leg and raise it so it's in front of you. Bend your knee and raise it up...up to your waist is the best place because you can kick the highest when you raise your knee up to your waist.

Your toes are pointed and your knee acts like a hinge. Your pointed toes then kick upwards and retract back to their previous position. Then your foot comes back down in front of you," Eileen explained. She demonstrated while explaining while Sakura and Syaoran watched.

~Hmm...I remember that kick~ Syaoran thought.

"Now you try it," Eileen said. They did. It was fairly simple so they had practically no trouble, especially Syaoran. "Good. Now for the hich kick. It's like the front kick except this time, you're aiming for height, and your leg is straight throughout the kick."

After they had worked on their kicks for a bit, Eileen went and got pads. They looked like black paddles that had shorter handles and were stuffed. There was a red string that was connected to the handle so the pads could be hung up on the hooks on the wall.

"I'll hold the pad and you kick it using the kicks that I tell you to use." She held the pad at about belt level. "Front kick. Get in a line in front of me. You'll kick once, and then get back in line so the next person can kick."

"Yes ma'am." Sakura and Syaoran formed a line, Sakura first because of Syaoran. She kicked and her pointed foot hit the pad with a slap.

"Good job. Kee-yup next time."

"Yes, ma'am," Sakura replied. She went to the back of the short line and watched Syaoran kick.

He kicked the pad hard and hit the pad with such a slap that some people in the upper belts turned to see the noise.

"Hai!" Syaoran yelled as he hit the pad. He put his foot back down and started to walk to the back when Eileen stopped him.

"Syaoran, did you take martial arts before you came here?" Eileen asked.

"Yes, I did, ma'am, although it wasn't tae kwon do," Syaoran replied. Eileen nodded.

"All right. Well, I think you should still go through the training with Sakura because there *are* differences between the different types of martial arts. You can go back in line now." He did so. They went on kicking, doing their best. Eileen was thinking over the situation and decided to talk to Syaoran at the end of class.

"Okay. James has called chun-yull...it means line up so you go back to the lines to end class. When we line up, it's from highest belt to lowest, oldest to youngest. The highest and oldest belt, besides the teacher, goes to the front, right spot. Then it goes on from there," explained Eileen. Sakura and Syaoran ran back and found a spot in the lines.

James was in front of the class, facing the wall where there were two flags. One was the Korean flag. The other was the American flag.

"Charyot. (Attention) Kookee kay koong yay (bow to the flags) ," James said. They bowed. Then James turned around to face the class.

Then Melanie, who was standing in the front, right hand spot, said, "Charyot. Say-bu-nim kay koon yay. " (Attention. Bow to the Master [It's more "Master bow"]

(a/n: Korean isn't my first language either...all I know is from tae kwon do, and even as you read, I need to leaf through my information, please tell me if I did translated something wrong)

James applauded the class, and the class clapped too. James looked at Sakura and Syaoran.

"Have you introduced yourself to Sakura and Syaoran?" James asked the class.

"No, sir," they said in unison.

"Well, let's introduce ourselves now! Shake hands," James suggested. Melanie stepped in front of James and shook hands. Then she stood next to James, facing the class. The next person shook hands with James, then with Melanie. The third person shook hands with James, Melanie and the person that was before them. It kept going on and on. Sakura watched the people shake hands.

The handshake was with the left hand under then right elbow, palm down. As she started to shake hands with people, they started to introduce themselves.

"I'm Melanie. Good job."

"I'm Alana, welcome!"

"My name's Ben, good job."

"Helen, great job."

"Jim, good job." And it continued.

~I guess people like to stick with 'good job' as their compliment~ Sakura thought. Finally, Sakura was standing with everyone else and Syaoran was shaking her hand.

They held their hands together a little longer than necessary (which both of them noticed) before Syaoran said, "Good job." Then class was over.

~~~***

Syaoran had come out of the boys room with his ordinary clothes and his jacket on. Eileen stepped to talk to him.

"So, how do you like it here in Massachusetts?" Eileen asked.

"It's all right, nothing bad so far, ma'am," Syaoran replied politely. Eileen nodded.

"How is Sakura? How do you two know each other?"

"Oh, we're old friends. Have been since 4th grade," Syaoran said. Eileen smiled.

"So, are you two more than friends now?" Syaoran blushed.

"No, ma'am. We're good friends."

"I see," Eileen said. ~What a shame...they'd make a great couple~ "So, where do you go for school?"

"Oh, we go to that university that's down a couple of blocks from here," Syaoran said.

"Oh! Alanafield University?" Eileen asked.

"Hai, that's the name!" Syaoran said. Eileen shook her head.

"Yes, not hai. You need to remember when you're not talking to people who know Japanese, otherwise they won't know what you're talking about."

"You know Japanese?"

"My friend is studying at Alanafield."

"Jennifer?"

"Yes! That's her name. Are you two in the same class?" Eileen asked.

"Same Japanese class. Sakura and I are helping the teacher there," Syaoran explained.

"Well, I bet you two do an awesome job," Eileen said, and she went back to sorting through applications for testing. Syaoran was left standing against the wall, thinking over the conversation.

"Ready to go?" Sakura asked. Syaoran jumped a little before answering.

"Oh, you surprised me. Yeah, I'm ready, let's go," Syaoran said and they left the building, bowing before leaving.

~~~***

"So, you know Sakura and Syaoran. How are you guys over there handling it?" Eileen asked.

"Oh, don't worry. Amelia and Craig already cooked up a plan to get them together," Jennifer explained. Eileen grinned.

"That's great. Heck, with Amelia and Craig working on them, we should see them together in no time."

"I don't know...they seem to be a bit shy...but yeah, A and C will push them together..."

"That's good. They really do deserve each other," Eileen said.
A/N: Okay!!! I'm finally done with this chapter! Review please! Eileen, Melanie, and James are all made up...oh and everyone in "the gang" belong to me too! No copying! Hope you liked this chapter...once again, Korean isn't my first language, correct me if there's something wrong...okay, au revoir!