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Through Another Day

Written by: Shadow

Chapter 7

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Sakura entered her room, dragging her feet around. She was so exhausted from spirit catching, it was ridiculous. Was it just going to get harder every time? Was she going to die before all the spirits were captured?

Sakura plopped down onto her bed, not bothering to change into pajamas. Her mind was too jumbled for a proper sleep anyway.

"Syaoran grew up very….alone…"

Sakura shifted to her side and gazed at the wall. She stared blankly at it as the events from the day passed through her mind. Syaoran had looked so…hurt.

"Oh I am so stupid!" she exclaimed suddenly. "Syaoran was being kind to me by opening his house to me, and I snooped into his business. I am so…AUGH!"

Sakura sat up, pulling at her hair in frustration. She never knew she could feel so bad for Syaoran. He was an asshole, but now she could kind of glimpse why…he was just…hurt.

"Syaoran grew up very…alone…"

"Alone," Sakura repeated aloud. Now that she thought about it, while she was at Syaoran's house earlier that day, no one was around, and the house certainly wasn't big enough for a family.

"Hey Kiddo," a voice rang out, interrupting Sakura's train of thoughts. She whipped around with a start, having heard Kero's voice. It would still take awhile before she remembered she was being watched at all hours by that book.

"Hmm, Kero?" she asked, grabbing the book from her bedside and flipping to the Sun Spirit's page.

"Don't worry about that jerk. He'll get over it," Kero stated.

Sakura under normal circumstances would have agreed, but a flare of anger rose within her, and to Kero's (and to her own) surprise, she stuck up for him, "Syaoran isn't a jerk. He may be mean, but I don't think he's doing it deliberately."

Kero stared at her for a moment, contemplating, but then yawned, and got into a long catlike stretch, "Whatever you say Sakura…. Boy am I out of it."

"Tell me about it," Sakura mumbled, grabbing the book and moving back towards her bed. She laid down on it again, sighing in relief as the cushy mattress sunk underneath her.

"I think I should apologize," Sakura thought aloud, "But how should I do that?"

"Good question," Kero said lazily, imitating Sakura's position by also laying on his back inside the book. "Maybe you should ask Sander. He knows the kid the best."

"I guess so," Sakura said. "But I feel kind of bad. I forced him to tell me about Syaoran the first time…and well, it ended badly…."

"Do you see Syaoran around anywhere?" Kero said through a yawn. "This is your house. He's not gonna know."

Kero did have a point, but Sakura still felt bad about it. Poor Sander must have been sad to see Syaoran blow up like that.

"Alright Kero," Sakura finally decided. "I guess that's my best bet. I'm gonna flip your page over now, so you can go ahead and rest up."

"Way ahead of you," Kero mumbled as he tucked his head in, curling into a tight ball and letting out a satisfied sigh.

Sakura smiled briefly, but then went back to focusing. She flipped the pages until she came across Sander's page. He was asleep as well.

"Sander," Sakura whispered. The canine's ears flicked back and forth for a moment, but then he lifted his large wolf head, and stared at Sakura, eyes blank. Apparently, he hadn't realized who he was staring at yet.

"Sander," Sakura repeated. At hearing his name a second time, Sander hopped up, panting and wagging his tail happily.

"Hi Sakura," he exclaimed excitedly, like a puppy. "Are we going spirit catching?"

"Not quite," Sakura said, smiling. "I wanted to talk to you about Syaoran again."

"Oh," Sander said, his tail stopping short. He lowered his eyes away from Sakura, and sat down. "What about him this time?"

Sakura knew he wasn't too comfortable talking about his old master's son, but Sakura needed to know a few more things.

"You still know him a lot better than I do," Sakura said. When Sander let out a whine to signal he didn't like where the conversation was going, Sakura added: "Don't misunderstand me, I just want to know the best way to apologize to him."

Sander stared at Sakura for a moment, and then jumped up, tail wagging again, "Make him do something fun…like…like…ooh, I know! Make him play fetch with me!"

Sakura sweat-dropped, "Sander, we're talking about Syaoran, not you."

"No, I'm serious," Sander said, jumping up and down, hardly able to contain his excitement. "We used to do everything together back in the day, even play fetch. You should just send me to him!"

Sakura was about to sweat-drop again, but a voice in the back of her mind told her to listen to the poor pup. It was the least she could do anyway: Sander had had as much of a bad day as Syaoran because of her.

"Okay, I'll let you go visit Syaoran. I'll just write him an apology note that you can bring to him…okay?" Sakura said, thinking that the last detail might be the best way to let him know she was sorry.

Sakura got up from her bed, and made her way over to her desk. She grabbed a small notepad and a red pen, and set about writing her note.

Syaoran,

Sorry I snooped around in your business. It was wrong, and I didn't mean to hurt you in any way.

Sakura.

"Simple, yet effective," Sakura thought. Still though, she thought it was lacking something. Sighing, Sakura added on a small note at the end, and --after releasing Sander-- handed the note to him. The canine took it happily, and disappeared into the evening.

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Syaoran stared at the ceiling from the couch. The television was on, but Syaoran wasn't paying any attention to it. He was lost in his memories.

"Mom!" a younger version of Syaoran yelled. "Look what I can do! I can finally create lightning with my sword!"

His mother turned to him, her eyes flashing in sorrow for only half a second before going back to their intimidating composure. She stared at Syaoran for a moment, eyes boring into him, "Syaoran, how many times do I have to tell you…I hate it when you run in here to show me things like this."

Syaoran looked at his mother, dejected, "But why?" Syaoran couldn't help but ask. He was innocent. He didn't know how much he resembled his father. He didn't realize how hard it was for his mother to even look at him for that reason.

Suddenly, Yelan lashed her hand out, striking the young Syaoran across the face, "How should I expect you to understand? You are a child. A pathetic child. You will never match up to your father. Do you understand Syaoran? Now, get away from here. I'm busy…."

Syaoran snapped out of the memory when he heard a tapping at the window. Curious, he looked over at the glass, and saw the sparking fur of Sander. Lifting an eyebrow, Syaoran walked over to the window, and opened it.

Sander immediately jumped inside, tackling Syaoran to the ground. Immediately, Syaoran could feel his hair start to stand on end again. The shock was giving him spikes.

"Ah, Sander! Stop! Not again!" Syaoran exclaimed as he was shocked. "Sander please get off!"

"Syaoran!" he yipped, before complying.

"What are you doing here?" Syaoran inquired as he patted the hairs on his head back down. "Don't tell me Sakura is here too. I don't want to talk to her now."

Sander's ears drooped, "I'm here alone. Sakura sent me to apologize."

"So she won't say it to my face?" Syaoran scoffed. "How sad. She really is a coward."

"I insisted I come alone. I wanted to talk to you. Besides, she did write you a personal note Syaoran," Sander said as he dropped the notepad in front of Syaoran.

Shrugging, Syaoran picked up the note, and read it:

Syaoran,

Sorry I snooped around in your business. It was wrong, and I didn't mean to hurt you in any way.

Sakura.

"Wow, she sounds real sorry," Syaoran remarked sarcastically.

"Read the rest," Sander insisted. Sighing in frustration, Syaoran complied, and read the rest of the note:

PS: I'm always around, if you need a friend to talk to. I know you may not consider me a friend yet, but you've already helped me more times than I can count. If you're willing, how about we go to the carnival this weekend? Send you're reply back with Sander when you guys are done talking about…whatever you guys talk about.

"What?" Syaoran asked dumbfounded. "That…is seriously weird. Does this girl want to make all of the rumors about us worse?"

Sander laughed, "Do you want to hear more rumors Syaoran? You don't seem too mad about them this time around."

"What?!" Syaoran exclaimed. "Sander, what the hell? I don't like Sakura. We only met about a week ago!"

Sander laughed again, "True, but when rumors about you and Meilin were going around in Hong Kong, you had a fit. I don't see that happening here! You certainly aren't denying any of these stories!"

Sander let out a howl of laughter, and by now, poor Syaoran was dark red, "That was years ago! I'm more mature now!" Syaoran retorted.

"Hardly Syaoran, hardly. You still just won't open up to people," Sander said, becoming serious once again. It was times like these that Syaoran forgot that Sander was a puppy. He seemed so wise all of the sudden….

"Syaoran, she's offering to be your friend, even after the way you've treated her. Why don't you just accept the offer and trust her?"

"Why should I trust someone who is stealing what is rightfully mine?" Syaoran shot back angrily. "I was supposed to get that book…so mother would finally…."

"Yelan will never change Syaoran," Sander said. "She is set in her ways, and to her, you are just a painful reminder of her lost husband. Just move on from trying to impress her. You have to find love in other places."

Syaoran stayed silent, his eyes clouding over, "Sander. I want to know the truth. What happened to my father?"

Sander grimaced, "You know you won't like what you hear."

"I know."

"He died," Sander said, trying to avoid the details.

"I'm not stupid Sander. I knew that a long time ago. I just went along with that story so that my mother would not feel so bad."

Sander grimaced again, "I can't tell you."

"It has something to do with the book doesn't it? You're not telling me because you want to protect Sakura."

Sander didn't say anything. He neither denied nor agreed with Syaoran's statement. True, he was trying to help Sakura, but she didn't say anything about forbidding to talk about it.

"What does the book do to the holder?" Syaoran demanded. "Sander, I have a right to know."

Sander whined, and got up. He started to pace nervously, "I can't tell you Syaoran. I can't."

"Sander!" he shot back.

Sander whined again, his fur sparking from the nervousness building inside of him, "No, no…I can't. Syaoran, understand. Please. Understand that as your best friend, I can't tell you."

"If I'm your best friend, why can't you tell me?" Syaoran demanded. "Sander!"

"No!" he wailed, torn between Sakura and Syaoran.

"Sander! Please!" Syaoran wailed back just as desperately.

"Why Syaoran? I thought you didn't care about Sakura!" Sander retorted.

"I…I…" Syaoran trailed off. He had said that, "I do care."

Sander stopped pacing and looked at him inquisitively, "You care?"

Syaoran looked away, red in the face, "Yeah, I do."

Sander laughed, "I knew you liked her!"

Syaoran growled, "Sander!"

Sander stopped short, serious again, "Okay, but you have to promise not to tell Sakura I told you…and definitely don't go doing anything stupid…."

Syaoran nodded, ready to find out the truth.

"The book…slowly sucks the life out of the user. Every time Sakura releases a Spirit, her life drains away….it's a slow death."

Syaoran said nothing for a moment, "Wait…you're telling me….Sander!"

"I know, I'm sorry," the canine said, hanging his head in shame.

"No, no! It's okay…just, go home! She's loosing energy because you're out!" Syaoran yelled. "Tell her… I'll come by her house later….but Sander, You'd better go."

Sander nodded, nosing Syaoran affectionately before rushing back to Sakura's home, determined to get back before Sakura's energy was totally wasted.

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A/N: Finally right? XD. Syaoran finally learns the truth…

So, what do you guys think? Do tell me in a review!