Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Card Captor Sakura, neither have any stakes in the teams and soccer leagues mentioned in the story. I sadly just own the plot. Names and places may exist but nothing in the story is veridic. The whole plot is just a concept/product of my imagination.

Chapter 7

Stepping Over Stones

Practice had been more tiring than usual. Thanks to his girlfriend being in town, he hadn't had one good night sleep between arguing with her till finally having everything exploding last night at the club. He almost threw the first punch at Jaxon, his teammate, who, if anyone asked him, had been asking for one from the very moment he set his eyes on his girlfriend. The only thing that had saved him was that Sakura was present and he knew the moment he threw that first punch his relationship with her was over.

They had talked a little bit last night. He had opened up to her about some of his feelings but, still even after so many years, he could tell her job weighted a lot on her. 'I told you I'm not that little girl anymore Syaoran. I can't be. I'm not willing to be.' Those had been her words last night when he brought up the fact that even with him present, she was still spending time working. They had gone to bed with this little problem unresolved which was never good. As he parked his car in front of his driveway, he thought on what to tell her next. He knew how her work influenced a lot of her decisions and with the award race on the way anything could be possible when it came to her deciding what to do about this whole spending time with him issue. He walked out of his car knowing there was no way of avoiding the inevitable.

Walking inside his house, he set his sports bag in the corner of the foyer, his keys on the small wooden wall plate, and called her out like he used to every time he came back from practice. "Sak!" He walked through the living room looking around and nothing. The kitchen was empty as well. Passing the dining room into the lounge area by the pool… zero. Panic started to settle in as he headed upstairs towards their bedroom. He opened the door and found the bed sheets neatly set in a cozy way. He quickly took out his cell phone and dialed her number. The ringtone was faint, but he heard it as he quickly turned around trying to follow the sound of it. He walked back the same way he came in and found her on the doorway with bags on her hand. He released a breath he didn't even realized he had been holding until now. She had gone shopping… Hadn't she been shopping yesterday? How much could a woman shop?

"Hey baby!" she cheerfully said totally oblivious as to what had been going on inside of his mind when he found the house completely empty. "You won't believe what I found in these mini shops close by." She set her keys down, right next to his, and walked towards him with a small bag on hand. Reaching him, she gave him a quick kiss before showing him the bag.

Syaoran stared at her. By her attire he could tell she had done more than just shopping, she had probably gone for a run and ended up shopping. 'Figures… women…' he thought. Glad to have confirmed his suspicions to be wrong, he calmly took the bag out of her hands. "What is it?"

She happily smiled at him. "Open it."

He curiously opened the bag. "Dango?" he chuckled. Leave it to her to find a Japanese restaurant that sell Dango on the streets of Manchester.

"Isn't it amazing? Right around the corner! I mean, I went for a run this morning and I found myself in front of this place. It was fate, I'll tell you."

He shook his head before putting his arm around her waist and kissing her again. He had been so afraid when he didn't see her around. She had no idea what a relief it was for him to see her on the doorway a couple of minutes ago. "Sak-"

She didn't let him finish as she put her finger on his lips silencing him. Smiling, she said "I haven't shown you what else I bought." She took his hand on hers and led him towards the front door where she had left the rest of her packages. Going through one in specific, she took out a natural wooden modern small basket and set it on the console table.

He frowned. "We already have a key plate, babe."

She threw her hands around his neck as she said, "It's not for the keys. It's actually for the cell phones. You're right. I shouldn't have to deal with work when I'm spending time with you. So, as a matter of white flag major apology, I thought it's best to separate that which is causing so many arguments between us lately. That been said, every time we walk through these doors, cell phones will be in silent mode and put in here when we're spending time together. That way no more interruptions. That is, off course if you're okay with that too."

He touched his forehead against hers and smiled. "I'm okay too," he said before kissing her.

"Also, I bought tickets for tonight. There's a play I want to see at the theatre and guess what?" she smiled playfully at him before saying "they require guests to wear a mask as part of the opening night spectacle."

He frowned. "A mask? Shouldn't the people in the play be the ones wearing masks instead of us?"

She shook her head and smiled. "Not on this one. It will be fun. Don't worry baby, I already got yours."

Flashbacks of the day before came rushing to him as he nodded and asked, "what's the theatre's name?"

Having a feeling he was trying to be a little cautious after yesterday events, she chuckled and smirked. "We'll both be wearing masks baby. I doubt they will recognize you or me among many other people wearing masks." She grabbed the rest of her bags and started to walk to their room but stopped right in front of the stairs and looked at him once more. "Oh, I forgot to mention, your cousin wants to go for a bike ride after lunch. You're okay with going?"

Leave it to his cousin to suggest something like this after the intense game they had last night. Even though he didn't get to have any game minutes in it, he felt for his friends' legs at his cousin's suggestion. Nonetheless, he didn't want to waste any minutes from doing something with Sakura here, so he just nodded and said, "I'll call her and let her know we'll meet them at their house."

She smirked and raised a brow before playfully asking, "does your baby have where to carry those bikes to their house?"

He smirked. "We'll take the Rover instead."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes before continuing upstairs. She truly couldn't comprehend why he needed to have so many cars in a garage but oh well this was not something she was going to fight him on. It was his money, earned from giving it all inside the field. If he wanted to spend it this way, then so be it, even if she considered it to be a waste to do so. I mean, they all did the same function. Why buy seven cars when you only needed one to transport you from one side to the other? But then again, as many professional soccer players do, Syaoran loved having his collection of expensive sports cars.

~ o ~

An hour later, they were in front of Kyu's house. Different from Syaoran's house, Kyu's house was completely huge. It was composed of ten bedrooms and eight bathrooms with a pool deck facing half of the same mountain as Syaoran's and the other half facing the small town below. As Sakura got out of the car, she couldn't believe the size of this house. It was the first time she visited their house. Like Syaoran's, a small storage building followed to the left of the house which she assumed it was for Kyu's numerous cars as well… a clear sign the three of them had something else in common growing up aside from playing soccer in Europe. As she kept looking around, she saw Eriol's car parked on the side which meant Tomoyo had already arrived.

"Hey guys!" Meiling came from the door to greet them happily. She was excited to be receiving them in their house. Unlike Sakura, Meiling had no problems with the technicalities of ownership when it came to their things. Kyu was very simplistic when it came to that or, as Sakura would like to think about it… he spoiled Meiling in whatever she wanted and had no problem saying everything was theirs. "Welcome, welcome. Well, only Sakura in this case since you've already been here Syaoran." She added.

Syaoran chuckled. "Hello to you too, cousin." He greeted before walking towards the rear side of the SUV and start unhooking their bikes from the stand.

"Come Sakura! I'll give you a tour of the house!" Meiling excitedly said as she took Sakura with her to show her the interior of the house.

Kyu, on the other hand, greeted them both and started helping Syaoran with their bikes. "Ah… it's such a nice day."

Eriol frowned. "Biking, Kyu? You couldn't say no to biking?"

"This surprise you?" Syaoran sarcastically asked as he took the first bike down from the stand.

"Hey!" Kyu exclaimed while helping him get the first bike down. "Mind you, she was very persuasive in wanting to go biking today before Sakura leaves for China. She even mentioned this was something that could help her stay in shape while she's visiting."

Syaoran shook his head and sighed. Years spent with his friends taught him Meiling always had the upper hand in this relationship. Whether they were fighting or just having good times, Meiling always got her way no matter what.

"Yeah well, she didn't have to play last night's game." Eriol said.

Kyu chuckled. "That hasn't been an obstacle before for any of us and you couldn't expect me to fight my way with this one. We did go to the club afterwards."

Syaoran rolled his eyes and sighed. "Whatever."

They took down the second bike and walked them over to the front part of the house. After waiting for the girls to be done, half an hour later they were on their way biking through a trail they found near Kyu's house. The whole afternoon was spent nicely. He had to give it to his cousin, even though he was a little tired, the weather was very nice to go biking. The scenery of newly turned leaves from green to harvest orange that could be seen on the sidewalk was an indication that Fall had finally set in Manchester. To the guys benefit, they were going at a low pace and at the same time talking between each other, laughing at old experiences and enjoying each other's company.

"So, who's your biggest competition with this team?" Sakura asked.

"I believe is Liverpool, though I'm pretty sure Syaoran can correct me if I'm wrong." Eriol said.

"Nope. You're right." Syaoran simply said. "It's a good thing we don't play them yet. We still have a lot we need to work on if we want to beat them."

"I don't think you guys are doing bad at all. I mean, you won one and you tied the other. That's not bad considering you're just starting this season." Tomoyo said.

"Please, let's not remember the tie." Kyu added.

Sakura chuckled. It was safe to assume the least thing her boyfriend wanted to remember was that last minute tie in the game. She could still feel his sulkiness with the whole situation. Without a doubt, letting go wasn't exactly one of his fortes. Much less when the issue was game related. Syaoran had always been very competitive and that sometimes led him to stray away from having a good sportsmanship attitude whenever he lost.

"So, Sakura, how is this long-distance relationship faring with you?" Kyu asked to change the subject. "This is the third time you've done the trip now. Do you find it any easier after the first time?"

"Well, let's just say it's been challenging." She looked at Syaoran and smiled. "It's had its ups and downs but other than that I think we're managing pretty well. Definitely the first two were worst than this one."

Meiling laughed. "Speak for yourself. My cousin here still gets moody whenever you leave."

"I do not!" Syaoran indignantly said before looking at Sakura more calmly and saying, "I do not babe. I just miss you whenever you leave but it's normal." He tried to clarify his point, but Sakura's smirked letting him know he had failed at stating his point. He narrowed his eyes at his cousin and smirked before mockingly asking, "when have you not missed your 'Kyu-Kyu' when you go away on trips?"

"Looking at your phone more than ten times in less than ten hours, even knowing it's not possible for her to have landed in China yet is not considered normal Syaoran." Tomoyo added smirking before laughing. If Meiling had started making fun of her cousin, she definitely had no issues in adding wood to the fire. Call it a little payback for all the times he made her fight with Eriol in the past.

Syaoran scoffed. "Well, I do get a little worried until she reaches China, but that doesn't mean I get moody. Besides, this whole thing is new to us."

Sakura watched as Eriol and Kyu chuckled knowing there was no way they were getting in between this. If their girlfriends wanted to go there with Syaoran, they had no quarrels. In the end, he would never do anything to their girlfriends about it, unlike what he would do to them if they actually decided to pinch in. She chuckled as well with the situation though she had kind of a bittersweet feeling towards it. On one side she did feel happy to know he worried about her since it meant he cared, but on the other hand she felt bad about it too since she was also conscious of his feelings as well. It was sort of comforting to know she wasn't the only one struggling whenever they were apart though she had to admit he was way better at covering his struggle more than her. It hadn't been easy at all these past couple of months for neither of them. She was sure about that. Between everything that had happened so far, she felt at times they were more fighting than being together but at least they were both trying. Looking to help her boyfriend from the current predicament he was in, she decided to pinch in a little by asking "did you guys faired any better?"

Syaoran smirked. "Tomoyo doesn't count… she's never left Eriol's side except for business travels which she conveniently schedules herself." He then narrowed his eyes at Meiling before saying, "as for you dear cousin, you fought with Kyu about everything. There was even a year, and Eriol can correct me on this, where you two were constantly on and off throughout the entire year. What was it Eriol? Two months together, fight, breakup for a month, and then back together for two more months before fighting again?"

Eriol laughed and smirked. "He's right on that one! We even thought at some point it had become your new routine."

Kyu watched both of them before looking at his girlfriend confidently. "Babe, I got this. On my defense-"

"You really have a defense for this?" Syaoran sarcastically asked.

"Yes I do." Kyu narrowed his eyes but continue "Meiling was going through changes in her career, some of them which I had a little more trouble accepting than others."

"Is that really a defense Kyu?" Sakura playfully asked.

"Well, at least we tried. It's better than leaving everything without trying." Meiling simply said trying to defend her boyfriend.

And as usual, his cousin blurted out whatever came to her mind that instant. If it wasn't because they were all having fun and laughing doing this bike ride, Syaoran would've stopped the bike and asked his cousin to take the comment back but, before he had the chance of doing it, he watched as Sakura just laughed at her comment.

"Maybe you're right, though I think for us it ended up working perfectly. Our relationship is way stronger now than it was in the past so, I don't regret anything." Sakura simply said smiling. She wasn't utterly surprised at all by Meiling's comment, in fact she was more surprised that it hadn't come out sooner. Meiling usually didn't held back about her feelings and, judging by conversations she had with her before, she was pretty certain she was still harboring sour feelings about her leaving Japan without saying a word to anyone.

They rode for an hour and a half before going back to Kyu's house. Since they had made other plans for tonight, after some minutes talking with their friends and drinking some refreshments, Sakura and Syaoran said their goodbyes to go back home and get ready for the play. As Sakura had mentioned to him before, she had gotten their masks ready. She looked at herself on the vanity mirror and smiled putting her earrings on. Her red lipstick was the last thing she put to finish the look she was going for. She had decided to wear a long sleeve black satin dress to match his black suit.

He got out of the bathroom after dressing up and watched her with a smile on his face. Walking towards her, he touched her shoulders with his hands staring at her reflection on the vanity mirror and said, "you look amazing."

She stood up, turned around, and looked at him. Taking the dark morning blue/almost gray lose tie around his neck, she started to make the knot for him and smiled. "You look handsome too." Looking at the intention of kissing her in his eyes, she backed up a little and shook her head. "It needs to dry for it not to run."

He chuckled and hugged her waist before softly saying to her ear, "fine. I can wait."

Half an hour later, they arrived at the theater. As Sakura had mentioned to him, everyone was wearing masks. She took out theirs and helped him tie his over his face while he did the same for her. Unlike Sakura, who was confidently walking at his side with her hand on his arm and smiling, he couldn't quite shake the feeling of exposure as he kept looking around while walking inside the theatre. Many reporters were taking pictures of the whole event as they were covering the opening night of this play. Some could be seen on the sidelines interviewing celebrities, others tried to look through a set of pages, Syaoran could only guess was the attendance list provided to them, to see who they wanted to snatch for an interview with the difference being that, with their masks on, reporters had a little bit of trouble making out who was who inside this place. Unless any reporter would snatch him on the side and ask, there was no way they could make out he was attending the event with his girlfriend. Still, he could only hope the night would turn up to be a lot better than their museum experience.

She had chosen to see a medieval era play with political satire theme she had seen advertised a couple of days ago on social media. Comedy was one of her favorite things to watch especially on a play, but she was curious to see how they would fit that in an opera. Laughing, to her, was a way of relaxing before going back to her hectic office on Monday. After the last communication she received from Michi, she was certain these coming three weeks were going to be interesting for her, but she didn't want to waste time thinking about any of that right now.

As they both walked inside the theatre, she noticed the grand entrance to the hall was covered in a huge red carpet with very elegant gold embroidery on the borders. There were many people hanging by the hallway having snacks and beverages while talking to one another. It was very different from China's theatres. She liked the atmosphere here and this definitely was something new added to her enjoyed things to do in Manchester. They looked around and followed the instructions on the signs to find their seats. She had made reservations for box tickets, so they didn't have to be surrounded by people taking into consideration what had already happened during the week. Even if they had masks on, he had been very specific in letting her know they just had to be careful so she took his word for it.

When they entered their box, the first thing he noticed was the comfort in the chairs. "These are nice."

She smiled. "Have you been here before?"

He shook his head and smirked. "I must admit babe, a theatre would've never been on my list of places to visit if it wasn't because of you."

"I'm surprised. You never like missing out on anything." She chuckled. "It's not so bad. I know it's a huge change from parties and clubs to watching a play in a theatre but it's nice."

"Have you been to one of these before?" he asked.

"Not in Manchester, but I did go to one in Italy once and liked it." She said smiling. "I heard the ones in England are a pretty big thing to do and, after seeing the front of this place, I can see they weren't kidding."

He nodded as they waited for the lights to dim and the play to start. Regarding the theatre, he would just have to see if he liked the experience or not. To be honest, in the past being a cultured man had never ever crossed his mind. He had spent most of his time wooing women and having fun in clubs instead of theatres. He had even forgotten what it was like to watch a movie next to a partner. Having someone to care for had never being in his plans since she had left back then so he was grateful to be doing all of this again.

Two hours later, he thought the whole experience would be a boring one but he was actually surprised to enjoy the play the way he did. They had eaten something in the interlude before the second part of the play started. He ended up laughing most of the night with the critics been thrown in a comical way and at the end of the play, they started walking back to his car.

"Did you like it?" she asked.

He smirked. "I like everything I do with you Sak."

"Tsk! Don't get cheesy with me Li." She playfully said.

He laughed. As Syaoran started the car, Sakura looked at him and said "you know what would be nice? How about we go for a walk?"

He looked at her stunned by her idea. "In these clothes, babe?"

"Aw come on! We already have masks on, might as well do something useful with them before the night is over." She suggested. "Think of it as an early Halloween costume type of evening."

He scoffed but nodded otherwise. "Do you want to just walk around town?"

She shrugged. "Sure. We could even find a place to get a drink before going home."

"Okay." He said as he drove them away to town. It didn't take them long to reach the small town as it was just a couple of miles away from the theatre. He parked the car in one of the sidewalks. Getting out of the car, he locked it after they both got out, and went to the other side to where she was. Grabbing her hand in his, they started to walk around.

"So? What did you really think about the play?" she asked.

"Surprised." He smiled. "I liked it."

"See! I told you it wouldn't be that bad." She said smiling.

He chuckled. "Nothing is ever bad with you though and I'm not being 'cheesy' this time."

She laughed. "Are you saying you watched me instead of paying attention to the play? It wouldn't be the first time" she said remembering the time when she rented movies and, after the first half an hour, his attention had turned completely away from the TV. Later on, he had confessed he had been thinking about her instead of paying attention to the movie.

He smirked. "I'm saying, I'm happy that you're here with me."

As they kept walking hand in hand, he started noticing some people watching them from the other side of the street but, unlike last time, none of them took out their cell phones to take pictures of him. Neither approached him either to ask for autographs which made him believe perhaps this idea of her wasn't such a bad one. They were literally enjoying a walk in a public street as a normal couple.

"Relax," she simply said. "They're probably looking at us because we have our masks on."

He sighed. "You'd be surprised if you knew some of the things I've been through."

She rolled her eyes at him playfully and asked, "like what? People finding out you are you after wearing that red cap you always wear out?"

He chuckled. "Hey, the red cap allows me to keep my sexiness when I wear it."

She chuckled and added in a mockingly way "yeah… it also allows your fanbase to know who you are quicker." As they kept walking, a certain curiosity came over her to know a little bit more about his past. "Changing the subject, but I've been curious of this for a while. Why did you ended up studying business in college?" she asked. "I thought you wanted to become a doctor. An athlete doctor if I remember well."

He took a deep breath before answering her. "I did, but this was father's condition to let me play throughout college."

She frowned. "But why? You don't even use it."

He shrugged and carefully said, "I do use it sometimes. I even have my own portfolio too, you know..."

She smirked. "Cars are not considered an investment, baby. Sorry I have to break this out to you."

He chuckled. "I have several properties aside from my cars, if you must know, and some of my cars count as an investment since they are considered collectible."

"Please don't tell me you have different cars in all of these properties…" she said.

He smiled and smirked. "Fine, I won't tell you."

She chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Was studying in China what you expected it to be? I know it was one of your options before leaving." He said.

She nodded. "It was. I think it also helped that your father was teaching me while I was studying. It motivated me better."

"Do you love working for Li Corp?" he asked.

"I do." She said as she smiled. "It's been great from the moment I started. I learned so much from it I can't say otherwise."

"But I'm sure you've received other offers from multiple companies. Didn't you ever feel the need to move? To wonder around?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Why would I? Your father is one of the most respected people among our industry, considered legendary by some. The company is solid stable and the work environment is very pleasing. When your mother suggested I become your father's apprentice, I just couldn't say no. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn directly from someone who has achieved so much in this industry. Plus, I already told you that your father is perhaps one of the few people who would allow enough freedom for me to choose my own projects and apply my creative ideas to develop them."

"The way you talk about father, is like you're mesmerized by him." He said as an afterthought.

She chuckled. "Well, he is part of my inspiration to overachieve in this industry. Even to follow his path in pursuing this award."

He nodded as they passed a couple of stores on their right side and kept walking. It had been years since he had last spent time calmly walking right next to someone. At ease, enjoying the night walk casually as a normal person… these were things he had definitely missed before and somehow Sakura found a way to incorporate in his life once more. As they kept walking, he suddenly felt a drop of water hitting his forehead followed by a second one. "We need to find cover. It's about to rain." He said but it was a little too late. As more drops kept hitting him, he ran with her hand in his and found cover under a dark green store awning. By the time they were able to get below the awning, he looked at Sakura and she was almost as soaked as he was with the only difference being she was laughing about it. "Well, there goes our walk." He said.

"The 'Rainy City' doesn't disappoint, I guess." She said in between laughs and cleaning her face from all the water.

He took out his tux jacket and put it around her shoulders. The way the raindrops were heavily falling down on the street let him know the rain wouldn't stop any time soon. After a couple of months living in this place, he could probably deduct it would stay raining which brought the uncertainty of not knowing how they were going to get back to where he had parked the car. "Well this sucks! Our night was going so good…"

She smiled. "Who says it can't stay good?" She looked around and pointed to a small tavern she spotted around the corner. "Want a drink? I'm thirsty."

He looked to where she had pointed and quickly looked back at her. "Out of the question! There is no way in my right mind I would go into a random bar right now and much less with you at my side. I think the museum was enough."

"Oh, come on Syaoran! It's not a big deal! Plus, we're wearing masks I mean… what's the worst that can happen?"

He stared at her. Had she really asked that after their little outing in the museum the other day?

Looking at his incredulous face, she carelessly took his hand and dragged him across the street. Water started making its way into her shoes but she didn't mind. She was already drenched after running with him in the first place, so water wasn't exactly on her mind when she suggested going into the small tavern. Her curiosity for knowing more about the place he was living in was more than her fear of what could happen. Besides, they were wearing masks so there was no way she was willing to miss this chance of being out in the open with him. As she entered the place with him behind her, she was surprised. What she found was definitely not what she expected. Given that it was a Saturday, the place wasn't that full of people but nonetheless the few that were inside seemed all carefree enjoying the night away by talking, laughing, and drinking. It wasn't something she would do every night but it had a good ambient feeling.

Their clothing definitely made them stand out on this rustic place as she noticed they were the only two people wearing formal clothing in a bar. Wooden beams could be seeing across the ceiling giving it a sort of cave like appearance to this small bar place. Two TV's adorned the corners of the place showing a repeat of one of their games. She knew people in Manchester loved soccer but she didn't know it was to the extent of putting replay's on bars. Another thing she noticed as she kept looking around was that, although it wasn't full, there were a lot of people segregated between tables in groups of three or four. The rest were all sitting at the bar laughing and drinking while watching the replay of the soccer game in a huge TV they had in the back of the bar area.

"Are you sure you want to stay here?" Syaoran asked.

"Oh, come on." She simply replied.

She decided to find a spot at the bar while they waited for the rain to stop so they could walk back to his car. As the bartender approached, he asked for a Martini for her and a whiskey for himself.

"I'm telling you mate! The president finally did good signing this lad. We'll be kissing that trophy this year, you'll see!" One of the guys said in a very strong old-English accent as they kept repeating Syaoran's first goal on TV.

"Hear Hear!" another guy on the bar said raising his beer glass. "About time too! We needed some good news after all!"

Sakura looked over to both of them on the bar before looking back at her boyfriend smiling. She waited for the bartended to serve them their drinks before saying "thank you."

The bartender nodded. He took a look at Syaoran, then turn his sight to look at the tv, before looking back at him and gasping. "Hey! You're the lad!" the bartender said a little too excited for his comfort.

Syaoran started to feel a little panicked when he was found out by the bartender. He was about to grab Sakura to get out of the place when he heard the guy next to him say, "don't worry mate! We support all of you athletes and are grateful for bringing such joy to our homes. You're safe here!"

"Fellas!" the bartender said loudly. "Let's give a 'hear hear' for Li who's visiting us this evening!"

Syaoran laughed awkwardly as he felt a little embarrassed by the whole spectacle of hearing the rest of the guys in the room cheer him on after the bartender's announcement. He started to take his mask off since there was no point in keeping it on after being found out when one of the guys from a table came over to ask for a picture.

The guy next to him turned towards him and quickly said, "no pictures mate! Let this lad enjoy his night!"

At the sadden look on the guy's face, Sakura suggested "how about everyone who wants to take a picture get together and he does a group picture? That way you may all have a picture with him, and he can enjoy his night as well? But you'll have to figure out how to pass the picture along to everyone on this bar."

The guy at the bar looked at Syaoran who, after hearing his girlfriend's proposal, nodded. "I can do that."

"Everyone who wants the picture, gather around!" the bartender loudly yelled.

To his announcement, everyone on the tables stood up and quickly gathered around him not wanting to miss this unbelievable chance. Sakura laughed a little about the situation. I guess, after the guy at the bar had told the other off, everyone kind of had been discouraged from getting close to ask her boyfriend for a picture but after he confirmed this would be okay then none of them waited a second to pitch in on the group photo idea. She grabbed the bartender's camera and posed to take the picture. "Ready? Three, two, one! Smile!" she said before taking the picture. She passed the camera to the bartender and returned to her place right next to Syaoran.

"Thanks for the picture! Drinks are on the house!" the bartender excitedly said.

"Thanks!" she said as she watched the rest of the people turning over towards the bartender to demand copy of the picture.

"Alright lads! Form a line. I will put this piece of paper on the bar. Write where you want the picture to be sent. Don't push! Everyone will get their turn to write where you want the picture to be sent to!" The bartender loudly informed his customers.

Sakura laughed as she watched everyone follow the bartender's instructions trying to be the first in line. It amused her to think they were even trying to fight their way to being first when they were all getting the same photo, but these people loved her boyfriend was playing for Manchester. They were proud of it too. She could tell they were very enthusiastic about his signing. He had only played in one game, and she could already see how hopeful and excited his fans were. She looked back at her boyfriend who was smirking at her. "What?" she asked, taking her mask off as well.

He shook his head smiling as if he knew a secret no one else did. "Nothing." He simply answered.

His answer sort of annoyed her as she said, "obviously it's something. Why are you smiling?" She asked while trying her martini. "Oh, this is good!"

"I think you've suddenly become some sort of a hero for them." he said while enjoying his whiskey. "Do you know how much a picture of me cost in the stadium?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes before sarcastically asking, "should I write it off in my portfolio as part of my achieved charity events? Honestly Syaoran, didn't anyone ever tell you how obnoxious you are sometimes?"

He laughed shrugging her comment off and sat at the bar just like any other regular customer. As he turned his sight to see her view, he laughed as well thinking he would probably never forget this night. For the first time in years, he felt as if he wasn't someone famous even though he was. Tonight, he wasn't a professional athlete playing for Manchester City, he was a regular customer at a random bar with a beautiful girl at his side who instigated everything he most of the time ended up running from. He turned his sight towards his girlfriend once more and brought up his glass to make a toast. "To more nights like these."

She laughed but nonetheless brought her Martini glass up and touched hers with his. "Cheers!"

They ended up enjoying the rest of their night between drinks, laughs and watching his game with the rest of the customers. He even ended up cheering at the bar with the rest of the people when he scored the goal on that game which made her laugh as she watched him become part of the public for once. Soon after the game ended, they decided to leave. Although the rain hadn't completely stopped, since Sakura had to leave early in the morning, they decided to still walk back towards his car in the drizzly weather.

"I hope your ego didn't inflate itself after hearing the conversation at the bar" she playfully said while skipping a puddle in the middle of the street. It was around midnight but for some reason she didn't feel tired at all.

He chuckled before pulling her for a hug. "I love you."

She chuckled. "Syaoran, it's raining baby. I think we should keep walking towards the car before it starts pouring like before."

He shook his head. "At this point love, I don't care about anything else." He took her face into his hands and kissed her. He felt her hands surrounding his waist and deepened the kiss. He didn't care if it was raining, he didn't care if by now the temperature outside must've dropped to nearly 65 degrees, he only cared that he was here with her and he was damn enjoying this moment regardless of the circumstances. "You make me feel like anything is possible with you."

~ o ~

The sound coming from his emergency cell phone woke him up from his deep slumber. He opened his eyes to find his girlfriend stirring right next to him. Whoever was calling him at this hour would hear his wrath if this wasn't an emergency. He quickly turned from his girlfriend, opened his nightstand drawer, and looked at the caller ID. He frowned at the name Tomoyo on the screen.

"Hello?" Syaoran answered in a deep drowsy voice that screamed he had just been awoken to the caller.

"Syaoran?" Tomoyo asked.

Syaoran looked at his phone once more. The hour read 2:37am as he put his phone again in his ear to listen. "Tomoyo, is everything alright?"

"Is Eriol with you?" she asked.

He heard the tremor in her voice and started to worry. "What's wrong?" He quickly asked.

"We had an argument." She said between sobs. "It was around midnight. He left the house and he's not back yet. I think maybe something happened to him. I don't know. He's not answering his phone and you know he never ignore my calls." She said in a shuddering voice.

"Okay, calm down Tomoyo. I'll find him okay." He turned to the side and sat on his bed.

"I mean, I didn't mean for him to get this mad. I didn't even know he would take it this way." She said between sobs.

"It's going to be okay, Tomoyo. I'll find him, okay." He said knowing she must be worrying like heck to call him out of all of them.

"I'm so sorry for bothering you or waking you up. I just…" she tried to calm her voice before saying, "I don't know who else to turn to."

"No, it's fine. I'll let you know once I do." He said.

"Okay. Thanks."

"Yeah, anytime." He said before hanging up the phone knowing Tomoyo sounded a little calmer now than she did when she first called him. He felt Sakura stir right next to him.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

He shook his head as he dialed his cousin's cell phone.

"Syaoran?" Eriol asked.

"Where the heck are you?" he asked.

"She called you?" Eriol hesitated a little before saying, "It doesn't matter. I would've told you anyways. I broke up with Tomoyo."

Syaoran sighed. Did he hear correctly? Maybe he was still asleep and was imagining things because he couldn't quite process the words he had just heard coming from his cousin. He rubbed his fingers through his eyes before asking, "what are you talking about?"

"I did! I'm tired! It's always the same with her! It's always my fault you know!" Eriol said agitatedly.

"Hold on a minute Eriol. What the heck are you talking about man?" Syaoran asked still a little drowsy after been woken up at two am in the morning.

"I'm done! I told her we are through and I left! I'm done Syaoran! I'm serious this time!" Eriol said getting a little agitated as he kept repeating the same thing over and over again.

Syaoran took a deep breath. By this time he felt Sakura embraced him from behind probably worried after he mentioned his cousin's name when he picked up the phone. "Look man calm down. Where are you right now?"

"I'm out!"

"Where?" Syaoran asked a little more insistent than before.

"I took the car and I've just been driving around for about an hour or so. Maybe longer." Eriol answered.

Syaoran sighed. "Come to my house."

"No! I don't want her to know where I'm at and I'm sure if I go there she will know. Let her imagine whatever she wants."

"Eriol," Syaoran tiredly sighed "just come to my house and we can talk this out or you can talk this out over a drink."

Eriol hesitated a little before thinking about it. A drink was exactly what he thought he needed and let's be honest there were very few places where he could get them without being bothered or noticed by fans. "Fine, but don't tell her that I'm there Syaoran!"

"Okay. I won't." Syaoran said. "I'll see you here." He said before hearing the end of the phone call. He took his phone away from his ear and stared at it.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked him.

Syaoran sighed and turned his face to look at her. "He said he just broke up with Tomoyo."

"What?" Sakura, stunned by the news, asked.

He shook his head. "Don't tell her he's coming. He doesn't want her to know though I'm pretty sure she already suspects he'll be here."

"But she must be devastated Syaoran!" Sakura said.

He sighed and shook his head not believing this. "She is." That he remembered, in contrast to his other cousin who was constantly fighting with her now fiancé, Eriol and Tomoyo barely fought. Their arguments, because in his mind they couldn't even be considered fights, consisted in spewing words and then reconciling in a way that even he had to ask himself sometimes if they had indeed fought before. "Let me talk to him first. I don't really know what's going on and he doesn't sound too good on the phone." He caressed her face and told her "go back to bed. I'll be downstairs with him."

She frowned. "Do you really think I can go back to bed Syaoran?"

"You have an early flight tomorrow." He said.

"I don't think it will be good for him to start drinking with you now and drive back, not in the state he's in. Do you want me to prepare a room for him? I think he should stay here tonight instead." She suggested.

Syaoran nodded. "I'll tell him to stay but the room is already prepared. Aishla usually takes care of that. He can sleep in the guest bedroom downstairs."

She nodded.

His cell phone lighted up letting him know there was a visitor on his gate. He looked at the video and pressed the open button to let him in. "I'll be downstairs. He's here."

"Convince him of letting her know he's here Syaoran. You know how emotional Tomoyo gets with anything that has to do with him." Sakura said.

He nodded before kissing her temple. "Go back to bed. I'll be back once I finish talking to him."

She nodded as she watched him get up and get dressed to meet his cousin.

Syaoran walked downstairs and opened the front door for him. The look that greeted him wasn't at all what he had expected. His cousin had always been the more composed one out of the three of them but standing on the other side of the door he looked totally out of it. Eriol always knew how to mask his emotions like no other, and yet tonight he could read all of his emotions like an open book. There was an exasperated look on his eyes that let him know he definitely wasn't in his best capabilities of making decisions right now. The reflection of loss as he walked inside let him know that his cousin definitely needed to talk this over a drink. "Let's go to the pool area bar. Sakura is sleeping upstairs."

Eriol just nodded and followed his cousin out. He sat in a stool in front of the pool bar area as Syaoran started looking for a drink. Syaoran put two glasses out and decided to pour some whiskey into both of them. Eriol quickly grabbed his and drank it down as if it was a shot of Tequila.

Syaoran looked at him and refilled his glass but stopped him from doing the same with his second one. "Mind telling me what happened before getting drunk?"

Eriol looked at him. "I told you! I broke up with her."

Syaoran nodded. "Yeah, you did say something like that earlier which still doesn't make sense to me."

Eriol looked away before taking a deep breath and looking back at his glass of whiskey. "I don't even know how it happened. One minute we were talking and laughing in bed and the next minute she was asking me if I regretted not doing what you and Sakura did."

"Enlighten me… what exactly did we do?" Syaoran asked.

Eriol stared at him. "You know… the whole breaking up and getting back together years later." He sighed. "She heard Sakura this afternoon saying how you guys were better now, you know… stronger, and she got in her head the crazy idea of thinking that perhaps I regretted not been free to date other women like you did in the past."

Syaoran frowned. "This again? I thought you had this fight back when we were in college…"

"Yeah well, the subject just came back again and suddenly we were saying each other things and one thing led to the other. The next thing I knew I was telling her I was tired of all her bullshit and her constant jealousy and was walking out the door." Eriol drank part of his whiskey instead of all of it as a shot like he did the first. "I mean, how could she even think that man? Have I not given everything that she has asked for? I mean, we even got engaged! I gave her a ring to let her know how much she means to me, to let her know that I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Then it hit me, you know. As we were fighting it made me wonder what this whole marriage thing means to her, because I, for one, don't take it lightly."

Syaoran put his hands inside of his pockets and reclined himself from the bar wall as he heard his cousin and waited for him to vent out everything that he needed to say.

"I mean, sometimes I feel like no matter what I do is never enough for her." Eriol said as he drank once more. "And I thought, maybe I should do what you guys did. You know, break up with her and try with other women to see how that goes. It's what she wants after all. I mean, she keeps repeating the same shit all the time."

Syaoran scoffed and got off the wall to refill his cousin's glass once more. "Trust me Eriol, you don't want to do that. Take it from someone whose been there done that."

"I don't see how it's been bad for you." Eriol said. "Even Meiling and Kyu have been on and off for years until they finally got engaged and I don't see how it was bad for them either."

"I'm sure you don't mean that." This time, Syaoran took a glass from the top cabinet, poured a little bit of whiskey as well and drank from it. "You were the only one that was there with me all the time Eriol. Not even Kyu saw as much as you did. You saw what it did to me. Even if we are good right now, I don't wish that damn pain or the feeling of emptiness on to anyone. Not even to my worst enemy."

"Apparently that's what she wants, you know. She keeps insisting on the same thing over and over again that it's making me think that this is perhaps what she wants. For me to tell her, yes I wanted to be like you. For her to receive a confirmation that she had been right all those years ago even if she wasn't, that's what she wants to hear."

"You love Tomoyo, Eriol" Syaoran said. "Leaving her will only cause you pain and sorrow."

Eriol stared at him. "I do, but tell me, what can I do? If even after getting engaged she feels this way Syaoran, what do I do? How else do I let her see that I want her and no one else?"

Syaoran took a drink from his glass before putting it back down. "You let her know whenever she needs to know. You say 'Sakura and I are okay now' but I've had my fights with her just like every couple does. In fact, sometimes I even think we fight more than normal couples do to be honest. Most of the times they have to do with issues she has with my past or my lifestyle, but we are constantly reminding each other of what we need as a couple to make this relationship work. Not everything has been peaches and cream, like you all think it has been, and for me one of the things that has worked is letting her know that I love her constantly. That she doesn't need to doubt me or my feelings for her."

"But you're not engaged to her Syaoran." Eriol said while finishing his second glass and serving himself his third one.

"By her choice." Syaoran added before finishing his glass of whiskey. After seeing the confusion in Eriol's face he added, "I asked her to marry me after the World Cup."

Eriol was definitely startled by his cousin's revelation. Only Syaoran would be so bold as to ask a woman to marry him couple of weeks into a relationship with her and most of those weeks they had spend it away from each other since the Cup was taking place. "Let me guess, she said no?"

Syaoran shook his head. "She didn't say yes either."

Eriol scoffed and shook his head. He still couldn't understand how his cousin could be so rash when it came to making decisions. Syaoran had always been so sure of himself. The only time he could remember seen him shattered was when he found out Sakura had left. "I try to show her I love her every time, but I just don't know how else make her see."

"Talk to her then." Syaoran suggested.

"Do you think I haven't tried that?"

Syaoran shrugged. "Do it again, man. You said so yourself, you love Tomoyo to the point of spending the rest of your life with her. And it seems to me that right now you're saying you broke up with her as if it is something lightly to do but you forget you've never been without her before. The last thing you want right now is to let her go."

Eriol took a deep breath and drank the rest of his third glass. Already feeling a little tipsy, he decided not to pour another one. Contrary to Syaoran, he could never drink so much to the point of waking up with a hangover the next morning. "I'm sorry I woke you up with my problems."

Syaoran chuckled. "Anytime. I'm glad for a change I'm the one helping you out instead of the other way around."

Eriol smirked.

"Stay here tonight. Call Tomoyo or text her to let her know you're here though. I don't want to be blamed early in the morning for this. My list of faults is already pretty long, if I'm not mistaken, and my head has been in her to do list for quite some time." Syaoran said.

Eriol chuckled remembering how in the past Syaoran was the culprit and villain of all their fights since they had started studying in college. "I will."

"Come on. Let's go back inside now. It's cold, I'm dead tired, and Sak leaves tomorrow morning." Syaoran said.

Eriol stood up and started following his cousin back inside. "You're taking her tomorrow to the airport?"

Syaoran nodded. As he turned around to walk back into the house, he noticed Sakura was upstairs inside his trophy room instead of their bedroom. He saw her figure through the glass windows looking at one of his trophies in the wall. Nevertheless, he accompanied his cousin and showed him the guest room where he would be spending the night before going upstairs to find her.

~ o ~

After Eriol's call, she had tried to go back to sleep but sleep would not find her. Her mind was a little preoccupied after hearing Syaoran's voice telling her Tomoyo and Eriol had decided to break up. She could still not believe it. I mean, they had everything ready for their wedding. How could they easily decide to break everything up now? But she would have to wait till Syaoran finished talking to Eriol to find out what the scoop was on those two. So instead of fighting her mind trying to put her to sleep, as she should have, knowing that tomorrow was going to already be a long day because of her long hours of flight, she decided instead to wander around the house a little till Syaoran was back. Even though this was her third time visiting him in Manchester, this house still proved to be a lot bigger than she was used to. Walking through the hallway upstairs, she noticed the door to the left room was slightly opened. Curious about it, she decided to open it all the way and see what was behind this door. It was a large room which faced the pool area but from the second floor. It had French glass windows across from where she was standing which allowed the visibility of moonlight rays inside the room at night. She walked inside thinking that with sunlight the room would probably look much more amazing than it did now. As she looked towards her left side she saw a lot of trophies mounted in shelves on the wall. Framed uniform jerseys accompanied some of the trophies on the side. She walked around and read the words in some of his trophies. Most of them read "Most Valuable Player of Tournament" while others simply read Champions. There was only one silver trophy in that left wall with the words "Second Place" on it. He had placed it in the middle of the wall which made it stand out from the rest of his trophies in this wall. The year on it, brought back unpleasant memories. It had been the year she had decided to leave Japan to try to start all over again without him. She had heard about this from his sister when it happened.

"I thought you'd be sleeping."

His voice made her jump a little but she turned her face to look at him and smiled. "I couldn't go back to sleep."

He walked towards her and looked at where she was staring before he decided to let her know of his presence. He put his hands inside his pockets staring at the trophy before saying, "I went partying the night before till four am in the morning. Got drunk to the point of not even remembering what I did that night the next morning. I missed the shot that would give us the championship and ended up losing the game in penalties. It was the first and last time I ever did that. You had left two months before that game. I know I've said this to you already but I wasn't in a good place before." He turned his face to look at her. "The parties, the women, it was an endless charade to hide what I felt at the time. How I felt... But even drinking the night away couldn't fill the void. None of those things could take away the feeling of numbness and boredom agony of monotonously waking up to hate my life each morning Sak. The constant waking up with the feeling of escaping, of running away from wherever I was... everything changed when I saw you again that day at the elevator. My mind, my heart, all my senses knew I was finally done running that day."

She softly smiled and hugged his waist. "Is this what you told Eriol?"

He smiled and caressed her cheek. "A shorter read-between-the-lines version of it."

She chuckled. "Is he alright?"

He nodded. "He is now."

"Do you think it's wedding jitters? I mean, he is about to get married in three months if the wedding is still on." She asked.

He smiled. "It could be, though it's the first time that I've ever seen him walking away from her. I never knew he had it in him to argue with Tomoyo to the point of leaving her. I'm guessing he didn't even know how to handle it when it happened."

"What were they arguing about?" she asked.

He sighed. "Tomoyo has always been insecure of their relationship. You know this."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "I've heard you didn't help much her case either."

He chuckled. "True, but they're about to get married. I mean, shouldn't she have been sure of her feelings before saying yes?"

"And what's the reason for her insecurity?" she asked. "That I know off, there are no women pestering Eriol or trying to get him."

He sighed. "Tomoyo was actually wondering if Eriol regretted not breaking up with her at a young age like we did. She feels like he envied my life at some point."

She was surprise by this and asked, "do you think he did?"

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Off course not Sakura. Have you ever seen Eriol acting that way? The guy is as black and white as you'll ever find around. He does everything by the book. He doesn't do anything that would jeopardize his relationship with Tomoyo. I mean, yes he would get in trouble with her because of me or Kyu but it has never been because he wanted to hurt her deliberately. I mean, when we jumped into the waterfall that day, it was my fault. We can say it was group pressure. The same thing happened when you found us in your apartment that night you girls decided to have a night for yourselves. Kyu and I convinced him to tag along. But on his own, he would never do anything to make her doubt him."

"So he walked out because she thought he wanted to play around like you did?" she asked.

He sighed. "I think he walked out because he wasn't sure either. So, maybe you're right. It could very well be wedding jitters."

She kissed his chest softly before looking up at him. "What did you say to him?"

He caressed her cheek once more before saying "I just assured him there was nothing to envy. Most guys are not as lucky as I was with you." He sincerely said.

She smiled before kissing him. "You did get lucky, you know."

He chuckled before softly kissing her again. "Tell me about it."

"I see in this room a lot of your past uniforms but you haven't framed your World Cup jersey yet." She said changing the subject.

"It's over here." He pointed to the right before taking her hand making her follow till they reach the table where he had set it neatly to the right side of the room. "I want to frame it in the middle of this right wall with my trophy. So, it's coming soon."

She smiled. "I like what you did with this room. I have no doubt it will look more amazing after you put your World Cup Jersey on the wall along with your Golden Ball Award."

"Sak… about what Meiling said this afternoon…" he encircled his arms around her waist and stare at her. "Do you truly believe we are better now? Do you truly don't regret leaving?" He had been wondering since that first brunch they had in China when he had first tried to be friends again. She had said it back then, she had repeated this to him when she had decided to give him another chance, and now this afternoon he had heard it once more coming out of her lips.

She smiled at him as she put her arms around his neck. "I do think we are better now than we were before. Don't you feel the same way?"

He stared at her thinking of the best way of saying this. "When I… When I told you that night I wanted to break up with you, I never thought you would leave the way you did. Out of all possible outcomes I ran in my mind that night after talking to you, leaving my side was never one of them. Even after breaking up, I thought we could at least stay as friends but you left without leaving a trace. For seven years none of us received a word from you and while I've heard you say several time you don't regret leaving, I did regret my decision. The entire seven years you were lost to me, I tried to find you again incessantly and to hear you say you don't regret any of it makes me wonder if you felt at all the same way I did. At least at some point in those seven years, did you think about me? Did you not think about coming back to me at least once?"

She stared at him and softly smiled. "Off course I did. Don't get me wrong. I had my share of pains and hurt during those seven years, and off course I thought about you. Every time I met a new guy I thought about you. It took Jun over a year and a couple of months for me to give him a chance precisely because he wasn't you. Your lovely sister Xiefa didn't help the cause either as she kept constantly making sure one way or the other I wouldn't forget you. I did thought about going back several times but the fear of getting in your way once more always stopped me from doing it. Even when I fought myself to forget you, I didn't. But that doesn't take away the feeling of knowing that if we would've stayed together, we probably would've burned out. And I think you knew that as well. It's what drove you that night to break up with me. We've always been very different from all of our friends. Eriol and Tomoyo have always looked to do things together. None of them would have a problem giving away their dreams for the other. Kyu and Meiling are different as well. Although they used to fight all the time since high school, Kyu would always go back to her even if in the end he would have to accept whatever she wanted. But you and I… we both had our own dreams and, when we were younger, we were too selfish to let them go for one another. Understanding each other had never been part of our relationship before. You wanted to be with me as long as it was your way and I wanted to be with you as long as I could achieve my goals. And even though I would've followed you around like you wanted me to, I think in the end I would've left to follow my own way too. It's the only reason why I say I don't regret it now. Because I think that, with time, we grew up to finally being capable of understanding each other better now than we did before. Because I believe back then I would've never even thought of contemplating the idea of what we are doing now and now I can't see myself not doing it."

"Do you mean going inside the tavern at the corner of the street?" he asked.

She chuckled and playfully hit his chest. "Give it to you to make a joke like that one when we're having a serious conversation like this one."

He chuckled as well before telling her, "I do believe we are better than before too but I would rather not repeat those seven years without you ever again."

She smiled and kissed him. "Me either," she said before kissing him again.

Author's note – Well… this chapie is finally out! : ) What do you think? I have to say, it's the first time in this story where I've experienced writer's block. Not on this chapter though… but writing what's left of the story has taken a toll on me this month. It's like I know how I want the story to go, but the right words just won't come out! Ugh! Luckily, I was able to start again this past week. Hopefully I won't get more of those again… Hope you enjoyed the chapter and let me know your thoughts on how you think this story is developing so far! Till next time!