Chapter 1: Dreams and Gaze Unbroken

"Wh-what?" A shocked silence filled the air. "You... Syaoran, you- you can't be serious..." A hint of desperate humor rang in her voice; such an unnatural tone coming from her mouth. My head snapped up, breaking my gaze from the not-so-interesting-floor. "B-but I am! I-I'm totally serious! Sakura..." I didn't care if my heart was in my throat, if my face was as red as... well no, an apple was no comparison.

"N-no. No... you don't love me Syaoran, you-you don't even know what love is!" "B-but Sakura-" "Stay away from me! Go away!" And to my horror, she ran away. I tried to call out to her, but my voice was dead. I tried to run after her, to make her understand in any way possible what I was feeling... but my legs wouldn't move. My eyes filled with tears that slid down my cheeks and spiraled to the floor. "S-sa..." My mind grew numb as everything around me became black with the unfairness of it all.

And I woke up. Luckily.

I sat straight up, drenched in cold sweat, my heart pounding and filled with leftover frusteration from my dream. "AAARGH!" I cried out in anger and violently punched my pillow.

As I got ready for school I thought. I had been having these dreams for the past few weeks, and I didn't like them one bit. They all had the same basic theme, but different scripts. The general idea was that I would confess my feelings to Sakura, and Sakura would reject me. Of course that wasn't what I wanted, but I couldn't make the dreams stop! The problem was, I knew I WANTED to tell Sakura how I felt, but I didn't know how I should go about doing it. Or, when it came down to it, if I'd have the courage in the first place.

I sighed, still thinking my depressed thoughts, and splashed cold sink water on my face. "Brrr..." Cold. Just like Sakura in my dreams. Why would I imagine her rejecting me like that? Of course, I DID expect to be rejected, but not so crushingly as how I dreamed it. At least, hopefully not.

LATER (at school)

"Hi Tomoyo! Hi Syaoran!" Sakura skipped into the room, in a bright mood as usual. I hardly even noticed myself blushing since I was so used to it. "Hi Sakura!" Tomoyo replied happily. "Oh!" Sakura seemed to remember something. "Kero and I sensed Clow Reed again yesterday but-" "WHat!?" I cried, instantly snapping into protection mode. "Why didn't you call me? Well?!" Sakura and Tomoyo blinked. "...But it was late and the presence was short and faint, so I decided to just tell you guys in the morning." "... ...oh." I mumbled quietly.

I must have had steam coming from my ears; why did I have to be so impulsive!? Lucky for me though Tomoyo was right, Sakura was too carefree to notice. She was already engaged in conversation with Tomoyo. (Or rather, Tomoyo was telling her about a new outfit and Sakura was nodding half-heartedly) "Hey, Sakura!" "Oh, hi Rika!" Sakura turned to us. "I'll be back in a minute you guys!" And she walked over to talk to Rika.

*Ahem* "Syaoran? ...um... Li? LI!?" "Huh? Wha?" "I'm trying to talk to you, but you're too busy staring at Sakura." She laughed her little 'Oh ho ho ho' laugh. "Wha?-M-N-But-thats not-" She giggled as I stammered unnaturally. I gave up, realizing I there was no way to win. "Fine." I sounded pouty, and I didn't want that. "What did you want to tell me then?" Tomoyo grinned. "Have you told her yet?" My shoulders slumped. "What do you think?" I asked miserably. She nodded understandingly. "I didn't think so." She sounded disappointed. "Why not?" "I've told you before. Don't get me started on the list." "Fair enough." I turned back to Sakura and continued my gazeing.