C A U G H T S T A R I N G
BY YASASHII MA

A/N: Wow, thirty reviews! Arigato gozaimasu! On another hand, this episode is going to be a continuation of the previous chapter, but it will be a little different considering this is not my computer; mine's dead and I'm on my way home from the U.S to my hometown…and if you're bored and on your computer (FANFICTION), then here is your Christmas present from me!

Summary: Poor Kinomoto Sakura, a girl who lived a quiet life in Japan and moved when she was very young to Tennessee, has come back to Japan with her father and younger brother, Touya, after the death of her twin sister, Sakuya, and her beloved mother, Nadeshiko. Her adopted sister, Tomoyo, has also accompanied her on her new journey. But things are strange—even at the first day in the new house; Sakura gets a package that was mailed to her by an anonymous person. Her new neighbor, Hiiragizawa, who is in a family full of psychics, charms Tomoyo to keep her safe; although they don't know this yet. Later, after the realtor, Nanami Sonomi, hints Sakura in on the secrets to her house, Sakura realizes that there is a mystery to this new house. And then it catches on fire. Her new guardian, a boy named Li Syaoran, is an expert in the paranormal works, yet he is half demon himself…? And now we find out some of Sakura's biggest secrets. So what will become of Sakura and Syaoran's action-filled lives? Love, or separation because of the wars between angels, and demons…?

C A U G H T S T A R I N G
Chapter 12: Admitting Death
Place: Syaoran's Mansion, Northern Province of Tomoeda
Time: 11:23 PM
Date: 11/11/11
"You can't just get on your knees and bow down without a single last word."
-Unknown

Kinomoto Sakura lie on a futon inside of Syaoran's mansion. She was dead asleep, other than her constant stirring. She was breaking out in sweats as well, and appeared to be having a somniloquey.

"NO! NO! NO!" Sakura kept whacking her pillows with her arms.
"Li-Sama, do we need to go with procedures for the night-possession charming?" Wei asked Syaoran.
"No, don't bother. She'll wake up as soon as something triggers into her head…WAKE UP SAKURA!" Syaoran shouted.
She began screaming bloody murder and one of her wrists began to form a small cut in it—in the shape of a cross. White, sparkly liquid began to flow out of the cut, and then some sort of sparkly reinforcement tried to mold the skin where the cut had started back together, but it was of no use.
"Li-Sama, what's happening to her wrist?" Wei asked again.
"Wei, get the infrared film camera, I want to see something!" Syaoran commanded and then Wei brought the camera moments later.

Syaoran put the lens of the camera up to his eyes and viewed the room in which they were in. He saw a man who kind of resembled Dracula, using a tiny dagger to cut into Sakura's wrist.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Syaoran threw the camera at Wei, taking no care for Wei's wellbeing, and went over and attempted to hit the figure who was hurting his Sakura. At the moment he hit the hard, invisible thing, the motion in the room stopped; the air had stilled; everyone was quiet. That's when Sakura awoke in a hurry.

"Syaoran-Kun! That was an awful dream I dreamt. I dreamt that I was running with Wei up some stairs in the main hall, and then the alarm was going off and I saw a man and then Wei and I ran into the bedroom and all of a sudden I grabbed the box and inside was a picture of me and Sakuya and the box was covered in blood and it made me pass out and when I woke up I was in hell, gasping for breath and then the man I saw was cutting into my wrists and I couldn't breathe…" Sakura took breaths to pause. "And then I heard kind voices shouting at me and then…" She looked at her wrist and saw the cross. "I-I…" And out she went again.

Place: Tomoeda Hospital
Time: 3:24 PM
Date: 12/24/11 CHRISTMAS EVE

There Syaoran sat, in a wooden chair next to the hospital bed of Kinomoto Sakura, the girl who had entered his life by pure luck and who was going to be the one to help him conquer his darkness.

And there he sat.

Minutes were going by.

The last time he had seen her alive was when she was passing out when she was having the nightmares and freaking out about her dream. It was NOT the Sakura he remembered.

It was now Christmas Eve, almost a month had rolled by since that night.

He took her to the hospital a few days after November 11th, when she was still in her deep sleep.

After he took her to the hospital, they hooked her up to a lifeline after hearing about the experiences. They asked about the cuts on her wrist. Syaoran replied some strange man had done it; and that was the truth. Syaoran still couldn't decide whether or not the man was on Sonomi's team, or a bounty hunter-like ghost, trying to possess Sakura's holy angel powers.

He was forced to wait outside the room. And maybe it was more cheerful for him there; he didn't have to see what they did to Sakura, or how dull and depressing the room within which she would be resting would be. But at the most hope, he was positive that she was not dead. Maybe the ghost had killed her mortality, or let her mortality live on and keep the angelic powers within her, but she kept a steady heart beat either way, so she was NOT dead.

Place: Tomoeda Hospital
Time: 12:03 AM
Date: 11/17/11

"Sir, we have a conclusion. Are you her guardian?" A nurse asked.

"Umm, yes, I'm her step brother, but I'm eighteen." Syaoran said with a sweat drop.

"Name…?" The nurse asked. Syaoran gave his name and the nurse nodded. "Can you provide a birth certificate that you are truly eighteen?"

Syaoran gulped and then said, "I'm eighteen. Am I not believable?"

"Actually, you are, which is why I should be checking."

"For the love of—" Syaoran was interrupted by the nurse again.

"But it is Christmas…so, go ahead, see the results for yourself." The nurse smiled and walked down the wing of the hotel, leaving Syaoran alone in front of the door to Sakura's room.

Within the room, blinding UV lights were shining over Sakura's body, which had a heart beat pulse that Syaoran thought he could hear from where he was standing. But then he paced over to her, her beauty surrounded by doctors who kept writing things on check boards and checking her temperature.

"Excuse me, UV lights may be harmful to her body. Perhaps you should put a more natural light on Sakura-Chan?" Syaoran asked hopefully.

"Li. You must be her guardian—sort of. Have a seat." A doctor asked.

"Okay."

"So you say the lady was cut on her wrist by some strange man?"

"Yes," Syaoran began, "if you have ever heard or known of my family, I have inherited a good amount of yen from then, and for myself, bought a mansion and a butler. We were all watching a movie, my stepsister, myself and my butler, and someone intruded in my mansion. My butler, Wei, and I both tried to go to the rescue, but no one was at the front door. And then Sakura was being cut by the villain…" Syaoran stopped. The doctor nodded and opened his mouth.

"Li, where did the criminal go? Why no fingerprints?" The doctor asked.

"The criminal escaped through a window, and he wore a lot of…what's that fabric that never sheds?" Syaoran wanted to get an answer from the doctor.

"All fabrics shed."

"No, there's this new one…well aside from that, he got away." Syaoran added.

"Oh, well your sister, she has maintained that audible heart beat that, if your ears aren't crazy, you can hear now…but the life line machine…it says she's at a flatline. I mean we can check again in a few weeks, but new technology probably won't come in for another few weeks."

"Whatever it takes."

*PRESENT*

So of course, here was Syaoran, sitting in his chair.

He stared into the eyelids of the girl he wished was awake. He had learned so much more from her. Before, he may have been the most popular boy in school, but he was not the social type, other than Eriol. Now he had made a friend in Tomoyo and Sakura, and some of their friends as well.

He had gained much research about Sonomi's lead of ghouls and villains, and about the opposites; the race of angels; since he had met Sakura.

Most importantly, he had learned how to love.

So he sat there.

And all of a sudden, the world seemed to fade around him, the eyelids of the girl popped open, revealing silver irises.

"Ahh, Syaoran-Chan is here." Sakuya's head turned over to Syaoran from the bed.

"Sakuya…why are you here? Give Sakura's body back!" Syaoran said, standing up. But Sakuya followed the motion and stood out of the bed too, wearing Sakura's hospital gown and Sakura's bunny slippers.

"Not until I have some fun like humans…or…angels do! Yuki-San!" And then Sakuya snapped her fingers and the man Sakura and Syaoran had seen appeared.

"You're the one who did this." Syaoran pointed an accusatory finger at 'Yuki.'

"Syaoran-Chan, be nice! This is my partner, Tsukishiro Yukito!"

"That's a familiar name…" Syaoran's mind wandered…where had he heard the name?

"And this is my love," Yukito paused, "Sakuya."

"YOU'RE THAT COP!"

"Yuki-Kun, the magic's going away!" Sakuya disappeared and then Yukito smiled and laughed and left the scene as well.

"Another piece to the puzzle…OH!" Sakura's body fell into Syaoran's arms, as if Sakuya had just left Sakura's body.

"...solved...because of..." Syaoran continued and watched Sakura's adorable face twitch in his arms.

"Sakura."

It was like a Christmas miracle, because on the next morning, Sakura awoke and opened the many presents her rich friend, Syaoran, had given her.

End of Chapter 12: Admitting Death: End
Next Chapter: Smiles from the Murderer
"Life is...A smile."
—William Heim