"Eriol," Yelan began, "I expect you to assist Syaoran to the best of your ability, should he require it. Syaoran, take your student and prepare accommodations for her. Since she is now officially your charge, she will live here in the palace. You are dismissed." She nodded curtly to them. She waited for them to leave before allowing a smile to make its presence known. She had to admit, this girl had already changed Syaoran so much, and he didn't even know it. After only being in her presence for a matter of hours, he was already more assertive. He had taken charge of the situation and argued his case with eloquence. Maybe he was more ready to be king then first thought.
Once back in Syaoran's chambers, Sakura threw herself into his arms, a grin plastered on her face. "Thank you so much," she cried, resting her head on his well-toned chest, "You were so amazing in there. You really stood up for me, no one's ever done that before. Thank you Prince Syaoran." Syaoran held her close, embracing her in his warmth, "Firstly," he told her gently, "I may be your prince and teacher, but I am first and foremost your friend, so please, just call me Syaoran. And secondly, if I hadn't stepped in I wouldn't have been able to look at myself, and I wouldn't have been a very good friend either now would I?" He tilted her chin up to face him, kissing her forehead softly before giving her a roguish wink. "Now, as your teacher, it's also my duty to make sure you're properly outfitted," Syaoran grabbed her tiny hand and led her towards the door, "so, lets go visit our dear friend Tomoyo and see what she can do for us today shall we?"
Tomoyo welcomed them both into her workroom, bringing out two stools for them. "Now," she asked, "what can I do for you today? Or is this a social visit?" Syaoran smiled, unconsciously still holding Sakura's hand, "a bit of both," he replied. Tomoyo's smile widened, "well then," she replied, "Let's get the business side out of the way then shall we?" Syaoran watched Tomoyo's fingers practically itching to grab her measuring cords and design blocks. "Sakura needs some clothes," he told her, "She'll need some breeches, shirts, and other necessary items to wear while practising her magic. They have to be hard wearing clothes too mind you, we'll be doing a lot of messy work. She'll also need a collection of gowns for dinner and balls, but most importantly we need some mages' robes. I want them to be standard apprentice robes," he turned to Sakura, "the borders you see on mages' robes reflect their status, while apprentices have none. The colour of the robes reflects the colour of your magic, or, in an apprentice's case, the colour of their teacher's. As my student, you shall have emerald green robes." Tomoyo was already halfway through designing a gown for Sakura. Syaoran, knowing that Tomoyo would no longer notice their presence decided to take her on a tour of the palace.
When Syaoran and Sakura returned to Syaoran's chambers, they discovered piles of clothes stacked neatly on the bed as well as a couple of blankets. A bath had already been drawn so Syaoran chose one of Sakura's new dresses and placed it into the bathroom for her so she could have her bath first.
While Sakura splashed around in the hot water, Syaoran took a practise sword down from his wall and began the complicated twists, turns and pivots of a pattern dance. Half way through, Syaoran began to feel restricted by his dress shirt and removed it, tossing it carelessly onto the bed. He soon resumed his training, shutting everything else out while he concentrated solely on his movements and on the sword in his hands. Syaoran rounded his workout off, pivoting while bringing the sword back up into the initial guard position. He was brought back to reality by the sound of applause. Spinning around he noticed Sakura sitting on the bed clapping loudly.
She had been sitting there for a while, watching intently as his well-defined body moved with grace. His muscular chest twisting with such precision as glistening beads of sweat ran down the length of his spine. She sat silently on the bed, trying not to break his concentration, but once she realised he had finished she couldn't stop herself from applauding. She rushed up to him, adoration gleaming in her eyes as she beamed at him, "You're so amazing," she told him, "you move like your sword is a part of you, not a separate object. It just seems so natural, like you were born with a sword in your hands." A faint blush stained Syaoran's cheeks. He had been told similar things by his training masters, but hearing it from her just sounded so much better. "Could you teach me?" she asked him, her big eyes pleading with his, "could you teach me how to wield a sword like that too?" Syaoran stared at the girl in front of him. She was wearing an emerald gown, embroidered with tiny pink cherry blossoms. The delicate silks hugged her petite form, and the top half of her hair was pulled away from her face, a silver cherry blossom pinning it at the back of her head. She looked so fragile, so innocent, that he just couldn't picture her being able to lift a sword, let alone wield one. Still, one look at her puppy-dog eyes, and he couldn't bring himself to say no. "Of course I will," he replied, giving her a roguish wink before grabbing his own clothes and disappearing into the bathroom.
Syaoran bathed quickly, returning to the main room wearing a white dress shirt, and brown breeches and sleeveless brown tunic. Sakura ruffled his still-damp hair on her way to the wardrobe, returning with a cream jacket embroidered with brown wolves. Syaoran grinned at her choice, the jacket she'd chosen was one of his favourites. He quickly slipped it on before extending his arm to her and escorted her to dinner.
Once they entered the dining hall, Sakura was instantly mobbed by four extremely hyper girls. Syaoran pulled them off before pulling Sakura to her feet. "The four women who just attacked you," he told her, "are my sisters. Ladies," he told the four women still crowding Sakura, "this is Sakura, my new student." Sakura quickly greeted them while Syaoran dragged her to the table. Once seated, Sakura stared into the sapphire blue eyes of the person sitting opposite her. "Eriol," she exclaimed, "what a pleasant surprise." Hearing this, Syaoran glanced up to see Eriol sitting opposite Sakura. Eriol and Sakura chatted for most of the dinner. Syaoran didn't know why, but seeing Sakura acting so friendly with Eriol irked him, but seeing Eriol flirting with Sakura made Syaoran growl. Sakura obviously heard the deep rumblings coming from Syaoran's throat because she kept giving him worried looks while passing him glasses of water, making Eriol laugh at him, which only caused the growling to get louder. Sakura finally placed a hand on his forehead, convinced that the noise was due to illness. Syaoran blushed while Eriol finally laughed so hard he fell off of his chair. Syaoran used it as an excuse to save the last of his dignity, if he still had any left, to grab Sakura and flee to the safety of his chambers, far away from Eriol and his stupid smile.
Syaoran opened the door, only to find that a bed for Sakura hadn't been brought up yet. Syaoran walked into his wardrobe to change for bed, while Sakura changed in the bedroom. Syaoran returned to find Sakura spreading out blankets on the floor. He walked over to her. He gently ruffled her hair, earning him a pout for messing up her silky locks. "Come on," he told her, "It's far too cold tonight for you to sleep on the floor. You take the bed, I'll take the floor." Sakura glanced at the king-sized bed, then back to Syaoran. "That's stupid," she told him, "there's enough room for both of us." Syaoran smiled, sweeping her off her feet and carrying her over to the bed before she could change her mind. He gently placed her on the bed, pulling the covers up over her before climbing under the blankets himself. He lay facing her. Reaching up he brushed a stray hair off her face, "good night my magelet," he whispered. "Magelet?" she asked. "Yes magelet," he told her, "it means little mage." He kissed her lightly on the forehead as she closed her eyes, watching her fall into a deep sleep, before slowly drifting off himself.