The Dreams We Left Behind

by Melissa Ordesky

COMPLETE. Syaoran wasn’t brave enough to tell Sakura his feelings before he left for H.K. and is held captive by his family. Sakura is forced through a deadly test. Can Syaoran get to her in time?

1. This Is It

~.~The Dreams We Left Behind ~.~

A Card Captor Sakura fic by Melissa Ordesky

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Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura does not belong to me. Duh. PG-13 for bad words *gasp*. Based on the anime.

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Premise: Syaoran wasn't brave enough to tell Sakura his feelings before he left for H.K., and so the second movie ended with Sakura and Syaoran standing on the opposite ledges, waiting for the ledges to be replaced now the Sealed Card has become the Hope card.

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Chapter One - This Is It

Syaoran

This is it.

That's all I remember thinking, that moment, when I realised that the one with the most power was me. This is it. This is when I lose my most important feeling. Closed eyes, clenched fists, hold on. Thisisitthisisitthisisitthisisit. Nothing more eloquent, nothing more articulate, nothing but those three words. I couldn't think anything more than that, because thinking about losing what I felt - oh God, still feel - for Sakura was... No, that was worse. That was worse than it even happening, thinking about it happening.

And worse than that, thinking about it happening without Sakura even knowing. Nothing of my feeling would remain, at all. Maybe that would have made it easier.

As if in slow motion, I saw the strange girl turn on me, fire in her eyes. The magic of my clan would not aid me now. I faced it, terror in my heart, and obduracy on my face. Sakura would never know if it were to hurt. I was determined to spare her that much worry. Not that she would care that much for me, you understand. Sakura cares for everyone's well-being, regardless of who they are.

And then, Sakura saved the day again. Weary, but determined, she'd clung on until the end, never willing to give in until the very end. The card that had formed when all the other 52 cards were transformed into Sakura Cards - the mysterious heart and wings - shot out from her possession and merged with the Sealed Card. I saw out of the corner of my eye a beam of pinkish light shoot towards her, but I couldn't look. I was frozen to the spot, all those horrible thoughts still going around my head. What if - even beaten - she had more power than me? What if she lost her most important feeling? What if I did, and I don't even realise?

"The card, Li." Shaking my head slowly, shaking me out of the reverie I'd drifted into, I looked uncomprehendingly at the source of the sound for a long second, until my thoughts suddenly lurched and started working again. Sakura was speaking, her eyes earnestly shining with unshed tears, and - I could only just dare to believe it - hope on her face.

"What card?" I don't know how I managed to find my voice, but find it I did. I'm glad my brain started to gradually work before my voice stumblingly returned, else who knows what I would have blurted out?

Actually, I know exactly what would have come out. IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou. In that same frantic babble that my purported loss-of-most-important-feeling had dragged out of me. Somewhere in the depths of my soul, I'm a babbler. Strange, huh?

"The Hope." Her voice is reverent as her fingers ghost lovingly over the card grasped tightly in her hand like a hard-won prize. Something in me is absently wishing that she was touching me like that, and I yell inwardly at that something.

"Huh?"

Sakura lowered the card doubtfully, her eyes widened in horror, and she moved one hand close to her mouth fleetingly. "Li, you- you-" She stumbled slightly on the ledge, and my heart leapt into my mouth. "You were the one with the most power," she said dazedly, her too-green eyes flashing with some indefinable emotion. "I used mine up changing the cards, and you-" She fell abruptly silent.

I stared back at her, speechless, until I understood. "No, no! Sakura, it's okay. Whatever happened, I didn't… I didn't lose my… Y'know." Comforted by her sudden relaxation of her posture, my mouth suddenly went dry. "Uh, you di-"

"No, no." She shook her head quickly, the Hope card still grasped in her hand.

I knew I hadn't lost my most important feeling, because when she looked at me I still felt as if nothing else mattered in the world, as long as she kept looking at me like that. A suspicious doubt niggled at me. "How can you be sure?"

For some reason, the question startled her, and her cheeks darkened. I couldn't exactly be sure, but despite all the shadows, it really looked as if she was blushing. Then, of course, the horrifying thought struck home. Yukito. She had those feelings for Yukito, and- Jealousy welled up inside like blood seeping through a surface wound, and I'd had way too much experience of those for my liking.

The blush, if that is what it was, on Sakura's cheeks deepened, and she raised her head arrogantly. "I know," she said firmly, as if that was all that mattered in the world. She paused, bobbing slightly on the balls of her feet. "How can you be sure?"

I know I was blushing. Ridiculous blushing, too. I was practically convinced that she could see my face perfectly even in the gloom because it surely must be glowing. "Because I- I-" I couldn't tell her the truth, but I could tell her part of it before my timidity overruled my heart. "Because I still believe in you, Sakura."

"Oh." That oh touched me to the quick. It wasn't an oh meaning "I hear ya." It wasn't an oh meaning "Man, that's something bad." It was an oh meaning far too much more than I dared to hope for. It was an oh that was a startled oh, a too-rapid intake of breath, as if my words had startled her.

I wasn't surprised. They startled me too.

"Anyway, I'm gonna jump over." Sakura tipped her head to one side at me, uncertain. "All 53 cards are finally sealed. There's nothing more that can go wrong."

I know I cringed, and I know she spotted it.

"Li?"

I cringed again, this time apologetically. "Those words are jinxed, I'm sure of it. Whenever anyone says those words, it gets much worse." Like the time, I add silently, mother said that someone else was capturing Clow cards. Something more did go wrong. I managed to somehow end up with rather embarrassing feelings for aforementioned Clow capturer, and - worse than that - ended up incapable of actually telling her. I was, you know. I was going to tell her before I left for Hong Kong, but… I couldn't work up the nerve. Instead I told her I believed in her, and just left, without telling her.

Mind you, I also returned without telling her, but the look on her face was so worth it. Sakura likes nice surprises, emphasis on the nice. Mei Ling says that the look on my face was so worth it, too. I hope it was a nice surprise, come to think of it. Okay, Li, now is not the time to be thinking negative thoughts! As She Fa always says, they're always the ones that come and bite you in the ass.

"Ha, I can believe that." A small smile was playing openly on her grimy face. "We'll just wait for the effects of the Sealed Card to be reversed."

"Okay," I said, but suddenly had to curse myself. If she'd leapt, and stumbled perchance, I could have caught her, and- But now was no time to daydream. Especially as the card's effects were reversed then, in sync with the sunrise flooding the dark cavern we were in. The steps around the edge were fully restored, and Sakura stepped down them lightly, with the grace of an angel, a fairy, a- Okay, so I'm obsessed with her, I get that.

She joined me as I walked stiffly over to one of the large arched holes, suddenly aware of my awkwardness around her. Looking down, I could see many collapsed figures getting slowly to their feet, like ungainly fawns in their first moments of life.

It was pure magic, watching the city sparkle back into life, watching the inhabitants awaken out of the nightmare and into the beauty of the new day, made even more magic by the ethereal but substantial presence hovering by my arm.

"They'll be okay," Sakura whispered, suddenly grabbing my arm with her spare hand. Tendrils of heat lashed up my arm to languish brilliantly on my face. Yep, that's right, I was glowing like a nuclear power station again. "Dad will-"

A look of pure horror flashed across her face, and the last thing I could have been thinking of spewed out of her pretty mouth like a fireball. God knows how she thinks of these things at times like this!

"The play!" Sakura yelled, clasping the Hope card to her chest in her panic, allowing me a brief glimpse of the card; the girl who had sent such devastation at us, looking so peaceful entwined with a heart with wings.

Sakura, I may have mentioned to many people on occasion, is a very passionate person. So when she gets enthusiastic, you get enthusiastic. It's nothing you can control, believe me. It's something about her countenance, the bubble in her voice, when she speaks with such fervour in her voice, you're hooked. Line and stinker.

Our gazes locked in panic, and we launched ourselves forwards in unison, pounding down the roughly hewn 'steps' as if we had the same amount of energy we'd started with yesterday. Adrenaline surged, and our fatigue was forgotten. As we slammed into the park, we saw Tomoyo, Mei Ling, Yukito and Kero in a heap, waking up sleepily. Further away, Touya was sleepily getting to his feet, although when he saw me his eyes narrowed. Sakura's older brother got to his feet faster than the others, and fairly flew through the air to glare at me.

"What. Have. You. Done. To. My. Sister. Brat!"

Sakura, instead of stepping forwards to placate her brother as I thought she would, stepped backwards to stand in front of me. "Touya, Li helped me."

Touya blinked uncertainly, looking at Sakura's grime-soaked face and outfit, the dirt and blood caking my face, and Yukito's drowsy figure amongst the fray, and sat down with a thump in a pile of dried leaves. It looked like he was about to break down and cry.

"She's right, Touya."

Touya looked up at Yukito's soft expression, as the lithe silver-haired young man dragged himself over to where Touya was sat, thunderstruck. "He is the heir of the Li clan, the strongest Chinese magic clan. The Clow cards traditionally belong to his family, but Sakura was chosen to be the card mistress instead."

Yukito put one hand gently on Touya's knee, and their eyes locked for a long second. I knew the truth about those two, as did Mei Ling - and Kero, I suspect, but Sakura and Tomoyo looked on perplexedly. "It's true," Yukito continued, awkwardly.

"I know it's true." Touya waved one hand dismissively. "Mizuki-sensei told me."

"About me?" Yukito looked suddenly pale, as if he had receded so far back into himself that neither Yukito nor Yue were there at all.

"I've always known there was something special about you, Yukito," Touya said, a forgiving sort of expression on his face.

I got the double meaning in that expression, and let it be. Sakura put her head on one side, fiercely thinking. God, she's cute when she's thinking, my mind irreverently tried to add, and then I chided myself. She thinks all the time, I tried as defence, but the answer irrevocably came back, You think she's cute all the time.

Dammit. Now I can't even have a decent argument with myself any more.

"What happened?" Touya's voice was brisk now, and somehow he'd managed to put his hand on Yukito's and neither looked too discontented at that simple gesture of their… companionship.

Sakura made a small noise of unhappiness in the back of her throat. I hated that sound. That sound meant she was sad, and her being sad was something I could hardly bear. "There was a final card, a negative card with the power of all the positive cards. It was locked in the basement of Eriol's house, but when that was destroyed, the Sealed card became Unsealed, and- Well, it was supposed to require the loss of the most powerful person's most important feeling, but instead…" She reached into the folds of her costume and pulled out the Hope card. A brief flash of red caught my eye, making me realise Tomoyo had gotten over the shock and was busy, business as usual, recording all.

I'm just glad she can't record inside my head.

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Sakura

I held forwards the Hope card, hardly bearing to believe that we'd got off so lightly. Of course, I use the word 'lightly' in relative terms! I was bruised all over, and couldn't wait to go back to bed and sleep. Li looked the same too, although slightly shaken. I couldn't believe I'd been so stupid! After changing all those cards, I was horribly exhausted, and he had the most power. If it hadn't been for the Love card… I don't know what I would have done. I could never live with myself if something happened to anyone that I could have prevented.

Yukito took the card in his large hands, turning it over reflectively while edging a look at Kero. Kero bobbed in the air, looking worriedly at Touya, as if he knew too much. Which he did. Know too much, I mean. I was going to have a serious talk with my brother when we got home. As it was, I was much more interested in Kero and Yukito's reactions to the Hope card.

"The other says that you have balanced the forces again," Yukito said, his brow furrowed, Touya's hand now lightly on Yukito's shoulder for support.

The forces were balanced! Yes! I breathed a sigh of relief and felt, rather than saw, Li's tense posture relax at the same time. I looked over at Mei Ling, who was really pale and letting Kero perch on her shoulder, and Tomoyo, who was stood there shakingly with her camera. I guess that was what hit it home to me that this was a near miss. A near miss with apocalyptic doom.

I hit the ground with a dazed thud, my legs sprawling beneath me. Very elegant, Sakura. How come my brain always comes up with stupid irrelevant stuff while I'm in the middle of a nervous breakdown? Huh?

I guess I expected Touya to reach me first, so it really shocked me when the person who thudded to the ground after me, one concerned hand on my forearm, was Li.

"Are you all right?"

I stared vacantly at Li. My vision normally blurred after a shock like that one - that this time the world really could have ended - but this time I could see him clearly. Maybe it was the effect of the breaking sunrise drenching the place in a warm pink-amber light. Whatever the reason, I don't think I've ever seen Li in such clarity before. His eyes were wide, the colour of polished wood, and I don't think I've ever realised before just how… expressive they were. I think expressive is the right word, but even now I'm not too sure. His hair had fallen across his forehead, throwing shadows over his grazed and bruised face, and he looked… I don't know. I don't think there's a word for it. Perfect?

I realised he was staring rather vacantly back at me, realised what I'd just exactly thought about him, and flushed. I probably looked like all my lights were on, but nobody was home. "Uh- Just a little-"

"Overwhelmed by the hugeness of it all?" Mei Ling suggested.

I know I squeaked in reply, but to be honest it was out before I could stop it! Real suave in front of Li, Sakura. Really sophisticated. Then another thought struck me, totally irreverent too. Why did I care so much? I guess it's because I don't like looking like a prat in front of him. He insulted me so much at the beginning. I don't want him insulting me again.

Yes, I know very well that that's not the entire truth, but it's all the truth I'm allowing right now, okay????

"And the play." I stiffened, and looked up at Li wild-eyed again. He still hadn't moved from where he'd moved down to check if I was okay, and his hand was still hovering on my arm. Not that I was complaining, or anything, even if my entire body ached. "The play!"

"I think the play's the last thing on anyone's minds right now," Mei Ling muttered impatiently.

"No, she's right, it's important," Tomoyo said, shutting down her video camera and looking from me to Li with wide, worried eyes. "Everyone will be back, and wondering what's going on."

"Consequences, shmonsequences," I muttered gruffly, scrambling to my feet and very acutely feeling Li's hand as he helped me up. His arm slid under mine as we both scrambled to our feet, and as soon as we were upright he pulled his arm away, his cheeks reddened. Probably from the wind and the fight, I thought, feeling a small tug that it wasn't because… Well, I don't know what I hoped the redness in his cheeks meant. Correction: I don't think I want to know.

Touya was giving me a swift appraising glance, and I was horribly aware that I was still in my battle costume. He flickered a narrowed glance at Li, as if my being the Card Captor was his fault, and then back at me. "Cute costumes," Touya growled, and I just knew he was going to continue with something derogatory about Li. I stepped forwards menacingly, while Mei Ling jumped at me to hold me back and Tomoyo stepped forwards with a huge grin on her face.

"You like the costumes? I make all of Sakura's battle costumes with the top material! Shows respect for the cards, and the hard-wearing cloth makes the knocks less damaging! Of course, this one was designed to match Li's, which I made specially too! Li is sooooo protective of Sakura, you can't imagine."

The clever little minx - Tomoyo is such a genius! - grabbed my brother by his sleeve and started walking him in the direction of the school. Touya gaped at her like a landed goldfish.

"The brat is protective of Sakura?" Touya demanded helplessly. "When it's all his fault that she's in all that danger in the fir-"

"Did she mention the costume she's designing next for Sakura has an in-built parachute, just in case the Fly card fails?" Mei Ling joined in on the whole distract-Touya scheme, and Touya, sandwiched between two girls I'm very appreciative of right now, looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a very large dumper truck.

"A parachute?" Yukito mused thoughtfully as we followed Touya, Tomoyo and Mei Ling. "That could be kind of nifty."

"Wings are much better!" Kero fluttered off Mei Ling's shoulders, and nestled himself on the small bag swinging from my hip.

"Oh, I agree," Yukito said with a muffled grin.

"We're near the school." Li's voice was muted. "Kero, you'd better-"

"Sakura???!!!!!!"

CRAP.

I know, I'm supposed to be a lady, but- Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. Sometimes a lady just has to swear, you know?

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Syaoran

The battle outfits we could have probably explained. Said they were for the next part of the play. The grime - well, yes, that could have happened in the explosion. (Which I later found out they had tried to explain as a fuse box blowing up, or something.) The flying teddy bear, though. Y'know, that's always going to be a toughie to explain.

Sakura's father looked from us to Kero, and back again, looking startled and lost for words. I felt so sorry for Sakura, finding out her brother knew all along and then her dad finding out in the same day that the world almost ended!

"Sakura???!!!!!!!" He said, staring accusingly at Kero, then shrewdly at us all. I held my breath, and my "Thisisit" mantra started up again, throbbing and repetitive like an annoying American pop song. "Where did you go?"

"To. To. To. Get changed, dad." Sakura feebly smiled at her father. "We accidentally left the costumes at home, and Touya and Yukito helped us get them. Only in the- the storm, we couldn't see and Tomoyo and Mei Ling put too much mud and make-up on our faces. There was an awful lot of lightning, though…"

Sakura's father blinked slowly. "You should be more careful, Sakura. This storm is horrendous."

I couldn't believe it. It seems the old ways strike again. If someone non-magical sees something they don't believe, they pretend it wasn't there. Their minds just blank it out. Thank goodness Kero has some sense. He has slumped on Sakura's bag. It could have - elements willing - looked like someone had thrown him to her.

"I will in the future," Sakura said. "But I had my friends to look after me."

"Well, Mr. Terada has had the ninth graders from the workshop cleaning up the stage. They've decided to let the show go on in half an hour, as the weather has let up." Sakura's father still looked slightly dubious, but he shook his head as if to shake away his disbelief. "Come on, let's get you back there."

I can't say I was happy about the play going on. Those words - the words I had desperately wanted to say to Sakura - had been the last thing spoken on stage, and my memory sprang back the rest of the play. I felt physically sick. I felt a warm hand on my arm, and looked up to see Mei Ling smiling at me.

"You'll do great in your scenes, Syaoran. You were born to stand out!"

She flitted away almost as suddenly as she had touched my arm, to talk gaily with Tomoyo in a loud voice about the impending end to the play. Touya was actually evidencing that he had some sense despite his shock at actually being face-to-face with visual evidence. Being told about Clow Reed's lingering legacies is one thing, meeting them in real life is another thing entirely.

"Thanks, Mei Ling," I whispered under my breath, and felt a warm breeze of happiness literally smack me in the face. That was the problem, Mei Ling being related to me. The auras of my relatives affect me physically when I'm weakened. I couldn't wait to be back to full strength… and for the play to be over!

…..

Well. The play went well, despite Chiharu falling through the hastily constructed walkway on the stage covering up the effects of the explosions, and despite the fact that our entire audience was watching the whole thing with a fairly constipated expression on everyone's faces that screamed the fact they all thought that somehow wool had been pulled over their eyes.

Which of course it had, on some scale or other. I slightly suspected Eriol's faint influence in the air, that stale smell of cherries and raw fish that hits my nostrils whenever he's been 'meddling', and was for once grateful to my reincarnated ancestor. He'd messed with people's memories a little, helping us carry on as if nothing had happened.

Those of us who had known what had happened couldn't help but exchange furtive looks at each other over the stage, which only generally added to the audience's (and the majority of the cast's) feeling of being somewhat deceived.

Stiffly, I clambered to my feet, Sakura giving me a stifled smile over her hands, which she was holding tightly to her mouth for some unclear reason. Mei Ling grabbed my hand, and we all shuffled to the front of the precarious stage to take our bows. The applause was thunderous, despite the general feeling of interference. I stumbled off the stage with Sakura's lines ringing in my head, imagining that they were real. Hah. Dream on, Syaoran. Dreeeeeeeam on.

Sakura breezed past me as we headed to the changing rooms, running over with Naoko and Tomoyo to check on Chiharu. Chiharu was propped up on some old crates and half a broken manikin, looking pale and shaken, and her cheeks were red. I leant back against the wall and watched the scene, finding it impossible to drag my gaze away. I watched, as Sakura talked to Chiharu earnestly, telling the overly-mallet-happy girl that Tomoyo had taped it all, and that her parts were excellent, and that Mei Ling had managed to cover her lines for her, and all was well. I knew as much as Sakura did that Sakura was close to collapsing, and yet she was still there, encouraging and sympathising a classmate with barely a fraction of the pain she was feeling.

I guess I didn't realise I was staring until the seventh grade's string quartet bustled past, the Viola player jabbing me in the ribs with her bow as they bustled past and I squeaked involuntarily. Sakura lifted her head at the noise. I blushed instantly, my cheeks feeling sore from the repeated rushes of blood to the surface, and I ducked my head as I got out of there as quick as possible.

My thoughts were running along the articulate lines of crapitcrapitcrapit, and I was so pleased Mother wasn't anywhere near. She just knows when some of us are even thinking bad words. I couldn't help it. We'd come so close to the whole world disappearing around our feet. The clan was going to be so mad at me.

They were pretty mad as it was. All those years training me, and the eight cards that I managed to capture I handed over to a girl with no training. A girl with a half-magic heritage, a nobody, becoming the Card Mistress. I had broken off the engagement with Mei Ling a few weeks ago, an engagement which they had arranged over our cribs, because it was unfair to her - I could only love her in a sisterly way, and I know that's not what she wanted. And now, I'd almost let the whole world disappear!

I made it to the toilets just in time, skidding into one of the cubicles and landing with a thump on the ground. Resting against the door, I stared hollowly at the tiled walls. It wasn't my fault my family had such high hopes for me. It wasn't my fault that I was the only male born in the current generation. It…

Oh, god. I'm sat here in the toilets, slumped to the ground in a floor that has probably been covered in wee by hundreds of first graders, trying to find someone to blame who isn't me! Jeeeez. Maybe all those times I called Sakura pathetic I should of turned around and put the epithet on myself.

Sinking my head into my hands for a while, I eventually lifted my head and ran my hands through my hair. I felt sweaty and dirty and absolutely useless. Sure, I'd helped Sakura a little, but it had been Sakura's open heart that had created the card that had balanced the positive and negative energy in the end.

I'd been absolutely no use at all. Whoop-de-freaking-doo.

The door into the toilets squeaked slightly, and I leapt quickly to my feet, knowing how stupid it would look that I was just sat on the floor. Obviously it hadn't been fast enough, as a too-recognisable female voice asked: "Li?"

Damn, crap it, damn. I had forgotten that the toilets were unisex in this wing of the school. Wishing the furious blush on my face would calm down, I resisted the childish urge to say I wasn't there and slowly exited the cubicle. I guess I looked pretty upset, because she stepped forwards faster than Kero does when you mention the word "cheesecake" within a three mile radius of him.

"Are you okay?"

That's Sakura, caring about everyone before herself. "I- uh. Yeah." There was a small silence as I fidgeted with the sleeves of the battle costume Tomoyo had made me, and she shuffled. I remembered my manners a little too late. "Uh, and you?"

"Oh." She went a little pink. I could see where she was coming from. This was kind of embarrassing, having a conversation in the toilets, and all. "I'm okay."

I stared flatly at her, showing my disbelief in my unfaltering teacher-ish glare.

"Tired, I guess," she admitted. "But - oh! You're bleeding!"

I frowned at her, thinking maybe she meant a small cut on my face or something, and then something in me started worrying and I checked her over. If I hadn't noticed that I was bleeding, maybe she hadn't noticed either.

Well, of course she would notice. I'm just… a useless idiot. I checked her over anyway, just to be sure.

"On your arm," Sakura continued, stepping forwards and pulling my arm towards her. I swear my blush deepened even more. At this rate I'd be permanently purple before I reached fifteen! "Stop fidgeting."

I forced myself to be still, but when her hands moved over my upper arm I winced, and snatched my arm back. I was totally unprepared for the angry expression that flitted over her face.

"You never said you were such a wimp, Li," she chided, brusquely taking my arm and yanking up the green material. She efficiently yanked some paper towels from the dispenser by her right elbow, for people to dry their hands. I was about to get offended, when I saw her expression. It was the same expression she used around Touya. I didn't know whether to be offended or feel honoured.

I settled for a queer combination of both. I guess my arm really was hurt. It must have gotten torn by some falling debris or something. I glanced over the mirror to get a closer look at it, and thankfully noticed that I wasn't quite as red as I imagined. Seeing our image reflected in the slight blur of the mirror was quite surreal. The gash looked quite deep, but clean, and cut right above my birthmark. I guess I hadn't told Sakura about the birthmark, because as she dabbed the blood away her eyes narrowed in curiosity. She wetted some more towels to clean the wound, and pulled out a cotton handkerchief from a concealed pocket on her costume. That's one thing Tomoyo aces at, the small details. It's what made her mother a millionaire, that trait.

I tried not to fidget as Sakura tied the handkerchief around my arm, and pulled down the sleeve again. "Th-thanks," I muttered, feeling lousy that that stuttered word was all the thanks I could profess. Sakura smiled at me, although it wasn't the widest smile in the world. She was tired, though. I'd have to drag her out to her father and Touya. Those two will yank her home and force her into bed in no time.

"Nice birthmark," she commented, her mouth quirking suddenly at the corner in amusement.

"Grew it myself," I replied darkly, earning a twitch in Sakura's smile.

"Looks like a Ying-Yang sign," Sakura said, almost nervously.

"Um. Yeah. It's been in my clan for generations. Every first born son sort of thing."

"Family history, blah, blah, blah?"

I grinned. "Exactly."

"Well." She wrung her hands, and looked away. "We'd better, um, get out of here." A sudden thought seemed to strike her. "Unless you, I mean-"

She looked towards the stall doors, and I rapidly shook my head. "No, no."

Sakura relaxed, offered me a final brilliant smile, and turned on her heel towards the door.

"But didn't you-" I cursed my brain for trying to get a thought in edgeways as she turned around, the smile replaced by a solemn expression. "Didn't you need to… Uh…"

"What, pee?" Sakura teased. I wrinkled my nose and flickered a glance to the ceiling, as if to say 'women!' "No. I saw you come in, and- well- I guess I just wanted to- Uh-" She screwed her eyes up a little before opening them wide. "TellyouthankyouforfightingwithmeIcouldn'thavedoneitwithoutyou." Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked to the side as if she couldn't look at me while saying it. "I mean it. You helped me continue to believe I could do it."

"I didn't do anything," I commented, the bitterness of my earlier thoughts rising to the surface.

Sakura stared at me in disbelief, before shrugging and looking at me flatly, mildly amused. "You didn't give up. You were there. You believed in me." Her words echoed what I had said just an hour previously. Had it only been an hour ago? Feels like an eternity… "Pick one. You did all three."

She turned, and in the mirrors I could see a small, contented smile on her face as she flounced out of the toilet. I allowed myself a smile of my own, content in the knowledge that she meant what she had said. Sakura's a truthful person, she'll tell you the truth tactlessly at times, but only when you need to hear it. She doesn't say anything she doesn't mean. It was a reassuring thought.

I took another long moment to compose myself, and then sauntered out of the bathroom. Padding down the short corridor that led out outside, I opened the door, stepped outside and the cold air blasted against my face. I looked up…

…and what I saw made me freeze on the spot.

Oh, shit, my mind supplied eloquently.

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