Disclaimer: All normal disclaimers apply. (XD it means I'm too lazy to list all of it…)

So… ok, ok. I've got a good excuse this time. I was applying for high school! Yes, I needed to put a lot of thought into what classes to take… see? It's a good reason! If I don't get into a good English class, my writing won't improve, right?

Hehehehe. Sorry for the late update.

Alright then! Enough of all my useless talking, I'm sure you just want to start reading right? Well, here yah go!

Ice Queen

Chapter Thirty

"Hey! Wait up! Li-kun!" Eriol yelled. "I know you're excited, but you won't be able to see Sakura-san for another week! Take it easy. She's not going to run away."

Syaoran paused and turned around staring a bit coldly at his teacher, "You mean how she did a month ago? Sakura, she-"

"She what?"

Amber eyes widened, "Sakura…" He turned and saw her, standing there… leaning in the arms of another man… a man Syaoran wanted very much to strangle at that moment.

Sakura brushed Yukito's arm off her shoulder and walked towards her ex-housemate, arms crossed and a frosty expression upon her face, "Well?" She bent towards his ear and whispered, "What did you want to say about me?"

Normally, Sakura whispering into his ear would have resulted in a blush growing onto Syaoran's cheeks, but this time, there was something so frighteningly icy and indifferent about her presence that sent shivers up his spine. It was as if they were starting from square one all over again… as if she hated him like she hated all the other students.

He wanted to yell at her… to shake her senseless and bring her home… to do something, but his arms seemed to grow heavy… as did the rest of his body, and they were unwilling… unable to move. His mouth opened to say something, but no words came out.

As if she realized that he wouldn't do anything, wouldn't say anything, Sakura walked past him indifferently, "Don't stay here for long. I don't want to see you ever again. Go home. This is no place for people like you."

Yukito moved to follow after her, but Syaoran was immediately by his side, his hand gripping Yukito's wrist. "Who are you-"

Syaoran was cut off by a sharp pain on his face, making his head swing to the side. Sakura had slapped him… hard. He could feel the large, red handprint on his left cheek growing.

"You shouldn't touch Yukito." Her voice was chillingly cold. He felt, rather than saw her turn away from him and take the hand of this 'Yukito.'

His heart burned when her heard the snow rabbit call her "Sakura-chan", and it shot his pride when he heard him asking her to leave him alone.

Syaoran's hands balled into fists.

"I don't know why Yukito sent you and Eriol an invitation… perhaps Eriol, but a why to a commoner like you I don't quite understand. Worthless trash like you is better left at home… and it is most inappropriate to bring it to someone like me… I'm not going to take care of the garbage."

His heart squeezed… as if it was going to burst. Syaoran's knuckles turned white and blood had begun to seep down from his palm, where his nails had cut into his skin.

Sakura and Yukito left, and when he could no longer hear the sound of their footsteps slowly disappearing into the crowd, he fell to the ground, punching it with a force that shattered the marble tile below him.

"DAMN IT!"

"… damn it…"

Sakura collapsed against the door of her mansion. Tears were hatefully leaking out of her eyes and her entire body started trembling.

"DAMN IT!"

Yukito went over to her and held her in his arms, trying to comfort the girl he regarded as his beloved little sister. He rocked her back and forth, doing his best to soothe the pain in her heart.

"… damn it… why did I… why did you have to bring him here!" she cried, and finally gave up keeping the wall of ice surrounding her heart in place, and sobbed into his shirt. "Why did you bring him into this!"

Yukito patted her back gently and murmured, "He was always a part of this… you know that… in fact, he's more involved than anyone else. You should have known that he would follow you to Hokkaido… did you think that if you gave up on him he would give up on you?"

"Y-Yukito-san…"

He smiled fondly at the suffix and hugged her even tighter, "There we go… that's the Sakura-chan both me and Touya remember…"

"Yukito-san… Onii-chan!"

"Shhh…." Yukito wasn't sure exactly how long the two of them had stood there, but when he realized that Sakura had finally cried herself to sleep he noticed that he himself felt like taking a nap.

He picked her up bridal-style and walked up the stairs into her room, carefully placing her onto her bed.

"Maa… poor Sakura-chan… she seems so sad…" he brushed a strand of auburn hair off her face. "I guess I'll just have to put that smile back on your face then, ne? Touya would never forgive me if I just left you like this."

Yukito got up and left the room, quickly leaving instructions with the servants to watch over Sakura and attend to her every need.

When he exited the building, the smile that was usually present on his face was replaced with a grim frown, and as he got into his long, black limo, his eyes were focused and determined.

"Li-kun! Please don't-"

Syaoran ignored Tomoyo's pleas and walked angrily out of the hotel, his hands jammed into his pockets. He strode down the rode, cursing himself in every language.

Why exactly had he been so… so… so cowardly! Why hadn't he been able to say anything to her in response? Since when had he been so weak? Since when… had he been more hurt by someone's words than by their slap?

"Ah… shoot!" he banged his head on the wall of a building, ignoring the bloody bruise that was forming on his head. His mind raced, trying to figure out what was holding him back… what was continuously stabbing at him… why he couldn't get Sakura's rejection out of his mind.

Just a year ago he wouldn't have cared what some pathetic Ice Queen had to say to him… now… that pathetic Ice Queen…

"Wha-" two men came up behind him suddenly. Each grabbed one of his arms and pinned him to the ground. They were dressed in black suits, and they both held his head down to the ground rather forcefully.

"I'm sorry to do this," every nerve in Syaoran's body quivered as he recognized the voice of the speaker… it was the man who had been with Sakura earlier. "But I'm afraid someone very important to me would be very upset to find you in the hospital because of a head injury… won't you join me for some lunch?

The men got up off of him, allowing Syaoran to stand and brush the dust off his clothes. He looked at the one seated in the limo coolly, "Lunch, you say?"

"While originally I had nothing against you," Yukito said, looking out the window, watching the buildings fly past the car one by one. "The moment you made Sakura-chan cry, it became personal." He turned and stared at the high school student sitting next to him. "Very personal."

"What?" Syaoran glared at him. He was having a hard time resisting the urge to flatten Yukito's face with his own fists. "You seemed pretty attached to Sakura… you got something for her or what? Otherwise, it doesn't seem like it's much of your business."

Yukito smiled and relaxed, leaning back onto the chair. He gazed at Syaoran approvingly, "You seem like the kind of person who could take care of Sakura-chan."

Syaoran twitched. He really wished Yukito would stop calling Sakura something so very… endearing. Although he hated to admit it, he was jealous… very jealous. "What about it?"

"No… I don't 'got something' for Sakura-chan, as you seem to think. To me, she's someone very important… but not in the way she is important to you."

Syaoran felt himself become nervous, "The way that she is important to me, huh…"

"Yes. Sakura-chan is my little sister. Plain and simple. Not by blood, but it's a bond that's stronger than blood. In fact, I was surprised that someone other than me and Touya could make her cry. Even Tomoyo-chan wasn't able to… not that she would ever give Sakura-chan reason to cry. You on the other hand…" Yukito stopped smiling. "Are different. But I suppose that this is good in some way as well."

The car came to a stop, and Yukito got out of the car, beckoning Syaoran to follow him. He did, and the two of them entered a cake shop filled with large, clear windows so that the sunlight shone brightly upon the white walls and floor.

Yukito motioned for him to sit, and so Syaoran seated himself directly opposite of his host. Within a few moments, a waitress came up and talked with Yukito. Soon, she left, leaving Yukito staring at Syaoran, as if contemplating whether or not to ask him a question.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into?" he whispered, eyes lowering themselves onto the shiny surface the table.

Syaoran glanced over at Yukito, confused. "What… do you mean?"

"Do you know what you are getting yourself into?" Yukito repeated. "Do you understand what sacrifices… what circumstances… what pain you might have to go through? Do you still want to be Sakura-chan's companion knowing all of that? Do you truly understand?"

Syaoran began to answer, but then paused.

… did he understand?

Honestly… did he truly understand what he was getting himself into?

A plate with a small, quaint chocolate cake was placed in front of him. He found himself unable to form words… unable to answer the question he had been asked.

"Sakura-chan is… she is strong, but not in the way that most people are. Outwardly no one is more protected than she is, but inside the walls that she has placed around her heart, her emotions lay there, battered… bruised… broken. Can you take care of her? Are you confident? If you can't… I don't think Sakura-chan will ever heal…" Yukito took a bite of his own strawberry pastry. "If you don't understand what you're doing, don't try… it'll be worse… for the both of you."

"Baka… I don't understand you."

"Hm?" Yukito looked up at him, stopping in mid-bite.

"I don't understand you at all!" Syaoran slammed his fist onto the table, causing a few of the other customers to turn around and stare. Paying them no attention he yelled at Yukito. "If you think that a person has spent every waking moment for the past month trying to find this person… toiling day and night to find a way to meet them… and then they finally get an opportunity… and they find that person… do you think that they don't understand? Do you think that?"

"Hahahahaha!"

Syaoran stood for a moment, not moving. Yukito was… laughing…?

"F-Forgive me…!" there were tears in his eyes. "Ahahaha! It-It's just… haha… I'm so relieved…" he wiped away one of the tears from his eyes. "Good for you Syaoran! You go get her! Take this."

The Chinese boy stared at the envelope Yukito had tossed to him.

"It's an invitation to a very important event for Sakura-chan. You better be there… I trust that you know your way around town well enough to get back to your own hotel? I have some business to attend to," Yukito smiled at him and gave a slight bow, before paying for the food and going off in his limo.

Syaoran didn't say anything as his eyes went from the retreating limo to the white envelope in his hands. Silently, he undid the seal at the center and opened it, taking out the paper inside.

On it read:

"You are cordially invited to Kinomoto Sakura-sama's ball. Please present this invitation at the gate of the ceremony. Admittance is invitation only. One person per invite please.

We look forward to your attendance. Thank you very much.

----Kinomoto Estate"

He drew a deep breath, then let it out. "Ok… guess I need to go shopping then."

To be Continued…

Don't murder me! I know I told some people that I would update during spring break but… I'm a few days late. Please forgive me!

Also, I know this chapter is pretty short, but I'm doing my best. I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer.

I hope you liked how everything is going… I'm trying not to prolong the 'grand ball' for too long. XD I think it's interesting how everything can be so 'classical' (meaning the ball) in a story like Ice Queen… honestly, I had no idea this was the path this story would take when I first wrote it….

Well, anyway… REVIEW!