Hey! I'm back, and by popular demand, I have made this chapter longer than any other submitted in this story. I must inform you, though, that it will take me a lot longer to update if I write longer chapters. I must also apologise for the wait... people have been begging me to update. Other than a little in the first flashback, this chapter has no humour. If you find it funny, then I'm sorry to say, you have mental problems. I'm serious.

Oh, and I am NOT evil, MzEvilBlossoms...

The following people reviewed the previous chapter (from first to last):

Marine Brother Shran, hyperkitty 16, stupid human enhabitant, Noir Rose, Kenshoumaru, daddieslittlestar, ffgirl-07, SxSLova, The Angel's Princess, XoXoMoon TribalXoXo, thereviewergirl, lilLostKitty, MzEvilBlossomz, youkaigirl64, Michelle, LyOkOfAn95, disturbed tammi, EternalDreamzOfHope (Dreamz), and last but not least, me.

Whoa... Did anyone other than me actually COUNT how many that was? 19! WOOT! I'm so happy!

Chapter 7

The Death of the Four

Meiling seemed to be surprised at first, but it was soon replaced with confusion.

"He actually told you about that?" She questioned, raising her eyebrows. Sakura looked awkward for a few moments.

"No..." She said slowly, "Not really..." She looked at her hands as she fiddled with a a thread hanging from her pale pink night shirt. Sakura began to feel awkward in the silence that followed.

"How did you find out?" Meiling asked cautiously. Sakura didn't look up.

"I found a photo under his pillow, and he said something about his sisters... And I asked him what happened to them." Sakura looked nervously at Meiling. Her ruby eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh... You found 'the photo'." Her expression grew grim, "But if he wanted you to know, then he would have told you." Sakura looked downcast.

"I-I'm sorry..." She said sadly, "My question was out of line..."

"No." Meiling put her hands in her lap as she sat down, "I'll tell you. They were Syaoran's sisters, and my cousins."

"What happened to them?" Sakura asked. Meiling took a deep breath.

---Flashback---

Three young teenage girls were carrying a small, protesting boy up the stairs. He knew what they were going to do to him, and was wiggling as much as he could to get out of their death-grip.

"Lemme go!" Nine year old Syaoran screamed, as his big sisters all giggled.

"Aww... Come one Syao!" Fuutie giggled, "You'll be pretty!"

"I don't wanna be pretty!" Syaoran accidentally kicked Fanren's jaw in his struggles. Franren cried out in pain, and dropped his left leg. He twisted in Fuutie and Sheifa's arms, and then they dropped him on his back. He tried to hold back his yelp of pain, but he couldn't help it.

They were just crowding around Franren, to make sure her jaw was OK, when their mother, the infamously strict Yelan Li, opened a nearby door.

"Will you four be quiet?" She hissed at them, "Your sister is sick! She needs peace and quiet!"

"Yes, Mother." The four of them scampered away, outside.

---End Flashback---

"But I don't get it." Sakura butted in to Meiling's tale, "If only one of them was sick, how did all of them... you know..."

"I'm getting to that." Meiling said, in the same depressed voice, "A few weeks later, Feimei's condition got worse, and they had to call an ambulance."

---Flashback---

"Syaoran, come on." His mother held the crying boy, "Your sister will be fine. Come on. If it makes you feel any better, I'll ride with you in Daddy's car, OK?" Syaoran nodded. All of his sisters were going in the ambulance with Feimei, anyway.

The ride had gone smoothly enough, until they got onto the main road. The ambulance driver didn't see the kid on the crossing until it was too late.

The ambulance swerved to miss the kid, but instead hit a large tree on the side of the road. There was a loud crunching noise, and then all traffic came to a stop, stunned. The world seemed to stop for Syaoran and his parents. They were thinking the same thing.

'I hope the girls are alright...'

No sooner had they voiced these thoughts, the ambulance burst into flames. It literally exploded. Because of all the chemicals, it was virtually a tinderbox on wheels. A leak of petrol had gotten in the wrong place, and that triggered the explosion.

Syaoran and his parents became frantic. It took two firemen each for the adults, and one for Syaoran, to hold them back while the others doused the fire. By the time that the fire was out, Syaoran's parents knew that there was no hope. Their daughters were most likely dead. They broke down sobbing in the street.

Syaoran was empty. He may have fought with his sisters, but he... he never wanted this! He watched as a fireman walked up to his parents, said something, put something in their hands, and walked away. His parents looked blankly at the object, which Syaoran later found out to be Fuutie's favourite necklace, and then burst out into tears all over again.

---End Flashback---

Sakura covered her mouth in horror, her cheeks wet with tears. She could only imagine how traumatic it would have been for a nine year old... No wonder Syaoran was so cold. He was probably afraid.

"So..." Sakura said, after a few minutes, "He's never gotten over the shock?" Meiling shook her head.

"Would you?" Sakura shook her head without thinking, "Exactly. All this time, his parents have slowly dealt with the loss, though sometimes we hear them crying at night... They were too afraid to have more children after that. They became extremely protective of Syaoran, and they only reason that they let him come here, was because they are really sick."

"Oh..." Sakura was stunned, but Meiling hadn't stopped talking yet.

"Do you know why Syaoran is so worried?" Meiling asked Sakura, who shook her head, "'Cause his parents have the same thing that Feimei had. He's worried that they will have to call an ambulance."

"I would be, too." Sakura admitted, "Thank you for telling me... Do you want me to go?" Meiling hadn't looked up the whole time, and Sakura took it as a sign that she didn't want her there anymore. Meiling looked at Sakura, tears streaming down her cheeks to match Sakura's, who was still crying softly. She nodded.

"OK... I'd say 'good night', but that wouldn't be the best term to use right now..." Sakura had just about closed the door, when Meiling called out to her again.

"Sakura?" She stuck her head inside the door, "No one knows this. No one here, other than you and me, knows that he ever had even one sister... Don't tell anyone. And don't tell Syaoran that I told you." Sakura nodded, and then closed the door softly.

"Oh my God..." Sakura whispered to no one in particular, whiping her tears away, "No wonder he's so cold." She walked slowly to her room, and opened the door. Syaoran was still asleep.

She softly tiptoed to her side of the bed, and climbed in. Subconsciously, she moved a little closer to him. She tried to sleep... She really did, but there were too many thoughts running through her head. As it neared sunrise, Sakura gave up on sleep, and came to a conscious decision.

She was going to be nothing but nice to Syaoran. No matter what.

It was gonna be tough, considering he paid out on her all the time. But she would keep her silent promise. If she could be nice to Touya, then she could be nice to anyone!

She threw the blanket off her, and reached for a towel. She grabbed a clean one, and a change of clothes. She walked softly down the hallway, and into the bathroom. Locking the door, she turned on the shower, and stepped under it.

Letting the hot water run over her, Sakura thought. She hadn't been able to rid her mind of the images that Meiling had described in her story. Sakura was a graphical person by nature, and the images just came to her naturally. Somethimes it was a good thing, but other times, such as this, it was bad. She would be haunted by these images... She knew it.

LATER

Everyone, except Syaoran, was crowded in the lounge room, watching a movie on TV. No one knew what the movie was called, but it was good.

No one seemed to notice Syaoran's absence, except for Sakura and Meiling. Sakura and Meiling were sitting side by side, not really interested in the movie.

"I'll go make sure Syaoran is alright." Meiling whispered to Sakura, getting up. No one noticed, because they were too into the movie.

"I'm coming, too." Sakura muttered back, and also stood. Again, no one noticed. The pair of girls made their way to the hall, making sure that they didn't tread on any one, or anything.

"Why do you think he didn't come down?" Sakura asked, as soon as they were out of earshot. Meiling thought for a few seconds.

"I dunno." She said quietly, "We'll find out in a few seconds, won't we?" They stopped in front of the door, and looked at each other. Meiling reached for the knob, and opened the door. It took them a few seconds to spot him.

"Syaoran?" Meiling whispered softly. He jumped a little bit, and then looked at them. his eyes were devoid of all emotion. He was blank. Empty.

"What?" He asked, in a deadpanned voice. It shocked Sakura to hear him speak in suck a voice. Everytime she had heard him speak, there was always some sort of emotion in his voice. It was usually anger, but still...

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, feighning ingorance, "How come you haven't come down yet?"

"I don't wanna."

"Well, we'll stay and keep you company!" Meiling said brightly, hiding the worried look in her eyes. Sakura thought that this had probably happened before. It was obvious what Meiling was doing. Sakura had to do it once for her brother.

Suicide watch.

Yeah... Sorry for ending it there. I hope this length was better than before. It's twice the length of the previous chapters. I hope you don't mind the next chapter or two... It might get a bit depressing.

Review, please!