Here's chapter 3! This is quite long (well, a lot longer than the first two chapters).. The flow of the story is actually becoming longer than I originally planned it to be. But whatever. I'm enjoying writing it anyway. Hope you enjoy reading it!

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, it ain't mine!

Chapter 3: Bittersweet Memory

"Welcome home, Mistress Sakura."

Sakura smiled up at the butler, Wei, as he opened the massive oak front doors for her. This big, luxurious mansion she was in has been in the possession of vampires for many years. Although she considered it home, she would sometimes be gone for years on end, traveling around and visiting other places. Together, she and her friends owned the largest blood bank in this region of Japan, which is how they obtained an enormous amount of wealth and sustained their luxurious lifestyle, although if it were only up to Sakura, she'd have all of them live in a simple house. However, the mansion did have its advantages. It was located at the edge of the city so only fields and forests surrounded them. The nearest houses were around a mile away, which more or less ruled out the possibility of someone accidentally seeing something they shouldn't see.

Also, the mansion was huge. There were only about five or so vampires living there right now including her, plus the maids and butlers. There were a lot of guest rooms that they kept ready for times when other vampires would seek shelter, or when they had visitors. Besides these, she and her friends were able to build underground rooms where they slept during the day to make sure that no sunlight reached them.

The mansion was lavishly decorated with antique art, chandeliers, and furnishings. Upon entering one would immediately see a grand staircase that led to the second floor, where all the bedrooms were located. In the first floor, there were many different function rooms, the living room, entertainment room, dining room, kitchen, library, and office. At the back of the mansion was a vast garden filled with plants and flowers of all kinds and colors. An old fountain was located there near the house, and a little ways away was a lovely gazebo. In the northeast end was a small barn where they housed five magnificent horses. They sometimes used the horses to go beyond their garden territory and into the forest. Truly, their home looked like it was taken out of an old English storybook.

From the entrance, Sakura walked straight to another set of oak doors that led to the huge dining room. From the dining room, there were glass doors that led to the garden. As she got outside, she looked around as if searching for somebody, and finally found a figure walking back towards the mansion from a distance. She sat down on a railing and waited as the figure approached her.

Sakura smiled when the figure was near enough for her to see clearly. It was a man much taller than Sakura, with short, dark blue hair and navy blue eyes. He was wearing a button down black shirt that emphasized his pale complexion and khaki pants. Just by looking at Sakura, he already noticed something different about her. Her smile was wider and brighter than usual, and her eyes revealed to him a deep happiness that he had never seen there before.

"You seem pretty happy tonight. Care to tell me why?" The man said, the smile never leaving his face as he stood directly in front of Sakura. Suddenly he noticed her slightly torn t-shirt and a frown immediately replaced his smile. "What the hell happened?" He asked in a serious tone.

The smile on Sakura's face faltered. "It's him again.." It was all the explanation the man needed. He clenched his fists at his side at Sakura's words, and a look of pure hatred crossed his eyes. Seeing the effect her words had on her friend, Sakura immediately waved a hand in front of her as if to dismiss the topic. "Don't worry, Eriol, I'm perfectly fine! Besides, someone came to help me…" At that, a certain light seemed to shine in her eyes that the man named Eriol noticed immediately.

Eriol decided to set aside the topic of her attacker in the meantime. He was curious about this person who helped her. He arched an eyebrow. "A human?"

Sakura kept staring straight ahead and smiling. "Mm-hmm."

Eriol placed a thumb on his chin as if he was in deep thought. "Very brave of him to help you, but.. Aidan was there, right?"

"Yeah, but before that man came Aidan and I had been fighting for a while already. Aidan tried to kill him, but after I landed a pretty good punch on his face he decided to leave."

"I see.. So after he left, I assume you erased this human's memories of the event?"

Sakura looked down. "Um.. Actually.."

At her hesitant words, Eriol stood up wide-eyed. "You didn't! Why! Sakura, how can you be so careless! This isn't like you at all."

Sakura decided to stand up as well and face Eriol. She shook her head. "But Eriol, you don't understand! It's him! I'm sure of it! I finally found him!"

Eriol's brow furrowed in confusion. "Him? I don't understand.. Who is he?"

Sakura looked up at the stars with a faraway look on her face. "The man I've been telling you about for hundreds of years.."

x-x-x-x-x

The bell rung, signaling the end of Syaoran's last class for the week. He packed up his notebook and books and headed out of the lecture hall in silence. Their soccer coach told them yesterday that they wouldn't be practicing today because he had a seminar to attend to in a neighboring town. So now Syaoran didn't have anything to do but go home.

As he walked through the hallways, he heard a male voice calling his name. He looked back and saw his classmate and teammate, Yamazaki, walking quickly to catch up to him. Yamazaki was one of the few people he could remotely call a friend. They had known each other since middle school and had been classmates most of the time. Although he was a total joker and ladies man, which meant they were complete opposites, Syaoran thought Yamazaki was a good friend. He hung out with him and some of his other friends sometimes, and they'd go out partying or drinking.

"Hey, Syaoran!" Yamazaki said in greeting as he finally caught up with him.

"Yamazaki, what's up?" Syaoran asked as he resumed walking with Yamazaki beside him.

"Well, some of us guys from the soccer team decided to go out tonight and have some fun. You gotta come with us, man!"

Syaoran kept silent for a while, thinking about it. It's a Friday night, anyway, and I have nothing to do.. Might as well. He turned to Yamazaki. "Sure. I'll go."

Yamazaki punched him lightly in the arm. "Good! I thought I'd have to spend fifteen minutes again just to persuade you. Man, I hope there'll be a lot of hot girls in the club tonight!"

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "Don't you already have Chiharu?"

Yamazaki scratched his head. "Ahehe.. Yeah, I do. Don't get me wrong, Syaoran. I love Chiharu a lot! I was gonna say that if there are gonna be lots of hot girls, maybe you could hook up with one, eh, Syaoran?" Yamazaki wiggled his eyebrows and elbowed Syaoran.

Syaoran's face remained blank. "Not interested, Yamazaki."

Yamazaki stopped in his tracks, and Syaoran, who had already taken a few steps ahead, stopped as well and looked back at him. Yamazaki had on this shocked expression on his face with one hand over his mouth and the other pointing at Syaoran. "Syaoran.. are you telling me… that you're… GAY?"

Syaoran just had to punch him at that. "Stupid! I'm not gay, you idiot!"

"Ouch!" Yamazaki rubbed his head. "I was only kidding, man! But anyways, it'd be a real surprise if I see you hook up with someone, ya know! So many girls are fawning over you, and you just ignore them! Oh, the shame!"

"Whatever. I don't care about them."

Yamazaki shook his head in disapproval. "Tsk tsk.. Anyway, Syaoran, I gotta go! Let's meet up in front of Temple Bar at 8, okay?"

"Sure."

With that, Yamazaki walked away towards the dorms while Syaoran continued walking towards the school gates. He just felt like he needed a night out to relax and unwind. It had been a hell week for him filled with long tests, readings, and paper deadlines. Besides, he needed to keep his mind off of a certain emerald-eyed girl…

Syaoran shook his head as if to clear away another image of the mysterious girl. Ever since that weird encounter last Monday night, that female vampire's face had been constantly popping into his head. Maybe it was because the experience was really rattling for him. After all, it's not everyday you encounter vampires. Or maybe it was because she had been such a mystery. Her final words confused him, and he didn't even know her name. It was also because Syaoran felt there was something different with her.. something familiar..

Syaoran snorted to himself. Different? And then familiar? That's kinda ironic don't you think? he thought to himself. Yeah, she's different, alright. She's a damn vampire! But familiar? I've never met her before.

After that incident, Syaoran tried squeezing in some research on vampires between his loads of schoolwork. He found out that surprisingly, Hollywood movies were more or less accurate with their depictions of these beings. They were nocturnal, and exposure to sunlight would kill them. Their only source of life is blood. They had to drink the blood of human beings regularly or else they would weaken and die. Upon reading that, Syaoran tried imagining the female vampire he met sucking the blood out of a human being's neck, and he just couldn't picture someone who looked like her doing such a thing.

He also read that there were only two ways of killing them. One was through, of course, exposure to sunlight. The other was through piercing their heart with a magic-infused stake. Other than that, they could go on living forever.

As Syaoran walked back to his apartment, he glanced at his watch and saw that it was only 5pm. As he reached his room, he decided to take a short nap before getting ready. After the hell he'd been through that week, any opportunity to sleep was welcome.

x-x-x-x-x

A pale, amethyst-eyed girl sat on a plush Victorian-style couch inside a huge bedroom with a soft, content smile on her face as she expertly sewed and worked on a piece of pink fabric. Her long, wavy black hair cascaded around her, and every once in a while, she had to stop her work to tuck a stray strand behind her ear. She hummed a soft tune as she worked, and at the end of the song, she put down the cloth on her knees and gave her fingers a rest.

"Whatever you're working on looks real nice, Tomoyo." A voice suddenly said near her ear, which made her jump up in surprise.

"Oh!" The girl named Tomoyo stood up, dropping her work on the floor, and turned around. "Sakura!" She placed a hand on top of her chest and took a deep breath. "You scared me!"

Sakura smiled sheepishly and scratched her head. "Sorry, Tomoyo. I didn't mean to scare you like that."

Tomoyo bent down to retrieve the fallen piece of cloth. "It's ok. It's just that I didn't even hear you enter the room or anything, that's all. Although I really should be used to that by now." She giggled and sat down again.

Sakura giggled as well. "Yeah. Anyway," Sakura walked around the couch and sat down beside Tomoyo. "so what is it you're working on?"

At Sakura's words, stars appeared in Tomoyo's eyes and she clutched the fabric in her hands lovingly. "Oh, Sakura, it's another outfit for you, of course!" Sakura sweatdropped. Tomoyo continued, "It's hardly halfway done, though. Oh I can't wait for you to try it on!"

A few moments of silence passed between them, and suddenly, Tomoyo snapped her fingers. "Hey Sakura, you're not.. doing anything tonight, are you?" Although she sounded really happy, Sakura noticed the slight hesitation in her words.

Realizing that Tomoyo was trying to ask her if she was going out to feed that night, Sakura immediately shook her head. "No, no, I'm not going out tonight! Tomoyo.." Sakura placed a hand on top of Tomoyo's. "I already told you before that I only do that once in a blue moon. That's why we have the blood bank, you know." They both laughed softly.

Tomoyo nodded. "Right. So since you're not doing anything…" Tomoyo took both of Sakura's hands and stood, pulling Sakura up with her. "Let's go out and party tonight!" Tomoyo squealed in excitement.

Sakura laughed at her excited friend. "Party! But –"

"Oh, come on, Sakura! It's a Friday night, and it's been such a long time since we've gone out!"

Sakura looked thoughtful. "Well…"

Tomoyo clasped her hands together and put on a pleading face. "Pleeeaassseee?"

Sakura giggled. "Alright, alright! We'll go out!"

"Alright!" Tomoyo jumped in delight.

The next thing Sakura knew, Tomoyo had dragged her inside the room's walk-in closet and was shoving this beautiful, black dress in front of her. "This is my latest creation! It'll be perfect for tonight!"

Sakura sweatdropped. "I'm betting the only reason you wanted to go out tonight was for me to wear this new dress of yours."

Tomoyo smiled. "Not really. But it IS the main reason! Ohohoho!"

Sakura giggled a bit. "I should've known!"

"Anyway, put that on, okay? Then wear these shoes with them." Tomoyo took out a pair of strappy black stilettos from a closet and put it down near Sakura. "I'll go to my room and get ready, too!"

Before Tomoyo could go out of the walk-in closet, Sakura stopped her. "Wait!"

Tomoyo looked back. "Yes?"

Sakura grinned. "Why don't we invite Eriol to come with us?"

At the mention of Eriol, Tomoyo immediately blushed. "Oh, uh, sure. That's a great idea!"

Sakura tried to hide a knowing smile and nodded. "Can you go and invite him? I think he's downstairs inside the library."

"S-sure." With that, Tomoyo left, the telltale blush never leaving her cheeks.

As Tomoyo left, Sakura laughed softly to herself. It was quite obvious that her friend had feelings for Eriol. She'd been noticing it for quite a while now, and she been trying to do things to make them closer. She wasn't quite sure about Eriol's feelings, though, but if her guess was right, then he probably has feelings for Tomoyo too.

Sakura faced the full-length mirror and held the dress up in front of her. Tomoyo was such a great designer. Sakura had no doubts that she would become successful one day. It seemed to Sakura such a wonderful coincidence that she met Tomoyo and became good friends with her. In a way, Tomoyo's kindness and cheerful antics brought back a semblance of her old life, of her old self.. of a time before she even became a vampire.

Tomoyo lived in the mansion with Sakura and the others, but unlike them, Tomoyo was not a vampire. She was just a normal, human girl. She just turned nineteen a few months ago, and she had been living in the mansion with them for six years. Sakura found her one night, six years ago…

-Flashback-

As Sakura was walking around town alone, thinking to herself, and the streets were deserted, she heard soft whimpers coming from behind a dumpster in an alley. As she neared the dumpster to investigate, she saw a young girl there, huddled against the wall, trying to look as small as possible, and tears flowing down her face.

It was Tomoyo, who was only thirteen then. At the sight of the poor girl, Sakura immediately frowned. She bent down and talked to the girl softly. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Tomoyo looked up and faced Sakura with her tear-stained face. Suddenly, she fiercely grabbed at Sakura's arm. "M-my mom! They… they k-killed her! Help me, please!"

Sakura's brow furrowed. She squatted down and tried to calm the girl down. "Ssh.. I'll help you, but I think it's better if you go report this to the police first."

Tomoyo violently shook her head. "No! I-I don't want to! Those men will find me.. I don't want to go back! P-please, help me.. just take me anywhere else but here!" Her lips were quivering and her whole body was shaking from crying and fear.

Sakura, not knowing what else to do and feeling sorry for the girl, nodded. "Alright.. I'll take you somewhere safe. Come with me." She stood up and offered a hand to Tomoyo. Sakura knew she couldn't very well jump on rooftops with Tomoyo, so she called Wei using her cellphone and asked for the driver to pick her up.

Once they were inside the car, Sakura found out the girl's name and what happened to her. She felt sad for Tomoyo. Apparently, she and her mother, who was the only immediate family she had, just arrived home that night after eating dinner out. What they didn't know was that two men had broken into their home and were still inside when they got back. Tomoyo and her mother weren't really very rich, but they weren't poor either, and apparently someone took an interest in them. She was about to enter the kitchen where her mother was when she suddenly saw a man lunge from the shadows and stab her mother with a knife. Tomoyo's blood froze and her heart stopped, and for a few seconds she couldn't do anything but stare in horror as the man stabbed her mother again and again.

The moment the man stopped, he turned around and saw her. She ran for the door immediately and heard the man call for his accomplice who was upstairs. She had already turned a corner when they stepped out of the house to seize her and decided to just let her go. Tomoyo ran and ran until her feet gave up. Fearing that the men might still be after her, she hid in the dumpster and stayed there.

Sakura had remained silent the whole time she was retelling the horrid tale, and at the end of it, she reached out to touch Tomoyo's hand and offer her comfort.

"Don't worry.. You're safe now. No one will harm you."

Tomoyo looked up at Sakura, her face still stained with tears. "T-thank you.. for helping me.."

It was a quiet ride after that, and Sakura glanced at Tomoyo to find out that she had fallen asleep. Eriol had come out of the mansion the moment he heard the car pull up to see if Sakura was all right. She hardly ever asked for the driver, after all. Sakura stepped out of the car and saw Eriol there with a concerned look on his face.

"Did something happen?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head and motioned to the back seat of the car. "I'm perfectly fine. However…"

Eriol looked inside and saw the sleeping form of a beautiful, young girl. His brow furrowed in confusion. "Who is she?"

Sakura sighed. "It's a long story, Eriol.. Can you please help me bring her to a guest room?"

"Sure."

Eriol carried the sleeping Tomoyo to a guest room, after which he and Sakura went to the living room to talk. There, Sakura told him everything that happened. Eriol just listened, and at the end of Sakura's story he faced her with some questions.

"So she kept saying she doesn't want to go back? But you do realize we can't keep her here, don't you, Sakura?"

Sakura nodded gravely. "I know that.. When she wakes up, I'll talk to her again and ask her what she wants to do.."

"I don't want to go back.."

Sakura and Eriol both turned to the doorway to see Tomoyo standing there, trembling, but no longer crying.

Sakura stood up and walked over to her. "But.. what do you want to do? You have to tell the police. And.. the house… your mother's body…"

Tomoyo shook her head, a lone tear escaping from her eye. "There's nothing more to go back to…" She looked up at Sakura with a pleading look in her eye, and then at Eriol. "Please let me stay with you with! I'll.. I'll help around the house! I'll do anything! Just please don't make me go back there…"

Sakura turned to Eriol, who was thinking deeply. He felt sad for the poor girl, and he would truly like to help her and let her stay, but what about their secret? He stared at the girl and looked into her beautiful amethyst eyes, which were at the moment filled with fear and loneliness. He looked at Sakura once more and sighed.

"I'll leave the decision to you."

Sakura blinked. "But.."

"Whatever you decide will be fine with me. I'm sure we can think of something to tell the others if you do decide to let her stay."

Sakura nodded, and deep inside she knew she had already made a decision about the girl. She would do anything to help Tomoyo and take away the pain and loneliness she saw in her eyes, because at one time in her life, she felt the exact same way.

"Very well. I guess I could tell them you're my new… personal maid or something…"

A small smile appeared on Tomoyo's face, and she went over and hugged Sakura tightly. "Thank you so much…"

Eriol was standing beside them now, and he looked at Tomoyo grimly. "There is a catch, though…"

That same night, Eriol and Sakura told Tomoyo about what they really were, but they also promised that no harm would ever come to her. As Eriol transformed to give her proof, Tomoyo stiffened, her eyes wide, but surprisingly, she nodded and said that she accepted them for what they were. Sakura and Eriol were even more surprised when the young woman thanked them for entrusting such a secret with her.

It took a while for Tomoyo to get used to living in the mansion. However, she soon realized that vampires were just like humans. The only difference was that they lived a totally different lifestyle. She became fast friends with Sakura, Eriol and the other vampires in the mansion. Because of their wealth, they were able have Tomoyo home-schooled and she had sessions with her teacher every morning. Although Sakura had said that Tomoyo was to be her personal maid, everyone treated her like family and didn't really make her do anything. Tomoyo had felt so blessed and thankful that she had come to live with such nice and helpful people, no matter that they were vampires.

Although Tomoyo was still filled with grief about what happened to her mother, she soon realized that she couldn't keep on dwelling in the past. As she dealt with her pain, Sakura had always been there with her, comforting her and giving her strength. One night, more than a year after the incident, Sakura came up to her as she was practicing her sewing in her room.

"Hi, Sakura! What's up?" Tomoyo stopped her sewing and greeted her friend.

Sakura smiled at her. "I just wanted to see what you were up to."

Tomoyo held up the fabric she was working on. "I'm getting a lot better with my sewing! See?"

"Yeah, you are. That looks great!"

Tomoyo beamed up at her. "This is actually a dress I'm making for you, Sakura!"

Sakura blinked. "For me? Wow.. Thanks!"

Sakura watched as Tomoyo continued with her work. A comfortable silence filled the room, and after a while, Sakura decided to speak up again.

She looked at Tomoyo with a smile on her face. "Do you know why I decided to let you stay that night I found you?"

Tomoyo stopped her sewing once again and stared at Sakura. "No, not really.. I've been wondering about that, actually. I just never got around to asking you.."

"Have you seen the painting of the woman in the blue dress inside the library?"

Tomoyo nodded. "Yes, I have. She's a very beautiful woman. Why, who is she?"

Sakura's smile saddened a little. "She's my mother…"

Tomoyo blinked in surprise. "Oh, I see.. Now that I think of it, you do look a lot like her. Well, what happened to her? Is she also a…?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, no, she wasn't a vampire. And I hardly remember anything about her. You see, she died when I was just three years old…"

Tomoyo's face fell at that. "I'm sorry.. I didn't realize.."

"It's okay. It was a very long time ago. I'm telling you this because I want you to see that I know how it feels.. to lose someone you love.." A faraway look crossed Sakura's features as she thought back to the very few bits and pieces of her mother that she could remember. "I felt the same pain you felt, Tomoyo, and I saw it in your eyes that night. I just couldn't bear to let you face that alone. But unlike me, you have so many memories of your mother. Be grateful for that." Sakura smiled at her friend, who now had tears in her eyes. "Treasure these memories, but at the same time, don't let them hinder you from moving forward."

By this time, Tomoyo was already crying. If Tomoyo was very grateful for Sakura before, her words and actions that day made her admire the girl even more. Tomoyo set her sewing aside and hugged Sakura, whispering thank you and crying on her shoulder. Sakura just hugged Tomoyo back and stroked her hair. She knew the young girl needed some sort of mother or at least sister figure, and Sakura promised to herself she would do everything she can to help Tomoyo.

-End Flashback-

Now it's been six years since she first found Tomoyo, and she had grown up to be a beautiful woman. Since Sakura and the others wanted her to have a normal life despite living with them, they let her study college in Tomoeda University, where she was currently a sophomore. She and Sakura were like sisters now, and her favorite pastime was sewing clothes for Sakura, which she had become extremely good at in the past few years.

Sakura put on the black dress Tomoyo gave her and wasn't really surprised to see that it fit her perfectly. It had thin straps and a neckline that wasn't too low and revealed just a little amount of cleavage. The upper body part of the dress was skin-tight, and below that the fabrics flowed freely up to a little bit above her knee. As an accent, she placed a silver sash around her hips that made the dress even more beautiful. She put on the black stilettos, looked at herself in the mirror, and smiled.

She put on a minimal amount of make-up, always sticking to just powder and lip gloss, and combed her hair, leaving it down. She picked up her handbag and went to the entrance, where she saw Eriol and Tomoyo already waiting.

Tomoyo beamed at the sight of her. "Oh, Sakura, you look fantastic! I knew it would look good on you!"

Sakura smiled. "Thanks, Tomoyo. Yeah, it's fits great! You look really beautiful, too! And Eriol, you're looking as handsome as ever!"

Tomoyo was wearing a dark purple strapless dress that hugged her body nicely and reached below her knees, while Eriol was wearing a dark blue collared shirt with black pants.

Eriol bowed at the two ladies and held out both his arms to them. "I'm so honored to be in the company of two very beautiful ladies tonight." Sakura giggled while Tomoyo blushed, and both of them linked an arm with his. As they went out, Wei bid them farewell, and Eriol took up the driver's seat of the car while Tomoyo sat in the passenger seat and Sakura sat at the backseat.

As they drove out of the driveway, Tomoyo clapped her hands together.

"We are gonna have so much fun tonight!"

x-x-x-x-x

AN: Third chapter done! Liked it? Questions? Comments? Tell me!