Chapter 2
Valentine

"Keroberos! Back off slowly from the tray and nobody will get hurt," Sakura ordered sternly, in a voice that Kero had never heard her use on anyone before.

He turned to peek at her and gasped. "Sakura, you're actually threatening me with your magic wand?" he exclaimed in his best I'm-hurt voice. "And I'm not even in my true form! What are you going to do, attack me with one of your cards? Right here in your own kitchen?"

Sakura sighed. She had to admit, she was probably being too extreme. She lowered her wand and transformed it back to its key form. Old habits die hard, even if now there was hardly any occasion to use her magic anymore. She wasn't sure if she missed it or actually enjoyed having a normal life for once.

"Well, I worked for hours on those chocolates, and only Syaoran's going to get to touch them, okay?" she picked up the tray and shoved it into the refrigerator to let the newly finished chocolates cool down. "I swear I will hurt you if you steal even one of them, Kero," she looked at him threateningly.

"Fine!" Kero's eyes widened. "Gee, girls in love are seriously scary. I'm going nowhere near those chocolates."

Sakura's cheeks warmed up as she watched Kero floated away in annoyance. Even now, months after they officially became more than friends, she still felt strange to hear people declaring it out loud; she was in love with someone. And said person along with everyone close to her actually knew about it. She was actually part of an actual relationship. Sure, it had started out rather shaky but she and Syaoran had managed to fall back into their comfortable and familiar zone in no time even if they had to adjust to their new status. It was evidently easier just to let it happen naturally.

She climbed the steps up to her room, planning to start working on that beautiful wrapped box she was going to put the chocolates into. Tomorrow was going to be their first Valentine's Day together, and she was so nervous and excited at the same time she feared she might not get any sleep at all tonight.

***

"Good morning, Sakura," Fujitaka Kinomoto's voice broke the still morning air. "Wow, you are actually up earlier than me today."

"Good morning, Dad," Sakura replied, tying the bow around her now neatly wrapped box of chocolate and slid off the stool. "All done!" she clapped her hands with glee.

"You haven't been up all night working on that, have you?" her father asked jokingly.

"Of course not," she looked at her feet rather embarrassedly. "I just want it to be perfect," she added quietly.

Her father gently pushed her chin up and smiled. "Sure you do, but you know what's in your heart is the most important thing, right?"

Sakura nodded, smiling back. She knew she could always count on her father to give her the best advice and say the right things. "I love you, Dad. Happy Valentine's Day," she hugged him tight. He returned the embrace and urged her to get some breakfast. Sakura wasn't sure she could eat anything because her stomach was doing all kinds of gymnastic moves that she didn't know it was capable of, but she managed to finish her meal somehow. After saying goodbye to her father, she quickly grabbed her present and dashed out of the house before her brother even arrived downstairs. If Touya saw the box of chocolates, she just knew she'd never hear the end of it.

***

Today Syaoran was not waiting for her to walk to school together because he'd said he had some errands to run and would be running a bit late. Sakura was relieved, because that meant she had more time to prepare before she presented her Valentine gift for him. At first she tried to think of something good to say, but after scanning about half a dozen Valentine cards she decided all of them sounded too pretentious and didn't reflect what she wanted to say at all. She would just have to go with something simple, original, and from the heart. It wasn't like he didn't already know her feelings.

"Good morning, Sakura," Tomoyo's voice startled her out of her reverie, and she looked up to find her best friend's smiling face beside her. "Is that for Syaoran?" Tomoyo pointed at the wrapped present.

"Uh-huh," Sakura nodded, blushing slightly. It seemed she would never ever get used to the fact that she actually had a… boyfriend. The word still sounded weird in her head, and even more so when someone said it out loud (she never did, for obvious reasons).

"Good luck," Tomoyo patted her shoulder and took her seat beside Sakura's table. "Not that you'll need it. You both are so very much in love and it's obvious. I'm thinking since there's no more Card Captor action, maybe I should film your romantic escapades instead! You make a really cute couple, you know that? It'd be a wonderful romance movie!"

"Tomoyo!" Sakura looked horrified at the idea that she'd be starring in her own reality romance movie.

"I'm just kidding, of course," Tomoyo laughed. "It's your private life and it shall remain that way. Although I really wish there's a way of recording it nonetheless without disrupting you two… do you think my mother might have one of those high-tech mini hidden cameras?"

"Tomoyo!" Sakura repeated in disbelief. Her best friend simply giggled again, leaving Sakura wondering if she really was just joking or not. With Tomoyo and her crazy obsession over filming her, sometimes she really could never know. Not that she didn't still love her dearly no matter what.

"Oh, here comes the lucky guy," Tomoyo whispered, causing Sakura's heart to jump to her throat. She turned to look at the classroom door and, sure enough, Syaoran was there. By now the class had started filling with students, and everywhere she looked the girls were offering their own wrapped chocolates in various shapes and forms to every boy they liked. The halls were filled with excited chatter and the atmosphere was filled with that hopeful, anxious, and anticipative feeling all around.

Sakura swallowed and waited for Syaoran to arrive at his desk, right behind hers. "Good morning," he greeted her first, smiling ever so faintly. Sakura had gotten used to this by now. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to see her; it was just that he wasn't big on smiling in general. He was one of those boys who just weren't so good when it came to expressing his actual feelings. And she always wondered how he ended up confessing his love for her first.

Maybe because she was never even aware of her feelings toward him until he did that.

"Good morning," she replied cheerfully. "Um… Syaoran, I have something for you. Here," she handed him the wrapped box, her heart beating a mile a minute in her chest. "I… uh, made it for you. Happy Valentine's Day."

Yes, she kind of ended up not saying anything special, but she believed she'd poured all her feelings into those chocolates and that was more than enough. It always seemed weird for her anyway to say that kinds of things out of nowhere.

For a moment Syaoran looked perplexed, but he accepted the gift. Then he seemed to remember something and looked mildly embarrassed. "Oh. Yeah… um… thanks. Thank you, Sakura," he said sincerely, although awkwardly. "May I…?"

"Yeah, sure, open it," Sakura smiled encouragingly.

He unwrapped the box and opened the lid. When he saw the chocolates inside, his faint smile grew wider. He took one and popped it into his mouth. "This is delicious," he said. "Thank you again for making this for me." He gave her a look that was filled with so many emotions, she didn't even mind that he hadn't said anything special either. She could read it all in his eyes. She knew it, just like he knew it.

Tomoyo let out a long sigh as she swooned over the beautiful scene, wishing again she could capture it on camera.

Oh yes, they all knew it.

***

"You what?!" Meilin's voice blared through the receiver so loudly, Syaoran had to move it away from his ear to make sure it wasn't going to break his eardrums.

"I said I kind of forgot today's Valentine's Day!" he repeated in a whisper, looking around in a rather paranoid manner in fear that someone might hear him, especially Sakura.

"How could you forget Valentine's Day?!" Meilin yelled again in disbelief.

"You know I'm not good at these things!" he said in annoyance.

"Oh yeah, I remember all too well how badly you treated me, your ex-fiancée," she replied haughtily, then her tone became threatening. "You'd better not treat Kinomoto the same way, or I'll hop on the first plane and kick your butt myself!"

"I'm calling you exactly because of that!" Syaoran insisted. "I don't want to screw this up, Meilin. Tell me what to do. I don't think she has realized yet that I've forgotten, but I haven't made or bought anything for her."

"Well, technically, Valentine's Day's tradition is for the girls to give the boys chocolates. So you don't really have to give her anything. But you must remember to give her something back on White Day. That's the boys' turn, and it's a month from now. You'd better make a giant mark on your calendar, Syaoran."

"Do we really have to follow these traditions?"

"What are you saying? You can't just accept what she must've worked all night on to make and not make any effort to give her back anything! What kind of boyfriend are you?!" Meilin exploded again, and Syaoran considered ending the conversation for his health's sake.

"That's not what I'm saying! I mean… why can't I give her back something today?"

Silence filled the other end for a moment. "Oh. Well, I suppose there's no rule against that. But you just said you haven't prepared anything. How are you going to give her anything today?"

"Well, like I've been trying to say, that's why I'm calling you!" he said impatiently. "What else would girls like beside something I have to make or bake myself? Isn't there something else doable in less than a day? It's times like these I wish I have those Clow Cards in my disposal. You think maybe I could borrow one of them without her knowing?"

"Using magic to win a girl's heart is cheating and intolerable, Syaoran," Meilin said sternly. "And you know, I admire your dedication and everything, but don't you think it's rather unfair of you to ask for help for your love life from your own, probably still brokenhearted ex-fiancée?"

"Oh don't even try it, Meilin. I heard the news that you've started dating some famous Hong Kong young actor or something. How old is this boy anyway?"

"It's not like that!" Meilin exclaimed, though Syaoran could hear surprise and embarrassment in her voice. "He's only thirteen and he's a soon-to-be famous singer! He's got his first debut and everything, and may I just say; he's gorgeous and he's totally head over heels in love with me."

"Of course he is," Syaoran said evenly. "You're a one of a kind girl, Meilin, you know that."

Another brief silence in which Meilin might or might not be relishing the compliment. "Are you just being nice because you're asking me for a favor?"

"Maybe," Syaoran grinned to himself.

Meilin sighed. "Fine. But only because I'm really nice."

"Sure you are. Now tell me your brilliant idea. I want to make her as happy as she made me feel today."

***

"Isn't it a better idea to go here tomorrow?" Sakura asked as she closed her coat tighter around her while Syaoran held her free hand, leading her into the amusement park. "The park's closing in an hour, Syaoran."

"I just want to show you something," Syaoran said, walking toward the Ferris Wheel. "Just this one ride with me, okay?" he smiled his half-smile at her, which chased all her doubts away.

"Sure," she agreed and followed his lead, though she was still curious. She sensed that he might be planning something, but she wasn't sure what. She didn't even know what the occasion was. She wasn't expecting him to do anything special today, because she knew how he was. But when that afternoon he had called her and asked if she'd like to go out with him to the amusement park for just a few short hours, of course she couldn't say no. If anything, she wanted to satisfy her curiosity.

They climbed into an empty cabin and ascended slowly to the falling night. Sakura remembered the last time she was there; she was with Yukito after that Firey card incident, in a date much like this one. To remember back to those times, it felt so weird that back then Syaoran was just another face in the crowd—another friend she could never think of as anything more. Back then she was so sure Yukito was the one she wanted to be with… but look how things had turned out in such a short amount of time.

Neither of them said anything during their whole ride to the top, just enjoying the comfortable silence. Then, when they reached the highest peak of the wheel, Sakura noticed something bright outside her window. She turned to look closer and gasped in surprise. Far below on the ground, what looked like the shape of a winged heart made out of a thousand candles was glimmering under the sky. The shape looked exactly like the one in her Love card. The Sakura Card that had appeared that day Syaoran was leaving for Hong Kong, formed by her tears when she finally realized what it really meant.

She looked at him in amazement. "Is that…?"

"Do you like it?" he asked hopefully. "I know it's probably a bit… over the top, but I couldn't think of anything else… to show my feelings for you."

Well, it was Meilin's idea. Of course it was a bit over the top.

"You made that?" Sakura still looked astonished. "But that must've taken hours!"

"It must've also taken hours to make those delicious chocolates you gave me this morning," he replied simply. "I was just… trying to return the gesture." He scratched his head self-consciously. "Um… Happy Valentine's Day."

Sakura felt like a big bubble of joy just erupted within her. Not able to contain her feelings any longer, she jumped and went to hug him tight. "Thank you! Syaoran, that's wonderful! That's way more amazing than just baking chocolates!"

"It's okay," he hugged her back awkwardly. "I just wanted to make sure you know I feel the same way."

"Of course I do," she looked at him with a smile. "How do you know about that Love card?"

"I… have my sources," he said mysteriously. She laughed and decided not to ask further. It didn't matter anyway; she just had the best Valentine's Day gift ever.

Syaoran continued to look at her, wondering how he could love someone so much it felt like his heart might explode. He wanted this feeling to last forever, because it was just that breathtaking and he couldn't imagine living without it any longer. He felt himself pulling her closer and leaning toward her a little. Her eyes widened, and he could see doubts in them, causing him to waver himself.

Perhaps it was still too soon.

He smiled and landed a kiss softly on her forehead before letting her go. He could not quite believe what he just did, not to mention what he really wanted to do. Then again, today he had done a lot of things that were very unlike him, he wasn't all that surprised anymore.

Maybe it was just one of those things that love could do to you.

As she laid her head on his shoulder and together they watched the heart continue to shine like a beacon of hope for their unknown future, he realized he didn't mind so much changing a little for her, shedding some of that tough exterior.

Especially if it was going to make her happy, because nothing could make him happier than seeing her smile.