Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, Clamp does. But I do own this story.

Pairings: Syaoran x Sakura, Eriol x Tomoyo

Chapter Thirteen

"Turn About"

"No!" Sakura interjected loudly. When the word escaped from his mouth, it was in barely a whisper but Sakura caught it and she definitely didn't want Eriol of all people to misunderstand.

Naoki looked at Sakura in surprise at her outburst.

"Ah… Err… Uhmm… N-Naoki san, this is Eriol Hiiragizawa. A… A…" What was Eriol to her? She felt like it would be rather rude to introduce him as her acquaintance. She also felt that introducing him as her friend was a bit presumptuous of her too. But then she couldn't possibly introduce him as her "boyfriend's best friend" either considering Naoki didn't know of Syaoran's existence.

"Friend," Eriol finished for her and held out his hand which Naoki took.

"Yes, friend," she repeated with a nervous laugh. "Uhmm… Eriol, this is Naoki Morita, a family friend. He's the son of one of my father's closest friends from Tomoeda." That sounded okay, didn't it? It didn't sound as if she were defending herself, right?

Naoki looked at Sakura in surprise at the lengthened explanation she gave regarding his identity before he looked back at Eriol. "I'm also her senior back in college," he said. He felt that it was more of a reason to meet with her than being the son of Sakura's father's friend.

Eriol had an even more surprised look on his face this time which Sakura noticed but didn't understand.

"Err… Yes," she agreed in a small voice.

"I see."

It was awkward. Well, for Sakura it was. The two men were looking at each other. Eriol looked curious, where as Naoki looked like he was assessing Eriol quite thoroughly in his head and Sakura can only guess why. A normal and healthy woman would surely have some kind of admiration for a guy like Eriol, considering how attractive the man was. At least, a normal, healthy and single woman surely would.

This was getting out of hand.

Eriol seemed to notice the distressed air about Sakura though for he immediately plastered a good natured smile on his face.

"Well, I better get back to my party," he said with a slight bow of his head.

"Yes, nice to meet you Hiiragizawa-san."

"Likewise, Morita-san."

Naoki stepped out of the way to have Sakura walk ahead first but she was still looking at Eriol rather worriedly.

"We'll talk another time," he said reassuringly to Sakura.

She wasn't entirely convinced of this. If Syaoran was indeed in that restaurant, it was only proper for her, as his girlfriend, to at least drop by and say hello or something even if she had present company.

"Sakura-san?" Naoki asked, looking at her expectantly.

"Ah, yes. I… I'll see you later Eriol," she said in a small voice and a bow before leading the way towards the main entrance of the restaurant.

Eriol watched as the pair made their way towards the exit and only moved until they disappeared completely.

This was an interesting twist of events. He wanted to give Sakura the benefit of a doubt but he was still first and foremost Syaoran's best friend. If he were in Syaoran's position, he'd definitely want to know things like this especially if it concerned the woman he loved.

He silently made his way back to their private room which by now had gotten livelier. The men who had been sober earlier on were starting to get tipsy as well. His eyes landed on Syaoran who was sitting there, chatting with a few of the men who were trying to convince him to drink more and telling him that he should enjoy liquor more at his age.

"Ah, thank you," Eriol said with a grin as one of the men handed Eriol a new bottle of saké as he passed by.

"About time you got back," Syaoran said in barely a whisper when he finally retook his seat. "With you here, at least they won't just focus on getting me drunk."

Indeed, they were now shouting down Eriol to start drinking as well. These kinds of dinner parties were the ones Syaoran wished Sakura would attend the most. If he had a female companion, he had a reason not to drink and it would also keep the other men from drinking too carelessly.

The lack of women tonight was definitely the reason why things were getting out of hand more than usual.

"Syaoran," Eriol said in a more serious tone as soon as the men calmed down after they saw him take a swig of saké.

Syaoran looked at him, surprised at the look on his face.

"I saw Sakura outside." The immediate look of pleasure that crossed Syaoran's features was so obvious. Eriol would normally tease him about this but it wasn't exactly the time to do so. "She already left," he added quickly before he got his hopes up.

"Why didn't you tell-"

"She wasn't here alone," he explained. Syaoran had told him earlier that Sakura had visitors from home. Visitors. Plural. What he saw earlier was definitely in the singular though. To make matters worse, it was most likely that Naoki Morita was the exact same senior Syaoran had told him weeks ago when he told Eriol about Sakura being with male senior when she visited her hometown.

"She should've dropped by though," Syaoran said, cutting Eriol's train of depressing thoughts. "Did you tell her that I was here?"

"Not exactly," he said and Syaoran immediately took on an annoyed expression. "And anyway, as we spoke, I'm pretty sure she got the hint that you were here. Anyway, more importantly… Syaoran, does the name Naoki Morita ring any bell?"

This surprised him and effectively got his more serious attention. That name definitely did ring a bell. After all, he just had one of his secretaries look up that exact same name the other day.

"Why? And why do you know that name?"

Though he didn't exactly what, he knew something was definitely up. This wasn't hard for Eriol to conclude. This also strengthened his resolve to tell Syaoran about earlier.

"Sakura had only one companion earlier. His name was Naoki Morita…"

"I have it all ready sir."

"Good. How many did it come down to?"

"Only six are left. Four in Tokyo and two in different neighboring towns."

"Okay, keep the others but I want you to fax those over to my residence right now."

"Understood."

Syaoran ended the call and tossed his cell phone onto the couch next to him.

His conversation with Eriol from last night did nothing for him but worry. Eriol said that Sakura was with Naoki Morita last night and that he was supposedly the son of Sakura's father's friend. But why were they alone together? And why didn't Sakura just come in and introduce the man to him and vice versa if she knew that he himself was just in the next room? Was she hiding his existence on purpose? And to make matters worse (in Syaoran's opinion), Eriol had said that Naoki Morita looked to be about their age and wasn't exactly bad looking.

Sakura wasn't cheating on him, was she?

This thought made Syaoran irritated at himself. He had never doubted Sakura and she had never given him a reason to. Well, until now. She had contacted him last night though and told him that she'll be staying at her own apartment for the night since she was to take her companion to the station after lunch.

Syaoran glanced at his watch. He had a few hours to kill until he would meet Sakura in the afternoon. He was about to just read the morning paper but the beeping followed by buzzing of the fax machine caught his attention.

Tai, indeed, worked fast.

He went over to the machine and watched as paper after paper continued to quickly print information until it stopped after 18 pages.

Syaoran grabbed the stack and quickly started to rifle through them.

Three of the Naoki Moritas were in there 40s to 50s and one was a grade schooler. The two left were a 29 and 30 year old respectively but Syaoran was already sure who he was looking for just from his place of address.

"Tomoeda," he read out and took out the three pages with the man's information before discarding the rest onto the nearest table.

Syaoran read through the file rather quickly and as he did so, it only made him surer that he was the Naoki Morita that Sakura was with last night. His educational background showed the same college as Sakura which also proved what Eriol said about him probably being the same senior she was with from her last visit to Tomoeda.

He didn't find anything else suspicious at all. The man was an assistant manager at a bank which is run by his father and his father's father before that. The birth date of his father, Nao Morita, was probably around the age of Sakura's father which made it unsurprising if he was indeed friends with the late Fujitaka Kinomoto. Not that Syaoran suspected that Sakura was lying about that piece of information.

That still didn't answer some of the questions nagging at him though.

Why hadn't Sakura just introduced them last night? What did she have to hide? Even if the person who came to visit ended up with just the son instead of the father and son pair she had told Syaoran, he wouldn't have minded and wouldn't have been as suspicious as he was now if she just told him.

"Thank you," Tomoyo gave the money she had prepared and gave it to the young delivery boy before closing the door to her apartment.

"Again, I'm sorry for the short notice Tomoyo," Sakura apologized from the living room sofa.

Tomoyo shook her head and brought the large pizza box over to the table.

"As long as you don't mind pizza for lunch, it's really fine."

She still looked apologetic but helped by refilling both their glasses with juice from the jug they had prepared earlier on.

"Thanks for this."

The two women both started eating in silence with Tomoyo throwing worried glances at Sakura every so often. Indeed she was surprised by her friend's sudden appearance outside of her apartment, but as to why she was there, she didn't know nor did Sakura show any indication of telling her. She thought Sakura was going to have lunch with Naoki before he left for Tomoeda but that didn't seem the case.

Sakura took another quiet bite form her slice of pizza before falling back against the sofa.

"I've come to a resolution," she suddenly said. This perked Tomoyo up quickly. She couldn't stand the silence anymore. "I'm stopping… whatever this is, with Naoki."

This relieved Tomoyo considerably and it surprised her. She didn't even know that she had been worried to this degree about the situation between Sakura and the assistant manager.

"What made you come to that?"

"Yesterday," Sakura admitted. "I met up with Syaoran's best friend while I was out having dinner with Naoki. Apparently Syaoran was in that restaurant too. I knew I should've gone to see him but I didn't. I thought that it would ruin getting into Naoki's good books if he found out I had a boyfriend especially in that manner."

Tomoyo nodded in understanding at this and motioned for her to continue.

"I was racked with guilt all night. I'm still guilty now actually. What if Syaoran's best friend tells Syaoran about last night? What if Syaoran misunderstands? I mean, I told him I'll be with my dad's old friend and his son but instead I was caught by his best friend with a man who admitted to being my senior back in school. What if he also told Syaoran that? What if he gets suspicious and accuses me of cheating? He'll break up with me for sure. I mean, who wouldn't, right?"

Sakura was rambling quite hysterically now and Tomoyo didn't know whether to be worried or happy. She was obviously so taken with Syaoran to get worried to this degree and this thought pleased her.

"Calm down, Sakura. Syaoran hadn't contacted you about it?"

She shook her head. "But I'll be surprised if he doesn't know. You should meet his best friend Tomoyo. He's nice and all but how can I say this… he has this… mischievous aura about him," she explained with an involuntary shiver.

Tomoyo giggled at this but didn't say anything. It was as if she was describing her Eriol. She couldn't help but smile at the thought. She still couldn't wait until Sakura and Eriol met. But then with everything that's been going on lately, that had to take a back seat.

"So anyway," Sakura continued in a calmer tone now, "I thought about it all night and… as much as I don't want my dad's money to be wasted on who knows what if I don't inherit it, I'll have to give up on it."

This caught Tomoyo's attention. "So you're giving up on the money?"

Sakura had a look of sadness on her face but she gave a determined nod.

"If I end up getting on bad terms with Syaoran just so I can get it, I'd rather not have it. I don't want to lose Syaoran. The possibility of losing him hit me so hard yesterday and I can't bear it. I-" she cut off as Tomoyo practically jumped on her for a tight and reassuring hug.

"Oh Sakura, I'm so happy to hear you say that!" she said almost teary eyed. "I mean, I'll stick by you with whatever you decide to do but this time I can support this decision and I can personally say that I think it's the right thing to do! Is that why you didn't have lunch with Naoki today?"

"Yeah, I told him I had plans to meet up with my boyfriend. I didn't tell him who my boyfriend was but I was being clear that I had one."

"I can only imagine how shocked he was."

Sakura couldn't help but giggle. "He really was. It even made me guiltier when he started apologizing and saying that it was his fault for not asking me first whether I had a boyfriend or not. I was thinking of sending something like a fruitcake to him and Morita-san as a Christmas gift and a sort of apology."

"I love you," Syaoran said against her soft honey colored tresses and kissed the top of her head.

Sakura snuggled closer against him and kissed the base of his neck. "I love you too," she replied and turned to look up at him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded mutely.

It was in the middle of the afternoon and it was snowing nonstop outside as seen from the glass wall of Syaoran's bedroom where the curtains were drawn.

Earlier- before they thoroughly made love with each other -Sakura had come to his apartment and the moment she had, she was already telling him about what happened the previous night without him having to ask. And he was grateful for it. He could tell that she had been worried about it from the tone of her voice and this only proved to him of her actual feelings for him. This also made him realize his own feelings for her as well.

He can't live without her.

Sure, he had already felt this way for months now. But after this kind of thing happened, it made him realize all the more just how much Sakura weighed in his life. He can't even bear the thought of losing her to anyone. No, he can't bear the thought of losing her. Period.

"Be mine forever," he added in the lowest possible voice.

But Sakura heard him.

"Of course."

In no time, it was Christmas Eve.

Sakura was standing in the middle of Syaoran's living room and was gazing at the crackling fire inside the fire place as he waited for him. They were scheduled to attend some kind of Christmas gala hosted by one of Li Corp.'s business partners.

She was dressed in snow white gown with matching silver heels. The gown was styled quite simply compared to the other evening gowns Syaoran had her wear in previous functions but this one was probably the most intricately detailed seeing as there were tiny shining diamonds or probably rhinestones- Sakura couldn't tell for sure but if she knew Syaoran, it was most like actual diamonds –embedded onto the smooth fabric in several well placed areas.

"You look gorgeous as usual," Syaoran's voice suddenly said from right behind her before his strong arms snaked around her waist.

"Thank you," she whispered back before turning around to have a good look on him.

There was something about Syaoran and suits that she just couldn't place. Men barely got it easy considering they were limited on what they could wear to dress up compared to girls who had a variety to choose from. But Syaoran somehow never looked the same every time even if what he wore were suits.

His attire for the night was a sleek jet black 3-piece suite matched with a thin snow white tie, diamond encrusted cufflinks, and black Italian leather shoes.

"You look handsome as usual," she complimented.

He grinned rather boyishly before giving her a peck on the lips. "Ready to go?"

"Mhmm… Where exactly is the party held?"

"1010," he answered immediately, referring to one of the tallest skyscrapers in the heart of Tokyo, not far from Syaoran's place.

"Oh?" This was a surprise. As far as she knew, that building was an office building for the most part, save for a couple of restaurants and other establishments in different floors.

"I know the owner," he added, as if this explained everything.

"Of course, you do," Sakura said, rolling her eyes and laughing.

Dear Mr. Hashimoto,

Thank you for all the care you've shown all this time.

I am truly grateful for everything.

I hope you and your family will have a very Merry Christmas!

– Sakura Kinomoto –

Kentaro read the card and set it down before opening the box that came with it.

"Fruit cake," he said quite happily when he saw the contents. The person who delivered the package had told him to make sure to put it in the refrigerator so he had to open it just to check even if it was only the eve before Christmas. "You have a very kindhearted daughter, Fujitaka."

The elevator gave a loud ding before the doors opened, revealing a large and dimly lit restaurant. There weren't many tables but each table had a lit candle and all sorts of decorations in the middle.

Sakura looked around as Syaoran led her across the floor and she could tell from the dishes and the way the customers and even the waiters were attired that this restaurant was very high class.

But why were they there?

She was about to voice this question but a man had gestured to Syaoran and Sakura into a room at the end of the floor which he had held open.

There was a screen divider that covered the room from the outside the moment they entered and Syaoran had maneuvered for Sakura to follow him as he led her inside.

The sight took her breath away.

The room wasn't altogether too large. It could probably hold four or six more tables like that of the main room but right now, there was only a singular table covered with an immaculate white cloth. The area around and above the table had a sheer white cloth draped around it, giving the scene a rather ethereal look about it. There were several small candles on stands around the room with the largest one lit in the middle of the table where it was surrounded by thistles and fresh rose petals in red and white. There were also rose petals and actual roses across the floor as well.

"Oh," was the only reaction Sakura could manage as she took this entire scene in. It was beautiful and magical.

"Do you like it?" he asked while two men in uniforms appeared out of nowhere and assisted them with their coats.

"Syaoran, it's beautiful," she said rather breathlessly. "But… What happened to the gala? Weren't we supposed to-?"

He cut her off by planting a chaste kiss on her lips yet again for that night.

"I wanted to spend this time with you alone. Is that okay?"

Sakura smiled brightly. "I'm not complaining."

He chuckled and helped her to her seat.

Three walls of the room- save for the one where the door they had come through –were made of glass which revealed the snowy night sky and the blinking lights of the bright city below.

"You really know how to make a girl feel special," Sakura said just as a number of waiters made their entrance with their appetizers.

"I only know how to make you special," he corrected with a grin.

The evening went on very nicely.

They talked, and laughed, and even kissed often in between all the while they went through the course of meals Syaoran had planned earlier on which mostly comprised Sakura's favorite dishes.

When it was nearing midnight, a waiter came in with a trolley which held a dish covered by a silver domed lid as well as a new wine bottle and two new tall glasses.

Sakura watched as he opened the bottle to pour wine into the glasses for them both before placing the wine bottle in the iced bucket that held the unfinished bottle they had earlier.

Before he could leave, Sakura immediately motioned for him to come closer to her so she could whisper something to him.

He bowed and took his leave.

"What was that about?"

Sakura smiled at him. "I thought this would be the best time as any to give you your Christmas present," she admitted. It was nearing midnight and looked like the waiter was about to serve them their desert so she figured this was the only time she can give her gift to him.

Before Syaoran could say anything, the waiter had returned which greatly impressed Sakura. He was fast.

He placed the square package which he had taken from Sakura's coat by her orders in front of Syaoran before leaving the room once again.

"Can I open it?"

"If you must," Sakura said with a smile. "It isn't much though, just so you know."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it," he said as he started to tear open the wrapping with enthusiasm. This was, after all, the first material thing he had ever received from Sakura.

It was a jewelry box with a familiar brand's logo embossed at the top. When he opened it, it revealed a band as thick as that of a wrist watch made of mostly gold with a few parts of silver. It wasn't plain, neither was it fancy to make it suit a woman. He took it out of the case to look at it closer. It had elaborate grooves and markings that spanned the entire band making it look quite classy but quite obviously suited for a man.

"Look closer," Sakura suggested in a slightly nervous voice.

He did as she said and the engraved words inside the band suddenly became a lot more obvious.

To the man who owns my heart… to you who have taken hold of my mind, body, and soul… to my Little Wolf… I LOVE YOU forever and always.

This was all written in Chinese save for the "I LOVE YOU forever and always" as well as the unmistakable and intricately drawn cherry blossom flower engraved at the end.

"Do you like it?" Sakura asked after some time of silence between them.

Syaoran stood up and walked over to her side of the table to give her a deep kiss to show her just how much he loved the gift.

"Very much. Thank you," he said with a smile before he handed the band to her and held out his wrist.

Sakura looked slightly puzzled at his left wrist which already had his watch.

"So when I look at my wrist, I won't only be reminded of the time, but also of you," he confessed.

This made her blush but she smiled in understanding before locking the band next to his watch.

He gave her another kiss before he returned to his seat.

"Can I give you something now as well?"

This surprised Sakura. After the night's events, she already considered this dinner and the preparations it took as her Christmas gift.

"You don't have to Syaoran," said Sakura as she gestured around her. "You've already done so much for me."

Syaoran nodded at the dish which still had the food cover over it on the trolley next to their table, slightly closer to Sakura than Syaoran. She thought the waiter had forgotten about it since she asked him to step out while he was in the middle of presenting their final meal.

She leaned over to pull back the silver dome and when she did, her eyes widened.

In the middle of the plate underneath it wasn't their final meal for the night, but a small velvet box with its lid already open and a large, square-cut diamond ring resting inside its white cushions.

Sakura dropped the food cover on the table as quietly as she could before she held her hands up slowly to her face.

"I know I don't have to," Syaoran suddenly said in a soft tone, continuing Sakura's statement form earlier. "But I want to… If you'll let me." He left his seat once again to take the box in his own hands before he got down on one knee next to her. "Sakura, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

As those words left his lips, her tears escaped her. Her breathing had grown erratic and her mind had gone blank, but one word stuck in her brain and she was determined to say it no matter what.

"Yes," she choked out emotionally to which Syaoran took her left hand into his and slipped the ring into her ring finger where it fit perfectly.

Sakura stared at the ring feeling out of sorts. This wasn't a dream was it? If it was, she never wanted to wake up… ever.

"I love you," she managed to whisper somehow just as Syaoran got back onto his feet.

"And I love you," he responded by kissing the top of her engagement-ring clad hand. "Forever and always," Syaoran added with a smile.

"Forever and always," Sakura agreed and stood up to wrap her arms around his neck before kissing him on the lips once again.

Author's Note:

Hoo-rah! Writing about Christmas in the middle of summer! Talk about out of season.

...

But oh well! I hope you guys enjoyed this regardless.

On to more exciting news... *drum roll* I finished Mending Mistakes. Mwahahah! Are you impressed? 'Cause I am! I can sing, cry, and flip all the tables in my house right now.

There are a a couple of details I feel like I have to add or change in the last two chapters though since I'm not completely satisfied with how it is at the moment but still, it's DONE. Took me forever but I actually managed to do it. Writing that Omake really did help. Once I wrote that, I wrote one chapter afterwards, then everything else just kinda steamrollered in after it. I did spend most of my week on writing it though.

But just because I finished writing it doesn't mean the rest of the chapters are ready for uploading! I need to fine tune the details and of course, proof read... which I don't feel like doing at the moment (or any time soon). Just saying. I feel so lazy now knowing this has been completed.

Please drop me a review or two for this hardworking author if you would be so kind~ *curtsies*

For now, Ja ne!

Raeny