One Week

A/N: First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed. It means a lot to know that people are reading this, and ideas and constructive criticism are always appreciated. I'm new to this, so any advice is welcomed! Someone requested that there be "no matchmaking or recording" -laughs- Don't worry. Though I have nothing against these things myself, they're far too light-hearted for this fic.

I'm slightly concerned that this story might not go the way people want it to. This was originally a very long one-shot which I've broken down into small chapters. They're just drabbles really, which are supposed to be quite sad. There's a plot, but not a complex one, and it's certainly a slow moving one. I hope this is still of interest to some of you!

HOWEVER. If enough people are interested in seeing this fleshed out into a proper long fanfiction (with decent sized chapters and a proper plot), I'd be more than happy to give it a go. The thing is, I hate starting stories and leaving them unfinished, so I'd have to have a pretty sound plot before I started writing. I'm open to ideas and suggestions. Let me know if you would be interested, and if enough of you are I'll post some details in a later chapter. Okay, minna-san?

Tuesday

He didn't know what compelled him to go back there.

Yesterday, stumbling across her had been an accident. It had been ten years since he last saw her, and he'd certainly had no intention of doing so again. Seeing the polite, but unknowing look in her eyes had hurt him more than he thought it would.

And yet he still found his feet taking him down that same street, to the coffee shop on the corner.

He pushed the door open, subconsciously holding his breath and preparing for the flash of auburn and the brighter-than-the-sun smile.

She wasn't there. He cursed himself for feeling disappointed.

This time, he decided to have his coffee in, asking the boy at the till to bring it over when it was ready. He told himself it was because he had an hour to waste before his meeting. He refused to acknowledge that he was hoping she'd appear.

He chose a table near the window, but facing the counter, and pulled out a newspaper in the hopes of distracting himself from wishing for her to walk out of the door marked 'STAFF ONLY'.

The minutes ticked by and she didn't emerge (neither did his coffee, actually – what was with the service today?), and he was angrier with himself than ever. He poured over the newspaper, determined to concentrate on the stories there. What was he thinking, dredging up these feelings again? If he wasn't careful, he was going to become obsessed. And that wasn't fair on her or him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Her voice caused his head to snap up, and he stared at her in wide-eyed disbelief. Even though he now knew she worked here, had been hoping to see her, he never actually thought he would. But there she was, her hair pinned up in a bun and a sunny smile on her face as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him.

He continued to stare at her.

"I'm really sorry," she apologised again, apparently mistaking his silence for anger. "One of our girls broke a plate and managed to cut herself and I was helping her bandage it up … of course that's no excuse for poor service –"

"It's all right."

She looked rather startled, and he supposed he'd been a little abrupt. But he was having trouble saying anything at all to her, let alone using the appropriate tone and timing.

Then she broke out into a smile again, and all was right with the world.

"Thank you! Did you want anything else?"

He continued staring at her, unable to follow the conversation when his eyes were too busy taking in her face, her hands, the way she moved … things that were different (like her height), things that were the same (like her smile, which he knew would never change).

This time his silence concerned her, and she frowned slightly. "Are you okay?"

The loss of her smile jerked him abruptly into reality, and he realised he'd been staring. "Um … yes, thank you. I mean, I'm sorry."

That was the first time he'd apologised for anything in ten years.

She laughed a little, apparently finding him amusing (or cute, as the slight blush across her cheeks would indicate). "You keep spacing out. Have you had breakfast?"

The random question threw him for a loop, and he stuttered copiously before being able to answer, "No."

"Let me bring you something to eat," she insisted, waving away his spluttered protests. "I insist. Think of it as an apology for making you wait for your coffee. Did you want a muffin or a pastry?"

"Um … a pastry?" he replied, feeling confused.

"Got it. Crumpet, croissant, pain au chocolat?"

He looked at her blankly. He was still trying to process the fact that she was there, speaking to him. It was too much for him to keep up intelligent conversation at the same time.

Anyone else would have considered his silence rude, or ungrateful. But not her. She simply smiled, holding up a finger and announcing, "I think you're a croissant person. I'll get you a croissant."

He didn't fight her. He was too busy wondering how she knew that he liked croissants. Was there any chance that she was able to remember useless, random facts like that one, and just not the feelings that really mattered?

She had already started to move away to retrieve the pastry, but she stopped after a few steps and turned back to him. "I've seen you before," she said, scrutinising his face in a playful way. His chest tightened, and just for a moment he dared to hope, dared to think that maybe, just maybe …

"You were here yesterday, right?"

The hope was gone as soon as it came, and loneliness once again settled into its place. "Yes. That's right."

She beamed at him. "I remember."

No, you don't, he thought.

And you never will.

A/N: Just a note for anyone who is confused. Someone asked why Sakura doesn't remember Syaoran – I explained it in the first chapter, but I don't mind saying it again because it's kind of important to the plot (please skip this if you already understand!). At the end of the second movie (for those who haven't seen it), Sakura has to sacrifice her love for Syaoran in order to seal Clow's final card, The Void. In the film, Syaoran turns up at the last minute and tries to make the sacrifice for her, but because Sakura has the Love card she created at the end of the Sakura Card season, it fuses with The Void and no prices have to be paid. And they all live happily ever after. In MY version (because I am cruel), Syaoran didn't turn up in time, The Void didn't fuse with The Love, and Sakura's love for Syaoran was taken as payment. Without any feelings for him or any relationship to speak of, she forgot him almost as soon as he went to Hong Kong – so now that he's turned up ten years later, she has no idea who he is.

Phew! Hope this clears everything up for people. I promise I won't inundate you with author's notes next chapter; I know they can get annoying.

One final thing. Good listening for this story? James Blunt's You're Beautiful (whether you like it or not, it fits!).