Summer Essence

Author's Note: I hope you do enjoy this chapter! Even if it seems it has been plagiarized, I tell you, it is not! The outcomes are different and their personalities (hopefully) were kept the same as they were in the series and movie. Anyways, enjoy the chapter. Read and review! Arigato!

Chapter 3

First Kiss

"Syaoran, how'd you get my cell –" Sakura began, but Syaoran cut her off.

"Hah, I thought you'd ask my Saku. Fujitaka-sama gave it to me while you were still at school. I wanted to surprised you," Syaoran laughed goodheartedly.

He called me... "my Saku". Does that mean... he's in love with me... and not Tomoyo?? Does it mean he's left the feelings he once had for her and... and came to me? Sakura wondered hopefully.

"Otou-san?! He did?! But how did he know it was you!!" Sakura asked, her voice full of questions and confusion.

"Well... why don't you just wait and see," he said. "Ja ne. You'll hear of me in a little." Then he hung up.

Sakura leaned against her wall, right next to her computer and right next to her door. She could barely breathe, knowing that he said "my Saku" to her. She felt so excited that she could hardly wait till her nineteenth birthday – the day Syaoran promised to come. She only had to wait one year since today was her eighteenth birthday. A week ago he informed her of the change, and she was left brokenhearted, yet still fighting.

Suddenly saw her doorknob turn and her door open. She could see a hand that was unfamiliar holding the knob. The arm was covered with an olive green coat sleeve and the rest of the person was hidden away... behind the door.

"W... who are you?" Sakura asked, hoping it wasn't a ghost.

"Who do you think?" the voice went softly. The voice was familiar, but clouded from her mind.

Then the body came to view, and finally the face. The person's hair was messy and a beautiful chestnut hue. His eyes were a glossy amber color... a light brown. So delicate and beautiful. And oh his smile, how charming it was.

"SYAORAN!" Sakura screamed, jumping onto him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, wrapped her legs around his, and hung onto his body, not letting go.

"Ah! Sakura, let go of me! I'm gonna –"

Thud. He fell to the ground, Sakura still hanging onto him. She wouldn't let go. She felt the heat of his body, his arms now around her, and his left cheek touching her right cheek. It felt so good, so indescribable, and so... perfect.

"Don't let go of me! I don't want you to leave me! For ten years I've been longing for you to hold me! To stop thinking of Tomoyo! Don't let go of me! Please!" Sakura cried.

Syaoran looked at her confusedly, thinking of what she just told him. Was that really true? All of those e-mails... did they come from love or friendship? Where did those words come from? He didn't understand, so he just kept his arms wrapped around Sakura, lying there, on the floor with her in his arms. Somehow it felt... different. Relaxing, and he realized, all of this time, it was Sakura he loved – the girl who wrote the e-mails. The "e-mail girl" that he loved. Tomoyo wasn't the one he loved, it was Sakura, but how could he tell them that? They would be shocked. Who knew if Tomoyo loved him still.

"Sakura..." he said gently.

"No Syaoran, please don't," she said, making her grasp on him tighter.

He could feel her shaking. He could feel the grief in her, the pain of knowing that the person you love loves another. He could hear it in her voice when she had just protested. He remembered her forlorn sobs on the day he was leaving... leaving to Hong Kong. He gave her that innocent kiss and Tomoyo laughed. He did it so she felt better, Tomoyo understood.

"Sakura... you must hear me out..." he tried again.

"Why is it always Tomoyo?" he heard her sob to herself.

"Sakura, no one must know of this, understood?"

"Now look at what you've done. Let go of him, he's Tomoyo's," he heard her say to herself.

"I love..."

"It's Tomoyo," she whispered to herself.

"You..."

At that, Sakura shot up, letting go of him and standing straight. She dusted her plaid jeans and gray sweatshirt.

"What did you say?" she asked, her emerald eyes faded.

"I love you, and no one must know of it! Everyone thinks I love Tomoyo, but I came to my senses! It was you all along!" he said sternly yet quietly. He couldn't believe what he just said.

"Why can't anyone know?" Sakura asked.

"Because I heard Oka-san on the phone with Fujitaka-sama talking about my wedding! It's an arranged one with Tomoyo – or so I heard. Tomoyo might already be informed about it, so keep quiet," Syaoran said.

"Syaoran... I... I'm not in love with you... you don't have to say that," she lied, turning around quickly, her emerald eyes burning with forbidden tears.

"What? But..." he began.

"But nothing, I'm sorry I ever lead you into this whole thing. I just... I was... I've never had a real kiss before... and Tomoyo played matchmaker and set me up with Kenji Kawai... and I guess I just wanted to try it out on you. I mean, well... Tomoyo said I should get over you and one of her new friend's brother was still looking... and they threw me and him together," she lied again.

"You... want to... kiss me?" he asked, looking confused.

His head was spinning from the thoughts. She... didn't love him and so he was chasing her when he should have been chasing Tomoyo. He felt stupid and dumb, but decided that maybe he did love Sakura and needed to win her heart.

Sakura nodded, the back of her head still facing him. She slowly turned around and walked closer to him. Closer... closer. She drew near him and his body began to tingle.

Emerald-eyed angel. You will have an emerald-eyed angel, my son. My Xiolang, you will have an emerald-eyed angel that you will love, that you will cherish, that you will need.

His mother's lullaby. Why did it come to him now? Why did it come to him now? When he was about to embrace the most precious feeling he would ever feel – the first kiss. The most innocent kiss that anyone in their whole lifetime would feel.

Closer... closer she drew, taking small, tiny paces towards him. Finally she was standing close enough for them to kiss, but she came closer, still. He came closer. Close enough that their foreheads could touch. He bent his head down, she looked up. His arms came wrapping around her waist. Her arms locked around his neck. She could see his amber eyes full of joy and mystery. He could see her emerald eyes squealing with delight.

Closer their faces came, until finally their lips reached. Sakura's heart melted as she could feel the warmth of his lips. She didn't know what to do. She was stuck. It was the first time she was embraced this way, and she had no experience. Syaoran started to push forward, making Sakura walk backwards. Their eyes were kept closed, and Syaoran could only wonder if she knew how to kiss or not, but taking it the way she could do no more, he decided to go first.

He pressed his lips harder against hers. It felt so good to Sakura, she longed to know how to do it correctly. He began to press so that their tongues met, and when they did, they made Sakura go numb. Her knees began shaking and her grasp around his neck loosened.

So... so this is how it feels like... Sakura thought, her mind dazed and numb like her body.

She broke away and he looked at her in surprise. She stared at him, her lips feeling cold now, without the warmth of his. She felt cold and dizzy and fell into his arms, feeling feverishly cold and weak.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" he asked quickly.

"I... I don't know," she replied weakly. "I just... all of a sudden feel numb and... cold." She grasped Syaoran and wrapped her arms around his waist. She could feel the his warmth; like a soothing fireplace. He could feel her coldness. It was as if she had the life sucked out of her.

"Sakura, here," he said, pulling off Sakura's cold bed covers.

He laid Sakura down, on her bed and pulled the covers to her chin. Her frosty emerald eyes looked at him mournfully.

"Don't go, Syaoran. I lied... I lied about everything. I still love you and always will. Don't go, please. I... need... you," she whispered to him.

"Sakura, you can't expect me to hold you in your own bed, now do you? What if your father sees us and takes it the wrong way? I would gladly be your heat source, but I... it would be impossible to get through the night like that," he said quietly. "Oka-san is downstairs with Fujitaka-sama, we're staying here and... and I am to share your room with you, so maybe we could fluff your pillows so you could sit up and I could hold you."

"Okay."

Sakura leaned forward so he could fluff the pillows to make it more comfortable when she sat. He then sat on the bed and embraced Sakura in his arms – his heart melting as he embraced the girl of his dreams. This was their first kiss... first kiss... first kiss...

a/n: Hehe, yes, it's a possible copycat, but hey, it isn't entirely a copycat fic! And I'm sorry if any of you that wrote fics much like this think it's a copycat, but to tell you the truth, I haven't read many CCS fics lately. I only read two! One of them was kind of like this one, the other... nah. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! Arigato for your reviews!