Nothing much to say!

X X X

The third time Sakura got drunk, she hadn't done it intentionally.

They had all made it through the preliminary for the race in Piffle World, in which the prize was one of her feathers. They were celebrating and Mokono Modoki spiked her drink, which she had thought was lemonade until she found herself all smiles and impossibly daring.

"It was like a rollercoaster! Mokona loves to fly!"

"Rollercoaster?" Sakura asked. Her mind felt a little fuzzy and she absently wondered why.

"It zwooms up and then zwooms down again!"

"Zwooms?"

"And there are some that go zwoom in a loop!" And Mokona twirled to demonstrate her point.

"Zwoom!" Sakura cheered.

No one was really paying any attention to her. The guys were all sipping their drinks and taking about something that appeared to be very important. The space between Syaoran's brows was crunched up like it did when he was thinking very hard or worried. Kurogane's mouth was set grimly and Fai wore that ever-present smile though it was strained.

"So you had to concentrate on that," Fai was saying.

Syaoran nodded.

"How about you Sakura-chan?" He asked her.

Oh, they were talking about the race and all the accidents with the dragonflies.

"There were those bright sparkly things!" She said and smiled. Mokona hung off her shoulder, pulling the fabric down.

"Bright sparkly?" Syaoran asked. All the color had drained from his face. He looked worried, not the same worry that crinkled his brow, but worried.

"Bright sparkly!" Sakura repeated and giggled. "They sparkled inside the smoke! They flew, borne on the wind! And we went flying, zwoom, right through the middle of them!" She leaped to her feet, arms spread wide.

Mokona bounced on the table beside her. "Zwoom!"

Sakura grabbed Mokona's little paws, scooped her up, and they spun in a circle. They both were giggling madly, flowers flying off of them. "Zwoom! Zwoom!" Sakura and Mokona cheered.

"P-princess…?"

Kurogane began to have an ominous premonition and Fai took a step towards Sakura and Mokona's discarded drinks.

"Oh, yeah! We have to go flying!" Sakura shouted.

"We gotta fly!" Mokona agreed.

Syaoran was a small protesting figure in the background. "Princess!" He took off after her once she leaped up and made a dash for the door.

Fai sniffed the drink. "You know, there's alcohol in this drink," he said finally.

"WHAT?" Kurogane snapped. "I told you not to slip alcohol to the kid and the princess."

"I didn't. It's in Mokona's drink too. My guess is Mokona's the culprit," Fai said and pictured the little creature pouring gin into the unsuspecting children's glasses.

Then, from outside, a big calamity arose.

"No, you can't do this, princess!"

"Come on, Syaoran-kun! Fly with me!"

"Waaaah!"

Then, there was a huge and painful sounding crash.

Kurogane leaped from his chair. "Keep it in control, you little brat!" He growled and stomped outside to see what the commotion was about.

"It's time for daddy to take charge! Come home soon!" Fai said and waved.

…

Syaoran had raced outside after Sakura and Mokona. The princess had already fit her goggles over her jade-green eyes and was clambering into her Winged Egg-Go with Mokona hanging on the back of her dress. The little creature was giggling hysterically and Sakura was clearly not thinking straight.

"No, you can't do this, princess!" Syaoran protested and clambered up the wing of her dragonfly.

"Come on, Syaoran-kun! Fly with me!" She demanded.

She grabbed him around the waist, hauling him up into her lap. Syaoran floundered and wound up sprawled across her knees, one arm caught between her thighs. Mokona leaped down on his head and gripped onto his hair. Sakura started the engine and heaved up on the controls. The dragonfly wobbled into the air, tipped sharply, and plunged straight down.

"Waaaah!"

The crash resonated throughout the skies.

Syaoran was launched form the craft and sent spilling across the ground. He heard Kurogane yell something, but was busy seeing stars. Sakura, on the other hand, was completely unperturbed. She shoved her hair and goggled out of her face, sat down again, squeezed Mokona between her knees, and heaved the dragonfly into the air again.

Kurogane saw the kid sprawled on the concrete, grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and slammed him down on his feet. "Go stop her!" The ninja shouted as Fai appeared in the doorway behind him.

The magician was getting a kick out of this.

"Princess!" Syaoran shouted once the stars and stripes faded from his vision. He raced to his own dragonfly and got it quickly into the air. Then, he was streaking across the sky after his princess, following the trail of her laughter.

…

The only thing Fai and Kurogane could do was go back inside and finish the bottle. They couldn't do much to help Syaoran wrestle Sakura from the skies. She didn't listen to anyone when she was drunk and Syaoran was nothing if not persistent.

"I do hope Sakura-chan's alright," Fai said.

Kurogane just grunted.

…

Syaoran shouted Sakura's name again, but she appeared intent on ignoring him. She was giggling and wobbling through the clear sky and hadn't crashed since he had been carelessly tossed across her knees. But, it was getting dark. The searchlights customary to Piffle World were flicking on one by one, starting on the west side of the city, and fanning through the twilight sky. A few stars began to peek through the clouds, though Syaoran knew none of them.

It was times like this when he missed Clow Country the most. The sky here was unfamiliar.

"Sakura-hime!" Syaoran shouted again. "Please, it's getting dark. Let's go back!"

Her giggling quieted and her dragonfly tipped suddenly to the side.

"Hime!" He shouted, afraid she had fallen asleep at the controls.

But the craft banked and zipped past him. Sakura's face was set in very serious lines, staring straight ahead, with Mokona appearing to be sound asleep in her lap. Syaoran rocketed after them, pulling up even with the princess's dragonfly. She didn't even look at him.

Now, came the hard part.

Sakura had to land.

…

There was a bandage the size of Yuuko's treasure collection on Sakura's Winged Egg-Go. The landing had not been very graceful, but Syaoran had set down easily and neatly beside her before clambering to her side. Sakura was leaning back in the seat, head tilted up at the sky.

The light was fanned across her beautiful face. Syaoran would have given anything for her to remember him at that moment.

"Syaoran-kun," she murmured.

He sat down on the wing of her craft and pulled the key from the ignition, just in case.

"Yes, princess?"

"I don't want to go in, yet."

"Alright," he said softly and followed her gaze.

The sky was beautiful and clear. Stars winked in and out of focus according to the flash of lights from the city below. Twilight was pale and blue-green at the edges of the sky. The world was a truly stunning and marvelous thing to behold.

Syaoran found his eyes wandering to Sakura's glowing white face. Her eyes were closed.

"Hime, have you fallen asleep?"

Jade-green orbs fluttered open and turned briefly in his direction. "Syaoran-kun, do you know any of these stars?" She asked finally.

"No, I'm sorry."

"This sky is different than where you're from?"

Syaoran swallowed the lump in his throat. He remember Sakura once asking him about the stars and the skies of the different countries he visited with her father. That was a memory she would never remember, all because he was in it.

Flashback:

Sakura had snuck out again, but she was fourteen now and it wasn't such a big deal anymore. Touya always knew she was safe with the brat. As much as he hated Syaoran, he knew the brat would defend his sister to the death. So when he poked his long nose into her room and found her bed still neatly made and her cloak gone from her closet, he didn't worry too greatly.

Sakura sneaked through Clow's empty streets, keeping her telltale white and pink cloak from giving her away by keeping to the shadows. Finally, she reached Syaoran's house. He was sitting on the steps, just gazing up at the sky.

The stars always seemed close enough to touch in the desert even when a dry thunder storm rumbled and flashed in the distance.

"Syaoran," Sakura whispered.

He started, head whipping in her direction, but he smiled. "Did you sneak out again?"

"Yup," she said and sat down on the steps next to him. "What are you looking at?"

"The stars. I always miss the sky when I'm away for a long time," he confessed. "I often just sit out here when I get back."

"Just for the stars?"

He grinned. "I also know that you'll come creeping out from the shadows. I wait for you, too," he said and looked up at the sky again.

"But you only miss the stars?"

Syaoran looked at her. He was so handsome: the curve of his jaw, strong chin, fine bones, and soft lips. His eyes glowed in the dark, shadows by hair dark in the faint starlight. The shadows played on his face. "Sakura, is something wrong?"

She smiled. "No," she said.

How silly! Of course he missed her. They were best friends.

"Tell me some of the stars you like especially."

He leaned close to her, lining his arm with the curve of her cheek to point out certain stars easier. The scent and warmth of him was enough to sufficiently distract her, but she did remember one star up until the day she lost all her precious memories of Syaoran.

He had named it for her.

End flashback.

"Hime?" Syaoran repeated, but she was already asleep.

Her breath was deep and even.

Smiling to himself, he scoop her up in his arms and carried her inside. Kurogane and Fai were waiting up for them, but Syaoran took Sakura to her room without a word to either of them. Fai had probably been watching out the window.

The magician was a snoop.

They both followed him to her room.

"She's pretty nimble for a drunk," Kurogane remarked. "And smashed, she's even faster than when she's sober."

Fai chuckled. "She really is giving it all she has."

"I'm going to bed!" Kurogane snapped, turning to exit the room.

"You too, Syaoran-kun, get some rest," Fai said. "When we win the race tomorrow, we're going to celebrate again!"

Syaoran deadpanned. "Right," he said.

Then, Fai was gone, too.

Gently and timidly, Syaoran pulled off the princess's shoes and socks and laid them on the floor. Then, he reached up under her dress, unbuttoned and unzipped her pants, and peeled them down her legs. Her hips were sharp against his knuckles and the skin on her stomach was taut and warm. She moaned in her sleep and all the blood rushed to his face. He almost stopped there and let her sleep in her clothes, but she didn't look very comfortable so he dug up enough courage to continue.

He unbuttoned the front of her dress and peeled it off her shoulders. She flopped back against the bed in just her transparent white t-shirt and panties. Her skin glowed and was flushed with healthy color and her lips were curved into a faint smile.

Syaoran folded her clothes and laid them with her shoes before covering her neatly.

He turned to lean and there was a tug on the back of his shirt.

Sakura was gripping his shirt in her sleep, smiling softly.

He blushed and gently pulled her hand off his shirt. He stood at her bedside for a long time, just holding her hand in his own, marveling at the softness of her skin. Then, finally, he laid her hand at her side and stepped quickly back from the bed, lest she reach for him again.

"Good night," he whispered. "Sweet dreams." Then, he closed the door quietly.

…

"Let's see, we have to buy the liquor," Sakura was saying to Mokona. Syaoran's head was still swimming from the abusive tumble he had taken the night before chasing after Sakura, but he was hiding it, of course.

"Sakura is having so much fun! Is it because Sakura made it into the final?" Mokona asked.

"That's part of the reason," Sakura said. "But another reason, is this great dream I had!" She was so happy, she positively glowed.

Syaoran swallowed. Surely she didn't remember…

"What kind of dream?" Mokona asked.

"Let's see. Somebody was holding my hand," Sakura began.

Syaoran lurched in his seat, but it thankful didn't show through in his driving. He tucked himself low over the steering wheel to hide the blush coloring his face. Sakura didn't notice his reaction and continued talking to Mokona.

"I don't really remember it, but I'm sure it was really good dream! And when I woke up, I felt so happy!" Sakura said and her face glowed with a smile reminiscent of the ones she used to give Syaoran all the time back in Clow, before all this.

Sakura was unaware that it was Syaoran who had been holding her hand last night. She thought it was a dream, just a fantasy of her drunk and exhausted mind.

Dreams were sometimes less painful than the truth.

X X X

Change three to a four-shot. I want to get all the way into Infinity's drinking scenes.

Questions, comments, concerns?