I really have no saying for this chapter except erm… prepare to hate me? Eek! Enjoy, if that's possible for this chapter… -looks at you glaring at me-

MOMMY! SAVE ME! –runs away from you guys, then realizes that I need the PC to type the chapter, walks back stupidly-

Q AND A

Why is Saru such a man-stealing bitch?

That answer was I think the previous chapter. Saru and Sakura found out that Saru's fiancé was cheating on her so Saru, out of depression and not wanting to get hurt again started dating men that were already taken, so she didn't have to go through the depression of begin hurt from a cheating man again.

Is Sakura's favour that Syaoran has to take her to the dance?

Hah! Do you expect me to answer that? I have two options running in my head now, two very good favours that Sakura can ask Syaoran, but the only way you guys can find out what it is, is by staying tuned!

Title: A Price to Pay

Summary: It's the usual… Syaoran is popular and Sakura is a nerd. Yet there is but one twist to this. Syaoran wants Sakura to do him a favor. He wants her to set him up with her twin sister, Saruka. But there is a price. Now, Syaoran owes Sakura…

Disclaimer: I don't own it. CLAMP does…

Rating: R (For Language and Possible Lemons/Limes)

Genre: Romance/Tragedy

Ages: Sakura: 16 .-.-.-. Syaoran: 17

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to my Nee-chan, Susan! She's my inspiration and what keeps me going in writing! Lub u Nee-chan!

And now, time to begin…

.-Chapter 12: The Calm before the Storm

Sakura smiled towards Syaoran as she leaned her head in and laid it gently onto his shoulder. Syaoran wrapped an around her shoulder, as in giving her warmth.

"Thank you Syaoran," Sakura whispered, "for everything."

Syaoran stared at her, wondering what she meant…

.- Arrival at Tomoeda Airport -.

The plane just arrived at Tomoeda Airport and Syaoran shook Sakura awake.

"Hey Sakura, get up, we're here." He whispered.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open. She got off of Syaoran; -she was leaning on him- and rubbed her eyes, allowing her eyes to get used to the light.

"Let's go." He said as he got up, held his arm out for her. As she stood up, Syaoran opened the overhead compartment and took out a duffle bag, which belong to Sakura. Syaoran had a suitcase and so did Sakura, but that would come by later.

'What did she mean last night when she said, thank you Syaoran, for everything?' he thought as he held her hand and guided her outside.

As soon as they got out of the airplane, they saw Fujitaka, Nadesiko and Touya Kinomoto standing there.

Sakura's eyes brimmed with tears as she ran to her mother and hugged her.

"Mama… Mimi…Riku…tumor." Sakura cried in her mothers' soft embrace.

Nadesiko caressed Sakura's cheek as she gave her a kiss of love on the cheek.

"Dear, love, darling, nothing will happen to Mimi, I promise." Nadesiko whispered as she stroked her daughters' hair.

"Touya, your father and I are leaving right now. After Touya found out, he booked tickets for right after you returned."

Sakura looked at her brother and hugged him tightly.

"No problem kaijuu." Touya whispered in her ear. And then Sakura hugged her father, crying in his arms the most. It was Fujitaka that had always favoured Saru, until that day she fell pregnant. He basically lost hope in her, and that's when he noticed the younger of the twins had the potential to become something.

"Flight 679 to Hong Kong will be boarding in 5 minutes." Came the voice over the intercom.

Sakura hugged her family one more time before they left, but just before Touya let go of his embrace, he whispered in her ear, "Tomoyo, Eriol and the other Guardians are at our place, I assume Kero's in your duffle?" he asked. Sakura nodded. "Good, don't make drastic action on Daisuki until I'm back. Unless he does something utterly stupid, kill him, ok sis?"

Sakura cried as she tightened the grasp on her brother. Finally, they had to go, leaving Sakura and Syaoran walking out of the airport to a taxi that would take them to Sakura's house.

From there, Eriol would drive Syaoran back to his apartment.

The taxi stopped in front of Sakura's place and Syaoran paid the man. They opened the gate, lugged their suitcases with them and Sakura unlocked the door.

The lights were all shut so she flicked them all on to find a HUGE banner that had 'WELCOME BACK SAKURA AND SYAORAN' hung on the wall. On the table was a small cake. Streamers and balloons hung over the walls.

"Shit, Sakura this is…" Syaoran started.

"It's to good for words, eh Syaoran?" Sakura whispered as she walked in.

Syaoran nodded as he walked in too, lugging his suitcase. Just as they took off their shoes, everybody jumped out.

"WELCOME BACK!" Eriol, Tomoyo, Yukito, Nakuru, Chiharu, Naoko, Rika, Takashi and even… SARU?

Sakura and Syaoran stared at everybody, and then Sakura diverted a death glare at Saru.

"What are you doing here bitch?" Sakura hissed.

Saru was taken back, "What do you mean? You came back and I thought I'd come back early from New York. I mean, our school Spring Fling does start in three days."

Sakura then did the most unexpected thing. She walked up to Saru, smiling, her hands wide as in for a hug. Saru was just about to hug her when Sakura's expression darkened and she slapped Saru right across the face.

Saru's face snapped sideways. She clutched her cheek as she turned to glare at Sakura.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Saru yelled as she pushed Sakura.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN WHAT WAS THAT FOR? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN IN TOMOEDA HUH?" Sakura screeched.

Nobody knew what she was talking about, except Eriol and Tomoyo and Syaoran. Eriol and Tomoyo were glaring at Saru while Syaoran was watching with fear.

'What if Sakura hurts Saru to much?' he thought.

'No better question, what if Saru hurts Sakura too much? I can't stand seeing her in… where did that thought come from?' he thought surprised at what he was thinking.

"TOMOEDA IS MY HOME? WHY CAN'T I STAY HERE?" Saru yelled.

"Why?" Sakura hissed dangerously, "Why you ask? You have a daughter lying in bed fucking DIEING Saru! Dieing! The doctors don't believe that she'll live for long and all you do is fuck around with guys who are already taken! Get over Michael bitch! He was a fucker, a no good bastard! In order to stop getting your self-hurt, you hurt everybody else around you! Let me ask you something Saru, when you got bullied,who stuck up for you, but what about me? You didn't even spare me a passing glance when you saw Syaoran slam me up against a locker!"

At that Syaoran winced.

"Did you know what the doctors said? They said that since Mimi is so young, this might fucking kill her! She needs an operation, but we don't got that kind of shit money! Kai, Chang, Touya and I gave our share of money. Even mom and dad contributed! For gods sake, Syaoran even offered to pay for the entire operation!" Sakura wailed.

Syaoran remembered that, it was right before they boarded the plane. Chang called and said operation would be the best thing and that they would all pitch in money, Syaoran wanted to pay for the whole thing, I mean a kid was suffering here, but Sakura said no.

"But no, we all pitched in, Syaoran gave a couple of hundred dollars and Mimi is gonna get operated soon. Kai even said I was more of a mother to Mimi than her real mother, I never believed him, but now I see you horny bitch! You can't think of anybody but you!"

Tears were falling from her eyes now. She furiously wiped them away.

"Sakura, you're creating a scene…" Saru said rudely.

"SCENE! IS THAT ALL YOU CARE ABOUT? YOUR DAUGHER IS AT THE HOSPITAL HALF DEAD AND ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS THE LITTLE SCENE I'M CREATING? FOR DAMN'S SAKE SARU, KAI IS A BETTER PARENT THAN YOU'LL EVER BE! I FEEL SO FUCKING SORRY FOR YOUR HUSBAND." Sakura roared before running to her bedroom, crying her heart out. Chiharu, Rika, Naoko and Takashi were told that this was a bad time so they left. As soon as they did, in front of Syaoran, Nakuru transformed into Ruby and Yue fly out of the kitchen, Yukito glared at Saru before running after the guardians. Spinal and Kero transformed into their full beast from and flew after the crew, into Sakura's bedroom.

That left Syaoran, Eriol, Tomoyo and Saru.

"They just… in front of Xiao Lang?" Saru said.

Syaoran glared at Saru, "Don't you dare call me Xiao Lang, it's Li to you." He growled.

"What the hell? You mean you know EVERYTHING?" She screamed.

"More than you can imagine." He grumbled.

"Even… us having…"

Syaoran nodded. "Yea even you having magic. Now if you don't mind, I have a crying girlfriend up there who needs me." He said, emphasizing girlfriend. He turned towards the stairs and walked up to Sakura's room.

Tomoyo couldn't take it any longer; she huffed and left after Syaoran to go to Sakura. Eriol just stood there, feeling very, very angered.

"How could you do that to an innocent soul?" He said menacingly.

"You too?" Saru shrilled. She clicked her heels and rushed to the kitchen. Then Eriol went to join the parade in Sakura's room.

.- Sakura's room -.

Everybody was trying to comfort Sakura. She was crying her heart and soul out; nobody could comfort her except for…

'Syaoran.' Sakura thought, and at that second, Syaoran burst into her bedroom.

He turned to Sakura, and she launched her self on to him. He hugged her passionately as he eyed everybody, giving them the, 'if you don't leave now, you're fucking dead' look. One by one, everybody left. Tomoyo met Eriol in the hallway and said that it would be best if they left now, leaving Sakura and Syaoran.

Yukito popped into the kitchen to see if Saru wasn't committing suicide and just as he was sure she was alive, he left.

Now, in the Kinomoto household was Sakura Kinomoto, crying in Syaoran Li's arms as Saruka Kinomoto, cried her heart out in a kitchen towel.

(LMAO! LOSER!)

.- Back to SS -.

"I can't stand it being here tonight." Sakura finally managed to say after she finished crying.

Syaoran frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Can I stay at your place for the night?" she asked.

Syaoran took the time to think about it but at the end agreed. Sakura and Syaoran walked downstairs to find Saru watching T.V. Sakura grabbed her duffle bag and walked out the door without saying anything. Syaoran grabbed his suitcase and said a soft quick 'bye' before leaving.

(They took a taxi to his apartment.)

Sakura and Syaoran walked into his homely apartment.

"Shit," Syaoran cursed as he walked in, his eyes widened.

"What?" Sakura asked looking at him.

"I forgot this is one bedroom apartment." He murmured.

Sakura nodded, "I'll take the sofa." She whispered.

"Oh hell no, you take my bed, I'll take the sofa." He said.

"No, it's your house, you have the rights over the bed."

"But you're the guest, you have rights on your rights." Syaoran said.

Sakura massaged her temples, "How about we just share your bedroom? Nothing will happen."

Syaoran frowned and thought for a moment, "I do have a king sized bed."

Sakura smiled lightly as she walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower and get changed.

After she came out, she saw Syaoran in his boxers sitting on the sofa, eating a bowl of chips.

Sakura was in her light pink tank top and bunny pant jammies. She sat down beside him, -he was shirtless- and started eating some chips too. Her little chip raid was interrupted when Syaoran picked up a remote and flicked on the radio, when Beautiful Soul, by Jesse McCartney came on.

I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
You're the one I wanna chase
You're the one I wanna hold
I wont let another minute go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul

Sakura smiled, "Oh this song is so beautiful." She said as she hummed the tune. Syaoran looked at her, and for once, realized just how beautiful she looked. Her emerald pools glowing beautifully as her amber locks fell over her face.

I know that you are something special
To you I'd be always faithful
I want to be what you always needed
Then I hope you'll see the heart in me

Syaoran laughed as he got up, put out his hand and said in a French accent, "Madam, may I have zis dance?"

Sakura laughed as she took his hand and they started slow dancing.

I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
You're the one I wanna chase
You're the one I wanna hold
I wont let another minute go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul

Syaoran went salsa and twirled her around and dipped her. Sakura giggled and batted her eyelids. Syaoran chuckled as he pulled her back up, as soon as he did, Sakura yawned.

Your beautiful soul, yeah
You might need time to think it over
But im just fine moving forward
I'll ease your mind
If you give me the chance
I will never make you cry cmon lets try

Syaoran smiled, "Tired?"

"Jetlagged." Sakura reminded him.

He laughed, "Alright, let's go to bed."

Sakura eyed Syaoran suspiciously, "Just keep your hands to your self."

Syaoran howled even louder, "Hey, I'm sleeping with my girlfriend, how can I be so safe?"

"Then I'll chain you to the kitchen chair." Sakura replied sweetly.

Sakura laughed.

I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
You're the one I wanna chase
You're the one I wanna hold
I wont let another minute go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul

"Aren't you gonna turn off the radio?" Sakura asked as she crawled into bed.

"Auto stop." Syaoran replied yawning.

Sakura nodded as she lay down and shut her eyes. Syaoran assumed she was asleep or at least to tired to know what he was doing so he propped up on his elbow and stared down at the sleeping beauty.

'She's so beautiful… she looks nothing like Saru.' Syaoran thought, a soft smile touched his features.

Am I crazy for wanting you
Baby do you think you could want me too
I don't wanna waste your time
Do you see things the way I do
I just wanna know if you feel it too
There is nothing left to hide

'It was lust that I had for Saru,' he thought as he lay back down and turned around, 'but could it be love that I'm feeling for Sakura?' he asked him self, he shut his eyes and a picture of Sakura flashed in his head.

'I wonder what her favour will be…' he thought before shutting his eyes, letting the music drown his senses.

I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
You're the one I wanna chase
You're the one I wanna hold
I wont let another minute go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul

Sakura assumed Syaoran was asleep, because she sure as hell wasn't. She got up and looked at Syaoran.

Syaoran felt the bed shift so he pretended to be asleep. He felt Sakura's penetrating gaze pierce into his back. He had an itch on his nose, but he knew if he scratched his nose, Sakura would know he would be awake.

I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
You're the one I wanna chase
You're the one I wanna hold
I wont let another minute go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul

Unexpectedly, Sakura leaned over and kissed Syaoran's cheek. Syaoran had to hold in a gasp, as her soft lips basically caressed his skin.

Your beautiful soul, yeah

Sakura lay back down on the bed and sighed, and fell asleep, but not before whispering,

"I love you Syaoran."

Syaoran's eyes widened, not believing what he just heard.


This chapter was supposed to be so much shorter, but I added Jesse McCartney's song, Beautiful Soul which extended the chapter another 3 pages!

BTW, I don't own the song!

So, what'll happen now you think? Stay tuned to find out!

Lub, Sakura