Hey guys! I tried my best to update this chappy early! I'll let you skip all my boring speech for now, and read the story!

DISCLAIMER: I do not owe CCS, but my made up characters, which are blessed to have a life of their own.

Thanks to all those peeps that reviewed last chappy!!

¦¦Open Up My Heart ¦¦

¦¦ Chapter: 11 ¦¦ ♥ by: Shinsei-Kokoro ♥

"Owww! Tomoyo…my eye really hurts!" a red-faced Sakura winced; taking in the pain as Tomoyo unreeled the thread she was using to tweeze her eyebrows.

"Stop fidgeting Sakura…and close your eye!" the woman scolded as she tried to speak through her thread-gritted teeth.

"Do you know hoe much pain I'm going through for this stupid so-called party?!"

At that one, Tomoyo let go, and twirled the chair around, making her look into the painful eyes of Sakura Kinomoto.

"Look Sakura…this is a celebration party…plus don't want to look stunning on your date with Syaoran Li?"

"You make the whole thing sound like we're going on the Titanic" the lady murmured rolling her eyes.

"Let me knock something into there…" Tomoyo looked sceptical as she knocked on Sakura's forehead, "Your going out on a date with the hottest man, which any such lady might die to even look at. There'll be so many people! Reporters, camera-men, the ESPN, Board of Trustees, Directors of some sort, dates flinging down the arms of the Dragons, and heaps more! And more than anyone, reporters always focus on the captain, as in Syaoran…and his date, which will be you! So do you wanna knock some looks out of all those people or what?" she asked grinning.

Sakura momentarily groaned, "Suddenly I have this mind to call Li and cancel all this"

Tomoyo immediately looked like she was gonna choke, "You dare not miss! This is a life-time opportunity—,"

"But Tomoyo! Reporters? And cameras? You know I don't like that!"

"Gee, girl! I was just kidding! Wouldn't all this be over the media, if people knew that there was a party down in Miroir?"

"Miroir?" Sakura looked dazed, "This party…is gonna be in Miroir?"

"Duh! Didn't Eriol tell you that?"

"No! Tomoyo, I don't think I can do this! This is like a…"

"Oh, you mean like the conference party I took you to once, where that Ray Brooks couldn't stop hitting on you? Oh no, this is far more…fancier!"

"Oh god…" Sakura moaned, "I'm gonna die…"

"Cheer up Saku! Let's show them, how a Li's girl looks like!" Tomoyo pumped her fists into the air, making Sakura give her a sharp look.

"Li's girl?"

"Yeah! Now let's get back to your eyebrows!"

After about half an hour later, Tomoyo had kicked her back into the bathroom.

"Don't forget to shave your legs and arms, and shampoo and condition that hair!" she yelled, while Sakura grumpily closed the door muttering a: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what to do for dressing up like a poodle without any hair"

Tomoyo only laughed, "You do that, and I'll go have a shower too!"

Soon minutes later, the steam was let out of the door, letting it stream into the room, in which Sakura would be living for a while. Wet feet slipped into a pair of bunny slippers, and out she came, with only a long beige towel wrapped around her long and slender body.

Grabbing all the necessities, shorts and a singlet, she once again disappeared inside her bathroom, and came out within a few minutes looking refreshed, with the towel wrapped on her head.

Walking to her dresser, she put on a familiar gold chain, with an S that was filled with emerald. Smiling at herself in the mirror, she caressed the chain. It was given to her by her mother on her sweet sixteenth birthday.

She made a sour face at that, "Sweet eh?" she shook her head, still not forgetting her death six days after her birthday, which resulted to death of her father along with her elder brother, after a few years.

Now, she was alone. After being given the will, she had sold their family house; unable to take the pain of living there alone, with ghostly auras surrounded her of her dead family. Ever since then, she had lived with Sonomi. The money, which she had gotten after selling the house, was put in bank under her name, for future resources. Everything was sold, or given away. Their family car, her brother's motorbike, their clothes. She hadn't kept a single thing…except this necklace…and her mother's old clothes, which she used to model in as her carrier in a suitcase that had been locked away for years. Pictures of them and of her past were put away. She couldn't even bare looking at them. She would die of guilt to have been given the chance to live.

Flicking away the tears that were falling down her cheeks, she smirked, "I should have killed father when I had the chance to. If it weren't for him, then mom and Touya would still be alive…" she mumbled to herself pulling out the towel, and let her long and wavy hair fall below her shoulders.

"Why do you still speak such things Sakura?" a quiet whisper came from behind her.

Sakura didn't bother turning around, because she could already see Tomoyo through the mirror looking at her desperately.

"How do you expect me to forget such things Tomoyo? How?" the young woman demanded.

"I'm not asking you to forget…I'm just asking you to relive"

"Relive?" she snorted. Sakura turned around and stood up straight, "When I gave Ben my resignation, do you what he accused me off?"

Tomoyo didn't need to ask her, because she already knew the answer. It was the same as always.

"He accused me of killing father!" she shrieked, her face getting red, "Dammit…" she murmured, "…he said I wanted his bloody money…damn shit"

"Sakura…" Tomoyo started, but the woman only interrupted her.

"This same thing goes on everywhere I work Tomoyo! I can't stand it! I did not kill him! You know it! I didn't! Why do they keep on saying that Tomoyo? Please tell me?!"

To Tomoyo surprise, Sakura was breaking down into tears. Running towards her cousin, she hugged her tight.

"What if he says something Tomoyo? What if he tells anybody? How the hell will I tell everyone that I didn't do it?! How the hell can I live?!"

"He won't dare tell anything Sakura…" Tomoyo whispered, sitting her down gently on her bed, and holding her tight again, "He wouldn't…"

"But I hurt him Tomoyo!" she cried making Tomoyo's eyes widen, "He was trying to get onto me, so I hit him with the table lamp!"

Tomoyo immediately pulled away, "He—what?!"

"I hit him hard Tomoyo!" Sakura cried harder as she hid her face in her hands, "And he's bound to take revenge!"

But Tomoyo wasn't listening much. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes looked like killers.

"I'm sick and tired of this Tomoyo! What can I do? I'm scared to do this all over again!"

The woman immediately pulled her into another hug. While Sakura had tears spread across her face, Tomoyo's face was set tight, and her eyes were filled with fury.

"If he hits onto the media Sakura…then trust me…I won't let him go…he will take back everything he says until he dies biting onto his every flesh!"

Sakura slowly pried off her, with another scent of fright, "What if he'll start to blame Kaii's death on me? What then?"

"No! He will not!"

Sakura stood up on her feet, and banged her fists on the dresser, "He will! I'm sure of it! After all that, he will find a way to humiliate me! I know him! If he's not gonna make me catch up with father's death, then he's bring Kaii out on me!"

Tomoyo shook her head, hating to see her friend in distress, "Sakura! Kaii is dead! And so is your father! Your living with it! And so will the rest of the world! None of this was your fault! None! Do you get me?! Sakura?!" she cried shaking the girl by her shoulders, which stood still, not moving an inch.

Giving up Tomoyo flopped on the bed, "For now…forget about this. It's 5pm already…and we'll have to reach there by 8. So let's start getting ready"

A quiet sniff was heard from Sakura, and she turned around showing her red sobby eyes, red nose and cheeks. Rubbing her tears away hastily, she laughed ruefully, "Man, I'm a cry-baby"

"No, you're not…and Sakura?"

The woman looked up, meeting with her cousins amethyst eyes, "Yeah?"

"Thanks. Thanks for confiding all this with me, after all we've been through"

"Tomoyo You dweeb!" Sakura laughed through her facial, and went to hug the woman, "How many times do I have to tell you this? Eriol belongs to you and you only! Remember what you always say? The past is always the past! My past with Eriol will always remain…as the past" Sakura smiled, making Tomoyo bite her lower lip.

"I still don't get it Sakura, you know that if it wasn't for coming along, and taking Eriol away…then you would have never met Kaii"

"I know Tomoyo…I know…I regret falling in love with him…but what can I say? Falling in love is so easy"

# * # * # * # * #

"No way am I wearing this!" a shrill voice rang through one of rooms, in the large hotel, residing in the corners of Hokkai-do.

A man with wide hazel eyes suddenly burst out laughing, "Man, Yamazaki! Chiharu's so not gonna fall for that!"

Beside Yamazaki stood another man, who was rubbing his chin, as he looked hard into the mirror.

"Eisen, what do you think of this shirt?"

The man with hazel eyes turned to his teammate, "Looks good…but does Tania like red?"

"Dunno…" the man, who had changed his name from Benjiro to Ben, replied

"Who cares…"Yamazaki snorted, "You still look like a fool in that"

Ben whirled around, and almost burst out laughing, "You crippled lunatic, it's at least better than what you're wearing!" he smirked looking at Yamazaki, who was taking of the frilly white shirt he had just worn.

"Shut up, freak. I thought it would make me look like a gentleman"

Ben only scoffed, "Gentleman as in gentle and man? More like spongy hello-I'm-gay!" he laughed highfiving Eisen.

Yamazaki only glared at the other man, "What are you laughing at?"

Eisen said nothing but flop down on Yamazaki's bed, "That pant's too hollow!"

"Shut up creep…I dunno why Syaoran gave you his shirt" he mumbled staring at the dark green beautifully essenced shirt that Eisen was wearing at present.

"Hehe…" Eisen managed a laugh, "Syaoran's getting his tailored…besides I've been asking him about it ever since"

Ben only chuckled, "You're his lil' boy remember?"

Yamazaki grunted, "It was me until this dude came along waltzing down May I Be Blessed Road"

Eisen leaned back on the backboard and yawn, "Shut up…by the ways, have you heard that Syaoran has a new girlfriend?"

Ben looked up along with Yamazaki, "Girlfriend? On or off?" the asked at the same time.

"A girlfriend…and on"

Yamazaki made a thoughtful face, then asked, "Is her name Sakura or somethin'?"

Eisen nodded, "Yeah, Sakura Kinomoto…she's related to Tomoyo…they were best buds with Eriol when they were lil' and Eriol somehow set her up with our ol' cap" he grinned, "I heard she's the best out of all angels"

Yamazaki made a face, "Oh lord…" he prayed making the cross across his shoulder blades, "May she not be a devil from insides like the ones before"

Eisen rolled his eyes, "Oh god…before you help anyone else, maybe you can try and fix this retarded brain up here"

"Guys" Ben interrupted their shooting glares, "Have you ever heard of a Sakura Kinomoto before?"

"Nah!" both chorused.

Ben only frowned, "Jeez, listen at least! I think she was brought to court once for the murder of her father or somethin'"

"WHAT?" both men cried turning around.

Eisen got up with a sweat drop rolling down his forehead. Knocking on Ben's head, he asked, "Did you knock somethin' loose in here or what?"

"Hey! I'm sure it was on the paper, there was this huge as argument and…don't you remember?"

Yamazaki when to his wardrobe again and posed in front of it flipping through a few shirts, "When was this?"

Ben gladly answered, knowing that at least one person had the brains to remember, "About two and a half years back or something"

"Eisen…go take that fire extinguisher from outside, and knock 'im hard until some of his boxers fall out"

'Or maybe not' Ben face faulted.

"Look Ben…" Eisen started, "You might have got the wrong woman…this girl's Tomoyo's cousin. Tomoyo must know her better—,"

"But she never did the murder!"

Yamazaki turned around, looking stressed out and still shirtless, "Then why the hell were you going on about her killing her father?"

Ben only protested, "Hey! I was only asking you guys! No harm! You guys just made a big deal!"

"Bro…"

# * # * # * # * #

"God Tomoyo…I'm hungry!" Sakura moaned she looked at herself into the mirror.

"Shut up" Tomoyo scolded as put on a diamond ring on her ring finger on her left hand, "It's been so many years since I've dressed you up, and your moaning. What if something drops on your dress?"

"But Tomoyo…we're gonna there as well!" she cried forcing the woman in front of her to look at her.

"What? What's wrong with that??"

"Hello! I'm hungry! At least take some pity for my poor stomach!"

"Are you crazy? It hardly shows any of your skin! And it's the only one piece; so don't go around calling yourself a wannabe! Understood?"

"But—,"

"No buts!" she giggled, making Sakura sit down with a frown.

"I'm asking if I eat something, and you go talking about clothes," she murmured.

Sitting on the chair, Tomoyo wondered on a hairstyle for herself, while Sakura just played with her transparent painted fingers.

'"You look better with your hair down…"' she could almost hear Syaoran's voice echo in her head. Frowning again, she shook the thought away. Now way! She would never try to look good for a man. And god…was she scared now! She had finally understood what Tomoyo had meant by lots of people, and to make matters worse, she had never been to a party in months…excluding that eight-year-olds birthday party she had been to next door.

"Tomoyo…when does this party end?"

"The party?" Tomoyo asked through a long thick hairclip in her mouth.

"Duh…"

"It's probably end at one thirty or something like that"

"One thirty?!"

"Duh to you this time…what else did you think?"

"Twelve…"

"We can leave at twelve if you want…but you are not taking your car!"

"But—,"

"Last year in the conference, you left without even telling me, and that too only after and hour!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "What else could I do? I was in the bathroom, and this guy was there inside"

"A guy? In the ladies?"

"Yeah, and he was drunk! And since I was the only one in there guess what he was trying to do? So since he was being something past romantic, I kicked him in the nuts and left"

By now Tomoyo was laughing, "Man, you go girl! Did the same thing happen in senior high?"

"Unfortunately yeah"

Just then Tomoyo looked up at the bedroom clock, "Aaaaaaahhhhh!" she cried, making Sakura look up, "It's eight twenty!!!!!!" she screamed springing on her feet, and grabbing her purse, and her car keys.

Sakura only rolled her eyes, but pulled on her handbag on the dresser, and followed behind Tomoyo. But before she left the room, she quickly sneaked a glance at herself in the mirror.

'Check'

# * # * # * # * #

"Man Eriol…are you sure she didn't run out on you?" a red head, named Doi asked smirking.

"Shut up dweeb, or I'm gonna staple your mouth shut" Eriol muttered grinning himself.

Eisen was already by Eriol's side, "Where's Syaoran buttercup by the way?"

"She's coming with Tomoyo"

"Can't you call her on your mobile and ask her to hurry up?"

"Why?"

Eisen only pointed his finger in a direction.

Both Doi and Eriol, followed his finger, and almost fell down laughing.

There was Syaoran, dressed up neat in a white shirt, that had his sleeves folded up as usual, and black, slightly baggy pants. But around him, were seven girls taking their pictures one by one with him. Behind him was there Coach muttering incoherent words, that sounded something like, "I thought he had a date"

Doi only snickered, "They always do that…no wonder he wears glasses when he's reading"

"What?" Eisen looked taken back, "The Cap'n wears glasses?"

"Yeah, apparently he's allergic to camera flashes"

But Eriol suddenly pushed against his chest and walked, "Speaking of flashes…here they come…" he mumbled as he walked to the door, where two women had just appeared.

"Oh my god…" both guys murmured as their eyes fell on to an emerald eyes beauty.

Syaoran who had finally freed himself away from the swarm of women, turned back to the conversation with his Coach.

"Okay—where was I?"

The Coach only grunted, "I think it's your date"

"Oh yeah, about Sakura…you should see her Coach. She'll totally bum you out! At first she even rejected me! But I knew she would come back. She—,"

"She's here"

"She's here?"

"Yes, she's here"

"She's here!" Syaoran whirled around, and his eyes scanned the doorway, making face immediately lit up.

"Where's Syaoran?" Tomoyo asked as Sakura gave her coat to Eriol.

"I saw him here somewhere" Eriol turned around, and gave the two coats to a man.

"And I'm surprised…there's not even one single person outside!"

"I know. Once these people come in, they aren't allowed out until late on. What can I say, it's strict security!"

"Oh there he is!" Tomoyo squealed as she waved at the man who was jogging towards them.

"I'm glad the two ladies could finally make it!" he laughed his eyes all on Sakura, as he reached the three.

Eriol suddenly grabbed Tomoyo's arm, "C'mon! Coach wants to talk to you!"

Tomoyo laughed going along with the plan, and gave a wink to Sakura, who looked desperate and little.

Finally the two were gone leaving the two alone.

"You look beautiful" Syaoran grinned, making her look up.

"You look good yourself" she smiled back, uncertain of what she had to say, and wondering of why he had called her beautiful when she was certain, she matched nowhere near that.

"C'mon…I'll introduce you to my brothers!" he offered, holding out a hand.

Sakura hesitantly took it, and could immediately feel her heart tighten, as she felt his hand clamp over hers. He gave her hand a small squeeze, and made his way through the crowd pulling her from behind. A few people glanced at them both smiling, while the others fell in wonder of the new woman Syaoran had held his hand onto. She did look beautiful…infact she looked perfect. Her long wavy hair was set down, and a few men turned around as her accidentally brushed past them, making them grin. Her dress was elegant but simple. It was a pale blue sleeveless dress with a wide 'U' neck that showed off her beige plus milky skin. Her fingers and wrists were empty, except for the necklace around her neck. She had no make up on; except for a pale pink lipstick that Tomoyo had physically forced her to wear on. She had on a low-heeled light blue sandal that Tomoyo lend to her.

Feeling almost naked without her anorak, she unconsciously stuck to Syaoran's arm as she felt various eyes and words roaming around her. Smiling meekly at everyone who smiled at her, she sighed when he finally stopped.

Soon there were whistles around her, and she looked up, she swore her heart would stop beating. She wasn't pushing through the crowd anymore, instead she was right in the middle of their attention.

"Guys!" Syaoran laughed, "I want you to meet my date Sakura Kinomoto"

Once again there were whistles and giggles around her. Sakura could almost feel herself drowning with embarrassment, but as she felt his hand tighten around hers, she looked up at him.

"I promise you…you'll enjoy this night, but can I call you Sakura…only for tonight?" he whispered so that only she could hear his words.

Sakura slowly smiled at his behaviour, "Sure" she choked out.

Turning her around again, she felt herself looking directly at a large gang of guys who had a girl or two hanging by their arms.

"Oi Syaoran!" Eisen yelled from the crowd, as he held his girlfriend by her waist, "You're forgetting to introduce us to her!"

Syaoran laughed, "I'm not…" he said as he pushed neared to that particular crowd.

"Sakura…" he started already liking the sound of her name from his lips, "I want you to meet by brothers…we're not related by blood, but it seems like that"

The crowd immediately broke out with a: "aaaaawwwwwww"

Sakura smiled slightly.

"This here" Syaoran motioned to a man with hazel eyes, "is Eisen Komatsuzaki. But he's our lil' bro, even though he talks big"

"Hey!" Eisen protested, but got a slapped on the back by Yamazaki.

"And this Yamazaki Takahashi, the only man who got his degree from the 'I-Want-To-Be-A-Liar University'"

Sakura smiled as she watched the man getting pulled back by Eisen.

Syaoran then grinned at the redhead in front of him, "This is Doi Shirai. He's wanted to meet you ever since, and finally got his chance now"

Doi smirked at her, "Your just like the ol' man told us…an angel from heaven," but just as he said that the woman he was holding poked him in the ribs glaring at him.

Blushing a bit, Syaoran moved over and let Sakura an eye, of a man with blue hair similar to Eriol, but long and tied back in a small pony.

"This is Iwao Hikaru…he's tough but we know he isn't since he spends his time talking on the phone with his grandmother"

Iwao only gave Sakura a small nod.

"Meet Daisuke Okasawa…he's an obsession to his new bike his mum bought him"

"Hey! I bough it with my own money!" he protested making Iwao squeeze in a large orange he had in his hands.

The man was immediately choking, but Syaoran didn't stay there longer.

"This is Hiro Kaibara…he wants to be the cap'n but he's always off field. Only god knows why"

Hiro started to laugh sheepishly, "It's always my mobile"

"Here is Kan Ryushi…he's always good in darts, but when he sees a girl, it always ends up inside her shirt" he gave a crooked grin to the man with spiky brown hair.

"This is Benjiro Amori. He changed his name to Ben, after he met this girl who couldn't stop calling him To Heaven We Go"

Sakura could only laugh, making Ben bow down and ask, "Do you like my shirt?"

"Uh…yeah" she nodded giving him a warm smile, as she looked over his red shirts that had white stripes going down.

Yamazaki was immediately cooing, "She liked my shirt! Now take out that forty bucks!"

"Uh…" Syaoran continued giving Yamazaki a strange look, "This is Joe Terada…and his long-time girlfriend Rika. They can never be a room separate"

"Hello" Rika smiled, making Sakura smile back.

"Sanzo Nishimura…the man who can never win 'rock-paper-scissors'"

Sakura smiled at him, as he rolled his eyes.

"And this…" he motioned to a well-built man in front of him who had two ladies almost sucking onto him, "…is Jack Aurora"

"Aurora?" Sakura asked out loud rigidly, then looked at the man who was staring at her, "Isn't Mei Aurora your mother? And she's the co-owner of Lakmé right?"

Jack nodded, his blue, which he had got from his mother twinkling, "True…and you are the Sakura who managed to quit…"

Sakura was silent for a while, until she looked up at him and smirked, "Yeah…I got away…and I'm very happy"

Syaoran didn't like the atmosphere around the two; so much to Sakura's surprise he pulled her near to him.

Next was Eriol who had his arms around Tomoyo looking thoughtful. But Tomoyo was smiling ear-to-ear at Sakura.

"And this—," Syaoran continued at the last man who was standing there looking rigid, but he immediately trailed of as he looked into a pair of unyielding dark brown eyes.

"This…" Syaoran gulped, as the other men immediately shut up their talks, "This is daddy!" he laughed punching the man playfully on his arms.

"No Syaoran" the man said sternly, making Syaoran clear his throat, and extend a hand in a sincere motion, "This is Coach…our…" he turned to whisper in her ears, "…Big Daddy"

"I heard that!" the man croaked, making the rest of the group laugh.

Sakura nodded at the man, who smiled back at her…somehow…fatherly.

"Miss Kinomoto…I suggest you teach this young man something" he scolded Syaoran, who didn't dare speak a word out.

Sakura smiled helplessly, "I'll do that" she said feeling somehow at ease.

At that said Syaoran slowly pulled her away, "We'll be back. I need to introduce her to the others" And with that the two had disappeared into the crowd.

"Man!" Iwao laughed, "That man has so fallen deep into her!"

"I know eh?" Daisuke grinned.

"Maybe he'll finally get married" Hiro suggested, "And I can finally become the Captain"

Eriol only cleared his throat, "If he does get married, you'll have to first defeat me"

Ben immediately was next to Eriol, "Man, have you any other close friends you can set me up with?"

"Sorry dude…" Eriol clapped his hands, "All over"

Eisen only shook his head; "I can't believe your saying this Ben, when you already have Tania"

Ben only growled, "Don't even remind me off her. She called me two hours before. She said she wanted to break up with me with this god damned model!"

The whole group was suddenly laughing again…except for Big Daddy who had decided to finally hit the drinks. But Jack had a hard look on his face. A small smile suddenly appeared on his face as he looked down at the two girls in his arms.

"So what do you think of my carrier now?" Syaoran asked as he came back to a lone Sakura with two glasses of wine in his hands.

Sakura smiled. So far she was having fun…and she hadn't imagined it to be like this.

"It's good…but won't last very long will it?"

Syaoran threw his free hand into the air, as he gave her, her drink.

"You will never agree with me, will you?" he asked her chuckling at the same time.

"Never" she couldn't help but smile, taking a sip form her wine.

Syaoran carefully watched her graceful moment. She looked so delicate…so fragile…and yet she had that strong voice that held back everyone.

'I wonder how she does it?'

"Is there something on my face?" she suddenly asked snapping him out of his thoughts.

"No! But don't tell me it's illegal for a man to be staring at his beautiful date?"

Sakura leaned back on the wall, and shook her head, "Thanks Li—,"

"Syaoran please"

Sakura gave him a sharp look then made a soundless chuckle, "You irritate me too much"

"I know…but I love it" he murmured as he sat down next to her, "So what were you thanking me about?"

"Oh…I was just te—,"

But a voice only interrupted her, "Syaoran!"

Syaoran looked up with a frown, then it ceased away, when he caught sight of his Coach, motioning him over.

Syaoran looked down at Sakura apologetically, "Sorry…but I'll be right back…you can go back to Tomoyo and all if you want to…but I'll be back in a eye blink"

Sakura nodded, and watched him jog away.

She slowly held her drink down on her lap, and sighed.

Jack's face suddenly entered her mind…the way he had look at her. Sakura shuddered, muttering a small, "Creepy"

It was that look of recognition on his face that made him think about Ben Rogers, her ex-boss. Had Mei Aurora by any chance told her son about her or was it Ben. Hopefully it wasn't anything vulgar.

"Why…Sakura Kinomoto!" a sugary voice immediately woke her up from her dream.

Sakura immediately looked up, and frowned. Speaking of the devil's angel. Here she was.

"Aurora…a wonder to see you again" Sakura smiled through her gritted teeth.

"A pleasure to meet you too!" Mei smiled almost bitterly, "Little Ben told me what you did to him" she whispered looking terribly hurt, "I couldn't believe it was you out of all girls"

Sakura was immediately on her feet, and if looks could kill, then Aurora would be lying dead on the floor.

"Listen to me clean…and listen to me clear" Sakura growled, "That man used me like I was a piece of shit—,"

"I wouldn't think twice about that if I were him" she interrupted looking innocent.

Sakura tightly closed her eyes as she heard the reply, "Look Aurora…" she stressed out her anger as she clenched her fists, "You can go to hell along with your Little Benny, and I wouldn't care less"

Aurora laughed silkily, "Oh no Sakura…you'll be the one following the death of your father!"

Sakura's eyes immediately widened, "You! You—,"

"Ben told me…" she replied casually as she looked at her manicured nails, "He told me everything!"

"Everything?" Sakura choked, looking at her in fright.

"Yes…and I still can't believe that we have a murderer amongst us"

Sakura immediately let out a deep held back sigh, and looked at the woman with furious eyes, "And I can't believe I have a bitch standing in front of me" she said through her clenched teeth.

"Oh…such bad words out of pretty little lips. Oh and…Ben also told me that your fiancé left you, did he?"

Sakura looked at the woman widely in deep horror. She felt her heart stop beating, and there were tears roaming around.

"Whoops. I think I hit on the soft spot…and what was his name? Kaii Saito, right?"

Sakura immediately felt her vision blur, "You have no rights to talk about that bastard!" she glared.

"Bastard eh? But what about your baby—," but before she could go any longer, Sakura raised her arm, wanting to slap the woman right across her face.

"What are you waiting for?" Mei Aurora whispered.

Sakura forced her hand and anger down, and looked around with tears falling down helplessly.

No one was looking…much less heard them.

"Backing off Kinomoto?" Aurora asked smugly, as she clicked her fingers. Immediately there were two large built men behind her, each dressed in a black tuxedo, "I suggest you get out of here…or I'll be here to humiliate you and entertain these people about your dead fiancé and your dead unborn child all the way!"

Sakura only gasped, as she choked on her tears, "You bitch!"

"I know…" Aurora smiled.

"You!" Sakura but her lower lip, and looked at the woman savagely as she hastily rubbed away her tears, "Watch your back! 'Cause one day, your gonna take all those words back!!"

And with that said she turned around on her heels. But before she could leave Aurora couldn't help but add on a little more spice to the scene no one had seen.

"By the way…your date…he seems to be happy here without you"

Sakura whirled around and shot daggers at the woman, then turned to look where Syaoran had last been. Her eyes immediately pricked with tears as she saw him, dancing along with a girl who was stuck onto him like a leech.

Anger flew through her body. Her fists clenched and unclenched, and she bit her tongue hard.

Turning to a smirking Aurora again, she glowered, "Remember my words bitch!"

Not wanting to be around anymore, she dashed out of the woman's way, and walked through the crowd heading towards the door.

Mei Aurora, just stood there, and with one flick the two men behind her disappeared.

"Ben…you better have something really good for me, for doing all this" she smirked as she turned around and walked away into the crowd.

But what the woman, hadn't noticed was Syaoran. The look in his eyes when he had seen her run out of through the crowd.

Pushing away the girl who held him tight, he dodged past people, and finally getting sick of knowing that he was getting nowhere.

He pushed through them, shouting back a sorry. His eyes were filled with worry, and his heart was beating skipping a beat or two.

"Excuse me? Did anyone just leave?" he asked the doorman hurriedly.

The man looked up, "Uh…yeah…she forgot—,"

But Syaoran didn't stay there to here anything more. Flinging the door opened, he slammed it behind him.

Damn! She must have seen him with that girl!

Syaoran ran through the railing in front of the giant hall. Good! There was no one outside. Even if the wind was bitter, his guilt took over him.

He looked around desperately, but there was no sign of her…in fact there was not one living soul!

Breathing hard, he ran over the pavement, and dodged past a rod. Still looking around, he felt his temple throbbing.

Where the hell was she?

Turning around, he ran to the giant car park of Mirior.

"Bloody hell!" he cried as his eyes scanned every area, and ran around here and there, knowing that it would be useless to look into every car.

"Sakura!" he yelled finally not caring if anyone saw him here, looking around for his date.

But there was no reply, but still he didn't stop. His head zipped around, looking at every car, expecting the headlights to be on at anytime.

"Sakura!" came his scream again.

"Dammit!" he stopped running, panting hard as he looked up into the dark sky.

But just as he looked over the sidewalk, he caught sight of a figure.

"Sakura!" he yelled almost in triumph. He knew he shouldn't have done that, because the figure was soon dashing off towards the main road.

'Oh no, you don't!' he set his jaw tight, using every ounce of his strength on his legs.

The chase was on, but the figure wouldn't look back. Sakura kept on running, her open hair flaying around as hot tears mixed into the wind. She had taken off her sandals so she could run better…but still she couldn't. She didn't want to talk to him! She just couldn't! But as she ran, her breath rate kept on getting slower and it getting harder to breath.

"Sakura!" he called out again, "STOP!"

But she didn't…

She kept on running dodging past cars, and just on impulse she turned back, and their eyes met. He was gaining pace!

And what she didn't notice was the car that was parked a bit behind right in her way!

Syaoran's eyes immediately widened, and his lips suddenly shouted, "WATCH OUT!!"

But he was too late, by the time Sakura had turned back, she felt a direct impact against her stomach, and was thrown back by the force on to the hard pavement. She immediately cried out, making Syaoran wince and cry out her name again.

Struggling to get up, she felt no energy in her, and flopped down again.

"Sakura!" Syaoran was immediately by her side, "Saku—ra!"

She weakly opened her eyes and looked up at him. Anger flickered in her eyes again, and she pushed his hands away as he helped her stand up.

Once she was on her feet, she instantly held the booth of the car for support.

"Sakura…" he whispered as his eyes scanned her up and down if she had any injuries, then he pulled her back by her arm to see the back of her head, where she had knocked herself.

"Don't touch me!" she cried furiously.

Syaoran pulled his hands backs and gave her a curious look, "I just want to see if you're okay!?"

"Well, I am!" she shouted back, as she stumbled further.

"What happened?"

"Shut up Li and leave me alone!"

But the man was furious by now, "I won't! Not before you tell me what the hell happened? If you ran all the way till here, something must have happened! Tell me!"

"It none of your bloody business!" she cried looking up at him, her eyes glowering at him. But just as she looked into his eyes, she felt guilt all over.

His face fell, and he looked like a man who had just been dumped by his girlfriend.

"Just…leave me alone…Li"

Syaoran only looked down into her eyes asking as if none of her talking had offended him any way, "Did Aurora or anyone say something to you?" he asked quietly making her ears perk, making her shout immediately.

"No!" she said adverting her eyes from his.

But this was one heck of a man to never give up.

"Then what are you getting all defensive about?"

"Look, I told you already…" she stopped thinking for proper words, "it's nothing..."

"It's nothing? So you run all the way here like some maniac was running after you—," he immediately stopped at his verification of words, and shook his head, but Sakura beat him to it.

"Li! Drop it!" she threw her sandals on to the ground, letting it slap hard.

"What?"

Sakura leaned back against the car, and held her head in her hands, "Why can't you just leave me, better yet—forget me! And go back inside like nothing ever happened! Why don't you do that for me as a favour? Huh?"

Syaoran looked at her confused, "What are talking about? I told you I'm not going in there before you tell what exactly happened!"

Sakura looked up at him hard, her face glowing with unshed anger and yet pride. She had to come up with some reason, or he'd never leave her alone.

So she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"You're a bloody two-timer!" she blurted out, making Syaoran raise a brow.

"I—," he started, but sadly she had finish off what she had said, "Listen to me! You call me—a poor little slum—to a party as your date; oh, and what a party it is; you introduce me to your friends, act all hey-look-at-my-new-girlfriend stances, then you leave me at a point where everything crowds up, and say that you need to talk to your coach. I stay there talking to this god-knows-who-pressed-her-buzzer lady, who then laughs and points at you where your dancing with this chic, and she's all over you like a blood-sucker!" she cried out looking at him at the verge of laughing.

Even if all this was not actually the real reason, she did feel better with all that out of her system.

Syaoran only stared at her. He then slowly turned away from her…making her turn her back to him.

And to her surprise he cracked up laughing, that made her whirl around immediately.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura!" he couldn't help but chuckling through each syllable.

Sakura looked at him as if he had gone mad, "What the heck are you laughing about?" she demanded, in fear that he had already found out about her lil' lie. But how could he? He had been dancing with some girl!

Suddenly he stopped and stood directly in front of her looking as serious as ever.

Somehow at that moment, she seemed to forget about what had actually happened in there.

"So let me get this straight…you ran all the way here…" then he looked down at her feet, then at her sandals that were two feet away from each other and added, "…bare feet that too…only because you saw me dancing with a girl that wasn't you?

Sakura immediately looked stricken and she scowled at him for the choice of his words, "What?" she cried.

Syaoran shook his head still grinning, "Don't 'what' me Sakura. Tell me you aren't jealous?"

"Jealous?!?" she shrieked out loud, pushing him back against his chest. Her eyes were blazing and she looked ready to spit fire, "Mejealous over some half-naked girl?? Puh—leese. Get a life!" she said all the while poking at his chest with her index finger.

"Never!" she continued, "Never…has anyone even dared accused me of being jealous!!" she cried out her finger still in contact.

Syaoran only cocked his head, "Let me be the first then!"

But Sakura had had enough. That lie was only to cover up the real reason, but too much sauce wasn't too good either!

"Look Mr I'm-So-Fine-I-Can-Make-Anyone-Be-Mine…don't you ever go thinking like that! Uh-uh! You will never be the first or the last! So be a good man, and don't let your hopes get too high! Get it?" she looked frenzy, not noticing that that she was letting her tongue slip away into talking to a man who people worshipped the road he walked on, like that.

Syaoran only smirked at her, but as he took a step before her, she took one behind.

"Thanks a lot for the information" he looked somewhat…pleased.

"For what?" she snapped at him as he took another step forward.

"You called me fine didn't you? Taking from how you hardly ever smile at me, I must take that as a true-to-the-heart compliment from the I'm-Too-Good-For-You-Ice-Queen" he grinned childishly.

Sakura gave him a glare, "If I was a Queen…then I'd have you beheaded at this exact same moment!"

Syaoran laughed softly, and took another step forward making her immediately lean back against the car.

"Then…be my Queen"

At that Sakura suddenly felt chills running over her body. Her seemed to skip a bit, as he stood only inches away from her.

"L…Li…" she started in an uncertain knowing exactly what he was going to do, "D…don't"

"Don't what?" he asked innocently.

Fear entered her eyes as she watched him gently place his arms around her waist, and pull himself nearer.

"You mean…this?" he asked her quietly as he felt on to her fabric on her back.

"Li!" she chocked out as she felt him fumbling with the buttons.

"Or this…" he continued leaning down sweeping his lips towards her.

She immediately felt frozen. She couldn't believe in what spot she was in at the moment! She could readily smell his strong after-shave cologne that made her licks her dry lips.

"Li…" she murmured again trembling in him arms, as she felt his breath across her face. He was still scuffling around with the buttons that made her eyes widen in horror.

"You know what?" he mumbled as he eyed her to-die-for lips, "Your not just an Ice Queen…but an Ice Queen with the most perfect lips…to lie"

Sakura was instantly taken back by his comment. She struggled little to get out of his grasp, but he didn't let go.

"You don't have to lie Sakura…" he went on looking deeply into her eyes, "You could have just told me that you ran all the way to get away from people. I would have understood," he said softly, making her knees get weak.

She slowly closed her eyes, and suddenly felt in a rush of cold dry air as he let her go.

She didn't know what to say. Here she was thinking he would believe what ever came spouting out of her mouth, in truth he was only playing along…for her.

She let her hands feel loose, and looked down not knowing what to say.

"Don't get this the wrong way Sakura…" he suddenly said, "…a button had come undone. So I thought since you were so taken into your own world, I might as well do it for you" he smiled.

Sadness rushed into her eyes, and she felt tired all over.

A few minutes of silence passed, until Syaoran decided to lighten things up.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you tell me and—,"

"Your crazy Li—,"

"Syaoran please"

"Fine…you're crazy Syaoran. You're apologising when I never told you anything"

"I know…but being sorry is one thing too"

Sakura nodded looking away, taking in a deep breathe as she looked up at the dark night sky.

"Do you wanna go back in now?" Syaoran suddenly asked.

She looked at him with a rueful face, "Sorry…but I think I'll just leave," she said softly remembering clearly of how Aurora had asked her to leave.

"Fine…" Syaoran sighed slightly disappointed, "C'mon, I'll drop you"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"L—I mean Syaoran…" she looked sceptical, "Just because I'm going home…doesn't mean that you have to mope around. It's your party! Your teams'! Surely you want to be there with them right?"

Syaoran gave her a smile, "I do Sakura, more than anything—"

"Then go!"

"Are you crazy? You want me to go back in there without a date?"

"Oh…" Sakura whispered softly turning around, and picking up her sandals, "I—I—I'm—,"

"Sorry?"

"Yeah…how did you now?" she asked turning half way.

"Says it all on your face"

"But I really am. I just spoiled your whole night," she answered guiltily.

"No you didn't. I had…fun"

"Give me a break" to his surprise she snorted, "Fun? What kind of fun?"

Syaoran laughed, "I got to button up your dress!"

"You pervert!" Sakura playfully slapped his arm laughing along with him.

Syaoran suddenly stopped, "Promise me one thing"

Sakura raised a brow, "Like what?"

"Promise me…that every time you're with me you'll always laugh like that"

The woman immediately stopped in what she was going to say next. It was a wonder! Why did every compliment from him make her turn into a raspberry cup cake?

"Let's get you home" he changed the topic, as he watched her go red with twinkle in his eyes.

Sakura could only nod, "Thanks, but you are coming back here right?"

"Maybe—maybe not"

"…"

"C'mon my car's somewhere along here" he said as he dug his hands deep in his pockets as walked further away.

But Sakura just stood there, staring at his back.

Tomoyo was right…this guy certainly was very different. He risking leaving this party only to drop her home? Even though he was her date…it still didn't feel right.

At that same moment Syaoran tuned around when he was eight cars away.

"Do I really look that handsome?" he yelled pout to her, making her straighten herself up, and walk to him.

It was funny, but it felt right. This man really was a good choice…but they can all be deceiving when they reach to the point of what they want. She had experienced one herself…and to do it again, would just be like killing your own favourite pet.

Sakura readily smiled to herself, as she heard the familiar Lexus beep a ring.

After all she was getting a ride from the famous Syaoran Li. The Captain of the democratising Dragons. So why not enjoy it while it lasts?

To be continued…

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Phew! Finished at last! 12 pages and 7, 833 words! PLEASE REVIEW! *Ouch* Man, my back's hurting…but please REVIEW! And one more thing, you're in for a load of surprise in next chappy! It's gonna be the FLUFFIEST! I have it all planned…but I just need to write it. ×_×

Ja!

P.S.: REVIEW!