Alright.

I hope everyone notices the rearrangement of chapters. I realized that the country of Shara came BEFORE Piffle so I did lots of rearranging to make everything sequential. Grr!

Sorry for the confusion, but I think everyone can figure it out.

X X X

The second time, only Syaoran's promise to Kurogane kept him from drowning his embarrassment in the depths of the bottle. He gripped the beautiful paper folding screen with white knuckles. Sakura, lost in the plentiful folds of a petal-pink and deep ruby kimono, looked nervously from him to the tatami room packed with the performers of the Yuuka-Ku. Trays were laid out in rows with mats and cushion around each like mountains. The beautiful women in wild arrays of colorful kimonos and costumes were already drinking heavily. The room was full of laughter and mirth, but everyone was awaiting Suzuran and her introduction of Syaoran. Syaoran, on the other hand, was dreading her arrival.

Suzuran, in an exquisite dress of palest gold with scalloped sleeves and a big dark ribbon tied around her middle, appeared through the folding screens. She was grinning from ear to ear, hair twisted up in two buns to keep it out of her face. The ribbons fluttered at her ears. "Ladies, you were terrific!" She cheered.

A roar of applause and laughter rose up from the floor beyond the slightly raised platform.

"Since we finally have a moonlit night, we're here to celebrate a successful show!" She paused, smiling softly as she looked out over the crowd below her. The laughing smiling faces of her girls made her so happy.

Syaoran almost thought he squeaked away, but luck was not on his side.

"One more thing! This party is also to celebrate the coming to Yuuka-Ku of Syaoran and Sakura, our new guests!" She cheered and another roar of applause shook the room. "Alright, you two, come on in!" She said and whirled around to offer them her hand. Her smile was dazzling.

Syaoran tightened his grip on the folding screen and Sakura glanced worriedly from his cowering form to Suzuran and back again. She wasn't entirely sure what to do now.

Suzuran decided for her. "What're you hiding for? Come on out!" She demanded and grabbed Syaoran by the shoulder of his outfit. She hauled him out, hand over hand, and trapped in the ungainly geta shoes, he was forced to follow her.

"Kyaaaaa!"

Like Sakura, Syaoran was wearing a beautiful pink and red kimono patterned with flowers. A long heavy wig had been pinned to his head by a flowered wreath, giving him long braided pigtails that flowed down across his shoulders. His face was beat-red with embarrassment and he barely felt Sakura nervously gripping his long sleeve and touching his back.

Mokona bounced eagerly on his head. It was also done up with flowers.

"It doesn't matter what you wear outside or in the performance area, but while you're in Yuuka-Ku, you'll have to go as a woman," Suzuran was saying. "It's all been decided." She said and grinned wider.

"Kyaaaaa! How cute?"

Then, Syaoran was glomped by a group of drunk and giggling women.

"Syaoran's popular with the ladies!" Mokona said. Suzuran and Karen giggled at the young man's plight while Sakura looked nervously on. She wanted to help him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to get in the middle of the brawl.

That was when the first tremor shook the ground.

Sake cups and bottles rattled on the trays. A tea pot hung over the fire jumped and hissed. Trays clattered and rattled. The woman clutched Syaoran in fear and panic now.

Sakura clutched Mokona to her chest and Syaoran's amber eyes connected with her jade-colored ones even through the crowded room. A feeling of safety fell over Sakura.

"An earthquake?"

"Owner!" Karen shouted over the din, gathering two young girls with long dark hair under the plentiful folds of her cloak.

"This earthquake… Those creeps from the Jinja will blame it on the Ashura Statue. They'll probably come here trying to smash it!" Suzuran exclaimed.

But the tremor subsided, and aside from other tremors, the party continued without incident…

Or with little incident…

…

At first, Syaoran tried heartily to stop Sakura from drinking, but he was always restrained by the other women in the troupe. Sakura, Mokona, and Suzuran threw back cup after cup of alcohol until Sakura was a mess of meows and all smiles. Syaoran finally accepted a sip of sake, just to soothe his ragged nerves. In a few hours, almost everyone had passed out. Karen and Suzuran were busily sorting the younger girls out of heaps of limbs and fabric and herding them off to their proper rooms. Older girls were left in heaps periodically around the room.

Tatami mats were soft and forgiving to those that fell asleep on them.

The only parts of them that would hurt in the morning would be from the hangover.

And so, the chase began.

…

Syaoran, exhausted from chasing Sakura around and around the interior of Yuuka-Ku, finally sat down on the steps of the performance area to take a short breather. Sakura was giggling profusely, ducked down behind a pile of stage props. She thought he couldn't see her, but he could. He would resume the chase once she left his line of sight.

He was tired. His eyes started to slide closed, but he snapped them open after what felt like seconds. Apparently, it had been longer than that.

Sakura's kimono was spread out in the middle of the floor.

Startled, he jerked upright.

Small hands dug into his shoulders and pulled him backwards. The back of his head knocked into her shoulder and he was suddenly looking up at her face through a curtain of her pale tresses. Her face was set in a firm determined line.

For a moment, he could only stare at her. His voice was lost somewhere in his throat.

She was touching him.

Her small warm hands kneaded deep into the muscles of his shoulders and back. The kinks and knots washed away, sending a soothing wonderful wave of warmth through his tired body. The massage felt wonderful. She worked her slender fingers up through his chocolate locks.

He almost fell asleep against her. He felt lost, floating, like he was in a trance.

Then, her hands scooped under the collar of his kimono and pulled it down from his shoulders. Her hands rubbed his shoulders, working down the back of his kimono. Her skin was velvet-soft and so warm. Her touch was gentle.

Soon, he was dozing lightly again. He may have fallen asleep, but a second sensation roused him from his daze.

Her lips were on the back of his neck, the lightest kiss. She was timid, barely touching him. Maybe she was getting tired, too. Then, he felt her lips part and she drew a hesitant lick on the salty skin of his neck. The alcohol was warm and heavy in his blood. His reaction time was slow.

Then, he jerked away from her with a start.

"Sakura-hime?"

Her eyes were closed, but they slowly slid open. Her gaze burned him.

Sorrow loomed in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You don't like it…?"

Syaoran blinked and hurriedly adjusted the shoulders of the kimono, but, try as he might, he couldn't get it to stay closed as it had before.

"What?" was all he managed and it sounded choked.

Sakura stared at him. Her lips were damp and slightly parted. "You don't like me," she said flatly and lowered her outstretched hands to her lap.

The tension was seeping back into Syaoran's shoulders. "Princess," he said finally. "You're drunk. Let's get you to bed." He shrugged his shoulders out of the kimono, leaving most of his chest and flat stomach exposed. "Princess?"

She shook her head. "I don't want to sleep, Syaoran-kun."

"Do you have bad dreams?" Syaoran whispered, concerned as always for her.

She shook her head again. "I dream of you, most of the time, Syaoran-kun," she confessed.

His heart was heavy.

"I dream that you're in Clow with me, growing up with me," she murmured. Then, she looked at him with absolute seriousness. "I dream that I love you."

His breath got lost somewhere in his throat and he almost collapsed.

Sakura looked away. "I look at you sometimes and my body gets really hot. I can't think straight," she whispered.

He took a step towards her and then another. Finally, he was close enough to touch her and he cautiously cupped her face. She met his eyes without hesitation, but he didn't have anything to say. Sakura closed her eyes softly, lashes lying against her cheeks.

She looked so beautiful.

Syaoran wet his lips to speak, to tell her that she should go to bed, but the words never came.

She kissed him. Her lips were feather-soft and warm.

Their kiss lasted only a second because then Sakura slumped into sleep. He wondered if she thought that she had dreamed that, if everything she had told him was a dream.

Her kiss lingered on his lips. It tasted vaguely of sweet sake and of something completely her.

His head spun and he was suddenly very tired.

Then, he lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his naked chest. She nuzzled into him, inhaling deeply, and smiled faintly in her sleep. Her bare shoulders fit neatly under his ribs and her heat flowed into his body. She smelled wonderful, teased his nose.

Syaoran scooped up her kimono and tucked it into the shoulder of his where it hung around his hips. He lifted her higher in his arms to that her head lolled against his shoulder.

He carried her to her room and laid her down on the bed. He was folding her kimono to lie next to her bed for the next day when she stirred.

"Syaoran?" She whispered.

"Yes, hime?"

"Sa-ku-ra," she said as if it was a habit.

He closed his eyes and a bubble of longing lodged in his throat. "Of course, Sakura," he whispered.

"Kiss me, please," she murmured. "Syaoran, kiss me."

He shook his head weakly. "You're drunk. I have to go," he said. "Early day tomorrow…"

"Oh," she said and her disappointment was tangible.

Part of him wished she would ask him to kiss her again. Part of him didn't.

She wet her lips and shifted on the bed. He stood there for a moment, not looking at her, just listening to the sounds of her. She was breathing deeply and evenly, too deeply, too evenly. She was faking.

"Syaoran?"

"Yes, Sakura…?"

She didn't ask again.

…

The next morning, she didn't remember a thing. He asked her several times, on the off chance that maybe she did, but her eyes were always big and innocent and empty of anything but companionable care for him.

If she ever did remember him or even the night she asked him to kiss her, he would do so with no hesitation.

But she had to love him.

Sakura had to love him.

Otherwise, he would just be a memory in her dreams and the pain he would feel would be akin to his worst nightmares.

For her, he would do anything, even dress like a woman just to stay at her side.

He would give her anything she wanted from him.

She could take from him all she wanted.

He would deny her only one thing.

And that was himself.

Only until she really loved him.

If she ever did…

X X X

Poor Syaoran. He always gets the crap.

I swear, that guy is nice and wonderful to a fault.

Stupid Yuuko, making him give Sakura up.

I'm still so sick and I'm falling asleep at the computer here, so bear with me. Updates may be slow because I have no BRAIN POWER, but I'm doing my best here.

Go me!

*Fai fake whistles*

Infinity is the last chapter for this story so stay tuned.