Hey guys! Yes I'm alive! I'm finishing finals so i'll be able to write more often and finally i have inspiration to keep going. Anyways i hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Oh and by the way Sakura's dress, i was imagining it like Emma Watson's People Tree 2010 campaign.(.)

Syaoran found himself in his mother study after dinner while she asked about his time in Tomoeda. He was feeling a bit uncomfortable since he knew she wasn't asking in a motherly way, but instead in a way so she would know if he had messed up anything.

"Everything is fine mother. We go to school, hang out with them for a while and then back to the mansion, nothing more nothing less." He explained to her.

"And what about this dancing Meiling told me about? She said you joined in with the others as well."

Syaoran couldn't help but sigh. Meiling just couldn't keep her mouth shut sometimes. "She's right. They wanted me to try it so that I could spend more time with them and try to fit in. So I did, but it hasn't interfered with my martial arts training or my studies. It is just…a hobby I guess."

"I see. And this girl, Sakura?"

At this Syaoran stiffened a bit but tried to hide it. He was a master at covering up his emotions, after all he was taught since he was a child how to do it so others couldn't read him. But his mother always knew how to get past his many barriers.

"What about her?"He asked her without looking at her.

"Xiao Lang, I saw the way you looked at her. It may not be obvious to her, but you are my son I know you more than you think." She said gently, surprising him since Yelan always talked to him like she was closing a business deal or something.

"The way I look at her? She's just my friend, mother."He lied making Yelan chuckle.

"Right, just a friend. Look Xiao Lang, I can understand why you would lie, but I also understand why you would like her, I mean she is after all a beautiful young girl and she seems smart too. But I also want to remind you about the Elders. They will not tolerate anything but a Chinese girl and you know it."

"I know mother! You don't have to remind me every time we see each other." He was getting upset just thinking about all the rules his family had. All of them were so stupid to him now, but he wasn't about to argue with his mother about them. There was no point in doing so.

"Xiao Lang…I don't want you to get hurt, but I also want you to be happy. If you think it is worth it I will stand by you, but in the end The Elders have the last word." Yelan got up from her seat and walked over to the door about to leave when she turned around and looked back at Syaoran who stood still looking the other way. "For what it's worth I think she seems like a wonderful girl, but…I'm not sure she could handle this family and what we bring along."

Syaoran didn't move. He heard the door close and he just closed his eyes thinking about his mothers words. In a way she was right. The Elders would have the last word about who he was going to end up with, but he also wanted to decide for himself. Syaoran didn't want some Chinese girl who only wanted to marry him for his status. Even if he didn't say it aloud he wanted to feel love for that someone who he would end up with.

The only girl he had found who didn't care about who he was or his money or anything like that was standing right outside. She had changed him so much in just a couple of months. She had made him human, not just some heartless robot like he was before moving. And he liked it; he liked the fact that she made him feel something other than emptiness. But Syaoran also knew that bringing Sakura into his family would be hard. His life was full of rules and Sakura was so free, it didn't seem fair to take her away from all of that.

"Why don't you give her a chance to decide she has a say in it too, you know."

Meiling's words also ran through his mind. It all confused him, but he knew his cousin was also right. He couldn't decide anything if he didn't know how Sakura felt.

He turned back towards the door. His friends were waiting for him outside. That's what he should be worried about right now, his friend and how they were expecting the best Christmas ever.

I'll worry about all this when the time comes. Right now I'll just have some real fun.

The whole gang was sitting in the living room near the fire place all in their pajamas laughing and telling stories about past Christmases. When Sayoran came back they all looked at him with a worried look but smiled all the same making him smirk a little.

"Everything alright, Syao?" Meiling asked with a knowing look.

"Yeah everything is fine. She just wanted to tell me that my sisters will be arriving tomorrow night and to make sure you all feel welcome and all that stuff."He said as he sat down in one of the couches next to Sakura.

"That's really nice of her!" Tomoyo said who was sitting on the other couch snuggled up with Eriol.

"So what are we doing tomorrow?" Yamazaki asked.

"Well I was thinking I could take you guys snowboarding or skiing or something."Syaoran suggested. At this Yamazaki's eyes lit up like a five year old.

"Awesome!" He answer back making everyone laugh.

"You sure know how to please him!" Sakura whispered while offering him a part of her blanket so they could share like everyone else. Syaoran blushed a bit at the thought of sharing the blanket with Sakura which meant that he would have to sit close to her so they could both fit. After looking at her for a minute he accepted and got a bit closer to her and under the blanket.

"Yamazaki is easy to please, he likes everything!" He said making Sakura laugh.

"He'd make the perfect girlfriend for you!"

"And how would you know that? You don't even know what I like."

"You don't even know what you like, Syao! That's why Yamazaki would be perfect, he agrees with you all the time and he likes just about everything there is in this planet." She said giggling making Syaoran chuckle.

"I don't like people who agree with everything I say. Especially in girls. I like a girl who knows how to stand her ground and can fight with me, it's more interesting." He said looking at her with a twinkle in his eyes that Sakura couldn't understand what it meant, but it made her blush.

"Sakura, we're going the mall tomorrow while the boys go snowboarding. We're going to do last minute Christmas shopping, are you coming with?" Tomoyo asked her.

"Um… Yeah sure I guess. I think I have all of my gifts, but it'll be fun to have some time for us girls without these boys bothering us!"

"Hey! Who you calling boys, little girl? We are men!" Mat said while he walked up to Sakura and threw her over his shoulder making everyone laugh.

"Mat I don't think that carrying makes you a man I mean, come on, I'm in awesome shape! Ryu can carry me!" She said laughing.

"Oh really? Really? Come here, girl!"" He said as he put her on the floor and started tickling her knowing that was Sakura's weakness. As soon as he started you could hear Sakura's laughter all over the living room making the others laugh along.

"Mat! Stop!" Sakura said laughing trying to catch her breath but Mat wouldn't stop.

"Admit that we are men and I'll let you go."

"Haha! You told me never to lie to you! Aaah! Mat, stop! Meiling…haha...Stop him!" Sakura was all red from laughing so hard Tomoyo took that chance to take their first Christmas picture in which you could see Sakura on the floor laughing and Mat on top of her and everyone else laughing at them.

The next morning everyone was up early. The boys got ready to go snowboarding while the girls went shopping until the rest of Syaoran's family got there.

"So what did you get Mat?" Tomoyo asked Meiling while they all walked around the mall.

"Well I got him a silver watch. Sakura said that he had been wanting to get one but couldn't afford it yet." She said as she showed Tomoyo the watch.

"Wow! It looks expensive! But I think it's the perfect gift. Not to personal, but clear enough to let him know that you do care about him. I mean I wouldn't buy a watch like that for just anyone."

"Yeah that's what Sakura said. She helped me pick it out while you were with Chiharu buying her gifts."

"Mat will love it! Trust me." Sakura said excited. "He'll love anything from you really, but he's been looking for a good watch for a while now, he's very picky about things like that."

"Then how do you know he'll like this one?"

"Meiling, I've known Mat practically my whole life, I know him like I know myself. Besides he was looking at a similar one the other day, but this one is way better. Not to mention he'll love anything that comes from you girl! So stop worrying, he'll love it!"

"I'm just kinda nervous since it's our first holyday together. And I mean I really like him. I've never felt this for someone else." She said blushing.

"Girl you're on your way to being in love! This is so great I have to take so many pictures and tape every single moment…"Tomoyo went on and on while Sakura just giggled at Meiling's face.

"Relax, she does that to every single one of us. Just pretend she's not there. She has like a million pictures and dvds on Chiharu and Yamazaki, it's kinda disturbing."

"Hey I heard that! They love the fact that they have so many pictures so shut up. And don't even think you're off the hook cause I'm getting dirt on you and Syaoran."

"Will you ever give up on that? There's nothing going on between me and Syaoran."

"Yet!" Meiling and Tomoyo said at the same time making Sakura sigh and laugh at them.

"Let's go, we have to get ready before the rest of your family gets here."She said while dragging the two girls so they could look for Chiharu and Rika and go home.

Back at the mansion the boys were getting everything ready for the rest of the family. They had been snowboarding all morning and doing all sort of guy stuff as they called it, but then Yelan told them to get the house ready and there was no arguing about it. Seeing Syaoran obey his mother's every beck and call was different for the guys. They were used to seeing Syaoran be very independent and doing everything his way, even though most of the time he was just sitting around alone or just practicing his martial arts, but seeing him not argue about anything like they usually saw him with Sakura was a rare sight.

"Damn! I'm so tired! I can't clean anymore."Yamazaki said as he threw himself on the carpeted floor that he had been vacuuming minutes ago.

"Man, you're not the only one. I can leave without seeing another vacuum in my life or a duster." Mat said from the couch where he was laying.

Syaoran chuckled a bit. He knew they were tired, but he was used to this he always had to clean during the holydays to get the house ready for the rest of the family and any other guests that may come.

"Come on guys, we have to get ready. Do we have to dress formal or something Syaoran?"Eriol asked.

"Nah, anything is fine as long as you look decent. It's just my sisters and their families. Once they get here everything will be kinda frantic, for lack of a better word. So be as comfortable as possible."

"Guys! We're home!" Meiling yelled as they entered through the main door with tons of bags.

"I thought you guys were just doing some last minute Christmas shopping, this looks like you bought half the mall!" Yamazaki said as he took Chiharu's bags to help her.

"Oh, shut up you! There is no such thing as too much shopping." Chiharu told him.

"I hear you sister! Now come on guys help us with this so we can get ready we don't want to be late!" Rika said while handing some bags to Mat who was already trying to handle Meiling's.

"Do we have to dress formal, Syaoran?"Sakura asked.

"Um…no not really just something that looks good but you're still comfortable in. It's just greeting them and then we have dinner like yesterday and then we just do whatever we want."

"Oh ok then. Well I'll see you later then I have to go see what I'm going to wear. Don't want the rest of your family thinking I'm a mad woman right?"

Syaoran laughed remembering his joke the day before. "You're good at making miracles happen." It was a compliment within a joke so she just smirked at him and poked him in the chest before going upstairs to change.

About an hour later Syaoran was downstairs wearing some dark jeans, a black sweater with a white shirt underneath and some white sneakers, waiting for his sisters to arrive. "Hey man! You ok? You look a bit nervous there."Mat said as he came down the stairs already dressed very similar to Syaoran but without the sweater.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that my sisters can be sort of a handful sometimes."

"Don't worry, man, we all have pesky siblings or cousins. Mine's Sakura."

"Hey I heard that, jerk!"Sakura said looking like she was mad as she came down the stairs making Mat laugh. Syaoran couldn't help but stare at her. She was wearing a simple gray and white sleeveless dress that came down to a bit above her knees with a small belt around her waist also with black tights and black boots. She had her hair half up with her bangs to the front and a small amount of makeup. To Syaoran she looked simply perfect. It was his favorite outfit so far, she just looked absolutely amazing.

"You know you can be a little annoying sometimes, Saks."

"Oh please! You can be even more annoying, with your whole over protectiveness and stuff, and even worse when you get together with Touya."She said smiling at him making him smile back remembering all the stuff they had gone through. They really did love each other like siblings and there was nothing that could come between that. "Now, go get your girlfriend before the rest of her family gets here and she's still in the shower or something."

At that Mat laughed and went upstairs as he was told to look for Meiling and tell her to step it up. Sakura turned around and looked at Syaoran who was still mesmerized by her. She couldn't help but blush at the way he was looking at her, and the fact that she found him looking amazing didn't help the situation. "Um…you ok there?" She asked shyly without looking at him.

"Oh…um…yeah I-I'm fine. You look…um…"

"Is it too casual or something? I could change if…"

"No!"He all but yelled. "I mean…damn…Sakura you look…" He ran a frustrated hand through his messy hair and sighed. He had to be honest with her, there was no way he could lie to her about this one. So he looked at her straight in the eye, grabbed her hand and pulled her a bit closer to him. "Stunning wouldn't do you justice right now."

Sakura couldn't help but blush even more at his words. Being so close to him and his words…it was just perfect. She looked down and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled still blushing. "I thought you were going to tell me I looked like a freak or something, stunning is something new for you."

Syaoran scratched his head nervously but still held her hand with the other one. "If I have to be completely honest with you…" He then looked at her and brought her even closer before whispering. "Even when you're all messed up from dancing, when you're angry at me and yelling, when you're laughing your heart out… to me…you look absolutely beautiful, always."

Sakura's eyes were wide with shock. Never would she expect Syaoran Li to tell her something like that. Sure they were best friends, but she never thought that he saw her like that, to that extent. After a few seconds she forced herself to breathe seeing as Syaorans was kind of shying away for her lack of response. So she gave him a small smile while grabbing his sweater with the other hand he wasn't holding and bringing him a bit closer.

"You really do know how to complement a girl, don't you?"She said looking down at her hand.

Syaoran gave a nervous laugh and then brought his forehead down to hers. "Not really, Saks. Just you."

Sakura smiled. She couldn't believe this was happening just because of a simple dress here she was hearing Syaoran tell her things she could only dream of hearing. If she had any doubt before about really liking him, they had all banished at that moment.

She knew she was scared of getting hurt and of him leaving her, but right now, that very moment she decided she didn't care. She wanted to live again; she wanted to experience love for the first time. She didn't really know if Syaoran saw her as something more other than a best friend, he hadn't exactly come out and said it, but she was willing to find out.

"Now that is definitely a sight I thought I would never see."Said a sweet voice startling both teens and making them let go of each other blushing. "My little Xiao Lang finally has set his eyes on a girl. I knew from the moment I saw her that she was special."

"Ma! What are you talking about? Sakura…she's my best friend…and…th-there's nothing going on between us."Syaoran said scratching the back of his head nervously, but he couldn't fool his nanny. She had after all raised him.

"Boy please! You don't have to lie to me I won't tell your mother or anyone else for that matter. So hush up and go get your friends, Wei called he'll be here in about fifteen minutes. I'll take Sakura if you don't mind I need a little help in the kitchen." Both nodded at Miss Sienna and without looking at each other did as they were told.

"Come on, Sakura. I need a little help with dessert." She took Sakura to the kitchen and gave her an apron and some brownie mix. "Put on that apron, we don't want to ruin your pretty dress, now do we?" She said smiling knowingly which made Sakura laugh.

"You're the boss Miss Sienna!"

"What is that Miss Sienna nonsense? I told you kids, Mama. Just because I didn't raise you doesn't make you less important. Any friend of my little boy is like family to me. And from what I can see you're very special to him, so you are even more obligated than anyone else to call me Mama."

Again Sakura had to laugh. This woman was amazing to her. She felt like she could really trust her, like she could be her own mother figure. And for a while the hole Sakura felt during the holydays because of her mother's absence wasn't so big anymore.

"Mama, we're just friends. He told you. I am not anymore special to him than the others."She said as she continued to mix the brownie batter.

"Oh and you believe him? I see the way he looks at you, Sakura, and trust me that is not the way a best friend looks at another best friend. Xiao Lang is very stoic most of the time, but I saw you last night and right now, you bring out a side of him most of only hoped for." Mama went up to her and got the bowl from her and put it aside before grabbing Sakura's face gently. "You may not see it now, my dear girl, but eventually he will let you know. I know you care for him like he cares for you, that is why I know you are special. This family is very complicated, but I know you'll make it, I have faith that you will."

Sakura couldn't help but be confused at Miss Sienna's last statement. Syaoran had said the same thing, but still she hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary except their never ending responsibilities.

"Can I be honest with you?" Sakura asked to which Sienna nodded at her. "I…really do like him. You're the first person I've told out right. I do like him as more than a friend, but he's always so serious, and I don't really know all that much about his family, we're always fighting for stupid things. But at the same time, I love it when I can make him laugh, which is not very often but when he does I can't help but laugh with him. I love it when he talks to me, and listens to me, his dedication to his family and us. But…"

"But what, my dear girl? How can there be a but after everything you've just said?"

"I'm scared."Sakura whispered.

"Of what?"

"A lot of things. I mean, he has to leave eventually to come back here. And I completely understand that, this is his home. But what if…" She trailed off. She was too scared to say it aloud.

"If you fall in love with him and then he leaves you?" The lack of response from Sakura only confirmed Miss Sienna's suspicions. "Sakura, I understand your fear of being hurt, but trust me when I tell you that Syaoran will do everything in his power not to hurt you. He hasn't told you he likes you, because he is also afraid, afraid of hurting you and I'm sure that's what he is trying to avoid most of all. But I think that if you both don't try this, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Love is a wonderful thing, my girl. Specially your first love. Sure it can sometimes hurt and break us, but it can also make us live. I can see in your eyes that you have suffered throughout your life, and that is what makes you so scared. But I can assure you, if something is worth everything in this world is love."

Every word Sakura heard from Miss Sienna was everything she imagined her mother telling her. So she really couldn't help a few tears escaping her eyes before she hugged the old woman tightly. "Thank you. You really are the best."

"Well of course I am! Now you dry those tears before you ruin your pretty make up. We have to finish these brownies before those four crazy girls and their families get here. These will be the last minutes before chaos erupts in this house!"

Sooooo let me know what you guys think! Hope you liked it! Peace!