Chapter 1: The Ride Back Home

It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon local time when the plane carrying Syaoran and Wei arrived in Hong Kong. It had taken them another thirty minutes to collect their luggage and pass the airport security checks. His mother had arranged for a private car to pick them up and take them to the Li mansion, a ride that would take an hour or two, depending on the traffic. Syaoran knew this, so it was there in the passenger seat that he sat quietly, gazing outside as the view of the cityscape passed by but not really seeing it. He would use whatever time he had left before reaching the mansion to contemplate how he was going to explain everything to his mother. The thought had been momentarily replaced by the joy he felt when Sakura came to see him off, but now that he arrived in Hong Kong, it was time to deal with it again.

Her phone call yesterday had been short and precise; he was to return to Hong Kong the next day. Bookings for his departure and formalities with his school in Tomoeda were of course, already arranged. Now that the Clow Cards were fully under the possession of Sakura Kinomoto and forever out of the Li clan's reach, there was no reason for him to stay there as far as the Elders were concerned. Moving him to Tomoeda was a costly move in the first place, one the Elders had hoped would bear fruit. That he would have to report his failure to his mother and the Elders went unsaid, but he knew it would come soon enough when he came back. Syaoran had heard every word of it and accepted grudgingly. It was his only option. He had mentally kicked himself afterward for not being prepared that the call would be coming sooner or later, and these thoughts were now resurfacing as he sat in the back of the car.

'You idiot' he thought to himself. 'What did you think they were going to do? Let you stay there forever? It's a wonder you were even allowed to stay after the Final Judgement. You've been so caught up in your feelings that you forgot the world around you. You should've known better, at least you could've prepared for it.' With a deep breath, Syaoran pushed these thoughts aside. There's no use for self-pity now. He would need to think as clearly as possible to face his current problem. Besides, even if he had been more aware he doubted he would be any less confused than he is now.

His mother would be the one to question him first. She had been acting as his 'handler' during his mission to capture the Clow Cards, asking him for updates on his progress before relaying them to the Li Elders. He would have to report to her before anyone else and expected to be harshly reprimanded for his performance. Next would come the Elders, who had invested everything in him to retrieve the cards for the Li clan. Despite boasting their family heritage to Clow Reed, the Li Clan knew little about the man, and when word arrived that a powerful artifact of his had been found, they were all too eager to send Syaoran to catch them. He had been proud then, that they would trust his powers enough to send him on such an important mission. The possibility that he would fail had been the furthest thing from his mind. Now, he would have to face them both about it.

Except he hadn't really failed, had he? Not if the whole thing had been set up against him. Clow had placed everything in favor of Sakura being the heir to the Cards and had made sure she had help throughout. Syaoran had entered the mission with a disadvantage set up long before his birth. His brow furrowed as he contemplated this sudden thought. He could go with that excuse, but-

'But that wouldn't be true.' He thought. 'Time and time again we found ourselves in difficult situations, but Sakura always found a way. To say that the whole thing was rigged isn't fair to her. With or without Clow's assistance, everything that happened wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for her unwavering strength and determination. Even if I used that excuse, I assisted her in capturing some of the Cards. I'd be as much to blame as Clow Reed for helping her in that case.'

This brought Syaoran to a much more comfortable train of thought, and he found himself smiling for the first time since they got back. There was another reason he couldn't say he had failed, because he had found something much more precious to him than the Cards or even his clan's approval; Sakura Kinomoto. As her rival for the Cards, she had no reason to befriend him, especially after the way he treated her when they first met. Even so, she attempted to befriend him though he initially pushed her away, and he is grateful she did. Her warm and caring personality had slowly but surely started affecting him in ways he couldn't have imagined. He had slowly dropped his guard to her and became more open and friendly with others. Before he knew it, he was slowly becoming less invested in getting ahead of her and more concerned with her well-being. Catching the Cards became less and less important compared to her that by the time she finally became their true master, whatever disappointment he did feel was greatly overshadowed by the happiness he felt for her. Being happy for someone else was something Syaoran had never felt before, and after much confusion and help, he finally found that he was also happy to be with her, to be close to her and be someone that she trusts. And when he finally confessed his feelings to her, she had finally accepted them. She had come to the airport at the last second to see him off. She had accepted the bear he made for her. She had-

'FOCUS!' stressed the voice in his head, which reflexively shook, as if to throw the thought out of his mind. He closes his eyes to will himself to focus. 'This is not the time to be gushing over her, no matter how good it feels. You have more pressing matters to attend to. What are you going to say to your mother and the Elders? That you failed to capture the Clow Cards because you fell in love with the person you were competing for them over? You know how that stupid that sounds? What makes you think they will stand for this?' No, they wouldn't. But at the same time, this was as close to the truth as it gets. And while he would definitely receive a lot of heat for this, so would any other excuse he came up with. The fact of the matter is, they are going to be disappointed no matter what he did. He pushes his eyelids shut more intensely and tries to think. Maybe there's a way to phrase it as to lessen the consequences that was coming. 'Alright, think. I still have some time le'-

"Master Xiaolang" said a voice next to him. "We're here."

Syaoran turned to Wei, who was sitting beside him with an expression of amusement on his face. Through his shock he barely registered that Wei had started calling him by his Chinese name before letting out a single word, "WHAT?!"

Syaoran looked out the window. Sure enough, the car had entered the gate of the Li compound and was making way to the familiar driveway of the mansion. He stared as the shape of the familiar white building slowly became larger as they neared it, wondering how, even if he had been so caught up in his own thoughts, that he didn't see it. Finally, the car made a stop in the front porch of the mansion. As Wei made to open the car door, he smiles at Syaoran .

"Welcome home, young Master", he says cheerfully.

Syaoran sighs dejectedly and makes to exit the car too. Welcome home, indeed.