Disclaimer: I don't own these people

Elopement

Syaoran couldn't eat. He hadn't slept properly in days. It was Monday morning. He'd suffered through the weekend, unable to go through the normal actions he usually went through. All he could think about was how Sakura had looked when he'd first brought her to Antonello's , when she'd grinned at him delivering Antonello's food, when she'd sat silently next to him in front of her door that last night. He wished he'd done more to... memorise her face... to absorb the throaty sound of her voice. He wished she was there with him right now.

He didn't know how he'd gotten through that endless Friday. How could he go to Antonello's when he'd remember how she'd sat opposite him in what he had come to think of as their booth? He'd tried walking off the strange feeling inside him, but the moment his legs took him to Central Park, where memories of Sakura on a checkered red blanket bombarded him, he'd had to turn right around and go home.

His house suddenly felt entirely too empty. He thought of Sakura's apartment, cluttered with stuff, her dining table, so small their knees could touch, her collection of porcelain Disney dolls.

He didn't think he could even work. How could he when she'd been there just on Friday, killing him inside with those big green eyes? This was the limit. He was going to make her listen, toss her over his shoulder like some caveman if it came to that, but he'd force her to listen to reason. Surely she wouldn't begrudge him an explanation?!

He slammed his car door as he got in, and screeched to a stop in front of her apartment building. Letting his annoyance carry him up the front stairs, he violently jammed the button for the intercom, only to stand there fuming when he realised she wasn't home. Honestly, how could she have the nerve to not be home when he wanted a confrontation? His guilt was transforming into a much more comfortable anger in unreasonable proportions.

Slamming back into the jag, he drove to work.

Sakura was sitting in the back room of the bridal shop, listening to Tomoyo talk about hems and laces with half an ear. Her work only truly began at the end of the working day, when she had to tabulate all the sales figures and all the dresses sold. She sat, staring into space, as Tomoyo went on about this difficult customer and that stupid one, and was interrupted by a present one at the door.

Sakura, alone in the small back room, allowed herself one moment to think about Syaoran. One moment to remember how happy she had been with him, then pushed the moment aside and went out to help Tomoyo. Might as well put her sadness into physical energy and work, work, work.

After sending the customer off, happy as a clam with a new dress, Tomoyo sat down and sighed heavily. Sakura, knowing the signs, pushed aside her own misery and went to her, ready to comfort.

"Scared about the wedding, Tomoyo?" Sakura put her arm around Tomoyo. Had Tomoyo been getting thinner these days? The stress that came with organizing the 'the perfect wedding' that she so wanted was obviously weighing on her mind.

Tomoyo nodded, forlorn. "Nothing seems to be going right, Sakura. It hadn't been for days, but I just didn't want to except it. The flowers may be late, the cake may not be baked in time either, I can't get ushers, don't even want to think of the caterers I let my mother deal with! I've been planning this day ever since I was nine! And it's going all wrong!" Sakura was shocked. Guilt rushed in to fill the place of the ever-present pain for the first time in days. What kind of a friend was she not to pay attention to Tomoyo's difficulties? She decided to apply herself to solving the problem.

"Tomoyo, you know Eriol would have married you in a side chapel in Las Vegas, with cheap booze and showgirls as witnesses. All he wants to do is be with you, and he doesn't really care how you come to him." Sakura prayed that Tomoyo's mother wouldn't kill her when she found out what she was trying to make Tomoyo do.

At the same time, she was forcibly reminded of Syaoran's monumental insincerity. She quickly concentrated hard on Tomoyo. She thought of Syaoran far too much these days, and now was even less the appropriate time than usual.

Tomoyo began to stutter, thinking about what Sakura had inadvertently suggested. "But the guests... the church... the food... my mother!" Sakura started to think twice about the solution she'd thought of, but Tomoyo suddenly spoke up.

"I think you're right, Sakura. You don't have a date to my wedding, anyway, and if my dear Sakura won't be enjoying herself, and I won't be enjoying myself, then Eriol and I... we'll just have to elope then!"

Sakura's heart thudded to a stop. "What?! No! I meant more along the lines of a smaller wedding! A much smaller wedding, with just witnesses, or less guests, or whatever, but elopement is... much bigger, Tomoyo! Your mom will slaughter me!"

Tomoyo shook her head firmly, as if coming to a decision already. Sakura raised both hands in front of herself, palms up, as if trying to control this new brainstorm, or beat it into submission so it wouldn't cause so much trouble.

"No, Sakura. Don't you see? Eriol and I... this is perfect for us! My mom can hold a reception celebrating my elopement with all the guests invited to the wedding, and Eriol and I can slip away to our honeymoon destination on earlier tickets! It's a wonderful idea! My mother is the one who loves throwing parties, anyway."

Tomoyo suddenly whipped out her cellphone, the one she'd got more for company purposes, and began to dial what Sakura already knew was Eriol's number, while Sakura stood, almost desperately trying to calculate the possible repercussions. It seemed that the wedding, which had been the focus of the week and all her dating, didn't appear to be such a big deal after all.

Sakura went back into the back room absently, to give Tomoyo some privacy, and privately hoped that Eriol wouldn't give too much of a fight. It would only work to his disadvantage once Tomoyo was on a roll like this. Sakura loved the guy, and didn't want him to get too beaten up.

When Tomoyo came into the back room beaming, Sakura guessed that the man either knew what was good for him, or loved Tomoyo so much he'd give her anything. Something inside her squeezed with envy at their love, and she felt more happy at that moment for the both of them than she ever had before.

Then Tomoyo had to drop the bomb.

"Eriol agrees wholeheartedly! He knew that I was getting overwhelmed with the planning, and he said that if I didn't suggest something, he would have taken me away anyway! Oh, how I love him!" Tomoyo sighed blissfully, then said. "And we both want you to come with us as a witness, Sakura! You're coming with us to Paris on Friday!"

Note: Number 14. Just a note, for those who are interested, I've got an idea for a next story already, so stay tuned! Enjoy.