Hiya, welcome to Chapter 4! Sorry it took so long, but this chapter was very difficult to write. If I spelt any Japanese words wrong, it's not my fault because I had to guess.

Chapter 4

Back in Tomoeda, Mei Ling, Sakura and Tomoyo were busy making plans to find Li. Sitting on a bench outside the station, Sakura did up an extra button on her coat. It was very cold for September. Tomoyo flicked through sheets of paper, looking for a certain one, and for some reason Mei Ling had sewn a very large Chinese dragon to one of her pockets.

"So...do you have any ideas?" Sakura wondered.

"Um...not really," Tomoyo said. "But I did some posters! Look!" She held one up. It displayed a picture of Li at a party drinking something brown out of the bottle."Perhaps I should have picked a less embarrassing snapshot for that," she giggled.

"Have you thought about contacting Li's mother?" Mei Ling suggested.

"I would do, but I don't know the address or phone number, and I think address books are against Syaoran's religion or something," Sakura sighed. "Perhaps we should go to Hong Kong and look for him there."

Mei Ling snapped her fingers. "Sakura, that's it! Hong Kong! Why didn't we think of that? Li did live there before, didn't he? Perhaps...for some reason, he had to go back for a while. Let's book some airline tickets."

"Mei Ling! I don't have that kind of money!" Sakura exlaimed. "It's all right for you two, since you have a pretty good job, but what about me? I'm on maternity leave."

"Don't worry, I can pay for you," Tomoyo suggested.

"Aregato, Tomoyo!" Sakura said, throwing her arms around her friend. Tomoyo blushed. "Really, it's no problem."

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Back at home, Sakura was busy messing about with Toya's computer, scrolling through endless airline booking sites.

"Sakura, tell me exactly why you want a flight to China?" Toya asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Toya, go away! I'm trying to concentrate," she complained, minimizing the easyJet website.

"Suit yourself. I'm going out, okay? I'll be back in an hour or two. See you."

"Bye," she called, but he had already left. She picked up the phone, pressed a few numbers, then waited. "Tomoyo? Tell Mei Ling I've got the tickets. Next Friday at three, we are going to Hong Kong."

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Meanwhile, Li wasn't having a fantastic time with Amélie and her sister Vanessa, who kept fluttering her eyelashes at him when she thought Amélie wasn't looking. He was finding it hard to sleep at night, yearning for Sakura. Frustratingly, the residence did not contain a computer with which to email her, and the phone line had been cut off. Stuck in a country too far from his beloved Sakura, with two total strangers, life was not getting any better. And Vanessa was now hinting heavily she would like to go to some dance with him. She drifted around draped in long dresses and kimonos, like a porcelain doll, and hardly ever went outside. Plus she could speak English perfectly without any trace of an accent, much to Amélie's surprise, who until that point had never heard her say a word in a different language.

"She is strange, mon soeur," she told him thoughtfully, over lunch that day. "No friends. She spends most of 'er time daydreaming. Our muzzer says she will get 'erself into a lot of trouble one day, with 'er head up in ze clouds. I think she is right."

Li frowned. There had to be some way out of this - and if there was, he had better find it quick.