Identity's Past
by AlterEthereal
Syaoran returned to find his princess, but discovered she has been missing in action for years. Now, a mysterious, distant girl has arrived in the city... could his princess be right under his nose?
Hey guys!! Happy Easter! (to all who celebrate, of course ^_^) I'd like to once again thank the reviewers: Tramie, sapphire999, and sweet-captor! Why? Because... well because... well 'cause they're awesome! *tear* Actually, it wasn't that hard to find a reason to praise you... just look at the review count! Woohoo!! And, as a "thank you" and an Easter present [w00t, look what the Easter Bunny dropped in, ne?], I have given you TWO chappies for the price of ONE!!! lol. Enjoy, guys. This is for you. ^_^
Alter-chan: geez, this sure is boring. i need to go find someone to pester.
*Alter-chan walks around looking for someone and finds So on her laptop*
Alter-chan: hey, So! whatcha up to?
So: sore wa himitsu desu.
Alter-chan: O_o hey! that's MY line!
So: it is not. you stole it from RobinIV's fic "Anime Character Humiliation Match."
Alter-chan: -_-; oh, shut up.
So: ok.
*silence for a while*
Alter-chan: that's it.. i've gotta say something, here... DISCLAIMER: I don't own CCS. I never have and I never will. therefore, this disclaimer is useless.
disclaimer: *cries*
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Chapter 14: Truck (On a Freeway)
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Sakura knew she couldn't stay angry with Syaoran, so she gathered as much spite as she could muster, looking at his boyish expression, and kicked his leg. Still, the blow was too gentle to be called punishment, so she sighed instead.
"Come on, lets check your arm."
~*~
The wound had already stopped bleeding, and was healing rather well. Syaoran watched as the emerald-eyed beauty carefully removed the bandage from his arm and washed it clean in the cool water of the cave. It stung slightly, but he didn't mind. He'd had worse injuries before; he was only letting Sakura baby him because he enjoyed knowing she cared. Not to mention that her touch felt like warm silk on his skin.
They sat on the edge of the clear water until she seemed satisfied with the cleanliness of the wound and had rebandaged it. He admitted, it felt much better now than it had the day before, and he could already move it freely without making it bleed again. She ran her hand once more down the length of his arm, but this time, it sent an electric current through his entire body.
She rose, he followed. They still stood at the edge of the lake, its placid waters rippling away from them.
"Thank you," he said, forming a smile on his face he knew would make her melt. Sure enough, her response was so weak-kneed he almost thought she'd collapse.
"Y- You're welcome, Syaoran."
He wound his arms around her waist, and she seemed quite happy to lay her weight on him. He pulled her closer and nuzzled her nose with his, then brushed their lips together, so lightly he wasn't entirely sure he had. He tugged gently at the bows on her cape, and they came loose without much notice on her part. Without her boots and cape, her outfit looked like nothing more than a swimsuit.
Suddenly, he began to pull away, leaning toward the water. It was deliberate, of course--he still held her arms.
"What are you doing?" she asked nervously as she began to tip.
"Come on, Sakura, live a little..." he trailed off as he felt himself splash into the cool water, the girl following directly. Still attached, they made their way to the shallows and floated to the surface. Syaoran found her waist and put his arms around her from behind, taking great delight in just holding her there, feeling her against him. She trembled, and he wrapped himself around her, murmured into her ear.
"Once we're back home," he whispered, "we'll go to the beach. Just you and me. The water will be warmer, I promise." By now, he could feel the heat conducted between the two of them, despite how cold the water was. Afraid he would scare her, he unwrapped himself and drifted to be in front of her, taking her hands lightly. For the first time, he noticed that she had used the bandage from her own hand to wrap the wound on his arm--it must've been one of the most considerate things anyone had ever done for him.
"Syaoran?" Her voice snapped him out of his daze. "Come back. You were warm."
Slightly surprised, he obeyed, wrapping his limbs around her once more. He felt her body tense a bit, then relax as she let out a contented sigh and let her eyelids droop.
"You promise?" she muttered peacefully.
"What?"
"That the water will be warmer. You promise?"
~*~
Thank goodness for The Firey. Once they had gotten out of the water, Syaoran was no longer wrapped around her waist to warm her, and her lips had long since turned a shade of purple from the cold. She reluctantly admitted to herself, however, that it wasn't just the warmth that made her cling to him--she had pretended not to notice, but it seemed inescapable. The sparks that flew when he touched made her blush just remembering. She suddenly wished she were young again; when they were ten, they didn't have to deal with this. It distracted her.
An elbow poked her arm lightly, and she snapped out of her reverie to look at the boy walking beside her.
"What are you spacing out about?" he asked.
"Me? Nothing, I don't know what you're talking about."
"You almost ran into a wall."
She blushed again, harder. "Well, I..."
He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Here, let me help you out. 'I was so distracted that I almost ran into a wall because...'"
"...because I can't stop thinking..." she paused again.
"'...about...'"
"...about..."
"'...about...'" he sighed frustratedly.
"...about you damnit! I can't get my mind off of you! You're right beside me and I'm acting like a silly school girl confronted by her first crush!" she yelled, finally able to say it, thanks to Syaoran's not-so-gentle prodding.
She noticed that they had stopped walking, and were now facing each other. She didn't dare look up at his face, afraid that his eyes would show anger, mock, or some other unreadable emotion, so she instead stared at his shoes. She had never really noticed just how scuffed-up they were... after all, one would think that the future leader of a clan of warriors would have the best shoes around, right? Come to think of it, why wasn't he with the rest of his clan anyway? She let the questions tumble around in her head...
Suddenly, she noted him shifting his feet.
"Was that all it was? Geez, Sakura. You really are a nervous one, aren't you?" His amused tone shocked her into looking at his face, only to see a playful smirk. "It's just hormones."
Her face reddened even more. "Hormones that hit you like a truck on a freeway?"
"Sometimes..." he replied innocently, turning his eyes away himself as if to say it wasn't his fault.
Frustrated by his attitude, Sakura turned forward to walk again and groaned, forgetting the questions that roamed her brain only moments ago. "Oh, I don't even know why I bother with you."
"Yes you do."
She rolled her eyes and kept walking.
Neither said anything else, and Sakura was careful not to run into any more walls.
And so they walked in silence.
~~~~
Alter-chan: well that was all complete and utter fluff. yes, fluff.
Zuri: *appearing from out of thin air* WE'RE TOUGH! NOT FLUFF!!
Alter-chan: -_-;
Bob [speed team coach]: that's right, Zuri! TNF! TNF! TNF!
Alter-chan: O_o oh my gosh... i'm ending this chapter before things get any stupider... onward with the reviews!
~AlterEthereal