Chapter 10

Teardrop of Twilight

Card Captor Sakura

~starjade~

Dancing

" The two have come back from their mission successful , Master."

The messenger boy shook as Delix looked hard and carefully at the young boy. He smiled , nastily.

" Finally. Took them long enough. Enter."

The two broad shouldered , filthy men entered the room. They smiled greedily as they spotted Delix and walked up confidently up the carpe t. Delix scowled in disgust.

" Master." They both said , monotonously. They bowed their heads and knelt down in respect.

Delix growled, " What have you found?"

One of them rose his head and grinned. " Sir , the mission you gave us has come back completed! I think you'll be quite happy with the news we have found out..."

Delix narrowed his eyes, annoyed at his cocky tone. " Tell me quickly , and it'd better be good , or your off to the dungeons!"

The man shuddered for a second and Delix leaned back, satisfied. At least he was scared..

" Master....we were walking through the forest, and we saw a girl on the hills. Quite pretty she was, with emerald eyes and auburn hair and a fancy dress. We knew it was her...but Syaoran wasn't with her."

Delix's eyes grew interested. " What are you saying? Hurry up and you'd better not be lying!"

The man trembled. " We-We tried to get her to come back with us , since Syaoran wasn't in sight. We thought if Syaoran couldn't do the task, we'd might as well get her for you. Bu then Syaoran came charging at us and we were surprised. He hit us and we were even more shocked at what happened after.

" Master...we saw him comforting the girl....sir, we followed them afterwards. They set up camp in the forest and they are planning to leave for the city. And....and , we have reason to believe Syaoran has developed feelings for the girl."

Delix leapt up. The whole crowd in the room jumped in surprise and horror as the hooded man howled, " WHAT?"

The man shook even harder, but the triumphant, greedy look in his eyes was hard to miss. " Yes, master. He and the girl were talking civilly, even...intimately. We saw them hugging and , master...we think he might be in love with her...." He trailed off and tried to hold back a smile as his master grew even more livid at his sentence.

" Syaoran....Syaoran has feelings for Sakura...." Delix whispered, his voice low and dangerous. The crowd knew now Syaoran was in for it. Only two of the Underworld has ever betrayed Delix's orders...and it wasn't a pretty sight. Both them and their families were brutally murdered......

" Wh-What shall we do, Master?" The filthy man asked.

Delix whirled around and his eyes shown from the shadows beneath his hood. " What shall we do? WE SHALL FIND THAT BASTARD AND BRING HIM AND THAT FOOL HE WAS SUPPOSED TO KIDNAP BACK!"


Here his mouth twisted. " And if your story is true...Syaoran will be punished thoroughly.."

~~~~~~***~~~~~

Sakura looked around the room, curiously. It was full of boisterous energy and happiness and Sakura couldn't keep the smile from creeping onto her face.

Men sat at a bar, calling for more wine and women dressed in flounced dresses danced with worker men. A small band was playing on the stage and Sakura smiled. Syaoran was right...this place didn't exactly match the one she had saw outside. Never judge a book by its cover , was the famous quote.

" Aren't ya gonna dance?" A woman asked her, grinning. Bright red paint covered her lips and her eyelids were covered with blue colour. Blond curls framed her heart shaped face and Sakura smiled.

" No, I don't think so..." Sakura replied.

" Oh come on! Tis great fun when ya get on the dance floor an' dance a lil bit!" The woman protested.

Sakura shook her head. " I'm quite content to just watch you all.."

The woman grinned. " Ya wonna get a taste of what we belles are like , unless ya dance with us! Now come on!" She grabbed her hand and pulled her into the crowd of giddy dancers.

Sakura yelped in surprise as people grabbed her hands , pulling her around and around the dance floor. For the first time , Sakura was made aware of how much she was missing out! All the parties she had been to, required refined dancing, with quite little energy and laughter. None of this shouting and jokes and hospitality these people showed.

Sakura felt herself relaxing as she joined in the dancing. She swung herself , twirling and moving her feet as if she were one of them. After quite a few high dance numbers, the band switched to slow songs and the couples started out on the dance floor.

Sakura, red faced and giddy with laughter, fell back from the dance floor and collapsed in a chair. She didn't know how she had survived without so much happiness and freedom...

" Having fun?"

The voice startled her and she whipped around. Cold amber eyes met her and she reddened.

" O-Oh yes , this place is wondrous! I've never had so much fun in my life!" Sakura said enthusiastically.

The corner of Syaoran's mouth tilted. " Good..."

~~~~~~***~~~~

Sakura wasn't quite aware of it, but Syaoran was having quite a troublesome time. Right now, he was trying to make quite a big decision.

Whether or not to hand Sakura in.

He had secretly watched as Sakura jumped and danced in the big crowd. She was bright and happy and most of all...innocent.

Syaoran felt like shoving all the world's troubles, all the world's fears in her face, all the things had seen , experienced, the sound of a man being tortured, the sound of a scream as a mother saw her children killed and-

But then again, he never wanted her to see it...any of it. He wanted to keep her innocent and happy...just the way she was.

What would Delix do to her? Syaoran thought. Why did he need her? For ransom? Or something else...?

Syaoran looked down and gritted his teeth. He had to! He had to hand her in! Otherwise.. he'd never be High Order, and he would never lead a satisfactory life, with the Underworld hunting him down, destroying all opportunities and chances for happiness.

A muscle jumped in his jaw as he made his decision. She had to go. Tomorrow, they would leave for Delix's headquarters, and there, he would knock her out, drag her in, and that was the end of his job. He would control all of the underworld and-

" Syaoran?"

Syaoran jerked. Sakura was standing in front of him, her emerald eyes wide with concern. Syaoran felt something tug at his heart , but he stifled it, and glared at her.

" What?"

Sakura stared at him. " Are you okay?"

Stop staring at me!! " Yes, why?"

" Well..."

" What are you two standing around for?" a burly man cried , punching Syaoran's arm playfully.

Syaoran growled and his fist clenched. Doesn't this man know who he was? He was Syaoran Li, the heir to the leader of the most feared Underworld conspiracy there was...

" What do you want?" Syaoran hissed.

The burly man didn't notice his tone, nor did he notice who exactly Syaoran was. " You two get out there and dance! This is a happy night for us all , so get out there and have some fun!" He grabbed the two of them and pushed them onto the dance floor.

Uh oh...

Syaoran glared at the burly man, unaware of the intimate couples dancing around him. "Who the hell does he think he is, that lunatic!? Nothing in his head, but fluff , that's how all of those people are-"

" Syaoran!" Sakura protested. " Just dance , will you?"

Syaoran froze. What did she just say? He turned to face Sakura, slowly. " Huh?"

Sakura laughed, her laugh washing through Syaoran like a wave. " Dance. With. Me!"

Syaoran's eyes widened with horror. " Oh no, Oh no , you can't mean , I can't , what the-" He backed away while stammering his excuse, wondering how this girl could have so much courage to stand up to him like this.

Sakura grabbed his hand as he went to leave. " Wait!"

Syaoran's cheeks reddened. He was falling in the face of the enemy. The world's sneakiest and most cold man was falling.

" Let me go!" Syaoran attempted a low, dangerous growl, but instead it came out as a squeak. He winced. Great. Just great.


Sakura giggled. " It's not hard. Just one dance."

Syaoran yelped as she put her hand in his hand and grabbed his other hand, laying it on her waist. She placed her hand on his shoulder and whispered, " Now, Dance."

Syaoran felt like wrenching away, glaring at her and screaming some obscenities that was sure to make the whole room wince. In fact he had opened his mouth to do just that...but then he saw the look in her eyes. Those emerald orbs that got him every time...

So, instead of walking away , like he should've done, he found himself moving back and forward to the music and felt himself holding her closer.

" You just have to make me , don't you?" Syaoran said gruffly.

Sakura smiled brilliantly. " Of course. You wouldn't have danced with me , if I hadn't made you."

Syaoran looked away. " After this, I'm leaving."

Sakura grinned. " Okay."

They moved back and forth, their bodies close and in sync. Their shoulders relaxed and their feet moved to the music. Syaoran found that his eyes were closing with an unknown bliss and gripped Sakura's hand tightly.

The smell of her intoxicated him and he breathed in slowly. She was perfect. Someone who wasn't afraid of him, someone who taught him things he had never known before...

Another song played and Syaoran didn't notice. The two kept on dancing and the tug at his heart grew.

All that filled his view was her face, those eyes, that sweet smile and those amber locks he longed to run his hand through. The feel of her body against his made him melt within and he couldn't think any sensible thoughts anymore.

Sakura laid her head on his shoulder and it seemed natural. He let go of her hand and put his hand around her waist. She clasped her hands together around his neck and all of it seemed perfectly alright.

Until of course, the song was over.

The band struck back into a fast paced song and roars were heard around the room, as those who were waiting on the sidelines , jumped onto the dance floor. Sakura and Syaoran were startled back into reality and let each other go , like they were on fire.

" Sorry." Sakura whispered.

Syaoran stared back at her. " It's alright...We'd better go to sleep. It's getting late."

Sakura nodded slowly and with one last fleeting glance, disappeared in the mass of dancing bodies. Syaoran felt his shoulders sag and his head droop.

What had just happened?

~~~~~***~~~~

Wei rose his eyebrows at Touya.

" You sure of this information? You sure it's reliable?"

Touya glared. " I'm damn sure it's true information. Now, we infiltrate the Underworld, grab the leader, ask them WHERE THEY ARE KEEPING MY SISTER!"

Fujitaka let out his breath. " It's not that easy, son."

Touya leapt up, with a shout of outrage. " What do you mean? My sister is being kept by the Underworld, we have to get her back!"

Fujitaka buried his face in his hands. " Son....we have no idea where the Underworld is , nor the allies they have. The Underworld is big, really really big. They have a lot of hidden allies that could be our allies as well. We could be stabbed from every corner, and who knows how many men they have?"

Touya growled, " So your saying, lets just leave Sakura to her own devices??"

Fujitaka let out his breath. " No....we just have to think this through, get our own allies, find where this underworld is, calculate the number of men they have and what connections they have..."

Touya let out an exasperated breath. " That's going to take years! We have to do something now, RIGHT NOW!"

Fujitaka shoulders sagged. " We'll figure this out at home , Touya , but for now-"

A door slammed. Fujitaka rose his head and found that Touya had left. He leapt up and ran to the door.

" Touya??"

The carriage had already left, the horse's hooves pounding at the dirt and raising a cloud of dust. Fujitaka took a deep breath. Who knows what Touya might do? He had a hot temper and his protectiveness of his sister might get him into quite a sticky situation...

Wei had arrived beside him. " Fujitaka..."

Fujitaka turned to him. " Yes?"

Wei looked down. " If you can...If Xio Lang is alive...please don't hurt him unless it is absolutely necessary...I want to see him , just once. I've survived on those rumours of Syaoran being alive...please...please.."

Fujitaka gripped the man's shoulder. " I'll try, Wei. I'll try."

a/n: SORRY! I know it took me a loooong time to update, but it takes me forever to write chapters for this story! I'm really bogged down with homework and all these extra curricular activates and...woo! I'm keepin busy! I'll try to get the next chapter out as fast as I can , but in the mean time , review , aight?

Luvyalotz,

~starjade~