You might get lost in this chapter but I promise to clear your doubts next chapter.

And as many of you waited so long, S&S moment!

Syaoran is starting to make his move in the chess board!

Love for Royalty

Chapter IX The flower that bloomed

The next morning, Syaoran lost no time and asked Sakura to go horse riding with him. Shen looked at him with suspision, but Syaoran just waved it off and ignored him. Sakura tried to turn down his offer but Syaoran insisted and reminded her that it would be their chance to get to know each other, now that she was going to be part of the family and his sister in law. Finally, he won the argument and asked Wei to prepare two horses for them. Shen just left the table without saying a word. He couldn't fight Syaoran in front of Sakura.

Afterwards Wei gave Sakura a suit used especially for horse ridding. Once prepared with the proper equipment they went to the stable.

Once outside, Syaoran walked with Sakura leading her to the stable. Sakura was shaking for some reason and upon seeing her nervousness he grabbed her hand and looked at her with an expression filled with concern. "What's wrong Kinomoto?"

Sakura shook her head. "It's nothing really. Don't worry" But she kept looking nervous and scared. Syaoran stopped walking making her have to turn to look at him. "What happened?"

"I finally figured it out. Kinomoto Sakura. Have you ever ridden a horse?" he asked Sakura. The girl froze and looked almost about to cry. He went to her and hugged her. She didn't fight him, which was surprising. "Don't worry Kinomoto. You don't have to ride alone. I'll be with you the whole time. So don't worry" At these comforting words Sakura nodded. So, instead of riding two horses they only used one. Syaoran sat in the front holding the rein and Sakura got behind him, holding on to him tight.

It turned out to be really fun. A bit uncomfortable but nice. They passed through the many resisdences in the estate, through a dark wood, until they reached a stunning waterfall. Here Syaoran helped Sakura get off the horse and showed her the place. The flow of the water came from a series of large stones making an inmense façade. At the light of the sun, these stones shined as if they were precious metals. The river fell to the ground with a roaring sound and at an inmense speed and with a great force but continued it's way in the ground quietly and serenely. Almost very rock forming the waterfall had small green trees that glistened from the water droplets. At the end of the waterfall, there was a small but visible rainbow showing all of the seven colors.

Syaoran watched intensely for Sakura's reaction and smiled satisfied when he saw that she was in awe and speechless. "It does leave someone rather dumbstruck"

Sakura turned to face him with one of her huge smiles. Then something amazing happened. She hugged him and ran back to the river to watch the scene more closely.

Yup, this was the perfect plan and it was working perfectly. Sakura would want him in no time.

After enjoying the beauty of the waterfall, they went back. But not wothout promising to go back tomorrow. And this time they would play in the water. Somehow Sakura looked like a small child. The same personality she had in the Aquarium.

From a distance Tomoyo was watching the whole scene with an approving smile. Just as she expected, Li Syaoran lost no time to try and win Sakura's heart. Too bad she was already taken. He was losing his time. Sure, Sakura would start to like him. But only as a friend. Nothing more. She could see it in her friend's eyes. Sakura was a faithful woman and wouldn't fall in the trap of a man like Syaoran. No matter how much he tried. But for now, it was okay. Tomoyo had other plans in mind and one of them may destroy her friend but she had to be sure. That fight Sakura had with Shen. It had substance. There was a big reason behind it, Tomoyo just hoped her suspicions were wrong.

When Sakura entered her room Shen got up from his desk and asked Sakura to sit down. She sat on the edge of the bed and he faced her. She could see he was angry about something. She just didn't know what. But a clear option came to her mind. Syaoran.

After minutes in silence, Shen breathed deaply and spoke. "What were thinking accepting my brother's offer to go horse back riding?"

Sakura rolled her eyes as if to say I knew it and took a deep breath before speaking. "What is wrong with me spending some time with him? He didn't do anyting. And it would be good of you to trust me"

Now Shen laughed at Sakura's reply. "I trust you Sakura. I just don't trust him!" And with that he ended the argument and went back to work. He couldn't believe Sakura would betray him like that. She knew how much he hated his younger brother and still she took in to his offers to hang out. Didn't she realize he was only using her?

The next day, Sakura packed her bathing suit in a backpack and dressed up properly to ride. This time she wanted to learn to ride by herself. Syaoran was by her side the whole time. She was a bit scared of losing control of the horse, but it was a bit like driving. You just had to trust yourself. After half an hour passed, Sakura ha mastered the ability to ride. Syaoran had to admit, he was impressed. They rode off until they reached the clearing at the other end of the forest and got to where the the waterfall was. It was just as amazing as the day before. Sakura got off her horse and tied the rein to the nearest tree branch. Then she took her back pack and went back to the forest. Or so it seemed.

"No peeking!" Sakura ordered Syaoran. He sighed in dissapointment. It would have been such a pleasure to see her au naturale. But he promised. Stupid promise! Syaoran got mad at himself. This wasn't like him. He never spent so much time with a girl before. He never really gave them the time of day. Well, this was all business. Although, he had to admit, he was enjoying himself. But he still wanted more. He wanted to screw here now more than ever. What was wrong with him?! Why couldn't he just break his promise and go to those bushes and take her there? She wouldn't resist for long. But something inside of him made him control himself. It was like his mind was working separatly form his heart and it sucked, big time!

Finally after five minutes Sakura came out from the trees in the forest wearing her bathing suit and holding her back pack in her arms. Once she put the back pack on the saddle, she ran to the river and dove in. The river that cascaded from the rocks fell and formed a huge lake. So there was plenty of space to swim. Syaoran watched the girl enjoy herself from a distance.

Suddenly she comes back to the shore. Her hair was wet and tiny drops of water hung from her auburn hair. Her eyes had a special glow in them from the happiness she felt. "Aren't you going to come in Syaoran?"

Syaoran smiled at her. "No. You enjoy yourself. You deseve it. You need to relax. That's why I brought you here"

But Sakura wasn't about to give up. It was somewhat boring to swim alone after all. So to convince him, she splashed water at him getting his clothes all wet. "Hey! These are very expensive you know? Now you're gonna pay!" he started taking off his clothes until he was wearing only his bathing shorts. The whole time Sakura was looking in another direction. She didn't think it appropriate to watch him change or even take his clothes off. While she was distracted by her thoughts, Syaoran splashed her from behind. And the fight begun. They splashed each other back and forth like children in a swimming pool. They even pushed each other into the water.

After so much water works, they decided to just swim. They were both swimming backwards. "Syaoran. Why did you try to kiss me before?" Sakura asked eyeing Syaoran for his reaction. He only looked up at the blue sky.

"Because I was an idiot? I don't know. It's just the way I am. I can't help it. When I see a cute girl or a sexy woman I just have to flirt with her. And as far as I remember, I didn't try kissing you. I actually did kiss you" he answered.

Sakura stopped swimming and looked down at the transparent water. "Why? Why are you like that with them? Don't you see you hurt them?"

Syaoran suddenly felt a twinge of guilt for some reason. He knew that they got hurt, but he never really stopped to think about it. He didn't really care. He was just… Syaoran shook his head. He didn't want to remember it. He started swimming to the shore and Sakura followed behind.

Once in solid ground, he got out his towel from a bag attached to the horse's saddle and started drying his hair. He didn't say a word. Sakura was afraid that she just touched a sore subject and made him mad. So she started drying herself and changed her clothes.

They rode in silence. Sakura didn't dare say a word before he did. She didn't want to start a fight with him. But she did think it was pretty rude of him to just get angry all of a sudden.She started to wonder if she made the wrong decision by accepting to be his friend.

Syaoran went directly to his room and locked himself there. He needed to clear his head. Again that girl was in his head, tormenting him. The scene that he presenced 5 years ago in his ex-girlfriend's flat started haunting him again. He had promised himself to forget it. To act as if it never happened. But now, the pictures he so much despised came to his mind again. After a while he decided to go to the living room and have a drink. Sometimes, sitting outside in the porch and watching the beauty of the garden before it calmed his nerves. And the glass of whisky didn't hurt either.

What happened earlier? He was just having a great time with Sakura. Why did those memories come to his mind again? He wanted to forget all about that girl. The one girl he actually came to love. The one girl he hated. Why did Sakura have to meddle into his private life like that? It was none of her concern why he slept with those women. He did it for pleasure. To feel the woman's skin touching his. To taste their sweet lips both up and down. To feel his organ entering the woman's body. To hear the woman's moaning and shouts of ecstasy. To caress their body. To feel another body so close to his. Just thinking about it made him want to do it all the more. Then Sakura's image popped into his head. And what was worse, he imagined her wearing nothing on but her underwear, and a very sexy underwear at that. His face turned completely red and he shook it to get her off his mind. What was he thinking? Okay, he wasn't thinking. But why the hell did she keep on appearing in his mind like that?

Suddenly there was a tap at the glass doors and Syaoran turned to see who it was. Jennifer was standing there with an innocent expression. "May I join you?"

Syaoran nodded. Then he kept on watching the sky as if lost in thought.

"What happened today? You came home kind of angry. Did you and Sakura have a fight?" Jennifer asked him. He just kept silent. Jennifer read that to mean that it was personal and he didn't want to talk about it. Sometimes, he was this way. Everyone had secrets, including Syaoran. He was still a mistery to her.

Syaoran got up and went to the cherry tree right in the middle of the garden. Jennifer followed him. He was acting so weird. She was a bit worried something bad might have happened. Syaoran was looking at the tree very intensely and closely. The tree seemed dead to her eyes. Because Fall was looming close, all of it's flowers had already fallen. But then Jennifer noticed. The tree wasn't dead yet. It still had flower in a brach up high. You had to concentrate really hard to see it. But it was there. As pink as if it had bloomed just now. It was the only flower still hanging. Just watching it, Jennifer felt hopeful. Maybe there was still hope in this world. Shen didn't love her, but that didn't mean that there wasn't someone who could love her in the world. She just wasn't looking closely.

After a few minutes, Syaoran went back to the house scratching the back of his head. Jennifer watched him and couldn't avoid laughing at him. She knew that whatever bothered him. He wasn't about to let that wear him down.

Next chapter I'll explain who the misterious girl Syaoran remembered was and what she did to him to change him so much. I'll just say this, she is 98 of the reason of why he sleeps around.

Since, not so many of you have participated in my last chapter subject I'll leave the same one on. We'll continue with the same on as before: Trust.

I promise to update soon!