Disclaimer: I don't Own CCS and this story is AU

Please don't mind me. This is my first time writing. Please write a review if the story is okay?

Chapter 23 The Date Part 1

Sakura looked at the time and just came out of the shower. She was drying her hair when she heard a knock at her door. She opens the door to see her best friend and her other friend she had not seen in years.

"Tomoyo. This is?" Sakura asked. She didn't want to say the wrong name and the person would feel terrible.

"Sakura! This is Kero, he came back from England for a short visit." Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Kero! How have you been." Sakura could not keep her excitement.

Kero chuckles at Sakura. "I came back for a short visit." He walks into her room reminiscing on how much Tomoyo, Sakura, and Kero had done in this room. He smiles to see a picture of them hang out by a lake huddle up. He picks up the photo and looks up at the girls. The girls were like family to him once he had lost his parents to a car accident. The Kinomotos were kind enough to let him stay here. Touya was always doubtful of his closeness to Sakura. But eventually warmed up to Kero years later. When Kero's maternal aunt came to take him back to his home once they found him. His mother was from a rich family in England. She had run away to marry his father. The family did not approve of his father who at the time was a poor man who just graduated from college. His parent's were madly in love and could not bear to leave each other. His mother made the ultimate choice and left her family to marry his father. Kero softly smiles and sets the photo down.

"Do you think I would believe you if you didn't know it was me?" Kero said nonchalantly.

Sakura smiles up at Kero and responds, "Haha, I thought I could trick you into believing me." Sakura chuckles.

Kero gives her a hug tightly. When Meiling pops in the room.

"Hello–eh? Who is this?" Meiling asked in shock. Her eyes widen and her heart panics. She thought to herself, 'wow, these guys pop up from right to left around Sakura' She worried if Syaoran could keep up.

Meiling observed him and saw he wasn't as handsome as Syaoran. He has red dyed hair, and blue eyes. He was tall and muscular. He was hugging Sakura when she came in and when they stopped hugging Meiling thought he looked rather cute. She shakes her head and smiles at them.

"Don't tell me this is your actual boyfriend?" Meiling exclaimed.

Kero and Sakura laughed. "Meiling, this is my childhood friend Kero. Kero, this is my new friend Meiling. She is visiting from China."

Meiling did not quite believe them. They were too close to each other. Kero had his eyes on Sakura as if he was adoring her. But what Meiling did not understand was these were the eyes of brotherly and sisterly love towards each other.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Meiling, But he has a girlfriend back in England." Tomoyo said.

"G-Girlfriend. Why didn't you say so!" Meiling exclaimed. She positions herself between them. She would not know what to do if he came back to chase Sakura. Syaoran seriously needed to up his game. Auntie Yelan would not like this progress.

Sakura laughs nervously and grabs Meilings hands. "Don't tell him that I'm pretending to be Syaoran's girlfriend."

"Why?" Meiling asked. She wonders if perhaps Sakura likes this guy. She worried that Syaoran would not get his chance.

She pulls Meiling to the hallway and says, "I'm sorry Meiling," She starts, Meiling stares intently at Sakura, "He is very protective of me and I'm worried Syaoran won't be able to protect himself."

Meiling could not help but start laughing. Tomoyo and Kero stare at Sakura and Meiling. Sakura starts to laugh nervously. It was enough for her that Touya was here to protect her, now Kero is back. The two of them would banter alot but when it came to Sakura they were very protective of her.

"Sakura, let's get you ready for your date with Syaoran." Meiling said excitedly and walked back into her room. Kero's ears perked up when heard Sakura was going on a date.

"Did I hear that you're going on a date?" Kero asked. He stared at Sakura very seriously. Sakura laughs and walks towards Kero and holds his arm.

"Kero, I'm not a baby anymore. I'm a grown woman now." Sakura replies to him.

Kero squints his eyes. He could not believe Touya could tolerate this. "Does your brother know about this?" He said seriously.

"He will know soon." Sakura whispered. She was hoping to tell him after the date was over.

"I think you should tell him soon, Sakur–." Kero started before he was pushed out of the room.

"Kero, you've been too chatty. We need to get Sakura ready for her date." Meiling said. She shuts the door close to end the conversation. She didn't need Sakura to be scared of her date with Syaoran.

Kero stares intently at the closed door. He wanted to open the door but was afraid that the girl would throw him out. He paused at the door and turned to go to the living room. He thought it would be best to wait for what the girls would do. He didn't have anything to do for now. He had just come to see Sakura and Tomoyo. His best friends before he had left. He promised them that he would come and visit.

He goes to the living room and sees Touya sipping on his coffee. Touya saw Kero coming into the room. "Oh, already kicked out?" Touya said.

Kero glares at Touya. He was going to tell Touya about Sakura. But Touya already started to kick up a storm. He smiles and grabs a glass and pours juice in the glass. "Oh, yes. I don't mind if girls are getting together." Kero said, as he started to munch on some breakfast food.

Touya stares harshly at Kero, "Do you mind? Save some for her." He said as he pulled the plate away from Kero. Kero looks at Touya and grabs the plate back.

Mr. Kinomoto laughs and says, "Touya, let Kero eat. There is plenty for everyone."

Touya snorts. "Eat? He ate our food for many years and he came back to eat more." Touya gets up and washes up. Kero glares at Touya's back. He will regret saying those words as soon as he hears Sakura is going on a date. He was very protective of Sakura, but he doesn't mind seeing Touya go crazy about this.

Touya felt someone was looking at him so he turned quickly but only saw his father and Kero eating happily. He looks away and smiles. He felt it was quite sudden that Kero came. He had heard that Kero was learning new skills at his home in England. He was head to head with another corporation in England. He just was not quite sure why he had made the trip to Japan so sudden. He felt that things are not as simple as it may seem.

Sakura sits on her bed as she sees Tomoyo and Meiling arguing over what she should wear. Sakura laughs nervously as they continue to argue. She heard a beep on her phone.

She read,

'Sakura, I was wondering if you had time for me tonight?' from Kei.

Sakura felt bad to reject someone, 'I'm sorry, I have plans for tonight'

'Oh, I was hoping you would be able to spare me some time,' Kei responded.

"Sakura! Who are you talking to?" Meiling suddenly asked her beside her. Sakura dropped her phone and smiled awkwardly.

"Haha. Just a friend from school." Sakura said, she smiled. Meiling squints her eyes and snatches Sakura's phone.

"Sakura, today is all about you. We can't have you, eh, distracted." Meiling said, thinking fast.

Sakura wanted to grab Meiling before she walked away from her with her phone.

"You don't mind me responding right? Sakura?" Meiling said as she turned around suddenly.

She gives Sakura a sweet smile and tilts her head a bit.

"Um. I guess it's okay." Sakura replied. She was unsure if that was a wise answer.

"Okay!" Meiling chirped. She turned around and started typing away. She had a glint in her eyes of mischief.

Sakura looked at her nervously and was about to say something. Tomoyo asks, "Sakura, which dress would you like to try on?" Tomoyo showed her some of her designs she had recently started on. Sakura looks wary at Meiling and turns to look at the designs.

Sakura was always shocked by Tomoyo's designs. They were always the best clothes she saw. "As much as I love your designs. I actually have a dress I wanted to wear." Sakura said. Tomoyo looks at Sakura in shock. Sakura always wore her designs.

"I-I been wanting to wear this on my first date since I was young." Sakura said to Tomoyo.

Tomoyo recalled Sakura mentioning to her that her mother made her dresses to wear on different occasions. One was her dress to wear for her first date and for her wedding.

Tomoyo smiles and grabs Sakura's hands. "I almost forgot that your mother made these dresses before passing."

Sakura smiles and replies, "don't worry Tomoyo, I can wear these dresses another time."

Tomoyo's eyes gleam with light. "Okay! You promised me." Tomoyo laughs in excitement.

Sakura smiles at her awkwardly and knows she probably put herself in a difficult position. She soon sees her future self in a pile of dresses with Tomoyo laughing with happiness.

She shakes her head from it and smiles at Tomoyo. She grabs Tomoyo and shows her the dress her mother had made. Tomoyo's hands shake with excitement. Although Sakura had told her about her mother making the dresses she had not seen them. Sakura had refused to show them to anyone. Meiling peeks from behind them and asks, "What is it that we are looking at?"

Tomoyo's daydreaming cracked when she heard Meiling. "Oh, I forgot you were here Meiling." Tomoyo said.

Meiling literally felt like dropping after hearing Tomoyo. "What do you mean you forgot me?" Meiling replied sharply.

"Oh?" Tomoyo said, embarrassed, "I was admiring the dress Sakura is going to be wearing." She smiles and looks at the dress in admiration.

Meiling looked at Tomoyo then back at the dress and then repeatedly kept doing that. "I don't understand. It's just a dress?" Meiling said confusedly. She looked back at the other dresses that Tomoyo had brought with her that look more modern fashion than Sakura's dress. It looked outdated but still the handiwork was beautifully done. But she still preferred Tomoyo's dresses.

Sakura smiles and tells Meiling, "My mother made this dress for me before she passed away when I was younger."

Meiling looks at Sakura and tells her, "It's a beautiful Sakura dress." She felt bad that she was not a big fan of the dress. But after she thought about it, Syaoran would like to see Sakura in this dress.

The dress has a sheer panel. A-line strap dress that boasts elegance. The dress was flowy that meets midway of her legs.

"Oh My gosh," Tomoyo starts feeling teary eyed. Meiling smiles and snaps a pic of Sakura. She knew Auntie Yelan would want to see this girl. She smiles at the fitting for Sakura.

Yelan was sitting in the boardroom of the company when she heard a phone ping. She glared at everyone in the room as they all looked around to see who's phone was ringing. When a voice speaks up, "Mother, that is your phone ringing." Fuutie said calmly.

Yelan clears her throat and looks at her phone. She saw a text message from her niece. She saw a picture of a young girl in a pink dress. She thought the girl looked so beautiful in the dress. She zoomed in closer to see the dress. The dress looked familiar to her. She just could not put her finger on where she had seen this dress.

"Mrs Li. Shall we continue?" Yelan's secretary asked. Yelan looks up and waves her hands for the meeting to continue. She tried to put it in the back of her mind but kept going back to the dress the girl was wearing. She closed her book and interrupted the meeting.

"Meeting will be adjourned for now." Yelan said firmly. She walked out with the girl walking behind her.

"Was there something wrong with my presentation?" whispered the presenter after Yelan left.

Feimei turns around and replies, "If you don't know, your presentation needs more work. Can't you see these are from our competitors from overseas. You need to work harder on your research." Feimei turns around and scurries after her mother. This was the first time she saw her mother stop the meeting.

Yelan stops abruptly and turns to look at her daughters. "You girls are dismissed."

The girls looked at each other in confusion. They nod their heads and walk away. Yelan takes a deep breath and walks to her office. She starts to pick up ice from a bin to put in a glass and stops. She immediately poured bourbon in the glass. Her hands shake with excitement and she quickly takes a large sip out of the drink.

She remembers that awful night when she was kidnapped. She had waited to be saved by her husband but he was almost too late. She had met her savior that night but it was very blurry. She had been kidnaped because a woman wanted to break up with her husband. She remembers seeing her savior in the hospital many years ago. The woman was drawing something in her sketchbook. Yelan at the time thought she looked very beautiful. Yelan smiled and closed her eyes from being so tired. The dress had a similar look to the drawing. She but it was a little blurry in her memory. If only her husband was still around, he had disappeared briefly after the kidnapping. She was devastated but before his disappearance he had snapped a photo of the lady who saved her life. She sat down at her desk and pulled out a wrinkled photo of the lady. She smiled at the photo and tucked it back in her desk.

She looked at the photo of her husband and took a deep breath. She grabs the frame and a tear falls from her face. "I know. It's been a long time since I thought about you." She hadn't cried in a while since his disappearance. She looked away and stared at the dress the girl was wearing in the photo. If she was somehow related to her savior she would gladly support them getting married. She smiles at the thought and thinks of a way how they could get closer.

The time was getting closer to the set time she made with Syaoran. She knew this date was not a real date. Yet, she could not help but feel the nervousness. Meiling and Tomoyo looked at each other and nodded their heads in agreement.

"Sakura, calm your nerves down." Tomoyo said, grabbing her hands. Sakura looks up at the girls and smiles nervously.

"I don't know why I feel so nervous?" Sakura answered. She felt Meiling also grab her hands.

"If you're still not sure about this date. If you want to pull out just let me know." Meiling said sadly. But secretly Meiling's voice in her head was screaming 'Don't back out!' She continued to look pitiful and sad. 'Remember this moment, Syaoran. This is for you'

Sakura looks at Meiling and feels extreme guilt, even the thought of backing out. But she was not one to give up too easily. Sakura sighs, "Meiling, I made a promise to you. I wouldn't even think of backing out."

Meiling looks up with happiness and then snaps back to her pitiful look. "Okay." She gets up and makes a call. "She is ready. Where are you?" Meiling demanded on the phone.

Sakura was taken aback by Meiling's pitiful look of seriousness. If she thought about it, she would assume Meiling was pretending to be pitiful. She shakes her head, 'No, she wouldn't do that.'

"Sakura, here I brought this for you to wear." Tomoyo said. Sakura looks at what was in her hand. It was a beautiful watch. Sakura didn't know if she should take the watch. It is so mesmerizing and yet did not look too flashy.

"I can't take this, Tomoyo." Sakura said abruptly. Tomoyo shakes her head.

"Sakura, wear this watch and do not take it off under any circumstances." Tomoyo said with sternness. Sakura looked at Tomoyo and could see that she was not joking. She smiles at her and takes the watch.

Meiling turns around and breaks their conversation. "Syaoran should be here shortly."

Sakura nods her head and hugs Tomoyo for the watch. Tomoyo hugs her back and smiles. They heard a doorbell ring. Sakura looks at the girls and thanks them for helping her. Tomoyo felt her tears welling up in her eyes.

Sakura looks at Tomoyo and says, "Why are you crying?"

"Y-you just looks so b-beautiul." Tomoyo managed to reply.

Sakura laughs and wipes the tears from Tomoyo's eyes. "You always say that, Tomoyo." Sakura turns and waves the girls goodbye. Sakura was walking down her stairwell and could see how serious Syaoran had looked.

He was in a serious, engaging conversation with Touya and her friend Kero. While her father looked away and saw her coming down. He smiled at her and nudged Touya. Touya looked at Sakura and saw her wearing a beautiful dress. He never saw her wear the dress before until now. He knew this man would be a goner if he saw her. As much as he wanted to ask Sakura to change to another dress. He knew he could not as his mother made this dress for her.

Kero and Syaoran saw that Touya stopped bombarding him with restrictions that he had on the date. Kero was first to turn and he felt happy for his friend to be going on her first date. He could not help but think of the girl he had left in England waiting for his return. He saw that Syaoran did not even look back yet.

"Sakura, you look very beautiful tonight." Kero said. Syaoran turned and felt his heart leapt out of his chest. He felt like it hurt and something burned in him. He glares at Kero and walks slowly to her. She looks very beautiful and for the first time he was speechless. Sakura looked at Syaoran and was about to pull her hair behind her ear. But she felt someone pull back a wisp of her hair behind her ear. She looked up at Syaoran and saw he was smiling at her.

"You. You look beautiful." Syaoran said that sounded like a whisper. Sakura blushed and Syaoran pulled her close to him. Touya's eyes look like they could burst out from the way Syaoran was holding Sakura.

"Mr. Kinomoto, I will try to bring her home on time." Syaoran said, without looking away from Sakura.

Meiling in the hallway was watching the whole scene unfold. She could not help but chuckle at how Syaoran was reacting to Sakura. She knew Syaoran felt something for this girl. She was determined to get him to fall for Sakura. She didn't care about this other girl that Syaoran was talking to.

Sakura waves at her family and walks out the door. The door closes when Touya continues to glare at the door. He kept looking at the door until his father touched his arm.

"I know you want to make sure she is safe." Mr. Kinomoto started, "As much as I want her to stay as my little girl, she has grown up."

Touya looks at his father sadly. He knew his father was right.

"She can take care of herself. We need to trust that she knows what she is doing too." He finished. He walked away from Touya to go back to his study room. Touya looked at the door and knew he would mess up if he followed them. He trusted Sakura, it was this boy he didn't trust. He just grunted and huffed back to his room.

Kero stood there thinking and looked up to see Meiling and Tomoyo smiling at him. Tomoyo smiles and says "Shall we grab something to eat then"

They all grabbed their coats and said their goodbyes to the Kinomoto residence.

Syaoran led Sakura to the passenger's door and opened it for her. Sakura smiled and Syaoran whispered in her ear.

"There is a car not that far from us that is watching us. What I need you to do is give me a kiss on my cheek." He whispered.

Sakura's eyes widen and she nods. She slowly gets closer to him to give a kiss on his cheek when suddenly Syaoran turns his face to a kiss on her lips. Her eyes widened as she tried to pull away but Syaoran only pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. He lets her go and smiles at her.

Sakura was still shocked about the kiss. She really wanted to slap him but just glares at him and gets in the car.

The angle of the other car could not see that Sakura glared at him. But the girl in the car could see how deep the kiss was. She was sipping on a glass of liquor she had from her mini bar. She glares at them and throws glasses in the back in anger. She wanted to walk out of the car, but if she did they would know she was following them. She could hardly contain her anger.