Chapter Sixteen: Confessions

Her eyes fluttered open and were greeted by the presence of Syaoran in front of her. He was still slightly blurred in her vision, but she could make out that his lips were moving and she could feel his hands gently holding her arms, shaking them slightly. Gradually his words started to make their way into her ears.

"Sakura? Can you hear me? Please wake up!"

Slowly she managed to pull herself into a sitting position before wrapping her arms around Syaoran. Now that he was here in front of her she didn't want to let go. Not if it meant loosing him and returning to that clearing in the forest. She never wanted to go back there.

"What's all this about? Eriol said you fainted." He was clearly worried and it was only now that Sakura realised that the other man had left.

"I'm sorry I got caught..."

"Don't worry about that. He's my cousin, he knows all about you. Right now I just want to know that you're alright."

Sakura suddenly fell silent. What could she say? She had no right to question Syaoran about his life. She didn't even remember knowing him. It didn't matter what they might have had, if she didn't remember then how could she be sure of any of it? However, this wasn't exactly true. She was starting to remember things. Even if they were only small, like the dress, it was still something.

Her mind continued to argue with itself leading to only more confusion. What ever reasoning she came up with, she also had an excuse for and so on. It didn't take long for her mind to crack and, especially when she saw his eyes looking directly at her full of concern and compassion her emotions erupted, spilling out in every single direction.

"I thought you told me you loved me! Then how could you do such a thing! I believed you and trusted you but it can't have been true can it? You must have been lying."

Syaoran stared in disbelief as Sakura's verbal assault continued.

"How could you really love me? And what am I supposed to do now? I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for your lies and I really can not believe I accepted everything you said at face value. Never once did I question it. I don't remember the time we spent together before, but gradually things are returning to me. All I do is think about you and it drives me crazy. How could I ever forget about someone like you? How?"

She was practically screaming now and paid no attention to Syaoran's tries to calm her. She had to let it all out - she had to tell him everything.

"If I had been with you before then I never would have let you go. The thought of loosing you is my worse nightmare even though it seems I have only known you a few days. How can I have such strong feelings now if I didn't feel something for you before? I must be remembering. Just give me a chance."

Her she collapsed to her knees and started to weep. Her hands covered her face to catch the falling tears and also managed to muffle her words, which were now reduced to nearly a whisper.

"Please give me a chance" she sobbed.

"Sakura, what are you talking about, I do love you. I did when I first met you and I haven't stopped since. Where did you get this idea?" Guiding her body with his arms, she laid her head on his chest and he held her tightly. It felt so good to have her close, even though these weren't the best of circumstances. "Please don't cry."

Slowly her tears subsided but she kept her head buried within his shirt, not wanted to meet his eyes after her outburst.

"You're engaged, aren't you? Soon you'll be married and I'll mean nothing to you and I can't bear that. I love you."

"W...what did you just say?" Syaoran stuttered in shock.

"I love you, and I don't want you to marry someone else."

Syaoran slide his hand under Sakura's chin and gently got her to raise her head so that they were face to face.

"I'm not getting married to anyone, Sakura. Mother always tries to set up engagements for me, a different one each month, sometimes each week, but I reject them all. You're the only one that means anything to me."

Sakura gasped in disbelief.

"You mean... I just... oh my god, I'm sorry. All of that was so out of place for me to say, why didn't you stop me earlier? Before I embarrassed myself like that!"

"Embarrassed? Does that mean you want to take it all back?" Syaoran suddenly looked hurt.

"Yes... I mean, no... I don't know what I mean. I meant it all but I wish I hadn't just told you like that." She tried to turn her head away again as a blush covered her cheeks but Syaoran was expecting his and instead caught her lips in an embrace before she turn away fully.

As he kissed her, Sakura forgot all about her embarrassment, and basically of everything that had just happened. She welcomed the wave of happiness that spread through each vein in her body. As nice as it was though, it was short lived as Syaoran pulled away to finish what he was saying.

Taking her left hand, he rearranged his position that he was sitting in.

"The only person I want to marry is you, Sakura."