Author's Note: Thanks you to all of those who have reviewed for this chapter! Thanks to Hurts 2 b hurt by 1's u luv..., Star Muse, BabieLuvly101, lil.ramen.lover, ccs's cherry blossom, Sarkura, Yiing-fa, HyuugaYingLang, KamichamaKarinLover25, and Chimeiteki Ai for all the suggestions, criticism, and all the help! You guys had a lot of good ideas! I can't use all of the ideas though. Sorry! However, I'm trying to combine some of them.

Italics stand for thoughts.

rosedreamer101: Yep Sakura can fight. She's just not supposed to show anyone that she can, until she really needs to. (command of her brother) LOL! Thanks for the review!

Special thanks to my beta, Star Muse.

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura.

Last Chapter:

Quickly, the man put his hand over her mouth to muffle the scream but it was too late. Footsteps echoed off the walls, each footstep getting louder by the second. The man turned toward the sound of the footsteps. Unknowingly, he loosened his hold on Sakura. Sakura took the chance to break free. The man noticed and gripped her wrist tighter than ever before. Then footsteps stopped. The man turned his head to look at who it was… only to be punched in the face. The man crumpled onto the floor, leaning against the wall. Sakura broke free of his grip. She looked at her savior and gasped.

"ONII-CHAN?!?!?!?!?!?"

End of Last Chapter

"Kaijuu," was the only thing that Touya said back. He stared at her blankly, not showing any emotions even though he was furious inside.

Sakura glared at him. "I'll get you back with that kaijuu remark but first of all... WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE CASTLE!!!???" shouted Sakura loudly. Her voice echoed off the walls.

"Hey, kaijuu, watch your back," replied Touya in a bored tone.

Knowing what her brother meant, she quickly lifted her arm in the air, elbowing the man behind her, knocking him out. A sound of metal hitting the floor was heard. Sakura guessed that noise was from the knife that he had in his hand. Not even wasting a second, she asked her brother the same question again, trying to force a reasonable and satisfactory answer out of his mouth. "What are you doing in the castle?" She placed her hands on her hip.

"That's for me to know and you to find out yourself," he said in a monotonous voice, teasing her.

"Onii-chan," whined Sakura, desperately wanting to know why he was there.

Touya sighed and replied. "The kingdom needed more guards today with all the ladies coming in the castle. It would be the easiest time to attack. I signed up and I got the job."

Sakura's mouth dropped open. "WHAT!?!" she cried out disbelievingly. Her hands dropped to her sides.

Touya raised him hand and ruffled her sister's hair. "I'll only be here today."

Sakura sighed in relief and closed her mouth. If her brother was going to be here every single day, how was she supposed to survive with him following her every move? She would never be able to do anything, let alone talk to anyone. He was the overprotective brother that she had.

Touya's voice interrupted her train of thoughts. "However, seeing what just happened, I might just sign up for a permanent job here." His eyes glared at the man on the floor.

"Geez, I know how to take care of myself," said Sakura.

"Yeah, I know," said Touya sarcastically. "The man had you pinned against the wall with you screaming for help. Yeah, you absolutely knew how to take care of that situation. You protected yourself very nicely."

"You can't blame me for that," pouted Sakura. "You were the one who told me that I couldn't show anyone that I could fight. You said that way, I would be able to take my opponents by surprise if I ever was attacked and it was a life or death situation where I had to fight back." Silence filled the room. Sakura stuck out her tongue childishly. Without any warning, she stomped on her brother's foot. Touya jumped up, hopping on his good foot while holding the one that she just stomped on.

"OW! What was that for?" he shouted, glaring at her.

"That was for calling me kaijuu again!"

Her brother shook his head and let out a sigh. He set his foot back on the floor. "Anyways, I'll be leaving right now. My shift is almost over."

Sakura's face softened up again. No matter how much her brother annoyed her, she still loved him a lot. In a sad voice she said, "Touya, say hi to mom, dad, and Kaho okay? Tell them that I miss them a lot and that I'm doing great here."

"I'll remember to tell them that. They wanted me to tell you that you should just enjoy your time here and stop worrying about them. They also told me to say good luck to you."

Sakura smiled softly. "Tell them not to worry much about me. I'll be fine."

"Okay."

"Take care of yourself. Tell that to everyone else too. I'll miss you guys."

Sakura stepped forward into Touya's open arms. She gently hugged him back, not wanting to let go of him. Touya let out a small smile for his sister to see. "We'll miss you too," he said. Touya stepped away. He glared at the man on the floor again. He would have punched him in the face and gave him other injuries but then he would be yelled at. He dragged him across the floor like a mop, after picking up the dagger that fell on the floor. He was going to hand him in. He gave one more look behind him, looking at Sakura. She smiled again, and so did he. She laughed for a while, seeing her brother dragging the man on the floor. Soon, Touya faded from her view as he turned around the corner.

Sighing, Sakura went back to her room and shut the door, locking it. She leaned against the door lightly. "I must stay strong! I can't cry!" were her thoughts.

Looking at the clock, it was already five. There was only an hour before she had to head down to eat. What was there for her to do in the meantime? Author's Note: Star Muse pointed out to me that this story has alarm clocks and etc. when this story is clearly taking place in the past were there weren't any. I didn't notice that before. Sorry! Just pretend that someone invented this already back then. They also invented light bulbs already too. Okay? Thanks!

A knock was heard on her door. "Sakura! It's me, Sora! I'm with Hikari. Do you want to hang out until dinner starts?" Sakura got up quickly and opened the door.

"Come on in!" she said to them happily with a bright smile on her face, masking the pain that she had felt a few seconds ago. It was great to have friends to talk to. It was exactly what she needed to get her mind off of other stuff. Her curious friends walked in and looked around her room, while shutting the door for her.

"Thank goodness I hid the dagger and the other weapons really well," thought Sakura in her head. "Otherwise... I don't want to even think about what would happen."

"Your room similar to mine," said Hikari. "Sakura, have you finished unpacking yet?"

"Yeah, I finished awhile ago. How about you guys?"

"We finished too!" they replied at the same time.

Looking at each other, the group of three all burst into laughter.

Sakura invited them to sit on the couches in the room.

"Can you believe how big this castle must be to be able to hold all these rooms? There are around 100 contestants here! If all the rooms are this big...I wonder what kind of rooms the royal families live in," said Sora. There was a dreamy expression on her face as she thought of all the possibilities.

Hikari also had the same facial expression. "Yeah I know. It must be awesome."

Sakura smiled at her two friends. Just like them, she had never seen such a big room. All her life, she had been living in a small house with her parents and her brother.

They started talking again about some random topics. Time flew by for everyone. Pretty soon, it was almost time for dinner. They headed down to the great hall. (Author's Note: I know that I said that they were supposed to eat in the cafeteria. Well, I found out that the great hall is the actual name, I think, for the place where they eat. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Sakura, Sora, and Hikari all sat down somewhere together. Sakura looked around in awe. The great hall was another room that had taken her breath away. There were no words to describe it. What caught her attention the most was the chandelier hanging at the top of the room. Sure, the restaurant that she used to work at also had a chandelier, but it couldn't compare to the one in the palace. It was gorgeous. The light showed thought the crystals, brilliantly lighting up the room. Her eyes roamed to other parts of the room.

The King, sitting in the middle of the room along with the other members of the royal family, cleared his throat, silencing everyone. Sakura focused her attention on him. He spoke loud and clear, so that each and every one of the women could hear.

"We will be calling a few of you ladies over at a time to talk with us. In the meantime, please enjoy the meal that our cooks have prepared." With those short sentences said, the room erupted in loud talking once again. Pretty soon the food came piling out onto the tables. The smell of the food wafted delicately into the air, and the mouthwatering food made Sakura's stomach grumble… Soon, it was time for everyone to eat. Sakura was still looking at the delicious food when both Hikari and Sora on either side of her, elbowed her in the side. Sakura let out a small yelp and looked at her friends weirdly.

"What was that for?" she pouted.

Hikari answered her. "Uh... Sakura. Look at all the utensils we have! I have no clue which one to use and neither does Sora."

Sakura looked at the table. However, she didn't look worried about it.

"Please tell me that you know which one to use, because I have absolutely no clue," whined Sora.

"Well..." Sakura said. When she was little, she remembered going to the library with her mom. She was really bored that day and she had nothing to do. There, she had found a book about princesses, princes, kings, queens, castles... etc. Being that small age she was, she was interested in all the fairytale stories that her mom had told her. She thought the book included a fairytale story and she checked out the book without another thought. Going home happily, she wanted to read the book right away. Sakura remembered that she got on the bed and laid on her stomach while flipping to the first page. For her age, Sakura was a very bright girl and she was able to understand the book. Who knew, the book was all about the history and all kinds of information about the royal family including proper etiquette, how to curtsy, how to greet someone, the different ranks... etc. Thinking back to the memory, Sakura smiled. She must have been really bored to read through that whole entire book.

"Sakura!" shouted Sora. "Are you there?"

Sakrua snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about stuff that happened in the past."

"Yeah, and who knew that the book that I had read would become useful some day?" thought Sakura.

Hikari walked back to the table. Sakura looked at her in confusion, "When did you get up?"

"Just recently when someone tapped my shoulder, saying that it was my turn to meet the royal family. Didn't you notice?" she replied as she sat back down.

"No not really. I guess I was too absorbed in my thoughts," replied Sakura.

Sora smiled, "Don't worry about that. Now let's eat. It doesn't matter which fork or spoon... or knife that we use. I'm hungry and I want to eat."

"I agree," said Hikari.

There was a small tap on Sakura's shoulder. She turned her head around to face one of the maids that worked in the castle. "Please come with me. It's your turn to see the royal family," said the maid quietly.

Sakura got up, obeying the maid's orders, and looked back at her friends. They gave her a comforting smile. Sakura smiled back and walked to the large table in the middle of the room. Taking a deep breath, she curtsied and greeted the king and the queen. The king smiled and motioned her to sit in the empty chair by him. Sakura gently sat down.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"My name is Sakura," she replied. The queen, who was sitting across from her, looked through many sheets of paper before finally stumbling upon the sheet of paper that she was looking for.

"What is your last name?" she asked gently, offering a small smile.

"Kinomoto."

The queen looked at the sheet and confirmed her name. "I believe that you are 20 years old?" she asked politely.

Sakura answered with a meek, "Yes." She was looking down to her lap were her hands were rested. Her fingers were occupied with the material of her pants. Suddenly, she felt self conscience. Everybody else at the table was wearing all these beautiful clothes while hers were made out of rags.

"Child, please lift up your head so we can see your face," said Yelan. Sakura felt her face heat up. She mumbled a quiet apology to her. Lifting her face up, she heard a few "kawaii's" from a few people at the table. Once again, Sakura blushed.

"We just wanted to talk face to face with every contestant today. That's why we called everyone over. Well, how is your first day at the castle?" asked the King in an attempt to start a conversation.

Sakura gave a soft smile. "At times I still miss my home but I do like the castle. It is very interesting and beautiful." They talked for a while longer before sending her back to eat.

"Hmm... Well, here is something. It says something on her sheet. It looks like as if she has already made a good impression on someone," said Yelan.

"Mother, what are you talking about?" asked Sheifa curiously.

Fanren explained to her. "Remember where we allowed everybody in the castle to be able to tell us what they thought of the contestants?"

Fuutie continued to explain for her. "If they did anything that was kind or anything that they think deserves credit, they tell us and we record it. In the end, they get points for these."

"I remember now," said Sheifa.

"If they do something really bad, they could also get points deducted," said Feimei.

Yelan looked at the sheet again. "Well, she said thank you to one of the people who checked her in. It's not much but I don't believe many of the girls here did that."

"So son, what do you think about this girl?" asked King Xing Li.

Syaoran merely looked up from his plate and glared at his father. "You asked me the same exact thing for every single girl and my answer is the same. I think all women are all gold digging..."

"Enough, I don't want to hear another word," said Xing strictly. "You didn't even pay attention or look at the girl and yet you call her a gold digger.

"Oh puh-lease. So you think that your mom, your sisters, and Tomoyo are gold diggers and... whatever else you think they are, too?" asked Eriol, looking up from the plate of food that he was eating.

Syaoran glared at him and glared. "No."

"They are women too, are they not?" asked Eriol.

"They are women but they aren't like everyone else," replied Syaoran stubbornly.

Eriol let out a sigh. It was helpless. Nothing he said or did would ever change Syaoran's mind.

Tomoyo spoke. "I think that girl named Sakura was a really cute girl. She seemed really nice too."

"I know!" squealed Feimei.

The group of 5 girls all started squealing as they complimented her. They quieted down as another girl was called over. Nothing much happened after that.

Later on, Sakura was in her bedroom already lying on the bed, dressed in her thick, white nightgown that was decorated with cherry blossoms. She closed her eyes and turned around again, trying to sleep. No matter how soft and comfortable it was, for some reason, she just couldn't fall asleep. Instead, thoughts of her family kept drifting into her mind. Frustrated, Sakura sighed and got up. She took a look at the clock. It was only 3:00 am. The sun wasn't even up.

She put on a simple pair of shoes and grabbed her keys. Shutting the door, she locked it. Slowly, she walked down the hallway, making sure that she wouldn't wake anyone up. Walking around for a while, she found the door to the garden. She had already memorized the map of the castle so she wouldn't get lost. Opening the door, Sakura stepped outside. Immediately, the air rushed against her face. She shut the door and set her keys on the ground. She took off her shoes and put them right next to her keys.

Smiling, she ran out into the meadow full of flowers, the moonlight guiding her way. She felt the grass and the warm dirt below her feet. The warm wind gently blew against her, bringing the fragrance of all the flowers to her nose. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and twirled around. Sakura found a large rock that went up to her waist. She sat on the rock and closed her eyes. There was a gentle smile on her face. Unknown to her, another person was also in the garden, staring curiously at her. Someone named Syaoran Li.

At first, he was the only one in the garden. He sat by the cherry blossom tree just looking at the garden, trying to forget everything that was going on. He just went into the garden to relax. Then, someone had opened the door to the garden and walked in and disturbed the silence. Syaoran decided quickly that he would get up and hide behind the tree. He would be lying if he said that the female intruder didn't make him curious.

"I had never seen her around. We haven't hired anymore maids or anything so she must be a girl from the contest. But…What is she doing here? Why is she in the garden instead of sleeping?" thought Syaoran silently.

He saw the girl sit on the rock in front of him and close her eyes. He took another look at her. Her shining, wavy hair flew gently in the air. The corners of her lips tilted into a smile. She looked innocent. Not something that you could find in women these days.

"Then again, it's probably one of those girls who act all innocent. I have to admit, she is breathtaking but she's the same as every girl out there, excluding my family. Why am I thinking about this again?"

He couldn't see her very well in the dim moonlight so it was most likely that he wouldn't be able to recognize her if he did see her in the contest. Hearing her move, he quickly hid behind the tree again so she wouldn't be able to see him. Few seconds later, he moved his head so he could see what she was doing. She was walking back into the castle. The door shut and Syaoran moved away from the tree.

He sat back down by the cherry blossom tree and once again tried to relax. After all, he would have a long, long day ahead of him.

Meanwhile, Sakura had laid back down onto the bed and tried to fall asleep. It seems as if going to the garden had helped her relax and get rid of all her thoughts because not a second later, she had drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Author's note: What did you think of this chapter? Any critique? Review please! Thanks you to those who have reviewed last chapter!

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Hurts 2 b hurt by 1's u luv...

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