Chapter 5,

Card Captor Sakura,

By Angel Stardust

Note: Sorry, it takes so long for me to update. I just have so many things to do…maybe three stories is too many? Well, if I don't update as fast as I'd like to…you can hate Shiku for it. Okay? Yeah, just blame her.

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, but I do claim ownership to Maki Itsuto. I made her up myself.

A Friend to Guide the Way

The wind pushed against Sakura's body as she ran. She didn't know where she was running, but she didn't care either. She just wanted to run, run far, far away.

Winter had arrived and the wind was cold and bitter. Sakura's feet slid and slipped in the slushy snow bordering the sidewalk.

Sakura was sick. Sick of Syaoran, his mother, pain, Tomoyo, everything. She was simply sick of being alive. Why did everything have to happen this way? Why did their relationship have to be ruined every time?

Sakura brushed away the tears sliding down her face and halted in front of a small park. She didn't know where she was, but the park looked so kawaii! The mei flowers were blooming into a soft pink upon the branches of the trees, small children were running around, and there was a small pond, frozen over from the cold weather.

Some invisible force pulled Sakura over to the small pond. She knelt down next to the small pool. The small pond was a looking glass, surrounded by withering cattails and frozen lilies around the middle.

As Sakura stared at her reflection, a warm tear coursed down her face and dropped onto the warm pond. Why did life have to be so complicated? Why couldn't life just be like this pond, soft and calm, no ripples breaking the surface, lovely thing floating in it and surrounding it? Why?

000

Syaoran sat on the couch, patiently staring at the blank television screen. His heart cold as steel. He wasn't going to put up with it anymore. He would just stop. Nothing could influence him anymore.

He had already decided that he wasn't going to marry Meiling. Too bad for Yelan. He didn't care anymore. He knew his love life was already a disaster. He was just going to throw it away. There was nothing else to do with it. He couldn't keep it. How could he torture himself into thinking that everything would turn out for the best?

Syaoran had had enough of his pain. He didn't want to be committed to love anymore. He was sick of it. Syaoran knew he wasn't going to marry Meiling, but he also knew he would never fall in love again.

Which meant…he wasn't going to love Sakura anymore. There just wasn't anything in the world for them. Even if he did confess his love, how could he know she wouldn't leave him…just as she had before?

With a sigh, Syaoran picked up the phone and dialed a number. He heard the familiar voice answer.

"Hello?"

"Eriol…"

000

Sakura didn't know how long she had been at the small pond. She didn't know what time of day it was. She didn't know where she was, or where she was going to stay for the night. But she didn't care, either. She simply knelt next to the small pond, her face buried in her arms, sobbing her eyes out.

"Why are you crying?"

Sakura looked up at the person who had spoken. Her eyes met the warm, midnight purple ones of a girl around the age of seventeen. Her dark brown hair fell in a slight curl around her face, down to her shoulders.

"Why are you crying?" the girl repeated. She looked rather concerned. Sakura sniffed and brushed the tears away with the back of her hand before answering.

"My true love lied to me."

"Why?"

Sakura sighed. It seemed as if all this child could do was ask questions. Sakura didn't know what to tell her. She simply shrugged. After all, it was true. Why had Syaoran lied?

"You wanna come to my house?"

Sakura looked up at the seventeen-year-old girl. Her eyes were friendly, and she bore a small smile upon her cherry red lips. Sakura smiled and nodded as she wiped away the last of her tears. She had no clue why she was going to this teenager's house, but the girl just seemed so friendly!

The girl grinned. She was obviously happy that Sakura had accepted her invitation. As the pair walked down the snowy boulevard, the girl introduced herself as Makita Itsuto. She was also from Japan, and was here as an exchange student at the local high school.

"You just get more points on your report card this way," Maki explained patiently. "I mean, sure I miss my family a lot, but I like it here, too."

Sakura nodded. She was impressed that Maki could juggle so many things without dropping them. Maki was living all alone in the dorm rooms of the high school, her parents were divorced, her brother drunk, and she played after school volleyball. And Sakura thought she was busy.

When they reached the dorm rooms, Maki warmly invited Sakura to sit down a beat-up old couch.

"Want some tea?"

"Yes, please."

As Maki set the small kettle onto the stove, Sakura was tempted to ask a question, but she wasn't sure if it would be polite. She decided to ask anyways.

"Maki-chan…why did you help me?"

Make turned her head away from the stove to look at Sakura.

"Why did I help you?" Maki repeated. Then she smiled. "Because I always wished that someone would be nice to me her in Hong Kong, but they never were. I don't want anyone else to feel completely lost, the way I did."

Sakura's heart warmed at the young girl's words. Despite her youth, this girl seemed to know so much more, even more than a twenty-two year old like Sakura.

000

Sakura sighed happily as she snuggled under the warm plush comforters in Maki's guest room. Maki had invited her to stay the night, as Sakura had accidentally let slip that she hadn't a place to stay.

In the dimness of the room, Sakura wondered how Maki understood so many things. How much did a person have to suffer through to reach the point of kindness and complete trust to a stranger? Sakura's heart ached at the thought. Poor Maki.

Sakura thought about what Maki had said that afternoon.

(begin flashback)

"You don't really understand things until they happen to you. Just like how you don't miss things until they've been taken away from you. Sometimes, you can't but wonder why life sucks. Why all the good things can't happen to you. You find yourself sitting alone, all alone, wondering why things have to turn out this way. But it's okay to think that. It's really okay. Because, in the end, everything will be okay. Whether it's dying, giving, taking, it'll all turn out for the best."

(end flashback)

Sakura sighed again. Maki's words didn't sound like the normal words of a seventeen-year-old girl. They sounded more like Plato's! Honestly, how could she understand such complicated things? Sakura hadn't even understood.

Closing her eyes, Sakura smiled.

"It'll all turn out for the best."

000

Hi! This is Aki-chan! Thank you so much for all your reviews! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this for like, ever. I'll try to update more often. I hope you liked this chapter! Maki is my own character. I'm not sure what possessed me to name her Maki, but whatever. I'm not going to be giving any previews, but I can tell you this: Maki will play an important role in Sakura's relationship with Syaoran.

Okay? So review! I'll try to update this by Monday next week! Bye bye!