Tattooed

Summary: "I've lost everything to drugs, do you know that?" Sakura told him with tears in her eyes. "The funny thing is I've never even touched a drug in my life and yet it destroyed me. It took everything." She turned to face him then. "Please, don't let it take you away from me. I won't be able to handle it, not this time, not again." S x S.

Author's Note: Fashion Fairy 26, teru21, petiteTRINH, xXBlossomofShadowsXx: You know how I feel. *hug*

I'm so overwhelmed by how many of you understood what I was trying to show you. Yes, it is tear worthy. I guess that's how it's gotta be though.

Disclaimer: I don't own.

xii.

There's a place that i know

it's not pretty there and few have ever gone

- Dark Side/Kelly Clarkson

One day when Sakura's car had broken down she'd decided to take the subway to college. Already an hour late, she'd rushed to stand at the platform and waited.

"Ms. Sakura!"

It was one of Sakura's students.

"Good morning Lillian."

"Good morning, ma'am. Off to school?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll see you later then." She waved and skipped off the platform and onto the tracks. Sakura felt a wave of panic rush through her before seeing that the girl walked on the sides of the tracks... disappearing into the shadows of the tunnel. A minute later, the train passed through and the doors opened. Sakura didn't get in.

The shadows were in clear sight once the train had left.

She followed Lillian.

*.*

"So why have you brought me to these dingy dungeons on a Sunday?" Syaoran asked her as they trekked through the dark and musty smelling tunnels. The sound of a train on its way reverberated through the tunnel a moment later.

"You're trying to get me killed, aren't you?"

Sakura said nothing as she grabbed his hand and took the almost hidden left turn, barely seconds before the train came into view. They'd just missed it.

"We almost died!" Syaoran stated while following Sakura into the old ruins of an unused Subway platform it looked like. Sakura had yet to say anything.

It was a long walk from the entrance of the ruins to where Sakura wanted to go. Truth was she'd been here almost two years ago. The route to the spot was pretty straightforward, just follow the tracks. But was it this far along?

A little ways ahead both Syaoran and Sakura could hear voices. She turned around to look at Syaoran.

"We're almost there." She told him with a grin.

"This better be worth it."

Graffiti of all kinds was on the walls of the subway now, Syaoran making note of it. The lights were getting brighter... that had to mean they were almost there.

"Where are we?"

"We're almost there..."

In front of them were dozens of people just painting or spray painting on the walls, on the platform, basically anywhere and everywhere. Sakura's eye searched for a specific girl, who was currently standing on a ladder painting on the ceiling a strange collage of some sort.

"Lillian!" Sakura cupped her mouth with both hands and screamed. The girl looked down and waved enthusiastically.

"Ms. Sakura!" she climbed down the ladder and flung her brush on the ground before rushing to her.

Syaoran stared at Sakura when she introduced the girl to him.

"This is Lillian Fitz," she told him. "She used to be in my class before deciding she wanted to pursue art as a career."

Syaoran awkwardly shook hands with the girl.

"Lillian will fill you in on everything. I can see George from over here, I think I'll go say hi," she told him and left.

*.*

"Basically all kinds of artists, be it painters, or sculptors, or designers, come here to kind of freak out and get wild." She told him. Syaoran mutely noticed the walls and the ceilings, noticing how there wasn't a speck of gap.

"This is how it is. Don't invade space and don't tattletale," she paused to show him an empty spot on the ceiling and indicated a ladder. "We've got to keep this under lock and key."

Syaoran nodded dumbly before looking back at Sakura talk to a bunch of kids... they were probably ten years old.

"How did Sakura know about this?" he asked Lillian as she let him borrow a brush and some paints.

"She followed me, the minx that teacher is!" Lillian laughed. "How do you know Ms. Sakura?"

Syaoran looked at her at that.

"You're definitely not her student," she pointed out. Syaoran was suddenly lost for words.

"We're neighbours." He offered the easiest explanation.

"Uh huh," Lillian replied before stepping back to look at Syaoran high up on the ladder, now able to touch the ceiling. "Have fun painting."

With Lillian gone Syaoran was forced to look at the ceiling. Truth be told, Syaoran barely ever painted without getting high first... it was how he worked.

A splash of blue and silver flashed in his eyes when he decided to try this sober for a change. He brought the brush to his new canvas and began. He was still in a daze with all of this... and Sakura. God, why did she have to be so damned perfect?

He decided to do something small for his first time and went with bringing the sketch of Sakura in the rain to life.

All the while he was on top of the world.

All the while he wanted to be high.

*.*

Sakura was surprised at how quiet Syaoran was on the way back home. She glanced over to him many times while driving.

"So what did you manage to paint?" Sakura asked. She had to leave to get home and she was Syaoran's ride back, so they'd left three hours later.

"I'll show you next time." Syaoran answered without looking at her. Sakura frowned.

After parking the car the two walked to the street from the basement. Just before saying their goodbyes, Sakura spoke.

"Is something wrong?"

She'd barely managed to finish asking before when Syaoran pulled her into him, his face in her hair. Completely overpowered, she stood on her tiptoes to reach him, hands limp at her sides. She shuddered, just like she had the last week...

Being so close to him was unbearable somehow.

"Thank you," he whispered. Sakura barely registered the words. All she felt was the heat of his breath against her ear. For the first time she noticed how much taller he was than her. For the first time she didn't question if he was high or not and instead focused on his scent, his touch, and his eyes.

Despite all her efforts, she was falling, so badly, so very quickly, for the boy with the beautiful brown eyes.

Everybody's got a dark side

Do you love me?

Can you love mine?

All talk, huh Sakura?

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