A/N: WA-HOO! Chapter Four! C'mon, people—let's see if Momiji-chan can get her review count into double digits! ^_~ Please R+R! (Seriously. I'm desperate . . .)

Life Lost, Love Discovered

Chapter Four

"SAAAA—KUUURAAA-CHAN!"

Sakura started at the loud, obnoxious voice screaming her name. Instantly, without even turning around, she knew who it was. Kero skidded to a halt and perched upon her shoulder. She was surprised, to say the least. Here she was, half-way home, in broad daylight, with her guardian angel. "Kero!" She hissed. "Not too inconspicuous, are we?!"

"It couldn't wait, I'm too anxious," he was breathing heavily. Obviously, he had flown at top speed just to meet her. "I was flipping through the book today. And I . . . it turns out . . ."

"What?" Sakura held her breath in anticipation.

"Kirika was a descendant of Clow Reed! She was the heir to his magical dynasty, although their powers weren't parallel. Apparently, Clow Reed surpassed her greatly. Kirika was his only daughter."

Sakura's hazel eyes widened as she tried to comprehend what she had just heard. Kirika? She was . . . wait a minute, then that meant . . .

"Kero!" She exclaimed. "She's related to both Eriol-kun and Syaoran-kun!"

***

'There's no denying it, cousin. That really was an odd dream! Wonder what it means? Dunno, but I told Auntie Yelan to check it up and do all that research crap—I'm too lazy! Tee-hee! :-) I'll have to get back to you on that. Anyway, are you still head over heels for that weird girl in your class? Hmph. The lucky bastard! I'll write ya back as soon as Aunt Yelan discovers something. Ja ne, Syaoran-baka,

~Meiling

Syaoran leaned back in his desk chair and shook his head. Meiling was the same as always. He had to wish that Meiling wouldn't torture his poor mother further. Suddenly, the phone beside him jangled, and he jumped a bit. Aw, man! I totally forgot! Sakura-chan won't be happy . . . At the thought of her name, he felt his cheeks flush madly, and he covered them, as in embarrassment, even though he was the only person in the room. It was then he realized that the phone was still ringing, and swiftly scooped it up.

"Moshi moshi."

"Konnichi'wa, Syaoran-kun?"

"Oh, hey, Sakura-chan."

"Are you coming over? We really have to get started on that project."

"Yeah. Want me to bring anything?"

"Nah, I've got everything here."

"Okay, see you in a few."

"Ja ne!" Sakura chirped, and hung up on the other end.

Syaoran replaced the receiver and got to his feet. He yanked his coat from the closet, pulled on his shoes, and was out the door.

***

Her breath came out in ragged gasps, sweat emanating from every pore throughout her frail body. Kirika knew she was in the middle of one of her odd coughing fits, but this one seemed particularly bad. No, not bad—horrible was more suitable.

She needed a glass of water desperately. Her throat felt as though it was ripping apart at the seams, yet because no one was around and she was way too weak to even lift a finger, she was stuck, dehydrated, ill, and alone.

'Am I . . . am I dying? Is it finally happening?' Kirika had toyed with the thought with so long. She was now waltzing in the shadow of death, and she couldn't help but begin to feel hysteria come on. Waltzing, indeed. You can't do a waltz without a partner . . . and here she was, by herself.

'Isao . . .' She thought. 'Oh, please, God . . . don't let me die alone!'

***

"So . . . this is supposed to fit?" Syaoran furrowed his brow as he tried to jam some kind of sphere that was three inches too wide in circumference into a hollow cylinder that was three inches too thin.

"That's what the direction sheets say," Sakura replied, squinting at the assigned sheet. It supposedly would guide them in building a certain type of molecule model, but the directions were so muddled she couldn't make heads of tails of them.

"Yeah . . ." Syaoran drifted off, his eyes wandering. 'Oh, God . . . what is it with girls and short pants? I mean . . . come on, how are we men supposed to concentrate?' His gaze strayed to Sakura's lightly tanned calf, and up . . . up . . . up . . .

Whack!

"ITAI!"

"Kero-chan, why'd you do that?!"

Kero dropped the phone book (which was roughly ten times his weight) that he had used as a weapon . . . which he had used to assault Syaoran. "Just what the hell do you think you're staring at, kid?" Kero scoffed. "At least try to be more inconspicuous! Jesus."

Sakura scowled. "Kero-chan, Syaoran-kun wasn't ogling anything!"

Syaoran sweatdropped. "Uh, maybe I was . . . just a little . . ." He turned beet red, scolding himself for not being able to shake old habits. "You can't blame me!"

"AND WHY NOT?!" Kero got up in Syaoran's face.

"BRING IT ON, YOU BEANIE BABY REJECT!" Syaoran retorted nastily.

"Oh, that is it . . ."

"You two! Act your age," Sakura admonished. Kero folded his arms while Syaoran reluctantly stepped back. "If I give you pudding, will you please leave us be? This project is due in only a few days, and Fujiyama-sensei will whip us good if we do a sloppy job."

"Well, if it's for pudding . . ." Kero flew towards the door, and stopped once more. "Just remember, Li-baka, hands off." He vanished into the darkened corridor.

Sakura shook her head. "Gomen for all the trouble he was causing, Syaoran-kun."

"Don't mention it."

The two lapsed into silence for awhile, trying to figure out their baffling science assignment. Neither were getting very far, when Sakura suddenly blurt out, "So, are you seeing anyone?"

Syaoran started in his chair, eyes wide. "Well, ano . . . iie, not at the moment."


Sakura couldn't help but breathe a great gulp of air. It felt stale, as though it was sticking to the interior of her lungs. She decided to change the subject, and fast. "I've been having weird dreams lately."

"Honto ni?"

"Hai . . ."

A bit concerned now at Sakura's suddenly solemn attitude, Syaoran turned to face her in his chair, and gazed at her intently. Sakura quickly launched into her story, giving detailed descriptions of Kirika and Isao, and of Kirika's unnamed illness, and of the fated love the two had once held.

Syaoran was quiet for a bit after Sakura finished. Sakura sighed and ran a hand through her auburn hair. She glanced down, and saw that Syaoran's hand was now over-lapping hers. She simply smiled, and made no move to disturb his unprecedented act of kindness. "To tell you the truth, I've been having similar dreams . . . it's so odd . . . matte, you say you still don't know what Kirika looks like?" Syaoran asked.

"You're serious?" Sakura's jaw dropped open.

"Dead serious."

"My God . . ." She shook her head in utter disbelief. "It's like one of those weird things you hear in the tabloids."

"Tell me about it."

"So, what is Kirika's physical appearance?"

"Hmn . . . lemme think now . . ." Syaoran rubbed his clean shaven chin thoughtfully, and Sakura waited anxiously for his response.

A/N: Muwaha! I am so evil, ne? Gomen for that. I thank those who were kind enough to review from the bottom of my heart! ^_~ You guys are . . . um . . . really, really cool! ^_^;