Okay two things here!

1. Those of you who hated the fact that Sakura lost her virginity to Shen. I'm sorry! But are you gonna sit down and tell me that if you were in her position, in love, with a fiance, about to be married, and you wouldn't want to have sex with the dude? Don't kid here! We all know you would jump on his bones the day he proposes to ya! So don't come and say it sucks! It's called love! And it's a disease we all suffer from.

2. You'll all have your S&S moments, after all, Syaoran only has a month to either get married or break Shen and Sakura apart. So he's desperate!

Love for Royalty

Chapter VIII Confessions

Tomoyo and Jennifer sat drinking tea at the dinning room. Earlier during the day, Tomoyo had requested Jennifer's presence, apparently she wanted to talk about something important. Syaoran was out on errands that day.

The sun was shinnig as strong as ever and the light passed through the curtains of the dinnng room doors. Tomoyo put her tea cup in the table and finally broke the silence. "I imagine you're asking yourself what I wanted to talk about earlier" Jennifer only nods in agreement. "You see. Sakura is a very dear friend of mine. I've known practically my whole life. She has always charmed me with her warm smile and her honesty is always surprising. Lately I've come to realize that I'm losing that Sakura that I love so much. Ever since she came to this house, she started having problems. So to speak. And I think one of the major problems here is your supposed fiance"

At the sound of the word supposed, Jennifer froze in her seat. What did Tomoyo know? To not seem obvious, she took a sip of her tea calmly. "I don't know what you are talking about by saying that Syaoran is my supposed fiance. We are engaged"

Tomoyo just laughed at the reply. "My dear Jennifer. I wasn't born yesterday. There is a reason why you and Syaoran haven't made your engagement official. And that's because there isn't one. You're just pretending. And I can tell you this, whatever Syaoran is planning with you. He better not hurt Sakura! Or he'll have met his match. I care about Sakura greatly, and I'm not about to let anyone hurt her without doing anything about it. I appreciate you coming to talk to me. That was all I wanted to say. Goodbye" and with that she left leaving Jennifer speechless at the girl's audacity. In only a matter of days, she had figured out Syaoran's scheeme.

When Syaoran finally came back home, Jennifer told him about her conversation with Tomoyo. But to her surprise, Syaoran wasn't alarmed at all. He wasn't worried at all. "Look! I know what I'm doing. In a matter of weeks Sakura will fall for me. Trust me. You'll have Shen"

Later during the day, after taking a jog at the estate's park, Jennifer knocked on Tomoyo's door. The black haired girl led her in. Jennifer threw herself on the floor from exhaustion, Tomoyo sat in her bed watching her. "Tomoyo, what do you think of Shen? Do you really think he is well suited for Sakura? After all, seeing that she's your best friend, I would imagine you would care for her best interests" Jennifer asked the girl watching the ceiling in the room as if looking for the answers there.

"When I met Shen, I thought he was an accomplished young man. He was a senior at Harvard Univesity, an Ivy League School. He was an intelligent person. But then I got to know him better, and saw that he was of a caring and gentle nature. He loves Sakura with all his heart. And yes, I would think he is very well suited for her. She needs someone to remind her every day how special she is. To tell her that she's not alone in this world. To love her for who she is. And Shen does all of that. Shen makes Sakura very happy" Tomoyo was now lying in the bed looking at the ceiling too.

"I…I still love him. Shen I mean. I don't know why. After the way he treated me four years ago, one would think that I could just forget him. But I never did. I still want him. And seeing him with Sakura just hurts! And what is worse… I came to care for her too. She is so kind and cheerful, thinking of the fact that I could possibly hurt her makes me feel ill! I can't tear them apart Tomoyo. I can't make Shen leave Sakura because that would kill her!"

"Contrary of what you think, Sakura is pretty strong and can take care of herself. I assure you, she won't die just because she breaks up with Shen. But it would make her miserable for a while. It may even destroy her faith and trust in others. That's why, If you care for Sakura at all, don't try to budge in between her and Shen! Let them be happy. You deserve a man who can love you Jennifer. You deserve a relationship like the one they have. Shen will never love you the way you deserve to be loved"

"I know. But…for a moment, when I first came here. I could see it. The same cold hearted calculative Shen I feared. It's as if he had two different personalities; one is the kind and gentle one and the other is the silent nerdy one. I don't know why, but I just came to realize that. He now has the advantage over Syaoran, he has Sakura and the title of CEO of Li Enterprises. He doesn't have anything to worry about. But what would happen if Syaoran beat him? What if by some dumb luck Syaoran got the position instead of Shen? What would Shen's reaction be? I never really wondered this but… what's his real priority?"

Tomoyo didn't answer. She just kept silent as if lost in thought. Suddenly it hit her. One way of proving her suspicions. She just hoped that she was wrong about Shen, that he did change in the four years. Or else…

That same night, Shen and Sakura came back to the mansion. They were holding hands and kissing. It made Syaoran sick and Jennifer's heart hurt. After watching them she ran to her room. Tomoyo saw the scene with sad eyes. She could now understand Jennifer's feelings.

Syaoran went to Jennifer's room to see how she was doing. Before coming in he could hear her crying. He opened the door and found her lying in her bed, clutching a pillow and sobbing. Syaoran scratched the back of his head and went to her side. "Jen. Don't feel bad. Okay?"

Jennifer sat up on the edge of the bed and dried her eyes. She then eyed Syaoran. "Syaoran I want you to make love to me"

Syaoran smirked at the offer. He couldn't refuse to pleasure a woman; that wasn't his style. And even less, when they were in distress. So he sat beside at the edge of the bed, caressed her cheek and kissed her passionatly. He wasn't going to lie, with her hot body, he had wanted her all along but something kept restraining him. He couldn't bring himself to sleep with her before. But now that she asked, he was planning on having her at that moment. It didn't matter if he was taking advantage of her weak position and broken heart. He was a manipulator. He had sex with girls to pleausure them. And they all knew it would be a one night stand. He was only giving his services.

Syaoran was cupping Jennifer's breast and kissing her neck when she whispered the one name he didn't want to hear at that moment. Shen. But he couldn't blame her. He knew, even before he kissed her that night, that she wanted Shen. But it didn't matter. She was making love to him, not Shen. To drown her voice, Syaoran kissed her in the lips while undressing her top. Then he started massaging her bare breasts and touching her nipples, but then something weird happened. He stopped kissing Jennifer and got up.

In the midst if all the passion, he couldn't make love to Jennifer. And it wasn't because of Shen. It was Sakura. She kept coming into his mind at all the wrong moments. Now he couldn't even have sex with a hot American babe. Not without Sakura popping into his head. Without saying another word he left Jennifer's room and found solace in the living room. He needed something to drink pronto. Once he served himself a glass of whisky he stood in front of the fireplace, gazing at the fire.

He had to do something. That girl was torturing him. It was the very first time that a girl resisted his charms. Maybe he needed a change of tactics. But what could he possibly do? And why the hell did he care so much? His only mission was to break her and Shen apart to avoid a forced marriage. That should have been easy. Just cause an argument between the two. Feelings didn't matter. But that day, after the Aquarium. Watching her cry, so helpless. He hated it when women cried because of what he did to them. He thought them weak and too hormonal. But somehow, with Sakura, it was all different.

But why the hell was she so different from the others? Was it because she cried for someone else? No. He had even slept with women who just broke up with their boyfriends or fiances. He knew what heartbreak was. He lived it once. And he wasn't going throught it again. In the days after Jennifer's confession, he had expected Sakura to come waltzing to his arms and ask him to make love to her. To comfort her. Just like Jennifer just did a minute ago. But Sakura wasn't that kind of woman. She had pride. And hell, he suffered because of it twice already. He still remembered those two slaps she'd given him. First time a girl ever did that. There had been tears, shouting, insults, but never slapping.

Syaoran drunk another glass of whiskey and sat in one of the armchairs. He was so inmersed in his own thoughts he didn't notice someone coming behind him. The sound of her voice made something in his chest move at a fast speed. He turned around and saw Sakura's smiling face. Seemed like she didn't hate him anymore. Something in her clearly changed after her trip with Shen. He took another gulp of the drink to drown that thought.

Sakura went to the fireplace and gazed at the fire just as he had minutes earlier. Syaoran eyed her amusingly. Her bayshort pajama showed the right amount of skin from her legs for him to enjoy. "What brings you here in the middle of the night? And all alone?"

Sakura just kept gazing at the fire. She couldn't face him, at least not directly. "Shen already fell asleep. He got tired after the plain trip back" she answered.

"That doesn't answer my question" he told her.

"I know. I just… I…"

Syaoran listened intensely hoping to hear the words he so much wanted to hear from her. But what she said was far from that.

"I want you to stop trying to do what you're doing!" Sakura turned around and looked at him right in the eye.

Now he was confused. "What are you talking about? I'm not doing anything"

Sakura went closer to him now, but not close enough for him to grab her. "Yes you are! Before Shen ever left for Italy, you were hitting on me!"

Now he understood, a smirk went across his face and Sakura started getting nervous. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come after all. There was no talking sense into him. She should have expected he wouldn't listen to her. But what she heard from his lips was far from what she expected to hear. She expected an act of innocence from him, but not a confession.

"I admit, I did flirt with you occasionally. But what man in his right man wouldn't? Honest Kinomoto! I was just taken by your beauty and charms. I am sorry if I offended you in any way with my proof of affection. Tell me, how can I prove to you that I am indeed a good man?" he was now standing right in front of her, close enough to grab her and kiss her in an instant. And he would have done that. Hell, his insticts, his guts, even his head told him to do it. But he knew what the results would be. Another good slapping across the face. Something he wasn't too eager to experience again. So, he just kept looking at her, smiling mischeviously.

Sakura swallowed hard. Her heart started beating at a fast pace and she knew her face was completely flushed. To hide her eortions, or at east try, she looked the other way. "Li Syaoran. There is nothing you can possibly do that may show your better nature. Because truth be told you're the devil incarnate!"

For some reason this made Syaoran laugh hard. Devil incarnate? Countless of girls had used that insult for him. And he thought it adequate. He was evil after all. But he didn't want Sakura thinking that. "I apologize. Kinomoto. Please, let me prove to you that I am good. Please. I won't flirt with you anymore. I just want to be your friend. Since you'll be joining the family soon we might as well get to know each other. Don't you agree?"

Sakura eyed him suspiciusly. But if he wasn't going to flirt with her, then she was fine with it. She didn't want any more fights, and maybe having Syaoran as an enemy would be a problem. "Fine" and they sealed their agreement with a handshake.

Syaoran kept smiling at her. Boy, I am good.

We all knew Syaoran was a bastard. Didn't we? But like all bastards we women hae the ability of changing them for good. Let's just wait and see what Sakura will do to him. Already he's unable to have sex with other women.

And for this chapter's subject. Trust.

Who here has had a boyfriend or girlfriend and didn't trust them for some reason? Were you right or wrong? Has any guy or girl ever tested your trust in them? Has any partner ever betrayed you?

Share your feelings, that here we're all connected! We have all gone through that. Even I have!

WiND G0dd3ss xD and Shiona Acitiu thanks for your reviews and for participating in our chapter subjects. As a sign of gratitude have a slice of strawberry shortcake as promised. XD You're both cool!

Thanks for all your reviews! You people rock!