T minus seven days

"Tomoyo!" It was one of the many times when Sakura had called for Tomoyo's help in picking her outfits. It is for their graduation class party anyway. She'd really like to look nice - not that she was thinking about impressing Syaoran or anything. "Tomoyo - I don't know what to wear!"

"It's seven AM on a Saturday, Sakura!" Tomoyo shouted back in a groggy voice. "YOU HAVE TWELVE HOURS, CAN'T WE DECIDE LATER?!"

When Sakura didn't respond, Tomoyo sighed. She rolled out of her bed and headed straight for her wardrobe.

Sakura, meanwhile, was standing in front of hers with a scowl. She picked out a black lace dress, holding it in front of her in a mirror, then unceremoniously threw it behind her.

In a few minutes,Tomoyo loftily sauntered in - as loftily as she can in her jammies...with two dresses on each arm. "Are you thinking neutral colors or something bright?"

Sakura pouted. She picked out the hangers hanging on each of Tomoyo's arms and placed them on her bed. "I don't know." She responded in whiny, uncertain tone. She plopped down on the ground in front of her bed. "I'm sorry for waking you up Tomoyo."

"On the rare occasions that you do this - I'm used to it." Tomoyo rolled her eyes, plopping down next to her best friend. "You're real nervous about this, aren't you? It's just a party, Sakura."

"I know." Sakura dragged her words out, playing with the hem of Tomoyo's dress. "I just - mehhh."

Tomoyo sharply caught the blush on her best friend's face. She gasped, "YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT HIM, AREN'T YOU?"

"I don't know who you're talking about." Sakura shifted her eyes suspiciously. "I'm not trying to impress - whuuhhh?"

Tomoyo clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "Ugh, Sakura. You're stressing over nothing. He's gonna think you're beautiful even if you went in what you're wearing right now." She scanned over Sakura's Winnie the Pooh pajama set.

Sakura smiled softly, then turned to her friend suddenly. "Why don't you like Syaoran?"

Like a deer caught in headlights, Tomoyo looked at her friend with wide eyes.

"I'm dense but not that dense." Sakura rolled her eyes. "I can see you just burn holes through his face - and he's really uncomfortable around you. I don't know what you say to him, honestly."

Tomoyo didn't respond. What was she to say? Well, actually, I give the guy you like a daily reminder of my hate for him. But, uh, it's starting to wane because he's really sweet to you and you're basically in love with him…

She changed the subject. "Are you sure you're okay with me going with Eriol?"

Sakura smiled a knowing smile that showed her friend the subject change hadn't evaded her. "I told you so many times, it's fine, Tomoyo."

"I can cancel if you want me to." Tomoyo insisted. "Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you?"

"Tomoyo." Sakura tilted her head seriously. "It's fine. I don't want to get in the way of you and Eriol again."

The last part of Sakura's statement completely passed over Tomoyo's head as she protested, "but you'll be going by yourself."

"Yeah…" Sakura's eyes wandered to the walls and ceiling, "about that…"

Tomoyo gasped the same way she had earlier. "Don't tell me…"

Sakura gave her a sheepish grin. "So Syaoran and I - we figured - well - we're partners, so I mean-"

Tomoyo lips turned into a scowl.

Sakura shrunk at her friend's dirty face. "Why don't you like Syaoran?" She repeated her question.

Tomoyo's scowl never left her face, but she mumbled something along the lines of. "Because it's gonna be Josh all over again."

Sakura was quick to defend him, "he's nothing like Josh! He's the complete opposite!"

"Not his personality, I mean, he's gonna be your -" Tomoyo looked to Sakura's disapproving face. She sighed. "Josh took all your time - I barely got to hang out with you and just when you two split, here comes another guy..."

Sakura looked to her friend sympathetically. So that was why. "Syaoran's nothing like Josh, Tomoyo." The architect student's voice was firm.

Tomoyo looked down. Then something occurred to her. "Wait - what do you mean again? What do you mean by, you don't want to get in the way of me and Eriol again?"

Sakura made a 'oops!' face. "Um...well, Syaoran said something to me - I don't think he meant it but…" She turned to her friend with a serious expression. "Tomoyo, you don't have to-"

Tomoyo didn't like the way this was going. She stood up abruptly. "I think you should go with something bright and colorful. It is close to the holiday season. I think it'd be fitting, and it'll match your personality. Syaoran would love it."

Sakura looked up at her friend with a morose expression. Slowly, she stood up. Quietly she responded, "Yeah, I guess so."

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12 hours later

"Syaoran!" Sakura called, running - or rather, bouncing - up to him in barely contained excitement. She paused just a few steps away from him, smoothing out her dress and patting down her hair.

His tall figure, dressed handsomely in a suit, turned to her voice. Sakura smiled brightly as his eyes landed on her face. She walked, as calmly as she could despite her beating heart, up to him, secretly admiring his dapper appearance.

His mouth opened, as if he wanted to greet her in return, but was struck speechless as he took in her full appearance. He himself walked towards her naturally, as if pulled in by a magnet.

Sakura continued, oblivious to his stare, "I forgot to ask Tomoyo where the dinner was." Sakura gave an embarrassed smile, and her voice softening back to normal voice level as they drew closer to each other, "I was hoping you-" Sakura stopped suddenly when the man she was talking to was no longer in front of her, but sprawled on the ground. Syaoran seemed to have tripped over thin air.

"Oh my gosh," Sakura gasped, bending slightly to look at him, "are you okay?"

There was a grunt as Syaoran pushed himself up. "Are you gravity?" was his response.

"What?" Sakura tilted her head, her eyes following as he stood up, and dusted himself off.

Syaoran's eyes met hers seriously, "'cause you're making me fall."

Sakura blinked, a slow smile moved across her face, which then grew to a full blown laugh. In between gasps for air, she commented, "so you're fine."

"Yeah," Syaoran agreed, smiling along, "I just tripped, not fall off a cliff." He then added, in response to her earlier statement, "and yes, I know where the party is. It's that fancy Italian place on Main Street."

"Which one?" Sakura asked, and the two began to walk side by side down the sidewalk, "there's like ten million."

"The one with the pasta guy on the building." Syaoran elaborated.

Sakura laughed, "Oh, that is fancy."

Finding that the appropriate time to bring up his introvert personality, Syaoran boldly asked, almost whining, "do we have to go?"

Sakura sent him a look. "It's our architecture grad class party, Syaoran. How can we not go?"

"Easy." He grinned cheekily, "walk that way." He pointed to the opposite direction.

His partner laughed, shaking her head. She turned in the direction of the restaurant, inclining her head for him to go with her. "Come on, it won't be too bad."

"Yes it will." He grumbled.

"Okay," Sakura conceded, with a little sass. "Maybe with that attitude it will."

And they continued on with their discussion, mostly with Sakura persuading her partner that a class party of size 30 isn't bad at all. Too soon, though it really had been more than ten minutes later, the pair arrived at the restaurant.

Expecting to see Professor Terada, they were instead ushered in by Takashi. The classmate and friend grinned once he caught sight of the pair, commenting with a wink, "I see you two came together, hm?"

"Of course we did." Sakura responded immediately. "We're partners!"

Syaoran's eyes flitted to his partner, unsure of how she had heard Takashi's comment and how she had meant in her reply. When Takashi gave him a knowing grin, he shrugged awkwardly. "yeah, partners." He agreed not as enthusiastically as he had pleased.

Takashi looked between the two uncertainly. The grin remained plastered on his face as he ushered them to a seat in front of Tomoyo and Eriol. "Have fun!" He blessed them.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah," Takashi waved a hand. "I'm just manning the door because the professor had to run an errand. Once he's back, I'll go back to my table." He pointed to another row, a few tables back. "Visit me and Chiharu, hey?"

"Of course!" Sakura grinned. Syaoran only nodded along.

"So." Eriol sat forward delightedly. "One week and it's blast off."

Sakura and Syaoran shared a knowing look.

"Are you done yet?" Syaoran asked curiously.

"Not even close." Tomoyo sighed as Eriol rolled his eyes.

"She'll keep saying that 'til the night before. The perfectionist that she is." Eriol commented.

As the dinner went on, Sakura found herself stealing glances at her partner - it's just that she hadn't seen him so dressed up and when he laughs, boy, does he look good.

"Okay fine, I approve of him." Tomoyo grumpily commented quietly to Eriol.

"hm?" Eriol responded intelligently.

"Did you notice Sakura stares at Syaoran?" Tomoyo muttered back, "I know that look."

"oh," Eriol glanced around theatrically, turning back to her with a sly grin,"there's other people here?"

Tomoyo slapped Eriol's shoulder, but blushed. "oh, hush, you've been talking to your roommate more than me."

His retort was smooth. "But I haven't been ogling him all dinner."

Sakura, having heard the last part of their conversation, whined playfully, "get a room!"

"We will when you two do." Tomoyo responded in the most serious face she can muster.

Syaoran, immediately understanding the reference, turned red, looking down at his food in an attempt to hide it.

Sakura looked to Syaoran. Seeing that he wasn't going to respond, she did - and quite easily, "but we do. it's called the White Space."

Eriol actually facepalmed, while Tomoyo laughed, and Syaoran sighed.

Confused at their reactions, Sakura frowned briefly. But she didn't ponder about it long, exclaiming, "speaking of, our project is gonna be awesome!"

"it's gonna blow you away." Syaoran added, finally recovering.

"shh!" Sakura nudged Syaoran, "don't ruin it!"

"Yeah, yeah." Syaoran raised his hands to indicate he's backing off. Then he physically backed up his chair. "excuse me." He stood up, turning, then proceeded to trip over the legs of Sakura's chair.

This time, Sakura skipped to the laughter - and so did Tomoyo and Eriol. However, Sakura didn't fail to ask, "are you okay?"

"Fine." Syaoran grunted, miffed that he was stumbling all over the place in front of his partner.

"I'm being gravity again, aren't I?" Sakura joked.

Syaoran nodded slowly with wide eyes. So she had heard. Awkwardly, he walked quickly away.

"Where's he going?" Eriol stared after his abrupt departure.

"Bathroom." Sakura replied easily, unbothered by the situation.

Tomoyo blinked. "Right. I forgot you can read his mind." She commented dryly. "What's with you being gravity?"

"Oh," Sakura sat up in delight. "when I met up with him, he tripped too, and I do my thing with the, 'oh my gosh, are you okay?'" She started to laugh as she continues, "and he goes, 'are you gravity? Because you're making me fall.'" Her laughter heightens as she looked at two smiles. "You guys don't think that's funny?"

"No, we do." Tomoyo let out a small chuckle that didn't quite match her words. "It's just - the joke is…" she looked at Eriol, who couldn't help her explain. "Cute."

"Yeah." Sakura agreed easily, "but that doesn't make it any less funny."

Tomoyo and Eriol exchanged glances again.

"Attention, everyone!" Professor Terada announced loudly, standing tall in the middle of the restaurant.

Sakura sent Syaoran a quick smile when he returned and quietly sat down next to her.

"First off, thank you all for coming." The professor grinned at all his students. "It's been a fantastic year for the School of Architecture - thanks to all of you. You're all almost done with those graduation project, right?" He smiled knowingly as his students groaned or shook their head vehemently. "Oh, don't worry, opening night will be incredible. You students are so modest - and me, not so much. A week from now, I'll just be puffing out my chest and saying, 'yeah those are my kids - mine - all of them.'" The professor laughed humorously when his outspoken students whooped, cheered, and agreed loudly. "I speak for all of our faculty and staff when I say that this generation reminded us of our passion for the School of Architecture, and again, we thank you. I can see it already; you are creative thinkers, innovators...you're the future. I am just," the professor shook his head, looking speechless, "I'm blessed to have been a part of your journey to bigger and better things." He grinned at the quiet, attentive crowd. "You know, I could jabber on, but I know you all would like to be gobbling down some food right now." The crowd participated in pockets of laughter. Professor Terada smiled, "So," he raised his glass, "enjoy."

When the host sat down, the waiters and waitresses came out and took everyone's orders. The room again filled with noise, laughter, and fun dialogue.

After the dinner, the students milled around, socializing.

Tomoyo and Eriol stood off to the side as they watched Sakura and Syaoran deep in discussion with the animated Professor Terada.

Tomoyo mumbled to Eriol, "If she steals another admiring glance at him, I swear…" She threatened, her hands forming a strangle hold.

"I thought you approve of him now." Eriol muttered back, amusedly.

"It's not him," Tomoyo responded surprising her boyfriend, "it's them. He's too shy and insecure to approach her himself, and she's so much in denial that she just ignores it all."

Chiharu, passing by and hearing their conversation, agreed. "Amen." And that was when an idea popped up in Chiharu's brain. Once she saw the aforementioned partners dissipate away from their professor and each other, Chiharu slipped away from the dynamic duo and slipped into a spot next to Sakura.

After the usual greetings and discussion of current happenings, Chiharu tested her idea. Chiharu came out directly. "Syaoran likes you."

Sakura blinked. "Syaoran? My partner?" She asked incredulously.

"Do you know any other Syaoran?" Chiharu brought up both palms as if to say, duh!

"He - what? No he doesn't." Sakura shook her head disbelievingly. "Nuh-uh."

"He does." Chiharu nodded, so sure of herself. "He's just too shy to tell you directly."

At least Sakura was thinking about it. She tapped her chin, "Eriol did say something about him being shy." She revealed. "But then he was talking about how Syaoran was afraid of me hurting him emotionally, and he just lost me there. Like, how am I supposed to be hurting him emotionally when I don't even know how to bully a pinata."

Chiharu facepalmed. "Leave it up to Eriol to speak in riddles." She gathered her thoughts for a moment. "Okay, what Eriol's trying to say is that Syaoran was afraid he's gonna start liking you but you don't like him, and that'll cause him heartache. You know, heartache equals emotional hurt?"

"But," Sakura frowned, "how does he know that he'll like me? I mean - me." She pointed to herself, "I'm just Sakura. What's there to like?"

"Josh liked you." Chiharu tried to use her old boyfriend to prove her argument.

"Not enough, apparently." Okay, so that hadn't worked.

"Sakura," Chiharu shook her head, "there's a lot to like about you. Trust me."

And she did. But not completely. "I don't know. I mean, yeah, I guess we're close, 'cause we're partners. I kind of forced my friendship on him. So now we're close, I think."

Chiharu gave her a look, saying without actually saying, 'exactly!'

"But Syaoran said…" Sakura bit her lip, "He's waiting for the right girl, he's waiting for…" She starts to fade off, her face turning into an expression of realization.

Chiharu seemed to hold her breath as she delightedly thought, I got it through to her!

Then the classmate had to shake her head as if to dismiss her thoughts. "No, Syaoran's too cool." Sakura waved a dismissive hand.

Chiharu released her bated breath. She rolled her eyes. "I swear you are his number one fan."

When Sakura opened her mouth, looking as if ready to argue, Chiharu held up a hand. "No wait, don't get started. I know why you think he's cool." She turns with a shake of her head, "you've told me so much I could probably recite it in my sleep."

Sakura giggled sheepishly in response.

At least the thought remained in her head, for Sakura commented lastly. "I don't think I'm the right girl."

"Won't hurt if you try." Chiharu offered up. "You know, just ask him."

Sakura frowned slightly, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Disappointment, maybe."

"Okay, it'll hurt a little." Chiharu raised her hand, squinting through a little space between her index finger and thumb. "Only a little."

"I guess." Sakura trailed off.

Just in time, Syaoran appeared by her side, eliciting a greeting grin from her.

He grumbled to her, "you said it wasn't going to be so bad."

Sakura looked at him sympathetically. "It's just a little crowd." She tried to console him.

"I know, it's just…" Syaoran shrugged, frowning softly, "the pleasantries. Everyone comes up to me and we just go through the useless cycle, again and again and-"

Feeling a little left out, Chiharu piped up cheerfully, "Well, hello, Chiharu's here too."

Though she was right in front of him, Syaoran inclined his head. "Takashi's lonely without you." He went straight to the point.

"Oh, is he?" She smiled, "or are you saying that to get me to go away?"

Syaoran refused to answer the question, only looking away suspiciously. He pointed his friend out, "he's over there."

"Okay, fine, I"ll go away." Chiharu marched off...and sauntered up next to the dynamic duo - Tomoyo and Eriol. They turned to her expectantly. Chiharu couldn't keep the victorious grin off her face. "She's thinking about it."

"How?" Both Tomoyo and Eriol asked at the same time.

"Sometimes, a good old discussion works the best."

"I did that!" Eriol frowned.

"Eriol, honey," Tomoyo looked to her boyfriend sympathetically, "you talk in riddles."

"You just confused her." Chiharu shook her head disapprovingly at her friend. "I had to explain to her what you were trying to say."

"But," Eriol scowled deeply, not wanting to admit his defeat. "You understand me." He indicated his girlfriend.

"Only because I like riddles." Tomoyo responded.

"And that's why you two are perfect for each other." Chiharu commented before finally going back to her own boyfriend.

"Hey, mission accomplished?" Takashi greeted her.

"How'd you know?" Sometimes it surprised her how easily he can read her.

"That look in your eyes. And the way you were talking to Tomoyo and Eriol, then Sakura. I knew you were doing something the Syaokura situation." Takashi grinned.

"You're not coming up with their couple name." Chiharu shook her head.

"Fine." Takashi conceded. Then added quietly, with a teasing grin, "Sakran."

"No." Chiharu sent him a stern look.

He brought up his hands in surrender. His eyes passed over the crowd. "Oh look, SyaoSak is leaving." And the pair indeed was sneaking out the door. But then again, it was mostly Syaoran sneaking out and Sakura giggling as she followed him.

"Takashi..." Chiharu gritted out in a warning tone.

"Okay, okay." Takashi took his girlfriend by the arm and lead her around the room to the snacks. After a pause, he spoke up, "Saksyao."

"Are you done?" Chiharu looked up at the man in mock annoyance.

"There's no more combinations." Her partner hung his head sadly.

A thought occurred to Chiharu. "Were you really lonely without me?"

"Well…." Takashi dragged out the word with a twinkle in his eyes, raising his shoulders.

Chiharu slapped his arm.

"Ouch!" Takashi whimpered, "you know I was! That was a trick question, wasn't it?"

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Seeing as they had gone through the pleasantries for everyone at the party, Eriol breathed in deeply. He was clear to discuss, without interruption, with Tomoyo.

Tomoyo seemed to have sensed the air turn serious.

"You've been thinking about something." Eriol looked at his partner, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She sighed. He could tell she was contemplating it, or maybe forming the right words in her head. "I talked to Sakura before we came. About us coming together."

"And?" Eriol asked anxiously, unsure of why that had to be a conversation.

"She told me that I didn't have to take care of her - because I was making sure she was fine on her own, if I was going to go with you - I-" She laughed lightly, though the conversation was less than humorous. "She ended up going with Syaoran, anyway. He was replacing me in her life, as her guardian angel, and I hated it. Did you know that?"

"Yup." Eriol nodded once. To him, knowing both Syaoran and Tomoyo well, it was quite obvious there was a little animosity. Of course, he didn't know the source of it until now.

"It's just - when she was with Josh - I just I don't want to go through that again. And also, I guess, for so long, I was always there for her, and I hated just not being needed anymore." Tomoyo explained, her hands hugging her arms as if she was cold.

Eriol resisted the urge to pull her into a hug. He asked, "But today - you said you approve?"

"Yeah - well, I think I should start with when Sakura and I talked…" Tomoyo paused, thinking of how to explain their conversation. "It's kind of like a parent letting go of a child, you know? She told me it's okay. She told me that the parent will still love the child and vice versa even if the child turns into an adult and ventures out in the world. The child will always come back, and - anyway, she knew that we were - I mean, we didn't have the most stable relationship."

Eriol nodded agreeably.

"She's starting to suspect that my attachment to her was standing in the way." Tomoyo tried to explain. She rephrased, "She told me that she thinks we could really have a stable relationship if I let go of her."

When Tomoyo stopped there and didn't continue for a few beats, Eriol verbally nudged her. "So what do you think?"

"Her and Syaoran, honestly, are two peas in a pod."

Okay, Eriol was not expecting that answer. "What?"

"Syaoran came to me earlier and we also discussed this problem." Tomoyo explained. "You and me. Us. He basically thought the same thing, but he had more insight." She paused before announcing, "So today I came to a realization."

Eriol looked down, his hands in his pockets. He braced himself for what was to come. She's breaking up with him. It might be final, by the tone of her voice.

"I'm sorry." Tomoyo blurted out.

She's doing it, Eriol thought. It's coming.

"Syaoran and Sakura, they were right." Tomoyo continued, "I should explain it to you. I know, I'm jumping all over the place, but just let me explain. Today I told you approve of Syaoran, finally. It's because I'm starting to let go of her - Sakura, I mean, I've been protecting her for so long, I can't just let go, just like that. And Sakura assured me that he's nothing like Josh. And now that I have to start to finding my own path. So, now there's you."

Eriol, you idiot, why did you bring it up? Eriol cursed himself in his head. Maybe he should've played oblivious.

"Eriol." Tomoyo called for his attention. Slowly, he lifted his head to look at her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't explain it to you. The reason why we fight a lot and we're on and off and all this heartache is because-"

"Sakura, I know." Eriol isn't dumb, he knows what most of their arguments revolve around.

"It's new to me." Tomoyo confessed. "This whole relationship thing. I've been following around Sakura so much, I don't know how to go out on my own. And to spend time with you - I don't know how to do that one on one, just you and me thing. I didn't mean it, those arguments, I didn't mean any of it. I didn't mean to put you below Sakura, I didn't mean to say you aren't worth it -"

"It's okay." Eriol mumbled, trying to console her. Trying to stop her.

"No, Eriol, it's not. I said that because I didn't think I was worth it."

"What?" Eriol snapped up again.

"I resort to putting you second because I'm so used to putting Sakura first." Tomoyo rubbed her upper arm with her hands, acting as if she was shivering. "Change is hard for me - I'm not good at venturing outside of my comfort zone, and so sometimes I relapse back to my old ways. Back to Sakura because that's what I know best."

Eriol was speechless, trying to swallow this new information. He was starting to understand Tomoyo was having such a hard time with him. And he mentally kicked himself for not being more patient with her. He should've known - he was a psychology major, for Pete's sake.

"When we talked, Sakura told me that we're having this discussion because graduation is coming and she wants me to go out on my own path. It's time for me to think for myself first and, of course, Sakura and I, we don't have to split but…" Tomoyo looked up at the ceiling. "She's right. I came to that realization, and I knew I was in denial too. I was in denial because I wanted so badly to hold on to Sakura, but she really did belong to Syaoran. They really did work well together." She looked to her own partner. "I think you and I, maybe we could too. I realized that for me to go out on my own, I have to go out of my comfort zone and I have to be selfish. I want you and I want us."

Eriol smiled. Relief, happiness, excitement, anxiety for their future, and gratuity all mixed in on his happy expression. He responded with just the right words. "And even when we don't see eye to eye, I'll make it work."

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A/N: what? I didn't make Syaoran fall just to use that line. psh, you readers are so silly.

I realize that it seems like Sakura is dense - and she is to some extent. But this level denseness is also because she is in complete denial that Syaoran likes her, so basically, she realizes and then she shoves it away like, "Us? Nah, not Syaoran...pshh." So it comes off as dense, you know what I mean?

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T minus zero / Blast off!

Professor Terada couldn't contain himself, his excitement was visible in his entire being. Of course he was the first to arrive that morning, being the professor in charge, but he stage whispered that he was just too eager to see all their projects. When he walked in the White Space, he marvelled, jaw dropping, walking around their masterpieces. As he walked out, he threw up his hands up- causing papers and clipboards and pens to fly.

The students laughed humorously, forging a path for his exit. He shook his head, mouthing words, as if speechless. Finally, he spoke, "I can't, you guys just-just take over the class. My job is done here." When he walked up to the two star students at the end of the line, he spoke in awe, "You two blew me into space, literally. I can't believe it."

The pair positively beamed at his approval.

Professor Terada checked his watch, turning to face all of his students as they subconsciously formed a circled around him, "Alright, this exhibition is going to open in one hour." He paused as a student handed him the belongings he threw just moments ago, "thank you, Chase. So that's one hour to polish, work on your speech, make sure your electronic supplements are working, and you know, get ready to put the show on the road. Honestly, by the end of the day, you'll have memorized your speech." He glanced around the room, "And I know you're all nervous for those VIPs coming, so I'm just going to tell you, they're coming at around ten. They'll make their way around, listen to all your presentations, as am I." Professor Terada clasped his hands together, firmly, he stated, "Right now, just from where I'm standing, I'm seeing a lot of A's."

His students grinned. Colin even cheered, and the other students began clap along. Soon, their professor was looking at a standing ovation from his students.

He smiled warmly, waving at them embarrassedly, "Oh, come on, what are you guys clapping for me now? You should be clapping for each other and all those late nights, you made it." Professor began to clap for his students and the students started to cheer louder, patting each other on the back.

Soon enough, the students dispersed to their own projects in preparation for the day.

True to their teacher's word, in around an hour, people began to filter in. As the seats in front of their exhibition began to fill up, students would begin to give out presentations and occasionally answer questions.

When professionals, students, and visitors alike walked in the White Space however, they were not given places to sit. Instead, they were given a red carpet.

"Hello, everybody." Sakura grinned at the crowd gathering in front of the White Space. She chuckled a little when she spotted Professor Terada at the very front. "After a few short minutes, we will get going. Thank you all!"

She glanced up at her partner, the smile freezing on her face. "Do you want to go first?"

"Are you kidding?" He responded. He had gripped his blazer in anxiety, then tried to smooth it out as the crowd of five to ten grew to a crowd of ten to twenty gathered in front of the exhibition. He checked his watch. "8:50."

Sakura grimaced. The pair turned to each other. With wide eyes, she uttered quietly, "there's so many people!"

"We're taking turns anyway - we can split the group." Syaoran tried to console her but he was shaking himself.

Sakura breathed deeply. "Okay." She turned back to the group. Peeking at her partner, she timidly offered. "Fine, I'll take first."

Wiping his hands on his pants for umpteenth time, Syaoran nodded furiously. "Yeah, good idea -" when she giggled and slapped his shoulder, he teasingly changed tactics. "I mean, are you sure?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, just hang me out to dry…" She fully turned to her partner as the clock ticked on. Instinctively, she reached out and grabbed his hands. Seriously, she preached, "We've been working on this for six months. Honestly, it's amazing. We're going to be awesome. We're going to present again every two hours so by that time, we could recite our project in our sleep. You're going to be really professional and impress everyone. I'm gonna stumble a little, but hopefully they'll look past it because of my blinding smile. " At that point, she was starting to joke. "Okay?" When Syaoran nodded numbly, she coerced, "okay, Syaoran?"

"Okay." He finally let out. He then looked down at her hands clasped over his.

Awkwardly, she let go, turning back to the crowd. She breathed in deeply.

"9 o'clock." Syaoran announced quietly next to her.

She nodded. Sakura stepped forward with her brightest smile. "Hello everyone! Again." she laughingly added. She gestured to the crowd to split as she continued, "If the first ten-ish people would come with me, we can get started." Some of the audience whooped and cheered as Sakura walked on to lead them through.

His professional came out as he talked to the next group, including a grinning Meiling. "Hi." his voice was still reserved. "We're going to wait five minutes until she moves onto the next station to get started. Thanks for your patience."

Sakura stopped at the first model. It was a general layout of their work, showing a bird's eye view. There are five space ships, one in the middle and four surrounding it. The one in the middle is the largest and standing on a pedestal.

"When we were posed with the problem, we realized that we couldn't keep this idea grounded. If a strong typhoon could demolish a house, we were sure an apocalypse could destroy even the strongest building we could ever build. We came up with the idea of building structures that came off the ground. Thus, space ships. The initial take off will require fuel and admittedly, non renewable resources. Now, we needed to house fifty people and still allow comfortable space for living. So instead of a large rocket ship, which will take an enormous amount of fuel to blast off, and may limit our space, we divided the entire concept into five parts."

"First, let's talk about the spaceships themselves." Sakura picked up the biggest, centermost spaceship that was resting on the pedestal. "We're architects, not rocket scientists, so the mechanics of a spaceship is rough. Mostly we focused on materials and fuel, to get our spaceship where we want it to go. We used lightweight but strong materials such as synthetic carbon, silicon, and polymers. These make up the skin and most of the materials of our spacecraft." She put down the model, proceeding onto the next part.

As the day went on, the architecture students rotated between the endless crowds that gathered before them. And you, my dear reader, will rotate between the presenters to grasp the full idea of the presentation.

Syaoran led the group to a platform presenting a cross section of the spaceship, now enlarged, with its rooms separated and the vague ideas of its furnishings detailed within.

"We separated the living space into four parts. One would be the bunker area where most inhabitants have their personal space. The other would be the kitchen and dining. Another essential part is the bathroom. The last would be a lab and storage space." He gestured to the cross section. "As the spaceship is on its way to the exosphere layer of our atmosphere, we decided that the astronauts shouldn't be doing much researching or lab experiments. We compressed our lab space to take up only about one fourth of the spaceship. We placed it on the entire left side, so that there no floor above it to collect uncomfortable fumes, or floor under it to collect leaked toxic materials. Then, moving from left to right, are the bathrooms. Here is when the layout starts to split into two floors. The bathrooms on each floor are aligned with each other to make plumbing more convenient. The bathrooms also take up only about one fourth of the spaceship. The other half is dedicated to the kitchen and bunker. The second floor will be the bunker and the first floor will be the kitchen." He smiled briefly then when there were low mumblings in his audience. "I know I said four parts, but you see five. The small triangular section at the peak of the spaceship is command center. This is much like the cockpit of an airplane and the fuse box of a building rolled into one."

Sakura led her group to the next model. It is a transformed spaceship hanging on a thin line from the ceiling. It gives off the feel of floating in the air as the group gather around it.

"When our spaceships reach the orbit, one of the switches in our so-called cockpit will automate a transformation of the spacecraft. Nothing much on the right side of the spaceship has changed. The lab, mainly, is the part that changes. Before, it was vertical rectangular shape that is two stories high. Now, it is transforming by taking the top half and clicking in next to the bottom half, so that it becomes a horizontal vertical shape. That's how it becomes a wider lab space."

Syaoran walked ahead as the group followed him. The next station was surprisingly the wall. Syaoran grabbed a remote on the cart in front of the wall. He pressed a button and the projector turned on to show a 3D model. Five, actually.

"This is where the five spaceships reunite." He pressed play, and the three dimensional models became a simulation. Each of the five spaceships all transformed like explained before. "Much like how the International Space Station was put together, we wanted all the parts to fit together like puzzle pieces. So with the lab side all fitting together, the five spaceships form a general pentagonal shape. We have this idea that the five labs being right next to each other could encourage working together within the spacecraft groups of ten inhabitants but also between all five groups."

Sakura grinned as she went on to the next model, a peek in the interior design of the spaceship. The first look was inside the lab.

"We dabbled a little bit into the interior design of the rooms. First, the labs must have long desks, so there's enough space for experiments, and lots of storage. But this is the twenty-first century, it's not a lab without some technology, right?" Sakura smiled briefly. "At the back of the lab desks, we have power outlets and such for electronics. Being as scientists will be experimenting with an array of materials, we were cautious about toxicity on board. We used non porous materials to line the walls around the lab to prevent such an accident. That, however, creates an insulation problem. So we have small, tight insulating vents with filters that run in the middle of the walls. At the top and bottom of the walls, we have small spaces that will trap any liquid, gas, or solid that gets past the first layer of the wall. This will hopefully catch any toxic material that will flow up or down before it gets out."

Syaoran drank his bottle of water as the group gathered around the second interior design, the bunker room. It basically showed a wall with two beds on top of each other. The bottom bunk is transformed into a desk, while the top stayed a bed, and the ladder is pulled out.

"To save space, we had the bunkers on top of each other with amble room so that if the bottom bunk inhabitant sat up, he or she wouldn't hit his or her head." Several of the audience chuckled a little at that, remembering their childhood camping misfortunes. "The ladder is built into the wall, but not entirely. There's a hinge at the top, so that if needed, the ladder could be pulled out at an angle. Realizing that these are professional people, we thought perhaps they'd like a more personal study space. We remodeled the traditional bunker bed so that it could be transformed into a desk and have space for their materials." After a pause, Syaoran strayed from the model, he added a sidenote. "the bathroom and kitchen have similar layouts without any specific or unique renditions."

Sakura went on to the last, but not least, exhibition. It was another projector lighting up the wall. She turned it on.

"Let's talk about energy." She started the simulation that showed how their choice of alternative energy solutions worked. "Being up and away from Earth, our choices of alternative energy are limited. Hydrofuel is out of the question. Wind turbines are definitely out of the equation. Solar energy is our best option. As you have probably already noticed, solar panels make up most of our outer shell. Even as the lab space is transformed and expanded, we have solar panels covering that part too. Solar energy has most recently been modified to be nearly 45% efficient. That's good for our lighting, electrical, heating, and other regular use needs. But there are the small uses, such as little bedside lamps, occasional electronic or appliance use, where we would be losing more solar energy when we keep converting them in small bursts. Therefore, along with solar energy, we have kinetic energy - this is our newest alternative energy solutions. We will install this type of energy to be stored up from swinging doors and floor tiles."

"And that's it." Both architecture students smiled, one brighter and more natural than the other, and inclined their head in a small nod. "Thank you."

After applause and much praise, the crowd dissipated to re-explore the models and projection. Sakura and Syaoran came back together. They smiled briefly at each other, then looked out at the crowd milling around their hard work.

One of the important guests complimented as he shook their hands, "This is very creative," he nodded at the models, "I would've gone with a big concrete block and just be done with it."

"We were considering it," Sakura replied, "but Syaoran pointed out that we're banking fifty lives on limited research."

"Concrete has withheld against fire, tornadoes, hurricanes, flood, earthquake, and TNTs (explosives)." Syaoran explained, "But we're talking about a major event that's going to wipe out civilization. We've never come across anything as severe as that, so humans have never been able to test if concrete will withstand such a major event."

The man shook his head, turning to exchange a glance with his associate, a strict-looking woman with a thin set to her lips. He let out a chuckle, "Brilliant, you two, just brilliant." He held out his palm as the woman placed business cards in it. He handed it out to the pair, "as AIA, we can definitely recommend some good firms to work in or help you two set up your own."

"Thank you so much!" Sakura gushed as Syaoran responded just as gratefully, shaking their hands again.

People came in, people went out. They ooh-ed, aah-ed, they pointed out specific parts, they wrote down notes, they admired, they shook the masterminds' hands, they took pictures, and they exchanged compliments.

Twelve hours later, the pair were left alone in the midst of their masterpiece.

They weren't looking at their work, however, they were looking at each other.

"It's over." Syaoran stated, but he felt like 'it' referred to more than their project.

"I'm proud of us," Sakura smiled, reaching out with her palm so they could shake hands for the last time that day. When Syaoran big, warm hands slipped into her grip, impulsively she pulled him into a hug. Impulsively, she added, "partner."

Syaoran had responded quickly, arms wrapping around her shoulder - for Sakura had held him in a bear hug around his center. He let his head droop as he leaned on her head, lightly, tentatively, shyly.

But it was over quickly.

They pulled apart, Syaoran suppressed a sigh, Sakura suppressed a shiver. They looked at each other again.

There was a bout of silence, both unsure of what to say.

Sakura breathed deeply, as if the extra oxygen could give her courage. She let out a sweet, heart-warming smile, looking up at her partner with tender eyes. She spoke tentatively, her soft voice echoing in the large room.

And again, it all started with, "May I have the honor of being your partner?"

Syaoran blinked, eyebrows furrowed. The next thing they have to worry about - together - is graduation. "For what?" He asked.

Sakura twiddled her thumbs, but didn't take her eyes away from his soul-searching gaze. "For…" She stammered, "for-you know, life."

Syaoran realized it the moment she said "life". He showed his understanding in a brilliant smile, exhibiting his white teeth and pure joy. With a twinkle in his eyes, he teased, "since you said it that way," he grinned as Sakura laughed, knowing where this was going. He continued, "yes, I will be your boyfriend, Sakura."

Laughingly, Sakura replied, taking a step closer to her new boyfriend, "so if I had said it any other way…"

Syaoran bent his head down, never breaking eye contact, "I'd say no, because I wanted to be the one asking." There was a quiet pause as they understood and appraised each other. Then Syaoran leaned down, his formerly dormant arm reaching out to wound around her waist, and pulled her in.

In the midst of their work, they found love. Thus, they kissed in the middle of the graduation project that brought them together.

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Coincidentally, the recently stabilized couple are having the same experience. Sort of.

Tomoyo and Eriol sat in front of their project. They were to make an emergency shelter, easily constructed, deconstructed, and transported.

"Do you think it would be better if we had an aluminum shell?" Tomoyo asked in retrospect.

Eriol let out a chuckle. "You think everything could be better. Nothing's ever perfect for you, Tomoyo."

"You are." Tomoyo looked to her partner, locking eyes with him. Eriol was speechless at her direct proclamation. She smiled, half proudly, half uncertainly. "I think I'm getting better at this."

This time, Eriol laughed. He didn't respond, only intertwining his fingers with hers. Softly, his rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, soothingly. "I've been thinking." He started. "what you said - what Syaoran said, actually. You know he's my roommate, so I did tell him what you told me that night at the graduation party. He told me that when you two talked, you thought I could be with somebody else." He let out a scoff, there. "You thought that there was a possibility that someone else would be more suited to me. You know what I said?"

"That I'm right?" Tomoyo guessed incorrectly.

Eriol paused. "No, that's after marriage. Then I'll be saying that all the time." Tomoyo's eyes widened at his implications. He grinned, "I said you were being silly."

"But-" Tomoyo frowned.

"Wait." Eriol stopped her. "Let me explain." He turned fully to her. "Tomoyo, I'm not going to meet someone else more perfect for me. I'm not gonna lose that chance because I'm so hung up on you - because it's you. Tomoyo, you're the one that perfectly suited to me. Or, you know what, I'll take your stance. Maybe there is somebody out there - but I don't care. Because I want to be with you."

"I'm sorry." Tomoyo bowed her head at her silly doubts against Eriol. "I'm sorry we were always - it's all my fault - I just -"

"It's okay." Eriol softly responded. "It's okay." He repeated quietly as she released their intertwined hands to wrap her arms around his torso. He stroked her hair, one hand resting softly on her head, as buried her face in his chest.

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"Hello?" a lone faraway voice interrupted the pair in the White Space. Sakura jumped, and they both turned to the doorway.

They heard footsteps approach, and in wanders a student. The student peers in curiously, ambling towards them.

"are you lost?" Sakura asks, stepping away from Syaoran and towards the student.

"No." The student replies slowly, "I'm sorry, are you still..?" the student's voice trails off as she scanned the architecture around her in awe.

"tomorrow we'll be presenting again." Syaoran answered this time, knowing Sakura would be too nice to turn her down. He reached out to grab Sakura's hand. "from ten in the morning 'til four in the afternoon."

"oh..." the student looks between them hesitantly. "okay."

When the student turned around, Syaoran focused his attention on Sakura, pulling her in by their intertwined hands.

The wanderer heard the male architect quietly ask, "can we do that again?" she spared a glance back. He had reached to touch her cheek with his left hand, their right hands still tightly intertwined, and he was leaning towards her. She looked up at him happily, a bright smile playing on her lips as she awaited his kiss.

The lone student turned around and walked out of the student center with a smile. She may be a chemistry major but she sure hadn't seen chemistry as strong as those two.

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A/N: And THAT'S IT! I know, I'm sad too. At least I gave you a really long chapter. I did say the point of the story was SxS and ExT in the summary, and that happened, so bam. done.

OK SO SORRY the architecture part was rough -_- I TRIED

This time, I'd like to address something important to the Fanfiction community.

Sometimes, there are those few mean critics or sneaky plagiarizers in the community that get publicized and even push great writers off the website - a trend that I see all too often.

And that's why, I believe, that we forget about the numerous good people here. The sweet supporters of imaginators, the great constructive critiques that push young writers to be better, and the lovely readers who give their silent applause. Sometimes, we forget that there's more of them than the few bad seeds. So, here's to the good ones. Thank you to those who left those wonderful, kind reviews after my last chapter's note to haters.

If you've paid attention to my notes throughout the story, you'll find that Designboom has been used numerous times as a citation, resource, and inspiration for the architectural aspects of this story. I'd like to thank and credit Designboom and their articles, and of course, recommend my readers - for any of you who are interested in architecture or design - to please check it out.

Thank you all for reading, and a special thank you to those who reviewed or will review.

On a final note, I hate not being able to respond to guest reviewers. I do welcome them, but, you know, if a reader had to choose between leaving guest reviews or signing in, I'd prefer the latter. Sorry for a long Author's Note, but one final thing: I don't do that whole respond to reviewers in the author's note thing. I wish I did because of some guest/anonymous reviews, but I just don't think it's any of the readers' business to see the correspondence between me and another reader. Again, personal preference. And that's it. Thank you all.