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, petiteTRINH, deadflo, SweetSeductionCherryB, amelacholicangel, Mutsuki081211: You know what, reading all your reviews is the one thing that's pushed me to finish this story. If this story is ever finished and updated it's all thanks to all of you!

Special shout out to Cascada Azul. You made my day.

I've heard a lot about many of your first kisses. My first kiss was sloppy, strange and alien. I did not like it. I think I took till the sixth kiss to finally understand why the hell people kiss at all.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

xxviii.

Is this a dream?
If it is
Please don't wake me from this high
I'd become comfortably numb
Until you opened up my eyes
To what it's like

- You Found Me/Kelly Clarkson

"This week's been pretty hard," Rita Scarsby spoke this time. "My boyfriend of six years decided he was done with me and broke it off. There're so many complications that I don't even know how to explain why we're done. So much has happened, and neither of us can really be blamed.

"I almost did it, I almost drank, before I threw the bottle away and calling Kaho," she finished. "I guess there's no way of keeping it out. I'm fooling myself if I think I can just cut myself off from my own past. It happened, and even if I have given it up I know now for a fact that the urge comes back on the most unexpected days when you're at your weakest, when you don't have the strength to say no.

"I can't stop thinking about that moment just before I decided I needed a drink. It was so compelling, calling for me as I tried to resist." She looked at Kaho grimly and sat down. Syaoran felt sympathetic. He knew what the urge was like. It made even the nicest of people malicious if they wanted to sink their teeth into the oblivion of a high. Truth was the urge was forever there. It was only time that could dull its sharp claws.

"I think you need to go home for some time," Chiharu spoke. "You have a sister right? She'll keep you company till this passes."

"I just don't want to burden her. She's married with kids; she's got her own issues."

"Give her a call," Syaoran told her. "See what she says first."

Rika looked at him then.

"The answer is always 'no' if you never ask." He finished with a shrug. Rita nodded after a few moments.

"That's the end of our session for today," Kaho announced as she gestured to the food and drinks table. "Help yourselves to anything you'd like."

Syaoran nibbled on a biscuit while eyeing the door. Sakura was late.

"Waiting for someone?" Kaho sidled to his side without notice. Syaoran nodded.

"You gave Rita some good advice. You generally leave immediately after a meeting," Kaho stated. "Tell me how your week's been," she half asked, half ordered.

"Well, I've been focused on painting for most of the week," Syaoran started. "I'm never alone, really, so it's all okay."

"That's good," Kaho commented. Syaoran nodded as he saw Sakura waving softly at him.

"I'll see you in the next session," Syaoran told her. She handed him a card before he left.

"This is my personal number," she told him before smiling. Syaoran nodded and hoped he'd never find use for it.

*.*

Sakura was preparing a math quiz for her class as she eyed Syaoran painting in the far corner of the living room, his back to her. She watched as he stroked the canvas and brought blues and blacks to life. It was always amazing to watch Syaoran paint, right from the time she'd first watched him. It was relaxing somehow.

She walked over to him and placed a light kiss to the side of his neck.

"I missed you this week," she told him before digging her fingers into his hips gently. "What're you painting?"

"You'll see soon enough," he told her before kissing her fingers one by one and going back to painting.

Sakura sighed and pulled away.

"Can you bring me a fresh cloth from my closet?" Syaoran asked her as she walked to her place on the floor. She went to his room, stood at the open closet and searched.

"Try the drawers," he told her from the living room.

One drawer had underwear. The next had ties, cufflinks and other things.

The last one had socks.

There was the familiar envelope in which she'd kept Syaoran's sketch of her. She took it out and smiled at it.

"You can have it back, you know." Syaoran spoke from behind her. "I gave it to you."

"I'd like it if you kept it, actually." Sakura said thoughtfully while looking at the sketch. Syaoran pulled her into a hug.

"God, you were so beautiful that day," Syaoran told her with the sketch crushed between them. "Your hair wet from the rain, your eyes so angry... I thought you were going to whip me." He joked. Sakura for sometime wondered what he was talking about. After a moment's wondering everything was clear.

"I was surprised how much you remembered." Sakura praised. "You were so high that night. It's one of your worst nights with me yet."

Syaoran smiled. "Best night of my life, though." He told her before tickling her. Sakura shrieked and laughed before falling on the bed with Syaoran on top. Confidently, she brought a hand to his chest and traced.

"I'm surprised you don't have any tattoos," she told him then. Syaoran frowned.

"I never really thought about it,"

"Not even when you were high?"

"Nope,"

"Hmm," Sakura said before kissing his cheeks. They lay together on the couch and listened to each other's breathing as the sun set outside, bringing the sky to a pink and blue all at once. It was beautiful.

"I've always wanted one." Sakura admitted as Syaoran kissed her.

"Really, you wanted one?" Syaoran's eyes wide, eyebrows high.

"Yeah, maybe something meaningful... what would you get a tattoo of?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know. What would you get?" he asked her.

"I don't know either..." she trailed off and looked at Syaoran's painting. She thought of the one on the living room wall. "Maybe something of the rain,"

"Why?" Syaoran looked into her eyes.

"I love how it means so much to you," Sakura admitted. "It makes me happy,"

Syaoran laughed. "No one's going to tattoo the rain on you,"

"Maybe just the word 'rain' then," Sakura said thoughtfully. "Or I don't know..."

"Sakura," Syaoran interceded. "Tattoos are painful as hell. Are you sure you'd want to do that, let alone scar yourself for life?"

Sakura grinned. "What's life without a little pain?"

What was life without a little rain, too, Sakura thought.

Syaoran shook his head. "I'm wondering which one of us has more of the bad boy syndrome."

Sakura threw a pillow at him, moving to the kitchen to start on something for dinner. Syaoran went back to painting.

The blazing sun was now gone, bringing the sky to black, the air cold and dry.

After a light salad dinner, Sakura left Syaoran with a kiss at the front door.

The sketch was safely tucked into Syaoran's sock drawers once again.

So, here we are
That's pretty far
When you think of where we've been
No going back
I'm fading out
All that has faded me within

QUESTION: What was your first love like?

I'm back from vacation. Man, do I love them. Family is so fuck awesome!

Come join me at my CCS Fanpage on Facebook called 'Hiiragizawa's Archive of Bolting Cardcaptors'. Link on profile.

Do you like my work? Want to discuss it? Join my group called GP06FR. Link on profile.

Will be updating twice today! I'm sure that'll make a few of you happy! :D

Read and Review. Thank you!