D'Amour

By Bex Drake

Authors Note: If I created a mailing list to let you know when I update would anyone join? If you're interested in joining please leave your email address in the review.

Secrets revealed, desires unveiled

Sakura

They travelled in silence; everyone absorbed in their own thoughts until the limousine pulled up outside of Tomoyo's house. Sakura lent forward and whispered something in Jamie's ear, he nodded to whatever it was and she got out of the car with everyone else. They all walked to the front door in silence Tomoyo opened the door and they all walked inside except for Sakura.

Noticing that Sakura was still standing outside the door Tomoyo went back to her. Up close she could tell just how badly the building blowing up had affected her, the distress was written in her eyes. Tomoyo enveloped her in a hug. "It's not your fault." She whispered. Sakura stiffened hearing this and drew herself out of Tomoyo's grasp.

"But it is." She replied, hanging her head. "If I hadn't have been there…"

"We would all have been dead." Eriol said firmly interrupting her. Sakura looked at him and shook her head.

"No, you wouldn't have been in danger." She said sincerely.

"You don't know that." Syaoran replied sounding slightly bored. "For all you know someone else could have been the target." Sakura smiled wryly.

"True." She murmured in agreement. "But that doesn't explain how come…" She trailed off silently cursing herself.

"How come what?" Tomoyo demanded.

"N…nothing." Sakura said looking away unwilling to meet Tomoyo's gaze. Hearing a gun shot behind her Sakura spun around. Standing directly behind her was a blond haired guy with a gun in his right hand pointing skywards.

"Hello Sakura." He purred, she stiffened she didn't like the calm tone in his voice. It was almost like he had planned for them to meet like this. "Or should I say Cherry Blossom?" He added with a bite in his tone. Sakura reached out behind her and slammed the door shut, shutting Tomoyo and everyone else inside. She didn't want them involved.

"I don't know anyone by the name of Cherry Blossom," She lied. The guy laughed at her coldly like he could see right through her lie. Sakura heard the door open behind her and cursed, the guy laughed and reached out and grabbed her chin. She froze.

"Oh my God!" She heard Tomoyo whimper but she had eyes only for the blonde haired guy who had positioned her so that his arm was around her neck and his gun was pointed at her right temple. He moved so that they were both standing sideways so that she could see the worry in Tomoyo's face and he could keep an eye on everyone.

"Don't be silly Miss Kinomoto." The guy said tightening his grip around her neck. "I have my sources so I know that you're the Panthers Cherry Blossom."

Jamie

From his position in the car he had a clear view of Sakura and her friends. He could have sworn that he recognised that Syaoran guy from somewhere and then there was the fact that he knew that his tattoo had been recognised, he hoped that hadn't spelt trouble for Sakura. Jamie knew that if he heard the guys surname then he would be able to place him but no-one had mentioned it in his presence, when he was paying attention to what was being said anyway.

He looked up startled when he heard the gun shot, he had been busy fiddling with the radio trying to find a reasonable channel to listen to. He didn't see why Lars had insisted that they collected Sakura in the limousine it was almost like he knew something that they didn't. Together he and the driver got out the car and almost simultaneously located where the gun was. "Oh bugger!" The driver hissed seeing a blonde haired guy point a gun at Cherry Blossom's head. They were too far away to do anything.

Jamie nodded to Dave, the driver, and moved to the right whilst Dave moved to the left. If one of them could get close enough they might stand a chance of doing something. As Jamie crept closer he heard the blonde haired guy called Cherry Blossom by her real name and her code name, that wasn't good. On the guys right shoulder blade he saw the tattoo of a raven which made him part of The Ravens which definitely was not good at all.

Jamie saw the Syaoran guy leave the house and push Tomoyo and Rika into the door, Hiroshi stood by the door preventing them from intervening, Eriol was having a whispered conversation with Syaoran. "I suppose it's only right that I introduce myself." The guy said with mirth. "I'm Omega." He said with a grin tightening his grip on Sakura. Jamie heard Dave trip over something and in one smooth fluid motion he moved the gun from Sakura's head and shot Dave in the chest, killing him instantly, before returning the gun to its original position. "The end." He added, referring to the fact that in the Greek alphabet Alpha is considered the beginning and Omega the end. "I think it's only fair that I introduce you to each other." Omega continued laughing when he saw Sakura shake her head. "Don't worry sweet Cherry Blossom," He purred. "They'll keep your secret."

It was then that Jamie noticed that Sakura was acting extremely well considering the situation. She had yet to break down and cry and it looked like she was trying to work out how to get herself free. "Undo your shirt." Omega commanded. Sakura looked at him with big eyes.

"What?" She whimpered.

"You heard." Omega snarled poking her with the gun to prove a point. With shaking hands Sakura began to unbutton her shirt. Omega looked at Li and grinned. "I suppose it's only fair to warn you that she's a slut like her sister." Sakura continued unbuttoning her shirt but it was clear to Jamie that she would have dearly loved to slap the guy for the comment or say something but she held her tongue. Omega frowned. "My mistress warned me that you were sneaky." He purred as Sakura undid the last shirt button. "Take it off and turn around so that you're facing me." He instructed. It then became clear to Jamie that Omega wanted to show Syaoran and Eriol Sakura's tattoo as if it would hold some meaning to them. He couldn't allow anything to happen to her. As Sakura turned around he stood up. "OMEGA!" He shouted. Omega pointed the gun at his head and fired. The bullet flew through the air and shattered his skull. Jamie knew no more.

Syaoran

Syaoran wondered what exactly was going on when Omega asked Sakura to take off her shirt, he must have had a reason for his request but then did someone who held a gun to someone else's head need a reason for anything? He didn't miss the fear that entered Sakura's eye but there wasn't just fear in her eyes, there was something else. Something akin to pity? But pity for whom? Surely not Omega?

He watched her as she undid the shirt buttons, noticing absently that her black bra highlighted the paleness of her skin. She looked really pretty in a sweet kind of way. She wasn't really his type of girl, although that didn't mean he wouldn't try and get her into bed. Who knew she might not actually be as sweet as she appeared- although he doubted it. Her type of girl always was innocent, more of a child really than a woman.

Sakura turned her tearful emerald eyes on Omega silently begging him not to make her go any further but he smiled cruelly at her and ripped the shirt off of her and threw it on the ground. He grabbed her elbow forcing her to turn around so that she was showing her back, more precisely her tattoo, to Syaoran and Eriol.

Seeing the Black Panther with the golden claws Syaoran cursed. Then he saw the crown above the panther's head and he swore under his breath. That was not good. In the hands of that gun wielding maniac was someone who was high up in the gang he was going to marry into and if he let the girl- Sakura- die he doubted he would be welcomed with open arms. He glanced at Eriol and saw that his best friend and cousin also had seen and understood the meaning of the tattoo. The one question running through Syaoran's head was why hadn't he been told that she was a Panther? If he had known he would have been much more… sociable. But it was too late now, and he doubted that the leader of The Panthers would take too kindly to one of his own being held at gunpoint in the presence of a Wolf, although they hadn't officially joined forces yet but still… Syaoran cursed again seeing the triumphant look in Omega's eyes.

"What do you want?" He demanded curtly, looking non too pleased. Omega tightened his grip on Sakura's elbow causing her to wince in pain but she refused to cry out. The guy had already humiliated her and she wasn't going to be willingly humiliated more. Omega chuckled seeing her defiance burning in her eyes. He traced her jaw line using the barrel of the gun and was rewarded by her trembling but that was the only outward sign she gave him that she was scared. Perhaps he had under estimated her, Syaoran mused. Perhaps she was tougher than she looked; after all she had to be to be a member of notorious The Panthers.

"I'm just here to deliver messages." Omega replied with a smirk. "One of them is to you Little Wolf and the other is to Cherry Blossom here." Sakura caught his amber eyes with her tearful emerald ones. It surprised him that although she was scared she wasn't beginning for his help. Instead, he noted, she looked rather thoughtful as if she had heard something and was trying to place exactly where she had heard it.

"What are these messages?" Sakura inquired softly. There was no sign of fear in her voice Syaoran noted with some surprise. He had expected her voice to betray her like it did with most people, but it hadn't. If he hadn't have known better he would have sworn that they were still sitting in the restaurant rather than standing outside Tomoyo's house with a man with a gun.

He glanced over to Hiroshi, glad that he had managed to keep the other girls inside the house. It gave him one less variable to worry about. Tomoyo and Rika looked sick with fear for their friend but he doubted that they would do anything like try and get to Sakura because of the gun pointed at her head and they didn't want to kill her.

"So you're admitting that you're The Cherry Blossom then?" Omega mocked ignoring her question. Syaoran frowned wondering why Omega was making such a big deal out of the fact that Sakura was Cherry Blossom. Sakura nodded her eyes firmly fixed on the floor.

"Aye, I'm Cherry Blossom." She agreed sadly. "But you didn't need me to tell you that so why are you asking?" Omega chuckled.

"Haven't you guessed?" He mocked. "Little Wolf here certainly hasn't." Syaoran looked from Omega to Sakura, they seemed to be talking about something in code that they expected him to understand. All he could work out was that her name was the key, and it was something to do with The Panthers. "Why don't you tell him?" Omega prompted his grip vice like on her elbow, causing Sakura to bite her lip and draw blood in her defiant attempt not to cry out. Her eyes shot daggers at Omega.

"Do I have a choice?" She demanded looking contemptuous despite her proximity to the gun and the pain that was being inflicted upon her. Omega chuckled and Sakura looked away her eyes burning. "I thought not. Why else was this farce played out? I bet we played right into your hands being in the same place at the same time!" She hissed. Then she took a couple of breaths to calm herself before she turned her emerald pools on Syaoran.

Looking into them Syaoran could detect a great sadness but it didn't seem directed at the situation. Instead the anger, the wry amusement and the pain were directed at the situation. In that moment she almost looked like his opposite and his equal, but there was no one who was his equal Syaoran reminded himself. No one deserved that title because no one was good enough to even come close.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Little Wolf. I am Cherry Blossom of The Panthers." Eriol gasped, understanding hitting him like rain pelting from the sky.

"Oh God!" He mumbled, wondering why he hadn't cottoned on before. Sakura glanced his way and smiled wryly then shrugged before returning her gaze to Syaoran. Syaoran looked at her somewhat confused, he knew that she was Cherry Blossom but the problem was why did he think that he had heard the name before and that the name was somewhat important?

Sakura

Sakura sighed. She had heard that this Little Wolf guy was supposed to be bright. Was he being purposefully dense or was he just dense? She was really tempted to ask him that, but something told her that that might not be one of her smartest ideas. The real problem was that she didn't want Tomoyo or Rika to overhear who she was, it was best if they didn't know. Although from the way Tomoyo looked at Eriol Sakura had a feeling that it might not be a problem any longer but she didn't want to be the cause of her friends joining a gang, it just wasn't fair. That still left the problem of how to get the message across to Syaoran.

She glanced at Eriol helplessly, but he just shrugged at her. Obviously she could expect no help that way, so she was just going to have to sort this out for herself. The question, though, was how exactly she was planning on doing that. She looked into his amber eyes searching for an answer.

It had come as quite of a shock that he was Little Wolf, the guy she was expected to marry. This guy was nothing more than a player, she had seen the way he had openly flirted with the waitresses and it made her wonder if it would make any difference to him if she had been married to him. She doubted that it would have. Did she want to marry a guy like that? But the problem was that she didn't have a choice. It had been an amusing evening though because she got the impression that he thought that she would be easy to get into bed- big mistake there. She would not have sex with just anyone and right now he was just anyone.

"You are going to meet the girl you are engaged to marry tomorrow, aren't you?" She enquired blandly. She watched with amusement the flicker of surprise in his eyes. Only certain people knew about the meeting and unless she was going to it, it was unlikely that she would have heard about it let alone known when it was. The only people who should know about the meeting was herself, Uncle Lars, Syaoran and his mother. It occurred to after she had said it that, that probably wasn't the best way to say it but hey it had got the message across, she hoped.

Syaoran

He looked at Sakura surprised when she mentioned that she knew that he was soon to be engaged. Only certain people knew that and therefore by elimination it meant that she was the girl he was going to marry- oh boy! His life now looked like it was going to be fun. He hadn't wanted to be married to a 'child' he'd wanted to marry a woman, but then neither he nor she had any choice about the match. It was their duty.

He watched as Sakura returned her attention to Omega, ignoring him and for some reason her ignoring him infuriated him- maybe it's because she's going to be my fiancée he reasoned with himself. He glanced at Eriol and saw that he hand understood the cryptic message as well. He moved back so that he was standing next to Eriol. "Did you have…" He began but Eriol shook his head.

"None." He replied. "I don't think Tomoyo knows, otherwise she would have told me." He continued frowning slightly. "All I know about Sakura is she's Tomoyo's best friend, Tomoyo wasn't very fourth coming with details it was almost like she was trying to protect her." Syaoran nodded thoughtfully. It looked like this naive girl was actually something of an enigma even to her friends.

"There I've told him who I am, now will you let me go?" She demanded. Syaoran and Eriol looked at her startled that hadn't expected her to be so blasé. "Well?" Sakura demanded when Omega made no reply. He smiled cruelly then slapped her, if he hadn't been holding her up she would have fallen to the floor. Tomoyo and Rika cried out in surprise but no sound came from Sakura she was just hanging there holding her cheek. Then very deliberately she stood up and looked him in the eyes defiantly. "Do you think you're the first person to slap me?" She asked calmly. "I have to say my Aunt did a lot worse."

On the side of her face where Omega had hit her, her friends could see a large red hand print that looked rather tender. Omega laughed and caressed her cheek where he had hit her Sakura winced slightly. "Tell him properly who you are." He demanded, it was almost like he knew that she didn't want Tomoyo and Rika to know. She looked at him a couple of seconds almost as if gauging how far she could push him before she would seriously get hurt.

"I am Kinomoto Sakura, niece of Amodeus Lars who is leader of The Panthers." She said formally, then she brushed her hair off of her face and glared at Omega. It was almost like she was completely unaware that she hadn't got a top on, not girl was that self confident- were they? He hoped she wasn't and that it was just adrenaline, which had made her unaware of the cold. He didn't want a wife that would tell him what to do and what she thought of him. In fact he didn't want a wife at all.

Omega caressed Sakura's face again, ignoring the hatred burning in her eyes. Instead his attention was focused on Syaoran. He was interested in how everyone else was reacting. It was like Sakura had woven a spell around all of them, that she had touched them all in some way. It was like…

"She like a shooting star," Tomoyo said from the doorway, almost like she knew Syaoran's thoughts, her eyes were brimful of tears. Before continuing she swallowed. "And that's what scares me. They're their burning brightly one minute, then you look away and then they're gone." She turned her violet eyes onto Syaoran. "Sakura is special to a lot of people and she doesn't even realise it. So you better take care of her Li." She warned. Syaoran frowned but Tomoyo just returned his gaze neutrally almost as if she was daring him to say or do something to give her the excuse to say more.

"I have a present for you Li from my mistress." Omega remarked, ignoring Tomoyo Syaoran returned his attention to Omega. "Not as pretty as the Cherry Blossom but still he's someone special." Omega taunted.

"Who?" Syaoran demanded coldly hoping to distract Omega from Sakura so she could escape. She caught his eyes and shook her head slightly, then smiled secretively. 'What is she up to?' He wondered trying to catch her eye again but she purposefully ignored him. Syaoran was getting rather annoyed with being ignored but there was nothing he could say about it now without drawing attention to her and that might mean she couldn't escape, he couldn't risk that.

"Your little friend, what was his name…?" Omega murmured pretending to think. Syaoran watched as Sakura's hand snaked up to the crocodile clip in her hair and unclasped it letting her pink hair fall in waves over her shoulders. It looked like a perfectly natural thing to do that was if it was your boyfriend who was holding your arm and not some gun-wielding maniac. "Oh I remember!" Omega continued ignoring Sakura. "Kemp Matty, he is a friend of yours right?"

Syaoran looked at Omega trying to gauge if he was bluffing, but he couldn't tell. "Perhaps." He replied carefully. "Why?"

"Mistress said you'd enjoy your present when you see him, he should be dropped off here soon. But until then I'm going to keep little Miss Cherry Blossom with me in case you get ideas." Omega smirked callously.

Sakura

"Excuse me!" Sakura muttered indignantly. "I am here, you know and I would like a say in things." She continued to fiddle with her crocodile clip, doubting her annoyance would affect Omega but the nice, little, demure poisonous dart hidden in the clip might get his attention if she was lucky, but then again he might prefer to die. Whilst she wasn't happy about the thought of killing someone Sakura was not going to sit down and let Omega do as he wished. "Who exactly is your mistress?" She asked pretending to sound interested.

Omega regarded her carefully. "Someone who was a Panther, someone you think you know, someone you trusted." He replied cryptically. Sakura returned his gaze frowning.

"So I know her?" She asked carefully. Omega shook his head.

"You knew her." He replied. Sakura nodded thoughtfully. Who had she known, but not known? Who had she trusted that she shouldn't? Who was this mistress? Something told her that if she thought about it the right way then the answer would be easy- but then aren't all questions when you know the answer?

A black Jaguar with mirrored windows, hiding the occupants from view, pulled up and the door opened and a guy was pushed out onto the street. Omega backed up to the car pulling Sakura with him, who by that time had managed to free the pin from its hiding place in the crocodile clip. With a triumphant smile that confused her friends she stuck the needle into Omega's neck. He cried out in pain and dropped her, realising what he had done he turned and started running to the car. He had only travelled two steps when a bullet from Syaoran's gun embedded itself into his heart. The car's door was slammed shut and it sped away down the street.

Wincing in pain Sakura began to crawl towards the guy, who seemed to be unconscious. As she neared him she could see why he was unconscious his injuries were horrific. She forced herself to stand up and stumble towards him, unaware that everyone was rushing over to them. Omega had hurt her more than she had let on when he had struck her and now that he was gone and the adrenaline was leaving her she was beginning to feel the pain of many bruises. Her legs gave way just as she reached the guy and she ended up sprawled in a heap on the floor.

It wasn't long until Tomoyo and Rika surrounded her and forced her to sit up so that Tomoyo could wrap a blanket around her so she wouldn't freeze. Sakura was scarcely listening to Tomoyo and Rika as they fussed over her trying to find out what was going on she was more interested in what Eriol and Syaoran were doing bending over the guy. "You didn't have to shoot him." She said calmly standing up with Tomoyo's help. Everyone looked at her surprised but Sakura had eyes only for Syaoran. "No they'll have more of a reason to try and kill any Wolves or Panthers that they see." Syaoran opened his mouth to retort indignantly that he had had every right to kill the bastard. "He was dead anyway." Sakura added her emerald eyes troubled. Syaoran raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What makes you say that?" He asked coldly. Sakura looked away and found that they had an audience, she sighed.

"Well…" She began thoughtfully. "I don't think he should have created such a mess, he was only meant to deliver your friend there and then go. Somehow I doubt his 'mistress' would have been happy that he didn't follow a direct order." Sakura pulled the blanket tightly around her and looked at the floor. "That and he dropped me because I had injected him with cyanide, it was only a matter of time before he would have dropped to the floor dead anyway."

Syaoran

From the look of pain in her eyes Syaoran knew that she wasn't lying about the cyanide, in some ways she just seemed to innocent to have done such a thing, too innocent to be involved in the battle. He turned back to Eriol who was bending over Matty; Hiroshi had gone to see if Omega really was dead and not just faking it. Matty looked awful, his whole body was covered in bruises and Syaoran doubted that there weren't any broken bones. Matty opened his hazel eyes and blinked taking in the surroundings. He didn't seem to be aware of anyone. "Can we move him, or do we need to go to a hospital?" Syaoran asked Eriol.

"What about Sakura?" Tomoyo demanded. Syaoran turned around to face her his amber eyes unforgiving but she refused to be intimidated. "I might not know what's going on but don't you think…" She trailed off her amethyst eyes wide. "Where is she?!" She asked sounding slightly scared. "Where is she?"

Syaoran cursed. "Stay here and call a doctor and her family." He looked at Eriol purposefully indicating that he wanted his cousin to ring his mother and let her know what was going on. "I'll look for her." He started to walk away.

"Wait!" Rika called. "Don't scare her, she's… she's had enough tough luck in life already. If you hurt her and I don't give a damn who you are and who you know I swear that you will pay for it." Tomoyo moved to stand next to Rika backing her up. Syaoran glared at them and then turned away. He knew that they meant what they said; though Tomoyo would be more of a problem than Rika. The Daidouji family were very powerful and influential- almost more influential than the Li's. He could not afford to anger one.

**

It took Syaoran longer than he had thought that it would to find Sakura. She was sitting in the shadows of a large oak tree. The only reason he had been able to find her was because he could hear her quiet sobs. "Sakura?" He said gently. Her head sprung up and she looked at him. What he saw broke his heart. Right then she looked like a lost, scared little girl. Her emerald eyes were wide and brimful with tears. He walked over to her and sat down next to her unsure what to say. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes because neither of them could think of anything to say. Sakura lent against him, whether accidentally or not he wasn't sure, he could feel her trembling. So he placed an arm around her shoulder and she lent against him crying. They sat like that in silence as her tears subsided.

"Thank you." She said giving him a wobbly smile as she used the back of her hand to dry her eyes. "It's just I don't see how they could kill all those innocent people just to try and kill us." She continued explaining why she was crying. He had expected her to be crying because of the cyanide she had given Omega, this startled Syaoran. Sakura was obviously tougher than she looked. She drew away from him and started to get up, he felt like she had taken part of him with her. He swallowed and stood up also.

In silence they made their way back to the front of the house where they discovered Lars, Tomoyo and Eriol drinking tea waiting for them. Seeing Lars Sakura smiled and made her way over to her Uncle, whom upon seeing her had put down his cup and started towards her. She hugged her Uncle tightly when she reached him and then burst into tears. Syaoran found himself looking away from the scene though he wasn't sure why- or rather he didn't want to admit why to himself. He was jealous that Sakura had gone to her Uncle for comfort instead of him reasoning that she should have gone to him because he was after all going to be her fiancée as of tomorrow, conveniently forgetting that they had only just met earlier so why should she trust him? He walked over to Tomoyo and Eriol and sat down in a vacant chair ignoring the scene behind him. "What's going on?" He asked Eriol.

Eriol looked at his cousin noticing he didn't look at all happy about Sakura's display of affection towards her Uncle, seeing the amusement in Tomoyo's eyes he knew that she hadn't missed it either. He made a mental note to talk about it with her later. "Aunt Ieran has gone with Matty, Rika and Hiroshi to the hospital. She expects us to turn up there soon." Syaoran rolled his eyes that sounded very like his mother practical at the best of times. "Oh, and she said you should listen to Amodeus and not disobey him." Eriol smirked seeing Syaoran frown knowing his cousin hated to be told what to do. "Amodeus is a nice man." He remarked seeing Tomoyo frown. She had stayed with him hoping that he might actually tell her what was going on, which he had yet to do. He thought that it would be best if Sakura explained who she was and he couldn't really say that he was a member of the Wolves unless he wanted her to join them. Oh he wanted to be with her but he wasn't sure that he should ask her to join a gang, she didn't deserve that kind of life- he could guess what Tomoyo's reply would be if she heard that argument and it went something along the lines of 'It should be my choice to make, Eriol.'

Smiling Sakura and Lars joined them at the table, although Sakura still looked quite sad it was obvious that whatever her Uncle had said to her comforted her. Tomoyo looked at Sakura pointedly, who raised an eyebrow in reply and mouthed 'Haven't you introduced my uncle to Eriol?'

'How could I when I don't really know him?' Tomoyo replied the same way Sakura had asked her. Sakura sighed in exasperation. "Uncle this is Tomoyo, my best friend, Eriol her boyfriend and Syaoran… the Wolves heir." She said gesturing to them in turn. "This is my Uncle Lars." She smiled glad that the introductions were over. The she looked at Tomoyo her emerald eyes sad. "I'm sorry that I involved you in all this?" She said softly.

"In all what?" Tomoyo questioned. "What is going on Sakura?" Tomoyo demanded when Sakura didn't answer. Sakura glanced at Lars wondering what he wanted her to do.

"It's your call Sakura." He replied, Tomoyo raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Do you mind if I tell her?" Sakura asked surprising Syaoran, he hadn't thought that she would bother to ask him. "I'm not going to tell her everything, just what she needs to know." She said, meaning that she wasn't going to tell her best friend that they were going to get engaged so that the Ravens wouldn't destroy them. Tomoyo looked at her with a 'you are going to tell me everything' look but Sakura wasn't looking at her, instead she was looking at Syaoran awaiting his answer. She knew that whilst she didn't need his permission to tell Tomoyo it was only polite to ask him because he was from another gang, a gang she was going to have to name.

"Why not?" Syaoran replied sounding bored. Sakura smiled at him, ignoring the tone and then began to explain to Tomoyo just what was going on.

****

Sakura

She was glad that she had finally told Tomoyo everything, it was a weight off of her chest. She looked at the solemn boy sitting next to her in the car as they drove to the hospital. She was glad that Tomoyo had lent her a top. Syaoran didn't seem like the guy whom every girl supposedly lusted after. He seemed out of reach and so very alone. He didn't appear to let anyone in. His amber eyes were so distant. It made Sakura wonder if she would ever love him. To her marriage was a lifetime commitment, divorce was just the cowards way out. It was too easy to divorce. Wasn't marriage supposed to be a contract with God that you would love the other person until you parted in death? When she married Syaoran, as far as she was concerned the contract was for life. It didn't occur to her that Syaoran might not feel the same way.

The drive in the taxicab to the hospital was beautiful because Sakura could see the stars but they travelled in silence. Tomoyo, Eriol and Lars were meeting them at the hospital, they had wanted to talk to Tomoyo's Mom and Syaoran hadn't wanted to wait so Sakura had agreed to go with him. Sakura glanced at Syaoran and licked her lips. "Why didn't you look for Matty?" She asked softly. Syaoran turned to face her his eyes unreadable.

"We didn't know where he was and even if we had we couldn't have risked it." He said coldly. "He isn't a Wolf. If we'd have tried to rescue him I would have been putting other peoples lives in danger when he doesn't mean anything to them, when he isn't one of the pack." He turned away and stared out the window. Sakura nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry." She whispered looking out the window, tears starting to slowly fall down her face. "I know I'm not…" Syaoran looked at her only to discover that her gaze was firmly fixed outside. So close and yet they were so far apart.

"For what?" He asked gently, seeing the glistening of tears on her cheeks. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, something he had never felt the need to do before. The feeling was almost overwhelming. Something in his voice, maybe it was the tone, made her turn away from the window and look at him. Her emerald globes shimmered in the dark, catching the occasional streetlight as they drove by. They sat looking at each other for a couple of minutes then hesitantly Syaoran reached out his hand and brushed the tears from her cheek. As soon as his hand touched her skin it felt like a spark of electricity had passed through them, her emerald eyes widened. "For what?" He prompted patiently, apparently unaware of what he was doing to her.

"For not being stronger, for letting my emotions getting the better of me." She swallowed and liked her lips before continuing almost silently. "For questioning your actions." Sakura knew, from what Lars had told her, that when she became Syaoran's wife never could she question his decision in front of others- to do so would be disrespectful- and whilst she wasn't his wife yet as far as she was concerned it didn't matter. Syaoran's lips twisted into a smile.

"Don't worry about it." He replied. "I don't mind if you disagree with me, sometimes you're allowed to after all and as long as you only say anything when we're either alone or with friends I'm not bothered." Syaoran could not believe he had just said that and seeing her smile at him made him not want to take the words back. For some reason he found himself wanting to get to know her better and he wanting her to like him.

The cab pulled up outside the hospital, Sakura got out the cab and waited patiently whilst Syaoran paid the driver. Sakura wrapped her arms around herself to stop herself from shivering. She knew full well why Tomoyo had given her this top and she was going to murder her friend. The blue top clung to her breasts and stopped just before her bellybutton, revealing an expanse of pale flat stomach. It was perfect for mid-summer when it was warm but for any other time of the year it was too cold to wear it without another top on as well.

Syaoran

Syaoran had just finished paying the driver, whom he swore had over charged them. He turned around stuffing his wallet back into his back pocket. Sakura was standing ahead of him illuminated like an angel by the lights of the hospital. The top she had on couldn't have been keeping her warm because she was shivering, her arms wrapped around her waist trying to keep herself warm. He knew it was Tomoyo's and he was willing to bet that Tomoyo was very like Eriol, that she liked creating situations that could end up romantic. With a sigh Syaoran took off is coat and draped it around Sakura's shoulders. She looked at him startled and he smiled. "We can't have you freezing to death." He said as he guided her into the hospital.

Lars

The three of them sat outside the airport waiting for Li Meiling to appear. It amused him that Tomoyo and Eriol had made sure that Sakura and Syaoran had left for the hospital together and alone. He could have sworn that they were trying to set them up. He wished them the best of luck. If they managed to do it then the merger of the Wolves and Panthers would be a complete success. He knew that he wouldn't be running the Panthers much longer and that his time was coming. He only hoped that he was doing the right thing getting Sakura to marry Syaoran, there was another way of linking the gangs but it wasn't as final. If the two leaders of the gangs were married it meant that there would never be two separate gangs again.

Meiling

The plane journey had been dull to say the least. She couldn't believe that her Aunt had summoned her back Japan for a very important meeting. Oh she knew that the Wolves and the Panthers were joining, she even knew that the Panther was collecting her from the airport. The only thing she didn't know was how they were going to join the gangs.

Seeing the guy she recognised as Amodeus Lars from a photograph and Eriol, with a strange girl, in a black car Meiling got in it. "Hi." She said calmly.

Authors Note: Sorry that it took so long to write, but my life has been hectic recently what with Sixth form and general life. If anyone would kindly be a beta reader for me I'd be most grateful- I ask because I've just realised how complicated the story is and I'd rather I got rid of any mistakes I've made before I stick it up on fanfiction.net.

A huge thanks to:

friend: I'm glad that you liked the first two chapters ^_^

EcuaGirl: Yeah Uta is a bitch and she's not stopped being one yet, she has 'plans'. I forgot that Jamie was a character that LWL uses, I just happen to think that it's a really cute name ^_^ (no offence to guys who are called Jamie and don't want to be called 'cute')

AmericanGirl1114: Yeah the blowing up of the restaurant was a surprise for me (and I'm writing (lol)) Hopefully this chapter was filled with as many surprises! ^_^

Kawaii-CherryWolf: Well it's not quite Saturday (well it's the early hours) and they're taking it better than I thought they would (it took me two attempts to write this chapter) I'm not sure that everything is as plain sailing as it sees.

JaMiE LoVeR: Nope, sorry it's not Jamie from "shuzoko" I just happen to like the name Jamie- what's "shuzoko" about?

tortured soul246: Thanks for taking the time to review. I hope you got your homework done! And I hope that this chapter will give you some time to relax from anymore homework you've got.

anime_freak: Thanks ^_^

evergreen: Yeah Uta is a bitch- and she loves it. People have to die because it's a gang war- the fight for dominance.

All reviews are LOVED, so please take the time to review.