The alarm woke her up at the same time as always and just like always, Sakura woke up much later than intended. Though Kero was used to it by now, how this girl could not wake up with the alarm ringing right by her ear was beyond him. Still, she ate breakfast with her father and got a call from her brother. The usual weekday stuff. She ran out of her house and skated to her High School, meeting Tomoyo and going to class. However, her hands would not stop shaking and neither would her leg. Her hair was becoming a mess from how much Sakura toyed around with it. Tomoyo said nothing but giggled. Her friend was antsy today and she could not blame her. After four years, she would get to see Syaoran again and that was not a small thing. Sakura had changed a lot from her Cardcaptor days. She was a strong young woman now, out-spoken but still sensitive to other people's feelings. Her hair was a little longer than what it had once been, shoulder length but the two bangs that framed her face never grew and was never cut. They were an extension of her body, a part of her still. Her eyes had changed, though not drastically but Tomoyo (who seemed to take lesson: Sakura 101) noticed the change. Her eyes had once been emerald green, glowing with a child-like light and captured the hearts of many grown-ups and elders. They trademarked her innocence and purity. Now, though still as innocent as ever, her eyes had turned a deeper shade, a dark jade that seemed to bore into your own eyes as she looked at you. But at the moment, her eyes were facing the window, as if to find some sort of cure to her nervousness there. Tomoyo glanced at her teacher and made sure he was writing on the board before reaching out to grab Sakura's hand. She was startled and turned to look at Tomoyo, who gave her a reassuring smile. Sighing, she grasped her friends hand and turned back to face the board, the butterflies in her stomach subsiding a little.

The bell rang at last, signaling the end of the class day. Sakura had a hard time getting up from her desk. Syaoran had told her he would pass by her house as soon as he got settled so she wanted to run to her house but at the same time, never get there. The very prospect of meeting him again terrified her and excited her.

"Ohhhh, Tomoyo-chan, I'm going to die!"

"Sakura-chan, I'm sure it's just the nervousness talking,"

"No, Tomoyo-chan, I can't do this..."

Giggling, Tomoyo led her friend down the hall, keeping a stream of encouraging words to keep her friend's spirits up.

The day was a beautiful one, the sun was shining bright and the air was blowing a gorgeous breeze. It was not cold and not hot but a small space in the middle, such days were not often giving to the town but when they were, the town went out of their way to enjoy them. Already, they could see people setting outside chairs and people flocking to have a nice cup of tea and bask in the day.

Tomoyo had an idea.

"You don't want to go home, right?"

A nod from Sakura told her what she needed to know.

"Well then, let's have a nice cup of tea first then,"

Another nod, this time with more enthusiasm than before. They started walking down the steps of the High School, Sakura seemingly more happy than she was before. Her frown was gone, her eyes were happier and now, she kept up the conversation without any help from Tomoyo. As they made their way to the small coffee shop in front of the High School, Sakura stopped suddenly. Her face had gone blank, trying to figure out something. Tomoyo became worried as sakura became immobile and tried to snap her back.

"Sakura-chan? Are you ok?" said Tomoyo-chan worriedly, stepping in front of her and looking into her eyes. She was surprised to see tears well up in a sea of jade. Tomoyo instantly thought the worst. The feeling had come back and it was hurting her. Shocked to see the tears in her friend's eyes, she looked around for help and was about to reach for her cell phone when Sakura turned around, slowly and it seemed, hesitantly. Suddenly, Tomoyo saw what it was all about.

Sakura did as well.

A strange feeling had come over quite suddenly. A shock and a certain sadness that was torn between a sad sad and a happy sad. If it sounds weird, the feeling itself felt worse. Sakura had always been sensitive to other's feelings, whether she wanted to or not. Now, the feeling overwhelmed her and the sick compulsion to turn around took over her. She knew who she would see, had no doubt, and though after four years (as well as during those four years) she had longed to see him, now she wanted to run away. Why this had her so scared, she did not know. Maybe it was the fact the very presence of him would destroy everything she had worked for all these years. After the first year, she had been sad at almost every sight that reminded her of him but after that first year, she had returned to her normal self and undergone changes that had nothing to do with Syaoran. She felt as if she was a completely different person than what Syaoran had fallen in love with. What if he was as well?

Nevertheless, she turned around and faced the boy she had pined over for so many years. She saw that he had changed too, almost unperceptively as she had. His physical appearance was the first thing she noticed, of course. He had shot up like a bean stalk, tall and long but not gangly. His muscles were well defined, even for a seventeen year old but not over done. She figured he wasn't weight lifting or anything of the sort but had been trained in martial arts, which kept him slim but strong. His face had grown out of the boyish looking features and had been replaced with stronger, more grown-up features. Even from a distance, his eyes were still the same amber color they had always been, able to entrance her with a single look. His hair was longer than she expected. In fact, long enough to be tied back in a ponytail but the same unruly bangs fell over his eyes.

The world seemed to stop for them. He walked closer to her, taking his time to drink her in and before he knew it, he was face to face with her. He looked back at Tomoyo who gave him a smile and shuffled away, a huge grin plastered on her face. He gaze returned to Sakura, who had to look up to look at Syaoran's face, and that was the first thing she said to him after four years of meeting him.

"I'm going to have such a neck spasm from trying to look at you," she mumbled and as if catching what she had just said, she blushed. He smile down at her and reached for her. It was a small movement, barely perceptible to anyone else but to Sakura, it could have moved the world.

She threw her arms around his neck and threw herself at him. His arms snaked around her waist and pulled her close to him, inhaling the scent of flowers she exuded, whether it was the scent of the flower she was named after or not, he didn't care. She felt good against him, she fit, her tiny form fit perfectly against him and her warmth was a kind of warmth he had not felt in a long time. While she buried her face in his neck, he did the same but in her hair for he could reach down to her neck properly.

After a while, none of them knew how long exactly, they broke apart a little. Not knowing what to say, sakura just felt relieved. She was finally where she wanted and longed to be for so long. She smiled at him and suddenly, things changed. She stepped aside and grabbed his arm, telling him all about how she was doing and leading him to the coffee shop where she and Tomoyo had originally been going to. The only thing he got to say, in between her worry-filled sentences of being a bad friend to Tomoyo, was that she had already gone to the shop and was probably still there, waiting for them.

Right as rain, Tomoyo gave Syaoran a hearty hello and announced she had ordered for them. As if nothing had changed over the last four years or rather, as if the last four years had never happened, they happily sat down and enjoyed their food. Tomoyo invited Eriol to join them, much to Sakura's requests.

By late afternoon, the small group of two boys and two girls sat happily as the sun started to dim down on the intensity of its rays and the light breeze took over. They talked as teenagers talked, much about nothing and at times, even small pieces of wisdom were said, though teenagers never notice them at the time. They touched on the topic at hand at one point but they did not linger at that. Instead, they repeated the same as always, "everything would turn out ok", and continued their conversation. As the sun started to set, Tomoyo invited them over to her house and they all graciously accepted. It had been a long day and they were pretty exhausted. After a cup of tea and some more biscuits, Sakura received a call from her father, saying it was late and for her to come back home. Sakura said goodbye to everyone, making plans for tomorrow and accepted Syaoran's invitation to walk her home though rather shyly.

The night air was crisp and Tomoeda wasn't a big city with overwhelming lights so the stars could be easily seen. For a while, they said nothing but enjoyed the night air. After a while, though, Sakura turned to look at this profile. It hadn't changed much in the four years but there was a certain maturity to it. His jaw line was stronger, more defined, his eyes burned constantly with a strange fire, he was no longer the boy she had known.

Had she changed as well?

Once they reached her house, Syaoran mumbled his goodbye and turned to walk away.

"Wait!"

He turned around quite surprised.

"Um, do you want to come in, maybe–?" she began quietly but to her surprise, Syaoran smiled at her and nodded. Delighted, she led him inside, where very little of her house had changed. Her father was at the kitchen, probably finishing the meal and they went to say hi to him first. He welcomed Syaoran into their home and invited him for dinner. Syaoran accepted gratefully.

"Oh, and Sakura-chan, your brother and Yukito-san are in the living room."

"Hoe?"

She went to the living room where in fact, Yukito and Touya were sitting, chatting and watching television. Kero was also there, eating a big piece of strawberry cake her dad had just made this morning. She saw Syaoran's surprised expression at the sight of Kero moving so freely around them but Sakura explained.

"I saw no need to keep this all a secret when we obviously knew the truth already," she said with a smile as her brother and Yukito said hello. Her brother gave Syaoran a rough hand-shake as if to measure the manliness of him through their hands. Sakura and yukito shook their heads. Though bolts of lighting were no longer being passed by each other's eyes, Touya still wore the expression of not liking Syaoran.

"Hello, kid" said Kero, his mouth overstuffed with cake and a strawberry hanging off the corner of his mouth, "So you came back after so many years, huh?"

"It's been four years," dead panned Syaoran with a nasty glance at him.

"Eh, potato potatoe"

"So," said Sakura nervously, cutting into their fight, "what are you guys doing here?"

Not that Sakura wasn't used to their fighting but all of a sudden, she became painfully aware of the air around her. It was not hatred for the two did not hate each other but a strong dislike. It was enough to make Sakura uncomfortable.

Touya blushed a little but Yukito took over.

"Well, Toya didn't feel completely comfortable with you being here by yourself after the incident happened so we came in to check on you,"

"Oh" said Sakura, smiling at her brother, "worried, were we?"

"Not very," mumbled Toya and Yukito laughed softly.

"Dinner's ready," said her father as he entered the living room, apron still on and a smile on his face.

They all filed into the kitchen, the delicious smell of food wafting through the air and making their stomachs rumble. As soon as they settled and said, "Time to eat!", they dug into their foods. Not a word passed between th em for the first few minutes, all of them too busy enjoying their food. After a while, mumbles of appreciation for the food and Sakura's dad started a conversation. Kero and Yukito talked while Sakura poked fun of her brother's softness. Syaoran got to talk to Sakura' dad, nothing too serious for her father was not the kind of man to interrogate a boy Sakura liked as if he was a jail convict.

By the time the food was gone and their desert had been munched away, Syaoran announced he should be getting home. It was rather late and even though Tomoeda was not the center for criminals, it could be dangerous for him to walk home so late. He had rented out an apartment for a while, near where Sakura lived, so the walk wouldn't be too long. Still, he said his goodbyes and thank you's to her family and walked with her to the front door.

"Thanks for inviting me over," he said to her with a smile, looking up while he changed his shoes.

"You're always welcomed here," she answered quietly.

They kept quiet for a while as Syaoran got up and took this moment to really look at her. She hadn't changed much, the same mannerism were there. She still looked down when shy or nervous, her eyes were hooded by the long eyelashes and her hair still framed her face. But she was older now, older than he had expected. Of course he knew she was going to be sixteen when he came here, he wasn't stupid. But now that he was here and actually looking at her, it seemed weird seeing his first love as a teenager, grown up and almost a woman. Time had sure changed things between them because although the same feelings were there, a not yet fully bloomed romance, there was also the awkwardness that came with this certain age.

For now, he would settle with just looking at her and letting the feelings go. What else could he do?

"We're still on for tomorrow, right?"

Snapping back to reality, he gave her a blank look before he realized what she was talking about and nodded. She smiled at him, the same happy smile that shone across her face over the most trivial (and in his opinion) unimportant things. He knew, though, that it took little to make her happy and for her, trivial things were still a big thing, at least for her.

So, he smiled back.

He turned and opened the door, breathing in the night air as he stepped outside.

"I'll pick you ap after school, ok?"

She nodded eagerly.

He was about to walk away when she called out to him. Turning back, he saw a strange expression on her face and for a moment, he thought he had done something wrong. She just waved at him, shaking her head to say it was nothing and smiled, though rather as if she was straining to smile. He turned once again and walked away. This time he felt it too. As if something was missing from the whole day up to now. But Syaoran was not used to these feeling Sakura brought out in him and dismissed them. Besides, he would see her again tomorrow and he would decide there what it was.

Hands in his pockets, he felt the night air cool his body and for the first time in a long time, he felt he belonged.

Next, the action!