"Sometimes you have to be strong when you feel like giving up, have to fight when you just want to run away, because sometimes it is all you can do to keep going." - Brigitte

Chapter 12

"Crossing Bridges"

She ran around the corner of the park to finish her morning run. Looking at her watch flashing her ending time, she stopped and started walking to slow her heart rate to normal again. As her usual morning routing she walked straight to a small corner of the park and started stretching her arms before stretching her legs.

Today, she had decided to run a little earlier than usual wanting to head back in time to see Syaoran's progress in his morning rehab. He had finally started limping on his own a week ago, his trainer started giving him bike training yesterday and today he was having his second medical checkup from the family doctor to see how his ankle was holding up.

Her watch beeped again reminding her of the doctor's visit to the house. Doing her final leg stretch, she got up from the ground and walked towards her car. The sun was just starting to show his rays through the mountains. It was such a beautiful sight to enjoy in the mornings but today she wouldn't be able to do so.

She started her car and headed to Li's house. After arriving and parking her car, she entered the house and went straight to the small gym at the end of the house. Entering the room confidently she searched for the one responsible of his training as usual. She looked around and saw Syaoran running on the bike already. She was quite impressed with his progress so far which made her believe his rehab was going a lot better than expected but she wasn't the one that could confirm that.

She was glad to see that Ryu was already there looking at Syaoran's ankle in the morning. Looking at her watch she noticed he was actually earlier than when he said he would be. It was no wonder why Xian trusted him a lot better than any other doctor.

"Ryu! I'm glad you're here already." She greeted him with a smile.

At her greeting, Syaoran looked thoroughly at her but didn't say anything. She was wearing knee length spandex and a training tank top which matched the pink line on her pants. Her wet ponytail let him know she had just arrived from working out.

"Ah, Miss Sakura, Is good to see you again. How have you been?" Ryu greeted smiling at her as well.

"I've been good. A little busy but I'm used to it by now. Have you had a chance of inspecting his ankle?"

The doctor nodded. "I did just a couple of minutes ago."

"How is he doing?"

The doctor looked at Syaoran and optimistically answered, "Well, you're doing better than I expected but that doesn't mean your ankle is ready yet."

"I know it isn't." Syaoran muttered a little bothered with the news.

The doctor chuckled and turned his sight to Sakura. Through his glasses he asked her, "Ms. Kinomoto, may I speak with you?"

She nodded and walked outside the gym with the doctor behind her. After getting out, she turned around to face him. The sight before her didn't bring any comfort as she watched him sigh taking his glasses off.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

The door opened again and Choi came walking out as well. "If it has to do with Syaoran, I should be included in the conversation as well."

The doctor looked at Sakura for confirmation. She nodded as a sign of confirmation and waited for the doctor to continue.

"He is doing better than expected after two weeks of rehab but I'm afraid he needs to rest as well."

"He is resting." She said.

The doctor shook his head and smiled. "I've known Li since he was a little kid. I can assure you that boy is not resting. As I inspected his ankle this morning, he was trying to hide that it's still hurting him just so that he could keep up with his training. This cup thing could also be increasing his anxiety to start training again but it's like I told you. His full recovery is what's important right now."

"Doctor, there's not much he can do right now but rest." Choi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If I still know Li the way I think I do, he is not resting enough. Has he had supervision at all times?"

"Alright, let's think about this for a moment doctor. With someone at his side or without someone, he still can't do much on its own now. I think we all know that." Choi tried to defend Syaoran. It was a little hard for him to believe the doctor's words especially when he had just talked with his rehab trainer early in the morning and he had confirmed that everything was going according to schedule.

Sakura kept looking at the doctor. What Choi had just said was true. This past week all Syaoran had been able to do was stay in his room. Of that, she was aware of. He had only started limping at the end of this week. She had been massaging his ankle as well just like the doctor had suggested. So, why was the doctor requesting for him to rest as well?

She found him out of his bed doing pushups in the side of it. She narrowed her eyes, walked towards him and kicked him not too hard but not too softly on the stomach.

"Ah!" He shrunk on the floor and grabbed his stomach where she had hit him.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Do you have to hit me like this? I'm sure there are better ways of greeting someone who's injured."

She smirked. "Someone who is injured should be in his bed resting if you ask me."

He looked at her and narrowed her eyes.

She thoughtfully took a deep breath before asking the doctor, "What do you suggest?"

Choi looked at her surprised at her question. "Ms. Kinomoto, you've been with us all the time checking his rehab. He has been meeting each level as scheduled. The whole idea of you approving the schedule was to get him up to speed as soon as possible."

She looked at Choi. "The schedule means nothing to me if he's not going to recover 100% for his career. If he's able to make the Cup great but that's not my priority." She looked at the doctor again and asked, "What do you suggest for resting?"

Ryu could see why Xian wanted Sakura taking care of his son's rehab all along and smiled to himself before replying to her question. "Well, he certainly started walking already but like I said my guess is it still hurts him a little although he won't say anything about it. Maybe it's better if instead of doing so much rehab he can get to do something that doesn't require so much time like walking slowly to a place and then resting. That way it won't be such a burden on his ankle and it won't affect his recovery."

Sakura nodded. She looked at Choi and asked, "How far is he with his rehab after this morning?"

"He's doing really well right now. Everything is on schedule as you know."

"Then I think that perhaps he can have tonight off."

Choi scoffed. "I don't think he'll go well with that. Do you know Syaoran at all?"

Ryu chuckled at his question but nonetheless looked at Sakura. "I'll leave this to you then." He didn't know much about the history between these two but it was obvious that if Xian wanted Sakura to be involved with his son's recuperation then it meant that she was more than capable of handling the situation. "I must be off. I have to open the clinic in a couple of minutes."

She nodded. "Thank you again for coming Ryu. We'll see you next week." She waited until he was out the door before turning towards Choi. "I'll tell Syaoran he's not going to have his rehab tonight. You don't have to worry about that." Turning around, she walked towards her room to take a shower and get ready to work.

~ o ~

She woke up happy to find herself in the arms of the man she loved soon to be her husband. Ah… the thought only brought more joy to her as she moved her head to fill his neck with sweet soft kisses.

He chuckled feeling her at his side. "Mmm… You're awake."

She chuckled as well. "Are you sure you won't get in trouble for bringing me inside your room?"

He put his fingers below her chin to make her look at him. "I would get in trouble if coach finds out but I'm glad to say years rooming with Syaoran have finally paid off."

She laughed at his words and smirked. "What a great teacher that cousin of yours. The more I think about it the more I dislike the fact that when he was rooming with you he was still a renowned womanizer."

He thought about it and nodded. "Well, at least he taught me how to get you in unseen."

She sweetly smiled at him. "I'm not sure you're helping yourself on this one love."

He chuckled. "In that case, I won't say any more on this matter." He said before kissing her softly. "Good morning love."

She smiled dazzled by his kiss. "Mmm good morning!" She felt him tightened his hug to bring her closer to him. It was comforting to feel that they had finally settled down their relationship. Contrary to what many would think their relationship had not been perfect. It had started sweet but it also had many bumps in their way before the engagement. In fact, Syaoran had some of the fault in that, if not all of it.

"Hold on babe, let me get my keys out." He said as he held his phone on his shoulder while fetching his keys with his hand on his pocket. He had just gotten back from getting Tomoyo's birthday present at the mall. As soon as he grabbed his keys, he took them out to unlock the door.

"You know, you would love England. You have to come here one time." she said.

He chuckled as he grabbed his phone once again. "Well, who knows… I might visit you sometime this year."

She scoffed and sighed. "That's what you said last year and see where that left us. I was even able to get a free plane ticket out of the miles on my card."

"Oh, come on babe. It's easier for you to travel than me. My team isn't flexible when it comes to having days off. You know that." He said as he opened his apartment door.

"Syaoran! Give it back. I was eating that!"

Eriol stood frozen at the sight in front of him. A woman was tackling Syaoran on the floor while he was laughing holding an ice pop over his head making it hard for the woman to reach. Her underwear was completely visible as her white button shirt was entirely opened and around her waist.

"Who is that?" Tomoyo asked after hearing a woman's voice on the phone.

"Uh… no one babe. I'm just walking towards my room." He quickly said as he started to quickly walk towards his room before it was too late.

"If you want it, you'll have to come and get it." Syaoran said to her.

The woman chuckled as she flirted her way with Syaoran before Eriol could reach his room. "You know I wouldn't mind getting it."

"That's a woman's voice Eriol! Who is there?" Tomoyo exclaimed after hearing the voice for the second time.

Eriol regretfully closed his eyes before carefully replying, "Is not what you think babe."

Syaoran smirked. "Wait doll, my cousin is probably talking to his girlfriend. We don't want to get him in trouble."

"Girlfriend? Why would a guy like him want to have a girlfriend?" She looked towards Eriol and sweetly smiled at him. "You should enjoy life just like Li is doing right now." Then with a smirk she turned back to look at Syaoran and finished her sentence, "or about to."

Syaoran chuckled and nodded. "See, that's what I keep telling him."

Eriol threw a murderous look at Syaoran.

"Is that what you want?" Tomoyo asked on the phone. "What that woman is saying to you?"

Eriol quickly forgot about everything else and locked himself in his room. "No babe. You know that's not what I want."

"Really? Maybe I don't know Eriol. Perhaps you can explain to me because it looks like the only one doing sacrifices for this relationship most of the times is me."

"That's not true babe, I love you."

"You know what? Maybe we should talk later. I don't want to keep talking to you right now."

Eriol's mood change from been happy to been really pissed off. "Why are you minding my cousin? You know how he's been Tomoyo."

"So have you. And yet, you decided to live with him. Do you honestly think that I feel comfortable that you are living with him? I don't even approve of it and you knew this before deciding any of this. So, forgive me if I get mad at you for hearing another woman's voice in your apartment but you can't honestly expect me not to be mad about it."

"I'm not cheating on you Tomoyo. I'm not that kind of guy."

"A lot of guys say that Eriol but when the slip comes… a slip it's still cheating."

Eriol sighed. Hurt by her words he carefully said, "I wouldn't do that to you. You should trust me more."

Tomoyo sighed. "I'll talk to you later. I don't want to keep talking about this." She said before hanging up the phone.

Syaoran had even experienced Tomoyo's wrath from time to time thanks to his playing around with women while rooming with Eriol. She remembered one of their biggest fights and smiled at the memory while looking at her ring. At the time she had been furious with Eriol, but with time they had been able to overcome their problems. Day by day they had been able to work through it until finally her birthday present came that year… her engagement ring.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him.

"I'm thinking about what you told me about Sakura the other day. After last night, I think you're right about her breakup with Jun."

"Because of what happened in the pool?" she asked. He had told her about the incident last night after the team's visit to Syaoran.

"She would have never done that if she was still with Jun."

"Do you think your cousin knows?"

"I don't know. But Syaoran has never been dense. On the contrary he has always been astute when it comes to these things. If he doesn't know, he probably has an idea already running in his head."

She worked herself out of his embrace and sat looking at him. "You don't sound too happy at your cousin knowing."

He stared at her. "That's because I'm not."

She sighed. "Eriol, I know you love your cousin sweetie and I know you want to protect him, even if he doesn't need to, but Syaoran still loves Sakura. I think after the cabin none of us can say any less. If she still loves him back then-"

"That's the whole problem Tomoyo. I'm not too convinced that she loves him back as he does her. She already destroyed him once. There's no need to know what can happen if she does it again."

She curiously stared at him. "And what makes you think she'll destroy him? What if she still loves him back the same but she doesn't dare to show it?"

Eriol stared at her. "Is that really what you think or has she said anything to you?"

She rolled her eyes at him and sighed. "She hasn't said anything. I'm just asking."

He took a deep breath before patiently looking at his fiancé. "Tomoyo, I know you want to defend her. I mean, she was my friend too. Still is and I wish I could do the same but I can't avoid worrying over this. The timing terribly sucks."

She sighed. There was nothing she could do to keep her fiancé from worrying over something 'unnecessary' if you asked her. He was just like that, a running mind that never stopped thinking or even get tired of over thinking things. "On a change of subject, Kyu asked Meiling to get married."

Eriol unbelievably stared at her and widened his eyes. "What?"

Tomoyo nodded and laughed at his face. Definitely the news had served their purpose. Syaoran and Sakura had just passed to another page on his mind. She nodded and said, "Meiling called me hysterically fighting over the fact that he had been serious about the proposal."

He scoffed. "Kyu hasn't said anything."

"And he will not. She rejected him." She simply said while holding her need to laugh at the whole situation.

Eriol scoffed and shook his head. "What is wrong with my cousins, baby? Am I the only one who turned up been normal?"

Tomoyo chuckled and shook her head before going back to been at his side and hugging him. "Don't be so sure of yourself. You do have your things too, you know… I just put up with it because I love you too much." She sweetly said.

He chuckled in her embrace.

"But I will say this, I think she's afraid and I understand her. I mean, they have been so unstable throughout all these years." Tomoyo said.

"Even so love, they have always been able to get back together. Doesn't that count for something?"

She nodded. "I guess it does but you know Meiling… she needs months to think about it until she finally sees that it is not a bad thing after all. My guess…" she looked at him and gave him a quick kiss before finishing her thought. "They'll probably end up getting engaged after the tournament."

He gave her another quick kiss before saying, "I love you babe."

She chuckled. "I love you too."

~ o ~

Suri walked down the private jet small stairs and took a deep breath. "Ahh, finally back home." She quickly took her phone out to look at her messages. It was early afternoon already with just a week away from perhaps the biggest event she had helped put up together. She answered two messages she had from Sakura before looking at the rest of the messages on her phone.

*Hey, it's me. Just call me when you get in.

*Or you can just leave a message.

*It doesn't matter. Whatever you want to do is fine.

*Is just a request nothing obligatory.

*Or I can just call ur office just to make sure u got in.

*I'm babbling never mind.

*If you don't want to u can just ignore this.

After checking her messages the other twenty five were from Mark. She chuckled to herself before putting her phone away. The poor man was just a walking nervous wreck, probably even worse than her and she hated planes.

They weren't in a romantic relationship yet but she found his company to be pretty pleasing. She found he was still a little shy when it came to taking their relationship forward but half of the fault in that was probably hers. She still wasn't too sure of herself when it came to dating a man like him. She made a note to herself on asking her boss about this. Sakura probably had a lot more experience on dating someone like Mark.

Yuki showed his head from the airplane door and smiled. "Ah, China. It's been many years since I visited this place." He started to walk down the steps to reach the ground.

Suri curiously looked at him. "When was your last time here?"

"About twenty years ago." He put his backpack on his back and started walking towards the glass doors with Suri at his side.

"Oh wow. It has changed greatly since you last came then."

"Hopefully in a good way." He thoughtfully said. "Do you have a schedule for me or something I need to follow while I'm here?"

Suri kindly smiled at him. "Well, Ms. Kinomoto likes to have everything under control but I'm guessing you already know that. There is no such thing as a set schedule until the event starts but Sakura would like for you to meet the president and vice president."

"The Li's?" He asked. "I'd be more than delightful to meet them."

She nodded. "This way please." They walked through the airport and made their way to a limousine that was waiting for them outside. "Your equipment will be taken straight to the field where you'll be working for the VIP rooms."

"I spoke with Sakura before agreeing on doing this for her. I asked her if I could have a feel for the room I'll be working at." Yuki said before getting inside the limousine.

Suri nodded getting inside of the limousine as well and motioning for the driver to start driving. "She did say that to me. If you want, we can go now before stopping at the office or we can go later. It's up to you."

Yuki nodded and kindly smiled at her. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go now."

She nodded again. "Very well then." She pushed the intercom buttons inside of the limousine and said, "Driver, please take us to the field first."

"Understood ma'am."

~ o ~

Sakura put her phone away and entered the Li's house. Her assistant had arrived with Yuki as scheduled. She had just received a call from Suri informing her that they would stop at the field before going into the office. Sakura had already taken care of making his workplace presentable and workable for him as she knew he had always been so conscious of his surroundings when it came to work.

She opened Syaoran's room and smile seeing him getting ready for his third rehab of the day. "Hey!"

"You're here earlier than usual." He greeted her and went back to tying his tennis shoes.

She smiled. "I asked Choi to give you tonight off."

He quickly gazed up and stared at her. "Why?"

"I want you to come with me to a place." She said as she walked to his closet.

He curiously looked at her. "Where?"

She went through his clothes and chose a gray shirt that wouldn't draw too much attention for him to wear and jeans. She threw them on his bed right at his side. "You can wear this."

"Can't we go after rehab?"

"Will you just dress up? I'll wait for you in the living room." She said before walking out of his room.

He stared at the closed door. What the heck was going on? He carefully got up from bed and dressed up. Grabbing his crutches, he slowly walked towards the living room where Sakura was waiting for him just like she said she would. She was holding her purse on hand while writing something in her phone.

After finishing her text, she looked at him. "You're ready?"

He chuckled and nodded. "Are you telling me where we're going?"

"Nope, you're just going to have to trust me." She easily replied before walking out the door.

Syaoran walked outside to find her getting inside her car. He followed her just like she asked him to and got in as well. After several turns and street lights, they finally arrived at their destination. Sakura turned off her car and started to look for some change in her wallet for the street meters.

"The park?" he asked.

She smiled. "Come on." She said while opening her door.

He sighed. "I should be training."

"You'd rather be training than in here with me?" she smirked at him.

He got out of the car and started to reach for his crutches on the back seat of her car. "That's not what I meant."

"No, you can leave the crutches on the car."

He curiously looked at her.

She smiled while dropping two quarters for the meter to start running. "The doctor said this morning that as long as you don't overdo your walking, you're going to be okay."

He narrowed his eyes as he slowly started limping his way towards her. "Really? Is that what he said when he asked to speak with you?"

She nodded and started to walk to the park's sidewalk slowly to make sure Syaoran could walk along side her. "He said you're doing well and could use a break."

He turned his face away from her a little bothered from hearing the word 'break'. I mean… what the heck had he been doing since he got injured? "The doctor doesn't know anything. I'm the one hurt and the one that knows what's best for my own body."

"So what's best for your body is to go back to a bike instead of being with me on the park? I'll keep that in mind." She jokingly said.

"Stop twisting my words Sakura." He rubbed his hands through his face.

"How does it feel?"

"Obviously it's still hurting but that's normal." He tiredly said from listening to the same question over and over again.

She knew that tone very well and sighed. "I'm not asking you for the obvious. How does it feel to walk without the crutches?"

"Hurts more, but I've already convinced myself that's probably how you want me to feel." He sarcastically said.

She chuckled and looked at him. "So I'm some kind of punishment in your head?"

"More like a reminder." He jokingly replied.

She chuckled.

"What if I suddenly lose a step? Am I allowed to hold your hand?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Nope. I guess you'll have to fall to the ground while I laugh at your clumsiness."

He chuckled and shook his head. "That's mean even for you." He looked at her thoroughly as she kept walking towards the railings.

It wasn't the first time they had been in this part of the park. Couple of weeks after meeting again she found him in these same railings in one of her morning runs. She remembered he had said this place used to hold some enjoyable thoughts from his childhood. It was the reason why she decided this place would work at least to rest for a little as the doctor ordered.

"Where's your ring?" he curiously asked.

She didn't stop walking already knowing the question would've come up sooner or later. Since the moment she met him she knew he had always been very observant. "Why? Do you want to know if you could've outdone him?"

"I don't need to see his ring to know I probably would've." He confidently answered as they finally reached the railings.

"I'm not used to wearing rings."

He stared at her. "If I were him, I wouldn't let you go out of the house without it."

"But you're not him." She sweetly smiled at him before changing the subject. "Why don't we talk about something more important like, why haven't you been resting?"

He rolled his eyes, shook his head, and turned it away from her muttering, "Or, we could just not talk."

She smiled knowing he would probably hate this talk. Especially since it dealt with how he was handling his rehab. "That night wasn't the only night you've been doing exercises out of the rehab schedule, was it?"

"I already told you, the doctor doesn't know what's best for my body."

She lost her sweetness after hearing him and became a little more serious with him. "Syaoran, we all want you to be back playing as soon as possible. But you doing things on your own isn't helping right now."

"Don't try to tell me how to handle my life Sakura."

He snapped at her but she didn't back down. "I'm not trying to handle your life. I'm telling you the truth. Many people are involved in your recuperation for you to hurt yourself more because you're overdoing your exercises more than you should."

He scoffed. "Many people involved meaning you? I didn't ask you to do this."

She was pissed. If he wanted to be a brat about all of this he had another thing coming. "Many people involved meaning everyone starting by your family doctor who comes in early enough to look at your ankle before he has to open his clinic, your teammates who have been practicing nonstop believing in you, your father who has arranged for you to have the best equipment available at any time, your agent who has been diligently dealing with the owner of Manchester, your trainer who has designed your entire rehab schedule and perhaps yes even me. Do you need me to go on?"

He shook his head sighing and looking away knowing that he had probably made a mistake in saying that. "You don't understand."

"What is it that I don't understand? That this is hard for you? Trust me I know it is but you need to trust us."

He looked at her again. "That's easy for you to say but it isn't easy for me to do."

"Then trust me." She sighed and calmed down before she could actually gave herself away. "You need to rest your ankle Syaoran. You were lucky enough that the injury wasn't worse but if you don't rest then it can become worse."

"I can't just do nothing Sakura." He took a deep breath before finally saying, "It's killing me to stay in that room with nothing to do."

"Is that all that's pushing you to do it? Being bored in your room?"

He kept staring at her until he finally decided to look away. It wasn't just been bored, exercising had always been his way of calming his mind from thinking. Thinking about his injury, thinking about the tournament, thinking about what would be expected of him after recuperating from his injury, thinking about what his new life on England would be like, and finally the thought that came in between of each of those thoughts, her. He needed to exercise.

His silenced confirmed his answer. It was all she would get from him but it was better than a bratty answer. She walked over to one of the benches and sat before motioning for him to do the same. He slowly followed but, instead of sitting down, he slide down on the bench and put his head on her thighs.

"Syaoran…"

He smirked. "You said I needed to rest."

She chuckled. "You never miss a chance do you?" She watched him smile and close his eyes. Their relationship had always been like this. Even before as friends, they could fight a million times but they could always comeback to this.

Fighting the urge of running her hands through his hair as she had once done so, she looked towards the mountains. She had missed this morning's sunrise in the morning but the sunset was even more beautiful to see as the sun hid his last rays through the mountains. "There's another reason I wanted to bring you here, aside from making you rest a little."

"Not surprised." He just said smiling without opening his eyes.

"Your sister found someone who can help you develop your project. She asked me to speak with you about it. He's someone she can trust and has the vision to oversee the development of the field."

He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Why can't you do it? And… I'm serious this time."

She smiled at him. "Are you willing to put it under Li Enterprises?"

He shook his head.

"I thought so." She looked away and sighed. "My contract has an exclusivity clause that states that if the project is not under Li Enterprises I can't take it."

"I don't trust anyone Sakura. You know this, and my sister doesn't have your experience to deal with it."

She looked back at him and smiled. "You'd be surprise. Feimei has actually gotten really good since she started. She has her own way of doing things and her own ideas to bring everything together. Plus, she separated herself from the family business which is something you're trying to do as well. I think she could be exactly what you're looking for right now."

He sighed and closed his eyes again to rest. "I'll think about it."

~ o ~

The next morning, Eriol walked downstairs to the breakfast buffet after taking a shower in his room. They had been following Tan's schedule since they started staying in the hotel to help them get used to the timing for the start of the tournament next week. It wasn't as strict as it would be when the tournament started but each player was trying to keep up with the schedule to get used to it. He looked around his teammates and finally found Kyu sitting down in one of the corner tables. He took his plate, filled it up with his breakfast, and then walked over.

"Hey man!" he said before sitting down in front of him.

"Hey!" Kyu greeted and took a sip of his orange juice.

"Are you okay?" Eriol asked.

Kyu looked at him curiously taking a bite of his toast and answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Yeah. Why?"

"I heard about Meiling and a questionable proposal?" Eriol started to butter his toast as he waited for Kyu's answer.

Kyu rolled his eyes at him. "No offense man but I don't want to talk about your cousin right now."

Eriol nodded. "Fine, I just want you to know I'm here for you if you need to talk."

Kyu shook his head. "Not right now. You would think this should affect me more than it is affecting me but it isn't. My main focus is the tournament. I want that trophy Eriol. Meiling and I will eventually fight about this but I'm putting it off until after the tournament. My mind is set. So whatever it is you're thinking, I'm not talking about it till after the tournament."

Eriol nodded seeing the logic behind his reasoning. He smiled and started to eat his breakfast still not understanding how these two could have lasted this long. It had been a weird relationship since they started dating. Tomoyo had been right. They had the same weird process for every decision they would have to make as a couple. At first one of them would throw the idea, the other one would fight about it, then after analyzing it and giving it a couple of circles around in their heads one of them would eventually give up and let the other one win.

It was the weirdest thing for Eriol. He still didn't know if either one of them was conscious about it at all but it made him laugh inside. He found it comical, even if it shouldn't, to see them go over the same process over and over again. And it wasn't just on important things only, even for stupid decisions like going out to see a movie or not.

As he took his next bite on his toast, he smiled internally thinking on how lucky he was to have found someone as Tomoyo. If someone were to ask him, he wouldn't be able to tell which of the girls was less complicating… Sakura or Meiling. Without a doubt, out of the family he had been the luckiest one.

~ o ~

Suri walked inside of the hotel and went straight to the restaurant. She had called Mark to meet up in here after their morning practice. It wasn't something she would usually do but since she had been away for most of the week they agreed on seeing each other for just today. As she looked around the restaurant, she spotted him in one of the corner tables and walked straight to him.

"Twenty five messages Mr. Yue… I'm impressed." She said sitting down in front of him.

He sheepishly smiled and took a sip of his orange juice before replying, "I can explain. At first I wasn't sure of what to write. Then I just couldn't make up my mind. But thanks for texting me when you arrived."

"Aw, did you miss me that much?" she sarcastically said.

He stared at her before smiling and in a more serious tone saying, "I actually did."

Her smile suddenly started to leave and in just seconds she started feeling more nervous than she had in a long time. "Do you mean that?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"I missed you to." She smiled but quickly hid it behind her next words. "Well, just a little. It wasn't like it was a big deal or anything."

He smiled but nonetheless nodded. "Hey, a little goes a long way, right? I wanted to say I won't be able to see you after today until the tournament it's over. Coach is having the team eat together in the same table and at the same hour. You know, kind of like a military regimen."

She chuckled at his way of saying it and nodded. "Well, we can always talk on the phone or is that prohibited as well for you guys?"

He shook his head. "No. We can, just in our rooms once everything is over."

She nodded. "Alright."

"Mark!" Kuy loudly called from the restaurant door. "Are you done yet? We need to watch film."

He looked at the door and nodded. With a napkin he cleaned his lips before getting up from the table and looking at Suri. "Well, I guess I'll see you when this is all over." He smiled, turned around, and walked away.

Suri watched from her seat the entire scene unfold before her eyes. What the heck had just happened? I mean, he did want to see her this morning. He said he had missed her when she was away. Then suddenly he walked away and left with just a 'see you when this is over.' What kind of a cold goodbye or see you later was this? She scoffed. Men could be so insensitive sometimes. She furiously grabbed her purse and walked out of the restaurant.

The drive to her office was faster than usual. Her mood no doubt had something to do with that. She went straight to Sakura's office and without a second thought opened the door and walked in.

Sakura looked up from her iPad curiously at her assistant barging into her office and closing the door afterwards.

"How did you do it?" she quickly asked.

There was no greeting, no 'Hello, I'm back from my trip', or even a good morning which made Sakura question her assistant's sanity for the first time in her life. She softly put her iPad down and turned her attention towards her. "Do what?"

"Catch someone like Li Syaoran."

Sakura stared at her before sighing and going back to her iPad restraining herself from answering in an unprofessional way. "Do you like him?"

"No! I said catch someone like him." Suri said before starting to pace around Sakura's office babbling about how soccer players were so dim witted. "I mean, they're so one minded, can't catch a signal not even if their life depended on it. I mean, who talks with someone for a couple months and doesn't see that the other person is interested as well? Is it truly that hard to find out? I mean, not even hold hands. Oh, forget the hands, not even breakfast! What the heck?" She stopped for a second to look at Sakura. "One second is 'I want to see you,' then the other is 'See you when this is over.' Is it truly this hard?"

Yep, Suri had lost it. Sakura simply let her vent before looking up from her iPad again. "Just out of curiosity, who's the guy?"

Suri looked away and lowly said, "Mark."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "Yue?"

"Yes!" Suri quickly answered before sitting in one of Sakura's chairs. "How did you do it?"

"Suri, Syaoran is very different than Mark." Sakura carefully said as to not get her assistant more riled up than she already was. "But, have you tried telling him?"

"I insinuated. I thought the guy would get a clue when I wrote to him from the airport but he didn't."

Sakura shook her head. "Then, stop giving him clues and tell him how you feel."

Suri stared at her before carefully asking the real question that had been bothering her since she found out Sakura had dated Li. "Is it worth it? You know, to date a soccer player? I mean, you know about the whole "press" thing, they always have like news that shows them as womanizers or cheaters or something…"

Sakura stared at her before replying. "Suri, I can't tell you whether you should date Mark or not. Dating a soccer player is not any different than dating any other man in this world. Soccer is just their profession. I guess, if you like the guy that much, just tell him and see where it goes."

Suri took a deep breath before nodding. "I guess you're right. I'm just a little scared of this whole thing."

Sakura calmly smiled. "If it helps, I can ask one of the guys about him."

"Li?" Suri alarmed asked. "Please don't. Guys are worst than woman when talking to each other."

Sakura curiously looked at her after her last comment but refrain from saying anything. It was obvious her assistant had been hysterical about this whole thing with Mark. Worst part was Sakura had actually met Mark before. If her memory served her right, the guy was completely clueless when it came to women. He would not be able to see any signs unless they were spelled in front of him. Nonetheless, she kept staring at her assistant in silence.

"I guess I can just take your advice and tell him. How is Li by the way? Will he be able to play?"

"He's doing better. We'll see later about playing time."

Suri nodded and stood up. "Thanks for the advice."

"Anytime." Sakura simply answered as she watched her assistant walked out the door. She could laugh about this whole thing to herself. It was actually quite interesting in a comical way to think about Suri who has always been a little shy about certain things pursuing the most clueless guy on the soccer team.

But something about this whole conversation with her assistant did stay in Sakura's mind. Her question, 'Was it worth it?' Back then, she loved everything about Syaoran. Their walks, their games, their hanging out on the couch watching movies or even doing nothing at all, she had loved it all. Their relationship had never been perfect, but it had been strong. Even to this day, thoughts of her past relationship with him were still strong. And yet, had this all been worth it?

~ o ~

Syaoran scribbled something in his notebook as he intently watched a soccer game on his TV. After talking with Sakura on the park last night, he received a visit from Tan this morning to check on his rehab status although, if you asked him, Tan was happier to see him in bed than worried for his rehab. With him, he brought a couple of DVD's with soccer games saying it was for him to analyze them and write a report on each team instead of staying all day bored in his room. He didn't have to guess where the comment had come from but nonetheless was grateful that at least he could help his team this way while recuperating from his injury.

He put the game on pause to take a break and sighed. Two full pages were already written from the same team and he still hadn't finished watching the first game. He took a sip of his water bottle and took a deep breath. Something had been bothering him for quite a while now… Sakura's engagement with Jun.

He had started suspecting from the moment Sakura made the pool proposal but didn't say anything. Last night only made him question more her engagement with Jun. She wasn't wearing a ring. For the past couple of days since the proposal he still hadn't seen a ring in her finger. It couldn't be a coincidence. Why would a woman get engaged and not carry an engagement ring? On the news, it had been clear Jun gave her a ring. He saw it as the stupid press zoomed in on the box. And yet he still hadn't seen it. Something was off.

He sighed again and took another sip of his water bottle before pressing play on his TV control. He needed to focus on the tournament. In one more week, his team would start facing off Turkey and they needed to be prepared. He scribbled something else in his notebook before his room door opened.

Sakura smiled at him and closed the door. She could see his coach had helped with the whole boring problem. "I see you're not bored anymore." she said while walking towards his bathroom.

He shook his head and smile. "Yeah, all thanks to you."

She smirked. "You need to let me know off hand you're going to say that so I may record it and hold it against you one day."

He scoffed but kept watching his TV and writing down the notes.

After finding the lotion, she walked out of the bathroom and sat at the end of his bed as usual so she could give him the massage. She took his ankle and placed the lotion before starting to rub it.

"Will I ever get to see his ring at all?" Syaoran asked her as he watched her hands move smoothly through his ankle.

"You know I don't like to dirty my things." She quickly said without giving it too much thought about it.

He stared at her. "Doesn't he gets mad? I'd be furious."

"He's been furious about a lot of things and that still hasn't stop me from doing what I believe."

Still not satisfied with her answer, he went back to watching the game to try to keep his mind off of it, then suddenly pause it again and stared at her as she kept massaging his ankle. "I would also have a fit if I knew my girlfriend spent the night at her ex-boyfriend's room."

She sighed and looked at him. "Will you drop it or are you trying to find a way for me not to do this anymore?"

He sternly looked at her. "I will not drop it. Are you still with him?"

She shook her head and dried her hands with the towel. "That's it, I'm done then."

She put his leg back down to his bed and took the towel back to his bathroom before opening his room door. She was about to leave but he walked behind her and closed the door. He left his arm on the door impeding her from opening it. The close proximity made her insides tremble with anxiety. He was just too close for her. She tiredly sighed and rolled her eyes. "Syaoran,"

"I want a kiss as my wish."

"What?"

"I want a kiss." He said still from behind her. He was always so demanding when he wanted something.

She kept staring at the closed door in front of her. "Why now?"

"Because I won it fair and square. Part of the agreement was for it to be my choice, remember?"

Not finding a way out of this one, she sighed and turned towards him. "Fine."

The anxiety of the moment was killing her as she kept trying to find a way out but found none. She stared at his chest to avoid his gaze. It was difficult enough to hold on without looking at his eyes, she was sure that after looking at them she would definitely be lost. As she felt his other hand start caressing her face she closed her eyes.

"I've been waiting a long time for this moment." He lowly said to her.

"Just take your kiss."

The nervousness he found in her voice made him smile. He took his time caressing her face as she made the mistake of opening her eyes which he gladly took notice of. He raised her chin and made her look at him. She could see the ferocity of the moment in his eyes. The longing, the wanting, she could see all with one look as his eyes dropped towards her lips and he cupped her face in his hands and softly kissed her. It started slow as he took his time to taste her lips. She was melting by the soft seduction of his lips on hers. He felt her hands come up to softly grab his as she granted permission to deepen the kiss. She felt herself moaning into the kiss and she felt him respond more demanding.

He kissed her senseless until the kiss stopped and they were both out of breath. Syaoran kept his forehead against hers and smiled.

"This doesn't change anything." She whispered still trembling from the intensity of the moment.

"It does to me." He touched her lower lip with his thumb, "You wouldn't have let me kiss you if you were still with him."

The moment she heard his words, she realized her mistake. When she was done catching her breath, she came back to her senses and closed her eyes. "I can't do this again." She opened them and found the strength to look at his. "I'm not going through this again." She got out of his hold and walked towards the other side of the room regretfully closing her eyes and thinking on how to approach this.

He followed her with his eyes and sighed, "So, we're finally talking."

She turned and looked at him, "I loved you back then. I know I did, but you made it very clear to me what I was to you."

"That's not true. I loved you too, but I was more realistic about it. Neither of us had time for each other back then."

"And what's so different now Syaoran? Do you think we have time now?"

He intently stared at her. He was not backing out this and less now that he had just confirmed her breakup with Jun. "You found time to be with that idiot for two years, I'm sure you can find time to be with me as well."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please... Don't bring Jun into this."

"Why not?" he asked.

"He's not even here anymore Syaoran!"

"I'm not talking about him, I'm talking about us. Why not?"

She strongly stared at him. She wanted to say yes, oh how badly she wanted to say yes. "We talked Syaoran. Back then we talked and to this day it's still hurts. Us getting married first..." she sadly smiled. "We would surprise everyone with the news. And you would play pro, and I would follow you wherever you wanted to play. I wanted that. I truly imagined myself doing that with you. But I can't anymore. I won't leave your father's company, and you'll be off in a couple of months."

He shook his head not believing her. "I love you. You know I do."

"I heard that too. Before breaking up, you used to say it almost every day. And still this is where your so called love brought us."

He cursed her stubbornness as he stared at her. "You want to know what's different… I didn't know what it was to live without you back then. I didn't know it would hurt that bad. I didn't know I would regret my stupid decision until I found you again. Now I do."

"It's too late now."

"You can't lie to me anymore Sakura. Your words lost credibility the moment I kissed you. I still love you and I know you still feel something for me."

She took a deep breath. "The answer is still no."

"Sakura,"

"Do you need another reason?"

He stared at her.

"You'd just made me what I was to you back then... An obstacle."

He narrowed his eyes and tried to control the anger he started feeling inside. "How can you say that?"

She could feel the fury and frustration behind his question, "How can I not? It was the real reason why we both broke up. You never loved me enough and I became to you the obstacle that wouldn't let you reach your dreams."

He sighed and painfully closed his eyes before asking, "How do I fix this? Tell me what do you want me to do to fix this? I already told you it was a mistake when I did it but you're still like this. What can I do to prove that I've changed Sakura?"

"Let me go. Going our separate ways is what's best for both of us Syaoran."

Letting her go? The word furious was not enough to begin describing how he was feeling right now. He closed his eyes in frustration and opened the door for her. "You don't mean that. But if that's what you want then so be it."

She wanted to stay. She wanted to hold him like she did the first night he was here after his injury and console him like she had. But things were different. She had to hurt him to keep him focused. This was the only way they could still be at each other's side for now.

She walked towards the door but before leaving she turned towards him. "You shouldn't be thinking about me right now. Your major concern should be towards your recuperation."

He could've said many things to that but instead he stayed silenced. Anger had never been a friend of his. Another lesson learned with time. Nothing said in anger would help him in any situation and much less with her. So he waited for her to be out of his room before closing the door.

Author's Note: First of all I want to thank Liz for the small tips on these chapters. It's not easy to proofread your own work. Sometimes I even find it hard to catch my own mistakes and you have already helped me in two of my chapters. So thank you. I really appreciate it. As for the rest of my reviewers I thank you for letting me know what you think of this story. I find it that with time it has gotten better and reading your reviews lets me know that you like this story. So, here's chapter 12. I hope you guys enjoy it as well and as always let me know what you think of it. Also, I hope this New Year is full of many good blessings for everyone!