Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

Title: Until the End of Time
Teaser: Li Syaoran never learned to appreciate the telephone until after he met – and was subsequently separated from – Kinomoto Sakura.
Rating: K+
Length: 1020 words

Li Syaoran never appreciated telephones until he met Kinomoto Sakura.

Or, rather, he never appreciated telephones until he was separated from her.

Syaoran preferred to speak to people face to face. So much of a conversation was told in body language, in the way people held themselves and in the expressions on their faces when they spoke. On the other end of a telephone, it was impossible to read these nonverbal queues. Intimidation was also much harder to accomplish, for glaring at the telephone did absolutely nothing to affect the person on the other end of the line.

The two years Syaoran had spent in Hong Kong, an ocean away from the girl who had, somehow, impossibly, captured his heart, had changed his mind. The time had been utter agony for the young Li Clan heir, each hour dragging by with excruciating sluggishness as he counted down the days until he could return to her side.

The exception came every day at about the same time each night. The phone would ring, Syaoran would drop whatever he was doing, and from the second he heard her voice until the inexorable time when they were forced to hang up, Syaoran once again felt truly alive.

Thankfully, that torture had ended years ago. Syaoran was now officially a resident alien of Tomoeda, Japan, and he had never been happier in his life.

Of course, nothing lasted forever. Inescapably, during school vacations and holidays, Syaoran would be called back "home" to Hong Kong, where he faced inspection by the Clan Elders, interrogation by his family, and separation from the girl of his dreams.

But there were always phone calls.

"Xiaolang, if you stare at that phone any harder it will burst into flames."

Syaoran cast a glance over his shoulder at his mother and quickly returned to studying the black device on the table. Why hadn't it rung yet? She was going to call tonight, wasn't she? Should he maybe call her, instead? But what if she tried calling at the same time, and they ended up getting a busy signal . . . ?

"Xiaolang."

He jumped, guiltily. "Yes, mother?"

Li Yelan studied her son with amused eyes. Had he even heard her speaking to him?

"Perhaps you should wait in the other room," she suggested. "You could get some work done as you wait." Not, she knew, that he would be able to focus on anything remotely resembling work.

The teenager sputtered indignantly. "But what if she calls and I miss her?"

His mother raised an eyebrow. "I doubt that could happen, my son."

"Yeah, but I can't risk it." He returned to his scrutiny of the telephone, leaning forward so far that his nose brushed the plastic surface.

Yelan hid a smile behind her hand, then took a moment to compose herself before asking, "When do you plan to bring her home, Xiaolang?"

"What?" He glance up, then back down, muttering distractedly, "I've brought Sakura to visit before, Mother, don't you remember?"

"Xiaolang." Again, her amusement fought to break through, and this time she didn't bother to hide the small smile that crept onto her face. "Xiaolang, that is not what I meant."

"What?" He looked up again, this time giving her, if not his undivided attention, at least some amount of focus. "What, you mean . . . ?" And his face turned a bright cherry red.

"The tradition," she said, "is for the heir of our clan to be married before he assumes the role of leadership." With the death of his father some years before, both Yelan and Syaoran knew that, come the boy's eighteenth birthday, the Council of Elders would turn the rule of the Li Clan over to the rightful heir.

If it was possible, her son's face grew even redder. "Yes, I know . . . I just, erm . . ."

"Does she know?"

Syaoran fidgeted. "I . . . well . . . erg . . ." He choked, coughed violently until his eyes ran, then swiped the moisture away from his face.

"Or isn't Miss Kinomoto the one you wish to marry?"

He choked again, sputtering. "It's not that!"

"Even the Elders would support you, Xiaolang. The Mistress of the Clow Cards would be a powerful addition to the blood of the Li Clan."

Her son's cheeks were aflame with his embarrassment, and he hid his face in his hands. "Mother"

Yelan took pity on him. "Of course, you are both very young," she admitted. "There is no pressure, for now. But Xiaolang," she added, putting a hand on his shoulder, "you cannot wait forever. You have a responsibility to our family. The line must continue."

He was saved the discomfort of answering when the telephone finally rang. The teen pounced on the device, his eyes lighting up and a flush that had nothing to do with embarrassment rising to his face. "Sakura?"

Yelan quietly slipped out the door, leaving him to speak with his love in peace.

"What is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You sound kind of . . . funny. Is everything okay? You're not sick, are you?" The worry in her voice made his heart melt into a little puddle at his feet. Gods, he loved her!

"No, no, nothing like that. Just a conversation I had with my mother."

"What about?

"Er . . . Ask me again sometime. When I get back, maybe." Well, it wasn't like he could ask her on the phone, after all.

"Hoe?"

"Nothing." He smiled. "I love you."

She was clearly still puzzled, but she didn't need to think twice about her response. "I love you too. But what's . . . ?"

Laughing, he teased, "Secret."

"Syaoran!"

Still laughing, Syaoran closed his eyes and let his mind dwell on the future. Yes . . . this was the girl he wanted to spend his life with. The was the girl he wanted to hold forever at his side. To hold, and love, and protect, and be protected by, forever and ever.

Forever and ever, until the end of time.