Disclaimer: I don't own these people

Forever

With trembling fingers, Sakura ripped through the tape holding both ends of the paper bag together. Syaoran had given it to her. She took one more moment to hold on to the thought. The last thing Syaoran had left her with.

Holding her muscles so still they began to ache, she only realised she'd been holding her breath when the pressure in her chest became unbearable. She parted the opening of the bag, and reached in, pulling out two objects.

Almost at once she realised what they were. The porcelain figure of the lion, Simba, sat side by side with a brightly painted hamburger with all the works in her cupped palms. She understood perfectly. "The ultimate hamburger." she whispered to herself. The doll she had been looking for for years suddenly no longer reminded her of her mother, and thoughts of Syaoran washed over her like a flood even as guilt twinged.

He had brought her what both of them had thought she'd wanted, when what her heart truly craved for had been in front of her the whole time. Syaoran. She had let Syaoran go. The small ache in her muscles grew to a pain, and the pain spread and spread, until it seemed she would never be able to get away from it. The thought rang in her head. Syaoran. She had let him go. Syaoran.

Pulling off the soft slippers covering her feet, she curled her legs up in front of her and, resting her forehead on her knees, cried as if her heart had burst. Even as the tears soaked the knees of her jeans, her wailing was still soft, almost to herself. Tomoyo and Eriol slept on in their seats, blissfully unaware of anything out of the ordinary. Only Sakura herself knew just how many times she had cried over Syaoran over the past week.

As if disregarding the frequency, as if it were only the first time, her tears fell all over again. Vaguely, she felt something nudging her shoulder, she turned around, fully intending to brush it away, and came face to face with a pristine, white handkerchief. A masculine voice said huskily, "Don't cry. There's no need to cry."

Faced with the need to be alone to wallow in self-pity and the equally strong instinct to be polite, Sakura sighed and excepted the handerchief from the hand extended between the two seats, fully intending to say 'thank you', when suddenly the timbre of the voice struck a chord within her. It couldn't be... could it?

Gripping the head of her seat with both hands, she slowly unfolded herself and knelt on her seat, head bowed close to her hands, unable to make the final push to let her eyes see for themselves what her heart suspected. Scolding herself for her cowardliness, she grasped the cushion so hard her knuckles turned white. At last, she pulled herself up. Her jaw dropped and her tears immediately dried up in shock.

"Syaoran?" she couldn't believe he was right here, right in front of her, when all she'd been doing all week was wishing for him. Did someone 'up there' really grant wishes?

Syaoran couldn't stop a grin. She was right here, right in front of him. Her eyes had lit up at the sight of him, and he wondered if she knew it. Then the grin dropped from his face. She was crying again. "Sakura... no, don't... don't cry, Sakura.". Later he would have said that she had given absolutely no warning of what she had been about to do.

Seething with anger and tears of happiness, she demanded, "Did you set this up? Syaoran, did you set this up?!" getting louder with each syllable, until she launched herself over her seat and into his lap, clawing like a tigress.

Syaoran fought to get an arm around her nails and teeth. Sakura sure fought dirty. One stomp had gotten uncomfortably close to his groin. She was still crying, trying to get her hands around his neck, he was sure, to strangle him. She seemed to be so angry she couldn't get proper words out.

"You... you... you..." she stuttered, then she found his mouth with her own.

A stewardess that had come running at Sakura's yell turned away with a smile when she saw them wrapped around each other, clinging like vines to a tree. Sakura straddled Syaoran's lap, her bare feet planted on either side of his hips. With his face caught between both her hands, she placed half-frantic kisses on all the skin she could reach.

Syaoran could only hold her close, unable to do anything more but crush her to him as she kissed him, forehead, cheeks, chin, and lips.

"You... you're really here." Sakura finally rested her forehead against his, looking into his eyes. "I know I said I wanted you to let me go, but I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it."

"I couldn't do it. I really can't do without you, Sakura. I love you." There. He'd said it, at last. Would she take him then? Or did she want them to go back to what they started out as? Friends with benefits, maybe? Syaoran didn't think he'd be able to take it.

"Oh Syaoran." Sakura breathed out quickly, and the words fumbled over each other to get out of her mouth first. "I love you too! Oh how I love you! I forgive you. Just don't leave me again. Just-"

With a hand behind her head, Syaoran yanked her down to him and devoured her, just as he'd been dreaming to for the past week. Unbidden, Sakura's tongue swirled with his, closing the circle of desire and love with that magical dance. He slanted his mouth and took the kiss deeper, took her deeper with sensual flicks and strategic pressure. Sakura moaned and sighed. She had come home.

One hand on the back of her head, Syaoran slid the other lower and lower down her back until it came into contact with the tops of her jeans. Dipping his fingers into the waistband, all he did was stroke lightly along the sensitive skin there. It was the most exquisite feeling Sakura had ever known.

She lifted her head, breaking them apart regretfully, but there were things to say. Nevertheless, she kept her lips a mere inch away , never taking her eyes away from his, the sexy chocolate eyes that told her she was lucky they were in public, if not...

"I wasn't going forever, you know. I was going back in three weeks. I'd have come back." She wanted him to know she'd never have been able to stay away. Her arms held on to his shoulders as if she would float away and he was her anchor.

"But you wouldn't have come back to me. I'm here to change that." He smiled, the charming smile that was irresistable to every living, breathing woman alive, Sakura included.

Closing the short distance, Sakura kissed him softly. "Yes, I would have. I probably would have come to find you when I came back. I don't think I can do without you either." she confessed. Syaoran felt the damnedest, warmest feeling flow through him. "I got your presents, too. Thank you." she kissed him again. They grinned like fools at each other.

"Marry me." He'd blurted it out even before he'd realised he was going to say it, then decided to go the whole hog through. "I'll take care of you, I'll make you happy. I love you, Sakura." he had to remind himself to breathe in and out.

Sakura immediately opened her mouth to say something. "I-"

"I want you to share my home. It's too big for me, anyway, and you can fill it up with whatever you want. All I want is you. Marry me. Be my family, Sakura." he knew he was babbling, but somehow he couldn't seem to stop. He'd never proposed before. Was it supposed to be done crammed into an aeroplane seat with the woman in question sitting on your lap kissing you into paradise? Wait a minute, was there really any proper way to do it?

Sakura giggled. What a beautiful sound. "Stop it. Of course I'll marry you. You're mine. Who else'll take you?" Then a sudden brainstorm hit her. "I know! Why don't we do it in Paris? Since we're already well on our way... It's a great idea!" she poked him in the shoulder. "Tell me it's a great idea, Syaoran."

Syaoran pulled her back to his chest, with him, where she clearly belonged. "I don't really care, as long as we get there in the end, as long as we get there together."

Sakura settled onto him, secured by his arms around her, knowing that this time was forever.

THE END

At last, it ends! I hope all of you enjoy this story as much as I did writing it. I'm going to start my next one soon. Tomorrow, actually. Hahaha. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys are my muse, and I'm eternally grateful. I don't think I'll put up an epilogue, because I don't believe in them , for the first thing. If I do put up another chapter, it'll be titled 'Paris', about... well... it's kinda obvious. I don't want to disappoint everyone who asked for one, so I probably will in the end. Hahaha. I just would like to thank MikoKagome1113 for reviewing so much! I already had this chapter ready to upload today, and I'm glad that it filled all your requirements even before I read of them, hahahahahahahahaha. Thanks to all who reviewed!