Disclaimer: I do not own Card captor Sakura or any of its characters and places. It's all Clamps'. I just own the story I made up.

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It All Began With A Dream

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Chapter nine: Apologies and Blood traces

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When Sakura woke up the next morning, she had a terrible headache due to the alcohol she drank.

Sitting in her bed, she held her head in her hands and groaned. She couldn't remember what had happened.

Then it came back.

The birthday, the surprise, the dinner, the cake, the presents, the moonlight, and the… the kiss.

At that memory, she blushed crimson.

Had they really kissed?

Was her mind playing tricks on her?

She looked at Syaoran's bed to ask him, but it was empty, as always. He was an early bird.

She sighed and walked to the kitchen to find her breakfast waiting for her on the table. It was toast bred with marmalade, and fresh orange juice. She gulped it all down and went outside to find the boy.

She found him gardening under the cherry blossom tree. Seeing that he hadn't noticed her appearance, she called out his name making him turn.

As soon as their eyes met, his face reflected a hundred shades of red and he avoided her gaze.

The princess frowned a bit, blushing herself, but kept watching him.

Brushing the dirt of his pants, he stood up but still wouldn't meet her emerald eyes.

He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but closed it after a while.

There was an awkward silence between the two youngsters, and the tension was almost too oppressing to bear.

"Umm…" Syaoran finally started, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I wanted to say that I was sorry…for yesterday night… for the… the…kiss."

Sakura's face didn't give away any emotion.

"umm, I didn't really know what I was doing, I think I drank a little bit too mush." He laughed sheepishly. So, for my actions, I'm sorry. You must be angry against me…"

His mouth shut, waiting for the scowling of his hostess, but it never came. Instead, her voice was calm, a bit shaking.

"It's okay… I was a bit drunk as well. I'm sorry."

You could hear the disappointment in her tone.

Disappointment? What for?

Syaoran's face dropped a bit, seeing her apologize. It wasn't what he was hoping she would say.

Huh?

He was hoping that she would say something else?

That was all too confusing.

He shook his head.

"Okay then. Friends?" he tended his hand so she could shake it.

Her eyes looked sad.

Only friends?

Was that enough?

Of course it was! She wanted to be just friends with Syaoran! It was enough for her.

Right?

Chasing the thoughts away by shaking her head, she plastered a fake smile on her face and took his hand.

"Sure." She said her voice a bit too happy "Friends."

She went back in the cottage to clean it up and left the amber-eyed boy to his gardening.

As soon as she had closed the door, she felt something on her cheek ad she raised her hand to remove it. As she looked at her fist, she saw it was a bit wet.

Was she crying?

And she didn't even notice it.

But what was she crying for?

For her decision of being friends with Syaoran?

She had tried to convince herself that she was fine with it, but in her heart, she knew it wasn't enough.

But what was?

And what was that feeling she had felt growing in her stomach each time she looked at his amber eyes?

She had never experienced that and she feared the day she would find out.

Meanwhile, Syaoran was back to his gardening. Bent on his plants, he thought about what just happened.

He meant to tell her something he had realized the day before when he had seen her crying in the moonlight, but found himself not able to.

Instead of telling her the truth, he told her he was sorry. What a fool he was.

Angry against himself, he clenched his fist and punched the dark earth under him.

He knew he should have told her, but he was scared of her reaction.

Sighing, the boy stood up.

The wind was warm and comforting. It messed his hair a bit more.

Syaoran started to walk towards the forest, but stopped, feeling he was being watched.

He turned around to see if there was somebody there, but there was none.

His look stopped on a bush that had moved. Was there someone hiding inside?

Why would a person hide except if he has bad intentions…

The amber-eyed boy made his way, slowly, to the bush, but before he could reach it, a frightened rabbit ran from behind it.

The boy released the breath he had been stocking for a while now. There was nothing to worry about.

Just a stupid bunny.

He laughed at his own clumsiness and walked in the forest.

Weirdly, he had a knot in his stomach, as if something really bad was going to happen.

He hesitated.

Should he warn Sakura?

No, it would make her worry for nothing.

And it was not like she was in any trouble.

It was just his imagination playing tricks on him.

But what he hadn't seen in the bush were the shining red eyes of a man.

Walking deeper in the woods, he looked at the sky. It was getting dark, announcing a coming storm. Good, that would water his plants.

When he got back from his walk, an hour later, it was starting to rain.

The door of the cottage was wide open, and a strange atmosphere was hanging around the place.

Syaoran immediately felt something was not right. Sakura would never let the door open when it was raining.

Carefully, he entered the house… and his eyes widened as he saw the inside.

Everything was torn and thrown on the floor.

The vases and picture frames were broken, as well as the plates and the glasses. Feathers from the pillows covered the floor in a white carpet.

He entered the bed room to find it devastated. All of Sakura's stuff had been pilled up in the centre of the room, a picture on the top.

Curious, the boy picked it up and examined it. It was a picture of a man, his wife and two kids.

The man had brown hair, glasses, and a crown was on his head. He was smiling kindly.

The woman beside him had a crown as well, although it was more delicate. She had long dark grey curly hair and beautiful wide eyes.

One of the two children was a boy with an angular face and a serious look, but his eyes betrayed him since they were filled with caring as he watched over his younger sister.

The sister in question was very young, maybe three. She had auburn hair and was smiling widely at the camera. But the most surprising about her was her eyes, her beautiful big green eyes.

Syaoran turned the picture to see its back.

Something was written on it.

'The Kinomoto royal family: King Fujitaka, Queen Nadeshiko, Prince Touya, Princess Sakura'

The amber-eyed boy couldn't believe what he was reading.

Sakura was a… a Princess?

He was going to scowl her for not telling him.

Now he realised why she didn't tell Eriol and Tomoyo her real name was Kinomoto.

But why didn't she tell him?

She knew she could trust him didn't she?

He was going to talk to her right away.

Now, where was she?

Syaoran was suddenly brought back to reality.

He was standing in a pile of torn things. Someone must have done that mess. But why didn't Sakura stop him?

He called her name, but she didn't answer.

He called again, in vain.

Something snapped in his head and his eyes went wide with distress.

What if the someone who had almost destroyed the house knew Sakura was the Princess?

Something attracted the boy's look from under a book. He pushed it away and jumped in horror as he realised there was blood.

An inscription was written on the floor in red letter:

'H E L P'

The blood traces continued up to the window, as if the hurt body had been trailed to it.

The boy now had difficulties to breath normally, as he realised the terrible reality.

Sakura had been kidnapped.

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(A.N: OMG! Sakura have been kidnapped! And she's bleeding too! What will Syaoran do? (okay… breath in… breath out… I have to calm down now) So, what do you think about this chapter? It's the ninth, which means almost ten! Tee hee… It's the longest story I've ever written. I'm glad you liked the last chapter . It's my favourite. Every time I read it, I feel excited. Now that Syaoran has discovered that Saku is a princess, will their relation ship still be the same? Oh, and about the thing Syaoran realized while looking at Sakura, it might be two things. The first possibility is that he remembers his past, the other is that he loves her. I, personally, I know which one it is, but I won't tell you! (I can be so evil sometimes). But you'll find out (eventually…). There, I've got nothing more to say. (And thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm so happy when I wake up in the morning and I find out that I have reviews, It brighten up my day!) so… 'till next time, see ya! This has been Suohfei (yeah, I know you know…)