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I am sorry that the updates took longer than usual, but if you read my xanga, you will know that a girl in my school recently passed away, and because of this tragedy, I chose not to update for a while. A week has past now, and I thank you all for your patients.
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With Or Without You
Chapter Sixteen: Healing

XxXxX Syaoran's POV XxXxX

I sat, a nervous wreck, in the hospital waiting room, my head in my hands, worry pulsing through me like blood itself.

Tomoyo, Eriol and Meilin hadn't shown up yet, so I was waiting for them, and I'd called Touya and told him what had happened.

Though, I hadn't told him what I thought had happened.

But who could have done this to Sakura? Who would want to? Was she with her attacker all day?

I sighed, the lump still swelling in my throat, my hands shaking badly.

"Sakura…"

If only I'd been there for her.

"Syaoran!" Tomoyo's frantic voice screeched, pulling me from the my thoughts.

I turned, only to see Tomoyo, Eriol and Meilin rushing up to me, all looking rather tired and worried.

"What happened?" Eriol asked as I stood to greet them. "Where is she?"

"She's in emergency." I said. "They think it's only a broken rib and a few bruises."

"W-What?" Meilin gasped. "But…who did this to her?"

"I don't know." I said softly.

"I told her to stay away," Tomoyo cried. "We told her to be careful after Ciria threatened her, but she wouldn't listen! I knew she lied when she said she'd stay away!"

"W-What?" I gaped at the raven-haired girl. "Ciria…threatened Sakura?"

Eriol nodded. "A week ago, after her lunch with Yukito. Ciria pulled her off the street."

"But…Ciria wouldn't do this." I breathed. "There's no way that she'd go this far! She'd loose everything, she knows that!"

"But who else could it be?" Tomoyo growled.

"It couldn't have been Ciria." I said bitterly, my hands gripping in tight fists at my sides. "Because….because she's the kind of person who would attack with lawyers, not fists. And…I think that Sakura…I think..."

I closed my eyes and lowered my head, my nails digging into the palms of my hand. Already I could feel warm blood pooling around my fingers from the force of the grip.

"Syaoran," Eriol said softly, resting his hands on my shoulders. "What? You think what?"

I shook my head. "I think…Sakura's attacker was a boy."

"How would you know that?" Meilin asked.

Tears stung at my eyes as I looked up at her. Just looked.

All I had to do was look at her.

And she knew what I was trying to say.

Meilin gasped and cupped her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. "N-No…oh Sakura..."

"What?" Tomoyo whimpered. "What is he trying to say Meilin? Please don't say that Sakura was..."

Meilin turned and wrapped her arms tightly around Tomoyo, who began to cry.

"Excuse me," a voice said, causing Eriol and I to turn. "Which one of you is the boy who brought Sakura Kinomoto in?"

"That's me." I said, nodding slightly towards the doctor. "How is she?"

"She's fine." he said. "I'm Dr. Takeuchi. Could I speak with you a moment about Sakura?"

"Whatever is to be said about her can be said right here," Eriol said, somewhat hotly. "She's our friend."

Dr. Takeuchi nodded. "Um, okay."

"Will she be okay?" I asked.

The doctor nodded. "Yes. She just has one broken rib and a few bruises…but we took a few other tests and we found that she was, as you thought, Syaoran, sexually assaulted."

Eriol gasped as Tomoyo let out a strangled cry, burying her face in Meilin's shoulder.

"Sakura was…raped?" Eriol breathed.

Dr. Takeuchi nodded. "Now, in order to find who it was, we're going to have to test you, Syaoran. And you too, if needed."

"It wasn't Syaoran," Eriol said. "Or me. Sakura's been missing for a little under two days now, and we were out looking for her all day today."

I nodded. "Yeah. I just went to her house to see if she might have come home, and she was there."

Dr. Takeuchi sighed. "All right, but I'll still have to take DNA samples, just in case."

"Whatever will help." Eriol said, patting my shoulder.

I nodded. "Can I…see her?"

Dr. Takeuchi frowned. "She's in recovery right now, and she's asleep. But I'm sure, once we get your DNA and both of you have been proved innocent, I'm sure that you can see her."

"Let's get this over with then," I said.

Dr. Takeuchi nodded. "All right, follow me."

XxXxX Still Syaoran's POV XxXxX

I sat, a few hours later, by Sakura's bedside, my hand gripping hers lightly as she slept.

Eriol and I had given the hospital our DNA, and we'd both been proven innocent, so we were all free to see Sakura.

She seemed fine, just lying there on the bed, as if nothing bad had happened to her that night.

But I knew it had. Beneath the blankets and clothes were bandages wrapped around her ribs to help them heal.

But beneath it all, I knew, there were scars that would never heal.

"I'll kill whoever did this." I said softly, stroking the top of her hand with my thumb. "I swear to you."

"Syaoran," Meilin said, resting her hand on my shoulder. "We should get going. You need sleep."

"No, I'm fine here." I said. "But you go ahead. Go home with Eriol and Tomoyo, I'm staying here."

Meilin sighed and shook her head sadly. "It's not your fault, you know."

"I know…but still." I said. "I can't help but feel responsible."

Meilin smiled faintly. "You're too nice Syaoran, you take things onto your shoulders too easily. Sakura will be fine, in time."

"Still..."

She sighed and let go of my shoulder. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye." I said, watching as Eriol and Tomoyo got up from the small couch to the side and walked with Meilin, out of the room.

It was deathly silent as I sat there, just staring sadly at Sakura, the girl I loved.

The thing that killed me most, was that she had been in danger, and I hadn't been there for her.

I had always thought that I would be there to protect her.

"Forgive me." I whispered, closing my eyes and lowering my head on the bed beside her.

A few moments later, I was pulled abruptly from my thoughts, and somewhat sleep, by a hand stroking my head.

"Sakura?" I breathed, looking up, only to come face-to-face with her beautiful green eyes.

"Syaoran." she smiled faintly. "What are you doing here?"

I smiled and gripped her hand tightly. "I…I'm just..."

Sakura sighed and sat up slightly, wincing at her movements.

"Don't move!" I warned, getting to my feet, resting my hands gently on her shoulders. "You're still too hurt!"

"I'm fine." Sakura smiled. "It's just a few bruises."

"And a broken rib."

Sakura's cheeks paled slightly. "Oh…well, that too."

I smiled faintly. Even though she was in the hospital for a broken rib and rape, she was still the same old Sakura.

Except…there was something different in her eyes.

Something like fear.

"Syaoran?" Sakura said softly, her voice quaking. "What happened to me?"

I frowned slightly and sat on the edge of the bed, wrapping my arm lightly around her shoulders, careful of her side. "It's okay Sakura, it's over now…I'm here."

"I remember…" Sakura breathed, staring blankly ahead. "I remember going to see you…I got your messages…and he was there."

"Who Sakura?"

She shook her head. "I deserved it..."

"No!" I gaped at her. "Sakura don't say that!"

"But I did!" she cried, her shoulders shaking with brand new tears. "He said I did!"

"Who did? Sakura tell me who did this to you."

She whimpered, tracing circles on the palm of her hand with her finger. "I can still…feel him. I don't want to anymore Syaoran…I want it to go away!"

Fat tears began to streak down her cheeks, then and she buried her face in my chest, her whole body shaking.

"Sakura…" I whispered, stroking her head lightly. "Sakura who did this to you?"

"It-it was," Sakura whimpered. "K-Kent."

I felt my heart stop then. Kent. It had been Kent.

I should have known.

I closed my eyes, feeling the lump in my throat swell, and buried my face in her hair. I didn't want to cry, not in front of her.

But I guess I did, because the next thing I knew, Sakura had pulled away from me, her eyes red from crying, and was looking questioningly at me.

"Syaoran?" she breathed, resting her hand on my cheek. "Why are you crying?"

"I-I'm not." I said, my voice cracking.

Sakura smiled faintly. "Don't cry for me Syaoran. Please."

"I couldn't protect you," I breathed, lowering my head so my bangs shaded my eyes. "I failed."

"No, you didn't." Sakura said softly. "You found me Syaoran…you saved me."

I wrapped my arms around her again. There was no way that I'd fail again, there's no way I'd let her go.

I could only make that mistake so many times.

"Sakura!" a familiar voice burst, causing Sakura and I to turn to the door.

Touya and Yukito stood there, both looking rather tired.

The two twenty-two-year-olds stormed forward, Touya instantly got right in my face.

"What did you do?"

"He didn't do anything." Sakura said defensively. "He found me."

"I thought you were supposed to call Mrs. McKenzie if anything went wrong!" Touya growled. "I didn't think anything could go wrong in that short of time!"

"I'd just gotten back," Sakura said softly. "And-and Kent showed up."

"Kent?" Yukito gaped at her. "The guy you went to Riley's with?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"He hurt you…" Touya breathed.

"He did more than that." I said softly.

Touya turned to me, his mouth hanging open. "What"

"Look, I'll tell you later. Or Sakura will. But for now she needs rest." I said, turning back to Sakura. "Why don't you try to sleep?"

Sakura nodded faintly and I helped her lay back down.

"Thanks again Syaoran." she smiled warmly up at me. "Really."

I smiled faintly a leaned forward, kissing her lightly on the forehead. "Get some rest. I'll be in the hallway with Touya and Yukito."

She nodded and relaxed against the pillows, closing her eyes.

"Come on," Touya growled, grabbing my arm, pulling me from her side, into the hallway.

"Now," Yukito said once we were safely in the hallway. "What happened?"

"Sakura was missing for almost two days, as you know since I called you, and so I went to the house just after midnight to see if she'd come back or something..."

"And?" Touya growled, a vein in his forehead clearly visible. "What happened to her?"

I sighed, running a frustrated hand through my hair. "I found her upstairs in her bed…she was shivering badly and she was barely wearing anything."

"So?"

"There was a bruise on her side, her broken rib." I said softly. "But I noticed how badly her clothes were…and the way she was shivering and crying..."

"Wait." Yukito said, his hands gripped at his sides. "You aren't saying that Kent…raped her...right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. The tests came back positive…she was raped."

"Fuck…fuck no." Touya snarled, punching the wall with his fist. "Damn it!"

"Touya…" Yukito breathed.

Touya shook his head, pounding his fist on the wall again and again, resting his forehead against the wall. "It's my fault…I shouldn't have let her go."

"Go? Go where?" I asked. "Do you mean…that you knew where Sakura was all this time?"

"Of course I knew!" Touya shouted, spinning around, rage evident in his features. "But I couldn't tell you! It's my fault…I should have never let her go!"

"Where did she go?" I demanded. "We were searching for her, and you couldn't at least tell us that she was safe?"

"She was safe…or so we thought." Yukito frowned. "This is just as much my fault as Touya's…we bought her the plane ticket."

"Plane ticket?" I gaped at them. "To where? Where could she have possibly gone in less than two days? For what reason?"

Yukito looked at me. "Do you really have to ask?"

"Haven't you even wondered why your mother called off the marriage between you and Ciria?" Touya growled. "It wasn't because she thought about it, hell no!"

"You mean…Sakura was…in Hong Kong…this entire time?" I breathed.

"Yes." Yukito said softly. There was pain in his eyes…why? "She went there to fight for you Syaoran. And she won. You're free to love and marry whoever you want."

I couldn't breath, I couldn't think.

Sakura had gone to Hong Kong, stood up to my mother, risked so much…for me.

And yet I hadn't been able to do that for her…

"Sakura…" I breathed, staring back at the door, beyond it she was sleeping peacefully.

If she hadn't gone to Hong Kong…then maybe Kent wouldn't have gotten his way…she would have been safe, with the doors locked…because she had been on her way to see me when Kent had come…

"It's my fault…" I breathed. "She would have been safe if-"

"Shut it kid." Touya growled. "What's done is done, we can't change it. It was out of our control, anyway."

"But…" I said.

"There's only one thing left to do now," Yukito sighed, smirking slightly.

"What? What else can we do?" I asked, confused.

"What else?" Touya grinned, punching his fist into his hand. "Find Kent."

DIE KENT DIE!
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