Disclaimer: I do not own CCS nor do I own the characters in the manga/ anime. The characters and events in this story are fictitious. Any similarities to real persons are coincidental and unintentional.

A/N: I am totally prepared for those of you who want to throw tomatoes at me. But, let's make it short so you can go on to (hopefully) enjoy the new chapter. It's been...more than a year since I've updated/ published anything. But, lately, I've been bitten by the story bug! How awesome is that? Anyway, sorry for the long wait--here's chapter 5!

A Second Attempt at Love

-5-

"Sakura, are you planning on coming down any time soon?" Touya called up from the bottom of the staircase. "Shojiro is growing old waiting for you in the car."

Quickly, Sakura snapped out of her trance. She hurriedly smoothed her hair back and dusted off her clothes.

"I'm here," Sakura replied, the sound of her heels click-clacked down the marble stairs. "I'm ready to go."

She hopped down the last step and gave her brother a reassuring hug, then hurried out the door into the black BMW that was waiting for her in front of the Kinomoto mansion.

"I'll call, I swear!" She shouted out through the open tinted window of the backseat. "Bye, Onii-chan!"

From under the threshold of the tall oak doors, Touya smiled. He waved back at her and watched as the car drove away.

His sister meant a lot to him, and he wasn't overprotective of her just because it was his job as an older brother. Sakura was naïve and although she was a young adult now, he still felt it was necessary to protect her innocence. Growing up in a wealthy family had allowed them a lot of privileges, but still, they were inhibited from doing many things. Sakura just wasn't ready to face the shock of the real world; she was safer inside the circle.

---

"Thank you, Shojiro-san," Sakura said, her lips turned up in a smile as the chauffeur opened the door to let her out. "I won't be long."

Shojiro nodded in acknowledgment and helped her unlock the gates to the Iwazumi garden. Then, he assumed his position in front of the entrance for guard duty.

In the meantime, Sakura let the stone and gravel path guide her to the middle of the garden where a grand fountain stood spouting out sparkling water. This place looked equally as beautiful as it did at night, but it still held some sharp memories for her.

A shiver ran down Sakura's spine. She made a quick 180° scan of her surroundings, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The girl shook her head briskly, making her loose auburn hair fly out; she was just being paranoid. There was no way that Kunishiro would show his face here again after what had happened last night.

A flashback of last night's events brought a warm flush of color to Sakura's cheeks. She was glad no one was around to see her in such a flustered state. To think that just the thought of him would have such an effect on her was embarrassing—especially when they barely knew anything but each other's first names!

That's right… They only exchanged first names. It was probably for the best anyway. It wasn't like they'd ever see each other again.

Sakura grimaced; she was restricted to her house most of the time, and was rarely allowed to go anywhere without supervision. It really frustrated her that she was so limited in freedom.

"Syaoran…" She tried saying the name out loud. For some weird reason, it really comforted her right now. Sakura liked the way the name just rolled off her tongue like some precious prayer.

A crunch of gravel sounded behind her. "Yes?"

Sakura jumped. Her eyes widened with surprise. She spun around quickly and stumbled a few steps backward.

"Ohmygod!" The words burst out of her lips before she could stop herself.

With her hand over her mouth, Sakura stared at the man in front of her, completely amazed. Her heart had been racing in fear a moment ago, but now, it was hammering away for a totally different reason.

"Syaoran-kun?" Sakura stated, breathless. She was afraid to breathe, fearful that if she exhaled, she might blow him away.

"Hey," Syaoran greeted warmly.

The young man was dressed in casual, but tasteful clothes—a pair of dark wash jeans and a button up print shirt that did little to hide his defined muscles. He grinned at Sakura like he was really happy to see her. And though she thought it was foolish, that it only happened in the movies, his charming smile really made her weak in the knees.

The blush on her face returned, making her cheeks turn a soft hue of pink. Syaoran's grin widened. She looked so adorable right now; he wanted nothing more than to hold her soft body close to him.

But, no! He quickly reminded himself that he was here for another reason—to return a belonging of hers, not to play around.

"Um," Sakura finally managed to say after swallowing the lump in her throat. "What are you doing here? And more importantly, how did you get in here?"

Syaoran just chuckled. There was a mysterious twinkle in his eyes as he brought his forefinger to brush against his lips.

He winked. "It's a secret."

Immediately, Sakura could feel the color rising back onto her cheeks. She looked away from him and pretended to look for her missing earring. But, with him on her mind and here in front of her, Sakura just couldn't concentrate long enough on anything. She ran her eyes over the same places listlessly, but was so flustered that she wasn't actually even seeing.

A light tap on her shoulder made her jump again. Sakura turned around sharply and was surprised to see Syaoran leaning in so close to her. She stumbled back a few steps, bringing forth another chuckle from him.

"You look like you're looking for something—can I help?" Syaoran flashed another dreamy smile at her.

Sakura shook her head quickly. His perfect smile was so bright; she swore she could see stars.

"Even if you pitched in, I don't think we'd be able to find it in a place as humongous as this," The auburn haired female explained sadly, gesturing to the majesty and size of the garden.

"It's okay," Syaoran assured her. "I'm here to help you. They've always said I've got a keen eye for things."

Sakura looked up at him in pure elation. Then, she clasped his hands in hers. "You will? That's great!"

"Um, yeah," Syaoran muttered, looking down at their joined hands.

When she let go suddenly and began gushing about how great it was that he seemed to always be there to help her, Syaoran zoned out. He continued to stare at his hands like they were some mysterious puzzle.

But…they were tingling. His hands never tingled. And they never tingled in a good way—especially not because some girl had just held his hands. But, then again, she wasn't just 'some girl,' was she?

"—and it looks like this…Syaoran? Are you alright?" Sakura questioned, her brows were knitted in concern.

Syaoran snapped out of his reverie, but suddenly found himself drowning in two beautiful pools of sparkling emerald. It was not until he was just inches away from brushing his lips against hers did Syaoran realize that he was slowly leaning in closer and closer.

Recovering quickly, Syaoran grudgingly leaned back and brought his fingers up to touch her face. His thumb stroked her cheek.

Sakura held her breath still. She silently prayed that his fingers couldn't feel the rise in temperature that continued to betray her emotions. Heat was practically radiating off her face.

"You've got a speck of dirt there," Syaoran explained, blowing at an invisible dot of dust on his finger.

"Oh," Sakura said, a little surprised and bemused. "Um, thank you."

"Do you want to start looking, now?" Syaoran questioned, the mysterious twinkle in his eye returned.

"Oh, um, yes! Of course," Sakura exclaimed and then she held up a single pearl drop earring. "We'll be looking for its twin."

"Pretty," Syaoran commented. It looked exactly like the one he found last night, but he wasn't about to tell her that. Not just yet.

"Let's start here first," He suggested. "Then, we'll move down the path to where we ended up yesterday."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "Sure."

---

It didn't take them long to search the entire garden. After they narrowed down the places that Sakura was sure she could have lost the earring, there was nothing left to do but check the ground for it. This was easier than it sounded because the garden was manicured regularly and any leaves that fell onto the ground had already been picked up and disposed of.

If the earring was still there, they should have been able to spot it easily. But, after checking twice and again, the despair Sakura felt only grew.

"I don't think it's here anymore," She sighed. "Maybe someone picked it up already or maybe I just lost it."

Syaoran squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. This game was up. He just couldn't take it anymore, seeing her sad expression. Surely, the piece of jewelry must mean a lot to her.

"Hey, it's okay," Syaoran said, trying to comfort her. "We'll find it. You just have to have more faith."

A half-hearted smile formed on the girl's lips, but the devastation was still clear in her eyes. Right then and there, Syaoran decided to stop with his act.

He didn't know why, but he wanted her to be happy. He wanted to be the one who made the cheerfulness return to her beautiful green orbs and he wanted to be the one who brought back the alluring smile to her luscious, pink lips.

"Hey, what's this?" Syaoran wrinkled his confusion as he reached behind her ear.

Sakura looked up at him quizzically. She felt his callused fingers make contact with the back of her ear and her eyes widened in astonishment when she felt something cool touch her skin.

Slowly, and with a smile, Syaoran brought forward the object that just cooled her heated flesh. She gasped as he finally held it out in front of her eyes. Her mother's earring!

"You found it?" Sakura sounded relieved, but her eyes held disbelief. "But how? I've been searching this whole entire time with you, and I haven't caught a single sparkle from the corners of my eyes."

Syaoran grinned. "Like I said earlier, they say I've got a keen eye for things."

He dropped the pearl earring into her open palms and watched as she rejoiced in finding the precious thing.

"Thank you so much!" Sakura exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with bliss. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! That's all I can say! I don't know how else to thank you!"

The girl became so ecstatic that, in the rush of the moment, she wrapped her arms around his waist for a warm embrace. Syaoran was pleasantly surprised. He assumed he would receive thanks, but was honestly not prepared for a hug. But, it felt so nice; it would be a shame to push her away.

They stayed like that for a few silent minutes, until Sakura snapped back to reality and suddenly pushed herself away from his body. It was totally unexpected, but she was amazingly comfortable to be in such an intimate embrace with this man she barely knew.

Syaoran, too, unwillingly came back to the present, but he found it harder to break away from their seemingly too-short hug. He admit that he had enjoyed it so much that he nearly pulled her back into his arms for another sweet embrace.

"Um," Sakura said, her cheeks stained with the evidence of their close contact. "I'm really grateful you found this. I don't know what I would do if I really lost it. Thank you."

Syaoran cleared his throat. "It was my pleasure. I'm glad we got the chance to see each other again, Sakura."

"Yes…I guess it was my luck, running into you. I do hope we will have more opportunities to see each other, soon."

Syaoran smiled. There was nothing but charm in his handsome features. "Then, perhaps, we should make these opportunities."

She returned the smile, but Sakura was still confused about the meaning of his words. Make opportunities? To meet? Where and how would they be able to do this while Sakura was literally confined to her house 24/ 7?

Sensing the puzzlement that the young woman spewed, Syaoran let out another deep chuckle. She was so naïve! It was rare that this trait was still present in a grown woman such as herself.

"What I mean to say is," He explained, his eyes twinkling in a totally different way. "If you would like to have dinner some time, I won't hesitate to take you out."

Sakura gaped at him for a moment, not knowing whether she had heard correctly or not, because it sounded like he had just asked her out.

And with no further hesitation, she accepted, her face glowing luminously. "I never thought you would ask."

A/N: Being the naturally chatty person that I am, I've got to make another short note here...So, to all of you who wondered what the heck happened to me--well, let's just say I was totally uninspired and hated what I was writing. What's gonna happen now? I'm not really sure myself! But, I've learned not to make promises I can't go through with, so excuse me for being what I am (a lazy procrastinator who loves junk food and sweets too much). I really can't help it, but I'm going to give it my best shot. If you want to keep updated, you can check my profile. I'm thinking about opening a blog.

Anyway....Liked it, hated it? Tell me what you think. I love hearing the good and the bad. Oh, and if you have time, feel free to check out my new CCS story: Sheer Illusions (a work in progress).

Whyte Lilac