Chapter 3: Christmas is a Wonderful Time of Year, Part One

A Dish Best Served Cold

The morning light streaked into Syaoran's office, finding him entwined with Sakura. He was awake—he'd always been an early riser—watching Sakura sleep in his arms. One arm had gone numb as she'd pillowed her head on it for several hours now, but Syaoran didn't care. She was a miracle in his dull, somewhat pointless life.

And he felt more confident now. Sakura had accepted him, trusted him, and he no longer had to pretend he didn't care about her. Syaoran stoked her auburn hair gently, and kissed her forehead. He wanted Sakura to wake up with him looking at her, and he waited patiently for her to start stirring.

It was almost seven when she finally blinked her eyes open, and found amber eyes watching her lovingly.

It wasn't a dream! she rejoiced, and ran her fingers over Syaoran's cheek. He smiled, and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"What, no 'Hoe' today?" Syaoran asked playfully.

Sakura giggled, and stretched. "Good morning, Syaoran."

"Any morning with you is good, Sakura," he said softly. Both their lips were slightly swollen from kissing so much the night before, but neither cared; Sakura pulled him down to her for another kiss.

Is it possible that I'm already in love, so soon? Syaoran wondered. The warm feeling in his heart, the one that gave him confidence, swelled at the thought of loving her. It had been many years since he'd fallen for anyone, and he wasn't sure what it felt like anymore.

And Sakura had surrendered to what she was feeling. He cares about me. He kissed me! And he's still here, and he didn't even take advantage of me. I am a lucky girl! This wonderful, amber-eyed man was kissing her, and he was what she had dreamed of: sweet, funny, gentle, even a little awkward. It didn't hurt that he was very handsome as well. She wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying his kisses. All the lousy dates in college were worth it, she thought, if they were necessary to lead me to this man.

"Little blossom," Syaoran said, after they pulled apart. "I need your help."

"Anything you like," Sakura said happily. She liked his nickname for her.

He grinned a wolfish grin. "I need you to help me get revenge on threeverynaughty people."

"Hoe?" Sakura tried to lower the volume of her childish exclamation.

"I heard that," he said, and laughed, for the first time Sakura could remember. "That is so cute."

"Revenge?"

Syaoran motioned to Sakura's neatly folded clothes. "Before I start, I'd get dressed, if I were you. We'll leave through the private elevator, and grab a bite on the way to your house. I'll explain when we're there."

As she changed in Syaoran's dressing room, Sakura worked it out in her mind, as was her wont. Revenge. It meant Syaoran had figured out who was responsible for what happened the night before. But don't we, well, owe them for bringing us together? she thought. Then again, Syaoran always has a good reason for whatever he does.

When she came out, Syaoran had cleaned his office. The towels were in the hamper, the remains of their dinner in a trash bag, the gun—which Syaoran had kept within arm's reach all night—was back in its hiding place, even the piling of the carpet had been smoothed out. There was no sign they'd slept there.

Sakura grinned at Syaoran. He was so interesting, and when he grinned back, she knew he was up to something fun.

"Come on. I want you to hear my plan. It involves," and Syaoran held up the remains of the small spy camera, "this, and the people who planted it in my office last night."

"Who would do that?" Sakura yawned, and was grateful that today, Wednesday, was technically her day off. "And whatever for?"

"Because, I think, they wanted to see what we would do last night. I bet that if we checked the master switch records, someone manually turned off the power for my floor last night. It comes back on automatically at seven thirty, because I always come in at that time." Right on cue, his office door clicked open, and the lights came back on.

"Hmm. Must remember to have a manual override installed on that door," he said thoughtfully. Syaoran switched the lights off, then held Sakura's hand and pulled her out the door, pausing only for her to collect her purse. He keyed in the passcode for the private elevator, then when it arrived, he pressed "G" instead of "EP" for "Executive Parking".

At the ground level, Syaoran herded Sakura to a dimly lit rear service entrance, and pushed it open. He hailed a cab, and told Sakura to give her address to the driver. Ten minutes later, owing to the lack of traffic, they were at her little house, and Sakura was opening the door.

"Okay. You've tortured me enough. What's going on?" Sakura asked, as she plopped onto the couch.

Syaoran paced her living room floor as he told Sakura his theory about Meiling, Eriol, and Tomoyo being behind their entrapment. Sakura gasped, then giggled when he'd finished his story.

"So what are you planning?"

"To do absolutely nothing to punish them." Syaoran's grin was wide, and his brown eyes sparkled with mischief. "They'll go crazy trying to figure out what I have lined up. I'll just, well, do some things ominously. You know...slack off on work a bit, practice at the firing range, make odd purchases...things that will make them wonder. And I'll be nice to them, but I'll be dropping a few phrases here and there that make it sound like I'm planning something."

"Oooh, you're evil," Sakura grinned. "How do I come into this?"

Syaoran sat down next to her, then ran a hand through his hair. Sakura recognized his hesitation, and waited patiently, breathing in his clean, crisp scent.

"I...really like you, Sakura. I think...no...I'm falling for you." Syaoran held her hands in his as she blushed. "I don't want to rush things, and if those three found out how...well, who we are to each other, they will try to force us to get married, or will matchmake like crazy. You're special," he turned faintly pink, and rushed the next words out, "and I don't want to spoil our chances. I need...want to get to know you more. So they can't know about us...especially my mother, because I don't want her harassing you. I'm not ashamed of you, Sakura. But I don't want people sticking their noses in at a time...when we should be getting to know each other. Enjoying just being with each other—just you and me. Does that make sense to you?"

Sakura smiled. "It does, and thank you for being so considerate," and she hugged him. Syaoran hugged her back, thinking that he was going to have a wonderful Christmas for once, inhaling her berry-like scent.

"So how do we hide our relationship?" she asked.

"Act normal around me," Syaoran replied. "We are friends too, after all. I'll get us phones that are for our use only, and you'll save my number as 'Lee' and I'll save yours as 'Fleur'. We'll work together but," and he tilted her chin upwards, "after work, I would be so happy if you'll let us be together. Just you and me. No Terrible Trio. No press. Just us. I'll find a way for us to get away from them."

"You're so sweet," Sakura smiled. "But aren't you forgetting something?" She had pulled him close, their noses touching gently.

"What, little blossom?" Syaoran murmured against her lips.

"You should be kissing me now," she breathed, right before his lips claimed hers.

Now What?

Tomoyo was the first to arrive at the office, and she peeked into Syaoran's office. He wasn't there, but his secretaries were.

"Madam Daidouji, can we help you?" Emi, the eldest of them, asked politely.

"Er...Has Syaoran been in yet?" Tomoyo asked innocently.

"No, Madam. He called earlier, though, to say he would be taking care of some business, and will not be in today."

Tomoyo felt a little tug of fear. Syaoran, when angered, could turn aggressive and ruthless. She'd only seen him angry once, and the sight had been disturbing. What's he up to?

"Have you got his schedule?"

"Yes, madam." The secretary handed over Syaoran's appointment pad. He'd blocked off two days, marking them "Hong Kong." A note in one corner included the information number for a printing machine conference. Weird. I'm the VP for finance and he hasn't mentioned this to me.

She waved at Syaoran's secretaries, and as soon as she was out of earshot, pulled out her cell phone.

"Eriol," she hissed as a sleepy young man answered her first call. "He's not in the office, and he's not coming in today."

Eriol sat bolt upright and grabbed his watch from a bedside table. It was eleven am. This is bad, he thought. He couldn't remember Syaoran missing a day of work in years.

"I'll find out where he is," Eriol said, cradling his cell phone to his ear as he staggered to the bathroom. "I'll call you when I've got something." He hung up, then called his assistants, asking to be placed on a speaker phone.

"I want to know where Syaoran is and what he's doing. I also want to know where Sakura Kinomoto is, and if she left the building with Syaoran earlier today. I don't care how you get the information, but the first person to tell me what I want to know gets a nice, fat bonus from me. Now move!"

He showered and shaved quickly, and was pulling on his designer slacks when his cell phone rang. Good girls, he thought, and stopped short when he saw the name on the phone.

Syaoran.

Eriol cleared his throat before answering the phone, expecting a nasty scene. "Hey cuz," he said, in what he hoped was a passable imitation of noncholance.

"Eriol!" Syaoran's voice was cheerful. Toocheerful. "I was hoping to ask you a favor, seeing as...well, I think you owe me."

"Er...sure!" Eriol said loudly, forcing cheer into his voice. A vision of Syaoran glaring angrily into the camera they had planted and giving them the dirty finger flitted across his mind.

"I need you to tell my mother I had to go to Hong Kong on business. I just want to get away from her for a while. Since we need someone to go over there anyway to have a look at the new vertical printing presses, I figure I'll do it. Okay? Just keep Yelan off my back for a day or two."

"Um..."

"Come on Eriol. It's the least you can do after...well...you know..." Syaoran's voice was too friendly, too persuasive, and Eriol felt a little fear shoot through him.

"Okay. I will."

"See you in a few days, then," Syaoran said.

Across town, Meiling received a call from Sakura.

"Good morning Meiling! I hope I didn't wake you," Sakura said.

"No, no...um...are you okay?"

"Sure! Did you know I was stuck in Li Tower last night?" Sakura sounded so innocent, Syaoran had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as he listened to her.

"No, what happened?" Despite herself, Meiling was interested; she wanted to hear the story from Sakura's point of view.

"The lights went out while Syaoran and I were reviewing the supplement proofs. He has an electronic door, so we couldn't get out. I was so scared, but he was so nice, and he even gave me food from his bar. He let me sleep in his office. He's a nice guy," Sakura said innocently. "He even gave me relationship advice."

"Really? Did he...you know, did anything happen behind the desk?" Meiling blurted out before she realized what she'd said. She prayed Sakura was too dense to know.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

Meiling never realized that Sakura had said "Huh?" instead of the usual "Hoe?" when she was surprised.

"No! I meant, did he do anything to you? Just watching out for you, ha, ha, HA!" Meiling forced out a laugh. That was dumb, she chided herself.

"We talked. He's a Cancerian, and he used to play sports in high school. He's really nice," Sakura said, a shrug in her voice.

"Don't you like him?" Meiling teased.

"Your cousin's nice, Meiling. And he's a gentleman. But...well, hey, I called because I have to go to Tomoeda."

"Where's Tomoeda?"

"It's my little hometown. We have a festival coming up, and I want to meet up with my brother Touya." Sakura took a deep breath silently, and launched into Syaoran's suggested spiel. "If you're free, you can come with me and I can set you up with my brother. He's cute, you know." An artful pause, then, "I was hoping to introduce you to the guy I really like."

Meiling's heart sank. There was someone else in Sakura's life? Poor Syaoran. What had they done to him, then, trapping him in a room with a woman who had the hots for someone else? Knowing Sakura, she'd have told him all about it. Oh no.

"Thanks, but I...have a lot of society thingies to go to," It was Meiling's turn to sigh. "So you'll be out how long?"

"A week. Is that okay?"

"Sure. Just check your email everyday, all right?"

"I will. Thanks!"

A pause, then Meiling, unable to resist, asked, "Do I know this guy?"

Truthfully, Sakura replied, "I don't think you know him well, but Syaoran gets him. But he's got really warm eyes and dark hair. I'll introduce you two sometime. But I can send you our photo if your multimedia messaging is active."

"Uh, okay." When Meiling heard the affection in Sakura's tone, she thought, I have to talk to Eriol and Tomoyo immediately!

"Sakura? I gotta run. See you then!"

Meiling's phone trilled out an incoming multimedia message from Sakura. She opened it, and saw Sakura laughing, her arms around a dark greyish-haired young man with glasses. He's hot, Meiling thought idly. Then she realized what the photo meant, and scrambled to dial Eriol's number.

Mischief Afoot

As Sakura hung up, she realized that Syaoran had snuck up behind her and encircled her waist with his arms. She pressed herself against him, and was delighted when he nuzzled her cheek.

"You're amazing," he said. "And who might this mystery man be?" he teased.

"He's got beautiful eyes," she raised her eyelashes and looked up at him, "dark hair," and she raised a hand to ruffle his messy cocoa hair, "and has his arms around me right now. I think I'm really falling for him."

"Oh, then that's good," Syaoran smiled.

"Why'd you make me mislead Meiling?"

"I know her. She'll feel really really guilty, and then she might try to make it up to me.

"You're evil," and Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck. "Didn't think you had it in you."

"Always did," Syaoran said cheerfully. "I just prefer not to show it...unless pushed hard."

"So about the second phase of your plan..."

"You'll need a wig, dark glasses, and a trenchcoat. Oh, and your passport."

"Hoe?"

"We really are going to Hong Kong. We're running away for a while," Syaoran grinned roguishly at Sakura.

"But I've never been anywhere further than Taiwan before," she said.

Syaoran turned her around to face him. "Am I moving too fast for you?" He looked deep into her green eyes with his bronze ones.

"No. I trust you," and she twined her arms around his neck, "and I know you have something fun in mind. Meiling claims you don't know what fun is, so I'll just have to find out, ne?"

He laughed, and pulled her closer. "I'm so lucky you're with me," he said softly, as he pressed kisses to the corner of her mouth.

"Oh, do shut up and kiss me properly," he heard her grumble as she moved her mouth to meet his.

Several minutes later, Syaoran tore himself away from Sakura, and caught a cab home. When he was at the grand entrance to their mansion, he peered around for his mother.

"Young master Syaoran?" Their butler, Wei, stood there, looking amused.

"Good morning, Wei." Wei was surprised to see Syaoran smiling softly. "Ma-Ma is not here?"

"Yes, she left early. She was wondering about you."

"Oh...I was at the office. I'm going to Hong Kong to take care of some business. Could you tell her that? I'm leaving now."

Wei sighed, knowing Syaoran didn't want to have to deal with his mother for the meantime, and nodded. "I shall, Master Syaoran."

"Great, thanks." Syaoran took the stairs two at a time, and burst into his mostly green room. He shoved clothes into a large backpack, then showered quickly, not bothering to shave. Then he put on another shirt and jeans, checked to see if he'd forgotten anything, then let Wei drive him to the airport.

At the airport, Wei turned and asked the young man who had been his charge for over twenty years, "Master Syaoran, will you be all right?"

And was astounded when Syaoran smiled, and patted his shoulder. "I will be. Don't worry." He leapt out of the limousine, waved like a young boy, then ran for the private departure area.

Wei smiled. It was good to see the young master happy for once.

At the gate to the VIP departure area, Syaoran saw a dark-haired girl in dark glasses, wearing a black trenchcoat, waiting nervously. She was wearing the dark red lipstick he'd told her to wear, and looked a bit out of sorts. He almost laughed; Sakura was so obvious, and it was endearing. He came up to her, and she looked at him, surprised.

"You look like a college boy," she said.

"And you look like a suspicious person," he smiled. "Come on. Our private jet hangar is this way." He put his arm around her waist, attracting much interest from the airport personnel who knew who he was.

"It's embarrassing," she said softly.

"I know," Syaoran said gently. "But if anyone sees they will mistake you for someone else. I know Eriol is going to try to find out what I'm up to, and I'll be damned if I'll let him bug you. Did you make the calls to your friends in Tomoeda and in the university?"

"Yeah. This feels like an adventure," she giggled.

"It is. My first," and he grinned boyishly. "You said you'd never been further than Taiwan, so I thought we'd go around Hong Kong. Hopefully incognito," he said, then laughed.

"Hey. You should do that more often," Sakura said, and touched his lips gently. "Smile. Laugh. You're more handsome that way. Not that you aren't already."

The flight attendant on the Li plane raised his eyebrow when he saw Syaoran, dressed very informally, escorting a strange woman onto the plane. He remembered getting a call earlier that morning from Eriol's assistant, asking him to alert them if Syaoran boarded the plane.

Looks like I'll get a bonus today, the flight attendant smiled, and took out his cell phone to surreptitiously take a photo of Syaoran and the strange dark-haired girl. He sent the photo to Eriol's assistant, then dialed her number.Too bad I'm not allowed in the private quarters without being summoned, he thought ruefully.

On the plane, Sakura gratefully took off the trenchcoat, glasses, and wig. Underneath, she was wearing a floaty yellow sundress with a halter top, and she looked beautiful. Syaoran smiled, then noticed Sakura freeze up as they took off. She gritted her teeth, and gripped the armrests of her captain's chair.

"Are you afraid?"

"Sort of," and she slid her hand into his and squeezed it. "Always been afraid of planes, honestly. Even though I've only been on a few."

He rose from his captain's chair and urged her over to a nearby plush couch. Syaoran placed his arms around her, and she gratefully curled up next to him. An idea came to his head, and when Sakura saw him grinning a devilish grin, she only smiled and said, "What took you so long?"

Syaoran's kiss was soft and sweet, and they continued to kiss until he slid her lips open gently with his tongue. Her green eyes flew open, and he met her with an intense coppery stare, then pulled away.

"I'm sorry," Syaoran said, stroking her hair.

"No," Sakura said breathlessly. "I've...never been kissed that way before."

"And you don't like it?"

"Like hell I don't," and she pulled him back down on her. Syaoran chuckled against her lips, enjoying her boldness and her trust in him, then slid his tongue back into her sweet mouth. He gasped when she reciprocated, sliding her own tongue over his, first tentatively, then more confidently.

He wanted to trace kisses down her cheek and chin, but stopped himself, content to lie there and kiss her. There would be time for those caresses later, he thought.

Sakura caught Syaoran's lower lip between hers. She gently kissed his cheeks, his eyes, his forehead...then suddenly, she found his weak spot: his earlobes. Syaoran drew in his breath as she kissed and nibbled on them. Suddenly, she found herself pinned under him, his intense gaze on hers.

"Don't," he said softly. "Don't do that. Please."

"You don't like it?"

"I do," he rasped. "That's why we shouldn't." He smiled, then kissed her again before she could say the "Hoe?" which was forming on her lips, delighting in her nearness, in his own boldness for moving their relationship forward so quickly. "Syaoran!" she called as she came up for air.

Syaoran stopped kissing her, an amused smile on his face. "I'm not going anywhere. Only, we've landed, Sakura."

Sakura blushed, and Syaoran said, "Now wasn't that a nice flight?"

For once, he had the last word, and he smiled as she put on the wig, glasses, and trenchcoat again.

What's Going On?

Eriol nearly snarled when his cell phone went off, then controlled himself when he realized it was Yelan Li. Oh boy.

"Auntie," he said.

"Syaoran left you in charge of the office, didn't he?" Yelan's dignified voice always made Eriol feel like a naughty child caught doing something bad.

"Yes, Auntie. He went to Hong Kong to look at vertical presses, and to relax, I think." Eriol cringed at his own lame statement.

"Ah. Good for him, then," she said crisply. Eriol stared at the phone, then blinked.

"I trust you will not let him down?"

"No, Auntie."

"Good." And Yelan clicked off, leaving Eriol staring at the phone.

An assistant stood at the door with some papers in hand. "Master Eriol, we received this from the flight attendant of the Li private jet. The first printout was taken before the flight took off for Hong Kong, with Master Syaoran on it. This woman," and she handed Eriol the first printout, "was with him."

Eriol stared at the strange woman with dark hair, dark glasses and a trenchcoat. Horrified, he thought he recognized her as Tanya Huang, a ditzy society girl who had been after Syaoran in the past. Don't tell me he gave in? Why now?

The assistant cleared her throat. "And, Master Eriol here's the photo of them leaving the private cabin."

Syaoran's lips, cheeks, and ears—ears!--were smeared with red lipstick. He had his arm over the girl Eriol thought was Tanya, and they were laughing as he tried to wipe the lipstick off with a handkerchief.

God help me, I think what we did last night backfired.

He opened his phone and called Tomoyo.

"Anything?" she greeted him.

"He's in Hong Kong with this floozy," he began as Meiling skidded into his office, and barked, "Leave us!" at the assistant, who retreated quickly.

"Is that Tomoyo?" Meiling said. Eriol nodded. "We're in trouble. Look at this," and she showed the photo of Sakura and the mystery man on her phone to Eriol.

"You're not leaving me out of the loop, Eriol! I'm heading there now!" Tomoyo screeched, then cut the connection.

In a few minutes, she had slammed the door closed, drawn up a chair, and insisted on hearing their stories.

"So Syaoran must've gone off with this bimbo because he was ticked off at us, and Sakura has this guy?" she said. "Oh no!"

"Yeah, and knowing Sakura, she probably confided in him. You know Syaoran. He won't say a word. He probably sat there, dispensed advice, and stammered half the night," Meiling said dully. "And now he's heartbroken, and he's drowning his sorrows in the first available woman!"

"We've ruined his Christmas," Tomoyo said sadly, her eyes sparkling.

The Terrible Trio were deep in thought, and did not notice the assistant listening at the door. Yelan Li had offered her own reward for information about Syaoran's lovelife, and with the tape recording she now had, things would be very, very interesting around the office.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed before, and to All the charm in one bottle, StarAngel02, Ayumi Uchiha (aw thanks and yes, it will probably end before the other two fics will), AngelEmCuti, SakuraLover (it gets even fluffier! haha), iNQTpIe, Kibumi Wong, and everyone who read it.

I have to say I am surprised, and amazed, at the responses to this fluffy little story. Honestly I started this as a break, and next thing I know it's my most popular story! (squeals). I enjoy writing fluff, especially since I'm starting on an awfully angsty story soon (starring Meiling Li and Fruits Basket's Momiji Sohma. Weird combo? You bet!)

Chapter 4 of this story will be uploaded after I upload the second to the last chapter of "Intersections", so I combined two chapters here to make up for the delay.

Hugs to everyone! ..