WARNING: This chapter is from Syaoran's perspective, so expect some pervy thoughts and...there's a little bumping and grinding towards the end(thanks to the Disney fireworks show and so many people being there!). That was the only thing that almost made the show annoying to me the first time I went lol.

Enjoy the chapter!


"Change of Plans Part 2"


Pure.

She looked so…untainted and clean and…too good to be true. It was as though purity radiated off her, and that is what Syaoran concluded that he felt drawn to. It sounded terrible to even think that his desire to taint her was this strong, but he could not help it. Nothing this innocent, aside from his kid, had ever existed in his life.

After some thought and considerations, that was the only logical reason he could come up with. He convinced himself that it was certainly not her personality, or her voice. She was always overly energetic and cheerful, something he had never been.

She made life seem like the happiest thing in the world, when really, it never had been to him. Life had always been about duties, no matter the obstacle. He had always saw life as black or white; right or wrong. And he always chose right, which meant happiness never seemed plausible most times with the "right" decisions he had to make.

Yet, here this person was, living life like happiness was the only option. It was something that irked him, yet drew him to her like a moth to a flame. She was playing this role of innocence quite well that he was starting to believe her.

His eyes drifted to her and Xing playing in the water, splashing the other while laughing. Syaoran could not seem to take his eyes off her body the moment he mentioned the beach to the two, especially when she removed the T-shirt that had been teasing him with the little skin shown. It was like his eyes had a mind of their own nowadays because they somehow landed on her wet skin because of Xing's splashing now.

Water on skin had never looked so delicious to him, until now. It was kind of scaring the hell out of him because of who it was. He was scaring himself. It seemed like he was more accepting of the dirty thoughts he had of the girl.

Seeing the way her breasts bounced slightly when she would make a jerky movement, the water trickling down her soft, creamy skin, her rear end looking so...

Syaoran closed his eyes, looking away from the sight. There was no way that he could care about morals today...and anything else that mattered. He is still a man. He decided that he would let the thoughts get a little far today since she was tempting him with her innocent, alluring movements. He reasoned that he deserved some slack to be cut for him, for once in his life, with this. It was not like anyone would find out about his thoughts.

He wondered if she was aware of the affect she had on him. He sighed, forcing his eyes shut tightly to block out the view of the beautiful girl. Almost instantly, they fluttered open again after coming to some crazy conclusion.

Only for today, looking at her like a man looked at a woman would be okay.

Only today...

Then, he was reminded; yesterday too. And the day before that. And the one before that. In fact, since he met her. His mind drifted back to the night before. He had been so drunk, but he knew what he was doing. It was just so easy to not give a damn about her age. Whenever drunk and his body constantly reminding him what he really wanted, it was easy to let her age slip past his mind.

He knew he had been stupid, but his intentions were not to get drunk last night. After the long, stressful day at work, he just wanted a drink for a slight buzz. But one drink turned into two, then two to three until he realized he wanted to drink himself into oblivion.

It was stupid, irresponsible, but when he had gotten to thinking about Xing and then the girl and his attraction to her, he was already half way gone. And then she showed up in the tank top that showed too much skin, yet so little to him, with those shorts. The same ones that displayed her long, slender legs that he had been imagining wrapped around him lately.

He shuttered, thinking—almost feeling the way they would wrap around him, urging him to bury himself deeper in her. He mentally groaned, ridding himself of the thoughts. He concluded, once again, that yesterday and today would be the only days that he could think about her in a way that he should not have. He was drunk yesterday, and now she was practically naked, so it was all excusable.

As long as no one finds out about the thoughts...

He cringed, realizing how terrible and wrong that sounded. So wrong. It was the truth though.

He pushed his sunglasses down over his eyes to block some of his view of her naked, wet skin before he lay back on the blanket. It was not as hot as he expected it to be. He had almost forgotten how the weather was here. One minute, it was scorching hot, and then the next, extremely cloudy, and windy, while the next pouring down raining. Right now, it was cloudy and windy, but he would not be surprised if the sun came out right now.

"Daddy!" Syaoran heard Xing calling.

Sighing, he sat up on the blanket, turning in the direction of the voice, but his eyes were met with slim legs running towards him with Xing. He wanted to look away before his body started reacting. There was no possible way to hide a sporting erection out here. Looking at Xing instead, he was in the safe zone. "Yes?" he asked when Xing came in front of him, dropping to his knees.

"Can you come and play in the water with us now?" Xing asked, pleadingly.

He really did not feel like getting wet, but…

Glancing in Sakura's direction briefly, Syaoran nodded.

"Yes!" Xing said excitedly.

That reaction creating a warm feeling in his chest, glad that he did something right by his son. It was not hard to please the little boy, but Syaoran already knew what Xing wanted from him. It was just so hard to give it to him. Instead, Syaoran would replace the one thing he wanted with toys, gifts, or anything else that he wanted physically. It seemed to work out fine most of the time, but he was beginning to think that it would stop sooner or later. As long as it was okay for now, then everything was fine. He knew it was bad, but he found that there was nothing else he could do about it.

Thinking about how callously he treated the little boy last night, he felt the guilt gnaw at him. He knew he should have handled things differently, but everything was coming down on him. He started feeling like he was trapped between choosing work or his son. He had never thought of it like that before, but he realized that he would have to make that decision.

Everything was not making sense for once in his life.

Syaoran felt something grab at his hand, attempting to help him stand. When he noticed it was Xing, he stood and then reached behind himself to pull his shirt off. He threw it on the towel and turned around, ready to head to the water, but froze when noticing the girl ogling at his naked flesh.

She was so obvious with her staring that it was ridiculous, he pondered. Her ogling did create the urge to flex his muscles, but he decided against it. Maybe his morning workouts did come into use for appearance for once.

When his eyes locked with hers, she looked away. He did not understand why she bothered to look away when being caught because it was already too late. He thought it to be adorable. Especially when that blush would taint her cheeks. He was aware that the blush may have served from her innocence, but it made her look enticing to him.

His eyes began to suck in her appearance again on their own. The first place they landed on was the swell of her breast that still had droplets of water on them.

Damn it...

Her breasts were not as small as he thought they were, but it was still up for debate that it was not nearly enough to satisfy his hunger. Slowly, his eyes traveled down to her toned stomach after sucking in the curves. He stopped them from looking any further down.

He could already feel a stirring in his loins, which was never a good thing. Sporting an erection and Xing asking him about it? Never. He could not afford explaining to Xing what that is.

Shuddering, he mentally shook his head, hoping to get rid of the disturbing conversation that was playing out in his head. When feeling a pull on his arm by a little hand, he was brought back to reality. "Come on, Daddy. We have to go, or it will start to...rain? And you said that you can't play in the water if there's rain, right?" Xing asked.

Syaoran heard Sakura giggle, but kept his eyes locked on Xing so he could not cause any inappropriate thoughts to play in his head. "Right, come on." He grabbed Xing's hand, pulling him towards the water.

From there, they played in the water, made terrible sand castles, thanks to Syaoran not used to activities like this, and even resorted to playing Frisbee. Sakura was now burying Xing under the sand, at his request, so Syaoran just sat back and watched.

"And when I'm all the way covered, I have to burst out like a monster and scare you guys!" Xing concluded.

Sakura giggled while patting the sand on his chest. "You have to be still," she chided softly.

"Okay, okay! I'm trying," he said a bit more excited than usual. The more he talked, the more the sand cracked against his body.

"You're trying," she said in a tone that said she believed otherwise.

Xing giggled and closed his eyes, going completely still for her to continue, which nearly shocked Syaoran. He had never seen his son this relaxed around a person before. He had never let his guard down. Syaoran had warned him to be cautious of strangers, which he was before, until she recently showed up in their lives.

Syaoran's thoughts were interrupted when he heard Xing burst out laughing, cracking the rest of the sand on his body as Sakura tickled his nose with a leaf.

Unconsciously, his lip turned slightly as he sat on the ground beside the two, silently watching their interactions together. Despite his criticisms of the girl, he knew that she was good with Xing. He had never seen anyone else get along with him the way she does. Even his mother.

Everything about Xing was at ease, which was a rare sight to see. He could not tell if that was a good or bad thing. The rational side of him was saying bad, but the irrational was saying good. He never went with the latter though. He refused to see Xing hurt again, despite him being the cause of it sometimes.

It was something different about someone else hurting Xing. It always unleashed the beast in him. Even when Xing's mother would attempt to physically discipline him in front of Syaoran, it never ended well. Syaoran had forbid her from doing so, which resulted in a nasty fight between the two.

He shuddered involuntarily at the memory of all the harsh insults and yelling that resulted from her actions.

"You're thinking hard again," a soft voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Yeah," he replied shortly.

"Do I have the same thinking face as Daddy's?" Xing asked, furrowing his brows together while creating wrinkles on his forehead. He squinted his eyes small and scrunched his nose with slightly pursed lips.

Syaoran realized he was attempting to mimic his own face, which was far off, he assumed.

Sakura giggled, making the two boys look at her. "Most definitely. You two almost look identical," she said, and then surprised Syaoran when she sent a playful wink in his direction. He could feel his cheeks heat, but mentally slapped himself for acting that way. He never blushed over silly gestures like this. "I do not," he said defensively.

"You do, you do! It's a very silly face," Xing said before he burst out laughing with Sakura.

Syaoran scowled, feeling a little annoyed with the two from the teasing, but amused all at once. And then he realized something.

He was having fun.

He tried to think of a time where he had fun, but all he could think about was partnerships with other businesses, meetings with old people, banquets, contracts, stocks, and…he realized that none of that was fun. Today was the first time that he had ever really had any fun in his entire life.

He could count on one hand how many times he had come to the beach. He never knew that "jumping" waves, building sand castles, playing Frisbee, and burying people in the sand could be fun out of all the 23 years of his life.

He was beginning to think that people may be right about him being too uptight. He could not find it in him to care though.

"Daddy?" Xing called.

Syaoran looked at him with a raised brow.

"Do you want to help me bury Sakura?"

She gasped, clearly feigning shock. "When did we decide that I want to get buried?" she asked in a playful tone.

She was so...youthful. There was so much life in her that Syaoran almost felt a tad bit envious of it.

"When..." Xing looked at her sheepishly with a blush on his face. "Can we bury you?"

She giggled and started to dig the heel of her bare feet into the sand, creating her a spot to lay in. "Only if you guys promise not to smother me," she negotiated.

Syaoran knew this would not be a good idea. Especially him participating in it. He knew it the moment his eyes began to look at her naked skin, imagining the mess that would be made on her creamy skin, almost making him think of—

Danger Zone, Syaoran! Look away, now!

Syaoran did as his conscious instructed, not wanting to face the consequences of his stupidity.

Once she settled into a small hole in the ground, she nodded for them to begin, which Xing gladly did. Syaoran, on the other hand, was trapped, contemplating whether he should do this or not. It was out of character to do stuff like this, so why would he start now?

"Come on, daddy. I can't bury her by myself or it will take all day," Xing said dramatically as he patted the sand on her stomach that Syaoran's eyes could not seem to leave. He was trying not to look in other places, so her stomach was the safest place to look, but even that alone was having an effect on him...

"Daddyy," Xing whined.

Syaoran sighed, giving in when he heard Sakura giggle. He picked up a large amount of sand and then slowly dropped it on to her skin, almost entranced at the way some of it slid off her smooth stomach.

"Sakura can be the monster now," Xing said.

She froze under the sand, eyes shooting open at that statement. The mirth was gone, replaced with a melancholy gleam in them.

"Right, Sakura? You can be the monster now," Xing repeated after she never responded.

Sensing her discomfort, Syaoran cleared his throat, grabbing Xing's attention. "What would you like to do after this?"

Xing hummed, looking deep in thought about the question. Syaoran took the opportunity to let his eyes drift over to her face again to search for the problem. She still lay stiff under the sand, but her eyes began to sparkle a little, her button nose turning red. That look only meant one thing. She was going to cry.

For some reason, his heart felt compressed with fear and distress at the sight. He looked around, hoping to find something—anything—to stop what she was feeling right now. It was always like this with her. He always felt obligated to comfort her.

Without thinking, Syaoran poked her in the side, receiving a flinch and giggle from her. He had no clue where the instinct came from, but felt relieved that it had worked. The tears vanished in her eyes, replaced with mirth again as she stared at him, looking a little shocked by the act. He could not explain it to himself, so how would he explain it to her?

"Aww, you ruined our work," Xing whined.

Syaoran looked at her toned stomach to see that more of the sand had slid down to the side.

"I'm sorry. I will be still, but you guys have to hurry up," she said, closing her eyes.

They continued to bury her under the sand, but her facial muscles still looked a bit constricted, while forced into a fake smile that Syaoran noticed. He could not tell if that look sickened him or relieved him that she was no longer about to cry.

He decided that it did not matter and just continued to bury her. He was sure to avoid burying certain areas on her upper body, afraid that his dirty mind would muster up something to cause his body to react. He wished he could control that area of his body more around her.


As soon as they arrived back to the condo, they had parted ways to clean up for dinner. Syaoran could not help but feel the tension leave his body as he realized that Sakura's mood had brightened as time passed. She was back to her normal, cheerful self. He still vowed to find out what had caused such discomfort later though. He knew it was stupid to care at all; to try and get involved, but it was starting to get hard trying not to care.

"Daddy, you're thinking very very hard again," Xing said.

Syaoran gave him a slight smile and ruffled his hair, receiving the infamous Xing pout, as usual. "Nothing you should worry about. What do you want for dinner?" he asked the little boy.

"Umm..." Xing hummed, deep in thought, giving Syaoran time to recollect his thoughts and feelings. He hated how weird and out of control of his emotions he had been acting lately.

"Can I have ice cream for dinner?"

"I think you already know the answer to that."

Syaoran looked up at that voice, already so familiar with it. He found it hard to tell if that bothered him or not. The stir it caused in him did though.

"No," Syaoran said, giving Xing a pointed look.

He pouted and murmured something under his breath that Syaoran could not catch.

"What was that?" Syaoran questioned, wondering if the boy had gotten too comfortable with him these days.

As if Xing sensed punishment rising, he stiffened and said, "I just said yes sir," he said tightly.

Syaoran nodded. "Now, again, what do you want to eat?"

"Shrimp!" Xing chorused.

Syaoran sighed, deciding that he would have to be the one to choose the food.


Three hours later, Syaoran laid a sleeping Xing into the bed, gently prying his grip from his shirt. It was no surprise that the boy had fallen asleep the moment Syaoran strapped him in the back seat after they finished eating dinner.

Though he had expressed his excitement to get home to stay up all night, Syaoran already knew all along that he had been exhausted. Throughout dinner, he had been yawning the entire time because he was "bored". It was only a matter of time before he collapsed.

Syaoran closed the door behind him quietly after making sure that Xing was sound asleep. He would be lying to himself if he had said that he was not exhausted from the day's events too, but sleep did not seem like much of an option for him. He started to walk to his room until he heard the television faintly in the living room playing, which only meant one thing. Sleep still had not been an option for her either.

Before he could stop himself, Syaoran was already walking in the direction of the sound of the television, in the living room. She had not even looked in his direction when he walked in, as she looked deep in thought. Syaoran sat beside her, letting his eyes focus on the screen to see what was so entrancing about it. He realized she was not watching it because it was only a commercial.

He turned to her, a bit stunned that she had not even flinched or glanced in his direction once. Confused by the emotions coursing through his body at that, he cleared his throat to steal her attention. It did not work.

He tried again, only to receive no response. He would be lying if he said that it did not tick him off a bit, but he would cut her a little slack today. She looked emotionally drained. "Kinomoto," he called.

Her head turned towards him, cheeks instantly flushing. "Li-san," she said shyly. "I didn't even know you had come in here."

His eyes landed on her lips instantly, causing another stir in his loins.

Great, the pervert just had to come alive.

There was no way that she did not know what those flustered looks did to his body; what those plump lips caused him to desire so much...the slender curve of her shoulders and neck, did to him...

He knew something was off by the mere thoughts of feeling like he could almost taste her by just the sight of her skin. Sweet—

"Today was great," she said, interrupting his thoughts before they could get too far.

"Y-yeah."

"Xing enjoyed himself, which was relieving," she said as a smile formed on her lips, awakening his arousal again.

Maybe it was the lips. His eyes could not stop landing there, so maybe he needed to do something about them.

But what?

"Yeah," he said, understanding what she meant, but barely focusing on the conversation. He wanted to know what he needed to do to stop those lips from tempting him.

Tempting to what?

"Tomorrow, he's going to lose his wits," she said, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Kiss her. Of course that's what it was. He wanted to kiss her, touch her...fuck her. A man always knows what he wants, so there was no point pretending he did not know anymore. For a moment, he almost forgot what was stopping him.

Her age...

Her age was ruining this all for him. She was 17—17, for crying out loud. But he could not help it. A man can never help what he wants, so why would there be any exceptions for him?

"Li-san?"

His eyes broke away from her lips, locking with an emerald pair. "I asked you a question."

"Okay," he said simply.

"Are you not going to answer?" she asked with a nervous laugh.

"Eight in the morning," he said.

"Eight?"

He nodded, eyes drifting back down to her lips. She yawned, covering her mouth politely. He swallowed. "Yes"

She smiled and lay back on the couch. "That's very early."

"The earlier we're out, the earlier we'll get back in because he's tired."

She nodded. "That makes sense."

"I'm hoping it goes that way," he said.

She yawned again, sitting up on the couch, turning to him. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"What's...there's something bothering you. What is it?" he asked, almost hesitantly.

She shook her head, but quickly spoke, "It's nothing..." she said, leaving an awkward trail behind those words.

He gave her a look that said, 'I don't believe you.'

"You've been off all day," he said. "Since the beach."

"I was reminded of something I didn't want to think about," she said softly.

"What?"

"It's nothing..."

"Kinomoto."

She sighed, taking the hint of his pushy tone. "My brother called me 'kaijuu' all the time. I was a little caught off guard when Xing mentioned something along the lines today..." She looked down at her lap with a blank expression. "And now, it's after dark. Everything gets harder at night because you..." Her fingers gripped the ends of her T-shirt. "You have time to think, because there's no distractions, and it's...it's hard at night sometimes when you aren't exhausted. It still doesn't even feel like..." She stopped, bangs covering her face from him.

Syaoran's eyes softened, heart tightening at the fact that he could not do anything to prevent this feeling for her. If he had known that what Xing had said bothered her, he would have instructed the boy to stop mentioning the word.

"He's not dead—no, he can't be, I mean. It always feels like he's at work all day, working hard to keep food on the table, a roof over my head. And, at any minute, he would walk through the door and taunt me about how much I'm eating or how loud I am." She released a breathless choke. "But…the more I talk about him, the more it feels true. That makes me pathetic, doesn't it? I know he would want me to be my cheerful self and I want to, but sometimes...I'm being pathetic, huh?"

"No," Syaoran interjected immediately. "You're not," he added sincerely.

She lifted her head, sparkling emerald eyes locking with his as she smiled sadly. "Thank you, Li-san. I guess…sometimes, that's all I need to hear."

"I..." he started, unsure of what to tell her. He wanted to let her know that he enjoyed doing something other than work today for the first time, but decided against it. He wanted to say something to make her feel better.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Oh..." she said, disappointment evident in her tone.

A comfortable silence followed after that, giving him time to recollect his earlier thoughts about her. Maybe he was tired when he thought about kissing her...and touching her. He knew this was not the time to be thinking such things when she was down, but he could not help himself.

His manhood sprung to life, proving him wrong at that thought. He looked down at her bare thighs, feeling his lids grow heavy. They looked so smooth and soft. He could not help but wonder how they would feel against his tongue while he licked them teasingly. What noises would come from her succulent lips?

His eyes landed on them again, regret washing over him. Why did he not just take them between his own last night when he had the opportunity? She was so willing; submissively succumbing to his desires. If he were mistaken—which he was not—he would say that she wanted him to, just as much as he did.

He pondered if she felt this pull that seemed to be between them, or was it all in his head? Was it just him feeling drawn to the light, while he the dark? But why? What was it? They were polar opposites of each other. She was energetic, easygoing, while he was dull, stiff, and calm.

He was sure all those things made her existence annoying to him, so why did he feel so drawn to her?

She cleared her throat, stopping the battle in his head. "I should probably go to get some sleep," she said.

His eyes drifted up to hers, away from her lips, knowing he could not do this tonight. There was no alcohol this time, giving him a reasonable excuse to do something wrong. There was nothing to give him reason to pretend that he did not know what happened the next day.

He paused, realizing how wrong he sounded in his head right now. He was making himself sound like the worst kind of person. He was already aware that pretending that he had not remembered last night's events was bad, but to try and plan to do it again?

He shuddered, receiving unpleasant chills at the thought of sounding like a weirdo. "Okay," he said.

She stood from the couch, getting ready to walk away.

Before Syaoran could reason or stop himself, impulsively, he grabbed her wrist. "On second thought, let's watch movies," he said quietly. "It's night, so…a movie could do some good."

She stared at him astonished before a smile formed on her lips as she nodded.

Syaoran picked up the remote control and waved it in the air, motioning that they could watch something together.

She sat back down on the couch beside him, but a little closer this time. It was hard to decide if that made him uneasy, or thrilled. He was beginning to lean more towards the latter though.

"You're very kind, Li-san," she said softly.

Syaoran grimaced at the compliment, turning his attention to the television. He flipped through the channels, hoping that a movie was on the television to avoid having that conversation with her.

"When I first met you, I didn't think that you were capable of showing any vulnerabilities. But seeing you with Xing makes me feel so ashamed of my poor judgement…"

When she trailed off, he looked in her direction to see her face flushed, thanks to the screen of the television. "It's really nice to see that you're willing to let yourself open up to your kid like that and—w-what is it? Am I rambling again?"

Syaoran could feel a small smile trying to tug at his lips at her adorable habit. He shook his head, curious to hear more of what she had been thinking about him.

"You scare me sometimes..."

He looked at her, confused. "Why is that?"

"You're always glaring at me...and you're mean sometimes. You're intimidating, so I feel threatened by you half the time," she said quietly.

He stared in her eyes, seeing the honesty and fear in them as she opened up to him. "There's nothing to fear. I can assure you that you will be taken care of. Anything that you need, just ask me."

She shook her head slowly. "It's nothing like that…besides, it's not like I need anything. I've already taken enough."

"You haven't," he insisted suddenly.

She remained silent, staring at the program. He wanted to force more out of her, but knew better than to. She had just voiced her fears, so he could not afford to cause them to rise. "There's nothing to be afraid of," he said again, almost reassuringly.

It was always nice to know that he had this powerful hold on people. It still was, but he did not want her to feel threatened by him. His intentions had never been to harm her.

"Okay, Li-san," her soft-spoken voice said after a few moments passed.

He kept his eyes on the television after that, deep in thought as a comfortable silence enveloped them. The only thing that could be heard was the boring movie that was playing. Neither of them paid attention to it though.

From his peripheral, he could see her lifting her legs on the couch, curling up into the corner. He had the sudden urge to pull her to him so he could wrap his arms around her tightly, while whispering that she had nothing to worry about anymore.

His stomach churned at the thought, feeling his entire body become rigid as his wall of defense built back up.

"Xing doesn't know that you're going to be a lot busier in the upcoming weeks, does he?" she asked.

Still trying to shake off the earlier feeling, he shook his head slowly. "He wouldn't understand."

"Explain to him...he thinks that you hate him sometimes," she said sadly.

"I know," was the only thing he could say.

"You do?"

He huffed. "He has no filter. He's mentioned it a time or two."

She gasped as her eyes widened. "I'm sorry, Li-san. I just said something like that carelessly," she apologized.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "It doesn't matter. He probably won't remember anything before the age of five when he gets older."

"Still…it will be engraved in your memory for the rest of your life..." she said sadly.

He sighed and turned to her, annoyed, but worried all the same at her concern for him. "Stop," he said in a warning tone. "I don't need you or anyone to pity me for my own decisions."

Her brows furrowed, as she shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to make you think that I pity you."

"I decided to have him, so I'm only paying for the consequences."

"Did you not want to have him?" she asked, a bit of worry in her tone.

"I do now," he settled with. He may not have wanted to have a kid at such a young age, but he had no choice but to. It was another duty that he had chosen to fulfill willingly.

"But before?"

He turned away from her, letting his attention lie elsewhere. He could not understand why he wanted to impress her. It was not like her opinion mattered about him. "I was 18 at the time when we..." he sighed. "When I decided to have him."

"That's so young. Didn't you go to college?"

"Of course. I wouldn't be in the position I am in now if I didn't."

"Well, I heard that—" She stopped, mid-sentence. "I guess you're right…you didn't have many friends, did you?" she asked almost sadly.

"Why does that matter?"

"I-I don't know. It's always nice to have friends…" She looked down at her hands with a small smile on her face. "I have Tomoyo, Rika, Naoko, and Chiharu."

"And where are they now? You haven't heard from them since all of this?" he asked, his voice rising a bit. From what he had heard about friends, they were supposed to be there for each other. He never bothered with the likes of friends because of things like this. He never needed anyone to be there for him. And quite frankly, he did not like to be let down, so he decided to sit out on that throughout his life.

She frowned, shaking her head. "It's not like that. They don't know about all of this because I don't want anyone to worry about me. I sent them a few postcards this summer, but…I haven't really had the opportunity to speak with them since everything that has happened because I have no way to contact them. Tomoyo's out of town, but they can't ever find out about the apartment incident and me losing my job. I don't want that. And honestly…I haven't contacted Tomoyo in almost a week, so I wouldn't be surprised if she already has a search team out for me right now..." She sighed with a sad smile. "It's not their faults though. I'll see them when school starts."

At the mention of school, his stomach churned in disgust. "Right," he said under his breath, feeling like she was just making excuses for having lousy friends.

"Do you have friends?"

He looked at her skeptically at the odd question.

"I mean, I'm sure you do, because you've had to have come across a lot of people in your life who you connect with, but—" She stopped, embarrassed by her rambling.

His lip turned up slightly, as he shook his head. "I have a few acquaintances."

"Acquaintances?"

"Yeah, there are only a few I enjoy the company of," he said.

"I see. Maybe it's because everything's about business at your job," she said, smiling at him.

"Something like that."

"So, is everything only about your job?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Sure."

She frowned.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You're always short. Why is that?"

"There isn't much to say."

"But there is."

He raised a brow, amused by her sudden confidence to speak so freely. "Like?"

"I asked, 'is everything only about your job,' and you said, 'sure.' What you could have said was, 'no, I have a son too,'" she said with a smile.

He almost chuckled at her impersonation of his voice. "Aside from him."

She grinned. "Then, that's what you should've said."

"Same difference."

She giggled, shaking her head. "Your responses are becoming predictable, Li-san."

"And your character isn't?" he remarked sarcastically, surprising himself.

She smiled at him. "I don't know if I should take offense to that."

"Take it as you may."

"Well, your character is becoming quite predictable too," she said in a playful tone.

"How so?"

"Well, you're aggressive, distant, blunt, and a little rude at times."

He could barely believe she had just said that without any hesitation. "Excuse me?"

She recoiled to herself, looking guilty and apologetic at once. "I'm sorry. I just talk so much and can't hold my tongue sometimes. I didn't mean to offend you," she said, guilt evident in her voice as if she knew she made a mistake.

He shook his head, lifting a hand to silence her rambling. "No, it's fine. You're not the first to say that."

She gasped. "Really?"

He released an unusual snort. "Have you not read the articles written about me? Or even seen the news?"

Her brows furrowed as she shook her head slowly. He found it hard to believe the girl did not know much about him. He almost smiled, feeling relieved that she had not. There were so many things out there that people had said and accused him of or being. It was kind of refreshing. "That's a first," he said.

"Really? I haven't lived in Tokyo for very long, so I thought that's what it was. But Kenta-kun informed me that you guys aren't originally from here."

He nodded, turning away from her. He felt that she did not need to know any more than that.

An uncomfortable silence followed after that, and he took that as his cue to call it a night. He glanced at the clock to see it was a little past 12. They had been talking for quite a while, he noted. "I'm going to call it a night," he said, standing from the couch.

She stood from the couch quickly, turning to him. "O-okay."

He swallowed, staring down at her, wishing the tension would disappear on its own. "Goodnight," he said, quickly leaving the living room before he did something stupid.

The minute he reached his room, he closed the door, locking it, and rushed to the bathroom.

It was pretty obvious how his night would end...


"Please, please, please! Ride it with us, Daddy," Xing begged Syaoran, pointing to the hotel in front of them.

"You'll have Kinomoto there," Syaoran said, looking at Sakura, hoping for a little help.

"But she will get scared too, so she has to hold on to you. That's the only way she will ride it," he said, giving Syaoran the eyes.

Syaoran looked at her and she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just as scared as he would be—"

"But we have to ride everything. Please, Daddy?" he said, eyes watering a bit.

Syaoran let out a defeated sigh, nodding his head. No one had ever made him do anything besides this little boy.

Xing jumped up with a wide grin on his face. "Yes!" he exclaimed, grabbing Sakura's hand, along with Syaoran's. He pulled them towards the entrance of the fast pass line.

They stood in line for less than 20 minutes, but thanks to Xing, they were well entertained. Once settled and buckled in the ride, Syaoran listened to everyone talking in their own native languages and Sakura and Xing talking about seeing ghost or something along those lines.

Xing sat by Sakura, and she sat by Syaoran. "Are you scared, Daddy?" Xing asked, across from her.

He snorted, shaking his head. "I don't even know what I'm getting myself into right now."

"It's called the, 'Tower of Terror,'" Xing said in a failed attempt to make his voice sound scary.

Sakura giggled, turning to Syaoran. "I don't know either. I think it takes you up and drops you down a few times. That's what we saw in the line, right, Xing?" she asked him.

Xing nodded vigorously with a grin on his face.

Syaoran smiled, and the ride began by an intercom telling them a lame creepy story. Sakura and Xing were talking in hushed tones to each other.

Today had been going great. Syaoran had not thought about work all day, besides the one phone call that he had gotten from his secretary, informing him about a meeting that he needed to attend when they got back. Other than that, nothing else occupied his mind all day, besides the two sitting next to him.

They had gone to animal kingdom, epcot, and now Hollywood studios. It was a wonder Xing had not asked to leave yet because he was tired. It was 6'o clock, and they had been here since nine that morning. They were—

Syaoran's heart nearly dropped to the bottom of his stomach, shocked at the unexpected drop from the ride. And then he became more aware of his surroundings. They were on some ride called tower of terror.

They were brought up again, and then dropped, but he was more prepared this time. Everyone else around him, however, were not, including Sakura. She had grabbed a hold of his arm, almost ripping his skin open with her nails.

The ride went on for a few more seconds before it ended. He could not be happier about it either.

"That was so much fun! Look at the pictures, Daddy!" Xing yelled, running off from them, causing panic to rise in Syaoran's chest.

"Xing! I thought I told you not to run off from either of us today," he scolded, rushing to his side.

"But look at your face, Daddy! And Sakura's!" Xing said, unaware of Syaoran's anxiety, and then burst out laughing.

Syaoran looked at the screen, and almost tore it down when he saw the horrified expression on his face. They had to have taken it when he was surprised by the first drop. He looked at Sakura's face on the screen and almost chuckled at her horrified expression. Looking at Xing's, he had a similar expression on his face as she did.

"Do you see the scary look on my face too, Daddy? Sakura?"

She giggled. "It looks very funny," she said between giggles.

Syaoran almost rolled his eyes, taking the hint that she was referring to his face. "I was caught off guard," he said defensively.

"Oh, I'm sure you were," she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Syaoran could feel a small smile tug at his lips, making him look away from her. Since last night, they had been conversing with each other a lot more. No trace of awkwardness, professionalism, or anything along the lines. It almost seemed like they were becoming friends in their own way. He would be lying if he said he did not kind of like it.

"I'm hungry, and it's hot...can we get ice cream?" Xing asked.

"You just had something to eat before we got on this ride," Syaoran said.

"But I didn't eat any dessert..." he said disappointed.

"You had cotton candy."

"But Daddy—"

"This conversation is over, Xing," Syaoran said sternly. He hated using this tone on Xing, but sometimes, it was necessary. If he always gave in to him, Xing would be spoiled rotten, if he already were not.

Xing huffed, turning to Sakura, hugging her bare legs tightly. "This is why I..." he trailed off.

Syaoran's eyes narrowed at him, fully aware of his behavior to make him jealous as Xing's eyes shifted towards him to see the reaction. It was not going to work this time though.

Sakura giggled, peeling his arms from her bare legs. "To magic kingdom?" she asked.

"No, I want to go home because it's hot and I can't get any ice cream," he said stubbornly, glancing at Syaoran a few times.

"Xing," Syaoran called in an authoritative tone.

He sighed, dropping his head onto her thigh. "Please, Daddy?" he whispered desperately as tears welled in his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey," Sakura said, stooping down to his height. "What happened to making Daddy happy?" she whispered so only he could hear, but Syaoran heard her.

The pout left his face, and a sad smile formed on his lips as he wiped his face. He turned to Syaoran. "I'm sorry, Daddy," he said sheepishly. "Do you forgive me?"

"Yes," Syaoran said, feeling his cheeks warm at Sakura's attention on him, almost expecting him to say it. He wanted to know how she had been so good at this.

"To magic kingdom we go!" Xing cheered.

And then, they left Hollywood studios, heading straight for magic kingdom.


Syaoran's plan had failed after all. He did not think that the little boy would have the energy to be out all day, but he did. He was not even the least bit tired yet.

He was sitting on a nearby bench as Xing and Sakura rode the magic carpet. It was their third time riding it because of Xing's begging. She really did give in to everything he asked her to do. It was becoming a habit that Syaoran needed to butt in the head before it was too late.

After they finished riding the magic carpet, they rode another ride that involved Winnie the pooh, which Syaoran had decided to sit out on again.

They were now waiting for the fireworks performance where the castle was. It would be starting in 10 minutes.

Sakura and Xing were talking their lungs out the entire time to Syaoran, and honestly, he did not know a thing they were talking about at this point. He remembered the conversation starting with Xing's all-time favorite show, then to the Disney characters, and now, his mother.

"Yes! She used to do that all the time, didn't she, Daddy?" Xing asked him, over the noise of all the foreign languages.

"Do what?" Syaoran asked, confused by his sudden question.

"Make the house very smoky," he said, giggling.

Sakura laughed at that, turning to Syaoran. He kept his eyes on Xing though. He had been doing good today, avoiding forbidden thoughts about the girl and he wanted to keep it that way. "Yes. She had no culinary skills."

"Mhm, and that's why we have Ms. Hana! She cooks all the food for us in the house," Xing said cheerfully. "She's a very good cook, isn't she, Daddy?"

He nodded, smiling as he thought about the woman. She had really done a lot for them over the years.

The closer it got to eight, the more people came, which only brought them closer together. He was beginning to become extremely uncomfortable.

"Daddy, can you pick me up so I can see the fireworks? I'm too little," Xing said sadly.

Syaoran nodded, picking him up. He placed Xing to straddle the back of his neck, holding on to his hands so he would not fall back. "Look at me, Sakura! I'm very tall!" Xing exclaimed.

She tilted her head back, looking up at him. "I see—" She was interrupted by a kid pushing through the crowd with his family, pushing her back against Syaoran.

Syaoran would have glared at the family if it were not for the feeling of her against him. Thus, provoking the forbidden thoughts.

Sakura shifted, attempting to move her body from his, but it only made things worst. For Syaoran, at least. Her behind was directly pressed against his crouch, bringing it to life. A set of hands were placed over Syaoran's eyes, blocking his view from her. "Now Daddy can't see the fireworks!" he heard Xing yell, laughing.

And then she moved again, creating a delicious friction against the erection through his jeans. He stifled a groan, grabbing Xing's hands, removing them. Xing placed them back on over his eyes, and she rubbed against him again.

A groan might have slipped past his mouth this time, but his hands abandoned Xing's, falling to Sakura's hips to still her. Her body froze, and he could still hear Xing praising the fact that he had blocked his vision.

He did not need to see to feel her pressing against him like this, though. Uncontrollably, he pressed further into her ass, and he thought he heard a sharp inhale of breath escape her mouth. How was he supposed to be sure with all the noise?

Unconsciously, he pulled her back against him harder, grinding against her a little.

Damn it...

He knew he needed to stop, but he could not, and she was letting him and she...

Syaoran stopped rubbing her against him, realizing something. She was only 17.

A loud applaud came after that thought, and a loud, cheering cry. He moved his hands from her hips immediately, placing them at his side.

"It was so awesome!" Xing yelled. "Right, Daddy?"

"Y-yeah," he said, referring to something completely different from the little boy. "We should go. There's going to be a lot of traffic."

Without thinking, Syaoran grabbed Sakura's hand, shuffling them out of the crowd.

After they reached the bus, he placed Xing on the ground, and released Sakura. He was a little surprised that she had not pulled her hand from him. He took note that she had not held his in return though.

Once they reached the car, he buckled Xing in the back seat and himself in the front. It was not a surprise that Sakura remained quiet on the ride home. So, the drive home was silent and awkward.

When they arrived, he put the sleeping Xing to bed, glad that he did not even budge. He was grateful the boy was beyond tired.

After Xing was tucked in, he headed to his room until hearing glass shatter. He walked to the kitchen, already expecting the person to be there.

Kinomoto.

She turned to him, wide-eyed, surprised by his arrival. "I..." he could see her throat bob, swallowing nervously. "I'm going to clean that up. I didn't mean to..." She looked him in the eyes and her entire face turned a shade of red. "I swear I'm going to get it up—"

She stopped talking when he walked in the kitchen fully. He grabbed the broom and began sweeping up the broken glass silently. He recalled her doing something similar like this the other night for him, so he would return the favor.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that," she said, walking over to him, attempting to grab the broom from him.

Her fingers brushed against his, causing his body to freeze at the spark he felt from it. She snatched her hand away, resting it behind her back. She had a shy, sheepish look on her face.

And his control slipped.

Damn it, damn it, damn it...

Without thinking, Syaoran grabbed her wrist gently, pulling her body towards his. His other hand abandoned the broom, letting it drop to the floor as he leaned down, capturing her lips with his.

To say they did not feel better than he expected them to would be a lie that he would burn in eternity for...


A/N: I was thinking about taking a lot of these scenes out so I could just combine this chapter with the chapter before this one, but found that it would ruin the development of their relationship. Soooo, I ended up leaving it in, so sorry for the length still D:.

I'm pretty sure the next chapter is when school starts, if I am remembering correctly. But, what do you guys think so far? Reviews tend to make me put real life on procrastination mode to get more chapters out, FYI :P. I will try to get more chapters out this week for you guys!

Ja ne!