As Sakura looked inside the box, she was too shocked for words. How could he spoil her after all the trouble she had caused him in the last year? Inside the box were the locket and earrings she had been interested in at the jewellery shop a few weeks back, but she hadn't been expecting him to buy the set for her. She didn't even tell him what she wanted in the end because of what had happened on the day.

"That's not fair…" She whispered, holding the set close to her chest.

"You can spoil me another day." He said.

Sakura smiled, "Alright then."

Tomoyo smiled, satisfied that her sister was pleased with his gifts. "Shall we have breakfast then?" she suggested.

"That would be wise." Syaoran agreed.

"I'd rather get dressed first." Sakura said. "Its kind of embarrassing sitting around in my pyjamas."

"We'll meet you in the dining hall then!" Tomoyo smiled cheerfully.

Sakura stood with her gifts and walked back to the bedroom with Syaoran beside her. He glanced over at her to see what her expression was, and found that she was genuinely happy. He was glad.

They entered their room and Sakura placed her things on the bed, deciding that she'd wear her lilac coloured gown for the day. She shrugged out of her dressing gown and placed it back in the wardrobe, and then began to untie the two bows at the back of her nightgown that kept it together at the waist and at the nape of her neck. It fell loose, and just as she was about to take it off she felt Syaoran wrap his arms around her from behind.

"What is it…?" She asked.

"Nothing…" he murmured into her shoulder.

She wriggled around in his embrace and made eye contact with him; he was already dressed in his usual shirt and vest with his black pants.

She smiled up at him, "Thank you for the gifts." She said softly.

"You're welcome." Syaoran smiled back.

She leant up and kissed him gently before pulling back and giving him one last smile before turning around and returning to getting dressed. She pulled the lilac dress over her head and looked over her shoulder.

"Would you mind helping me…?" she asked.

He walked over and began to lace her into the dress, and once he did she picked up the locket and put it on along with the earrings. She brushed her hair and pulled it back with a small clip and turned around to face him.

"How does it look?" She asked.

"You look beautiful." He replied.

She smiled and hugged him once more before she pulled on a pair of shoes and walked down the stairs to the dining hall with him.

Tomoyo and Eriol were waiting patiently for them, and as they walked in they both smiled. Sakura took her usual seat as did Syaoran, and Ami walked out with their meals. Beside her was a little girl who looked just like her except for the eyes.

"Avery-get back in the kitchen!" Ami whispered.

Avery smiled up at her mother with all her childish love and Ami felt incredibly embarrassed that her daughter had managed to get out of the kitchen. "I apologise…" she said as she placed their meals on the table.

"You're perfectly fine." Syaoran said.

Ami picked Avery up and hurried away quickly and Sakura smiled. "I haven't met Avery before; she's cute." She said.

"She looked so frail though…" Chii murmured.

"Avery is frail; she falls ill often." Syaoran replied. Sakura looked at him with surprise. "That was half the reason I gave her the job; so she could support her daughter and if need be I could help."

"So, what was going to happen once I took over the household chores?" Sakura muttered.

"I would have given her something else to do." He shrugged.

"Like what?" Sakura asked sarcastically.

"I didn't want to leave you alone while I was gone."

"Because I can't be trusted?"

"Because I work long hours. I didn't want you sitting at home all day, alone. Well-you did end up finding other ways to entertain yourself in the end, so I guess it was ok." He muttered.

Tomoyo giggled at their little argument and Sakura shot her a glare. "Well, at least you two are getting along compared to all those long months ago."

"Whatever." They both said in unison. They looked at each other and then smiled again, and then they turned their attention to another topic of discussion while eating breakfast.

When they had finished eating and after talking a little more, Sakura and Syaoran saw Tomoyo and Eriol off mid-afternoon. They walked back towards the lounge holding hands and Syaoran sat down on the couch with Sakura beside him.

"What do you want to do with the rest of your day?" he asked.

She smiled, "I'm not sure-it's really just another day. We could go anywhere if we wanted to." She said.

"That's true, I suppose." He said. "I have a little bit of work to do later, but we could go out to the local park for a little while?"

"That sounds nice." She smiled.

It was freezing outside but even so children still ran wild in the park. Sakura found a nice place in the shade beneath a tree and sat down with Syaoran; she watched as a group of children chased each other in the snow, and she smiled.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"What do you think our children will be like?" she asked.

"If they take after you, probably a pain in the neck." He laughed.

"Ouch, your words sting." She sighed.

He was distracted from her briefly as he noticed someone from across the park staring at them. The sun was in his eyes, so he used his hand to shield his eyes from the glare and to get a better view. He noticed that they were much older and there was something bizarre about him, something he couldn't quite describe, and he felt unsettled.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"…We need to leave."

"Why? It's nice here."

He looked back to where he saw the older man, but he was gone. Either way he wasn't taking any chances of having Sakura put in danger again.

"It's something I can't quite explain-I'm sorry."

"You can at least try." She said softly. He stayed silent and she knew that something was wrong. "Alright; let's go home." She smiled, taking his hand.

Their walk back was quiet, and Sakura was beginning to become worried, but even so she didn't ask any questions. When they finally got back to the house she stopped him, and he turned to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "I'm worried."

"I'm sorry-it just didn't feel safe." He said.

She smiled, "But you're with me."

He hugged her, "I'll be upstairs in the study for a while. If you need me come and see me." He pulled away and headed upstairs, and Sakura watched with worry as he disappeared around the corner.

…

Syaoran sat in the study trying to get his mind off of what had just happened by distracting himself with paperwork and research. It wasn't really working, and it was just frustrating him, so he pushed it to the side and pulled out the letter he had received from Sakura's mother so many months back.

He read through it again, the last few lines sticking in his head even more than they had back then. He had thought that her mother was just being paranoid that there was someone after her two daughters, but now he wasn't so sure. The attacks on Sakura in the alleyway... Did his father know?

He was distracted from his thoughts as there was a knock at the door. He sighed, "Come in."

Mira stepped through and closed the door. She smiled politely and walked over.

He looked at her sceptically, "What is it?"

"I'm terribly sorry to intrude, but my back seems to be hurting. I injured myself yesterday and scraped it on a metal pipe but now it's throbbing…do you think you could look at it…?" she asked shyly.

Syaoran didn't want to but he couldn't turn her away either. If she was telling the truth then he had to at least see if it was infected or not. He released an unhappy sigh and turned his chair.

"Show me the wound, then." He said.

She walked around and turned her back, showing him the back of her uniform. Displeased with her behaviour, he undid the buttons and slowly revealed her back. He quickly realised that there was no wound and felt his anger rise.

"What the hell kind of game are you playing?" he hissed.

She smiled and turned around. "You and I both know that your wife can't ever live up to what is expected of her. I can." She smiled as she slid her sleeves off her shoulders.

"Put your uniform back on Mira." He snapped. "You know nothing."

...

Unable to concentrate on her drawing or sewing due to being worried about Syaoran, Sakura stood and walked upstairs towards the study. She lifted her hand to knock on the door but it creaked open a little bit, which was unusual. She heard Mira's voice inside, so she opened it further only to see something that she wished she had not seen. Her eyes widened with shock and Syaoran looked over, surprised.

"Oh my." Mira smirked.

"No…not again…" Sakura whispered, feeling all of the blood drain from her face and her eyes begin to tear up. "This is just like what happened with Dimitri all over again! We were together for three years and I thought, I thought that he loved me-hell, we were engaged!" she screamed.

"Sakura-" Syaoran tried to stop her, but she shook her head as tears slid down her cheeks.

"As soon as I got that bloody letter to his wedding did I realise what he really was-he told me he found someone better, and I realised that society was always going to be the same!"

Shocked at what she had just revealed about her past, Sakura gasped and turned. She ran out of the room and out of habit, locked herself in their room.

Heart racing with fear, Syaoran pushed past Mira and followed Sakura just in time to see her lock herself in their room, and he hoped she didn't do anything stupid.

"Sakura please-"

"Don't!" she cried. "I can't take it anymore. Everyone I love just betrays me or leaves me…"

"That's not what it happened-just listen to me." He begged.

"Why should I?" Sakura said sadly. "I'm not good at anything around the house and she's probably better at everything!"

"That's not true-Sakura, I know that when you were young, you used to climb the trees in the spring to pick your mother's favourite flower; I know that you learned how to ride horseback and that you continued to develop your art skills after your fathers death; I know that you worked hard on keeping your fathers memory alive and I know that you did all of those things just so you could see your mother and your sister smile again. That's not something everyone can do, and I know it must have been hard feeling alone when there was no one to confide in." He said softly. "Please, you have to believe me. I wouldn't turn my back on you."

There was silence between them for several minutes and Syaoran was beginning to wonder if she was listening or not. He decided that the best thing for now was just to give her some space and some time to think. Perhaps maybe one day she'd tell him about what happened in her past with Dimitri, but now was not the time.

"I'll be in the lounge if you want to speak with me, alright?" he said, and then left.

Sakura sat alone in the room, left to her thoughts and worries. She heard Syaoran leave but didn't call out to him despite her want for him to stay. She was so confused and hurt that she didn't know what to do. She didn't understand what was going on and she knew the deep-rooted hatred wasn't for Syaoran but rather the man who had hurt her in the past. Seeing Mira with Syaoran had dug up all her memories that she thought she had finally buried for good, along with all of the pain.

Syaoran's words span around her head-he knew so much about her that she'd never told him… They were things that he could have only found out through her sister or mother, or even from his father when he was young, but for him to notice that she had done what she had just to make her sister and mother smile again-to make them happy-only someone who had connected to her could have noticed that.

Dimitri never understood her or even tried to. As soon as he found out anything strange he asked her never to do such a thing again, his words and actions almost violent and frightening. Upon seeing her frightened face he became remorseful and almost loving, so Sakura of course never again did while they were in their relationship, and she tried everything she could to please him. As soon as she found out that he was marrying another woman, however, she quickly put up an emotional barrier and carried on with her life doing what she liked best.

Syaoran, on the other hand, had accepted who she was and the things she liked, and had taken an interest in her drawing. He didn't turn her away or tell her to stop when he caught her for the second time, but apologised for how he had originally acted towards her. Knowing that made her feel happy and accepted, and she felt that she could believe him. She decided that she would go out and talk to him to see what had really happened rather than sit with misconceptions in her head and overthink the entire situation. After all, Syaoran was not Dimitri.

…

Syaoran sat staring into space, lost in thought and worried about Sakura. He had spoken with Mira moments earlier and had told her that if he ever saw her, if she ever tried anything again she'd be executed under his watch. It was fair enough to say that she was quite pale and unsettled when she left.

He felt tired as he sat there, and as he closed his eyes he heard footsteps stop at the door. He looked over to see Sakura standing quietly in the doorway.

"May I sit with you?" Sakura asked quietly

"Of course." He replied softly.

She walked over and sat beside him; she turned so that she was facing him and crossed her legs after kicking off her shoes.

"I wanted to ask for your side of the story; it's not fair of me to jump to conclusions." She said. Her voice sounded raw from crying and her eyes were still red and sore.

"Do you want me to start from the start or just what happened today?" He asked.

"Whatever makes it easier." She said.

"It basically started when my father passed away; Mira decided that if she could find a weak spot, such as perhaps losing a loved one, I might confide in her. It started off with flirting-I ignored it. She became a bit more aggressive with how she approached things. Occasionally there was blackmail or guilt tripping, or there was careful manipulation such as today. I had hoped that once I'd gotten married, she would stop her stupid games but she still continued. I should have fired her before it got out of hand, and I apologise for that." He said softly.

Sakura listened, and stayed silent for a moment. "What happened today…?" she asked.

"Mira knows I'm a doctor, so she came in with the claim that she had scratched her back on a metal pipe. I was sceptical, but I couldn't be sure unless I checked." He replied honestly.

"I see." She murmured. "What's happening with Mira…?"

"I fired her." Syaoran told her. "I also told her that if she ever tried anything or if I ever saw her again, she'd be executed under my watch."
Sakura couldn't keep a straight face and raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was a bit much, don't you think?" she asked.

"I've had enough of her stupid games. I'm tired of dealing with her."

Sakura smiled, "Well, it sounds like we both fucked up."

"What?"

"You hired a screwy maid and I dated a goon. I think it's fair to say that we're equal." She smiled. "Perhaps we should send them to the underworld together in a nice boat; they'd make a great couple, don't you think?"

"Yes, I suppose so." He laughed.

Sakura's smile fell after a minute, and she looked away. "Do you remember Dimitri, from the ball?" she asked quietly.

He sighed. "It's a bit hard not to. You were at his throat."

"When I was fifteen I started dating him. We met at a ball and kept seeing each other because my mother often had business of sorts with his parents, so I got to know him and he got to know me. He was two years older than me, but I didn't care and my mother didn't seem to mind…" she began, and searched for her next words.

"He saw me drawing once and got really angry-it was quite frightening and I was really scared, but he calmed down and apologised, so I thought we were ok. By seventeen we were engaged and I was really happy. Of course I never drew around him or rode a horse or anything like that because I feared his temper, but most of all I just wanted to be with him. I'd never been loved by another, so I didn't understand or know what to expect. When I was eighteen, things were still going ok-or so I thought anyway… One day he just came up to me and handed me a wedding invitation. I was so confused that I just stared at him. I asked, "I don't understand, aren't we engaged?" to which he replied, "I found someone better." And walked off. I never saw him again until the ball…"

Syaoran listened quietly. All of her anger and pain made sense considering what she had been through. He finally understood why she had so much trouble adjusting to her life with him, why she had such a hard time opening up to him and why she was so afraid. She had been betrayed so brutally by someone she loved, that she shut herself away.

He leant forward and pulled her into his arms gently, and she reciprocated his embrace.

"Thank you for telling me." He murmured. "I don't want to put you through that sort of pain."

She smiled, "You're not that type of person." She whispered.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes, placing a gentle hand on her cheek. He leant in and kissed her softly on the lips, her eyes fluttering shut against his gentle touch.

They parted, and she shifted over to rest her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He ran his fingers through her hair while they sat together, and she smiled.

"So, what will we do with poor Ami?" she asked.

"I guess you'll have to take up some of the housework." He said jokingly.

Sakura cringed at the thought. "You know I suck at housework, right?"

"Those times you cooked, it was quite nice."

She felt her face turn red and she looked away even though she knew he couldn't see her face.

"Why are you hiding your face?" he asked.

"That was one time! Besides-it was my father's recipe and I used to practice it a lot… I doubt if I tried anything else I'd be any good…" she mumbled.

"Try me." He said, leaning back in the couch.

She turned her head and stared at him with shock. She was so speechless he just raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care if it's one or two days a week; but please give it a try." He smiled.

She pouted. "Weekends." She mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"I said weekends! I'll take on weekends and that's it!"

He smiled, satisfied. "Alright, I'll let Ami know she doesn't have to cook on the weekends."

She sighed, "You're evil…"

Syaoran laughed, "Come on, dinner's shortly. Let's go get ready."

When Sakura entered the dining hall she found two wine glasses set out at the table. In her hand she held a small box that she didn't feel needed to be wrapped, and Syaoran sat in wait for her. She walked over and took her seat at the table, smiling.

"Give me your hand." She said softly.

Confused, he did as she said and held his hand out to her. She placed the small box in his hand and closed his fingers around it with hers.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Open it." She replied.

He opened the small box to find a pendant inside; it was platinum and had four petal-like shapes protruding from the small emerald in the centre. Curling around a single stem were two vine-like structures. It hung from a simple chain, and as he looked up he noticed that Sakura was looking at her knees.

"It was my Fathers…I hope you don't mind-I wanted you to have it. I had the chain repaired and the pendant cleaned." She said quietly.

He smiled, "Thank you; I'll take care of it."

She smiled with relief. Ami walked out with a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers, which Sakura recognised to be her favourite.

"A bouquet for the lady." She smiled, handing Sakura the bouquet of morning glory and white carnations.

Sakura took the bouquet and looked to Syaoran, "Why…?"

"Yes, expensive things are nice, but so are the simple things." He said gently.
She smiled into the flowers, happy that he had thought of such small details for her.

"Thank you…"

Ami poured the wine and then disappeared back into the kitchen for a few moments before bringing out their meal, and they enjoyed their comfortable conversation at the table while they ate.

…

As they lay together in bed late that night, Sakura ran her fingers over the pendant that now sat around Syaoran's neck. He smiled and curled his fingers around hers.

She looked up at him and he asked, "Do you have anything planned for tomorrow?"

"Nothing in particular." She replied. "Why?"

"I have to go into work tomorrow, and there's a couple of terminally ill children that I think you should meet." He said.

She felt a little shocked by what he was saying-he was asking her to come with him? Wouldn't she just be a distraction?

"I don't think your colleagues would be too pleased about that…" she murmured uncomfortably.

"If you're with children, I doubt you'll do anything to upset the staff." He said, unfazed.

She bit her lip, thinking, and sighed. "I guess if I'm helping the children, then it's ok…"

He leant in and kissed her, placing his hand on her back and pulling her closer. As they parted she smiled, "We should get some sleep."

"I suppose." He sighed and turned off the lamp.

Sakura closed her eyes still smiling, as she felt extremely lucky to be able to go to work with Syaoran. It would have been so rare for women to be at work with their husbands unless they worked from home, and Sakura felt a little nervous. Finally she began to feel tired and she drifted off, and fell asleep.

Hello there! Mira's gone for good-yay! Thank you all for your fabulous reviews, favourites and follows. I do appreciate them a lot! Sakura has finally revealed what Dimitri did to shatter her trust of any male. I'll be expanding on this in later chapters, the other reasons that led to her shutting herself away and pretty much hating the male populace. Asides, of course, her feelings towards herself which was mentioned in...chapter nine? I think.

what do you think so far? Let me know :)