(Author's Note: I beg you all on bended knees, I beseech you, my dear readers, I implore you to forgive me for not updating in years and years and years. I guess I shouldn't have started this story if I wasn't ready to continue it. I promise that it will never EVER take me half as long to update again! Anyway, now that I have, on with the show! Also, I was reading through my story when I realized that I had so many errors and open ends…I was horrified! So here's my best attempt to smooth over those bumps and make the story less confusing …)

Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptors characters: CLAMP does. I own their personalities in this story and any other character that I make up.

Chapter 4

"…and to all of our cross-country runners today, good luck! We are all behind you! Bring us the first place and we'll be proud of you, but not if you bring us anything less. Just kidding! Have a nice day, everyone."

Sakura heard this and felt the butterflies start reproducing at an alarming rate in her stomach. But she knew it would be nothing compared to what she'd feel while she was waiting at the starting line. She glanced over at Syaoran, wondering if he felt the butterflies too. But, as always, his face was impassive…unrevealing of what he really thought. She rolled her eyes at herself. Why would you wanna know what he's really thinking? Seriously, you're getting soft.

Tomoyo looked over at Sakura. She smiled, watching Sakura's brow furrow as she stared unconsciously as Syaoran.

"Saku-chan," she whispered loudly.

Sakura didn't notice.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Whaa? Oh, sorry Moyo-chan…heh…" Sakura sweatdropped.

Tomoyo smiled cheerfully. "Anyway, good luck with your race today! I know you'll do really well!" I hope she'll be able to talk to Li-kun today…I can't believe I forgot to get them to dance together at the Hallowe'en dance!

"No I won't! I can run fast for short distances, but I can't do really long ones…like cross-country."

"Sure you can! Well, you could probably do better than any of us here, at least."

Sakura grinned. She knew it was true.

"See? You know it's true!" Tomoyo laughed.

Mr. Terada stood up and cleared his throat.

"Okay, class. As we all know, today is the Area cross-country meet. Kinomoto and Li will be representing, not only our class, but the whole school!"

Everybody sweatdropped at his overly cheerful manner.

Sakura leaned over and whispered into Tomoyo's ear.

"Sheesh, I hate his corny speeches…they give me goosebumps." She shuddered.

Tomoyo just managed to hold in a snort of laughter, hastily turning it into a very polite and ladylike cough. Mr. Terada looked annoyed.

"Well, are you going to start encouraging them or not!"

The class was silent for a shocked second. Then they broke into applause, and some not-so-muffled laughter. A few shouts of "Go Sakura-chan and Li-kun!" were heard.

"Go Saku-chan!" Tomoyo said cheerfully.

Sakura smiled. Syaoran didn't.

They got up and grabbed their jackets, hurrying out of the classroom to catch the bus. Syaoran shut the door behind them, sighing in relief at the quiet.

They ran outside. Sakura glanced up, startled to see that the nice day had suddenly turned cloudy and gray. She shrugged off the coldness that had settled around her shoulders and boarded the bus. Sitting down with her friend Yoko, she chatted happily, and tried to ignore the feeling of unease growing in the pit of her stomach.

As they filed off the bus, Sakura noticed the clouds coming in thick and fast. The wind picked up, blowing tiny droplets of rain into their faces.

"When are we running Sakura-chan?" asked Yuko.

"I think we're running second last, before the guys."

Yuko sighed. "We have a loong time to wait…" she groaned. She spread out her blanket, then dumped herself on it. Sakura blinked and sat down beside her.

"We should get changed."

"Let's do it later. It's so cold!"

"Fine."

"…"

"Do you wanna play cards or something?"

"…"

----------

The rain clouds swept in faster than they could say, "I'm cold".

Sakura looked over at Yoko, who was shivering. She turned back, and her gaze unconciously drifted towards the group of boys who were looking equally as sullen as they were. She searched out Syaoran, who was already changed and ready to run.

Sakura sniffed. "Come on Yoko-chan, let's go change and stretch a bit."

"But there are still two races till we're on…"

"Who cares, let's go anyway. We might not get another chance."

Yoko raised an eyebrow at this pathetic reasoning, but consented.

After they changed, they ran around, warming up their ankles and knees. Their supervisor came walking up with a crate of Tomoeda High jerseys. Sakura glanced over and saw the boys flocking around the crate, picking out the ones that fit them. She rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Sakura," called a voice.

"What?" she asked, turning around. It was Syaoran.

"Get a jersey. Or they'll be all gone."

Her heart thudded, but she raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks."

Syaoran nodded and turned away to talk with his friends.

----------

Soon, Sakura was soaked to the skin. She wrapped her jacket more tightly around her and sighed. She and Yoko walked back and forth between the finish line (to cheer on people from their school) and the tree that they had dumped their stuff under (to shelter from the rain). Finally, they walked to the starting line, where all the girls in their age group were gathered, ready to start the race.

Sakura peeled off her wet jacket and track pants, and jumped around in her shorts. She got into the place in line, in front of Yoko. She looked over at the boys(again!), who were getting a prep-talk from one of the adults. The wind suddenly whipped a gust of rain into her face, making her shiver.

Suddenly, she tensed up, feeling her breath come ragged and fast. A man with a popgun and a microphone walked in front of the line of girls. He looked them over, then shook his head as they all stared apprehensively back at him, and started speaking into the microphone.

"Hello girls. Nice weather today, eh?" Sakura raised an eyebrow and exchanged glances with Yoko. He must have rehearsed this about a hundred times. "Running in the rain helps to build character, or so I'm told…it hasn't worked yet though." There were a few appreciative chuckles at this. The man continued, "On a more serious note, here are the qualifications to make it to the regional meet. The first 15 individuals to cross the finish line will go on, as will the top three teams. That is to say, if your whole team got ok results, the entire team makes it. Pretty easy to understand, even for you lot. Now, when you see this red flag go down--" he raised a red flag and waved it around for everyone to see—"and hear the gun go off, start running. Remember what I said about the regionals! Are we all clear? Excellent. Good luck to everyone."

He walked off to the end of the line, out of everyone's way. Sakura's hands were shaking uncontrollably, and she held her breath so that no one would hear her nervous rasping. Had she been slightly more alert, she would have noticed that everyone else around her was in the same predicament. As it was, all she felt was the agitated fluttering of her heart beneath her ribs. The air suddenly seemed so much colder…

"Ready? Set…Go!" The red flag dropped at the same moment a resounding CRACK! sliced through the air.

The wave of girls surged forward. Individual team members quickly lost sight of each other in the throng of multicoloured jerseys. Sakura saw her own teammates disappear, and urged herself on. The shock of the race was already beginning to wear off, as she cleared her mind of everything except running. Pace yourself, Saku. There'll be time to catch up. Just stay with that girl in blue up ahead, and you'll be fine. She settled quickly into the rhythm of running, feeling her feet beat the soft ground. I can do this.

Ten minutes later, she was tired out, despite the many times she had told herself not to sprint and use up her energy in one quick burst. She had lost count of all the people that had passed her, and the girl in blue was out of sight. Sakura hadn't even noticed. She concentrated on breathing in and out, setting her mind to taking one steady step at a time. So intent was she on catching up to the person in front of her that she tripped over a small ditch in the road. Sakura gritted her teeth, feeling a spurt of exhaustion shoot up her legs, making her stumble.

The rain whipped into her face, blowing her sopping wet bangs into her eyes. Stupid hair, she thought automatically. But I'm past caring.

She was indeed. She was so tired that she couldn't muster the energy to brush it out of her eyes, or even scratch a killer itch that had been there since the race began. I can't wait for the finish line…she found herself thinking.

Her legs felt as though there were a tonne of bricks tied to them, draining her energy and slowing her down. Every step she took was an effort, and with every breath came the sharp pang of cold air in her lungs. Still she ran on, for she knew that if she stopped, it would be all the more difficult to start again.

Finally, she reached the uphill climb that marked the last stretch of the race. Sakura paced herself (again...sweatdrop), knowing that the last reserves of her energy would be needed for the burst of speed at the end.

As she neared the top of the rise, she glanced to the sides. All around her were girls who were near their last step. They were stumbling along, movements awkward and clumsy. More than a few looked as if they were close to tears.

At least I'm not that weak…Sakura thought. At last, she reached the top of the rise. From where she was, she could see the finish line, dimly visible through the rain. Sakura put on a huge burst of speed and raced down the hill, seeing the other girls pick up their pace and try valiantly to keep up with her. But she plowed on, her brow furrowing as she poured every last ounce of her strength into racing across the finish line.

She managed to pass four of the five people that were in front of her, and finally shot across the finish just seconds behind the fifth.

Finally, she thought, I can breathe. Opening her mouth, she sucked a huge breath of air into her hungry lungs. Her body felt deprived of all feeling, and she only felt numb as the rain splattered down on her once more. She forced herself to keep walking, so as not to completely lose all feeling in her legs. She walked up to a man who was holding a bunch of little papers. He handed her a blue slip with her rank on it.

Sakura braced herself. She knew that she hadn't done the best. She looked down at the damp piece of paper. 50th. She breathed out in disappointment. That had to be the worst she had ever done in any athletic event in her life. Oh well. At least I won't have to run this at regionals!

Smiling slightly, she looked around for Yoko. Not seeing her, she headed back towards the finish to look. As she approached, she saw Yoko come running along full tilt, neck and neck with a blond girl. They were moving almost simultaneously as they raced for the higher place. Yoko pushed herself to run faster at the last second, and the blond girl lost 64th place by half a foot.

"Go Yoko-chan!" cried Sakura tiredly. Yoko looked over at her and grinned forlornly.

They walked together back to their tree, longing to just sit down where they were and call it a day.

"I'm so tired I can't even move my arms," groaned Yoko.

"Oh yeah? I'm so tired I can't feel my toes," countered Sakura.

"I can't move my arms to try and take off this stupid jersey."

"I can't open my eyes to SEE my arms trying to take off this stupid jersey."

"Puh. I can't even talk."

"Yeah, me neither."

They laughed and flopped down under the tree.

"Ugh, we should go grab our stuff. It's still by the starting line. We'll die of hypothermia otherwise," grumbled Yoko.

"Mmm…what?" Sakura was drifting off, thinking about a certain someone who would be running his race.

Yoko repeated herself, looking at Sakura strangely.

"Mmm…Damn it all," muttered Sakura.

----------

Syaoran ran past yet another boy in a gray jersey. What's wrong with all these schools? Why are they so eager to blend into the landscape? What's with these damn gray things? And why am I asking myself so many questions?

He looked up. In the distance, he saw a spot of green among all the gray shades. As he got closer, he noticed the green start fading to gray, like everything else. Oh boy. I'm so tired I'm delirious. How fun!

He stepped in a patch of particularly wet grass and slipped. He just managed to regain his balance, but felt a wave of exhaustion rush through him.

Damn it all

----------

Sakura and Yoko hauled themselves up yet another hill, finally reaching their belongings by the starting line. They pulled them on, feeling the wet clothes stick to them like a second skin.

"I feel gross…" complained Yoko.

"I don't feel anything," replied Sakura.

Mumbling about the terrible timing of the Athletics Association and their knack for bad weather, they practically crawled to the finish line, watching as the first boys started coming over the rise.

"Nobody from school yet…"

"Ha! There! It's Josh and Darren!"

"Man…they're good."

The two girls watched in awe as Josh and Darren raced past them.

"Holy crap…fourth and fifth. I'm jealous."

Sakura didn't reply. She was watching for Syaoran. Wait! What am I doing? Why Syaoran? Where's uhh…Takei? Yeah, where's Takei!

"Where's Takei?"

"Dunno…why?"

"Uhh…he's from our school isn't he?

"Yeah, and so's Syaoran."

"Oh yeah! Err…where's Syaoran then?"

Yoko rolled her eyes. Then she started. "Here they come!"

Syaoran and Takei both came over the rise at the same time, their faces showing their obvious effort as they ran.

"Go Syaoran-kun!" It wasn't until after Sakura said it that she realized what she had said. She felt the heat rising in her face. Yoko grinned at her.

"Heyy…you said his name! Hehehe…"

"What?" demanded Sakura, turning red. "He's in my class!"

"Sure…"

----------

Feeling as though his leg muscles were about to cramp up and fail him completely, Syaoran ran up the hill. He glanced back and saw Takei on his heels. As they reached the top, Takei leveled with him, and slowly passed him.

Oh, no you don't. I've worked too hard to get up this freaky hill to let you just pass me, thought Syaoran.

He increased his speed, watching as Takei did the same. They sped down the hill, barely noticing the crowd of spectators around the finish. Then a voice came from nowhere at all, cutting through Syaoran's tiredness and firing up his determination.

"Go Syaoran-kun!"

He knew without looking that it was Sakura. But he ignored her, regardless of the hope that now dwelled freshly in his mind. I can beat this guy.

He ran faster, getting ahead of Takei. Suddenly, he felt something against his ankle.

It was as if he were falling in slow motion, giving him time to look around at everyone. He saw Takei's face in front of him, straining. He saw Josh and Darren over by the finish line, basking in their glory. He saw Yoko's face, then Sakura's. She was smiling and shouting something at him. And suddenly he found his feet again.

Quickly, he shot out a hand to catch him a second before he hit the ground. He used the second it gained him to start running again. I bet Takei tripped me on purpose.

But in the few seconds he had lost, Takei had gained a wider lead. He was the first across the finish line. Syaoran followed, and stumbled to a halting walk as he followed Takei up the finishing chute. Already, the numbing exhaustion was dimming his anger at his teammate. He reached the man with the papers and took his rank.

Carelessly, he glanced down at it. 37th. I don't give. It's just a race.

"Hey, good run, Syao-kun!" It was Takei, beaming all bright and happy at the fact that he actually beat Syaoran Li.

Syaoran gave him a smile that looked more like a grimace. You bloody bastard. Hah, it's okay. I forgive you. It's just a race.

"Yeah, good run."

----------

Where's Syaoran? I should congratulate him. Sakura high-fived another guy who had just finished his race. Yoko stood behind her, looking amused at the large amount of sportsmanship that Sakura was suddenly showing.

Syaoran walked up a hill towards the place where their school had set up "camp" (A/N: "camp" being where they put their school banners and their tents and where all the athletes met at the end of the day.). He saw Sakura hi-fiving Takei, and saw Takei smile at her. What's wrong with him? Flirting with Sakura…

He walked down towards them. Sakura caught sight of him and walked up to him cheerily.

"What did you get?" she asked.

"Thirty seventh."

"Ohh…good job!" She grinned, then offered up a hand.

She saw his face break into the first true smile she had seen yet, and smiled back at him. They high-fived each other, and kept on walking their separate ways. Suddenly Syaoran turned and asked,

"What did you get?"

"Bad." Her eyes drooped in exasperation at herself.

He laughed. "Since when was bad a number?"

"Since now!" Wow, he really can be nice. Hang on a sec, why am I…so warm? Why was his hand…so warm? Why am I THINKING these warm and fuzzy thoughts? ARGHH! I MUST BE GOING MAD!

Yoko caught up to her a minute later, sweatdropping as she saw Sakura's wild eyes and her even wilder face.

"Uhh…are you okay?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

"Huh?" Sakura looked at her, confused. "When did you pop up?"

She's hopeless…thought Yoko, sighing.

----------

The rain poured down, so fast it was as if they were all standing in a gigantic bathtub, and the shower was on full blast.

Sakura and Yoko clambered on to the steamy bus, grabbing paper towels to sit on.

Yoko laughed as she sat down, seeing a wet imprint of Sakura's butt on the seat.

"Hmph. It's not like YOUR butt is any less wet," grumbled Sakura. "Stand up!"

Yoko did, and Sakura started laughing uncontrollably at the sight of the paper towel stuck to Yoko's behind. The water had seeped through, so that there was a clear stamp of the shape of Yoko's butt attached to her butt.

Yoko looked confused, then ran a hand along her backside. She guessed what Sakura was laughing at.

"Shut up!"

They burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. Everyone on the bus stared.

Syaoran chuckled, watching them from the back of the bus. Sakura, you're amusing. Only you could turn a wet day into a joke about behinds. (A/N: I don't know how he saw that…uhh…let's pretend he has x-ray vision and can see through bus seats and about 20 other kids. Like Superman! Go superman!)

----------

Tomoyo grinned as Sakura related to her the events of the day. She had been talking for over and hour and Tomoyo had a feeling that Sakura had forgotten she was on the phone. So they high-fived, huh? This is getting interesting…looks like Saku-chan has found someone special. Tomoyo chuckled quietly to herself and listened with a smile as Sakura rambled on.

"…and then I think he was watching me when he was retying his shoe. Like I mean, I was just standing there talking with Yoko-chan, and I just happened to glance at him, and he was staring at me. We kinda locked eyes for a second, then he just casually looked away. It was funny, actually…"

(A/N: This has been an extremely loong chapter. I think it was quite boring. But the next one WILL be better! I promise! It will be! And any ideas are more than welcome. Again, I ask for your forgiveness and promise that the next chapter will be up soon.)