Unbeta-ed

Soundtrack – Everytime We Touch – Cascada, So Sick – Ne-Yo

Love Doesn't Have A Price

Chapter Eighteen: Coming To Terms

Sakura entered the movie set with a sigh. Her two week vacation was finally over and it was back to the gruelling task of pretending she was someone else for the next three weeks. Her trailer had been there and just as cramped and uncomfortable as she remembered it when she'd arrived and the make up and hair artists who'd been appointed to her that she'd become fairly friendly with waiting with the multitudes of utensils they used to beautify (torture) her with.

Dressed in the flowing chinese silk top and pants of her costume with a very large very heavy wig on her head portraying her hair to be in some sort of amazingly intricate style.

Heading straight to the snack table she grasped a cinnamon doughnut between two fingers and took a bottle of water walking over to the director.

"Hey Sakura, and how are we feeling today?" he queried with a grin.

"Ready to finish this," she replied sitting in the chair beside him.

He offered her a cheeky grin before directing his attention back to the scene being set up before them.

"Spend your vacation with your husband?" he queried glancing back at her.

She faltered for a moment, looking at him in disbelief. She'd have thought that by now everyone would know about their break up.

He turned his attention back to her when she took too long to answer.

"Sakura?"

Her eyes flickering to his she smiled loosely, "For the start yes, then I went back home to spend some time with my family."

Her eyes flickered to Kenji as he walked on the set, dressed completely in black. Studiously ignoring him she turned her attention to the set.

"Alright guys, take your positions, we all want to get out of here so if we do well in the last two scenes we can all be out of here sooner."

Sliding off of the seat at the sound of the directors voice Sakura walked to her place in the set, standing opposite Kenji and trying to remind herself that is she threw up in the middle of the take because Kenji's character was kissing hers it would mean she would have to kiss him more.

The stiff backed butler took him towards with a great deal of hesitancy. In fact the man hadn't even wanted to let him in the house when he'd said that he didn't have an appointment.

They stopped in front of a closed mahogany door and the butler pushed it open letting the man inside know that he had a visitor.

Making his own way in he sat down as the dark haired man looked up and scowled.

"Sent her lover to make her platitudes?" he queried scathingly.

Yukito couldn't help himself, he broke out into laughter, shocking the man at the other side of the table and confusing the butler behind him.

When he'd managed to catch his breath he said the first thing that came to mind, "Yeah and you're not jealous."

The man before him stiffened before narrowing his eyes. "If you're not here to try and convince me that there's absolutely nothing going on between you and my wife then why are you here?"

Silent shudders of laughter hit him again and Yukito could see the man before him appraising the situation, trying to work out whether this was a joke or not.

When he could finally speak without setting of the time bomb of laughter he did, "Li, I don't know where you get your information but it's so wrong."

The other man folded his arms and quirked a brow. "Really? Can you say that you feel nothing at all for my wife?"

Yukito shrugged, "No."

"Let me get this straight, you say you feel something for her but nothing happened?" Disbelief coursed through his tone.

"Perhaps I should explain," Yukito spoke lightly but amusement was still thickly marring his tone. "Yes, I love Sakura, and yes she loves me, there was even a time when she loved me the way that you're talking about."

Syaoran rolled his eyes, "You're doing little to convince me."

Yukito grinned, "She and I didn't do anything Li, we wouldn't."

"There was a time when she loved you though." Li stated sceptically.

Yukito forced back the laughter about to erupt at that statement, "Yeah, when she was nine."

Syaoran started, Yukito could see that it wasn't what he'd expected to hear.

"I've known Sakura since she was a baby Li, I was there when she was born even, Touya needed some moral support, she's like a sister to me."

Syaoran's mouth formed an "o" and Yukito could see that it wasn't often that he was wrong about something.

"So she asked you to come here and plead her innocence."

"Nup," Yukito replied cheerfully, "Actually I'm pretty sure Sakura would hurt me if she found out I'd been here. She loves you Li enough that she'd risk losing you rather than stay in a relationship where you would question her every step of the way."

His phone jangled, breaking the moment and any insight that Li may have exhibited disappeared in an instant. Glancing at the called id Yukito grimaced.

"Right then, nice meeting you Li, but I've got to go. Touya gave me express orders not to meddle and well… here I am."

Syaoran watched the odd man leave with bemusement and more than a fair amount of guilt.

"Your house is beautiful Eriol," Tomoyo spoke gently, watching the view from the upstairs window with an ease that surprised him. He'd never seen Tomoyo look as content as she did now with the breeze from the open window gently ruffling her hair and her eyes focussed on the lush scenery below.

He shrugged. "It's been in my family for a very long time."

She turned at that, facing him directly, "You're parents don't live here?"

He smiled gently, "They did, when they died guardianship of it reverted back to me and my sister."

"Oh." She said simply. No platitudes or useless words were offered; she just accepted what he had said.

"You were going to tell me why it is that you're here Tomoyo," he reminded her sharply, disliking just how much he disclosed to her.

A smile caught the edges of her mouth and held it for a second. "Why I'm here?" she repeated, "I'm not really sure myself."

Eriol watched her carefully, bemusement edging in over her choice of words.

"I think that I care about you," she continued, "But I'm not sure because I don't care about people very often. All of my close friends – the people I care about – are the people who I've grown up with, the ones I trust because I entered a very fickle world." Her eyes focussed on his, "I never meant to care about you Eriol."

He was dumbstruck; he chose his next words carefully. "Are you sure you care about me?"

She offered him a smile that was as much desperation as it was sadness, "No, yes, maybe."

He watched as she sat in the plush chair across from him and leant forward as if offering him a secret, "I think I love you, but that scares me because I don't love people."

He had to sit down himself. Never had he expected the business extraordinaire Daidouji Tomoyo who had more control over her actions than anyone else in the business despite her age to break down before him. It seemed she didn't either, because shock had registered on her face and she visibly picked the pieces of her mask back up and put them back together.

"I don't want to lose you Eriol," the words were soft and barely heard.

Standing she brushed down her black business jacket and jeans and crossed to the door. That it seemed was as much leeway as she would give him.

Opening it she offered him polite niceties and went to leave.

He had crossed the room to the door and grabbed her arm before her knew what he was doing but the words that came next were firm and thought through.

"Then stop running away."

"Jace!"

The butler and the maid were behind her, frantically urging her to lower her voice and reminding her that Mr Muzashi was with a client.

She ignored them, instead hollering out again, "Where are you?"

The man she had been engaged too raced out into the corridor making shushing motions with his hands while trying to get the disbelief out of his voice.

"I'm with a client Mei Ling, I'll talk to you later."

"You'll talk to me now," she responded threateningly.

He looked between her and the open door behind him desperately, weighing up his options before finally turning defeated towards the doorway and saying hurriedly that he had something to take care of that had just come up and he would reschedule with them at another time.

Mei Ling watched them scurry out of the room with narrowed eyes before turning back to Jace.

He was raking a hand through his hair in annoyance before his eyes fixed on her and he scowled. "What do you want Mei Ling."

She flung the paper at his feet.

He glanced down at it before shrugging.

"That's all you have to say?" she demanded.

He rolled his eyes. "We're not together any more Mei Ling, that was your choice, I hardly think that it should matter who I spend my time with now."

"But Aiko, Jace, could you get any lower?"

He shrugged again crossing to the bar to make himself a drink.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at the table for the nearest thing to throw at him. She found a vase. A priceless one at that. Pitching it straight at his head she watched as he ducked before turning to look at her eyes dark.

"What the fuck Mei Ling."

"I wasn't aware that the next Emperor of China was allowed to fraternize with sluts." She offered acerbically.

He took a swig of what she was willing to bet was scotch, "Stayed with you long enough."
Her mouth dropped open and she seriously thought about throwing something else at him but refrained from it.

"And to think I came back thinking I could work things out with you." Yeah, reality really was a bitch at the moment.

His eyes snapped on her.

"You what?"

She rolled her eyes, "Nothing that concerns you darling. I hope that you and your political career and your slut have a great life together."

With as much dignity as she could muster given all that she'd done she turned and attempted to leave the room. His voice stopped her.

"Don't give me that shit Mei Ling. I would have given it all up for you, and you know it."

"I know." The words were bitter. "And I would have let you."

"Is that why you left?" his words were soft and coerced an answer.

Her mouth twisted, "Maybe."

"Why are you back?"

She looked to the side, away from his face, "Because I love you, and I was reminded that in love you have to make concessions."

"Aiko, honey," The man soothed, "Come on, you have me."

The beautiful blonde woman whirled around angrily, "He was supposed to be mine damnit!"

"But darling-"

She looked at him with annoyance overflowing. "Fuck off Kenji."

He scowled, "You were just using me weren't you?"
She rolled her eyes, "You only just figured out?"

He stormed out of the hotel room in annoyance. So this was why both Li and Muzashi had dumped her.

AD: This is the last chapter. There will be an epilogue and it will be up in a few days. With the amount of crap I've received about updates I'm not exactly in the best mood with this story now and no I don't mean the people who were nice about it. There were some who were just plain rude. Loose ends should all be tied up now. If you find one and feel the need to tell me about it then please say what it is don't just say you left all these gaps, say where they were or don't bother telling me.